Secretary Sam worked with remarkable efficiency. In less than half an hour, he had found a suitable shop and purchased the property deed from the original owner at a price three times its market value.
"They agreed to just three times?"
Secretary Sam sighed slightly, feeling a bit sorry for the shop's former owner. His initial expectation had actually been ten times the value, but the owner had eagerly agreed to just three times the market price.
With the matter settled, he immediately called Julian.
"Champion Walker, the shop has been purchased. The address is at XXX. If you'd like to take a look, I can arrange it right away."
"Alright, thanks, Secretary Sam. I'll go take a look with Slowking now. Please make the arrangements on your end."
"Of course, of course."
Not daring to chat further, Secretary Sam hung up and immediately called the original owner, asking her to open the shop. He then rushed over himself.
"Slowking, it's all settled. Do you want to go take a look?"
"Slow~"
Slowking nodded.
Slowking was very serious about opening the café. Now that the shop was secured, it naturally wanted to go inspect it right away, then hurry with the renovations so the stray Slowpokes could have a home soon.
The address Secretary Sam provided was located in the busiest area of downtown Lake City. The surroundings included not only a CBD but also large shopping malls and residential buildings.
Moreover, the statues of Reshiram and Zekrom, commissioned by the Lake City government, weren't far from there either.
By the time Julian and Slowking arrived at the shop location on Salamence, Secretary Sam was already waiting there. Next to him stood a woman with a very full figure, accompanied by a boy of about seven or eight years old.
"Champion Walker."
Seeing Julian arrive, Secretary Sam hurried over to greet him.
"Mm."
Julian nodded, pointing at the three-story building in front of him. "Is this the one?"
"Yes."
Secretary Sam explained, "This three-story building has a total area of 500 square meters. It previously housed a Pokéblock shop, but the owner closed it some time ago due to family issues."
"Not bad. Slowking, what do you think?"
Julian looked at Slowking. Since Slowking was the one opening the café, its opinion mattered most. It had to feel the place was suitable.
"Slow~"
Slowking nodded, clearly quite satisfied with the location.
The shop area was spacious enough, and the location was excellent. A good location naturally meant high foot traffic.
"However, there are hundreds of coffee shops, bubble tea shops, and bakeries of all sizes in the surrounding area," Secretary Sam said with some concern.
While a good location meant large crowds, it also meant intense competition.
Although Julian wasn't the one opening the shop—but Slowking—Secretary Sam had gleaned from Henry just how important Slowking was to Julian.
"It's fine. My Slowking makes the best coffee in the world."
Julian said proudly. Though it might sound like flattery, he was telling the truth.
When it came to coffee-making skills, even Love couldn't brew coffee as delicious as Slowking's.
Julian strongly suspected that Slowking possessed some kind of passive skill specifically for coffee brewing, something that made the coffee taste exceptionally good.
"Is this the property owner?"
Julian pointed at the voluptuous woman.
"Yes," Secretary Sam nodded.
He then pulled out a document and said, "Champion Walker, once you sign here, this property will be yours."
"Mhm."
Julian took the pen Secretary Sam handed him and signed his name on the document.
He glanced at the price out of habit.
"30 million... it doesn't seem expensive," he murmured softly.
'Not expensive? That's three times the market value!'
Secretary Sam naturally didn't voice any disagreement.
Moreover, he felt it was perfectly normal for Julian to say something like that. He had personally witnessed Henry transferring hundreds of millions to Julian for his purchases.
Thirty million was, to the Walker Group, like a drop in the ocean—something they wouldn't even blink at losing, or perhaps not even notice.
"Champion Walker, h-hello, I'm Lily."
As soon as he finished signing, a refreshing fragrance wafted over, followed by a glimpse of a deep white cleavage.
Looking at the somewhat nervous woman standing before him, Julian smiled and said, "Hello. Thank you for being willing to transfer such a good property to me."
"Champion Walker, you're too polite. It's the property's good fortune to be purchased by you."
Lily quickly replied. She never imagined that the ridiculously wealthy person buying her property for three times the price would turn out to be Julian.
Had she known earlier, she would have asked for a higher price.
"Harry, don't you usually admire Champion Walker the most? He's right in front of you now. Come over and say hello."
The woman called out to the boy standing not far away, who looked a bit at a loss.
The boy hesitated for a moment before walking over. He looked at Julian with a mixture of nervousness and excitement, then suddenly closed his eyes and shouted loudly, "Long live Champion Walker!"
Julian: 'What the heck?'
"This child is just too nervous. Please don't mind him, Champion Walker," Lily hurriedly said.
Julian shook his head. How could he possibly be offended by a seven- or eight-year-old child?
"Where's your husband? Isn't he involved in such a matter?"
After all, it involved thirty millions bucks. Why hadn't Lily's husband come? After all, judging by Lily's demeanor, she didn't seem like the strong, independent type—more like a housewife.
"My husband passed away three years ago," Lily said sadly.
"He died while exploring a secret realm."
So her late husband had been a Trainer. No wonder they owned property in such a prime location.
Julian could only express sympathy for Lily's situation. Trainers dying in secret realms was all too common.
People died in secret realms every day, and as a result, countless widows and widowers were created daily.
That was why many hesitated to marry Trainers—after all, you never knew when they might suddenly meet their end.
However, there were also many women who insisted on marrying only Trainers. The most important reason was that a competent Trainer's income often far exceeded that of other professions.
And if they died, wouldn't all that inheritance go to them?
Just like Lily here.
She looked to be in her early thirties, exuding the unique charm of that age. Her delicate, fragile demeanor was also quite sympathy evoking.
She even had a child with her. The situation was indeed rather pitiful.
"Julian, do you want to become this boy's father and give him a complete family?"
Celebi suddenly blurted this out from above his head.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Julian smacked Celebi lightly.
"Then why have you been staring at her?"
"This is just normal observation. Don't let your imagination run wild. I'm a gentleman, you know."
As he spoke, Julian and Slowking stepped inside the three-story building. The place was quite new, but there were quite a few items left behind by the previous tenant.
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister