01x08 - Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News

[bunniefuu]

By the blessing of God in the heavens,

by the protection

of the spirits of the land,

the wind carries the message of God

and the sheep feed off of the love of

the spirits, as if feeding off of grass.

The sheep are led by the shepherd

and the shepherd is led by God.

Under God's direction, the shepherd

follows the path of righteousness.

ORIGINAL STORY BY ISUNA HASEKURA

Please forgive me for doubting you.

You are no doubt a good shepherd.

It must be God's will

that I met a shepherd here.

Will you pray for a safe journey

on our behalf?

I'd love to.

Thank you very much.

No, thank you.

Well then

Um, are you going to Ruvinheigen?

Yes, we're on our way there from Poroson.

Why are you taking this road? Um

Did you not hear about the wolves?

I did. But we're in a hurry.

I see.

Is something wrong?

Huh? No

Um

Don't be shy.

Or are you in need of anything?

Um, would you

hire me, please?

Well, as you can see, I'm a merchant.

I don't make a living off of sheep.

I appreciate the offer, but

No, that's not what I mean.

I'm a shepherd.

So, other than raising sheep,

I can also fend off wolves.

If you hire me,

I can protect you from wolves

during your journey.

Um, what do you think?

What do you think about that shepherdess?

I'm cuter.

-No, I'm asking about her skills.

-Skills?

Can you tell

how good of a shepherdess she is?

You were listening, right?

But you have me.

I know that, of course.

But this might lead

to new business opportunities.

No, I am not charmed by her looks.

You're cuter, after all.

Fine, you pass. But just barely.

So, how are her skills?

I'd be able to hunt her sheep.

But regular wolves wouldn't stand a chance

even if they banded together.

She is highly skilled in handling her dog.

Troublesome shepherds

are those who have smart dogs

and work in perfect harmony

with their dogs.

For being young,

she has frightening skills.

While I have the chance, I should

All right! Thank you.

-Hey, you.

-Huh?

Are you really going to hire her?

Do you hate shepherds that much?

It's true that I hate them.

But that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm asking whether it's okay with you.

About what?

If you hire her,

that means we're going to travel together.

You have no problem with that?

It takes about two days to get to

Ruvinheigen. You don't want to?

I'm not saying that I don't want to.

Sorry,

but can you endure it for a little bit?

What is there for me to "endure"?

Huh? Well I'm honestly only

going to test how good she is

at warding off wolves.

Two days isn't so bad, right?

It's fine, but that's not the issue here.

Right

If we travel with other people,

they might find out about me.

-Huh?

-Interesting.

I get it now

What you wanted me to say was

"I want to travel alone with you."

You fool.

No, well

Jeez

Well, I guess we can keep a secret

for two days.

Sorry for the wait.

Not at all. Um

How about 40 Trie?

If we're attacked by wolves,

I'll pay an additional fee.

-Thank you.

-My pleasure.

May I ask for your name?

Oh, sorry.

I'm Norah Arendt.

Enek.

Have you been a shepherdess for long?

It's only been about four years.

Did you raise your sheepdog

I mean, Enek, yourself?

No, I found him.

I became a shepherdess after I found Enek.

And before that?

I was living in an almshouse.

I see.

But I had always wanted to

make my own living.

I'm lucky to have met Enek.

When I found him,

he was tattered and covered in wounds.

From wolves?

No, I think it was

from bandits or mercenaries.

He was curled up under

a little cliff in the hills

with this staff in his mouth.

I see.

I must say, I've never had a shepherd

offer to be a bodyguard before.

Shepherds don't really

do this normally, do they?

Um, well

I wanted someone to talk to.

I understand that feeling.

And plus

I want to become a tailor.

You need funds to join a guild?

I see. You probably earn

more from escorting merchants

than caring for sheep.

Fighting over the land

must be difficult too.

Yeah

All the safe areas are taken

by other shepherds already.

The only place left was

an area full of wolves, huh?

Yes.

Wolves are troublesome, aren't they?

And they're sly and devious too.

I don't like to talk bad about them

since they might be listening.

That's true.

Um, I'm sorry, but it's about time

Oh, that's right.

It's time for shepherds to rest.

Yes. In order to watch over

the sheep at night,

I have to get some sleep now.

Then let's camp out here tonight.

I would expect someone

with your skill to be

entrusted with more sheep.

No, I'm grateful

for having any job at all.

Wanting more sheep is asking for too much.

Your employer must not

be a good judge of character.

Why don't you try changing employers?

Change?

I would never be able to do that.

I'm sorry. As a merchant, I can't help

but analyze things

based on profit and loss.

It's fine.

-Um

-Yes?

Is it common for people to change

their employers?

Excuse me,

but are you employed by the church?

Yes.

With the church, you don't have to

worry about unemployment, right?

Yes. I was really lucky.

They entrust their sheep to me

and really take care of me in many ways.

I see.

In that case, I don't think

you have to change employers.

You think so?

Yes. Your wage may be on the lower side,

but as long as God doesn't abandon us,

the church will always exist.

Then you will never be out of a job,

and you won't go hungry.

That's true.

Well, anyway,

I will tell my merchant friends

in Ruvinheigen about you.

God doesn't forbid us

from having a side job, after all.

Thank you!

That's a hard job.

It's important to maintain

your tail every day.

Oh, were you talking about that girl?

Her name is Norah Arendt, apparently.

Hey, wait!

