Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

Chapter 126 Head-to-Head Strike [Fifth Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets]

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Kiryu Yaya's answer was just right, so clean and concise that it left one speechless.

Iwakura raised an eyebrow, but was not surprised by Kiryu Yaya's reaction.

He had already experienced Kiryu Yaya's prowess firsthand during the Shiraishi Refrigerator case.

Masakazu Yamada breathed a sigh of relief.

Chihaya Yuri glanced at Kiryu Yaya, indicating that they must hold on in this situation.

Kiryu Yaya nodded slightly and continued looking at Iwakura Tsuyoshi.

Because Iwakura Tsuyoshi did not give up the attack, but slowly extended his second finger: "Second, did you participate in the nighttime operation in Showa-cho, Abeno Ward? That residence is legally the property of a third party, and the bank has no right to forcibly enter."

This sentence is even harsher than the first one.

The nighttime operation seemed to hint at some kind of clandestine operation.

Assets registered under a third party's name must adhere to the principle that legal boundaries cannot be crossed.

Ultimately, the bank lacked the power to force entry and directly separated individual behavior from organizational authority.

The implication is:

If you participated, that was your personal overreach of authority and has nothing to do with the bank.

Chihaya Yuri's pen tip paused lightly on the paper.

She is waiting.

If Kiryu Yaya makes a mistake in his speech, she will immediately follow up.

This time, she didn't have a ready-made plan in mind.

Because "nighttime operations" are inherently a weakness.

From a strict banking compliance perspective, "staking out" a borrower at a residence registered under a third party's name is indeed in a gray area.

To say it's compliant could be interpreted as exercising the right to confirm a claim; to say it's overstepping its authority could be interpreted as infringing on the peace of a third party.

So the key is not whether it was done or not, but how it was described.

Masakazu Yamada pressed his hand back onto the folder cover.

He knew that this time was even more dangerous than before.

Kiryu Yaya could have resolved that problem by using "in-class authorization".

This time, however, Iwakura Tsuyoshi didn't ask "who gave the order," but rather "whether you were involved."

The problem is not only directed at Kiryu Yaya, but also at Arima Kishou and Sasaki Kenta.

This is not an easy question to answer.

If the answer is yes, then it is tantamount to admitting that you participated in the controversial nighttime operation.

If the answer is no, then you are lying.

After all, they were indeed present that night.

A group of IRS personnel witnessed the event firsthand.

Masakazu Yamada's fingers tightened slightly.

He quickly calculated in his mind how to respond.

If Kiryu Yaya's answer is flawed in any way, as the section chief, he must immediately take over the conversation and redefine "individual behavior" as "classroom collective action".

But what should he say?

Masakazu Yamada's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

He found that he couldn't find a good enough starting point for the time being.

Just as Yamada Masakazu was deep in thought, Kiryu Yaya spoke up.

"Section Chief Iwakura."

His tone was as calm as before, even with a touch of just the right amount of confusion: "The nighttime operation you mentioned in Showa-cho, Abeno Ward, I need to confirm which day you are referring to."

""

Someone in the conference room slightly raised their head.

That's a clever rhetorical question.

First, pose the question to the other party, avoiding a yes or no answer, to create room for your subsequent remarks.

Takeshi Iwakura's eyelid twitched.

"That was the night Kajiwara Masazo mentioned in his confession. You went to his mistress's place," said Section Chief Iwakura.

Kiryu Yaya gently interrupted him, a smile on his face, his tone still polite: "First of all, it needs to be explained that our trip to Abeno Ward is based on information provided by President Kenichiro Nomura."

"The information about President Nomura was obtained during the aforementioned process of confirming the authorization information within the department. In other words, the motive for going to that address was directly related to the asset recovery in the Higashi-Osaka Seiko case, and had nothing to do with personal behavior."

Iwakura Tsuyoshi's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Kiryu Yaya continued, "At the same time, I need to revise one point regarding Section Chief Iwakura's situation: we did not take any 'forced entry' action after arriving at the address."

"President Masazo Kajiwara was in the residence at the time and opened the door to us. Throughout the entire process, there was no breaking or tampering, no conflict with the resident, and no use of any force."

"I don't understand point one"

Why does the word "forced" appear in the question about Section Chief Iwakura?

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

This newcomer is truly remarkable.

Within a short period of thought, he was able to resolve both of the difficulties in the Iwakura Tsuyoshi problem.

It not only cleverly solved the problem of individual action, but also seized the right to define forced entry.

Chihaya Yuri tapped her fingers lightly on the table.

She certainly recognized the cleverness in that answer.

Kiryu Yaya did not deny his "participation" because he could not deny it.

However, he redefined "participation" as "conducting normal debt confirmation communication on the premise that the borrower voluntarily opens the door."

It's like a deliveryman knocking on the door and the resident opening the door to sign for the package.

No one would say that the deliveryman "forced entry" into the resident's home.

Masakazu Yamada slowly loosened his fingers from the folder.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little regretful.

How come he didn't think of such a good way to break the deadlock?

Is his intelligence really inferior to others?

Takeshi Iwakura stared at Yaya Kiryu for two seconds before slowly withdrawing his fingers.

He looked at Takahiro Matsumoto.

"Branch manager, that's all I have to say."

Takahiro Matsumoto has remained silent.

He simply sat quietly in the main seat, as if listening, or perhaps waiting.

Kiyoshi Ogaki sat to his right, without uttering a single word from beginning to end.

His teacup had been refilled twice, and he had flipped through several pages of documents, but no one was sure what he was actually looking at.

His expression was calm, as calm as a stagnant pool.

Kiryu Yaya knows.

Takeshi Iwakura was just his first pawn; this meeting that defined him was far more than that.

Sure enough, Matsumoto Takahiro asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"

Someone else has spoken.

He was Takafumi Ichitodo, the head of the General Affairs Department, who had previously conducted basic training for new employees for Yaya Kiryu.

He simply stated his opinion casually: "Section Chief Iwakura's concerns are indeed valid. A bank isn't a police station, and its employees aren't security guards. If something happens, who will be responsible?"

"And the matter of contacting the IRS, although the outcome was not bad, the procedure was indeed not rigorous enough."

After Takafumi Todo, one of the three department heads of the Osaka branch, expressed his stance, he could simply stand by and watch.

Naturally, his men would charge into battle.

Shinji Miki, the head of the personnel section under the General Affairs Department, pushed up his glasses and added with a smile, "What Department Head Todo said is true. Kiryu-kun has handled quite a few cases in less than two months since joining the company."

"Fuji Metals, Shiraishi Refrigeration, Miyazawa Group, Higashi-Osaka Seiko—he was at the forefront of every case, making a significant contribution to the bank's recent risk prevention and bad debt investigation."

He paused, his gaze falling on Kiryu Yaya's face through his glasses.

"However, as the head of the personnel department, I would still like to give Kiryu-kun a small suggestion."