Chapter 32 - Money Tastes Best When Others Earn It For You For Free

As expected, our showman politician Luke, who didn't really care about the daycare children, returned not long after leaving the carriage.

"Noah, did you wait long?"

"Not at all. I figured you'd just show your face and come back."

"As the mayor of San Francisco, managing public opinion is important, you know."

...It seemed Luke had become much more glib in the 3 years I hadn't seen him.

Before, he had a stronger military feel, but now he seemed like a perfect politician.

I shrugged and gestured impatiently to Luke as he sat down.

"I don't care about that, just tell me quickly what the second condition is. I want to finish this request and get out of this neighborhood."

"Alright. Then I'll tell you the second condition I'd like you to follow while staying in San Francisco."

Luke's expression was quite meaningful as he said this.

So I couldn't help but worry.

What kind of condition is he going to set?

But...

"I'd like there to be a supervisor to make sure you don't do anything unnecessary in San Francisco."

"...Ah."

The second condition Luke proposed was more modest than I expected.

Feeling relieved, I leaned back on the sofa again and answered indifferently, "Why do I need a supervisor, as if I'm going to cause trouble? I'm just thinking about finishing the request and going back quickly, you know?"

"If you don't like the term 'supervisor', we can call it a guide."

"...Come on, I've lived in this neighborhood for so long, what guide do I need."

"Didn't you leave 3 years ago? San Francisco has changed a lot since then. You probably won't be familiar with it."

"..."

Familiar my ass.

Luke still doesn't trust me.

I really don't intend to cause trouble...

But what can I do?

Having a supervisor would be somewhat annoying, but it was unavoidable if I wanted to complete the request with the South Brotherhood's cooperation.

"...So who's going to be our supervisor?"

"My secretary here will take on that role."

"Hmm? Won't she be busy? Is it okay for your secretary to do something like that?"

"It's fine."

Luke saying he'd assign his own secretary as a supervisor was a bit surprising.

I briefly glanced at the secretary who slightly bowed her head to me.

First of all, she was a woman and quite pretty.

Age-wise, mid-20s? Anyway, she looks a bit older than me.

Her skin was as fair and smooth as Emma's, and above all...

She looks like a total goody-two-shoes?

Her appearance didn't match the South Brotherhood in many ways.

Looking at her hands, she doesn't seem used to guns either...

Anyway, she looked easy to deal with.

So I nodded readily and offered her a handshake.

"Ah, yes, well. Then I'll be in your care. Your name was... Michael Jackson?"

"...It's Billie Jean."

"Ah right, that's it. Anyway, nice to meet you."

Grip.

"..."

As soon as I shook hands with Billie, I had to correct one of my earlier thoughts.

She looked just delicate, but there were quite a few calluses on her hand.

It seemed she had practiced handling guns at least as much as Emma.

Right, Luke's not an idiot, he wouldn't assign just anyone as a supervisor.

I gauged Billie's skills to some extent and let go of her hand. Then I asked Luke one last thing, "Okay, the second condition is fine too. So this is really the end now, right? Can I trust you?"

"...No, there's one last, most important condition."

"What, there's another condition? Why has our mayor become so petty while I was gone..."

I was about to continue jokingly but stopped when I saw Luke's expression.

"..."

And as I looked at him with my own expression erased, Luke finally opened his mouth:

"I know that no matter how much I take your guns and assign a supervisor, you can do anything if you want to."

"..."

"Don't do anything in this city."

At that moment, Luke's face looking at me was like that of a yaksha.

"If you cause any harm to San Francisco and the South Brotherhood..."

"..."

"I will definitely kill you."

Shudder.

As expected of the final boss of this world, his intimidation was considerable.

...This old man keeps trying to provoke me.

I usually accepted fights that came to me, but...

"...That won't happen, Mayor."

I decided to hold back.

Let me say it again, I didn't come to San Francisco to fight Luke and the South Brotherhood.

My only goal was to return home.

And...

[Unable to log out]

[Remaining amount until logout: $905,586 / $1,000,000]

It wasn’t long until I achieve that goal.

If I succeed with this request, I'd be one step closer to going home.

"I absolutely won't cause any trouble in this city. So please find those two people I'm looking for quickly."

"..."

When I answered compliantly with a slight smile, Luke also relaxed his expression and nodded.

"Django and Josephine... Right, I'll find that negro and rich young lady you mentioned as quickly as possible."

"Then I'll wait and trust you. Can I really go now?"

Swish.

Luke gestured outside the carriage instead of answering.

