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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 6 Chapter 4.3

「The only saving grace is that each of us only bet two coins this game, 」 he said, effectively declaring defeat.

The twins giggled when they heard that.

「There’s no helping it. 」 「After all, there’s no way we’ll get the wrong answer. 」

Then something caught my attention.

「…name. 」

「Huh? 」 「What is it, evil eyes oniisan?? 」

「What’s the name of your twin? 」

The one whose name I was asking for was the twin without glasses.

The twin who was asked becomes suspicious, but after a moment she says her name.

「Hanae Nakajima is it? 」

「Hmmm, I see. Remember that Tetsu-kun. 」

「Yo Juugo. Why are you telling me this? 」

「No, I’m saying we aren’t going to win this thing, so you might as well remember the name of the girl you like before we go home. I’m such a good friend. 」

Hanae-chan giggles at my silly advice.

「Oh? So oniisan likes me? I’m so happy. I’m the kind of girl who likes my oniisan. 」

Tetsu-kun looks annoyed by Hanae-chan’s smile. Even the girl with glasses seems to be enjoying this saying, ‘It’s OK’. For some reason gorokuma flashes his fangs and starts growling, but why is that?

「So, I’d like to give you my name as well, I’m…」

「Ah, glasses-chan is fine. There’s no real reason to know your name. 」

The girl with glasses looked annoyed when I interrupted her. Hanae also looked annoyed saying, 「That’s enough. 」

「How about we end this battle as soon as possible. 」

He urges gorokuma to hurry up with the next question, while playing with the marker with his fingers.

The match resumes. Gorokum, who was for some reason baring his fangs at Tetsu-kun, writes the next problem on the white board and holds it up.

Fourth Question

Tell me the name of your favorite flower.

30 second time limit.

The other three immediately started writing on the whiteboard.

「Opps, sorry. 」

I had accidentally dropped the marker I was playing with using my fingers.

I bent over to pick up my pen in a hurry when I saw gorokuma looking at me as if to say, ‘what the hell are you doing?’ As I was about to pick up the pen I shouted, 「Hanae-chan! There’s a huge spider by your feet! 」

「Chyaaaaa」 「Chyaaaaa」

Hanae-chan screamed as she threw the whiteboard and jumped out of her desk.

「W..where!? 」 「W..where!? 」

She looks down at her feet scared.

There was another person who screamed and panicked just like Hanae-chan though.

Glasses-chan, who was also looking around for the spider, also had a very frightened look on her face, just like Hanae-chan.

「Ah, sorry. I was mistaken. 」

The two of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

「Please don’t scare me like that. 」 「Never again. 」

「But why were you so scared glasses-chan? I said it was by Hanae-chan, didn’t I? 」

The two of them had an ‘uh-oh’ expression when I brought up this point. Tetsu-kun and gorokuma were surprised and asked, 「What do you mean? 」

「Yes, I have a question for referee gorokuma. This match is a two on two showdown right? 」

Gorokuma nods as if to say, ‘Um, what are you talking about?’

「It’s a two on two showdown between participants right? 」

Gorokura nods as if to say, ‘Yeah it is, so…’

Unlike gorokuma though, there were two people whose complexions changed noticeably.

I ask one of them, 「Hey Hanae-chan. Glasses-chan has a Nanana collection right? 」

「W..what are you talking about? 」 「Y..yes that’s right. You are making a false accusation. 」

The two of them are clearly upset.

「I remember seeing Hane-chan earlier at times, but I don’t remember seeing the glasses-chan at all. 」

「Well maybe it’s because we are twins that you are mistaken? 」

「No, I’m sure I would remember a girl with glasses more than you. I’m a glasses enthusiast after all. There’s no way I’d miss out on such a cute girl in glasses. But why didn’t I see her? That’s because she never existed to begin with. 」

Tetsu-kun nods in agreement with my explanation.

