“That’s not the kind of thing a merchant who superstitiously follows the paths of the saints wants to hear.”
Holo smiled and shrugged. “’Tis hardly my fault humans are such queer creatures that they must find something to worship.” Her smile turned malicious. “Do you not wish to worship me?”
Lawrence knew she hated being worshipped and feared as a god, so she was clearly not being serious.
Yet he had no ready retort.
After all, when she was in a foul temper, he would offer her sacrifices to calm her.
Lawrence sighed and looked away; Holo chuckled.
Suddenly he felt her take his hand. “Let us go,” she said, pulling him along as she ran down the hillside.
He looked at her face in profile. She seemed less satisfied over her teasing of him and more relieved about something.
Perhaps seeing the den of Truyeo, who the villagers all worshipped, reminded her of her own past and the village she had once inhabited.
It was surely out of embarrassment over turning suddenly sentimental that Holo had resorted to teasing Lawrence.
She continued to run under the moonlight.
Aside from pretending not to notice, there was little Lawrence could do to help her with these pangs of weakness.
It made him feel completely useless, and yet Holo was still willing to take his hand.
Maybe this was the perfect distance to maintain, he mused with just a bit of loneliness.
Such were the thoughts that occupied his mind as they descended the face of the hill to catch up with the pair that had reached the riverbank ahead of them.
“So, how do we escape?” asked Evan.
Lawrence handed the question off to Holo.
“We’ll need to first make for Enberch.”
“Huh?”
“We’ve been there once before. We’ll need some sense of the lay of the land if we’re to escape undetected.”
Evan nodded, as if to say, “Oh, I see.”
But Holo still looked vaguely displeased as she kicked pebbles around by the bank of the brook. She sighed. “Let me just say this,” she said, facing Evan and Elsa, who were still holding hands. “If you cower in fear, I’ll devour the both of you.”
Lawrence fought back the urge to point out that this statement itself was threatening enough. Holo was probably aware of that.
She was like a child who knew her demands were unreasonable but could not help making them anyway.
The two nodded, unsurprisingly taken aback by Holo’s manner. Holo looked to one side, seeming somewhat embarrassed herself. “Both of you! Turn around and look the other way! And you—”
“Right,” said Lawrence.
Holo pulled her hood back and removed her cape. She handed her clothes to Lawrence piece by piece as she removed each item.
Just watching her was enough to make Lawrence feel cold. Evan looked over his shoulder, apparently unable to resist peeking at the sudden sound of clothes rustling.
Holo did not have to snap at him because Elsa did it for her.
Lawrence sympathized with Evan.
“Truly, why is the human form so weak against cold?” Holo complained.
“It makes me chilly just looking at you,” said Lawrence.
“Hmph.”
She took off her shoes and tossed them to Lawrence, then finally removed the pouch containing wheat grains that dangled from her neck.
There they stood amid the bare-branched trees dimly lit by the moon.
The brook reflected the moonlight like a mirror.
Before that brook stood a strange girl with keen wolf ears and a fluffy tail that seemed to be the only warm part of her body.
It truly was a vision from a dream before daybreak.
White puffs of breath escaped from Holo’s mouth. She suddenly looked at Lawrence.
“Do you want words of praise now?” he asked with a shrug.
Holo gave him a defeated smile in return.
Lawrence turned his back to her, looking away.
There beneath the sparkling moonlight, the maiden became a wolf.
This world did not belong solely to the Church.
The proof of that was now no farther away than the opposite bank of the babbling brook.
“My fur truly is the finest.”
Lawrence turned and looked at the source of the low, rumbling voice and was met by a pair of red-tinged eyes shining back at him, bright as the moon.
“If you ever wish to sell it, just say the word,” said Lawrence.
Holo curled her lips back, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
He knew her well enough to understand this was a smile.
Now all that remained was the test of Elsa and Evan. Holo seemed to sigh, looking at their shapes, their backs still turned in the gloom.
“Hmph. Well, I cannot say my expectations were high. Come, climb upon me. ’Twill be bothersome if we’re discovered.”
A bird stalked by a dog lacks the strength to take off and fly, and despite Holo’s words, this was so of Elsa and Evan.
It was not until Lawrence circled around to stand in front of Elsa and Evan and gestured with his chin that they could bring themselves to turn around.
Even Lawrence had been terrified almost past the ability to stand when he had seen Holo’s true form for the first time.
In his mind, he applauded the couple for not fainting dead away.
“This is naught but a dream before daybreak, remember?” he said, looking particularly at Elsa.
They neither cried out nor tried to run, merely looking back at Lawrence for a moment before facing Holo again.
“So Father Franz wasn’t lying,” murmured Evan, which elicited a long-fanged smile from Holo.
“Come, let’s get on,” said Lawrence.
Holo heaved a great, weary sigh, then crouched down low.
Lawrence, Elsa, and Evan all climbed upon her back, each gripping her stiff, bristly fur.
“If you should fall, I will pick you up with my mouth. Be prepared.”
