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「狼の森と凍てつく雨」 (Ookami no Mori to Itetsuku Ame)
“Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”
If the last couple of episodes in Spice and Wolf were showing the heights of overeager folly, this was the week which shows how even the most well-thought out (or well-gambled) of plans never survives first contact with the unknown. From the nature of wolves to the nature of man, we got it all this time around – and the real life lessons are still to come.
Much as one could’ve guessed after the grand reveal of smuggling gold to eradicate the debt, Kraft’s and Holo’s scheme wasn’t going to work out exactly as planned. And not through any just one reason this time. The major pothole of course is Lemerio who, in a least a subset of the company, decided that monopolizing the smuggling reward is preferable to sharing it among all participants. Honestly it’s not hard to blame them for going this path – they are in a very precarious economic situation for the same reason as Kraft and desperate to avoid the shark infested waters of fellow mercantile competition. Yet such opinion doesn’t make their decision correct in feeling and execution. Once you decide to eliminate your compatriots you had best be sure you actually follow through, because any failure to do so is likely to also come back to haunt you. The cowardly refusal to off Kraft is enough foreshadowing to this after all, since if there’s one thing you can bet on it’s that this guy won’t be going down that easy.
Case in point of the above is the matter of Holo and that other pothole in the presence of upstart wolves. Much like with Lemerio’s betrayal the party coming face to face with a wolfpack was pretty well teased in advance by both shepherd and Wise Wolf both, but it’s the leader of the pack being a part of Holo’s rare breed which makes it an all the more intense situation. Although Holo has her mischievous courage on display, this is a moment which shows she’s not as invulnerable a deity as hinted towards previously; there are others like her, they have their own desires and interests (in this case proving worth and justifying pride by overcoming the elder), and they won’t hesitate to go at her if given the chance. I won’t spoil how Holo handles this showdown, but simply put don’t expect it to wind up being an epic duel of the hunters. Much as Holo said coming to a peaceful resolution is preferable given her desire to keep Kraft safe, and yielding such an outcome takes more than bearing fangs.
Plus considering how comfortable Kraft is becoming with who Holo is and just how close the two are growing (that scene discussing the rabbits and the wolves is something an earlier Kraft would have flunked at for example) it would be a serious shame to encounter major roadblocks now. There’s a relationship to grow and money to acquire – and neither upstart nor betrayer will prevent our eponymous duo from happily having both.
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Don’t get me started on Lawrence and the three stooges. Any time that you have an unplanned meeting with three guys that you’ve never met before in the middle of a dark forest they must be there to help, right?
My real question is how did they get that bag of gold nuggets? I doubt that it was a free gift from the city visitors’ bureau.. Remerio’s agent had no bulk trade goods with him. He might have traded something like gems, but if Remerio had stocks of those why would he be so desperate for this deal in the first place?
Maybe even more debt.
No company will drain their account down to zero even if it is to speculate on something. There are still expenses that needs to be paid. It is probably whatever working capital that is left that is used to purchased the gold.
Remerio likely had little left to pivot to other goods after purchasing all that armour and with no alternative source of income generating goods (they didn’t diversify, thinking that they could maximize their returns on the armour sales), they cannot continue to operate on a going concern basis. If they had also purchased armour on credit beyond what they are able to repay, that would make their financial situation even worse.
It was mentioned a couple episodes back that Lemerio had a stash of funds exclusive for emergency use. This is the sort of situation which calls for using it, though the high risk involved is why they were so hesitant to do it in the first place since when that money is gone there’s nothing left.
I believe unplanned incidents on a mission will be suitable for Kraft. Since the crashing of armor prices, Kraft had no genuine hurdle to hop over. Kraft enjoyed the support of Holo at the time of business and when he was in danger in the catacomb. It’s time for Kraft to evolve, think three steps ahead, and implement contingencies if a business transaction falls apart.
Who here thinks Holo is injured dealing with the wolves? I think I would be shocked if Holo weren’t hurt.
I’ll bet Noah is going to come back and help Kraft. It doesn’t suit Noah to abandon Kraft.
Let’s just say next week will be a wild ride, both figuratively and literally 😉