Spring Log III

by Isuna Hasekura

  “I’ll stock up on something good for you.”

  In the end, with no choice but to placate her with food, Holo’s ears twitched.

  “Hmm…Then I prefer roast pig.”

  “Hey, don’t be so unreasonable. You know there’s no way I can stock up on roast pigs.”

  He had explained to Holo many times how difficult it was to obtain live pig in the mountains.

  First, they would have to order with a merchant traveling through Nyohhira, who would have to relay that to a butcher in the town downstream from the village. Once the butcher received the message, they would go to the market, tell the butcher’s association farmhouse transaction receptionist what size and type of pig they wanted, then wait for the farm to bring one in. If they were lucky and the farm did have one, and there were no similar orders from other butchers, only then could they obtain it. For it to finally arrive in Nyohhira, the process went in reverse, and if the pig was still alive, then it would cry, poop, and try its best to run away, which would require special couriers to manage. Additionally, since everything was to be included under one price for the whole pig, contracts would have to be drawn up between the transporting and purchasing merchants. It was quite possible a notary could also be dragged into it.

  In any case, it was an enormous hassle, and the costs were astronomical.

  No matter how many times he explained that it was not a matter of simply being stingy or spiteful, Holo always remained skeptical.

  When he thought he might have to repeat it all over again, Holo’s ears twitched, and she spoke.

  “’Tis not unreasonable.”

  “Come on.”

  As he began to explain with a sigh, Holo got up and peeked out the window.

  “Look, dear, ’tis the pig merchant.”

  “Huh? No way something that convenient—”

  He started to speak as he looked out the window, and there it was—a pig on a line being pulled along. Holo’s ears must have caught the pig’s squealing.

  “Let us roast that for tonight. How about it, dear?”

  Holo’s expression transformed from listless to cheerful, and she grasped his clothes like a child, pestering him.

  Lawrence, however, was not in shock because of the pig.

  He recognized the person leading the animal along.

  “Mr. Luward?!”

  It was a stalwart, veteran mercenary, who did not quite fit the image of someone that would take a pig for a walk.

  He hurriedly rushed out to the front of the bathhouse to greet him, and Luward, unburdened with only several subordinates in tow, stood there, relaxed.

  “Hey, Mr. Lawrence.”

  “…”

  He thought he might have been mistaken, but it was, in fact, Luward.

  He appeared to be in good health, and his smile grew increasingly dazzling every time they met, leaving Lawrence feeling a bit like he was daydreaming.

  “Um…Well, if you’re here for a chat, then come in. Holo will be glad, too.”

  Luward nodded, turned back to his subordinates, and ordered them inside.

  And at the end of the lead he gripped in his hand was a fat, round pig.

  “I would have sent you a letter, but we’re in a rush,” Luward said once he entered the bathhouse.

  While Luward’s mercenary company was not that big, it was a band of soldiers who were no stranger to valor here in the northlands. Due to their strength and fame, they were in such a position that any and every lord would empty their wallets to call them to their territory.

  And this mercenary captain had just entered his house in a rush with a pig in tow.

  Things were not quite adding up.

  “You must be busy during this season…” Lawrence murmured offhandedly something he did not quite understand himself.

  “Well, sure, we’ve secured good income this year, but we took on some peculiar work. Anyways, let’s have a chat. That’s also why we came today,” Luward said.

  Certainly, he had brought only five subordinates with him, and his right-hand strategist was not present.

  “And of course, I didn’t forget the souvenir.”

  Apparently the pig he had brought with him was a gift. Lawrence smiled wearily at Luward’s usual lively demeanor.

  “I’m sure Lady Holo and our mercenary troupe’s princess would be thrilled, right?” Luward continued.

  The name of Luward’s band was the Myuri Mercenary Company. It had been created by the humans who were entrusted with a message given to them by Myuri, one of Holo’s old companions, after the two had last seen each other.

  It was also their daughter’s namesake.

  “Is our princess any bigger? And perhaps her attitude has improved as well?”

  Luward spoke delightfully. The tomboyish Myuri loved Luward, a man who lived out real adventure stories and served as her strongest playmate since he never flinched, no matter what sort of unheard-of pranks she pulled on him.

  Luward adored Myuri, too, but there was something that pained Lawrence.

  “Well…”

  He told Luward that their daughter Myuri had left on a journey with the young man who had worked in the bathhouse, Col.

  Upon hearing this, Luward did not even notice that the lead had slipped from his hand.

  “Oh my…Those two are…”

  “Y-your head, sir!”

  Two subordinates propped Luward up as he reeled.

  Luward ordered his subordinates back, and with his hand on his forehead, he gazed skyward and closed his eyes.

  When he finally looked at Lawrence, his face wore an expression that not even his troops had seen when they had been nearly wiped out.

  “I can’t believe I said that without any consideration to you, Mr. Lawrence.”

  He pressed his hand to his chest as though he had been shot with an arrow.

  “I feel like I’ve just sent my daughter off to be married…”

  “They didn’t elope.”

  Luward deflated at Lawrence’s quick response.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You have my guarantee.”

  Luward seemed to finally understand when Lawrence spoke so insistently.

