Spice and Wolf - Volume 2 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

White breath trailed behind them as they walked. The exhalations warmed their cheeks momentarily, but with every breath, they soon turned to a painful chill.

The darkening sky had finally lost its patience, and just after midday, a thin drizzle began to fall as if shaved from some giant block of ice. Thus, Lawrence’s face was so cold he wondered if it had actually frozen, but whenever a bit of air found its way into his clothes, it was just pleasantly cool.

They ran—the people, the horses, the sheep, and the dog.

There were eyes on them, many of them. There were presences, too.

But no matter how watchful the group was, not a single howl was heard nor a single clump of fur seen, and eventually the weather and the hard effort robbed them of their ability to worry about wolves.

It was as if something had aimed for that gap.

By the time Holo noticed this, they were already surrounded by the wolves.

“Enek!”

Norah’s voice echoed, and Enek sprinted to the rear of the flock in a blur of black fur and white breath, driving on a lagging lamb.

The lamb sprinted desperately but was unable to distinguish between dog and wolf, and a wolf’s howls echoed as if to mock it.

The situation was clear. The cry had come from a wolf atop the rocky hills to the right as it tried to collect the sheep. In contrast, little howling could be heard from the forest on the left side—what could be heard were footfalls and panting.

On the far side of the ferns and undergrowth beneath the trees, Lawrence and the others ran side by side. Lawrence and Holo sat astride their horse; likewise, Liebert rode his. Norah’s bangs were plastered to her forehead from the sleet and sweat as she used both Enek and her staff to control the sheep.

When it came to the wolves—well, if they were surrounded, that would be the end. Wolves hunted very carefully, making sure none in their pack was injured in the process. There would be no plan to use a single wolf as bait, nor would a single member make a heroic attack on its own. Wolves were cautious to the end and always conducted themselves with cunning.

Thus, if the group could put themselves in a position to kill just one wolf as the pack tried to tighten the noose, they could free themselves from any further harassment.

Lawrence listened to Holo’s hasty explanation and saw that Norah moved to do just that.

A single wolf was visible in brief flashes, trying to get ahead and cut off their route, but it would be instantly diverted by either Enek being sent out ahead or Lawrence himself plunging ahead.

When the wolves moved to slowly close the loop, the sheep would be made to dash in some wild direction, breaking the line. For a shepherd, sheep are not poor children to be protected, but a shield—a weapon to be wielded like any other.

It was not Lawrence’s or Liebert’s time to act. Liebert was fully engaged holding his reins in one hand and keeping the gold within his jacket secure with the other.

For his part, Lawrence could only ask Holo what he should do.

“What to do, eh?”

The road was terrible and much worse on the back of a trotting horse. Impacts were constant, and it felt like one’s head was about to separate from one’s body. Keeping Holo, who sat in front of him, from being thrown off was work enough.

“What to do, indeed.”

Her enunciation was bad, and not necessarily just because the bumpy ride made it easy to bite one’s tongue when talking.

“Listen—”

“What?”

“About my explanation before—I take it back.”

“Explanation before?” Lawrence was about to ask when the grass diagonally behind them in the forest rustled, and immediately thereafter came the sound of claws digging into dirt.

Lawrence felt an intense chill run down his back, as if wings were about to sprout there. It was not a chill that could be described as merely hot or cold. It was a message of danger from the very grave.

“Enek!”

With nearly superhuman intuition, Norah sensed the attack as she ran well ahead with the sheep. She quickly raised her staff to summon her black-furred knight, but their last hope was the hill that lay ahead.

Naturally the wolves realized this as well.

A brown whirl came streaking at the legs of Lawrence’s horse.

It was do or die. Lawrence was about to pull back on the reins with all he had, but Holo put her hand out and stopped him.

Then looking over her shoulder, she spoke.

“Fall back.”

The reason Lawrence understood that she had spoken to none other than the wolves themselves was that the surging pack suddenly wheeled aside and stopped, as if struck by arrows.

Norah, Lawrence, and the others weren’t the only ones surprised. The bemusement of the halted wolves themselves was obvious just by looking at them.

Yet Lawrence could neither praise the feat as amazing nor give his thanks to Holo for saving them.

Holo’s normally red-brown eyes flashed ruby bright.

To look on her was to be afraid; Holo the Wisewolf was among them.

“The humans, as well.”

Her cold voice reminded Lawrence of when he’d first seen her true form.

“Youngsters these days, I suppose I could say.”

Lawrence wondered for a moment what she was talking about, when suddenly he realized what she meant.

Though the immediate danger had passed, Norah did not understand why; doubt tinged her face. But there was no time to think. Preparing to face whatever crisis came next, Enek steadily carried out the rapid-fire orders given to him by his mistress.

Liebert clung desperately to his horse, trying only to avoid dropping the gold.

If they kept going at this speed, they would be able to put the forest behind them by sundown.

And to put this danger behind them, they had no choice but to try.

Then it resounded.

At first it seemed like the wind—there was a whoosh as the icy drizzle was blown back momentarily into the sky.

But it was soon clear that this was a strange wind indeed.

A normal gale didn’t chill one’s core the way this one did.

The wind was immediately followed by the sound.

A tremendous, forest-splitting roar battered their eardrums from one side.

“…!”

The overwhelming blast was enough to freeze a person’s breath.

The horses stopped. The sheep stopped. Even the gallant sheepdog was frozen in his tracks.

The violent roar seemed to nail everyone to the ground.

They stood as statues, looking into the forest.

“Listen—,” said Holo quietly to Lawrence. Everything was still; the only sound was the drizzle falling on the earth. “This is a trouble I must bear. When I send the girl and the kid on, you’ll have to stay back for a time as well.”

“Wha—why?”

There in the stillness, Norah and Liebert did not seem to take notice of Holo and Lawrence’s exchange as they glared unblinkingly into the forest.

But it wasn’t that they hadn’t noticed.

It was the same as a hound that had cornered a bird—even as the hunter moved its hand to strike, the bird could not fly away.

They were unable to take their eyes off the forest.

“Because what’s in that forest is no normal wolf. You understand, yes?”

Holo slowly looked away from the forest, turning to Lawrence.

His legs went weak at those eyes.

Her expression was well past displeasure; her eyes flashed with such anger that Lawrence wondered if she might rage at the very cobblestones in the road.

Her breath was slow, like the breathing of a demon-horse in hell.

“If I go along with them, the pack will chase the sheep no longer. Those sheep are not their aim.”

She turned back to the forest.

“Such cheap bluster. Such rough pride. Both prized by the young, I suppose.”

Holo was still mostly within Lawrence’s arms, and she seemed almost to swell as she spoke.

It took Lawrence a moment to realize that it was from the swishing of her tail beneath her robe.

“Go! They won’t move until you speak. You’re my partner—and partners cooperate, do they not?”

Holo’s expression was suddenly softer, and Lawrence found himself nodding.

He was a merchant and generally hopeless at anything save business.

For Holo’s part, there was none who knew more of wolves than she did.

“We’ll take it from here. The two of you take the gold and go on as planned!” Lawrence hadn’t planned to shout, but Norah and Liebert snapped out of their reveries as though they had heard voices in the middle of the night.

There were no objections. In situations like this, to leave the seemingly weak ones behind as a sacrifice so that the strong can live on was a well-used tactic.

But they did look at him questioningly—“Is it really all right?” their eyes asked.

No matter how established the tactic, what was possible for a grizzled mercenary band was not so for a regular traveler.

“We shall meet at the walls of Ruvinheigen. And we’ll all be rich.” Of course, Holo had no intentions of becoming a sacrifice, but there was no way for the others to know that. At the same time, she could not very well explain herself, so she just smiled lightly as she spoke.

