“Exactly.”
Lawrence smiled like the savviest marketer, and Lou stared back in abject terror. He was stunned. He really couldn’t seem to believe that Lawrence would risk doing something so incredibly self-destructive to his reputation as a merchant. But the plan was theoretically sound, and its few flaws could be ironed out.
“I.. see. But.. do you really think Delink will agree to this?”
Lou wasn’t worried whether they’d be concerned about their own reputation. After all, they’d just be mediating for a bunch of companies wanting money orders. No fuss, no muss. But Delink had to invest a lot more money than they’d offered if this plan was going to work.
“They should. I mean, cash is a hot commodity in Lenos right now.”
“Ah!”
That was the sound of Lou putting two and two together. It was true, Delink could earn a lot with exchange rate shenanigans if they did this.
“Kinisen’s situation is different enough that it’s certainly worth their while. I mean, I don’t think I need to break out an abacus to show you just how much they could make, do I?”
Lou smacked his forehead and looked away sheepishly. He was groaning, though, so Lawrence could tell he was just playing along. After all, if Delink took the plunge, he wouldn’t have to worry about how to convince the other company to sell their book.
Not having to worry about something like that was a godsend for a lonely traveling merchant, especially one who would soon have to worry about it. Doubly so for someone like Lou, who had just felt the stinging sensation of loss, having uselessly dragged Bibles to Lenos. This kind of assurance would be gold to him.
Regardless, Lou looked up at Lawrence like he still needed a bit more of a push.
“Then.. should we really do this?”
He was hooked.
“Yes.”
Lawrence’s short answer left no room for the book dealer to do anything but nod.
* * *
They went to Delink straight away, knowing better than to dally when changing such a big plan. They also knew better than to think that Delink would just accept the proposed changes, like mere passengers in a flying carriage.
Lawrence would certainly never underestimate someone like Eringin. He’d already changed plans on them once, and bought Holo back from them immediately after putting her up as collateral. As if that wasn’t enough, all four of Delink Company’s leaders were present now, so there would be no second chances or nervous backpedaling this time.
Not that Lawrence planned on doing anything less than his best. “Regret” just wasn’t the kind of word he wanted to say in the same sentence as “Delink.” That’s why he kept Lou silent and did all of the talking himself this time, right down to the details. He needed to make it clear that he didn’t have to go Kinisen to make their plan work.
Unnervingly, none of the four masters frowned at him as he spoke. Not even Eringin. They just kept their hands on their desks until he was done. Not until Lawrence finished did Eringin speak, and he had but one thing to say.
“Make it so.”
Lawrence couldn’t believe his ears. He had to make sure he’d heard correctly.
“Really?”
Eringin feigned surprise, like he couldn’t believe Lawrence was flabbergasted.
“Well, um, of course I’m thrilled that you’ve accepted.. but there’s still a few problems..”
“Namely, that you don’t want to go to Kinisen yourself, yes?”
Oh, of course.. with Flynn asking around, and Holo with him now, it was all too obvious. Eringin grinned like he’d seen through him from the start.
“This was your plan in the first place, Mr. Lawrence. As long as our concerns are met, then we have no real reason to refuse your proposed changes. It’s not as though we haven’t thought of this before.”
“!”
Lawrence wasn’t the only one who was shocked to hear that; Lou’s jaw literally dropped.
“But no normal person would want to be part of a plan that involved harming others, and they certainly wouldn’t come up with it in the first place. So we knew that if we suggested it from the start, you’d never agree.”
Incredible. Lawrence was so taken aback he thought Eringin was joking around.. but his smile made it clear that he wasn’t.
“It almost seems like you’re a bit older and wiser, now that you’re actually able to consider the nasty side of life without getting all choked up. Doesn’t it?”
Only Holo was able to smile when she heard Eringin say that. The slave trader smiled right back at her and continued.
“There aren’t a lot of ways for a man to stay young. Bringing her along was a fine choice, to be sure.”
Eringin then stared into Lawrence’s eyes, making Lawrence wonder what he could possibly say. But he did feel like Eringin was at least trying to be conciliatory.
“The moment I saw her come in, I knew all I needed to know about you two. Two people can make it, even if they only have three feet between them, as they say.”
“But don’t forget that there are four of us.”
Another of the bosses couldn’t resist chiming in. It seemed they needed to make it clear that Eringin wasn’t the only one who had made this choice.
“That is, we agree with your choice of strategy, but we’re going to take care of the details. Agreed?”
Eringin spoke like this was business as usual for him. He was the one who best understood how cash flowed between the companies, and just how much of a light touch these kinds of underhanded tactics required. There was no way Lawrence would have said no.
Now all that was left to worry about was Lou. He was the one who had be the villain here. When Eringin said they hadn’t suggested this version of the plan the first time around, it wasn’t really because of Lawrence, but Lou.
“This is a huge opportunity for us all, but our target is just as wily.”
They each took turns shaking hands above the table, re-sealing their altered deal. Shaking hands before signing a contract was something slave traders didn’t usually do. Like Flynn, their business model just didn’t allow it.
