Chapter 69 - I'll Always Be By Your Side

"...It won't take long, so wait here for a while. Lock the door well."

"Lock the door...?"

Emma was initially confused when Noah told her to lock the door well, but...

"...Ah."

Soon she realized what it meant and nodded.

"Yes, I'll lock the door well. Don't worry and be careful."

"...Alright."

Creak.

As soon as the door closed and darkness fell in the warehouse, Emma moved swiftly.

She found a wooden plank in a corner of the warehouse and then...

Thud.

She hung it on the doorknob, essentially locking the door from the inside.

"...Sister? What are you doing…? Why the door..."

"Shh."

Emma was the eldest among the girls trapped in the warehouse.

Moreover, being smart and always calm, she naturally became the leader here.

Emma quieted the girls who were looking only at her and moved them all to the far end of the warehouse.

"Everyone stay quiet. We'll be able to get out soon."

"...Pardon? What do you mean we can get out..."

Bang—!

"...!"

Before one girl could finish speaking, a single gunshot rang out.

And that gunshot became the signal...

Bang bang bang—!!

Bang—!

Bang bang—!!!!

Bang bang bang bang—!!

Soon a massive gunfight reminiscent of war began.

"Kyaaahhh!"

"Everyone cover your ears."

While comforting the terrified girls, Emma calmly observed the situation.

"Fuck! That crazy bastard shot the boss!"

"Get all the women inside out as hostages! His woman is among them!!"

Among them were gang members trying to bring out the girls in the warehouse... especially Emma as hostages, but...

Rattle rattle.

"What! T-the door is locked!!"

They couldn't get in because Emma had already locked the door.

Slash—! Swish—!

"Aaaahhhh!!"

The guys trying to open the door and come in soon collapsed in front of the warehouse with the sound of flesh being cut.

Bang bang—!

Following that was familiar gunfire and...

Wham—!

Smash—!

Crash—!!

There were various sounds that made it impossible to guess what weapons were being used.

"Gaaaahhh!!"

"P-please spare! Aaaahhh!"

Though it wasn't clear what weapons Noah was using besides guns, the gang members were in considerable terror.

Bang—! Wham—!!

Wham—!!

"Guhkkk!!"

"Uwaaaaaahhh!!"

After that, the sound of swinging unknown weapons and the terrified screams of gang members continued.

And those horrible sounds gradually subsided as time passed, and then...

Wham—!

Wham—!!

Bang—!

With the sound of someone being punched and a final gunshot, no more sounds could be heard.

"...It's over."

When no signs could be heard from outside, Emma, sensing that the whole situation was over, unlocked the door and opened it.

Creak—

"...!"

"Kyaaahhh!"

The sight visible through the gap as the door opened slightly was terribly gruesome.

Gang members cruelly dead, either shot, cut by knives, or smashed by something.

The huge pool of blood created by those gang members' corpses.

And...

"..."

A man sitting calmly in that huge pool of blood as if enjoying the afterglow.

Step.

As soon as Emma saw Noah, she took a step to go to him.

But...

Grab.

"...S-Sister, don't go."

"..."

The other girls grabbed Emma, who was about to go to Noah, and stopped her.

Indescribable terror filled the eyes of the girls trying to stop Emma from going.

"T-that monster will kill you too, Sister… I-I'm scared. Don't go."

"..."

Swish—!

"Eekkk!"

At the girl's words, Emma coldly struck down the hand holding her as if she didn't need to hear anymore.

Then Emma looked coldly at the trembling girls and said, "Everyone watch your words. The boss risked his life to save us."

"..."

"...And the boss is not a monster. I won't forgive you if you say that again."

So Emma left the trembling village girls and went out of the warehouse to approach Noah.

Step, step.

As she approached Noah, Emma's shoes and the hem of her clothes were stained with blood, but it didn't matter.

Emma moved towards Noah without hesitation.

And...

"Do you still like me, Emma? Even like this?" Noah asked with a smirk when she came close. 

"Hmm? Emma, tell me."

"..."

Then as Noah got up and turned around, Emma could properly see what state he was in now.

His whole body was red as if he had bathed in blood, and there was an eerie light in his eyes.

Truly a form like the devil described in the Bible.

Honestly, she could understand why the village girls trembled in fear seeing him.

Moreover, Noah didn't stop there and put his blood-covered hand on Emma's cheek.

Soon, thick and fishy blood stained Emma's white and fair cheek.

"I said tell me, Emma? Do you... do you still like me even like this?"

"..."

Noah seemed to be trying to scare Emma in his own way.

