“I will tend the stove. Otherwise, you’re free to use whatever you want.”
It was said that shepherds who led countless sheep day in and day out lived in such harsh conditions that they became more saintly than actual saints. Huskins seemed to fit this description better than anyone. Engaging him in conversation wouldn’t likely elicit a response from the old shepherd.
Indeed, he probably had no desire to talk with anyone. Having passed that judgment, Lawrence nodded to him and said no more. After staring at the three of them silently for a moment, Huskins lightly nodded and made his way to the room with the stove.
“Is he a clergyman?”
As soon as Huskins’ footsteps grew too quiet to hear, Cole immediately posed that question. It certainly wasn’t a strange thing to ask, as Lawrence himself could picture seeking Huskins’ wisdom in times of uncertainty.
“He’s more like a worldly sage living out in the wild, wouldn’t you say so?”
“Are you making fun of me?”
Holo stopped eating the pile of mountain berries as immediately as she had started, which was right after setting down her luggage. He glanced briefly in her direction and intentionally shrugged.
“We seem to have more leftovers than I expected. With this much, even if we count Huskins’ portion we’ll still have enough to last a while. And since there are merchants crawling around everywhere it shouldn’t be too much of a problem even if we do start to run low.”
“True, but a while back I saw a large line in front of the well, so water might be the real issue.”
As expected of Cole; he was a keen observer. On a low-budget journey there was nothing more important than water. One could survive with barely any food for a week, but without water they wouldn’t last long at all.
“Shall I go fetch some right away?”
“That might be for the best.. I’ll leave it to you, then. We’ll need water to cook, too, and we have to consider that the well may freeze up at night.”
“Alright!”
Cole seemed to be the type who felt more at ease as soon as he was given a task to complete. After spiritedly replying, he left into the outside cold with a bucket and a leather water-pouch. Lawrence felt compelled to say something seeing as how Holo had ignored the whole thing, opting to leisurely devour the berries instead.
“Even just a short while ago I would’ve criticized you, even if I knew you’d scold me in turn.”
She didn’t display her emotions, but in truth Holo also wanted to be useful. But because she didn’t show it, she sometimes ended up forgetting to help out altogether.
“..It appears that you have improved somewhat.”
“I’d like to think I’ve been with you long enough for that.”
“Heh. Setting that aside, if we are forced to linger here long enough to worry about our food supplies, I will find it quite irksome.”
She tossed the last berry into her mouth and heaved herself up slightly.
“Yeah, that’s true. If the snow starts piling up we might even get stuck here. If I had to be stuck somewhere I’d also rather it be a town.”
“That is one of my reasons, but there is another.”
“There’s another?”
“Aye. You may find yourself buried alive in the wool of the sheep I will devour.”
“Please try your hardest so it doesn’t come to that.”
He said it in jest, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was entirely joking. He’d only caught a remote glimpse of the herd, but the sheep did seem to have wool of fine quality. Fine wool was basically a guarantee of a sheep’s deliciousness.
“Then again, any other traveler who got stuck here would have little to do but discuss rumors. But we want to gather information, so wouldn’t it be ideal for us?”
“Not necessarily. Rumor can spread quickly enough to disadvantage both parties. What is important for us is determining how to quietly collect information about the bones, without calling attention to ourselves.”
Lawrence thought this over as he stroked the hair on his chin, which was starting to get shaggy. But they didn’t really have many options, so he didn’t have to think long. It was extremely difficult to keep other’s lips sealed. Naturally, then, their only choice was to enlist the help of one who was trustworthy.
Only one person here fit that description. However, Lawrence couldn’t help but hesitate when he thought about asking Pisky for help. Pisky was an exceptional character, to the point where Lawrence didn’t want to stand beside him in front of Holo.
“I fail to see a problem. A pack with two leaders often sees arguments between them, just like the bickering between two elders in a clan. There is no need to fret over such things.”
She had nailed his concerns, just like that. But no matter how slow he was, it would be exceedingly difficult for Lawrence to admit that he was hesitating because he was worried she’d get along too well with Pisky.
Alas, staying silent now would just be playing into her hands. In the worst case she could even misconstrue his lack of confidence as a sign of mistrust. So he spoke as if ready to give his all in preparation for a negotiation of unprecedented scale.
“At this point, I care not who you grow closer to.”
That sounded like a flawless declaration to his ears. Even Holo shouldn’t be able to catch his lie, he felt. Yet she revealed an expression as if watching a white rabbit walk into a snare.
“Huh? Are you not the leader here?”
In an instant, her expression had changed to entirely different one.
“You are getting along well with that male while doing your best to not let your guard down, are you not? When one has just started leading a pack, it is common for them to try a bit too hard. It is not as though I fail to understand that..”
He reflected on her earlier words. Being intentionally imprecise with the subjects of her sentences was one of her greatest skills. On top of that, she had a perfect grasp of how people were inclined to interpret them.
“Here I have always viewed you as the leader, and yet this is what you are worried over? Not only do you count me as the leader, but you also hope that I will not transfer my affections to another?”
