Oh, Iyer! Iyerpol! – Chapter 13

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

A moment of silence hung between the three of them.

No food, no water, no money, and now no carriage?

They were at a complete loss as to what to do in this disastrous situation.

Jonah felt it particularly acutely.

The luggage had been there before Foreman and Iyer left, so it must have been taken while she was briefly away from their area.

Therefore, Jonah felt a heavy responsibility for having left the luggage unattended, even for a short time.

It was Foreman who broke the chilling silence.

“If they took the carriage early this morning, there’s a chance they haven’t left the city yet. How about we search the city thoroughly?”

“Y-yes!”

Jonah vehemently agreed with Foreman’s suggestion.

As Foreman had said, the stable wouldn’t have been open for long, and unless the thief had immediately left the city, there was a high probability they were still around.

If they searched every carriage that resembled theirs, they might be able to find the culprit.

In fact… it was the only option they had left.

“It would be faster to split up and search. I’ll search counterclockwise with Miss Jonah, and Mr. Iyer, would you search clockwise? Let’s meet back at the plaza.”

Iyer stared intently at Foreman, as if he had something to say, but then he nodded.

“Alright. Let’s meet back at the plaza around noon.”

“Yes, please.”

So, the three of them split into two groups and headed in opposite directions.

Jonah, with Foreman, clutched her skirt in both hands and ran as fast as she could.

She wasn’t particularly athletic, but she pushed herself to her limits.

They searched every main road where a carriage could pass and every space where a carriage could be parked.

There were many carriages similar to their freight wagon, but none were exactly the same.

As she felt her energy draining, a thought crossed Jonah’s mind.

‘Why does this keep happening to me?’

She always put in her utmost effort, but she never saw the fruits of her labor.

It had always been like this since she joined the management team.

Whenever she came up with a good plan to make a contribution, it was blocked, and whenever she tried to improve sales by importing good foreign products, the deals fell through at the last minute.

Of course, she knew there were people who were jealous of her and working against her, but even so, her endeavors had been unsuccessful to an almost unbelievable degree.

‘…Father.’

She suddenly thought of her father, Benjamin.

Despite the blatant opposition she faced, Benjamin hadn’t intervened.

He just watched her with an indifferent gaze.

Because of this, rumors circulated within the company that Benjamin wasn’t interested in his daughter.

But Jonah knew.

That Benjamin cared about her more than anyone.

The sharp advice he gave her, the opportunities he provided for her to learn… these were proof.

However, in this situation… she couldn’t help but feel resentful towards her father for not offering any help.

‘Don’t be afraid of failure, Jonah.’

She remembered Iyer’s words from a few days ago.

Don’t be afraid of failure, and learn from your mistakes.

That’s what he had said.

The images of Iyer and Benjamin overlapped in her mind.

Two people who had said similar things.

If they had the same thoughts about her, wouldn’t Benjamin have wanted to tell her the same thing?

“Gasp… Gasp… Gasp…!”

As Jonah ran desperately, a question suddenly popped into her head.

Why had her father allowed her to lead the eastward caravan?

Her father wouldn’t just give his daughter such a blatant opportunity to gain recognition.

Benjamin was a ruthless father who would deliberately expose his daughter to pressure to make her stronger.

He wouldn’t have simply approved Jonah’s proposal without a reason.

‘Could it be that Father… knew this caravan would fail from the beginning?’

Benjamin hadn’t organized the caravan for Jonah’s eastward expansion with the hope of success… but with the knowledge that it would fail.

That hypothesis formed in her mind.

But why?

The answer was simple.

Because Benjamin wanted Jonah to gain experience through failure.

Because he wanted her to overcome the trials that came with failure.

That’s what Jonah thought.

“Excuse me! I need to check the driver’s seat!”

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

Jonah jumped onto the driver’s seat of a carriage similar to theirs and quickly scanned the number engraved on the side.

But it wasn’t the same number as their carriage.

The carriage owner roughly pushed Jonah down, but she was undeterred and started running again.

‘How did Father know my caravan would fail?’

Benjamin must have sent her off knowing it would fail.

Then, what was the basis for his prediction?

There shouldn’t have been any factors that guaranteed failure.

Did he know the caravan would be attacked?

‘…Come to think of it, how did the person who orchestrated the attack know the caravan’s plans?’

She hadn’t thought about it before.

No, too many things had happened, and she didn’t have time to think.

Only Jonah and Foreman knew the detailed itinerary of the caravan.

Because they were the ones who had planned it.

As a precaution, they had hired a large number of guards to protect the caravan.

But the attackers had outnumbered the guards.

How had they gathered such a force, predicted their route, positioned themselves, and then attacked?

Was it simply a prediction?

‘…That’s impossible.’

That they predicted their route, gathered their forces there, waited for the right moment, and then attacked?

How could that be possible?

Even her father, Benjamin, who was far more capable than them, always acted with certainty.

How could those who were inferior to Benjamin have made such an accurate prediction and executed their plan?

‘They already knew we were going to take that route.’

Foreman and Jonah had searched every main road they had been on.

Seeing Foreman, who was running ahead, turn into a narrow alley, Jonah called out to him.

“Foreman, is this the right way?!”

