Spice and Wolf - Volume 16 - Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

It was Lawrence’s job to do nothing but sleep and recover his physical strength.

As a result, the next day he found himself struggling with Holo as he ate toast for breakfast.

It seemed the town baker had expressly baked bread for Hilde and the Myuri Mercenary Company lodged at that inn.

Hilde had certainly not underestimated the situation. The town and many of its townspeople were fearful of the Debau Company’s clear and present tyranny. Hilde had apparently succeeded in having himself recognized as the great merchant who would correct the Debau Company’s tyranny. From his room, looking down the stairs, Lawrence caught sight of a parade of well-dressed gentlemen coming and going.

No doubt hunters, farmers, merchants, and craftsmen were all fearful of sudden changes to their way of life should the Debau Company start a war. As Hilde truly was their ally, that was enough, even without his great skill in speech as a merchant.

People may laugh at a man’s ideals, but a dream truly and honestly held by a man will always resonate with others.

But at the same time, Lawrence saw a number of soldiers bearing identical suits of armors and spears standing watch at the curve of the road leading into the district containing the inn.

From the beginning, Millike had not made the merchants’ council stand in the Debau Company’s way.

First, if it did come to battle, it was a certainty something dreadful would occur; second, there was the issue that even if Millike rolled out the red carpet for the Debau Company’s army, the company would destroy itself on its own. Viewed in light of the historical fact no one had ever succeeded in subduing the northlands, this was most certainly not blind optimism.

Besides, Millike held a grudge against the world’s providence that frightened even Holo. There was no doubt something had happened that made him so confident the world absolutely would not change and could not be changed.

But at the moment Hilde and the others were doing well for themselves. After all, in the eyes of the watchmen sent by the merchants’ council and the townspeople themselves, sending them bread straight from the oven was not all that favorable a thing.

One might say Hilde and the Myuri Mercenary Company had established themselves as generous thieves.

“Lawrence.”

Lawrence was sitting in a chair by the inn’s window and gazing outside after his meal when Holo gently called out to him.

“What is it?”

“Grab onto me for a moment.”

As she said that, Holo rolled up the sleeve of her robe, offering her slender arm.

Lawrence considered asking her why, but he grabbed her arm as he was told.

“Now grip as hard as you can.”

“Hard?”

As he wondered, What’s all this about? he gripped as he was told, putting his strength into it.

It seemed as if he was gripping hard enough to break Holo’s delicate arm. Though he did not actually have the strength to do any such thing.

As he steadily increased the pressure, he was ready to let go if Holo showed any sign of pain, but in the end, she made no move to stop him even when he was gripping fairly seriously.

When Lawrence pulled his hand back, it left an imprint behind on Holo’s white, slender forearm.

Holo seemed a bit pleased as she looked over the mark while Lawrence had a somewhat guilty feeling about it.

“You should be all right, then.”

“Ah, er?” Lawrence asked back, flustered as he kept thinking odd thoughts about how he had put a mark on Holo’s body and so forth.

“If you can grip this strongly, ’tis enough. If you stay properly rested, there shall be no problems.”

Lawrence finally realized this was a test to see if he was ready to set off.

“We’re leaving…?”

He had almost tripped up and said, We’re leaving already? but Holo was not one to miss the implication.

Holo lifted the corner of her lip in a strained smile and tugged on Lawrence’s beard.

“Aye. We’re leaving.”

Leaving Hilde and the Myuri Mercenary Company in this town was probably something he would never forget in his lifetime. The only thing he could wish for was hearing someday, in a town far away, that in spite of many hardships they were still well.

Lawrence had been forced to abandon fellow traveling merchants midway many times; as time had passed, Holo had no doubt seen many people and things swallowed by the passage of time. Compared to that, they were in a far better position. They were still standing, still bore weapons.

They had no option but to accept it.

Therefore, Lawrence purposefully spoke with good cheer.

“Yes. First, perhaps a return to Lenos?”

“That town again…? Aren’t there any other lively towns?”

“If we go south, there are many. On the trade route I was on before meeting you, there are plenty of towns as large as Ruvinheigen. The season will improve from here; it’ll be a pleasant trip.”

When winter ended and spring and summer came, traveling was a marvelous thing.

Sometimes one came across a spring on a warm day; sometimes a person fell asleep on a grassy plain so verdant they could choke on it.

And since they would look for a store at any town they might come across, it certainly would be a pleasant journey.

In other words, unlike what they had done until now, there would be no glint of adventure in their eyes here.

No great gamble would be necessary to set up a store; there would be no push himself to keep Holo close.

He knew what was precious to him; he knew what he needed to do.

There would no doubt be spats and arguments.

However, what he did know for certain is that they would no longer stray from the path.

He had gained Holo’s hand.

Therefore, he needed to take that responsibility.

“Well, I had best go arrange the luggage and food.”

As Holo spoke, she slowly brought up her right palm.

Lawrence, thrown off, spoke as he took Holo’s hand. “Mm? Ah, ahh, please do.”

As he did so, Holo stared blankly, and then, as her tail made a large swish, she broke up laughing.

“I have had quite enough of your hand. Coin, coin!”

Lawrence finally realized, So that was it.

He unfastened the coin purse he always carried on his hip and handed it to Holo.

Amid all their travels, he had never entrusted Holo with the entire purse.

Now he did, but not because his leg was wounded. Rather because he could hand it to Holo without hesitation.

A merchant could entrust even his life to Holo.

She made a small chuckle. “Now, then, what shall I buy?”

“Don’t spend too much.”

Holo, who seemed to have been waiting for him to say it, stuck out her tongue and turned about.

Though he was a little concerned at the happy swaying of her ears and tail, he was confident it would be all right.

After watching Holo leave the room, Lawrence shifted his gaze out the window once more.

He gazed at the state of the town as he always did, no matter at which town in the northlands he had ended up. He thought he might see a happy Holo heading out before long, but then recalled that the inn had a back door.

Knowing Lawrence was watching, Holo might well use the back door on purpose just to tease him.

