Time to go shopping

Clink, clink, clink, clink….
How sweet.
The sound of coins is sweet.
It was currently 12 PM.
Even though it had only been about 3 hours since the news broke, the coins were piling up at a frightening rate.
The news about Crow was somewhat buried because of Baek Jiye’s S-rank achievement, but that was fine.
I had gained another S-rank contractor.
The association had also promised to deal with the punishment for sure.
Since both of my only two contractors were S-rank, it became a hot topic overseas as well, and the 5,000 coins that had taken a week to accumulate before were filled in just 3 hours.
It was damn sweet.
“Piu. Piu.”
“Pion, is the cheesecake that good?”
“Piu!”
I was currently tasting a damn delicious cheesecake at the association cafe.
It was incredibly delicious, sticking to my mouth.
For the record, this was the grace of the new S-rank, Baek Jiye.
“Pion has been eating a lot of cake lately, so I shouldn’t give him more…”
“You have to feed this little one a lot. No, and I told you to speak comfortably, right? We’re going to be in the same guild.”
“R-right.”
As the two new S-ranks were chatting in the cafe, people passing by were whispering.
Some even took pictures, but neither of them paid any mind.
Of course, I was a little startled at first, but after reaffirming that my current form was just a cute jellyfish, I relaxed.
After receiving her S-rank, Baek Jiye jumped up and down, fainted from joy, and then got up again to hear about the guild from Han Sion.
Baek Jiye’s trust in the Silent Calamity, who had not only cured her Mana Disharmony Syndrome but also made a contract with her, had reached a fanatical level, and she was jealous of Han Sion for receiving a scenario from the Constellation.
He made her understand that she had to join his guild by sharing the scenario window with her, and the two decided to take on the roles of guild leader and vice-guild leader, respectively.
“What should we name the guild?”
“Hmm… I have a few suggestions.”
Han Sion wrote down a few names on a piece of paper.
Nate, Sitara, Stella, Milky Way….
“Except for one, they’re all related to space.”
“When I think of a Constellation, all I can think of is stars…”
Baek Jiye squinted her eyes as if she knew his naming sense.
But this was also an effort on his part, and since Baek Jiye had only ever named things like <A Thesis on the Interaction of Mana, Heart, and Blood Vessels>, she accepted it without much fuss.
“Then shall Pion choose from these?”
“Pikkuk?”
“Pion probably can’t read… Hey! Don’t put the cheesecake there!”
“Hohoho. I just dropped it, don’t be so sensitive.”
Suddenly, the choice was given to me.
I stopped eating my cheesecake and looked at the names, and at that moment, a name caught my eye.
I unhesitatingly poked it with my fork.
“Nate?”
“Come to think of it, this is the only one that’s not a star. What does it mean?”
“Hmm, it means ‘gift from God’…”
“Why did you put the others as candidates? Let’s go with this one.”
“I guess so?”
The two fanatics chatted away.
Only after I finished my cheesecake did the two get up, and after naturally settling into Han Sion’s inner pocket, I was finally able to hear our destination.
“So what are we going to look for now? A building?”
“Unni said she’d look for one.”
As soon as her niece became an S-rank, Hong Yuon had even signed a contract to fully support our guild and immediately set off to find a guild site.
That was around 10 AM.
She’s probably in the middle of looking for one now.
“Then what about us?”
“We are…”
Baek Jiye said, showing off the Awakener Association’s exclusive black card.
“Going shopping.”
“I’ve still not recovered.”
“Ah.”
The shopping was scheduled for a week later.

