Wolf & Parchment, Volume 1 Read online

  Since making guests happy was a key part of working at a bathhouse, their business was a showy and animated place. The visiting patrons were all the type to make merry, so preaching to Myuri about abstinence and asceticism was not effective.

  Myuri’s father, Lawrence, would scold her once, and if her behavior improved even a little, he would not say anything more. Myuri had discovered this, so reprimands were no longer a reliable deterrent. And finally, she had recently learned to mournfully say, “But I thought it would make you happy, Father…,” and so it was no use.

  Her mother, Holo, knew that Lawrence’s scoldings were no match for the fear of having one’s tail stepped on, so Myuri usually tried to gauge her expression. However, Holo, who would yet live for hundreds of years, was not the kind to mind one or two pieces of fabric and was rather more likely to gather information about flamboyant clothes from Myuri.

  In the end, Col was the only one who could be strict with her.

  “But you were the one who told me to dress more like a girl, Brother.”

  In the pile of furs, Myuri huffed.

  “You’re taking it too far. I said that because you would go into the mountains dressed like a savage, with a single loincloth on. It is important to do everything in moderation. Do you understand?”

  “…Yeah,” Myuri replied flatly, collapsing into the pile of furs, facing away from him. “Eh-heh-heh, but it’s fine. I’m finally out of that little village,” she said and stretched out her arms, looking up at the clear blue sky.

  He did not want to constantly dampen her enthusiasm, but someone had to play that role.

  “When we reach Svernel, we’ll find you some people and a horse to take you back.”

  If they went to that town, they would find many friendly acquaintances among those who supplied Nyohhira’s bathhouses. They were all trustworthy folk, so he could safely entrust Myuri to them.

  Still, though his stomach tensed for Myuri’s inevitable fit, it did not seem she would raise a fuss about the plan.

  “Myuri?”

  Col called out to her again, and still staring up at the sky, Myuri slowly closed her eyes and sighed.

  “Fine.”

  She was being very reasonable, and that gave him a sinking feeling instead. Or perhaps she simply wanted to leave the village for a bit? But would that warrant the determination to hold her breath in a barrel that would burn her nostrils with its awful stench? What was more, she had spent the week leading up to the day of his departure literally nipping at him.

  Suspiciously, Col studied her carefully, but Myuri simply yawned.

  “Faaahh…Hah. I started getting ready before dawn, so I’m tired…”

  No matter how much he worried, none of it reached her. To the carefree Myuri, everything was a nuisance. Her boldness was abnormal, and that was clear from her talent—she could fall asleep no matter what the situation once she decided she wanted to sleep. He could already hear her snoring softly from the pile of furs.

  Col sighed in relief, piled some more pelts on Myuri, and removed the ones on top of her head that seemed to be causing her distress. Her expression when she slept was pure and adorable, but that very cuteness always gave him something to worry about.

  Once he finished covering her in furs to make sure she was sleeping warmly, the captain skillfully hooked the handle of a wooden mug with the pole and extended it to Col. He could tell it was currant liquor from the tangy scent.

  “She came to me while I was catching some shut-eye in the town meeting hall before dawn.”

  Col immediately knew he was talking about Myuri. Of course, he had no intentions of reproaching the captain for helping her with her plans.

  “She cried, ‘Let me on your boat—I’ll die if you don’t!’ I didn’t know if it was a trick of the moonlight or something, but when I saw those golden eyes shining in the darkness, I thought, she’s serious.”

  Sipping the liquor, more sour than sweet, Col’s smile twitched. He had experienced all this past week how forceful Myuri was when she asked to be taken on the journey.

  “Well, you come across aimless wanderers and people who have good reasons to run away every so often in this work. You should have good enough judgment to know if you should help or not.”

  “And that was enough for you?”

  “Well, her traveling companion was a straitlaced young man. But he was more serious than I imagined, and I was nervous that he might get angry.”

  The captain was smiling, but he spoke with a sigh. He took a sip of the piquant liquor and slumped his shoulders.

  At any rate, once they reached Svernel, he would send Myuri back. He did not know what she was planning, but he had to be resolute about this. Myuri was carefree, self-willed, and the kind of girl who would perform in distracting outfits with the other dancers if the patrons encouraged her to, but she was usually calm. As she grew up, she began developing a shocking resemblance to her mother, though the true similarity lay not in her looks but in her intellectual eyes. Those eyes that bore straight through fate, that appeared between her bouts of horseplay, were the same as those of her mother, who was once revered as the wisewolf.

  “But I didn’t expect you’d be siblings. I was sure you were romantically involved, but I was off on that mark.”

  “We’re not siblings by blood. She’s the only daughter of the bathhouse master who took care of me. I heard her cry when she was born, and I always had to change her diapers.”

  Even Myuri herself had thought he was really her older brother until recently. It truly showed how Holo and Lawrence treated him not as a mere helper but as family. He could not thank them enough.

  “Well, with such a lively girl, I’m sure your long journey will be brighter.”

  Col planned to send Myuri back to the village as soon as he could, but he could easily imagine that the trip would not be quiet or simple until then.

