The four of them finally sat around the meeting table.
For several seconds, nobody spoke. A ministry employee quietly placed tea and coffee in front of them before leaving the room, and once the door closed, Zaboru leaned comfortably against his chair as though this were an ordinary Saturday conversation instead of a government meeting called because of one of his games.
He looked toward Keisuke and Denzo with a small grin.
"Hey, Keisuke-san, Denzo-san. You guys know I technically didn't lie to you, right?" Zaboru spread his hands innocently. "I said I would make a Japanese historical game. Sengoku Basara is literally a Japanese historical game."
Keisuke stared at him for several seconds before sighing. "You mean the historical game where Honda Tadakatsu is practically a cyborg, Tokugawa Ieyasu fights like a boxer, and Date Masamune carries six swords between his fingers like claws?"
Zaboru nodded seriously.
"Yes."
Keisuke stared.
Zaboru's lips twitched.
Denzo already knew what was coming.
"Come on," Zaboru finally said with a chuckle. "Don't sweat the small details."
Keisuke immediately covered his face with one hand while Denzo sighed.
Before either of them could answer, Yuna spoke.
"With due respect, Renkonan-san, those are not small details."
The amusement in the room faded slightly.
Yuna adjusted her glasses and looked directly at Zaboru. Her expression remained controlled, but there was obvious irritation underneath it.
"You are using real historical figures. People who played important roles in the formation of this country, and you turned them into exaggerated parodies. Honda Tadakatsu is some mechanical warrior. Tokugawa Ieyasu is throwing punches. Date Masamune fights like something from a fantasy manga." She paused. "You might consider that harmless entertainment. I consider it disrespectful toward our culture and history."
Denzo glanced at her.
Here we go.
Zaboru was quiet for a moment.
Then something finally clicked inside his head.
Ah.
He remembered her cold handshake. Her expression outside. Living Scan telling him she already disliked him before they had even exchanged five sentences.
Now it makes sense.
She wasn't angry because of something he'd personally done to her.
She was simply one of those people with an incredibly rigid worldview—especially when tradition was involved.
So that's why she already hated my guts.
Zaboru leaned back slightly.
"All right, Kamijo-san. Then what exactly would you prefer?"
Yuna raised an eyebrow.
Zaboru continued, "Should I make every historical figure some godly, pure-hearted samurai who wakes up every morning thinking about honor, Bushido and protecting Japan?"
Keisuke glanced toward him.
Zaboru's smile remained, but his tone became more serious.
"Because that would be more insulting to history, in my opinion."
Yuna frowned.
"Historical figures became legendary because they were interesting people. Different personalities. Different ambitions. Different methods. Some were loyal. Some were ruthless. Some were brilliant. Some made terrible decisions. Some had questionable morals." Zaboru tapped one finger against the table. "They weren't pieces of white paper with the word hero written on them."
Yuna opened her mouth, but Zaboru continued.
"And we both know history itself isn't perfectly clean. Victors preserve one version. Losers preserve another if they're lucky enough to have anyone left writing it. Records contradict each other. Stories get exaggerated. Legends grow around actual people."
He looked straight into her eyes.
"So no, I don't believe respecting history means putting every historical figure inside a glass display case and never touching them."
Yuna's expression tightened.
Zaboru leaned forward.
"And I'm not slandering Honda Tadakatsu either. It's literally the opposite."
He raised a hand.
"What is the image associated with Tadakatsu? An insanely mighty warrior. Someone who fought battle after battle and became legendary because people couldn't believe how difficult he was to bring down."
Zaboru grinned.
"So Team IZAN took that image and pushed it to eleven."
Denzo's mouth twitched.
"He's unbelievably tough?"
Zaboru slapped the table lightly.
"Make him a damn war machine Cyborg."
Keisuke couldn't help chuckling.
Zaboru continued, "That's the entire philosophy behind Basara. We take one memorable characteristic and exaggerate the absolute hell out of it. Tadakatsu isn't turned into a machine because we think he's a joke. He's turned into a machine because we want the player to see him enter the battlefield and immediately think, Holy shit, this guy is unstoppable."
He shrugged.
"That's creative interpretation."
Yuna shook her head.
"You're simplifying the problem."
"No. I'm explaining my reasoning."
