In the predawn hours, under a sky where the moon shone and stars were sparse.
Asano Kamisaku was completely unaware of the impending crisis; at this moment, he was drinking heavily in a private room of an izakaya with his driver and a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man appeared to be in his fifties, with salt-and-pepper stubble and hair, wearing a slightly old-fashioned black cotton jacket. He had a simple, honest face, but his small, slightly squinted eyes were bright, revealing a certain wiliness common to small-time traders.
With one hand holding a drink and the other picking up food, he spoke with his mouth greasy, "President Asano, I've done as you instructed, and I've rallied all the neighbors to our cause. If that damn Beiyuan Construction Co., Ltd doesn't agree to the compensation we're asking for, they won't be touching a single brick of ours, nor will they build their amusement park!"
