Chapter 79
I first read Zodiac's letter, leaving Joe crying loudly.
[As I said before, I killed a young girl.]
[Putting a bullet in the heart of such a tiny child gave me great pleasure.]
[But this one was too easy in difficulty.]
[Next I'll kill this town's gunslinger.]
The letter, still written in squiggly handwriting, predicted that next he would kill the town's gunslinger.
Gunslinger... that's too broad a range.
This was none other than a Western town in America.
Now that Western expansion was at its peak, most men carried at least one gun each.
Or maybe he means only those who professionally eat bullets?
If so, the range of predicted murders would be Sheriff Jett and the deputies, and...
Me, the town's bounty hunter.
By the way, because I monopolized and caught the outlaws in Justice Town like a mad dog, there were no other bounty hunters left besides me.
Maybe Zodiac's next target could be me...
I'd rather he come for me. It'd be convenient for both of us.
If he comes for me, no more people will die, I'll earn money, and it's good for both of us, isn't it?
Thinking I'd rather meet Zodiac soon, I approached Joe.
And then...
"...Hey, Joe. Are you oka..."
"Huuuuung!!"
...I was about to ask Joe if he was okay, but stopped.
Anyone could see Joe's state didn't look okay.
Our friendly neighbor Joe, who was kind to everyone, was actually as out of place in the town as I was at first.
Joe's entire family were the only Mexican immigrants in Justice Town.
But because Joe always greeted townspeople with a consistent smile, people gradually opened their hearts to Joe.
Moreover, Joe gained people's favor by working hard without taking a single day off in a year, as he had to support many family members alone.
I liked Joe too.
Though he grumbled sometimes, Joe was the guy who stopped his usual route and gave me rides in his carriage when I was drunk.
From the start, Joe was one of the very few NPCs I opened my heart to.
"Huwaaaaah! Laura...!"
Seeing such a Joe clutching his dead sister's corpse and crying his eyes out wasn't pleasant to watch.
As I clicked my tongue and took out a cigarette...
Clop clop clop clop.
The sound of horse hooves was heard from the distance.
It was Sheriff Jett, deputies, and Sophia.
"Everyone move aside! We need to preserve the crime scene!"
As soon as she arrived at the scene, Sophia pushed people away and immediately began examining the corpse.
"...The previous victim was stabbed with a knife, but this time it's a gun."
"Wasn't Zodiac's main weapon supposed to be a gun?"
"Yes, in fact, except for the previous victim, Zodiac has always killed people with guns until now."
Saying that, Sophia took tweezers from her pocket and extracted the bullet lodged in the corpse's heart.
".45 Colt round."
The .45 Colt round was compatible with many guns.
It could be used not only in Single Action Army but also Schofield Revolvers, and even in rifles as long as they weren't lever-action.
Sophia carefully put the recovered bullet in her pocket and asked Joe, presumed to be the first witness of the incident:
"...Are you family?"
"...Yes, sniff... I'm L-Laura's older brother..."
"Could you tell me the circumstances of how your younger sister ended up like this?"
At Sophia's calm question, Joe barely wiped away his tears and answered, "L-Laura has been working at the grocery store since last month. So I gave her a ride in my carriage on my way to work. But I had to receive a delivery, so I stopped the carriage at this bar and told Laura to wait, then went inside..."
"You went inside... Then what?"
"After about 5 minutes, suddenly a gunshot..."
Bang.
Joe's vivid testimony made it seemed like I could hear the gunshot in my ears.
It seemed the same for others, as they momentarily frowned and then looked at Joe pitifully again.
"...Sniff. When I went out because of the gunshot, Laura... Laura..."
"Did you perhaps see the culprit who shot your sister?"
"...When I came out, there was already no one there. Ah...! I think I heard someone running away towards that back alley..."
Swish.
At Joe's gesture, everyone's gaze turned to the back alley he pointed to.
"Search for anything you can find for now."
"Yes!"
At Jett's order, the deputies soon rushed there and began a simple search.
And...
"There's an abandoned gun here!"
"What?"
One of the deputies soon found and brought back an abandoned revolver.
It was a Colt Single Action Army.
Click.
Sophia, who received it from the deputy, opened the cylinder and...
"...There's exactly one empty chamber."
Confirmed that five .45 Colt rounds were loaded.
"Then this is certainly what Zodiac left behind. Seems he was in a hurry to escape."
"..."
Sophia was silent for a moment looking at the Single Action Army Zodiac had left behind, then opened her mouth, "The gun is in good condition. Moreover, the Single Action Army is a relatively new model revolver."
From a modern perspective, the Single Action Army might be the representative handgun of the Wild West era, but by current standards, the Single Action Army was a latest model handgun that had only been out for a year.
Being the latest model, it was also a bit more expensive than other older handguns.
"A Single Action Army in this rural town, not some other older handgun... And its condition is also excellent..."
At first, I couldn't understand what Sophia was trying to say.
But...
Swish.
Ah.
The moment her eyes met mine, I could tell she was considering me as Zodiac.
"...There's a high probability that Zodiac is engaged in a profession related to guns."
"You're saying Zodiac is someone who eats bullets for a living?"
Jett pondered Sophia's deduction and looked around while muttering to himself, "...People who eat bullets here would be."
Jett, the deputies, Sophia, and...
Me.
Swish.
For a moment, Jett's eyes landed on me.
But...
"I guarantee. There's no one among the people here who would commit such a terrible act."
He soon said that to Sophia as if certain.
Jett seemed to believe there was no way I could be Zodiac.
