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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 1 Chapter 4.5

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“Translator: Goma/Editor: TheNix”

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No no, I don’t care about such a sweet youthful scenario!

「That being said, why can’t you just tell me? 」

「Oh, you are trying to divert the conversation」

「Of course not! Let’s just start by telling me the reason why you won’t tell me! 」

I desperately tried to divert the conversation. Nanana replied.

「Because it would be boring that way」

Ms. Nanana Ryūgajō. Do you want to find out who murdered you or not?

 

Section 4

 

「Then you shall take the test to join the club」

The next day after school I went to the Adventure Club. I told my senior, Yuiga, that I wanted to join the club.

His reply was like that.

「A test to join the club? 」

「Yes. It is our tradition. If you don’t pass the test, you cannot join the Adventure Club」

It was quite weird. Why does one have to pass a test in order to just join a club? No, even besides that, I had been invited to join the club. If one was to compare it to the high school entry exam, it would be an entry by recommendation. I should be exempted from any test, unlike normal applicants.

That being said, I could not tell them 「No thank you」. I had promised Nanana. I could not say to her smiling face, 「Sorry. It was quite cumbersome, so I stopped searching for the murderer」. Even if I had to bite my tongue off, I did not intend to say so.

「Alright then, I’ll take the test」

I had no choice but to accept it. Then Yuiga passed me a key and a map.

The destination indicated on the map was a five-story……actually, it is the third floor of this very same club activity block.

So after getting out of the Adventure Club room and walking for three minutes. I arrived at my destination. It was the most inner part of the third floor of the club activities block. It was at the end of the corridor. However, it did not seem to be used and there was a sign on the door saying 『No Entry』.

I could not help but gulp.

Then, I turned around and finally said.

「Then? Why are you guys here as if it is expected? 」

For some reason, Tensai Ikkyū and D’arc Hoshino were behind me.

「Because it looked fun」

「I came because Tensai followed you」

What is “fun”, huh.

Err, by the way, this duo had followed me since I had entered the Adventure Club room, and had been mistaken by Yuiga as applicants as well.

Well either way we three are being tested at this point.

「Now, let’s go then」

I made up my mind and inserted the key into the doorknob.

「「Bye bye」」

The duo waved their hands while smiling beside each other.

「What, you are not coming! 」

I could not help but turn around and point out.

「For now, I am going to watch. The main guest is supposed to arrive latet」

「I am just going to watch」

 How selfish of them.

「I see, do as you please, but you shouldn’t have even come out」

I spat this out, and unlocked the door. I then opened the door and went inside the room.

By the way, Yuiga had described the test I was taking like this.

 

『I want you three to go solve the room. I don’t mind how many times you fail』

 

When I entered the room it looked like a normal storeroom. It was decently big; about the size of a classroom. There were things scattered about the room.

I wondered, what would one do at this place?

 

「What? 」

Suddenly there was a sound behind me. When I turned around, the door was locked.

「W, what happened? 」

Although a similar thing happened to me yesterday, this time there was nobody beside me. Was this some sort of gimmick?

Although I pulled on the doorknob the door did not open, of course. On top of that, it seemed that one could not unlock the door from inside. Hence, I was helpless. I had no choice. I just looked around the room. I found something obviously weird in the middle of the room.

It was a signboard. It was an object that had a rectangular board stuck on top of a stick. It was the thing that often was standing in an RPG, and could not be read from behind.

It was stuck in the middle of the room.

I thought it was weird, but I walked close to it and read it.

 

『Question…There is one thing that does not belong here. What is this? 』

 

「……What, is this a riddle? 」

Below this was written, 『Please say the answer in front of the signboard once you figure it out』.

By reflex, I looked around the room. Since it was a storeroom, there were various small things scattered around me. This ranged from a pommel horse, cones, basketballs, to shogi pieces, chess pieces, and a reversi set on the shelves on the wall. Various things were present.

For starters, I looked around thoroughly. However, there were too many things in the room, that I could not fathom a guess. 

    After searching around for 10 minutes and racking my brain, I came up with an answer.

    I stood up in front of the signboard and cleared my throat. Then I said to the signboard.

「It is the stick for the pole vault, because it is just……long」

    I pointed at the stick that had been placed on the wall, and said so.

    Suddenly I heard a buzzer that indicated that I was wrong.

「What」

    Then the floor disappeared.

    Suddenly, I felt like I was floating. Then being pulled by gravity, I dropped. With a thud I landed on my butt and started sliding in the darkness.

「Arghhhhhh」

    I could see light from the other side of the darkness. Then my body was hurled into the light.

    I landed outside. To be precise, it was from a hole made in the wall of the second story.

    That meant that I was currently in free fall.

    The place I landed was a tiled path in the central garden. I was hurled out over this and smashed into the tiles. I finally was released from the momentum of the fall.

「Hey, are you alright? 」

    While I moaned, I rolled around. Tensai and D’arc looked down at me from the third floor. It seemed that they were at least worried about me.

    However, I did not care about them.

「……..heh, hahaha, hahahahahha」

   

    I could not help but genuinely laugh from the bottom of my heart.

「Hey, this guy suddenly started laughing」「It seemed that he had been hit in the wrong place. We have lost a genuinely good person」

「Hey you guys, don’t kill me off」

    While pointing this out at the window of the third floor, I lifted my pained body and stood up.

「Heh, this is the entry exam huh! Cool, I am definitely going to clear this! 」

    Saying this to myself, I started running towards the staircase.

 

＊＊＊

 

    D’arc and Tensai looked down from the third story window again.

    And like just now, Jūgo was hurled into the central garden.

    He rolled on the ground, and immediately stopped and stood up. Then, he started running. Within just a minute, he came back and used the key to open the door. Then, he went into the room. After a few minutes, they heard a buzzer sound and a scream 「aiiiieeeeeee」. Then when they looked outside, Jūgo had been hurled.

    It was an endless cycle.

「Jūgo is quite amazing. It has already been 10 times」

    Even though he was hurled outside, he persistently stood up to the challenge while laughing. The sight of him was on a whole different level from just having the guts.

「What does he look like to you, D’arc?」

「Hmm, he looks like he is having fun. It looks like a young child who is having fun with the playground in the park」

    D’arc smiled in a wholesome way. Tensai shook her head in an exasperated manner.

「No not that. I am asking about the way Jūgo moves」

「What, what do you mean? 」

「From just now, Jūgo has been hurled from the second floor multiple times. The height is five meters. Usually one would get hurt」

「Hm, true」

「However, Jūgo does not seem to falter」

「Actually on second thought……. 」

「It is proof that he has been trained a lot」

    Then from behind, they heard a sound of the buzzer indicating that he was wrong.

「Hey, he is falling again」

    When they looked outside, as Tensai had said, Jūgo had been hurled outside while screaming.

「Ah, true. If you look closely, Jūgo can break his fall pretty well」

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