Wolf & Parchment, Volume 3 Read online

  Copyright

  WOLF & PARCHMENT, Volume 3

  ISUNA HASEKURA

  Translation by Jasmine Bernhardt

  Cover art by Jyuu Ayakura

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  WOLF & PARCHMENT

  © ISUNA HASEKURA 2017

  First published in Japan in 2017 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2018 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Hasekura, Isuna, 1982– author. | Bernhardt, Jasmine, translator. | Ayakura, Jyuu, 1981– artist.

  Title: Wolf & Parchment : new theory Spice & Wolf / Isuna Hasekura ; translation by Jasmine Bernhardt ; cover art by Jyuu Ayakura.

  Other titles: Shinsetsu ookami to koshinryo: ookami to youhishi. English

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2017–

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017035577 | ISBN 9780316473453 (v. 1 : paperback) | ISBN 9781975326203 (v. 2 : paperback) | ISBN 9781975326555 (v. 3 : paperback)

  Subjects: CYAC: Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Fantasy. | BISAC: FICTION / Fantasy / Historical.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.H2687 Wo 2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017035577

  ISBNs: 978-1-9753-2655-5 (paperback)

  978-1-9753-0275-7 (ebook)

  E3-20180918-JV-PC

  PROLOGUE

  Before he realized it, drool had begun trickling from the corner of his mouth. He must have dozed off while he was thinking. Hurriedly, he wiped the dribble away, furrowing his brows at his carelessness.

  The ship rocked like a cradle and his lap felt warm. It was only natural that he had quickly succumbed to drowsiness.

  He rubbed his eyes as he yawned, causing the girl sleeping in his lap, Myuri, to wriggle in displeasure. She was about twelve or thirteen, old enough to be married off at a young age. For a long time, he had been steeling himself for the havoc her natural tomboyish disposition would wreak at her wedding, but recent events had gone far beyond anything he ever imagined.

  Myuri was the daughter of a bathhouse master who he had long served under. She had been in his care since the day she was born. Luckily, she had taken a liking to him and always, always called out for him.

  It was only recently he had learned that she felt romantic feelings toward him. This was not a revelation that could be brushed off as something that commonly happened to girls her age. The depth of her feelings only became apparent to him ten days ago, when they had been wrapped up in a serious matter out in the northern islands, which the pirates had made their stronghold.

  His motivation for the journey had been to see for himself whether the inhabitants were practicing heresy or following the true faith. It had all been a part of the larger conflict brewing between the Kingdom of Winfiel and the Church. When he first arrived, he discovered the stark reality of poverty that no prayers could fix, as well as the truth of such an unforgiving life.

  Not long after, an archbishop who had been dispatched by a large southern trading company as well as the Church arrived at the northern islands. In a place where the people were barely making ends meet, the man of the cloth had been seeking to advance a dark plot in the hopes of obtaining gold. It practically came down to sheer luck that they managed to drive the archbishop back, and if he had to recognize someone for their hard work, it would be none other than Myuri.

  It had been all thanks to her affection for him, which practically bordered on something akin to faith.

  He had been thrown off board into the black, freezing sea, and right when he had prepared for death, Myuri leaped into the water after him without hesitation. How many lovers who exchanged their vows could do the same?

  Though he was angry with how recklessly she had rushed to act, he could no longer treat her feelings as a mere child’s crush.

  He patted Myuri as she fidgeted on his lap, making triangular bits of fur on her head twitch. They were an odd color resembling silver flecks mixed into ash, the same as her hair. The curious shapes were in fact wolf ears. Myuri’s mother was Holo the Wisewolf, the avatar of a giant wolf who had long resided in wheat, a hunter of the forest who would not allow its prey to escape once it made up its mind.

  His instinct as a lamb of God came from a place that was not logical.

  But at the same time, Myuri was his little sister.

  God would never allow a union between a father and a daughter or a brother and a sister.

  He wished she would understand that, but there wasn’t much progress.

  When he looked at the calm, sleeping face on his lap, he could not help but smile bitterly.

  It was a problem that gave him a headache, but at the very least, time was going by peacefully.

  I pray times like this will continue forever.

  He prayed, and as he patted Myuri’s head, he closed his eyes again.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Brother! Wake up!” Myuri yelled, rousing Col.

  He wondered what the matter was as he opened his eyes, realizing they were still in the ship, where it was pitch-black.

  They must have reached the port. Yet, he was bewildered, since nothing significant should be happening during their sea voyage at night. Then he felt the ship fall.

  After a moment of weightlessness that made him think there must have been a heavy impact, the floor rose violently.

  “Grab on!”

