Chapter 1230: Haggling, and the Destined Decline of Seventon

……

"May I ask how to address you, sir?"

"Call me Dailike!"

"Very well, Lord Dailike. May I ask what business the person you represent wishes to conduct with the Halan Chamber of Commerce?"

"The Halansaide Estate!"

Since Sailasi had gotten straight to the point, Xia Duo did not beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly: "Lord Xia Duo wishes to purchase property in Seventon and has sent me to handle the matter in full. I recently learned that the Halansaide Estate is for sale and believe it meets Lord Xia Duo's requirements; I have come today to negotiate the purchase."

"Since you are aware that the Halansaide Estate is for sale, Lord Dailike, you must also know that the chamber's asking price is 350,000 Gold Coins. Have you come today to sign the contract and finalize the deal?"

"No, no!" Xia Duo said repeatedly.

His current identity was that of the Chief Official of the Savile Territory, so he naturally did not mind stepping in to haggle with the other party himself. In fact, having not engaged in this activity for a long time since his arrival, he was quite excited:

"While the Halansaide Estate itself meets Lord Xia Duo's requirements, the price is not very pleasant. I do not believe that paying a premium for such a property would be approved by Lord Xia Duo, especially since it is not the only property in Seventon that meets the requirements."

"Then, what you mean is—"

"I think 200,000 Gold Coins is a more ideal price!" Xia Duo calmly stated a figure.

"No, no, Lord Dailike! Even in the Trade District, it is impossible to buy an estate the size of Halansaide for 200,000, let alone one on the edge of the Old City District!"

Hearing the number 200,000, Jalasuo shook his head repeatedly. Even with the need for a quick sale, he was very dissatisfied with such a low price.

"Lord Dailike, the Halansaide Estate has a superior location; it is a high-quality asset whether for personal use or investment."

"How about this: if you are sincere about purchasing, then out of respect for Lord Xia Duo, I can lower the price to 320,000. If it goes any lower, I can only ask you to look elsewhere. I believe that even a Great Arcanist cannot force a sale in Seventon, right?"

A Great Arcanist certainly could not force a sale, but that was because the other party would be completely willing, even at a very unfavorable price.

Xia Duo carefully recalled the background of the Halan Territory; it seemed to have no special background, and the lord was merely an ordinary Archmage who only knew how to exploit his subjects. What confidence did he have to ignore a future Great Arcanist?

Of course, this was not Xia Duo wanting to use his status to pressure others; he was simply curious. If he really wanted to use his status to pressure them, he would have come with his true identity.

He did not believe that Jalasuo would have much Courage to haggle in the presence of a Senior Arcanist himself!

However, in the current situation, the scene seemed to have reached a stalemate. Jalasuo insisted on 320,000, while Xia Duo still felt that 320,000 was too high a premium.

His ideal price was 250,000, which was roughly the median for estates in the New City District of Seventon.

The highest, such as those near the Great Temple, were priced even higher than in the Old City District.

The lower ones, such as those in the newly built Trade District to the south where residential areas were also planned, could be bought for a little over 100,000. But most of the infrastructure there was still under construction and very incomplete.

Calling them estates was actually just referring to a plot of land. Spending over 100,000 on a plot of land was too much trouble, and Xia Duo had not considered pure land from the beginning.

In fact, after Evans's screening, the only one Xia Duo could find that was most suitable was Halansaide. After all, Seventon had existed for hundreds of years, and the vast majority of properties had their own owners.

Those circulating on the market were either too high-end or in poor locations, so the range of choices was quite small.

Actually, if one were optimistic about Seventon's development, buying the Halansaide Estate for 350,000 as a pure investment was not a loss; in fact, the longer it was held, the more profitable it would be.

But Xia Duo knew very well that the birth of the Mythallar was not far off, and it was even possible that it had already been born.

Once the Mythallar was made public and Floating Cities appeared in large numbers, Seventon's status, even as the capital, would be greatly diminished, and the trend of its property prices would be self-evident.

Perhaps by then, the Seven Towers would build a new Seventon in the sky as the new capital for all parties to use, and as for this one on the ground, it might be completely reduced to an ordinary territory.

Therefore, Xia Duo was quite restrained with the money he spent in the current city of Seventon. Although 250,000 was not yet his true bottom line, it was not advisable to go too much higher.

Moreover, he planned to sell his fixed assets in Seventon during the period after the appearance of the Mythallar but before the appearance of the Floating Cities, so as to avoid suffering huge losses.

……

Thinking this way, Xia Duo proposed a new transaction plan: "Chairman Jalasuo, I wonder if the Halan Chamber of Commerce accepts payment in Magic Items?"

This was a plan he had thought of before coming, but he was not sure if the Halan Chamber of Commerce would be willing to accept such a payment method. At the same time, it involved the issue of pricing Magic Items, which was quite troublesome and not as convenient as cash payment.

But now Jalasuo was holding firm at 320,000 Gold Coins, while he was only willing to pay 250,000. Although it might be lower if he kept grinding, it was still quite a bit higher than his ideal price.

If he could pay with Magic Items, for Xia Duo, he could even accept some premium, as Magic Items also carried significant premiums, and he could make it back on that.

Back home, many deadbeats used products to pay off debts; this was actually the same principle.

……

"Pay with Magic Items?"

Upon first hearing such a proposal, Jalasuo was stunned for a moment, but then he immediately thought that the Tower of Time's New Communication Magic Artifact had quite a reputation in Seventon, and wasn't the Tower of Time the Mage Tower organization where that Lord Xia Duo was located?

He speculated that Dailike's proposal to pay with Magic Items might have been the true intention of that Lord Xia Duo from the very beginning.

After thinking for a moment, Jalasuo did not refuse, but at the same time pointed out: "If paying with Magic Items, they can only be valued at 60% of the market price, and the Magic Items used for payment must be approved by us in advance, rather than just any kind of Magic Item."

Xia Duo did not feel that the restrictive conditions proposed by Jalasuo were too excessive. It was a recognized fact that Magic Items had high premiums; even if calculated at 60% of the market price, the manufacturer still made a profit, just less of one.

For example, the Tower of Time's communication magic artifact had a total cost of only about 200 Gold Coins, including materials, facilities, and personnel, but if sold to the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, it would cost 1,000 Gold Coins.

Such a net profit margin was extremely impressive, even in the place on Earth where the commodity economy was extremely prosperous and various means of exploitation emerged one after another.