Spice and Wolf, Vol. 3

  Isuna Hasekura

  Spice Wolf:Volume3

  Chapter 1

  It had already been six days since departing from the Church city of Rubinhaigen. The weather was getting colder with the passing of each day, which, along with the gloomy overcast sky made even the mild day breezes sufficient to cause shivers.

  Especially after arriving at the riverside road, the wind carried with it the coldness of the water, making the temperature even less bearable.

  The river, whose water seemed a tainted mixture of liquid and dark clouds, looked cold to the extreme. Even the multiple layers of second-hand winter garments purchased at Rubinhaigen seemed of little help against the bone-chilling weather.

  Although, reflecting back to the time when, seizing the initiative to buy merchandise resulted in a lack of funds for purchasing extra winter clothing, and the freezing journey north that followed, brought a strained smile to his face. This feeling of nostalgia more or less made him forget about the cold.

  After seven years, the rookie traveling merchant of the past seemed to have grown quite a bit.

  Besides, this year, in addition to the protective clothing was another existence capable of making one forget about the bitter cold.

  Traveling merchant Lawrence, who became his own man at the early age of eighteen and would this year be embracing his seventh winter in the trade, turned his sight toward the person sitting next to him in the driver's seat.

  Normally there would be no one there whether he looked to the right or to the left.

  Even during the rare instances in which he did have a traveling companion, that person would probably not be sitting together with him in the driver's seat, not to mention being covered under the same piece of merchandise-covering cloth as the one covering his lap for warmth.

  "…What?", the companion asked.

  The traveling companion who used a somewhat archaic form of speech.

  This traveling companion appeared as a white-teethed and bright-eyed girl of fifteen years or so, with beautiful flax-colored long hair that would make even a noble envious. However, what made Lawrence envious was neither her beautiful flax-colored hair nor the high-quality robe she had on.

  It was the animal tail that she had placed on the covering cloth and was grooming with great care.

  The tail was brown in color, with a bit of white at the tip; its dense fur looked really warm. If it could be made into a scarf, it would undoubtedly become a big hit among rich women; too bad it wasn't for sale.

  "Hurry up, finish grooming that tail and tuck it back under the covers.”

  It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that the robe-wearing girl carefully grooming the animal tail with a comb resembled a poor nun doing part-time work.

  Even so, upon hearing Lawrence's words, the young girl narrowed her slightly red, amber-colored eyes, before parting her lips, which seemed completely undamaged by the dry winter wind, to speak in an unpleased tone: "I am not letting you use my tail as a lap furnace." Having said this, the tail in her hands moved slightly.

  Although passing travelers or traveling merchants who spotted the tail would always assume it was a decorative piece of fur, the fact was that the tail was still attached to its original owner.

  It was actually a part of the girl who was carefully grooming it. In fact, the young girl didn't just have a tail; underneath her hood was hidden a pair of inhuman, animal ears. Of course, someone with a tail and a pair of animal ears couldn't possibly be a normal human.

  Although humans possessed by fairies or demons and having outwardly inhuman characteristics were not unheard of, she was not one among these.

  The girl's real form was a huge, godlike wolf that dwelt within wheat, and her name was Horo, the Sage Wolf of Yoitsu.

  To a knowledgeable member of the Orthodox faith, Horo was regarded as a pagan deity, a fearsome existence. But to Lawrence, fearing Horo was a thing of the past.

  The current Lawrence could not only make fun of the tail Horo was so proud of quite easily, he even frequently used it as his own lap furnace.

  "After all, the fur on your tail is so dense and neat, just placing it under the covers would make it as warm as a mountainous pile of fur pieces.”

  Just as Lawrence had predicted, Horo gave a proud puff from her nose before withdrawing her tail back underneath the covers with a look on her face that seemed to say, "Yea, I give up.”

  "By the way, have we not reached the town yet? We will arrive today, will we not?”

  "We just need to follow this path along the river, and we'll be there in no time," Lawrence gestured as he spoke.

  "Finally, I will have something hot to eat. I do not desire to eat any more cold porridge in this freezing atmosphere. No matter what is said, it would be too annoying.”

  Even Lawrence, who was surely more accustomed to eating bad food than Horo was, had to agree.

  Even though eating was among the only recreations one could indulge in while traveling, when winter came, even this lost most of its pleasurable aspects.

  Because in the harsh, bitterly-cold winter days, the only choices were to munch on some hard and bitter bread made from black wheat, or to add some water to the bread to make porridge, and as for accompanying dishes, there were only some nearly-tasteless pieces of dried meat along with the representatives of storage- resistant vegetables – onions and garlic.

  Horo, being a wolf, was uneasy about the strongly-flavored onions and garlic, and also hated eating the bitter black wheat bread, so the only choice she had was to quickly swallow the porridge made from bread and water.

  To the gluttonous Horo, this was perhaps nothing less than torture.

  "Yeah, the town we're heading to is holding a large town-wide fair, so there should be plenty to eat. Look forward to that.”

  "Oh, but are you sure that your wallet can afford the extra expenses?”