  The ship’s hold filled with voices while the ship once again fell into a deep plunge. The floor tilted dramatically, sending all the wooden crates and sacks of cargo tumbling. Luckily, most were empty, but a direct impact from any of the flying containers would probably result in major injuries.

  Col was unable to maintain his footing, not because of the rocking but from how agitated he was from not knowing what was going on. He instinctively grasped Myuri’s shoulders and searched for a safe place. The only place they could go was up in the hopes that they did not end up trapped like rats among the luggage in the ship’s hold.

  Fighting against the violent rocking in the darkness, the two of them managed to reach the ladder, where Col sent Myuri up first.

  The tomboy who had been raised in the mountains climbed the ladder with confidence. It was Col, the devout bookworm, who needed her help, but when they managed to get on deck, the wind and rain almos
t laid them out flat.

  “Pull it tighter!”

  “We need another on the helm! Don’t let go! If we drift west, we’ll be thrown out into the open seas!”

  It was utter chaos on deck.

  The ship had apparently gotten lost under the torrential downpour. Dark, coal-colored clouds covered the sky. Incessant lightning illuminated the shadowy world, granting Col vision of every fold in the ominous clouds overhead.

  As they stood dumbstruck, someone clinging to the sail boom faced them and yelled.

  But the cry was lost in the thunder. No one could make any of the words out.

  Then suddenly a wave crashed into the ship.

  It swept the deck and knocked Col off his feet with such force he thought his knees would snap. The mass of water was no different from stone. He could do nothing to fight back as both he and Myuri were washed to the other side of the sail boom.

  He felt a hard impact on his back, and after being enveloped in weightlessness again, the deluge engulfed him from his feet to his head while his face was abruptly pressed to the floor.

  There was no way he could grasp what was going on.

  As he coughed, someone yelled into his ear.

  “Brother! Get up!”

  He opened his eyes when he heard Myuri’s voice. She was dripping wet, grasping his right hand with both of hers.

  “Grab onto the rope!”

  Myuri hurriedly looked around, searching for the voice’s source. This time, Col moved and reached out to the rope beside him. At the same time, Myuri pulled Col’s right hand closer to herself. Using her underarm and her chest, she clung to him, mustering all the strength she could in her small body.

  The bow of the ship dipped sharply into the water, bringing another rush of salt water onto Col. He couldn’t even feel the chill. The thunder that followed the blinding lightning was drowned out by the sound of water roaring over the deck.

  It was then that finally Col understood the situation.

  They had gotten lost in a storm, and the ship felt as though it was made out of leaves.

  “Are you okay?”

  Col checked over the girl in his arms who was as drenched as a wet kitten.

  She coughed, then nodded. “I should be asking you that…Don’t fall into the water! I don’t want to jump in after you again!”

  He smiled at her sharp tongue; then he gave her a kiss on the forehead that had been thoroughly cleaned by the wave.

  “Are you all right, Sir Col, Miss Myuri?”

  A voice could be heard as a person nimbly rushed over to them despite how much the ship yawed.

  It belonged to a merchant from the Debau Company who was round as a barrel—Yosef.

  “Yes, by God’s grace.”

  Col responded right when Yosef covered them to provide some protection from the next oncoming wave. Once the water retreated, he spoke.

  “It’s dangerous up here! Please go back downstairs!”

  But all the sailors were desperately attempting to adjust the ship’s course.

  Yosef’s plea came just as Col was about to ask if there was anything they could do to help.

  “Go downstairs and help the other deckhands clear out water from the flooded areas! Then empty all the water barrels we use as weights and tie them tightly together in a bunch with rope! On the off chance that a hole opens up in the bottom of the ship, the mass of empty barrels will maintain quite a bit of buoyancy! And if the need arises, just grab onto it and pray!”

  Luckily, there were a great many things for them to do.

  “We’ll try our best to keep the ship from drifting out into open water! When the next wave rises, please run!”

  The ship dipped into the water once more. By the lightning’s flash, they could see the ridgeline of the cliff-like swells looming overhead.

  Then it felt as though they were hoisted into the air with a great force that knocked them to the ground before another surge washed over the deck.

  “Now!”

  Without even a moment to wipe his face, Col crossed the deck with Myuri close behind, hugging his arm.

  Myuri placed a hand on the entrance to the hold and jumped down without using the ladder.

  Of course, Col could not imitate her. He lowered himself down the ladder until water fell upon him, making him slip off onto the ground.

  “You’d be hopeless without me!”

  Myuri laughed at him as she said that, but she was probably right. Col was only able to press on because she was by his side every step of the way. He took her hand and stood up, then quickly set off to do as Yosef had instructed.

