“Go one step at a time. Sometimes your eyes see what is far off with surprising accuracy, but you also miss things right under your nose. ’Tis not so?”
“…”
He thought it was like she was lecturing a child, but when she asked again, “’Tis not so?” he answered, “That’s right.”
“Aye.”
Holo made a satisfied nod and then added, “But.”
“And yet your penchant for overlooking what is at your feet has led to your picking up some unexpectedly joyful things yes?”
“Huh?”
At Lawrence’s reply, Holo made a light smile and waved dismissively with her hand. “It’s nothing,” she seemed to say. “More importantly, you, what’s happening with that?”
As Holo spoke, she opened her eyes, strength having returned to them at some point.
With the look she gave him, even Lawrence could not mistake what she meant by that.
“That, is it?”
“Aye, will it be in time?”
The serious face Holo was making greatly resembled a look of concern, no doubt because her eyes were wide and her face was displaying a fair bit of emotion. Incidentally, it was her mouth that stood out when she smiled. It was truly lovely how she opened her mouth ridiculously wide to guffaw when she seemed to be really having fun.
As a matter of fact, while it was rare enough for Holo to be hiding something deep down, it was equally rare for her face to display this much emotion.
Without thinking, Lawrence embraced Holo’s cheeks with his palms, stroking her, forgetting that Holo had “trained” him to do so only a short time before.
“I’m confident the appraisal and supply of the goods will be worthy of a top-rank merchant.”
Holo closed one eye with a slightly dejected look while he stroked her neck like he would a puppy’s.
Perhaps she thought her wisewolf wisdom might be affected depending on how much her cheeks were stroked and her tail swished.
“But those appraisals have gotten us into trouble more than once.”
“It’s like a stone wall. We wouldn’t be here if it was any other way,” Lawrence casually replied to Holo’s abusive manner of speaking.
Holo made an exceedingly distasteful face as she stuck her tongue out, making a sigh.
“Are you not the type to keep breaking stone walls?”
“If you didn’t like it, you should’ve gotten out of the bath.” He spoke while pinching her cheeks.
They were words he would have been far too scared to speak in the middle of his journey with Holo. Nowadays, he did not worry at all that if they had a big argument on one day, Holo might be gone the next.
Holo trained her red-amber eyes on Lawrence, staring.
Many times over, water had been spilled and flames fanned from such a point onward.
Even so, ever since he had met Holo in that far-off village, Lawrence was proud that what Holo stared at the most was him.
As he confidently looked back at Holo, her ears finally wilted, her tail seeming to curl as she wrapped it around her own feet.
Among beasts, the first to look away lost.
Holo pouted her lips as she spoke.
“Once soaked, I cannot get out of the bath without getting cold.” With that, she looked at Lawrence once more. “Thus I should just soak in the water, at least till spring comes and it becomes warm outside.”
Holo had been obstinate about not going to Yoitsu because she could guess well enough what had become of it.
According to a book she had seen in the church Elsa administered, Yoitsu’s wolves had been attacked and scattered to the winds by the Moon-Hunting Bear. Furthermore, in spite of having traveled around so much, they had never met anyone purporting to be one of Holo’s comrades, nor had they even heard of one doing so.
If they went and saw, it would become the truth.
But if they did not go and see, they still would not be sure.
This age was not the age of the people of mountains and forests that Holo and her comrades knew.
In this age, which to them was a long, bitter winter, they were compelled to live quietly and in secret.
Lawrence could not remain married to Holo for centuries. He would almost certainly die before she did.
Holo was well aware of that. It was as if she was deciding what she should do afterward.
That being the case, Lawrence could not call staying soaking in the bath until the water ran out the right thing to do.
He should build stone walls to protect the bath and arrange good food, good wine, and the playing of musical instruments.
A merchant found joy in bringing joy to others through their wares. They risked everything for the sake of hearing at the end, “Ahh, that was delightful.”
Then Holo spoke. “But I feel as if I have been soaking just a trifle too much of late.”
Lawrence wanted to explain in detail just how much he did every single day for her sake.
But it was a princess like this that could bring cheer to a merchant with a single word.
“My apologies.”
As Lawrence spoke, he embraced Holo from the side as she sat in her chair.
Inside Lawrence’s arms, Holo took a very deep breath.
Perhaps she thought of Lawrence as the finest of food, but if so, he did not mind. On this occasion, if it was a choice between a sacrament granted by a priest he barely knew or having Holo season him with the finest oils mixed with the finest salts, he would rather Holo do it from head to toe.
As he thought of such things, Holo’s tail, which had seemed asleep until now, slowly moved, making a swishing sound. As Lawrence loosened his arms slightly, she pouted a little like a sulking baby, but rationing in small amounts was a basic part of business.
“So, about that…”
On a cold morning like this, Holo would seriously obstruct Lawrence if he was trying to get her out of bed, but here, she listened as Lawrence spoke those words, a somewhat absent-minded look still on her face.
