Chapter 51: Chapter 49 – A Totally Normal House

—Normal. 

"There is no ghost, it's not haunted, there isn't a murder that happened here, and you won't certainly find any hidden treasure. It is a completely average house." that is what this guy who would totally belong as an accountant if he was on Earth had said to us. 

"Were you expecting anything extraordinary in this place hmn? I'm getting tired of goody two shoes adventurers thinking they can buy a house for cheap!" he raves and rants while looking like he's squeezing himself on his tight suit and staring me and mom back to back. 

"Hahaha!" Borta laughs at the man. 

"Haha please excuse him, he's just very shy that's all!" and Torta reassures by bumbing his elbow at me. 

"U-uhm...sure..." I am confused but I want to move on, [But I do feel like my expectations were ruined for some strange reason.] it is weird but maybe I did expect meeting a ghost in my house like it was normal in my particular situation. 

How weird. 

"Ahem!" the office clerk guy in another world coughs to get our attention. "As you can see a house like this in this situation is pretty unusual."

"Indeed." I look and couldn't help but nod in agreement. [It's quite tall and in a good spot after all.] 

It was situated on the middle of a T-shaped path in the Commons District, so it's a great spot for a shop. Even better, [We're not that far from the Starting Point Inn as well.] if the inn is in the middle of an 'L' road then you just need to go down one corner and go straight right until you reach the middle of the 'T' road and just go across and reach here. 

So a house of this location wouldn't just be up for sale without any reason, "Why is this house available anyway?" so I ask.

"That's right." he explains. "You see there is well, was an old hermit living here alone. Not much is known about him besides being a noble of sorts that fell from nobility and used his remaining fortunes to live a solitary life. Quite a parasite to be honest." he remarked coldly on the former owner. "Well anyways, when he finally died we found that he has no children or relatives of his own and so by common law the deed of this man's house was given to the lord, but graciously the great Margrave gave the land up for sale. Hopefully to someone that could use this house better than its last owner." and so he finished his explanation by that brutal note. 

"Hahaha you government people sure are a pickle!" Borta remarks on the guy that belongs on an office.

And as for me, [Wow...he was really hated huh.] well in the perspective of someone that works in the local government like this clerk, having someone like that, that doesn't contribute to the development of the city must be an eyesore. 

It's essentially the medieval equivalent of a NEET. 

But at least there's one sympathizer, "Awww... I feel sorry for him." it seems my mom is not someone that reads through a situation that well yet as she hasn't come up to that conclusion. 

"That's alright mother." looking at her and holding her hand I reassured her. 

"Well I can still trace some of his regrets in the house though~" I look at the house right away when she said that. 

[...Maybe there is a ghost in here.] but I shook that thought off as nonsense. 

"Well mother what do you think?" about the house of course. 

And she responded. "It's quite modest to say the least." 

[Compared to Atlantis.] her single bedroom there is bigger than this entire house so of course she's gonna compare them. [Oh well...] and I looked and saw the guy staring at us. 

"Oh so you must have been in a high position in the past, but right now this 'modest' house has quite the price tag indeed!" he coughs and looks at us again with scary eyes. "Your lucky you made friends with these two dofuses and had them bother me, otherwise this might have been sold to someone else. Here." then on his hand is a piece of paper I grab and look at the contents of. 

"Wow...that's a lot of Dracha." I said in shock, this might have been the most Dracha price tag I have ever seen so far. 

"That's right! Another thing you didn't expect is that only an idiot could pass on such an opportunity. Although we did keep this sale unannounced there is already several merchants and a noble that wanted to buy this house. Do you think you could—" while he was explaining arrogantly at me,

"Here." he didn't notice I opened my bag and grabbed the sack that contains the Dracha I exchanged with my goodies from Myidari and the others. 

[I know this sounds over dramatic but I don't really wanna involve myself with betting politics.] so I dangled my sack of Dracha and drop it in front of him.

