Spice & Wolf XVII (DWT) Page 12

  “Well then it depends on how old they are, but I think we did earn enough to celebrate.”

  “Hoho.. that foolish old mule was counting so intently, blinded by the shine of his own coins. Will you be like that when you grow old?”

  At her prompting, Mr. Lawrence’s face turns sour. She laughs and turns back to me.

  “Ah, yes, I did use your bag, but fear not: your things are back in our room at the inn.”

  I nod, but I’m still mystified. We didn’t steal, but we somehow still profited just by switching coins?

  “That said, you really are a Wisewolf. Just when did you realize what the plan was?”

  He re-ties my bag as he confronts Miss Holo.

  “Hmm? When we entered the room, of course. You did make a show of leaving me behind without Cole, after all.”

  I’m completely lost now. Even Mr. Lawrence has a doubtful look on his face.

  “Oh, alright. I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Fool. That said, you sure put on quite the act. I was actually worried that Cole would say something.”

  “Uh!”

  She must be talking about Mr. Lawrence’s stern reminder for me to keep working.

  “I was blown away.. I was sure you’d find a safer way.”

  “Was this not the best approach?”

  “Certainly. If only you could act that meekly and modestly during every trade we’d be golden.”

  She smiles and shows off her fangs, then immediately hides it again and tilts her head proudly. I guess I’m the only one out of the loop here. I feel like a dumb scarecrow left out in a field, but Mr. Lawrence seems to notice that and finally speaks up.

  “Ah, sorry..”

  He clears his throat.

  “Holo’s able to tell how much silver is in a coin by the sound it makes.”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, like how you can tell if there’s copper or iron in something by its taste.. she can do that with her ears. Even if the coins have the same image, their purity varies based on when they were minted. When that old guy asked for help, it was obvious he wasn’t going to pay us much, so we just switched out a few poorer coins for better ones to make up for that.”

  Miss Holo must have somehow been able to tell from the sounds they made as she poured out all those coins and mixed them up.

  “This foolish mule never asks me to do something without a reason. As soon as I saw that pile of coins on the desk, all became clear.”

  I didn’t know the plan because they never discussed it beforehand. If they had, I would have heard them, and wouldn’t have been able to stay calm. She has my right hand in her left, and Mr. Lawrence’s left hand in her right. Mr. Lawrence is smiling, making it obvious just how well they understand one another.

  “We can do more as a group than just fool around, can we not?”

  She looks up as Mr. Lawrence looks down. He smiles like he’s giving up and then tilts his head.

  “Of course. Cole’s a great help.”

  The more I see how close they are, the more I feel like I’m an outsider. But Mr. Lawrence seems to want to reassure me.

  “Well, that old mule was so confident that he became careless. It is easier to keep an eye on one then it is two. Cole was the key to success this time.”

  “True, they say apprentices are a reflection of their master, and so once he saw Cole he never suspected I could be devious.”

  Both of these people are so kind that they keep trying to comfort me. I can’t help but feel proud, knowing that I’d be happy with less than half this reward. I finally smile to show how happy I am, as I do their smiles become even gentler. They’re such good people. They can trust each other, and understand each other. They’re even willing to comfort others like me.

  If there were more people like them in the Church, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about the people in and around my hometown. Once again, I’m reminded to be thankful that I’ve received the opportunity to travel with them, and speed up so I don’t fall behind.

  “Alright, time for lunch!”

  “Sure, the room’s waiting for us. Wasn’t there a cheap bakery around here..?”

  Mr. Lawrence is tugging her hand to steer her into the next alley, but she plants her feet and pulls back.

  “Oh? This place looks nice.. let’s eat here!”

  “Here? But this is a restaurant.. I can already tell how expensive they’ll be by the scents wafting out from there. Let’s just have bread, shall we?”

  He keeps trying to pull her, but she pulls back even harder.

  “Fool. We have just profited, so what else is there to do but spend it?”

  “Save it, of course. If we just spend all the profit we make, just when will I be able to relax?”

  “Ha! You are always yawning like a lazy cat. This profit was earned because of me, so I get to choose how we spend it!”

  “Without me we wouldn’t even have found this job! That, and you didn’t really help sort the coins, did you? Well, I guess I’ll take the high road and give you half, even though it’s still more than you mooch off me.”

  “What? You dare drive such a hard bargain? Such a foolish mule..”

  “Are you saying I should be the only one to reflect? Do you think of anything except food? You really ought to plan ahead more often..”

  They’re having a soft argument right here in the middle of the street. Thank goodness it’s crowded and noisy. They’re being drowned out by other merchants arguing over prices and workers having some sort of dispute. The few people that do look at us inquisitively lose interest right away. I’ve fallen behind again, only able to watch them with a sigh. Is this really what’s called a “good” relationship? Once again, they’re looking away from each other, unable to come to an agreement. And once again, Miss Holo is quickly walking up to me, pulling me away with her.

  “Uh.. um.. what about Mr. Lawrence?”

  Miss Holo’s face is all swollen like a pouty little girl.

  “Oh who cares about that foolish mule?”

