“We fight by God’s will! Born by the sword, we enact His judgment on His betrayers! But we shall not fight a coward’s fight, stabbing at them from behind! We shall return your respect and do our utmost to face the glorious Hugo Mercenaries!”
It was such a colossally silly formality that Lawrence nearly laughed. It was all the funnier knowing that it was just a fraud. Reginald reacted with obvious fury at his words, standing up taller and matching the anger of the Diva representative beside him.
In reality that representative was probably the only one who was taking this so seriously, although Myuri and Reginald also had to take this seriously. And, since they were celebrating their principles, Holo would be seriously enjoying this as well.
“Then let Lacotyr, the God of War, reveal the Truth!”
Reginald raised his axe in turn, and every soldier present followed suit. It was a rare thing to behold over a hundred warriors raising their weapons together, and it reminded Lawrence of the heroic tales of dragon-slaying that he enjoyed as a youth. His heart was beating furiously.
“Our foes are not to be trifled with, so let’s show them what we’re made of!!”
With Myuri’s declaration the fight began, and soldiers spilled into the valley below. Diva’s representative seemed to be about Lawrence’s age, and was just as excited by the proceedings. He bellowed along, and had he a sword of his own, he might have rushed in with the others.
That was just how men were; staying calm in this kind of atmosphere was impossible. Even the most un-warlike merchant would be swept away. It made Lawrence finally see the appeal of choosing such a dangerous life of spite over one driven by profit.
No other occupation gave one this brand of excitement. On the battlefield it all came down to whoever was strongest. Even a child could prove themselves. Holo would be cheering with excitement too, if she could even hold herself back from assuming wolf form.
Lawrence smiled at that thought, until he noticed that Hildir was stirring. The moment he looked down at the rabbit, he heard a voice.
“What is so funny?”
“Nothing, I-”
He couldn’t believe his ears, and spun around to see none other than Holo.
“Holo!!”
He shouted out loud, and she closed her eyes, clearly upset. Because of his outburst, everyone would know she was here now. Seeing a girl on the battlefield was odd enough, but now they knew there was a flesh and blood wolf in their midst.
“H-how long ago did you get back?”
“I arrived at the town the day before last, but was delayed there by some business.”
She seemed exhausted, and her face was covered in dust. She had just run a circuit that would take a human seven days, so even a horse would be mush now. But none of that really mattered to Lawrence right now; he was so thrilled to see her after what felt like a decade (even if it was only a week).
“Really..? Oh whatever, as long as you’re alright-”
She cut him off.
“Wait, why is the rabbit here?”
His mouth froze, and he felt like a young apprentice again. He was so confused that he even felt like he was talking to his old master again, even though it was someone entirely different before him. It was the second time he felt this way, the previous being the moment he saw her again in the Pazzio sewers.
“There was an unexpected turn of events.”
Myuri was the one who replied. Holo might look like an ordinary girl, but Myuri had to answer her to keep Hildir’s identity a secret in the din.
“So you were tricked, were you?”
Myuri smiled. She was right on the money, despite her sarcasm.
“Well, we saw how the town was, so that is hardly surprising.”
“We?”
She shot Lawrence another look of pure annoyance for butting in before she pointed her chin upward. He looked up to see a bird high overhead.
“Fill me in on the details later. First I will have you tell me what you are doing. With so much pig blood in use, I can only surmise you are having a festival?”
Her sharp mind had clearly realized that this was just a sham.
“How should I put this? We’re showing off our natural beauty.”
She smiled at Myuri’s reply, knowing what he really meant.
“It is important for everyone to be aware of their responsibilities.”
“Ah, then you take my meaning. I was worried you would be angry at the ridiculousness of it all.”
“I will be, if you perform poorly.”
Myuri pouted, acting surprised.
“But you have not disappointed thus far. The Myuri I knew also loved showing off to others.”
Myuri’s surprise was genuine now. He beamed a happy smile and looked at his band’s flag before confirming with Holo.
“Really?”
“Yes. It is the male thing to do. Even this one wants to show off!”
She patted Lawrence on the head like some goods being hauled around. He had half a mind to retort, but what could he say when it was the truth?
“Well, there is something about war that does that to men, and not just mercenaries. Still, bear with this play; the curtain’s only just risen.”
“I have been trying to piece together what you are all doing, but now I see.”
Her calm reply made Moid, the acting commander, turn back in surprise. It seemed this wolf understood everything.
“Okay.”
“Is that why you have left your wagons behind?”
Myuri could only shrug with an expression that made it clear that she was on the money.
“Great, now I do not even have a place to hide.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Hey, you, do not just hold that rabbit!”
She violently snatched the cage with Hildir away from Lawrence. Hildir was always calm, but even he flinched in response.
“All of this ’bloodshed’ is because of you, you ridiculous fool!”
She lashed out at Hildir and shook his cage. There was nothing he could do but lie there, literally like a rabbit being eyed by a wolf.
“Take it.”
