After waking up the next morning, taking a better look throughout the compound and talking to some of the supervisors, Ajax found that his plan to get most of his chores done today wasn’t going to work. All of the kitchen shifts for the day were already taken so the only thing he could do was Watering and cleaning the garden.

To absolutely no surprise he had found that the garden was stocked full of plants that were useful for creating healing remedies. It was also the only other place beside the entrance where he found guards stationed, most likely there to stop people from stealing them and selling them on the outside.

The work was very easy for him, it was meant to be something that a level fifteen should be able to accomplish so doing his part of both chores only took an hour a piece. Since he also took an hour before to have a late light breakfast and take a look at what the people staffing that were doing by the time he was done the sun was high in the sky.

WIth his plan to get as many of his chores done today pushed to tomorrow Ajax now planned on first going to buy a land plot in the farming quarters as well as one in the merchant quarter. As for why he was buying land plots, it simply made more sense for him since he now had more than a month in which to get his own place so he might as well build it to his specifications.

As he made his way through the capital now dressed in the official garb of the Healing Union trainees he could see that the looks people gave him also changed from yesterday or the day before. Instead of only glancing over him, now they were giving him a much more appreciative glance, most deciding whether it was worth getting to know him since he might move up and knowing someone in the Healing Union was always a boon.

After he made it to the government building he quickly came to a conclusion, his two thousand gold coins were not going to take him as far as he expected. Looking at the price of the land plots available on one of the priced maps, two thousand gold coins was barely enough to get a good position for a merchant establishment, let alone building something on it afterwards.

Since that idea was a bust, Ajax instead decided on a rather large plot that was based in the crafting quarter. His initial plan of setting down roots for his sister having to change he decided to set up a good spot for both his brother and his parents. The plot was large enough that two decently sized houses and a smithy could be built on it while also being close to a guard outpost and a branch of the Healing Union.

The plot would set him back around five hundred gold, an outrageous price but that was the nature of buying land in the capital outside the slums. With that decision made he filled out the paperwork and then headed over to look at the farming plots. The pricing here was all over the place, thankfully an attendant was standing nearby and was ready to help.

“Can you tell me why there is such a variance in the prices?” Ajax asked.

“The price varies based on the land,” the attendant said. “Distance to the creak, how steep the slope is and what trees have already been grown there all affect the price.”

Ajax agreed that it made sense, flattening the ground to build the foundation of a house was hard work but not outrageous, flattening a whole field was something that would take a high level mage.

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“Why is this one so much cheaper?” Ajax asked, looking at one of the plots that cost four hundred gold despite being surrounded by plots that cost six hundred that were also free.

“That one already happens to have quite a few trees already planted in the center.” the attendant said briskly after taking a look at the plot.

“What kind of trees are they?” Ajax asked.

“They are an assortment of tea trees.” the attendant answered reluctantly.

With that Ajax now knew exactly why the plot was much cheaper than anything else. Tea leaves had to be dried in most cases. When the peace with the Republic came into effect it also brought with it better access to trade with the other races. The elves' familiarity with trees and ability with mana meant that tea prices dropped hard. Unlike a lot of other plant based goods, tea leaves didn’t suffer from the long travel time which made importing them much more profitable.

The attendant mistook Ajax's pause for him being undecided on whether or not the land was worth it so he made a push to see if he could sway him.

“The owner is also willing to accept three hundred and ninety.” the attendant said.

“We can haggle for plots?” Ajax was really surprised by the news and was wondering why he didn’t see anyone there to haggle with on the first map.

“These one’s yes as they are sold by individuals.” the attendant answered by swiping his hand over the farming plots.

“What about the ones inside the capitol?” he asked.

“All of those are owned by the royal family, they can only be bought at the listed price and availability is limited. They can also only be sold back to the royal family.” the man said.

While that seemed odd it did make some sort of sense. The prices on the lots might seem high to him but to noble families that had accrued wealth for hundreds and thousands of years it would be well worth the investment to gather so much land inside the capitol. They most likely also restricted the amount a person could own at any one time and if he was right it also included intermediaries.

“I’ll take the plot for three hundred and fifty.” Ajax countered the initial offer after he thought about it.

“Three hundred and eighty.” The attendant immediately answered back.

Ajax wanted to try to push it further down and offer three hundred and sixty but he found the words unwilling to leave his mouth. It was the first time he had felt his merchant skills be suppressed to such an extent. The man looked to be in his late forties but his age was much higher and his skills had lots of practice behind them.

“Fine.” Ajax agreed with a defeated tone. He couldn’t even make a counter offer for three seventy five.

The attendant quickly filled out the form for him and listed the price as three hundred and eighty. Ajax was sure that this was the farming plot he wanted as soon as he heard the reason for its low price; it was all a matter of how much lower he could bring it. After all, his bees would need flowers to gather pollen from and tea trees were known for producing a lot of flowers.

Getting everything sorted after that was just an exercise in bureaucracy. It seems that even in a medieval era the buying of land needed a lot of forms filled. The only highlight of the process was the binding contract he had to sign, it stated that he was buying the plot of land inside the city for his own personal use and that he wasn’t a front for anyone, not only that but he couldn’t offer it or its use in any trade of any sort and had to be sold back to the crown under any circumstances except changing the name among family and even that had to be done with the approval of the office.

Right as he finished signing the contract he felt it take hold inside himself. They cared little what he wanted to do with his farming plot and quickly got him the deed for it afterwards. He carefully removed his money pouch to hand over the eight hundred and eighty coins, it did him no good to advertise his wealth.

After securing the two deeds in his inside pocket next to the money pouch Ajax headed out to collect his first hive box. There was still plenty of time for him to get at least one filled and set up, so after paying the carpenter a silver ajax stowed the stand in his bag, strapped the box to his back and took off towards the forest.

“See, I told you he’d come out today as well.” Ajax heard a raspy voice as soon as ten feet after he entered the forest.

He had obviously noticed the tracks that showed him that other people had passed through here before but that was nothing new, there were hundreds of such tracks, some days old, some months old, so Ajax hadn’t paid any attention to any of them.

“What do you want?” Ajax asked the group of five that stepped out from behind the trees.

“We’re here to make you an offer to join the house of Baron Steelboot.” the lead man said with a malevolent smirk. “An offer you can’t refuse.”