Chapter 15 - Evidence That Noah Still Has a Warm Heart

— ...If you go diagonally from here a bit, there's a building with red bricks.

— ...If you lift the floor carpet, there's a basement door, and when you open that door, there's quite a large hole. It's a space we discovered by chance. We put the money in there.

Arriving at the red brick house Red Beard mentioned, I immediately lifted the old carpet on the floor.

And just as he said, there was a basement door.

"...So if I just open this, there's money."

I opened the door with slightly trembling hands.

And as soon as I opened the door...!

"...Wow, holy shit."

Bundles of cash filling a hole just under 1m deep greeted me.

How much is all this...

Having lived as a money-obsessed person for the past 17 years, I quickly scanned how much money might be here.

The answer came quickly.

About 5-6000 dollars.

"...Oh my God."

I felt like I might faint at this large sum of money after so long.

Momentarily dizzy from the excessive dopamine, I barely managed to regain my senses.

"...Let's quickly pocket this before Joe notices."

The method for me to secretly pocket this large amount of cash was simple.

This place was frustratingly realistic, but it was a world inside a game... and a few game functions were implemented.

One of them was this single-slot inventory.

"Inventory."

Pong!

When I called out "Inventory," an invisible spatial hole that only I could see appeared in the air.

Only one item could be put into this spatial hole.

So I was using this as my wallet.

Rustle rustle.

Without hesitation, I frantically stuffed the cash into the spatial hole.

And after putting in the very last bill and closing the inventory...

"Log out."

[Unable to log out]

[Remaining amount until logout: $900,036 / $1,000,000]

As if experience points had increased, the amount remaining until logout was updated.

"Aah..."

Seeing that I had finally surpassed the dreaded 900,000 dollars, I could barely contain the overwhelming emotion.

At the same time, I felt a bit guilty about monopolizing the cash alone.

"Joe... I'm sorry. But those who can survive must survive..."

...

...No, thinking about it again, I wasn’t that sorry.

I fought the outlaws directly and risked my life, so I deserve some compensation.

And even if it’s a temporary relationship, aren't I Joe's employer?

As far as I know, Joe's monthly salary as a coachman was probably around 30 dollars.

So Joe would probably be happy with just 100 dollars.

Having quickly sorted out my guilt towards Joe like that, I called out "Log out" once again.

"Log out."

[Unable to log out]

[Remaining amount until logout: $900,036 / $1,000,000]

Now there were about 100,000 dollars left until logout.

"I can see it... I can see the end of this damn life..."

The past 17 years of life spent in the West.

It was really long, so long.

"One year... I'll definitely return within one year..."

Just the thought of being able to go home made me slump down on the spot.

I thought my heart had completely dried up from spending such a long time of 17 years in this rough West...

But it hadn't.

***

"Joe, have you been working well?"

"Ah, yes. I've almost finished everything you told me to do."

"Ooh."

Joe was much faster than I thought.

When I came out after dealing with the cash, Joe had already organized all the horses and was loading the Red Beard Gang's weapons onto the wagon.

Just as I was about to help Joe belatedly...

"Hmm? Mr. Noah. By any chance..."

"Yes?"

"Did you cry?"

"Huh?"

At Joe's sudden nonsense, I tilted my head and asked, "What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"No... it just looks like there are tear marks..."

Earlier, when the collected money surpassed 900,000 dollars, I did feel overwhelmed with emotion.

But I definitely didn't cry.

"Stop talking nonsense and let's get to work."

"Ah, yes. Never mind then."

I helped Joe load the weapons onto the wagon first, ignoring his unnecessary comments.

Then we found a new wagon at the camp entrance and filled it with the bodies of the Red Beard Gang members.

This wasn't an easy task, so by the time we finished all the work, it was already past noon and heading into the afternoon.

"Whew! Mr. Noah! I think we're all done!"

"Yeah, good job."

Though our bodies were tired, seeing the results was incredibly satisfying.

Just what was loaded on these two wagons alone was worth how much?

On top of the cash I had already pocketed earlier, I felt a sense of abundance.

It seemed Joe felt the same way, as he cheerfully shouted while looking at me.

"So now we're going back to Justice Town?"

Just as I was about to answer with a smile...

Bang—!

A single gunshot rang out.

"..."

"..."

The smiles disappeared from mine and Joe's faces at the sudden gunshot.

But perhaps due to poor marksmanship, neither Joe nor I was hit by the bullet.

I turned my head to check where the bullet had come from.

"Sob..."

"Hic... sob..."

There were the remaining families of the Red Beard Gang.

They had been outside the building since we were collecting the gang members' bodies, unable to do anything but cry helplessly.

But unlike the other women and children, there was one who shot at us while standing in front...

"You bad guys!!"

It was Ann, Red Beard's daughter.

"My dad...! You killed him-!!"

"..."

Ann aimed a pistol at us and shouted loudly with a tear-filled voice, "The sheriff bastards killed my mom a year ago, and now even dad...! Sob...! My dad...! He was a good person...!"

Step.

As I moved towards Ann, a startled Joe tried to stop me, but...

"Mr. Noah... she's still just a child..."

"Ah, it's okay. It's okay."

I pushed past Joe and approached right in front of Ann.

And I said with a smile.

"I may be a bad guy, but that doesn't mean your dad was a good person."

