Spice & Wolf II (26 page)

“In addition to whoever’s carrying the gold, we have to find an investor who will help us buy up our supply. The three
lumione
I have on hand won’t even be enough to compensate the carrier.”

Holo thought for a moment, then looked at Lawrence doubt fully. “There is one more problem, is there not? You only have today. Can you bring the gold into the city so quickly?”

The self-proclaimed wisewolf’s thinking was quick as usual.

But he’d had all night to think, and his mind had reached a place the wisewolf’s had yet to settle.

“Naturally I’ve thought of that. It seemed like the biggest problem to me, as well. Call it strange, call it a miracle, but there is a key to solving all of those problems.”

“Oh ho.”

Lawrence smiled proudly at Holo, who regarded him as a master would a student about to be tested.

“We’ll get the Remelio Company to invest.”

Holo tilted her head slightly.

The Remelio Company was in the process of failing, just as Lawrence was. But it was hard to imagine that they were so stone broke that they would need to do the same kind of naive door knocking as Lawrence. They would probably have enough capital to fund one last attempt at a grand comeback, and those last precious funds would support the gold smuggling. Since the Remello Company itself was on the verge of ruin, they would have every reason to be interested in a reliable plan to move gold.

Such smuggling was extremely susceptible to betrayal. In other words, once the smuggling was proposed to them and they were on board, it would be bad for them if Lawrence preceded them on the road to ruin. There was no need for discretion on the part of those already headed for death.

Lawrence would have only to say, “The Remelio Company is planning to smuggle gold,” and their plans for a comeback would be destroyed.

Thus, they would have no choice but to postpone the repayment of Lawrence’s debt, and in order to protect against betrayal, Lawrence had no choice but to make them his accomplice.

This was his conclusion the previous night.

“But, in any case, we still lack time.”

This was the biggest problem that faced them.

“Mm. Shall we then go right after breakfast?”

“Breakfast?”

“One can hardly fight on an empty stomach.”

Now that Holo mentioned it, Lawrence thought back and realized he had not had a bite since lunch the previous day, but either because of the all-nighter he had pulled or because of the intense work that was left to do, he did not have much appetite.

But Holo was entirely cheerful as she hopped off the bed, fastened her robe and skirt snugly around her waist, and put her kerchief on her head.

“Some meat would be nice!”

Even if he had been fit as a fiddle, Lawrence would have found the idea of meat first thing in the morning entirely distasteful.

After taking breakfast at a stall, Lawrence and Holo headed on foot to the Remelio Company. Since they weren’t arriving on a cart and horse, they called this time at the front door entrance.

As one might expect given that the entrance faced the street, it did not seem much different from normal, but once they opened the door, which bore no sign reading either open or closed, the unmistakable odor of financial troubles filled Lawrence’s nose.

It was clearly a different atmosphere from outside, where hope bloomed in the morning air. Here, despair lurked in every nook and cranny, and there was a hungry impatience, a feverish aura scattered throughout the place. The simple presence or absence of money could change the very atmosphere.

“Er, might I ask who is there?”

The middle-aged man who greeted them wore a hard expression; it was early for a sudden visit. Nonetheless, he was relatively calm and his voice polite. He was thin and probably always had been.

“My name is Lawrence. I visited yesterday. There is something I would very much like to speak with Mr. Remelio about...”

“Is that so? This way, please...Oh, I’m terribly sorry, your companion—”

“She’s my apprentice. It’s convenient for her to be dressed as a town girl at the moment, but I look forward to her becoming a fine merchant woman in the near future. I’d like her to sit in on the meeting.”

Lawrence spun the great lie without any hesitation, and the man seemed to accept it. Female merchants were uncommon, and girls aiming to become one were even less so.

“If you’ll follow me, then...

Lawrence followed the man into the building, Holo trailing after him. The workers on the first-floor office sported blood shot, dark-circled eyes. Just like Lawrence’s previous days, they had been working frantically through the nights on ways to raise money most likely.

“Please wait here.”

They were led to a room on the third floor. This was probably the room normally used for negotiations about jewels, spices, and other high-priced items. Lawrence sat not on a plain cloth chair, but on an overstuffed couch with leather cushions.

“May I convey what your business with us is today, Mr. Lawrence?”

