“…”
Fidget.
As soon as she realized the other person was an outlaw, Emma subtly moved her hand toward the inside of her coat.
Because that’s where her pistol was.
There was a reason why Emma, who wasn’t a bounty hunter but just a mere secretary, carried a gun.
‘If you’re my secretary, you never know what might happen, so you better know how to handle a gun.’
It was because Noah had trained her when she was first hired by him.
Whenever she had the chance, Emma received shooting lessons from Noah and had become quite skilled with a gun.
‘Stay calm.’
Noah, her boss, who had a bit of a personality flaw but was unmatched when it came to guns, had told her.
In the West, the most important thing when handling a gun is the quick draw.
If you don’t hesitate and quickly draw your gun from the holster, you can easily subdue your opponent…
“Lady?”
“…!”
Just as Emma was about to reach into her coat.
“You don’t look so good. Is something bothering you…?”
“…”
When the outlaw Jackal spoke to her, Emma couldn’t draw her gun.
Though her face turned pale, she slowly shook her head.
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“Alright, shall I guide you to your husband now?”
“…Yes, please.”
“Then this way.”
Swish.
Jackal, pretending to be friendly, began guiding Emma to the bar.
As he turned his back to guide her…
Emma knew it was the perfect timing to draw her gun, but she didn’t.
No… to be precise, she couldn’t.
Shiver.
It wasn’t for nothing that Noah had made her his secretary.
Emma was smart and had good judgment.
But…
She was still a girl who had never shot anyone before.
The first experience of anything is always difficult.
Especially the first experience of shooting someone and taking a life…
No matter how strong a person is, it’s not something to be taken lightly.
So, cowardly, she chose to run.
Unlike her, who was clumsy at everything, her boss Noah was a pro at catching outlaws.
Emma planned to run behind him and rely on him.
“Here, behind the dining car is the bar reserved for first-class passengers.”
Unaware of Emma’s thoughts, the outlaw Jackal guided her to the bar where Noah was.
“Gentlemen?”
“What’s the matter?”
The gentlemen, who had been playing cards, looked up at Jackal’s call.
“This lady here is looking for her husband.”
“Hoho, this beautiful lady must be Noah’s wife.”
The gentlemen pointed to Noah, who was sitting at the table with his back turned.
‘Ah…’
As soon as Emma saw Noah’s back, her worries and anxiety melted away like snow.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
“…Yes.”
As soon as Jackal left Emma at the bar, he bowed and left as if his job was done.
Emma waited until his figure disappeared…
“Boss… no… honey.”
She hurriedly approached Noah.
But…
“I have something urgent to tell you…”
“…”
“…Honey?”
Noah didn’t respond to Emma’s words.
Feeling something was off, Emma shook Noah’s shoulder.
“…Honey, honey!”
“…Ah, uh. Yeah, Emma…”
Only then did Noah turn to Emma with a pale face.
“Wh-what…!”
Emma couldn’t help but be shocked when she saw Noah’s face.
What on earth had happened…?
Why did Noah look worse than Emma, who had just been with an outlaw?
“L-let’s get out of here.”
“…”
Emma dragged the still dazed Noah outside.
After finding a secluded spot, she asked him.
“Boss. What happened in there?”
“…”
“You look terrible. What’s wrong…?”
Emma had never seen Noah look so defeated and lost.
Her expression also turned serious.
But when Noah opened his mouth…
“I lost everything…”
“…What?”
“I played poker with those guys… I lost everything. They’re really good at poker…”
“…”
Emma couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
…No, it was absurd.
Was he really acting like this just because he lost some money gambling?
Emma sighed and asked.
“…How much did you lose?”
“…”
Hesitating, Noah held up nine fingers.
Seeing this, Emma looked at him with pity and said.
“90 dollars? That’s nine months of my salary.”
“…”
90 dollars was certainly not a small amount.
But what was more important than Noah losing 90 dollars gambling was the fact that there was an outlaw on the train.
But…
“Boss, that’s not the important thing right now…”
“…It’s not 90 dollars.”
As Emma tried to bring up the outlaw, Noah interrupted her, his hands trembling.
“…9, 9…”
“…?”
“900 dollars…”
“…”
“I lost 900 dollars to those guys…”
900 dollars.
Hearing the amount, Emma instinctively raised her hand.
And then…
Smack-!
“You idiot-!!”
“Ow-!”
She mercilessly hit Noah’s back.
“Are you out of your mind? 900 dollars? Not 90, but 900 dollars? In that short time?”
“It’s not my fault… Ow…!”
“The guy who let No Name go because he was too cheap to pay 70 dollars lost 900 dollars gambling? Unbelievable!”
For a moment, Emma forgot about the outlaw and continued to scold Noah.
Smack! Smack!
From a distance, they looked exactly like a married couple.
**
30 minutes earlier.
My plan to win money from the rich old men at poker was going smoothly.
“Hah, two pairs! I win!”
“Hoho, Noah. You’re pretty good at poker.”
