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Leo

Leo was beyond ecstatic, since he was about to close a ‘very’ profitable trade deal and was just waiting for the binding contract to be drawn up. He was wondering what to actually spend that much gold on, since spending it sooner rather than later is a lot safer than walking around with tens of millions in his wallet.

'Actually, maybe it's in the hundreds of millions.... Wait, how much did I even make? Fuck, I'm dealing with such a large amount of wealth that it's getting hard to determine it's value… Which is a big problem, because even if I'm a mage, there would be some dumb ass who would try to yoink my shit. So I should probably find someone to buy property from, there shoul-' Leo mentally facepalmed, as he was already in the place that most likely sold homes and land.

"Kessa, does the guild have any properties for sale?" Leo asked the voluptuous woman, who had not taken her eyes off of him for a while now, while he was also genuinely struggling to keep his eyes from wandering.

Kessa looked like she snapped out of whatever thoughts she was having, and her breathing noticeably slowed down. "Ah, I was about to suggest you buy something, since staying at an inn with that much gold isn't the wisest thing to do." She remarked aloud, and a few moments later a slave entered with a small stack of papers.

Leo raised an eyebrow, as there was no prompt for them to get anything. "Uhh, you haven't moved from the room this entire time, how did she know to get those?"

"Collar, basic ones have tracking and punishment systems, but hers is specifically for her job. It has an enchantment that lets her listen in on the conversation of whoever has this." Kessa answered while holding up her wrist right in front of her chest, showing off her rune enchanted bracelet, among other things.

Leo scrunched his face in confusion, while his eyes slightly struggled to keep on target. "That seems like a security risk waiting to happen…” He remarked critically.

Kessa took a sip of her drink, licking her lips sensually before responding. "Actually, it's entirely for the guild's protection. She's basically this branch's accountant, and even though she's a slave, she's nearly in charge of the whole branch. Actually, most free people often beg for the position if it's vacant. She’s paid well, owns a personal home, and has her own slave. As long as she is prioritizing the guild's profits and growth above all, she can do whatever she wants. The collar just has a load of enchantments, a compulsory need to tell the truth to guild seniors, improved memory, little need for sleep, and I've even heard rumors about an emergency teleport.”

Leo grimaced, as that's the kind of oversight that would make any corporate titan salivate over. "Damn, I guess it would make sense to closely protect and manage the person who oversees and document's the transactions. Don't want any of the guild's money to go unaccounted for."

Kessa sighed sadly as her gaze grew distant for only a moment. “That's right. Also this branch only has about two hundred gold. We can spare you a hundred gold, but we will have to submit a request for the rest of your payment. If you'd like to discuss buying a home, then we can add it to the contract and subtract it from the payment. But it would take time to review all the properties, and I would imagine that you want to walk out of here today with some kind of deal." She finished while slipping back into her sexually provocative tone.

Leo leaned back and closed his eyes to think about what he wanted out of a home, while also to prevent them from continuing to wander in front of someone he's intimate with. 'I have a seven hundred gold budget, so I could probably buy… Anything really... I'd want a place that's secluded, and about three or four stories to house the staff and security. Actually, I should have separate buildings. So two mansions? Fuck, that's excessive. I have the gold though, I could build- wait, shit they build down! As interesting as selarin architecture is, it's literally just a hole in the ground. Nah, I'd like something that looks a little more, not that...' His thoughts concluded before he explained what he was looking for in a home, and Kessa separated nearly all the papers she had to the side.

Kessa frowned as she looked over the few sheets of paper on the table. "If you want construction like that, then I would suggest buying fresh land to build. Everything we have is of selarin design, but we can contract an architect from another race to build your home. With how you describe your tastes, I would recommend hiring a tiefling. As for seclusion, a swath of land in the forest would be your best bet. We have a few locations in the forest on the east side of Telnar, but then you would have to build a fresh road. There's another property for sale that's in a forest a little to the north west, it has an overgrown trail that connects the main road to an old depleted mine, but the land is a lot closer to the elven border."

Leo furrowed his brow in thought. 'So my options are total seclusion, which would be advantageous early on. Or, risk early privacy by being connected to a well traveled trade route. Hmm, it might actually be worth the risk, since when I'm no longer hiding I would want to have easy trade access… Yeah, I guess I should invest in the future, I don't want to end up regretting it later.'

