Nick’s familiarity and comfort with the Werfurs stumped Eliora, to say the least. She was an experienced woman in matters such as relationships between the different races.
As a government official of the Blue Tear Empire that had numerous dealings in selling lands to private organizations and individuals, she knew some things better than most other officials in the empire.
The Werfur race harbored inherent dislike towards humans. This was natural because humans had enslaved them not too long ago. Even now, many wicked human mages and strong warriors with evil tendencies hunted Werfurs because they sold well as slaves or magic slaves due to their inherent magical ability.
Since she was privy to this background, Eliora took a deep breath and smiled. She did not expect the ‘young man’ in front of her to have a good relationship with the Werfur race. But Lady Eliora indeed was an experienced woman — she did not doubt Nick’s words even for a second. This was not because of Nick’s power level as a mage but because this was not a light matter. No human, in their right mind, would buy land close to the Werfurs.
Lady Eliora, hence, calmly continued the conversation.
“How many acres of land would you want to buy, My Lord?”
Nick did some calculation in his mind and answered.
“10 acres sound good. If it is possible, I would like my land to be equal in length and breadth, so it should be square-shaped.”
Eliora smiled and pulled out a paper from her desk and handed it to Nick.
Nick took the paper and read it without adding any comments.
‘Ownership Contract’
‘Anderium Forest – Land’
‘Location’
‘Underbroom Cave – 500 Meters of North’
‘Size: 10 Acres – (300×300) (9000 m2)’
‘Price: 100,000 Ether Stones’
‘Holder Sign: Blue Tear Empire (BLT-Empire)’
‘Buyer Sign: _____ ’
While Nick inspected the document, Eliora brought out her salesperson side and shared more information about the property.
“This land is filled with forest and is very fertile for planting and other work. For buying this land, ordinary people need two to three more documents. For mages, however, the only thing you have to do, My Lord, is to sign the paper I gave you with your mage name and pay the land price.”
“Once the payment is completed, I will give you a magical scroll that shows the land has been purchased by you and now belongs to you, My Lord.”
Nick went over all the details and thought to himself.
“Everything seems to be in order. Humans are not bad in these situations, especially if they are serving an individual or organization with power.”
Nick touched the document and signed his name on the paper using magical energy.
‘Ownership Contract’
‘Anderium Forest – Land’
‘Location’
‘Underbroom Cave – 500 Meters of North’
‘Size: 10 Acres – (300×300) (9000 m2)’
‘Price: 100,000 Ether Stones’
‘Holder Sign: Blue Tear Empire (BLT-Empire)’
‘Buyer Sign: Epsilon (Individual Mage)’
He handed the document back to Eliora after signing. She re-checked it and then nodded as she looked at Nick, who understood her meaning. He flicked his hand and 100,000 Ether Stones, all in a grey cloth bag, appeared on the table.
Eliora used her magical energy to check if there were 100,000 Ether Stones in the bag and nodded again, indicating that she had received the correct and complete amount. She then pulled another document from the table and signed it with an unusual blue pen that manifested in her hand. She finally handed this document to Nick.
‘Ownership Document’
‘Anderium Forest – Land’
‘Location’
‘Underbroom Cave – 500 Meters of North’
‘Size: 10 Acres – (300×300) (9000 m2)’
‘Price: 100,000 Ether Stones’
‘Paid’
‘Holder Sign: Blue Tear Empire (BLT-Empire)’
‘Buyer Sign: Epsilon (Individual Mage)’
Nick noticed a drawing on the document page that was a sketch of the land he bought alongside its location.
Eliora got up from her seat and spoke with a smile on her face.
“From now on, the land that shows on the map is yours. Please be aware that if the land is not used well, the land will be taken away from you in two years. Therefore, My Lord, please use the land and do not keep it idle.”
Eliora’s advice was no surprise to Nick. He knew from the beginning, courtesy of his short chat with Baron Agriman, that Blue Tear Empire did not sell lands to keep them idle. If the lands did not produce something or were not used to create goods or generate some form of income, it was considered to be a bad deal for the empire.
Every person and organization who wanted to buy a property knew this unwritten rule. The contract did not include it because it was assumed that people capable of buying land would be aware of it from the start. Nick needed to ensure that he used his place well over the next two years to retain its ownership.
He nodded and took the documents, as he left the building without saying anything further. As soon as Nick was outside, though, he sighed with relief and smiled.
“I have 10 acres of land close to the Underbroom Cave. With this, I can safely say that from hereon, I have a place that belongs to me.”
Nick’s mind first went in the direction of building a house for himself. Then he thought that he could just find a company to do this. As long as he had enough Ether Stones, he did not need to make these kinds of things himself.
Hence, Nick thought of looking for a developer to handle the construction. However, just at this time, an alarm rang in the sky and the guards started shouting instructions.
“Magical creatures invasion… all commoners and ordinary people go to your homes!”
“Leave the streets.”
With the guards’ warnings sounding across the city, almost all ordinary humans and some small shop owners moved quickly and closed their establishments.
Nick stopped one of the guards and asked.
“What is happening?”
The guard answered with fear in his eyes.
“We don’t know! But for some unknown reason, more than 10,000 magical creatures are headed here to attack the city!”
