Chapter 38
As expected, the night spent in the suite room was exceptionally comfortable.
I woke up in the morning feeling more refreshed than ever.
And the one who greeted me was Billie, who had somehow entered my room without me knowing.
Leaning against the wall, she approached as soon as I opened my eyes and said, "I went to see the mayor last night."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes, when I went, it turns out our side had already identified Django and Josephine."
"How come you're slower at finding them than me and Emma? As expected of the South Brotherhood. You guys are fucking great at your job."
"..."
"...?"
Despite my deliberate attempt to get on her nerves, Billie didn't show much anger, unlike yesterday.
As I tilted my head, Billie revealed an unexpected fact.
Her face looked somewhat proud as she opened her mouth.
"Our South Brotherhood found out new information besides that."
"New information? What is it?"
"Those two are leaving San Francisco on a ship departing before midnight today."
"...!"
"The destination is Hawaii. Unless you want to follow them to the middle of the Pacific later to find them, we must catch them today."
***
Despite it being early morning with the sun just rising, there were many people on the streets.
Dock workers and factory workers heading out to work, and coachmen setting out to receive morning customers.
We blended in among them and infiltrated in front of the inn where Django and Josephine were staying.
And after I, Emma, and Billie took turns keeping watch for a few hours...
"...Boss, the two of them are coming out."
"Okay."
Finally, Django and Josephine appeared.
They didn't have luggage bags in their hands.
It seemed they would leave their luggage at the lodging until they board the ship tonight.
The two were neatly dressed.
Django was dressed like the epitome of a gentleman of this era, wearing a neat suit with a fedora on his head and a cane in his hand, while Josephine was wearing an outdoor dress.
Befitting a rich young lady, Josephine looked radiant even in a simple dress.
But Django looked somewhat awkward.
Still, maybe it was because both of their faces had the same happy smile.
The sight of the two walking arm in arm looked quite good together.
"Let's go."
"...Yes."
We secretly followed behind Django and Josephine.
According to the South Brotherhood's information, Django and Josephine would leave for Hawaii tonight.
So I planned to capture the two of them today when the opportunity arose.
Django and Josephine's first destination was a cafe.
"Looks like they came to have breakfast."
"Yeah."
Django and Josephine seemed to be having breakfast, sitting cozily at a cafe table and ordering coffee, pancakes, and such.
Through my keen eyesight, we could even confirm what menu items the two ordered.
But we couldn't be too far away or we might lose them, so we watched them while pretending to have breakfast at a cafe one block away.
As I was drinking coffee and watching Django and Josephine, Emma, who was next to me, asked, "Boss, those two seem completely defenseless right now, how about catching them now?"
"..."
I hesitated for a moment at Emma's question before answering, "...No, not now. There are too many people around and it's too open. If we're not careful, we might get reported."
"I understand."
Emma nodded obediently, and our tailing continued.
The couple's next destination was a nearby park.
It seemed they came for a walk after breakfast.
Django and Josephine were still defenseless, but I didn't catch them for the same reason as at the cafe earlier.
After finishing their walk, the next destination was the racetrack.
To modern people, going to the racetrack might sound negative, but in this era with few entertainment options, it was one of the ordinary leisure activities.
So we also entered the racetrack following Django and Josephine.
"Boss, I've confirmed their seats. Should we catch them now?"
"Whew, Emma. How are we supposed to catch them in this commotion? Let's pass on this and catch them next time."
"...Yes, I understand."
"Since we're at the racetrack, let's enjoy ourselves too. Shall we place some bets?"
In the end, we didn't catch Django and Josephine at the racetrack either.
By the way, I lost all the money I bet at the racetrack.
Damn it.
"Boss, Mr. Django and Miss Josephine are moving."
"Alright, let's follow them."
After spending about two hours at the racetrack, Django and Josephine came out.
The two walked for quite a long time.
The destination was a huge restaurant.
It seemed they were going for an early dinner.
We followed into the restaurant where Django and Josephine had entered, with some time gap.
Of course, we kept as much distance as possible between our tables.
"What's good here?"
"Our restaurant's lamb steak and lobster dishes are the most popular."
For reference, lobster wasn't such a luxury food in this era.
Until a few decades ago, lobster was cheap food that only black slaves ate.
These days, it was just starting to emerge as a decent ingredient.
"Lobster course for three, please."
"Yes, I'll prepare it right away."
We had come all the way to San Francisco, so we should try some seafood, right?
From a distance, it looked like Django and Josephine had also ordered the lobster course.
We finished our dinner leisurely, matching the couple's eating pace, and left the restaurant.
Outside, the sun was gradually setting, and people were returning home.
But Django and Josephine didn't return to the inn.
Their next destination was the harbor, where the sunset was falling over the horizon.
Django and Josephine walked along the sea path with that beautiful scenery as a backdrop.
Today's schedule was truly a typical date course.
The two seemed to be spending their time meaningfully, perhaps to remember San Francisco, which might be their last day here.
And throughout, smiles never left their faces.
Don't they get tired?
The two had been stuck together like magnets all day, yet they wore sincere expressions as if every moment was too happy.
It was the same now.
Django and Josephine were giggling, just walking arm in arm along the sea path, what was so enjoyable about that?
As I was watching the two, Emma asked me again, "Boss, there aren't many people around this time, should we go catch them now?"
"..."
I didn't answer Emma's question and just kept watching Django and Josephine.
