In Tokyo: They are heavily dependent on me

Chapter 40. The Young Lady at Work

Within the area under the jurisdiction of the Minakami family, a magnificent mansion, resembling a castle, stands in a huge courtyard surrounded by a metal fence. Behind the largest mansion, several other buildings rise up as if flaunting their own glory. The whole complex is as grand as a large shopping mall.

The surrounding area is under close surveillance, and any vehicles are restricted from entering or leaving. There is also a defense facility built underground that can withstand the highest level of nuclear weapons. The living facilities inside can sustain life for twenty years in complete isolation from the outside world.

It's no exaggeration to say that once you step into this area, even a bird will be shot down in mid-air.

It is hard to imagine that such a massive project, built at great expense, was ultimately intended to serve only one person.

And this person is—

......

"Miss, I have something important to report to you."

In a bedroom on the second floor of the mansion, the bodyguard who received the call knocked on the bedroom door. After being told to "come in," he opened the door and then bowed deeply.

"What's wrong?"

The girl sitting by the window switched the hand that was supporting her head from her right hand to her left. The pile of documents in front of her was like a small mountain, as thick as several Oxford dictionaries.

"You've received a call from an unregistered number. The caller's identity has been verified; it's the high school student you interrogated last time. Should we hang up?"

The other party expressed their thoughts with a request for instructions.

"No need, just connect me."

Feeling a little tired, Mizukami Orina sat up from her seat. The man respectfully walked ahead to open the door for her and led her to a well-soundproofed room similar to a tea room. In addition to a simple leather sofa, there was a wooden table in the space surrounded by the sofa, with a red telephone on it.

It was a very old-fashioned landline phone, which, compared to modern telephones, had the advantage of leaving no trace.

With a click, the call connected. Mizukami leaned closer, fiddling with the red phone cord, and lazily said, "What's up, Hoshino-kun?"

"Minakami-kun, I'd like you to help promote the ramen shop's signature Mapo Tofu ramen. Ideally, it would be shown on the big screen in Shibuya on a rotating basis. In return, I can make you a shareholder and give you a share of the profits."

Hearing the voice on the phone, the young lady laughed contemptuously: "Is that so? Hoshino-kun is really interesting. You actually bothered me with such a trivial matter. How about this: if the ramen shop's share exceeds 10 billion yen, I will forgive you for bothering me while I'm working."

"Ahem, actually this isn't important. Um... let's meet this weekend at my place. I'll let you try our new product there; I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"Is that so? It depends on my mood. If I'm in a good mood and have handled my work well, I can agree to Hoshino-san's request to meet."

"You absolutely have to come, or I'll be very disappointed."

"I know, Hoshino-kun is as annoying as a noisy crow."

As she hung up, just as she was about to leave, the phone rang again.

She answered the phone, and as soon as the other party said, "The plan we discussed last time," she couldn't stand it anymore and hung up. As she opened the door to leave, she turned to her bodyguard and said, "Refuse any calls on the grounds that I am working."

Then I went to the bedroom and gently closed the door.

There is still a lot of work to be done.

Her father was no longer able to perform the duties of the head of the family, and all responsibilities were shifted onto her.

She flipped through documents on the water, the wind occasionally blowing in through the partially open window, gently lifting some of her black hair that fell over her shoulders. On her face, which revealed no emotion, only her focused concentration at work.

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After hanging up the phone, Kaoru lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, celebrating the success of her plan.

If you directly ask to meet the young lady, she might refuse.

However, if a compromise is made and a request that benefits her and is easily fulfilled is added, the other party will often agree.

The average assets of companies associated with the Minakami family are over 10 billion yen, and the profits they generate are incomparable to those of a small ramen shop.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for the young lady to mobilize resources to do such a meaningless thing.

Under such circumstances, making a request to "meet" is a win-win situation, as it allows you to conceal your true feelings while increasing her willingness to agree.

Kaoru was proud of her intelligence.

Just then, he heard his sister calling him to dinner from downstairs. He went downstairs, sat at the dining table, and heard Rin playing a song he had never heard before.

"Whose song is this? I've never heard of it before?"

Xun scooped a bowl of rice and casually asked a question.

"LOVE released a new song today called 'Bluebird,' and it's a really nice song."

"Oh... um, it does sound pretty good."

While eating dinner, Kaoru typed "Blue Bird" into the browser on her smartphone.

Soon, he noticed a news item in the pop-up messages.

[The song "Blue Bird," written by the former guitarist and current lead vocalist of LOVE, caused a sensation in the Japanese music scene upon its release.]

[Meanwhile, another retired member of LOVE posted on X, claiming that the other party was stealing her work. She stated that "Bluebird" was created entirely by her. This member is currently being bombarded with comments from the fans of the other two members and deleted her social media accounts a few hours after "Bluebird" was released.]

He looked at the comments on the news article.

[I never imagined Minami-chan would be that kind of person! Even if it's just for views, this is utterly shameless!]

[Yeah, yeah, she's clearly unhappy about being kicked out of the group and is trying to get revenge this way! I really regret ever having been a fan of hers!]

[That's terrifying... Luckily, I've always recommended Yui-chan...]

The comments section of this news article was filled with extreme remarks such as "How awful!", "This kind of person shouldn't be alive!", and "This kind of person should just die already."

Xun glanced at it briefly and then turned off her phone.

Cyberbullying and online harassment are commonplace in today's society.

Those who wear the cloak of false justice don't care about the truth of the matter at all; they are only interested in what they believe to be the truth. Once they find that the outcome does not develop in the direction they expected, they will turn around and join a new battlefield, completely unconcerned about the wrong statements they made.

People like this should be thrown into the sea and fed to sharks.

"A bunch of guys who can't even think for themselves."

Xun put down her phone and began eating her dinner in silence.

Recalling the girl he had saved who always wore an innocent expression... now facing countless slanders, a strange and unpleasant feeling inexplicably arose in his heart.

I always feel...

I'm really annoyed...