IGTL Chapter 44

Chapter 44 – Amazing Corporation’s Administration Director Suffered from Gout

“Ow ow ow ow ow!”

It was 8:00 a.m.

I, Ishida, woke up from the pain of swelling in my big toe and joints.

I grabbed the bottle of water by my pillow, then took the gout attack suppressor “Tide-Me-Over,” the gout attack treatment medicine “Hope-It-Heals,” and the uric acid production suppressor “Hope-It-Drops.”

Finally, after swallowing the urine-acidity treatment medicine “Go-Alkaline,” I washed the pills down with water and dragged myself out of bed.

The pain in my joints from gout was a problem, but so was Takahashi Kakeru, the former employee who had hired a lawyer and sent the company a content-certified mail.

And having to bring back the Accounting staff we had fired was also a problem.

If I had known that closing work was such difficult and important work, I never would have pulled something as stupid as firing Accounting staff just to raise President Nishiki’s executive compensation.

All of this was Director Sato’s fault for not giving President Nishiki and me proper information.

Honestly, having to call back employees we had already fired…

Director Sato had really done it now.

Once the fired Accounting staff were rehired, I was going to convene a “Disciplinary Committee” against Director Sato so responsibility would be made perfectly clear.

Using my anger toward Director Sato as fuel to dull the gout pain, I headed in to work at Amazing Corporation.

Amazing Corporation’s working hours were from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

When I looked toward the president’s office, I saw light spilling out from inside.

It seemed President Nishiki had already come in.

He was astonishingly energetic despite being 85 years old.

When I listened carefully, I heard the sound of golf swings coming from the president’s office.

Come to think of it, every Saturday, he booked a play at the prestigious Karuizawa Golf Club on the company’s dime.

He was probably practicing for that.

There was no hesitation in his swing.

Yesterday, he had been furious that we couldn’t get a reservation at Sichuan Hanten, but I was truly relieved to see his mood had recovered.

President Nishiki’s mood changed as easily as mountain weather.

Even so, I had to admit, it was amazing that with how angry he got, none of his blood vessels had burst.

He must have had incredibly durable veins.

As I was thinking that, the bell signaling the start of the workday began sounding through the office.

“All right, let’s contact Yamamoto and Kobayashi right away…”

We were already in a dispute with Takahashi Kakeru. At the very least, we had to get Yamamoto and Kobayashi, the two staff members we had fired the other day, back into the company…

But when I called Yamamoto and Kobayashi, neither call went through.

Now that I thought about it, Director Sato had also said he couldn’t reach them…

Director Sato was one thing, but there was no way they would ignore a call from me, the Administration Director…

Even with a grim look on my face, I kept calling with dogged persistence.

Then, suddenly, one of the calls connected.

My tenacity had won.

“Hello, this is Ishida from Amazing Corporation, but…”

However, the voice I heard was not Yamamoto’s or Kobayashi’s.

“The number you have dialed cannot be connected at the customer’s request,” an automated rejection message began to play.

It looked like they had blocked my calls.

This was bad. This was a very bad situation.

If we didn’t get the Accounting staff back into the company and working, we wouldn’t make it in time for the earnings disclosure, and if things went badly, we could even face delisting… Delisted in our hundredth anniversary year. No matter what, that alone had to be avoided.

But the bare minimum requirement was having people who could use our company’s systems, and even if we asked for temporary staff now, it was highly questionable whether they could make it in time for the earnings disclosure.

As I set the phone down and agonized over what to do, I heard my name being shouted from the president’s office.

“Ishida! Is Ishida here?!”

Apparently the golf practice had ended.

He ought to have just spent his whole life swinging golf clubs inside the president’s office…

“Ahh. Yeah, yeah.”

Muttering that, I dragged my gout-ridden leg and headed for the president’s office, where President Nishiki was waiting.

“Good morning, President Nishiki.”

“Ah, good morning… Sit down first.”

After muttering that, President Nishiki slowly rose from his chair and sat down on the sofa.

Then he crossed his legs and put his feet up on the table.

As ill-mannered as ever.

Once I sat on the sofa, President Nishiki began speaking.

“So then, Ishida. What happened with getting Takahashi and the other two Accounting employees reinstated?”

“About that matter…”

I hesitated over whether I should tell him the truth.

As I struggled to decide, President Nishiki pressed me again, as if demanding an answer.

“Well? Were you able to get in touch with the Accounting staff?”

“N-No, I thought it would be better to have Director Sato, who was their direct supervisor, contact them about this, so I haven’t contacted them yet.”

The moment I said that, President Nishiki got angry again.

“You still haven’t contacted them? What are you being so leisurely about? That’s exactly why you’re no good! Tell Sato to contact them immediately!”

“Yes, I’ll contact him right away!”

I turned to leave the president’s office so I could contact Director Sato and return to my desk.

But President Nishiki did not allow me to leave.