  A week ago in the Church city of Rubinhaigen, Lawrence's greed had led him to fall into a trade company's malicious trap. At one point, he even believed that he would go bankrupt. After many twists and turns, although Lawrence was able to narrowly avoid bankruptcy, he was ultimately unable to make a profit, and even suffered some losses.

  As for the battle equipment that had been the cause of all this, after considering the difficulty of transporting the goods in the winter season as well as the possibility that the crash of its market price would be even more severe farther north, Lawrence ended up selling the equipment in Rubinhaigen at next-to-nothing prices.

  Although Horo was always begging Lawrence to buy this or buy that, she still showed some concern for the state of his wallet.

  Indeed, she was arrogant and often enjoyed giving people a hard time, but deep down she was still a kind soul.

  "If it's just buying food for you, that's still within a reasonable budget. Don't worry about it." Even so, Horo still wore a worried expression on her face, "Mmm…”

  "Besides, in the end I was still unable to buy honey-soaked peaches for you in Rubinhaigen, so you can think of this as making up for that.”

  "Really…but…” “What is it?”

  "Even though half of my fears is over your wallet, the other half is over myself. If I were to spend money on feasting, would it mean having to stay at a lesser inn? "Now I get it," Lawrence thought, and smilingly replied: "Well, I am planning to stay at an inn of decent standard. Don't tell me you wanted to say that if the room doesn't have a furnace, you'd refuse to stay in it!”

  "I was not planning to ask for so much. But, I would not want you to use buying food for me as an excuse.”

  "Excuse?”

  In order to readjust the path of his horse, which had gone a bit astray, Lawrence shifted his line of sight toward the front, after
which Horo moved her face close to his ear and said softly: "I would not want you to use not having enough money as an excuse to choose a room with only one bed. I would like to sleep comfortably alone once in a while.”

  Unconsciously, Lawrence pulled a bit too hard on the reins. His horse whinnied a displeased response. However, Lawrence had already become accustomed to Horo's constant teasing, and it was easy for him to recover his balance.

  Lawrence feigned calmness, and responded with a cold expression on his face: "That's quite something for someone with such a carefree snore to say.”

  Lawrence's counter caught Horo off guard. She pouted her lips with a sour expression on her face, and shifted her body away.

  Lawrence couldn't possibly give up such a chance, and thus continued his assault: "Besides, you're not even my type.”

  Horo possessed a pair of ears capable of distinguishing between lie and truth. What Lawrence had just said was, just barely, not a lie.

  Horo seemed to comprehend this. In an instant she was frozen with a look of surprise on her face. "You should be able to tell that I'm not lying.”

  Thus, Lawrence delivered the final blow.

  Although Horo could only stare in blank amazement for a while, her mouth still moved slightly, as if trying to come up with a way to counter. Soon, however, she seemed to realize that such a reaction had already signaled the reality of her defeat.

  Beneath her hood, her ears drooped visibly, and she lowered her face with a dejected look. Lawrence had won a long-anticipated victory.

  Even so, this wasn't a real victory.

  Although Horo not being his type was not exactly a lie, it wasn't entirely the truth either.

  All that remained was for Lawrence to tell her this in order to complete his revenge for always being played in the palm of her hand.

  Whether it was the defenselessly-sleeping Horo, or the Horo filled with smiles and laughter, Lawrence was very much fond of her.

  As well as the way she looked when depressed. In other words…

  "You like me the way I am right now, do you?

  Lawrence's eyes accidentally met Horo's upward gaze, and couldn't help blushing.

  "Foolish mule. The more foolish the male, the more he likes weak females. You do not seem to realize that the only weak thing is your brain and that of the likes of you.”

  Revealing a pair of sharp teeth and wearing a mocking expression on her face, Horo had instantly turned the tide and gained the advantage.

  "If you wish me to play the role of the weak princess, you should at least be a mighty knight…but what, do you think, is the real situation?”

  Horo pointed a finger at Lawrence, who could not think of any way to respond.

  In his mind, Lawrence recalled the many scenes that served as a painful reminder of who he really was – not a chosen knight, but a mere traveling merchant.

  Looking at Lawrence's reaction, Horo gave a sigh of satisfaction, but suddenly seemed to recall something. With an index finger against her chin, she spoke: "Hmm. Come to think of it, it seems that you did once become a knight.”

  Lawrence made an attempt to search his drawer of memories, wondering if he'd ever behaved in such a manly way.

  "What? You forgot already? Did you not stand in the front and protect me? When we fell into the conflict of the silver coins, in the sewers.”

  ".Oh, that.”

  Although Horo had helped him recall the memory, Lawrence had a hard time associating it with knightly behavior. After all, his clothes were all tattered back then, and his body, which he'd barely managed to keep upright, had been shaking uncontrollably.

  "Knightly behavior does not necessarily require great physical strength. However, that was the first time that I had ever been protected by someone.”

  Horo smiled a bit shyly, shifting her body close to Lawrence. The speed at which Horo could switch moods still inspired fear within Lawrence. Faced with such a Horo, even a merchant who could easily change his attitude according to profit and loss would run away afraid.

  Even so, Lawrence had nowhere to run.

  "You will no doubt cherish me in the future, will you not?”

