The Agreement

Splash, splash…
Blood flowed and mixed with the clean Administrator’s nebula.
A foul, bloody smell flowed out, polluting the clean air.
Even with a veil that calmed the mind, it was impossible to face this head-on.
I instinctively hid behind the Administrator, and when the Administrator tried to casually intertwine his fingers with mine while smiling, I smacked him.
A faint laugh escaped.
“I didn’t know a jellyfish would be the main body.”
The young boy, The Crow’s Ruins, said.
His red eyes, visible under his golden hair, were flickering with venom.
“I thought it was an incarnation with a peculiar taste.”
If looks could kill, wouldn’t I have been killed over a hundred times by that guy?
The killing intent felt from his young appearance was beyond imagination.
I hid even further behind the Administrator.
Although it was the killing intent of just one person, I, who had died with my neck cut not long ago, trembled at even a slight killing intent.
Snap.
The sound of a finger snap cut through the killing intent.
It was the Administrator.

“You came here to make an agreement, so what are you doing acting like you’re going to kill someone?”
The Administrator, who placed a gentle hand on my veil and stroked my head, said with a relaxed face.

“Should I just kick you out in the name of the mediator?”
In fact, it was a way of saying, ‘Do it right if you don’t want to be kicked out.’
The Crow’s Ruins, while not hiding his anger, gritted his teeth and, spreading his five bony wings, exclaimed.
“You want me to grovel to the one who tore off my stigma? Is that all a Constellation’s pride is, Administrator!”

“What do I care?”
There were two wings on the left and three on the right, and their appearance was exactly like the wings that had sprouted from Han Siyoon’s heart.
“That thing tore off my wings!”
At the voice that shouted while gritting its teeth, I looked up at the Administrator.
I don’t know if he could see it because of the veil, but I was looking at him with eyes that said, ‘Do something about this quickly.’

“Well, it’s unfortunate that one of your six wings is gone. But I don’t think that’s something the Calamity should worry about.”
“You know what my wings mean to me…!”

“Calamity. If you have something to say, say it.”
After the Administrator’s words, a brief silence fell.
It wasn’t that The Crow’s Ruins had shut his mouth.
It was just that the Administrator had erased all the sounds in this nebula.
Except for my voice.
He was telling me to say whatever I wanted to say.
‘W-what should I say?’
No, actually, the instincts of a Constellation were crawling up and telling me to shout something.
But is this something to say in front of someone who is screaming in anger?
The Administrator looked down at me.
His mouthing lips were saying one thing.
‘It’s okay.’
“…”
I summoned my courage, tore at the Administrator, looked at The Crow’s Ruins, and said.
“Shut up.”
“…!”
“You high-ranking Constellation, you…!”
Only my words echoed in the quiet nebula.
Once my mouth opened, there was no stopping it.
“If your wings are so important, you should have taken care of them yourself, you intervened without permission and didn’t even retrieve them, and now that I’ve taken them, what? You’re screaming in anger when you should be begging and pleading with me for an agreement! Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!”

“Oh.”
“An agreement, what kind of f*cking agreement! Just give me compensation for my mental damage!”

“Well done.”
“Kneel! This is between you and me…”

“No, wait, that’s enough.”
I quietly shut my mouth again and hid behind the Administrator.
The Administrator made a dumbfounded expression, but I, having said what I had to say, felt a little refreshed.
I often forgot, but I was a top-tier Constellation, and Constellations are sensitive to hierarchy.
The Crow’s Ruins, being a high-ranking Constellation, was in a situation where it was absurd for him to be defiant towards me.
The Administrator, who had soothed the panting me by rubbing me all over, returned to the main point.

“Well, the party involved has no intention of making an agreement.”
“…”

“What are you going to do?”
The Crow’s Ruins clenched his fists and trembled.
A vein popped on his forehead, and he seemed very pissed off, but he didn’t dare to think of attacking.
A long silence fell.
In the end, it was The Crow’s Ruins who moved first.
“…F*ck.”
He bit his lip and swore, then abruptly knelt on the floor and bowed his head.
“…I’m… sorry. Silent Calamity-nim. The Crow’s Ruins was rude…”

“That’s right.”
“Please at least listen to the content of the agreement. Please.”
I opened my mouth slightly.
Even though I had spoken a bit harshly, I hadn’t expected The Crow’s Ruins to back down so easily.

“Calamity. What are you going to do?”
“…I’ll hear him out.”
At those words, the Administrator snapped his fingers again.
A tea table and three chairs rose from the floor, and a teacup filled with sparkling tea was placed on the tea table.
It’s an uncharacteristically tea time.
The three of us sat in our respective seats.

