Spice and Wolf - Volume 19 - Chapter 3

GROOMING SHEEP AND WOLF

If he counted, it wound up being a little more than ten years since he opened a bathhouse in a hot spring village deep in the mountains. Basically, he had been working as a bathhouse master longer than he had spent alone as a traveling merchant.

I see, I’m getting older…

Lawrence thought this to himself as he lay on his back in the bed of his wagon; he gazed up at the sky.

“Come now, you fool. Have you not woken yet?”

As that voice called to him, fur landed on his face. He looked up through the fur, which smelled like straw that had dried under plenty of sunlight paired with the scent of sweet boiled honey, and he could see a beautiful display of well-combed coat glinting in the sun.

“I don’t mind if you drive the wagon. You’ve sat next to me and watched me hold the reins for years, haven’t you?”

His reply came through the fur that swished mischievously across his face.

“I am Holo the Wisewolf of Yoitsu. Such a prideful wolf would not deign to grasp the reins of a horse.”

The fur removed itself from his face, and a girl peered down at him with her arms crossed in dissatisfaction.

She had flaxen-colored hair and reddish-amber eyes. Then, there were large, triangular wolf ears the same color as her hair and a fluffy tail swaying back and forth beneath her coat. Though they met over ten years ago, her appearance had not changed at all.

Holo, who had called herself the Wisewolf of Yoitsu, was not human, as she was a kind of spirit that lived in wheat and was the embodiment of a wolf.

“…Then, hold on a little bit. My back hurts…”

“Hah…”

Holo sighed deliberately, and once she unfolded her arms, she began to rustle through the luggage.

“And this is the result of a male’s hard work.”

She glanced at him sideways with irritated eyes.

“Was the festival in that town not several days ago now? How pathetic it is that you sit all day in the driver’s perch and then cannot move from back pain.”

She pulled out a large piece of bread, butter, then cheese and honey from the bag.

“H-hey, you can’t seriously plan on eating all that at…ow, ow…”

They were all gifts of thanks from the money changers’ association at the town they had just been staying at, Svernel. Lawrence visited as a representative of Nyohhira, where his bathhouse was, and helped out with their big festival. It was called the Festival of the Dead, an exciting affair where they had to catch sheep and pigs running loose in the town square, and the captured animals were butchered on the spot. Due to the lupine Holo’s help, he had been able to secure a handy victory after catching an extraordinary amount, but he could not win against age.

His muscles and joints ached as the days went by. When he finally thought he could move properly, they had left the town, but now he had ended up like this.

“Stay where you are, fool. I shall enjoy this by myself.”

She began putting butter directly onto the whole, big piece of round bread, not bothering to break it into pieces. She behaved a little better when their only daughter and guests were around in the bathhouse, but here, at the side of the road in the woods, there was no one around to see them.

Once she spread on plenty of butter, Holo opened her mouth wide and bit into the bread.

Not minding where or how the crust crumbled, her tail wagged happily, and she seemed quite satisfied.

“Honestly…”

Lawrence, who had a sense that nothing he said would matter, could only relax and gaze up at the sky.

As he did so, after every third bite she took from the bread, Holo broke off a piece and fed it to him. He told himself that the pieces were rather small not because she was being stingy with what she gave him but because she was making sure that they were easy to swallow.

Thanks to the generously salted butter, the sweetness of the wheat bread tasted even better.

He looked up at the sky as he chewed, then swallowed. The weather was good, and there was no wind.

Lawrence did not mind spending time like this.

“This reminds me of the past.”

Several small birds emerged from the fields and flew into the forest. Perhaps prompted by the sound of their wings, Holo spoke absently, holding a skin filled with wine.

But there was no sign that she had become drunk from unreserved day drinking.

“Do you want to go traveling again?”

It had been during Lawrence’s time as a traveling merchant when he met Holo. Then, on an exciting journey to find her homeland, they got themselves into all sorts of commotion, time and time again.

It felt like nothing had changed since then, but when he watched the profile of Holo’s face, looking up at the sky, it did seem like it had changed a bit.

Holo looked down at him and smiled bitterly.

“You fool. Of course not.”

She stood, brushing off a mass of bread crumbs that had fallen on her skirt, then stretched.

She gazed at the scenery around her, and the edges of her mouth twisted into a satisfied grin.

“I am fond of where I soak in hot water every day. The place you created.”

She looked down at him, then smiled, baring her fangs.

