Suddenly, Korean came out.
Greed for money arises, but it must be used appropriately for the situation.
Now was the time to divide things appropriately.
“It means let’s split it in half.”
“!”
Max gave Mary half of the cash he had taken from the gang.
She covered her mouth, which had opened for a moment, and glanced at James. Her son, Cornel, also blinked and looked at his father.
But James shook his head with a serious expression, contrary to their expectations.
As expected, he is an inflexible person.
“That’s not right.”
“I have received a favor, so what’s the big deal about the bounty? Please take this first.”
“We have received grace···.”
“It was a blessing to have a stranger like me join me on my journey. I believe that if you receive something, you should give back as much as you can.”
James’s eyes wavered at Max’s sincere words.
“If we had held a grudge, we could have been in big trouble.”
“Then I’ll have to pay you back in full, right?”
Max’s joke doesn’t seem like a joke.
James, who was smiling awkwardly, soon looked at his wife and son.
The two were urging me with their eyes to accept quickly.
James sighed and nodded.
I feel ashamed of myself for hesitating on a topic that has only caused me trouble in California.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
“Rather, I should be the one thanking you.”
As Max bowed his head, Mary smiled and took the cash from him.
‘Let’s deal with the money first. Next···’
Weapons were as salty as money.
Three Model 1848 Colt Dragoons, two Model 1852 Colt Navys, and two Sharps Rifles.
There are even bullets and gunpowder there.
‘It’s too much, too much.’
It’s not like the gang bought it with their own money, and most of what they got was probably taken by killing someone else. Like Max…
‘I caught the golden goblin.’
And now James’ carriage has become a golden carriage.
For that reason, Max hunted buffalo every day and had barbecue parties with Mormons.
Thanks to this, Max’s body began to gain weight, and the attackers never showed up again.
*
“Ugh, I can’t stand the smell!”
As the corpse decayed, the carriage vibrated with putrid smell.
With no other choice, Max stopped at a town near the Oregon Trail and built a large coffin.
Considering the convenience of movement, it was equipped with wheels and pulled behind a carriage.
The journey that began in Utah finally began to come to an end after nearly two months.
Enter Kansas by following the road that branches off south from Nebraska. Immediately after crossing the Kansas River, you will arrive at Kansas City in Jackson County, the westernmost point of Missouri.
If Missouri were a province, the county would be Yangpyeong-gun, and Kansas City would be Yangpyeong-eup.
Max entered the village only after consulting with James.
“Wow, it’s different in the city.”
Cornel let out a gasp when he saw a proper city in the wilderness.
‘Where are you looking? It’s so small.’
By Max’s standards, Kansas City is worse than a rural town.
I couldn’t find even a single trace of the enormous metropolis I had seen in my past life.
The buildings built at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers were visible at a glance.
Sheriff office.
A wooden building on the corner of the street parked its carriage in front of the sheriff’s office.
On the terrace in front of the office, four men were chatting leisurely. With immigrants arriving every day, the James family was out of their interest.
“I want to deal with criminals.”
James’ words drew people’s attention to him.
“Criminal… This is Sheriff Hudson.”
“This is James Harris.”
A plump man with a moustache approaches the carriage and speaks. He wears a star-shaped sheriff’s badge on his chest.
“Where are you from?”
“California.”
“I was wondering why there were so many storms here and there, but you’ve come from quite a distance. Where is the criminal?”
James pointed to the back of the carriage.
At this time, Max was detaching the coffin from the carriage.
Crunch.
thud.
The coffin fell to the ground with a heavy sound.
But Sheriff Hudson looked at the coffin with a blank stare and paid more attention to Max.
“Oriental?”
Are Asians more curious than corpses?
The deputy sheriffs also gathered around Max.
One of them took out a montage.
‘Slave trader···’
Max noticed something in their expressions.
“The Oriental guy Mr. Coolen Baker mentioned looks similar to yours?”
Cullen Baker was a slave trader who had tried to sell Max into slavery in the South. It was clear that he had asked the sheriff to arrest him as he passed through.
If you wanted to go south, you had to go through Jackson County.
“Hold on.”
At Hudson’s words, the deputy sheriffs surrounded Max. James and his family seemed to have prepared for this situation and did not panic.
Max also opened his mouth calmly.
“What is this all of a sudden?”
“hmm?”
“You look a lot like that montage character, I heard that sound several times on the way here.”
Of course, it was the first time he had heard it. But Max made a face that seemed bored.
Hudson’s eyes narrowed.
As Coolen Baker said:
– He’s a fucking Chinese guy who doesn’t even speak English. He probably won’t come all the way here, but if he does, please stop him. By the way, he’s a bit tall for an Asian.
In fact, Max is quite tall, about 175 cm tall. Judging from his physical appearance, he was definitely the Asian that Cullen had described.
The problem is that I’m pretty fluent in English.
While Hudson hesitated, Max continued talking.
“If you go to California, you’ll find a lot of Asians who look like me. They’re all skinny and withered because they didn’t eat enough.”
“Then this is the one who signed a slave contract with Cullen?”
“I’m crazy to sign a slave contract. That’s something that only illiterate, blind people would understand. I signed a formal labor contract with this man, James, for three years.”
Hudson’s gaze turned to James.
He nodded and opened his mouth.
“Max is from Korea, not China. He speaks English well, so I hired him.”
“What did you do?”
“I made mining equipment.”
“You’re a blacksmith.”
In fact, James worked in a large blacksmith shop in California. When Max found out about this, he became even more interested in him.
Hudson, who had been glaring at Max, finally broke away from Max after a brief discussion with the deputy sheriffs.
Hudson’s attention turned to the original target, the corpses of the criminals. He kicked the coffin with a trembling expression and said,
“Open the lid.”
