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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 9 Chapter 2.4

Well, we were supposed to be riding in a different limousine from the old men, but…

「Kunon-chan, it’s been a while since you last saw Ulysses-chan, so you must want to talk about a lot of things, right? Ishbal and I are going back by train, so you can have some girl talk.」

And so, taking my friend’s hand, I saw my sisters off with a smile.

「Hey. Stop messing around, Juugo.」

「You know, Isbhal? Summers in Japan are very muggy. Inevitably, all the girls end up wearing light clothing.」

「Well then, my sisters. I’ll let you deepen your relationship.」

Ishbal had a lovely smile on his face.

Setting aside the cold looks he received from his sisters (mainly Kunon-chan), I set my attention on Yukihime-neechan.

「Well then, I’ll leave them to you, Yukihime-neesan.」

「Understood, Young Master.」

After seeing off the group of limousines and shuttle buses, I boarded the train at the station directly connected to the airport and sat down in a random seat. Then, as the train started to move, I immediately started speaking.

「So? What is all this, Ishbal?」

「I like the girl in the white camisole sitting across from us.」

「No one asked you that. By the way, I prefer the girl in glasses.」

「Okay, then let’s go and talk to her now, Juugo.」

「Sorry, but let’s not hit on girls! I can’t, I really can’t!」

I was genuinely scared. The handsome European guy looked down on me and say, 「You wimpy Japanese boy!」

I’m really sorry for being such a wimp.

Anyway, back to the point.

「Why are me and Ulysses supposed to be getting married?」

「Shouldn’t that be a happy occasion?」

「Are you really okay with marrying Ulysses?」

「I don’t really care if it’s you, Juugo. I think highly of you.」

「Ishbal.」

「So leave Yukhime to me.」

That’s what I thought he was going to say.

「You’re the worst.」

Ishbal shrugs and says, 「I was just kidding.」

「Honestly, it was a complete surprise to me too. I only found out about this yesterday.」

「What?! Seriously? That’s even later than me」, I replied.

「I left Nanaejima in a hurry and just now met up with my father and the others at the airport. To be honest, I haven’t been able to process my feelings at all.」

How could Ishbal, his family’s successor, not know about this?

「That’s a strange story.」

「What is my father thinking? Even Ulysses is okay with this marriage.」

「Really?」

「I wonder what happened after I left home, and I’m seriously worried that my dear sister has gone mad to choose such an ugly, dissolute man.」

「So you finally speak your true feelings, you shitty best man.」

They both smirk and Ishbal continues.

「Well, anyway, I’ve been busy with a lot of things. To be honest, I wish I’d been told in advance or if it’d been delayed a little longer.」

「You mean because of on Nanaejima?」

「Thanks to the <<game>> the other day, the Seventh High School community was a big success. Since then, the number of participants has increased, and a large-scale conquest of the <<ruins>> was planned. And yet, now this robbery incident happened. This is troubling.」

「What do you mean, a robbery incident?」

「Don’t you know? The incident where the owner of a Nanana collection was attacked and his collection item was stolen?」

「Seriously?」

This was the first I had heard of it and I was shocked.

「I think you know this much, but there is an unspoken rule among the owners that things like theft are strictly forbidden. Then this incident happened, and now all the owners of the Nanana collections are on edge.」

「If the rules were broken, does that mean it was the work of a newcomer who didn’t know about them?」

「Or did they do it even knowing the rules?」

「What happened?」

「That was a week ago. Still, I’m grateful for the precedent it set.」

「That’s a comment worthy of a thief. Are you after the Nanana collection from Nishi’s community then?」

「I will do my duty, but I will not change my aim. It is also in line with the Korunald family’s greatest wish.」

「As expected. A truly worthy next head of the family.」

「By the way, is <<Matsuri>> involved in this robbery?」

「I don’t know.」

「Now that I think about it, you were disowned.」

「That’s true, but it looks like that’s been put on hold for now with this marriage talk.」

「That’s lucky.」

「Not really that lucky.」

「Why? You made a fool of yourself and got banished, but luckily you got welcomed back.」

「Don’t judge things by your own standards. I don’t take as much pride in my family as you do, Ishbal.」

「…..」

「What? What is it?」

「Well, let’s just leave it at that.」

You clearly have something to say. Go ahead and say it.

