Chapter 3 Act II-1

It is said that no matter how worrisome things happen, the businessman can still sleep at night. Lawrence was obviously worried that Holo would leave alone, but when he came back to his senses, birds were already singing outside the wooden window. Although Lawrence didn't lose his composure and jumped up from the bed in a panic, he sighed in relief when he turned his gaze to the next bed to confirm that Holo hadn't left. Lawrence got out of bed, opened the wooden window and looked out the window.Although it was very cold in the room, the morning air outside was even colder. Lawrence's breath was whiter than the smoke.

However, the sky outside the window was clear and bright, and it was a crystal-like morning. A figure was already seen on the street in front of the hotel.Lawrence looked at the town merchants who got up earlier than the traveling merchants who were proud of getting up early, and after confirming the scheduled itinerary for the whole day in his mind, he said "Okay!" to cheer himself up. Lawrence thought, although he didn't mean to make up for yesterday's failure, but in order to enjoy the festival starting tomorrow with Holo, it's best to get the trivial things done today.

"First of all, we have to sell the goods shipped from Lubbinhagen." - Lawrence thought so, and looked back into the house. Although it was only a day later, Lawrence still felt a little heavy, but he planned to wake up his partner who was still asleep, so he approached the bed, when he suddenly frowned. Because Holo often slept until noon like nobles, the fact that Holo was still sleeping didn't bother Lawrence, but he suddenly noticed something. Holo didn't let out the tiny snoring sound she always made when she slept. Lawrence thought "Could it be..." and stretched out his hand, Holo seemed to be aware of it, and the cotton on her body moved.

Lawrence gently lifted the quilt. Then he sighed. Under the quilt was Holo's face, with a more fragile expression than that of an abandoned kitten. "Are you hungover again?" Since shaking her head gave her a headache, Holo just moved her ears slowly. Although Lawrence wanted to say a few words to teach Holo a lesson, he remembered what happened last night and swallowed the words.Besides, Lawrence didn't think Holo would listen. "I'll prepare the kettle later, and the bucket just in case, so you can sleep well." Lawrence deliberately emphasized the word "obediently", but Holo could only move his ears weakly.

Even if she broke her mouth, Holo couldn't be obedient.However, seeing her in such pain, it shouldn't be dragging her body out.So it was impossible for Holo to pack her bags and leave while Lawrence was away.Thinking of this, Lawrence couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, Lawrence also thought that it might be Holo's acting skills, but he felt that no matter how good the acting skills were, it was impossible to change even the complexion. Lawrence thought about these things carefully, and without speaking to Holodore, he quickly made preparations to go out.Lawrence approached Holo who couldn't even turn over again, and said to her, "The ceremony will officially start tomorrow, so don't worry."

Holo's face, which was far beyond the pain and seemed dying and hopeless, suddenly showed a relieved expression.Lawrence looked at it and couldn't help laughing. To Holo, the festival seemed to matter more to her than the hangover. "I'll be back around noon." Holo's ears didn't move, she didn't seem very interested in this sentence. Holo's direct reaction made Lawrence smile wryly. At this moment, Holo slowly opened her eyes with a smile on her lips. Holo just seemed to be doing it on purpose. Lawrence shrugged and covered Holo's head with the quilt.Holo must be laughing at him under the quilt now, he thought.

Although he was laughed at, Lawrence was relieved that the unpleasant atmosphere last night did not continue to this day. Before leaving the room, Lawrence looked back at Holo again, and flicked the tip of the tail that was exposed outside the quilt twice as if waving. Buy some delicious food for Holo when you come back. Lawrence thought so, and at the same time quietly closed the door. Basically, no matter what town you are in, the ruler doesn't approve of people doing business before the market bell rings; especially doing business in the market is not allowed. However, such regulations vary according to time and occasion, and are sometimes not so strict.

During the period of the Grand Bazaar, in order to ease the congestion after the market opens, Camelson will half encourage people to do business during non-opening hours. Therefore, in the early morning when the sun was slowly rising from behind the building, many merchants were busy working in the market that occupied more than half of the square on the south side of Camelson. In the market you can see crates and sacks stacked in the corners, and livestock such as pigs or chickens tied up in the tiny spaces between these goods and the vendors.Also, since Carmaison is the largest fish-shipping town in this part of the ocean, live fish can be seen swimming around in huge buckets like the one Amati shipped yesterday.

Just as Holo couldn't calm down when she saw the rows of food vendors, Lawrence looked at the variety of goods in the market; his mood naturally became excited. How much profit would you make if you shipped that piece of furniture to such-and-such a town?Or the quantity of that product is so large, it means that there is too much supply in such and such a region, so the price should be lower, right?Thoughts like these kept popping up in Lawrence's mind. When Lawrence first became a traveling merchant, because he hardly knew the prices of all commodities, he was able to run around in the towel market.However, now he can know all kinds of things at once.

