Omniscient Necromancer POV

The Lovikalen notary offices only recognized rental contracts for six months or longer, but these short contracts were usually used by tenants who wanted Type 5 and Type 4 accommodations.

Almost all Type 3 accommodations and above required a minimum one-year rental contract.

This wasn't a problem for me, but my mother seemed nervous about it when I picked a Type 2 apartment from the catalog to visit.

About fifteen minutes later, the real estate agent Hans Enoksen finally returned to the office.

Hans was a man with a large double chin and a bushy mustache, dressed sharply in a gray suit and a red patterned bow tie.

He smiled broadly when he saw my mother and opened his arms.

From what Fumiko and I had discussed on the way, the accounting firm where my mother worked had been handling Nomad House's accounts for three years.

Mr. Enoksen shook my hand firmly. "It is a pleasure to finally meet Mrs. Shibutani's eldest son."

Since my mother had worked in accounting since she was young, she was still known by her maiden name.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Enoksen."

Considering his expensive clothes and the gold chain of the pocket watch hanging from his suit pocket, I could tell that Enoksen was very wealthy and probably had many connections.

Being polite to him wouldn't kill me, and it might even lead to a useful contact in the future.

We chatted briefly before heading down to the street and getting into Mr. Enoksen's private carriage.

Riding the electric tram was convenient for me when I didn't have much money, but I had to admit that a carriage was faster in some cases.

We made no stops before arriving at Aquarius Street in the Laurellane neighborhood.

We stopped at building number 707.

This was two streets above the first apartment Mrs. Lombard had shown us, but all the apartments on Aquarius Street were already Type 2.

The front door of the building was made of iron and required a key to open, unlike the building where my family and I currently lived.

We entered without any problems, accompanied by Enoksen, and climbed two flights of stairs, stopping on the third floor.

The hallway floor was white porcelain tile instead of wood.

The apartment door was light wood with small gold details.

Normally, only high-class workers or government officials could live in a place like this. However, nowadays, the odds could change for poor families like mine when they had a high-ranking Climber.

Enoksen took a bunch of keys from his pocket and opened the door. He went in first and held it open for my mother and me to enter.

The first room was huge, with laminate flooring, high ceilings, and sandstone-colored walls with plaster moldings.

"This first room is the living room. To your left are the glass doors leading to the balcony with a breathtaking view of Aquarius Street, and to your right is a large window overlooking Princess Street. The architect who designed this complex of buildings a hundred years ago planned it to capture both the rising sun in the east and the setting sun in the west. I mean, these buildings are a hundred years old, but you can see they've all been renovated."

The natural light was undeniable, but even though this was a different neighborhood from Bronxord, it was still Lovikalen. That meant it was almost impossible to see the sun naturally because of the gray clouds over the city.

"Moving on, we have two different hallways in this apartment. Please follow me."

The hallway on the left led to two bedrooms: a larger one with built-in closets and a smaller one for guests, along with a half bathroom and the laundry room.

The room between the two hallways was the spacious kitchen, which had an open concept where the black marble counters overlooked the mahogany table with ten chairs.

In the second hallway, there were three large bedrooms with closets and their own heaters. All of them had their own bathrooms with gas showers, but only the largest bedroom had a bathroom with a bathtub and a bidet.

The paintings, the furniture, and the layout of this apartment seemed ideal to me.

The only problem was the weekly rent, set at six silver coins for the use of the property and thirty bronze coins for insurance on the furniture that belonged to the apartment. In total, this amounted to a monthly expense of twenty-six silver coins, not including food, transportation, new clothes, and other costs.

It was an exorbitantly high amount for most people in this world, but it was nothing compared to the money I could make from selling items from here on out.

Besides, I could see how my mother's eyes sparkled when she entered the kitchen. I would never reject living here after seeing that reaction.

However, something still bothered me.

Not the place itself, but the person who was showing us around.

When we returned to the living room, Enoksen put his hands together and forced a fake smile.

"W-well, the apartment is great, but I think the price might be a little steep. This area is very desirable because it's close to the main shopping districts and also Lovikalen Noble University. If you'd like, I can show you some apartments down the street that are cheaper and well suited for a family like yours."

From his fake smile, his furrowed brow, and the sweat slowly trickling down the side of his head, even my mother could tell that Mr. Enoksen was underestimating us.

"Actually, I don't—" I said, but my words were cut off by my mother.

"We'll take this one!" Fumiko declared loudly, surprising both Enoksen and me. "I'm just an accountant, and my husband is a ship unloading coordinator at the port, but this is my son!" She pulled my arm. "He's a Rank B Climber! The first one in a long time to come out of Bronxord!"

Of all the ways I thought my Rank could be leaked to the public, none of them included my own mother bragging about it to a real estate agent who was snubbing us.