Each of these three objects individually was worth a minimum of fifty million sakuras, which meant that all three combined would be… over one hundred and fifty million sakuras!?
This was a number that far exceeded Nozomi's expectations!
As a normal working woman, she had expected these objects to be worth a few hundred thousand sakuras at most. She never expected the scion to say such an astonishing number.
Mika's eyes widened in surprise as well. Only Seiji's expression remained unchanged.
When Natsuya said that these items were highly valuable, he expected numbers like this. "Highly valuable" to a scion like her was a far different concept from the "highly valuable" that normal people thought of.
Not to mention, this was only her "conservative estimate."
Depending on the people they were sold to as well as the method used to sell them, there would be a large fluctuation in the potential price. If they found a suitably interested buyer or auctioned it, perhaps the estimate would even be doubled—or more!
Seiji was able to calmly consider such things, but Nozomi was unable to remain calm… The sum of one hundred and fifty million sakuras had shocked her so much that she was unable to think of anything else.
A moment of silence fell between them.
When Nozomi finally managed to return to her senses, she mumbled, "They're… actually so valuable?"
"Yes, they are indeed that valuable," Natsuya said. "If you'll excuse me for asking, I'm rather curious as to how your husband came across these items. Do you know anything about this?"
"I… I don't know. My husband only said that someone else gave these to him as a gift, but he didn't mention who."
"You don't have any clues at all?" Natsuya pressed. "Any leads or people that might know who gave him these gifts… can you think of anything?"
"He was just an ordinary company employee when he was still alive," Nozomi said at last. "His friends were normal… and I never heard him discuss his collection with anyone before."
"Please forgive me for prying, but what about Mr. Uehara's relatives?"
"…He had a bad relationship with his relatives and rarely interacted with them. Ever since his parents passed away, he stopped interacting with all his other relatives," Nozomi said lightly. "If anybody knew, it would be his parents—Mika's paternal grandfather and grandmother. They were relatively well-to-do, and this entire apartment-complex was given to my husband by them. But… I don't think that they were the ones who gave my husband the items in his collection. If they were, then there would be no need for him to keep it a secret from me."
Another moment of silence fell between them.
"Yoruhansan, I'd like to ask… what do you think I should do with these items? Nozomi said. "Before, I always kept them in the storage room, but now that I know that they're so incredibly valuable, I… I don't know what to do anymore."
Natsuya fell silent for a moment. "Personally, I'd recommend selling them," she advised in a serious voice. "Keeping these may be risky. Although they've always remained safe until now, there's no guarantee that they'll always remain safe in the future. If you sell them, you won't have to worry about the risk anymore. You can also use the money to make many improvements to your life."
"Is that so? Then… selling them might be for the best." Nozomi looked at the collection items, her eyes troubled. "You're correct: keeping such highly valuable items around is too much pressure for my family. But… these are mementos left behind by my husband. Even if I don't know the meaning behind them, they might have been really important to him. Is it really alright to sell them?"
Everyone fell silent.
"Miss Landlord," Seiji suddenly said, "I'd like to ask, are you willing to loan these items out?"
Everyone looked towards him.
"Loan?"
"Yep. Not sell, but loan them out instead and collect rent. What do you think?"
Nozomi nodded. "Yes… if it was like this… I think that's fine."
Seiji looked towards Natsuya. "Natsuya, are you willing to rent these items and pay an appropriate fee?"
The president's eyes flashed with understanding as she nodded.
Seiji looked towards Nozomi again and said, "Hire a detective to investigate the source of these objects with the rent. Also, you should ask them to determine if there's any hidden meaning to the items; is that alright?"
Nozomi's eyes lit up, and she nodded upon hearing this.
Seiji looked towards Natsuya again. "Can you help Miss Landlord find an excellent detective and pay the detective's fee in lieu of a rental fee?"
The scion smiled. "Of course; it's not a problem."
"Alright, everyone's come to an agreement." Seiji extended his palms. "Natsuya should take these with her for the time being, and we can figure out what to do with these items after we discover the truth behind their origin.
"An excellent idea, Seiji," Natsuya praised.
"Harutkun… you have a sharp mind. Thank you," Nozomi said.
Seiji chuckled and said, "I just suddenly had this idea."
The atmosphere relaxed now that everyone had come to a decision. After making idle chatter for a while longer, the president politely said goodbye.
Seiji helped to carry the items into her car, and at Natsuya's implicit request, he got on her car and left together with her.
"Why did Harutkun leave together with her?" Nozomi looked curious as she watched the luxury car leave.
"They probably have some things to discuss," Mika said.
"Do Harutkun and Yoruhansan… have a very good relationship?"
"I suppose they have a good relationship."
Nozomi blinked as she looked at her daughter. "You need to work harder yourself, Mika."
"Work harder at what?" Mika asked sharply.
On Natsuya's car.
"All of those objects were spiritual artifacts," Natsuya said in a serious voice.
"All of them…" Seiji raised his brows in surprise.
"That's right—all of them. Most of them are broken already, however. Only the three that we took with us are still in working condition."
"All of them are high-level artifacts?"
"Yes, a very high level," Natsuya said, sighing. "I'm really curious about what type of person the late Mr. Uehara was."
"Send someone excellent to investigate him. I think that the Uehara family is concealing something about him, so perhaps we can find out some more information."
"I believe so as well. Mrs. Uehara's attitude was slightly unnatural… but it could also be that she recalled something unpleasant, such as an inheritance dispute."
"That could be the case," Natsuya agreed, nodding. "By the way, did you find any clues from these items themselves? Such as a brand from the person who made them. Most spiritual artifacts have a creator's brand on them, just like branded items you can buy in stores. But not a single spiritual artifact from the Uehara family was branded. This includes all the broken artifacts, as well as these three that are still working."
"…Pirated products?" Seiji blinked.
"That's a rather subtle way of describing it, but I suppose you could say that." Natsuya nodded. "Although there are no brand markings, I can tell that they're all high-quality artifacts. At the very least, the person or organization that created these is a master artifact craftsman."
"These three artifacts that are still working... what are they used for?"
"The board game should be a sealing tool, while the kendama and wooden sword are both spiritual weapons."
"A sealing tool… is it sealing something at the moment?"
Seiji recalled the black-veiled woman. Could she be a demon that was sealed inside?
"It's possible. I can't tell from the outside appearance alone. I'll have to do a deeper investigation with the tools available to me at my residence, as well as test out both of those spiritual weapons."
"Do you need my assistance?"
"I was intending to ask."
The two of them smiled as they looked at each other.
They arrived at Natsuya's residence. Seiji and Natsuya carried the spiritual artifacts into her residence and walked to the underground practice field.
"Which item should we start with?"
"Let's test out this wooden sword first."
Seiji picked up the wooden sword.
This wooden sword was the same one he had seen in Mika's picture. The black-and-white runes carved into either side seemed rather mystical to him.