Spice & Wolf II (39 page)

This plan did, of course, leave room for another betrayal.

Norah could take all of the gold herself and set off for some other town.

For all of them to live on without regret, though, it would be best if she brought the gold into Ruvinheigen so the Remelio Company could be saved and the money divided equitably.

Lawrence had to consider what to do if Norah were caught at the checkpoint, though. Without exception, gold smugglers were executed in the plaza, so he would just have Holo rescue her if need be. Holo had promised to do as he asked, after all, no matter how tiresome the task.

Lawrence wasn’t particularly trying to give Norah time to think, but in any case, while waiting for her reply, he went among the unconscious Remelio men and tied them up. He had no rope, so he used the sleeves of their coats. Even if the men cooperated to undo the knots, none of them seemed in any condition to do anything strenuous.

“Well then, Norah. We’ll meet again,” said Lawrence once he finished binding the men and had Holo knock out the few who were regaining consciousness.

He didn’t say that to try and persuade her of anything in particular.

It was merely to ascertain her trust and bring about a favorable outcome for all.

The moon shone vaguely through the thick clouds.

“M-Mr. Lawrence!”

He stopped as she called his name.

“We-we’ll meet again!”

He looked over his shoulder to see her holding her staff.

“We will,” he said. “And we’ll be rich.”

Norah smiled and nodded.

Enek barked and began to round up the sheep.

“
Well, now.
"

After they walked for a while, Lawrence starting thinking about riding on Holo’s back, but she had apparently already anticipated that and spoke up just in time to cut him off.

“What?” he said, just slightly irritated. He was sure she had chosen that exact moment on purpose.

“
Might I hear the truth now?
"

Holo looked at him evenly with her large eyes. Lies would not avail him—he had told Liebert the same thing.

Lawrence was aware of the pained grimace that distorted his face.

“Let me keep up the pretense a bit longer.”

“
Heh-heh. No.
”

Looking at her happily wagging tail, Lawrence knew she would keep asking until he relented.

He quickly gave up the deception.

“That’s not enough gold.”

“
Oh ho.
”

“There is no way that’s six hundred
lumione
. It’s a hundred, at best.”

“
Your share would be used up just paying your debt. If she doesn’t smuggle it in, there’ll be no profit at all.
”

The tip of her big tail brushed against the back of his neck. He slapped it away; she growled playfully.

“The Remelio Company must be up against the wall. They must have scraped together a hundred
lumione
hoping just to get by on that. Of course, they knew from the start they’d have to pay us enough to keep our mouths shut, but that’s precisely why they got on board the plan with us in the first place.”

And yet Lawrence’s position was such that he had no choice but to trust and rely on that same company.

“
Hmph. Still, that was certainly a skillful excuse you gave her. You’re like unto a saint.
”

“It was mostly sincere.”

Holo chuckled through her nose, then stopped, and crouched down.

“Get on.”

“What, no more interrogation?”

“
I tire of your foolishness.
”

Narrowing her amber eyes, she nudged him with her muzzle.

It was but a light touch, yet Lawrence nearly stumbled and fell, though his fear at Holo’s wolf form was by now entirely gone. “Still, we’re not just saving the Remelio Company out of charity.”

“
Oh?
”

Lawrence grabbed on to Holo’s fur and brought his legs up. “No. We’re doing it to make more money for ourselves.”

He swung his legs quickly over her back.

“
More money, eh? I cannot say I follow you.
”

“Merchants can convert all sorts of things into money. I have to be of some occasional use.”

At first, he thought she was teasing him, but Holo’s laugh was genuine.

“
I look forward to observing your skill, sir!
”

Holo got to her feet and began to walk, soon breaking into a run.

The golden moon was occasionally visible in the dark sky.

Perhaps owing to the rain that had fallen since noon, the Ruvinheigen night was exceptionally quiet.

“...Th-there must be some kind of problem. Right? Like when you’ve forgotten to put salt in the soup.”

Lawrence knew only too well that merchants were people who, no matter the circumstance, lived by telling lies.

However, trust was important, even among liars—merchants were strange creatures indeed.

Lawrence pondered this.

“I-I don’t know what Liebert said. I’m sure it sounded like heaven’s own truth, as if he were confessing before an altar. But it was a lie! He lies about everything! I’ve been thinking about firing him—I swear!”

The man’s voice was hoarse and difficult to hear through the emotion, but this was no delicate business negotiation. As long as Lawrence could understand the gist, it was good enough.

“Mr. Remelio.”

“Y-y-yaaagh!”

