Chapter 96: Striking Back at Don Jon
Hearing about Alexia's past insecurities… which is caused by me… is quite surprising but understandable. How could I've been so blind to her suffering? I'm glad she was able to overcome it, gives me hope that I can do it too.
Anyway, thanks to that encounter with Don Jon, I now know that I'm powerless to go against him directly so after discussing this with Alexia, Claude and Charlotte, we decided to strike him where it hurts, his wallet.
Charlotte's information network provided us with locations of Don Jon's drug dealing, illegal contraband and weapons sales, human trafficking and slave markets, and many other places his crime empire extends to. We also decided to go after his Soup Kitchens, which has become a place where he recruits mercenaries, though we may face some resistance from this move, especially in the capital where some warriors decided to stay after the Bushin Festival.
Sadly we couldn't go after Snow Fox Corporation and his Ponzer Plan due to how many people are in it already, though Claude said he's going to have a talk with Yukime, the president of Snow Fox Corporation, to convince her to disassociate herself from Don Jon.
As for the MCA, they've dug their own graves by spreading not just too many of their own bills, but spreading counterfeit bills as well. Alexia and Claude will soon have a talk with Mitsugoshi in order to save the rest of Midgar's economy from collapsing due to this incident. Considering they are the only trustworthy merchants in our kingdom, I agree that this is the right choice even as Claude voiced his concerns about giving a single entity so much power.
My part is to strike those places mentioned earlier. I also enlisted the help of Lady Beatrix and Annerose to lead other groups to strike these places.
I should note that while I haven't seen Alpha's face despite meeting her twice, Alexia has, and she said her face strongly resembled both Lady Beatrix and the Hero Olivier. It is possible that Alpha is the niece that Lady Beatrix is searching for. In fact, the reason Lady Beatrix stayed for so long in Midgar is because Alexia mentioned her when they first met. Distracted as I was by my own despair, I forgot to mention Lady Beatrix to Alpha last time we met. I have to encourage her to meet Lady Beatrix next time.
I led a group of knights to attack one of his slave markets. We strike quickly, not letting anyone escape. The thugs guarding the place are no match for my knights.
What I saw inside was a disgusting garden of debauchery that I never thought existed. Slaves, mainly women and children, were kidnapped, drugged, abused, sold and had… more unspeakable things done to them.
It took enormous amount of restraint for me to stop myself from bashing the heads of the slavers and buyers (some of which are Midgar nobles and merchants) so we can give them a fair trial according to Midgar's laws.
The slaves were scarred physically and mentally when we rescued them. The pain my people suffered at the hands of these villains renewed my resolve to protect them and to bring stability to Midgar.
Also, if even I need time to recover from my experiences, what about them? I need to hire some psychiatrists to help them recover.
"Your highness. We have secured their ledger and documents but their treasury is empty. It seems that they have stored everything away before we arrived." Reported Marco.
"Dammit. He's one step ahead of us, huh? No matter. We need to strike the next place immediately!"
"Right away!"
This is nothing but a small scratch to you... But bit by bit, we're going to hurt you, Don Jon. Count on it!
"It is good to finally meet you formally like this, Lord Claude." Yukime greeted as she entered the VIP room of the restaurant I reserved for our meeting while bowing.
"You've come, Yukime. Come and sit." I said, and she sat on the table facing me.
The restaurant we're in is an Italian themed restaurant (I chose Italian in order to fit the theme of Italian mafia that Don Jon represents, though nobody in this world knows about it besides me and reincarnators such as Shadow, John Smith and Luna) which is a subsidiary of Snow Fox (just like how McRonald is a subsidiary of Mitsugoshi). On the table lay Italian food such as Spaghetti, Lasagna, Risotto, Fiorentina Steak, etc served with red wine.
Yukime isn't that interested in the food though, preferring to stare at my face. "Is there something on my face?" I asked.
"Nothing. It's just that now I can fully appreciate your handsome face while you're healthier." She said with a smile.
"Hmph. Flattery will get you nowhere. I've heard enough of it at school and in the castle."
"My, aren't you Mr. Popular."
"Save it. I don't want to be reminded of how many times I have to deal with obnoxious sycophants!" I complained while clutching my head and Yukime stopped her teasing while laughing.
"Hee hee hee. I'm so glad I found out who you truly are. Who would've thought that the dreaded Necromancer is still a student." Yukime teased.
"Hmph. Enjoy it while it lasts. Soon I'll graduate and become a man."
"Oh, I'll look forward to that." She said while daydreaming, no doubt about my grown up self. Haaah… My future self. I'll let you deal with this woman.
