Chapter 9
Of course, I had no intention of eliminating all seven Red Beard Gang members who came to Justice Town.
I absolutely needed one person to guide me to their camp.
"Lalalala~"
I approached the guy while humming.
Probably due to the after-effects of jumping from the moving wagon, he was groaning, unable to get up from the ground.
"Alright, friend. Shall we have a little chat now?"
"C-Chat...? Ughh...!"
"Oh my, looks like it hurts a lot."
I lifted him from the ground where he was groaning and leaned him against the nearby wagon wreckage.
Then I took out a water pouch from the bag on No Name's saddle and handed it to him.
"Here, have some water."
"..."
He looked at me with wary eyes but drank the water I offered.
"You can call me Noah, and your name is?"
"...Verdi."
"Good, Verdi. Let's have a constructive conversation."
I asked Verdi, who seemed to have lowered his guard a bit after drinking the water, directly, "Where did the rest of your Red Beard Gang go?"
"...!"
To Verdi, who looked surprised, I whispered insidiously, like a snake tempting with the forbidden fruit, "I didn't go through all this trouble just to catch a small fry like you. Where are your boss and executives?"
"..."
"If you just guide me to where your gang members are, I'll let you go."
Verdi's face still had a youthful look, perhaps because he was still young.
I had also heard the gang executive call him the youngest back at the bar.
Verdi probably hadn't been with the Red Beard Gang for long.
That means his loyalty to the gang would be weaker too.
"N-no matter how important my life is, that's a bit..."
"What are you saying? Your own life is the most important thing, no matter what anyone says. No one will call you a coward in this situation. So speak comfortably. Where are the others?"
Of course, even if he resisted at first, I believed he would soon give me the answer I wanted.
"Well..."
"..."
The longer he took to answer, the more anxious I became.
Hurry up and speak.
With such a big commotion on the outskirts of town, the sheriff and his deputies would soon be swarming in.
If they came and collected the Red Beard Gang members' bodies and took this guy into custody, that would be the end of it.
To wipe out the Red Beard Gang's main force, I needed to get on the same page with this guy before that happened.
But...
"I-I will never sell out information about my brothers!"
"...”
Verdi didn't give me the answer I wanted.
At the same time...
Thud thud thud thud—
I could faintly hear the sound of horses approaching from the direction of town.
Sheriff Jett and his deputies were coming.
"D-do you think I'd sell out my brothers just to save my own life?"
"..."
"You bastard...! Even if I go to hell, I'll...!"
"...Damn, this clueless bastard, when I'm already short on time."
"...What?"
"Alright, then you can just die."
"What are you... w-wait...!"
Crack.
"Aaaaargh-!!"
He had been clutching his chest since earlier, probably having injured his ribs.
I gently stepped on his chest and...
Stretch.
"...!"
I nocked the last arrow I hadn't shot earlier and drew the bowstring.
"Aaaagh! W-wait!! Just a moment...!!"
Verdi only started pleading after I raised my bow, even though he was going to give in anyway.
That fact made me angry.
"J-just a moment...! D-don't do this, brother...!"
"Brother? Why am I your brother?"
"I-I think outlaws and bounty hunters are brothers, just not blood-related...!"
"Oh really?"
I half-heartedly listened to Verdi's words and tightened the bowstring.
But at that moment.
"Huk...! I-I'll talk...!!"
"..."
"I'll talk...! Huu... So please, that thing... huk..."
Only then did Verdi give me the answer I wanted, with tears in his eyes.
At his words, I lowered my bow as if I had been waiting for this and said with a smile.
"You made a good choice, little brother. You won't regret it."
"Huuk..."
Wiping out the entire Red Beard Gang, plus the bank cash they stole.
The path to a fortune had opened.
***
Justice Town's sheriff's department was quite diligent in their work.
"Hey! Kid!! What's going on here!"
"Ah, Sheriff. We meet again this morning."
Not long after, Sheriff Jett and his deputies rushed towards us.
"You bastard! What kind of mess have you made again!! Residents said there was gunfire all the way from town! I swear, because of you...!"
"Oh come on, Sheriff, why do you always get angry as soon as you see my face? Look, Sheriff. See who I've caught."
Saying this, I showed Jett the bodies of the Red Beard Gang members and the gang executive.
"This guy is...!"
At first, Jett approached with a dubious face, but especially when he saw the executive's face, as if something occurred to him...
"Bring the Red Beard Gang wanted posters from my bag and compare!"
"Yes!"
He had his subordinates bring the wanted posters and compared them with the bodies' mugshots.
"Red Beard Gang executive Willie Merikes, $230! Then the body lying next to him is...?"
"Yes, it's a Red Beard Gang member."
"Haa... what in the..."
After confirming, Jett grabbed his forehead as if dizzy and let out a deep sigh.
"After receiving five outlaws this morning, now it's the Red Beard Gang in the afternoon.... Is the town really cursed or something..."
"These aren't the end of it, there are four more Red Beard Gang member bodies at the Deaf Man's Bar. I caught them all."
Five outlaws were handed over in the morning, plus six Red Beard Gang members I caught in the afternoon, totaling 11 outlaws who visited the town.
From the sheriff's perspective, it was understandably troubling.
