Spice & Wolf Omnibus

by Isuna Hasekura

  Holo’s gaze was an exceedingly dubious one.

  Lawrence cleared his throat and continued. “Don’t you think I’ve matured some?”

  He had been beaten, kicked, thrown away his life and his coin purse, all to protect Holo. To follow her, to stay with her. If this was the result of all that, it had not been such a bad journey.

  Holo neither laughed nor raged, and by now she seemed past even frustration or shock. She looked at Lawrence’s smile and slumped, exhausted. And yet her face was very near to burying itself in Lawrence’s chest.

  “You are a fool,” she said quietly and sighed. She picked up the towel from where it had fallen and roughly wrapped it around her body. “Truly, such a fool!”

  Lawrence was fine being a fool.

  He watched Holo roughly dry herself off, happily content to be a fool.

  It was just as Elsa had said – he felt so much better having decided to fight back.

  Holo stepped out of the path, her feet pitter-pattering on the stone and earthen floor. She threw the towel at Lawrence.

  Her tail had just been washed, true, but in any case it was fully fluffed. “So we have to find that meat bun now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Honestly… you’d best hope we’re back in time for lunch!” declared Holo, huffing a deep and irritated sigh.

  There was something distinctly animalistic about Le Roi. Not in the way he looked, of course, but in the keenness of his senses.

  The bookseller was negotiating at a trading company’s loading dock when he turned at the sound of Lawrence’s footsteps.

  And the place was by no means quiet. It was noisy with the shouts of men and neighs of horses, and all the din of everyday chatter.

  “You’ve got a frightening look on your face, my friend,” said Le Roi jokingly and grinned.

  “That’s my line.”

  Le Roi’s tone was even friendlier than usual, since behind Lawrence he could see Holo’s form.

  If Holo had not been there, the bookseller would have looked at Lawrence as an untrustworthy enemy.

  “If you’re looking for provisions. I’ve already managed to buy up quite a bit.”

  The right half of Le Roi’s face distorted skillfully. He looked over his shoulder. “Never mind, then,” he said shortly. The man with the trading company waved him off as though already fed up with Le Roi’s attempts to force him to sell.

  “Walking around with a lady companion and an expression like that, no merchant alive will trust you,” said Le Roi to Lawrence, as though they were just passing by each other.

  Lawrence’s shoulders slumped.

  “As I’m only too aware,” he replied smoothly.

  “So, what business brings you here? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten cold feet.”

  In the world of credit and trust, sudden changes of heart were avoided above all else. Outright failure was far and away more preferable.

  “No.”

  “Well, what, then?”

  “Something’s come up rather suddenly, I’m afraid. I won’t be able to go to Kieschen.”

  They left the shop and walked alongside Le Roi, making for a less crowded part of the street. They passed around Holo, who let a bit of distance open between her and the two men before following.

  “Are you mad?”

  “My companion asked me the same thing.”

  Le Roi clapped his mouth shut and glared at Lawrence. But there was confusion on his face. He could not grasp whatever it was Lawrence was thinking. “Please, no games. I’m expecting a thousand silver pieces in profit from this deal.”

  He spoke as though he was a mercenary boasting of having killed a bear with nothing but his fists.

  But that was not what Lawrence smiled at. He simply could not help but find it amusing that he was actually torn between his own pathetic jealousy and a deal of such size.

  “You’ll excuse me, but I won’t be kicking aside an agreement we’ve already settled on.” Le Roi’s round face distorted in a grimace from one edge to the other.

  Lawrence lightly cleared his throat. The cold air tickled the inside of his cheeks. “About the company in Kieschen – it’s a rather large one, with a special agreement with the Delink Company, correct?”

  The Delink Company would not agree to provide only dark-skinned girls unless the customer was of the highest quality. And a company able to make such demands would not be a small one.

  Still cautious and unable to see where Lawrence was going with all this, Le Roi nodded slowly.

