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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 9 Chapter 1.3

「No, Shirayuki-san. You’re talking like it’s just a field trip… In the first place, I was disowned so I won’t take over <<Matsuri>>, and I don’t have any interest in thieving…」

「But it seems you were quite active on Nanaejima.」

The boss pointed this out firmly, and I instinctively looked away.

「Besides, Shirayuki-san is right, young man.」

「Really?」

I was surprised, but Shirayuki-san seemed happy that he agreed with her. The boss  nodded, poking me on the shoulder.

「The point is, it’s about how you define your goal. We are thieves after all. It’s not over once we’ve defeated our opponent. It’s not over once we get the prize we’re after. It’s not victory until we bring it back safely. Until then, you haven’t won. If you fail at any point, you’ll be caught and that’s the end of you as a thief. The same can be said for you, young man. Is your goal to win a fistfight?」

Well, putting aside the analogy, that logic is convincing. What I’ve been doing somewhat vaguely and intuitively up until now, when put into words and made conscious, seems to have taken definite shape within me.

Experience and knowledge are not just something you read about, they only become your own when you understand and accept them. Even if something is common knowledge and everyone seems to know it, it shouldn’t be just accepted. It should be understood why it became common knowledge.

How should I put it, I felt like my awareness had changed. This was the moment when I realized the difference between my own common sense and the common sense of the rest of the world. It was the moment when I realized that my thoughts in the past were indeed those of a child, and that my thoughts now (the newly discovered adult common sense of this world) are a little more adult.

As I was immersed in such sentimentality, the boss spoke to me in the same unchanged tone.

「Then in the afternoon, let’s practice what we’re good at. Please run to the top of the mountain behind our house and back as usual.」

It’s still as tough as ever. By the way, the ‘mountain behind our house’ the boss mentioned is a fairly large and high mountain that stands a little distance away, and even if you take a paved road it will take about an hour to reach the top.

「Okay. Understood. I’ll make sure to run up the unpaved mountain path.

「If possible, try to take a different route than yesterday.」

「Okay, I’ll get ready.」

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「Are you alright, young master?」

Under the midsummer sun, Shirayuki sighs as she watches Juugo running away.

Juugo (who had gone to Nanaejima) suddenly shown up two weeks ago… no, he returned.

「Boss, could you please train me for a while?」

For the next two weeks, Juugo endured Genzo’s tough training without a word of complaint.

「I wonder what on earth happened on Nanaejima that made him want to train so desperately.」

「Well then.」

To both Shirayuki, who was watching from the sidelines or Genzo, who is training him, Juugo’s dedication to training is something terrifying.

「It looks like he’s trying to shake something off.」

He’s desperately struggling, as if trying to shake off something that’s entangled him, as if trying to escape. That’s how it looks to Shirayuki.

「Not really.」

「What do you mean, Genzo-san?」

「I’m sure he’s worried and struggling. But I don’t think that’s all there is to it. He is desperately trying to find an answer.」

In response to Genzo’s words, Shirayuki smiles and says, 「That’s true.」

「No matter what you say, he’s a very honest boy.」

Genzo nods, gazing at Juugo, who is about to disappear from sight.

「You’re just like Juugo in that respect.」

Juugo asks her beloved husband, 「Do you still need to tell young master about that?」

「Young master has been missing since he left Nanaejima. He’s not here. What’s here is a young man searching for his own path.」

Shirayuki smiles at Genzo’s words.

「He’s a real troublesome young man.」

「Well, he will get over that eventually. You master is smart, but he’s a bit of a fool.」

「That may be true.」

「You’re just like Juugo in that way.」

3

「Ah, I feel revived.」

I washed away the fatigue of the day in the spacious cypress bath, which the boss was proud of.

Afterwards, I had dinner with the boss and Shirayuki in the living room. Shirayuki’s menu, which is mainly Japanese food, is always delicious.

「If you feel like eating something, just ask Hime-chan and she’ll make it for you.」

Is it just my imagination that every time I eat, I feel like I’m hearing the same lines, like subliminal messaging?

After finishing my meal, I cleared away the dishes and said, 「Thank you for the meal.」 I returned to the room I was staying in. The room I was currently using in the Fugi household (a single-story house as spacious as a samurai mansion) was furnished with a calm atmosphere and had all the basic necessities.

In fact, it is Yukihime-neesan’s room.

I opened the sliding door and returned to my room, then collapsed onto the bed and laid down. The first time I buried my face in the pillow and start sniffing it really hard (just kidding), but now I’ve gotten used to it.

I suddenly remembered the calendar I had seen during the day.

「…It’s been two weeks since I left Nanaejima.」

I glance at the cell phone that’s lying beside my pillow. It’s been turned off since I left the island. I spontaneously decide to pick I up and hold down the power button. Nothing happens though.

「Ah, it needs charging.」

When I thought I could turn it on at any time I didn’t care and never did. Now that I can’t turn it on it bothers me so much. It’s strange. Well, let’s do it.

And so I borrow Shirayuki’s outlet to charge it, and turn on my cell phone for the first time in two weeks.

「Oh.」

I was shocked to see the incredible number of messages I had received. Most of them were from Tensai and D’ark.

「That makes sense.」

「Without opening the message, I just glanced through the list. The next thing that caught my eye were the numerous messages from Yukihime-san. And also…

「HMM!?」

My eyes went wide. I found a message from Yumeji! I quickly opened it and read. It said, ‘Would you like to join me for a study session?’, but that was three days ago! And after that, I got an apology message saying, ‘I’m sorry for being so forceful with studying’.

I looked up to the sky and said, ‘Oh my god!’. As the leader of the glasses cult, who worship Yumeji as a goddess, I had completely and utterly ignored her. This was a grave sin that should earn me an inquisition session.

I immediately reply, ‘I’m sorry.’ I also added, ‘I’m currently away from Nanaejima, and won’t be able to return for a while.’

For the time being, I was relieved to have apologized to the goddess. Then, I tried to think about the other messages again… and closed the program. Because I saw the title of a message from Tensai and D’ark. The title was ‘Nanana-dono is lonely.’

I scratched my head. Two weeks had passed since I left Nanaejima, but I still hadn’t found a proper answer.

To change my mood, I decided to take a look at <<Matsuri>>’s social media. And there I found a very unusual post.

「Young Master, please contact me…」

The one who wrote the post was of course Yukihime-neesan. Since she posted something like that on the <<Matsuri>> social media, the other members have been teasing her about it.

Now that I think about it, I remember that there was a message in my inbox too.

「What is Yukihime-neesan doing?」

While I was thinking that, I suddenly sensed someone passing by in the hallway. When I opened the sliding door and peeked my head out, it was the boss who was walking down the hallway, looking a little tipsy. He seemed to be on his way back from the restroom.

「Boss, can I ask you something?」

「What is it, young man?」

「Can we take a picture together?」

So we decided to take a photo of the boss and me in Yukihime’s room.

「Okay then. Are you two ready?」

I asked Shirayuki who had arrived out of nowhere, who said ‘cheese’, and snapped the photo on my phone.

I also said ‘cheese’ as Shirayuki took the picture.

I posted this picture on the <<Matsuri>> social media. I titled it ‘Premarital sex with the daughter first, now with the parents.’

After completing this task, I close my phone and turn it off.

「Are you sure that’s ok, young man? Telling them where you are?」

「I don’t really care. I’ve been disowned anyway. None of the members of <<Matsuri>> care about me.」

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