“We’re ahead of everyone here. We can’t act in haste.” Eve turned around. “Let us meet at the inn. We’ll finish the deal once everything is in order.” Her blue eyes were full of unwavering resolve.
It was in front of these docks while drinking wine with Lawrence that Eve had said that she was saving money for the sake of her childish revenge.
Whether that was a good motivation or not was not for him to decide.
But he did know one thing. Eve was a motivated, capable merchant.
“Understood.”
He lightly grasped the hand that was offered to him. Eve smiled thinly, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Eve would surely arrange a fine ship and secure a route for the fur.
“Well then, shall we go?” asked Holo.
She sounded neither worried nor rushed.
“Yes, let’s,” replied Lawrence shortly. He started to walk but stopped short.
One could say that he had been sewn into place by Holo’s piercing gaze.
“You saw something – no, you saw it and thought something – so why did you not tell me what it was?” Holo asked.
Lawrence smiled; Holo already knew everything.
“You’ve realized something dangerous about this deal. Am I wrong?”
He answered immediately; there was no point in hiding it. “You are not.”
“So why do you keep silent?”
“Do you want to know?”
Holo reached her hand out to Lawrence’s chest, but not simply because he had answered her question with another question.
Lawrence took hold of her finger, lowered it, then let go.
“As far as the danger inherent in this deal goes, let’s say I told you of it. It extends to me and to you. But having considered the possibilities, I’ve decided we should pursue the profit without worrying about the risk. The amount we stand to gain is worth risking my life for, and even should the danger extend to you, you can always avoid it with your own abilities. Of course–”
Holo listened, her expression blank.
“–if it comes to that, it will be hard for us to reunite,” Lawrence said.
Holo was silent.
Lawrence continued. “And if we were to have that conversation, this is what you would say–”
“… Do not throw away all that profit just to cling to a single thread of hope,” finished Holo.
Lawrence shrugged, smiling.
He’d kept silent about his realization precisely because he hadn’t wanted to make Holo say that.
If this deal succeeded, Lawrence’s dream would essentially come true. He would return to the town a rich man, and Holo would come out to greet him and then part ways with him forever with smiles and words of blessing.
Or he would fail, and Holo would have to escape before she was sold off or worse, whereupon she would set off for her homeland alone, determination renewed. If he could be permitted a presumptuous thought, she might come to check on him and make sure he was well, but then she would leave him, and there would be nothing he could say to stop her.
In other words–
“The only chance I have to keep traveling with you is to abandon the deal entirely.”
Lawrence held back the other words he felt – that even if it cost him his dream, he couldn’t expose Holo to danger.
“Do you think that will make me happy?” Holo asked.
“I do,” answered Lawrence without any embarrassment.
His cheek was slapped the next instant. “I won’t say I’m happy. I’ll never, ever say I’m sorry.”
Holo had slapped him with all the strength in her small hand, and it probably hurt her hand more than his face.
The thought occurred to Lawrence as he looked at her trembling expression.
With this, all chances for either of them to tell the other that they wanted to continue the journey were destroyed.
It was what Holo had wished for and what Lawrence had not.
He had given her what she wanted at the expense of his own desires.
This was surely near the very pinnacle of what could be called kindness, and as such, Holo feared it.
It amounted to a quiet revenge for her sudden pronouncement of the journeys end.
“I’ll remember you as a cold, calculating merchant,” she said.
At those words, Lawrence was finally able to smile. “It would be bad for my reputation if you thought me a foolish one. Come, let us go retrieve our war funds.”
Lawrence started walking with Holo following a short distance behind him.
The sniffling sound he heard was surely not from the cold air.
Perhaps she thought it unfair, but Lawrence was not so magnanimous as to let Holo leave him without exacting some small vengeance.
But vengeance was a hollow thing.
When they arrived at the Delink Company, Holo was her usual self.
Vengeance begat vengeance.
This was for the best.
“There is no God in this world,” murmured Holo flatly. “If your omniscient, omnipotent God truly existed, how could he just watch as such suffering goes on?”
Lawrence stopped short of knocking at the door. “How, indeed,” he replied with a nod and only then knocked.
The Delink Company was as simply decorated as ever, and within the building it was quiet, as though completely separate from the clamor outside.
Of course, the merchants were aware of what was happening in the town, and upon seeing Lawrence’s face, they happily arranged for the money.
Their unpleasant smiles disguised whatever they were thinking, but he could trust their proud assertion that they would guarantee the safety of his companion.
No matter how coldhearted the merchant, you could rely on that cold-heartedness when it came to the careful treatment of their goods.
However, when it came time to hand over the money, they put it not in Lawrence’s hands, but in Holo’s.
It was the wisdom of the moneylender.
In receiving the money from the hands of Holo, the collateral, its import would be more effectively branded into his mind. It was also meant to stop him from defaulting, and in any case, this took his desire to turn a profit with the money to a new level.
