The sixth file bag was quickly taken out.
This family owned a cultural foundation under its name, which held large-scale exhibitions every spring and autumn. The foundation was quite famous in Kazoku circles and had borrowed many paintings and antiques from Europe in recent years.
"The venue for this autumn has already been booked."
That family head spoke up proactively.
Having witnessed the previous few families, he clearly was not prepared to wait for Satsuki to speak first.
"The contract has also been signed. Even if Saionji is unwilling to continue cooperating, the exhibition will still be held on time."
"Of course the venue is still there."
Satsuki nodded.
"Saionji will not ask the exhibition hall to breach the contract."
The man's expression did not relax.
"However, among the twenty-seven overseas collections your family plans to exhibit this year, the transportation of nineteen is handled by companies under Saionji, and the insurance for twenty-three is underwritten by Saionji Insurance."
Satsuki opened the file bag.
"Although the remaining few use foreign insurance companies, their reinsurance contracts still go through Saionji's overseas channels."
"We can change the transportation company and insurance company."
"You can."
Satsuki did not deny it.
"It is just that whether the overseas lenders are willing to accept the new transportation routes and insurance conditions will be up to them to decide."
The family head's expression sank slightly.
"We have already signed the exhibition loan agreement."
"But it also states in the agreement that when there is a major change in insurance conditions, the lenders can withdraw their collections."
Satsuki pulled a copy of an English contract out of the documents.
"Tomorrow morning, Saionji Insurance will notify all lenders in accordance with the contract that it will no longer provide special underwriting for your foundation this autumn."
"At the same time, the media under Saionji will cancel promotional arrangements, and the transportation company will no longer provide constant-temperature vehicles and special escorts."
The man suddenly raised his head.
"You are trying to make it impossible for the exhibition to be held."
"The venue still belongs to your foundation, does it not?"
Satsuki looked at him.
"The lighting, display cases, and opening reception can all be prepared as usual. Saionji simply cannot guarantee whether those collections will still arrive in Tokyo on time."
A nearby family head could not help but look toward the Chairman of the Research Association.
Were there not still three cultural foundations behind the Mutual Aid Association?
The Chairman of the Research Association clearly understood the meaning of that gaze, but did not reply immediately.
Satsuki had already spoken the words for him.
"Of course, you all still have three cultural foundations that can help."
Her tone even seemed quite considerate.
"It is just that two of them are using Saionji's transportation channels, and the last one's restoration budget for next year still requires guarantees from an insurance company under Saionji."
The Chairman of the Research Association's lips moved slightly.
"Cultural affairs belong to cultural affairs. Since those three foundations have already agreed to assist the Mutual Aid Association, they will not change their decision because of a banquet."
"That would be best."
Satsuki did not argue.
"Saionji will re-examine all cooperation with them tomorrow, lest our funds, personnel, and insurance end up going in a circle and continuing to be used on the Mutual Aid Association's projects."
She looked at the head of the sixth family.
"Your foundation can also continue to hold the autumn exhibition."
"It is just that how much stuff will actually be left in the exhibition hall by then is not something Saionji can guarantee."
The man's hand stopped beside the file bag and never reached out.
If the overseas collections could not enter the country and the media publicity was withdrawn, that exhibition prepared for a year would only leave behind an empty exhibition hall whose rent had already been paid.
What was even more serious was that once the lenders determined that this foundation had lost reliable transportation and insurance capabilities, they would not easily hand over their collections to them next year or the year after.
Saionji was not just cancelling an exhibition.
The point was to make this cultural foundation lose the qualification to continue holding international exhibitions.
Chizuru took out the seventh file bag.
This time, the elderly man sitting opposite did not wait for Satsuki to introduce it.
"Our family has no companies, nor do we have any documents that need to be kept by Saionji."
He looked coldly at the documents on the table.
"Members of the House of Peers are even less of Saionji's employees."
This family's backing was seats in the House of Peers, and together with their in-laws, they could stably influence three seats. They were also the most hard-line family on that list of twenty-six people.
"Your side can certainly continue to oppose the autumn reforms in the committee."
Satsuki did not deny it.
"Saionji will not stop any member from voting according to their own judgment."
The old man sneered.
"In that case, what else is in this file bag?"
"Roads, hospitals, and agricultural subsidies."
Satsuki answered very calmly.
The sneer on the old man's face did not disappear immediately.
"Since when did the national budget become something belonging to the Saionji Family?"
