Chapter 141
In life, you're bound to meet all sorts of people, but this guy is truly something else.
There are limits to self-justification.
This guy thinks he's some kind of samurai.
In other words, he thinks shoulder-checking is an act of delivering justice.
He's no different from the lunatics who once went around on the internet claiming they had anger-management disorder.
Especially when you consider how he becomes weak before the strong.
"Suzuhara Endo. Forty-one years old. A section chief at Suzuki Interface, I see."
"From the company name, it sounds like an IT company. Are you a developer?"
"Yes. Though I won't be one from now on."
He'd been caught in the act of attempted murder. Would the company simply leave him alone?
Within a few days, he would receive notice of his dismissal, and his occupation would naturally become that of a prisoner.
"Would you like to have a little talk?"
"I don't really have anything to say."
At most, he'd ask what he'd done wrong.
That he had merely bumped into him while passing by.
That he couldn't be detained like this just for bumping into a Joseonjing.
That the man hadn't even died.
He'd say things like that.
Naturally, there was no way that would work.
"How is attempted murder punished in Japan?"
"The death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for five years or more. And... the Japanese government will use this opportunity to eliminate insidious shoulder-checking."
Prosecutor Keigo let out a deep sigh, saying that the Japanese government had been having no end of headaches over the problem as well.
"We intend to use him as an example and warn anyone who recklessly shoulder-checks people."
"Sounds good."
It would become a very famous case.
I smiled and nodded at Prosecutor Keigo.
"Anyway, thank you for your hard work."
"Wasn't much trouble. If anything, it was easy."
Prosecutor Keigo grinned, saying that this had been the easiest and fastest case among all the cases he had handled.
"I'm actually worried about whether I deserve credit for this. If I get used to things going this smoothly, I don't know how I'll handle my other cases."
"Shall I help you a little?"
"Pardon?"
I held out a deck of cards to him.
Prosecutor Keigo's eyes gleamed.
He knew about me, too.
"It would be an honor, Teacher Kang."
I casually flipped over a card.
The Four of Hearts.
"You've been troubled by a yakuza problem lately."
"...Haha. Yes."
"But are there still yakuza these days? Didn't they all disappear?"
When Hong Si-yeon asked, Prosecutor Keigo let out a deep sigh.
"It only appears that way on the surface."
The Anti-Boryokudan Act had greatly reduced the yakuza's power.
But the world was vast, and there was no shortage of trash.
Many yakuza had laundered their identities to adapt to the rapidly changing world.
"The Oizumi Group is no different. The Osaka yakuza once known as Oizumi-kai disbanded before the Anti-Boryokudan Act was proposed."
But that was merely a sham.
They had only disbanded the organization; in reality, everything remained the same, and they simply transformed it into a company.
"And in the process, they retained their entertainment and construction divisions."
They attacked the yakuza groups that had collapsed in Osaka, absorbed their land and stakes, and became one of Osaka's major corporations.
"The problems that arose in the process were numerous. Forcibly purchasing land from people or forcing them to live in the apartments they built were just the basics."
"And then?"
"They even used hangure to carry out assassinations and acts of violence without hesitation."
On the surface, it was a respectable corporation.
But inside, it was nothing more than yakuza obsessed with money and violence.
"The Osaka District Prosecutors' Office is currently planning a war against them."
"That sounds difficult."
"Yes. It won't be easy. They're cunning bastards. They insist that they're nothing more than an ordinary company that pays its taxes."
They even lobbied skillfully and joined hands with various politicians.
"There was the recent attack on Representative Sakaki."
Representative Sakaki was openly hostile to the Oizumi Group.
He had pointed out their expansion and the violence they carried out using hangure and criminal organizations, and had warned of their danger while mentioning the problems rooted in the entertainment industry.
Naturally, that must have annoyed them.
And eventually, they made a move.
Hangure stormed into Representative Sakaki's home and beat him, his wife, and their son to a pulp.
"Wow. If he's a member of the House of Representatives, isn't that a pretty high position even in Japan?"
"That's right. Representative Sakaki even comes from a prestigious family that has influenced politics for generations."
Even someone like him had been attacked.
Although he belonged to the opposition party, politicians were gnashing their teeth over the matter.
But the Oizumi side had responded with an attitude of, So what?
"They claim it has nothing to do with them. Something like that. And they lobby ruthlessly, too..."
"Then all we need is evidence that they did business with the hangure?"
"Yes. That's the most important thing."
We had to make Japan's political establishment regard them as enemies.
