Wolf & Parchment, Volume 2

by Isuna Hasekura

  That being said, she had stayed quiet for so long because that was not what she was thinking about.

  “When I think about that, I believe that one day he’ll get into a lot of trouble because he really didn’t know anything.”

  “Myuri.”

  He admonished her, and she glared back at him.

  She pointed at him and said, “You can only see half of half of the world!”

  Her logic was that the world was filled with men and women, so his lack of understanding of women was half of the world. Then, because people had both good and bad sides, when he did not notice the bad, he lost another half there. Myuri sincerely believed that without her, Col would immediately stray from the path and fall head over heels into the pits of oblivion.

  “You two make a great pair.”

  Hyland smiled with her eyes and spoke with a slightly envious expression on her face.

  “That’s why I feel comfortable leaving it to you.”

  Then she took the cheap ale in her hands. Maybe it was because from the perspective of others, she would be worried unless she drank.

  What she said next made that seem about right.

  “When the Church deemed the Kingdom of Winfiel enemies that should be subdued, the strait between Winfiel and the mainland became a militarily critical area.”

  The talk suddenly shifted from faith toward bloodier talk.

  That was what she had not spelled out when she said she would take his judgment into consideration.

  “We do have a substantial force. The pope lacks a true fleet of ships to call his own. He would likely go to war using ships commandeered from coastal towns. That is why I came to the port town of Atiph, to create as many allies on the mainland side of the strait.”

  She sipped her ale and gently placed it onto the table.

  “And if war did break out, it would interfere with imports into our island nation. Our wheat would never arrive, requesting wine would never amount to anything more than wishes. So what would be left?”

  What sort of people gathered in this tavern?

  Col’s gaze drifted down to the soup on the table, chunks of fish floating in it.

  “Fish?”

  “Right. The pirates in the northern islands have a firm grip on the areas with good sources of northern fish, including herring. If they become our ally, it would a secure a food source for us, and if they become our enemy, the opposite would happen.”

  The world was made of a complicated map of power.

  It could not be freed so easily, like untying a knot.

  “On top of that, they are incredibly skilled with all sorts of seafaring vessels. They will be the deciding factor in whether we gain mastery of the open water. However…”

  Hyland pressed on.

  “Our just cause is based on righteous faith. No matter how important they are strategically, we will not accept those with twisted beliefs as our companions. A rotten fish will spoil the other fish in the same barrel.”

  He trusted Hyland—had anyone else said the same thing, he would not have believed them.

  However, her expression suddenly relaxed, and her smile dripped self-mockery.

  “That being said, I sincerely hope they aren’t rotten…But you can still eat rotten fish after cooking it through thoroughly, if you’re even a bit worried. All of my companions, though, are starving.”

  No matter how careful Hyland was, she did not command this fight alone. The other nobles under the king of Winfiel might elect to take an easier route.

  While that was happening, what Hyland could achieve in her position depended on how much correct information she could obtain. For that purpose, Col was to be her eyes and ears.

  Before him was a great responsibility, but it was worth the effort.

  Above all, he was simply interested in seeing what an unfamiliar faith looked like.

  And so, there was only one thing left to ask.

  “When shall we go?”

  Hyland drained her ale, then spoke.

  “How about tomorrow?”

  Hyland had placed her trust in Col and assigned him a mission. Now he had to live up to those expectations.

  And his judgment of the Black-Mother faith would have an effect on the greater flow of things. If they were too hasty to make the pirates their allies, it could become the source of trouble later, even if things seemed fine at first. It was also possible that these people were exactly what their cause needed, even if they seemed heretical at a glance.

  At any rate, he was both scared and happy that she was relying on his insight.

  It seemed that Hyland had not been kidding when she talked about setting out the next day, so they immediately began preparations to secure a ship. Though it was urgent, he could tell that if he stayed behind, there would be nothing for him but paperwork. The draft of his common-language translation of the scripture, which he had undertaken here in this town, had been sent off to the scholars in Winfiel, and Hyland said all there was to do was wait for their thoughts. It would take some time for a reply to come.

  And so, if there was someplace else he could demonstrate his knowledge, he wanted to head there as soon as possible. The northern seas were, quite honestly, an unknown, frightening place to him, but it would be the perfect opportunity to broaden his worldview. It was a chance to push himself to do everything he could.

  “Hey, Brother?”

  Myuri’s carefree voice cut through his ruminations as she pulled on the hem of his clothes.

  “Which is cuter, this fur wrap or this leather one?”

  After finishing their food and parting with Hyland, the two headed out to Atiph’s marketplace. They most certainly did not have enough warm outfits for a journey to the northern seas. Luckily, though, the town offered many clothes, since the frequency of long sea journeys meant a large volume of people coming and going.

  The abundance of options was a good thing, but since there were so many shops, Myuri spent the past while taking him from one storefront to the next. Then, when they arrived at a new spot, she would gather clothes from every corner and ask him what he thought about this or that.

