Executive ImpactStartup in the sky: SME makes space for satellites
TOKYO
Naomi Kurahara can’t quite remember how her love of science, engineering, and space came about.
It may have originated from a book or article she read as a child. Or was it the shows and movies she watched at the time—"Star Trek," "Star Wars" and the Japanese sci-fi animation "Space Battleship Yamato?"
One moment she remembers clearly is the first visit to the International Space Station by a female Japanese astronaut, Naoko Yamazaki. That moment in 2010 left a lasting impression on Kurahara.
“I had an interest in science, but, more than that, I had a dream to work in space. I really wanted to be an astronaut. That’s why I became interested in science, and in particular astronomy,” she told The ACCJ Journal.
Kurahara’s dream to work in space remains just that: a dream. And yet, as cofounder and chief executive officer of Infostellar, a space communications startup, she has taken a massive leap toward that goal. And, in doing so, she has helped open up space as the latest frontier for startups and innovators.
At the same time, she is inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs in Japan and abroad—especially women from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields—to reach the stars.
SPACE SPIN-OFF
Born in Oita Prefecture, Kurahara studied electrical engineering at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Fukuoka Prefecture.
While her PhD was in engineering, her research theme had a focus on space environments and spacecraft.
“I really wanted to study something space-related. So, I joined a laboratory that was researching spacecraft systems.”
It came as no surprise, therefore, that after completing her doctoral research she joined the University of Tokyo, where she worked on ground systems development for satellite operations.
Some three years later, she left academia for the private sector and joined Integral Systems Japan, Inc. (ISJ), which provides ground systems mainly for geostationary satellites. She worked there as a systems engineer.
But shortly after she found her footing in the corporate world and, in 2016, set off on her entrepreneurial journey and cofounded Infostellar.
DIGITAL CLOUDS
Infostellar’s main product is called StellarStation, a Cloud-based platform that allows sharing of antennas or ground stations.
The platform seeks to transform the space industry in two ways: to reduce the startup costs of developing ground stations; and to help satellite operators scale their businesses.
“The space and satellite business is not a mature industry; it’s a growing industry. These days, satellite operators are trying to create a main revenue stream, which means their budgets are limited.”
This presents a chicken-and-egg problem: satellite operators need to carry a lot of data to make revenue. However, to carry more data, they need more ground stations or antennas, which are expensive, Kurahara explained.
“That’s why I thought that a cost-effective ground segment service is needed. However, again, it’s difficult to have your own antenna network. Infostellar provides a Cloud-based platform to share ground stations or antennas among satellite operators.”
UBER FOR ANTENNAS
Infostellar’s target customers are Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite operators. LEO satellites travel at about seven kilometers per second, but they don’t always stay in the same location—say above Tokyo. This means they need a wide distribution of ground stations with which to communicate.
“If I want to ensure an extended communication period with the satellite, I need a distributed ground station network.”
But to put expensive ground stations in different countries is difficult for many reasons, such as prohibitive costs and reels of red tape.
To alleviate these challenges, Infostellar purchases the ground station services of third parties, allowing operators to leverage—via StellarStation—those moments in the day when their antennas would otherwise be idle and to share them with LEO satellite owners.
In doing so, ground station operators receive compensation, thereby opening up new revenue streams. This is a form of sharing economy—but for the space industry.
“The problem for the current space industry is a lack of a ground segment or infrastructure—which means ground stations. If you want to do a satellite business, you have to create your own ground stations, which is not cheap,” Kurahara explained.
What’s more, if you want to scale your satellite business, you will need many ground stations all over the world, because of the satellites’ orbit around Earth. Infostellar aims to tackle both challenges, and then some.
In addition to StellarStation, the company has an e-commerce platform called Makesat that sells satellite components—including solar cells, transmitters, and kits—for building satellites.
GROUNDED IN THE SKY
Infostellar has been a going concern for some two years, but one wonders how an academic-cum-employee suddenly launches her own space industry startup.
It began in college.
“I had started a research project while still at university with a goal of creating a commercial satellite,” Kurahara recalls.
“But there was a problem: universities often cannot create a commercial project, because their main objective is education and research, and that is not completely the same as the aims of business.”
During her time doing pure research, it became apparent that—if she wanted to create a commercial product with real-world applications—she ought to move to the private sector.
When she joined ISJ, Kurahara worked on a ground station network project. This harked back to a similar project led by the European Space Agency (ESA), on which she had worked as a student.
When the ESA project ended, Kurahara discovered that, while there were other ground station network projects, none of them had a commercial focus, nor were they widely used.
This led her to wonder why, as it was clear to her that ground station networks were a necessary launchpad for commercial opportunities in space.
But she also understood that—in large companies such as ISJ—there is often a main line of revenue, and that makes it difficult to start new projects that don’t feed the revenue stream directly.
“So, I struggled to push the new project internally,” she confessed. Infostellar was her way of igniting a commercially focused ground station network project.
A NEW FRONTIER
That being said, one wonders whether it was an easy transition: to pivot from the mindset of an academic to that of an employee and then an entrepreneur. Did her scientific background help? It did.
