Spice and Wolf - Volume 21 - Chapter 1

BEYOND THE STEAM AND WOLF

Like a sharp ax stroke, she woke with a start.

The rapid heartbeats she felt while still under the covers were likely the traces of some sort of nightmare. This had been going on for a few days now.

Selim stared at the ceiling, breathing slowly. Then she closed her eyes. You can relax here, she told herself. She was sleeping in a room that had a real roof, nestled in a bed with proper linens that bugs wouldn’t crawl out from. The blankets were soft and warm. A faint, sweet smell clung to them, perhaps from perfumed oil. It was a blessed environment that would’ve been unthinkable during her long journey.

Through an odd bond, she had ended up living here in the hot spring village of Nyohhira at the end of her wanderings that had started in the south. The fact that she had managed to get a job at one of the more respected bathhouses, Spice and Wolf, wasn’t so much good luck as it was a small miracle.

That was why when she first started working at the bathhouse, she only ever had nightmares. They were the sort of dreams where she’d do something like sneak into the storage shed of a village she’d found during her travels, hoping to finally catch a wink of sleep, only to find herself engulfed in flames instead.

Haunted by her fears and unable to believe her good fortune, Selim had continued to brace herself, suspecting that everything would come crashing down sooner or later.

That all stopped when the cold part of the year in Nyohhira, which dragged on and on in the far reaches of the northlands, finally gave way to the greener season of renewal.

If asked whether her work was tough, Selim would say it was certainly not easy, but neither was it harsh. She had taken jobs in the past from the merchant companies of large cities, the farming villages out in the countryside, and the noble villas established in bucolic lands. Working in a bathhouse was like a combination of all three.

It was like a company in that so many people came and went and the business’s stock often reached astronomical numbers; the resemblance to a farming village was due to how they often procured, cooked, processed, and stored most of their meat, fish, and vegetables, usually in preparation for the coming season, and how they typically covered the costs of building maintenance by themselves as well; on the other hand, the similarity to a noble’s villa was due to the bathhouse’s need to be furnished with a certain degree of formality in order to properly receive its guests. There were so many different things the staff had to do, and there was no end to it, like counting all the grains of sand in the desert.

That being said, Selim was never struck by anyone while they yelled at her to work more, nor was she ever condescendingly handed a piece of moldy bread after a day of grueling hard labor. Even if she made a mistake in her work, her kind boss never got mad but instead investigated what caused the mistake in the first place and even improved her working conditions based on what he figured out.

Selim turned over onto her side, and when she shifted her gaze to the desk beside her, there she saw further proof of her boss’s intelligence and kindness. A round, polished piece of curved glass glinted as it caught the moonlight filtering through a small gap in the window. It was part of a device called spectacles—carefully shaped pieces of glass that let her clearly see even the smallest of writing once she wore them over her eyes.

She had had no idea that her eyesight was not as good as others’. All this time, she had simply assumed that she ran into things, often mistook objects, and wrote words incorrectly because she was dim-witted.

When her boss and bathhouse owner Lawrence first handed the spectacles to her, she had been so happy and excited that she spent the whole night reading under the moonlight.

The night Selim received the spectacles was the same night she first wished she could work in this bathhouse forever. The exact moment was when she peered up at the golden moon through the lenses.

But…

Selim closed her eyes and sighed. She had been feeling down as of late.

Her dreams were becoming horrible ordeals again. To be specific, she had started having a different sort of nightmares from the ones she had before.

“Phew…”

Selim was fed up with her own weakness. She was sure that if her older brother saw her like this, he would no doubt scold her.

But…Selim wanted to make excuses. She buried her face in her pillow and squeezed it tight. She tried to stamp out her unease that way, but of course it didn’t work.

As she continued doing her best to quiet her troubled heart, through her window, she heard footsteps and a bucket being tossed into a well.

It seemed like the first one to get up was the head of the kitchen—Hanna.

Simply preparing breakfast and making preliminary arrangements for serving the food for the rest of the day was a massive undertaking. Selim had to help her.

Just as she was about to sit up and leave her bed, she buried her face in the pillow and sighed into it one last time.

Once she had completely expelled every last bit of breath, Selim lifted her head and rose in resignation.

Today was the start of another day.

Morning duties included drawing water, cleaning, and kindling the fires—plus, bread making happened every other day when there were guests in the bathhouse and every four days during the off-seasons.

Selim had kneaded some dough, let it rest, and then headed off to the village’s communal bread oven to bake the bread once the sun began to rise.

Anyone who wanted to bake bread usually brought just enough kindling to bake their own portions, but the oven would be cool at the start of the day, so whoever went first had to bring extra fuel. Anyone arriving afterward would not need as much, since the oven would already be warm. That was why the villagers drew straws to determine the order.

Of course, her boss and bathhouse owner Lawrence would never be angry with her for drawing the short stick. While that was not specifically the reason, Selim always preferred to go first. The reason was that the crowd that gathered around the oven was made up of village women who loved to gossip and pry.

Selim, who had appeared out of nowhere near the end of winter, was a prime target for them.

And Spice and Wolf was home to an inexhaustible number of other topics.

“I’m back.”

She had drawn a reasonable number that let her go fourth, but she had still been exposed to probing arrows while she waited for her bread to bake. By the time Selim returned to the kitchen, she had been gone long enough that it was well into morning and she was thoroughly worn out.

When she placed the basket filled with fresh bread onto the kitchen counter, the stout woman stirring the pot with a ladle, Hanna, glanced over at her.

“Why, hello. Good work out there.”

Hanna peeled back the cloth over the basket and nodded, satisfied. Selim was relieved to see that she had baked the bread to perfection this time as well. Her nose was better than the average person’s, so she could generally tell what was going on in the oven without looking. The only reason she would ever burn the bread would be because she lacked the skill and was too slow to take it out of the oven.

“I’m always impressed, Miss Wolf. It’s not undercooked, and it’s not too brown. We could put you to work in a bakery right away.”

“Only if I’m seeing to the timing of when to take the bread out of the oven. I might be able to keep track of baking by the scent, but I haven’t the strength to knead so much dough,” Selim said with a troubled smile, and Hanna returned it with a grin of her own.

At a glance, Selim seemed like any other young woman in the village, but that was an illusion.

Her true form was a white wolf, a resident of the forest who would live longer than any human.

“Right. You need to put on a little more weight, Selim. Your breakfast is there.”

Selim’s arm probably was not even half as thick as Hanna’s.

There was plenty of work in the bathhouse that involved manual labor, and if possible, she wanted to be sturdier for those duties.

That being said, Selim wasn’t much of a big eater, either because she had spent a long time on the road subsisting on the bare minimum or because that was her natural preference. She usually didn’t have much of an appetite in the morning, either. Still, sitting on the kitchen table was some bread made of wheat and rye accompanying a serving of vegetable soup and some salted meat.

Selim brought over a chair and grabbed a spoon—Hanna had gone through the trouble of cooking, after all, and eating properly could be considered part of her job—but then she stopped.

As she thought about how she needed to eat quickly and move on to her work for the day, a hand reached out to her from behind.

“I mixed boiled goat’s milk with wine, then stirred in some honey and breadcrumbs. You’d prefer that, right?”

Selim turned around; it was Hanna.

“Th-thank you…”

The mixture was much like a drink given to sick children, but it was also undoubtedly nutritious.

And its sweet aroma eased her tense throat.

“You’ve been out of sorts for a while now.”

Hanna spoke with a tired smile as Selim sipped the sweet, rich goat’s milk.

Selim unconsciously tensed her shoulders, and Hanna laughed, shaking with mirth.

“I’m not criticizing you. You’re diligent, Selim. You think too much sometimes.”

Hanna put her hands on her hips and emitted a tired sigh.

