I had lost my way during my journey.
Only my soul was wandering, while I stood still.
But right now, I'm walking to a distant place.
That's right, ever since I met you on this road.
The travellers witnessed the song, the forbidden song,
And I became attached to it as I heard it alone with you.
If the world I saw in my dreams exists somewhere,
Let's go search for it, beyond the winds.
Whether it's a freezing dawn,
A dry midday,
A shivering night,
or the ends of the Earth, let's go and see it.
You should understand by seeing my ears and tail
what an amazing wolf I am.
My ears can overhear incoming disasters,
and differentiate between lies and truth.
I have saved many of my companions from peril.
When people speak of Horo the Wise...
It is none other than myself!
There are still some fleas in here.
Well, yeah.
Your fur is of the highest grade.
You have good judgment if you can see the greatness of my tail.
Well, I guess.
You'll soon be clean, too.
Starting from the top of your scalp.
Wolf and Distant Past
Let us thank God for this encounter today.
Forgive me, but who is this person?
This is my wife. She has some burns on her face.
Is that so?
I'll come see you after I have a look at our soaked luggage.
We're quite soaked, aren't we?
My burns have cooled off thanks to the cold rain, and it feels good.
That's right, what should we do with the wheat?
Do with it? What do you mean?
B-Basically, should we thresh it? Or leave it as it is?
Well, that's only if you actually did dwell in that wheat.
As long I live, it will neither rot nor whither.
If it were eaten, burnt, or mashed, and then returned to the earth,
I might disappear, but...
There should be no problem with threshing it.
I'll put the wheat grains into a pouch later, then.
You probably want to carry it yourself, don't you?
That'd be helpful, and even more useful if I could hang it around my neck.
Like a necklace?
Yes.
Would it be okay if I left some wheat behind?
I want to try and sell it in another land.
It'll grow well because it came from that land.
It'll immediately whither away, though.
Basically, such a thing is pointless because it'll just die.
Anyway...
Even though you were in the rain for so long, you still stink!
I think you're a good man.
You should try to keep a clean aspect.
Even so, it hasn't really hindered me.
Well, I think that beard of yours is nice, though.
Oh, so you understand?
However, I'd like it more if it were a bit longer.
Like this!
How about you try growing a beard like that?
There are other people here, so don't expose yourself.
I'm Horo the Wise; I've always been traveling in this form.
Well, just leave it to me.
That was quite an insincere idea, though.
To hide my face because it is burned, that is.
Then what do you want to do?
Those burns are proof of who I am.
Just like these ears and this tail, I'll believe that it's my face.
I see.
Oh? So you came from Yorentsu?
Yes. I stocked up on salt over there and then delivered it.
In exchange, I got marten pelts.
But won't you have to return to Yorentsu again?
A merchant's wisdom plays its hand here.
There's no need to return.
I don't pay for the salt I buy from a company in Yorentsu.
It's because I sell the same amount of wheat
to a branch from the same company in another city.
In exchange for not receiving a fee for the wheat,
I don't need to pay for the salt.
Basically, I can fulfill both contracts without exchanging any money.
Oh, that's quite fascinating.
This system is called bartering, and was invented by merchants to deal with various regions.
I own a vineyard in the city of Perentso.
I've never received payment in such a curious method before.
Should I be bartering instead?
No, you should be fine.
I am simply able to evade the danger of having my precious money stolen on long journeys.
You two own a vineyard, so you only need to look out for hassling merchants.
There's a dispute over that every year.
I'd assume so.
You said your name was Lawrence, did you not?
If you're ever in the vicinity of Perentso, please come and visit us.
We'll welcome you.
I will, thanks.
My wife is a bit tired, so please excuse us.
Excuse us.
May God allow us to meet once more.
You're pretty good, boss!
I'm just a normal merchant you can find anywhere.
No, no, I've had my eyes on that old couple for a while, but
I just couldn't find the right moment.
And yet you pulled it off so easily.
When I first started out, all merchants seemed like monsters to me.
Over half of them still seem like monsters.
You just need to work hard.
I'm relieved to hear you say that.
My name is Zeiren.
I'm Lawrence.
I just started out, but nice to meet you.
And who is your companion?
My wife, Horo.
A merchant couple, huh?
You must value her a lot, covering her in such a coat.
Not really.
Meeting you here is also God's will!
Would you mind letting me have a look at her?
No...
The most enticing time of a journey is in its preparation.
Hearing a dog howl is most dreadful.
To see a woman's back is the most beautiful thing.
If you're too carefree and reckless, your dreams will vanish.
I can't do something like that to you.
Your wife is pretty amazing.
She does her best in order to avoid a scolding.
Meeting you two is truly the working of fate.
How about it, boss? Would you listen to my story?
What a wonderful smell!
Potatoes covered with... This is...!
Goat cheese!
Hold it.
Wheat?
I attached a leather strap to it so that you can hang it around your neck.
Great, thanks.
Anyway, I've got to have some of this!
Hold it!
What now?
It cost quite a bit to buy the leather strap, the wheat pouch, the goat cheese,
and on top of that, the donation to the church!
You better prepare yourself for the bill!
Is that all you have to say?!
Yeah.
I know all that already!
Vegetables grown by humans are much better than I thought!
I also like the concept of cooking food.
If you eat that all at once...