  “Which means they must deal very regularly with many other companies. I’m not mistaken in thinking so, am I?”

  “… I suppose not. But what of it?” Le Roi was obviously growing impatient, but Lawrence did not want to skip to the end of his explanation just yet.

  He gulped and continued. “If so, I ought to be able to remain in this town and still aid you in your purchase.”

  The bookseller stopped in his tracks, the whole of his being working to anticipate what Lawrence was going to say next.

  Lawrence looked over his shoulder to follow him, so sudden was Le Roi’s stop. The sun was just then low in the sky, so he squinted when he spoke. “With money orders.”

  “Money orders? How? They’re just a convenient way of moving money.”

  Lawrence looked past Le Roi’s vast bulk to the idle Holo behind them. “Not if we use them to harass.” Lawrence faced forward and began walking again. Le Roi was still confused, but Lawrence was confident he would follow.

  “Mr. Lawrence. I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”

  Curiosity killed the cat. Once he knew, he would be unable to resist getting involved – no matter how dirty the trick.

  Lawrence turned back to Le Roi. “We’ll issue multiple money orders to the company in question from many others.”

  “Huh?”

  “Each for maybe a few dozen silvers. Or perhaps a hundred or two hundred.” Lawrence was impressed with the smile he managed. After all, the sort of brute-force method he was describing was something only the wealthiest merchants could get away with.

  “We’ll change all the names and send all the money orders in at once. The company in Kieschen will start cashing them without worrying about the strange coincidence, but as they start running low on coin, they’ll begin to get suspicious – but it will already be too late. The coin will be gone from their coffers, and the money changers will catch wind of this and hike up their exchange rates. And what will the company do then? The money orders will keep coming in, including ones from their regular customers. Which ones are the malicious ones and which are from partners they can’t afford to anger? And in the midst of all this, customers and trading partners keep coming. ‘Buy this, buy that, pay what you said you’d pay’… the company will be a mess.”

  The fat Le Roi’s smooth skin normally looked like flour-dusted dough. But now it was as white as if it had been carved from rock salt.

  “And that’s where you come in. ‘You seem to be in trouble, so I’ll take these money orders off your hands. But there’s a condition,’ you’ll say.”

  And of course, all the money orders Le Roi would be taking charge of would be from the Delink Company, so there would be no need for Le Roi to actually have the coin.

  At that point, the outcome would be simple. It all depended on Le Roi’s nerve and talent. “And that’s where I’d tell them I heard they had a certain volume in their possession.”

  “Exactly,” said Lawrence with a wide smile, every bit the clever merchant hawking his wares – though Le Roi could hardly be blamed for looking at him aghast, as though he considered Lawrence unworthy of the name “merchant” for thinking of such a despicable tactic.

  But as a plan, it was sound. There were, of course, some flaws.

  “I understand what you’re… proposing. But… is the Delink Company willing?”

  Le Roi was not worried about the damage to their credit – the Delink Company would bring in several ot
her large companies in Lenos and send the money orders through them, and at that point, their own name would be clean as a whistle.

  The problem was that a large amount of coin would be necessary to issue the money orders.

  “They will be. After all, coin is awfully valuable in Lenos right now.”

  “Ah–!” Le Roi raised his voice.

  The Delink Company would be able to make a tidy profit on the exchange rate.

  “So long as there’s a difference between the currency markets of Lenos and Kieschen, there’s profit to be had. And fortunately for us, the value of coin in Lenos is clearly much stronger. Shall I show you the figures?”

  There was a smack sound as Le Roi’s hand hit his head. He groaned, but his eyes had a calculating, contemplative look in them.

  Given the plan Lawrence had proposed, if the Delink Company agreed, in that moment Le Roi’s acquisition of the book was assured. There would be no need for him to spend the duration of the journey to Kieschen agonizing over the uncertain future and how to exploit this or that weakness in order to get them to sell the book.