She smiled in complete satisfaction.
“You are such an adorable boy.”
It had been ages since he was so embarrassed. He couldn’t even groan. The irreverent way she lowered her head and nudged his hand with her chin, with her tail wagging all the while, made him want to ruthlessly pinch her cheeks, roll her up in a blanket, and throw her out the nearest window.
But if he lost his temper now, his shame would only be magnified and his punishment compounded, like throwing more coals on a raging fire. He convinced himself that surrendering with just a hint of defiance was his best response, and simply raised the white flag like any good merchant ought to.
He then heard the rustling of fabric, and realized that she had turned over in bed. She was disappointed by his unexpectedly calm response.
“Hmph, acting like such a sensible male.”
He couldn’t be a pushover in the face of such vicious words.
“It’s easy to understand once I think back to my earlier days.”
“Hmm?”
He raised his index finger and held his other hand on his waist as if about to give a lecture.
“What’s the most charming way to attract the attention of the one you love, and the most likely to win her heartfelt smile?”
She seemed dumbstruck.
“To intentionally look for trouble, thus having her notice you.”
“So I can’t lose my temper over every little thing.”
He approached her bedside and pushed her nose down with his index finger. Of course he was leaving himself wide open for a comeback, knowing full-well that it would be trivial for her if she wished it. After all, he couldn’t count the number of times he figured he had her cornered, only to end up being the one who was bitten. That’s why he was always ready
for his finger to be bitten.
This time, however, she seemed to be enjoying his little routine. He patiently awaited a counterattack, and only ended up watching her lying there and gazing back up at him. After some time passed had passed, she spoke - and with her nose still being pressed under his finger, her voice was slightly nasally.
“After all, we all have our preferences.”
Her meaning was that people didn’t always prefer what was best. In other words, someone like Pisky wasn’t necessarily going to be the target of her affection. It was her way of surrendering, carefully crafted to avoid flattering him in the slightest.
“I- I’ll just take that as a compliment.”
Words couldn’t express how frustrated he was for stuttering at the most crucial time. Her majesty the Wisewolf, on the other hand, seemed especially pleased.
“Hnn-hnn.”
She let out a nasally laugh. Shortly after that Cole returned with the water, completely out of breath.
* * *
They weren’t trying to conceal their identities, but Lawrence and his companions still waited for the sky to darken and the sun to begin setting before they entered the sanctuary. Even if they lit a candle, it would have still seemed darker than a pitch-black night.
Since it was snowing, the normally-unpleasant act of sitting in the pews to pray was far more attractive. The monastery typically began and ended its days hours before a regular person would, so the evening mass was long over and the only other person in the sacred hall besides them and Pisky was the attending monk.
The man held a worn leather pouch that was nonetheless made of sheepskin of the finest quality. After they had concluded their prayers, he immediately approached them and silently opened it. Pisky and Lawrence dropped in a few foreign silver coins from the mainland.
“May the Lord grant you His blessing.”
After coldly uttering that one line, he turned and left. Lawrence knew he likely had to hurry and light the candles for a late night ritual, but he still couldn’t help feeling that kind of attitude wasn’t going to win them any devout followers.
“It’s about time.”
Pisky spoke in a hushed voice, and the words that left his mouth dispersed in wisps of white breath. It was intensely cold, and on top of that it was the time one would normally be eating, drinking and making merry. But unlike them, Pisky had friends here. This was his busiest time of day. Cole was still silently praying, accompanied by Holo. Lawrence nodded at Pisky and nudged their shoulders. The two of them rose from the pew in unison.
One could gain a deep sense of the grandeur of this place by simply looking up at the ceiling, from the door to the altar. The fortune invested in this place over the years was plainly visible, and enough to grant it a sense of stately divinity. Even the embroidered screen draped from the ceiling, though faded from candle smoke and the cold climate, would unveil a world of gold once gently pulled aside.
“The Great Brondel Monastery.. the dwelling place of our almighty God..”
Cole looked back and murmured that after they had walked through the winding corridors and past a large set of doors, which seemed solid enough to withstand the assault of a battering ram. Though he might be branded a pagan by the Church, he didn’t harbor much dislike toward it.
Lawrence couldn’t tell if the boy had temporarily abandoned his trifling values as he marveled at the divine atmosphere of this impressive place built in the land of dancing snowflakes. Perhaps he was simply fond of that poem.
Holo would have normally made fun of him, but not even she could bring herself to tug on his hand this time. She paused with him and looked back for quite some time before they caught back up with Pisky and Lawrence.
“If possible, I’d love to invite the three of you to participate as well..”
“You’re being too polite. I can understand your situation. If you were going to a business negotiation, on the other hand, then you couldn’t stop me from tagging along.”
“Haha! Thanks for your understanding. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Alright, I hope the banquet’s delightful!”
Having parted ways with Pisky by the torch-lit entrance of the sanctuary, they now directed their footsteps toward the shepherds’ dormitory. It was late and there wasn’t a soul on the path, even here just outside the sanctuary. There was only the light being offered by the torches high above them.