Once he has fully mastered the dense network of product relationships, the merchant becomes an alchemist. Lawrence couldn't help being a little intoxicated by this handsome-sounding description, but when he thought of his failure in Rüppenhagen, a wry smile appeared on his face. If you always look up greedily, your feet will accidentally step on the air. After Lawrence took a deep breath to calm down his frivolous mood, he held the rein again and headed into the market.The vendor that Lawrence finally came to, like the others, was negotiating early in the morning.The vendor owner is a businessman who is one year older than Lawrence. He was originally a traveling businessman like Lawrence.Now, however, he owns a roofed vendor in the market, and, albeit a small one, is quite a city-dwelling wheat merchant.For this point, whether it is the vendor owner himself or others, it is considered to be favored by the goddess of luck.Speaking of the characteristics of town merchants in this area, they trim their beards to make them look square, and the beards on the faces of street vendors also look very stylish.

When the wheat merchant named Mark Cole found Lawrence, he blinked in surprise, then smiled and raised his hand lightly in greeting. The other businessman who was negotiating also looked at Lawrence and nodded.Knowing someone at a certain opportunity has the opportunity to bring benefits to his business: Therefore, Lawrence responded to the businessman with a business smile and gestured for the other party to continue the negotiation. "Well, Spandiamito Venterje." "Haha. Pirige Bao." As a result, the talks seem to have just come to an end.The other businessman spoke to Mark in a language Lawrence could not understand, and then left.Of course, when the other party was about to leave, he didn't forget to show Lawrence a businessman's smiling face. Lawrence memorized the merchant's face so well that he would recognize him when he met him in other towns. Such small actions accumulate over time and can bring unexpected benefits. Lawrence didn't get out of the carriage until the merchant who seemed to have come from somewhere in the north disappeared into the crowd. "I seem to have interrupted your discussion." "No way. The man was enthusiastically telling me how great the Pitola Mountain God is. Fortunately, you came to rescue me." Mark, who was sitting on the wooden bench, said while rolling up the parchment in his hand, and then smiled as if he had had enough. Mark and Lawrence are also merchants belonging to the Ron Merchant Guild.The two came to the same market to do business at the same time every year, so they got acquainted.Because the two had known each other when they were both newbies, the choice of words would not be too polite. "If you knew it earlier, you shouldn't have learned their language. Although those guys' natures are not bad, once you know that the other party understands their language, they will be very enthusiastic about spreading the blessings of the God of the Earth." "Compared to the gods who refuse to take a step from the magnificent temple, the god of the earth may give more favors." Lawrence said.After hearing this, Mark tapped his head with the rolled parchment, and replied with a brisk smile, "Haha, that must be the case. Besides, I heard that most of the gods of harvest are beauties." Holo's face came to Lawrence's mind, and he smiled and nodded his approval. It's just that he didn't express his inner thoughts of "however, he has a bad personality". "Then, stop talking about what you have and what you don't have, so as not to be scolded by my wife, it's better to talk about business. You should come to talk about business, right?" Mark's original gossip expression turned into a business expression.Although the relationship between each other is not polite in terms of words, it is after all an interpersonal relationship where calculations are made from the standpoint of businessmen.Lawrence also showed a serious expression and said, "I brought nails from Reubenhagen, and I want to ask you if you want to buy them?" "Nails? Our house is a wheat shop. Where did you hear someone put nails on a bag of wheat?" "I was thinking that there would be a lot of customers coming from the north in order to prepare things for the long winter. I just thought that you might sell nails while you were selling wheat. Nails are for repairing houses in order to prevent snow. necessities." After Mark's gaze circled in the air, he stopped on Lawrence. "It is true that there is a demand, but the nails... how many are there?" "Three pats have 120, four pats have 200, and five pats have 200. In terms of quality, there is a quality assurance certificate attached by the blacksmith's guild in Rüppenhagen." After Mark scratched