Chasing Magic (A Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Fanfiction)

9 - Link: A Place to Call Home

With his business at the Akkala tech lab done for now, Link ventured back to Hateno Village to pay Purah a visit — as well as acquire some more upgrades to the runes on his Sheikah Slate. As he was heading to leave, however, he passed by something that piqued his interest, causing him to pull back on his horse's reins gently and climb down from its back to cross the bridge.

A lone house, seemingly abandoned, sat before him from across a small bridge, beckoning him forward, and he did so to satisfy his curiosity. It was in decent shape and appeared to be in a livable condition from the outside, but he'd only know for sure once he actually entered the building.

Upon stepping closer towards it, though, his presence was noticed, and a man called out, "Hello! Are you a traveler?"

Link turned towards the man's voice and drank in his appearance — a construction worker, perhaps? "Yes," he answered, "I am." His gaze returning to the house in front of him, he asked, "What's going on here?"

"Ah, this house here?" The man also glanced at the building. His words instantly made Link think, No, the one on the mountain. Immediately after, he wondered if Raven's sass was rubbing off on him, and he shuddered at the thought. Perhaps they were spending a little too much time together. "The people of Hateno Village had a meeting about this house and all agreed to have it torn down; its owner left for Hyrule Castle and never returned, you see... it's been abandoned for a while now."

Link hummed in acknowledgment. Eyes scaling up and down the structure of the building, it seemed like a shame to have a perfectly livable home destroyed simply because an owner never came back. A thought entered his mind then, and he didn't hesitate to voice it: "What if I bought it?"

"You?" The man scratched the back of his neck. "Well, you'd have to talk to the boss about that."

"Sure. Where is your boss?"

"Bolson should be around here somewhere; you really can't miss him."

With a nod as his response, Link found that the man was correct; all it took was circling around the building to find a man clad in colorful clothing and a pink bandana on the opposite side, barking an order to another man nearby. Approaching, he asked, "Are you Bolson?"

The man turned to face him, and, had it not been for his lack of hair and unbuttoned shirt, Link might've wondered for a moment if this were truly a man or really a woman. "Yes; who's asking?"

"My name is Link. I wanted to ask if you'd let me buy this house."

Bolson's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" He craned his head around for a moment to snap, "Hudson, Karlson, seize destruction!"

The other two men that were helping tear down the house stepped away towards a fire with a pot over it, leisurely sitting down beside it, while Bolson gave Link his undivided attention. "Well, if you're really serious about buying this house, fine. The original price was supposed to be, oh... fifty-thousand rupees... but for a go-getter such as yourself, I'll drop it down to three thousand if you bring me thirty pieces of lumber, too."

Link mentally ran over the supplies and funding he had in his inventory, and accepted the offered deal by saying, "I'll pay for it now."

He pulled out the necessary requirements for purchasing the house, making Bolson's eyes widen. "Wow! You already had everything?! Perfect! It's yours then."

He took the payment, then walked over to where Hudson and Karlson were sitting with Link following, and Bolson filled them in on the new situation and ordered Hudson to head off to expand in the Akkala region immediately. Then, he informed Link that anything extra he wanted to be built for his house would cost him a hundred rupees, each, and since he still had plenty of rupees to spare, he asked for everything they could offer him to furnish and decorate his new home, and it was all finished by the end of the day.