Chương 64: [1.64] Cost of Living (Part 2)

Oh, frits. Thanks for the heads up, Divining Ear! You're back in my good graces! The landlord wasn't likely too far away, maybe ten minutes at most, so she had to work fast. Angelica grabbed a box cutter and carefully undid the myriad of plastic wrapping that was securing the roll. The rug almost unravelled straight into her face, packed way too tightly. Honestly, getting the floor covering in the right place was more taxing than moving the whole thing, since it was a bit unwieldy.

The fancy carpet's circumference was about the same as Angelica's height, so when she had it in the right spot, she laid down on it, hoping to appreciate the softness that had been promised in the ad. And… it was okay. Not nearly what she'd been hoping for. But oh well; comfort wasn't the reason she'd bought it. Still, it was a bit annoying with how much she'd paid. Why was a rug so freaking expensive, costing her a few hundred? Well, it had been a custom cut.

She had measured it thoroughly, making sure the dimensions were just right. It had to not get caught up on any of her furniture, but still cover the Summoning Circle in its entirety. And she'd made sure to get a heftier material that wouldn't be so easy to lift or trip over, dissuading any inclinations by Ms. Gate to look underneath. That was, again, probably just paranoia, but being paranoid was one of Angelica's specialties. She did a quick check of the rest of the apartment.

It looked perfect, as if it were the day she'd just moved in and finished unpacking everything to its rightful place. Things had been dusted, there was no trash anywhere, and Cherub was sleeping peacefully on her bed in the single ray of sunlight that was creaking through her window curtain. Yes, a beautiful scene, indeed, that should score her a few points. [Lurren Gate has pulled into the parking lot] You're working overtime today, bud, Gelic praised the Skill. I'll give you a full ear wax purge later as thanks.

As if the Skill had anything to do with her actual physical ears.

"G-Good day, Angelica." The landlord was taken aback since the apartment door opened just as she was about to knock.

"Hello, Ms. Gate, I have the money here." Angelica didn't waste a moment to hand out the envelope. And despite all of her practice, saying it over and over again in her head, the next few sentences came out way too fast, like a mouthful of word vomit.

"Two month's rent, and I didn't deduct the extra previously taken as an apology for my poor accountability. I completely understand if you are still wanting to collect on the past dues, and would be open to repaying it on a schedule that suits you. I'll also make sure to set up automatic recurring electronic payments, so you shouldn't need to trouble yourself to come collect in the future."

"Erm, yes, thank you," Lurren was clearly a bit taken aback by all of the proactive preparation.

"And we can discuss all that. May I come inside?" Thus it was Angelica's turn for unease, astonished that the brash woman she knew hadn't just barged in without courtesy.

"Yes, of course." She welcomed her landlord as if she was a host ready to show off the place, not that there was much to show. And she could hardly stand to watch as Ms. Gate glanced around, as if she would be punished for any infraction found.

"I have to say, you've really done a good job cleaning the place." Despite her kind words, the woman still prodded her nose a bit too much, even going into the bathroom and checking under the toilet seat.

"And that's a nice rug, by the way. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, it's, umm-ehh?!" Angelica glanced at the ground. That absolutely was not the rug she had just bought and placed there. Well, it was, but the lovely peach coloring had been ruined. Her Summoning Circle had now been burned into the fabric, etched in the same charcoal black. That certainly hadn't been the case mere minutes ago, so the supernatural forces had worked their magic rather quickly. Okay, so the Summoning Circle can't be obstructed, noted.

At the very least, her landlord seemed to assume that it was part of the design, rather than the wild theory that there was severe mystical property damage lying underneath that would absolutely void Angelica's deposit. Well, she doubted she'd ever get that back, but that would be a decisive killer.

"I bought the rug online and then decorated it myself," Angelica finally gave an answer.

"It would seem you are actually quite talented," the woman admitted in a strange tone of voice, almost as if it were reluctant acceptance.

"Where did you learn how to paint like this? Your mother never mentioned you taking any classes of the sort. Is it all self-taught? You mentioned that you were trying to make it as an artist. Is that where your rent money came from? I take it that it is going well?" Just what the hell was happening? There's absolutely no way Ms. Gate cared this much. Even if she had questions about the source of the money, she was far too interested in Angelica's livelihood all of a sudden. Ah, wait.

Angelica abruptly remembered the Rune she was still wearing, so she made a quick trip to the bathroom and bunged the necklace into a drawer. When she came back, the landlord was rubbing her head, as if she'd just woken up and was nursing a headache.

"Actually, the art is going very well," Angelica proudly reported. With the magical enchantment gone, Lurren likely didn't care anymore, but the artist had promised herself some gloating, so some gloating she would deliver.

