Whispering Verse

In this way, Sunday came. The meeting time agreed with Luvia and Iluna was in the afternoon, so in the morning Shade went out after washing his clothes. According to the business card given by Priest August, he found decorations that could maintain the house. team to check the specific damage on the third floor of their home.

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 has been to the third floor. Today, Shade entered the third floor of his home for the first time. As the workers climbed up the metal ladder, they saw a dark corridor. The entire structure of the third floor was almost identical to that of the second floor. Next to the corridor were two rooms.

The entire floor was dilapidated and damp. There was a layer of dust on the floor, leaving a footprint when you step on it. There were mold spots everywhere on the ceiling and walls. But at least the church kept the place clean before cutting off the third-floor stairs many years ago.

Although you can see some blood stains with [Blood Echo], at least there is no garbage here, so there are no rats. Even similar to the situation in the basement, first floor, and second floor, there are no spiders or spider webs in the third floor, which has been abandoned for many years. Shade opened two doors on the rotten third floor, and even climbed up to the attic with the help of workers. There was some leakage in the attic roof, but there was no trace of insects.

This is quite novel.

Many owners of this house have died here. As far as Shade knows, many famous accidents have happened on the third floor. The renovation team who came to inspect the damage to the house learned that someone had disappeared on the third floor of No. 6 Saint Teresa Square.

The accident was a hot topic in Tobesk tabloids many years ago.

After a preliminary inspection, they returned to the second floor to talk things over. The manager of the construction team, who looked very experienced and had dark red skin, gave his own opinion:

"The damage to the building itself is somewhat serious. In addition to minor problems such as floors, walls and windows, the more serious problem is the roof. The roof and floor need to be re-made with waterproof layers. In addition, if you need to connect steam pipes and gas pipes, We need to contact the gas company and steam company to lay the pipelines inside the wall. I just saw cracks in 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 contact me regarding gas pipelines and steam pipelines?"

Shade asked.

"certainly."

"In addition to the maintenance on the third floor, please also include helping me paint the basement, the next room on the second floor and the entire wall on the first floor. Also include the maintenance of the outer walls of the house. Also include the renovation of the chimney and fireplace. Please give me a specific Just quote me and tell me the construction period.”

The middle-aged man in overalls thought for a moment:

"While the third floor is being repaired, it is best not to let people live on the second floor of the house. If the first floor also needs to be painted, we recommend that you choose a room that will not be painted temporarily. You can live there, otherwise you will definitely not be able to stand the smell of the paint. If you want As soon as possible, we can start construction tomorrow, but you will have to pay more to shorten the construction period."

This request was quite reasonable. Shade held the cat and thought for a moment:

"The floors and paint are all made of the best materials. I'm going to 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 a notebook and did some calculations, then got up and went outside, asking the workers who were inspecting on the third floor to go to the first floor and basement to measure the area of ​​the wall.

This professionalism made Shade very fond of him.

Finally, the two of them returned to the second floor again and calculated the specific expenses in the study room:

"You were introduced by Priest Augustus. We charge you the lowest fee. It includes material fees, construction fees, gas pipeline and steam pipeline laying fees, and the fee for the city center house maintenance permit application. This is not cheap. You can directly Being able to see the Yodel Palace, construction work in nearby blocks requires an application... a total of 200 pounds."

Although Shade could afford the money, he still frowned:

"Sir, this money is enough to buy a house with a garden in a remote part of the city."

"I know it's a lot, but there is also a lot of construction that needs to be done. The cost of maintaining the house not only includes construction costs, but also adds to the specific value of the house."

The manager patiently explained:

"What is the normal valuation of houses in nearby neighborhoods, Mr. Hamilton, you know it yourself. I have helped you get the lowest price within a reasonable range. We also want to erase the increase based on the value of the house, but the industry The association will not agree."

"Industry Association?"

