01x16 - Night of the Festival and Misaligned Gear

[bunniefuu]

The knight in shining armor is here!

Make way for him!

I declare

to pay off the debt
that is weighing down on

the frail shoulders of the traveling nun.

And once she is set free,

I will manifest my sincere love

for Holo, the traveling nun,

and ask for her hand in marriage!

Ms. Holo has told me about her plight

and how she is being treated.

I wish to use my status and assets

to give her back her wings of freedom.

Even if you settle her debt,
there's no guarantee

that she is going to
quit traveling with me.

Of course.

But I have confidence.

She may not seem it,
but Holo is still a traveling nun.

-Marriage is...
-I already know.

Ms. Holo is not affiliated
with any religious order.

That means she is not forbidden
from getting married.

I see.

According to Kumersun's law,

when a woman has a debt,

her creditor is considered her guardian.

You will accept
this contract knife, won't you?

Mr. Lawrence.

I am not careless enough to
enter into a contract without reading it.

You have a point.

A thousand silver Trenni coins?

That is the correct amount
for Ms. Holo's debt, right?

The deadline will be sunset tomorrow.

I promise to have it ready by then.

A thousand silver Trenni coins in cash.

I will not accept any kind of negotiation
for prices or installments.

-Understood?
-That is fine.

I accept.

We shall meet again here, tomorrow.

Sorry for the commotion.

Well, I'm sure my companion
will not be swayed just because

he paid off her debt.

The odds are


Place your bets!

Ten Ireid coins on Lawrence!

-I'll bet on Lawrence too!
-Me too!

Twenty on Lawrence!

ORIGINAL STORY BY ISUNA HASEKURA

I see you've found yourself
in a predicament.

Mr. Batos.

I'm sorry you had to witness that.

I'm pretty sure Mr. Amati has
a way of collecting the funds.

It doesn't seem to be
a very admirable method though.

I won't go into detail.

After all, I'd feel bad for Mr. Amati

if I took your side too much.

-I just wanted to give you a heads up.
-Why?

No matter what the reason is,

it's nice to have someone to travel with.

As a traveling merchant, having that taken
away from you would be just too cruel.

And so, you agreed to that contract?

Yeah.

-You know...
-What?

What are you going to do if that boy
gives you 1,000 silver coins?

Let's see...

After I use it to settle your account,

-I'll give the rest to you.
-Don't test me.

It'd be unfair if I was the only one
being tested all the time.

If Amati fulfills
his side of the contract,

I will do so too.

Of course, that means you will be free.

You can do what you want.

You sure have confidence.

It's not confidence.

I just trust in you, that's all.

Jeez!

You're much cuter when you're flustered.

I, myself, can tell how much I've matured.

You think you're an adult
just by acting calm?

Am I wrong?

If you're only calm because you know
it's a gamble you can win,

that just makes you a smart alec.

That doesn't make you an adult.

For example,

not accepting Amati's contract
would have been a commendable alternative.

No, that...

I bet you just looked around the room

and chose not to humiliate yourself.

Imagine that our roles were reversed.

I would

never even think about
accepting such a contract.

I want to be with Lawrence forever.

Even something like a debt

is a bond that connects us together.

I can't possibly sever that bond.

Even if I were to be humiliated here,

I could never sign that contract!

You see? How was that?

If someone said that to me,

my heart would be overflowing with joy.

Yes, that may have been
a manly thing to do.

But being
manly and being an adult is different.

That's true. It may be a little
too reckless and youthful.

I'd be happy to hear such words,
but it might be a little too much.

You see?

If you think about it, being a good male
and being a good adult

may be two conflicting ideas.

Good males are rather childish.

Good adults are cowardly.

What will Holo the Wisewolf,

who is a good woman and a good adult,
do then?

Naturally, I'd accept it with a smile.

And of course, I'd return
to the inn after signing the contract

and walk over to you,
without saying a word...

and hang my head.

Well, you are a somewhat capable merchant.

I'm sure you will

discreetly pull strings and ensure that
everything goes well.

You want me to take you to the festival?

You're a merchant
who would willingly use bribes to

win a contract, aren't you?

Are you okay to walk around
with the beauty in question?

If I keep her locked up in the inn,

it'll seem like I really am
oppressing her with debt.

