I want to believe that this is not the case here, but could it be that every place that is not the Imperial City is treated like a slum in comparison to it?
「Incidentally, I happen to be the Property Manager assigned to the 6th District of Quratar. It is a pretty nice and peaceful neighborhood that's located just upstream of the city. If you are seriously looking to buy a place for yourselves, then I really recommend that one.」
「6th District?」
「Yes. As you have probably seen already, this city is divided by six roads extending radially from the center. The section with the Explorers Guild is the 1st District, and counting counter-clockwise from there, this is the 6th District.」
Certainly there were six roads indeed. Well, it would be more accurate to say that there were three of them at both halves of the rotary, because due to how the city was structured you couldn't go to each one directly from the other, and it would seem that the exact definition of a District is anything that is located between the two main roads, kind of like in wheel of the wagon.
「Six districts, huh?」
A city with the Labyrinth in its center, divided into six districts by the rotary. That is the kind of city that Quratar is. So according to this distinction, the part of the town with the Explorers Guild in it is the 1st District, the part that is home to the Knight's guardhouse is the 4th District. I wonder if this particular order has been established around the importance of each of the major facilities Quratar houses? In that case it would make sense for this hardware store to be at the ebd of the 6th District, because that is just another shop among many others. I don't know if she should have told me that much, but thanks to Honesta being a real talker, we at least managed to obtain some useful information about this city and the way it operates.
As for whether we can put our trust in her as our property manager, I think we can do that for a number of reasons: since she owns this store, then it's probably safe to assume that she makes most if not all of the things she is selling here herself, and Metalworking must be a really useful Skill in this world and its civilization, because it allows for the production of various essential home appliances and tools such as pans, rakes and hoes, and having someone like hat as a potential "ally" and getting on her good side should benefit us in the long run.
「Are you an Explorer, by any chance?」
「That's right, I am.」
「Uh-huh. And what kind of property are you looking for, exactly?」
When she asked me that question, I was honestly at a loss of words, because I have no experience when it comes to real-estate business and buying property for myself, because so far in my life I never even had to worry about such things. As shitty as my life was in the past, that was one of the things that remained consistently unchanged, for which I was grateful, at least to some extent. But going back to the topic at hand…
「Rather than me telling you what we are looking for, I would like you to tell me what options are available at the current moment. All I can tell you with absolute certainty is that we have no other requirements other than the rent being up to 40,000 Nar a year, and if at all possible, we would like it to be a place with a relatively low crime rate.」
「Is it for the two of you so that you could live together?」
「For the time being, yes, something that yould be enough for the two of us, but in the future, well…」
「I see. You certainly are an Explorer all right.」
The Merchant Lady Honesta grinned in a smug way that made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. Could it be that she figured out that Roxanne is my slave just by looking at her? Or maybe from my way of speaking she managed to put two and two together and realized that my ultimate goal is the creation of my very own harem? Or maybe she's simply saying what's on her mind just because she likes to talk?
Anyway, as a general rule, a single Party can be formed from up to six Party members, and from what I have heard from Roxanne before, it is not strange at all for the members of the Party to live together as long as they trust one another. Mu guess is that its also a nice way of cutting the costs and living expenses.
Honesta gave Roxanne another glance, and smirked again. Yup, she really seemed to have both of us figured out pretty quickly. Maybe that's what's actually required to be working in that line of business, having a good eye for people and their characters, I mean? However, knowing is one thing, but I would really appreciate it if she stopped making that smug faces, because it's more than a little unnerving, having someone look at me as if they figured out my entire existence after as little as a single glance. Man, property managers are terrifying! And on a side note, I hope she won't think of me as someone who takes his slave to the Labyrinth with him.
Then she moved in on Roxanne and started eyeing her from every angle possible with her hand on her chin. Just what us going on here?
「Uhm, ma'am…?」
「Hmm, you seem to have a good girl as your companion. If you two intend to explore the city's Labyrinth, then would you like a property that's located as close to it as possible?」
She left Roxanne, who was just about to open her mouth and say something and turned back to me.
「We'll be fine even if it would be somewhere that would require a little walk to get there. Distance is not a problem for us.」
In Quratar's case, being close to the Labyrinth also means being close to the center of the city, so that might be the reasoning behind the logic that farther form the Labyrinth = smaller rent, closer to the Labyrinth = higher rent. But in our case, since I am able to use Warp, then even if we were to live relatively far from the city's center but had some business to take care of there, all we had to do was to Warp to the Quratar's Adventurers Guild, and voila! Suddenly everything is withing a short walk's distance, so no matter what kind of location we end up choosing for ourselves, it will still be enough for us to swiftly move around if the need for that ever arises.
「If you want something for 40,000 Nar a year that's close to the Labyrinth, then I would recommend an apartment. But if you really are fine with a little distance, then I think I might just have a free house located in the suburbs available.」
「Yes, a house would be a preferable option for us.」
We have my Warp after all, so we can get pretty much anywhere as long as we have visited that place at least once. Not to mention that the rent seems to be higher when the place you're renting is located close to the Labyrinth.
There is no reason for us to live near the Labyrinth. If it gets cheaper the farther the housing is located from it, then that's all the better for us.
「If you're not an Adventurer, then perhaps I could interest you in a house that is reinforced with shield Cement?」
「Shield Cement?」
Not understanding what she was talking about, I shot Roxanne a discreet glance, and she immediately followed up with an explanation.
「Shield Cement is a material that is being used in reinforcing buildings so that could withstand harsh weather conditions, but Adventurers dislike it because for some reason it is preventing their Field Walker Skill from working.」
Thank you for the save Roxanne. It's good to know that you can always be my go-to when it come to needing information about the matters that I am completely oblivious to. That aside, I do intend to use Warp quite a lot to move around, so not being able to do it sounds quite concerning. So Shield Cement prevents Movement Magic from working properly. I see. That would mean that if I wanted to use my Warp I would have to either pick a place that doesn't use it or live near the Labyrinth because a place reinforced with Shield Cement that's going to interfere with my Movement Magic is essentially useless to me, but on the other hand I don't want to pay a high rent when I can avoid it. What to do, what to do?