Seeing that Xia De completely didn't understand these things, Priest Augustus stopped and looked with Xia De out the window in the corridor at the morning scenery of Dawn Square:
"Xia De, you obviously can't supervise the workers all day at home. Although the construction team I recommended to you is reliable and won't cause you trouble, how will you handle problems during the construction process? Will you have them report once a day? And, do you really feel comfortable with a group of strangers staying in your home?"
"This..."
The Old Priest patted Xia De's shoulder:
"Ha, young people are indeed unreliable. How about this, I'll send a supervisor from the Church to be your representative and assist you in handling matters during the house repair and construction process."
"Then how should I pay them? Daily or weekly?"
Xia De immediately asked.
"Salary?"
Priest Augustus looked at him curiously:
"Why would you pay a salary?"
"Huh?"
"The Church helps believers, most of the time without salary. Not to mention just a supervisor, even if you want to find someone to help you with an exorcism, or want to participate in a believers' fellowship organized by the Church, or have someone officiate your wedding or funeral, would the Church charge you money?"
Actually, they would charge a little, but very little.
"Hamilton of Leijiede, you are a core believer of the Dawn Church in the Tobesk Diocese; there's no need to talk about money for such a small matter."
The Priest concluded the conversation and led Xia De to find someone to help. Young Priests and nuns passing by in the corridor all respectfully greeted Priest Augustus; he had a very high reputation in this diocese.
"However, your house is, after all, a 'haunted house' listed with the Church. If any problems arise in the future, it's best not to handle them 'yourself'; you should find the Church to deal with them."
He re-emphasized certain words, and Xia De nodded to show he understood:
"However, if I live there for a few years and nothing happens, No. 6 won't be called a haunted house anymore, right?"
"That's hard to say."
The Priest was not optimistic about this:
"You see, the former Detective Sparrow Hamilton also lived there for three years before something happened. So, if you want to prove your house isn't haunted, you'll have to live there longer than Detective Sparrow and be able to move out in good health."
Xia De calculated that he had only lived in No. 6 for two months. And if he wanted to sell the house at the normal price of his neighbors' houses, he would have to live there at least until the summer of common era 1856.
"But I have great confidence in you. The current situation for you is a process of rapid wealth appreciation. This is more reliable than any investment, even the most profitable investment projects rumored among nobles, such as investing in adventure groups exploring the New World, would not yield such generous returns as real estate in Saint Delan Square."
Priest Augustus said with a smile, and the Outsider strongly agreed:
"Yes, I forgot, not only the house, but the land of No. 6 is also mine. Indeed, no matter where you are, no matter what era you are in, real estate is the most value-preserving investment."
"It's not easy for a young person to realize this."
The Priest said, stroking his chin.
Because he had no house in his hometown, the Outsider had no experience with building maintenance and renovation.
He thought it would be a simple matter, just signing a formal contract and meeting the supervisor sent by the Church. He didn't expect that after construction began, he would have to make decisions on all sorts of large and small matters regarding the house layout, because in addition to renovation, he also wanted to do interior decoration.
Furthermore, that afternoon, the horse-drawn carriage transport team sent by Miss Jialinna blocked half of Saint Delan Square, almost causing traffic chaos in the nearby streets.
Xia De hadn't expected that the maid would bring him so much furniture. All he wanted were simple wardrobes, beds, and tables, but the maid even meticulously chose the style of the curtains, the design of the gas lamps, and the oil paintings on the walls for him.
This furniture was first transported to the basement, waiting to be arranged after the renovation.
And in addition to the furniture transport team, Miss Jialinna, on a whim, also found masons to re-decorate Xia De's house with decorative walls and fireplaces, and sent carpenters from the estate to build shelves and a small amount of custom furniture for Xia De.
Thus, the masons and carpenters specializing in maintaining noble estates, along with the renovation team recommended by Priest Augustus whom Xia De hired, and the pipe fitters from the gas company and steam company, all gathered together and collectively decided on a brand-new house renovation plan.
Of course, this was without additional charges, as Xia De was already paying a premium.
Because of these complex and messy matters, Xia De spent the entire Monday busy at home with his cat, with no leisure time at all. This was even more tiring than adventuring in Coldwater Port, where at least there was some downtime.
But fortunately, the house renovation documents were approved. Someone, he didn't know who, had helped Xia De at City Hall, and all documents were stamped and filed within a day.
And when everyone left No. 6 in the evening, the specific renovation and maintenance plan was also finalized. After that, they just needed to follow the plan. As long as there wasn't heavy rain affecting the roof waterproofing, the project was expected to be completed within this week. By then, all rooms in the entire Saint Delan Square Six would be fully accessible to Xia De.
Such a grand renovation, though it didn't incur extra expenses for Xia De, attracted the attention of his neighbors. Although Saint Delan Square didn't have a neighborhood mutual aid committee, renovations in the district, due to potential long-term noise and the coming and going of strangers, required the consent of neighbors.
Therefore, in the evening, Xia De visited his neighbors with the consent form. And due to Xia De's unusual working hours, it was his first time meeting his neighbors.
Among them, living at Saint Delan Square Five, were a couple in their fifties, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who owned three small dogs. They very politely invited Xia De for a cup of tea, and after learning it was just a simple renovation, signed their names on the document.
The two knew Detective Sparrow, who had lived there for three years, but only learned from Xia De that Detective Sparrow had passed away. After all, the Detective's relationship with his neighbors wasn't very close when he was alive.
As for Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith, the former was a retired Kingdom civil servant, who used to work as a secretary in the Kingdom Treasury. The framed medals on the wall were his honors; among those Xia De recognized were the "Delarion Iris Knight Medal, Saint George Loyalty Ribbon Medal," and the "Kingdom Special Contribution Medal." In Delarion's five-tier medal system, the first two were third-class medals, and the latter was a second-class medal. This indicated that Mr. Smith was definitely not an ordinary departmental secretary before his retirement.
Mrs. Smith was an employee of a non-profit public sector in Tobesk City, a kind of volunteer staff member who received only minimum wage.
Their two children also lived in Tobesk, but had their own families, so they only visited occasionally.
The Smiths knew about "Hamilton of Leijiede," praised his loyalty, and wanted to invite Xia De to stay for dinner, but Xia De politely declined.
And from the conversation, Xia De also learned that the two elders had seen him before, but had never spoken to him, so they naturally accepted his taking over the Detective Agency.
It was also fortunate that Detective Sparrow didn't let the original Xia De interact with too many people, otherwise someone would surely have realized that Xia De Hamilton's facial features and temperament had changed too much in just a few months.
