Chapter 72 - Don't Like Me. How Do You Even Do That?

After catching 5 outlaws at once and making quite a big haul, I drank all night at the Deaf Man's Bar and only returned to the office when morning came.

The one who brought me to the office was Joe, the coachman of Justice Town.

"Mr. Noah, wake up. We've arrived."

"...Mmm, what? We're already here? Yawn..."

Dozing in the coachman's seat due to a hangover, I stretched at Joe's touch and got off the carriage.

"Thanks, Joe. You must be very busy, but you gave me a ride."

"...You know I'm very busy, yet you stopped a carriage that was going well and asked to be taken home?"

"It's a strange thing. Whenever I'm about to go home, your carriage always catches my eye."

As Justice Town developed, naturally Joe's work as a coachman increased too.

I heard last time that even having two bodies wouldn't be enough.

Grateful to Joe for consistently acting as my taxi despite being so busy, I...

"Here, take this as a little extra."

"...Pardon? No, what... Mr. Noah giving money...?"

Subtly slipped some money into Jo's pocket.

It had been about 4 years since I moved to Justice Town, and during that time, this was the first time I gave money while riding Joe's carriage thousands of times.

At this, Joe's face was dyed with emotion, but...

"I put in enough not to disappoint."

"Mr. Noah gave me money for the first time, does the amount matter!? I'd be happy with any amo... Um... 1 cent...?"

After checking the amount, Joe sighed again as if he had expected this.

"...I wondered why you were giving money, but you were just getting rid of spare change."

"Why? Not enough? Want more?"

As I flicked another 1 cent coin remaining in my pocket with my finger, Joe clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Haa, it's fine. I'll just unload the corpses in the back."

"What, are you sulking?"

Joe said while skillfully unloading the corpses from the luggage compartment, "I'm not sulking. I'm already grateful that Mr. Noah dealt with the Rush and Gold gang last time. If Mr. Noah hadn't been there then, my whole family would have lived like slaves to those bastards."

Due to the influx of capital from the Rush and Gold gang last time, a wind of rapid change blew through Justice Town.

It wasn't just the town that changed.

Joe in front of me used to be someone who was outwardly friendly but badmouthed me behind my back, calling me a kid and a ruffian, but...

"Next time too, if Mr. Noah asks, I'll give you a ride in the carriage. For free, of course."

"..."

Is it just my feeling?

In the past 6 months, Joe's outside and inside had become the same.

"Well then, I'm really busy, so I'll be going now. I've unloaded the corpses too."

"Alright."

Joe got on the carriage and departed as soon as he unloaded the corpses.

He must have been really in a hurry.

Did he give me a ride in the midst of that? This guy...

"Hey, Joe—!"

"Yes? What is it? Did you leave something behind?"

Feeling grateful to Joe, I stopped him as he was leaving and...

"No, that's not it, on your way could you call the sheriff for me!? Please!"

Asked him to call the sheriff.

"...Pardon? M-Mr. Noah! I'm going to Lincoln County now...! The sheriff's office is in the opposite direction..."

"Just do it. I'm too lazy to go myself. You'll do it, right? I don't know what I might do to you if you don't?"

When I said that with a laugh, Joe remembered my gun skills and answered with a pale face, "...Alright."

"Thanks, Joe! The 1 cent I gave you earlier is for your trouble, use it well!"

"...That ruffian Kid bastard. Someday I'll..."

He probably thought he was muttering to himself, but Joe's last words were carried by the wind and reached my ears.

Yeah, fuck, what change.

Joe hadn't actually changed that much.

The same was true for the town.

Justice Town achieved rapid development and showed tremendous growth to the extent that it could be called Justice “City” in a few years, but...

The fact that tremendous outlaws appeared because it was an outlaw spawn location hadn't changed.

Actually, what changed the most in the past 6 months was inside my office right now.

"Neigh."

"Neigh neigh."

"Did you sleep well overnight, beasts?"

I patted No Name and Bonnie in the stable and then moved toward the office entrance.

But...

"Haa..."

As I grabbed the office doorknob, I sighed and became afraid to go inside.

The office was essentially no different from my home, yet I was afraid to go inside...

It was a funny thing to say, but it was really like that.

"...Let's try to endure well today too."

I lightly slapped my cheek once and then opened the door.

Creak.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back, Boss."

As I opened the door, Emma, my only secretary in this world, greeted me with a smile.

***

Emma has changed over the past 6 months.

"Boss, I was just boiling water. Would you like coffee? Or tea?"

"...Coffee."

Looking from the outside, that change wasn't clearly visible.

But I, who was closer to Emma than anyone, could feel her change with my whole body.