Well, that's Lawrence's side of the story.
What is the truth?

What do you mean by "truth"?

I am chained down by an enormous debt.

With these chains, I have no future.

They are so heavy,
I cannot escape from them.

If you remove these chains for me,

I will willingly work for you
and become covered in wheat flour.

I can see why Amati fell for you.

By the looks of it, the one who is chained
is probably Lawrence.

I'm done investigating!

Good work. How was it?

Yes, um...

So, how was it?

Right! According to his tax ledger,
he paid 200 Ireid in taxes.

Which means, Amati's assets must
amount to about 800 silver Trenni coins.

I'm sure he has some hidden assets
and accounts receivable too though.

What do people gamble on here?

Cards, dice, rabbit chasing...
That's about it.

And there's an upper limit for betting.

Gambling isn't an option, then.

Oh, that reminds me.

People are betting on the outcome
of your contract with Amati

as well as what'll happen afterwards.

"Afterwards"?

In the event that
Amati fulfills the contract,

what will happen after that?

For now, you've got the advantage.
But the odds are 1.2.

It's a close game.

I'd better demand
a cut from the bookmaker.

So, honestly, what's the deal?

In this world,
there are many questions that

cannot be answered so easily,
even if you do know the answer.

Like questions about
your wheat flour mixture, for example.

Do you still want to ask me
about what I will do once

my debt is paid off?

Oh, no! Of course not!

I guess we have no choice
but to monitor his movements.

What an underhanded tactic.

Call it a battle behind the scenes.

I'm sure he has someone
taking note of my every move as well.

Well, I don't know about that.

Amati looks down on the use of
connections between merchants

and views it as a cowardly move.

Really?

He was born into a wealthy family
in the south,

but he ran away from home because
he didn't want to be his brothers' pawn.

From there, he rose through the ranks
and now earns as much as he does.

So he has a strong ego.

I see. On top of that, he's young.

That's right. The only thing he trusts
is his good judgement of fish,

his way with words,

and God's blessing.

But I have absolutely no hesitation
in using my connections with merchants.

It's not like we're knights.

In a battle between merchants,
there is no room for complaints.

I agree with you on that.

Once in a while, I'd like to see you
use a straightforward approach.

A horn?

Did you just hear the sound of a shepherd?

I did.

If you thought so too,
that must really have been a horn.

What if that shepherd girl is here?

Even if she was,
she wouldn't be blowing her horn anymore.

She'd be a tailor by now.

When you keep your calm, it makes
it seem like I'm just trying to test you.

I'm delighted to hear that.

So delighted, that it's scary.

It's the best when it's freshly fried.

I see.

That horn signaled the start
of the festival.

Shall we go?

Doing nothing but eating would be boring.

I can't see!

Holo, come this way.

Wow! What a great view!

We can thank Amati for this, at least.

What's coming next?

Ready...

There!

All right, get in line!

Let's go dance too.

All right.

All you have to do is focus on
not stepping on my feet.

I'll try my best.

Where are we?

Where is my drink?

Go to sleep so you can drink tomorrow.

Here is a letter for you.

Also, Mark wants you to
go to his shop as soon as possible.

-As soon as possible?
-That's all.

From Ms. Diana?

Sorry, I have to go out for a bit.

With a letter that smells like a female
tucked in by your chest, huh?

And she's beautiful!

-Does it bother you?
-You fool.

Yesterday, I met up with someone
who is knowledgeable in

northern folktales and legends.
I heard stories about you too.

-About me?
-A town called Lenos has a legend.

"Wheat-tailed Holou" is you, isn't it?

-I don't know about that.
-She had information on Yoitsu too.

There was a record of
which direction you came from.

Is that true?

You came from the forest east of Lenos.

So Yoitsu is southwest of Nyohhira
and east of Lenos.

This letter must have
additional information.

At this rate, we might be able to reach
our destination easier than I thought.

It shouldn't take more than half a year
if we search for it by wagon.

Well then, I'm going to Mark's place now.

With a letter that smells like a female
tucked in by your chest?

Fine, I'll leave it.

You said she's beautiful, huh?

If you want to read it,
you can open it up without me.

If you can read, that is.

Jeez!

