Spice and Wolf (2024) – 03 – War of the Coins

Kraft and Holo arrive in the bustling merchant town of Pazzio, which is so big Holo is amazed it’s not ruled by a king. She’s also immediately smitten by the excellent apples on display in the market, and purchases an entire silver coin’s worth of them. While this initially seems like freeloading as Kraft was the one who paid, Holo soon earns her keep by delivering a clever sales pitch to increase the money the Milone Trading Company pays from 140 to 210 silver coins.

Kraft and Holo celebrate their windfall with some wine and edamame, and then meet with Zheren about his currency speculation plan. Kraft may not trust Zheren 100%, but trusts him enough to front him 10 silver coins he promises to return if he ends up taking a loss. It’s a minimal investment in which he’ll break even at worst.

Kraft teaches Holo about all of the dozens of different silver coins, each of them minted by a different king or church official, and each of them having different relationships to the spending public. Whatever their actual silver or gold content, it is the people’s trust in a coin that matters.

Holo learns (after being relentlessly hit on by a currency-examining friend of Kraft’s) that the coins are actually falling in silver content. While at first Kraft believes he may have been taken for a fool by Zheren (like the Milone merchant was with Holo’s apple-scented sales pitch), when she mentions wolves occasionally climbing trees, he considers a new perspective.

Perhaps rather than tricking them for his own gain, Zheren was instructed to do so by someone else. And that there may yet be a way Zheren intends to profit off of the reduction of silver content in the coins as opposed to the opposite as pitched to Kraft. Once Kraft and Holo confirm what that is, they’ll still be in a good position to clean up.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride – S2 11 – Patience Makes Prudence

Lucy’s newest collapse was due to the fact that whoever stole her magical power is still actively sapping it, just as they are with Simeon. This is a dangerous matter for adults, and so both Elias and the nurse Alexandra warn Chise to kindly stay out of it and focus on her studies.

Chise is particularly shocked that Elias refers to Simeon as someone who could be a “friend” of his, especially since he’d previously called Lindel and even Rahab mere “acquaintances.” The College is changing both of them faster than they know.

Chise runs into Philomela in the hall, who is on the verge of panic over her satchel of potpourri running out of scent. Chise can see the satchel is well-worn, and is happy to replace the fragrance. When she offers to make some with her “one day”, Philomela is happy to the verge of tears. I worry about her, and fear those who she must answer to and what they might make her do.

Zoe and Lucy have a warm and fuzzy little scene when he visits her at night just because, and she asks if she can pet his snakes. While there’s obviously a double entendre in there and there’s amorous ramifications to asking to touch a gorgon’s snakes, in this case, Lucy is compensating for the loss of her beloved spiders, and as a friend, Zoe is happy to accommodate her.

Chise stops by home to announce to a disappointed Silver that both she and Elias will likely be living at the College for a while; her to be closer to Lucy, and him so he can continue the investigation of the attacker. She also visits the hidden passage and fulfills her obligations to the hounds by providing them with sheep to eat.

Hazel is the one who provides the sheep to Chise, who feels bad for not being able to come up with the means to repay the hounds herself. Hazel makes the observation that she needs to stop recklessly jumping into action without thinking things through. The best way to do that is by developing patience and the skill of careful observation and assessment.

Back at the College, Halloween festivities are in full swing despite the attacks, which are being kept secret from all but the faculty and administration. Lucy is supposed to participate in a gathering practical at the “Waste Tower”, which is a venue for collecting various magical items for pay. She doesn’t want to be beholden to her brother.

That said, she could collapse again at any time, so Chise and Zoe restrain her. When Rian and Isaac visit Lucy, the four decide to go in Lucy’s place. But when they arrive, they meet with the wrong faculty member: Fabio Zaccheroni, who is about to embark on another task entirely with Philomela in tow.

Philomela makes sure to warn Chise to watch out for Fabio. But when Headmistress Quillyn opens her first piece of daily mail, it’s a letter from Philomela’s family stating that she’ll be withdrawing from the College. I know Chise is going to make more of an effort not to try to save everyone, but if she can somehow save ‘Mela from her awful family, that would be great!

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 15

Chise’s in Mortal Danger again, only this time bed rest won’t do the trick. Oberon believes the best way to treat her is to take her to the Land of the Faeries where time passes more slowly. Elias, overcome by worry, has to be slapped into coherence and the they then go, leaving Silky to watch the house.

You get the feeling that even though Oberon didn’t wish any harm on Chise after she made tabooed ointment, he’s still every bit an opportunist, and as a Fae he is unconditionally drawn to a Sleigh Beggy such as Chise. Medical treatment is a perfect excuse for Oberon to invite her to his world. And hey, if she can be convinced to stay…one hand washes the other, right?

Chise does not witness the trippy journey into Faerieland; she merely wakes up in a bed made out of part of a tree, bandaged head to toe. Her doctor, a changeling named Shannon (a faerie raised by human parents who then returned), seems kind enough, and confirms that there was no urgent need for Oberon to bring Chise there.

As Titania and Oberon try to convince Elias to stay with Chise in Faerieland, Shannon takes Chise to an otherworldly Mononoke Hime pool which contains healing waters…and proceeds to strangle her underwater.

As Elias tells the Fae royalty “thanks but no thanks, a human accepted me, so with humans I shall live”, Chise’s now-established Stong Will to Live overpowers Shannon’s attack. She saved herself, and Shannon remarks that she had to fear her life was going to end in order for her wounds to fully close.

Because time passes so much faster back home, Silky spends a good deal of time alone, tending to the house, and sometimes magically redesigning its interior a la Howl’s Moving Castle. Watching her install bells on the door so she can immediately know when her family is back was a rare display of emotion from the mute maid.

When Silky drifts off, she dreams of her past, when she was a banshee. When the family she haunted passed away, she had nothing and nobody, but Spriggan led her to the house that Elias Ainsworth would one day occupy. The Spriggan transforms her into a maid and bestows the name “Silky” upon her, and no matter who has lived in the house, she’s kept it a home ever since.

By the time Elias, Chise, and Ruth return, it’s Winter, but the house was kept a home by Silky’s presence. Her raw elation upon hearing them finally walk in the door, as well as the enormous hug she gives Chise, were a delight to behold. And hey, now we know Silky’s story, and that she’s not the cold fish she always appeared to be.