Arcane Innovator

"Ah, finally some peace and quiet!" I exclaimed, lying in bed, humming a happy tune.

After the hectic past week where I had to deal with all the nonsense that had come my way in the wake of the Measuring ceremony's results, now I can finally enjoy the pleasant feeling of being holed up in my room and not having to deal with anything.

Thus, I remained blissfully unaware that my newfound idleness was not meant to last. Right after I decided to finally get up from the bed and began to lazily stretch my body while thinking about making myself a late breakfast, someone loudly knocked on my door.

'What is it this time?' I scowled as I reluctantly went on to see who it was, only to find a scrawny errand boy with a message.

'I swear if it is another dinner invitation...' I grumpily accepted the letter and proceeded to quickly skim its content. But before long, I widened my eyes as I read further. 'That's too soon...' I thought worriedly.

The letter was from the Guild... They had apparently found a magic tutor for me, which was quite a surprise since, from what I learned, such things usually take a lot of time. Magic tutors were a rare commodity, and most of them were already booked many years in advance.

Although Ereneth was quite a big city on its own, it was still only a small frontier town in the grand scheme of things, so it was not very often for a mage to travel here...

My former laziness instantly dissipated. I didn't bother with breakfast and instead started hurrying straight for the Merchant's Guild building in the center of the city.

***

"Master Darian! We have some great news for you..." The familiar lady clerk warmly greeted me.

I simply nodded, not at all sharing her enthusiasm, as I looked with furrowed brows at the documents she presented me. At first glance, this seemed too good to be true. Not only was there a magic tutor, but she was even a graduate of the Grand Tower...

"She is currently in the Kingdom's capital and should arrive in Ereneth by the end of the Harvest season." The lady said with a bright smile.

On the other hand, I was sweating bullets. 'Oh, crap! That's less than three months from now!' I realized with horror as I was still without a suitable house. I wanted to wait until Helga came to the city so that she could help me choose one, but that is certainly not an option now.

So, while trying very hard not to let my growing anxiety show on my face, I smiled back at her and asked, "Is Master Alaric here? I need to urgently speak with him."

"Oh, please wait a moment. I will send someone to check," she replied, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

Normally I would have to schedule a meeting and wouldn't be able to meet with him right away, but many people here knew that Alaric was my guarantor and we knew each other well, so I could skip the formalities...

After a while, the lady clerk confirmed that Alaric is indeed in the Guild today and doesn't currently have any meetings, so I can go to his office right away. I breathed a sigh of relief and, with hurried steps, headed straight for his office.

"Darian! What brings you here today?" Alaric greeted me warmly. "I heard some unbelievably amazing things about you... Not only are you apparently a genius investor, but you also seem to have a great talent for magic as well." He laughed as I entered his office.

"It's nothing much; I've just been a little bit lucky lately," I replied with an innocent smile on my face.

"Anyway..." I quickly tried to change the subject. "Wouldn't you by any chance know of any house for sale in the Western District?" I asked him with hopeful eyes.

"A house?" Alaric thought for a bit while stroking his beard.

"Sure, I would know of a few properties for sale, but buying a house is an expensive affair... Especially in the Western District, I'm afraid not even your exceptional profits would be enough to cover such an expense..." He looked at me with worry in his eyes.

However, his worry was quickly replaced by a bright smile: "But I might be able to help you get a great apartment for a fair rent, and in the Western District no less." He added while eyeing me carefully as if he didn't want to quench my hopes too much.

"Oh, don't worry about it... I managed to secure some funds from other sources, so all I need is someone to tell me who I should talk to if I wanted to buy a house." I replied with a mysterious smile.

Alaric raised his eyebrows. "Other sources...? Has it got anything to do with the recent rumors about you meeting with the venerable Sir Roderick?"

I kept smiling but didn't reply with anything, letting Alaric come to his own conclusions. After a moment of silence when Alaric realized that I wouldn't be answering him, he grinned at me and said, "Well, if it is like that, I can give you a list of houses for sale by tomorrow."

