Spice & Wolf Omnibus

by Isuna Hasekura

  But Lawrence could only feel pity for Glem now.

  Likely, he had only seen people inside of the company, fearful of the contracts that bound them to the company.

  Therefore, he had made an exceedingly simple blunder.

  “No, but that can’t be…”

  “What are you saying! Can you not read th–?”

  “Hmph.”

  No matter what kind of demon a contract bound one to, an all-powerful magic spell it was not.

  The moment Luward made a heavy exhale through his nose, Glem still did not seem to quite get that his neck was already in the noose.

  “He sure is noisy.”

  “Luward!”

  By the time Rebonato shouted and brought his ax in hand, it was all over.

  Luward’s hand pulled Glem’s body close, handing him off to Moizi, standing behind Luward, like a carry bag.

  A situation could be turned on its head in a single instant. This was true of trade and battle alike.

  “Ugh… uhh…”

  Moizi’s frighteningly thick arms held both Glem’s slender neck and his arms tight.

  When Lawrence looked, Glem’s feet had been lifted clear off the ground as they kicked.

  “Don’t move, you bastard. You’ll really be in shit if you break your neck.”

  Glem’s movements came to a sudden halt.

  “Luward…”

  “Don’t give me that face, Rebonato. This is what happens when your master is a fool.”

  Rebonato shifted his gaze to Glem.

  His stern face became even sterner as he took a deep breath and tugged on his chin.

  “Release Mr. Glem.”

  “Ha! Mr. Glem, is it now? Don’t embarrass your banner. How much will you pay for him?” Luward spoke as he turned.

  Glem’s feet began to kick once more, no doubt anticipating what was going to happen to him.

  “Who’s the whelp now?”

  Luward twisted his hips and thrust his right fist into Glem’s side.

  Even Lawrence’s ears could clearly hear the sound of bones breaking.

  “Hey, Luward!” Rebonato yelled.

  “Don’t shout, don’t shout…”

  As if in surrender, Luward raised both hands up to shoulder level.

  And he turned around, looking at the pathetic Rebonato, his master taken hostage.

  “Bring all of my men here.”

  “U-urgh…!”

  Lawrence felt like Glem was trying to yell something at Luward’s back, but Moizi’s thick arms covered even Glem’s mouth. Besides, his voice might have been merely a whine, containing no meaning whatsoever.

  “You said this was no place for negotiation?”

  It was possible that even if Rebonato was reasonable, he would permit no rudeness toward Glem.

  Rebonato looked at Glem once more and then looked at Luward.

  “… You would release Master Glem?”

  “On the name of the Myuri Mercenary Company.”

  But this time Glem was clearly trying to groan something out.

  Rebonato looked past Luward, giving Glem a strained look.

  Luward briefly turned his head back and made a sigh.

  “Hey, Rebonato. Whatever the reason, isn’t this pretty pathetic for you?”

  “… Shut up, brat. This is the Debau Company’s…”

  “Hmph. If you want to take your employer’s side so much, all you have to do is ask. If Glem here’s a brave merchant, he’ll let you negotiate.”

  Luward grinned as Rebonato made a slight nod. Both handled their roles perfectly.

  And as Luward turned about, this time Moizi made a slight nod toward him. Like a good, loyal subordinate, Moizi loosened his arms, and Glem collapsed on top of the snow. On his knees, Glem moaned in apparent pain, coughing violently. Luward looked at Glem just like he was looking at a worm. He could kill Glem anytime, in any way, and would never remember him ever again. During that, the pathetic Glem raised his head, desperately trying to breathe, and called out Rebonato’s name.

  “… Rebonato…”

  Save me.

  That’s what Lawrence thought would follow.

  “Do it.”

  The next moment, Luward leaped sideways. That was what Lawrence thought, but it was altogether too sudden and the force too incredible. What made him realize the truth was Rebonato stopping in mid-motion as his muscle-bound body pulled back his fist.

  “… I do not think Luward would die from that, but…”

  Rebonato spoke as he looked over the skilled escorts who had suddenly placed the tips of their swords at Luward’s throat.

