Spice & Wolf XI (DWT)

  “Milady..”

  Beltra, whose everyday kitchen troubles included the mice, cats and dogs, looked at her accusingly. Fleur raised her head when the dog had lapped up the bread.

  “My husband only knew how to take from others.. I’ve no compunction to be the same.”

  It seemed the dog was familiar with the ways of the world, and happily devoted its loyalty to her temporarily in thanks. It sat still as she patted its head, even wagging its tail. But it was far from being a knight, and she was far from being a noble. Beltra picked the dog up and shooed it outside through the open window.

  “You are far too gentle, milady.”

  “Isn’t it normal to have a heart?”

  It was a savage comeback, and Fleur knew it. As expected, Beltra was hit pretty hard by it. Ora jumped to her rescue.

  “We were all there when you were his wife. My master may not have been a great person, but we still have to survive somehow. Or did you have a better way than trading as a merchant, milady?”

  Fleur was far from having options. She knew well what it meant to be a fallen noble. And, as a young woman, she had even fewer options open to her.

  “You can only give away what you have already earned. Even a noble would cry to hear you speak like this.”

  “Well, the accountants of any kind noble are forever in tears.”

  “Indeed. But I don’t want to see Beltra in tears.”

  Fleur stuffed the rest of her bread into her mouth before standing up.

  “Then, I’m off to trade. This time I’ll bring back some profit.”

  Beltra quietly observed her as she held her darkened apron. She seemed to have finally heard what she hoped to hear, and smiled.

  “Please take care.”

  They were no longer in that large, clean manor.. but Fleur’s smile was still the same.

  * * *

  A frozen river stopped flowing, but during a northern winter it wasn’t just boats that stopped moving as a result. The entire port would become lifeless. It was like the port thawed out with the coming of spring, as boats began arriving and departing. That’s how Ora put it, anyway, and it sounded about right. On a sunny day like this, the port was busier still.

  “Okay, here’s your payment.”

  While the company still tried to push the price down to 17 Likit instead of 20, they didn’t hesitate to pay up in the end. Merchants were such odd creatures, thought Fleur as she finalized the deal, before finally getting to what Ora had said earlier.

  “Horses?”

  “Yes. We’ve heard that war’s broken out, and that horses are in demand.”

  “Oh.. right, right, horses..”

  The merchant scratched his chin with his pencil again, before looking up and closing his eyes.

  “Just feeding horses means having to pay the tariffs to gather the hay, and if the price of hay is rising then it’s too costly for farmers to keep them.”

  “Meaning they’ll probably be selling them, is that right?”

  In order to keep from being swindled, one had to understand what others were thinking and consider their replies before making a deal. That’s what Ora always did, and he made it seem too easy.

  Fleur nodded. The man made a “hmm” sound and stared blankly at her.

  “Surely you don’t think you’re the first to have that idea?”

  He was looking down on her like she was some stupid apprentice boy. Perhaps he had noticed he was talking to a “she,” and a young one at that.

  “No, but even if we’re the second or third to the punch, we can still earn a lot.”

  She recited Ora’s words in her subtly passionate manner. The man crossed his lips with his pencil, as if trying to keep from smiling. But if Fleur smiled back in revenge it would be her loss, so she kept a straight face under her scarf.

  “Sorry about that. You seem to be growing more and more each day. And you’re right.. as you can see, we’re too swamped in our daily business to go out and buy horses right now. So if you can find anyone who’s selling, we might just be willing to buy.”

  Merchants always spoke vaguely.

  “Then you’re saying you’ll definitely buy them?”

  Her opponent frowned at her follow-up question.

  “It’s tough to commit when you might just bring back thin and disobedient horses. That would be an embarrassment.”

  So he didn’t trust her? Well, only a noble would react in such a pompous way. She opted to apologize.

  “Well, even if we don’t buy them, there will still be buyers. The market’s good, so if you buy them at a good price you’ll be able to sell them at a good price. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I see.”