She was taking advantage of human nature. People wouldn’t waste the sacrifice of someone facing near-certain death with a smile and a faint hope. A clever wolf knew how to use that fact.

Liebert was the first to nod his agreement, followed by Norah.

Norah waved her staff, and time seemed to start moving again.

“The fortunes of war be with you,” said Liebert. Norah gave Holo a look more eloquent than words and then soon turned away. As he heard the sound of the sheep starting to run, Liebert followed after them.

Holo watched all this, then turned to Lawrence.

“You’ll need to stay away. If you get close, it could go badly. You understand, I know.”

Instead of answering, Lawrence took Holo’s hand before she dismounted from the horse.

“I won’t let you lose,” he said.

Her hand was surprisingly hot, and she returned his squeeze.

“Were you a proper male, I’d at least get a kiss for my trouble here.” Holo grinned for a moment before her expression tightened, and she hopped off the horse.

“Oh, that’s right. Here, take this for me,” she said, undoing the sash at her waist and taking her robe off quickly.

Her flowing chestnut hair, pointed wolf ears, and fluffy wolf tail were all exposed.

As was the slightly swaying wheat-filled leather pouch around her neck.

“It is my hope that this will all conclude peacefully, but I don’t know how it will go. When we meet up again, it will be cold if I’m naked, and a bit of a problem for you, too, I should think,” she said with a smile and then looked to the forest, unmoving.

Her tail bristled as though struck by lightning.

Lawrence hesitated over what to say.

What finally came out was short: “Let’s meet again.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before spurring the horse on.

Saying he didn’t want to remain there would have been a lie.

But what could he accomplish if he did? Lawrence knew Holo’s true form. Even if she were cornered by mercenaries or bandits, she could get away.

Lawrence drove the horse on. The sleet got heavier.

His face was strained and not just because of the cold.

For the first time in his life, he cursed himself for not being born a knight.

It appeared that Norah and Liebert had traveled some distance ahead in a short time. Lawrence did as he was told and had the horse at a gallop in order to put distance between himself and Holo, but even running at a fair pace, he had yet to catch sight of Norah or Liebert.

He no longer felt those unpleasant gazes, so this was probably a good opportunity to make progress. That was certainly true from Norah and Liebert’s perspective—they would not want to waste Lawrence and Holo’s deaths.

Lawrence smiled grimly to himself at the thought, and the concern about losing his way flitted in and out of his mind.

However, it soon dispersed. He was not especially familiar with the territory, but once the sun went down, he would have to stop, and he couldn’t lose his way while at a standstill.

As long as he kept the hills to his right and the forest to his left, he would not stray too far off course.

Additionally, farther down the way the grass was clipped short and called a road, and if he followed that, it would take him straight to Ruvinheigen. Even if he never caught up with Norah and Liebert, there was little to be worried about.

Lawrence was more worried that his horse would stumble over a stone and fall, so he pulled back on the reins to slow the animal and then looked back over his shoulder.

Holo had long since disappeared behind him, but if the wolves changed their minds and came after him, they would cover the distance quickly.

He fought back the temptation to stay there and turned forward again, spurring the horse on to a walk.

He had Holo’s robe; it was still warm. It seemed like a bad omen to leave clothing behind as a token. Lawrence felt himself grip the robe tightly.

But if Holo found it necessary to take wolf form, she would be in trouble if she had no clothes to change into.

She was even more rational than Lawrence the merchant.

Lawrence sighed deeply, shaking out the robe, which had a good deal of shed fur on it, probably from Holo’s tail. He folded the garment up and stuffed it inside his own coat, which was already fairly wet, but that was better than holding it under his arm. Holo had taken the most dangerous role of all, so the least he could do was make sure her clothes weren’t soaking wet when she returned.

The drizzle was getting heavier; it would be real rain by nightfall.

Lawrence continued on horseback for a bit, then stopped in the middle of the path, deciding that he had come far enough. Even if he had not put a lot of distance between them, it would require some effort for Holo to catch up with him—assuming she was in human form.

However, standing there in the middle of the road was tantamount to suicide. The cold had already numbed Lawrence’s hands as they gripped the reins. It would be better to take shelter in the forest and keep an eye out for Holo coming down the road. He was worried about freezing to death before she ever found him.

Lawrence dismounted under the trees at the edge of the forest, looking back up the road. The space between the forest and the hills was mostly open. Norah and Liebert had probably already cleared the edge of the forest and were making their way straight to Ruvinheigen.

They were moving faster than normal, so it was entirely possible.

If so, then truly the only thing that remained to be done was feeding the gold to the sheep and entering the city.

As long as that went well, the gold smuggling would have wiped out his debt and turned a large profit for him to boot.

Lawrence’s promised share would clear his debt and leave him with 150 lumione. That was a staggering amount of money, but still small in comparison to the total profit the smuggling would yield. They had bought up roughly six hundred lumione worth of gold, and avoiding the taxes on it meant that it would be multiplied tenfold. If he had been greedier, he probably could have gotten a larger share. After all, he was an accomplice to smuggling, a fact the rest could hardly ignore.

He stopped himself. Being greedy invited misfortune. It was the way of the world.

Lawrence tried to keep his mind off the cold as he gathered up what dry wood he could find, taking some tinder from a carefully waterproofed bag on the horse and starting a fire.

There was nothing around him. It was quiet without so much as a hint of an animal in the area.

As he dried his clothes, Lawrence wondered if Holo was all right, thinking of the robe she had taken off.

Such thoughts did him no good, he realized, but he couldn’t help himself. His was the sin of helplessness, he felt.

He kept watch over the plains as the drizzle continued to fall.

How long had he stared at the unmoving scenery? His clothes were mostly dry. The first log he had set fire to was now ash.

Perhaps he would go check on her.

The seductive thought began to fill his mind.

There was a change in his field of vision. He rubbed his eyes. There was no mistaking it. It was a person.

“Holo!” he shouted, standing in spite of himself and grabbing Holo’s now-dry clothes as he began to run. He would not possibly encounter anybody else in a place like this.

But as he ran out in the rain, he soon realized that it was not Holo.

There were three human forms, and they were on horseback.

“Mr. Lawrence, is that you?”

Apparently they had heard Lawrence’s voice as he called out.

And, when they called his name, Lawrence realized they were from the Remelio Company.

But what where they doing here?

“Mr. Lawrence, are you all right?”

He had no recollection of any of their faces. One had a bow at his back, a sword hung from the belt of another, and the third carried a long spear. Their faces and postures showed that they were more used to travel than a town merchant like Liebert, and they wore rain gear as though they were used to it and were ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

“We heard from Mr. Liebert—we couldn’t just stay at the company—so we came out and waited at the edge of the forest. Thank goodness you’re—”

The words cut off there.

The men, perhaps slightly older than Lawrence, had caught sight of the robe that he held.

It was Holo’s and thus on the smallish side and obviously for a woman.

The obvious conclusion was not a good one.

They must be thinking he held on to the robe as a last memento, that she had met with tragedy. They had surely heard him call out Holo’s name before.

As Lawrence expected, they looked at him sympathetically.

He tried to think of how he might clear up the misunderstanding when he noticed something strange.

The three men had simultaneously taken a deep breath, and Lawrence caught a glimpse of something like relief on their faces.

No doubt not a one of them thought this showed, but his merchant’s eye caught it. They were probably glad that Lawrence had not succumbed to despair and become impossible to manage.

“And your things?”

If they felt pity for this poor man whose beloved companion had been killed by wolves, the point for broaching the subject had passed. If they dwelt on the topic too long, there was no telling when his emotions would explode. It was often the strangely composed ones who were dangerous.

Knowing it would be foolish to try and explain the misunderstanding, Lawrence merely gestured behind him.

“Over there. The horse, as well.”

