The new employee Rize at Deaf Man’s Tavern starts her shift at noon.
From noon to midnight, it’s a 12-hour shift.
She handles her meals and lodging at the owner Bob’s house, and before her shift, it’s her free time.
*Swoosh.*
Rize mingled with the crowd, watched Zodiac’s second murder scene, and then moved on.
Her footsteps led her… to the outskirts of the town.
*Hehehe.*
“Yah—.”
“Everyone got their stuff packed?”
“Yeah—!”
Justice Town was a place where as many people came as left.
Today, many people were preparing to leave Justice Town and head further west from the outskirts.
Rize approached one of them.
“Excuse me….”
“Huh? Need something?”
“I have a letter to send. Are you planning to stop by a city with a post office?”
In a small rural town like Justice Town, sending a letter meant going to a city with a post office to mail it directly.
But getting from Justice Town to the nearest city with a post office, Salt Lake City, took several days.
So, many residents often asked those leaving town to mail their letters for them.
“Ah, you want to send a letter? We’re actually heading to Salt Lake City. We’ll mail it for you, so hand it over.”
“Yes, thank you. Just a moment, please.”
Rize, who hadn’t even written the letter yet, pulled out an envelope and stationery from her pocket as soon as the traveler agreed.
“Do you happen to have a pen and ink?”
“…Huh? Oh, yeah. It should be inside the bag. Wait a sec, I’ll get it for you.”
She looked about 15 years old.
That awkward age between a girl and a woman, not quite matured yet.
With her youthful face and somewhat blank expression, the traveler found her cute and readily handed over the pen and ink.
Rize quickly wrote a short letter on the spot.
*[I’ve found a suspicious individual. Location: Justice Town, Cassady County, Utah. Will confirm further before execution.]*
She let the ink dry under the hot sun, neatly folded the letter, attached a stamp, and handed it to the traveler.
“Here you go. This money is for your trouble.”
A dollar was included as a tip.
“Huh? Haha. Such a big amount. Thanks, I’ll use it well.”
The traveler accepted the letter and the dollar, feeling like they were receiving toy money from a niece.
Of course, the dollar Rize gave was real, not fake.
A dollar is no small amount.
How hard must this young girl have worked to earn it?
Impressed, the traveler asked,
“Who are you sending this letter to? Mom? Dad?”
“……”
“Let’s see… the address is… San Francisco? That’s far!”
The distance from Justice Town to San Francisco was staggering.
It would take over a month for the letter to arrive.
“It’ll take a while to get there, you okay with that?”
“Yes, as long as it arrives eventually, it’s fine.”
“Hoho, must be an important letter. Is San Francisco your hometown? Do you have family there? How did you end up all the way out here? Must’ve been tough. I worked hard since I was young too….”
The traveler was quite nosy.
Seeing young Rize, she rambled on about her own past.
Her story was quite old-fashioned and… boring.
What interrupted it was…
*Swoosh.*
“……!”
Something suddenly appeared right in front of the traveler’s throat.
“…Here’s your pen and ink.”
“…Ah, oh.”
Rize was simply returning the pen and ink, but the traveler felt an inexplicable threat.
Was it just her imagination?
*Thud.*
The traveler, who had experienced all sorts of things wandering the West, pictured that sharp pen piercing her throat.
‘…Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night.’
Thinking she was just being overly sensitive, the traveler took the items back from Rize, who was holding the pen toward her throat.
“…I’ll head straight to the post office when we reach Salt Lake City! Don’t worry about the letter!”
“Yes, then I’ll take my leave now.”
*Bow.*
After finishing her business, Rize politely bid farewell and hurried back to town.
“…Hoho, what a strange kid.”
The traveler chuckled awkwardly as she watched Rize walk away.
**
There was still plenty of time before Rize’s shift started.
She spent that time familiarizing herself with the town’s layout.
One peculiar thing was that while most people explored the main streets and central areas, Rize focused on the back alleys.
*Swoosh.*
‘Here… and there.’
It was clear no one suspected she was scouting escape routes in case of an emergency.
Rize’s pristine, white presence in the dirty, dark back alleys was out of place.
And in the back alleys, there were always those who wanted to dirty anything white.
“……”
Mac, who had been sleeping under some straw in a corner of the alley, blinked a few times upon seeing Rize wandering around and got up to block her path.
“Boo—!!!”
“……”
“What? Not even a flinch? I was trying to scare you.”
Any normal girl would’ve been terrified by Mac’s rough appearance.
Mac, hoping Rize would burst into tears and collapse, felt a bit deflated as he stared at her.
“Kid, didn’t your mom tell you back alleys are dangerous no matter where you are?”
“……”
And then…
‘But this kid… she’s kinda cute? Hehe.’
Mac smirked inwardly at Rize’s unusual appearance.
