Disclaimer: Spice and Wolf is a light novel written by Isuna Hasekura, illustrated by Ju Ayakura. It is published by ASCII Media Works, and the American publisher is Yen Press. I do not own any part of Spice and Wolf, in any media format, nor its associated paraphernalia and merchandise. This is a not-for-profit fan-written fiction story. Please support the official release.
1 Wolf and New Awakening
"Enjoy your year of fieldwork, Mr. Lucent!" A cheerful aged man waved to the back of a bus as his white-haired head slowly drifted out of view. Adrian Lucent heard none of that, though, as the rumbling of the bus engine drowned out any sounds from the outside. He looked out a window, watching with ennui the many cars that passed by on the busy highway. It would be a year before he would see something as mundane as cars zipping along a street, as he would spend that time in one of the few remaining rural reserves in the country.
Adrian pinched at his cheek, where a strand of brown hair had fallen, and made him itch. His hair was getting long, and he considered getting a haircut once he arrived, if he could figure out where to find a barber. It was a government-sponsored reserve, he reminded himself. Dr. Bartoh had given him copious amounts of information, from archaic print brochures to the latest Onet transfers, regarding the reserve. "ARS-0098", was the government's designation for Adrian's destination, the Agricultural Reserve Sector that was set aside for research and thus saw relatively little modernization. They did have electricity, as the entire country was linked by the Subspace Web, the safe and practical usage of antimatter annihilation energy to supply electricity throughout the nation. However, Adrian heard that almost everyone who chose to be permanent residents on the ARS used the outdated Internet as their primary means of communication. Even more unbelievable, some of them even continued to use print on material media. What was more, they used paper rather than the more durable and reusable nanocarbon leaves.
How primitive, thought Adrian, as he let his mind wander into wilder imagination. He wondered what it would be like in a world that was essentially frozen in a moment of the past, without the conveniences of modern life. Probably not so bad, he reminded himself. The university's mandatory history courses included one dedicated to the development of culture and technology in the early 21st century, which really wasn't so long ago. His grandfather was even born before then, and spoke at times about phones connected to wires, called landlines or something, and computers with the memory capacity equivalent to childrens' toys of the modern age. His grandfather always had something to say about the technology, how different it had become, how back in his day there were no robots who looked "creepily like us and talked back to us". Although, Grandpa never did complain about the new technology, thought Adrian. Rather, he seemed fairly adaptable to the new inventions.
Still, thought Adrian once he returned his thoughts away from the tangent he had been following. It wasn't that bad, actually. Compared even to the early 20th century, general hygiene was much better, and the technology, although obsolete by modern standards, was still functional and provided more than satisfactory comforts and conveniences. Besides, Adrian recalled, I came here to study wheat hybrid engineering, not sit around a computer wasting time in the Onet's Gnossus, the digital vault that contained the most current and constantly updated information on every subject. One could get lost for days in the ecstasy of a nearly continuous flow of new knowledge while linked to the Gnossus. Then again, thought Adrian, there was also the pre-Gnossus pre-Onet analogue that existed on the Internet. It was some digital encyclopedia or something, with a rather clever name that he couldn't recall. Nevertheless, it paled in comparison, and while Adrian was one among the ever-decreasing population of scholars who were capable of reading pre-Onet text, he did not have any intentions of reading articles on an older machine.
That's right, he thought. There were those brochures Dr. Bartoh had given him. Being a former classmate of his grandfather, it was unsurprising that Dr. Bartoh would know how to read pre-Onet languages, and continue to use material print. Adrian looked absently at one of the brochures. In bright pink letters it exclaimed, "st=(welc:ccARS-0098\]); send=(ord_J|&mod=sil\])"
Without looking any further, Adrian placed that back in his gray backpack. So even the paper prints used Netspeech now. He pulled out another brochure, wondering whether he'd find similar results. Thankfully, it did not, and instead read in plain black cursive script, "Welcome to Kiel (ARS-0098)!" So it was called Kiel before its designation as a research reserve. The picture showed an overhead panoramic view of what resembled an early-century city, although with no tall buildings, and several large areas dedicated to the wheat fields. Clear color gradients could be seen even in the picture, indicating the different hybrid strains being grown.
