Chapter 106 – Peak

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Henry Ford. My name is Ootori Reiko.”

“Nice to meet you, young lady of the Ootori family. I’m Henry Ford. You must be tired from coming such a long way. Is your great-uncle Tora doing well?”

“Yes. Right now, he’s back in our country, eagerly waiting for me to return after purchasing a factory from you, Mr. Ford.”

“Hahaha. That sounds just like him.”

And like that, here I am in Detroit.
What’s more, I’m face-to-face with none other than Henry Ford himself, a top-ranked figure among history’s great names.

At my side are Tokita and Sebastian, who are actually handling the negotiations, but as the representative of the Ootori Count family, I’m the one making the initial greetings.

And the Detroit of 1929, where I now stand, is one of the very symbols of America. With Ford, General Motors, and other automobile companies fiercely competing, it is truly the automobile city—Motor City.
And the man who could be called not just one of its kings, but its very first king, is Henry Ford himself.

As the pioneer of mass production technology, he was one of those who completed 20th-century capitalism. His ideas were given the name “Fordism,” bearing his own name, and Ootori’s Torasaburou, in effect, apprenticed under him, eagerly adopting his methods.

Incidentally, Ootori Torasaburou went to America before the Russo-Japanese War, wandered as his feet carried him, and knocked on the door of the then-small Ford company. He was liked by Ford himself and joined the company, becoming not just the first Asian employee at Ford, but really just a low-ranking factory worker.

This was before the Model T Ford—found even in history textbooks—was produced. 

Until he was strongly urged by the Ootori main family to return in preparation for business expansion during the Great War (World War I), he worked diligently for more than ten years at Ford’s factory as a single employee. I’ve even heard him boast that by the time he left, he had risen to quite a high position.
What’s more, he had hidden neither his social standing nor anything else, working there just like any ordinary man, which is astonishing.

And when he explained the circumstances and returned to Japan, he was given a large number of Model Ts as a kind of severance gift, entrusted with the task of setting up a Japan branch.

After that, the Ootori conglomerate was officially designated as Ford’s knock-down production partner in Japan.
Then, using the skills he had learned along the way, Torasaburou embarked on developing and producing trucks and automobiles independently under Ootori, which continues to this day.

Moreover, Torasaburou is pen pals with Mr. Ford. That’s why when I came to see him this time, I carried a letter from Torasaburou. Once I handed over the letter and exchanged some polite greetings, my role was finished.

After that, since it became a matter for adults, I left Tokita and Sebastian behind and, led by Shizu, withdrew to another room.
Besides, Tokita had negotiated with the Ford Company many times as a business partner or client during his visits to America, and he had even met Mr. Ford in person once, so there was no problem leaving it to him.

Or rather, since Mr. Ford hadn’t questioned the mask I wear, it would be bad manners to touch upon adult matters.

The fact that he didn’t pry into the darker side of me made me realize that Mr. Ford truly was one of the good Americans.

“So, how did your talk with Mr. Ford go?”

I asked the two on the ride back, while sitting on Shizu’s lap.

“Since he had already sold all his GM stock this spring, the negotiations went smoothly. That said, today was only a preliminary greeting.”

“Sebastian’s doing?”

“Yes.”

Tokita gave a short reply, and Sebastian kept his calm expression. Still, I figured I should at least ask.

“I see. But Sebastian, you still want to stay by my side, don’t you?”

“Indeed I do. However, in order to be truly acknowledged, I wish to build up achievements first.”

He understood very well that I hadn’t fully accepted him yet. What I trusted was Tokita’s eye for people, and indeed, Sebastian was still pending in my judgment.

Also, his excessive politeness is a bit creepy. That’s what sets him apart from old man Yagami or Mr. Wan, who sometimes act easygoing or drop back into their natural selves.

“I see. But if you’re going to work hard, then at the longest you’ll be stationed in America for three years.”

“It took me three years just to be granted an audience with you, milady. Another three years is nothing. But… three years, you say?”

