Chapter 158 – 158. Proposal (2)
Adopted grandson.
Not the ones attached to your arms.
It’s a word referring to an adopted grandson.
And.
“Takuya, would you consider becoming my adopted grandson?”
It was also the position that the perverted old man in front of me had proposed.
‘Suddenly, become an adopted grandson? What is this, One Piece?’
I was flustered by the word adopted grandson.
Frankly, it was too out of the blue.
‘No. Didn’t he come to scout me because I have some weird power? He just came to recruit a colleague?’
So, I was briefly flustered, but soon, thinking rationally, the idea of becoming an adopted grandson made sense.
It only takes a little bit of thought.
How helpful would it be if a young man with the overwhelming power to stop time became a member of the Tohomu family?
Of course, this was all based on the premise that the old man completely believed I had the ability.
Honestly, I don’t know what the old man is thinking.
If he were a somewhat transparent person, it would be easy to guess, but he’s so crazy that it’s impossible to gauge.
Anyway, after roughly figuring out why Old Man Yuzuke said those words, Takuya briefly looked at the old man’s expression, trying to guess what he meant, but soon realized it was pointless.
It seemed difficult to get any information from that crazy old man’s expression.
Even if I did understand, I couldn’t tell if those emotions were genuine.
So, I asked the most certain thing.
“What benefits would I get if I became your adopted grandson?”
Old Man Yuzuke looked slightly surprised at my words.
I guess he thought I would be flustered, but I’ve lived a pretty amazing life myself.
Would I be flustered by something like this?
Anyway, at my answer, Old Man Yuzuke initially looked slightly surprised, but then he grinned and handed me some documents from a drawer.
I opened the documents with a questioning look, and I couldn’t help but be surprised.
The reason was that it contained information about the three companies that Miyuki and I were involved in.
Takuya was surprised by the information, but at the same time, he couldn’t understand why Yuzuke was showing him these documents.
As if reading my expression, Old Man Yuzuke kindly explained.
“It seems there are traces of trying to split the shares somehow, expecting a listing.”
At those words, Takuya felt a chill and at the same time, emitted a slight killing intent.
Not only did he investigate separately, but he even did this kind of research.
Is he trying to pick a fight?
But Takuya’s thoughts didn’t last long.
“Don’t glare at me like that, I’m not showing this to threaten you.”
At Old Man Yuzuke’s words, I nodded and withdrew my killing intent.
And I pondered over Old Man Yuzuke’s words.
I’m not very knowledgeable about this either.
But I knew that if you wanted to hide the fact that you were the largest shareholder while doing politics, you had to split it up into paper companies.
That’s why I was creating ghost companies and diligently dividing the shares, but it seemed like I was just a puppy in front of that old monster.
Thanks to that, Takuya’s evaluation of the old man rose, and his wariness also increased.
And perhaps noticing this change in Takuya.
Old Man Yuzuke grinned and continued.
“Don’t worry, I’m not trying to do anything to you with this, I’m trying to help.”
“Help?”
At my words, Old Man Yuzuke nodded and said.
“You asked me what benefits you would get if you became my adopted grandson, right? The answer is simple. I can give you connections that can handle these kinds of issues.”
At Old Man Yuzuke’s words, Takuya’s pupils trembled.
Although Takuya was only at a beginner level and had an accident where all his power was taken away, he was someone who had done politics.
He knew how important connections were.
No. In the first place, the reason he survived the war was because of those connections.
That’s why he knew how big of a deal the connections that Old Man Yuzuke was offering were.
But.
“If you’re trying to adopt me just for that, then it’s going to be difficult.”
Takuya had a much better means of communication (hypnosis) than those connections.
It was tempting, but its value was less than for the average person.
Old Man Yuzuke nodded at Takuya’s words.
“Indeed. Then I’ll give you the greatest weapon you can have in Japan.”
“The greatest weapon?”
“The head of the family position.”
What?
For a moment, Takuya thought he had misheard.
No. He’s giving me the head of the family position? Why?
It was such an unreasonable condition that Takuya had a dumbfounded expression, and at Takuya’s expression, Old Man Yuzuke said.
