Sunday came, and the meeting time agreed with Luvia and Iluna was in the afternoon, so Shad went out after washing clothes in the morning. According to the business card given by Priest Augustus, he found a decoration team that could maintain the house and checked the specific damage to the third floor of his house.
Because the staircase was broken, they had to use a telescopic metal ladder to move between the second and third floors.
In recent months, only Mia had been to the third floor, and today was the first time Shade had entered the third floor of his home. After the workers climbed the metal ladder, they saw a dark corridor. The entire structure of the third floor was almost identical to that of the second floor, with two rooms next to the corridor.
The entire floor was run-down and damp, with a layer of dust on the floor that left footprints wherever you stepped on it, and mold all over the ceiling and walls. But at least the church cleaned it up before cutting off the third-floor staircase many years ago.
Although some bloodstains can be seen with Blood Echo, there is at least no garbage here, so there are no rats. Even in the third floor, which has been abandoned for many years, similar to the basement, first floor, and second floor, there are no spiders or spider webs. Shade opened the two doors of the rotten third floor and even climbed up to the attic with the help of the workers. The attic roof was leaking a little, but there was no sign of insects.
This is quite novel.
Many of the owners of this house died here, and as far as Xia De knew, many famous accidents had occurred on the third floor. The renovation team that came to inspect the damage to the house knew that someone had disappeared on the third floor of No. 6 St. Teresa's Square.
No one was found alive or dead, and the accident once became a hot topic in Tobesk tabloids many years ago.
After the initial inspection, they returned to the second floor to discuss the matter. The manager of the construction team, who looked very experienced and had dark red skin, gave his opinion:
"The building itself is severely damaged. In addition to minor issues such as the floor, walls and windows, the most serious problem is the roof. The roof and floor need to be waterproofed again. In addition, if you need to connect steam and gas pipes, you need to contact the gas and steam companies to lay the pipes inside the walls. I just saw cracks on the wall of the corridor on the third floor. This also needs to be inspected and reinforced."
This sounds like a lot of trouble.
"Can you help me contact them about the gas and steam pipelines?"
Shad asked.
"certainly."
"In addition to the maintenance of the third floor, please also include painting the basement, the adjacent room on the second floor, and the entire first floor wall, including the maintenance of the exterior walls of the house, and the renovation of the chimney and fireplace. Please give me a specific quote and tell me the construction period."
The middle-aged man in overalls thought for a moment:
"During the repair of the third floor, it is best not to live on the second floor of the house. If the first floor is also to be painted, we suggest that you choose a room that will not be painted for the time being. You can live there, otherwise you will definitely not be able to stand the smell of paint. If you want it to be quick, we can start tomorrow, but you will have to pay extra for shortening the work period."
This request is reasonable. Xia De held the cat and thought for a while:
"The floor and paint are all made of the best materials. I will live here for a long time... What if I ask for it to be completed within a week?"
The professional manager of the construction team took out his notebook and did some calculations, then got up and went outside to ask the workers who were checking on the third floor to go to the first floor and the basement to measure the area of the wall.
Xia De was very impressed by this professionalism.
Finally, the two of them returned to the second floor and calculated the specific costs in the study:
"You were introduced by Father Augustus, so we charge you the lowest price. This includes material costs, construction costs, gas and steam pipeline laying costs, and the cost of applying for a city center housing repair permit. This is not cheap. You can directly see the Yodel Palace here, and construction in nearby blocks requires an application... a total of 200 pounds."
Although Xia De could afford the money, he still frowned:
"Sir, this money is enough to buy a house with a garden in a remote area of the city."
"I know it's a lot, but there's also a lot of work that needs to be done, and the cost of maintaining the house includes not only the cost of the work, but also an addition to the specific value of the house."
The manager patiently explained:
"Mr. Hamilton, you know what the normal valuation of houses in the surrounding neighborhood is. I have already helped you get the lowest price within a reasonable range. We also want to eliminate the price increase based on the value of the house, but the industry association will not agree."
"Trade association?"
Xia De asked again in confusion, and the middle-aged manager continued to explain, and it was obvious that he was not very satisfied either:
"It is a federation of the construction industry. Its main responsibility is to introduce business, but it also monitors the quotes of every business in the city to prevent the fluctuation of industry charging standards caused by malicious price increases and price cuts. The original intention of this organization is good, but it also means that our charging level cannot be much lower than that of our peers, otherwise we will be squeezed out by our peers in the future."