  “I don’t mind her energy, but I want her to act appropriately.”

  “That’s important, too. Like the flow of the river.”

  The captain smiled and raised his mug lightly, so Col, too, raised his in response and prayed to God for the safety of their travels.

  The boat passed through several checkpoints, and each time they stopped, they had their cargo inspected and paid tax.

  Myuri awoke after noon and watched everything around her with great interest as though it was new, so she was unusually quiet.

  As the sun grew red in the sky, the scenery around them also changed. Though mountains still surrounded them, there was less snow and more riverbanks filled with pebbles, and they could occasionally spot roads running along the river.

  The river, whose current had also grown much gentler, made a wide detour around a hill, and on the other side was a checkpoint bigger and livelier than any they had seen before.

  “Whoa! This is incredible!” Myuri exclaimed.

  Piles of cargo were lined up on the riverbank. The goods must have been transported via the river, or perhaps they would be carried to the next checkpoint even farther down. On the entrance to the pier stood armored soldiers carrying spears and preparing torches for the night watch. Other people were tying the boats to the pier, announcing that there were no more ships going out today, and still others were already on their boats, drinking merrily.

  “This is Lord Havlish’s checkpoint, the second biggest on this river.”

  As the captain brought the boat into the pier, some of the other pilots who seemed to be familiar with him offered their greetings.

  “The second biggest? This is the second biggest?”

  Beyond the riverbed, they could see two inns with chairs and tables placed outside under the eaves, and festivities for the evening were already starting. There were no stifling city walls, so the scene seemed quite calm.

  “The biggest one is another two nights down the river. It doesn’t have these little inns nearby. There’s a magnificent stone fortress with a bell tower and a gigantic chain that conn
ects it to another stone tower on the opposite shore. When you pass under that chain over your head, you get all nervous because it feels like you’re being judged in hell.”

  “A chain?” Myuri seemed puzzled. “But boats can’t pass through if there’s a chain there, right?”

  Her confusion apparently amused the captain, and she turned to Col for help.

  “That’s the point,” he said.

  “Right. The sea is right there. They drop the chain when they need to for protection, so that the pirates from the open seas don’t come inland. It also might be a warning to pirates—that if they attack the towns, they’ll be tied up in those chains and sentenced to work like slaves.”

  As though the chain were directly above her now, Myuri opened her eyes wide.

  “Pi…rates…? Pirates?! You mean, those kinds of pirates?!”

  For Myuri, who had been born and raised in Nyohhira, where even the highest mountain points only granted views of more jagged peaks, it was an unfamiliar word.

  She opened her eyes even wider in excitement and gripped Col’s arm enough to hurt him.

  “Wow! Pirates, Brother! Pirates?! With that? The chain?!”

  The captains around them glanced curiously in their direction as Myuri danced in excitement. But when they somehow understood that this girl had just come down from the mountains, they smiled gently like grandparents fawning over their grandchildren and almost seemed about to transform into pirates themselves at any moment.

  “Wow, cool! Brother, are you going out to sea, too? You are, right?”

  “No,” Col said even more coolly than usual. If Myuri grew any more excited, her ears and tail might appear.

  And more importantly, if she became too interested in the outside world, it would be difficult to send her back to Nyohhira.

  “Pirates almost never come inland, and I’ve never heard of it happening.”

  “Well, sure. It’s just a threat…or maybe just a display, saying that this place is important enough to be targeted by pirates. Anyone, whether they came down the river or from out at sea, anyone would be petrified to see those huge chains above them.”

  Myuri nodded vigorously at every word and sighed in admiration.

  “The outside world is complicated,” she said, seriously enough that a cry of Oh, God! could have followed. Col could not help but smile.

  But he could not let his guard down. He had to maintain as much distance as possible and keep a level head.

  “Let’s go, Myuri. We will be staying here tonight.”

  “Oh, uh, okay!”

  Staring docilely down the river, Myuri returned to her senses and hurriedly retrieved her things from the barrel she had hidden in. He did not know what she might have packed, but it seemed that she did make some preparations for traveling.

  “Thank you for taking us on your boat.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Myuri realized that this would be good-bye for the vessel’s captain, and she waved with a smile, readjusting her shoulder bag that was the same as Col’s.

  “Thank you, captain!”

  “Bye now!”

  In response to her carefree smile, the captain waved the pole he used to steer the boat. Smiling, Myuri nodded, and as they left, she turned back to him again and waved.

  Col watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked along the pier, their feet raising a clop, clop sound on the wood. Once they stepped down onto the road formed by the rocks of the riverbank, he felt relieved to be back on firm ground. Traveling by boat was convenient, but it made him slightly uneasy. He glanced at Myuri to check if she had gotten seasick, and her expression was clouded.

  “Are you feeling nauseous?”

  Myuri looked up and smiled weakly.

  “No. We’d just made friends with him…I’m a bit sad.”

  She forced a smile, which made her look quite pitiful when coupled with her small, thin frame and cold dress.

  But he could not let that show in his expression. He collected himself and spoke.

  “You part with many people at the bathhouse.”

  “Yeah, but…guests are guests.”

