Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk.

He gently closed his eyes and said:

"But please forgive me, I cannot agree to that at the moment..."

Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Keiko Miyazawa's heart sank slightly.

But when she heard the word "temporarily" at the end, a faint light returned to her eyes.

She mustered her courage and asked:

"Why... is it only for now..."

Kiryu Yaya did not answer immediately.

He turned his head and looked at the night scene shrouded in rain outside the eaves.

The streetlights were blurred by the rain, and the headlights of passing cars in the distance left long, thin streaks of light on the wet ground.

It was as if something that had been suppressed for many years was finally softened by the night rain.

After a moment, he spoke in a low voice:

"You still remember my father, don't you?"

Keiko Miyazawa nodded, her lips slightly pursed.

"Ah."

Kiryu Yaya closed his eyes.

When he spoke again, his voice was very calm.

"There's something I've never told anyone before."

After saying that, he stopped talking.

But her gaze fell into the depths of the rain, as if something had pulled her back.

Keiko Miyazawa stood in front of him, quietly gazing at him, her fingers unconsciously clenching tighter.

……

Winter 1986.

Seiichiro Kiryu's funeral was held in a small funeral home in Kita Ward, Osaka.

It was raining very coldly that day.

The mourning hall was filled with white chrysanthemums and incense smoke. There weren't many people who came to pay their respects; apart from a few relatives, there were only a few old customers who were still willing to show up.

Seventeen-year-old Kiryu Yaya, dressed in black mourning clothes, knelt before the coffin.

The mourning clothes were a bit too big, with the sleeves and hem hanging loosely, as if they couldn't support the black attire that belonged to an "adult".

Around 2 p.m., the doors of the funeral home were pushed open.

Two people came in.

Wearing a black suit and black tie, carrying a briefcase, and with a perfectly measured expression of grief on his face.

Kiryu Yaya looked up, glanced at them, and recognized one of them.

Head of the financing department at Mitsubishi Bank's Osaka branch, liaising with Kiryu Metals.

Ko Utahiko.

The two offered incense before the altar, bowed, and exchanged a few polite words such as "Goshutsu" (thank you).

Kiryu Yaya bowed his head in return, his face expressionless.

At that time, he was still resentful about Mitsubishi Bank's withdrawal of his loan.

If the bank had been willing to hold on a little longer, if that additional loan hadn't been demanded so urgently, if my father could have waited until the land price rose a bit more...

Perhaps, Kiryu Seiichiro wouldn't have died.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he understood that banks only ever lend umbrellas on sunny days and take them away on rainy days.

The Kiryu family is having a run of bad luck; they have no one to blame but themselves.

At least, that's what he thought at the time.

Later, after kneeling in the mourning hall for so long, my knees went numb.

Kiryu Yaya got up, wanting to go outside for some fresh air.

He walked to the corner of the corridor and was about to head towards the restroom when he suddenly stopped.

There were people talking in the toilet.

"Section Chief, you handled the Kiryu family case, didn't you?"

"Ah."

This is Kouichi Kouda's voice.

"I remember you just approved an additional loan for him last month, using the property as collateral. Why are you withdrawing the loan so quickly?"

The tap ran for a few seconds.

Then, Kouyuhiko said:

"That loan was never intended for him to repay in the first place."

The corridor suddenly became eerily quiet.

Seventeen-year-old Kiryu Yaya stood rooted to the spot, as if he had stopped breathing.

The younger colleague was clearly taken aback as well.

"What do you mean?"

“Land prices are rising every month now. But if we wait for the factory to go bankrupt naturally and the bank to go through the auction process, it will take at least six months to a year. By then, when the developer enters the market, the land price will have doubled, and the bank will only be able to get the amount that was initially assessed. The difference will have to be recognized as a loss.”

Kouyu Tianyan paused, seemingly explaining a perfectly ordinary business logic.

"So the best way is to make him provide additional collateral, locking up his assets. Then find a reason to withdraw the loan. Once he dies, the bank can use its guarantee rights to recover the assets first. When the developer comes, the profit will double. And with that land frozen under a fake seizure, he can neither sell it nor save himself."

"But... wasn't that company president forced to his death?"

Kouyu Tianyan smiled.

"He committed suicide. I didn't let him die."

The younger colleagues still didn't seem to quite understand:

"Then why not just auction off his house? We could get back the 20 million, wouldn't that be enough?"

"You do not understand."

Kouyuki Hiko's voice held a newfound patience, as if he were instructing a junior.

"Auction? Do you know how long it takes in Japan? From bank application, court acceptance, appraisal, announcement to final transaction, six months is considered fast, a year is not uncommon. A company with dried-up cash flow can't survive more than three months. Besides, do you think the bank needs those twenty million?"

He paused for a moment, as if adjusting his tie.

"But if we freeze his house with a fake seizure, the bank's 20 million will be firmly at the top of the list. The suppliers' payments and the money from commercial bills will all be at the bottom, and they won't get a single penny. If those people don't get the money, they will only pressure him more fiercely."

"And what about the banks? The banks hold the collateral and aren't in a hurry at all. If the company dies, the banks will reclaim the land and wait for the developers to come and take it; if the company doesn't die, the banks will continue to freeze it, and every day the land price rises, the book value of the bank's collateral increases by another day. Whether the company lives or dies, what does it have to do with the banks?"

The young colleague paused for a moment, then lowered his voice:

"That's too much..."

"Too what?"

Kouyuhiko's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Everything was legal. He signed the mortgage contract, and the bank legally recovered the loan and applied for a preliminary seizure. If he couldn't hold on, that's his own problem. Thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises go bankrupt every year; one more or one less won't make a difference."

Footsteps approached the door.

Kiryu also wanted to move.

But he didn't move.

Or rather, at that moment, he was unable to move.

The moment the door was opened, Kouyu Tianyan saw him.

The corridor was dimly lit. The seventeen-year-old boy was dressed in an oversized and overly long black mourning dress. His face was calm to the point of being blank, except for his eyes, which seemed to want to carve the face of the person in front of him into his bones.

Kouyu Tianyan was stunned for only a moment.

Then, he resumed the standard, polite smile of a bank employee, nodded slightly, and walked past Kiryu Yaya.

The sound of leather shoes stepping on the corridor floor was clear and jarring.

blah blah blah...

further and further.

Chapter 60 The Flames of Revenge

The sound of rain under the eaves suddenly seemed very distant.

Keiko Miyazawa stared blankly at Yaya Kiryu.