Xia De opened his mouth and was stunned for a moment before nodding. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing:
"Then may I ask, what is the result of the premium of £200?"
The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, poured the water in the teacup onto the tea table, and wrote a few numbers by hand. Thinking about it this way, Xia De's premium was actually only about 30%. He didn't expect that decorating the house would be so expensive without buying any furniture.
The manager was still explaining to Xia De:
"After all, repairing a house can increase the overall value of the building. Therefore, the wealth growth that can be brought to the owner of different houses is also different. This is also a reasonable explanation based on the premium of the house value... How about this, you pay us 200 pounds, and after the Federation inspects the business, we will return part of it to you. But not all, 5%, this is the limit."
This discount should be given out of respect for Father Augustus.
“But in this case, can the accounting problems be solved?”
Xia De asked again, and the middle-aged man smiled:
"You don't have to worry about that. The accounting firm we outsourced is very professional. But if the construction starts tomorrow, I suggest you arrange a place for yourself on the first floor as soon as possible and lock the door on the second floor to prevent the construction from affecting your property. Oh, Monday will mainly be a re-evaluation of the overall damage to the building and construction marking, so you can move to the first floor before Tuesday."
This is a sensible suggestion. After all, Shade and the cat cannot sleep directly on the floor.
"But why not? Is there any difference between sleeping on the floor and sleeping on a bed?"
Xia De asked himself in his heart, and then he felt the cat's little claws scratching him. When he lowered his head, the cat was looking at him with dissatisfaction:
"Well, I'll make sure you sleep in the bed."
The orange cat Xiaomia has very high requirements for the quality of life.
When he met Luvia and Iluna in the afternoon, Shad told them that he was going to repair the third floor of the house and complained about the high cost of house repairs.
Iluna was surprised that Shade was so rich, while Luvia looked up:
"This way, all the rooms in No. 6 can be opened."
"That's right."
"What are you going to do with all this space? After the third floor is repaired, you have two more empty rooms and a loft. Add to that the empty first floor and Room 2 on the second floor. Most of the space in your house is now unused."
"I plan to seal the windows of the upstairs room near the stairs and turn it into a darkroom for daily magic and spell practice. It will also provide space for use when rituals are needed. As for the other rooms... leave them empty for now. Sooner or later, there will be opportunities to use them."
Luvia smiled and did not comment on Shad's thoughts. Iluna wanted to say something, but after looking at the cat lying on Shad's legs, she did not speak in the end.
"Shad, why do you look a lot whiter?"
Iluna brought up a new topic:
"Your skin seems to have improved a lot. Are you using any cosmetics recently? I remember you mentioned that you have a friend who is good at mixing potions."
"Then let me tell you the story of what happened in Coldwater Harbor."
Xia De said with a smile, opened his arms and stretched his body backwards, and the cat that was originally lying on his legs also stood up, lowered its upper body, raised its butt and stretched.
The summer sun shone through the city fog and into the room from the window. Xia De was ready to tell a story:
“This story may be a bit long.”
"It's okay, we have time."
The seventeen-year-old girl in a skirt said, and glanced at the female fortune teller:
"Let's get started now."
Shad nodded, comforted the orange cat, and began to recount the terrible things that happened in the port city; Luvia leaned back slightly on the sofa with a teacup in her hand, smiling; Iluna touched her chin with her hand, and the seventeen-year-old girl looked at Shad's face very intently.
The afternoon sun shone through the mist over Tobesk, and everyone's face seemed to be glowing. But the brightest was actually the orange fur of Mia, the orange and white cat lying on Shad's lap for a nap, her fur gleaming in the sun.
The Coldwater Port incident was temporarily over, and Darkness would take more than half a month to reach Tobesk. The remaining half a month of the Flowery Moon was really a leisurely time for Shade.
His story really lasted the whole afternoon. Most of the whole pot of black tea was consumed by Shade. The girls also tasted the cookies that Shade brought out and occasionally asked questions about the details.
Shade told almost everything except the secrets of the witch Aurora and Dorothy and Resia. He did not admit to Miss Carina that he was a "god caller", but he did not hide it from the two brown-haired girls.
In Iluna's eyes, the previous half month was just a short period of leisure in the summer after she returned to Tobesk from the Holy See. She didn't expect that Shade would experience such a complicated and wonderful adventure story during this period.
"This is just like those legendary stories, when the brave are on an adventure, what ordinary people see as just an ordinary time... ...Shad, compared to you, I don't look like the chosen one at all."
This should be considered as the seventeen-year-old girl praising Xia De.