Chapter 1: The Mountain God Maiden

1985, Japan, Saitama Prefecture, Urawa City.

In a traditional Japanese garden, showing its age, white funeral wreaths were arranged.
Guests in black suits walked past these wreaths, entering the mourning hall to pay their respects to the deceased.

Beside the altar, where the deceased’s portrait was displayed, two girls with white flowers pinned to their chests knelt, returning bows to every guest who came to offer condolences.
The older girl was named Yamagami Seiko, and the younger one beside her was Seiko’s sister, Yamagami Aiko.

Even wearing the most impeccably tailored black suits, Yamagami Seiko could still discern some undeniable peculiarities about the guests.
For instance, the tattoos occasionally peeking from collars and cuffs, the half-missing fingers seen every now and then, and the rising and falling trilled ‘r’s and crude language…
These characteristics, coincidently gathered together, were enough to confirm the guests’ identities—Yakuza.

The term “Yakuza” originally referred to the most useless card in Japanese hanafuda, and was also used to describe idle social outcasts.
Later, it gradually evolved to become synonymous with Japanese gangsters, mobsters, and organized crime members.
Indeed, Urawa’s largest local gang was named the Yamagami-gumi.
The deceased in this funeral, Seiko and Aiko’s father, Yamagami Akira, was the current Kumicho of the Yamagami-gumi.

‘Sigh…’
Yamagami Seiko silently sighed in her heart.
As a transmigrator, reborn into a criminal family, Seiko was initially quite satisfied.
Yakuza might sound disreputable, but this was the 80s, the last peak period of Yakuza activity in Japan, and also the beginning of Japanese gangs’ shift from direct combat to economic infiltration.
During this period, numerous Yakuza organizations began to acquire large economic profits by investing in “legitimate” real estate, the financial industry, and other means, a fact also documented in Yakuza 0.
The “real estate wars” among gangs in the game took place during this era.
In later years, Forbes magazine in the United States reported that if Japan’s largest gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi, were considered a corporation, its revenue could reach 80 billion US dollars, ranking eighth among Japanese companies.
This was even after years of suppression by Japan’s Anti-Boryokudan Act.
The Anti-Boryokudan Act wouldn’t be enacted until 1992, so Japanese gangs were currently in their final growth phase.
Even if her own Yamagami-gumi wasn’t as powerful as the Yamaguchi-gumi in Kobe, if they were eating meat, her family could at least get some soup, right?
Accumulating a small fortune of 800 million US dollars would be enough for her to live as a young lady for a lifetime.
Who knew her own father would die before he could achieve success, getting hit by a car before she even graduated high school.
‘Sigh…’
‘Being in the underworld is really tough.’
‘There are too many bad people in this industry.’
‘As a high school girl, and having to raise an even younger sister, a burden, what will two delicate, powerless little girls do in the future?’
Yamagami Seiko pondered as she bowed in return to the guests.

At this very moment, in the back of the Yamagami household, Seiko and Aiko’s grandfather, the former Kumicho of the Yamagami-gumi, Yamagami Nobuo, was receiving a group of local police officers who had suddenly come to visit.

“Takeuchi Toshio is dead!”
Kihara Shinichi, an officer from the Urawa Police Station’s Investigation Section One (which specializes in murder and violent cases), spoke to Yamagami Nobuo as soon as they met.

“Oh…”
The aged Yamagami Nobuo slightly raised an eyebrow, then nodded.

“You’re not surprised?” Officer Kihara pressed.

“Of course I’m surprised, but before you arrived, I had already heard some news. I heard he drank too much and died suddenly.”

“You believe that explanation?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Heh heh,” Kihara chuckled in exasperation, “That was Takeuchi Toshio! The second-in-command of your Yamagami-gumi! He suddenly died in a bar the day after your son, Yamagami Akira, passed away! And you believe he drank himself to death?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”
Yamagami Nobuo slowly set down his teacup, repeated himself, then looked up, staring at the officer before him.
“You police can tell me that my son was hit and killed by a drunk driver. Why can’t I believe that Takeuchi Toshio drank himself to death? Is there a difference between dying in a car accident and dying from excessive drinking?”

Kihara’s momentum immediately weakened by five points.
There were, of course, suspicious circumstances surrounding Yamagami Akira’s death.
The leader of the largest local gang being killed by a drunk driver was, in itself, the biggest red flag.
However, the police found no further evidence in subsequent investigations.
The drunk driver had no Yakuza background, had been in the transportation industry for over seven years, his vehicle’s papers were complete, and he was indeed transporting goods for an employer at the time.

All signs indicated that Yamagami Akira’s death by collision was simply a case of bad luck.
The police could only respond to the Yamagami family this way…
Of course, this certainly also included factors where the police did not want to escalate the situation and cause social unrest—as Urawa’s largest local gang, whether the Yamagami-gumi clashed with other Yakuza organizations or descended into internal strife, it could jeopardize the Urawa Police Station’s entire year’s bonus.
However, Takeuchi Toshio’s death shattered the police’s plan to simply smooth things over.

