Spice and Wolf, Vol. 1

Spice and Wolf, Vol. 1 is the first volume of the Spice & Wolf light novels. It was written by Isuna Hasekura with illustrations by Jū Ayakura. It was originally released on February 10, 2006.

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?"

Prologue
To many, the way wheat sways in the wind makes it look as though a wolf is running through it. This has spawned other sayings regarding the "wolf's" role in the wheat's growth. An unnamed being muses over them, finding them pretty but flawed. She has come to notice that not many people regard these sayings with same level of wonder as they once did.

Over the past few centuries, many things have changed: the human lifespan has increased and those that once remembered the ancient contract are long gone. She feels as though the village she has spent so much time overseeing is no longer in need of her. Staring at some distant mountains, she wistfully thinks of her homeland as she sets to grooming her tail.

Characters

 * Kraft Lawrence
 * Holo
 * Zheren

Trivia

 * The original Japanese cover included the tagline "Merchant meats spicy wolf."