The smell of sand and surf covered the whole town as they looked for someone they could sell their treasure to. Setsuna wondered for a moment as to where to go and settled on a local treasure shop. The bell over the door dinged as Setsuna , Konoka, Kotaro, Chizuru and Kaede walked in. The shop keeper looked up and she said, "Welcome to my humble little treasure store. Buying or selling?"
"Selling." Setsuna said, "I've got something that might spark your interest." She flourished one of the gold pieces at the shop keeper.
The shop keeper gasped in surprise and said, "How many of those you got? I'll pay you fifty thousand yen for each one of those."
Setsuna smiled as she had everyone show all the treasure they had found. The woman behind the counter smiled as she saw all the gold and silver. A few minutes of counting out how many of each there were and figuring out how much they would get the shop keeper said slowly, "Well to pay you in full you'll have to come with me to the bank. You've got about five million yen worth of gold and silver. Where on Earth did you find all of this treasure? Most tourists only find one or two gold coins washed up on shore."
Setsuna smiled and said, "We'll be back with ten times that amount easily in three days time. Where we found it isn't something I'm going to say. We'll follow you over to the bank so you can pay us. I'm surprised by how much this stuff is worth."
The shop keeper smiled and said, "Everyone says that. My price is set by how much gold is and the fact that these coins are collectors' items. I'm probably one of the few honest treasure merchants out here. A guy just down the road from my shop only pays ten thousand per coin and he won't take silver ones. A my place you get about twenty thousand for each silver one you bring me. If you can really bring me that much treasure I'll gladly pay for it."
As they walked through the streets to the bank the shop keeper told them all about what they had found. They had come across Muromachi period gold coins. The coins they had found were European, which told Setsuna why she couldn't read the writing on the coin as it was in antiquated English. The shop keeper kept going on about how uncommon this type of treasure was and that finding it in the amount they mentioned would be a one in a million chance. The shop keeper mused that it could have been an insanely rich Lord or even a pirate that sank all those years ago. The group listened to her musings and facts as they walked toward the bank.
Kotaro sighed as the shop keeper finally stopped talking. They entered the bank and the shop keeper told them to wait in the lobby while she got the money necessary to pay them. They all talked about what they would going to do with everything they would be getting out of this find. Kotaro was the only one who said anything negative, "Doesn't this seem a little too easy? Even though we're in Kyushu, I've never read about a ship sinking offshore with a ton of gold in its hold. You think something like that would be recorded in the history books."
Setsuna dismissed him with a wave of her hand. They had money coming to them and that was all she needed to know. Thinking that the treasure might be something more than just a lucky find was something she didn't want rattling around in her mind. She was already thinking of how to spend what money there were getting for the gold and silver. Konoka was smiling at her in her usually cute manner. Setsuna walked over to where Konoka had sat down and gave her a kiss, hoping the shop keeper wouldn't be much longer.
A few minutes later the shop keeper returned, her hands filled with money. She handed the money to Setsuna who handed over the treasure. The shop keeper told them to keep her in mind for any future treasure sales. Setsuna smiled and thanked her and they all walked out of the bank back out into the hot streets. Kotaro was the only one who was voicing some concern over the ease of the whole thing. Chizuru was trying to get him to see it in a positive light as they walked. Kaede was talking with Setsuna. "So, Setsuna-dono I take it that the first stop for us will be the marina to purchase a boat. We'll need that first as a platform from which to launch the rest of our scheme, If I can suggest it, something small but efficient would be good. I don't think we'd need anything we could sleep on since I doubt we'd spend the night on the ship."
Setsuna nodded and said, "Yeah I know. I was thinking that anyway. After all we still have the hotel for a few more days. I figure it should take us at least two days to clean out that ship unless a storm hits or something goes horribly wrong. Next stop after the docks will be a shop where we can get the gear we'll need. We'll figure that out when we get to the shops though. We should have enough money to get everything and still have enough left over to pay for any extra nights at the hotel. When this is all said and done we should have enough money to pay for school for the rest of our lives. Heck, there should be some left over even after that. That shop keeper was saying that the treasure would put us in the hundreds of millions, if not billions of yen. We'd all be set for a long time."
Konoka spoke quietly after she had finished counting the money, "I think Kotaro has a point though. This did seem a little too easy. I'm not complaining about it, not at all. I'm just think we should be careful. Even though Fate isn't around anymore it doesn't mean we're free and clear from dangerous stuff. Who knows, Eva-chan could be behind this to teach us another lesson. After all she seems to have been the source of trouble for those in Ala Alba. She seems hell bent on training us for every eventuality. I doubt you've forgotten those days out in Eva-chan's desert."