Lawrence narrowed his eyes, though not because the light of the sun was too bright.

“Soaking in hot water might cure my back pain.”

“Of course. And the nights are still cold. I would enjoy not camping outside.”

Though it was warm while the sun was out, there was still plenty of snow in the dark corners of the woods. Once the sun set, it grew dreadfully cold, and he would not be able to sleep without Holo’s tail.

“It would be awful if I got sick, too. There’s so much to do to get ready for summer, and we have new help coming. We have to prepare her room and think about how we’re going to divide up the work. We have to get home and start…Hmm? What’s wrong?”

As he ran over the things they had to do, he suddenly realized that Holo was glaring at him.

She was not cross with him; it was more like she was glaring at a frostbitten toe that was itchy, but she could not scratch.

“’Tis nothing.”

Then she turned away in a huff.

Lawrence stared dumbly at her offended form for a while, and then he finally realized what it was. He smiled wryly.

“What, you’re still not satisfied?”

She did not even glance at him.

“Whatever could you be speaking of?”

To top it off, she was playing dumb.

“Seriously…”

This was not something he could just ignore with a sigh, because even if she was only half-joking, that meant that she was also half-serious. During the festival at Svernel they had just come from, the two of them had run into an unexpected party. There had been quite a lot of talk about them, as this group were prospective rivals in business for the hot spring village of Nyohhira, but their identity turned out to be a band of nonhumans. And of all things, they were not birds or rabbits or sheep—but wolves.

They had been working as mercenaries in the south when they happened across a chance to obtain a permit and had made their way to the northlands to found their own hot spring village, a place they could rest. But sure enough, trouble arose around the permit, and Lawrence reached out to help them solve their problem.

He thought that everything had come together nicely in the end. But he had forgotten about the sharp corner that had been left behind even after everything else had rounded out.

That was because one of the wolves absolutely had to live away from her companions.

But a master from a bathhouse just happened to be present then. The honest young man and the mischievous yet equally hardworking master’s only daughter had supported the bathhouse until recently, but as they had just left on a journey, the business was shorthanded and they in a bit of a bind. But if the master hired this wolf to work at the bathhouse, then it would kill two birds with one stone.

The problem was that she had the appearance of a young girl. And she was also the avatar of a wolf. Holo apparently had multiple thoughts regarding these things.

That being said, it was not an option to chase away the girl they wound up hiring, named Selim. If that happened, then she would truly have nowhere to go, as it was necessary for her to live far away from her older brother and family, who had traveled with her from the south. It would be horrible for a nonhuman to live alone in an unfamiliar town, and Holo was much more sensitive to loneliness than the average person. She was not opposed to the hiring of Selim itself, but her wolflike sense of territory itched at the back of her mind.

“A young girl coming to us now doesn’t mean anything.”

No matter how many times he repeated this, Holo was not completely convinced.

“Fool. I am not worried about that.”

Her reply brushed the matter aside, but Lawrence knew that it bothered her a little bit. He almost wanted to prattle on and on about how much she meant to him. Holo, who could detect a glove dropped two valleys away by smell alone, knew better than anyone that there was nothing he could hide from her while living under the same roof.

So her irritation was not logical but emotional.

He looked at her and privately thought she was adorable.

The wisewolf Holo only showed her sillier sides to Lawrence.

“…And what is it you are grinning about?”

She glared at him with a chilling gaze, and he looked away.

If he angered her during this time of year, she would definitely make him sleep alone in the cold night.

“Anyway, when Miss Selim arrives, the busy season of summer will already be waiting. There’s no time to think about anything else.”

“…”

Holo, still offended, did not respond. Normally, he would embrace her to help her fix her mood, but he could not move as he pleased due to his back pain. While he was privately frustrated with himself, Holo moved her wolf ears and tail about listlessly, staring out into the distance.

“’Tis not what I worry about.”

Then, as he pondered why she was mumbling to herself for once, Holo raised the hood over her head. He did not need to speculate on the reason because before long he could faintly hear the sound of a cranky infant’s cries in the distance.

A baby? On this road?

Lawrence tilted his head in puzzlement, until he heard the distinctive sound of a bell.

Perhaps Holo was in a mood because she noticed their presence before he did.

She was a wolf and did not get along well with their kind.

Shepherds.

“Fool.”

She muttered underneath her breath, her words hanging in the air, though it was uncertain who they were aimed at. Then she pulled a blanket over her head and lay down.

