Squeezing money from a rich country and Church would not pain the good-hearted nearly as much as selling the daughter of a fisherman with a broken leg into slavery.
So the question was this: If Col was able to think it through this far, then why did the Ruvik Alliance and archbishop not realize it?
Or perhaps the grand merchants were inciting the archbishop to make irresponsible decisions? Perhaps they had convinced him that this land was a poverty-stricken region deserving of pity, and that by granting them lots of much-needed money, the inhabitants would even side with them in their war against Winfiel. If that happened, the merchants would obtain a market to sell various kinds of goods, giving them an opportunity to earn money.
However, the core issue with that plan was still the distinct possibility of betrayal. If the people of the islands did not ally with them in the war against the kingdom as expected, the people held responsible would be whoever planted the false information.
Moreover, there was also the problem that Yosef had pointed out.
Merchants never did things pointlessly. If they brought boxes of gold, then they were aiming to return home with something worth their while.
It was highly unlikely that they would be buying an equivalent amount of fish.
What were they planning to take home?
Even if the archbishop planned to exchange the money in return for certain special privileges, for a merchant to bring only money to leave here was much too wasteful.
The scales did not balance out.
The entire situation was peculiar.
“Are you thinking again, Brother?”
When Myuri called out to him, Col snapped back to reality.
The procession into the church had calmed for now, and they were all beginning to find their places. The ones remaining in the courtyard, standing around and chatting, were merchants unrelated to the Ruvik Alliance or porters. The snow that had been falling all day was growing stronger, but it seemed everyone had completely forgotten about the cold after witnessing such a sudden event.
“Yes, there’s something I just don’t understand…,” Col wondered aloud, bringing Myuri and Yosef to exchange glances.
Then they heard a loud voice coming from beyond the courtyard.
“The Ruvik Alliance is using all accommodations in the church! To those staying in the church, please move to the port town! If you cannot find alternate accommodations, then please come to us with a proposal! The Ruvik Alliance is using all accommodations in the church!”
The first thing the archbishop and the wealthy Ruvik Alliance merchant did was stuff gold into this church’s pockets.
Those who lacked the money were kicked out into the cold.
“Oh dear, such extravagance for such an empty time of the year.”
As Yosef stroked his beard, he smiled absently.
“Well then, shall I introduce you to my relatives’ house?”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
“No worries. After all, Master Stefan has written me many times, too, so that I remember to mind my manners.”
When he heard that, Col imagined Stefan, frantically writing the letter.
At the very least, his conscience ached terribly.
Then they retrieved their things from the room and left the church.
The Ruvik Alliance and the archbishop.
What a shady pair.
The inside of the tall building with sharp corners seemed more like a cavern.
The floor was packed dirt, and a stone, waist-high hearth lay in the middle of an arrangement of furniture.
There were stairs in this house leading to a higher level, but the second floor was only so big. The rest opened up to the ceiling, where the underside of the roof was visible. Crossbeams ran lengthwise and breadthwise across the ceiling, where a great number of fish and vegetables hung off them. It seemed they were being smoked in the fumes emanating from the hearth in the center of the house.
Myuri’s mouth was drooping open, as though looking up at bats that hung from the ceiling of a cave, as she gazed at the preserves of a cold land.
“Find anything interesting?”
The shrill, amused voice belonged to an old woman with wrinkles on her face so deep it was uncertain whether her eyes were opened or closed.
Yosef’s relatives’ home only housed this old woman and her son’s wife. Her son and grandson had both gone to work in Atiph.
“If I sleep on my back, I think I’d only dream about food.”
“Heh-heh-heh.”
Myuri had said something similar when she slept under the wool blanket. Col shot her a sideways glance before giving thanks for allowing them to stay, even handing the wife several silver coins. The wife, who kept the house while her husband and son were gone, had more muscle in her arms and width in her waist than he did. Her faith, too, was abundant, as she was so grateful to him that it almost flustered Col. He felt rather guilty that he was not actually a priest.
When they finished exchanging greetings, Yosef rushed outside to the gathering in town. It was not Autumn, but the elders who took care of the day-to-day on the island, and so he left, saying that a meeting was likely about to be held to deal with the situation. The people of Caeson must have been reeling from the giant ship that appeared so suddenly.
On the other hand, the two women in the house were enthusiastic to treat these two odd guests who had come to stay with them. Even the old woman had her sleeves rolled up as she began preparing supper.
With nothing to do, Col and Myuri sat by the hearth fire. Finding himself unable to calmly watch the peat fire, Col went outside instead.
There was still a bit of time before the sun set, but thick clouds blotted the sky, laying a gloom over the land. The dismal color in the air was the same as that time on the beach.
He circled around the house to the back garden and found a shed. He took shelter under the eaves while the snow still continued to fall.
“Brother, you’ll get sick if you keep coming outside.”
