"Ayanokoji-kun, you're here. Have a seat."
With his back to Ayanokoji and hands behind him, Toru spoke slowly.
Ayanokoji looked around. After a moment of thought, he walked to a sofa separated from Arisu by a table and sat down.
"Good afternoon, Ayanokoji-kun."
Arisu, wearing a girl's JK short skirt with her slender beautiful legs wrapped in white stockings, greeted softly.
Her hands were clasped on her thighs, looking very elegant. Both her expression and her words were as confident as ever.
"Sakayanagi-san, are you also working for Mr. Fujiwara?"
Ayanokoji did not know the specific situation. He proactively spoke, trying to probe the relationship between Arisu and Toru.
"The use of 'also' is good. It seems Ayanokoji-kun is also working for Fujiwara-kun."
"My presence here already proves this point, there is no need for further questioning. However, from Sakayanagi-san's tone, I have also gotten the answer I wanted."
Ayanokoji remained expressionless, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
At this moment, Ayanokoji was pondering secretly.
Before Arisu answered his question just now, she first glanced at Mr. Fujiwara. Only after seeing that Mr. Fujiwara had no reaction did she answer his question.
In other words, Arisu almost completely followed Mr. Fujiwara's lead and was very obedient to him, to the point that even answering a question required her to first observe the other person's expression.
This greatly surprised Ayanokoji.
He was well aware of Arisu's assertiveness at school and her pride.
What on earth happened to make this woman so obedient?
Mr. Fujiwara is indeed Mr. Fujiwara, he can always do extraordinary things that ordinary people cannot.
He clicked his tongue inwardly, only to hear Arisu snort, "No need to overthink, Ayanokoji-kun. Your little thoughts cannot hide from me."
Her tone carried a hint of disdain, and her condescending gaze was still looking down on Ayanokoji.
In front of Toru, she admitted defeat and completely surrendered, knowing that she was incomparable to him.
But against Ayanokoji, she would not yield.
Now that both of them worked for the same person, she even developed a competitive spirit.
What she wanted to do was be better than Ayanokoji and gain Fujiwara-kun's favor.
Unconsciously, Arisu herself did not notice her change. Many of her actions were already completely for Toru.
Arisu said calmly, "I am now Fujiwara-kun's secretary and am working hard to do this job well. If you need anything in the future, you can tell me in advance, and I will determine if Fujiwara-kun is available to see you."
Is she trying to assert her dominance in a different way by being closer to Mr. Fujiwara?
Ayanokoji thought this.
However, he did not dare to be careless.
The positions of secretary and driver in many large companies are very important because they have the most contact with their superiors and know more secrets.
Do not easily offend them, no matter who you offend.
It is easier to see the king of hell than to deal with the little devils, that is the logic.
Ayanokoji did not dare to underestimate Arisu. This Class 1-A classmate was not on the same level as the others at school.
Toru just smiled, watching the two of them clash.
When his subordinates competed and worked hard against each other, he, as the superior, would be more relaxed.
Toru sat down to Arisu's left. She elegantly poured a cup of tea for him.
Ayanokoji glanced over. Since it was not for him, he had to pour himself a glass of water.
"You came to see me, so I presume the task I gave you is completed."
Toru took a sip of tea and asked.
Ayanokoji quickly took out the thick leather bag he carried with him, which contained a stack of A4 papers.
"All the information Mr. Fujiwara asked me to collect is here."
Looking at the thick stack of papers, Toru gestured to Arisu with his eyes.
Arisu nodded and took it. She knew her next task was to extract the most important content from these thick materials and report it.
"In simple terms, tell me about the Shinomiya family and Shijō family."
Toru asked, leaning back on the sofa.
Ayanokoji carefully considered his words for a moment and said, "This matter must first start with the division of the Shinomiya family and Shijō family about twenty years ago."
"According to my investigations from various sources, especially internal documents of the Shinomiya family and Shijō family, there was a disagreement between the two families about twenty years ago."
"As an old noble family, the Shinomiya family has adhered to ancient traditional thinking for hundreds of years, and the internal management of the family is very feudal."
"On the contrary, the Shijō family believed that in this new era, those rotten feudal traditions should be abandoned."
"The most contentious point between the two sides was that the Shijō family believed the industries under their name should be managed by foundations, trust institutions, and more professional managers, with minimal interference from within the family."
"The Shinomiya family, on the other hand, believed this would cause the family to completely lose power, and everything belonging to the family would be taken by outsiders."
Toru nodded thoughtfully.
