Conan spent the night sharing a room with Mouri Kogoro, while Takayanagi Ichiro enjoyed a solid, undisturbed sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, Ichiro heard the familiar system notification and checked his current status.
Host: Takayanagi Ichiro
Age: 22
Occupation: Moneylender
Total Loans: 11.7 billion yen
Borrowers: 1000+ (most recent borrower: Mouri Kogoro)
Notice 1: Naoto Mizukami has been convicted. Funds loaned to him have been fully recovered, resulting in no losses.
Previously, his total loan amount was 12 billion yen. With Mizukami's 300 million yen automatically recovered, it now stood at 11.7 billion.
Notice 2: Teng Shoumei has an outstanding loan of 10 million yen, due by midnight tonight. (Note: 8 million already repaid; 2 million remaining.)
Ichiro already had all this information recorded, but the system reminders were still convenient.
Mizukami's recovered 300 million didn't hurt Ichiro much, since the man was a hopeless gambler who left behind nothing of value, meaning there was no additional compensation beyond the recovered sum.
As for Teng Shoumei, who still owed 2 million yen, Ichiro recalled him as a rather heavyset man who had introduced himself as a supermarket employee when borrowing. He had promised that if he couldn't repay, he could use items from his family home as collateral.
Since Teng had repaid on time before, Ichiro had no intention of pressing him—any missed payment would be the borrower's burden to bear.
Ding-dong. The doorbell rang.
Ichiro opened the door, half expecting it to be that mischievous brat Conan, but instead found a tall, thin man standing there.
"Are you Takayanagi-san?" the man asked.
"Yes. And you are?"
The man hesitated, so Ichiro invited him in. After serving tea, he prompted again, "Now you can speak, right?"
"My name is Yamagishi Eiichi. I'm here today to borrow money from you," the man said plainly.
Ichiro nodded—most who came here were borrowers. "If you managed to find me, you must already know how my business works. I'll need to understand your situation first."
"Of course. I'm currently the manager of an idol. She's been facing some personal troubles lately, and the company seems ready to give up on her. I want to borrow some money to smooth things over with the media."
"You're a talent agency employee, yet you're personally borrowing money to help your idol. Seems you really believe she can bounce back. Who is she?"
Yamagishi knew that revealing the idol's name would help determine the loan amount.
"It's Yoko Okino, who's been quite popular recently. I'm sure you've heard of her."
Yoko Okino? No wonder Yamagishi was so confident. In Conan's world, she was arguably the number one idol. Even that muddleheaded detective across the street was her fan.
Yoko appeared frequently on TV and in commercials, but from Yamagishi, Ichiro now learned she was having difficulties.
"I believe in Yoko Okino's ability. How much do you need, Yamagishi-san?"
Relieved at Ichiro's response, Yamagishi said, "I'd like to borrow 10 million yen. Once Yoko's situation is resolved, I can repay—no later than a month from now, possibly earlier."
"Alright. For a 10 million yen loan, the annual interest is 4 million, so for one month the interest would be 300,000 yen. Can you accept that?"
"Of course," Yamagishi agreed without hesitation.
"We can draft the contract right now. However, while I believe in Yoko Okino, I'll still need collateral. What happens if you can't repay?"
"I'll put it in writing."
Ichiro had plenty of loan contracts ready; what mattered here was the collateral clause.
If Yamagishi failed to repay, he and Yoko Okino would work under Ichiro for a year, receiving only a salary while all profits went to him.
It was a valuable guarantee, and after signing the contract, Ichiro promptly transferred the 10 million yen.
With the loan secured, Yamagishi stood to leave—better to resolve Yoko's troubles quickly.
"Yamagishi-san, about Yoko Okino's situation… I might have a suggestion for you."
"Please, go ahead."
"I think the detective agency across the street, Mouri Detective Agency, is pretty reliable. You might want to give that private detective a try."
(End of Chapter)
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