As I approached, mentioning my client William, Josephine flinched.
Django, standing beside her, reacted the same way.
With eyes full of betrayal, Django shouted at me.
“Mr. Noah…! Why would you…! Don’t tell me… even yesterday’s meeting was…!”
“Ah, meeting you yesterday was pure coincidence, Django.”
I waved my hand, trying to clear up any misunderstandings.
“I’m not that meticulous. Meeting you yesterday wasn’t planned.”
“…But you’re here because my master… no, William sent you, right?”
“That’s right.”
As I stepped closer, Django raised one hand high.
“Don’t come any closer—! Mr. Noah!!”
*Swoosh.*
He hid the pale-faced Josephine behind him and…
*Whoosh.*
Tossed off his coat, reaching for the pistol in his holster.
“If you come any closer, I won’t hold back—!!”
“…….”
In the West, drawing a gun from the holster was seen as the start of a duel.
But simply reaching for it without drawing was a threat, a final warning.
“If you come closer, I’ll draw and shoot.”
That’s what Django was saying.
But…
*Shiver.*
I noticed his trembling hand at the edge of my vision.
His face was pale with tension, and most importantly…
‘He’s holding the holster wrong.’
Anyone could see he wasn’t used to guns. His grip on the holster was slightly off.
Holding it like that would cause a delay when drawing, making him slower.
In short, he was no threat to me.
‘I could probably take him down without even drawing my weapon.’
Seeing Django’s amateurish stance, I felt a mix of disappointment and a slight reality check.
I came all the way to San Francisco for this rookie?
If Django had been some legendary gunslinger or a formidable opponent, I would’ve fought without regret.
But I had no interest in beating up an innocent weakling, so I felt conflicted.
Instead of overpowering him, I tried to talk him down.
“Hey, Django. Don’t do anything stupid. Take your hand off the holster.”
“…I can’t.”
“Have you ever shot someone before?”
“…….”
Django stared at me with unreadable eyes, but I already knew the answer.
Of course not.
A guy who trembles at a mere threat…
Someone so naive and kind-hearted…
How could he have ever shot someone?
But despite my attempts to reason with him, Django didn’t back down.
‘He’s scared, but he won’t run.’
So, I shifted my focus and called out to Josephine.
“Miss Josephine! Do you know what your father hired me for?!”
“…….”
“He said he’d pay me $10,000 to bring you back! And $20,000 if I kill Django!”
“……!”
At the mention of killing Django for $20,000, Josephine flinched behind him.
I pressed on, trying to persuade—no, threaten—her.
“If you come with me willingly, I’ll just take you. But if you keep resisting… I’ll have no choice but to kill Django!”
I didn’t actually plan to kill him, but bluffing seemed to work.
“…No—!”
At the mention of killing Django, Josephine stepped forward, her face twisted in distress.
“Django’s done nothing wrong…! Don’t touch him…!”
“Then come with me. Your father’s worried, you know.”
*Click.*
I wagged my index finger and made my final offer.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Come with me, and I’ll escort you back to Justice Town respectfully. Otherwise… someone’s going to get hurt.”
“…….”
Josephine hesitated, her expression conflicted.
I thought she might actually surrender to me.
Her body subtly leaned forward, as if considering it.
Just as I thought this job might end easily…
*Swoosh.*
Django stopped her.
“…Don’t go, Josephine.”
“…….”
“Trust me.”
Django stretched out his free hand to block Josephine from stepping forward.
And Josephine…
“……Okay.”
Hesitating, she nodded and hid behind Django again.
“…You’re really making me do this the hard way.”
With Josephine refusing my final offer, negotiations were over.
*Swoosh.*
I turned my head and locked eyes with Billy behind me.
*Nod.*
Billy nodded as soon as our eyes met.
The third promise I made with Luke when I arrived in San Francisco:
“No causing trouble in this city.”
Billy’s nod meant he’d allow a small commotion to subdue Django.
As I turned back to face Django…
“…….”
I briefly made eye contact with Emma.
For some reason, she looked at me with concern.
Maybe she was worried because, unlike Django with his gun, I was unarmed.
But that was just her overthinking.
With all my tricks and skills, this rookie gunslinger was no match for me.
I gave Emma a playful smile to reassure her, then turned back to Django.
