The man in front of her was definitely Kid.
Her intuition was screaming it at her.
Not just her intuition, but his voice, his aura—everything.
There was something different about him, but he was unmistakably the same as before.
*Swoosh.*
Sophia felt the urge to pull out her gun and put a bullet through his forehead right then and there.
But…
*Sigh.*
In the end, she didn’t draw her gun.
Because what she wanted most wasn’t just to shoot Kid dead.
She wanted to gather all the evidence proving he was *that* Kid and see him face the judgment of the law.
That, she believed, would be the perfect revenge for her late uncle.
But the problem was, she had no solid proof that the man in front of her was Kid.
And to make matters worse, Kid wasn’t the only thing on her plate right now.
She’d been ordered by the Pinkerton higher-ups to solve the Zodiac serial killings.
Over the past few months, victims had been turning up in Utah, killed by a madman. And today, a resident of Justice Town, where she was stationed, had also fallen victim to Zodiac.
From the crime scene and the letters left behind, it was clear Zodiac was still in town.
If she didn’t catch him before he left, there’d be more victims.
So, prioritizing Zodiac over Kid, Sophia…
“…I see. We’ve never met before.”
Instead of drawing her gun, she forced a smile and extended her hand to Kid.
“I hear you’re a bounty hunter working in this town. I’m Sophia, a fourth-class Pinkerton agent. Nice to meet you.”
“…Huh? Oh, yeah. Call me Noah.”
Kid tilted his head but shook her hand anyway.
*Noah… Is that an alias, or is it Kid’s real name?*
Of course, just because she wasn’t arresting him now didn’t mean Sophia had given up on capturing Kid.
She planned to gather evidence proving he was Kid while searching for clues about Zodiac.
*Or maybe… Kid is Zodiac.*
Now that she thought about it, it was strange for a man like him to move to such a quiet rural town, even if his gang had disbanded.
Maybe he was continuing his twisted desires under the name Zodiac.
So, while Sophia internally suspected the man in front of her, she kept her composure and finished the introduction.
And then…
She pretended to focus on the corpse and the crime scene while keeping an eye on Kid’s reaction to seeing her again.
**
Sophia, the protagonist of *Outlaw*, has an incredibly sharp intuition.
Plus, considering all the karma I’ve piled up, I thought she’d recognize me immediately and pull out her gun.
But…
“…I see. We’ve never met before.”
Contrary to my expectations, Sophia acted like she was meeting me for the first time.
“I hear you’re a bounty hunter working in this town. I’m Sophia, a fourth-class Pinkerton agent. Nice to meet you.”
“…Huh? Oh, yeah. Call me Noah.”
She even asked to shake my hand, which threw me off a bit…
*Shiver.*
“……”
I noticed her hand trembling slightly as it gripped mine, and I immediately realized.
She *did* recognize me.
*She recognized me but is holding back… Why?*
Then I remembered the protagonist’s setting in the game.
In the game, she’s always been rigid and righteous, ever since Chapter 1, the Redbeard Gang bank robbery.
*Is she trying to gather evidence that I’m Kid?*
Maybe she’s approaching me not out of personal vengeance but for the sake of justice.
If that’s the case, I could relax.
After all, there’s no evidence left anywhere that I’m *that* Kid.
I’ve always wondered how I should handle the protagonist when she eventually came to Justice Town.
Sure, it’d be easier to just shoot her dead, but…
I was terrified of what might happen if the protagonist died.
In *Outlaw*, if the protagonist dies, the screen turns gray, and the game resets.
What if killing her here resets the game too?
What if the $950,000 I’ve saved over the past 17 years suddenly becomes $0?
That would drive me insane.
So, whether in San Francisco or here, I couldn’t kill her.
*But hey, as long as she doesn’t mess with me first, I’m good.*
Go ahead and suspect me all you want—there’s no proof I’m Kid.
I’d even considered leaving Justice Town if things got too heated with Sophia.
But seeing her now, I felt reassured that I could keep living here as usual.
And if Sophia catches Zodiac, and I swoop in to claim the bounty?
That would be the dream.
So, sticking to my original plan, I decided to let Sophia, the protagonist, handle Zodiac while I laid low in a corner of town.
“Well then, Sheriff. I’ll be on my way.”
“…Oh, leaving already? What about the Zodiac investigation…?”
It seemed like Jet wanted me to join the investigation, but I was firm.
“Come on, I’m not part of the sheriff’s department. I’m just a bounty hunter. What investigation?”
“But…”
“If you find any leads on Zodiac, let me know. I’ll help catch him.”
“…Alright.”
With that, I said goodbye to Jet and climbed back onto No Name to head to my original destination: Deaf Man’s Tavern.
As I did, Sophia, who’d been pretending to examine the scene, stood up and asked me,
“Leaving already?”
