The ladies came in with the appraiser, who was an Ascended Rank Elite with a crafting specialty class.
[Remi, did you pick useless stones?] Karl asked.
[Yeah, and give him some of this grass I picked. There is too much of it here, and it’s in the way.]
The appraiser bowed a full ninety degrees, while Overlord Niall chuckled at the show of deference, or more likely at Karl’s discomfort around it.
“Sir, I am told that you require a conversion for some items you have obtained?”
Karl set the fistful of delicately cut gemstones and the large bundle of magical grass on the table side by side. “This should be enough, I think. If you can convert that to credits for me, I would like to rent an apartment and maintain a balance in my account for incidentals.”
The man just stared at the pile, while Overlord Niall picked up one of the gems, a faintly magical garnet, low Ascended Rank by Karl’s estimation.
“You know, a Fire Garnet of this quality and cut is worth a year’s rent. You didn’t need to make the man go through so much work.” The Overlord was staring at the gem with what looked like lust, and examining it with the practised movements of a jeweller.
Or perhaps a jewel thief. Many Rogue Class Elites had a questionable past.
Karl shrugged. “I never exchange anything, I didn’t know. But if that’s the case, you can keep that one for your assistance, and we can convert these two for credits, plus the pile of herbs.”
The appraiser looked at the pile of herbs with great concern. “Are you certain that you wish to trade all of this?”
[Make them go away. Those are the trash stalks that I pruned so much better ones would grow, or to clear space.] Remi agreed.
“Yes. Those are the lower grade castoffs that I don’t need anymore.”
The man seemed to freeze, and began breathing too fast for a few seconds before Lotus cast something on him.
“Panic attack, he should be alright with a calming spell on him.” She explained.
“Sir, those stalks are all Commander Rank, and they’re worth nearly twenty thousand credits each.” The appraiser stammered.
“Do you regret picking the gem now?” Karl mock whispered to Overlord Niall.
“Not at all. I don’t need Spirit Grass for anything. But magic type classes like the appraiser go all googly over it. You should see if you can get some potions made with the portion you kept. Your girlfriend would benefit from them.”
Karl stared at the grass with his system interface up. [Moderate quality feed for Thor]
[Mild Intoxicant for Hawk]
[Combines with Sage Spirit Herb to make minor Soul Strengthening potions for Hawk]
That last line was a new one, but there were no other listed uses with Identify, so it was no real use to his beasts.
“Good idea. I will look into that later. I have the ingredients needed, I believe.”
The appraiser carefully examined every stalk and made notes, while the group milled about and Lotus tried to teach Cara how to play Cat’s Cradle with a piece of string.
When he got to the last of the stalks, Karl stopped him, realizing that the total was an astronomical sum.
“That one is for you. A gratuity for your prompt service.”
The appraiser stared lovingly at the long piece of grass. “Are you certain, Sir?”
“Of course. There are how many of them in that pile? One is no loss. The conversion of those plus two stones should be more than enough for my immediate needs.”
Tessa shook her head in dismay. “You know, I tend to forget that while your stockpile of random stuff is useful in the field, you’re actually insanely wealthy if you convert it to money.”
Karl laughed. “Thor eats that grass as a snack.”
The appraiser and the real estate agent winced in pain at the cost of letting a giant beast eat such a valuable resource.
“The total will be transferred to your account, and these two garnets will be sufficient to cover a year’s rent on your chosen unit. Thank you for your patronage, and the Cathedral Resource Warehouse appreciates your generosity.”
Overlord Niall watched the appraiser call for security as he loaded the grass into a secure cargo box on a dolly and hand the real estate agent a card on his way out.
“Now, should we go see that unit? As long as there is nothing wrong with it, I would like to get settled in. I have a long day of debriefings tomorrow.” Karl suggested.
“You have debriefings tonight as well. But tomorrow will be even busier, so we should get ahead of the others.” Niall agreed.
Karl sighed and gestured for everyone to follow them out of the room.
The apartment building was actually a high-rise tower that Karl had thought was part of the corporate district. Fifty stories tall and as large as a city block, there was certainly plenty of room for the apartments. Lotus spun in a happy circle as she saw where they were going. “This is perfect. I can just invade your space when the dorms at the Cathedral get too boring.”
The housing agent gave Karl a look that said, ‘should I show you a unit with a spare room for High Priestesses?’ But Karl motioned for him to keep walking.
“I am sure that we can make space. Or we can look at other units if there might be a similar unit that keeps the large hot tub. That part is essential.” Karl assured her, with a nod to the realtor to let him know the response was for him as well.
Dana winked at him and Karl smiled. Rae and Thor weren’t the only ones looking forward to getting time to soak.
The elevator took them to the tenth floor, and a pristine white walled lobby area with thick red carpets. There was a gold and crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and Tessa whistled in appreciation of the luxury.
Red Dragon clerics spent most of their time in Orphanages or combat training facilities before they graduated, and often after as well. They didn’t see much luxury.
“There is a secure training facility on basement level two. It’s not actually under the building, but under the courtyard and park. It was reinforced by the Archbishop and a group of Overlord Rank mages, so there is no danger that it will be damaged as long as you pay the energy cost to enter.
There is a public pool on the second floor, and a gym on the basement floor one. But the residential floors all look similar, with different layouts based on apartment sizes. There are six units on this floor, only two of which are currently occupied.”
Karl decided he didn’t want to think too hard about why there would be so many empty units in the building. Sure, it was expensive, but all the more powerful Elites were regularly required to be in the Capital for one reason or another, so it made sense for them to get an apartment somewhere in the city.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t afford it. If Karl had checked his balance before asking for a conversion of resources, he likely would have had enough for the rent just off his Elite payments, and those would be going up now that he was a Monarch.