Setsuna nodded, "Yeah I remember them. I just don't think Evangeline is behind this."
"You don't think who is behind this?" came a voice from behind them.
They all turned to see Chizuru and Kotaro standing there. They had just walked up behind them. Kotaro had been the one to speak. Setsuna turned to face him and smiled saying, "Oh nothing. Konoka just thinks Evangeline might be behind us fining the treasure and that it's another one of her tests."
Kotaro laughed, "Yeah like Evangeline would go out of her way to come all the way to Kyushu and dump a ship in the ocean. I know she's crazy but she's not going to go that far out of her way to give us a test. No what I meant when I said it felt too easy was that shop keeper seemed too eager to buy our stuff. That was what really gave me a bit of concern. I wasn't even thinking that side of it. I didn't mean to give you guys any real reason to worry."
Setsuna sighed. At least her fears were unfounded as far as what Kotaro had meant. Still the thought that the shop keeper might be up to something didn't sit well in her mind. The thought was soon put farther back in her mind as they approached the marina. Everyone seemed to have made her the unofficial leader of the group, so it was up to her how to spend what money they had. The knowledge that they would only need something to get them out there and to hold their treasure on the way in as well as any gear they would bring out with them.
After a few minutes of Searching Setsuna found the owner of several small boats and offered him eight hundred thousand yen for one of his smaller boats. The owner looked at her with a surprised face. He spoke saying, "How in the world is such a young girl like yourself going to afford to pay me that much? Hell, you must still be in high school. You'd be paying me off for the rest of your life kid."
Setsuna smiled and held out the required money in ten thousand yen notes. "How about I pay you all of it right now and not have to worry about owing a thing?"
The owner had a shocked expression on his face. "Well I guess I can't refuse you if you've got it all right here. Alright the boat's yours then. Treat it well. Name of the ship is Kio. Thanks you for your business."
Setsuna smiled and thanked him for the boat. The Kio was a small craft, about 18 feet in length. It was exactly what she had been looking for. Kotaro smiled and said, "While you guys go and get the rest of our stuff, Chizuru and I'll stay here with the boat. I do have a good question though. Do any of us really know how to captain a ship? I know this is just a small fishing boat but somebody still has to know how to run the thing."
Kaede was the one who answered his question. "Kotaro-dono, I know how to run the boat so there's no worry there. Our only concern now is that we only have is getting back out there and getting everything up that we can. With any luck there won't be any interruptions."
He nodded and Setsuna waved as Konoka, Kaede and her walked back into town. They spent time in several shops gathering the supplies they would need. Konoka and Kaede discussed how things would be run on the ship while Setsuna made sure they were setting good rules. The whole day had seemed to have gone right by. By the time they got to the ship it was almost sunset. Kotaro and Chizuru were sitting on the boat watching the sunset. Chizuru had her head on Kotaro's shoulder and he had an arm around her waist. Sitting there they were silhouetted against the orange-red color of the sky. Setsuna smiled at the two of them. She looked at Konoka and gave her a kiss. The setting was as perfect as it could get.
They set down the gear on the ship and Setsuna spoke. "Alright, we have everything we're gonna need for tomorrow. Now everyone has something important to do tomorrow. Kaede, Kotaro and myself are going to be the ones diving and bringing stuff back up. Chizuru and Konoka will take what we bring up and put it in the hold as well as make us lunch when we get hungry. Beyond that there's nothing more anyone really needs to do. Watch out for sharks and other dangerous animals. This should be far easier than anything else we've done these past few days."
Kotaro, Chizuru, Kaede and Konoka all nodded as they listened to their job assignments. Kaede also knew she was going to be the one who piloted the ship from the dock to where the wreck was and back in. They all made their way back to the hotel as the stars started coming out. Outside the hotel someone ran up to them. She jumped and hugged Kaede as the rest of them watched with stunned expressions. It was Yuna. She smiled as she held onto Kaede. "Guess what? I came here to surprise you. I didn't feel like waiting until you got back to be with you as your girlfriend."
Kaede stood there with a surprised look on her face. She hadn't been expecting this, but then again this whole trip had been filled with unexpected things.
(Author's note; Well this one is kinda bland seeing as it's basically just a launch pad for the next chapter. Hopefully the mysterious shop keeper was entertaining. Yuna joins the crew for the home stretch. She has no idea what's in store. Read and enjoy as you always should.)
Shinobi of the Onyx Sands