“Now, first, Crow. Tell me the content of the agreement. Oh, and be careful, if there’s even a slight hint of a threat, I’ll kick you out immediately.”
“I request the return of Han Siyoon and the stigma.”
The Crow’s Ruins replied immediately.
His eyes were flickering with anger, but he managed to maintain a polite tone.
I waited for the next words while drinking the tea full of starlight.

“The price?”
“5 million coins.”
Hmm.
I gulped down the tea.
A cool and sweet scent lingered in my nose.
The Administrator, who keenly caught that reaction, smiled and said.

“The Calamity says it’s too cheap.”
“…Ten million!”
The price went up like an auction.
A vein popped on The Crow’s Ruins’ face again.
But I didn’t tremble like before.
Was it because of the unique tea scent?

“It’s a tea made from meteor dust. It has an extreme effect on calming the mind and body.”
As if to confirm that guess, the Administrator, with his gentle hands, refilled the empty teacup on my side and continued.

“Is the value of your only S-rank contractor and stigma only that much?”
“F*ck…! Calamity! Talk to me, not the Administrator!”

“Informal speech?”
“…Please.”
I nodded my head very arrogantly with the calming effect of the tea.
“I will give you 20 million coins. So…”
“No.”
“You bastard!”
KWANG!
The table was slammed, and the teacups shook.
Of course, the Administrator and I had lifted our teacups and saved the tea.
The Crow’s Ruins, who had spilled tea on his lap alone, panted.
“A human-born Constellation dares to speak to me…!”

“Kneel.”
KWANG!
The Word of Power was activated, and The Crow’s Ruins’ legs were mercilessly bent.
The chair even broke, and fragments were embedded in his thigh, it was a mess.
But it was a just act.
Even if he was a celestial-born Constellation, a mere high-ranking Constellation…

“My Calamity, how scary. You even know how to use the Word of Power now.”
Hmm, honestly, I was also surprised.
I didn’t know I could do this.
The mental stability effect of the teacup and veil was truly amazing.
Even though I had roughly made a Constellation kneel with the Word of Power that I hadn’t used well before, my heart didn’t pound at all.

“Now, ‘just’ a high-ranking Constellation.”
The Administrator crossed his legs and looked down at The Crow’s Ruins with a crooked smile.

“What we are requesting is as follows.”
Chwarararak!
Several system windows titled ‘Agreement’ unfolded in the air.
I don’t know when the Administrator and I were grouped together as ‘we’, but after seeing the content of the agreement that was also visible to me, I decided to turn a blind eye.
To summarize, it was as follows.

[Return of Han Siyoon: 40 million coins]
[Return of the stigma: 100 million coins]
[Compensation for mental damage: 50 million coins]
It was an agreement filled with the will to bankrupt The Crow’s Ruins.
“What a f*cking couple of swindlers…!”

“Oh, thank you. Calamity, he says we’re a couple.”
“I want a divorce.”
The Crow’s Ruins squeezed his eyes shut and instantly changed his expression.
He put on a gentle expression that suited his young face and had tears in his eyes.
“Noona…”

“It’s disgusting, so can I banish him?”
Of course, that expression didn’t work on me either.
As I was just sipping the meteor tea, The Crow’s Ruins, who had completely changed his expression and was seriously contemplating, trembled.
“I’ll just have Han Siyoon returned…”

“No.”
“Why again!”
I pointed at the bottom of the agreement with an annoyed gesture.

[※ Each item is calculated separately]
In other words, The Crow’s Ruins needed a total of 190 million coins to get everything back from me.
And even if he didn’t get back the stigma and Han Siyoon, he had to give me 50 million coins for mental damage since he came here.

“You don’t have 90 million coins.”
“This is a scam!”

“This agreement is mediated by the Administrator.”
The Administrator’s beautiful voice let out a low growl.

“If you defy my prestige, it won’t end with banishment.”
“…!”
The Crow’s Ruins, who realized that the Administrator was serious, argued back and forth for a few more minutes, but I continued to drink my tea, and the Administrator’s attitude was firm.
In the end, it was The Crow’s Ruins who lost.
The Crow’s Ruins tried not to give the coins until the end, but he screamed at a single snap of the Administrator’s fingers.
The coins he had carefully collected were gone.
He was a guy who came to make an agreement and left with only losses.
“You bastards! I’ll get my revenge…!”

“If you collect 140 million coins separately, contact me then.”
KWANG!
The Crow’s Ruins was pushed to the entrance of his own nebula.
The Administrator, who didn’t miss that opportunity, slowly closed the blood-smelling nebula entrance.

“Ah, of course… whether I’ll accept it or not is up to the Calamity.”