"Let's get down to business." The moment I spoke of business, her dreamy expression fades and replaced with a serious one.
"Firstly, Mitsugoshi. They are far more resilient than I thought. Despite the numerous bank robberies and losses from the bank runs, they still have so many capitals to survive so far. They even resolved their workers' labor strike and managed to get their staff back to work." I said.
"Why not send Mr. John to rob them more?"
"John Smith said that recently the vaults of the banks he robbed are empty, saying they probably moved them somewhere he cannot find, though I suspect he's lying, though for what purpose, I still do not know. He shouldn't be working for Mitsugoshi behind the scenes considering he personally dealt the most damage to them."
"But it is still a possibility." Yukime added, no longer defending John Smith in front of me.
"Indeed. We need to keep watch on his movements. Keep him busy and away from the tower for now."
"Including his favorite casino?"
"Especially his favorite casino. My dealers would go bankrupt if he kept winning there."
"It shall be done, my lord."
"As for Mitsugoshi, I will have a talk with their president, Luna, as Claude later. We shall see how that goes from there."
"A meeting with my business rival, eh? I'm almost jealous."
"Don't be. I will be accompanied by Alexia, who is a huge Mitsugoshi patron. This meeting with you on the other hand…"
"Hee hee hee. Indeed. I do enjoy this private dinner and I thank you for that."
"You should be. It wasn't easy to convince my sister to let me meet you alone. She was quite insistent on coming with me."
"What a cute and caring sister. I'd love to meet her one day." The day those two meet will be… quite curious. I wonder how the two of them will interact. Though I believe Charlotte would most likely dislike Yukime due to her reputation.
"We'll see about that. Secondly, the MCA. They're already collapsing but Garter has secured the funds he made from the Ponzer Plan and distributed it to the Cult through donation to the Church. Both Garter and Gettan has disappeared from public eye but with Mitsugoshi being so resilient, they should show up with another scheme later. For now we should just watch."
"Very well, my lord." Yukime replied with neutral expression concealing her annoyance at the mention of Gettan's name as she didn't like how Gettan is still out there.
"How about the merchants who wanted to withdraw their money from the Ponzer Plan? My banks have received so many withdrawal requests from many MCA merchants who wanted to survive the credit collapse that Gettan and Garter caused." Yukime asked as she is reminded of the other MCA merchants.
"Don't let them withdraw their money as usual."
"Very well."
"Now then. The reason why I have to meet you in person as Claude and not Don Jon or the Necromancer. As future king, I am obliged to ask you to distance yourself and your company from Don Jon, who is currently Midgar's public enemy number one." The Necromancer currently being dormant since the king's death made Don Jon stand out more to the public, especially with the recent incident with Mitsugoshi.
"Oh? Should I do that, my lord?" She laughed a little bit from that.
"Not for now. Everything depends on my inevitable clash with John Smith."
"So you already believe that you will fight him. Will you be alright?" Yukime asked with concern that she masked underneath calm demeanour.
"Yes. I may have recovered from… "that" incident, but not fully." I answered. Yukime frowned with guilt when I mentioned "that" incident.
"As Don Jon, I could've lost that battle considering I won't be exerting my full power as Don Jon anyway. But I have a plan just in case."
"I'd love to hear it, Lord Claude."
The next day, I went to the Mitsugoshi main building (the very same one I attacked a week ago) with Alexia using royal carriage. The damages on the building are still being fixed, though it's amazing how fast they work. Their engineering technology is modern, the same as the technology I used for Don Jon Tower, further evidence of Luna's reincarnator status. The very same technology is being used to fix the damages in Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy. It is estimated that the work will be done at least after winter considering the setbacks that Mitsugoshi suffered under my hands. The original estimate was in the middle of winter.
Despite the damages, the shop is still open. It's business as usual with only the damaged areas being inaccessible for the public. We enter the building and are escorted to the VIP room that Alexia frequented in order to test out their latest products.
Eventually Luna, the president of Mitsugoshi, entered the room. She is accompanied by a blond haired elf with her hair covering one of her eyes and a black haired dark skinned elf with heterochromic eyes. Both of them are wearing male uniforms.
"Good day, Lord Claude and Princess Alexia. It's an honor to have both of you visit us in these… troubling times." Luna greeted with a smile and a bow.
"Good day, Lady Luna. It's good to see Mitsugoshi still standing after everything that's happened. My sister happens to be a fan of your products too." I greeted back while trying to subtly pry for information.
"Thank you, my lord. That is good to hear." Hm. She did not brag about how Mitsugoshi survived. If I ask directly, will it sound a bit suspicious?