As he laughed to himself at the thought, a single bird flying in pretty curves suddenly swooped down below Lawrence’s room. It was Luis the bird. Though Lawrence had seen him come and go many times before, it oddly rubbed him the wrong way for some reason.

As Lawrence looked down, he realized Holo was standing by a nearby intersection. From the way she laughed when she saw Lawrence staring at her, Lawrence immediately understood.

She really had taken the rear exit, no doubt standing around and going, Does he see me now? Now…?

Holo the wisewolf.

Lawrence gently murmured her name as he laughed.

Holo and Lawrence went to pay Luward one final visit.

His head had been struck, his palm and leg stabbed, and his leg broken on top of that.

Though he could be fairly said to be wounded from head to toe, and slept soundly even now, his face gave off the air of a beast devoting all of its strength to recovery.

Without a word, Holo lightly pressed her forehead against Luward’s as he slept.

“This is how wolves do it.”

That was all she said before she and Lawrence left the room.

Though Holo’s face did not look any different from the norm, somehow Lawrence understood.

If he poked her, she would pop like a soap bubble.

From there, they went to greet Hilde and Moizi. Moizi was absent, out stirring up support in town.

Perhaps he had ensured he was absent on purpose.

But the number of those in the entrance of the inn had clearly increased; it felt certain they were poised for their chance to strike back.

A man originally a merchant excellent at making use of others and a strategist of a mercenary company excelling at encouraging those facing danger were both on the case, so that might have been a natural reaction.

With those two, they might well be able to organize the people of Svernel, hold back the merchants’ council, and get the town gates closed.

If they could do that, the Debau Company’s side would be compelled to negotiate.

A captain of a thousand was powerful, but as Hilde had said, a great expense was required.

Every day the war lengthened, enough money would be exhausted to make one’s eyes spin.

Furthermore, if they wished to use the town as a beachhead for invasion after the fact, if they did not take it as undamaged as possible, the repair costs would be excessive in themselves. Even more so, carelessly doing harm to the people would create resentment that would be troublesome later.

On the surface, Hilde and the others should not have been at a disadvantage.

Just, of course, what Jean Millike, aka Havlish the Third, had said was on his mind.

Even so, they had to manage. They could not be deterred by what-ifs.

When Lawrence shook Hilde’s hand, he was half-serious about such thoughts.

“Well, then, here are the gold coins you entrusted to us.”

They were finally able to hand over to Hilde the gold coins they had not found a suitable time to return before now.

Lawrence was unlikely to see such an amount of gold for the rest of his life.

As he thought about that, he felt some sense of loss, but part of him also felt relieved.

“Also, the forbidden book.”

Hilde nodded, retrieving both the pouch with the gold coins and the book from the hemp sack. “Thank you very much. Concerning the book…”

As Hilde directed his words at Holo, Holo replied as if it was all a bother, “Do as you like. I shall do as I please.”

Even if Hilde lost, a single forbidden book would not be difficult for Holo to seize back.

“Understood. Then…hmm?”

Right then, Hilde realized that there was still something else in the hemp sack that Lawrence and Holo were returning to him.

“Is this from Holo?”

“From the bird. I was to return it without anyone knowing, so I was unable to until now.”

With tension on his face, Hilde took it out of the sack.

It was too short to be a ceremonial dagger and too large to press against a wax seal.

Lawrence did not understand.

Even so, the moment Hilde grasped it, he seemed to understand.

“This is…”

Hilde gripped it with his right hand, on the side of his injured shoulder, as if it was a cane that was not long enough. The quivering was probably from the injury sapping his strength.

But it was apparently very valuable, indeed.

Hilde lowered his head as even his shoulders shook.

“Thank you…thank you for bringing this to me…”

“Thanks to Mr. Luis’s courage, it would seem.”

As Lawrence spoke, Hilde looked at Lawrence, then regarded the object once more. He closed his eyes and touched it to his forehead as if it would save the world.

Saying anything more here would be boorish. Lawrence and Holo exchanged glances, nodded, and moved to politely take their leave.

“Please, wait.”

It was Hilde who stopped them.

“No matter which way things turn, you will probably learn sometime, somewhere. So, if possible, I would like for you to learn of it through me.”

Lawrence had no time to ask, What do you mean?

Unbecoming of Hilde’s age, his eyes teared up as he removed the wrapping around what Debau had sent and entrusted him with.

“…!”

Lawrence looked at it in shock.

A single hammer appeared atop the table.

However, this was no mere hammer. This was a coining hammer carved with a symbol, the very life of coinage.

Surely this was no random coining hammer. Without doubt, it was constructed for the issuing of the Debau Company’s new currency.

In other words, it was the bridge that linked Debau and Hilde’s dream with making it a reality.

As Hilde gazed at it, his eyes were sparkling like a child’s.

As coining hammers degraded from hammering out coins, one could only be used to mint about two thousand coins.

Therefore, as the Debau Company surely had tens of identical hammers, stealing one in no way prevented the current Debau Company from minting the new currency. Depending on when they finished melting down coins and increasing the purity to the level of silver trenni, identical hammers would certainly be used to mint new coins all at once.

But Debau risking his very life to entrust this coining hammer to Hilde made it exceedingly symbolic.

Do not forget our dream.

That was what Debau wanted to convey to Hilde.

“Mr. Hilde.”

Lawrence called out Hilde’s name—Hilde, who was looking at the hammer lying on the table like a child.

“Would you show us the symbol?”

A smile came over Hilde’s face.

Back in Lesko, Lawrence had pondered what the design of the new currency might be. Mercenaries had thought it would not have the face of someone powerful on it. Simply put, if one used someone’s face, they would earn the ire of someone without fail, and such a thing was just too unsuited to a currency meant to unify the northlands with so many powerful interests at stake. Some thought a mining pick would be appropriate, but this was something to be avoided in regions that had been despoiled by mining in the past.

Before knowing about Hilde and Debau, Lawrence had been able to think the design they would circulate was one shrouded in power and authority.

But now he could think no such thing.

After all, here was Hilde right before his eyes, full of life.

With Hilde and Debau like this, Lawrence did not think that when they were designing the new coinage, they were thinking of ruling the world or making the people of the northlands obey them.

