Spice & Wolf III (13 page)

Although truth be told, he felt he would have preferred for his business acumen to have gotten sharper rather than his patience.

Mark burped. “Why, just a moment ago, I heard that your companion was seen in the company of a young lad from our trade guild. Evidently they were getting on quite well.”

“Ah, you mean Mr. Amati.” Lawrence didn’t feel comfortable calling the boy simply “Amati,” and yet “Mr.” suddenly seemed unnecessarily subservient as well.

“Oh, so you’ve given up already, then.”

“You seem to be sadly mistaken. I simply had business today and was unable to accompany her, and Mr. Amati found himself with free time and wished to show us around town. These two events happened to coincide; that is all.”

“Hmm...”

“You don’t believe me?”

Lawrence had fully expected Mark to appear disappointed, so he found himself confused at Mark’s look of genuine concern.

“I used to be a traveling merchant like you, so I’ll give you some advice. Amati is more formidable than he seems.”

“...What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, if you’re careless, he’ll snatch that pretty little companion of yours right out from under you. Men his age will do anything to gain the object of their obsession. And do you know how much fish Amati moves? It’s a lot. And what’s more, he was born in a pretty nice region of the south, but once he figured out that as the youngest child he’d never be allowed to make anything of himself, he ran away from home and came here to open his business. That was just three years ago. Quite a story, eh?”

It was hard to imagine the slight Amati doing all that, but Lawrence had seen for himself the boy’s three cartloads of fresh fish.

What’s more, Amati had been able to easily arrange a room at an inn facing a main avenue—albeit one to which he sold his fish. During a time when the town was overflowing with travelers coming and going, this was no mean feat.

A seed of fear began to take root in Lawrence’s heart, but at the same time, he could not believe that Holo would transfer her affections so easily.

“No need to worry. My companion is not so fickle.”

“Ha-ha-ha. You’ve a lot of faith. If I heard my Adele was out with Amati, I’d give up right on the spot.”

“What’s this of me and Amati?” said Adele, a truly frightful smile on her face. She had been behind Mark for some time as she cleaned up the shop in place of her husband.

Adele and Mark had fallen in love four years earlier when, as a traveling merchant, Mark had visited Kumersun. Their love story was quite famous in the town, and it was enough to make even a third-rate minstrel throw up his hands in disgust. She now possessed all the dignity of a wheat merchant’s wife.

When Lawrence first met her, Adele had been quite frail, but now she was even more robust than her husband.

Two years previous she’d given birth to their first child—perhaps it was the strength of motherhood that she now had.

“Uh, what I was saying was that if I ever saw you out with Amati, why, you’re so dear to me that the flames of my jealousy would burn my very flesh!”

“Burn away, dear. I’ll just light a fire with the cinders you leave behind to make some tasty bread for Mr. Amati.”

Adele was so caustic that all Mark could do in response was take another drink.

Perhaps women everywhere really are stronger.

“So then, Mr. Lawrence,” said Adele. “Drinking in the company of this sot must make the wine taste poorly. We’ll be closing up shop here, so why don’t you come by the house and help yourself to some dinner? The baby may be a bit noisy, though.”

Lawrence couldn’t even begin to imagine how much mischief Mark’s child would be capable of.

He was not especially good with children, but that wasn’t why he declined the offer.

“I’ve still more business to attend to, unfortunately.”

It was a lie, of course, but Adele nodded her regret without any trace of suspicion.

Mark, on the other hand, smiled as though having seen right through Lawrence. “Oh, indeed, you’ve unfinished business aplenty. And good luck to you.”

Yes, Mark had seen the truth of it. Lawrence managed a weak smile.

“Ah, yes, so I’ll keep your new destination in mind. I’ll be keeping the shop open all during the festival, so I should be able to ask all about the route to Lenos.”

“I appreciate it.”

Lawrence finished off his remaining wine, thanked the couple again, and took his leave.

He noticed himself walking more quickly through the lively, bustling night and laughed at his own folly.

He’d actually claimed to have unfinished business—ridiculous!

But articulating the real reason made Lawrence hate himself, so admitting it to anyone else was out of the question.

Amati and Holo walking happily together—the image flashed briefly through his mind.

Despite his frustration, he noticed himself quickening his step more and more.

The boisterous clamor outside grew louder as the evening deepened. Lawrence was well into working out his upcoming travel plans with ink and pen borrowed from the inn when Holo finally returned.

Lawrence had hurried back to the inn only to find that Holo was still out, and although he’d had to swallow his disappointment, the time did give him a chance to calm himself, for which he was grateful.

Amati had taken his leave from her in front of the inn, Holo said, so she had come up to the room alone. Judging from the fox kit-skin muffler around her neck, Amati had been taken for quite a ride. There was no doubt in Lawrence’s mind that she’d gotten him to buy her more than that.

