Spice & Wolf IV (15 page)

“And if I should call out now?”

Elsa looked away from Lawrence to Holo—Holo whose wish to know the location of the old tales had brought them here.

“That would benefit neither you nor us,” said Lawrence.

Elsa looked back at Lawrence, closing her eyes. He noticed her long eyelashes.

Despite her stoicism, she was still a young woman.

“What I saw...she began, trying to sit up. Lawrence extended his hand to help her, but she waved it off. “I’m fine.”

She looked at Holo with neither malice nor fear, as though looking at heavy clouds that were finally beginning to shed rain “What I saw was not a dream, was it?”

“ ’Twould be better for us if you were to think of it as such,” said Holo.

“It is said that demons trick humans through dreams.”

Though he could tell that Holo was not being entirely serious, Lawrence was less sure about Elsa.

He looked at Holo; her annoyed expression suggested that she was at least partly in earnest.

The tension between the two had more to do with conflicting personalities, Lawrence guessed, than it did with the fact that one was a devout member of the Church while the other was
a
spirit of the harvest.

“So long as we reach our goal, we will disappear like a dream and trouble you no further. I ask you again: Will you show us the writings of Father Franz?” asked Lawrence, coming between the two.

“I...I still cannot be sure that you were not sent from Enberch But if that is indeed the case...what is your goal?”

Lawrence was unsure whether he should answer this question. He looked at Holo, who nodded slowly.

“I wish to return to my home,” she said.

“Your home...?”

“But ages have passed since I was there. I have forgotten the way, and I know not if my old friends are well. Indeed, I cannot even be sure it still exists,” explained Holo plainly. “What would you do if you learned there might be someone who knew something of your home?”

Even someone who had spent a lifetime in the same village would want to know how that village was viewed by others.

It was all the more true for people who had left their homes.

Elsa was silent for some time, and Holo did not press her.

Her downcast eyes made it clear that she was deep in thought.

Despite her youth, it was obvious that she was no maiden who blithely floated through life, picking flowers and singing songs.

When Lawrence had claimed to want to confess his sins, he could tell that her solemnity was no affectation.

Though she may have fainted upon first seeing Holo’s inhuman nature, Lawrence felt she was smart enough to make the best decision given the situation.

Elsa put her hand to her chest and recited a prayer, then looked up. "I am a servant of God,” she said, continuing before Lawrence or
Holo could interrupt. “But at the same time, I am Father, Franz’s successor.” She got off the bed, smoothing the wrinkles in her
cassock, then clearing her throat. “I do not believe that you have been possessed by a demon, because Father Franz always said there was no such thing.”

Lawrence was more than a little surprised at Elsa’s statement, but
H
olo’s expression seemed to say that as long as she could see the records, all was well.

Eventually Holo seemed to become aware of Elsa’s willingness to give in, and though her face remained serious, the tip of her tail
wagged restlessly.

"Please come with me. I will show you.”

For a moment Lawrence wondered if she had only said this to escape, but Holo followed without question, so evidently there was no need to worry.

Once they came to the living room on the first floor, Elsa lightly touched the brick wall next to the fireplace with her fingers.

Then coming to a particular stone, she slowly pulled it free.

Having pulled it out like a drawer, Elsa turned the brick over, and a slender golden key fell into her hand.

From behind, her form was every bit the stoic girl she was.

She lit a candle and put it on a stand, then turned to Lawrence and Holo.

“Let us go,” she said quietly, then walked down the hallway that continued deeper into the church.

The church was deeper than Lawrence had guessed.

Unlike the sanctuary, clean and well used thanks to constant prayer, the state of the hallway could hardly be complimented.

The candlesticks on the walls were covered with cobwebs, and little pieces of stone that had crumbled off from the walls crunched constantly underfoot.

“Here we are,” said Elsa, stopping. The direction she pointed
in
was probably directly behind the sanctuary.

There on a pedestal was a statue of the Holy Mother roughly as large as a young child. The Holy Mother held her hands together in prayer and faced the entrance to the church.

