Chapter 108: A New Contract
However, after spending a while staring at the boy with a racing heart—imagining the bright future and endless wealth he might bring her—Mei Mei suddenly realized something.
"Um…"
She glanced around the desolate ruins once more before turning back to Ren.
"Your domain…"
"It ate everything, didn't it?"
"Then what exactly are we supposed to give the client as proof?"
Ren froze.
He slowly looked around at the barren wasteland surrounding them.
Then he nodded vigorously.
"...I'm sorry."
---
Top Floor, Black Bird International Security Headquarters
Ren stood stiffly in the corridor outside an office, anxiety written all over his face.
The manor had been completely destroyed.
The curse had been reduced to dust.
They hadn't managed to recover a single clue—not a personal belonging, not a corpse, not even a fragment of evidence they could present to the client.
At first, Ren had been convinced that his very first bounty mission was not only going to end in failure, but would also leave him saddled with a mountain of debt.
After all, judging by the size of that estate and the luxury of its facilities, it wasn't the sort of property he could ever hope to compensate for.
Then the office door opened.
The silver-haired woman in a dark violet dress stepped out.
"It's settled."
She snapped her fingers, lifted her chin, and smiled.
The confident, composed Mei Mei had returned.
"Settled?"
Ren stared at her blankly.
"How is that possible?"
From the client's perspective, they had practically vaporized his mansion.
As for the beloved eldest son he desperately wanted to find—
There was still no trace of him whatsoever.
"We told him it was a supernatural incident."
Mei Mei's eyes curved slightly with amusement as she observed Ren's confusion.
"At Jujutsu High, you're taught to avoid revealing the existence of curses to ordinary people whenever possible."
"However, every rule has exceptions."
She shrugged lightly.
"The privileged classes of this world always have access to information that ordinary people don't."
"That's one of the reasons people pursue power and wealth in the first place."
"Anyway, we informed him that the threat had been eliminated."
"If he wants, he can simply rebuild the manor on the same site."
"This time, we guarantee there won't be any abnormalities."
"To make the explanation more convincing, I had my staff perform a few harmless demonstrations in front of him."
Her smile deepened.
"You know, the kind of supernatural tricks television stations love."
"Objects floating through the air and things like that."
"Combined with our company's reputation among our partners and intermediaries, the client accepted the explanation without much resistance."
Ren blinked.
"That... actually worked?"
"Of course it worked."
Mei Mei looked positively pleased with herself.
"Credibility is a form of capital, Ren."
"And Black Bird has accumulated plenty of it."
Then her tone abruptly changed.
"However."
Ren immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
"There was a price."
"The destruction caused during the mission—"
She pointed directly at him.
"Primarily by you."
Her smile became dazzlingly sweet.
"Resulted in the final payment being reduced to half of what we originally expected."
Ren's expression stiffened.
A very bad feeling rose in his chest.
Then Mei Mei delivered the verdict.
"So."
"The lost compensation will be deducted from your share."
Silence.
For several seconds, the corridor was completely quiet.
Then—
"...What?"
Ren's voice cracked.
Mei Mei merely smiled.
The smile of a successful businesswoman.
The smile of a predator who had finally sunk her claws into valuable prey.
And, for the first time since joining Black Bird International Security, Ren truly began to understand why Utahime had reacted so violently upon hearing Mei Mei's name.
She tossed the remark over her shoulder as lightly as a feather and continued down the hallway, her high heels clicking crisply against the floor.
"Why should I?" Ren protested, immediately forgetting to admire the graceful sway of her retreating figure as he hurried after her. "If it weren't for me, we'd still be trapped in there!"
"But the destruction was caused by you."
The woman in the dark violet dress glanced back. Her silver braid swung lightly as she offered him a dazzling, seductive smile.
"You can't deny that, can you?"
"Th-That..."
Before Ren could finish, Mei Mei casually tossed her handbag into his arms.
"Huh?"
Startled, Ren instinctively tried to hand it back.
"A gentleman carries a lady's bag."
Mei Mei giggled and continued walking as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Come along."
"Let's get something to eat first. After a mission, it's important to relax and unwind."
"My payment—"
"Your payment depends on your employer's evaluation, Employee Ren."
The corners of her lips curved upward.
"So if you don't want your compensation docked, you'd better work hard and make your boss happy."
Ren grumbled internally, but in the end he slung the handbag over his shoulder and followed after her.
---
That evening, they dined at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
It was Ren's first time entering a place of such extravagant luxury.
He looked around nervously while trying not to look around too obviously at the same time. Even his walking became cautious, as though he feared accidentally bumping into something he could never afford to replace.
At first, he was convinced Mei Mei had brought him here specifically to bankrupt him.
Fortunately, that fear proved unfounded.
The moment she noticed his discomfort and casually informed him that she would be covering the entire bill, the trembling in his hand vanished.
His hunched shoulders straightened.
Even his posture became noticeably more confident.
After enjoying a lavish and exquisitely prepared dinner, Mei Mei headed to the hotel's indoor swimming pool for a swim.
Then came the sauna.
Then a massage.
Somewhere in between, she also managed to drink several glasses of alcohol, leaving herself pleasantly tipsy.
Throughout the entire process, Ren found himself running errands at her beck and call.
He fetched towels.
He carried bags.
He responded whenever she called.
All in the name of protecting what was supposed to be his hard-earned paycheck from being arbitrarily deducted by his thoroughly unscrupulous superior.
Finally, after an afternoon of complete indulgence and relaxation, Ren found himself supporting the now-soft and slightly unsteady Mei Mei as they headed toward the Royal Suite she had reserved.
Judging from the contented smile on her face and the relaxed tone of her voice, he figured he'd done a decent job.
What a hassle...
Ren sighed inwardly.
He had earned that money through honest labor.
Why was getting paid for honest work so difficult?
---
He opened the suite door.
The first room was an opulent reception hall.
The foyer alone was larger than some of the entire hotel rooms he had stayed in before.
Beyond that lay an even more spacious lounge.
Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased Tokyo's glittering nightscape.
A deep blue carpet stretched across the floor.
Ren guided Mei Mei to a sofa and helped her sit down.
Then he placed her handbag neatly on the table before her.
"Alright, that's enough."
Having finally completed his duties, he immediately urged her forward.
"Now pay me."
"Transfer my compensation already."
"Ren-kun."
Mei Mei tilted her head back to look at him.
Some of the drunken haze had faded from her beautiful face.
"You care a lot about your paycheck, don't you?"
Isn't that obvious?
Ren stared at her speechlessly.
If he didn't care about money, why would he have joined Black Bird Security in the first place?
"Then I have a new proposal."
Her eyes remained fixed on him.
Slowly, she ran her tongue across her lips.
The subtle movement of her soft red tongue tracing the corner of her mouth sent an inexplicable ripple through Ren's heart.
"A proposal that would leave both of us... much more satisfied."
"Ren-kun."
Without even looking at it, she reached toward the handbag on the table.
Her fingers found the zipper with practiced ease.
Riiip.
The bag opened.
A crisp white document emerged from within.
A contract.
Holding it between two fingers, she smiled.
"Why don't you sign this one too?"
Ren's heart skipped a beat.
The way she stared at him—
The way she kept licking her lips as though implying something—
The predatory intensity in her gaze—
Every instinct in his body screamed danger.
"No!"
The alarm bells in his head rang at full volume.
"Absolutely not!"
He didn't even need to know what was written inside.
Whatever that contract contained—
Ren had a terrifying feeling that if he signed it, Mei Mei would devour him so thoroughly that not even the bones would remain.