He couldn’t tell whether the blockage in his nose was mud or blood. All he felt was a terrible fury that raced through him.
His vision sparkled from the shock, and he wasn’t even sure what had happened to his body.
But he heard every word that was said.
“What if we just tie her up like this poor bastard? The wolves will just finish them off for us.”
“Don’t be stupid. Who knows what kind of pagan magic she used to get the sheep through that forest unharmed. We could blindfold her, tie both hands, and leave her here, and they’d still survive. And then we’d be the ones in trouble. But... it’s depressing, I’ll say that. Won’t be able to eat for a while if we lay a hand on the girl, that’s for sure.”
They were clearly talking about Norah.
They were talking about killing her.
If the Remelio Company’s solution to the risk of blackmail was murder, they could not very well let Norah live, either.
They would probably pass the checkpoint on the way to Ruvinheigen and then kill her after handing off the sheep to another shepherd. Norah was the only shepherd whose presence in this area wasn’t suspicious, so they could not kill her until after the checkpoint.
“Shouldn’t we finish this guy off?”
“What, you wanna do it?”
“Hey, the less killing the better, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’m with you.”
“We’ve got the horse, so let’s go. If we don’t hurry, we’ll catch it from Mr. Liebert.”
Their footsteps receded only to be followed by the sound of horses’ hooves.
After that, all Lawrence could hear was the sound of the drizzle. Pathetically, he began to cry.
The sin of helplessness.
Lawrence squeezed his eyes shut.
If only he were as strong as Holo, he would not have had to leave her to face danger alone, and he would not have to be resigned to this betrayal, to say nothing of having to listen while his enemies plotted the murder of the girl he himself had hired.
Norah was not like Holo. She didn’t have pagan magic or any special powers. If sliced with a sword, her skin would split and her blood would flow.
Enek might be of some help, but it was a faint hope. No matter how gallant a dog, he would be helpless in the face of a surprise attack.
Lawrence wanted to at least spare Norah this.
He thought of her when they had spoken on the hill overlooking Lamtra.
She was smarter and tougher than she looked, and she knew her shepherding days were over. She had pinned her hopes on this unusual job.
She wanted to become a dressmaker after the severe life of the shepherd. It must have seemed a nearly impossible dream.
How much the possibility that it might come to pass must have thrilled her heart!
It was, of course, a fool’s errand letting one’s heart go aflutter at a mere hope, but for one’s demise to be brought through treachery — that was another matter.
Norah would do the job given her. She had to receive her compensation.
This was true of Lawrence himself as well, of course, and once he reunited with Holo, he had the hope of exacting as much retribution as he wanted.
However, Norah’s journey would end at the tip of a sword.
Using his maddening frustration as fuel, Lawrence forced his prostrate body to move. His hands were still bound behind his back, but by putting his face against the ground, he brought his knees under him to his chest, and in one movement, he raised his head and righted himself.
Apparently one nostril was blocked with mud and the other with blood. He snorted violently to clear his nose and then inhaled the cold air to cool his head — not that his head became any cooler.
He stood and began to walk unsteadily. He did not notice that his bound hands still held Holo’s clothing until he came to the spot where his horse had been taken from him.
The fire had been kicked apart and scattered, but there were still some red glowing embers.
Lawrence left Holo’s clothing where it wouldn’t get wet and took a deep breath.
Then, he sat down very carefully next to the largest ember, checking his orientation to it several times.
He paused to ready himself.
Throwing himself down, Lawrence pressed his bound wrists against the hot coal.
The rope crackled as it burned, and a terrible heat assaulted his wrists. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw to withstand the pain.
The next moment, his hands were suddenly free.
He had loosened his bonds.
Lawrence stood immediately and looked at his wrists. There were a few burns but nothing serious.
He was not so stupid as to grab the nearest handy stick and go chasing after his betrayers.
He knew that waiting for Holo was his best and only option. A simple traveling merchant was powerless alone.
A merchant did not have pride the way a knight or a townsper-son did. He was prepared to lick anybody’s boots if it meant turning a profit.
So whence came this feeling of humiliation?
Lawrence stood rooted to the spot and looked up at the sky.
The leaves on the trees shielded him from the rain and made him think of whatever cosmic force it was that allowed him only to crawl in the dirt; he couldn’t bear it and looked down.
His eyes landed upon the robe Holo had worn.
Once again, he shed tears at his own helplessness.
“A tearful reunion, eh?”
Eventually unable to contain himself, Lawrence had run through the rain and encountered Holo just as he was running out of breath.
Holo was in her human form, uninjured and looking much the same as when they had parted ways. The knees of her trousers were dirty; perhaps she had tripped somewhere along the way.
“You look terrible,” she said with an amused smile.
“We are betrayed.”
“I’m not so naive as to think you saw that and fell,” said Holo with a sigh. “I cannot say it didn’t occur to me. They were from the company, yes?”
Her lack of surprise or shock suggested that she had vaguely anticipated betrayal, but since the entire plan was founded on mutual trust, she could not easily suggest the possibility. For Lawrence’s part, even if he had been told in advance, he would not necessarily have known what to do. It was an unmistakable reality that nothing could happen without the Remelio Company’s cooperation.