The space behind the sanctuary was the holiest place in the church.

Saintly remains or bones—so-called “holy relics”—and other items important to the Church were stored here.

It was the standard place for the Church to keep precious things, and so to use it to store writings on pagan stories took a good deal of nerve.

“May God forgive us,” murmured Elsa. She took the brass key in her hand and inserted it into a small hole at the base of the statue,

The tiny keyhole was not easy to spot in the gloom. Elsa turned the key with some force, and from within the statue came the distinct sound of something unlocking.

"In his will, Father Franz said that the statue could be removed from
the
pedestal...but I have never seen it opened.”

"Understood,"
said Lawrence with a nod.

As soon as he approached the statue, Elsa backed away, worry in her eyes.

Taking hold of the statue, Lawrence hefted it with force, but it lifted unexpectedly easily.

Evidently it was hollow.

"Oof!...There.” Lawrence set the statue down beside the wall, taking care that it didn’t fall over.

Elsa looked at the space left by the statue, hesitating for a moment, but
under
Holo’s insistent gaze, she approached it again.

She turned the key in the opposite direction and removed it, this
ti
me inserting it into a small hole in the floor some distance away from the pedestal and turning it twice clockwise.

"Now...we should be able to lift the pedestal and stone free from
th
e floor,” Elsa said, still crouching. Holo looked at Lawrence.

Offering any opposition now would bring her sincere ire down upon
him, so he sighed and prepared himself. But at that moment, he glimpsed her making an uneasy expression.

She had made a similar expression before, only to then tease Lawrence by saying, “So you like to see me this way?” Thus he could
not
be sure whether or not she was truly concerned, but the possibility of it was enough to give him renewed vigor.

"It seems like the only place to take hold of it...is the pedestal, Something like this—”

Not
knowing exactly how to open the floor, Lawrence looked it over, then planted his feet and took hold of the pedestal. Given the way the seams of the floor stones went, it appeared that the stone nearest the church entrance would lift.

“Hng!” Lawrence braced himself and pulled up. There was an unpleasant grinding sound, like sand in a millstone—but sure enough, the pedestal lifted, along with the floor stones.

Keeping his position, he shifted his grip and lifted with all his might.

Stone ground against stone, and rusted metal creaked as the floor lifted up, revealing a dark cellar.

It did not appear to be very deep; at the foot of the stone stairs was something that looked like a bookcase.

“Shall we go in?”

"...I will go first,” said Elsa.

It seemed that at the very least, Elsa had no intention of letting Lawrence and Holo enter first and then closing the door behind them.

And in any case, having come this far, there was no point in hesitation.

“Understood. The air seems a bit stale, so be careful,” said Lawrence.

Elsa nodded, and then holding the candle in one hand, she made her way carefully down the steep steps.

Two or three steps past the point where her head was just beneath the floor, Elsa stopped to place the candle in a hollow carved in the wall. She then proceeded.

Lawrence had worried that she planned to set fire to the contents of the room, but apparently he could relax on that count.

You seem still more suspicious than I,” said Holo, perhaps having noticed his concern.

Elsa returned shortly

In her hands she carried a sealed letter along with a bundle of parchment.

She was half crawling back up the steps, so Lawrence extended a
h
and to help her.

"...Thank you. I apologize for the wait.”

“Not at all. Are those...?” asked Lawrence.

“Letters,” answered Elsa briefly. “The books within are what you seek, I believe.”

“May we take them out to read them?” asked Lawrence.

“I would ask you to read them within the church.” It was a reasonable answer.

“I shall enter, then,” said Holo, quickly descending the stairs and entering the cellar. She was soon out of sight.

Though he didn’t follow Holo down, it wasn’t because Lawrence wanted to watch over Elsa.

“I know it’s late to be saying this, but I know that we forced you into this. I thank you and offer my apologies,” said Lawrence to Elsa, who stared vaguely down into the cellar entrance.