Evidently this was Holo’s standard warning when bearing humans on her back.
Elsa and Evan took the warning to heart, tightening their grip on her fur, which gave Holo a chuckle.
“Let us be off, then.”
She ran, every bit a wolf.
Riding on Holo’s back was like plunging into freezing water.
Her feet were terrifyingly swift. She traced a wide circle around the village, then made for Enberch, arriving almost immediately at the path she and Lawrence had taken into Tereo with the wagon.
Elsa and Evan were meanwhile feeling something well past mere terror.
Though they shivered uncontrollably, they themselves had no sense of whether this was out of cold or fear.
The path along which Holo ran was barely a path at all; her passengers would be pressed against her back one instant, only to be nearly flung off the next. They could not relax for a moment.
Lawrence clung to Holo’s fur with all his might, praying that Elsa and Evan behind him would not be tossed off.
It was hard to know how much time had passed, but after a span that seemed at once to be a crushing eternity and a brief nap, Holo’s run slowed to a stop, and she crouched down again.
No one asked if they had been spotted.
Holo was unquestionably the least tired of them all, despite carrying three people on her back.
Lawrence’s body was stiff and cramped, and he could not so much as loosen his hands’ grip on Holo’s fur—yet he could hear her tail brushing across the grassy ground.
She did not order her passengers off.
Holo no doubt understood that they could barely move.
She knew that if she had continued to run, one of her three passengers would surely have given out and fallen.
“...How far have we come?” It took Lawrence some time to muster the strength to ask a question.
“Halfway.”
“So is this a break,
or—began Lawrence, when behind him, the exhausted Elsa and Evan seemed to twitch at the alternative.
Holo noticed their reaction as well.
“Our flight would be for naught if you die on the way. We've come far enough that it would take a horse some time to catch up. We’ll rest awhile.”
The news of their escape from Tereo could only travel as fast as a horse could gallop.
They could afford to rest until then.
At Holo’s words, Lawrence felt fatigue press down on him.
“Don’t sleep on top of me. Climb down.”
She sounded displeased, so Lawrence and Evan were able to somehow climb down—but Elsa was at her limit and had to be lifted off of Holo’s back.
Lawrence wanted to light a fire for warmth, but Holo had stopped in a small patch of woods between hills along the path that linked Enberch and Tereo—as long as they stayed quiet, they would not be discovered. Lighting a fire, however, would make them much easier to spot.
In any case, the problem of warmth was quickly solved.
They were, after all, right next to a giant ball of fur.
“I suddenly feel like a mother.”
Holo’s deep voice rumbled deep in Lawrence’s stomach as he leaned against her.
Elsa and Evan wrapped themselves in a blanket they had brought from the church, snuggling up against Holo, and Holo curled her great tail around the three of them.
Her fur was so warm that Lawrence could not even remember if he’d smiled the rueful smile he felt at her words, so quickly had he fallen asleep.
Though merchants can sleep under nearly any circumstances, Lawrence did not sleep especially soundly.
Holo shifted slightly, and he awoke.
The sky had lightened; the morning mist was thin.
Lawrence stood, careful not to wake the still-sleeping Elsa and Evan who lay beside him. His body felt lighter as he slowly stretched himself out.
He gave himself one final, great stretch, arms reaching high, then relaxed with a sigh.
His mind was filled with what they had yet to do.
No matter which town he and Holo decided to go to, they would not be able to just drop Elsa and Evan off. All they could do was return briefly to Kumersun, explain the situation to the trade guild, and obtain its protection—then use the guild’s connections to negotiate with Enberch and Tereo.
Next, he would reclaim the money he had deposited at the guild and make for Lenos.
That was more or less the whole of it.
He noticed that Holo was looking at him.
Even lying down as she was, her form was huge, though he no longer found it terrifying so much as mysterious.
Holo gazed at him for some time, as though she was an elabo rate puppet constructed as a jest by some god. Eventually she looked away.
“What is it?”
Lawrence approached her, his feet rustling through the dry leaves underfoot. She gave him a weary look, then gestured with her chin.
Since she was clearly not demanding to have her neck scratched, Holo must be pointing at something, Lawrence decided.
Just past the hill lay the road that connected Enberch and Tereo.
He soon understood.
“So it’s safe to look, eh?”
Holo did not answer, instead yawning hugely and resting her head on her forepaws. Her ears flicked twice, three times.
Lawrence took her actions as an affirmative but still made Ins way over the hill with his body low and his footfalls light.
It was obvious who would be coming up the path at this hour.
He drew close to the hill’s peak, keeping his head even lower as he carefully took sight of the path.
In his first quick glance, he saw no one, but when he looked farther out, Lawrence was able to hear a quiet jumble of noises coming from the direction of Enberch.
Soon after he heard the sound, he caught sight of its source, hazy in the morning mist.
It was the caravan returning Tereo’s wheat.
Which meant that Enberch’s messenger had already reached Tereo, and depending on the specifics of the message, the villagers might have already forced their way into the church searching for Lawrence and company.
