Chapter 97
Before Noah came.
Despite the late hour, Emma couldn't sleep for a long time, reminiscing about her earlier meeting with Noah.
— Ah, right. Congratulations, Emma. Joe said you're the most beautiful woman in this town.
The most beautiful woman in town.
[Next I will kill the most beautiful woman in this town.]
That was Zodiac's next target.
At this, Emma could immediately realize.
That Joe was actually the real Zodiac.
From the start, the clever Emma had been guessing the possibility that Joe could be Zodiac.
The fact that Zodiac was originally one of Justice Town's residents, and that the Zodiac serial killings occurred throughout Utah.
When those two points were overlapped, the only one who fit was Joe.
Perhaps because of this, Emma wasn't that shocked even after knowing the truth that Joe was Zodiac.
But what Emma worried about was Noah.
Noah usually showed no guilt when killing outlaws...
But Noah's appearance just now was somehow different from usual.
Seeing Noah's eyes full of devastation as if severely blaming himself...
— ...It's not your fault, Boss.
Emma couldn't help but hug him.
His suffering appearance was too pitiful... his sadness was transmitted to her as well.
"I guess I... like the Boss more than I thought."
At first, she was just amazed by the fact that she felt the emotion called love.
Next, she just hoped that he felt the same way.
When he put up a wall towards Emma, she felt a strong urge to climb over that wall.
That was why she tried to seduce Noah with fox-like behavior she hadn't done before.
Then how about her now?
— I want to always be with the Boss.
Not just now, but until she became a wrinkled old lady, she wanted to stand by his side.
Being by his side... she wanted to wipe his tears and hug him whenever he cried.
Not just touching him... and mixing bodies...
She wanted to share his surname and form a family with him...
She wanted to bear his child.
Emma recalled the contents of <Romeo and Juliet> she had read on the direct train to San Francisco 6 months ago.
When she first saw that book, her feelings were that it was interesting and she envied such passionate love while not understanding it.
The Emma then didn't know the emotion of love.
But now she seemed to understand it a little.
Django and Josephine.
She seemed to understand why those two people, who were once targets of Noah and Emma, chose to leave America while loving each other.
Love was tragic but it was worth it.
Love was something one could always smile at recalling those emotions and memories, even if one might regret it someday.
She wanted to have such love with Noah.
It might sound strange to say "have"...
She wanted to have Noah and wanted to give him her everything.
Thinking like that, Emma got into bed... and just as she closed her eyes,
Knock knock.
"Emma."
"...!"
As if their hearts were in sync, Noah came to her house late at night for some reason.
Startled, Emma went outside immediately wearing only a jacket as soon as she heard Noah's voice.
"...Boss?"
But Noah's attire was strange.
As if he was going somewhere, he was wearing thick clothes and behind him, No Name and Bonnie were standing with luggage on their backs.
Feeling somewhat uneasy at that sight, Emma asked, "What brings you here at this hour…?"
"..."
Noah hesitated for a moment before answering.
"I'm leaving town today."
"...Pardon?"
"It's sudden, but that's how it turned out. I probably won't ever return to Justice Town again."
"...Ah."
Emma's uneasiness became reality.
She had thought such a day might come someday.
Noah was a person who appeared in town suddenly 4 years ago, after all.
It wouldn't be strange if he disappeared without anyone knowing someday.
But for it to be now.
Noah must have come to say his final goodbye to Emma.
No...
If he left like this, it would be hard to meet Noah again.
Emma couldn't let Noah leave like this.
Should I grab his trouser leg... or should I kneel down and beg him to take me with him.
Swish—
At that moment, Noah reached out his hand to Emma.
It seemed he was offering a handshake meaning "good job" for the last time before parting.
But...
"..."
"..."
Strangely, Noah just stretched out his hand and couldn't easily continue his next words.
...Huh?
As Emma felt something strange and raised her head...
"..."
She could see that Noah was making a similar expression to Emma right now.
And Noah's following words.
"Do you want to... come with me?"
"...!"
Noah's eyes widened as if surprised at himself for saying those words.
That reaction meant he originally wasn't planning to propose to Emma to go together.
But why did Noah unconsciously tell Emma to leave together?
Emma recalled the moment when she shared her first kiss with Noah.
Rather than being sweet like she had read in books... that day when she felt breathless and her mouth was moist.
— ...I'm sorry.
Noah ended up pushing Emma away, but... Emma could feel that he wanted her too by looking into Noah's eyes at that moment.
Maybe...
Could Noah be harboring similar feelings to Emma even now?
That might just be Emma's personal wish, but...
Just the thought that Noah might like her made Emma smile.
Emma really enjoyed <Romeo and Juliet>.
That was partly because <Romeo and Juliet> was the first book she encountered after the Bible, but...
