Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Taking a deep breath, Lorant continued.

"Then, in this area, I need to build seven separate residences, as well as a common space that can be easily accessed by all seven residences. This place should serve as a communal living and dining area for all of us."

"These houses shouldn't be too far apart, but the privacy between them must be well-maintained."

This was the main reason Lorant wanted to renovate the Animal Pet Shop.

When it was just his family, he didn't mind living together and found no inconvenience in it.

However, when Martha's family came back, the originally well-planned three-person home immediately felt cramped.

The current Animal Pet Shop was built on the foundation of an old tavern that hadn't been completely abandoned, so the space was naturally limited.

It was spacious enough for three or four people, but with more people, it became quite cramped.

Now, Lorant planned to have everyone live separately, each with their own small house designed according to their preferences.

This way, whether Silem and Doris had friends over to play, or Martha and Ruth invited friends to stay overnight at the Animal Pet Shop, everyone would be comfortable.

And Lorant wouldn't always see various people sitting in his living room whenever he went downstairs...

"Understood, Shopkeeper. What about the style?" Old Tom nodded, though he was a bit puzzled that this client didn't want to build a massive castle like his previous clients.

But as a skilled craftsman, his goal was to fulfill the client's needs.

In Lorant's view, the architectural styles of this world were only suitable for large castles, with their grand and heavy designs. Placing such styles on smaller buildings would only make them feel oppressive.

However, the style he disliked was something Ruth had always envied, even if she never said it outright. Her envious expression spoke volumes.

Lorant later realized that his mother was genuinely happy when she saw the Cavendish family's grand castle.

She often mentioned to Lorant how magnificent the castle was, how the beds inside had four sturdy legs, and so on.

It was hard not to see how much she envied it.

Ruth wasn't trying to force her son to rebuild the house; she just couldn't help but mention it from time to time.

Lorant understood. The current Animal Pet Shop was entirely decorated according to his modern living habits, prioritizing convenience above all else.

Like many modern people, he preferred the transparency of full-length windows over the divided colored glass of castles.

The exterior's beauty didn't provide real convenience to those living inside, so Lorant chose comfort over others' opinions without hesitation.

But he gradually understood that everyone has different aspirations. If Ruth's dream was a grand and beautiful castle, why should he impose his "comfort first" philosophy on her?

Moreover, with magic, even underground structures like the Beast Tower could be made quite comfortable. So why not indulge Ruth's wishes?

This time, Lorant decided to fully respect each family member's preferences and let them choose what their residence would look like.

"As for the style, they will likely be different. I'll have them contact you individually during the detailed design phase, and you can follow their ideas."

Old Tom nodded. "Understood. My team includes experienced artists, and we have many templates from previous projects. We will certainly meet your satisfaction."

Lorant nodded, not overly concerned about these construction details, which could be addressed later.

"The most important and challenging part is building a Mage Tower under the Animal Pet Shop," Lorant added. "I don't mean it has to be exactly like the ones in Sakolun, but it must ensure safety and comfort."

Old Tom nodded, having known about this requirement in advance. Worried that not every craftsman could handle underground construction, Lorant had mentioned it early on.

If this requirement couldn't be met, Lorant might have to find another craftsman.

But as an experienced old craftsman, Old Tom felt this was no problem.

Isn't it just an underground structure? He knew several goblin craftsmen who would work efficiently if the price was right.

"Please rest assured, Shopkeeper. We have experience with underground construction," Old Tom said confidently. "We built the underground garden for Duke White Magnolia's villa."

Lorant nodded, feeling slightly more at ease, though he didn't know who Duke White Magnolia was.

Three days later, Old Tom arrived at the Animal Pet Shop with his team and a large number of drawings carried on carts.

Compared to Lorant, Lancelot found it easier to review the plans. After his thorough inspection and confirmation of various data, Old Tom's team remeasured some fine details.

On their second visit, they presented a comprehensive and well-developed plan.

As Lorant requested, the Animal Pet Shop on the plans resembled a vast garden.

Unlike the popular garden styles of the time, based on Lorant's description, Old Tom's team created a Chinese-style garden design.

With staggered stone steps and clearly defined fountains, while it lacked the intricate detail of traditional Chinese gardens, Lorant believed that with further refinement, the final result would be excellent.

Silem and Doris were specially called back, and everyone was surrounded by different designers discussing the plans for their individual rooms.

Lorant and Lancelot also began confirming their own rooms under Old Tom's guidance.

As before, Lorant wanted a house with clean lines and geometric beauty.

The house didn't need to be too large, as he found it difficult to utilize a big space alone, so two floors were sufficient. However, each floor needed to be spacious.

The house required a beautiful terrace with a good view, allowing Lorant to sit in a lounge chair and see the garden being built in the backyard at a glance.

There would be two floors. The ground floor would have a dining room and a living room for occasional private receptions.

