Wolf & Parchment, Volume 1

by Isuna Hasekura

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course.” Myuri, still hesitant, dropped her gaze before slowly lifting it again. “Remember the promise I made to you.”

  Col was Myuri’s friend. That was even more certain than any prayer to God.

  Myuri had opened the door to an outcome that she did not want, all for him.

  So now, it was Col’s turn. He would do anything, no matter how much misery it would cause him.

  Her red eyes were staring at him. They were the same as when she was little and came crying to him upon learning that she was different from other people.

  Then, those ruby eyes closed, as though she was going to sleep.

  “It happens a lot in stories.”

  “…Stories?”

  “Yeah. Lots of old tales…You even said that in the story of your village, there was a big frog long ago, right? There are stories that must have really happened long ago.”

  That was true. A perfect example was the story of Myuri’s own mother, Holo.

  “That’s why…you know…”

  She opened her eyes and gazed at the floor. She then looked up at him like a disheartened puppy.

  “The prince is the one that breaks the spell on the princess, right?”

  “That’s…”

  There was no way he did not know what she meant. Though it was a sacred act, it would violate his vows of abstinence.

  Myuri immediately looked away.

  “No, you have dreams to become a priest, Brother. I won’t make you do it.”

  “Myuri.”

  He looked straight at her. Though she was covered in fur, and her mouth was big and filled with sharp teeth, she was still Myuri, the same girl he had known since birth.

  If it could turn her back, then he did not mind how uncomfortable he was before God.

  “You can change back that way?”

  “…Yeah, but—”

  “Very well.”

  “Brother?”

  If he hesitated here, then Myuri would most likely never believe anything he said anymore. No—she might never believe anything anyone ever had to say in the future as well. He did not want to imagine a Myuri who distrusted others with a cold stare and declared, “That’s nothing but talk.” He did not want her to doubt that there were things worth believing in, things that were genuine in the world. These were the golden bonds that preserved the most wonderful parts of life.

  I see; so this is what Hyland was thinking when he went to the church, prepared for death, Col thought. Actions must follow through on faith.

  Myuri indicated she was ready.

  “Brother…Thank you.”

  Even if the mouth full of teeth made him shy, Myuri was still Myuri. Nothing was different about his cute little sister.

  Then, he put his hand on her snout and brought his face closer to it.

  “Oh, wait, um, Brother…?”

  “What is it?”

  “Um…It’s embarrassing, so can you close your eyes? And your hands make me nervous, so…can you let go?”

  Myuri looked up at him with puppy eyes again, her ears and tail drooping. She was a girl of age.

  When the fact occurred to him again, he suddenly became rather embarrassed himself.

  Col cleared his throat, let go of her, and closed his eyes.

  “Is this all right?”

  “Yeah.”

  He did not care how far the seat of God was, as long as Myuri could return to her human form again and they could live in Nyohhira as they always had. And this did not break his vows of abstinence. It was something meant to save another, and he had not given in to lust. Besides, even the prophets had to kiss those possessed by demons on the forehead and hands to save them. So this was…Then Col’s line of thinking halted with a question mark.

  A kiss on the forehead or hand? Then was it at all necessary to give a kiss on the lips? There were certainly many stories in which a prince breaks the spell placed on a princess by giving her a kiss on the lips, but could Myuri’s situation even be called a “curse”?

  Something was odd. What had Myuri said in the first place?

  There is a way to turn back into a person.

  He recalled her exact words and suddenly realized—

  She never said that was the way to solve it in stories!

  “Ah—”

  He opened his eyes, and there he saw Myuri already back in her human form. She did not want him to notice, so she was holding back her hair back and keeping her arms and legs away, sticking her face out in an odd pose.

  Then their eyes met; she grinned slyly and flew at him. Col moved to the side. He could hear the thud of her head hitting the floor behind him.

  “Owww…”

  When he remembered back, after his eyes were closed, he had heard Myuri speaking in her normal voice.

  And if she had been practicing transforming with Holo in the first place, then of course she would be able to change back.

  “Aww, I missed.”

  She did not act bashfully, nor did she try to hide her nakedness.

  Col was unsure what he should be angry about first.

  He just stood and spoke.

  “Myuri!”

  Myuri shrugged and hid her face with her arms, but he could see her smiling underneath.

  “I only did the same thing you did earlier.”

  She did not lie but had simply let him interpret it the wrong way.

  He could not counter a sound argument.

  “Urgh…”

  “But you weren’t lying when you said you would always be my friend. I’m going to cry,” she said with a bright smile, and his anger faded.

  Nothing made him happier than knowing she finally understood the meaning of his resolve.

  “By the way, can you hear those cheers coming from the square?”

  “Ah, what? Hey, Myuri!”

  She stood, her familiar tail wagging as she rushed to the window and flung it open.

  Her arms and legs lit up as the light of the square reached them.

