Chapter 89 - Liese

Seeing Joe dead, I couldn't help but laugh hollowly.

Is it because it doesn't feel real?

...Come to think of it, it's natural that it doesn't feel real.

Because this is inside a game.

No one would cry over an NPC dying in a game.

That must be why I'm laughing now.

Click.

Thinking that way, my mind felt much more at ease.

So I raised my gun towards another NPC in front of me.

I wouldn't have killed an ordinary NPC, but she had already declared she would kill me.

Since she said she'd kill me, she was no different from a hostile NPC.

I killed the hostile NPC trying to kill me before I died.

It was only natural as a gamer.

...It wasn't important that I had given that NPC her name.

From that moment, my mind started working only on how to kill the NPC in front of me.

There are 3 bullets left in the SAA I'm holding now.

I used 3 bullets to shoot Joe earlier, so 3 remained.

The distance between me and Liese was... roughly 100 yards?

It was far.

Given that Liese's body was small and agile, I'd need to use all my focus to hit her.

It shouldn't be a problem.

But I could shoot without issue from even farther distances than this.

Without needing to quick draw, I was already holding the gun, so I raised the muzzle and fired.

Bang.

But...

Hop.

Liese, whom I thought would immediately return fire after opening her holster, showed an unexpected choice.

Instead of drawing her gun, she immediately threw her body to the side as if dodging.

Gunslingers ruled by pride might not tolerate such behavior in a duel, but...

In fact, Liese's judgment was extremely correct.

She probably figured she can't beat me in a simple duel, so she's dodging first.

After firing my first shot into the air like that, I calmly fired following Liese's expected path.

Bang.

Hop.

...The small white thing hopping looks just like a rabbit.

The second shot was a miss too, unfortunately.

But...

Bang.

The second bullet was essentially just for herding.

The two earlier failures were for the last bullet.

Whoosh.

I can see it.

I can see my bullet cutting through the wind and hitting Liese's heart precisely.

But...

Whoosh.

"...!"

Even the last decisive bullet didn't reach Liese.

It was because Liese twisted her body in mid-air to dodge the bullet.

"..."

That sight, which could be called acrobatic, was quite familiar.

It couldn't help but be familiar...

Because that was originally a technique I often used.

— Flexibility. The important thing is flexibility. The enemies will surely shoot when we're in the air, right? To survive to the end, you need to know how to dodge bullets even in the air.

I taught Jenny James how to twist her body in mid-air.

And...

Jenny James must have taught this to Liese.

Is all this my karma?

While I was letting out a hollow laugh, Liese hid between rocks just like Joe did earlier.

This is troublesome.

The rabbit had hidden in its burrow.

A rabbit with quite large and thick teeth at that.

Click.

I clicked my tongue and reloaded.

Still, now there were 6 bullets in the SAA.

I let Liese escape just now because there were only 3 bullets, but if I had all 6, I could have caught her through fanning rapid-fire.

The only problem was...

Even with my sharp senses, I couldn't feel Liese's presence.

Although Liese hid behind the rocks, only the sound of wind could be heard from there as if no one was there.

So I deliberately called out to Liese, just like I had lured Joe earlier.

"A little kid like you is an executioner? Hahah, looks like the organization just collapsed without me."

"..."

"Ah... I shouldn't have picked up that dirty beggar from the Michel slums back then."

Mixing in aggressive words to shake Liese was a bonus.

I used to enjoy unsettling my opponents before duels.

But...

"..."

...Is it not working?

No matter how I tried to provoke her, not even a small answer came back from the rocks.

Well... she seemed quite taciturn when I saw her last time.

Just when I was thinking I might have to give up on getting an answer from Liese...

"...Why did you abandon us?"

"..."

A somewhat sorrowful voice was heard from between the rocks.

The moment I heard those words...

I forgot about pinpointing Liese's position between the rocks and had to stop for a moment.

***

After being taken in by Jenny James and given the name “Liese James” at 9 years old...

The place Liese was sent to was a small bar in San Francisco.

"Liese, you're part of TKK now too."

"TKK...?"

TKK was said to be an organization that started with just three people—Kid and Jenny James who were wearing white masks earlier, and one more person.

TKK was a cell organization, so they were scattered not just in San Francisco but throughout the West.

Of course, Liese didn't know what a cell organization meant at the time, so she just nodded.

The only thing Liese understood then was Jenny's last words.

