Another chestnut shell cracked open, its heart falling to the table below. Holo smiled as she unwrapped it from its thin skin.
“But that would be a choice from your rather limited menu for those who are ill.”
“Well, it’s got to be limited to food that will help you get better, after all.”
“Yet there is only so much of that limited selection that I can stomach.. might that be the real reason for it?”
Holo refilled the basket of brown chestnuts, perhaps to underscore that her challenges would always be plentiful. He sighed in response and got back up. Just then, she continued.
“If the selection was a bit richer then I would never wish to be healthy again.”
She tilted her head as she looked up at him. She knew he would invest all of his energy into helping her if she became ill. And yet, he knew how sweetly she behaved during such times, so it seemed like a fair trade-off to him. She always pretended to fall ill when autumn rolled around, with him pretending to fall for it. She did make her acting clear with a “thank you” every time, at least.
“Then perhaps it’s time for me to revise that menu.”
She said nothing to that reply; she merely chuckled and continued cracking chestnuts.
“Thank you.”
She finally replied as he walked away.
* * *
Lawrence mulled things over for several days, but ended up not asking why Holo had written the letter. She just wanted to invite their friends to the celebration, so it would be odd for him to even bother asking. Plus, all she had to do was smile and say “What? I do have to invite them, do I not?” and Lawrence would be shut down.
At the moment he was at a meeting with the merchants of Nyohhira to discuss fuel prices. The letter was still on his mind, but he was technically a shopless rookie here, so he was obligated to follow along and he did his best to focus on the meeting. With the cancellation of the northern expedition, the price of wood had settled over the years. Regardless, this year’s snow had fallen earlier than usual and thrown everything into disarray.
Nyohhira was actually a mish-mash of villages in a certain mountainous area that happened to coincide with important trade routes. The areas along the main routes had public baths shared by the lodges for travelers who weren’t particularly wealthy. Those with more money stayed in the larger inns that had their own private hot springs. The truly rich, however, went to the most remote springs, so those who ran business there would usually be fashionably late to these meetings, using their distance as an excuse to show off. One of those men was staring at Lawrence now and raising his hand.
“If we’re talking wood.. then you’re part of the problem, Mr. Lawrence. You’ve been hoarding it since autumn.”
All eyes turned to Lawrence. Nyohhira had a rule wherein the person who discovered a hot spring had the right to develop it into a business. Many of those at the meeting were lucky adventurers, so it was stressful to meet their stares even if they weren’t as terrible as the Myuri mercenaries, or as clever as Eve, or indeed as explosively wrathful as Holo. The man challenging him was probably just upset that Lawrence had found a spring where he felt there shouldn’t be one. Lawrence was too used to these sorts of challenges by now, though, so he remained calm.
“Are you saying I should burn my treated lumber to keep warm, so you don’t have to be the only one?”
A few laughs were finally heard around the table. The man, Morris, had suffered a fire at his inn in autumn, so Lawrence’s comment was truly embarrassing for him. Despite Morris wanting to argue, the head of the meeting spoke up.
“There’s no problem with Lawrence buying lumber. It’s not firewood. Does anyone else take issue?”
Lawrence wasn’t the only one who thought Morris was being ridiculous. Lots of people didn’t want competition, and so they hadn’t treated Lawrence particularly well, but Morris was going way too far. It was only winning support for Lawrence. Morris always showed off about his special guests, too, so he wasn’t exactly doing himself any favors. Lawrence’s humbler attitude contrasted in his favor. He just had to make sure they didn’t walk all over him, and to do that in such a tight-knit community he had to be steady as a rock. At least that was how Holo put it.
“Then please raise your hand if you agree to the increased price for fuel.”
Winter was drawing to an end, so the business rush was also ending and the attendees would be able to just laze about drinking after the meeting. That’s why nearly every hand shot up the moment the question was asked, and Morris grudgingly joined in.
“Then I call an end to this meeting.”
At that declaration, everyone left. Morris intentionally stared him down, but Lawrence ignored him.. or rather, he had better things to focus on anyway. His inn was quite remote even for one in Nyohhira, and so his hot springs were the kind that were favored by patrons. With Cole’s help, there were quite a few clergymen and monks bound to visit, so business should be stable.
Lawrence was so convinced of this that he wondered if he ought to float a loan and buy Morris’ struggling inn from him, but just as the thought crossed his mind he was pelted by a snowball. He figured it was one of the kids from Winfield Kingdom that were staying at Roger’s inn, but it was none other than Holo.
“It seemed like you were thinking about traveling again.”
She smiled and leaned on the fence as she spoke, much to the delight of the other innkeepers. She didn’t venture out often.
“We cannot afford that if we wish to open a shop, and you know it.”
Lawrence recalled Holo telling his horse, his trusty sidekicks for all these years, “do not let Lawrence go off on any more adventures.” She was clearly saying it so he would hear it, but at the same time she seemed to be seriously talking to the horse. They did have to ride that faithful steed to get around this wide open area, after all.
