Spice and Wolf, Vol. 3

by Isuna Hasekura

  Having heard this, Mark instantly burst into laughter.

  "Wahahahaha, no wonder Amati would fall before your feet. Judging from the situation, the person who's really being tied down is most certainly Lawrence.”

  Lawrence turned his face away without counter-attacking. He knew that with Mark and Horo attacking from both sides, he did not stand a chance.

  However, perhaps because Lawrence normally carried himself in a benevolent manner, his savior appeared at that very moment.

  The little boy made his way through the crowds and ran over. "I've found it," he cried.

  "Oh, good work. What're the results of the investigation?”

  As the boy reported to Mark, he did not forget to greet Lawrence and Horo.

  Surely he was not interested in hearing words of approval from Mark or Lawrence at this time, but wished instead to see Horo smile.

  Horo, who understood the boy's state of mind, tilted her head and beamed a smile that appeared more graceful than usual at the boy. Her very sinful act caused the boy's face to flush bright red. "What are the results?”

  Seeing Mark ask this with a malicious smile, the boy was flustered as he prepared to reply. Having someone like Mark for his master, the boy was no doubt frequently teased ever since he began his apprenticeship there.

  "Ah, yes. Uhm, the amount before tax deductions in the tax account book is two hundred Iredo," he reported.

  "Two hundred Iredo huh. Which means…about eight hundred Trenni silver coins. This sum should be the amount Amati has on hand that the city council has knowledge of," said Mark.

  With a few exceptions, any merchant who possessed a certain amount of money was required to pay taxes. All taxed amounts were recorded in the tax account book, which could be freely viewed by any merchant who had business associations with one whose tax records were found in the book. Through his friends, Mark had enlisted the help of merchants who had business dealings with Amati in investigating Amati's taxed sum.

  However, a town merchant was not likely to provide an accurate report of his property to the city council, so Amati no doubt more or less possessed a certain amount of undeclared property. Besides, the bulk of any merchant's fortunes existed in the form of crediting rights.

  Yet, even if Amati did in fact possess other property, he still could not possibly produce a thousand silver coins all at once to buy Horo.

  As such, if Amati really planned to fulfill the contract, he could only resort to such methods as borrowing money or gambling that allowed huge sums to be gathered in short periods of time.

  "Where is Kumerson's gambling house?" asked Lawrence.

  "It's not like gambling is permissible in Kumerson just because there's no church here. At best, you can find people playing cards, dice, or 'catch the rabbit (note: really, I have no idea what this is…).' There's also an upper limit to the stakes. Gathering the sum by gambling is impossible.”

  From the way Mark was able to immediately provide an exact answer after hearing just a simple question, it was apparent that he had also contemplated and analyzed the possible means by which Amati could gather the money.

  Whatever the case may be, Amati's action was the equivalent of preparing to spend a thousand silver coins buying an item that could not be exchanged for money. No merchant would be uncurious as to what the source of Amati's funds was.

  Lawrence continued to consider these matters as he thought about what investigation to request Mark's help with next. Suddenly, Mark spoke: "Oh yeah, speaking of gambling, I heard that in addition to the bet over the outcome of your contract with Amati, there's another bet for after the contract is completed.” “After it's completed?”

  "Aye. In other words, in the scenario where Amati successfully carries out the contract, the bet over who will be the winner after that.”

  Mark revealed a provoking smile, and Lawrence's expression turned sour.

  Horo, who had become the key person in this match, seemed to have taken an interest in the wheat and flour piled within the stand. She allowed the boy to lead her about diligently as she looked around inside.

  Mark's words seemed to have reached her ears as well, and she looked in Lawrence's direction.

  "Although you currently hold the advantage, the payoff is one-to-two. It's a pretty close game," said Mark. "I should have the banker share some of the money with me.”

  "Hahaha. So, what is the actual situation?”

  For Mark to be asking such a question was unquestionably to gain useful information concerning the bet in order to win some money, as well as because of a natural interest in joining in on anything fun.

  Lawrence did not pay much attention to Mark's question, and only gave a shrug. However, Horo, who had approached Lawrence unawares, responded to the question.

  "There are many questions in this world that are difficult to answer even if the answer is already known. For instance, the mixing ratio of flour.”

  "Erh.”

  Mark looked quickly in the direction of the boy, who shook his head vigorously as if to indicate that he had said nothing. The mixing ratio of flour that Horo had mentioned referred to the flour's purity. In order to increase the quantity of flour, a wheat merchant would frequently add a bit of flour of cheaper cost into the flour grounded from the original wheat.

  If the amount of the different flour added was kept at a very small quantity, even a wheat merchant who came into contact with flour on a daily basis would not be able to tell. However, for Horo who dwelled within the wheat, surely this could be done with one glance.

  Horo smiled maliciously and continued: "You wish to ask me what I would do if the debt were to be cleared?”

  Horo employed her specialty – a smiling face that was really not smiling at all.

  Both Mark and the boy shook their heads vigorously, and looked to Lawrence with supplicant eyes.