Holo smiled briefly and drew close to Lawrence, sniffing as she took his hands. She seemed to notice the burns. “Honestly, I would’ve found you soon enough. You didn’t have to do this.”
She twitched her nose again, then stuck her hand into Lawrence’s coat, pulling her robe out.
Holo seemed surprised and wiped her face against the cloth. Her drizzle-soaked face was much improved.
She giggled. “You are a strange one, protecting my clothes with your life.”
Holo’s tail bristled in contrast to her delighted expression upon seeing the folded robe.
When she looked back at Lawrence, she still smiled, and he could have melted into her burning red eyes.
“There is something I need to say. I must be completely frank,” she said, her fangs showing when she flashed a grin. “I may have to kill someone,” she said, then continued before Lawrence could interrupt.
“I thought that if this plan didn’t go well, I’d no longer be able to travel with you. The thought made me dreadfully lonely. Thus, I bore it. I let things go peaceably, I came along with you quickly, and I put up with things because I thought we’d soon be sipping hot potato soup in front of the fireplace. I am the Wisewolf of Yoitsu, Holo. I can forget the pride of a youngster if need be...”
Lawrence looked down at the mud on Holo’s knees.
It had been no normal wolf in the forest, and it had not been after the sheep. There were few possibilities.
A territorial dispute.
Given that, the actions Holo to
ok to “let things go peaceably” became clearer and clearer.
A wisewolf would never stumble clumsily over a stone, dirtying her knees.
“No, listen. That was all well and good. I am Holo the Wisewolf.
If I am made to act like a mere dog, I — I shall still not be angry. But what is this? This soaked mouse standing in front of me, face swollen, covered in mud? Has my companion been so foolish as to trip and fall? And with burns on his wrists! Oh, indeed. Before
me is a fine fool, who doesn’t give a second thought to his own appearance but protects my robe against the rain with his life. A dunce indeed! I’ve no idea what to do with such unbelievable softheartedness.”
Holo gave her whole speech in one long breath, then inhaled deeply as she rubbed her eyes. “Well, then. I take it we’re off to Ruvinheigen?” she said, suddenly back to her normal self.
Her arms and legs were covered with scratches and trembled. Lawrence didn’t think it was because of the cold. This was Holo when she was truly angry.
“If we go now, we can enter the city under cover of darkness. The master always takes responsibility for betrayal. This is the truth of the world.”
Holo thrust her robe back at Lawrence, then untied the opening of the leather pouch around her neck, and popped a few grains of wheat into her mouth. There was no hesitation.
“Wait, there’s Liebert and Norah,” interjected Lawrence, now that he finally had an opportunity to speak.
Holo’s eyebrows shot up. “Think it through. Betrayal demands revenge. Sin must have punishment. But plunging in without thinking will give us no satisfaction. We can’t be satisfied until we’ve taken everything from them. Do you not agree? Consider. If we attack the lot that came for you, dealing with the gold after ward becomes difficult. But we’ll go first to the master’s house and make him good and sorry, then strike at the ones who so happily betrayed you. Then, we have but to butcher the sheep, take the gold, and go wherever we may please. I daresay this is the best plan.”
Despite her anger, Holo’s mind was as clear and agile as ever. Her plan almost entirely eclipsed Lawrence’s.
However, there was a reason he had to abandon this excellent plan.
“I feel the same way, but we must first get to Liebert — and quickly.”
“You have a better plan?” asked Holo after gulping down the grains of wheat.
Her expression was unreadable, and Lawrence got the feeling that if he misspoke here, he would feel the full force of whatever swirled behind that mask.
Nonetheless, he could not abandon Norah.
“The Remelio Company plans to murder Norah.”
Holo smiled thinly. “Yes, and those fools planned to kill you as well, yet you lived. She, too, may survive, don’t you think?”
“If you go to save her, she will definitely be safe.”
“Is that so?”
Lawrence found himself faintly irritated at Holo’s mischievous look.
Why was she acting like this?
Time was short. If Norah and Liebert ran through the night, they might make it through the checkpoint to Ruvinheigen before dawn. And if it came to that, Norah would be killed shortly thereafter.
The probability was high.
“You could defeat a hundred armed men in a flash, could you not?” asked Lawrence impatiently, but Holo only shook her head slowly.
“That is not the problem.”
Then what is the problem, Lawrence wanted to say.
“I am a wolf. The girl is a shepherd. We are eternal antagonists.”
For just a moment, Lawrence wondered why Holo was dragging that out again now, but then he realized something important.
If Holo attacked Liebert and the others in her wolf form, it was quite possible that Norah would try to protect them.
In that case, there was a risk that Liebert would kill Norah, so could Holo explain that she was only there for the Remelio men? Would Norah even accept that?
If she didn’t, Holo would wind up playing the villain.
Even in the best of times, Holo hated shepherds. It was obvious that she did not want to go to such lengths just to save Norah, and Lawrence couldn’t force her to.
