Spice & Wolf II (38 page)

She had cast aside her staff—something no shepherd ever did—and desperately held on to Enek to stop him.

That wasn’t fear.

“Norah!” Lawrence shouted and ran toward her, still worried that she was hurt.

Still restraining Enek, Norah looked up, shocked, and was doubly so upon seeing Lawrence. She then turned slowly to Holo, this time unsurprised.

Her aspect suggested that she both did and did not understand.

The emotion in Lawrence’s chest practically exploded from his mouth. “I’m so glad you’re all right!”

Norah could see that the giant wolf responsible for all of this was still unhurt, so she had no idea how to react to these words. She looked to

Lawrence with a dazed expression on her face, overwhelmed.

“The wolf is Holo. My companion, I mean.”

Norah smiled awkwardly; she probably thought it was some kind of joke.

She gave a little gasp as Holo came bounding up to them. A pair of legs protruded from Holo’s mouth.

“You didn’t kill him?”

Lawrence himself had felt a certain homicidal urge when he had seen Liebert use Norah as a shield. If it had been up to Lawrence, he would have killed the man.

Given the legs dangling from Holo’s mouth, the matter would seem to be settled, but instead of replying, Holo shook her head slightly and let the man drop to the ground. Soaked with saliva, Liebert fell with an unpleasant splat.

“
I thought about swallowing him, I’ll admit.
” Holo seemed to smile. “
But gold doesn’t agree with my stomach.
”

She sniffed lightly and inclined her chin toward Liebert.

“Take the gold,” she seemed to be saying.

“I think it was in his coat...Ugh, he’s soaked,” Lawrence complained, when a huge snout poked him. He begrudgingly peeled back Liebert’s warm, wet clothes and easily found the bag of gold.

“There it is. The genuine article,” he said upon opening the bag and seeing the gold grains inside.

“Norah,” he said, tossing the bag to the shepherdess.

Holo gave Lawrence an aggravated look, which he ignored.

“The job’s still not done. You’re the one that has to get that gold into the city.”

The massive wolf heaved a huge sigh. Surprised, Norah glanced at Holo but then turned back to Lawrence. “B-but...how are you still alive?”

Lawrence gave a pained grimace. After meeting up with his comrades, Liebert had sent men back to the forest to “save” Lawrence.

But those same men had returned without him, which meant that Lawrence and Holo had surely died.

Lawrence tried to think of where to begin his explanation of events when he felt the air stir and, looking over his shoulder, saw Holo raise her front leg and bring it down hard.

“—Urghyaaaaa!”

There was a loud crack, like a thick tree branch breaking, followed by an ear-splitting shriek that echoed in the darkness.

It seemed excessive to Lawrence, but also well deserved.

After his shriek died down, Liebert—whose left leg had just been broken by Holo’s forepaw—flapped his mouth wordlessly, eyes open.

“Good evening, Mr. Liebert! And how fare you tonight?”

“Wh-wha...Uh? H-how are youuuugghghh!”

“Holo. Honeyed peach preserves.”

As if by magic, those words dispelled Holo’s reinvigorated anger, and she reluctantly took her paw off the man’s broken leg.

“Mr. Liebert. Mr. Liebert! Would you be so kind as to explain to Norah how while you were getting dressed you, shall we say, got the buttons wrong, please?”

Liebert wiped the sweat from his forehead, and for a minute, his merchant sense showed past the terror and pain—it was the shrewd face of a merchant who understood the situation and was trying to discern how to save his own life.

“Mr. Liebert!”

“It—it wasn’t me! It was Remelio’s orders. I told him not to do it. I told him betrayal would call down God’s wrath. I swear, I was against it—”

“As you can see, this is no ordinary wolf. Think of it as a representative of almighty God. In other words, lies will not avail you,” said Lawrence.

Liebert’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked up at Holo with despair in his eyes.

Slowly, very slowly, Holo’s white breath emerged from between her teeth.

“I-I-I, I th-thought, I thought we were paying too much compensation. Remelio, too. At this rate we’d use all the p-profit paying our debts and have

nothing to keep. Remelio told me to do something about it. I h-had to. I had no choice. Y-you underststand, don’t you? After all, we’re both merch—”

He was cut off when Lawrence punched him in the nose.

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Holo laughed heartily, taking her paw off the again unconscious Liebert.

“So that is how it is. The Remelio Company had planned to kill you, Norah. I swear this to you—they betrayed us.”

Norah’s expression was blank, but the situation seemed to be slowly seeping into her head nonetheless.

She looked up slowly at Lawrence.

“B-but, what about the wolves in the forest...?”

“
That was something else,
” interjected Holo, causing Norah to give a small yelp of surprise. Holo’s voice carried well, after all.

