“I’ll do my best!”
“Ha-ha. You’ll be fine even without the enthusiasm.”
And as Mr. Lawrence was escorting me out of the room, his feet suddenly came to a halt.
“So?” Mr. Lawrence said curtly.
His face seemed somewhat amused.
When I turned around, it was just as Miss Holo, who but a moment before had been gnawing on dried meat, grooming her tail, was pulling her robe out of the luggage.
“I shall go, for you will be lonely without me.”
I met Mr. Lawrence’s face and made a small smile.
Of course, this was not overlooked by Miss Holo, for in the corridor she stomped on my foot.
In the end, the three of us left the inn, making our way to the inn the merchant concerned was staying at.
Outside, it was very bright and warm.
It was bustling from so many people being out; everyone was full of life in the morning.
Miss Holo was showing great interest in stalls she spotted through the spaces in the crowd; had Mr. Lawrence not been holding her hand, she would probably have gotten lost like a child. If I asked her what in the world she was doing, she would have probably been mean to me again so I held my tongue, but Miss Holo truly seemed to be having fun as usual.
“So what was all this?”
“A merchant I know asked for help tabulating his money.”
It was a vaguer explanation than he had given me, but Miss Holo, as if she thought it was fine as it was, went “Hmph,” nodded, and scratched the base of her ear through the hood of her robe.
“And why did he ask you to do such a thing?”
“Apparently he’s not close to any of the money changers in this town. His deal ended well, but he’s unfamiliar with the currencies here, he said. So he asked me to sort out the coins and show him in broad terms how to convert them efficiently; he can’t learn without seeing it for himself.”
Miss Holo listened to Lawrence’s explanation, though it felt unclear whether she was really listening or not. I was not an expert on trade, but I did know it was very complicated to exchange a mountain of differing varieties of coin. When I was studying in the scholarly city of Aquent, there were people who told silver coins apart by biting them. They told me they had been fooled by counterfeits made from rusting pieces of steel. They added, “You can tell steel by the taste, so you’d better learn it, too.”
I told Mr. Lawrence the story, to which he made a great laugh.
“That brings me back. My teacher did that a lot to cheat me out of my allowance.”
This shocked me quite a bit, but Mr. Lawrence looked like he had had a great deal of fun.
That master and pupil to deceive each other by such means made me admire what an amazing profession being a merchant was.
However, Miss Holo yawned as she listened to the story, saying this at the end:
“So that is how you became so gutless?”
“I’d rather you said ‘watchful.’”
“Ha!”
Actually, I really liked the way Miss Holo laughed when she was mocking someone.
That was because she looked so malicious and yet so very pretty.
Even as Mr. Lawrence drew his head back a little, he surely understood that any rebuttal would dig a deeper hole.
He politely held back his words and walked forward.
He was devoting himself to silence to avoid an argument.
I thought Mr. Lawrence came off very well, too. Miss Holo harshly dubbed him a cowardly fool, though.
“Ahh, ahh, thank you for coming. And you brought such a charming apprentice, too.”
It was indeed a portly, middle-aged merchant who greeted them at the inn.
I was unaccustomed to the hat he was wearing; when I asked about it, he indicated it was from a land far to the east. Apparently it was a harsh land that was dry year-round, a place of both extreme heat and extreme cold.
Certainly, the gentleman was very kind, but I felt he would be quite frightening if angered. It was an atmosphere I saw much of in my village.
“This is Holo, who I travel with for a few odd reasons, and Col.”
“I am Holo.”
“Tote Col.”
When Miss Holo and I introduced ourselves, the gentleman went “Mm, mm,” as his wrinkled face made a nod.
Perhaps he had grandchildren around our ages.
“Oh, I’m truly sorry for making you come out of your way like this. I’ve been trading in far-off lands for twenty years, you see. I can’t make sense of this mountain of strange coins, and as a result, these money changers want to keep half my coins for commission. You can’t slip anything past them.”
He spoke resentfully, but I understood very well what he meant, having had my own terrible experiences at the hands of money changers. Only Miss Holo asked Mr. Lawrence, “Was that one at the town back then ill-natured, I wonder?”
Mr. Lawrence thought about it for a while and replied, “That money changer was a real villain.”
Most likely, Mr. Lawrence and Miss Holo were speaking off a money changer at a town they had visited before on their journey. I could not even imagine what kind of money changer it took for Mr. Lawrence, with such a breadth of knowledge about the world, both in front of and behind the curtain, to call him a villain.
But I wondered why Miss Holo looked somehow amused. Perhaps, like a knight, she was more worked up the mightier the foe.
There were many things I still did not understand.
“So, can I ask you to get this done as soon as possible? Actually, there’s a money order from a comrade I need to settle by tomorrow. There’s too many people who push this job and that onto their elders, I tell you. This is why I hate traveling.”
“It just shows how much they trust you. Understood.”
“Right this way, then…”
And so, the gentleman showed us to the in room where he was staying.
“Mm.”
“Ooh.”
“…”
The moment we entered the room, the three of us were at a loss for words.