  After that, he slowly turned around, looking like a bear.

  “Now, then, who let his guard down?”

  “…!…? Mr. Rebonato…?”

  “What?”

  Rebonato picked at his ear as he replied to Moizi’s words.

  An act? A performance? A mistake? Or…?

  No, betrayal.

  The moment Lawrence finally realized it, Rebonato’s arm made a slight movement.

  A moment later, Lawrence felt severe pain in his left thigh; he felt like someone had driven a needle through his knee.

  “What, an actual merchant?”

  As Lawrence heard the dejected-seeming voice, Lawrence noticed the dagger thrust into his thigh. It was then that Moizi started reaching again for Glem, still at his feet.

  “Hey, don’t disappoint me here…”

  Rebonato’s grating voice halted Moizi’s movements like glue.

  Moizi’s eyes shifted from Rebonato to Luward, whom he had sent flying.

  Luward was neither dead nor unconscious.

  But what made him try to get up in spite of the swords at his throat was his complete refusal to take in the situation. Perhaps thanks to his head being struck – even then, as Luward tried to get up, he was shaking enough it seemed like he would fall to pieces. Lawrence was sure he could not stand in that condition and had his doubts Luward was even truly conscious.

  As Luward was now, killing him would be as easy as twisting a baby’s arm.

  “Mr. Glem, get over here.”

  As Rebonato spoke, Glem staggered his way forward.

  Moizi could only keep silent and watch.

  Of course, Lawrence was no more helpful than a tree on the side of the road.

  “Damn it, they sure treated you rough. I didn’t think they’d do this.”

  Glem, having finally staggered his way near to Rebonato, was grabbed by Rebonato’s thick arm and pulled up.

  “Guaa, aa…”

  “Hmph… just a broken rib or two. Get a grip. You’re not coughing blood, but that’s Luward for you.”

  As Rebonato so spoke, Luward might have been reacting to his own name.

  Having failed to get up, Luward looked up as he raised his voice in a moan.

  “Rebo… na… t…”

  “Oh, you’re conscious? I must’ve held back too much.”

  Rebonato handed Glem off to his subordinates and strode close to Luward, gazing down at him.

  “Hey, Luward. Since you’re listening, I’ll say it. Surrender. Stop heading to Svernel. And you must know the location of Hilde Schnau. Say it. Hey, nothing bad’ll happen… We’ll capture him and return him alive.”

  However, Luward’s eyes seemed so vacant that Lawrence doubted he was listening.

  Rebonato sighed and crouched and grabbed Luward’s ear, pulling his head up with it.

  “Are you listening? You’re listening, right? I’m changing my body position and getting up.”

  As he spoke, Rebonato put his giant, oxlike foot on top of Luward’s right knee.

  “Here we go.”

  A moment later, Rebonato stood on it with all of his weight, breaking it with a loud crack.

  “Aa… gaa…!”

  “Now you’re awake. So, what’s your answer?”

  And he squatted once more.

  They had been betrayed, Lawrence realized.

&nb
sp; And furthermore, they had fallen into an absurdly deep trap.

  “Ugh… wh-why…?”

  “Why? I ask and you ask back, huh?”

  As Rebonato spoke, he drew Luward’s jeweled sword from his hip. Though it was of considerable value, Rebonato’s face seemed to express, “What trash, I’ll just toss it away,” as he lowered his hand.

  The jeweled sword prioritized appearance over sharpness, but dull as the tip was, it could still cut.

  The tip thrust into Luward’s right hand.

  “Well, you have a point. I thought that, too.”

  Rebonato kept his hand on the sword stabbing Luward’s palm, twisting it a second and third time. He looked like a child tossing pebbles.

  “But I had no choice. They piled the money high.”

  Even with his knee broken, even with a sword thrust into the palm of his hand, those words delivered the greatest shock to Luward.

  “You d-didn’t…”

  “Ha–ha, you giving me that pure, innocent look makes it tough on me. After all, I’m… I’m a traitor, that’s why.”

  Rebonato pulled back the sword, examining the droplets of blood along the blade.

