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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 8 Chapter 6.5

While I continue to charge, Ikusaba-san calmly draws his <<bow of light>>. Ikusaba-san’s hand is in a shape that would indicate shooting a scattershot, that will scatter a bunch of arrows over a wide range. He’s preparing for unforeseen circumstances with this, and is sure that at least some of the arrows will hit.

I’m going to try to create an incredibly unforeseen situation. Yeah, for example, throwing the <<sword of Nanana>> that I was carrying.

「Wha!?」

While still holding up <<Yuugutoth’s one eye>> in my left hand, I swing the <<sword of Nanana>> with my right. Of course Ikusaba-san dodges it.

Damn you, why did you squat? I glare at him.

By this time, I had put <<Yuugutoth’s one eye>> away in my pocket and glared at Ikusaba-san as I closed the distance. 3 more meters.

At this point, Ikusaba-san releases the <<bow of light>> that he had deployed in his left hand and prepared. He was in a familiar judo stance.

I was planning to use the momentum of my running to knock him flying, but if I continued to attack this way, I would definitely become Ikusaba-san’s prey. This is checkmate.

This, also, was within Ikusaba-san’s expectations.

POP

So he was hit with an unexpected attack. With the sound of the pop, Ikusaba-san’s head twists to the left.

「This is payback for what you did earlier, hehe.」

Kira, the demon girl, collapsed to the ground, stretched out a single string with both hands, and plucked it towards Ikusaba-san. This is Kira’s Nanana collection <<onka no koto>>, which can apparently play sounds from a distance. Normally multiple strings are used to achieve precise aim, but with a single string, it’s only possible to fire in a straight line. But that is enough.

The explosion of sound that popped next to his right ear definitely caught him off guard, completely throwing him off balance. That was the plan I had come up with, a spontaneous performance that would leave everything to chance.

And there was only one thing that would finish off the attack.

「Orryyaaaaaaa!」

I punch Ikusaba-san with all my might. Using the momentum of my running, my right fist wings out and hits the left side of Ikusaba-san’s face, who was off guard as a sound pops by his right ear.

Alright, perfect timing.

CRACK

And then my right fist hit’s Ikusaba-san’s face.

That’s it!

GLARE

「!」

That terrified me. The moment my fist hit his face, Ikusaba-san’s eyes glared at me. Somehow I just knew this was bad.

Ikusaba-san’s head was knocked back by the force of the punch, but he held his ground.

Then his left hand grabbed my right wrist that had just punched him.

Hey now, are you serious?

The first thing that came to my mind was the intense pain of being thrown by him in the underground <<ruin>>.

In the end, this is a test of endurance. Will my fist be too much for Ikusaba-san or will his throws end me?

「Whoaaa!」

「…..gah.」

「Groooooowl!」

At that moment, and with a tremendous roar, a huge white body charged in from the side. It pushed forward, knocking Ikusaba-san to the ground, then placed one large foot on his back pinning him.

As for me, I was bounced off the fur of the huge white body, stepped back, and froze. Yes, I froze. That’s because there was a three-meter long white tiger in front of me. And I am being glared at by that suddenly appearing white tiger.

「um… hi.」

CLINK

Then I heard that sound from behind me, and somehow I had a terrible feeling.

「Yes, checkmate.」

I slowly turned around.

「No way.」

There stood Sansa Kurosu, gun at the ready.

3

「What do you mean, Sansa-san?」

「Exactly what I said. Can’t you see?」

Sansa-san, holding her gun, laughs without any sign of remorse.

「Um, why?」

「My latest obsession is making other people efforts go to waste.」

No, no , no, no….

「I didn’t hear anything about you having a gun.」

「I told you, my fighting power is only 5.」

How can I tell from that?

「And what is this big white tiger? It’s clearly a usable pawn.」

「That’s not a pawn. It’s my pet.」

「I wouldn’t betray someone I formed an alliance with.」

「Hey, didn’t your dad teach you not to trust bad people?」

You’re right. Actually, why didn’t I realize that?