Honestly, although I came seeking help, I didn't want to talk with the South Brotherhood people for long either.

So I got up to get out of the carriage.

But that was when it happened.

"Oh, by the way, Noah."

"...?"

As I opened the carriage door, Luke stopped me as if he had one last thing to say.

There was a mischievous smile on his face.

"Since you're in San Francisco, don't you want to see your old friends?"

"..."

"Oh, not friends? You know, those bastards you used and threw away."

Luke, the mayor of San Francisco and leader of the South Brotherhood, was not someone who made jokes just for fun.

The reason he deliberately said this to me now was... probably to test my patience one last time.

Accurately judging Luke's intention, I answered with a smile, "The fuck are you saying, you son of a bitch."

"...!!!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold again and became explosive due to my suddenly aggressive response.

But Luke just watched me with a smile, as if he knew I would react like this.

I showed Luke my middle finger.

"You Southern remnant cocksucker. Just do your job properly. Django and Josephine. If you can't find them, you're dead to me."

"...You bastard! How dare you speak to the Mayor like that!"

Remnant.

That was a sensitive word for Southerners, especially the South Brotherhood.

The strong men in the carriage raised their guns as if upset, but I didn't care about such things.

"Fuck off. You self-proclaimed resistance fuckers. I came from the future, and that shit you call a revolution will fail before you even try."

It wasn't wrong.

The South Brotherhood's riot and rebellion were stopped by the protagonist in the final episode.

Of course, even knowing that I knew the South Brotherhood's goal seemed shocking to those here.

"You...! You...! How do you know about the revolution...!"

"Well, I'm leaving. Bye, NPCs."

With those final words, I got out of the carriage.

And after waiting for Emma and Billie to get out, I was about to close the carriage door when...

Grin.

I caught a glimpse of Luke smiling inexplicably.

I had just insulted Luke who was trying to test me.

I thought I had gotten under his skin, but... why was he grinning like that?

Conveying that meaning, I stared at Luke, and he spoke with a sincere smile, "I wondered if you might have changed over the past 3 years, but..."

"..."

"You still don't see people as people."

Of course, Luke didn't know what the word NPC meant.

But with his innate perceptiveness, he knew that I was treating everyone here simply as characters.

"Welcome back to San Francisco once again..."

"Whatever."

Bang.

What a sly fox.

Having finished our business and not wanting to talk anymore, I cut off his words and closed the carriage door.

***

"Neighhh!"

Not long after I closed the door, Luke's carriage departed.

And...

"..."

"..."

"...”

A somewhat awkward man and two women were left behind.

Perhaps bothered by the presence of the supervisor Billie, Emma quietly whispered to me while watching her, "...Boss. Didn't you say the other party is the mayor of San Francisco and the leader of the South Brotherhood?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"...Then he's the most powerful person in this city. Is it okay to irritate someone like that..."

I waved my hand dismissively at Emma's worried words.

"Ah, it's fine. That old man is cooler than you'd think."

"...If you say so, that's a relief."

Only then did Emma mutter with a small sigh as if relieved.

"More importantly, we'll have to stay in San Francisco for quite a while. Even if he's the most powerful person here, it won't be easy to find people in this huge city."

Emma's reasoning was sound.

All I had told Luke was the fragmentary information that we were looking for a black-white couple named Django and Josephine.

Even if he ran the city, it would seem difficult to find two people in this San Francisco overflowing with countless people.

But...

"No? I think we'll find them in a few days."

"...Pardon?"

"Look at the name of this group. It's the 'South' Brotherhood."

In the South where slavery was prevalent, there were professional slave catchers to find runaway slaves.

The South Brotherhood, with most of its gang members from the South, would naturally have many people who used to work as slave catchers.

Finding people would be no big deal for those guys.

"Finding one negro is nothing to the South Brotherhood. Right, Michael Jack—"

"...It's Billie Jean."

"Oh, right. I'll call you Billiefor short."

When I asked Billie about this, she nodded.

"Yes. Moreover, our South Brotherhood thoroughly controls this city. Django and Josephine were the names, right? We should be able to find those two people quickly."

"See, even Billie says so. So Emma, we only need to stay in San Francisco for a few days."

"Ah... a few days."

Hearing that we'd stay in San Francisco for a shorter time than expected, Emma asked with a slightly darkened expression, "...Then what should we do for those few days?"

"What else?"

What would we do after outsourcing the request to those outlaw bastards of the South Brotherhood?

"We'll do some sightseeing."

We'll play.

It's really sweet to have others work for you while you play.

From the beginning, I intended to get money for free with this request.