written by Isuna Hasekura

The adventures of Lawrence the merchant and wolf-god Holo have taken them to many a place, and their strange relationship has survived trial after trial.
 
At the present, deep in financial ruin, the two seek to solve their situation by enlisting the help of the young shepherdess named Norah to smuggle gold into Ruvinheigen and exchange it for a profit. Their only problem? The Remelio Company has betrayed Lawrence and thrown him to the wolves. He can free himself, but not so much everyone else. Good thing he has Holo the Wisewolf to help him not only save Norah, but recover the gold and take revenge on the people who tried to kill him and intend to kill Norah once they enter Ruvinheigen. It may be true that Holo despises shepherds as her natural enemies, but if Norah agrees to give up shepherding after this endeavor is over with, she might be willing to make an exception.
 
Thanks to Holo’s wolf strength and savagery, Lawrence is able to catch up with and save Norah while Holo “deals” with the traitorous Remelio Company men. But even now that they are safe and the gold secure, there is a difficult task ahead: getting it into Ruvinheigen and making money off of it, as well as smoothing things over with the Remelio Company. However, there’s one thing that will play out in their favor: Lawrence is a merchant, and is skilled at turning a financial crisis into an opportunity. Just leave it to him!
 
The artwork of this book is vivid and crisp and the storytelling quality is pretty high, and very engaging. The touches of fan service from Holo are very evident (she needs to be naked when she turns into a giant wolf), combined with a teaser-attitude that makes for a very entertaining read. There were a few aspects of Lawrence’s negotiations at the end of the book that I had some trouble following along with, but I’m not a merchant, nor have I had much exposure to the series prior to reading this volume.

-- David Gromer

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