3 bar menu

Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 10 Chapter 2.1

Episode 2: The Second Half of Nanaejima’s Summer Vacation Begins! Happy People

1

What will you do if we find Nanana’s murderer?

That’s what Ikusaba-san asked me when we bumped into each other on the street on the first day of summer vacation, the day after the <<game>> .

At first, I thought it was a simple question. But as I listened to Ikusaba-san’s story, I realized something. I hadn’t been facing reality head-on.

I was trying to find Nanana-chan’s murderer for Nanana-chan’s sake. But if I found her murderer, Nanana-chan (who is an earthbound ghost) would disappear. Even though I’m searching for Nanana-chan’s sake, I don’t want her to disappear. That’s because I love her.

Searching for the culprit for the sake of the girl I loved meant that girl would disappear. Do I really want that?

Ikusaba Hiiyo’s question brought to light a contradiction I had inside me.

Unable to think about it, I fled Nanaejima and spent my days training at the Master’s house the Touryou Household (Yukihime-neesan’s family home) to find my own answer.

I was then called back to my parents’ house, and marriage talk suddenly came up.

Amidst all that turmoil, thanks to my cool imouto and intelligent former fiancé, I realized what I needed to do, and was able to return to Nanaejima.

I returned to Room 202 of the Happiness Dorm, looked Nanana in the face properly, and was able to apologize. (Although I did receive a hard slap)

And it dawned on me once again. For Nanana’s sake, I’m going to find Nanana’s killer. No matter what that may lead to…

It’s precisely because I’ve been able to think this way that I want to be truly grateful.

「That’s delicious, Ulysses」

「It is, isn’t it Kunon.」

Well, if you want to thank me, you can say it to me in person since I’m right next to you.

We are in Room 202 of the Happiness Dorm. I’d like to introduce the members currently occupying this room now.

「The pudding is delicious.」

The girl who says this while sitting at her computer desk munching on that pudding is Ryuugajou Nanana, a ghost who was killed in this room 10 years ago.

And also, the two that are eating shaved ice with Nanana.

「When I think of shaved ice, I think of strawberry」, declares a lively and evil-looking girl with a crooked tooth. Her name is Kunon Yama. She’s a third-year middle school student, and I’m not going to lie, she’s my younger sister.

The other girl, who is as adorable as a Western doll and enjoying the taste of melon, is Ulysses Korunald. Like Sora-neechan, she is a third-year junior high school student. She was to become my bride in the recent marriage turmoil. To me, she is like another little sister. Incidentally, her real brother is Ishbal Korunald, who is currently operating secretly on the island under the alias of Neidhart D. Polnareff.

Now, the question of why the two of them are here is… to be honest, I don’t really know.

On the day of the wedding, Sora-neechan committed bride-napping, and Ulysses-chan was the one who was kidnapped. And so, in a twist of fate, they moved into Room 201 of the Happiness Dorm, next door to me.

I asked them why, but they said something that wasn’t quite coherent. Something like, 「It’s all thanks to Tinker Bell」, and so I decided not to press them any further.

Well, it’s reassuring to know that the two of them, who ran away from home in defiance of their parents’ will, are here in a place where I can keep an eye on them. So I’ll overlook the rest of the details.

Oh, and there’s one last person I shouldn’t forget.

Skritch Skritch

Next to those three sweet girls, there’s a nice guy who is silently writing with his pen… well, I’m actually talking about myself, Juugo Yama.

「Hey, Juugo-kun. Let’s play instead of doing our summer homework.」

Thanks to Sora-nee shaking my arm, the tip of my pen, which had just finished writing the letter e, drew a line over the whole notebook.

「It’ll be fine. You can finish your summer homework on the last day. If you don’t get it done, you’ll just get yelled at by the teacher and that’ll be the end of it.」

Come to think of it, when she was living at home, she would always come crying to me on the last day of school. I have to set a good example for her.

「Hmph, it seems you don’t understand how it is on Nanaejima, little sis.」

「? What’s that?」

「On Nanaejima, not completing your summer homework means expulsion.」

Sora-nee, looking confused, suddenly bursts out in laughter.