  "But then, the only thing that can be done is to keep watch on the opposing side's actions directly," said Lawrence.

  "How insidious.”

  Horo's to-the-point remark pricked at Lawrence's chest.

  "I wish you'd simply describe it as a competition beneath the water surface. After all, the opposing side will certainly send people to watch my every move as well," he responded.

  Yet Mark, who had regained his composure, sang a different tune: "No, I don't think so. You see, in spite of his weak appearance, Amati did in fact run away from home by himself to this border town and achieve all that he has with his own power. Moreover, he's still so young, and self-centered on many matters. Not only does he not place importance on the lateral connections among us town merchants, he'd even look down upon the kind of shady behavior just mentioned. He only believes in his ability to determine the quality of fish, his eloquence at promoting sales, and the blessings of God.”

  "Almost exactly like a knight," Lawrence thought to himself. To think that Amati could reach his current position in such a manner, Lawrence could not help feeling a bit envious.

  "Maybe it's precisely for this reason that Amati would fall madly in love with the charming girl who'd suddenly arrived in town? After all, among the women of town exists a lateral connection even stronger than that among town merchants. They're always paying attention to any surrounding criticism and spying on one another. As soon as one seems to stand out too much, they'll all attack that person unanimously; I'm sure they're also people whom Amati would look down upon. Of course, after marrying Adele, I discovered that not all the women in town are like that.”

  As a traveling merchant, Lawrence could understand Mark's explanation very well. From an outsider's perspective, the women of Kumerson were indeed as he had described.

  Lawrence glanced at Horo, who had walked up to his side. He felt that under those circumstances, it was quite possible that Amati would fall head over heels for her with just one glance. Besides, the fact that most believed Horo to be a normal girl would make falling in love with her all the more likely.

  "However, even i
f Mr. Amati is such a person, I'm still free to make use of the merchants' lateral connections. If it were a competition between knights, such insidious behavior would perhaps be frowned upon, but in a competition between merchants, complaining about something like this wouldn't be acceptable.”

  "Aye, I agree on that point.”

  Having said this, Mark looked towards Horo.

  Lawrence looked again towards Horo as well, and Horo, as if she had been just waiting for Lawrence to look in her direction, held her cheeks in her hands and spoke in a shy manner: "How I wish someone would honorably attack me from the front every once in a while.”

  Mark must have also come to the realization that beating Horo was an impossible feat, Lawrence thought to himself.

  After that, Lawrence had decided to request Mark's assistance in gathering information on Amati through his connections. While asking Mark's help, Lawrence did not forget to add to his explanation Bartose's mention that Amati seemed to have already come up with a way to gather the funds.

  Although Lawrence had faith in Horo, if he were to take that as an excuse to sit around doing nothing, he dared not imagine what Horo would do to drag him down. Besides, concerning the point of gathering information on Amati, Lawrence was also contemplating the possibility of hitching a free ride with Amati to make a large profit.

  Because it would only serve to disrupt Mark's business if Lawrence and Horo continued to loiter in front of his stand, the two left as soon as Lawrence had finished making his request.

  The streets of Kumerson seemed to be filled with more and more vitality. Even after walking out of the marketplace and onto the plaza, the crowds were still as immense as in the marketplace.

  The time was approaching noon, and every tempting stand along the way attracted huge lines of customers. Of course, this was not enough to discourage Horo, who clutched tightly to the coin won from Lawrence's hands as she lined up in front of the stands that attracted her.

  Lawrence watched Horo waiting in line from a distance, thinking it was about time the bell toll signaling the arrival of noon sounded. At that moment, a rather blunt and low sound suddenly rang out.

  "A bugle?”

  The thought of bugles reminded him of shepherds; this made Lawrence think of Nora, who had taken a great gamble with them back in Rubinhaigen. However, he felt it would be troublesome if the sharply-instinctive Horo were to see through his thoughts.

  As Lawrence banished Nora's image from his mind and looked for the source of the sound, Horo, who had successfully bought her desired item -fried dough- walked back to him.

  "Did you hear that just now, the sound like that which is made by shepherds?" she asked. "Aye. If even you think so, that must've really been the sound of a bugle.”

  "This place is overflowing with the scent of food, such that I cannot make out at all the scent of any sheep nearby.”

  "There should be plenty of sheep in the marketplace. But that still doesn't explain why someone would be blowing a bugle in town.”

  "Yea. After all, the shepherd girl is not here.”

  Because Lawrence had long anticipated Horo's saying this, he did not appear too shaken.

  "Erh. If you are not at all shaken, does that not make it appear like I am trying to test you?" said Horo. "Then I'm simply overjoyed, joyful to a frightening degree.”

  Horo bit into the fried dough with a crunch, her face full of joy. Lawrence smiled lightly as he once again directed his sight to his surroundings. He discovered that the crowds were all moving in the same direction – all the people were making their way towards the town centre. The bugle call just now must have been the signal for the commencement of the festival.

  "The festival has probably begun. Want to go see?" asked Lawrence. "It would be boring to do nothing but eat.”

