I sat down and asked William, “So, what exactly do you want?”
“…What?”
“You’re not seriously offering $10,000 just to catch some runaway black guy from a farm, are you?”
“……”
A farmhand ran away? Well, that’s just unfortunate, but there’s no reason to hunt him down and kill him.
But right now, William’s eyes were burning with intense anger towards that black man.
There must be another reason.
“*Sigh*…”
William took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and then answered, “…What I’m about to say, you must take to the grave.”
“Sure, go ahead, speak freely.”
“I have a daughter. Her name is Josephine. She’s incredibly beautiful and smart, and suitors are constantly lining up for her.”
“Ah, well… congratulations?”
I tilted my head at the sudden daughter brag.
And then his next words left me a bit stunned.
“That precious daughter of mine… my beloved daughter… has been kidnapped.”
“…What? Seriously?”
“Yes, that black guy kidnapped her.”
“Wow.”
Now I understood William’s anger.
If his precious daughter had been kidnapped—especially by someone he looked down on—his eyes would naturally be filled with rage.
But there was one thing that puzzled me.
“…But how did that black guy manage to kidnap your daughter?”
How could a mere farmhand kidnap a rich man’s daughter? The family and servants in that house couldn’t have been just a few.
At my question, William answered with clear discomfort.
“That black guy bewitched my daughter, Josephine.”
“……?”
“Josephine is under the delusion that she’s in love with that black guy. So when he ‘kidnapped’ her, she went along willingly.”
For a moment, I didn’t understand what he was saying, but then it hit me.
“Ah, so it’s not a kidnapping, but a love elopement?”
If the ‘hostage’ willingly followed the ‘kidnapper,’ then it’s not really a kidnapping.
But my words seemed to have struck a nerve with William.
“Love?! Do you think a human can love an animal?! That guy is a black man! A black man!!”
“Calm down, first of all.”
Honestly, William’s reaction wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Even though slavery had been abolished… black people were still treated as second-class citizens in America.
Especially William, a middle-aged plantation owner from the South who had experienced slavery firsthand.
From his perspective, accepting that his daughter was in love with a black man would be nearly impossible.
‘What do I do?’
William’s request was essentially to disrupt their love elopement and bring them back.
After some thought, I replied, “Do we really have to kill that black guy?”
Compromise, for now.
“If I kill a civilian, I’d become an outlaw too. That’s a bit of a burden for me… But if you give me $10,000, I’ll make sure to bring your daughter back safely.”
“……”
As long as I wasn’t killing a civilian, I could do pretty much anything.
When I pleaded like that, William tapped the table and said, “…I’ll leave that choice to you, but I have a proposal. If you bring my daughter back safely, I’ll give you $10,000. And…”
“And…?”
At that moment, the fire in William’s eyes was blazing intensely.
“If you kill that black guy, I’ll give you $20,000.”
“……”
This guy’s really going all out.
‘$20,000… damn, that’s a cool deal.’
For a moment, I even considered just killing the black guy and bringing back the money.
I still needed $97,000 to go home, and opportunities to make $20,000 in one go would be rare.
So I didn’t answer immediately and held off.
“…I’ll think more about whether to kill the black guy or not.”
First, there was something I needed before taking on this job.
“By the way, do you have any information on where those two might have gone?”
America is huge.
If you go east, there are big cities like New York; south is Mexico, and north is British Canada.
Going west, California is relatively close, but it’s still ridiculously far.
Without any information on which direction they went or where they were headed, even if I were Hong Gil-dong, I wouldn’t be able to catch them.
Luckily, William seemed to have a vague idea of where they went.
“Don’t worry about that. I know exactly where my daughter went.”
“How?”
He didn’t just know the direction, but exactly where they went? How?
When I tilted my head in confusion, William answered proudly, “I’m friends with the mayor of Salt Lake City. He helped me out.”
“Ah.”
Rich people connections, huh.
Salt Lake City is pretty much the only place in Utah that feels like a real city.
Being friends with the mayor of such a place…
“My daughter bought a train ticket in Salt Lake City. The destination is…”
If the train ticket’s destination is confirmed, catching them would be several times easier.
So I waited eagerly for his answer.
But…
“It’s San Francisco.”
“…Ah.”
The destination was a bit problematic.
Of all places…
Of all places, it had to be San Francisco.
When I heard the destination, my expression visibly stiffened, and William tilted his head, asking, “Is there a problem with my daughter going to San Francisco?”
