Wolf & Parchment, Volume 3

by Isuna Hasekura

  “But did you hear that, Brother?”

  There was a chair with a cushion stuffed full of wool and embroidered with gold thread sitting along the wall. Myuri poked it with her finger, a smile on her face as she spoke.

  “He called you the ‘Twilight Cardinal.’ You’re a big shot now.”

  “It would be quite the joke if I seriously accepted that.”

  “Aw, really? I think having another name is cool, like in an adventure story. Then, when they call you ‘Your Eminence,’ even you would have to stand up straight, despite how pitiful you are.”

  Within the hierarchy of the Church, cardinals were next in importance after the pope. Everyone had titles and names that suited them. To be called by a name that did not match his true worth felt absurd.

  As Col sighed in slight irritation, there was a knock at the door. Some errand boys and maids had arrived with a large tub as well as several wooden buckets filled with hot water. They carried it all into the next room, and the ones who followed in after the first group drew a rope across the wall from which they hung cloth, like a curtain.

  “Please let us know if you need more water. Your new clothes will be over here.”

  It was far grander than what Col had asked for, so he could not help but feel indebted. The maid who spoke bowed one last time before leaving the room.

  While Col had been talking with them, Myuri had immediately stripped off her clothes before pouring the water right over her head. Exasperated, he collected her scattered clothes, and her carefree voice came from the other side of the curtain.

  “I feel alive again!”

  Bathing was too much to ask for in the northern islands, where fuel was scarce. That must have been difficult for Myuri, who had been born and raised in a bathhouse and took jumping into the hot baths every day for granted.

  As he smiled, hearing the excited sounds of splashing, he noticed there was soap sitting beside the small tub meant for the foot bath. He had considered using the ash in the fireplace, so he was grateful for this.

  “Myuri, there’s soap.”

  “What, really?!”

  She threw aside the curtain, and there she was, completely naked. Col typically turned his back to her at times like this, but he was tired, and she was being much too indifferent about the situation, so he could do nothing but scold her.

  “Myuri, you honestly need to be a bit more modest…”

  “Hey, can you wash my hair for me?”

  Not only that but she was not listening to a word he said. Instead, she asked for a favor while tugging on his sleeve.

  “You can do that much by yourself.”

  “But I have to wash my tail. If I have to wash it after I washed my hair, then the water’ll get cold.”

  Col was exasperated with Myuri’s suspicious-sounding excuses when he saw how she grinned at him.

  “I thought you would at least wash my hair as a reward for working hard in the northern islands.”

  “…”

  She had saved his life when they were in the north.

  When she brought that up, he could not turn her down.

  “I swear…”

  “Eh-heh-heh!”

  Myuri giggled, heading back toward the full tub to sit in it.

  Col rolled up his sleeves, dipped the soap into the water, and began to wash Myuri’s hair once bubbles started to form.

  Her once-smooth hair felt just like the coarse fur of a wolf, perhaps because of how long it had been tousled by the briny sea breeze. Now that he thought about it, it had been a long time since he last saw her use a comb. It may have been too painful.

  The soap foamed as he gently scrubbed her hair, remembering his gratitude for what happened in the north, but Myuri was twisting her body in a strange way so she could reach her tail. When Col noticed, he tilted his head.

  “Would this not be easier if I washed your tail and you took care of your hair?”

  After she felt around for her tail and pulled it toward her, she was diligently washing it, but she suddenly stopped and glanced over her shoulder back at him.

  Then she quickly looked away.

  “No. That’s embarrassing.”

  Col thought Myuri had buried her sense of shame somewhere deep in the mountains, but that did not seem to be the case.

  At the same time, he was not quite grasping her criteria for what qualified.

  “May I touch your ears?”

  The pointed wolf ears that Myuri had inherited from her mother lay flat on her head so that the bubbles would not get in.

  “Sure. Just make sure water doesn’t get in them!”

  “Of course.”

  When he rinsed her hair off with buckets of water, he covered her ears with his hand to make sure the insides did not get wet. As he rinsed the suds off, her dull, ashen hair began to regain some of its luster. It was as if she had shed an old husk.

  As Col cleaned the dirt and mud away, he somehow felt as though they had finally returned from the north.

  He had witnessed a painful reality that made him question his identity. Events had forced him to be painfully aware of just how powerless and pitiful he was.

  After falling into the dark, frigid sea, once he could no longer move and continued to sink, he had also experienced the final moments before what could have been his end. More importantly, he had seen with his own eyes the fear that gripped people when the possibility that their most treasured loved one might die.

  And then came his miraculous salvation.

  He recalled it all, realizing his heart had been overflowing with emotion over the course of a scant few days.

  “Myuri.”

  “Hmm?”

  He spoke her name, and the girl in question, who was vigorously rubbing the fur on her tail, looked back at him over her shoulder.

  “Thank you…for everything you did in the north.”

  While they were there, Col had truly hurt her. He wondered if he should apologize, but that was a bit different.

