The Price of a Loaded Gun
For the first time in nearly twenty years, Masao could hear his father’s voice directed at him. "You say you can pull off a deal with the US Forces in Japan?" It was a purely business-related inquiry, but just hearing his father speak to him brought tears to Masao’s eyes. However, he was far from foolish enough to suddenly change the subject or get emotional. He knew better than anyone that doing so would end this conversation immediately.
"That is correct. The man from before visited us today. He set conditions regarding Genji’s return to Hermes Japan. He mentioned that an acquaintance of his is doing business in Japan, but things aren't going well."
Yasuda continued to listen in silence.
"If we help with that business, I believe we can secure not only Genji’s return to Hermes Japan but also obtain something additional. Therefore, I will do whatever it takes to land a deal with the US military broker."
"How?"
Yasuda was aware that Yoon-gi had ties to the former commander of the Guster Republic. However, using that as a foundation to secure a deal with a US military broker felt like a pipe dream to Yasuda. It wasn't entirely impossible, but it felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
"I will achieve it and report back to you, Father. Please, give me this one chance."
Masao had no idea how he would actually pull it off, but he had blurted it out because he knew he needed to produce a result of this magnitude.
"If you fail, not only you, but Genji will also fall out of my favor. Are you prepared to stake your son’s future on this?"
Masao hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Even now, as I continue to disappoint you, Father, Genji has no solid ground to stand on anyway. So... I will stake my life on it this time. Please, just once... trust me this one time. I beg you, Father..."
"You realize this is a difficult task, don't you?"
"Of course. If I fail, I will offer you my head."
For a split second, Yasuda thought about saying, 'Your head is worth nothing...' but he held his tongue. There would be plenty of time to judge him after the work was done. And as a father and grandfather, the thought did manage to shake the emotions of the aging Yasuda—if only by a hair’s breadth.
'If by some chance this boy actually pulls it off...'
With the conflict against other regional Yakuza groups intensifying, obtaining weapons from the US military would be a significant advantage. Yasuda began to think quietly, without showing his hand.
"Is there anything I need to do?"
Finally, the interest of a father had surfaced. Masao nodded with a bright smile. "If I succeed, I would like you to help with the business of the person he mentioned."
"If they are a connection capable of bridging us to a US military broker, it is only right that I do so. We might even consider a more serious relationship, going beyond simple assistance."
Masao intuited that his father was far more interested in this than he had imagined. 'I must succeed!' Masao clenched his fists. The expression on Yasuda’s face as he watched his son, for the first time in a long while, held a flicker of expectation.
"As you can see by my age, I don't drink," Yoon-gi said, politely declining Masao’s offer of sake, and brought the sashimi he had picked up with his chopsticks to his mouth.
"Oh, my apologies. I was inconsiderate."
"Not at all. Since the cultures of Japan and Korea are different, these things happen naturally."
"Thank you for understanding."
Seeing Yoon-gi chewing the sashimi with a satisfied expression, Masao smiled as well. "This is sea bream, a specialty of the Akaishi region. It wasn't prepared by our house chef, but by chefs specially selected from our main family, so please enjoy it to your heart's content."
"I'm very satisfied."
It was a rare compliment from Yoon-gi. 'Hmm, should I hire a personal chef later?' Yoon-gi, who still used a housekeeper at home, began to seriously consider the idea of hiring a professional chef. 'If I hire two or three exclusive chefs for the house, my grandfather and parents would be able to enjoy quite satisfying meals.'
Yoon-gi chuckled at Choi Deok-bae’s reaction and took another piece of sashimi.
"May I speak while you are eating?"
"As you please."
With Yoon-gi’s permission, Masao spoke cautiously. "It’s nothing other than that I have received my father’s tentative approval regarding the proposal you gave me last time."
"I see."
Masao was somewhat taken aback by Yoon-gi’s unexpectedly lukewarm reaction. "Is there something lacking...?"
"No. I didn't realize you were finished. Is that all?"
Yoon-gi intentionally kept his insight hidden, and since Masao perceived Yoon-gi as merely a 'quite smart teenager,' he immediately began to reveal his true intentions.
"No, actually, there is something else I need to say."
"What is it?"
