3 bar menu

Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 8 Chapter 3.7

This narrowed down Tetsunoshin’s options to two. Well, really he could do anything he wants but Ikusaba’s suggestions made it feel like the only options were just to wait, or to challenge them two on one. Knowing his answer though, they wouldn’t have to worry about a sudden and unexpected attack. At least they’ll be able to stay calm while waiting for the passage to open.

It would be tough to take on Ageha Kachou, who uses multiple nanana Collections such as <<humpty dumpty>>  (which is a powerful barrier), but in some ways it’s even tougher to deal with Tsujimi Tetsunoshin and the katana hanging from his waist. If we were to fight right now, I’d have no choice but to play my trump card.

Ikusaba clenched his left hand lightly.There was a white piece of cloth called a hand guard attached to it, which was not supposed to have been worn until the second stage.

6

Past the blocked doors and down a hallway is a room with a treasure chest. On a tall pedestal in the center of the spacious square room was a treasure chest, a familiar sight in the <<ruins>>. Assumedly it contained the <<sword of Nanana>> , the prize for winning this <<game>>.

「Fu fu fu, Juugo. It seems the time has finally come for us to decide who will be the victor.」

Anyways, I started by surveying the room. While remaining cautious, I made my way towards the pedestal, which seemed to be at least twice my height.

「This room with the treasure chests will be the stage for the battle between me and Juugo.」

I climbed the stairs of the hill-shaped pedestal and checked the treasure chest first. There didn’t seem to be any traps that would be triggered by touching the treasure chest. …It’s locked. How do I open it?

「The time has finally come to put an end to tonight’s long <<game>>.」

I walked around the edge of the pedestal and looked around the room. Then, looking from the entrance hallway, I noticed two large switches on either side of the pedestal, the type that a person would stand on to activate them. I decided to jump off the pedestal and investigate.

「Here we go… I, the Great Detective Ikkyu Tensai won’t run or hide!」

I tried stepping on the switch but nothing happened. When I removed my foot, the switch rose up again. I went around to the other side of the base and checked the other switch. Same thing there.

「The time has come!」

I see, so the treasure chest is unlocked when two people step on both of these switches at the same time. That’s why the plate said ‘two people are needed’.

「Now, let’s settle this, Juugo! Either I will win in style, or you will be defeated miserably!」

「Ah, shut it! What have you been doing talking to yourself while following me around all this time? I’m currently investigating various things, so be quiet for a bit! And that last thing you said, those are both the same option! No matter which of those things happened I’d lose, and that’s freaking annoying me!」

「A great detective never loses!」

「Oh yeah, of course.」

「Ugh! What’s with that insincere comment? Don’t just brush me off!」

「There’s only one entrance. But with this structure, is there a way to do it?」

「What are you muttering about as you ignore what I’m saying? Time to get to work, Juugo!」

While Tensai is making such a fuss I say, 「Hey Tensai.」

「Hmph, so now you show some attention.

「Give me your hand.」

「….what?」

「Just please help me with what I’m going to do now.」

After a moment of silence.

「Hmph, don’t be ridiculous!」

「Ok.」

The Great Detective started to yell.

「You had hidden a message in that bag saying, ‘We’ll have a showdown between the two of us in the end’, and that’s why I betrayed Ageha-dono!」

She was talking about the note I had put in the cloth bag I had tossed to her, along with the two key fragments. It contained what was written on the plate I had removed from between the doors earlier, and the message Tensai had just mentioned.

「Oh, that was a lie.」

「G…gaaaaah!!」

The indignant Tensai came at me punching. ……However, since it was just the punches of a spoiled child, it didn’t do any damage at all.

「You’ve toyed with me again!」

「What do you mean, again? Again!? Don’t say such rude things!」

「No, no! Let’s fight Juugo! I want to fight so let’s fight!」

「What a spoiled child. You have a triangle mouth and are flailing your arms around.」

「Shut up! I only participated in tonight’s <<game>> to compete against you, Juugo! And then… and then…!」

「Yeah, I feel really bad about that, but anyway, even if we have a fight there’s only you and me here, Tensai.」

「Gah.」 Tensai choked on his point.

