Survival Strategies of a Struggling Aristocrat

When Masaya Hijiritani awoke, he found himself in the company’s bachelor dormitory. Due to his lack of popularity among the newcomers and the availability of vacant rooms, he had taken the liberty of using two rooms for himself.

Feeling parched, he recalled his thirst and made his way towards the refrigerator. Retrieving a glass, he poured himself some vegetable juice and consumed it in one swift gulp.

“Phew, I had another strange dream. I wonder if it means anything.”

Yawning lazily, he switched on the television. The morning news program highlighted the setting of a world record at the international track and field competition held in Paris. 

“Hey, come on, that can’t be true. 9.1 seconds is too fast!”

The news seemed to have stirred up a commotion within the athletic community worldwide.. Doping suspicions had also emerged, and the report mentioned that the official status of this new record depended on the results of the examination.

Masaya began preparing for work. He was employed at a rapidly expanding construction company, working within the design department. Although not classified as a black company (an exploitative business), the company lagged behind in talent development and compliance efforts.

It seemed to Masaya that the upper management and senior employees had developed a sense of arrogance, possibly due to the rapid growth they experienced riding the wave of the global construction’s boom.

As a result, the sales department continuously took on more projects than they could handle and passed them off to subcontractors.

Consequently, the design department was swamped with work. Masaya excelled at efficiently managing his workload, but not everyone was capable of doing so.

Upon arriving at work, Masaya greeted his junior colleagues and took his seat. As he booted up his computer, he noticed several new emails in his inbox.

“Tch, Akemi-chan from the general affairs department is resigning… What a mess,” 

Akemi-chan was the most beautiful female employee in the general affairs department, and Masaya had taken quite an interest in her as well.

With his motivation dampened from the morning, Masaya opened the design data that had been stored in the server’s designated folder. It was a resort hotel project that he had been working on as a personal side project.

The hotel had been designed with a vision of a tropical paradise, complemented by the imagery of a blue sea. It was a project Masaya had indulged in during his free time, yet the basic design held up quite well.

However, since it was more of a playful endeavor, the side project had significant flaws. The skywalk connecting the two towers, which served as the resort hotel’s symbol, had been designed with an emphasis on aesthetics rather than structural integrity, resulting in insufficient strength.

“Hijiritani, how is the design for the Okinawa Karla Hotel coming along?” 

Karaki, the director of the second design department, inquired about a project that was supposed to be assigned to Masaya’s senior, Takada.

“That should be Takada-senpai’s responsibility,” Masaya replied.

“That’s odd. Takada-kun mentioned that he’s working on it together with you,”

“That sneaky bastard…” 

Masaya muttered under his breath. Takada was a master at taking credit for others’ achievements. Most likely, the design was running behind schedule, and he was trying to drag Masaya into it.

Half a year ago, Masaya had been subjected to an unpleasant experience. While working on a collaborative design with Takada, just as the project was nearing completion based on Masaya’s ideas, Takada instructed him to go assist another team that was falling behind on their work.

Unaware of Takada’s true intentions at the time, Masaya obediently followed the instructions and provided support to the assigned team. However, when the tasks were finally completed, Takada took sole credit for the finished work in his report.

When Masaya protested, Takada had the audacity to reverse the situation and claim that he was the one who had completed the project.

“I am in charge of the Tokyo Cleve Hotel,” Masaya said.

“Oh, I saw the design drawings that were submitted yesterday. They were well done. Now that things have settled there, please focus on the Okinawa Karla Hotel project,”Director  Karaki said.

At that moment, Takada popped up, showing his face.

“Hijiritani-chan, I’m counting on you,” he said.

It appeared that, between Director Karaki and Takada, it was a decided matter to involve Masaya in the Okinawa Karla Hotel project, whether he liked it or not.

Masaya glared at Takada, but the sneaky-faced senior maintained a calm expression with a faint smile on his lips. Realizing that it would be futile to say anything, Masaya decided to check on the progress of the work.

When Masaya asked to check the hotel’s progress, Takada wore a smug smile and said, 

“What are you talking about, Hijiritani-chan? What you are looking at now is the design for the Okinawa Karla Hotel.”

At first, Masaya couldn’t comprehend what Takada meant. However, as time passed, the truth became clear. This conniving rat had stolen Masaya’s resort hotel project, which he had designed as a personal hobby and side project, and presented it as the proposal for the Okinawa Karla Hotel.

“Wait a minute. This is…” 

Masaya began, but Takada swiftly interjected with a cunning look on his face.

“This was diligently designed during working hours, right?” 

Takada implied, trying to assert that if it was designed during company hours, it belonged to the company. However, this was not something Masaya could accept or agree with.

Director Karaki began to worry about the time.

“It’s time for the meeting. Hijiritani, please report on the progress later,”

Seeing off the director, Masaya confronted Takada.

“This is no joke. What happened to the design you created, Takada senpai?”

Takada’s face turned sour.

“My proposal wasn’t well-received by the client. It’s a good thing we had Hijiritani-chan’s proposal,” he replied.

