NOVEL WEB Chapter 99
“Mari-! Perfect timing. Can you unlock these handcuffs for me? Huh? My hands are so cramped.”
“…Quiet, inmate 8148.”
“Ugh… You’re being extra picky today…”
As Mari looked down with a cold expression, Jamie fumbled around in her pocket and pulled something out to hand over.
It was…
“Will Mari like me more if I give her this?”
“…!”
It was a crisp $10 bill.
“Ugh…”
Truth be told, prison guards were severely underpaid.
That’s why many guards took bribes in exchange for small favors for the inmates.
Mari was no exception.
Though she thought Jamie was dangerous, the temptation of money once again made her kneel.
“…But you have to stay quiet, okay?”
*Clink.*
“Woo-hoo! So much better!”
With her handcuffs off, Jamie swung her arms freely and hopped around the cell like a rabbit.
Though a $98,000 bounty outlaw was now free to move, Mari had the naive thought that Jamie wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.
After all, this was Pelican Western Federal Prison.
Located in California, this place boasted the highest level of security in the West, with heavily armed soldiers guarding the perimeter.
Most importantly, Pelican Prison was situated on a remote island, separated from the mainland.
Even if a prisoner managed to escape, all that awaited them was the rough, churning sea.
Unless you were a seal, no one could leave here without a boat.
“Mari, anything good happening lately? You look prettier than before.”
On top of that, Jamie was showering the guards with warmth and money, so Mari’s feelings toward Jamie were gradually softening.
“Inmate 8148. No letter this week?”
It was also Mari’s job to deliver the letters Jamie meticulously wrote every week to the outside.
Since Jamie paid a hefty sum each time, Mari had planned to make some extra cash this week too, but…
“Yep! It’s fine! From now on, I’ll deliver them myself!”
“Oh? Alright then.”
From now on, she said she’d deliver them herself.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Mari clicked her tongue and tilted her head.
‘…Huh? What? She’s delivering them herself?’
Jamie was a notorious criminal with a 0% chance of being released.
So how could she deliver letters to someone herself?
Sensing something off, Mari was about to ask Jamie, but…
“Hmm~”
Jamie had already turned her head and was singing some incomprehensible song again.
‘Ah, she must be joking.’
Maybe Jamie was delusional, thinking she could leave this prison alive.
Jamie would laugh happily one moment, then cry like the world was ending, and then rage like her heart was being torn apart—showing all sorts of erratic behavior.
In short, Jamie was a crazy woman.
How could anyone understand the mind of a crazy woman?
Mari decided to just focus on her own work.
*Rustle, rustle.*
But, surprisingly, a guard’s job wasn’t that busy.
After quickly finishing her paperwork, the bored Mari glanced back at Jamie.
“Hum hum~ Hmm~”
Jamie had been singing some unfamiliar song since earlier.
Curious about the song, Mari asked Jamie.
“…Hey, inmate 8148.”
“Huh? What is it, Mari?”
“What’s that song? I’ve never heard it before.”
With a childlike smile, Jamie answered Mari’s question.
“Oh, this? It’s a song my favorite guy taught me. It’s from his hometown.”
“Your favorite guy? Where’s he from?”
“…It’s a secret. He’s not from this world.”
…This crazy woman’s lost it again.
Mari gave a knowing, indifferent look after hearing Jamie’s answer.
“…Oh, really?”
“Yeah, so even you, Mari, can’t know what this song is. Sorry.”
“Got it.”
Jamie, being the crazy woman she was, often spouted nonsense.
Like that one time she said the South Brotherhood was actually the mayor of San Francisco.
‘At least make some sense.’
Still, Mari knew that talking to a crazy woman in this lonely prison wing made time pass faster than being alone, so she kept chatting with Jamie.
“By the way, who’s this guy you like? Is he an outlaw too?”
“Yep, our gang leader.”
“The TKK leader… that $150,000 outlaw?”
Intrigued by the mention of a big shot, Mari moved closer to Jamie’s cell.
“You’re the TKK deputy leader, right? So, were you and the TKK leader dating?”
“…Not really. He already had someone else he liked.”
“Guess the TKK leader had high standards. Choosing someone else over you.”
“That someone else was my sister. My twin sister.”
“…What?”
Jamie James had family? A twin sister?
‘I’m pretty sure her records didn’t mention anything like that…’
While Mari was stunned, Jamie continued.
“Since we were kids, my sister and I were always one. We ate together, drank together, slept together. But… even so, I couldn’t share a man.”
“……”
“My sister liked him first. And he seemed to like her too. I was sad, but… I thought as long as they were happy, it was fine. But then…”
Jamie struggled to continue, then…
*Bang.*
She mimed shooting a gun and let out a hollow laugh.
“One day, he shot my sister. Right in front of me. Huh.”
“……”
That laugh was both sorrowful and chilling.
“Do you know how it feels to watch the man you love shoot the twin sister you love right in front of you?”
“…No.”
“Turns out, it doesn’t feel like much.”
As she said it didn’t feel like much, Jamie’s eyes began to fill with something dark.
“But it’s kind of like… half of your soul being ripped away. My sister and I were always together. So it feels… empty.”
“……”
“Empty… to the point where it feels like I’m going crazy, like I can’t take it anymore.”
…Then it *does* feel like something, doesn’t it?
Mari wanted to ask but couldn’t.
