Chapter 75 A TOWN BOUGHT IN RUBIES
Magnus stood outside a lavish mansion on the outskirts of Clearham. It was a beautiful house, made entirely of white marble. This man had a lot of money. Too bad that money was supposed to be for the people and not him. According to Xyra's parents, they had been fine running their town themselves. They used to get tons of travelers. Now that Mr. Vidar was in charge, the town was too poor to do much for their guests. People stayed away from it, knowing that it no longer had anything to offer. He was just sitting by and letting it all waste away. The sorcerer wasn't about to allow that.
He walked up to the large wooden doors and knocked, waiting to see if someone would answer. There had to be somebody home. He doubted this man went out that often. Almost instantly he received an answer.
"Yes?" the voice asked. It had a nasal sound to it. This had to be a butler or something. If he had to speak to this man all day, he was sure the voice would drive him insane.
"I'm here to see Mr. Vidar," Magnus stated, putting a bit more of his regal quality into his voice.
"Mr. Vidar isn't seeing anyone today. Please leave." He had been expecting this to happen. He was completely ready for it. With a disappointed sounding sigh, he turned away.
"Oh well," he said, knowing the man was still listening. "Then tell him that Magnus Coleman will take his money elsewhere and find a more willing town owner to make a deal with."
He stood there and waited for a minute as the sound of someone scurrying around could be heard through the door. Just a moment after his claim, the door was opened, and a finely dressed man stood there. He had a proud demeanor, but he was still just a butler. The man was staring at Magnus almost in an accusing manor.
"You're a Coleman?" the man asked.
"Yes," Magnus responded with confidence. He had a lot of pride in his name.
"Do you have any proof?"
This had honestly been the first time anyone had asked that. Out of all the times he had mentioned his name, never had he been questioned about it. His money had always been enough to entice just about anyone to have an audience with him. It was his only form of proof too. The Coleman family was rich beyond comparison. They were also known for paying in rubies.
Magnus reached to his side and took his money pouch from his inside pocket. He opened it and showed the man the inside contents. There wasn't a single coin there. All of it was rubies. Most of the small change he had owned had been spent on food or by Xyra. This was enough to convince the butler though. Money like that wasn't easy to come by.
"Right this way, sir," the man said politely, offering a small bow as he let both Magnus and Layton through the doors. He then began leading them through the elaborate mansion. It was nothing new to see though. This man had polished floors and walls, staircases and chandeliers. It was all the same things he had seen in every other mansion. Not one of these dictator-type rulers had any uniqueness to them. It was all much too formatted for his taste.
They were led up the stairs and to an open room. It had no doors for privacy purposes, which was a bit odd considering the fact that this man didn't seem to like being bothered. Not many people probably visited him though. Just from their little introduction at the front doors, it was easy to tell that he hated being disturbed by anyone who couldn't entice him.
As soon as they were in the room, their guide left them. Now it was just Magnus, Layton, and Mr. Vidar. The man was sitting across the room in a tall wooden chair. He was a lanky man, his hair slowly graying on top of his pointy head. Just from looking at him, they could tell that he was greedy and underhanded. The sly smirk on his face and his beady, narrow eyes didn't help that assumption any. He looked in everyway like a slimy dictator who cared nothing about the people he was in charge of.
"Welcome," he greeted. "I hear you're a Coleman."
"That's right," said Magnus as he walked further in, heading towards the man.
"What brings you here?"
"I have a proposition." Magnus took a nearby chair and sat down in it, knowing that this could take a while. He had a lot of dealing to do. If he was lucky, Mr. Vidar wouldn't care about the details too much and would just be too money hungry to turn down the offer he was going to make.
"I'm listening," Mr. Vidar said as he propped his arms up on his desk, leaning in a bit.
"I would like to buy this town."
Mr. Vidar looked shocked at the suggestion. He probably hadn't been expecting it though. Here Magnus was a Coleman, one of the richest men in Dusthaven, and he wanted to use his money to buy a crumbling town. In the dictator's eyes, it didn't make any sense. It probably wouldn't to most though. Out of all the things he could do with his vast amount of money, he just wanted to buy a worthless, rotting town.
"May I ask why?" Mr. Vidar questioned.
"Do you really need to know?" It was for personal reasons, but he wasn't going to come out and say that. He didn't need to do anything that could lose him this deal. "I simply wish to buy it out of your hands."
"How much?" Now neither of them was wasting any time on this deal. If it kept up like this, they'd be done with the arrangement in no time. All Magnus had to do now was show him the money and pray that it was enough to pique his interest.
Magnus reached to his side yet again and took the pouch of money he had. He simply tossed it on the desk, motioning to it with his head. He wanted the man to open it and see what was inside, and that's exactly what Mr. Vidar did. He grabbed the sack and undid the tie, opening it and peering inside. His eyes widened, and Magnus knew he had the man right where he wanted him. Mr. Vidar wouldn't be able to resist the sum of money in that little bag.
The amount of rubies there was astounding. It was far more than most owned. It was enough to buy an entire town that was twice as big as this one. It could even buy two more mansions. No single person carried this kind of money with them. Most weren't that rich. However, this was just like pocket change for the sorcerer. Losing all of this was nothing to him.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Vidar asked, but he obviously really wanted Magnus to say yes. He would gladly give up this flee-bitten town for money of this stature.
"Yes," the sorcerer responded. "I'm absolutely positive. I want to buy this town."
"Then it's yours!" He whipped open a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. It was a small stack, but it was still quite a chunk. "This is the deed to the town." He handed Magnus every paper there. "You can have it. I'm happy to be rid of it. They're your problem now."
"Thank you," Magnus said as politely as he could. He really didn't like this man's attitude. The town had gone to waste because of him. Mr. Vidar had done nothing to fix it, only hogged the money for himself to buy his own mansion. The sorcerer was doing all of them a huge favor. A man like that shouldn't be responsible for anyone's life but his own. He couldn't provide for anyone.
Without another word, Magnus and Layton left. The guard hadn't said anything through the entire business deal. That was just like him though. He was only a guard, meant to protect and guide his master. He hadn't been against this idea at all. This was doing all of those people in the town a favor. Even though they didn't really know too many of the villagers, the few they had met already seemed like honest, hardworking people. They were all just trying to get by and survive. Both of them had to do something to help them out.
They left the house rather quickly, Magnus wanting to get back to Xyra's house so that he could show them what he had done. Hopefully they'll be happy. He couldn't see a reason for them not to be. Now they would be able to earn what they deserve. They had been self-governing before Mr. Vidar came into power, and they would be fine without him. They had a mayor and everything. Now they could go back to those ways. They could basically be free again.
"That was rather kind of you, sir," said Layton as they reentered the town. "I don't think I've ever seen you do something this big for anyone before."
"Things change," was Magnus's only response. He had changed quite a bit on this journey. Buying a town wasn't something he had ever planned to do, but here he was, carrying the deed right in his hands. He had done this for all those people, for Xyra's parents, and he had done this for Xyra. She had tried so hard to make enough money to bring them home so that she could save them all from the clutches of Mr. Vidar. Now her goal was finally going to be realized.