It was a bluff.
Lawrence put his hand to his forehead with a sigh in front of Holo, whose tail swished happily.
“Well, ’tis true I took notice of your pleased face. If you’re tripped up by such a ruse, you’ve much to learn yet.”
“… I’ll keep that in mind.”
“’Tis doubtful whether you’ll be able to fit it in that wee mind of yours,” Holo said impishly, ducking her head and grinning.
“… I see. Anyway, it’s not quite true that I’m pleased. To be honest, it’s the sort of story that makes me want strong wine rather than sweet.”
“Aye?” Holo uncrossed her legs and stood. She was slightly unsteady. The wine was probably catching up to her. “Ho… ’tis a bit cold,” she said, sitting next to Lawrence and leaning against him.
Lawrence found himself thinking of the many travelers who found themselves in a similar position after being released from their harsh sea voyages and took what solace they could in a brief tryst.
But this was Holo.
She brought her feet up and turned her back to Lawrence, leaning against him and embracing her own tail.
Lawrence felt only a small twinge of disappointment – which was probably Holo’s plan.
“So, of what tale did you hear tell?”
In contrast to Lawrence’s very much-occupied mind, Holo was as she always was.
If he kept dwelling on this, she’d make a fool of him.
Lawrence exhaled slightly and answered, “The dark side of this town, I suppose.”
“Oh, aye?”
“Simply put, it’s a matter of debt and payment, but the amount is rather enormous.”
Holo gulped down her wine as though it were the morning’s first water.
It was sweet enough that it could be drunk that way, but she probably should have stopped.
Thinking as much, Lawrence reached for the small cask she was holding, when–
“Have you any notion of how many words I just swallowed with this wine?”
As it was, after Lawrence reached over, Holo was beneath his arm.
And suddenly, she was a wolf baring her fangs.
“If ’twas talk of money that was none of your concern, you ought to have been wagging your tail in delight. But you weren’t – why, I wonder?”
Holo took another swig of wine and belched.
She then pushed the wine cask into Lawrence’s still-outstretched hand.
“So, what did you discuss with that vixen?”
Evidently it was impossible to hide anything from Holo.
Lawrence grasped the cask and brought it to his own mouth, cursing his luck immediately thereafter.
Under his arm, Holo grinned.
The cask contained not wine, but goat’s milk with honey – probably for Col.
If she had gone to the trouble of laying such a careful trap, he probably could have just told her the truth without rousing her anger.
Lawrence slowly opened his mouth. “… Eve, who so thoroughly got the best of us before, is being treated like a mere child here.”
“Hmph.”
“The town’s powers that be are using her as a scapegoat. I had to tip my hat to her exploits in Lenos and on the Roam River, but here she’s just a whipping boy. And it’s just…”
Lawrence was worried he would be risking Holo’s ire if he continued, but if he started hiding his true feelings after having gotten this far, she would surely be angrier still.
He finished with a single word.
“… Sad.”
Holo said nothing and did not return his gaze.
The silence was awkward, so Lawrence kept going.
“Things happen even to a merchant like Eve. So what does that mean for me, over whom she triumphed so thoroughly? I can’t help but wonder. Don’t you want people who best you… to go on to further success?”
Lawrence knew that there was always a bigger fish, and he was too old to believe that he was somehow an exception to the ways of the world. He had not complained like this in many years.
However, that was not because he had somehow become stronger with age.
It was because he had learned the reality that, during the long, lonely journeys of a traveling merchant, there would be no one by his side to cheer him up when he indulged in worry and sadness.
But now–
Lawrence smiled wryly.
She might roll her eyes or show him contempt, but at least he could call it a reaction of some kind.
It was enough – enough for him to face what he had ignored for so long and to move forward.
“Listen here, you,” said Holo.
“Hmm?”
After a moment of silence, she looked up. “Listening to you talk made me mad enough for two.”
“… I see.”
“But now looking at your face. I’m thrice angry.”
“Well, you eat enough for five, so you’ve got two left to go,” joked Lawrence, and Holo elbowed him in the ribs and sat up.
“The first is that by your reasoning, I’m a pathetic fool for being your companion.”
That made sense, so Lawrence stayed silent.
“The second is because only a pup would despair at such a foolish notion.”
“I won’t argue.”
“And as for the last–” Holo knelt on the bed, her hands on her hips as she looked down at Lawrence.
She wore a displeased expression, but he wondered why it was that he detected a trace of foolishness there as well.
He soon realized that it was not his imagination.
“… To see you turn tail and behave in a manner so unbecoming a full-grown male, when on your face…”
“… My face?” Lawrence replied, which Holo nodded at after a short hesitation.
“You speak of such weakness, and yet” – Holo looked away – “your face says you could go off on your own at any moment.”
Lawrence knew he could not laugh.
But by the time the thought came to him, it was too late, and Holo – whose cheeks were flushed with something besides wine – bared her teeth, her ears standing up.
