Read Spice & Wolf II for Free Online Page B

strangely rational, and Lawrence couldn’t think of a good rejoinder.
    All he could do was slump his head sideways as if exhausted.
    “My thanks,” said Holo, brushing against Lawrence’s arm like a cat asking for affection—which wasn’t a bad feeling at all.
    He knew that was what Holo wanted, and it was an unavoidable part of his long, lonely time as a traveling merchant.
    “Still, you really did haggle him down, didn’t you?” asked Holo, attending once more to her tail as she reclined against Lawrence.
    This particular wolf could sense lies, so Lawrence didn’t bother lying and answered truthfully. “Rather he put himself in the position of having no choice but to be haggled down.”
    Yet the interest rate on the arms was not good. The most profitable method would be to import the materials and then assemble and sell the weapons. As far as the business of selling completed weapons went, simply by going somewhere with a constant demand for large amounts of weaponry and turning a fair profit, the amount by which the goods could be bargained down was limited.
    Lawrence headed to Ruvinheigen for that very same fair profit.
    “How much?”
    “What’s the point of asking that?”
    Holo glanced up at Lawrence from her position leaning against him and then looked quickly away.
    At which point Lawrence more or less understood.
    Despite her forcing of the oil issue, she was actually quite concerned about his profits.
    “What? I was just worried about sponging off a traveling merchant, who is barely scraping by. That is all.”
    Lawrence tapped Holo’s head lightly at the nasty comment.
    “Weapons are the best-selling product in Ruvinheigen, but many merchants bring them into the city. Thus, the interest rate on them drops, and the amount I could bargain him down is limited.”
    “But you bought so much, you’ll yet come out ahead, yes?”
    The wagon bed was not full, strictly speaking, but it was well laden. The goods were solid, and though the interest was low, in comparison to Lawrence’s initial investment, the actual amount of material was nice indeed. The fact that he was getting double the material for his investment was icing on the cake. Like the saying goes, “One raindrop raises the sea,” and so Lawrence’s gain might be second only to his profit from the pepper.
    In truth, the proceeds would be enough to buy more apples than would fit in the wagon bed, to say nothing of oil, but if Lawrence told Holo that there was no telling what demands she might make—so he held his tongue.
    Holo, blissfully ignorant, simply groomed her tail.
    Looking at her, Lawrence couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
    "Well, I should think we’ll make enough to pay for some oil, anyway,” he said.
    Holo nodded, apparently satisfied.
    “Still, now that I think about it, some spice would be quite tasty,”
    Lawrence murmured, as he estimated the likely gain against the cost of the weapons.
    “You’ve eaten it?”
    “I’m not like you, you glutton. I’m talking about the profit.”
    “Hmph. Well, why don’t you load up on spice again, then?”
    “The prices in Ruvinheigen and Poroson aren’t so very different. I’d take a loss after paying the tariff.”
    “Then give it up, I say,” said Holo shortly, nibbling the tip of her tail.
    “If I could get a rate about like what I’d normally get for spices or maybe a little more, I’d make enough to open a shop.”
    Saving enough money to open his own shop was Lawrence’s dream. Though he’d made a sizable amount in the kerfuffle in Pazzio, the goal remained distant.
    “Surely there’s something,” said Holo. “Say...jewels or gold. Those are sure things, no?”
    “Ruvinheigen is not a profitable place for such things really.”
    Perhaps catching a bit of fluff in her nose, Holo gave a small sneeze as she licked her fur. “...Why’s that?” she asked.
    “The tariff is too high. It’s protectionism. They levy serious taxes on all but a certain group of