Meanwhile, at San Francisco Station.
An elderly gentleman and a woman, each carrying their travel bags, arrived at the station.
However, unlike the elderly man who hurried inside…
“……”
The woman kept hesitating, looking back.
The woman, Emma, kept looking back because she was worried about Noah.
The elderly man, Lloyd, noticed her concern and smirked as he asked,
“Why so worried, Emma? Is it because you’re concerned about your husband?”
“My husband? Ah…”
Come to think of it, Lloyd had mistaken Noah and Emma for a married couple.
Emma was momentarily flustered but then nodded.
“…Yes, I’m a little worried.”
“Jet will probably be fine. When I saw him briefly on the train, your husband seemed like a truly remarkable man.”
“…Right.”
Emma nodded at Lloyd’s words and followed him.
Certainly… Noah was the most skilled gunslinger Emma had ever seen.
Perhaps even the most skilled in the entire country, beyond just the West.
Yet, Emma couldn’t stop worrying about Noah.
Seeing Emma’s expression, Lloyd reminisced in a calm voice,
“Ah, young love. I was the same during my honeymoon. I used to fret over whether my wife would cut her hands while cooking.”
“……”
“That’s what love is. Worrying about whether your husband might get hurt, if he’s eating well, even the smallest things.”
“…Is that so?”
“Especially during the honeymoon phase, it’s perfectly natural.”
It seemed that to Lloyd, Emma looked like a newlywed worried about her husband getting hurt.
But he was wrong.
She wasn’t Noah’s wife, just his personal secretary.
Noah and Emma weren’t married, nor were they in love.
In fact, Noah…
‘What if I’m an outlaw?’
“……”
Last night, Emma had confirmed an uncomfortable truth about Noah.
Noah was most likely a former outlaw.
Emma didn’t have a favorable view of outlaws.
Rogues who trampled on others’ rights and interests for their own selfish gains.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Emma despised them.
One of the reasons she started helping Noah was because he was a bounty hunter who captured outlaws.
But if Noah himself was an outlaw…
Under normal circumstances, she would have felt deeply betrayed.
But now…
“……”
She was just deeply worried that Noah might get hurt.
“Come on, let’s go. We’re not exactly safe either, so we need to move quickly.”
“…Yes.”
All Emma could do now was follow Lloyd and safely board the train.
Emma pulled her hat low and followed Lloyd into San Francisco Station.
And then…
“Alright, everyone, we’ll need to verify your identities here.”
“……!”
The station was already filled with members of the South Brotherhood.
They had set up a checkpoint at the ticket gate, checking the faces of passengers.
Seeing this, Emma flinched, but Lloyd calmly reassured her.
“Don’t worry. Despite appearances, I’m the president of the railway company. There’s a separate VIP gate. We’ll go there.”
“…Understood.”
That was a relief.
Feeling reassured, Emma followed Lloyd to the side path when…
“Wait a moment!”
…a voice called out to them.
Lloyd immediately turned around to respond.
“What’s the matter? We’re VIPs using the separate gate.”
“Even VIPs need to verify their identities. Please cooperate.”
Emma immediately recognized the owner of the voice.
“Ma’am, please turn around for a moment.”
“……”
Billy.
The surveillance officer the South Brotherhood had assigned to watch Noah and Emma during their time in San Francisco.
Originally, she had been placed on indefinite probation for failing to properly monitor Noah, but due to a shortage of manpower, she had been specially dispatched to the train station.
If Emma turned around, Billy would surely recognize her.
“Ma’am?”
“……”
Emma couldn’t answer or turn around.
Swoosh.
As the situation dragged on, Billy also sensed something was off and subtly moved her hand toward her holster.
“…Wait, this is my niece. Is separate verification necessary?”
“No exceptions.”
Even Lloyd’s usually relaxed expression began to harden, and the situation became tense.
“Officer!”
Another South Brotherhood member rushed over with urgent news for Billy.
“Kid has been spotted near the harbor!”
“…What?”
At the mention of Kid, Billy’s attention shifted entirely to the member.
“What should we do? The mayor has personally gone to the scene.”
“…The mayor.”
Hearing that Luke himself had taken action, Billy, the person in charge of the scene…
“…Leave a minimum number of people here and send the rest there.”
