After coming out of Iolum's study, Sha Duo felt much more relaxed, as if he had let go of a huge boulder weighing on his heart.
In this situation, with Iolum's endorsement, he could finally be freed from the suspicion of Cliff's death. No matter what the Seven Towers ultimately determined was the cause of Cliff's death, he would have enough confidence to deal with it.
In front of Iolum just now, Shado did not say whether he would return to the south immediately. In fact, he was not planning to return immediately. He also wanted to know the results of the Seven Towers investigation as soon as possible.
In any case, this matter has involved him, and he has to wait for the result no matter what, whether it is good or bad for him.
After walking out of the Austrian Law Union, Xia Duo looked up at the sky. He felt that the sky was much clearer than before.
Arriving at the west side of Offa Square, Shado saw Evans looking around under a statue of the Great Arcanist. The other party did not notice him at all until Shado came closer.
"I'm right in front of you!" Xia Duo sent a message.
"ah?!"
Evans suddenly withdrew his eyes from looking around, focused his eyes on the ordinary adventurer in front of him, and asked with some uncertainty:
"Is it you? Lord Shado?"
"It's me!" Xia Duo said calmly.
At this sensitive moment like this, using illusion disguises when going out can still avoid a lot of trouble. Situations like the encounter with Lord Hawke in front of the Cormanthor embassy just now are still rare after all.
"Have you brought the property information I asked for?"
"Bring it!" Evans hurriedly took out a pile of crumpled parchment from his arms and prepared to hand it to Shado.
Xia Duo took it casually, but did not check it immediately. Instead, he pointed to the west and said, "Let's go, take me to the nearest place first."
"yes."
Evans responded and immediately began to lead the way. As he walked, he also introduced the first property he was going to:
"That house is located at the junction of the port area and the trade area, not far from my 'drunkard's house', only two streets away.
“It was originally bought by a southern businessman, but later the businessman encountered pirates when he went to sea, and the house was sold to ‘Blackbeard’ by his youngest son.
"Sir, 'Blackbeard' is the boss of the real estate guild in that neighborhood. I heard that he has an unusual relationship with a certain big shot in the Seven Towers. Of course, compared to you, my lord, that is not worth mentioning."
Shado did not comment on such compliments, nor did he interrupt Evans' story. Before reaching the advanced level, his main activity area was the Tower of Time.
He also came to Sevington several times after that, but by then he was already an arcanist and was too far away from the real bottom, and it was difficult to experience the real and vivid life at the bottom.
Now listening to Evans tell the stories of these neighborhoods, Shado has a clearer understanding of the other side of the Netheril spellcasting community, and it also allows him to feel the reality of the world more deeply.
"Sir, I haven't told Blackbeard that you want to buy real estate. If you reveal your identity, the house price may be much cheaper, and you will save a lot of trouble in that neighborhood in the future."
"No rush, let's go take a look first."
Chateau did not doubt Evans's statement, but if it could be solved with gold coins, why should he owe others a favor?
Although others may not necessarily expect him to repay, he is a principled person and will keep it in mind. In order to avoid unclear ideas, it is better to owe less favors.
…
Soon, the two came to a north-south intersection. Evans pointed to a section of a building in the northwest corner and said to Shado:
"My lord, that is the first property."
Xia Duo only glanced at it and frowned. It was not that the house was not good, but that it was closely adjacent to other houses, similar to the low-rise warehouses next to the old community in his hometown.
It's just that the houses here are not low, but three or four stories high. From the outside, they are made of stone, so they are relatively tall.
Chateau had seen many brick or plywood houses in the port area. Of course, Evans would not introduce that kind of property to him, but this place was indeed far from what he expected.
Walking under a street lamp, Xia Duo quickly flipped through the pages of the information that Evans had found. This house was among them, and it was sold for as much as 100,000 gold coins!
“It’s not easy to live in a big city!”
In the past, the Savile Territory's annual net income, including the Tower of Time, was only about 100,000 yuan. It was a very difficult decision to spend 100,000 yuan at once to buy a property in Severton that might not be lived in several times a year.
Even now, this amount of money is an out-and-out huge sum of money for Xia Duo!
What's more, he also wants a more independent property than here, which will be more expensive, but since he wants to buy a property, he has to find one that meets his expectations.
Putting away the information, Chateau directed Evans to the next place. After eliminating most of the houses that were not independent and decent enough, only two manor properties were left.
The place they are going to now is one of them, located at the junction of the trade area and the old city. Regardless of other factors, just because it is close to the old city, its price will increase by at least 20%.
The selling price provided by Evans is 350,000 gold coins!
This price is already half the price of the Mage Tower. Before today, Xia Duo did not expect that the house price in Severton was so high!
Even if he is a senior arcanist, it is not easy to buy a property that meets his status in Severton.
Of course, if he is willing to "sell himself", some chambers of commerce and spell caster organizations are willing to pay for him.
But he obviously won't do that.
…
Soon, Xia Duo saw this manor worth 350,000 gold coins. It was surrounded by green trees outside. The area inside was quite large for Severton, who had so much land.
A total of 10,000 to 20,000 square meters!
The architectural part of the manor mainly consists of two parts - a two-story elven-style villa and its accompanying garden square; and a townhouse of bricks used for the residence of the servants and the storage of sundries.
Moreover, the location of this manor is quite good, with the trade area to the south and the old city to the north, with convenient transportation and good public security.
You can even often see patrolling old city guards passing by here. Seeing this, Xia Duo is no longer ready to go to the next place.
Because the other manor property is located in the old city and is only for rent, not for sale, and the annual rent is as high as 50,000.
In other words, renting there for six or seven years would be equivalent to giving up the freehold estate here.
Perhaps it is more respectable there and better reflects the status of a senior arcanist, but when the manor here is pretty good, Xia Duo really doesn't want to be taken advantage of.
Thinking like this, he had actually made a choice in his mind, so he asked Evans: "Can a mage tower be built here? What should I do if I want to build a mage tower here?"
The manor is so large that building a mage tower is not too small. Moreover, for Shado, it would be safer and more convenient if he could have his own mage tower in Severton.