The spice must flow.
Spice and Wolf is Japanese franchise about a travelling merchant named Kraft Lawrence and his companion Holo*, a wolf spirit. Originally a series of light novels, it has been adapted as a manga and an anime series, among other things.
Characters
Spice and Wolf has two principal characters: Lawrence, and Holo. Lawrence, a travelling merchant, meets Holo one day while travelling through a village that until recently prayed to a certain wolf spirit for a good wheat harvest. Having discovered how to ensure good harvests themselves, the people of the village stopped praying to her. Lawrence happens to be carrying some wheat from this village in his wagon, along with some furs. That night, after all the wheat is harvested, Lawrence discovers a naked girl in his wagon using the furs as a blanket. Waking her up, he notices that she has the ears and tail of a wolf. She tells him she is Holo, the wise wolf spirit of the harvest. Since the villagers no longer need her, Lawrence agrees to take her to her home in the north. Over the course of the story, Lawrence and Holo become very close, despite (or because of) many arguments and misunderstandings.
Setting
Spice and Wolf takes place in a pseudo-medieval pseudo-European setting and focuses much of its attention on economics and trade. The world of Spice and Wolf contains many various kingdoms with their own currencies, the exchange rate of which are always in flux. However, the most important political entity is the Church, which seems to be Catholic (a pope and archbishops, a focus on an unnamed "Holy Mother"). As is typical for corrupt medieval churches, it is more interested in accumulation of wealth and political power than doing any actual church-ing. The Church also hunts those they believe are possessed by demons, which makes it not only a common obstacle for Lawrence's business, but also for Holo's life. For this reason, Holo often covers her ears and tail in public.
Links
http://www4.funimation.com/video/?page=show&b=288 - Watch the first season for free! Thanks, Funimation!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpiceAndWolf - Spice and Wolf on TVTropes.org
*Many people prefer the spelling "Horo". Word of God spells it "Holo", so that's the spelling I've used.