"Come on!" The man walked into the room and dropped onto the bed with a thud, bracing himself with both hands behind him and spreading his legs. He looked at me with a gaze that was both appraising and expectant. "I’ve shown you the place you’ll be staying and introduced you to Aunt Wendy. Now it’s your turn. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. You need to let me see your value. Don’t worry about Lilith. Aunt Wendy will take care of your sister. She’s trustworthy."
Good. That was exactly right. If he hadn’t asked for anything at all, I would have been the one getting suspicious. Value? I was more than capable of showing that kind of value. It was how I made my living.
As my clothes fell away, I didn’t hide the unusual features of my body.
"What the hell!! Are you a man or a woman? How are you bigger than me!!" Quiser shot up so fast he startled me.
What’s going on?
Here we go again?
Was there no such thing as an intersex person among humans?
Did he find me disgusting, like some kind of deformity?
Was he into men?
Was he uncomfortable with the feminine side of me?
Had I failed?
Was I going to get thrown out?
Did I need to find somewhere else after all?
I was nervous and a little panicked, but I didn’t back down. "I’m intersex. I’m both man and woman. Strictly speaking, I’m male with female parts. Can’t you accept that? I think it makes me distinctive. It’s interesting. Why can’t you accept it?"
"Hah, what a joke!! You’re looking down on me!!" Quiser seemed offended. He quickly recovered, his expression shifting from shock to fresh interest, as if he were weighing my value.
"I’m not some ignorant fool. Man or woman, I don’t care as long as it feels good. Intersex, huh... heh, just hearing that gets me hot. So you’ve got both a man’s parts and a woman’s parts? That means I can play with you in a bunch of different ways? You can handle all that?"
"Of course. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my body." I almost said he could try whatever he wanted, but then I decided against it. That didn’t really fit the persona I was using right now.
"If you think there’s nothing wrong with it, then let’s get started." Enough talk. Having a conversation with you was exhausting. I could feel my brain cells dying. Honestly, in the demon world I never had to think this much.
Of course, things didn’t go smoothly.
Halfway through the test, the man suddenly stopped. He pinched my lower face hard, looking distinctly unhappy, even a little angry. "You feel way too practiced. Why aren’t you nervous about doing this for the first time? And you look like you’re enjoying it way too much. What the hell are you after? Were you testing me from the start?!"
It was like cold water had been dumped over my head. I snapped awake in an instant.
Hey, Astaroth, what are you doing?
Is this really the time to lose yourself in this kind of thing?
Have you forgotten your human disguise?
Now you’ve been exposed. What do you do?
Can you keep following his lead and talking your way through this?
"I-I’m really sorry... I didn’t tell you the whole truth at first, but my sister and I had our reasons. If you’re willing, I can tell you everything now... Please let go of my face. It hurts."
"..." After a long silence, Quiser let go, though he still didn’t get off me. He stayed pressed over me.
"Thanks..." I rubbed my face where his fingers had squeezed it sore, then looked up at the ceiling and tried to bring my emotions into it, making myself sound a little hollow and sad. "Actually, my parents aren’t dead, but in my heart they might as well be." I let out a faint, self-mocking laugh. "Heh. Just like you guessed at first, my family used to be pretty well off. Then the business went under. They owed a lot of money and couldn’t pay any of it back. As for my body, you’ve seen it yourself. It’s not normal. My family never liked me. They thought I was some disgusting freak. They’d always wanted a normal child, and then my sister Lilith was born." I took a breath and went on. "What kind of family, bankrupt and buried in debt, decides to have another child? That obviously doesn’t make sense, right?"
"Think about it. If you’re desperate for money and there’s some ugly, useless freak at home who does nothing but eat, what would you do? Use what you have." Astaroth closed his eyes, trying to squeeze out a tear or two, but nothing came. They were dry. Demons didn’t get sad over little things like that.
"People like novelty. No one is an exception. Some people find it fascinating and want to do it again after the first time; others think it’s nothing special and that normal people are better, with that kind of unspeakable feeling of superiority... I never thought there was any real difference between them." I opened my eyes, looked at the man, and lifted one hand to stroke his rough cheek. "Aren’t you the same?"
I looked away and sighed. "In a situation like this, the best way to protect yourself is to adapt to the environment and enjoy it. And to some extent, I also think I should shoulder part of the family’s burden, since they gave birth to me and raised me."
Why the hell can’t I cry? By rights, I should be able to shed tears now and get some sympathy. But I didn’t have a single drop in reserve. I was almost jealous of humans and how fragile and sentimental they were. In a way, that kind of weakness was useful.
"I really was miserable, and absurdly, I couldn’t even cry. Maybe I’d already gone numb. In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran away with Lilith. She was innocent, and I was afraid that once she grew up, she’d end up being used the way I was. She was so pure. She shouldn’t have had to suffer like that. If this was shameful, then rather than being sold and used, I’d rather use myself to earn money and feed myself and my sister. What do you think?" At last I was finished. I wondered what he thought, whether I’d moved him at all, and I looked at the man with a faint trace of hope.
"..."
Why wasn’t he saying anything? Did he not believe me? Had I failed? Why couldn’t I ever do anything right? Astaroth, you useless piece of trash!!
"It’s okay. If you don’t believe me, then let’s end it here. Lilith and I will find somewhere else that’s suitable."
"You..." He coughed twice, his voice a little hoarse. "If what you said is true, then you’re brave, and you haven’t done anything wrong. Please don’t talk about yourself like that."
Huh, had he taken the bait? He was awfully slow about it, and he’d nearly scared me to death!! I didn’t agree right away. The more important the moment, the more you had to play hard to get. The fish had to jump onto the shore by itself; you didn’t go diving in after it.
"It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not, because that’s my story, and it’s my private business. It has nothing to do with you. I hope you can just laugh it off and not make a big deal of it. There are plenty of miserable people in this world. Things are happening every moment. Compared to them, I might even count as lucky." So don’t believe it, and definitely don’t investigate it. It’s just a made-up story!!
I hurried to change the subject. "I hope you’ll see my value the way you said at the start. My intersex body is my value, and making people feel good is my value. Put everything else aside and judge it again. This is a long-term business. You bring me customers, build my name, and you can profit from it too. That’s good for you as well, isn’t it? Stop talking and let’s continue..."
"How is it? Purely in terms of technique and looks, I’m pretty good, aren’t I? Did I pass your test, darling Quiser?" After the test, I rested my head on the man’s shoulder and leaned against him, waiting for his verdict.
"Pretty good. You really are pretty good. I mean that in every way." He was panting hard, his body still not settled down. It was obvious I’d blown his mind.
Hahaha, I, Astaroth, knew my craft. Succubi were born for this line of work.
I was very proud of my skills. As long as they got past the first hurdle, they’d all become loyal regulars.
"So... did we strike a deal?" The answer should have been yes, just as expected.
"Of course. I do have one condition: you’ll only have me as your broker. I’ll handle the housing and Aunt Wendy’s side of things. The split will be twenty-eighty every time, twenty for me, eighty for you. Do you have any preferences or fetishes? Want me to screen your clients for you?"
"I can accept anything, but if I had to name a preference, I like strong, energetic men. Still, that’s not a deal-breaker. My only request is that you absolutely protect Lilith. She’s my precious girl."
"Got it, got it. You’re obsessed with your little sister. But let me tell you, kids in the slums grow up fast. What you want and what she wants may not be the same." Quiser rolled his eyes, but his warning was sincere.
"What are you talking about? She’s still little. She’s just a baby." So what? Succubi grow stronger by feeding on desire, and I was even hoping she’d grow up someday and protect me.