his cheek with the rolled parchment, he sighed softly.Town merchants are always used to whetting people's appetites like this. "What's the market for Lumioni? It's calculated in Trini silver coins." "It happened to be thirty-four when the market closed yesterday. That's... three hundred and fifty-seven." "Too cheap." This amount is lower than Lawrence's purchase amount.Hearing Lawrence's reaction on the spot, Mark frowned and said, "Didn't you hear the news about the sharp drop in military equipment prices? This year, because of the cancellation of the Great Northern Expedition, both the sword and the bell armor were sold at a low price." .In other words, more iron has been melted away, and the price of nails should also drop. Even ten Lumiones are too high.” Lawrence had expected that Mark would retort in this way, so he calmly replied: "That is the situation in the southern regions. Even if there is more iron that can be smelted, but the price of fuel used for smelting iron continues to rise, it doesn't matter." Take. If there is a place to melt iron in Projani this season, I really want to see it with my own eyes. If anyone dares to do such a thing, his head should be chopped in half by the ax used for chopping wood. " Once winter comes, the supply of firewood in snowy areas stops.Therefore, the work of blacksmithing, which must throw an unlimited amount of wood into the furnace to melt it, does not take place in winter.If iron was struck in winter, the price of firewood used as fuel would immediately rise, and it would also provoke the anger of urban residents.In this way, even if the number of long swords and bell armor that can be used as nail materials increases, the price of nails in this nearby area should not change. As long as they are more or less experienced businessmen, of course they all have this level of common sense. Sure enough, Mark smiled maliciously and said, "Really. Please don't sell nails to the wheat merchant, okay? If it's wheat, I can have various reasons to bargain; but when it comes to nails, it's beyond me." field of expertise." "Then how about Sixteen Lumione?" "Too expensive, Thirteen Lumione." "fifteen." "Fourteen and two-thirds." Mark, who was shorter than Lawrence and was neither fat nor thin, showed an unshakable columnar atmosphere. That was the performance that Mark could no longer make concessions. If you demand too much, it will damage the relationship with each other.So Lawrence nodded, stretched out his right hand and said, "That's the price." "Haha, as expected of my good brother." Mark said with a smile while shaking hands. I believe this is also a price that has made considerable concessions to Mark. By rights, Mark ran his shop as a wheat merchant and was not allowed to buy or sell nails.Each guild has its own rules for the products sold in each store.When planning to sell a new product, you must first obtain the approval of merchants who are already selling the product, or you must distribute benefits to these merchants. Although at first glance, this seems like an unreasonable regulation that hinders the smooth progress of commercial transactions, but if it is not done, the large commercial houses with strong financial resources will swallow up the entire market in a blink of an eye.This regulation is to prevent such a situation from happening. "Then, do you want to pay in cash, or by bookkeeping?" "Oh, it's for accounting." "Great. During this period, many places require cash payment, which is a terrible headache." Although merchants can use bookkeeping or documents to conduct transactions, if the other party is a resident who comes from a village or town with goods and asks for cash payment, it will not work. However, no matter which town, there is a serious shortage of money.If there is no currency to pay, even if you have the financial resources to buy goods, you can't do business.For illiterate farmers, receipts can only be used to blow their noses. In the wilderness, the knight with the sword is the strongest being: but in the city, the one with cash is the strongest being.Perhaps this is the reason why the economic power of the church has become stronger.If I receive cash in the name of the donation every week, of course it will become stronger. "Also, keeping accounts is fine. However, there is something I would like to ask for your help." Mark stood up from the bench and was about to approach the carriage to pick up the nails on the pallet.As soon as he heard what Lawrence said, he immediately looked at Lawrence with wary eyes. "It's really not a big deal. I want to do something in the north. Can you help me ask the people in the north about the roads and the situation in the area? The guest just now is from the north, right?" Hearing a request that had nothing to do