“More importantly, how are we for time? Were Clark and Miss Sharon not departing today?” Col asked.
“Oh right. I was having so much fun watching this girl eat that I forgot. Sheesh, I’m hoping they put this building on easy ground. Money’ll be flying out of my pockets.”
“The construction of the inn and the permits for the gate town will take care of you. That should be good income for you.”
“I certainly hope so, Lord Hyland.”
Eve and Hyland’s exchange was frank yet somewhat thorny, but they were taking on a partnership in order to support Sharon’s monastery.
“All right, I’ll call the carriage.”
Hyland stood, and Eve followed suit.
“Come on, Myuri.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let her eat.”
“We’ll have them wrap some for you to take home.”
Eve and Hyland seemed to be enjoying themselves, but Col was only ever embarrassed as her older brother.
Once the two left the room, he looked to Myuri with a sigh.
“Myuri, why have you been in such a bad mood?”
Right after the whole commotion ended, Myuri seemed to be in a great mood.
She was delighted they had come up with a way to save Sharon and the rest, allowing the whole incident to wrap up rather nicely.
But then suddenly, her mood had soured several days ago.
If his guess was correct, it was because he had turned down the work as prior at the monastery.
“Brother, you dummy.”
Col unconsciously rubbed his neck, feeling like the way she ripped into the meat was like her ripping into his throat. Myuri swallowed, reaching for a new piece as she spoke, all the while sprinkling plenty of the black pepper Eve had prepared for them.
“That chicken and that failure of yours are gonna live together, right?! So why can’t we do that?!”
So that really is the reason, Col thought as he turned away.
Myuri groaned and glared at him as she ate.
The answer was a given.
“Monasteries are places of prayer and contemplation. You cannot live in a place like that.”
“Why?!”
“What do you mean, why?”
He gave a tired sigh, took the soft linen cloth in his hands, and held it up to Myuri’s chin.
“You cannot eat meat like this there. Are you okay with that?”
She had stuffed her mouth so full of meat, it practically changed the shape of her face, and still she continued munching.
He knew she was doing it out of spite, but that also meant she was well.
“And even if we did live together,” he said, placing his elbow on the table, leaning into the girl who sat next to him, “we cannot get married. Are you okay with that?”
Myuri stared at him, chewed her meat, then swallowed it.
Her lips pouted in a triangular shape.
“No. But you didn’t turn down the chicken’s request because you want to marry me quickly.”
He smiled bitterly at her accurate remark, and he sat up straight.
“It’s still too early for me to enter a place of thought and prayer. And this entire incident has made me keenly aware of how big an impact I’ve made with everything I’ve done so far. I cannot leave that alone, and I need to seriously consider if what I am doing is truly correct.”
Even though he thought the Church had no room to make excuses, they had their own situation to consider, and even the selfish merchants had a point that he needed to think about.
The world was filled with so many things he needed to know and learn.
“Brother, you dummy. If you want to do the right thing, then you don’t need to think that hard about it.”
And of course, Myuri had her own excuses.
“Is there anything righter than taking me for your wife?”
Myuri, rambunctious as usual.
When Col offered her a weary smile, she immediately glared at him.
There were those who were trifled with by their fate and those who railed against theirs.
Despite how powerless he was, there should still be things he could do.
“Well, you still weren’t any match for Uncle Luward, but I guess you were pretty cool this time around,” Myuri said as she tossed away a sheep bone that had been licked clean. It landed on the plate with a satisfying sound. “I suppose I’ll accompany you on your travels if you keep showing me how cool you can be.”
You’re the one who came along without asking me first was something he would never say out loud.
He opened up the linen in his hand, refolded it, then lightly pressed it to the corners of Myuri’s mouth.
“I cannot promise that, but I’m hoping to be less pathetic going forward.”
Myuri let him wipe her mouth as she made a matter-of-fact look and then said, “I guess I’ll need to go along with you, then.”
Her sharp fangs glinted from beneath the raised corner of her mouth.
The only reason he had been able to stand tall before the great commotion in this city was, without a doubt, Myuri. As a result, the Kingdom and the Church did not go straight to war, and Sharon had gotten a chance to have a proper talk with Yagine.
And Col managed to get through it all without having to swallow only the bitter parts of reality.
“Indeed.”
“Indeed, indeed. Always and forever!”
Myuri spoke delightedly and chuckled.
They could hear the minstrel’s song coming in from the window of the private room.
When Col stood, he took Myuri’s hand and lightly pulled it.
“Now, we must get ready for our next journey.”
Myuri’s red eyes glinted and she squeezed his hand hard in return, standing up with great vigor.
“I wanna go someplace with lots of good food next!”
“We’re not on vacation.”
“I’m not vacationing; I’m enjoying life!”
“And who taught you to say that…?”
“Hmph!”
Myuri, always the mischievous girl she was, flashed a toothy grin.
Her smile was full of confidence that the next day would be fun, and Col could not help but smile back.
They opened the door and headed out into the hall.
They would surely face troubles in the future, and they would surely find pain.
But he had a feeling they could simply overcome these things one at a time.
“C’mon, Brother! Our next adventure!”
That was because he had such a reassuring companion beside him.
As he closed the door, Myuri clung to his arm, and then they walked off together.
All they left behind in the room was the cheerful melody of the minstrel and bare sheep bones.
Col thought that perhaps it was a hint of what was to come, and he was okay with that.
AFTERWORD
I’m sure you’ve heard of manuscript deadlines that just keep getting extension after extension—I think I’ve set a new personal record this time. Hello there again—this is Hasekura.
I was actually planning on releasing Wolf & Parchment 4 before Spice & Wolf 21, but my completed manuscript was not so great…so I had to practically rewrite the entire thing. But of course that isn’t something that can happen right away. Instead I used a little trick of writing and publishing the manuscript for Volume 21 to buy myself some time.
I guaranteed myself some time, but I came across some difficulties while rewriting, and my extensions were vanishing before my eyes, so I’m writing this afterword now in the editorial department. I am deeply sorry to all those involved.
But I think the content got much better from the rewrite! The story hasn’t changed much, but as I was writing, I was surprised to see how much things would change by changing several elements here and there. I feel like it would be interesting if I uploaded the rejected manuscript somewhere so that we could compare.
Now, while that was go
ing on with this manuscript, I was working on what would be the Spice & Wolf VR at the same time (and I’m still working on it!). Myuri and Col from Wolf & Parchment won’t be in it, but Myuri’s parents, Holo and Lawrence, will be in this VR animation. We tried our hand at crowdfunding starting at the end of last year (2018) until this year, and we received so much support. Thank you so much! There are still things to do in preparation for the work and the merchandise, but I think we’ll make something great—I’m very excited, too!
However, I cannot deny that I was overwhelmed with the writing time for that project, which delayed this manuscript, so I am so distressed right now. Not only that, but there are also other things I want to create, so I am a little fidgety…
But Heisei is ending, so I’m hoping to go full steam ahead!
I am hoping to release volumes of both Parchment and Spice quicker this time, so I’d be happy if you stuck with me.
I’ll see you in the next volume!
Isuna Hasekura
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Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4 Page 28