Oh, Iyer! Iyerpol! – Chapter 12

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“You seem certain.”

“Yes.”

They knew the caravan’s strength perfectly and its route.

Moreover, during the attack, they hadn’t targeted the goods first, but the carriage Jonah was in.

This convinced Jonah.

They had attacked with a plan.

“If it had been a real bandit attack, I would have been killed or captured. But they didn’t pursue me. That’s the clear evidence. They didn’t want me dead. They just desperately wanted to prevent me from gaining experience.”

“So, the bandits ruined the caravan but didn’t kill you.”

“Exactly.”

If Jonah, the owner’s daughter, died, things would become too complicated.

But if Jonah’s caravan simply failed, it would be a different story.

The person behind this would likely ruin Jonah’s caravan and then return the goods she was transporting.

This way, they aimed to damage Jonah’s reputation and boost the standing of other executives.

Benjamin was the owner and representative of the trading company, but if things went wrong, he couldn’t offer Jonah unconditional support, especially considering the other executives also had stakes in the company.

“They’ll investigate who was behind the attack. But they won’t find anything. There must have been people within the caravan who were bribed.”

Jonah was filled with regret.

It was good that she had acted boldly to gain recognition and achieve something, but she should have been more cautious and examined everything more carefully.

She should have realized that the other executives, who were wary of her, wouldn’t just stand by and watch her lead the caravan…

Jonah was a smart girl, but she was also too young.

This happened because she hadn’t yet tasted the bitterness of the world.

“Even if I reach Las Pallas and return to the company safely… an inquiry about my failure to lead the caravan awaits me.”

Jonah gave a bitter smile.

Guilt, responsibility, and frustration were all mixed in that smile.

It wasn’t a smile a girl her age should wear.

Across the flickering campfire, Jonah stared at the man with the black cloth covering his eyes and wiped the corner of her eye with her finger.

She thought she had revealed too much about her personal circumstances without realizing it.

“Miss Jonah, you’re very mature.”

“Am I?”

“And also very young.”

“…What?”

She had often been told she was mature.

The people around her always complimented her that way.

‘Mature for your age.’

So, Jonah had grown up believing that about herself.

The reason Jonah was surprised wasn’t because Iyer was belittling her.

It was because her most cherished person had said the exact same thing.

“Entering a management position at such a young age, taking on the responsibility of a caravan because of your father’s expectations… aren’t these remarkable achievements for someone your age?”

“That’s… true, but the people I’m dealing with have achieved much more than me.”

“That’s right. And Miss Jonah, you’re facing their opposition. But you see, opposition is something you direct at someone who is on a similar level or above you.”

Did those people have the same expectations placed on them at your age?

Jonah was speechless at Iyer’s question.

Jonah had always considered her age a disadvantage.

That her words lacked credibility because she was young.

That things would have been different if she were older.

She had always thought that way.

But the thought that such prejudice might be wrong… suddenly crossed her mind.

“Miss Jonah, you’re probably much more capable than you think. Most people at your age wouldn’t even consider shouldering such a burden, and even if they did, they would crumble under the pressure.”

“…”

“But Miss Jonah, as a member of the management team, you’re seeking a way forward and feeling a sense of responsibility. Well, I can’t help but admire that. At your age, all I thought about was what I was going to have for dinner.”

“Don’t be afraid of failure, Jonah.”

Iyer said.

“If you take a step back from where you are now… the worries you’re carrying, the failures you’re anticipating, they’re all insignificant.”

“…”

“There are many bigger failures awaiting you in life. This isn’t a curse. It’s just how it is for everyone. The worries you have in your teens are smaller than those in your twenties, and those in your twenties are smaller than those in your thirties, and so on.”

“…”

“The important thing is that the worries you’re carrying now might not be as big a deal as you think.”

Every word Iyer spoke resonated with her.

Jonah had grown up with high expectations.

Especially because she was bright.

The more expectations placed on her, the greater the pressure she felt.

She was afraid of how people would react if she made a mistake.

Jonah had lived under this pressure since she was very young.

That’s why Iyer was the first person to say these things to her.

“Then… what should I do?”

“Let it go. Let it go from your heart. Instead, use this failure as nourishment. You’re not the same person you were before you started this caravan. You’ve grown so much in just half a month.”

“But I can’t avoid the responsibility for the caravan.”

“Will they take your life for the caravan’s failure? It was attacked. It’s not your fault.”

“…”

Jonah stared intently at Iyer.

The more she listened, the more she felt he was right.

There was only one other person in her life who could speak so lightly yet convincingly.

Jonah’s father, Benjamin Button.

‘You’re still very young, Jonah.’

He was the only other person, besides Iyer, who had told Jonah she was young.

“Miss Jonah, you’re young. You have countless opportunities to recover from this failure. So don’t be afraid to fail.”

With that, Iyer fell silent.

She knew he wasn’t just saying empty words.

