Chapter 57
"Ahhhh! Finally back~!"
The exterior of my office, which I returned to after a long time, was no different from before.
I first ran to the stable.
"No Name."
"Neigh neigh."
There, No Name was whinnying and welcoming me.
Joe said he took care of No Name, and indeed, he was in good condition.
"...No Name really came back on his own. From Salt Lake City to Justice Town."
"Of course. I told you our No Name is smart, didn't I?"
"No matter how, it's dozens of miles, how..."
Emma still seemed unable to understand how No Name had returned alone over that long distance, but I had believed in No Name from the beginning.
I knew he was no ordinary horse from the day I first met No Name 3 years ago.
In <Catch the Outlaws>, one could get a special horse through a secret quest called “Taming a Wild Horse”.
I didn't complete the quest, but judging by No Name's intelligence, he must have been one of those special horses.
No Name and I, who formed a bond like that, caught numerous outlaws together while riding through the wilderness of Justice Town.
The bond between No Name and me...
"Well then, shall we decide now?"
"Pardon? What, boss?"
"We now have two horses, including No Name and the one Mr. Lloyd gave us. We should sell one of them."
To be honest, there wasn't much.
No matter how great a horse was, it was just a horse.
But this statement of mine seemed shocking to Emma and the two horses.
"No, Boss, what kind of trash talk is that..."
"Neigh—!"
"Neigh...?"
Emma and the two horses looked at me with disgusted eyes.
I learned a new fact from this.
"Oh, you understand my words roughly too?"
"Neigh."
The horse Mr. Lloyd gave.
I already knew it had good bloodlines and was fast, but it seemed to understand my words roughly too.
"Hmm... This makes it more difficult. Which one should I sell?"
"...Boss. Are you really thinking of selling one of them? Why don't we just keep both..."
When Emma spoke as if disappointed, I explained to her rationally, "Emma, I don't need two horses. Raising another one would just increase maintenance costs, it's a waste, a waste."
"..."
More importantly, the next part was crucial.
"And… do you know how much money horses are worth? No Name is super smart, so we could sell him to a circus or something, and Mr. Lloyd's horse is pretty and fast, so we could sell it to a racetrack."
"...You've even thought about specifically where to sell them."
"If we sell just one of them, we'd earn at least a few hundred dollars, right?"
Horses, which were no different from private cars in the Western era, were very precious beings.
And if other horses were like regular cars, the ones in front of us should be seen as supercars.
For me, who wanted to leave this fucking game world quickly, it was a wise choice to cash in one horse for a few hundred dollars rather than keeping two horses uselessly.
"Hmm... Surely Mr. Lloyd won't ask for the horse back later? But selling No Name would be a shame since we have good teamwork..."
After a moment of agonizing deliberation, I finally decided which horse to sell.
"Alright, I've decided. No Name has been through a lot with me, so we should stay together till the end."
"Neigh—!"
"Neigh..."
The two horses showed opposite reactions to the result.
No Name was happy, and Mr. Lloyd's horse was sad.
Anyone watching would think it was the result of an audition.
And it wasn't just the horses who were sad.
"Of course, we can't sell No Name, but... sighhaa
Swish.
Emma reached out to Mr. Lloyd's horse after hearing my decision to sell it.
"...I've grown quite attached to this one too."
"...What attachment. We've only seen it for a few days."
"Still, didn't it carry us quickly and comfortably during those few days?"
Emma's hand stroking the horse was filled with deep regret.
At that moment, I found myself staring blankly at Emma's face without realizing it.
This is an expression I've never seen before.
Emma used to always have an icy, expressionless face in the past...
Lately, her expressions have become much richer.
Even this deeply regretful expression was something I was seeing for the first time on Emma.
Maybe that was why.
"...Alright then."
"...Pardon?"
Once again, I made a choice I wouldn't normally make.
"Let's put selling this guy on hold for now. It'll take a few months for the horse trader to come anyway."
A horse trader came to Justice Town twice a year.