With a slightly muffled clang, clang, the shepherd’s bell swayed as the end of his staff struck the ground. It was a tool that confirmed their identities, and they used it to raise sheep outside of towns.

Lawrence had heard it was grueling work, moving about all day long without much sleep at night to ensure that the sheep did not run away, get attacked by wild dogs, or get stolen. On top of that, townspeople treated them as outsiders as they were scarcely around due to the nature of their work.

On the contrary, because people did not often get to see their labors, there was a multitude of misunderstandings about them. People held prejudices against shepherds, believing rumors that they understood the words of beasts or lay with them and that they indulged in hideous acts that defied the teachings of God. The shepherdess Lawrence and Holo met long ago had experienced much the same.

The only partner a shepherd could rely on was typically a lone sheepdog. These companions kept the flock together, fought off thieves alongside their master, and sometimes even faced wolves that targeted their charges. To Holo, the avatar of a wolf and someone who adored the taste of mutton, there was no being as incompatible with her as a shepherd.

Lawrence now understood that her sulking in the blanket was an indication that she wished for him to deal with the stranger. Enduring the pain in his back, he sat up and rubbed his eyes at the sight before him.

There was something odd.

“Thank God for his guidance! Hello there, traveler!”

The shepherd stood a little ways away and yelled in a loud voice. Then his sheepdog barked loudly and the flock of sheep stood still. There were quite a lot of them—not just a dozen or two. It was a huge mass. Beyond the sheer number, Lawrence also noticed that the sheep, thoroughly muddied on their lower halves, were all plump and seemed quite healthy. It was clear evidence of the shepherd’s skill.

The good-natured shepherd with a white-streaked goatee growing from his chin stood before the flock of sheep, which were baaing as they pleased with great energy.

For some reason, the man carried his sheepdog on his shoulder.

“I am Horad the shepherd!”

His companion’s coat was the color of chestnuts, and as the sheepdog lay across Horad’s shoulders, it almost seemed like it was his hair.

The shepherd who identified himself as Horad was a man old enough to have deep wrinkles on his face, so the whole situation was unusual.

“I am a traveling mer—Ahem. I am Nyohhira bathhouse master Kraft Lawrence! What is it you need?!”

Lawrence raised his voice so the bleating sheep did not drown him out, and Horad bowed his head deeply, as though thanking him for simply responding.

“I sincerely believe that meeting you here, Master Lawrence, is due to God’s guidance! If you would have pity on me, then would you be so kind as to offer us a lift to Svernel?!”

Horad made his request, swaying a bit as he readjusted the sheepdog on his shoulder. His partner obediently stayed still, keeping watch over the sheep.

“We are actually just coming from Svernel and now returning north!”

There was a bit of distance between here and Svernel. They probably would not be able to make it before sundown. If they did not want to camp outside, then there was no choice but to continue north and reach a roadside inn.

“Oh…I see…”

He may have been expecting to hitch a ride if they were all going in the same direction.

Horad appeared discouraged, and the dog on his shoulders seemed like it might suddenly slip off.

“Is something the matter?!”

It was not unheard of for a shepherd to call out to a traveler. Many believed that there was something magical about shepherds, so there were times when people would ask for charms or some such to protect them on the road, and there were also shepherds who reached out to travelers on their own, offering those services in hopes of making a little extra money.

However, it did not seem that Horad was that sort of person, and it was the first time Lawrence had ever seen a shepherd carrying his sheepdog on his shoulders.

“Truth be told, my partner here stepped on a sharp rock and cannot walk!”

When he spoke, Lawrence finally noticed there was a bandage wrapped around the sheepdog’s front right foot.

“That’s…”

Once upon a time, he, too, was a traveling merchant who lived on the road without a place in any town to call home. How would he have felt if his only conversation partner at the time, his wagon horse, got injured?

He held his breath and dropped his gaze into the wagon bed.

There, the avatar of a wolf had covered herself with a blanket and was sulking.

“Holo.”

She should have heard the entire conversation, and Lawrence’s tone of voice clearly indicated how he felt.

There was still snow on the ground, and the road was muddy from repeatedly freezing over, then thawing out. Then, by chance, this shepherd’s only companion and hope had become injured, unable to walk.

He could not overlook this.

