Meanwhile, at the town hall of Peace Town.
The space, usually unused except for town meetings, was unusually packed with all the men of Peace Town.
They had gathered to discuss solutions regarding the town’s demolition.
In fact, discussions about Peace Town’s demolition had started months ago.
…Wait, no?
Actually, it wasn’t a discussion but a notice of demolition.
The Lloyd Railroad Company had simply informed the residents that the town would be demolished and they should vacate promptly.
Until then, the residents of Peace Town had no idea that a railroad would pass through their village.
So, it was only natural that the townspeople, who had lived here for decades, felt the notice was unjust.
Where on earth are they supposed to go if they’re suddenly kicked out?
The Lloyd Railroad Company offered $10 per house as compensation, but that was laughable.
How are they supposed to find a new home with just $10?
That’s why the townspeople had been ignoring the company’s notice until now.
Whenever bounty hunters showed up, Sheriff Claire drove them away, allowing the town to live peacefully.
But this time, a bounty hunter they couldn’t handle had arrived.
“All the men in town need to join forces and drive them out!”
The only man who hadn’t seen Noah’s skills bravely shouted.
“I heard one of the bounty hunters this time is exceptionally good with a gun? That’s why you’re all scared, right? But come on, be brave! Everyone has at least one gun at home, right?”
“…So, you’re saying we should each bring our guns and fight them?”
“There are dozens of us here! Can’t we handle one guy?!”
“…Rejected. That idea is rejected.”
The chief immediately dismissed the man’s suggestion.
The man was gravely mistaken about one thing.
Can a pack of sheep take down a wolf?
…No, that’s just asking for death.
The chief and other townspeople knew Noah’s skills all too well.
His hand was invisible when he drew his gun.
In the blink of an eye, he could fire six shots with fanning…
And most impressive was his accuracy.
Though ordinary folks wouldn’t know, the chief, who had made a name for himself as a bounty hunter in his youth, had seen it.
Noah had intercepted Claire’s bullet mid-air.
‘That guy is a monster beyond our imagination. If we do something foolish, we’ll all be slaughtered.’
Even Claire, the town’s strongest force, was injured.
To protect the town, drastic measures were needed.
But no matter how much the townspeople brainstormed, no good solution came to mind.
“We just have to fight, right? They’re injured too, so let’s rush them!”
“But the strongest one is still fine! Do you all want to die?”
“Then what about hiring other professional gunslingers?”
“We don’t even have money to eat, how are we supposed to hire gunslingers?”
“…Why are you always contradicting?”
“Because you keep suggesting nonsense, you brat!”
“What did you say?!”
When a lot of people gather, arguments are bound to happen.
Just as the townspeople were about to have a big fight…
“Uh, excuse me!”
A timid young man, who usually didn’t fit in with such matters, hesitantly raised his hand.
“We don’t have the strength to fight them now…”
“True.”
“And we don’t have the money to hire other gunslingers…”
“Right.”
And then…
“…What if we involve the Indians in this?”
“What?”
The townspeople all froze at the young man’s words.
And for good reason…
Bringing the Indians into this?
“I, I have a Shoshone friend… He said their village also got a demolition notice.”
“The Indians’ village too?”
“Yes, so they’re already preparing for a big fight. Maybe we could ask them for help first to deal with the railroad company’s gunslingers…”
“…….”
In short, the young man was suggesting bringing the Indians into the town and borrowing their strength.
At first glance, it didn’t seem like a bad plan.
But…
“…Even so, the Indians are a bit…”
The townspeople couldn’t help but feel uneasy about bringing the Indians into their town.
Peace Town was built on Shoshone land.
In the early days of settlement, the town’s history was essentially a series of conflicts with the Shoshone tribe.
Now, they live peacefully and occasionally interact… but the Indians still remained a figure of fear in their memories.
But it was true that borrowing the brave Shoshone’s strength could definitely help drive away those vicious gunslingers.
As the townspeople fell into deep thought…
“The idea of borrowing the Indians’ strength isn’t bad, but the risk is too great.”
The chief stepped in to summarize the opinion.
“Let’s keep borrowing the Indians’ strength as the absolute last resort.”
The townspeople nodded at the chief’s words.
After all, the hired thugs hadn’t crossed the line by killing anyone yet.
The townspeople agreed to keep involving the Indians as a last resort and continued the meeting.
But…
No matter how long they talked, no good plan emerged after that.
The hired work must continue.
Even though Borg and two other gunslingers were injured, if we rest, the townspeople’s fear will gradually fade.
To finish the town’s demolition as planned, we had to keep working, even if it was a bit of a stretch.
“Ugh… Sorry about this. I should’ve helped.”
“It’s fine, just focus on getting better.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll be able to work again by tomorrow after resting today.”
After saying goodbye to Borg, we left the tavern.
The ones on duty were the four who hadn’t been shot yesterday.
For efficiency, we planned to split into two groups like yesterday and patrol the town.
