Chapter 47
The painkillers of this era contain morphine.
Morphine.
It was a representative drug that even people in modern times had heard of.
But in this barbaric Western era, even the concept of drugs hadn't been established yet.
Therefore, many medications contained such narcotics without hesitation.
Because I was given a painkiller containing morphine when treating my wounds earlier, I wasn't in a fully sane state.
Maybe that was why.
I failed to notice that this villa was too clean to have been abandoned for years.
"And I couldn't tell you earlier, but this place... isn't it very clean for being abandoned for years? As if someone is cleaning regularly..."
Step.
As soon as Emma said those words, a presence was heard from outside.
"...!"
It wasn't one person.
Two people.
Right now, two people were walking precisely towards this villa.
"...What's wrong, Boss?"
"...Ah fuck. Speak of the devil..."
"...Is someone coming here now?"
"Yeah, quickly clean up our traces. Hurry!"
There were already traces of us left in the villa—scattered first aid kits, blankets, and letter envelopes Emma had opened.
Fortunately, the guys coming here were moving at a leisurely pace.
Emma and I desperately cleaned up our traces and hid in the wardrobe.
We happened to hide in the same wardrobe, so our bodies were quite close, but that wasn't important right now.
Creakkkkkk—
As soon as we entered the wardrobe, the villa door opened.
Thud, thud.
The footsteps of the guys walking on the wooden floor were clearly heard, as if they were wearing boots.
"Haah... haah..."
"..."
Emma's hot breath tickled my neck as she tensed up.
Due to the height difference between Emma and me, we ended up in a position where I was hugging Emma tightly.
Usually, I would have joked around, but I couldn't do that now.
Our current situation might look like romance at a glance... but in reality, it was a thriller.
Should I fight if necessary? My condition isn't great.
To be precise, it was more of a mental problem than a physical one.
My vision was dizzy, so I didn't think I could perform at my usual level.
So I chose to wait and see for now, even though I had a gun at my waist.
Creak.
Soon, the guys entered the room where we were.
Their figures were intermittently visible through the gap of the not fully closed wardrobe.
"Ah~ I really don't understand why we have to do this kind of work!"
"..."
One with a frivolous voice and the other taciturn.
As expected, they were wearing stiff boots, and each had a gun holstered at their waist.
And among those, what stood out the most was...
White uniforms and white masks held in their hands.
As soon as I saw the guys holding those, I couldn't help but flinch.
...I thought they had completely disappeared, pushed out by the South Brotherhood. They were still in San Francisco.
And I wasn't the only one surprised to see them.
"...!"
Emma also seemed to realize who they were, as she soon wore a surprised expression.
***
White uniforms and white masks.
And as one of them took off his gloves as if hot, a tattoo revealed on the back of his hand.
K
As soon as she saw the tattoo with “K” written on it, Emma could recognize who they were.
Even for Emma, who had lived her whole life in the backwater of Justice Town...
Their trademark was too famous.
If the South Brotherhood is the largest gang in the West...
These guys were called the worst gang in the West...
TKK.
The gang TKK, which took the form of a secret society, was said to have all its members with high bounties set as outlaws.
That was why they wore white masks like that every time they operated to avoid showing their faces.
Though not as large as the South Brotherhood, their cruel notoriety was known throughout America.
...I heard they had disbanded and disappeared?
Why are these guys here...?
"..."
No matter how skilled a gunslinger Noah was, these guys would surely be formidable opponents too.
Emma held her breath as much as possible to avoid being discovered hiding here.
Fortunately, the TKK members didn't notice at all that Noah and Emma were hiding in the wardrobe.
"For high-level personnel like us to do letter delivery and cleaning... I didn't join the organization to do just this kind of work."
"..."
"Don't you agree, Senior?"
"...Be quiet."
The taciturn man called “Senior” silenced the man with the frivolous tone and then took something out of his pocket.
It was...
Thud.
...a letter.
He placed a letter envelope that looked the same as what Emma had been reading on the desk with familiarity.
"Rookie, have you forgotten the rules?"
"...No, I haven't forgotten."
"First rule. Traitors must be killed."
At the senior member's words, the junior member who had been talking frivolously closed his mouth.
The senior member said to him in a firm voice, "Second rule. Orders from superiors must be carried out without fail."
"..."
"This is a direct order from the boss. If you complain one more time, I'll execute you on the spot."
"...Yes, I'm sorry."
At the senior member's cold words, the junior member immediately lowered his tail.
"...Then I'll start cleaning right away."
"Good."
