01x19 - God's Unseen Hand and Wolf's Unseen Heart

[bunniefuu]

ORIGINAL STORY BY ISUNA HASEKURA

I wonder if Mr. Lawrence will be okay?

It won't be easy.

He'll need a crazy amount of pyrite,
or he won't have a chance.

We'll have to pray that
Diana's messenger comes.

If he becomes desperate and sells
an insufficient amount of pyrite,

it'll only fire the people up even more
and move them to put

themselves on the waiting list
because there is more pyrite to buy.

If that happens,
the value will rise even more.

So Mr. Amati can pretend to sell pyrite

just to test Mr. Lawrence's patience.

Exactly.

You're pretty smart.

Where is Holo?

Another name is on the waiting list.

I bet the price is going to rise again.

Maybe I should buy some now too.

How much more can it even rise?

No way! It has gone up that much?

I assume it's going to go up 20% by noon.

I shouldn't have given up
and just bought some.

It's still going up little by little, huh?

If I remember correctly, Amati has



What'll happen if it goes up 20%?

It'll be worth 960 coins.

If that happens,
I'm sure he will immediately scrounge up

the remaining 40 silver coins
from his belongings

and successfully
fulfill his side of the contract.

Before the "poison" of selling on margin

can take effect on him.

"The poison of selling on margin"?

Where is Ms. Diana's messenger?

If Holo was with Amati this whole time,

she may have shared quite a bit
of knowledge with him.

Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh...!

Another buyer.

-At this point...
-I can't wait any longer!

No, it will go higher, I'm sure.

How much is it now?

-It will, I swear!
-Go for it!

Oh, no...

So was it really

Amati who made a deal

with Ms. Diana?

But even if Mr. Amati wins,

Mr. Lawrence still gets money, right?

That's exactly right.

So, from a merchant's perspective,
that is a success.

But he will also lose something very big.

Because it's something that
you cannot buy again,

no matter how much money you pay.

Why not sell it?

No, I'll wait and see.

I know it's going to go higher!

Are you trying to rely on

the alchemists' stockpile?

I thought you signed the contract
because you already had a seller!

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time.

Someone else has already come here
to buy some.

I will do the negotiating.

Where will I be able to meet you

for sure tomorrow?

-The waiting list isn't moving.
-What about the sellers?

-There's no hope...
-Another one is on the waiting list!

-Wow, how far is this going to go?
-Keep it going!

This is no time to be working!

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

Man, I should have waited!

He's looking for someone too?

-Someone's selling!
-It's a seller!

-Is it Amati?
-How much?

How will the price change?

Excuse me! Sorry!

-Please let me through!
-What in the world?

Oh, uh...

Another buyer!

Everything that guy sold is gone already.

That was quick.

Is the status quo changing?

-Is it time to sell?
-No, it's still time to buy.

It's fluctuating like crazy today.

Holo!

S... Sorry.

Oh, it's you.

Someone came by our store and asked

if he could pay for the wheat
using those rocks.

-How much?
-250 coins.

Bring it as soon as you can.

-Hurry!
-Yes!

-Another seller!
-I need the price to go higher!

There are more sellers now.

I'm going to buy. Now is the time!

The price isn't getting any lower.

Amati bought 500 coins worth

of pyrite from Lawrence.

But he only has the bond
and not the actual product.

The actual product will be
given to him this afternoon.

Do you understand what that means?

It's easy to sell bonds for items
that may rise in value,

but nobody will buy bonds for items
that will drop in value.

That's exactly right.

Nobody will go anywhere near
something so risky.

Once the market value drops
and pyrite goes back to being just a rock,

the bond that he spent 500 silver coins on

will be nothing but scrap paper.

Whoever has it last will go bankrupt.

That's right.

That's the poison of selling on margin.

I think it hit its limit.

-Whoever can wait now will win.
-It's good enough. I'm selling mine!

Please hurry up, Landt!

-It's time to sell.
-Ms. Holo?

-Before it goes down...
-Ms. Holo!

-Another buyer!
-How much was it?

-I can't see! Move out of the way!
-That was a huge purchase!

The price went up again.

