“Ugh…”
In the aftermath of the explosion, Emma briefly passed out before regaining consciousness.
And when she opened her eyes, what she saw was…
“……!”
The sight of a third-class cabin with one wall blown away by dynamite, and…
Bang-!
“Boss…!”
Noah, standing against a large outlaw.
Having worked as his secretary for the past three years, Emma knew better than anyone about Noah’s skills.
She couldn’t imagine Noah losing to an outlaw.
But…
Bang-!
Bang-!!!
Noah’s current state seemed off.
Instead of a gun, he was holding a knife, and his movements looked unstable…
“Huh…?”
He was even holding a little girl in his arms.
And to make matters worse…
“Brother-!!”
“That guy’s got our brother-!!”
Click.
The remaining train robbers, as if trying to support their leader, raised their rifles from a distance.
‘No way…’
No matter how skilled Noah was, there was no way to dodge an attack from all sides like that.
Click.
Realizing this, Emma pulled out a pistol from her pocket.
A perfect, hesitation-free quick draw that Noah would have praised as impressive.
And then, she fired.
Bang-!
“Argh-!”
The first shot hit the outlaw right between the eyes.
Next, fanning.
Fanning, which Noah did more easily than breathing, was actually the hardest thing for Emma to practice.
Her small, delicate hands struggled to pull the rough revolver’s hammer.
But…
Click.
Emma ignored the pain in her palm and quickly and accurately fanned the hammer.
Bang-!
“Ahhh-!”
And fired again.
This time, the bullet also hit the outlaw’s head.
“……”
Just moments ago, Emma couldn’t bring herself to shoot a person…
Now, she had put a bullet in each of the two outlaws’ heads.
It all happened in an instant.
“Huff…, huff…”
Realizing belatedly that she had taken two lives, Emma breathed heavily.
Tremble.
Her hands were shaking.
But…
She had no regrets.
If she hadn’t fired, her boss, Noah, would have died.
‘Ah…, Boss…!’
Remembering Noah’s presence belatedly, Emma turned her head.
Bang-!
Noah was still struggling with the outlaw.
Seeing this, she aimed her gun again.
And then…
Bang-!
She fired at the outlaw’s head once more.
Splat.
“…Tch.”
This time, the bullet missed the outlaw’s head and flew elsewhere.
The distance was too great.
But…
“……!”
“Nice one, Emma!”
Emma’s shot successfully drew the outlaw’s attention.
Bang-! Bang-!
Emma continued to fan the hammer, sniping at the outlaw to help Noah.
Though the bullets didn’t hit the outlaw, they created enough of an opportunity for Noah.
**
Bang-!
The trait of [The Best Gunslinger in the West] slows down time and space when a battle breaks out.
I once compared the bullets flying in this slowed time to dodgeballs during gym class.
But shotguns are different.
If revolvers or rifles are like a single dodgeball flying at you, shotguns are like multiple small rubber balls.
You can dodge them, but it’s not easy.
Bang-!
Bang-! Bang-!!
Thanks to this, I couldn’t get close to Jackson and had to circle nearby.
If I got within range, I’d be turned into Swiss cheese.
The heavy load I was carrying made it impossible to break through.
‘Only one option left, huh?’
Grip.
I tightened my grip on the knife in my hand.
I couldn’t close the distance, and this was my only weapon…
The only way to turn the situation around was to throw the knife and embed the blade in his neck.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. And I only had one shot.
So, I kept my distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
But then…
Bang-! Bang-!
“……!”
Two gunshots rang out from elsewhere.
Curious, I turned my head and saw Emma shooting at other outlaws.
And after dealing with them, Emma…
Click.
Turned her gun towards Jackson and fired.
Bang-!
“……!”
“Nice one, Emma!”
Jackson seemed caught off guard by Emma’s unexpected appearance as she shot at him.
Bang-! Bang-!!!
Emma kept firing at Jackson, and soon, my opportunity came.
Swish-.
As Jackson’s gun turned towards Emma, I prepared to throw the knife.
“Oops…!”
Realizing his mistake too late, Jackson tried to correct it.
