"Alex as I had said before, since you have now become my disciple, even if not my pro-disciple, I will not let anyone give you trouble. If you are not in the wrong than I will help you in my limits since you shouldn't depend on other's much and always try to be independent yourselves. As for the Jordan family, they will surely give me face to not pursue the previous matters but if they find trouble with your family that is now staying in the forest, I won't be able to give much help to you in that…only if you prove your worth as my disciple can I do something about that situation" said Master Clayton as he seriously stressed on his words. Nothing in this world comes free.
"I understand, Master. Getting to learn about the world of Alchemist from you was my only intention from the start" Alex agreed as he intended to solve most of his problems himself. Master Clayton is just a temporary umbrella or a deterance intended only to scare of some unnecessary troubles and deter Jordan Family from abusing its own power. For every aid or assistance he gets from other people, he intends return it back 10 times or even 100 times more in the near future.
"Good then, I will remember your words today. Be sure to follow them. Its already time for dinner, let's eat first. You and your friends can stay in one of the courtyards in the back of this manor."
"Master, thank you, but I have decided to buy a house in this city to stay with my friends. Some of my village people are also going to come here tomorrow and before that I have to prepare for them so that they can settle here. "
"Oh, but then you can't ignore these books because I am very serious about this. If you are not able answer my questions after two months then you won't get another chance. Be sure about that" Master Clayton warned.
"Master, I am very serious about being an alchemist and I won't miss this chance. I assure you that I won't let foriegn matters interfere in my progress" Alex said with a look of strong determinations and self-confidence.
"Um… alright then. Wait here for a minute." said Master Clayton after which he went inside his room.
Hank, Tom and Alex were left out in the living room. Selena had taken Anna with her above probably to her room. In just one evening they seem to have become good friends.
Hank and Tom had been sitting there on the sofa the whole time when Alex and Master Clayton had been talking and Hank specially was behaving well, most likely because of the status of Master Clayton.
Alex already saw him getting restless when his Master invited him and his friends to stay in their manor. Hank didn't like that idea because it would severely limit his freedom.
Master Clayton was back with a beast skin in one hand.
"It is very difficult and expensive to buy a house here if you are not specifically under any Noble family or prominent group like merchants or like me. This Beast skin has my seal on it which can also be interpreted as a pass, when you buy any house or a shop here you will need to show it to the relevant officer under Lord Doran. Without this you can only get a house in the slums at a very high price or you will have to buy a pass like this from a merchant behind walls, also for high price to buy house at a good place. Don't lose it, and remember there's a limit of one house and one shop because owning a house in the city is very precious. If in the future, you want to buy more than you will either have pay a lot of tax or perform a merit after enlisting in the City Lord army… also becoming an Advance apprentice Alchemist also gives you a lot of right in the city. So work hard and don't disappoint me" Master Clayton explained slowly.
Alex kept the pass in his backpack and said "Thank you for this Master. I won't disappoint you. We will take our leave then."
Master Clayton looked up the stairs going to his daughter's room and said "Alex, do one thing, sleep here for the night and in the morning I will send my servant to help you look for a good house."
"As you wish" Alex smiled as he said.
They had dinner together with Master Clayton and his daughter who was talking nonstop with Anna as she had found a cute little sister. Anna was also looking chatting happily with her.
Alex, Hank and Tom slept in one of the courtyard in the back of the manor. Selena had arranged a room for Anna that is adjacent to her own.
Hank said "Alex, Master Clayton seems to be a good guy but I don't why I felt very pressured when I stood near him"
"It's normal that you will feel like that. Every Alchemist in this world also have a s . Or else they would be bullied and would be treated as money making slave. Fortunately, you cannot progress in Alchemy if you don't have a good cultivation base. They both go hand in hand" explained Alex slowly.
Tom also nodded.
"Alright then, Goodnight. Tomorrow, Len will also reach the city with others. We will have to rent a house and a warehouse to store the demon beast materials and spirit herbs they will be bringing with them. We will also use the pass to buy a house with pass that Master gave us." Registered mercenary groups can rent a house and a shop for a price little bit higher than normal in the city since they are considered the main supplier of materials that the city needs but still they can only rent a house or shop, and are not eligible to buy them.
This policy was implemented in every city on this island. Alex was going to this at first, but since he has got a free pass to buy a shop and house than he will of course use it.
A person who owns a house here in the city is treated very differently than those who rent it.
...
In the morning, a servant was leading them to buy a suitable house situated in a good area. Apart from the servant, senior sister Selena also tagged along to accompany them, mostly because of Anna.
Alex didn't know what they talked about all night nor did he wanted to know because he can see how happy Anna was when she talked with Selena as they both followed them.
But he was 70 percent sure that it was about him, as he had already found them more than three, four times looking at him and then going back to giggling and murmuring among themselves.
Alex found himself very lucky and fortunate to become a topic between these two beautiful girls.