Spice & Wolf I (23 page)

There was a letter inside and a bit of what might have been Holo’s brown fur.

The letter was brief.

“We have the wolf. The Church’s doors are always open. If you don’t want the wolf in your home, shut your doors and keep your family inside.”

There was no longer any room for doubt.

Lawrence returned the letter to Marheit. “My companion, Holo, is the wolf-god of the harvest,” he said in a wrung-out voice.

Marheit’s eyes opened as wide as they ever got.

Chapter 5

Marheit was everything one would expect from a trader who’d opened a branch in a foreign land.

Though initially shocked by Lawrence’s revelation, he soon calmed himself and began to think the situation through. He uttered not so much as a single word of blame for Holo, who’d been captured, or Lawrence, who’d made his escape. He was entirely focused on protecting the interests of the Milone Company and extracting any available profit from the situation.

“There’s no doubting the threat implied by this letter. They wish you, Mr. Lawrence, to know that if you don’t want your partner given up to the Church you must stay inside and not interfere.”

“They must want us to keep out of their way until their plan for the
trenni
silver is concluded, but that doesn’t mean they won’t still turn Holo in when they’re through.”

“Quite right. Furthermore, we’ve already invested quite heavily in the coin. Pulling out now means our losses would be huge because the
trenni
is guaranteed to depreciate.”

In such a situation, there was essentially no choice at all.

They could sit and await ruin, or they could strike.

The former was hardly an option.

“I suppose this means we have no choice but to strike first,” said Lawrence.

Marheit took a deep breath and nodded. “However, merely rescuing your companion won’t be enough. Even if we hide her here, once the Church gets involved, we’ll have no choice but to roll over and let them have their way She can’t hide as long as she’s in this city.”

“What if we flee the city entirely?”

“It’s a great plain as far as the eye can see, and even if you reached another city, there’s a chance you could be extradited. Then there’d be no hope for you at all.”

They were cornered. Even meek compliance with the Medio Company’s demands would probably still result in Holo being delivered to the Church.

There was no reason for them to avoid ruining a foreign company—in fact, the fewer competitors they had, the better.

Yet striking first carried with it a host of difficulties. No—“difficult” was the wrong word. Every possibility available to them was the height of recklessness.

“Is there nothing we can do?” mused Marheit as if talking to himself. “At this rate, we won’t even be able to avoid unfounded accusations, to say nothing of actually making a profit.”

Lawrence felt as if he were sitting on a carpet of needles as he listened to Marheit speak, but he bowed his head and listened—he would do whatever it took to bring about a favorable result. Merchants lacked the pride of knights or nobility. They were prepared to lick a stranger’s boots if it meant coming out ahead.

So Lawrence did not hear sarcasm or scorn in Marheit’s words, simply analysis. He had clearly summarized the situation they now faced.

“You’re saying we need some kind of card we can play against them.”

“You could put it that way. But even if we invest more capital, it’s meager compared with what they stand to gain from
trenni
silver. So the problem can’t be solved with money. We could report their abduction of your companion to the Church, but that would cause problems for you, and you might even deliver an unfavorable testimony about our company.”

“That...is quite possible.”

There was no point in lying, so Lawrence told the truth. He simply couldn’t cut Holo loose, but if he did, unquestionably that would solve the problem.

Marheit was undoubtedly aware of that fact. If it came down to it, he would certainly try to persuade Lawrence to take that option, though unsuccessfully. Lawrence knew he would choose death with Holo first.

Though naturally he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

This left him no alternative but to come up with some kind of plan to alter this indefensible position.

“All I can think of,” Lawrence interjected, “is to finish negotiating the
trenni
silver deal and use the resulting profit as a trump card.”

Marheit's eyes went wide at Lawrence’s proposal. He didn’t want to lose the Milone Company’s profit—that almost-magical return made possible by exploiting a depreciating currency—any more than Lawrence wanted to lose Holo.

Such opportunities came around only once in a great while.

That was what made Lawrence’s proposed trump card so potent. If it came down to it, the Medio Company would happily turn Holo over rather than lose the profit.

Still—or perhaps because of that—Marheit covered his eyes in worry. Losing that opportunity would be like losing a child.