"Good day to you too, Luna. I hope the attack didn't disrupt my orders." Oh, Alexia already changed the topic. And asking about your request immediately, huh. Typical selfish princess behaviour I see. What did you order? New lingeries?
"Do not worry, Princess Alexia. I've put the necessary arrangements to the Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program in place and there will be no delays in its implementation. Your help in getting merchants to join is much appreciated." Affiliate Program? This is the first time I've heard of it.
"Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program?" I asked.
"Yes. Princess Alexia discussed it with me some time ago. It is a program to save Midgar's economy and help Midgar's merchants, especially smaller ones, to compete in the market by working together with Mitsugoshi." Luna answered.
"Indeed! Though most of it was Luna's idea." Alexia said.
"I assume you're not talking about actually hiring them."
"Yes. Mitsugoshi have a strict recruitment criteria and thus won't be able to hire just anybody. With the Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program however, they won't actually work in Mitsugoshi but WITH Mitsugoshi. The merchants can simply have their products sold in Mitsugoshi stores and the profit will be split evenly between both parties. Of course the quality of their products will be strictly controlled so they can meet Mitsugoshi standards." Hmm… Genius idea. This can make smaller merchants survive in an extremely competitive market dominated by economic giants.
All this time I was banking on Mitsugoshi alienating themselves from the rest of the merchants but now they're planning to work together with other merchants. What to do…
"That's great! With many merchants being scammed by Don Jon's Ponzer Plan, your Affiliate Program can help them get back on their feet!" I exclaimed with a smile whilst pretending as if this will not be a hindrance to my plans.
"That's true. Now you see why Mitsugoshi is the best choice for us!" Alexia added, totally not being biased.
"I'm glad you approve, my lord! I hope to continue working with the royal family to bring prosperity to Midgar." Luna said with a smile of her own.
"There is something I wanted to ask you, Lady Luna."
"What is it, my lord?"
"Don Jon… What's your impression of him as someone who met him face to face?"
"He's… extremely dangerous… and arrogant. He tried to make us work for him by offering to save us from bankruptcy despite being the main reason for our losses. He's so annoying!" Luna makes a frustrated face when she remembered our encounter. Heh.
"I see. He's indeed very dangerous. I hope we can find some way to deal with him soon."
"Yes indeed." Luna said with a face that says she has no doubt that Don Jon will be defeated. As I thought, she's working with Shadow Garden and is banking on them defeating Don Jon. They are most likely the reason Mitsugoshi is still standing now. So the Shadow Garden members that John Smith and I encountered are no mere coincidences. But if I think about it… Mitsugoshi employees are female and Shadow Garden members are also all female. Could it be that…
I glanced at both of Luna's escorts. They are men. I guess I can say that—Nope! Even whilst wearing male uniforms, both of their features look feminine enough! They could be simply crossdressing! Not to mention I recognize both of them as Shadow Garden members! I fought them both as Alucard back in the Temple of the Damned in Oriana. And now I definitely know the true identity of the blonde haired elf after checking her dossier.
So you've joined Shadow Garden too, Karen von Herzog the Shooting Star. Too bad Sergey is dead and I couldn't obtain his corpse in time so I can't reunite you both.
Well… I can't do much to hinder their progress as Claude but I definitely got valuable information instead. The Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program and Mitsugoshi itself belonging to Shadow Garden… How could I not make that connection earlier?
Midgar is striking back at Don Jon, and they're doing it hard… although it is far too late to cause any significant damage. I must go back to Yukime and discuss how to counter their plans.
I continued scheming in silence while Alexia started discussing about lingerie with Luna, a conversation I wanted no part of.
Author's Note:
Midgar and Mitsugoshi has made their moves! Also Claude finally figured out that Shadow Garden owned Mitsugoshi. Last time he almost made the connection but was distracted by his sister (this is back during Lindwurm arc).
Zero: Hope don jon do a power move just to show how utterly fuck shadow garden are.
Answer: Soon.
HundredMasks: Patches got wrecked, instant plus, Don Jon Finally made his impression on John Smith(bond) dad jokes are insta bonding for two men, Sherry seggs gave her a strong advantage over yukime, and Cid being misunderstood fixing everything makes so much sense with his protag luck lmao, great chapter, waiting for more
Answer: Glad you liked what I cooked. More will come.
DerTrap: I'm already interested in what Don Jon will do about Mitsugoshi's new "additional" capital. Man I'm already interested in seeing where this arc will develop.
Answer: For now he has reacted. Will he form a plan to counter it again? We shall see. It has been a back and forth between Don Jon and Mitsugoshi so far.
Zero: Feel like it going to be a trap once they find the money.
Answer: Who? Cid? Cid has no reason to trap SG members.