Chapter 63 - Money First, Lady Second

At first, I thought Emma would come after some time had passed.

As soon as she arrived at the office, Emma would draw water from the well as usual, do laundry, and prepare breakfast for me.

Given Emma's personality, she would surely treat me as if nothing had happened yesterday.

So I, too, was planning to treat her as if nothing had happened yesterday.

Instead, I had already taken out the $200 to give her.

Since Emma did borrow money from Rush and Gold, I was going to give her money to pay off her urgent debt first.

But...

"...She's not coming."

Making the $200 I had taken out look foolish... Emma didn't come to work even after the sun was high in the sky.

In other words, that meant...

Growl.

I, who hadn't eaten anything since yesterday evening, was still fasting through today's lunch.

I was very hungry.

My throat was extremely dry too.

The laundry basket was piled with laundry, giving off a musty smell.

It wasn’t like Emma had been absent for days, just a few hours late for work...

My life had already become precarious.

"Ah... I'm hungry and thirsty..."

I could have just gone to the Deaf Man's Bar to resolve my hunger and thirst, but I didn't.

Maybe I had become stubborn... at this point, I really wanted to drink water Emma drew and eat food Emma made.

As I was drying up until it was almost noon like that, that was when it happened.

Step.

"...Hm,?"

I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

...Is it Emma?

Hunger and thirst.

And with the added sweltering heat, I, who was lying in a semi-dried state, got up from the bed as soon as I heard movement.

My gladness to see Emma was greater than my annoyance at her being late for work.

I was planning to tell Emma to draw some water first and then prepare a meal.

"Emma! Why are you so la...!"

As I opened the door with a big smile like that...

"...Oh my. How did you know I was coming...?"

"...Oh, what."

A middle-aged man greeted me instead of Emma.

It was Jansen, William's coachman, and butler, whom I had seen before.

"..."

Feeling my mood plummet, I looked behind Jansen.

There was a horse standing behind him, which he must have ridden.

Well... it was quite a long distance from my office to William's mansion, so he wouldn't have walked.

The problem was that I didn't hear the horse's hooves.

It seemed my senses had dulled, probably because I was in a weakened state from not being able to drink water or eat food.

Feeling irritated, I asked Jansen, "...What is it? What brings you here? I was planning to visit later anyway."

Today was exactly one week since my promise with William.

I was planning to go get money from William later anyway, so it was strange that he sent Jansen first.

"W-well..."

Jansen answered trembling slightly, perhaps nervous because I looked sensitive, "T-the master has invited you to dinner today."

"...Dinner?"

"Y-yes... He said to discuss money while having a meal together today."

"Why do uncomfortable people need to eat together when he could just give me the money?"

"A-are you perhaps refusing?"

"Haa..."

Maybe because I was sensitive right now, irritation washed over me, but...

"...No. I'll go. Tell him I'll come."

What can I do but go when the person giving money says to come?

I nodded to Jansen in acceptance.

"Ah, alright. I'll relay that to the master. Come to the mansion when the sun sets later."

"...Okay."

"Then I'll take my leave..."

It seemed Jansen was afraid of me, probably because he had seen me shooting briefly at William's mansion last time.

Jansen turned around as if running away as soon as I nodded.

And...

"...Wait."

"...Y-yes?"

I grabbed Jansen's shoulder and said, "Could you draw some water from the well for me?"

"...Water?"

Right now, I was very thirsty, though I was hungry too.

So I was asking Jansen to draw water, but...

"...Never mind. It's fine. Just go."

Soon I realized something and shook my head.

I might be lazy, but I was not such a good-for-nothing that I couldn’t draw water by myself.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to draw water or cook food, that was why I was thirsty and hungry right now.

I just... wanted to drink water Emma drew and eat food Emma made.

Drinking water drawn by this old geezer wouldn't taste good anyway.

I waved my hand and sent Jansen away.

"T-then I'll really be going now."

Jansen watched me cautiously and then hurriedly left on his horse.

I watched Jansen leave and then went back into the office and lay down on the bed again.

"Ugh... I'm hungry. When on earth is Emma coming to work?"

I thought I had trained Emma well as my secretary all this time.

In fact, Emma often grumbled but never went against my words, and yesterday she even confessed she liked me.

But now I realized, rather than Emma being trained, it was me who had been trained.

Originally, I was someone who could eat and live well alone...

The comfortable life of the past 3 years had turned me into someone who couldn’t live without Emma.

"...Let's just sleep until Emma comes."

Bored with nothing to do, I closed my eyes to take a nap.

But no matter how much I tried to sleep, sleep wouldn't come easily.

Only then did I realize that one couldn’t sleep when one was too hungry.

So I spent time tossing and turning on the bed.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting and the time for my dinner appointment with William was approaching, but...

Even by then, Emma hadn't come to work.

***

"...Oh dear, I have no energy."

Having not eaten or drunk anything all day, I weakly changed into my outdoor clothes.

No matter how weak I was, I had to go get the money I was owed.

As the sun had set, I was about to go to William's dinner invitation that Jansen had conveyed earlier.

"Gun... Hmm... I should bring it, right?"

There was no way William invited me just to have a friendly meal.

And in the Western era, guns were essential items for going out, no different from smartphones in the modern era.

After finishing my preparations for going out by putting two Single Action Army revolvers in holsters on both sides, I went outside.

"Neigh."