Today was not the first day that Hanna had been worried about her.

“But…”

As Selim was about to speak, two people noisily entered the kitchen. One was a tall and lanky young man and the other a short and stout middle-aged man. The first held a sieve filled with vegetables gathered from the mountain and the second, a basket filled with beans. It was clear they had been preparing ingredients.

“Miss Hanna, we finished bringing in the vegetables and shelling the beans…Oh, good morning, Miss Selim.”

“G-good morning…”

With the wooden bowl of goat’s milk in hand, Selim shrank down and slinked toward a corner of the kitchen.

“Wow, the bread smells great.”

As the shorter man idly commented on the aroma, the taller one promptly put away the sieve and basket they had carried in.

“Miss Hanna, what should we do next? We turned the cheese over earlier and scrubbed the surface with salt water. The cider cooled overnight, so maybe we should leave it by the fireside for a while.”

“Thanks, you two. Maybe I’ll have you make some jerky for the owners,” Hanna responded magnanimously and retrieved a large blade from a shelf.

Selim watched nervously, but Hanna spoke boldly.

“Or are you going to run away crying?”

Her provocative grin suited the stout woman well.

The two men who had come to the kitchen exchanged glances and smiled wryly.

“No, ma’am, of course not. There certainly was a time when I was new to it, though.”

“Ha-ha-ha, you make it sound like you’ve been thoroughly seasoned by the world.”

“What are you trying to say, hmm?”

As the two men casually traded banter, they took armfuls of deer meat and the large knife out the back of the kitchen.

After seeing them off, Hanna turned around to Selim.

“That’s the right attitude to have, if you ask me. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want any unnecessary concern, either.”

“…”

Selim looked up at Hanna with wide, rounded eyes but, in the end, dropped her gaze back down to the bowl in her hand.

That pair from earlier was one of the reasons why she had been feeling down lately.

It wasn’t that she particularly disliked them or anything. She simply was not sure how she should interact with them.

That was because Selim was the embodiment of a wolf, and they were the embodiments of a rabbit and a sheep.

“I might be a bird who’s fine with only nuts and fruits for my meals, but I won’t lose to the mistress when it comes to food.”

The proud Hanna also wasn’t human and neither was the bathhouse master Lawrence’s wife, Holo. She was a wolf, much like Selim, and she had once been known as the wisewolf, a legendary being with a massive, towering stature brimming with dignity. Selim owed her a great debt, and since Holo and her husband asked for nothing in return, Selim decided she would have worked for them until her body was ground into dust, even if Holo had been a mouse.

Still, there was no doubt that Selim found comfort in both of them being wolves.

Then eight other nonhumans came along.

At first, they simply visited the bathhouse as guests—but for some reason would end up helping out for a little while. Yet, they were all horses, rabbits, sheep, and birds—all people who ate greens, nuts, berries.

More than just being a wolf, there were plenty of other ways Selim found herself incompatible with the others. For one thing, they did not eat meat during meals, yet she, Holo, and the master, Lawrence, ate their kin.

She knew that these people were well traveled and worldly. They would not be shocked or resent others for such a thing. Otherwise, they never would’ve come to the bathhouse where Holo the Wisewolf was rumored to be in the first place.

In which case, asking them to make meat jerky and handing over an ax as Hanna had done shouldn’t have been any different from asking for fish jerky.

Of course, it wasn’t like Selim didn’t want to work with them. As a rule, bathhouses were busy, and it was dizzying when guests were visiting during the summer. The coming winter would be peak season here in Nyohhira, too. If anything, she was thankful for the extra sets of helping hands.

However, the reason Selim shrugged in front of Hanna was because of something else.

“Well, I guess you don’t exactly look like someone who’s got a knack for giving orders.”

When Hanna smiled wryly, Selim sighed. It was the same as all the other things that followed her to bed. She had completely forgotten about the contents of the bowl she was still holding while murmuring quietly.

“What are Lady Holo and Mr. Lawrence thinking…?”

It went without saying that she adored Holo and Lawrence. They had saved her when she was just about to be turned adrift from lack of planning and bad luck after coming all the way north on nothing but a faint sliver of hope. And even if they had not, their personalities were enough for her to love them on their own merits.

However, perhaps it was because they had lived a real fairy tale—a human merchant and wisewolf went on an epic journey, hand in hand, and came to open a bathhouse here in the northlands in the end. There was something fantastical about them, and they had announced something so far-fetched and out of the blue one day.

“How could they leave me in charge of the bathhouse…? Where will we be after just a single month, never mind six…?”

That was the reason why Selim barely ate, kept having nightmares, and did nothing but sigh as of late.

One morning, after Selim had woken up, ready to work hard to serve her bosses, Holo had informed her of a change.

“Listen, we shall be leaving on a journey until spring or summer next year. Will you run the bathhouse for us while we are away? Not to worry—you will have eight new pairs of hands to help!”

The very ones who saved Selim and her companions after they all drifted north were none other than Holo and Lawrence.

She couldn’t say no to any request of theirs.

“Well, I guess it would be a shock for anyone, suddenly being told you’re in charge of a bathhouse. Those two live in their own fairy tale, after all.” Hanna’s words were a slight comfort. This was her way of being considerate. “Still, they’re leaving you in charge because from their perspective, there’s no problem. Sir Lawrence is a merchant who’s mastered the ways of the human world, and Lady Holo goes without saying—she’s the wisewolf. Of course, she acts cute in front of Sir Lawrence, but…she’s sharp. They’re not the kind to ask for anything unreasonable.”

Logically, Selim understood what Hanna was saying.

She was probably right.

But there was something she could not quite swallow.

“But I just can’t shake the feeling that they have the wrong idea…that they’re overestimating me…”

“Really? I don’t think it can be considered anything less than good fortune that you’ve started working here.”

Selim looked to Hanna, who shrugged and started counting with her fingers.

“Look, you work from dawn till dusk without complaint, rarely taking breaks. Moreover, you can read and write. Even work involving numbers can be trusted to you. That’s not something I can do. I can’t count past ten.”

Selim doubted that was true, but Hanna never budged from the kitchen, so perhaps she had the temperament of an artisan who wanted to focus on only one thing.

“Plus, you settled in as Col’s replacement in the blink of an eye, taking over all that difficult writing stuff, no?”

Selim did not know Col personally, but she could tell by the neat writings he left behind that he was methodical, capable, and likely a very kind young man.

“That’s…only because they generously taught me how to do bookkeeping and put in orders…”

“No, no, you heard how Col was. He was a pushover when it came to both Lady Holo and young Myuri. They sometimes made him add unnecessary extras to our orders. Their things used to occupy a whole shelf here in the kitchen just to keep them hidden from Sir Lawrence, and boy, did that bug me. All of that came to a grinding halt when you took charge, Miss Selim.”

Selim had never met Lawrence and Holo’s only daughter, Myuri. From the stories she heard, Myuri seemed to be a wolf pup in her prime as a prankster, but that just went to show she was truly Holo’s daughter.

To Selim’s understanding, once she had taken charge of the books, all that sly business came to an end. Since Selim was a fellow wolf, there were appearances that had to be upheld.

“And to top it all off, you can make candles. You can do the mending. You know how to handle cheese, and you can brew liquor.”

“We lived with meager means while constantly on the move, so that’s all just…”

“What’re you talking about? I sometimes chat with the cooks in the other bathhouses, and they’re all full of chumps who won’t even peel a single onion.”

Is that how it is?

Selim was weak, so she tried to compensate by working as hard as she could, all so she wouldn’t be a burden on her older brother and the others.

She had never considered it extraordinary, so to be complimented for it was like listening to fish talk at the bottom of a lake.

“Anyway, those two figured that the bathhouse would be fine in your hands, Miss Selim.”