“I see. Let’s take some shelter for a bit.”

The tone was casual, but the three men’s expressions were tight as they dismounted.

They were probably wondering if they were going to find the girl’s wolf-mauled body.

Lawrence turned on his heel to lead them to his horse.

Some moments later, his mind went blank from shock.

“I won’t ask you not to think badly of us,” came a calm voice.

Lawrence’s left arm was twisted from behind, and a spear pointed at his flank. There was a sword at his throat.

The droplets that ran down his face were not only rain.

“…So the Remelio Company is betraying me?” Lawrence somehow managed to ask, stifling the cry as he felt his shoulder twisted.

It was luck that kept him from dropping Holo’s clothes.

“It’s insurance.”

The sword at his throat was pulled away so that he could be tied up.

The men confiscated Holo’s robe and bound Lawrence up like a piece of luggage.

“It weighed heavy on us to hear there would be a girl with you, so that’s lucky, anyway.”

The expressions of relief earlier were because Holo had not been there.

The men had known that if someone tried to be a hero, they would not pass the day without seeing blood.

“I know it will sound like an excuse, but we’re on the brink here. We have to eliminate any danger we can.”

The Remelio Company clearly assumed that Lawrence planned to blackmail them. Even if they did manage to come back from the edge of bankruptcy by smuggling gold, anyone who knew that fact had as good as a knife to the company’s throat.

I would never do something so stupid, Lawrence thought to himself, but then he realized he had been thinking of it just a moment ago.

A large enough amount of money could cloud anyone’s eyes.

Those who chose the path of the merchant knew this.

“You can keep the robe.”

Holo’s clothing was tossed at Lawrence’s bound hands.

Lawrence grabbed at the robe with all his strength, somehow sealing away his anger at this betrayal.

The fact that they had tied him up meant that he was not going to find himself impaled on a blade immediately. He could not get himself killed for pointless resistance. However, it was plain to see that the men had no intention of letting him live, either.

They were probably wondering whether to simply leave him in the cold or in the forest, where the wolves might come. It was a reasonable question, as far as it went.

But there was something important the men had overlooked. They thought Holo was dead.

If Lawrence could rejoin her, all kinds of revenge became possible.

He could not die here. He had to repay this betrayal.

The anger was a cold stone in his gut as Lawrence feigned meek resignation.

“Don’t think it doesn’t wound me that I can’t say we’ll meet again.”

Lawrence’s forehead burned at the man’s casual speech, but he bore it silently, not looking over his shoulder.

“It’s depressing to think about what happens next.”

“Hey,” interrupted another of the Remelio Company men, as if to warn off unnecessary chatter.

What could possibly be depressing now at this last stage?

It was something that Lawrence mustn’t hear apparently, even though he was about to die.

“C’mon, let us talk. I can’t just keep quiet. You’re the same, right?”

The one being addressed was at a loss for words for a moment. Lawrence ignored his own rage in order to listen.

What were they talking about?

“But that’s the girl this guy had with him. Who cares if he hears—”

It can’t be, his heart cried out within him.

“See, look—”

The man in front of Lawrence delivered a vicious kick to him at the same time that another punched his face.

Lawrence’s head swam from the brutal shock, and when he came to, he was lying prostrate on the ground.

He couldn’t tell whether the blockage in his nose was mud or blood. All he felt was a terrible fury that raced through him.

His vision sparkled from the shock, and he wasn’t even sure what had happened to his body.

But he heard every word that was said.

“What if we just tie her up like this poor bastard? The wolves will just finish them off for us.”

“Don’t be stupid. Who knows what kind of pagan magic she used to get the sheep through that forest unharmed. We could blindfold her, tie both hands, and leave her here, and they’d still survive. And then we’d be the ones in trouble. But…it’s depressing, I’ll say that. Won’t be able to eat for a while if we lay a hand on the girl, that’s for sure.”

They were clearly talking about Norah.

They were talking about killing her.

If the Remelio Company’s solution to the risk of blackmail was murder, they could not very well let Norah live, either.

They would probably pass the checkpoint on the way to Ruvinheigen and then kill her after handing off the sheep to another shepherd. Norah was the only shepherd whose presence in this area wasn’t suspicious, so they could not kill her until after the checkpoint.

“Shouldn’t we finish this guy off?”

“What, you wanna do it?”

“Hey, the less killing the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’m with you.”

“We’ve got the horse, so let’s go. If we don’t hurry, we’ll catch it from Mr. Liebert.”

Their footsteps receded only to be followed by the sound of horses’ hooves.

After that, all Lawrence could hear was the sound of the drizzle. Pathetically, he began to cry.

The sin of helplessness.

Lawrence squeezed his eyes shut.

If only he were as strong as Holo, he would not have had to leave her to face danger alone, and he would not have to be resigned to this betrayal, to say nothing of having to listen while his enemies plotted the murder of the girl he himself had hired.

Norah was not like Holo. She didn’t have pagan magic or any special powers. If sliced with a sword, her skin would split and her blood would flow.

Enek might be of some help, but it was a faint hope. No matter how gallant a dog, he would be helpless in the face of a surprise attack.

Lawrence wanted to at least spare Norah this.

He thought of her when they had spoken on the hill overlooking Lamtra.

She was smarter and tougher than she looked, and she knew her shepherding days were over. She had pinned her hopes on this unusual job.

She wanted to become a dressmaker after the severe life of the shepherd. It must have seemed a nearly impossible dream.

How much the possibility that it might come to pass must have thrilled her heart!

It was, of course, a fool’s errand letting one’s heart go aflutter at a mere hope, but for one’s demise to be brought through treachery—that was another matter.

Norah would do the job given her. She had to receive her compensation.

This was true of Lawrence himself as well, of course, and once he reunited with Holo, he had the hope of exacting as much retribution as he wanted.

However, Norah’s journey would end at the tip of a sword.

Using his maddening frustration as fuel, Lawrence forced his prostrate body to move. His hands were still bound behind his back, but by putting his face against the ground, he brought his knees under him to his chest, and in one movement, he raised his head and righted himself.

Apparently one nostril was blocked with mud and the other with blood. He snorted violently to clear his nose and then inhaled the cold air to cool his head—not that his head became any cooler.

He stood and began to walk unsteadily. He did not notice that his bound hands still held Holo’s clothing until he came to the spot where his horse had been taken from him.

The fire had been kicked apart and scattered, but there were still some red glowing embers.

Lawrence left Holo’s clothing where it wouldn’t get wet and took a deep breath.

Then, he sat down very carefully next to the largest ember, checking his orientation to it several times.

He paused to ready himself.

Throwing himself down, Lawrence pressed his bound wrists against the hot coal.

The rope crackled as it burned, and a terrible heat assaulted his wrists. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw to withstand the pain.

The next moment, his hands were suddenly free.

He had loosened his bonds.

Lawrence stood immediately and looked at his wrists. There were a few burns but nothing serious.

He was not so stupid as to grab the nearest handy stick and go chasing after his betrayers.

He knew that waiting for Holo was his best and only option. A simple traveling merchant was powerless alone.

A merchant did not have pride the way a knight or a townsperson did. He was prepared to lick anybody’s boots if it meant turning a profit.

So whence came this feeling of humiliation?

Lawrence stood rooted to the spot and looked up at the sky.

The leaves on the trees shielded him from the rain and made him think of whatever cosmic force it was that allowed him only to crawl in the dirt; he couldn’t bear it and looked down.

His eyes landed upon the robe Holo had worn.

Once again, he shed tears at his own helplessness.

“A tearful reunion, eh?”

Eventually unable to contain himself, Lawrence had run through the rain and encountered Holo just as he was running out of breath.

Holo was in her human form, uninjured and looking much the same as when they had parted ways. The knees of her trousers were dirty; perhaps she had tripped somewhere along the way.

