After that, everything Django said was exactly what William had mentioned before.
Josephine was the precious daughter of William, the tobacco farm owner.
And Django was the son of a slave family that had served William’s household for generations.
Django was also born before the Emancipation Proclamation, so he was a slave of the William family.
But there were also some new facts I hadn’t heard before.
“Actually, I’m a bit of a special case among slaves. Haha, I can’t distinguish colors, you see.”
“…You can’t distinguish colors? So…?”
…Is he colorblind?
In both my past and present life, this was the first time I’d met someone who couldn’t distinguish colors.
Feeling a bit curious, I asked him, “Then how did you know I’m white?”
“I can’t distinguish colors, but I can tell light from dark. White people are light, and Black people are dark. That’s how I tell races apart.”
Ah… I see.
Being colorblind doesn’t mean you can’t see at all.
‘Was that a rude question?’
But Django didn’t seem to mind and continued talking.
“In my colorless world, our young lady was especially beautiful. Someone like me, a slave and servant, could never even dream of…”
“Oh? But how did you two end up falling in love and coming to San Francisco?”
“That’s…”
Just as I subtly asked why they specifically fled to San Francisco…
Thud.
“Noah, your fried chicken order is ready.”
The owner, Paul, placed a tray full of fried chicken and cornbread in front of us.
Seeing that glorious sight after so long, I forgot about gathering information and just stared.
Fried chicken.
Technically, this was a dish popular in the East, especially the South.
In the West, it’s hard to find a restaurant that serves fried chicken.
Only in a bustling place like San Francisco could you find a chicken joint.
In fact, as far as I knew, this was the only place in San Francisco that served fried chicken.
Chicken is also the soul food of Koreans.
That’s why, as soon as I arrived in San Francisco, I rushed straight here.
Phew.
‘Damn, that smell is heavenly…’
After three years, the smell of chicken overwhelmed me.
“Enjoy your meal, Noah.”
Meanwhile, Django, holding a fork, grabbed a piece of chicken first.
But…
“…Wait, hey you… I mean, Django. Stop right there.”
“…Huh?”
This cheeky brat had the audacity to grab a drumstick right in front of me, who hadn’t had chicken in three years.
Unable to stand it, I took the drumstick from Django’s plate and…
Plop.
“Here, have this.”
“…Noah.”
I placed a large piece of chicken breast on his plate.
In Korea, even a saint would’ve slapped me for this, but Django’s reaction was the complete opposite.
“C-Can I really eat this…?”
Django looked at the chicken breast on his plate with a grateful expression.
And for good reason—in America, chicken breast is called “white meat,” a part favored by white people.
In contrast, chicken legs are “dark meat.”
Leftover chicken legs were mainly eaten by Black people, hence the term.
I’m white, Django’s Black.
So, me eating the drumstick while giving him the breast must’ve been confusing for him.
Honestly, in Western fried chicken, the breast is also delicious.
It’s juicy and tender, a delicacy in its own way.
Of course, I still preferred the drumstick.
But I wanted to boost my favorability with Django, so I smiled and replied, “You said you can’t distinguish colors, right? So what does white meat or dark meat matter?”
“…!”
“Without color, shouldn’t you just eat what tastes good?”
“…Noah.”
Django’s face was an open book. He looked deeply moved as he took a bite of the chicken breast.
“Chicken breast… it tastes like this.”
“……”
Wait, is this his first time eating chicken breast?
Django eating chicken breast looked like a black goat finally grazing after starving for a week.
It was pitiful, really.
This made me wonder again.
‘Even after thinking about it, I don’t get it. Why would they pay $10,000 to catch this guy?’
They could’ve sent anyone from their ranks to kill this fool…?
Why go through the trouble of offering me $10,000…?
‘Hmm…’
Wow.
In this confusing situation, I pondered while eating the chicken.
Now that I’d found Django, finding William’s daughter Josephine would be easy.
If I captured Josephine and brought her back to Justice Town, I’d get $10,000.
And…
If I killed this fool and took a body part, I’d get another $10,000.
But I hesitated to kill Django.
Not because I was worried about being labeled an outlaw for killing an innocent civilian.
If I secretly killed him and dumped his body in the ocean, no one would know.
It’s just… well…
After realizing Django was a genuinely good guy… I felt a bit guilty.
I don’t sympathize with NPCs, and my top priority is getting home as soon as possible…
But even I found it hard to kill an innocent civilian NPC.
So, I couldn’t decide what to do with Django until I finished the fried chicken.
Leaving my thoughts unresolved, I finished the meal…
“Owner, thank you for the meal.”
“Paul, that was great. I’ll come back once more before leaving San Francisco.”
“Sure, see you next time.”
I thanked Paul and left the restaurant.
With a full stomach, I walked out first, and Django followed, asking, “Noah, I have to go now. What about you?”
“……”
While eating, I thought about capturing Django first, but the main target of this mission was Josephine, not him.
I put on a friendly smile and said, “I should head back too. Which way are you going?”
“I’m heading to the docks.”
“Oh, that’s the opposite direction for me. Guess we’ll part ways here.”
Hearing this, Django looked disappointed and bowed his head.