“Sigh…”

Selim was still not convinced, doubting she would be able to keep the bathhouse running properly.

Most of the people she would be giving orders to were basically strangers to her. Worse, none of them ate meat. And even if she was technically more familiar with the bathhouse than they were, she had been here only six months longer, at most. And as if that wasn’t enough, she still had no experience with the approaching height of winter season, which was arguably the busiest time of year.

Selim was beside herself with doubt, but when she heard Hanna’s heavy sigh, she lifted her head.

What she found was a kind but troubled smile.

“I guess the question is if you can gain some confidence…Let me tell you something fun.”

“Fun?”

An impish grin spread across Hanna’s face.

“I said they’re living in their own fairy tale, didn’t I? Even if the bathhouse is a total mess when they come back from their trip, I doubt they would mind much.”

“What?”

Selim’s eyes widened, and Hanna shrugged.

“What you’re worried about is whether you can take charge, keep the bathhouse running, and keep everything nice until they come back, right? I don’t think you need to worry too much about it.”

“B-but that’s—”

“That’s what I think after watching them for over a decade…But I guess you’ll just have to see it with your own eyes, too.”

Selim was skeptical of Hanna’s claims. That was because while Hanna was reliable, her personality seemed to give rise to a tendency to not bother with minor details. Hanna appeared to be the type of person who would thrive no matter where or how she lived. The look on Hanna’s face made it clear that she could tell how Selim saw her.

“Pretend you’re being duped and take a look at those two from that perspective. Besides, they’re in the middle of preparing for a journey. I think you’ll understand what I want to say.”

“…”

Selim still wasn’t convinced, but Hanna clapped her hands, almost like she was signaling that the conversation was over.

“Well, then, finish your soup and hurry back to work. The bosses are getting ready to depart, and we need to teach the greenhorns their jobs. We have to start making arrangements for winter soon, too.”

Right—Selim remembered her duties and snapped back to reality.

She still harbored a great many questions and worries in her heart, but she washed them all down with the goat’s milk in her bowl.

The sweet, warm drink was easy to finish, settling comfortably in her stomach.

“Th-thank you for the meal.”

She could feel it rising slightly, deep in her throat, since she had quaffed it all at once.

“Don’t mention it. Good luck with work today.”

Hanna would make lunch out of the untouched breakfast.

As Selim threw herself into her daily tasks, she thought in the corner of her mind about what Hanna had told her.

“Keep an eye on those two and you’ll see—” What exactly did she mean by that?

Selim turned the thought over in her mind as she rubbed her stomach, full from swallowing so much at once.

Then she burped because she had yet to fully digest her concerns.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that the owners of Spice and Wolf were going on a trip.

This was particularly true for Lawrence who, as a newcomer to the village, had to relay the news of their departure ahead of time because he wouldn’t be able to fulfill any village obligations while he was away.

He brought Selim along to the village warehouse that also served as the meeting hall to introduce her to the rest of the bathhouse owners as Spice and Wolf’s interim caretaker.

During her time on the road, Selim had gotten used to stares of contempt and suspicion that openly said, What can this little girl even do? That was because the only way she often managed to get work was by claiming she was an old hand at jobs she had never done before or by promising that she could do things that by all rights should’ve been impossible for her.

Yet, she was more aware than the other bathhouse owners could ever possibly be that there was no way she could ever fill Lawrence’s shoes.

Despite Selim’s certainty in this, Lawrence seemed to be completely unconcerned, and once she had been formally introduced, there was no going back. And, possibly thanks to Lawrence’s daily conduct, several bathhouse owners had voiced their sympathies and offered to assist Selim.

Though this was certainly not the first time she had to steel herself for an unavoidable task, Selim was feeling far tenser now than the various times her life had been in danger. She prayed that Lawrence and Holo’s journey would be delayed for just another day and that they would come home even one day earlier.

But the world never worked the way people wanted it to.

“Thirty silver suns from Mr. Henri, five gold lumione and twenty-three silver trenni from Mr. Dudley…”

Lawrence sat beside Selim at the accounting desk, reading information out loud as she wrote it down on paper.

The spacious desk was currently covered in items, and the pair sitting there were similarly getting buried by the amount of information that needed recording.

Before Selim stood stacks of incredibly valuable gold and silver coins, something she rarely got to touch during her life on the road. There was also a number of deeds blotted with moist black ink that stood out starkly.

“Fifty-three silver suns and fifteen silver ranburke from Mr. Hugo…”

The names Lawrence was rattling off belonged to different bathhouse owners in Nyohhira, and the coins were the amount they were asking Lawrence to exchange while on his journey. Gold and high-quality silver currencies were much too valuable to use for regular shopping. This inconvenience naturally made their owners want to trade them for coppers and other coins of smaller denominations.

The reason this task had fallen to Lawrence was because a worldwide boom in trade was apparently taking place, which in turn meant there was a systemic shortage in smaller coinage for making change and everyday shopping that affected every place of commerce, not just Nyohhira. The villagers wanted Lawrence to visit a money changer in the wider world if he was going to embark on a trip anyway.

And so, due to Lawrence’s popularity, bags stuffed with money filled the bathhouse’s large accounting table.

“…How much do we have now?”

Lawrence examined the bond—an official record of all the coins given to him so there would be no arguing as to who gave how much—and pinched the bridge of his nose. They had spent the whole day in front of the scales, weighing the coins to see if there were any notable imperfections or forgeries.

“Um…We have four hundred and twenty-two silver suns, forty-one gold lumione, twenty-two silver ryut, thirty-seven silver ranburke, twenty-two silvers of prince-bishop Tideryne…”

Running along the page Selim held was an unending parade of silver coins that Selim had never seen or heard of before in her life. Not only that, but they had been given an odd number of these coins. At the very bottom of the page, there were even some silvers they had only one or two pieces of.

Surely Lawrence hadn’t closed his eyes because they were tired.

“…Everyone sure has some nerve to hoist the stuff they don’t want to deal with onto me…”

I knew it, Selim silently thought to herself.

Anyone who travels knows that the variety of coins they encounter far exceeds the number of towns they visit. Especially when traveling to another region, the same silver coin could end up buying much more or much less. There were even times when a currency wasn’t accepted at all, which made things complicated.

In Nyohhira, where many patrons hailed from faraway lands, it was common for businesses to accumulate coins that were not in local circulation and were difficult to use in the region.

“Well, I don’t really mind the coins…It’s not like I’ll be carrying them all with me.”

Lawrence was a former traveling merchant, so he could draw upon plenty of mercantile magic.

Selim had initially assumed that he was going to set off with a heavy bag of coins, but it turned out that Lawrence was simply going to write the value down on a paper called a “money order” and take only that with him. The money order apparently served as a guarantee that any company would accept the note and exchange it for the written value in cash. If he could skillfully use it in a situation where it was treated as a company’s bond when he was on his way to town, then it had the same effect as physically carrying a whole mass of coins.

For someone who had spent such a long time traveling and had never been trusted by anyone she came across, the relationship of faith among merchants seemed like nothing less than magic.

“The real problem is that thing over there…”

Lawrence was looking at the horses and deer busily working beneath the eaves of the bathhouse, visible through the front door that had been left ajar. They were opening cloth bags of various shapes and sizes that had piled up outside, sniffing the insides, mixing the contents around, checking the weights, and jotting things down on the wax boards they held.

“Are you going to be selling all of it?” Selim asked cautiously, and Lawrence turned to her with the face of a dog that had been tricked while he kept poking at the scales in front of him.

“If I can’t sell all of it…I’ll still have to do something about it.”

Lawrence was sighing about bags stuffed to the brim with sulfur powder.

More precisely, it was not sulfur itself but a substance harvested from the waters of Nyohhira. It was a standard Nyohhira souvenir, since it gave people a chance to enjoy the feeling of the famous hot springs anywhere and anytime by simply adding it to their bathwater.