Desperately, "W-wha....!" he catches the sack and from the weight alone he knows that it's a lot. "You two...!" surprisingly he didn't glare at me and my mom but the two bearded twins instead. "What did the two of you bring this time?" obviously the 'bring' refers to us now. 

"I dunno!"

"We owe her one!"

That's what the two short, hairy humans told to the stumpy office worker. 

"..." he stares at me and mom with a suspicious eye before looking back at the sack and finally, "...Fine, follow me." gave up and opens the door to the house. 

"Let's go—mom?" I look at mom and she's staring at the building this whole time. 

"Morus!" mom looked at me with shock and explains why while holding her face. "Ah, I said I called this modest right? Take it back Morus I think I'm beginning to like this house." she said before holding my hand this time. 

I didn't ask but her actions got me thinking, [Did she have a change of heart?] I wondered before entering the doors.

•••

Cling! Cling! 

"To be honest with you two I'm certainly quite perplexed about this." he told me while doing the iconic Gendo pose as me and my mother sat across from him, our view being slightly blocked by the trifling matter of the Dracha coins forming a small hill in-between us.

Cling!

And then he puts down the last pillar of coins on the table. 

[Man he sure did take a long while counting them out.] it took so long that me and my mother even checked the inside of the house for a bit. We didn't check much but there are three floors to this building plus a back garden and a locked basement. [And when we came back he's still counting...] the only thing I can say about this is if I can I would gift this guy a computer for his birthday. He needs it.

Back to him now. "...You two." with a big sigh he looks at us with heavy eyes.

"Y-yes?" mother answered immediately while I, "...Is that enough?" even though I had made fun of him before I can't really say anything with that tired face anymore. 

"..." he breathes for a moment before, "Of course it's enough!" he lets out everything. 

I look at my mother for a moment before saying. "...So can we buy the house now?" I really do feel like we're walking on eggshells.

"...You two I—!" he wanted to say something but interrupted himself. "...Nevermind, a crime of that scale would at least be reported to us." but it seems the thing that he wanted to say was quite nefarious indeed.

"Alright..." that's all I can say.

After that he coughed his throat and straightened his back once more, "Alright!" he's ready to talk again. 

"First off is this." checking down at the table is the small hill of coins. "...With this much you can probably buy two, maybe three of these houses if you wanted to." and then... 

"Here is...." He made a chopping motion on the portion of the hill, separating that portion from the rest. "....The amount you need." he tells me while looking at the rest still in my pile. 

[That's still a lot.] the amount the guy took is barely half of the money I still have left. [But it's still a big chunk indeed.] I might need to go and trade with Myidari again. 

Looking at my shocked expression. "Surprised as well huh?" he told me. "Look let me tell you something, I am a Page of Margrave Norkin." 

My interest piqued. "Oh really?" 

[He has that position but he's down here talking to us?] but that thought of mind was seemingly read by him.

"Yes, but it is nothing grand. Although called a Page I am simply a man that was hired by the Margrave to work as someone who does the petty paperwork of the city that the Margrave couldn't bother to do." he explained. "Plus he told me about you Morus, although I never thought I would meet you here thanks to those two idiots, I believe my liege was correct to tell me you are a unique individual." he finished explaining. 

"Oh wow your pretty important." I told him. "Even if you only do the nonessential work of the Margrave, he still trusts you to be in charge of his work." and then said... "You're like a mini-Margrave!" and sure enough,

"I-is that so..." I hit the bullseye, well bullglasses I guess. "I'm only a commoner so it's a bit preposterous to compare me to someone like him..." I made him scratch his face in embarrassment.

And then, "That's even better!" it's my mom who spoke this time. Winking at me before talking to the tomato. "You as a commoner managed to climb up and become a trusted subordinate of the Margrave, you should think about that a bit more!" my mother proclaimed to him with passion. 

"..." he's silent. 

And finally, "I will." he spoke and then clearing his throat. 

[Justice for office workers!] I thought with a raging fire in my heart as I as well was once an office worker just like him. 

"...Well anyways!" he tries to change the subject quickly. "Thanks to that any chance of swindling you two is gone!" he shouted.

