Chapter 56
"What a son of a bitch!!"
Bang—!
In the mansion after Noah left, William couldn't contain his anger and slammed the table.
"What? He wants 20,000 dollars? Does he think I'd just hand it over if he put a gun to my head?"
"Master... please calm down first..."
"Jansen! Would you be calm if you were me? A guy who failed the request is threatening me and demanding 20,000 dollars in cash! This guy who doesn't know his place!"
Noah's outrageous behavior didn't end there.
— Ah, Josephine and the negro have gone far away.
— You'll probably have to cross the Pacific to find them.
In fact, William had roughly guessed that bringing Josephine back had failed when contact with his subordinates in San Francisco was cut off.
But to say that mockingly in front of a father who lost his daughter...!
Above all, Noah's skills just now.
William didn't know the details about gunslingers' skills, but he could tell that what Noah just showed was no less, if not more, than the negro who took his daughter.
That bastard... He surely could have caught them but didn't.
Thinking that way, his hatred for Noah doubled.
William, who had been upper class since birth, wasn't the type to just let such an insult slide.
Rather than giving money to that guy, he'd rather use that money to erase him from this world.
"Jansen! How many good shooters do we have in our house?"
"...We have 4."
"Damn! Is that all? Search for gunslingers in this area! Tell them we'll pay generously!"
"Master. Given our location, it will take well over a week to gather as many gunslingers as you want."
"Then what should we do!? Are you saying we should just hand over the money to that crazy bastard as he demands!!"
At William's nagging, his retainer Jansen looked around for a moment and then suggested one strategy.
"Um... Master. You know about the gang guys who came to the village this time, right?"
"Those thugs? Why them?"
"How about using those guys?"
"...Use those guys?"
"Yes, Master, perhaps if you lend your ear..."
After hearing Jansen's strategy, William's eyes widened slightly.
***
"Why should I?"
"...Pardon?"
Joe, who had been making a foolish expression, soon realized the meaning of my answer and grabbed me, shouting as if wailing, "Mr. Noah!! Huu! How can you be so cold! You've spent time with me and our Justice Town residents!"
"I've only lived here for 3 years? To be honest, there are many people whose names I don't know."
Even though Justice Town was a small village, its population was just over a thousand.
Even if I lived here for 30 years instead of 3, I wouldn't have memorized the names of all those numerous NPCs.
"What does time matter-! Even if it's a short time, we've built up affection!"
"What nonsense about affection!"
I couldn't help but be dumbfounded at Joe's wronged cry.
That was because...
"Who was it that gave me shitty nicknames like ruffian, brat, Kid, etc. from when I first came 3 years ago?"
"T-that... wasn't just a nickname but a term of endearment..."
Term of endearment my ass.
And that wasn't the end of it.
"Always whispering whenever I pass by and badmouthing me saying the village became noisy because of me. Do you know how many times I wanted to just draw my gun?"
"...Y-you had such thoughts?"
Originally, it was basic for Western villages to exclude outsiders.
Because they didn't know where that outsider came from or what they did, they had to be wary first to protect their lives and property.
But Justice Town's exclusion towards me was severe even for that.
Fuck, I had lived in this neighborhood for 3 years, but the owner still subtly grabbed his gun every time I went to the grocery store, that said it all.
Still, I didn't have much complaint about living here until now.
Because I was going to leave this game soon anyway.
Just as the villagers built a wall towards me, I was also building a wall towards them, who were NPCs.
As long as we didn't deeply touch each other's lives, it didn't matter how they treated me or what they thought of me.
But what?
They forget all about the cursing, the badmouthing, and being wary of me now that they were in danger, yet had the gall to ask for my help?
Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.
"These pathetic Justice Town bastards."
"...Pardon? Pathetic...?"
"There's such a thing, Joe. Anyway, I won't help, so you villagers figure it out yourselves."
I finished notifying Joe and turned around.
Then Joe desperately grabbed my pant leg to stop me from leaving.
"Huwaang! Mr. Noah! I'm really sorry for calling you a ruffian usually...! But can't you help just this once?! I've given you many free carriage rides...!!"
"Haa."
Well, yeah.
It was true that while I kept my distance from many villagers, I did get quite close with a few people like Emma, Jett, Bob, etc.
Joe could be considered one of those few if I had to say.
So instead of coldly pushing Joe away, I sighed and said, "Geez, Joe. Why did you borrow money from them in the first place? I gave you 200 dollars, didn't I?"