「Stop exaggerating, Juugo.」

「No, he’s serious」, Nanana chimes in nonchalantly.

「Huh?」

「Nanaejima is a special student zone, so they let students do whatever they want, but only if they put in the effort. They just cut ties with any unmotivated kids who slack off.」

Sora-nee’s face turns as blue as a Hawaiian shirt at the words from Nanana, one of the founders of this island.

「Hey, Ulysses. Weren’t we given any assignments for our transfer?」

「Yeah. Just something easy, like a reference book to read.」

「But, wasn’t it pretty thick?」

「Really? I already finished it.」

「No way! When did you do it?」

「Last night.」

「Come to think of it, I think you were reading something while I was watching TV tonight. Ah, I should have done it too!」

But wait, Sora-nee. Before you start clutching your head and complaining, ‘But there was a show I wanted to watch yesterday!’, let’s be amazed at how Ulysses managed to finish such a thick workbook in one night.

「Ulysses, please. Let me see!」

「No, you can’t. That wouldn’t be a good learning experience for you」, Ulysses said with a grin.

「No, just let…」

「It would be horrible to take away my friend’s chance to gain knowledge and grow as a person. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. That would be worse than stabbing Kunon to death with a kitchen knife.」

That’s quite an amazing metaphor… Or actually, you are probably being serious, aren’t you Ulysses-chan?

Sora-nee was speechless after hearing that.

I decide to make it more clear, 「I mean, isn’t it really uncool for someone who claims to be a champion of justice to skip their homework?」

「Ugh!」

That final blow left her speechless.

Sora-nee’s heart is more passionate than anyone’s, but sadly, she’s an emotional type with an empty head. And Ulysses is reliable. Best friends and roommates, they make a great pair.

「Hmm, you talking about justice is quite amusing, Juugo.」

「And why do you casually wander into people’s rooms, grab ice cream bars from their fridge, and then sit back and relax?」

「Well since you’re asking, my answer is: because that’s who I am.」

「What kind of philosophical language are you using to try and dismiss a trespassing incident, you bastard!」

Nana-chan and Sorane-chan raise their hands to wave at the great detective.

「Ah, Tensai-chan. You’ve come.」

「Tensai-chan-sempai. Hey there.」

Ikkyuu Tensai lives in Room 203, next door to us. We are in the same high school and in the same class. We also sit next to each other in class. His attendant, D’arc Hoshino, was with her. He is a man of common sense who says, ‘ojyamashimasu’ when entering a room. He also wears gender-bending clothes. (TN: That basically means ‘excuse me for bothering you. It’s something Japanese people will say when entering a house.)

Tensai, who was eating an ice cream bar, seemed to notice the red shaved ice in Sora-nee and Ulysses’ hands and said to her tanned attendant, 「Hey D’arc, get the usual for me.」

D’arc, who seemed to understand what that meant, said, 「I’ll go get it ready」, and left Room 202. Five minutes later, he returned and placed the large bowl of shaved ice on the table.

「Wow, Tensai-chan-sempai’s shaved ice has vanilla ice cream on it! And it even has real strawberries on it!」

Tensai leaned back in surprise at Sora-nee’s comment.

「This is what true shaved ice is.」

Sora-neechan was gleefully enjoying the shaved ice maker she’d recently bought in town for 500 yen, a bargain, when suddenly she bared her fangs. GRRRRR

「Would you like some, Sora-neesan?」

「It’s okay, D’arc-chan-sempai!」

「Would you like some, Ulysses?」

「Thank you, please.」

D’arc listened to their orders and returned to his room as before, returning a short time later.

Sora-nee’s was the same as Tensai’s. Ulysses’s was about half the size, but in addition to strawberries, it also had melon and bananas on it. The two were overjoyed. And melon… just how much stuff could possibly be in the refrigerator in Room 203? It’d been a few days since Sora-nee and Ulysses moved in here. (Or rather, since I returned).

The two of them had easily integrated into this place. Sora-nee, in particular, has a natural ability to instantly become friends with anyone, and I think that played a big role.