All Grim Reapers Are Women
All Grim Reapers Are Women. What? What was that smile? I flinched and stepped back in surprise. Charlene, who had been covering her mouth and giggling, spoke again.
“What's wrong? Are you scared of me?”
“No. It's just that you suddenly smiled like that. Um......”
Wrapped in a ragged cloth like a robe, Charlene closed her eyes and declared arrogantly, “For your information, grim reapers are extremely obsessive. Do you know why?”
“Huh? Why, why is that?”
“Because without that level of obsession, you can't reap people's souls. The job requires a sense of duty bordering on obsession. I'm not joking.”
What did she mean? I tilted my head in confusion. Charlene looked at me, flashed that grin again, and continued.
“So, human. Do you still want to hire me?”
Hmm. I needed to think this over. Without answering, I headed back to my house—a small teahouse on the outskirts of Marenost that also served as my residence. A small sign creaked and swayed in the sea breeze.
Petal of Marenost
Seeing the jutting sign, Charlene asked, “What is this? You're a teahouse owner?”
“Yeah. Though it's a teahouse where only flies buzz around......”
“That makes sense. Why does the interior look like this? Have you even cleaned?”
Ugh. She went straight for the throat. I quickly turned and snapped back, “What would you know? Weren't you stuck inside a block of ice for seven hundred years?”
“The memories of Olivia inside me are speaking. A teahouse like this is guaranteed to go bankrupt within three years.”
Ugh...... It felt like a clean punch to the gut.
“Don't bluff. Even if we're talking about Olivia, wasn't she just a low-ranking maid when she was alive?”
“You're underestimating Olivia, the original owner of this body? From childhood, she was trained as an elite maid.”
E-elite maid?
“W-what exactly is an elite maid?”
“I can't go into full detail, but Olivia was educated as a maid from the moment she took her first steps inside an enormous mansion. She received specialized training in the world of maids. All of Olivia's memories remain perfectly intact in my head right now.”
D-damn. This made hiring her feel suddenly burdensome. Her personality was so strict, too.
Still, I led Charlene up to my room on the second floor. The first floor was the teahouse; the second was where I slept. For now, I needed to find her something to wear. As I opened the closet and rummaged through clothes, Charlene asked from behind me.
“Well? Are you really going to throw away a chance that comes once in a lifetime?”
“What?”
“I already told you. At this rate the teahouse will fail. You have a mountain of debt, don't you?”
Ugh. My hands froze mid-motion. From behind me, Charlene continued rather shamelessly.
“I could show you mercy. I have nowhere else to go anyway. And......”
“And?”
“.......It seems like it would be fun to stay with you.”
Fun? Had my life ever been fun? Hmm. Looking back, there hadn't been many enjoyable moments. Mostly just painful ones.
I roughly tidied up the room I usually used as an attic. Charlene could sleep here for the time being. While I cleaned, she changed clothes and asked again from behind me.
“You. Where are your parents?”
“They're gone. Father died long ago in a fishing boat accident. Mother passed from illness two years ago.”
Charlene fell silent. Hmm. Why so quiet again? When I turned around, she was staring at my face with her head slightly lowered.
“Do you resent them for dying?”
“No. Well....... I don't know.”
When I scratched my cheek with a finger, clearly reluctant to answer, Charlene picked up a nearby fan and waved it gently across her face.
“Death is a fair fate, so don't resent anyone. Your parents simply reached the end of their destined path.”
Lofty yet slightly brazen words. Well, she was a grim reaper, so she would know about death.
I pulled a blanket from my room and muttered to myself, “Death is fair, that's true. As long as some incompetent grim reaper doesn't steal the soul of an innocent person—”
Before I could finish—
Thwack! The fan smacked the back of my head.
“Ow! What the hell?”
“Who are you calling incompetent? Huh?” Charlene's voice was sharp.
“I'm talking about the grim reaper who dragged an innocent soul to the afterlife and got demoted here for it.”
“D-don't tease me with that! Why are you so rude? Huh?”
Charlene's face flushed bright red and she even started stuttering. Hehe. So that was her reverse scale. Noted.
I laid out the blanket in the room she would use and chuckled quietly.
