10 – Aftermath by Asprin, Robert

Odd Rankan, Strick thought. Seems to be a liberal who wants to show what a good fellow a Rankan can be; particularly the . . . agent?-spy? -of the new emperor!

“I have deposited funds with a local banker. You know Renn.”

Strick nodded. Renn was one of the two men he banked with, both Ilsigi.

“He showed me around a bit,” Abadas said. “I have to say that I saw two places I love, Spellmaster. One, a villa, turns out to be yours!”

“Ah.”

By the time Noble Abadas departed Strick’s place of business, the two foreigners to Sanctuary had made a business arrangement. Strick was happy to have leased the villa he bought from Izamel (since old Izamel and other wealthy, old-money Ilsigi kindly loaned him the money) to Abadas for an amount that was a shade more than Strick’s loan pay- ments and taxes. The current inflation helped; Strick had recently bought the place at what were now called “old rates”; prereconstruction rates! Their deal made both men happy.

Strick called in his man-of-all-tasks.

“Wints, go to Cusharlain. Tell him I am looking for a large place in town, preferably a house I can also use as a shop. All right?”

“Yes sir. Oh, are you-“

“Good. Then go to Gilla Lalo’swife. Ask that good woman whether any of her children or relatives would like good employment with a decent Rankan noble. All right?”

“Yes sir. Sir, I-“

“Aye, I am sure that you know of some prospective servants for the household of the lord Abadas, Wints. Just go on about my business my way, for now.”

Wintsenay went.

In the next hour Strick saw four people. He refused to do anything at all for the one who wanted vengeance on a landlord, used a minor spell and an unnecessary foul-tasting concoction to get rid of the really ugly warts on another’s face, told a third sadly that he could do nothing about the long-twisted leg but secretly made a spell to make the poor woman more accepting, at least, and told a sufferer of persistently upset stomach that he needed to go to a physician, at once. It wasn’t.as if anyone was gong to cure the rampant malignant growth Strick saw in the too-young man’s upper intestine, but at least he could go through his final weeks of life in a drugged state. For all this the spellwright took in three pieces of silver and a nice bolt of cloth of a color he did not desire. Well, he could trade it, or use it as gift goods.