Spice and Wolf Light Novel Discussion

[Anh_Minh]

Spoiler for v3c3:

I can understand Lawrence freezing. I mean, Horo raised the stakes pretty high, asking for a child.

[FlareKnight]

Spoiler for Volume 3 Chapter 3:

This has not been Lawrence's day that's for sure. He thought falling behind on the pyrite situation was bad, this was just an utter disaster for him. Definitely didn't handle the situation in the best way possible. Though freezing up really can happen when you have no idea what the right thing to say is. In the process of trying to figure out what you should say you end up saying nothing which may be the worse thing of all.

Horo's state is a really dangerous one to be sure. Thinking she is all alone and her home is no longer waiting for her. Proposal really has become incredibly dangerous and time is now a major factor. If Lawrence can't pull everything together she may take Amati's offer. Even just for a child while only half wolf would remove that heavy loneliness.

Trusting she couldn't read combined with not being honest with her sooner really has left them in an ugly spot. Lawrence will need to pull himself together rather quickly or everything could be lost to him.

[Blank-Mage]

Spoiler for What else would I be typing about?.:

Well, unless volumes 4-8 follow Amati, we don't have too much to worry about ...right? In my opinion, that wasn't so bad as to warrant "freezing up", but then again, I have three sisters, so maybe I'm just used to frequent emotional breakdowns. And Flare, I don't think time is against Lawrence here, because Horo is certain to come to her senses eventually. She's hit an all-time low, for sure, but unless something else goes horribly wrong for her (and really, what else could?) she'll start thinking again. Later rather than sooner, though. She's really crushed. Maybe she'd recover faster if Lawrence wasn't such an idiot! Sigh.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Blank-Mage

Spoiler for What else would I be typing about?.:

Well, unless volumes 4-8 follow Amati, we don't have too much to worry about ...right? In my opinion, that wasn't so bad as to warrant "freezing up", but then again, I have three sisters, so maybe I'm just used to frequent emotional breakdowns. And Flare, I don't think time is against Lawrence here, because Horo is certain to come to her senses eventually. She's hit an all-time low, for sure, but unless something else goes horribly wrong for her (and really, what else could?) she'll start thinking again. Later rather than sooner, though. She's really crushed. Maybe she'd recover faster if Lawrence wasn't such an idiot! Sigh.

Spoiler:

Well yes. Admitting that Amati is probably done in this volume there isn't that much to worry about. But I'm trying to keep my mind locked into this volume for the sake of the story . Oddly enough with a couple sisters I should be more used to emotional breakdowns. But being away at University and the fact I don't think my older sister has had an emotional breakdown could affect it. Now moving on from my life's story....


I know Horo is likely to pull herself together sooner or later. But even when she calms down hard to say what she will be thinking. Besides it is possible Amati could have that money by the next day so it will need to be a rather quick job of pulling it all together. At this point I'm cautious about asking what else could go wrong. Since I didn't see all this going wrong .

Just think Lawrence needs to do something here. He's managed to gain some information on Yoitsu in this volume which is good. But he's still not fully back from the failure last volume, he dropped the ball on the pyrite, has someone trying to buy Horo out of debt and take her away, and Horo has really hit a low point. Just think he has to do something.

[RampagingEvangelion]

Spoiler for Vol. 3 Ch. 3:

Wow. I gotta admit I did not see that one coming. I think Horo is really at an all-time low here. Sure, she may have felt lonely in the past, but now she knows for sure that she is lonely. To make that not sound so stupid, in the past she had hopes of returning to her home and people. She may have felt homesick, but she thought that one day she would get back. Now she knows there is no going back. I guess that sorta explains what i wrote...

Hopefully she will come to her senses soon. There are still two (Three?) chapters left. A lot has happened in the first three. Maybe she'll make a stupid move (involving Amati) and Lawrence and her will have to work out the situation? I mean, is there going to be another 40,000 words of this? (Not that i would mind. )

Damn, my gut was twisting as I read that part. I really felt bad for her.