  “From his point of view, you’re just another guest, Myuri.”

  “…”

  Walking beside him, she looked up, her expression slightly hurt.

  “Oh…”

  Traveling was a series of meetings and partings. Not every part of it was fun.

  If Myuri understood this, then there was a chance she might go back to Nyohhira without a fight.

  But even as Col thought all this, he could not help his heartache when he saw how deflated she was.

  “Well, he’ll keep sailing up and down this river. If he returns to the village port, then you can see him anytime.”

  Myuri lifted her gaze to him. When their eyes met, she smiled in relief.

  “Thanks, Brother.”

  Her smile almost moved him.

  Together, they headed to the inn on the riverbank and secured a room. He had originally planned on staying in the cheapest shared room available, but since Myuri was with him, he had no choice. To make up for it, he would simply need to be more frugal down the road.

  He set his things down in relief, while Myuri opened the wooden window and looked down outside. She turned back to him in excitement.

  “Brother! They’re cooking meat outside!”

  Having been raised in Nyohhira, Myuri loved dinner parties enough as it was. She loved good food even more, and once she came of age, she would surely be unable to resist liquor.

  She pulled him by the sleeve to look out the window, and sure enough, some people were in the middle of roasting a luxurious whole pig in a hearth surrounded by stone.

  “See? See? They’re roasting a pig. That’s so cool. I wonder if there’s a festival or something.”

  Nyohhira could hold its own as a bustling locale, but the variety of goods in the hot spring village was limited due to its location deep in the mountains. The inhabitants could hunt deer and rabbits in their area, but since they could not obtain pigs, the roast seemed like a luxury import to them. It was an even rarer sight to see a pig being cooked whole.

  Ignoring Myuri as she was consumed with excitement, Col thought about how he could convince her to make do with tonight’s dinner of dried meats and poached beans when he felt someone’s gaze on him. Among the travelers and craftsmen drinking together below, a single person sat alone, looking up and waving at him.

  “Hey, Brother, just a bit, please?” Myuri pestered him, and he took several copper coins from his wallet and placed them firmly in her hand.

  “Buy food for both of us. It won’t be much, but you should be able to get some of the roasted pig.”

  “Oh…Okay.”

  Myuri seemed perplexed by the copper dip coins in her hand, which were commonly used in this region.

  “Brother, what about you? You’re not coming?”

  “I have my daily prayer and recitation of the scripture. Or would you rather join me here?”

  An expression of displeasure abruptly appeared, and she made her way to the door, leaving a wide margin between them so as not to get dragged in.

  “I’ll be right back!”

  “No alcohol.”

  “Aww…”

  “I said no.”

  Myuri did not respond and left the room, still pouting.

  Col sighed in exasperation. He checked the view outside after a while, and Myuri, jogging up to the roast pig, suddenly turned back in his direction and waved. She immediately stood out in a crowd, though not because she wore the unusual clothes that the dancers had told her about. She herself was striking. Almost as though she had been cut out around the edges and surrounded by a faint glow.

  Perhaps he was also seeing her in a favorable light because he had always fawned over her like a real little sister.

  As he smiled dryly, a knock sounded at the door.

  “Come in.”

  Col’s happy express
ion faded, and he closed the window.

  Then, he opened the door, and standing outside was the traveler who had looked up at him from the square just a little while ago.

  While the traveler was rather small in stature, that was not to say he was very short. He was not particularly sturdy, but he was far from skinny. Perhaps his enigmatic impression was because he worked as something similar to a spy.

  He looked like a young man when wearing a hood, but in actuality, he was a very quiet adult with the beginnings of wrinkles appearing on his face.

  “I’m surprised. I did not expect to see you here.”

  Col offered him a seat, but the man shook his head.

  “I will not stay long. Sorry to make you clear the area.”

  “Ah…That girl forced me to take her along from Nyohhira. She hid herself in the cargo. It was a barrel filled with resin, and I thought, surely she wouldn’t be in such a putrid place.”

  “Oh?” The man was surprised, and his shoulders shook with laughter. “Those barrels are indeed smelly. I’ve hid in them many a time.”

  It did seem that such rough work was not uncommon. This man was a messenger for a large and powerful organization known as the Debau Company, a group that held sway over the entirety of the northlands. The Debau Company sided with the Winfiel Kingdom, which was currently in conflict with the pope. The group was most likely aiming to extract some special trading privileges by pulling the kingdom out of hot water.

  Therefore, it acted as a line of communication between the kingdom and those who wished to support it, like Col.

  “I don’t find it humorous…but why are you here? I thought we were to meet in Svernel?”

  “About that—no more trips to Lenos. I was waiting here to tell you. Instead, I need you to head to Atiph.”

  “Atiph?”

  That was the name of the settlement by the checkpoint with the large chain to ward off pirates. The captain had told them about it on the boat earlier that day.

  “That’s quite far from Lenos…Did something happen?”

  The river flowed south from Nyohhira for a bit before changing its course due west. After meandering through the narrow mountain ranges, it entered flatlands called the Dolan Plains and eventually emptied into the sea. Lenos was a town that was farther southwest, beyond several mountains.