  But he simply was not interested and only answered mutedly.

  “Choose something cheap and warm.”

  Every time, Myuri would consistently wear a flat expression, but she suddenly asked, “Fine, then let me ask you a different question. Which one do you like better?”

  Instead of a cute smile, she directed a glare at him.

  It seemed so innocent and cute that she hoped to draw the attention of her crush with clothes that he liked, but her mimicry always fell flat. She was overflowing with youth and energy but also a short temper.

  “…Cheap and warm…Fine. Fine, then.”

  To appease Myuri, who had bared her fangs at him, he compared the two wraps and pointed to the fur one.

  It seemed to have been made of deer fur, and he felt that a rough lay of fur suited her much better than something soft and fluffy.

  Myuri looked hard at the one he pointed to and sighed.

  “You have no eye for clothes.”

  He held back from scolding her that she should not say that after making him choose.

  “But you chose it, so I’ll take it!”

  She suddenly smiled and happily hugged the fur.

  For a moment, there was a pang in his chest as he thought about how he would have chosen more carefully if he had known she would be so happy. Ultimately, it did not matter since he could not reciprocate her feelings, so this was all right.

  “Sigh…Well next, we need gloves, hats, and sachets for pocket warmers…”

  There were many things they had to buy. It was at least a relief to know that Hyland would be footing the bill, but whenever he paid with the silver coin of the sun that was in circulation in this region, he felt something akin to guilt.

  He had grown rather distant from moderation and frugality recently.

  As he thought about how he needed to concentra
te, Myuri suddenly spoke with a serious expression.

  “We’re going to need a sword and a shield, too, right?”

  It seemed that the image in her head had completely turned into an adventure story once she caught word of pirates.

  “No.”

  “Aww…”

  Her disappointment was obvious. She took the fur coat they had just finished paying for and quickly rolled it up to carry on her back. Even though she proved that she could successfully work as an errand boy for a company with such skill, all that came out of her mouth was fantasies and daydreams. After thinking about how far her good name would echo throughout the world if she pulled herself together, he sighed.

  “What we’ll do is crash into our bounty from the side, then, with our swords in our mouths, we’ll raise a battle cry and leap onto the other boat, right?”

  She placed her hand by her mouth and gnashed her teeth, as though she really was gripping a sword with her mouth. Col was exasperated, and not just because her gnashing made it look like she was biting into skewered meat.

  “How would you be able to raise a war cry with a sword in your mouth?”

  “…Uh. Wait, what?”

  Her expression was blank.

  “See, you cannot simply accept stories about pirates when you don’t know if they are true or not. Think more seriously about the cold that you need to face soon.”

  Myuri wore thin clothes for the sake of fashion and her body was slim without much in the way of fat. Though she did have her tail, that was not something she took out in front of regular people.

  There was no such thing as too many pieces of thick, warm clothing in a place where freezing rain and the frozen sea were constant companions.

  “I’m fine. Nyohhira’s full of snow, too.”

  “There’s no wind in Nyohhira. The wind on the sea will chill you to your bones.”

  On top of that, if the cold of Nyohhira’s nights ever became too much, people simply jumped into the hot springs.

  When he said that, Myuri suddenly fell silent and stared at him.

  “What is it?”

  “Have you ever been to the cold sea, Brother?”

  Though she sounded a bit skeptical, she also sounded surprised. Or perhaps, she meant to express how unfair he was being.

  “I have. I went to the Kingdom of Winfiel by ship in the dead of winter. It was bitterly cold.”

  “Really? When?!”

  “It was when I had just met your mother and father, so…quite a long time ago.”

  In the face of the cold, Myuri’s mother, Holo, had gone onto the deck to enjoy the scenery, but Col was still a child and afraid of ships at the time, so he clung to her father, Lawrence—that part he kept to himself.

  “I have much more experience than you when it comes to traveling. So you need to listen to me.”

  Experience, rather than logic, resonated most with someone of Myuri’s personality.

  She still seemed dissatisfied, but she nodded half-heartedly.

  After buying plenty of gear for their trip, they returned to the trading house to begin packing all the warm clothes and preserved foods they bought. Since they could be leaving the very next day, it would be bad form to dillydally if the order to depart suddenly came.

  The sun was already setting when they finished up.

  “I’m…tired…”

  Once she finally wrapped the luggage in a blanket, Myuri collapsed onto the bed.

  “This is a lot.”

  If Myuri carried the set of luggage sitting in the corner on her back, it would probably be bigger than her.

  When Col imagined that, he smiled slightly.

  “It’s almost like—”

  “A big adventure!”

  Myuri leaped up, sitting cross-legged on the bed and smiling happily. He found himself troubled, because it suited her so well it almost felt tactless to scold her for being unladylike.

  “A big adventure…Well, you’re not wrong.”

  Though the tomboy was tired from travel preparations, it seemed she grinned in anticipation whenever the luggage caught her eye. Col, on the other hand, could only sigh.

