Spice & Wolf XVII (DWT)

  There are lots of stalls and shops, all of them catching Miss Holo’s eye. Had Mr. Lawrence not been holding her hand tightly, she would surely have visited every one of them, but voicing that out loud would be stupid of me so I remain silent and Miss Holo’s happy expression doesn’t change.

  “So, how will you be helping?”

  “My friend wants me to help him count his earnings.”

  His explanation is shorter and more abrupt with Miss Holo, but that’s just how she likes it. She nods and scratches behind her ear.

  “And why you?”

  “Probably because he doesn’t know any moneychangers around here. He’s just started a business and already made a killing, but he’s new to the currency being used here. He hopes I’ll be able to help him make sense of his earnings. I hope some of his boldness rubs off on me.”

  Miss Holo doesn’t seem particularly interested in what he’s saying. For my part, business isn’t my strong suit, but I do know there’s a lot of different coins being used around the world and exchanging between them is complicated.

  Back when I was in Akent, the city of knowledge, someone taught me that you could learn a lot from biting a coin. He’d been cheated and given fake coins made of rusty iron, and told me I should learn the tastes of metals so I don’t get cheated in the same way. When I tell that to Mr. Lawrence, he laughs.

  “Lucky you! My master tried his best to cheat me that way.”

  I’m shocked to hear that, but Mr. Lawrence seems quite happy. What a crazy occupation.. masters even cheat their apprentices! And yet, Miss Holo yawns tremendously before speaking up.

  “So that is why you are such an awkward character.”

  “I’d prefer it if you’d say I’m ‘cautious.”’

  “Ha!”

  She snorts the usual laugh she uses to scorn people. If I’m to be honest, I love it when she’s like this; she wears an evil-looking smirk, but it’s somehow very lovely. Mr. Lawrence tenses up, as usual, but he’s long since learned to keep his mouth shut when she does this, and prevent digging himself any deeper. He just walks on ahead of us, in his usual manner to avoid an argument. I think he’s quite manly to be that brazen, but Miss Holo always calls it cowardice instead.

  * * *

  “Ah, my thanks to you! I’m so glad to see you come with your lovely apprentices!”

  A strong older man greets us as we enter another inn. I’ve never seen the kind of hat he’s wearing, but I don’t ask because I’m sure it’s from the far east. I’ve heard they have an extreme climate there, where it’s always dry and either very cold or very hot. The man looks gentle now, but I get the feeling he’s the type who gets scary when he’s angered. The atmosphere around him reminds me of my hometown.

  “These two are Holo and Cole. We’re traveling together due to some.. strange coincidences.”

  “I am Holo.”

  “My name is Todd Cole.”

  The man hums and nods at our introductions with a big smile. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has grandchildren our age.

  “I’m really sorry to ask you over like this.. it’s just that this is my first time trading so far from home in twenty years. I can’t keep up with all these currencies. Normally I wouldn’t complain, but it’s like every moneychanger here wants to steal half my earnings from me! Service fees? Bah! More like highway robbery!”

  He’s pretty angry, and I can sympathize. I’ve been cheated by moneychangers too. Just then I catch Miss Holo asking Mr. Lawrence something.

  “Is that guy bad as well?”

  Mr. Lawrence ponders about it for a bit and then answers.

  “He is.”

  I wonder if they’re talking about a moneychanger they’ve met before. Mr. Lawrence seems to know everything that happens on and off the stage in this world, so I can’t picture how bad someone has to be to be called “bad” by Mr. Lawrence. And yet, Miss Holo seems oddly happy. I’m mystified. Is she like a knight, growing happier when her enemies are stronger? There’s way too much about life that I just don’t know.

  “Anyway, mind if we get to it right away? I actually have to go cash some checks from my buddies. Ah, it sucks getting old.. but these guys just won’t stop overworking me! That’s why I don’t even like stepping outside!”

  “Must be nice to always be in demand. Sure, we’ll get right to it.”

  “Then right this way, please.”

  He takes us to his room in the inn.

  “Whew!”

  “Wow!”

  “..”

