Spice & Wolf XV (DWT)

  “It just seems a waste to leave here because you are suspicious.”

  He was so stunned that it took him a while to reply.

  “I see.”

  “This is a happy place.”

  “With good food?”

  “And good wine, and ’tis lively. Yet here you are, trying to expose the dark side of the company. It seems a waste. When I think of you opening a shop here, I can only see it as a happy thing.”

  She bent her back and tilted her head at him with a smile.

  “You really enjoy contemplation. Just you saying you wanted to ‘research whether to open a shop here’ changed my mind, and now this town looks entirely different to me.”

  She set her elbows on her knees and put her face in her palms. She stared off around town as though staring further off in the distance, perhaps at something from her ancient past, or in memory of her travels with him. He had been correct; that was obvious now. Her burden was lighter now, albeit slightly, and that was enough to ease his mind. But he had more thought.

  “Ah, speaking about the shop, hmm.. there’s an important place we haven’t gone yet.”

  “Oh, more contemplation?”

  If Diva was able to keep this place so prosperous, there had to be a flaw somewhere. Towns were built with money, and reading the flow of that money was a merchant’s forte. If Lawrence was to open a shop here, he needed to confirm something first.

  “Please follow me.”

  He took her hand and lifted her up, then the two of them strolled quickly and lightly. They were heading to where the moneychangers congregated. It was near the metalworking district, perhaps because the town had no bridges or that the moneychangers’ tradition simply wasn’t being followed here. They didn’t have their own kiosks, either, just crates or mats to sit on.

  “Oh, do you need to change coins again?”

  That was the first thing Holo asked when she saw all the merchants with their weighted scales. They had brought various coins with them from Lenos, all sitting in their room at the inn.

  “It’s just that this place is so different from what we heard that the exchange rates in Lenos can’t be right.”

  “What? Do think you were cheated again?”

  It took about six days to get here, so even if they had no information it was prudent for them to exchange some money before they came. At first he wanted to lecture her, but hearing her say “again” made it clear what her game was.

  “Hush now, just follow me.”

  He couldn’t manage anything more sophisticated than that, but at least she happily grabbed his hand.

  * * *

  Lawrence walked up to the most idle-looking moneychanger. Holo eyed him, clearly worried about whether it was alright to ask such questions in the open. She was right; it would be better to ask in a more private environment, especially since most of the people around the moneychangers would be travelers who were also unfamiliar with the circumstances of Lesco. But the fact that this man was napping on his crate showed how little he cared about the people standing in lines at other moneychangers.

  “Pardon me, I’d like to exchange some coins.”

  “Nng..”

  As one might expect, the middle-aged man’s head remained balanced on his hands as he struggled mightily to open his eyes and look at them. He then took a look to see if there were any other idle moneychangers to push his customers onto.

  “Grah.. nng..”

  He gave a tired stretch to pop his joints back into place. It seemed like he was better-suited to being on the battlefield than exchanging money.

  “Damn. Ah.. sorry, I’m too used to cursing.”

  He scratched his head as he spoke, looking nothing like a merchant.

  “You wanna exchange coins?”

  “Yes.”

  Lawrence smiled, and the man studied him and Holo with one eyebrow raised.

  “You’re a weird one.”

  He was probably just being annoying to show how little he wanted to have Lawrence as a customer.

  “Hmm? What do you mean?”

  “Ahem, ah, curse my careless tongue.. well, it’s ’cause there’re so many other moneychangers, but you came to my pathetically empty stall. You sure you’re a real merchant?”

  Lawrence smiled. The man’s attitude was infuriating, but that just meant he was the right man to ask.

  “A long lineup can be the sign of a third-rate moneychanger.”

  The man pouted and smiled in response.

  “You’re right.”

  “That, and no one in line looks like a merchant anyway.”

  They were just people here to get some cash and do some shopping; farmers and workers, not professional merchants.

