Justice Town was just the same as it had been when I last visited.
For a village in the middle of nowhere, it was surprisingly big.
A place bustling with travelers passing through, lined with inns.
I thought about stopping by the Deaf Man’s Tavern for the first time in a while, but feeling tired, I decided to head back to the office first.
But on my way back to the office…
I could feel something off about the atmosphere of Justice Town, which I had thought was the same as usual.
“It’s Kid…!”
“Kid’s finally here…!”
Oh, by the way, only the South Brotherhood in San Francisco would freak out when they heard Kid was coming. To the people here in town, Kid was just a nickname for me.
It all started when Sheriff Jet Gray of Justice Town called me a brat and started calling me Kid. After that, most of the townsfolk followed suit and called me Kid too.
If you really think about it, it’s a nickname that implies I’m immature.
Truth be told, the people of Justice Town didn’t really like me, an outsider.
They’d say I was causing chaos in the village like some troublemaker, or that the once quiet Justice Town had become noisy since I arrived.
They’d come up with all sorts of reasons to badmouth me and whisper behind my back whenever I passed by.
But today was a bit…
“…Weird.”
“Exactly. It’s like the townsfolk are welcoming the boss’s return, isn’t it?”
The townsfolk didn’t outright talk to me, but…
Their expressions seemed to be filled with relief and joy.
“That can’t be… Aren’t these the same people who’d be happy if I disappeared?”
“True. If the boss were gone, they’d probably dance around celebrating the village finally being quiet again.”
…That’s a bit hurtful to hear.
Anyway, it was undeniable that the way the townsfolk were looking at me was clearly different from usual.
Just as Emma and I were tilting our heads in confusion and heading back to the office…
“Huh? Oh! Noah, sir-!!”
“…Hm?”
Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. When I looked up…
“Oh, Joe. Long time no see.”
From the other side, our friendly Hispanic neighbor Joe was coming this way, pulling a cart.
And then…
“It’s been so long-!! Hahaha-! Noah, sir! Welcome back! I’ve missed you so much-!!”
“…?”
Joe’s face, as he ran toward me, was overly excited.
Seeing Joe’s face, you’d think he’d just seen a hero coming to save him…
‘Suspicious…’
I couldn’t help but feel even more suspicious.
In fact, Joe even left his cart on the road and ran toward me barefoot.
“Oh, Noah, sir-! Why did you come back so late-! Haha!”
To which I…
“Really missed you…, Gwahk-!”
“Hey, Joe. What’s with this performance?”
*Thud.*
I put Joe in a headlock as he ran toward me, having just gotten off his horse.
“Khek…, what do you mean, Noah, sir…?”
“Why are you so happy to see me back?”
At my question, Joe started sweating bullets as he answered.
“N-Noah, sir, of course I’m happy to see you back after so long! W-We’ve built up so much camaraderie, right? W-We even caught the Bank Robbery Gang together…”
It’s true that Joe and I were pretty close.
I often borrowed his cart, and we even went together to take down the Redbeard Gang last time.
But…
“Joe, sure, we’re close.”
“…Yes, exactly.”
“If we’re close, you can badmouth me a bit too, right?”
“…Huh?”
But I also knew that Joe only laughed and flattered me to my face, while badmouthing me behind my back.
“There’s no troublemaker like that troublemaker. I’ve never seen a single cent come out of his wallet. Who’s been spreading rumors about me to the townsfolk, huh?”
“…H-How did you…”
“But Joe, you weren’t exactly wrong, were you?”
“Quiet, Emma.”
I shushed Emma and tightened my grip on Joe’s headlock as I asked,
“So, tell me. Why are you and the townsfolk so happy to see this troublemaker back?”
“Gwaaah-! I’ll talk-!!! Just let me go…!!”
*Whoosh.*
At Joe’s desperate cry, I released the headlock.
After catching his breath, Joe began to explain.
And then…
“What? A gang came to our village?”
I was a bit surprised by what Joe told me.
“…Yes, not long after you and Emma left, they showed up in our village.”
“Hmm…”
It’s pretty common in the West for gangs to roll into small, rural villages like this and start bleeding the people dry.
But…
“What about the sheriff and the security force? Isn’t that what the security force is for, to chase out those outlaws?”
The Justice Town security force wasn’t just some backwater group.
Sheriff Jet Gray of Justice Town and his deputies were pretty capable, and there were quite a few of them.
The Justice Town security force was more like a small city’s security force than a village’s.
