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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Carriages were essential transportation in this era.
They allowed me to be able to travel long-distance without having to personally drive a horse, and they could carry a lot of luggage.
The downsides were that they were slower than riding horseback, and that I had to constantly face the person which sat across from me.
It had already been several days since we left Tillasden.
Foreman had been driving the carriage the entire time.
I rested, using my blindness as an excuse, and this young lady didn’t know how to drive, so Foreman was the only option left.
So, Foreman was doing all the work… but the problem was that it meant I had to sit face-to-face with this young lady every hour.
This was extremely awkward.
“I wonder how far we’ve come…”
I heard Jonah softly murmur to herself.
It was a whisper barely audible over the rattling of the carriage, and it didn’t seem like she expected a reply, but I found myself responding involuntarily, steeped in the awkward silence.
“We’re about halfway there.”
“…Can you see that?”
Oops.
Normally, I would have pretended not to know, but the awkwardness got the better of me.
How could a blind person see how far we’ve traveled?
Of course not.
But I couldn’t take back what I’d already said.
In these situations, acting as if it were natural was the best course of action.
“I’ve gotten used to gauging distance by feel.”
Good heavens.
Gauging distance by feel?
What even was that?
Even I was embarrassed by my own answer, but Jonah, on the contrary, seemed impressed and nodded.
“This might be rude to say, but Mr. Iyer, you act like an ordinary person despite not being able to see.”
“It’s not rude at all. I’ve just gotten used to it.”
“Then, may I ask something else I’m curious about?”
“Go ahead.”
“Was your blindness a congenital issue?”
“Miss,” I heard Foreman’s admonishing voice.
But it wasn’t a problem.
These were questions I’d heard countless times during my adventurer days.
I’d even been subjected to far ruder questions from other adventurers.
Jonah was polite in comparison.
Besides, I wasn’t actually blind.
“No. When I was young, I had ordinary eyes like everyone else.”
“I see…”
“I lost my sight due to an incident in the past.”
As I said this, I reached up to the black cloth covering my eyes.
Untying the small knot at the back of my head, I let the cloth fall away.
I heard Jonah gasp softly.
Was she surprised to see my eyes?
It was understandable.
Several thick scars crisscrossed the skin above my eyelids.
To Jonah, I probably looked like a victim of some brutal incident.
She seemed speechless, just staring at the area around my eyes without saying anything.
I felt a pang of guilt, thinking I might have startled her too much.
As I covered my eyes with the cloth again, Jonah, who had been staring at me, spoke in a subdued voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“Humans get used to their circumstances. Just as Miss Jonah has gotten used to riding in the carriage’s cargo bed, I’ve gotten used to walking without seeing.”
“I think what you do is much more remarkable…”
“Not at all.”
As I said this, I quickly retrieved the bow from my back.
In one swift motion, I climbed onto the carriage roof, balanced myself, and drew an arrow from the quiver.
I pulled the string taut with considerable force and released.
With a thwack, the arrow disappeared from sight.
A moment later, a scream echoed from where the arrow had flown.
Seeing the arrow embedded in the goblin’s head, I fired two more arrows, taking down the remaining two goblins nearby.
With this, all the goblins that had detected my presence were eliminated.
Jonah, witnessing the three goblins fall dead in an instant, poked her head out of the cargo bed and exclaimed in admiration.
“Amazing!”
It wasn’t anything to praise me for.
To those who didn’t know, it would seem like an incredible feat, but the secret to this trick was the bow itself.
This bow was the only magically enchanted weapon I possessed.
It was permanently enchanted with a “guidance” spell.
So, all I had to do was aim roughly in the direction of a presence, and the bow would guide the arrow to its target, ensuring a hit.
It was the most expensive item I owned for a reason.
But I didn’t bother explaining any of that.
I just coolly climbed back down into the cargo bed.
“Mr. Foreman, we should find a place to camp before it gets too late.”
“Understood!”
But something felt strange.
The road from Tillasden to Las Pallas was well-traveled, so it was well-maintained, and encounters with wild animals or monsters were rare.
Yet, we had already encountered three goblins.
“…Just bad luck, I guess?”
Dismissing the nagging feeling, I shook my head.
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Crackle, crackle.
The sound of the campfire consuming firewood echoed through the silent forest.
Sitting around it, watching the flickering flames, the events of the past few days felt like a dream.
Starting the trade caravan, being attacked, getting lost, and then being rescued and brought here.
It was a far cry from Jonah Button’s life, who was raised like a flower in a greenhouse.
Riding in the cargo bed of a carriage, going without food… these were experiences she would never have imagined.
Across from her, Iyer, who had also been gazing at the campfire, stood up.
Kneeling in front of the fire, he stirred the embers with a branch and pulled out a few potatoes.
Seeing the potatoes roasted in the embers made my mouth water.
Perhaps my past self wouldn’t have believed it.
That simple roasted potatoes could look so delicious.
“They’re hot. Be careful.”
Iyer sprinkled some coarsely ground salt into a small dish and handed me a potato.
Jonah carefully accepted it and blew on the skin, cooling it down.
The steaming, golden flesh of the potato looked more appetizing than anything.