“We might have to camp outside…”

Hesitatingly, he placed his hand on top of the blanket. But a ferocious wolf with her fangs bared did not jump out at him. When he thought he saw the fuzzy tail that was filling the blanket move, a response came.

“If ’tis cold, you shall make it warm for me, aye?”

It was her way of asking if she could drink the finely distilled liquor they bought at Svernel.

“If you drink yourself to sleep, I’ll even take care of you afterward.”

“Hmph.”

Holo snorted, and their negotiations were settled.

“Mr. Horad!”

Lawrence called out his name, and Horad, who was studying his partner’s leg, looked up.

“We’ll help you!”

He immediately broke into a smile.

“Thank you!”

“Should I take you to town?!”

At Lawrence’s feet, Holo covered her ears in an exaggerated manner, but it probably had as much to do with how irritating the bleating sheep had become.

“Well, I was just thinking about that. Even if you spent the whole night and then some bringing me to town, I wouldn’t be able to repay you!”

Lawrence was about to say how that was unnecessary when Horad continued.

“Instead, do you think you could look after my sheep for a bit?!”

“Your sheep?”

Lawrence murmured unwittingly, practically speaking to himself.

Would Horad simply run to town with his partner over his shoulders in the meantime?

“I suddenly remembered I have a friend just over there!” Horad explained as he pointed behind Lawrence.

For a moment, a shiver shot down Lawrence’s spine, as he imagined the possibility that bandits were approaching from behind them, falling into a trap where they would be attacked on both sides. But he quickly realized Holo would most certainly have noticed that. His powerful watchwolf was still under the blanket, plugging her ears and puffing her cheeks out, in a rather poor mood.

“I know a charcoal maker who should be in a charcoal-making hut during this season! I’ll go leave my partner with him, so could I ask you to watch over my sheep until I come back?!”

Even the most skilled shepherds would not be able to bring such a large flock into the woods and expect good results. But doing it this way, Lawrence and Holo would probably still be able to make it to the next inn by sunset, so the least they could do was take care of the sheep.

“All right, then!”

Horad smiled in relief and started coming closer, parting the sheep around him.

The chestnut-colored sheepdog was anxiously trying to look back at the flock of sheep.

When the dog gave up and glanced at Lawrence, he saw eyes that were intelligent and a deep, burned brown.

“May God bless you, Master Lawrence.”

“Oh, no worries. We were planning to stay parked here for a while anyway.”

“That’s…”

Horad had come over to stand by the side of the wagon bed, and when he finally noticed Holo, he nodded in understanding.

“From far away, I was sure you had a servant boy with you, but…How rude of me to interrupt…”

“Ah no, you misunderstand. We were just in Svernel participating in the Festival of the Dead, and we were resting here because I’ve injured my back.”

Horad stared at him blankly, unsure if he should laugh or not.

“By the way, Mr. Horad.”

Lawrence was curious.

“You don’t think I might run away with your sheep?”

The vague smile did not vanish from Horad’s face when he turned his bright blue eyes toward Lawrence.

He gave off the impression that no matter what hard days he had been through, he would still gaze into the sunset with this expression.

“It’s strange, but watching sheep every day has, for some reason, given me the ability to weigh people.”

Lawrence shrugged and nodded.

“Besides, the road is muddy and the forest still has snow everywhere. There is still a clean layer of it on the field over there. At least until spring comes, I’d be able to follow you anywhere, Master Lawrence.”

He was absolutely right.

“Well then, I’ll keep a sharp eye on your sheep. Do you need water? We have wine, as well.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll just have some water.”

Lawrence retrieved the waterskin from his things, and after asking permission, Horad placed his partner onto the wagon bed, taking a breather to have a drink. Then, he cupped some water in his hand and offered it to his companion. The sheepdog wagged his tail as he drank from his master’s hand, but he kept glancing toward Holo under the blanket.

“Well, we’ll be off. It is not that far, so even if the sheep start disappearing, I’ll be right back.”

Horad once again pulled his trusty dog onto his shoulders.

“If the charcoal maker is not in or I can’t find him, then I will take that as a sign from God to take you up on the offer to go to Svernel.”

Horad beamed a bright expression at Lawrence and dipped his head.

Directly after, without hesitation, he started making his way into the woods.

“Well, then.”

Lawrence murmured and took the shepherd’s staff that had been left leaning against the wagon bed.

“It’s only for a short time, but how am I supposed to keep all these sheep together…?”