“Aye…?”
“Want a preview? I was thinking that the banquet wouldn’t be a bad place for its debut.”
The item in question had been made in Svolnel and was on its way to Nyohhira at that very moment.
For a while, Holo drifted off, thinking about it, she seemed to use Lawrence’s chest to wipe her face once, exhaling before speaking curtly. “Indeed. I mind not.”
Lawrence drew his chin in a bit, as this was a terribly blunt way to say it. Between the two of them, was that really such a light thing? And such.
But taking no heed, Holo closed her eyes and yawned.
“Now that I’m warm, I’ve become sleepy”
This was Wisewolf Holo, quirks and all.
Beside himself, Lawrence thought, It certainly figures, as Holo made a slight twist of her body and thrust her arms out.
“Mm? What is it?”
“Pick me up.”
She said it without the slightest shred of embarrassment.
As it was the nature of a merchant to respond to requests, even this one, he could not help himself.
Lawrence cradled Holo and picked her up. He thought, with a somewhat strange feeling, the day would come when he would no longer be able to carry her like this.
Holo would remain young as he became old.
Until now, Lawrence had thought only of Holo, who would be the one left behind alone, but he had spared little thought for himself.
At the moment, he still had little grasp of the meaning of getting old. His body was in good health; if he hardened his body a bit, he thought he would be able to become a traveling merchant again. But at some point his body would decline, becoming decrepit with age, and Holo would start looking like his own granddaughter.
Perhaps when that time came, he would curse his own helplessness, or perhaps lament how pathetic he had become, for in the past he had been able to cradle and lift up Holo.
From that perspective, these daily trivialities
, that would repeat themselves for who knew how long, constituted precious moments he ought to value far more than gold.
It was as if her abusive language was a distraction to keep that fact from weighing upon Lawrence’s heart.
“Aren’t you bringing your wolfishness to tears?”
Holo turned her body around in Lawrence’s arms, her eyes narrowed, apparently in good spirits as she replied, “If I cry, will you console me?”
Within his arms, Holo’s big ears twitched, her tail swaying happily.
This was happiness… almost too much happiness to bear.
Therefore, all they could do was enjoy it – for they could neither stop the flow of time, nor reverse it.
Lawrence kissed the base of Holo’s closer ear, carefully putting her to bed.
Being a narrow town, streets were few.
Even without inspectors to ask what your cargo was and where it was going, those things were quite clear to all. As a result, rumors that Lawrence was holding a banquet for close acquaintances to celebrate the opening of his business had long circulated around town.
It had even been made known that he had what were clearly odd connections for a mere traveling merchant. This being the case, he would have all eyes on him whether he wanted it or not, but Lawrence did not grow timid whatsoever.
For the banquet he was preparing would be very fine indeed.
“What are you doing?” Holo called out to Lawrence while he looked over the hall of the main building that he had decorated.
These last several days her condition had improved as she had eaten more, perhaps because she had made clearer what she wished to eat and what she did not.
“I was just thinking, look at how far I’ve come.”
He said it as a light joke, but Holo made a rude laugh beside him.
“Is that a voice of mourning I hear?”
“…”
He looked down beside him at Holo and sighed.
“Only because you made me show off.”
“Heh-heh.” Holo folded her arms behind her, nuzzling against Lawrence’s arm with her face alone.
“Your own business, something you’ve gained and lost before.”
Not only once, but also twice.
There was a time when Holo had shouted at him, “Are you giving up on your dream?” That was when Holo herself had become the merchandise, about to be sold off.
For a while, Holo kept Lawrence company like that, gazing at the hall with him.
There was white fabric all over the reception table, the chairs, and the walls, making them ready to greet human beings of even the highest rank. Even if the utensils and trays were not silver, he had been able to put together a full set of brass. Swindlers deceived people into thinking fool’s gold was the real thing, but the dull, golden twinkle of brass held the indecency of gold in check, giving off what Lawrence thought to be a rather pleasant glint.
Even though he had thought it would be difficult preparing flowers in the present season, Hanna had somehow gotten her hands on plenty of early blooming ones that he had used to decorate.
Even if the hall was deserted now, it would no doubt be full of people and laughter soon enough.
It seemed that, in the end, everyone they had invited had come and would arrive without incident.
With his fingers, he counted thirteen years since he had set out on his own as a merchant. Finally, he had an establishment to call his own.
“It would have been nice if your master could have seen this, too,” Holo chimed in, apparently noticing him counting with his fingers.
Lawrence made a pained smile and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, he was an eccentric man. He’d probably complain about all sorts of things.”
“Do you want to go find him?”
It was Holo who spoke such words – Holo, who would have either yelled in anger or cried if he had shown the slightest sign of wanting to travel.
The horse that had seen Lawrence through so many trials had become an obstinate horse that only carried Col’s things because Holo had strictly commanded it to do so.
Even so, Lawrence put his hand on Holo’s head, drawing near, and said, “Why would I?”