  “That said..”

  “?”

  He closed his ledger and stuffed it under his arm.

  “I still think it’ll be difficult. After all, horses are fickle creatures. Even if they seem obedient when you buy them, they can turn on a new master just like that. Happens all the time.”

  “Yeah, that’s true..”

  Before, in the manor, she was always hearing about how difficult horses could be to manage. She’d learned first-hand how flighty horses could be when she had to find and rent them. If she struggled hard to buy one and could only sell it at a low price, even she would cry like Beltra.

  “Then.. how about this?”

  “Hmm?”

  “If you have the capital to buy horses, there are other opportunities.”

  “Such as?”

  The merchant smiled, and pulled his ledger back out to open it.

  “No attitude, no risk of illness, no food or grooming necessary. Even an inexperienced merchant won’t have trouble with this product. Horses are a risk compared to this.”

  He made a good point, even if she knew he was shady. She wasn’t looking for a lesson from him, but she couldn’t help but be interested by his offer.

  “What would that be?”

  “Clothing.”

  “..Clothing.”

  As she repeated his words, he showed her a page in his ledger.

  “Here are the costs. And here are the retail prices. The profit’s not as high as with horses, but.. well, as you see every article is profitable.”

  He was right.. as long as this wasn’t an attempt to swindle her. And he’d hardly had time to come up with a swindle on the spot. Thinking this, she nodded.

  “It’s a stable investment.”

  He closed the ledger as he spoke, and Fleur’s mouth opened.

  “But what kind of clothing should I sell?”

  “Well that would be entirely up to you.”

  He made it sound simple, but Fleur had always had others choose her clothing. She knew nothing about fashion. Just as her thoughts turned to Ora, and how she should ask him, the man suddenly clapped his hands together and spoke.

  “Ah, that’s right.. one of our clients has good eyes for that sort of thing.”

  “Good eyes?”

  “Yes. He’s helped us buy clothing before.. quite a brilliant salesman. He always sells clothes really quickly. He’s been looking to expand his business, and was looking for someone to invest some capital.”

  Fleur knew she wasn’t all that bright. She knew she still couldn’t quite grasp the subtler aspects of merchantry. But she knew a bit about what he was saying.

  “You mean.. I supply the capital, and we split the profits?”

  “Exactly. Not just the raw profits, either. You’ll learn about the clothing market. And he’s got contacts at every point in the supply chain, so he can get good prices.”

  “Well..”

  It sounded like a good chance had just fallen into her lap.. quite a stroke of luck. Not everyone in this world was malicious, it seemed. The man flipped over his ledger and gave her a name.

  “His name is Milton Pabst.”

  That was surely a noble’s name.

  * * *

  Whenever Fleur had some cash, she couldn’t help but do a
little shopping. She bought some of the cheese Beltra was fond of, and some wine the Ora enjoyed from a particular village. Then, she headed home. They didn’t have much to spend, but she hoped they wouldn’t get upset at her for buying them gifts. She had, after all, found a good lead on a worthwhile new business endeavour.

  “Clothing?”

  Fleur had handed Ora a glass of wine to take advantage of his improved mood when he drank. He closed his eyes and sniffed the wine as they spoke. When she finally mentioned the conversation she had with the man at Jones Company, she couldn’t even tell if he was listening.

  “So that’s what we’re gonna try.. Ora?”

  Hearing his name called out, Ora looked at her.

  “Sorry, I’ve missed this smell so much.. Clothes? That’s what you wanna do?”

  “There’s a man helping Jones Company sell clothing. Apparently he wants someone to invest, so he can handle the whole process from the top down next time.”

  “I see..”

  Ora again smelt the wine with his beak-like nose, before he stopped breathing at all. Nobles would never appreciate the little things like Ora did. It made her forget her anger and smile.

  “His name’s Milton Pabst.”

