Chapter 138 – Severance Between Parent and Child

“So, why was it today?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Servants and guards aren’t allowed in the family council, and it’s the perfect opportunity since even Ryuuya, who’s the strongest in the family physically, isn’t here. On top of that, during the meeting, because of counterintelligence concerns, even the number of people waiting in the adjoining rooms is kept to a minimum.
At any other time, you’d at least have Shizu by your side. Most of your attendants also double as guards. The same goes for the people around me. And around your great-grandfather as well.”

He must have anticipated my question, his explanation flowed smoothly, like water down a board.

“I figured that about Shizu and a few others, but… there are more guards than I thought.”

“That’s right. Well, once this whole thing settles, we’ll talk about it in detail. Incidentally, a portion of the servants here in the main residence are essentially guards. Moreover, as you know, some of the reporters at our newspaper are actually doing protection work as their main occupation. Most of them are retired soldiers or people who’ve been involved in rough business. If someone wanted to crush the Ootori family head-on through brute force, the Yakuza wouldn’t be enough. You’d need at least one platoon from the army.”

He then put on a slightly smug look.
He looked a bit like a kid showing off a toy. I think I understand now why this man became a soldier, he probably enjoys rough business more than making money.

And it turns out that the reason there seemed to be so many servants working in this mansion was actually because more of them were security personnel than I had realized.
Still, now that he mentioned it, I noticed that the number of “servants” had indeed been increasing year by year.

“Well, putting that aside, are you saying that poor Uncle Genji didn’t even realize he was dancing in your palm, got provoked at the end, and ended up exploding easily?”

“That’s about right. But, you know… Genji wasn’t as much of a villain as I’d thought.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Hmm? Every time you left Tokyo, I made sure to assign strong guards to you, right? There were a few attempts to attack you, but Genji wasn’t involved in any of them. That was a bit of a relief. So, not for that reason alone, but his punishment will be a little lighter.”

(What? Wait, wait, wait, what does that mean? I was almost attacked that many times? Uncle Yagami and the others were secretly fighting off bad guys without me even knowing? And you mean you’ve been suspecting Uncle Genji for quite a while? That’s way too scary!)

“Ah, yeah, you’re probably thinking exactly what happened. Well, anyway, I’m glad this time things were settled as peacefully as they were. Really.”

“Huh? This counts as peaceful? We basically had a shootout!”

One shock after another, my sense of normalcy was starting to go numb.

“Yeah. As long as it’s handled within the family, it’s fine. Even if by some chance word gets out, our peerage privileges can take care of it. Though frankly, there’s no way this matter will ever leak outside in the first place.”

“Well, there’s no one left to talk, right? Wait, does that mean there was someone?”

When I said that and looked at my nominal father, he had a slightly amused expression on his face. This man really is someone who enjoys dangerous situations.

“They’re in the middle of interrogation right now. The butler who came along with Genji and another one we’d already been watching were caught beforehand and are under house arrest. Those two seem to be the biggest scum in all this. So, they’ll be the ones to take full responsibility.”

His voice as he said that wasn’t stern so much as dark, like something out of the shadows. But only for a moment; he quickly returned to his usual tone.

“What I’m more concerned about are the timid servants from the Kou family. Still, I’ve already made arrangements in every direction. Nothing should leak out. The people who’ve been guarding you for the past six months happen to be in Japan right now, so they’re working hard too.”

“So it really means everything was handled behind my back. That’s kind of irritating… Can I talk to Uncle Genji?”

“Hm? What do you plan to talk about? Mind if I come along?”

“As long as you don’t intimidate him while I’m talking.”

“Good grief, being feared by both my child and grandchild, your poor old grandpa’s gonna cry.”

Muttering that, he stood up with a grunt and gestured for me to follow him with his eyes. It meant he’d allow me to meet him.

“You’re not Grandpa, you’re Father.”

And then, a few minutes later.

I found myself on the basement floor, a place I had almost never been to. It was mostly used for storage: a food cellar, a wine cellar, and regular storerooms. 

I’d heard that there were also some half-underground rooms used by the servants. But in one corner of that area, there was something like a “cell.”
To be exact, it was a room with a reinforced metal door, a confinement room. It was installed in one section of the basement.

You could say it was a room that represented the dark side of the Ootori family.

In front of that room, two large male servants were standing guard.

“Good work. How’s Genji doing?”

“No change, sir.”

With that brief reply, one of the servants gestured respectfully and opened the door.

Inside was an ordinary-looking room, about four and a half tatami mats in size. However, since it was completely underground, there were no windows, only a ventilation shaft. Like the rest of the basement, it was lit by electric lamps, yet it still felt somewhat dim.

Even so, the floor was wooden with a carpet laid over it, and ordinary furnishings were neatly arranged, though all were fixed in place.

Uncle Genji sat slumped at the edge of the bed, his head hanging low. Even when the door opened, he didn’t so much as glance in our direction.

“Genji, have you cooled your head a little?”

“Excuse… me for intruding.”

Not knowing what else to say, I ended up blurting something awkward.

But even after hearing both our voices, Uncle Genji, now looking hollow and lifeless, didn’t respond.

My father also fell into thought about what to do.
When I looked at him, he gave a small tilt of his chin toward Uncle Genji.