「Has anything else changed related to the Nanana collection?」

「What? You really don’t know anything?」

「Due to some circumstances, I left Nanaejima the day after the <<game>> ended. Because of that, I’m not up to date with the world.」

「Then do you know that some information about the Nanana collection has been leaked on the internet?」

「That’s the first I’ve heard of it. What exactly was leaked?」

「The location or hiding place of the <<ruins>> wasn’t made public. It’s just that information about what they are and what abilities they possess was suddenly posted online.」

「How many?」

「There are ten in total. There doesn’t seem to be any particular pattern to them, so they seem to have been chosen at random.」

「Are they credible?」

「They’re real. After all, tho of them belong to our community.」

「Seriously?」

「The explanation also matches exactly with the information Daisei had previously received from Sashimi, an online gamer.」

Sashimi… it must be true then, since that’s Nanana-chan.

「So what does that mean?」

「Is it Sashimi’s doing, or maybe the Leprechaun’s? Either way, I don’t understand.」

As Ishbal said, I don’t think this announcement has any meaning.

Until now, the only way to get information about the Nanana collection was to show the items you had obtained to Nanana-chan (who is also the online gamer Sashimi) and have her tell you. Nanana-chan has her own rules, so I don’t think she would reveal information for no reason. The same goes for the Leprechaun who hides the Nanana collection in the <<ruins>>. There’s no benefit to them.

So that means…

「… does that mean there’s someone else who knows information about the Nanana collection?」

And now they’ve started spreading it?

「Well, that’s about it for now, I guess.」

「Yeah, thanks, that was a big help.」

「Then let’s talk about us now.」

「?」

「Are you really okay with this marriage proposal, Juugo? My father said he was very enthusiastic about it.」

Ulysses said something like that too.

「Well, I suppose there must be some circumstance that led to it.」

「Circumstances?」

「Well, it’s obviously strange. You’re talking too suddenly. And think about it calmly. Ulysses-chan is 15, just like Kunon-neechan. She’s not old enough to get married anyway.」

「If Ulysses marries into the Yama family, she’ll start attending high school here next year. Considering that, now is the best time for Ulysses, since we’re on a long break. And besides, we’re people from the underworld, so we have no obligation to follow the rules of the surface… that’s the reason I heard from my father earlier.」

Apparently Ishbal had asked his father the same question.

「Yeah, I guess it’s normal for us.」

「Well, I agree with you that this marriage talk is strange. It’s so strange that even Kunon would doubt it.」

Doesn’t that mean that everyone is at least a little suspicious?

「You really don’t know anything?」

「So I really don’t know anything at the moment.」

I see, it seems the timing was a little too early for the two of us.

「Tell me when you find out.」

「If there’s anything I can tell you.」

「What? You think it’s obviously strange, and you’re secretly against your sister’s marriage, and you’re still going to keep it a secret?」

「Don’t think about this from your own perspective. The Korunald family is more important to me than anything else. I have no intention of doing anything to the family’s detriment.」

「That’s a great thing.」

「Going back to the topic, I assume Juugo is okay with marrying Ulysses, right?」

「Well, if there’s a valid reason….」

「So, no matter what the circumstances are, if Ulysses wants to marry you, then you’ll marry her?」

I’m taken aback by his serious tone.

「Um, well….」

「I trust that you are willing to give your future to Ulysses.」

「…You’re really pushing it now.」

「That’s what marriage is all about though, right?」

「What is this, a sermon?」

「If that’s what it sounds like, then it’s a lecture for those who aren’t prepared.」

「Recently, I’ve come to think that the word ‘trust’ is actually the most powerful and threatening word.」

「That’s what someone who knows the meaning of the word ‘trust’ well would say. For someone who doesn’t care, there’s no more convenient and disposable word.」