As popular as it was, the substance literally bubbled up alongside the spring water, so the villagers could harvest as much as they wanted.

The bathhouse masters, after getting word that Lawrence would be traveling, seized the opportunity to push onto Lawrence all the things that had piled up in their storehouses. They were hoping he would sell it off wherever he ended up going.

There was no questioning that Lawrence was a good-natured man, but since he was the newest bathhouse owner to arrive in Nyohhira, he did not have the option of turning down the requests of his predecessors.

Given her past life as a wanderer, Selim was keenly aware of how hard but also how important it was for a newcomer to adapt to a new place.

The inquisitive gazes she was always subject to in front of the bread oven could easily, and at any time, transform into hostile glares.

“Apparently, I can keep a portion of what I sell to cover my labor, which makes this a testimony to the other bathhouses’ trust in me. I’ll have to do my best to sell what I can,” the always-positive Lawrence said, a smile immediately crossing his face, before returning to his duty of weighing the coins.

As Selim watched her boss busy himself with work, there was nothing she could say. Even she sometimes found herself growing restless around this painfully honest and reliable man. She wanted to be of help to her kindhearted boss, but it was upsetting that she could not come up with any specific thing that she could do.

At the same time, she grew nervous again thinking about how easily she could ruin the trust that Lawrence had worked so hard to accrue in this village. If any problems cropped up while she was caring for the bathhouse, then Selim would have to deal with them as Lawrence’s representative when she was called for a meeting in town.

Furthermore, Selim had slowly gotten a grasp on the state of affairs in the village. It seemed like one of the reasons that Lawrence of Spice and Wolf couldn’t shake the newcomer treatment no matter how much time passed was due to the exceptional success of his bathhouse, which surpassed over half the other bathhouses in the village despite its relatively recent establishment. There were many who were not comfortable with being confronted by the success of a new face.

When Selim thought about how they shouldn’t give others a chance to take advantage of them in the first place, instead of holding it against the masters of the other bathhouses, she actually turned a slightly reproachful gaze toward her kind and wise boss.

Don’t give me this kind of responsibility.

In addition, now that Lawrence had been saddled with the sulfur powder and the duty of exchanging the large-denomination coins, it was clear that he had to take care of most, if not all, of his obligations before he could return to the village. That would essentially delay their return.

Even though she fully understood the situation, Selim wanted him and Holo to come back as soon as possible. She didn’t want to have to sit at this desk alone. While she wanted to live up to their expectations, that was exactly why she feared the vastness of the problem she had to face.

If she failed in any way, it would immediately hurt the boss she so adored, and since she was not that confident to begin with, the very idea made her want to cry.

As she thought about this and that, she heard familiar footsteps.

When she looked up, she saw Holo coming down the stairs.

“Well, that all seems rather important.”

That was the first thing she said after seeing the state of the desk.

Holo was in a slightly different state than usual—her wolf ears and tail were not hidden. She usually had a kerchief wrapped tightly around her head and kept her tail underneath her skirt.

“The most important thing is over there.”

Lawrence pointed outside. Holo sniffed and shrugged.

“I have been watching from the second floor. I feel as though my sense of smell will be thrown off by the incessant odor of sulfur.”

The baths were located in the back. Curiously, when no one was in the water, the strong scent of sulfur would waft into the rest of the building.

“Honestly, you must learn to keep your generosity within bounds. Do you not know how to refuse others?”

With less sulfur to sell and fewer coins to exchange, they would have been able to come back quicker. Selim mentally gave Holo’s words her full support.

“This is evidence of responsibility and trust. This means I’ve somewhat made a place for myself here in the village.”

Even though Lawrence was usually sharp, for some reason, he always seemed like an idiot in front of Holo.

“You fool. ’Tis their nice way of making you an errand boy.”

Holo struck down Lawrence’s claim, then came around the desk. When Selim tried to stand to give up her chair, Holo stopped her with a hand.

“Your work will still take some time, no?” Holo asked as she gazed at the mountain of coins and the scales resting on the desk.

“Things would go faster if you helped instead of pushing all your work onto Miss Selim.”

Selim was startled to hear her name, and her eyes met Holo’s.

Holo looked at her with gentle, smiling eyes before regarding Lawrence with a cool gaze.

“Fool. You are stingy and want to avoid doing any shopping in town, so I have a mountain of mending to do for the winter clothes we will wear on the road. Or perhaps you do not mind if I pilfer some of that gold there?”

Her true form aside, Holo’s human body was that of a slender girl who appeared younger than Selim. Her fingers were so slim that her thimble for mending almost seemed like an unwieldy gauntlet.

The height of autumn was fast approaching, and once winter finally arrived, warm clothes would be incredibly precious.

“I don’t mind, but whatever you take will be coming out of our food and drink budget while we’re on the road.”

Lawrence certainly wasn’t one to go down without a fight.

Holo pursed her lips.

Selim loved watching the two interact; she never tired of it. It gave her something akin to hope, seeing people who could be this happy in this world.

“So? What do you want? Did you just come to poke your nose in our business?”

“I was merely thinking about taking your measurements for furs. I hear the fur tailor came into town this morning. Every bathhouse has orders for winter, no? We need to put ours in quickly lest we are left with the scraps as requests pile up.”

“Yeah, that’s true…,” Lawrence said, and his gaze briefly flitted to Selim. It was an apologetic gaze characteristic of a kind person who was always considerate of those around him.

“I will take care of the rest,” Selim said.

“…I’m sorry. Thank you.”

When Selim smiled, Lawrence returned the look with relief before turning to Holo.

“Make it quick, please.”

“’Twould not be so much of a hassle if you had only maintained your old physique.”

“Urgh…”

Whenever Lawrence lost his composure—he had started to worry about his waistline lately—Holo smiled mischievously.

Then Holo the Wisewolf, who had lived for centuries and once reigned over a vast forest, stuck fast to Lawrence like the young girl she appeared to be as they climbed up the stairs together.

As Selim saw them off, a slight feeling of exasperation came over her, but it also brought relief to her tense face.

One of the reasons she hadn’t been crushed by the weight of the great responsibility she had been given was because no matter what, she wanted to avoid putting a damper on the intimate relationship between the two.

She could not bring herself to do anything that might harm their happiness.

Selim quietly repeated that to herself and began her work again.

Now that there were eight more of them, dinnertime became quite lively. As the master of the house, Lawrence occasionally ate at the same table as his guests, but Holo rarely did so because she had to hide her animal ears and tail. Her demeanor also made her seem aloof, but Selim had recently realized that Holo might be even shier than she was.

However, when their guests were other nonhumans, there were no such constraints. Holo boasted as she drank that no matter how drunk she got, no one would question her ears and tail, which earned her a disapproving look from Lawrence.

That being said, Selim could not exactly say that Holo was truly relaxed and enjoying her meal. While she seemed easygoing at a glance, she was actually being more attentive than anyone.

After dinner, Holo called Selim over. Once Selim finished clearing the dinner table and wrapping up all the preparations for the coming day that needed to be done before heading off to bed, she went outside and found Holo in a nearby cluster of trees. Surprisingly, she was on her own; Lawrence was probably having a pleasant chat with the others.

And when Selim saw her, she confirmed once again that Holo really did have a delicate personality.

That was because the mistress of the bathhouse had some jerky in her mouth, something Selim had not seen at dinner.

“I hardly have any appetite for a stew without meat,” Holo announced grumpily, perhaps noticing Selim’s gaze. Her behavior suggested that she did not know how to deal with her pent-up frustration, but the very reason their meals scarcely contained meat ever since the other nonhumans had started staying with them was very likely because Holo had specifically put in a request with Hanna. Her seemingly grumpy attitude was just a way to hide her embarrassment over being so thoughtful.

