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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 6 Chapter 5.1

Episode 5: Middle of the First Stage, Those Who Hate Great Detectives

1

「You seem to have a lot of free time, don’t you.」

It was 1:30 A.M., the halfway point of the first stage. As I was relaxing on a bench in the square, a famous detective happened to be passing by and approached me. Tetsu-kun, who was with me, seemed to get a hint and said, 「I’m going to look around for a bit」, and then left.

「That’s not true. I’m just taking a short break from the intense battles I’ve been having with the other participants.」

Yeah, that’s a lie. I have just been sitting here since the fun quiz battle with Hanae.

「Oh, working hard then.」

The great detective gives a fearless smile. Ah, I guess she found out I was lying after all.

「What about you Tensai.」

「Hmph…. I’d say I’m off to a good start.」

「How many do you have now.」

「13 coins.」

「Eh? That means you’ve already cleared the stage.」

「Well yeah, that’s how it is.」

The detective beams when she sees the expression on my face.  You just wanted to brag to someone, didn’t you? Even though I thought this, I was still quite scared inside.

I was scared because unlike the other participants (including me), Tensai does not have a Nanana collection. Well she has the《amulet to ward off evil》, but it’s of no use anyways.

However she already has 13 coins. I wonder if she won 2 games with 4 coin bets?

That means she won battles against the participants that went to M‘s sure to win strategy seminar without even using a Nanana collection.

「You’re seriously amazing.」

「Ahh yes, amazing.」

Yeah, this kid is really lacking in humbleness. How can she say something like that out loud?

「Well then, I’ll be waiting for you in that castle, my worthy rival! That is the stage where we will decide if you are a match for me or not.」

「Yes, yes, I get it. Please stop shouting stuff like that in public. It’s embarrassing.」

I say it again though as she disappears behind me.

「That detective really is amazing.」

「She’s really amazing right, that crazy girl.」

A sudden voice from behind startles me.

When I turned around there was a foreign guy standing there with a big smile on his face. If I remember correctly he was with Nishi-san and the others. Wait a minute, I didn’t feel his presence at all. This guy is not to be trifled with.

「…actually, are you Ishbal.」

「Och aye, Juugo. Ya wee eejit. 」

Seeing the foreigner laughing out loud made me sigh.

「Stop talking like that. You are fluent in Japanese aren’t you.」

「I can’t help it, I’m playing this kind of character right now. Also, don’t call me Ishbal here. My name is Neidhardt D. Polnareff. My nickname is Haruto.」

The foreigner struck a strange pose and began speaking Japanese effortlessly.

「What’s with that fake name? You’ve read too many manga. I mean, what are you doing here, the heir of a European grave-robbing family.」

「I’ll ask you the same. What are you doing here, the heir to a gentleman thief family from the far east.」

After that sarcastic retort came back, we couldn’t help but glare at each other. Then we immediately admitted defeat.

「I’m sorry, next head of the venerable House of Kornahl.」

「You already know, next leader of the proud Yama clan.

「Oh by the way, I was disowned.」

「Seriously?! What happened?.」

「Adolescence.」

「I don’t understand.」

The person who sat down next to me was actually named Isbal Kornahl. He was the youngest member of a family of gentlemen thieves, and a man I knew quite well.」

The current head of the Kornahl family, Ishbal’s father, and my father are good friends and have been for some time now. Friendships in the underworld tend to be for show only, never knowing when they will be betrayed, but not with my father and his. I remember hearing my father say, 「After many battles over the same prey, we are true friends who have respect for each other.」

Because of this, our two families have a close relationship. Ishbal and his younger sister Ulysses even stayed at my house for about six months when I was in elementary school.

It’s been a long time though. Last time we met was when I was still in middle school.

「Well, unlike our sisters, we don’t keep in touch often.」

When I look at our sisters, who are very close even though they live halfway around the world, I am impressed at their dedication.

「I never thought we would meet again like this.」

「That’s my line. I didn’t know until recently that you came to this island, Juugo. I met Yukihime soon after arriving on the island, but she was acting cold and wouldn’t tell me anything.」

By the way, this guy is a really persistent playboy who had been dumped by Yukihime-neesan when he was a child, but he still continues to pursue her undeterred. If it wasn’t for our friendship I’d be beating him up right now.

「When did you get to this island Ishbal… I mean Haruto.」

「Last year.」

「Why the fake name.」

「It’s too basic right.」

「Well since there is no point in trying to play mind games with each other, I’ll just ask you straight. Is your goal really to get the Nanana Collection.」

「It is. Isn’t it the same for you Juugo.」

「As it happens, it is.」

Even though I answered yes, there is one thing that honestly surprises me.

「I had no idea that the rumors about the Nanana collection had spread all over the world.」

It is truly amazing that people working in the underground all the way in Europe have come here.

「No, that’s not correct. It’s just a coincidence that I ended up here.」

「Oh really? What’s going on then?」

「In the last few years, some new ancient ruins have been discovered in our industry… grave robbing… But the funny thing is that the treasures are all empty.」

「Doesn’t that mean that someone already pilfered that grave.」

It isn’t considered grave theft unless it is carried out before it is discovered by an official archeological team. Therefore they need to organize the information and identify the excavation site before the experts do. However if they did all that and found nothing means that there was a person who stole the treasure first.

「Thanks to this we have been running a large deficit recently. Burglary isn’t free either.」

I’d like to say that doing bad things and suffering losses is just karma, but I promise not to mention that out loud in this world.

Haruto continues, 「And it’s not just us. Every group that engages in the grave robbing business are continuing to take losses. It is impossible to say for certain because we can’t integrate accurate information, but it seems that over the past 10 years, even though new ancient ruins have been discovered, there hasn’t been a single treasure found in them. This is truly a horrible situation.」

「Hmmm… the past 10 years?

「I was curious why this was the case so I asked around the towns and villages near those ancient ruins. There was a strange commonality in the information I got.」

「Commonality.」

「Every place had a story about an oriental girl who came from Japan. If I asked them when they would say it was more than 10 years ago, but it seemed to have made a strong impression on them so most people remembered it.」

Hmm? Is that strange?

「But that’s not all. There used to be a strange rumor in the grave robbing industry. Little girls from the East would appear everywhere, discovering vast treasures out of nowhere, and then disappearing into thin air.」

Hm? Hmmmmm?

「Eventually they got into a fight with some big organization for the treasure, and ended up destroying that organization.」

「That’s not possible.」

I mean, definitely, that’s…

「When I looked into it, I found out the identity. It was a girl named Ryugajou Nanana. At the time, the bounty on her head was 100 million.」

「 100 million?」

「Not in yen, in dollars.」

「No way, a Hundred Million Dollars!」

Seriously Nanana-chan! What kind of things did you do during your lifetime?

「What kind of monster was she!」

「A monster? That’s not right. She’s just a cute girl.」

「What? How can you say that like you know her? She’s been dead for 10 years now.」

Yeah, she’s still an Earthbound Spirit at my home.

「So? Why a monster?」

「It’s only been 3 years.」

「? What.」

「That is about the time when Ryugajou Nanana was traveling around the world.」

「? So.」