Spice & Wolf II (35 page)

The expressions of relief earlier were because Holo had not been there.

The men had known that if someone tried to be a hero, they would not pass the day without seeing blood.

“I know it will sound like an excuse, but we’re on the brink here. We have to eliminate any danger we can.”

The Remelio Company clearly assumed that Lawrence planned to blackmail them. Even if they did manage to come back from the edge of bankruptcy by smuggling gold, anyone who knew that fact had as good as a knife to the company’s throat.

I would never do something so stupid
, Lawrence thought to himself, but then he realized he had been thinking of it just a moment ago.

A large enough amount of money could cloud anyone’s eyes.

Those who chose the path of the merchant knew this.

“You can keep the robe.”

Holo’s clothing was tossed at Lawrence’s bound hands.

Lawrence grabbed at the robe with all his strength, somehow sealing away his anger at this betrayal.

The fact that they had tied him up meant that he was not going to find himself impaled on a blade immediately. He could not get himself killed for pointless resistance. However, it was plain to see that the men had no intention of letting him live, either.

They were probably wondering whether to simply leave him in the cold or in the forest, where the wolves might come. It was a reasonable question, as far as it went.

But there was something important the men had overlooked. They thought Holo was dead.

If Lawrence could rejoin her, all kinds of revenge became possible.

He could not die here. He had to repay this betrayal.

The anger was a cold stone in his gut as Lawrence feigned meek resignation.

“Don’t think it doesn’t wound me that I can’t say we’ll meet again.”

Lawrence’s forehead burned at the man’s casual speech, but he bore it silently, not looking over his shoulder.

“It’s depressing to think about what happens next.”

“Hey,” interrupted another of the Remelio Company men, as if to warn off unnecessary chatter.

What could possibly be depressing now at this last stage?

It was something that Lawrence mustn’t hear apparently, even though he was about to die.

“C’mon, let us talk. I can’t just keep quiet. You’re the same, right?”

The one being addressed was at a loss for words for a moment. Lawrence ignored his own rage in order to listen.

What were they talking about?

“But that’s the girl this guy had with him. Who cares if he hears—”

It can’t be
, his heart cried out within him.

“See, look—”

The man in front of Lawrence delivered a vicious kick to him at the same time that another punched his face.

Lawrence’s head swam from the brutal shock, and when he came to, he was lying prostrate on the ground.

He couldn’t tell whether the blockage in his nose was mud or blood. All he felt was a terrible fury that raced through him.

His vision sparkled from the shock, and he wasn’t even sure what had happened to his body.

But he heard every word that was said.

“What if we just tie her up like this poor bastard? The wolves will just finish them off for us.”

“Don’t be stupid. Who knows what kind of pagan magic she used to get the sheep through that forest unharmed. We could blindfold her, tie both hands, and leave her here, and they’d still survive. And then we’d be the ones in trouble. But...it’s depressing, I’ll say that. Won’t be able to eat for a while if we lay a hand on the girl, that’s for sure.”

They were clearly talking about Norah.

They were talking about killing her.

If the Remelio Company’s solution to the risk of blackmail was murder, they could not very well let Norah live, either.

They would probably pass the checkpoint on the way to Ruvinheigen and then kill her after handing off the sheep to another shepherd. Norah was the only shepherd whose presence in this area wasn’t suspicious, so they could not kill her until after the checkpoint.

“Shouldn’t we finish this guy off?”

“What, you wanna do it?”

“Hey, the less killing the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’m with you.”

“We’ve got the horse, so let’s go. If we don’t hurry, we’ll catch it from Mr. Liebert.”

Their footsteps receded only to be followed by the sound of horses’ hooves.

After that, all Lawrence could hear was the sound of the drizzle. Pathetically, he began to cry.

The sin of helplessness.

Lawrence squeezed his eyes shut.

If only he were as strong as Holo, he would not have had to leave her to face danger alone, and he would not have to be resigned to this betrayal, to say nothing of having to listen while his enemies plotted the murder of the girl he himself had hired.

Norah was not like Holo. She didn’t have pagan magic or any special powers. If sliced with a sword, her skin would split and her blood would flow.

Enek might be of some help, but it was a faint hope. No matter how gallant a dog, he would be helpless in the face of a surprise attack.

Lawrence wanted to at least spare Norah this.

He thought of her when they had spoken on the hill overlooking Lamtra.