Shade wondered again, and the middle-aged manager continued to explain. 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 will also supervise the quotation 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's existence This is good, but it also means that our charging level cannot be too much lower than that of our peers, otherwise we will be squeezed out by our peers in the future.”

Shade opened his mouth and was stunned for a moment before nodding. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing again:

"Then can I ask, what is the premium of 200 pounds?"

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, poured the water from the teacup on the coffee table, and wrote a few numbers with his hand. Thinking about it this way, Xia De's premium is actually only about 30%. He didn't expect that just decorating the house would be so expensive before purchasing furniture.

The manager was still explaining to Shade:

"Repairing a house can, after all, increase the overall value of the building. Therefore, the wealth growth that different house constructions can bring to house owners is also different. This is also a reasonable explanation for the premium based on the value of the house... Let's do it this way , you pay us 200 pounds, and after inspecting the business at the federation, we will return part of it to you. But you cannot return it all, five percent, this is already the limit."

This should be a preferential treatment for the sake of Priest Augustus.

"But in this case, can the accounting problem be solved?"

Xia De asked again, and then the middle-aged man smiled:

"You don't have to worry about this. The accounting firm we outsourced is very professional. But if work 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. Door to prevent the construction from affecting your property. Oh, Monday is mainly for reassessment of the overall damage condition of the building and construction marking, so you can just move to the first floor before Tuesday."

This is a very reasonable suggestion. After all, Shade and Cat cannot lay the floor directly on the first floor.

"But why not? Is there any difference between sleeping on the floor and sleeping on a bed?"

Shade asked himself in his mind, and then felt the cat's little paws picking at him. When he lowered his head, the cat was looking at him with dissatisfied eyes:

"Okay, I will let you sleep on the bed."

Orange cat Xiao Mia has very high requirements for quality of life.

When he met Luvia and Iluna in the afternoon, Shade told them that he wanted 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 will be open."

"Is such that."

"What are you going to do with so much space? After the repairs on the third floor, you have two more empty rooms and an attic. Add to that your empty first floor and second floor room No. 2, and the vast space in your home will be Most of the space is currently idle."

"I plan to seal up the windows of the room upstairs by the stairs and decorate it into a dark room for daily thaumaturgy and conjuration practice, and to have space available when rituals need to be arranged. As for the other rooms... ...It is currently vacant, but sooner or later there will be an opportunity to use it.”

Luvia smiled and did not comment on Shade's thoughts. Iluna wanted to say something, but after looking at the cat lying on Shade's lap, she did not speak in the end.

"Shad, why do you look so gray?"

Iluna raised 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 the story of what happened in Cold Water Port."

Shade said with a smile, opened his arms and stretched back, so the cat that was originally lying on his lap also stood up, lowered its upper body, raised its buttocks and stretched out.

The summer sun breaks through the city fog and shines into the room from the window. Shade is 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 again:

"Let's start now."

Shade nodded, comforted the orange cat, and began to tell about the terrible things that happened in the seaport city; Luvia leaned back slightly on the sofa with a teacup in her hands, and Iluna touched her chin with her hand. , the seventeen-year-old girl looked at Shade's face very intently.

The afternoon sun shines through the mist over Tobesk and shines on their faces, and each one's face seems to be glowing. But the brightest thing is actually the orange fur on Mia's body. This orange and white cat is lying on Shade's lap for a nap. The fur on her body is facing the sun and shining brightly.

The Cold Water Port incident was over for the time being, and it would take more than half a month for Darkness to reach Tobesk. The remaining half of the Flower 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 details.

But Shade told almost everything except the secrets of the witch Miss Aurora and Dorothy and Lesia. 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 leisurely summer time after she returned to Tobesk from the Holy See. She didn't expect that Shade would experience such a complex and wonderful adventure story during this period of time.

"This is just like those legendary stories. While the brave are taking risks, in the eyes of ordinary people, it is just an ordinary time... Shade, compared to you, I don't look like the chosen one at all. "

This should be regarded as a seventeen-year-old girl praising Shade.