Spice and Wolf, Vol. 9

The Town of Strife II

Orbit

"We must leave this place," Lawrence said bluntly. "And quickly, too."

He entered the room with long strides. On the table were the coins, the puzzleof which Col had solved, and Lawrence gathered them into his coin purse asthough he were making a sandpile on a beach.

The travelers' life was one of casting off needless things.

Everything they needed was already packed in a burlap bag in the room's corner,and if flight was necessary, they could simply cinch the bag up, shoulder it,and run—it was far from rare to be attacked during the night, after all.

"Come, you."

Lawrence looked up at the voice.

It was the surprised face of his traveling companion, Holo.

"What's this, then?"

In her hand was a letter written on a single piece of parchment.

Inscribed on it was a statement in curt, undecorated letters, along with abloodred wax seal in the bottom-right corner.

It was addressed to none other than Lawrence, and the sender was the Rowen TradeGuild. For a traveling merchant like Lawrence, whose livelihood was everuncertain, the group of comrade merchants was most encouraging.

Its seal was a powerful shield in any town and could be a powerful weapon aswell.

And the guild had sent Lawrence a letter at the inn where he stayed on the northside of Kerube.

"'We seek now a brave merchant who fears neither witch nor alchemist. Inconsideration of both the wealth and progress of the guild, by all means, please... signed, Lud Kieman.'"

Holo read the letter's contents aloud smoothly and then looked to Lawrencecuriously.

Next to Holo, their other travel companion, Col, peered at the document in herhands.

The letter was from Lud Kieman, chief trader of the Kerube branch of the RowenTrade Guild, and its meaning was clear—there was no doubt that he wastrying to get Lawrence's cooperation, just as Eve said he would.

He wanted to deliver the narwhal to Eve and to receive in return the titles forthe land on the north side of the river, thereby transforming the balance ofpower in the town. The narwhal was a creature so valuable that it made suchthings possible.

But neither Kieman nor Eve could trust the other. Each of them was far toohypocritical to shake hands over a contract. They needed someone to act as amiddleman, a go-between. And if possible, someone whom they could each easilycontrol.

In the midst of heated competition over such vast profits, a merchant's life wasworth no more than a single grain of wheat.

Lawrence could hear the crunch, crunch of creaking bones.

Col and Holo's lack of concern only further aggravated his nervousness. "Don'tyou see? This is a summons from my guild," he said by way of explanation, tyingthe burlap sack tightly closed.

"Your guild?" came Holo's reply, which made Lawrence stand and shake his head.

"The name on the letter, there—that's Lud Kieman, the manager of the localbranch of my guild. Even if I don't owe Kieman any favors directly, I owe myallegiance to the Rowen Trade Guild, whose delta house he manages. Do youunderstand what I'm saying? Kieman is using the reins of my obligation to theguild in order to put me in a terrible position!"

Traders as powerless as traveling merchants can safely move from town to townonly because of their guild attachments. Because the guild works tirelessly toacquire various rights and privileges in each town, its merchants could visitthose towns and conduct business without worry.

But being able to dine on the fruits plucked by the guild's claws and teethmeant that when a merchant's cooperation was asked, a member could not refuseit.

Because no matter how absurd the request, the many privileges the merchant hadso far enjoyed came at the cost of the hard labor of his comrades.

Yet there was a limit to how obligated one could be.

Kieman was scheming in service of his own self-interest and trying to pullLawrence into those machinations.

He would claim it was in the interests of the guild, and as long as hispreparations were thorough, Lawrence would be unable to refuse lest he bebranded a traitor by the guild. And there was another reason for Lawrence to beworried—the person with whom he'd only recently conversed in anotherbuilding.

If Kieman was the head of a great giant composed of an army of merchants, thenhis enemy was a wolf of equally impressive stature.

And that wolf had unexpectedly asked Lawrence to betray the guild.

Of course, she was waiting with the promise of dizzying profit, and indeed herproposal to Lawrence was just one part of a larger stratagem she had already setin motion.

It was all but a forgone conclusion that a single traveling merchant wouldeasily be swept away in this crimson maelstrom of money and chance.

Between the gears of power and influence, the blood of a single human wasgenerally of no great value.

"We must leave the city. As soon as possible. Before we no longer can."

There was still time.

Lawrence swallowed those words like a prayer. "Both of you, quickly," he added.

"Would you not calm yourself?" came Holo's cool words, pouring over the scaldingfires in his mind.

Those words were like water spilling into boiling oil. Lawrence exploded inspite of himself. "I am quite calm!"

Col stood next to Holo, holding a small wine cask, and he recoiled almostaudibly at the sound. Beside him, the white down on Holo's ears stirred themerest fraction.