  “Huh.. you’ve got a good pair o’ eyes. Damn, what a pain.”

  He stretched again, then put the plates on his scales. Holo watched happily from the side; she probably liked this man’s attitude, not caring what other people thought about anything.

  “So what’d ya wanna exchange?”

  “I’ve got Trenni silver, and wanted whatever you guys use in town here.”

  The man stopped in his tracks.

  “Hmm.. hmm..”

  His hands remained frozen as he began curiously eyeing Lawrence. He then let his hands fall beside the scales with his palms facing upward.

  “Five Lute silvers.”

  That was about what dinner should cost. Holo peered at him questioningly, but Lawrence still went ahead and paid. He did, however, know more or less what the man was working toward.

  “Where are you from?”

  “..Lenos.”

  With the coins in-hand, the man gave a twisted smile as he heard that.

  “They’ll give you a bunch of small coins there.”

  Holo eyed Lawrence as though to say “cheated again, were you?”

  “Yeah, they gave me fourteen different currencies.”

  “Haha, well, I don’t know if it was intentional, but it’s a shame. You shouldn’t’a’given your Trenni away.”

  Lawrence had been to the northern frontier, a land called the windless void, so he was well familiar with how currencies should work in the north. Trenni silver should be popular much further north.. this was quite a surprise.

  “Ah, I see why you didn’t want to queue up in the lines.. you wanted to know how new the coins you just got are, didn’t’cha?”

  He’d figured it out. That was exactly it; Lawrence might save money if he went to the other stalls, but he wouldn’t have been able to closely examine the coins he received with people waiting in line behind him. Moneychangers often intentionally took advantage of just that situation to hand out their poorest-quality coins. Sometimes the least reputable of them would hand out coins so worn they were practically worthless.

  But that wasn’t the only reason Lawrence had chosen this stall.

  “You’re right. You’re probably the one all the locals come to, aren’t you?”

  The man smiled proudly in response. He valued coins as much as the next profit-seeker, but he had a gambler’s personality.

  “So what’s the most trusted coin around here?”

  Currencies were the lifeblood of commerce, and the more one flowed, the better. A merchant usually had no choice but to accept payment in whatever currency a customer had with them, but if it was an untrusted currency they might refuse it. As such, knowing the most trusted coins was an important clue to knowing how the web of commerce worked in a given town. It might even give away whether Diva really planned to go to war, and who they would attack.

  Furthermore, if they were defending this town like a rare flowering plant, then the exchange rates were just as informative. Lawrence needed to know if they planned to wage war or not. And not just for Holo, but for the sake of opening his own shop. He couldn’t very well open a shop and accept coinage no one else in town would accept.

  “Trenni silvers.”

  The man replied as if it was a fact that meant nothing to him.
Trenni were chiefly used in the south, so did that mean Diva really was going to wage war on the northern states?

  “Haha! If that’s so surprising to ya, then you obviously don’t know the rate for Lumiones around here.”

  “..Huh? Lumiones?”

  Those were the most powerful coins in the world right now. They were accepted by exchangers anytime, anywhere. No one refused them. Lumione was just that glorious of a country, and their coins were bright and weighed so much it was obvious how pure they were. Even children knew that.

  The exchange rate of a currency indicated how powerful it was. The more widely it circulated, and the more in demand it was, the higher the rate. Yet even in a land flooded with tens of powerful currencies, Lumione coins seemed genuinely blessed by God at how consistently valued they were.

  If a war was really going to be waged, the price of goods would climb due to shortages of supply, and the exchange rates of currencies would decrease correspondingly. But a Lumione coin was still gold, even if it was melted down. Its value would change very little even in times of war.

  Based on all of this, Lawrence intentionally chose an extreme exaggeration.

  “Forty Trenni silvers.”

  “Twenty seven.”

  “Ha! Ha..”

  Lawrence started laughing, but quickly stopped with an “ah.”