But it was already too late.
Piiing-!
The knife that flew out of my hand, spinning through the air…
Thud-!
“Ugh-!!”
It lodged straight into Jackson’s hand.
It was a shame it didn’t hit his neck, but it was still fine.
As soon as Jackson dropped the shotgun in pain, I set the child down and charged at him.
“Fire Elbow-!!”
“Ahhhhhhh-!!!”
Jackson, whose face was smashed by my elbow, fell backward.
I jumped on top of him and started throwing punches.
Wham-! Smack-!
“From now on, it’s close combat, you punk!”
“Grahhh-!”
Whack-! Crack-!
Hitting the same spot repeatedly, his flesh tore, and blood gushed out.
“Eek-!”
After taking a few hits from me, Jackson, clearly pissed, started to push himself up.
Grrr-.
Jackson, who was bigger and stronger than me, eventually broke free from my hold and slowly got up.
Seeing this, I grabbed the knife stuck in his forearm.
Crunch-!
“Ahhhhh-!”
And then, instead of slashing his throat…
Thud.
…I stabbed the knife into his palm like a pin.
“Grahhh-!”
Wham-!
And the punches kept coming.
Wham-! Whack-!
With his right hand pinned by the knife, Jackson had no choice but to become my punching bag.
Even though Jackson was a muscular giant, getting hit repeatedly in the same spot made his face distort, and he looked utterly bewildered.
“Ugh-! I’m Jackson Samuel, with a $1200 bounty, and you’re doing this to me…! I’ll never forgive you…!”
“What? $1200?”
He tried to boast about his bounty, but…
“$1200? That’s less than Redbeard, you loser!”
“Ahhh-!”
“A $1200 punk like you trying to mess with me? Let’s see you die today.”
…Of course, it didn’t work on me.
After a few more punches, he finally surrendered.
“…W-wait! S-sheriff…! I… I surrender…! I’ll face the law…! Just spare me…! If you hit me more, I’ll die…! Sheriff-!!”
But…
“I’m not the sheriff.”
“…Huh?”
“I said I’m not the sheriff.”
“T-then what…?”
“Just a law-abiding citizen beating up outlaws.”
Wham-!
“Ahhhhh-!”
I didn’t accept his surrender.
“Punch! Punch! Elbow! Punch!”
“Grahhh-! W-wait…!”
“How dare you take a child hostage? A scumbag like you needs to be beaten to learn.”
“S-sorry, no…! W-wait… Ahhh-!”
Honestly, taking hostages was a tactic I’d used before, but being on the receiving end made me realize how nerve-wracking it was.
I poured all my frustration into my fists, relentlessly pounding Jackson.
“Ahhhhh-!!”
Jackson’s screams echoed for a long time.
**
In the end, I didn’t kill Jackson.
His existence would serve as living proof that the train had been attacked by a gang of robbers.
Of course…
“Ughhh…”
He wasn’t exactly in great shape.
I made sure he was completely out of it with my fists, then tied him up with rope.
Once we arrived in San Francisco, he’d be hanged.
And so, the outlaws who attacked the train were all taken down, and their leader, Jackson, was captured alive…
The Train Robbery Incident was thus concluded.
The situation was quickly resolved.
As expected of a high-class train, there was an onboard doctor to treat the injured, and the able-bodied passengers gathered the outlaws’ bodies in one place.
There was the issue of the third-class carriage wall being blown open, but the hole wasn’t too big, so we patched it up with planks as a temporary fix…
“Alright, let’s get the train moving again!”
Choo-choo-.
Before nightfall, the train was back on its way to San Francisco.
A total of 26 outlaws, including 24 from the gang and 2 who had infiltrated as staff, had attacked the train, but miraculously, there were no fatalities.
A result nothing short of miraculous.
Thanks to that…
“Woooooah-!!”
“Jet Gray-!!!”
“Sheriff Jet Gray, the hero of justice-!!”
“Jet-!! Jet-!!”
“Now… everyone, please calm down…”
I… no, Sheriff Jet Gray of Justice Town, had become the hero of the train.