“You look terrible,” she said with an amused smile.

“We are betrayed.”

“I’m not so naive as to think you saw that and fell,” said Holo with a sigh. “I cannot say it didn’t occur to me. They were from the company, yes?”

Her lack of surprise or shock suggested that she had vaguely anticipated betrayal, but since the entire plan was founded on mutual trust, she could not easily suggest the possibility. For Lawrence’s part, even if he had been told in advance, he would not necessarily have known what to do. It was an unmistakable reality that nothing could happen without the Remelio Company’s cooperation.

Holo smiled briefly and drew close to Lawrence, sniffing as she took his hands. She seemed to notice the burns. “Honestly, I would’ve found you soon enough. You didn’t have to do this.”

She twitched her nose again, then stuck her hand into Lawrence’s coat, pulling her robe out.

Holo seemed surprised and wiped her face against the cloth. Her drizzle-soaked face was much improved.

She giggled. “You are a strange one, protecting my clothes with your life.”

Holo’s tail bristled in contrast to her delighted expression upon seeing the folded robe.

When she looked back at Lawrence, she still smiled, and he could have melted into her burning red eyes.

“There is something I need to say. I must be completely frank,” she said, her fangs showing when she flashed a grin. “I may have to kill someone,” she said, then continued before Lawrence could interrupt.

“I thought that if this plan didn’t go well, I’d no longer be able to travel with you. The thought made me dreadfully lonely. Thus, I bore it. I let things go peaceably, I came along with you quickly, and I put up with things because I thought we’d soon be sipping hot potato soup in front of the fireplace. I am the Wisewolf of Yoitsu, Holo. I can forget the pride of a youngster if need be…”

Lawrence looked down at the mud on Holo’s knees.

It had been no normal wolf in the forest, and it had not been after the sheep. There were few possibilities.

A territorial dispute.

Given that, the actions Holo took to “let things go peaceably” became clearer and clearer.

A wisewolf would never stumble clumsily over a stone, dirtying her knees.

“No, listen. That was all well and good. I am Holo the Wisewolf. If I am made to act like a mere dog, I—I shall still not be angry. But what is this? This soaked mouse standing in front of me, face swollen, covered in mud? Has my companion been so foolish as to trip and fall? And with burns on his wrists! Oh, indeed. Before me is a fine fool, who doesn’t give a second thought to his own appearance but protects my robe against the rain with his life. A dunce indeed! I’ve no idea what to do with such unbelievable softheartedness.”

Holo gave her whole speech in one long breath, then inhaled deeply as she rubbed her eyes. “Well, then. I take it we’re off to Ruvinheigen?” she said, suddenly back to her normal self.

Her arms and legs were covered with scratches and trembled. Lawrence didn’t think it was because of the cold. This was Holo when she was truly angry.

“If we go now, we can enter the city under cover of darkness. The master always takes responsibility for betrayal. This is the truth of the world.”

Holo thrust her robe back at Lawrence, then untied the opening of the leather pouch around her neck, and popped a few grains of wheat into her mouth. There was no hesitation.

“Wait, there’s Liebert and Norah,” interjected Lawrence, now that he finally had an opportunity to speak.

Holo’s eyebrows shot up. “Think it through. Betrayal demands revenge. Sin must have punishment. But plunging in without thinking will give us no satisfaction. We can’t be satisfied until we’ve taken everything from them. Do you not agree? Consider. If we attack the lot that came for you, dealing with the gold afterward becomes difficult. But we’ll go first to the master’s house and make him good and sorry, then strike at the ones who so happily betrayed you. Then, we have but to butcher the sheep, take the gold, and go wherever we may please. I daresay this is the best plan.”

Despite her anger, Holo’s mind was as clear and agile as ever. Her plan almost entirely eclipsed Lawrence’s.

However, there was a reason he had to abandon this excellent plan.

“I feel the same way, but we must first get to Liebert—and quickly.”

“You have a better plan?” asked Holo after gulping down the grains of wheat.

Her expression was unreadable, and Lawrence got the feeling that if he misspoke here, he would feel the full force of whatever swirled behind that mask.

Nonetheless, he could not abandon Norah.

“The Remelio Company plans to murder Norah.”

Holo smiled thinly. “Yes, and those fools planned to kill you as well, yet you lived. She, too, may survive, don’t you think?”

“If you go to save her, she will definitely be safe.”

“Is that so?”

Lawrence found himself faintly irritated at Holo’s mischievous look.

Why was she acting like this?

Time was short. If Norah and Liebert ran through the night, they might make it through the checkpoint to Ruvinheigen before dawn. And if it came to that, Norah would be killed shortly thereafter.

The probability was high.

“You could defeat a hundred armed men in a flash, could you not?” asked Lawrence impatiently, but Holo only shook her head slowly.

“That is not the problem.”

Then what is the problem, Lawrence wanted to say.

“I am a wolf. The girl is a shepherd. We are eternal antagonists.”

For just a moment, Lawrence wondered why Holo was dragging that out again now, but then he realized something important.

If Holo attacked Liebert and the others in her wolf form, it was quite possible that Norah would try to protect them.

In that case, there was a risk that Liebert would kill Norah, so could Holo explain that she was only there for the Remelio men? Would Norah even accept that?

If she didn’t, Holo would wind up playing the villain.

Even in the best of times, Holo hated shepherds. It was obvious that she did not want to go to such lengths just to save Norah, and Lawrence couldn’t force her to.

“I know there’s nothing in it for you—far from it, in fact. But can I not ask this of you? An innocent person is about to die, and I can’t just turn the other way.”

Holo looked askance irritably as Lawrence tried to convince her. She was the only one who could save Norah.

“I’ll owe you some thanks, of course.”

Holo twitched one ear and looked at him.

“…What sort of thanks?”

“As long as you don’t say anything like ‘In exchange for her life,’ I’ll give you whatever I can,” said Lawrence, trying to strike out the possibility of Holo making such a demand.

Upon hearing his words, her face turned severe; she had probably been planning to do just that.

“Please. You’re the only one.”

Holo’s face stayed as irritated as ever as she lazily waved her sodden tail with discontent. She held her leather wheat pouch in her hand and folded her arms, exhaling whitely in the cold air.

“Holo…”

Lawrence knew there was a limit to what he could do. Moreover, Holo had endured humiliation in order that his gold smuggling could proceed. She had dirtied her knees and been made, she said, to act like a dog—he could imagine any number of awful appearances that might have been forced on her.

Then having endured that humiliation, she finds that her partner has been betrayed and made to look like a fool.

He couldn’t criticize her and was already thankful that she was willing to assume her wolf form and strike at the Remelio Company. Asking for any more was the height of selfishness.

Holo exhaled a puff of air.

She smiled, looking almost resigned.

“Come now, don’t use that voice with me,” she said, heaving a sigh. “Here, take this. Also, I suppose I’d best take off my clothes. It would be troublesome to arrange for new ones.”

“You’ll do it?”

“There is a condition,” said Holo as she undid the sash that held her trousers up. Her expression was unreadable.

Lawrence gulped and waited.

“You’ll understand if I don’t guarantee the lives of those who bother me.”

If Norah took Holo for an enemy and protected Liebert and company, she would be spared no mercy, in other words.

He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

No—she was surely serious.

Holo had spoken without particularly looking at Lawrence. Her breathing was neither fast nor slow.

Lawrence mustered all of his business cunning in response. “Very well. I trust you.”

Puffs of white vapor appeared as Holo laughed as if giving in. “You’ve gotten quite clever. Exactly what sort of troublesome fellow am I traveling with?”

She shook her head lightly and quickly took off her blouse and trousers. She then kicked off her shoes roughly and, after collecting them, tossed them at Lawrence.