No doubt they were glowing like youths, filled with dreams and hope, the certainty that they could change the world engraved upon their chests.

“Of course. That is, after all, what I really wanted to show you.”

Hilde lifted the coining hammer, turning the face for minting coins toward Lawrence and Holo. That moment, Lawrence did not suck in his breath, nor did he show surprise. He certainly could not be dejected by it.

The instant he saw it, his face broke into a smile on its own.

In these cold northern lands, many shrouded by gray, cloudy skies, certainly this was what would grant happiness equally unto all people.

The symbol of the sun.

With the sun in his hand, Hilde would bring order to the northlands.

“Please, always remember the merchants of the northlands wrapped in a ridiculous dream.”

Lawrence understood that no matter what he might say, it would come off as boorish.

Therefore, he remained silent and nodded, bowing his head like a loyal retainer.

“Now, then, I am sorry to have detained you so long. May the grace of the sun be with both of you on your journey.”

Hilde spoke the words without invoking the name of God.

Now Lawrence could put his feelings in order and move forward.

That moment, as Lawrence once again tried to salute and take his leave…

“Master Hilde!”

The door opened and a young man flew in.

Seeing Lawrence and Holo, he hurriedly regained his balance, but even so he was unable to contain his enthusiasm as he rushed to Hilde’s side.

“Master Hilde, m-message from Master Moizi. He says a Debau Company envoy has come into the town.”

“—!”

That moment, Hilde’s expression returned to that of a merchant as he promptly put the coining hammer back within the sack with the gold coins.

But Lawrence and Hilde realized at the same time how unnatural that report was.

“Envoy? An envoy you say?” Hilde murmured as if asking himself, Why…an envoy?

It was by no means rare to send an envoy before a war began to hold one last dialogue before plunging into the flames of war. In other words, by conventional thinking, Millike had accepted his entry and given him a seat at the table. Of course, Millike would not be thinking of closing the town gates, but rather discussing the town welcoming the Debau Company with open arms.

Naturally, however, there were other ways of thinking, too.

So far as the townspeople would be concerned, the arrival of an envoy was clearly the first step toward a declaration of war. Should negotiations fail, they would surely shut the town gates.

Furthermore, the townspeople had already accepted Hilde and the others as chivalrous rogues. Even should the envoy and Millike come to agreement, wholly ignoring the will of the people, with the merchants’ council deciding on its own to leave the gates wide open for the Debau Company, there could even be civil strife. Lawrence wondered if Millike would court such a thing.

In the first place, if all was in perfect agreement, no envoy would have been accepted to begin with.

Or perhaps Millike had some kind of plan?

Plain thinking could only arrive at a single conclusion.

But though exceedingly simple, even Lawrence did not want to believe it.

That was, he had confidence that the will of the people could be assuaged.

However, regardless of what the envoy and Millike wanted from negotiations, Hilde had to bite. The worst thing was for them to discuss things between themselves alone. Even if the Debau Company’s army did not enter the city, no good would come from civil strife arising.

“Er, and Master Hilde…”

“Is there something else?”

As Hilde asked, the young man spoke, his voice filled with all the courage he could muster.

“The envoy wishes to negotiate with Master Hilde.”

This was completely unexpected.

But when Hilde poked his head out of the wooden shutters, he instantly pulled back and looked at Lawrence.

“It’s bad if you leave right now. All of Millike’s soldiers are already heading this way.”

They might be questioned, and if they were not careful, they would be suspected of being spies.

Even if that was not so, if they were closely examined on a busy street in broad daylight, Holo’s ears and tail would be exposed for all to see.

“Understood. We will lie low for a while and go when the time is right.”

“Please do so. I do not believe they will be so absurd as to put us in irons. Should such a thing happen, at least you two must escape.”

If they clumsily stayed behind and the worst happened, it would bring anguish to Hilde and Moizi and the others, and the one who would suffer the most would be Holo.

Lawrence hardened his resolve and nodded.

“But—but…no, perhaps…?”

Hilde was desperately questioning himself. Even someone as intelligent as Hilde—no, probably precisely because he was sharper than the likes of Lawrence, he simply could not understand the envoy’s actions.

What did he intend to do by negotiating with Hilde?

It was plain that talks would rupture.

Or was it that they intended to compromise from the start? Then, why would they be paying an exorbitant expense to command such a large army? Or did he truly believe he could persuade Hilde to give up?

“If you go and meet him you will know,” said Lawrence.

Then Holo spoke curtly. “There are many mysteries that cannot be resolved by simply gazing at them. You had the rug pulled from under you once before. Do you intend to repeat the same mistake?”

The words of Holo the Wisewolf firmly grounded the great merchant Hilde’s floating thoughts.

“…Thank you very much.”

“Hmph.”

Holo snorted as Hilde left the room, taking the young man along with him.

Remaining in the room, Holo reached her hand out to the coining hammer, its head sticking out of the hemp sack.

She pressed her thumb against it, looking it over. “That fool,” she muttered. “Males are all fools,” she finished, annoyed and turning over the coining hammer engraved with the symbol of the sun.

They heard a voice from outside the window. “Is Master Hilde Schnau here?!”

When they looked outside, the streets had become packed with people at some point.

Right in the center was Millike, straddling a rather fine horse, with soldiers escorting both.

Waiting a small ways behind was a man dressed in extremely fine garments who had to be the Debau Company’s envoy. Even watching from the inn’s second floor, the hat made of river mouse pelt and the fur-hemmed overcoat resembled a horse draped in gold-and-silver embroidery without the slightest sense of embarrassment.

Even his servant seemed to be clothed quite well; he was pulling a horse with some kind of baggage piled upon it.

While they bore solemn faces while straddling the horses, they did not bear the bitter taste peculiar to those left behind by a situation out of hand. They had a sure-footed confidence as to who was the victor here.

But those gathered all around them were not here simply to see the sights.

There was a butcher, his meat cleaver in his hand, and a baker, holding a stone rolling pin heavier and harder than any wooden one. They were those who had accepted Hilde as a chivalrous rogue who had come to do battle against any foes who would invade the town.