  “The brave, resolute, and stubborn Hugo Mercenary Company? Well, I’ve been upholding that charming reputation for twenty years now. When you add my ancestors, it’s centuries, huh?”

  Luward was in severe pain and surely was still dizzy from when his head had been struck. As he glared unsteadily at Rebonato, he seemed to squeeze his own words out.

  “… Why, why… answer… me!”

  “Yeah. I was bothered by it. Why do I have to betray you? We might be savage and ferocious, but we’re mercenaries who uphold our ways. But you see, they piled up the money.”

  Rebonato rose up.

  Glem scowled for all he was worth as he walked over, using a subordinate’s hand for support.

  “For money, Luward.”

  Rebonato handed the dull jeweled sword to Glem.

  Glem turned eyes that seemed to burn toward Luward, but Rebonato said, “If I handed you any better weapon you’d kill him.” Of course Moizi tried to move, but the instant Rebonato put his hand on the ax at his hip, Moizi’s movements stopped.

  Rebonato’s overbearing manner was just like that of a bear’s.

  He had something about him that stopped people in their tracks.

  “Don’t make me kill anyone, Moizi.”

  As Rebonato said those words, behind him, Glem stabbed Luward’s left thigh with the jeweled sword.

  “Gw… aa…!”

  “Leave it at that. If he dies, it’s inconvenient for us, too.”

  As Rebonato put a hand on Glem’s shoulder, Glem rose up, still glaring at Luward with a very great scowl.

  And lastly, Glem spit on his face.

  “I thought about it a lot. Life only comes around once. So, I figured it was all right to sell the flag out to the Debau Company for a pile of money big enough to make your head spin.”

  Rebonato looked at the sky as he spoke the painful words, seemingly lecturing the moon hidden behind the clouds, and made a great sigh.

  “I mean, Luward, think about it. How many mercenary companies do you think have vanished from sloppy little deals? You remember a bunch from just lately?”

  Luward closed his eyes tightly at those words.

  He looked like either the pain was unbearable, or he was trying to flee from the words.

  “Listen to me.”

  And it seemed he was trying to flee. Rebonato stepped on the wound on Luward’s thigh as he spoke.

  “Plus, there’s that stuff in Lesko. Our time is done. That’s why I think it’s stupid to worry about the stuff we used to. Ain’t it so, Luward?”

  Even though he was holding a position of absolute superiority, Rebonato’s voice seemed sad.

  “In the end, we wanna live somewhere nice, have a good time, and then kick the bucket. Right?

  “And all you have to do to make it happen is lower your head to these merchants. That’s all this is.”

  Lawrence felt sick to his stomach as he stared at the scene.

  Rebonato was asking for forgiveness. He was asking for forgiveness for selling out their pride for money.

  Luward, who had rammed his fist into Glem’s side and had held an absolute advantage, had been sent sprawling onto the snow in the blink of an eye by, in a sense, the power of money. It went without saying that this was the power of the Debau Company.

  Perhaps, from the point of view of a merchant, this was something to celebrate. The Debau Company was a group of merchants and that group of merchants had brought old power to its knees.

  However, what was this bitter feeling? Lawrence truly felt nauseated. Though money solving all problems was the method that Lawrence, too, had hoped for, what had occurred before his very eyes was just too offensive, too dirty.

  A sight ugly enough to make Rebonato, who had sold his soul for money, beg for forgiveness.

  “In the end, I just couldn’t risk my life for something that’ll soon be forgotten. Money glitters, and good liquor’s expensive. That’s how it is, Luward.”

  Once more, Rebonato looked straight down at Luward’s face.

  “You know where Hilde Schnau is, don’t you? That’s why you’re heading toward Svernel, isn’t it? Where is he? The bosses at the Debau Company really want to know.

  “So say it, Luward. Please say it.”

  “If you don’t say it, I’ll kill you.” Glem added his own words.

  His eagerness to repay his grudge against Luward might have been an act, but it seemed his volatile personality was not.

  Rebonato gazed to the side at him, shifting his gaze back to Luward once more.

  “Rebonato…!” Moizi shouted, but his broken voice seemed to be absorbed by the empty nighttime sky.