Thinking to finish cleaning quickly and leave, the two moved busily but didn't even glance at the wardrobe where Noah and Emma were hiding.
...Good. If we just wait until they leave like this.
As Emma sighed in relief, the junior member started sweeping the room where Noah and Emma were first.
But it seemed he was naturally talkative.
Despite being scolded just now, the junior member started talking to the senior member in his characteristic frivolous tone.
But the content was unusual.
"By the way, Senior. Why is the South Brotherhood acting like this now?"
"..."
"They're turning the city upside down with the sheriff's office, and even blockaded the outskirts of San Francisco with state government troops, I heard? Could it be they noticed we're hiding in the city and are conducting a sweep operation..."
"...A report has already been sent to the higher-ups, so they'll probably handle it appropriately. So don't be scared and wait."
"Yessir."
The South Brotherhood mobilized state troops to blockade San Francisco?
That was surely aimed at Noah and Emma.
Then the way back to Justice Town leaving San Francisco is blocked...
The San Francisco trip, which was only exciting during the trip to arrival, was becoming more extreme.
Just as Emma held her forehead for a moment, that was when it happened.
"Let's see. Then I'll start sweeping from here... hmm?"
The junior member looked at the floor once as if something was strange, then looked up at the ceiling.
The senior member asked about his strange behavior, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"No... I was just wondering if it's leaking. The floor is wet."
"...!"
Emma flinched as soon as she heard those words.
Oh no...
Disinfectant must have splashed on the floor when treating Noah.
I thought they wouldn't notice at all because it was dark...!
"..."
Swish.
At the junior member's words, the senior member squatted down to check the wet part.
"...It smells of alcohol."
"...Pardon? If it smells of alcohol."
"..."
"..."
Soon their conversation stopped.
A suffocating silence suddenly fell.
...They noticed.
Just the fact that members of TKK, the worst gang in the West, noticed their presence made Emma's heart pound.
That was when...
Swish.
"...!"
As Emma became scared, Noah in front of her put his hand on Emma's head and stroked it as if to say It's okay.
Boss...! Are you crazy...?!
The guys had already noticed that Noah and Emma were in this villa.
If they showed such busy movement in this situation, it was clear that the guys would immediately notice that the two were in the wardrobe.
Although Emma made a terrified expression at this, Noah didn't remove his hand from her head and just smiled.
And...
"..."
Strangely, her heart started to calm down at Noah's action.
As her trembling gradually decreased and she started to become calm again, that was when it happened.
Creak.
The wardrobe door where Noah and Emma were hiding opened and...
"..."
"..."
The four people, who were uninvited guests to each other, awkwardly made eye contact.
Noah was the first to speak.
"Would you believe it if I said we're Santa Claus and Rudolph passing by?"
"...."
Click.
Unfortunately, Noah's Santa act failed as it was still summer.
The TKK members immediately drew their guns from their holsters.
As expected of TKK members, it was at a speed hard to follow with the eyes.
But...
Bang—! Bang!
"Guhkkk!"
"Arghhh!"
No matter how skilled gunslingers they were, they couldn't be faster at quick draw than Noah.
Even though Noah wasn't in a normal state due to being intoxicated by drugs, he aimed precisely at the members' foreheads with a formidable quick draw and hit them.
After the situation ended, Noah came out of the wardrobe and said glibly, "If it was winter, I might have fooled you, but I guess I couldn't fool you since it's summer."
"..."
Unlike Noah who immediately checked the guys' corpses, Emma ran straight to the desk as soon as she came out of the wardrobe and checked the letter the guys had brought.
[July 2, 1874]
Indeed, all the letters in this villa were brought by these TKK members.
Emma, who found this whole situation questionable, asked Noah, "TKK... I heard they had disappeared, I didn't expect to meet them in a place like this… But why are these people managing this villa?"
"..."
"And why are these people delivering letters sent to you, Boss... Could it be that this JJ person who wrote the letters is also TKK...?"
Moreover, in the letters, JJ used the expression “we” to Noah.
They also wrote sentences with nuances as if Noah had betrayed them...
Which meant...
"...!"
At that moment, the situation started to click into place in her mind.
At the same time, she had a bad feeling.
About Noah's past life that Emma didn't know...
An ominous and chilling premonition.
Step back.
As Emma unconsciously moved her body back...
"..."
Noah stared at her with cold eyes she had never seen before.
It was such a chilling gaze that her heart stung for a moment, but...
Emma swallowed dry saliva once and finally asked Noah, "Boss, were you perhaps an outlaw?"
As soon as Emma uttered those words, the atmosphere in the room turned cold.