“How is your wound?”
Lawrence went red upon hearing that question.. he was angry, and didn’t want to face her. He knew he had just upset her, so he didn’t counter-attack. It seemed she took it personally that he tossed the towel back at her. It wasn’t an act.. she really did want him to rub her back, and he had misread her. It was his loss.
* * *
“So, this company is up to no good?”
The three of them walked to the market. There should be stalls there, and Lawrence had mentally prepared himself for the inevitable blackmail to get him to buy things. But he didn’t expect Holo to sniffle while they walked, and it made him feel bad. He looked at her and discovered she was actually sniffing at the clams being heated on a hot stone at a nearby stall.
“We’ve yet to confirm that, but according to Eve is seems very likely.”
He wasn’t sure if Holo was listening anymore; her eyes were shining and wordlessly doing the asking for her. Lawrence knew it was useless to refuse. He’d best save his energy. He handed a copper coin to the shopkeeper, then sharpened small sticks and picked out enough clam meat for the three of them.
He was about to remark on how inexpensive the clam meat was, but then he was told that salt would be extra. He smiled, voiced a complaint to the shopkeeper, and got them to tell him where D’Jean Company was.. it would be a waste of money if he didn’t at least get some useful information.
“Will they tell us anything once we arrive?”
Only Cole thanked Lawrence for the clam. Of course, that misunderstanding was now cleared up.
“As Eve said, that’ll be up to me.”
“In that case, we should be expecting nothing.”
Cole smiled at her words. It seemed Lawrence was once again the butt of the jokes.
“But I must say.. I had not expected the difference between the north and south sides of this city to be so great..”
Holo was right. Gerube was located at the Roam river’s estuary, and was divided in two by the river. Their inn was in the north, and the market and nicer buildings were clustered around the river. There were more people in those areas, but that was just an illusion when compared to the inn.
As they walked along the river they saw a stony beach. Being along the estuary of the river, the beach was rather expansive and stretched quite far from the water. To their right was the sea.. Lawrence’s nose could already smell the salt in the air. On the other side of the river was the south side of town. It’s entrance was the largest market in Gerube.
This delta was the most lively area in the three regions of Gerube. But the buildings in the south side were the most beautiful. In the north side of town one would feel poor. Lawrence could barely make out the ships and marketplace on the riverbank of the south side, but he suspected there would be more ships and goods there than on the north side.
It was common for towns to have a poor district and a wealthy district. Being separated by the Roam river meant that the north and south sides of town might even be operating independently of one another.
“There should be a store on the other side of the river named Ron’s Company.”
“That is where your guild-mates would gather, is it not?”
“Yes, though I actually went to their other branch on the delta.”
Lawrence pointed to the small town on the delta between the river and the sea. He wasn’t sure if “town” was the right word.. but merchants considered it an independent region.
From the north side, the delta seemed like little more than a mess of gray buildings. But when the wind blew from that direction, it seemed to carry with it the hustle and bustle of the area. If Holo took her cloak off there, it would surely cause a riot.
“T’would appear to be a busy place.. we shall pay it a visit, yes?”
“What, the clams weren’t filling enough?”
Holo responded by pouting like a child. She surely realized that Lawrence would take them there after their work was done, so it must be an act. He shrugged to show his understanding, but then stopped walking.. Cole was silently staring at the delta, not even eating his clams.
“What’s the matter?”
Cole jumped at Lawrence’s sudden question.
“Wha..? N-Nothing..”
“..nothing?”
As she pressured Cole, Holo snatched his stick of clam meat and ate one of the two pieces that remained.
“You have nothing to say?”
Lawrence had heard that beasts were rather tough on their children. It seemed to be true for wolves, at least. She and Cole were so alike; they couldn’t just tell say what they wanted. He remembered the time he and Holo had just met, and the convoluted manner she used to get him to buy her some apples. She wasn’t as difficult anymore, but perhaps she was saw a bit of herself in Cole.
“I just.. I..”
He was still young, but he was a teenager.
“I want to see it.. the delta..”
Unlike Holo, he even looked at Lawrence bravely as he replied. Lawrence grabbed Cole’s stick back from Holo, and returned it to him.
“So much braver than you.”
His retort earned him a kick from Holo.
“You aren’t my apprentice, and I’ve yet to repay your graciousness with the ointment. So relax.. just voice out your desires.”
It would normally feel strange to have to say this to someone, but not Cole. He was too humble.. perhaps it was just the way he was raised. He behaved just as Lawrence believed an apprentice should act, if he had one.
“..I understand.”
Cole answered with a smile, but it wasn’t a natural one. He seemed to realize that Lawrence and Holo were worrying about him, and forced himself to answer that way.
There was a commonly-known saying that a kindly master once wanted to free an obedient and honest slave. He told the slave to live freely, and never serve anyone again. And so the slave obeyed the order and never served anyone.. but if he lived to obey it, was he truly free?
Cole must have put himself in the shoes of that slave.. his smile reflected that.
“But we can’t go there just yet. Merchants are impatient, so if we don’t finish our job first I won’t feel at ease.”