  “Twenty seven. Just not here. You have to go to the exchange for gold coins managed by Diva company. If you plop down twenty seven Trenni there, they’ll hand you a Lumione.”

  The man smiled and stared at Lawrence, who was stunned.

  “I mean, where do you think you are? This place is run by Diva, who run the biggest mines in the world. We might not have gold in these mountains, but lots of silver, copper and tin. So since everyone in the south pays us in Lumione, they get cheaper.”

  Gold coins.. were cheap. Lawrence had never heard that in his life. His first instinct was to assume the man was lying, but when he looked over at Holo, her head was tilted in confusion.

  “Wow, twenty seven..”

  “Haven’t-cha been to the market? Just buy something there. You’ll see just how different we are here.”

  Indeed, Lawrence had just purchased something at the stalls in the square; fried bread for Holo. He was preoccupied, so he had paid without paying attention, but he should have: the currency he was most familiar with was being used here as though it was natural.

  “Most merchants who visit here react the same way. I mean, just head to the market now and buy something. You were probably told that Pulaz coppers were the best coins to use here, yeah? Well that kind of rough stuff won’t please anyone here. You’ll be charged through the teeth.”

  True, that jogged Lawrence’s memory of paying in copper coins at a stall and earning a look of contempt from the shopkeeper. He ended up paying more than he normally should have.

  “We all want finer coins here, even the ones from the south. Some even call this place an exclave of the southern states. It’s just not a widely-known fact.”

  A wave of dizziness hit Lawrence. He’d intentionally stepped into what should have been a den of snakes, but instead it was a cache of gold.

  “So young lady, if you’re after any gold jewelry, get ’im to buy it for you right here.”

  He completely ignored the stunned Lawrence and talked to Holo, who gasped and clutched Lawrence’s arm.

  “Well there ya have it. Five Lute’s worth of information. You have my thanks.”

  The man pocketed the coins with a huge grin.

  Lawrence was speechless as he and Holo walked away. Twenty seven Trenni for a Lumione? The fact kept circling around his mind to the point where he was disoriented. He couldn’t even walk straight.

  “Hey, you.”

  Holo’s voice snapped him out of it. When he looked at her, he saw a gentle smile that he rarely got to see.

  “Are you trying to get in trouble again?”

  Was she joking, being sarcastic, being honest, or just toying with him? Or maybe all four? He’d confirmed one thing on their trip together: business was simple, it’s humans that are complicated. Yet he was so simple Holo could run circles around him.

  “..No..”

  “Then please do what you should, before you vanish inside that head of yours again.”

  Her smile made him nod and immediately reply.

  “Oh, but if I have to get in trouble, I’d rather it be a small quarrel with you.”

  Her ears shifted under her hood.

  “You are getting more and more clever.”

  She would probably sigh in satisfaction if he hugged her now.

  Even if Diva was trying to hide a desire to go to war, they wouldn’t be able to keep prices steady if they hoarded food and other goods before a war. That, and if they relied on one currency and it weakened after a war, they would be in serious trouble. So relying on both Trenni and Lumione coins was a sure sign they were hostile to the north, since both were powerful, and the ruler portrayed on them was a foreigner. It made sense for them to go with foreign currency if they had a dispute with the north, but it wasn’t enough evidence to be certain that war was their aim.

  “Ugh, if that is your explanation, then I am lost. You, why were you so excited just now? Did you realize what the company is up to?”

  “No, no.”

  She really was lost. Right now, she couldn’t see why Lawrence would react the way he did.

  “Listen..”

  So he told her.

  “Exchange rates aren’t the same everywhere, and certain coins aren’t accepted by everyone. Stable currencies are rare, and the strongest of them is the Lumione. Once foreign merchants discover the low rates here, it’ll be huge news.”

  “But no one here is nervous about that.”

  She said that almost dismissively, like an impatient girl. He felt hurt at having his serious explanation treated that way.

