Moving Mountains

11

.^^ Josef All Prettied Up^^

— Josef —

Willam went through several stages of confusion, aggravation, despondency, more aggravation, some more confusion, some melancholy, and even a dash of acceptance, near the end of his little internal battle as he stared at me and attempted to compose himself.

I grinned and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I know, I said you'd enjoy the chaos that is me, didn't I? Just accept it. I'm like a force of nature, a great cyclone, crushing all in my path!!! BOOGA WOOGA WOOGA!!!" I made a silly face, and laughed when he flinched backwards. "Anyway, what did you need from me? I was just talking about that wyvern Hunt with the clerk."

He sighed, rubbing his face. "It's relatively simple, actually... as an A+ Rank, you're now entitled to doubled pay... and I wanted to negotiate your pay down from 12 gold a month."

"That is quite a ridiculous salary, isn't it? Tell you what; you pay me Five gold a month, and give me the other Seven gold in the form of materials for making you guys' armor, and properties in the Upper City and UnderTown. Maybe the land under and around my arch of stone, and a pair of shops near the Guild to sell my Armor and Alchemical Supplies at, for starters." I nodded seriously.

His eyes widened a bit, and he darted into what I now considered his office, seeing the paperwork strewn everywhere. He began flipping through a ledger, muttering to himself, and I nodded, leaving him to my request and walking back to the Clerk.

"So! Question: if I brought you a live Matron, how much would that be worth to you?" I asked him when he focused on me.

The old man blinked slowly. "That would be... well... if we would pay you 4 gold for a dead one, I guarantee we'd pay at least double for a live one... right Willam?"

Willam stuck his head out of his office. "At least triple!!! But... uhm... it would be a line of credit, added to your account with the Guild, not tangible money."

"That's acceptable. Speaking of money, I need to make a deposit, so I'll be going to the bank next door, is there anything else you need of me, Willam, or will you have my answers by tomorrow morning, as per usual?" I asked.

"The morning! That sounds right!" He called from his office.

"Good. Saccharine, you have anything you need done?" I glanced at him, as he was perusing a rack of spears, which I recognized to be Brill's work. The prices, I was startled to see, were in the 500-750 silver range. "Eesh... Makanin inflates his prices, doesn't he? Or is that the Guild's work?" I chuckled.

"Oh that's a little of both. We double his prices, but we allow haggling, so we make a profit, and everyone's moderately happy." The clerk grinned mischievously.

Saccharine nodded, gazing at one of the spears, which Identify told me was S-, with a Fire enchantment. "Looks nice... but expensive..."

"I could just make you one of those, you know..." I muttered.

He chuckled. "True, but that would be rude, after all, the economy depends on sales to Rangers and Adventurers to thrive."

"Then sell it to them when you're done with it." I shrugged carelessly.

He chuckled and picked up the spear, nodding to the clerk, who wrote down the price, and handed the note off. "So? The bank, you said, why?"

"Some monies to drop off, taxes to inquire about. It'll be boring, so you don't have to come if you don't want to. I don't know what people do for fun in this little town, but I'm sure it beats the bank." I shrugged.