Friend Zone - Chapter 2

The appearance of a demon had truly shocked me. When was the last time anyone had seen a demon on the mortal plane? It wasn’t like I was unfamiliar with demons. Anyone who studied history knew about the War of the Demon Lords. That said, their relationship with humans had always been contractual. They would take something and give something in return. Strictly speaking, it was illegal in my country to accept a demonic pact. However, I didn’t see a better way to spare myself from my situation.

“How does it work?” I asked after a long pause.

I wasn’t a complete idiot. Her deal would be advantageous to her. I was also very curious how she wasn’t being targeted by ANGEL. If any demon showed up on the mortal plane, they were supposed to be immediately targeted and blown to bits. However, since she was here, she had some way of avoiding our defenses. At the least, I was willing to listen. I wasn’t going to make a deal with a demon without finding out the details though. Although my life wasn’t enviable, I wasn’t going to make a bad deal for myself.

“You’ll take my deal?” The demoness asked flirtatiously.

I made a face. “I’ll think about it. I want to know how you’re going to help me first.”

“Alright, fine, I’m going to offer you power.”

“Power, you say? What power?”

“If you agree to the contract, you will get access to my grimoire.”

“Your grimoire?” My eyes widened in surprise.

A devil’s grimoire was essentially their source of power. Normally, a devil would use spells from their grimoire to grant a mortal’s request. However, to have access to a devil’s grimoire was practically like having the power of the devil!

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. Was this devil an idiot? That was unlikely. There had to be some terrible catch.

“Alright, what’s the cost?” I asked cautiously, still trying to feel her out.

“Naturally, I need you to convert mages into witches,” she revealed.

“You want me to be your minion?” I cried out.

Minions were the henchmen of devils. Since devils had limited power in the mortal world, they granted some of their power to mortals known as minions. Their job would be to trick others into signing devil’s contracts. However, while signing a deal with a devil was forgivable, becoming a devil’s minion was a crime punishable by death! Plus, if you failed to satisfy your devil after a certain amount of time, they had the right to claim your soul.

The girl waved her hands. “Minion? No… no… I want you to be… okay… you’ll be my minion.”

“Why are you presenting this to me? Where is your cult leader?”

Devils had cults, and cults had a hierarchy. The devil usually had a cult leader who handled things in the mortal realm, and then he was the one who recruited minions and contracted.

“A cult…” The girl’s former cockiness seemed to wilt as she pushed her fingers together. “I’m currently, working on that…”

“You haven’t even formed a cult yet? Do you even have a grimoire?”

“I do!” She huffed. “I just got it! Aah, I mean…”

“Just got it?” I asked in disbelief. “You’re a devil who just got her grimoire? No wonder ANGEL isn’t detecting you. You’re too low-level even for ANGEL! Why are you even here?”

“I have my reasons.” She frowned, a stubborn look on her face.

“Alright, well, good luck with that.” I shook my head.

“Please…”

“Huh?”

“Please, help me.” She looked up at me, and I realized she had tears in her eyes.

Although devils lived far longer than humans and she was probably over a hundred years old, she appeared somewhat close to my age. She was quite pretty for a demon, with red skin, black hair, two ram horns, and a long, forked tail. Her breasts were a respectable D, and she had quite a pretty face. When she noticed me checking her body out, she crossed her arms over her chest.

“P-pervert.”

“Is that why you contacted me?” I asked.

“I’m not for sale,” she responded unhappily. “However, I’m not lying to you either. If you serve me, I will grant you access to my grimoire. As my grimoire grows and l gain spells, you will gain them as well. In short, you will be my right hand in this mortal world.”

I hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. “Why?”

She let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging. “I cannot explain everything to a mortal. It has a lot to do with the inner workings of Hell. All you need to know is that I need to start my sect early. Normally, I’d be expected to wait another four hundred years until I earned enough merit and power to subjugate a powerful underling to be my sect leader. I can’t afford to wait, so I found you.”

“I’m not sect leader material…”

“You’re well-liked, and have many friends,” she declared. “Your charisma has made you a trusted person among countless women.”

“They’re all just using me!” I snapped.

She smiled, and with the dried tears on her cheeks, it gave a pitiable look that left me feeling awkward. “Everyone is just using everyone else. The only thing that changes is what you get in return. You will learn that, with time.”

Her words seemed genuine, and for a moment I felt tempted. The head of a sect? These were all mysterious and terrifying people. They were the most wanted people in the world. Even the weakest sects left student mages and knights quaking in their boots. Normally, you’d have to reach the level of a Head Knight to even be given the option to betray humanity, although mages were often seduced young. If I was the sect leader, then every woman under me would have to serve me however I desired. The thought of it left me with wonder.

I scratched my head and let out a groan. “Alright, what’s your name again? Andromeda?”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure… fine, fine, let’s say I was considering it,” As her eyes grew bright, I shook my head. “I’m not, let’s just say I was. Okay then, what are the conditions?”

