More than anything else, he was certain Holo thinking he did not trust her would hurt her.
While Lawrence desperately tried to maintain his logic and self-control, Holo diligently gazed at Lawrence’s face as a satisfied smile came over her face.
“Wh-why you little–!”
A moment before Lawrence could finish, Holo hugged Lawrence.
And taking in a deep breath as if sniffing the scent of Lawrence’s clothes for all she was worth, she held it for a while before gently exhaling.
When she pulled back, she seemed happy, so much she teared up a bit.
“How much do you think I love you, you fool?”
Certainly, it was Holo who had lured Lawrence to a place with no trace of anyone else and pushed him down.
Lawrence had no words of rebuttal, scratching his face as he looked the fool.
“But quite a lot actually happened. We ended up fleeing from the town in a big hurry.”
Instead of feeling like a fly was crawling on his head, the about-face made Lawrence’s head seem to go numb somewhere.
“Is that so?”
“Indeed. I do not intend to second-guess the judgments you all made… but they are a fiercer enemy than before. Perhaps it is because of their internal disputes that they have hardened their defenses to excess. ’Tis the time for it, after all. That sack has much of Luis’s courage packed in it.”
As Lawrence looked at the hemp sack over his shoulder, she told him, “By the way, you may not.
“Luis was told so by his master. If the worst happens, do not let anyone see or ask, just deliver the package to the hare.”
Holo’s face made plain that she was not saying it as a joke.
Lawrence looked at the hemp sack on his shoulder once again.
“But the town is filled with enemies, you see. You have no idea how much trouble it was to get that thing… Furthermore, he had the courage to entrust such a valuable thing to me because I am stronger. You understand why he makes me swoon, yes?”
The last part was surely a joke, but what had been entrusted to her was no doubt of such importance – certainly something worthy of Holo remembering his name and praising him.
But what could it be that she had been entrusted with? This master was no doubt Hilbert von Debau.
All Lawrence could think of were letters or perhaps money, or failing that, various documents bearing the Debau Company’s stamp of authority. Certainly, if that was so, it had to be something no one would know about or think even the possibility existed that it would move beyond their grasp.
When push came to shove, company operations always functioned on trust. Scattering documents embodying that trust outside of the company meant throwing the company’s trust out of the window as well.
Even though they had let the former owner live so far because he was still useful, they would most certainly kill him for that. Or perhaps they would let him live so that something hidden would not be exposed.
“Have you seen it?”
As Lawrence asked, expression vanished from Holo’s face, and a moment later, Lawrence’s field of vision flipped.
It took him a while to realize Holo had pulled his leg and sent him tumbling.
“You truly are a fool.”
As she haughtily looked down upon him with a frigid look, Lawrence remained on the ground as he raised his head, muttering, “Certainly.”
As Lawrence and Holo arrived back, the party was in full swing.
In Luward’s camp, about four men bound with ropes were being made to sit.
Their faces bore numerous scars; even their hands bore large reddish-black lumps on them.
It seemed that the blood that dyed the snow red was not something made up.
Small doubt what stood out was how upbeat their faces were in spite of looking like that. Merely understanding that their lives were not in danger could not account for that. They looked like they had just finished a horse race.
“We’re back.”
When Lawrence called out to Luward, Luward nodded without a word, exchanging looks with Moizi.
“It is about time.”
Lawrence nodded at Moizi’s words and, leading Holo by the hand, came to rest at a nook in the road.
Even from there, they had a plenty good view of the false battlefield.
Snowflakes danced, battle cries rose; it did not look like a single person was holding back. In practice, though the swords and spears did not cut, they were plenty useful as blunt instruments. A square hit in the head would make someone swoon; it would be easy for someone to lose his life. Even in the short time Lawrence and Holo watched together, there were a number of people carried to the rear with broken bones or who had been knocked out cold.
Furthermore, even though this had been prearranged, the situation put the Myuri Mercenary Company at a clear disadvantage. One could say they were overwhelmed.
However, they exhausted every effort, friend and foe alike. Everyone had an equal possibility of dying. But even knowing this, they were all so serious that it lit a fire in Lawrence’s chest. He truly understood why people liked battle.
Therefore, no matter how idiotic the goal, regardless of it being a matter of ego, Lawrence still thought it looked stirring. Why is it stirring? he thought. He even thought, If only I could join in. For this was the world of sword and shield, a world that lay beyond the path not taken.
“You truly do seem envious,” Holo pointed out to him.
As Lawrence tried to maintain a neutral expression, he selfconsciously patted his own face.
“I know not what is so good about it.” Holo seemed exasperated as she spoke, shrugging her shoulders. Lawrence could not explain it himself, after all; when push came to shove, those who were fighting did not know themselves. Even so, there was something attractive about it. Battle had a certain something to it.
Though he did not want to say, A woman probably would not understand, there certainly was something about it.
“Well, if I’d been a mercenary, I might not have ever traveled with you.”
