Chapter 29
Without any exaggeration, San Francisco Station was more crowded and noisy than modern-day Seoul Station.
Whoooo—
Trains roared and people filled the station.
And...
"Please give me just a penny!"
Homeless people lined up in the corners of the station, begging.
San Francisco was currently undergoing a transition period with rapid urbanization.
Many people came to California thinking it was a land overflowing with dreams and gold, but in reality, it was just another bottom rung, and...
The city was on the verge of sickness due to the overflow of people.
This place is still noisy and smelly...
People who had been on the train for a long time couldn't have properly washed.
Stuck between people and stagnant, I was disgusted by the smell coming from people's bodies and just wanted to get outside quickly.
But...
"...It's my first time seeing so many people gathered like this."
...Even this seemed amazing to Emma, the country girl.
Emma was surprised to see people of various races, especially...
"Those people...! They must be Asians. It's my first time seeing them...!"
She shouted in surprise at seeing Asians, who were rare to see in Justice Town.
Called coolies, many Asians, especially Chinese, had immigrated to California since the mid-1800s.
While Asians could be seen quite often in California, they were rarely seen in Justice Town, so it must have been surprising.
"Emma, it's rude to stare at people like they're monkeys."
"...Ah."
At my point, Emma quickly became subdued, probably embarrassed by her reaction.
"Phew, it's too noisy and smelly to stay here any longer. Let's get out quickly."
Grab.
I grabbed Emma's hand and somehow pushed through the crowd to get outside the station.
"Wow...!"
Another exclamation burst from Emma as we got outside the station.
This time, she was surprised by the line of stagecoaches stretching endlessly.
"How can there be so many stagecoaches...!"
From a modern person's perspective, it was just a fucking rush hour, but even that made Emma's eyes widen.
...This is totally like coming for sightseeing?
I smiled and teased Emma jokingly, "Emma, did we come here to play? You can't close your mouth."
"...I'm sorry."
Only then did Emma realize and bow her head to me.
Then she asked me with a slightly worried look, "...By the way, I didn't know there would be so many people. How will we find those two people in this big city?"
The request we received from William was to find his daughter Josephine Capulet and the black servant Django Montague, and interfere with their love.
We had seen Josephine's portrait, but it wasn't very clear since it wasn't a photo, and we didn't even know what this Django looked like.
Finding those two people in San Francisco would be almost like finding Mr. Kim in Seoul.
But...
"Don't worry, I have a method in mind."
I already had a plan.
When I said this, Emma asked with a brightened voice, "As expected, you had a good idea. May I ask what method it is?"
To this, I answered with a confident face, "It's..."
And...
"We're going to do nothing."
"...Pardon?"
Emma's face was filled with confusion at my answer.
"Do nothing... What do you mean..."
"Emma, how big do you think San Francisco is? Do you think we can find those two people by just wandering around? I'm an expert at killing outlaws, not finding them."
"...But if we do nothing, we can't succeed in the request, can we?"
"Actually, I know some guys who are amazing at finding people."
Unlike me, they were experts at finding people, especially hidden black people.
"We're in a hurry, so I'll explain as we go. Follow me."
Wanting to complete the request as quickly as possible and leave San Francisco, I led Emma toward the line of stagecoaches.
Then, after getting on a relatively clean-looking carriage...
"Go to City Hall. Is this enough?"
I handed over a one-dollar bill and told him to go to San Francisco City Hall.
"Oh my, of course. I'll take you right away."
One dollar was quite a large sum to be used as mere taxi fare.
Since San Francisco City Hall wasn't that far from San Francisco Station, the coachman started the carriage with a big smile after receiving the bill.
"...City Hall?"
Hearing the destination of City Hall, Emma, sitting next to me, tilted her head and asked, "Boss, why are we going to City Hall?"
"Because there's someone there who will help us."
Of course, that person probably wouldn't be too happy to see me return...
— Swear that you will never return to San Francisco... no, California.
Well, can't be helped.
I'll just have to explain my situation well.
"Someone at City Hall will help us? Who on earth is that?"
"Shh, you'll see later. It won't be fun if I tell you everything now."
It’ll be interesting when you actually meet that person later.
I added that and didn't give any more explanation to Emma.
When I didn't say more, Emma didn't ask further and just turned her gaze outside.
"San Francisco... It's beyond my imagination."
Everything in San Francisco seemed amazing to Emma right now.
Emma looked at the shops lining the streets and the various people's attire.
And soon...
"Hmm...?"
As if she had seen something strange, she tapped me and pointed to one side.
"...Boss, that."
"Huh? That?"
