NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: And Thus, They were Thrown Into the Darkness
In the early afternoon of the next day, Hiroki called the university from his workplace.
The 10-ton dump of waste brought in earlier in the morning had already been cleared away by him in an hour.
The hole had gotten a little bigger lately, so the disposal was getting easier.
[Researcher Ishida speaking.]
[Ahh, thank you for the other day. I’m Hiroki Gomi, the person who asked you for soil analysis. You’ve really helped me out at that time……]
During the time between Ishida’s lectures, Hiroki was able to talk to him directly.
However, Hiroki felt that he would just end up being an annoyance if he kept making small talk for too long, so he quickly started talking about his business.
[Actually…… I have a question regarding my business. So, I was wondering if I could ask for your wisdom……]
[Yes. Industrial waste disposal, right? I may be able to help you with the technical aspects…… How can I help you?]
[As Ishida-sensei knows from the previous inspection, our business might be small, but we have the technology to dispose of waste at a low cost. However, we would like to avoid revealing it if possible. Like that, I would like to talk to you if you could help me think of a good way to hide the technology, but still expand my business……]
[Why!? President Gomi, the test results of that land were excellent! If we could spread that processing technology around the world, the benefits to society would be immeasurable!]
[Errr, it’s kind of hard to say this, but the technology I’m using is difficult to replicate and spread. It was created only by accident.]
Hiroki told him the excuse he had prepared in advance.
[I see…… The technology is still in its seed stage, and what you use is still a prototype huh.]
[Yes, it’s that prosomething.]
Even if it was a bit forceful, Hiroki felt relieved to hear that researcher Ishida had come up with a theory that he could accept.
[So…… May I ask why you want to expand my business? The business seems to be running well enough as it is now, doesn’t it?]
It was understandable why Researcher Ishida is suspicious.
Hiroki didn’t seem to be the type of person with a lot of ambition and self-expression that is often seen in people who want to expand their business.
However, Hiroki has a reason prepared for this as well.
That is exactly when she’s asking him for advice.
[Actually…… I’m embarrassed to say this, but we’ve recently been threatened by some unsavory business partners who have taken notice of my technology…… folks that tread upon the gray area……]
[Ahh, I suppose that could happen…… No, that was rude of me. However, wouldn’t that be something you’d talk to a lawyer or the police about?]
[That’s the thing. Among my business partners is an influential company within the prefecture. It seems that he had relatives in the government and within the police, so consulting with them would get me nowhere…… That’s why, I thought that I should expand my business. If my business was a company instead of something I privately own, companies like that in the prefecture wouldn’t be able to do as they please.]
Moreover, in Hiroki’s mind, if his business becomes a big company, he can collect even more garbage and throw even more garbage into the hole.
Hiroki feels it.
The hole desires more garbage.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ishida is unable to gauge the middle-aged man on the other end of the phone.
Hiroki, the President of his small waste disposal site, was a man that had a rather thin impression.
Many of the people who manage local businesses in this area———- Unlike those in Tokyo———- have an air of unreliability around them.
It is said that people like Hiroki, who have worked in Tokyo before, often had this personality where they made light of the business world.
In reality, however, Hiroki seems to be doing well.
The land Ishida was asked to analyze the other day was not only large, but also cleaned up to the nooks and crannies so well that at first glance, one wouldn’t have thought that it was a waste disposal site.
Only a few conveyors and a pile of galvanized iron sheets discreetly asserted that this land wasn’t farmland or residential land.
Normally, there should have been heavy equipment and dump trucks for waste transportation and disposal around…… but many companies seemed to be renting those expensive equipment, so they might have just been out of town while the soil analysis was being conducted.
Just to be sure, Ishida did ask if “he was still just planning to start his business on the land”, but Hiroki answered that “work has been in progress for a few months already”.
From the look on Hiroki’s face as he carried a shovel in his well-worn jumpsuit, it seemed that he wasn’t lying.
It was a slightly strange request, but after passing him the clean test results———- that should have been the end of their relationship with Hiroki.
