Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 4 Read online

  “Awww…The other town was way more active…What’s that? It’s a small castle…It looks like a shack compared to the cathedral in the last town,” Myuri said, her shoulders sagging. It was almost as though she had already seen the whole wide world, and such child’s play would no longer impress her.

  But in contrast, Col, unbecoming of his age, found that his excitement was actually rising.

  “That’s not a castle.”

  “What? Then, what is it? It looks really thin and has a weird shape.”

  In the middle of the town at the base of the cape was a stone building about twice the height of all the other buildings around it. It was thin, just like Myuri had said, as if someone had squished the structure on both sides.

  But that was a given, since that was not a place where people lived.

  “That is a checkpoint.”

  “A checkpoint?”

  Myuri lifted her eyebrows, as though she was lifting up her wolf ears, and looked to Col.

  “You saw one in Atiph. There was a city wall surrounding the town and a gate set into the wall.”

  “Hmm? Yeah. But it doesn’t look like there’s any more town past that building…,” she said, squinting.

  “That is an entrance leading to the actual gate in the city wall. You often see them in big, old cities.”

  “…Huh?”

  Right as Myuri lifted her head to look at Col, the ship began to bank a turn around the cape protruding into the water. The travelers at the foot of the lighthouse were enjoying the view, waving at the passing ships. There was now a remarkable number of seabirds overhead, and several ships were leaving the shore to begin their journey for the mainland.

  Myuri seemed to finally notice the buzz in the air.

  “Wh-wh…?”

  The sails shifted, and the ship made a drastic change in course.

  And then they rounded the cape.

  “Whoooaaa!”

  Her voice rang out, causing the seabirds above them to squawk in surprise and fly away.

  Myuri’s eyes followed the ship’s heading and spotted a stunning array of buildings, pressed up against one another as if a giant had scooped them all into one spot. A magnificently tall city wall was doing its best to contain the mass of buildings, but they had proliferated, spilling out unchecked beyond the wall. They were unified by their red roof tiles, making it seem like a red spring had bubbled up from the green earth.

  “Whoooaaa…! I saw mites clumped up like that in the mountains once…!”

  With a sigh of admiration, Myuri accurately likened them to an odd choice of imagery, giving Col goose bumps.

  However, as the ship approached, the buildings grew clearer, and the magnificent scenery stole their hearts away. Steeples were visible here and there, likely the bell towers of different churches. Only when visiting the largest cities could anyone see the rising spires of so many places of worship.

  Every building was so close together that it seemed cramped, but tall, square buildings occasionally stood high above the others. They were either large manors or trading houses of larger companies. Great cities were also home to great wealth.

  Either way, this place was different from the towns they’d seen in the north, not only in scale but in atmosphere. Even in the human settlements, the authority of the dark forests still influenced everyday life through the harsh conditions found in the northern lands.

  But this far south, the world belonged solely to people.

  This vista spreading before them was proof that when humans were allowed to run free, their potential truly blossomed.

  “This is amazing! It’s incredible, Brother!”

  Myuri grabbed onto Col’s clothes and began to shake him in her excitement.

  For a moment, he was nervous that her ears and tail might pop out, but then she took a deep breath to steady herself and fell silent, donning the odd expression of a smile while tears lined her eyes. She stared at the approaching skyline, as though she could not bear to waste even a second on blinking.

  As Col watched Myuri like this, he came to agree that children should be allowed to roam from the nest.

  He patted her head lightly and turned his own gaze to the approaching skyline.

  The checkpoint sat at the foot of the cape because the city wall could no longer serve as a proper defensive fortification, seeing as how the overflow of buildings that had spread beyond the confines of the wall could have created the city proper of Desarev several times over.

  Enormous ships, like the ones they had spotted in the northern islands, were docked off the city coast. These vessels seemed big enough to carry an entire small town, but there was no doubt that even if their holds were filled to bursting, this city would have no trouble emptying them out.

  This was Rausbourne, the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Winfiel, and it had an undeniable dignity that came with being a huge metropolis.

  The water off the coast of Rausbourne was less like the ocean and more like floating villages of ships.

  The drafts on the largest ships were so deep that they moored far offshore, and boats of all shapes and sizes gathered around them—there were several of these clusters here and there. Small boats continuously came and went through the gaps—the spitting image of a lively town.

  “I don’t think Father would believe me if I told him a world on the water like this existed,” Myuri said, her cheeks red with excitement. It was certainly a sight she would have never seen in the mountains of Nyohhira.

  However, Myuri’s father, Lawrence, was once a traveling merchant who journeyed from one extreme region to another. But right as Col was about to mention that, he stopped himself. It would have been quite thoughtless to point that out at a time like this.

  “True. I believe he would be surprised if you told him about this.”

  He imagined Lawrence happily taking Myuri on his knee as she excitedly told him all about the port. That was exactly how a father and his young daughter should be.

