RDR: NO REGRETS - Chapter 310: A Man on His Own (Patreon)

Author's Note:

I used to post this fanfic on a 2-1-2 chapter schedule, but from now on, it will always be 1 post per day with a higher character count.

The posting frequency is not being reduced. I'm simply combining the chapters into one larger daily post to make things easier and more convenient.

The total number of characters posted per day will remain exactly the same. The only difference is that everything will now be included in a single post.

….

As night fell, the carriage slowly rolled into Tumbleweed.

Tumbleweed was much larger than Armadillo, and looked far more orderly.

When Stephen and John drove the carriage into town, a group of people watched them curiously.

After all, a carriage with five horses trailing behind it was bound to draw attention.

But the moment those people noticed there was also a man tied to the back of the carriage, almost everyone disappeared.

That was right. They scattered.

In the blink of an eye, the town that had just been full of people fell completely silent, leaving Stephen and John staring at each other.

"What the hell? Do they think we're with the Del Lobo Gang?"

Stephen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Or do people here start trembling the second they see anyone from the Del Lobo Gang?"

"Who knows."

John didn't seem to care. "Should we head to the sheriff’s office?"

This town was certainly interesting.

Stephen sat in the carriage and looked around.

There were plenty of shops, selling everything from food to tools. No wonder the owner of the Armadillo saloon came all the way here to stock up.

Still, something about the atmosphere in town felt strange.

"Let's go."

There was only one way to find out what was really going on.

The sheriff’s office was easy to spot, sitting right beside the main road.

John slowly drove the carriage up to the entrance, climbed down, and pounded on the door.

"Anyone in there?"

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A few seconds later, a man in a sheriff's uniform came out.

Seeing a Black sheriff in this era was unusual enough to catch Stephen’s attention. He gave the man a careful once-over.

He was bald, with a big round face, and his bare head looked just like a hard-boiled egg.

He was powerfully built, his worn clothes stretched tight over thick muscles. One glance was enough to tell anyone that he wasn't a man to mess with.

A handgun rested at his waist, and he stared at the two of them with eyes as round as marbles.

"Who are you two?"

The sheriff watched them warily, one hand resting near his gun so he could draw at any moment.

We’re upstanding citizens.

Stephen smiled and raised both hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"Model upstanding citizens? I've never seen model upstanding citizens like you."

Stephen's words did nothing to lower the sheriff's guard. He looked the two men up and down, then glanced at the one-eyed man in the carriage.

"And I don't think a law-abiding citizen usually brings someone tied up to the sheriff’s office."

"You two here to turn yourselves in?"

"This guy's with the Del Lobo Gang. Don't tell me I can't collect money for a Del Lobo Gang member here?"

Stephen smiled as he jumped down from the carriage, grabbed the one-eyed man, and dragged him off.

"Thud."

He casually dropped the man at the sheriff's feet, then hauled his head up so the sheriff could see his face.

"One-Eyed Eric? You actually caught this bastard?"

The moment he saw the man's face, the bald sheriff called out his name in surprise.

"Oh? So you know him. That makes things easier."

Stephen stood back up with a smile. "Hopefully he's worth something."

The sheriff said nothing. Instead, he looked past Stephen.

Stephen turned curiously and saw several townspeople peeking at them from behind their windows.

The instant they realized they'd been spotted, they slammed the windows shut as if they'd seen a ghost.

"What a warm and welcoming little town."

Stephen smiled. "Maybe the sheriff could invite us inside for a cup of coffee."

"Fine. Come inside."

The sheriff gave them another look, grabbed One-Eyed Eric, then turned and pushed open the door.

Stephen and John exchanged a glance before following him inside.

The sheriff’s office was run-down, without so much as a single decoration.

There was an iron cage for prisoners, one table, and two or three chairs with uneven legs.

A few pencils and sheets of paper lay on the table, covered in crude lines. Had this guy actually been sitting in here drawing?

A fire burned openly in the middle of the room, with a kettle suspended above it and water boiling inside.

Bare-bones.

Far too bare-bones.

This was easily the most poorly equipped sheriff’s office Stephen had ever seen.

To put it bluntly, even a beggar probably owned more than this place did.

At least a beggar had a bowl.

The sheriff tossed One-Eyed Eric straight into the cage, pulled a padlock from his pocket, and locked him inside.

"Sit wherever you want."

He pointed at one of the wobbly chairs before going behind the desk.

He took two filthy cups from a drawer, rinsed them in a nearby bucket, then pulled a box of coffee from another drawer.