In spite of being about the same size as the room where we were staying, it was just overflowing with things: bundles of rolled-up fabric; bundles of furs fastened with ropes; and bulging flaxen sacks with their mouths closed strewn all over the floor, filled with different kinds of beans so far as I could tell. There were other things I did not understand at all, but I picked out a number of crates, making me wonder just what kind of business this man was into; I really could not tell.
But what struck us dumbfounded was most likely not that, but rather the mass of coins, a mountain, piled atop a large table likely at its limits.
“Bwa-ha-ha! How about it. Surprised?”
The gentleman’s shoulders shook as he made a droll laugh.
Though he seemed every bit a little boy playing a prank, the proud smile on his face was indeed that of a greedy and exceptionally skilled merchant.
Though Mr. Lawrence, too, had sucked in his breath, when I glanced up at the side of his face, he looked composed as he stared straight at the top of the table, seeming to calculate in his head. In Aquent, there were a great many people who devoted themselves to thinking, but I thought that sometimes, the side of Mr. Lawrence’s face looked like those of exceptional people I had seen in that town.
It had been famously said the front of the face can lie, but the side cannot.
Miss Holo mocked and made fun of Mr. Lawrence quite often, but I thought Mr. Lawrence was an excellent merchant himself.
“There’s quite a bit of coins all over the place here… and with old ones mixed in, too.”
“Yes. That makes it difficult. My traveling companion is a merchant about the same level as I. I had a deal for the guild to send someone to do the accounting, but he was completely useless. I have to think it’s our willingness to stick our own necks into danger that makes us into merchants.”
When the gentleman smiled, his teeth poked out,
with several off-color like a set of mismatched coins.
In the village, it was taught that men became like stone as they advanced in years. Therefore, it was taught, one should age gracefully so that even if you truly became stone and you were on display forever, you would have nothing to be ashamed of.
Surely, even if this gentleman became stone then and there, he had the look of a merchant whom travelers could only admire.
“Also, this merchandise… You bought up a whole warehouse from some company hard on its luck?”
“Ah?”
I was the only one surprised. When the gazes of everyone else there assembled onto me, I realized that my face was red.
“Hah. Well, something like that. I haven’t been in business long enough for this land to trade kings three times over for nothing. I was collecting on favors I’d made here and there and so forth.”
I understood from Mr. Lawrence’s slumping his shoulders that this was surely not worthy of overwhelming praise.
But the gentleman took it as admiration and looked very proud.
Looking at the two of them, I felt like I was watching two children who had enjoyed pranks who had grown into adults wholly unchanged.
I thought that was something to be quite envious of, but Miss Holo did not seem all that fond of it.
Even at a time like this, she had a bored look as she poked the hilt of a sword in its sheath with the tip of her finger.
“We’ll be as much help as we possibly can. But with so much, I’m not quite as confident so… I need a visual reference. Holo, sorry but could you go get the pouch with coins in it from the inn?”
Miss Holo lifted her head from a shield adorned with pretty decorations, looking at Mr. Lawrence, then at me.
She must have thought, Why not make the lad do something so tiresome like that?
But.
“Mm. The one you always use to compare by eye?”
Miss Holo asked with a display of humility that astonished me. “That’s the one. Sorry, but thanks.”
“Mm.”
Miss Holo nodded briskly, heading out of the room at a jog.
Though I did not understand whatsoever the circumstances swirling around, I wondered if perhaps the coins were too valuable to be entrusted to me.
That made me a little sad, but it stood to reason.
“Now then, Col.”
That was when Mr. Lawrence’s voice leaped out.
“This one, this one… and this one; shouldn’t be any question for these. Take the same type as these and line them up in piles often.”
“Right!”
I made my reply and got to work.
As the coins on the table had already been roughly divided into copper, silver, and gold coins, we strove to sort out the valuable gold and silver coins.
Since there were several silver and gold coins that closely resembled one another, plus subtle differences depending on the date of minting, it seemed quite a few coins were mixed up with others. Scales and measuring boxes full of water were methods for rigorous distinction, but it was best to sort by hand as much we could.
Seeming well aware of these circumstances, the gentleman said, “A lot of money’s riding on getting the fine details right.” Though this meant Mr. Lawrence was doing so-called assistant’s work, he made a pained smile that revealed no special dislike.
I did as Mr. Lawrence had told me, proceeding to divide silver coins alone. Furthermore, since these were different enough that there could be no mistake, my work proceeded fairly smoothly.
For sorting the gold coins, Mr. Lawrence gave instructions to the gentleman, with both doing it together.
When taught something you do not know, you should be cordial and pay proper respect, even to someone younger.
This is what the learned men of Aquent taught, but I thought it very unlikely that they could follow their own precept.
As a result, I had thought that it might not be possible, but in fact, it was possible.
Merchants might be liars, but they are forthright to about the same extent.
“Hmmm. The gold coins are fine like this.”
“It seems so. The problem is the silver coins.”
The pair of experienced merchants had apparently divided the gold coins up in what seemed no time at all.