Myuri had followed him outside, squishing his cheeks together with her hide-gloved hands as she spoke reproachfully.
“I’m anxious.”
“…”
She simply looked up at him silently as they stood beside each other. She seemed slightly irritated—there was a strong sense of Again? coming from Myuri.
“That was a lot of boxes of gold. They may demand conditions, whether they like it or not.”
“But isn’t it a good thing, though? The islanders need the money.”
She was right, and that was exactly what made him worry.
“I doubt they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.”
“Well, those noble-looking people in the palanquins didn’t look very nice.”
She chuckled.
“And I must investigate what conditions they might force upon the islanders. If I cannot, then I will be unable to complete the mission that Heir Hyland has given me. If their talks settle quickly, then I need to report my findings correctly, as quickly as possible.”
“Well, I guess I don’t really care about that.”
Myuri crouched down, gathered some snow in her hand, and pressed it together.
“Then, what should we do? Do you want me to eavesdrop behind the walls?”
She threw the snowball, then waved her hands before bobbing them up and down above her head.
It seemed like she was imitating a rabbit, though she was actually a wolf who fed on them.
“If they’ve occupied every room in the church, then that also means they want to keep people away. That means to listen in, you’d have to go around outside the walls. But no matter how good your ears are, you won’t be able to hear the voices inside the building, no?”
“Then I can just be a wolf and sneak in. I don’t think they’ll notice me if it’s night and the snow is falling.”
The color of Myuri’s fur was flecks of silver mixed in with ash. Even a master hunter
would have trouble finding her on a snowy night.
“Well, if you did that for me, then sure…No, but…”
Myuri could not change into a wolf as easily as her mother could. Plus, he had just learned that she was much more bothered about her wolf heritage than she appeared to be.
He did not want to force her to do anything she would object to.
These thoughts in his head, Myuri folded her hands behind her back and took two, three steps forward.
He wondered what she was up to when she spun around and stuck her face in his.
“Yep. It’s hard for me to become a wolf, and I might get into trouble,” she said with a smile as she turned her face away from him.
He could see her cheeks and how red they had become from the cold.
“But I think there is a way to give me some courage…”
Her words were pointed, her eyes expectant. When he flinched, she pointed to her cheek, just to drive the point home.
Everything had a price, but Myuri seemed to be enjoying how troubled he looked. These kinds of actions were typically not used in situations like this.
“…It is dangerous, so let’s think of a different plan.”
“What? Aww, come on, Brother!”
Myuri showed her crushing disappointment with all her being.
“And it would be serious on the off chance that someone sees you. When word gets out that a wolf was spotted on such a small island, then everyone will fly into a panic.”
“Blehhh!”
Myuri puffed out her cheeks and kicked the snow at her feet.
If it was possible, their best option was to get information from Yosef via an intermediary.
While Col was weighing their options, Myuri’s head suddenly rose. Like a beast that had heard the footsteps of its prey on the snowy fields, she instantly stood up straight.
“Is something wrong?”
“I hear footsteps.”
“Footsteps?”
Myuri lifted her hood slightly, and Col noticed her wolf ears moving underneath.
“There are a lot of people walking together. I think they’re going to the church. They’re on the big street.”
“The townspeople are heading to the church…which means the negotiations are already starting.”
Merchants believed that time was money. And since these particular merchants were racing against the Kingdom of Winfiel, it was more important than ever.
Myuri strained her ears to listen for a while, and then she lowered her hood back into place. Before long, Col, too, began to hear the sound of footsteps on the snow, but it was only one person. The crunch, crunch came closer to the front of the house, then the sound of a door opening and closing soon after.
“It’s the round man.”
“…Mr. Yosef.”
There was an odd similarity between her and her mother, Holo, who also rarely called people by their name.
Col and Myuri circled back to the front and entered the house, where they found Yosef was in the middle of talking to the two preparing dinner.
“But, Auntie, it’s what we decided on at the meeting.”
“Heh-heh. Giving hospitality despite our poverty is the heart of Caeson. If we abandon our guests, our dead grandfathers will come creeping out from the bottom of the sea.”
As he argued with the old woman, the wife noticed Col and Myuri and called out to Yosef and the old woman.
“Oh, Mr. Col.”
“Did something happen?”
“Well, see…”
Yosef’s expression was troubled as he spoke.
“His Grace, the archbishop, wishes to hold a banquet of friendship and has invited all the leaders of the island, but we don’t have enough people. So we’re looking to get the women’s help, but…”
The church did allow women to stay, but there were a great many rules about various things, and there were likely very few with idle curiosities who would come so far to this frontier. As Col thought, he could feel someone looking at him. When he turned to look, Myuri’s eyes were oddly bright. It was his failure as a brother that he did not know what this girl, who fancied adventure stories, was thinking.
“No, no. We’ll take care of the guests in our house. They are servants of God! We can’t make any excuses, not even to our Black-Mother.” The old woman insisted stubbornly, holding a thin carrot in her hand.