  Every time the ship lurched, the cargo flew about like unruly cattle. Though he was often called useless and weak, Col had done his fair share of heavy lifting at the bathhouse. He managed to keep his footing while holding the barrels in place, allowing Myuri to pull the plugs out. After that, they simply left the barrels to be tossed around by the waves since the contents would empty out on their own.

  Once that was finished, they found the already-empty barrels and used everything at their disposal to keep them in place amid the anarchy, tying three together at a time with some rope Myuri found.

  Beside them, the deckhands and other guests were passing along tubs filled with water from even farther below deck, eventually emptying them out a window built into the wall. It seemed as if more water was entering the ship than the amount that was being thrown out, but the entire vessel would sink if they did nothing. No one complained.

  Once they finished binding the barrels together, Myuri and Col also began to help bailing water. Though the tubs did not seem that heavy at a glance, Col learned very quickly that was not the case. He soon found it impossible to pass the lead-heavy pails on to the next deckhand without spilling as the ship careened back and forth. After his fourth failure, he was poked down farther below deck and ended up standing in water that came to his knees and scooping it into the tubs.

  But he was much better suited for this task, considering his tall stature and his experience of emptying the baths back home over and over again. He took the tubs that came down to him from above, scooped them full of water to the brim, then passed them back up. The one who took them from him was Myuri, whose form he could occasionally see outlined by the lightning.

  They worked in sync as she pulled full tubs from him while he grabbed empty ones from her. Col did not stumble even once while the bottom of the ship continued to flood. There was only a single slab of wood that kept him from the afterlife, but he was not afraid.

  There was no way of telling how long it went on. Eventually, Col stopped thinking as well, his hands continuing to move on their own. Suddenly, the tub he swung down collided into the flooring with a thunk. The shock brought him to his senses as he realized that at some point the water had receded.

  The ship still rocked, but it no longer felt as though the sky was about to be flipped on its head. Storms in the mountains were similarly intense, but it seemed the sea changed on a whim. Still, they had weathered through the worst of it.

  Just as Col mused over that, a slight shift sent him falling onto his behind.

  His hands and arms were stiff, but he put all his strength into somehow pulling himself up the ladder.

  At that very moment, someone came down the ladder and covered his head with dripping wet fur. He immediately knew who it was because of how long the hairs were.

  “Brother, are you okay?”

  Myuri jumped over his head and landed on the bottom of the ship, shaking herself as hard as she could to dry off her tail.

  With that, all the energy he had used up seemed to come back.

  “I’m…all right. And…”

  When he reached out with an arm he thought had no strength left to move, she grasped his hand.

  “…as long as you’re safe.”

  Myuri smiled at his words. Col gathered his dignity as her older brother to will himself into standing.

  “Well then, let us go back
upstairs. We can only get sick from staying down here.”

  Though it was not deep enough to scoop up anymore, there was still a layer of frigid seawater in the bottom of the ship. They would freeze before long if they sat down here. With Myuri’s help, who had already concealed her ears and tail, Col unsteadily made his way up the ladder and returned to the main part of the hold.

  Annoyingly, a brilliant sunset shone through the window cut into the wooden wall.

  The tired deckhands and guests were all lying about the floor like beached fish. Yosef, in a very captain-like manner, stepped over them while silently counting everyone. When he noticed Col and Myuri, he gave a big smile, happy to confirm their safety. That must have meant that no one had been thrown overboard.

  The violent winds had pushed them far off course, but apparently they would be able to stop at a nearby port shortly.

  “That was a disaster.”

  Col leaned against the wall and spoke as he removed his shoes, emptying the water from them. More moisture spilled from his coat when he wrung it out. Myuri sat next to him, her wet hair glistening in the sunset as she responded.

  “It’s not a disaster. It’s an adventure.”

  Speaking with her could transform even the cruelest circumstances into the setting of a wondrous journey.

  Col’s expression softened at her radiant optimism as the last of his stress dissipated.

  “I’m going to rest my eyes for a bit.”

  “Okay.”

  Myuri spread his wrung-out coat over him, then slipped under it, too, as though it was entirely normal. While she was at it, she brushed away a bit of hair that had stuck to his cheek and shamelessly gave him a kiss.

  She committed the crime with knowing full well that he did not have the energy to scold her for it.

  “G’night.”

  Keeping his irritation to himself, he slid the coat more toward Myuri, then fell asleep.

  In the end, the ship had been pushed out farther west than their planned route, which apparently made a harbor called Desarev their first port of call. This was unconfirmed because sleeping on the floor of a dreary vessel had only made Col even more tired, leaving him indisposed in the ship’s hold. Instead, Myuri, who had regained her energy much sooner, went up on deck to listen to what the sailors were talking about.