Quite a few people present had lived through the bone-deep pain of Japan's bubble bursting in the early nineties, and instinctively bristled at the four words "bad-debt contagion."
Several more rounds of questions followed, covering the legal compliance of offshore accounts, risk calculations for the leverage ratio, and stop-loss mechanisms in case their judgment proved wrong. Director Hoshino answered every one of them without a hint of ambiguity.
The entire contingency plan had been prepared without a single leak.
When the questioning concluded, no one raised any objection to the plan itself.
The vote was unanimous.
Hoshino sat down, closed the documents, and handed them to his assistant for safekeeping.
The agenda should have moved on to the next item.
But Hattori Kiyoshi spoke up.
This old director, who oversaw Sega Galaxy's copyright management operations, rarely spoke at board meetings. He was the sort who either said nothing at all or went straight for the jugular the moment he opened his mouth.
"Director Hoshino." Director Hattori did not look at Hoshino. His gaze crossed half the conference table and settled on Nakayama Takuya. "How long have you and Executive Director Nakayama been watching this plan?"
Director Hoshino glanced at Takuya. Nakayama Takuya gave a slight nod, signaling him to answer truthfully.
"Since the middle of last year," Hoshino said.
Director Hattori nodded and turned toward Nakayama Takuya.
"Then I'll put this question directly to the executive director." Director Hattori removed his reading glasses and slowly wiped the lenses. "If nothing unexpected happens, this operation will bring Sega a very substantial return. Once the money is in hand, where do you intend to spend it?"
He put his reading glasses back on, his eyes peering over the top of the frames.
"I'm not saying the Investment Department has done poor work.