when i clicked the download button, i didn’t have a choice to pay. it just automatically downloaded. free. idk what you’re asking.
They aren't being flippant. There's literally no option to pay anybody for this book on Itch.io. You have to go to Amazon to do that, and jahtnamas probably missed that link. God knows I missed it the first (and second!) time that I looked.
The authors are probably paid if you buy from Amazon, because they are listed on the Amazon entry and tRaum Books is not.