Chapter 31 - 'He' is Back

"S-South Brotherhood..."

Emma's face turned pale when she heard the secret that San Francisco's Mayor Luke was actually the leader of the South Brotherhood.

It couldn't be helped.

The fact that the mayor of San Francisco, a metropolis with over a million people, was the boss of the largest gang in the West was an important plot twist revealed only in the final episode of <Catch the Outlaws>.

But Emma wasn't the only one surprised in this carriage.

"Y-you...!"

"How did you...!"

Secretary Billie and the strong men waiting in the carriage seemed quite shocked that I knew Luke's true identity.

Click.

"Tell me right now! Who did you hear that from?"

"Boss! Just give the order, and I'll take care of him right away."

They immediately cocked their hammers as if about to fire their guns.

"..."

Seeing this, I could feel Emma subtly moving her hand toward her holster too.

It was truly a powder keg situation.

Among these, the only ones maintaining composure were me and Luke.

"..."

I smiled slightly at Luke, who was quietly staring at me with eyes like a beast, and said, "Mayor, shall we stop this pointless waste?"

"..."

"You know, if I wanted to kill you, I could have done it already... Like this."

Click.

I smiled and drew my gun to aim at Luke without anyone noticing.

"...!!!"

No one could react to my movement and could only watch.

"You bastard!"

"Put that down right now!"

The South Brotherhood gang members belatedly threatened me, but I didn't lower my gun until the end.

...Or rather, I wanted to pull the trigger right now.

The amount left for me to go home was about 95,000 dollars.

And the bounty on Luke in front of me was 150,000 dollars, the highest among outlaws.

Theoretically, I could go home if I just killed this guy.

But...

It would be hard to prove this man is the South Brotherhood leader.

It wasn’t like bounty money just fell from the sky when one killed an outlaw, right?

To receive the bounty, I'd have to take this guy's corpse to the San Francisco sheriff's office.

Probably countless South Brotherhood gang members would rush in to avenge their boss.

Even if I broke through that barrage to get to the sheriff's office, I'd be lucky not to be branded as the mayor's assassin.

Currently, information about the South Brotherhood's leader was non-existent except for a few people.

No matter how much I shouted that San Francisco's mayor was actually the South Brotherhood leader, I'd just be called crazy.

In <Catch the Outlaws>, when the protagonist built up enough fame, they proved Luke was the South Brotherhood leader with Pinkerton's help.

But Pinkerton?

Those bastards are actually fucking bastards too.

They wouldn't help me without fame, and I didn't want their help anyway.

So the conclusion was...

There was no merit for me in killing Luke, whom I was aiming at right now.

Luke would know that well too...

Luke also had no merit in killing me right now.

Knowing this, Luke lowered his gun barrel that was aiming at me, along with his characteristic expressionless face.

Swish.

"Right, if you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already."

"Boss...!"

"It's alright, everyone lower your guns."

"..."

Swish.

As Luke lowered his gun, the other South Brotherhood members and his secretary Billie also hesitantly lowered their guns.

Only then did I lower my gun and say to Luke with a smile, "Yes, let's not do this among fellow countrymen. Mayor, I told you, I'm from the South too."

Luke answered seriously to my trivial words, "...Didn't I tell you too? We already confirmed that your birthplace is New Mexico Territory."

"Ah, that's a lie, a lie. Actually, where I was born is South K..."

"South Carolina? Are you really from the Confederate States?"

"No, South Korea."

"..."

To be precise, a university hospital in Sinchon, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.

I had spoken without a shred of lie, but of course, these NPC bastards couldn't understand.

"Your habit of talking nonsense is really still the same."

Luke smiled genuinely for the first time, then asked me, "...Now, tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"The reason you came back when you swore you'd never return to San Francisco."

"..."

If someone asked me if Luke was a trustworthy person, I would definitely answer “No”.

Luke was a cunning person who was the boss of the largest gang in the West while secretly serving as the mayor of San Francisco.

Luke, with a military background, was skilled not only in combat but also in scheming and political maneuvering, making him a troublesome boss that greatly annoyed the protagonist character in <Catch the Outlaws>.

But at the same time, he was the only person who could help me with his immense power in San Francisco.

"Actually, I'm looking for a black man and a rich young lady."

Having no choice, I opened up to Luke without hiding anything.

***

Luke is a smart person.

It was better to tell the truth rather than make dubious lies and arouse suspicion in front of him.

So I told Luke without omission about how I received a request from William to catch the interracial couple and came to San Francisco.

"..."

Luke listened quietly to my story and then asked as if he understood everything, "So in short, you're asking our South Brotherhood to find those two people?"

"Yes, that's right."

With the power of the South Brotherhood secretly ruling San Francisco, finding those two people would be no big deal.

As I boldly asked for this, Luke laughed as if in disbelief, "...Haha, you're asking me for that? You're still as shameless as ever."

"It's not shamelessness, it's being easygoing."

"..."

Tap tap.

Luke then tapped the carriage sofa with his finger as if in thought.

And then he quickly finished thinking and answered, "...Alright, I'll help you."

"Nice! As expected, Mayor, you're still cool..."

"But there's a condition."

"As expected, Mayor, you're still petty."

"You're still as ill-mannered as ever too. That's all because you didn't receive proper family education."

...This fucking bastard?

For a moment, my hand itched to draw my gun, but I held back.

It was true that the current body Noah, not the original body Dokgo-young, didn't receive proper family education.

Above all, it would be a loss to unnecessarily irritate each other and waste energy.

