It was something that happened in a bygone age, far before the age of man. Back then the world had been wrapped in shadows and ruled by spirits.
“These days everything has become a source of nostalgia. That giant bear was the last ruler of our time, a time when strength and a powerful body reigned supreme. Today, even my hatred has burned out, leaving behind only nostalgia..”
For Holo, who hadn’t been able to fight for her own home, and learned centuries later that it had been destroyed, the best she could manage was squeezing out a childish smile.
“You-you fled in fear, and actually have the nerve to speak of determination. How laughable!”
She responded like a beaten child. But the aged Huskins countered her with ease.
“In order to live in the human world, I’ve even started eating meat. For centuries now.”
“!”
Her head spun toward the meat drying from the leather rope. What kind of meat was that? And what was the meat they ate with Huskins during their meals? After a few short, hurried breaths she threw up.
Lawrence had no idea if she wanted to cry, or pictured herself doing what Huskins had done. Huskins would even eat mutton in order to play the part of a shepherd, and act as if there was nothing to it. Could she do the same?
“I have sacrificed much to keep this place over the years, and crossed boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. If we lose this place, we may never again find another in which we can live in peace.”
He didn’t sound like he was blaming Holo, but rather being perfectly honest about his motives for borrowing Lawrence’s strength. But Holo couldn’t help being jealous that he’d managed to build a new home here.
She knew it was capricious and foolish to feel that way about someone who’d worked hard and rebuilt what he’d lost. And she knew she was planning to abandon someone who only wanted to protect his new home. If she felt like he was blaming her, it would only be her own guilt weighing down on her.
Her reason struggled with her emotions, and she ultimately chose to run. Like a child she burst into sobs and collapsed to the floor, her hand in Lawrence’s. Huskins waited until Lawrence put his arms around her shoulders before he continued.
“That young wolf you now hold must have suffered many painful memories in this world as well. And after accumulating some incredible amount of luck, she finally found herself traveling with a kindhearted human. I can understand her unwillingness to part with this fortune, as well as the feelings she wishes to protect. But still-”
Huskins slowly closed his eyes.
“I don’t wish to give up on this place, either. This hard-earned.. land of peace.. but..”
Cole noticed Huskins’ pause and hastily pressed his hand against his broad chest. Seeing the boy exhale in relief made it clear that Huskins wasn’t in too weak a condition, and was simply out of energy.
Lawrence listened to the crackling firewood and Holo’s sobbing, once again shifting his gaze to the tax decree Huskins had brought with him. Judging from its details, it was an order that the monastery would find difficult to deny.
The best way to avoid paying taxes was to declare that one had no fortune with which to pay them, but the method of taxation that the King had chosen was basically an ultimatum that made it useless to try to hide the truth.
It wasn’t difficult to see how determined the King was, and that any attempts to evade the decree would be futile. He would probably send his army at the slightest sign of hesitation. Perhaps he’d even planned on doing so from the start.
Holo had mentioned before that if a clan had two leaders, they were bound to not get along. The same logic applied to ruling a country. The monastery had vast tracts of land and great power. That kind of existence was bound to be a nuisance to the King.
It would be their downfall whether they paid the tax or not. It was necessary to save them from this hopeless situation. And it was up to Lawrence, a mere traveling merchant, to do so.
“This is impossible..”
After hearing those words slip from Lawrence’s tongue, Cole lifted his head and responded.
“Is it?”
He had daringly stepped out of the safety of his own hometown for the sake of protecting it. His eyes were now even more determined than usual, and looked at Lawrence almost as if blaming him.
“..There was an accident halfway through one of my journeys. The road was covered in mud, from the rain of the previous day.”
Lawrence’s abrupt and nonsensical change in topics made a rare look of rage surface on Cole’s face. He was a merchant, and merchants loved to use treacherous logic in their battles.. that’s exactly what the look on the boy’s face was saying.
“The lead cart suddenly sank into the mud. We hurried ahead, and found that the merchant driving that cart had fortunately survived. He appeared quite embarrassed as he lay face-up on the ground. He was injured, but should be alright.. at least that’s what we thought, until we tried to lift him up. Only then did we discover..”
He continued stroking Holo’s back as she continued to sob, and turned to Cole before continuing to talk.
“..the large hole in his belly. A tree branch had broken off inside of him, and he himself hadn’t even noticed it until he saw the looks on our faces. He smiled stiffly and begged us to save him, but we weren’t gods. All we could do was keep him company for his final minutes, and send him off.”
There were things in this world that no one had the power to change. It was just the natural order of things. Lawrence sighed and continued.
“Of course we pitied him. I too am aware of the God who is supposed to help us, yet never around when we need him. That’s why I simply told myself, ’Lucky for me, I wasn’t the one beset by misfortune today.”’
“That’s too..”
“It’s only natural. After sending off the unfortunate one, I would have to stand up again and resume my journey. At that point, all I could do was take whatever goods from his cart I could carry.”
One corner of Lawrence’s mouth curled up.
