Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap & Review

Wisdom of a Wolf and Smooth Talk of a Merchant

Episode 10 of Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf begins with Lawrence asking more folks for cash. A shop owner tosses Lawrence off his property, throws a bag of cash at him, and tells him to scram. Lawrence returns to the Inn and tells Holo he needs 40 Lumione to achieve his goal. He plans to visit the gambling house to see if he can obtain that. 

While Lawrence is away, he asks Holo to hold on to the profit for him. Lawrence leaves, much to Holo and the Inn owner’s annoyance. Holo throws the cash bag at Lawrence and tells him to return to the Inn. At the Inn again, Holo asks Lawrence what he would’ve done if she fled with his money. Lawrence says he anticipated her leaving and didn’t mind her doing so. 

He argues if his mistakes with the two trading companies prevented him from fulfilling Holo’s North-centric desires, he at least wanted to give her money so she could travel there alone. Holo is frustrated with Lawrence’s response because she argues she’s the one to blame for Lawrence’s borrowing money issue. Lawrence disagrees, much to Holo’s anger. 

Holo almost tumbles out the window because she attempts to hit Lawrence with a chair. Lawrence saves her. Holo’s upset that she forced Lawrence to make her tag along. If not for her, Holo argues Lawrence would’ve been able to obtain loans from shop owners. At the same time, Lawrence feels down for swatting Holo’s hand away during the prior episode’s closing events. 

Holo asks Lawrence why he’s good-natured and Lawrence says it’s because it’s a personality trait of his. Holo doesn’t like this answer and tells Lawrence what response she expected from him. Lawrence and Holo try this same routine again. This time Lawrence says it’s because Holo’s special to him. Holo laughs and suggests they argue more in the future since problems can occasionally be resolved faster that way. 

Next, Holo whispers her debt-solving plan with Lawrence. Holo and Lawrence visit Mr. Remerio in the morning. Lawrence tells Remerio he wants to hire someone to smuggle gold for him. Remerio argues against the idea but Lawrence eases him up on it. Lawrence argues his hired gold smuggler doesn’t have a strong relationship with their employer and will adore his offer more. 

Lawrence alludes to Nora as the one he plans to convince and hire. Moreover, Lawrence came to Remerio to offer his current wealth as collateral for this proposal. Lawrence wants Remerio to postpone the debt and lend him money for gold. Holo chimes in. She lets Remerio know that several people under his company plan to leave. Holo argues it’d be in Remerio’s best interest to comply with their plan. 

After hearing Holo’s and Lawrence’s claims, Remerio folds and accepts Lawrence’s proposal. Holo and Lawrence depart Remerio’s building and discuss Remerio’s decision, and their plan to trick Nora. Although Holo wants to help Lawrence trick Nora, Lawrence tells Holo to sit this out because he wants to tackle that situation himself. 

Lawrence and Holo notice Nora exiting the Church. Lawrence asks Nora to accompany them to a table because he wants to give her a job opportunity. There, Lawrence asks Nora if she can take her sheep to Lamtra. If so, Lawrence will give her 20 Lumione. Lawrence shares more details with Nora and asks her if she plans to join this town’s association. 

Nora says she wanted to register at another town’s association. Lawrence suggests she do so because it’d be difficult to prosper in a town unfamiliar with her talent. Simultaneously, Lawrence predicts Nora has something against the Church. Lawrence argues the Church probably thinks Nora has mystical powers and is sending her to dangerous areas other shepherds wouldn’t attend because of their suspicions. 

Additionally, Lawrence tells Nora the priest may send her to a dangerous location where wolves or mercenaries would harm her. Lawrence says if Nora works with them, she’ll earn money, get into trouble with the Church, and visit a different town.

Lawrence wants to smuggle gold and hide the gold under her sheep’s bellies without being caught. He knows the gold prices in the town they’re in are bonkers. Therefore, Lawrence wants to obtain gold from Lamtra and knows Nora can lead people there without anyone suspecting her. After they complete this task, Lawrence says they’ll need to flee this town for safety reasons. Nora ponders and accepts Lawrence’s offer seconds later. Later at the Inn, Holo notices Lawrence’s confidence remains low. 

Lawrence is mildly concerned about this plan’s success, Nora’s pay, and Nora being involved in everything. Holo tells Lawrence not to feel bad about Nora’s involvement. She argues Nora’s the type of girl who’s daring enough to get into trouble. Lawrence hopes that everything will go well and they can laugh at everything once matters have been resolved. The episode ends with our pair giggling. 

The Episode Review

It seems our read of the Holo, Lawrence, and shop owner loan situation was right on the “money” based on the early snippets we received in this episode. Holo admits that the shop owners didn’t give Lawrence the time of day because of their perception of her and Lawrence. Fortunately, Holo and Lawrence reconciled in the best way they knew how through words and light fisticuffs. 

Additionally, it’s great that Holo developed a plan to overcome this debt debacle. This episode demonstrates Holo’s charm and wit, which allows Lawrence to piggyback off her remarks to convince Remerio to abide by our merchant boy’s terms. Hopefully, this Liebert fellow Remerio brings up to his lackey won’t screw things up for our adventurous duo. 

Moreover, Lawrence demonstrates in this episode that he can hold his own when negotiating deals. Fortunately, Nora already has some grievances with the Church, otherwise, Holo would likely stepped in to convince this shepherd girl to comply. Although this episode contained unnecessary fluff at select intervals, fans will adore this thought-provoking and slightly emotional chapter of Spice and Wolf: Merchants Meets The Wise Wolf.