Chapter 105
"Boss..."
"..."
Squeeze.
As soon as Emma grabbed my hand, I, who had been full of momentum until just now, stopped like a broken doll.
Emma looked up at me with pitiful eyes as if telling me not to go.
Ah.
As a reaction to the guilt I had felt towards Emma for the past month, I became unable to move at her words.
But...
[Unable to log out]
[Remaining amount until logout: $968,231 / $1,000,000]
...Now there's really not much left.
If I added the bounty for the outlaws I just left at the Sacramento sheriff's office, my money would definitely exceed $970,000.
Which meant...
If I just succeeded in this mission from Lloyd worth $40,000 in total, I could return home.
It was truly the final quest.
17 years... no, 18 years.
It took me 18 years in this damn Western game until the final quest to go home opened up.
18 years, damn it, 18 years.
Even the protagonist in that imprisonment movie who only ate steamed buns was locked up for 15 years, but I had been here for 18 years.
Am I in a position to be picky now?
No.
Tap.
There’s nothing to consider.
Having finished my thoughts, I removed Emma's hand somewhat coldly.
"Emma, it's not like I'm trying to do anything illegal right now."
"...Boss."
Demolishing an entire village that was originally living well for the sake of redevelopment.
It would be illegal in modern times, but it wasn't illegal in this uncivilized Western era.
And driving the Native Americans to reservations?
In the Western era, Native Americans were essentially no different from wild animals.
If they made threatening moves first, I could shoot and kill them without any problem.
— This is our land...! The land where our tribe has lived for thousands of years before you came...!
...In fact, when I was in San Francisco, I had done the job of cleaning out Native Americans a few times.
The higher-ups paid very good bonuses for driving out violent wild animals.
"As Mr. Lloyd said, if we lay railroad tracks there, the lives of people living in the West will become more convenient and America will develop."
In fact, I didn't give a damn about the convenience of Westerners and America's development.
This was just a shallow statement I made to persuade Emma, who was looking at me with wavering eyes.
And...
"...You're lying."
"..."
"You don't care about such things at all, Boss."
Emma knew me too well.
When I closed my mouth, Emma let out a small sigh and asked me while glancing at Lloyd:
"...Boss. The Boss I know wouldn't have done this kind of job normally."
"..."
This was certainly somewhat against my principle of only catching outlaws and not touching civilians.
...Maybe, as Emma said, I wouldn't have taken such a request normally.
"What will you do when you get $30,000? What will happen if you just have $30,000 more that makes you so desperate?"
"When I get $30,000..."
I'll log out of this game world and return to the original world.
...I couldn't tell this straight to Emma, who was an NPC.
But in a way, this could be the best timing.
The last chance to settle things with Emma.
"...When I get $30,000, I'll leave."
"...Can't you leave even without getting $30,000? If you don't like Sacramento, we could go to another city..."
"No, I'll leave alone to a place where you can't come."
"...!"
Even after hearing my words, Emma didn't show much surprise.
I had occasionally mentioned to Emma before that I would collect all the money and leave for a distant place someday.
"I'll follow you, Boss."
At this, Emma said she would follow me to the “distant place” I was leaving for, without even knowing where it was.
I deliberately spoke a bit coldly to her, who still hadn't grasped the reality, "No, Emma. You can't come there with me."
"..."
"So... thank you for everything until now, and this is goodbye after this job is done. I'm sorry for bringing you along, and after this job is over, you can go to another city or return to Justice Town as you please."
"...Boss."
"And I'll do this job alone. So while I'm gone, you wait here in the inn room. If you're bored, go sightseeing in the city or something."
After finishing my notification to Emma like that, I turned to Lloyd and said, "Mr. Lloyd. Can I go to work now? Where should I go?"
"...Haha, you're quite impatient. My secretary outside will guide you, Noah, to that village to be demolished."
"Yes, then I'll be going."
Driving out villagers and Native Americans.
It was certainly not an easy task.
It was not something that could be finished in a short time either.
One month. I'll definitely finish the mission within one month.
I left the inn room, vowing to definitely finish the mission and return home within a month.
But at the last moment of leaving the room, I felt uneasy and looked back...
"..."
Emma was looking at me with an indescribable expression.
That expression somehow made my steps heavy, but...
Clench.
I somehow ignored this and went outside.
***
"...Pardon? Y-you're starting work from today...?"
"Yes, that's how it turned out."
"Oh... the other gunslingers would have already left for the village... I wonder if we can catch up if we go now. Let's go down quickly for now."
Hearing that I was starting work from today, Lloyd's secretary hurriedly guided me.
He and I quickly went down the inn, mounted horses, and rode through downtown Sacramento.
"Your name is Noah, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"It goes without saying, but you're not the only gunslinger hired by our company."
Of course.
Even I couldn't demolish an entire village alone.
Lloyd would have already hired many other gunslingers.
"How many other gunslingers are there?"
"Seven including you, Noah."
"...That's fewer than I expected."
But that number was much less than I thought.
Only 7 people to drive out villagers?
Even though we have to fight Native Americans too, 7 people was too few.
And it seemed I wasn't the only one thinking this, as the secretary also had a worried expression.
"...It's difficult to find gunslingers these days because of San Francisco. And we can't hire outlaws either."
By San Francisco, does he mean because of the South Brotherhood?
The South Brotherhood was continuously raising their voice for California's independence, provoking the federal government.
