Had the council arrived at its decision even then?
“But there are many, many other people with money outside of trading companies. The heads of the tanneries and the people who trade in the fur-tanning materials all have reason to be pessimistic about the future of the fur trade in this town. They’re going to be looking for capital in order to get into new businesses, and they’ll be happy to deal with the merchants that are threatening the town in order to raise that capital. The council’s policy probably is the best choice they have, but hardly anyone actually thinks that such a policy is going to stop the fur from being completely bought up. Let me say it again–”
Eve’s voice was cold.
“–this town’s fur will be completely bought out.”
Was she suggesting that they close that gap and buy it themselves?
Defeating the merchants who planned to monopolize Lenos’ fur trade meant being both inside and outside the town.
They must have understood that as long as they tried to infiltrate the town, not only would the council decision not come down, but the defensive measures the town took would only be redoubled – so they made camp outside of town.
In that case, even when the council’s decision did come out, the merchants wouldn’t immediately enter the town. They would only make their move after the public proclamation, ensuring it couldn’t be reversed.
It was not impossible that Lawrence and Eve would be able to buy up the fur.
“You know then that there’s no time to go to another city and borrow the money, so I can’t help you. As you said, I have no connections here,” said Lawrence.
This was the most puzzling part.
What was Eve planning?
Blue eyes peered out from beneath her cowl.
“Ah, but you do have one huge asset.”
Lawrence quickly ran through the list of what he had on hand.
Nothing that could be called a “huge asset” came to mind.
In any case, if Eve knew about it, then it had to be something that was immediately obvious.
The only thing Lawrence could think of was his horse.
Then something else occurred to him. He looked back at Eve in disbelief.
“That’s right. You have your lovely companion.”
“… That’s absurd.”
Lawrence was now completely honest.
Though what he meant was not that he couldn’t possibly sell Holo, but rather that selling Holo could not possibly raise the amount of money they required.
While it was true that Holo was a striking beauty, that was not something that could immediately be turned into a thousand silver pieces. If it could, beautiful girls everywhere would be constantly getting kidnapped.
It was possible Eve had figured out Holo wasn’t human, but even if that was so, it didn’t change the situation.
“I figured you’d think so. But there’s a reason I chose you.” Eve wore a thin smile for a reason Lawrence did not understand.
Perhaps she was merely that confident in herself, or perhaps she was drunk on her own plan. Or perhaps–
Eve removed her cowl, exposing her short, beautiful golden hair and blue eyes. “We’ll claim she’s a nobleman’s daughter and sell her.”
“Wha–?”
“Think it’s impossible?” Eve grinned, baring her right canine tooth.
It was a smile of self-derision.
“My name is Fleur Bolan. Formally, I am Fleur von Eiterzentel Bolan, eleventh heir to the Bolan clan, which swears fealty to the kingdom of Winfiel. We are title-bearing nobility.”
Laughter seemed impossible in the face of so ridiculous a joke.
The eyes and ears that were Lawrence’s most important tools told him that Eve was not lying.
“Of course, we’re fallen nobility that have trouble even finding food, but the name is grand, isn’t it? Once we fell so low that we couldn’t afford even bread to feed ourselves, I was sold to a newly wealthy merchant.”
That was often the path down which fallen nobility were forced, and it explained her bitter smile.
Despite having fallen from grace, these proud nobles often had their titles and their bodies bought by wealthy merchants.
If this was true, it would explain Eve’s strangely world-weary merchant’s mien.
“That’s the kind of woman I am, so that’s why I know one or two places to sell a girl with a noble name. What say you?”
This was business territory Lawrence had never entered before.
Once he had amassed some wealth, the first thing a merchant would do was gild his own name. The massively wealthy owner of a successful trading company might once have been a garbage collector’s orphan; such things were not rare. And apparently there were noble titles that one could buy with enough money. Lawrence had heard of such things but had never come face-to-face with the phenomenon.
But here in front of him was Eve, who had been bought in exactly that fashion.
“Your companion can easily pass as nobility. I would know,” she said with a smile.
Her voice had turned low and hoarse after she’d suffered such a cursed fate, no doubt.
“Naturally, selling her is not the objective. As I said before, they’re going to limit fur purchases to cash only in order to prevent a run on the fur market, but the trading firms here won’t lend money to an outside merchant, right? But there’s more than one kind of trading firm. If you can give them a good enough reason to, they’ll float you a loan in exchange for a cut of the profits, and I happen to know one. ‘Selling a noble maiden’ is just a pretense, and the trading firm understands that. They just need her as collateral in case our deal falls through. That’s how I can guarantee it.”
Lawrence found himself half-impressed at the convoluted explanation, but there was no way he was going to toss Holo into hock. It was far too dangerous. Even setting aside the issue of her own safety, if things went badly, there was no question that his life as a merchant would be over.
“I – no, we’re not asking you to pawn off your precious companion.”
“We?” repeated Lawrence, doubt in his voice. Eve shot a side-long glance at Arold, who had been silent the whole time.
