Spice and Wolf, Vol. 3

by Isuna Hasekura

  The liquor within the brown, clay wine jar made a "gururu" sound as Mark poured it into the wooden mug. Though Lawrence had called out for him to stop, Mark seemed to take no notice.

  The expression on Mark's face seemed to say that he would not answer unless Lawrence reached out and picked up the mug almost overfilling with liquor.

  "Seriously.”

  After Lawrence had picked up the mug with an expression of annoyance at Mark and taken a sip, he found the liquor within the mug to be wine of pretty decent quality. This gave him a sudden urge to eat some salty dried meat to go with the wine.

  "So, what were you about to say just now? Could it be that you want to change the destination?" asked Mark.

  "Aye, that's right. Isn't there a town by the name of Renose at the source of the Romu River? I remember that place was famous for its firewood and furs? I want to head there.”

  "Geez, you sure have chosen a huge change in location. And I wasted all that effort gathering information about going to Nyohhira.”

  Even when drunk, a part of his mind had to remain sober, or else he would not be fit to be called a merchant. "Sorry, the situation has changed slightly.”

  "Oh?”

  Mark responded with a smile, and gulped down the wine as if drinking water.

  Then, Mark looked toward Lawrence with an extremely jolly look in his eyes and said: "So it's really true that you and your companion have become estranged?”

  After a pause of several seconds, Lawrence asked in return: "What'd you say?”

  "Hahahahaha. I've been very thorough in my investigations, handsome boy. Everyone knows you're staying at a high-class inn with a beautiful nun. Seriously, your behavior is exactly what they call an act of defiance against God.”

  Even though Kumerson was a town of quite a large scale, it was, after all, not up to Rubinhaigen's level. If one only inquired from a friend, he could probably obtain information concerning any of the town merchants in the area. That was the depth of a town merchant's lateral connections. Most likely someone had spotted Lawrence together with Horo and the rumor had spread from there by word of mouth.

  If even Mark, who managed a vending stand within the marketplace, knew of Horo's existence, the people at the foreign firm were bound to know as well. Having thought of how fortunate it was that he had not returned to the firm with Bartose, Lawrence loosened up a bit.

  Yet, Lawrence did not understand why Mark had said that they had become estranged.

  "The relationship between me and my companion is not something that would make for a merry feast topic. But, what do you mean by becoming estranged?" Lawrence inquired.

  "Hehehe, looks like the handsome boy is pretty good at playing dumb as well. But even so, having someone mention becoming estranged, the wavering in your heart's still written all over your face.”

  "After all, my companion is indeed a beauty. If we'd become estranged, wouldn't it come as a great loss to me?”

  Thanks to his usual interaction with Horo, Lawrence was able to respond calmly, which surprised even himself.

  Although, Lawrence felt that, if possible, he would much prefer an increase in his skill at talking business over the ability to react in this kind of situation.

  "Berghh (note: that's supposed to represent a belch. Sorry, I'm not good with onomatopoeic words), it's nothing, just some gossip I heard just now. There's a young chap from our guild walking around in the streets with that companion of yours, and it seems like the two are getting along quite well," said Mark.

  "Oh. You mean Am…Mr…Amati.”

  Although Amati was younger than him, Lawrence felt that simply referring to him by name would seem impolite, hence adding the word "Mr." However, as soon as the word was out of his mouth, he felt that it seemed to somewhat lower his position.

  "What, you've already given up?" exclaimed Mark.

  "I'm afraid the situation isn't what you think. I haven't had any time all day to spend with my companion, plus Mr. Amati had some free time and wished to take us for a walk around town. These two things just coincidentally came together.”

  "Oh…”

  "You have any complaints?”

  Lawrence had expected Mark to show a look of disappointment, but Mark had instead put on a worried expression, which struck Lawrence with a wave of confusion.

  "Because I used to be a traveling merchant just like you, I'll give you this warning: that fellow Amati may look weak, but he's actually really difficult to deal with," said Mark.