  He smiled with a furrowed brow, lightly patted the stubborn bathhouse master on the shoulder, and even embraced him.

  “Well then, I guess it’s time for a drink.”

  Lawrence finally felt as if he had met someone he could empathize with about his daughter.

  Plentiful, fatty meat clung to the ends of the bones Holo feasted on. Paying no mind to the grease dripping down her chin, she bit and tore into meat so tender it came straight off the bone. The pork melted in her mouth, becoming more and more flavorful as she chewed.

  In the end, she licked off the yellow fat still stuck to the bone before finally draining the ale that had been cooling in the ice room.

  “Hmah…So good…!”

  Holo, the hairs on her tail bristling, was overcome with emotion as she spoke.

  “I’m very glad you like it.”

  Since other guests in the bathhouse dining hall would stare, they used the hearth in the bedroom for a bout of drinking.

  Lawrence was slightly concerned since the smell of pork fat would not disappear for a few days, which meant Holo would be hungrier than usual for as long as that lasted.

  “I really wish your daughter could have eaten it as well,” Luward said as he stuck the diced pork loin onto the metal skewer he had brought with him.

  That cut of meat is said to be most delicious when cooked all the way through.

  “What a pity it would be to waste such good meat on that fool. It’s enough to write to her and say ’twas good.”

  Holo and her daughter, Myuri, competed quite seriously when it came to food.

  However, Lawrence suddenly realized something.

  “I see. A letter, hmm…If we tell her we have good meat, I wonder if she’ll come back home.”

  Luward smiled wryly when he heard L
awrence muttering to himself.

  “As someone who shares the Myuri name, I don’t think Col would be so bad.”

  “Say it again for this stubborn fool,” Holo said, gnawing on the crunchy fried pig’s ear.

  “But, Lady Holo, us men could never be so wise.”

  Holo sighed, exasperated, and reached out to the pork intestine stew.

  “By the by, why have you come? Even I feel indebted receiving a whole pig as a gift.”

  She said this, but she had enough energy to put the food away almost entirely by herself. They were right to set aside portions for Selim and Hanna when slaughtering the pig.

  As Lawrence considered this, the typically daring Luward hesitated rather conspicuously before opening his mouth.

  “Er, about that…”

  He withdrew a small pouch from his hip, where he kept his sword.

  “This is a charm that I received from your daughter.”

  The sewing on it was rough, and it could not be called nice-looking even out of flattery.

  Holo put down her ale and her nose twitched, her eyebrows quickly knitting together.

  “Why has that fool given you such a thing?”

  From the way she said it, Lawrence understood that it was Myuri who made the pouch.

  “Well, when we went hunting together in this village, we were talking about what would happen if we were attacked by wolves, and she told me to keep this.”

  “…”

  Holo looked irritated.

  “What’s inside?” Lawrence asked, and Luward looked extremely guilty.

  “The hairs from your daughter’s tail.”

  “Her tail?”

  “Yes…I refused her three times, but she hid several in my luggage. I couldn’t throw them away, so I ended up carrying one around with me…”

  The emblem of the Myuri Mercenary Company was a wolf, and Holo’s old companion had a hand in its formation, but Luward and the others never depended on Holo’s extraordinary power. That was partly of pride and out of respect for Holo as well.

  Thus, he must have felt deeply pained in borrowing Myuri’s power, although it was out of his control.

  However, it was strange that they would bring a pig all the way to the bathhouse for that.

  As various speculations ran through Lawrence’s head, Holo placed her mug firmly on the floor, as if signaling something.

  “Well, I suppose you ran into trouble wearing that as wolf repellent, no?” Holo spoke as she reached out for the skewered meat as it scorched.

  Trouble? As Lawrence turned his gaze toward Holo, Luward spoke.

  “Yes…exactly. In the beginning, no matter what forest we passed through, we no longer had any problematic encounters with wolves, and it was a great relief.”

  Luward took a carafe from one of his subordinates and poured more drink into Holo’s mug. They must have been something like his personal guard and probably subordinates he could trust. They had been completely unfazed when they saw Holo’s ears and tail.

  “It’s led to an odd situation where we recently took some work.”

  “Hmm.”

  Holo’s tail rustled, as if to say, “Tell me.”

  Hairs fluttered about as they were shed, but Luward of course did not even so much as narrow his eyes.

  “Right now, we are working as guards for a certain noble, but we were asked to curb the wolves that roamed in his territory.”

  “Curb.” Holo repeated the word, a mischievous smile on her face.

  Lawrence, being concerned about Luward’s position, directed a cough toward her.

  “’Tis a joke. It sounds like a rumor spread that wolves stay clear of you, and someone who heard of such employed you, then went off to hunt the wolves to exterminate them, yes?”

  Luward wordlessly drooped his head, so that seemed to be spot on.

  “That is exactly it…”

  “And? So with our little fool’s hair, most wolves stay away, no? Or perhaps you encountered our kin?”

  While there were not many beasts like Holo, who understood the human language and lived long lives, they did certainly exist.

  Among them were wolves, and Selim was a good example. They were often powerful beings as well.