As my eyes widened, both merchants came to my side, making small grunts as they sat.
“Ah. you’re making good time here. There’s no need to rush; accuracy is what’s important for this.”
“Right, right. Rushing won’t make more of them. Though when you don’t close your purse quickly, you find yourself a few short!”
With that, the gentleman made a loud laugh.
He seemed in spirits high enough to live another few centuries.
“Now then, you have to watch out for this one and that one. This is counterfeit; that one’s from a rival religion.”
“Hmph. Today’s men in high places do things just like the old ones.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
The gentleman made an exaggerated slump of his shoulders and a large sigh.
After that, we began to divide silver coins together, but I suddenly realized about Miss Holo. I felt she was a little late coming back.
Even in the middle of a town, there would be cowardly thugs after your things if you let your guard down.
I did not think Miss Holo, of all people, would have her things taken by highwaymen, but nonetheless, I was getting worried.
But Mr. Lawrence did not seem to be paying that much concern. In the end, Miss Holo arrived back a short time later.
“Sorry about that.”
As Mr. Lawrence, still sorting out silver coins, displayed his gratitude, Miss Holo curtly nodded.
Somehow, it felt like the back and forth between a master and a dutiful apprentice.
I watched Miss Holo, quiet with her hood pulled down, as if watching something somewhat mysterious.
“All right, line the contents up over there.”
“…”
Miss Holo nodded briskly and stepped closer to the table. Mr. Lawrence had indicated where silver coins were in neat rows in piles of ten. Normally, Miss Holo would probably make a great laugh and send the piles of silver coins crashing down with one swipe of her tail, but of course, she did not do so here.
Instead, she pulled something out of her robe and put it on the table as Mr. Lawrence had asked.
I instantly doubted my own eyes.
For Miss Holo had taken out a very familiar carrying bag – mine.
“Don’t mix them up with the others.”
Mr. Lawrence said it casually with a small smile. His eyes narrowed as he smiled, like an old man displaying his affection for a beloved granddaughter. Beside Mr. Lawrence and the rest of us, Miss Holo untied the cord of my carrying bag. In addition, my carrying bag, made for carrying over my shoulder, was tied with two cords: one around the mouth of the sack and another tied around the base of the bag forming a large ring.
What Miss Holo had untied just now was the cord of the bottom; she had laid the bag onto the table on its mouth.
Even as I thought there was no way Miss Holo would make a basic mistake like that, I was somewhat concerned and was about to raise my voice.
That was when Mr. Lawrence spoke to me.
“Ah, that silver coin is wrong.”
“Ah? Oh.”
I had put one with a lily drawn on it where the ones with lilies and moons drawn on them went.
As I hurried to fix that, I confirmed that I had not made any similar mistakes.
”You’ll make mistakes if your eyes stray.”
Lowering my eyes as the gentleman, sitting across me, admonished me with his gaze, I resumed my work.
I needed to worry about myself, not others. If I failed here, it would only cause trouble for Mr. Lawrence. Furthermore, I was a hundred years too young to be worrying about Miss Holo.
Right after I had that thought…
“A
h, hey, Holo!”
“Mm, uh?”
It was the instant Mr. Lawrence rose from his chair in haste and stretched his hand toward Miss Holo. The carrying bag Miss Holo had untied with her own hands began to move according to the laws of nature.
As Miss Holo slowly drew the cord out, the contents, lightly held up, now had nothing to support them and came crashing down onto the table. And just like when dropping a leather pouch full of water, the contents did not simply fall and crash, but sought an outlet to pour out of.
The carrying bag’s mouth had only been lightly tied.
The heavy silver coins inside easily broke through the dam, flying out toward greener pastures.
It was all in the blink of an eye.
When I regained my senses, Miss Holo was absentmindedly holding the now-empty sack as she stood before the spilled contents of the bag.
“Ahh, what are you doing, you fool!” Mr. Lawrence disparaged Miss Holo.
Under the hood, Miss Holo’s face drew back and exploded.
I reflexively cowered, but I did not hear Miss Holo yell, “Fool!” Instead, she looked at Mr. Lawrence like a frightened child and began scooping up the spilled silver coins from the mountain of silver coins piled up on the table.
However, one could not separate iron powder from sand without special implements. The task before Miss Holo was all the harder because several of the coins were the same varieties as those that had been lined up on the table.
As a result, things ended up only becoming a bigger mess. Before she could be yelled at, Mr. Lawrence grabbed Miss Holo’s shoulders and pulled her back.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
I forgot to breathe and waited for someone to speak.
The gentleman cleared his throat.
“I’m not upset. In exchange, is it all right if I decide how many silver coins there were? Looks aside, I’m still going strong up here.”
The gentleman pointed to his own head as he spoke.
Though a merchant’s words were never to be taken at face value, it was true that the gentleman did not appear upset. He had probably counted them while we were piling them up.
Mr. Lawrence, looking like he wanted to say something to Miss Holo, shut his mouth and nodded toward the gentleman.
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