Furthermore, they were here to look over the Debau Company, which having danced ahead so far now had mercenaries with weapons poised with one general after another under their thumb, an old way of thinking it had rejected in the past.

The circumstances were absolutely not one-sided.

And Moizi and the stout men of the Myuri Mercenary Company stood in front of the inn’s door, trading glares with the soldiers that had demanded Hilde’s presence. It was apparent at a glance who was friend and who was foe.

What broke the stalemate was the opening of the inn’s door.

Seen as the leader of a chivalrous band of rogues, Hilde rushed out, and a scrum began with the soldiers protecting Millike and the Debau Company’s envoy.

“You demand dialogue with us! What is the meaning of this, bearing arms in the presence of an envoy?”

Hilde was the one who shouted.

The excited populace somehow stopped shifting around.

“Master Hilde Schnau, is it?”

One of the soldiers examined him. Hilde nodded and replied, “Indeed, I am.”

“We have accepted an envoy from the Debau Company. He wishes to establish a place for negotiations with Master Schnau.”

As the soldier conveyed his message, the common folk around them mocked Millike and the soldiers’ weak attitude.

For it was only through setting up walls that a town could protect its autonomy.

There were many who coveted towns. There were lords who viewed the people of the land much the same as common weeds; mountain bandits thinking only of plunder; the Church, which thought nothing of burning disobedient heretics at the stake; avaricious great merchants; and even failing those, no small number of wolves and bears came down from the mountains in search of food. The fear of having one’s knees broken and being chewed all the way down to the bones was certainly not paranoia.

But Millike paid the shouts of the crowd no more heed than the buzzing of flies.

He maintained a completely neutral expression as he gazed at Hilde.

“I, too, desire this.”

“Very well. Now, then, the envoy from the Debau Company is…”

As the soldier attempted to provide an introduction, Hilde checked him with a hand.

“I know this man well.”

Hilde spoke quietly and took a step forward.

Lawrence did not think Moizi and the other mercenaries were walking beside Hilde simply to open a path.

Even watching from the second story, he was able to take in Hilde’s incredible resolve.

“Emanuel Yanarkin…”

The man maintained a cold smile on top of his horse and replied to the seemingly spat-out words.

“It seems that you are well, Master Hilde Schnau.”

Hilde pressed his right shoulder lightly.

Perhaps it was this Yanarkin who had inflicted that very wound.

“If it pleases you, we will go to my mansion for the negotiations.” It was Millike who interjected.

This was natural, coming from the chairman of the merchants’ council, its most powerful member, and the man who approved merchants.

However, the townspeople could not accept this being moved behind closed doors.

That moment, the clamor began to build anew.

“I have nothing to be ashamed of. I do not mind having this debate right here.”

It was Yanarkin who spoke those words.

It was this very man who had the most to hide in a place like this.

Furthermore, as if to display this was no simple whim, he climbed down from his horse.

The crowd’s presence was conveyed by the collective sucking of breath, for the act of coming down from his horse meant they could raise no tumult about it.

“…How about you, Master Schnau?”

Millike, playing the role of the neutral mediator offering a place to negotiate, looked down at Hilde from horseback as he spoke.

It seemed that this development had simply caught Hilde off guard.

Hold negotiations that would determine the fate of the town right in front of the crowd?

It was only natural that business be done behind closed doors; that was even more true of political dealings, with no reason to speak of them in front of others whatsoever.

For compromises, traps that looked like compromises, and sometimes threats and pleadings were all traded back and forth.

It was nothing one wanted most people to see.

Yet even so, Yanarkin dismounted, standing on the road.

“…I do not mind.”

Hilde, after a silent pause, could only reply thusly.

Since he was a chivalrous rogue, he had to appear forthright and open at all times.

Though Debau and Hilde’s dream was without question something to be proud of, whether the path to achieving it was something that could be fully revealed before others was a different question altogether.

Lawrence was painfully aware of how merchants were broad-minded when it came to good and evil.

But Lawrence did not know whether the general public would understand that.

“Very well. Let it be done here and now, then.”

Millike issued commands from horseback. The soldiers employing spears lowered them, opening a space right in the middle of the street. Upon noticing this, many faces poked out of the building on the other side to watch what was going on.

Even as Lawrence watched the people driven away form a crowd, he felt that the situation was indeed not so bad.

If anything, he thought things had tilted in favor of Hilde.

After all, none doubted the fact that a large army was marching upon the town; nor was it false that Hilde thought the northlands could be unified without force of arms. He had not only mere words, but also practical methodology as well.

That being the case, surely it was Yanarkin who was at a disadvantage negotiating in front of people.

But Yanarkin was not intimidated in the slightest. Millike was not flustered whatsoever.

The only one who was tense was Hilde, who should have had the advantage.

“Are they planning something?”

Lawrence murmured out of the blue.

“I know not. Logically this should favor the hare.”

So Lawrence was right. Even Holo thought as much.

But after staring intently below the window, Holo quietly said this.

“But that gloomy-eyed lord told the hare, ‘You are wise, so there is no place for me on the stage.’ If by that, he meant the comfort margin he is showing here, then…”

Lawrence shifted his gaze from Holo to the street.

It was Yanarkin who broke the ice.

“We have been misunderstood!” The voice and gestures he used were far too grand for a one-on-one conversation. “We are not the ones bringing harm to this land!”

A storm of jeers arose from the public at the all-too-transparent statement.

One could not win trust from others if there was a difference between their words and their deeds.

Hilde said as much, of course.

“How dare you speak so? Where, then, is the army under your command headed? Is it to the land beyond that continues to infinity? Have you confused consuming every single ear of wheat with profit? That you have brought an army with you is proof of your selfish avarice!”

One would think the treasurer of a great company would spend his days locked in a room staring at numbers.

However, Hilde’s posture was actually majestic, splendidly so.

Come to think of it, the Debau Company surely was not a large company when it started.

When he had joined hands with Debau and began doing business, he had no doubt been too busy to even sit in a chair.

