Spice & Wolf III by Hasekura Isuna Read Free Book Online

mean the people who write those endless diaries of town events?”
    Chroniclers were paid a retainer by nobles or Church officials and kept histories of a given area or town.
    Lawrence couldn’t help but laugh at hearing Mark dismiss their work as “endless diaries.”
    It wasn’t entirely accurate, but nor was it far from the truth, which made it all the funnier.
    “I don’t think they’d like you putting it that way, but yes,” Lawrence said.
    “Bah, it just bothers me that all they need do to earn coin is sit in a chair all day and write.”
    “That’s a little hard to take from someone who got so lucky in a deal he was able to open a shop in a town.”
    The story of Mark’s good fortune was a famous one.
    Lawrence laughed again, this time at Mark’s momentarily stunned expression.
    “So, are there any chroniclers or nay?”
    “Ah...yes, I think there are. But I wouldn’t get mixed up with them were I you,” said Mark, taking hold of the bag of nails in Lawrence’s wagon.
    “Rumor has it one was accused of heresy by a monastery somewhere and had to flee. The town’s filled with people like that who had to run.”
    The townspeople of Kumersun were less concerned with the animosity between pagans and the Church than they were with economic prosperity, so the town had naturally become a refuge for a variety of naturalists, philosophers, and other such heretics.
    “I just have some things I want to ask after,” said Lawrence. “Chroniclers collect local legends and such, yes? I’ve an interest in such matters.”
    “Now, why would you care about that? Do you need conversation starters for when you travel north?”
    “Something like that. I know it’s sudden, but do you think you might introduce me to one?”
    Mark turned his head slightly and called out toward his stand, with the bag of nails still in one hand.
    A boy emerged from behind a mountain of wheat sacks. Evidently Mark had reached a point where he could have an apprentice.
    “I do know one. Better if it’s someone from Rowen, right?” said Mark, handing bag after bag of nails to his young apprentice.
    Seeing this, Lawrence was filled with a renewed sense of urgency to get to Yoitsu and return to his normal business routine as quickly as he could.
    Yet it would be trouble if Holo discerned that fact—and for his part, it was not as though Lawrence wished to be rid of her.
    He found it impossible to reconcile his two feelings on the issue.
    If he lived as long as Holo did, taking a year or two off from business would hardly be an issue.
    But Lawrence’s life was too short for that.
    “What’s the matter?”
    “Hm? Oh...nothing. Yes, if there’s a chronicler in the trade guild that would be convenient. Can I ask you to introduce me?”
    “I can certainly do that much, yes. I’ll even do it for free.”
    Lawrence couldn’t help but smile at the effort Mark put into saying “free.”
    “Is sooner better?” asked Mark.
    “If possible, yes.”
    “I’ll send the boy out, then. There’s a fearless old peddler named
    Gi Batos there, and if I’m remembering right, he’s close with a pagan hermit who’s done chronicle work. Old Batos takes the week before and after the festival off, so if you go by the guild house around midday, you should find him drinking the day away.”
    Even within a single guild, such as Rowen Trade Guild, traveling merchants like Lawrence might not know many others within it—like Amati whose business was unrelated to Lawrence’s own.
    Lawrence repeated Gi Batoss name to himself, carving it into his memory.
    “Understood. I’m in your debt.”
    “Ha-ha. If that’s all it takes to be in my debt, I’d hate to think what comes next. Enough of that talk—you’ll be in town until the festival ends, yes? Stop by for a drink, won’t you?”
    “I suppose I should let you brag of your success at least once. I’ll be by.”
    Mark raised his voice in a laugh and then sighed as he handed the last bag of nails