Ch.10002 Investigation Record – Meeting the Cowboy of New York (1)

“This article is getting a lot of praise again, Miss Rose. Someone from the New York Ogre Association even asked about the reporter. They said they don’t know where such a good journalist came from.”

I managed to put a smile on the editor-in-chief’s face again today. It felt good in many ways to have my article well-received.

It meant my skills were sufficient, but more importantly, it meant others could see what I had witnessed firsthand. That ogre businessman must be pleased too, right?

Suppressing my rising pride, I greeted him. Ah, I wanted to act more like a New Yorker… but somehow ended up behaving like a typical Southern girl. Ugh, old habits really don’t die easily.

Still, the editor-in-chief just smiled kindly. Ahem, clearing my throat rather loudly, I said:

“I think you must have told them? I received a flower bouquet and a letter this morning. But since it was custom-sized for ogres… if Paulina hadn’t helped me, I’d still be buried under a mountain of sunflowers.”

Ogres loved sunflowers. They might seem similar to orcs, but they’re quite different. Still, both races were incredibly reliable.

Paulina, who was listening nearby, gave a slight smile, just raising the corners of her mouth. With her bangs covering her eyes, only her mouth revealed her expression.

“Of course, you know that one good article doesn’t make you an excellent journalist, right? I’ll be waiting for your next piece, so have a good day today.”

“Of course I know that! But you know I always produce decent articles. Well, I’m going to check on some sources today… and if possible, I want to meet that cowboy everyone’s talking about – the city’s local celebrity!”

It was just a rumor. They say there’s a man who walks around busy 5th Avenue dressed as a cowboy, with a lasso and revolver at his hip… but why in New York? This isn’t ranch country like back home.

Having grown up seeing cowboys almost daily back home, I’d be perfect for this story. Well, I could fit into any story as long as I could capture it!

My confidence was overflowing today. In these sparkling times, even in an era bucking like a wild horse, someone riding that era couldn’t lose their spirit.

“Ah, I’ve heard about him. Still, if he’s just promoting something, it shouldn’t become an article. You’re capable, but you know the rules.”

“Of course I know! I just thought he might have something he wants to say. Otherwise, why would he just walk around as if waiting for someone to ask about him?”

I flashed a bright smile, and the editor-in-chief nodded as if he couldn’t stop me. It was time to head into the city again. Paulina followed behind.

“By the way, are there still many cowboys in the South?”

Paulina asked in a relaxed voice. She was better off speaking like this normally.

“Wherever there are ranches, there are cowboys. Not many want to do it because it’s hard work. That’s what makes this so strange!”

Still, cowboys weren’t bad people. They were people who accepted that difficult job with the intention of working. Who could mock someone’s will to make an honest living?

Today, instead of taking a taxi in some misguided attempt to accommodate Paulina, I rode in her car. It was almost bus-sized for an elf, but that’s what Paulina needed to ride comfortably.

I could have sat in the back like a VIP, but I took the passenger seat beside her. She confirmed our schedule.

“So it’s 10:40 now… you have lunch with the lawyer I introduced you to at 11:30, and then lunch with the district attorney after that, right? We’ll need to do the interview between those appointments.”

“Thanks for checking the schedule! Let’s hope our cowboy doesn’t only appear at noon. Oh, where are we eating lunch again?”

This memory of mine isn’t likely to improve. Despite my best efforts to manage it, I pressed down my hair, still messy as if I’d just woken up, and rolled my eyes.

“Since your friend is at the police station on business, I made reservations at a place nearby. You liked the clam soup there, didn’t you?”

“That goes without saying. Hmm, hmm. Am I forgetting anything else?”

“Just remember that you might have forgotten something, that’s enough. I can take care of remembering things for you.”

Paulina was as reliable as ever. I pressed myself firmly into the passenger seat, which wasn’t particularly plush. Paulina was a skilled driver. It was routine for me to fall asleep in the car and wake up only after arriving home.

Anyway, I repeated my mantra like a charm: Today feels good. Today feels good! Days when I made such affirmations to myself always brought good luck.

Maybe… I only remember the days when luck came my way! But who cares, what’s good is good. Hmm!

As we drove toward the police station, we stopped briefly at a traffic light. There, I saw three dwarves, slightly shorter than elves but with sturdier builds, dragging along a goblin in a suit.

What’s going on? Dwarves and goblins didn’t get along well. They looked like they were up to something, and the suited goblin gave me a look that seemed to be asking for help.

I grabbed my camera. People sometimes do bad things, but rarely in front of a camera. After hesitating until they disappeared into an alley, I impulsively opened the car door and got out.

