The next morning

The next morning, you once again awoke to feel the pleasurable effects of your new home. Though it wasn’t quite as pleasurable with no one waking you. Still all of yesterday’s mental and physical fatigue had completely vanished. You felt happy and relaxed, excited about your third day in Velsia.

You climbed from bed and prepared yourself for the day.

After your morning routine, you descended the stairs, happily wearing the new clothes Olivia brought over. You wore a relatively simple outfit, a white linen shirt covered by a sturdy leather jerkin, along with sturdy trousers and boots.. They weren’t the fanciest clothes you were gifted, but they were still very comfortable. Somehow, they had tailored them perfectly for you.

Today, you planned on exploring the city to get a feel for your new home. You also wanted to visit the markets so you could gauge the value of money. The 3000 gold and 10 silver seemed like a lot, but you really weren’t sure.

When you reached the first floor, you noticed a minor commotion through a window near your front door. Wondering what was happening, you walked over and opened your door.

There was a small group of people standing outside your door bickering. As you opened the door, they all immediately turned their attention towards you. Before trying to speak to you all at once.

“Everyone be quiet for a moment. Let me explain.” Said James, the man who you met on the stage of the guildhall.

Sighing, James turned to you.

“These are members of six of the great noble families, all here to discuss deals. I was hoping we could speak about your crest first, but it would seem we don’t have the time. Would you like me to lead them to an area where we can speak?”

“Uh, go ahead,” you said, stepping away from the door.

James led the group of people through the house and into the dining room where he sat everyone down, before directing you to sit at the head of the table.

James was the only one who remained standing.

“As I said, everyone, he would like to offer you a deal regarding your ability. Allow me to introduce my peers. Each of which is of close relation to one of the seven dukes of Maceria.”

James gestured to a woman with short brown hair seated at the left side of the table closest to you.

“Closest to you is Lady Fiora Albour. The man with black hair seated next to her is Kaiser Mavis. Beside him is the Kitsune, Teruya Ayumi, of the Teruya Family.” James said.

He gestured to the other side of the table, furthest from you.

“This is-”

“I am Helious Chryses, son of Drache Chryses, the richest Duke in all of Maceria.” A red-scaled Draconic man said, cutting James off.

James rolled his eyes, preparing to speak again, but he had lost his moment as another man spoke up.

“I am Myrdin Aeramiel of the Elves. Our family has a long, proud history, built by the finest elves in the world. We welcome you to the city of Marfont, and congratulate you on your recent rise to nobility.” A proud elf said.

“And finally,” James said. “this is Zaphiel Candael.”

Zaphiel was probably the most beautiful person you had ever seen. He was clearly an angel. He even had a golden halo floating above his head. The man smiled and gave you a slight nod.

After James finished speaking, everyone looked at you expectantly.

Realizing they were waiting for you to say something, you spoke up.

“My name is Jason Grant, and I welcome you to my estate. I would love to offer you all refreshments… But I don’t have any.”

Kaiser Mavis immediately looked up at James and spoke.

“Really? The Montcroix family gave him a home with no food or drinks? You really did just hand this place over.”

Glancing back at you, he spoke again.

“Let me guess, they also failed to mention the cost of this estate, didn’t they? They probably gave it to you, knowing they were about to lose it. Everyone knows they can’t afford it.”

James coughed loudly and looked at you, embarrassed.

“Ah, yes. I may have gotten a bit carried away the last time we spoke. I forgot to mention the taxes you would owe on the property… As well as the cost of utilities. I really wasn’t trying to deceive you. Besides, with these contracts, you should be able to afford it easily.” James said.

“I’ll make my offer first then.” Said Kaiser. “The monthly cost of this estate is around 3000 gold in taxes and around 2000 gold in utilities. The Mavis family would be willing to pay 1,000 gold a month towards this cost.”

After he spoke, everyone at the table took a turn offering you the same deals. They were all contracts, asking for weekly access to your ability and in return offered the same payments as Kaiser, except for one family who offered to supply you with high-quality food and drinks, along with a small sum of gold.

It was pretty clear what they were trying to do.

“I’m sorry, but I will need a moment to think. Would you mind if I excused myself for a moment?”

“Of course not.” Zaphiel nodded, before pulling glasses and a bottle of wine out of thin air. “I like to carry around my own wine just in case. So we’ll be fine in here. Take your time.”

Nodding your thanks, you stood up and left the room to think.

If you accepted their contracts, you would be able to afford your estate, but you would lack any spending money. On top of that, each contract was a weekly deal. If you accepted, you would probably end up seeing a family each day of the week. If they were anything like Celia, you would be trapped at home forever. Also, they would decide who to send to you, which means you would inevitably end up with people you weren’t attracted to. This really didn’t work for you.

