Both of the newcomers were of iron rank and seemed to be stuck there for about a decade. The one in the front has a refined and politely restrained aura, while the other person wore his aura like an ornament.
Just by the look of that, Gale was sure the former was an artisan. Well, on the path of becoming one, an apprentice, probably. As for the other person, Gale believed him to be a craftsman. The aura was evidence enough. What's more, his fingers and arms had a tone that told volumes about his work. Those hands knocked hammers too many times.
"Greetings fellow practitioners," the sheltered one of the duo spoke, "I'm Guo Zong, an apprentice artisan, and this is Master Craftsman Shi Jun. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
The hard man, Master Craftsman Shi Jun, nodded his head with a slight bow.
"Well, it seemed the guild weighed my words seriously, sending a Master Craftsman so easily." Gale nodded and invited them in.
"We of the Artisans Guild take our work seriously," Guo Zong assured, his chest puffing in a proud boast. "Besides, Master Gale, you provided enough marks to take you seriously."
Well, it seemed five hundred silver marks were enough for people to take you seriously there. Though he was sure it had more to do with the artificial fate lock, he provided them with.
"You commissioned the guild?" Wang Li arched an eyebrow. "For what?"
"To build a house, of course."
"A Master Craftsman to build a house . . ." Wang Li pursed her lips and shook his head.
Gale wanted to commission a master architect if there was one, but later he learned that craftsmen's business included building large projects like building sect houses, temples, mansions, houses, etc. They worked as engineers, in charge of all the plans and execution for the project with a helpful crew of builders.
Gale could have built his own house from scratch if he wanted, but then he would have to experience many trials and errors. That could waste a lot of time easily. He might be a gold ranker, but he hardly had any experience building homes. Besides, he wasn't trying to make a cottage. If he had, he would've been making it himself.
So his bright idea here was to leave a man who knows his stuff in charge, while he would also be present, helping and affirming all the decisions. Well, the craftsman and his crew would only build the house.
Unfortunately, it seemed the guild had no master artisans or even an adept to spare. So Gale would still have to do the scripting part, and he was fine with it. Despite him never conventionally earning a Masters title in scripting, there wasn't much difference between them.
A practitioner's house needed to have a practitioner's virtue and longevity, after all.
"I forgot money isn't an issue for you," Wang Li said, clicking her tongue. "Still, it wouldn't come cheap, commissioning a master craftsman and an artisan. Must be some monumental architecture you think of establishing."
Wang Li didn't seem to have the faintest idea of how loaded he was. True, his void-lock couldn't store everything, but it had enough to be on par with a silver-ranked guild or sect with hundreds of years of inheritance. That's how loaded he was.
"We only live once," Gale smiled. "If I can't even spend some money for years-long happiness, then what's the point of earning?"
"Truly, wise words from the younger generation," Guo Zong said. He wasn't really the introvert, it seemed.
Gale brought them to the open veranda for the meeting, as it was nice and quiet there all the time. After informing Xiaolin to serve tea to the gentlemen, he addressed them.
"Alright, gentlemen. Show me all the blueprints you have. Be mindful that it has to be spacious."
The guilds-men came prepared. They showed Gale over a dozen types of blueprints they were familiar with building. Most of them were old-fashioned, traditional east-domain houses. Some of them were copies of some famous palaces of Tianhui in simpler forms.
Gale liked most of them, but they don't seem practical to him. A palace in the middle of nowhere would look weird to him and everyone else. Also, a single man would look rather lonely in such an enormous palace.
Besides, old-fashioned buildings had a terrible sense of space. They waste useable space just too much.
In the end, Gale brought out a scribing pen and parchment paper and started drawing, remembering the spot where he would like to build his home. Gale chose the slope in the north, where it was too inefficient to farm. They would need to flatten the slope somewhat to work, but the space would be wasted if left out.
Gale mapped out equal space before the house for the garden and an outside bath, then drew the frameworks. An outdoor staircase to climb, as the house would be on higher ground. It was more like a mansion than a palace and went well with the image he had in his mind. The mansion would look smaller from the front, but spacious enough.
Gale didn't forget to leave space for the balcony or all the specific rooms he had in mind.
After finishing scribbling, he found the two gentlemen patiently waiting for him. Gale nodded to them and handed the paper to Shi Jun, the master crafter.
"Is this workable?" he asked. Shi Jun inspected the paper in silence and Gale continued explaining, "The first floor is for the residence, practising spirit arts, and receiving guests, while the ground floor is for more stuff like stocking liquor, spirit herbs, treasures, and also a collection room. . . ."
Gale paused, noticing a lot of free space he would have no use for. Perhaps they will be of use to a family. If I ever have one.
"This is very . . . Unconventional," Guo Zong chose a word that wouldn't be offending. The shape of the building probably seemed terrible to his sense, as he hadn't seen anything so ugly.
Master Jun didn't speak a word. He took the pen and started outlining over his drawing. "If the idea behind this is to use all the space," the master craftsman said, regarding Gale, "then perhaps you can shorten the outdoor staircase. The open veranda on the first floor seemed like an interesting idea. You only want the first floor to come into view from the outside right as the staircase leads there?"
Gale nodded. If he truly wanted a practical use of space, he would've drawn a skyscraper, but that would appear ugly and unique. The one he drew was more welcoming and homely, though it would have extravagance and richness inside.
"I'll need to see the space and a day or two to make a blueprint that will work," Master Jun said. "When do you want to start?"
"As soon as possible," Gale answered.
"Good. Let's go there if you have nothing else to do."
And like that, they left after Gale gobbled up his breakfast.