Time to set sail, Noah~
Well last time we got quite a fun turn around for this series. In this episode we get the conclusion of the second and last arc of this season! Expect some fighting scenes!! moe-moe Horo, a slight rape? scene and kind of a weird, but suiting end to this second season of Spice and Wolf.
The episode starts with an overview of the city, fire is spreading around the town and Abe explains that the fur traders have started to rebel. Abe also comforts the sister that even though they started rioting, they won’t go as far as attacking the people who made the unfair treaty. While walking around in the safe area, Lawrence asks Abe if the traders can’t overturn the decision made by the higher-ups. Abe immediately responds negative, the blood being spilled in order to try to turn it around is probably pointless, since a treaty will always be in power when it’s been decided up upon. Lawrence then asks her about the deal they made, Abe tells him not to worry, the deal will go on as planned.
Revenge of the Furries!
At the harbor, Abe tells Lawrence to go to the trading company to collect the money from the deal they made, in the meantime she would take care of a boat for them. She also tells them that they should regroup at the inn when everything is settled. When Abe left, Lawrence wants to leave as soon as possible. However, he gets stopped by Horo and she asks him what exactly he is hiding from her. Lawrence doesn’t wanna answer her question though. And when Horo asks him why that is, he replies that she’d stop him if he’d tell her. Horo puts up a daring face and stands her ground. Lawrence then explains that if the deal goes well, she’d congratulate him and then bid him farewell. If the trade would fail, she wouldn’t stand being sold and transform into her wolf form, leaving him and all the others to return back home. However, if he throws away the deal, he’d be able to keep travelling with her. But since she wouldn’t agree on that, he didn’t want to tell her.
Why don't you just check his pockets? I'm sure you'll find it
Horo asks him if he thinks she’d be happy with that kind of decision. He replies with a yes and gets a first face lift.
This is just the warming up
Their chances to travel together have now completely vanished according to Lawrence. Horo wants to shout something at him, but doesn’t find the words and remains silent. She takes a deep breath and then says that she’ll remember him as a cool-headed merchant. Then they head over to the trading company.
At the entrance of the company, Horo goes on the theological and philosophical tour…
He's too busy making a movie and bossing around others
The deal goes on just like planned and the doors close in between Horo and Lawrence.
After a while, we see Lawrence who runs through the city wondering why he isn’t happy although there’s such a huge profit in front of him.
Back at the inn, Abe is reaching for a bag hidden behind some boxes. Lawrence calls out for her telling he received the money they need for the trade. She puts the bag away as she comes down and meets up with Lawrence telling him they should leave now. Since she found a vessel that had th value of its goods haggled down because of the fur issue and the captain’ll help them to cross the river guards as long as they pay enough. Lawrence however asks her if they should really expect 4000 silver coins of profit in this and then sums up the other facts of the deal so far.
is that even worth questioning?
He asks her if she didn’t lose her nerve over this deal, since he could easily undergo a change of heart and attack her. She laughs it away, saying that the reverse is also possible and that human lives are a lot cheaper than just a deal. Next thing you know, she’s standing with a nice hatchet in her hands telling Lawrence she can’t have him step out of the negotiations now. She attacks Lawrence making him drop the pack of money and back away from her. She didn’t expect Lawrence to find out about her hidden plan, but since it has come this far, she will push through no matter what.
The following scene, Lawrence explains the whole scheme Abe was putting up. She pretended to trade in statues, but she was actually smuggling large amounts of rock salt. She did that by putting the salt into the shape of statues. For a while she had an agreement with the church, but the profits from it were so big that the people in town even started wondering about it. The church began to gain more power due to the smuggling and spending the money on charity for the town’s people. Then, in order to gain even bigger profits, she proposed the church to buy up all the fur before the foreign fur merchants do. However, the church joined forces with a company that had their eyes on the furs and they were ready to cut Abe out of the plan.
Abe then throws away her hatchet and says that if he knows all that, he must also understand why she proposed the deal to him. He replies…
Lawrence insurance~
After figuring that out, Abe asks him what he’ll do now. Lawrence walks over to the pack of money and tries to pick it up. Abe draws a second knife and tries to stab Lawrence, but Lawrence manages to evade and then pushes her over against the wall making her drop the weapon.
From now on it's all rated 18+
He asks if she wants money that badly, she returns the question to him. He says he wanted it, but now no longer. He reasons that she’d try to kill him and then run away, making use of the money from the deal AND the money she just picked up from the salt smuggle. When he notices she’s about to choke, he left her go. Abe coughs and tells him she must look like the sad creature her former husband was, picking the same sad path as an aristocrat. After that, she slams Lawrence away using her elbow and picks up the hatchet again pointing it at his throat.
Never let a caught prey go... they always come back for vengance
She leans down over him and tells him the reason why she really picked this sad path… then she knocks Lawrence out with a blow on his head.
When he wakes up again, a man is beside him asking him if he’s alright.
Lawrence, badass look
He notices a scroll beside him and unfolds it, then wonders what Abe’s reason was. He gets a flashback of what Abe whispered to him before knocking him down. She told him she was hoping. Lawrence gets up and walks out.
Outside it is snowing and Lawrence runs over back to the company. Horo was sitting inside and jumps up when Lawrence barges in. He gets greeted by a warm…
I love it when you insult me like that~
She puts up her tail into angry mode and asks if he cancelled the contract afterall. He replies he didn’t, but instead he lost it all. However, thanks to the paper which was the charter signed by the owner of the inn (good old grandpa) he was able to buy her back. He receives… oh well just watch the picture.
That's number 3!
She shouts to him, asking him if it wasn’t his dream to seal the deal and start up a business and wants to know what his true wish is now. Lawrence replies…
I've always known he prefered furries...
…to get back the money. When Horo is about to do it, he stops her by saying that that would be what she wants him to say. He hugs Horo and tells that Abe is going through a suicidal trade and that the church would find out about her and them. He wants to leave the city with her before the chaos ends. Horo calls him a fool once more and struggles to get away from him, he doesn’t let go of her though and tells her…
Here's your happy ending~
Lawrence leans down after saying that Abe is attaining the profit but sooner or later she’ll find out that the appeal of it will die and starts picking up the seeds that Horo dropped. He puts back the seeds while Horo is crying and asking if he’ll take responsibility. Ofcourse, Lawrence goes along with those conditions. However, Horo doesn’t want him to be a scared dog and shows him how it’s done with yet another Lawrence beat-up sequence.
HORO KIKKU!
She helps Lawrence up and he says that her kindness is quite scary and then kisses her. Soon after, Horo asks him what he’s going to do to get the profit back. Lawrence tells her he’s more concerned about her resolve than the the profit. Horo thinks he’s a fool by saying that and then blushes, saying it’d be troublesome if she fell in love with him. Both start laughing and agree on that.
Then the morning has come already…
Both are standing in front of the company’s building and watch over the city.
Hand in hand... the end~
These also got their happy ending :
Extras~
and neko bargirl~
_
Thoughts:
Well it was a strange end to this season.
The whole Abe plot was kinda disappointing for me. Not because of the outcome, but just because I kinda expected more of it. As a whole the second season isn’t as good as the first to my taste. Maybe it was the whole fall/winter theme that also played a role in this, but I didn’t really find the second season as interesting as the first.
As for character development, I can’t complain about that. The relationship between Horo and Lawrence got tested in the first arc and fully proved its worth in the second.
I could go on for a bit longer, but I won’t since I’m not good at doing a full review about a series. So wanna know more? Just watch this underrated series, I recommend it!
Kyon at your service.
Credits to Mazui for keeping me subbed~
