Chapter 98

“Brr, it’s so cold…”

Sophia shivered as she woke up, feeling the intense chill from the floor.

“…Ugh.”

Why am I lying here?

For a moment, Sophia couldn’t grasp the situation.

But soon, she sat up…

“Ouch…!”

A sharp pain in her stomach brought back all the memories from last night.

“K-Kid…!”

Sophia immediately rushed into Kid’s office.

But the office was already empty.

As if the owner had left for good.

“Darn it…!”

Even the two horses from the stable were gone.

Realizing Kid had fled, Sophia was startled and quickly mounted her horse.

“…Let’s go, Spike!”

“Neigh.”

She and her trusty steed, Spike, raced to the sheriff’s office.

Since the sun had already risen, a deputy sweeping in front of the office spotted her and asked in surprise.

“Huh? What’s up, Detective? What brings you here so early? And why do you look like you’ve been in a fight…?”

“S-Sheriff! Is the sheriff in?!”

“…Yeah, he’s here, but he’s struggling with a hangover…”

Without hesitation, Sophia barged in.

Inside, Sheriff Jet was slumped over his desk, reeking of alcohol.

Sophia shook his shoulder to wake him up.

“Sheriff! Sheriff…!!”

“Ugh… huh? Miss Sophia… What’s going on so early…?”

“Kid… Kid ran away.”

“…What?”

Jet looked dazed for a moment at Sophia’s sudden words, then nodded nonchalantly.

“Oh, right. He came by last night saying he was leaving town.”

The deputies outside, who had been sweeping, overheard and were shocked.

“Huh? Kid left town?”

“Why didn’t he say anything…?”

“Man, what a heartless guy. Could’ve at least said goodbye.”

Sophia felt the same frustration as yesterday at their carefree attitude.

“Kid didn’t just leave town! He ran away, ran away!!”

“Huh? What did Kid do wrong to run away…? Oh my…”

Jet tilted his head at Sophia’s outburst, then frowned as he took in her disheveled appearance.

Her clothes were a mess, and there were bruises all over her body, as if she’d been beaten.

‘So that’s why Kid suddenly left town…’

Jet quickly pieced together why Kid had left and why Sophia was so furious.

“Miss Sophia… Did Kid hit you?”

“……”

“Oh dear. I had a feeling that guy would cause trouble someday.”

It seemed Kid had hit Sophia.

Their relationship had never looked great from the start.

‘But still, how could he hit a woman…?’

And the granddaughter of the Pinkerton founder, no less!

Kid was as good with his fists as he was with a gun.

Sometimes he’d catch outlaws with just his bare hands.

Having been hit by Kid, Sophia wasn’t going to let this slide.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Jet stood up and bowed apologetically.

“…As the sheriff, I apologize for one of our townsfolk acting so recklessly. When that brat comes back to town, I’ll give him a piece of my mind. So please, calm down…”

But Sophia’s expression remained stern.

“…No, Kid will never return to this town.”

“Huh?”

“Sigh… Should I even say this…?”

Seeing the innocent faces of Jet and the deputies, Sophia let out a deep sigh.

“Everyone… Do you even know who Kid really is?”

“…We don’t know what Kid did before coming to town. But why…?”

“Kid, that guy… is actually…”

With the most serious face, she revealed the truth.

“He’s the founder and first leader of TKK, a wanted outlaw with a $150,000 bounty.”

“……!!!”

Silence fell over the office.

And then…

“…Huh.”

“…?”

“Bwahahahaha-!!”

Laughter erupted.

“Hahahaha-! Sheriff! Did you hear what the detective just said? Bwahaha-!”

“Kid’s a wanted outlaw! And his bounty’s how much? $150,000? Wahahaha-!!”

“Why not just round it up to $200,000? Hahaha!”

“Ahahaha-! Kid’s the TKK leader! Hahahaha-!”

The deputies once again didn’t believe Sophia, leaving her utterly frustrated.

“…I’m not joking, it’s true!”

“Sure, sure, hahaha!”

Of course, their reaction was somewhat understandable.

The TKK leader with a $150,000 bounty was practically a legendary figure.

