At first, I thought Emma would come after a little while. As soon as I arrived at the office, I imagined Emma would fetch water from the well, do the laundry, and prepare breakfast for me, just like usual. Given her personality, she would probably act as if nothing happened yesterday. So, I decided to act the same way. However, I had already taken out $200 to give to her. Since Emma had indeed borrowed money from Rush & Gold, I wanted her to pay off her urgent debt first. But… “…She’s not coming.” The $200 I had prepared felt pointless… Emma didn’t show up even after the sun was high in the sky. Which meant… My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten anything since last night, and now it was lunchtime, and I was still fasting. I was starving. My throat was parched. The laundry basket was piled up, emitting a stinky smell. Emma hadn’t been gone for days, just a few hours late… Yet, my life was already in jeopardy. “Ah… I’m so hungry and thirsty…” I could’ve just gone to the Deaf Man’s Tavern to satisfy my hunger and thirst, but I didn’t. Maybe out of stubbornness… I really wanted to drink the water Emma would fetch and eat the meal she would prepare. Just as I was drying up by noon, I heard footsteps approaching. “…Hmm?” A sound of footsteps reached my ears. ‘…Is that Emma?’ Hunger, thirst, and the sweltering heat had left me half-dried up. As soon as I heard the noise, I got up from the bed. I was more happy than annoyed at Emma’s late arrival. I planned to ask her to fetch some water and prepare a meal first. “Emma-! Why are you so late…!” As I cheerfully opened the door… “…Oh, you startled me. How did you know I was coming…?” “…Oh, it’s you.” It wasn’t Emma but a middle-aged man greeting me. It was Janssen, William’s coachman and butler, whom I had seen before. “……” Feeling my mood plummet, I looked behind Janssen. A horse stood there, probably the one he rode. After all, it’s quite a distance from my office to William’s mansion; he wouldn’t have walked. The problem was, I hadn’t heard the horse’s hooves. Probably because I was too weak from not eating or drinking, my senses had dulled. Irritated, I asked Janssen, “…What is it? Why are you here? I was just about to come over later.” Today was the day I had an appointment with William a week ago. I was planning to go to William’s to collect the money later, so it was strange that Janssen came first. “Well, it’s… Master William has invited you to dinner tonight.” “…Dinner?” “Yes… He wants to discuss the money over dinner.” “Why not just give me the money? Why bother having an uncomfortable meal together?” “Is… is that a refusal?” “Sigh…” I was feeling irritable, but… “…No, I’ll go. Tell him I’ll be there.” If the money giver calls, I have to go, right? I nodded to Janssen as a sign of agreement. “Alright, I’ll let the master know. Come to the mansion by sunset.” “…Got it.” “Then I’ll take my leave…” Probably because Janssen had seen me shoot at William’s mansion last time, he seemed afraid of me. Janssen turned away as soon as I nodded, almost as if fleeing. And then… “…Wait.” “…Y-yes?” I grabbed Janssen’s shoulder and said, “Could you fetch some water from the well for me?” “…Water?” I was not only hungry but also terribly thirsty. So, I asked Janssen to fetch some water, but then… “…Never mind. Just go.” I realized something and shook my head. I might be lazy, but I’m not incapable of fetching water myself. It’s not that I don’t know how to fetch water or cook; I just wanted to drink the water Emma fetched and eat the meal she prepared. Drinking water fetched by this old man wouldn’t be satisfying at all. I waved my hand dismissively and let Janssen go. “T-then I’ll really be going now.” Janssen, watching my reaction, quickly mounted his horse and left. Watching him go, I returned to the office and lay down on the bed again. “Ugh… I’m so hungry. When is Emma going to show up?” I thought I had tamed Emma well as my secretary. Indeed, Emma often grumbled but never disobeyed me, and yesterday she even confessed she liked me. But now, it seems I was the one who got tamed. Originally, I was someone who could live well on my own… But the comfortable life of the past three years has made me unable to live without Emma. “…I’ll just sleep until Emma comes.” Bored and with nothing to do, I closed my eyes to take a nap. But no matter how hard I tried, sleep wouldn’t come. I realized that being too hungry also prevents sleep. So, I tossed and turned on the bed, passing the time. Before I knew it, the sun had set, and it was time for my dinner appointment with William… But Emma still hadn’t shown up. “…Ugh, I feel so weak.” Having not eaten or drunk anything all day, I weakly changed into my outdoor clothes. No matter how weak I felt, I had to go collect the money. As the sun had set, I was about to head to William’s mansion for the dinner invitation Janssen had delivered earlier. “Should I… bring the gun?” William wouldn’t have invited me just for a friendly meal. And in the Wild West, a gun is as essential as a smartphone in modern times. I loaded two single-action Army revolvers into my holsters and finished preparing to go out. “Hehe.” “Hehehe.” No Name and Bonnie, who had been getting along well lately, greeted me. I took No Name out of the stable and asked Bonnie, “…Why isn’t your owner coming? Huh?” “Hehe.” Bonnie seemed to say he didn’t know either.
It seemed like a waste of effort.
After giving Bonnie a quick pat, I climbed onto No Name.
“Let’s go, No Name.”