Since one came last time, it would take a few months for another to come.
If not that horse trader, we'd have to go to Lincoln County or Lexio County several days away to sell the horse, but that was honestly too bothersome.
"Until then, you ride this horse, Emma. You should have a horse too."
"Boss, does that mean..."
"You be this horse's owner."
"...!"
Oh, this time she's smiling.
Emma's face changing rapidly in an instant was more interesting to watch than I thought.
"...Thank you, Boss."
"Yeah, for now, keep it in the stall next to No Name."
Actually, I was planning to never sell the horse, just putting it on hold as I said earlier.
Because I needed over $90,000 to go home now.
When I have about $1,000 left, I could sell No Name and this horse at the same time and go home right away.
And until then, it would be a waste to leave the horse doing nothing, so I just entrusted it to Emma.
But to Emma, her first horse in life seemed to feel so special.
"Boss, then can I name this one?"
"Name? Sure, do as you like."
"Hmm..."
Emma soon fell into thought about what name to give Mr. Lloyd's horse.
Mr. Lloyd's horse was a white horse with an appearance that could be in a fairy tale book.
I watched to see what Emma's naming sense would be like.
And...
"...Bonnie."
"...What?"
"I'll name it Bonnie."
"..."
Hearing the name she gave, I couldn't help but be a bit surprised.
"...Bonnie? Does it have to be Bonnie?"
Among countless names, why Bonnie of all things?
Bonnie. That name...
But Emma seemed to have already made up her mind.
"...Yes, I'd like to go with that if possible."
"..."
"Is it not okay?"
I thought for a moment and then shook my head.
"It's fine, it's your horse, you should decide."
"Thank you."
Emma's face brightened again at my permission.
I watched that for a moment and then turned around.
"Now that it's all decided, let's go inside. Emma, put Bonnie in the stable and make me some coffee."
"Yes."
As I was about to walk towards the office, No Name whinnied as if thanking me.
"Neigh."
"Hmm? Why, ah..."
When we first met, I couldn't tell its sex, but last time I confirmed that No Name was female.
In contrast, Bonnie...
“...”
Whew, no wonder people say, "horse dick, horse dick.”
Bonnie was obviously male to anyone who looked.
Then...
"You beast."
"Neigh."
So No Name has finally found her mate.
Seeing No Name the black horse and Bonnie the white horse reminded me of Django and Josephine.
I wonder how those two are doing now.
Click.
As I unlocked the key and went inside, the unchanged interior of the office greeted me, just like the exterior.
"Oh my."
Tired from travel fatigue, I laid down on the bed right away.
As I rolled around a bit on the bed like that, Emma brought me coffee.
Sip.
As I took a sip of coffee, Emma also sat in front of me drinking coffee and spoke with difficulty, "...Are you really not going to help the villagers?"
"..."
At her sudden question, I frowned for a moment and answered, "...Since when have I done things that don't make money? Those guys don't even have wanted posters, so I can't get paid."
"Since they were a gang doing loan sharking, wouldn't they have a lot of hidden money? Maybe we could earn a lot of money like with the Red Beard Gang..."
"No, there's no money to be made from them even if we catch them."
"...Pardon? How do you..."
"I just know."
<Catch the Outlaws> Chapter 4 [Liberation of Justice Town].
Chapter 4 began when the protagonist character cleared Chapter 3 and arrived in Justice Town.
Chapter 4 started by showing the hardships of the villagers who had fallen into slave-like conditions under the Rush and Gold gang.
Even if the protagonist wanted to help the villagers immediately and deal with the Rush and Gold gang, they couldn't.
Because the Rush and Gold gang were unofficial outlaws who hadn't had wanted posters issued yet.
Here, the protagonist could choose.
Whether to choose Justice or Benefit.
If the player chose Benefit, Chapter 4 was automatically skipped.
If the player chose Justice, it led to a quest to eradicate the Rush and Gold gang.
But even if one finally eradicated the Rush and Gold gang, their money was already hidden somewhere and couldn't be found...
