Holding onto five fat and happy rascals that were busy snoozing away, I exited the town hall alongside my guide turned real estate agent and set off for the outskirts, particularly the area around the town's main gate, which was the one I came through originally. He and I explored the area once we got there but didn't find anything that tickled my fancy that much, so we kept inspecting those by the perimeter wall that encompassed all of Fyrestone.
The hunt went on for the following couple of hours, but unfortunately we ended up with the same result, so we started making our way back towards the lot where my 50-ton dump truck was sitting parked.
"Sorry about dragging you along on this house hunt, Trev." I apologized, somewhat embarrassed that I couldn't find a place I really liked.
"Don't even mention it. I'm just happy I got to get away from the gate for a few hours."
Glad that he was unbothered, we kept journeying across the outskirts and eventually wandered into the mostly empty dirt parking lot. As soon as I entered the area, I spotted a three story tall concrete and metal building on the other side of the parking lot and down the road. And beside that larger structure was an equally large boarded up warehouse looking building that appeared to have been used as a mechanic shop in the past or for some other similar purpose.
"Are those places over yonder for sale?" I asked whilst pointing at the three-story building towering above the rest.
"Hmm... Yeah, they should be. Let me just check the list real quick." My guide turned realtor responded before going through the long list of properties as we crossed the open lot.
We got closer and closer as he thumbed through the pages and eventually he came back with good news. "It looks like they are. You wanna check them out?"
"They look like the best ones yet, so of course I want to give em a look." I answered.
"I pray these are the ones, because I have to get back to my men at some point otherwise I'll never hear the end of it."
"I'll know when we open them up and step inside." I said last as we began approaching the three-story concrete and metal structure first.
I was a bit excited at the prospect of having finally found something with some good potential, so I hurried over with Trev and stood outside the building while he fingered through the huge ring of keys he got from the mayor. When he finally found the right key, he fit it in the slot and twisted it. The lock's mechanism clunked, and a moment later he opened the hefty metal door and stood aside and let me go in first.
Throwing a word of thanks his way, I stepped inside and fumbled around looking for the light switch, and the second I found the darn panel of switches, I flipped them. It must've been a while since they were last turned on because they flickered for a couple of moments before they really came to life, and once they did, I got a nice solid look of the place. What appeared in front of me was a large, mostly empty space covered in a layer of dust, and towards the back of the room was a set of stairs with a metal railing on the left side of the open room.
"It's been a minute since this place was last cleaned and aired, but I like what I'm seeing." I commented after running my eyes from one side of the space to the other.
"Well, I'm glad it's at least making a good first impression with you." Trev followed, hoping this would finally be the one I was looking for.
There wasn't much to look at besides the light switches, a bunch of electrical outlets, and several pieces of dusty old furniture that had obviously been left to rot here years ago, so I approached the stairs to see what the other floors were like. But before I could start ascending them, I noticed a door at the back and on the right side of the stairwell.
It would be nice if this property had a basement, but I'm not holding my breath.
Still hopeful, I closed in on the door and attempted to pull it open. Sadly, the damn thing was locked tight and refused to budge.
Turning to my temporary realtor, I asked. "You got a key for this?"
"Nope, I only have the one for the front door."
"Alrighty then, I guess I'll open it up later if I decide to buy the place."
Moving on from that locked door, I walked back to the stairs, climbed them to the next floor, and began exploring this less open level. What I found there was a decent sized kitchen, that was one hell of a step up from the setup I had in the mine, a few bathrooms, two of which were attached to the two bedrooms on this level, a dining room with a mediocre table, a media space/tv room, and an office.
This pad is fully stocked with the previous owners' things, so I guess I won't have to spend too much on getting this place filled out and making it my own… In contrast, the same can't be said about cleaning supplies. I can literally see particles of dust drifting and flying about the place, so I'm definitely going to invest in one hell of a vacuum cleaner to get this place nice and tidy and whip it back into shape.
Pushing those thoughts off for future me to deal with, I turned to the only other person here. "So far, this is the best I've seen... Let's continue to the last floor."
After Trev shrugged in response, we continued to the third level and investigated the floor. That story, although just as large as the levels before it, didn't take us too much time to explore. This was because it only possessed a handful of bedrooms with attached bathrooms, including the master, which was at a minimum twice the size of the others. So it was certainly less interesting when compared to the previous level... by far
"How much did this property cost?" I asked simply once I had seen nearly everything there was to see here.
"$7,500." My guide turned realtor answered curtly.
"Damn, that cheap, huh?"
"Although it is one of the largest buildings in town, it's on the outskirts, so few want it or any of the other properties in this part of town, hence its incredibly low price."
"Alright, I'll take it." As soon as I uttered those words, a wave of relief instantly washed over Trev.
"Oh thank God, it's finally over."
"Not quite. I want to check out that garage next door as well."
"...Haa, alright, let's get going so we can wrap this up."
Leaving behind that large residence, we wandered off literal feet away next door to the two-story tall industrial building. Trev was running out of patience as well as I, so we didn't waste another second and headed inside right as he found the key for the regular-sized door that was just left of the metal roll-up garage door and unlocked it.
Upon making our entry into the industrial structure, a wide-open concrete floor came into view with workbenches, tool cabinets, and machines lining the sides of the workshop. And further back in the place were several car lifts, and placed on one of those lifts was a vehicle that looked like a precursor to the bandit technical from Borderlands 2, though it was in pieces.
Hmm, this place doesn't look too bad... I am going to need a place to store that dump truck and all the shit I'll be transferring from the Headstone Mine, so might as well purchase this as well. I mean, it even comes along with another ride. How can I pass up on something like that?
That said, it's going to need me to inspect it from top to bottom and put it back together before I can make it roadworthy. I'm also not much of a mechanic either, so it looks like I'm gonna have to add that to my list of things I need to learn about and become capable of doing.
I stared at the vehicle that was in parts and envisioned myself turning it into something specifically designed and built for combat with heavy machine guns, automated gatling turrets, missile pods, minelayers, shields, armor, and all the other bells and whistles.
Sigh, there truly aren't enough hours in a day.
Ready to wrap up my real estate viewing experience, I inquired about the price. "How much for this dusty old garage?"
"$5,000."
"I'll take this too then."
"Okay, just send the amount for the two properties to this bank address-."
"Done, pleasure doing business with you, Trev."
"Uh-huh, I pray you don't drag me along for this kind of activity ever again." He complained half jokingly.
"Oh, come on, you're my real estate broker now. So how could I not use you again next time?"
"Next time… Ahaha, funny joke." Trev laughed, unamused.
"Well, maybe this will change your mind." I said before taking out 5 grand from my "backpack" and handing it to the man.
The guy was stunned by my generous gesture, but he eventually broke out of his stupor. "I can understand tossing a few hundred dollars my way after all that, but this is way too much for just showing you around town for half a day."
"You did me a solid, so I'm returning the favor... But if you really need a reason to take it, just call it your realtor fee or me buying your favor." I countered, slapping the guy's shoulder.
"...If you say so, Vic." My dark-skinned friend said before pausing briefly. "But I'ma take you out for dinner tonight."
"You won't catch me complaining about a free meal, haha."
[ Loot Changes ]
Money: 2,040,610 → 2,028,110
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