“How should we pair up? Youngest, who do you want to…”
“I’m fine on my own, so the three of you can pair up.”
I answered indifferently to one of the gunslingers’ questions.
Honestly, I preferred working alone and didn’t need any partners.
But the other three were lacking in skill…
“…….”
Somehow, there was Joshua with his usual grumpy attitude.
Swoosh— Startle.
Maybe it was because of where I hit him yesterday, but Joshua made eye contact with me and then immediately glared.
‘Should’ve hit that punk harder yesterday. Feels like he’s gonna cause trouble.’
I mean, sure, he’s following orders out of fear for now, but the moment he’s out of my sight, he’s probably gonna pull something.
‘Maybe I should just keep him close?’
But that wouldn’t be efficient.
If I took Joshua with me, the remaining two gunslingers would struggle to handle the job alone.
So, all I could do was give Joshua a warning.
“Mr. Joshua, don’t pull any stunts today.”
“……”
“Answer me, you brat.”
“…Got it.”
“Good.”
After hearing Joshua’s response, I ordered the other two gunslingers to keep him in check.
“Got it.”
“We’ll take responsibility and control Joshua.”
Only after hearing their replies did I send them off and get to work.
I planned to start my rounds from the north, where the village entrance was.
‘Where should I go first? Maybe that old farmer I met earlier.’
As I pondered which house to start with, I suddenly noticed something.
“Huh…?”
In the distance, someone was browsing goods in front of the general store.
Seemed like a customer.
‘Perfect. I’ll start there.’
If I scare off the customer and cut off the store’s income, the owner’s spirit will break even faster.
I approached the general store to get to work.
Just as I was about to deliver my usual line…
“Hey, who’s running this place…?”
“…Boss.”
“…Huh? Emma?”
I couldn’t help but freeze when I saw the customer’s face.
It was Emma.
Flustered by her sudden appearance, I stammered, “Y-you…! What? What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I came to pick you up, Boss.”
Emma replied with her usual expressionless face and calm voice.
“I received the $20,000 deposit from Mr. Lloyd under your secretary’s name and hid it in the inn.”
“Good, you did well. Then just keep an eye on the money. No need for you to come here…”
“Since we’ve got the money, let’s just run away now.”
“…What?”
Hearing her words, I was stunned again.
What did she just say…?
“If we run now, we can get $20,000 without doing anything.”
“……”
“I don’t know why you need exactly $30,000, but we can earn the remaining $10,000 in another city, right? Let’s just take the $20,000 and ditch Mr. Lloyd.”
…Emma used to be so kind.
That kind Emma was now suggesting we betray Lloyd and run.
Guess I’ve rubbed off on her.
Seeing this rare, wicked(?) side of Emma made me chuckle.
But my answer to her proposal to run away now was…
“Sorry, Emma. Can’t do that.”
It was a refusal.
With the $20,000 deposit from Lloyd, I only need $10,000 more to go home.
As Emma said, $10,000 is something I could earn in another city.
But I’m tired now.
When will I find another job worth $10,000?
I want to go home.
I’m determined to finish this job and leave this damn West for good.
“I’m definitely going to succeed in this job.”
“……”
Hearing my answer, Emma’s face hardened.
She let out a small sigh and said, “…I took a quick look around the village. It’s a lot like Justice Town. But isn’t your job this time going to ruin this village?”
“That’s right.”
Bang!
As soon as Emma finished speaking, I kicked over the general store’s counter.
“Eek—!”
The store owner, who had been eavesdropping from the corner, trembled at my kick.
“This is what I do in this village. So, what are you gonna do about it?”
“This isn’t like you, Boss. …I’ll stop you.”
“How?”
Even though I glared at her threateningly, Emma didn’t back down and instead met my gaze.
As our standoff continued, suddenly…
Bang.
“…What’s this?”
“……”
Just like yesterday, a gunshot rang out.
The direction of the gunshot was where the other gunslingers had gone to work.
Claire, the self-proclaimed sheriff of this town. Did she show up again?
But she shouldn’t be fully recovered yet.
“…No way.”
An uneasy thought crossed my mind.
Grab.
“…Boss? Why…?”
“Shh, just follow me.”
I grabbed Emma’s wrist and quickly hid in an alley away from the street.
As soon as we hid, a loud shout came from the street.
“Th-the gunslingers shot someone…!!”
“…!”
“Th-those bastards killed Mr. Michael…!!!! The gunslingers killed Mr. Michael!!”
Damn it.
Joshua, that bastard.
Forget efficiency, I should’ve just killed him.
“…Boss, this is…”
“Just to be clear, I had every intention of drawing the line.”
What’s the most important thing when catching a rat?
It’s pacing.
If you corner a rat too much, it’ll bite.
Humans are the same.
Corner a human, and they’ll bite too.
“If we stay quiet, they’ll kill us all—!!!”
If someone really died from our gunfire, then we’ve crossed a serious line.
The cornered townspeople definitely won’t stay quiet anymore.
