It was for this reason that villagers normally spent so much time on side jobs during the winter.
They had to save money to prevent others from stealing their land.
“I always thought that all would be well so long as we avoided taxation...That is why I tried so hard to guard what Father Franz left us.”
“You were not mistaken. However, the villagers did not understand how great the gift of Father Franz’s legacy was.”
“I see...I know it is too late for such talk, but when Father Franz first arrived, he asked to stay at the church in exchange for his improving relations with Enberch. Though we had a church in our village, we could not abandon our faith in the ancient guardian of the land, Lord Truyeo. Father Franz claimed not to care about that, and he was never involved in any proselytizing. He simply lived in the church.”
The villagers had probably thought of Father Franz as a blessing sent to them by Lord Truyeo.
“I can’t believe it has come to this,” said Sem finally.
“Elder Sem, surely you saw the potential for this to happen, did you not?” asked Lawrence bluntly.
Sem’s face went blank, and he closed his eyes, sighing. "I suppose...I did. But to think that Khepas liquor would turn »
up...
“Khepas liquor?”
“Ah, yes, that is what we call the poison wheat. It is made from rye, and we all know of it—I cannot imagine that any from the village would be so careless as to mix it with wheat at sufficient purity to kill a man.”
Lawrence agreed. “So it will be assumed that someone did it intentionally,” he said.
“The villagers will blame the traveler since outsiders are always the subject of suspicion,” said Sem.
“And after that, Evan the miller.”
Sem nodded and then nodded again. “I spoke with Elsa a moment ago, and she believes Enberch to be responsible. I am pathetic. I believed that so long as we could raise wheat and sell it easily, we would have peace. I thought of nothing else.”
“When the messenger from Enberch arrives, it will be clear whether this is all their doing or not. If possible, I would like to speak to Elsa before then,” said Lawrence.
All of the advice Lawrence had given Sem was simply a setup to deliver this line.
“Understood.” Sem stood and opened the door, giving the villager there some brief instructions. He then turned to Lawrence. “This man will take you to her.”
Sem clung to his staff as he moved aside for Lawrence and Holo to pass.
“Embarrassingly this has taken...a toll on this old body of mine. Please tell me what you learn later.”
The villager hastily pushed forth from the chair he had been sitting on. Sem sat on it now, pain in his features.
Though it was convenient that Sem would not be following them to the church, he was also the one who could protect Holo and Lawrence from the ire of the villagers.
Lawrence certainly hoped that this would all be resolved peacefully.
He would feel bad if Sem were to collapse now, so he left the man with some kind words before leaving his house.
The fire in the village square still burned brightly with small groups of villagers gathered here and there talking.
As soon as Lawrence and Holo emerged from the elder’s house, the villagers’ eyes all fell upon them.
“Well, that’s certainly unpleasant,” muttered Holo.
If the villager leading them to the Church was to betray them. Lawrence and Holo would almost certainly be beaten and hanged by the angry mob.
It was an incredibly delicate situation.
Though the church was but a short distance away, it seemed very far indeed now.
“Iima—the elder sent us.” They had finally reached the church, whereupon the villager knocked on the door and announced himself quite loudly.
No doubt the loud voice was also to announce to the surrounding villagers that he was leading the two travelers on the elder’s orders.
What a villager feared above all was to be singled out by his fellow villagers.
Soon the church door opened, and Iima invited Lawrence and Holo inside. The villager that was their escort seemed visibly relieved, his shoulders sagging.
The hate-filled gazes that Lawrence and Holo endured were dyed red by the firelight, but now the closing church door blocked them out.
It was a magnificent door, but Lawrence was not sure how it would hold up against anything but hateful gazes.
“The elder sent you, then? What is it?” Though she had let them into the church, Iima blocked their path, not letting them enter any farther.
“I need to speak with Miss Elsa.”
“With Elsa?” asked Iima, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Sem guaranteed my safety in exchange for my wisdom and coin. But to make that wisdom and coin as effective as possible, I need accurate information. I believe Miss Elsa has a better understanding of the situation than Sem does.”
Lawrence expected that Iima, who had lived and traveled alone, would have some sympathy for him and Holo and the unreasonable situation they now found themselves in.
Whether or not that hope was clear to her, she gestured with her chin in the direction of the living room. “She’s in there; follow me,” said Iima, heading into the church.
Holo was still looking into the sanctuary.
Had Lawrence not been there, she would have long since forced her way into the church, and once she had the book clenched between her wolf teeth, Holo would have run for the horizon.
To the left of the sanctuary were the priestly offices and study.
Candlelight shone from around the corner at the end of the hallway, and when the group rounded it, they found Evan.
He stood there before the door to the living room, ax in hand. It was not hard to guess why he was there.
When he noticed Lawrence and Holo, he was at first surprised before his face settled into a more complicated expression.
There were two people in the village who were suspected of poisoning the wheat. Evan, of course, knew it wasn’t himself, so that left only one person to suspect. He was, though, one of the few people who could see the path that all the village’s wheat took.
Perhaps he knew there was no chance Lawrence could have poisoned it.