Hilde was absolutely not an intellectual who had never set his feet on the ground.

He was an adventurer who had endured many hardships without forgetting his dreams.

For his part, Yanarkin spoke with calm. “Therein lies the misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding, he says?”

The spontaneous murmurs from the crowd all around were not spoken with nearly as much calm.

“What kind of misunderstanding would this be? Or are you saying you are such a coward that you require an army of this size to protect you?”

The crowd agreed with Hilde’s words. Pressing close to town in command of a large army was not some misunderstanding. It was a clear fact that the town stood in opposition to the Debau Company; that being the case, no excuse would suffice. In the first place, the very arrival of an envoy was recognition that they were in conflict.

But that moment, a very bad feeling came over Lawrence. Yanarkin was smiling. He was clearly smiling. The smile said, “You’ve fallen into my trap.”

Misunderstanding. Protect. Coward.

Lawrence forgot the pain of his leg as he moved his body forward.

This was bad. What Millike had said was true.

“That is correct!” Yanarkin proclaimed with a great voice.

Not only was the crowd shocked, but also Hilde as well.

They could not comprehend it. Did he think such an excuse would fly?

But it would fly. He would make it fly.

Lawrence set his eyes upon the baggage Yanarkin had brought with him.

There were a number of wooden boxes atop a horse’s back.

Why had he not noticed that before? Now, he understood.

It was because he had Hilde’s explanation from the day before in his head.

That the Debau Company had no surplus funds. That it did not have the funds to fight a war.

So spoke Hilde, the treasurer of the Debau Company, who had memorized all of its accounts.

But Lawrence remembered. He remembered the tumult at the great monastery in the Kingdom of Winfiel.

Treasurers were not all-seeing and all-knowing. The numbers matching up cannot tell one if they are true or false.

No doubt Hilde had considered improprieties. Even so, he must have been certain, There’s no way they could’ve hidden that much money from me. But what if that premise was in error? And this was the same Debau Company that had used those funds to make the Hugo Mercenary Company betray them.

Millike was correct. Hilde was wise. Too wise.

That was why a fool’s method would bring him to his knees.

“We are not the ones bringing harm to this land! To the contrary, it is we who require a great army to protect us! Behold!”

Yanarkin’s servant unfastened a wooden box and opened the lid.

“Ohhh.” The crowd’s voices rose.

The box was packed to the brim. Silver coins. It was packed with silver trenni.

There were eight boxes just like it. If they all contained silver trenni, it was quite a fortune right there.

“I am no intellectual agitating people through my mouth alone! I am a merchant! Merchants use goods and money to bring happiness to people! I am not like the man there who deceives people through words alone!”

As Yanarkin shouted, he grabbed a fistful of silver coins and threw them all about.

Silver coins danced like falling snow, pouring on top of people’s heads. “Ohh, silver coins…they’re real!” “Real silver coins!” Excitement arose from the mouths of various people. Of course it did. Depending on where one lived and if they spent wisely, a person could live off a single silver trenni for a month.

The crowd’s eyes were pinned to the direction the coins were dispensed.

Then, Yanarkin turned around and threw another fistful of coins.

“Go! Take it! The Debau Company dispenses silver coins to the people!”

As the silver coins danced in the air with a rattle, people dropped their weapons and chased after the coins.

“I am a merchant! Merchants do no harm! We dispense these silver coins here for our business! We know that to dispense silver coins brings prosperity, which brings us new silver coins in turn! If you think I deceive you, pick up a coin and look at it! They’re real! Real silver coins!”

Rattle, rattle. He dispensed handful after handful, finally hurling the box itself, along with all the coins left remaining.

His servant took another box as well, dispensing handfuls one after another.

Not a single person in the crowd held a weapon any longer. There were silver coins to be had. No one had any time for holding weapons.

“Wait, everyone. Wait!”

Though Hilde cried out, it was a meaningless gesture amid the tumult.

Even the spear-carrying soldiers seemed torn between their desire to bring the tumult under control and to pick up silver coins themselves. Realizing this, Yanarkin walked over and poured silver coins right into the palms of the soldiers’ hands.

Millike watched the scene with a neutral expression. It was not that he lacked desire for gold and silver. No, Millike knew the shallowness of men and the might of money. He also knew to his core how the overwise Hilde’s idealistic arguments held no sway over either.

Hilde and Moizi grabbed the shoulders of those picking up the coins and tried to convince them against it, but to no avail.

Lawrence wanted to cry. He could not accept that Yanarkin was a merchant. He could not accept this as a way of doing business.

Using this to subdue Hilde and Debau was no different than old power whatsoever.

The tyranny of money: tyranny that could only be practiced by those with a great fortune.

Words, just causes—before this, nothing held any meaning whatsoever.

By such a crude, ugly method, Hilde and Debau’s dream was being crushed. Merchants had dreamed of an ideal world, but other merchants were bringing that dream to naught.

This was a victory of overwhelming force, indiscriminately mowing down everything in its path.

Millike had said that the world would not change. Would not change. The world would not change. That was truth, for most people would not change. It was indeed the truth.

Hilde shouted until his throat was parched, but it was useless.

Lawrence pounded the window frame as hard as he could and rose up.

He turned around and reached toward the hemp sack lying on top of the table.

An eye for an eye. A sword for a sword. Gold coin for silver.

As Lawrence began untying the sack’s cord, Holo stopped him. “Come, you, do not do anything stupid!”

“It is stupid! Oh yes, it’s stupid! But I can’t just watch like this! I can’t just let them win like this!”

Having said that, he did not think dispensing gold coins would make a difference.

He knew it would not.

But Lawrence could not help but yell it anyway. This was not something that could be forgiven.

As he and Holo struggled over the sack, the gold coins poured onto the table. Hilde’s memos based on his memory as the Debau Company’s treasurer and Col’s carry bag fell as well.

Then, Lawrence looked at the stamp, which had also fallen.

The stamp upon which was engraved the symbol of the sun, made to lead this land, or even this world, to a brighter future.

“’Tis fate,” Holo said in a quivering voice.

Her voice was like a parched breeze, as if she had been crying for centuries.

