Chapter 26 - Hero of the Train

"Ugh..."

Emma briefly lost consciousness in the aftermath of the explosion, then came to her senses.

And what she saw when she opened her eyes was...

"...!"

The third-class car with one side of the wall blown away by the dynamite, and...

Bang—!

"Boss...!"

Noah facing off against a large outlaw.

Having worked as his secretary for the past three years, Emma knew Noah's skills better than anyone.

Emma could never imagine Noah losing to an outlaw.

But...

Bang—!

Bang—!!!

Noah's condition now looked strange.

He was holding a knife instead of a gun in his hand, his movements seemed unstable somewhere, and...

"A child...?"

He was even holding a little girl in his arms.

To make matters worse...

"Bosssss!!"

"That bastard got our boss!!"

Click.

The remaining train robbers raised their rifles from afar, seemingly trying to support their leader.

No...

No matter how skilled Noah was, there was no way to dodge if they attacked from all directions like that.

Click.

As soon as she realized this, Emma drew her gun from her clothes.

A perfect stance without a moment's hesitation that Noah would have praised as quite a good quick draw if he had seen it.

And she fired.

Bang—!

"Arghhhh!"

The first shot hit the forehead of the outlaw in front precisely.

Next, fanning.

Fanning, which Noah did more easily than breathing, was actually what Emma found most difficult when practicing normally.

It was hard to press the rough revolver's hammer with Emma's small, soft palm.

But...

Click.

Emma forgot the pain in her palm and did the fanning cocking quickly and accurately.

Bang—!

"Aaaaghhhh!"

And she fired again.

This time too, the bullet hit the outlaw's head.

"..."

Emma, who couldn't shoot at people until just now...

Now she had put a bullet each in the heads of two outlaws.

It all happened in an instant.

"Huff... huff..."

Emma, belatedly realizing she had taken two lives, breathed heavily.

Tremble.

Her hands were shaking.

But...

She didn't regret it at all.

If she hadn't shot now, her boss Noah would have died.

Ah... Boss...!

Emma, belatedly remembering Noah's existence again, turned her head.

Bang—!

Noah was still struggling hard against the outlaw.

As soon as she saw that, she aimed her gun again.

And then...

Bang—!

This time too, she fired towards the outlaw's head.

Swish.

"...Tch."

This bullet didn't hit the outlaw's head and flew somewhere else nearby.

It was because of the long distance.

But...

"...!"

"Good job, Emma!"

Emma's shot succeeded in drawing the outlaw's attention.

Bang—! Bang—!

Emma continuously sniped at the outlaw while fanning to help Noah.

Those bullets didn't hit the outlaw... but they were enough to create an opportunity for Noah.

***

Bang—!

The [Best Gunslinger in the West] trait slowed down space-time when a battle broke out.

I once compared the bullets flying in this slowed space-time to dodgeballs flying during PE class.

But a shotgun was different.

If other revolvers or rifles were like one dodgeball flying, a shotgun was like several small super balls flying.

One could dodge, but it wasn’t easy.

Bang—!

Bang—! Bang—!!

Because of this, I couldn't approach Jackson's side and could only circle around nearby.

I'd become a beehive the moment I reached his range.

I couldn't break through the front because my body was heavy due to the luggage.

In the end, only one thing left?

Grip.

I tightly gripped the knife in my hand.

I couldn't close the distance, and this was my only weapon...

The only way to overcome this situation was to throw the knife and stick the blade in his neck.

Of course, it wasn’t an easy task. And I only had one chance.

So I kept maintaining the distance and looked for the optimal opportunity.

But then...

Bang—! Bang—!

"...!"

Two gunshots rang out from elsewhere.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head to see Emma shooting at other outlaws.

And Emma, after dealing with the outlaws...

Click.

Soon turned her gun towards Jackson and fired.

Bang—!

"...!"

"Good job, Emma!"

Jackson seemed flustered when Emma shot at him, apparently not expecting her appearance at all.

Bang—! Bang—!!!

Emma kept shooting at Jackson like that... and soon an opportunity came to me.

Swish—

As Jackson's gun barrel turned towards Emma, I took a stance to throw the knife.

"Oh no...!"