It was blazingly obvious which of the three was the least composed in the room.

"— ..."

Lawrence put down his own load, looked up at the ceiling, then closed his eyesand drew a deep breath.

He remembered that once when he had been on the verge of bankruptcy and ruin, hehad slapped Holo's hand away in anger.

He asked himself if he had learned nothing since then.

Inwardly, he cursed himself.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with a pliant male who bends like a green twig, butsuch a man can hardly be relied upon. A fool is so much the better for hisobviousness."

Holo's tail wagged as she stroked Col's head; the boy watched the developmentscarefully.

"Though possessing two eyes, most creatures can see but a single thing at atime. Do you know why males and females go to such lengths to bond with eachother?"

She took the wine cask from Col and pulled its cork free with her teeth. With alight gesture of her chin, she signaled for Col to take the cork from her.

Col did as he was instructed as if well acquainted with the process.

During that time, Holo's eyes remained fixed on Lawrence. "I'm sure your commonsense has led you to some sort of clear conclusion."

Lawrence didn't have to ask what Holo would have added to that statement.

The two of them, Holo and Col, sat side by side and regarded him. The pairlooked somehow fragile in that moment, which made Lawrence feel like a villain.

"Hmph. From twixt stalks of wheat, I once often witnessed such ill manners inthe village."

Lawrence knew what Holo was trying to say.

Col seemed to catch up a bit later, and when he looked away uneasily, Holoelbowed him, as if to say, "Spit it out."

"... My father ... was often like this."

Lawrence had no room to protest that none of this was his fault. "... I amsorry. Still—"

"Save your apologies. I want not answers. What I ask for is an explanation. Weare not your followers. We've no obligation to do as you tell us. Do I not speakthe truth?"

She admonished him without anger, and her statement was effective because it wascorrect.

The two were not the innocent, helpless people they appeared to be.

They were each independent beings, perfectly capable of conceiving and carryingout their own plans.

To arbitrarily decide what to do right in front of them was itself a sort ofbetrayal.

"So then, what happened?" asked Holo, wearing a trace of a smile.

Despite having castigated him for his narrow vision, she seemed to acknowledgethat he must have his reasons.

And stubbornness was not a merchant's way.

Lawrence shook his head—not to deny her words, but rather to clear his ownmind.

He recalled the exchange in which he had engaged earlier.

"Eve invited me to act as her spy."

"Oh ho," said Holo briefly, putting the wine to her lips. She meant for him tocontinue.

"And the sender of that letter, Kieman, wants me to act as his spy aswell."

"So you're trapped, then."

Lawrence nodded and continued on to the subject that was the root of thetrouble.

"The reason for all of this is because the south side has captured a fishingboat from the north. That's all it will take to spark the conflict between thepoor north and the wealthy southern sides. The southerners resorted to thisbecause they wanted the valuable catch of the northerner's boat. Eve has beencharged with returning the prize to the north, but the one who gave her theorder is not doing so out of loyalty to the north, but rather for his ownprofit. And Eve is merely pretending to go along with this; she plans to betraythe north and has asked me to help."

The matter wouldn't be settled with mere hundreds of lumione.

And yet she was perfectly willing to conduct this deal, the value of whichextended into thousands of gold coins.

"Quite a female," declared Holo with an irritated smirk. Col seemed to be afraidof making a conversational misstep, so he stared off into space.

"But since Eve declared her intention to betray the north, it's likely she'swilling to betray anyone, is it not?"

Theoretically, two negatives equaled a positive, and the enemy of one's enemywas an ally. But only Eve knew whether her betrayal upon betrayal would work toher profit in the end.

"'Tis a bog of doubt, then, aye. When even your own pack is trying to use youto their own ends, I suppose 'tis no surprise your face is white with worry."

Holo took a swig from the wine cask and burped.

That she could say such things and drink wine as she did so was infuriating, butLawrence only painted on a pained smile.

Besides, as the saying went, knights who survived the battlefield were eversmiling, and merchants were no different.

"Is there any solution that satisfies all parties?"

"Since Eve isn't truly working for the north, it shouldn't matter to her whereher profit comes from. Which means she shouldn't mind receiving her share fromthe Rowen Trade Guild. It's possible that both Eve and the guild could profit.So as long as she doesn't decide to betray both me and the guild in order totake everything for herself, that could work."

"Hmm."

"Alternatively, I could act in favor of the guild's profit and try to excludeEve entirely."

"Mmm ... So we must either throw ourselves on the mercy of a villain or beblindly optimistic, eh?"

Otherwise, Lawrence would not be in this position—such was the logicalconclusion.

Lawrence nodded and put his hands on the table.

"But this is all guesswork based on what I've been able to learn. In such a vastoperation, there is too much I don't know. If I get involved, I can't help butbe a pawn for those above me."