"You're underestimating how foreigners may interpret it."
That caused Zaboru to pause.
Yuna continued, her voice becoming sharper. "ZAGE isn't a small domestic company. Your games are played internationally. What do you think foreign players will believe when they see Japanese historical figures presented this way? That our history is a joke?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps that doesn't matter much to you. ZAGE already creates games based on the Second World War and alters history however it wishes. Medal of Honor is another example, isn't it?"
Zaboru actually looked surprised.
"Oh?"
Denzo shifted uncomfortably.
Yuna continued. "Germany, America, Europe, military operations—you reconstruct and alter all of them for entertainment. Now you're doing the same thing to Japanese history."
Zaboru slowly nodded.
"Okay."
His smile returned.
"First, Medal of Honor is explicitly fictional. We've never hidden that. We literally tell people it's an alternate interpretation."
Yuna remained silent.
"Second, you're asking what foreigners will think when they see Basara?"
"Yes."
Zaboru shrugged.
"They'll probably think, Damn, these guys are so damn cool!."
Yuna's eyebrow twitched.
Keisuke coughed.
Zaboru continued before she could interrupt him. "Seriously. Imagine some American kid has never heard the name Date Masamune before. Why would he suddenly care enough to read three books about Japanese history?"
He pointed toward the table.
"He doesn't."
Another tap.
"But then he plays Basara."
Tap.
"He sees this insane one-eyed warlord wielding six swords shouting "Engrish" words like "LETS PARTY!"."
Tap.
"He remembers the name Date Masamune."
Zaboru leaned back.
"Then maybe one day he's online and realizes—wait. Date Masamune was real?"
He grinned.
"Now he's curious."
The room became quieter.
"He searches for him. Reads something. Learns where he lived. Learns what period he came from. Maybe learns about Tokugawa Ieyasu afterward. Maybe Nobunaga. Maybe the entire Sengoku era."
Zaboru looked toward Yuna.
"Would every player do that? Obviously not. But more people will know those names tomorrow than they did yesterday."
Yuna's mouth tightened.
Zaboru continued, "If I make an extremely serious historical simulation and advertise it to millions of foreigners who don't already care about Japanese history, most of them will just walk past it because it's boring as hell."
He spread his hands.
"That's reality."
His voice softened slightly.
"You can't force someone to love your culture."
Then he tapped his head.
"You make them curious first."
For a moment, Yuna didn't answer.
Denzo could see that Zaboru's argument had at least reached her, even if she hated admitting it.
Unfortunately, instead of lowering the temperature, Yuna's frustration finally broke through.
She struck her palm against the table.
BAM!
The cups rattled.
Denzo's eyes widened.
Keisuke immediately looked toward her.
Zaboru didn't move.
Yuna leaned forward.
"I don't care what excuses you give, Renkonan-san."
Silence.
"What ZAGE has done is disrespectful toward important figures in our history. You can call it interpretation, entertainment or marketing, but that does not change what it is."
Her expression hardened.
"I am formally asking that you cancel the release of Sengoku Basara."
Zaboru stared at her.
Yuna continued.
"And if ZAGE refuses, then perhaps the ministry should consider legal action regarding the misuse and misrepresentation of nationally significant historical figures."
Denzo froze.
Keisuke's expression immediately changed.
"Yuna—"
Before he could finish—
Zaboru started laughing.
Not his usual quiet chuckle.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Yuna blinked.
Zaboru leaned backward, laughing for several seconds before finally rubbing his forehead.
"Classic."
His laughter slowly faded.
"Absolutely classic."
Yuna's expression darkened.
"What exactly is funny?"
"This."
Zaboru pointed toward her.
"This entire mentality."
His smile was still there, but there wasn't much amusement behind it anymore.
"I'm right. You're wrong. Therefore you obey me."
Yuna's eyes widened slightly.
"I explained my reasoning. You disagree? Fine. Debate me."
He gestured toward himself.
"Tell me why I'm wrong."
Then toward her.
"I'll tell you why I think you're wrong."
His voice sharpened.
"That's called a discussion."
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
"But instead, you reach the point where you don't like my answer, slam the table and say, I don't care about your excuses. Cancel everything or we'll take legal action."
Zaboru shook his head.
"That's exactly the kind of rigid mindset I can't stand."
