After they were let into the city, the families drove south for about fifteen minutes before stopping at a local park, where they let Harold and Nathan out from the hidden storage. Patrick and Maya cast the Cool Wind spell inside the storage, so the experience wasn't too bad. Last night, Harold endured pain in his wounds for much of the night until Patrick finished treating Jonathan's and Nathan's wounds. He was exhausted and went back to sleep on his bunk immediately after getting out. The families prepared to depart right after.
"Patrick, you must be very tired. Do you want to look for a hotel to rest first?" Maya asked, after all that happened, the exhaustion was not only physical, but mental too.
"Grandpa Patrick, I can help drive the wagon." Thomas volunteered.
"No, let’s buy a place as soon as possible." Patrick answered. "The property trading records usually have a one to two weeks backlog. If we pay a bit extra and cut the line, the record could say that we bought a house a month ago. I know a good real estate agent. Follow me."
Patrick wanted to prioritize his family's safety first: the Inquisitions Knights might trace them through hotel logs or property trading records.
"Ok, but we don’t have that much money for a good apartment though." Maya said, troubled by their lack of wealth. Without Appraisal or looting experience, Maya and Thomas did their best, but they couldn't collect much.
"I will buy one for you. Consider it a gift. Let’s settle down first before we make other plans." Patrick assured Maya, having prepared the money for them. Nathan and Arielle realized that this was what Grandpa meant by "We really need the money" a few days ago.
"No way. We cannot accept such a gift!" Maya refused resolutely. Even an old apartment would be very expensive in the city, Maya couldn’t bear to take such a gift from Patrick.
"At this point, don’t be so formal, Maya. Our families have been through thick and thin together. Just accept it." said Patrick. "Of course it's not for nothing. I need to work full time, and I'll need your help looking after the children. It'd be helpful if we lived close to each other, like in Urie."
With her husband looking like a mummy right now, it was indeed difficult for Maya to settle down in the city. Moreover, she and her husband had vowed to help looking after the children. Therefore, Patrick’s offer was very tempting.
"Ok, let’s settle down in this city first. We can discuss with Harold again after everyone is feeling better." Maya conceded.
The families then continued to drive on a main road with a lake on their right. The long mountain range on their left was the same one they traversed through last night. A lush green forest carpeted over it and stretched all the way from the north to the south, providing a serene scenery alongside the highway.
On the way, they exchanged their horses at a local stable for another pair of well-rested ones. After about an hour, the families arrived at a real estate office and parked their wagons in its parking lot. "Wait here, Maya. Please use the time to change Harold's bandages." Patrick got off the wagon and headed into the shop. Seeing that, Nathan got off the wagon and followed Patrick inside.
Patrick was a bit surprised by Nathan following after him, but he remained silent and went into the shop.
"Cling!" A metal bell tied to the door rang as the shop door opened. "Excuse me, is David still working here?" Patrick asked the receptionist.
"Yes, but today is his day off." the receptionist said with a faint smile. "It's Saturday."
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"Call him and ask him to come, please. Let him know that Patrick the Physician is here." Patrick said.
"Sure thing. I'll call him right away," the receptionist said, standing up and walking to the back office.
Patrick smiled and thanked her.
Telephone existed in the Kingdom. They worked by using Mana strings to connect two barriers together. Each side of the barriers could function as a microphone and a speaker. However, Mana strings were expensive to maintain, so phones were only for contacts within a city between close friends, families and coworkers with physical locations.
After a few moments, the receptionist came back and said, "David will be here shortly. Feel free to take a seat and make yourself comfortable." She pointed at the sofa in the resting area. "Additionally, there is water available on the table to your left." She then pointed to a jar of water and some overturned glasses on the table.
A few minutes later, a tall, sturdy man in his sixties came in. He had short light green hair, piercing Sapphire eyes and darkly tanned skin. "Hey, Patrick! How are you doing? And this is?" David greeted, looking at Nathan with a friendly smile.
Patrick stood up, smiled, and shook David's hand. "This is Nathan, my grandson." Nathan nodded to the man and said hello. Patrick continued, "Not good, not good at all," shaking his head, "I've been through some tough times and I need your help. Thank you for coming on short notice. Let's meet up and talk more later." After the devastating events and barely any sleep in the past week, Patrick really wasn’t in the mood to socialize. Additionally, his exhaustion was apparent and David noticed.
"No problem. Let’s get straight down to business then. What's your budget and what are your requirements?" David asked.
"I am looking for either two three-bedroom apartments that are very close to each other, or two single-family houses on the same lot." Patrick answered. "They must be located within the Bluefield College school district and ready for move-in right now. My budget for each property is around 1.8 to 2.5 million silvers."
"I have exactly what you need. Please wait a moment while I pull up the catalog," David said, turning around and walking to the back office.
In a moment, David came back with several documents with pictures. He had a duplex for sale for 3.5 million and a lot with two single family houses on it for 4.5 million. The land of the two single family houses was a lot bigger than the duplex, but the backyard of the duplex was quite large already.
"Grandpa, these houses seem so much smaller compared to our place back home." Nathan made a remark.
"These are already considered big and luxurious. It is just that houses in the countryside are very large and cheap." Patrick said. "Which one do you like more?"
"I understand. Um.." Nathan looked at the pictures. "Which one is closer to the school and the guilds?"
"The duplex. It is located closer to downtown and closer to Bluefield College and the guilds. However, because of that, its neighborhood is busier. Though, its crossroads do not have commercial traffics, so it is very quiet at night." David replied. "If you want a more serene neighborhood and don’t mind an extra 10 minutes of commute time, the single family houses would be a good choice."
"Then, I’d prefer the duplex." Nathan decided.
"I'll take the duplex. Could you please backdate the purchase record to a month ago? I'll be paying in full with cash and move in today." Patrick said, handing about two thousand silvers of paper cash to David.
David took about a thousand silvers and gave the rest back to Patrick. "I don't need tips. Just treat me to lunch later." He lightly tapped on Patrick’s shoulder.
"Keep it." Patrick said as he took out another ten thousand silvers. "Please get us some basic furniture to be delivered by tonight."
"Ok, got it. I can also set them up if you let me decide what to get."
"Then, please do the honor."
"Got it!" David quickly took the money and went into the office.
"Grandpa, you seem to know your way around here very well." Nathan said. It was his first time in the capital. Patrick took several turns on the way to the real estate office and Nathan didn’t know how he got here at all.
"I worked in the capital for a few years before I retired." Patrick replied, looking at his grandson.
"Sure," Nathan said as he leaned on Patrick’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
Twenty minutes later, David came out with a set of keys and documents. Then he said, "Everything is ready. Let’s go!"
David rode his own horse and led the way for the families. After getting some fast food from Burger Queen outside of the real estate office, they headed out.
In addition to hamburgers, Patrick got a lot of french fries for the children. The events in the past few days had taken a tool on the children's appetites. Seeing that, Patrick deliberately got them their favorite food for replenishment. The children loved french fries, and they finished them very quickly, much to Patrick's delight.