“Takeuchi Toshio’s death is indeed connected to you.” Kihara glared at Yamagami Nobuo, gritting his teeth.

“I didn’t say that. Even if you’re a police officer, you can’t just slander people.” Yamagami Nobuo immediately shook his head in denial.

Kihara paid no attention to Yamagami Nobuo’s denial, but he currently had no evidence to corner him.
He could only leave with a harsh warning: “You’d better behave yourselves. The investigation unit will be watching you closely.”

“Suit yourself.”
Yamagami Nobuo waved his hand dismissively, motioning for the middle-aged man beside him to see Kihara out.
A moment later, the middle-aged man returned to the study after seeing Kihara off.
Seeing Yamagami Nobuo still lost in thought, he softly called out, “Kumicho…”

“Hmm…” Yamagami Nobuo snapped back to attention. “Eishi, is that you?”
The middle-aged man, Murakami Eishi, lowered his head, listening to Yamagami Nobuo’s instructions.

“Go call Seiko over for me,” Yamagami Nobuo said.

“Yes.”
Murakami Eishi left the study once more.

“Grandfather called for me?”
Seiko, whose legs were numb from kneeling all morning, actually felt a sense of relief upon hearing Murakami Eishi’s relayed message.

“Yes,” Murakami Eishi nodded.

“Then I’ll go to the study first.” Seiko said this to her sister, Aiko.

“Mm.” Aiko’s eyes were red; she looked much sadder than her sister.

“Don’t just keep kneeling here foolishly,” Seiko said, “It’s almost lunchtime anyway.”

“Mm,” Aiko nodded seriously.
Seiko arrived at the study. Yamagami Nobuo gestured to the sofa opposite, inviting Seiko to sit.

“You can step out for a moment; Seiko and I have some things to discuss,” Yamagami Nobuo told Murakami Eishi.
Upon hearing this, Murakami Eishi, without any undue curiosity, immediately exited the study and closed the door.

Yamagami Nobuo looked at his sixteen-year-old granddaughter sitting across from him.
After a long sigh, he asked, “Did you kill Takeuchi Toshio?”

The study fell silent for a moment.
Seiko nodded, not particularly surprised that her grandfather might have guessed part of the truth.
She candidly asked in return, “Yes, Grandfather. How did you guess?”

“Akira told me,” Yamagami Nobuo explained, “You had repeatedly suggested to him that he kill Toshio, and even said that if he didn’t, he would sooner or later die by Toshio’s hand.”

“Indeed,” Seiko realized, “Father tells you everything. You’re still the one who makes the decisions in the Yamagami-gumi, Grandfather.”

“No,” Yamagami Nobuo slowly shook his head, “When Akira first took over the Yamagami-gumi, I was indeed making decisions behind the scenes and Akira was carrying them out. But these past few years, I’ve gotten older and my energy isn’t what it used to be. I haven’t been involved in the gang’s affairs for a long time. The reason Akira told me about this was because he knew Toshio was the son of my old brother, and I had always treated Toshio as an adopted son. Your warnings had almost convinced Akira; he was indeed planning to act against Toshio, but he felt that if a father and adopted son were to fight to the death, he should at least inform me, his old man.”

“Then it’s not surprising.” Seiko’s confusion was significantly alleviated.

“What’s not surprising?”

“Han Fei Zi said: ‘Plans succeed through secrecy, words fail through disclosure.’ Father didn’t do anything yet, but he went around telling everyone his plan, so it’s not surprising that his plan failed and he died.”

“Are you so certain Takeuchi Toshio killed Akira? Do you have any evidence?”

“I’m not certain, and I have no evidence.”

“Then why did you kill Toshio?”

Seiko poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, thought for a moment, and explained, “I killed Takeuchi Toshio not because I was certain he was Father’s murderer, but because I had to kill him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Takeuchi Toshio’s reputation within the gang was no less than Father’s. He also had his own loyal core group, with considerable power, second only to Father’s. He had also clashed with Father multiple times over the years. Now that Father is dead, many people suspect he killed Father. He has the power to rebel, and he’s suspected of rebelling, so he only has two choices: either truly rebel and directly seize the position of Kumicho of the Yamagami-gumi, or he splits off and establishes his own Takeuchi-gumi.”

“No matter what choice he made, it would be a deadly crisis for our family. You are old, and my sister and I are still young, while Takeuchi Toshio is in the prime of his life. If he were to rally support now, besides your old brothers, how many people wouldn’t support him? If Takeuchi took power, given his conflicts with Father and the rumors of him murdering Father, should we still pray for him to be merciful and treat us kindly?”

“I find it hard to believe that Yakuza would be so kind, so I had no choice but to strike first.”
Yamagami Nobuo looked at his granddaughter, who calmly narrated her reasons. For a moment, he seemed to see a young beast behind Seiko, and in the shadows, the young beast bared its sharp, bloody fangs at him, its killing intent unrestrained.