"I'm kidding." he's a lot less stiff now than earlier. "I am not a merchant but a Page, one of the retainers of the Margrave, so me trying to get the most profit from people he finds interests in would leave me back to the streets once more." and back to looking at us once more. "Ms. and Mrs. Sibylissa, are you sure your willing to spend all of this for this house?" it's not only the pile he sectioned off but the entire hill he's referring to. 

I look at my mom for a moment before saying, ""Yes."" without hesitation and my mom joining me as well.  

[Sibylissa huh...] The Margrave must have told our full names to him. 

"Good." he stood up and unexpectedly, "I apologize." he bowed his head towards us. 

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"Eh? Why?" of course I'm confused about this. 

"Originally this house was supposed to be for sale today with already a few catching on and coming to us with many Drachas. But if we knew that you Morus, someone that the Margrave has interests in, would buy the house we would have immediately sold it to you in its original price." he explained further. "But the other buyers and one noble made the proce go immensely up and so to not lose face we have no choice but to sell this house to you for the current price. So I apologize once more."

"T-that's okay!" I tried stopping him. 

"Alright. Thank you." and he immediately stands up once more. 

"O-okay..." that was contrary to my expectations. "But what was the point of even apologizing?" I asked. "I still have plenty of money you know." just by looking he can see I have no trouble with money right now. 

Squinting his eyes he leans to my ear and says. "Well, there was somebody that especially wanted to buy this house." he told me while looking around. 

"...Can I ask who that is?"

He sits down with a serious face, "...Morus, please do not tell anyone this okay? The Margrave trusts you so I'm gonna rely on that." and whispered to me. 

I nodded, and he tells me that buyer. "Baron Jschovenne."

"What?!" I immediately shouted in anger. [Why the hell's he buying this?!] I have never seen him but from what he did to Marina he is scum that I do not want to be involved with at all. 

He gave a look of deep remorse. "Unfortunately, as he is involved in the finances of El Niño he knew about the sale of this house." He explained, looking at my expression with silence. 

But, "Dear..." with the sound of mother's voice I calmly cooled off my frustration. 

Judging by my expression just now he knows my impression of him. "...I am a neutral party so I will not say anymore than this, but Morus when you said yes you agreed to use all of this fortune for this house." He stood up. "I will take the Dracha I sectioned off with me as payment for this house. But he will most likely not give up so the price may go higher." looking at the rest of my fortunes. "So I will make sure to tell him the amount that you have right now to make sure you seal this house." and finally leaving the table. "The one in my hands is your actual payments to this house, and the money on that table is your potential payments if he does increase his price." he told us that as he now puts the coins in a sack. 

And so we also put the coins back in the sack and prepare to get ready to leave.

•••

Now that we're back on the entrance of this house. "I will go now and tell the Margrave about this news." he said. "And hopefully by tomorrow I can give you the deed to this house." telling us that with confidence in his eyes.

"Hopefully there wouldn't be any troubles." I replied wishing in my heart to be the case. 

"I also look forward to seeing you soon." my mother said with a coy smile "After all you remind me of my daughter for some reason." giggling. 

"Mom!" I interjected right away.

"No Mrs. Sibylissa I'm a guy!"

[Well I'm a guy too.] moving on from that.

"A-anyways..." he straightened himself once more. "One more thing, if you did get the deed, what store do you want to make here?" he asks curiously. 

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell that huh." I honestly didn't because he was too busy counting the Dracha in his hands. 

"Well as for me I want to create a medicinal store for potions and a healing service. We might be having some religious icons as well like a pseudo-shrine so that as well." I listed my general idea of a store. "How about you mother?" I ask. "I wanna know what you want as well."

[Originally that's all I wanted, but mom is family so I need to get her opinion too.] I thought whilst checking her surprised expression.

"Oh me? Well it might sound embarrassing but..." looking at me and then looking at the office guy, "...I kinda want to teach children." she said with a flushed face. 

