Renya hated taking on debt.
More generally, he disliked the act of buying something with money that one didn’t have. Of course, paying with imaginary money tended to be frowned upon, so said buyer would have to borrow money from somewhere else. It was the nerve of these people, using money they didn’t own, that rubbed him the wrong way. However, even he conceded that there was a time and place for such a thing.
That time was undoubtedly now.
The total amount of reward money they received from their dungeon campaign earlier came to 100 gold. They gave half to Azu’s party, so Renya’s party was left with 50. This arrangement, however, met with fierce opposition from Azu, who argued that they were complete dead weights when it came to defeating the demon, so they had no claim to the dungeon core’s reward. Renya did not back off either, insisting that they split the reward equally. Ultimately, Azu caved and Renya emerged the victor of their stubbornness contest.
From Renya’s perspective, they had all put their lives on the line and braved the same danger together, so both parties deserved an equal reward, and Azu was wrong to refuse his share.
“We didn’t even function as meat shields, you know?!” Azu exclaimed as he stepped closer.
“So?” responded Renya in as flat a voice as he could muster. “I think this is appropriate, and that’s all that matters. Or what? Are you going to claim that I could have taken on that demon all by myself? Just so you know, Azu, there is such a thing as too much flattery.”
He took care to appear business-like, keeping all traces of emotion out of his voice and expression. Otherwise, Azu would realize there was more to this than a simple negotiation between two parties. He had become fairly good friends with the mage, and the process of keeping up a poker face in front of him was not at all enjoyable. Nevertheless, he willed every muscle in his face to help keep his look blank. After a short period of mutual staring, Azu broke the silence.
“Fine… We’ll take it this time… Sorry,” he murmured, lowering his head in a deep bow. Then, he declared that he had to inform his party members about the reward and walked away.
After seeing Azu off, Renya let out a long sigh. It was obvious that Azu’s party needed the money more than his. Even if they wanted to continue adventuring, his four guards had lost almost all their equipment. Buying everything new would cost them far more than what they earned this time. Similarly, if they quit adventuring, they would need a sum of money to keep them going until they found their next job, and if that job was starting a business, the money had to last them until the business became profitable. In either case, the more money they had, the better.
In comparison, while his party’s objective in taking jobs was to make money, there was no urgency to their endeavor. So long as they could pay for food and lodging, everything else could be left for later. Knowing this, he would have been fine giving all of their reward to Azu, but his position as leader of his own party and the lack of a decent reason aside from sheer pity prevented him from forcing the issue. In the end, he settled on splitting the reward half-and-half as a compromise.
Moving on to other matters now.
Out of the 50 gold that Renya received, Shion and Rona each requested only 2 gold each and told him to hold on to the remainder, leaving him with 46 gold. As he strolled through the streets of the city, wondering what his current assets could buy, his eyes lingered on a place that resembled a real estate office. Posted in the office was a piece of paper displaying a certain property that was on sale.
The property was situated in the Commercial District. Once occupied by the owner of a sizeable business who used it as a combined storefront-and-residence, it was somewhat removed from the city’s center. Perhaps due to its remote location, it was a robust structure made of stone that boasted not only an expansive garden but also a workshop and storehouse. On top of that, the old storefront section of the house faced the street. It was the ideal property. The problem was the price.
The place was selling for 80 gold. With a 40-gold down payment, he could pay the rest in installments, the specifics of which could be negotiated with a large degree of lenience for the buyer. Renya was absolutely clueless about average market prices, but he remembered hearing that properties like these would cost him at least a platinum. Granted, it depended on the size of the building and plot. Based on what he could gleam from the data, though, this place — the word “big” alone seemed insufficient to describe its size — should have been worth even more than a platinum.
No matter how he cut it, 80 gold definitely was on the cheap side. He couldn’t buy the place outright, but he had enough on hand for the down payment. Though he hated the thought of taking out a loan, this was a chance he simply could not pass up.
“Is there a property that interests you?”
The way Renya stared at the poster on the wall probably tipped the salesperson off. Figuring he had a potential sale on his hands, the middle-aged man approached Renya with a meek smile.
“This property… doesn’t it seem a bit too cheap?”
“Ah, you mean this one…”
The man’s expression clouded as soon as he glanced at the paper Renya pointed at. That look was all Renya needed to figure out what was going on: this property had some issues. The man leaned toward him and, in an ominous voice, whispered in his ear…
“There’s something about this property, you see…”
“Yeah?”
“It’s in the air. You can feel it… the malice.”
For a moment, Renya’s mind went blank. He wasn’t sure how to respond. As though propelled by some subconscious intent, his hands moved by themselves, reaching for the katana that hung from his waist. The sight of his sudden gesture caused the salesperson to lurch backward in a panic. His momentum carried him past his point of balance and he toppled to the ground. He hit the ground in a roll and, with a surprising amount of dexterity, managed to flip himself into a prostrated position, ending his tumble in a touchdown of forehead to ground.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. It was a joke!”
“…Yeah, I figured as much.”
Praising himself for the restraint he displayed, Renya slowly released his grip on the katana and lowered his hand. He had come this close to running the guy through. Had he actually done so, he doubted he would have felt any guilt, but he would have to deal with being arrested for breaking the law. The shock of hearing such cheesy rubbish — the kind that nobody in his original world would ever attempt anymore — in this entirely new world was too much for his unprepared ears, and he had reacted almost entirely reflexively.
“B-But, I must point out that it wasn’t complete nonsense…”
“Hngh?”
“If there’s one thing this property is known for, it’s the rumor that it’s cursed.”