“You say that as though an adventure requires that I go on a journey.”
Holo was wearing the luxurious fur coat that Mr. Diva had given her as thanks, and the sight of it triggered something in Lawrence’s mind. He realized that buying Morris’ shop would only cause a mess similar to one that Diva company had caused.
“So what you’re saying is ’If you want me to be happy, don’t have any more fun?”’
Holo smiled beatifically as she puffed out a bit of hot air.
“It has been working so far, has it not?”
Lawrence shrugged with a sigh and took her hand in his. But she simply pulled her hand out of her glove, and quickly put her hand in his own glove. Two hands in one glove - what a ridiculous scene.
“Oh, they’re all gonna laugh at us.”
“Only you. They admire me.”
Her curt statement was heightened by the sound of her foot stepping into the crunchy snow, and by her moving their hands into his pocket. She was really being flirty today.
“So what brings you here? I did say I was coming back early, didn’t I?”
“Are you saying that I am unwelcome here?”
She sniffed as though on the verge of tears, but he knew she was really just smelling the hot springs. He’d heard that springs in different regions had their own distinct odors, but his nose couldn’t tell them apart. Nor did he have the ability to gauge the temperature and amount of water underground just from smell alone.
But he had to find a new spring to start his inn, and many people had already been running around like children after the fountain of youth, so Holo took it upon herself to become a wolf. They spent two days searching for a spring, and in the end all it cost him was a generous selection of honey-pickled fruit and a banquet made of the deer and bears that lived around the new spring.
Holo’s lupine ears could gauge the purity of silver coins, and her strength was such that she could move boulders; finding a spring was no challenge for her. Lawrence couldn’t help but feel like a man that had caught a fairy in a bottle, only to have her grant him a wish for freedom. The only d
ifference was that Holo was already free, and she wouldn’t desert him.
The two of them now walked along the main road in Nyohhira, with him stealing glances at his patron deity of luck in an attempt to guess her mood.
“Hannah went off to find some herbs..”
Holo looked away at the various mercenaries, tourists and hunters enjoying themselves with a drink in the public baths. They wore their scars proudly under the steam. She stared at them until one of them saw her and shouted to her. She knew all of them well enough to turn away like an embarrassed maiden, earning a chorus of laughter.
“And?”
Lawrence urged her to continue with a smile. She looked away once more, waving her hands at the men.
“Well.. after you left, Cole did as well.”
“And you were lonely?”
Holo was always too stubborn to admit it, but he knew that she secretly liked it when he dared to call her out on it. In fact, she’d already forgotten the laughing men and was clinging tightly to his arm, her tail wagging.
“I could not drink all of the wine myself.”
Her line won another sigh. With all the sighing he was doing lately, he wondered if he was getting old before his time.
“So that’s your game, is it?”
“Ho ho˜”
As she laughed, he quickly looked around before giving her a hug as he raised her up. Her legs dangled in the air like they wanted to keep walking, but she was caught until he set her down in the sleigh that would take them the rest of the way home.
* * *
Lawrence returned to the kitchen, carrying the all-important wine back with him. When he saw the plate of sausages and jerky, he wondered why Hannah (who preferred more basic dishes) would cook them. It had to be at Holo’s request.
“Well well..”
He popped a thick slice of sausage into his mouth, then picked the plate up and juggled it along with a bottle of red wine, honey wine, and two cups in his hands. All expensive wines were delicious to him, but recently his favorites were sweet ones like honey wine. They were for sipping, not getting drunk. On top of that, they didn’t require eating much to get the most out of them. That was a plus, now that his life was easy. He wanted to blame Holo for his new belly, but then again he was starting to resemble a proper innkeeper now. If he wanted this life, then he might as well just greet it with a smile.
“Oh!”
As he left the building and walked to the hot spring, he spotted a large bear seated in the middle of the road. It was quite an expert at stealing honeycombs, and had a scar on its shoulder from a run-in with a hunter. For some reason it didn’t hibernate in the winter, and always came around this area until spring. Given the steam rising from its wet fur, it looked like he’d just left the spring.
“Holo kicked you out, huh?”
Despite his casual question, the bear just stared and Lawrence and made way for him to pass by. The first time Lawrence saw him, he was frightened. But after Holo mediated between the two of them, Lawrence came to think of him like some sort of silent mercenary. He gave the bear a couple pieces of sausage in thanks, then continued to the spring.
“Ahhhh˜”
Holo was lying on the island in the middle of the huge bath, in her wolf form. There were times when she didn’t wish to share this place with the other animals, but that was normally when Lawrence wasn’t around. She did it to cheer herself up by claiming the whole place for herself. If Lawrence was around, however, her mood didn’t matter. She would simply kneel in one corner as a human.
And so, Lawrence was confused. Was she feeling playful? As he walked up to the water, he noticed her tail wagging under the water. Her eyes were shut. His inn wasn’t open for business yet, but he still had to maintain it. Of course that also meant he could enjoy it for the whole winter. Holo had been taking a soak every day, until she grew tired of it and only went with others. Cole loved it so dearly that he often stayed in so long he had trouble climbing back out.