  “Brother, what’s wrong? Are you hungry?”

  “…”

  He couldn’t tell if she was joking, but it seemed to be a serious question.

  “Sigh… No. It’s not that.” He answered and placed his hand on the leather cover of the scripture that sat on the desk in the room. “I don’t know what will happen in the northern seas during this season. When I think about what could happen…”

  He would likely not be able to help her. Though dangers were part and parcel of traveling, the place they were headed for was particularly unforgiving. Warmth wafted up into his palm that touched the cover of the scripture, where he believed a power rested. He had poured his whole body and soul into translating the inaccessible script of the Church into the vernacular, and he felt that in doing so, his faith had deepened.

  His faith was true. God was lighting his way.

  But despite that, his worries were not easily lifted.

  “Brother.” A voice came from behind him. “It’s going to be all right.”

  He turned around, and there was Myuri, smiling triumphantly as always.

  “You are always so optimistic.”

  “And you’re so pessimistic. You’ll age faster that way, you know.”

  It was nothing good for men who looked so young at his age. If anything, he wished what Myuri said would happen.

  His expression asked, “Who on earth do you think I’m worried about?” and she grinned, baring her teeth.

  “It’ll be fine.”

  She spun around him and jumped to sit on the desk behind him.

  “If you fall into the sea, I’ll definitely go save you.”

  She only said that because she knew what he was worried about. Even if he continued to warn her, she would plug her ears and pretend not to hear.

  He really was worried. If something happened to Myuri, he would never be able to explain it to Lawrence and Holo waiting for them back in Nyohhira.

  He thought it might be best to leave her behind, even considering how furious Myuri would be, but she suddenly smiled calmly. That expression looked exactly like her mother’s, the wisewolf, Holo.

  “Well, you probably wouldn’t be able to save me, but I can say one thing.”

  She then reached out to gently touch his chest and continued.

  “If you fell into the cold, dark sea, I would absolutely jump in after you. I won’t leave you alone, and as long as I’m with you, I wouldn’t mind the depths of the sea.”

  Myuri adored tales of heroes and love stories. Her distinction between fiction and reality was hazy. She always believed that she would be the main character.

  That she seemed slightly embarrassed after saying such things was proof she had grown up a little.

  Then, as though hiding her embarrassment, she began to twist her finger on the leather cover of the scripture.

  “M-Myuri, stop it, you’ll mark the leather.”

  He voiced his protest, flustered, but she had already turned back to her normal, cheeky self.

  “Hmph. What’s so great about this book? I bet the God they talk about in it would just keep on sleeping if you fell into the sea, Brother. But I’m different.”

  She smacked the cover of the book, and she drew her face closer to him, a satisfied smile on it.

  “So, you’ll pick me, right?”

  Her logic was like a hatchet that chopped through everything.

  Myuri always kept her eyes on her goal, chasing it at top speed and biting into it with all her strength. Though she was a bit shy, she did not hesitate. She was straightforward, like a ray of light piercing the thick cover and lighting the ground on a cloudy day. That was her charm, and it often brought about good endings.

  However, she was becoming old enough. She needed to know that not properly considering the consequences was not courage, but immaturity
. She liked him as someone of the opposite sex because she had felt safe around him since she was a baby. This feeling was likely born as an extension of how lenient he was with her in one thing or another.

  “I can say one thing.”

  He reached out to touch her cheek as she sat on the desk, and she closed one eye and tilted her head.

  “I have an obligation to get you home safely to Nyohhira. You must prioritize your own safety. If something happened to you, I would never be able to face Lawrence and Holo again.”

  With his hand on her soft cheek, Myuri closed both eyes and tapped her feet.

  But she did not answer.

  “And what do you say?”

  She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was perplexed because in her eyes, he could see a bit of maturity. She must have felt this was the place to say something serious, but as she began to speak, she stopped.

  The tomboy closed her eyes again and said, “Okay.”

  He was disappointed in her half-hearted response.

  Or perhaps he was just imagining it. As he looked at her, he could hear her stomach growl.

  “I’m hungry.”

  When she declared that with a smile, every trace of the atmosphere from moments earlier had already vanished.

  “Hey, Brother, we won’t be able to eat meat at all when we go to the islands, right? So I want meat today.”

  She hopped down from the desk and returned to her usual self. She was like a puppy, begging for food.

  “…You had meat with Heir Hyland during lunch, and this morning you had dried meat, and you had some sort of grilled meat yesterday, didn’t you?”

  “You’re so nitpicky…,” Myuri complained.

  She grabbed her coat, wrapped it around her shoulders, then ran toward the door.

  “Come on!”

  She opened the door with one hand while offering her left to him. Her smile showed no doubt that he would reach out and take her hand, and he could not help but smile in return. He accepted her hand, and she gripped his firmly.

  At the end of the day, their relationship was steady and would not change so easily.

  There was no need to force it into something different.