Chapter 65 - There Are Too Many Suicidal People In The West

Needless to say, I had no intention of killing William.

If he died, there would be no one to give me money.

$40,000.

It was certainly an excessive amount that was hard even for a rich person to handle, but...

William, who owned a tobacco plantation, a large mansion, and numerous workers and servants, could probably scrape together that amount if he pulled out all the stops.

A wise person didn't cut open the belly of a goose that laid golden eggs.

I was planning to keep William alive to the end and squeeze out $40,000 and even more.

But...

"Hey, you inhuman bastard!!"

"...What?"

William's words made me change that thought.

"Say that again. What did you say?"

"...Huh? No... w-wait..."

I stopped in my tracks and approached William again.

Everyone had something that should never be touched.

"What did you call me? Not even human?"

"...I didn't mean to..."

Suddenly, I recalled what Django had told me in San Francisco before.

— Mr. Noah. We are all the same humans.

Django said that he, I, and everyone else were the same humans.

How dare an NPC bastard say we're the same humans.

I was furiously angry when I heard those words.

How about now?

William called me an inhuman bastard.

"An inhuman bastard... Hahaha."

I burst out laughing after repeating William's words once more.

"Haha... s-sorry. I made a slip of the tongue, a joke..."

As I burst out laughing right in front of him, William also smiled awkwardly and apologized to me.

I kept laughing while looking down at William like that, and then...

Swish—

Stab.

"Aaaaaaaahhh!!"

I drew my knife and plunged it into his chest.

"Gaaaaaahh!!"

William screamed and writhed, probably from the pain of being stabbed in the chest.

I firmly held his body to restrain him and then whispered in his ear, "You're wrong, Mr. William. I'm not an 'inhuman bastard' as you said."

All wrong answers have their consequences.

But being a kind teacher, I personally taught him the correct answer.

"That negro Django was wrong too. He told me we're all the same humans."

"Ughhhh..."

"We're not all the same humans, and I'm not an inhuman bastard either."

Stab, stab.

As I stirred the knife in his chest, William's eyes slowly lost their strength.

But soon, his pupils facing my face began to fill with clear terror.

Why on earth is he so afraid?

I was just teaching William, who didn’t even know he was an NPC, the truth of this world in his final moment.

"Only I am human."

"...Huh."

"In this damn game, only I am human. Only me among you data chunks."

Slash—!

As I pulled out the knife, blood gushed like a fountain from William's chest.

Thud.

William's corpse fell to the floor lifelessly like that.

"Ah... why did this bastard make a slip of the tongue."

Originally, I was planning to get all $40,000... but I killed him in a fit of anger.

I hate pain.

But what William just said hurt me more than the bullet Django had hit me with before.

William deserved to die.

"Haa..."

I roughly wiped off William's blood that was all over my face and sat in the chair William had originally been sitting in.

Just moving a bit made my whole body feel weak and tired.

Oh, come to think of it, I haven't eaten anything all day today, have I?

The lack of strength in my body seemed to be because I was hungry.

"Haa... Emma."

I'm starving.

What I want to eat most right now is a meal made by Emma.

I got up to go get Emma.

That was when it happened.

Step.

Through my sensitive ears, I heard someone's presence carefully approaching.

I hid behind the door for now and waited for the guy to come this way.

Soon the guy revealed himself.

"...Master?"

It was Jansen, William's coachman and butler.

Having come back from the kitchen, there was a teapot and teacup on the tray Jansen was holding.

"Master!!!"

Not knowing I was hiding in the room, Jansen rushed in as soon as he saw William collapsed through the doorway.

Click.

"...Hup!!"

"Mr. Jansen, it's me. Don't move."

I pounced on Jansen like that and aimed the gun at his head.

As soon as the gun muzzle touched his head, Jansen cried and pleaded, "P, p-please spare me...!"

"...Hmm, is there a bounty on Mr. Jansen?"

"N-no, there isn't...!"

No bounty, huh…?

Then I noticed the tray Jansen was holding as I pondered.

"What's that? Tea?"

"...Y-yes! It's tea... The m-master ordered it..."

"That's troublesome since there's no one to drink it now. Pour some of that first."

"...Ah, yes! Yes...!"

Right now, besides being hungry, I was extremely thirsty.

Jansen, following my order, put the tray on the table and hurriedly poured hot water into a cup.

"...Ah wait, wait."

Seeing steam rising from the teapot, I immediately stopped Jansen.

My throat was so dry it was cracking, but seeing the water that looked hot, I didn't feel like drinking it anymore.

"Not that, something else."

"...Pardon? Something else like what..."

"Alcohol. If there's any alcohol, bring some."

Honestly, I didn't have high expectations, but as soon as he heard my order, Jansen ran to a corner of the room.

"A-alcohol, here it is."

"Oh."

It seemed this room was originally a storage for alcohol.

Jansen brought one of the many whiskeys piled up in the corner of the room and poured it into my cup.

Gulp.

"Wow, what is this, why is it so delicious."

The alcohol Jansen poured was incomparably more delicious than the cheap whiskey at the Deaf Man's Bar.

"I-I'm glad it suits your taste..."

"Is everything piled up there whiskey? Wow, there's really a lot. If there's a sack, pack some for me to take."

"...Ah, yes, yes!"

Is this William's servant or my servant?

At my command, Jansen once again moved hurriedly, taking out a sack and starting to frantically pack whiskey into it.