The main reason was that Juliet's image in the book overlapped with herself.
Juliet was a young lady from a noble European family.
Emma was a poor orphan from the American countryside.
On the surface, they were very different, but...
Emma thought Juliet's image of being oppressed within the fence of family and nobility was similar to her own image of not being able to escape the fence of the countryside.
In the novel, it was Romeo who reached out his hand to such a Juliet.
Perhaps Emma too... had been waiting for a Romeo to take her away from Justice Town for over 20 years.
Although the man in front of her, unlike the Romeo on a white horse in the novel...
Was a ruffian on a black horse.
Unlike Romeo who was righteous and full of chivalry...
He was a petty and stingy miser.
But Noah was definitely Emma's Romeo.
Grab.
Emma quickly snatched and held Noah's hand lest he pull it back.
And then she smiled and answered, "Okay."
"..."
"Let's go... together, Boss."
Emma's original dream was to leave Justice Town and freely travel the world.
And her recently added dream was to always remain by Noah's side.
But now those two dreams were about to come true simultaneously.
<Romeo and Juliet> ended in tragedy, but the story of these two people was just beginning.
Emma smiled happily, hoping for this story to have a happy ending.
...Not knowing what Noah was thinking inside.
***
Accepting my proposal to leave together, Emma came out packing her luggage with the happiest expression of anyone.
Seeing Emma like that, I couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt.
I knew better than anyone what Emma wanted from me... but I couldn't give that to Emma.
The moment I collected a million dollars... I'd have to leave Emma behind in this world.
I feel like I've become trash.
At that moment, a voice in my heart spoke.
[When were you not?]
...Is that so?
...Well, come to think of it, I've never not been trash to NPCs since entering this world.
Just like dealing with other guys...
I can only remain as trash to Emma.
"Boss."
"...Yes?"
But Emma, not knowing what I was thinking now, asked with an innocent face, "Where are we going after leaving Justice Town? You didn't tell me earlier."
"Where are we going? Well..."
"...You haven't decided yet?"
"I can think about it now."
I muttered to myself and pondered where to go... our destination.
If we went east of Utah, there was only more severe wasteland than here.
But if we went further east, there was the fertile Mississippi River, and if we went even further east, there was the eastern part which can be called the core district of current America.
Big cities like New York and Chicago would already be showing tremendous development speeds comparable to modern times.
We could live a much more prosperous life there than here.
If we didn't like America, we could also take a ship to Europe.
If we crossed the Atlantic to Europe, London and Paris were right there.
If we didn't like Western Europe like London and Paris, we could also go to a quiet village in the Mediterranean.
Anyway, as long as we went east, the options were endless.
If I fulfilled Emma's wish of traveling around the world, I might be able to lessen the guilt of using and abandoning Emma.
Maybe I could earn money more easily than in the West and leave this game.
Then eastward...
But then...
"Puhah."
"...?"
Emma chuckled seeing me pondering our destination.
When I tilted my head at this, Emma smiled and said, "Boss, do you remember what I told you before?"
"...What you told me? What?"
"That you're always looking west knowingly or unknowingly."
"Ah."
Right, I remember hearing that from Emma.
She said I always look west knowingly or unknowingly.
...I just laughed it off then.
Come to think of it, even now I was thinking the east was better in my head, but my body was facing west.
What was in the west compared to the prosperous east?
Wasteland and countless outlaws, uncivilized Indians and dangerous beasts.
The worst gang members trying to kill me and crazy resistance fighters who believed they could rebuild the already fallen Confederacy.
It was truly a mess of a place, but...
For me who had lived here for the past 17 years, it was the most comfortable and familiar place.
"..."
At that moment, I realized that no matter what the exact destination was, I wanted to go west first.
Maybe I had already become someone who couldn't live without the West.
At this, I asked Emma first, "Emma, I haven't decided exactly where to go yet, but... is it okay if we go west?"
"Anywhere is fine as long as I'm with you, Boss."
At Emma's answer, I turned the horse's head westward.
Noah's life that started in the West.
It was right to end it in the West, too.
For 17 years, I had always been a fugitive.
First I ran from New Mexico, then I ran from San Francisco, and now I was trying to run from Justice Town.
And at the end, I'd run from this game.
In the well-fed East, they often called the West a paradise for fugitives.
They say there was no paradise where one ran to, but the West was a paradise for fugitives.
Which of these two contradictory sayings was correct?
Still, hoping the latter was right...
"Let's go west, Emma."
"Yes!"
We rode the horses westward.
Goodbye, Justice Town.
As we rode through the vast darkness, the past 4 years of life in Justice Town passed through my mind like a panorama.
At the same time...
17 years of memories in this damn Western game flashed by, too.
It was truly a long time.
Now it was time to see the ending of this damn game.