Adrian smiled as he looked at the picture. He had never before lived outside the modern city, East/220-51004-018, designated by the following parameters: Country Region/Section-Province-District. Like all other modern civilized areas, it followed the Netspeech syntax of naming. Although to be accurate, it would have to be preceded by the country code, in this case, 000582, not that there were a hundred thousand countries. However, the International Architecture and Planning Board, or the IAPB, deemed it necessary that a conservative maximum be estimated in the event of a large and sudden surge in sovereignty claims. After the Enochian Emperors' War of Succession, colloquially called "World War 3", that possibility was not entirely remote. Nevertheless, most of the world was peaceful by now due to the many modern distractions provided by technology.
Most people simply linked to their personalized Onet space reserved especially to conform to their roles as gods, and they satisfied their violence and anger in those worlds where they reigned supreme. Some crime still occurred, of course, but they were rare, and PubServ was very quick and efficient with intervention. Wars still occurred as well, but as far as Adrian knew, they were mostly in the western continents, and fought either by robots or through Onet Realsense, a shared virtual reality where pain could be felt, but death was generally not possible except for those with other medical conditions.
In short, Kiel would be a much different place than the enormous city that Adrian had lived in all his life. The fact that it even could be so bold as to provide an old-style name meant it would be a different experience already. Yet Adrian continued to feel both excitement and unease, as he would face a strange world that resembled something out of the past, something that usually only existed in places like the Gnossus History section, or various museums' welcome pages. But it also meant a genuine experience, to know firsthand how those in his grandfather's generation lived. As he thought about this, he began drifting to sleep as the bus roared on with its reverse cycle engine along the magnetized highway.
The sun was bright. That was the first thing that struck Adrian as he stepped out of the bus. Had it always been so bright? Probably. It was no secret that sunlight was polarized and passed through a triple layer of UV blocking filters before reaching the ground of his homecity. As a result, with few exceptions, the city would have artificial lighting year-round. Adrian could count the number of times when there was no artificial lighting in the city on one hand, and more specifically, one finger. Once, when there was a particularly strong solar flare, and when cloud cover was non-existent, the city was sufficiently lit by natural light. All other times, a perpetual dusk permeated the place. With the artificial lights, it was hardly noticeable, but now that he was in an area of unfiltered sunshine, the difference was clear. Adrian silently congratulated himself for taking up his grandfather's advice of getting supplementary melanin before leaving. His tanned skin tolerated the autumn midday sun quite well, whereas his formerly pale skin would probably have been burned.
Two women approached him, both dark-skinned, one a head shorter than Adrian, and one slightly taller. As both were dressed in the form-fitting protective suits of all government-approved scientists, Adrian knew at once that those two were his lab associates. He waved to them and greeted the shorter woman first.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Morris."
Dr. Morris looked up at Adrian, putting up a hand to shield her eyes against the sun. "Afternoon, kid. You're Hans' student, I guess. Welcome to Kiel, or ARS zero zero nine eight, whatever you prefer. This is my head tech, Maryam Singh. You probably won't meet much, but at least you know each other now. Maryam, meet Adrian."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Singh." Adrian extended his hand to her.
Maryam returned the handshake, and said, "The same, Adrian. Please call me Maryam. I look forward to working with you."
"Right, now that we're more or less acquainted, let's go." The youthful Dr. Morris called for Adrian and her older technician to follow her into their cab.
As the two women moved inside the car, Adrian struggled with the large black case that he brought as his only other luggage apart from his backpack. With some difficulty he and the driver managed to stuff it into the trunk. Once he climbed into the backseat with Maryam, she asked, "What did you bring in that case? It looked heavy."
"His house, probably," Offered Dr. Morris.
Adrian chuckled nervously. "Well, nothing really exciting. Dr. Bartoh insisted that I bring my samples here."
"Oh?" Asked Maryam, curiosity entering her steady voice.
With excitement in his voice at being able to talk about his work, Adrian replied, "Well, I pretty much revived an old strain I guess. From what Dr. Bartoh and I have determined, its genomic integrity is within one ten-thousandth of an uncategorized pre-firearm breed. You know that myth about pagan wheat?"
"Pagan wheat? I'm sorry, but I don't really keep up with antiquity stories. Dr. Morris, would you know about this?"
"There's a reason why Gnossus puts unconfirmed myths and those that can't be confirmed in the fiction section. I've been there once. I fought some musclehead named Achilles and won. It was pretty boring if you ask me." Dr. Morris glanced through the mirror in her frontseat at Adrian, who looked forward out the windshield at the foreign scenery.
He smiled at the remark, and closed his eyes briefly as though he was used to the reactions of unfamiliarity and disbelief demonstrated by the two women. "A long time ago there were rituals people performed in this area to their pagan gods for a good harvest. Apparently this place was a farming village back in Medieval times. Or at least that book in the traditional library said so."
"You read material print?" Asked Maryam next to Adrian.
"Yes. The Onet didn't consider pagan myths to be relevant historical data on this area, and didn't even provide their old-style names. I didn't even know this place was called Kiel. The book said it was called something else. I don't remember. What, don't you guys have those old-style libraries here?"
"We do, but hardly anyone goes anymore. We do have Onet access, you know." Dr. Morris put a slight emphasis on the last two words as her lips formed what Adrian thought was a sneer, as though she was insulted. "It's good that you can actually read pre-Onet. Most kids your age can't, and that's a big shame. Ah, stop here."
The cab pulled to an abrupt stop, surprising Adrian, who was jolted forward before his safety harness decelerated his motion and gently returned him to proper sitting position. Dr. Morris opened her door, telling Adrian over her shoulder, "See you, kid. Our lab's this way. The driver knows where to take you. Enjoy." With a curt wave, she walked off to the large white building shaped like a long rectangle. Maryam nodded to Adrian, and also opened her door, following after Dr. Morris.
"Gee, guess they couldn't give me a tour, huh? Must be some important experiment they're doing."
The driver didn't reply, driving silently the rest of the way to Adrian's home.
"I was told to bring you here." They stopped in front of a red brick building, fairly small and clearly designed for a single occupant. The driver stepped out to help Adrian with the heavy case, and left without another word.
Before he reached the door, Adrian stopped to gaze at the house. Real red brick! He had only seen pictures, videos, and Onet simulations of such buildings made of the colorful but obsolete and wasteful material. He let his hand trace the old, dull, nearly brown rectangles that combined in a fixed pattern to form a wall. Coolness of the damp bricks made him realize how real the setting was. This was history, frozen long ago, and thawed before him. Adrian was mesmerized for many long minutes, simply gazing at the house, as though he was seeing a museum piece that was authentic, not reproduced as a replica. And he would even live there.
But he couldn't stand outside forever, and a chilly autumn breeze reminded him of that fact. Dragging his case filled with his resurrected ancient wheat, he moved into the small house. Inside was the smell of aging wood. The interior living room was bare, except for a round wooden table in the center of the stone floor, with a single wooden chair accompanying it. A bed was set up in the far corner of the room, and to Adrian's relief, it looked new. At least whoever was here before him took care to set up some furniture. In the smaller alcove that served as a kitchen, Adrian found a refrigerator, an electric oven, and heating pads. At least the house appeared to have all modern conveniences. Switching on the lights, the familiar sterile white fluorescent glow greeted Adrian. The technology was not as advanced, but it was still objectively very advanced. At least there was electricity, thought Adrian, something that he oddly had doubted, despite knowing well that the early-century technology was clearly heavily dependent on electricity.
Moving further to the bathroom, there was a porcelain bathtub, completely white with matching sink and toilet. Adrian found it amusing that there was actually a bathtub, as the last time he had seen one was in his grandfather's old home. And looking at the toilet, he saw that indeed there was toilet paper. That, he thought, might be a problem. He would have to keep a supply of toilet paper, something he never bought in the city because all buildings that conformed to city codes had the clean flush installed. He proceeded to turn on the sink, rubbing his fingers under the water. Low antiseptic concentration in the tap water. He would have to buy soap, another item that was not found except in specialty stores. In fact, soap was often associated more with couples seeking to have a sensual session in the shower rather than any sort of hygienic application.
With his round through the house complete, Adrian settled down in the living room and began unpacking his gray backpack of all his necessary belongings: A phone, a cash card, a government researcher ID, a paper notebook, and graphite mechanical pencils. The latter two items were highly unusual, but Adrian prepared to use them in case accommodations for his electronics could not be found. The phone beeped plaintively as a mature female voice berated Adrian for allowing the battery to drop to dangerous levels. Unfazed by the phone that was scolding him, Adrian plugged it in to the old electrical socket, connecting a special adapter to the phone such that it would fit. Satisfied to be connected to an external source of power, the phone's AI calmed down and began having a conversation with Adrian as he continued to unpack.
"This is a strange place, isn't it, master?" The phone's voice sounded realistic, much like one would expect an older sister to sound like.
While casually unclasping the locks on the large, heavy black case, Adrian entertained his phone by replying, "Yeah, it's like something out of a museum, but real. It's kind of like if you suddenly popped out as a real person."
"Aw, I resent that, master. See if I ever give you directions anymore."
"Ha, I can't have an AI go rogue on me, you know. I guess I'd have no choice but get a newer model to replace you." Adrian smirked while he responded, and the final clasp became undone. The phone was silent. "Hey, Maddy, you mad or something?" He fought back a snicker at the rather poor statement he just made, but when he considered that his current conversation partner was a complex collection of code, he laughed aloud.
A slightly irritated female voice cut him off during his peals of laughter, saying in a sarcastic tone, "You sound rather pleased, master. What, saying you'll throw me away like trash not good enough? You have to rub some salt into Madeleine's circuits and make a bad pun?"
"You wouldn't feel the salt, Maddy. Oh, hey, it's finally open." The lid raised, and cold gas hissed out as the pressurized and temperature-controlled seal was broken. Bushels of wheat were packed neatly into the case, all ripe and golden. "Great, my fossils survived. Hey Maddy, much as I like talking to you, I'm going to go out and do some important shopping. Be good."
"Have a safe trip, master," Said Maddy in a sweet tone, suggesting no hints that before she was in a bad mood.
Several bags fell to the floor once Adrian returned. Food, toilet paper, soap, a toothbrush, several casual sets of clothing, and some other furniture, all lumped in one mass on the living room floor. "Good gosh, that's a lot of stuff I bought." Adrian caught his breath before beginning the mighty task of sorting through his purchases and placing them in the right locations. Food, he handled first, putting them in the antique refrigerator. Next, he folded his clothes and stuck them in a small plastic drawer he bought. Finally, he moved to the bathroom to place his soap and toilet paper, but he heard sounds of running water. Taking a wary stance, Adrian moved slowly to the bathroom, expecting to meet some intruder.
A pair of brown fur-covered ears twitched once Adrian's face peered through the door. Lying fully nude in the bathtub, enjoying a warm bath, was a girl with smooth light skin, long chestnut brown hair, and two canine ears. She was washing what appeared to be a furry tail when Adrian entered the bathroom. Unembarrassed, the girl looked at Adrian, and asked calmly, "Are you the one who possessed the pure wheat?"
Adrian, slightly confused by what he saw, simply nodded.
"Then to you I give my thanks." Said the girl.
"Ah, no problem," was all he managed to utter as he stared blankly at the girl's ears and tail. The girl appeared unperturbed by his gaze and continued to wash herself.
After a few seconds of silent staring, Adrian finally asked, "Who are you?"
That made the girl smile slyly, her red eyes shifting to match his stare. "I am the wise wolf Holo."
"You mean a wolf human hybrid? Wait, I thought that was illegal." Adrian then began talking more to himself than Holo, muttering, "That'd be trouble if PubServ found out. She must've escaped. Where? Damn, why did she come here of all places? Did I lock the door?"
"Hey!" Holo's loud voice shook Adrian's attention back to her. "I had been calling you several times now but it looked like you preferred talking to yourself. Stop using such foreign words and tell me what you are saying. I might not understand every word you use, but I can hear the fear in your voice."
"You must be a hybrid. Those ears and tail are clear proof, unless they're fake."
"Hmph, I will have you know that they are very real and they are my pride."
"Ok, definitely hybrid. Ok, look, Holo? Yeah, in this country, well, this world, really, experiments on humans that modify their bodies is strictly forbidden. I mean, it's punishable by death you know."
Holo gave an indifferent glance to Adrian. "You speak about hybrids, but I am certainly no such thing. I am a pure-blood wolf god, and the fertility goddess of this land."
"Uh, sure." Adrian waved a hand dismissively, causing Holo to clench her teeth and twitch her ears angrily. "Look, I don't know where you came from, or who you are, but you'll cause me a lot of trouble if anyone sees you. So, goddess, can you leave this mere mortal alone? Please."
With a tired sigh, Holo replied, "You are as skeptic as my last companion. Time it seems does not change you humans' ways. Give me some of your wheat."
"What?"
"Or would you prefer blood? I can show you now that I am not a human creation but something much older. If I prove it to you, will you help me?"
Adrian shrugged. "I guess if you prove to me you're a goddess, then I don't have much say in the matter. Hang on, let me get some of that wheat. I'd rather not lose any blood."
Returning with a handful of grain, he handed some to Holo, who swallowed them. "I will show you only a part of me, so I hope this will be enough." What followed was a bizarre transformation that changed Holo's slender human left arm into a large furry front leg of a wolf, but it was a gigantic limb, nothing Adrian had ever seen on any canid.
"That's impossible." Said Adrian. "Mass expansion without energy input, no spatial distortions. This goes against everything we know in TQ theory!"
"Oh my, you are using strange words again. Can you believe your sight and your touch then?"
As Adrian moved forward and touched the furry limb with his fingers, Holo looked at him with slight amusement. "You are not afraid?" She asked.
He shook his head. "More like, I'm seriously confused now. For over a hundred years we've studied just about every observable phenomenon. These things just don't happen in this world. Or, I thought they shouldn't happen."
"Then does this convince you to help me?" Asked Holo expectantly.
"I don't know what you want, but I guess I've seen enough to make me think that crossing you is a bad idea. So sure, I'll help out with what I can."
As Holo's arm began to shrink back into a human arm, she explained to Adrian, "I have been asleep for so long. My existence is linked to the wheat, and all along, I could not inhabit any. Only yours was good enough to allow me to have a body. You should feel special."
"Ah, I see. So I have your lifeline to this world and you want me to do what, exactly? Give you the wheat?"
"That would work for me." Holo stepped out of the bathtub, leaving water dripping on the stone floor. She shook herself, splashing water on Adrian, who held out a towel. While drying herself, she said, "But it has been so long, and I have been very lonely. Would you care to keep me company while I explore this new world?"
"What? What are you saying?" Stuttered Adrian. "You can't just go out like that!"
"Then I will let you take care of me," crooned Holo, who drew closer to Adrian so that the tips of her ears brushed against Adrian's chin. "Will you protect me in this unfamiliar world? I am awake again after so long, and I really want to enjoy this life again."
Adrian was clearly flustered, and said, "At least put a towel on! Just stay in this house and I'll go get you some clothes and a hat and stuff and, I guess."
"You're an easy one to tease, just like Lawrence. Maybe you won't disappoint me. Tell me, what is your name?"
"Adrian. Er, Adrian Lucent."
With a sly grin, Holo extended her hand to Adrian, the other hand gripping the towel that barely covered her body. Awkwardly Adrian shook hands with her. "Well then, Adrian Lucent, I, Holo, the Wise Wolf, place myself in your care. Please treat me well."