“Paulina! Park the car nearby and come to that alley! I think something’s happening!”

I think Paulina called after me, but I couldn’t hear clearly. It was a chronic problem – when focusing on a photographer’s duty, other sounds became muffled.

Deep in the alley between buildings that were dark despite the midday, the dwarves surrounded the goblin who was clutching his briefcase tightly. They cursed in a foreign language before pushing him against the wall.

Dwarves generally had solid, muscular bodies, and these dwarves raised their square, hard fists to strike the goblin. They cursed in English, as if wanting to be heard.

“You goblins and commie bastards have seen what happened to our country, and you still look at us like that? Filthy goblin…”

“Yeah, you tiny goblin bastards stabbed us in the back. Apologize to the dead dwarves! My brother I left in the homeland, because of the betrayal of goblins like you…”

It was violence without justification or reason. Dwarves were once said to be a diligent and strong race, but they’d been acting strange since their country lost in the Great War.

I gathered mana at my fingertips. I captured the scene clearly with my mana-powered camera – the dwarves surrounding the goblin, one grabbing his collar and raising his fist.

Surely they wouldn’t bother me too? I approached the dwarves who turned their heads toward me at the sound of the shutter.

“What perfect timing, I was just heading to the police station. Got your faces clearly on camera. How convenient that I’m a reporter! What headline would you like me to use?”

Such a threat should make them back off. Fighting the trembling in my hands, I shouted, but one dwarf with a long braided beard approached me. He rolled up his sleeve. This wasn’t going well.

“Hand over the film, miss. A reporter, huh? Is it a reporter’s job to condemn someone’s patriotic actions as assault? Huh?”

Seeing the ugly veins bulging on his forehead, I took a few steps back. I realized I’d come too deep into the alley. I needed to run.

I almost tripped as my legs tangled, but I managed to steady myself and tried to turn around when the dwarf started running too. Dwarves had short strides but their muscular bodies made them surprisingly fast runners.

“This fucking bitch with nothing but flowers in her head, being such a nuisance…”

Could an admittedly out-of-shape reporter like me outrun him? The voice behind me only increased my anxiety.

“Catch that bitch! Günter, you keep that bastard properly restrained. Don’t let him escape!”

“Paulina!”

It was the only name I could call in this situation. My legs were shaking, and the footsteps behind me seemed to be getting closer, so I couldn’t even look back.

It seemed like I could get out of the alley if I just went a little further. Where was Paulina? She wasn’t taking her time, thinking nothing serious was happening, was she? My legs felt numb with anxiety.

Fortunately, I saw Paulina at the alley entrance. She seemed to be walking leisurely, perhaps thinking my sudden dash into the alley wasn’t a big deal… but not after seeing me being chased.

Thank goodness. With Paulina around, there was nothing to worry about. She clenched her teeth and started running, the chain mail under her suit jacket making a clinking sound. Paulina was tall with a wide stride.

At that moment, the dwarf grabbed the hem of my clothes, but there was no need to worry. I ducked down, hugging my camera to avoid getting in Paulina’s way.

“Physical argument, commencing. How many in total, Rose?”

“Three! Subdue the dwarf holding the goblin in the back too!”

After the sound of something heavy and fast passing by, the grip of the dwarf who had been holding my collar as if to tear it loosened.

“Let go, let go! You disgustingly oversized woman…”

The old dwarf’s startled voice rang out, followed by the sound of something heavy colliding head-on with a concrete wall. Only then did I look up to assess the situation.

The dwarf who had grabbed my collar was now pressed face-first against the concrete wall, bleeding from his face. I suppressed the urge to vomit at the sight of blood.

“Disgustingly oversized… I’m actually considered petite among my people.”

Paulina made a casual remark as if trying to reassure me. The dwarf’s body, having lost consciousness while pressed against the wall, slid down helplessly to lie face-down on the ground.

The dwarf who had been chasing me with him froze a few steps away after seeing this. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Paulina to subdue all three? As an employee, she was strict about following orders.

Paulina charged first. With the shield-securing strap tightly wound over her suit sleeve, she struck the dwarf from below with the edge of her shield.

The dwarf, unable to resist and with a terrified expression, clutched his stomach and collapsed… looking more pitiful than frightening. I stopped Paulina as she prepared to strike downward this time.

“Stop, that’s enough, Paulina. He doesn’t look like he’ll resist anymore, so going further would be too much.”

“But you asked me to subdue them? Should I just break their will to fight?”