[Blank-Mage]

Spoiler for Start of vol 3, chap 4.:

I always think with a mind unbound by common sense. Anyway, let's review. Horo is devastated, and if Amati pops the question (and a hefty sum earned with pyrite,) she might take up the offer. So Lawrence decides to ensure her company... by causing an economic depression? Seriously? Why not try talking to her? That way, she'll want to stay! It's got to be easier than manipulating the price of goods! Besides, if he pulls this off, he really will be the villain from that story. Well, he's heading to her room now, maybe he can salvage some of that botched conversation from earlier. Here's hoping.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Blank-Mage

Spoiler for Start of vol 3, chap 4.:

I always think with a mind unbound by common sense. Anyway, let's review. Horo is devastated, and if Amati pops the question (and a hefty sum earned with pyrite,) she might take up the offer. So Lawrence decides to ensure her company... by causing an economic depression? Seriously? Why not try talking to her? That way, she'll want to stay! It's got to be easier than manipulating the price of goods! Besides, if he pulls this off, he really will be the villain from that story. Well, he's heading to her room now, maybe he can salvage some of that botched conversation from earlier. Here's hoping.

Spoiler for Vol 3, Chap 4:

Why talk things over when you can cause economic disaster . When Lawrence was thinking about what to do about stopping Amati, what happened to Lawrence last volume really came to mind. The armour prices fell apart and Lawrence got into a tight situation, using that to his advantage this time could work. Clearly Lawrence thinks manipulating the market is a lot easier than facing Horo and talking about feelings .

Would say I was surprised that he would try to ensure Amati couldn't make up the money to ensure Horo would stay. She has been sticking around with him because she wants to and uses the debt as an excuse. If she didn't want to stay with Lawrence anymore no debt would make a difference, he should realize that. Even if I think it'd be better to talk things out, this is a chance for him to show what he can do as a merchant. Plus if he can find a way to make a profit from causing a crash in pyrite he'll be able to move forward after what happened last volume.

The price fall in pyrite would happen anyways, so really he's just accelerating the inevitable. Also Amati is apparently pretty capable so he'd recover just fine. Like we saw earlier in the series with Horo using the fruits to get a higher price on the furs, people are going to do what they can to make a profit in that world.

I just hope that whatever conversation those two are going to have goes alright. Obviously still plenty to deal with before this volume is over so it can't be completely repaired. An interesting chapter so far.

[judgment26]

Spoiler for Chapter 4:

Actually Mage, what Lawrence is trying to cause isn't nearly on the scale of an economic depression. The goal is, as you will see later on, to put as much pyrite back into the market as he can possibly manage so as to cause a dramatic decrease in its market value. The only people that would be affected by this are those who have invested in the pyrite trade. The rest of the economy will remain unaffected.

[Anh_Minh]

Spoiler for Vol 3 Chap 4:

Though actually getting off his ass about the whole deal might show Horo how much he values her, causing the market to crash prematurely might sour his relations with the town's merchants.


I wonder how he plans to do that? He'd need to either sell a lot of pyrite cheaply (and where is he going to get it, not to mention make a profit of it?) or make up some kind of rumor to reverse that new superstition/fad. Again, how?

[Blank-Mage]

Originally Posted by judgment26

Spoiler for Chapter 4:

Actually Mage, what Lawrence is trying to cause isn't nearly on the scale of an economic depression. The goal is, as you will see later on, to put as much pyrite back into the market as he can possibly manage so as to cause a dramatic decrease in its market value. The only people that would be affected by this are those who have invested in the pyrite trade. The rest of the economy will remain unaffected.

Spoiler for Chap. 4.:

I suppose that was a bad way to put it. I'm saying, it seems like every merchant in town is making a fortune selling pyrite. The same thing that happened to him with armor, he plans to do to everyone selling pyrite. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it could definitely ruin some of the heavy investors. My main point was this: There are two things that keep Horo with Lawrence. She likes traveling with him, and to a lesser degree, debt. Right now, Lawrence is trying to keep her in debt to ensure her company, and doesn't seem to be concerned with getting her to like it.

[judgment26]

Spoiler for Chapter 4:

Well, I'm sure Lawrence cares about Horo staying with him by her own will, but right now, he needs to buy time and absolutely cannot afford to give her a legitimate reason to run off with Amati, whether she would really do so or not, hence his plan. Most likely, he's thinking that if he can prevent Amati from completing the contract, taking him out of the picture altogether, he'll have more time to talk things over with Horo calmly.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by judgment26

Spoiler for Chapter 4:

Well, I'm sure Lawrence cares about Horo staying with him by her own will, but right now, he needs to buy time and absolutely cannot afford to give her a legitimate reason to run off with Amati, whether she would really do so or not, hence his plan. Most likely, he's thinking that if he can prevent Amati from completing the contract, taking him out of the picture altogether, he'll have more time to talk things over with Horo calmly.