“And I couldn’t forget to let myself say, ’What a nice profit.”’
Cole’s face twitched as if he was trying to squeeze words out from deep within his throat, but couldn’t. He lowered his head and carried on wiping away the icy moisture from Huskins’ hair and beard.
When one was faced with circumstances that were difficult to bear, but unalterable, then burying their head in their present tasks would at least offer some slight degree of relief. Lawrence didn’t remember how long ago he’d come to learn this truth.
He scooped Holo up as he wondered about that. She’d quieted down in his embrace, having either cried herself to sleep or passed out from her intense emotions, and so he carried her to their room. The wind and snow raged on outside, but the cracks in the walls and windows were now packed with snow, so it wasn’t as cold inside as it had been earlier.
Holo’s breathing was short and shallow, as if she was suffering from a fever. She might have been having a nightmare. If not, maybe it was her conscience rendering her unable to breath easily. After laying her in bed, his thoughts turned to caring for Huskins.
But as he prepared to leave her side, she grabbed his sleeve, opened her eyes slightly, and abandoned all of her pride, embarrassment, and everything else, and used those eyes to beg him to stay with her. He wasn’t sure if she was truly awake, but he still stroked her head with his free hand until she closed her eyes, apparently comforted.
Shortly after that he slowly peeled her fingers off his sleeve, one by one. In the light of the adjacent room’s stove, Cole was devoting himself to removing Huskins’ outer garments. Not only was Huskins significantly heavier, but Cole wasn’t very strong to begin with. When Lawrence reached out to assist, the boy didn’t thank him, but also didn’t refuse his help.
“There won’t be any danger in thinking it over, at least.”
In his happy surprise, Cole said nothing more. He raised his face and stopped wha
t he was doing.
“Pull that end a little.”
“Ah! Right, right!”
“Just considering the possibilities should be safe, because right now it’s only we who know the contents of that letter.”
The two of them found some dry clothes for Huskins tucked away in one corner of his room, and removed his soggy shoes.
“Considering how important that letter is, I doubt its the only copy they’ve sent. When the storm’s lifted I’m sure others will arrive to ensure it gets delivered. That means we still have a few options.”
Should they tell anyone else about the situation? And if so, whom?
“Can the monastery be saved?”
“I can’t say. But we can predict what’ll happen. They’ve already been forced into a corner, and so has the King. Assuming they’re down to their last resorts, they must be close to making a final decision. And they’re not the only ones involved, there’s also the Ruvik Alliance.”
Cole held his breath in full attention, then timidly asked a question.
“Should we be disregarding Miss Holo?”
Certain key questions were like wounds; if touched, one would either groan or fly into a rage. Lawrence was the type who would do the former.
“..She must find this whole thing unbearable, and not want to accept the facts so easily. She would only have said what she did if she couldn’t find a resolution in her mind. But as long as the situation allows it, she’ll be willing to help. Don’t be fooled by her usual demeanor, she can be quite kindhearted at times. Oh, and just so you know, that’s where you’re supposed to act surprised.”
As Lawrence spoke, Cole wrapped cloth around his feet to keep from getting frostbite, and added more wood to the stove. When he heard Lawrence’s final sentence, his tired face finally broke into a smile.
“That girl knows how ugly her jealous heart is. After seeing Huskins’ determination, she must feel like a total child, and her Wisewolf pride must have suffered a heavy blow.”
When it came to bring proud and acting out of emotion, Holo was second to none. But she still understood when it was time to joke around and when it was time to be serious. When she got serious, even Lawrence had to bow down to her.
“I once told her something.”
“What’s that?”
“I told her that there are many ways to solve a given problem, but once it’s solved we still have to carry on with our lives. So rather than taking the easiest route, it’s best to pick the one that will lead to a future where we can live in comfort and peace.”
Cole wrapped Huskins’ entire body in a blanket to shield him from the cold draft. He then wrapped a piece of firewood in fabric and put it under his head like a cushion, completing their care for the old man.
“She heard me say that and replied “foolish mule” with a look of surrender. But if she brushes Huskins off.. do you think she’ll be able to carry on with a clear conscience?”
Cole must have imagined that she would simply stuff her face with food and liquor in order to fall into a lazy, sound sleep like a puppy or kitten. Turning down the request of someone who’d suffered many hardships, and was on the verge of losing their second home, which they had built – Lawrence couldn’t see her being so carefree after doing such a thing. Cole also shook his head twice, resolutely.
“And I think your own position’s even more readily apparent.”
Lawrence smiled when he saw Cole lower his head in embarrassment, his face rigid, as if he’d laid the contents of his soul bare for all to see. Even if Lawrence and Holo abandoned Huskins, he would not.
“That being said, everything I’ve said so far has been from our own perspective.”
“So far?”
Even if he wasn’t Holo, seeing the dumb look on Cole’s face made Lawrence want to hug the boy. It was so easy to act confidently and pridefully in front of him.
“I’m a merchant, after all. I wouldn’t act if there wasn’t any profit in it.”
