2.4
A few months later, I was in my office, looking at the finished photos of the building that had just been renovated.
The floors, ceilings, walls, and everything else are all white. The reason for the monochromatic color scheme is to give the impression of a clean facility.
Purity, innocence, cleanliness, and sanctity are some of the strong positive images that are connected to the color white. Many government officials will eventually visit the school to inspect the education that will take place here.
It’s a little image strategy, but it’s an element that shouldn’t be underestimated.
“Good morning, Ayanokouji-san.”
“Oh!”
Kamogawa and his engineer are at the site in Saitama for a final check, board in hand, to make sure everything‘s in order. The work seemed to have come to an end, and he returned to the office with a look of relief on his face.
“All the work is complete,” he said.
“You did a good job. It looks like the facility turned out exactly as I had imagined.”
“But how did you manage to renovate it so beautifully with that budget? Normally it would’ve cost almost twice as much.”
“There are many construction companies constantly searching for dust when you knock on their door.”
If you whisper sweet nothings in their ears along with your threats, they will cooperate with you without regard to profit.
“It's getting real now, isn't it? The Human Resources Development Project.”
“Yes, it is.”
“That's because you were able to get people in the business world to cooperate, Ayanokouji-san. It's quite an accomplishment to raise nearly 400 million yen in one night.”
The 400 million was invested in the educators, the land, the buildings, and the construction of the facility itself.
Most of it is gone. It's difficult to collect the money, but it's effortless to spend it.
“They have a sickening amount of money, but they’re always hungry for honor and fame. If this project succeeds, they’ll get that in return. From the looks of the party, I'm sure they have a lot of deals like this going on behind the scenes.”
They’re probably investing in several deals at the same time, including mine, and they only think of it as a profit if they win one of them. Some of them may have already forgotten that I exist.
“So you're saying they don't expect anything?”
“That's fine for now. It's risky to draw too much attention.”
However, it’s important to keep moving forward towards the future. In addition to the teachers, we must also secure the children who will receive the education.
“But first, we have to come up with a name for the facility that will be responsible for the Human Resource Development Project.”
“Oh, really? What will you name it?”
“The White Room. The name will emphasize the image of white, which gives a sense of purity and will be pushed to the forefront.”
“The White Room… Well, it's simple but easy to understand.”
No matter who sees it, this place will be established as the white and pure name, as the name suggests..
“I hope that people like Naoe-sensei and many others will visit us soon.”
Kamogawa is buoyant, but things aren’t going to be that easy.
“Let me tell you something important, Kamogawa. The world of politics is not a simple binary of friend or foe. If you take the easy way out, you'll be in deep trouble.”
“What…?”
He tilted his head plastered with a stupid look as if he didn't understand what I meant.
“Listen,” I said, “you're not ready for this yet.”
No matter how well things seem to be going, I'm still walking on a bridge that could collapse at any moment.
Kamogawa doesn’t yet know the terror of walking on that bridge.
“What are you going to do after this?”
“I'm supposed to meet and interview a few people here today. We can't run the White Room by ourselves.”
It's impossible for amateurs to educate children out of the blue.
Kamogawa looked at his watch and lowered his head, looking a little disappointed.
He must’ve thought he was in the way since the interview time would be at 4:00 p.m.—in about 10 minutes.
“You should be there, too,” I said.
“Oh, you don't mind, do you?”
“You're in charge of the White Room. You have the right to know what kind of person you're dealing with.”
With a gleeful gleam in his eye, Kamogawa hurriedly began to clean up.
Soon, about a minute before four o'clock, a knock came at the office.
“Come in.”
Souya, a man dressed in a white lab coat, approached me with a light nod.
“I never thought that a stray researcher like me would be approached by a professor like you,” he said with a wry smile.
He tried to shake my hand, but I looked down to it and lifted my gaze.
“I haven't said I'll hire you yet.”
The man who appeared, Souya, used to be a doctor, but his medical license was revoked after a number of behavioral problems. After that, he began researching human growth and published a paper on the subject. Although he was highly regarded by some, he hasn’t been able to return to the limelight because of his past history.
“Kamogawa, if you have any first impressions of him, just say so.”
“I don't mind… do you?”
Kamogawa kept his mouth shut, trying not to intrude, but it was easy to see in his expression that he was holding back what he wanted to say.
“I want to hear your opinion.”
“Um, excuse me, but why are you here in a white coat?”
“I don't know, you can't come here naked, right?”