Perhaps sensing the situation was beyond control, Django gripped his holster one last time and said…
“…Mr. Noah, I’m the one who…”
“Last warning. Do not come any closer.”
“Warning my ass.”
Django’s hand, still gripping the holster, was in the wrong position.
Probably couldn’t even quick-draw properly.
The distance between Django and me was considerable, but judging by his stance, it seemed like he’d barely manage to fire one shot while I closed in.
“Phew…”
I took a deep breath before pouncing on Django, sharpening my senses even more.
*Thud.*
My keen hearing picked up someone watching us from afar.
Emma might not know, but it’s those guys who’ve been tailing us since yesterday.
‘Who are they? The South Brotherhood?’
Did that paranoid Luke, not satisfied with just Billy, double up on surveillance?
Seemed like it.
*Sigh.*
My gut screaming danger right now was probably because of those guys.
‘Gotta take down Django quickly and deal with them too.’
With that overly optimistic thought of knocking Django out with one punch…
*Crack.*
…I finally took the first step toward Django.
And then…
*Bang.*
“…Huh?”
*Drip.*
A gunshot rang out, and I couldn’t move forward anymore.
***
Meanwhile, at the tobacco farm in Justice Town.
“Master.”
Janssen, the Capulet family’s coachman and errand boy, approached his master William with a telegram from San Francisco.
“A telegram from the guys we planted in San Francisco. The bounty hunter you hired has tailed the young lady to her location.”
“Oh? Huh… Didn’t expect much, but seems like he’s got some skills after all.”
Was his name Noah…?
William vaguely recalled Noah’s face and muttered his name.
“…Master, do you think that bounty hunter can bring the young lady back?”
“Not a chance.”
William shook his head firmly at Janssen’s question.
In fact, William had already sent people to find out where his daughter Josephine was.
The reason he hadn’t brought her back yet was…
“That gun-crazy black guy is with her. How’s the bounty hunter supposed to bring Josephine back? He’s just a disposable pawn.”
It was because of Django, who had taken Josephine.
William still remembered a black slave whose name he couldn’t forget.
George Montague, Django’s father.
George was a black slave and gunslinger belonging to the Capulet family when they settled in Mississippi.
Normally, slaves weren’t allowed to carry guns, but the Montagues had been loyal to the William family for generations…
‘Master, George has caught more runaway slaves.’
George’s shooting skills were exceptional, so William’s father assigned him the role of a slave catcher.
A slave catcher who captured or killed runaway slaves to set an example for others.
George killed countless black slaves while working as a catcher.
The slaves cursed him as a traitor for killing his own kind without remorse, while the whites were pleased…
But no one knew back then.
That there was a time bomb ticking in George’s heart.
And the day that bomb finally exploded.
George killed William’s father, the Capulet family’s whites, and the southern slave patrols countless times.
Of course, no matter how skilled he was, George couldn’t kill all the southern whites alone.
After killing over a hundred whites with a single gun, George was eventually captured and brutally executed.
But even after his death, he was remembered by many… and called this.
The greatest gunslinger of the South.
After the tragedy, William, who inherited the Capulet family, made sure Django, George’s son, never held a gun.
But the day his daughter Josephine playfully handed Django a gun.
Django hit six flying birds with six bullets.
William, who happened to witness this, realized in that moment.
The greatest gunslinger of the South.
That blood flowed in Django too.
“Janssen, you haven’t seen that black guy with a gun, so you wouldn’t know.”
Seeing Django with a gun, William felt the same emotions he had felt toward George.
“That bounty hunter I sent was said to be quite skilled in Utah? Not enough.”
Even among rough and crude gunslingers, there are levels.
Even to William, who knew nothing about guns, Django was on a different level.
“At least the greatest gunslinger of the West… That’s what it would take to face that monster with the blood of the South’s greatest gunslinger.”
Of course, that’s not likely.
Finishing his thoughts, William’s eyes turned fierce again as he ordered Janssen.
“Tell the guys in San Francisco. While that bounty hunter wastes Django’s bullets and buys time, find a way to kill that black guy and bring my daughter back.”
“…Yes, I’ll head to the city and send the telegram right away.”
Even a monster can’t beat numbers.
William was determined to kill Django this time and bring his daughter Josephine back.
