Chapter 151: The Bloody Wedding

It was a Wednesday afternoon, a day with quite pleasant weather.

For such a cold month, the sun this afternoon had completely driven away the chill; the bright sun in the sky didn't seem like weather that belonged in this month at all.

The bright sun raised the overall temperature by a notch.

In a certain church in Beika City, one could say it was packed with people today.

Because this church was hosting a wedding.

The wedding of the only son of the Takasugi Conglomerate.

Also, because the social circle the Takasugi Conglomerate belonged to was very wide, the number of people who came to attend the wedding was quite large.

Of course, for the Takasugi Conglomerate, this felt more like the sunset after its peak.

Compared to other families with stronger momentum, the Takasugi Conglomerate was already walking on a path of inevitable decline.

And as the sole heir of the Takasugi Conglomerate, the personal marriage issues of Toshihiko Takasugi appeared very important at this juncture.

The reason why the social circle was willing to give face to this wedding was mainly because the heroine of this wedding was Sayuri Matsumoto.

Her father was a Superintendent at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

He belonged to one of the high-ranking officials of the Metropolitan Police Department.

He was also a member of an official organization that possessed significant power.

Especially since the "gold content" of this Superintendent was not low at all.

Therefore, even though the Takasugi Conglomerate had already entered its sunset period, the number of attendees at this wedding was still not small.

"The Takasugi Conglomerate has been in a deficit for the past few years, its stock has been falling, and the internal shareholders have all chosen to sell off their stakes, leaving only a few kittens behind."

Ai Hayasaka briefly explained the predicament the Takasugi Conglomerate was in at this very moment.

"Minami Takasugi is the current director of the Takasugi Conglomerate and also the adoptive father of Toshihiko Takasugi."

"His personal ability is not bad, but because he contracted a terminal illness, he has required large amounts of funds for treatment and life-prolonging care year-round, which has further dragged down the situation of the Takasugi Conglomerate."

"Mikako Takasugi, Minami Takasugi's original wife, is a standard housewife; she is not suited for production and does not understand things like investment, but she has a gentle personality and has always supported Minami Takasugi as a virtuous wife."

"After Minami Takasugi fell ill, she has been taking care of her husband, and she is also quite doting toward their adopted son, Toshihiko Takasugi."

"Nowadays, the direction of the Takasugi Conglomerate has almost entirely been left to Toshihiko Takasugi to preside over."

"Unfortunately, Toshihiko Takasugi does not have that experience, and coupled with his indecisive personality, it has caused the situation of the Takasugi Conglomerate to go from bad to worse."

This very detailed explanation of the family environment already indicated that the Takasugi Conglomerate was beset by internal and external troubles; one could say it had almost no hope for the future.

The true helmsman of the Takasugi Conglomerate was suffering from a terminal illness, with almost only days left to prolong his life.

Minami Takasugi's wife did not possess the ability to manage a conglomerate; she could only keep taking care of her husband.

The retreat of the two parents was what gave the adopted son, Toshihiko Takasugi, his opportunity.

It is just a pity that Toshihiko Takasugi's taking the stage only shifted the Takasugi Conglomerate onto a steeper slope, making this car called the Takasugi Conglomerate fall apart even faster.

It could be said that the Takasugi Conglomerate was left with almost nothing but a final empty shell.

"This is truly the worst-case scenario."

Nagi Sanzenin couldn't help but complain.

"A capable father ran into trouble, and the mother is still a traditional virtuous wife who can look after the home but not the conglomerate."

"An incapable son inherited the family business, and in the end, he just stepped on the gas on the road to the conglomerate falling apart."

"The result is fated, isn't it?"

"Hayasaka, has that heir been attending those banquets held by the upper class for some time?"

"Yes."

Having received Hayasaka's affirmative answer, Nagi Sanzenin understood that her deduction had almost no problems.

"Hmm, then the Takasugi Conglomerate is about to be finished."

"Even if there is some remaining liquid capital, I'm afraid it's just to prolong the life of the capable father and for the future living expenses of the incapable mother."

"The Takasugi Conglomerate thrown to the heir is just an empty shell of a car that is about to fall apart."

"If the heir were capable, perhaps he could continue to hold on, but if he runs into someone incapable, falling apart is just a matter of minutes."

Regarding this, Kaguya Shinomiya also highly agreed.

"Insufficient personal ability to support a conglomerate is the most terrifying thing; an indecisive personality is not suited to be the helmsman of a conglomerate."

"At critical moments, such a personality simply cannot choose the correct path; he will only drag things out, but the result of dragging it out will only cause the conglomerate to head in an even worse direction."

"Coupled with the lack of personal ability, he is unable to judge which path is correct; it's simply the worst of both states colliding."

"Indeed."

As for Toshihiko Takasugi, Sonoko Suzuki also knew of him, after all, she had previously been forced to attend some upper-class gatherings.

It was only recently that her parents knew she was involved in the mysterious, and only then did they let her off.

Back when she still attended some upper-class gatherings, she often saw this person chatting up many people, probably looking for a suitable virtuous wife.

It's just that the situation of the Takasugi Conglomerate was no secret; when facing a conglomerate that was like the setting sun, who would be willing to get involved?

If Toshihiko Takasugi's own ability were good, perhaps some daughters of other conglomerates would be willing.

But Toshihiko Takasugi himself did not have sufficient ability, and coupled with that personality, it directly doomed the Takasugi Conglomerate to a complete curtain call.

Under such circumstances, which rich girl would be willing to have contact with this person?

"In some previous banquets, those rich girls who knew the situation of the Takasugi Conglomerate all politely refused him."

"Those rich girls are mostly strong women from conglomerates or wealthy families with outstanding abilities; how could those people choose him?"

"Hmm~ I think the reason many people refused him should be that his personality is a bit frivolous and lacks stability."

Chika Fujiwara added a sentence at the end.

"Fujiwara, you have also attended those banquets?"

Kaguya Shinomiya was a bit surprised.

"Of course I have."

"But my father didn't allow me to attend, so I secretly followed my sister."

That makes sense.

Kaguya Shinomiya had been wondering how this person would go to attend that kind of banquet with matchmaking characteristics; if she followed her sister, then there was no problem.

"In that case, does Teacher Matsumoto know this? Or does she not know?"

Listening to the analysis of Sonoko and the others, Ran Mouri, who was listening, was instead a bit worried for Teacher Matsumoto.

One must know that today was Teacher Matsumoto's wedding.

Does Teacher Matsumoto know that her marriage partner is in such a situation?

The few people did not speak, but looked at Ren Amamiya, who was standing to the side and had not spoken the whole time.

And when the attention of the few shifted over, they saw that Ren Amamiya had already finished shuffling and cutting the tarot cards, and had drawn three cards.

"The Bloody Wedding."

This sentence from Ren Amamiya could be considered as defining the nature of this wedding.

— Author's Notes —

PS: The new book is on the shelves, asking for data.