Quoted By:
> Lost 2 Twenty-Talents
> Gained 2 Loaves of Sweetsalt
> Gained 30 Eighth Talents
Just wanting to get out of here, you pay the first price that the elder clerk quotes you for the Sweetsalt, and after stuffing all of the change that you got from both purchases into the pocket of your apron, item by item you meticulously load up the handcart, doing your best to make sure that the weight sits evenly, and that passerby just see what appears to be bundles of rags or laundry. Your business concluded, you thank the clerk for his time, and he thanks you for your custom, and asks you to relay his well-wishes to your Master, and that if it comes to be that he needs anything else, to come here first. You nod and smile politely, as you promise to pass it along, then you finally manage to quit the shop, wincing as the cart thumps down hard as it takes the stoop of the store all in one go.
Unfortunately, in just a few blocks, you find yourself wondering if getting the cart for free was a better deal for him than it was for you. The damned thing cannot travel straight for any length of time, which is bad enough, but to make it worse, it does not pull in one direction in particular. Sometimes it will break right. Sometimes it will break left. Sometimes it will not break either way for just long enough that you get your hopes up, just for it veer off course. You suppose the way that you are using it is probably part of the problem, as no doubt it was intended to be pulled instead of pushed. But considering that you have a wand stuffed inside your spare dress, not to mention a goodly amount of large denomination coins, you are not going to trail this thing behind you, where you cannot see it. Still, it is noticeably slowing you down, and in the few minutes that you have had this cart out on the street, you have already almost run into three different people on the sidewalk. When you tried to push it out onto the street, you found that the cobblestones were simply too much for the wheels to handle, and you got stuck twice before you even managed to get a few yards. Conscious that you must look like some air-headed coquette who has never done a day’s work in her life before, you wrangle the cart back onto the sidewalk, and continue as best you can, navigating your fellow pedestrians and the spots here and there where stores have some of their wares set up on the walks or in the street.
But the worst thing about the cart is that it groans and squeals, infuriatingly accompanying your Oilers which are <span class="mu-i">still</span> squeaking. You do your best to keep your seething to a minimum by reminding yourself that there would simply be no way for you to carry the bulk of half of your purchases from the hardware without this cart. Muttering dark oaths under your breath, you decide to take some side streets and alleys, figuring that if you cannot help but to make a spectacle, the best thing would be to make sure as few people see it as possible.
