How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Henry and Osian faced each other.

Other sheriffs slowly moved to surround Osian.

If they pulled their triggers now, Osian would fall, riddled with bullets but Osian stood still, seemingly unconcerned.

Henry frowned, apparently irritated by this attitude.

"Stay back, everyone. I'll deal with this bastard myself."

At these words, the subordinates who had their hands on their waists all stepped back. Though they maintained their vigilance.

After confirming this, Henry stroked his mustache with his left hand and asked.

"So. What brings an outsider here?"

"I have something I need to find."

"Nothing so grand. I find it rather irritating to see someone who calls himself a sheriff acting however he pleases."

Henry's brow furrowed.

"Don't you understand what situation you're in?"

"I know very well. I'm about to take the head of this settlement's sheriff, or rather, Dead Wheel Gang's puppet."

The word 'puppet' made veins pop out on Henry's forehead.

"You bastard, spouting such nonsense! I only made deals with them for the settlement's peace!"

"In exchange for selling out the settlement's spies and traitors? What exactly are your criteria for selecting these traitors?"

When Mary sneered, Henry's fiery gaze turned to her.

His mouth, which was about to argue, subsided.

"Ha. Fine. There's no point getting angry here. Hey outsider, I admire your courage, so I'll give you one chance."

"A chance, you say."

"If you win in a duel against me, everything will be forgotten. How about it? Doesn't that tempt you?"

Henry was smiling as if certain of his victory.

People started appearing from the saloon and surrounding areas, likely drawn by the gunshots.

Seeing Mary bleeding and Henry's gang, they instantly realized that the inevitable had finally happened.

After confirming the gathered audience, Henry asked.

"Well? Oh righteous hero. Let's have at it."

"You mean a duel."

"It's one of the long-standing traditions of District 49."

A duel.

Literally a fight where two people stand at a set distance and try to take down their opponent first.

Whether Osian accepted or not, Henry intended to settle this with a duel.

While he called it a fair duel, it was essentially an execution ceremony conducted by him as the sheriff.

"Henry's at it again."

"Such a sick hobby. How many has he killed with that?"

Just from the townspeople's murmurs, it was clear he had done this numerous times before.

Given Henry's confidence, he must have considerable pride in his shooting skills.

"This should be interesting."

Osian gladly accepted the duel proposal.

Henry wore a sinister smile.

"Good. The start is simple. After I throw a coin, we move when it hits the ground. Got it?"

Henry spun his revolver flashily in his right hand before holstering it at his waist.

At his signal, one of his subordinates took out a silver coin.

The crowd fell into a deep silence.

The spectators alternated between watching Osian and Henry, only moving their eyes.

A gritty wind carrying sand blew through.

A tumbleweed carried by the wind rolled between Osian and Henry, and an eagle's cry echoed from above.

In the extreme tension where cold sweat flowed involuntarily.

-Ting!

The flicked coin soared high.

The rotating coin scattered silver light in all directions.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to the coin's pull.

The coin that had soared up began to fall under gravity's influence and before it touched the ground.

-Swoosh!

Henry suddenly drew his revolver from his holster and aimed at Osian.

A clear violation of rules, shooting before the coin dropped but Henry, wearing a cruel smile, pulled the trigger without concern.

He was the sheriff of this place, and he was the law in this settlement.

Moving when the coin hits the ground? A fair duel?

How could there be such a thing?

-Bang!

The firing pin struck the primer and the bullet was discharged.

The bullet flew toward Osian's brow, poised to pierce through it while he still hadn't reacted.

At that moment, Osian swept aside his poncho and revealed the sword at his waist.

In a world of split seconds, where one second was divided into hundreds of parts, imperceptible to all.

In that world, only the bullet and Osian moved.

The sword drawn from his waist perfectly cut through the incoming bullet.

Without even causing tiny sparks, the lead bullet split like firewood and scattered into the air.

"What..."

Henry doubted his eyes for a moment.

However, he couldn't dwell on it. The coin had hit the ground, and Osian was charging at him, kicking off from the ground.

Osian's figure, spreading his red scarf and poncho wide, approached instantly.

"Eek!"

But Henry was still the sheriff who had survived in District 49.

While he might employ underhanded tactics, it was his excellent marksmanship that allowed him to maintain his position.

Of the six rounds in his revolver, one was shot at Mary, one at Osian.

Four remained.

Henry pressed his right-hand revolver against his waist, then gripped the hammer with his left hand and fired rapidly.

-Babababang!

A technique called Fanning, which involves rapidly striking the hammer of a single-action revolver to fire bullets in quick succession.

The more skilled one becomes, legend has it that four shots can sound like one.

Of course, Henry wasn't quite at that level, so four distinct gunshots rang out.

Still, even that speed was undeniably impressive but it was useless against Osian.

-Titititing!

Even Henry's four rapid-fire shots were blocked disappointingly easily by Osian's sword.

Henry opened his mouth to speak in shock but it was too late. Osian had already reached him and swung his sword wide.

-Slash.

From the shoulder joint to the opposite waist.

Red blood sprayed widely where the massive cut had passed through.

Osian's sword curved its trajectory and swung once more.

Henry's head separated from his body.

"You bastard!"

Henry's subordinates, belatedly realizing the situation, all drew their guns and aimed at Osian.

They pulled their triggers without a word.

Seeing bullets flying from all directions, Osian spun in place.

