He would have no excuses if Matthias interpreted Holo’s presence as a lack of seriousness on his part. All he really had to do was think back on the past. Back to the time he went around asking for loans with Holo in tow and got yelled at for taking business lightly. Bringing that up now would only remind them both of awkward memories.
Though Holo knew this, she found the idea of staying behind on her own unbearable. That was not her childish spirit acting up, but her wolfish instinct to care for her pack. As that thought crossed Lawrence’s mind, she fixed him with another cool stare.
“This is precisely why I call you a foolish sheep.”
“Huh?”
Holo’s red eyes narrowed, and said with pronounced exasperation, “You tell me there is something shady about all this, yet you insist on leaving on your own. How do you intend on returning alive?”
Lawrence gulped, his gaze darting out the window.
“Is someone watching us?”
“That does not seem to be the case for now, but the moment you reach the forest, I wonder if some fellows with bows and arrows will just so happen to arrive at precisely the same time.”
Kerube wanted to put a stop to Karlan’s plan. But this was not the simple matter of a single company losing out on profits—this was a situation where a sizable city could be expected to hire a person or two who would be more than happy to do their dirty work.
Eve may have been glaring daggers at them, warning them that there would be dire consequences if they meddled in any way, but there was no telling how long that would last. Not only that, Tonneburg was a vulnerable target, and key to Karlan’s plans.
“So, um…”
“In truth, I would like to carry you on my back, but…it would also be strange if you were to appear not on horseback. You may go on horse. I will follow behind. The talks can take place in the forest, no? I will be able to pick out your voice well enough that way.”
Lawrence had known Holo for a long time, but he sometimes still stepped on her tail.
“Good grief. There are times I think you are impossibly elusive yet here you are, a simple fool!”
She was displeased because not only was Eve using him, but because he still did not understand a woman’s heart.
She stood from the bed without waiting for his answer and began preparations to head for Tonneburg, the fur on her tail still standing on end. As he watched her, Lawrence found himself amused.
Nyohhira was not a terrible place by any means, but he could only have interactions with Holo like this in the outside world.
“What do you think, dried meat or cured meat? Are you able to fit that pot on the horse, dear?”
And she was like this when she was serious, too. They had no choice but to do the job given to them, according to Eve’s will. Lawrence stood from the bed and began his own preparations to depart on a fast horse.
“I wonder what Eve would have done if we hadn’t shown up.”
Holo could think in terrible situations and would pull on Lawrence’s reins, and had the strength to challenge any chaos if it came to that. But what about Tonneburg?
When Matthias came to them, he had appeared with conscripted soldiers who only took up arms and armor because it was their turn to do so.
He had a feeling things would be settled very quickly if Kerube sent some ruffians to make a mess of things.
“That forest guardian was skilled with his bow,” Holo remarked, recalling how Meyer had shot a rabbit from horseback. “But he cannot win against numbers. Nor can he remain attached to the lord the entire time, and the old priest may be targeted as well.”
Such a large territory did not lend itself well to defense. If they were supposed to defend their partners in this plan, then at least Matthias alone should remain in the town of Karlan. Or perhaps he regarded Eve with such suspicion that he might interpret that as being held prisoner.
“Mm. No, perhaps that fool was deliberately trying to provoke the lord into action.”
For a moment, Lawrence did not understand, but he did after a moment of thought. Matthias was not a foolish ruler, so if Kerube was going to resort to force, he knew that he would likely be the first target.
Perhaps he had no choice but to take on the contract with Eve and Karlan in order to guarantee his own safety.
If Kerube were to genuinely threaten Matthias, then that would give Matthias an excuse to believe Eve. She would take him under the protection of the Twilight Cardinal while giving him that last bit of encouragement he needed to agree to the plan.
“But it’s a risky gamble.”
There was no telling if the thugs could rough up Matthias in the right way. It was unknown how they would break Matthias’s spirit, and it was hard to think of it as a gamble with good chances.