with business profit or loss, Mark showed a visibly relieved expression. Seeing Mark's expression that couldn't be more deliberate, Lawrence couldn't help but smile wryly.Lawrence thought to himself that Mark had just asked Mark to buy the nail at a price that was favorable to him, so Mark would take this opportunity to avenge a little revenge. "Oh, it's a trivial matter if it's helpful. However, in this case, you should come here in summer like every year, so it won't be so hard. It seems that it is very important to choose to go to the north in winter. What about things?" "Well, I have something to deal with. But it's not about making money." "Hahaha. Even a traveling merchant who travels non-stop seems to be unable to escape morality. Then, where are you planning to go?" "The destination is a place called Yoiz, have you heard of it?" Mark tilted his head, raised one eyebrow subtly, and put his hand on the edge of the cargo counter and replied, "I haven't heard of it. But after all, there are so many towns or villages we don't know about. Just find someone who has heard of it. ?” "Ah, no no, I'm planning to go to Nyushira first, so just ask Yoiz for me by the way." "Oh, I understand. If you want to go to Nyushira, you have to go through the Dolan Plain." "It's really easy to communicate with you." Mark nodded and patted his chest, as if to say "Leave it to me".If it is Mark, I believe he must have gathered the appropriate information for the trip. It was precisely because of this expectation that Lawrence came to sell nails to Mark, a wheat merchant.However, in this busy and dark period, if you just come to ask for help in collecting information, not only will Lawrence feel bad, I believe Mark will also feel bad. That's why Lawrence came to sell nails to Mark, who was a wheat merchant.Lawrence knew very well that Mark had a blacksmith who cooperated with him.In other words, Mark could directly resell the nails he bought from Lawrence, presumably he could also get a lot of profit. Moreover, when Mark sells nails, he can also ask the other party to pay part of the purchase price in cash.For wheat merchants, this period is the last chance to make money this year. Compared with earning meager profits, it is more gratifying to have a way to get cash. Sure enough, as Lawrence expected, Mark readily agreed to help.In this way, Lawrence is ready to collect information on the journey. "Ah, by the way, there is one more thing I want to ask you. Don't worry, this question will be finished soon." "Do I look that mean?" Mark said with a wry smile.Lawrence also smiled, and then said, "Does Camelson have a chronicler?" After hearing this, Mark said with a look of astonishment, "Chronicle... writers? You mean the guys who keep town diaries?" The so-called chroniclers.A writer who writes the history of a town or place for a fee from the church or nobles. However, Lawrence couldn't help laughing when Mark unkindly called them the town diary guy. Moreover, although Mark's description is not appropriate, but not too far off, Lawrence finds it very interesting. "If you say that, they will be angry." "They just get paid for sitting in a chair and writing all day, which is not pleasing to the eye." "I think they don't want to be criticized by you, a person who can run a street vendor in the city by accident." Mark's accidental experience was a well-known story in the town. Lawrence saw that Mark couldn't seem to find words to refute, so he smiled and said, "Well, is there any?" "Hmm... Maybe there is. However, it's better not to get involved with them." Mark reached out to Lawrence's carriage cargo bed, picked up the bag containing the nails, and continued, "I heard that they were considered heretics by a certain monastery, so they fled here. You should Do you know there are many people like this here?" Compared with the struggle between Orthodox Christians and pagans, Camelson's town construction paid more attention to economic development, and church power was naturally excluded from the city.Therefore, many natural scholars, thinkers, and heretics have fled to Camelson. "I just want to ask something. Chroniclers should also collect local ancient legends and myths, right? I want to ask about this." "Why are you interested in this kind of thing? Are you looking for something to talk about when you go to the north?" "That's about it. So, I guess it's not a good idea to visit them suddenly. Do you know anyone who could be an introducer?" After Mark tilted his head slightly, he turned around and called out with a bag of nails in one hand. A teenager came out from behind the pile of wheat sacks inside the vendor.Once upon a time, Mark had become a businessman qualified to accept apprentices. "There is one candidate. Someone who is also Ron would