The second floor, as per Lorant's request, would be a large bedroom suite, including a bedroom, a walk-in closet, a study, a bathroom, and a collection room.

Finally, Lorant wanted a swimming pool as an additional feature.

Hardening the area around the pool and planting some broad-leaved trees, with half outdoors and half indoors, would ensure comfortable enjoyment of the pool regardless of the weather.

Of course, Lorant knew that the most challenging part of his design was the large glass windows.

Only such expansive floor-to-ceiling windows could give this small villa the appearance Lorant imagined. If he used the air wall technology from the Mage Association, Lorant always felt something was missing.

Lorant even considered using large pieces of crystal if there were no glass windows...

Meanwhile, Lancelot had not described much about the house he wanted, eventually only saying he needed more time to think about it and would decide later.

As expected, Ruth chose a luxurious castle that fit the aesthetic of the world's people, though it wasn't a real castle like the Cavendish family's. As a single-person residence, she opted for a two-story building.

Silem, on the other hand, was particularly fond of a design with a rugged style, one they had previously designed for a high-ranking knight.

It not only had a spacious training room but was also highly functional, meeting all the needs of a knight in various aspects. The walls, adorned with iron plates, appealed greatly to the young man's sense of style.

If the designer hadn't tactfully suggested that embedding a dozen shields neatly on the exterior might not be aesthetically pleasing, Silem would have really done so.

Given the rare opportunity, the young man wanted to cram in all his favorite elements.

Mo'er, compared to the spoiled Silem, was more mature.

Initially, Martha's family thought it would be quite expensive to provide each of the three a house, let alone what Lorant suggested—one house per person. Martha was very anxious about this matter for a while.

However, after being consoled by Ruth, Martha quickly compromised and happily chose a two-story building with a similar appearance to Ruth's.

Mo'er initially decided he mustn't burden his brother Lorant and would choose the simplest option.

Even the small wooden cabin by the lake already seemed luxurious to him.

But when the designers presented tempting reference plans, Mo'er inevitably succumbed to temptation.

In the end, under Silem's urging, he chose a house with a stone facade.

Doris, on the other hand, described a delicate white cottage she had seen in her dreams. From the final design, it leaned more towards the architectural style of the elves.

Although the plans were finalized, construction would still take some time.

For starters, the numerous abandoned houses outside the Animal Pet Shop's compound would require significant cleanup.

Lorant had planned to check on Lancelot privately, as his behavior today didn't match his claim of being fine.

Lorant sensed that the guy had been somewhat listless lately.

However, the next day, Lancelot received a message from the Lennart brothers, saying Lindbergh wanted him to go to Pokara for a while.

Lancelot didn't waste any words and left promptly.

Lorant didn't feel overly concerned; with a teleportation array, even if Lancelot went to Pokara, as long as he wasn't stationed at the front lines, he could return daily for dinner if needed.

"Be careful," Lorant said, standing beside the teleportation array to see Lancelot off. "I'm making sweet and sour pork ribs tonight. Will you come back for dinner?"

Looking at the boy's eager face, Lancelot wanted to say that if there were any issues in Pokara, like the signs of a beast tide, he would be too busy to even rest, let alone teleport back for meals.

But he swallowed his words. "If you're making it, I'll try to come back."

Lorant smiled. "Of course."

Neither of them noticed how natural they looked, as if they were family rather than just roommates.

That night, Lancelot hurried back due to Lorant's promise.

"The entrance to Pokara has been rather unstable recently," Lancelot said, munching on the fragrant sweet and sour pork ribs.

"What happened?"

"It seems there are signs of a beast tide," Lancelot said seriously. "The beast tides in Pokara are notoriously unpredictable."

"Ordinary mountain passes are narrow, with the mountain walls extending not far, allowing them to spot powerful beasts approaching early and issue warnings."

"But the entrance to Pokara is too wide, and the mountain walls offer little protection. Unless they charge out like the Spiked Corps did, they can't see what's happening outside."

"Acting rashly without certainty is too dangerous."

"The Spiked Corps charged out with a clear target, but without a specific goal, fighting in the vast sea of beasts would only result in meaningless exhaustion."

Lorant nodded in understanding. Pokara's wide entrance made it seem more like a small plain, and calling it a mountain pass was probably just for uniformity.

"So, it's not certain yet whether it's a sign of a beast tide, right?" Lorant asked, picking up a small piece of crispy bone and crunching it.

He loved the crispy bone parts of the ribs, but he could only bite into the bones of young beasts like today's. He could only watch Lancelot eat the crispy bones of adult beasts and feel envious.

"Yes, that's the current situation, but based on past experiences, things don't look good," Lancelot said, though he didn't appear overly worried. "But there's no need to worry. Even if a beast tide does occur, the military can handle it well."