“There are things that cannot be changed. Aye, there are many such things in this world…”

Millike had said as much. If the world could be changed, those with power would change it.

Holo had not changed. She had been unable to change the ways of the world that had taken everything from her.

Lawrence let go of the sack, wobbled, and fell on his rear. Holo continued to hold the sack of gold coins as she made a suffering look down at Lawrence. He could hear a tremendous clamor outside the window. He could not hear Hilde’s voice any longer, not even a little.

Surely no one’s ears could have.

“’Tis by enduring it I have come this far.”

So she was saying, you need to endure it, too?

He was no wisewolf. Lawrence looked at Holo in despair.

“And still…” Holo crouched beside Lawrence and wrapped both hands around his head. “Even I could not have endured it without you. I was able to walk forward because you pulled my hand. So, come.”

It was as if Lawrence had made Holo come this far.

“The world shall not change. But we have both gained something precious. Come, you…we should be satisfied with that.”

Lawrence searched for words.

However, none came forth. All he could manage was a sigh, close to sobbing, at how pathetic he was, unable to do anything save listen to the sounds of merchants’ dreams being violated.

Was this all right? Was this forgivable? Was there no God? Why must the righteous be forsaken?

The world was harsh, cold, and senseless.

Few dreams were granted. Few were even seen.

Lawrence wept. He wept without restraint.

And he looked at the fruits of Hilde’s labors scattered across the floor, and at the sack belonging to Col, even now in Kieschen, no doubt still clutching his dreams.

Right now both were of equal value.

With Hilde’s dream smashed, his precious treasurer’s memos were mere fragments of the past. What poked out of Col’s carry bag were bonds that were truly empty shells. He had spent all his money buying them from a swindler, only to discover they were all worthless. Hilde’s records of his time as treasurer would soon suffer the same fate.

Humanity was like a carry bag. No matter how much one patched it up, precious things fell out of it.

Col still held on to his dreams. Lawrence thought that was a very cruel thing.

If the likes of Hilde and Debau could not succeed, who in this world could?

Lawrence glared at the papers scattered across the floor. He glared at the useless, worthless paper bundles.

In the end, money was everything in this world. It was not a dream or a just cause, but money that one could see, touch, and that enabled one to eat.

The numbers written on those bundles of paper had been Hilde’s livelihood. For their sake, he had overlooked something very important and had finally arrived at this point as a result. Lawrence felt like they all shared the blame.

Lawrence flew into a rage at the papers scattered about. He wanted to drag them to an unseen place and kick them as if they were no-good children. But as if to spite Lawrence, the paper he had raised up kept slipping out of his palms. Every last thing mocked those who lacked strength.

“Shit!”

The moment Lawrence was about to start trying to tear the dancing paper to shreds…

“…?!”

Lawrence’s hands stopped. It was not that he had a reason. His hands truly stopped out of the blue.

He had felt misgivings the instant he had looked at the paper. Something was wrong. Something was odd. His sixth sense, developed from the adventures he had engaged in as a merchant, trying to get Holo to stay, was going off.

What danced down into the palms of Lawrence’s hands was one of the bills of exchange Col had been fooled into purchasing. Apprentices who found their service to their company difficult stole them and sold them to swindlers for carriage fare as they made their escape.

It was an ordinary, already-used bill of exchange, no longer bearing any value whatsoever.

But Lawrence’s head was struck by a powerful impact as if a nail was being pounded into it.

Bills. Bills of exchange.

There was a way. A way for the Debau Company to hide money.

A way still open to them.

But Hilde had not thought of this? Lawrence untangled himself from Holo’s arms and ran his eyes over the documents scattered over the floor.

Then, his eyes found and ran over the paper upon which Hilde had written various methods.

There was a list. Changing the way cargo was packed, fictional trades, inflating fees, and so forth.

But it was not written there. Bills of exchange were not written there.

It was a marvelous method invented so that travelers would no longer need to carry heavy sacks of coin with them. A person deposited their coin at the branch of a trading company in one town and received a bill of exchange, brought that with them to the next town, and exchanged the bill for coin at the company’s branch in that town. It was a commonly used method, not something prone to impropriety at all.

But the important thing was, the actual coin deposited stayed with that company the whole time. The only things that moved were the traveler and the bill; the money itself did not move at all.

That is why Hilde had overlooked it. Had it been a deal with merchandise it would have never escaped his sight.

But in the first place, there was no profit involved; he had paid no attention to bills because they were merely a convenience. In accounting terms, bills of exchange did not create any change whatsoever. But that did not mean they had no impact on reality.

All the more so for an organization with business as massive as the Debau Company’s; surely, its bills of exchange could be redeemed for an unbelievable amount of money. Lawrence had no doubt they had used that.

Come to think of it, when they had met Col on that ship, the sailors were gossiping about a thousand pieces of gold. They were perplexed by the strange bill of exchange being transported. The bill was to be brought to Kerube, to be shipped to Lesko without ever being converted into coin.

That was probably due to issuing a bill of exchange so large that Kerube could not pay the coin. At any rate, since physical money was not actually moving whatsoever, the branch paying out the money would eventually run dry. That was the precise method via which Lawrence had arranged for Le Roi to obtain the forbidden book back in Lenos.

And bonds could be used in reverse, too.

All the more so considering how abnormal the money prices in Lesko was compared to other towns. Gold was cheap; silver was expensive.

That being the case, there was no doubt that many people were using that difference in prices for profit. That was to say, taking gold obtained in Lesko and bringing it to the Debau Company for a bill of exchange, taking that back to Kerube for gold, and exchanging the gold for silver, was a surefire way to make money the easy way. No doubt a mountain of people jumped at the chance.

Therefore, there had to be an unbelievable amount of money resting with the Debau Company in Lesko.

As a surprised Holo watched beside him, Lawrence endured the pain of his leg as he rose once more.

Yanarkin was scattering silver coins all about as Hilde desperately grabbed shoulders, trying to persuade people.

But Lawrence did not speak.

He could not speak yet.