“It is sure to be a wonderfully cheerful banquet.”
Although they hadn’t been inside the sanctuary for very long, the stone steps of the dormitory were already buried under a thick layer of snow.
“He had excellent wine in that leather pouch, too.”
“A delightful banquet refers to one with dishes as fine as the wine, and companions finer still.”
“Just what are you trying to say..”
At first he instinctively suspected that she was implying he wasn’t a fine drinking companion, but considering what had happened earlier he soon realized that wasn’t her intent at all.
“Just don’t go saying things like that during dinner tonight, you hear me?”
A heavy sigh was heard from under her hood, and she stomped her feet.
“But how is one to enjoy a drink around someone so gloomy and filthy? Discounting the fact that he cannot seem to greet anyone properly, just as I wondered where he had disappeared to, he had the gall to show up the very next instant with raw mutton! What was he playing at, putting it on display like that next to the stove? Was he intentionally trying to provoke me!?”
Shepherds had to leave early in the morning, and didn’t return until late in the evening. So aside from dinner, they ate their meals outdoors. This being a region that received a lot of snow, a shepherd might be forced to spend the night indoors. He certainly wouldn’t keep his sheep at the dormitory, but preparing food for his companions was one of a shepherd’s jobs.
Instead of saying that Huskins had a cold demeanor because he lacked social graces, it made more sense to say his need to prepare for the upcoming day meant that he didn’t have the luxury to engage in polite conversation. It probably wasn’t his personality that got to Holo, though. It was him drying mutton right in front of her. He’d even strung up mutton sausages next to the leather rope that was drying the rest of the mutton.
“There’s still some mutton jerky in the bag, isn’t there?”
“Such hard-textured meat does not agree with me.”
She turned her face away in displeasure. Her behavior was even making him wonder if she wanted him to punish her for acting like a petulant child.. but he knew that she’d be better-prepared than this if she really wanted to press him into buying her dinner. She was only half-heartedly trying to win some of Huskins’ tasty-looking mutton, and only because it happened to cross her path.
“If we just boil it in a pot the way Pisky did, it’ll probably get nice and tender.”
She lifted her face and pouted at him as though her hopes were being dashed.
“Perhaps you should begin using a pot for a pillow from now on.”
He breathed a weary sigh.
“Are you saying you want my head to get even more tender?”
She locked her eyes forward without replying. Interacting this way, the three of them returned to the dormitory to hear soft laughter and breathe the scent of food from every room. The air was filled with the smell of cooked mutton, so it wasn’t just Holo that was licking her lips in anticipation.
All of the doors were decayed to the point that a casual kick could put a hole through them. Holo spied mischievously into each room as they passed by, hoping to see what they were eating. Of the five rooms, they were lodged in one of the ones on the second floor.
Fifteen shepherds lived here, and they had even built a kennel for their dogs. If one counted the farms dotting this expansive region, they could easily deduce there were at least thirty shepherds in total. Lawrence had heard that some of them alternated between living in the dorms and o
n the farms, which meant that they didn’t all know each other.
Huskins was one of the oldest shepherds. The locals said that when it came to sheep-related matters he possessed knowledge even beyond that of the gods.
“We’re back.”
It was very common for travelers to lodge in other’s homes. But for one’s stay to be pleasant, it was necessary to take the initiative and greet the others warmly whenever possible.
“The holy sanctuary here truly is an impressive sight.”
Huskins only nodded slightly in response, and continued cleaning the tendons and fat from the raw mutton in silence. Holo’s newfound look of displeasure was likely due to disagreeing that he had to remove that precious fat.
After walking Holo and Cole back to their room Lawrence began making preparations for their dinner, since the sole condition they had been given for lodging here was to take care of Huskins’ meals. Just as he was lifting up one of the pots, Huskins suddenly opened his mouth to speak.
“..Quite a suitable place for an almighty God to dwell.”
Lawrence smiled and nodded, realizing that he was still referring to the holy sanctuary. After borrowing some of Huskins’ tools to form a support for the pot, Lawrence filled it with water and ingredients in the proportions taught to him by Pisky.
Holo preferred a heavier flavor, so Lawrence added in extra salt. It should be fine, since he’d also heard that shepherds, like their sheep, also preferred their food to be salty. He then added a large number of the hard, dry strips of meat and the bread that had been crushed in their baggage. He was gradually stewing up a highly nutritious meal.
This would have normally been a great opportunity to indulge in idle conversation, but Huskins continued to work in silence. Someone once said that it seemed that those who had spent most of their lives as shepherds only spoke with animals – Lawrence now understood how that person felt.
“Dinner’s ready.”
When he moved to the adjacent room to call Holo and Cole, he discovered they had plucked out a few strands of hay from the bed and were happily engaged in a childish game of “guess the shortest straw.” Judging from the wide grin on his face, Cole was probably winning.
Spice & Wolf X (DWT) Page 8