“Of course.. but..”
Cole scratched his head as he spoke.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Hopefully Holo would gain a bit of his honesty, thought Lawrence. But he didn’t dare to look at her directly. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her hiding her anger behind a smiling face.
“This is my third visit to this town, but I’ve never been to the delta.”
“It costs too much to cross the river?”
Cole nodded. Lawrence wanted to ask how he had crossed the river in the first place if he didn’t even have enough money to get into the delta area. But Cole always had an extreme solution.. he might have even swam across the river with his clothes tied to his head.
“Right, and I’ve never been to the south side.. how about you?”
They continued their exchange, since Lawrence noticed that Cole had finished his clam meat. Cole looked around before he answered, then whispered to Lawrence.
“The south side is.. beautiful..”
Despite being separated only by a river, the north and south sides were vastly different. The north was a pagan area, the south a place for merchants and the Church.. perhaps that accounted for the difference. Southern merchants tended to be wealthier, and so wealth gathered there.
“..but the people of the north were far more charitable.”
“Ah.. I’ve heard that the people on the north side were born in the northlands.. is that true?”
“I think so. Many people came here from Roef. But even if it’s untrue, I still think the people on the north side were kinder.”
Lawrence rubbed his nose with his finger as he searched for a good reply. The north and south sides had a relationship like humans and wolves.
“A tough environ
ment brings out the kindness in people.”
Cole smiled and nodded strenuously. His mission was to save his northern homeland by studying Church Law in the south, so of course he would be happy when his kind was appreciated. Lawrence empathized.
Lawrence also knew the reason the largest trading center was built on the delta; it was a buffer, a neutral zone, between the north and south sides.
“But still..”
Lawrence was looking at the delta as Cole continued.
“The people living in the south always seem happy.”
Cole seemed to add this as though Lawrence would be unhappy if he didn’t.. Lawrence smiled in surprise.
“Well, the weather’s better in the south.. it’s easier to make wine.”
“Ah, I see..”
In a few years, Cole would surely grow into an extraordinarily gentle man. This idea popped into Lawrence’s head, but he had no right to object. And Holo seemed to have the same idea. She walked with Cole, hand in hand, possibly investing for the future. It hit Lawrence as a cheap way to stoke his jealousy, and sure enough the eyes under her cloak sharply turned on him as if to say “if you yourself get too brave, I still have other options.”
He rubbed his chin and sighed, swallowing the words he wanted to say: do you feed the fish you have caught? But no matter how badly he wanted to chastise her, he knew that by saying it out loud he would lose face compared to Cole. He was just a boy, after all, there was no need to take things too seriously. He breathed in deeply and smiled.
Chapter 2
The Roef river joined the Roam river at the base of the mountains. In turn the Roam river joined the sea at the Winfield Channel. Lisco, a mining town, was further upstream on the Roef river, while Lenos was where the two rivers met, and Gerube lay on the shores of the channel.
Gerube’s location made it the trading post for the copper crafts coming downstream from Lisco. So copper-focused companies in Gerube should probably be rather large.. at least, that’s what they expected until they arrived at the door of D’Jean Company.
“This is it?”
Holo was the first to voice her disappointment. She wore of a look of concern, as if she was worried the door would crumble if she touched it. Indeed, she seemed unhappy enough to transform into her wolf form and destroy the place.
Their signpost was wrought-iron, and their loading docks on the street were full of different products, but they didn’t have long-haired horses to haul goods to and from the north.. not even heated caravans. One thin mule stood outside their door, it’s back laden with grass. It yawned while waiting for it’s journey to begin.
Cole also thought about companies in terms of wealth and power. His face seemed both aggressive and cautious toward this poor company.
“Would you mind telling me who you are?”
In the accountant’s office was a slightly overweight man, who raised his head from his writing when he saw Lawrence. He was the only one there, other than some chickens pecking at the grass on the floor.
“I welcome you if you’re here to buy. But if you’re here to sell, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
He didn’t even stand, though his chubby face did smile. He seemed quite tired.
Holo didn’t like his attitude, and looked at Lawrence. This was D’Jean Company, who had traded the bones of the her kin for some unthinkable reason? Her emotions were confused; this was the foe she wanted to bite to death, but they hardly seemed worthy.
Cole, on the other hand, still seemed to feel his tired face had some power behind it. And, after all, the size of a company didn’t correspond to how skilled it’s people were. There was even the saying that a phoenix might fly from a chicken’s nest.
“Is no one else here?”
Lawrence asked while walking back out onto their loading dock. There was so much grass strewn about that one could easily mistake the building as the home of a farmer. It had the minimal requirements to be considered a storefront, but was hard to view it as such.
“Hmm.. you’re a merchant from the south, are you? Must be profitable.”
There were weapons stacked in one corner; they were probably goods left behind in the store that couldn’t be sold. That helped ease Lawrence’s mind, since he had also suffered a great loss from the recent price crash in military equipment.
“It’s not great, but it’s not terrible either.”
