Chapter 407: Land Costs

"How much of a problem?"

Pax did not answer immediately. Instead, he pulled the Capital map closer, flattened one corner that had begun curling upward and studied Sage with the expression of a man trying to determine whether the number he had just heard was serious.

Sage had given him a rough estimate rather than an exact measurement, because he didn’t yet know what the System would require from a Kingdom Headquarters, but he knew one thing for certain: he wasn’t going to repeat the mistakes that came with expanding piece by piece.

Greyvale had grown around the Adventurer Guild naturally, and the Guild had been fortunate enough to possess room for additional facilities when they became necessary.

The Royal Capital would be different. Sage needed enough connected land for a Grand Guild Hall, another Mana Cultivation Tower, proper accommodation, restaurants, smithing facilities, warehouses, training grounds, administrative buildings, commercial facilities, stables and whatever else the System might unlock as the Guild advanced.

More importantly, he needed enough empty space left over for things he hadn’t thought of yet. Buying a magnificent building today only to discover six months later that every surrounding street belonged to noble Houses would be stupidity disguised as thrift.

Pax finally exhaled. "If you only wanted a large building for a headquarters, this wouldn’t be difficult. Expensive, yes, but not difficult. There are merchant estates, old administrative buildings and private compounds that change hands regularly enough. Depending on the district and condition, you could probably find something suitable between two million and ten million gold coins."

Boren, who had been listening from beside the table, visibly relaxed at those figures. They were enormous by ordinary standards, but after everything the Guild had earned and recovered, millions were no longer numbers capable of frightening him.

Pax noticed the relief and continued, "But that’s not what the Guildmaster wants. He wants enough connected land to build what amounts to an independent organizational district inside the Royal Capital. If we’re talking about the amount he just described, then location changes everything."

"How much?" Sage asked.

"In the outer districts, assuming we somehow find a single owner willing to sell that much connected land, perhaps forty to sixty million gold coins for a poor location. Something reasonably positioned with major-road access could reach eighty million. Closer to the central districts, if property of that size even became available, you’re probably looking at one hundred and fifty million to two hundred million gold coins before redevelopment costs. Prime land?"

Pax paused. "Two hundred and fifty million wouldn’t surprise me."

Boren stopped breathing.

Sage stared at Pax.

Mina looked between both men before pointing toward the floor. "For land?"

"Yes."

"Dirt?"

Pax’s mouth twitched. "Very expensive dirt."

Sage leaned forward and tapped the map. "Wait. Two hundred and fifty million gold coins?"

"Potentially."

"For a piece of land." Boren mouth was hanged wide opened.

"Correct." Pax nodded.

"Does the land come with a gold mine underneath it?" Boren lips twitched.

"No." Pax rolled his eyes at him.

"A dungeon?" Boren pressed on.

"Hopefully not." Pax shook his head.

"A small Kingdom?"

Pax shook his head.

Boren finally inhaled sharply and placed one hand against his chest. "I think I preferred the wolves."

Mina still looked genuinely confused.

She glanced toward the hotel window as though the streets outside might provide an explanation. "But there’s dirt everywhere. We passed dirt outside the walls. There was dirt beside the road. Why does dirt become worth millions because someone built a wall around it?"

Sage opened his mouth, paused, then decided that explaining urban property economics to Mina was not how he wanted to spend the evening.

Boren, however, had recovered enough to attempt an answer. "Because rich people looked at ordinary dirt and collectively agreed to make it everyone’s problem."

Pax gave him a flat look. "That isn’t remotely how it works."

Boren pointed at the map. "Two hundred and fifty million. I think my explanation is close enough."

Sage ignored them and began calculating. The Guild was wealthy, extremely wealthy compared to when he had first arrived in Greyvale with practically nothing.

Its branches generated increasing revenue every day, its facilities produced income, and the treasure recovered from the Vault had given them resources most regional organizations could only dream of possessing.

Spending tens of millions on a permanent Kingdom Headquarters wasn’t impossible. Even a hundred million could be justified if the property truly secured the Guild’s future. But there was a difference between having enough money to purchase something and being willing to throw money away.

Two hundred million gold coins spent on land was two hundred million unavailable for expansion, salaries, branch construction, emergency reserves and everything else the Guild needed.

"What about buying outside the walls?" Boren asked hopefully. "We saw plenty of land before entering. We buy something enormous for a fraction of this madness, build there, and whenever anyone asks why the Kingdom Headquarters is outside the Kingdom’s greatest city, we tell them the view is better."

Sage shook his head. "We’re establishing the Kingdom Headquarters, not a countryside resort. It needs access to the Capital’s population, merchants, adventurers and major roads. If someone has to spend half a day traveling outside the city whenever they want to use Guild services, we’ve already made ourselves inconvenient."

Pax nodded. "There’s also prestige. You might not care about it personally, but other organizations do. Where you establish yourself tells people how seriously they should take you."

That settled it. Sage wasn’t going to spend two hundred million simply to impress nobles, but neither would he deliberately cripple the Guild to save money.

He looked at the map again before standing. "Then we’ll see what’s actually available. Numbers on paper aren’t going to find us a headquarters."

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The property hunt began the following morning, and within three hours Sage developed a new appreciation for how simple killing monsters could be.

Pax had arranged contact with two property brokers who specialized in commercial and organizational estates, though neither knew the full scale of what Sage intended to build.

The first broker was an energetic middle-aged man named Jorren who became considerably more enthusiastic once he learned Sage represented the Adventurer Guild.

He led them toward the Central Trade District and spent most of the journey praising a property he described as an "exceptional institutional opportunity."