I had given Joe 200 dollars before as payment for coming along to help eradicate the Red Beard Gang.
"...I have over ten family members to take care of alone. When I fed my family meat for once in a long time, it was all spent quickly."
But contrary to my expectation that 200 dollars would be plenty, Joe's household seemed even tighter.
"Still, you don't need a large sum of money. What did you borrow money for?"
"M-my younger sibling got very sick... As you know, there's no doctor in our village. So to bring a doctor from Lincoln County..."
Hmm... Certainly, Joe is a good guy.
He borrowed money not for his own selfish desires but for his family.
Moved by this, I thought for a moment and then reached out to Joe.
"...Get up, Joe."
"Mr. Noah...?"
"Your circumstances are pitiful, so I'll help."
"...Ah."
Joe thought his sincerity had gotten through, and looked at me with eyes full of emotion as he got up.
I spoke to such a Joe once again with a serious face.
And...
"So how much can you give me, customer?"
"...Pardon?"
Joe showed another foolish reaction after hearing my words.
"You need to tell me how much you can give me as a request fee so I can give you an estimate. Oh, and did you say there were 40 gang members? I won't take this request for less than 4,000 dollars minimum."
"..."
Joe blinked his blank eyes at my polite attitude and then...
"N-no!! What are you saying!? I'm being victimized by those guys because I don't have money, where would I have money to give you!!" he shouted as if dumbfounded.
"And 4,000 dollars...? The money I borrowed from those guys is 250 dollars...! I don't even have 4 dollars in my pocket now, how could I possibly..."
"What? So you were trying to use me for free? Aren't you just a scammer!"
"Damn it...! The scammer isn't me but...!"
I waved my hand and turned around again, leaving Joe behind who was feeling wronged.
"Ah, forget it. Get lost, get lost. Come to my office with a formal request when you've gathered 4,000 dollars with all the villagers."
"How can you do this to me, Mr. Noah...! I even took care of No Name's feed while you were gone...!!"
"Oh really? Thanks. I'll deduct 2 dollars for feed costs when I take the request later."
A 2 dollar discount for feed costs was really a crazy deal even in my opinion.
This was all my consideration for my relationship with Joe so far.
After bestowing this final mercy on Joe, I approached Emma who was on horseback.
"Let's go, Emma."
Emma looked down at the crying Joe with her characteristic expressionless face and said, "...Boss. You're still as cold-hearted as ever."
"Well, should I dig the ground to make money? My job is a bounty hunter, I need to get paid to beat up gang guys or whatever."
Heave-ho.
I got on the horse and asked Emma, "Why? Are you taking the villagers' side because you're also a Justice Town native?"
"...Hmm."
By then, the street was already full of villagers who had come to watch the scene between Joe and me... and to see if I would help them or not.
Of course, among these many people, only Joe had bowed his head and asked for help, while the rest were still watching with wary eyes.
Emma swept her cold eyes over such villagers once and then answered, "If I had to say, I'm on the boss' side."
"That's right. That's my secretary."
At Emma's answer, I smiled slightly and grabbed the reins.
I was planning to go straight back to the office like this.
That was when Joe, who had been crying on the ground, shouted desperately to me as if grasping at the last straw, "Mr. Noah! Please! At this rate, the village will be taken over by those guys!"
"Oh my, what to do."
Of course, I was just indifferent.
But...
"Everyone here will become slaves to those bastards! So please..."
"Oh dear, that's too ba... Wait."
As I was listening to Joe's last cry, the word “slave” caught my attention and I suddenly started to recall an old memory.
A memory of playing the game on a computer before entering this world.
"...Hey, Joe. Is the gang's name by any chance the 'Rush and Gold' gang?"
"...Pardon? Ah, yes. It's R-Rush and Gold."
"...Haa, I can't believe I just remembered this now."
At Jo'es answer, I couldn't help but frown.
Justice Town was both a respawn location for outlaws in <Catch the Outlaws> and a place that had to be passed through for the story.
The Rush and Gold gang coming meant...
Chapter 4 [Liberation of Justice Town] of <Catch the Outlaws> was progressing.
And that also meant the game's protagonist would soon visit this place.
The protagonist, a Pinkerton private detective, was coming here.
That was quite a headache for me.
Damn, I was planning to chill here until I could go home.
To the point where I was considering whether I should leave Justice Town, my sweet hunting ground.