“I’d like to discuss a way to settle my debt with this company, and possibly for this company to settle its own debts as well,” said Lawrence smoothly and evenly, looking straight into the man’s eyes.

The man straightened as if struck by lightning, his eyes widening. He considered Lawrence with obvious doubt in his eyes, probably wondering if this visit to a struggling company was the last-ditch effort of a thief.

“Your doubt is entirely understandable. That is why I’d like to speak with Mr. Remelio as soon as possible.”

The man appeared flustered at having been seen through. “I will take the message to the master,” he said, taking his leave.

Eight or nine times out of ten, Remelio would have taken the bait—nothing Lawrence said was a lie. The only people who called on a company whose bankruptcy was near were those proposing liquidation arrangements. Merchants trying to salvage as much money as possible from a sinking ship would gather like ravenous ghosts. They could not possibly ignore someone coming along with even the flickering possibility of turning their fortunes around.

Holo’s gold-smuggling proposal would potentially yield enough profit to wipe out the Remelio Company’s vast debt, to say nothing of Lawrence’s relatively meager liability.

However, the plan would never succeed unless the Remelio Company was fully involved.

Additionally, if people in the company were caught, they wouldn’t be spared execution. The Remelio Company’s employees and their families would never be able to live in this city again. The danger was very real.

However, sitting and waiting would bring much the same outcome. Given that, the company would certainly take the chance. Then once Lawrence had repaid his debt, they would be able to lend on an absurd scale.

The greater the risk, the larger the potential gain.

It was the same as in Poroson when Lawrence had seen through the Latparron Company master’s cheat and forced him into a deal.

Lawrence chuckled ruefully to himself at the memory, but the past was done; there was only the future now.

He had to convince the Remelio Company to take the risk. That was the first mountain to climb. He took a deep breath and straightened himself, then felt eyes on his face. There was no one else in the room; it was Holo.

“I’m with you. Don’t worry” Holo gave him a lopsided smirk, exposing one sharp fang. It was a fearless smile.

“Yeah.”

Lawrence’s reply was short. His brevity was proportional to his trust in her. The closer a relationship, the less the need for lengthy contracts; the more a simple handshake suffices.

There was a knock at the door.

It opened, and there stood Hans Remelio, looking every bit as careworn as Lawrence.

“You said you have something important to discuss?”

The first step in the plan had been taken.

Chapter 5

There was no need for elaborate tricks. First, Lawrence explained the objective.

Unsurprisingly, Remelio’s eyes became wide. “You don’t mean—he said.

“I mean exactly that,” said Lawrence, but soon the common sense he would expect from a merchant running a trading company in Ruvinheigen showed on Remelio’s face. It turned scornful as the master sat in a chair.

“I understand that your debt is a difficult one to repay, but I can’t have you making such ridiculous chatter.”

He began to stand, as if unwilling to waste any more time, when Lawrence stopped him.

“I’m sure there have been those who tried to smuggle gold this way before and were caught.”

“Well, if you understand that, this will go quickly. It’s easy for someone on the brink of ruin to mistake a reckless plan for a perfect one.”

It occurred to Lawrence that this statement was half aimed at Remelio himself, but he continued undaunted. smuggling?”

Remelio looked at Lawrence gravely and sat back down. “What you propose is not possible. Someone so skilled as to be able to smuggle gold in would already be making plenty of money on his own. He wouldn’t cooperate. If you plan to bring in someone from outside, you might as well give up now. There’s no end to gold-smuggling plots like this, so inspections of anybody not registered with the city are especially thorough.”

Remelio’s objections were exactly the arguments Lawrence had been expecting.

“What if there were someone who was highly skilled but not making good money?”

“If he is so skilled, finding work in this city is not difficult. There’s already a shortage of labor.”

Remelio sat and waited for Lawrence’s reply.

His expression was faintly reminiscent of Holo’s the previous night.

He’d given his objection and waited for Lawrence’s counter objection. He wanted to give up but couldn’t.

Lawrence took a deep breath.

“What if this skilled person had only ill-paying work in the city and a need for money? More importantly, what if this person’s current employer left something to be desired? I’m referring to the Church. Importing gold flies directly in the face of the Church. We’ll offer not only the opportunity for profit, but to exact some small revenge against the Church—it will be irresistible and the probability of betrayal very low, owing to a fair distaste for the employer.”