If Lawrence could plumb the depths of these schemes, he could turn them to hisprofit. But to do that, he had to understand exactly where those depths lay.

"So you're left with discretion being the better part of valor, eh?" said Holo.

"Yes," agreed Lawrence, taking the letter from Holo's hands.

As a lonely wandering merchant, how many times had the seal on that letter cometo his aid? It was a magical emblem, both a powerful weapon and a sturdy shield.

He'd never doubted its might.

Which was why—now that its power was turned against him—he could seeno alternative but escape.

"So that vixen and your pack are fighting over the same prize, then? What mightthat be?"

"Huh? Oh yes. It's what you say you saw on the south side."

"Surely not the bones?"

Lawrence and his party had come to the seaside town of Kerube, far from Holo'shomelands of Yoitsu, in search of a certain item—the bones of what wassaid to be a wolf-god worshipped in the mountains of Roef.

Holo had discovered the possibility that the bones would be used in anunforgivable manner by the Church, while Col wanted to learn the truth of hishomeland's god.

Holo's tone was thus amused when she asked the question, but her eyes were notsmiling.

The object in question was not so very far from the wolf bones as goods went,which was why the powers that be were in such a frenzy to acquire it.

"Something similar. A beast from the northern seas—a magical creature witha single horn. Eating its flesh grants long life, and a tincture of its horncures disease. It's called a narwhal. Evidently one of the north side's fishingboats hauled one up in its nets."

Holo had been listening to Lawrence speak as though his words were a pleasantside dish to go with her wine, but suddenly her ear twitched.

"What's wrong?"

"...'Tis nothing."

The lie was so obvious it wasn't even worth laughing at.

"Still—"

"Yes?"

"You're certain that all this talk centers around that, aye?"

"Yes."

"In which case, you yet have choices you can make. Isn't that so?" Holo, amused,directed this last question to Col.

While Holo had been listening to Lawrence speak, Col watched the pair's exchangefrom the outside.

He was the obvious person to identify a third option.

"Er, ah, um ..."

"Come now, be bold!"

Holo slapped his back, and Col finally summoned the courage to speak.

"E-er, couldn't Miss Holo simply ... go and take the narwhal ...?"

"... Huh?" was all Lawrence could manage in the face of Col's words.

The thought simply hadn't occurred to him.

"If there's a fight over some object, then the conflict hinges on the itemitself. I'm sure Miss Holo can traverse the river in a single bound, so sheshould be able to steal it easily."

Col was, after all, from the deep mountains.

He spoke these flattering words with total sincerity, and Holo's ears twitchedhappily.

It was probably true that stealing the narwhal was in and of itself not adifficult thing for Holo.

No matter how well guarded it might be, in the face of the fangs of Holo's trueform, the guards' armor would scarcely be more than the paper armor in whichchildren clad themselves for playacting. Despite all the plotting and planningof Eve, Kieman, and the other monstrous powers at play, it would be no greattrouble for her to take the thing and run.

Lawrence scratched his head and spoke. "Look here, even if we do that, thequestion becomes what to do next. Even if the theft were simple, you wouldcertainly be witnessed. At which point, the idea that anyone would then buy thenarwhal from us is completely absurd. That much is—"

"I'm well aware of that. But"—Holo interrupted, her eyes narrowing withher smile and her head cocking to one side—"you must have seen how simplethis all truly is. Have you not?"

"... Huh?"

"You haven't, then? The matter that has you so terrified you can think only ofescape, I will tear open with my fangs and claws. To have my companion in such adither over this is quite a problem. So much more the fool me for choosing youas such, I suppose."

"..."

Lawrence looked back at Holo; he was at a loss for words.

He had to admit she was right.

When it came to deception in the service of profit, Holo was capable of brazencunning that would cause even the most jaded town merchant to grow dizzy.

Suddenly the things Lawrence had been so afraid of seemed very small. He couldfeel the blood flowing back into his once pale face and was unable to stop thereddening.

"Heh-heh-heh. You see, Col, my boy? This is what comes of letting a tempest in ateacup get the better of one."

Col, of course, looked abashed out of consideration for Lawrence, who would havepreferred the boy to simply laugh at him.

Col regarded Lawrence with an almost girlish gaze on his upturned face, whichLawrence smiled at nervously. The boy returned the smile in evident relief.

The blood drained back out of his face, and Lawrence's cramped field of viewseemed to expand.

"Always have your weapons at the ready," his master had once told him.

And next to him stood Holo, the Wisewolf of the forest of Yoitsu. There was acertain august dignity to her tail-swishing, wine-swilling form.

"Also, if you escape this current predicament, will it not be easier to find outmore about the bones?"