  When he thanked her, she stared at him blankly before giggling.

  “That’s okay, I’ll just have you repay me.”

  Repay you? Col was about to ask, but she snatched the bucket from him and poured water over his head.

  His clothes, which had finally dried out, were soaked again.

  “So for now, you should come into the bath with me.”

  “…”

  Between his dripping bangs, Col could see Myuri grinning mischievously at him, her canines bared.

  “I jumped in after you when you fell into the pitch-black, midwinter sea in the middle of the night. So it should be nothing for you to jump into some nice warm water for me, right?”

  He wanted to say that those were completely different things, but when Myuri sat in front of him and said, “Right?” with a smile while wagging her tail, his words fell away before they could even take form. Not even a shadow of the resolute priest he wished to be could be seen.

  “Come on, hurry up or the water will get cold!”

  Happy that he showed no resistance, Myuri reached out and began to remove his clothes. A maiden’s bashfulness and modesty was nowhere to be found.

  What was present could be considered overflowing goodwill, plus a complete lack of intent to compromise.

  “Okay, now sit there and behave.”

  Col did as he was told and sat in the filled tub. Myuri washed his hair as she cackled, as though something was funny. He hated how comfortable he felt.

  He hugged his knees, and with an irritated sigh, he wondered how he could be the Twilight Cardinal.

  After Myuri washed Col’s hair, they argued about this and that, eventually managing to finish rinsing off the dirt from their long journey. After changing into fresh clothes that were not damp with seawater for a change, Col felt completely revitalized; as if he had been reborn. Before long, their hot meal was ready for them, and it was all much more than he could have hoped for.

  He had imagined the food would
be impressive, but there was so much of it, and the quality was even more awe-inspiring. The lamb that Myuri had been looking forward to was so tender that the meat nearly fell off the bone just from picking it up. The portions were so gratuitous that she only took one piece. Their withered bodies quickly regained all their moisture from the ample grease.

  Pure white wheat bread. Butter the size of bricks. Pork sausage bursting at the seams. Chicken broth soup. There were even sweets; dried grapes and apples filled an entire basket.

  Myuri was eager to get a mouthful of everything. But she had weathered a close brush with death in the northern islands. Even without that, she had come down with a fever, then ran around sniffing out mines in her wolf form after her recovery. Just today, she had gotten caught in a violent storm out at sea, followed by a good amount of playing around in the bath.

  By the time she reached out for her third piece of bread, it was only natural she stopped moving, almost like a string somewhere had been cut. She had managed quite well up to this point, really. Her head was on its side as she was fast falling asleep, but her gluttony ensured that her hands continued to have a tight grip on the food. Col almost felt as though he should praise her for it.

  But if her face fell into her soup bowl, their long-awaited bath would be meaningless.

  She resisted somewhat when he tried to gently pry the bread from her hands, but when he pulled her soap-scented head into a hug, she slumped right into him. With a sigh, Col lifted the princess from the chair; he was used to this, too.

  He lay her down on the bed stuffed with wool, but she gripped his sleeve to make sure he would not leave.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I need to let them know that they can put the rest of the food away. I’ll be right back.”

  The freshly washed, soft hairs on her wolf ears swayed at his whisper.

  He caressed her head, pulled up the covers since her ears and tail were still visible, then called someone to put away the food. He felt bad about how much of their meal remained untouched, but the maid, who had just finished placing the bread into a bag, shuffled over to him to ask a question.

  “May I ask for a blessing for this bread?”

  “A blessing? But…”

  He bit back his surprise, but there was a pained expression on the maid’s face.

  “It’s been several years since the priests left this town. Please have mercy, should you pity us.”

  It had been three years since the kingdom confronted the Church and the pope banned all religious activities in the region, which meant any clerical acts normally performed by priests were no longer allowed. Children born could not be blessed, weddings were not held, and the souls of the deceased were not laid to rest in funerals.

  Still, there were times when the people needed to cling to something just to carry on living. Some required support if a family member had fallen ill and was confined to bed, while others worried about the safety of a loved one who had left to work in a far-off land. Help was needed when there were troubles that could not be shared with anyone else or there was a big decision to be made.

  No matter how Col thought about it, they were given such a large amount of food for a reason. Food that esteemed guests were offered but could not finish was typically shared among the servants, but there was a holiness in food blessed by a priest. It was medicine for the sick, a talisman for the anxious. Sligh was being showy, but it was not to curry their favor.

  Considering it his fee for staying, Col prayed that all the food be blessed by God. He prayed for the happiness and health of the maids, asking that their melancholy be quelled. He even prayed for a safe childbirth for one of the girls’ relatives.

  He could not bring himself to mention the finer details, such as how he was not an official priest. Rather, he honestly expected to earn suspicion of heresy for carrying out unlicensed religious activities.

  Here, at this very moment, there were people seeking salvation. Col thought that if the least he could do was pretend, then he should. When he was finished, all the girls sincerely called him a “cardinal.” Their tearful faces only strengthened his belief.

