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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 5 Chapter 3.12

Seeing Saki’s spirits waning again, Natsu said, ‘Hmmm’ and folded her arms.

「Yun-chan, are there any sweets that you are good at making? 」

「Sweets? Well… if it’s cookies or cupcakes…」

「Baked goods? Are they delicious? 」

「I have a little confidence in my baking. 」

「Ho ho ho. To declare that you are good at making sweets in front of this patissier Natsu-sama. You must be quite good, aren’t you my dear? 」

Saki shook her head while Natsu was grinning.

「That was a lie! I’m not that good! 」

「Nope, it’s too late. So because of that I’ll have you make cookies for tomorrow’s preparations. 」

「But… but but….」

「I’m telling you I’m going to serve it at my restaurant. So make sure it’s delicious! 」

「A..at the shop!? N..no, not my baked cookies! 」

「I’ve already made up my mind, so I say no to your no. 」

「But why…?」

「That way Yun-chan will be very helpful, right? 」

Saki looked down when Natsu smiled. After wiping her eyes over and over again she looked up and smiled.

「Natsu-san, I’ll try my best. 」

While patting Saki’s smiling head she thinks; a smile is the best after all.

Then Natsu remembered. 「Come to think of it, a package was delivered for Yun-chan. 」

「It’s luggage right? 」

Nobody should know that Saki is hiding in this store. The cardboard box sent to Saki is big enough to need both hands to hold it. There were 3 things inside.

「What is this? 」

There was a black cloak studded with countless small glittering stars. A mask to hide her eyes. And a notebook.

***********************

Nanaejima, which is located in the sea far south of the mainland, was born 12 years ago and is called a special student zone. The Nanaejima Supervisory Board manages everything for the island. Their headquarters is in Building 7 located in the central part of Nanaejima. It is no exaggeration to say that it IS the center of the island.

At noon that day, the regular weekly meeting was being held in conference room 0 on the 27th floor of Building 7. In this room is a circular table which has six chairs for the island’s chief executives and one empty seat that is never filled.

Yuya Hitotsubashi explains the materials projected on a special monitor in front of each seat. Yuya is an elite who studied business administration at Nanaejima Chuo University until last year and graduated with honors.

「Continuing on, I would like to talk about the construction status of Western Seventh Avenue…」 Yuya continued his explanation from a bit ago, but inside he felt frustrated. This is because half of the executives at the table aren’t listening at all.

Yuya looks to the people sitting there as he continued to explain. The first person he looks at is Shiki Maboro, who is playing with a can of beer during the meeting. She is dressed in a sloppy looking pantsuit and is looking out the window bored, occasionally eating a snack as if she forgot they were there. She doesn’t appear to be participating in the meeting.

Sitting right next to her is Utsuki Kakyou. She has glossy black hair neatly tied up on the back of her head and wearing geta sandals and a beautiful kimono. This one is smiling and looking at the image in front of her, but sometime (or rather most of the time) she’s looking beyond where the image is being projected. Her beautiful profile looks happy somehow.

Sitting next to her is Koma Mutsumi. He is the genius architect who looks unimaginably young for his age. He is humming and absorbed in drawing the landscapes in his head into his sketchbook.

The seat next to him is empty. It’s a special seat with a window overlooking the island behind it, but no one sits there.

Next to the vacant seat is a person who is seriously listening in this meeting, Shunjuu Ikkaku. Needless to say he’s the leader on this island. He gives off a quiet impression and has a keen eye. He was seriously looking at the display and listening to Yuya’s explanation.

Sitteng next to Ikkaku is Saito Futaba, the person Yuya is most angry at. Although he is described as the island’s greatest brain, he just looks like an old thug in a white lab coat. He has his feet up on the table, chewing gum, and clicking the buttons of his handheld game console. Also the volume on his headphones are so loud the noise can be heard by everyone else.

These five are the founding members who created this island, and are called the GREAT 7. However most of them are completely indifferent to the future of this island.

「Um… can I ask you all to take this a little more seriously? 」

Several people’s gazes went to Yuya who had unexpectedly interrupted his explanation and raised his voice.

「What? Are you talking to us by any chance? 」

「Who else would I be talking to Futuba-san? 」

He glared at Futaba who rarely raises his head, but he just snickered back.