Gunslingers who smelled the atmosphere of another possible civil war probably all went over there.
So Lloyd couldn't hire many gunslingers even in a situation where the company's fate was at stake.
Anyway, those South Brotherhood bastards have never been helpful to me.
Or not?
Is it thanks to them that I could take on this mission worth $40,000?
Anyway, 7 people was too few.
As if sensing my worry, the secretary said reassuringly, "Although the number is small, we hired quite skilled people, so don't worry too much."
"Ah... well, okay."
"Actually, the gunslingers were supposed to leave for that village to be demolished at noon today. They should be passing the outskirts of the city by now, if we hurry we can catch up... Oh, there they are."
At that moment, the secretary pointed to a group of men.
I gripped No Name's reins tightly and quickly rode towards them.
The secretary also followed behind me with difficulty and shouted to the group of men, "Mr. Vogue! Stop for a moment! Mr. Vogue!!!"
"...Hmm? What is it."
The men stopped at the secretary's desperate cry.
"Here's another gunslinger who will go with you all!"
"A newbie, huh. But why did they hire such a pale guy."
Although they had indifferent expressions at the fact that a new gunslinger had come, they welcomed me anyway.
"Well, whatever. We'll be working together anyway, so we should greet each other. Nice to meet you. I'm Vogue, who's supposed to be the leader."
"I'm Noah."
It was the moment I first met the NPC companions who would join me for this final quest.
***
All six gunslingers except looked older than me.
"Hey, how old are you? Have you ever shot a gun?"
"Hey, Youngest, let's carry the luggage together. Move all of this to your horse."
So they called me the youngest and treated me like a subordinate...
"Yes, give me all the luggage."
I showed a submissive attitude, volunteering to be the youngest as they wanted.
Everything would be completely over once this mission was finished.
What couldn't I do in this situation?
This act of being the youngest was nothing to me.
But I must have looked easy to push around as I went along with them.
Slap!
"Hey, Youngest!"
"...Yes, Mr. Vogue."
"What's with 'Mr. Vogue'. Call me Boss, you bastard."
"Yes, Boss."
Vogue, who asked to be called Boss, hit my head and asked with a somewhat rowdy attitude, "Have you done this job before?"
"What job?"
"Have you ever demolished a village, you bastard?"
Strictly speaking, I had cleaned out Native Americans before, but I hadn't done the thug work of driving out evictees.
"No, it's my first time."
"Haa... What kind of guy did they hire."
Vogue laughed at me for being new to the job and said with a proud voice, "Unlike you who knows nothing, I'm a veteran at this kind of work, so just follow me. I bet the money we're getting is different too? I'm promised a reward of $2,000 when this job is done."
"...The compensation is quite different indeed."
"Of course. You and I live in different worlds. Ah... should I show this or not."
Vogue, who came right next to me, looked around and then slightly rolled up his sleeve.
And there was...
"Hey, this is absolutely secret, only you look."
"...This is."
There was a tattoo of the alphabet “K” drawn.
...But somehow the tattoo looked a bit sloppy.
"Even if you're a rookie, if you've been in the West, you should know, right? The meaning this tattoo has?"
"Don't tell me it's TK..."
"Hey, you bastard, be quiet! Do you want to get shot and die?"
Vogue covered my mouth with his dirty hand and whispered in my ear as if it was a secret.
"You know... I was actually a guy who received great trust from the boss in our organization."
"...Oh really?"
"'Oh really' is informal speech, you bastard! Anyway... I'm here now because I have circumstances... but once this job is done, I'm going back to the organization."
"..."
"Do you know how much influence I have in the organization? If you make a good impression on me, I might be able to get you into the organization after this job is done."
"...That's quite a good opportunity."
"So listen well to what I say. Hehe."
I might not remember the faces of all TKK members, but I swear the bastard in front of me wasn't a member.
To begin with, even the tattoo was wrong.
Vogue's “K” alphabet was crooked and sloppy, as if he had tattooed it himself.
But Vogue seemed to think I had fallen for it, and he spewed out tales of his exploits from his time in San Francisco, spitting as he talked.
If a bastard like this claims to be the leader...
I could guess the skills of the other gunslinger bastards.
Getting skilled gunslingers my ass.
It seemed the NPCs chosen as my companions for the final quest were quite useless.
At this, I sighed and asked Vogue, who was still talking non-stop.
"So when I shot dozens of South Brotherhood members with my gun—"
"Boss. How long until we reach the village?"
"Huh? Ah. That village to be demolished is closer than you think. It takes about 5 hours on horseback from Sacramento, so we should arrive soon."
5 hours on horseback wasn't really that far.
We had already been riding for about 4 hours, so we might see it soon.
"It really is close. What's the name of that village?"
"It's a bit unusual. It's called 'Peace Town'..."
Peace Town.
I couldn't help but smile at the unexpected name of the village.
Peace Town... it was a village that didn't live up to its name as much as Justice Town.
"Keep listening to me. When I killed dozens of South Brotherhood members, then the South Brotherhood leader appeared and..."
"Oh, is that perhaps the village?"
At that moment, something began to appear at the end of the horizon.
When I pointed at it and asked, Vogue nodded.
"Yeah, that's Peace Town. We should start talking about the job now."
Peace Town.
The village where whether I could return home or not hung in the balance.
Seven hired thugs, including myself, arrived there to break their peace.