"It never has been."
Satsuki gently shook her head.
"Therefore, Saionji will not ask the Cabinet to cancel any approved projects."
She opened the file bag and placed three sets of local project materials side by side on the table.
"The first member's constituency is fighting for two sections of local roads. The technical conditions of the two candidate proposals are similar, but the budget is insufficient to start construction simultaneously."
"The second hopes to build a new local hospital next year, and the neighbouring city has also submitted the same application."
"The agricultural group of the last one is striving for additional subsidies. The applications from the three neighbouring counties have not yet been prioritised."
The old man stared at those documents, and the contempt on his face gradually disappeared.
"You want to use projects to force them to change their votes?"
"Saionji will not coerce anyone."
Satsuki looked at him.
"Members who support the reforms also have roads to repair, hospitals to build, and farmers to take care of. Since the budget is limited, priority should naturally be given to those willing to cooperate with the Cabinet's policies."
"Is not this very common in politics?"
The old man gripped the armrest of his chair.
"They will not betray our family over trivial things like this."
"Perhaps not."
Satsuki did not argue with him.
"Therefore, Saionji has also prepared new candidates for each of the three projects."
Chizuru took out another three sets of materials.
Two of them came from the local assembly, and the other was a local political figure who had long been responsible for agricultural group affairs.
"If the roads and hospitals ultimately go to neighbouring constituencies, they will tell the local voters precisely who insisted on opposing the reforms and who brought the projects back."
The old man's expression finally changed.
"You are going to support them to confront us?"
"Your family can continue to keep three votes."
Satsuki's voice did not raise a single bit.
"It is just that after the next election, whether the people sitting in those three positions will still obey your family will depend on how the local voters judge."
She placed the seventh file bag in front of the old man.
"Your family thinks three votes are enough to stop Saionji."
"Then Saionji will let your family see with your own eyes how these three votes turn into three letters of resignation."
The surrounding elderly men who had long participated in the affairs of the House of Peers could no longer maintain their previous calm.
Budget transfers could only affect one vote.
Supporting local competitors, however, was dismantling the political foundation that this family had operated for many years.
That old man no longer sneered.
The eighth file bag belonged to an old family with the deepest ties to a trust bank.
The Mutual Aid Association was able to obtain its initial financing commitment precisely because this family was willing to offer two commercial properties outside of their ancestral home as additional collateral. Of the planned 1.2 billion yen, 800 million needed to rely on that property in Ginza to establish a second-priority mortgage.
Seeing the name on the file bag, that family head's expression had already darkened.
"The property in Ginza has never defaulted on its loans. The first-priority creditor has also cooperated with your family for decades and will not sell the claims to you just based on a single word from Saionji."
"Therefore, Saionji did not just say a single word."
Satsuki opened the file bag and placed the offer letter sent out in the afternoon in front of him.
"The first offer is three percentage points higher than the book principal. Tomorrow when the bank holds its review meeting, we will add another point. If that is still not enough, we will continue adding more."
She said this very calmly.
"Until the board of directors can no longer explain why they are refusing this profit for the sake of your family."
That family head stared at the offer letter and fell silent for a moment.
"Even if Saionji buys the first-priority claims, the property is not in default right now."
"The loan matures next March. Before then, Saionji naturally will not demand early repayment."
Satsuki pushed the subsequent property valuation report over together with it.
"After maturity, we will not renew the loan, nor will we agree to your family using the same building again to establish a second-priority mortgage to raise those 800 million yen for the Mutual Aid Association."
"Your family still has nine months to find new financing. It is just that new banks will see that the original creditor preferred to sell the loan at a premium rather than continue cooperating; they will also know that this property is prepared to provide funds for an alliance openly opposing Saionji."
She paused slightly.
"Banks willing to bear all these risks at the same time for 1.2 billion yen probably will not be many."
That family head did not say anything more.
Of the 1.2 billion that the Mutual Aid Association originally expected him to invest, 800 million had already been lost first. If new funds still could not be found before next March, even the Ginza property itself would fall into Saionji's hands along with the maturing claims.
Satsuki closed the file bag.
"Your family wants to use this building to raise money for the alliance."
"Then Saionji will first make it disappear from your family's balance sheet."
She leaned back against the chair again, her face still carrying a calm smile.
"Saionji lacks many things."
"It just happens not to lack cash."
The last file bag remained in Chizuru's hands.