Another issue was that you were at a complete disadvantage to them. You did not understand the value of their money, nor did you know what you were worth. You had intended on exploring the markets to learn about money for yourself, but now you were in a hurry, so you summoned Lexi for guidance.

“What’s up?” Lexi asked cheerfully.

“I need a little course on Velsia’s currency.”

“Sure!”

After talking with Lexi for a few minutes, you had a much better grasp of the currency. It was all rather simple. There were 4 different types of coins, copper, silver, gold, and Crowns. 100 copper made 1 silver. 100 silver made a gold. Coppers and silvers were the lesser units. 25 coppers could get yourself a cheap meal at a tavern, and with 10 silvers, you could buy yourself a cheap sword.

Gold, though, was the most important currency. A few gold coins could get you high-quality equipment. If you wanted them enchanted with magic, you were looking at a few hundred gold. With a few thousand gold you could start buying powerful magical equipment, or you could buy yourself a house within the city.

The last coin, the Crown, was for the truly rich. Each crown was worth 10,000 gold coins. Crowns were usually used by the high-nobility. Your house, for instance was worth a large sum of Crowns.

Since the monthly cost of your estate was around 5000 gold, this meant the noble families effectively owned you for the cost of a house outside the inner walls. This would pretty much take away any power the Montcroix family had given you. You were pretty sure your ability was worth more than this. After all, James had been very quick to offer you an extremely valuable deal.

You decided your only course was to take a risk. James’s offer was too good to refuse at the guildhall, but these… weren’t enough. Worst-case scenario, the deals fell through and you live a comfortable life outside the inner walls. Best case, you gain a lot of power and money.

After a few moments, you came up with a plan. You needed to **** the six families to compete over you. Confident with your assessment, you walked back into the room and reclaimed your seat.

With all the high nobility watching you expectantly, you gave your reply.

“I decline all offers. I refuse to accept any contracts.“

“…”

“You realize you will lose your estate if you can’t pay the taxes, right?” Asked Zaphiel.

“Yes, and it will be a shame to lose such a lovely home. I suppose I would have to move outside of the King’s District.”

“Also, as a Lord, you have a duty to serve. How could you adequately serve the higher nobility if you are outside the King’s district?” asked Fiora beside him.

“My title does not tie me to any specific vassal. It only says I need to serve the city, which I can easily do outside the inner wall,” you explained.

“Is this true?” Teruya Ayumi asked James.

“Yes, we tied him to the city, not to nobility,” answered James.

“Which means you would work with the minor families outside the inner walls, instead of us.” Said Kaiser.

“I would, of course, still share my ability with the Montcroix family, who so generously granted me nobility and gifted me this lovely estate. ”

The other families didn’t know the specifics of your deal with the Montcroix family. For all they knew, the dying family was just trying to gain last minute favor before falling out of the seven. Everyone knows how close they were was to being kicked out of King’s District.

As for James, he had no reason to clarify your deal, so you didn’t have to worry about him refuting your claims. Besides, you could see him smiling off to the side. He knew exactly what you were doing.

The six nobles went quiet for a moment, weighing their options. If they let you walk away, the minor families would become stronger, along with the Montcroix family. Over time, it’s possible some would be powerful enough to challenge the seven. However, you refused to accept any contracts, not even taking the time to negotiate.

“Of course, even though I am not tied to any specific vassal, it would be my honor to serve within King’s district rather than outside. It makes me happy to help my friends, isn’t that right, James?” you continued.

“Indeed, it’s very true. We appreciate what you did for our Celia. In fact, she actually leveled up one of her rune’s a few times and gained a new skill. Soon we’re hoping the rune will transform.” James responded happily.

Helious Chryses quickly spoke up.

“Well, we wouldn’t want such a generous friend to lose his new home! Don’t worry a bit, the Chryses family will cover the costs of your estate.”

You bowed your head in thanks.

“Your family honors me with your generosity. Having such a renowned family as a friend is truly a great privilege. I would love an introduction to members of your family. Perhaps I could help them with my abilities. I wouldn’t want to be a burden to my new friends.”

“The Albour family would love to help keep you comfortable in your new estate. We happen to have fully trained staff on standby, ready to please their new master. Allow us to gift you these servants to help maintain you estate.”

You bowed your head again, ready to give thanks, when Helious spoke again.

“You could never be a burden. The great Chryses family can easily cover your expenses. As for introductions, we would love to. If you help strengthen our family, we will surely give greater riches than any other family could.”

Everyone at the table realized what was going on, and quickly offered their own gifts. If buying favor is what they had to do, they would do it. No one wanted to be left behind.

Leaning back, you smiled. Your risk had paid off.