Ah, that was surprising.
Human throats are so narrow, it's terribly inconvenient!
I guess so, since wolves swallow things whole.
But of course, that's because we don't have cheeks!
We can't chew at our leisure!
I see.
However, I've choked on potatoes in the past, too!
It looks like potatoes and I just don't get along.
Damn you!
You...
You said you could differentiate between lies and truth, right?
Well, more or less.
How well can you do it?
Well...
Even though you didn't intend it,
I could tell that you weren't fully truthful when you complimented my tail.
It's not a hundred percent accurate, though.
Well, believing me or not is up to you.
Let's say I believe you, and now ask you this:
could you tell whether that youngster was lying?
Youngster?
That guy who approached us in front of the fireplace.
Well, you both look like youngsters to me.
Although you're a bit more mature.
That youngster's story, huh?
The truth is, boss...
There's a rumor that the silver coin in circulation now
will be replaced by one with a higher silver content.
I see you're not surprised.
If you exchange the new coin to another country's currency,
you can exchange it for more than it is worth now.
Basically-
Basically, we'll collect silver coins,
exchange them when the new one is issued,
and we'll make a profit in the exchange difference.
What do you think?
In exchange for telling you which coin it is,
you'll share the profit you make with me.
I can't tell which part it was exactly, but that story was a lie.
It's not unusual since coins have been introduced.
But...
You don't know why he is lying.
Right?
When one lies, the subject is not important,
but instead, why that person lied.
How many years do you think it took me to realize that?
You don't need to worry about it.
You're still a youngster, after all.
Anyway, what would you have done were I not here?
I'd put aside whether it was a lie or not,
and act as if I believed in his story.
Why is that?
If it were true, I would gain a profit.
If it were a lie...
It would mean someone is scheming something.
If I could find out what's going on,
it would lead to a profit.
If I told you that story was a lie, what then?
You weren't hesitant from the start.
You would've accepted either way, right?
I'm Horo the Wise.
I've lived many times longer than you have.
W-What's she...?!
May my husband's spirit...
Become fat!
Jeez!
They've become quite powerful, though.
The church has always been powerful.
No, no, they weren't as eminent when I came here.
At the very least, it was not so overdone as to say there is only one truth,
and that people are simply borrowing the world.
Nature is not something someone could create.
I've even been wondering when the church started using me.
Well, let's leave that aside for now.
I guess everything is changing to reflect the era.
At this rate, things will really change.
Did you ever change?
Then your homeland hasn't changed, either.
To be comforted by you is a disgrace to the title of "Wise."
Hey! Hurry up and come!
What are you doing?
Really?! You'll accept?
However, I won't pay the deposit.
I can't do anything unless I exchange my pelts for coins.
In that case, let us meet in a southern town called Pattsio.
When you arrive at Pattsio, stop by a bar named Yorrend.
You'll be able to find me there.
All right. Yorrend, is it?
That's right, Yorrend.
Well then, I'll be going on ahead!
You have a great day too, madame!
What a noisy person.
Won't he be coming with us?
The road is muddy, isn't it?
Walking on foot is a lot faster.
There's no need to make him join us.
Merchants certainly are particular about time.
Time is money.
That's an interesting saying.
Time is money, huh?
If we have more time, we can gain that much more money.
You've been observing the peasants for hundreds of years,
so don't you think they're precise with time?
What have you been looking at?
They're not precise with time, but with their surroundings.
I don't understand.
Listen.
They wake up at dawn.
Plow the fields in the afternoon.
Welcome the new buds in spring.
Enjoy the growth in summer.
Celebrate the harvest in autumn.
And wait for spring in the winter.
They don't worry about time.
That goes for me as well.
You're smart, but you lack experience.
However...
You become a better person as you grow older.
How many hundreds of years old is that story?
You really are smart!
Your head is probably too old, and mold has built up inside it.
Do you know why we wolves attack people in the mountains?
No.
That's because...
We eat their heads and try to obtain their powers.
You're still too young!
You're not up to my level yet.
Have you ever been attacked in the forest before?
I have.
About eight times.
It was tough, wasn't it?
Yeah.
I would've been able to deal with stray dogs, but...
Wolves are tough.
That's because they kill many humans in order to obtain-
Stop it!
I'm sorry I said that your brain had a buildup of mold.
So please... Stop.
I'm sorry.
Are you still mad?
I am.
Don't say something like that again.
Wolves live in the forest.
Dogs live with humans.
That's the difference in their toughness.
Wolves only know how to hunt for humans.
It's how they deal with fear.
So, we then think to ourselves,
When humans enter the forest, how should we react?
You've attacked humans too?!
Even I...
Have things I can't answer.
I'm sorry.
Now we're even!
The worlds that you and I live in are different.
Seven apples on the witch's tree
With seven seeds to plant inside of me
In spring time I grew a magic song
Then skipping along,
I sang the song to everyone
I look at the world through apple eyes
And cut myself a slice of sunshine pie
I danced with the peanuts for the flies
Till someone had told me
To say hello for every good-bye
Saw some sugar stars
I'll put them in a jar
And we'll wish around the world
Oh we'll wish around the world
I'm a little wolf inside a cart
You say,
And off I go from June to May
Oh we'll wish around the world
Let's wish around the world
Next, Wolf and Business Sense.