Badge in Azure

Chapter 192: The Expensive Life (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The mage apprentice looked far too old for his age, although in truth, he really was fairly old. He had a wisened face and a fringe of grey-white hair around his mottled scalp. His head stuck out like a sore thumb in the Qin country because most of the people here had either black or brown hair.

However, he still looked presentable. His clothes had been enchanted such that there was not even a single speck of dust on them.

Saleen could not help but look at the old man with contempt as he stared into his meek brown eyes. However, his contempt turned to pity as soon as he realized that the mage apprentice standing in front of him would never be able to become a true mage. Back then, if Saleen had not discovered the magic medicine, he would have met the same fate thirty years down the road.

Not everyone was as lucky as him. Then again, not everyone was as courageous, or in less pleasant terms, reckless, as he was.

If a mage was unable to create magic chords, they would never become a respected mage. It was exactly for this reason that many people switched to learning new skills – for example, swordsmanship. Some of them even became bandits just to survive.

“What can you do for us?” Saleen asked, not letting Lex make the decisions this time. They had come to Alchemy City to get information about Jason’s whereabouts. The Grukos family was not legally permitted to inquire information about Alchemy City, so she was just about as clueless as he was. Right now, what Saleen and Lex needed to do was to find a local here who had information on Jason.

For example, in Ceylon City, if you needed information about someone, the best people to find were people like Decca. Before becoming a bandit, he had done many odd jobs and thus had many connections. He was physically stronger than Saleen and that gave him an added advantage when it came to the variety of jobs he could do.

“Would you like to stay here for the longterm, or are you planning to leave after two to three months?” the old apprentice asked with a smile on his face.

“We haven’t thought about it yet, but let’s stick with the longterm plan,” Saleen replied politely.

“In that case, let me introduce myself. I’m Sumano, an advanced apprentice. Pleased to be at your service,” the apprentice said.

“Saleen,” Saleen replied lazily, not bothering to introduce the old man to anyone else. Why bother? That old apprentice was just going to be one of the many faces that they would forget a few weeks down the road. A person at this age could not have their future altered, not even with divine intervention. Sumano was fated to never be able to live a life of luxury like Lex. Bitter Water Prefecture had many mage apprentices, of which eighty percent of which were under eighteen years old. If neither Saleen nor Lex could remember them, they would most probably forget about Sumano as well.

Sumano cheerily asked, “Mr. Saleen, if you and your friends are planning to stay for a while, will you be buying a house or renting one?

“Oh, what’s the difference?” Saleen asked, genuinely curious.

Before Saleen could even complete his question, he was able to hear Sumano’s stomach rumble. The old apprentice blushed and laughed awkwardly. Yet, he mustered up his confidence and asked, “Mr. Saleen, I can explain everything to you, but could we talk about it over some beer?”

Understanding that the old apprentice had indirectly asked for a free meal, Saleen nodded and replied, “Sure, lead the way. Don’t go for anything too expensive. I can only afford to pay in gold coins.”

Gesturing for Saleen and the gang to follow him, Sumano walked at a brisk pace and led them through the narrow streets onto another road. As he walked, he tried to strike up a conversation, “Mr. Saleen, I don’t know what you might have heard about Alchemy City, but we are not completely unique. We do share similarities with other cities. For example, the items within the city limits are nearly ten percent more expensive than those you’d find outside.”

Saleen did not reply. He was too busy observing his surroundings. It was his first time walking in such a narrow alley. The alley was flanked by two buildings so ridiculously tall that when he lifted his head, he could only see a patch of the sky. The base of the walls were built pretty similarly to those in ordinary cities. The materials used were anything but steel. With the exception of not being able to carve a magic array directly into these walls, the sturdiness of these walls was pretty much the same as any other ordinary town.

The two buildings, though tall, did not have that “Leaning Tower of Pisa” vibe to them. It was the perfect location to set a magic trap, as even archmages would have difficulties trying to escape.

Despite what Sumano said, Saleen still felt that this city was vastly different from any town that he had ever seen. He almost felt as if Alchemy City were something plucked out from another magical dimension. It just did not seem to blend in with the other cities that Saleen knew.-

After weaving in and out of at least a dozen streets, Sumano finally stopped at a tavern.

