IGTL Chapter 53

Chapter 53 – President Nishiki’s Splendid Executive Life

I am Akihide Nishiki, 85 years old.

My day began with a cup of coffee.

“Mmm. What a wonderful aroma…”

On the ground floor of the tower condo where I lived was a Starbucks Coffee.

The drip coffee there was exceptional.

And the fact that I could expense this exquisite cup as a company cost for my company, Amazing Corporation, only made it all the better.

Well, that was only natural.

After all, I worked twenty-four hours a day as the president of Amazing Corporation.

This one cup of drip coffee was the fuel that awakened me as president.

If anything, the truly absurd thing would have been not being allowed to expense it.

The former accounting department head and those fools at the tax office who babbled that this was not a legitimate expense were the ones who were deranged.

The tax office people especially had probably stopped thinking entirely because all they ever considered was how to squeeze taxes out of companies.

Honestly, just how much tax did they think I was already paying?

Ah, the rich roasted fragrance of drip coffee.

It felt as though it cleansed my soul.

Speaking of cleansing the soul, I had recently moved at Ishida’s suggestion.

The rent for my tower condo was one million yen a month.

Well, it was a cheaper sort of tower condo, but since the company had leased it as company housing, that could not be helped.

According to Director Ishida, he wanted the president to keep leading the company I ran for another ten years, twenty years even.

He really did know the right things to say.

As expected, I had been right to promote him to Director of Administration.

I personally reprimanded the pathetic employees.

The employees then used the frustration of being reprimanded as motivation and worked hard so I would praise them.

Then I would once again scold them for their shortcomings, and they would once again strive to earn my praise.

It was a magnificent spiral.

Now then, today as well, I would head to my Amazing Corporation.

There was something I always did as soon as I arrived at Amazing Corporation headquarters.

Yes. It was my golf swing.

Golf used more stamina than one might expect.

It was perfect for staying healthy.

As I cheerfully practiced my golf swing again that day, Secretary Ishido brought me the sales report.

“Excuse me, sir. President, I have brought the February sales report.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

As I looked over the report, what caught my eye was that sales had fallen again.

Honestly, what a bunch of losers.

Apparently, they were desperate to be on the receiving end of my reprimand.

“Director Ishida! Is Director Ishida here!?”

I immediately summoned Director Ishida, the head of administration.

“Y-Yes, President, did you need something?”

“Yes. Call in Fukuda and Kobayashi, the sales department heads.”

“Y-Yes, sir! I’ll fetch them immediately!”

With that, Ishida left the president’s office.

A few minutes after I had ordered him to summon Fukuda, Head of First Sales, and Kobayashi, Head of Second Sales, the two men entered the president’s office together with Ishida.

“Excuse us.”

“You called for us, President Nishiki?”

“Yes. First, have a seat on the sofa.”

As I said that, I put my feet up on the table and tossed the sales report Ishida had handed me in front of the two sales heads.

“…What exactly have you two been doing!? Sales are down twenty percent from last month!”

“N-No, the thing is…”

“There is no ‘the thing is’ about it! Sales are down thirty percent year over year! Year after year, sales have done nothing but decline!”

“N-No, what I mean is…”

“You two are always the same. Excuses, excuses, excuses! Have you properly analyzed why sales are falling?”

When I barked that out, Ishida stepped in to support me.

“The President is absolutely right. Fukuda, Kobayashi, what in the world have you two been doing?”

“Yes, exactly as Ishida says. If you have an excuse, then let’s hear it!”

At that, Fukuda opened his mouth.

“…You say that, President, but as I’ve told you before, the cost ratio of the products we manufacture is far too high, and we can’t even compete with rival companies. Right now, we’re only making a profit by purchasing and reselling products from other companies. Isn’t it only natural that both sales and profit margins would fall!”

Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about.

Was that not the very problem a salesman was supposed to solve?

What did he think I was paying them for?

“So what are you saying? That what I’m telling you is wrong? Even if the company makes products that won’t sell, it is your job to sell them! This is nothing more than negligence on your part!”

“N-No, I’m not saying they won’t sell. I’m saying the cost ratio is far too high…”

“That is exactly why you are no good! And you too, Kobayashi! Your sales are down as well! Don’t tell me you’re about to give me the same excuse Fukuda just did!”

The moment I scolded him like that, Kobayashi’s face twisted with frustration.

Naturally.

I had said nothing but the truth.

“I may have to reconsider the evaluations of the two of you!”

“P-President Nishiki! Don’t you think that’s a bit too hasty…?”

At that, Ishida, unusually enough, dared to offer me his opinion.

“To think you would dare voice an opinion to me. You are a thousand years too early!”

I cut Ishida down at once.

A sales department head who could not raise sales was nothing but a liability to this company.

“Well then? What do you two have to say for yourselves!? If, by some chance, ordinary profit falls below one billion yen, how do you intend to take responsibility!?”

The moment I began pressing them on responsibility, Fukuda and Kobayashi both stood.

Then, after slamming what looked like envelopes onto the table, they walked out of the president’s office.

What on earth had that been about?

Just like Sato, the accounting department head, young people these days were far too short-tempered.

Thinking that, I looked at the envelopes and saw the words “resignation letter” written on them.

“Hm? What is this?”