“What, no words of admiration yet?” she said, putting a hand to her hip, turning around, and looking over her shoulder.

It was a small price to pay.

“It’s a magnificent tail,” Lawrence said.

“Mm, that was a bit monotone, but I suppose it will do.”

Holo turned to face him. “Now, then, be so kind as to close your eyes.”

She had no problems being nude, but evidently she did not want him to witness her transformation.

Lawrence had no desire to oppose Holo on this. His feelings on the matter were complicated as he well knew from the Pazzio incident.

He closed his eyes and waited.

Soon there was a murmuring sort of rumble, like a great throng of mice running, and it was followed by the sound of something growing larger. Then he heard the shifting of something huge waving to and fro in the air and finally the heavy footfalls of a large animal.

Lawrence felt hot breath on his face.

When he opened his eyes, there was a gigantic mouth directly in front of him.

“If you’d flinched, I was thinking of eating your head first.”

“Well, it is fairly frightening,” answered Lawrence honestly as Holo’s red-tinged irises seemed to stare right through him.

He trusted her, after all.

Perhaps she smiled a bit with her well-fanged mouth. There was a slight snarl.

“Shall I carry you in my mouth or on my back, then?”

“Spare me your mouth, please.”

“You might find it surprisingly comfortable.”

“I might be tempted by the warmth and find myself in your stomach.”

“Hee-hee-hee. Come, on my back now. Grab on to my fur; it won’t hurt. Hold on as tightly as you need.”

Holo’s body had a mysterious heat to it, like standing by a campfire.

Lawrence faltered a bit at her intimidating aura, which seemed to make even the rain move aside, but once he had roughly wrapped up her clothes and slung them under his arm, he did as he was told and, grabbing her fur, climbed atop the great wolf.

She had an animalistic scent to her, unlike a human, but it was distinctly Holo nonetheless.

“If you fall, I’ll snatch you up in my jaws.”

“I’ll make sure not to.”

He could tell that she smiled.

“You know—”

“What?”

“I truly hate shepherds.”

For a moment, Lawrence didn’t know why she bothered repeating this, but when he realized it was simply her true feelings, he pointed one thing out.

“Norah knows that whether this job succeeds or fails, she’ll have to give up shepherding.”

Lawrence felt a low rumbling; Holo was growling.

“By way of thanks, you’d best buy me more honeyed peach preserves than I can possibly eat.”

Then Lawrence was assaulted by a terrible sensation that he was about to slip off as, beneath him, Holo’s huge body began to run.

He held on to her fur for dear life, pressing himself down, desperate not to fall off the wisewolf, who accelerated with shocking force. The wind in his ears sounded like a rushing, flooding river.

But he also felt something else from the huge body that had left him so terrified when he had first seen it—it filled him with an indistinct warmth.

Holo’s endurance was infinite, and she could run faster than any horse, but even so, they were unable to put the forest behind them until the sun was beginning to set.

Her feet bit into the earth and the landscape grew dimmer, as though candles were being put out one by one. The rain was relentless, and Holo’s breath trailed behind them like a cloud.

Soon they found the road to Ruvinheigen. Holo turned right with no hesitation and gathered still more speed.

Occasionally, while on her back, Lawrence could hear a sound distinct from her breathing; perhaps it was her growling.

She had said she might kill someone.

At the time, Lawrence had thought she planned to stop just short of killing anyone.

If not, there was no “might” about it. There was not a human alive who could survive Holo’s claws and fangs.

“Hey,” came Holo’s sudden voice. There was too much tension in her voice for it to be idle chatter. “We’ll be upon them soon. I don’t mind a bit if you stay on my back, but you might not like it. I’m going to jump clear over them. I’ll crouch down right afterward, so you jump off then.”

“Understood.”

“If you dillydally, I’ll shake you right off.”

Lawrence couldn’t respond, and Holo plunged ahead, accelerating with terrifying speed.

He wondered if this was what it would be like to ride an arrow shot from a bow when he heard Holo take a deep breath.

Then it echoed, a thunderous howl.

Suddenly the steady pounding of Holo’s stride ceased.

They were flying.

The only way to come close to the sensation would be to jump a horse off a cliff—but terrifyingly, the feeling lasted. Lawrence clung to Holo’s body as they fell for an agonizingly long time. Now? Now? Now? Lawrence’s mind cried out, wondering when the landing would come.

When he finally felt the impact of Holo’s feet striking the ground, Lawrence wasn’t sure if he was still alive.

He was afraid he would be flung off from the sudden deceleration when Holo suddenly wheeled around and crouched low.

“Off you go,” she said quietly.

Lawrence remembered what he had been told before. The terror of the leap had not faded, but he managed to climb off Holo’s back and make it to the ground without falling. There was a tiny moment of relief, then Holo got to her feet.

“Leave the rest to me,” she said and dashed off, Lawrence scrambling to follow her.

Holo leapt into her hunting grounds in a twinkling, and despite the gathering gloom, Lawrence could clearly see the confusion caused by the giant wolf appearing in her prey’s midst.

There were close to twenty people. The Remelio Company men raised a cry, and Lawrence somehow saw that Norah was among them. They had made it in time.

Holo stood in the middle of the maelstrom. Some of the men brandished long spears, but they might as well have been waving white flags. With the spear tips pointed high, they flourished the weapons uselessly back and forth; the extent of their disarray was obvious.

In the middle of all that, something that looked like a ball of mud would occasionally be sent flying. It was difficult to tell in the darkness, but they seemed to be people—Lawrence could see their hands flap wildly as they searched for the ground that had suddenly disappeared.

If Holo had been seriously striking people with her paws, they would surely be dead, so perhaps she was batting them aside on purpose.

One man was flung into the air—now two—and the long swords that were hurled at Holo in panic made high keening sounds as they were deflected away.

With the darkness beginning to take control, the swords were hit away from Holo so high and hard that Lawrence’s eyes could not follow them. He got close enough to Holo to hear her breathing before the swords started to strike the earth near him.

Lawrence could tell they had been hurled quite high because the swords came down with such force that they buried themselves up to their hilts in the ground.

The Remelio Company had bet everything on this operation and had dispatched too many people to kill Lawrence and Norah.

However, the majority of them now lay unconscious, sprawled on the ground like stunned frogs, occasionally trampled on by the panicked sheep that ran around in circles.

“Protect the sheep and the shepherd!”

Lawrence drew a sharp breath at the voice.

It was Liebert.

He looked and saw that the young manager was one of the few taking rational action.

Keeping his panicking horse in check, Liebert waved a spear and shouted orders from a slight remove.

His timid nature while traveling with Lawrence and the rest had apparently been an act to get them to lower their guard.

If the man was cunning and careful enough to carry off this intricate betrayal, he was certainly capable of that much.

“Protect the shepherd! Run! Run!” Liebert called out again. Even if he planned to kill Norah eventually, she was still critical for getting the gold through the checkpoint.

Despite the resolute orders and the brave attempts of some Remelio men to carry them out, in the face of an attack by Holo obviously designed to smash their hopes, many of the men cried out and took flight. Holo ignored the stout few who still brandished their swords or spears and chased after the panicked.

It was a devilish tactic.

Once Holo pounced on one from behind, she would roll him over, then send the poor cowering fellow flying with a flick of her nose.

This all happened so quickly that it seemed it could not last much longer.

The number of men still standing had been steadily winnowed.

Now it was just Liebert on his horse, a petrified Norah, and Enek valiantly trying to protect her.

Holo shook her great head.

Something splattered—rain or sweat or blood.

“Sh-sh-shepherd! Protect me! Protect me!” Liebert cried out, clutching his chest, but it was unclear whether that was because his heart was on the verge of failure or to protect the gold in his coat.