“I know there’s nothing in it for you — far from it, in fact. But can I not ask this of you? An innocent person is about to die, and I can’t just turn the other way.”
Holo looked askance irritably as Lawrence tried to convince her. She was the only one who could save Norah.
“I’ll owe you some thanks, of course.”
Holo twitched one ear and looked at him.
“... What sort of thanks?”
“As long as you don’t say anything like ‘In exchange for her life,’ I’ll give you whatever I can,” said Lawrence, trying to strike out the possibility of Holo making such a demand.
Upon hearing his words, her face turned severe; she had prob ably been planning to do just that.
“Please. You’re the only one.”
Holo’s face stayed as irritated as ever as she lazily waved her sodden tail with discontent. She held her leather wheat pouch in her hand and folded her arms, exhaling whitely in the cold air.
“Holo...”
Lawrence knew there was a limit to what he could do. More over, Holo had endured humiliation in order that his gold smug gling could proceed. She had dirtied her knees and been made, she said, to act like a dog —he could imagine any number of awful appearances that might have been forced on her.
Then having endured that humiliation, she finds that her partner has been betrayed and made to look like a fool.
He couldn’t criticize her and was already thankful that she was willing to assume her wolf form and strike at the Remelio Company. Asking for any more was the height of selfishness.
Holo exhaled a puff of air.
She smiled, looking almost resigned.
“Come now, don’t use that voice with me,” she said, heaving a sigh. “Here, take this. Also, I suppose I’d best take off my clothes. It would be troublesome to arrange for new ones.”
“You’ll do it?”
“There is a condition,” said Holo as she undid the sash that held her trousers up. Her expression was unreadable.
Lawrence gulped and waited.
“You’ll understand if I don’t guarantee the lives of those who bother me.”
If Norah took Holo for an enemy and protected Liebert and company, she would be spared no mercy, in other words.
He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
No — she was surely serious.
Holo had spoken without particularly looking at Lawrence. Her breathing was neither fast nor slow.
Lawrence mustered all of his business cunning in response. “Very well. I trust you.”
Puffs of white vapor appeared as Holo laughed as if giving in. “You’ve gotten quite clever. Exactly what sort of troublesome fellow am I traveling with?”
She shook her head lightly and quickly took off her blouse and trousers. She then kicked off her shoes roughly and, after collecting them, tossed them at Lawrence.
“What, no words of admiration yet?” she said, putting a hand to her hip, turning around, and looking over her shoulder.
It was a small price to pay.
“It’s a magnificent tail,” Lawrence said.
“Mm, that was a bit monotone, but I suppose it will do.”
Holo turned to face him. “Now, then, be so kind as to close your eyes.”
She had no problems being nude, but evidently she did nol want him to witness her transformation.
Lawrence had no desire to oppose Holo on this. His feelings on the matter were complicated as he well knew from the Pazzio incident.
He closed his eyes and waited.
Soon there was a murmuring sort of rumble, like a great throng of mice running, and it was followed by the sound of something growing larger. Then he heard the shifting of something huge waving to and fro in the air and finally the heavy footfalls of a large
animal.
Lawrence felt hot breath on his face.
When he opened his eyes, there was a gigantic mouth directly in front of him.
“If you’d flinched, I was thinking of eating your head first.”
“Well, it is fairly frightening,” answered Lawrence honestly as Holo’s red-tinged irises seemed to stare right through him.
He trusted her, after all.
Perhaps she smiled a bit with her well-fanged mouth. There was a slight snarl.
“Shall I carry you in my mouth or on my back, then?”
“Spare me your mouth, please.”
“You might find it surprisingly comfortable.”
“I might be tempted by the warmth and find myself in your stomach.”
“Hee-hee-hee. Come, on my back now. Grab on to my fur; it won’t hurt. Hold on as tightly as you need.”
Holo’s body had a mysterious heat to it, like standing by a campfire.
Lawrence faltered a bit at her intimidating aura, which seemed to make even the rain move aside, but once he had roughly wrapped up her clothes and slung them under his arm, he did as he was told and, grabbing her fur, climbed atop the great wolf.
She had an animalistic scent to her, unlike a human, but it was distinctly Holo nonetheless.
“If you fall, I’ll snatch you up in my jaws.”
“I’ll make sure not to.”
He could tell that she smiled.
“You know — ”
“What?”
“I truly hate shepherds.”
For a moment, Lawrence didn’t know why she bothered repeat -ing this, but when he realized it was simply her true feelings, he pointed one thing out.
“Norah knows that whether this job succeeds or fails, she’ll have to give up shepherding.”
Lawrence felt a low rumbling; Holo was growling.
“By way of thanks, you’d best buy me more honeyed peach preserves than I can possibly eat.”
Then Lawrence was assaulted by a terrible sensation that he was about to slip off as, beneath him, Holo’s huge body began to run.
He held on to her fur for dear life, pressing himself down, des perate not to fall off the wisewolf, who accelerated with shock ing force. The wind in his ears sounded like a rushing, flooding river.
But he also felt something else from the huge body that had left him so terrified when he had first seen it — it filled him with an indistinct warmth.