KADO: The Right Answer (正解するカド)

And just about done.

Yeah, what's up?

Whoa!

Wasn't expecting to see you here, Mr. Sasauchi.

Looks like you're getting all packed up

for the big move, huh?

Ah... Well, y'know,

I have only been here for six months or so.

Not a whole lot to pack.

I can see that.

I would've been happy to have you stay longer

to relax and settle in.

Me too, but Shindo's allergic to relaxation.

He's always ready for the next assignment.

Not that I'm complaining.

Thanks to this transfer, I've got an entire month off

until our next deployment!

Shut up, man!

An entire month?

So, you're not busy then?

Hey, Hanamori.

Is this stuff safe to throw out?

It's not fair!

Land purchase negotiations.

It's an informal request from Igarashi.

The Undersecretary.

These plans for a multipurpose hall

have been on hold for years,

and they're finally pushing them through.

Says here he wants it dealt with

as quickly as possible.

This paperwork has been sitting in a desk drawer

for twenty years!

And all of a sudden it's some kinda rush job?

Right when we get a vacation!

Really, a multipurpose hall?

As you can see, it is a very generous offer

for the purchase of your land.

Yes, it is. But why?

Well, there is a restitution for closing your plant.

We want to make sure that you can pay all your employees'

severance packages.

Oh.

That was taken thirty years ago.

Shortly after I moved here and opened up the factory.

Mr. Osakabe.

Yes, sir?

If it's not any trouble, could I please tour your factory?

We originally worked with decorative chrome plating,

you see.

But we moved on from that and got into industrial

ultra-hard chrome plating,

and our business grew exponentially.

For a while, at least.

We did some contract work on the machine

that dug the Seikan tunnel.

Ah.

There was a time when we handled a lot of major government jobs.

But lately...

Well, we just haven't been getting that many orders,

from the public or private sector.

And now, we simply don't have the budget

to develop new technology.

It might actually be time to call it quits, right?

Uh, Shindo?

Where did he--?

And this one?

What's this part over here used for?

Oh. That one is--

Hey, Shindo.

You're really getting into this, huh?

Come here and take a look at this stuff.

They're capable of plating complicated objects like these.

Yeah.

It's possible thanks to non-electrolytic plating.

Don't be so modest.

I doubt that this is something everybody in the industry

can pull off.

Wow.

He's not your normal bureaucrat, is he?

No.

I would never call him normal. But he's a good guy.

Sounds like the buyout's gonna go through

pretty quickly.

Osakabe seemed like he was about ready

to throw in the towel.

Well, at least now he's getting paid to do it, huh?

He'll actually get to have a secure retirement

instead of watching his business get run into the ground.

Would you mind swinging us by the Cabinet Office?

I... guess.

Osakabe Plating?

I know them well.

We used to do quite a bit of contract work with them

in the past.

But unfortunately, they're still in the past,

clinging to antiquated technology.

From what I understood,

they're still planning on new tech development.

Not easy to do without any money.

I doubt they've got anyone looking to fund them.

I assigned you to this project

because of your widespread reputation

as a shrewd negotiator.

Have you taken pity on them?

-- --No.

Well, technology investment's always a gamble.

There's no way to know until it's too late

if it's the right choice.

You have to be ready to take responsibility

if it were to fail.

It's quite risky.

Wouldn't it be smarter to just go ahead and buy out their land?

Give them a nice nest egg for retirement?

Here you go, enjoy!

Ah!

There's somethin' about this job that's just buggin'

the ever-livin' hell outta me.

I mean, to develop new tech...

How much would it cost, anyway?

It could range anywhere from a million

up to hundreds of millions.

Seriously? That's crazy!

Well, then.

Let's hurry up and get this land deal over with.

Sound good?

The sooner we're done with this, the longer our vacation.

Are you even listening to me, man?

You do want a vacation, right?

Sure.

Are you thinkin' about somethin' that'll ruin my life?

Maybe.

C'mon, Shindo!

This job shouldn't take us more than three days!

Vacation! Time for some rest!

Yeah. Go get some rest.

Have you heard a single word I've said?

Already tipsy, huh?

And now Asano's here.

I'm not sure I get what this is.

I was under the impression you guys were doing work

for General Affairs.

Yeah, we finished that job.

So now the two of you are working for M.L.I.T?

No, Foreign Affairs!

We're supposed to be going back to Foreign Affairs!

Well this public building land-buying job

for the Cabinet Office doesn't really sound

like Foreign Affairs to me.

They like stickin' us with any random job they can.

Undersecretary Igarashi ordered this?

Mm-hmm.

But he's the definitive do-nothing bureaucrat, so--

So what's the rush?

Why the sudden interest in a near-dead

twenty-year-old public building project now?

There's more to it, huh?

Hey, Natsume?

Think you could score me a meeting with your boss?

You make it sound so easy.

Do you know how busy he is?

Just this one favor.

You think that smile is magic, don't you?

Not this time, Shindo.

Really, Shindo.

You're a selfish jerk, y'know that?

Sure, fine, that's fair.

So they're choosing to work over taking a vacation.

And Shindo doesn't seem bothered by it in the slightest.

Well, it's probably not enough.

What, enough work to do?

No, not enough quality of work.

Really, how do you figure?

Pretty much everything Shindo takes on is a big job.

Yeah, they're all big jobs.

But, I doubt they're big enough for him.

The way that guy operates, trust me,

he's better suited for something much larger

than he's been given.

Ya think so?

Something larger, huh?

Hey. Don't sleep in your clothes.

Jeez, man.