Her face had a faint smile, so I smiled back and replied,
“Yeah, I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“Going to eat? Which restaurant? Maybe you can recommend one for me later.”
“Everywhere in this town tastes bad! Just pick any place, haha.”
Cutting off her attempt to subtly track my movements, I waved my hand.
“I’ll be off now! Good luck, Pinkerton agent.”
“…Of course. With great power comes great responsibility.”
“……”
San Francisco.
Back in the day.
I was planning to take down the South Brotherhood with Sophia, the protagonist of <Outlaw>.
The final episode of <Outlaw> was about Sophia taking down the South Brotherhood, a major force in San Francisco.
But the Sophia of the past wasn’t as capable as she was in <Outlaw>, and she was arrogant.
So, I tried hard to awaken her.
With great power comes great responsibility.
That was just the only awakening line that popped into my head at the time.
Still, it seemed to help wake Sophia up.
The problem was that her awakened eyes were now fixed on me.
“Wow, that’s a cool line. Then you better take responsibility.”
“…Of course, I’ll definitely take responsibility.”
“Alright, good luck. I’m out.”
I gave Sophia a thumbs-up and turned to leave.
Even as I turned, I could feel her gaze on my back.
And so, the subtle battle of wits between me and Sophia began.
—
Grumble.
I was so worked up since morning that I got even hungrier.
I rushed to the Deaf Man’s Tavern to grab some breakfast.
“Bob! I’m here!”
The sun wasn’t at its peak, so it wasn’t noon yet… maybe around 10?
Given that the tavern operates at night, there were probably no customers left.
I figured only Bob would be inside cleaning, so I swung the door open.
But…
“Huh? What’s up, Kid? Didn’t you just leave here at dawn? Why are you back?”
“Why? For breakfast. But you’re not alone, huh?”
Bob wasn’t alone inside the tavern.
“Kid, come on in.”
“Oh, Mr. Kid! Hi!”
Bob’s wife, Mari, and their young daughter, Daisy.
And…
“Uh, hi. But who’s this? First time seeing her… Bob, did you have another daughter?”
A girl I’d never seen before was sitting with Bob’s family.
She looked about 15 or 16?
She was tiny and cute, but her expressionless face reminded me of Emma back in the day.
I tilted my head, wondering if she was Bob’s secret daughter, but Bob just laughed.
“Haha, I wish I had another cute daughter like her… but nope! She’s our new employee!”
“Employee?”
“We decided to expand the tavern and start operating during the day too. So, we hired someone new for the day shift.”
After the Rush and Gold Gang incident, the town had developed, and the Deaf Man’s Tavern had been renovated.
With more customers, they decided to open during the day too.
The Deaf Man’s Tavern was now open 24/7.
That was great news for me.
But…
“This new employee isn’t from Justice Town, is she?”
“Nope, she just moved here. Poor thing, no parents or anything, so we took her in as a live-in employee.”
The fact that the new employee was a complete outsider made me a bit uneasy.
Plus, this girl…
“……”
She was staring at me intently without saying a word.
I found it weird, so the girl asked me in a flat voice.
“…Kid.”
“……”
“Is that your real name?”
I smirked and answered her question.
“Nah, it’s just a nickname. My real name’s Noah. And you?”
I reached out my hand to her.
“……”
She looked at my hand, hesitated for a moment, and then answered.
“…Rize.”
“Rize? That’s your name?”
“…Yes, please call me Rize.”
Her hand was soft and warm.
After we introduced ourselves, Mari and Daisy grabbed Rize by the shoulders and said.
“Kid! You said you came for breakfast, right? Rize is an amazing cook! Just wait a bit! She’ll show you her skills!”
“Mr. Kid! I’ll make you some fried eggs too!”
“Let’s go, Rize and Daisy!”
Mari and Daisy were naturally outgoing and cheerful.
Rize still seemed a bit awkward with them, but she walked shoulder-to-shoulder with them toward the kitchen.
“Rize is still shy, but she’s got spunk.”
Bob watched the three of them with pride.
It seemed like Bob had already taken a liking to Rize in the short time they’d known each other.
“Hmm…”
On the other hand, I watched the three of them head into the kitchen, leaned on my chin, and said to Bob.
“Bob.”
“Yeah?”
“Just a heads-up, don’t leave your daughter alone with that Rize girl for a while.”
“…Huh?”
Then I remembered the warning written in Zodiac’s letter earlier.
[Next time, I’ll kill a little girl.]
The sensation of shaking Rize’s hand was still vivid in my mind.
“Why? You’re saying I shouldn’t leave Daisy and Rize alone?”
“Just don’t leave them alone.”
That hand was definitely that of a skilled gunslinger.
I had planned to leave the search for Zodiac to Sophia…
But now, someone suspicious of being Zodiac was already showing up in my daily life.
