Box of Demons

Chapter 42

Holding the coffee that Inakichi had brewed for him, Natsukizu became melancholy once again.

With a clang, the bell rang.

A tall, slender man stood in the doorway.

He wore silver-rimmed glasses over his long eyelids, his hair was neatly parted in a 7/3 ratio, and he was dressed in a suit made of high-quality fabric. His eyes, nose, and mouth all looked very large.

"You are Mr. Natsuki Reijiro, the detective from the Rose Cross Detective Agency—right?"

He spoke very quickly, and before Xia Mujin could answer, he continued:

“I am this kind of person. I think someone should have informed you of my purpose yesterday.”

The man greeted them while handing them his business card.

"Legal expert. Lawyer Zeng Gangze."

These words were written on the business card.

"A lawyer, not someone from Shibata Silk Manufacturing Co., Ltd."

"I am a member of the legal counsel team of the Shibata Zaibatsu and Shibata Yohiro personally, as well as a member of a group composed of key executives of related companies. My statements and actions are based on the decisions made by this group. It is also permissible to interpret them as the will of Shibata Yohiro himself."

What a verbose man! He probably mistakenly believes that rambling on and on is a sign of intelligence.

This kind of guy should be handled by Kyogoku-do; he might get along with him. Instead, he just spouted a bunch of nonsense, only remembering...

That's all. Simply put, he's Shibata's errand boy.

Natsumi thought of so many things in a single moment.

Torakichi seemed to sense that Natsukizu was about to make another surprising statement, and immediately led Masuoka to the reception area and handed him a cup of coffee.

Coffee. Natsuki also moved along with it.

Upon closer inspection, he felt that Masuoka's face was even longer.

Her breathing was also rapid, giving Natsuki the impression that she was somewhat hysterical.

--woman.

"Let's get straight to the point. I need your help finding someone."

"Yes, I've seen the movie."

"Huh?"

"Uh. It's the Sangoro-Santaro one."

"Sanshiro?"

Yin Ji chimed in.

"Yes, that's Sanshiro—"

Masuoka seemed taken aback.

"Natsume Soseki?"

"No. It's that one. The female lead whose name is either North or South something."

"Minami Kinuko?"

"Yes, yes, it's Kinu. You like her too, um, Mr. Masuoka?"

It would be extremely rude to get a name wrong face-to-face, so Natsuki checked the business card before addressing him. Masuoka's long face stretched even longer with surprise. His expression was one of utter astonishment.

After a while, the lawyer shook his head as if trying to shake something off, finally regaining his composure.

"—Mr. Natsukizu. I really hope you can explain what's going on behind this. Well, is this a trade secret?"

I don't know what he meant by those words.

Xia Mujin then truthfully told what was on his mind.

"Minami Kinuko's voice is a bit childish, which is cute. Although her acting is second-rate, her doll-like, stiff expressions, while a little affected, are actually quite charming. You're a fan too, right?"

There wasn't time to look at the business card this time.

"That's enough. I'm already very clear about your investigative abilities, so let's not continue this topic. Unfortunately, we don't need you to find Minami Kinuko herself. But the fact that you were able to discover something related to her in such a short time, from yesterday to today, is enough to affirm your abilities. We'll trust you."

He talked on and on for ages, and then ended up saying something like "I trust you." I can't stand it. Anyway, this guy named Masuoka probably misunderstood that Natsukizu knew about Minami Kinuko through prior investigation.

Oh well, whatever.

It was simply stating what I saw.

"The girl we're asking you to find is this one."

Masuoka took the photo out of the envelope.

"What? In the end, it's still that silk handkerchief."

They look very similar; it's a photo of Minami Kinuko when she was young.

"This is Kinuko's daughter, who will soon turn fourteen."

"daughter?"

"But...but...Kuanzi is only about twenty-five years old this year, right? She was only twenty-two or four when she retired from acting. So, she gave birth to this daughter when she was ten?"

Yin Ji is particularly adept at receiving information about this type of person.

"Minami Kinuko's real name is Yuzuki Yoko. She is actually thirty-one years old this year. This girl is named Yuzuki Kanako, and she gave birth to the child when she was seventeen."

Yin Ji seemed to have suffered a great blow and suddenly fell silent.

Masuoka continued in a very businesslike tone, "First, let me explain the relationship between our group and this girl. Mr. Shibata Yohiro is the founder of the Shibata Zaibatsu and one of the leading financial tycoons in the Koga region. I believe you already know this, so I'll omit the details. Mr. Shibata also has close ties with your father, Mr. Natsukizu. I'm sure you've heard some things about him—"

Xia Mujin's father just said yesterday that he had no interest in him whatsoever.

However, Natsuki had indeed heard some of his deeds.

"—While Mr. Yohiro was a self-made man who built a vast empire of wealth in the financial world, his family life was not happy. His wife, Mrs. Ashi, died in an earthquake. His eldest son, Hiroaki, also passed away in 1945 at the young age of twenty, from tuberculosis. Hiroaki's only son, Hiroya, became the only blood relative and the only one with the right to inherit. Incidentally, Mr. Hiroaki's wife, Hiroya's mother, died in 1941, and Mr. Hiroya himself died in battle on Saipan. The white-haired outlived the black-haired; for reasons unknown, those who were entitled to inherit Shibata Yohiro's enormous fortune died one by one."