“Mr. Saleen, is this place okay? Each person will spend a dozen gold coins at most here,” Sumano said.

Saleen nodded. Although a dozen gold coins did not seem like much, it was the amount of money that a commoner would earn in a year. Yet, this amount of money was only enough for a meal here in Alchemy City. Before he had met Jason, Saleen had not dared to dream of such a lavish life. At that point in time, his greatest dream had only been to be able to have a good meal over at The Whale of Ceylon, preferably once a month.

Over at The Whale of Ceylon, with the exception of whale meat or any other rare sea creatures, a person would be able to order any dish for just one gold coin each. Saleen could not help but think back to the time where he had risked his life for just one gold coin. Sighing deeply, Saleen followed Sumano into the tavern.

Saleen had stayed in the Qin country for quite some time and was very familiar with its customs. He knew that the beer here would be more expensive because of the Qin’s excessive focus on agriculture. The officials had implemented a heavy tax on beer to deter the locals from drinking it. If any noblemen dared to ferment their own wine to evade these taxes, it was possible that their land would even be seized from them. These disciplinary measures had been implemented before. In fact, one of the viscounts had even declared war against the royal army as a result of this, though a person could imagine how miserable his fate had been.

Thus, the so-called taverns in the Qin country were technically just restaurants that provided fruit-based wines.

As soon as they entered the tavern, a waiter approached the group of six and led them to a table. Saleen noticed that there were not any menus. Just as he was about to ask for them, the same waiter handed him a thick book.

“What is this?” Saleen asked.

“This is our menu. You can choose your preferred dishes based on the pictures attached to their names,” the waiter explained patiently. He had rehearsed these lines so many times that he could utter them in his sleep. Alchemy City was a very popular tourist destination, with thousands of people coming here every year. Not only did these people include mages, but there were also many common folk, mostly noblemen, who had come here to satisfy their curiosity and explore life here at Alchemy City.

“Oh?” Saleen replied as he flipped through the menu. Each page was filled with magical images dedicated to that one menu item alone. The colors blended well together, almost as if a mage had used magic to capture the most appealing angles of the dishes and pasted them onto this book which seemed to be made out of animal skin. Not only was the menu thick and heavy, it also had at least a hundred pages. Although Saleen had no idea how much it had cost to make these books, he knew that they were not cheap.

Of course, Saleen understood that the profit the restaurant would make off of its customers would more than make up for this expenditure. Although the Qin country had less noblemen than other countries, it still produced quite a number of wealthy officials. It was probably a good idea to visit Alchemy City at least once in a person’s life if they could afford it. There were just too many places to see and too many magical goods and services to choose from. Aside from Holy Rock City, Saleen did not know of any other city that was so… magical.

From Saleen’s experience, when a person entered a restaurant in other cities, they would be greeted by many wooden signs hanging on the walls. These wooden signs would depict the specialties they were serving on that particular day.

However, in Alchemy City, Saleen did not see any wooden signs. The ridiculously thick menu sufficed. Not only did the book inform the customer about the choices of food available, the addition of these magical images were also the perfect gimmick to stimulate a person’s appetite. What pleased Saleen the most about this book was that a list of ingredients was provided at the bottom of each illustration. It also provided the price of the dish, which apparently varied according to the seasons.

Saleen flipped through the pages quickly. He was not a picky eater. As long as he was not allergic to something, he would eat it. Plus, he had not come here for the food. He had come to this tavern so he could ask Sumano for more information regarding Alchemy City. He eyed Lex for a moment before asking, “What do you want to eat? The dishes here look good.”

“I’m fine with whatever. Just get their specialties,” Lex replied. When it came to food, Lex was very picky. Her food needed to be prepared just the way she liked it. However, since she had left Bitter Water Prefectures, she had endured many hardships. For example, she had needed to fight the black deacon even with a few broken bones in her body. Food was the least important thing on her mind right now.

“Alright, just get me your specialties. Bring us enough food for eight people,” Saleen instructed the waiter. Nailisi did not eat much. In fact, the things she ate tended to be things that Saleen found unappetizing. The two additional portions that he had ordered were for Sika.

After asking them for foods to avoid, the waiter selected an eight-course meal.

