Arastoph sighed somberly as the negotiations were halting as soon as he was about to close the deal with the engineer. The look on the man's face indicated he still wasn't pleased with something or another, but it was of no concern to the trader; everyone was good at something. For Kelvin, is was building things. For Arastoph, it was economics. Each individual should concern themselves with what pertains to them - stretching oneself too thin was a sure recipe for failure in all fields. Alas, there was also the problem with his payment. The engineer directed the down payment of gold towards their transaction working under the assumption that if the service agreement were to settle in, the gold that the seer had given him should cover that. However, the negotiations has fallen through. By all respects, the gold still belonged to the seer, who was utterly willing to give it up for the hat and seemed to place no value in it.

As a result of that, the engineer would have to relinquish his control over said currency, and it no longer bared any significance in the contract that could have been. Failing that, Arastoph had grounds for blackmail in which he could use in addressing the paladin, for the engineer would have practically robbed the seer of her money whilst simultaneously jeopardizing his contract with the seer and cheating him out of the money. Arastoph was fine with cheating, provided he or others could get away with it. But were that not the case...

There's little that he hates more than being cheated.

Retaliation, however, was an action for another time. Right now, everyone save for the seer and wee one, were focused on getting out. The engineer and paladin were squabbling over what action to take next. As a result of his frustration and impatience with the two grown adults bickering over such a simplistic issue, the trader snapped at them.

"The two of you are gabbing along like a pair of broads whilst we've still a stretch of road beyond us! We have sent already two strapping young [i]dullards[/i] off and away to save the damsel, surely that is enough. Do not forget, there are people who we know for certain are [i]still alive[/i] that need protecting."

He gestured to the gnome and the seer; pointing out them, as opposed to himself, might appeal to the knight's good graces more. Though for all intents and purposes, saw the knight as little more than a bulwark for his own protection.