"...If the sheriff says so, then that's that. But we still need to be cautious."
"Cautious?"
Still unable to give up easily, Sophia stared at me until the end and said, "Look at Zodiac's letter here. It says he'll kill a gunslinger next."
"...A gunslinger."
"So for safety, it would be good for the town's gunslingers to pair up in twos and always move together… And incidentally, watch each other to see if the other is Zodiac."
Sophia cited safety as the reason, but the main reason seemed to be the latter.
"Well then, shall we start pairing up the gunslingers here in twos?"
"Yes, then..."
"Hey, you pair up with me."
So under Jett's lead, the deputies started pairing up with each other.
And...
"...Mr. Kid."
"Yes?"
"If you don't have anyone to pair with, pair with me."
Of course, Sophia came to ask me to pair up.
As expected, she intended to pair with me from the start to monitor my every move.
If I paired up with Sophia, it was clear there would be many restrictions on my actions in the future.
...I really don't like that, but I have no excuse to refuse.
While I was pondering how to refuse Sophia's proposal, Sophia's hand was slowly approaching me.
Thud.
"..."
"It's alright, Detective. I'll pair up with the boss."
That's when Emma stepped forward.
Emma swatted away Sophia's approaching hand and stood right next to me.
Seeing Emma like that, Sophia smirked as if she knew they were in cahoots and said, "Ha! Miss Emma. You're not even a gunslinger. Know when to butt in and when not to..."
Swish.
"..."
At the words that she wasn't a gunslinger, Emma lifted her coat to show her holster.
There was one revolver in it.
Of course, Sophia didn't seem to intend to let it go with just that.
"If carrying a gun makes you a gunslinger, most people in this town would be gunslingers."
"I may not be a professional gunslinger, but due to the nature of my work, I'm often with the boss. I'm perfect for pairing with the boss."
"No, that's..."
"Enough, enough!"
As the war of words between Emma and Sophia intensified, Jett, unable to stand it anymore, mediated between the two.
And Jett...
"Miss Emma is right."
"Sheriff...!"
…was on our side.
"Kid and Emma usually stick together like glue anyway, so let's have the two of them go around as a pair."
"...But someone who might be a suspect..."
"Suspect? Are you talking about Kid? I'll stake my neck on it, Kid isn't Zodiac. Kid may be a human trash who drinks alcohol all day with a dirty personality, but he's not scum who kills innocent people."
"I'm so fucking grateful you've seen me that way all along."
With Jett's defense that wasn't really a defense, Sophia couldn't insist on pairing up with me anymore.
Sophia had no choice but to pair up with Jett instead of me.
"Sheriff, how many gun shops are there in this town?"
"Just one."
"Then I'll go to the gun shop and see if anyone has recently purchased a Single Action Army. Let's look for more evidence at the scene for the rest."
"Alright, got it."
So the situation wrapped up as the deputies dispersed to their respective positions.
Swish.
Sophia glared at Emma and me once with sharp eyes before heading to the gun shop.
"Shall we get going to work too?"
"Hey, pull yourself together."
The spectators also threw a few words of comfort to Joe before leaving for their workplaces.
"Hey, Joe."
I, too, approached Joe to say a few words before leaving.
And...
"...Sniff, Mr. Noah."
Thud.
Joe knelt before me and cried out desperately, "...Please catch the bastard who did this to my sister. Sniff... catch him and kill him..."
"I'll catch him, I'll catch and kill him for you."
Zodiac's bounty was $12,000.
When these two murders in Justice Town become known, his bounty would probably go up even more.
Not just because of Joe's request, but for my own sake too, I intended to catch Zodiac no matter what.
And...
...I can't wait until Sophia finds Zodiac.
I was planning to move a bit more actively from now on.
Sophia seemed to think I might be both Kid and Zodiac right now.
It would take a long time for her to find the real Zodiac while barking up the wrong tree.
"So Joe. I need you to help me."
"...I'll do anything I can."
"There's a job that's perfect for you."
So I asked for help from Joe, who had even helped me wipe out the Red Beard Gang before.
"Find everyone in this town who uses..."
"...Pardon? Why..."
"There's a high chance Zodiac is among them."
Perhaps because of his desire for revenge for his dead sister, Joe immediately nodded at my order, which could have seemed absurd.
"...Yes, I'll definitely find them all."
"Good, come find me when you've roughly figured it out… Your sister has gone to a good place."
"...Sniff. T-thank you."
After that, I patted Joe's shoulder a few times and stepped aside to let him compose himself.
"...Boss."
"Ah, Emma. You did well just now. I think I'm over being angry from yesterday."
"That's good. ...So what are you going to do now?"
At the same time Emma asked what I was going to do now...
Swish.
I felt an intense gaze on me, incomparable to Sophia's earlier.
When I turned my head to look...
"..."
There was Liese, staring at me intently as if observing closely while maintaining an expressionless face.
I didn't even sense her presence... or how long she had been there watching me.
She kept her eyes on me even after our eyes met like that, and then...
Swish.
Soon turned her body and went her own way.
"...As I thought."
I wasn't mistaken.
That Liese who just got hired at the Deaf Man's Bar...
Despite her young age and small body, she was dangerous.
...My intuition as a gunslinger is screaming that.
At that moment, I suddenly recalled the phrase from Zodiac's letter predicting the next target.
[Next I'll kill this town's gunslinger.]
"...I'll have to kill before being killed."
"...Pardon?"
"Let's go catch hi—Zodiac."
I first moved my steps in the direction Liese had left.
Very slowly... very leisurely, so as not to seem like tailing.