As I muttered that, unable to understand why they had submitted resignation letters, Ishida raised his voice.

“T-That’s why I told you. You went too far, President!”

“What are you talking about? Did I say anything wrong? Hmm? Well?”

“N-No, you didn’t say anything wrong, but…”

Exactly.

What I said was always correct.

There was no way I could have been wrong.

“If that’s the case, then the problem lies with Fukuda and Kobayashi for throwing these at me! Director Ishida, under no circumstances are you to let them quit. Trying to dodge responsibility by shelving their own incompetence is unbelievable behavior for working adults! Tell Fukuda and Kobayashi that if they resign now, they will not receive severance pay!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

What an unpleasant pair they were.

With that, I drove Ishida out of the president’s office and called Shinozaki, the planning department head, on the internal line.

“Shinozaki. We’re going out for eel rice at lunch today. What? What are you talking about? Of course it’s going on the company account! Don’t start saying nonsensical things too!”

It was lunchtime by then, so I left the handling of Fukuda and Kobayashi to Ishida and decided to head out for lunch with Shinozaki for eel rice.

◇◆◇

“F-Fukuda! Kobayashi! Wait!”

I called out for them to stop, but the furious Fukuda and Kobayashi ignored me and stormed out of the room.

This was bad.

Takahashi from the former accounting staff had already sued the company, the accounting department head had suddenly resigned, and things were already in chaos.

If Fukuda and Kobayashi quit on top of that, the situation would become catastrophic.

I hurried after them and found the two of them waiting for the elevator.

“W-Wait! If you resign now, you won’t receive severance pay! Are you really fine with that!?”

Since the president was right there, I tried to stop them that way, but the two of them merely muttered, “Do whatever you want,” and stepped into the elevator.

This was bad.

Really bad.

Year after year, employees in the sales department kept quitting because of the president’s so-called harsh encouragement, which was really just power harassment.

If we lost even more salespeople, things would truly become disastrous.

And yet, if I went against the president, I would surely incur his displeasure and be demoted.

He might even invent some grievance and establish a disciplinary committee against me.

As I stood there agonizing over what to do, President Nishiki, now wearing his coat for going out, called to me from behind.

“Oh, Ishida, isn’t that you? What are you doing here? How did the effort to persuade Fukuda and Kobayashi go? Were they reflecting on their behavior?”

Reflecting on their behavior was the last thing on their minds.

The moment I told them exactly what the president said, “If you resign now, you won’t receive severance pay,” they left the company as they were.

They were probably never coming back.

“U-Um, well… Fukuda and Kobayashi…”

“Hm? What about Fukuda and Kobayashi? You did tell them properly that if they resign now, they won’t receive severance pay, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yes, of course…”

“In that case, there is nothing to worry about. That said, perhaps I may have gone slightly too far myself. Once I return from lunch, tell Fukuda and Kobayashi to come to the president’s office. I’m counting on you.”

“Ah, p-please wait! Fukuda and Kobayashi are already…”

But my voice did not reach President Nishiki.

He got into the elevator with Shinozaki, the planning department head, and headed out for lunch.

This was bad.

Things had become unbelievably bad.

As I stood in front of the elevator clutching my head, a temp worker from accounting called out to me.

“Director Ishida, this is impossible!”

“We can’t keep the accounting department running by ourselves. What are we supposed to do!?”

I was the one who wanted someone to tell me what to do.

Seriously, what was I supposed to do?

The stress was making my stomach twist in pain.

“There’s no ‘what are we supposed to do’ about it! I don’t have time for that right now! I’ll think about that matter sooner or later, so leave it for now!”

“B-But we still have to make payments to clients and partner companies…”

“I just told you, now is not the time for that. The accounting department needs to handle accounting matters properly on its own!”

After brushing them off like that, I headed to my desk.

I had to persuade Fukuda and Kobayashi somehow before lunch break ended.

Whenever he got angry, the president always chose something expensive for his meal.

Most likely, he had gone to Unagi Kappo Oedo for eel rice.

On the way back, he would probably stop by the coffee shop Kauhiiya before returning.

That meant I had an hour and a half left.

I took out my smartphone and, while the employees were eating lunch at their desks, desperately called Fukuda and Kobayashi over and over.

But there was no sign of either of them answering.

As I kept bombarding them with calls out of sheer stubbornness, my subordinate Tanaka called out to me.

“Director Ishida, there’s a call for you on internal line one from Ms. Kubota at the staffing agency…”

“From Ms. Kubota? Understood.”

Honestly, at a time like this…

With no choice, I stopped my relentless calling of Fukuda and Kobayashi and picked up the internal line.

“Yes, this is Ishida. Yes, thank you as always. What? The two from accounting want to quit? W-What do you mean by that!?”

That came completely out of nowhere.

If even the last two temp staff members left in accounting quit, then accounting operations would come to a complete halt.

“I-I’ll confirm it immediately and call you back!”

I hung up the call from the staffing agency and rushed to the floor where accounting was located by elevator.

“A-Abe, Shimizu! What do you mean, you’re quitting the compa…”

I had gone to accounting after putting Fukuda and Kobayashi on the back burner.

By the time I arrived, the accounting floor stretched out before me completely empty, with not a single person left on it.