  "…What do you mean by that?”

  "What I mean to say is, if you continue to be careless as you are now, you just might end up getting your companion snatched away from you. A fellow of Amati's age, soon as he becomes obsessed with something, he'd do absolutely anything. More than that, you see how young Amati is, but do you know just how big a scale his fish business is? Besides, that fellow was born in a Southern country to quite a distinguished family. Because he was the youngest son, it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to make good use of his skills under his older siblings. So, about three years ago, he ran away from home, alone, and finally came here to do business. Pretty impressive huh?”

  Although based on Amati's slender and feeble appearance, this was indeed quite unbelievable, Lawrence had seen with his own eyes how Amati had hired people to transport three cartloads' worth of fresh fish.

  Moreover, even though Lawrence was indeed a target for his deals, Amati had effortlessly arranged a room for him at an inn facing a main street. During a period when the town was literally packed with travelers, this was no easy task.

  A sense of danger began emerging bit by bit within his heart, but at the same time, Lawrence also felt that Horo could not possibly transfer her affections to Amati so easily.

  As Lawrence recalled all the things they had been through since he had met Horo, he became more and more firm in his opinion that Horo would not redirect her affections.

  "There's nothing to worry about, my companion isn't such a fickle person," Lawrence assured Mark. "Hahaha, you're pretty confident. If I heard that Adele was walking around with Amati, I'd probably give up and surrender.”

  "What'd you say about me and Amati?” said Adele, who had been closing up shop in place of her drunk husband and was, since some unknown time, already standing behind Mark with a scary smile on her face.

  Four years ago, Adele had met Mark, who had come to Kumerson to do business, and the two had fallen in love. Their love story was quite famous within Kumerson. After this affaire d'amour which even a third-rate minstrel would find unbelievable, the two had entered the chapel. Today, Adele seemed to possess more and more the dignity of a wheat merchant's wife.

  When Lawrence had seen Adele for the first time, she was quite slender and fragile in build, but now she was even more robust than Mark.

  Adele had given birth two years ago. Perhaps this was a strength shared by all mothers.

  "I was saying, if I knew you were walking together with Amati, I, who love you so deeply, would be consumed by the flames of jealousy until I was all covered in wounds," Mark replied to Adele.

  "That's alright, you can burn to your heart's content. Once you've burned to charcoal, I'll use that to raise a fire and bake delicious bread as a treat for Mr. Amati.”

  Adele's acrid words left Mark utterly speechless, and he could only escape by means of drinking. Perhaps women were the more daring within most families, Lawrence thought to himself.

  "I say, Mr. Lawrence, drinking in the company of this drunkard would make even quality wine taste bad, wouldn't it? We're all set to close up for the day, so how about coming over to our place so I can treat you to a couple of delicious dishes? Although, the child may be a bit noisy," Adele offered.

  Hearing about Mark's child, Lawrence had a difficult time imagining just how much of a rascal the child could be.

  Although this alone was enough to dissuade Lawrence, who knew nothing about dealing with children, Lawrence declined the invitation for
a different reason.

  "I still have unfinished business, so no thanks.”

  This was of course a lie. However, Adele did not show any suspicion, but only seemed to be filled with regret.

  Yet, Mark, who looked as if he had seen right through Lawrence, said with a light smile: "After all, this unfinished business is just too important. Good luck.”

  Mark had indeed seen through his thoughts, and Lawrence could only return a strained smile.

  "Ah, right. About the change in destination, I got it. I'll be keeping my shop open during the festival period, so I should be able to gather perfectly accurate information," Mark added.

  "Thanks.”

  Lawrence finished the rest of the wine in his mug, thanked the couple once again, and bid them farewell. Walking alone on such an energy-filled night in the marketplace, Lawrence detected a natural increase in his walking pace, and could only smile a strained smile.

  He had actually used "still having unfinished business" as an excuse and told such a big lie, Lawrence thought self-mockingly.