「Even if you’re saying that I’m not interested. 」

「Take responsibility for the future of Nanaejima. 」

「Do that kind of thing on your own. 」

「You are one of the GREAT7! 」

「That’s right. I’m the one who made this island. So what? 」

「It is your duty and responsibility to attend the meetings and decide the policies of the island. 」

「Don’t impose your duty and responsibilities on to me. Besides, didn’t Shunjuu look over all of this before hand and make some changes? If so then it’s 100% done right? Why bother to argue about it when it’s already good? It’s a waste of time. I’m not going to waste my time here listening to you. 」

This unmotivated attitude was a reflection of their absolute trust in their leader, Shunjuu Ikkaku. Once Yuya hears this he has no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

「Yuya, don’t worry. Keep going. 」

「But, Ikkaku-san…」

「There is no need to think that this regular meeting is for the sake of us. Think of it as for the sake of your own experience. 」

Hearing Ikkaku’s words, Yuya said 「I’m sorry」 and continued. 「Finally, regarding the Tanabata Festival, which will be held at a later date, there are no particular changes from last year. Everyone will be asked to go up to the special venue and improvise responses to the randomly selected wishes. We have prepared for everything imaginable, so feel free to tell us what you want. 」

After Yuya finished his brief report, Ikkaku looked around at everyone.

「One last thing from me. I would like to report that the nanana collection 《Wizard Staff》 that I purchased the other day is now available. 」

The members who had been acting freely until then stopped what they were doing, and for the first time everyone’s eyes gathered on the same thing.

「Isn’t that what Ikkaku was talking about the other day? The one where he said stopped working because it ran out of power? 」

Ikkaku nodded at the clearly drunken Shiki Maboro.

「I entrusted it to Saito for research, and as a result of that research we found out that the source of that wand’s power was moonlight. 」

Futaba lightly raises her hand, and Utsuki says 「Isn’t that romantic? 」

「Normally the wand would need to be exposed to moonlight for a considerable number of days, but it was found that it is possible to recharged in a short period of time. This made it possible to use the 《Wizard Staff》 continuously. 」

「I thought you said the other day that it had the ability to do anything you wanted. 」

「You need to attend meetings without drinking once in a while Shiki. It excels in both basic performance and application, but it’s not that competent. 」

「That’s just Ikkaku’s point of view isn’t it? So what are you going to do with that staff? Are you going to give it to your kids? 」

「No, this is mine. If I gave a kid too much power it would lead them to ruin. 」

Everyone is surprised by Ikkaku, who proudly declares that he’s taking it.

「Yikes, Shunjuu said something like evil villain in an anime. 」

「Guys like that are definitely going to be defeated. 」

Saito shivers and Shiki grins. On the other hand, Utsuki smiles and says, 「It’s cool」 and Koma’s eyes shine like a child as he claps his hands.

Then the door to the meeting room opens with a knock.

「Sorry to interrupt the meeting but this is an emergency. 」

「What is it? 」

「Code: Red Three. The subject reported to have left Tsukuyomi Town. 」

All eyes turned to the third seat, between Saito Futaba and Shiki Maboro. It is a woman who has just turned 20 years old and sits with the GREAT7. Her name is Ruri Kanna

「I don’t know anything about this. 」

Ruri just shrugs her shoulders without a hint of concern when she meets the gazes of the five people who stand at the top of this island.

Ikkaku doesn’t pursue it any further, and turns his eyes to Ruri.

「Shiki, it’s your turn. 」

「What? You’re just going to sneak off to see Koma like you always do right? 」

Utsuki chuckles at Shiki who is sipping beer with her lips.

「Jeez, Shiki-chan is a real alcoholic. Your brain is rotton. 」

「Ah. What is it Utuski? 」

「Where is Koma-chan? 」

When Shiki shifts her gaze to the other side of Utsuki, Koma is sitting there smiling and waving.

「Then there’s no way Sansa-chan would come here. 」

「That’s right. I see what you mean. 」 , Shunjuu Ikkaku said to Shiki, who stood up from her chair with a sigh.

「I’m begging you, Nanaejima Comprehensive Security Honorary Advisor Shiki Maboro. 」

「Let me just say, I’m an honorary advisor, so I won’t be doing anything. 」

Shiki then throws up in the conference room then left with her subordinates.