Spice and Wolf, Vol. 2 by Isuna Hasekura

Author:Isuna Hasekura [Hasekura, Isuna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2017-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

None can feel at ease when lending large amounts of money unless they are very wealthy or generous indeed.

On the other hand, one does not nag for repayment of a trivial loan unless they are especially petty or especially strapped for cash.

Debt was like a looming mud slide. Even if it were impossible to stop, if one could manage to divert it into other rivers, it could be managed.

One way to manage a debt of forty-seven lumione would be to borrow small amounts from many different people to pay it off and then gradually pay each lender off in turn.

However.

“Well, well, Lawrence! It’s been a while. What’s your angle today?”

Every merchant Lawrence knew greeted him roughly the same upon seeing his face again, but when the talk came of lending their expressions grew grim.

“Five lumione? Sorry, friend, times are tough for me at the moment. It’s the end of the year, prices of wheat and meat are up, and I’ve got to lay in stock for spring. Sorry, I just…”

Everyone gave the same answer, as if their responses had been prearranged. They were merchants just like him, sensitive to exactly what he was trying. If traveling merchants could just head to a company and borrow money instead of borrowing from their guild, that would put the trade companies in the same position that forced guilds to have rules against lending.

And no one wanted to load their goods aboard a sinking ship.

When Lawrence pressed them for even a single lumione, they regarded him as if he was especially foul smelling.

With no island to cling to, he was often just kicked out or sent off.

One who came not for commerce or negotiation but simply to borrow was little more than a thief.

That was common sense in the world of merchants.

“We’ll try another one.”

After Lawrence met back up with Holo, who waited outside the row of companies and mansions, he didn’t bother with a fifth rendition of that same line.

He had only put on a brave face for the first three stops, and Holo stopped asking him how it had gone after four.

As a “by the way” to his request for a short-term loan, Lawrence had asked after any opportunities for profit, but that, too, had withered into silence. After all, merchants used capital to turn a profit. It was obvious that without money on hand, there was nothing to be done.

Lawrence unconsciously quickened his pace as he walked, opening a bit of distance between himself and Holo.

When he noticed, he told himself to calm down, but the words merely echoed in his empty mind, and he began to find Holo’s words of encouragement irritating.

He was in a bad way.

Despite the chilly air that descended as night drew near, Lawrence’s forehead and throat were slick with sweat.

Though he had thought himself prepared, the reality of his circumstances affected him more than he’d anticipated. The seriousness of the situation seemed to spill out of him like water from an overtaxed ceramic cup.

Why had he

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