Todd smiled and patted Max on the shoulder.
And then the owner of the Rebli store approached him and complained.
“Todd! Didn’t I ask for your support a long time ago? It’s not like you don’t know that problems arise whenever there’s a meeting.”
“Then you should never have invited Isaac to speak at the pro-slavery meeting in the first place. How many times have I advised you not to?”
“You should have supported me instead of just giving me advice! And you know, listening to opposing opinions makes people’s thinking more flexible. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right, but we have to look at the situation and do it accordingly.”
The store owner, RP Reevley, is a former officer who served as a major in the Mexican War.
Isaac Cody was one of the early settlers of Leavenworth, along with George Russell.
An argument between Sheriff Todd and store owner Rively.
Max slowly stepped away and turned his back.
But there was a child standing in front of him, staring at him intently.
‘Hoo. Who is this?’
Isaac Cody’s son.
A legendary gunslinger who will decorate a page of history as a man who has permeated Western history.
Buffalo Bill Cody.
There are quite a few words to describe him.
American folk hero, soldier, buffalo hunter, and showman who created the ‘Wild West’ that made his name known to the world.
‘I really have come to the Western era.’
The most famous person I’ve ever met.
And here comes a historical figure, mouth agape, trying to speak.
“Thank you for helping my father. I will definitely repay the favor.”
They say that a tree that will grow well is different from its cotyledon.
The word grace comes out of the mouth of an 8-year-old.
“What’s your name?”
“William Cody. Eight years old.”
“You’re young.”
“Because I’m a kid.”
Max, who had been laughing in vain, smiled faintly.
On the one hand, it’s a shame.
‘We met too early.’
It felt a bit too early to do anything together right away.
But doesn’t time eventually flow?
“You want to repay the favor?”
William nodded with pursed lips.
“Then, if I ever find it, can you help me out just once?”
“Of course!”
Ira, that might be a possible answer.
Ira, you might forget your promise now.
Max took something out of his bosom and put it into William Cody’s hand.
“?”
“It is a sign of promise. Never forget it.”
William looked at what was on his palm.
Copper plated bullet.
It wasn’t until much later that I found out it was a bullet.
The initials engraved on the top could be seen.
‘MJ···.’
William nodded, clutching the warhead tightly in his hand.
“I will come to you whenever you call me!”
‘Oh, that’s definitely true.’
That’s why I helped you.
Max smiled, patting William’s head.
Broken rifle strap
Buffalo Bill Cody is an iconic figure of the West who has been through a lot.
There’s just one thing that bothers me.
The show that made his name known to the world was ‘Wild West’, an exaggerated show that created the typical Western movie with Indians and cowboys.
In the West, where there are many braggarts who claim to have fought 1 against 30, what more could a showman do?
It must be said that there was a certain amount of boastfulness mixed into his life.
‘And yet I believe in Buffalo Bill Cody!’
Grow up to be a wild and rugged man of the West, Buffalo Bill.
Max patted the future Buffalo Bill’s head, confident that he would be of help to him in the future.
“William! Hurry up and take your father home!”
At this moment, the man who was treating Isaac shouted. Thanks to the quick emergency treatment of the man who appeared to be the village doctor, Isaac’s condition was not serious.
If it were the original history, the cause would have been the abdomen, out of the two stab wounds, and he would have died within a few years.
Now there is only one wound on the shoulder, and the incident was distorted by Max.
‘Why are you sitting here complicate things like that?’
Isn’t the fact that you are breathing in this town of Leavenworth already a distortion of history?
‘If you want to worry about the butterfly effect or anything like that, you should stay in the house and don’t move.’
As Max thought about it, future Buffalo Bill returned to his father, clutching the warhead in his hand.
A sturdy man supports Isaac, and William follows behind him.
And as he left the store, he gave Max a quick nod.
I don’t know when we’ll meet again.
‘It’s going to be exciting from now on.’
Max waved his hand with a grin.
It’s still too early to call it a full-fledged Western era.
It wasn’t until after the Civil War that a truly lawless land emerged, with outlaws, gangs, sheriffs and cowboys running rampant.
That means we had to wait a few more years.
And when that time comes, the legends who made their names in the Wild West will flock to Kansas. That’s what Max needs most.
‘I need to make some colleagues.’
No matter how much money you have or how skilled you are, if you do it alone, you’re useless.
A comrade who can be trusted with his back is the greatest asset and weapon. Having lived as a special forces agent and mercenary, Max knew better than anyone the importance of a team.
Future Buffalo Bill Cody is also part of this groundwork. It’s a bit cringey to hand over a warhead as a token, but it was meaningful in its own way.
After the commotion at the Ribbly store ended, Max returned to the carriage where the James family was.
George stayed behind, saying he had something to say to the owner of the Ribley store.
Max took the gun out of the carriage and spoke to James.
“I’ll go home first.”
“alone?”
“Why, what happened?”
Mary asked with a worried look on her face.
“There’s nothing better than being together. And then we stop by the grocery store···.”
Max told Mary what he was thinking of buying.
Grocery store.
‘I just don’t get it!’
Mary’s face was filled with annoyance as she placed both hands on her hips. Unable to stand it any longer, James asked.
“Why are you doing that?”
“I can’t find the pepper Max is talking about.”
“What kind of pepper?”
“If you want to buy some really hot peppers, you have to know what they are. Just eat whatever you want!”