"Haa... Alright. We'll confirm and take care of the bodies. Come to the office later to collect the bounty."
"Are you leaving?"
"We need to check if there are any other Red Beard Gang members or outlaws in town," Jett said this with fire in his eyes.
Although I handle most of the outlaws who come to Justice Town, that didn't mean Jett lacked enthusiasm for his sheriff duties.
He desired peace and safety for Justice Town more than anyone.
Right now, Jett's eyes seemed filled with the desire to shoot and kill any outlaw on sight.
And those eyes of his...
"By the way, Kid."
"Yes?"
"I've been wanting to ask, who's that friend next to you?"
...turned towards Verdi standing beside me.
"Huh? Oh, m-me?!"
When pointed out by the sheriff, Verdi jumped in surprise, showing obvious shock.
"..."
Jett wasn’t an incompetent man.
He scrutinized Verdi's appearance and...
Slide.
He slowly moved his hand towards his holster.
I was the one who calmed Jett, who looked ready to point his gun at Verdi at any moment.
"Haha! Sorry for the late introduction, Sheriff! This friend is a younger brother I know! You could call him my assistant!"
"...It's a face I've never seen in town before."
"He just came to town a while ago! The kid looks like this because he was catching outlaws! Right, Bergo?"
"...Ah, yes. That's right. ...But my name's not Bergo, it's Verdi..."
"Right, Verdi, you bastard. Verdi."
"..."
Although Jett always shouted and got angry when he saw me, he tended to be quite lenient with me.
"...Well. If you vouch for him, I suppose there's no problem."
Jett looked at Verdi suspiciously but let it go, probably because of me.
"...Your friend seems badly hurt. Shouldn't he see a doctor?"
"No, this guy is tougher than he looks, he's fine. We have somewhere to go anyway."
"You have somewhere to go?"
"We're going on a short 'business trip'."
I rarely left Justice Town.
The only time I went on a trip was to hunt outlaws.
Understanding my words, Jett nodded.
"The town will be quiet for a while then."
"Please tell Emma I won't be back for a few days. And I'll take all these gang members' guns with me. Ah, the horses here seem a bit hurt, so please take them back to town."
"My goodness. You're asking a lot from the sheriff. Alright."
Jett grumbled but agreed to all my requests.
Then he mounted his horse and...
"Kid."
"Yes?"
"...Be careful. I know how skilled you are, but don't let your guard down."
Throwing a word of concern like a tsundere...
"Let's head back to town!"
"Yes sir!!"
He returned to Justice Town with the other deputies.
I watched Jett's back until it became a dot, then loaded all the Red Beard Gang members' weapons next to No Name and said to the frozen Verdi.
"Well, we should get going too."
"...Yes."
"The Red Beard Gang camp... It's definitely in Lincoln County, right?"
Before the sheriff arrived, Verdi had confessed that the Red Beard Gang's camp was in Lincoln County.
Lincoln County was relatively close to Justice Town here.
Of course, even though it was close, it would still take a full day's ride on horseback.
"...Yes, they set up a temporary camp in an abandoned mine in Lincoln County."
"It won't be fun if you're lying… Get on the horse. Let's go quickly."
Considering the possibility of escape, I originally planned to have us both ride on No Name's back and gallop straight to Lincoln County.
But...
"Ugh..."
"What's wrong?"
"My current physical condition... isn't good enough to ride a horse..."
Verdi, who was about to mount No Name, suddenly clutched his chest and breathed heavily as if in pain.
Certainly, Verdi did look a bit unwell right now.
What should I do...
It would be better if I could transport him in a wagon or something...
But the Red Beard Gang's wagon was already destroyed, and I had sent the injured horses back to town with Jett, so there was no way.
But then...
Thud thud—
"...Hmm?"
My keen ears caught the sound of a wagon approaching.
I turned my head and went to greet the source of the sound...
"Oh!! Joeeee!!!"
A welcome face.
Our Justice Town's friendly Hispanic Joe was passing by.
"Joeeee!! It's me!! Stop for a bit!!"
"Oh...! Shit...!"
I could hear Joe recognizing me from afar and, for some reason, cursing.
Thud thud thud thud—!
Joe didn't seem to have any intention of stopping, maintaining the wagon's speed even after seeing me.
I looked at Joe with a fond smile and then...
Click.
I brought the Sharps rifle from my back to the front and shouted loudly, "Hey! Joe! Stop! Haha, if you don't stop, I don't know what I might do out of disappointment!"
"...!"
Only then did Joe slow down the wagon and approach me.
"...Oh! Mr. Noah! You were there! I'm sorry! My eyesight is poor, so I didn't realize you were there! Haha...!"
"Hahah, I would have been hurt if you just passed by, Joe."
"...How could I pass by without greeting you, Mr. Noah… This is the second time I'm seeing you today, what's the matter this time?"
I patted Joe's somewhat uneasy-looking shoulders a couple of times and said, "Joe, you're not busy today, right?"
"...Huh? No, I've been strangely swamped with work since earlier, and I'll be late even if I rush right now..."
Ignoring Joe's protests about being busy, I lit up my eyes and whispered in his ear, "You... let's do a job together."
"...What?"
Joe's face turned to bewilderment.