“Elsa is here, correct?”
“Ah, yes, but—”
“The elder’s already given permission. Elsa! Elsa!” said Iima as she shoved past Evan.
The blade of the ax Evan held was rusted, and the handle looked as though it had been eaten away by termites.
Lawrence could understand what would make Evan grab such a weapon and stand in front of the door like that.
After all, Lawrence himself had stood in front of Holo, exhausted and beaten up, to protect her in the sewers beneath Pazzio.
“What is it?” asked Elsa.
“You’ve got guests.”
“Huh? Oh—”
“We’ve come to speak with you,” said Lawrence.
Elsa’s expression was somehow even more neutral than it had been when he’d visited the church before. “Very well, come in—“
Iima raised her voice. “Elsa.”
Elsa was just about to retreat into the room when she turned around at Iima’s voice.
“Is it really all right?” Iima asked.
No doubt she was referring to Lawrence and Holo.
Lawrence was not at all confident in his ability to best Iima in a scuffle. He considered it as she gave him an unintimidated glance.
Evan swallowed hard and looked on.
“We cannot depend upon them, but we can trust them,” said Elsa. “After all, they do at least know how to pray.”
This was just the kind of sarcasm that Holo liked. Lawrence noticed that Elsa herself wore a slight smile.
Beneath her hood, Holo’s expression suggested that she had no time for dealing with unimportant people—but what actually irritated her was no doubt that
she wished to retort but could not.
“Fine. Evan, boy—you protect her, you hear?” ordered Iima slapping Evan’s shoulder and walking back down the hallway.
It spoke well of Iima that she did not insist upon being included in the conversation.
So long as she was around, Evan and Elsa would feel secure.
“I apologize for the interruption,” said Lawrence, entering the room with Holo behind him.
Evan, ax in hand, was about to follow them, but Elsa stopped him. “You wait outside.”
“What? Why?”
“Please.”
Evan’s reluctance was understandable. He nodded grudgingly after Elsa asked again but still seemed dissatisfied.
Lawrence untied the coin purse that was fixed at his waist and held it out to Evan. “Any merchant would weep if he lost his coin purse. I’m leaving it with you. Think of it as proof that you can trust me.”
The coin purse contained only his cash on hand, so it was not a great deal of money to Lawrence, but Evan took hold of the bag like it was glowing hot, looking back and forth between the purse and Lawrence’s face, his expression on the verge of tears.
“I’ll leave it in your care, then,” finished Lawrence.
Evan nodded and took a step back.
Elsa closed the door, then looked back into the room.
“Quite an excellent performance. If Enberch was as skilled as you, we would have no choice but to surrender,” she said with a sigh.
“Do you doubt us?”
“If you were from Enberch, then it would be Church elders coming to the village, not a wagon loaded with wheat.”
Elsa stepped away from the door and sat in a chair, gesturing perfunctorily for Lawrence and Holo to do the same. She massaged her temples, as though suffering from a truly awful headache.
She continued. “Besides, it’s even harder to believe you came here to poison the wheat than it is to believe you’ve come in search of heresy.”
“By which you mean...?”
“Hmph. While Elder Sem still doubts you, all this...all this is clearly Enberch’s doing. I just never imagined it would come to this.”
“Father Franz passed away this past summer, correct? It’s hard to have poison wheat ready in a mere six months. Anywhere you go, Ridelius’s Hellfire—er, I mean Khepas liquor—is hidden and disposed of as soon as it appears,” said Lawrence.
If Enberch had prepared the poison wheat long ago and never put the plan into action, it was probably because no conveniently unseasonable travelers to foist the blame on had come through Enberch into Tereo until now.
Thinking about this rationally, the townspeople had probably also feared Father Franz.
By the same token, however, they had likewise no doubt decided that they could safely act against Elsa.
“The village’s financial state is hopeless. I would very much like to ask for aid from my supporters, but they are all of them only supporting me because of my father’s legacy. It is all I can do to convince them to continue that support. If I ask for more, I risk losing what I have,” said Elsa.
“...Undoubtedly.” Lawrence cleared his throat. “So, Miss Elsa—what do you think will become of us now?”
A typical clergyman would tell him that as long as he trusted in God’s grace, there was no need to worry, that God knew the truth. A smile played at the corners of Elsa’s mouth. “Are you asking me?” she inquired quietly.
“The ones who can best tell me how Enberch’s play will end are you and Iima.”
“As well as the two of you, don’t you agree?”
Elsa clearly did not want to say it herself.
On the matter of what sorts of demands Enberch’s messenger would bring and who would be taken back to Enberch in exchange for the wheat, Lawrence and Elsa were likely of one mind.
Lawrence nodded, then looked at Holo next to him.
Beneath her hood, she looked sleepy.
She was well aware of what her role would soon be, so she seemed to be saying, “Let me rest until then.”
Lawrence suddenly looked back at Elsa. “We are planning to escape,” he said casually.
Elsa was unmoved. If anything, her face betrayed displeasure, as if she were dealing with a particularly dense and slow child. “I believe the time for escape has long passed.”