I don't think I can wait anymore.

-Will it keep rising?
-It's reaching its limit.

If I go now,
the buyer's waitlist isn't too long.

If I sell all the pyrite
that I have on me...

I'm selling!

-A seller?
-That much?

-That will affect the market.
-Did I miss my chance?

No, it'll still rise.
You still have a chance.

If I get


from Ms. Diana right now,

I can definitely affect the market value.

If the messenger comes now...

Mr. Lawrence!

Mr. Lawrence!

I'm sorry for the wait.

This is 250 silver coins worth.

-What's the matter?
-Oh...

If I want to be safe,

I should wait for
Ms. Diana's messenger but...

But...

-Is that person really going to come?
-Huh?

That's right...

I already

gave up on that, didn't I?

If I'm going to take a gamble...

I have to do it now,
before they start buying.

Another big transaction!

What's the price now?

I told you!

It wouldn't have gone up this much.

-If you had given up that time.
-You're right.

-It's a price support.
-That's an all-time high!

-What happened?
-It's time to buy!

There are more buyers.

It changed the status quo of the market.

In that case...

I'll have to wait for
Ms. Diana's messenger.

Look!

Holo...

There's no doubt about it.

Amati knows about the poison
of selling on margin.

Mr. Lawrence!

I don't have time.

Please, hurry! Please!

Are you Mr. Lawrence?

You are Mr. Lawrence, right?

Y... Yes.

I have a message from Ms. Diana.

"The negotiation fell through."

"They did not agree to sell it."

That is what Ms. Diana says.

She says,
"I apologize for disappointing you."

If you will excuse me.

Mr. Lawrence.

Mr. Lawrence!

Mr. Lawrence!

Mr. Lawrence!

Sorry...

You went through
a lot of trouble for me, huh?

No...

It was nothing.

Can you tell Mark

that my plan failed?

Well, I'm getting 1,000 silver coins
from Amati,

so I should be happy as a merchant.

Here, take this for yourself.

Mr. Lawrence!

Are you going to give up?

My master always tells me
that merchants must not

give up easily!

He says, "The god of money-making

does not bless those who pray."

"He blesses those who
don't know when to give up"!

I...

fell in love with

Ms. Holo at first sight.

But my master told me

that if I said that in front of you,

you would knock me out!

Yeah.

I would like to.

If anyone deserves to be punched,

it's me.

I had forgotten...

People who don't know when to give up,

are usually the kind of people who have

insane wishful thinking.

I forgot that I was one of those people.

Merchants create plans, make predictions,

and compare those with facts
to do business.

Selling "this" will result in "that."

Buying "that" will result in "this."

Hypothesizing like that is important.

But the thing with hypothesizing
is that the possibilities are endless.

So when you think of too many
possibilities, it makes you hesitate.

Every business opportunity
starts to look too risky.

In order to refrain from hesitating,

you need to have a guidepost.

That is the only thing a merchant needs.

If you can trust that guidepost,

then even if it points you
in a crazy direction...

you must believe in it.

I think.

Once I sell the rocks at the stall,

go and spread that rumor I told you.

Yes!

Do you believe in god?

I'm counting on you!

You're back?

I'm selling.

I'm selling this too.

You fool.

Look at that amount!

I'm sorry.

-Hey!
-Unlike a certain someone.

-She was a beautiful mature woman, right?
-Come here!

-He's selling!
-How much is he selling?

You've got to be kidding!

-That's a huge transaction!
-It's going to crash!

-I'm selling too!
-Move!

Hey! Hurry up!

In the end,

Amati didn't lose out on too much.

He seemed to suffer
more emotional damage than anything.

That's what you get
for trying to take someone else's woman.

That's what he was told.

I wanted to dump him in a more savage way.

Huh?

I will never forgive him
for saying those words!

-What did he...
-Don't you dare ask me what he said!

Don't worry, I won't.

So? Don't tell me you think that.

-That this is the end of the story.
-Huh?

I'm sorry.

Do you really know what
you need to be sorry about?

I know.

I think I do.

Entering into that contract with Amati

was a completely self-centered decision.