Liebert screamed, looking not unlike the statues of sinners suffering in hell that decorated churches, but by some miracle, he controlled his horse and stayed behind Norah along with her sheep.

She may have been a shepherd, but Norah was a girl of delicate build.

The display made Lawrence nauseous—and Liebert had planned to kill both him and the girl.

Just as Norah was about to crumple from terror, the shepherdess seemed to remember her duty.

With an uncertain hand, she raised her staff aloft, ringing the bell at its end, and Enek crouched low, as though ready to receive directions.

Holo looked at Norah head-on, lowering her huge body like a loaded catapult.

Lawrence’s breath caught. Holo was serious. At this rate, Norah could be killed.

Between the darkness and the sudden confusion caused by Holo’s appearance, no one had noticed Lawrence some small distance away.

He thought if he identified himself, then at least Norah would recognize the giant wolf as Holo.

There was the risk of tipping Liebert off, but Lawrence was trying to think realistically.

There was no way that Holo would let him leave unharmed.

Lawrence had to make his presence known.

He was about to shout when—

“Shepherd! I’ll give you three hundred lumione to protect me!”

In the midst of her fright, having raised her staff mostly by reflex, Norah’s expression suddenly changed.

Three hundred lumione could do that to a person.

Norah silenced her bell. Her face began to fill with resolve.

Liebert, with his snakelike cunning, seemed to sense it.

He turned his horse’s head around and began to gallop away at full speed.

Lawrence cried out in a strangled voice.

Norah, true to her profession, swung her staff.

It was too late.

The realization exploded in Lawrence’s head as time seemed to slow down.

Enek and Holo, though their sizes were vastly different, assumed the same posture, like arrows in a bow the moment before taking flight.

Norah’s staff was still, pointing straight at Holo.

Lawrence thought he heard a bell ring, quietly—ting!

“—!”

Lawrence shouted something, but whether it was Holo’s name or Norah’s, he didn’t know—if it even was a name.

His strained eyes watched Enek and Holo for the barest hint of movement.

Thus, he saw the instant when the gallant sheepdog and the huge, godlike wolf pounced.

He was sure that in the next instant he would see Enek’s body ripped through by Holo’s massive claws before those same claws were turned on his mistress.

Then those paws would stretch farther out and render their judgment on another unworthy existence, turning it into a mass of gore not even fit to be butchered.

Regret.

Lawrence didn’t even know what or how he regretted, only that regret now filled his soul.

And then—

“Enek, wait!”

Those words were like some magic signal, restoring time to its normal flow.

Holo’s huge form leapt through the air like a stone hurled from a catapult, clearing both the dog and his mistress and landing among the sheep, which scattered chaotically.

Immediately upon landing, Holo sprung forward after the fleeing Liebert, whose desire for money had reduced him to a swine.

When the man turned back and saw the wolf pursuing him, Lawrence caught a glimpse of his pathetic face.

A short scream tore the air, but it was soon silenced.

Holo ran lightly for a few more paces, then stopped.

Norah still held Enek.

However, Lawrence could tell that it wasn’t from fright that she clung to him.

Somehow, Norah knew. She either knew that the giant wolf was Holo or that it wasn’t trying to attack them, but in either case, she knew not to let Enek give chase.

She had cast aside her staff—something no shepherd ever did—and desperately held on to Enek to stop him.

That wasn’t fear.

“Norah!” Lawrence shouted and ran toward her, still worried that she was hurt.

Still restraining Enek, Norah looked up, shocked, and was doubly so upon seeing Lawrence. She then turned slowly to Holo, this time unsurprised.

Her aspect suggested that she both did and did not understand.

The emotion in Lawrence’s chest practically exploded from his mouth. “I’m so glad you’re all right!”

Norah could see that the giant wolf responsible for all of this was still unhurt, so she had no idea how to react to these words. She looked to Lawrence with a dazed expression on her face, overwhelmed.

“The wolf is Holo. My companion, I mean.”

Norah smiled awkwardly; she probably thought it was some kind of joke.

She gave a little gasp as Holo came bounding up to them. A pair of legs protruded from Holo’s mouth.

“You didn’t kill him?”

Lawrence himself had felt a certain homicidal urge when he had seen Liebert use Norah as a shield. If it had been up to Lawrence, he would have killed the man.

Given the legs dangling from Holo’s mouth, the matter would seem to be settled, but instead of replying, Holo shook her head slightly and let the man drop to the ground. Soaked with saliva, Liebert fell with an unpleasant splat.

“I thought about swallowing him, I’ll admit.” Holo seemed to smile. “But gold doesn’t agree with my stomach.”

She sniffed lightly and inclined her chin toward Liebert.

“Take the gold,” she seemed to be saying.

“I think it was in his coat…Ugh, he’s soaked,” Lawrence complained, when a huge snout poked him. He begrudgingly peeled back Liebert’s warm, wet clothes and easily found the bag of gold.

“There it is. The genuine article,” he said upon opening the bag and seeing the gold grains inside.

“Norah,” he said, tossing the bag to the shepherdess.

Holo gave Lawrence an aggravated look, which he ignored.

“The job’s still not done. You’re the one that has to get that gold into the city.”

The massive wolf heaved a huge sigh. Surprised, Norah glanced at Holo but then turned back to Lawrence. “B-but…how are you still alive?”

Lawrence gave a pained grimace. After meeting up with his comrades, Liebert had sent men back to the forest to “save” Lawrence.

But those same men had returned without him, which meant that Lawrence and Holo had surely died.

Lawrence tried to think of where to begin his explanation of events when he felt the air stir and, looking over his shoulder, saw Holo raise her front leg and bring it down hard.

“—Urghyaaaaa!”

There was a loud crack, like a thick tree branch breaking, followed by an ear-splitting shriek that echoed in the darkness.

It seemed excessive to Lawrence, but also well deserved.

After his shriek died down, Liebert—whose left leg had just been broken by Holo’s forepaw—flapped his mouth wordlessly, eyes open.

“Good evening, Mr. Liebert! And how fare you tonight?”

“Wh-wha…Uh? H-how are youuuugghghh!”

“Holo. Honeyed peach preserves.”

As if by magic, those words dispelled Holo’s reinvigorated anger, and she reluctantly took her paw off the man’s broken leg.

“Mr. Liebert. Mr. Liebert! Would you be so kind as to explain to Norah how while you were getting dressed you, shall we say, got the buttons wrong, please?”

Liebert wiped the sweat from his forehead, and for a minute, his merchant sense showed past the terror and pain—it was the shrewd face of a merchant who understood the situation and was trying to discern how to save his own life.

“Mr. Liebert!”

“It—it wasn’t me! It was Remelio’s orders. I told him not to do it. I told him betrayal would call down God’s wrath. I swear, I was against it—”

“As you can see, this is no ordinary wolf. Think of it as a representative of almighty God. In other words, lies will not avail you,” said Lawrence.

Liebert’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked up at Holo with despair in his eyes.

Slowly, very slowly, Holo’s white breath emerged from between her teeth.

“I-I-I, I th-thought, I thought we were paying too much compensation. Remelio, too. At this rate we’d use all the p-profit paying our debts and have nothing to keep. Remelio told me to do something about it. I h-had to. I had no choice. Y-you underst-stand, don’t you? After all, we’re both merch—”

He was cut off when Lawrence punched him in the nose.

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Holo laughed heartily, taking her paw off the again unconscious Liebert.

“So that is how it is. The Remelio Company had planned to kill you, Norah. I swear this to you—they betrayed us.”

Norah’s expression was blank, but the situation seemed to be slowly seeping into her head nonetheless.

She looked up slowly at Lawrence.

“B-but, what about the wolves in the forest…?”