Yuna looked furious.
"You are twisting my words."
"No."
Zaboru's grin disappeared.
"I'm repeating them."
That change was enough to make Denzo sit straighter.
Zaboru glanced briefly toward Keisuke.
Then Denzo.
Neither man looked remotely supportive of Yuna's threat.
Zaboru slowly looked back at her.
"For the look on your bosses' faces, Kamijo-san, I don't think they were planning any legal action."
Yuna said nothing.
Zaboru's eyes became cold.
The relaxed man who had walked into the building wearing Air Jordans and joking about cyborg samurai was suddenly gone.
Even his posture changed.
Straight.
Still.
Focused.
He spoke quietly.
"Two questions."
Yuna swallowed almost instinctively.
"Are you threatening me, Kamijo-san? And you think I'm beneath you.?"
The room went completely silent.
There was no shouting.
That somehow made it worse.
Yuna had expected Zaboru Renkonan to be unserious.
A spoiled billionaire.
An eccentric game developer who joked too much because everybody around him tolerated it.
For the first time, she understood why senior executives, politicians and business leaders treated him differently.
The man sitting across from her controlled ZAGE.
Thousands upon thousands of employees.
Entertainment franchises recognized across continents.
Money on a scale most corporations could only imagine.
And right now, none of that playful energy remained in his eyes.
Yuna felt sweat forming near her temple.
"I—"
Keisuke immediately laughed.
"Hahaha! All right, all right, Zaboru. Don't become so stiff."
The tension cracked.
Keisuke waved one hand dismissively. "She's still young. And for the record, no, the ministry isn't threatening ZAGE over Sengoku Basara."
Yuna turned toward him.
"Boss—"
"No."
Keisuke's tone remained pleasant, but the single word stopped her.
"We invited Zaboru here to discuss the game. Not to issue threats we haven't authorized."
Denzo sighed deeply.
"Thank God somebody said it."
Keisuke looked toward Zaboru. "Personally, I think your game is weird as hell."
Zaboru's mouth slowly curved upward again.
"But being weird is practically ZAGE's identity at this point," Keisuke continued. "And your fans clearly seem to love it."
The dangerous pressure disappeared almost immediately.
Zaboru leaned back again.
"Heh. I knew you'd understand, Keisuke-san."
Denzo looked toward Yuna.
She was still quiet.
Zaboru continued, "And don't misunderstand me either. I want what's best for Japan too."
He pointed at his temple.
"You guys have known me long enough. Don't underestimate how my brain works. Just trust the process."
Keisuke raised an eyebrow.
Zaboru grinned.
"Let's see what happens after Basara releases."
He began counting with his fingers.
"How many foreigners learn the names Date Masamune, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Honda Tadakatsu and the others?"
Another finger.
"How many search the real history afterward?"
Another.
"How many suddenly want to see Sendai because they liked Masamune?"
Keisuke's expression changed slightly.
Zaboru noticed.
"How many visit museums? Historical sites? Castles? Festivals?"
Denzo slowly smiled.
Zaboru spread his hands.
"And what happens when foreign tourists start visiting places connected to characters they discovered through a videogame?"
He paused.
"Money."
Denzo laughed.
"There it is."
"Tourism, merchandise, documentaries, books, museum visits, regional promotion." Zaboru shrugged. "You guys see a ridiculous samurai game. I see an entrance point."
Denzo nodded slowly.
"Well, we'll see whether you're right."
Zaboru smiled.
"Fair enough."
"But honestly," Denzo added, "I understand the vision."
Zaboru relaxed further.
"Good."
Then he looked down at the table.
His expression became mildly annoyed again.
"Although…"
Keisuke noticed.
"What?"
Zaboru sighed.
"I actually came here wanting to discuss something else with you guys."
Both Keisuke and Denzo immediately became interested.
"The thing you mentioned outside?" Denzo asked.
"Yeah."
Zaboru glanced toward Yuna.
She noticed.
He leaned back and folded his arms.
"But I'm not really in the mood anymore."
Yuna's eyes widened.
Keisuke's smile disappeared slightly.
Zaboru continued casually, "And honestly, this probably isn't the right atmosphere to talk about it."
"What was it about?" Keisuke asked.
"Nothing urgent."
