"My lady, the fundraising on the first floor is almost over."
Endo frowned at Yamada on the surveillance monitor.
"The guests in the front hall will leave their seats and start moving around soon. If he stays in the pantry corridor, he might panic and run out, causing unnecessary trouble. Should I have the Security Department head over and wrap this up now?"
Satsuki sat in the leather swivel chair with her hands folded over her knees. Her gaze rested on the man on the screen, shivering from hunger and cold.
"It is indeed time to clean up."
"However, we need him alive."
Uh... My lady, I don't think I ever said anything about killing him... But does my lady mean she wants to capture him?
Confusion flickered in Endo's eyes.
Saionji's security was hardly so lax that it would miss someone this large infiltrating the building. In fact, from the moment he stepped into the hotel, at least three cameras and one hidden sentry had already spotted him.
No one had interfered solely because of Satsuki's instructions.
He was a bankrupt contractor from the bottom of society. Even if he had been allowed inside to test how the lower class might react to the charity gala, the gala was ending now. They could simply evict him. What was the point of keeping him?
Satsuki leaned back against the swivel chair.
"Managing Director Endo, the Ministry of Finance's 'total volume regulation' has already cut off the flow of credit to real estate, and the market's downward trend has solidified. Deduce for me: what changes will occur at the bottom of society in the coming months?"
Endo considered it for a moment before answering.
"Widespread corporate defaults."
"Small and medium-sized enterprises relying on high-interest bridge loans to stay afloat will go bankrupt and liquidate in batches. That will be accompanied by an extremely severe wave of unemployment. Millions of laborers will lose their source of income."
"Correct."
Satsuki's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of her chair.
"In our CTRPS Acquisition Model, one of the indicators is 'R'—Restructuring feasibility. We do not need disobedient labor unions."
"When the Saionji Family returns to the country with US dollars to merge those bankrupt industrial giants, the rigid traditional unions inside the target companies will be our greatest obstacle to restructuring. To save their jobs, they will resist our asset stripping and even organize strikes."
Satsuki looked at Yamada on the screen.
"Faced with that kind of organized strike, simple legal litigation takes too long and will seriously slow capital turnover."
"The coming Great Depression will create millions of unemployed vagrants who haven't received their back pay. That vast and resentful force will become an undisciplined mob if we don't guide it."
"But if we use this opportunity to select an obedient proxy and organize these scattered lower-class laborers, providing funds and protection to establish a 'Shadow Union' completely under our control…"
Standing by the main console, Endo's breathing gradually slowed.
"When we push forward with merger cases and encounter obstruction from traditional corporate unions…" Satsuki continued.
"…this Shadow Union composed of the unemployed can be used by us. Outside the negotiating table, they can divide, infiltrate, and even physically break the opponent's ranks."
"At the same time, this bottom-level force can provide a solid base of public opinion for the new political proxies we support in future electoral gambits."
Endo adjusted his glasses.
His own vision was still not as sharp as my lady's. He hadn't expected that a mere bankrupt contractor could hold so much hidden value.
"I understand," Endo said, bowing slightly. "I will notify Fujita Tsuyoshi to go to the corridor and pick him up."
"You have your own task as well."
Satsuki picked up a legal document from the desk and held it out.
"Those presidents on the first floor who are on the verge of bankruptcy—the reason they scraped together this money tonight was in the hope of applying for relief in the name of their corporate entities to cover the bank loans due tomorrow."
Endo stepped forward and took the document.
Satsuki looked at him.
"Forcing hundreds of people near bankruptcy into a corner simultaneously brings nothing but unnecessary trouble and no actual profit. This deal isn't cost-effective."
"We need to divide them."
"Let the industrialists with technology and factories see a way out and actively stand on our side. As for those empty shells with nothing left but debt, we block their paths entirely."
Endo opened the document, his eyes scanning the core clauses of the regulations.
"…To prevent charitable funds from being forcibly deducted by creditor banks, this fund will not be remitted to corporate accounts as gratuitous cash for the repayment of financial debts."