This magical trading partner could bring them staggering gains.

That partner was none other than the King of the Kingdom of Trenni.

“The greatest gain that can be extracted from
trenni
silver is securing special privileges from the king. According to our research, the finances of the royal family are in decline. In other words, if this deal succeeds, we’ll have substantial favor with the royal family. Abandoning that...”

“Abandoning it for my companion makes no sense at all,” said Lawrence.

“Are you suggesting that they purchase it from us?”

Lawrence nodded. He had heard of deals on this scale before but had never been involved with one. He had no assurances that it could actually be

done, but his long experience as a merchant suggested that it could.

“If it comes down to a choice between destroying the Milone Company or obtaining special privileges from the king, perhaps we could simply have them pay the equivalent value.”

Lawrence was speaking off the top of his head, but it seemed plausible.

The idea that you could make money from a depreciating currency by collecting as much of it as possible was predicated on the presupposition that the same Kingdom of Trenni that minted the coins would be willing to buy up the currency.

They would do so because after recalling the currency, they could melt it down. They would then mint more coins with a lower silver content, resulting in more physical currency. If ten coins became thirteen coins, that meant a gain of three coins.

This was the best way to increase immediately available funds, but it hurt the nation’s credibility, which would result in a loss over the long term. For the royal family to be willing to do this implied that it was in dire financial straits. What was worse, if they didn’t have enough of the crucial coin, diluting it wouldn’t create the extra funds the nation needed for breathing room.

The Medio Company was trying to assemble a large amount of
trenni
silver to exploit this opportunity. Depending on the circumstances, they might attempt to collect all of the
trenni
silver circulating in the marketplace.

Then they would go to the king, and say something like “If you will agree to the price we set and give us certain considerations, we will sell you the currency.”

With a few exceptions, a king was a king only because his fortune or lands were greater than those of other nobility—and because he had garnered the support of the population who did not question his legitimacy. But simply being the monarch did not guarantee perfect control over the lands of the kingdom. The royal family could not simply control assets administered by other nobility.

Thus, the assets of royalty were not appreciably more significant than those of the various nobles. What made them special were the assorted duties that fell under royal prerogative: authority over mines, mints, tariffs, market administration, and so on. While such authority didn’t bring with it automatic gains, if one knew how to manipulate the authority, it was like shaking money out of a tree.

In all likelihood, the Medio Company wanted control over one of these domains. Precisely which one was unclear, but if whatever they were planning was successful, they stood to gain a major advantage for their business.

What Lawrence brought to the Milone Company was a proposal to snatch this opportunity away. They aimed to collect more
trenni
silver than the Medio Company and negotiate with the king first.

From the king’s perspective, dealing with two companies competing for the same privileges would be troublesome. Thus, if he were to deal with anyone, it would be with a sole company

If the Milone Company could conclude the negotiations first, it would be impossible for the Medio Company to secure any privileges.

Those privileges were entirely unique.

For the Medio Company’s part, if said privileges were something that could be simply purchased, they would pay any price. The Milone Company was no different, but held by the scruff of the neck as they now were, they would have to be content with moderate compensation.

“Still...if they play their card, it won’t just destroy this branch—we’ll be burned at the stake. Will they deal with us?”

Now was the time for nerve. Lawrence leaned forward and murmured, “Surely the king would be troubled to learn that the company with which he was dealing was to be burned as heretics.”

Marheit gasped at the realization. The Church’s authority surpassed even national borders. Its power was significant even within mighty empires, to say nothing of small kingdoms like Trenni.

And in any case, the king of Trenni was having financial difficulties. The last thing he would want was trouble with the Church.

“If we can sign a contract with the king, the Medio Company won’t be able to touch us. Even if they try to turn us over to the Church, the king will not be pleased with the company that brought such trouble down upon him.”

“I see. Still, they won’t just stay silent. They might just try to bring us down with them.”

“True.”

“So in addition to the price for the privileges we’ll hand over, we’ll be demanding your companion.”

“Yes.”

Marheit stroked his chin, his face expressing admiration. He looked down at the table. Lawrence knew what Marheit was going to say next. He took a deep breath and gathered his wits in anticipation of his answer. This unique plan could break the deadlock and bring both Lawrence and the