"Centuries ago, the great wolf Holo journeyed south from her northern birthplace and became the goddess of the wheat harvest after striking a bargain with a young man in the village of Pasloe. For ages she insured rich harvests in most years and traditions built up around her, but as time passed and a new local noble developed more advanced farming techniques, lonely Holo came to feel that her commitment was no longer needed. Taking human form as a teenage girl with wolf ears and tail, she hooks up with Lawrence, a traveling merchant who regularly does business in Pasloe, and convinces him to allow her to accompany him on a journey as much about companionship for both as it is about providing a convenient means for her to return north. Along the way she helps the enterprising Lawrence as he gets involved first in a complex (and ultimately dangerous) scheme involving currency devaluation and later when, after getting caught by surprise by price fluctuations, he must struggle to find a way to save his career, an effort which brings him into association with the shepherdess Nora – the one type of person Holo hates more than any other. When a spice-transporting merchant and a wolf come together, things are never dull."