Moreover, one ended up paying bail due to a circuit judge connected to them.
The structure of Chapter 4 was one where the player would inevitably lose out if they progressed the story.
While it was a shitty, skippable chapter, in <Catch the Outlaws>, Chapter 4 was most important because...
If successful, it greatly raised the player's fame, which directly led to the happy ending.
To see the happy ending in the final chapter, one’s fame needed to be at a certain level, and to do that, clearing Chapter 4 was essential.
In other words, this matter was something I didn't need to step up for, as fame was useless to me.
No, I shouldn't step up.
Because if I did, I'd just end up losing my money.
And well, if I left it alone, the protagonist would come and solve it someday.
...But what if I run into that protagonist bitch?
That bitch is a real piece of work.
...Ah, I don't know.
I decided to think about the aftermath later.
"I'm planning to completely ignore those gang bastards' business, so let's just focus on squeezing money out of that old fart William."
"...Yes, understood."
Hmm, this time it's just expressionless as usual.
Emma finished her coffee with that expressionless face and then...
"Then I'll be going now."
She got up from her seat.
"Huh? Where to?"
"I should go home now too."
"Ah."
Emma lived alone in a log cabin about 1 mile away from my office.
Well, Emma is human too, so she must be tired after just returning from a trip.
Seeing Emma getting up from her seat, I suddenly felt playful and said with a sly smile:
"Why go all the way to your house?"
"Pardon?"
"Just sleep here. Hehe, I'll hug you tight."
"..."
"...I'm joking."
"Yes, then."
If it was the Emma of the past, she would have looked at me with contemptuous eyes when I teased her like this.
But the current Emma didn't do that.
Rather, she had a look that said, “Then should I stay over?” so I couldn't help but be flustered.
"Boss, then I'll be going."
"Oh, okay."
Thud.
Emma left my office like that.
For the past 3 years living in this backwater, I took pleasure in tormenting Emma.
So I had about 101 ways to torment Emma in my head...
It seemed I needed to delete a few of them.
"Emma has changed... changed," I muttered bitterly and lay back down on the bed.
When I closed my eyes, I saw...
Emma's various expressions that changed moment by moment earlier came to mind.
It was worth seeing. Emma changing... maybe it's not so bad?
I fell asleep thinking like that.
Maybe because my body was tired.
I was able to sleep a very deep and languid sleep.
***
The log cabin I returned to after a long time was the same as before.
Emma finished cleaning lightly and sat down.
"Phew."
It was a short but intense San Francisco trip.
Although Emma prided herself on her strong physical strength, she closed her eyes due to the travel fatigue remaining throughout her body.
When she closed her eyes, the events she experienced during the trip came to mind.
...But somehow, only good memories came to mind.
...Bonnie.
The horse her boss Noah had just given her.
Emma named that horse Bonnie.
The reason she gave the name Bonnie was because as soon as she saw that horse, that person's face kept coming to mind.
Not just when looking at that horse...
Lately, whenever she closed her eyes, he came to mind.
Emma got up from her seat, feeling her cheeks getting a bit hot.
Then she washed up, changed clothes, and laid down on the bed.
As she closed her eyes to fall asleep, an old memory came to mind.
It was when she first started working as Noah's secretary 3 years ago.
— ...Then is the boss' name Noah?
— Yeah, that's right.
— Then what is the boss' full name?
— Full name?
— Yes, I think it would be good to know just in case.
The meticulous Emma had asked for his full name in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
At this, Noah thought for a moment and answered,
— Well, alright. Since you'll be working as my secretary from now on, I'll tell you just this once as a special case.
She heard it just once, but Emma still remembered it until now.
— Noah H. Bonnie Jr.
Noah H. Bonnie Jr.
Bonnie.
Ah.
Again.
Lately, whenever she closed her eyes, only that person came to mind.
Emma was changing.
And...
Thump.
She was feeling her own changes.
...Though she didn't know at which point she fell for that rascal.
It was her first love.