Chapter 156: Elf Elisa’s Renting Tale |
“My lord, is that for real? We can live in the house first and pay rent later when we earn the money?” some commoners asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Buff said. “This is a benefit given by Lord Liu Feng. You should remember Lord Liu Feng’s kindness. Once you have money, you can go and buy your own house in the residential area- the price of the houses over there aren’t very high.”
Most of the beastkins had tears in their eyes. They had been planning to sleep on the streets, so this news came at the perfect time.
“My lord, how much does it cost?” someone asked with a trembling voice.
Buff looked over and saw that the question came from the direction of the commoners. Thinking about it, I guess the commoners who came from North Wind City would have some coins.
“A hundred-square-foot house will probably cost around 4 silver coins,” Buff said.
This wasn’t very expensive. A commoner would be able to buy a house after working for 10 years, and if they didn’t eat or drink, they could probably do it in 3 years.
“Phew.” Many people breathed a sigh of relief. While it was way cheaper to just buy land and hire people to build a house made of rammed earth walls, they weren’t going to settle for such a thing after having seen the rental houses. They, too, had ambitions.
“Now, all of you come over and register for your temporary residence certificates,” Buff said, walking to the front of a house. This was where they handled all the paperwork for the rental houses. There were several tables there, each with a person sitting behind with a quill pen and paper in their hands.
The beastkins and commoners answered all the questions bombarded at them, and finally, they all received a card, with stuff like their names, numbers, and 3 big words “Temporary Residence Certificate”.
“This card is the proof of your identity and a pass that allows you to walk around West Sun City,” Buff said with a serious expression on his face. “After you’ve lived in West Sun City for a full year, and you decided to not leave West Sun City, you can apply to become an official resident of West Sun City. This way, you can receive a lot of benefits, like you only have to pay 33% of a house’s price upfront and move in first, and then slowly pay back what you owe.
This was the down payment on a house. As Liu Feng had all the land and houses in West Sun City, he could use stuff like limited sales to prevent the houses’ prices from rising too high too quickly and prevent a lot of the land and houses from being owned by a few people and private businesses. This would prevent the creation of an economic bubble.
“Also, if you want to buy a 2nd house, you must be a citizen of West Sun City,” Buff said, raising his head slightly. His family had 2 houses- a large one for his son Luma, his daughter-in-law-, and his grandson, and a small house (about 70 square meters) for him and his wife to live in. He did this to not get in the way of his son’s marriage life. Buff was waiting for his grandson to grow up, become independent, and start a family before they would go to buy a 3rd house.
Well, the ability to buy multiple houses didn’t really entice them at the moment as it was too distant for them- after all, they didn’t even own one house.
The number of people who needed to register for a temporary residence certificate slowly dwindled, and when there were only about a dozen people left, someone caught Buff’s attention.
Elisa felt someone looking at her, and she glanced around without changing her expression, and she saw Buff looking at her. “Phew…” As long as it’s not a young adult or middle-aged man- if it was, then there is a 50% chance that the person is a bounty hunter.
Most people wouldn’t realize that Elisa was the White-Haired Enchantress, as she had dyed her hair gray, covered her pointy ears with her hair, and tied it with a rope. Her beautiful and delicate face was also covered with dust. She wore thick linen clothing and carried a bag over her shoulder.
Anyone looking at her would just think that she was a refugee, so no one would pay any attention to her even if she was a girl. And just like that, she blended in with the commoners and entered West Sun City.
The reason Elisa caught Buff’s attention was because she was by herself. He wouldn’t be surprised if the person was a guy, but it was very rare for females to be out by themselves in this world.
Coincidentally, Buff was the one who registered Elisa.
“Name?” Buff asked.
“Elisa.”
“Where’s your family?”
“I’m the only one left,” Elisa said, a trace of sadness flashing through her eyes.
“… How big is the house you want to rent?” Buff asked.
“Big enough for one person,” Elisa said. She had already decided on this a while ago.
Buff nodded. “You have 2 choices- you can get an apartment with a bedroom, a restroom, and a kitchen, or you can get an apartment with a bedroom, a living room, a restroom, and a kitchen. The latter option will cost you 15 copper coins.”
Elisa thought about the coins she had and said, “I want the one with a bedroom and a living room.”
“Sure, you can sign your name here and put your fingerprint on it,” Buff nodded. He started writing on the card, then stamped 3 big red words on it- “Temporary Residence Certificate”.
As Elisa finished signing, Buff handed her a card and a paper. Curious, she asked, “What is this?”
“Proof of rent. You need it for paying rent and stuff,” Buff explained.
“Oh,” Elisa nodded, still confused.
“Do you want to pay the coins now or have it be taken out of your salary after you start working?” Buff asked.
“I’ll pay now,” Elisa said, taking out her money pouch and dumping the copper coins inside on the table. A total of 16 copper coins fell out. She wasn’t planning on working as she just needed a place to stay for a while.
Buff quickly finished counting and pushed a copper coin to Elisa, “Here’s one back.”
“Okay.” Elisa picked up the copper coin, and she quickly glanced around, realizing that the people around how only took a glance at her before turning their attention elsewhere. She had done it on purpose- she wanted to let people think that she was poor and only had a copper coin left so that there would be no reason for them to go after her because of how poor she was.
“Okay, you come with me now,” Buff said, taking a key out of a drawing and standing up. “Your house is over there.”
“Uh…” Eliza froze. Did he figure out my identity?
“Almost no one would rent an apartment with a bedroom and a living room. Most commoners would share an apartment and split the rent as it’s cheaper that way.” Buff thought that Elisa was very poor, so he tried to persuade her. “You’re a girl, so you don’t need to rent an apartment with a bedroom and a living room. Just renting one bedroom would save you more money.”
“…” Elisa was silent. I still have silver coins in my bag, but I can’t say that.
After silently walking for a while…
“Okay, here it is,” Buff said, pointing to the 2-story house in front of them. There are 4 apartments in this house, but they’re all empty. Feel free to choose one.”
This was a pleasant surprise to Elisa. Since the house is empty, I don’t have to be so cautious when going out at night.