“This is just the basics, hehe.”
I won several rounds in a row and quickly made a profit of 100 dollars.
‘This is going well.’
“Then, on the way to San Francisco, I could really make a lot of money, huh?”
Every day, I kept losing to Emma, but now that I was winning against these rich old men, it felt really good.
That was when I was getting really into the game.
“By the way, young Noah. You look quite young, what do you do for a living?”
“…Huh?”
“Well, it’s also fate, and I find it curious that a young friend like you is sitting in this expensive first-class seat.”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, I hesitated to reveal that I was a bounty hunter and just mumbled something vague.
“This and that… I just hang out.”
“Hang out?”
“Yeah, just lazing around at home, drinking and having fun.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
When there are no outlaws, being a bounty hunter is pretty much like being unemployed.
I spent almost every day lazing around at the tavern or at home, just drinking.
But… it seems my words came across differently to these rich old men.
“Haha, I had a hunch, but it seems young Noah is from a wealthy family.”
“……?”
Seeing me laze around at home but ride first-class on the train, they must have thought I was some rich young master.
It was a perfect misunderstanding, but I didn’t correct them.
Instead, I asked the rich old men,
“So, what do you other gentlemen do?”
It was just out of curiosity.
A trivial curiosity about what these rich old men did for a living.
And when I heard their answers…
“I own a few steel factories in Indiana.”
“I operate a gold mine in California.”
“……”
I couldn’t help but gape.
A steel factory and a gold mine owner?
If that’s true, these guys are seriously loaded.
But the real kicker was yet to come.
“I run a railroad company. This railway and train… they’re all part of my company.”
“…Huh?”
A railroad company president…
Right now, the hottest industry in America was the railroads.
‘No wonder they didn’t bat an eye losing over $100…!’
Realizing that these old men were way richer than I thought, I suddenly felt a bit pressured.
Whether they knew how I felt or not, the rich old men looked at me with warm expressions and then…
Thud.
They each pulled out bags from under their feet.
“Now, shall we raise the betting stakes?”
“…Raise the stakes here?”
It was already a big game with tens of dollars going back and forth each round.
But…
“Actually, we were keeping the stakes low because we thought young Noah might feel burdened.”
“……”
“But now that we know you’re loaded too, let’s really enjoy ourselves.”
Even that was too tame for these rich old men.
Zip.
The rich old men opened their bags, revealing stacks of cash.
“How about it? You’re in, right?”
“……”
Faced with a much bigger game than I expected, I couldn’t help but hesitate.
If I slipped up in this big game, I was sure to lose a lot of money.
Rationally, I should stop here.
But…
Whoosh.
Seeing the rich old men’s money bags, I couldn’t bring myself to walk away.
Well… the possibility of losing a lot of money also means there’s a chance to make a lot, right?
“Yes, of course I’m in!”
And so, dreaming of a windfall, I jumped into the rich old men’s game.
**
“…So, after that, I just kept losing money?”
“…Yeah.”
…After jumping into the big game, I didn’t win a single round.
The rich old men, who had been pretending to be bad when the stakes were low, suddenly changed when the game got bigger.
‘Haha! Full house!’
‘Hoho, looks like I won this time. Straight.’
Recalling what just happened, I complained to Emma.
“…I think I got played by those old men.”
…Damn, the rich really know how to play.
After losing and losing and losing some more, my losses had reached $900.
Emma looked at me with pity, then suddenly remembered something and shouted with wide eyes.
“But Boss…! That’s not the important thing…! There’s an outlaw disguised as a staff member on this train.”
“…An outlaw? What’s the bounty?”
“Jackal Neori. Bounty is $260.”
“…No way. That won’t even cover my losses.”
“…Huh?”
Right now, the outlaw wasn’t important to me.
Besides, we didn’t even have a warrant for him.
I gently grabbed Emma’s shoulder and spoke with a serious expression.
“Emma. We don’t have a warrant right now. He hasn’t done anything yet… If we cause a scene, we might end up taking the blame.”
“Then…”
“Let’s wait until we get to San Francisco. Once we arrive, we’ll arrest him right away.”
Killing someone without a warrant was taboo for bounty hunters.
As I explained this, she frowned but nodded.
“Alright, then go back to your cabin. In the meantime, I’ll…”
“…What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“…I need to get my money back.”
“Hey-!”
As I tried to head back to the bar, Emma grabbed my clothes to stop me.
I coldly pushed her hand away and said,
“Emma, I’m really just going to get my money back, just my money!”
“Boss! Have you lost your mind? How much more are you going to lose this time?”
“No, this time is different.”
[Logout not possible]
[Amount left until logout: $903,361 / $1,000,000]
Until now, I didn’t realize the game was this big and only took out a little money.
But when it comes to bullets, I had as many as those rich old men.
“…Wait for it. Unofficial rich ranking number one, Noah, is coming.”
“Don’t go-!”
Ignoring Emma’s desperate cries, I headed to the battlefield.