Holo looked closely at the coin purse, which fit easily even into her small hands. She then looked at Lawrence.
“When you make a profit, I want the finest wine,” Holo said with a sour look.
Enough to be drunk forever.
Enough that this last memory of him would remain in her heart forever.
“Of course,” answered Lawrence, taking the coins.
“We, too, shall pray for your good fortune,” said the Delink merchant.
He had probably interrupted in order to bring the conversation to a close. Experience would have taught him that such good-byes could drag on.
But Holo and Lawrence had long since said their good-byes.
“When we next meet, I’ll be a town merchant,” said Lawrence grandly.
Holo smiled. “I can’t have a worthless merchant for my companion.”
Lawrence didn’t know what expression to assume in response to such a statement.
He didn’t know, but when he left the shop and looked back, Holo was in the doorway, eyes downcast.
Lawrence ran into town, the bag of sixty gold pieces in hand.
He was in no mood to walk.
He didn’t know if this was the right choice.
He just didn’t know.
Even though there was no other choice, he still didn’t know if this was the right one.
Nothing felt strange about this. Ahead of him lay profit so large he’d never dreamt of it.
Yet his heart was uneasy.
Lawrence held the gold under his arm and ran.
When he arrived at the inn, there were people in the doorway discussing something.
Without even bothering to listen in, he expected they – who were perhaps inn guests and their
friends, Lawrence thought – were talking about the uprising in the town.
Lawrence headed for the stables, entering through the storehouse.
There were already two horses and one wagon there. Naturally, one of the horses and the wagon were Lawrence’s. It was an excellent wagon with a driver’s seat just a bit too big for one person alone.
What made him knit his brows was not the weight of the gold he carried. It was the weight that settled into his chest; it was too heavy. Lawrence shook it off and entered the storehouse.
As always, a variety of goods were piled as high as his head with paths finally cleared between piles of boxes. No single person knew all the things that were stored there. It was the perfect place to hide something small.
The thought occurred to Lawrence as he made his way through the room when he bumped into someone doing just that.
“H-ho there. I got tired of waiting,” Eve said, squatting down as she fished through a pile of goods.
“I brought the money.” Lawrence produced the small burlap bag, and Eve closed her eyes as if taking a drink for the first time in three days.
“I’ve arranged for a ship. I found a captain whose profit vanished in the uprising. When I named him a good price, he said he’d set sail even if the navy should send ships to blockade him.”
She had a good eye, that was certain.
Now all that remained was to safely move the fur through this uprising.
Then they would take it down the river and triple their money.
This made him dizzy just thinking about it.
Eve took the small pouch she had fished out of the pile of goods and quickly secured it in her breast pocket, then stood. “The lot at the trading company won’t shake their heads once they catch sight of our gold coins. Their eyes will be nailed to the money, and they’ll nod in spite of themselves.”
It was easy to imagine, and Lawrence smiled, though he was not certain how convincing his smile was.
“In that case, let us go! This deal is a jest!”
Eve’s talkativeness was a result of her nerves.
The deal was huge. In trenni silver, the amount came to two thousand pieces, and even converted to the legendary lumione gold coins for convenience’s sake, it amounted to sixty of that coin.
The amount of profit that could be extracted from such money made a human life seem unavoidably indistinct.
No, it was indistinct.
Eve seemed to be making for the stable’s exit behind Lawrence, but he didn’t move. He blocked the way, so she had to stop.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up, her face uncertain.
“When we buy fur with this money, the profit will come to four thousand silver pieces in the end, correct?”
Eve was about a head shorter than Lawrence. She retreated one step, then two, her cowl hiding her expression completely. “That’s right,” she said.
“And you’ve arranged for a ship, so now all we need to do is buy the fur.”
“That’s right.”
“And you have a good sense for where to sell that fur.”
“That’s right.”
In exchange for borrowing the money from Lawrence, Eve was lending him her experience and wits.
She had it all thought out, drawing a map of exactly how she would thread her way through the complicated relationships of the town, cinching up a deal and turning a profit.
Eve appeared before him, utterly confident that no matter what sudden wind might blow, she would not so much as flinch.
A traveling merchant who crossed the wilderness – that was the image of Eve he’d first embraced, her voice made hoarse by the dry wind.
Though from time to time Lawrence caught glimpses of her weaker self beneath the thick cowl she wore, she had the nerve to be able to keep him fooled.
She was a sly enough merchant for that.
If he just stayed quiet, pretending not to notice anything, playing the fool while leaving the deal in her hands, there would be no trouble.
If Eve was going to deceive him, it would not be to steal his share away.
The flat, hard truth was that she was wise enough to make this deal go smoothly.
She was no fool. He knew she wasn’t so reckless as to throw in for a deal with no chance of success.
So he should just stay quiet.
If the deal succeeded, Lawrence would become a town merchant at the very least.