“…Yes!”
The suspicion toward Emma was dropped, and Billy quickly left the station.
“Phew…”
Finally letting out a sigh of relief, Lloyd led Emma to the ticket gate.
“That was close. Miss Emma, let’s go.”
“Quickly, get in the gap.”
“…Yes.”
With that, the two of them left the South Brotherhood members behind at the station and safely boarded the train heading out of San Francisco.
Of course…
“Conductor, keep the speed as low as possible until I say otherwise.”
“…Huh? Boss. That’s…”
“It’s fine, just do as I say.”
The train moved slowly along the tracks, waiting for one last passenger who hadn’t boarded yet.
***
*Whoosh.*
Before the South Brotherhood guys could all pull their triggers, I pulled out a loaded revolver from my coat and tossed it into the air.
*Bang bang bang bang bang!!!*
*Bang bang bang!*
*Bang bang bang bang!!*
A barrage of bullets followed.
The countless bullets aimed precisely at me and my horse as I jumped high to clear the barricade.
*Click.*
I quickly drew the revolver from my right holster…
*Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!*
I intercepted the six bullets heading my way.
Next, the left.
*Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!*
I drew the revolver from my left holster and deflected the remaining six bullets.
But this was something the South Brotherhood had somewhat anticipated…
*Bang bang!*
*Bang bang bang bang bang!!!*
A delayed follow-up shot came flying.
I caught the revolver I had tossed earlier, juggled it, and quickly fired to block the bullets.
*Bang bang bang bang bang bang!!*
*Swoosh.*
“Ouch.”
Of course, since the follow-up shot was seven bullets, my six-shot revolver couldn’t block them all.
The particularly sharp last bullet from Luke grazed the wound Django had given me, sending a sharp pain through me.
But the moment I broke through the barricade, victory was mine…
*Click.*
“Mayor!!”
“……”
I immediately pulled out another pistol from the opposite side of my coat and aimed it at Luke’s forehead.
“You bastard!”
“Put the gun down now!”
The other South Brotherhood members hesitated to shoot, fearing their leader might get hurt.
I seized the moment and shouted loudly.
“Everyone, drop your guns!”
“…Grr.”
“Should I just kill your boss right now? Drop your guns!!”
*Thud, thud.*
As I watched them drop their guns one by one, I also gestured with my gun at Luke, who was still holding his Sharps rifle.
“Mayor? You should drop yours too.”
“……”
“Mayor?”
But Luke, still holding his rifle, confidently spoke to me.
“You can’t shoot me anyway.”
“……”
“Right? Even if you kill me, you won’t get the bounty, and my men will hunt you for the rest of your life. What matters most to you is always money. Am I wrong?”
…He’s right.
As I said earlier, I had no intention of killing Luke.
No, more accurately, I couldn’t kill him.
The moment I kill him, I’d be hunted by the South Brotherhood for the rest of my life.
[Logout Not Possible]
[Amount Remaining Until Logout: $905,586 / $1,000,000]
With so little left before I could go home, nothing could be more critical.
Luke knew that all too well.
That’s why he could wear such a confident expression even with a gun pointed at him.
“Mayor, I told you I had something I really wanted to say to you.”
But there was one thing Luke overlooked…
“I am your father.”
“…What?”
My personality is capricious and downright nasty.
Seeing Luke’s overly confident expression, I felt a strong urge to ruin it.
*Bang.*
“…!”
I fired directly at Luke’s right hand.
“Ugh…!”
“Mayor!”
*Thud.*
With his right wrist pierced, Luke dropped the Sharps rifle he had been holding firmly.
I smiled at Luke and took the reins.
“I’ve always wanted to say that line every time I saw you, Mayor.”
“…What the…”
“Now I won’t even piss in the direction of San Francisco. Let’s never see each other again. Goodbye, Mayor Skywalker.”
*Whoosh.*
I rode off before Luke’s men could pick up their guns again.
“After him, after him!!”
Luke’s shouts echoed behind me, but with the distance already between us, catching up would be tough.
I raced like mad toward the San Francisco station.
“Americans don’t get this joke? Seriously, no sense of humor.”
Finally, it was time to leave this godforsaken San Francisco.