  “Awww, I wanna get into town quickly. I bet there’s a bunch of crazy stuff happening!”

  Col felt his expression softening as he watched Myuri bounce around as she talked, but he could not let his concentration relax.

  “We are not here to play.”

  “But Mother said, ‘Failing to enjoy everything you can is a shame,’ didn’t she? You know she’s the wisewolf, right?”

  “…You cannot always use Ms. Holo’s words at times when they only benefit you.”

  “Heh-heh. And I bet we’ll have a great big adventure this time because the city’s so big.”

  “We are not adventuring anymore.”

  “Whaaat?”

  It was almost as though she was saying, What’s the point of a journey without adventure? Perhaps the reason she had not yet learned her lesson after enduring so many trials and tribulations was because she was still young.

  “Then, what are you gonna do here, Brother?”

  “I will meet up with Heir Hyland, meet with the prince, and share my thoughts with him. And then…I want to ask for Heir Hyland’s help to hold an assembly of the theologists within the Kingdom. I want to check in on the progress of the common-language translation of the scripture, and this is also a good opportunity to meet with the learned scholars of the Kingdom.”

  Doing any one of those things he listed would be incredibly exciting, as well as an honor he hardly deserved.

  Myuri, however, was clearly scowling.

  “You’re gonna be off talking about complicated things and doing work with that book of lies again?”

  “It isn’t that complicated. They will be very important talks about theology—and the scripture does not lie!”

  Myuri made a big show of pressing both her hands against her ears, pretending not to listen.

  It was not that unusual for a child her age to be unwilling to earnestly listen to the teachings of the Church, but she made her claims after already having read the scripture, which Col thought was
rather vicious of her. And of course, the reason she had read through the scripture was to search for an excuse to start a romantic relationship with someone who was hoping to become a priest.

  There was no opponent more formidable than a smart, rambunctious girl.

  “Siiigh. If only you were as fierce as Uncle Luward, Brother,” Myuri said, disappointed, as she came closer to cling to his arm.

  Luward was the name of the captain of a mercenary company who had inherited the name of Holo’s old wolf friend Myuri, but he was also a keepsake this friend left behind. Luward was openhearted and dauntless. He had a strong sense of duty as well as a sentimental side to him, which made him very popular among the dancers at the bathhouse.

  When compared to a walking, real-life hero like Luward, Col could not even produce a bitter smile.

  “I am but a humble man hoping to one day become a priest. That may sound plain and boring, but I believe I can do good for the world in my own way,” he said as he gazed at the buildings spreading out across the land. Myuri began to rub her face in his arm, as though she was going to bite him.

  “Sheesh, all I want is for you to be a cool big brother!”

  It was only times like this that she sounded as young as she seemed, but it was also only when it came to this that Col was more inclined to say their positions were reversed.

  “You have shown me how cool you are on many occasions, Myuri. Is that not good enough?”

  There were so many times when this silver-haired girl had helped him, supported him, and berated him.

  If their genders and ages were reversed, he could imagine what an impressive older brother she would be.

  Myuri had already played a part in so many different things, and there was no doubt in his mind that she would go on to be spoken of in heroic tales for generations to come.

  “C’mooon, Brotherrr…”

  She pulled on his arm and swayed him from side to side.

  Every person had their own natural dispositions and their own paths to take.

  As he deftly sidestepped Myuri, Col watched with delight as Yosef wove the ship through the crowded port, and that was when it happened.

  “That ship there! You! Halt!”

  Hearing the bellow of a deep voice, Col froze. The pier was right under their noses, so for a moment he thought the voice might have belonged to a pilot guiding boats deeper into the harbor, but it turned out he was off the mark. The boat that ran alongside them was small, but it bore both the flag of the Kingdom as well as a standard bearing what must have been the city emblem, and there was a certain authority to the people riding inside. Col gathered they were port security officers.

  Just as he was wondering what they wanted, Captain Yosef rushed forward, and when he saw the flag flying above the little boat, he sighed.

  “Bad luck. An inspection, I believe.”

  “Inspection for what?”

  “For taxes. Tax collection officers in the ships that bear the city emblem decide market prices.”

  “What officers?” Myuri cocked her head.

  “Tax collection officers are people whose jobs involve collecting taxes from people. That’s the job Miss Ilenia was doing.”

  “Taxes…You mean like divvying things up, right?”

  Perhaps that was the sort of impression Myuri had of taxes, being born and raised in such a small village.

  “If only it was that painless. In large cities like this, they can’t inspect every ship that passes through, so instead, they often inflict penalties as a warning to the rest,” Yosef spat out. “Regardless, they are the natural enemies of us merchants. They’ll falsely accuse you and take a chunk of your load, like a shark pilfering its prey.”

  Yosef, who had plied his trade in the severe waters of the north, was not afraid to openly display his hostility. Myuri, who looked up to the man as an adventurer, was completely on his side.

