Wolf and Business Talent

Wolf and Business Talent is the third episode of the first season of Spice and Wolf.

Official Synopsis
"Holo's wily charm helps Lawrence get a great price in a fur trade, and the money exchanging scheme might be too good to be true."

Plot
Lawrence and Holo arrive in Pazzio and prepare to sell their cargo of marten pelts before meeting with Zheren. Passing through a street lined with shops, Holo convinces Lawrence to let her buy apples. Lawrence reluctantly lends her money and is annoyed when she promptly uses it all on a large quantity of apples. Holo, however, is confident that she can easily repay him.

At the Milone Trading Company, Lawrence negotiates an acceptable price for his furs. Holo smoothly interjects and uses her charm and the pleasant scent left on the furs by the apples to get a much higher selling price. Lawrence is suitably chagrined, though his mood improves after Holo assures him that she learned her trick by watching another merchant in the past. He shares with Holo that his inquiries with the Milone Company did not yield any news of a silver currency pending reissuance.

That night, they meet Zheren for drinks. The junior merchant admits that he cannot guarantee his information to be completely accurate. Lawrence considers this a sign of trustworthiness, so he agrees to a partnership. After Zheren leaves, Lawrence teaches Holo about the many coins in circulation until she falls asleep.

The following day, Lawrence and Zheren notarize their deal to speculate on the value of trenni silver, a popular currency. To gather more information, Lawrence takes Holo to visit Weiz, a money exchanger. Weiz is happy to flirt with Holo but denies both any noticeable change to the trenni currency he handles and any news of an imminent change.

On the way back to the inn, Holo reveals that she discerned a decrease in the purity of recently issued trenni silver coins, contrary to Zheren’s claims. Pondering this information, Lawrence realizes that Zheren may not be acting alone and tells Holo that he has a counterplan in mind.

Differences from the Light Novel and Manga

 * The scene of Lawrence teaching Holo about various coins occurs much earlier in their journey, in part to provide helpful exposition for the audience.