“In that case, we should have my brother treat us to some meat stew at his inn.”

When Holo called Selim outside, it was typically to accompany her to Selim’s older brother’s inn, which was across two mountains to the west. Selim had made her proposal thinking that it would be the same today.

“You fool. That is not why we are going today,” Holo said to her, and Selim cocked her head in confusion. “There is simply something I would like to ask him and the others regarding the upcoming trip. Well, we shall talk more soon…Let us be off. If we tarry and waste our time, it will bleed into tomorrow.”

“Y-yes.”

It was almost impossible for humans to cross the mountains at night on foot, so they would go in their original wolf forms. Just as they started hurriedly removing their clothes, Holo suddenly spoke.

“It would not cause any trouble for them should we request meat stew, would it?”

Pausing just as she was about to remove her waist wrap, Selim stared blankly at Holo.

Holo wore a shy smile.

If anyone asked, Selim would confidently say this was what she liked best about Holo.

“I’m sure my brother would be delighted. I heard he and the others hunted a rather large deer recently, and I think this is right about when they would be planning to eat it. The flavor becomes stronger after being dried out for a little while.”

“Oh-ho. I can hardly wait.”

Holo undressed in a flash and transformed into a wolf first. The lay of her fur was magnificent and her form was as majestic as always.

“What shall I do about your clothes? If we’re having a little stew, then perhaps I should bring them along with us.”

Holo typically either left her clothes with Lawrence or placed them in a hollow in one of the surrounding trees.

“Indeed. Fasten them to my tail.”

Selim nodded and used Holo’s waist binding to do so.

“And attach yours as well.”

As Selim stood there blinking, Holo’s mouth widened into a fang-filled smile.

“You would have me try to do the same with my claws?”

Selim smiled. That’s a fair point, she thought, so she added her own clothes, reverted to her wolf form, and then they both dashed into the nighttime mountains.

As Selim and Holo sped through the dark mountains, their destination soon came into view. It was originally a monastery, and it now provided lodging for pilgrims who had traveled from all over to visit the saint who was said to be sleeping in a building on the grounds.

When Selim thought about how she was the source of inspiration for the saint, she could feel her tail grow slightly itchy.

As they stood some distance away from the inn, Selim’s older brother came out to greet them in human form, having sniffed out their presence. Selim always found it funny how well the long-sleeve, clergy-style robes looked on her brother, who had once been in the mercenary business.

“Apologies for the sudden intrusion.”

“It’s all right. What can I help you with today? Do you require more meat?”

In order to cut down on their overhead, Spice and Wolf often had Selim’s older brother share some of the game he caught instead of buying meat in town.

In exchange, Lawrence purchased all the daily necessities Selim’s brother needed so that he did not have to go into town for every little thing.

“In truth, there is something I wish to ask you.”

“Oh…”

Her brother seemed slightly perplexed and looked to Selim for information. When their eyes met, she lowered her head slightly and looked up to him with rounded eyes, signaling that she did not know the reason, either.

“Were you busy?”

“Oh, no. We just have two curious guests staying with us now; we’re taking it easy.”

“Then, apologies, but I shall borrow some of your time.”

Holo returned to her human form after speaking. Even though she was just as unclothed when she was in her wolf form, Selim’s brother, Aram, still faithfully averted his eyes. Though it seemed a little strange, she understood why.

Selim followed suit, returning to her human form and putting on her clothes.

After righting the lay of the fur on her animal ears and tail, which had gotten mussed while she had been getting dressed, Holo spoke.

“Actually, what I would like to ask is about our kin.”

“Our kin…You mean, our fellow wolves?”

“We shall be journeying for a short while. And I thought I might use this occasion to see more of the world.”

Holo spoke casually, but Selim could tell she was slightly on edge. Aram seemed to detect it as well, and he looked to Selim again uneasily.

He had angered Holo before the very first time they met. It was possible that was the source of his current anxiety.

Selim spoke up instead.

“Lady Holo, that’s…”

With that, it seemed to dawn on Holo that the poor siblings were having difficulty following her train of thought. She flashed a troubled smile.

“Ahhh, my apologies. I have been thinking about investigating an old friend.”

Holo once lived in a land called Yoitsu. She left her home on a journey, eventually settling down in a faraway land. However, after spending ages away from her homeland, Holo had lost track of her friend. The closest she got to a reunion after centuries of being apart was finding a piece of her friend’s claw.

Holo’s daughter now carried her friend’s name, but at the end of the day, she still had no clue where her friend might be.

“I know not when my next opportunity to travel might be, and most of us are hidden among human society, no? I thought you might have some information, after traveling for so long from the far-flung south.”

“Um…In that case, I will do what I can to help.”

When Aram responded, Holo smiled to show her thanks.

“Ah, one more thing.”

Aram immediately straightened his posture. Angering Holo that one time really left a lasting impression on him.

“I am a bit peckish. I wouldn’t mind some meat stew, if you have any…”

Holo’s bashful way of speaking was incredibly charming. That playfulness was just right for Selim’s older brother, who was often rough and awkward.

After staring at her blankly for a moment, Aram made a face akin to that of a puppy being told to fetch.

“Leave it to us. We have some venison that has mellowed to perfection.”

“Oh-ho.”

It was only times like these when Holo licked her lips not for show.

“Would you like to take your meal in the monastery?”

“’Tis more relaxing out here. If we build a fire, it will keep us warm.”

“Very well.”

Selim’s brother gave her a glance, and she understood.

With a simple “Excuse me,” he headed back to the monastery.

On the way, Selim had been thinking about how unexpected Holo’s reasons were for wanting to come here.

Selim could tell just from living beside them that Holo and Lawrence were doing their best to spend their time together while quietly sweeping the differences in their life spans and species under the rug.

That was why she had figured that if Holo ever embarked on a journey to find her old friend, it would be after parting with Lawrence. To begin with, six months was not nearly enough time to conduct a thorough search, even if Holo was to spend that whole time running with the quick, strong legs of her wolf form.

There were more than a hundred countries in the world, and there were massive cities scattered about in places. The number of relatively large towns was ten- or even twenty-fold that of cities, and there were untold thousands of villages. Many of the ancient beasts now lived alongside humans, hiding in plain sight. Finding one of them at a time and following up on any leads they could offer was a backbreaking prospect. It would be much like how Selim and her companions had spent their time traveling, doing their best to confirm any rumors about their kin that they heard on their long journey.

Selim recalled that when Holo said Selim would be left in charge of the bathhouse, the plan was to be back around the following spring or summer. If Holo’s words were to be believed, then they would be gone for about six months.

But now, as Selim was readying the stew with her brother and the others, she realized something.

What if Holo had no intention of returning after only six months?

Selim had no way of knowing if that had been her original plan or if she had perhaps changed her mind after seeing how much work the other villagers had pushed onto Lawrence. Either way, Selim considered it a distinct possibility.

Almost every day, Holo wandered around the bathhouse with pen and paper in hand, hoping something interesting would happen. Selim had seen her ask countless times about the cuisine of the faraway countries that some of their patrons hailed from, then ask Hanna to recreate it or ask Lawrence to buy any ingredients they lacked.

Selim was also well aware that with money and connections, traveling could be excellent entertainment. That was because even on her own travels, where she spent most of the time on the edge of starvation, she remembered almost crying at chancing upon strikingly beautiful scenery or being overwhelmed by the mere sight of solemn, dignified structures. It was impossible to forget such stirring moments. Since Lawrence had once been a capable merchant, he and Holo could fully enjoy the charm of traveling without much of the hardship that normally accompanied it. With the addition of a compelling reason to go on an extended trip, Selim got the feeling that Holo and Lawrence had no reason to stay away for only a short time.

