Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4

by Isuna Hasekura

  But he was not sure what else he should say; there were no words in him.

  “That’s why—”

  When Myuri continued speaking, his consciousness returned to reality. She cut herself off and wrapped her leg around his, as though she was going to pull some trick.

  “I think you should go along with the bad fox.”

  “…With Miss Eve?”

  “Yeah. She might be a crazy archvillain on Mother’s level, but I think we should rely on her while she’s on our side. She gives you a power different from mine, one that’s like a thick black cloud.”

  Some people called that black cloud power; some called it scheming.

  “So, like, if you honestly said you wanted to smash the Church, then she would weigh all the treasure she would get from crushing them and work hard for all those profits, all while licking her lips.”

  “I don’t actually want to crush the Church, though…”

  He understood that Eve would actually use her intellect to make that happen, though.

  “Well, it might not give you peace of mind. I really don’t think she’d come up with some sort of plan to go along with your fragile heart,” Myuri said, her face reading, I’d be the only one to do that.

  That gave him an indefinable feeling—she was exactly right but also not quite that.

  “But maybe what the chicken said wasn’t true.”

  Myuri then changed her tone.

  “I think it’d be faster to destroy the Church than to fix it. You can rebuild and stuff afterward.”

  She never listened to God’s teachings, but that just meant she was not interested. On the other hand, she might have come to harbor an aggressive disgust for the inner workings of the Church as she learned more about its reality.

  “Yeah. Why don’t you just stop trying to force yourself to fight and create whatever you want?”

  And though, of course, he could not just say yes and create it out of thin air, what Myuri was saying was not entirely unbelievable.

  “This isn’t about going along with the evil fox; I’m talking about Blondie. I’m thinking that might be fine after all.”

  “Heir Hyland?”

  “Yeah. She said something about a private monastery, right? Can’t you just make an institute or something on your own?”

  Despite how disinterested she acted, Myuri was always listening and could recall everything.

  “People who’ve had similar life experiences to the chicken are living fun lives, aren’t they? That way you won’t have to give up on your dreams, and then Blondie can build a place like that for you as thanks for everything you’ve done so far.”

  Col was flustered at her idea, which came out of nowhere, but he remained silent not because he was surprised. If he was surprised about anything, it was that he could not find the basis on which to deny what Myuri just said.

  “The beardy old guys who come to the bathhouse told me that monasteries are quiet places meant for living easy, right? You can read as much as you want in a place like that, and you can think about complicated things, and I can nap by your side. Staying holed up in a place away from civilization, surrounded by high walls, will keep the evil foxes and the cold winds away. I don’t think it’s that bad.”

  He almost did not believe her when she asked him if they would bring such an idyllic and gentle fantasy to reality.

  Hyland was a noble who stood up there among royalty, so she likely owned a large territory in the Kingdom. When he thought back over all the work they had done so far, he imagined she would not likely say no if they asked. Then, with their own private monastery, they could distance themselves from the Church, and he would be free to pursue his own path of faith under Hyland’s patronage.

  “…To be honest, I did not even think that was an option.”

  “I thought so. You’re into the weirdest stuff—you’re always trying to find your way up on the most difficult path.”

  Hardships were trials given by God, and overcoming them was faith.

  He did not think that idea would reach Myuri if he told her, and even if she asked really? in earnest, he would not be able to prove how correct it was to her.

  And Myuri, right beside her foolish brother, had found a patch of grass so lusciously filled with green.

  “I don’t want to get in the way of your dreams, and I hate the idea of going home empty-handed after such a big adventure, because it would feel like we lost.”

  And suddenly, here they were, talking about a monastery they could live in peacefully.

  Monasteries associated with the Church were so busy with fights over benefices and power of appointment in the dioceses they controlled, intervention from the parent monastery, internal competition for success, and all that—there would be no time to rest. But none of that existed in a private monastery. As long as they had Hyland’s protection, doing “work” every day that was simply growing herbs in the vegetable garden was not a terribly out of reach or fantastical idea.

  He had taken the plunge from Nyohhira with great ambitions, and if that was what he got in the end, then many people would look at him with eyes wide in surprise and bless him.

  It was much like a favorable tide.

  He had lit the signal of reform in Atiph, made allies of Autumn and the pirates in the northern islands, and solved the problem of the cathedral treasures being sold on the black market in Desarev. Here in this city, the great abyss that was Eve was slowly closing in on him. To the Kingdom, his feats could even be called superhuman.

  Col could not replace God, nor did he want to.

  He should instead be proud that he had gotten this far.

  “I will think about it.”

  From the tone of his voice, Myuri could sense an optimistic air from him, not his usual complacencies.

  Her tail stood up straight.

  “R-really?!”

  Col smiled wryly at her surprise.

  “You’re the one who suggested it, did you not?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  Myuri herself likely thought it was much too convenient and just a fantasy. Her tail swept over the bed, as though disappointed with how easily he accepted her idea, and Col smiled, then spoke.