"...!"

I told Ann, who flinched, the information about Red Beard that remained in my mind.

"Name Edward Wild. Crimes: Bank robbery, cash theft, and 9 counts of murder."

"Sob... huuu..."

"Just like I killed your dad, your dad also killed lots of other people."

Thud.

I put the barrel of the revolver Ann was holding close to my chest and whispered, "And if you want to kill someone, next time shoot here at the chest or the head, not into the air."

"..."

"If you can't shoot, then never hold a gun again."

Swish.

I took Ann's revolver and put it in my pocket.

Then I turned around and...

"Joe, turn around for a moment."

"...Huh?"

"Don't argue, just turn around when I tell you to."

"Ah, yes..."

I opened my inventory and took out handfuls of cash.

This should be over 600 dollars or so.

"Take it."

"...Oh."

Everyone was surprised when I handed it to the remaining families of the Red Beard Gang.

Joe seemed shocked at where all this cash suddenly came from, and the gang families seemed to wonder why I was returning money I had taken.

"Unless you want to raise these kids as outlaws to meet me again, use this money to settle somewhere and raise them normally."

This should be enough for this number of people to settle in some quiet town.

Only then understanding my goodwill, the woman who looked oldest among the gang families bowed her head to me.

"...T-Thank..."

"Thanks my ass."

I ignored that thanks and gestured to Joe.

"Let's go, Joe."

"Ah... yes sir!"

We each got on different wagons.

"Let's go, No Name."

"Neigh!"

As I grabbed No Name's reins at the front of the wagon, I looked back one last time.

The adult women looked somewhat relieved, the kids were still crying and making a fuss, and...

"..."

Ann, Red Beard's daughter, was still glaring at me with eyes full of anger even as she shed tears profusely.

I had carefully told her not to come looking for revenge later, but it seems she didn't understand my words.

At this rate, she'll come to kill me someday.

Of course, I didn't want to meet that kid ever again.

But if we must meet by fate...

Rather come as an outlaw with a huge bounty.

With that thought, I left the Red Beard Gang's camp.

***

"By the way, Mr. Noah. You have a more humane side than I expected."

"Humane side? What are you talking about?"

On the way back to Justice Town.

When I tilted my head at Joe's question, Joe said with a surprised look, "I thought you were a complete rascal among rascals, without even a speck of humanity?"

...This bastard?

Haha, I thought Joe was a very kind-hearted guy, but this was how he had been seeing me.

Thinking that it would be okay to treat Joe more harshly from now on, I listened to the rest of his story.

But Joe's words were quite funny.

"You gave them money when we left earlier, right? Wasn't that because you were worried about the people left behind?"

Worried about the people left behind, he says.

I laughed and said, "Worried my ass. Why would I worry about NPCs... especially the families of outlaws?"

"Huh? Then why..."

"That was just..."

I thought for a moment and answered, "That was just like 'gosure'."

"'Gosure'? What's that..."

"You don't need to know."

Let me say it again, I have no sympathy for NPCs.

Giving money to the gang families earlier was just “gosure”.

Like giving a little food to wild animals in the mountains...

— ...Don't kill the women and children. We committed all the wrongs. Their only crime is being our wives and children.

— You bad guys!!

— The sheriff bastards killed my mom a year ago, and now even dad...! Sob...! My dad...! He was a good person...!

It was sharing a little so as not to invite bad luck from hogging too much money alone.

"...Yeah, this was just gosure."

When I answered as if muttering to myself, Joe asked me with eyes full of expectation, "Then Mr. Noah. How much 'gosure' will you give me?"

"..."

"It's a shame we couldn't find the cash the gang stole from the bank... but we earned a lot of money, right? And I think I definitely did more than my share this time."

As he said, Joe did play edquite a big role in this job.

He drove the wagon, detonated the dynamite, confirmed kills on gang members, moved the gang members' bodies, weapons, and other luggage onto the wagon.

In this atmosphere, if I mention the 100 dollars I initially thought of, I might be called a scumbag.

So I...

"...Joe, want to race to Justice Town?"

...chose to avoid.

Of course, Joe laughed incredulously.

"...Stop talking nonsense and tell me how much you're going to give me. You said you'd reward me generously, didn't you?"

"If you had just trusted me and waited, I would have taken care of you well, but since you're acting like this, I feel disappointed."

"You're saying that now...!"

"Then let's do this. If I win the race, 50 dollars. If you win, 200 dollars. Okay? Then let's go, hiyah!"

"Wait a minute...!"

"Neigh-!!"

No Name, somehow knowing it was a money issue like a ghost, flew like lightning as soon as I gripped the reins tightly, and Joe followed behind with his lights on.

Thud thud thud thud—

The sun was setting.

In that orange twilight where light disappears and darkness arrives, Joe and I excitedly raced towards the dry wilderness with horses dangling from our wagons.

The bodies of the Red Beard Gang members, including the boss and executives.

Dozens of guns including rifles, revolvers, and pistols stolen by the Red Beard Gang.

10 horses of the Red Beard Gang.

Plus the 6000 dollars in cash stolen by the Red Beard Gang from the Wells Fargo Bank.

This business trip was very successful.

And the success of this trip meant...

My long, long Western life that seemed like racing towards an endless horizon...

Was approaching its end, like the setting sun.