But there was no chance that Selim would ask about it. She couldn’t even bring herself to say something as pitiful as please come back soon.

Selim watched as Holo cut their share of meat, pulled apart some mushrooms, and happily volunteered to help with the stew itself. She even noticed Holo secretly adding more salt than necessary for basic seasoning.

While watching her easygoing attitude, Selim naturally became restless.

How could she…Without realizing how I feel…?

After the stew came to a boil, Holo leaned forward in the same mood as before, happily portioning out the meat and mushrooms. She piled meat into her bowl, her tail waving about as she bit into her food.

She was so happy-go-lucky, like an innocent little girl who never minded the small things.

But Holo did not seem to be the kind of person who would break her promises, so Selim found herself feeling unnecessarily possessive and a tiny bit resentful.

Besides, if Holo truly wasn’t planning on coming back for a long time, then she should have said that in the first place. Selim could not help but picture herself persevering through the busy season of winter and waiting eagerly for spring to come, wondering if her favorite couple would be back tomorrow or if it would be the day after.

She could see herself wearing thinner and thinner with each passing day. She got the sense that it would be bearable only because she would have faith that Holo and Lawrence would return the following day and always take over her work with a smile.

What would happen if spring came and went, and they did not return? Selim knew that she would break. Even the eight horse and deer guests staying with them would not stick around forever. Instead of imagining a tomorrow that would be fine no matter what happened, it was far easier for Selim to see a future where everything inevitably went wrong someday.

She could only stand such a thought precisely because she believed that they would come back one day.

But what if they don’t…? Selim gazed at the bowl in her hand as she thought, and someone stuck a ladle into her field of vision.

“To make such a face before a delicious stew is blasphemous to the meat.”

When she lifted her head, Holo was smiling mischievously, her bowl overflowing with meat and mushrooms and everything else.

“You should eat a little anyway. Meat will bring some of your color back, give your body energy, and dispel that gloom of yours.” Holo spoke as she adjusted her seating. “If only we had some stiff drinks, ’twould be perfect.” She cackled.

“Um…”

Selim was well aware that she did not have a very bright personality, but she couldn’t help but think, Actually, one of the two reasons I feel so gloomy right now is sitting directly across from me. While she griped internally at Holo and cast a spiteful look in her direction, things took a sudden turn.

“After all, that fool of mine has a weakness for hapless girls. I will not be pleased if you get any strange ideas because of that.”

“What?!”

Ghrk. Selim heard someone make a strange noise, and when she looked up, she spotted Aram on the other side of the pot, choking.

“Ahem…S-Selim, you—”

“This is a misunderstanding!” Selim cried, and Holo laughed heartily.

“Heh-heh. Even if that fool of mine did fall for you, I would rip him to shreds first.”

How mischievous, Selim thought as she looked at Holo, whose amused reddish-amber eyes seemed impish and yet kind at the same time. Then the wisewolf flashed a fang in amusement.

“’Tis because I want you to stay in the bathhouse. Why not be more like Hanna so he doesn’t become smitten with you?”

Hanna was stout; she wouldn’t be out of place as a baker who followed the army to the front in times of war. There was no questioning that her stature was one of the bathhouse’s best assets.

Moreover, Holo had been worried about Selim. She seemed ill-mannered on the surface but was more considerate of those around her than anyone else, which was probably why she noticed that Selim had been recently anxious about a great deal.

If Selim was going to ask if they were really coming back in the spring, now was the perfect time.

Just as she made up her mind and opened her mouth—

“Jokes aside, I am willing to take even the scantest of rumors about our kin. I would be happy if you noted it down on a map of sorts.”

—Holo leaped right to the next subject.

“Er…Right, of course.”

Aram’s response was faltering, as he was still busy inquisitively examining Selim. Between missing her chance and having to deal with her brother’s ridiculous assumptions, Selim naturally turned away in a huff.

Her brother, who could be oddly overprotective about certain things despite his intense belief that everyone should take care of themselves, finally seemed to understand.

“In that case, I’ll bring what you requested in the next few days. But some leads will be about those who don’t want to talk with outsiders or will be nothing more than rumors, though.”

“If ’tis not too much trouble, please include those explanations. ’Twas a human mercenary company that inherited and treasured my friend’s claw, after all. Who knows what other hiding places there could be.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Holo’s smile seemed rather strained, probably because of how stiff Aram was acting.

“Could I also ask for some jerky for our travels? That fool is a stingy one. Asking him to buy some in town would surely end with nothing but flavorless scraps that feel as hard as wooden boards.”

“We can take care of that, of course. The wind is strong at this time of year, so we can dry meat very well. With a little more time, we should be able to prepare some cured meat or sausages as well.”

“You fool. Your guests will suspect something if you run around preparing meat, staining your hands with scarlet blood.”

Aram stared back blankly before finally remembering the outfit he was wearing.

Embarrassed, he dropped his gaze and scratched his head.

“I appreciate the sentiment. Besides, enjoying local delicacies is part of the joy of travel,” Holo said, cackling.

Would Holo and Lawrence, both of Selim’s bosses, truly be returning in the spring?

Hanna had tried to calm Selim down, but watching the two of them only made her more nervous.

Selim bit into her venison.

A rich, hearty flavor immediately spread throughout her mouth.

The days continued to pass uneventfully, but the moment this everyday life would come to an end was creeping ever closer.

Lawrence had finished gathering the things the other bathhouse owners entrusted him with, and the notes Holo asked for regarding their fellow wolves were nearing completion. The eight new helpers were also just about to finish their training.

Selim was not sure if it was a miscalculation, but the new helpers were incredibly honest and hardworking. All Selim had to do now was maintain the bookkeeping and meet with visiting merchants to place orders. Aside from that, the bathhouse would essentially run on its own. Hanna and several others tried to reassure her, saying things like, “See, there was no reason to worry,” with a smile, but as per usual, Selim was uneasy.

She was still having nightmares. Recently, they had featured herself and her brother, along with the rest of their wolf companions; after discovering a shed in a cold village while searching on the road for a place to sleep, her brother and the others left, saying they would find some food, only to never return. Selim was annoyed with her easy-to-read neuroses, but those dreams were clearly reflecting her fears.

No matter how hardworking the horses and the deer were, they would not stay in the bathhouse forever.

Without some guarantee that Holo and Lawrence would come back in the spring, Selim would surely end up breaking down, having nightmare after nightmare.

However, given that she was a mere helper, Selim was in no position to boldly ask her generous bosses to return quickly from a trip they were eagerly looking forward to right as they were making ready to leave.

That day, as Selim carried out lunch to the couple again while they prepared the wagon they would use for their journey, she hoped that the maintenance work would go on forever.

“Dear, can you not make the cart bed bigger?”

“What would we do with a wider cart? We’re not doing any business this time. You just want a wide cart to sleep in on the road anyway.”

“Fool. Remember exactly which one of us is a terrible sleeper!”

Before the quipping couple were several craftsmen, busying themselves with repairing the cart. Lawrence had apparently used it during his days as a traveling merchant, but more recently, the cart had mostly been for storage.

They had taken a rental on their trip to Svernel earlier in the spring, but at the end of the day, Lawrence preferred this one for a longer journey.

If she asked him why, the most likely answer would be that he simply preferred something he was used to, but to Selim, it seemed that this choice held some deeper meaning. Perhaps it was the best choice for the long, long journey they would soon embark on because it was also a return to their past travels together.

Selim placed the sandwiches of fried, cured meat and cheese along with some mead beside the clamoring couple, then quietly swallowed her sigh.

“Oh, food.”

Holo sniffed the air and turned around.

“That time already, huh? Please find a good stopping point when you all can.”