If only he could stay quiet.
“Do you doubt me?” Eve demanded.
“No.”
“Then what? Have you lost your nerve?”
Lawrence looked within himself.
Was he weak? Timid?
No.
There was only one reason he couldn’t stay foolish and silent. He couldn’t get Holo out of his head.
“If we don’t hurry, the merchants beyond the walls are going to get their money situations sorted. They’ve been making arrangements. We don’t know where they might raise it from. Do you just want to bite down on your knuckle and look on as others turn an absurd profit? Are you listen–”
“Are you not frightened?” Lawrence asked, cutting her off.
Eve looked stunned. “Me? Hah. Don’t be absurd,” she spat, her lip twisting. “Of course I am.”
Her voice was low, but it still echoed through the storehouse.
“It’s thousands of silver pieces we’re talking about here. How could I not be frightened? A human life is a fragile thing in the face of that much money. I don’t have the nerve to stay calm in that sort of scenario.”
“There’s no guarantee I won’t change my mind and attack you,” said Lawrence.
“Hah. Indeed. The reverse is also true. No, our suspicion of each other may only grow… but in either case” – Eve took a deep breath as if to calm herself – “we can’t continue taking these risks.”
Eve did indeed understand the danger of this deal.
No, it was precisely because she understood that she was deceiving Lawrence.
So what was it that she saw on the other side of this profit for which she was willing to go to such lengths?
Eve laughed in a dry voice. “I can tell by your face you want to ask me something stupid. You want to know why I’ll go to such lengths to earn money, no?” she said, seeming to wipe the palm of her right hand on her hip.
That was how natural the motion was.
“Sorry, but I can’t have you back out of the deal now.”
Suddenly a thick-bladed cleaver was in her hand. It would have been rude to call it a knife.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to use this. But consider the amount. I’ll be in trouble if you pull out now. You understand, don’t you?”
Once they have a weapon in their hands, most people become excited as the blood rushes to their heads, but Eve’s voice was calm and dry to the end.
“So long as the deal goes well, your profit’s guaranteed. So hand it over.”
“A human life isn’t worth much in the face of sixty gold pieces.”
“That’s right… and you don’t want to find that out in person, do you?”
Lawrence flashed his merchant’s grin and produced the burlap pouch that Holo had given him, offering it to Eve.
“God’s blessings be upon those with wit and wisdom,” murmured Eve, and she made as if to take the pouch. But then–
“…”
“–!”
Each of them moved with wordless energy.
Lawrence retreated, and Eve’s blade swung down.
An instant later, there was a jingling sound as the bag of gold coins hit the floor.
The instant passed.
Eve’s eyes blazed with blue flame, and Lawrence looked back at her evenly, unsurprised.
A few seconds later, their mutual failures occurred to each of them.
“We’ve both of us fallen short. Am I wrong?”
As she didn’t pull back her arm and retreat, Lawrence caught a clear glimpse of the blade.
Eve was clever to the end.
The blade had been reversed, striking with the dull side of the single-edged weapon. He could tell that Eve didn’t have any intention of cutting him.
In contrast, Lawrence’s dodge had been in earnest, and yet the fact that he hadn’t been surprised meant that he was convinced that her blade would fall.
Had he truly trusted Eve, Lawrence would have believed the opposite, standing still or betraying surprise when forced to dodge.
He didn’t trust her, and he hadn’t been surprised because he knew she was hiding something.
“My failure was in being sniffed out by you. That’s what you meant by asking if I was scared, is it not?” asked Eve.
Eve didn’t as much as glance at the bag of coins on the floor.
This was proof that she was used to violence.
If he thought about the fact that his opponent was a woman, he would be dead in an instant.
“The statue in Rigolo’s house is one piece of evidence, isn’t it?” asked Lawrence.
Eve’s lip twisted, and she switched the knife from its reversed position to a proper grip.
“You pretended to be dealing in stone statues, but what you were really doing was smuggling processed rock salt molded into statues.”
“Could be…” she said, and Lawrence could see Eve lowering her stance.
Whether or not he ran, this was looking like a bad bet.
“I had reason to suspect you of smuggling salt, but it never occurred to me that it would be carved rock salt, since the Church would surely notice you carrying out smuggling on that scale.”
But there was still a way around the problem.
It went without saying that it meant cutting the Church in on the deal.
Lenos’ parish had been desperate for money.
The Church wouldn’t hesitate to dabble in salt smuggling, which surely brought in more money than stone statues.
Lawrence had not realized this sooner due to the fact that Eve brought her statues in from a port town.
If the material was being hauled in from a seaside town, from the standpoint of weight and volume, any salt would obviously have been grain salt.
Hauling bulkier, more labor-intensive rock salt in from the coast flew against any merchant’s common sense.
And it was that common sense that Eve had manipulated in order to get through the town gates.
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