be better, right?" Mark said while stuffing the bag containing nails to the apprentice.Seeing Mark like this, Lawrence's desire to find Yoiz sooner and restore his original business life became stronger and stronger. However, if this kind of thinking is seen through by Holo, things will become difficult, and I don't want to separate from Holo so quickly. Lawrence himself could not sort out the two opposite moods. If he could live for the same amount of time as Holo, he wouldn't care if he didn't do business for a year or two. However, Lawrence's life was too short. "What's wrong?" "Huh? Ah, it's okay. Well, the people in the guild are better. Can you introduce me?" "Of course it's a trivial matter, so I'll help you for free." When Mark said "free", he deliberately emphasized his tone, and Lawrence couldn't help laughing when he heard it. "Do you want to deal with it as soon as possible?" "As soon as possible." "Since this is the case, let the little guy take a trip first. There is an old-faced traveling merchant named Guy Bartos who should be in the foreign firm. He is very courageous and always fights with some of the most incompatible people in the city. People with connections do business. I remember that he should cooperate with heretic monks who work as chroniclers. Every year around the week of the festival, that person seems to be on a long vacation. So, just go to the foreign company around noon , you will see him drunk inside." Even among those who belong to the same guild, some are traveling merchants like Lawrence, while others are doing business that has nothing to do with Lawrence like Amati.Therefore, many times Lawrence did not recognize the names and faces of other members of the union. Lawrence repeated Guy.The name of Bartos, let this name be burned in his mind. "I see, thank you very much." "Haha, I don't dare to be thanked by you like this. Let's not talk about this, you will stay in the city until the festival is over, right? Before you go, come home and have a drink." "Si, I will find an opportunity to come to your house to listen to your boast, and take it as repayment." Mark smiled silently, and after stuffing the last bag containing nails to the young man, he sighed softly and said, "However, even as a town merchant, there are still countless troubles and hard work. I often I think it’s better to go back to being a traveling merchant.” For Lawrence, who was still a traveling businessman and worked hard every day to make money for his dream of owning a store, he could only vaguely agree with Mark's statement.Mark himself seemed to be aware of Lawrence's state of mind, he smiled awkwardly and said, "I didn't say anything." "Let's cheer each other on. The troubles and hard work of merchants will never be less, will they?" "That's right, let's cheer for each other." After shaking hands with Mark, Lawrence saw another visitor coming, so he left Mark's vendor. The carriage moved forward slowly, and before entering the crowd, Lawrence looked back at Mark's vendor. Looking at Mark, who had long forgotten Lawrence's existence and was negotiating with a new visitor, Lawrence couldn't help feeling envious. Even as a town merchant, though, Mark seemed to want to go back to being a traveling merchant. A long time ago, when a king was about to provoke a war against a rich neighboring country in order to improve the plight of his own country, a court poet said to the king: "For your own country, you always see the bad side; Neighboring territories always look on the bright side." Lawrence recalled this passage and began to reflect on himself. I always focus on finding Holo's hometown, or the fact that because of the turmoil in Reubenhagen, the dream is further away.But after thinking about it carefully, you will find that you have Holo as a valuable traveling companion. If he hadn't met Holo, he must be suffering from loneliness now, going back and forth between the same trading routes. Moreover, before meeting Holo, he had half-seriously wondered if the horse would turn into a human and talk to him.Thinking about it this way, I feel that the status quo is already a dream come true. In the future, it is very likely that he will return to the life of a solo businessman.At that time, everything now will definitely make people miss it very much. Thinking of this, Lawrence took the rein again. Lawrence thought to himself, use the morning time to go to the trading company and the foreign company to say hello one by one, buy a super delicious lunch and go back to Holo. In Camelson, where there is no church, at noon, the noble houses on the roofs of the city will boldly ring the wall clock on the clock tower.Of course, the wall clock is engraved with luxurious carving patterns, and the clock tower, which can attract the