  I look back at Mr. Lawrence, who’s eyeing us like he means to say the same thing about her. Still, they’ll be fine by dinnertime. I guess I’m getting as good at judging their arguments by their voices as Miss Holo is at judging the quality of coins by their sounds. At least, I can’t help but feel that way as we walk on in this noisy town.

  Wolf and the White Road

  He had left home when he was only about twelve years old to travel as his master’s apprentice. He’d been a traveling merchant ever since. His master was the person he’d spent the most time traveling with in his life. Sure, they’d banded with others, but it was rarely for more than a day or two.

  Not like with his master; they were rarely apart for more than a week. On some trips they’d even travel for a month or two at a time, then need some time to themselves before they wanted to kill each other. That was how it was traveling with others; it just wasn’t the same as living with others in a town.

  That’s why those who lived in towns regarded travelers as strange. It made sense, especially in remote villages where everyone in town knew each other since birth. Those places held the most ire toward travelers; some of them would even run visitors out of town with weapons, like they were thieves.

  Still, in the end most places were friendly enough to travelers, especially those who could excite the villager’s curiosities. It was actually a bit of a problem being the focus of interested villagers. Experienced travelers will only share their stories with other, younger travelers for this very reason, and always in private at some inn. They don’t want to be treated like some king.

  “Oh, oh!”

  Today, Lawrence had been passing by a village where he needed to refill his waterskins. When he asked someone tending their fields, that was the noise they had made. The moment he saw Lawrence, he looked like he’d spotted his son who had forgotten to write to him after leaving home.

  The old man then took Lawrence’s hands in h
is own muddy ones, and smiled at him like an old doll made of mud. His eyes shone like a little child’s, so despite Lawrence enjoying a warm welcome he instinctively knew he really should get out of there.

  “Um.. I was hoping to find some water..”

  “Now, now, there’s no rush!”

  The man smiled and dodged the issue, trying to forcefully drag Lawrence into his house. Lawrence soon learned that the man was the village’s elder, and unfortunately for him you can’t just decline such a person’s kind offer of wine. Of course they’ll bend your ear about your entire trip as they keep your wine glass full, and wouldn’t even let you nod off if you got tired.

  Such a person would just stare at you as your related your tale, with a look in their eyes like they felt they could sprout wings and soar off into the sky. Lawrence normally would have used his usual excuse of being hired by their baron and thus unable to waste too much time, but today he was trapped: the companion that should be waiting in his wagon was coming along as well.

  “No!”

  She lightly smacked the village elder’s hand away, making Lawrence unsure if he’d done something to annoy her. But he couldn’t say anything when he saw the uncharacteristically serious look on her face. She kept a tight hold on Lawrence’s other hand, the one that hadn’t just been in the elder’s hand.

  They looked every bit like a mother and grandmother fighting over a child, except of course one of them was an old man, the other was a young maiden, and the “child” was a grown man in mid-sigh. The elderly always warned Lawrence to avoid girls with hoods, because those hoods only contained secrets.

  This girl’s name was Holo, and under her hood was a mouth with fangs that were probably sharper than necessary. She was his companion out of circumstance, but her hood couldn’t contain the true secret that she was a gigantic wolf capable of swallowing a man whole.

  “He is mine.”

  That was her follow-up. Her lovely aristocratic auburn hair was visible under that hood. The elder shot her a glare, but she glared right back with two eyes of amber that gleamed like precious gems. Two hands were fighting over Lawrence, and each other felt completely different.

  “Would you please return him to me?”

  She tilted her head and spoke with a sad tone that made the elder stop like he’d had a spell cast on him.

  “Oh.. sorry.”

  He let Lawrence go, but by then other villagers were running up to see what was going on. They would surely have just witnessed their happily pure elder being scolded by a nun for his wrongful behavior.

  “Thank you.”

  That said, Holo was still holding onto Lawrence’s other hand, and that wasn’t very nun-like at all. The man in Lawrence should be quite thrilled by it, but he knew she would only be holding his hand if she wanted something from him. Back when they’d only met, his heart would flutter when she behaved so flirtatiously, but lately he was able to stay calm even if she did that while they were alone behind closed doors. This time, he was already sighing because he’d divined her true intent.

  “But why were you dragging him away? He was only supposed to be asking for water.. was he being rude again?”

  She intentionally stood up tall and gently knocked Lawrence on the head.

  “No..”

  “This man never listens to me.. and I have told him so many times to be polite to others..”

  Lawrence had no clue where Holo had learned to act this way, but the clear tone she spoke with sounded entirely genuine. It was utterly convincing, to the point where Lawrence didn’t even feel bad about being on the receiving end. Of course, he did resent the implication.

  “No, no! He was! Really!”

  The elder was nervous, finally realizing just which of two strangers in front of him was in charge. He wasn’t even looking at Lawrence anymore.. in fact he practically bowing before Holo.

  “We’re just simple villagers in the middle of nowhere, so we were hoping to have a talk with you!”

  “Talk with us?”

