Ikuo and his team had solved the 200 billion yen problem through the wiles of Kiriha and Miina and had unseated the Bank of Japan President through Maria’s Thoughtography. The only remaining problem was the 200 billion yen problem.
But then, Maiko collapsed.
Maiko had solved many cases with her Psychometry ability, but each time she read the victim’s feelings, it put a tremendous strain on her psyche.
Ikuo and the others were concerned about her and urged her to quit her job.
Still, Maiko decided that she couldn’t take a break while everyone else was working so hard.
She decided to continue working.
Ikuo eventually passed the exam and was placed in a higher class. He was placed in the same class as the heroines and looks forward to the summer vacation in one week’s time.
End of synopsis.
Three o’clock in the afternoon after Ijuin was arrested by the police for inciting murder by seducing another person to commit murder, before being transported to the hospital for sewer filth cleaning & medical examination. We were gathered at the MIC.
Since Japan was in crisis right now, we psychics work short hours, even on weekends, without taking a day off.
But today, before work, we were called to Director Sayuri’s room again.
“I heard about Ijuin. It is a great pity for me that a criminal has come out of the Big Four, but you guys have had a tough time of it. As the person in charge, let me apologize. I am sorry.”
As she got up from her seat, Director Sayuri closed her eyes and bowed her head lightly.
“Don’t worry about it, Director Sayuri didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s right. In fact, it was thanks to him that Honey-chan was able to get Maria-chan as a concubine♪”
“What?”
The eyes of Director General Sayuri glowed with a dignified look.
“The details will be sent in a message later, fufufu.”
“I see, finally, fufufufu.”
“You guys are too close……”
“Fuu. Even so, me and Esashi Shisae are the same 20 years old when rounded up to the nearest whole year. In other words, we’re on the same side.”
“It’s a crime to have a high school student like this…….”
After glancing at the watermelon-sized breasts, which exceeded even Kiriha’s, I squeezed out a strained voice.
“So enough small talk, let’s get down to business.”
—Ah, we’re not making jokes. It’s just small talk.
I postured and listened, wishing I could have denied the ‘same 20 years old’ nonsense.
“I just received an announcement from the Orient Union, also known as the OU, that they will cease trade with Japan if we do not stop trading in gold bullion and mining methane hydrates.”
Director Sayuri expanded and unfolded the MR screen.
The MR screen, about half the size of a blackboard, displayed Internet news headlines.
In this age of electronic money, trade paid in gold bullion was an anachronism. The Japanese brain had regressed back to the 19th century.
If 8,000 tons of gold lying in Japan’s urban mines were to be sold on the market, the world gold market would fall and the economy would be thrown into chaos.
Mining the large amount of methane hydrate that lies in the seas around Japan is an irreversible sin that will seriously damage the ecosystem of the mother ocean, which is the common property of all humankind.
If Japan, in its “Japan First” policy, is damaging the world economy and the earth, we, the Oriental Union, will not hesitate to impose any sanctions in our desire for the development and peace of Asia and, by extension, of the world.
If we do not receive a sincere response from Japan by the end of this month, we will immediately suspend trade with Japan at the end of next month.
“What an absurd country as ever…….”
I made a reluctant face, and Kiriha followed suit scornfully.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about when they’re the most dictatorial, self-first nation in the world, destroying the environment and suppressing human rights all they can for profit…….”
“As a bonus, they are claiming Okinotorishima and Minamitorishima, where all kinds of rare metals lie on the seabed for hundreds of years each.”
“That’s not the scale of claiming them as a bonus, though!?”
While I raised my voice in a barefaced manner, Director Sayuri was quite calm.
“Hmm. To tell the truth, the Japanese archipelago is poor in underground resources, but deposits of rare metals such as cobalt and manganese are spread over almost the entire Pacific Ocean side of the sea. The more we investigate the seafloor, the more we find, and the more we learn about the quantity and variety of these rare metals.”
Kiriha added.
“The western part of the sea, known as Block 7, holds 100 billion barrels of oil and 100 times more natural gas than Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer. The total amount of underground resources is tens of trillions of yen, right?”
“If I dig up all the urban mines with [Rebuilding], and Honey-kun apports them, Japan will never have to worry about underground resources again.”
“Isn’t our Japan a cheat?”
“No, the cheat one is Honey-chan, you know.”
Shisae concluded unusually.
“So, Director Sayuri, what is the Japanese government going to do about this?”
Director Sayuri folded her arms under her chest and straightened her back.
“Of course, we will not give in to OU’s demands! But doing so would stop trade with OU. Imports have been halted since the collapse of the value of the Japanese yen, but if this continues, our export industry will suffer. OU is a huge market with a population of 1.6 billion, and we can not afford to lose that.”
After her energetic explanation, Director Sayuri displayed on the MR screen a list of Japan’s export items.
The main export items to OU were electronic equipment, mainly semiconductors, and automobiles.
“The theory is that we can solve this problem by developing non-OU exports or increasing domestic demand, but what do you guys think?”
“Even if you say so….”
I, Maiko, and Matsumi looked at each other and were troubled.
I didn’t think this was a problem that we could solve with our abilities.
By the way, Maya was sleeping while standing on Kiriha’s chest as a pillow. She was a child who slept a lot but did not grow up.
“The best thing would be for OU to continue to trade with us.”
Then Kiriha, who had been rubbing Maya’s cheek, suddenly spoke up.
“Come to think of it, Miina can’t combine two types of atoms, but you can produce a substance made of a single atom, right?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“Then can’t we make parts of diamond semiconductors from carbon?”
Miina was taken aback by the suspiciously conspiratorial tone of these words.