Chapter 17
As I sat down, I asked William, "So, what exactly do you want?"
"...What?"
"Surely you're not offering such a large sum of 10,000 dollars just to catch one runaway sl—negro from your plantation, are you?"
"..."
A worker ran away from the plantation?
Then it was just regrettable, but there was no need to catch and kill them.
But right now, William's eyes showed strong anger towards that black person.
There must be another reason.
"Haa..."
William took a deep breath as if to calm his anger, then answered, "...What I'm about to tell you should be taken to the grave."
"Yes, please speak freely."
"I have a daughter. Her name is Josephine. She's very beautiful and smart, a precious daughter with endless suitors."
"Ah, yes. Well... congratulations?"
I tilted my head at the sudden boasting about his daughter.
And I couldn't help but be a little surprised by his next words.
"That precious daughter of mine... my dear daughter... has been kidnapped."
"...Pardon? Surely not..."
"Yes, that negro kidnapped her."
"Huh."
Only then did I understand William's anger.
If his precious daughter... was kidnapped by a black person he looked down on, it was understandable that his eyes would be rolling.
But there was one thing I was curious about.
"...But how could that negro have kidnapped your daughter?"
How could a mere plantation worker possibly kidnap a rich man's daughter?
There must be quite a few family members and employees living in that house.
William answered my question with a very displeased look, "That's because that negro bewitched my daughter Josephine."
"...?"
"Josephine is under the ridiculous delusion that she's in love with that negro. So when that negro kidnapped her, she went along willingly."
For a moment, I didn't understand his words, but then I slapped my knee and said, "Ah, so it's not kidnapping, but an elopement?"
If the hostage went along of their own free will, it wasn’t kidnapping.
But this comment of mine touched a nerve with William.
"Love!! Do you think humans can love animals?! That bastard is a negro! A negro!!"
"...Please calm down first."
To be honest, I could somewhat understand William's reaction.
Although slavery has been abolished... black people were still treated as second-class citizens in America.
Especially William, a middle-aged Southern plantation owner who had directly experienced slavery.
From his perspective, it would be difficult to accept his daughter and a black person loving each other.
What to do.
William's request now was to interfere with the elopement of those two people.
After pondering for a moment, I answered, "Is it really necessary to kill that negro?"
First, a compromise.
"If I kill a civilian, I'll become an outlaw too. That's a bit burdensome for me... Instead, if you give me 10,000 dollars, I'll make sure to bring your daughter back safely."
"..."
As long as it didn't involve killing a civilian, I could really do anything.
When I spoke almost pleadingly, William tapped the table and said:
"...I'll leave that to your discretion, but I have a proposal. I'll give you 10,000 dollars if you just bring my daughter back safely. And..."
"And...?"
At that moment, the fire in William's eyes was not just blazing, but scorching.
"If you kill that negro and bring proof, I'll give you 20,000 dollars."
"..."
This old man is generous.
A cool 20,000 dollars deal is really... wow...
For a moment, I was tempted to just pretend I didn't know and kill that black person.
With 97,000 dollars left until I could go home, there probably wouldn't be many chances to earn 20,000 dollars at once in the future.
So I didn't answer immediately and reserved my response.
"...I'll think more about whether to kill that black person or not."
There was something I needed before accepting this request.
"More importantly, do you have any information on where those two might have gone?"
America was vast.
If one went east from here, there were big cities like New York, to the south was Mexico, to the north was British Canada.
Going west, California was relatively close, but even that was only relatively close—it was still really fucking far.
Without information on which direction they went or where they went, even if I were Hong Gildong, I couldn't catch them.
Fortunately, William seemed to have a vague idea of where they went.
"Don't worry about that. I know for certain where my daughter went."
"How?"
He knew not just which direction they went, but exactly where they went? How?
When I tilted my head, William answered proudly, "I'm friends with the mayor of Salt Lake City. That friend helped me."
"Oh."
As expected of rich people's connections.
Salt Lake City was almost the only place in this backwater Utah that smelled like a city.
To be friends with the mayor of such a city.
"My daughter bought a train ticket in Salt Lake City. The destination is..."
If it was certain they went to the train ticket's destination, it became several times easier to catch them.
So I waited for his answer with anticipation.
But...
"San Francisco."
"...Ah."
The destination was a bit troublesome.
Of all places...
Why San Francisco?
