Problems

"Nothing much, I was offered a generous contract," Queresha said and Kanae didn't ask anything more.

'What type of generous contract?' Dok-ja wondered as there were several new things that he learned from this, 'So, did she take it?' And the main takeaway from this was…

'Haru-ssi must've gotten a better contract,' This sent a shudder down his spine, that man was already a problem as is and now it seemed like he was about to get a crazy power up, 'They definitely discussed a Nebulae contract with him, maybe Queresha-ssi got the same type of contract.'

Getting supported by a single Constellation was great, but what if one was contracted to the entire nebulae? They would have skills and stigmas from the entire pantheon available for use.

Of course, such contracts had more conditions, and it wasn't easy to get the stigma with the powerful constellations, since they had their requirements.

But this was a big deal because…

'The support is mind-blowing,' Dok-ja knew of someone who had the support of the Nebulae, and she was a problem, 'The Prophet, Anna Croft.' 

And just as he was thinking about the problems that would come down the line, a new one popped out right in front of him.

[Hey Dok-ja! Have you seen that redhead?!] Bi-hyung suddenly appeared in the air and sent him a message, [Do you know where he is?] and he seemed on edge for some reason.

[Haru-ssi went to meet the constellation for the contract… Did you not know about it?] Dok-ja was already getting skeptical with the way Bi-hyung was acting, [He has mainly appeared on your channel, how can you not know? Where were you till now anyway?] 

'It… can't be right?' The more Dok-ja thought the worse his thoughts got, and his fears came true in the next instant.

[What? I was supposed to take him there!!] Bi-hyung shouted, [The meeting was supposed to be held through the Gamtu (The Place where Dokkaebis hide their true selves)] he sounded furious because…

[Who the hell took my opportunity!!!!! If it wasn't for that nosy higher up I would've….. Arghhhh!!!] But little did he know that Dok-ja didn't share his pains, instead he started to look at the Dokkaebi that were gathered up, and he saw Paul smirking ear to ear while looking at them.

That was when he noticed that someone was missing.

[Do-gak…] Dok-ja muttered and it Bi-hyung's attention, and he also froze on the spot.

Both of them had the same thought at this moment.

[Fuck!] There was no doubt that Do-gak and Paul were up to something.

And their worst fears came true, as Haru did not return even after this event was over.

***

"So, this is the place where I'll talk with the constellation?" Haru asked looking at the somewhat overly moderate room.

'Looks like those old castle rooms,' Haru was surprised to see that these guys were sticking so close to the concept.

"Yes, you just need to go into that corner room," Do-gak said with a smile as he pointed at the paper door to the left.

"Your voice is weird," Haru commented, since it didn't feel the same as before, it was almost like the previous weirdness was gone.

"You may feel a disconnect since this is my true voice," Do-gak said still smiling, "Now go into the room, it isn't good to keep the constellations waiting." He hurried Haru into the room.

"It's dark in here," Haru muttered as soon as the door was closed, he couldn't even see his hand even if he pressed it on his face.

And it didn't look like his eyes would be getting used to the darkness because….

'This feels like a skill rather than natural darkness,' He thought while suddenly a small fire was lit up in the room.

[It is nice to meet you… Tsugikuni Haru,] An enchanting voice rang into the room, and even with that slight feeling that it was being muffled.

'That voice…' Haru's eyes widened slightly, he didn't say anything, and because of that…

[Erm… Did I speak too strongly? …Should this be enough?] The voice asked nervously while decreasing the power behind her words.

"Ah, yes, this would be enough," Haru came out of his thoughts quickly, and tried to cover up his previous shock.

[Are you sure? Should I lower it more? This is the first time I am talking to an incarnation… so I don't know how to adjust my voice….] She asked and still sounded unsure, because if she wasn't careful she could very well cause terrifying damage to Haru with her voice alone.

"Oh no, it isn't your fault… I was thinking about your voice," Haru spoke truthfully, that voice really did send him into his thoughts.

[…W-What?] But the voice became flustered and the room started to shake, she increased the power of her voice unconsciously.

"I mean, now this is a strong voice," Haru said feeling the pressure around him building up.

'It feels like it will crush me,' In his current state, this voice alone can indeed crush him, no it was already doing that in a way.

[Ah, I am sorry, I'll be careful,] That was until she had come to her senses.

"You're weird," Haru said sitting down on the floor.

[What? Why?] She asked in confusion, why was he calling her weird all of a sudden?

"I mean, I thought that all Constellations were assholes who sought entertainment," Haru could somehow feel the atmosphere in the room getting awkward.

But it wasn't like he was lying about his thoughts since that is how they came off as, "But you are very different from them, you even seem to genuinely care for me," he was quite shocked to see her being this considerate, not to mention her messages through the donations were also mostly filled with concerns.

'Even if I take into account that she is here to make a contract with me, there is no need to be this careful with a mere incarnation,' Haru may have shown high feats in the scenarios, but he didn't do anything out of the world.

In a way, he used Yoo Jung-hyuk as a model for what he could do and couldn't. That is how he was able to somehow thread the fine line till now.

'It was a good idea to get the info on his level repeatedly,' Haru thought as the voice was silent, he didn't what she was thinking but, he at least knew that she wasn't here with ill intentions.

[Ahem* It is only natural to be polite, respect begets respect after all,] She said trying to get her flow back, and Haru didn't mind that.

Because if that didn't happen, they would be stuck here for a while, which wasn't something he wanted.

[So, you must already know who I am right?] She asked and Haru nodded, he indeed knew who she was.

[That saves me the trouble of going about this in a roundabout way then…] And slowly but surely the dignity was returning to her words.

"Yes, I also don't want to check what will happen if you tell me your name," Haru had a hunch and he shot it, and luckily enough he was correct.

[Yes, it certainly wouldn't be good at this time,] She agreed with him, that is why she was relieved that he already knew of her.

"So, there is a chance that it will be ok later?" Haru asked trying to connect the dots on his own.

[I didn't tell you anything, you figured it out on your own,] She spoke with a tinge of happiness in her voice since he could get her message.

'I see, it is like that then,' Haru had wondered for a while about why these constellations had such names, 'At first I thought that they chose it themselves and were trying to be funny about it.'

But then he saw some weird names, and backtracked his previous evaluations. As proud as these Constellations were, there was no way they would choose humiliating names willingly.

So, that only left the option of the name being chosen by someone else, then what were the criteria for getting names? And who chose them?

'I need to think about that more, maybe it is something else that I don't know about yet,' Haru had an idea about this thanks to the Throne incident.

But nothing was set in stone yet…

[Then let us move to the main topic,] The Noble Child Of The Sun said and Haru nodded, it was about time to talk about the reason they were here for.

[I want to offer you a contract, and not just from me but from the entire Takamagahara,]