“Hehe.”
Today, No Name wasn’t in great shape either, so his running speed wasn’t that fast.
But still… I wasn’t in a hurry, so I leisurely made my way to William’s mansion.
“Rich folks probably serve a lot of delicious food for dinner.”
“Hehe.”
“But honestly, nothing really appeals to me. I just want to eat the food Emma makes.”
Emma was pretty good at cooking.
Above all, her cooking had a unique flavor that set it apart from others.
Maybe I was addicted to Emma’s cooking, but I found myself craving her meals more than a fancy dinner at a rich person’s house.
“Will she come to work tomorrow? If she doesn’t, I might starve to death.”
But if she has any conscience, she’ll probably show up tomorrow.
I let out a small sigh and continued down the road with No Name.
That’s when it happened.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
“Huh…?”
In the distance, I heard the sound of hurried hoofbeats. I looked up and saw…
“That guy, it’s already dark. Where’s he rushing off to?”
Sheriff Jet was galloping somewhere in a hurry on his horse.
He was heading my way, and as soon as he saw me, he shouted and quickly approached.
“Kid! Kid!!”
“You’re going to run out of breath. What’s going on, Sheriff?”
“Haven’t you heard the news yet!”
Jet panted heavily, his face filled with anger.
“The Rush and Gold Gang finally made their move!”
“What do you mean…?”
“Those bastards are rounding up all the village girls who borrowed money from them!”
“Oh no.”
Come to think of it, something like this happened in the game too.
They sold the village girls to brothels in other towns and made a fortune.
That’s why the protagonist was so furious.
Honestly, I expected something like this to happen eventually, so it wasn’t that shocking.
But I couldn’t help but be startled by Jet’s next words.
“Some people say they saw Emma being taken away.”
“…Emma? She borrowed money, but it’s only been a day.”
“I don’t know the details either! But they’re sure it was Emma!”
No matter how scummy they are, there’s no way they’d kidnap someone and sell them to a brothel just one day after borrowing money.
Then, the last words of Bert, the leader of the Rush and Gold Gang, came to mind.
“Yeah, see you next time.”
Next time.
Bert had said “see you next time.”
It occurred to me that taking Emma this time… and kidnapping the village girls so brazenly wasn’t a coincidence.
This is a trap.
A trap to lure me into crossing the line and stepping into their territory.
“…How arrogant.”
How dare these NPCs overstep their bounds.
Above all, I couldn’t stand them messing with my favorite bar, Deaf Man’s Tavern, and my personal maid, Emma.
“…Isn’t the Rush and Gold Gang’s camp on that rocky mountain?”
“…Yeah.”
There’s a rocky mountain near Justice Town that’s pretty much useless.
I think I heard before that the Rush and Gold Gang’s camp is on that mountain.
Clip-clop.
I immediately grabbed No Name’s reins and slowly moved forward, speaking up.
“…No wonder Emma didn’t come to work today. The house was a mess without her.”
The house was already a disaster after just one day without Emma.
I couldn’t even drink water or eat properly.
I still couldn’t accept Emma’s feelings, but… this incident made me realize something.
“I can’t live without Emma. Emma is… very precious to me.”
As I said that and started moving forward, Jet swallowed hard and asked.
“So, are you going to the Rush and Gold Gang to save Emma right now?”
Jet pulled out his gun with a meaningful expression, like someone ready for battle.
“Good timing. I’ve been waiting for a chance to take those guys down. Our sheriff’s department will back you up.”
But…
“Huh? What backup?”
“…Huh? Weren’t you going to save Emma and the village girls?”
“Nope.”
“…What?”
His meaningful expression quickly turned into a dumbfounded one.
I spoke to him, who looked like he couldn’t grasp the situation.
“I’m actually on my way to William’s mansion to collect a large sum of money. I’ll get the money first.”
“…Didn’t you just say you realized how precious Emma is to you?”
“Emma? She’s precious. But money is more precious.”
If Emma was water, money was oxygen to me.
I could survive three days without Emma, but I couldn’t last three minutes without money.
Emma? Precious. But she can’t compare to money.
“Money first, Lady second.”
“……”
“I’ll get the money first… and since it’s getting late, I’ll go save Emma at sunrise.”
As I casually spoke and headed toward William’s mansion, Jet asked me, looking a bit bewildered.
“…Aren’t you worried at all? Do you know what kind of trouble Emma could be in at a place like that?”
“Ah, I raised Emma myself. She’s strong enough to take care of herself.”
“In my 41 years, I’ve never met someone as obsessed with money as you. …What exactly is money to you?”
I thought for a moment before answering Jet’s question about what money meant to me.
“To me… no, to Noah, money is the reason and purpose of life.”
I wasn’t trying to be cute by answering in the third person.
Money might not mean much to me, but to Noah, it was the reason and purpose of life.
“What kind of…?”
“That’s just how it is. Anyway, I’m off. I’ll meet you at the sheriff’s department tomorrow morning. We’ll take down the Rush and Gold Gang together.”
With that, I waved to Jet and headed to William’s mansion.
My mind was filled with thoughts of how much money I was going to get.
Thinking about money made me forget how hungry I was.