  His voice did not sound threatening. It was a very sad, pleading voice.

  “We were bumpkins who didn’t know the might of money. There’s no reason to be ashamed of that. So, Luward, say it. Or is it…”

  Rebonato’s expression grew cold as he slowly drew his ax.

  “… Is it simply that you don’t know?”

  Lawrence knew what kind of mercenary was before him.

  A mercenary who would do anything for money.

  “…!”

  What stayed Rebonato’s hand was the movement of Luward’s lips.

  Holding Glem and his subordinates in check with a glance, he bent down on one knee.

  “Luward, say it. Say it, Luward!!”

  Rebonato spoke as if urging on a nearly dead comrade.

  This was the vulgar voice of a man who had sold his own soul for money.

  Come with me.

  That is what he was yelling.

  “… Mr.… Lawrence…”

  Rebonato pulled back his face with a puzzled look.

  Lawrence himself was taken completely off guard.

  Why, at a time like this, would he call out Lawrence’s name?

  He did not plead for his life, passively obey, or even show Moizi his final defiance.

  The head of the Myuri Mercenary Company instead spoke the name of a wounded traveling merchant.

  “… Call her.”

  So that’s how it is, Lawrence thought, breaking apart inside. But this was no time to mourn his sense of powerlessness. He vaguely understood that this was his only option.

  To be rid of this nausea, the only thing Lawrence himself could do was yell.

  For the only thing he could do to resist the great merchant’s dirty methods was to rely upon the old power.

  He sucked in a deep breath and called out its name.

  “HOLOOOOooo…!” he shouted with all his strength toward the heavens. That he closed his eyes was not because of the strength he had put in it. It was because he was pathetic.

  The next moment, Lawrence fell ungracefully atop the snow, for Rebonato, with agility inconceivable for one of his large frame, rushed over to Lawrence and
punted him by his gut into the air.

  Lawrence rolled onto his stomach, gasping for breath. All he could do was cling to his expectation Holo had heard; his own powerlessness nearly brought him to tears.

  “Ready!” Rebonato shouted; a moment later, soldiers emerged atop the hill, bows at the ready.

  They had prepared for everything.

  However, even after some time, there was no change.

  “… Ah?”

  Rebonato, who had been on his guard, seemed disappointed as he raised an eyebrow.

  “Some kind of prayer? Hey, Luwa…”

  That moment, as Rebonato reached out to shake Luward’s shoulder.

  Everyone stopped moving. Even Lawrence’s spine froze solid.

  Lawrence had heard that a bird under the glare of a hunting dog would remain still atop a branch until a hunter had killed it with his bow. A frog under the glare of a snake would remain still until it had been swallowed whole. When truly under the glare of an overwhelming opponent, prey could behave only as prey and shudder.

  “Fire, use f–”

  He did not hear Rebonato’s voice past that. Likely, that was simply where his memory had broken off. But he was a bit unsure that there was anything else at any rate. Rebonato’s huge body was launched into the air by something even larger, and while still in midair, it was crushed to the ground.

  Without any growl, there stood Holo, her paw thrust into the snowy ground.

  Within the darkness that appeared as clouds covered the moon, white breath leaked out between Holo’s fangs.

  This was not a human town glowing with streetlamps everywhere.

  The forests and mountains ruled by deep darkness and silence were the domain of spirits and beasts.

  Holo slowly shook her head. Lawrence did not know what was going to happen to the others after that. He knew only he should get up and run.

  But thanks to being stabbed in the left thigh by a knife and kicked in the stomach, his knees held no strength. Just as he was being reduced to crawling on the snow, one of the Myuri Mercenary Company’s escorts grabbed and dragged him by the collar. When they reached where the horses were, the only one not frozen by the display of the giant wolf’s fangs and claws was Lawrence’s horse for it was accustomed to Holo. With the escort lending a hand, Lawrence somehow managed to raise himself, seized the reins, and turned to Moizi as he shouted. “… O-on my horse…!”

  With Luward still on his back, Moizi rushed over without even a nod. He might have been chagrined at the tears that drenched his face, but surely it could not be helped.