3 bar menu

Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 5 Chapter 6.2

Yet I can’t find my voice. It’s because I’m twisted. It’s because I’m twisted that I think this way. If I get Tensai to do this for me, does it mean that everything I’ve done so far has been meaningless? I could ask for help from Tensai and Tensai could easily find the culprit, and Nanana-chan would be overjoyed. We would live happily ever after.

That would mean everything I’ve done was meaningless, and everything I’m doing now is meaningless.

「That’s not what I’m saying! 」

「W…what are you suddenly yelling Juugo? 」

Tensai looks surprised right in front of me. That’s right, because I suddenly shouted.

Aaaaa dang it. Why can’t I do what I know is right?

「Tensai. 」

「? What is it Juugo? 」

「Punch me really hard. 」

「…Huh? 」

「Punch me with all your might! 」

As I yelled this Tensai begins to rush at me.

「W..what are you talking about! I..I told you to tell me what the purpose of all this is! 」

「If you want to get my purpose out of me then hit me! 」

「Oh, so that’s what this is! Hah, no way. Juugo. Is this your fetish? 」

「? What now? 」

「Is your goal to get pleasure from being beaten up by girls? Is that it? Are you the same as Futoshi Oowada? 」

「What is wrong with you? How can you come to such a stupid conclusion you idiot detective! 」

「Then come on and say it without being punched! 」

「No, if we’ve gone this far then just do it! Please hit me! 」

「P..pervert! 」

「Dammit you are such a hassle! Just punch me! Then I’ll confess! That’s my rules ok! 」

At being shouted at so much Tensai timidly raises her fist as if she’s finally going to hit Juugo.

「Don’t regret this. 」

「I won’t」

And Tensai swings her fist.

Bop

I was hit in the stomach. Er, was I hit? It didn’t hurt at all. Was that a pulled punch?

「The pain! 」

After hitting me Tensai is holding her fist and in pain.

「I’m sorry… Are you ok? Does it hurt? 」

「Of course it hurts, that’s why I don’t like it. 」

「Um… I’m somehow, sorry? 」

When I saw the figure of Tensai who was tearful and pitiful looking, all of my previous thoughts began to fade away. It made me laugh.

Was I really being so stubborn because of a rivalry with this person?

I’m not going to make a fool of myself. The sharpness of the head of this Ikkyu Tensai is the best in the world. I wouldn’t tell her to her face but I think she is a great detective.

Even with that being the case she is just the cute powerless girl as she appears.

Is it worth it for me to be so stubborn in competing with a girl like this?

I don’t think so.

「It’s for Nanana-chan. 」

These words came out easily when I thought that way.

「…」

「I want to find the person who killed Nanana-chan. That’s why I’m looking for the Nanana Collection. So please help me find the password. With your ability you should be able to find the password to the 《game》… No, even before that, you should be able to unravel the incident that happened 10 years ago and find the culprit who killed Nanana-chan. 」

This was a once in a lifetime confession. To be honest, I was more nervous than I would be confessing to a girl. Apparently my determination to expose my feelings were far greater than the courage it takes to tell her that I liked her. Am I mentally ill?

And Tensai after hearing my confession…

「Hmph, that’s a boring answer. 」

I let out a sigh.

「Eh, boring? You just said it’s boring, Tensai-san!? 」

「Yeah, seriously. It’s really boring. 」

BAM

Shocked, I involuntarily crouch down holding my head. The mental damage that did was pretty serious.

「Hey Juugo. What’s with that unexpected answer? Don’t you have any more evil ambitions? As your rival I would have hoped you would at least say something about building an evil empire and going all out. 」

「No, um…」

「You doing it for Nanana-dono’s sake? Isn’t that exactly what you usually do? 」

I was puzzled.

「Um… is that true? 」

「If Nanana-dono wants to eat pudding, you get it out of the fridge. If you don’t have any left, you’ll run to the nearest convenience store whether it’s early in the morning or late at night. If she wants to play games, you will play games with her. If that’s not true then what is it? 」

「Well it’s true I do that… but that’s just normal. 」

「There’s no way that’s considered normal. Are you insane? 」

「Oh, I was just told I’m insane. I was told I was insane by a kid with bad ideas. 」

「Who is this kid with bad ideas you are talking about? 」

From that point on the complaints continued for awhile.

「Anyway, I understand what you are getting at now. And this is a good opportunity to tell you one thing. 」

「What’s that? 」

「It’s impossible for me to solve Nanana-dono’s case. 」

「…what do you mean? 」

「As I said. I didn’t solve that case. No, it would be more accurate to say I could not. 」

「Tensai, no way…」

「The Ryugajo Nanana Murder Case is the most famous cold case on the island of Nanaejima. As an aspiring detective, how could I not try? 」

If you are saying so it must be true. There’s no way that Tensai who claims to be a great detective would leave it alone.

「It was shortly before I met Juugo, when I first began my quest to become a great detective. I decided to solve that difficult case and make a spectacular debut as a great detective. Luckily, I was in an environment where I could browse all the materials from the case at the time. As a result I gave up after a week. 」

That was pretty shocking for me to hear.

To me, the great detective in front of me was like the strongest wild card that could instantly solve any difficult problem. I can’t believe that this great detective threw up her hands and gave up.

「Only for a week? Isn’t that too early to give up? 」

「Juugo, Nanana-dono’s incident happened ten years ago. And at the time all the events that were thought to be related to the incident were all investigated. 」

「It was a murder case remember? There is definitely a culprit, and there is no doubt that he killed Nanana-chan. If Tensai cannot solve the case with the materials of the time then there must have been an oversight. That’s because the people who looked into the case back then didn’t do a good job. 」

That’s when I there was a change.

The aura given off by Tensai had visibly changed. The temperature of the normally hot and energetic detective dropped drastically. It was a quiet anger.

Tensai opens her mouth but it she eerily quiet.

「Juugo, I have no intention of overestimating or underestimating myself. I assure you of that. I am capable. 」

What kind of stupid thing is she saying? I couldn’t believe it at this moment with those eyes and aura.

「But I don’t think I’m the most capable. Because I know people who are better than me. And ten years ago, the person who spearheaded the Nanana-dono case was the most capable person I know. He pulled out all the stops to find out who killed Nanana-dono. But he couldn’t find the culprit. 」

「But if YOU haven’t tried, it means nothing…」

「He said the same thing about himself. 」

「Then…」

「It’d been a year. 」

「…」

「He spent a year trying to model all the possibilities. Do you know what that means? Someone smarter than me spent a year trying to find the killer. The amount of material created in that case is more than 10 times the size of your room. But he was not satisfied with just researching the case, he wanted to know everything about each and every person on the island at the time of the incident, including their behavior and movements. In my opinion it was all a total waste. Waste, waste, a total waste.「

「…」

「Why do you think they did that? It’s simple. Even though they knew it was pointless they couldn’t stop. They couldn’t let go of the possibility that the culprit might be among them.

I couldn’t help but feel that the person’s actions were more than obsessive.

「If you understand then don’t ever say he didn’t do a good job. If you ever say something like that again I’ll never forgive you. 」

Tensai normally is indifferent to others. She doesn’t care what others do or think. But actually she does. She has an emotional attachment to a limited number of people. D’ark for instance. Despite what she says, Tensai cares a lot for D’ark. This isn’t concern for D’ark though. It’s more than that, she’s showing anger. It’s to protect the dignity of that person that Ikkyu Tensai is not behaving like normal.