The wife did not know who to side with, and Yosef was distressed.
As they stood before them, Myuri reached around behind Col and tugged on the hem of his clothes.
You know what to do.
This may have been exactly the opportunity they were looking for, and the plan she was thinking about could be a much better alternative than turning into a wolf and sneaking in.
It was only for a few seconds that he hesitated.
“There’s something I wish to talk to you about.”
“Oh!”
Col spoke to a dazed Yosef.
“If possible, we wish to learn the visitors’ purpose as soon as possible and return to Atiph.”
Myuri nudged him from behind to push him forward as he spoke.
The considerate man nodded in understanding.
“I see. Very well. Then…All right, I will tell them I will be sending four people from my house. Will there be a problem with that, then, Auntie?”
“With what?” The old woman asked doubtfully, and Yosef responded.
“We’ll all go to the church together. Then there will be no guests to take care of.”
“Mmm? What, are they going to stay at the church instead?”
The old woman looked at them, a disappointed look on her face. But four people?
The church was asking for women’s help. The old woman, the wife, Myuri…He counted them all, and that was when he finally realized what he meant.
“Er, ah—”
“Aw, you should.”
Myuri was the one who said that. He turned to her, and she wore a mischievous smile on her face.
Col could not let this happen. He desperately tried to make excuses.
“Mr. Reicher and the guards have already taken a good look at my face, and I will arouse suspicion no matter what kind of a disguise I wear.”
His argument just made Yoesf’s shoulders shake with laughter. It seemed he was joking.
“Forgive me.”
He dropped his shoulders in disappointment and Yosef continued.
“Sir Col and I will remain on the boat. We can send help in an emergency, and there is lots of strong drink on the boat.”
“Thank you so much.”
Yosef nodded, then told the old woman and the wife this and that and then went outside for a bit.
Myuri sighed, disappointed.
“I was so close.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’ve always wanted a big sister.”
It seemed pointless to respond, so he merely sighed as Myuri shrugged, smiling.
“Well then, I’ll go prepare your clothes. You won’t look like an islander girl dressed like that,” the portly wife called out to them with a dry smile.
On the other hand, the old woman had started collecting pots, pans, and other cooking utensils, wrapping them all together with a straw rope. Though she was small, her back hunched over, she was also dexterous and moved without faltering. There was no doubt that she had been just as hard a worker in her youth.
“Okay!” Myuri responded enthusiastically and made her way to where the trunk was.
She was clever; she could certainly play the part of a server while looking for a chance to get close to the archbishop and company to hear what they were discussing. Even if Reicher questioned her, she could get out of it by saying she was helping.
“Well, I think this will fit the little miss.”
The wife took this and that out of the chests stacked in the corner of the house, before finally pulling out a wrapped package. Myuri also looked on in great interest, wondering what she would
be wearing. It seemed the outfit had been in the chest for quite a while, as it was completely covered in dust that gave the wife a coughing fit, and Myuri cackled.
Col sat by the fire in the hearth as he watched them, but there was something strange about it all.
He could not put his finger on it, but when he did, he realized it was the structure of the family.
The old woman, her son, the son’s wife, and then their son. The men had all gone off to work in Atiph, so it was an all-women household. Then why did they have clothes for a young girl?
She unwrapped the package, and there was a simple yet warm-looking outfit. Myuri held it up to herself, and it was miraculously the perfect size. The make of the clothes gave them a childlike air, and they were obviously not the kind that belonged to a wife or an old woman.
The wife watched Myuri as she quickly changed. There was a gentle smile on her face as she dabbed the edges of her eyes.
“I just couldn’t let it go. I did not think it would come in handy one day,” she murmured and sighed.
By how she spoke, it was clear that the owner of these clothes was no longer around. Myuri noticed as well, and the color drained from her face.
“…Sickness?”
“Yes. She was always resilient and a hard worker. She was the kind of child who would always keep on smiling, even after falling into the sea in the middle of winter.”
“Really? We wear the same size, but I guess we have more in common than I thought.”
“Oh my.”
She was first surprised at Myuri’s words, but this was soon followed by a happy smile.
“The sleeves might be a bit long, but the length is perfect. Truly, thank you for wearing it.”
“The sleeves are fine. Right, Brother?”
Myuri changed quickly and spun around, skirt fluttering. The clothes were pale in color, made using only plant dyes; a bit plain for a girl, but they suited her well. There was almost a sense that if Myuri wore things like this on a normal basis, she would become more ladylike.
“Yes,” he agreed, but the wife did seem a bit bothered by the sleeves.
She went to retrieve a needle and began quickly stitching. Or perhaps, she simply wanted to dote on her young visitor.
“It’s been…five years since she left us. Time goes by so quickly.”
Wolf & Parchment, Volume 2 Page 18