Marunouchi, Tokyo.
The B4 Core Strategy Room at Saionji Industries Headquarters held a massive black lacquered glass conference table.
Seated on both sides were the core executives who controlled the lifeblood of the Saionji Group's major business sectors.
The night before, every core executive in attendance had received an emergency summons bearing the dual seals of the Head of the Family and the Eldest Miss.
The meeting agenda on the notice had only one line: .
The market was in a period of contraction.
The economy had declined continuously, and the Ministry of Finance had tightened credit across the board.
Just a few days earlier, executive director Yasuhide of S-Food had been urgently called back to the main house to answer for a terminal pricing directive.
Everyone speculated that the higher-ups were preparing for a major move.
There were still ten minutes before the meeting officially began.
Tadashi Yanai opened the memorandum in front of him and turned toward Eguchi Tokuhiro, who sat across from him.
He gave a slight bow.
"President Eguchi, the internal demolition and soft-furnishing renovation of that batch of core bankrupt shops in the Kanto Region is progressing very well."
Tadashi Yanai smiled.
His expression looked much healthier, and his eyes were no longer constantly bloodshot.
"At the current delivery pace, the new autumn stores for Uniqlo and S-Mart can be fully rolled out by mid-September."
"The consumption downgrade trend triggered by the market downturn is already clear, and we are perfectly positioned to capture this massive, price-sensitive customer base."
"In that regard, we must thank Saionji Construction for their full support."
Eguchi Tokuhiro leaned back in his wide leather chair.
He folded his thick arms across his chest and waved a hand dismissively.
"President Yanai is too kind."
"The lightweight renovation of those few hundred shops only used a small portion of our peripheral construction teams' capacity."
"The main force of Saionji Construction is currently concentrated on the 'Saionji Tower' project in Odaiba."
Pride in his own project showed in Eguchi's eyes.
"The deep-sea eighty-meter pneumatic caisson foundation settlement test successfully met the standards at the beginning of this year."
"Currently, the main high-strength steel structure frame for the above-ground portion has reached the forty-fifth floor on schedule."
He tapped his index finger twice on the table.
"As for the load-bearing anti-seismic core tube, we adopted the latest hydraulic climbing formwork technology."
"Concrete pouring is steadily advancing upward at a standard cycle of one floor every four days."
"All key milestones for Saionji Tower are within the established schedule."
"I see."
"Saionji Tower is one of the projects the Eldest Miss values most."
"Once completed, President Eguchi will have another great achievement to his name."
"You flatter me."
"We are all just doing our best to help ease the Eldest Miss's burdens."
As Tadashi Yanai spoke, he turned to look at Katsuragi Ryouta, the head of Saionji Logistics, who sat on his right.
"Manager Katsuragi, the replenishment frequency for the lower-tier markets after the autumn store expansion is expected to double."
"Is there any pressure on logistics capacity?"
Katsuragi Ryouta opened the data panel on his terminal.
"Please rest assured, President Yanai."
"Our capacity redundancy is more than sufficient," Katsuragi responded crisply.
"The private Ro-Ro ship routes at Yokohama Port have already added two more shifts."
"The heavy truck dispatch network in the Kanto Region has recently adopted the latest dynamic routing algorithms, which has compressed the empty load rate to its minimum."
"Logistics will not be a bottleneck for the autumn expansion."
Okamoto, the president of S-Food, chimed in at the right moment.
"Since Manager Katsuragi's fleet is ready, we on the food side naturally will not slow down the opening of the new autumn stores."
Okamoto opened his reports.
"Tadashi Yanai's team has recently made substantial breakthroughs in agricultural technology improvements in Hokkaido."
"The stock of F1 hybrid cattle can now fully keep up with the automated sorting lines at the Chiba Central Kitchen."
"The production cost of terminal ingredients has been stably controlled within the target threshold."
Takahashi Hiroshi, sitting at the end of the long table, slightly adjusted the cuffs of his dark suit.
This business backbone, who once hurried about on the front lines, had now been formally promoted to the general head of overseas manufacturing for the Saionji Group.
The inexperience in his expression had long since faded, and he now appeared very composed while facing a table full of the group's high-ranking officials.
"Please rest assured regarding the clothing supply as well."
Takahashi Hiroshi's gaze swept over Tadashi Yanai.
"The specialized workshops in the Shanghai contract factories are operating strictly according to the autumn expansion orders for S-Mart and Uniqlo."
"The customs clearance filing channels have been prepared in advance, allowing basic apparel to be stably transported across the sea into the warehouses."
"Furthermore, we have compressed the product turnover cycle between the front and back ends by a full three days."
Listening to the exchange between departments regarding expansion and production capacity, Matsumoto Kouji, the head of semiconductors and precision manufacturing, put down his coffee cup.
"While the commercial map is expanding at the front end, the technological foundation we acquired at the back end has finally landed on a physical level."
Matsumoto Kouji pushed up his glasses.
"The legal transfer procedures for the specialized optical glass factory and high-precision multi-axis machine tool assets stripped from city banks like Fuji have all been finalized."
"Core hardware equipment is undergoing vibration-proof disassembly and being transported in batches to the underground laboratory."
"The physical foundation required for next-generation semiconductor R&D is now truly established."
On the other side of the long table, President Itakura of S.A. Entertainment opened a revenue report with a colorful cover.
This former shop manager, who once ran a small store in Akihabara Electric Town, had followed Satsuki's instructions to 'pretend to know what he was doing' for over five years.
Now, he truly possessed the ability to lead a large entertainment company.
"With all fronts pushing forward vigorously, the headquarters' capital consumption must be significant."
"Fortunately, the recent monetization speed of the entertainment sector has been quite good, which can help relieve some pressure on the capital pool."
Itakura's tone was smooth and confident.