Though Holo immediately reached for the food, the first thing Lawrence did was invite the workers to take a break. This made Selim anxious—could she be as considerate as he was when she was in charge? The craftsmen responded agreeably, then walked off toward the village center. There, they could easily find a cheap meal with generous helpings.

“And, dear, what shall we do about the horse?”

Perhaps because the craftsmen were now gone, Holo took the opportunity to remove the cloth wrapped around her head, raising her question as her ears flitted around, as though she was taking a deep breath with them.

“A horse, hmm…There is a horse in Svernel that’s descended from my horse from my old travels…but I don’t know if they’ll let me borrow it for six months.”

“Why not buy it?”

“You fool.”

Lawrence copied Holo’s manner of speech and donned a complicated expression. Horses were considered major assets, and Lawrence, occupied with calculating their future expenditures, was likely wondering how to approach the matter.

The brooding Selim almost had half a mind to offer to pull the cart herself.

Oxen pulled ploughs and dogs pulled sleds—there was surely no problem with letting a wolf pull a cart.

“I’ll find a reasonably priced horse. The wild, rowdy ones are usually cheap, but it’ll probably obediently do as you say regardless, right?”

“It might listen to me, but it may not listen to you.”

“That just means you should be sitting on the driver’s perch with me. Don’t just laze around in the back.”

Holo looked away in a huff and bit into her bread. According to Hanna, she had been much more laid-back before Selim came, often taking naps.

After Selim, a fellow wolf, showed up, Lawrence said that her presence was a big help in getting Holo to stop slacking so much.

On the other hand, perhaps that was one of the reasons why Holo did not want to return to the bathhouse.

“More importantly, do we have any ale? I have grown tired of talking and wish to drink something cool and refreshing.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Selim had chosen sweet mead because the couple usually enjoyed that when it was just the two of them, but that had been a mistake on her part. Just as Selim turned to rush to the kitchen, Lawrence stopped her.

“Miss Selim, it’s all right. Go on and get it yourself. How are you going to manage on the road with that attitude?”

“Urgh…”

Holo growled as she dragged her feet to the kitchen. Selim had been slightly surprised to find that Lawrence did not constantly give in to Holo’s whims, nor was she constantly hoping that he would spoil her.

“Sorry about that. Holo is always relying on you.”

“What?”

The comment was so sudden that Selim quickly became flustered.

“O-oh, no, I…”

She sounded forced in her speech, and Lawrence smiled weakly.

“She might act the way she does, but she tends to be afraid of strangers. That’s probably why the moment you let her in, she’ll stick right to you for support.”

While she thought that what Lawrence said was wholly accurate, Selim did not mind Holo asking her to do this and that at all.

“I—I, um…”

“No, it’s okay. I bet you were surprised when Holo brought up our request, weren’t you?”

“I…”

He was right. And her surprise had persisted, stubbornly clinging to Selim’s chest and shoulders, having transformed into a dull pain.

“Holo…Well, she suggested that we go traveling for my sake, but I really didn’t think she would ask you and the others to look after things while we were gone.”

Of course he would be surprised. Selim was still just a young wolf pup, a babe who had fumbled her way through the human world and still only had roughly six months of experience since first coming to the bathhouse.

Selim knew this was her chance. She could say it now. She could tell him that leaving her in charge was as reckless as he thought and that he should reconsider.

However, Lawrence spoke first.

“But it’s a huge relief knowing you’ve taken on the job. Thank you so much.”

“…”

When he showed her his happy, unclouded smile, she could say nothing more.

“I know we don’t have to worry if we leave everything in your hands. We’ll certainly bump up your salary for all the extra work you’ll be doing.”

Lawrence’s tone implied it was already decided that Selim would be left in charge of the bathhouse, and it was an undeniable fact that he had long since introduced her as his substitute to the other bathhouse owners. Saying Please don’t go on a trip or I’ll come along as well after all that was far beyond her.

Then, at the very least…, Selim thought to herself.

She stared at Lawrence—who was examining the cart and the state of its repairs with a happy look, munching on his sandwich while perhaps contemplating his upcoming journey—then balled her hands into fists, trying her best to steady her nerves even as her heart beat so hard it felt like it would thump right out of her mouth, and finally spoke up.

“U-um.”

“Yes?”

Lawrence turned back to her, but Selim could not bring herself to look directly at him.

“U-um…I…”

“What is it?”

Selim grew more flustered—at this rate, he would only think something strange had happened.

Her gaze darted all over the place, and what she finally managed to say was this:

“Th-the sulfur and such…Are you going…to be carrying all that?”

The cart, after being used as a glorified shelf for all these years, was currently having its cracked boards replaced, its rusted metal bits polished, various parts reinstalled, and new wheels put in. It would soon be converted into a marvelous carriage that could carry a massive load and travel long distances.

For a moment, Lawrence responded to Selim’s question with a puzzled look but then smiled.

“Ha-ha-ha, thank you for your concern. But it’ll be fine. I’ll take it all with me out of consideration for everyone, but, well, I don’t think I can sell it all.”

“…What?”

“And…this is just between you and me, but…”

Lawrence glanced over toward the bathhouse. Holo must have been snacking in the kitchen; she still hadn’t come back yet.

After checking, he spoke with a crafty grin.

“There’s a reason why I accepted so much sulfur powder and so many coins that need to be exchanged.”

“…A reason?”

Was it not because he was thinking about his position in the village? That status was the exact reason she had been so nervous about potentially hurting the reputation Lawrence had worked so hard to build.

But Selim’s worries aside, Lawrence wore a rather calm smile on his face.

“Yes. You should already know what it is. Holo requested something peculiar from you and the others, didn’t she?”

For a moment, Selim wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she realized quickly that he meant the question about their kin.

“Aram came all the way here this morning to deliver it. Holo thought I’d get upset if I found out, so she had Hanna take it.”

As she listened to him, Selim had no idea how that had anything to do with the sulfur and other luggage.

And not only that, but Holo had gone to talk with Aram long after Lawrence had accepted the sulfur.

As Selim waited for Lawrence to continue, Lawrence released a small sigh, still smiling.

“Holo rarely ever shows her true colors, but the truth is that she wants to search for her old friend.”

“That…”

“Of course, she figured that if she said it out loud, it would be problematic for me, so it seems like she’s been hiding it, but…that’s why she’s trying to kill two birds with one stone in her own way this time. Actually, according to our guests, she’s also scheming to go around helping herself to delicious food, so I guess three birds.”

Still staring at the cart, Lawrence bit into the rest of his sandwich, chewed, then swallowed.

“On top of that, she’s more stubborn than a mule. Let’s say that she finds the faintest hint of her friend somewhere during our travels. If it seems like it’ll be a little far away, I’m sure she will simply decide not to go. She’ll insist it’s too much effort. Even though she’s always badgering me to buy food, that’ll be the only time she’ll prioritize the budget I’m always worried about.”

Selim could somehow imagine Holo acting exactly as described. Holo’s personality was generally kind, and Selim thought that her naturally timid nature was a strength of hers.

But when she thought about how Holo bared it all to her beloved Lawrence, it gave Selim, who had yet to fall in love, a strange feeling—one of envy but also sadness.

“That’s why I packed in so much sulfur. That’s why I called in the craftsmen to make this so sturdy.”

The conversation suddenly came full circle, and Selim felt like she had awoken from a dream.

“All so I can say, Look at all the sulfur we have left from the other bathhouses. We can’t go back until we sell it all.”

The heady realization hit her.

This cart was packed full of Lawrence’s feelings for Holo.

She thought it was a wonderful thing, but at the same time, Selim was at a loss for words.

As she listened to him speak, it seemed like their journey would continue forever.

She knew that Lawrence would travel to the ends of the earth with Holo if it was for her sake.

