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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Jonah demurely lifted her leg and placed it on the man’s knee.
As she slightly pulled up her long skirt, the scratches on her leg were revealed.
Without a word, the man took a cloth from one of his bags and wrapped it around each of her wounds.
“It would be best to apply medicine when you get to the city.”
“Will there be scars?”
“Wounds like these will heal quickly.”
After bandaging her wounds with practiced ease, the man gently lowered her skirt.
Then, he went over to Foreman and checked his condition.
About two hours had passed since Jonah and the man first encountered each other.
The man took his time sharing his food and water with Jonah and Foreman.
As they slowly consumed what he offered, a sense of fullness returned, and they regained enough strength to support themselves.
‘Who is this person?’
Now that her hunger and thirst were quenched, her vision seemed to clear.
Jonah had many questions she wanted to ask, like where they were and what he did for a living, but… she was overwhelmed by his unusual appearance and remained silent.
Was his face covered because he couldn’t see?
“I gave him some ground medicinal herbs. It’s a painkiller, so it should have some effect. When he regains consciousness, give him food and water. Slowly, like I did.”
“Th-thank you.”
The man, after checking Foreman’s condition, stood up.
Jonah flinched and bowed her head slightly.
If she had lost consciousness here, they could have been attacked by wild animals.
In that sense, he was their savior.
But she had nothing to offer him as thanks.
She had barely escaped with her life.
“I have someone waiting, so I’ll be going.”
“Yes?”
“If you walk in this direction, you’ll see the main road soon. Follow the road, and you’ll arrive at Tillasden in Kalak.”
Well then, I’ll be going.
Leaving Jonah, who was flustered by his departure, the man turned his back without hesitation.
Jonah watched helplessly as he gathered his bag and basket.
She had finally encountered another person, and he was leaving just like that?
Jonah, clenching and unclenching her hands, quickly grabbed the hem of his robe.
“Excuse me…!”
He turned around.
They say a person’s emotions are most clearly revealed in their eyes.
Having walked the path of a merchant since childhood, Jonah was skilled at reading people’s expressions.
But this man’s eyes were covered by a black cloth.
Unable to discern what he was thinking, she lowered her head and mumbled apologetically.
“I-I’m sorry… But it’s been so long since I’ve seen another person…”
“…”
“…”
Unable to bear the heavy silence, Jonah turned her head.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, she saw Foreman lying there.
“It’s, it’s getting dark… and I don’t know when Foreman will wake up… I’ll compensate you, so could you please help us a little longer…?”
“…”
The silent pressure was unbearable.
Knowing that she was being shameless, Jonah finally hung her head.
The man, after staring at Jonah for a long while, looked up at the sky, then down at Foreman, who was still unconscious.
“Can you walk?”
“…! Yes, yes!”
Jonah’s face brightened at his near-agreement.
The man handed her his bag and basket, then bent down and hoisted Foreman onto his back.
Foreman’s limp body was easily carried on his back.
Without a word, the man, carrying Foreman, started walking back in the direction from which he had appeared.
Jonah, despite her limp, stood up and hurriedly followed him.
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The man, carrying Foreman, stopped in front of a gravestone in the middle of the forest.
An elderly woman was sitting on the gravestone’s base.
The grandmother looked back and forth between the man, Jonah, and Foreman on his back, then asked,
“What happened…?”
“I happened to come across them. Shall we go?”
“Heh heh, in the middle of the forest… Strange things happen…”
Nodding, the grandmother stood up from the base of the gravestone and waved slightly at it.
“I’ll be back, dear.”
With those words, the grandmother turned and started walking.
The man quietly followed behind her.
The gravestone of the grandmother’s husband.
The grandmother and the man who visited the grave.
And his attire.
Seeing this, Jonah finally pieced together who the man might be.
‘He’s a young herbalist taking care of his elderly mother.’
A young herbalist who made a living gathering herbs.
She could imagine him living with his elderly mother after losing his father.
The young man waking up early and heading into the forest with his mother.
Unable to leave his aging mother alone, he escorted her to his father’s grave and gathered herbs nearby.
As the sun set, he would return home with his mother, who spent time with her deceased husband at his grave.
As Jonah imagined this, she noticed the cloth covering his eyes.
That’s right.
He was blind.
‘…He’s a diligent man.’
Blind, yet working as a herbalist and taking care of his mother.
It was by no means an easy task.
An ordinary person would have given up long ago.
Jonah could sense, to some extent, how difficult his life must be.
Realizing this, his back seemed to grow even larger in her eyes.
As they walked towards Tillasden, the elderly mother and the young man chatted.
About how delicious the packed food was, how good it was to see her husband, and so on.
Their peaceful conversation revealed the affection between the two family members.
With the mother and son’s conversation as background music, they walked along the road at dusk… and before they knew it, they arrived at the gates of Tillasden.
“Oh, Iyer. Did you escort the elderly lady again today?”
The soldier guarding the gate greeted him. The soldier’s gaze shifted to Jonah and Foreman behind him.
He gave the man a questioning look, as if asking, “Who are these two?” The man pointed his chin towards the forest and replied,
“They were lost in the forest.”
“In the Tillasden Forest? Hmm…”
It was a clearly suspicious look.
