"Mr. Spencer," the chill vanished from Richard's voice, "let me explain how things stand. I need a large building constructed for artifact production and magical research. Three stories. A spacious garage-workshop for several Muggle automobiles, a potions room and an alchemical laboratory, offices, laboratories, lounges. In addition, I require a separate hangar for several airplanes. What interests me most are the timeline and the price. If your price is lower and your construction time shorter than the Muggles', while the quality is no worse, then I will hire your firm. If I am dissatisfied with even one of these points, I will use my corporation's own facilities."
"Understood, sir… Uh… So, a large building, then. And the hangar for those airplanes—how large would it need to be?"
"About twenty by fifty meters."
"Oh!" The wizard pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his perspiring forehead. "And the house itself would be… about fifty by twenty meters, three stories?"
"Possibly. Do you have any designers? At least we could make a preliminary estimate."
"I'll fetch one at once! I'll be back in a flash. Just don't go anywhere."
The bald, round little man sprang from his seat and dashed into a back room, the door to which was behind the desk. Rustling and clattering sounds drifted from beyond the wall. Soon the wizard returned carrying a crystal ball mounted on a bronze stand. He set it on the floor between Richard and the armchair, sat down, and pointed his wand at it.
Richard watched with curiosity as the crystal ball glowed blue and an illusion of a black rectangle appeared above it.
Bloody hell! Richard shouted inwardly. That's a holoprojector! My precious! Why the hell do wizards fly around in flyers and use mind-controlled holoprojectors while ordinary people are deprived of all this?
It was obvious at first glance that the wizard was controlling the crystal ball with his thoughts. The hologram began to ripple and flow, and soon it looked more like a stone box of a house. After a while, the box sprouted window and door openings; garage gate were added, then a roof, columns, balconies, gargoyle statues, spires, and chimney stacks. Two walls vanished, revealing an interior layout: corridors, rooms, staircases. Beside it rose a large structure resembling a stable.
"I assume, sir, this would be the hangar?"
Richard tapped the holographic stable with his finger.
"Yes," Mr. Spencer nodded. "Is something wrong?"
"The hangar should be semicircular in shape, so that it's tall and snow doesn't accumulate on it."
"That's easily done."
The stable disappeared, replaced by a hologram of a stone semicircular hangar with gigantic wooden gates.
"Hmm… Original. And how long will this structure stand?"
"My esteemed Lord, our firm guarantees that the building will last no less than one hundred years."
"Impressive. If it will stand a century, then we can afford such an original hangar. And will the house include electricity and modern steam heating?"
"Electricity? Like the Muggles use?!" the wizard recoiled in horror.
"I see," Richard smirked. "Judging by the number of chimneys, you're proposing to heat the entire structure with fireplaces."
"Of course, sir," the wizard nodded eagerly. "And how else would you… well, heat it with steam? Throw water into a blazing fireplace?"
"Right, forget it. How much will it cost to build just the shell with a roof and the hangar?"
"Without finishing, sir?"
"Without finishing. I'll need to invite Muggle specialists afterward to install proper electrical wiring, heating, and ventilation. So there's no point in finishing work."
"Well, it's quite a large order. In terms of timing, this will take at least a whole week, maybe even two," the wizard calculated. "A lot of time will go into Apparating into the mountains to gather stone and collecting timber in the forest."
Richard gave no sign of his extreme astonishment. The construction time would have been normal in a futuristic world—but certainly not in the present day. Building a stone house in a couple of weeks was unreal. The material did not seem ideal either—stone's thermal insulation properties were among the worst—but if the price was reasonable, it would do well enough.
"So you use stone because you quarry it yourselves?"
"Yes, yes. How else? Buy it, perhaps?! Ha-ha-ha!" the wizard-builder laughed merrily.
"And the cost?"
"If you only need the shell with foundation and roof, then…" The wizard's face clearly showed greed battling with the fear of naming too high a sum and scaring away the client. "Just three thousand seven hundred Galleons!" he blurted out.
"Hmm… As much as three thousand seven hundred… I'm not sure…"
Richard stroked his chin thoughtfully. In reality, he was exerting tremendous effort not to shout:
Are you kidding me?! Less than nineteen thousand pounds to build a house and a hangar, materials included? Who even charges so little? Do you people work for food?
Noticing the client's doubt, Mr. Spencer mused that Muggles usually asked far less for building work, and perhaps he had demanded too steep a price.
"Lord Grosvenor, sir, we can give you a discount. Three thousand five hundred for everything!"
"That's a good price. I agree," Richard replied calmly, though inwardly he was celebrating and writhing in ecstasy.
A standard magical-world contract was concluded with the firm Spencer & Phillips, under which the wizards undertook to construct two structures within two weeks: an office building with a garage-workshop and a hangar. Payment, according to the contract, would be made from Richard's account at Gringotts upon presentation to the goblins of the contract and proof of completed construction.
His next day off Richard spent transporting all his gold to Gringotts in a carpet bag with an Extension Charm. As a result, the young wizard's account increased to one million six hundred thirty-two thousand nine hundred fifty-three Galleons—a truly astronomical sum by wizarding standards.
(End of Chapter)
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