Chapter 110
Meanwhile, at Peace Town's village hall.
For some reason, all the men of Peace Town were gathered in that space, which was rarely used except for village resident meetings.
It was to discuss solutions regarding the village demolition.
In fact, discussions about Peace Town's demolition had started several months ago.
...No?
In reality, it wasn't a discussion about demolition, but a demolition notice.
Lloyd Railroad Company only left a message to the residents that the village was to be demolished, so they should vacate promptly.
Until then, Peace Town residents had no idea that a railroad would pass through their village.
So the villagers, who had been living here for decades, couldn't help but feel that Lloyd Railroad Company's notice was unfair.
If they were suddenly driven out of the village, where on earth were they supposed to go?
Lloyd Railroad Company said they would pay $10 per household as demolition compensation, but that was truly absurd.
How were they supposed to find a new place to settle with just $10?
Because of this, the villagers had been ignoring Lloyd Railroad Company's notice until now.
The occasional gunslingers who came were driven away by the village sheriff Claire, so they could live without problems until now.
But this time, a gunslinger who was too difficult to handle came to the village.
"We must all join forces and drive those bastards out!" the only man here who hadn't seen Noah's skills shouted bravely. "There's a gunslinger among those who came this time who's exceptionally good at shooting, right? You all seem scared because of that, but have courage! Everyone has at least one gun at home, right?"
"...So you're saying we should each bring guns from our homes and fight them?"
"There are dozens of men gathered here! Can't we handle that one bastard?!"
"...Rejected. That opinion is rejected."
The village chief immediately rejected the man's opinion.
There was one thing the man was greatly mistaken about.
Can dozens of sheep take down one wolf if they charge at it?
...No, that would rather be inviting death.
The village chief and other residents knew Noah's skills all too well.
His hand wasn't even visible when he drew his gun.
In the blink of an eye, he fired 6 shots with godlike fanning...
Above all, what was amazing was his accuracy.
Ordinary people might not have noticed, but the village chief, who had made a name for himself as a bounty hunter in his youth, could see.
Noah intercepting the bullet Claire shot by hitting it in mid-air.
That guy is a monster beyond our imagination. If we do something foolish, we'll all be massacred.
Moreover, even Claire, who was in charge of the village's greatest force, was injured, wasn't she?
Truly extraordinary measures were needed to protect the village.
But just because the villagers put their heads together, a good way to suddenly save the village wouldn't appear.
"I'm telling you we just need to fight! They have many injured guys too, so let's just charge at them!"
"The strongest one is fine, you know? Do you all want to die together?"
"Then how about we recruit other professional gunslingers?"
"We don't even have money to eat right now, how can we hire gunslingers?"
"...Hey, this person keeps objecting."
"It's because you keep making nonsensical suggestions, you bastard!"
"What did you say?"
Usually, when many people gathered, arguments tended to break out frequently.
Just as the villagers were about to have a big fight among themselves...
"Um, excuse me-!"
A young man who usually seemed too timid and scared for this kind of thing raised his hand hesitantly and said, "W-we don't have enough strength to fight them now, right..."
"That's right."
"And we don't have money to hire other gunslingers either..."
"Correct."
And then...
"...Then how about we bring the Indians into this matter?"
"What?"
All the villagers paused at the young man's words.
That was because...
Bringing the Indians into this matter?
"I-I have a friend from the Shoshone tribe, and I heard... Their village also received a demolition notice."
"A demolition notice for the Indian village too?"
"Yes, so it seems they're already preparing for a big fight over there. Rather than that, couldn't we ask them for help first to deal with the railroad company's gunslingers..."
"..."
In short, the young man's suggestion was to invite the Indians to the village and borrow their strength.
At first glance, it might not be a bad strategy.
But...
"...Even so, Indians are a bit..."
The residents couldn't help but psychologically hesitate to bring Indians into the village.
After all, Peace Town was a village built in Shoshone territory.
The early history of the village's pioneering could be seen as a continuous struggle with the Shoshone tribe.
Although they say they were peaceful now and occasionally interact... Indians still remained as fearsome beings in their memories.
But it was true that if they borrowed the strength of the brave Shoshone tribe, they would surely have the power to drive away those vicious gunslingers.
As the residents fell into contemplation...
"The idea of borrowing the Indians' strength isn't bad, but the risk is too great."
The village chief stepped forward and summarized the opinions.
"Let's use borrowing the Indians' strength as the very last resort."
The residents nodded at the village chief's words.
After all, those hired thug bastards weren't crossing the line by killing someone or anything.
The villagers agreed to leave bringing in the Indians as a last resort and continued the meeting.
But...
No matter how long they talked, no good strategies came up after that.
***
The hired work must continue.
Although three gunslingers including Vogue were injured, if we rest, the villagers' fear would gradually subside.
To finish the village demolition as planned, we had to continue working even if it was somewhat unreasonable.
"Ugh... I'm sorry about this. I should have helped."
"It's fine, just hurry up and get better."
"Yeah, I think if I rest just for today, I'll be able to work again from tomorrow."
After greeting Vogue, we came out of the saloon.
Those who went out to work were the four who weren't shot yesterday.