“Why are you trying to get up? You can contact Sato right here, right now!”

“R-Right here!?”

“Is there some problem with that? Or what? You don’t happen to be hiding something, do you?”

“N-No, nothing like that, but…”

I took out my smartphone and called Director Sato.

When I placed the call, Director Sato picked up after three rings.

“Yes, this is Sato.”

“Ah, Director Sato? This is Ishida from Administration. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Takahashi and the other two Accounting employees we discussed yesterday…”

I was carefully choosing my words, trying to settle things peacefully, when President Nishiki interrupted from the side.

“Ishida. Put your smartphone on speaker mode.”

“A-All right.”

So an eighty-five-year-old knew about speaker mode on smartphones…

Damn it, Tanaka? Was it that subordinate Tanaka who had taught the president how to use a smartphone?

What a needless thing to do…

As instructed by President Nishiki, I switched the smartphone to speaker mode and set it on the table.

“Takahashi and the others? Weren’t you, Director Ishida, supposed to be contacting them?”

“Well, actually…”

The moment I muttered that, President Nishiki picked up the smartphone from the table.

“Ah, Sato? It’s me. Nishiki, the president. Actually, I’d like you to contact Takahashi and the other two Accounting staff yourself. You see, since you were their direct supervisor, I think Takahashi and the others would be more open with you. You’ll do it, won’t you?”

A presidential statement that allowed no refusal.

But from my perspective, that was a blessing.

I already couldn’t contact Takahashi and the others.

At the moment, I was the only one who knew that.

No, wait. Director Sato couldn’t reach them either, could he?

“Understood… Since the calls already didn’t go through once, I think it’ll be pointless, but if that is what you say, President, I’ll try calling them…”

“I see. Then put your smartphone on speaker mode, and call Takahashi and the others from the Accounting Department phone.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

With that, Director Sato began calling Takahashi and the others from Accounting’s desk phone.

Then the same automated rejection message I had heard earlier came over the smartphone speaker.

“The number you have dialed cannot be connected at the customer’s request.”

“…”

Apparently, Takahashi and the others had set every Amazing Corporation phone number to blocked calls.

“What is this? What does this mean?”

Maybe he had never heard that automated rejection message before, because President Nishiki looked confused. Then Director Sato spoke through the speakerphone.

“It looks like they’ve blocked our calls. If that’s the case, we can’t contact Takahashi and the others.”

“What did you say?!”

Hearing that, President Nishiki exploded.

“What do you mean you can’t contact them?! Even after they leave the company, they should make sure they can still be reached properly!”

“The president is absolutely right. Director Sato, is there no other way to contact Takahashi and the others directly?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Honestly! ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t begin to cover it! You’ve done something outrageous! Thanks to you, this company is finished! How exactly do you plan to take responsibility?!”

“The president is absolutely right. Director Sato, this is a very serious matter! If you had properly shown concern for Takahashi and the others, this could have been prevented before it happened. How do you intend to take responsibility for this?!”

Perfect. My failure was Director Sato’s failure.

And Director Sato’s failure was Director Sato’s failure.

Somewhere inside President Nishiki’s head, this whole situation had already been converted into, “Director Sato failed to manage things properly, and that’s why this happened.”

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There was no way I was letting it slip away.

“Sato. What do you intend to do?! Stop standing there in silence and say something!”

“That’s right, Director Sato! Say something! This has become a disaster because of you!”

Then a loud “Bang!” rang out through the smartphone speaker.

The sudden sound made President Nishiki and me look at each other.

“W-What happened? Sato, say something…”

President Nishiki had lost his momentum.

Then Director Sato spoke through the smartphone.

“…I quit.”

“Hm? What did you just say?”

“I can’t do this anymore… As of this moment, I resign from Amazing Corporation! I don’t need this month’s pay or my severance!”

“W-Wait, Sato! Ishida, say something! Isn’t this happening because you attacked Sato?!”

“N-No, I merely agreed with you, President… Besides, the one criticizing Director Sato was you, President Nishiki. I-I never said anything like that.”

“W-What are you talking about? Are you saying this is my fault? I merely said something perfectly reasonable! What exactly was wrong with that?!”

“That’s exactly why things ended up like this with you people! You’re always shoving responsibility onto someone else! This is power harassment, isn’t it?! Don’t screw with me! You keep making up absurd complaints, holding Disciplinary Committees, and cutting our pay! And every bit of those cuts gets piled onto the president’s executive compensation, doesn’t it?! Don’t think Accounting knows nothing! In the end, all you ever care about is yourself! You only ever think about what’s right in front of you, and that’s exactly why this happened!”

“What’s this supposed to mean?! Wasn’t I the one who promoted you to Accounting Director?! And yet that’s how you talk to me…? If you don’t like it, then quit! Hurry up and quit!”

At that point, there was no salvaging the situation.

A few days later, President Nishiki’s words became the final push, and Director Sato sent in his resignation letter.