"The four-member girl rock group we recently launched has market popularity far exceeding expectations, and their first single's sales have already crossed the platinum line."
He pushed the report forward half an inch.
"In addition, the industrial upgrade of the KTV business has been completed."
"Building on the early container model, we took advantage of the recent plunge in shop rents to roll out regular, standardized large-scale stores across core business districts in Kanto."
"Coupled with copyright licensing fees and the matrix revenue from celebrity derivatives, daily cash flow is steadily rising."
"In the next quarter, the cash flow the entertainment sector can provide to the headquarters' capital pool is expected to reach a new high."
Briefings on the progress of various departments intertwined in the air of the strategy room.
Sitting at the head of the table on either side, Managing Director Endo and Saionji Masato listened quietly to the roar of this massive machine.
Endo took a sip of coffee, and a hint of gratification showed in his eyes.
The circulation of capital and materials within the group was in an extremely healthy state.
Amid the winter of widespread despair and large-scale corporate bankruptcies in the outside world, the Saionji Family was like a precision-engineered steel fortress.
Its various businesses were not only avoiding losses but were actually providing strength against the trend.
The industries the Eldest Miss had developed over the years had begun to form a sound internal circulation system.
Under these environmental conditions, the Saionji Group was almost the only enterprise still developing positively.
Saionji Masato pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.
His pen paused slightly on his notebook.
He steered the topic toward an event that had occurred just a few days ago.
"Everyone."
The voice of Masato, the intelligence chief, was not loud, yet it caused the conversations in the room to cease instantly.
"Regarding executive director Yasuhide's mistake in terminal pricing, I presume you have all seen the internal report."
The executives on both sides of the long table turned solemn.
That mere fifty-yen price hike had exposed many problems.
The current scale of the Saionji Group was enormous.
Infrastructure, retail, logistics, technology, and entertainment stretched the various fronts extremely long.
Even if everyone cooperated smoothly at the conference table, the regional leaders' visions were inevitably limited by their own department's KPIs and assessment data during actual execution.
Once a local team made a small change for the sake of short-term financial data or departmental interests, that microscopic shift could easily and unknowingly destroy a macro-strategic plan spanning multiple industries.
Yasuhide's mistake exposed a structural fault in information transmission and compliance monitoring across the entire group.
Of course, these were not problems for them to solve.
The punishment was handled by the Eldest Miss herself, so she must have already prepared complete countermeasures.
Just as those present were speculating on what kind of plan the Eldest Miss would provide this time, the blast-proof door clicked open.
Satsuki and Shuichi stepped inside.
Fujita Tsuyoshi followed closely behind, carrying a black briefcase.
Behind Fujita Tsuyoshi followed a young girl wearing black-rimmed glasses and an ordinary dark professional suit.
That was Saionji Maki.
This newly promoted peripheral family member carried a stack of heavy documents and quietly followed at the end.
The executives all stood up and bowed their heads slightly in greeting.
Their gazes swept briefly over Maki.
Facing this slightly reserved new face, the executives present all felt a flicker of doubt.
However, no one showed any sign of disdain.
Within the strictly hierarchical Saionji Zaibatsu, being personally brought into this top-secret strategy room by the Eldest Miss spoke volumes in itself.
Such a young-looking person most likely possessed talents far exceeding ordinary people in a specific niche field.
They quietly sat back in their original seats.
Satsuki took her seat in the leather swivel chair at the head of the table, with Shuichi sitting beside her.
"Everyone."
Satsuki's voice was clear and cold as she got straight to the point.
"Regarding executive director Yasuhide's matter, the intelligence system should have already briefed you."
She picked up the bone china teacup on the table, took a small sip, and set the final tone for the matter.
"This incident had nothing to do with corruption."
"For the sake of a few hundred million yen in extra profit on his department's books, he sabotaged the group's macro-strategic weapon of using cost differences to destroy competitors' cash flow."
"This is a typical case of short-sightedness where local interests override global goals."
Satsuki put down her teacup.
Her calm gaze swept over the executives on both sides of the long table.
"In recent years, the group's map has expanded rapidly."
"All of you present have done exceptionally well in your respective business sectors."
"But because of information barriers, the information you usually obtain is often limited to your own department's performance indicators and financial data."
"When everyone is focused on their own piece of the puzzle, it's easy to overlook the overall plan."
"A local optimal solution, once detached from higher-dimensional coordination and placed within the group's macro-strategy, can evolve into a serious deviation."
The strategy room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
The executives held their breath and listened intently.
"I don't need you to guess the intentions of the upper management."
"From today on, this one-way command delivery model will be broken."
Satsuki announced the first resolution.
"All core executives present will be fully integrated into the group's long-term macro-strategic information circle."
"Headquarters will share transnational capital flow expectations, macro-environment shorting predictions, and phased strategic bottom lines with you in advance."
"Only by letting you see the global sandbox can we fundamentally avoid strategic violations caused by information gaps between departments."
Satsuki shifted the topic and introduced the supporting management measures.
"To ensure that various macro-strategies do not deviate during grassroots execution, the group will formally establish a new independent agency."
"That agency is the Saionji Special Mission Coordination Office."
Satsuki's fingers tapped twice lightly on the table.
"This department is directly and solely responsible to me."
"It is independent of all subsidiaries and is not subject to the administrative jurisdiction of any business division."
"It will serve as the strategic filter and corrector for the entire group, specifically monitoring for potential interest deviations and execution distortions when departments push their business forward."
She turned her head slightly, looking at Maki sitting in the chair behind and to the side.
"Saionji Maki," Satsuki introduced her to everyone.
"From today on, she will serve as one of the core heads of the Coordination Office, fully participating in and leading all subsequent accounting and audit work."
The executives' gazes turned in unison toward the young girl with black-rimmed glasses.