  “Don’t let ’em beat you, Mister Yosef.”

  “You can be damn sure I won’t. How could I face Lord Autumn or the Black-Mother if I let these spineless crabs from the south take advantage of me?”

  Myuri grinned, her fangs showing as she clapped Yosef on the shoulder.

  The ship came to a stop as they chatted, and the boat blocked their way to their destination.

  “We are the Rausbourne Tax Collector Association! We will be inspecting your cargo!”

  The people in the other boat called out again, introducing themselves, but Yosef muttered to himself in confusion.

  “The tax collector association…? They’re not officers?”

  When Myuri saw Yosef’s head tilted in confusion, she did the same and looked to Col.

  “Hey, Brother? What’s the difference between an association and an office?”

  “Ummm…”

  He had to dig deep into his memory to pull out knowledge he had learned long ago on his travels.

  “Their job is practically identical, but their positions are different.”

  Tax collection officers were public servants and performed various duties like collecting taxes from travelers who passed through the city walls. Since they also served as monitors who were supposed to prevent suspicious individuals from entering town, it counted as official work administered by the city council rather than a guild organized by upstanding citizens. Drifters bid on the rights for collecting other types of taxes, and they made their collections by relying on their own individual wit and skill, much like Ilenia had been doing.

  And so an association for tax collecting itself was an oddity. That was because in order to create an association or guild, it required the participation for an extended period of time of those who all worked in the same field and also lived in the same town.

  It was possible there were thousands of collection letters in circulation due to the sheer size of the city, which would mean the collectors were not drifters but proper residents all in the same tax collecting profession who had come together to create the association.

  “Well, they’re bearing the city standard, so I doubt they’re fake…Hey! Lower the ladder!”

  The crew obeyed Yosef’s command and unfurled the rope ladder.

  It was not long before people dressed like warriors climbed aboard, one after the other.

  Of course, since they were on the water, none wore heavy metal armor. Instead, they came battle-ready with leather breast pieces. Looking at their gear, Col thought it was a bit much for self-defense even if it was true there were plenty of rowdy sailors out there. These people looked less like tax collectors and more like soldiers—in essence, this was what collections officers working at the city wall would look like.

  “Where’s your captain?” asked a man with a red cloth wrapped around his right arm. His great big beard seemed to project an air of importance, which made it likely he was in charge.

  “That’s me. Hey! Bring out the cargo manifest!”

  “We are the Rausbourne Tax Collector Association. We have been granted the right to conduct business under arms by the city council, and we act under privileges granted by the Kingdom. Know that our words are the words of the king, and our commands are the king’s commands.”

  “We are but a humble trade vessel. I doubt His Majesty would find fault with us.”

  “That is for us to decide.”

  That last remark sounded so threatening, it made Col nervous, but things proceeded smoothly, as though everyone was used to it. Yosef presented the documents that proved the origin of all the cargo, and the bearded tax collector looked them over. Then he began doling them out to his subordinates, who each took a piece of parchment and went down into the hold.

  The rest of the crew watched from a distance in discontent.

  “Well, it sounds like the tax collectors in this town are acting as an association, is that right? You don’t often see that in the north.”

  With nothing else to do, Yosef broached the subject as though it was small talk.

  “It’s been like this for a
few years. More and more people were turning their backs on the king’s orders and refusing to pay their taxes. This was especially a problem because we are a city open to the sea. Plenty of odd sorts drift in with the seawater. We tax collectors needed to band together to deal with matters.”

  The bearded collector spoke like a proud specialist. The jobs people had taken on in their spare time in Desarev, like Ilenia had done, were conducted on a much grander scale and capacity in a city as busy as this.

  Once he handed out the last piece of parchment to one of his underlings, the bearded merchant turned to Yosef with overt hostility.

  “So you came in from Desarev. You sure have a lot of cargo from the Debau Company. Judging by the ship’s form, I’m guessing it originally came from the north?”

  “Yes. We were caught in a storm along the way and got blown off course to Desarev. We don’t typically come this far south, but we are here to drop off some people.”

  “People,” the collector said and whirled around.

  His gaze landed right on Col.

  “Him?”

  “Yes. He is well-known in the north, a great—”

  Then something happened right as Yosef was about to make exaggerations again. Col had barely registered in his mind that Myuri had stepped in front of him when he saw the tip of a spear thrust before Yosef’s chest.

  That was when Col finally realized that people bearing short spears had appeared on either side of him.

  “Um, what…?”

  He tried to ask what was happening, but of course no one answered. Instead, they stared at him with fierce glares.

  “What are you doing?! Do the tax collectors in this city have no manners?!” bellowed Yosef, barely paying any mind to the spear thrust before him. The bearded tax collector only glanced at him, jerking up his chin.

  “Take them away.”

  “Walk.”

  Someone pushed Col from behind, and he stumbled forward. Myuri immediately howled with a look of rage.

  “Don’t touch my brother!”