  No merchant who plied the lonely road alone could underestimate such peace of mind. Le Roi himself had had to change his own plans after hauling a load of scriptures into Lenos. Such mishaps happened all too easily and were likewise easily imagined.

  But with this plan, Le Roi could head out on his journey with real certainty. He looked at Lawrence like a true believer seeking to confess.

  “Are you… serious about this?”

  He was hooked.

  Lawrence’s answer was short. “Of course.”

  The bookseller nodded a mute and defeated nod.

  They immediately headed for Delink. When there was a change in plans, it was best to declare them quickly. Yet – when preparing for a hard right turn in a swiftly moving wagon, it was best to at least lay one’s body over the load.

  Lawrence had naturally considered this and had been careful not to underestimate the company.

  Which was why he had again brought Holo to the Delink Company. This was to prove to them his resolve – for once before he had left her there for money, only to throw the money in their faces and take her back.

  When they arrived at their destination, it seemed the company’s four masters were in a meeting together. When he was led into the room, they all came in to meet him.

  There would be no turning back now. He could not let himself regret not making every possible effort, doing everything he could do.

  The job of explaining had passed from Le Roi to Lawrence. The forcible use of money orders was more important to him, as was avoiding the trip to Kieschen.

  As they listened, none of the three men, Eringin included, twitched so much as an eyebrow. Far from it – when he was finished listening, with his hands still folded upon the table, Eringin said only this: “Well, shall we take this route?”

  It was Lawrence who now disbelieved his ears, despite being the one to propose the plan. He replied without thinking. “Truly?”

  Eringin made a deliberately surprised face, as though to say, “Are you not the one whose proposal this is?”

  “Er, of course, this was my proposal, and if you’re agreed, then I’m deeply grateful. But, ah, in addition, there’s one more favor I’d like to ask…”

  “I assume you yourself do not wish to go to Kieschen, Mr. Lawrence.”

  Of course – there had been the inquiry from Philon earlier, and now Holo was with him in person. It did not take a particularly clever person to put the pieces together.

  Eringin chuckled. “You may be the one to have proposed this method, Mr. Lawrence, but it’s still quite consistent with our requirements. And if you’re willing to do this, we’ve no reason to refuse. After all, we’ve considered it ourselves.”

  “Wha–”

  Lawrence was not the only one whose face came up in surprise. Le Roi was stunned.

  “However, no reasonable mind would come up with such an abusive technique, so even if someone did think of it, they would hardly propose it to us, or so we had concluded. Much less could we suggest it to you – you’d be instantly suspicious.”

  It was not at all clear whether Eringin was teasing or not. But from the ironic twist at the corner of his mouth, Lawrence decided he was telling the truth.

  “But you’ve accumulated a bit too much age and experience to consider such crude, reckless things. Am I wrong?”

  Holo was the only one at the table to laugh at Eringin’s words. The slave trader faced her and smiled pleasantly.

  “There aren’t many ways for a man to stay young. Your companion there was an excellent decision. I mean no offense – I am being quite sincere.” He looked straight at Lawrence.

  Lawrence did not know how to answer, but he knew enough to politely accept the words as given.

  “I daresay I understood the moment I saw your companion. Two heads are better than one, they say. There’s wisdom in that.”

  “Though we have four heads,” added one of the other masters. Evidently there were limits to how far even a man like Eringin could go alone.

  “We therefore agree to your proposal. I trust you don’t mind us handling the details?” It was said in a businesslike tone, to which Lawrence and Le Roi both quickly replied.

  Only the Delink Company understood the connections between companies and preparation of coin necessary for this. And given the underhanded tactics they were using, even if the book was safely obtained, it would be difficult to carry it out of the town.

  Lawrence and Le Roi would be leaving all those myriad details to the Delink Company. And in exchange, they would be playing the villains.

  That was undoubtedly why Eringin himself had not proposed the possibility to them.

