"Um, what I want is a house with at least one empty room besides the bedroom. Even a relatively spacious living room would do."
Along the way, Mr. Theseus chatted with Lanen for a bit. Hearing Theseus ask about his housing requirements, Lanen replied.
"An empty room, huh... Then my place might not meet your needs. But since you're here, why not take a look? My house is old, but it's sturdy and very affordable," Mr. Theseus said after a moment's pause.
"Alright."
Then Theseus began to ramble on: "That's my family's old house. When I was young, I got lucky and became middle-class, then moved to a big house on Henry Street. The old house has been rented out ever since to supplement the family income. The previous tenant moved to another city, and now my son is doing business elsewhere, so I have to handle the rental myself. I'm old and can't walk much. Yesterday, I took Lily's advice and went to the daily newspaper, spending a few dozen coppers to place an ad. I didn't expect someone to see it today. That's a good sign..."
The house indeed didn't quite meet the requirements.
As Mr. Theseus took out the key and opened the door, what appeared before Lanen was a slightly shabby house. The interior was relatively tidy, showing signs of recent cleaning.
The bedroom was quite spacious, with a soft large bed.
But outside the bedroom was a narrow hallway, with doors on either side leading to the kitchen, bathroom, and a small storage room. There really wasn't enough space for an extra room.
"Only two and a half silver coins a month," Mr. Theseus said. "Pretty clean, right? I had my maid Lily clean it just yesterday. And the previous tenant was a decent fellow, quite tidy."
"Mr. Theseus, what kind of people usually rent houses like this?" Lanen asked curiously.
"Hmm, from my years of renting experience, some are students like you—kids from decent families who like their own space, or those who just got into a relationship—but students are a minority. More often, it's engineers, junior managers, or clerks from nearby factories and businesses. They're happy to rent a comfortable place for no more than a quarter of their monthly income."
After bidding farewell to Mr. Theseus, Lanen hurried to the next place, No. 14 Henry Street, which he had just passed by earlier.
"Ding-dong—"
Lanen rang the doorbell. Soon, a small hole opened in the door, and an eye peeked through.
Perhaps seeing a young student in uniform at the door, the door opened immediately.
A young maid appeared, holding a rag and looking curious: "May I ask who you are?"
Lanen replied: "I'm a student from the Atlan School of Arcane Arts. I saw the rental ad in the newspaper and came to inquire. Is Mrs. Porter in?"
"Please wait a moment. I'll ask the madam," she said, closing the door in Lanen's face. Then he heard the sound of quick footsteps inside.
Bored, Lanen began examining the doorbell system.
Homes that could afford to install such arcane doorbells were usually well-off, as the maid had just confirmed. Unlike the mechanical doorbells in ordinary homes, this push-button doorbell clearly had a magical circuit inside.
Otherwise, it wouldn't require such little force to ring, nor would the sound be so clear. Lanen guessed it must have at least an amplifier circuit made of repeater runes. For power, it likely used a certain type of miniature magic crystal, as standard crystals would be too wasteful.
The door opened again.
The young maid reappeared, stepping aside and bowing slightly: "Please come in, sir. The madam is waiting for you inside."
Mrs. Porter appeared to be middle-aged but well-maintained, fitting perfectly with the standards of the street. Her manners were impeccable, and her speech followed the upper-class pronunciation trends, exuding elegance.
At her enthusiastic invitation, Lanen sat down and tried a cup of tea.
The Assam tea from afar was rich in flavor, paired with crystallized honey and fresh milk, quite refreshing.
After chatting with Mrs. Porter on the sofa for a while, she said to Lanen: "I'll have my maid accompany you to see the house shortly. It's a bit far from here, but I hope you'll like it. Though the price isn't low."
"Thank you, Mrs. Porter. Perhaps I'll go now. But the house must meet my requirements as I mentioned earlier. The price can be negotiated," Lanen said, standing up.
"Don't worry. In my opinion, it fully meets your needs and even exceeds them slightly. Hetty."
Calling over the maid named Hetty, Mrs. Porter handed her the keys to accompany Lanen to see the house.
It indeed exceeded expectations.
As Hetty opened the door and led Lanen inside, he immediately took a liking to the place. The house was quite new, with a large living room, two bedrooms, and a spacious study.
"Feel free to look around. I just cleaned this the day before yesterday," Hetty said with a smile.
Lanen wandered around the house, growing more and more satisfied. The total area was nearly three times that of the previous place, and the spacious study could easily serve as a lab. The extra bedroom wouldn't go to waste either—he could host friends here.
The kitchen utensils were also complete and shiny, making Lanen's fingers itch.
The school food was mediocre, and eating out was too expensive. Now he could try cooking for himself, making whatever he wanted.
After inspecting every corner and mentally furnishing it, Lanen was thoroughly pleased.
"Let's return to Henry Street to see Mrs. Porter. I really like this place."
Walking back through the streets with Hetty, Lanen took a good look at the surroundings.
The house's location was quite good, with the entire neighborhood being new. Though still a bit far from school, the environment was pleasant, with newly planted trees lining the streets, suggesting good security.
"Twenty-four silver coins a month, with one month's deposit and three months' rent upfront. That's the market rate," Mrs. Porter said. "If you truly like the house, we can find a lawyer to draft the contract."
Hearing the price, Lanen was shocked: it was nearly ten times the previous one!
Before Lanen could show his surprise, Mrs. Porter added: "Sigh, that's just how the market is for such houses now. You've been house-hunting these past few days, so you must know. Five years ago, it wouldn't have been this expensive—at least half the price. But everything around here has been rising. Over at Blackbread Tree Street, it's already over ninety silver coins per standard square meter. Land prices are rising even faster than housing prices. I hear construction companies are starting to plan multi-story buildings. Prices will likely keep climbing, whether for sales or rentals."
After Mrs. Porter's lament, Lanen was convinced.
But he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: even after crossing dimensions, he couldn't escape rising housing prices.
He wondered about his forever-lost hometown—how was it faring now? Were housing prices still threatening the real economy?
"Alright, madam. I do like the house, but I wonder if you could lower the price a bit? After all, I'm a student and not very well-off."