  The fact was, seeing the interaction between Mark and Adele had triggered a desire in Lawrence to return to the inn.

  As for the reason for wanting to head back to the inn, even if Lawrence knew full well what it was, he was unwilling to mention it even in his heart, much less speak it in front of others.

  The image of Horo and Amati walking together happily surfaced briefly in Lawrence's mind and vanished. Although indignant at heart, Lawrence noticed several times that he had been consistently increasing his pace.

  Along with the darkening of the night sky, the clamor that came from outside the wooden window continued to grow louder. Lawrence listened to the noise as he used pen and ink borrowed from the inn to write down his future business plans. At that very moment, Horo returned.

  He had come back to the inn just now in a bit of a flurry, only to discover that Horo hadn't even returned yet. Although this gave the feeling of a disappointment in expectations, it was also fortunate that Horo had not been able to see his flustered appearance, which allowed him to loosen up a bit.

  Horo said that Amati had accompanied her to the front of the inn, so she had come upstairs alone. However, judging by the fox-skin scarf around Horo's neck, it wasn't difficulty to see how badly Amati had been played. Looking at the situation, Amati had most likely bought a lot of other things for Horo as well.

  Compared to the relief and joy in seeing Horo return safe and sound, the headache that struck Lawrence as soon he began thinking about how to repay Amati for all this was even greater.

  "Mm…I feel horrible. Mm….you….help me a bit," said Horo.

  Lawrence wondered just how much Horo had eaten and drunk. She seemed incapable of undoing her silken sash by herself.

  Although Lawrence found it unbelievable, he nevertheless got out of the chair with a helpless look and assisted Horo, who was struggling fiercely by the bed, in undoing her sash and also helped her remove the robe that had been tied to her waist as a skirt.

  "Hey, at least take off your scarf and shawl before lying down, or they'll get wrinkled." Lawrence's reminder only elicited a vague and indistinct response from Horo.

  Lawrence managed with great difficulty to prevent the sitting Horo from simply lying down right then and there, and helped her remove the scarf, the shawl made from rabbit skin, and the triangular kerchief tied over her head.

  Horo had long since drifted off to sleep after leaving Lawrence to freely remove her clothing. The reason she had bid Amati farewell as soon as they had reached the front of the inn was probably because she had already reached her limit as they were on their way back, struggling to maintain her composure.

  After Lawrence finally managed to help such a Horo remove the scarf, shawl, and triangular kerchief, he allowed her to lie down directly in bed.

  Watching such a carefree Horo, a strained smile involuntarily surfaced on Lawrence's face. Yet, seeing the sheen of the hair on the fox-skin scarf he now held in his hand, he could only let out a light sigh. It would be quite normal for such a quality item to be used as a resell product, but giving it away to someone was almost unimaginable.

  "Hey, don't sleep yet. Did you make him buy anything else for you?”

  Judging by the situation, perhaps Horo had really asked Amati for other, even more costly things.

  Yet, Horo no longer possessed the strength even to lift her feet onto the bed, and maintained that strange posture as she snored and slept. It appeared to Lawrence that even the ears Horo was so proud of made no response at all, and she had already sunken into a deep slumber.

  Lawrence revealed a look that seemed to say, "Can't figure you out at all," and lifted Horo's feet to rest on the bed. Even so, Horo still did not wake up.

  Is Horo leaving herself so completely defenseless because she trusts me? Or is she simply looking down on me?

  Lawrence couldn't help asking himself. However, he decided that thinking about such things was only asking trouble for himself, and chose to toss these thoughts to the back of his mind.

  After setting the scarf and shawl on the desk, Lawrence began folding the robe.

  At that moment, an object fell out from inside the robe, and hit the surface with a "kadong." Picking it up for examination, Lawrence found that it was a beautiful cube-shaped piece of metal. "Iron…? No, that's not it.”

