“Yeah. At any rate, even after coming through the wars of ancient times, no unified kingdom was ever established here. The lords can’t have much enthusiasm for war all of a sudden. Well, I can understand that it’s natural they’d be more concerned about how to live elegantly like the aristocracy down south than waging war. That’s why…”
Luward sipped his liquor and tilted his cup toward a young subordinate. However, the young man shook the jug. The jug, once full of the water of life, seemed to have been exhausted.
“No more, huh…? Ah yes. That’s why even though we thought it strange the town had no wall, once we realized the real reason for it we had to credit Debau’s nerve.”
By Lawrence’s common sense, no place could call itself a town without a wall. Walls were necessary for self-governance, for one had to protect himself from the predations of the powerful to be able to decide his own future.
Villages were without walls because the villagers were under the dominion of their lord, and even without a wall, they understood where they stood and what the lord expected from them each year.
However, this was a cash-rich place administered by a company with intelligent minds at work. It would not be strange for someone, somewhere, to come and assault the town.
That being the case, that they should build a wall to fortify their defenses was clear as day.
“A city wall isn’t really for protecting oneself from enemies alone.”
Luward seemed to tell his subordinate to bring over some more liquor and slid off the table.
“It’s also to stop people inside the town from escaping.”
“Really,” Holo murmured quietly, seemingly in admiration.
Luward made a satisfied-looking nod and continued.
“If war comes, you close the gate and set up an around-the-clock watch. Do this, and no one can enter, and also, no one can leave. The moment you are surrounded by high walls, everyone shares the same fate. No one in the town thinks they can sneak off and survive on their own. Everyone has to work together. Without walls, many of those feeling threatened would pack their bags and flee. You can’t fight a war under those conditions. Who’s going to risk his life to protect the town with so many people fleeing? And then everything collapses. That’s why you always have people like me standing behind the troops with their coats flapping.”
“To stop careless sorts from running off to find something they’d misplaced?” Holo said in an amused tone.
Luward made a face like he had a winning hand at poker and used a fingertip to show Holo had it right.
“That’s why this town doesn’t have a wall. Building a wall would make it easier to unite the town. That’s inconvenient for Debau while it builds up a mountain of gold in its treasury. Easier to defend is bad for them. As it is, taking this town is easy, but defending it is difficult. In other words, attackers would likely opt to be raiders rather than conquerors. After all, the most lucrative part is to be first come, first served to Debau’s treasury. However, you can expect to be pursued while laden with treasure. Considering that risk, getting away really isn’t so easy. If miserly rogues understand they won’t profit from it, they’ll lay off and make their money from someone else. Thus, it’s not the Debau Company that protects the Debau treasury, but those after it themselves.”
He clapped his hands together and opened them.
“Well played, as you can see.”
He could understand the logic.
However, a smile stretched across Lawrence’s face, purely because this was something that existed only as logic.
“There are many courageous souls in our mercenary company, but Debau has just as many. You’d never think this way normally. It’s really using your wits. I raise my cup to them.”
“So, the fact this town is some distance from the mines?”
“Yes. For the same reason. Normally you’d set up your headquarters right next to a mine and set up a defense for it. That creates conflict. That’s because it’s a difficult position to take, but once it falls, it’s an easy position to defend.”
A dreadful smile rose on his face that suited one who lived on the field of battle.
However, Luward maintained that expression as he took in a deep breath and made a sigh, alcohol on his breath.
“That’s the planning and patience Debau has. They’re up to something. They have to be up to something, but…”
Luward struck his cheek with his hand as he spoke.
Moizi softly rose from his seat, many years of service surely letting him see where this was going.
Luward seemingly passed out, stopped just short of toppling right onto the table.
“My, my. If it wasn’t for this lad.”
Moizi had called Luward “lad” for the first time. He spoke with the fondness of a mother hen, as if serving a young master who was still but a greenhorn.
No doubt Luward was not going to listen if told to lay off the liquor. And surely Moizi knew well enough that one could not lead a mercenary company without a healthy amount of stubbornness.
“We’ve largely covered the state of the town. Was there something else you wanted to ask? Or if you noticed anything, feel free to fill me in.”
His smile conveyed that if nothing came to mind, that was all right, too.
Even though Luward was not tall, he certainly was not delicate, yet Moizi hoisted him up like a princess. The young subordinates cleared the way like this was a regular thing.
“No, nothing as of yet…”
“Well, if you noticed something we did not this soon, it would be somewhat of a blow to our pride.”
Moizi spoke eloquently without turning his face.
“Well, then, I suppose that shall be all for today.”
“Yes. Thank you very much.”
As Lawrence spoke words of thanks, Moizi shook his head side to side.
“No. It is I who should thank you.”
Lawrence did not think he had said anything worthy of praise, but Moizi’s words gave a much different impression than that of most mercenaries, with a smile like that of a peasant rising as he spoke.