Apparently, Takada’s design had been rejected, so he resorted to stealing Masaya’s design and presenting it to the client.

“Even if you’re my senpai, it’s terrible to show my work to the client without permission.”

“Shut up… You should be glad to assist your senpai in his work. Be honored.” Takada said.

Those words struck a nerve.

“Senpai, you’re using underhanded tactics.”

Masaya said, and from there the argument escalated, with Takada making the first move.

“Even though you’re a junior, you’ve got quite an attitude.”

Takada spoke with his rat-like face, delivering a swift punch like a sly cat. The punch landed on Masaya’s shoulder. It didn’t hurt much, but anger surged within him.

“You shouldn’t be throwing cat punches with that rat face.”

“Don’t you dare make fun of me!”

Takada threw another cat punch. Masaya simply twisted his neck to evade it and retaliated with a counterpunch to Takada’s face. A squishy sensation reverberated as his nose crumpled and Takada’s body sprawled onto the floor.

The screams of female employees echoed throughout the office floor.

What followed was chaotic. An ambulance was called, and Takada was carried away while the police took hold of Masaya .

After being questioned, Masaya was released when another employee testified that Takada was the first to strike.

“This is the worst… The worst day ever,” 

Upon returning to the company, Director Karaki was waiting. He stated that if Takada apologized, the matter could be resolved with a light punishment.

“Why is that? It was Senpai who struck first,” Masaya replied.

“You… Even if you’re capable of your work to some extent, I don’t appreciate you defying your senpais at the workplace,” the director said.

Emotionally drained from the police interrogation, Masaya refused the director’s demand to apologize to Takada.

“I can’t work alongside someone like him,” 

He said this, refusing to apologize. And with that, he vented his frustration about the company and left. It was essentially a resignation.

Sitting in a nearby café, Masaya sipped iced coffee to cool his head. As he regained his composure, regrets flooded in.

“Oh no… What have I done?”

Masaya began to ponder his future. If he left the company, he would have to move out of the company’s dormitory. Moreover, as someone who enjoyed visiting historical architectural sites abroad, he had limited savings.

At such a time, the name of a reliable individual sprang to mind – Mononobe Fuyuhiko, his former university junior and the son of the esteemed chairman of the Mononobe Group, renowned for its diversified business primarily centered around groceries.

He was an eccentric individual but economically privileged. He had inherited shares of the group’s companies from his parents and could apparently sustain his livelihood solely from the dividends.

This Fuyuhiko Mononobe had opened a detective agency in a regional city in the Kanto region. His office was located on the fifth floor of a building in the bustling downtown area. Masaya had arranged a meeting through his smartphone and headed towards the office.

After leaving the station, he arrived in just a few minutes. Upon reaching the fifth floor via the elevator, he spotted the sign of the detective agency.

“Fuyuhiko, are you here?”

Masaya entered the office and called out. He could hear sounds coming from a small kitchen area in the back, and soon a well-built man emerged. Standing at approximately 180 centimeters, a full ten centimeters taller than Masaya, he possessed a muscular physique that appeared chiseled from numerous hours spent at the gym.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“I have something I need Fuyuhiko’s help with.”

“I owe you a great debt, so please feel free to ask for anything.”

Masaya hesitated for a moment before revealing that he had quit his job.

“That’s good. So you’re looking for a new job?”

“What’s so good about it?” Masaya asked.

Fuyuhiko chuckled, trying to brush it off.

“Well, never mind. I also need to find a place to live.” Masaya added

Masaya had hoped that Fuyuhiko would introduce him to one of the construction companies within the Mononobe Group, That was assuming they had one. However, Fuyuhiko’s suggestion caught him completely off guard.

“That’s perfect. Why don’t you become a detective?”

“A detective… So you mean I’ll be Fuyuhiko’s subordinate?”

“If you don’t like the idea of being a subordinate, we can be partners instead.”

Masaya wore a troubled expression on his face.

“No, it’s not that I dislike being your subordinate. It’s just that I wanted to be introduced to a company as an architect rather than becoming a detective.”

Fuyuhiko weakly grasped Masaya’s hand, as if desperately clinging onto it.

“Senpai, please help me this time. This detective agency, we have no clients coming in.”

“But…”

“Please, I’m begging you. Even if it’s only temporary.”

Fuyuhiko pleaded desperately. Upon hearing the circumstances, Masaya learned that there had been only three cases in the past three years. It seemed like a hopeless situation. Normally, a business in such a state would have already closed down, but Fuyuhiko was able to continue due to sufficient income from his dividends and other investments.

“Please, Senpai,” Fuyuhiko pleaded.

Masaya reluctantly agreed to join the agency, at least until his next job opportunity came along. Fuyuhiko offered the detective agency as a place for him to stay. The office was equipped with a small kitchen, a shower room, and a toilet, making it suitable for overnight stays.

Masaya moved some of his belongings from the bachelor’s dormitory to the detective agency. The remaining items were stored in a trunk room.

And the after a few busy days, Masaya drifted off to sleep in the back room of the detective agency.