“Well, I have some personal issues with San Francisco, so…”
“……”
If only it weren’t San Francisco…
Even if they had fled to Mexico, I would’ve crossed the border to bring William’s daughter Josephine back.
San Francisco was a city I really didn’t want to go to, to that extent.
Seeing my hesitant expression, William took another sip of his coffee and then pulled out his wallet from his pocket.
And then…
Thud.
“This is the advance.”
“……!”
He placed a stack of bills on the table.
“We don’t have time, so I’ll get the train ticket for you. But besides that, you’ll need travel expenses to get to San Francisco.”
“…….”
I could immediately tell how much money it was just by looking at the denomination and thickness of the bills.
$1,000.
What if I took the money and ran? This rich old man just casually handed over $1,000 as an advance.
“If you complete my request, I’ll pay the rest immediately.”
“…….”
Seeing that I couldn’t take my eyes off the $1,000, William coolly left the money on the table and got up, as if he had finished his business.
“We don’t have time, so I’ll wait for your answer by tomorrow. If you accept the request, come to my tobacco farm in the south by tomorrow.”
Damn… Seeing that money, I can’t think straight again.
In the midst of my confusion, I asked William one last question as he was leaving.
“…Wait a second.”
“What is it?”
“I only heard your daughter’s name, but I didn’t catch the name of that black guy. What’s his name?”
At my question, William held his forehead for a moment…
“Janssen-!!”
He called out to his coachman waiting outside.
“Janssen! Janssen-!!”
“Yes, sir. What is it?”
“What was that black guy’s name? I always call him ‘black guy,’ so I can’t remember his name.”
The coachman named Janssen bowed respectfully and answered William.
“His name is… Django Montague.”
After hearing Janssen’s answer, William finally nodded as if he remembered and told me.
“Ah, right. Django Montague. That was his name.”
“Django Montague….”
“I’ve said all I needed to say, so I’ll be going now.”
With that, William walked out of my office.
“See you tomorrow.”
William’s last words carried the implication that I wouldn’t be able to refuse his request.
Well, of course.
Most bounty hunters would jump into fire for $10,000 or $20,000.
“Ha…, damn.”
I was no different.
That’s why I couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
**
My thoughts continued until that night.
For the first time in a while, I didn’t go to Deaf Man’s Tavern and instead sat alone in my office chair, lost in thought.
‘Ah… $10,000…. If I just close my eyes and kill one civilian NPC, it’s $20,000….’
No… Thinking about it again, killing a civilian NPC was too risky.
But honestly, even $10,000 was a huge amount.
…I want to do it.
…No, this is a request I *have* to take.
But….
‘My daughter bought a train ticket in Salt Lake City. The destination….’
‘Is San Francisco.’
Damn.
Why does it have to be San Francisco?
San Francisco…. If I go back to San Francisco….
‘San Francisco… No, swear you’ll never return to California.’
…Nothing good is going to come of it, that’s for sure.
And that wasn’t the only thing bothering me.
‘Why is that old man William so insistent on hiring me?’
William threw out $10,000 to make sure I wouldn’t refuse the request.
When I hesitated, he even raised the amount to $20,000 and even gave me an advance of $1,000, showing a strong determination to entrust me with the job.
A rich guy like him must have plenty of people to hire….
‘Why me…?’
This request… There’s definitely something more to it than just disrupting a couple’s elopement.
“Ha…, damn…. My head’s killing me.”
…When my head’s this messed up, I’d rather drink.
But going all the way to Deaf Man’s Tavern now seems like too much….
I have a bottle of whiskey I swiped… no, received from Deaf Man’s Tavern at home, so I got up to at least drink that.
But then…
Thud.
“……?”
As soon as I got up, a bottle of whiskey was placed in front of me.
“Looking for a drink?”
The one who brought it to me was Emma, who, despite being late, was still working even now that the moon was out.
“Ah…, yeah.”
It’s unusual for Emma to bring me a drink first.
And besides…
“…….”
There were two glasses.
As I stared at the two glasses, Emma spoke first.
“I’m in the mood for a drink today too. Let’s have one together.”
“……What?”
I’ve never seen Emma drink even once.
And now she suddenly wants to drink together?
“…….”
“…….”
The hot weather, the romantic night sky filled with the moon and stars, the dimly lit office, cheap whiskey.
And two young people.
Suddenly, the atmosphere felt like summer.