  In that case, then they would have no choice but to carry Holo away with them in order to relieve the current situation, so it made sense they brought a pig as tribute. The problem was how Holo would have to turn on the wolves she should be calling her companions.

  A chord of anxiety ran through Lawrence, but Luward shook his head weakly.

  “No…”

  “Mm…Hmm?”

  Holo, who had just spoke of the worst possibility, looked at Lawrence with a mixture of relief, confusion, and worry.

  Lawrence, too, found it unexpected, as he had not imagined any other possibility.

  “Mr. Luward, it seems like you have been caught up in some sort of trouble due to our daughter. So it is our job as her parents to take on this responsibility. Do you think you could tell us what it is?” Lawrence asked, and Luward looked at him like a sinner to a priest in a confessional.

  “I feel greatly obliged for your consideration. Honestly…To be honest, we are entirely responsible for all this…But this is not something we can do anything about,” Luward said. He held a fist to his mouth as though ready to bite into it, then lifted his head resolutely and continued. “In fact, it’s the opposite.”

  “…The opposite?”

  Holo’s tail flopped from right to left.

  “Yes. The lord who hired us requested we do something about a pack of ferocious wolves roaming about the forests. While we were originally hired for a territorial war, our contract had already been settled, and to show cowardice would cause problems for our banner. With no choice, we accepted and went into the forest to curb the wolves. And as always, with the help of your daughter’s pouch, we had an immediate effect. However, that was one month ago.” Luward sighed deeply. “It seems the leader of the pack has become infatuated with me.”

  It was clear from his sullen expression how terribly idiotic he felt explaining this.

  “I want to believe it was a misunderstanding, but that’s all I can think of. At first, I thought they saw us as a formidable foe, so they followed us at a great distance. But one day, placed in front of the inn where we were lodging, we found a deer.”

  The mercenary captain wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead.

  “In conflicts between tribes from long ago, warriors would intimidate their enemies by placing the carcasses of animals before their rival’s houses or harassed them with magic, but…”

  He then peeked up at Holo, who responded, “We do not do such things,” her expression oddly serious.

  Lawrence noticed how the tip of her tail was quivering and realized that she was suppressing a laugh.

  “Not only that, but after we found sheep outside countless times, we found fox and rabbit, badgers, large carp, and even lamprey…The guarantee it could not be out of malice was when we found a large beehive outside.”

  Holo pretended to drink her ale, desperately trying to hide her mirth. Yet, her tail shivered, like a snake in its death throes.

  “Then one day we decided to confront the wolf. And what a magnificent pack the male led…”

  Luward pressed his hand to his forehead, as though enduring a headache. Lawrence decided not to ask what happened and what sort of situation it ended up being.

  A large male wolf, infatuated by Myuri’s scent, had fervently offered tribute.

  Luward did not seem to be injured, so although he was likely not attacked, he probably did not feel very alive from being fawned over, either.

  “It would be a warrior’s disgrace to turn a blade against someone who harbors no ill intent. Yet, we were up against a wolf, the opposite of a human…er, I mean, Lady Holo and Mr. Lawrence are different, though!”

  “Don’t worry about it. And then?”

  Lawrence urged him on, and Luwar
d inhaled deeply, then continued.

  “Even if no one gets hurt, we would still be troubled if surrounded by a pack of wolves. Someone may think we are using some sort of strange magic, and while there are people who might think we are part of the same pack, others might not think the same way. And…,” Luward said, “if possible, we would hope that you, Lady Holo, could explain this misunderstanding to those wolves.”

  Holo then burst out into a fit of laughter.

  “Heh-heh-heh…I am sorry. What a predicament this must be for you…But…Snort. Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

  Holo laughed out loud, which was unlike her, and almost doubled over.

  Once her fit had ended, Holo drew closer to the drooping Luward and took Myuri’s pouch from his hand.

  “I swear. Our little fool is still young.”

  She brought her nose closer to it and sniffed it, then tossed the pouch onto Lawrence’s lap.

  “But we certainly cannot overlook our daughter’s carelessness. The old Myuri who had given you his claw would surely misjudge me as I have given you so much trouble.”

  Luward looked up at her as if he were a criminal whose death sentence had just been canceled.

  “Then—”

  “Yes. We have no choice but to explain the situation to those hapless wolves.”

  “Thank you. My strategist, Moizi, is wearing one of the pouches on his person, and he should be doing his best to handle that wolf right now.”

  Moizi was Luward’s pseudo father-turned-strategist, a man with a magnificent bearlike physique.

  When Lawrence imagined Moizi flustered as a large wolf fawned over him, he felt bad, yet found it funny.

  “But…” Holo then spoke. “I cannot go.”

  “Holo!”

  Lawrence interjected, but Holo glared at him with a strangely sharp gaze.

  Overwhelmed, Lawrence fell silent, and she waved her tail, satisfied, before speaking.

  “Instead, I shall send one of our young ones.”

  “Young…ones?”

  “Miss Selim?”

  Holo’s lips drew together into a pout at Lawrence’s question.

  Then she faced Luward—not Lawrence—and explained:

  “’Twas just a little while ago we hired one of our kin. A rather promising young wolf named Selim. She should fit well enough for the job.”