That was why, when Lawrence said it, Holo made a strained laugh like a much older sister.
“Who knows? At the very least, you would never be able to keep up to their fine work as you are now. Perhaps you would have died before ever meeting me?”
That was a rather frank and realistic opinion. Even more so, it sounded convincing.
However, Lawrence pictured it anyway: him, burlier and sturdier than he was now, accustomed to wielding a sword or an ax, perhaps using one of them to earn his supper as a mercenary.
And then, one day meeting Holo and heading to Yoitsu. Of course, being a mercenary, he would have tried to deal with this and that on their journey to cut open a path with force of arms and intellect.
At such times, Holo would be standing at his side. Certainly, this was Holo, but since he would be a professional mercenary blazing a trail with his blade, Holo would not have to do anything excessive. If her form as a wolf was exposed, he would stand right by her side, sword in hand.
If she spotted an enemy, like just below this hill, Holo would counter sword with fang all on her own.
Himself, perhaps called a wolf of the battlefield, beside Holo, giant wolf fangs bared?
Surely no young man could fail to quiver at such a sight?
“But,” said Holo.
Lawrence felt embarrassed at having peered at such an idiotic fantasy, but Holo’s narrowed eyes gazed across the wide-ranging battlefield when she said this:
“Since ’twould be you, it might have been fun whatever happened.”
And she looked toward Lawrence, making an embarrassed-looking smile. With such a smiling face before him, Lawrence could not right himself with any elegance. If he was a valiant man, devoting himself to professional mercenary work, not batting an eyebrow at putting his life on the line, that would surely have its very own charm.
Unfortunately, however, he was simply a pathetic man in practice.
Lawrence could not help but think so, but Holo did not seem to think it herself. She pulled her head back, smiled with an amused look, and looked over the battlefield once more. As she breathed in and out, there was a white shade to her lips, natural as that might be.
“There’s such a thing as fate. ’Tis what I believe.”
Lawrence did not think those words came to her all of a sudden.
Meeting Holo was by coincidence, and having come this far involved a number of very large coincidences as well. All of them could have ended up differently; that was why, had he met her as a mercenary, it was quite possible he would have bid her farewell by dying on some battlefield somewhere.
“I am tired of grieving. I am tired of worry and hesitation. Hungry, all four paws hurting from the cold, frantically running on the snow-covered roads – even so, I thought about it. Until even a very short time ago, I never imagined she called the Wisewolf of Yoitsu would end up doing this sort of thing. However, if ’tis fate, ’tis not a poor one, I think.”
There was a bit of distance between Holo and Lawrence.
As expected, Holo was not foolish enough to snuggle up against him here.
However, Lawrence thought nothing of such a distance.
Holo, in a place but a few footsteps away from Lawrence, slowly turned her head to him, and said this.
“And since I had a lot of time to think as I ran, I thought of it.”
“Thought of it?”
Of what?
Faster than Lawrence could ask, Holo resumed speaking, as if unable to contain herself.
“The name of your store.”
“Eh?”
It was that instant, as his eyes widened and as he moved to take a step toward Holo to grasp her shoulders.
An incredible roar reverberated, seeming like it would split the very ground.
It sounded just as if trees were being felled. That was Lawrence’s first thought, but then he realized he was mistaken, for trees truly were being felled.
“Avalanche!” someone shouted.
If one looked over the battlefield, all the soldiers with weapons in hand trying to cut at their opponents froze in place as they absorbed the news. They all turned their heads in the same direction.
Just as no mercenary, no matter how greatly he built up his body, could never best a bear in strength, no matter how many people are in one place, they cannot win against nature. A mass of snow seemed to be slowly falling at first, but when it plunged against a bulwark of trees, they warped and finally made a great cracking sound. That instant, it leaped off the snowy mountain.
The snow plunged into the valley all at once.
“Retreat! Retreaaat!”
Luward was yelling, and Rebonato on top of the hill on the opposite side also yelled, but their voices no longer reached.
In the midst of the roar that seemed to shake their very bodies, the soldiers scattered in every direction like ants being chased by water. The mass of snow relentlessly poured into the valley, crushing everything in its path, before finally enveloping it with a thick, rising spray of snow.
In an instant, it was all over.
However, everything had changed.
For this was how the curtain was being yanked down over the battle.
“Gather the wounded! Retreat! It’s an act of God!”
Luward’s command flew first over the battlefield now returned to silence.
On the other side of the valley, Rebonato seemed taken aback at the cowardice of the Debau Company’s overseer, but the Myuri Mercenary Company paid no heed. They pulled as many of their comrades out of the snow that they could, ran up the hill, and kept running. As Lawrence and Holo fortuitously fled like hares as well, Rebonato finally regained his senses.
“Running away, cowards?!”
And he hurled his ax in anger. The ax flew an unbelievable distance, thrusting into the camp on their side, but of course it struck no one. As Rebonato looked over the camp, empty as a hollow shell, he shouted, “Damn it all!” in a voice filled with such anger, one would not think it was an act.