The moment Horad and his partner disappeared, the bleating sheep immediately began to scatter, like a barrel that had its hoops come loose.

Lawrence tried to stand, but all the joints in his body groaned in pain.

“Ooof…Damn, I swear.”

But he believed moving around a bit would at least make it a little more bearable, so he placed his hand on the edge of the bed, but the staff was suddenly swiped from him. He looked, and Holo, still pouting, gripped the shaft.

“You are quite infuriating.”

“Huh?”

“I am not a fool who simply eats and sleeps. What am I to you?”

Holo had asked this same question during his traveling merchant days, and Lawrence remembered how he was flabbergasted at the time.

That was a time when he only ever looked at where his feet were as he walked, and whenever he found change on the floor, he truly considered it a blessing from God. He had been unable to bring himself to believe the enormous treasure that had been set before his eyes, making him scared to reach out back then.

But now, he could speak with confidence.

“My cute wife who I am very proud of.”

Holo widened her eyes, and her ears and tail moved so vigorously he could almost hear it.

“You are a fool.”

“I probably am.”

Holo lightly jumped from the wagon bed. She was so petite and thin that the shepherd’s staff looked large lined up next to her, but that gave the scene a sort of charm.

But as soon as he thought she would start rounding up the sheep right away, since she had jumped down with such authority, she suddenly turned around, placed her foot on a wheel, and leaped back on the wagon bed.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Holo rustled about in the luggage and spoke with a serious expression.

“My tail will get muddied! There should be clothes for my tail somewhere!”

Holo had changed a bit throughout the years.

Lawrence privately thought to himself that it was probably his fault, since he spoiled her so.

Shepherds were occasionally mocked as children born between humans and animals. They spent much of their time in the fields and the mountains, and they held an eerie presence for humans who lived in towns.

But one only need to watch the shepherds’ skills once to understand that such a terrible prejudice also came from a certain species of admiration.

Just by waving around one staff, they could control an entire flock of sheep at their will.

“Ho! Come now! There shall be no running!”

Clang, clang, clang. The bell hanging at the end of the staff rang violently. Holo was not so much holding the stick as she was partially clinging to it. When she glared at the sheep toward the left that had tried to sneak off when she was watching those on her right, the unattended wards seized the opportunity to start meandering off, and when she yelled at them, the sheep right in front of her tried to wander away as well.

Holo busily ran back and forth, mud covering her up to her knees.

“You…foolish…!”

She seized a nearby sheep by the scruff of its neck, displaying the depth of her indignation. The unlucky specimen, which Holo held tightly with her fangs bared, cried as though pleading for its life. But since the flock was so large, the sheep at the edges decided it was irrelevant and resolutely continued trying to move about as they pleased.

Lawrence thought that keeping a flock of sheep together would be a piece of cake for Holo, an embodiment of a wolf. She must have thought the same.

It had become clear that was a mistake.

“Hah…hah…”

She breathed, her shoulders heaving, and gave a dry cough. Under the muddied bottom of her coat, the covering that protected her tail was so full it seemed ready to burst. The sheep would listen if she glared directly at them, but the moment she looked away, they forgot everything.

Not only did she just have two eyes, she was also heavily outnumbered.

“Holo, are you okay?”

Unable to ignore her, Lawrence called out to her, and she turned to glare at him, too.

If he asked if he should help her, then he would have to pay the price for hurting her pride.

“Ooohhh…Why do they not listen!”

She slammed the staff into the ground, but the flock gave her no heed as they sauntered off in all directions.

The incessant baa, baas must have been getting on her nerves, as he could clearly see the ears under her hood were stiff with rage.

She took such a deep breath that it almost looked like her body grew larger, and then she spoke like she was chanting a curse.

“Perhaps I should show you how frightening I can truly be?”

Lawrence was shocked—there was no way she would show her true form here, right?

At that moment, she looked like a frail girl just growing into her teenage years, but her true form was a gigantic wolf. If she transformed and bared her fangs to the sheep, they would not only tremble in fear but probably also drop dead on the spot.

For even one sheep to die during this season, when every town had many expenses to cover, would be a great loss. Like a prayer, Lawrence whispered, “Calm down,” from the back of the wagon to her back.

“……Ngh!”

He thought he saw her shoulders shake.

He thought that she might be sniffling, but something was odd.

Right when he was about to call out to Holo, she lifted the staff, as though she was going to make a heavy swing with it.

“Freeze!”

