"W-What?"
Everyone was dumbfounded by Nifuji's words when he came to the meeting. After all, all of them were used by an argument, and he often shut them, but their pride didn't allow them to accept his words, and kept causing him trouble, so when he suddenly said that he would quit, it caused their minds to be unable to process what was happening.
"W-What do you mean, Nifuji-kun? What do you mean by quit? You can't just quit, right? You aren't a child, right?"
Nifuji looked at the chairman of the company and said, "I am too busy to manage my equity firm, and I don't have time to manage this kindergarten."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, BASTARD?! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?! SAY IT AGAIN, OR I WILL SLAP YOU!"
One old person, seemingly angry by Nifuji's words, seemed about to get physical, but Nifuji just kept staring at him, which caused him to flinch.
After all, it was obvious that Nifuji was young and strong. More importantly, unlike the older people, who were short, he was tall. Also, while other people might seem strong, it was because of the power that came from their authority, but did he think that his authority was lower than theirs?
Or rather, Nifuji's authority was higher than anyone else's here.
"Tanaka-san, you haven't paid your loan from Bank X for six months, and I just bought that debt from Bank X."
"W-What?"
"From now on, the interest has increased to 50%, and my team is about to come to your home to evict you from your home, the furniture, vehicles, and everything, and if you don't want that, please pay, or I will have to kick you out and your family."
"Y-You can't..."
"I can since I am your debtor, and now sit down since I have to talk with all of you now, or if you want to argue now, should I send my teams to your place? As I also own many of your debts."
Nifuji pushed the frame of his glasses without showing much emotion as he stared at them.
"....." Everyone.
No one dared to look him in the eye, as they knew that they had more or less debts to the bank.
Or rather, everyone in this place had a debt!
Some people might avoid debt, but for those who were in high positions, a loan was easy money for them, as the government rarely, if ever, would force them to pay.
As Nifuji had said before, the companies in this country could exist by using the loans from the government. Even if they didn't make a profit, it didn't matter as they were practically given easy money by the government just to stay alive and stop the unemployment, so the government could be stable, especially with COVID-19 and all.
Unfortunately, the yen had weakened, and it was no longer possible to maintain such a practice.
By then, it was just a ticking bomb, and the era where honor and loyalty brought food was no longer there, and it would be changed into the era of competence.
"Now, let's continue the meeting, as I have many things that I want to talk about our business, considering how slow it is."
Nifuji had no mercy, especially after he quit his position as the leader of the toy department, which was simply exhausting and left him with no money at all.
Frankly, he even wondered why he even thought to take that position instead of quitting his company right away and focusing on the real estate industry and becoming the king of infrastructure.
Whether it was a water utility, electricity, port, transportation, or many others, instead of rotting in this place, facing the incompetent, he might as well just focus on becoming the king of the chokehold.
His words might be strange, but this is how best he explained, since, instead of giving a service, which, like his company, was troublesome, as he had to face humans, since his payment depended on them. If they didn't like his service, they would move away, but for those infrastructures, even if they didn't like him, they had to pay since they couldn't live without water, electricity, transportation, and all other basic necessities.
More importantly, Nifuji had decided to accept the system and play by the rules since if he wanted to protect his women, he had to do this thoroughly, which was by making a large fortress, so no one could hurt them, and as he bought that infrastructure, he would make a lot of return, which was good, right?
As for this company, while it might have a lot of potential, frankly, the headache that came from leading this company wasn't worth it.
If the result was the same, instead of the hard path, Nifuji would choose the easiest path, as it was relaxing for him, and it gave him time for his family.
While some people live to work, Nifuji wanted to live so he could give himself and the people around him peace of mind.
So, what would he do in the future?
Let's think of that later since at this moment, his focus was on the infrastructure, but more importantly, as he talked about the report, and wished for them to improve, as he knew well that this company was as good as a half-zombie company, considering it didn't make much of a money and leeched on the goverment for a small interest or almost none of loan, but he knew that it was impossible for them to improve, as they were old and stubborn, so instead of trying to change them, he just scolded them, as he had to admit that scolding everyone in this place felt so good.
"Did you hear what I said, Sasahara-san?"
"Y-Yes..."
Nifuji was no longer called the chairman by the respectful name again, especially when he owed some of the debt to the chairman and his family.
Debt.
What a powerful thing, he thought.
By using debt, he controlled all of them within his palms, and this is what he should have done in the beginning instead of showing how competent he was, and being patient, as his silence meant that they could get away with their act, and his competence meant that he would take care of all of their mess.
By becoming the banker, the one who held the debt, he controlled everything, and this was why he thought to acquire a bank, too, but he also realized that the best revenge wasn't about defeating his opponent, but by making them work for him tirelessly like livestock, and even if they hated him, they could do nothing, and they could only smile at him like an obedient student despite their older age.
Nifuji had changed his game, and instead of playing the game where there was a winner and a loser, he decided to buy the game, so when that happened, what would happen?
If someone did something that was out of the rules, then Nifuji could just ban them.
Regardless, in that moment, he felt liberated for the first time in his life.
"Everything is done."