Read Online Spice & Wolf I by Hasekura Isuna - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Hasekura Isuna
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ensure the town’s prosperity, but because there are no bridges across the Slaude, its ferries make it a natural gathering place.
It was past afternoon but not yet dusk; Lawrence and Holo arrived during the busiest time of the day.
Pazzio’s trade had grown since the town recovered its autonomy from the monarchy—now merchants and aristocrats ruled it. Consequently, there were heavy tariffs levied on goods entering the town, but there were no immigration checks or demands for identification. Had it been a castle town, the opposite would be true, and Holo’s nonhuman status would be a problem.
“Have they no king here?” was Holo’s first utterance upon arriving in the city.
“Is this your first time coming to a city of this size?”
“Times surely change. In my day, a city this large would have been ruled by a king.”
Lawrence felt a slight sense of superiority—he’d been to cities many times the size of Pazzio. He tried not to let it show lest Holo point it out. And in any case, he’d been just as naive when he first started out.
“Heh. I’ll just say that your intentions are admirable,” quipped Holo.
Apparently Lawrence had been a bit careless about hiding his thoughts.
Although Holo’s attention was focused on the many shops that lined the road, she’d still noticed his expression. Had it just been a lucky guess? The idea that she could discern his thoughts so easily was unsettling and far from funny.
“This isn’t...a festival, is it?”
“If it were a Church celebration day, the streets would be so crowded we couldn’t pass through them. Today, though, there’s still space.”
“Ho. Difficult to imagine that,” said Holo with a smile, leaning out of the cart and scanning the merchant stalls they passed.
She looked every bit the country bumpkin on her first visit to the town, but Lawrence suddenly thought of something else.
“Hey.”
“Mm?” was her only reply as she continued to stare at the many vendors.
“Will it be all right, not covering your head?”
“Huh? Head?”
“I know it’s festival time in Pasloe right now, so most of the villagers will be drinking and celebrating—but not all of them, and some of the ones who don’t may be visiting Pazzio right now.”
“Oh, that,” said
Holo, sitting back down in the wagon, suddenly irritated. She looked back at Lawrence, her cloak just barely covering her ears. “Even if they could see my ears, nobody would notice. They’ve all long forgotten about me.”
There was such vehemence in her voice it was a miracle she didn’t shout. Lawrence reflexively raised his hands as if calming a startled horse. Holo was no horse, but it seemed to have some effect.
She snorted derisively and pulled the cloak down, facing ahead and pouting.
“You lived there for hundreds of years—surely there are some legends passed down about you. Or did you never take human form?”
“There are legends. And sometimes I’d appear as a human.”
“So there are stories about you appearing as a human?”
Holo gave Lawrence a belabored sidelong glance, sighed, then spoke. “As far as I remember, it went something like this. She looks like a beautiful girl of about fifteen. She has long, flowing brown hair and wolf ears, along with a white-tipped tail. Sometimes she would appear in this form, and in exchange for keeping her appearance a secret, she promises a good harvest.”
Holo regarded Lawrence flatly with a look that said, “Happy?”
“Well, it sounds like you pretty much told them everything about yourself. Is that really okay?”
“Even if they were to see my ears or tail, they would doubt—just as you did. They’ll never realize the truth.”
Holo slipped her hand underneath the cloak and fussed with her ears, perhaps because they pushed against the inside of the fabric uncomfortably.
Lawrence looked sideways at her. He wanted her to be more careful, but if he said as much she would surely get genuinely angry.
It
It was past afternoon but not yet dusk; Lawrence and Holo arrived during the busiest time of the day.
Pazzio’s trade had grown since the town recovered its autonomy from the monarchy—now merchants and aristocrats ruled it. Consequently, there were heavy tariffs levied on goods entering the town, but there were no immigration checks or demands for identification. Had it been a castle town, the opposite would be true, and Holo’s nonhuman status would be a problem.
“Have they no king here?” was Holo’s first utterance upon arriving in the city.
“Is this your first time coming to a city of this size?”
“Times surely change. In my day, a city this large would have been ruled by a king.”
Lawrence felt a slight sense of superiority—he’d been to cities many times the size of Pazzio. He tried not to let it show lest Holo point it out. And in any case, he’d been just as naive when he first started out.
“Heh. I’ll just say that your intentions are admirable,” quipped Holo.
Apparently Lawrence had been a bit careless about hiding his thoughts.
Although Holo’s attention was focused on the many shops that lined the road, she’d still noticed his expression. Had it just been a lucky guess? The idea that she could discern his thoughts so easily was unsettling and far from funny.
“This isn’t...a festival, is it?”
“If it were a Church celebration day, the streets would be so crowded we couldn’t pass through them. Today, though, there’s still space.”
“Ho. Difficult to imagine that,” said Holo with a smile, leaning out of the cart and scanning the merchant stalls they passed.
She looked every bit the country bumpkin on her first visit to the town, but Lawrence suddenly thought of something else.
“Hey.”
“Mm?” was her only reply as she continued to stare at the many vendors.
“Will it be all right, not covering your head?”
“Huh? Head?”
“I know it’s festival time in Pasloe right now, so most of the villagers will be drinking and celebrating—but not all of them, and some of the ones who don’t may be visiting Pazzio right now.”
“Oh, that,” said
Holo, sitting back down in the wagon, suddenly irritated. She looked back at Lawrence, her cloak just barely covering her ears. “Even if they could see my ears, nobody would notice. They’ve all long forgotten about me.”
There was such vehemence in her voice it was a miracle she didn’t shout. Lawrence reflexively raised his hands as if calming a startled horse. Holo was no horse, but it seemed to have some effect.
She snorted derisively and pulled the cloak down, facing ahead and pouting.
“You lived there for hundreds of years—surely there are some legends passed down about you. Or did you never take human form?”
“There are legends. And sometimes I’d appear as a human.”
“So there are stories about you appearing as a human?”
Holo gave Lawrence a belabored sidelong glance, sighed, then spoke. “As far as I remember, it went something like this. She looks like a beautiful girl of about fifteen. She has long, flowing brown hair and wolf ears, along with a white-tipped tail. Sometimes she would appear in this form, and in exchange for keeping her appearance a secret, she promises a good harvest.”
Holo regarded Lawrence flatly with a look that said, “Happy?”
“Well, it sounds like you pretty much told them everything about yourself. Is that really okay?”
“Even if they were to see my ears or tail, they would doubt—just as you did. They’ll never realize the truth.”
Holo slipped her hand underneath the cloak and fussed with her ears, perhaps because they pushed against the inside of the fabric uncomfortably.
Lawrence looked sideways at her. He wanted her to be more careful, but if he said as much she would surely get genuinely angry.
It
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