Chapter 21
“Is anyone there.”
The sheriff’s office hadn’t changed from before.
After the corpse intake was finished, the security team seemed to be diligently moving to clean up the town in their own way, but that was only in their minds.
From Jaei’s perspective as a former South Korean civil servant, this place was completely hopeless.
Even though it was the busiest time of the afternoon, there was only one security officer passed out asleep in the office.
“Guh-huhk, ugh! Wh-what, what is it?”
“I came to ask something. Are you alone?”
“Ah, it’s Jaei. Everyone stepped out for a bit.”
He was the one who had brought in the $2000 corpse of Roldiori Max—how could anyone in the office not recognize Jaei?
The security officer wiped the drool from his mouth and straightened his posture.
‘It’s actually better that no one’s here.’
If there had been more people listening, it might have been harder to get information.
Jaei handed a cigarette to the officer, who was roughly rubbing his face dry.
It was something he had taken from the corpse of Cannard, the bandit.
“Nothing wakes you up like a cigarette. Haha, thank you. But what happened to your arm?”
“It’s nothing. I fell off a horse.”
“Good grief, that crazy horse. You should just catch it and eat it.”
Phuhing?
Onyx, who had been waiting outside, perked up his ears after hearing the conversation.
Whether he understood or not, the officer lit the cigarette and asked,
“So, what brings you here?”
“It’s nothing much, but about the Ractover bank robbers. I was wondering if any wanted posters had come down.”
“Ahh, that’s why you came.”
It was common for bounty hunters to visit in search of work.
The officer rummaged through a drawer and handed over some wanted posters.
They didn’t seem to be for the bank robbers.
All of them were issued from Mollibay.
One for $50, two for $30.
“You’re quite diligent. If I were you, I’d just laze around all day. $2400, huh… Haah. Makes me think I should quit the security force and become a bounty hunter too. Haha!”
You’re already lazing around, what are you pretending for?
Jaei glanced through the posters and stuffed them into his pocket.
“So this is all for now.”
“Yes. Those Ractover bank robbers—no one even knows their identities yet. There’s even a rumor that Wells Fargo is going to sue the Ractover law enforcement.”
“Is that even possible?”
The Ractover sheriff was a public official, not an employee of Wells Fargo.
When Jaei showed a puzzled expression, the officer shrugged.
“I don’t know the details, but during the investigation, it seems there was some fault on their side. The damage amounts to nearly $1000, so they’re just yelling for someone to take responsibility. But if there’s still no news by now, it’s basically a dead case.”
“I see. Since their identities are unknown, they can’t even issue wanted notices. That’s unfortunate.”
……A lot of people are taking losses. It’d be better to return the money.
The moment Jaei made that resolve, the officer yawned widely with a meaningful smile.
“What’s unfortunate about it. You don’t need to worry.”
What is this? There’s something going on.
Jaei looked around and confirmed they were alone in the office.
He hadn’t been in Mollibay long, but he had already gotten the hang of dealing with people here.
“By the way, I picked this up in front earlier.”
Jaei handed over a gambling chip tied with about $2.
This too had been taken from the bandits’ corpses.
Only $2? After earning $2400, how stingy.
The officer took it indifferently, then paused.
“Oh.”
It was a chip used in all gambling houses in Mollibay.
Worth $10.
Jaei had never gambled and had no intention of doing so, so he handed it over without hesitation.
For those crazy about gambling, there was no better gift.
“Who dropped something like this carelessly, honestly.”
“Exactly. Anyway, what were you about to say earlier?”
“Earlier? Ah, that. Ahem. This is a secret.”
The officer dragged it out for a while before whispering to Jaei.
“The corpses you gave—yesterday, they were sent to Ractover.”
“What?”
It was so unexpected that Jaei couldn’t understand immediately.
“You mean Roldiori Max’s subordinates?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, the job became much easier, and the sheriff was in such a good mood.”
Roldiori Max’s subordinates, bank robbers, bounty, lawsuit…
The words tangled in Jaei’s head, but soon became clear.
‘They’re going to disguise Roldiori Max’s subordinates as the bank robbers and wrap up the case. Since they’re on the verge of being sued, they can’t afford to be picky about methods.’
Jaei immediately understood Sheriff Charlie’s method of money laundering.
The Roldiori gang was infamous as train robbers, so it would be convincing even if they were blamed for a bank robbery.
The Ractover sheriff could escape responsibility by “capturing” the robbers, and the bounty for Roldiori’s subordinates would be handed to a ‘fictional person’ who helped.
‘That bounty will go straight into the Mollibay sheriff’s pocket. Then there’s no need to write a report saying he bought them from me for $400, and it won’t be counted as income. If there are restrictions on the sheriff receiving bounty money, this is also a way around it.’
Above all, this involved Wells Fargo, which dominated the financial flow of the West.
Normally, it would take months to identify them, but if it was tied to a bank robbery, that process could be drastically shortened.
“Is there a reward as well?”
“A reward? Of course! That’s why our sheriff is helping Ractover. He bought the corpses from you for $400. For it to be worth it, that’s important.”
If Jaei showed up now with $980?
