NOVEL NEXT Chapter 112
“Damn, a lot of people gathered in this short time…”
“Peace Town is small. Seems like all the men in the village are here.”
If dozens of men in front of me fired their guns at once, there was nothing I could do.
‘This might end up being a pointless way to go.’
I raised my hands and slowly moved forward, carrying Joshua’s corpse with Borg.
Then…
“Wait!”
An old voice came from the direction of the village hall where the townspeople were gathered.
“Don’t come any closer! Speak from there! If you take another step, we’ll pull the trigger!”
“Yes! I’ll stand still and speak!”
I recognized the face. Definitely… the chief of Peace Town, I think.
At his words telling us not to come any closer, Borg and I stopped.
And then…
Thud.
Borg, who was carrying Joshua’s corpse on his back, threw it down right in front of us.
Murmur.
As we brought Joshua’s corpse, the armed townspeople gasped and started murmuring.
“That, that guy…”
“He’s the one who shot Mr. Michael!”
Some of them recognized Joshua.
The chief quickly figured out who Joshua was and asked us, “Isn’t that the gunslinger who killed one of our villagers? He must have been your comrade… who killed him?”
“First, let me apologize!”
I bowed deeply to the townspeople.
Seeing me bow, Borg behind me also bowed.
It was quite an exaggerated apology for America.
“We never intended to kill anyone! And this bastard wasn’t our comrade!”
“……”
“We only found out too late that this guy was an outlaw! We’re sorry!”
“…What? An outlaw?”
At the word “outlaw,” the townspeople began to stir.
“An outlaw came to our village?”
“Are the others outlaws too…?”
“We might end up like Mr. Michael…”
I continued speaking.
“But I can promise you this! There are no outlaws among us now! We’re just following legal procedures for the eviction, and we won’t harm any of you!”
“……”
“We’ll leave this bastard’s corpse here so you can exchange it for the bounty and give it to the victim’s family! That’s all, and we’ll be on our way now.”
Creak.
Borg and I slowly took a step back, leaving Joshua’s corpse behind.
“……”
“……”
From a distance, I could see the townspeople glaring at us as if they wanted to kill us.
But they didn’t shoot, and we managed to get away safely.
“Phew…”
“Damn… I thought we were dead.”
Once we reached a safe spot, Borg wiped his chest and asked me, “Hey, youngest… are we good now? Did we manage to sort this out?”
“…I don’t know.”
“What?”
Seeing me, who had been the de facto leader until now, show weakness for the first time, Borg was startled.
But no one really knew what would happen next.
The townspeople, now feeling a sense of crisis, might raid the inn we were staying at tonight, or they might just let it go after my persuasion.
“From now on, it’s up to the townspeople to decide.”
“…Then what do we do now?”
“What do we do? We just stay quiet in the inn and not provoke them.”
If we resumed work now, the angry townspeople might pick up their guns again.
…Damn, Joshua’s stupid move messed everything up.
I could sense that the eviction of the village would take longer than the one month I had initially planned.
‘We still have to drive out the Indians too… Should we deal with them first?’
But with Joshua dead, we only have six people left.
Facing an Indian tribe with who knows how many warriors with just six of us?
…Even for me, that wasn’t going to be easy.
“…This is such a mess.”
I grabbed my throbbing head and headed back to the inn with Borg.
“How did it go?”
“Boss.”
The other gunslingers and Emma greeted us.
“We managed to sort it out for now… but I’m not sure yet. Let’s just stay quiet here tonight.”
“Huh? Oh, okay…”
Even though I said we sorted it out, everyone’s expressions were dark.
And for good reason…
Now the relationship between the townspeople and us had reversed.
Before, we were the ones holding the upper hand, but now they had us by the throat.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
“…Shouldn’t we inform the company about this?”
“……”
We came here to make money.
But we broke the company’s rule of not killing anyone.
The company could use that as an excuse not to pay us.
…If Lloyd doesn’t pay the rest of the money, I can’t go home.