  “It will be good business, I daresay. Though one does have to feel bad for the targeted company.” Eringin sounded genuinely sympathetic, rather than simply saying the words because he thought he ought to.

  They all stood and shook hands, and thus sealed the new agreement.

  For the men of the Delink Company, the shaking of hands came before the signing of the contract – for truly, their business was closer to Philon’s world than to anything else.

  “Now then, may God grant us success.” With those words, the meeting was closed.

  Le Roi looked to Lawrence, a strained smile on his face. “We’ve really done it now,” he seemed to say.

  Lawrence found himself wanting to echo the sentiment. With this, he no longer had to go to Kieschen, and Le Roi alone would take on the role of the villain.

  And the price would have to be paid.

  “About the fee you promised,” said Lawrence as they exited the room into a hallway so quiet it seemed to swallow sound.

  “Oh, please, please, not now.”

  “Later, then.”

  “No, that’s not – that’s not what I mean,” said Le Roi, taking a quick look around. Eringin was still conferring with his colleagues in the meeting room and had yet to emerge. A short distance away there was a single smart-looking boy standing next to the door he had just closed.

  “But–”

  “We can talk about that once everything else is finished, can’t we?” said Le Roi, looking up at Lawrence mischievously. “I will be playing the villain here, but we know they’re going to surrender immediately. I could never content myself if I skipped paying the introduction fee on such an outrageous scheme. And more than anything else, I may not be Mr. Philon,” Le Roi said, smiling an innocent, boyish smile. “But I want you to owe me a bit of a favor, eh? Are you truly a traveling merchant? I’m having a hard time believing it.”

  Back when he had spent his days with his eyes on the ground hoping to spot a single copper coin, Lawrence had longed to hear such words. It was a bitter irony that now that he had discovered something he valued above gold, he was hearing it all the time.

  Before he answered, he glanced at Holo, who seemed to be keeping a bit of a distance, perhaps to avoi
d interfering with their conversation. “I’m quite a failure as a traveling merchant, I should say. So you’re not wrong about that.”

  Le Roi grinned, but there was not so much as a trace of a smile from Holo. Perhaps that was because her own plan had been so quickly kicked aside, or perhaps it was the revelation of Lawrence’s jealousy of her pack mate in Yoitsu.

  But she did not seem angry so much as utterly at a loss. He was certain that if he asked her if this was so, he would receive an affirmative answer via her thrown fist.

  “But still, Mr. Lawrence. Worry yourself not. Forcing people to do something they loathe with a smile on my face is my nature,” said Le Roi.

  Frustratingly, it was these words that Holo finally smiled at under her hood.

  Le Roi had been doing just that when they had first met him at Philon’s shop. Prick an opponent’s conscience, and one could make them do whatever they wished.

  “So this sort of thing is right in my wheelhouse. And the bigger the prey, the greater the feeling of accomplishment, eh?”

  Elsa had been exactly right about Le Roi. His avarice made him trustworthy.

  Lawrence nodded. “I look forward to seeing your results,” he replied, and left it at that.

  Epilogue

  When they returned to Philon’s shop, there were piles of eel roasted and waiting for them. When informed of this, Philon was even more overjoyed than Holo – and he had a suggestion.

  “We’ll need some strong wine, then! The eels from the river here go best with a good strong wine. And we have to celebrate the execution – or amendment, I suppose – of our contract!”

  Lawrence answered Le Roi’s joke with a wry smile. “Mr. Philon and the others will be there as well. We’ll need enough for…”

  “Oh, I’ll buy. But in exchange, pitch in something nice from your wagon bed, eh?” Le Roi seemed to have given up trying to buy anything in Lenos.

  Lawrence had no intention of turning it into a bargaining point, but he decided to let himself go along with Le Roi’s suggestion. “I’ll leave it to you, then.”

  “You may safely do so. I’ll ask you to promise not to eat any eel until I return, though!” said Le Roi, then vanished into the crowds.