"Mr. Earl, I'd like to ask," Kaito interrupted Romund's eager pitch with a calm expression, though his heart was already racing beneath the surface, "if I buy all of these places, can you give me a discount?"
Romund froze for a moment, his eyes widening. "All of them?"
He had never expected the young Viscount before him to even consider such a massive purchase, let alone propose buying them all in one go. The very thought made Romund's chest tighten with excitement. Not only was the Viscount young, but he was clearly unimaginably wealthy.
Suppressing his shock, Romund's face broke into a wide smile. He laughed heartily and declared without hesitation, "Of course! The more you buy, the greater the discount. I can give you up to forty percent!"
Forty percent.
That was the absolute highest Romund could offer within his authority, and now he had laid his final card on the table. It was proof of just how desperate he was to sell the land that had been sitting idle, untouched, for years.
Hearing those words, Kaito's calm expression nearly faltered. Inside, his heart surged with excitement. He had expected a maximum of thirty-five percent at best and even then, it would have required sharp bargaining. Yet here was Romund, unprompted, offering a full forty percent. Such generosity was beyond his expectations.
Without wasting a second, Kaito reached for the pen lying on the table. He bent over the map and began circling locations with swift, confident strokes.
"I'll take this one, this one… and this," he said, marking plot after plot. "Yes, these as well. Could you please calculate the total price for me?"
By the time he put down the pen, more than a dozen areas had been circled.
Kaito leaned back in his chair, stretching slightly, as if to release the tension in his shoulders. His expression was composed, but his mind was already racing.
Most of the locations he had marked were in the central region prime land that would one day become the heart of Astralis City. But he hadn't ignored the outer districts either. From the southern, eastern, and western regions, he had selected several key plots, each one destined to rise in value as the city expanded. The only district he left untouched was the northern. It wasn't that he didn't want land there. It was simply that most of the northern district was zoned for non-commercial purposes, making it unsuitable for immediate investment. Kaito had different plans for that area, but those would come later.
Romund, meanwhile, stood frozen in place. He had never expected Kaito to mark so many plots. His mouth opened slightly as he stared at the map, trying to process the enormity of what he was seeing.
Regardless of whether Kaito could truly pay the full amount or not, Romund refused to let even the slightest chance slip away. He turned sharply to the secretary standing nearby.
"Give him the full forty percent discount. Calculate the price at once!"
The secretary, who had been staring wide-eyed at the heavily marked map, snapped back to her senses at Romund's command. She nodded furiously. "Yes, yes! Right away!"
Her efficiency was impressive. In less than thirty seconds, she had run the numbers and arrived at a total.
She hesitated for a moment before speaking, as if the figure itself was difficult to utter. "A total of… 89,653 gold and 15 silver."
The number hit the room like a stone dropped into still water.
Kaito blinked, taken aback. That… was far less than he had expected.
He had to swallow hard, his throat tightening. In his past life, during Astralis City's peak, such an amount of money wouldn't have even bought a tiny thirty-square-meter house in the outer regions near the city gates. And now, with less than ninety thousand gold, he could claim so many expansive plots of land across central and outer four regions of Astralis. The gap between past and present made his heart pound.
Still, he kept his expression steady. Looking up, he asked cautiously, "Miss, did you miscalculate?"
Romund's reaction was no calmer. His jaw nearly dropped as he turned to stare at the secretary.
His annual salary was only ten gold coins. Ten.
Eighty-nine thousand gold was more wealth than he could ever dream of holding in his lifetime enough to live comfortably for eight thousand years without food or drink. The sheer enormity of the figure made his chest tighten.
"Did you miscalculate?" Romund blurted out nervously. "Check again! Quickly!"
He was terrified the price would scare off this young Viscount. The last thing he wanted was for such a monumental opportunity to vanish before his eyes.
The secretary, pale and flustered, nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I'll recalculate immediately!"
She bent over her papers again, her quill scratching rapidly as she worked through the numbers. A minute later, she looked up, her face pale but resolute.
"Eighty-nine thousand, six hundred fifty-three gold and fifteen silver," she said firmly. "It's correct."
Romund's face twitched. He forced out an awkward laugh. "Haha, that… that does seem a bit high. But please don't be concerned! We also accept installment payments. You don't have to pay it all at once."
His words betrayed his desperation. He wanted to soothe the Viscount, to assure him the burden could be eased if needed. Deep down, he wished he could reduce the price outright, but that decision was beyond him as the Land prices were not his to adjust without Duke Reynard's permission.
But Kaito didn't waver.
He lifted a hand casually, his tone calm yet firm. "No need. Just give me some time. I'll pay in one lump sum."
There was no hesitation in his voice.
Though the price was staggering in the present moment, Kaito knew better than anyone just how insignificant it truly was compared to the future value of the land. Even spending nearly ninety thousand gold here and now, he would reap profits a hundredfold once Astralis City flourished. To him, this was not a purchase. It was an investment.
Romund's eyes widened slightly at Kaito's confident tone. For a young noble to speak with such dominance it left him momentarily speechless.
After making his bold declaration in the Vice City Lord's office, Kaito didn't linger. Without paying attention to Romund's expressions, he turned on his heels and walked straight out. Returning to the guest seats near the entrance of the City Hall, he sat down calmly.
He had no intention of leaving the building yet. Though he had asked Romund for time to gather the funds, that didn't mean he was willing to give anyone else a chance to take what he had just set his eyes on. Those plots of land were his treasures. He wasn't about to risk another player walking in, hearing about the available properties, and snatching them away.
So instead of leaving, Kaito chose a seat close to the entrance where he could keep watch. If any other player were to walk through the doors, he would immediately rush back into Romund's office and secure however many plots he could with the funds he already had on hand.
Settling into the seat, Kaito opened his inventory. It had been a long time since he had checked the actual count of his gold coins. Because he had muted all the system prompts related to earnings like dungeon entry fee remittances, guide sales, and auction transactions he hadn't been keeping a close eye on the numbers. Now, he wanted to see exactly how much wealth he had accumulated.