Chapter 28
Meanwhile, in Justice Town.
"Giddy up."
Today, too, the friendly Hispanic Joe of Justice Town was moving early in the morning to load goods onto his wagon.
Passing by Noah's bounty hunter office at a corner of the town, Joe fell into a brief reminiscence.
Is it a week today? No, it's been longer than that.
It had already been well over a week since Noah and Emma left Justice Town for San Francisco.
Without Noah hitching free rides on his wagon while completely drunk, Joe felt somewhat empty.
In fact, until Noah moved in three years ago, Justice Town was a very quiet neighborhood.
To think it would return to the original Justice Town just because one person left.
Suddenly missing Noah...
— Oh, you want something? Of course, I'll give it to you… I'll let you live.
— Joe! Come here and help me!
— Joe! Give me a ride! For free, of course!
— Hey, Joe!
— Joe—!!
...
...No, I take that back.
Honestly, Joe didn't miss him.
In fact, Joe preferred a quiet atmosphere over a noisy one.
"...Yeah, this is just right."
As Joe was thinking this and nodding, passing by the office, that was when it happened.
"Neighhh!!"
"Hmm...?"
Hearing a familiar horse's neigh, he turned his head and...
"No Name...?"
"Neighhh!"
Noah's familiar horse, No Name, was wandering near the office and neighing towards him.
"W-what...! Are they back already…? So quickly?!"
Feeling a deep disappointment in his heart, Joe went towards No Name for now.
But there was something strange.
"...Hmm? No Name? Where did your saddle and saddlebags go?"
"Neigh?"
The horse in front of him was definitely No Name, but...
No Name had nothing left on him that showed traces of humans, as if he were a wild horse.
What's this...
Though puzzled, Joe led No Name to the stable attached to Noah's office for now.
No Name seemed to recognize Joe's face and followed his lead to the stable.
After tying No Name inside, Joe knocked on the office door.
"Mr. Noah? Ms. Emma…? Are you back by any chance?"
"..."
There was no answer.
So Joe gently opened the door, but...
"No one's here?"
Indeed, there was no one inside, and no signs that Noah and Emma had returned.
This is quite strange.
Of course, he had heard Noah was going to San Francisco by train, not horse.
Noah had boasted a lot about receiving a first-class ticket for the direct train departing from Salt Lake City.
...Then why was No Name, who should have been kept in Salt Lake City, here in Justice Town?
Surely they didn't meet bandits on the way and something bad happened... No, that's impossible.
Joe considered the possibility that Noah had been robbed but soon shook his head.
Noah was more likely to rob others than be robbed.
"...Right, let's not worry about that guy. He's the type who would survive even if thrown into hell."
Instead, he was a bit worried about Emma.
Could a gentle and beautiful lady like Emma control a mad dog like Noah?
So Joe left for his work, worrying whether Noah was treating Emma roughly.
***
Flash.
I woke up earlier than usual due to the hot sunlight briefly shining on my eyes.
"Urgh..."
After stretching and getting up from bed, I immediately checked outside the window.
A somewhat familiar scenery and a horizon, not a skyline, greeted me.
...We were about to arrive at San Francisco station.
Tap tap tap tap—!!
"Emma! Wake up! We're almost at San Francisco!"
As soon as I realized this, I approached Emma sleeping on the sofa and woke her up by drumming on her shoulders.
Tap tap tap—!
"Mmm..."
"Emma! Wake up and look!"
"...I'm awake. Stop."
Emma quickly woke up from my somewhat rough touch.
I raised the still half-asleep Emma and brought her to the window, pointing outside with my hand.
Emma, still with sleepiness in her eyes...
"Look, this is San Francisco."
"...!"
…opened her eyes wide as soon as she saw the scenery outside the window.
"Hehe."
"..."
Emma had wanted to go to San Francisco so badly.
Seeing Emma's surprised reaction upon seeing San Francisco, even though it was still the outskirts, made me feel proud.
But Emma's surprise at looking out the window wasn't simply because of San Francisco.
"...Is that the sea?"
"...Hmm?"
Emma's country bumpkin level exceeded my imagination.
"...It's my first time seeing it. The sea."
"..."
Dumbfounded by Emma's words that she was seeing the sea for the first time, I asked her, "...Emma, were you chased out by giants and trapped inside walls?"
"...Pardon?"
"...Never mind."
Wondering how someone over twenty could be seeing the sea for the first time, I soon understood Emma's circumstances.
Justice Town was located inland.
The surroundings were all wasteland, and there was only a well, not even a lake.
Emma has lived in Justice Town her whole life, so of course this would be her first time seeing the sea.
"There's really a lot of water. It's amazing."
"..."
"And this is San Francisco… The houses are all packed together like an ant colony."
After staring at the sea for a long time, Emma belatedly admired the view of San Francisco.
Poor people live on the outskirts of San Francisco in shacks packed tightly together like this.
To me it was just a slum like Harlem, but even that seemed amazing to Emma's eyes.
