Being the sheriff in a village is tougher than you’d think.
Especially if you’re a “self-proclaimed” sheriff, not an official one.
Official sheriffs at least get some money from the traveling judge who visits the village regularly, but self-proclaimed sheriffs don’t get squat.
After all, they’re not legally appointed.
That’s why Claire, the “self-proclaimed” sheriff of Peace Town, needed another way to make a living.
That’s why she left Peace Town to hunt buffalo.
Catching buffalo roaming the fields and delivering them to Sacramento could earn her enough to scrape by.
But when she returned to the village after a few days of making money…
“…Huh?”
The vibe of the village felt… off.
The next day.
“Didn’t you hear the eviction notice?! Huh?!”
“Kyaaaah-!”
We started working as soon as the sun rose.
The only difference from yesterday was that we split into two teams to work more efficiently.
Team 1, led by Borg, and Team 2, led by me.
Starting from the east and west sides of the village, we planned to circle around and wear the villagers down quickly.
“Just leave while we’re being nice, okay?!”
“A railroad’s coming through here soon, you know?!”
Maybe emboldened by my actions yesterday, the gunslingers started harassing the villagers without me even needing to step in.
“Please… where are we supposed to go if we leave here…?”
“Don’t do this… please…”
The villagers, likely scarred by yesterday’s events, didn’t resist much and just begged for mercy.
At this rate, clearing out the village would be a piece of cake.
But then…
“Hey, am I not making myself clear?”
Click.
Joshua, from my team, growled and pointed his gun at a resisting general store owner.
By the way, this was a store I hadn’t visited yesterday.
So, the owner, unaware of my antics, scoffed and challenged Joshua.
“You think I’m scared of that thing?! Go ahead, shoot! Shoot me-!!”
The owner seemed confident Joshua wouldn’t pull the trigger.
But…
“……”
Something about Joshua’s vibe felt off.
Bang-!
“Guh-!”
Sensing it, I immediately stepped in and kicked the owner in the stomach.
Then…
“Let me borrow this.”
Click.
Bang bang bang bang bang-!!!
“Kyaaaaaah-!!!!”
I grabbed Joshua’s gun and fired shots right past the owner’s ear.
I made sure to miss by a hair, so the owner got a full, ear-splitting experience.
The once-defiant owner immediately curled up like a bug, trembling.
“Leave while we’re being nice, okay? Yeah?”
“Y-yes, I understand… sob…”
And just like that, the general store was cleared.
But Joshua, whose gun I’d taken, seemed pretty pissed.
“Hey, I was handling this. Why’d you step in?”
“……”
I chuckled softly at Joshua’s angry tone.
“Joshua, you were about to really shoot him, weren’t you?”
“…What?”
That guy was seriously about to pull the trigger.
The murderous intent in his eyes and expression was unmistakable.
His finger was twitching like he was ready to fire any second, so I had no choice but to step in.
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
“……”
“How do you know if I was gonna shoot or not?”
But Joshua seemed intent on playing dumb.
“And you just shot too, you idiot. Why can’t I shoot if you can?”
“……”
“Why are you telling me not to shoot, huh?”
I studied Joshua’s face.
He reeked of outlaw energy, but no wanted posters came to mind.
Most of the outlaws I knew operated around Utah, so if Joshua was from California, I wouldn’t know him.
Besides, he was technically my ally.
I didn’t want to stir up trouble by messing with a teammate.
This job was basically my last quest, after all.
I wanted to handle it as carefully and successfully as possible.
That’s why I’d been polite to Borg and the other five gunslingers.
But…
“Joshua. Come here for a sec.”
“What? You little… I swear, you’re dead… huh?”
Sometimes, beasts like him don’t need politeness.
Sometimes, they need a whip.
Crack.
Thud-!!!
“Guh-!”
I grabbed Joshua by the neck and slammed him to the ground.
“Guh… gah…! Ugh!”
Joshua struggled to breathe, clutching his throat and gasping.
But I didn’t let go, whispering in his ear.
“…You wanna die?”
“…Guh… gah…”
“You think you’re human just because I’ve been polite to you?”
Squeeze.
People die if they can’t breathe.
Joshua’s face was already turning red as I choked him.
“The company said not to kill anyone. If you mess up and kill a villager, ruining the job and costing us money, you gonna take responsibility?”
“Guh…! S-sorry…! Ugh…!”
“You’re better off dead. Villagers can’t die, but you? You’re expendable. Just die.”
Squeeze harder.
“Guhhhhh-!!!”
I pressed down on Joshua’s neck until he was teetering on the edge of life and death.
And only when he was balancing on that thin line…
Release.
“Puhah-! Haah… haah…!”