To receive the reward, he would have no choice but to reveal the situation, and then both the Mollibay and Ractover sheriffs wouldn’t leave him alone.
Forget the reward—he’d lose all $980 and be silenced somehow.
Since the bandits’ corpses had been torn apart by wolves, Jaei had no way to prove anything.
“……I see. Understood.”
In times like this, staying still was the way to survive.
As Jaei stood up to leave, the officer saw him off and said,
“Ah, right. The Wells Fargo stagecoach arrives in a week, right?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“At that time, all the security officers will be dispatched to escort it. Don’t worry.”
“Thank you. Then, take care.”
“Have a safe trip.”
The officer even took off his hat and greeted him politely.
Outside, Jaei glanced at the leather bag tied to Onyx’s saddle.
$980……
‘It’s mine now.’
An unexpected gain.
It was undeniably luck, but there was one problem—it was too large an amount.
Jaei had seen many people ruin their lives over money.
No matter what kind of money it was, swallowing it carelessly could lead to disaster.
Even that esteemed sheriff was running a money-laundering scheme with the neighboring town.
Hiiiing!
Jaei mounted Onyx and pulled the reins.
At times like this, there was only one person who could help him.
“I should go to Libero’s house. Onyx.”
At his muttering, Onyx nodded a few times and kicked dirt with his hind legs.
The front of the office became a mess, and Onyx trotted away.
A small act of revenge for being told he should be eaten.
***
“I’m here.”
Jaei knocked on the door while glancing at the neighboring houses.
Libero had written down the address, but since all the houses looked identical and were packed tightly together, it was confusing.
Jaei made a few more noises, and soon faced a swollen-faced Libero.
Creak.
“……Do you know what time it is, waking someone up?”
“It’s past one. The sun’s already high.”
“To me, it looks like the moon. Come in. Your luggage—”
Libero, who had stepped aside, stopped abruptly.
He had seen Jaei’s mangled left arm.
“Y-you didn’t get your arm torn off by a wolf, right?”
“Something happened.”
“Does it even make sense to do this just to run up a tab?”
“It’s fine. The gains were good.”
“What, did you get some wolf pelts? Make underwear out of them for winter. Tsk.”
While grumbling, Libero rummaged through the cabinet.
There should’ve been some expired disinfectant somewhere……
“Libero.”
“What?”
“You go to gambling houses often, right?”
“Gambling house? Why even ask?”
It was hard to tell whether he spent more days at home or at the gambling house in a year.
Jaei placed the leather bag on the table and tapped it.
“Help me out. I’ll give you 10%.”
“W-what? You’re making my heart race all of a sudden.”
“Absolute secrecy, clean work. Can you do it?”
“At least tell me what it is.”
As Libero approached, Jaei unzipped the bag and showed bundles of cash.
One bundle, two, three…
The disinfectant bottle slipped from Libero’s hand.
“Wh-what, what—”
“$980. Clean it up nicely. Preferably don’t ask why. It’s been a long day.”
Libero, frozen in shock, came to his senses and looked at Jaei.
After clearing his throat for a while, he asked in disbelief,
“Where the hell do you keep getting money from?”
“Are you doing it or not?”
“I’m doing it. Of course I am! But—”
Libero grinned.
“10% won’t do. 20%. If we run it through the gambling house, there’s chip exchange fees. Gotta consider what goes to them too.”
“That’s too much. 15%.”
“You shouldn’t be bargaining with me, but with the gambling house guys. 18%.”
“You know that even at 15%, you’re getting $147, right? If you keep raising it, I’ll go somewhere else.”
“Who else are you gonna trust besides me?”
“Watch and see if you’re curious.”
As Jaei zipped the bag shut, Libero hurriedly grabbed it with both hands.
He grinned and winked slyly.
“Okay. Got it. I got it. Boss. I’ll handle it cleanly with my best effort.”
“How long will it take?”
“A day is enough.”
Exchange into chips, set up rounds, intentionally lose and win to mix the money flow, then convert back to cash—that was it.
Doing that process twice made it perfect.
Jaei popped a piece of chocolate from the table into his mouth and nodded.
“Good. Then call a doctor for me. Let’s move together after sunset.”
“Oh yes, of course. I’ll bring the most famous doctor in Mollibay, Doctor Hans.”
As Libero threw on his jacket and tried to head out, Jaei gestured for him to stop briefly.
Then he handed him a note.
“If you could send this urgently on your way out, I’d appreciate it.”
When Libero looked curious holding the note, Jaei added while eating another chocolate,
“It’s a message to the Backveind Company. I checked, and there’s a train going from California to Oklahoma next week. You can read it if you want, but don’t try to understand it.”
-Backveind train departing from Oklahoma, around 16:00 on the 12th. Dangerous.
However, postal workers traveled across lawless wastelands filled with outlaws and Indians, so their hiring cost was high.
He had considered waiting for the Wells Fargo stagecoach since he had no cash on hand, but things seemed to be working out well in many ways.
“Somehow—”
Libero narrowed his eyes and muttered.
“I’ve got a feeling you’re gonna make money from this too. Annoyingly.”