eyes of all directions in the city, is maintained by first-class craftsmen. It is said that the bell tower specially built by the nobles cost more than three hundred Lumiones because of their love of vanity.Because they do it, they deserve to be called nobles; and people don't feel envious for it. Perhaps most of the rich merchants who hid gold coins in their vaults were envied because they didn't have such fun.Even a knight known for his brutality, as long as he knows how to spend money like water, can become the heartthrob of the city. While thinking about these things, Lawrence opened the door of the hotel room, and the sudden smell of wine made him frown. "So it stinks..." Lawrence secretly regretted not rinsing his mouth properly before going out, but he also thought that the stench was probably caused by the sleeping wolf. Although Lawrence entered the room, Holo still had no intention of getting up.Lawrence, however, heard Holo snoring weakly, as usual; and thought maybe Holo's hangover was better. The smell of alcohol in the room was too strong, so Lawrence opened the wooden window first, and then approached the bed.He found that the jug by the bed had bottomed out, and the bucket—fortunately—was still clean.The face exposed outside the quilt has regained its blood color.Lawrence thought he had made the right decision not to buy the sweet honey biscuits, but to buy the seldom-bought wheat bread. If Holo woke up, she would say that she was hungry as soon as she opened her mouth. Lawrence brought the sack containing wheat bread close to Holo's nose, and the little nose quivered slightly.Unlike hard and bitter rye or oat bread, sweet and soft wheat bread smells delicious. Holo kept sniffing, in a way that made one wonder if she was still asleep.Not long after, Holo let out a "whoosh" and buried her face under the quilt. Lawrence turned his gaze to Holo's feet, and he saw the tail trembling, sticking out of the quilt. Holo must have yawned a lot. After waiting a bit, Lawrence saw the teary-eyed Holo sticking her head out from under the quilt. "Hmm...it smells really good..." "Feeling better?" Holo rubbed her eyes, yawned again, and replied as if talking to herself, "...I'm hungry." Lawrence couldn't help laughing. However, Holo sat up uninterested and yawned again.Then, Holo snorted a few times, and then looked politely at the sack in Lawrence's hand. "I knew you would say that, so I went all out and bought wheat bread." As soon as Lawrence handed out the whole sack, the noble wolf turned into a kitten playing with the sachet on the spot. "Aren't you going to eat?" Holo was sitting on the edge of the bed holding the sack and greedily eating the snow-white wheat bread. It didn't look like she had a big heart and was willing to share the contents of the sack with others. Besides, even though Holo said so, her eyes were no different from those of a hound protecting its prey from being stolen. Holo asked this before eating all the bread, it must be her thoughtfulness that took so much effort. "Si, no need, I just tried it first." Although most people would doubt whether Lawrence was lying at this time, Holo, who could see through rumors, seemed to know immediately that what Lawrence said was true. Holo showed a visibly relieved expression, and concentrated on biting the bread again. "Don't choke." Lawrence remembered that not long after meeting Holo, she had once choked on a potato when she settled down in church.Holo glared at Lawrence with a disgusted expression, but Lawrence just smiled slightly, moved away from the desk, pulled out a chair and sat down. There were several wax-sealed letters on the desk.When Lawrence first went to the foreign firm to say hello, he received several letters addressed to him from various towns. Although traveling merchants live a life of traveling throughout the year, because they will settle in certain towns in each season, there are unexpectedly many opportunities to receive letters. Some letters said that if they passed through a certain town, they would be willing to buy at a high price as long as they could help them buy a certain product for next year;The content of the letter can be described in various ways. Lawrence secretly said "Say it again" and fell into thinking.He thought that he only came to Camelson every year in the summer, and it was unusual for letters to arrive in this period when winter was about to enter.As long as one is not careful, these letters will have to lie in the cabinet of the foreign company for more than half a year.This time the letter even stated that after the letter was delivered, if Lawrence did not come to pick it up within two weeks, please send it to the south immediately.However, to send a letter, of course, you have to spend a lot of money. Lawrence