"The bar owner Gonzales here is also our organization member. Liese, you'll live here from now on."

"Uuu..."

Doesn't that mean Jenny will leave Liese here too?

Liese, understanding that Jenny was abandoning her and leaving, immediately made a crying face and tightly grabbed her sleeve.

Seeing Liese like that, Jenny smiled slightly as if overlapping her with someone and said:

"...Liese, you resemble Kid. Maybe that's why I liked you."

"...?"

"Don't worry, Liese. I'm not abandoning you. I just have too much work to do, so I'm going for a while. I'll come whenever I have time, day or night, so just wait a little."

"..."

At the words that she wasn't being abandoned, Liese let go of Jenny.

After that, Jenny left... and Liese came to live helping Gonzales with work at the bar.

Gonzales was taciturn but a good person.

He gave Liese plenty of food... taught Liese work... and never hit Liese even when she made mistakes.

So Liese worked at the bar with Gonzales during the day and met Jenny at night.

"Liese."

"Deputy Leader!"

After learning about titles from Gonzales, Liese came to call Jenny Deputy Leader.

"Did you work hard today too? You didn't give Gonzales a hard time, did you?"

"No!"

"Good job, then shall I teach you how to do fanning well as a reward today?"

If Gonzales taught Liese how to work at the bar... Jenny taught Liese how to handle guns and knives.

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Liese had talent for killing people.

Jenny often praised Liese like that and...

"Liese! You did so well! Your gun shooting posture is just like Kid when he was young?"

Kid was always in those praises.

Kid.

Jenny liked Kid very much.

It was the same for Gonzales too.

Even other TKK members who occasionally visited Gonzales' bar all liked Kid.

Kid...

Liese didn't have many memories with Kid.

But... everyone liked him... and he gave Liese her name.

So Liese came to like Kid too.

She liked Kid and liked Jenny and liked Gonzales.

She liked the TKK organization that became her home.

And 3 years later when Liese turned 12.

TKK disbanded.

Because of Kid whom everyone liked.

"...Why did you abandon us?"

"..."

Even TKK members didn't know the detailed circumstances of why TKK suddenly collapsed.

What they knew was... that Kid abandoned the organization and left.

"...Were we not very precious to you?"

Without any hesitation, the answer came immediately, "Yeah, not really."

"..."

While being raised as TKK's executioner, Liese also received training to distinguish lies and truth.

Liese had talent for that too.

Truth.

Kid's words now were the truth.

He... didn't think very preciously of the TKK organization... the place that became Liese's home.

"...Were we just a means of making money to you?"

The South Brotherhood's ultimate goal was rebuilding the Confederacy.

But TKK, while having similar power to them, didn't have such a grand goal comparable to theirs.

So members jokingly said that the money-loving leader created the TKK organization to make a lot of money.

Liese thought that was just a joke too, but...

"Yeah, that's right. I created the organization to make a lot of money."

"..."

Judging by Kid's tone, this was also the truth.

Liese gritted her teeth and secretly moved back and forth behind the rock.

While conversing with Kid, Liese was thoroughly preparing for an ambush.

Step.

Then the sound of Kid's footsteps approaching the rock where Liese was could be heard.

Narrowing the distance was absolutely disadvantageous for Liese.

To have even a slim chance against that legendary gunslinger, she needed to keep as much distance as possible.

Step, step.

She needed to act before Kid narrowed the distance further.

Sensing it was about time, Liese threw her last question at him.

"...Don't you regret killing the Deputy Leader?"

"..."

"...Was the Deputy Leader just a means of making money to you too?"

Even TKK members didn't know the detailed circumstances of why TKK suddenly collapsed.

What they knew was... that Kid abandoned the organization and left.

And...

That Kid killed Jenny.

Just those two things.

Soon Kid's answer came.

"...Yeah."

It was a short answer, but she could tell.

That answer is a lie.

Kid was... greatly shaken at this moment.

Liese used to unsettle opponents verbally before duels.

That was a know-how Kid taught Jenny and Jenny taught Liese.

Whoosh.

Liese, who had unsettled Kid using Kid's method, realized this was her last chance and secretly went out from behind the rock.

Click.

If Jenny had seen Liese's quick draw now, she would have praised her like this:

Excellent, just like Kid back then.

Kid, who had been dazed for a moment, belatedly noticed Liese and aimed his gun at her.

Bang.

Soon a single gunshot rang out.

Someone pulled the trigger... and someone couldn't.