“Yes, Miss! We need to head towards the plaza to meet Mr. Iyer. This way leads directly to the plaza!”

Following his words, Foreman and Jonah entered the slightly dark alley.

As he had said, it was almost time to meet Iyer.

The other executives must have known all along.

About their plans.

That’s why they were able to sabotage Jonah’s caravan so easily.

Come to think of it, they had always anticipated and thwarted Jonah’s actions.

Not just with the caravan, but with other things as well.

Jonah had thought it was an experienced merchant’s intuition that allowed them to predict her actions.

But she realized that couldn’t be true.

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place.

All the obstacles she had faced weren’t due to predictions but were carefully planned.

That they had been watching her every move to formulate those plans.

And what they needed to watch her every move…

Jonah finally realized.

“Gasp… Gasp… Gasp…”

Jonah, who had been running behind Foreman, gradually slowed down and then stopped abruptly.

Seeing Jonah stop, Foreman turned around and called out.

“Miss, just a little further! We’re almost at the plaza!”

But despite Foreman’s calls, Jonah didn’t move.

She just stood there, breathing heavily.

As Foreman, wiping his sweat, started to approach her, Jonah spoke.

“Foreman.”

“Yes?”

“What time did you wake up this morning?”

“This morning?”

A puzzled expression appeared on Foreman’s face, as if asking why she would ask such a thing.

As Foreman struggled to recall, Jonah asked again.

“When I woke up this morning, both of you were already awake, right?”

“Yes…”

“Then, did you wake up before Mr. Iyer?”

“I think we woke up around the same time…”

Around the same time.

Having worked with Foreman for several years, Jonah knew he was competent.

Someone who meticulously planned his day every morning wouldn’t forget what he had done just a few hours ago.

“The Foreman I know would definitely remember.”

“I apologize. I’ve been so flustered since last night that I haven’t had time to think clearly…”

“Is that so? Flustered, you say.”

Her ragged breathing calmed down a bit.

She felt blood rushing to her head.

Even though she tried to keep her voice steady, it trembled uncontrollably.

This wasn’t because of the long run.

The reason her face was flushed.

The reason her voice was getting louder.

The reason her hands were shaking.

It wasn’t because of exhaustion.

It was because of “rage” stemming from betrayal.

“Foreman… it was you. You stole the luggage, and you hid the carriage…”

And you were the one who gave the caravan’s plans to the others, causing it to fail.

A chilling hostility, accompanied by Jonah’s subtly trembling voice, was directed at Foreman.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Miss…”

“You stole the luggage after Mr. Iyer left and while I was washing up… right?”

Last night, the adventurer next to their beds had said this:

‘Huh? No. No one but your group was near your beds.’

Of course, the adventurer wouldn’t have seen anyone else.

Because all he would have seen was Jonah going to wash up, Iyer already outside, and…

Foreman, who had returned and taken the luggage.

“You said you didn’t remember when you woke up this morning, but you were actually the first one awake. Because you had to hide the carriage.”

Foreman, who had woken up before Iyer and Jonah, put on a hood and went to the stable.

The stable owner would naturally assume it was one of the three of them.

Especially with Foreman’s voice and build.

After retrieving the carriage, Foreman hid it somewhere.

And then, he casually returned to the inn.

Not only that, but too many things made sense only if Foreman had betrayed her.

“I thought it was strange that so many guards were defeated so quickly…

“…”

“The guards weren’t actually defeated, were they? You just said that and ran away with me while I was panicking.”

Jonah, inside the carriage, had been too flustered by the loud shouts and the clashing of weapons to grasp the situation.

It was Foreman who had hurriedly led her away.

And that wasn’t all.

Wandering through the forest right before reaching Tillasden.

Deliberately eating poisonous fruit to delay their journey.

These were all within the scope of what Foreman could have done.

It was all to ensure that Jonah’s return was delayed as much as possible.

So that she would arrive after the person who orchestrated this had taken care of everything.

There was one more compelling reason why Jonah was certain Foreman was the traitor.

How did Father know my caravan would fail?

The question she had while running earlier.

The answer to that question was…

Because Benjamin knew Foreman had betrayed Jonah.

That’s why he knew Foreman would provide information about the caravan, and that the other party would use that information to sabotage it.

Knowing everything, Benjamin had sent Jonah off, knowing her caravan would fail.

“…Since when, Foreman?”

Jonah’s voice, having unravelled all the mysteries, was ice-cold.

Just like the daughter of Benjamin Button, the man who built the ‘Running Bear’ Trading Company, she maintained her composure despite her rage.

Having arrived at the truth, she realized.

That Foreman’s betrayal hadn’t started with this caravan, but much earlier.

That this man had been behind all her failures…

The look of panic had vanished from Foreman’s eyes as he stared at Jonah.

He simply looked at her calmly, his expression completely “apathetic.”

No surprise, no mockery.

Having been with Foreman for several years, Jonah had never seen him like this.

Foreman, who had been silently staring at Jonah, finally spoke.

“From the beginning.”

“From the beginning…?”

“I was a pawn of those in power even before I was assigned to you, Miss.”

He had been assigned to Jonah to keep her in check, to prevent her from doing anything reckless.

Foreman spoke as if he were talking about a complete stranger.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