“I’m going on a pilgrimage,” said Arold abruptly.
The old man had said it every time Lawrence stayed at the inn.
But Eve had said “we.” That meant that Eve had joined up with Arold. It had to be that he really was going on a pilgrimage, and he was leaving Eve in charge of his assets and inn.
And pilgrimages could last for years, sometimes more than a decade. For Arold to go on such a journey at his age meant that he would never again set foot in Lenos.
Which meant–
“This may well be my last chance to go on the journey. I’ve thought to do it many times in the past and have been able to put away some capital for it. But I was never able to work up the resolve…”
Lawrence’s stomach hurt from the suspense.
Arold gave a tired smile and looked at Eve.
He must have weathered some heavy persuasion from the woman.
Then from beneath his wrinkled eyelids, his blue eyes turned toward Lawrence.
“I’ll hand over this inn.”
Lawrence’s breath caught in his throat.
“After all, don’t all merchants dream of the same thing?” asked Eve, her voice only now as bright as the noble maid she had once been.
Chapter Three
Once he’d slept and woken, Lawrence found himself somewhat calmer.
Though he had crawled into bed hoping for just that, Eve and Arold’s words were liquor that did not encourage sleep.
“Let us know by tomorrow night whether you’re in or out.”
The words had echoed through his head over and over.
In exchange for Holo, who they would claim was the sole daughter of the Bolan clan, they would get two thousand, perhaps 2,500 pieces of trenni silver, with which they would buy furs to ship down the Roam River w
ell ahead of anyone else.
Given that it was high-quality Lenos fur, even allowing for tariffs, Eve claimed they would triple their investment.
Despite feeling that this was overoptimistic, Lawrence couldn’t help doing a rough estimate in his head.
Supposing that they were able to buy up two thousand silver pieces’ worth of fur and triple their money, that left four thousand pieces in profit. Eve, along with Arold, was demanding 80 percent of that. Then there were some needed preparations, along with information fees, and the inn building that Arold was putting up as collateral – which would be given to Lawrence outright.
But the building alone was worth perhaps 1,500 silver, so immediately after he protested that 80 percent was too much, he fell silent.
In addition to the building itself, if everything went well Arold would also turn the inn management rights over to Lawrence.
There wasn’t a merchant in the world who didn’t understand the value of that.
With an inn, as long as a person had a building, he could open up shop and anticipate steady income – which meant that existing inns had a vested interest in resisting new ones opening and did so vehemently. There was no telling how much it would cost for an outsider to buy the management rights to such an inn.
And if Lawrence was to open an inn in Lenos, the hot springs town of Nyohhira was not far away, and it would be a good starting point to search for Yoitsu.
Given all this, it would have been strange if Lawrence was able to stay calm and think rationally about the situation.
But something about Eve’s explanations was too good. At a glance, the plan seemed like it would work, but Lawrence couldn’t help thinking that something was strange.
He also wondered if the huge amount of money was making him overthink the situation.
Or perhaps it was the fact that the plan relied on Lawrence raising the money, and to do that, he would have to sell Holo off – even if it was just temporary.
Holo had let herself be captured in Lawrence’s place once, back in the port town of Pazzio.
But that time, she had been the one to propose it as the best course of action.
This time, Lawrence would be selling Holo for his own gain.
He suddenly understood why the Church reviled and persecuted his occupation.
There in the darkness, Lawrence wondered if he was really so willing to let Holo pretend she was nobility.
It was just as he was wondering when long night and its fitful slumber would ever end that Holo’s voice pulled him fully awake.
“Come, you.”
Lawrence opened his eyes at the sound of Holo’s voice.
“… Ugh… is it morning?”
It seemed the endless night had been a dream. When Lawrence opened his eyes, he was greeted by light streaming through the window, along with the sounds of a town already bustling about its morning business.
Evidently sometime during his agitated mental calculations, he had managed to fall asleep.
He took a look at Holo, who stood beside the bed, and when he went to sit up, Lawrence realized he was covered in a terrible night sweat.
It made him think of the first time he had come into an opportunity to make a huge profit, shortly after setting out on his own. He’d woken up so drenched in sweat he was afraid he had wet the bed. And of course, the profit had turned out to be a scam.
“Whatever were you doing last night?” Holo demanded.
She seemed vaguely displeased, but there was no teasing in her voice. Perhaps she was genuinely concerned for him. Lawrence rubbed the slick sweat off the back of his neck. If Holo broke out with a sweat like this, he knew he would be worried about her.
“It was a very… intense conversation.”
After he emerged from under the blanket, the cold morning air seemed to freeze the sweat once it made contact with his body.
Holo sat on her own bed and tossed him a cloth, which Lawrence accepted gratefully before stopping short of actually using it.
“I, uh… appreciate the gesture.”
“I ought to get my scent on you, after all.”
Holo seemed to have used the cloth while grooming her fur; it was covered in the stuff.
If he tried to dry himself off with it, Lawrence doubted it would go well.
