01x10 - Wisdom of a Wolf and Smooth Talk of a Merchant

[bunniefuu]

Please! I'm begging you!

I've had enough of you!

Are you that desperate for money?

You don't have to pay me back.

Just don't ever show up here again.

Thank you.

ORIGINAL STORY BY ISUNA HASEKURA

Good to see you back so early.

Holo.

I'm sorry.

This is the money

I was able to gather myself.

I still need more than 40 Lumione,

but there's nothing else I can do.

The only other option

I can think of is gambling.

But if this ends up in the right hands,

it can possibly double or triple.

So I'm going to entrust that money to you.

If things don't end up

working out in the end,

you might as well use that money.

It won't make much of a difference even if

my debt increases a little.

Hey! We're going to lock up already!

You fool! Get back here already.

Huh?

Um

My friend threw a wallet at me

from the window.

Give me a break

What a fool

I'm sorry.

That money

How did you scrape that together?

Do you want to know?

What were you going to do if I took that

precious money and ran away?

That's half of the reason why

I was gathering the money.

If I can't fulfill

my contract with you

because of my mistake,

leaving you money

for your journey is the least

You were going to leave me

money for my journey?

‪Yeah

What are you even thinking?!

It's my fault!

If I hadn't been there,

they would've lent you money!

You should be angrier about that!

I I

No, I was in the wrong.

You came with me because you were worried.

How could I get mad at you for that

You fool!

-You

-Watch out!

You're

such a softie.

A softie?

You are.

You weren't able to borrow money

because I was with you.

And yet

Well, I slapped your hand away.

And that was out of line.

I selfishly forced you

to take me with you.

So you have every right to get mad at me

if that ruined everything.

But when you

apologize to me like that

despite all that, I I

I'm sorry.

When I slapped your hand away,

I honestly felt like I made

an irreversible mistake.

I didn't think you'd forgive me

no matter how much I apologized.

That's why I wanted to do

whatever I could.

If that backfired, I'm sorry.

Hey

Just tell me one thing.

Why are you such

a softie?

It's just my personality.

You

Huh?

I can't believe it!

You're such an unbelievable softie!

You fool!

Your "personality"?

Did you just say, "personality"?

Any respectable male would have

said something like,

"because I love you"

even if it was a lie, you fool!

I'm sorry! I actually

-Let me tell you something.

-Huh?

Sometimes, I want you

to say it even if it's a lie.

Sometimes, it's just

too late to say it anymore and it

makes me want to punch you in the face.

Which one do you think applies to me now?

The latter?

You're really a one-of-a-kind softie,

aren't you?

How many males out there would

refuse to say things that

would pull a female's heartstrings like,

"I love you," or, "You're special to me."

I know exactly what

went through your mind.

But I guess

I am able to travel with you carefree,

because you are such a softie.

Maybe it's unreasonable

to ask for everything.

But even still, I wish you had said it.

So, let's try again.

Why are you such a softie?

Because you are special to me.

Jeez, what are we even doing?

You're the one who made me do it.

Well, it was good practice for you,

wasn't it?

My goodness

-But you know

-Huh?

From next time, let me get mad.

I appreciate you thinking about me,

but sometimes problems can be fixed faster

if we just get mad at each other

and vent it out.

Okay.

But you made the right decision

by betting on my wisdom.

After all, I have a good idea.

What? What is it?

Huh?

Please wait here.

You have me.

Yeah.

You have something important

to talk about?

Smuggling gold?

-You must be joking.

-I'm serious.

People on the verge of bankruptcy

tend to mistakenly believe

that the most reckless plans are flawless.

What if we have someone

highly skilled to smuggle the gold?

The plan you shared with me is impossible.

Highly skilled people

already make enough money

without having to smuggle gold.

What if this person was

highly skilled and not making much money?

If they're skilled,

they should be able to find

work in this town.

What if this person is skilled

and has a job in this town,

but it's low-paying and to top it off,

they're in need of money?

What's important

is the fact that this person

is unhappy with their employer.

And this person's employer is the church.

If we say they can get revenge

on the church by smuggling gold,

they will jump at this chance for sure.

They will not betray us.

Then why don't you guys

smuggle the gold on your own?

There's no reason for you to come to me.

There are two reasons. One is that

the payment deadline

for the debt that I owe

this company is today.

The other reason

is that I only have this much money on me.

I ran around town all day and scraped up

3 and 2/7 Lumione.

This is all that I have.

I want you to believe me,

with this as collateral.

I also want you to

postpone my debt payment

and provide the funds

needed to purchase the gold.

What?

Excuse me,

but do you have time to be contemplating?

It seems like another person

left your company just now.

Can you afford to be wasting time?

My hearing is exceptionally good,

so I can hear people talking in secret.

Would you like to know

how the people downstairs are planning

to run away just by themselves?

"This company suffered a huge loss

from the armament market crash.

"Let's run away from here.

There's no future for us here."

"Go and tell everyone else."

That's what they're saying.

At this rate, your company

Please stop!

Mr. Remelio, what do you think?

If you don't mind waiting on my payment

and giving me a reasonable cut

of the profit,

it's not a bad deal for you at all,

in my opinion.