  “Well, a monastery is a place of prayer, so I doubt there will be anywhere for you to nap. And only proper believers would be allowed to enter.”

  “What?!”

  She raised her voice in a growl, knocking her shoulder against his.

  “You’re always such a meanie like that, Brother!”

  “I am not a meanie. There are coed monasteries, but…you’re not a faithful believer, are you?”

  “I faithfully believe that you’ll make me your bride one day!”

  “Those who have faith in such heretical teachings cannot enter a holy monastery.”

  “Brother, you dummy!”

  After their back-and-forth, they both sighed. They had not been thrown out into the frigid nighttime sea, nor were they trapped in a little room that had been set on fire.

  And yet, a mist that was worse than either of those things covered their hearts.

  Myuri bit into his shoulder, perhaps because she did not want to acknowledge it.

  She brought up living in a private monastery, such a pleasantly soft dream, because she did not want to see what was in front of her.

  “Shall I have them bring up our food?”

  They likely would not be able to wipe away this feeling.

  When he murmured his question, the clever Myuri responded readily.

  “Get me lots of meat!”

  When she said that, he could not help but smile.

  “Don’t eat too much.”

  “Okaaay.”

  It was their usual transparent exchange.

  But it was more comfortable than anything right now.

  This ambiguous anxiety he felt was probably awe at the vastness of the world.

  No one could move mountains.

  Even Eve, who was like a natural
disaster to the two, was surely not almighty.

  They crawled under the covers rather early that night.

  Ever since they had arrived in this city by boat from Desarev, they had been thrown into a fiery, churning mill without a moment’s breath. They had come face-to-face with the dreams and desires revealed to them by Sharon and the cathedral and Eve, and when Col finally had a moment to relax, he realized how tired he really was.

  That must have shown on his face, since Myuri, who typically crawled into bed before him and was out before the candles were, stayed awake a little while longer, stroking his hair.

  But there were so many things he had to think about. Regardless of what sort of conclusion the king might give Hyland, Col had to pay attention to the movements in Rausbourne, and especially since he had been designated countless times as the source of this whole commotion, he wanted to play a role in calming the situation by any means possible.

  He had not even the beginning of an idea of what he could do, however. He felt somewhat calm on the inside for how grim the outlook was, simply because he was completely lost.

  And so, just as he was falling asleep, the only thing he was sure of was that his dreams would be nightmares.

  He was so excited to see what sort of nightmare he might have, rather, that when Myuri suddenly called out to him in the darkness, he was disappointed.

  Brother, Brother!—Myuri desperately called out to him in his dreams.

  It was as he scoffed—This isn’t enough to wake me up—and rolled over.

  “Brother!”

  Whack! She smacked him across the cheek.

  “Get up already, will you?!”

  She then shook his shoulders, and he opened his eyes. He looked at her with bleary eyes, and her expression immediately filled with tension.

  “What is it?”

  Myuri hopped off the bed and rushed to the window.

  “Some horses just arrived at the manor, and they sounded super-rushed.”

  “Horses…? Wait, horses?!”

  Hyland’s name immediately came to mind, but if she was there, Myuri would have said Blondie.

  “She wasn’t there. But the knights who were with her are.”

  “Just the knights? Don’t tell me they were attacked by bandits…”

  Col threw back the blanket, stepped down from the bed, and also looked out the window. Sure enough, outside the iron gates stood four horses, their breath still heavy and white from the cold.

  But when he stared into the firelight, he saw that two of the horses had a banner hanging from their saddle with the royal emblem painted on it. He felt as though they had not been there accompanying Hyland when she left.

  “Are they inside the manor?”

  “Yeah. They called out really loudly for that bearded old man.”

  “Mr. Hans. Something must’ve happened. We should—”

  Just as Col was thinking about turning around, there was a strong, rushed knock on the door.

  “Twilight Cardinal!”

  Judging from the volume of the voice and the weight of the knocking, it was not Hans. It was probably a knight.

  “Coming.”

  Col opened the door, and standing there was a knight, just as he thought. He was tall and had a physique big enough to support heavy armor. There was steam rising from his close-shaved, dark-brown hair, almost as though signifying he had run as fast as he could on his horse.

  His shoulders were still heaving with his heavy breath, and he looked as though the sky had fallen down.

  “A message from Heir Hyland! The king has issued a royal command with regards to Rausbourne without waiting for our report! We encountered royal communications officers on the way, and I am here to tell you what Heir Hyland has said, Your Eminence!”

  After seeing Sharon’s past, the cathedral’s deceit, and Eve’s plot, he had encountered enough surprises in this city to last him a lifetime.

  Though he believed nothing would surprise him anymore, the world was still much bigger than he thought.

  “The king will reportedly arrest the now-violent tax collectors in order to avoid war with the Church!”