Leo tapped the paper that described the northwestern property. "I'll take the overgrown path, and I assume the mine is included?"

Kessa smiled and picked up the sheet. "Yes, but it doesn't affect the price since it's written off as being completely drained, and the entire property spans two thousand acres, nearly all of it covered in forest."

'Wait, if I remember correctly, one mile is six hundred forty acres…. That's a little over three square miles!' Leo's jaw dropped at the sheer amount of land.

Leo noticed the sly smile that Kessa was giving him, and he quickly regained his composure to ask. "How much is it for? I don't imagine that it's cheap."

"On the contrary, the price is well below average in terms of just land, since it's nearly all rough forest terrain. It's priced at only two hundred fifty gold, because the buyer will more than likely contact the guild to clear land and do construction." Kessa explained while the accountant from earlier entered to give her a book, and she handed her the sheet for Leo's choice in return.

Kessa opened the book and flipped through it, stopping on a page to show Leo. The page was covered in diagrams of buildings in a gothic style, and she told him that it was tiefling architecture.

Leo looked over the detailed drawings. 'That's… Huh, now I kinda want to live near the tieflings…' He thought with slight disappointment, as he really liked that kind of style in video games.

Leo looked up from the book and got an eye full of cleavage because Kessa was leaning closely over him, which caused him to stumble back onto the couch, and he could hear Elaria trying to suppress her amusement at his expense. "Yes, uh, well, this is more or less what I want." He paused to calm down, while Kessa sat back down with a sly smile. "What would be the estimated cost for constructing, say, a three story mansion with about a hundred rooms of varying size and uses. That number includes utility, like restrooms, kitchens, gathering spaces, and so on."

Kessa arched a brow before her focus sharpened. "Well that would be a very large construction effort, so I put the project as a whole at four hundred fifty. We would have to scout a location, get people out there to clear the land, transport the materials to build it, and pay everyone involved in its construction." She explained with the experience of a negotiator.

Leo contemplated how to lower the price for a moment before suggesting. "Hmm, how much would I save if I scouted and cleared the land myself, and have three buildings of twenty five rooms total? As well as personally transporting materials from the road, up to the construction site." He proposed before he felt Elaria nudge him with her elbow.

Leo glanced at Elaria and saw that she looked a little concerned. ‘What? I could do it all my….Oh shit… Can't explain how I'm gonna do that….’ He realized a little too late.

Kessa raised an eyebrow, much to Leo's worry. "If you could do all that, then the price should drop to a little under three hundred."

‘Safe! Lets try and get this deal over with as quickly as possible so I don't slip up.’ Leo thought while maintaining his poker face.

Leo smiled as he clasped his hands together. "Ok then, write all of that into our contract, it should deduct about five hundred fifty from the original payment." He said with a bit of a rush to redirect the topic.

Kessa crossed her arms with a look of disappointment. "Wait, don't you want to separate the construction order, so you can go over the plans and pick out what designs you want? Because it's going to take a couple of days for the architect to get here, and a few more to scout a suitable area to build." She remarked a little suspiciously.

Leo became a little impatient, wanting to just close the deal and leave. "Nope, just send the architect my way when they get here, and as far as designing goes, she can draw up something while she's traveling. I'm not fussed by how it looks all that much, as long as it's in this style. Just tell her to assume that it's all clear flat land, and that she has free reign with design, but I do want two of them to be geared toward a specific function."

Kessa seemed a little exasperated. “I understand that you want your new home done as quickly as possible, but this seems a little ridiculous. Unless you're an arch mage, I don't see how your-....” She paused, and gave both him and Elaria a once over.

Leo glanced at Elaria, and she was fidgeting slightly while sinking into her seat. ‘Oh god please not again…..’

Kessas eyes went wide, as the air between them tensed. “Wait, clear the land and Scout the whole area yourself? You'd need Flight and Terra magic to do all that in such a short time frame by yourself, so you're an arch mage aren't you!’

Leo groaned irritably. ‘I’d like to have ‘one’ conversation where my casual use or mention of my magic doesn't out me. Though it was my fault for tunnel visioning when trying to lower the cost...’ He thought with a little self annoyance.