Wanting to finish the request quickly and leave San Francisco, I wiggled my finger and asked Luke, "...Stop with the nonsense and tell me what the condition is already? Spit it out. I'll accept most things."

"First, I'd like you to hand over all your guns to us while you're staying in San Francisco."

"Hey~"

The first condition was rejected right away.

"Who do you think you're trying to fool, old man? Why? Are you going to take my guns and kill me quietly?"

If we look friendly just because we were riding in the same carriage and talking amicably now, that would be a big mistake.

Luke's head was likely full of thoughts of wanting to tear me apart and kill me right now.

But...

"What would I gain from killing you now?"

Luke asserted with his usual poker face as if he had no such thoughts.

"What I'm worried about is rather you causing trouble with guns in your possession."

"..."

Somehow Luke's tone was quite adamant.

As if saying there would be no further cooperation if I didn't accept the condition.

So I had no choice but to...

Thud, thud.

I took out the guns from my holsters and placed them in front of Luke.

Luke carefully watched if I took out all my guns, then gestured towards Emma next to me and said, "I'd like the secretary to take out her gun too."

"Emma, take out your gun."

"...Yes."

Of course, Emma had no choice but to hand over her gun too.

Looks like I'll have to live as a knife-wielder for a while again.

But surely there won't be a need to shoot in San Francisco?

Since we weren’t dealing with outlaws, I handed over the guns without much hesitation.

"Well, I've handed over all the guns, what's the second condition?"

"The second condition is..."

And just as Luke was about to state the second condition...

Stop.

Suddenly the carriage stopped and...

"Mayor, we've arrived at the daycare center."

The coachman's voice announcing our arrival at the destination was heard from the driver's seat.

"Ah, we've arrived already? Noah, I'm sorry but I'll tell you the second condition later. Just wait here for a moment."

"Huh? No, just tell me quickly now..."

"My schedule now is the daycare center. We can't keep the children waiting, can we?" Luke said this while gathering up all my guns.

And he left the carriage with his secretary and bodyguards, leaving only me and Emma inside.

"These guys will be guarding outside, so it's best not to do anything rash."

"...You really know how to make things troublesome."

"And belatedly, welcome back to San Francisco."

Thud.

With those final words, Luke closed the carriage door, leaving only me and Emma inside.

But we weren't completely free.

South Brotherhood gang members were guarding outside the carriage with guns, so it was kind of like semi-confinement.

"Ah, that sly fox. He should just let it slide."

Still, since only Emma and I were in the carriage, I immediately laid down on the sofa to make myself comfortable.

But...

"...Boss."

"Hmm?"

Only I was comfortable in this space with just the two of us.

Emma, perhaps not yet adjusted to everything that had happened since arriving in San Francisco... asked me with an even stiffer face than usual, "The mayor of San Francisco... is actually the boss of the largest gang in the West?"

"Oh, yeah. It's unfortunate for San Francisco citizens, but that's true."

Well, I didn't care since I wouldn't be living in San Francisco anyway.

As I answered indifferently like that, Emma asked me with a still stiff... no, serious face, "...Then how do you know that fact, Boss?"

"......"

"...What exactly is your identity, Boss?"

...Is it just my imagination?

Today, there seemed to be wariness in Emma's eyes looking at me.

Disliking this, I got up from my seat, smiled slightly, and answered, "...What do you mean? I'm just your boss."

"..."

"You don't need to know anything else. I'm just your boss."

Boss.

Whether it was Justice Town or San Francisco.

For Emma, I was just her boss, that was enough.

"..."

Swish.

Just as I was about to lie down on the sofa again after saying that, something occurred to me and I quickly advised Emma before I forgot, "Ah, by the way, Emma. Don't call me Kid here."

"...Kid. Isn't that your nickname in Justice Town, Boss? Why..."

"Just don't call me that when I tell you not to."

Emma didn't know, but I wasn't only called Kid in Justice Town.

There were probably quite a few people in San Francisco who would frown at hearing the name Kid.

My goal was to complete the request quickly and swiftly and leave San Francisco.

Not wanting to create unnecessary trouble, I prohibited Emma from calling me Kid.

***

Noah's secretary Emma wasn't the only one who couldn't understand the situation in the carriage just now.

"...Mayor, who was that man just now?"

secretary Billie, who didn't know Noah's identity either, approached Luke from behind as he headed to the daycare center and whispered, "...I don't know how he knows, but that man knew your identity, Mayor. Now that he's disarmed, if you order, we could quietly take care of..."

"What? Take care of Noah? Haha."

"...Mayor?"

At the suggestion to take care of Noah, Luke let out a laugh as if in disbelief.

Billie swore this was the first time she had seen Luke laugh since starting her job as his secretary.

Confused by this, Billie had a blank expression, and Luke returned to his poker face and said to her, "Billie, don't you recognize who that guy is? You should be acquainted with him."

"...This is my first time meeting such a frivolous man. Really."

Billie could pride herself on having above-average memory.

And the handsome features with dark circles under the eyes that Noah just now possessed.

It was an appearance impossible to forget once seen.

So Billie was certain she was seeing Noah for the first time now.

But Luke shook his head with a slightly hardened face.

"No, you've definitely met him before. You just don't recognize him because you're seeing his bare face for the first time."

"...Bare face? Then usually..."

Usually, he covers his face or something... wait.

"..."

Billie's face hardened as she had a bad feeling.

Luke told her as if it was an unavoidable fact, "That guy is Kid."

"...!"

Although Billie always maintained cold reason as the mayor's secretarysecre and actually did so...

Kid.

Thud.

The moment she heard that name, Billie couldn't help but freeze as if she had taken root to the ground.