“So, do I pass?”

“Barely. You have some overconfidence, but it’s good enough”

“Well, you have not,” Velvet mocked him. “First, tell me what you want.”

“To take every single belonging of Iren and me back to his family. It's at the Mergifari, so it poses you no trouble, since it’s your destination.”

“How do you…?”

“The route you’re taking, added to being a young mage. It’s obvious.”

“Reward?”

“My help until arriving at the Mergifari. You will need it.”

“And second?”

“Try to get information about the Graham and Ropertti families abilities.”

“Graham probably uses some envy, or envy’s variations. He can cause skin to sicken, and give orders to people,” Velvet didn’t care about selling them, since she didn’t trust them, “Ropertti gave me this,” she gave the container Siberina gave her to the demon. “It’s supposedly medicine, but I’m not gonna use it.”

The demon opened it, licking the inside with a shining purple tongue with white stripes. “It’s not poisonous, and it will heal you, but it will also slow your magic down.”

If there was a reason Velvet was trusting the demon, it was simple. They worked with deals, so, as long as the final deal was good, he couldn’t go back on his word.

“Slowing my magic when there’s a murderer. Shameless. Madam Dorna wasn’t wrong when she called mages scammers.” Realizing she said the last part out loud, she glared at the demon, “stop.”

“It will stop when I go back to my pocket dimension.”

“So it's a passive skill… Why doesn't Hyde have any?”

“... I’m a lesser demon. You know that.”

She spoke her thoughts out loud again. Now Hyde was offended.

“Let’s make a deal already and turn you off.”

“You will bring Iren Doyle’s belongings, remains and familiar back to the Doyle family at the Mergifari. As an extra, you will try to learn as much as you can on the Graham and Ropertti families. The reward for that would depend on the information acquired. In exchange, I will aid you until arriving at the Mergifari. I will not be held accountable for decisions based on your stupidity, and if you choose to go against my advice, I won’t be breaking the deal if you get harmed.”

Velvet pondered a bit, “I want you to add that if I do something against your advice, you still will have to support me.”

“Even if it's unreasonable?”

“Yes. But don’t worry! I am a very well behaved and obedient girl, I won’t give you any problems!”

Not convinced, but having no other option, the demon accepted, “Deal. Now, recite my name. Baraviodos.”

“Baraviodos.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I”

“I”

“Offer this deal under Andras Apolyon.” When his name was spoken, Velvet noticed the atmosphere changing, the feeling of being watched gave her goosebumps. She felt something in her head, a string of information that covered what they had talked about. Reading it a few times, she didn’t find any problem or exploitable loophole.

“Accept this deal under Andras Apolyon.” She felt a pinch in her mind, the deal sealing in her. Something flickered in her hand, under the glove. She took it off, undoing for a moment the papers that were working as skin, and saw how, under the Esca, a purple and white colored symbol had grown over her raw skin.

Purple mixed with white. The colors that represented lust.

The symbol was like two distorted A’s, one normal and one inverted, that almost made a star. A symbol no one would go against, and would disappear once the Devil’s Deal was complete. When it appeared in her skin, the feeling of being watched stopped.

Baraviodos extended his long arm, “Give me Iren’s notebook.”

Velvet did that, then, the demon held the open notebook on his left hand, with his right hand empty, separating and extending them. She felt the surge of magic, the blood sliding down the walls, closer and closer to the demon’s empty hand.

Iren’s body, or what remained of it, started falling apart in tiny pieces, converging in his hand.

In less than five minutes, all the blood, bones and other remains had melded together in a reddish, slimy ball. The demon put the ball inside the notebook, covering it in red fluids. Done that, he started entering the pages the same way he exited Iren's brain, first the roots he was made from started undoing, then, little by little, he went inside the notebook, which fell to the ground once it was over.

Picking it up, she talked to it, “Won’t people notice the corpse disappeared?”

“They will desire to not look inside, so they won’t notice.”

“I see…” Velvet packed Iren’s suitcase, planning to take it to her own room. “Do you think I can stay here? It is bigger than my room.”

“Someone got murdered here,” Hyde admonished her.

“But it’s clean now. Well, there’s still the smell. Ah, got it, no big room for Velvet.”

She went back to her room, now with a suitcase that she hid under the bed and the bloody notebook that she put on the window.

Throwing herself on the bed, she sighed, “I puked all my breakfast, and now I’m hungry.”

Whatever, it's not like she had to be somewhere, so she could stall until lunch. Still, she pulled the revolver and the three bullets out, staring at them.

“Do you know how to use a gun?”

“No. I can’t afford them.” Bullets were expensive. Even Couger's shotgun was property of Viroa, and she would take it off him were he to miss two shots, “but it can’t be too hard. Point and shoot, be careful of the recoil.”

Iren only had three bullets, Velvet had checked the chamber. She planned on loading it, but the idea of it falling and going off on its own bothered her. Viroa had one, she once showed it to Velvet, laughing about how someone once knocked it off her table and got shot.

Viroa had quite the arsenal, now that Velvet thought about it. Of course, she did talk about the old times, when she worked as a pirate hunter with her old crew. Very bloody and violent tales, but the kids loved them. Madam Dorna didn’t.

“Leave the first chamber empty. That way nothing will come out were you to pull the trigger on accident.”

“Okay,” She did so, putting the bullets inside from the next chamber, closing it, and trying different poses. “Check me out, I am the mage deletor. Deletor of mages. Bang!”

“The index is in the wrong position.”

“Use both hands.”

“Why are you tilting the gun?”

“Hold it firmly, I can see from here the weak grip you’re making.”

“Where are you pointing at? Going to shoot the sun?”

“Keep your eyes on the target, stop glaring at my notebook.”

“Your notebook IS becoming my target.”

Advised by two very judgemental demons, Velvet was being forced to learn the basics at the same time she was losing her patience.

“Can you at least let me try first? It's not like I’m gonna shoot someone the next second!”

Knock knock. Someone knocked on the door.

“Velvet, are you inside, I would like to talk to you.” Nathaniel's voice sounded outside the door.

Velvet pulled the trigger.