Gran Salgado

Gran Salgado is a minor character who is a customer of the Spice and Wolf.

Life
A Church inquisitor, Salgado traveled widely in order to investigate heresy. He had previously visited Nyohhira before the Spice and Wolf opened there.

Role in Spice and Wolf
Responding to rumors of magic and heresy in Nyohhira, the papal office sent Salgado as part of an inquisitorial detachment. Salgado and his colleagues posed as bathhouse guests to surreptitiously monitor the village. Assigned to the Spice and Wolf, Salgado investigated its unusual success and over time became acquainted with the happy family that owned and operated it. He also witnessed its owner, Kraft Lawrence, being burdened with an excess of cheap oat flour after an unscrupulous miller diluted the village’s wheat flour purchase.

After two months, Salgado had not found anything overtly suspicious. Moreover, he had come to favorably regard his hosts, going so far as to consider Lawrence “an honest man,” Holo and Myuri “the very embodiment of innocence,” and Tote Col “a wonderful human being.” Determined to return in the future, hopefully as a proper customer, the inquisitor left with his team.

Days later, while lost in rainy woods and with dwindling supplies, Salgado and his colleagues roasted the oat bread that Holo and Myuri had made for them and were pleasantly surprised to find hidden advertisements for their bathhouse on the bread.

Appearance
Salgado is an older man. When traveling, he dresses simply and can be mistaken for a hermit or a beggar. For his trip to Nyohhira, he wore long frayed robes, a necklace of garlic, and a tall walking stick. He also acquired a beard and an impressive coating of dirt from his time on the road. While a bathhouse guest, he wore a borrowed linen outfit with a wool coat.

Personality
A working man of faith, Salgado is ascetic and pragmatic, though he confesses to being indolent about his physical appearance and hygiene. Self-described as “naturally restless,” he is also easygoing, offering to run an errand for Lawrence despite being the latter’s guest. Despite being an inquisitor, Salgado practices a relatively moderate interpretation of the scriptures, even giving Lawrence tacit approval to mix a bit of cheap oat flour into expensive wheat flour in order to avoid wasting the former. He also does not actively seek to expose or reprimand the corrupt behavior of Church officials vacationing in Nyohhira.