"I just recently-" very recently,"-got an order for several book covers from a publishing house, with talk of a perpetual contract that should provide enough income to get by on, even without other commissions I plan to take, and—" Her phone buzzed. Seriously, right in the middle of my report? I was really about to rub it in her face. She still checked it anyway with a bit of fluster, just in case it was some message reneging the deal which would make her put her foot in her mouth.

But no, it was a notice of a money transfer, payment for the magic show.

"Holy fritsoly…" Angelica unconsciously muttered. She'd earned just a bit more than her literal life saving heart delivery. The theater they'd performed at was honestly on the smaller end, or so Ziesta had insisted, so if he was making roughly double that on a weekly basis, he was living good. Scuff, maybe she should throw it all away and become a full-time entertainer. No, no no, conviction. She had conviction!

"Everything alright?" Ms. Gate broke the awkward silence.

"Err, yeah," Angelica stowed her phone.

"That was just… the first payment from the publisher. More than I expected. So, yes, to answer your question concisely, things are going well."

"I'm glad to hear that." Lurren took a seat in the desk chair, which seemed a bit odd since it felt like the conversation had reached its natural end and she should be departing soon. Maybe they'd talk about the additional money owed, but that could be done in thirty seconds tops. Why did it seem like she was about to say something serious?

"It would appear that your life has definitely taken a positive spin, Angelica. I am happy for you, really. And I'm sure your mother is too. Maybe it's not what any of us expected, but if it lets you get by, then good enough. Looks like tough love is what you needed to get onto the right track." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Really? Really…?!

She was going to write off their previous unpleasantness as "tough love" and not her getting fed up and frustrated with her unreliable, and self-admittedly, a bit hostile and deadbeat tenant. Maybe her mother had really put her up to it, told her friend to give the girl a good kick in the pants. That wouldn't surprise Angelica in the slightest, but that also didn't feel like how things had gone. Whatever. She wasn't going to argue the semantics, just wanting the ordeal to be done with.

"It makes me feel better about telling you this. I'll just be blunt. I'm planning to sell the complex. As I'm sure you've noticed, there haven't been any new tenants for some time. Even with me making the rent as cheap as possible without losing money, no one wants to live here. A lot of it is the neighborhood, from what I'm told, which, as I'm sure you're aware, isn't exactly a very homely, welcoming one. Plus, should I actually manage to rent the other units, frankly, it wouldn't continue to be worth my time.

"I have had a few offers already, but only from redevelopment agencies who want to tear it down and build offices or restaurants or storage facilities. For any of that, though, they require the space to be rezoned, which could take a while with the city council, so it would be some time before I sell to any of them. You won't be kicked out in the next few days, possibly even months or years. I just wanted you to be aware.

"In the meantime, I will still consider any offers from rental agencies who want to add the building to their portfolio, if I can get any, which will likely accelerate the process. If that happens, I'll be sure to let you know, and ask that you be away from the premises for any tours I may give. But you'll be fine no matter what happens, Angelica, I'm sure of that now.

And as thanks for your cooperation, I promise I won't raise your rent further during your stay here, and I won't try to collect on any past due rent. Just pay on time going forward, and I'll never bug you about it again."

"Erm, okay, thanks for letting me know." Angelica had nothing else to say. What could she say? She had been feeling good, but this definitely threw a wrench into her lifeplan. Possibly not a very big wrench, but still being clonked in the head with any wrench out of nowhere would leave a stinging lump. Ms. Gate departed after that, leaving the tenant to stew in the new information. She spent most of the rest of the day online.

The big thing she did was set up a savings account with her Summoner bank and moved half of her money into it. She honestly wished she'd done it sooner, because they offered a ridiculous fourteen-percent APY on any amount in the account. Just what sort of shady business was the bank running that they could offer such a crazy return? Gelic probably didn't want to know the answer to that.

But hey, free money, and it was to the point that as long as she kept adding to it, she'd eventually be rich, even without other investments. Of course, that would still take a good while, so she'd be looking for other ways to fast-track her Get Stupid Rich endeavor. Especially because it looked like her cost of living might be increasing significantly. Was rent always this expensive?! Everywhere else around within a ten mile radius was at least double, usually triple her current rate.

Angelica hadn't realized that she'd had it this good, to the point that she almost felt like she owed her landlord an apology and a letter of thanks. Almost. It was a wonder why she couldn't rent out the rest of the units, then. Well, they were small. Like, super small. Angelica's and the unit on the opposite end were about half the size of the two middle ones, but even then, they were glorified dorm rooms.