That answer somehow made Denzo more worried.
Zaboru stood.
"We can talk about it another time."
He pushed his chair back into place.
"Anyway, I suddenly remembered I'm a very busy man."
Denzo stared.
"You drove here voluntarily."
"And now I'm voluntarily leaving."
Keisuke sighed.
Zaboru chuckled and picked up his sunglasses.
"Thanks for the tea."
He nodded politely toward Keisuke and Denzo.
"See you guys later."
Then he looked toward Yuna.
"Kamijo-san."
She nodded stiffly.
"Renkonan-san."
Zaboru put his sunglasses on and left the meeting room.
A few moments later, the distant sound of his Lamborghini echoed outside.
The three government officials remained seated.
Silence.
Then Keisuke slowly turned toward Yuna.
She immediately knew.
"Yuna Kamijo."
Her back straightened.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you understand what you just did?"
She remained silent.
Keisuke's expression was no longer amused.
"From where I was sitting, Zaboru came here willingly on his Saturday. He answered your questions. You challenged him. He gave reasons. You challenged those reasons again."
Keisuke tapped the table.
"And then, instead of continuing the discussion, you threatened legal action that nobody here authorized."
Yuna looked down slightly.
"I believed—"
"I know what you believed."
That stopped her.
Keisuke sighed.
"You don't have to agree with him. I don't agree with everything Zaboru does either. Denzo certainly doesn't."
Denzo nodded. "Constantly."
"But disagreement isn't the problem." Keisuke continued. "The problem is that you turned a discussion into a confrontation unnecessarily."
Yuna remained silent.
"Thankfully," Keisuke said, "Zaboru isn't enough of an asshole to escalate every personal insult into a business war."
Denzo coughed.
"Boss."
"What? It's true."
Keisuke looked toward Yuna again.
"But don't misunderstand that patience for weakness."
His voice became calmer.
"You kept asking why we treat Zaboru differently from an ordinary businessman."
Yuna slowly looked at him.
"Today you got part of your answer."
Keisuke leaned back.
"Whether we like it or not, he may very well be the richest man on Earth right now. More importantly, his companies are tied into major parts of Japan's technology, entertainment, manufacturing and telecommunications sectors."
He gestured toward the empty chair.
"You don't need to fear him."
Yuna listened carefully.
"But you absolutely need to understand the scale of the person you're dealing with before casually threatening his company."
Yuna's expression changed slightly.
Keisuke continued, "And the annoying part is that he didn't even come here only because of Basara."
Denzo sighed.
"He wanted something."
"Yes."
Keisuke looked toward the door Zaboru had left through.
"The last time Zaboru came asking for serious government cooperation, we ended up discussing the Sendou Fiber FTTH rollout."
Yuna slowly frowned.
"That project is already becoming extremely important."
"Exactly."
Keisuke tapped the table again.
"And today he arrived saying he had another proposal he wanted to discuss with us."
Yuna finally understood.
"Then because of me…"
"He postponed the discussion."
Keisuke shrugged.
"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's huge. With Zaboru, who the hell knows?"
Denzo muttered, "That's the terrifying part."
"But whatever it was," Keisuke continued, "it apparently involved something important enough that he specifically wanted to speak with the government which is anomaly. Now we'll hear about it another day because you decided today was the day to threaten legal action over cyborg Honda Tadakatsu."
Yuna lowered her eyes.
For the first time since the meeting began, she had no immediate argument.
She still believed Sengoku Basara treated history too casually.
She still disliked Zaboru's attitude.
And she certainly wasn't suddenly convinced by everything he had said.
But she also knew how to read a room.
And she understood now that she had crossed a line she hadn't actually been authorized to cross.
Denzo watched her quietly.
He could tell she hadn't completely changed her mind.
Not yet.
If anything, Zaboru's sudden pressure had probably frightened her more than it convinced her.
But perhaps that was part of the lesson.
People weren't simple.
Neither was business.
And neither, unfortunately, was Zaboru Renkonan.
Denzo leaned back, closed his eyes, and released the longest sigh of the entire morning.
I'm too old for this shit.
Beside him, Keisuke continued scolding Yuna.
And somewhere outside, a yellow Lamborghini was already disappearing into the streets of Tokyo.
To be continued.
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