Lawrence calmed himself and replied, “But if I looked as though I couldn’t continue on alone, you’d rail at me without mercy, would you not?”
Holo looked displeased.
And yet, after growling bitterly for a while, she sat down with a nod.
Her tail wagged grandly to and fro, and she sighed in irritation. “Naturally, I would. I’d rail at you, toy with you, tease you, and when you still followed me, I’d be entirely delighted.”
“I’d… just as soon avoid that.”
“Fool,” Holo said.
Lawrence chose that moment to pull his hand back, and soft as a cotton ball, she fell toward him.
Of course, he knew what she was angry about.
In his arms, she pouted, sullen.
“Do you want me to say I was in the wrong?”
“You are ever in the wrong.”
“…”
Holo was Lawrence’s traveling companion, and Lawrence was Holo’s.
It was not one or the other – the ideal was for each of them to support the other.
Lawrence was not always the one making Holo angry, nor was Holo always the angry one.
Strange though it was to say, Lawrence needed to find the courage to be a weakling.
To admit that he needed her support.
Even if she cursed him for it.
“Still, don’t you think it’s strange?”
“Aye?” inquired Holo in his arms, not looking up.
“If that’s all true, why am I the one who ends up comforting you?”
Holo’s ears flicked up, tickling Lawrence’s cheek.
She looked up, a delighted malice in her eyes, and spoke. “Because ’tis my particular privilege, that is why.”
“Ugh… still, I suppose that’s how I like you, so it’s my own fault.”
“Heh,” Holo giggled, nestling in cl
oser.
But Lawrence could guess where this was going.
“Hey, are you going to use Col to tease me… again…?” His words trailed off suddenly.
“When people are strong, they do not look back. And for long ages, I couldn’t look back. And I am tired of it.” Though she was crying, her words were not choked, and they came out easily.
Even when confessing her weakness, the Wisewolf of Yoitsu did so in grand form, Lawrence thought.
Regardless of the inappropriateness of the notion, he couldn’t help thinking it.
He respectfully stroked her small head.
“You know that I’m a coward, don’t you? I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, terrified. So don’t worry on that count,” said Lawrence, and Holo buried her face in his chest as if to wipe her tears, shaking her head.
“I hate it!”
He had to respect her, persisting in her selfishness even now.
Lawrence smiled sadly and scratched the base of Holo’s ears. “Whenever I decide something, I consult with you. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”
“Despite your offering to me, I hate that things are changed left and right without my thoughts being solicited.”
Perhaps she had chosen a familiar example purposely, but if that was the case, then it meant Lawrence’s feelings for Holo were essentially alms.
“So my feelings are an offering?”
“I should think one is necessary for prayer.”
Holo’s ears twitched, and Lawrence smiled.
“A prayer for what?” he asked.
“For the boy Col to come.”
It was frustrating, but he could hardly deny it.
Holo smiled and closed her eyes.
This had to be something very important to her for Holo to state her true feelings so plainly.
The most frustrating part of business was having something decided above one’s head.
During the long months and years Holo had spent as a village’s harvest god, that was how she had felt.
When the Moon-Hunting Bear came to her homelands, she had not even heard about it.
Though it concerned her, it was decided without her knowledge – the definition of isolation.
And she was tired of it.
This was probably something Lawrence needed to clearly understand, but if she waited for him to do so, there was no telling how long it would take.
He was sure that was the answer he would receive were he to ask.
“Still, ’tis quite a knack being able to pick the right time to lay a trap for you. ’Tis pleasant sometimes.”
Beside him, Holo smiled nastily. Simultaneously, her wolf ears turned toward the hall as if detecting prey.
The meaning was plain enough, but it seemed the wisewolf was not such a boring hunter as to lay the same trap twice.
“Don’t think you’ll always be able to trick me.”
Holo showed her fangs in a wordless smile, moving away from Lawrence to sit again upon the windowsill.
Though the sweet taste of honey lingered in Lawrence’s mouth, he could not restrain the bitter smile that rose at being so easily discarded.
However, if he were to look at the door from which there came a perfectly timed knock, he would easily fall into Holo’s trap.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
The door opened to reveal – of course – Col.
“Aye, and wait we did. Where’s the wine?”
“Er, it’s right – oh, there’s enough for you, too, Mr. Lawrence.”
“You hardly needed to buy so much! Ah, ’tis such a waste.”
Lawrence couldn’t help but smile at Holo and Col’s exchange.
Of course, the biggest reason for his smile was the realization that for someone who could change her expressions and moods so easily, laying a trap for the likes of the boy was child’s play.
It was truly terrifying.
So terrifying, in fact, that Lawrence chose a piece of salty, spicy jerky, and bit into it voraciously.
“So, is there anything we can use in all this talk you overheard?” Holo had no words of thanks for Col, despite having used him as her errand boy, and spoke to Lawrence instead.
Of course, there was also the fact that he was rather impressed.
Col had skillfully used his battered cloak as a bag, which he was able to sling over his shoulder. Holo may have maliciously ordered him to go buy large amounts of food and wine, but he had carried out the charge without difficulty.