"Neigh neigh."

No Name and Bonnie, who seemed to be getting along well lately, greeted me.

I took No Name out of the stable and asked Bonnie:

"...Why isn't your owner coming? Hmm?"

"Neigh."

Bonnie whinnied as if he didn't know either.

I patted Bonnie once and then got on No Name.

"Let's go, No Name."

"Neigh."

Today, No Name's condition didn't seem great either, as her running speed wasn't that fast.

But well... there was nothing urgent really, so I leisurely headed towards William's mansion.

"There will probably be lots of delicious things at a rich house's dinner."

"Neigh."

"But nothing really appeals to me. I just want to eat food Emma made."

Emma was quite good at cooking too.

Above all, her cooking had a distinctive characteristic that set it apart from others.

Maybe because I was addicted to Emma's cooking, I wanted to eat food Emma made rather than a rich house's dinner feast.

"I wonder if she'll come to work tomorrow. I'll starve to death if she doesn't come."

If she had a conscience, she should come to work tomorrow.

I let out a small sigh and continued on my way with No Name.

That was when it happened.

Clop clop clop clop.

"Hmm...?"

Hearing the urgent sound of horse hooves from far away, I raised my head and...

"Where is that guy going in such a hurry when it's already sunset?"

Sheriff Jett was rushing somewhere urgently with his horse.

He was coming towards me, and as soon as he saw me, he shouted and approached quickly.

"Kid! Kid!!"

"You're going to lose your breath. Sheriff, what's the matter?"

"Haven't you heard the news yet!"

Jett soon panted and said with a face full of anger, "Those Rush and Gold bastards have finally done it!"

"What do you mean...?"

"Those bastards are rounding up all the village girls who borrowed money from them!"

"Oh dear."

Come to think of it, it was like that in the game too.

They made big money by selling the village girls to brothels in other towns.

So the protagonist character was enraged.

Honestly, I thought it would happen someday, so it wasn't that shocking.

But I couldn't help but flinch at Jett's next words.

"Someone said they saw Emma being taken among them."

"...Emma? Emma did borrow money, but it's only been a day."

"I don't know the details either! But they said it was definitely Emma!?"

No matter how vicious they were, no one would kidnap and sell someone to a brothel for debt repayment just a day after borrowing money.

Then I recalled the last words Bert, the Rush and Gold gang leader, had left:

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

Again.

Bert had said to see each other again.

Taking Emma this time... and kidnapping the village girls so noisily like this, I thought it wasn’t just a coincidence.

This was a trap.

A trap by those bastards to make me cross the line and come right into their jaws.

...How arrogant.

These NPC bastards didn’t know their place.

Above all, I couldn't tolerate them touching my favorite bar, the Deaf Man's Bar, and now even my personal maid Emma.

"...Wasn't the Rush and Gold gang's camp in the middle of that rocky mountain?"

"...That's right."

There was one rocky mountain near Justice Town that didn’t have much use.

I thought I heard before that the Rush and Gold gang's camp was on that rocky mountain.

Clop clop.

I immediately grabbed No Name's reins and slowly moved forward, opening my mouth:

"...Somehow Emma didn't come to work today. You don't know how inconvenient it was without Emma today."

The house was already a mess with Emma gone for just one day.

I couldn't drink water or eat food.

I still couldn’t accept Emma's feelings, but... I clearly realized through this incident.

"I can't do without Emma. Emma is... very precious to me."

As I said that and moved forward, Jett swallowed hard and asked, "Then are you going to the Rush and Gold bastards right now to rescue Emma?"

Jett drew his gun like someone about to enter battle and made a meaningful expression.

"This is perfect timing. I've been looking for a chance to wipe out those guys too. Our sheriff's office will lend our strength."

But...

"Pardon? What strength are you lending?"

"...Huh? Aren't you going to rescue Emma and the village girls now?"

"No, I'm not?"

"...Eh?"

His meaningful expression soon changed to one of an idiot.

I said to him, who was making a foolish face as if he couldn't grasp the situation, "I'm on my way to William's mansion to receive a large sum of money right now. I'll get the money first."

"...Didn't you just say you realized how precious Emma is?"

"Emma? She's precious. But money is more precious."

If Emma was water, money was oxygen to me.

I could live 3 days without Emma, but I couldn’t live 3 minutes without money.

Emma? She's precious. But she can't compare to money.

"Money first, Lady second."

"...”

"I'll get some money first... it's late, so I'll go rescue Emma when the sun rises."

As I spoke nonchalantly and headed towards William's mansion, Jett asked me as if he found it a bit absurd, "...Aren't you worried? Who knows what will happen to Emma in such a dangerous place."

"Come on, how do you think I raised Emma? Emma has enough strength to take care of herself."

"In my 41 years of life, I've never seen someone as crazy about money as you… What exactly is money to you?"

To Jett's question asking what money is to me, I thought for a moment and answered, "To me... no, to Noah, money is the reason and purpose of life."

I wasn't answering in third person to act cute.

Money might not be much to me, but to Noah, money was the reason and purpose of life.

"What does that mean..."

"It's just like that. Anyway, I'm going. I'll come to the sheriff's office building tomorrow morning. Let's raid Rush and Gold together."

So I waved once to Jett and went to William's mansion.

My head was full of thoughts about how much money I would receive.

Thinking about money made me feel like I had forgotten even my hunger.