What Emma pointed at was...
"...Isn't that the Confederate flag?"
Established in 1861 and destroyed in 1865...
It was an emblem containing the flag of the Confederate States of America, symbolizing the division of the United States and slavery.
"Why is that... It's been over 9 years since the war ended."
Although there were still places in various Southern regions that used the Confederate flag... it was rare in the West, so it must have looked strange to Emma's eyes.
But I, familiar with that emblem, answered indifferently, "Ah, that. It's nothing special. That emblem including the Confederate flag is the mark of the South Brotherhood."
"...The mark of the South Brotherhood?"
No matter how much of a backwater Justice Town was, there was no way not to know about the South Brotherhood, the largest gang in the West.
Just as Emma asked me with widened eyes.
That was when it happened.
"Is it okay for the South Brotherhood's mark to be openly displayed on the street like that? They're the largest gang in the West, it should be removed immediately..."
"M-Ma'am...!!"
The coachman driving the carriage in front turned around in shock after hearing Emma's words.
"P-please refrain from mentioning the South Brotherhood...! Especially saying they should be arrested...!"
"..."
Emma stopped talking, surprised by the coachman's pleading cry.
I stared intently at the coachman who was overreacting as if he had heard the name of the Grim Reaper, and then...
Swish—
"Hey, coachman."
"...Yes."
"How's the South Brotherhood these days? Are they still running rampant in San Francisco?" I asked while subtly handing him a five-dollar bill.
"...Ah."
Seeing the five-dollar bill, the coachman thought for a moment and then said to me, "...You sir don't seem to be new to San Francisco."
"I left this place three years ago. So I don't know much about recent events."
"...Then I'll explain."
And after receiving the money from me, he slowly began his story.
"The South Brotherhood is a gang that settled in San Francisco after the Civil War ended. You know that, right?"
"I do."
"Until then, the South Brotherhood's power wasn't that great... But from five years ago, they started growing gradually, and from three years ago, they became completely dominant. You can't find any other organization in San Francisco besides the South gang."
The coachman's eyes were filled with deep dissatisfaction as he explained.
"There's no store on San Francisco's streets that doesn't pay tribute to the South Brotherhood. They even collect tribute from us coachmen, can you believe it? And from last month, they even raised the tribute amount... haa."
As the coachman let out a sigh of frustration, Emma asked beside me as if she couldn't understand, "...But isn't San Francisco one of the most developed cities, even in California? What are the state government and city doing?"
"How would I know? I heard that the South Brotherhood's connections reach all the way to the California state government..."
Hack—ptui.
The coachman spat a thick phlegm on the roadside and continued, "You know the famous story that the bounty on the South Brotherhood's boss is as much as 150,000 dollars, right?"
"Yes, I know… But they say no one knows the face of the South Brotherhood's boss..."
"Does it make sense that no one knows the face of such a huge gang's boss? The South Brotherhood is like that! And that what's-it-called TKK, those damn bastards' boss too! It's clear that the country is taking bribes and deliberately not catching them!"
Whether in Korea or America, taxi drivers like such conspiracy theories.
But...
It's somewhat true.
What the coachman just said wasn't entirely wrong.
"Haa... But the current mayor is a great person. We just have to believe in him.”
The coachman finished his explanation by talking about the current San Francisco mayor.
"Is the mayor the same as three years ago?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. The mayor is the same as three years ago. He's really a great person. How much he strives for the poor..."
Korean taxi drivers and Western coachmen alike love to talk about politics.
We were only able to arrive at City Hall after listening to a long speech about how good a person the San Francisco mayor was.
"Well then, have a good time in San Francisco!"
"Oh, right, you have a good day too."
After sending off the coachman and getting off in front of City Hall, Emma let out an exclamation looking at the City Hall building.
"Wow..."
San Francisco City Hall was a relatively modern building in this barbaric Western era.
I expected Emma to be surprised seeing it.
But...
"What kind of building... Oh..."
What surprised Emma more was seeing the uniforms of the guards in front of the City Hall building.
"...Those people are also South Brotherhood."
"That's right."
"...Is this really okay? Gang members of the South Brotherhood openly guarding the front of City Hall like this."
Seeing the South Brotherhood gang members guarding the entrance of City Hall, Emma tensed up as if she had seen outlaws.
I smiled and patted Emma's shoulder.
"Emma! Don't look at them like that. We're going to go inside now."
"Are we... going inside City Hall?"
"Yes, there's someone inside who will help us with our request."
"..."
Emma followed behind me with a questioning expression.
So we moved towards City Hall, which was guarded by the South Brotherhood.