He wondered if Iima, having aided their escape, would be safe.
Her position within the village was a strong one, so she would probably be fine—but he still worried a bit for her safety.
This was immaterial, though—none of them could ever return to Tereo.
Just then, he heard the rustle of footsteps behind him. He looked back.
It was Evan.
“How is she?” Lawrence asked.
Evan nodded—evidently Elsa was fine. He then crouched down next to Lawrence, looking off into the distance. “Are they from Enberch?”
“Must be.”
“Huh.” Evan wore a complicated expression, as though he both longed for a weapon with which to charge the procession and was glad he had no such weapon.
Lawrence looked from Evan to Holo behind them.
Holo was still lying there asleep with Elsa leaning against her.
Elsa seemed to be awake, but she stared listlessly off into space.
“Is Miss Elsa truly well?” Lawrence asked.
She had fainted from anemia, after all, then spent the night on the move.
As he considered what lay ahead of them, Elsa’s condition weighed heavy on Lawrence’s mind.
“Hard to say,” said Evan. “Her complexion is well enough, but she seems to be thinking something over.”
“Thinking?”
Evan nodded.
If this was all Evan could say, then Elsa must not have told him what was on her mind. Having been forced to suddenly leave her home, though, it was hardly surprising that she was dazed and contemplative.
Evan turned and looked back at Elsa. Lawrence caught sight of his expression—he looked like a faithful dog who wanted nothing more than to rush to her side.
But Evan seemed to understand that she was best left alone for a time.
Evan forced his gaze back to the caravan from Enberch, which was now quite a bit closer.
“It’s a sizable group,” he said.
“They’re probably returning all of the wheat purchased from Tereo. And those long sticks the men around the wagons are holding—spears surely.”
The spearmen were merely in case the caravan met resistance from the villagers, but they lent the procession an imposing, sinister air.
“Say, Mr. Lawrence—”
“Mm?”
“Could we not ask your...um...the goddess that carried us here?”
Though Evan lowered his voice, Holo would surely hear this.
She pretended not to, though.
“Ask her what?” Lawrence prompted.
“To...to kill them all.”
When all else failed, ask the gods—humans were ever thus.
And their requests were often absurd in scale.
“Suppose she did agree to such a request. It would certainly be done. But then Enberch would simply send an army to Tereo. And we can’t fight every army they could send.”
Evan nodded, as though he had known what the answer would be. “I suppose.”
The caravan had come quite close now.
The pair crouched and looked on.
“So what shall we do next?”
“I am planning to make for a town named Kumersun first. If we can make it there, our lives will no longer be in danger. After that, well—we’ll figure that out once we’re there.”
“I see...”
“You should think about what you want to do. We’ve a connection, you and I—I’ll do what I can to help,” said Lawrence.
Evan closed his eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”
The caravan that carried with it Tereo’s undoing traveled noisily along the path, disturbing the morning peace.
It included perhaps fifteen wagons with perhaps twenty spearmen to guard the caravan.
/> However, what grabbed Lawrence’s attention the most was a group at the rear of the procession, who were dressed somewhat differently from the rest.
The horse carrying the last cart had blinders and saddle flaps that indicated a high-ranking member of the clergy, and it was surrounded by four men bearing shields with several lower ranking clergymen in travel clothes following behind on foot.
“So that’s how it is,” Lawrence murmured.
Ridelius’s Hellfire had been mixed in with Tereo’s wheat harvest, and a citizen of Enberch had died from it.
But unless the poison wheat had been there from the very beginning, there could not possibly have been any similar deaths in Tereo.
Enberch was going to use this to its advantage.
They would claim the absence of poison victims in Tereo was proof that the village was being protected by evil spirits and that all the villagers were guilty of heresy.
“Let’s go back,” said Lawrence.
Evan nodded wordlessly, seeming to have vaguely perceived something himself.
Lawrence descended the hill and returned to Holo. Elsa him a questioning look, which he pretended not to notice.
Whatever she might ask, the answer was that Tereo’s position was hopeless.
“We’ll go a bit farther, then take breakfast,” said Lawrence.
Elsa dropped her gaze, as if she had realized something.
She said nothing but stood, which prompted Holo to stand up as well.
Evan and Lawrence split the luggage-bearing duties, and the four started to walk with Holo in the lead.
The dry leaves crunched underfoot.
The first one to stop walking was Evan, followed by Lawrence.
Holo proceeded a few more steps, then stopped, looking back.
“Elsa?” asked Evan.
Elsa stood there still, her body wrapped in a blanket.
She stared at the ground.
Evan exchanged looks with Lawrence, then nodded and stared to approach Elsa.
That very moment, Elsa spoke.
“Holo...” She was not addressing Evan. “Are you…really a god?”
Holo said nothing initially, merely swishing her tail once. She then turned to face Elsa. “I am Holo, the Wisewolf of Yoitsu. Long have I been called a god,” said Holo, sitting and looking directly at Elsa.