Chapter 56: Killing with Praise

Seiko knew that Ninomiya Shigeyoshi had a strange sense of superiority when dealing with her.
To put it metaphorically, it was similar to the superiority a powerful court official with a deep friendship with the previous emperor felt when facing a minor emperor—that sense of “I’m educating you on behalf of your father.”

This sense of superiority would be a huge obstacle in interrogation.
Ninomiya Shigeyoshi would very likely refuse to confess, even believing he was the one in the right.

Seiko couldn’t be bothered to deal with this bizarre sense of superiority, so she tossed the task of interrogating Ninomiya Shigeyoshi to Yamagami Nobuo, who had just been released from the police station and returned home.

Facing Yamagami Nobuo, Ninomiya Shigeyoshi couldn’t feel superior.
Instead, a sense of guilt crept in.
With a crack in his mental defenses, he became much easier to break.

“There’s good news and bad news.
Which do you want to hear first?”

After interrogating Ninomiya Shigeyoshi, Yamagami Nobuo was not in a good mood.
After all, Ninomiya Shigeyoshi had been his old subordinate.
But he still tried his best to appear relaxed in front of Seiko.

“The good news,” Seiko said.

“Ninomiya Shigeyoshi’s collusion with the police was not as deep as we imagined,” Yamagami Nobuo said.
“Not long ago, someone took the initiative to contact him, saying they could make some deals with him and support his faction to replace the Yamagami-gumi.
So, he was tempted and provided them with some information.
This information was quite limited; he did not leak secrets involving things like the underground warehouse.
It seems Ninomiya Shigeyoshi didn’t trust the other party very much either.”

“In other words, most of the people at headquarters are fine.
The main traitor in this matter is actually Ninomiya Shigeyoshi himself?” Seiko summarized.

“And a confidant of Ninomiya Shigeyoshi’s,” Yamagami Nobuo added.
“He was the one who acted as the middleman.”

Seiko nodded.
Perhaps for Yamagami Nobuo, this was indeed good news.
It meant that the Yamagami-gumi, which he had spent half his life building, was not completely rotten, which must have been some psychological comfort.
But for Seiko, it didn’t matter.
She had already treated the entire headquarters as rotten meat, cutting it off and throwing it to Nitta Hiraku to deal with.

“Then what’s the bad news?”

“The person who took the initiative to contact Ninomiya Shigeyoshi was Yoshida Shoichi,” Yamagami Nobuo said.

“Councilor Yoshida.”

Hearing this news, Seiko felt both surprised and not so surprised.

Surprised, of course, because not long ago, Yoshida Shoichi and the Urawa City Mayor behind him, Kiuchi Shigezawa, were the Yamagami-gumi’s backers and allies.
Not surprised, because the forces in Urawa City that could mobilize the police were few and far between, and Yoshida Shoichi, or rather, Kiuchi Shigezawa, was one of them.

The Yamagami-gumi had even cooperated with Kiuchi Shigezawa to secure the position of the new Urawa City Police Chief.

“This is Mayor Kiuchi expressing his dissatisfaction with the Yamagami-gumi, wanting to give us a warning.”

Seiko stated the essence of the matter.

The Yamagami-gumi’s decision to make peace with the Takada-gumi without consulting the higher-ups had clearly angered Mayor Kiuchi.

“To put it bluntly,” Yamagami Nobuo shook his head with a bitter smile, “these politicians… we see them as collaborators, but they still see us as their dogs.
If the dog doesn’t please them, even if it’s just licking its food bowl a little too loudly, they think the dog deserves a beating.”

“In that case, let’s bite back,” Seiko said without a second thought.
“As long as we bite them once, they’ll know that even if we’re dogs, we’re wild dogs, not their house pets.”

“But…” Yamagami Nobuo frowned slightly and thought for a long time.
“Dealing with Yoshida Shoichi is simple.
Whether it’s kidnapping, a sneak attack, or creating an accident, we have ways.
But he’s just an errand boy.
The real mastermind behind this is obviously Kiuchi Shigezawa.
As the mayor, first, he has security around him, and second, making a move on him would create a huge scandal.
The Yamagami-gumi might not be able to handle it…”

“What kidnapping and sneak attacks…”

Seiko was speechless.
Although Yamagami Nobuo was a smooth and experienced yakuza, he was still a yakuza in the end.
His thinking was still confined to the yakuza’s framework.

“Of course, that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then what are you talking about?” Yamagami Nobuo asked, puzzled.

“You already said it, Kiuchi Shigezawa is a politician.
What do politicians care about the most?” Seiko asked back.

“Votes?” Yamagami Nobuo was starting to get it.
“We spread dirt on Kiuchi Shigezawa to make him lose public support?”

“Do you have any dirt on Kiuchi Shigezawa?” Seiko asked.

“I suppose so,” Yamagami Nobuo thought for a moment.
“Kiuchi Shigezawa likes older women.
He has used the services of a mama-san provided by our Yamagami-gumi before.
Many people know about this.”

“Do you have photos?
Preferably bedroom photos.”

“No…”

“Then this dirt is useless.
Without proof, it can easily be misconstrued as fake material fabricated by political opponents.
The public will have a hard time believing it.”

“Well… it’s really not easy to find dirt with concrete evidence at such short notice.”

Yamagami Nobuo’s old brow furrowed.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s hard to find,” Seiko’s expression remained relaxed.
“We can’t discredit Kiuchi Shigezawa for the time being, but we can praise him to the skies.”

“What?” Yamagami Nobuo didn’t understand for a moment.
“Praise Kiuchi Shigezawa?”

“That’s right.”
Seiko nodded.
“Have you forgotten why Kiuchi Shigezawa was so eager to start the Katakura Danchi project?”

“He was worried that his most important campaign promise would fall through and the public would be disappointed in him.”

“That’s right.
If you give the public high enough expectations, Kiuchi Shigezawa will have to meet them, or the public will be disappointed in him.
For example, we can help promote…”

Seiko looked at Yamagami Nobuo and smiled.

“Vote for Kiuchi Shigezawa!
Kiuchi Shigezawa is a super nice guy!
Kiuchi Shigezawa will give all elderly people free health check-ups!”

The newly revised “Elderly Health Care Act” by the Diet required local governments to bear the cost of regular health check-ups for all elderly people.
This was essentially a way for the central government to shift its medical expenditure pressure onto local governments.
But many local governments were not that wealthy, so free health check-ups were in a state of being difficult to implement in many places, and Urawa was one of them.

“But Kiuchi Shigezawa never said that…” Yamagami Nobuo was starting to catch on.

“He indeed never said that.
That’s because he simply can’t do it.
The Urawa government doesn’t have enough money to cover the extra expenses,” Seiko smiled.
“But shouldn’t all elderly people get free health check-ups?
The law requires it.
The public will always believe what is beneficial to them.
Even if Kiuchi Shigezawa never said it, the public will be willing to believe that he did.
Even if he really didn’t say it and can’t do it, he wouldn’t dare to stand up and deny it.”

“Exactly!” A smile appeared on Yamagami Nobuo’s face.
“The public will always believe what is beneficial to them!”