“Oh, not much. I want five.”

“Come again?”

“I want five minions,” she repeated.

“No, it sounds even worse the second time. Five mages?”

“I’ll take knights!” she corrected eagerly. “Five mages or knights. Any five students from your school.”

“How do I do that?”

“Hmph! Do I need to tell you how to do your job? You could start by deflowering them.”

I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Pop a cherry? Steal their innocence?”

“I understand the euphemisms,” I growled. “Why would sex help me turn them into minions?”

“Ah, that’s right, you haven’t seen my grimoire yet. The first spell of my grimoire, if you steal a girl’s virginity, her affection for you increases. If she likes you enough, she’ll do whatever you ask.”

“What kind of grimoire do you have here?”

“Hehe, he’ll have to agree to be my sect leader first.”

“And by agreeing, you expect I’ll sleep with five virgins?”

“That’s the most straightforward way until my grimoire unlocks more spells. After I have five minions, my grimoire should level up.”

“I’m only interested in one girl though.” I frowned.

“I didn’t say you needed to marry them.” She shrugged. “I just want you to trick them into signing their souls away.”

“Yeah, five souls!” I cried out, “Are you nuts? I can’t make five witches in the middle of a mage school!”

“Don’t be dumb,” she scoffed. “I said you could do knights too.”

“Virgin female knights?” I sneered. “Are there even five of those in the school?”

“The female knights aren’t as slutty as the magi like to claim.” She shrugged. “That’s just a rumor they use so male knights are less likely to pursue them.”

“Is that true?” I blinked, but then shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, this task is impossible.”

“Nonsense… I’m giving you a whole year to complete this mission.”

“What’s that now?”

She smirked seductively once again. “Well, I have goals, right? You can’t spend your life playing around, so I think one year is a good limit for five minions.”

“Minions… I haven’t even slept with one woman, and you want me to seduce five?

“Mm!” She nodded. “I’ve even given you a freebie. You should be thanking me.”

“A freebie?” I frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Her eyes turned to the girl still frozen at the bathroom entrance. As my eyes followed her, I let out a cry and took a step back.

“Her?”

“Is she not pretty enough?” Andromeda walked over to Sophie, looking her up and down with interest.

“She’s a bitch!” I snapped.

“Bitches can be useful.” Andromeda shrugged. “Isn’t it best if you put a bitch in her proper place?”

“She’s not a virgin!” I accused.

“I can assure you that she is,” Andromeda smirked. “I said, not all rumors are true.”

“How can that be?” I almost felt more shocked hearing Sophie was a virgin than meeting a demon.

“That’s not important. Look, even if you’re not convinced, I’ll say now that you can rape her consequence-free.”

I opened my mouth a bit, wanting to protest the very idea of sleeping with such an awful skank. Then again, if anyone deserved to be humiliated, wasn’t it Sophie?

“She’s trying to blackmail me.” I gave one last excuse.

“That’s all the more reason to give her proper training. Of course, the choice is ultimately yours.” She stopped for a second and looked at me. “As long as we have an agreement.”

I bit my lip as I looked between Andromeda and Sophie. Sophie was blackmailing me right now. Tomorrow, my reputation would be destroyed, and any chance I had to get with Denise would be gone. Meanwhile, this deal seemed simple. I was a virgin myself, but finding five other virgins at school couldn’t be that hard. I just had to pick carefully. It had to be the kind that would keep their mouth shut after it was over. Surely, I could manage that much in the two remaining months before the semester was over.

“Okay!” I agreed, taking her hand.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” She winked, her body glowing with a black fire as she grabbed onto my hand.

The fire streaked along her arm and then came up my arm. Wherever it touched, I felt a burning pain. I let out a scream as black fire finally descended on my arm. A few moments later, an insignia had been burned into my arm. I screamed for another few minutes, but the pain finally let up.

“Jeez, it doesn’t hurt that bad.” I glanced up to see Andromeda leaning against the door, waiting for me to recover.

I looked at the insignia. It was a black pentagram with a horn in the middle that resembled the horn on Andromeda’s head.

“It’s over?”

“Honey, we’ve just begun.” She laughed. “You’re mine now.”

I tried to wipe the mark, but it didn’t come off. “This…”

“Only you and other devils can see my mark. Ah, but a powerful enough mage might be able to detect it, so keep it covered and keep your distance from anyone too powerful until I can get you an artifact.”

“An artifact? You can get him?”

“I will! E-eventually…” She looked away shyly. “I will do my best to be your devil.”

Seeing her puff out her chest and look bold, I found myself staring at her in wonder. She was cute. If she wasn’t a devil, she could have been my next crush. Suddenly, she chucked something at my head. I dodged before seeing an erased fly where my head had been.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“Keep your eyes on the prize!” She sniffed. “Now, hold out your hands.”

