Chapter 117
The next day, the effects of repelling the Indian attack yesterday began to show immediately.
"Giddyup."
"C-Chief...! What are we supposed to do if you leave like this!?"
"A-ahem...! What can we do when the government says they're demolishing the village! You all should vacate the village quickly too!"
The village chief, one of the biggest figures among the villagers, got on a wagon to leave the village.
Villagers with nowhere to go tried to stop the chief from leaving the village somehow, but the chief was adamant.
"You can't go...! Didn't you say you had nowhere to go too, Chief...!"
"My youngest son runs a ranch in Nebraska, I'm planning to go there. Hey, move aside!"
So the chief pushed away the blocking villagers and grabbed the horse reins.
"Chief, you're leaving, I see."
"...!"
I, who had woken up early and was watching this whole scene, greeted the chief leaving Peace Town.
"...Ah, yes! I'm planning to leave P-Peace Town as of today...!"
I had simply come to say hello, but just that made the chief startled and tremble.
"I-I promise I'll never set foot in Peace Town again, please believe me...!"
The chief had seen how I dealt with the Indians yesterday, so I could understand such a reaction.
I nodded and waved my hand.
"Yes, then have a safe trip. Don't forget to stop by Lloyd Railroad Company in Sacramento on your way and get the $10 demolition compensation."
"T-thank you for your concern...! Then I'll be going now..."
So the chief left Peace Town as if fleeing.
The villagers watched the chief's last departing figure with empty eyes, but I was impressed first.
Is this what they mean by living long and seeing much?
The chief was quick-witted and had excellent survival instincts.
Escaping like that as early as possible and finding a new place to settle would be the best way to survive somehow.
And other villagers with decent survival instincts seemed to feel a sense of crisis seeing the fleeing chief, and started stirring.
"W-we too..."
"Shouldn't we run away before we end up like the Indians yesterday...?"
So from the afternoon, an exodus procession continued from the village.
Many Peace Town residents left the village by riding their house wagons, or if they didn't have that, horses and donkeys, and if they didn't even have those, they walked out on foot.
Roughly counting, it was about half of the total village population.
The village became empty in an instant, and those remaining looked emptily at the backs of those leaving.
Since they couldn’t live in an empty village, those remaining would eventually leave one by one too.
In the end, the village would be empty except for those who truly had nowhere else to go.
"...We'll be able to finish the job soon. Most will leave within a week from now."
"It seems so."
It was a good thing if the job ended quickly because we could get paid faster.
But Vogue's expression as he muttered while watching the villagers' exodus procession wasn't very good.
"...Actually, I'm from a demolished village too."
"Oh, is that so?"
"The railroad company destroyed our village saying they needed to lay train tracks. Back then, I used to curse those hired thug bastards saying they were damn bastards, but...."
Swish.
At that moment, I made eye contact with a child leaving with their parents.
The child, who looked to be just 7 or 8 years old, frowned as soon as they saw me and muttered something.
It seemed to be a curse.
"...Now I've become that position."
Vogue, like me, received a curse from that kid.
Vogue had a bitter expression as he looked at the kid.
He looked rough on the outside but seemed to feel guilty.
And it wasn't just Vogue who felt guilty.
"Emma."
"...Boss."
Emma had been watching the villagers leave since earlier.
Of course, her face looked expressionless at first glance, with no emotions showing, but....
"..."
"..."
I, who had spent years with Emma, could tell that she was in quite a depressed state.
"Why? Does it hurt your heart to see the villagers leave?"
"...Yes," Emma answered without hiding her emotions.
I could feel her voice trembling somewhat at the end.
From the beginning, Emma opposed me taking on the demolition, saying this village was similar to Justice Town.
I had ignored her opinion.
"I'm sorry."
"..."
I didn't particularly think it was something to apologize for, but an apology came out of my mouth.
Hearing my words, Emma immediately shook her head.
"...I don't think it's something for you to apologize for, Boss. But still..."
Emma said it wasn't something for me to apologize for, but she still didn't meet my eyes, as if some dissatisfaction remained.
"...I hope the compensation you get through this job is worth that much to you, Boss."
"..."
Emma was asking me now.
Whether the compensation for this job was valuable enough to blow away an entire village.
To that question, I...
Of course.
Had no choice but to answer “Yes” unconditionally.
If I just finish this job, I can go home...
I can finally see the light after 18 years of hard work...
What was demolishing a village compared to that, I could do even worse things.
