Spice & Wolf IV (22 page)

It was easy for Lawrence to imagine how hard the serious Elsa had worked to preserve Father Franz’s legacy.

Having cooperated with her, Sem would likewise have understood.

But it was all too plain from the villagers’ words how they regarded the girl.

Lawrence noticed Elsa’s clenched fists and her expressionless face.

“What shall we do, Elder?” someone asked.

“In any case, each of us must check to see how much harvest money we have yet, as well as how many provisions we’ve laid in for winter. Until the Enberch messenger arrives, we don’t know what they’ll demand. They may arrive as soon as daybreak. We should adjourn until then—each of you go now, and check as I’ve told you to.”

Though the men’s sighs were heavy and dissatisfied, they reluctantly stood.

The gazes that Lawrence and Elsa endured as the men left the meeting stone were full of resentment.

Though the villagers were unreasonable, it was fortunate that Elder Sem seemed to be their ally.

If Sem had been their enemy, then Lawrence would have had no choice but to ask for Holo’s help.

As the villagers dispersed, Sem approached Elsa, his staff in hand. “Elsa, I know this is hard but please endure.”

Elsa nodded silently. Sem next turned to Iima.

“Iima, please go with Elsa to the church. The angriest ones may attempt to break in.”

“You can count on me,” said Iima.

Lawrence immediately understood the power relationships within the village.

But where did that leave him and Holo?

“Mr. Lawrence,” Sem finally said, turning to face him. “Like the other villagers, I have my doubts about you. The timing is too coincidental. However, I hope you would not think me such a fool that I would immediately jump to a conclusion.”

“Were I in your place, Elder Sem, I would say the same thing," replied Lawrence.

His old age made his brow constantly wrinkled, but he seemed slightly relieved. “Both for your own safety and to prevent suspicions from growing still deeper, I’m afraid I will have to ask you to come to my house.”

Holo and Lawrence were fortunate that he didn’t simply tie them up without any explanation. If they had resisted, it seemed to Lawrence that bloodshed would soon have followed.

He nodded cooperatively and walked toward Sem’s house behind Sem and the villagers.

“Y’know, there’s a locked cell somewhere in that village,” the rumor would go once everyone’s tongues were sufficiently loosened by wine.

It happened after the merchant in question had drunk too much and told all of his tales of profit.

Once he was told of more money to be made, he was all too happy to follow the villagers into the elder’s house, only to be locked in a cell, never to escape.

As long as none of the villagers spoke of the event, no one would ever know what happened to the merchant.

His belongings were all sold off, and the merchant himself was offered up as a sacrifice for a good harvest.

Strangely, rumors like these seemed to be more common around wealthier villages.

Fortunately, it did not seem like the sort of thing that was likely to happen in Tereo.

The room into which Lawrence and Holo were shown was quite ordinary. It was right next to the one in which Lawrence and Sem had spoken when the merchant first arrived in the village.

The door had no lock, and it seemed that if Holo and Lawrence needed to force their way out, it would not be impossible.

If they had to come up with a plan, this place was as good as any.

“What do you think?” asked Lawrence.

The two sat opposite each other on benches separated by a low table in the center of the room. He spoke softly so as not to be heard by the guard that was no doubt just outside the door.

“I should’ve given up on looking for the book and left the village with you,” came Holo’s uncharacteristically glum reply.

However, her face did not look especially guilty nor did it show much regret.

She focused on one particular spot, her mind furiously working.

“It’s not clear that would actually have changed anything. Let’s say that we came in to ask after the abbey’s location and left the same day. That would’ve been the day before yesterday. Then the news of Enberch’s poisoned wheat reaches the village today. Obviously they would assume that someone malicious mixed the poison wheat in with the good. And who do you think they would then blame? Us,” said Lawrence.

“There are no other groups made up of a foolish merchant and a beautiful maiden. They’d soon catch us on horseback,” added Holo.

Lawrence winced at Holo’s bitter words, but then again, breaking down into sobs of self-recrimination was not exactly Holo’s style.

“As soon as we set foot in this village, it was inevitable that we would be suspected of poisoning the wheat. Demons bringing calamity always come from without, after all.”

“And there’s nothing we can say to prove our innocence.”

Lawrence nodded.

Whether a demon or a malicious human poisoned the wheat was irrelevant—when calamity occurred, people needed something to blame.

It was not that demons were responsible for wrongdoing, but rather that when something bad happened, demons were blamed.

“The circumstances are too perfect. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that this is a move by Enberch to gain control of Tereo. Everyone in the region must be aware of the tax dispute between the two. If Tereo’s wheat suddenly turns up poisoned, Enberch is going to be the obvious suspect. Tereo has people supporting it, and those people would surely not keep silent. So Enberch needs someone else to blame. Then we just happened to show up, which gave them the perfect opportunity to execute their plan.”