  As Lawrence strode out with a strained smile, Horo followed close behind, and reached out her hand to grasp Lawrence's.

  The two moved with the crowds, heading north along the edge of the marketplace. Soon, the sound of people cheering mixed in with the sounds of flutes and drums reached their ears.

  Ahead of them could be seen city girls dressed in a manner similar to Horo's, or what seemed to be black-faced apprentices who had snuck out from work, traveling preachers with three feathers attached to their garments, as well as lightly-dressed knights and soldiers. It was certainly a diverse gathering.

  Judging from the direction of the cheers, the source appeared to be the intersection of the two main streets that divided the town into four quadrants. However, due to the crowds, the intersection could not be seen at all. Although Horo tried stretching her neck to get a view of the festival sights, even Lawrence was unable to see, much less Horo, who was significantly smaller than him.

  Lawrence suddenly remembered something and, taking Horo's hand, turned into an adjacent alley from the large street.

  Contrasting sharply with the clamorous street, upon entering into the alley, the surroundings immediately quieted down. Here could be seen beggars shrouded in tattered cloth sleeping with an expression that seemed to indicate that the street's lively atmosphere had nothing to do with them, or craftsmen preparing the merchandise for their vending stands working busily in their open workspaces.

  Horo seemed to realize immediately where Lawrence was planning to take her, and followed in silence.

  If the festival was being held in the main streets, the inn at which the two were staying would surely provide a perfect vantage point from which the festival's spectacular sights could be clearly seen.

  The two moved briskly along the almost deserted alley, entered the inn through the back door and made their way to the second floor.

  Having reached the second floor, they discovered that someone else had also come up with the same idea, and was planning to make a profiting business out of it. The doors to some of the rooms facing the street stood wide open, and a sly-looking merchant had pulled a chair outside one of the doors and was playing casually with some coins in his hand as he sat there.

  "On this point, we should thank Amati," said Lawrence.

  Entering the room and opening the wooden window, Lawrence instantly discovered that the window side formed the best spot to view the festival.

  He had only to peek out his head to take in everything that was happening at the intersection of the two main streets running east-west and north-south. Moreover, even a normal glance out the window was sufficient to see the entire festival.

  The people playing the flutes and drums at the intersection all had identical long black robes fitted over them and covering the entire body, giving them a bizarre appearance and even making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

  Behind this group clad in black followed another group of incredibly-dressed people.

  Some of the costumes consisted of multiple portions of cloth sewed together to form a huge garment hiding several people underneath, with a human-faced mask raised up where the head should be; some consisted of a very long robe fitted over someone playing a giant, probably with several other people, each sitting on another's shoulders underneath the robe. Some of these giants carried large swords made by fitting together a series of wooden sticks, and others carried large bows taller in height than a person. Every time these giants waved around their enormous swords or bows, the spectators responded with cheers.

  However, just as Lawrence was about to think, "I guess that's all there is to the show," a wave of excited cries was heard from the crowds, followed by the sound of a different set of instruments.

  Horo gave a soft cry as well, and Lawrence, fearing that he would block her view, reached his head out the window.

  The inn was situated at the southeast corner of the intersection, and a procession of quaintly-dressed paraders seemed to be emerging from the east.

  Although this procession was also led by a group of people clad in black, the people following behind were dressed in a fashion very much distinct from that of the group within
the intersection.

  Some had their faces painted completely black and wore a pair of cow horns on their heads, and some carried feathers on their backs. Among the group were also people draped with animal furs. Even if Horo were to mix into the procession with her ears and tail revealed, she would probably not be discovered. As this procession passed through, what arose was a sound perhaps more appropriately described as a scream than a cheer, and at the same moment, a wheat puppet of height much greater than that of a human appeared. The puppet had four legs, was in appearance similar to a dog, and in size even larger than Horo in wolf form. It was supported on a wooden rack and carried forth by about ten men.

  Lawrence was just about to address Horo, but, seeing that Horo was focused on watching the developments of the festival, decided not to say anything.

  Puppets with animal-like appearances or modeled after animals continued to show up one after another within the procession and lingered at the intersection, which had transformed into a public square.

  Not long after that, the people in black who went before and led the processions glanced at the erected signposts scattered about the area, pointed in various directions with their fingers, and started moving about.

  Seeing the actions of the people in black, Lawrence guessed that this was not a simple masquerading parade, but had some kind of story to it. Too bad he did not possess any knowledge in this area. Just as Lawrence was considering finding an opportunity to ask Mark about it once the festival was over, he discovered that yet another procession was making its way over from the north end of the street running north-south.

  This time, the procession seemed to consist of normal people. Included within the procession were people dressed in tattered clothing, dressed as nobles, as well as those dressed as knights, but they all had one thing in common in that they all carried spoons in their hands. Just as Lawrence was feeling incredulous and wondering why everyone was carrying spoons, the three processions came into contact with one another at the center of the crossroads, and the paraders were calling out loudly in a language he had never heard before. The surrounding spectators uttered low exclamations, and listened tensely to the dialogue of the paraders. Even Lawrence felt an involuntary tenseness.