  The wolf before him was like a kitten, revealing a tender and innocent smile. That was a smile that no man doing business in solitude for decades was blessed enough to behold. However, that was a fake smile. Horo was still angry at Lawrence for having said that she wasn't his type. In fact, she was probably extremely angry.

  Lawrence was deeply aware of Horo's wrath. ".Sorry.”

  Thus, Lawrence's apologetic words seemed to cast a magic spell, causing Horo to reveal a true smile and sit up straight before producing a giggle from deep within her throat.

  "This is exactly what I like about your personality.”

  Such a mutually-teasing and joking interaction was just like two young pups fooling around. In the end, this kind of distance was most suited to these two after all.

  "Selecting a room with only one bed is fine. But, the meals need to have two servings.” “Got it, got it.”

  The weather wasn't even hot, but Lawrence was sweating profusely. He wiped away the annoying sweat as he answered. Horo, hearing his answer, began laughing once again.

  "So, anything good to eat around here?”

  "Are you talking about local staples? It probably can't be called a staple, but around here.” “Fish, correct?”

  Horo said what Lawrence was just about to answer, which quite surprised him.

  "That's quite something for you to know. There is a lake west of this area. The fish transported from over there can more or less count as a staple. In addition, the rivers that flow through the region are a source of a great variety of fishes. But, how did you know?”

  Even though Horo could easily read people's emotions, she couldn't possibly see one's exact thoughts could she?

  "Mm, since just now, the wind has been carrying over a scent. Look!”

  Upon saying this, Horo pointed with her right hand in the direction opposite the river. "That team of horse-drawn carts is probably transporting fish.”

  Hearing this, Lawrence spotted for the first time a team of horse-drawn carts emerging from behind a hill in the distance. With his vision, he could at best make out the number of carts present, but certainly couldn't tell what they held. From the team's direction of travel, it seemed that although it was parallel to the path on this side, they would eventually meet at some point.

  "Speaking of fish dishes, I just cannot imagine what there could be. Something like the eel we had in Rubinhaigen?”

  "The eel was simply fried in oil. With dishes demanding more effort to prepare, the fish may be steamed with vegetables or meats, roasted after adding a bit of vanilla, or prepared in a variety of other ways. There's also another kind of food, which is exclusive to the town that we will be arriving at soon.”

  "Oh?”

  Horo's eyes gave off a dazzling glint. Beneath the covers, the tail that had been used in place of a lap furnace was wagging excitedly.

  "I'll tell you what it is once we reach the town. Look forward to it.”

  Hearing Lawrence's teasing, Horo blew up her cheeks slightly, but of course this level of teasing wasn't enough to make her angry.

  "How about buying some fish for dinner if the fish in the horse-drawn carts are of good quality?”

  "I'm no good at determining the quality of fish. Ever since I once suffered losses over it, I have not dared to touch fish.”

  "Nothing to worry about, there are my eyes and nose.” “Can you determine the quality of fish?”

  "In that case, would you also like me to determine your quality?" Horo said in a mischievous tone. Lawrence could only surrender.

  "Give me a break. But if there is good fish, we'll buy some and have it prepared at a store. It is also cheaper that way.”

  "Yea, leave it to me.”

  Although Lawrence couldn't tell where they would meet up with the team of carts that were possibly carrying fish, he
realized that the distance between them was shortening, and therefore allowed his horse to continue along the path.

  Lawrence glanced sideways at Horo, whose gaze was upon the distant carts, and thought- Come to think about it, when Horo mentioned using her eyes and nose to determine quality, she probably meant doing so based on appearance and smell.

  If she could determine the quality of fish, then perhaps she really could do so for humans as well.

  Even though Lawrence immediately realized the ridiculousness of his thoughts and smiled to himself, he couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

  Trying not to be conspicuous, Lawrence drew his nose close to his right shoulder and sniffed. He thought that, despite living a traveling lifestyle, he shouldn't smell overly bad. Besides, Horo herself hadn't had a change of clothes.

  While thinking about this as if trying to find an excuse, he felt someone's gaze land on his left cheek.

  Though Lawrence would have preferred not to meet that gaze, he nevertheless turned, to find Horo laughing silently.

  "Seriously. You are so cute. It is most shameful for me (note: the literal translation is: "Where should I place my face," which is basically the same as the idea of "losing face.").”

  Horo said with an incredulous look on her face. In the end, Lawrence was left speechless.

  The river water flowed along very slowly, seeming almost immobile. Beside the river, the sight of people stopping to allow their horses to rest and get a drink of water, or to rearrange their load, began to appear. Among them was also a rare, traveling sword smith, who placed an upright sword off to the side in place of a sign and rested a cheek upon an arm over his stand, yawning boredly.

  In addition, there was also the sight of a boatman arguing with a knight leading a horse upon a flat-bottomed boat parked along the side of a bridge. From the knight's simple equipment, it seemed possible that he was a messenger on his way to some fortress. Most likely, the boatman was unwilling to set out because of the insufficient number of passengers, hence the argument between them.

  Because Lawrence had had the experience of losing his temper with an uncooperative boatman while in a hurry, the scene brought a strained smile to his face.