We had to show them that a dog that bites people couldn't be used as a hunting dog and separate the Oizumi Group from the political world.
That alone would be enough to take care of the rest.
Prosecutor Keigo looked at me with hopeful eyes.
"Can it be done?"
"Let's start by meeting the people on their side."
In any case, it was true that we had received their help.
If someone helped you, you had to repay them.
.
.
.
The Osaka District Prosecutors' Office's interrogation room.
While the summoned chairman of the Oizumi Group spoke with a prosecutor from the Osaka District Prosecutors' Office, I watched him through the window.
Beyond the one-way mirror once used by the NIS or the FBI, he looked extremely calm.
"What do you think?"
"Wow. Amazing."
I flipped over a card and announced my conclusion.
"That old man doesn't know a thing."
"Pardon?"
"He's literally a figurehead chairman."
He had once been the boss who led Oizumi-kai, and now he was the chairman of the Oizumi Group, but there wasn't much he could actually do.
In the end, he was nothing more than a puppet chairman.
"Then..."
"There's a subordinate he trusts. He seems to be the real power behind everything."
This was excellent.
The subordinate gave the chairman money, women, and pleasure on a level incomparable to his days as a yakuza.
Then he used the chairman's reputation and power to make him act according to his own wishes.
Though he was called a subordinate, there was someone who was actually gaslighting the chairman and controlling the Oizumi Group.
"Please call the chairman's chief of staff, Yamazaki Senjiro."
"Understood."
The chairman left, and a middle-aged man entered a short while later.
At first glance, he looked like an ordinary office worker.
The thin man in a neat suit and glasses calmly sat down.
"He's done a great deal of business under borrowed names. There are many records hidden in his villa. The villa's location is..."
Japan's landmass was roughly twice the size of South Korea's.
Even in cramped South Korea, countless people had built secret villas, so why would Japan be any different?
This man had also built a secret villa, hidden his ledgers there, and accumulated wealth.
And that wasn't all.
Although he looked like a harmless office worker, he would casually smile while ordering people to be harmed.
All while claiming that everything was the chairman's orders.
"The hangure who did business with him is currently in the basement of a club in the Namba area. I'll tell you their location as well."
"Ooooooh...!!"
Several prosecutors took notes on what I said, their eyes shining.
Once the rough explanation was over, Prosecutor Keigo looked at me with unabashed admiration.
"You truly live up to your reputation! Really!!"
"Haha. This is nothing."
"Honestly... if you weren't from another country..."
"Are you planning to kidnap me?"
"No. Somehow, I would've brought you into the prosecution service through a special appointment."
Haha. It was the same in Korea.
Prosecutor Gu Nam-cheol had been trying to recruit me into the prosecution service by any means necessary.
I smiled at him and rose from my seat.
I could consider the debt fully repaid by now, right?
I looked at the man who kept smiling unconcernedly in the interrogation room, even as he said something that sounded as though he were at a loss.
His future had changed.
The villain who had hidden behind the name Oizumi to satisfy his desires would ultimately have everything about him exposed, lose his power, and end up in prison.
"Ms. Si-yeon. We've done everything we needed to do in Japan. Let's go."
I had a Dunsa event to attend.
Hong Si-yeon beamed.
After leaving the Osaka District Prosecutors' Office with her, we naturally headed toward the train station.
"We could take a car."
"It would actually be more congested if we went by car."
The event was being held in Umeda, one of Osaka's busiest districts along with Namba.
They were even restricting traffic, so was there any reason to go there by car?
Taking the train would be faster.
"Well, I don't mind. If that's what you want, Noah."
With a gentle smile, Hong Si-yeon took my arm.
We walked leisurely down the street until our steps came to a halt.
"Why?"
"I felt a little bad just leaving like this, so I thought we could buy something to drink at a convenience store. Do you want anything, Ms. Si-yeon? I'll buy it for you."
"Sounds good~!"
She gave a lively laugh.
We entered a convenience store.
Milk tea for me and black coffee for Hong Si-yeon.
We placed our orders with light smiles and were just coming out when it happened.
We ran into a group of female high school students, and one of the pretty girls was startled when she saw me.
"Aaaah!! It's Noah hyung!!"
The girl in the Japanese school uniform spoke fluent Korean.
But that wasn't important.
"......"
Huh.
What was this now?
I stared intently at the high school girl who had been startled by me and was hopping up and down.
This girl.
She was going to be scammed by a Korean entertainment agency promising to turn her into an idol.