And while there was nothing else immediately around of interest, really, nothing at all, it was easy enough to commute to a place that had things. Well, not that she went outside much; her scrolling revealed plenty of reports of arrests and violence in the area. It really wasn't a great neighborhood indeed, not that she was helping to contribute to that. Thankfully, no one had the urge to bother her at least. She did look into the logistics of moving, and it was actually quite feasible.

Even if it was while crying over the amount, she did have enough to sustain a few months at a new place. And there were a good few that were move-in ready, meaning she could realistically start tomorrow and be done with the headache. But Angelica glanced at her floor, glaring at the problem with the whole situation, her shackle that would present itself as a problem. As far as she knew, her Summoning Circle wouldn't make the move with her.

Underneath the rug, the original circle was still there, just as it always was, meaning ruining her new decoration had just been out of spite, punishing her for the gall of trying to hide it away. She also had a suspicion that if the floor was removed, the circle would still exist, latching on to whatever existed lower in the space, and was tempted to pry up a floorboard to test the theory. But… she hesitated, since there was the whole dying thing if her Contract was dissolved improperly. Definitely a deterrent.

So she wouldn't attempt any sort of remodelling or transportation until she had complete confirmation from a reliable source. Which meant… she couldn't move. Angelica was doomed to live in this crappy, rundown apartment for the rest of her life. Which was weird, because she'd honestly enjoyed the space until it had been unceremoniously presented as her forever-home against her will. Of course, all of this would be a problem, one she didn't have an immediate solution for.

So in the interim, until she could get it all sorted, she would have to ensure that the place didn't sell. Deterring Field would help a bit, with the new condition of repelling interested parties already added, but she would do whatever it took. Even if it meant haunting the place and scaring people away like if it were an old cartoon. Okay, that's enough worrying about housing for now, Angelica accepted late into the evening. She had to take Ms.

Gate's word for it that she wouldn't suddenly end up on the street, and even if she did, she would try to be as prepared as possible for that eventuality. For that, she needed more money; to get more money, especially as an artist, she needed Auto-Color. And to get Auto-Color, it was time to take on another job. Hopefully the last one to get just the tidbit of required Essence left. Okay, Divining Ear. Find me a quick and easy job that will help me get what I want in life!

She could probably have phrased the ask a little better, but was feeling a bit dramatic. And at the same time, maybe the vagueness would help. If she said, give me a job that will get me enough Essence for the next rank, that could be a real scuff-ass job. So hopefully taking her own happiness into account would lean into something she enjoyed a bit more.

"I have a simple job for an Imp. 50 Essence." Heh, Gelic had heard that promise before. Her time with Lustre made her far more skeptical about anyone promising easy work. Plus, it didn't meet her quota, just under, so she'd hold out and see what other whispers floated their way into her mind. Except… there were none, nothing but silence.

"Really, no takers?" the same voice piped up again. How strange. It was the first time she had ever heard additional lines of a Summoning call, as if she and the potential client were directly connected.

"I guess I need to repeat myself. One little task for 50 Essence. It should only take up a bit of your time." And strangely… the voice sounded familiar. Oh so familiar. Someone she had been summoned by before? Maybe some acquaintance from her past? Yet no matter how hard she tried, Gelic just couldn't place it, as if her mind was barring the information from her. Can you tell me more about this person, Divining Ear? At least their Summoner Rank?

[You are not yet wise enough to divine that information] That was super strange. She'd never had any trouble learning at least that much before, except for with Revice who had purposefully displayed herself as a Disciple to get a lower-Ranked Demon for her scuff ass job.

"Seriously? I'm feeling disrespected now." The voice was getting impatient.

"One of you better heed my call in the next few seconds. Don't make me ask again!" What the-?! Gelic's head couldn't take it, as if those words had given her mental damage. She felt an overwhelming urge to obey the eerily familiar voice. Had they already struck a Contract? Was the Summoner using magic on her somehow, compelling her to accept? But fine, she'd take it, if nothing more to clear up what the frits was going on. And if she got lucky, Essence Tip would let her get the extra bit she needed.

[Bind Resistance failed] [You are Bound. Contract Type: Order Exhaust. Time limit: 1 hour. Orders Remaining: 1] This was normally where Gelic would try to break the Contract, but she couldn't. Not for any restriction, though the odds would be low in the face of this powerful Summoner. Rather, she was just stunned, so completely stunned by the person in front of her that she felt that she could die on the spot and that would make more sense. How?! What?! Huh?!

Gelic wanted so desperately to yell, to vocalize her disbelief, but knew that she had to conceal it, bury it deep down inside, as she'd become so practiced in the past in this situation. Because it was the one person she knew not to question. Mom?!