What do you think, Mr. Remelio?

Let's do it.

Let's pray that God overlooks us.

Call Liebert.

Who knew he had enough saved up

to buy gold, though.

Any trading company should have funds

that they protect no matter what,

so they can get back on their feet.

I thought I could get that out of them.

-I see. And so

-Huh?

Will you be able to seduce the girl?

You make it sound so bad.

Am I wrong?

Not really.

You're such a softie.

But again, I am able to travel carefree

thanks to the fact that you're a softie.

So, I can persuade the girl for you.

I should do something for you, at least.

You still feel bad about yesterday?

No.

I don't know how

that negotiation would've gone

if you hadn't pressured Remelio.

You're already doing a lot for me.

Really?

It was my fault that I was

blinded by greed and got

involved in a market that crashed.

I will get her to agree myself.

Plus, if I ask for your help

with something like this,

I can't imagine what

you'll make me do later.

Oh, too bad.

I wanted to make you feel indebted to me

so I can get you to repay me later.

That was close.

I was about to fall for your trap.

Hello!

Huh?

Mr. Lawrence and Ms. Holo?

It must be God's will that we chanced

upon each other at the church.

Even I won't fall for that.

That's good.

I hear that some people these days

drink too much wine at church.

I can't drink much alcohol,

so I barely drink.

Anyway, um

Actually, I have a job offer.

Really?

How about we change locations?

Okay.

To our reunion.

So, you are able to go

all the way to Lamtra, right?

Yes, I can.

Even with your sheep?

As long as there aren't too many.

I want to hire you for a certain job.

The pay will be 20 Lumione.

T Twenty?

But that is only if it's a success.

It's a dangerous job

and you won't get paid if it fails.

The job requires you to walk your sheep

and bring them back safely.

It won't require any more skills

from you as a shepherd.

Then why

However However, there is a big risk.

A risk big enough

to make it worth the pay.

The fee to join a guild for tailors

is one Lumione at most.

If you have 20, you won't have to worry

about living expenses for a while.

You can even easily buy

the title of "master."

Then you will be the master

of "Norah's Clothing Store."

Oh, that reminds me. Will you be

joining a guild in this town?

No, I was thinking of

going to another town.

Oh, really?

Wouldn't this town be better,

since it's larger than others?

I'm sure it will be hard to settle down

in a town with no acquaintances.

But I guess you'd want to

stay away from this town's church.

That's not true

The more diligently you work,

and the more you protect

the precious sheep they entrust you with,

the more they suspect you

of using pagan magic.

Am I wrong?

And they're trying to force you

to reveal your "true identity"

by sending you to areas

where other shepherds would never go.

The priests are probably going to

keep sending you to dangerous areas

until you are attacked

by wolves or mercenaries.

They will do that day after day,

while suspecting you of being a pagan.

I've been through something similar.

Let me be honest with you.

This church is worse than pigs.

So here is the plan we came up with.

It entails causing

a little bit of trouble for the church

while making some money,

and then moving to another town.

It's smuggling gold.

What?

But what can I possibly do?

As you know, this town is

terribly strict when it comes to

cracking down on gold smuggling.

Yes.

We're thinking of secretly bringing

large amounts of gold

into this town by hiding the gold

in the bellies of the sheep.

I see.

In towns that are under

the influence of this town's policies,

gold is sold at exorbitant prices.

But there is one exception.

That is the pagan town of Lamtra.

The safe route from Lamtra

has a lot of traffic

and other shepherds claimed

that territory from a long time ago.

That is the reason why I chose you.

Hardly anyone passes your area

and you won't look suspicious

roaming around with sheep.

And on top of that, that road is

the shortest route to Lamtra.

And for you personally,

this plan is the perfect chance

to get back at the church.

After all, aside from donations,

the church's biggest

source of income is gold.

But a horrible punishment awaits you

if they find out.

And you will also need to leave town

after this job, just to be safe.

However, the payout is 20 Lumione.

I'd love to take the job.

I look forward to working with you.

Me too.

Well then, let's go over the details.

Why don't you act a little happier?

It went well, after all.

No matter how profitable it is,

nothing is worth gambling your life for.

That's true.

That kind of negotiating that stresses

the profit so much is something conmen do.

They say signing a bad contract

is your own fault,

but that only applies to fellow merchants.

Look at her.

She's just a shepherd!

You are so hopelessly soft.

That girl

is not a sheep that can only be

chased and devoured as prey.

She's a bold sheep

who willingly jumped into

a herd of wild animals with determination.

She might actually be another animal

in sheep's clothing.

I hate to say this,

but she's a good shepherd.

And you are not so bad yourself.

If you say so.

But I must say,

you are surprisingly skilled.

Of course, I am.

Be careful not to get lured in by me.

I'll look forward to that.

Well, I just have to do my best so that

everyone can smile in the end.

That's a reasonable goal. However

Wouldn't it be better if the two of us

can chuckle to ourselves in the end?

That's a tempting idea,

but I'd rather see everyone smile.

You're a softie, through and through.

-Is that bad?

-Of course not.

Next time,

"The Wolf's Forest and Cold Rain."