Lorant nodded. Worrying about uncertain matters was pointless. He was more concerned about the Blue Star Trading Platform's operations in Pokara.

The platform had already set up a small task point in Pokara, serving as a node for collecting beast corpses.

After all, Lorant wasn't the only one buying beast corpses on the platform. Having a place to directly submit tasks at the mountain pass made it much more convenient for many adventurers. Recently, many hunting tasks had been submitted here, and some even traveled from other places to complete tasks at the easternmost camp in Pokara.

This outpost was quite popular.

As for the platform's manager, Nia naturally nominated a young man with a similar background.

He was a young man who had studied at the Butler Academy in Holland, with decent performance in all aspects and a steady demeanor, leaving no room for criticism.

The person Emma recommended was quite interesting; it turned out to be someone Lorant also had some impression of.

It was the young man who had once worked with her at the housing management office. Lorant had a rather favorable impression of that somewhat cunning fellow, but despite that, he didn't have any immediate plans to promote him. He just decided to let him train in Pokara for a while first.

Who knew that this small node had barely begun when Pokara started to become turbulent.

Lancelot comforted him, "Don't worry, Pokara is still functioning normally for now. Even if a beast tide occurs later, there will be plenty of time to evacuate."

Lorant nodded and stopped worrying, "Then, are you going tomorrow?"

Lancelot smiled bitterly, "Not tomorrow, I have to go back soon. They are constantly conducting various magical explorations there, and I can't leave for too long before the situation is determined."

"Alright, I was thinking of going with you tomorrow," Lorant shrugged, a bit regretfully.

Hearing Lorant's words, Lancelot seemed to think of something, "The Devouring Frogs have matured?"

Lorant smiled and nodded, "Yes! They can already use their abilities this morning. Do you want to come and see them?"

Lancelot suddenly became interested; he had been looking forward to the Devouring Frogs' abilities for a long time. However, they were still in their juvenile stage, not only small in size but also unable to use their most important 'empowerment' ability.

Only today did they first showcase their talents.

Following Lorant to the backyard, not only Mike and Taya, but even Pence and Jeremy were gathered around, curiously observing these new additions to the Animal Pet Shop.

As the Devouring Frogs grew, their appearance became truly hard to bear.

When they were young, they had a somewhat cute and cartoonish look, but now they were the second ugliest pets after the floating octopus in the Animal Pet Shop!

Each of these giants, standing four meters tall and approaching five meters, looked ferocious and intimidating.

Their rough, bumpy skin seemed to glisten with a sticky mucus as if they had just emerged from water.

Their two powerful hind legs firmly supported their massive bodies.

Lorant looked at these giants with a conflicted expression; they were currently the largest pets in the Animal Pet Shop.

They were not only tall but also very sturdy. At about four meters tall, the Windbreaker Horses looked unusually slender next to them.

Not to mention, the Devouring Frogs' heads were enormous, taking up almost half their height, with a wide mouth spanning their entire face and horizontal pupils when opened...

Their appearance would scare the children from the orphanage to tears.

Even Lancelot, a seasoned warrior who could kill beasts without batting an eye, couldn't help but marvel at the sight of these creatures.

They were simply...

Too ugly.

Unaware of the silent criticism of their appearance by these bipeds, the Devouring Frogs had a rather gentle disposition, forming a stark contrast to the temperamental rabbits in the yard.

These thirty-two giants didn't like to run around much. The Devouring Frogs, similar to the Dream Weavers, were pets that didn't enjoy wandering around.

As long as they were fed and given water on time, these giants could sit in one place all day, looking up at the clouds in the sky.

Like philosophers contemplating life.

Since they started growing, Lorant had been consciously taking these little guys for walks around the Animal Pet Shop's yard.

Being too reclusive wasn't good, and Lorant was worried that these little guys might be afraid of people in the future.

But these giants were lazier than Lorant, and their weight was astonishing. When they squatted down and refused to move, Lorant couldn't budge them an inch no matter how hard he tried.

Walking over to the Devouring Frogs with Lancelot, Lorant reached out and accurately touched the air.

This was the SR variety of the Devouring Frogs, the "Translucent Body" lineage.

The more this guy grew, the stronger its ability to disguise itself became.

At its birth, Lorant could still barely discern the refraction and distortion of light around it, but now this giant was indistinguishable from a mass of air.

Unless it was a powerful individual who could discern things without relying on vision, no one would be able to see the existence of this Devouring Frog named Little Transparent.

As for Lorant, with Baby around, he could easily find Little Transparent's location.

And even if he missed, Little Transparent would kindly move a bit to let Lorant touch it.

It was a very well-behaved and gentle Devouring Frog.

Even among the Devouring Frogs, it had a particularly good temperament.

Because of its invisible appearance, Lorant liked Little Transparent the most among all the Devouring Frogs and always gave it special treatment. Over time, this giant became very close to Lorant.