Normally, Jonah would have held her head high, but now, penniless, she had nothing to prove her identity.
How could she prove who she was?
As Jonah worried, the man thankfully came to her rescue.
“Considering they were unconscious, it seems they were truly lost.”
“…That makes sense. Iyer, if you say so, it must be true.”
It seemed the young man was quite trusted.
The soldier stepped aside to let the three pass, and the man bowed his head slightly in thanks before entering the city.
‘So this is Tillasden…’
Tillasden, considered one of the major cities of Kalak, was indeed as magnificent as its reputation.
Despite the darkening evening, the streets were brightly lit as if it were daytime, and citizens, who would normally be returning home to rest at this hour, were strolling through the brightly lit streets.
The sight of beastmen with thick fur carrying barrels of alcohol, inns soliciting adventurers with clowns, and minstrels gathered in the middle of the street playing instruments and attracting crowds were not common sights in other cities.
It was a city she was supposed to visit, but she never dreamed she would arrive like this.
She felt tears welling up at the fact that she had arrived alive, but she held them back.
“What will you do now?”
Jonah, letting out a small breath of tension at the man’s question, looked directly at him.
“Thank you so much for helping us this far. If it weren’t for your help, my subordinate and I would surely have met our end in that forest.”
“It’s alright. I didn’t do much.”
“No. You are truly our savior.”
Jonah clasped her hands together and bowed deeply.
“My name is Jonah Button. I’m currently without any possessions due to unfortunate circumstances, but I will return to Tillasden someday and repay the kindness you’ve shown me today.”
Jonah bowed once more.
It was rare for her, a member and the daughter of the owner of the ‘Running Bear’ Trading Company, to bow so deeply.
It showed how deeply grateful she was to him.
The man nodded and handed her Foreman, whom he had been carrying.
Jonah took Foreman and supported him with difficulty.
Seeing this, the young man turned and left with his elderly mother.
In her current disheveled state, even her words about being the daughter of a trading company owner and repaying her debt lacked sincerity.
Therefore, Jonah promised herself that she would return to Tillasden after everything was settled and find him.
To express her sincere gratitude to the young herbalist who had saved her.
A merchant should collect debts owed to them twice over and repay kindness shown to them twice over.
Jonah, recalling those words, watched his retreating figure.
‘His name was Iyer, right?’
The blind herbalist and the daughter of a trading company owner.
Jonah realized anew that such fateful encounters could occur between two people who would normally never cross paths.
The young herbalist, Iyer, who took care of his elderly mother.
Jonah, etching his name into her memory, supported Foreman and started walking in the opposite direction from which Iyer had left.
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Morning arrived.
…Or rather, a little past that, early lunch.
“Haaam.”
Yawning widely, I walked through the market street, recalling yesterday’s events.
‘It was a strange day.’
While escorting the grandmother to the forest and gathering the requested items, I found two people who were lost.
I provided them with first aid and brought them back to the city, but the problem was that I ended up being late delivering the requested items because of it.
Fortunately, they were familiar faces, so they understood…
Still, I felt a sense of accomplishment for having done a good deed.
They even earnestly promised to repay my kindness when we parted ways last night.
I didn’t know if they would actually repay me, but even if it was just words, it felt good to be thanked for helping someone.
“But Jonah Button… Why does that name sound familiar?”
Jonah Button.
Jonah Button…
I felt like I had heard it before, but I wasn’t sure.
It definitely felt like a name I had stored in my memory, but I couldn’t quite recall where I had heard it.
It was a common name, so I might have known someone with the same name.
The vague feeling of almost remembering made me feel a bit uneasy.
“Come to think of it, she had a ladylike air about her, like the daughter of a wealthy family…”
She was definitely a young woman who had received a good upbringing.
Her appearance was neat and tidy.
Did the man I carried say he was her subordinate?
But why were such people lost in the forest?
Clink!
My question remained unanswered.
Having saved up some money, I visited the bank to deposit it.
I waited my turn and was soon called to the counter.
I placed the heavy pouch, filled with various side income, on the counter, and the bank teller checked it before taking it to the vault.
As I looked at my updated bank book, I smiled with satisfaction.
Thanks to the money I earned from monster subjugation over the past few years and the regular income I started receiving last year, my account was well-padded.
Just as I was about to stand up, feeling proud of myself for saving so diligently, I heard someone protesting loudly.
“Why, why can’t you do it?!”
“Because with this level of verification…”
“What’s the problem?!”
Oh dear, a troublesome customer?
Customer service jobs were always tough.
I tilted my head slightly to watch the commotion, and… I saw a familiar face.
“If Foreman’s identity has been verified, shouldn’t there be no problem?!”
“As I said, issuing a promissory note based on the identity of a mere trading company employee is impossible…”
“He’s not a mere employee! I’m Jonah Button! You can contact our trading company to confirm!”
“Even if you say so, the Running Bear Trading Company isn’t established in Tillasden…”
The bank teller looked troubled.
It was because of the customer, but not because of the customer’s complaint itself.
It was because the complaining customer’s eyes were welling up with tears.
It looked like she would burst into tears at the slightest provocation.
As I watched, I finally remembered where I had heard the name Jonah Button.
Or rather, the name “Button.”
“Button… It was familiar because of Benjamin Button of the Running Bear Trading Company.”
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