The meal included desserts, wines, and soup. Thus, there was no need for Saleen to order them as side dishes. The only additional menu item that Saleen ordered was a big glass of beer – for Sumano.

The beer was served first. However, out of courtesy, he did not guzzle it down immediately. Instead, he told Saleen politely, “Mr. Saleen, while waiting for your food to arrive, feel free to ask me anything.”

Saleen had noticed that the glass of beer Sumano had been served was not small. Fearing that he would be unable to get any information out of Sumano once he was drunk, Saleen immediately replied, “Sumano, what is the difference between buying and renting a house here?”

“It’s a lot cheaper to buy a house. Even though it might seem expensive at first, the value of the property will appreciate. Let me put it this way. Years down the road, should you decide to sell the house before you leave Alchemy City, not only will you recover the money that you paid for the house, but the transaction fee that will go to your property agent will be far cheaper than that of renting a house. You must have realized by now that the houses in Alchemy City are enormous. However, the population of this city is less than one million. These huge buildings can definitely accommodate up to three to five times the current population of the city. The houses that you can rent in Alchemy City are able to fit up to thirty to fifty people each.” Samuno explained.

“Oh. Isn’t it quite wasteful to spend so much money on these big houses?” Saleen asked.

“Mr. Saleen, most of the noblemen come to Alchemy City because they have so much money that they don’t know what to do with it. Each nobleman can spend up to thousands of gold coins per day here,” Sumano said, sighing as he reached the last part of his sentence. Sadly, he had not come here as a tourist. He had come here to make a living at the tender age of twenty after being promoted to a senior apprentice. He had dedicated his entire youth to trying to make ends meet. At this age, he should have either become wealthy enough to retire or become a well-respected mage. Alas, he had achieved neither. In fact, he had not improved at all.

However, no matter how discouraged he was, he did not want to leave. He had fallen in love with the city. Even if he could not become a mage himself, seeing these magical buildings, puppets, as well as peoples’ shocked expressions whenever they entered Alchemy City for the first time, was enough to put a smile on his face everyday.

Moreover, he did not know what else he could do after leaving Alchemy City. He did not have a high-paying job here, but it was enough to survive. Sadly, in order to avoid starvation, he had to take on many odd jobs that took a lot of time away from his studies. Thus, he had no choice but to give up on studying magic.

“How much would it cost to buy a house here?” Saleen asked.

“If you want your house to be custom-made, then it’ll take about a day for it to be ready. If you can pay the deposit upfront, you will not need to pay for any accommodations for that one day. The people who are selling the houses will arrange temporary lodging for you. If you’re fine with any location, each house should cost about two million gold coins. If you want a customized house in the heart of the city, it’ll cost about nine million gold coins. This quote doesn’t include the fee for the materials needed to construct your dream home,” Sumano said.

“That’s so expensive!” Saleen exclaimed indignantly.

Yes, he had been prepared to pay a little bit more for housing, but he had not expected the price of a house to have so many zeros attached to it. It’s just a house. Is there really a need to charge so much money for it? Saleen thought.

“No no, it’s not expensive at all,” Sumano said hurriedly before he continued, “Renting a house costs about a few hundred thousand gold coins per year. Buying a house and then selling it will only set you back by approximately twenty percent in property tax. A two million dollar home will only set you back by about three hundred thousand gold coins once you sell it. A nine million dollar home will only set you back by one million and eight hundred thousand gold coins. The longer you stay, the less taxes you’ll have to pay.”

Saleen was not about to believe Sumano and his nonsense. The longer they stayed in Alchemy City, the larger their expenses would be. If what Sumano said was true, they would have to live here for quite a while before they could sell their place and actually make the purchase of the house worthwhile. The problem was that the money they would save on lodging would be more than made up for by other expenses. Just eating alone was a huge financial burden. In addition, Saleen had to purchase magic nuclei from Alchemy City as well. Even if the prices here were “worth it”, they would still be very expensive. The merchants here would never sell ordinary magic nuclei. They would only sell the higher-quality ones.

Saleen knew that this was more of a business issue rather than a magic one. Being a Sikeqinya citizen, Saleen was very wary of these potentially exploitative situations.