Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 8, page 24
“You won’t tell anyone about what just happened, right?”
Lutia turned her wolf eyes to the Twilight Cardinal.
“So long as you keep the secret I shared with you.”
Lutia smiled, and without another word or a look of regret, marched down the stairs.
And so, Col quietly left the Green Gourd alone, and came to stand before Myuri, who had used her older brother in her plot despite all the circumstances around them both, but now was completely drenched in the scent of another wolf.
“I will smell like this for a while,” he said. “We are sleeping separately. I will not hold your hand, and I will not teach you any new words or spelling.”
As he listed off her punishments, it almost seemed as though Myuri’s red eyes were going to melt.
Col held back a smile as he said, “Your wolf crest is watching you. You are a knight, are you not?”
A knight would not cry so easily when they should be concentrating on fixing their mistakes. Myuri bit her lip, puffed out her cheeks, managed to wipe the corners of her eyes, and shot up from her spot on their things.
“I am! I’m a knight!”
She then fixed him with a reproachful gaze and growled at him. Col smiled to see her usual attitude, then took half her things for her, and they returned to the inn where Le Roi was waiting.
On the way back, they heard the commotion that had shattered Aquent’s night as the northern students attempted to save the kids, and at last the guards’ whistles, loud enough to wake the dead, tore through the night sky.
May all wake from their nightmares and find peaceful slumber.
He then prayed that they would all be greeted with a beautiful sunrise.
“Brother…?” Myuri whispered as they approached the inn.
“I can hold your hand, right?”
It seemed Col would never be the tough leader of any pack.
“I prefer that over being bound to you by string.”
He held out his hand, and she grabbed it as though sinking her teeth into him.
It felt like she would never let go, so that she would remember this warmth always.
Col was sure that was how she felt from the way she held his hand while the advent of summer danced on the night air.
AFTERWORD
Hello everyone. This is Hasekura. I forgot to submit this afterword, so I’m writing this in a panic.
We’ve reached the eighth volume of Col’s and Myuri’s adventure. This episode was the kind of story I’ve been waiting to tell for a while now, so I’m quite satisfied. And I’m very happy with the resolution! I’m especially very, very happy with how I handled the globe in Nordstone’s hut, which had to come up because of the new continent. I was thinking to myself, I have the Moon-Hunting Bear and the new continent and the conflict with the Church—if I add this question into the mix, then how am I supposed to wrap it all up neatly?! That’s a load off my shoulders.
But nothing like that even existed in the original plot outline, so I am a bit unsatisfied because I spent so long working on the plot, and suddenly it’s like: Why?! It’s a bit like making elaborate travel plans, and after spending days preparing, only to forget something vital the day you set out.
Also, I like this volume because there are many scenes where Myuri is pouting. I feel like she’s at her cutest when Col is scolding her. That, and how she never learns.
It was also a lot of fun to write, because we had Col scolding her not as the Twilight Cardinal, but as her big brother. The scope of stories tend to get pretty big, and very serious in longer narratives, so I personally think this added a nice flavor.
I used a book called The Autobiography of Thomas Platter, a schoolmaster of the sixteenth century for reference on traveling students and academic cities. It’s very old, so you may have to go to the library to find it. But it’s very interesting, and I highly recommend it.
If you have already picked up this volume, I believe you may already know this, but just in case—Spice and Wolf is going to have another anime adaptation! For those who did not know, please search for “Spice and Wolf anime” immediately! I’m working hard to write more Wolf and Parchment, too, so I hope you stick with me on this journey as well as the travels of the main series.
I know there’s quite a large margin left here, but I think I’ll leave it at that for now.
Isuna Hasekura
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Isuna Hasekura, Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf, Vol. 8
