Chapter 1227: Purchasing Property, Small Manor

After coming out of Iolum's Study, Xia Duo felt much more relaxed, as if a giant boulder that had been pressing on his heart had been lifted.

In the current situation, with Iolum's endorsement, he could finally detach himself from the suspicion surrounding Kelifu's death; no matter what the Seven Towers ultimately determined the cause of Kelifu's death to be, he had sufficient confidence to deal with it.

Just now, in front of Iolum, Xia Duo did not say whether he would return to Nan Jing immediately; in fact, he did not intend to return right away, as he still wanted to be nearby to learn the results of the Seven Towers' investigation as soon as possible.

Regardless, this matter had already implicated him, so he had to wait for a result, whether that result was good or bad for him.

Walking out of the Arcane Union, Xia Duo looked up at the sky, feeling that the sky at this moment was much clearer than before.

Arriving at the west side of the Arcane Plaza, Xia Duo saw Evans, who was looking around, under a Great Arcanist Statue; the other party did not notice him at all until Xia Duo walked right up to him.

"I am right in front of you!" Xia Duo sent a Sending.

"Ah?!"

Evans abruptly withdrew his gaze from looking around and focused his eyes on this unremarkable, ordinary Adventurer in front of him, asking somewhat uncertainly:

"Is it you? Lord Xia Duo?"

"It is me!" Xia Duo said calmly.

At such a sensitive time, using an illusion disguise while out and about could still avoid quite a bit of trouble; the situation like encountering Lord Hawk in front of the Cormanthor Embassy just now was, after all, a rarity.

"Did you bring the property information I wanted?"

"I brought it!" Evans hurriedly pulled a stack of crumpled Parchment from his bosom, preparing to hand it to Xia Duo.

Xia Duo took it casually but did not look at it immediately; instead, he pointed to the west and said, "Let's go, take me to the nearest one first to have a look."

"Yes."

Evans responded, then began to lead the way, introducing the first property they were about to visit as they walked:

"That house is located at the intersection of the Port District and the Trade District, not far from my 'Drunkard's Home', just two streets away.

"It was originally bought by a Merchant from the south, but later, when that Merchant went out to sea, he encountered pirates, so this house was sold to 'Blackbeard' by his youngest son.

"My lord, 'Blackbeard' is the boss of the property guild in that neighborhood; I heard he has an unusual relationship with a big shot in the Seven Towers. Of course, compared to you, my lord, that is not worth mentioning."

Regarding such flattery, Xia Duo was noncommittal and did not interrupt Evans's narration; before reaching the Advanced Rank, his main area of activity was the Tower of Time.

He had come to Seventon a few times afterward, but by then he was already an Arcanist, too far removed from the true bottom layer to experience the truly vivid life of the lower classes.

Now, listening to Evans tell these stories of the neighborhoods allowed Xia Duo to understand the other side of the Netheril Spellcaster community more clearly, and at the same time, it made him feel the Reality of the world more profoundly.

"My lord, I haven't told 'Blackbeard' about your intention to purchase property yet. If you reveal your identity, the price might be much cheaper, and you would also avoid a lot of trouble in that neighborhood in the future."

"No rush, let's go take a look first."

Xia Duo did not doubt Evans's words, but if it could be solved with Gold Coins, why would he need to owe others a favor?

Although others might not necessarily expect him to repay it, he was a person of principle who would keep it in his heart; to avoid having a blocked state of mind, it was better to owe fewer favors.

Soon, the two arrived at a crossroads where north and south intersected, and Evans pointed to a section of the buildings on the northwest corner, saying to Xia Duo:

"My lord, that is the first property."

Xia Duo only glanced at it and frowned; it wasn't that the house was bad, but it was adjacent to other houses, similar to the low, flat-roofed warehouses on the edge of old residential areas in his hometown.

It was just that the houses here were not low, but three or four stories high; looking from the outside, they were entirely made of stone, which could be considered quite high-end.

Xia Duo had seen many brick or plywood-and-mud-plastered houses in the Port District, and Evans certainly wouldn't introduce that kind of property to him, but this really did have some gap from his expectations.

Walking under a street lamp, Xia Duo quickly flipped through the materials Evans had found page by page; this house was among them, with a selling price as high as one hundred thousand Gold Coins!

"Living in a big city is not easy!"

In the past, the annual net income of the Savile Territory, including the Tower of Time, was only about one hundred thousand; spending one hundred thousand at once to purchase a property in Seventon that he might not even stay in a few times a year was truly a rather difficult decision.

Even now, this sum of money was an out-and-out huge fortune for Xia Duo!

What's more, he wanted a property that was more independent than this one, which would be even more expensive, but since he was going to buy property, he had to find one that met his expectations.

Putting away the materials, Xia Duo directed Evans to the next location; after excluding the vast majority of houses that were not independent or decent enough, only two manor properties remained.

The one they were going to now was one of them, located at the intersection of the Trade District and the Old City District; setting aside other factors, just based on its proximity to the Old City District, its price would rise by at least twenty percent.

The selling price provided by Evans was three hundred and fifty thousand Gold Coins!

This price was already half of a Mage Tower; before today, Xia Duo really hadn't expected that property prices in Seventon would be so high!

Even for a Senior Arcanist like him, wanting to purchase a property in Seventon that matched his status was quite difficult.

Of course, if he were willing to "sell himself," there were plenty of merchant guilds and Spellcaster organizations willing to pay this money for him.

But he clearly would not do that.

Soon, Xia Duo saw this manor worth 350,000 Gold Coins; it was shaded by green trees on the outside and surrounded by a fence, and the area inside was truly not small for Seventon, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold.

A full ten to twenty thousand square meters!

The building part of the manor mainly consisted of two parts—an Elf-style two-story villa and its attached garden plaza; and a row of brick houses used for servants to live in and for storing miscellaneous items.

Moreover, the geographical location of this manor was also quite good; to the south was the Trade District, and to the north was the Old City District, with convenient transportation and good public security.

He could even often see patrolling Old City District guards passing by here; seeing this, Xia Duo was no longer prepared to go to the next location.

Because that other manor property was located within the Old City District, for rent only and not for sale, and the annual rent was as high as fifty thousand.

That is to say, renting there for six or seven years would be equivalent to losing this permanent-ownership manor here.

Perhaps that place was more decent and could better reflect the status and position of a Senior Arcanist, but with this manor here being quite acceptable, Xia Duo really didn't want to be a sucker.

Thinking this, he had actually already made his choice in his heart, so he asked Evans again: "Can a Mage Tower be built here? If I want to build a Mage Tower here, what should I do?"

This manor was so large that building a Mage Tower would not appear cramped, and for Xia Duo, if he could own his own Mage Tower in Seventon, it would be even safer and more convenient.