  While he had learned in the northern islands that prayer alone solved nothing, he now thought that as long as there were those who yearned for it, prayer was something worth doing.

  Once more, Col was strongly convinced that they could not haphazardly dissolve the Church.

  Before the pope and the kingdom had begun their fight, even if they were vaguely aware of the various issues, it was without a doubt that the church in town had provided healing for the souls of the people.

  After Col sent away the last maid, in his exhaustion, he felt confident that righting the Church was the correct path.

  But first, he needed sleep. He let out a long-suppressed yawn. Faith could not do away with the fatigue of the body.

  He quenched his parched throat with a bit of sweet wine, then blew out the candle. Col could tell the town of Desarev was a lively one at night, seeing how the light of the torches lining the main street filtered through the cracks in the window. Thanks to that light, he made it to the bed without bumping into anything.

  He quietly slipped under the same blanket as Myuri, doing his best not to wake her. But she immediately gripped his chest and pulled her face in closer to him.

  “…You…done?”

  She mumbled as though she was talking in her sleep, and her eyes were still closed.

  Her tone was not so much sweet and lovable—like it would have been if she had tried her best to stay up until her big brother could go to sleep—but rather, mildly annoyed that the prayer sessions had been much too loud.

  Either way, it made him smile.

  “Yes. Let’s get a good night’s sleep.”

  “…Mm.”

  Col could not tell if that mumble was her response or just her breathing.

  The wrinkles between her eyebrows disappeared, and the tension in her hands melted away. He felt as though it was the first time in a while he had seen such a calm expression on her face.

  Her childlike sleeping face was incredibly familiar.

  “May there be happiness wherever you go.”

  He prayed; of all the prayers he gave today, this was the one he poured the most feeling into.

  Myuri’s wolf ears twitched slightly as she wriggled around a bit before finally slipping back into her slumber.

  When Col closed his eyes, he fell asleep in an instant.

  His encounters with the maids that night were merely a trial run for the next day. Col woke with the rising sun, heading to the well in the courtyard to wash his face. Once he opened the door, three maids were waiting for him with a washbasin. Of course, before he went to do so, he listened to their troubles and offered them God’s protection, as well as blessings.

  Attendants came to prepare firewood, retrieve candle stubs, or ready breakfast, and every time, they told Col of their troubles. By then, even the sleepyhead Myuri had to reluctantly open her eyes because she could not stand the noise.

  As she watched all the people come and go, she finally understood that she would not be able to sleep in this morning, resulting in a grumpy mood.

  After breakfast, four people—a merchant who dealt in fabric and his personal tailors—visited to adjust their clothing. Myuri would have typically pestered Col with Brother, does this look good on me? or How about this one? but the merchant and the tailors who brought the fabric, thread, and needles spoke before she could. Three of them had daughters who were in the middle of preparing for their weddings, and one had elderly parents who were unwell.

  May God guide and protect them.

  Fresh sheets and bedding were provided, so once the attendants began to clean the room, Myuri took a blanket along with a pillow and retreated to the next room.

  In the end, there were not that many excuses to visit Col and Myuri’s quarters. Col had naively thought that people would soon stop coming to the room without a proper reason, but a clever individ
ual came to offer him a copy of the scripture. Before long, merchants and servants alike were bringing quills, knives to sharpen those quills, ink pots, sand to dry the ink, parchment, and every other sort of tool they could think of from the first-floor loading area. Of course, they also brought a number of matters for consultation.

  Business was not going so well, discontent plagued the family, a son had gone off to sea, a baby was about to be born; then there were toothaches or back pain. The maids who had all grown up together even talked about how the roosters no longer crowed, the evil shapes of clouds in the west, and how a black cat had passed in front of them three times in a single day.

  On top of everything, so many people visited and all individually brought up their problems, so much so that Col forgot what excuse they made to come to the room when they were really seeking intervention from God.

  Every town had a church, and in that church were priests, their assistants, and in larger houses of worship, bishops sat with many clergymen working under them. They were the ones who took responsibility for the troubles of all the townspeople. The harmful effects of their leaving were no trivial matter. Faith was never useless, and an organization to manage that faith was necessary.

  There was much for Col to think about as a servant of God, but for Myuri, who had no interest in what was going on, it was upsetting that he was not paying attention to her. There was no doubt she was gnashing her teeth in anger in the next room.

  While Col was happy he could be of use to all the people who came and went from the room, he was not used to it and soon felt strangely tired out. But he faced those who came to him with his entire body and soul. By the time he could barely understand his own words, the wave of people died down to a trickle. That was only because Sligh had come to their room.

  “I’m sorry everyone in the company swarmed you like that.”

  He wore an apologetic expression, but of course, Col did not think he discouraged anyone from coming.

  “It’s all right…These quarters are big enough for it.”

  Sligh probably gave them the biggest rooms because he knew this would happen.

  The man grinned when he understood the meaning behind Col’s words, but then his demeanor suddenly became somber.