Probably out of frustration, Holo did not deign to thank him for his efforts.
In any case, Col was such a talented lad that were he to become a merchant’s apprentice, a bidding war would no doubt ensue.
“Are you listening?” Holo asked of Lawrence, who was watching Col set the food and wine on the table with admirable efficiency.
“I’m listening.”
“I wonder.”
“It’s probably worth investigating. It seems the bigwigs of the north side borrowed the money to build the marketplace, and they’re keen to pay it off. And it’s gotten so bad that over at the Jean Company, where we were mistaken for powerful, crafty merchants, they’ve got a mule yawning in front of the eaves ready to go, and they’re not even gathering their chickens’ eggs.”
Holo chewed a cooked shellfish.
In her place, Col spoke up. “His profits are being snatched away?”
“Yes. The Jean Company deals exclusively with copper from the Roam River region, but the profits are being stolen away by the north-side bigwigs. Which means–”
Holo washed down the shellfish with a slug of wine, then burped. “–Which means ’tis no surprise he went so angrily in for all this talk of absurd profit.”
“Yes, well, that too. Also–” Lawrence brought a piece of fried, silver-scaled fish whose name he did not know to his mouth.
The last time he had given a trenni to Holo, she had spent the entire sum on apples.
She seemed as ignorant of the word restraint as ever.
“–Reynolds seemed slightly suspicious.”
“Mm. Well, he is surely hiding something.”
Col looked up at Lawrence’s and Holo’s faces in surprise. “Huh?”
“It’s not too hard to guess at what. If he were using the story of the wolf remains to hide something, then–?”
“Hiding his ears without hiding his tail, eh?” Holo analogized as she flicked both.
But their opponent was a merchant.
“There’s a saying – ‘A fearsome hawk is one that hides its talons.’ I think what he was hiding was not his ears, but his horns.”
“Also, when you were parting, he gave you quite the fierce handshake, did he not?”
So she had been watching that.
Lawrence nodded, picking a fish scale out of his teeth. “When he told me to give his regards to Eve Bolan, he meant either her money, her business skill, or her connections.”
“That vixen just spent all her money on those furs. We might not know the state of her coin purse, aye, but surely there are other places from which he would borrow money,” said Holo, directing a teasing smile at Lawrence.
She was referring to Lawrence’s frantic attempts to borrow money when he himself had been on the verge of ruin.
“… Which leaves either her talent or her connections. Either way, aren’t the actors and the stage a little too perfectly matched?”
Holo gave only a thin smile and looked lazily outside.
Lawrence, for his part, ate steadily from the food on the table while Col, cask held between his hands, looked back and forth between his companions.
It was not as though they were quarreling.
Col was a bright lad.
While he didn’t usually think to doubt people, when that possibility was pointed out to him, he had a good enough head to think it through.
Essentially, from their individual impressions, Holo and Lawrence had each drawn their own sketches.
Co
l heard the fragments and wanted to know what sort of picture they added up to.
“E-excuse me!” Col raised his hand and stood.
No matter how strict and harsh the scholar, he surely could not fail to find this dedication charming.
It was enough to make Lawrence wonder if jealous classmates had been the ones to silence Col.
“Could… could Reynolds still be looking for the remains even now?”
Holo did not reply.
But having taken classes with strict, difficult professors, Col was undeterred. “If what Reynolds is hiding is the fact that he’s still searching for the remains, then he should have politely sent us on our way. So did he welcome us in because of Eve’s letter? If so, that would mean the reason he wanted your handshake when we were leaving was…”
Col thought.
He had no knowledge of how much talent as a merchant Eve possessed.
Which meant he would draw conclusions based on his various impressions.
How would this scene appear to Col’s eye?
“The reason is because he wants your help in searching for the wolf remains, isn’t it?”
This was just another question, and yet the impression it carried was very different.
Holo took a drink of wine from her cask and looked at Col.
Then, smiling faintly, she turned to Lawrence. “What of it?”
Lawrence waved her off as if to say, “Do you even need to ask?”
Regardless of whether or not it was the truth, it was an easy conclusion to make.
“Also, if we imagine that, then it’s obvious why Eve so readily drafted a letter for us. Since this is Eve we’re talking about, she would’ve known ahead of time that Reynolds wanted to cooperate with her in finding the remains. But since the story is what it is, she was careful, dodging our questions. Or she might not believe it to be true. Either way, Reynolds wants Eve’s help badly. What’s Eve thinking? She’s as cunning as a wolf, so at first she probably turned him down because of the absurdity of the story, but then we appeared, and she thought, What if? But it would be unwise for her to ask Reynolds directly. So what does she do? Suddenly, some people appear right before her eyes, begging to be used.”
“Aha,” pronounced Holo in a voice like an old woman’s, chuckling to herself.
If this interpretation was on point, it showed that Reynolds definitely thought Eve was evincing some interest in the remains.
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