Edit: Do not do side events until you get the apples or the game bugs out, while you can do things without spending gold, it will soft lock you before your able to finish the build. (this was fixed already so don't worry
hello, Played both the Nun and Jester/Clown event (as well as fighting the random patrols sometimes to also get gold) before going to his house, was wanting some gold and mana to help for later, Also tried getting the apples for 15 gold instead so this also reason i did more of the minigame events.
I also think Mana should recover over time, like 1 mana per three squares walked or something as getting past the 'clear first floor' thing was impossible for me and when you do the mission, you are no longer able to try it again.
Hope this feedback helps.