  We’re all awestruck as we enter. It’s about the same size as the one we’re staying at, but it’s cluttered up with so much stuff.. bundles of cloth, furs, and sacks full of something (I’m guessing beans, from the looks of them) and even a few crates. It’s such a variety that I can’t tell what kind of business this man does. But what really surprises us are the coins on his desk.

  “Hahaha.. impressive, isn’t it?”

  He laughs so joyfully his shoulders shake. He seems almost boyish in how he likes to boast, but you can tell from his prideful expression that he’s just that good of a merchant. Even Mr. Lawrence takes a deep breath, but as I look up to check his expression I realize he’s already calmly trying to estimate how many coins there are. Sometimes his expressions remind me of the most thoughtful ones I saw while I was in Akent. Miss Holo likes to belittle him, but I can tell he’s actually very good at what he does.

  “There’s so many kinds of coins.. some of them are really old, too.”

  “That’s why I’m in this bind! My partner’s a young guy like you, always running between companies doing all sorts of business. He thinks he’s hot stuff, but he’s worthless when it comes to accounting. I tell you, it’s enough to make me want to work alone again!”

  He smiles broadly enough to reveal his uneven and yellow teeth. It reminds me of that old saying in my village that people turn into stone as they age, so we should take care to age gracefully so we don’t end up in an embarrassing pose when we finally become rocks. But even if this guy turned to stone right now, he’d be the statue of exactly what people think of when they hear the word “merchant.”

  “These goods.. did you score this stuff from a company that fell on hard times?”

  “Huh?”

  It seems I’m the only one surprised by that notion. They’re all looking at me, and I just know that my face has gone red.

  “Ohoho.. kind of. I don’t play around, and now that the people I loaned to have hit it big, I’m calling in their debts.”

  Mr. Lawrence shrugs. That’s not the kind of thing people generally appreciate, but I can tell that Mr. Lawrence is impressed.. and the old man is quite proud of it. Once in a while I get the feeling that merchants are the kind of people who go straight from being a little kid to being an adult. I’m impressed by that, but I don’t think Miss Holo would like that. Right now, she’s poking the hilt of a sword, looking utterly bored.

  “So anyway, we’ll do what we can, but now that I see all these coins.. I think I’ll need a reference. Hey Holo, sorry, but could you run back to the inn and get that sack of coins from my room?”

  She looks up from the shield she’s been studying, and shoots him a look, then looks at me. She clearly means that’s the sort of physical work I should be doing. However..

  “Oh, you mean that bag of various coins you are always using?”

  Her modesty surprises me.

  “Yeah, sorry.. would you please?”

  “Very well.”

  She nods, then scampers away. I’m not sure why, but for Mr. Lawrence to not trust me with that bag of coins.. makes me sad. But it can’t be helped.

  “And Cole..”

  He shifts his attention to me.

  “These, and these, and.. these. You can tell them apart, right? I need you to pile the ones that are the same. Stacks of 10 coins each.”

  “Yes!”

  I begin my task, and notice that the coins have already been half-sorted by the ty
pe of metal. We’re going to start with the more expensive gold and silver ones, but even among those there are many types. Some have weaker images because they weren’t struck as many times. Others have strange mixes of metals.

  We could use scales to get a rough estimate, but it’s more accurate to do it by eye. The old merchant realizes how much work it is, so he tells Mr. Lawrence he’ll pay us for the help. That means being reduced to working under the man, but Mr. Lawrence still smiles with no trace of resentment or unwillingness.

  I sort the silver coins as Mr. Lawrence’s instructed, and stick to the ones that still have strong images on them. It’s easy work, especially since Mr. Lawrence has managed to get the old merchant to join in helping us sort the gold coins. He’s much older than Mr. Lawrence, and yet he’s still politely requested help.. I don’t think the old scholars in Akent could do that, even if they taught their students to do so. I didn’t think merchants could, either, but I was wrong. Just like I was wrong about them only being able to lie.

  “Well, that about does it for the gold coins!”

  “Yep. The silver ones are the issue.”

  With two skilled merchants working on them, the gold coins are already done. I’m intimidated to be sitting between two such men.