He knew that the Debau Company had used bills of exchange to secure the coinage to produce this wild scene. But it was not enough. He could not find a way to calm the crowd and silence Yanarkin. In the first place, bills of exchange were not bad things. They were not bad things at all.

Even so, the thumping in Lawrence’s chest told him there was something.

He felt like he had when he had seen through the Debau Company’s scheme in Lesko; he knew something was there, but it was tantalizingly out of reach.

There was a way he could use to take the offensive against Yanarkin. A way that involved bills of exchange.

But what? What was it?

Bills of exchange. Differences in prices. Misappropriation of deposited coinage. Such words ran about in Lawrence’s head. He had found the answer but the words would not come out.

Lawrence looked at Holo in search of aid.

However, Holo looked at Lawrence with a sad face.

His tongue had already run dry saying that to take responsibility for obtaining Holo, he would adventure no more. He could understand why sadness laid on the other side of anger.

But this was his nature. A nature he could not change.

Therefore, Lawrence clasped Holo’s shoulders. He gripped her shoulders firmly, as if asking her to help him out of his wordless suffering.

“Come, you…”

As Holo spoke, she lowered her head as if in surrender.

Holo’s desire was to live quietly in a little store, chasing after tiny pieces of happiness. It most certainly was not for him to thrust his head in a dangerous situation, risking his life for a dream with no end in sight.

Lawrence had meant to give all that up. He had truly meant to.

Even so, idiocy was incurable for life.

If I could toss it aside here, that’d be nice, too. He was amazed at himself for thinking it.

Then, Holo spoke.

“Do it already, then. I shall quiet the howling ones.”

“…!”

As Lawrence sucked in his breath, Holo made an awkward smile. “I am quite benevolent myself.” She put her hands on top of Lawrence’s. “Someday you shall repay this debt to me.”

Debt. That was it.

That moment, some obstruction in Lawrence’s chest melted away.

“Now, then, please.”

Holo made a satisfied smile and put both hands on the window sill, exhaling until she was bent over as if to cough something up, then inhaled with all her strength, her body arching back in the other direction.

She made a marvelous howl, as if yelling at a pack of idiot males.

“Aoooooooooooo!!”

Even though they were inside a town’s walls, the townspeople were sensitive to wolves in the forests and mountains that lay just beyond.

Everyone became deathly still, as if cold water had been poured over the entire disturbance.

“The Debau Company’s impropriety must be redressed!”

Lawrence’s voice resounded.

The crowd’s gazes converged upon Lawrence at once.

“The Debau Company’s impropriety must be redressed!”

Hilde, too, looked up at Lawrence dumbfounded.

“The Debau Company’s impropriety must be redressed!”

As Lawrence spoke a third time, it was Yanarkin who moved.

“Wh-what are you saying! Impropriety?! Based on what evidence?!”

Evidence. Yes, evidence. There was no evidence.

Even if the logic added up, without evidence, he had nothing.

Lawrence’s head went blank. The rug had been pulled out from under him again.

Finding no comeback, nausea assaulted him.

That moment, Holo slapped his butt. As he looked at Holo, she turned her chin aside in an annoyed look.

“Have you no confidence, Lawrence? Evidence is support for your case, no more.”

Wisewolf Holo.

Lawrence looked out of the window, raising the paper in his hand.

“This is evidence! A Debau Company bill of exchange!”

A complete lie. Furthermore, even had it been real, it would not have been evidence of anything.

However, it brought results. Immediately.

“Wh-what is…! What evidence of anything is that?!”

Yanarkin had been unnerved. Lawrence had not been mistaken. This was the correct path.

Lawrence inhaled and shouted. “What are you saying, you who fling about coins deposited in Lesko for bills of exchange! That money was entrusted to you by others!”

Hilde was right. The Debau Company did not have the coin on hand to fund waging war. It certainly did not have money to pursue a battle to break down town gates that had been shut. Even if it did, it would interfere with issuing the new currency, which bound the lords and mercenaries to it.

But the Debau Company’s treasury contained all the coinage deposited when it issued bills of exchange.

Bills of exchange would eventually become coin once more, but there was a time lag. During that time, it was as if the Debau Company was borrowing the money. The money Yanarkin and the others were flinging about would eventually need to be replaced from somewhere to make the accounts balance.

If collections slowed because town gates had been shut, it would hinder repayment. Even more so, if everyone learned how money they had merely deposited was being used behind their backs, no one would want to use bills of exchange anymore.

If that happened, their financing would suddenly dry up.

“I think we should send a fast horse to Lesko and confirm the situation! This is a life-and-death issue for this town, indeed, all the northlands! There’s no reason to rush a decision whatsoever! Or is it that you wish to dazzle the townspeople with stolen money!”

At those words, many people’s heads pulled back.

As they regarded at one another’s faces, perhaps they were remembering what they looked like when they were picking up the scattered silver pieces—wretched, miserable, without a single shred of dignity.

Lawrence went to shout one final time.

However, his breath cut short and his head went dizzy. He had come to the limit of his physical strength.

His eyes were spinning; his legs were shaking. At the end of his vision, a broad smile came over Yanarkin.

This was bad. If he could not press his case, he would lose the crowd.

“Th-this is absurd! Of course this is not borrowed money! If we did such a thing, th-the Church would surely be angry! But, we, the Debau Company, bear the seal of the Church as well! The Church and the lords are with us because what we are doing is just!”

Here he was, speaking of the Church in the middle of the northlands. Proof enough he had lost his cool.

It was working.

“Then…!”

But right after Lawrence got that far, his throat felt pressure as if someone was pressing a lid on it as the edges of his vision wavered.

Grave wounds. Fever. Giddiness.

He had spoken too much.

Lawrence’s spine arched back from lack of breath. The edges of his vision were going black. His head was throbbing; his consciousness was growing distant. Even though he had the words to retort with, he lacked the strength to speak them.

Lawrence fell to his knees.

Strength. Once again, he lacked strength.

As Lawrence wept, an angel slapped his cheek.

“You truly are a fool.” Somehow managing to crouch against the window, he looked beside him. “But you are not alone any longer.”

Even if one person could not move forward alone, two people could.