But somehow, seeing Emma looking sad wasn't very pleasant for me either.
I could find myself wanting to cheer up Emma, who was looking at the wagon procession depressedly.
Ah.
I had been in the West for 18 years.
It was the time it took for a newborn baby to become a fresh young adult just before becoming a legal adult.
I lived here for that long time and could soon leave.
...If there wasn't even a speck of lingering attachment left, that would be a lie.
And Emma was now the biggest of my lingering attachments.
...Giving Emma any more affection would be cruel to both me and her.
Until now, my body reacted on its own whenever I saw Emma and I couldn't help it, but... I had to draw a line in my relationship with her from now on.
So I barely resisted the urge to approach Emma and play around as usual, and turned my body.
"...Emma, you rest a bit at the inn."
"...Boss, where are you going?"
"I have to finish the job. This isn't the only village I agreed to demolish."
"...!"
The Indian village that sent dozens of warriors here yesterday.
They probably didn’t know what fate their Indian warriors they sent met.
"I'll be back. It won't take long."
"..."
I could feel Emma staring at my back intensely.
Perhaps she was hoping I wouldn't leave right now.
But I ignored that and moved my feet... and soon headed towards the Indian village after finishing preparations.
***
Clop clop clop
Since Indians are deeply wary of white people, it would be more dangerous if there were many people.
So only I headed to the Indian village.
The Indian village was located just 3 hours northwest of Peace Town, so I could arrive quickly riding No Name.
"Whoa whoa."
"Neigh."
I could see the Indian village in the distance.
Unlike Peace Town, the Indian village was very simple.
That was probably because they hadn't settled here for long.
I could see Indians moving wood and tearing cloth, perhaps still building more houses.
As I was staring at the Indian village for quite a while like that...
Clop clop clop
Soon they seemed to recognize me too, as an Indian man approached me from that direction.
Stretch—
Of course, he had a loaded bow in his hand.
As expected, their wariness towards outsiders was very deep.
So when I raised my hands high to show I had no intention to attack, the Indian aimed his bow at me and asked, "This is Shoshone territory, what business does a stranger have!"
"Oh, you can speak English."
There were still quite a lot of Indians who couldn't speak English.
But the guy in front of me could speak English, so I could converse smoothly.
"Never mind that, what did you come for! We don't accept guests, so leave this place quickly..."
"You sent people to Peace Town recently, right?"
"...!"
I smiled at the startled Indian and said, "They sent me. Please let me meet the chief."
"..."
At the words that their people sent me, the Indian lowered his bow.
He must have been confident that I couldn't do anything since I was alone.
"Follow me."
He led me into the Indian village.
Murmur murmur.
The Indians looked curiously at me, an outsider and white person, entering the village.
Meanwhile, I examined the village.
Although the village was shoddier compared to Peace Town, there were more people than in Peace Town.
But...
Children, elderly, and women make up the majority.
As expected, there were more vulnerable people than young men.
I could see a few Indian warriors, but their numbers were far fewer compared to the ones I saw yesterday.
So while examining the Indians' faces, I reached a tent with the guide.
That tent looked more shabby than other Indians' houses.
"Wait a moment."
The Indian who guided me left me outside for a moment and went into the tent alone, and then...
"Come in. The chief says he wants to see you."
He arranged for me to have a private meeting with the chief.
He didn't prevent me from bringing weapons in.
I entered comfortably.
And...
"Welcome, stranger. I am..."
"...Huh?"
I couldn't help but pause immediately upon seeing the chief's face inside the tent.
A face that somehow looked wise and a slightly hunched back.
But thick arms and legs that suggest how he lived in his youth.
It was someone I knew.
"Chief, it's you from back then, right? I remember now. You haven't aged at all."
"...Do you know me?"
When I greeted him as if I knew him, the chief tilted his head.
Of course, he didn't seem to recognize me.
So I smiled as if meeting an old acquaintance after a long time and said, "Of course… It's me, the White Ghost. That's what you called me, right?"
"...!"
The chief couldn't smile.
I sat down comfortably in front of the chief who froze instantly.
"It's good that you're still the chief. You're wise and reasonable after all."
"...”
What was his name again?
I couldn't remember because of the Indian-style naming.
But I clearly remembered that the chief in front of me was relatively reasonable among the aggressive Indians.
So I felt relieved at meeting someone I knew and said to the chief, "Vacate the village and leave the territory. I'll give you a week."
"..."
The content was the same as the last words I said to the chief a few years ago.