Some even believed the $150,000 TKK leader and the South Brotherhood leader were fictional characters created by the federal government.

Some people even believed that.

An outlaw who seemed so unbelievable was actually a gunslinger working as a bounty hunter in the countryside? Of course, it’s hard to believe.

But Sophia, while understanding them logically, couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

Even Sheriff Jet didn’t believe Sophia’s words, which made her frustration even worse.

“Hahaha! Miss Sophia! If Kid is the leader of TKK, then I’m John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln’s assassin)!”

“Hahaha! If Kid is the leader of TKK, then I’m George Washington (the first U.S. president)! Hahaha!”

“This guy… even if it’s a joke, how dare he mention the father of the nation…”

“…Sorry.”

Sophia sighed deeply as she watched Jet and the security team joking and bickering among themselves.

…This place really has no hope.

Sophia had originally come to Justice Town to solve the Zodiac case and find traces of Kid.

Since Kid was gone, there was no longer any reason for her to stay in this town.

‘It’s not too late yet. I have to chase Kid.’

After finishing her thoughts, Sophia immediately bowed her head to Jet.

“…Thank you for everything.”

“…Huh? Miss Sophia. Where are you going?”

“The Zodiac case is resolved, so it’s time for me to go back.”

In truth, the Zodiac case wasn’t completely resolved.

But Sophia had realized something from yesterday’s events.

‘No matter how much I talk, these people won’t believe me.’

To properly fix the Zodiac case, she first had to catch Kid.

Once she caught him and told the townspeople that Kid was the leader of TKK, they would finally believe that Joe was actually Zodiac.

As always, Kid was both the root of all problems and the solution.

“Well, it was good to have you around, even if it was short. Take care.”

“…Alright, then. I’ll be going.”

“Take care, Detective.”

After exchanging somewhat cold goodbyes with Sheriff Jet and the security team, Sophia climbed onto her horse, Spike.

‘Where could Kid have gone?’

There was no way to know where he went.

But Sophia had an unusually strong intuition.

‘…West.’

Her gut was telling her that Kid had gone west.

“Let’s go, Spike.”

“Neigh.”

And so, she set her direction west… and began another aimless chase after a man.

But this time, she had succeeded in uncovering Kid’s true face…

‘I’ll catch him for sure…! I swear…!!’

With a single-minded determination to catch Kid, Sophia galloped westward like crazy.

**

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Pelican Western Federal Prison.

This was the worst prison in America, where the most vicious criminals who had their sentences delayed due to unavoidable circumstances were held.

“Hmm hmm~”

In that worst prison, a woman was leisurely humming a tune.

The woman’s appearance was so beautiful that anyone passing by would turn their head.

Even the harsh prison life couldn’t tarnish her beauty.

…Or maybe?

Perhaps her prison life wasn’t that tough.

After all, she had been occupying this large annex all by herself for several years now.

“Hmm~”

The sight of the woman lying on the floor, humming an incomprehensible song, reminded one of a mischievous rich girl.

Who would think that this beauty was a vicious criminal?

But Mari, the veteran female guard at Pelican Prison, approached cautiously, on high alert as she listened to the beautiful prisoner’s singing.

“Hey…! Prisoner 8148! Who said you could sing?”

“Oh, Mari, you’re here?”

As Mari approached, the prisoner waved her hand as if greeting a friendly neighbor.

“I missed you all night. Heh.”

“…….”

Mari couldn’t help but pause for a moment at the prisoner’s charming smile.

Even as a fellow woman, the prisoner’s allure shook Mari’s heart.

If Mari hadn’t heard about the ‘incident’ that had happened before, she too would have been captivated by her.

The reason this prisoner was isolated in the annex and kept alone in this large cell was that on her first day, she had slaughtered all her cellmates with her bare hands.

Mari, remembering the sharp thorns hidden behind the beautiful prisoner’s facade, regained her composure.

‘Why the hell are they keeping this crazy woman alive?’

The prisoner’s name was Jamie James.

Before being imprisoned here, her bounty was $98,000.

Known as the ‘Angel of San Francisco’…

She was the vice-leader of the worst organization in the West, TKK.

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