The other gunslingers must also have their own reasons for needing to earn money.
“Let’s send someone to inform the company about what happened in the village today. We’ll see what the company says about how to proceed from here.”
“I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. …But who’s going to the company?”
“Emma.”
When asked who would go to the company, I didn’t hesitate and looked at Emma.
Emma is smart and already acquainted with Lloyd.
With Emma going, she should be able to handle the company well.
But…
“No.”
“……”
“I will never leave this town unless it’s with the Boss.”
Unlike before, Emma, who had become much more sharp-tongued, immediately refused my order.
“W-well, then I’ll go.”
In the end, another gunslinger was assigned to go to the company.
Since it only takes 5 hours to get to Sacramento, without wasting any more time, he finished his simple preparations and headed straight to the company.
After seeing him off, Borg asked me.
“Hey, youngest… So, what should we do now?”
“I told you, let’s lay low. Let’s just stay at the tavern and drink.”
“Ah, right, right.”
Somehow, there’s a sense of tension in the air in the town.
Because of that, even while drinking our favorite alcohol, we couldn’t drink carelessly.
We even took turns keeping watch at night, just in case the townspeople might launch a surprise attack.
And so, the tense night passed…
By morning, the gunslinger who had gone to report the company’s business returned.
The company’s response he brought back was…
‘We’ll give you the money, so continue with the demolition work.’
And so it was.
A few days later.
We didn’t start the work and just kept passing time at the inn and tavern.
But contrary to our worries, nothing particularly problematic happened… and the angry townspeople didn’t attack us either.
As the same routine continued, the gunslingers gradually relaxed, and some even suggested we should start the work again soon.
But…
“……”
Somehow, I couldn’t shake off this uneasy feeling.
At dawn, just as the sun was starting to rise.
Looking at the cold, distant streets…
“Boss.”
“Ah, Emma. You’re up?”
Emma, in her nightgown with a coat draped over, approached me.
“You’re up early.”
“Somehow, I couldn’t sleep.”
“……”
Seeing me looking at the streets with a bit of unease, Emma followed my gaze and stared at the streets before speaking.
“Boss, you have a really good intuition. …Seeing you uneasy makes me feel uneasy too.”
“……”
“Boss. It’s not too late even now. Can’t we just leave?”
Tug.
Emma gently held my hand and pleaded.
“Even if it’s for the money, I feel bad about driving out the townspeople who’ve lived here all along. Let’s not torment these innocent people and just…”
“Innocent? And people who’ve lived here all along? Emma, you still don’t understand the West.”
I pulled my hand away a bit roughly and said.
“This was originally Shoshone territory. Peace Town? It’s a town built by settlers who took over the Indians’ land.”
“……”
“And innocent, my foot. If those people were really innocent, they’d all be dead by now.”
There’s no sheriff or circuit judge here.
It’s literally a lawless land, outside the reach of legal order.
The people of this town, who have survived in the midst of this lawless land where Indians and bandits run rampant, are truly masters of survival.
That’s why I can’t help but feel uneasy.
They’ll do anything to survive.
“Since we crossed the line first, those people will cross the line too. So stay alert. If things go south…”
That’s when it happened.
Thud thud thud thud.
“……!!!”
Through my sensitive ears, I heard the sound of horse hooves shaking the ground from beyond the horizon.
“Boss…?”
“…Wait, be quiet.”
I quieted Emma and focused my hearing to gauge the sound.
Thud thud thud thud-!
Thud thud thud thud thud thud-!
Fast.
And…
Many.
In this rough plain, there’s only one thing that can move that fast in such numbers.
“Damn it. Speak of the devil.”
“…What.”
No… what’s coming this way now is no mere tiger.
Even in my reckless days, they were formidable foes I couldn’t easily handle.
Masters of horseback riding and sharpshooting.
And…
The original rulers of this land, defeated by time.
“…It’s the Indians.”
They’re charging towards us right now.