Jackson, belatedly realizing his mistake, tried to correct it, but it was already too late.

Whizz—!

The knife that left my hand, spinning as it flew...

Thud—!

"Guhkkkk!!"

Stuck right into Jackson's hand.

It was disappointing that it hit his hand instead of his neck, but it was still okay.

As soon as Jackson dropped the shotgun in pain, I put the child down on the ground and rushed at him.

"Fire elbow!!"

"Aaaaaaaarghhh!!!"

Jackson, whose eye area was hit by my elbow, fell backward.

I got on top of him and swung my fists.

Thwackkk! Thud—!

"Now it's close combat, you bastard!"

"Argh-!"

Thwack—! Thud—!

As I kept hitting the same spot, soon the flesh tore and blood burst.

"Eekkk!"

Soon, Jackson, seemingly angered after taking a few hits from me, exerted force to get up.

Grrrr—

Jackson, who had more raw strength than me due to his larger build, soon shook off my restraint and slowly got up.

Seeing this, I pulled out the knife stuck in Jackson's forearm.

Rip—!

"Aaaaargh-!"

And I immediately...!

Thud.

...Instead of slitting his throat, I stuck the knife in his palm like pinning it.

"Aaaaargh-!"

Thwackkk!

And then another punch followed.

Thwack—! Thwack—!

With his right hand fixed in place by the knife, Jackson had no choice but to become my sandbag.

Even though Jackson had a muscular, giant build, as he kept getting hit in the same spots over and over, his face contorted and filled with bewilderment.

"Urghhh! To think you'd do this to me, Jackson Samuel with a 1200 dollar bounty...! I'll never forgive you...!"

"What? 1200 dollars?"

Soon he tried to bluff by mentioning his bounty, but...

"1200 dollars is less than Red Beard, you bastard!"

"Aaaghhh!"

"A mere 1200 dollar bounty dares to give me trouble? You're gonna die today."

...Of course, it wouldn't work on me.

After a few more punches like that, finally, a surrender declaration fell from him.

"W-wait! S-sheriff...! I... I surrender...! I'll just face the law's judgment...! So spare me...! If you hit me more, I'll die...! Sheriff-!!"

But...

"I'm not a sheriff though?"

"...Huh?"

"I said I'm not a sheriff."

"T-then what..."

"Just a model citizen who beats up outlaws."

Thwackkk!

"Aaaaarghhh!"

I didn't accept his surrender either.

"Fist! Fist! Elbow! Fist!"

"Arghhhh! J-Just a moment...!"

"You dare take a child hostage? Bastards like you need a beating to come to your senses."

"S-sorry, I mean...! J-just... Aaaghhh!"

Actually, taking children hostage was a method I often used too, but experiencing it firsthand was more irritating than anything.

I mercilessly rained down punches on Jackson, putting my earlier frustration into my fists.

"Aaaaarghhh!!"

And so Jackson's screams echoed for a long time.

***

In the end, I didn't kill Jackson.

His existence would serve as living proof that the train was attacked by a robber gang.

Of course...

"Uuugh..."

Being alive didn't mean he was in a normal state.

I beat him with my fists until he went crazy, then tied him up with rope.

At this rate, when we arrive in San Francisco, he'd probably be hanged right away.

And so, with all the outlaws who attacked the train eliminated and the gang leader Jackson captured alive...

The train robbery incident was wrapped up like this.

The situation was quickly sorted out too.

Befitting a luxury train, there was a resident doctor who could treat the injured, and strong passengers among them collected the outlaws' bodies in one place.

There was the problem of the third-class car's wall being blown away, but the hole wasn't big, so they used boards as a temporary measure...

"Well then, the train will depart again!"

Whoooo—

Before night fell, the train was able to depart for San Francisco again.

In total, 26 outlaws attacked the train, including the 24 train robber gang members and 2 who had infiltrated as staff beforehand, but in the end, there were no fatalities.

It was truly a miraculous result.

Because of that...

"Wooooah!!"

"Jett Gray!!!"

"Righteous Sheriff Jett Gray!!"

"Jett!! Jett!!"

"Well... everyone please calm down first..."

I... no, Justice Town's Sheriff Jett Gray became the hero of the train.