“Our return might be a little delayed because of that…so please forgive Holo’s selfishness for my sake.”

When Lawrence finally uttered those words, Selim smiled in defeat.

Afterward, Lawrence asked Selim to go fetch Holo, who still hadn’t come back yet, so she returned to the bathhouse. Her steps seemed endless because she had a bad feeling.

She could see herself sitting forlornly at the front desk, continuing to wait for them long past their original return date.

Selim stumbled through the hall, walked down the corridor, and entered the kitchen.

What caught her by surprise then was Holo, coat in hand, working diligently on something.

“Oh, ’tis you.”

Holo glanced at her, and then returned to her work. Selim had thought she would be snacking, just as Lawrence said, but that did not seem to be the case.

Selim looked to Hanna, wondering what was going on, but Hanna just shrugged in vexation.

“Erm, Master Lawrence is calling for you…”

“Mm.”

Holo gave a short response, shook out the coat, and then placed it on the counter again.

She seemed to be sewing something into the inside of the coat.

“I shall be tidying up here in a brief moment, so please wait.”

There were also waist sashes and other articles of clothing on the shelf next to her. As Selim watched, wondering what she was doing, Holo sewed with a practiced hand on a piece of scrap fabric of the same color as the coat and then slowly stuffed a folded scrap of paper in between the gaps.

“Oh—”

When Selim unwittingly made a sound, Holo glanced up at her.

“Mm-hmm. ’Tis what your brother brought over.”

She appeared to be taking the notes of information about their kin that Selim’s brother provided and concealing them among her clothes.

“I forgot how reliable he is. Although I am happy that Hanna received it for me, things would only become more of a hassle should that fool of mine see this.”

“Huh?”

Selim recalled the conversation she just had with Lawrence and couldn’t help but raise her voice.

It appeared that Lawrence was fully committed to pretending to not know what Holo was up to. If that hadn’t been the case, he wouldn’t have deliberately let Hanna be the one to accept the notes from Aram.

Selim felt like she was going mad—could she keep up the facade?—but then Holo dropped her gaze to her hands and continued.

“It would only be trouble. That man is a true fool, you know.”

Holo evidently thought Selim was at a loss for words simply because she was surprised.

“That’s why I have to quickly sew them into my clothes to hide them before he finds out.”

There were not too many notes, and Holo was dexterous, so the job was completed rather quickly.

Yet, Selim still did not understand why Holo was doing this.

“B-but, Lady Holo.”

“Mm-hmm?”

Selim opened her mouth in spite of herself only to recoil under Holo’s gaze.

As she hesitated over whether she should say anything, she figured it would be stranger if she stayed quiet.

“Erm…I believe Master Lawrence would be more than happy to help you search for our kin…”

Even if she had not just discussed that very topic with him, she would have thought the same.

Holo stared at Selim in return, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled darkly.

“Exactly. He would be so proactive about it; it would tire me terribly,” she said, sticking her tongue out as though she was going to belch. “After all this time has passed, I do not intend to obsess over things. All I would like is a slight hint. That is all.”

Selim was taken by surprise at her unexpected response, and Holo offered a troubled smile.

“You have been so considerate of me; your brother wrote down all sorts of things with such precision. But in reality, I have no intentions of an earnest search. Nothing will come of such a short jaunt anyway.”

Those were Selim’s exact apprehensions. Holo possessed such great intellect that she had once been extolled as the wisewolf, and she had eyes sharp enough to see through anything. She was already well aware of how wide the world truly was.

“U-um…”

“And you wish to know why, no?”

Holo’s question beat her to it, and Selim nodded as she tensed her shoulders.

Holo continued to sew as she spoke with a carefree attitude.

“’Tis all for that fool, you see.”

She showed her fangs as though she was suppressing something, which was most likely her shy smile.

“We cannot return to the village until we conclude everyone’s business, no?”

Holo spoke carefully as she neatly sewed on another scrap of fabric, then squinted to make sure it did not stand out. It would likely not be noticed if she wore it normally.

“However, he treats the old promise he solemnly swore to me with such gravity. Well, back in those days, he was also a massive fool who wandered into danger while insisting he would turn a profit. At least he says that he will no longer do such a thing. But still.” Holo stood from her chair and reached up to the ceiling to stretch. Her ears and tail shivered. “I do not wish to become his baggage. And I cannot bear the thought of the villagers saying this and that to him if he insists one day that we return to the village out of concern for me. That is when these notes will come into play.”

“Oh…”

When Selim responded absently, Holo folded the coat and the sash and cradled them in her arms.

“Should I say that my friend could be just beyond this town, that fool would continue traveling, saying ’tis all for my sake.”

Selim stood slack-jawed—but not because of what Holo was talking about.

It was because she had just heard a very similar story.

“And so I believe our return may be a little delayed because of that…I hope you will forgive us. I promise to repay you, in the name of the wisewolf.”

They were exactly the same when it came to things like this; Selim felt like she was looking at an odd painting.

It was like a picture of a staircase that seemed to endlessly go up that traveling street performers would parade around on the corner while shouting, The strange, the marvelous, the bizarre!

Lawrence said he had decided to accept lots of requests from the villagers because Holo wanted to search for her old friend. On the other hand, Holo saw that Lawrence had taken on an enormous task from the villagers, and so she deliberately came up with a reason to continue their journey in order to ensure his work was properly completed.

And both of them apologized to Selim, explaining that they might return later than expected.

But both of them thought the real reason they would be late was because of the other, and they both believed they had to do these things out of concern for the other.

“Oh, here comes the fool now.”

Holo’s ears stood straight up as she shoved the coat and sash toward Selim.

“Hold these.”

“Oh, uh—”

The moment after she spoke, Holo stroked her own ears, shook out her tail, and ran her fingers through her fur, nodding with a satisfied hum as she left the kitchen.

“Oh, there you are. How long were you planning on snacking?”

“Fool. I was doing no such thing.”

“Oh? Then I’ll ask Miss Hanna.”

“I mind not, but be prepared for your assumptions to be wrong.”

Selim could hear the exchange from the other side of the wall.

As she held to her chest the clothes Holo handed her, she felt for some reason like she wanted to cry.

“Oh dear, a life on the road with this fool. I can hardly bear the thought.”

“I could say the exact same thing.”

They spoke spitefully to each other, yet they sounded like they were on the verge of bursting out into laughter.

The two lived within their own fairy tale.

Selim looked to Hanna, and when Hanna noticed Selim’s gaze, she turned up the corners of her mouth in a vague smile and gave an exaggerated shrug.

Selim almost wanted to laugh at herself for being so worried about keeping the bathhouse running to the point where it was giving her nightmares.

That was because—

“Um—”

Selim exited the kitchen, calling out to them, and the couple, walking side by side, turned toward her at the same time.

“Um…”

Selim swallowed and then spoke.

“Please return from your travels quickly.”

The words she was so convinced someone in her position could not possibly say came out with incredible ease.

And then, the moment Holo and Lawrence heard her, they immediately pointed to each other as though they had planned it.

““That depends on—””

They both spoke at the same time, and then they both regarded the other with a frown.

“Why are you pointing at me?”

“Yeah, exactly—I was about to ask you the same thing.”

The two lived within their own fairy tale.

It was then that Selim knew she could take care of the bathhouse while they were gone.

That was because she understood the secret behind why this bathhouse thrived the way it did.

“Heh-heh.”

Selim giggled, making Lawrence and Holo both stare at her blankly, and then they started blaming each other for being laughed at.

Selim laughed and laughed in a way she had forgotten to for years.

They would return, and everyone here in this bathhouse would be waiting for them.

This bathhouse had been created because the two were so happy, and people came here to watch them.

The Nyohhira bathhouse Spice and Wolf.

A renowned bathhouse said to be the spring of smiles and happiness.