"Thank you very much, Master Alaric," I replied with a slight bow as a sign of respect.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Alaric said, waving his hand at me. "Something tells me you have a great future ahead of you, so helping you with a few things now and then is nothing..."

'Ah, so he wants to get to my good side now and then use my future influence in his favor... As expected of a shrewd merchant like him.' I thought amusingly.

But it didn't bother me, as I didn't mind helping Alaric with a thing or two in return for all his help so far...

The next day I returned to the Guild and saw Alaric already waiting for me in the lobby.

"Ah, here you are! I have the list of available properties right here with me, but I figured it would be quicker if I accompanied you so that we could go look at them right away," Alaric greeted me eagerly.

"Thank you, Master Alaric, for your consideration," I replied respectfully, trying to mask my growing excitement. We then exited the building, and to my astonishment, we were greeted by the sight of a luxurious carriage with a driver that would take us there.

'I feel like a rich kid already...' I thought with a grin as we settled on the generously padded seats inside. The first property we visited was an old house at the edge of the Western Quarter.

The property itself was very large. 'Hmm, this would be the perfect place for training without anyone bothering me...' I contemplated as I looked around eagerly.

But upon closer inspection, I quickly discovered that the house in question was not well maintained at all. Actually, it was extremely old. It was obvious at first glance that nobody had lived here for a very long time.

"This property comes quite cheaply given its large size at only 600 silver marks. But as you can see, it is quite dilapidated, so you would need to pay extra for repairs." Alaric explained.

'Haha, dilapidated is a very nice way to put it. It would actually be better to outright tear it down and build a new house instead...' I thought as I looked at it.

It would be a pretty good investment opportunity given the large size of the property itself, if I had enough time, that is, but as things currently stand, I need a house to which I can move right away thanks to my soon-to-arrive guest, so this one is a pass...

I promptly delivered my verdict to Alaric, who didn't seem surprised at all by my decision. Next, we arrived at a very nice house nestled between two larger mansions. It looked cozy and well-maintained. But it was like the polar opposite of the previous house. This one was very small, with only six rooms and little to no garden.

Despite those shortcomings, it cost a whopping 700 silver marks, probably since we were right in the middle of the quarter, close to the main road, so this must be quite a prime location... Still, it was utterly inadequate for my needs, so I simply looked at Alaric and shook my head.

'He must think I don't have much money, which is why he is showing me such cheap houses...' I realized with amusement. "Master Alaric, isn't there something with a big garden like the first house but well-maintained and fully furnished, as I want to move in very soon?" I looked at him expectantly.

Alaric stroked his beard as he thought about it. "There is one house that fits your description, but I must warn you that it would be very expensive, and you might not be able to afford it even with your extra funds..." He looked at me, worried.

"Can we look at it first? I will decide after I see it." I replied with a carefree smile. Alaric raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything, and then told the driver to take us to a certain address.

After a while, we arrived in front of a grand mansion. The whole property was surrounded by a tall fence overgrown with ivy, thus obscuring it from view. As we entered through the elaborate gate, we were in front of a large main building surrounded on the sides by several smaller ones that looked like stables and rooms for servants.

The garden was large and full of exotic-looking trees that were not typical for Ereneth at all. The mansion itself looked nothing like any other house I had been to so far. Everything seemed too opulent and excessive.

Alaric chuckled at my incredulous expression. "As you can see, this house is something else... It belonged to a certain nobleman. A Baron of exquisite tastes and extravagance... But he was also very prone to gambling, and thus he squandered his family's fortune and, in the end, even this sumptuous house."

"This property has now been owned by the city for many years, as there isn't anyone with enough resources or desire to acquire such an opulent and wasteful residence." Alaric finished his explanation.

"How much is it?" I asked as I was looking around at the many peculiar decorations scattered around the garden.

Alaric looked at me with wide eyes as if I were crazy to even consider this, but he still replied. "The current price is around 3400 marks of silver. Originally, it was much more than that, but as the city couldn't find anyone to buy for a long time, they decided to lower the price, although it still didn't attract any buyers nonetheless..."

"Well, although this is a little over the top, this fits my needs perfectly, so I will be buying it," I said confidently to the utterly flabbergasted Alaric.