His relief and happiness at seeing Holo’s safe return was nothing compared to the headache that came with trying to figure out what would be an appropriate way to thank Amati.

“Ugh...it’s too tight. Come...help me with this, won’t you?”

However much she had eaten and drunk, Holo seemed incapable of taking off her own clothes.

Lawrence sighed and got out of his chair, walked over beside the bed, and undid the sash Holo struggled so valiantly against. He also removed the robe that was cinched up against her skirts.

“If you’re going to lie down, take off your muffler and shawl. They’ll wrinkle otherwise.” Holo grunted vaguely in reply.

Lawrence managed to stop her from falling over onto the bed right then and there, and he helped her take off the muffler and rabbit skin shawl, as well as the triangular kerchief that she wore on her head.

Holo nodded off as she let Lawrence have his way with her clothing. She had probably parted ways with Amati in front of the inn because she was unable to keep herself together any longer.

Once Lawrence managed to get her out of the muffler, shawl, and kerchief, she immediately flopped down onto the bed.

Though he couldn’t help smiling when he looked at the carefree wolf, Lawrence sighed when he glanced at the fox kit-skin muffler. He couldn’t imagine buying such an item for resale, let alone as a gift.

“Hey, you—what else did you get him to buy you, eh?”

If Amati had gone this far, it seemed likely he’d bought her something still more costly.

Holo didn’t even have the energy to lift her legs onto the bed, and her strange position remained unchanged as she took the long, slow breaths of the deeply asleep. The ears she was so proud of gave nary a twitch at Lawrence’s question.

Realizing there was nothing else to do, Lawrence lifted her legs up onto the bed, and even then she did not so much as open her eyes.

He wondered if this utter defenselessness was due to trust or simply disdain.

He mulled it over for a while, but ultimately decided that such thoughts would only lead to disappointment, so he banished them from his head.

Putting the muffler and shawl on the desk, he began to fold up her robe.

As soon as he did so, something fell out of the robe and hit the floor with a clunk.

He picked the object up; it was a beautiful metallic cube.

“Iron...? No.”

It had sharp, carefully filed edges and a surface that was beautifully smooth even in the dim moonlight. Even if it were just metalwork, the cube would have been a valuable piece, but there was no telling how angry Holo would be if he woke her up just to ask about it.

He set the cube on the desk, deciding to ask about it the next day.

He put the robe over the back of the chair and folded the kerchief; then he rolled up the sash after smoothing out its wrinkles.

For a moment, he wondered why he was attending to these menial tasks—he was no manservant, after all—but one look at the sleeping Holo, snoring away artlessly on the bed there, was enough to dispel his indignation.

She had made no move to do it herself, so Lawrence walked over to the bed and drew the covers over her, chuckling.

He then returned to his desk and his travel plans.

If his circumstances didn’t allow him to stay in the north while he searched for Yoitsu, he would simply have to change his busi ness plan to

accommodate some travel in the north. Whether or not he would actually follow those changes, there was no harm in making the plan.

Also, it had been some time since he’d really sat down with pen and paper and listed the towns, trade routes, commodities, and profit margins that made up the life of a traveling merchant.

He was filled with nostalgia when he remembered the times he had once burned the midnight oil to make such plans.

There was one large difference between then and now, though.

Were the plans being made for his own sake—or for someone else’s?

Lawrence worked, pen in hand, listening to Holo’s quiet snores, until the tallow candle burned itself out.

“Food, drink, the scarf, and this die.”

“Anything else?”

“That was all. Well, that and enough sweet talk to fill a lifetime,” said Holo lightly, chewing on the comb she used to groom her tail. Lawrence regarded her wearily.

He’d been relieved when she woke up without a hangover and had immediately interrogated her about the events of the previous night. Looking at the gifts she had received in the light of morning, Lawrence could tell they were of considerable value.

“So you ate and drank the night away, but then there’s this muffler. I can’t believe you’d go and accept such a thing...”

“It’s fine fur, is it not? Though nothing compared with my tail.”

“Did you make him buy this thing?”

“You think me so shameless? Why, he practically pressed it upon me. Rather fashionable of him, though, giving a muffler as a gift.”

Lawrence looked at the fox skin piece, then at Holo. She continued, sounding pleased, “He’s quite mad about me, you know.”

“I’m sorry, did I ask for a joke? You can’t just call it over and done when you receive a gift this valuable. Here I just thought to let someone else show you a good time, but now look at the debt I carry!”

Holo giggled. “So that was your plan all along, was it? I thought as much.”

“I’m taking the consideration for this scarf out of your funds for the festival, just so you know.”