Holo turned her head, looking up at him.
He had not spoken much of his master, even to Holo.
“All I have to do is have a business so big he’ll have to take notice, after all.”
“…”
Holo’s large ears twitched as she discerned the meaning of his words, reading Lawrence’s sentiment with her large eyes.
But, Lawrence thought to himself, he was confident she would not find what she sought within his heart, for he did not understand it himself.
No, he thought. It was probably the same way she thought about Yoitsu.
Lawrence and his master passed through a treacherous mountain trail, reaching a town inn at the ends of their endurance. Just before Lawrence fell asleep, his master told him, “I’m heading out for a bit,” and left without any proper luggage.
No one had seen him since.
Lawrence had heard he had debts and a woman he loved. He probably thought Lawrence would just slow him down.
But his master had left him all of his charters and most of his cash on hand.
He was a man of many mysteries, so he probably ended up as a monk or recluse or something.
At the very least, that is what Lawrence thought, for it dispensed with all concerns.
“Before that, I need an establishment no one’s going to laugh at.”
“They shall not laugh.” Holo seemed peeved as she spoke, unclasping her hands from behind her back and folding her arms in front of her chest. “They absolutely shall not laugh.”
“That might be a problem in itself.”
As Lawrence pinched her cheek, she seemed annoyed as she turned her face aside.
“But even these things can happen if you live long enough.” His murmur was deep in emotion.
A mere traveling merchant.
A traveling merchant who thought great profits were as distant as the moon floating in the sky.
His being in that place and time seemed very much like a reflection of that moon floating on the water.
“’Tis all thanks to me.”
Holo said it without an ounce of shame.
With Holo like that, Lawrence took her hand, speaking to her as if she was a princess.
“I do not deny it.”
“But ’tis thanks to you that I am so happy now, too.”
Holo said that with even less shame…
She said it with a determined look, a chuckle, and a smile.
As Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I won’t deny that either, you know,” Holo’s tail swished around as she cackled.
Just as she was doing that, Col opened the door and entered.
Because ’twas the occasion of a banquet, he wore not his usual worn-out clothing, but a seminary student robe Hanna had tailored for him. His hair being fastened and held up by a red ribbon was no doubt the result of teasing by the musicians and dancing girls.
“Everyone is here!”
He was out of breath, possibly from running all the way over from the center of town.
Lawrence and Holo’s faces met, and both nodding at the same time, they walked forward.
As they went outside, it was surprisingly fine weather, even by the standards of the last few days, enough to make someone wearing thick clothing sweat.
“Because the sky has been nothing but clouds, ’tis making my eyes blink.”
“Are you all right?”
“I just wanted you to know if there are tears in my eyes ’tis not my doing.”
As Holo spoke those words, she stomped on Lawrence’s foot.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“Fool.”
As Col opened the door, he looked to and fro in front of the establishment and finally made a pained smile.
Col called out to him just so. �
�Ah, right. Mr. Lawrence…”
“Mm?”
“Mr. Luward and the others should be bringing it up right about now, but where shall you present it? At the start of the banquet? Or here, perhaps?” Col spoke as he made ready a stepladder and mallet below the building’s eaves.
The front of the bathhouse served as a fine front entrance, but it was still incomplete, and there was a reason for that.
Lawrence thought a bit before replying.
“Here’s good. That’s what it’s for to begin with.”
“I suppose so. Best to use it as a nice opening ceremony, then.”
Col moved with a bounce in his step. To be frank, Lawrence had not paid much heed to the tiny details because Col had taken care of them all beforehand.
“You’ve come to rely on him quite a lot.”
“Jealous?”
As he asked, Holo leered, showing her fangs. “As if I could lose to a little brat like that.”
It was a wolfish face she did not show very often, one not so much frightening as bewitching.
“Well, you have become a fair bit more plump of late.”
As Lawrence spoke in jest, Holo stomped his foot with all her might.
He suffered in silent agony as Holo coldly declared, “Fool.”
“Ah, Mr. Luward and the others are coming! Er, did something happen?”
As Col glanced between them, Holo made a grinning smile as Lawrence suffered without a word, something that happened rather often. Col made an exasperated smile and went to welcome Luward and the others.
“But I wonder how it’ll feel in the end?”
She spoke in such a sunny voice that it was as if what had just occurred had never existed.
Though it would do Lawrence no good to speak of the fact, he was in awe at the speed of the change.
“It’ll feel simple. Simple is best, after all.”
She replied, “Indeed,” and nodded.
Lawrence had conveyed his broad desires to Hugues the art merchant, and from the drawings Hugues had come up with, he had selected the simplest of them.
From there, the drawing had been shipped to Svolnel, entrusted to the hands of Jean Millike, the man who ran it. Lawrence had wanted to entrust someone else, but Holo had stubbornly insisted.
In the end, Millike did accept; he also sent an exceptionally curt letter that simply said: “Invite me when you hold the celebration.”
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