Endo read the first paragraph aloud and nodded silently.
This meant directly cutting off the channel for funds to flow back to the banks, dashing the hopes of those presidents who wanted to settle their accounts.
"…However, for small and medium-sized enterprises that possess core technology and complete production lines, and are willing to cooperate in stripping bad debts and prioritizing employee rights, Saionji Industrial will use the form of 'Supply Chain Special Capital Injection' to directionally acquire their core assets and maintain factory operations."
Reaching this point, Endo's gaze narrowed slightly.
"…For insolvent enterprises that refuse restructuring, the Saionji financial team will interface directly with their corporate labor unions. Based on employee rosters and back-pay records, relief funds will bypass the corporate entity and be distributed point-to-point to individuals."
Endo closed the document.
Suppress one group, win over another.
The owners of empty shell companies who had relied purely on land speculation and carried bad debts, as well as the bank executives hoping to recover loans, would be shut out. Meanwhile, the factory directors who actually did industrial work—desperate but still valuable—would abandon their original main banks and lean toward the S.A. Group to receive Saionji's directional capital injection.
At the same time, the workers at the bottom would be successfully brought in because the direct salary payments bypassed the companies.
"Go and announce these rules," Satsuki said, looking at Endo.
"Let those who are truly valuable walk into our camp themselves. As for the useless waste who only work for the banks, let them accept the reality of bankruptcy sooner."
"Then, have Fujita bring this little mouse up."
Endo tucked the regulations document away and turned toward the door of the VIP room.
His palm had just touched the brass doorknob when Satsuki's voice came from behind him again.
"By the way, Endo. Can you act?"
…
Toward the side and rear of the hall, in the shadows of the logistics pantry corridor, Yamada crouched behind stacks of spare bar stools.
In the front hall just beyond the wall, someone seemed to be reading out regulations.
That voice appeared to be speaking about the final destination of the funds.
Yamada pressed against the wall, holding his breath.
He didn't understand the overly complex financial and legal terms. Something about cutting off the channel for funds to flow into corporate accounts to repay bank debts, followed by a proposal to conduct directional acquisitions of high-quality factories with core technology.
Roughly, it meant factories that actually did work would be acquired. But after the acquisition, what would happen to the factory employees?
The sounds of clinking glasses in the front hall vanished. Several suppressed curses and the dull thud of wine glasses being slammed onto tables drifted through the crack in the door.
Yamada swallowed, his mouth dry.
Then Endo's voice rang out again.
This time, Yamada understood.
"For those insolvent shell companies that refuse restructuring, the Saionji financial team will interface directly with their corporate labor unions. Based on employee rosters and back-pay records, relief funds will bypass the corporate entity and be distributed point-to-point to individuals…"
"Based on back-pay records… individual distribution."
Yamada repeated the sentence hoarsely under his breath.
The spasms in his stomach from hunger disappeared, replaced by a heartbeat so violent it felt as if it might shatter his ribs.
They were really going to give out money. The Saionji Family was actually going to bypass the banks that had seized everything and the bankrupt presidents to put cash directly into the hands of lower-class workers like him.
Bracing himself against the cold wall, he stood up unsteadily. His soaked work pants scraped against the wainscoting.
Knowing this news was enough.
Next, he had to go back and bring it to his fellow workers who hadn't had a full meal in two days.
Yamada turned and had taken only two steps when a tall figure blocked his path at the corner of the corridor.
Fujita Tsuyoshi wore a deep black suit, his hands hanging naturally at his sides. His gaze pierced through the dim light and landed directly on Yamada's face.
The blood in Yamada's body ran cold in an instant. He took half a step back, his back hitting the wall hard.
Fujita Tsuyoshi stepped forward. He raised his right hand, fingers together and palm up, gesturing toward the closed private elevator deep in the corridor.
"Sir."
Fujita Tsuyoshi looked at Yamada.
"Our lady requests your presence."