“It’s never terrible here, either.”
The man spoke with obvious sarcasm, raising his hands in surrender. Holo and Cole joined Lawrence as he looked around. Holo then suddenly picked up some grass and discovered two chicken eggs under it.
“Oh.. we’ve got eggs. The hens lay ’em everywhere. It’s quite a bother finding ’em all, even though there are fewer chickens around this year. Last year they were everywhere.. the noise was godawful.”
“I take it this is due to the cancellation of the northern expedition?”
“Aye. No one comes now, and there’s no profit to be had. Men have no reason to move if it’ll just make ’em feel hungry, after all. Crop prices fell, and the buckets and bottles and weapons that were popular last year just gather dust. Only wine’s popular now.”
“Oh?”
That seemed to pique Holo’s curiosity. The chubby man shrugged.
“When there’s naught else to do you may as well drink wine, right?”
Holo agreed.
“So, Mr. Merchant with two little ones in tow, what opportunity do you bring for me today?”
“Little ones?”
Holo was so taken aback that she pulled down her scarf. Her nun-like facade was crumbling. Lawrence nervously put on an expression begging her to calm down.
“I’d like to meet the owner of D’Jean Company.”
“You’re lookin’ at him.”
Lawrence expected that answer, so he just nodded without surprise. He stepped forward and set Eve’s letter down in front of the man.
“Oh, I apologize for the attitude. I wasn’t expecting a friend of Boland Company.”
“Company..?”
Lawrence had no idea that Eve ran her own company.. it came as a bit of a shock. But it did reinforce his feeling that she was suited for the nickname “the wolf”. The man wasn’t surprised by Lawrence either, and just continued speaking in a relaxed manner.
“It’s just her on her own.. there’s not even a sign. But she’s got her network of information and contacts everywhere, so we can consider it a powerful company, can’t we?”
He opened the letter as if hoping Lawrence would agree with him. Lawrence didn’t know the extent of Eve’s influence, and felt he shouldn’t reveal his ignorance to the man, so he just smiled and nodded. The man nodded back, though Lawrence wasn’t sure what he was thinking.
“Huh.. so you’re Kraft Lawrence? I can’t picture anyone bringing a letter from that wolf here. Did she corner you?”
The man didn’t seem too clever, but the furrows in his eyebrows betrayed his experience. His face wasn’t threatening, nor did it show any dignity.. just interest in the situation. The face of a properly experienced merchant.
“I can’t say.”
“Hahaha! I see.. well then what can I do for you?”
The man shifted his attention to the letter, and Lawrence noticed his face slightly contort. The letter would be about the remains of the wolf deity.. any legally-straight merchant would just laugh it off and pull out a bottle of wine. But the owner of D’Jean Company just smiled in thought. After a moment he put down the letter.
“I see.. it’s been quite a long time since someone was interested in this. Well, you’re not just here for fun, are you? I mean, you even turned to Eve Boland for this..”
“Please.”
Lawrence answered with a smile to match the owner’s smile. Two emotions mixed on the man’s face, one of disbelief that someone came for the bones, and one of relief that someone wanted to hear him talk about them. Indeed, someone was here to hear their story. Lawrence felt
a bit conflicted upon seeing that, but the man stopped smiling.
“Just for being on the receiving end of a joke, you were able to get that wolf to write you this letter. You must be an excellent merchant. I’m guessing these two kids aren’t what they seem, either.”
“We’re not the directors of some company, nor do we come seeking praise. What’s important to us is what you can do for us.”
“Kraft Lawrence, a proper merchant visiting my company.. that’s what’s important to me. Right.. I’m Ted Reynolds, the owner of D’Jean Company.”
That was a name Lawrence had read on the Roam river, the name of D’Jean Company’s accountant. He had pictured the man to be younger than himself, but here sat a man twice his age.
“D’Jean was the name of my father’s wife.. he loved her greatly.”
“That’s very respectable.”
“Using her name came as a shock to his trading partners. They figured he was just a man cowed into obeying his wife’s wishes.”
He held up one finger and closed one eye, in a gesture that nobles used which annoyed others. It really didn’t suit him, and ended up giving off a friendly vibe. Lawrence reminded himself to guard his speech around this man.
“It’s quite odd, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but only because people are odd.”
“You’re right.. uh..”
Reynolds stood up before continuing.
“Please wait a moment.”
He walked back into his office. The chickens behind him were clucking and pecking at Cole’s sandals. Cole kept pushing them away with his feet, but they kept returning. Holo watched their battle for a moment before snarling at them. The chickens fled.
“Stay, hey!”
Cole shouted as their feathers were strewn all around. A moment later, Reynolds returned with a box. Even the dimmest merchant would realize what had happened.
“Sorry.. I don’t know why the chickens here like stuff with fur.”
“It’s so cold that we really should keep our toes hidden anyhow.”
Reynolds laughed out loud at Lawrence’s candor.
“Hahaha.. I can’t imagine what it’s like. If they pecked my toes I’d cook ’em for dinner with the eggs tomorrow.”