  “It looks like it went well, Brother! Ba—”

  Col plopped his coat onto her head.

  “Ears. Tail. And you are a girl—be more modest!”

  Myuri poked her head out from under the coat and draped it over herself, annoyed.

  He suddenly felt dizzy; perhaps he had gotten too angry or too tired from these past few days.

  “Gosh, you’re always so cross.”

  “And whose fault do you…?”

  “Oh, it did go well! I can hear blondie’s voice.”

  Not paying any mind to his scolding, she leaned out the window, ears pricked up.

  But this excitement would be the end of it. Myuri would return to Nyohhira, and Col would go to the Kingdom of Winfiel with Hyland. It would not be a depressing parting, but on the contrary, a rather good one.

  “Oh, hey, Brother, this means you can collect on a huge favor now!”

  And she went as far as to say such a thing.

  But there was no need for that. Hyland was a noble person. He was truly glad it went well.

  “Hey, Brother…Brother?”

  He was truly glad…

  “Brother, come on, are you okay?”

  Col had run out of energy, and he wavered, but Myuri held him up. She was a mischievous, tomboyish girl, but she was reliable when the time called for it.

  As his consciousness faded, he was not anxious. He was comfortable, like he was soaking in the baths.

  She was constantly indulging him, so he gave in. At least it was the end.

  He thought about this as the faint smell of sulfur invited him, and the last of his tension eased in Myuri’s arms.

  EPILOGUE

  Col had not slept for several days straight as he translated the scripture; once it was finished, he had experienced a stifling test of endurance at the church; they were thrown in jail but then immediately escaped; and right after that he had given the performance of a lifetime.

  In
the end, Myuri played the biggest prank on him, and as the blood rushed to his head, the success of Hyland’s counterattack allowed him to relax. Even the sturdiest of leather straps would break after such rough treatment. But such a small thread did so easily.

  After suffering through feverish dreams for a long while, he finally woke up, and he was surprised to learn it was the third morning after that night.

  “I thought you weren’t ever going to wake up.”

  Myuri sat beside the bed, moody and about to cry. He faintly remembered her taking care of him. He extended his hand from under the blanket and gripped her small one.

  She seemed embarrassed but happy.

  “Where’s Heir Hyland?”

  However, when Col asked, all expression left her face.

  “I don’t know. Oh, but more importantly, while you were sleeping, I read the scripture, and you know? I found something really cool. And…and…do you want to hear it?”

  Myuri began chatting happily, but Col instead scanned the room to see that no one else was there.

  “No, more importantly, where is Heir Hyland?”

  He wanted to know everything that had happened. He was glad they were safe, but he wanted to know about the papal officer. And not to mention that if war was still going to happen, this was not the time to relax.

  “Sheesh, Brother!”

  Myuri pulled on his hand, but then he heard the noisy sound of footsteps and voices coming from outside the room.

  “Heir Hyland! You have not brushed your hair or eaten!”

  “I don’t care!”

  He tried to get up when he heard Hyland’s voice, but Myuri pushed him back down and pulled the covers up over his face.

  “Myuri, what are you doing?”

  “Don’t look. You shouldn’t look.”

  “Hah?”

  As they bickered, he heard the door open.

  “Col!” Hyland called out to him, and Col threw back the covers.

  Then, as Hyland rushed to his side with a smile, he wondered if he was still dreaming.

  “Oh, you’re looking much better. Are you hungry? We can get anything from town. I cannot thank you enough!”

  Hyland’s hair was not done up, and he had rushed over half-dressed and just as unassuming as always.

  An unadorned Hyland.

  Or perhaps it was better to say an undisguised Hyland.

  “Ah, I’m sorry for coming to see you like this. When I heard you’d woken up, I had to come see you.”

  He pulled back his beautiful long blond hair and smiled.

  And then, Col noticed Hyland’s chest.

  “Brother, what are you looking at?”

  Col tore his eyes away in surprise. Hyland seemed to finally catch on.

  But all he—she showed him was a troubled smile.

  “Don’t tell me you never noticed?”

  When they had spoken in Nyohhira, it was in a grotto bath, and those were more like steamy saunas than regular soaking baths. He did wonder why she had been covering herself so much, but he had assumed it to be a habit of people in high society.

  Appearances were important.

  And he had told Myuri himself that there were two choices of dress for traveling women: a nun or a boy.

  “See, didn’t I tell you? You don’t pay attention to aaanything, Brother.”

  Hyland looked at Myuri, then back at Col.

  “You…No, you’re fine the way you are—a wonderful servant of God.”

  As Col wondered if he should take those words as a compliment or not, Hyland tactfully cleared her throat and changed the subject.

  “More importantly, the town of Atiph has now decided to side with us. The archbishop gave in. He has not told us that he will be a reliable ally, but what is certain, at least, is that he will not interfere with the will of the townspeople.”

  “Really?!”