Normally flexible-minded and kind, she became rigid instantly when given an order. I swallowed hard at this unfamiliar side of Paulina.

“I just meant, help me. Ah, ah! This isn’t the time! Let’s leave these two here – there’s one more inside who was holding the goblin!”

The dwarf who had nearly been struck properly with the shield looked at me with an ambiguous expression. It must be a strange feeling to receive mercy from someone you were trying to harm.

I didn’t know the exact word to define that feeling, but let’s call it the feeling of getting a second chance. Since they didn’t seem likely to chase us anymore, I entered deeper into the alley with Paulina. A dwarf could kill a goblin with bare hands.

However, in the alley, only the suited goblin was sitting on the ground, catching his breath. Seeing us running toward him, he managed to stand up and approach us.

“Thank you, thank you… I was so scared I couldn’t even make a sound when they dragged me away, but thanks to you, I’m alive. Really.”

His beaten cheek was badly swollen. Did we have a first aid kit in the car? Paulina was likely to carry one. First, we needed to find where the last dwarf had gone.

“Where did the dwarf who was holding you go?”

Come to think of it, that dwarf was the only one who hadn’t hurled insults at this goblin. I couldn’t quite remember his expression though.

“Well, when the other two ran off to chase the lady… he said he didn’t want to go this far, let me go, and ran away. There shouldn’t be any problem. Oh, could you possibly give me a ride to the police station? You seem to have taken photos too, if you could let me use them as evidence, I’d compensate you handsomely…”

I shook my head as he started to mention compensation. This wasn’t about money. Hmm, hmm. If it were about money, I wouldn’t have followed them in here and gotten chased by dwarves.

“It’s just what a reporter should do. If the photos can be used as evidence, I’ll develop and give them to you! May I ask you something, though it might be impolite?”

“Ah, I understand what you mean. Actually, I was going to ask you to publish this as an article. As you probably know, dwarves have… become somewhat strange lately. It’s true that they didn’t get along well with us goblins, but it was never this bad. To blame us for their loss in the Great War…”

Somehow I felt like a dark desire had been poked. Fighting the urge to avert my gaze, I maintained eye contact and nodded firmly.

“I’ll write it exactly as it happened! Don’t worry! Oh, and of course we can give you a ride to the police station. Right, Paulina?”

“We also have a first aid kit in the car, so I can treat your face. We still have time before lunch… it should be fine to help you first. Our destination was the police station anyway.”

Although I had recklessly rushed in headfirst and almost got into danger, it still felt like I’d done the right thing. Walking away with a sense of satisfaction, Paulina finally sighed.

“Please don’t rush in without looking around first, Rose. If you’re going to do that, at least explain properly. Even in the city, there are times when fists are close and the law is far away.”

I could have glossed over it, but instead I bowed my head slightly in apology. There was no rule saying an employer couldn’t apologize to an employee.

“I’m sorry! It’s just that, it seemed urgent to me… I forgot that if I don’t explain to Paulina, you wouldn’t know.”

I was taught not to be stingy with apologies and thanks, and that’s how I lived.

Although Paulina could throw 200-pound dwarves with her bare hands, she was weak against apologies. So, in a way, this was a somewhat cunning move on my part!

Even with her eyes still hidden by her hair, she waved both hands in embarrassment.

“No, no. I wasn’t trying to get an apology… sigh, you know that was too much, right? Just be careful in the future, Rose.”

She really is weak against apologies. Simply apologizing made me feel like I’d accomplished something, so I stood tall as I guided the goblin to the car and treated his face. The medicine was meant for ogres, but it worked well on goblins too.

Phew, I haven’t even started today’s work, but I’m already tired. I sank into the passenger seat, waiting to head to the police station without any further incidents.

In the police station’s visitor parking lot, there was only one other car besides ours. After handing the goblin over to the stoic angelic receptionist, we waited for the lawyer Paulina had arranged to meet with.

Shortly after, as the clock approached 11:29, a lawyer who looked as young as me but probably less skilled in physical argumentation than Paulina came down from the second floor. Paulina greeted him first.

“Get a custom-made shield already. How long are you going to carry around mass-produced ones? Anyway, this is the reporter I told you about. Rose, this is the lawyer I mentioned.”

This is what’s good about having a lawyer around. I shook the human lawyer’s extended hand firmly.

“I’m Rose Leafman. I’m not here for an interview today, just to have a meal and get to know your face, so don’t be nervous!”

Of course, I was the nervous one… I always get tense when meeting new sources. I still didn’t feel particularly skilled as a reporter.