After setting the wine and plate down in a good spot, Lawrence walked around the area to investigate. Even the more feral wildlife that hunters feared would often bathe in their spring, so Lawrence had to check if anything needed maintenance. Bears, deer, rabbits - they all shifted the stones around, creating extra work for Lawrence. He even suspected that Holo asked them to, like he was living in some sort of fairy tale. Today everything was in order, including the water ducts. Holo’s nose was amazing; it was like she was born for this. It was high enough for water to flow down to the inn, and the warmth and amount of water were perfect.
“You’re not too hot, are you?”
Holo ignored his shout, but given the way her tail was wagging she was probably fine. As such, Lawrence dipped his hands into the water and nearly gave it a taste; legend was that the more bitter the spring, the more illnesses it could heal, but his stomach had been acting up, so he listened to his skepticism. Lots of people drank the water, but that didn’t mean he had to.
Instead, he inspected their filtration system, and it was just as clogged with sedimentation as he expected. Not even Cole had been able to find a way to avoid this problem. Other inns used pump systems, but he preferred a more natural approach. If he got a pump, it would be so people could more easily drink the water. At any rate, he would have to clean the sedimentation later, and that thought made him sigh.
“What’s next..”
He stared up at the clouds, and noted that the winds were changing: they would likely get some more snow tonight. Some flurries were nice in the springtime, but it meant a cold walk back to their home. He was doing his best to put a positive spin on it, but he couldn’t.
“What bad ideas are you concocting now?”
He looked back down at Holo and replied.
“Just trying to figure out how I’ll afford those honey chestnuts you wanted.”
“I can easily find honey and chestnuts.”
“And yet you never do. You should take after Hannah a little, and learn to be frugal.”
Holo piped down at that, and just swished her tail with a smile.
“Some things just cannot be found, not even by me.”
She was stretching.
“For example?”
“For example..”
She hopped into the spring, sending water everywhere. Her massive furry body seemed like it would soak up the rest, but of course the springs couldn’t really accommodate her. It was a human face that popped back up out of the water.
“Rainbows.”
She’d probably been listening to those poets again; they were everywhere in Nyohhira.
“Please stop jumping in.. you upset every stone.”
“That just means you have not set them firmly enough.”
On their summer journeys, she would hop into every pond she could find that would accommodate her wolf form. She swam well in that form, but not as a human. That was a secret of hers that Lawrence learned only after they came to Nyohhira. It seemed like she wanted to try swimming at first, but in the end she just walked along the edge of the springs.
“Come join me.”
She said that with a smile as she walked in deep enough to cover her lower half.
“Foolish mule.”
Lawrence had learned to mimic her tone, and it made her laugh. Then she sneezed.
“Serves you right for showing off your back.”
“Pass the red wine.”
“Very well.”
He began tipping the bottle of red wine, but Holo changed her mind.
“On second thought, I will have some of yours today.”
She really was in a fantastic mood now. He was about to pour a second cup, but she stopped him.. apparently she meant it when she said she would have some of his.
“It is quite sweet, but they could probably stand to make it even sweeter.”
She made her assessment after drinking the cup. Most wine-drinkers would have complained that it wasn’t even proper wine, but this time he d
idn’t even get to try some. He just sadly watched her drink it down as he unclothed, then refilled the cup and headed into the water himself.
“Your tastes really are extreme.”
“Were they not, I would not speak with such a foolish mule.”
She took the cup from him again, leaving him to stare up at the sky.
“You’re such a.. well, anyway, I really ought to get better cups.”
“Oh?”
“Wooden ones are convenient, but-”
“Not good enough?”
“People consider them cheap. Silver ones are best.”
Morris, the man who antagonized Lawrence, always had powerful guests. To flaunt the luxury of his establishment, he only used silverware, but those turned black quite quickly in the spring. Silver cups had to be oiled and polished. That was all quite beyond Lawrence’s patience. Iron, tin or bronze ones were too cheap. Brass was alright, but rare. That only left porcelain or wood.
“Well, it’s not really something that’d interest you. You’re only interested in what goes inside.”
He snatched the cup from Holo and took a sip.
“And that is precisely why you chose me.”
“..Ha.”
Holo laughed along as she ate a bit of sausage.
“It is hardly worth thinking about it, in the end.”
“Hmm?”
“Will the guests only care about the utensils?”
She glanced over at him with the eyes of a brash youth that was just heading off on their first adventure. Those eyes would never look to the past, only to the bright future that was surely ahead. If that was the case, they were looking at his future as well. In fact, they were coming closer to him right now.
“You’re right.”
Lawrence laughed at how easily she had changed his mind.
“Food is the important thing. What was his name..”
“Morris?”
“Yes, him. The food he serves is unfit for even second-rate nobles.”
Sometimes, Holo knew things she couldn’t possibly know.
“The scavenging crows and foxes said so. They tell me the best food is served by the inn with the oak tree on its sign.”