The purpose of teaming up with me wasn’t to defeat the more troublesome opponent (Ikusaba-san) together, but to goad me into fighting Ikusaba-san so that she could backstab both of us. Did this happen because she asked me to team up? Because she gave me the lead?

「Unfortunately, I’m not very good at rough things.」

So after defeating Ikusaba-san, did I think I could handle her? No way! Am I stupid?! Her forte is bargaining with others!

「Don’t look like you’ve been fooled by Fujiko-chan.」 (TN: This is referring to Fujiko from Lupin the 3rd)

「I think Fujiko-chan has a nicer body than you.」

BLAM

「Uh, what?」

「You’ve got to be kidding me! I’m not even a threat! You seriously shot me in the leg!」

I was really shot in the right thigh. It was a rubber bullet, so I didn’t bleed, but it hurt like crazy.

「I’m just like you, Juugo Yama. I couldn’t handle it on my own, so I just improvised with whatever came my way.」

「No, no, that’s definitely not love.」

「Of course not. Because I don’t love you.」

Seriously, don’t just say that.

There’s no point in regretting it. Think, think, think of something. What can I do? Is there anything?

「You want to use Ikusaba? Stop it, he’s half-conscious. And the white tiger is holding him down, and even though he can barely breath, he can’t make a sound. He should understand what would happen if he even let out a sigh.」

I was startled. How did she know what I was thinking?

「That’s because I’m Kurosu-san.」

She read my mind…. No, that’s not it, she saw right through me. She stole a peek at me. All it took was a quick glance at Ikusaba-san.

「Your field of vision can actually tell me a lot. Even the most minute movement of your eyes can reveal your intentions. Don’t even think about trying to keep from moving your eyes. It’s nonsense to try to control conditioned reflexes. In the first place, it’s impossible to deceive me with something like that.」

Sansa’s words, as if she had seen through my thoughts and even predicted what I haven’t even thought yet, left me unable to move. That’s why I feel so strongly that Sansa Kurosu had everything in her hands.

「Are you giving up already? Then the championship match you proposed is over. If you obediently hand over the <<sword of Nanana>>, I won’t be rough with you anymore.」

Sansa looks very calm as she is pointing her gun at me. I can understand her attitude and her words, but….

「But I can’t just say ‘sure, I understand’ and give up. I absolutely have to take that sword home with me.」

I glance at the <<sword of Nanana>>, which had stuck into the flowerbed when I’d thrown it.

「Why?」

「I have to use this to find the culprit who killed Nanana-chan.」

At this, Sansa-san’s one eye widens.

「You are… searching for the culprit who killed Nanana?」

Sansa-san looks surprised, or even confused. An unexpected reaction. Maybe she’ll let this one slide…

「Hmm, well, I’m sorry about that this time. Try another method.」

…But then Sansa-san just brushes it off with her usual expression. Or rather, isn’t that reaction a bit too subtle?

「Maybe you aren’t that interested in who killed Nanana-chan, Sansa-san?」

「Well, that’s a closed issue for me.」

「It’s closed?」

「Not just to me. To us.」

Who is us? I wondered, but I was a little annoyed inside at the way Sansa-san spoke. That’s why I put my hands into my pockets.

「Hey, don’t do anything weird….」

While she was saying that, I slowly took it out. What is it? The blue jewel, <<Yuugutoth’s one eye.>>

「What are you planning?」

「Well, what am I planning?」

Sansa aims her gun at me, and I aim <<Yuugutoth’s one eye>> at her.

「You think that’ll do anything?」

「Yeah, you can talk as much as you like, but be careful. If you ask the wrong question and unintentionally find out whether I’m telling the truth, you’ll definitely lose your remaining eye.」

With that, the 100% pure villain shut her mouth and glared at me with cold eyes. Yeah, I’m keenly aware now that I’m the one who made her shut her mouth.

There are so many scary things about Sansa-san. Her eyes that can see through you. Her wicked mind. Above all, her speaking skills that allow her to easily get into other people’s heads. This is extremely troublesome.

Just a moment ago, I had felt intimidated that she had seen through my thoughts and predicted my actions. Upon hearing her words, I assumed that she had in fact done that. But that’s an illusion.