“I am worried about you,” said Holo.
“Sorry.”
When Lawrence was the one worried, she would give him no end of teasing, but apparently she could not abide the situation being reversed.
“As you might have guessed, there’s talk of a huge business opportunity.”
“From that fox?”
Lawrence would have pegged Eve as a wolf, but Holo was a true wolf and seemed to see Eve as a fox.
“Yes. Or more properly, from Eve, that merchant woman, and Arold, the master of this inn.”
“Hnn.”
“Oh, indeed?” seemed to be Holo’s reply, though it was far from indifferent.
Her tail was slightly fluffed up.
“Having only heard what they had to say, I haven’t figured out the angle yet, and of course, I haven’t given them an answer. But…”
Holo smoothed down the fur of her fluffed-up tail, replying with narrowed eyes, “But?”
“The profit is–”
“Greater than my preference?” Holo interrupted.
Lawrence closed his mouth, started to speak again, then stopped.
Holo was undoubtedly trying to say that before great profit came great danger.
A dog that burns itself on the hearth will never again approach it.
Only humans were foolish enough to burn themselves trying to snatch a chestnut from a fire again and again.
But roasted chestnuts were sweet indeed, so Lawrence reached into the blazing flames.
“It is great.”
Holo slowly narrowed her red-tinged eyes. She stopped tending to her tail and scratched audibly at the base of her ears. But even then, Lawrence could not give up on Eve’s proposal. He thought back to the first time he had argued with his old master.
“The profit is this inn itself – or that and more.”
Holo could not fail to understand what that meant.
Lawrence anticipated that and spoke simply and plainly.
There was silence for a time.
All that kept it from being unbearable to Lawrence were Holo’s red-tinged eyes, which were now nearly as round as the full moon.
“That would be… quite close to fulfilling your dream, would it not?”
“It would,” replied Lawrence earnestly. Holo’s knife-sharp mood vanished as though it had never been there, and she flicked her right ear back for a moment.
“What is there to debate, then?” she finally said. “I seem to recall that owning a shop is your dream, and if that’s so, I’ve no call to stop you.”
Holo took her tail in her hands and began to groom it.
She seemed somehow at a loss with him.
Unable to cope with her unexpected reaction, Lawrence stood rooted to the spot.
He’d prepared himself for her to categorically refuse – or if she had at least said the scheme was too dangerous, that would have been useful information toward determining the truth behind Eve’s words.
Of course, the deal might be the chance of a lifetime, but if it seemed the danger outweighed the gain, he could let it go by.
He could always make money again.
But he would never meet another Holo.
“What ails you? You look like a neglected hound,” she said.
Lawrence had been reflexively stroking his beard, and he felt like she had somehow hit the bull’s-eye.
“Were you so happy being opposed by me?”
Holo’s tail was chestnut brown, but the underside of it was snow white in the middle.
She combed it with her fingers, forming a white ball of fur.
“I assumed you would refuse, then I could go with the prevailing winds and nicely withdraw,” s
aid Lawrence honestly, and Holo grinned an exasperated grin at this.
“So you expected I’d shine some light on things with my usual wits and foresight.”
“That was part of it.”
“And the rest?”
There was no point in hiding what he felt. If he did, she would merely dig it up and toy with him.
“Well, here you are making that irritated face–” he began.
Holo chuckled dryly. “You dunce,” she said briefly.
“–so I would ask you in return: Why the sudden change? You hated the idea of me getting involved in business here.”
“Hmph,” Holo sniffed, but was it because a bit of fluff had stuck to her nose or was she sniffing at his words?
Probably the latter, he decided, but she didn’t seem too upset.
“You really are… ah, ’tis not worth saying. I know well what a fool you are. And ’tis a burden on me, ordering you about all the time.”
You can’t be serious, Lawrence thought – and perhaps sensing this, she gave him a threatening glare, as though she would truly tear him to pieces.
“Honestly…” Holo continued. “In the end, I spoke and acted only out of my own interest. For example, I do feel that simply being able to roam about with you is the best thing for me. All the times I acted as though I was teaching you some great truth of the world, it was just to keep traveling with you. In truth, it was painful.”
She took the white ball of collected fluff and blew it aloft, then glumly turned her attention down to her tail.
No, more than glum – her expression said concretely, “This is absurd.”
“You should weigh the danger you risk against the profit you stand to gain and act if you feel it is worth it. Wasn’t it always your dream to own a shop? I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
“You’re not in the way–”
“And anyway, if I hadn’t come along, you’d be able to get involved in anything you wanted, and if your opponent tried to deceive you, you’d be at the ready, waiting to outsmart him and make a huge profit. You had the spirit and recklessness to do that, didn’t you? Have you forgotten it?”
At Holo’s prodding, Lawrence felt an old memory return to him.
Back in the port town of Pazzio, he had certainly possessed that much initiative. He had been desperate for profit, and would do things no one would believe to overcome what danger there was.
Spice & Wolf Omnibus Page 94