Wolf and Her Helpless Partner

Wolf and Her Helpless Partner is the fourth episode of the first season of the Spice and Wolf anime.

Official Synopsis
"Following an ambush by business competitors, Lawrence receives a letter which holds disturbing information regarding Holo's plight."

Plot
Lawrence enlists the help of the Milone Trading Company to investigate Zheren. The company finds that Zheren is spreading misinformation on behalf of the Medio Trading Company, which is plotting to collect devaluing trenni silver and gain lucrative economic concessions from the Kingdom of Trenni. For a scheme of such scale to be possible, Milone also suspects a member of the nobility to be backing Medio, but the noble's identity remains unknown.

To Lawrence's joy, Marlheit, Milone's branch manager in Pazzio, agrees to work with him to preempt Medio's plan and take the profits for their own. Holo is happy for Lawrence but saddened that they may soon part ways. That night she admits her fear of loneliness, and the two share a tender moment when she cries in his arms.

However, soon afterwards masked men from Medio try to ambush them in their room. They flee for the Milone Company's offices, but Holo is captured while acting as a diversion for Lawrence to escape to safety. After finding refuge with his Milone associates, Lawrence requests help from Marlheit, who is sympathetic but informs him that Milone has no contractual obligation or financial incentive to further assist him, especially as it can defeat Medio's plan on its own.

Lawrence is upset, but Marlheit urges calm, noting that Medio may have another reason to pursue him. To compound Lawrence’s problems, a cryptic letter arrives from Medio informing him that it knows that Holo is a wolf and is prepared to hand her over to the Church. Realizing that Holo's true nature has been exposed, Lawrence divulges this to Marlheit as well. Meanwhile, Holo is facing off against her captors when she sees a familiar face among them.