(So he means I can do as I like… well, for now I’ll try to provoke him.)

“Uncle Genji, there are two conditions I can offer.”

Still no response.

“Take full responsibility yourself. Don’t tell Gentarou-kun or Koshirou-kun anything. If you do that, I’ll forget everything.”

At the mention of his two sons’ names he twitched and slowly turned his gaze this way. His face was deeply marked with the look of a man convinced he’d lost everything.

“…Even if you forget, it won’t change anything. You know that, don’t you, you monster.”

He spat the insult, but there was no force, no fighting spirit, not even real hatred in it.
Just as I thought I should say something, my father stopped me with a hand.

“Of course. It’s the head of the family who decides your punishment, and incidentally I am also your father. For the time being we’ll say you collapsed from overwork and are recovering, but you will be made to take responsibility. After all, those who joined you and nodded along have already been dealt with.”

“Oh, I should make it clear, I didn’t kill anyone. The ones who looked like they might try to run have been caught, but most were just ordered to stay home. From now on, except for your butler and that other piece of trash, the rest will get off with disciplinary dismissals, demotions, or pay cuts, depending on the degree of involvement. Most of them didn’t know anything, after all. Well, for the few who knew a little too much, I had to be a bit rough with them.”

At that, Uncle Genji’s expression turned to one of shock, apparently, he truly hadn’t realized he’d been dancing in the palm of Father-Grandfather’s hand all along.

He hung his head even lower than before.

“…So, what happens to me after this? ‘Death by illness,’ I suppose?”

“I told you, the real responsibility lies with the ones who manipulated you. But that doesn’t mean you’ll get off scot-free. You’ll step down as head of the conglomerate on the grounds that your health never fully recovered. Beyond that, nothing more. A conglomerate this large has its reputation to think of. In half a year, you can become the head of some harmless management foundation or something. You like art, don’t you? That should suit you well enough.

And for Reiko’s sake, your sons will continue competing within the family as before. If they have the strength, they’ll rise on their own merit.”

“…And my daughter, Keiko?”

Now that he mentioned it, Aunt Kiyoko had given birth this summer to a baby girl, Genji’s daughter, and Gentarou and Koushirou’s little sister. She was part of the family I had yet to meet, since I wouldn’t see her until she turned four.

“They’ll all be treated equally. None of them will be placed below the others. That includes Kiyoko and your two sons. You alone will bear the family’s responsibility.”

“I see. Then I’ll accept everything. Still, if possible, I’d like you to go easy on those who were involved… though I suppose that’s impossible.

Oh, right, I should apologize, Reiko-chan. I intended to kill you. And even now, I don’t believe you’ll bring only benefits to the family.

But I want you to understand that there’s no hatred or malice in it. To me, you’re just something terrifying, something I can’t understand. Still, even if you won’t believe me, I swear I’ll never raise my hand against you again. Also, I called you a monster, but I do have enough common sense to know such things don’t exist. It was just a figure of speech.

And one more selfish request, I’d be grateful if you’d treat my children the same as you always have. That’s all.”

He said it with such a calm and refreshed expression, as if some spirit that had possessed him had finally left, that it caught me off guard.
Maybe that’s why the words came out of me naturally.

“I’ll get along with them, all three of them. And with Aunt Kiyoko too.”

“Yeah. Thank you. So, Father, who will be the next president of Ootori Company? And the next head of the Ootori family?”

“Ootori Company will be effectively absorbed into the Holdings and Trading’s arms. Frankly, the dual structure of Ootori Holdings and Ootori Company was never good. Going forward, Ootori Trading, the future frontline command for Ootori, will be led by Tokita. Also, Kaneko from Suzuki’s side will, after a short interval, be promoted to something like a vice-representative.

So the people sitting above in the Ootori clan will basically be Zenkichi at the Holdings and Torasaburou for heavy industry. On the surface it will look like direct Ootori control has weakened.”

When he finished speaking, Uncle Genji gave a weak, “Heh heh,” and continued.

“As expected of Father, nothing slips by you. You’re far more cunning than Reiko. Did you plan for my outburst this whole time?”

“Well, I did. But even so, I figured anything would happen a few years from now. Even if you were provoked, you have no patience, do you?”

Father said that with a tease, and Uncle Genji laughed weakly in reply.

“It was all in the palm of your hand after all. Come to think of it, my dead older brother said something similar about a year before he died. You pretend to be a harmless fool, but your head is too sharp. Only someone like Ryuuya could break free of your hand. That’s how sharp my brother’s mind was, but I couldn’t even understand that.”

“That’s giving me too much credit.”

“Really?”

“Of course. If I were truly sharp, I wouldn’t have let you end up like this. And I wouldn’t have deliberately made this girl go through hardships or worked her so hard either. Well, it’s all too late now… Genji, once I retire, let’s have a drink together and complain about things.” 

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“Good. See you then.”

Saying that, Father lightly pushed my back with his large hand. I had only been standing beside them, listening to their father-and-son talk, so all I could do was follow his lead.

And I thought, just for a moment,
That Uncle Genji is luckier than I am, simply because he still has a parent he can speak honestly with.

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Noble Privileges:
There are various kinds, but in this case, it refers to “kahan”, the family code or set of regulations established by each noble house.