“Although I’m a guy who gives away his son’s women to others, it’s not like I don’t care about the family at all. If it’s a talent that will benefit the Tohomu family, no, raise the family’s status, I have to bring them in, even if it means giving them the head of the family position. Besides, there have been quite a few cases of adopted children becoming the head of the family.”
But even so, the head of the family position was too big of a deal.
Still not understanding, Yuzuke said.
“Actually, the era of families is slowly declining. You can still gain a lot of power, but the times are changing. Most people don’t feel it, but I, who has watched humans more diligently than anyone else, can tell.”
The old man said proudly, and then explained.
“The reason why the times are changing is due to technological innovation and changes in the times, but I want to give a much more complex economic reason than those technical aspects.”
Old Man Yuzuke said that and continued.
“The bubble stopped Japan’s growth, turned regular jobs into irregular jobs, and countless families were ruthlessly dismantled. As a result, students without money sold their bodies, and young people who failed to get jobs ran away into their rooms, which became an opportunity for Japan’s individualistic tendencies to strengthen. The bubble ruined the future of Japanese youth.”
He muttered without stopping, then took a deep breath and said.
“Hoo… the times are getting colder, the world where the group was prioritized over the individual is now going to be a world where people chase money and freedom rather than groups and countries. In that case, the head of the family position will be nothing more than a symbol. At least, I’m sure of it.”
At his words, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
What Old Man Yuzuke was seeing was not just 10 or 20 years, but at least 30 years, that is. He was seeing the world after he died.
And Takuya, who knew this era, evaluated Old Man Yuzuke’s assessment as accurate.
But I couldn’t say that.
Instead, Takuya asked.
“Just for that reason, you’re going to make me your adopted grandson, and even give me the head of the family position? I could ruin the Tohomu family after I get the position.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
At his question, Old Man Yuzuke said with a serious face.
“Anyway, I’ve made sure that my children and grandchildren have enough to live on, and the family retainers are similar. If you were to swallow the family as it is, it would just become a family that lost its roots from a family that had roots.”
The meaning of those words was that he had already given his children what they needed, and since he had nothing to lose, he was boldly betting the family on me for the sake of the family.
Well, it might be slightly different, but it was just as absurd and confident.
While Takuya was pondering over those words, Old Man Yuzuke continued lightly.
“Well, the reason I’m trying to make you my adopted grandson isn’t just because you have the ability.”
There was another reason besides ability?
Takuya was a little surprised, but he was curious about the other reason why the old man was trying to recruit him as his adopted grandson, and he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“You’re the only one who can film a lot of videos that suit my taste.”
Well, it was such a ridiculous and dizzying reason.
It was dizzying, but it was a reason that was fitting for this perverted old man.
Old Man Yuzuke said that, reached out his hand to me, and asked.
“So, what do you think of my proposal?”
After listening to all of that, I pondered for a moment, then grabbed the hand that Old Man Yuzuke had offered and said.
“I accept the proposal.”
I accepted the proposal.
“But there are two conditions.”
Instead, I set conditions.
“One is that if I come in as your adopted grandson, you will fully support me, and the other is that you must remember that you and I are on equal footing.”
Of course, I didn’t just set conditions. I refused the head of the family position that the old man had promised.
“Instead, I will refuse the head of the family position.”
To be precise, I refused because I was annoyed by the schedule, etiquette, and rules that would come with being the head of the family.
In the first place, I don’t like such formalities.
To be precise, if I had to do it, I would do it with a frown, but I would never be in a good mood. Would I, who is like that, get a position with a lot of formalities like the head of the family position?
I just wanted to do some behind-the-scenes work.
And I felt sorry for Nozomi, who had worked the hardest to get the head of the family position, and Aiko and Yui, who had to do the cuckoo’s egg thing.
Besides, if I became the head of the family, my authority would be immense, but probably by the time I was old enough to become the head of the family, there would be no one in the family more powerful than me.
Of course, to do that.
“So, if you keep the above conditions, I’ll make sure that the family doesn’t collapse.”
I had to make the company grow properly.
Old Man Yuzuke quietly nodded at my answer.
And so, our deal was made.