“Now we pray for God’s blessing.”
With that, their meeting ended. Lou’s face looked like it was cramped up from all his forced smiling. He looked terrified that it had come to this, and Lawrence also wanted to say what was on his mind: “now we have to actually pull this off.” But in reality it was all on Lou’s shoulders now. He was the one who was going to Kinisen, and he was the one who had to make the actual deal.
“Hey, about the introduction fee..”
Lawrence finally broached the subject as they left the room into a quieter hallway.
“I’d rather not talk about it now.”
“Ah, alright. We can deal it outside.”
“Oh, no, that’s not what I mean.”
Lou looked around nervously, even though Eringin and his partners hadn’t ended their own meeting yet. The only Delink representative within earshot was a another sharp-looking kid standing by the door.
“But-”
“I mean, let’s leave that for when this whole thing’s over.”
Lou put on a sneer like he just wanted to get back at Lawrence.
“No, not because I’ll be the bad guy, or because you’re leaving me on my own. But I just know you’re going to waive the fee in the end. You see, I’m not Flynn..”
He put on the most innocent, child-like smile he could.
“I actually want to build a connection between us. You? Just a traveling merchant? Don’t make me laugh.”
Back when Lawrence was hunting for fallen coins in the sewers, he desperately longed to hear that comment directed at him one day. What a shame that it wasn’t even a distant second for him anymore. Holo didn’t seem to want to get in the way, and kept her distance. Lawrence eyed her as he replied.
“No kidding. I sure am one hell of an abysmal traveling merchant.”
Lou gave a mighty laugh, but Holo di
dn’t even crack a smile. She might be having trouble deciding which upset her more.. Lawrence being jealous about her friend, or him going against her wishes again. But she certainly didn’t seem angry. In fact, it looked more like she felt there was nothing she could do about him. But only a fool would ask her about that, unless they had a death wish.
“After all, it seems like I have a thing for forcing people to do my bidding.”
Holo smiled under her hood, making Lawrence feel even worse about himself. It seemed that for all Lou’s bravado, acting, and sizing up of Lawrence when they first met in Flynn’s shop, it was Lawrence who ended up wrangling the situation to his advantage.
“Well, that’s right up my alley. I love my challenges like I love my profits: the bigger they are, the greater my sense of satisfaction in the end.”
Elsa’s evaluation of Lou had been spot on. His loyalty to his own greed was such that he could actually be trusted, in a twisted kind of way. Lawrence found himself nodding.
“I’m looking forward to seeing just how you rise to this challenge.”
Epilogue
Lou was even happier to hear that Flynn was roasting eels for lunch than Holo was. His first response was an immediate suggestion.
“Then we need to go get some liquor! The eels in Lenos are amazing with the right drink, and we still have to celebrate our contract.. well, our amended contract.”
His half-sincerity forced a smile out of Lawrence.
“But we’ve already pitched in the eels for lunch..”
“Oh don’t worry, the liquor will be my treat! Well, as long as you share something off your wagon, too.”
Since Lawrence’s wagon was mostly hauling freebies from Hugh, he immediately accepted.
“Alright then.”
“You can count on me! You two head back first, and make sure there’s plenty of eel left for me!”
Lou quickly vanished, and half the noise of the road seemed to vanish with him. Was he just born to play that loud a role? Lawrence wasn’t sure, but it was painfully clear that Lou was never going to stop playing it. But as they walked on, Holo finally opened her own mouth.
“Finally we are free of that burden.”
She practically dripped with sarcasm, clearly speaking on both her behalf and Lawrence’s. But he still smiled when he considered that almost everything they’d ever experienced in Lenos had indeed been a burden.
“Well, it’s an unspoken rule for merchants to travel as light as possible.”
“Hmph.”
She finally let her displeasure clearly show, but didn’t refuse his outstretched hand. Her displeasure stemmed from his unwillingness to accept her terms, though, so he didn’t have any right to be unpleasant to her in turn. Besides, he had time to beg forgiveness from God. The steeple of the Lenos church always stared down on everyone, almost no matter where they went.
“Do you feel that way will be shorter? It is far too crowded on the main streets.”
She was pointing into the same alley Lawrence had been thinking of suggesting. They didn’t need the warmth of liquor this time, and it would be unsightly for them to come back to Flynn’s already drunk. As they ducked into the alley, it struck them just how different the silence was compared to the haunting variety in the Delink Company.
Lawrence could finally relax, and so could Holo. The alley may be narrow, but it was well-kept. It was just the kind of comfortable alley that Lawrence liked; the kind that reminded him of a humble, but successful life.
He couldn’t claim to have lost his interest in big and risky deals, but he was back to being happy with the smaller and stabler ones again. He could go back to Yoitsu with Holo now, and not have to worry about how her reunion with Myuri would end up. Their end could be a happy one, and he could finally do what he had to do, and resume his traveling merchantry.