"I see. So what would happen in this situation? Would the inheritance be taken into the national treasury, or become the company's assets?"

Xia Mujin studied law and had excellent grades. But unless he seriously reflects on it, he now knows nothing about even the most trivial things. Moreover, he probably won't seriously think about these things in his life.

"There are too many legal procedures. Even if I explain these complicated structures, you might not understand them."

Masuoka continued to speak quickly, sounding as if he was mocking Natsuki, but Natsuki didn't care.

"What I am about to say is strictly confidential and need not be disclosed."

"You're strictly prohibited from leaking secrets, right?"

I don't know what he was saying.

"This happened fifteen years ago. It was in Showa 20, when Mr. Hiroya was twenty years old."

Masuoka frowned, lowered his voice, and spoke quietly.

The details of the old story that Masuoka mentioned are as follows.

Shibata Yohhiro's direct grandson, Shibata Hiroya, can be categorized as a typical spoiled brat. He is fairly diligent in his studies, but his obsession with song, dance, and drama is a major headache for Yohhiro. For Yohhiro, Hiroya is his only heir, so he desperately wants him to receive an elite education.

This was quite different from Natsume's father. Natsume's father amassed his wealth through his own efforts, kicked his two sons out of the house before they reached adulthood, and forbade Natsume and his brother from working for related companies. Moreover, Natsume never remembered receiving the elite education his father had instilled in him to cultivate him into a business leader; the education Natsume received from his father was actually closer to the study of imperial rule.

Ignoring his grandfather Yaohong's fervent expectations, Hongmi became increasingly entangled.

He wasn't the kind of playboy; he was just the typical good-natured man from wealthy families who didn't have much of a concept of money. He never hesitated to financially support any actor or artist he liked. He seemed to really enjoy this role of benefactor.

Later, he met Minami Kinuko—then known as Yuzuki Yoko—who was seventeen years old and selling tickets at the Yokohama Theater.

They got together and naturally developed into a romantic relationship.

Yoko seemed to be living a very difficult life at the time, because she had to take care of her seriously ill mother. Yoko's father chased her and her sick mother away like dogs. Her mother was unable to work, let alone walk. Therefore, in addition to selling tickets, Yoko also used the time she spent taking care of her mother to do handicrafts to support the family, working day and night.

Of course, this is Masuoka's account. How much of it was embellished is unknown.

The way he conveyed the unfortunate girl's tragic life through his very businesslike tone actually enhanced the effect. The old-fashioned, tear-jerking story became incredibly realistic. But the love story that followed, told from his own mouth, felt rather bland and uninteresting.

An unfortunate, impoverished, beautiful young woman and a wealthy, spoiled young man—a combination that couldn't be more clichéd. Hiroya falls madly in love and, without hesitation, decides to marry Yoko. As anyone can imagine, what happens next is fierce opposition. They are forcibly separated, and ultimately, they stage an elopement.

In the early morning of August, 1943 (Showa 12), Hiroya abandoned the enormous fortune he was destined to inherit. Yoko abandoned her ailing mother. The two eloped hand in hand. Only a month had passed since the day they met.

"But this elopement story only lasted one day before it came to an end."

Masuoka finally stopped after speaking all that in one breath, and finished his cold coffee.

"The two were found by Mr. Yaohong's men during their escape."

"It's just like a scene from a period drama."

"That's right, it's all in the past."

On the 16th, the following day, the two were easily caught up by the man's father's men in a dilapidated inn in Tachikawa and were taken directly back.

However, this childish behavior of just one night sowed the seeds of a troublesome future.

Yoko is pregnant

Naturally, the question of whether or not to give birth to the child became a new point of contention. Yoko said that the Shibata family didn't need to acknowledge the child or register it in their household register; they just wanted the child to be born. She was willing to obediently withdraw from the family if she was allowed to give birth.

Yaohong is very troubled.

To Yaohong, Yangzi was a harlot who had deceived his beloved grandson, trying to drag him down a path of depravity. No matter how innocent she pretended to be, she was unforgivable, let alone becoming a daughter-in-law of the Shibata family. People with wealth are always scheming to maintain it, and no matter how good a poor girl's character is, in Yaohong's eyes she was like a hyena trying to seize his property.

Hiromi vehemently refuted his grandfather's argument.

His main reason for protesting was that letting things go unchecked was against moral principles. Yoko's family was poor, and her mother was seriously ill; it would be impossible for her to give birth smoothly under such circumstances. The Shibata family was essentially condemning an innocent girl to a life of misery. It sounded like a legitimate reason, but it was actually a very selfish argument.

Amidst this meaningless conflict, Yoko disappeared without a trace and secretly gave birth to Kanako.

It seems that Hiromi gave her the living expenses during this period.

Since the child has already been born, the only solution is to use money—a clichéd approach in these situations. Fortunately, it was a daughter. While a son is another matter, at least a daughter isn't directly related to inheritance rights; as long as money is spent, it should be resolved.

There will be no trouble—it's only natural for a rich man with more money than he can spend to think that way.

This is what's known as a breakup fee.

The amount of money involved in the Shibata family's project was extraordinary.

But Yangzi refused to accept any amount, no matter how much.

Yaohong was somewhat moved when he saw Yangzi, who, despite her poverty, resolutely refused to accept aid. He felt pity for this pitiful mother and son.