Spice and Wolf, Vol. 1

This is the first volume of the Spice & Wolf light novels.

Official Synopsis
The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one, a fact with which Kraft Lawrence is well acquainted. Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine - that is, until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has wearied of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of "Holo the Wisewolf" to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame?

Plot
Lawrence meets Holo in the village of Pasloe. Holo feels that the people of Pasloe have rejected her and convinces Lawrence to take her back to Yoitsu, her home in the north. As they begin their travels together, Lawrence hears of a potentially profitable currency speculation deal, but soon Lawrence and Holo get in well over their heads, and Lawrence has to decide if profit is worth sacrificing his newfound companion.