The next morning, Charlene took a graceful sip of the tea I had brewed and immediately said, “It's too weak.”
Tsk. That was the reaction I expected. Wearing my oversized t-shirt that hung loosely off her shoulders and revealed her collarbones, she set the cup down and added, “You were actually selling this? Now I understand why only flies visited the teahouse. Seriously.”
Ugh. Did she have to keep stabbing me like that?
“What would you know? What do you know about tea?”
“I already told you—Olivia's memories are fully intact in my head. She was trained as an elite maid. Brewing tea is basically expert level for her. It's too weak. You need to relearn everything from scratch.”
Muttering to herself, Charlene stood up abruptly and headed for the kitchen. I stared at her back. Long legs, a narrow waist, and breasts that were a decent size... and those short shorts she was wearing... Ha...... No, no. What the hell was I thinking?
I cleared my throat and quickly corrected my thoughts. Charlene lit the stove, filled the kettle, and spoke again.
“Looks like I'll have to teach you everything from the beginning. Using tea bags with ingredients that shouldn't have them? Making such tasteless water with Lumina grass? Tsk. Watch and learn.”
Hmm. She really seemed confident. After moving around the kitchen for a while, she brought over a cup of tea. It was the exact same Lumina tea I had made earlier.
Just how confident was she...? I took the cup from her and took a sip.
Huh? Eh? Ah? T-this...... It was unbelievably good? How had she drawn out the flavor like this? The rich, grassy aroma of the Lumina remained perfectly balanced...... It was incredible.
When my eyes widened in shock, Charlene smirked.
“Now you see the difference in skill, right? So? Still full of confidence?”
D-damn it...... I hung my head. Charlene scraped her chair back and stood up.
“For now, learn from me and then we'll open for business. The interior needs work, too.”
I had lost in terms of skill. There was nothing I could say. Yeah. Maybe this was an incredible opportunity after all.
“You're really going to work here as a maid?”
When I asked, Charlene smiled brightly. “Of course.”
“Why would a grim reaper work as a maid?”
“Since I'm using a human body now, I can't perform grim reaper duties. The original owner of this body was a maid to her very core. And like I said, it seems like interesting things will happen if I'm with you.”
Hmm. Fine.
“Should we write a contract?”
Charlene brushed her long hair back. “No. Grim reapers don't bother with contracts.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
She leaned in until her face was inches from mine and whispered, “Trying to bind a grim reaper with something as trivial as a contract? How insolent. Don't worry. I'll be the one keeping you close by my side.”
What?
That night I lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.
Hmm. It probably wasn't a bad choice. Since Charlene was using a human body, she couldn't perform grim reaper work. She still had the power, but she was stuck in a position where she couldn't use it for her original duties. On top of that, working as a maid...... It was a strangely mismatched combination.
I had no idea what the future held, so my mind swirled with equal parts anticipation and worry, making sleep impossible. As I tossed and turned, I heard movement outside.
Huh? What was that?
I opened the door without thinking and froze in shock.
Gasp. W-what?
Charlene was wandering in the darkness wearing nothing but a white t-shirt and panties.
“W-where's the bathroom? A human body is so inconvenient. I need to pee......”
Awkward.
“I told you it's next to the counter on the first floor!”
When I shouted, Charlene muttered, “Whoops, my bad,” and staggered downstairs.
Whew. Seriously. Every single day was a crisis. Charlene didn't seem fully aware that she was now a human woman.
Wait. She must have been a woman back when she was a grim reaper too, right?
I quietly searched my memories. Hmm. I couldn't tell. It couldn't be that the core was male while only the body was female, could it?
While I was thinking, Charlene finished her business downstairs and came back up.
“Charlene.”
“What? Yawn~”
She stretched and yawned.
“Were you a woman even when you were a grim reaper?”
Charlene stared at my face for a moment, then let out a small laugh. “Why? Why are you asking that?”
“Ah, no. I was just curious...... Haha.”
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. Charlene yawned again and answered, “All grim reapers who work in the field are women.”
Ah. So she really was a woman.
She gave my cheek a couple of light taps, then went into her room.
Whew. Good. A female grim reaper had entered a female human body, so she was definitely a woman.
Ugh. Why was I even worrying about something like this? Damn it.