And yet now, holding upon the revolutionary waste treatment technology, the man has come to him for advice on how to expand his business.
For the laboratory, which has been starving for research funds since the national university incorporated them, this is “an extremely delicious prey”.
While on the phone, Ishida unconsciously gulped as he imagined the huge amount of research funds that Hiroki’s story would generate and the strengthening of his position within the university.
[I see…… With that being the case, I think I can propose a good solution.]
[Ohh! As expected of you! Scholars really are different huh……]
On the other end of the phone, Hiroki sounded impressed.
That’s right. This story was an opportunity.
New technology, an asset for all mankind, must be used correctly by the people who can handle it correctly.
Using his brilliant mind to draw up a strategy to maximize the value of this technology, and for himself later on, Ishida answered Hiroki on the other end of the phone.
[Yes. It’s actually very easy. With President Gomi’s technology, you just have to use the university’s facility and turn it into a university-launched venture!]
[Ehh. Such a thing is possible?]
[It’s possible! The university has a funding facility called the Industry-Academic Collaboration Office. Although we have a meager budget, we have excellent credibility with the general public and banks. We are also well-staffed for press releases and media related groups.]
Once it started revolving, Ishida’s brain and tongue wouldn’t stop.
Don’t give the caller a chance to think.
Flood them with so much information that their thoughts would paralyze from the overflow.
[I see…… Universities sure are amazing.]
That’s right. Yes, the university is an accumulation of vast amounts of knowledge assets.
It’s full of talented people, including Ishida.
However, for there to not have the necessary research budget allocated to them, it is the world that is mistaken.
[If you set up the system properly, no backward companies will come to you. In order to leverage the business by bringing in funds, it’s essential to have good governance and compliance. In terms of business security and sustainability, I think it’s greatly advantageous for President Gomi to work with the university.]
[Oh my…… That’s very kind of you.]
Ishida’s tongue remained sharp until the end, and he felt that he had overpowered his opponent.
After hanging up the phone, Ishida’s cheeks couldn’t help but relax.
It was a good thing that they only made an audio call, not a visual one.
If Hiroki had been able to see his facial expression, Ishida felt that their conversation would end right there and then.
The proposal Ishida made certainly is “a good one”.
The problem is that there is a minor difference in the vector, as to “whom that proposal is good for”.
Thereupon, thinking of solidifying the future structure of the university with a team that could do as he wished, Ishida started vigorously contacting people in departments both inside and outside the university.
Within the laboratory, the fast sound of typing keyboard resounded until midnight.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
At the same time that Researcher Ishida was striving towards his future dream, Hiroki was sitting on the sofa after work, opening his daily can of beer.
[It’s getting hot already. I might as well splurge and buy some American beer online……]
Hiroki has been honestly making a lot of money as an individual these days.
"
"
The proceeds aren’t so bad, but his profits are on a different level.
After all, the investment cost of his business is almost zero.
As for the breakdown……
Zero transportation costs because he lets those companies bring their waste to him.
Zero rental equipment costs because he uses shovels instead of heavy equipment like bulldozers and excavators.
Zero disposal costs because he’s just throwing the garbage into the hole.
Zero storage costs because the processed garbage will disappear.
Zero labor costs because Hiroki didn’t hire any employees, working only by himself.
His office is also his home.
The company boasted an astonishing profit margin that would look like bogus to his competitors.
[Well then, I wonder how’s the appetite of the hole today?]
Suddenly feeling hungry, Hiroki went to the kitchen, grabbed a pack of fried chicken from the refrigerator and came back to the monitor showing the hole.
What Hiroki didn’t realize though, is that in the ten seconds he had been in the kitchen, he had missed the scene of something that looked like a beast running out of the black hole at great speed, leaping over the 4-meter high galvanized iron wall and disappearing into the darkness.
The second-hand alarm system recorded how something had crossed the wall, but the monitor showed nothing, so Hiroki stopped paying attention to it as just another malfunction.
The surveillance camera also showed something that looked like a beast with a torn ear, but the scene was buried in the usual pile of recorded data and was never sought out by Hiroki.