“..Then you mean..”
“The key is this tax decree. If we can believe Huskins’ words and Pisky’s judgment, this decree will wipe away all that the monastery has. So it turns out that it’s actually the perfect opportunity for us. I hear that just before a huge wave, the tide will completely recede and reveal the ocean’s floor.. what do you think that means?”
Cole immediately replied.
“That all the treasure chests at the bottom of the ocean are revealed too, right?”
“Exactly. So if there really are treasures down there, the monastery won’t be able to hide them from us.. which should help Holo accomplish her goal. Of course, whether she chooses to take one of them by force will be entirely up to her.”
Cole nodded and breathed a sigh of relief before he seated himself.
“I can’t fathom how you’re this skilled, Mr. Lawrence.”
Cole probably meant his ability to look at things from so many perspectives. Lawrence just quietly smiled and shrugged his shoulders, but it wasn’t an act. If Holo was there she’d surely be able to tell that. After all, no one was really able to lie to themselves.
“We still have a long night ahead of us, and a fire’s been conveniently raised as well. Cole..”
“Yes?”
“I will require your wisdom.”
“Right!”
Cole hastily covered his mouth, having shouted that out a little too loudly. Lawrence immediately pulled out paper and pen and began to formulate a plan.
* * *
Just seeing an insect’s beating wings was difficult, but even the individual beats of a powerfully-built eagle’s wings could be counted. Smaller organization’s actions were likewise harder to predict with accuracy than those of larger ones. If that organization was cornered as well, such predictions were easier still.
But they had too little information. All they currently knew was that the monastery was in a financial and political crisis, and that the failures of the King’s policies had led his own treasury to financial crisis. They also knew about the King’s decree, and the prediction that the monastery couldn’t survive another tax.
They still didn’t know which special piece of property the monastery was hiding. Did they truly have a high-priced holy relic like the wolf deity’s bones, as Lawrence and company predicted, or was it just a large sum of cash?
These were the facts he had scrawled onto the top half of the page, and the lower half was reserved for the choices that were available to him and his companions. They could inform others about the decree.. but who? The alliance? The monastery? Perhaps they would be better off remaining silent. There were also many ways in which they could handle intelligence about the bones.
The options available to them seemed both too few and too many, and the same applied to what they didn’t know. Even if they knew, the monastery’s crisis was such that they couldn’t survive another tax, they didn’t know if they would stubbornly resist one or submit to the King’s army like obedient lambs.
But practically speaking, there was no possibility for the monastery to solve its own problems with its own power. Their only viable option right now seemed to be cleverly trading information with the alliance while gradually taking small steps forward. Such a strategy was naturally dangerous, but it wasn’t altogether hopeless.
After all, the alliance might have them by the throat and be wondering how to tear that throat out, but they weren’t like a band of mercenaries, intent on feeding on their prey until nothing remained. The alliance knew how to harvest wheat, and how to increase harvest yields. They also knew that a large one-time profit wasn’t as important as a smaller, more sustainable income. On top of that, they needed to ensure that the land they won was stable enough for a successful migration. The monastery’s continued existence was an extremely high priority for them.
Lawrence and Cole spent the whole night considering every possibility they could think of, and whether each was worth the gamble. Perhaps it was the blizzard and the c
old before dawn that helped keep their minds clear, but it also helped that Lawrence was an independent merchant with a solid grasp of worldly power relationships, and that Cole was there to help keep him on track.
By the time the bright flames in the stove had died down to silent, low-burning ones, the two of them had finally conceived of the best, essentially flawless, choice and had committed it to paper. Holo’s happy expression and Huskins’ look of surprise were right there before his eyes. The strategy was to-
“..Nng..”
Just as he was proudly revealing his conclusion to Holo, he woke up. The similar sounds of a burning fire and falling snow crackled as he made a groggy estimation of how long he must have slept. Now he just had to remember that flawless plan he had grasped before falling asleep. Oh, of course.. his heart sank as he realized it was just a dream. He might have been able to stomach that realization if it wasn’t also plainly written on his face that he’d only found the answer in his dreams.
“Foolish mule.”
He’d been sleeping face-down over the crate he’d been writing on. Holo threw her comment at him just as he sat up, while she crouched next to the stove. Her voice was clearer and more pleasant than the ringing of a church bell. He felt a terrible knot in his neck as he gave a mighty stretch, and attributed it to his clumsy sleeping posture.
“Truly such a foolish mule..”
He finally noticed that two blankets had been draped over his shoulders, and that Cole was curled up into a tiny ball next to Holo. Her face was turned away as she continued calling him a foolish mule over and over. It looked like Cole was desperately clinging onto her tail and refusing to let go.
Maybe it was the result of her face returning to normal after swelling with tears, or maybe it was just an illusive contrast against her thin dress without her robes, but her face seemed quite emaciated. Actually, she seemed emaciated in general, not just her face. By the time that struck him she sighed.
Spice & Wolf X (DWT) Page 16