After seasoning it with salt, Jonah took a bite and chewed thoughtfully.
Glancing up, she watched Iyer handing a potato to Foreman.
He couldn’t see, yet he moved without hesitation, as if he knew exactly where everything was.
And it wasn’t just moving around.
Despite being blind, he used a sword and even a bow.
Shooting a goblin hiding at the edge of the forest with a bow was unbelievable, even if I had seen it with my own eyes.
If it hadn’t been Iyer, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Because it was Iyer, I could believe that his incredible feat wasn’t some kind of trick.
He simply said he was “used to it,” but there must have been tremendous effort behind it.
‘I’m ashamed of myself for complaining about how hard I’ve worked.’
Born the daughter of a trading company owner, she had diligently pursued higher education to follow in her father’s footsteps.
From a young age, when she should have been carefree, she learned not only the skills required to be a merchant but also the etiquette necessary to deal with nobles and the basic cultural refinements expected of her.
Thanks to her efforts, Jonah had secured a junior position in the trading company’s management at the very young age of fifteen.
They say that for every good thing, there was always something bad that follows.
The existing management didn’t welcome Jonah’s arrival. Perhaps being the owner’s daughter was a disadvantage. Despite being in a junior position, she was treated like a mere ornament.
The owner’s daughter, given a position simply because of her family connections. Nothing more, nothing less.
She remembered the cold stares the other executives had given her.
“…Sob.”
Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of sadness, she buried her face in her knees.
Foreman, sitting beside her, called out worriedly, “Miss,” but Jonah’s body just trembled slightly.
All Iyer and Foreman could do was give her time. Jonah’s soft sobs echoed through the forest, mingling with the crackling of the fire.
It was a while before Jonah lifted her head again.
Her sobs had subsided into sniffles.
She took off her glasses with a trembling hand and gave a weak laugh.
“My glasses are dirty. And they’re broken, so I can’t even clean them…”
“I’ll clean them for you, Miss.”
Foreman carefully took her glasses and started wiping them with a handkerchief.
The lenses were cracked, and it seemed like they might shatter at any moment, but his touch was gentle enough to clean only the smudges.
Iyer rummaged through his bag and pulled out something long, which he soaked in water.
After softening it in the water, he briefly warmed it over the fire and then took out another potato.
Bread, a small piece of roasted meat, and the freshly roasted potato, which he mashed with his hands.
Iyer placed the mashed potato and shredded meat between the slices of bread and handed it to Jonah.
“Here.”
As she carefully accepted the makeshift sandwich, he said:
“In my experience, eating something delicious is the best way to deal with loneliness.”
“…”
“While the campfire is burning, it’s okay to be sentimental. So don’t be embarrassed.”
After staring at the sandwich in her hand for a moment, Jonah took a bite.
It was a simple sandwich, just hard bread, plain mashed potato, and tough meat, but… strangely, it tasted better than any food she’d had recently.
Even though it was dry and she had to drink water with every bite, she chewed thoughtfully.
Staring at the bite marks she’d made, Jonah spoke.
“I held a management position at the ‘Running Bear’ Trading Company. But I wasn’t very welcome because I lacked practical experience and was too young.”
A naive, only daughter brought in through family connections.
That was Jonah’s position.
“At first, I didn’t understand my father’s intentions. I knew I was too young… I thought I wouldn’t be able to properly fulfill my duties even if I was given a high position.”
But Jonah tried.
Thinking that it was her father’s expectation of her, she desperately tried to fit in.
But without invoking her father’s name, she had little power.
Frustrated, she concluded that what she lacked was practical experience.
That she wasn’t being recognized because she lacked experience.
“Actually, the reason the trade expedition to expand eastward was organized was because of my suggestion to my father. I personally desired the company’s eastward expansion, and I wanted to achieve it myself.”
“And then you were attacked?”
“Yes…”
Jonah nodded with a wry smile.
The large trade caravan, with its substantial investment in goods and personnel, had been shattered by a single attack.
She didn’t know how many survivors there were, nor their whereabouts.
Her grand ambitions had met a dismal end.
Even if she reached Las Pallas and contacted the company, she knew how she would be treated.
“…I’ve come to understand my father’s intentions, the intentions I didn’t understand at first, for placing me in a management position.”
“What were his intentions?”
“My father deliberately put me in a pressured situation. He created a scenario where it seemed like I, his favored daughter, was taking a position based on his influence.”
Benjamin Button was a clever man.
The founder of the ‘Running Bear’ Trading Company, he was a remarkable figure who had built a thriving business from a small, insignificant shop.
Knowing her father well, she didn’t think he hadn’t anticipated this situation.
Jonah realized, while enduring the pressure from the other executives, that this was all part of her father’s plan.
To prepare her to succeed him after his retirement, he had subjected her to this pressure so she could grow strong enough to overcome it.
Benjamin was a lion who would push his cub off a cliff.
That’s why he hadn’t intervened, even while watching Jonah struggle under the pressure.
Thinking of her father, Jonah spoke heavily.
“…The attack on my caravan was probably orchestrated by one of the executives of the ‘Running Bear’ Trading Company.”
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