Max removed the lid after attaching a crowbar, revealing three corpses in an advanced state of decomposition.
“It looks like it’s been about a month.”
Hudson’s face contorts at the stench.
He covered his nose with a handkerchief and swatted away flies with his hand.
“One was shot dead in the forehead, and this one was shot in the back of the head. Oh my, this one had a knife stuck in his neck. They killed petty criminals who weren’t even carrying guns.”
Hudson muttered, examining the scar.
If this is how the ordinary James family is treated, aren’t they petty criminals?
One year since becoming Jackson County Sheriff.
So far, the criminals that bounty hunters have caught have been mostly not-so-famous.
That’s understandable, because the guys who came from the federal or state levels were so vicious and skilled that they were often defeated rather than caught.
Because of this, most of the criminals who placed the bounty on their heads were seeking personal revenge.
Hudson asked James with a blank expression.
“So who are these guys?”
He looked listless, as if he had been assigned a troublesome task. But the words that came out of James’ mouth were far from what he had expected.
“This is the Five Joaquin’s Gang.”
“omg!”
A gang with a $3,000 bounty on their head!
Hudson and the deputy sheriffs, who couldn’t possibly not know this, are aghast.
Max kindly explained to them as they rushed towards the corpse.
“The one in the middle is the boss, Joaquin Murrieta.”
“…… You caught someone that even the California Rangers couldn’t catch? And Murrieta, the famous gunslinger?”
Hudson’s gaze shifted between Max and James, wondering who caught him.
“There was a fight because someone was threatening our family on the Oregon Trail.”
“So you killed him? You, the blacksmith?”
“This friend was a great help.”
James was the one who started the fight, and Max kissed him for helping.
“You guys, check your identities quickly.”
Hudson, in disbelief, ordered the deputies to examine the body again.
After examining the bodies and belongings one by one, they finally concluded that they were the Five Joaquins gang.
Max didn’t even know that Murrieta’s right-hand man was ‘Three Fingered Jack’. As his nickname suggests, the bastard’s three fingers were the decisive evidence.
‘Murietta, Three Fingered Jack… I feel like I’ve heard this in some movie.’
As Max tilted his head, Hudson spoke to James.
“This is a huge accomplishment. The California Rangers must have come all the way to Colorado to chase these guys.”
“Is that so?”
“Come on, let’s stop this and go inside.”
Hudson smiled brightly, took James’ arm, and led him into the office.
His facial expressions and actions are completely different from before.
It must have been hard to contain his excitement when a gang that the continent was paying attention to came to him as a corpse.
Max, Mary, and Cornel had to kill time until James got out of the carriage.
And the deputy sheriffs who were moving the casket next to the office glanced at Max with interest.
A moment later, James came out of the office and shook his head.
“I think I’ll have to stay here for a while. The bounty aside, the California Rangers need to come and check on me first.”
“It was expected.”
It’s just like Mary said.
The only place that would pay the full amount of the bounty was California, where the bounty was posted. Fortunately, the Rangers were not too far away.
However, Max did not anticipate that the Rangers would come here in person.
‘If you had heard the rumor, you would have known that I killed him, not James.’
I feel like I tried to get the bounty easily, but ended up making things more complicated for no reason.
The group went to a nearby inn for lodging.
The first floor was usually a bar, and the upper floor was often a place to stay. There was also a bouncer, a hired gunman who kept order.
“Wait a minute. Before you go in, read this first.”
The bouncer stopped Max and his group.
The face of a 50-year-old who is tired of life and finds everything bothersome.
The place he pointed to had this phrase written on it:
[Mormons, colored people, and slaves are prohibited from entering]
James and Mary’s impressions were crumpled by the writing on the door.
Max’s face was relatively calm. Of course, his insides were seething.
‘Fucking racism.’
Author’s Note
Racial discrimination isn’t something that just happened one or two days ago.
About all the derogatory remarks against Asians that appear in the novel
I’m controlling the water level, but I’m afraid it might upset you.
I don’t know if there are any readers.
Please consider this as a necessary part of the development.
I would appreciate your understanding.
Thank you for reading today!
neutrality
Black or Asian.
Max, who realized his situation anew, pondered how to overcome it.
But then Mary said with an agitated face.
“It’s not like I’m not paying, so why does skin color matter when I’m doing business?”
“No matter what your wife says, Asians are not allowed, so don’t do that.”
“Tch. Why is there only one inn here? Let’s go somewhere else.”
“It must be the same in other places too.”
The bouncer continued, his voice cracking.
“There is no place in Jackson County, or anywhere in Missouri, that will accept an Oriental. If you have to, they will give you a barn, so don’t waste your energy and stay here. At least they don’t discriminate against the Irish.”
“Is this guy really, is that even possible?”
Mary spoke excitedly, but the bouncer turned a deaf ear and let it go in one ear.
‘The Irish are also a cold meal.’
Not all white people are the same.
In Jo Yoo-kang’s previous life, the upper class in America was mainly comprised of white/Anglo-Saxon/Protestants, referred to as WASPs.
Most Irish were immigrants who had escaped the potato famine. The James family, although less fortunate than Max, was not treated well either.
Max opened his mouth to calm Mary down.
“As this guy said, it will be the same in other places too. The three of you just stay here.
“I can send it by carriage.”
“Wow, you’re quite understanding for an Asian.”
Max looked up at the sky for a moment as the bouncer taunted.
‘I can’t just pull out my gun every single time…’
Max, with patience in his heart, pushed the James family into the inn.
Cornel looked at Max with a sad face.
“Are you really going to stay in a carriage?”
“Okay. Bring me dinner later.”
If you keep going here and there for your own sake, isn’t the result obvious?
Missouri was a state in the South where slavery was legal.