Sebastian looked a little surprised at my words, which were more like a prophecy. The way he reacted made it clear he correctly understood that it was close to a prediction of the coming upheavals in the economy.
But only for an instant—he quickly returned to his composed face, and by the end of his words it had even shifted into a vigorous smile.

This Sebastian would have made a brilliant operator of a vulture fund if he had lived in the 21st century.

“That’s right. And you might even end up having to do something like a vulture fund, but is that alright?”

“That is not for you to worry about, milady. If you order it, then so it shall be.”

“That’s far too blind. Well, I won’t ask you to do anything illegal, so just keep it moderate, okay?”

“Your consideration humbles me.”

His excessive theatrics, even more than old man Yagami and the others in the adjoining cars, were enough to make me feel a little poisoned. But since he’s willing to become my piece on the board, I resign myself to accepting it as the duty of a master.

“Well, if you can keep up that attitude even two months from now, then I’ll trust you more. For now, just pay attention three days from now.”

“On that matter, if I may.”

This time it was Tokita. And his voice had shifted into business mode.
I could already guess what he was about to bring up.

“The final sell-off?”

“Yes. About one hundred million dollars remain. Though that was the original capital, we’ve been gradually putting it all up for sale since the end of August, when the price neared the 380-dollar range. The last sell-off is scheduled for early September, but since the announcement and such have already been made, the market is brimming with excitement.”

“How much will that come to?”

“It’s the shares we added around ’27 at 150 to 160 dollars, so in simple calculation, about 240%. After subtracting taxes and fees, it will come to around two hundred million dollars.”

“An absurd amount, if I say so myself. But if the market still keeps climbing after this, then we’ll look like utter fools.”

“Well now, who can say how it will turn out.”

“I, for one, look forward to witnessing the first historic scene.”

And the scene Sebastian spoke of arrived on the very day we went to gaze upon Niagara Falls.

In America, the Dow Index stocks closed at their peak of 381 dollars and 17 cents on the exact same day as in my previous life.
Even though I—or rather Ootori—had interfered in the game, there was no difference from the history of my past life. I should probably have been glad that my prophecy, or dream, had come true, but instead it felt like history itself had declared that it was impossible to alter the world economy.

Still, those who didn’t know my inner thoughts were a little excited.

“From here on, will it be like this waterfall?”

“Well, who knows. Maybe I’m just spouting nonsense.”

I deliberately acted like the villain, but even though I was gazing at Niagara Falls for the second time—including my previous life—I couldn’t quite get into the mood.

“It hardly looks that way to me.”

“Prophets and swindlers alike always put on a confident front for others.”

I said that with a light shrug of my shoulders.
In return, Sebastian, being an American, replied with a somewhat exaggerated reaction.

“Indeed, you are quite right. Even so, to think prophets and swindlers are placed in the same category.”

Sebastian, who was mainly keeping me company today as well, replied in a voice that sounded amused.
So my answer was already decided.

“Oh my, was I mistaken? But really, I’d prefer if this all just ended as a swindle.”

“Then shall we place our hopes upon tomorrow’s market?”

Tokita’s voice, coming from behind us, also lacked its usual composure.
Perhaps because of that, I decided to act as I normally would. 

“Well then, shall we toss a coin into the falls as a charm of sorts?”

But what actually crossed my mind was something else entirely trivial. 

(I wonder when the father of the man who would become president sold off his stocks).

And then the next day, although we spent a leisurely day at a hotel near Niagara Falls, the information delivered to us that evening was, in a sense, cruel.
The Dow Index market never exceeded the value of the previous day.

And for it to surpass that value again, if it followed the same movements as in my past life, we would have to wait until the mid-1950s.

―――――――――――――――――
About 200 million dollars:
Roughly 400 million yen. In Heisei-era yen, that’s 3,000 to 4,000 times greater in value. In Heisei terms, it would easily surpass 1 trillion yen.
Moreover, it was about one-fifth of Japan’s national budget at the time.

And yet, in America back then, it wasn’t considered an extraordinary fortune—such a disparity.