Wasn't it?

Basically, my biggest mistake was
not trusting in you.

You adorned yourself with white feathers

to let me know that it was you

who bought pyrite from Ms. Diana.

And while we lost sight of you,

you were receiving the pyrite from her.

But when Amati sold his rocks,

I thought you were setting me up.

Excuse me?

Explain yourself!

I thought it was a tactic
to make me act rashly.

And if the price shot up like that,

I would have had to buy
the pyrite I owed Amati

at an exorbitant price.

I thought you were completely
on Amati's side.

But that wasn't the case. You had actually

persuaded Amati to sell,
knowing that he was inexperienced

with these transactions.

By doing that, you were telling me

that Amati had enough pyrite on hand,

so I should hurry up and sell it all off.

Isn't that right?

My goodness...

Before that,

you signed your name

and stamped
the certificate that Amati prepared.

That was... Well,

you did that to make it easier
for me to get angry.

Right?

That time, I was on the second floor and...

Never mind that! Continue!

You told me back in Ruvinheigen,

to just tell you how I honestly feel,

rather than try to be clever.

You said that if we vent it out,
we can solve issues faster.

That's where I took the first wrong step.

When you became distraught over Yoitsu,

you apologized to me at the end.

I'm sorry...

I took that as a rejection.

But really, you apologized
because you came to your senses.

-Isn't that right?
-You fool!

As they say, no good comes from
a fool who overthinks.

All the hard work I put in
was wasted because of you.

And you even had the audacity to think
that I sided with the enemy?

And to make matters worse,
you became so obsessed

with your contract with that boy.

It's true that we haven't
known each other for very long.

But still, I felt like

we were connected by a pretty strong bond.

Was that just my imagination?

Or do you

really...?

I want to continue traveling with you.

Up until now, my whole life has
revolved around business.

And it will always be like that.

So just keep in mind
that I'm not very sharp

when it comes to anything else.

But I still want to travel with you.

Then...

What am I to you?

I can't possibly put it into words.

Where did you learn such a cheesy line?

You like cheese
with dried meat, don't you?

I hate it!

I have a question for you too.

How were you able to get
Ms. Diana to sell you pyrite?

That boy was keeping me updated
with everything that was happening,

so I pretty much knew
what you were trying to do.

Your plan itself was quite impressive,
so I don't mind

commending you for that.

And so about Diana...

I went to her place
for a different reason.

A different reason?

I was able to locate her
from the scent of the letter.

It stank like a hot spring
and that was hard to endure, though.

I told her,

"Make up a fake story

and tell him that Yoitsu might
still exist somewhere else."

However, that little girl
dared to reject my request.

Oh, really?

Jeez... I swallowed my pride
and explained my situation

and was this close
to getting her to agree to my request,

but that's when you appeared.

Excuse me.

Instead of minding her own business,

she came up with a plan.

She said that I should test your resolve.

Acting like she knows everything...

Yes. See you soon.

Goodbye.

-Good luck.
-Huh?

These ears of mine picked up
that silly question of yours too.

I have a question.

You can ask me anything.

Are there any stories
of pagan gods and humans...

becoming a couple?

Yes. There are many.

Apparently, there are many stories
about gods and humans

becoming couples.

If you are up to it, I don't mind.

In exchange,

be gentle with me.

Just kidding.

After talking to that girl,
I'm not in the mood.

Did you notice that girl is not human?

Huh?

There were so many feathers
scattered in that room, weren't there?

Those are her feathers.

Really?

She is actually a bird
that is larger than you.

She fell in love with a traveling monk

and spent many years

building a church with him.

But the monk grew suspicious of her,
as she did not seem to age at all.

I'm sure you can imagine
what happened after that...

I want to go back to my homeland. Even if

it no longer exists.

Okay.

Humans sure like putting on a show.

Yeah. It's impressive.

Shall we join them?

-Sure...
-I don't mind.

I can engage in something as passionate
as those burning dolls.

Maybe I can if I get drunk enough.

If you get drunk too,
who is going to take care of me?

You fool!

Next time, "The Girl From the Church
and Boy Who Mills."