Arastoph looked down at the gnome with intrigue. Well, the little guy was getting a few factors wrong (such as the children; Arastoph did not count them as legible for shares of loot, and ideally, would be put in an orphanage in another town while these people continued their travels), and that part of deal had little to do with finding loot, but the leftover gold that became a remainder after a trade, but the merchant was surprised that he was starting to catch on to what was happening. Arastoph admits that he underestimated the wee one's intelligence, even if its actual value was just a little above what he expected.

"Not quite," he said, but his voice seemed to gleam with approval, "for instance, I wasn't counting [i]children[/i] when distributing shares. Ideally, they'd be dropped at an orphanage at the next town... but you certainly are making strides just by watching."

Of course, this pleasant demeanor wasn't much more than a facade. While it was interesting that the little gnome learned quickly, he didn't have any interest in putting the thing under his tutelage.