“We’re small-scale no matter how you slice it. All our collected history wears on the lad’s nerves, day after day. Indeed, I wonder if he is happy being a mercenary captain like this.”
Was it fine to say something like that before an outsider and, all the more, before two young camp aides? The thought crossed Lawrence’s mind, but apparently there was no cause for concern.
If someone was unhappy about very few things, one would hear them more often.
“For a while the lad longed to be a merchant. But he’s the only one to carry on the Myuri name.”
This was another tale that must not be suspended midway.
Lawrence had earned the right to write his own tale.
He would probably never understand the feelings of those who were part of a storybook, for reasons completely outside their control, from the day they were born.
If anyone would understand that, it would be Holo.
When Moizi passed beside them carrying Luward in his arms, Holo gave Luward’s cheek a gentle, motherly stroke.
After all, it was thanks to those like Luward, in an unbroken line, that she had been able to receive Myuri’s message.
“Well, that aside, Lawrence, ’tis you who solved the silver coin mystery. Such wit is precisely the aid we sought. That and the lad could not look you in the eye.”
With a grin, he sent his words, rich in meaning, in Holo’s direction, clearly for the benefit of the youngsters. Holo made a light laugh, but she understood quite well Luward had been carrying on the Myuri name, and the legend associated with the claw, while Moizi stood by his side all this time.
Moizi left the room, seeing that his dead-drunk leader was carried away by people in the next room, as Holo laughed, but with a lonely look in her eye.
“’Tis they who are living in this day and age, it seems.”
As the pages tu
rned, those who had come onstage long before ceased to be seen or heard from.
Lawrence put his hand on top of Holo’s head, saying this: “We’re living with all our might as well.”
Under Lawrence’s hand, Holo turned her face to him, looking up at him, giving a curt reply. “Ah, so we are, now that you mention it.”
Lawrence understood the curtness was because they were in a very public place and took no offense.
Holo suddenly made a happy-looking face and smacked Lawrence’s back.
“You truly are guileless.”
Lawrence made a sigh and, giving a brief greeting to Moizi, returned to his room.
When Holo returned to the room, she poured wine into her cup and drank; Lawrence reasoned either she had not had enough to drink or the water of life was not to her taste.
Lawrence, not minded to give any warnings, shook his head and sat down in a chair.
“The omens are finally becoming suspicious, though…”
She rested her head in her hands over the table and snorted.
The Debau Company had this town under its thumb, but they could not get ahold of its tail. Putting Luward and Moizi’s words together, it did not feel like Lawrence could simply put his head to it and draw up a plan of action.
At any rate, the company was incredibly preserving the town without constructing any walls, even as it padded its treasury with the profits it acquired from the mines.
The halt of town expansion, concentration of houses, arguing with the butcher next door about where he disposes the guts of the pigs he slaughters, turning up one’s nose at the stink of blood and fat from leather tanning walls caused all of this. Chickens and pigs roaming the narrow streets, garbage piling up on the roads no matter how much one cleans them, rent climbing ever higher; walls caused this, too.
People often laughed as they spoke casually of how nice it would be if the walls were set aside.
And yet the Debau Company had actually done it.
Lawrence had never seen a town such as this.
“It seems they truly are twisted souls.”
“Yeah. Certainly that, as well.”
“Indeed.”
Holo nodded as she sipped her wine.
“However, so what if they sprinkled some table salt and gained this town? I do not think ’tis a thing one needs to worry over.”
What do you mean? Lawrence thought as he turned to her. Holo was nibbling on jerky like a little child.
“Not having a suitable guide to show me the way was one reason I did not leave Pasloe, but… the foremost reason was ’twas a waste.”
“A waste?”
“Indeed. Or put another way, ’twas too much trouble. The wheat fields were ruffled more than the fur of a mangy dog, but I had indeed grown fond of how the ears of wheat swayed like a sea of gold. Listening to you all speaking, it seems this company’s building of this town involved a great deal of time, wit, and luck, did it not?”
Certainly it did.
When Lawrence nodded, Holo nodded once more.
“Then, ’tis rejecting it not utter foolishness?”
As Luward had pointed out, without walls, if war came many people would flee. But this did not reveal what the Debau Company was planning.
“I see. No good, then. Then… that’s right. How about someone really might attack this place, so they’re gathering mercenaries to deal with the threat?”
“… A good point but… if that was so, it’s strange for no one to notice… In cases like these, the attacking side and the side being attacked are like actors coming onstage. For no one to notice either of them moving is quite odd.”
“Mmm… well, ah. Yes, this could be an exception to the rule.”
“Huh?”
“Yes. The one defending becomes timid, be it man or beast. If that is the case, perhaps there is some fear that only the one concerned can see?”
Lawrence turned his gaze back from Holo’s direction and made a sigh.
Holo, as if confident, ignored Lawrence’s reaction.
Certainly what Holo said could be true. At the very least, the logic was sound.
However, Lawrence did not agree with it. Surely the current situation was no passive event. There had to be something with the Debau Company. If not, one could only call it strange.
