Spice and Wolf II

[shinta|hikari]

After this event I found myself somewhat annoyed with Lawrence for spending his time and effort running around trying to ensure Amarty failed in his effort to buy out Horo's debt. From my understanding of the situation with the contract Horo would have been under no mandate to stop traveling with Lawrence even if Amerty was able to produce the coins. She would have just been freed of her 'debt' to him. By behaving like Horo's companionship could be bought or sold like that I felt that he kind of cheapened her to a common spoiled brat-dere. I was mildly surprised she wasn't more angry with him over this lack of trust, but perhaps she is also wise enough not to call him out on something she herself did just few days earlier.

You seem to forget that Lawrence believes that Holo misunderstood his intentions, and therefore hates him on false grounds. Lawrence probably wanted to show Holo how much he cared for her by spending his time and effort running around trying to keep her with him. It is his way of showing his sincerity to a Holo who he believes lost trust in him. Lawrence repeatedly pointed this out when he said that he has confidence in their relationship, if it weren't for the recent events. I'm pretty sure Lawrence doesn't think that Holo can be bought with money, proven by his final leap of faith in the end.

The best way to have solved the whole issue is for Lawrence to simply approach Holo and talk to her, but as Holo points out and Lawrence admits, he is a dense bastard. He is definitely not the type to go all passionate and confront her. We do see him try and hesitate several times though, which is indicative of how strong his feelings are, practically overriding his own base character.

As you said, the lack of trust went both ways. Holo also asked the Bird God to lie to Lawrence, because she did not trust him enough to keep traveling with her without an existing destination. Holo should have known better, especially since she supposedly has already regained her composure at that point.

[Kraco]

Lawrence probably wanted to show Holo how much he cared for her by spending his time and effort running around trying to keep her with him. It is his way of showing his sincerity to a Holo who he believes lost trust in him.

That sounds a bit more calculative than my impression of it. Running around desperately trying to win the gamble was the only thing Lawrence thought he could do (as dictated by his dense personality centered on trading alone). He was afraid of losing Horo and did all he could to prevent that.

While it technically sounds like the same thing, there's a difference. It's like the difference of a man jumping between a bullet and his love interest instinctively compared to a man pondering that if he jumps between a bullet and his love interest, the woman might be thankful to him.

[shinta|hikari]

I did not mean for it to sound calculating. When I said "his way", it does not have to be purely mental, but also heavily emotional. It was quite obvious that Lawrence was driven by emotion. It just so happens he expressed those emotions by trying to win the trading duel.

[depthcharge]

I get the feeling that Lawrence was pretty much using his all to win this duel. While the same for Amarty as well.(maybe not since he didnt really use his family power to do it)

Therefore in a duel with the stake being all your monetary worth and pride, Horo must have felt quite good.

BTW, about pyrite, I have found some before and dug it out of the rocks that embedded it. It does look like bling. Now about the wolf god... where can I find one.

[Buffalobiian]

You seem to forget that Lawrence believes that Holo misunderstood his intentions, and therefore hates him on false grounds.

The thing that really kicked this off was the marriage contract that Horo and Amarty signed. When Lawrence saw Horo's message with Amarty's financial status. With that, he was ready to talk with Horo, and was already believing Horo still likes him despite their recent fight. After that, he saw the marriage contract, and that's how the ball got rolling.

I think Horo went a bit overboard with that one. Like she said, she intended it to be something to simply trigger Lawrence to come barging into her room demanding and explanation because she didn't want to approach him instead. That plan backfired.

As much trust as Lawrence had in her, I doubt any man seeing such a thing after a fight like that would think she was just playing with him. A marriage contract would state something like Horo consents to being with Amarty. Add that with the duel Lawrence and Amarty settled with, you get:


"Horo will marry Amarty + Horo will be free if Amarty wins."

From that, the only way out for Lawrence was to beat Amarty, as that part is the only part with IF involved.



In short, Horo played a bad joke. I wonder if she even forged that entire contract without Amarty's knowing.

Also, wasn't Amarty meant to be some kind of genius? It's a bit unbelievable that Horo figured out Lawrence's plan while he didn't. And he was being all smug and all at that stand when he had nothing to counter with. That kid's arrogance is unjustified. It's that very attitude that probably made him say something to tick Horo off.

By the end though, I was just relieved Horo and Lawrence were back to normal again. In contrast with the first series, this romantic interaction was very tense. We've blown past six episodes already, and it's only been one arc.