Everyone knew that it belonged to the Kazanin family.
Satsuki did not immediately reach for it.
She first looked at the eight file bags lined up on the table, and after confirming that nothing was missing, she reached her hand out toward Chizuru.
The Head of Kazanin's gaze followed that file bag the entire time.
To be honest, this feeling of waiting for someone to "pronounce a death sentence" on you did not feel good.
But he was the backbone of the Mutual Aid Association and the strongest among the nine present. If even he were afraid, then there would be no need for this association to exist.
"The Kazanin family has no maturing loans, and Karuizawa's land is also sufficient to support the initial funds of the Mutual Aid Association."
He spoke more calmly than the others.
"How does Miss Satsuki plan to deal with Kazanin?"
"What you said is correct."
Satsuki took the last file bag.
"The Kazanin family is indeed the most difficult one to deal with among the nine."
She flipped through the documents and nodded unceasingly.
"You have no imminent debts, nor are any batches of documents damp. Your family's connections in Kyoto and the House of Peers are likewise not something that can be severed in a short time."
The Head of Kazanin's expression finally softened a bit.
"So?"
"Therefore, Saionji will not rush to deal with it."
Satsuki placed the file bag in front of him.
"Karuizawa's land can continue to be mortgaged, and the cultural foundation under your family's name can also continue to operate. Saionji will likewise not ask the people you contacted in the House of Peers to leave immediately."
The Head of Kazanin did not touch the file bag.
He knew there must still be more words coming.
"It is just that starting tonight, Saionji will no longer provide convenience for any arrangements of the Kazanin family."
Satsuki looked at him.
"If your family wants financing, finance according to the ordinary prices given by the bank."
"If you want to repair the residence, find craftsmen according to market prices."
"If the younger generation in the family needs positions, please have them participate in the selection themselves."
"If you need support in the House of Peers, you can continue to rely on this list of twenty-six people."
Saying this, she revealed a bit of a smile again.
"Since Your Excellency Kazanin believes that Saionji entering the interior of the Kazoku is a dangerous matter, I will make Saionji completely leave the Kazanin family."
The Head of Kazanin's expression changed bit by bit.
For the others among the nine families, Saionji's hostility might mean claims, warehouses, contracts, or constituencies.
For Kazanin, what was truly terrifying was doing nothing instead.
Providing no help.
Providing no positions.
Providing no funds.
Nor maintaining through relations between Kujo, Konoe, and other old families the conveniences that were once taken for granted.
The Kazanin family would certainly not go bankrupt tomorrow.
It would only watch helplessly in the coming years as all the families still cooperating with Saionji obtained new funds, positions, and political resources, while gradually losing its own influence over the internal order of the Kazoku.
Satsuki neatly placed the nine file bags beside the letter of intent.
Nine seals.
Nine handling plans.
Not a single one was missing.
"This is the price Saionji is prepared to pay."
She leaned back against the chair again.
"You all can let banks reject my offer, can let Sumitomo fall out with Saionji for your family's goods, and can also let all twenty-six members act according to this list."
"Saionji will take it on head-on."
The Head of Kazanin's palm pressed against the top of his walking stick, remaining motionless for a long time.
An old man sitting on the other side finally could not help speaking up.
"Miss Satsuki, are you preparing to declare war on the entire Kazoku?"
Satsuki looked toward him, as if she had heard something extremely strange.
"The entire Kazoku?"
Her gaze swept past Konoe, Takatsukasa, and Kujo, and then looked toward those onlookers who had never left their seats from start to finish.
"I already asked just now."
"The only ones who stepped forward are nine families."
No one spoke again.
Satsuki reached out and brought the blank signature book responsible for registration in front of herself, flipping to the next page.
It was still completely blank above.
She waited a few seconds, and after confirming that no one else would stand up, she closed the signature book.
"Since there is no tenth family."
Satsuki looked toward the Head of Kazanin.
"Then starting tomorrow, Saionji will only deal with these nine enemies."
Chizuru put away the divider of the file case, but did not take away the nine file bags on the table.
They were still neatly placed beside that letter of intent, with their white labels facing their respective owners.
Outside the banquet hall, waiters had been holding the next dish and waiting for a long time.
The person responsible for serving dishes glanced through the crack of the door and quietly retreated back into the corridor.
Nine spots for placing files were left vacant on the main table.
As for the rest of the banquet tonight, probably no one could eat any more of it.