“Thank you again for saving me today. The fried chicken was delicious.”
“Yeah, it was nice meeting you too.”
And then…
“……”
“…?”
Something…
He stared at me as if he had more to say, but in the end, he turned away without speaking.
“…I hope to see you again, but I guess I won’t. Farewell, Mr. Noah!”
“Yes, Mr. Django, I wish you good luck with your future endeavors.”
I also waved at Django as he left, then turned in the opposite direction.
And I walked down the street as if nothing was wrong…
*Swoosh.*
I subtly turned my body and started walking in the direction Django had gone.
Of course, I had no intention of letting Django go just like that.
I planned to tail him to find out where he was staying and whether he was with Josephine.
*Thud.*
Keeping some distance, I followed him, and Django, unaware of my presence, walked cheerfully.
After leaving the Saint Michel Slum, Django headed toward the docks.
But it seemed there was no particular reason for him to go to the docks…
“……”
He simply stared at the endless horizon.
The sight of the sun setting over the horizon felt slightly different from the usual sunset over an endless landscape.
I turned my head to closely examine Django’s face while taking in the breathtaking scenery.
My physical abilities were excellent, and so was my eyesight, allowing me to see Django’s expression in detail.
What kind of expression was that?
Was it one of melancholy… or perhaps filled with anticipation?
If I had to define it, it was a face overflowing with hope.
‘Looking at the sea with a hopeful expression? Surely not…?’
I made various assumptions in my mind as I continued to follow him.
Django wandered aimlessly, as if he had no set destination.
‘So, he came to the Saint Michel Slum just by wandering around aimlessly.’
However, after the sun had completely set, Django’s direction became more consistent, as if he had a place to return to.
He headed toward a street with decent-quality inns, though not as fancy as hotels.
‘Did he book a place here?’
*Thud.*
As soon as I thought that, Django stopped in front of the most secluded inn.
He didn’t go in right away, as if waiting for someone.
*Swoosh.*
I, too, hid in an alley to keep a safe watch on him.
But then…
*Tap.*
“Huh…?”
“Uh…?”
There were other guests in the alley.
“Emma?”
“Boss?”
They were none other than Emma and Billy.
Why were these two here…?
Before I could understand the situation, Billy approached me with an angry face and scolded me.
“…Mr. Noah. If you run away like this one more time, I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”
“Ah, I just had something to take care of. I swear to heaven, I didn’t cause any trouble. By the way, why are you two here?”
As I calmed Billy down and asked, Emma answered with a meaningful expression.
“…Boss. We just found Miss Josephine.”
“…What?”
“She looked exactly like the portrait Mr. William showed us. So we were tailing her, but why are you here…?”
“I was tailing Django.”
“…Huh?”
Our words overlapped, and we stared at each other with dumbfounded expressions…
*Whoosh.*
We quickly turned our heads toward the inn, and there was Django, holding a white woman in his arms.
As soon as she saw that, Emma asked in surprise.
“That white woman is Miss Josephine. Then who’s the black man?”
“Uh, Django Montague.”
I quickly scanned the face of the woman in Django’s arms.
Her face was exactly like the portrait William had shown us before.
It seemed she was indeed William’s daughter, Josephine.
With this, we had found both Django and Josephine, the targets of our request, within a day of arriving in San Francisco.
I muttered as I watched the two embrace.
“Wow… the South Brotherhood is really good at their job. Emma and I found both of them right away, but the so-called biggest gang in the West couldn’t find them? Useless bastards.”
“No…!”
Hearing my sarcasm, Billy snapped.
“You finding them was pure luck…! If we had a few more days, the South Brotherhood would’ve easily found them…!”
“Yeah, yeah~ Sure~”
“…How dare you insult the South Brotherhood…!”
Just as I was bickering with Billy…
“Gasp…!”
*Whoosh.*
Emma, who had been staring at Django and Josephine, suddenly turned bright red and lowered her head.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Emma?”
When I looked back at Django and Josephine…
“Gasp.”
The two were passionately kissing.
The scene was so intense that it was clearly overwhelming for Emma, who was from the countryside.
But naturally, I couldn’t take my eyes off the interesting sight and muttered.
“Wow… they’re really going at it.”
“…Boss, could you stop with the vulgar expressions?”
“Why are you so embarrassed, Emma? Those two kissing are adults, and we’re all adults too.”
I playfully whispered as I subtly placed my hand on Emma’s still-red shoulder.
“What? Oh, are you jealous? Should we do it too?”
“…Get lost.”
“Sure.”
“……”
“Billy, I don’t like you.”
“…What-! I never said I wanted to!! Why are you dragging me into this!!”
“You were looking at me with expectant eyes.”
“When did I ever look at you with expectant eyes…!!”
“Shh, be quiet. You’re going to give us away.”
While I was verbally sparring with Billy, Django and Josephine finished their kiss and went inside the inn.
Emma, who finally raised her head to watch them disappear, asked me.
“Boss. What are you planning to do? Are we going in to complete the request?”
“Hmm…”
It took over a week to get to San Francisco, but it looked like the request would be completed in a single day.
The situation was unfolding too smoothly, and I couldn’t help but feel flustered and fall into deep thought.