As he poured coffee grounds into the cups, his brow furrowed as though he was wondering whether he'd used too much.

"My name's Kevin Horton. Just call me Kevin."

Kevin picked up the kettle from over the fire and poured hot water into the cups. Just like that, the simplest possible black coffee was ready.

He set the cups in front of them and said helplessly, "This is about all I've got. If you don't mind, have some."

"Thanks. You must be a very... uh... honest and upright sheriff."

Stephen couldn't think of a better way to put it as he stared at the black fingerprints covering the cup, along with stains that might have been grease or something even worse.

For the sake of his stomach, he decided not to touch it.

"I hope so. Truth is, even if I wanted to embezzle something, there's nothing here to embezzle."

Kevin dropped heavily into his chair, pointed toward One-Eyed Eric in the cage, and said helplessly, "He really is a wanted man, but unfortunately, I don't have any money to pay you."

"WTF? Are you kidding me?"

John's temper flared immediately.

"How can a sheriff’s office not have any money?"

Kevin spread his hands. "Look around. Does this place look like it has money?"

"Unless there's something here you like. If there is, go ahead and take it."

The sheriff’s office was so empty that a thief breaking in would probably feel obligated to leave some money behind on the way out.

"All right. Then you can have him."

Stephen patted John on the shoulder. "Why don't you go sell our loot first?"

"I've got a few things I'd like to talk to Sheriff Kevin about."

"You sure?"

John looked at Stephen in surprise. "With a broke sheriff? I doubt he even has anyone to run errands for him."

"I don't."

Kevin answered without the slightest embarrassment. "The other cops either died or ran away. I'm the only one who still dares to sit in this building."

"So that's how you became sheriff?"

Stephen laughed. "You've got guts."

Kevin slowly pushed himself up and leaned closer to Stephen.

"Of course. I've always had guts."

"I think we're going to have plenty to talk about."

Stephen smiled as he looked at Kevin's big, egg-shaped head.

"All right, you two talk."

John turned and left the sheriff’s office, then drove the carriage and the horses farther into town.

"Your friend isn't going to get what he wants."

Kevin watched John leave. "Nobody here dares to buy anything that belongs to the Del Lobo Gang."

"Don't worry. My friend is very good at talking to people."

"The Del Lobo Gang doesn't talk. They let their guns do the talking."

"Funny. So does my friend."

The room suddenly went quiet.

The two men stared at each other for a few moments before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha! You're an interesting guy."

Kevin rubbed his face with one large hand and grinned. "Who exactly are you two? Ordinary people don't have the guts to mess with the Del Lobo Gang."

"Uh... just an unknown bounty hunter."

Stephen held out his hand.

"Stephen Adler. Nice to meet you, Sheriff Kevin."

"You won't make any bounty money around here."

Kevin shook Stephen's hand and shrugged helplessly. "As you can see, the Del Lobo Gang runs this town."

"Things are really that bad?"

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Isn't there anyone capable of fighting back?"

"There is. Of course there is."

Kevin shook his head, his expression turning somber.

"In fact, the previous sheriff died fighting the Del Lobo Gang."

"Oh. Sounds like a tragic story."

"Yeah..."

Kevin sighed deeply.

"Very tragic."

Then he looked at Stephen.

"If you've got the nerve to hear it, I'll tell you."

"After all, the Del Lobo Gang will probably be here within half an hour."

"Oh?"

Stephen pointed toward One-Eyed Eric.

"And you still dared to lock this guy up? Shouldn't you have let him go, dropped to your knees, and begged him to spare your life?"

"Hmph!"

Kevin let out a cold laugh at Stephen's mocking tone.

"I'm the sheriff here. Taking down bandits is my responsibility, even if I die the very next second."

"Forget that. Since you want to hear what happened, I'll tell you."

The story wasn't particularly complicated. As Kevin explained it, Stephen quickly understood what had happened here.

Tumbleweed had always been poor, but the area had plenty of mineral deposits, which attracted wealthy investors.

Once their money started flowing in, life in town gradually improved.

Then, a year ago, the Del Lobo Gang arrived.

God only knew where they had come from. One day, they simply appeared.

Murder, robbery, kidnapping. There was almost nothing they wouldn't do.

The sheriff at the time, Kevin's predecessor, fought the Del Lobo Gang for more than half a year, only to watch their numbers grow with every passing month.

At first, there were barely more than twenty of them.

Six months later, they had grown into a force of over a hundred.

To get rid of them, the former sheriff approached the wealthy men who had invested in the mines, hoping to secure enough funding to organize a militia against the Del Lobo Gang.