She was smarter and tougher than she looked, and she knew her shepherding days were over. She had pinned her hopes on this unusual job.

She wanted to become a dressmaker after the severe life of the shepherd. It must have seemed a nearly impossible dream.

How much the possibility that it might come to pass must have thrilled her heart!

It was, of course, a fool’s errand letting one’s heart go aflutter at a mere hope, but for one’s demise to be brought through treachery—that was another matter.

Norah would do the job given her. She had to receive her compensation.

This was true of Lawrence himself as well, of course, and once he reunited with Holo, he had the hope of exacting as much retribution as he wanted.

However, Norah’s journey would end at the tip of a sword.

Using his maddening frustration as fuel, Lawrence forced his prostrate body to move. His hands were still bound behind his back, but by putting his face against the ground, he brought his knees under him to his chest, and in one movement, he raised his head and righted himself.

Apparently one nostril was blocked with mud and the other with blood. He snorted violently to clear his nose and then inhaled the cold air to cool his head—not that his head became any cooler.

He stood and began to walk unsteadily. He did not notice that his bound hands still held Holo’s clothing until he came to the spot where his horse had been taken from him.

The fire had been kicked apart and scattered, but there were still some red glowing embers.

Lawrence left Holo’s clothing where it wouldn’t get wet and took a deep breath.

Then, he sat down very carefully next to the largest ember, checking his orientation to it several times.

He paused to ready himself.

Throwing himself down, Lawrence pressed his bound wrists against the hot coal.

The rope crackled as it burned, and a terrible heat assaulted his wrists. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw to withstand the pain.

The next moment, his hands were suddenly free.

He had loosened his bonds.

Lawrence stood immediately and looked at his wrists. There were a few burns but nothing serious.

He was not so stupid as to grab the nearest handy stick and go chasing after his betrayers.

He knew that waiting for Holo was his best and only option. A simple traveling merchant was powerless alone.

A merchant did not have pride the way a knight or a townsperson did. He was prepared to lick anybody’s boots if it meant turning a profit.

So whence came this feeling of humiliation?

Lawrence stood rooted to the spot and looked up at the sky.

The leaves on the trees shielded him from the rain and made him think of whatever cosmic force it was that allowed him only to crawl in the dirt; he couldn’t bear it and looked down.

His eyes landed upon the robe Holo had worn.

Once again, he shed tears at his own helplessness.

“A tearful reunion, eh?”

Eventually unable to contain himself, Lawrence had run through the rain and encountered Holo just as he was running out of breath.

Holo was in her human form, uninjured and looking much the same as when they had parted ways. The knees of her trousers were dirty; perhaps she had tripped somewhere along the way.

“You look terrible,” she said with an amused smile.

“We are betrayed.”

“I’m not so naive as to think you saw that and fell,” said Holo with a sigh. “I cannot say it didn’t occur to me. They were from the company, yes?”

Her lack of surprise or shock suggested that she had vaguely anticipated betrayal, but since the entire plan was founded on mutual trust, she could not easily suggest the possibility. For Lawrence’s part, even if he had been told in advance, he would not necessarily have known what to do. It was an unmistakable reality that nothing could happen without the Remelio Company’s cooperation.

Holo smiled briefly and drew close to Lawrence, sniffing as she took his hands. She seemed to notice the burns. “Honestly, I would’ve found you soon enough. You didn’t have to do this.”

She twitched her nose again, then stuck her hand into Lawrence’s coat, pulling her robe out.

Holo seemed surprised and wiped her face against the cloth. Her drizzle-soaked face was much improved.

She giggled. “You are a strange one, protecting my clothes with your life.”

Holo’s tail bristled in contrast to her delighted expression upon seeing the folded robe.

When she looked back at Lawrence, she still smiled, and he could have melted into her burning red eyes.

“There is something I need to say. I must be completely frank,” she said, her fangs showing when she flashed a grin. “I may have to kill someone,” she said, then continued before Lawrence could interrupt.

“I thought that if this plan didn’t go well, I’d no longer be able to travel with you. The thought made me dreadfully lonely. Thus, I bore it. I let things go peaceably, I came along with you quickly, and I put up with things because I thought we’d soon be sipping hot potato soup in front of the fireplace. I am the Wisewolf of Yoitsu, Holo. I can forget the pride of a youngster if need be...”

Lawrence looked down at the mud on Holo’s knees.

It had been no normal wolf in the forest, and it had not been after the sheep. There were few possibilities.