Having vented, she handed the cage to a young man standing next to them. The youth was perplexed by the whole scene that had unfolded in front of him, but he had seen his captain defer to her. He looked at Myuri, unsure how to react.
“Take good care of that rabbit, now. It’s important.”
“Please do. We have other things to do.”
She ignored Myuri’s questioning stare and the mortified reaction of the young man. She pulled Lawrence away, who was just as puzzled as they were.
“Where are you going?”
Holo paused at Myuri’s question and looked back at him.
“To fetch something hidden in the mountains. It must be retrieved.”
“Then at least let me send some men with you..”
Holo’s attitude changed in a flash, and she showed Myuri respect by releasing Lawrence and giving him a serious reply.
“Thank you, but this one will do.”
She then poked Lawrence in the gut. Lawrence understood; he had accepted responsibility for the banned book, even if Holo had just retrieved it. If he wasn’t the one that ended up handing it over to Myuri and Hildir, then his promise to her would mean nothing. With no way to protest being treated like a scolded child, he simply let her grab his hand again and lead him away. She looked back as they left.
“Please wait for us, we shall return quite soon.”
“Very well..”
Myuri was obviously still puzzled, and sent them off with his eyes. Holo held Lawrence’s hand as she walked in front of him, taking him to a spot that was secluded from the riotous atmosphere of the battle. The men had been there earlier; their footprints and a sled’s trail still fresh in the snow, as well as an obvious pair of small feet leading off the road and far into the mountains.
“This is the way you came?”
&
nbsp; “Yes. When I heard the sound of battle, I considered turning into a wolf and leaping in.”
Lawrence kept himself from chuckling; he knew he would have wanted her help if things were as bad as they must have sounded. Still, he couldn’t suppress a smile when he considered that it was just like her to want to join in the fight.
“Whew, good thing you didn’t.. all that work would have been wasted.”
“I would have, if Louis had not been with me.”
“Louis?”
Lawrence couldn’t help but ask as he watched Holo pull her cloak up and step onto a ledge.
“Do not give me that look! Him, him!”
When she pointed at the sky, Lawrence finally realized she was talking about the bird.
“How rare for you to call someone by name..”
Holo flashed the same malicious grin she always flashed when she spotted prey.
“Oh? Are you jealous?”
Lawrence felt his heart sink.
“You are, are you not? I doubt you even know how you looked at me when you saw me just now. Like a happy mutt finally seeing his master after a long time!”
She laughed and stepped up on the ledge alone. Lawrence was so bitter he couldn’t find any words, so he just followed her with his usual sigh. Damn.. had her time together with that bird led to something?
He kept following Holo, but unlike her light footfalls, his kept sinking into the heavy snow. She laughed at him each time she watched him yank his feet back out. Why was he the only one happy at their reunion?
Again, this was just how he felt back in Pazzio. He was worried sick about Holo, even if she wasn’t in any real danger this time. But accidents did happen. They just happened to him. In fact, one false move this time might have been his last. Why didn’t she seem to care?
Maybe he shouldn’t have hoped for such a reunion. It was selfish, and he knew it. But it was all he wanted, and all he could think about now. He just kept sinking into the snow as he tried to keep up with her light footsteps.
Finally, he wondered if he ought to just give up and make her look back at him. He even stopped as he mulled it over, but just as he sighed..
“Wh- whooaaaaa!!”
He lost his balance and fell over in a panic. He was falling back down the slope! His life flashed before his eyes, but somehow he miraculously managed to land on his back in just the right pile of snow to survive.
“..whew..”
He was so light-headed he might as well have fainted. Something was on his chest too, probably snow that landed on top of him from the ledge above. His first instinct was to stand up so Holo wouldn’t laugh at him, but he was even more nervous when he realized what was really on his chest.
“..Holo?”
She wasn’t laughing at him or pulling him up. She just lay there with her face on his chest. It wasn’t snow on top of him, but Holo.
“..”
She quietly hugged him. Tightly. She only relaxed long enough to let him breath and shift slightly, then hugged him again. That sound he was hearing must have been her lovely tail sweeping the snow around them.
There was no point in standing up anymore, so he just lay there in the snow. He really did crash down hard. His head was buried so deep that all he could see was snow, and he could barely hear anything. All he heard, in fact, was the muffled sounds of their voices.
The sky was hidden from view; there were only tree branches. It made sense for Holo to hide the book here. It wasn’t just Myuri, Moid or Hildir who would struggle to find it, but also Louis, the bird flying in that hidden sky.
He finally wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed her back. Was she thinner? She reacted to his back rub with a groan of pain, and her small body began trembling. He then also groaned when her claws dug into him.
Thank God.. he wasn’t the only one happy about their reunion. It wasn’t just him that was missing her. He could finally afford a tiny laugh.
“You’re the real actor here.”
He laughed even louder as he repeated her earlier words to Myuri, which only made her dig her claws in even deeper.
“Ow, ow.. but you don’t seem as surprised by what’s going on as I thought you’d be.”