When I visibly stiffened upon hearing the destination, William tilted his head and asked, "Is there a problem with my daughter going to San Francisco?"
"Well, I have some circumstances that make San Francisco a bit..."
"..."
If it were anywhere but San Francisco...
Even if they had fled to Mexico, I would have crossed the border to bring William's daughter Josephine back.
San Francisco was really that much of an aversive city for me.
Seeing my hesitant expression, William took another sip of coffee and then took out his wallet.
And then...
Thud.
"This is an advance payment."
"...!"
He put some bills on the table.
"Since time is short, I'll get you the train ticket. But you'll need travel expenses to San Francisco besides that, won't you?"
"..."
I could immediately tell how much money that was by looking at the denomination and thickness of the bills.
1,000 dollars.
This rich old man took out 1,000 dollars as an advance payment, what if I just took it and ran?
"If you complete my request, I'll pay the rest immediately."
"..."
As I couldn't take my eyes off the 1,000 dollars, William coolly left the money and got up as if he had finished his business.
"Since time is short, I'll hear your answer by tomorrow. If you accept the request, come to my tobacco plantation in the south by tomorrow."
Wow... seeing the money, I couldn't think straight again.
Even in my confusion, I asked William one last thing as he was leaving, "...Just a moment."
"What is it?"
"I only heard your daughter's name, not that negro's name. What's his name?"
At my question, William briefly held his forehead and then...
"Jansen!!"
He called for his coachman waiting outside.
"Jansen! Jansennnnn!!"
"Yes, sir. What is it?"
"What was that negro's name? I always called him negro, so I can't remember what his name was."
The coachman named Jansen bowed his head politely to William and answered:
"That fellow's name is... Django Montague."
Having heard the answer from Jansen, William nodded as if he finally remembered and told me, "Ah, right. Django Montague. That was his name."
"Django Montague..."
"I've told you everything, so I'll be going now."
With that, William left my office.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow."
William's last words had the nuance that I wouldn't be able to refuse his request.
Of course, that would be natural.
Most bounty hunters would do the job even if it meant jumping into fire for a request fee of 10,000 or 20,000 dollars.
"Haa... shit."
It was the same for me too.
That was why I couldn't help but fall into deep contemplation.
***
My contemplation continued until that night.
For the first time in a while, I didn't go to the Deaf Man's Bar and instead sat alone in my office chair, lost in thought.
Ah... 10,000 dollars... If I just close my eyes and kill one civilian NPC, it's 20,000 dollars...
No... thinking about it again, killing a civilian NPC was too risky.
But actually, even 10,000 dollars was a huge amount.
...I wanted to do it.
...No, this was a request I absolutely had to do.
But...
— My daughter bought a train ticket in Salt Lake City. The destination is...
— San Francisco.
Fuck.
Why San Francisco of all places?
San Francisco... If I were to go to San Francisco again...
— Swear that you will never return to San Francisco... no, California.
...It was clear that nothing good would come of it.
And that wasn't the only thing bothering me.
Why is William so insistent on me?
William offered the large sum of 10,000 dollars to prevent me from refusing the request.
When I showed signs of hesitation, he even raised the amount to 20,000 dollars and showed a strong will to entrust me with the request by giving 1,000 dollars as an advance payment.
For someone that rich, there must be many people he could entrust with the job...
Why me specifically...?
This request... there was clearly something more to it than just interfering with a couple's elopement.
"Haa... shit... My head hurts like hell."
...At times like this when my head was so complicated, it was better to just drink.
But it didn't seem right to go to the Deaf Man's Bar now...
I had a bottle of whiskey I snat—received from the Deaf Man's Bar at home, so I got up to drink at least that.
But then...
Thud.
"...?"
As soon as I got up, a bottle of whiskey was placed in front of my eyes.
"You're looking for alcohol, aren't you?"
The one who brought this to me was Emma, who hadn't gone home yet even though the moon was out, saying she would work late since she was late this morning.
"Ah... yeah."
It was unusual for Emma to bring me alcohol first.
Moreover...
"..."
There were two glasses.
As I stared intently at the two glasses, Emma spoke first, "I... feel like drinking today too. Let's have a drink together."
"...What?"
I had never seen Emma drink alcohol even once.
But she suddenly wants to drink together?
"..."
"..."
Hot weather, a romantic night sky with the moon and stars, a dark office, and cheap whiskey.
And two young people, a man and a woman.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became summery.