About three sheep, attempting to leave the flock in a group, suddenly stopped in place.

They really did listen to the wolf when she looked directly at them and spoke. Lawrence had been able to perform well because of this power of hers during the festival in Svernel, too. That was why Holo was exceptionally angry.

But her behavior really was strange.

This time she clearly sniffed her nose, and with an open hand, she wiped her face.

“Holo.”

Lawrence called her name, and her back shivered in surprise.

And Lawrence was just as surprised. She seemed just like a scolded child.

He was taken aback and felt hurt—did she think that he would really get angry with her if it did not go well, despite how eagerly she took the staff? He was not such an intolerant man.

However, Holo’s body was petrified, and she gripped the pole tightly with both hands.

Was it true? Had she really thought that?

Lawrence felt like he might cry, and an instant before he was going to call out to her—

“I—I…am not…a good-for-nothing.”

She spoke with such a thin voice, Lawrence almost thought he had imagined it.

Holo was always dignified, calm, and composed. And yet now, she seemed hideously small from behind.

“I’ve never thought of you like that. So what’s…?”

After getting that far, Lawrence finally realized it.

He remembered a conversation from Svernel.

It was when they were talking with Millike, the man who governed over Svernel, about whether or not they could hire the wolves who hailed from the south. Millike, who was also nonhuman, teased Holo, who was a bit less enthusiastic about hiring Selim and the others.

In front of her kin, she can’t carelessly drink during the day or take naps.

Holo was vain and stubborn. Though she wore the face of an excellent mother and master of the household in front of her only daughter, Myuri, and Col, peeling back a layer revealed she was a great deal more delicate than the tomboy Myuri, and there was a part of her that felt like a shy little girl.

Not only that, Holo was often prone to contemplating the darker sides of things. Perhaps it was because she had lived alone for so long in a state where her consciousness had practically faded away, but there were times when her preconceived notions were intense. Because of her harmful resolution to do many things on her own, she was incredibly reliable in the time of need, but on the other hand, she also stumbled over the strangest things.

The current situation was an example of the latter.

Pressing his hand against his pained back, Lawrence stood uneasily and gritted his teeth as he stepped down from the wagon bed. The sheep continued to baa and drift apart.

Forgetting about the flock for a moment, Lawrence embraced Holo from behind, who also seemed like she might drift apart piece by piece.

“No matter how hard Selim works, you can drink as much as you want right by the hearth.”

Though they did have to make a good impression on their newcomer, Holo probably lost some confidence imagining herself working so hard again, as they had been pretty relaxed recently.

“The reason I don’t scold you for sleeping in every day, going to the kitchen to eat four, five times a day, and grooming your tail whenever you have the chance is because I know you have your own proper work to do.”

If one thought of the bathhouse in Nyohhira as a flock, then Holo would be the one standing above Lawrence. And even though she looked like she did not do much of anything, he knew well that she was keeping a careful watch over her wards.

It was only Holo who could admonish the tomboyish and mischievous Myuri, and if she ordered the serious, hardworking Col to take a break, he would. He also understood that whenever she went to get a snack, Holo would call out for this and that in Hanna’s stead, who managed the kitchen.

Then, when Lawrence was down or nervous about something concerning the operation of the bathhouse, she would keep him steady, like inserting wedges into the gaps of a stone wall on the verge of collapse.

That was how the Spice and Wolf bathhouse ran smoothly. Even when Selim the new recruit arrived, he would not make his wife cut wood or start the fires or sprinkle salt on cheese before kneading it. Those jobs would be left to those who were capable. Holo was the only one who could shepherd the flock. As long as she did that, there was nothing for him to say.

If there was any problem to speak of, it was only that Holo herself did not much enjoy standing at the top.

So because of that, things like this happened.

If she were the kind of person to enjoy that, she would not have become flustered after learning Selim would be coming, and she would not conjure up any strange thoughts, either. Had her personality really been like that, then if anything, she would be eager to have a chance to train the girl.

“I’m sorry, I hadn’t noticed.”

He placed his hand on the staff she still held, and surprisingly, she tightened her grip.

“Sniff…I—I must watch over the sheep.”

The fact that she could talk like that even now showed just how determined she was.

And it made Lawrence feel much better than her saying, “I’m okay.”

“That’s true, but…they’re all running away.”

The sheep were steadily heading off on their own.

Lawrence thought that even though she could not do it all on her own, something could probably be done if he helped her.