"In truth, helping another family’s business is difficult to decide upon as a one-time exchange."
"Are you saying that helping Genji isn't a very big deal?"
"No, no. That’s not what I mean." Masao waved his hands and shook his head frantically.
"Then what?"
"What do you intend to do if we don't keep our promise after Genji becomes an Hermes model again?"
"Are you saying you don't intend to keep it?"
Masao waved his hands again and hurriedly continued his explanation. "That’s not it. That would never happen, but I’m saying we want a consistent exchange between us."
"For example, what kind?"
"Before that, there is something I want to say. Even if we help with the business, there is a scope to that help, isn't there? For instance, there is a huge difference between helping to set up a neighborhood corner store and helping to open a mart in the center of Tokyo."
"Hmm... that is certainly true."
As Yoon-gi showed a receptive reaction, Masao felt there was a possibility and brought up the real point. "That is why I mentioned a consistent exchange. If you listen to what I am saying now, we will help your acquaintance’s business with all our might."
"To what extent does 'all our might' go?"
"We will provide full-scale support, to the point where it could be considered our own family business. If a guarantee is needed, we are even considering merging our family bloodlines."
It wasn't something his father, Yasuda, had explicitly authorized, but Masao judged through his own calculations that such a progression was possible and made the proposal to Yoon-gi.
"Then what is it that I must do for your side?"
"That is..." Masao swallowed hard and opened his mouth again. "Please help us conduct a weapons deal with a US military broker in Japan."
"Is such a thing possible for me?"
Yoon-gi feigned ignorance, but Masao immediately pressed the truth. "I judged that you had the ability, seeing as you use US soldiers in Japan as your private guards. The level of support will differ overwhelmingly depending on whether the deal with the broker is made or not."
"Is that a threat?"
Masao waved his hands again. "No, absolutely not. I need a result of that magnitude to request help from my main family, and that is the best way to do it."
Because Masao was more desperate than anyone else in this matter, he began to cling to Yoon-gi, looking as if he were about to kneel.
"I beg you."
Despite Masao’s plea, Yoon-gi did not answer immediately. Instead, he picked up the small sake bottle, the tokkuri, and the ceramic sake cup used in Japan. 'Is he going to answer after a drink?' Contrary to Masao’s thought, Yoon-gi opened his mouth to speak, not to drink.
"The success of a deal with a US military broker is, to put it simply, like the sake in this tokkuri."
Masao, wondering what he meant, began to listen carefully.
"And the work the Watanabe family does could be said to be the work of this sake cup, couldn't it?"
Yoon-gi immediately tilted the full tokkuri toward the cup.
"Gasp!"
Mitsuko was flustered as the sake overflowed the cup and spilled onto the floor, but Yoon-gi continued to pour without concern. Finally, the sake in the tokkuri ran dry, and all that remained was the sake in the cup and the rest spilled on the floor.
"Do you understand?"
At Yoon-gi’s words, Masao bowed his head with a groan. 'How do I persuade him? Is there no way?' Just as Masao was lost in thought, Yoon-gi provided a way out. Of course, it was a way out with an agenda.
"To solve this method, you have to do it like this."
Yoon-gi picked up another full tokkuri and applied pressure, shattering the top part of the bottle. In the process, Yoon-gi’s hand was slightly cut, but he didn't care; he smiled at Masao with a slight trickle of blood.
"If you do this, only about a cup’s worth of sake will remain in the tokkuri, right?"
Only then did Masao realize Yoon-gi’s intention. [Reduce the share you are going to receive.]
"What should we do..."
Yoon-gi held up two fingers. "One, Genji’s return as an Hermes model will be off the table."
Genji, who had been watching quietly from the side, began to lose his mind. "No! Anything but that! You came here saying you would do that!"
"Genji!" Masao stopped him with a reddened face, but Genji’s outburst continued, and eventually, Genji was dragged out by the family’s Yakuza, accompanied by Masao’s wooden sword strikes.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Watching Genji disappear with a final, long scream, Yoon-gi smiled inwardly and stated the second condition.
"You cannot buy only the weapons you want. Furthermore, the price will be very high."