“That was something else,” interjected Holo, causing Norah to give a small yelp of surprise. Holo’s voice carried well, after all.

“I am Holo, the Wisewolf of Yoitsu. What was in that forest was nothing more than a brat whose only redeeming feature was its sense of territory. I’ve prudence enough to avoid a pointless fight over something like that.”

Norah listened to Holo with a half-credulous expression, then smiled helplessly as she slowly let go of Enek. “I don’t know why, Miss Holo, but somehow when you say it, I kind of believe you.”

“Incidentally, your dog was never smitten with me. He simply realized my true form. I thought I should let you know.”

“Wha—?” said Norah, surprised, at which point Enek gave a single angry bark.

“Now then, Norah, back to the issue at hand,” said Lawrence. He felt bad about changing the subject yet again, but the affair was not yet settled.

The gold was still in transit, and Lawrence’s debt was yet unpaid. There was also the issue of what to do about the Remelio Company.

“We’re in the middle of a kind of storm right now. However, by the grace of God, somehow we’ve recovered the gold. If Liebert is to be believed, it’s worth six hundred lumione. However, if we can bring it into Ruvinheigen and sell it to a broker, we should get close to ten times that—six thousand lumione.”

Norah seemed to quail at the huge figures, which were so big that even Lawrence had trouble wrapping his head around them.

“Six thousand is far more than we could possibly take receipt of, and even without facing that danger, we have six hundred in hand right now. However…”

“How…ever?”

“However, while it is true that it’s the Remelio Company’s fault that this plan has been more eventful than anybody would’ve liked, it is also true that without their investment, we never would have been able to buy the gold. And if we take the gold and run, they will be left ruined, bankrupt immediately. Thus—”

Holo nudged the side of Lawrence’s face with her nose and not in a playful fashion.

Lawrence understood what she was trying to do.

“Thus, I propose the following.”

“Now, hold—,” Holo began, her tone displeased, but Lawrence would not yield.

“Holo. We do not live in a fairy-tale world. We cannot simply take revenge on those who have betrayed us and say, ‘The end.’ We have to live on after this. And taking revenge for betrayal only invites more revenge.”

“Well, then—”

“Are you going to tell me you’d kill the entire ruined company?”

“Um—”

“In the end, I don’t want the bread I buy tomorrow to have been paid for in blood. There are many ways to end this, but if we want to have a life tomorrow, we have to choose to do so.”

Holo’s amber eyes closed.

She looked away.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be freezing to death by the forest right now. I’m well aware that if you hadn’t been here, all would be lost, and I thank you for hearing my plea. But—”

“Enough. Enough, I say. Ah, my travel companion is tiresome beyond words!” said Holo, hitting Lawrence’s head lightly with her chin. It hurt, but if this satisfied her selfishness, it was a small price to pay.

“Then here’s what I’ll have you do.”

“You may as well! Let me just say this—I’ll carry out whatever duties your undoubtedly tiresome plan asks of me, so you may as well ask away.”

Lawrence smiled, thankful beyond words, and took a deep breath before turning back to Norah.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s what I propose we do.”

Having listened to the strange exchange between Holo and Lawrence, Norah straightened herself and looked up.

“I’d like you to decide whether or not to bring the gold into Ruvinheigen.”

“Wha—?”

It was an obvious question. Without any further risk, she had six hundred lumione on hand. Of course, six thousand was an unimaginable gain over that, but it would mean risking her life again.

“However, if you bring it into Ruvinheigen, the huge profit will save both us and the Remelio Company.”

At this, Norah let slip a small “Oh.”

“On the other hand, if you decide to take it, then all of these fallen men here, along with their families in Ruvinheigen and the other remnants of the company, will all glimpse hell. Some of them will not be spared its wrath. But in their hearts, they will bear a grudge against three demons—that is to say, me, Holo, and you, Norah.”

Even for someone who lived by travel, being the object of such animosity from so many people could make life far more dangerous. Business consisted of exchanges between people. The location of Lawrence, Holo, and Norah would eventually be found and swords put to their throats.

There was another important point to make.

“Of course, if we flee to some foreign land with a foreign tongue, we can live as though nothing happened. But even living without the fear of revenge, suppose you came across a slave with a familiar face being whipped like a workhorse? Would you be able to sleep that night?”

Lawrence paused, allowing the words to sink in.

“However, I will have the Remelio Company make amends.”

Holo grinned unpleasantly.

“We’re headed there next. For your part, Norah, please make your decision by tomorrow morning. If you decide to bring the gold into Ruvinheigen, we’ll meet at the same plaza where we first discussed this. I’ll go into the city first, secure a trustworthy butcher, and wait by the eastern gate for one day. If you decide not to bring it in…Hm. Let us meet in Poroson.”

This plan did, of course, leave room for another betrayal.

Norah could take all of the gold herself and set off for some other town.

For all of them to live on without regret, though, it would be best if she brought the gold into Ruvinheigen so the Remelio Company could be saved and the money divided equitably.

Lawrence had to consider what to do if Norah were caught at the checkpoint, though. Without exception, gold smugglers were executed in the plaza, so he would just have Holo rescue her if need be. Holo had promised to do as he asked, after all, no matter how tiresome the task.

Lawrence wasn’t particularly trying to give Norah time to think, but in any case, while waiting for her reply, he went among the unconscious Remelio men and tied them up. He had no rope, so he used the sleeves of their coats. Even if the men cooperated to undo the knots, none of them seemed in any condition to do anything strenuous.

“Well then, Norah. We’ll meet again,” said Lawrence once he finished binding the men and had Holo knock out the few who were regaining consciousness.

He didn’t say that to try and persuade her of anything in particular.

It was merely to ascertain her trust and bring about a favorable outcome for all.

The moon shone vaguely through the thick clouds.

“M-Mr. Lawrence!”

He stopped as she called his name.

“We-we’ll meet again!”

He looked over his shoulder to see her holding her staff.

“We will,” he said. “And we’ll be rich.”

Norah smiled and nodded.

Enek barked and began to round up the sheep.

“Well, now.”

After they walked for a while, Lawrence starting thinking about riding on Holo’s back, but she had apparently already anticipated that and spoke up just in time to cut him off.

“What?” he said, just slightly irritated. He was sure she had chosen that exact moment on purpose.

“Might I hear the truth now?”

Holo looked at him evenly with her large eyes. Lies would not avail him—he had told Liebert the same thing.

Lawrence was aware of the pained grimace that distorted his face.

“Let me keep up the pretense a bit longer.”

“Heh-heh. No.”

Looking at her happily wagging tail, Lawrence knew she would keep asking until he relented.

He quickly gave up the deception.

“That’s not enough gold.”

“Oh ho.”

“There is no way that’s six hundred lumione. It’s a hundred, at best.”

“Your share would be used up just paying your debt. If she doesn’t smuggle it in, there’ll be no profit at all.”

The tip of her big tail brushed against the back of his neck. He slapped it away; she growled playfully.

“The Remelio Company must be up against the wall. They must have scraped together a hundred lumione hoping just to get by on that. Of course, they knew from the start they’d have to pay us enough to keep our mouths shut, but that’s precisely why they got on board the plan with us in the first place.”

And yet Lawrence’s position was such that he had no choice but to trust and rely on that same company.

“Hmph. Still, that was certainly a skillful excuse you gave her. You’re like unto a saint.”

“It was mostly sincere.”

“…”

Holo chuckled through her nose, then stopped, and crouched down.

“Get on.”

“What, no more interrogation?”

“I tire of your foolishness.”

Narrowing her amber eyes, she nudged him with her muzzle.

It was but a light touch, yet Lawrence nearly stumbled and fell, though his fear at Holo’s wolf form was by now entirely gone.

“Still, we’re not just saving the Remelio Company out of charity.”