「No one is watching, and frankly, it won’t be noticed by anyone.」

Upon hearing that, Tensai began to tremble.

「And that’s why…」

「Hmmm? Why what?」

「That’s why the second stage was so good! The black and white style of the match, broadcast live on television, was perfect! There couldn’t have been a more suitable stage for us to settle things! And yet you… YOU!!」

「Well, it can’t be helped. At the time, outwitting M was my top priority.」

「Who means more to you? M or me?」

「Don’t pose that question in such a weird way! Oh, I already understand though! Next time, I’ll challenge you to a duel! Alright!?!?」

「And when will be next time? I won’t trust you unless you can give me a real promise! I won’t let you fool me again!」

「Don’t react like a girlfriend who got stood up on a date!」

「W..wh..who are you calling your girlfriend!?」

「It’s just an analogy, so stop over reacting to every little thing I say! Look, you are all red in the face and dazed. This is embarrassing for me!」

「Don’t be embarrassed!」

「That’s my line!」

「Nyaaaa!」

「You are so confusing, why are you blurting out this nonsense!?」

This exchange had continued for some time, and eventually it cooled down.

「So? You ask me to help you, but what exactly are you planning to do now?」

The great detective exudes a very sulky aura and glares at me with a very suspicious look in her eyes. And so I answer the question.

「I’m picking a fight with the leprechauns.」

Upon hearing my declaration, Tensai’s eyes widened for a moment, then she began to think, ‘hmmm’.

「…How much thought did you put into that statement?」

「For now, it’s just the immediate future, but I have a feeling it’s going to be more than that.」

Seeing my wry smile as I comment, Tensai asks with a serious expression, 「Is that really okay? Couldn’t that lead to very bad developments for you, Juugo?」

Her mind was quick as ever. She pinpoints exactly what I’m worried about.

「Yes, I suppose so. But I don’t have time to investigate the whole long term consequences, and I don’t have the ability to talk to them directly. Still, the die has to be cast now.」

「….Kekeke, NYAHAHAHA!」

Yes, there it was. The strange laughter of Tensai. Well, the fact that it came out must mean that she really liked my idea.

「Very well. I’ll listen to what you have to say.」

7

Tensai and I face off in the treasure chamber.

「Before we talk about the whole plan, let’s first confirm the current situation. The objective of the Leprechauns, the organizers of this <<game>>, is clear. To retrieve the Nanana collection that we participants brought. The grand prize, the rare Nanana collection, <<sword of Nanana>>, is the bait to attract us. And the one who will actually carry out the whole thing is Yun-chan, also known as M, who also participated in the <<game>> as the organizer.」

「However, that plan failed. Due to Asumi’s scheme, M was defeated in the second stage.」

「And then Nanika made her next move.」

「What is Nanika?」

「He’s the one who’s been talking to Yun-chan all this time. And I think he’s the one controlling Yun-chan’s body right now.」

「Hmm, like when Nanana-dono did it, I had a feeling that the current M was someone other than Saki Yoshino… but should we call that someone Naniko? Well, that’s fine. So then? What is the next move for that Naniko?」 (TN: Naniko means something)

「It’s Tetsu-kun.」

「I see. So he used Saki Yoshino as bait to threaten Tetsunoshin, telling him to ‘win and bring me the sword’. That means Nanika is not planning on handing over the <<sword of Nanana>> to the rest of us at least.」

「Probably.」

「But he’s going about it in a roundabout way. Now that M has lost the <<game>> and it’s impossible to retrieve our Nanana collection, there’s no point for the leprechauns to continue the <<game>>. You don’t need to go to the trouble of using Tetsunoshin, you can just get rid of us all here in the <<ruins>>.」