As Holo carefully thought about how much meat she should pack, a thought suddenly came to Lawrence.
“Could…Eve be planning on doing that herself?”
There was a riddle: What was the best way to make a prophecy come true?
The answer was: Fulfill it yourself.
Eve would threaten Matthias without a second’s hesitation to secure certainty.
“Eve never changes,” Lawrence said, drawing his lips in a grimace, and tossed his things into his bag.
It felt like he himself had been dropped into the bag.
“Huh?”
In that moment, he had clearly seen the shadow of something unfathomably large. It was as though he was walking along the eaves of the buildings that lined the main street to cool off, only to pass beneath a massive creature instead of a building.
Lawrence had been, without question, walking the path of logic, yet it felt like he had come across an inconsistency in the most unexpected of places.
In his desperation, he reviewed his memories, seeing what facts he had lined up.
Due to the shady connection with Kerube, Holo had insisted on going with Lawrence in order to protect him. Tonneburg, especially, was an easy target. The ones protecting Matthias were levies of farmers who typically tended the fields, so it perhaps made more sense to keep him in Karlan.
But Matthias himself was not on very good terms with Eve or Karlan, so it was possible he would equate being asked to stay in the city with being taken captive.
It was then that Eve, who was overseeing the plan like so many pieces on a chessboard, would swoop in. In her kindness, it was unlikely she would worry too much about Matthias’s safety. She might think that letting him get attacked would solidify the more indecisive parts of his attitude. But instead of gambling on the bad actors from Kerube hurting him just enough, it made more sense for her to orchestrate the violence and attack Matthias herself.
The signs lined up along the road in this manner, but Lawrence had a feeling something was clearly missing.
Lawrence took another step forward, and he felt like there was something he should have noticed.
“Argh… What is it? Damn it!”
He groaned and slapped his own forehead. His mind was stuffed full of the minutiae of running the bathhouse—there was no space for him to speculate as he so often did in his previous peddling journey. He cursed his fogged mind and began slowly piling up the bricks scattered across his thoughts.
And then there was the big assumption.
Ever since Holo brought up speaking to Eve in Nyohhira, Lawrence had let his guard down. But was Eve truly someone he could trust?
That did not have anything to do with whether or not Eve was a bad person, and as someone who walked the very same path of commerce as she did, he should have thought about her prowess first.
What was most alarming here was that Eve did not seem to hold any ill intent.
And to expand upon that, that meant it was likely the truth.
Not only that, but if on the off chance she was leading them into a trap, then she would not only sour her relationship with Col and Myuri, but she would also make an enemy of Holo. Eve knew it was impossible to run or hide if she truly earned Holo’s ire.
And Lawrence was simple, much to Holo’s chagrin. More importantly, since they shared a merchant’s perspective, Eve saw him as a pawn she did not need to dupe.
In reality, the conclusion he and Holo had come up with together would have to be the truth if Eve was indeed manipulating the situation.
Which meant…
Was it his own imagination that made it seem like things did not add up?
No—this was much too odd. Kerube’s desire to interfere and Matthias’s defenselessness were faults too big for Eve to have overlooked.
And that told Lawrence there was still a piece of the puzzle he had not seen yet.
He thought, still as though listening for something, and looked around the room before his gaze settled on the open window.
What had they been through since leaving Salonia?
And…
“Dear, I would like some of the southern spices I had for dinner yesterday. Could you buy—”
Holo, who was treating this like a stroll in the woods, stopped.
Lawrence’s lips twisted into a smile; he was simply delighted by how formidable Eve always was.
“Why… Why are you smiling?” Holo asked.
Lawrence sighed deeply and said, “It’s nothing. We’ll head to Tonneburg like planned. But—”
“But?”
Holo, whose arms were full with meat or the pot or one thing or another, looked up at him in confusion.
“—I want to make a detour.”
Eve Bolan was a bad wolf, or perhaps a sly fox.
Her spells could not only set in motion great mischief, but could even align the stars and planets in her favor.