Holo seemed unsure of what he meant, but after staring off into space for a moment she finally relaxed her grip. He smiled, wondering just how much more like Pazzio this scene could get, but was glad he didn’t voice that thought out loud. This way, he could say what he really wanted to say.
“It’s good to see you again.”
She finally looked up at him, and her face began to distort. He wasn’t nervous this time, and just held her tightly as she began to cry, before quickly moving his legs to prop himself up. She seemed rather upset by it, but he just smiled back even more gently.
“If we take too long, they’ll come looking for us.”
She couldn’t tolerate hearing her own teases used against her, so Holo pouted and buried her face in his jacket to dry her tears. She then pushed herself away from him and stood up.
“Now I know what a horse must feel like after being ridden.”
Holo had once nearly crushed him with her giant wolf’s paw, but this time she didn’t bare her fangs at him. Instead, she leaned down to help him stand up.
“Why would the one holding the reins say that?”
It felt wonderful to hear her say that, but it made him want to snap back, “just who is the one holding the reins here?”
Instead, he stood up silently and dried her remaining tears with his finger. Holo reacted indignantly, but he knew how happy she was by her ears and tail. The moment he had wiped her right eye, she turned her left eye to him. With one last sigh, he completed his duty.
Chapter 9
“So this is the banned book?”
Holo had kept the book among the other things she had brought from Kinisen. It was quite an official-looking and authoritative tome, enough to make one think twice about opening the cover.
“What’s it say, I wonder?”
“Well, all I know is that the fat merchant said-”
Holo paused as she poked her head through the hole in her shirt.
“That it is the real deal.”
“Oh..?”
Lawrence opened the book and was assaulted by the smell of knowledge in ink-form. There was of course no way he could actually read it, since it had been written in language of those who dwelled in the deserts. The writing was full of odd curves and dots, to the point where Lawrence almost doubted that they were words at all.
“Well, you have it now.”
Holo suddenly stopped moving, and looked at him resentfully.
“..did something happen?”
It was a pricey tome, so odds were good that Holo had to argue with Lou to get it. That’s all Lawrence meant, but the way she angrily turned her head caught him off guard.
“Of course!”
“Really?”
He was worried now, but that only annoyed her more.
“Have you any idea how difficult it was for me to leave Cole behind?”
“Oh!”
So that was it.
“But I had to, even if he naturally shed tears when he saw me again. That stupid Church girl should have stayed out of it, but she could not leave things well enough alone.”
It made sense that Holo would only be there for the book if they were in trouble, so Cole would instinctively want to help Holo. If Elsa hadn’t stopped her, Holo would have probably taken him back with her.
“Uh.. I see..”
Being uninvolved, there wasn’t anything Lawrence could do but sympathize. Holo realized that and finally turned away.
“Curses! I knew better, but that arrogant little brat-”
Holo seemed ready to explode again as she recalled what had happened. Elsa was quite bold, and had clearly done something to offend Holo. Holo’s tail was swishing back and forth so furiously that her clothes were flapping around every which-way.
“A
rgh.. enough of that. Why are you fools taking that rabbit to such a dangerous town?”
She looked up at him, firing yet another question that he didn’t want to answer. She even grabbed her belt off of Lawrence’s shoulder and brusquely wrapped it around herself, so he wouldn’t have a chance to do it himself. People might get the wrong idea if they saw her doing that, but there was no helping the nature of the Wisewolf.
“I already know that you are taking that rabbit to Sovereign after getting swept up in this rebellion, so tell me why you, one who is important to me, must be put in danger?”
There wasn’t really that much personal danger in giving Hildir the banned book, but taking him to Sovereign was another matter entirely.
“Well.. let’s just say that he made a very compelling case.”
He then went on to recap everything that had taken place after she left for Kinisen, but the look of disinterest on her face couldn’t be more obvious. The moment he finished talking, she spoke up.
“Yes yes, I already know that he is clever. The question is: why did the fool before me agree to do this?”
In other words, why would Lawrence accept Hildir’s scheme when it clearly made no sense for him to take such a risk? All Lawrence could say in reply to that was to ask her another question.
“You mean I should run away from our problems?”
If he ran, he would have spared himself all of this trouble of going to Sovereign and being involved in a battle. And yet, it wasn’t certain that he would have been better off doing so.
“..I am just venting.”
Her reply was weak enough to make it clear that she wouldn’t have been happy to see him betray Hildir like that, let alone Myuri.
“But flowers will not bloom without the appropriate seeds.”
True, they had fled before they were adequately prepared. Lawrence shut the book in his hands and nodded before putting it back into Holo’s pouch and tying it. It was hardly a typical pouch; it was so tough it felt like it was woven from chains, and even held the coins Hildir meant to pay Lou with.
Lou might be a superb book dealer, but he wasn’t a fool. If their plan failed and the book became worthless to them, Holo would surely return it to him, but if their plan succeeded then Lou would have directly helped Hildir. It was worth far more to deny the three hundred coin payment now to earn more in the future. At least, that was how Lou would probably see it.