  “Hey, you’re pretty quick! No need to rush, it’s more important to sort them correctly!”

  “True, they’re not going to run away or anything, but if you don’t hurry up and put them to use they’re only gonna depreciate.”

  The old merchant laughs loudly at that, making it clear just how jolly he is. He’ll live to be a hundred if he’s that easygoing.

  “Hmm.. from the image, this one’s fake.. and this one was minted at a different place..”

  “Oh? I guess this ruler still has trouble keeping things under control.”

  “Guess so.”

  The old merchant gives an exaggerated shrug and sighs. That does it for the gold coins, so we all focus on the silver ones. I’m suddenly reminded of Miss Holo. Why isn’t she back yet? We’re in town, but there are still thieves to worry about. She’s too smart for me to think she’s in trouble, but Mr. Lawrence doesn’t seem to mind. It’s a while before she shows up.

  “Thanks!”

  He gives her a verbal reward as he continues sorting. I see her nod, like a teacher watching over her student. She looks so gentle I can hardly believe it.

  “Alright, you take care of these ones.”

  “..”

  She nods again and walks up to the desk, next to the pile of coins he pointed at. Normally she would giggle and knock over the coins with her tail, but that’s not an option right now. She instead pulls out the bag Mr. Lawrence asked for from under her robe and sets it on the desk. I can swear there’s something wrong with my eyes.. that’s my ratty old bag, isn’t it?

  “Just don’t get them mixed up with the others.”

  Mr. Lawrence just says that and smiles. The old merchant looks at Miss Holo again like some beloved grandchild, then signals to Mr. Lawrence with his eyes like he’s happy for him. Miss Holo ignores them and begins untying my pouch. I use a long string to tie it’s opening, then tie the other end to the bottom of the bag, making a loop I can use to carry it over my shoulder. It looks like she’s untying the bottom part, rather than the top, and I can’t believe she’d make such a rudimentary mistake. I’m worried, so I decide to correct her, but just then Mr. Lawrence speaks to me.

  “Hey, that’s the wrong pile.”

  “Huh? Oh!”

  I was about to put a silver coin with the image of a lily onto a pile of coins with a lily and a moon. I instinctively check to make sure I haven’t made the same mistake already.

  “You’ll only make mistakes if you get too distracted.”

  After Mr. Lawrence’s reminder I don’t even dare to look at the old merchant, even though I can tell he’s looking at me. I keep my eyes on the task at hand; I need to focus on that. If I screw up, I’ll only make trouble for Mr. Lawrence, and it’ll be centuries before I’m competent enough to worry about Miss Holo. Or so I think.

  “H-hey! Holo!”

  “Hmm?”

  Mr. Lawrence nervously stands up and reaches his hand out toward Miss Holo just as she unties the bag. It’s too late though, things have already been set in motion. The string slips through her hand and everything in the bag bursts out onto the table: and it’s coins inside my pouch! She might as well have dropped a pouch of water on the table. It’s all over in the blink of an eye. As my attention turns to Holo, I realize she’s stupidly staring at the bag, and then the desk.

  “Ah˜ what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?!”

  Mr. Lawrence is furious at her. Her face tenses up and I can see her getting ready to explode at him. In fact, I’m already stepping back reflexively, preparing for the inevitable “foolish mule!” And yet, this time it’s Miss Holo who’s cowering in front of Mr. Lawrence like a scolded child, nervously trying to pick up the coins that have spilled out.

  But just like how bits of iron are mixed in with sand, our coins are all mixed in with the other ones. The more she tries to help, the worse she’s making things, so he quickly pulls her back by the shoulders before even trying to scold her. The room is suddenly tense, and I’m so nervous I can’t even breathe. I’m waiting for them to start yelling at each other when the old merchant coughs.

  “Don’t worry about it, I know how many coins were mine. I might not seem like it, but I know my left from my right.”

  He’s pointing at his head as he says that, but I can’t tell how angry he really is on the inside. That said, I did notice him counting up the coins as we piled them. Mr. Lawrence seems ready to yell at Holo again, but manages to contain himself and looks at the man with a nod.