I said while watching Jansen like that, "Choose while you're packing."

"...C-choose what..."

"Victim number 1."

"...!"

I tapped William's fallen corpse and continued speaking, "You died together with Mr. William in this gunfight."

"...Ah."

Jansen's face turned pale upon hearing my words.

For his sake, I held up another finger.

"Perpetrator number 2."

"..."

"You shot your master, blinded by money in this gunfight. I killed you after discovering that."

"...Huu."

Both options 1 and 2 ended in death.

Thinking there was no way to survive, Jansen, who had been packing alcohol, suddenly bowed his head deeply and cried.

I looked down at the crying Jansen and spread my last finger.

"Witness number 3."

"...!"

"Tonight, the Rush and Gold gang broke into the mansion aiming for Mr. William's wealth."

"..."

"Unfortunately, Mr. William died after being shot, but... Noah, the bounty hunter invited to dinner, witnessed this and subdued all the gang members who had illegally entered."

"T-then I..."

"Mr. Jansen, who was hiding, witnessed all of this."

As soon as I finished speaking, Jansen jumped up from his seat and shouted, "3, 3! I'll be witness number 3!"

"..."

Hearing Jansen's loyal answer, I downed the remaining whiskey in my glass in one go and got up from the chair.

"Then please tell that to the sheriff when he comes later."

"...Yes, yes! Of course! I'll do that."

"By the way, do you know if Mr. William had any secret places where he kept money?"

"The m-master usually only put money in the bank... Yes, should I find and bring you savings certificates?"

"No need for that."

Savings certificates were useless unless they were your own.

I received the sack full of whiskey from Jansen and turned around.

"I'm leaving. Take care of cleaning up the mansion."

"...Yes, yes! Take care!"

I had no intention of killing Jansen.

He didn't have a bounty, and I needed a witness to prove my alibi.

I clearly intended to let Jansen live.

Click.

"...Haa."

Until I heard the sound of metal brushing from behind me.

It happened sometimes.

Habitual backstabbers who drew their guns as if by habit when they saw someone's back.

"Why are there so many suicidal people in the West."

Bang.

"...Guhk!"

Annoyed, I shot Jansen dead without even turning around, just aiming the gun muzzle backward.

Thud.

A heavy sound was heard as Jansen fell to the floor and the heavy revolver dropped to the ground.

I had known all along that there was a gun inside Jansen's coat.

I just didn't know that the man who had been trembling until just now would draw his gun as soon as I turned my back.

"...I went to the trouble of making a witness, and he immediately backstabs me."

I needed to make a witness to prove my alibi, and it was quite bothersome to do this kind of thing again.

...Should I just kill everyone?

...To the point where such thoughts entered my mind.

As I was pondering what to do like that and came down to the first floor, that was when it happened.

"Hmm?"

"..."

There was someone on the first floor.

It was that black servant who had guided me to the dining room.

As soon as he saw me coming down, he bowed his head deeply and shouted, "T, t-tonight, the Rush and Gold gang broke into the mansion aiming for the master's wealth!!"

"Hooh?"

"U-unfortunately, the master and butler died after being shot by those guys, but Mr. Noah, the bounty hunter invited to dinner, witnessed this and subdued all the gang members who had illegally entered...!!"

"Good, continue."

"I-I-I witnessed all of that while hiding...! I'll tell that to the sheriff when he comes...!!"

"Excellent."

Clap, clap, clap.

I applauded his lines that didn't miss a single word.

"Very accurate. Did you hear what I told Jansen upstairs?"

"...Yes, yes! I have good hearing… Hehe."

This black servant seemed to have heard everything, including Jansen trying to backstab me and dying, as his behavior was quite polite.

I patted his shoulder once and passed by.

"I hope you maintain that awareness to the end. Don't regret it at the last moment like someone."

"...I-I'll keep that in mind."

As I opened the door of the blood-soaked mansion and stepped outside, No Name welcomed me as if she had been waiting for me.

"Neigh neigh."

"No Name, don't lick that. It's dirty, dirty."

No Name licked off the remaining bloodstains on my face.

I patted No Name briefly and then got on right away.

"...Where are you going now?" the black servant, who had come out to greet me outside the mansion, maintained his polite attitude to the end and asked me my destination.

I looked up at the night sky where the full moon was shining brightly and answered:

"As the righteous gunslinger of Justice Town, I must go catch the criminals who dared to kill the respected Mr. William."

"...Ah."

The black servant was certainly quick-witted.

"Please punish those vicious Rush and Gold gang bastards who did this to our master and butler."

"I will."

The black servant's acting was already perfect, so there was no need to adjust him any further.

"Giddy up."

"Neigh—!"

Clop clop.

I rode with No Name towards the rocky mountain where the Rush and Gold gang camp was located.

Originally, I was going to go with Sheriff Jett in the morning, but I changed my mind.

I decided to wipe out the Rush and Gold gang, who dared to cruelly kill William, right now.

"...And get someone to cook for me while I'm at it."

Unable to bear my hunger, I took out one of the whiskey bottles Jansen had packed and shoved it down my throat as I rode through the wilderness.

Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach certainly made me get drunk faster.

Covered in blood all over my body and drinking a lot of alcohol reminded me of old times.

"...Should I work in the old style after a long time?"

Thinking about going wild like back then made my body heat up quickly.