*Sigh.*
The Jamie she’d known for years suddenly felt chillingly different today.
‘Maybe it was a mistake to interact with a crazy woman after all.’
Jamie was the only prisoner in this wing, and Mari was the only guard.
Sure, there were armed soldiers outside, but inside, it was just the two of them.
Boredom had driven Mari to talk to Jamie, but now she felt a deep unease and took a step back from Jamie’s cell without her noticing.
But then…
“That…”
“So I really need to meet that guy again. To do that, I gotta get out of here, right?”
“…What?”
“Still, it’s a relief that there are kids who follow me. There are plenty of kids who will help me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Once again, Jamie was spouting nonsense, and Mari tilted her head in confusion…
BANG-!!!
“…!!”
Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the ground.
“What, what the…!!”
But that wasn’t the end.
BANG-!! BANG BANG-!!!
“Ahhhh-!”
“Ahhhh-!”
Gunshots and people’s screams.
Even those horrifying sounds were getting closer to the annex where Mari was.
“Dammit…!”
Click.
Mari immediately drew her gun.
But…
BANG-! BANG-!
BANG BANG BANG-!!
“…Ugh-!”
The opponent was skilled.
Mari was hit in the arm and leg by bullets that pierced through the wooden door and collapsed.
Creak.
Then, the door opened, and in came…
“That’s…!”
A group of men wearing white masks.
‘TKK…!!’
As soon as Mari realized the identity of the intruders who had broken into the prison, she screamed in rage toward the jail.
“Jamie James-!! You, you’re insane-!! How dare you raid a prison directly managed by the federal government?”
“……”
“From now on, the federal government will be on high alert looking for you and your organization-!! If you get caught again, you’ll definitely die!!”
But despite Mari’s threats, Jamie didn’t seem to care at all, instead wearing a bright smile.
“Well then, Mari. You know, my bounty was originally $98,000, but do you think it could go over $150,000?”
“…You’re crazy.”
Clank.
Meanwhile, the TKK members finally opened Jamie’s cell door.
“Boss.”
“…Gonzales.”
The man called Gonzales knelt on one knee as soon as he saw Jamie.
Jamie looked down at him and asked.
“Where’s Kid?”
“We found him. But… we lost him.”
“…Yeah, figures.”
Jamie knew better than anyone what kind of man Kid was.
Jamie… had known Kid since he was six years old.
‘Ah, memories…’
When they first met, he was just a sniveling crybaby boy who didn’t even know how to hold a pistol.
That crybaby grew up to be a fine man… and Jamie loved him.
But Jamie’s older sister, whom she loved more than herself, liked him first… so Jamie neatly tucked away her feelings.
Kid, Jenny James, Jamie James.
The three of them were always happy together.
But now, Jamie James no longer had those two by her side.
It felt empty.
If she didn’t do something, she felt like she’d go crazy.
“…Gonzales, the gun.”
Jamie reached out her hand, and Gonzales placed a revolver in her small palm.
And then…
“Ja, Jamie James-! Even now…!”
BANG.
Thud.
She silenced the noisy guard Mari.
But Jamie wasn’t satisfied just seeing Mari’s blood.
“…I want to stretch my body a bit, Gonzales.”
“Our members are still in a standoff with the soldiers in the main building.”
“…Right, then let’s head there.”
Kid left, and Jenny James died.
Now, the only person TKK had to follow was Jamie James.
“I’ll kill all the soldiers. Let’s free all the prisoners too.”
“…Huh? What are you going to do with them?”
“Our organization is struggling a bit now, right? We need some new recruits.”
Indeed, after Kid left, TKK had been facing difficulties.
That was precisely why they couldn’t rescue Jamie immediately. They didn’t have enough people to break through the heavily guarded prison.
Jamie, who knew that fact all too well, twirled the revolver on her finger and muttered.
“Kid is strong… We can’t face him until we regain our strength.”
“…Then.”
“We’ll gather some manpower here… and then we’ll head to San Francisco.”
“……!”
San Francisco was now completely under the control of the South Brotherhood.
Which meant…
“That city was originally ours. We need to take it back.”
It meant that the war between TKK and the South Brotherhood was about to begin again.
“…I’ll follow your orders.”
“Good. Gonzales. I’m counting on you. You’re the vice-leader now.”
With that, Jamie slowly stepped out of the prison into the sunlight.
“Sigh…”
Freedom after four years.
But right now, Jamie was happier about the fact that she could meet Kid again.
She had a lot of questions for Kid.
Why did he kill her sister? Why did he lock her up here?
‘My name isn’t Noah. I’m not even from this world originally. …I have to leave this place someday.’
…Jenny and Jamie.
Were they just tools to Kid?
“…Sister, are you doing well over there? Are you lonely? Just wait a little longer.”
After asking all her questions…
“Kid and I will come soon. We’re always one, right?”
She planned to send Kid to her sister so she wouldn’t be lonely.
“…Let’s go, Gonzales.”
“Yes.”
The worst gang in the West, TKK.
The organization created to bring money to their master now had a new goal.
To bite off the head of the master who abandoned them.
‘I hope you guys can help me return to my original world.’
What a joke.
Kid, you’ll never escape this place.
At the final threshold of returning home, Kid will be blocked by the dogs he raised, and his body will be torn apart.
Jamie planned to gift the sight of Kid falling into the abyss of despair and screaming in his final moments to all of TKK, who had been thoroughly played by him.