After pondering for a moment, Emma answered Noah honestly, "Honestly... I don't like this appearance of yours, Boss."

"...What?"

Emma was a devout Christian and still a fresh woman in her early 20s.

She didn't like blood... and naturally frowned at seeing such a massacre with dozens of people fallen.

She even trembled at the sight of the horribly dead gang members.

"I'm not a pervert... of course, I don't like it when you glare at me with such scary eyes while covered in blood."

"..."

She liked Noah, but she didn't like every aspect of Noah.

That was natural.

Even Romeo and Juliet probably couldn't like every aspect of each other.

Saying one liked everything about the other person was pretense and false love.

But this answer from Emma seemed a bit shocking to Noah.

"..."

After hearing Emma's words, Noah's pupils trembled and...

Swish.

He slowly lowered his blood-covered hand that he had put on Emma.

But...

Grab.

"...!"

Emma grabbed the falling hand again.

Having grabbed Noah's hand, Emma instead buried her cheek in that blood-covered hand and rubbed it.

"Sometimes you're mischievous, sometimes scary, sometimes irritating, but..."

"..."

"Still, I always want to be by your side, Boss."

Whether Noah was in Justice Town, San Francisco, or even in hell.

Emma always wanted to be by Noah's side.

Thump.

Her heart was saying so.

"Even if it's a boss and secretary relationship, that's fine. I'll always be by your side."

"..."

Noah looked with blank eyes at Emma, who was getting plenty of blood on her body.

Noah's eyes looking at Emma were filled with indescribable emotions.

Noah... seemed to be overlapping Emma with someone else.

Someone from the past, not Emma.

"...What are you bewitched by now, Emma?"

"I think so too. I wonder what I'm thoroughly bewitched by to have come to like someone like you, Boss."

"...You will eventually betray me."

"..."

When Emma paused at the unexpected words, Noah continued with a smile full of sadness.

That appearance... looked very desperate and confused.

"You will never understand me and will call me a monster."

"..."

"In the end, you will point a gun at me... and I will definitely leave you someday."

...Leave.

Indeed, Noah was always looking at the unreachable end of the horizon whenever he had a chance.

Where on earth is that place Noah wants to return to so badly?

And...

"I will eventually discard you like an old shoe, and you will hate... no, come to despise me."

"..."

What is the identity of that scar deeply carved in Noah's heart?

Noah now looked anxious, like a lost child.

At this, Emma...

Hug.

She hugged him, covered in blood, to her bosom and whispered, "If you abandon me and leave, I will follow you wherever that place is, Boss."

"...No, you can never come there."

"My dream is to travel all over the world. No matter where you go or where you hide, I will definitely find you."

"..."

Tremble.

Why is someone who just killed dozens of gang members trembling in fear?

Emma hugged the trembling Noah more warmly.

That seemed to have an effect... Noah's trembling began to subside little by little.

***

I knew exactly why Emma came to like me.

To find that reason, we have to go back 17 years.

When I entered this damn Western game, I brought a total of 5 traits.

[Best Gunslinger in the West]. [Weapon Master], [King of hand-to-hand Combat], [Superhuman Senses] and...

[Irresistible Charm].

When playing <Catch the Outlaws>, this trait increased the character's likability and charm.

Especially, this trait increased loyalty the longer one spent time with NPC companions.

Emma must have been affected by this trait as she spent a long time of 3 years close to me.

The reason Emma liked me... was simply because this game programmed her to like me.

But there was a limit to this trait.

Many NPCs liked me because of this trait and...

— Kid, I actually liked you. Maybe from the moment we first met when you were 6...

They even said they loved me, but...

— I love you, Kid.

There was a gap between me and them... a gap that couldn't be filled even with [Irresistible Charm], that of player and NPC.

—You inhuman monster.

— I hate you, Kid.

In the end, all the NPCs who said they liked me came to hate me.

...Emma would probably end up the same.

She says she'll definitely find me no matter where I go?

...Nonsense.

I'm going to leave this game, how can an NPC come out of the game?

The end between me and Emma could never be a happy ending.

Knowing that all too well, I had no intention of giving my heart to Emma.

...I tried not to repeat a mistake I had already made once.

But...

I must have been too lonely for the past 17 years.

"...You will definitely..."

"I won't betray you, Boss. I won't hate or despise you. And... even if you abandon me, I will follow you."

"..."

"I will always be by your side."

Hug.

Though I knew it was just a lump of data, Emma's embrace was warm.

...So much that I couldn't distinguish for a moment whether this was a game or reality.