For efficiency, we planned to go around the village divided into two teams like yesterday.
"How should we form the teams? Youngest, who do you want to go with..."
"I'm enough on my own, so the other three form a team," I answered indifferently to one gunslinger's question.
In fact, I was most comfortable working alone and didn't need other companions.
But besides me, the other three lacked skills, and...
"..."
Somehow Joshua had a sulky attitude.
Swish—flinch.
Joshua met my gaze and immediately lowered his eyes, as if the place I hit him yesterday still hurt.
Should I have beaten that bastard more yesterday? He looks like he might cause trouble.
How should I put it, he was following my words because he was scared of me for now, but he looked like he'd immediately cause trouble if he escaped my surveillance.
Should I take him with me directly?
But that wouldn't be efficient.
If I took Joshua too, it would be too much for the remaining two gunslingers to work together.
So all I could do was give Joshua a warning.
"Mr. Joshua. Don't do anything rash today."
"..."
"Answer me, you bastard."
"...I got it."
"Good."
After hearing Joshua's answer, I ordered the other two gunslingers to manage him well.
"Understood."
"We'll take responsibility for controlling Joshua."
Only after hearing the two gunslingers' answers could I send them off and start working.
I was planning to start working from the north where the village entrance was.
Where should I go first? Should I visit that old farmer I met at the beginning?
Just as I was considering which house to work on first while walking...
"Hmm...?"
In the distance, I saw someone looking at goods in front of the general store.
It seemed to be a customer.
That's good. I'll start there.
Cutting off the customer's money flow would break the general store owner's heart more easily.
I approached to work on the general store.
And just as I was about to say the familiar line that was now on the tip of my tongue...
"Hey, who's doing business he..."
"...Boss."
"...Huh? Emma?"
I couldn't help but pause when I saw the customer's face.
It was Emma.
Surprised by her sudden appearance, I asked with a trembling voice, "You, you...! What? What brings you here?"
"What do you mean? I came to get you, Boss," Emma answered with her usual expressionless face and calm voice. "I received the $20,000 down payment Mr. Lloyd gave under your secretary's name and hid it in the inn room."
"Right, you did well with that. Then just keep the money safe. There's no need for you to come here..."
"We've received the money, so let's run away now."
"...What?"
And hearing her words, I couldn't help but flinch again.
What did she just say...?
"If we run away like this, we can get $20,000 without doing anything."
"..."
"I don't know why you need the specific amount of $30,000, but can't we earn the remaining $10,000 in another city too? Let's just take the $20,000 and backstab Mr. Lloyd and run away."
...Emma was originally kind-hearted.
For that kind Emma to say we should backstab Lloyd and run away.
It seemed she had been influenced by me.
I couldn't help but smile at Emma's cute(?) vicious side that I was seeing for the first time.
But my answer to Emma's suggestion to run away now was...
"Sorry, Emma. That won't work."
It was a rejection.
If we add the $20,000 down payment received from Lloyd, there was only $10,000 left until I could go home.
As Emma said, we could probably earn $10,000 in another city too.
But I'm tired now.
When will I find another $10,000 job?
I want to go home.
I was determined to leave this damn West after finishing this job.
"I'm going to succeed in this mission no matter what."
"..."
Emma's face hardened when she heard my answer.
Emma let out a small sigh and said, "...I looked around this village briefly. It's a village with many similarities to Justice Town. But isn't your current mission ruining this village?"
"That's right."
Bang!
As soon as Emma finished speaking, I kicked the general store's stand.
"Hii, hiik!"
The general store owner, who had been hiding in the corner eavesdropping on our conversation, trembled at my kick.
"This is what I'm doing in this village. So what are you going to do about it?"
"This isn't like you, Boss… I'm going to stop you."
"How?"
Even though I looked down at her somewhat threateningly, Emma didn't avoid my gaze but rather confronted me.
As the standoff between Emma and me continued...
Bang.
"...This is."
"..."
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, just like yesterday.
The direction the gunshot came from was where the other gunslingers had gone to work.
Claire, this village's self-proclaimed sheriff.
Did that woman step up again?
No, she surely shouldn't have fully recovered yet.
"...Don't tell me."
Then an uneasy thought circled in my mind.
Grab.
"...Boss? Why..."
"Shh, just follow me for now."
At this, I grabbed Emma's wrist and hid in the back alley, leaving the street.
As soon as we hid, a loud cry was heard from across the street.
"T-the gunslinger bastards fired...!!"
"...!"
"T-those sons of bitches killed Mr. Michael...!!!! A gunslinger killed Mr. Michael!"
Shit.
That bastard Joshua.
Should I have just killed him first, efficiency be damned.
"...Boss, this is."
"Let me tell you in advance so you don't misunderstand, I was planning to clearly draw the line."
What was the most important thing in catching a mouse?
It was controlling the tempo.
If one cornered a mouse too much, it bit.
Humans were the same.
Humans bite when cornered, too.
"If we stay still, those bastards will kill us all!!!"
If someone really died from a gunshot we fired, this matter has crossed the line too much.
The cornered villagers clearly wouldn't stay still anymore.