I asked for your permission, didn't I?

I can't even groom my tail in peace.

You can't do it in the wagon?

If I do it in the wagon

What?

It seems like you two

had a nice conversation.

She wanted to talk.

There's no reason to turn her down.

Plus, I haven't talked to

a normal girl in ages.

You didn't even notice

that she didn't want to talk to you?

What?

Well, that's not bad either.

If I charm her too quickly,

I can't enjoy the process

of slowly getting her to like me.

I can be a smooth talker too, can't I?

It's so out of character!

Come on

It's not that funny. Jeez!

I laughed so hard

Are you done?

Yes. You had quite the ace up your sleeve.

Well, whatever puts you in a good mood.

What? My mood?

You were in a bad mood.

Because you couldn't groom your tail.

Oh

I was, wasn't I?

There's no point in being mad, anyway.

After laughing at your "ace,"

it all seems so silly.

I agree. Let's get the fire ready

Hey, you

Wh What?

I feel like eating raw mutton

is nice once in a while.

What do you think?

If you're going to joke,

at least make it funny.

There it is.

Here's 40 Trie, as promised.

But if you exchange this currency,

it'll be worth more.

It's an investment.

Investment?

If I become acquainted with

a skilled shepherd, I may be able

to get involved in profitable

wool transactions.

Thank you very much.

So you're able to escort people

down the path we just took?

I can go to Kaslata and Poroson too.

Oh, also to Lamtra.

Lamtra?

You have to pass through

a dangerous forest

or take a really long detour

to get to that town.

I'm able to take people through

the forest route, not the detour.

That's amazing.

It's a dangerous area that

even intimidates knights.

If you can go to Lamtra,

you might get regular customers.

Thank you.

All right,

we'll enter from that gate then.

Well then, let's see how

honey-pickled peaches taste.

I'm so excited.

You remembered that?

You're not going to say

that you won't buy them, right?

I can't buy them

if they're not selling them.

Of course.

-Your permit.

-Here.

From Poroson, huh? What's your cargo?

Ten suits of armor.

Armor? From Poroson?

Yes. I purchased them

from Latparron Trading Company.

Is something wrong?

They do look like armor from there.

So, do you want to pay your taxes

in cash or in kind?

In kind.

I would too, if I were you.

Go over there and hand them

one suit of armor.

Is it rare to see armaments from Poroson?

No. This place is always

in need of armaments.

They must get a lot imported

from Poroson too.

Here you go.

-Is there something wrong?

-No, everything looks fine.

Government workers are such jerks.

They probably just don't like

the fact that a mere traveling merchant

is trying to get rich.

Well, whatever.

We just need to sell these off

and make a fortune.

That's right.

By the way

-What?

-I am hungry.

That's tasty!

I need a refill!

Coming up!

Here's your beer!

The beer is good and it's also lively.

What a nice town!

At the same time,

you can't let your guard down.

Don't get into a fight

with any knights or mercenaries.

Don't you worry.

Where are we going?

To a trading firm.

Hey, you have something on your mouth.

Jeez!

You'll pay for that.

Hey,

why do I have to go there too?

I want to drink some more

at the town square.

It's dangerous to leave you alone.

I am cute, after all.

It's dangerous to leave me by myself.

No matter how cute you are, you can't

deceive the church's soldiers and knights.

If you get drunk and show

your ears and tail, it'll be the end.

It's fine. If that happens,

there's nothing to lose.

I'll just grab you by my teeth

and run out of town.

I heard your daughter

was cured of her sickness.

Yeah, I'm sure it's all thanks to God.

My husband isn't doing

very well these days.

Oh no!

You have to have the priest pray for him

as soon as you can.

The church is our only hope.

So, what is this trading firm?

A lot of dangers and accidents

are inevitable when running a business.

Knights are protected by armor

and helmets, but merchants are protected

by their connections.

That's what trade guilds are for.

I'm in a guild made up of

merchants from my hometown.

This is a branch of that guild.

To me, it's kind of like my home.

Okay, wait here for a second.

What?

You're not going to show me off

to your fellow countrymen?

That is if we're getting married.

Wedding celebrations in my hometown

are intense, but do you want to go in?

It won't take long. If you can wait,

I'll buy you sweet bread.

Don't treat me like a child!

-You don't want any?

-I do.

Well, you must be a failure of a merchant.

Seeing that you're roaming around

a trading firm at this hour,

you must not have any intention

of making money.

Truly impressive merchants make money

without getting any dirt on their shoes.

They only get their fingers dirty

with a little bit of ink.

Only third-rate merchants

run around the market all day.

Am I wrong?

My, my You've become

quite the smooth talker.

It's good to see you again, my son.

Come on, don't call me "son" anymore.

What are you saying!

All in the Rowen Trade Guild

are my sons and daughters.

Plus, I even know how

you used to wet your bed

from time to time when you camped outside.

Or should I talk about the time

you and your friends stole from

the proceeds and went to a brothel

while trembling?

Fine, fine!

I am the son of the great Jakob Tarantino,

Kraft Lawrence.

Kraft!

It's been a year since you've returned

to your home in Ruvinheigen. Welcome back!

Is this the Remelio Company?

Yes.

How can I help you?

Has a merchant named Lawrence come by?

As you can tell,

nobody has come by today,

including any merchants.

Well, if he comes, tell him

Latparron Trading Company from Poroson

sent a notice saying

Next time, "Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor."