Epilogue
As the sun began to set, the populace of the church city of Ruvenheigen began to drift indoors. Market stalls, shops and trading firms began to close as the business day came to an end while the church and tavern doors began to open to welcome their evening patrons.
Among the many multi storey buildings, one particular building could be singled out. Beige colored walls, tall arches on the ground floor supporting a wide porch, under which was a large wooden front door flanked by glass-paned windows on either side. Through the windows, flickering candle lights could be seen and the sound of laughing merchants could be heard.
This building belonged to the Rowen Trading Guild, and this was one of their many branches spread across Trenni and Ploania. As merchants of the guild entered the premise one after another, they were greeted by loud roars from their peers and comrades within.
The ground floor consisted of a bar and a diner. Here, most of the guild members ate, drank and talked with others around round tables. Behind the bar stood a barrel chested man, who worked as a food and drink merchant as well as a bartender.
The second floor was similar to an inn, with single or double bedded rooms allocated to Rowen affiliated merchants at a discounted price. The third and fourth floors were offices and meeting rooms, all which were now empty.
This is, all except one particular room at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor. There was a nameplate on the door.
Mister Hans Lawrence.
Within the room, a tall man of great status within the guild sat behind a desk containing rolls of parchment, a small pot of ink with several quills in it, and several seal stamps.
It would be quite impossible to guess his exact age, which could range anywhere between thirty and fifty. He had the looks and physique of a healthy, youthful young man, yet had white streaks through his otherwise short silver blonde hair that ended in spiky bangs which parted on either side of his face, and several thin lines across his brow and the undersides of his gray eyes.
He was the branch manager of the Rowen Trading Guild in Ruvenheigen. Every merchant of the guild within the city walls were under his protection, along with their assets and possessions. It was a huge responsibility for one man, which might explain why he had those lines when merely five years ago they were nonexistent.
He suddenly paused, as if deep in thought. And then, about two seconds before gentle knocks would resound on the thick wooden door, he called out in a polite yet authoritative tone.
"Come in."
A few seconds passed before the door opened and a weary-looking merchant of the guild entered. There was dust on his dark trousers and black ink stains on his fingers. He sighed before speaking.
"Mister Hans, I'm sure I've told you before the danger of releasing the arrow without aiming."
He was referring to the tale where once a hunter of great skill and equally great arrogance once came to the aid of a shepherd and his sheep under attack by wolves, only to end up slaying more sheep than wolves with his arrows. Hans Lawrence chuckled at the recollection of that tale.
"I recognized your footsteps even as you ascended the stairs, Neil. So, what is the matter?"
He asked without looking up from the letter he was composing.
"The lookouts have not spotted her, Mister Hans. Should I organize a search party?"
Hans stopped writing and put down the quill before looking up at Neil. The man was in his thirties, with short cropped dark hair, and possessed a crafty face suitable for a city merchant. As well as friends and colleagues, Neil used to be his apprentice. After a brief pause, he replied.
"That won't be necessary, Neil. She will arrive soon enough."
The younger merchant frowned.
"But… She's four days late, what if something happened?"
The Rowen Trading Guild branch manager of Ruvenheigen slowly shook his head with a knowing smile.
"Knowing her, she's probably fooling around in some town."
Neil smiled diplomatically.
"That's not very polite to say about your aunt."
Hans chuckled lightly in response.
"Pardon, I meant no offense to Yue when I say that. It's just that she is too much like her mother."
Neil Landt, vice-manager of the Rowen Trading Guild branch of Ruvinheigen, blinked.
"Oh, like Miss Holo?"
In response, Hans nodded and resumed composing the letter.
"Exactly, too cunning and too adventurous by half."
Afterword
Firstly, thank you so much for reading this story.
Spice and Wolf has been a favorite of mine for quite a few years, and I've lost count how many times I've read the novels and watched the series!
Truth be told, this is the first proper fan fiction I've written and finished. Most of the time, I end up losing steam half way. But this time, regardless of the fantastic characters and intriguing plot, it was the rich background of the world and the realism of which religion, politics and economics works – which Hasekura Isuna wonderfully describes – that gave me inspiration to see this through.
Because I believe the novels ended the story really, really well, I was very reluctant to start a new tale involving Holo and Kraft Lawrence. Also, the prospect of writing a story involving Holo terrifies me, because I've never written a character with her personality.
Thus, I settled on a new tale, starring the lineage of the wisewolf i.e. her children (two of which are introduced so far, and there's also a descendant of another side-character in the epilogue!), and an olive skinned foreigner from the south.
I've got quite a lot of ideas and a rough plot of how this new story will go, but unfortunately it'll take time for ideas to translate into words. And by time, I mean weeks and months… Sorry about that.
That said, volume 2 is close to finished, and I hope to upload it within a couple of weeks or so.
Again, thank you very much for reading this, and till next time!
*I edited the relationship between Hans & Yue to become from siblings to aunt-nephew. This was after reading the recently fan-translated sequels written by Isuna Hasekura sensei, which so far revealed that Holo and Lawrence had one child! XD So in order to fit the canon story as much as possible (while leaving some room for gray areas) I decided to alter the Lawrence family tree to one that is more 'human-like' and also more pragmatic. Nothing else was altered other than that.