Holo had once said that a good joke lasted fifty years, and he could rest assured that she would remember the joke named “Lawrence” for far longer. The time they spent should certainly be enough to keep them smiling until their eventual reunion, however distant in the future.
Lawrence had done everything he could, so he didn’t have to worry about regrets. He could look back in satisfaction. Just as he reached this conclusion, Holo spoke like she had been listening in on his thoughts.
“Hey.. you..”
“Hmm?”
She looked embarrassed enough to be glad her face was under a hood.
“I need to know..”
Now he was curious.
“Know what?”
“Um.. why did you insist so much on going back with me?”
Did that really need to be asked? From the look on her face, he must have a strange look on his.
“Oh, do not look at me like that. I truly do not understand you. You are not that stupid. You understood my words, but you rejected my plan like it was the end of the world. At first when you said you were jealous, I almost believed you.. but that feeling came later, did it not? Before that, you felt just as strongly. But I just cannot fathom why..”
She couldn’t quite bring herself to finish after looking at him again. That was new. Did he really look that horrible? He instinctively touched his face to try to feel what was so strange about it.
“Was my reaction.. really that strange?”
He didn’t mean his face, of course. And she knew that. But she still hesitated and continued, instead of joking.
“Yes, incredibly so.”
“..”
Now he was completely lost. He wasn’t even sure if he was more disappointed to hear that, or more disappointed that she wasn’t happy with his hard work.
But he already knew she wasn’t happy with his decision. It was hearing that she was just as confused by him as he was with her that made his mind go blank. So blank that he worried he might have gone invisible.
He was but a sheet of paper, barely able to stand on its own power.. even the slightest draft and he would fly off into the sky.
“Hey, I have said it several times, have I not? None of us are dying, so there is no reason to be so serious?”
Any man asked into an alley by a girl like her would be unable to answer that question. It wasn’t just because it felt like tempting fate to answer her honestly, but because he felt he couldn’t say it without being a disgrace to men everywhere.
True, no one was dying, and not seeing someone for several years was nothing new to a merchant. But it felt like he would die if he wouldn’t see for her for that long. Of course he knew he wouldn’t, but this wasn’t rational.
Was it because she wasn’t human, and so his love was more profound than a man’s love for a woman? If he couldn’t even answer that much, what hope did he have to answer her question? As if that wasn’t enough of a problem, it seemed she wasn’t even through talking yet.
“I simply cannot believe that you are so wrong about this. Do you really not understand?”
He clearly didn’t understand. He loved her, and thought she loved him. That was his only wish, in fact. Earlier, Elsa had accused him of being wrong as well. But why? He was so used to being told he was wrong and having no idea why, that it almost felt like he was doomed to always feel that way.
“It truly pains me to have to say this, especially after you have already hurt me so much by implying that I intended to leave you forever or something, but.. oh, must I spell everything out for you!?”
He stared at her in utter amazement.
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what!?”’
Spell everything out for him? Was this some sort of big secret she was bottling up? Lawrence was in way over his head now. All he knew was that she must mean it was something terribly important to him. There was no way he could back down now, so what the heck was she talking about?
The alley was dead silent, except for the sounds of their footsteps. He just held her hand, and put every single scrap of brainpower he had on this task. He was thinking even harder about it
then he had about the Kinisen issue, but seeing that only made Holo angry enough to step in front of him and look into his eyes.
“Ah!”
“Oh!”
Their jaws both dropped, and not because of her action or each other’s reactions.
“Did you..”
“Really..?”
She stared at him in disbelief. His own hand shot up to his mouth and he looked away. No way! He couldn’t believe it, but what else could she be about to say? As her words re-ran in his mind, it became clearer and clearer that there was only one thing she could have meant. Even in the freezing weather, his face felt like it was going to burn away in embarrassment.. and Holo’s eyes looked the same way.
“I.. I see..”
She hadn’t spoken like this in a very long time. It sounded like she was trying to figure out just how many pieces to tear him into. He inched back like a child who had done something they shouldn’t have, but his fearful eyes couldn’t stop looking into hers. They shone right back, with an even stranger red and amber glow than usual for her “serious face.”
“Well, I do have to admit that I am obtuse.. oh ho ho ho..”
She was talking in the voice she used when she was about to swallow a cornered rabbit. He had no choice but to give up. He closed his eyes, ready for the end. The last time they were in Lenos, and she suggested ending their travels, he’d taken her hand and declared his love to keep her with him. What had she replied? Had she even replied back then?
“Oh ho ho.. So you really are that stupid.”
She wasn’t going to hold back this time, but Lawrence had long ago prepared for the day when she would finally eat him alive in a rage. And yet..
“Hmph!”
His eyes were still closed when he heard her snort, and felt something slide into his arms.
“You thought I was just playing with you again?”
“..wha?”
He reopened one wary eye and stole a peek at her.
“Foolish mule.”
He had unconsciously ducked, and she had stood on her toes, so they were both seeing eye-to-eye. He felt completely hopeless, but couldn’t bear to move. They stayed next to each other for a very long time, until he realized that her smile had at some point changed into one of embarrassment.