Sure enough, the mage swung the gate open and stared around the compound with an impressed look. "Oh, Jones, it's you. How are you doing today?" He asked.
"Jones Junior, are you here to cast the barriers?" The Stonesmith replied.
The slender Dragonkin mage smiled. "Assuming that I can get paid." He agreed.
Remi handed Karl a Mana Jade ring, engraved with Spell Power and Mana Storage runes.
Karl quickly poured mana into it as the Mage watched in shock, then when it got to the Royal Rank limit of the item, he handed it to the Dragonkin.
"I don't suppose that will get us a proper barrier for the house?" He asked.
"I think that it might. I don't suppose that you were looking for an apprentice? I've got one just about to start looking for training in a career, and her mother's a Magic Demon. Quite the skilled young prodigy." The Mage, who looked almost human with whatever disguise spell he had activated, replied.
Karl shook his head. "I'm not sure that I'll be here enough to provide proper training for an apprentice. But I do need soone who can identify and appraise items brought for trade, so perhaps we should talk. If the student is self-motivated, the teacher doesn't need to be around every day."
Rain looked down from a third floor window, with a curious frown.
"Why is he Jones Junior, but you're not related?" She called, loud enough for Jones to hear.
Both the Stonesmith and the mage began to laugh.
It was the mage that answered her question. "You see, my na is Jacob Jones. But he also goes by Jones, as nobody can pronounce his full na, and he is much older than I am, so he is the Senior Jones, and I am Jones Junior, or Mage Jones."
That was less interesting than the young Dryad had hoped, and she pulled her head back in the window to continue showing Lotus around.
Mage Jones walked inside the main room, followed by Karl, so he could explain the situation. The others waited outside, wanting to be surprised once it was all done.
"Oh, this will work wonderfully. They even built railings to define the edges of the barriers. I will give you an access stone, so you can add employees to the list as necessary. I specialize in this, so I will make you proper jewellery cases." The Mage explained, then tied his long black hair back and out of his face.
The room looked like one of the Elven residences Karl had seen on the other continent when he was sent to the past. It was all organic curves, not planed flat. Except on the inside of the display cases. But the walls were white stone, polished smooth, and the floors were hardwood and similarly well-fitted. In the back, hidden behind a door that looked like the back storage room, was a large kitchen complete with a freezer that the Mage enchanted, and the actual storage room, which was accessed through the kitchen. It was an odd setup, but Karl suspected that it was ant for dried goods storage for the Guards, so the location actually made more sense, as it was opposite the freezer, allowing a group of cooks to work efficiently during al prep.
Once the display cases and the kitchen were finished, Jones Junior put an Overlord Ranked barrier over the whole house, and then Karl followed him to the second floor, where he saw a large central room surrounded by small rooms.
They must have been guard dorms in the past, barely two tres wide. The doors were currently all open, revealing single beds, a desk and a dresser inside. There was one large restroom at the back of the building, and two shower rooms. So, the layout hadn't been changed since it was a dorm for the guards. But that did give them far more than the twenty required bedrooms for the Guild House standard.
The mage cast a soundproofing spell over the rooms, but not completely deadening the sound, if Karl guessed the details correctly. It would make regular noises inaudible, but those in the common area would still be able to hear if soone shouted for help.
The third floor was much more fancy, with six large bedrooms and one slightly smaller one, plus a smaller common area with a kitchenette. The smallest of the rooms on this floor was piled high with neatly organized stuff that had to be Caretaker Jo's, maintained as her own room since she was actually employed here. But the others were all immaculately clean. Her stuff would be arranged soon enough, it was just that the room had been renovated, and she needed to put it all away again.
On this floor, he cast a temperature control spell, the usual soundproofing spells, and a ventilation spell that drew air from the lower floors up and out through the chimney of the fireplace column that ran through all three floors and both kitchen areas.
There was no such thing as a modern stove here, but the fireplaces were fire magic, and had an oven above them, as well as a magic burning stone stove top that was definitely not child safe by the Golden Dragon Nation's standards.
"There we go. I will put a periter spell around the property as well, and that should be enough to keep unwanted visitors out when you're closed without confining your mbers to the house." Jones Junior explained.
"Wonderful, thank you. This is perfect." Karl agreed.
Rae stepped out of her space with an armload of cloth and a serrated smile.
The mage gave her a confused look, as he hadn't seen anyone by that description earlier. But she was putting new silk sheets on all the beds, so she must belong here.
Rae also hung new curtains, and arranged a number of rugs on the floor, which were made from the fur cloaks pilfered from the Frost Giants.
The oversized cloaks were perfect for throw rugs to dampen sound in the rooms, though the white colour would be a nightmare to keep clean.
She hoped that Caretaker Jo was not only passionate but competent about her Obsession.
Before long, she had all fresh bedding and pillows on all the beds that the Dryads had made. They weren't a solid mattress, more like an extra fluffy cushion, but they looked comfortable to sleep on, as both Rain and Lotus had flopped down on one the mont Rae had put the bedding on.
Rae gave a thumbs up from the front window when she was done, and the others ca inside to see the contents of the house after the renovation. Unlike Karl, they knew what it looked like before, so their sense of awe was much higher after the hour's worth of work.
"So, you will be selling all your goods here?" Mage Jones asked.
Karl shook his head. "I intend to make so lower grade items to sell at the Royal Jewellers. The sort of items that can be spread on the mass market, instead of one-off and exclusive items for sale here. But the potions and other items will be exclusive to our shop, unless soone is going to resell them elsewhere for a higher price."
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