「Regardless of Juugo’s fetishes, it would have certainly left an impression on me if I had seen twins. But I don’t remember that either. 」

「That’s bullshit! 」 「That’s right? What proof do you have of this? 」

「Hanae-chan, you participated in M‘s victory strategy seminar didn’t you? Then you followed M‘s advice and chose this battle area. In other words, this battle area is the place where Hanae-chan’s Nanana collection work the best. 」

「But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re using the same Nanana collections! There’s also a possibility that the two of them are using other Nanana collections.

「That’s right! That’s right! 」

「Well I thought about that too, but there’s one thing that just doesn’t make sense to me. 」

「What’s that? 」

「Why was the number of coins bet 4? 」

「! 」

Hanae-chan and her twin have nervous expressions on their faces. On the other hand Tetsu-kun tilts his head in confusion.

「What’s weird about that Juugo? 」

「Because if Hanae and Glasses-chan are really twins, and they both are participating in the 《game》, then they would want to be the max of 8 coins, not 4. That way they would double up in one battle. 」

「That’s true, but wouldn’t they bet half that much just in case they lost? If they bet all their coins and lose then it’s all over. 」

「No, that’s not likely. If Hanae-chan, like the other participants, had found a battle area where she had an advantage and called out to other participants, that needs to be considered. If you think about it, the person inviting should have an overwhelming advantage, but depending on the compatibility of the Nanana collection, the invited person may be able to compete in the battle area as well. 」

「I see. The person being invited could also know the content of the battle area at the time of being invited, so they could be choosing an area they have an advantage in. They could either pass on the invitations if they are at a disadvantage. Or accept the battle if they think they will win. 」

「That’s right, but our case is different than that right? We were lured into this battle area and forced to compete. We happen to know each other, but we were invited here completely separately. It was probably expected that two strangers would be forced to team up. 」

I continued my theory while looking at Hanae-chan, who closed her mouth.

「In this case, the people invited would be at an overwhelming disadvantage. In fact there’s no chance of winning. For Hanae-chan it’s a battle she can’t lose. 」

「I see. 」

「Even though this was so carefully planned out, why was there only 4 coins bet? That’s because she bet her entire amount, which was only 4. 」

Hanae-chan doesn’t say anything. Her eyes are wondering around as she thinks of what to do. It’s exactly the same for the girl in the glasses.

He decides to appeal to gorokuma before Hanae-chan can gather her thoughts.

「Since she is using a Nanana collection to create a clone, this is not a two on two battle, but a one on two battle. In other words, this is clearly In violation of the rules and should be a loss for Hanae-chan. 」

「W..wait a second! B…but remember that you can use the Nanana collection at any time. 」

「That’s right, this isn’t a violation! 」

Hanae-chan and glasses-chan hurry to make this argument. With that statement she is admitting that she used her Nanana collection to create a double.

「That doesn’t mean you can break the rules of this specific battle area though. This is also lying to gorokuma who is the referee. 」

「I didn’t mean to! 」「This is just another tactic! 」

The two of them stopped being so polite and started shouting down my opinion, it made me laugh.

「Aren’t these excuses getting ugly? 」

「It’s not an excuse! 」 「Exactly! That’s rude! 」

「Well, let’s leave that decision to the referee. 」

I then looked at gorokuma, who had its arms crossed as if to say ‘Hmm, what should I do?’ Eventually gorokuma raised both its hands, just like at the start of the match, and shouted 「Kisha! 」

Tetsu-kun and I were in the direction of gorokuma’s raised hands.

And…

「It looks like my point got through. You lose because of the rules violation, so we win. Isn’t that what you are saying gorokuma? 」

Gorokuma gives a big nod.

「That’s a lie! I was so close to winning. 」

「Yeah, that’s right. Think about it again. 」

In response to these two identical complains, gorokuma shook it’s head as if to say 「No, you lose. 」

2

The battle was over and Tetsu-kun and I each got two coins, making for a total of 6 coins. On the other hand, Hanae-chan who lost all her coins was now eliminated from the 《game》.

「I can’t believe it. 」 「I didn’t think I’d come so far just to lose. 」

The two of them completely stopped using polite speak, and talked more plainly. Now that I can see Hanae-chan and glasses-chan standing side by side without her glasses, it’s amazing how they look exactly the same.