Chapter 49: Buying Property in the Middle Ages

Half an hour later, Wayne dropped Kaen off at the Fox Tavern, leaving him there to recuperate for the time being.

He then washed the bloodstains from his body, changed into clean clothes, and rode his horse to the town hall in the center of the city.

The reason he had come here was that, after careful consideration, Wayne intended to settle in Wyzima for a while and purchase a property to serve as a fixed base for his daily activities.

As for why he had this idea, besides the love for land deeply ingrained in the bones of his countrymen, it was also because his Witcher System, apart from completing quests and raising his Witcher level, had the most powerful ability: providing stat bonuses to his various skills.

Whether it was swordplay, alchemy, or other auxiliary skills, they all required a stable environment to slowly improve in level.

He had gained a deep understanding of this during the month or so he spent traveling with Geralt.

Most of the time during that month had been wasted on the road, and there was absolutely no efficiency in skill improvement like there had been at Kaer Morhen.

Putting aside the factor of improving his strength, Wyzima was currently building a new city, land prices were quite cheap, and for the next twenty years, this city would be quite safe and increasingly prosperous, offering significant room for land appreciation.

It just so happened that he had some spare money now, and investing it in land here would surely yield generous returns in the future.

Moreover, Wyzima had all kinds of talent, which was very conducive to him learning and improving various skills to increase his own strength.

After all, as a Witcher with modern thinking, he hoped that in the future he could become a respected, wealthy, and powerful big shot.

Rather than being like Geralt and his other companions, who had spent decades or even a century drifting about only to end up penniless and destitute, even needing to clean sewers to earn money for food.

And the soon-to-be-completed New Wyzima was a very good entry point.

However, before he could even enter the town hall, his temperament, which was vastly different from that of ordinary residents, caused him to be stopped by two guards at the entrance.

"Who are you? This is the Wyzima Town Hall. You cannot carry weapons inside."

Upon hearing this, Wayne looked at the steel sword at his waist. He had come to conduct business and did not want to create extra trouble, so he obediently unbuckled the steel sword and said:

"I am here to purchase land at the town hall. Two gentlemen, I wonder what the procedure is?"

A guard with a scar on his face did not answer Wayne's question but instead scrutinized his amber cat-like pupils with a suspicious gaze and asked:

"What's wrong with your eyes? Why do they look like that?"

Wayne glanced at him. He thought about it, and since he would be living here for a long time, he didn't hide it and explained:

"Don't worry, two gentlemen."

"I am a Witcher, responsible for helping others deal with various monsters."

"However, I am not here at the town hall to look for contracts this time, but to handle some official business."

Hearing Wayne claim to be a Witcher, the scarred guard was stunned for a moment, and then, as if thinking of something, an expression of disgust appeared on his face involuntarily.

However, there was no rule in the town hall prohibiting Witchers from entering, and the mayor was currently having a headache over raising funds.

He turned his head to look at his companion, then spat on the ground in annoyance and said to Wayne:

"I know you mutants. I've heard that you are all thieves and human traffickers, specializing in stealing children and then transforming them into monsters like yourselves."

"I'll be watching you, Witcher. If you dare to cause trouble here, just wait for the gallows."

Hearing this deeply rooted, contemptuous rhetoric about Witchers again, Wayne felt a bit angry, but he didn't want to bicker with these two small-fry guards. He just calmly handed over his weapon and said:

"Rest assured, two guard gentlemen, I am a law-abiding good person. I even want to spend money on New Wyzima now; your mayor will surely like me more than you do."

Having gotten rid of the two guards who clearly hated Witchers, Wayne sighed in his heart.

He knew very well that the reason Witchers had such a bad reputation now was largely because monsters in the world were becoming fewer and fewer, and sorcerers and the human elite had begun to fear these super-soldiers whose combat power far exceeded that of ordinary people.

The ignorant masses believed the rumors, and also because of their fear of the unknown, they were naturally wary of Witchers, who were clearly different from humans.

So Wayne had another purpose for staying in Wyzima: to help King Foltest lift the curse on his daughter, gain the king's friendship, and thereby change the prejudice people of this country had against Witchers from the top down.

This was a very good opportunity.

Because King Foltest was also a unique king; he was controversial for marrying his own sister and having children with her, so he could better understand Witchers who were in similar situations.

After entering the town hall, a middle-aged man who looked refined and courteous came up to greet him. He looked Wayne over for a few seconds, and although he also showed surprise, he subsequently behaved quite politely.

"Sir, may I ask what business you have at the town hall?"

Facing such a polite person, Wayne also showed a friendly smile.

In fact, if he didn't wear the unique Witcher attire, apart from his cat-like pupils and pointed elven ears, Wayne didn't look much different from an ordinary person; his appearance could even be described as quite handsome.

"I heard that the town hall has land for sale, and I came here to purchase some."

Upon hearing Wayne's purpose, the middle-aged man's expression became even more enthusiastic. He extended his left hand to Wayne and said with a smile:

"Sir, I am the administrative officer in charge of selling land, Peter Cross."

"May I ask your name?"

Wayne reached out and shook his hand, saying with a smile:

"No need to be so formal, Mr. Peter. Just call me Wayne."

After the two introduced themselves, the administrative officer Peter took Wayne into a room and handed him a manual filled with various prices.

In the center of the room, there was a huge map similar to a sand table, on which the map was divided into more than a dozen different areas by lines, and each area was marked with a number.

Administrative officer Peter pointed at the map in the center of the room while introducing it to Wayne:

"Mr. Wayne, this is a simple map of New Wyzima. We have marked different prices according to different areas."

"You can choose to purchase land in these areas. The larger the area you purchase, the more favorable the price."

"Of course, this is just a preliminary intention. Once you have a general choice, we will send someone to accompany you for an on-site inspection, and then proceed according to the specific situation."

Administrative officer Peter introduced it eloquently, with a professional smile on his face.

"I have to say, you are very lucky, Mr. Wayne; you came at just the right time."

"In order to raise funds for building the new city as soon as possible, our Mayor, Mr. Velerad, decided to discount the current land. If you purchase now, you can enjoy a certain discount."

This administrative officer Peter had a glib tongue. As Wayne flipped through the manual in his hand while listening to his introduction, he felt a bit like he had entered a real estate agency and was being sweet-talked by a real estate salesperson.

And as he flipped through it, Wayne suddenly discovered that in the latter part of the manual, there were actually some already-built houses that could be sold directly, which surprised him a little.

To be honest, compared to buying a piece of land and spending time finding workers, designers, and materials to build a house from scratch, he preferred to buy a finished product directly that he could move into immediately.

Anyway, every year he would return to Kaer Morhen Castle with Geralt and the others during the winter, and sometimes he would go to other countries to carry out contracts.

This house was just used by him as a base, not a cozy home for long-term living.

And upon discovering that Wayne's attention was on those finished houses, administrative officer Peter's expression became even more excited.

Compared to bare land, these finished houses for sale were obviously higher in price and could collect more funds.

This concerned their performance in this new city construction event, affecting their salaries and future promotions.

Seeing this situation, Peter also picked up a similar manual and began to introduce the situation of each finished house to Wayne in detail, comparing it with the large map in the room.

Because Wayne's attitude made Peter feel that this was a big client, who might be able to bring him a quite good profit.

(Thanks to the big boss Duze233 for the tip. Everyone is welcome to offer more suggestions. I might not have considered many details as thoroughly as everyone else.)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====