To be so amazed by just that, like a child seeing a robot for the first time...
I looked at Emma, who was seeing even the sea for the first time, with a bit of pity, then soon smiled and gently grasped her shoulder.
"Welcome to San Francisco."
This was California, which could be called the Laugh Tale of the West.
And among that, San Francisco was the most prosperous center.
From now on, there would be countless things for Emma to be amazed by.
***
Just before arriving at San Francisco station, Emma and I packed our luggage and waited at the exit to get off as quickly as possible.
Impersonating a sheriff was a serious crime.
I planned to flee quickly before my identity was exposed.
But...
"Oh?! Mr. Gray!"
"Righteous Sheriff Jett Gray!"
"Hero of the train! Hahaha!"
"Ah... hello?"
The other rich gentlemen from first class spotted us and greeted us.
The rich gentlemen saw that we had packed our luggage and asked, somewhat surprised, "Hmm? Are you two leaving already? Why are you in such a hurry? Have breakfast before you go."
"It's the last meal of the journey, why don't you join us?"
"Ah... haha. We're in a hurry."
I had a particular reason for being wary of these rich gentlemen.
The day before yesterday, during the train robbery incident, I had taken the railroad tycoon's money bag as "evidence".
If they asked for it back...
...Well, actually, I should return it.
Feeling guilty, I approached the railroad tycoon to return the money, minus what I had lost in gambling.
But...
"...Um, Mr. Lloyd. About the evidence I took last time..."
"Ah? That? Keep it comfortably and give it back later when you have time! If you really need it, you don't have to return it!"
"...!"
The railroad tycoon was cooler than I thought.
I couldn't help but be surprised at his words that I didn't have to return the money bag.
"...Are you serious just now?"
"Of course! Hoho, without you, our company's reputation would have been greatly damaged. Moreover, you even protected all of us, so I should bear that much!"
"Mr. Lloyd...!"
At the railroad tycoon's touching words, I almost burst into tears.
I suddenly remembered what a comedian once said.
— Friends with a lot of money tend to have a lot of affection too.
That saying is absolutely true.
"Wahaha! Thank you, Mr. Lloyd! Then I'll take good care of the evidence!"
I was so happy I could almost jump up and down, nearly swearing loyalty to the railroad tycoon for a moment.
But...
"Hmm? Then, Mr. Jett. What are you going to do with the outlaws you caught? The bounty on them should certainly be yours."
"...Ah."
When the railroad tycoon mentioned the bounty for the Jackson Train Robber Gang, I had to pause again.
Those bastards' bounty...
Jackson had clearly said his bounty was 1000 dollars.
The other subordinates would have bounties too, so if I handed their bodies over to the sheriff's office, I could collect quite a nice bounty.
It's a shame... really fucking shame...
I wanted to exchange those guys' bodies for bounty too, but...
If by any chance the San Francisco sheriff's office discovered that I had impersonated a sheriff, everything would be ruined.
Above all, the big problem was that I didn't have wanted posters for the Jackson Train Robber Gang.
The sheriff's office wasn't such a kind place.
There would be a lot of arguments to determine the truth since I killed people without wanted posters.
Of course, in the end, I would be recognized for the merit of taking down the outlaws, but...
It would take too much time.
I didn't have that kind of time.
I didn't just come here to catch the train robber gang.
The fee William offered for safely bringing back his daughter was 10,000 dollars.
If I killed the black man who ran away with his daughter, the reward would go up to 20,000 dollars.
In contrast, if I risked exchanging the outlaws' bodies at the San Francisco sheriff's office, it would be at most 3-4 thousand dollars.
I couldn't ruin a big profit for a small one.
So I shook my head, swallowing my tears.
"...I'm really busy. I'd be really grateful if you could dispose of those bodies, Mr. Lloyd."
"Is that so? Well... alright."
Just as I finished a brief conversation with the rich gentlemen, that was when it happened.
Thud.
The train came to a complete stop and...
"You can get off now."
Creak.
The attendant opened the tightly closed train door.
It was now time for Emma and me to part with this train we had lived in for a week.
Although it was eventful, including meeting the train robber gang, it was still quite fun as it was my first time in first class in my life.
So as Emma and I quickly got off the train...
"Thank you for everything, rich gentlemen!"
I waved to the rich gentlemen who were still on the train for breakfast.
It was brief, but I had a good experience gambling and mingling with those rich gentlemen.
It seemed the rich gentlemen felt the same way, as they laughed heartily and waved back at me.
"Same here! If anything happens, come to us! We'll help you as much as we've been helped!"
"Yes! Then we'll be going now!"
And so our train journey came to an end.
Now... it was time to go perform the request that could be worth 10,000 dollars or even 20,000 dollars.
"Emma, let's go. Now we have to go catch the Go couple."
"Yes."
Saying this, I looked around San Francisco for the first time in three years.
San Francisco, which I was seeing after a long time, had developed much more and...
…was exuding a much sharper atmosphere.