“Oh?”

Lawrence grabbed on to Holo’s fur and brought his legs up.

“No. We’re doing it to make more money for ourselves.”

He swung his legs quickly over her back.

“More money, eh? I cannot say I follow you.”

“Merchants can convert all sorts of things into money. I have to be of some occasional use.”

At first, he thought she was teasing him, but Holo’s laugh was genuine.

“I look forward to observing your skill, sir!”

Holo got to her feet and began to walk, soon breaking into a run.

The golden moon was occasionally visible in the dark sky.

Perhaps owing to the rain that had fallen since noon, the Ruvinheigen night was exceptionally quiet.

“…Th-there must be some kind of problem. Right? Like when you’ve forgotten to put salt in the soup.”

Lawrence knew only too well that merchants were people who, no matter the circumstance, lived by telling lies.

However, trust was important, even among liars—merchants were strange creatures indeed.

Lawrence pondered this.

“I-I don’t know what Liebert said. I’m sure it sounded like heaven’s own truth, as if he were confessing before an altar. But it was a lie! He lies about everything! I’ve been thinking about firing him—I swear!”

The man’s voice was hoarse and difficult to hear through the emotion, but this was no delicate business negotiation. As long as Lawrence could understand the gist, it was good enough.

“Mr. Remelio.”

“Y-y-yaaagh!”

Remelio gave a short cry because his head was firmly clamped between Holo’s jaws, and he felt her increase the pressure just a bit.

Lawrence and Holo were fortunate that he had been alone in the office, waiting for his employees to return.

Just a moment ago, Holo had jumped over the city walls with unbelievable ease. Lawrence had planned to reenter the city with Holo in human form and simply claim they had been waylaid by bandits, but Holo, who could sense any presence on the other side of the wall, said simply, “It’s safe,” and cleared it with a single leap. It had been so easy that Lawrence wondered if they could have avoided all this trouble in the first place and smuggled the gold in themselves.

They entered the city unseen and, once Holo had temporarily returned to her human form, stole quietly to the Remelio Company.

Remelio had been expecting the return of his men, so when he saw Holo and Lawrence, he made quite a face.

He was now tied up and on the floor, head trapped between Holo’s terrifying teeth, looking as though he might die from terror.

It seemed imprudent to let Remelio see Holo’s wolf form, but he and Lawrence both shared the secret of the gold smuggling. If Remelio wanted to go to the Church with the revelation, let him—there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence.

No merchant would speak of his opponent’s weakness when his opponent could easily do the same to him.

Also, letting Holo terrify Remelio would make her feel better, and the overwhelming terror would discourage the master from trying to exact revenge on them later.

Unsurprisingly, the results had been immense.

“The jaws that now hold your head between their teeth are the jaws of truth, my friend. If you lie, they will know. Also, this wolf is hungry from being made to run all night, I hear. If you lie, your head may just be devoured.”

Holo’s fangs squeezed just slightly harder against Remelio’s temple.

He couldn’t even scream anymore.

“All right, Mr. Remelio. Know that I have not returned to take revenge for your betrayal. I’ve come to talk business.”

A bit of light returned to Remelio’s eyes at the word business, perhaps realizing that business was about making deals, and if a deal could be made there was the possibility that he would not die here.

“Our negotiations begin now. Feel free to lie in your interest as much as you wish. However, the wolf here is far more discerning than I and can see the hidden meaning behind your every word. If you do anything clumsy, you may wind up a head shorter. Are we clear?”

With his head stuck in Holo’s jaws, Remelio couldn’t very well nod, but he tried to, and that was good enough.

“Then let’s begin,” said Lawrence frankly. “In the event that we succeed in the gold smuggling, might I ask you to purchase it from us at five hundred lumione?”

Remelio’s eyes were literally dots.

“We are still accomplices to smuggling. Surely you didn’t think we’d come back to take revenge on you after making off with the gold?”

The salt-and-pepper-haired Remelio nodded like a chastened child, at which Lawrence grinned bitterly. “Well, I won’t say there’s no chance of that, but no, I don’t think so. But if we don’t talk about what to do when we succeed—well, we might wind up disagreeing, mightn’t we?”

Holo chuckled deep in her throat, causing Remelio’s head to quiver along with her mouth; his face tensed in a nervous grin.

“So, I’ll say it again. Might I ask you to purchase the gold from us at five hundred lumione?”

Remelio’s face was distorted with despair—he knew how much the gold bought in Lamtra was really worth.

“I can’t possibly do—”

“Of course, I don’t expect it all in cash up front. Let’s see. Perhaps you could write me an IOU?”

In that moment, the master of the Remelio Company showed the intelligence that had gotten him his position.

He made a pained expression when he understood what Lawrence was saying and begged for mercy. “F-five hundred, that’s simply—”

“Too much? Well, hmm. In that case, I’ll just take whatever you’ve hidden away here and sell the gold to someone else.” Lawrence exchanged a look with Holo, then added, “Also, I’ll let that demon there have your life.”

Holo hated being called a god, but she apparently didn’t mind being called a demon.

Her tail swished through the air, and she panted dramatically.

All expression drained rapidly from Remelio’s face.

If Lawrence’s guess was right, it meant Remelio would now do whatever they asked.

“You see, Mr. Remelio, I don’t think it’s fair to lose everything because of a single failure. We can’t perfectly predict every price drop, can we? So I want to give you another chance. But I want you to be grateful for it, and I want that to take the form of five hundred lumione. You’ve built a wonderful company with a magnificent loading dock in a city like this. If you think in terms of decades, surely five hundred is a bargain.”

Remelio’s eyes opened wide, and after a moment, he began to cry.

If he could rebuild his business, paying five hundred lumione back over the course of ten years was far from an unreasonable proposition. A traveling merchant was no match for a trading company in that regard.

Perhaps those tears were from the prospect of managing a revived company.

“So you’ll write the note, then? Holo—”

Upon hearing her name, Holo sighed and reluctantly released Remelio, nudging his head with the tip of her nose.

Lawrence untied the rope that bound Remelio and continued. “The terms will be yearly installments over ten years. The first will be ten lumione. The last will be one hundred. You understand, yes?”

It meant that the debt would increase every year. Added all up it came to 550 lumione, but that was still an excellent interest rate.

If Remelio could get his company running successfully again, it would not be a difficult amount to manage.

“You can write it out at that desk.”

Remelio nodded and accepted Lawrence’s hand to get to his feet. His feet were still tied, so he tottered over to the desk and sat.

“S-so, should this be payable to…,” began Remelio, turning around.

Lawrence smiled and answered, “The Rowen Trade Guild.”

Remelio grinned almost sadly, realizing he would never be able to run from this debt.

If Lawrence held the loan personally, then as the years passed and Remelio gained strength, he could get revenge or default on the repayment. Also, Lawrence dreaded the thought of having to return every year to the people who had wronged him in order to demand his money.

And more important still was the Remelio Company’s current utter lack of assets. No matter how many IOUs he might hold, Lawrence would see none of this money for a year. Even if the debt he had originally owed the company was now gone, the profits from the gold smuggling might be used up compensating Norah and paying obligations for the Remelio Company’s recovery. In the worst case, Norah might not even get her consideration.

But all those problems were solved by having the trade guild to which Lawrence was attached hold the loan. By selling the IOU to the Rowen Trade Guild relatively cheaply, he could cut his ties with the Remelio Company and convert ten years of repayment into immediate cash.

Also, defaulting on a loan held by a trade guild was like declaring war on another city. The Remelio Company would never dare to default.

“You’re a formidable man.”

“Not as formidable as the wolf,” Lawrence answered smoothly.

The wolf found the joke funnier than anyone.

“Now, all we need to do is pray the smuggling succeeds.”