NA: I apologize for not uploading any chapters last week, but my sleep schedule for the past few months has been a disaster.
During the day I've been busy with work and writing at night. It's a tough schedule, but I enjoyed writing. Besides, I didn't want to let my Patreon subscribers down.
But not sleeping properly has been affecting me, so I decided to get proper sleep last week and haven't written any chapters. I only managed to post chapters on Patreon that I had saved.
I don't know how long I can keep writing like this, but I'll keep trying.
If you'd like to support my work, you can do so on Patreon/GOATXXI or by sharing my stories in various groups to reach more readers.
.....
As Imada suspected, the death of matriarch Ichihara and her son caused a great stir in the fire capital, to the point that it even alarmed the Daimyo.
After all, Tetsui Ichihara was his best friend, and his wife was from the Yamaguchi family, the family of the Daimyo's principal wife.
Given the status of matriarch Ichihara and her connection to the Daimyo, foul play could be suspected, perhaps involving ninjas in the incident.
Therefore, when the Daimyo appeared at the wake that day, he ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.
But this had nothing to do with Imada.
Although he wanted to approach the Daimyo, he did not have sufficient status to even attempt it.
Knowing her status and what she could and could not do, Imada did other things.
The fat man took the opportunity to approach several members of the Ichihara family and other figures who appeared during the wake.
Even if he didn't form any connection, he made sure to at least leave an impression.
In this way, he ensured he would increase his chances of starting businesses in the future.
And of course, he also made sure to keep his ears wide open to pick up any important information.
It was in this way that he learned that the Ichihara patriarch was still unaware of the death of his wife and son, since the Ichihara family is reluctant to tell him for fear of worsening his condition.
Unfortunately for Imada, she couldn't stay at the wake the next day because she had to return to deliver and present her sales records.
But seeing the place still full, he thought about returning after finishing his work.
And so he did.
Saying goodbye to the people he stayed close to, the fat man returned to the Takuji company offices.
On the way, he again lamented the death of Hanako Ichihara, as the woman was his closest connection to the Ichihara family.
His last business venture had been very lucrative and he had hoped to work with the woman again, but unfortunately that couldn't happen now.
Suddenly, the man remembered the reason why he was able to have that deal with the matriarch Ichihara and wondered how that young man had fared.
He didn't know what he had done to attract the woman's ill will, but with the matriarch of the Ichihara family pointing her finger, things shouldn't have gone very well for him, the man thought.
The man returned to the Takuji company offices and found the manager to deliver his reports.
And after an hour of talking, the man returned to his office and placed the documents he was holding on his desk before ordering his secretary to bring him a glass of water to moisten his throat.
And after placing the empty glass on the table, the man began to arrange the documents on his shelf.
While doing that, the man took the opportunity to review old documents.
Imada was very organized with these documents because with them he could keep a record of his sales and contact his customers again later to make another sale.
And that's when he found the document detailing a failed sale.
Imada's attention was drawn to this document because he remembered that he hadn't made this sale as a favor to the matriarch Ichihara. And since he made a larger profit, it was a good deal.
Imada's curiosity returned, and she wondered what had become of that young man.
And when she saw the young man's information in the document, an impulse made her want to know more.
Therefore, he called his secretary and instructed her to find out about the young man.
Although the document did not have the young man's full name, it did have his store's address, so the secretary had a starting point.
And after entrusting the investigation to his employee, he arranged everything before returning to the Ichihara compound hoping to meet more people.
.
.
.
A week later, Imada read the document he held in his hand with dismay.
Busy with his work, the man had forgotten that he had given such an assignment to his secretary a week ago.
And from the details in the document, the man could tell why the woman had taken so long.
SENBON TORII was the shop of that young man who at the beginning of his reading thought it was a miracle that it was still working after being pointed out by the matriarch of the Ichihara family.
But after reading the young man's full name, he thought he knew the reason why the young man still had his business open.
With the surname Ichihara, it was obvious that the young man was not someone without connections, and he assumed that was why the Ichihara matriarch did nothing to him directly.
And when he read that he was the son of the patriarch Ichihara, it confirmed his suspicions.
Of course, this made her worry that she had provoked someone she shouldn't have. But she was relieved when she learned it was just an abandoned child.
But again he ate his words when he learned what the young man had received from his dying father.
Five properties, one of them right here in the capital, clearly stated that the young man named Kozue was not simply a neglected son.
In contrast, he seemed to be valued by his father, having received the same amount of property as his eldest son, while a few of his children received only one property and the others received none.
The young man was apparently valued by his father, and Imada cursed the late matriarch Ichihara for having hidden this information from him.
But anyway, this was not what had the man dismayed.
But the information in the last part of the document.
That the young man's shop was still open had surprised him. But this?
Knowing that there were hundreds of identical shops throughout the land of fire, and that more were opening every day, shocked the man.
That young man didn't just have a simple shop; he had a large company that was expanding throughout the land of fire at an alarming rate.
The document obviously didn't have any further details, so if the man wanted to know more, he had to take his time to investigate.
Normally Imada wouldn't bother with this anymore since he had other things to do.
But since he had offended the young man back then, the man needed to know more about him.
Cursing the matriarch Ichihara again, the man began to investigate.
And almost 2 weeks later, he analyzed everything he had at hand.
To begin with, he had found out the young man's situation in the Ichihara family.
After leaving the Ichihara family compound, he never returned.
The young man was obviously busy expanding his company, so it was normal.
What was not normal were the rest of the details in the document, such as the speed at which these stores were opening in most cities in the land of fire and the money involved.
While he guessed that the money the young man was earning was a lot, it didn't compare to the expenses he was incurring by opening those stores at that speed.
When she found out she was buying them, she choked on her own over the number of stores open.
And along with the remodeling expenses and the products needed to fill the store, Imada's breathing became agitated at the amount of money she calculated in her mind.
Calming his breathing, the man suppressed his greed because he knew that this wealth had nothing to do with him.
Although the company was in the young man's name, Imada believed it was impossible for him to have such capabilities and resources and assumed that someone was behind him.
And the first thing he thought of was the Ichihara family.
After all, who else would have so many resources and let that young man be the public face of the company?
And seeing that the Ichihara family valued this young man so much, he felt fear again.
Cursing the late matriarch Ichihara once more, the man quickly thought of a solution.
Unfortunately for the man, nothing else he could think of was to go to the Ichihara family to ask for forgiveness.
After all, what he did wasn't much, so he didn't think he would lose that much.
What I do regret are the profits I would have made by doing business with the young man.
With the number of shops open and products sold each day, it was obvious that the Ichihara family had been secretly seeking suppliers through this young man, and he failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Although she was curious as to why the Ichihara family was being so discreet about these stores, she knew she had to act quickly.
Not only to seek reconciliation with that young man, but also to profit in the process.
Quickly putting away his briefcase containing his company's inventory, the man headed towards the Ichichara family compound.