Noticing this, the sharp Emma didn't ask me anymore when we would catch the two.
As more time passed like that, Django and Josephine returned to the inn only after it had gotten dark.
They said they would leave for Hawaii on a ship departing before midnight today, so they'd probably come out with their luggage in a few hours.
That would be the optimal timing to catch the two.
Emma seemed to have that in mind too, as she asked me one last time, "Boss, shall we raid them when Mr. Django and Miss Josephine come out with their luggage?"
"...We should."
As my answer wasn't very satisfactory, Emma tilted her head as if something had been odd for a while.
"Are you perhaps thinking of not catching those two?"
"No? That's not it. Do you know how much money is on that Go couple?"
"Then why on earth... Today's behavior is not like you at all, Boss."
"Just, well... they're not outlaws, so..."
If Django and Josephine had been an outlaw couple, I would have rushed to catch them without asking or questioning.
But Django and Josephine weren't outlaws, and...
— Thank you again for saving me today.
Especially Django was such a pure guy, reminiscent of a sucker.
Even such a kind Django would probably resist with all his might if I tried to forcibly take Josephine away.
In the end, I would have to use forceful methods to take Josephine away.
Even if they were NPCs, it bothered me a bit to mess with innocent civilian NPCs?
Above all...
Why do I feel so uneasy?
Whenever I think about catching Django and Josephine...
Whoosh—
An inexplicable feeling enveloped my whole body, as if something was blocking me and preventing me from going.
I knew what this was.
It was an intuition stemming from the [Superhuman Senses] trait I put in when customizing the character “Noah the Kid”.
My intuition was telling me not to step forward and just stay put.
The uneasiness of separating innocent civilian NPCs and a somewhat unclear intuition.
As I was lost in thought with my hand on my chin, that was when it happened.
"Boss...! Mr. Django and Miss Josephine... they've come out...!"
"Huh? What, already?"
At Emma's cry, I turned my head to see Django and Josephine coming out of the inn, each carrying a luggage bag.
It seemed they were planning to go to the harbor early to board the ship.
"...Ah, can't be helped."
I couldn't stall for time any longer.
It was a bit uneasy and I had a bad feeling, but my intuition had been wrong many times too.
"Let's go, Emma."
I slowly started walking, intending to capture those two before they boarded the ship.
Thud.
"Um... Boss."
Emma grabbed my arm and asked, "This is the last time I'm asking... 10,000 dollars or 20,000 dollars?"
"..."
10,000 dollars... or 20,000 dollars...
Ah... honestly, I want to earn 20,000 dollars.
I pondered until the last moment at Emma's question, but...
"...We rode first-class train and slept in a suite room. We've lived luxuriously. Let's just earn 10,000 dollars."
After all, I wanted to leave this world while still being human.
So I followed behind Django and Josephine without drawing the knife from my back pocket.
***
Django and Josephine savored their last moments in San Francisco, walking arm in arm.
"Aren't you cold, miss..."
"Django."
"...Ah."
Josephine didn't like being called “miss” by Django.
Realizing this, Django immediately smiled and corrected himself, "Aren't you cold, Josephine?"
"No, I'm fine."
Only then did Josephine smile.
That smile... was truly lovely.
Seeing Josephine's smile, Django smiled back and asked a bit wistfully, "Josephine. Won't you regret leaving like this with me?"
The couple's current destination was not another part of America, but the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Although many Americans had already settled there, Hawaii was still clearly a different country from the United States.
The two were not just leaving their hometown, but fleeing while turning their backs on their country.
It must have been a difficult decision, but...
"We've already settled this. I'll never regret it."
Josephine firmly shook her head as if she had absolutely no regrets.
"But still..."
"Django, let's just talk about happy things."
"...Yes."
Though they had escaped the master-slave relationship, Django was still beneath this tomboyish young lady.
At Josephine's firm words, Django smiled and didn't ask anymore if she had any regrets.
Instead, he started a pleasant conversation as Josephine wanted.
"When we spent time separately yesterday, I met a white gentleman."
"...A white gentleman?"
Josephine flinched at the mention of a white gentleman, but Django smiled and shook his head.
"He wasn't a bad person. Rather, he was a polite and courteous person who respected me."
Django then told her about how Noah had saved him from thugs, how they went to a fried chicken restaurant together, and even how he was given white meat.
After hearing the whole story, a smile bloomed on Josephine's face too.
"He sounds like a really nice person."
"He was a really nice person. But what first caught my eye about him wasn't his character."
"Then what?"
"..."
At Josephine's question, Django recalled Noah in his mind once again.
To Django, who had been color-blind since birth, the world was always gray.
But Noah...
"...I could see color on his body."
He was the only one with color in that gray world.
"...What?"
Josephine, who had known Django was color blind since childhood, was startled and surprised by his words.
"That's..."
As Django was about to explain in detail, that was when it happened.
"Heyyyy, nice picture!"
"...?"
"Stop right there for a moment."
Along with dialogue like that of a third-rate villain, someone emerged from the darkness.
It was...
"Mr. Noah...?"
Noah, the only one with color in Django's world.
Surprised Django called out to him, but Noah ignored him and spoke to Josephine, "Mr. William sends his regards."
"...!"
The two froze at the mention of William's name, who was Josephine's father and Django's master.
Seeing them like that, Noah grinned and said, "Uncontrollable young lady. It's time for you to go home."