Leo sighed and moved his hands up defensively. “Ok, if you would please calm down for just a-” He was interrupted by Kessa bowing so deeply that she hit her head on the table in front of her.

“Moment….”

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Kessa

During her entire conversation, Kessa was becoming very aroused from talking with a man who knew how to handle himself in a trade negotiation, as well as being irresistibly adorable to tease. Unfortunately, the revelation of what Leo was caused her emotions to whiplash and made her react in the dumbest way possible. Confidence, Cunning and Intelligence, these are the things that Kessa considered highly of herself. Now though, she felt all three of those flip to their exact opposite while she was rubbing her nose.

Leo calmed her as quickly as he could while explaining that he only recently became an arch mage, and was not connected to any political powers.

Kessa was more than skeptical of those claims, but it did let her ease out of her panic while she contemplated Leo’s words. ‘One doesn't just become an arch mage on their own with no academy or royal backing, so he's definitely lying and is hiding for some reason. I know that the beast clans and a few northern territories have arch mages, but information on them is scarce, because the guild doesn't fully operate that far north.’

“Um, if you could do me a favor and keep the fact that I'm, that, a secret. I really don't want the attention right now…” Leo sheepishly asked.

Kessa blankly stared at him. ‘It's a little late for that... I’d imagine the accountant is going to the communication orb right now to tell the higher ups….’ She thought while raising her bracelet with an apologetic look.

“Fuck…..” Leo cursed before palming his face into his hands.

Kessa sighed, pitying his situation just a little bit. “If you wanted to stay hidden, then you should have not dealt with the guild.” She muttered to herself, just loud enough for him to hear.

Leo snapped his eyes up at Kessa, and a crooked smile slowly crossed his face. “Well If this branch can't respect client confidentiality, then I'll have to take my business and ‘enchanted items’ to another branch to sell. Maybe even another kingdom, one with very little guild influence, so that I may still maintain my privacy. I'm sure that there are other markets to sell to besides the guild. It's just too bad you guys have to lose out on acquiring such a profitable trade partner for the guild.” Leo remarked loudly, and dramatically.

A few moments later, the accountant barged into the room and threw herself on the floor, begging Leo to not leave as she tried making all kinds of promises, including keeping him secret from guild leadership.

Kessa looked utterly shocked as she analyzed the situation. ‘Gods… He maneuvered her into keeping his secret! If she obeyed the enchantments and told her superiors, then she'd lose out on the biggest deal for this branch, and potentially even larger deals for the guild as a whole if he chose to avoid trading with them all together. If that happened then she'd be solely to blame for losing such a large client. So she has to keep the secret for the good of the guild and its profits, but what about the truth enchantment?’

An amused smirk crossed Leo’s face, the type that showed that they were in complete control of the situation, and it made Kessa a little more than aroused. “I would love to work with you, but aren't you forced to tell the truth to your bosses? I simply can't trust that you would keep it secret, even under contract.”

The accountant sat up from her groveling. “There are exceptions! If it's directly for the benefit of the guild, then I can enact a disclosure lock on the collar. It prevents me from attempting to share any information requested by the second party, and works much like a binding contract. It's built into the collar!”

Kessa’s eyes fixed on Leo with utter disbelief. ‘He found a loophole in the truth collar….’ Her thought trailed, and her breathing quickened.

Leo put on an exaggerated show of considering her words, but Kessa knew that he had managed to get all he wanted out of the exchange. “Alright then, but I also want everyone here in the branch to sign a non-disclosure agreem-er contract on the details of what I am, and only being able to share said information with my express permission, plus I keep said contract.”

The accountant agreed immediately, and ran out of the room to get the mage to draw up the contract.

Kessa noticed her breathing was a little labored, while she shifted her legs together uncomfortably. Leo’s constant display of the three things she most valued in herself may have stimulated her a little too much, and she was struggling to suppress her ‘urges’ out of professional necessity.

Leo looked at Kessa while he was brimming with confidence. “I think that went well, don't you?” He said with a triumphant smile.

Kessa snapped out of her small daze. “Uhh, yes... I assume you want to finish discussing the details of our deal then...” She responded, while looking a bit flustered.

Leo cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Oh most certainly, but…. You seem to have spilled something...”

Kessa furrowed her brow in confusion. “I didn't….” She trailed off as she looked down.

‘Oh...’

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