“No, it's not that… I think it's common practice to wear a suit to an interview.”
Souya looked at his own clothes and nodded somewhat unconvincingly, “I see.”
“Isn't that a trivial matter? My formal attire is a white coat, so I don't see any problem. I would be taken more seriously in this than a suit.”
Souya replied without a trace of apology.
“Ah, Ayanokouji-san… What are you going to do?”
‘Are you going to hire a man like this?’ That's what his eyes were saying.
He certainly has a lot of problems with his demeanor and his outfit, which doesn’t look like it was made for a job interview.
But neither is necessary for the kind of person the White Room is looking for.
“I'm not a licensed physician, but I'm proud to say that my background is impressive.”
“I don't care about your background.”
It seems that this misconception needs to be put to rest first.
Then, for the first time, Souya's nonchalant attitude hardened slightly.
“That's enough… After all, you’re also going to criticize what I did, aren't you? You said you would interview me regardless of my past problems, so I came here, but it seems it was a mistake.”
“Don't jump to conclusions. I said it doesn't matter what your history is. I'm talking about your entire career path. Which university you graduated from, which hospital you worked at, or what crimes you committed—I don't care about any of that.”
Souya stopped just as he was about to get up from his seat.
“All I’m looking for is your present thoughts and abilities. You had a good point of view and skill as a doctor, and you had good insight into human beings. Are you still confident in your ability to do so?”
“I can tell most things by looking at a person. That hasn't changed.”
For the first time, Souya showed his face as a researcher.
“It takes a certain amount of courage and determination to enter the illegal world. That's all I wanted to see here. You can't really judge whether it's actually useful or not until you're out in the field.”
“We don't have the time to be so selective about personalities,” I said.
“...I beg your pardon.”
Souya bowed deeply, even though I didn't ask him to.
“I've been laid off for a few years… eating away at my savings, and I've always been frustrated. I've been shutting myself off from the outside world.”
“You've regretted the mistakes you've made.”
“Regret? I have no regrets. I'm still sick to my stomach about why those people sold me out.”
He doesn’t think he did anything wrong. It’s human nature to have fallen into the wrong hands.
Kamogawa, who has led an earnest and mild-mannered life, must not be a good match for him.
“I’ll give you a chance to come back to life. From now on, you’ll work for me as a former doctor and researcher, managing the subjects and helping them grow. Understood?”
This man with nowhere else to go has nothing to complain about as long as he's employed at the same rate as before.
“Thank you, sir. I'll make sure I won't disappoint you.”
I told Souya on the spot that I’ll hire him, and left.
“I wonder if it's really safe to hire a guy like that... I'm worried.”
“I understand what you're saying… but it's more for our own good.”
“Is that so?”
“He's not close to anyone, he’s obsessed with money, and he doesn’t seek honor in the outside world. If you give him money and a place to work, he won’t betray you. It’s impossible here to make contact with outsiders and create profit from a third party.”
Of course, there’s a possibility that he’ll threaten us and demand higher wages, but if he acts to that extent, we won't have to hesitate when dealing with him.
“He must’ve understood when he met me—I’m not someone you want to make enemies with.”
“I see…”
“We won't be able to survive if we’re only concerned about that man. Not only Souya but all the potential employees were also fired for causing problems even though they were good at what they were doing.”
He isn’t a good person, but he’s a very reliable one.
In addition, we’ve prepared professionals in the field of studies, such as an obstetrician/gynecologist, an expert in ecology, and a coach who has trained Olympic athletes.
Of course, this is just the beginning. From here, we’ve expanded our reach and brought in geniuses in all kinds of fields to focus on the training of the children.
“Is it fine to not hear it in length? It will be difficult to determine how much work that can be done.”
“Detailed explanation is unnecessary. I don't know anything about medicine or education. I'm going to emphasize to them that I'm always confident, and I'm going to hire the best I can get at any cost.”
“So you're saying that the people who come for interviews are… almost guaranteed to be accepted?”
“That's what I'm saying. That's why it doesn't matter if you're there or not.”
In the sense of giving pressure, it can be seen that it’s somewhat useful.
There’s no limit to the amount of knowledge I can gain by studying now.
It's best to put an expert in front of an expert than to have an amateur poke his nose in.
“Whether the guy who’s coming in for an interview is capable of it or not, you can find the answer by letting the people you hire compete.”
Another team of experts will analyze whether the education has produced results. If they do not find certain results, they’ll be mercilessly decapitated.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login