His poncho fluttered widely following his trajectory, and the sword in his hand drew a path.

It was an elegant and smooth trajectory that seemed impossible to have been drawn with a sword.

The incoming bullets were caught in the silver trajectory.

The bullets weren't split or blocked by the trajectory. Instead, they moved in different directions following the sword's path.

Like water droplets sliding down glass, bullets flying from all directions changed their paths and flew toward the opposite sheriffs.

"Kuhek!"

"Aak!"

The sheriffs who had shot at Osian were hit by their colleagues' bullets. At the sight of the sheriffs falling simultaneously with screams, the settlement's people widened their eyes.

Their eyes couldn't fully follow what had just happened.

What Osian had done seemed almost like some kind of trick.

"Is this real? Henry's gang all taken down?"

"No way, and by just one person at that."

They looked at Osian with disbelieving eyes.

Osian, who had just performed such a feat, casually sheathed his sword as if it were nothing.

The action looked like a cowboy holstering his gun.

To do such a thing with a sword, not even a gun. Just what was this guy's identity?

"I told you, didn't I?"

David said to Mary, who was equally amazed.

"That there was nothing to worry about."

"Can you do the same thing as him?"

"No. I'm still lacking, so I can't do that much. I'm trying though. Maybe I could manage against one person."

Even against a single person, deflecting incoming bullets is no easy feat.

Mary could finally understand David's words about serving Osian.

After clearing up the situation, Osian approached Mary and asked.

"Does this mean we can stay for a day or so?"

No one would refuse to nod at those words.

*

A feast was held in the settlement for the first time in a while.

The people gathered at the saloon sincerely celebrated the complete disappearance of Henry's gang.

While Henry was a sheriff, that was in name only; in reality, he was a man who terrorized the settlement.

No one could resist him. Not only because his gang was strong, but because the Dead Wheel Gang had his back.

Though there were concerns about the aftermath of Henry's death, what could they do?

Since the annoying fellow was dead, they should at least enjoy this moment.

"Come on, everyone! Drink up! All drinks are free today!"

"Hahaha! That's our Mary! Always so generous!"

Mary, watching the residents drinking beer with satisfaction, approached Osian.

He was sitting with David, quietly drinking whiskey.

"How is it? Does the liquor suit your taste?"

"I like how strong it is. Though I prefer on the rocks."

"Ice is a luxury in places like this. Well, you might find some if you go to the central area. You said you were heading there, right?"

"Yes. There's something I need to find."

"I'd like to tell you to be careful, but after seeing those skills, it feels odd to give advice."

Mary checked on a dish that had just been completed in the kitchen, brought it over, and placed it in front of Osian and David.

It was a steaming roast turkey.

"You manage well with that injured arm."

"This? It'll heal if I just eat properly. And I put in some extra effort since it's a special day. You won't get to taste this except for today, so enjoy it."

"Mary, are you really okay?"

David asked with a worried voice.

Though Henry was gone, danger still remained in the settlement.

Mary shook her head.

"Don't worry. Just because Henry's gone doesn't mean they can do whatever they want with us. We won't just sit back and take it either."

"If they come here asking questions, you can sell us out."

Osian said this while sipping his whiskey.

"What? You want us to betray our benefactor? I can't do that."

"If it can save lives, saying a few words is easy. And it's not really selling us out. Just tell them we went to the central area."

"...Are you really okay with that?"

Osian cut off a turkey leg with his knife and took a bite.

Even that action was disciplined and classical, making him look like the son of some noble family.

Perhaps his refinement stood out more because everyone else around eating was so ravenous.

After savoring the taste of the roast turkey, Osian said to Mary.

"Being served such delicious drinks and food is more than enough."

Mary ended up letting out a chuckle.

Though she had just met this man today, she felt she could roughly understand what kind of personality he had.

"Ha. You sure know what to say. You said you're going to the central area? There are more dangerous folks there than the Dead Wheel Gang. David, you must know too."

"...Yeah. The Mining Heavy Industry guys."

"Not just them. There's Steel Fist, Gold Finger, and Sullivan's descendants."

While these were all new names to Osian, they must be warning him about some very dangerous people.

"Still, I must go. At least to check."

"You said you're looking for something precious? The Race is happening now because of that."

At the mention of the Race, the noisy saloon atmosphere instantly went quiet.

Even those who were drunkenly badmouthing the dead Henry reacted sensitively to the word Race.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned something similar before. What exactly is this Race?"

Osian was curious why they showed such reactions.

He wondered if Race was just some kind of slang. The documents about District 49 he had read didn't include such details.

"It's exactly what it sounds like. A race of death."

"A race?"

"It's one of District 49's long-standing traditions. What would happen if multiple organizations fought at once? It would be chaos and District 49 would collapse, so they agreed among themselves to settle things this way."

Settling problems with a race.

Osian recalled the biker gangs he had seen while coming here.

Motorcycles and trucks modified in their own ways.

This probably wasn't an ordinary race.

"They say they'll settle things quietly, but during the race period, people die in huge numbers."

One of the drunk customers muttered.

He raised his right arm. Below the shoulder joint, the arm was replaced with a cheap prosthetic.

"I got caught up in it and lost my arm. Barely managed to keep my life. My unlucky friend died though. Or maybe I was the unusually lucky one for surviving."

"What kind of race is it that people die in such numbers?"

"It's an unlimited race. A madman's rush with no restrictions or rules, literally just continuing to run without stopping..."