The carriage made its way through the azure streets of the capital, as the young noble obsessively read the third piece of advice. This one wasn't as enigmatic as the other four, which made him suspect that there might be another hidden clue among its lines. Nevertheless, everything seemed to indicate that the third advice was merely a prioritization of how to spend his budget. This paranoia stemmed from the fact that his ancestor's first letter had hidden the mysterious secrets of the magical mask quite well between its lines. Also, his second ancestor had been equally unclear with some of his advice, bordering on the enigmatic. Therefore, Apolo had concluded that in the world of magic, mages tended to dole out information in dribs and drabs, wrapped in riddles. This made understanding the true message they intended to convey quite complicated. The reason behind this was uncertain to the young man, and his main idea was that it was a simple quirk born out of the long years of solitude a mage had to face.
As usual, time never stood still, and when the young man tried to remember how much longer he had, he realized he was already at his destination. Apolo's carriage was now on one of the main streets of the ring city, facing a shop that easily occupied the space of four regular stores on this street. It showcased its leadership and economic power. All the shops around this gigantic establishment were selling exactly the same products: lands, properties, castles, and various buildings. Based on the signs of the neighboring stores that Apolo could read, it seemed you could buy a house practically anywhere, not limiting themselves to working exclusively in the capital and its vicinity.
The grand store itself didn't have an eye-catching appearance from the outside; it looked like a traditional red-brick house. The most noteworthy aspect of the store was its size, and the only thing that stood out was a large sign placed at the front of the establishment, reading:
> "Properties of the Deep Mines Reign"
From the sign's title, one could deduce that this store belonged to one of the main noble families, in this case, the Deep Mines family. They were one of the most powerful families in the empire, holding a duchy as their main title. Their power primarily stemmed from controlling a significant portion of the empire's crystal extraction. Their economic might was even greater than that of the emperor. So, it could be said that this family was one of the pillars holding up the entire empire's economy. Furthermore, their nobles were known for their lack of military tradition and their recognized use of mercenaries in wars. This had resulted in a strained relationship with Apolo's family.
However, the strained relationship between the families didn't concern young Apolo. He knew that ultimately, this was a family with a commercial tradition, so if you had money, you would be well-served regardless of your lineage. Despite this, Apolo had already planned a couple of things to make the negotiation faster and more comfortable for him. Thus, when the carriage finished parking, the young noble didn't step out but instead observed from the window as Orrin got down and entered the store.
After a few minutes, Orrin returned with a man dressed as a flamboyant merchant, wearing colorful and attention-grabbing clothes. The most notable thing about his attire was an unusual black crystal necklace around his neck. The man had quite pale skin, and his eyes were entirely black, with no visible pupils. His nails were quite long, adorned with intricate colors and patterns. His hair was as white as snow, despite his appearance not suggesting he was older than 40.
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Orrin hurriedly opened the carriage, revealing Apolo ready to disembark and greet the stranger.
—Pleasure to meet you, Apolo of the Black Forest— the merchant commented with a smile. Although the surprised expression on his face at seeing Apolo's undernourished body for the first time wasn't fully concealed. After all, rumors about giants weren't few, and this boy looked preadolescent due to his malnutrition—I'm Darío of the Deep Mines. Would you like to move somewhere more comfortable to talk?
—Yes, let's go inside— Apolo said, glancing around the streets with suspicion. The last thing he needed was for a thief to steal his belongings and vanish into the depths of this immense city. After confirming no one was around, Apolo took his chest of important things, refusing to trust the carriage's security, and entered the store with Darío.
Upon entering the store, Apolo noticed that it resembled an ordinary mansion, with its main room being a vast reception hall dominated by a large staircase in the middle, leading to the upper rooms. However, unlike domestic houses, a receptionist stood between the door and the staircase. Darío led Apolo up the stairs and into one of the second-floor rooms. The room contained only two armchairs and a table. Immediately after they sat down, an employee entered the room with some drinks and almanacs.
—What kind of machinery are you looking to have us build?— Darío asked, handing the almanacs to Apolo—And in which frontier castle will they be needed?
Apolo immediately noticed that all the items in the almanac were machinery and war artifacts designed for fortresses. This made him realize that Darío had misinterpreted the reason for his visit.
—I'm a new mage, I'm only looking for a house in the capital— Apolo responded, correcting the issue.
Upon hearing the request, the maid took the almanac handed by Apolo and went to get another. Meanwhile, Darío commented:
—Oh, that explains quite a bit. Truth is, I've never had someone from your family looking for a house in the capital. What's your budget?
—I suppose the most expensive one— Apolo replied, taking out the emperor's decree and handing it to Darío.
—Mmm...— Darío took the document and read it over a few times before breaking into a rather abrupt smile—Haha, we should try to convince more people from your family to move to the capital. Looks like the emperor got used to pampering them. It's been a while since we saw this decree, since we gave a house to one of his children.
—Pay what he owes us...— Apolo said coldly.
—No, the emperor pays your family much less than that. If you only knew the cost of hiring a decent mercenary...— Darío replied with a quite pronounced grin—I wish we had generals who just wanted a couple of heads as war rewards, but the emperor is the emperor exactly because of his alliances and connections.
As Darío said this, the employee returned and handed an almanac to Apolo. The young mage noticed that it contained numerous properties; the price of the cheapest house was over 50,000 crystals. This raised a question in the young man's mind, and he asked:
—How do new mages afford to buy a house?
Darío took a sip of the drink the employee had brought and responded calmly:
—They don't buy it; they live in the third castle of the Ministry of Magic until they save enough. It usually takes them a few years if they're diligent with their work. The other option is to live in the Ring City. There's a neighborhood full of mages within the Ring City, and not exactly novice mages: some of these mages are quite important and belong to the upper echelons of the Ministry of Magic. Not everyone likes living surrounded by nobles and far from all amenities.
—I suppose, it took me almost four days of travel to get here...— Apolo commented, noting the slight issue. However, he didn't want to waste his free house, so he continued browsing the almanac, trying to find the right one.
—There are only two houses I would recommend, and they're both at the end of the almanac— Darío said, noticing that Apolo hadn't found a house he liked.
The young noble followed the advice and found that the two most expensive houses were indeed at the back of the almanac.