There’s no way Sheriff Jet would just sit back and let a gang mess with Justice Town, right?
When I tilted my head and asked, Joe answered as if there was a reason.
“…That’s the thing.”
“…What?”
After hearing Joe’s explanation, I couldn’t help but pause.
**
“A gang, but none of the gang members are outlaws?”
What kind of nonsense is that, like saying you drank and drove but it wasn’t drunk driving?
Gang, as in gangster.
Gangster and outlaw felt like homonyms.
When I asked again, Joe also answered, sounding frustrated.
“…The sheriff personally came and said it. There are no wanted posters or warrants for those guys.”
“Hmm…”
“…Does that make sense? That gang members aren’t outlaws.”
“They’re not not outlaws.”
“…Huh?”
The current U.S. lacked the ability to fully govern its vast territory.
Because of that, the judicial system was pretty loose.
Take the South Brotherhood, for example.
Most of them are outlaws with bounties on their heads, but they can’t be caught.
Because Luke reached out to the California state government and got his members’ warrants suspended.
So, while the South Brotherhood is outlaws in the eyes of the entire U.S., they’re not outlaws in California.
“If they’re not not outlaws, then what are they?”
“Well… something like outlaws who seem like outlaws but aren’t really outlaws.”
There were a lot of these quasi-outlaws in America.
Some were outlaws hiding their identities, pretending to be civilians, and others might just be too far away for warrants or wanted posters to reach them yet.
Of course, even so…
“Even if they’re quasi-outlaws, the sheriff should be able to handle them, right?”
This loose judicial system wasn’t just for outlaws to exploit.
The sheriff could also exercise self-defense if he believed the guys were harming the town, even without a warrant.
Frankly, if the sheriff killed an innocent person and the townsfolk just kept their mouths shut, he wouldn’t be punished.
Who’s gonna know or care about what happens in some backwater town like this?
But it seems this gang knew how to play the system.
“That’s… they’re not openly harassing the townsfolk.”
“Then what?”
“…They run a loan business. They came to town and started lending money to people.”
“Oh.”
Joe, looking wronged, cried out to me like a grade-schooler tattling to their teacher.
“At first, they lent money like it was no big deal, saying we could pay it back slowly…! But it was all a scam contract…! Later, the interest ended up being more than the principal.”
“Oh dear.”
“A lot of the townsfolk borrowed money from them. The gang uses that to pressure people.”
In this uncivilized frontier era, there’s no such thing as financial laws.
The lender just sets the interest rate as they please, and the debtor who signed the contract has to pay it back.
With no concept of illegal debt collection, even if the guys showed up and smashed things, the townsfolk couldn’t say a word.
‘Clever.’
These guys know how to use their heads.
They harass people while still staying within the law, not crossing the line.
If anything, it’s the townsfolk who signed the contracts and didn’t pay who crossed the line.
What’s even smarter is that they targeted Justice Town.
Justice Town is shabby and lacks infrastructure, but it has a lot of foot traffic.
The people of Justice Town want to develop this bustling place into a proper city.
But how can they build new buildings and develop into a city without a bank here?
In their frustration, when these guys showed up offering loans, they must’ve been grateful.
‘Dumbasses. When someone’s being nice, you should be suspicious first.’
Joe, also a victim, sniffled and continued.
“The sheriff said he’d try to do something… but, sob, there are just too many of them…”
“How many are we talking?”
“From what I’ve seen, over 40…”
The South Brotherhood is super massive, but even 40 members make for a pretty big gang.
The Justice Town security force, including Sheriff Jet, is just over 10, so Jet would’ve had a hard time resolving things by force.
‘These guys are pretty nasty. This is… already a done deal.’
Justice Town is already caught in their trap, like prey waiting to be devoured.
All that’s left is for them to feast.
But there was still a glimmer of hope in Joe’s eyes.
“That’s why the townsfolk were all waiting for you to come back, Noah…!”
“Huh?”
“You’re the legendary gunslinger who single-handedly took down the infamous Redbeard Gang, the bank robbers!”
Joe then looked at me with a serious expression and pleaded earnestly.
“Noah… Please teach those bad guys a lesson and save Justice Town from this crisis…!”
“……”
Ah.
Now I understood why the townsfolk were so happy to see me return.
So, with a serious expression like Joe’s, I placed a hand on his shoulder and replied.
“Why should I?”
“…Huh?”
Joe’s expression instantly turned dumbfounded.