"Mom..." I look at her with a smile. [That's so mom of you.] of course I agree to her wants wholeheartedly.

"A medical store, a shrine, and a school huh..." the boring accountant for the first time ever actually smiled. "You two are certainly a weird bunch but okay..." he starts thinking for a bit before looking at us once more.

"I will contact an alchemist, a representative from the Shrine Council, and a member of the Mages Guild for you to receive permits and operate your store." he told us with a smile that says 'you can trust me!'

"Thank you." I nod my head down to him. "You're supposed to just sell us our house but you've already done so much." I told him from the bottom of my heart. 

"It's just part of the job." he said trying to be cool. "And well..." unfortunately, "How could I not help a pair of beautiful elves?" he's not cool enough to say something like that and so told us his honest thoughts. 

"Fufu~" my mother giggled but not at him. 

And I, "If you were to carry yourself better you might be quite the ladies man dude." honestly complimented this accountant of a man. 

"Hahaha~thanks Morus. I'm already carrying your cash as you can see." he made a big smile that was completely the opposite of the clerk that I first met just before. 

The three of us laughed for a while until he closed the door of my will-be house and as he was about to leave,

"Oh your name!" I cannot believe that I didn't ask his name yet.  

"Nir, you can forget about it." the office no, Nir said as he didn't even turn around and look at me.

[Nir huh...] Nir and Rin, it's almost like, [We're soulmates.] but whist I was thinking something that. 

"Uhm Nir!" it's my mom, who unexpectedly called him out.

"Hmn?" he stops. 

"I have something to ask of you." 

•••

Right now. "Alright, according to Nir we just need to walk forward and we'll find it around here somewhere." we're in a totally different path that we have never been before. 

"Oh my~ I'm really sorry Morus that I didn't ask of it sooner." my mom apologized for her sudden call of Nir at the last moment. 

"Don't worry mother." I reassured. "I also want to pay respects to the current form of Angie right now." 

My mother asked Nir if there was a shrine or a temple of Angieflora the Elf Mother here. He said there was but, 

"I can't believe that the people here do not know the name of the mother of all elves." my mother said in disappointment.

What Nir said is that there was an elf temple but not to the god known as Angieflora. 

"...Well a temple to nature itself is acceptable too." elves of course believes that the nature around them is also a form of god that should be worshipped as much as the Elf Mother. "...If they ever try to have another elf besides the great Angieflora as the Mother Elf..." my mother still smiled but it was a sinister smile. 

And while mother is thinking of something probably bad right now, [Man another crazy day and it's still just the morning.] what happened earlier definitely was something different than before. [And speaking of what happened...]

I look at mother who stopped thinking of bad stuff now and, "Mother I apologize."

"Eh? Why again Morus?" this time she's not as frantic as before. 

"I mostly talked to Nir earlier mom, so yeah." I'm feeling a sense of deja vu right now but that's how I honestly feel. 

"Do not worry about it dear." she said while smiling. "I was just as busy as well looking at the house." 

"Oh yeah..." honestly that house is a pretty lucky fish we caught. [There's three floors, an open space in the back we could use as a garden, and a basement I think but it's locked.] we couldn't just break into a house we haven't even bought yet. 

So I try to segway the conversation to that. "What do you think of the house mother?" I try to ask but...

"Honestly although it's a good house from the outside, but when I went in I kinda felt a bit uncomfortable." her face is a bit melancholic about it. "Well maybe I'm still not used to something made of wood and stone hehe~"

"Maybe so mom." I didn't feel anything weird about it. [I mean Atlantis is made of marble so the change of scenery isn't something your used to yet.]

"Maybe there is a ghost of that old NEET somewhere?" I humor my mom and the two were giggling like kids. 

And after laughing and chatting for a while. "Fufu~thanks Morus, I didn't know why I felt that in the first place." she said holding her cheeks with her palm. "It's something faint and—" but before she can explain. 

"We're here!" I stop in my tracks as I stare at the nature temple of the elves. 

And it really, really lives up to its name. 

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