was well aware that these were urgent letters. The sender of each letter was a merchant from a town farther north than Proiani. Lawrence carefully scraped off the wax seal with a knife, when he suddenly noticed a gaze coming, so he looked up and found Holo looking at him with a very interested expression. "It's a letter." "Ok." After Holo answered briefly, she sat down on the table with the bread in one hand. Because these were not letters for fear of being seen by others, Lawrence opened the envelope and took out the letter paper. "To dear Mr. Lawrence..." The fact that it doesn't start with "in the name of God" is very much like a northerner writing a letter. Lawrence skipped the previous polite words, and directly focused on the main topic of the article. Lawrence's eyes followed the hastily written scribbled handwriting one by one, and he grasped the content of the letter in an instant. The letter indeed contains information that is very important to the businessman's promise. However, after reading another letter and confirming that it contained the same content, Lawrence first sighed and then smiled lightly. "What's written on it?" "Guess what was written?" Maybe Holo was upset when she asked a question but was asked instead. After circling the air with a bit of anger, she replied, "At least it's not like a love letter." Lawrence thought that if he received a love letter with such scribbled handwriting, even a century-old love would cool down. While handing out the letter, Lawrence smiled again and said, "The information you need is always received when you don't need it." "Well." "They sent the letter out of kindness, so at least they have to return a gift. But, do you think you should cry or laugh at this?" Not knowing if Holo was full or had eaten it all, she licked her fingers while holding onto the letter with her other hand to let her eyes scan over the words. Then, he handed the letter back to Lawrence with a look of displeasure and said, "We can't read the text." "Ah? Really?" Lawrence accepted the letter in surprise, and Holo narrowed her eyes and said, "If you said that on purpose, we can only say that your kung fu is getting better and better." "No. Sorry, I really don't know." In order to judge the truth of this sentence, Holo kept staring at Lawrence, then she turned her face away, sighed and said, "Basically, there are too many types of words to memorize. Also, it's inexplicable." There are too many combinations. Although humans will say that it is enough to just write according to the speaking rules, but this is obviously a lie.” It seems that Holo seems to have had the idea of ​​wanting to memorize the words. "Are you talking about consonant marks or something?" "We don't know what to call it, but it's a very complicated rule. If you want to say that you humans are better than us wolves, it means that humans know how to use these inexplicable words." Lawrence almost blurted out "Can't other wolves write?" But he swallowed the words back almost to the point of his mouth and agreed. "However, no one should be able to easily remember it. It took me a lot of effort to remember. Moreover, every time I make a mistake, I will be beaten by the master. I am always worried that my head will be deformed. " Holo looked at Lawrence suspiciously.The expression seemed to say that if it was just a polite lie, she would lose her temper immediately. "You can see that I'm not lying, right?" Hearing what Lawrence said, Holo finally looked away suspiciously. "Then, what exactly is written on it?" "Oh. It says that due to the cancellation of the Great Northern Expedition this year, we must be careful when purchasing military equipment." Lawrence said while throwing out the received letter.Holo first showed a stunned expression, followed by a wry smile. "If I had received this letter sooner, I wouldn't have ended up like that?" "That's right... However, in terms of consequences, the two people who sent the letter are willing to spend money to inform me of the information. Just knowing this, it is considered a profit. From now on, these two people are worthy of my trust." "Yeah. But it's the difference between heaven and hell if you read the letter or if you don't read it." "Although this is not funny at all, but what you said is absolutely correct. The information brought by a letter will really become a bifurcation point of fate. If a businessman lacks information, it is like being blindfolded and going to the battlefield Same." "If it's to cover up your shame, you're quite used to it." The moment Lawrence heard it, he stopped putting the letter back into the envelope, and said in his heart, "Oops". "Phew. Even if I tease you, I still won't be able to shake off my sleepiness." Holo yawned as she walked off the desk to the bed. Lawrence followed Holo with a bitter expression.At this moment, Holo suddenly turned around to look at Lawrence and said, "By the way, you. Can you go to the festival now?" 