Lawrence adjusted his seating in his chair, leaning his back against it and closing his eyes.
“Might I ask you one thing?”
Lawrence opened his eyes in surprise as he heard Holo’s voice so unexpectedly close.
Immediately after, Holo draped herself over his arms from behind as if a blanket.
Her long, flaxen-haired tail spilled over him as it swished, tickling Lawrence around his ears.
“Are you truly thinking this over?”
“D-did you notice something?”
Lawrence tried to turn toward her, but the slight embrace of Holo’s arms prevented him.
Lawrence could not see the expression on Holo’s face. He could not see how her ears or tail were moving, either.
Holo could alter just her tone of voice in any way she wished.
Lawrence was a little nervous.
“’Twas exactly as I said it, with no hidden meaning.”
“…”
Lawrence sunk into silence. Not responding to questions made Holo angry.
But Holo’s question struck him as so odd that he felt angering her a bit was not such a bad thing.
What he was really thinking – that he did not have an answer – was not something he could say to her.
Holo’s arms tightened around his neck a little. “… What say you?”
If she had sounded the slightest bit irritated, he could have calmed down and told her.
But the small hesitation coming from her threw Lawrence off.
However, despite being bewildered, he thought about it slowly and answered.
“I’m thinking.”
“Liar.”
Holo set her chin upon the top of Lawrence’s head.
“Do not lie to me.”
“… Lie? Wait a minute. I don’t even understand what you’re saying to me. Why’d you suddenly say something like that?”
As Lawrence fell into confusion, Holo’s arms tightened around Lawrence’s neck bit by bit. Even though Holo’s arms were slender, he would suffocate with ease if she choked him in earnest.
“You say you are thinking, and that is a lie. At best, you are pretending to think.”
Once again, the one-sided conversation left Lawrence at a loss.
All he could think was that something he had said had rubbed Holo the wrong way.
Holo’s arms squeezed him bit by bit before finally coming to a halt.
Lawrence felt like rather than choking off his neck, she was clinging to him from behind.
“Explain this to me. Certainly I haven’t arrived at an answer, but I’m still putting all of my wits into it. The Debau Company’s clearly up to something strange, and there has to be some kind of reason for it. Even if I’m missing something obvious, it’s certainly not something I’m doing on pur–”
“So why do you think of that company as the villain?”
Lawrence could not see her, but he still moved his eyes her way, his face frozen, his mouth still stuck open.
“Wh-what?”
“I said, why do you think of that company as the villain?”
Her indication struck him with the same force as a trade partner pointing out that his hair was still disheveled after sleeping.
“Er, it’s not that I decided that they’re villains exactly–”
“I see. Think on this, then.” Holo eased the pressure on Lawrence’s neck as she interrupted him. “You are a carefree merchant.”
“Huh?” His reply was tinged with unintentional annoyance.
Unsurprised, Holo made a pained smile, saying, “For example,” as she tapped Lawrence’s shoulder. “You have money. You have time. You wandered into this town. You
realized it was absurdly filled with liveliness. War? Ask anyone about that and they’d laugh in your face. You’ve even heard that the wealthy are quietly buying up mansions. You even saw a shop being sold at an incredibly low price. Think about it. ’Tis this not an incredible opportunity for you to make money?”
As Holo finished speaking, Lawrence made a “Mm?” sound and lifted his head up at an angle.
He had felt like he had taken the first step down the wrong set of stairs.
However, he had to give her an answer.
“Buy a… shop.”
“Indeed. After all, putting all the stories together, the price shall surely rise.” Satisfaction in her words, Holo patted Lawrence’s head, as if that was the point of letting it go. “So, then.” Holo moved her petting hand out of the way and placed her delicate chin atop Lawrence’s head in its place. “Why do you not purchase it?”
That instant, Lawrence understood everything Holo was trying to say to him.
“And if you did buy it, would you not think of more optimistic things? Right now ’tis as if–” As Holo’s words halted, her tail made a falling sound, as if a bird stopping midflap. “You are searching for something bad.”
Various ideas emerged from Lawrence’s head as Holo twisted it about.
The reason Lawrence had backed out was because of the certainty within him that the Debau Company was up to something.
Lawrence’s thinking certainly had been slanted in that sense.
But what was the emotion he was searching for justifications for?
Surely it was not far off the mark to say that what the Debau Company was doing was invariably logical, all premised upon their own profits. That being the case, things like Holo had said earlier, explaining the gathering of mercenaries as being for self-protection, did not violate that logic.
So why did he harbor such doubts? Or rather, why did he have them when he could not be sure?
Since he had never been in direct contact with Debau, he could not avoid drawing up hypotheses based on the situations before him. The conclusions Lawrence drew from them were largely his own subjectivity.
Holo made a somewhat amused sigh from atop his head.
“When we went around town to look into your acquiring a shop, I told you, I saw this town truly sparkle.”
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