"I will keep that in mind." Valen smiled while signing the paper, quickly counting up the sum of the gold. Three gold a day for the horse and the saddle? He could agree to that. The sum came a bit under fourty gold's total, and counting it up he figured he was renting the horse for a period of 12 days at most with this contract. Which would mean, barring any surprises, four days there, four days back, and upto four days investigating at the other end unless he wanted to pay extra on return. Adding to that the food he'd had to buy for the journey back, it should still come up to a reasonable sum. If he made at least fifty gold, he could at least pay back the borrowed amount to the gnome, leaving him to handle paying off the interest.<br/><br/>That price in mind he signed the paper and smiled to the owl-tengu, then counting out the sum of 38 gold and 5 silver coins to the table, bowing his head respectfully. "I am grateful for your assistance. While I hope to master a spell in time to journey a little easier I can see the value of this kind of a service. I considered actually buying a horse, but I ended up wondering if I would be able to take care of one properly while out on the road, so I ended up deciding against it." He smiled a bit awkwardly, nodding his head to the man. "But thank you. By the looks of it, as long as I return in 12 days all should be well and settled."<br/><br/>Valen smiled, and silently cussed himself. He had<em>not</em>just thrown a challenge out there for the world to prove him wrong. Had he?