There was no big reason why I decided to establish a guild.
‘I want to have my own tower.’
That thought came up and became strong.
In reality, it didn’t have to be a tower.
A guild format would be fine.
This desire… is a remnant of my time as the White Magic Tower Head.
I want to fill it with people I can trust, with my people, and build a sturdy tower where my head won’t be cut off.
Of course, there’s that desire, but something came to mind when I saw Baek Jiye.
That image of her crying and clinging to me… those abandoned by the social system.
People I had to turn away from myself came into view anew.
I wanted to embrace such people and, this time, be a benevolent Constellation, not a sharp Magic Tower Head.
It was too late to reveal this ambition now, and why reveal it, you ask…
Because if I don’t think like this now, I don’t think I can bear it.
“Oh my god, Pion, look this way, our princess!”
“Is Pion a girl?”
“I don’t know, but she’s so cute, so she’s a princess!”
Even when I made a sour face while wearing about the 10th monster-exclusive outfit, these two just kept saying I was cute.
I thought we were going to the equipment auction house first since they said we were going shopping, but on the way, they took a sharp turn into a pet monster shopping mall, and now this was the situation.
“Let’s try this one too.”
“Isn’t that too frilly?”
“Our Pion is like a star, so she can wear it.”
“Pikkuk.”
When I let out a dissatisfied cry, they said I was cute again.
In the end, we bought 30 monster outfits and other accessories… and I was dressed in a Milky Way-themed cape.
Humiliating.
It’s pretty, but humiliating.
‘My dignity!’
“Ma’am, would you like to see this too?”
“What is it?”
The employee, who had sold 30 outfits in one go, smiled brightly and recommended a small machine to us.
“It’s a monster language translator, and everyone who buys it is very satisfied.”
“Like a cat language translator?”
“Yes, it’s a different version of that!”
Then give us that too!
It was the moment my dignity dropped by -1.
Only after finishing our shopping could we enter the equipment auction house.
“Wow.”
“It’s spacious…”
As they said, the equipment auction house was spacious.
A high ceiling, chandeliers, and luxurious patterns.
It was a layout that made us feel sorry for coming in simple clothes.
Of course, since I had just gone shopping, my clothes were appropriate for this place.
“Excuse me. Are you Baek Jiye-nim and Han Sion-nim?”
“Oh my, you know us?”
The guide who approached us laughed and said.
“Of course. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize the two hottest people of yesterday and today.”
“We must be really famous.”
“You’re S-rank, of course. You should have been pestered by guild scouts by this time, but the association president must have stopped them.”
The male employee, who joked that he was close with the association president, led the two of them, saying he would guide them.
The atmosphere was friendly.
“These are the general sale items. They are products that we sell ourselves without going to auction.”
As he said, it was so.
The long horizontal glass boxes contained various weapons, such as orbs, staffs, daggers, longswords… countless pieces of equipment were on display.
“The deeper you go, the higher the grade of the equipment. But excuse me, your budget…”
“Unni gave me a black card.”
“A black card! I understand.”
The employee’s attitude became even more polite.
Han Sion whispered if it was really okay, but Baek Jiye, who winked that it was fine, looked at the staff at the very end.
“What is this?”
“An excellent choice! This staff, if you look at the appraisal here, is the ‘Sunlight Branch’, found in an A-rank dungeon, and its estimated grade is S-rank…”
I didn’t listen any further and body-slammed it.
PAAAAAAK!
“Aak!”
“Oh my, Pion!”
Baek Jiye, who was looking at the staff, was startled and tried to stop me, but I expressed my anger with a “pikkuk.”
What? S-rank?
‘There’s a limit to trickery!’
That staff was at best a top-tier A-rank.
It had a similar aura to an S-rank, but it was clearly A-rank.
And you’re trying to sell that as an S-rank?
The price of A-rank and S-rank differs by a whole digit.
This bastard was trying to rip us off.
And in a big way!
“Pikkuk! Piuk! Piaaaaaaaaak!”
“Why, why is this monster doing this?!”
“Pion, calm down. What’s wrong?”
“Sion oppa, take out the translator!”
“That?!”
You’re going to take out that toy here?
But Han Sion, when told to take it out, really took it out and activated it.
Translated words appeared on the machine’s screen.

• I hate that!

• Liar!

• Liar!
  “Liar?”
  At those words, the employee froze for a moment, then immediately stood up.
  I didn’t miss that brief pause.
  “Liar! Customers, do you believe the words of that machine? I’ve been working here for years!”
  “But Pion is angry.”
  “It’s just a monster!”
  At those words, the two’s expressions changed.
  “Just?”
  The first to react was Han Sion, whose voice had lowered.