The housekeeper brought Feng Chou around the entire villa. When they returned to the first floor, all the servants in the villa had already gathered in the hall on the first floor.
They stood in a row under the orders of the head maid, waiting for Feng Chou's inspection.
The butler introduced the servants to him. They included the head maid, a pretty young girl who used to be the master's personal maid. The two of them, together with the butler, were considered high-ranking servants in the villa.
In addition, there was a chef, two ordinary maids in charge of cleaning the villa, and a gardener in charge of taking care of the garden.
The gatekeeper was not a servant in the villa. He was a member of a mercenary group that had signed a long-term guard contract with Shozo.
The mercenary group had contracted the defense of the villa in the form of an annuity. They had to send one person to be the gatekeeper during the day and a five-man team to patrol the villa at night.
The villa was located in a wealthy neighborhood. The police patrolled the area during the day, so it was relatively safe. However, it was not necessarily so at night.
Feng Chou was satisfied with the inspection. At least he did not find anyone sneaking into the master's room when the master was not around. The villa was clean and tidy, and the garden was neatly arranged.
The servants looked at their new master nervously, especially the head maid and the personal maid. They were even a little scared.
Generally speaking, the personal maid in this world was a bit like the servant girls in ancient China. In addition to serving the master's daily life, they also had to serve the master's desires.
The head maid was usually the master's confidant. For example, in Amborite, the head maid of the deceased Baron was his personal maid when he was young.
The head maid of this villa was certainly not an old Amborite man. When Shozo bought the property here, he did not use his original identity. He planned to run the property here as a cunning rabbit with three burrows.
The head maid here was a woman in her thirties. From Feng Chou's point of view, she was at the age where she was full of mature charm. Moreover, she looked somewhat similar to the personal maid. The two of them should be related by blood.
For the personal maid and the head maid, who relied on the master's trust and love to survive, changing masters often meant being kicked out of the house.
Fortunately, Feng Chou did not plan to change the servants.
Next, Feng Chou stayed in the villa. He did not refuse the head maid and the personal maid's hospitality, but he did not intend to take any further hints from them. On one hand, Feng Chou was not in the mood. On the other hand, he did not plan to stay here for long.
Looking at the personal maid in front of him who was terrified because he rejected her, Feng Chou could not help but comfort her. This frightened girl reminded Feng Chou of Leo's personal maid when he was young.
At that time, the freckled girl was just as frightened, pitiful, and helpless as this personal maid.
Thinking of that girl, Feng Chou's heart was filled with intense regret. He would remember when Leo and her were innocent when they were young. He would remember how ruthless Leo was when he turned against her. He would remember the despair on her face that was not beautiful. He would remember that night when she rushed into Leo's room and screamed for Leo to escape. He would also remember how she did not hesitate to throw her fragile body at the enemy when Drow rushed in after her.
These emotions made Feng Chou feel helpless.
After comforting the maid and sending her out, Feng Chou, who had just taken a comfortable hot bath, fell into a deep sleep on the spacious bed.
The next day, Feng Chou rode the carriage rented by the butler to the city's business district near the docks on the west side of the city.
He paid a visit to a business company called Enoch.
This was a company whose main business was the management of manors. Baron Chasuble had bought a knightly manor in the southern suburbs of Adonis. Viktor had entrusted the management of the manor to this company for a yearly annuity of five thousand crowns.
In other words, this company only needed to pay him five thousand crowns a year, and the rest of the territory's income would go to Enoch.
The reason why the annuity was so low was because the manor was located close to the Alvindale River embankment. It was directly facing the threat of the Alvindale Fishman Bandits. The pressure on the defense was very high, and it needed to maintain a strong territorial guard.
Feng Chou came to this business company to announce that he had inherited the manor. If there were no accidents, he would continue to sign the contract with this company.
Feng Chou not only had the inheritance procedures of the city hall, he also had the title of Baron of the ancient family. He did not seek to increase the annuity, so the process of signing the contract was very smooth.
After that, he went to look at the two commercial buildings not far from this business company. They were two three-story buildings facing the street.
The two buildings were very common in the big cities of this world. They had white walls and blue roofs. The materials used were very sturdy and gave people a very heavy feeling. The buildings were very tall, more than five meters. The roof above the central door of the building had a Barlow -style dome, giving the whole building a heavy and majestic feeling.
The two buildings were rented to two different companies.
One was rented to a company that specialized in water trading, while the other was rented to a leasing company. After the leasing company divided the building, the first floor was rented out to a few shops, while the upper floor was converted into apartments. These two buildings brought Chasuble about forty thousand crowns a year.
The income of such a building far exceeded the income of a knighthood, but the price of the building was cheaper than a knighthood. This was probably a strange phenomenon brought about by the aristocratic mindset of a thousand years ago.
Of course, this also had to do with the fact that while the building could bring in wealth, it could not bring about a knighthood.
After receiving Chasuble's inheritance, Feng Chou went to the mercenary guilds in Adonis City to take a look.
Adonis City had a mercenary union located in the western business district, with two branches in the northern and southern parts of the city.
Among them, the Central Union of Trade Unions located in the western business district mainly dealt with merchants, especially those who relied on the Alvindale River for water transportation. They mainly took on water escort missions, and those who were active here were mostly elite mercenaries with high reputation.
The two guilds in the northern and southern parts of the city mainly dealt with the smaller nobles in the city. Most of these nobles' territories were near the banks of the Alvindale River, so the pressure to defend them was greater. They often needed mercenaries to help clear out the murloc bandits.
As for the eastern part of the city, that was where the nobles and mages lived, so there was little need for mercenaries.
After going around the mercenary union and not finding the information he wanted, Feng Chou returned in disappointment.