Water Magician

The next day.

In the morning, Ryo did some research with Sera at the North Library, ate lunch at Houshoku-tei, and arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild at 1 pm, the time he promised Abel.

Abel was already there and was talking to a girl he had seen somewhere near the reception.

It was the girl who noticed Ryo enter the guild rather than Abel.

Natalie of the Court Magic Group, the only other Water-Attribute Magician Ryo knew.

When Abel noticed that Ryo had arrived, he bade farewell to Natalie and came over to Ryo.

“Ryo, right on time.”

“Were you done with Natalie?”

Natalie bowed toward them and left the guild.

“A letter from the royal capital was addressed to me and she brought it to me.”

“Ilarion?”

Ryo recalled that the letter Natalie brought to Abel before was from a person named Ilarion from the royal capital.

“You only remember such strange details.”

Abel smiled wryly and was kept what seemed to be a letter from Ilarion in his chest pocket.

“Welcome, Abel-san and Ryo-san.”

When Abel and Ryo entered the real estate department, the head of the department, Replate, stood up and greeted them.

They were led straight to the reception room.

“I found only one property that meets your needs …”

After tea was served to the three of them, Replate jumped straight to the topic but he had difficulty finishing his sentence.

“I guess that means it’s not a property that perfectly meets the conditions.”

When spoken that way, often it meant that the target was mostly met but with some minor setbacks.

“Yes, the problem is the location.”

“Location?”

The two of them asked at the same time.

“Yes. The property I am introducing is outside the city.”

“!”

As expected, both Abel and Ryo were surprised at this.

Ryo thought it would be necessary to compromise on the size of the garden or the houses around him, but it was unexpected that he would be introduced to a house outside the city.

Previously, when he first came to the City of Rune from the Rondo Forest.

He once had a panoramic view of the City of Rune from the top of a small hill with Abel.

The City of Rune was nestled in a golden sea of ​​grown wheat.

However, he remembered that there were quite a few houses built within the golden sea.

People engaged in agriculture had moved from the city to the outside of the city.

And due to the footfall, the gates of the City of Rune would not close even at night.

“Is the house you wish to introduce, a farmer’s house?”

“Yes. I saw it yesterday and it’s a property I can confidently recommend, except that it’s located outside the city.”

Ryo’s question was answered firmly by the department head, Replate.

“Let’s go see it for the time being.”

When Ryo said that, both Replate and Abel stood up.

“I have applied for the use of a guild wagon, so please wait at the front.”

Replate then headed to the garage behind the guild main building.

“There are guild wagons?”

“Yeah, there’s three if I recall correctly. Commonly known as guild carriages. Although one is basically exclusively used by Guilmas …. Like now, if the guild staff decides that it is necessary, permission can be given for usage. Adventurers can’t rent them though.”

“That’s a shame.”

Abel shot down what Ryo was thinking.

After the three of them boarded the guild carriage, the carriage ran north on the main street.

It was the same carriage that Hugh made him ride on previously, on the way back from the lord’s mansion.

After riding for a while, they reached the center of the City of Rune, the double-walled square at the entrance to the dungeon.

They turned right there and headed east on the Eastern main street, in the direction of the East Gate.

Ryo was familiar with that area.

The reason being his favorite restaurant, Houshoku-tei, was nearby.

The fact that the property was close to the East Gate was a plus point for Ryo.

Even if it was equally 『outside the city』, he was much more thankful it was there compared to the south gate or the west gate.

The carriage went through a simple procedure at the East Gate.

Confirmation of Abel and Ryo’s guild cards, and Replate and the coachman’s Guild staff cards.

However, since the confirmation only took a few seconds per person, there was almost no stress.

They left the East Gate and arrived at their destination in about five minutes.

The first thing Ryo noticed when he got off the carriage in front of the house was the large front yard.

From a distance, he saw the wooden fence that marked the boundary of the yard.

The yard was about 400 meters long and 400 meters wide … It was large enough to easily accommodate three soccer courts.

And turning his head to look, he could see the constructed house.

It didn’t appear to be a typical farmhouse …

“Do farmers live in such houses?”

The house was a one-story building. However, it had considerable floor space.

There was an entranceway in the center built with a magnificent double door.

In addition to the central door, there were two other doors … alternative entrances.

