My condolences on your... delay, since 'your loss' doesn't seem appropriate here.

[Or is possibly slightly too appropriate, since he literally got lost somewhere...]

Why the cost, exactly? I can understand the difficulty in finding and training spellcasters of sufficient power, but what makes it so expensive beyond that- or is it simply compensation for their time?

[Metaphysics might not be her field, but matters of money, Muffet gets.]