When Lawrence and the others advanced all the way to where the sleds had arrived, hot soup was waiting for them.
The comedy had ended in suitable fashion, but Lawrence, who knew it was all a trick, had not thought it would be so incredible. He wondered if those who had been caught up in the avalanche were all right.
Thinking about such things as he ate his soup, his concern might have shown on his face.
When the roll call was finished, confirming that fifteen people had been left on the battlefield exactly as planned, Moizi, having finished his report to Luward, said this to him.
“The ones caught up in the avalanche were pikemen. Well, I’m sure they’re all right.”
So that’s it, thought Lawrence.
“Also, it was all snow spray, not nearly as bad as the real thing. None of our men would die from the likes of that.”
He grinned widely at that.
“Once things settle down a little, they will no doubt be in touch with us. What should concern us is what comes next.”
Lawrence meekly nodded at Moizi’s words.
Certainly it was true. So far, everything had been between mercenaries in on it, but it would not be so from here on.
For once they entered Svernel, their opponent would be the Debau Company itself.
Meanwhile, Luward was going around looking over the wounded, checking on the condition of the prisoners, and thanking those who had pushed into the mountains and built a device to deliver a splendid avalanche for their labors.
No doubt those who made use of men could only do so because they were considerate at times like these, even if they looked imperious and heavy-handed at times.
“Everyone, well done.”
And once everything settled down back to normal, Luward spoke.
“Compared to the large-scale, much-reputed Hugo Mercenary Company, your fine work was as good or better. Unfortunately we didn’t win the match, but that’ll make it more fun next time we spar with them.”
Knowing full well there had never been such a thing and never would be again, everyone made lighthearted laughs.
Hilde, the de facto employer of the mercenaries, must have made a strained smile inside the wicker cage.
“Well, then, I’d like to say get some rest for what’s left of the day, but unfortunately it’s still a ways until we can sleep under a roof. On top of that, we have to be the mercenary company that used a sudden avalanche to barely escape. So because of that, I want to advance with all speed. Anyone want to complain?”
Luward looked all around, but of course no one did.
Everyone was smiling, pleased with their own roles.
“All right, after a few preparations, we advance!”
According to the script, they would desperately flee toward Svernel.
But riding high on boastful tales and impressions of their fighting, there was not even a hint of tension.
Right about now, the Hugo Mercenary Company was no doubt digging its own comrades and the Myuri Mercenary Company members out of the valley. From the other side’s perspective, it looked like they had fled in such a harried state that they had abandoned fifteen of their own men.
In truth, even if it was a show, the battle had been overwhelmingly in favor of the Hugo Mercenary Company.
The know-nothing merchant overseer would likely be fooled with ease.
“So, what are they going to do now?” Holo asked as they walked.
She said not one word about the baggage being piled onto horseback with the wagon nowhere in sight.
She understood that it would not be a fun conversational topic.
“What do you think they’ll do? When I heard the plan, it made my tongue curl.”
Holo thought about it for a while, but shrugged her shoulders and said, “I know not.”
“After, they’re going to negotiate. After all, they have fifteen of their comrade
s taken captive with wounds all over their body. The other side thinks they’re at an overwhelming advantage, so this side has no choice but to negotiate. We’ll go negotiate and take hostage the young merchant pathetically certain of victory.”
“… And then, we get their captured comrades released and run for it?”
“That rough bunch will make the merchant the scapegoat, absolving them of blame.”
With an annoyed look on her face, Holo snorted a “hmph” and sighed.
“All jumbled together.”
Her judgment was swift.
“But it’s marvelous, isn’t it?”
“I would have thought you more concerned they would push the fool’s role unto you.”
She said it quite bluntly, but as he had thought of the possibility himself, it did not bother him much.
“At the very least, I have plenty of credible bad experiences to threaten him with. I’ve had more of them than he has, after all.”
“Indeed. And truly you have not had enough.”
He was not minded to protest; Holo seemed satisfied with just the sigh he made.
“Leaving that aside, so many people is inconvenient.”
“Mm?”
When Holo drew close and whispered, he thought, Oh, but an annoyed Holo scolded him immediately.
“Is there nothing else in your head?”
Her gaze was scornful.
“The pack leader holds the hare in high regard, you see. I cannot find a time to hand this to him.”
Holo used her chin to indicate the hemp sack hanging from the horse’s back.
In there were things that should never have been hanging so simply in a place such as that. First, there were three hundred gold lumiones; in addition, the original manuscript of a forbidden text banned by the Church. Yet that was not all, for there was also what Debau had entrusted to them back in Lesko.
But a short time ago, even had he told anyone such a tale, they would have dismissed it as a nonsensical piece of fiction. Even if most of it was not so surprising, having something akin to a great trading company’s treasury riding on his horse’s back really did make him feel like he was dreaming.
“Certainly, handing it over as soon as possible and having one less piece of baggage is a good thing.”
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