Spoiler for Chap 4:

Have to agree that I think he really wants to buy some more time here. His thinking that if Amati is getting some good profits from this pyrite sale then he could buy Horo out of the debt pretty quickly. For the long term no way would he plan on keeping Horo around through a debt. He knows she would just leave if that's what she wanted to do or would pull off something incredible to erase the debt on her own.

Think what Lawrence does will really depend on what happens when he heads back to the inn. She clearly had a conversation with Amati and finding out what happened there will be key. Also if he makes any ground in terms of patching things up that could also impact his choice. Unless it goes really well though will probably continue with his plan since I doubt he can fix everything with one conversation. Besides fighting for her in a merchant sense could show how much he values having her there with him.

Is too bad that other merchants (besides Amati) will suffer some losses through this. But good ones will likely avoid any real losses and if they do suffer some will bounce back anyways. I'm sure Lawrence expects someone as good as Amati to recover fine, it's just a plan to delay him. Mediocre merchants probably don't have a great amount of pyrite after jumping onto the train late. Not to say some won't be really troubled by this action, but these things happen. Lawrence like any person is going to take the action that helps him.

[Blank-Mage]

Spoiler for Same old, same old.:

Yeah, I see your points, Judge/Flare, but he better not waste too much time planning on how to buy more. Still, I can't help feeling this could all be solved with some meaningful conversation between the two. Anyway, Flare's right about this upcoming talk, so I'll reserve any further criticism until we see how that goes. Just don't walk out again, Lawrence! Horo is not looking for alone time right now!

[FlareKnight]

Spoiler for Vol 3, Chapter 4:

Well now Lawrence has no choice but to forge ahead. It's Horo or setting some people back that invested into the pyrite and for Lawrence there is no question what has to be done. Seems clear he has to win over Amati in the merchant territory or he's got no chance. Horo has signed the certificate which means if he can't stop the debt from being paid off its over.

Thought when the financial figures came up in the letter it was bad news. Lawrene gave us a moment where things seemed ok, then it was revealed to really be bad news . Of course a letter caused them these problems in the first place so fitting that it would continue the troublesome trend. Horo is leaving the window open so to speak for Lawrence to act and so he's got to take it.

"From Lawrence’s point of view, traveling with Horo was more precious than a thousand pieces of gold." This whole event has shown how important it is to Lawrence to travel with Horo. From the happiness of no longer feeling that loneliness from before to how far he will go to keep them traveling together. Its time for action!

[RampagingEvangelion]

Why is it that every time I read a new chapter, my gut twist more and more.
The only comfort I have in reading this volume is that there are more volumes after it with Horo AND Lawrence. If I didn't know that, well,.

[FlareKnight]

It certainly makes you nervous even though you know things have to work out somehow. Can only imagine how people were feeling reading this when the volume was first released.

[RampagingEvangelion]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

It certainly makes you nervous even though you know things have to work out somehow. Can only imagine how people were feeling reading this when the volume was first released.

I'm glad I didn't know about Spice and Wolf until so many of the books were done. Well, I would have sped-read through the entire thing so I could only imagine what they felt like for a few seconds.

Still, this can't be good for my heart. The first part of part two raised my hopes, only to have them sent crashing down in the second.

[Blank-Mage]

Spoiler for The same place you're up to anyway, but you never know when someone new will show up.:

Well, I think Horo slammed the door on talking things over, right there. I get the feeling she still wants to travel with Lawrence, and this whole thing is just her method of punishing him. It definitely seems like something Horo would do. But even if it's all another trick of hers, it'll really make Lawrence appreciate her more, which is probably the main reason she's doing all this. (That is, assuming I'm right about Horo just being spiteful... otherwise, Lawrence really is in trouble!)

[LKK]

Originally Posted by RampagingEvangelion

Why is it that every time I read a new chapter, my gut twist more and more.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

It certainly makes you nervous even though you know things have to work out somehow.

Originally Posted by RampagingEvangelion

Still, this can't be good for my heart. The first part of part two raised my hopes, only to have them sent crashing down in the second.

Those are the reasons why I'm waiting until the translation for volume 3 is finished before I read any more of it. Reading it piecemeal and having to wait for the next part to be completed would be more than my soul could withstand.

[RampagingEvangelion]

Originally Posted by LKK

Those are the reasons why I'm waiting until the translation for volume 3 is finished before I read any more of it. Reading it piecemeal and having to wait for the next part to be completed would be more than my soul could withstand.

You're a smart one. I should have done that.