“Here, let me see the staff. You have your majesty as a wolf, so you don’t need this.”

But still she would not let go.

“…That dog can do this, so…why…?”

Her words came out as a mumble. It seemed she did not want to lose to a dog, of all things, and her pride as a wolf was on the line.

“Isn’t that simply the skill of a professional? Even if the sheepdog is a dog.”

The chestnut-colored dog had flawlessly carried out his work, even sitting atop Horad’s shoulders. Lawrence could only imagine there had to be some trick to it. And there were times where it seemed that Holo managed to somehow keep them more or less all together, so there was probably some sort of method that could be relied on.

“It really is strange. I thought it would be impossible to watch over it all from the wagon bed. But if that sheepdog had a good leg, then his line of sight would be lower than most of the sheep, and yet he can still brilliantly keep the flock together.”

Logically, if their eyes lay below the level of the sheep, it was impossible to look out across over the entire flock.

And yet the dog still managed to keep the herd together, guiding them in the desired direction. It was almost like magic, but that could not be the case.

What did that mean?

He racked his brains, and a light suddenly flicked on in his head. It was obvious for a flock.

“Hey, Holo.”

He called out to her, and she turned. She looked like a little girl on the verge of tears, and in actuality, she really was ready to cry. As Lawrence wiped at the edges of her eyes with his thumb, he explained his thoughts to her. She seemed doubtful but must have decided it was worth trying.

Still holding the staff, she placed a foot onto a wheel and stood at the edge of the wagon bed.

Rising over the flock of unfettered sheep, she bent backward and took a deep breath.

Then she yelled a single word.

“Fools!”

She did not howl because if it reached Horad’s ears, he would have returned in a mad rush.

It seemed all the sheep responded the same way. Hearing the roar of a wolf, they all lifted their heads, bustling about in a big tumult. They all wanted to rush to a safe place, but the majority of sheep had no idea where to go, so they jostled one another and baaed incessantly.

It was in one corner of the flock that all the sheep were looking toward.

They were all focusing on one sheep, trying to keep in pace with it.

“I found it! ’Tis you!”

Holo waved the staff and pointed it straight at that sheep. The animal was not particularly large or extraordinary-looking, but with the staff pointed at it, the creature baaed pitifully, and the sheep in its vicinity immediately began to panic.

That sheep was the leader. Be it a flock of birds or sheep, there was a proper hierarchical order to the community, and having the leader under her thumb meant Holo could control them.

Holo drew the staff in an arc to the right, and the sheep under the intense stare of a wolf had no choice but to listen. The lead sheep plodded along, and the others followed. Interestingly enough, the sheep now moved as one.

“Heh.”

Completely the opposite from earlier, Holo stood on the wagon bed, smiling proudly. She must have been happy to live up to her reputation as a wolf. Once she understood the trick, it worked in an instant. She directed the sheep with only her chin and was making them endlessly circle the area.

It cheered her up considerably as she stepped down from the wagon to continue controlling the sheep while barely looking at them.

“Sometimes, we simply need to change our perspective.”

Lawrence shrugged, and Holo laughed in a slightly self-deprecating way.

“Because for the longest time, I have been gazing at only one sheep. But no matter.”

She clung to Lawrence.

“I’ve got it easy. I only ever need to look at just one wolf.”

“I shall not forgive your looking at other wolves.”

“Of course not.” He patted her head, and after a slow, relieved exhalation, he spoke. “You think you’ll be okay with bringing on Selim?”

Still clinging to Lawrence, Holo inhaled deeply, then stopped.

“I’m sure you’ll get along.”

“You fool.” Holo breathed and smiled. “I am not a child.”

Lawrence shrugged, agreeing with her, and Holo chuckled as she rubbed her face up against him.

The sheep bleated in annoyance as they kept walking around in circles.

Horad, who had safely dropped off his partner at the charcoal hut, soon returned, allowing them to hand the flock back over to him. Lawrence’s back still ached, but they needed to take their leave.

When they could no longer see Horad or his flock, Lawrence sat on the driver’s perch and gripped the reins.

“Well then, let’s go home.”

“Mm.”

Holo, sitting next to him, responded in her usual tone.

Not minding one bit that her feet were covered in mud, Holo rested her head on Lawrence’s shoulder, happily swishing her tail about.

Winter was almost over.

It was a new season, one of new beginnings.