  The cube-shaped solid possessed perpendicular edges that were the result of careful grinding with a knife, as well as a smooth surface that was worthy of praise, clearly visible even under the faint moonlight. Judging from the careful craftsmanship, even if it was just a block of metal, it possessed considerable value. However, Lawrence could only guess how much of a tantrum Horo would throw if he woke her up for the sake of asking what type of metal it was. Lawrence decided to ask about it when Horo woke up the next day, and set the metal cube on the desk.

  He hung the robe on the chair back, folded the triangular kerchief and, after smoothing out the wrinkles, rolled the sash back up.

  Lawrence silently complained about having to do such work befitting a manservant. Yet, as soon as he saw the sight of Horo, having long fallen asleep with her habitual carefree snore, his indignant mood vanished in an instant.

  Seeing that Horo made no motion to do it herself, Lawrence approached the bed and drew the covers over her, once again revealing a strained smile.

  Then, Lawrence made his way back to the desk, and tried to redirect his thoughts to his business plans. Since the original business route did not allow for him to search for Yoitsu while staying in the North for an extensive amount of time, what had to be done was simply to reroute the path on the premise of doing business in the Northern regions. Putting aside whether or not to really alter the business route, at least it wouldn't hurt to first come up with a plan for business.

  Besides, it had been a long time since he had put down on paper the towns of various areas and the path of business and named one by one the famous or highly-profitable products of the various regions, thinking about the business route from various angles.

  Thinking back on the times when he would willingly sacrifice sleep in order to settle on a plan, Lawrence was filled with a sense of nostalgia.

  However, there was a key difference between the past and the present. Was this plan made for his own sake, or for someone else's?

  Lawrence listened to the carefree snore as he continued working energetically and quickly until the animal oil-made candle was finally burned out.

  "Food, liquor, scarf, and this die.” “Anything else?" asked Lawrence.

  "That should be it. Also, I received an impressive amount of sweet talk,”

  Horo said as she bit lightly on the comb for grooming her tail. Hearing this, Lawrence looked at her with a beaten expression.

  Lawrence, relieved to find that Horo had awoken without a hangover, began interrogating her about the events of the previous night. Under the abundant lighting, Lawrence was more certain than ever that t
he gifts Horo had received were all items of considerable cost.

  "I see you ate and drank to your heart's content yesterday. And what's the deal with this scarf? You actually accepted such a gift.," said Lawrence.

  "The quality of the fur is very nice, is it not? However, it still loses to my tail.” “Did you ask for this from him?”

  "I certainly am not so shameless. He insisted on buying it for me. However, giving a scarf as a gift is rather original.”

  As soon as she sensed Lawrence's gaze shift from the fox-skin scarf to herself, Horo said with her face full of joy: "You wish to keep me tightly within your control.”

  "I don't have time for your jokes. You can't expect to accept such a costly gift without making some kind of repayment? Seriously, I was originally just planning to use someone else to make you happy, but look at the debt I'm facing now.”

  "Hehehe, so you were scheming such a plan after all. Aie, I knew it all along.” “I'll be deducting the repayment for the scarf from your funds for the festival.”

  Horo, hearing this, immediately threw Lawrence a resentful glance, but upon discovering that Lawrence was staring right back at her, turned her face away, pretending not to see.

  "….Seriously, you didn't happen to also reveal your ears and tail did you?" asked Lawrence. "That you have no need to worry about. I am not so foolish.”

  Although thinking back on the state in which Horo returned the previous night, Lawrence couldn't help having some doubts, he also felt that Horo probably wouldn't have failed to notice something like this.

  "Did Amati ask about our relationship?”

  "I would first like to know why you ask," Horo demanded in return.

  "If we don't have an agreed-upon explanation ahead of time, people will start guessing.”

  "Yea, you are right. I have been closely questioned on many matters. I answered that I am a traveling nun, whom you rescued just as some evil men were planning to sell me.”

  Other than the mention of Horo being a nun, the rest more or less accorded with the facts, Lawrence thought to himself.