The Spy and the Purge
Ikehara Koyuki was Yukiko’s secretary. Since I mostly met Yukiko at home, I didn’t see her often, but we still ran into each other at the company from time to time. Ikehara Koyuki was a tall woman, rare in Japan—about 175 centimeters with a short haircut and striking beauty.
I’d heard she was a martial arts expert whose body had been modified for personal protection, though I’d never seen it myself. Another rumor claimed she was a former PMC operative.
“Well then…”
I gave Ikehara Koyuki a slight bow and stepped into the director’s office. Inside, Yukiko was wearing a white blouse and a tight beige H-line skirt. Damn… The sight alone was enough to make me hard. To an ordinary person it would have been ordinary office attire, but Yukiko’s incredible figure made the clothes shine. Was this what people meant when they said clothes ride the body?
“Yukiko.”
“You’re here? Come sit.”
Yukiko had already prepared a chair for me. She had placed it right beside her own and patted the seat, motioning for me to sit. I took the chair without hesitation. Sitting so close, I could smell her perfume mixed with the subtle, intoxicating scent of a woman’s pheromones.
“First, give me a detailed explanation.”
“The first thing I did today was to verify the information I’d heard about HR Manager Nadachi Tojo.”
I told Yukiko everything—from what Mimata Chieri had said about Nadachi Tojo frequently visiting Taira Steel, to how I had secretly broken into his house.
“That was far too reckless. Never do anything like that again. What if the police or someone from the family had caught you? Or worse—what if the other side lured you in and set a trap? You must always be careful… The thought of losing you is unbearable.”
Yukiko scolded me with a deeply worried expression. In truth, the current situation didn’t feel all that threatening to me. But from Yukiko’s perspective, since she didn’t know about my abilities, it was only natural she would worry. It had only been two months since she lost her husband; if the son she now shared an intimate relationship with were to get hurt, the shock would be devastating.
“I understand. I’ll be more careful.”
“For now, let’s look at those emails.”
Even though I had no real intention of being careful, I followed Yukiko’s request and showed her the emails I had collected on my smartphone. As she read them, her expression grew grave. After scanning the messages for a long time, Taira Yukiko let out a deep sigh and handed the phone back to me.
“This is serious.”
“Really? That bad?”
“The first few are simply related to Taira Jiro, but the ones sent from a temporary account appear to come from an external hostile company. Most likely the Minamoto Group…”
I had suspected contact with another company, but I never imagined it would involve the Taira Group’s greatest rival.
“Only the Minamoto would dare interfere with our company so directly…”
“I see.”
In truth, the Minamoto and Taira were the two giants of Japan. It was hard to say which one was truly number one. One day the Taira stood at the top, the next the Minamoto took the lead—they constantly traded places. That was probably why the rivalry between the two groups burned so fiercely and why they despised each other so much.
“If you read the emails, they say ‘regular report as usual,’ right? That means they’ve been in constant contact. And the third one… refers to the chairman’s third child, Taira Jiro. 5-1 would be me, Taira Saburo’s wife. The email uses the codename ‘Operation,’ which suggests Nadachi Tojo approached Taira Jiro first in order to drive a wedge between us.”
“Then 5-1s1 must refer to me. The ‘s’ probably stands for ‘son.’ Why are they so interested in me?”
“It’s probably because you suddenly appeared without the Minamoto side knowing about you until now.”
In the end, Taira Jiro had no idea that Nadachi Tojo was a Minamoto spy. When the HR Manager of the Human Resources Development Center offered to become part of his faction, he happily accepted. Nadachi Tojo had used that situation to try to sow discord between Taira Jiro and Yukiko.
If the Minamoto weren’t involved and Nadachi Tojo was simply aligned with Jiro, I could have used this information to get him demoted or transferred somewhere else. But there was no way we could send a Minamoto Group spy to another Taira subsidiary. So how should we handle this?
“How should we deal with it?”
“Since the name Minamoto has come up, we have no choice but to report it to the chairman. We’re the ones who uncovered this information, so there’s a high chance we’ll be rewarded.”
It might have been nothing more than wishful thinking on Yukiko’s part, but in the end things worked out in our favor. She also skimmed through the rest of the documents I had obtained. Since I had copied anything that looked even slightly important, it took quite a while.
Among them were several documents unrelated to HR operations that looked like they were spying on the Human Resources Development Center itself. We decided to include those in the report as well.
“It’s already past dinner time. I’ll call the chairman, and afterward we can eat something delicious.”
Lost in the search for evidence, I hadn’t noticed the time had already reached eight o’clock. Yukiko dialed Taira Danjo.
“Yes, Chairman. I’m sorry for calling so late. There is an important matter I need to report.”
I couldn’t hear everything clearly since it wasn’t on speaker, but it seemed Yukiko was explaining the situation while the chairman listened. The moment she mentioned that the mastermind appeared to be the Minamoto Group, I could hear his furious roar even from where I stood. After a little more conversation, Yukiko nodded. It looked like Taira Danjo had given her instructions.
“Yes, I’ll put it on speakerphone, Chairman.”
It seemed the chairman wanted to speak to me as well, since he had her switch to speaker.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“Why the hell did you break into his house yourself? You should have ordered a subordinate to do it!”
