CHAPTER 377: BUYING PROPERTIES

"You’d only use them for wine," Orion said. "This is cheaper."

"Lies," Magi said gravely, lifting his empty cup. "But I find myself... interested." He set it down, met Orion’s eyes. "We’ll build it."

Edgar glanced to the window, gauged the position of the sun out of habit. "We should drop the veil before attendants start imagining conspiracies."

Orion pressed the cube; the barrier withdrew with a whisper, returning the room’s sound to its normal grain, the faint street noise, the floorboard creaks, the subtle clink of a bottleneck meeting wood as if the space itself exhaled.

"Good," Orion said, standing up. "Draft me a rough plan by tomorrow. We will go and look for some people before sunset tomorrow. And Magi... get some sleep in between the ledgers."

Magi saluted with his quill. "Aye, Boss. I’ll dream of forms." He hesitated, then added with a wry smile, "And, ah—thanks for trusting me with the messy bit."

Orion’s smile turned warmer. "You keep increasing my wallet," he said. "Now you’ll help keep it safe." He clapped Magi’s shoulder once, firm. "I’ll take your protection fees when I need them."

"Unfair," Magi muttered, but he was smiling as he watched them go, already pulling a clean sheet and scrawling a title across the top: Quiet Ledger — Debt Collector Magi’s Beginning. Luna’s ears dipped like quotation marks.

Out in the hall, the shop’s noises drifted up, a merchant’s argument turning into laughter, the murmur of coin made into promise.

Edgar walked a step behind Orion. "A lot to build," he said.

"A lot worth building," Orion answered.

They walked out of the store into the market’s voice; hawkers calling over one another, the sweet-oil smell from a skewer stall already doing brisk sin at noon.

Orion and Edgar walked through the sea of people walking around, stepped into the light like men surfacing from deep water, and found Lucan half-reclined on the driver’s bench, hat in hand for once.

"Where to now, Young Master? Back to the mansion?" Lucan asked, trying to read Orion’s face and failing, because only Lumi could do that reliably.

"No," Orion said, rolling his shoulders. "Property hunt. I need a good-sized courtyard in the Fourth Ring and a few in the Fifth."

Lucan’s grin sharpened, this, at least, seemed interesting. "Aye." He vaulted up, gathered the reins; the horses tossed their heads as if they too approved of errands that weren’t naps.

Edgar climbed in with Orion, the door closed shut as the carriage began rolling on the ground.

They travelled through the Fourth Ring, where various establishments were erected and apprentices ran with all their might to finish their work.

Orion watched the streets, not like a buyer, but like a player checking the board: alleys, sightlines, where the city guard liked to loiter, where they didn’t. Edgar’s eyes did a quieter version of the same.

[Target acquired? ( •̀ ω •́ )✧]

Lumi teased, her tiny window hovering near the carriage roof.

’Soon,’ he murmured.

The broker they used, Master Quell, had the signature smile of a man who’d learned how to sell even his own kind for profit without breaking his smile.

He led them to three courtyards within a few blocks of the Guild District’s outer wake, while smoothly talking to them like a prostitute.

The first: a long narrow rectangular courtyard hidden behind other buildings. Orion and Edgar went inside to look at the building before coming to the drainage system of the courtyard.

Edgar flicked a coin into the drain, watched how slowly the collected water vanished. "Floods on hard rain," he said. Orion shook his head. "Next."

The second sat on a quiet spur off a well-trafficked road: double-width gate, inner yard with two mulberry trees, a service well that didn’t smell of old fish, and, most importantly, two exits, one at the front of the courtyard and one from the back into a small alleyway.

"What will you use this for?" Quell asked, trying to be casual and failing to keep the curiosity from his tone showing.

"Study housing for academy friends," Orion said blandly, gaze on the roofline. "Alright, we will take this. Tell me your price."

Quell named a price in tidy Common Grade Mana Crystals, "Hmm, since you are a special customer, we will do you an offer and give you this place for 10,000 Common Grade Mana Crystals."

Orion looked at him silently to let him reconsider his offer before he started wandering the perimeter with Edgar, they stopped at a few locations like the warehouses at the back of the courtyard, the trees in the garden, and at the old well.

By the time he had come back to the front of the courtyard in front of Quell, the price had dropped by quite a bit. Quell looked at him and hesitatingly said, "9,000 CGMC, I can’t go lower than that!"

Orion looked at him with a calm smile, "Well, then do some renovation of this courtyard as well. I’ll give you the full 10,000 CGMC."

Quell’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise, "Sure sure. I will make sure that this place looks like a noble house. Here is the deed of this property."

He took out an old parchment and handed it to him. Orion did not take out the Helstorm House seal but instead took out a different seal from his storage ring.

The seal had a single word written in bold letters: Banana. A shell company he and Magi had created before for this.

Quell looked at the seal with confusion and asked, "Banana?"

Orion raised an eyebrow, "What? If Apple can exist then can Banana not?" shaking his head, he stamped the paper with his seal.

"Uhh about the funds...." Quell softly asked.

"I will deposit half today," Orion said, and a pouch of CGMC appeared in his hand which he tossed towards Quell. "I want this house ready by tomorrow. I don’t care if you have to hire mages for that or what, you will get the rest of the payment then."

They walked out with a rolled deed sealed in green wax. Orion passed the tube to Lucan without breaking stride. "Send this to Magi when you are free."

Lucan chuckled and saluted. "Sure thing, I also want to have a drink with him."

After heading back to the carriage, the group continued towards the Fifth Ring. As the carriage continued rolling toward the Fifth Ring, the artistic refinement of the Fourth Ring gave way to the lively chaos of common life.

Streets widened and buildings shrunk from marble-fronted grandeur to cozy brick-and-timber dwellings packed close like chicks in rain.

Most of the place was overtaken by residents of workers and farmers while some places had small markets for vegetables or little trinkets. Children ran all over the place while laughing and playing with each other.

Orion watched silently, observing the shifting nature of the city’s mood from Fourth Ring to Fifth Ring. Edgar sat in silence across from him, occasionally glancing out the window to measure the changing surroundings.

Lucan steered them expertly through winding streets, avoiding carts piled with fresh produce, livestock led by farmers, and noisy clusters of laborers.

Finally, they stopped outside a broker’s humble office in the Fifth Ring, marked by a small wooden sign carved with a quill and scroll.