  Col gulped.

  “Therefore, this is reportedly equivalent to a peace negotiation, while also protecting the tax collectors from the Church by using military force!”

  The very king himself was retreating. It was understandable, however, since he likely could not ignore Heir Klevend. He could not fight both the Church and Heir Klevend at the same time.

  They could not blame him for making that decision, and it was likely an inevitable one in order to keep the country stable.

  But there was something Col could not let go.

  “So the king has recognized the tax collectors as rioters, has he?”

  The tax collectors were drifters. No matter how they were used, there would be no one to mourn them.

  By deeming them an unruly mob and showing the Church that they were a nuisance to the Kingdom, it was their tool to ease tensions.

  He could easily imagine how they would be used.

  “Heir Hyland is makng her way on horseback to inform the king of the inside affairs of the city. She has issued this statement!”

  With a knightly look, the knight lowered his voice and said:

  “Save the tax collectors.”

  They had been discarded by their fathers and now were about to be discarded by the Kingdom, who was supposed to back them.

  A saying went that an underdog would always remain the underdog.

  But Sharon and the others were not dogs.

  They were heroes, looking to grasp a chance to reestablish themselves and settle their pasts with their own power.

  “I will now head to the city council to assist with lineup! You must do what you can to get a grasp on the situation in the city until Heir Hyland comes back, Your Eminence!”

  The knight raised his voice again and had turned his gaze to the ceiling.

  But when he said “assist with lineup,” he briefly gave Col a meaningful look.

  Of the four horses stopped out front, two likely belonged to the royal communications officers. They did not understand how Hyland felt, so the knights were pretending to help with the lineup and were planning on getting in their way as much as they could.

  But the king was sending his whole army.

  “When will the king’s forces be here?”

  “They will reportedly surround the city at dawn!”

  That was soon.

  If this was an act of precaution against Heir Klevend, then the king would have hated for him to get wind of what was happening and to create a counterplan, so he must have done this all in secret.

  “I see…Thank you for all your work.”

  “Yes! Please excuse me!” said the knight, almost yelling, then turned on his heel and rushed down the hallway. Hans stood waiting a short distance away, but being the seasoned butler he was, he showed no signs of panic.

  “Will you be going out? What would you like to wear?”

  Just as Col thought about how little time there was to change, Myuri spoke.

  “Give us the fancy stuff.”

  Col turned around to look at Myuri; he knew it was hard to let go after having a taste of luxury, but he was amazed that she had to bring it up now of all times.

  “Are you gonna walk around dressed like a priest? Your friends will come up and stab you in the back.”

  Myuri was the calm one here.

  “Very well.”

  Hans clapped, and the maids waiting in the neighboring room promptly appeared.

  “Wow.”

  “I shall take that as a compliment.”

  The corners of Hans’s mouth turned upward, and he smiled at Myuri as he spoke flatly.

  Col was impressed yet also amazed at how unexpectedly good-humored Hans was, and how Myuri could truly get along with anyone.

  “Get changed, Brother. We’ll think about what to do as you do.”

  Myuri ga
ve orders like an independent adult when she went out to hunt deer in the mountains of Nyohhira with others.

  It was at times like these, when something that needed to be done appeared before her, that she could stay rather calm.

  “You’re right. Let’s think.”

  They could not act carelessly. They did not have much time, and there were even fewer things they could do.

  “Let us think,” he said, repeating it to himself, and Myuri patted his back.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Col and Myuri agreed that the first thing they needed to do was inform Sharon of the situation.

  In the meantime, they had to think about how they would get her and the other tax collectors out of the city. The king had already decided to surround the city with his army at dawn, so it was not unthinkable that his cavalry and scouts were monitoring the city, and if they all walked out in great numbers over the open plains, they would be found right away, even if it was nighttime. Myuri had even grown anxious about there being no place to hide in the open field when they were on the boat to Rausbourne.

  In that case, their only option was to go by sea. They asked Hans to send a message to Yosef, who was likely at the port. While they doubted Yosef would turn down the request, they were not sure if the deckhands could arrange for such a thing. Operating a boat was a tough job, so they were busy drinking and singing while they were on land.

  As Col prayed that Yosef’s men stayed in moderation that night, he and Myuri made their way to Sharon and the others.

  “Let’s go, Brother. Make sure you don’t get kicked off.”

  “…All I have to do is hold the reins, right?”

  They could not cross the city with Col on wolf Myuri’s back, since there were too many people in such a big city. So while Hans lent them a horse, what made Col raise his concerns was not that he did not have the skill to rush a horse through a city filled with people after dark.

  It was the one sitting between his arms—Myuri.

  “Yeah. I said I’d eat it if it doesn’t listen to my orders, so I don’t think it’ll listen to anything but what I tell it to do.”

  Myuri had said she could not talk directly to wild animals, but it seemed she could convey her general attitude.