At first, the rich men weren't willing to spend the money.

As far as they were concerned, the so-called Del Lobo Gang only had the nerve to rob and shoot poor locals. Surely they wouldn't dare go after people like them.

Then, one day, the daughter of a wealthy businessman disappeared.

Three days later, she was brought back.

The poor girl was already dead, and the condition of her body was horrifying.

That was enough to send the wealthy investors into a rage.

More than a dozen mining company owners immediately agreed to put up the money needed to form a militia and wipe out the Del Lobo Gang.

"So you failed?"

Stephen listened with obvious interest, almost like an uninvolved spectator enjoying a good story.

Kevin nodded heavily.

"Yeah. We failed."

"And the way we failed was... extremely strange."

With the wealthy businessmen funding him, the sheriff worked as quickly as he could. After more than half a month, he finally managed to put together a militia that looked reasonably capable.

Then he led them toward the Del Lobo Gang's stronghold, Fort Mercer.

Unfortunately, before they could even reach Fort Mercer, the Del Lobo Gang attacked them as though someone had warned them in advance.

"It was nighttime. The sheriff had us make camp out in the wilderness. Everyone was eating dinner when the Del Lobo Gang suddenly came charging in on horseback."

Kevin closed his eyes, pain spreading across his face.

"That night was a nightmare."

Stephen could easily imagine what it had been like.

On one side was a ragtag force made up of townspeople, police officers, and laborers.

On the other were hardened bandits who killed without hesitation.

It had been a surprise attack at night, and the bandits had come charging in on horseback.

The outcome wasn't hard to imagine.

"I escaped with a few others, but everyone else..."

"My condolences."

Stephen didn't know what else to say, so he patted Kevin on the shoulder.

"And then what? Did those rich men just let the whole thing go?"

Kevin rubbed his face hard and gave a bitter laugh.

"What else were they supposed to do? You really think those rich men would've kept throwing money into this place?"

"Those people don't do business if they're going to lose money."

"The moment they heard our force had been wiped out, they got on a train and left."

"Heh. They sure ran fast."

Stephen shook his head.

"Didn't you ever think about asking someone else for help? The Pinkertons, maybe?"

"We didn't have the money."

Kevin slapped his hands together.

"The town had already emptied its pockets putting that force together. Even now, plenty of families still haven't received the compensation they're owed."

"The mayor ran away. The cops who escaped with me ran too. Every one of them was afraid the Del Lobo Gang would come for revenge."

Kevin let out a long breath, then shrugged.

"So right now, I'm the only cop left in Tumbleweed."

A sheriff with no one under him.

Truly a man on his own.

"Then why didn't you run?"

Stephen looked at him curiously.

"Why come back and become the... sheriff? Aren't you afraid the Del Lobo Gang will come after you?"

"The previous sheriff adopted me."

Kevin shook his head, his expression firm.

"He treated me well. I owe it to him to get revenge."

"This is my home. I'll protect it, or I'll die with it."

He was a good man.

A genuinely simple, good man.

If everything he'd said was true, then Kevin was simply someone with a straightforward sense of justice.

"You'd better leave while you still can."

Kevin looked at Stephen seriously.

"Tell your friend to get rid of those goods, then get out of here."

"Trust me. Once the Del Lobo Gang gets here, you won't be able to escape."

"They'll ride into town and hang you and your friend from the gallows outside."

"You don't need to worry about us. I've got plenty of ways to deal with those bastards."

Stephen didn't seem concerned in the slightest.

"What I'm more interested in is something else. I hope you can answer one question for me."

"What is it?"

"According to you, after the previous sheriff died, you came back and became the only cop left here."

Stephen stared directly at Kevin.

"So how have you kept this town standing all this time?"

"The Del Lobo Gang hasn't bothered you once? Or did they suddenly turn over a new leaf after killing all those cops?"

That was the real question.

If Stephen were in their shoes, after wiping out the police and militia, he'd probably ride through town every day just to remind everyone who was in charge.

He might even move his headquarters right into town.

"The Del Lobo Gang has a gold mine. You know that, right?"

"Mm-hmm. Of course."

"A mine needs a lot of workers, and those workers need supplies."

Kevin counted them off on his fingers.

"Food, liquor, cigarettes, even mining tools. You can't get any of that out in the wilderness."

"So you're saying they need Tumbleweed to stay populated because the town supplies them?"

"Exactly. If they came into town and started killing everyone, eventually people would all run away. Then where would they get their supplies?"

"And more importantly, if the town disappeared, who would they sell all that gold to?"