If this was all true, Lawrence had a good notion of what lay at the end of it.

“Then when they hold their negotiations with the village, they’ll offer the condition of delayed payment so long as the villagers find the person responsible.”

Thus Enberch would both be able to convince its neighbors that this was not Enberch’s own doing and to bring Tereo under its control while Lawrence and Holo evaporated like so much dew on the executioner’s block.

“Enberch won’t want to get in trouble with our trade guild, so they certainly won’t have a trial to determine our guilt. They’ll simply declare us guilty and execute us, promising to lower Tereo’s debt so long as the villagers of Tereo keep quiet about who we were and where we came from, and that would be that.”

Holo sighed and bit her thumbnail. “And you’re content with that?”

“Of course not.” Lawrence laughed and shrugged, but admittedly he did not know what they should do to extricate themselves from the situation.

“If we run, they’ll be certain to think it was us who poisoned the wheat, and if your face is then posted everywhere, you won’t be able to do business,” said Holo.

“It would be the end of my life as a merchant, yes.”

So what to do?

Holo seemed to suddenly realize something and spoke. “Hm. Ah, could you not seek help with the guild you’re a member of?”

“Help, huh. If I could do that I...ah. Hm.” Lawrence tapped on his own head. Holo peered at him uncertainly.

“Wait—
you’re
here,” he finally said.

“What do you mean?”

“Something good. If I was riding on your back, could we escape to another town faster than on horseback?”

“Certainly.”

“This isn’t long-distance trading, and in any case, the only thing faster than a horse is a ship. The net Enberch would throw out to catch us can only extend at the speed a horse can run. Which means—”

Holo sniffed slightly through her nose. It was hard to know if it was a small sigh or a reply.

“I was thinking that if I was traveling with you in the cart, we'd never be able to contact a guild house before they caught us. But if we can make it to the guild, we can get some measure of protection. If news of a guild member using poisoned wheat to do business got around, it would be a disaster—so they’ll do whatever they can to put a stop to it.

“If the people trying to trap us are thinking similarly, they may give up the chase as soon as they see we’ve escaped.

“However—”

Lawrence’s pleasure at seeing a way out of the situation was short-lived; soon he saw its inevitable conclusion.

“But after that, who do you think will be accused of being the culprit?” he asked.

There was no need to ask. It would obviously be the person that all the villagers knew was a liar, the one who they had always regarded with suspicion and whose occupation afforded him the perfect opportunity to poison the wheat: Evan the miller.

Holo was quick to grasp what Lawrence was getting at.

She put on an annoyed expression. “Fine then, let him ride on my back as well. He wants to see the outside world anyway, yes? I won’t refuse him. If the girl’s in danger, put her on as well. You
are
absurdly softhearted, after all—honestly, the trouble I’m put through on your account
...”
she said, as though already having given up trying to protest.

With Lawrence and Evan gone, Enberch would have no one to point to as the culprit.

Not only that, but with both of them gone, Enberch would have to claim to surrounding towns that Evan was the criminal and that he had fled because he was guilty. There would be no need to go after Lawrence since doing so risked trouble with his guild.

“The trouble, though, is that you’ll have to reveal your true form,” said Lawrence.

Holo gave an incredulous smile, miffed at being underestimated. “I am not so narrow-minded as to be worried about that. ’Tis true, though...Being feared does wound my fragile heart.”

There was a hint of accusation in Holo’s eyes, perhaps at the memory of Lawrence’s fear when he had first seen her wolf form in the sewers of Pazzio.

But she soon bit her lower lip mischievously, flashing her fangs slightly, and said, “Or is it simply that you wish to be the only person who knows my secret?”

At a loss for words, Lawrence cleared his throat.

Holo chuckled throatily. “If this is what you wish to do, I do not mind.”

It was unavoidable. He couldn’t think of another way out of the predicament. “It’s the worst-case solution, of course, but the chances of it turning out like this are very high. It would be a shame to leave behind the horse, wagon, and cargo, but there’s nothing for it but to think of them as fallen into a deep valley.”

“I suppose I don’t mind being your new wagon.”

It was a clever jest.

“Oh? I’d like to see the cart horse that holds its own reins.”

Just as Holo flashed her invincible smile, there was a knock at the door.

The door opened to reveal Sem.

The crisis that the village faced seemed too heavy a burden for his aged body.

Though it was probably an effect of the light coming from the candles that hung from the ceiling, he seemed to have become even more haggard looking.