Spice & Wolf IV (27 page)

The spirits of the region were no doubt Holo’s old friends,
if
they had truly fled, that meant they were safe, but it also made them look unavoidably pathetic.

Lawrence now knew what Holo had meant by half wishing she had not read it and being half glad that she had.

Yoitsu’s story had not even been very interesting—it was but a brief, unexciting section. Holo could not have enjoyed it.

All that said, the fact that Yoitsu had not been destroyed after
a
bitter, desperate struggle was good fortune within bad. If
this
was all true, then perhaps the spirits who knew the name Yoitsu had just moved elsewhere.

Just as Holo was unable to be genuinely happy at this news, Lawrence did not know what to say to her. If her companions were alive, it was because they were cowards.

He closed the book and glanced surreptitiously at Holo’s
back.

The time when the world revolved around the gods had passed. Even the Church with all its great influence in the south felt
the
effects.

But there were many gods who had never held particularly strong influence, even in the distant past.

In the face of this truth—that the world of the gods was not
so
very different from that of the humans—Holo’s form seemed smaller than usual.

She had even been subjected to scorn in her own village.

Lawrence felt as though he understood the source of
her
loneliness.

She was no different from a person—in some ways, she was every bit the young girl she appeared to be. Just as it occurred to him—

“Perhaps it is just my imagination, but I feel as though someone is looking at me in a truly infuriating way.”

Holo turned around and gave Lawrence an overpowering glare.

The monarch of a small country was a monarch nonetheless.

“No, no, I’m not.. .No, I suppose I am. I am sorry. Don’t be so angry.”

Normally Holo would have turned away. Lawrence had no choice but to capitulate under her withering gaze.

He was surely correct about her.

“Hmph. I am satisfied knowing my friends are safe. That is all there is.”

No doubt she wanted to add, “So ask me no further,” but her pride as a wisewolf would not let her make such a pitiful request.

Lawrence could not help but feel some amusement at her faintly childish manner.

He coughed to conceal the smile that unavoidably rose to his lips, then spoke. “That is indeed good news, but we still have no more information about Yoitsu’s location.”

He flipped through the pages once again.

While information on Yoitsu itself was sparse, it seemed all of the tales of the bear spirit were very old, most of them taking place in towns or villages that Lawrence had never heard of and in nations with unfamiliar names.

He had heard a few of the tales before—notably, the tale of the sea serpent—and though he knew of the Radoon region, there was nothing that helped him narrow down the whereabouts of Yoitsu.

Yet of all the stories of massive destruction wrought by the bear spirit, what strange coincidence was it that Lawrence had heard of Yoitsu?

It was pointless to consider, yet Lawrence could not help thinking about this.

“The world does not go as one would wish,” he said, closing the book.

Holo chewed on the tip of her tail. “Quite.” She sighed. “So what of those in this village for which the world goes not as
they
would wish? If you would escape, do decide quickly. It would
be
best to leave in the dark of night.”

“Elsa and I are of one mind on our fates should we remain. We’ll need to make sure we’re correct, but in that case, I think discretion will be the better part of valor.”

“A poor idea is worse than none,” she said with a yawn, standing. “Still, if it comes to that, you stand to take quite a loss,"

“It can’t be helped. It’s not as though we can bring the
wheat
with us.”

“Still, you don’t seem too upset about it.”

“Don’t I?” asked Lawrence, stroking his chin. It was not
the
first time he had been caught up in this kind of dispute. times losses were unavoidable.

It was true that his profit in Kumersun had far exceeded his
expectations, but even given that, Lawrence was still surprised at his own calm.

And in any case, a traveler’s life was a cheap thing in an isolated village. Knowing his own life was not actually in
danger
was profit enough.

“Still, even with things as they are, there are some expensive things we can probably save,” said Lawrence.

“The pepper, right?”

Any merchant would have thought the same thing. Pepper and other spices were expensive because they were scarce. Though if they couldn’t stock up on any, there was no point in talking about transporting it.

Something occurred to Lawrence as he was mulling this over. “There’s a high-value product even lighter than spices that we can bring with us.”

“Oh?”

“It’s trust.”

Holo gave Lawrence a rare look of admiration, then smiled maliciously. “I’ll wait to sell off your trust in me until it’s a bit more valuable.”

"Do you have any idea just how paranoid I’ve become since being teased so mercilessly by you?”

Holo chuckled, then slipped her arm around Lawrence’s. “I suppose I will have to make it up to you.”

“This is exactly the sort of thing I’ve learned to be suspicious of.”

Holo was unmoved; she narrowed her eyes. “Lies will only lower the value of your trust.”

She never played fair.

“Still, you’ve never once blamed me for this trouble we’re in, and for that I am properly grateful.”

“Huh?”

“If I had not insisted upon coming here, you would not be suffering this loss.”

So she was playing this card now, Lawrence mused.

Yet they were probably her true feelings.

“Well, what say you moderate your eating and drinking for a while to make up for the loss, hm?”

Holo groaned. “You’ve certainly become less restrained.”

“Feel free to take the reins and—,” began Lawrence as he slipped the sheet of parchment back between the pages of the book. Their eyes met.

The statue of the Holy Mother looked down on the two, her head drooping as though at a loss at the foolish conversation taking place below her.

The sound that now echoed through the sanctuary loud enough for Lawrence to hear it was certainly not a blessing from the Holy Mother. Someone was banging on the door of the Church.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Lawrence.

“Bad feelings are usually correct,” said Holo, letting go of Lawrence’s arm. The two scampered down the hallway.

Lawrence heard the sound of knocking again, along with Iima shouting something in response.

It was obvious to both of them that the villagers were demanding that Iima hand over Lawrence and Holo.

“No, not this way!” said Iima. “To the back of the church-go!"

“But—”

“They’re babbling on about if they hand you over to Enberch. Enberch will forgive all this! They were never planning to do
any
thing themselves. Even wheat just grows up out of the ground on its own—they’re happy to harvest it so long as it’s convenient.
So
long as things are easy, they’ll do anything to keep it that way!"

As Iima was talking, there were more heavy knocks on the door.

It was a church in a pagan area and as such had a heavy wooden bolt on the door.

It seemed unlikely that the villagers would be able to break through the main door, but there was a flimsy wooden window in the living room. If they got serious, they could easily break
it
and get inside the church.

It was now a fight against time.

Just then, Evan appeared with Elsa in tow.

“I’ll go and persuade them to—Elsa began.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Iima.

“But—!”

Iima gave the door a hard thump from the inside, then turned
to
face Elsa. “You going out to face them would be like throwing fuel on a fire. You think you’ve done a good job hiding it, but everyone knows you and Evan are close. In the worst case, they would
ca
ll you a heretic just to be able to turn you over to Enberch.”

Iima had a good grasp of the situation.

Lawrence could easily picture it. Forced to choose between Elsa and the village, even Sem, who had been Elsa and Evan’s last ray of
h
ope, would probably side with the village.

No one wanted to throw away their life, their position, their name, and their home.

“Listen well, now. You can’t stay here. Look at these two strange travelers, and you’ll understand—the world is vast. The villagers cannot comprehend it. You should at least try to begin your new life with companions you can trust,” said Iima.

There was much Elsa and Evan had to abandon, but there was much they would gain.

Elsa turned to look at Evan, and then both of them looked down.

Lawrence took this in and realized that the two needed to exchange no words to convey their thoughts at the moment. Just then, Holo tugged at his sleeve.

Though she had never said it, she must have given up many things in leaving the village she’d inhabited for so many centuries.

“No matter the journey, when you come to a fork in the road, you must decide in an instant which path to take,” said Holo.