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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 9 Chapter 1.2

「Yes. Although I can throw light attacks, they won’t be decisive. On the other hand, if I attack too much, he’ll keep throwing me.」

「I see, it certainly seems like he’s a very bad match for you right now, young man.」

It’s only because he’s the boss that he can make such a blunt assessment.

I ask, 「Is there any way to deal with this?」

「That’s right. The quickest way would be to leave it to Yukihime.」

The father casually puts his daughter on a platform.

「No, that’s not it…」

「But that’s probably the most reliable way.」

「Yeah, but I’m trying to deal with this myself.」

「I see. Well, let’s say…」

Then, as I continued to emulate Ikusaba, the boss grabbed me by the collar and right hand.

「I’ll start with a throw.」

Just like that, I was easily thrown into the air and slammed onto the tatami mat. Of course it was light, but it was unexpectedly easy to be flung onto the tatami mat.

「And now, ground moves.」

Then the boss showed off his quick body movements. And, before I knew it…

「No way!」

The boss was below me and had my arms and legs captured as I was flat back above him. I’d been hit by the Romero Special, a suspended torture hold. (TN: A wrestling move, also called a surfboard)

「Well, that’s about it.」

「This isn’t a ground move! It’s a wrestling move! Actually, put me down! I’ll probably spew the noodles I just ate.」

Finally freed, I collapse. And even though there’s a difference in skill between us, the boss is still terrifying, executing big moves so smoothly. And so…

「Um, then ground moves are prohibited?」

「There are a lot of restrictions.」

「Well, actually, I tried to take it to the ground too, but I failed.」

「You need more training.」

That’s not the issue, but I can’t need to mention that he used the Nanana collection and used a command to force me to fail.

「Well, how about this?」

As he urged me, I took up my emulated Ikusaba stance again, and the boss slowly came at me with a punch. It was a big swing too, making it the perfect target for a counter throw. I blocked the flying fist and tried to twist my body to transition into a throw. However…

「!」

His body stopped there. After all, the boss had stepped on my right foot.

「He can do whatever he wants after that.」

With him so close, he swings his fist again, but it’s difficult to block, let alone counter.

「Looking at his attacking style, he’s good at using his opponent’s strength and changing the direction of their force. So all we have to do is prevent him from doing that.」

The boss accomplished this by stepping on his opponent’s foot. Once again, the boss tried to stop on my foot again, but I quickly raised my right foot to avoid it. But the moment I loose my footing, a heavy blow comes flying. Of course I block it, but I can’t turn it into a counter throw.

「I’m sure you know this, young man, but there are several conditions for the opponent to activate a counter. In other words, a counter throw can only be successful if all of these conditions are met. So what are these conditions?」

「Well, the opponent’s center of gravity not being stable. And my own stance being set.」

「Well, strictly speaking there are other things, but that will do for now. In any case, the most important thing is the latter. Making sure your own posture is in order. If you are in a good stance you will be able to deal with any attack from your opponent. But on the other hand, if you don’t have that, you don’t have a chance. Your opponent is probably well aware of that as well. That’s probably why you got tossed around so easily young man.」

「You talk like you’ve seen him before.」

「He’s easy to imagine.」

It’s as if he knows everything about my personality and attack style. Just as you’d expect from Yukihime-neesan’s master. It goes to show, when I ask a higher-ranking person to analyze something that I had already analyzed to some extent myself, he discovers things that I had never realized.

「What are you all messing around in the living room for?」

After tidying up, Shirayuki-san comes back from the kitchen. So I asked her the same question.

「Hmmm, if that’s the case, I think it would be best to use Hime-chan.」

The mother is quick to hold her daughter up on a pedestal too.

「Well, but why do you two want to use your daughter so much?」

「Because We’re sure Hime-chan can do it.」

「That’s right.」

Shirayuki and the boss nod together. Is this what they call being a doting parent?

「Um, well, I’d rather do something about it myself if I can」, I say as I take a stance.

Shirayuki smiles at me.

「Yeah, if it were me, I’d shoot him to death.」

Shirayuki points her right index finger at me with a big smile and says ‘bang’.

「Um, well…」

「Well, if I get too close, I’ll get caught and thrown, right? So it’s best to attack from a distance.」

「Y..you’re right.」

「Well, it’s true that handguns are a little expensive, and it’s hard to get a hold of them. So why not just throw a bunch of blades?」

「Long-distance attacks?」

「But the opponent basically counters the first attack thrown right? There’s no need to go out of you way to attack your opponent in a way that benefits him right?」

「Y..your right.」

「If you ask Shirayuki-san, that kid is the smallest of small fry.」

You’re calling Ikusaba-san a small fry?

In that case.

「Well, let’s go without long-range attacks.」

「There are a lot of restrictions.」

Ikusaba-san has the <<light bow>>, so long-range attacks are not safe.

「So what do you think?」

「Hmm, how about a poison needle?」

「P..poison needle?」

「Well, if you go for a punch, he’ll definitely grab you, right? So if you put a poisonous needle in your wrist, it will stab him automatically. It’s my sure-fire kill, a counter to a counter.」

Well, Shirayuki-san smiles innocently.

「Well, it’s a bad idea because you’ll still probably get thrown」, she adds.

Either way, it’s a completely different idea. As expected from a former assassin.

Anyway, I ask the 2 masters a question.

「What should I do to win?」

「Increase the number of movies you can use.」

「Don’t get stubborn about grappling. Learn how to use weapons and things like that.」

「You need to be aware of offence and defense and be flexible in your response.」

「You just need to stop going in for punches like an idiot.」

「You need to learn how to fight to your advantage.」

「In your case, young master, you need to understand how to use your wasted stamina.」

All sorts of opinions were flying around.

「Um, so does using your stamina mean winning by a test of endurance?」

I can only imagine a fight with no guarding. A test of endurance. And the one who is left standing at the end is the one with the most stamina.

The boss shook his head at this opinion, and Shirayuki sighed.

The boss started pointing out something to me that seemed out of place.

「Listen, young man. The advantage of having stamina is not being patient. It’s being able to keep moving more than other people, which means you have more opportunities than others.」

「More opportunities?」

「It’s an analogy. Go from here to the nearby river to get a bucket of water and come back. An ordinary person can only do it five times, but since you have more stamina, you can do it ten times. This means that even when an ordinary person gets tired and can’t move, you are still healthy and can keep moving.

「I see. That applies to any action.」

「This is an advantage for you, young man. But at the same time, this is only in theory. Because there are certain conditions under which this advantage disappears.」

「Conditions?」

「When your condition is no longer perfect. For example, in the previous example, let’s say that on the third trip to the river to get water, you get injured and have to stop. Then you can’t move as much as even a normal person. In other words, the advantage of your stamina is something that loses its purpose.」

I see, that’s one way of thinking about it.

「If you want to make the most of your physical strength, you should avoid situations where you take damage as much as possible. It’s a whole different level of difficulty to being patient or tough. You shouldn’t make the mistake of willingly getting into a fistfight.」

Ugh, I feel like my thoughts are transparent to them.

「That’s right, young man. A thief isn’t a thief until he returns home with the goods.」