  “I’m so sorry.. this is all my fault. I have no excuse, I’m the one to blame here.”

  “Hehe.. well, me too since I was too busy counting.”

  Back in our inn, Miss Holo had simply challenged Mr. Lawrence to prove that she had eaten the meat; but it wasn’t always so clear how tricky someone was being.

  “Thirty-two silvers from Bishop Ludwig’s parish, fifty-five from Mitzfing Cathedral, forty-one of Duke Donlin’s memorial coins, and eighty-five Trenni.”

  The old merchant confidently asserts his claim, and looks at Lawrence with tired eyes.

  “That sounds right to me.”

  As Mr. Lawrence replies, the merchant looks up at Holo with a smile.

  “Don’t sweat it. Just help us gather up those totals. Even God looks upon those who correct their mistakes with forgiveness.”

  After he quotes the Bible, Miss Holo nods and emerges from behind Mr. Lawrence to come to the desk. Mr. Lawrence keeps pointing out the coins we’ll need for reference as the sound of silver coins clinking fills the room like a weeping child. The old merchant keeps watching them work with a pleasant look on his face, then suddenly looks over at me and smiles.

  “Hey now, little one.. what did your master just tell you?”

  With that I instantly resume working. There’s still coins to sort out, as the ones that were knocked over were the ones we’d pretty much finished sorting.

  “Ah.. now that’s much better.”

  The man proudly looks at his now-tidy piles of coins as he says that.

  “May God’s glory shine even more brightly!”

  After that, Mr. Lawrence goes through them once more with the help of his reference coins. He finds a few that are especially hard to classify, and lets the old merchant know.

  “I can only guess that I’m right on these ones. You’ll have to get a moneychanger to double-check on them.”

  The old man seems satisfied with that, shoots a smile and nods. As we get ready to leave, he hands a small pouch to Mr. Lawrence.

  “Thanks again for your great help.”

  With a kindly smile, he shakes Mr. Lawrence’s hand as he passes the pouch to him.

  “If you need my help again, please just ask.”
r />   Mr. Lawrence smiles back, and we leave. I half-expected that we would invite him to join us for dinner, but we didn’t. I don’t know how merchant’s relationships work, but I make a note of it. It seems they act a little differently from others. It gets me thinking about everything, and of course that brings me to the question of why Miss Holo brought my bag here.. let alone why she would commit an error that not even I would commit.

  “Oh my!”

  Mr. Lawrence suddenly speaks up, scattering my thoughts. I’m sure he’s read my mind somehow, so I’m frozen in place. And yet, as he pulls out the pouch the old man gave him, I realize that I’m in the clear.

  “He sure lives up to that mean old reputation of his! We work as skillfully and patiently as a real moneychanger, and he barely gives us a pittance!”

  Three shabby silver coins plop out of the pouch into the sunlight. I expect teachers to abuse their student’s hard work like this, but the old man sure has them beat.

  “This won’t even cover lunch.”

  As I hear that, I realize that we haven’t had lunch yet.

  “Hungry? Then we should go celebrate our earnings.”

  I figure Miss Holo is just telling some strange joke, but in the next instant she’s chuckling to herself.

  “Oh? Just how much did we earn?”

  Mr. Lawrence doesn’t seem to find anything suspicious about her remark, and she’s laughing even more loudly. What’s going on? I’m left to wonder as Miss Holo hands my ratty old bag, now full of coins, to Mr. Lawrence.

  “I would not know. Do I look like a merchant to you? The price of silver coins eludes me.”

  Hearing that makes me even more suspicious.. the old man knew how many coins there were supposed to be, but did Miss Holo take a few regardless? But isn’t that stealing? I guess she’s read my mind, though, because she turns to me. But she smiles, and even holds my hand.

  “How many did you exchange?”

  Mr. Lawrence is ignoring her smile, carefully peering into my bag. There must be a huge question mark over my head right now. Exchanging? What are they talking about?

  “Ten with the longsword on them, but none with the lilies. I focused on my favorite instead, the Trenni ones, and I think I exchanged thirty or so.”