“Do you think Enberch already has the road under watch?”
“That may well be. If they have indeed planned all of this, then they would need you two as well.”
Elsa’s opinion reinforced Lawrence’s—which meant the same problem troubled both of them.
“The village’s suspicion is aimed at you and Evan. It will be difficult to defend yourselves. Yet if you run, it will be the same as admitting your guilt,” said Lawrence.
Had Elsa been a bit older and a man, she would have been able to easily inherit Father Franz’s great legacy, Lawrence felt.
“Regardless, even if the two of you managed to escape on horseback, you might not even make it past the villagers.”
“If my companion were merely the maiden she looks to be, that would be true.”
Lawrence got the sense that Holo’s ears twitched, perhaps due to her irritation at Elsa’s gaze.
“Speaking in terms of outcomes, we can escape. We can escape whenever we wish,” he said.
“Then...why aren’t you?”
Lawrence nodded. “First, we have not yet read through all the books in the cellar. Also, if we run, who do you think would be next in line to receive the villagers’ ire?”
Elsa did not so much as swallow.
Her quick, logical mind had already led her to that conclusion. and she already seemed to have been prepared to face it.
“I do not know how you plan to escape, but do you have confidence that you can take Evan with you?”
“Not only him, but you as well.”
For the first time, Elsa smiled. “Ridiculous,” it seemed to say." I will neither impede nor encourage your escape. As a villager, I cannot allow you to run as you are still the most suspicious party. But as a follower of the Church, I cannot allow you to be unjustly condemned and would hope for your successful flight.”
She must have thought Lawrence was cornered and speaking nonsense—thus the strange carelessness of her manner.
“In any case, regarding your first point, I have no reason to refuse you at this late hour. I would like to let you finish reading the books...” she continued.
“At this point, there’s but a single volume we’d like to see.” Holo shifted and said, “ ’Tis directly behind the altar. I’d like to read just that book...given the situation. I will not ask for more." Elsa closed her eyes slowly, seeming to come to a decision She may have decided to grant some grace to people who she felt would soon be dead.
She stood and opened the door.
“Wh-whoa!”
“Eavesdropping brings punishment,” said Elsa.
“Er, no, I didn’t mean to—”
“Honestly. It matters not either way. There is a book hidden behind the altar. Go fetch it, please.”
The discussion that had just taken place was not a loud one, so Lawrence was not sure whether Evan had heard it.
Evan hesitated for a moment but soon ran off down the hallway.
Elsa watched him go and seemed to murmur something under her breath, but Lawrence couldn’t catch what it was.
It might have been “If we could escape,” but before he could ask Holo, Elsa turned back to face him.
“I will not try to stop you from escaping. However”—she was every inch the noble clergywoman—“until you do, would you lend us your wisdom? There are none in this village who know well the ways of coin.”
Naturally Lawrence nodded. “I will, though I cannot guarantee that you will find my answers satisfying.”
Elsa blinked in surprise, then gave the same small smile she seemed to use on Evan. “It seems you merchants quite enjoy that line.”
“We are a c
areful lot,” said Lawrence, whereupon Holo stepped on his foot.
“I’ve brought the book.”
Evan must have found the book easily. He’d returned faster than Lawrence had expected.
“But...isn’t this one of the books of pagan legends? Why do you need it?” Evan asked.
Holo walked over to him and took—no, snatched—the book from him.
The contents of the book were something so important that Father Franz had been careful to record them impartially. Holo had no time for Evan’s questions.
Lawrence answered for her. “When one gets old, the ancient tales get more interesting.”
“Huh?” grunted Evan cluelessly.
Holo walked right past him and into the hallway.
It was obvious that she didn’t want to read the book while others looked on. Lawrence had Elsa light a candle for him, then placed it on a sconce, and followed after Holo.
When he arrived in the rear of the sanctuary, he found Holo crouched down, holding her knees like a scolded child.
“No matter how good your eyes are, you can’t read in the dark."
She hugged the book, trembling faintly.
Just when Lawrence wondered if she was crying, she looked up slowly. Her face betrayed no hint of weakness.
“Listen, you,” she began. “If I destroy this book in anger, will you make amends?”
She was not jesting. This was much more Holo-like than any tears would be.
Lawrence sighed and shrugged. “I don’t mind paying for it, but don’t tear pages out to dry your eyes.” He felt it was a fairly good line.
Holo grinned, showing her fangs as she looked up. “You’d happily buy my tears at a high price, though. ’Twould be a shame not to cry them.”
“There are many counterfeit gems in the world. I’d hate to purchase a fake.”
It was their usual banter.
They both laughed at the absurdity of it.
“Will you leave me alone for a while to read?” she asked.
“I shall. But tell me your thoughts when you’re finished.”
If possible, Lawrence wanted to be at her side as she read.
Saying so, however, risked her anger.
Worrying about someone was the same as not trusting them.
Holo was a proud wisewolf. Lawrence could plainly see that treating her like a delicate, weeping maiden would bring furious reprisals.