There were what seemed to be windows, but the shutters were closed.

The area was reminiscent of Ryo’s house in the Rondo Forest.

“This is a farmhouse, but it seemed to belong to a fairly affluent house. The only son was recognized as an expert in the royal capital and raised to an aristocrat so his parents were also called to live in the royal capital. Because of that, this house and farmland were put up for sale.”

“From an expert to an aristocrat, he must be quite talented.”

Abel commented and nodded to the explanation of the department manager Replate.

“Other farmers bought the farmlands that were scattered around, but this house and the front yard that came with it hadn’t had buyers for almost a year.”

“The grass is cut quite cleanly despite a year of no activities.”

Ryo noticed that both the front yard and the side of the shed were cleanly mowed.

“Oh, that’s probably because there is a vacant house maintenance request for E-ranks and F-ranks, isn’t it?”

Abel replied.

“The thing is, there was no request put up to the guild for this property. That’s why it wasn’t checked by the guild’s real estate department. I’m sorry.”

Replate, the head of the department, bowed to Ryo. He apologized for the fact that the property was not registered when Abel and Ryo first went to the real estate department.

If the guild was requested to take care of the unoccupied house, the real estate department would have had it on record.

“Hmm? But it’s maintained so beautifully … Oh, perhaps the cleaning company?”

“Yes. This is a property managed by Schmidthausen-dono’s company.”

Replate confirmed Abel’s conjecture.

“Is the cleaning company you’re talking about run by former adventurers?”

“Ooo, yeah that’s it. You know him too, Ryo? He has a scary face but he’s a good person. You can hire them if you want to request for cleaning. It seems that adventurers will get a discount.”

Ryo knew because the receptionist Nina told him when he first went to the dormitory.

The dormitory was cleaned by the former adventurer’s cleaning company.

They surveyed the house briefly.

It was well cleaned and seemed that he could move in immediately.

The doors other than the central door they first saw were ordinary doors that connected the inside and outside of the house.

It may be because it was inconvenient to have goods enter and exit with just the central door.

They were probably side entrances.

There was a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a few bedrooms, some large storage rooms, and even a room that looked like a study even though it was a farmhouse.

“So this is how it will be like for a wealthy farmer.”

Ryo muttered softly.

What surprised him in the house was the kitchen counter.

It was a huge black countertop that seemed to be granite, and it was a countertop that would be very easy to use for those who cook.

The facility clearly showed who had the most power in this house.

A brief walkabout …

However, Ryo noticed something.

He couldn’t help but notice.

“There is no bath …”

Ryo turned into a sculpture with 『Despair』 engraved on his face.

“T-that’s true … By any chance, does Ryo-san need a bath …?”

“Yes……”

『Despair』 was engraved on the face of the department manager, Replate, who noticed his oversight when he saw Ryo overwhelmed by despair.

Yes, despair was contagious.

“Can’t you just make it yourself?”

Only Abel was unperturbed and gave a perfunctory reply.

But those perfunctory words revived Ryo.

“Yeah! I can make it myself! Replate-san, do I have to get a permission of some sort to remodel my house?”

“Oh no, there’s no need for that. That’s also why I recommend this property. In the city, you will have to get permits from all the relevant parties … you even need to seek permission to repair the wall of your house. But outside the city like this, you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t touch the road. So, of course, it is possible to attach a bathroom. If necessary, we can arrange for the carpenters too.”

Once Ryo’s question was answered by Replate, and the despair that covered his face disappeared.

“I’m glad. So, the price of this house …?”

“Yes, how about 50 million Florin, inclusive of the property and the cost of the formalities. I’ve rounded it to a clean sum.”

“I’ll take it.”

Ryo made a prompt decision.

For Ryo, being outside the city was not a problem.

He hadn’t done any model adventurer activities such as receiving requests every day in the Adventurer’s Guild. He doesn’t even go to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Ryo knew that there were many popular but above-standard delicious restaurants near the East Gate, including 『Houshoku-tei』.

Also, there were bonus points for having the North Library and the lord’s mansion closer compared to his current lodgings.

And above all, the large yard.

It was bigger than the barrier around his Rondo Forest House.

He naturally didn’t expect a yard of this size would come with it.

It was a pity that there was no bath, but there was no problem if he made one.

Ryo had no reason to decline a property with such favorable conditions.