Chapter 59 - Rush and Gold Gang

"Owner! I've come to collect today's interest!"

Bang—!

The guy seemed determined to make a scene today, barging in and striding forward after kicking the door open.

When I turned around, I saw a weasel with a vile face matching his shrill voice.

Trying to look intimidating with a scowl on his face, he kept calling for Bob as if I wasn't even there.

Bang—!!

"Hey! Owner!! Can't you hear me? I said I'm here to collect interest, in-ter-est!!"

"S-sorry...! My hearing is poor...!"

Bob, with his poor hearing, only came out of the kitchen after the guy kicked over a table.

Bob's attitude was quick and subservient as he rushed out of the kitchen, probably because the other was a debt collector.

And the weasel who came to collect interest, seeing Bob like that...

Smack—!

Hit him hard on the head once.

"You bastard. I told you to fix your hearing if it's poor."

"...I'm sorry. But... hehe, I wish that was possible."

"You're laughing? This bastard is laughing?"

Smack—! Smack—!

The weasel hit Bob on the head a few more times after that, and Bob just stood there stoically despite such humiliation.

Even though Bob could crush the weasel just by his size, he didn't show any resistance.

Until then, I was just quietly watching too.

Though I wanted to hit the weasel for his voice or face, I held back for now.

The guy must be from the Rush and Gold gang, and messing with him here would surely cause problems.

But as I tried to stay still, the weasel's shrill voice kept grating on my nerves.

"Haa... enough, just hand over the interest."

"...Pardon? But you collected interest yesterday too, so why again today…?"

"Don't you know the contract says interest is to be paid daily? Hurry up and pay!"

"But that's not..."

"You're talking back...!"

Thinking Bob wasn't listening to him, the weasel raised his hand high again.

Watching the owner of my regular bar get hit wasn't pleasant.

Above all...

Growl.

I'm fucking hungry, but that weasel bastard is keeping Bob from going to the kitchen.

I was very hungry.

Humans were animals too in the end.

Especially me, who was more faithful to instincts than anyone...

"Hey."

"...Hmm? Who are you..."

Wham—!

I immediately punched the guy who dared to interfere with my breakfast.

The punch was quite strong, combined with the strange irritation I'd been feeling.

Bob was the first to be surprised by this.

"K-Kid! This guy is...!"

"Ah, it's okay, Bob. I'll take responsibility, so go to the kitchen and keep making my food."

"But..."

"It's okay, it's okay."

As I kept saying it was okay, Bob hesitated but went into the kitchen.

And...

"Urgh! You son of a bitch!"

As soon as Bob went into the kitchen, the weasel guy who had been writhing on the floor got up.

"Oh? Hey, your nose is bleeding."

"Do you know who I am—!"

Swish.

He seemed angry and moved his hand towards his holster.

It looked like he was going to draw his gun.

At this, I smiled slightly.

Drawing a gun meant crossing the line...

And I could do anything to someone who crossed the line.

But then...

"...!"

"You're quick-witted."

The guy seemed to sense something was off and kept his hand still instead of drawing his gun.

Disappointed by this, I also took my hand off my holster and rushed at the guy.

"Then let's continue with fists."

Wham—!!

"Uwaaah!"

The weasel guy's high and thin voice shone when he was hit.

His reactions were quite something, so it was satisfying to hit him.

Smack—!

"Why is your voice so thin? It makes me want to hit you so badly."

"Aaaah—!"

Wham—!

"And why do you look like this? If you're ugly, you should get hit."

"What the fuck kind of bull... Aaaah!"

Wham—!

"You're laughing? This bastard is laughing?"

"Sob sob... When did I laugh..."

Smack—!

"You're crying? This bastard is crying?"

"Huuh... S-stop..."

After that, I hit the guy a few more times for various reasons.

Only then did my irritation subside a bit, and I stared intently at the guy's face.

"Phew... Alright, now let's take a proper look at your face."

If he was among the wanted posters I had, I was planning to shoot him dead right away.

But...

...He's definitely not in my memory.

There was no wanted poster for this guy among the ones I had.

He didn't draw his gun first, and there was no wanted poster for him either.

So instead of killing the guy...

Rustle.

I compromised by just taking the wad of cash from his pocket.

"Oh, why do you have so much money? Thanks."

It seemed he had come after collecting from other stores, as there was $40 in cash in the weasel guy's pocket.

As I took it all out, the weasel guy screamed while sobbing, "You! Do you know who you're doing this to?! You'll definitely regret this later! Give that back right now!"

As he said this, he pointed to the emblem embroidered on the side of his jacket.

It was a gang mark resembling a “$” sign.

It seemed to be the symbol of the Rush and Gold gang.

But to me, who had already noticed this weasel guy was a Rush and Gold gang member, that couldn't be a threat.

"Alright, now get lost. Let me eat my breakfast."

After neatly taking his revolver too, I threw the guy out of the bar.

"You bastard! Just wait here! I'll make you regret this!"

Having lost everything to me, the guy shouted third-rate villain lines and ran off somewhere down the street.

After watching until he completely disappeared, I went inside and Bob, who had brought out food, asked me worriedly, "...Kid, will you be okay? Those guys are dangerous..."

"...Yeah. I'm screwed."

"...Hmm?"

Originally, I had no intention of getting on bad terms with the Rush and Gold gang.

The most important thing to me was money, and those guys didn't have wanted posters issued yet.

It was obvious I wouldn't get a single penny even if I worked my bones off to catch them, and if I killed them wrongly, I could be branded an outlaw.

Ah, I should have held back.