  “Not everyone’s a merchant.”

  Seeing him reply under his breath like that made her smile at him like she did to children.

  “Hey you, do not get angry. Well? I do want to hear more.”

  He knew she was humoring him, but it made him feel a bit better to hear her say she wanted to know more about his profession.. at least until he realized just how simple and transparent that kind of reaction was.

  “..well, the merchants who figure this out will want to keep it quiet. Anyone can see that they should just shut up and keep earning while they can.”

  They weren’t hiding the exchange rates, though they were hardly letting everyone in on how lucrative such a situation was. It would be the observant and the fortunate who would earn from this.

  “And how would one earn from this?”

  Holo peeked at the stalls as she talked to him. Even though it looked like she was just doing this to cheer him up, he knew that there was no real reason to get upset about that.

  “There’s two ways.”

  “Oh?”

  “First, buy goods here.”

  “Buy.. goods?”

  They were talking in the market, surrounded by simple-looking stalls that were made of little more than wood and linen. They were still building the town, after all, and that would include the shops. Of course, merchants might have also opted to just open these kinds of shops anyway, because it was less of a risk. A stall could be written off anytime, even a fire wasn’t going to be much of a setback.

  “Yes. See? Everything’s so cheap it’s unbelievable.”

  He wondered if this is how a thief would feel if they saw an unguarded treasure. In his eyes, all the goods on display in town were shining like they were made of gold.

  “They’re all new, too, right from the workshop. See? This is such a nice knife, but it’s only one and a half Trenni. Even the handle looks nice. Iron is cheap here, and so is the wood to keep the bellows going. Look, even these buckets are huge and so well-crafted they fit cleanly into one another. They probably wouldn’t even dent if I kicked th
em.. that’s solid worksmanship.. and a third of a Trenni for three of them. Guilds everywhere would be angry to see these kinds of prices. Jeez, even if I just ship these pigskin mats to Lenos, then..”

  His hand shot under his chin as he calculated. Holo had no recourse but to poke him with her elbow. He coughed to clear his head, just happy he had a legitimate excuse.

  “I didn’t expect that the goods here would be this cheap. Just buy them low, and selling them high elsewhere. Pretty simple, yes?”

  “Yes, I see. That is so simple it could actually work.”

  “..however, there’s an even simpler way. More profitable too, probably.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. His ventures into “more profitable” business had all been failures, so he couldn’t blame her, but this was a chance that he wouldn’t pass on.

  “Rather than buying goods, just buy the currency directly.”

  Her suspicion only increased.. he wondered if she would ever get used to currencies.

  “It’s just twenty seven Trenni per Lumione here, right? So if we stock up on them, then take them back to Lenos or Gerube, we’ll get thirty five Trenni per Lumione. We’d end up making an extra 8 silvers, and we could repeat it.”

  Holo’s amber eyes narrowed in understanding, then closed in thought. They reopened while she looked elsewhere, but then soon turned back on him in doubt.

  “If what you say is true, then everyone should be doing this.”

  He nodded and replied immediately.

  “Yes, they should.”

  Her eyebrow raised, she rolled her eyes and spoke in an icy tone.

  “Then if I am right, and everyone does this, the gold coins will start off less expensive, and silver coins more expensive. But then will it not happen that there will be fewer gold coins, and more silver ones over time? The rates should stabilize quite soon.”

  Even with just the barest of information, her mind could extrapolate the rest. When he nodded, she hummed with pride.

  “Exactly, and that’s why I’m so excited. In fact, I’m really anxious.”

  “You want to make some money before the prices stabilize?”

  He wasn’t sure if he should nod or not, but ended up doing so anyway. Then it was Holo’s turn to not know how to react. It made sense for her to be nervous given how little self-control he had when he saw a chance to profit. Still, the difference in value for silver coins in Lesco compared to Gerube was almost thirty percent. It was a tremendous profit, and Lawrence could be rich in no time.