Chương 313: I Am A Maid–For Real, This Time!

I had heard a few things about Malkazert, but until today, I hadn't realised that everything would genuinely be of a different colour. The grass was red, the wood was blue, the leaves were red, the stone was greyish-blue… And for some reason, the sky itself was red, whilst the clouds had a green tint to them.

Which might seem odd, especially when I saw the change occur in real time as I passed from one region to the other, seeing clouds that were definitely the white I was used to, changing colour simply because I was now standing in a different place. However, the environment changing drastically between steps was a very well-documented phenomenon. I had simply never experienced it myself…

So anyway, being that Hyotrask Devilblood had only been made into a baron fairly recently–At least, recently in terms of land development–His territory was not yet rich or highly populated. It was made up of essentially farmers, with still many areas that could hold natural resources. Though his territory attracted lots of adventurers, mercenaries, and people of that ilk. Although the vendetta against me had certainly reduced the traffic of those folks, it was still present in a fairly large amount.

Not only did a new territory need to deal with a lot of beasts and monsters, specifically those that were having their habitat cut down or disturbed, but Devilblood was actually sympathetic to adventurers and such, offering rewards above the norm, which only drove additional traffic to his territory. Of course, being that he used to be a knight and soldier of the crown, his territory is an attractive destination for veterans and retired knights.

Which is exactly why I decided to only take a look around and not try to eat any of the farmers. I could run into some old, grizzled knight, and I didn't want to leave any possible indication that a monster made of steel was around. I wanted to take part in the recruitment while there wasn't any tension or suspicions in the air… Or at least, as little of those two things as possible. As such, I merely inspected my surroundings until morning came.

Thanks to my little exploration, I knew where the main road leading to Hyotrask's manor was located. I snuck amidst the line of people looking to be recruited by the demon noble, looking like the prettiest, red-skinned demoness possible. In this disguise, my height was reduced to one meter and seventy-five centimeters, which was actually still quite tall for the average woman… The average human woman, at least.

With demons, the average was definitely skewed since some of them could reach my knees at best, and some wouldn't be able to fit through the damned entrance of a castle. The difference across some kinds of demons was visible in this very crowd. Right next to me, there was a demoness who almost looked like a grown-up version of Gigi, which was to say that she looked like me, but in blue. A bit in front of me, there was a big guy who looked like a minotaur, except that his neck was covered in feathers.

Looking back slightly, I spotted a bright yellow slime currently in the midst of trying to decide what shape to take on. Judging by the attention given to how large the chest area should be, it was quite easy to guess that this slimy fellow was here with the sole intent of trying to get on the baron's 'good side'. Frankly, I had no idea that demons straight up had slimes. I always thought slimes were their own thing, but then again.

Lots of demons somehow look like monsters despite having nothing to do with the creatures they resemble… Of course, there were also the rare and somewhat confusing demonic beastfolks around. I found them to be confusing because some demons looked like beastfolks, but were just demons, and some were genuine beastfolks that were also demons. I didn't know anything about how that was possible or how it worked. Any ideas, Nara? There are several theories on demonic beastfolks.

Some believe that they are merely beastfolks who adapted to their surroundings, taking on more demonic features to fit in, but there are also some who merely shrug and blame it on how beastfolks seem to function to begin with After all, beastfolks are a very peculiar group. Whatever beast or animal you can think of, there are countless types of beastfolks that relate to it, and there isn't any explanation of how that actually works.

Some proposed that beastfolks are descended from shamans or druids who communed with these creatures until their bodies were changed, but let's be honest… Is it really possible for them to have communed with absolutely every beast and animal in existence? Not to mention why anyone would commune with obscure critters… I am not allowed to say much, but the real reason is directly linked to how worlds come to be.

In simple terms, they exist for the simple reason that 'someone' thought beastfolks should have variants for all beasts and animals Damn, linked to how worlds are created? That's quite crazy. Yep, and the same is true for demonic beastfolks. This certain someone simply thought that it would be a good idea, so they are a thing.

But this applies to the majority of living beings, to be honest Whilst Nara and I were having a discussion inside my own head, the line progressed, and I eventually found myself in the front yard of the manor. This place was well-protected. Nara even notified me that I had crossed several barriers and stepped into the range of a number of arrays. This wasn't too unusual for a noble's residence to have, but alas, such security measures were useless against my method of infiltration.