It was a bundle sale. Masao began to crunch the numbers again. 'Hmm... The price will be a bit painful, but just having weapons that other groups don't have will be a huge boon. Father will approve. And as for Genji... yes, Genji’s modeling work is not important compared to the safety of the family. I can force him to give it up.'
Masao, having finished his calculations, nodded. "I... will do that."
"Then I will send word before long."
As Yoon-gi stood up and walked out, Masao began to run toward the telephone with an excited expression. 'Father, I did it. I actually did it...!'
"Masao asked for weapons smuggling from the US Forces in Japan? Has he lost his mind?" Choi Cheol-kyu, who was talking to Yoon-gi alone in his suite, was shocked and clicked his tongue.
"It is certainly something that could never be requested in Korea."
"That’s right. In Korea, the moment firearms are leaked through smuggling from a military unit, everyone involved would go to prison."
"They would go to prison in Japan, too. It’s just that in Japan, they don't get caught."
At Yoon-gi’s words, Choi Cheol-kyu realized the blind spot in the reality of Japan, squinting his eyes and nodding.
"Ah, so that’s how you can solve it. But what are you going to do? That’s not a low-risk condition at all. No, it’s a very big condition. You aren't asking for one or two pistols, are you? You can't get that many out through ordinary methods."
"Naturally, I have to ask Mr. Guster."
"Will it be possible..."
"You never know until you try, right?"
"Then, you intend to grant it for now?"
As Yoon-gi nodded, Choi Cheol-kyu asked again. "Won't chaos increase if firearms are released into Japanese society?"
"That has nothing to do with me."
"Huh?"
Yoon-gi smiled. "If such a thing were to happen in Korea, I would intend to stop it, but the chaos happening in Japan is of no concern to me."
"Because you dislike Japan? Because of patriotism?"
Yoon-gi shook his head. "Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but for starters, I don't really have any intention of entering the Japanese market. So, I don't intend to care what kind of negative impact my actions have on Japan. It would be a nice bonus if I’m called a patriot through this."
"From my perspective, it’s not a bad thing; it’s a good thing. Actually, it’s a decision I like." Choi Cheol-kyu nodded in agreement, as if he liked Yoon-gi’s decision.
"For now, only you should know about this matter, Uncle. It’s not content that anyone other than Secretary Ryu and you should know."
"Because we need to know the strategic policy?"
"Exactly."
"Understood. I will keep absolute silence."
A short while later, Choi Cheol-kyu left Yoon-gi’s suite, and Yoon-gi dialed the line Guster had provided to request a meeting. Because it was content that required high confidentiality, it was necessary to meet in person. As it happened, Guster was residing in Japan to meet a US military acquaintance, so their meeting was arranged that very night.
"Ho-ho, to think you were in Japan. You must have a lot of interest in Japan these days?" Guster’s friendly smile was full of affection for Yoon-gi.
"Not at all. It’s just that things in Korea go more smoothly when I handle business in Japan."
"That’s a good thing, as it means you are working hard. That said, if you’re calling me out in person like this, it must be a very important matter. What do you need my help with?"
"Do you know about the Umi-guchi-gumi in the Tohoku region?"
"Of course I do."
Yoon-gi, having confirmed that Guster knew a fair amount about Japan, began to explain the matter in detail.
"So, to weaken Sess and dominate luxury goods and distribution in Korea, leaking US military weapons to the Umi-guchi-gumi is essential?"
"That is correct."
"Hmm. It is true that there are guys who make money by stealing weapons from US military bases in Japan, but the amount the Umi-guchi-gumi is demanding is definitely not that amount, you know?"
"That is correct. If you find it difficult to help, I will look for another way."
"What are the possibilities for another way?"
"It would take quite a long time."
Guster, having heard Yoon-gi’s answer, pondered for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"Yoon."
"Yes."
"This is absolutely not a matter I can help with as a casual acquaintance. If I get caught, I will be stripped of all my honors in the United States, and at worst, my children could even be forcibly discharged."
"That is why I know well that this is not a part I can force you to do."
Guster continued, "If we were to become a bit closer, I might be able to take that risk."
"By 'closer,' you mean...?"
Just as Yoon-gi was looking puzzled, Guster revealed his true intentions.
"How do you feel about Merrill right now?"