“I’m the youngest member of the Human Resources Development Center.”
“Hmph… You certainly know how to talk back!”
I had thought this for a while now, but because he was the chairman and everyone around him only ever said “You are correct, Chairman,” Taira Danjo was surprisingly weak in verbal arguments.
“I was simply correcting the information with accurate details, Grandfather.”
“You’re determined to have the last word with this old man…! Ahem. You did well this time. As a reward, I will grant you one request.”
A wish from the chairman of the Taira Group—the top conglomerate in Japan. That was an incredibly valuable prize. But I didn’t have anything specific I wanted to ask for right now… If I suddenly demanded to be made the successor, I’d obviously be called insane. I needed to make a reasonable request that even Taira Danjo would find acceptable, but nothing came to mind at the moment.
“Can I save that request for later? I don’t have anything in mind right now.”
“The right I’m giving you is valid for one month. Think it over carefully during that time.”
Since he had given me a deadline, I would have to think about it over the next month. But what about this current situation?
“Grandfather, how will this matter be handled? What about the HR Manager?”
“Just watch. You’ll see how it turns out.”
Taira Danjo’s voice was full of confidence. I wanted to ask what would happen to Uncle Jiro, but since things hadn’t deteriorated to the point of open hostility with Taira Jiro yet, I kept quiet. I simply trusted that Grandfather would take care of it and give him a proper beating.
“I have another call to make, so I’ll hang up now. Send all the materials to Fumimoto.”
From the sound of him grinding his teeth, it seemed the next call would be to Taira Jiro. Just as I expected—he was going to handle it himself. The call with Taira Danjo ended, and Yukiko and I looked at each other.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“You, Mother.”
“Oh my♥”
Yukiko welcoming me warmly in the director’s office.
---
Tateyama Genta, Taira Jiro’s secretary, suddenly received a phone call filled with roaring fury.
Taira Jiro had left instructions not to disturb him and had gone to a hotel with his mistress. That meant he probably wouldn’t answer any calls until at least tomorrow morning…
“Um… The president is currently not available…”
“Hah… Off womanizing again? He already got divorced once because of that. And now? I’ll give you one hour. If I don’t hear Jiro’s voice on this phone within one hour, I’ll have both your heads. And I’ll make sure that bastard can never use the Taira name again.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Tateyama Genta hurriedly headed for the hotel next to the company. The hotel had the uninspired name “One Hotel.” It wasn’t built to make money—it was a private hotel Taira Jiro had constructed specifically to meet women during work hours.
“Manager! Which room is the president in?”
“The top-floor penthouse, of course.”
“Give me the key!!”
“The key is…”
When the manager hesitated, Tateyama Genta slapped him across the face. The manager stared at him in shock. No matter how close Tateyama Genta was to Taira Jiro, suddenly slapping someone…! He tried to protest, but his words were drowned out by Tateyama Genta’s shout.
“If you don’t hand it over right now, we’re all dead—you, me, and the president!”
Tateyama Genta glared at the manager with eyes full of murderous intent.
“H-here it is.”
Overwhelmed by the killing aura, the manager unconsciously handed over the key. The moment he received it, Tateyama Genta took the elevator to the top floor. Then he got off and climbed one more flight of stairs.
The elevator that went straight to the penthouse floor could only be used by Taira Jiro and the women he played with. Regular employees had to walk up the final flight. Without hesitation, Tateyama Genta used the key to open the door.
Inside was a luxurious room decorated entirely with the highest-grade materials. A specially ordered bed large enough for ten people dominated the space. On that bed, a man and woman were tangled together, moaning in ecstasy.
‘That’s the NHT announcer…!’
The woman entwined with Taira Jiro was the rising star announcer from NHT who had recently gained popularity for her beauty. Tateyama Genta cleared his throat.
“Haaang…! Ahh…! Kyaaak! Don’t look!”
“Genta! What the hell are you doing, barging in like this?”
The announcer pulled the sheets over herself while Taira Jiro shouted at Tateyama Genta. Taira Jiro hated being interrupted during sex more than anything, but Tateyama Genta had no choice.
“President, I believe you need to take a call from the chairman.”
“What?”
“He said if you don’t call him within one hour, you won’t be allowed to use the Taira name anymore.”
“W-what’s going on? Genta, do you have any idea?”
The ferocious tiger from moments ago had vanished. Taira Jiro was now trembling. That phrase—“you won’t be allowed to use the Taira name anymore”—was something Taira Danjo only said when he was truly enraged.
“You should call him before it’s too late…”
“Y-yes, I suppose I should.”
Still completely naked, Taira Jiro got up from the bed and picked up the phone he had tossed aside. There were already five missed calls from Taira Danjo.
“Damn it…”
For a moment, Taira Jiro felt pathetic. He was in his mid-forties, yet here he was, still shaking in fear of his father. But there was nothing he could do about it. The massive empire known as the Taira Group existed only for Taira Danjo. Jiro himself was nothing more than a candle flame in the wind—someone who could be extinguished whenever the chairman wished.
“F-father…”
Taira Jiro’s private sex room was soon filled with the thunderous roar of Taira Danjo’s rage.