He had not been aware of the conflict between the main branch and the side branch of the Shinomiya family before, as it did not involve his interests at that time.
But now that he sensed something was wrong, he had Ayanokoji and Curacao investigate.
Curacao had too many tasks, so Toru told her to drop this one and focus on others, leaving the investigation of the two families entirely to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
The fact that he could uncover the true point of conflict between the two large families twenty years ago shows his impressive ability.
"Who do you think is right between these two families?"
Ayanokoji asked at this point.
Toru came back to his senses and countered, "What do you think, Ayanokoji-kun?"
Ayanokoji lowered his head, "Based on my understanding, I believe the Shijō family's choice is correct."
"But I am not a Kazoku, I do not understand the internal workings of the Kazoku, so I dare not assert that the Shinomiya family is wrong."
Toru chuckled, "Having such thoughts indicates your maturity."
"If you ask me, I also support the Shijō family's idea."
"The Shinomiya family insists on keeping all power in their own hands, and they have been doing so for the past few hundred years, which is theoretically fine."
"But times have changed. The current Kazoku no longer has as many privileges as they did in the past. When the Shinomiya family possesses such vast wealth, they enter the market economy."
"In the old era, as the top Kazoku, they could rely on their privileges to avoid losing, but in the new era, where there is winning, there will also be losing."
"The Shinomiya family's wealth accumulation was due to the benefits of the era, not because the family heads of these two generations of the Shinomiya family were particularly capable."
"As second generation or third generation rich, the most dangerous thing is to overly believe in one's own abilities."
Toru paused here, then said thoughtfully, "...So that is it, the Shinomiya family is having financial problems."
Ayanokoji flattered him admiringly, "As expected of Mr. Fujiwara, you understood the true situation of the Shinomiya family in just a few words."
Toru laughed and chided, "No need for pleasantries. I can only roughly guess the problem, but the specifics still require your investigation reports. Continue, Ayanokoji-kun."
Ayanokoji continued, "When the Shinomiya family and the Shijō family had their dispute, it was still during the reign of the previous head, Gan'an Shinomiya."
"Gan'an Shinomiya's personality was not strong willed, so the two families could still get along."
"But eighteen years ago, Gan'an Shinomiya began to cultivate his eldest son, Oko. Oko was arrogant and opinionated. As he began to make his mark, the dispute with the Shijō family reached its peak."
"The assets of the Shijō family and the Shinomiya family were calculated separately. The Shijō family had abundant wealth, and Oko set his sights on the Shijō family's assets, using the dispute as an excuse to aggressively encroach."
"Naturally, the Shijō family was unwilling to be robbed of their wealth and completely broke ties with the Shinomiya family."
"But the side branch was ultimately no match for the main branch. The Shijō family was defeated and, under duress, chose to sell off their remaining assets and move their entire family to America."
"It was also because Oko seized the Shijō family's assets that the Shinomiya family's wealth greatly increased, and he gained enough authority to lead the Shinomiya Group."
Toru listened quietly, getting straight to the point, "The Shijō family went to America, what happened to them?"
"The Shijō family, with the capital obtained from selling all their assets and support from Wall Street, rose again in America."
"The Shijō family knew too many secrets of the Shinomiya family, and the reason Oko was able to defeat the Shijō family was by relying on the Shinomiya family's accumulated prestige over the years and leveraging external forces, not because Oko himself was so capable."
"The Shijō family used Wall Street's capital to target the Shinomiya family around the world, preventing the Shinomiya family's industries from expanding beyond Japan."
"And just recently, several institutions on Wall Street shorted an important company of the Shinomiya family, similar to companies like the Tokyo Electric Power Company."
Toru's fingers rested on his chin, "Shorting? Those vampires on Wall Street would not set up such a big scheme for just a little money. I am afraid they have been eyeing the Shinomiya family's assets from the beginning."
"The Shinomiya family appears wealthy, but they are confined to Japan and cannot develop overseas, thus having no influence abroad."
"As for their influence within Japan, it is useless to America. Something big is about to happen to the Shinomiya family, and it is likely something that will cause the entire family industry to fall apart."
No matter how large a zaibatsu is, without the support of national strength, it is just a huge piece of fat in front of those vampires on Wall Street.
Just like during the peak of Japan's economic bubble when selling land in Tokyo could buy America, was it not easily burst by America?
"Ayanokoji-kun, which capital group helped the Shijō family back then?"
"BlackRock Group."
"Ha, then that is right, it is those greedy and damnable squids!"
Toru sneered.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)