  As soon as she mentioned the name, Ora’s wrinkled eyes opened with a strange gleam.

  ”Pabst?”

  “You know him?”

  Ora slowly exhaled.

  “Mhm.. of course.”

  Ora downed the last of his wine before setting the glass down on the table. It was a quiet evening, and Beltra was still out at the market.

  “His ancestor was a renowned knight. Brave, strong, and elegant.. the spitting image of someone from a romantic tale. But he was also merciful, and loved his family. From what I recall, at least thirty people have succeeded the Pabst name.”

  Having a large family wasn’t out of the ordinary.. even having several mistresses. And despite the old joke that trying to name the children of an aristocrat was like reading the Old Testament of the Bible, it was actually quite rare for someone to have that many children. In other words, his ancestor was a real big shot.

  “Since his kids couldn’t have all inherited land from him, this guy’s probably a legitimate Pabst. You say he’s helping Jones Company sell clothes?”

  “Hm.. ah, huh?”

  Fleur responded dimly, distracted by a goat that just happened to be eating a potted plant nearby. It had probably escaped when someone forget to tie it up after buying it. It was such an odd event that she just stared at it for a while, before she nervously tried to reply.

  “Um.. uh, ah..”

  “..well, he’s probably selling them to nobles. We once tried that, you know.. we hired the second- and third-in-line from noble houses, who had nowhere else to go. We were hoping to sell enough fancy clothes to drive the Cobbles and Smiths out of business, but nobles’ fashion trends are notoriously fickle; we needed to know who to sell what to.”

  “I see..”

  “So did you go and meet Pabst?”

  The goat had finally decided that the leaves on the plant weren’t tasty. It bleated once and slowly hobbled off.

  “No.. I decided not to rush into things, and to check with you first.”

  “Well, well.. perhaps Milady is finally learning.”

  “I’ve failed twice after deciding on my own, after all.”

  Ora smiled and coughed gently, then pointed at the coins on the table. Fleur had spent some of the twenty Likit that were there already.

  “Hmm?”

  She tilted her head and heard Ora sigh in response.

  “But you’ve still much to learn. The road will be hard. You didn’t think to check the coins they paid you with.”

  “What about them? Did they underpay me somehow?”

  Just as she was about to say “impossible,” Ora wistfully shook his head.

  “Look how worn the edges are. Do you think a moneychanger will accept them? We might have to settle for 90% of their face value..”

  She looked at the coins nervously, and saw that there were indeed some misshapen or worn ones there.

  “Well, even if I told you everything, you still wouldn’t remember it all. It’s best to learn one thing at a time. However..”

  “..However?”

  “If you were just another little apprentice who I could beat, I might respond differently.”

  How rare to hear him joking around like that.. it seemed he really did appreciate the wine.

  “I remember the first time I got a good beating.. I cried for a week.”

  He happily eyed the coins as he swept them into a wooden box, then closed the lid.

  “Alright, so let’s talk about this new idea of yours.”

  “Alright..”

  “Well? Tell me your thoughts.”

  The sudden change of topic left her at a loss.

  “It looks good to me.”

  “Really?”

  He replied gently before picking up a quill and noting the coins in an old ledger. Because of Fleur’s oversight, he ended up having to write “net loss” under the totals column.

  “Am I wrong?”

  “No. If you’re fine with it, go ahead. That guy was right, after all; horses die, fall ill, and get hurt, but clothes will last for years. Back when I was selling them, it usually took three years before they couldn’t be sold anymore. So it’s hard to lose a lot, and it’s a great way to cut your teeth.”

  “So, then..”

  He gave a definitive nod in response to her stutter.

  “This’ll be your third time taking responsibility for an entire job.”

  When she lived in the mansion, she simply ate her meals and wore the clothes given to her. That’s all she had to do. It was the decisionless life of the wife of a noble. All she had to do was sit there and listen to those around her.