“
I am Holo, the Wisewolf of Yoitsu. What was in that forest was nothing more than a brat whose only redeeming feature was its sense of territory. I’ve prudence enough to avoid a pointless fight over something like that.
”

Norah listened to Holo with a half-credulous expression, then smiled helplessly as she slowly let go of Enek. “I don’t know why, Miss Holo, but somehow when you say it, I kind of believe you.”

“
Incidentally, your dog was never smitten with me. He simply realized my true form. I thought I should let you know.
”

“Wha—?” said Norah, surprised, at which point Enek gave a single angry bark.

“Now then, Norah, back to the issue at hand,” said Lawrence. He felt bad about changing the subject yet again, but the affair was not yet settled.

The gold was still in transit, and Lawrence’s debt was yet unpaid. There was also the issue of what to do about the Remelio Company.

“We’re in the middle of a kind of storm right now. However, by the grace of God, somehow we’ve recovered the gold. If Liebert is to be believed, it’s worth six hundred
lumione
. However, if we can bring it into Ruvinheigen and sell it to a broker, we should get close to ten times that—six thousand
lumione
.”

Norah seemed to quail at the huge figures, which were so big that even Lawrence had trouble wrapping his head around them.

“Six thousand is far more than we could possibly take receipt of, and even without facing that danger, we have six hundred in hand right now.

However...”

“How...ever?”

“However, while it is true that it’s the Remelio Company’s fault that this plan has been more eventful than anybody would’ve liked, it is also true that without their investment, we never would have been able to buy the gold. And if we take the gold and run, they will be left ruined, bankrupt immediately. Thus—”

Holo nudged the side of Lawrence’s face with her nose and not in a playful fashion.

Lawrence understood what she was trying to do.

“Thus, I propose the following.”

“
Now, hold—,
” Holo began, her tone displeased, but Lawrence would not yield.

“Holo. We do not live in a fairy-tale world. We cannot simply take revenge on those who have betrayed us and say, ‘The end.’ We have to live on after this. And taking revenge for betrayal only invites more revenge.”

“
Well, then—
”

“Are you going to tell me you’d kill the entire ruined company?

“
Um—
”

“In the end, I don’t want the bread I buy tomorrow to have been paid for in blood. There are many ways to end this, but if we want to have a life tomorrow, we have to choose to do so.”

Holo’s amber eyes closed.

She looked away.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be freezing to death by the forest right now. I’m well aware that if you hadn’t been here, all would be lost, and I thank you for hearing my plea. But—”

“
Enough. Enough, I say. Ah, my travel companion is tiresome beyond words!
” said Holo, hitting Lawrence’s head lightly with her chin. It hurt, but if this satisfied her selfishness, it was a small price to pay.

“Then here’s what I’ll have you do.”

“
You may as well! Let me just say this—I’ll carry out whatever duties your undoubtedly tiresome plan asks of me, so you may as well ask away.
"

Lawrence smiled, thankful beyond words, and took a deep breath before turning back to Norah.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s what I propose we do.”

Having listened to the strange exchange between Holo and Lawrence, Norah straightened herself and looked up.

“I’d like you to decide whether or not to bring the gold into Ruvinheigen.”

“Wha-?”

It was an obvious question. Without any further risk, she had six hundred
lumione
on hand. Of course, six thousand was an unimaginable gain over that, but it would mean risking her life again.

“However, if you bring it into Ruvinheigen, the huge profit will save both us and the Remelio Company.”

At this, Norah let slip a small “Oh.”

“On the other hand, if you decide to take it, then all of these fallen men here, along with their families in Ruvinheigen and the other remnants of the company, will all glimpse hell. Some of them will not be spared its wrath. But in their hearts, they will bear a grudge against three demons—that is to say, me, Holo, and you, Norah.”

Even for someone who lived by travel, being the object of such animosity from so many people could make life far more dangerous. Business consisted of exchanges between people. The location of Lawrence, Holo, and Norah would eventually be found and swords put to their throats.

There was another important point to make.

“Of course, if we flee to some foreign land with a foreign tongue, we can live as though nothing happened. But even living without the fear of revenge, suppose you came across a slave with a familiar face being whipped like a workhorse? Would you be able to sleep that night?”

Lawrence paused, allowing the words to sink in.

“However, I will have the Remelio Company make amends.”

Holo grinned unpleasantly.

“Were headed there next. For your part, Norah, please make your decision by tomorrow morning. If you decide to bring the gold into Ruvinheigen, we’ll meet at the same plaza where we first discussed this. I’ll go into the city first, secure a trustworthy butcher, and wait by the eastern gate for one day. If you decide not to bring it in...Hm. Let us meet in Poroson.”