I hesitated for a second, still remembering the pain of the devil’s mark. However, I still did as she asked. The mark heated for a second, but before I could feel pain, a book suddenly appeared in my hands.

“Huh, this…”

“This is my grimoire.” She smirked. “The devil mark is connected to my Grimoire. You can summon it at any time, and through it, you can even communicate with me. However, make sure no one else sees it. If they see the grimoire, they’ll recognize the devil’s magic immediately, and you’ll be toast!”

“The… Book of Friendship?” I couldn’t help but read the cover.

“Mm!” She nodded happily.

What kind of grimoire was named the Book of Friendship? I had already agreed to be this devil’s minion though. I couldn’t afford to upset her, but my enthusiasm dipped too. Had I ended up making a bad deal?

“You shouldn’t knock it until you try it. Every grimoire has an innate ability, and then as it levels it gains spells. Right now, my grimoire only has one skill, Defloweration of Unity. However, it might be the innate ability that will interest you the most. Go on. Use it on her! Just open the book and think of her. As long as you have a relationship, her information will appear.”

I was still skeptical, but I opened the book to the first page. As soon as it was open, it glowed, and then an image of Sophia appeared at the top of the page next to her name. More text started to fill in the space.

Name: Sophia Barten

Age: 17

Height: 158 cm

Sizes: 80 cm, 55 cm, 83 cm

Occupation: Student (Knight)

Sex Level: Virgin (Inexperienced)

Sexual Kink: Rape, Masochism

Greatest Insecurity: Weight

Relationship Level: 5 (Likes)

“This…” I didn’t know what to say.

The information was rather slim, and yet what it told me left me flummoxed.

“See?” Andromeda grinned. “That’s why I said Sophia is a sure thing. She already is outside the friend zone, and if you rape her, she’ll like it. Add to that the Relationship boost from deflowering her, and you can have her wrapped around your finger.”

“Likes… she doesn’t like me.” I refused to believe it.

“The book never lies. You’ll come to accept this eventually. As long as you play on her insecurities and deliver her kinks, she will fall for you. Even someone in the friend zone will eventually succumb.”

Those words seemed to snap me out of it for a moment. “Friend zone?”

“The relationship level goes from -10 to 10. You have very few enemies, so you won’t see a lot of negative numbers. However, most people will be between 1-4. This is your friend zone, with 4 being the greatest likeability short of seeing you romantically. Mind you, the girls you like are probably closer to 2 or 3. Five to six is like, Seven is love. By nine, they’ll be deeply in love and will do whatever they can to please you. Ten is absolute devotion. It’s hard to achieve in the mortal world, but it is possible with my grimoire.”

“You have to be seven just to get sex?” I asked in disbelief.

“Haha… is that what you took out of this? Plenty of people have sex that only like each other. There are even friends who have sex. They call them friends with benefits. Seven is merely the point where the act of sex matches the feelings within. For example, if you sleep with Sophie, you don’t even like her, right?”

“I still can’t believe Sophie likes me…” It made me a little nauseous thinking about it.

“As I said, emotions don’t always match actions. She might like you because you’re a pushover. She might enjoy torturing you or be jealous that you like other girls and not her. Mortals are strange. Well, you should know that better than me.”

“That… I guess you’re right.”

I supposed that made sense. A person’s emotional state didn’t necessarily match their actions. People could sleep with those they hated and ignore those they loved. This grimoire wouldn’t allow me to control women’s minds. However, I would have a good idea about their feelings beforehand.

“Oh, and one more thing. You can only add friends who you’ve met and know their names. They also must have some feelings for you. If they have no thoughts about you, either positive or negative, they can’t become a friend. Once they are a friend, they will remain until you remove their name. If their feelings for you happen to change, you will be notified by message newsfeed in the back of the book. Make sure to check it regularly.”

I looked in the back of the book, and there was a news page there. Would it update in real-time? For the moment, I would just have to trust what Andromeda said.

“I will… get to work,” I told her, finally closing the book and putting it back into my devil’s mark.

“It’ll be a pleasure working with you.” She giggled. “I’ll seal the time in here, so no one will interrupt you until one of you leaves this bathroom. Good luck.”

“Huh? Wait!” I cried out, but Andromeda had already disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I still wasn’t ready. This was all happening all of a sudden. Yet, it was already too late.

“What, you have something to say?” I jumped when I heard a girl speak next to me.

I turned to see Sophie looking at me with her usual mocking smile. Time had resumed and Sophie must have heard my last words, thinking they were directed at her. She was waiting only a few feet from where Andromeda had just disappeared, her foot tapping on the bathroom tile unhappily. According to the grimoire, Sophie already liked me a little bit, and she had a kink for rape play? Was I supposed to just push her down and have my way with her?