  She was still getting used to being a trader. She couldn’t see through the deceit, and had a hard time talking back to them. But it was exhilarating to have her own say in things. She breathed in deeply and nodded.

  “But you’ve got to listen to my advice, okay?”

  If he wasn’t happy with her performance, he’d let her know. And if he wasn’t happy, then she was probably failing. She knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

  “Of course.”

  “May God’s blessing be upon you.”

  He murmured softly as he closed the ledger. A moment later, Beltra returned from the marketplace, almost as if she had timed her entrance.

  * * *

  Fallen nobles, illegitimate children of nobles, and actual nobles; despite their different circumstances, they all had a famous family name. Many of them clung to the past in order to continue living. Yet those like Fleur - whose family name was bought, then became worthless - were only burdened by their names.

  That’s why she covered her face, and tended to not report her family name. This left her with little choice but to depend on Ora’s connections to find jobs, and even then she sometimes had to use her name. But most of the people she worked with were sympathetic and kept quiet about it.

  This time, however, she was going to rely on her own power to deal with Milton Pabst.. no hiding behind her name. Or at least, that was her hope.

  “Have we met each other at a ball?”

  That was what Pabst said after they had introduced themselves and shook hands. He was a young man with tidy golden hair. His clothes weren’t extravagant, but one could tell the effort he put into his wardrobe. If she hadn’t been going to him to do business, she may not have even guessed he was a man from a large family.

  Fleur’s own hands could no longer be described as “beautiful, milky hands in satin evening gloves.” They were still a prestigious pair, compared to Beltra’s, but they no longer demonstrated this fact. Milton noticed that the look in her eyes had dulled, and continued.

  “Ah, right! That one organized by Mr. Milan.”

  “Oh!”

  She gasped, realizing t
hat it was indeed one of the balls she had attended in the past.

  “We have met, yet it seems you don’t recognize me.”

  Young noble girls shook more hands than they touched loaves of bread. Even if they barely made contact in each handshake, the sheer number of times this ceremony repeated often left their hands swollen after an evening outing.

  “But that’s to be expected. You caught the eye of so many.”

  That was when Ora’s predecessor still lived, and the family name still meant something. In other words, back when Fleur was still a bride-to-be.

  “Your name should be..”

  “Fleur Boland.”

  It had been a long time since she spoke her name. It made her a bit nostalgic, and a bit embarrassed at the same time. However, the embarrassment she felt was less over the actual utterance than the fact that it was spoken in a tavern facing the harbor.

  “Ah yes.. the eldest in the Boland line.. the one whose hand was struck by Mrs. Dian, known for her evil character.”

  “Oh!”

  This time she was genuinely surprised. Thankfully they weren’t at some social function. She covered her mouth as Pabst smiled.

  “..And the one whose hand was sought by many young knights; were you aware?”

  He quickly ate some beans, possibly to politely stop smiling. But that only embarrassed her further, and made her cover her face, wanting to escape.

  “’Tis a shame what happened in the end. Enough to make one want to laugh and cry.”

  She knew he wasn’t implying that she’d cried for weeks; she calmed herself and breathed in deeply under her scarf, then nodded.

  “After all, we can hardly decide our destinies and futures. The only ones with that kind of power are seated on far grander chairs.”

  As he poured wine into her glass, she noted that while he wasn’t as elegant as a noble, he also wasn’t as rude as knight. He was more like a playful nephew.

  “Your entire family..”

  “My entire family fell from that chair, yes. But there is still a place for me in this world.. although I must admit I never would have guessed it was as a merchant.”

  He nodded, squinting from the sunlight. He stared at his wine as he replied.

  “I’m but the third son of the second mistress. I’ve no land, not even a scrap the size of my palm, only the Pabst name and some coin. I do not even have the equipment and horses necessary to do proper business and marry a noble, nor the artistic merit to write poetry. And yet, I never expected such things, so I’ve no complaints.”