Remelio gave a short cry because his head was firmly clamped between Holo’s jaws, and he felt her increase the pressure just a bit.

Lawrence and Holo were fortunate that he had been alone in the office, waiting for his employees to return.

Just a moment ago, Holo had jumped over the city walls with unbelievable ease. Lawrence had planned to reenter the city with Holo in human form and simply claim they had been waylaid by bandits, but Holo, who could sense any presence on the other side of the wall, said simply, “
It’s safe
,” and cleared it with a single leap. It had been so easy that Lawrence wondered if they could have avoided all this trouble in the first place and smuggled the gold in themselves.

They entered the city unseen and, once Holo had temporarily returned to her human form, stole quietly to the Remelio Company.

Remelio had been expecting the return of his men, so when he saw Holo and Lawrence, he made quite a face.

He was now tied up and on the floor, head trapped between Holo’s terrifying teeth, looking as though he might die from terror.

It seemed imprudent to let Remelio see Holo’s wolf form, but he and Lawrence both shared the secret of the gold smuggling. If Remelio wanted to go to the Church with the revelation, let him—there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence.

No merchant would speak of his opponent’s weakness when his opponent could easily do the same to him.

Also, letting Holo terrify Remelio would make her feel better, and the overwhelming terror would discourage the master from trying to exact revenge on them later.

Unsurprisingly, the results had been immense.

“The jaws that now hold your head between their teeth are the jaws of truth, my friend. If you lie, they will know. Also, this wolf is hungry from being made to run all night, I hear. If you lie, your head may just be devoured.”

Holo’s fangs squeezed just slightly harder against Remelio’s temple.

He couldn’t even scream anymore.

“All right, Mr. Remelio. Know that I have not returned to take revenge for your betrayal. I’ve come to talk business.”

A bit of light returned to Remelio’s eyes at the word business, perhaps realizing that business was about making deals, and if a deal could be made there was the possibility that he would not die here.

“Our negotiations begin now. Feel free to lie in your interest as much as you wish. However, the wolf here is far more discerning than I and can see the hidden meaning behind your every word. If you do anything clumsy, you may wind up a head shorter. Are we clear?”

With his head stuck in Holo’s jaws, Remelio couldn’t very well nod, but he tried to, and that was good enough.

“Then let’s begin,” said Lawrence frankly. “In the event that we succeed in the gold smuggling, might I ask you to purchase it from us at five hundred
lumione
?'

Remelio’s eyes were literally dots.

“We are still accomplices to smuggling. Surely you didn’t think we’d come back to take revenge on you after making off with the gold?”

The salt-and-pepper-haired Remelio nodded like a chastened child, at which Lawrence grinned bitterly. “Well, I won’t say there’s no chance of that, but no, I don’t think so. But if we don’t talk about what to do when we succeed—well, we might wind up disagreeing, mightn’t we?”

Holo chuckled deep in her throat, causing Remelio’s head to quiver along with her mouth; his face tensed in a nervous grin.

“So, I’ll say it again. Might I ask you to purchase the gold from us at five hundred
lumione
?’

Remelio’s face was distorted with despair—he knew how much the gold bought in Lamtra was really worth.

“I can’t possibly do—”

“Of course, I don’t expect it all in cash up front. Let’s see. Perhaps you could write me an IOU?”

In that moment, the master of the Remelio Company showed the intelligence that had gotten him his position.

He made a pained expression when he understood what Lawrence was saying and begged for mercy. “F-five hundred, that’s simply—”

“Too much? Well, hmm. In that case, I’ll just take whatever you’ve hidden away here and sell the gold to someone else.” Lawrence exchanged a look with Holo, then added, “Also, I’ll let that demon there have your life.”

Holo hated being called a god, but she apparently didn’t mind being called a demon.

Her tail swished through the air, and she panted dramatically.

All expression drained rapidly from Remelio’s face.

If Lawrence’s guess was right, it meant Remelio would now do whatever they asked.

“You see, Mr. Remelio, I don’t think it’s fair to lose everything because of a single failure. We can’t perfectly predict every price drop, can we? So I want to give you another chance. But I want you to be grateful for it, and I want that to take the form of five hundred
lumione
. You’ve built a wonderful company with a magnificent loading dock in a city like this. If you think in terms of decades, surely five hundred is a bargain.”

Remelio’s eyes opened wide, and after a moment, he began to cry.

If he could rebuild his business, paying five hundred
lumione
back over the course of ten years was far from an unreasonable proposition. A traveling merchant was no match for a trading company in that regard.