  “Quite! I may not be very smart, but I’m still the village’s elder. It’s my responsibility to teach the others, so I jump at the chance for them to hear from travelers!”

  Holo might be a good liar, but this elder was the type who would probably drag every person passing by their village into his home out of sheer curiosity. Lawrence had never seen such a brash, yet somehow humble elder before, but he could quite clearly see how he’d become so forceful. Only “rude” merchants like Lawrence would ever take a route like this.

  “Well.. we are travelers, but our journey has been a tiring one. We have come from the south, and are on our way to the snowy north, though, so we have been caught in several storms that blew us off-course and given us an amazing show or two..”

  She was exaggerating, even in her mannerisms. She’d probably seen one too many poets performing on the street to catch the attention of young children and idle adults. Her intelligence was surely matched by her bravado. She would do whatever struck her fancy, and that was the most terrifying thing about her.

  “Oh! Oh! You don’t say? Surely you don’t mean you’ve run into some mythical spirits or heroic knights?”

  “Hmm? I suppose we might have, but.. well, no one would ever believe it.”

  “Ooh..”

  Lawrence had lived his life trying to be a respectable merchant, even if he did have to prey on the innocence of others to survive. In villages like this, there was no way around that. But still.. this was downright embarrassing to watch. Even if she was lying through her teeth, and was putting on the world’s funniest comedy, she could still put on a perfect performance.

  “Hmm, am I talking too much? Did you get any water yet?”

  Holo suddenly turned to Lawrence and gently spoke into his ear, like she was sharing a secret with him. Lawrence couldn’t do much more than play along with her act, though, or risk earning the wrath of the villagers. He was sure he could keep up with her acting, but deep down he was too cowardly to make a scene. He took a breath to draw in some courage.

  “Not yet. But we need to make it quick..”

  He took his time to emphasize his point, and Holo stared at him unimpressed. He turned away nervously, grimacing and hoping God would be merciful.

  “Forget water. It has been so long since I have had wine..”

  He suddenly felt eyes burning into his back, so forcefully that he would have jumped awake had he been sleeping. The elder was staring at him like a hot-headed knight ready to rescue a captive princess.

  “What? Why didn’t you say so?”

  Holo had a sensitive pair of wolf’s ears under her hood, so when she heard the elder’s booming voice she practically jumped into the air. The elder probably got that voice from instructing people in fields for a long time, but even Holo was startled by his keen sense of hearing. He could tell that she was struggling to maintain her composure, and it made him want to help her out. In fact, he was practically ready to march off to war. Where he ended up marching, though, was over to the elder.

  “Do you mean it?”

  The elder grinned from ear to ear.

  “Please, come join me in my house! I’ll break out my finest wine!”

  Holo was having a tough time dealing with his powerful voice, and looked up at Lawrence with a wince.

  “How very.. generous of you..”

  She took a deep breath, doing everything she could to maintain her facade as she turned back to the elder. She really could use that drink now.

  “Ah, our meeting must be the will of God!”

  It was awkward to hear that, since Holo was something of a goddess herself. Even if she never paid attention to the God of the Church, and only caused problems for them, Lawrence secretly wanted to learn everything he could from her.. especially the way she drove past any obstacle to reach her goals.

  For now at least it seemed like they would be fed, and have to discuss their travels. It seemed they wouldn’t gain much from this meeting,
sadly. Lawrence managed to chat with a mason to see if he knew about any nearby shortcuts, reasoning that he might since masons generally had to travel around to help repair bridges, roads, and roadside buildings.

  Masons generally had news to share, at the very least, but despite this man’s pleasant demeanor and eagerness-to-please the most he had to offer was news that a well recently had to be repaired at a nearby village where they had excellent wine. He went on to say that the local baron greedily refused to let them sell their wine.

  At any rate, the man had been tasked by the baron to help repair that half-collapsed well. All he got in payment was wine, but it was such strong stuff that he’d never had anything like it and it left him feeling numb, like he was floating off to heaven. Nine out of ten of Holo’s interests were food and wine, so at least her tail was wagging as he told his story.

  It just reminded Lawrence that he’d been rather loose with his wallet lately. Every time they stayed in a town, he couldn’t help but treat Holo to their finest food. Even a child would know not to feed a wild dog, no matter how much they beg or whine.. but Lawrence was like a stubborn child who just wouldn’t learn.

  All Holo had to do was look at him with hungry eyes and his wallet would already be open. She was just too good at bending him to her whims. Of course, once he’d eaten something delicious, he’d want more as well. He knew better, he really did, but his wallet just wouldn’t stay closed. Holo practically had him eating out of her hand.

  “And just then, I heard a wolf bravely howl somewhere off in the distance, like it was celebrating victory..”

  It was Holo’s turn now, and she ended her sentence like she really had been a spectator at such an event. Everyone gasped; they were quite taken by her story. So much so that they weren’t even drinking their wine.

  “The wolves then rushed them back down toward the swamp, and the thieves were routed out of the valley empty-handed. And then, only the villagers remained.”

  “But.. what became of the wolves?”

  “Right.. the thieves might be gone, but-”