First...

Smile.

"Emma...? Why are you smiling while looking at me?"

"Just because I'm happy."

"..."

Originally, Emma was always blunt and coldly expressionless, but she had become much more smiley. Of course, only when looking at me.

And second...

"By the way, Boss. Did you spend the night at the Deaf Man's Bar again yesterday? Reversing day and night isn't good. People should move during the bright daytime and sleep at night when the sun sets. If you're going to sleep during the day and move at night like you do, Boss, how are you different from nocturnal animals like coyotes? Please live like a human. And you drank a lot again yesterday, right? Alcohol is openly harmful to the body. Don't ruin your body chasing immediate pleasure. Jackson, who runs a ranch over that hill too..."

"...Ah, I got it. Stop."

...She's become very nagging.

Ah, was this like this from the beginning?

Anyway, these days when I saw Emma nagging, I often got confused about whether this was Emma or my mom.

Still, well... up to here was an understandable change.

From Emma's third change, I found it a bit hard to handle.

"Boss, I've brought your coffee here."

"Okay, put it in front."

"Yes."

Swish—grip.

"..."

Emma's third change.

Physical contact increased.

I couldn't help but be dumbfounded seeing Emma interlocking her fingers with mine while pretending to put down the coffee.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I meant to put down the coffee cup."

"..."

The expression Emma was making now saying it was a mistake looked quite sly.

Whoosh.

Having suffered a lot from Emma's foxy behavior like this over the past 6 months, I habitually untangled Emma's interlocked fingers and drank the coffee.

And as soon as I took a sip of coffee, Emma's last change began.

"Boss, I like you."

"Pffft."

Emma's fourth change.

Emma started telling me she liked me once a day.

I, who still hadn't gotten used to Emma's last change, ended up spitting out the coffee I was drinking.

Emma wiped the table with a dishcloth she had prepared in one hand beforehand as if she had expected this.

Seeing Emma like that, I got angry and shouted, "Geez... stop saying you like me...!"

"Is it a problem to say, ‘I like you,’ to someone I like?"

"I told you I don't like it...! Let's just keep our boss-secretary relationship to the end, okay?"

"Yes, I am your eternal secretary, Boss. But is there a law that says a secretary can't like her boss?"

"Huh..."

There was a saying that a person who had read only one book was the scariest.

Emma, who had lived her whole life in Justice Town where there still wasn't even a proper library...

The only romance-related book she had read was <Romeo and Juliet> which she saw on the direct train to San Francisco.

She must have been very impressed by it, as Emma actively courted me like Romeo and Juliet of that era.

Until the relationship reversed, I used to tease Emma, sometimes harass her, and laugh...

"Boss."

"Just don't say you like me."

"Then I love you."

"You've gone crazy."

Once Emma's heart opened, I found it hard to handle Emma's real madness.

Feeling completely drained, I sighed, and Emma subtly placed her hand on mine.

"Boss. Do you dislike me that much?"

"...What?"

Emma's eyes were half-curved as she asked that, overlapping her hand with mine.

Like a cat pretending to be pitiful.

"Am I such an unattractive woman to you, Boss?"

"..."

Unattractive, huh?

If Emma was ugly and doing this, I would have drawn my gun and shot her in the head right away, regardless of her being a woman or a civilian NPC.

But the problem was that Emma was too pretty.

Emma was definitely in the top three among people I've seen in both reality and games, and she was pretty enough to compete for 1st or 2nd place among them.

She basically had a slender body type, but everything that should be there was there too... Hmm...

For a moment, I lowered my eyes below Emma's face.

And...

Grip.

Perhaps detecting my lecherous gaze, Emma interlocked her fingers and approached me little by little.

"...If it's with you, Boss, I'm okay with doing even more."

"..."

I didn't need to ask what “more” Emma was talking about here.

I looked with blank eyes at Emma, who was approaching me little by little with a reddened face.

Young man and woman, an office where no one came, the other's permission.

All preparations were complete.

Wait, wait... so suddenly like this...?

For a moment, I almost came to my senses, but...

You idiot. You're going to endure this? Are you impotent?

The snake in my heart whispered to eat the forbidden fruit before my eyes.

Even so, this is...

I kept telling myself that Emma before my eyes was not human but just an NPC... that I could never accept her feelings, but...

...Then can't I just have a physical relationship without accepting her feelings?

Yeah, this is America. Let's go American style. Just enjoy it coolly, okay?

...It crumbled in an instant.

My body, unable to resist the momentary temptation, was dominated by vile and lecherous desire.

Swish.

So without realizing it, I moved my hand...