赫萝伸手拿起随手脱在床上的长袍，她那炯炯有神的双眼仿佛快要射出光芒来。看着赫萝的模样，罗伦斯虽想带她出门，但是很遗憾的，罗伦斯还有事情没办完。 「抱歉，还不……」 罗伦斯之所以没能够把话说完，那是因为他看见赫萝瞬间露出快要哭出来的表情，手中紧握着长袍。 「拜讬妳，就算是开玩笑，也别这样好吗？」 「汝果然是对这种事没辄，咱得牢牢记住这点。」 尽管罗伦斯识破了赫萝的演技，却无法反驳赫萝说的话。 罗伦斯一边心生疲惫地想着又被赫萝知道了一项弱点，一边重新面向书桌。 「嗯……可是汝啊，咱自己到街上去也不行吗？」 「就算我说不行，妳还是会去吧。」 「唔，是没错啦。可是……」 罗伦斯把信纸收回信封里后，再次看向赫萝。他发现赫萝握着长袍，一副难为情的模样。 罗伦斯有些难以置信地想着「才说完没多久，马上就来这招啊」，但是他立刻察觉到了。 没带半毛钱就去参观祭典，肯定只能够瞪着成排的摊贩，痛苦得生不如死吧。 重点就是，赫萝想要一些战斗资金，只是赫萝没有堕落到能够轻松地开口。 「我手头上刚好没有零钱……妳可别太挥霍啊。」 罗伦斯站起身广，从捆绑在腰际的皮袋里掏出一枚伊雷多银币，并走近赫萝交给她。 伊雷多银币上头刻着掌管卡梅尔森的贵族第七代主人肖像。 「这银币不像崔尼银币的价值那么高，所以在摊贩买一块面包也不会遭人白眼。店家会愿意找钱的。」 "Ok……" 赫萝虽然拿到了银币，却仍然回答得吞吞吐吐。罗伦斯的脑海里下一个浮现的想法，是赫萝该不会是想要更多的资金吧。 不过，如果罗伦斯被看出怀有戒心，赫萝一定会巧妙地攻击他这一点。 于是，罗伦斯努力地伪装平静，并询问说：「怎么了？」 「嗯？嗯……」 当赫萝表现得楚楚可怜时，就得十分注意。 罗伦斯让自己的头脑进入商谈状态。 「咱在想，就算自己一个人去，也不好玩呐。」 这一瞬间，罗伦斯的脑袋空转了。 「汝还有什么事情得处理呢？如果可以带咱一块儿去，银币就还给汝。」 「咦？啊，不，这个嘛，我约了人要见面：：」 「反正咱只是出去闲逛。如果咱站在旁边不方便，咱就站远一点没关系。所以，可以带咱一块儿去吗？」 赫萝没有特别谄媚，也没有表现得楚楚可怜，她的模样看来就像很正常地在要求带她出门。 如果赫萝是说「带咱一块儿去，好吗？」然后微微倾着头，那或许会让人怀疑是演技。 不过，赫萝这次的要求态度虽然看来正常，却给人懦弱的感觉。 如果说这是演技，上了当也甘愿。 而且，万二垣不是演技，这样怀疑赫萝一定会伤了她的心。 「真的很抱歉，就今天一天，妳自己打发时间好吗？等会儿我得去见个人，透过那人的介绍，说不定会直接去其他地方。如果一起去，几乎所有时间妳都得在外面等我。」 "Ok……" 「我会在今天处理好所有杂务，从明天开始就可以好好地参观祭典。所以，就今天一天，忍耐一下好吗？」 看着赫萝站在床边，一动也不动的脆弱模样，让罗伦斯不禁以说服一个十岁不到的小女孩般的口吻说话。 而且，罗伦斯似乎也能够了解赫萝的心情。 罗伦斯自己就是因为不愿意独自参加与冬季大市集一同举办的祭典，所以只在夏天前来卡梅尔森。 越是在拥挤得会触碰他人身体的人群之中穿梭，就越容易深刻感受到孤单一人的寂寞。 那种感觉就像洋行举办宴会时，只有自己一人回到供旅人投宿的旅馆一样寂寥。 虽然他也很想带赫萝一起去，但是等会儿要办的事情可不能让赫萝在场。 因为等会儿会在居伊·巴托斯的介绍下，与城里的编年史作家见面。洋行主人对这位编年史作家似乎也有所了解，所以拿取信件时顺便打听了一些事情。果然不出所料，据说这位编年史作家不仅拥有普罗亚尼一带的史书，也收集了普罗亚尼以北地区的异教故事，并编成书籍。 如果带着赫萝去到那里，万一发现了有关约伊兹的古老传说，那可不妙。照以前听来的传说，约伊兹早已遭到熊怪毁灭。所以，怎么想也不觉得有可能发现，事实上约伊兹至今仍是个繁荣城镇。 虽然心里明白这件事不可能一直瞒着赫萝，但是至少得找到适当的机会再告诉赫萝。毕竟这话题太敏感了。 沉默在罗伦斯与赫萝之间持续了好一会儿。 「思。怎么说呢，总是妨碍汝工作也不好。而且，咱可不想再被拨开手呐。」 赫萝显得特别悲伤的口吻应该是演技吧。 即便如此，在留宾海根不小心拨开赫萝的手，这件事到现在仍然让罗伦斯的胸口隐隐作痛。洞察力十足的贤狼是知道这个事实，所以故意说出来的吧。那是因为罗伦斯不肯答应赫萝的任性要求，所以赫萝才会藉机报一点小仇。 「我会买个东西回来给妳的，今天就忍耐一下吧。」 「……汝又想拿东西骗咱。」 赫萝明明露出像是责备的目光，但她的尾巴却是充满期待地甩着。 「那，还是妳想听甜言蜜语呢？」 「哼。汝说的话又涩又酸的，根本不堪入耳。千万别说呗。」 虽然赫萝的言语恶毒，但是看她展露笑容不再闷闷不乐，于是罗伦斯乖乖地挥手表示投降。 「反正，咱会自己到处去闲逛的。」 "Feel sorry." Lawrence said.赫萝听了，像是想到了什么似地出声说：「对了，汝回来时，如果发现房间里有两个人，虽然对汝很抱歉，但是汝可不可避开一下？」 罗伦斯听了，霎时不明白赫萝的意思，但立刻就察觉赫萝是指她或许会在街上钓男子回来。 凭赫萝的器量，要做出这种事似乎没什么困难。 然而，罗伦斯不知道自己听了，应该做出什么表情来。 应该生气呢？还是应该笑呢？不对，不理会赫萝是最好的方法。当罗伦斯这么察觉时，便见到赫萝打从心底觉得开心地笑着说：「能够看到汝这么可爱的表情，咱今天一天独自打发时间也没问题呐。」 看着开怀大笑的赫萝，罗伦斯除了叹气，还是叹气。 这只狼实在令人火大。 「反正，目前就汝的怀里最舒适。所以呐，汝尽管放心呗。」 罗伦斯还是说不出话来。 这只狼实在是、实在是令人火大。 因为时刻已经过了中午，一进到洋行里，便发现里头的人数果然比上午来得多。 卡梅尔森的城镇商人、或是以卡梅尔森为中心做生意的旅行商人当中，似乎有不少人为了参观祭典都暂时歇业，人们大白天就在洋行里饮酒作乐，笑声充斥着整间屋子。 编年史作家的介绍人居伊·巴托斯似乎没有像马克描述的那般醉倒在洋行里。罗伦斯上午来到洋行露脸时，听说他出城做生意去了。 向洋行主人一问，才得知他还没回来。可是，等会儿还得与人见面，所以不能喝酒，这下该怎么消磨时间才好？ 虽然有几个处境相同的商人也在洋行里，但是他们不敌现场如酒吧般气氛的诱惑，都心神专注于扑克牌的赌局，所以也不能随随便便向他们搭腔。 最后没办法，只好和同样喝着酒，但不能喝醉的洋行主人闲话家常：聊着聊着，洋行大门打开，又有一人走进了洋行。 因为洋行主人的位置就在正对着入口处的地方，所以立刻就看见了是谁走进洋行来。与其说走进来的是商人，不如以贵族的三公子来形容更贴切，他就是阿玛堤。 "Mr. Lawrence." 阿玛堤也立刻发现了罗伦斯的存在，他先向在入口处附近喝着酒的商人们招呼几句后，便向罗伦斯搭腔。 「您好，谢谢您帮我们安排旅馆。」 「不会，我才应该谢谢您们点了那么多鱼料理。」 「我那对吃很挑剔的夥伴赞不绝口呢，她说您很会挑选好鱼。」 罗伦斯心想，比起说他觉得鱼料理好吃，用赫萝的名义应该会更具效果。结果事情果然不出他所料。 阿玛堤的神情不像个商人，而是如少年般散发着光芒。 「哈哈，很高兴能够这么被夸奖。如果还有什么想吃的鱼尽管吩咐，我明天就去采买最好的鱼回来。」 「我的夥伴说鲤鱼特别好吃。」 「这样啊……我知道了，那我再去挑选可以让她吃得开心的鱼回来。」 没被阿玛堤询问自己喜欢吃什么鱼，让罗伦斯不禁暗自苦笑，他心想阿玛堤压根儿没察觉到这件事吧。 「啊，对了，罗伦斯先生您等会儿有事吗？」 「我正在消磨时间等巴托斯先生回来。」 "Is that so..." 「有什么事吗？」 阿玛堤的脸上突然蒙上了一层阴影，说话变得吞吞吐吐。但是他立刻表现得像个终日在鱼市场激烈厮杀的商人，下定决心开口说：「是的，其实我是在想或许我能够带两位到城里走走。在外出采买的路上能够与您相遇，我想这一定是神的指引。而且，如果能够多听听旅行商人的意见，想必会是增广见闻的好机会。」 虽然阿玛堤表现得十分谦虚，但是罗伦斯当然知道他的目标在于赫萝。如果阿玛堤身上像赫萝一样有尾巴，不难想像出他用力地甩动尾巴的不镇定模样。 这时，罗伦斯想到了个不错的点子。 「难得您提出这么好的提议，真的很可惜。我的夥伴赫萝一大早就吵着想到街上四处走走，所以这实在是个很好的机会。只是……」 阿玛堤脸色一变说：「如果您不介意，我可以只带赫萝小姐出去走走。老实说，我今天已经没工作要处理了，正闲得发慌呢。」 「这不太好意思吧。」 虽然罗伦斯不确定自己有没有顺利做出惊讶的表情，但是他心想，阿玛堤根本就没注意到他的细微表情变化吧。 阿玛堤的眼中应该只有赫萝的身影。 「不会的。如果自己一人到处闲晃，我担心赚来的钱都会被我喝光。说难听一点，这样我正好可以有个伴。就让我来带赫萝小姐出去走走吧。」 「真的可以吗？不过，那家伙不是人家叫她待在旅馆，就会乖乖待着的人。所以，我不确定她是否还在旅馆。」 「哈哈。我正好要和那家旅馆商量采购的事，我会露个脸顺便问问看，如果赫萝小姐在，我就约她。」 「真不好意思。」 「不会、不会。不过，下次也要让我带您到城里走走。」 关于这方面的交际话语，阿玛堤倒是表现得十足像个商人。 虽然比罗伦斯年轻五、六岁左右的阿玛堤有着不可靠的柔弱外表，但是他的内在想必是个落实的商人吧。 尽管阿玛堤的注意力全放在赫萝身上，他却没忘了应该有的表现。 就在罗伦斯暗自告诫自己不可掉以轻心时，洋行大门再次打开。 因为与罗伦斯同时把视线移向大门的阿玛堤说了句「来得正好呢」，所以罗伦斯立刻明白了是谁走进洋行。 「那么，罗伦斯先生，我先告辞了。」 「啊，好的，拜讬您了。」 不知道阿玛堤前来洋行是没有其他事情要办，还是他满脑子想的都是赫萝，以致于忘了要办的事情。阿玛堤告辞后，便离开了洋行。 虽然留了银币给赫萝，但想必赫萝现在还赖在床上没出门吧。 看阿玛堤那副着迷模样，相信只要赫萝开口，阿玛堤一定会买下所有东西给她，对赫萝来说，阿玛堤肯定是个不错的冤大头。 虽然这么一想，不禁有些同情起阿玛堤：但是看他那副模样，相信他会很乐意解开荷包吧。 如果可以拿别人的荷包来买得赫萝的好心情，没什么比这更教人开心的了。 但是，很遗憾的，只要在赫萝面前，脑筋就是没办法转得这么快。 不用说反应总是慢赫萝一步，只要她使点小把戏，就会被打个落花流水。 就在罗伦斯想着赫萝活了那么久，想要超越她果然没那么容易时，和阿玛堤接棒进来洋行的男子环视洋行一圈后，朝罗伦斯的方向走来。 听说马克的徒弟为了罗伦斯跑遍了整个卡梅尔森，而巴托斯应该已经收到了罗伦斯在找他的消息，所以他才会走近罗伦斯。 罗伦斯轻轻点头致意后，露出营业用的笑容。 「请问是克拉福·罗伦斯先生吗？我是居伊·巴托斯。」 巴托斯说罢，伸出右手。他的右手像是身经百战的佣兵般粗糙厚实。 据马克的说明，比起做生意赚钱，巴托斯好像是个更热衷于赚钱来喝酒的旅行商人。但是实际见到巴托斯后，却发现他身上散发出完全相反的气氛。 走在路上的巴托斯有着矮了一截的棺材般稳定感十足的身躯，他满脸杂乱生长的胡须有如海瞻刺，脸上的肌肤就像任凭风吹砂刮的鞣皮一样。巴托斯的右手握起来不像成天握着马车缰绳悠哉度日的人会有的手掌心，而是能够让人立刻知道他全年手持重物的手掌心。