  “Yes. As Stefan changed his mind, he must have thought it would be pointless to keep the papal officer and his parchment as an ally. And it seemed that it was truly a shock for the archbishop to see that the townspeople did not fear the pope’s sanctions. The archbishop told the papal officer that he wished for additional support from the pope and sent him away. The official had no choice—had he stayed, his life would have been in danger. Then, the archbishop proclaimed that he would lend an ear to understand the people’s anger. I don’t know if he will keep his promise, but he must be taking it to heart. Stefan, who had been hanging around like a bat, is now behaving like a dog with his tail between his legs.”

  Her smile was surprisingly mischievous.

  “Either way, this information will spread soon enough. But once that happens, I can imagine that the pope will begin acting seriously. It’s not over yet.”

  “This is but the beginning.”

  “Yes. From here on, we will correct what has gone wrong.”

  As Col watched Hyland happily speak, he realized why he did not notice her gender before. When she spoke of her dreams, she was as innocent as a child. A young child, regardless of sex.

  “And I wanted to tell you once you got better, but after this, we plan to go to another town. I want to take advantage of these circumstances and create allies with all the towns on the mainland that look out over the Kingdom of Winfiel.”

  She was already thinking about what would happen once war began.

  “Of course, I wish to accompany you.”

  “Thank you, and—”

  “And about that.”

  The only one who would so rudely cut off the words of someone like Hyland was none other than Myuri.

  “I read the scripture while you were sleeping, Brother. And I asked a lot about priests. And I also asked this bl— Heir Hyland. She said there’s no problem.”

  What is she talking about? Col looked between Myuri and Hyland.

  Like an older sister watching her tomboyish younger sister, Hyland’s smile was troubled yet delighted.

  “I’m not going back to Nyohhira.”

  “Myuri, we already—”

  He wanted to walk a holy path. He could not reciprocate Myuri’s feelings. That was certain, and she accepted it.

  But Myuri did not shrink back. Instead, she smiled mischievously.

  “Moderation, Brother. Your favorite.”

  “Moderation?”

  “Yep. I don’t want to get in the way of your dreams. But the scripture didn’t say anything about it.”

  “…About what?”

  “Mm. Priests should not give in to worldly and physical desires. They must strive for moderation. But it didn’t forbid or say anything about worldly people fancying priests.”

  “…Ah?”

  Hyland stood by the bed, chuckling.

  Myuri pushed the translated scripture into his face.

  “If you don’t believe me, just read it. So you see, Brother, moderation.”

  Col was not sure what she meant by that.

  Myuri folded her arms and spoke proudly.

  “As long as you don’t try anything with me, then it won’t be a problem.”

  “…”

  He was speechless. He was astounded by the existence of such an interpretation.

  “Your faith is going to be tested, Brother.”

  Her smile was filled with confidence.

  He possessed parchment on which the holy teachings of God were written.

  What he lacked was his dignity as an older brother.

  He placed the sheepskin with God’s teachings over his face and closed his eyes. He was now a sheep wearing sheep’s skin.

  “Oh God…”

  “You called?”

  He could not respond even out of pride, nor would he ever be able to explain why he felt relieved.

  Beyond his closed eyelids, a silver tail waved mischievously.

  It was the sheep’s fate to always keep a close watch on the wolf’s tail.

  AFTERWORD

  Before falling asleep, take a book into your hand, open to any
page, and see cute animals, then fall asleep in peace. I wanted a book like that, so I wrote it myself. This is Isuna Hasekura.

  I’m mostly joking, but it was a lot of fun writing an energetic girl as a main character.

  But even I was surprised at how I decided on how our heroine, Myuri, was going to be. Because when I wrote the first short story in Spice & Wolf, Vol. 18: Spring Log, which is from the previous series to this one and out the same month, I had not written her directly yet, and I had no idea what her setting would be. The moment I indirectly portrayed her through a letter from her and Col, that was when she started to take shape. It’s hard to explain, but it felt like she was already there on the other side of the letter in the story.

  There are many strange things is something I thought to myself as I started writing this book.

  By the way, for those of you who have first encountered the world of Spice & Wolf with this novel, as this book is called New Theory Spice & Wolf, the main character Col appears in the middle of Spice & Wolf as a younger boy, and the heroine Myuri is the daughter of the two main characters in that series.

  The world is the same, and the story takes place one generation later. It’s been said many times, but this is a work that anyone who hasn’t read the earlier series may enjoy as well. Still, do please read the previous one, too. I’m sure it will be much more interesting with that knowledge! And I am hoping to elaborate more on the world in a way that I could not in the original series. I am excited to do things I was not able to do. I hope you will accompany me!

  And so I feel adventurous having started a new series, so I feel the need to write completely different stories, and like Myuri pulling a prank, I am scheming many things. If you see them out in the world somewhere, please smile for me.

  Well then, I will see you in the next volume.

  Isuna Hasekura

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