I let go, allowing him to breathe again.
I was in pain…
I approached the guy who was huffing and puffing, all curled up like he was floating, and said:
“Next time you mess around, you’re dead to me. Got it?”
“Haa… haak… haa…”
“Answer me.”
“Yes… haa… yess… huu… ah, I understand… haak…”
And just like that, I managed to teach some manners to Joshua, who had been acting like a jerk.
“Idiot.”
Thud!
I kicked Joshua once, then turned around.
“Ah… um…”
“Yo, Youngest… I mean, Mr. Noah…”
There, two other gunslingers were trembling, having watched the whole scene.
Since the other guys besides Joshua hadn’t done anything to piss me off, I didn’t feel like dealing with them.
So, I grinned at them and pointed to the next shop.
“Ah, don’t worry too much. Mr. Joshua will snap out of it if we leave him alone for a bit.”
“……”
“Then, shall we get back to work while Mr. Joshua takes a little break?”
“Ah… uh-huh…”
Just as I was about to head to the next shop with the other two gunslingers…
Bang!
“……!”
A gunshot rang out from the other side of the town.
“……This is.”
“…Is it from the boss’s side?”
We had agreed not to shoot unless absolutely necessary.
‘…Did someone fire a warning shot like me? Damn, I hope no one went crazy like Joshua and shot a villager.’
I wasn’t the only one feeling uneasy; the other two gunslingers looked at me with worried expressions.
“…Youngest. What should we do?”
“Isn’t the boss in danger right now?”
“Not sure, let’s wait and see.”
In this small town, what kind of dangerous situation could there be?
I was being a bit too relaxed.
But then…
‘Speaking of which, didn’t the boss say there’s some self-proclaimed sheriff in this town?’
I remembered the story I heard yesterday about the self-proclaimed sheriff.
Could it be…?
Bang!
Bang bang!!
Just as I was wondering, several more gunshots rang out.
…Hmm, this doesn’t sound good.
“Let’s head to where the boss is first.”
“What about Jo… Joshua? He’s knocked out, should we take him?”
“Just leave that bastard behind and let’s go.”
I didn’t have the luxury to carry that baggage.
I hurriedly ran towards the direction of the gunshots with the other two gunslingers.
Since the town wasn’t big, we quickly arrived at the scene.
Murmur murmur.
It seemed like most of the town’s people had gathered, with dozens of them surrounding…
“Grrr…! Y-you damn bitch…!”
“Ahhh! M-my arm…!”
Borg’s gang, each holding their arms and legs, were lying on the ground, and…
“……”
A woman holding a revolver was looking down at them.
Late twenties? Or maybe early thirties… She had a weathered but beautiful appearance.
Instinctively, I knew she was the self-proclaimed sheriff of this town.
“Grrr…!”
“Huu… ah, it hurts…!”
They weren’t hit in vital spots, but getting shot is dangerous no matter what.
I let out a small sigh and stepped forward.
“Boss.”
“…!”
As I called out “Boss” and pushed through the crowd…
Click.
The self-proclaimed sheriff immediately raised her gun.
Good stance.
Bang!
A follow-up shot.
She didn’t seem intent on killing me, as the bullet was aimed at my leg.
Whoosh.
Even with the [Fastest Gunslinger in the West] trait activated, the bullet was coming pretty fast.
…The self-proclaimed sheriff of Peace Town was quite the skilled gunslinger.
But that alone wasn’t enough to stop me.
Dodge.
“……!!”
I dodged the bullet and leaped towards the self-proclaimed sheriff.
I didn’t plan to kill her, so I intended to get close and knock her out with a punch.
But the self-proclaimed sheriff, surprised that I dodged the bullet…
Bang bang bang!
Fired three consecutive shots at me with a fanning technique.
I tried to twist my body to dodge the bullets again, but…
‘Wow.’
It was impossible to dodge bullets aimed precisely at my blind spots just by twisting my body.
So, I had no choice but to…
Bang!
Draw my revolver and intercept one of the three bullets mid-air.
“……What.”
The self-proclaimed sheriff looked at me in disbelief.
I took the opportunity to close the distance and threw a punch.
But…
Slap!
“Hoh?”
She was also skilled in close combat, deflecting my punch with her palm.
‘This is……’
Skilled with a gun… and excellent in close combat…
She was one of the best gunslingers I’ve met in recent years.
But why would someone with such skills be playing the role of a self-proclaimed sheriff in this small town…?
Moreover, the way the self-proclaimed sheriff was looking at me…
…She was staring at me like she’d seen a ghost.
It wasn’t just admiration for my skills; something felt off.
So, I tilted my head and asked her:
“Have we met before?”
“……”
She couldn’t easily answer my question.