But that guy from earlier was too hateful-looking to hold back.

"...I don't know. I'll just take them on if it comes to that."

The water's already been spilled, what can I do?

I thought about running away, but then this Deaf Man's Bar wouldn't survive.

With no choice, I waited for them while having my meal first.

And...

Clop clop clop clop.

By the time I finished eating, the sound of numerous horse hooves could be heard from far away.

A bit over ten people?

Anyway, quite a number.

"Bob, go into the kitchen for a moment."

"...Okay."

After sending Bob to the kitchen, I checked my weapons.

One revolver loaded with 6 bullets.

My armament was simple because I hadn't expected something like this to happen from the morning.

The enemy was over ten people, but I only had 6 bullets...

"I'm so relaxed."

There wasn't anything particularly problematic.

Creak.

Then the bar door opened and...

Step.

Someone came inside.

Hooh... This is unexpected.

Over ten people came rushing, but only one actually came in.

They surely heard from that weasel guy, but coming in alone meant he was quite gutsy.

Sip.

I watched the guy approaching me while drinking the coffee Bob had brought with breakfast.

Quite dirty clothes, two guns in holsters on both sides and a cowboy hat.

Looking at his appearance alone, he was just an ordinary gunslinger.

Did they send one subordinate before starting a fight?

But I couldn't help but be a bit surprised by what the guy said as he reached out his hand right in front of me, "Hey, sorry. I heard one of our members was rude. I'm Wieherbert, leader of the Rush and Gold gang."

"...Wieher what? No, more importantly, the leader?"

Putting aside the strange name, usually, whether it was a small group or a large one, the leader didn't come out first like this.

Above all, wasn't his attire too modest for the leader of a loan shark gang?

As I looked at him with slightly suspicious eyes, the guy laughed heartily with a friendly smile and said, "Ah, my father was Dutch, you see. It might be difficult for Americans to pronounce Dutch names. So just call me “Bert”. More importantly, is it strange that I'm the leader of the Rush and Gold gang?"

I honestly answered the thought that came to my mind at Bert's words, "Yeah, I thought the boss of a loan shark gang would look rich, but it's surprising that some beggar is saying he's the boss."

"Ahaha! I do have a lot of money! But no matter how much money I get, I like being moderately dirty and moderately beggar-like, you see."

I had used strong wording to try to provoke him, but Bert took even that with a laugh.

Then he naturally sat down next to me and asked with a face like a friendly neighborhood uncle:

"So, do you want to borrow money from this beggar too? Most of the villagers have already borrowed from me."

Bert was a guy with a strong work ethic, doing business even in this situation.

"I think I could lend you money at a slightly lower interest rate than others."

"Pfft."

At this, I laughed for a moment and then said seriously to Bert, "Do you have $100,000?"

"Hmm?"

"If you lend me $100,000 today, I'll pay back 100 times tomorrow."

"What? Hahaha."

I had said it quite seriously, but it seemed to sound like a joke to Bert.

"Come on, man. Where would I have that much money?"

"That's a shame. I really needed exactly $100,000."

"Sorry. I don't have that much money either. Then let's talk about business later and..."

Thud.

Bert suddenly took out his gun and put it on the bar, saying, "Now shall we talk a bit about my subordinate who got beaten and chased away by you?"

"..."

He drew his gun from the holster, but since there was no intention to attack, I just watched for now.

But Bert's eyes looking at me grew sharper.

The Rush and Gold gang weren't officially outlaws.

So they shouldn't draw their guns first.

But if they drew their guns first, it was a different story.

I was planning to kill him right away if he crossed the line even a little... and deal with the guys outside all at once.

"..."

"..."

As tension filled the Deaf Man's Bar like that...

Whoosh.

The first to move was Bert.

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"Haha! I heard our kid was a bit aggressive while collecting money. I apologize. As compensation, we won't collect interest from this store for a few days."

Bert bowed his head to me and showed a friendly smile again, admitting their mistake.

As I just stared blankly at this, Bert quickly got up from his seat.

"Well then, I'll be going now."

And he went out of the bar as if his business was really finished.

But at the last moment as he was about to open the door and leave, Bert turned around again and asked with a smile, "You're Kid, right?"

"You knew about me?"

"Yeah, 'someone' who hates you explained a lot about you."

Someone who hates me...

As if there’s only one or two people who hate me.

If news of my death suddenly appeared in the newspaper, there were people who would dance with joy spread from here in Justice Town all the way to San Francisco.

"Tsk tsk, you should have lived nicely."

"I'm living nicely in my own way though?"

The standard of being nice was relative.

As I added words, Bert laughed as if it was funny and...

"Alright, let's see each other 'again' next time."

"..."

He left after leaving those meaningful words.

Clop clop clop clop.

Only after the sound of horse hooves of the Rush and Gold gang guys leaving was heard did Bob come out of the kitchen.

"Kid!"

"...Bob, bring me some alcohol."

"You're not hurt? That was the Rush and Gold gang boss just now, right? How was he in person?"

"How was he, well..."

He was a tricky guy.

Unlike most gunslingers in the West who were ignorant and crossed the line if one scratch their pride a little...

— I'm sorry.

— Haha! I heard our kid was a bit aggressive while collecting money. I apologize.

He showed a demeanor of strictly keeping within the line.

An outlaw who was quick-witted and knew how to use his head.

He was exactly the type I hate.

It felt like... a lower version of Luke, the South Brotherhood leader.

I had never gotten along with NPCs who used their heads.

More importantly, see me again? What does this mean?

I had a feeling that this encounter with the Rush and Gold guys wouldn't end well either.