It made sense—Rize’s clothes were shabby, but her face was cute, her skin was pale, and her hair was smooth.
Like a well-maintained doll.
“How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen?”
“……”
“Whatever, that’s old enough. Kid, wanna play a game with this uncle? It’ll be fun.”
Mac slowly reached out toward Rize.
Until then, Rize just stood there, crouched and unmoving.
Mac thought she was frozen in fear.
But…
“…Good thing there’s no one watching.”
Rize glanced around, relieved there were no witnesses.
He was standing there, looking around.
And as soon as he confirmed that no one was passing by…
Thud.
She pulled out the knife hidden in her sleeve and stabbed it into Mac’s neck.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
Mac was about to scream from the sudden sharp pain, but Rize quickly covered his mouth.
Thump.
Mac fell backward from the sudden attack and Rize’s unexpectedly strong grip.
Rize dragged the fallen Mac to a corner.
The knife was still stuck in Mac’s neck.
Swish.
Rize first took a handful of straw that Mac had been lying on and wrapped it around the stabbed area of his neck…
Splat.
“…!!!”
She then pulled out the knife.
She did it to avoid getting Mac’s blood on herself.
“…Ugh, ugh…!!!”
Faced with the terror and pain of impending death, Mac thrashed wildly.
But his mouth was still covered by Rize, and his body was pinned down by her weight.
Squelch.
Seeing that Mac’s blood had soaked the straw, Rize stabbed the knife back into his neck.
Thud.
Once Rize firmly fixed the knife in place, less blood flowed out than before.
But by then, Mac had already stopped breathing.
Rize turned Mac’s body to make it look like he was sleeping on his side and piled more straw on top.
Now, it looked like Mac was just another vagrant sleeping under straw in the back alleys.
People from the bright side of town don’t care about what happens in the dark alleys.
Rize, who had spent her whole life in the Saint Michel Slum of San Francisco, knew this better than anyone.
Now, that corpse wouldn’t be found until it rotted and was eaten by maggots and flies.
Swish.
After closing Mac’s eyes and perfectly wrapping up the situation, Rize set out to explore the back alleys again.
Her steps were hurried as there wasn’t much time left until her work hours began at noon.
Tap tap tap.
With her small, pale frame, she looked like a rabbit drinking from a spring and then hopping away.
**
30 minutes after Rize left.
Noon, the opening time of the Deaf Man’s Tavern.
Swish.
Two figures stepped into the back alley Rize had left.
“Boss, is this the right place?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
It was Joe and Emma.
“That guy definitely came here. Let’s take a look around.”
The essence of tailing is stealth.
In that regard, I had a natural talent for it.
With my [Superhuman Senses], my vision was incredibly sharp.
I followed Rize from a distance that no human could possibly detect.
First, Rize handed what looked like a letter to someone on the outskirts of town.
Then, her trail led to this back alley.
‘Why did she come here… Could it be?’
Actually, there’s one thing I always do when I first arrive in a new town.
And that’s exploring the back alleys.
Back alleys are great for escaping in case of emergencies.
‘Was she also checking out the escape routes by exploring the back alleys?’
Her method seemed oddly similar to mine.
Feeling uneasy, I looked around the back alley.
And then…
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“…I smell blood.”
I soon detected a faint scent of blood from a corner of the alley.
Following the smell, I found…
“A vagrant. Looks like he’s just sleeping, but…”
A vagrant, common in back alleys, was lying against the wall, seemingly asleep.
But I could tell immediately that he wasn’t just sleeping.
“…No.”
Swish.
“…Huh.”
“…”
When I removed the straw covering the vagrant, I saw bloodstains and a knife stuck in his neck.
The man was already dead.
“Doesn’t seem like Zodiac’s work.”
“Yeah.”
The scene was too meticulous and covert for Zodiac, a person of interest.
“But this guy’s an outlaw. Mac Foister, wanted for one count of murder, bounty of $29.”
“…Murder.”
What caught my attention more than the fact that this guy was an outlaw was the method of the job.
Stabbing the knife back into the neck to stop the blood flow…
It felt eerily familiar.
Swish.
The body still had some warmth, so he must have just died.
Since I saw Rize enter this alley 30 minutes ago, it was clear she was the one who killed him.
The wound was precise, almost on par with Zodiac’s work.
Seeing that, I fell into thought.
Rize, who is she?
Her assassination skills were far too advanced for her age.
A method that felt all too familiar.
And a face that I felt like I’d seen before, though I couldn’t quite remember.
‘Ah.’
Putting all the pieces together, I could deduce who she was.
“…”
“…What’s wrong, Boss?”
Seeing my pale face, Emma asked in surprise.
“…I think we’re totally screwed.”
“…Huh?”
It seems like something far more dangerous than Sophia or Zodiac has entered our town.
