21 Returning Home

When the previous heads nudged them, the two reminiscing fathers immediately shut their mouths. With an apologetic look directed at everyone in the room, they smiled awkwardly and returned to the topic at hand.

"Ahem. Well, Nao-kun. I heard from Iwatani that you want to start up your own business. Have you figured out which industry you want to enter?"

"Computers and smart phones. I have a mechatronics engineering degree, a major in Computer engineering, and a minor in computing and coding. Whether I go from a hardware or software approach, I have all the bases covered."

"Very good! Such vision is rare among the young ones. Good, good. However, we ourselves have only dabbled in that industry, so we aren't capable of helping you too much. How about this. We'll invest in your company, and perhaps give you a factory or two, along with an office. As for what we want in return for investing, let's just say… 20% equity for each family. All our shares will be transferred to Basara and Iwatani. What do you say?"

When it came down to business, neither Yuuto nor Akihito beat around the bush. Although they wanted to support and curry favour, they would not just give Plato money with no strings attached. However, it was obvious from the fact that they wanted their shares to be under Basara and Iwatani that they didn't want any real benefits.

Whether they had predicted it or not, it was inevitable that Plato would get his two good brothers to help manage his company. Since they were on good terms, he would definitely not just employ them with wages, especially since the money came from their families. In that case, it wouldn't be surprising to give them a sizeable portion of the shares after the IPO.

Now, they were just asking for things that Plato would have dished out anyway; which goes to show that they either didn't want anything in return, or wanted to invest in their children's futures. The latter was more likely in Plato's view.

Naturally, Plato had no objections.

"Sure, that works well. I'll take whatever you give. I don't have any money myself, nor do I have any significant holdings in anything. Starting off with a few premises for projects is already better than most of what my peers can do at this starting stage."

"Then it's settled. You have a good mentality, Nao-kun. Others might want more, but you clearly know your limits. The type of people I like to interact with the most are people who are intelligent, have their wits about them, and are aware of what they should or shouldn't do. You happen to fit all three! I bet we will get along in the future. Thank you in advance for taking care of my Iwatani."

"Not at all! If anyone were to take care of anyone else, it would be Basara and Iwatani taking care of me. Really."

Another few rounds of customary niceties made their presence known in the room, but finally ceased after a few minutes. Plato looked curiously at the two previous heads of the families, since they had not spoken a word since he had entered the room.

He had long realized that the two possessed vital energy, but from the way they aged despite only being in their eighties, it was evident that they didn't know how to utilize its ability to increase longevity.

He considered telling them, but it would be better to do so after he himself obtained vital energy. They wouldn't trust his words anyway, even if he was the proclaimed saviour of the world. After all, it was their life and wellbeing that was being taken into account here.

The talks about business ended, and a short talk about family and friends followed. Plato stayed for a short while before excusing himself, quoting tiredness as the reason. The elders were accommodating, and saw him out of the mansion.

Hideo, the Miyamoto butler, offered to give him a lift to his apartment, to which Plato agreed. After leaving his address, he fell asleep in the car.

Back at the Hattori mansion, the old heads of the families finally spoke.

"Yuu, that kid is pretty good. Even if he wasn't the saviour that was proclaimed by Amakusa Shirou, he is still someone worthy to have a good relationship with."

"I concur. He was steady despite the pressure we released, which shows that he will be level-minded and calm even in the worst of situations. He will be capable of many things."

The rest of the people in the room felt stifled. If they were so approving of him, then why didn't they say it while he was still here? Why wait until now?

As if noticing the strange gazes of the people present, the two elders hurried to explain themselves.

"If we praise him too blatantly, he will know that something is up! We still don't want to mention Amakusa Shirou's prophecy to him. What if he crumbles under the pressure, or chickens out? We don't know if Shirou's prophecy will change if the people involved pay heed to it."

"Yes, yes, he might get a big head and let the complements get to his head. Besides, he might just take it as flattery. Us old ones wouldn't have much face left if a youngster mistook us as kissing *ss."

Everyone rolled their eyes when they heard the explanation. While Shin's explanation was still viable, Hiro's one was obviously just an excuse. He had previously just said that Plato would be level-minded, yet a couple of seconds later he was saying that the complements would get to his head!

It felt like these elders were acting like children that had just been caught doing something naughty by their parents. The image created felt so disparate from their actual images, which caused Basara and Iwatani to crack up, laughing. Following them was the Hattori butler, and finally, even Yuuto and Akihito joined in.

Shin looked like he wanted to get them to stop, but then he noticed Hiro laughing as well. Left with no choice, he had to join in with the crowd and start laughing as well.

They laughed so loudly that even the servants tending to the garden could hear them, despite there being a relatively thick wall separating them. The servants cocked their heads in bewilderment, but soon ignored it and continued with tending to the garden.

*****

It was around 7 in the evening when Plato arrived at the apartment that Naofumi had been living in. It was resoundingly unremarkable compared to the Hattori mansion, but it was good enough for someone living on their own and without much money.

After taking his luggage and saying farewell to Hideo, Plato started to make his way up the stairs. His apartment was on the third floor, and there were no lifts in this fairly old block of apartments. The stairs were old and dilapidated as well, but still perfectly functioning.

On the stairwell between the first and second floors, he ran into the landlady. Although there were some tenants who bought their apartments outright, the rest of the residents had rented their apartments. This person who was called landlady owned most of the apartments here, so they called her the landlady. The name stuck, and soon, everyone in the complex was calling her the landlady, despite her not being the owner of the complex.

The woman in question was a slightly plump, homely woman, with long hair that was slightly greying. Her face was devoid of wrinkles despite her age, evidence of her intensive care for her skin. Her hands were full of callouses and marks, obtained from the hard work she went through in her younger days.

Nowadays, she had nothing much to do, so she had started cooking food for some of her favourite renters who were either busy, or didn't know how to cook. This woman had two children, but they had already moved out and started a family of their own. Occasionally, they would come back to visit during Golden Week or the New Year.

Plato was curious about why she was heading up the complex; according to Naofumi's memories, she lived on the first floor. His memories also didn't contain a name, but that was no problem for Plato, thanks to "All-Seer".

The landlady, on the other hand, was surprised to see Plato was back. Naofumi had informed her that he would be overseas studying for four years, and only three full years had passed. After her initial surprise, there was also curiosity. At the start of the year, someone had moved into his apartment, claiming to be his relative…

The two hadn't met for a long while and were quite friendly with each other, so they conversed cordially while ascending the stairwell.

When they arrived on the third floor, they were still together. When they both stopped in front of Plato's apartment, he finally realized that her destination was also his apartment.

Why was she here? Plato's question would be answered very soon…