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Nanana’s Buried Treasure Volume 1 Chapter 1.5

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“Translator: Goma/Editor: TheNix”

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「What’s happening! 」

    Looking at me, who was shouting, the landlady that was downing her beer while enjoying the ocean breeze. She laughed.

「Well, no matter how many times I see this, it is always amusing. The person that rents this room usually says the same thing on the first day 」

「Please answer me and don’t laugh! Who is she! Why is she living in the room! 」

「She? Who are you referring to? There is nobody living in this room」

「Don’t lie to me now」

「Then, let’s check it out」

    Ms. Shiki confidently pushed me aside and went into room 202.

    I was shocked at her confidence.

    What? Was she really not in the room? No no, she was there just now……that meant what? Did that mean that if she went into the room right now, there would not be anybody?

    I gulped as Ms. Shiki passed the kitchen, and then placed her hand on the room’s doorknob without any hesitation.

「Hahaha」

    As expected, a girl was there holding her stomach while laughing.

「She is still there! 」

    I pointed out with all my might. However, Ms. Shiki did not seem to care and went on into the room. Then, she stood there.

    What? What was this reaction? Did that mean that I was the only one that could see her?

「Hahaha」

    Then, Ms. Shiki started laughing while watching the TV.

「Oh, you were watching the TV! 」

「Isn’t this show funny? 」

「Right? I like this」

    The two looked at each other and smiled.

「You know each other huh! On top of that, you guys are so close! 」

    After laughing, Ms. Shiki turned around and said.

「Right? There isn’t anyone here, right? 」

「Are you blind! There is a girl right in front of you! 」

    I pointed at the girl who was eating the pudding she had scooped with a spoon in a cute manner. Meanwhile, Ms. Shiki narrowed her eyes and smiled again. 

「As I said, there is no human being living here」

    A chill ran down my spine. I felt the hairs on my skin stand on end.

    Although the place’s temperature had not changed, undoubtedly, I felt 5°C colder. 

「Then, that girl? 」

    While I shivered and pointed at the girl, Ms. Shiki said.

「Oh this girl? This girl is a spirit that had been killed about 10 years ago」

    Ms. Shiki had a serious face.

「Why do you have to spill the beans already? How uninteresting. You could have made him guess a while. 」

    The spirit girl (for temporal naming purposes) said so as if dissatisfied.

「Because I had already gotten the rent, and I don’t care after that point」

    Then I realized.

    The rental fee was a massively discounted ¥5,000. The realtor had said, 「are you really sure you want any kind of room? 」. He had almost persistently asked me so. On top of that, the condition was weird: paying one year in advance……. that meant.

「I had been scammed! 」

「How rude of you, this is not a scam」

「I wasn’t told that this was a room with spirits! 」

「I had worded it properly. That a fridge, PC, TV, washing machine, and other various kinds of things would come with it」

    Various other things…that meant a set of furniture, as well as a spirit.

「What kind of joke is this! 」

「Quite a nice joke right! 」

「Nice?! It is just a scam! 」

「Indeed」

「This landlady just admitted it! 」

「How rash of you, newbie. The one that gets tricked is in the wrong」

「…… 」

「Eh? Are you not going to say something back? How boring」

    Ms. Shiki seemed dissatisfied. However, I could not argue with her logic.

    One of our family’s values is this.

『To deceive is not a sin, but to be deceived is a sin』

    The thing about stories too good to be true is; the moment one believes them without being able to properly figure it out, one has lost. There were many points that I could have been suspicious about. I was in the wrong when deciding to live here without looking into these points.

    My dad had told me so many times, and I had thought I knew it by heart. However, I had fallen into the same trap so easily.

「Well, that’s that. So if you don’t want the room I don’t mind if you don’t move in. Ah, tell me if you don’t want to move in. I will find another tenant」

    Of course, I could not leave immediately! I have no money! ……Even if I shouted at her in my mind, in reality, I only clenched my teeth in frustration silently.

    That was because I was the one to blame.

    As if mocking me, the drunken landlady said, 「Well then, see you later」, and then left the room laughing.

    I could only look down without being able to argue further. I felt an intense gaze and looked in that direction.

    The spirit girl (for temporal naming purposes) was looking at me.

「How about you just sit down now? This is your room」

    In contrast to me who had lost my composure, the spirit girl (for temporal naming purposes) was quite calm.

    At first, I did as I was told to, and sat down on the floor.

「There is a cushion over there」

    I sat down on the frog face cushion as I had been instructed, and looked around the room.

    There was a huge 40-inch LCD TV, and on the stand was a Blu-Ray player and the latest gaming console. On the study table was a thin monitor, and on the sliding drawer was a keyboard and mouse. The desktop was under the table.

    There was a bookshelf beside this, but it was empty. What was weird was the fridge in the corner of the room. It was not in the kitchen, but for some reason, it was in this room instead. The pale green carpet that was laid on the floor resembled grass, and on top of that was a white table that could be folded. And what remained was the bed that the spirit girl (for temporal naming purposes) was sitting on. The size of the bed was for a single person.

    There was no trace of dust. It seemed that the room was cleaned occasionally.

    While I looked around, the spirit girl (for temporal naming purposes) smiled,

「Hey, what is your name? 」

「……I am Jūgo Yama」

「Hm, I see. I am Nanana Ryūgajō. Nice to meet you」

「Na, Nanana? 」

「There is one 『Na』too many. Na・na・na. Repeat after me」

「It that your real name? 」

「Yes」

「Quite an interesting name, huh」

    I told her frankly. Meanwhile, I needed to check something.

「Are you really a spirit? 」

「Yep, I am a ghost bound to here, and been for 10 years」

That is quite a mature ghost, huh.

「Err, Ms. Shiki had said just now that, Ms. Ryūgajō had been……」

「Call me Nanana」

    The earthbound ghost was quite friendly.

「Um, you had been killed in this room? 」

「Yep, something like this」

    Nanana then lay on the bed while smiling. Her expressions actually resembled a dead person. I thought it was quite meticulous of her. However, I could not laugh at all since she was acting out how she herself had died.

「What was the cause of the death? 」

「One stab from the back」

    From how her legs faced the room’s entrance while she lied down, it seemed that she had been stabbed from behind as she had entered the room.

    Well, putting my detective work aside, the question was.

「Um, although I should not be asking this, can ghosts usually be seen and touch things? Can they usually eat puddings? 」

「I don’t know. I have not seen a ghost before」

    Hey hey, this earthbound spirit was being funny.

    That meant, what should I do. What must I do, really? No no, wait for a moment. At this point, this Nanana might be a kind of disappointing but cute girl that was simply arguing that she is an earthbound ghost.

    Besides that, I must confirm who she actually is.

「Um, can I shake your hand? 」

「Alright, sure」

    Then, as opposed to my wish, my hand easily passed through the hand that was offered while smiling.

    I really thought I was hallucinating. I tried again. My hand passed through again. This time, I slowly inched my hand near to her hand. Now, my hand was properly in front of her hand. It was a really surreal sight. Nanana’s finger was coming out of my hand. To be honest, it was not a pleasant sight to see. Thus, I immediately lowered my hand.

「Are you satisfied now? 」

    Nanana who was smiling reached out her hand towards me again, and now properly touched my hand.

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