Chapter 413: Acquiring The Land

Buying the Old Western Garrison turned out to be considerably more difficult than deciding that he wanted it.

Sage discovered that the following morning when Pax led him, Mina and Boren into the administrative quarter adjoining the Royal District, where the streets were filled less with merchants and adventurers and more with government officials carrying document cases between enormous stone buildings.

The Bureau of Crown Lands occupied one of those buildings, a broad six-story structure whose entrance displayed the Royal crest above two uniformed guards.

Unlike the noble estates Sage had visited during the property hunt, there was nothing particularly luxurious about the place.

It existed to manage Crown-owned land throughout the Capital and surrounding territories, which meant its halls were crowded with surveyors, clerks, lawyers, merchants seeking leases, contractors submitting development proposals and ordinary citizens waiting beneath numbered signs.

Sage had imagined purchasing land would involve negotiation.

He had not imagined that before reaching the negotiation, he would spend nearly two hours being sent between four different desks because nobody seemed certain which department handled the permanent sale of an abandoned military district.

The first clerk assumed Sage wanted to lease one of the surviving warehouses.

The second thought he represented a construction company seeking salvage rights. The third finally understood that Sage wanted the land itself and stared at him long enough that Boren started smiling.

"The entire Old Western Garrison?" the clerk repeated, glancing between Sage and the application in front of him. "Not one parcel?"

Sage shook his head. "The entire registered district."

The clerk adjusted his spectacles and read the organization name again. "Adventurer Guild... Evergreen Region."

Sage nodded. "That’s correct."

The man looked back at the requested property, then toward Sage once more. "You understand that the Old Western Garrison is former military Crown property covering multiple registered parcels, several abandoned structures and restricted infrastructure?"

Sage confirmed that he did.

"And you’re applying for a development lease?" the clerk asked.

"Permanent purchase." Sage said with a serious face.

That earned another silence. Boren leaned toward Mina and murmured that they had finally found a number capable of breaking government employees before any money had even been mentioned.

The application disappeared upstairs.

It returned twenty minutes later accompanied by three more officials.

By midday, Sage was sitting inside a conference room on the fourth floor with Pax beside him, Boren and Mina farther down the table, and four representatives from the Bureau of Crown Lands opposite them.

The senior official introduced himself as Deputy Commissioner Harven and began by making something very clear: the Old Western Garrison had never been listed for unrestricted private sale.

The Crown had considered redevelopment proposals over the decades, including commercial leases and partial subdivision, but permanent transfer of the entire district required legal review because of its former military designation and its position beside several important roads.

"We are not saying a sale is impossible," Harven explained, turning through a thick collection of property records. "The garrison has been formally decommissioned for twenty-six years, and most surface structures have no remaining military function. But you’re asking the Crown to permanently surrender ownership over a significant piece of land inside the Royal Capital. That cannot be treated like the sale of a warehouse."

"That’s why I’m here," Sage replied. "I’m willing to accept reasonable restrictions on use. I’m not willing to accept a lease."

One of the officials glanced up. "A ninety-nine-year development lease would be considerably easier to approve."

"No."

"Renewable after expiration."

"No."

Harven studied him. "May I ask why?"

Sage rested his hands on the table. "Because I’m not building something meant to last ninety-nine years. This will become the Kingdom Headquarters of the Adventurer Guild. If I’m investing that much money into construction, infrastructure and future expansion, then I need permanent ownership of the land beneath it."

The officials exchanged looks. None laughed, but Sage could tell several considered the scale of his plan optimistic for an organization they knew primarily as a rapidly growing regional Guild from Evergreen.

That didn’t bother him. Their opinion of the Guild had no bearing on what he intended to build. After another round of discussion, Harven called for the original military surveys and the meeting turned from whether Sage could purchase the garrison to what exactly the Crown would refuse to sell with it.

The first complication was beneath the ground.

Several old tunnels ran underneath the district, remnants of military supply routes, emergency passages and defensive infrastructure constructed when the western wall had stood much closer to the garrison.

Most had been sealed, but two connected to infrastructure extending beyond the property’s boundaries. The Crown refused to transfer ownership of those passages.

Sage didn’t argue. Instead, he insisted that the deed define their exact locations, access points and legal boundaries so nobody could later claim an undefined portion of the Guild’s underground property belonged to the military.

Pax supported him immediately, asking for survey references and written limitations on when Crown personnel could enter through Guild-controlled land to reach those passages.

The next issue involved the roads.

Western Crownway and Old Military Avenue would remain public Royal roads regardless of who owned the neighboring land.

Sage couldn’t build gates across them, redirect traffic, impose tolls or extend Guild structures into protected road boundaries.

Again, Sage had no objection. He wanted those roads precisely because they were public arteries connecting the Headquarters to the rest of the Capital.

Then came construction regulations.

Any structure exceeding designated heights required approval from the Capital Planning Office.

Large magical facilities required certified mana-safety inspections. Waste disposal, drainage, fire control and public access standards applied regardless of Guild ownership.

Buildings near the old military boundary couldn’t interfere with existing defensive formations beneath the western districts.

The Guild would also be responsible for maintaining internal roads, removing unsafe ruins and securing construction zones.

Boren’s expression deteriorated with every new responsibility.

"Does buying the land come with anything pleasant?" he eventually asked. "So far we’re purchasing ruins and receiving obligations for free."

One of the younger officials almost smiled.

Sage continued reading.