It was advice from someone who had lived longer and experienced more than her.

Jonah could feel the sincerity in his advice.

Staring at the sandwich in her hand, Jonah opened her mouth and took a large bite.

The mashed potato and shredded meat were chewy in her mouth.

“…This is delicious.”

A faint smile, tinged with a hint of tears, graced Jonah’s lips.

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The carriage carrying Iyer, Jonah, and Foreman continued its journey to Las Pallas.

It would have taken five days on horseback, but the journey by carriage was expected to take about a week.

However, only two days remained.

Arriving at the city just before Las Pallas, they checked into an inn.

An incident happened that night.

“It’s gone…!”

Jonah’s eyes widened in disbelief as she searched beside her bed.

The luggage she had placed next to her bed was gone.

She checked beside the bed, underneath it, and even searched Iyer and Foreman’s beds, but there was no sign of their belongings.

She quickly looked around, but they were in a shared room.

It was packed with merchants and adventurers, men and women, young and old.

Jonah spoke to the adventurer closest to her.

“Excuse me, did anyone else come by our area?”

“Huh? No. No one but your group was near your beds.”

“T-that’s impossible…”

Jonah’s bed was in the furthest corner.

It would have been impossible for someone to take their luggage without being noticed.

“What do I do? What do I do…?”

The bag contained the money Iyer had given them.

Not only that, but it also held their food and water for the remaining two days.

If their luggage was gone, they couldn’t continue their journey.

Jonah placed a hand on her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.

‘The worries you’re carrying now might not be as big a deal as you think.’

Recalling his advice, she calmly retraced the events of the evening.

When she returned to the inn, her luggage had been there.

As she came in, Iyer and Foreman had gone out for dinner, and Jonah had briefly gone to wet a towel to wipe her face before returning to her bed.

She hadn’t checked her luggage then.

So, the bag must have disappeared after Iyer and Foreman left and while she was wetting the towel.

‘Calm down. Maybe Foreman and Mr. Iyer took it with them.’

Thinking this, Jonah decided to wait for Iyer and Foreman instead of acting rashly.

After a while, Iyer and Foreman returned from dinner.

But contrary to Jonah’s hopes, they weren’t carrying the bag.

Jonah had no choice but to tell them what had happened.

“The luggage is gone…!”

Foreman’s face paled.

He knew what the missing luggage meant.

“This is just one problem after another. We managed to survive the attack, and now our luggage has been stolen…”

“Hmm…”

“What do we do? The bag had our money, food, everything.”

An anxious Foreman asked Iyer, who was deep in thought, stroking his chin.

Iyer then asked Foreman,

“Mr. Foreman, where did you keep the carriage claim ticket?”

The carriage claim ticket.

A kind of receipt they had received after leaving their horse and carriage at the stable.

It was proof that they were the owners of the carriage, and they needed it to retrieve the carriage the next day.

“That’s…”

Oh!

Foreman’s already pale face turned even whiter.

That’s right.

The claim ticket was also in the stolen bag.

Seeing Foreman’s reaction, Jonah’s face also drained of color.

They could find alternative ways to get food and water.

If they didn’t have money for lodging, they could camp or sleep outside, as they had done several times on their journey.

But without the carriage, they couldn’t go to Las Pallas.

And they needed the claim ticket to retrieve the carriage.

“What do we do…?!”

“…Calm down. We left it there this evening, so the owner should recognize us. Even if we lost the claim ticket, there’s a chance he’ll return the carriage. However…”

However.

Iyer’s trailing words and silence were filled with an undeniable sense of unease.

Jonah could only hope that his unease was misplaced.

Clutching her tight chest filled with anxiety, Jonah stayed up all night.

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The next morning.

They couldn’t buy breakfast even if they wanted to because they had no money.

But breakfast wasn’t on their minds.

The three of them went straight to the stable.

The stable owner tilted his head, seeing the three of them arrive so early in the morning with such serious expressions.

“What’s the matter?”

“Excuse me, we’re here to check on our carriage.”

“Your carriage? Let’s see, if I remember correctly…”

The owner scratched his head and walked towards the area where their horse and carriage were supposed to be parked.

Jonah, Foreman, and Iyer followed him…

There was nothing where their carriage should have been.

No horse, no carriage.

“Ah, as I thought. Someone came early this morning with the claim ticket and took it.”

“…Do you remember who it was?”

“They were wearing a hood, so I didn’t see their face.

I assumed it was one of you and handed it over…”

By now, the owner seemed to have a rough idea of what had happened.

“Seems like you’ve had some bad luck… I’m sorry about this.”

Unfortunately, the owner had simply done his job.

The carriage’s owner had come with the claim ticket, and he had returned the carriage. That’s all he had done.

But Jonah couldn’t say anything.

The fact that the carriage was gone weighed more heavily on her than the loss of their luggage.

“How… how are we going to get there now…?”

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