That was the true meaning of his journey with Holo.

“My lines.”

And with Holo’s one sentence, he understood all. Holo had the appearance of a nun, and her skill in speech was magnificent enough to tie even merchants into knots.

Lawrence put his embarrassingly shaking hands on his knees, finally pulling his body together when it seemed like it would fall apart.

Even so, he could firmly say, never in his life had his heart ever been supported more.

“…Then, I ask you…”

“Then, I ask you!”

Holo’s voice reverberated like a bell. That it was a girl’s voice made its strength all that more poignant.

Furthermore, Holo seemed amused from the bottom of her heart, which reassured Lawrence tremendously.

“While you, fling silver coins about…”

“While you fling silver coins about!”

“You speak of…prosperity giving rise to new silver coins…”

“You speak of prosperity giving rise to new silver coins!”

Lawrence gave up on crouching against the windowsill and sat on the floor, resting his back against the wall.

“But these are not the Church’s teachings…for silver coins are silver coins. And if silver coins do give rise to anything, that…”

Holo yelled in a loud voice in accordance with Lawrence’s murmurs.

It was as if she were a shopgirl calling customers over to his store.

“That would be interest! The Church does not approve of interest! You, the thief, misusing the name of the Church! What is your objective?! Or is it on purpose that you anger the Church, invade a blameless land, bringing about destruction?!”

Holo had not been aimlessly journeying, either. She had read scripture together with Col and had observed many things this way and that. Lawrence thought so because he was not sure he had spoken the latter half of her lines properly.

But Holo’s speaking was so perfect, she could go preaching on the street just like that.

“Hff, hff.” As Holo finished speaking, Lawrence heard small, ragged breaths.

And after seeming to swallow once to get her breathing in order, Holo turned toward him.

Lawrence looked up at Holo and said, “Well done.”

The crowd outside was astir. Lawrence could not see from where he was, but Yanarkin was probably looking all around with tears on his face.

“S-silence, silence! Si— No, it’s not like that…listen to me, I—I only want to…to profit, profiting, is delight…”

He had fallen to pieces, no longer bearing any words worth speaking.

When, with Holo’s support, Lawrence somehow managed to get to his feet, Yanarkin was desperately searching for words, finally gazing all about at the crowd, looking like he was pleading for help. But now, the crowd all around him that he had dazzled so much by scattering silver coins about merely gazed at him from afar.

Finally, Yanarkin thrust his quivering hand into the box he carried and flung silver coins out. The crowd surrounding him watched with their eyes, like a dove observing a thrown pebble, but not a single person stretched out his hand.

They had won. It was a complete victory.

They had won against those who would seize the hearts of men by scattering money about.

Hilde looked his way, and their eyes met.

Lawrence said nothing and closed his eyes, raising them toward the heavens.

“You who have just witnessed the courage of my comrades! Close the gates! A great army invades!”

As Hilde shouted, the crowd rushed as one. Soldiers joined them in ones and twos as well; they too loved their town, and they too held the power to determine what was just and what was unjust.

Finally, nearly all of them had joined the crowd, running off to prepare for the great army’s onslaught.

Yanarkin stood in terror as he watched the crowd go. As he regained his senses, he unsteadily pressed close to Hilde and latched onto him.

“D-don’t do anything rash! If you close the gates, th-they’ll blame me. They’ll kill me! They’ll rip me to pieces!”

It was all too pathetic how he pleaded for his life. Lawrence could not even summon anger over how he had made his gamble without a single thought about such a risk.

Even with Yanarkin grabbing him by the collar, Hilde made no move to resist. It was Moizi who peeled Yanarkin off him. Hilde’s silence was a de facto death sentence for Yanarkin. Finally, Yanarkin stopped struggling in Moizi’s arms, hanging his head in defeat.

Hilde shifted his gaze to Millike next. Even as those surrounding him lost their bearings, the man who governed the town council calmly watched the flow of the crowd from horseback.

He had not erred to think as he had.

But people were not quite that foolish, nor quite that wise.

Though Millike noticed Hilde’s gaze, silently trading glances with him, he suddenly spurred his horse, departing together with the few soldiers remaining with him. Moizi let go of Yanarkin, and Yanarkin stumbled after Millike and his men.

It seemed to be over.

Hilde and Moizi looked up at Lawrence from the street, waving their hands as if making a salute.

Lawrence made a light wave in return as he leaned on Holo’s shoulder.

Then, the two men set their subordinates in order and returned to the inn.

Lawrence finally made a sigh of relief and looked at Holo beside him.

But a moment later his vision blurred, and without understanding what had happened, he found himself fallen on the floor, gazing straight up at the ceiling.

At the same time, Lawrence realized not only that he had been slapped on the cheek, but also that a Holo-shaped rump sat on his chest while a deft tail lay atop his head.

“That you would sit quietly in a store from here on truly was just a dream…”

Holo turned tired eyes toward Lawrence as she sat on top of him, resting her elbows on his lap and her chin on her palms.

To gain Holo, he had to take responsibility and cease adventuring. Lawrence had taken Holo’s hand with every intention of doing so, but having watched the scene before her, it was quite natural to doubt him.

And yet, he thought, even if Holo would have left him for it, he would have done it anyway.

This was Holo, after all; surely she had realized how absurdly determined he was.

More than that, Holo had gone along with a great fool of a man’s pastime.

But even as he thought those things, he wanted to excuse it all with That’s just how it turned out; it couldn’t be helped.

And it went well, had it not?

Holo’s tail softly patted Lawrence’s cheek. Perhaps it was because she thought there might be even the slightest dissatisfaction on his face.

“I keep getting pulled along by no-good males.”

Lawrence replied to Holo’s oft-spoken words.

“But you love me anyway, don’t you?”

Holo looked taken back for a moment, not dismissing it out of hand like usual.

As Holo gazed into space, as if immersed in the aftershocks of the great tumult, she made very deliberate movements with the tip of her tail, took a deep breath, and said this.

“Certainly, that is where the problem lies.”

At the end, Holo glanced sideways at Lawrence, grinning and bearing it.