Those only stopped unlawful intrusions, and as far as I am aware, I am allowed here. A maid whose body was covered in black wool approached me, her hooves hitting the stone path quite heavily. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Are you here to become a maid?" Her tone was flat, a little bit unfriendly, and I could taste a small collection of negative emotions emanating from her. Mostly suspicion and… Rivalry? Oh, do all maids here have the goal of getting into their lord's bed or something? Is his reputation that wide-reaching that everyone knows about how nice he is about dealing with bastard offspring? If so, this man must hire maids all the time. It might be more effective to only employ men at this point for him…

In any case, I nodded with a charming smile.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Then, come with me this way" I followed after the woolly maid. It seemed like those who came to try and become guards had to participate in a little tournament to prove their strength, but curiously, the men who had come to try their luck at becoming servants were being funnelled elsewhere. Oh… I suppose it is obvious now that I think about it, but it seems like the baron only personally checks on the potential maids himself. The rest of the hiring is handled by servants…

There is no doubt that he hires a lot based on looks, which makes sense when most of his maids seem to only stay a short while before getting an indefinite vacation from… Well, as I would put it: From being seeded. I was here with quite a lot of other girls. Most of them were a lot like me, humanoid with a few extra features like horns or tails, but there were also a handful of more unusual demonesses. … This one is taller than me in my El Gigante-01 form, and also… Those are definitely weapon-grade assets.

There's no way they don't have enough weight to them to kill a person–Standing near this woman when she turns around or makes a sudden movement is asking to receive serious blunt force trauma. I probably could have looked like that with my 'Gynoid Form', but I much preferred sticking to a body type I was more familiar with. Besides, what kind of man doesn't like a woman with a lack of assets? They might say they prefer the meatier ones, but in practice, their words never hold up.

Always fascinating that you can know so much about men, but never managed to snatch one for yourself, big sis Is this mockery that I detect? You're getting your cheek pinched when you get a physical body, Nara. And believe me, with what the Mindscape can do, I will figure something out. You'll be the smallest and cutest creature in existence. I mean… It is a bit odd that you know men on such a deep level, but you never managed to find a husband, right? Nice try at rephrasing, but I heard your tone.

I could feel the smile! But anyway… I suppose you are correct. I guess my standards for a man were a bit too high. Can you blame me, though? I was at the top of my game as a human. Settling for just anyone would have been a waste of my Nebulo bloodline! I chuckled inside my own mind. Now that is far behind me, though. I have girlfriends now, and my standards for women are far less precise. Probably because there is no point in worrying about the bloodline, and also… I don't care if they are weaker than me.

I guess I quite like being way stronger than them, too. It feels nice to be the protector. Ah yes, so- Mari and Leou are it, no third girlfriend, Nara. Don't even try. I… Am I so predictable? On this topic? Yes. Maybe you should think about finding a girlfriend of your own. Huh… As we were discussing, I spotted the baron walking into the room, taking one look at the various women gathered around, before he raised one hand.

"I approve" And then he left. The ground shook slightly with each of his casual steps. The woolly maid, alongside some others, showed the way to the maid quarters, where everyone received uniforms. Even those with unusual body types had clothes that fitted them like gloves. Mmh… I was expecting something a bit more revealing, but those are perfectly normal maid uniforms. Nice materials, too.

Ever since I leapt headfirst into the Fashion Corner of my Mindscape, I have developed a certain sense for fabric quality and sewing efficiency, amongst other things, and I can say that this is good stuff. I should steal some and send it straight to the Closet.

"You'll follow one of your senior maids for the first week. You'll learn how to do your job this way, understood?" Everyone replied affirmatively, and I got to shadow a demoness half my current size. Apart from having purple skin, she didn't have much in the way of demonic traits. One might be tempted to say that her size was one of them, but I had run into my fair amount of impressively short women in my time, and they had all been humans, so I knew that it didn't mean much on its own.

"So, what is your name, new girl? I am Velpa. You can just call me by my name, no need for 'senior' or anything like that…" She didn't sound one bit like her size.

"My name is Leomi" For once, I decided to actually invent a name instead of using my second or third name, as it was getting a bit risky to use those at this point, even if they weren't anywhere near as rare as 'Mara'.

"That's a cute name" Velpa suddenly turned around on her heels as we arrived in what seemed like a storage room of some kind. It was filled with weapons on racks, shields, and armour.

"Listen, most maids in this place are here for one reason, and one reason only. On my end, I quite like the regular pay and benefits… Are you like them or me, Leomi?"

"I just need a job, I am not interested in… Aherm… Having a child" It is spooky how well you get into a role…

"Good. Don't be like them. They only think about having an easy way out. I assure you that while seducing the lord might be somewhat easy, the indefinite vacation isn't that good. Not in the long term, at least" The purple demoness cleared her throat.

"Now that this is out of the way… I am in charge of all storage rooms. The lord trusts me a lot, and I hope that I'll be able to trust you as well. However, you'll forgive the distrust for now, but you'll only help me with the storage rooms like this, alright?"

"There are four of those throughout the manor. They are meant for the guards to equip themselves in case of an emergency" I brought one finger to my lips in thought as I listened to her.

"What about the regular storage rooms, where they keep the equipment they use every day?"

"Good question–Don't worry about those. The guards take care of those themselves. That's for the best. I don't trust them to keep their hands to themselves""Oh… Are they… Grabby…?"

"No. They keep rubbing my head like I am a child… Those motherfuckers"