I'm doing all the work
while you're off having fun.

Sorry about that.

Well, I'm making
a profit out of it too, I guess.

I'll let you off the hook this time.

You took advantage of Amati's scheme?

Yup. It was an easy profit.

I did some research based on
the information that Mr. Batos alluded to

-and I found the answer right away.
-Is he selling gems?

Close, but no.

It can hardly be called a gem.

Pyrite?

-You heard about it already?
-No.

I was just thinking that it might
be a good business idea.

-It's the fortuneteller, right?
-Apparently.

I've heard the fortuneteller
already left town though.

Oh yeah?

The official reason

seems to be because the fortuneteller
was too good and it caught the attention

of the church's inquisitor.
But who knows if it's true.

I doubt it.

First of all, if an inquisitor came here,
it would cause a frenzy.

And I feel like the amount of pyrite
in circulation is a bit excessive.

I'm guessing the fortuneteller bought it
from another town,

sold them here,
and left town once they were all sold.

Guess how much they go for?

Normally, they'd be about ten Ireid.

But let me see...

-100.
-270.

Huh? No way!

Once the market opens up tomorrow,
it'll rise even more.

All the women in town
are trying to buy this right now.

Even still... 270 for something like this?

The women seem to be
enticing rich merchants and farmers

into buying them this miracle rock

and competing over who got the most.

So, each time a woman asks sweetly,
the price goes up.

This is more than just profiting
a certain percentage.

Profits are multiplying by ten.

I just dabbled in it a little bit,

and I already made 300 Ireid.

How far has this news spread?

It had spread through the whole market
by this morning.

By the time you were
dancing with the princess,

people were swarming round
the stone seller's stall.

I can't believe I missed
such a great opportunity.

How can I call myself a merchant?

It's still not too late.

Merchants are running around,
trying to get them on resale.

The price is going up even more.

-Then I can still make it.
-That's the spirit.

Plus, you will need money
to buy a new princess,

if things go wrong.

Well then, maybe I will take
this pyrite as payment

for the nails that you purchased?

Enough joking.

I hear that Amati is raking in money too.

He will have 1,000 silver Trenni coins
prepared as promised, I'm sure.

Will your princess be okay?

I told you,
there's nothing to worry about.

Amati doesn't know,

but there's a purpose to Holo's journey.

And I have been helping her with that.

So I will turn both

the 1,000 silver coins and profit
from pyrite into our travel expenses.

You... read it?

Hey... what should I do?

I won't have anywhere to return to.

-What should I do...?
-It's nothing but a folktale.

There are many inaccurate legends.

-Inaccurate?
-That's right.

When new kings or tribes conquer lands,

they make up these kinds of stories.

Then why didn't you tell me about this?

I was going to find
the right time to say it.

It's a very sensitive subject.

That's why...

It must have been hilarious,
seeing me get all excited

without knowing any of this.

Holo, calm down.

I am calm.

You knew about Yoitsu
from before, didn't you?

Of course you did.

You must have known.

Everything makes sense now.

You like pitiful and hopeless lambs,
after all.

Did you like seeing me
talk about returning to my homeland

that has long been destroyed?

I was so foolish and cute, wasn't I?

I was pitiful and lovable, wasn't I?

It moved you to listen to my demands
and be nice to me, right?

Holo...

You told me to go alone from Nyohhira
because you got tired of me, didn't you?

Do you seriously think that?

I do!

I'm all alone now.

What am I supposed to do?

There is nobody
waiting for my return anymore.

Nobody at all.

I am all alone now.

You have me.

What are you to me?

No, what am I to you?

No... I don't want to be alone anymore.

Hey...

Would you lie with me?

Look, I am now in the form of a human.

It's not impossible to do it with you.

I am all alone now.

But if I have a child,
we will have each other. Come on!

Don't say anymore. Please.

Of course!

You are a softy, after all.
I didn't expect anything from you anyway.

But that doesn't matter. I remembered...

There is... That's right...

There is someone who loves me.

So this is the reason why
you were so calm about this ordeal.

You didn't mind giving me up
for 1,000 silver coins.

Holo!

I'm sorry...

Next time,

"The Traveling Merchant's Shallow Thinking
and Town Merchant's Name."