“I have nothing to say.”
After a difficult grocery shopping trip, I also stopped by a lumber store to buy some extra underwear and clothes for Max, who was leaving for Lawrence soon.
*
‘It wasn’t like this even when I was a mercenary, but why do I crave Korean food so much?’
It seems that the owner of the body is Lee Mak-san. I think that his tongue is craving Korean food.
But is Korean food even possible in the West?
We can’t make doenjang because we don’t have soybeans, and we can’t make the meju powder for gochujang because we don’t have doenjang.
‘It’s a very mountainous area.’
That’s why I thought of red pepper powder.
It’s definitely there since it’s native to Mexico.
“What is this?”
“pepper.”
“Where does this come from? It’s a bell pepper.”
“No, I meant chili pepper. It was spicy too.”
“hmm.”
Max took a bite of a chile pepper, a small, round pepper that looked like a bell pepper.
“Ugh.”
It was spicy, really spicy. More spicy than I imagined.
“But it doesn’t taste good.”
“So, what is something deliciously spicy?”
“It’s Cheongyang pepper.”
“I said no!”
I decided to try this, even though it was regrettable.
Because it was winter, we dried the peppers in the blazing sun during the day, and when the sun went down, we laid them out in front of an iron stove to start drying them.
“Even gold wouldn’t be treated with that much care.”
“If you touch that, Max Bro will shoot you, right?”
Mary nodded at Cornel’s words.
Max was that dedicated to drying peppers.
And a few days later, Mary was shocked when she was asked to grind grain at the mill.
“Are you out of your mind? You want me to do this for you while grinding wheat?”
“He said he’d give me a dollar.”
“Wow! They give me that much for grinding something like this!”
‘This is it···.’
Max, momentarily shocked, vowed to show Mary the true taste of chili powder.
On Christmas Day.
Stews of potatoes and meat and turkey were served on the table. Prayers for the abundant food, which are usually said on Christmas, were even longer.
Max, with his eyes wide open, prepared to throw chili powder into the stew.
Finally, James’ lengthy prayer came to an end.
Max sprinkled a lot of chili powder on the stew.
The taste is secondary, but the visuals alone are satisfying. The moment I put a bite in.
‘This is it.’
“Are you crying again? What the hell is this?”
“Max Bro. You don’t look like you have much tears.”
‘These are the tears of Mt. Imak.’
As Mary and Cornel continued their argument, Max tried to persuade them to try Churai.
“Is it that delicious?”
“I’m already worried that you might shed tears of emotion.”
“That’s it···.”
“Once you try it, you’ll know.”
The family’s forks were wandering in front of the blood-red soup. Mary hesitated for a long time, wondering if it was poisoned.
The most surprising of these is Cornel.
‘This could be Max Bro’s secret!’
The source of extraordinary abilities with guns and swords.
Cornel eats the stew boldly.
James and Mary also had similar thoughts as Cornille.
The source of abilities that are inaccessible to other humans. It is none other than red pepper powder.
“Ugh!”
“It’s so spicy, Max Bro!”
“Is this food?!”
“If you keep eating it, you will develop a strange addiction.”
“I give up.”
Mary pushed the stew to one side, while James and Corny continued to slurp it down. The spirit of the Western pioneers was alive and well in them.
‘This is the spirit of challenge.’
Max, who had eaten spicy food for the first time in a long time, happily ate the entire stew.
And that night, the James family suffered the terrible pain of having their intestines twisted.
Max was the same. He just spent the night in the warehouse so as not to show off.
*
A month has passed by in a flash.
In the meantime, Max’s body had recovered from malnutrition and seemed to be able to exert some strength.
It was finally time to leave for Lawrence, where the holidays were held.
Armament consists of one Colt Dragoon, two Navy, and two Sharps rifles…
Bam.
One gun’s breech was broken.
‘This, this. This is ominous!’
What an ominous sign this is on the way to Lawrence.
Max frowned and hid the rest of his weapons in his room, taking with him gun powder and about a hundred copper bullets.
‘It’s a superstition, a superstition. Phew, phew.’
“Max Bro! Are you coming this weekend?”
“It’s hard right now, but you’ll get used to it after a while.”
“Don’t come out unless it’s something serious. Just make sure to eat. Well, I’ll do it even if you don’t say anything.”
Mary and Cornel saw Max off with regretful eyes.
“If anything happens, you must let me know immediately.”
“Okay, don’t worry about it and take care of yourself.”
There were no telephones, not even any telegraph poles to send Morse code, so the only way to communicate was through people.
“If you see armed people in the city, don’t walk around. If anyone asks about me, just talk to them as if they were a stranger. You can curse at them.”
“Hey, how come.”
In reality, Max is a stranger, but he has already established himself as a member of the family. That’s why I’m even more concerned.
Max mounted his horse after leaving a few words of advice. He turned his horse’s head southwest, leaving the James family behind.
Less than three hours to Lawrence.
All along the way, there were thickets of weeds growing in the open plains.
Shadows on a cloud-covered plain.
The cold wind passes by like a blade across Max’s cheek as he runs.
Taaang!
The sound of gunfire echoed across the plain. Max grabbed the reins and slowed down.
‘Not far away.’
The direction is also towards Lawrence.
But the gunshots didn’t end there.
‘It was ominous from the moment the bread string broke.’
Max frowned and moved towards the sound.
