Housing Market is Poor These Days

Simon had a couple of sheets of paper in his hands.

If Alaric had to estimate, he would say that Simon was holding about five.

"Alright, I have six places for you to look at. two are over budget, four are under." Simon said, now assuming a business like attitude. He put the papers on the table then fastened his tie tightly.

"Fuck it's six." Alaric thought. He was close, but he wasn't there. He was destined for eternal failure in terms of guessing how much paper people had in their hands when it is in a stack.

"Let's start with the ones that are under budget." Alaric said. These were the real contenders. Alaric didn't really want to take out a loan unless one of the houses blew him away. But that would be unlikely.

"Alright. First house. This one is the most expensive out of the cheap ones." Simon brought out a piece of paper with a picture of the house and some details.

"Location first. This one is near the ocean, like you want. But, it's near a deathworm infested beach." Simon started.

Alaric hated deathworms. The name was a little on the nose, but it was accurate. They were a beast that had bludgeoning magic that allowed them to convert their tails into bludgeons that would kill people almost instantly. This would rule out the possibility of comfortably using the beach.

"How much is it?" Alaric asked.

"350" Simon answered.

"And what about the house?" Alaric questioned.

"It's decent. Three rooms, one common room, one bedroom, one washroom. Decent condition." Simon said. He pointed to some drawings on the paper. There were no photographs available in this time, so there were artistic renditions of the house.

Alaric made a mental note of this house.

"Worm beach decent house"

"Second house. This one is a little cheaper. So it comes with a little more danger."

"It's a cabin in a wolf infested woods. The house is twenty minutes away from the beach. The woods however is regulated by the Wolf Slayer guild, so if you need help, you can send a signal." Simon said.

"The hose itself is actually pretty nice. It's one big room but it has a loft. Common room and a bedroom. Outside washroom. Comes with a finished kitchen." Simon pointed to the kitchen.

"I don't give a shit about a finished kitchen." Alaric thought. This house wasn't Alaric's favorite. He didn't like the idea of being around a lot of Wolf Slayer guild activity. If he was to operate out of it, it wouldn't be very private.

But, the house was decent, and would provide decent storage for fish.

Alaric thought about the house for a second.

"You know what, a finished kitchen is actually pretty good. I retract my previous thought." Alaric thought. He wasn't a horrible cook, so it wouldn't be bad.

"How much?" Alaric asked.

"300 flat" Simon answered.

"Okay, okay." Alaric thought. This wasn't a bad price.

"Alright, next one. This one is… not great I'm going to be honest."

"25 minute walk to the beach, but it is next to a river. The problem with this one is the forest next to it. On either side of the river next to the house there is a forest filled with horrible stuff. One one side you have the Fleshmonkey forest, and on the other side is a deeply wolf infested forest. This wolf forest is not regulated by the Wolf Slayer guild." Simon explained.

"The house itself is bad too." Simon pointed to a picture.

It was a dirty shack that was rundown. It had one room with a bed on the floor. That was it.

"120 charred." Simon said flatly.

This house was actually very appealing to Alaric.

The river opened up a whole new dimension of fishing to Alaric, and he could take his boat into the river to the ocean. The surrounding forests were incredibly unappealing. These were not empty threats.

"The things that lived in these forests can and will actively try to kill me if I live there. I would definitely have to defend myself properly." Alaric thought.

The Fleshmonkeys were a kind of large ape that were somomancers. They could manipulate the flesh of beings weaker than them. They had a tradition of creating bloody statues of the things they killed. They were very edgy animals. Whenever Alaric heard a story about them, it was always something with high shock factor.

"I'm not really planning on being in a news article because I got turned into a vase by a monkey…" Alaric thought. The wolves were a little more clear-cut. They were group hunters with various abilities, nothing too crazy. They often had multiple heads depending on how powerful they were.

They were strong, maybe even stronger than the Fleshmonkeys, but they were simpler to deal with.

Alaric considered this property deeply.

"Alright, this last one, I seriously don't think you should get. I get wanting a cheap property, I do. I don't even know why I'm offering you this one." Simon said. He seemed to shiver a little as he took out the piece of paper.

"30 people have died in this house. All by the hands of Micheal the Intestine Enthusiast." Simon said.

Even hearing the name of Micheal the Intestine Enthusiast terrified Alaric. One single drop of fluid waste appeared in Alaric's pants due to how scared he was of this man.

"Yeah no. Put the paper away." Alaric told Simon who then put the paper away.

Micheal was a name that was permanently banned in the kingdom they were currently in due to this man. He is currently in prison, put there by Samson in fact. But still, it wouldn't be worth getting involved in anything adjacent to him.

He had some followers who would interfere.

"Sorry about that, I don't even know why I mentioned that one." Simon said.

Alaric nodded. He too didn't know why. That was not a house fit for humanity.

"Just curious, how much is it?" Alaric asked.

"30 charred." Simon answered.

"Still no." Alaric said definitely.

"Alright. I have two houses that are only slightly out of your budget, but I think you'll like them." Simon said, regaining composure, and taking out the other two pieces of paper.