It's a Deal

"Of course," Lord Hafax said. He gestured, and the flamestone imp promptly vanished. "He was more trouble than he was worth, quite frankly," he added. "So what can I buy you, Magus?"

"Let us join Belboz in the Eldritch Tomes section. There's a multi-volume work that I've had my eye on for some time, but haven't been able to justify the expense to myself."

"I see. And how much does this work cost?"

"Er, I'm afraid that it's a hundred gold pieces. But you did say that you were willing to spend at least as much on me as on Astra, and you did not specify an upper limit."

"And so it will be a little matter of four times as much. Very well. You should have been a devil yourself, Magus; I like the way that you take advantage of any weakness in the other person's position."

"It's eight large volumes," Minestus said to Astra, "so once I have it you had better put it in your new handbag for me."

"I hadn't realised that I'd be expected to carry your belongings as well as my own."

"What else is an assistant for? Anyway according to that 'for sale' sign, the bag can hold up to a hundred pounds before the contents start to add to its weight, and has a capacity of thirty cubic feet, so I don't see why your carrying my stuff as well should be a problem." (Minestus used the local units for weight and cubic capacity, but I have converted them to our own units and rounded off the values.)

"Will I be carrying your money as well?"

A look of horror crossed Minestus's face. "Certainly not!"

1. Hafax buys Astra the bag and hands it to her. She thanks him, and then they head off to the Eldritch Tomes section.
2. There is a problem with buying Astra the bag. The sales assistant claims that Hafax's gold pieces are counterfeit and not really gold at all.
3. We join Belboz, enjoying some coffee and the latest volume of "Evil Eddard's Eldritch Editions" (Volume MCXVIII).

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