“In engineering, my professors always taught me that the problem statement is really important. If that is not clear, then you can’t know what you’re doing.” The same principle, she believes, applies in business.
So, has the life of a founder been a walk in the park? No. Especially not in the very early stages, when she had to reprogram her mind from that of a self-starting researcher to that of an executive who had to delegate.
Another challenge in the early days was to convince investors that her ideas were not entirely pie in the sky. Indeed, when she and her cofounders first approached investors, they didn’t have a product or service. All they had was a pitch and a slide deck.
And then they had to explain space—an industry in which startups became engaged only recently, around 2010, and whose market size was then unclear. According to a 2017 industry report by SpaceWorks Enterprises Inc., commercial nano- and microsatellites were to account for more than 70 percent of such launches in the next two years.
So how did Kurahara and her co-founders convince investors? There were two ways: a solid business plan and the team, led by Kurahara herself.
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Shekarashika! - Chapter 2 (181102)
Author's Note: Warning. The Fic's author totally messed up the timeline of the real world. I know most of the songs mentioned in the fic were released on 2016. However, for the convenience of the fic, the Author still wrote them as they represent the characters well or at least think that it is so. Just think of it as a random mishap of someone who can't do research and probably hasn't encountered good songs because they didn't exist yet.
July 18, 2015
Hakata Private Academy…
1 hour before the first class…
In front of the School gates…
An abnormally long limousine promptly stopped in front of the School gates. Its right rear window opened slightly, revealing a black-haired petite young girl looking at the surroundings of the school gates.
"Sheesh. Why did they have to flock near the school gates today? Why not just tomorrow? Ihh." the petite young girl said in an annoyed tone.
"Geez. Just get out already. Why is this school so big? We wouldn't be using a limousine on our way to school if it wasn't so huge. I mean… The garden looks really good and all but… Ah, never mind. Just get out, Aoi." a taller girl said beside the small young girl she just called 'Aoi'.
"Ihh… But Sakura… I want to play my background mu--"
"No. Not that Imperial March again." Sakura retorted before Aoi could finish her sentence.
"Yes, Sakura. YES." Aoi eagerly replied, her hands obviously gripping on the portable radio.
Sakura, now really annoyed, then swiftly took away the radio from Aoi's hands.
Hakata Private Academy has this very unique way of announcing that a certain Student Council member has arrived in the school. Instead of sounding warning bells, the previous students of the school got creative and instead chose several songs, spanning from current to part and from local to foreign songs to signify a certain member.
"Seriously though. Why do we have to walk separately on our way to school? Damn that song policy." Sakura said in a bored tune.
"Oh come on. Didn't you like Pristin's Wee Woo? It's your song, mah man~!" Aoi said, doing an annoying finger-gun pose at Sakura.
"Where did you learn that annoying pose?" Sakura asked, face-palming at Aoi's pose.
"The interwebs. People from Nihonjin Trashposting sure are funny!" Aoi answered.
"Don't show that in public or your image will be destroyed." Sakura said then got out of the limousine. As Sakura went out, a red carpet welcomed her to the school gates. She stepped on the carpet, making her way. As she was walking, every student had their eyes on her, while the school's megaphones played Pristin's Wee Woo.
"We are Pristin~! Annyeong!"
"Miyawaki-sama sure is pretty. I wish I could be like her."
"Me too! Smart, pretty, and kind! Not to mention but she's as elegant as a swan as well! She's the epitome of perfection!"
Everyone showered Sakura praises as she walked gracefully to the school building.
Several seconds later, Aoi went out of the car and walked to the same red carpet. As she did so, i.o.i.'s Crush started playing in the background. Every male student in the school grounds looked at her as she elegantly walked to the school building.
"Oh my gosh~ Jigeum nae simjangeun crush~ Ontong gyakgyakgyak bimeyongsori gadukhae~!"
"Ah~ Motomura-sama looks cute today as well!"
"Cute, chic, and pretty! I wish I was her boyfriend!"
"Both Motomura-sama and Miyawaki-sama are Class KIV, right? Then they're not only pretty but also intelligent! Perfect people do exist!"
Several minutes later, a boy who was dressed roughly started running past the school gates. This boy was the Public Relations Officer, Tomonaga Rui. A song then played in the school's megaphones, specifically Beast's 'Beautiful'.
"So beautiful my girl! My beautiful my girl and I… So beautiful my girl-- In the cube! Haha girl! This is my confession. Drop. That. Beat."
Aoi and Sakura heard the said song from inside the school building while both were changing to their school shoes and then looked behind them.
"Ah. He did it again." They both said in unison.
Rui then tripped on the sliding door and fell to the ground, leaving Aoi and Sakura weirded out.
Aoi then approached him and said, "Just stop already. The song will play unless you're Moriyasu."
"Aoi got that right." Moriyasu answered, closing his shoe locker.
Sakura then sighed and whispered, "When will you actually use the school gates as an entrance to school, Moriyasu?"
"Oh come on. I know the trick for that song system. That's why I exploit it by using my talents." Moriyasu answered as he went on his way to class. He opened his phone to take his daily selfie.
Rui then ran to Moriyasu's side. "HOW DO I STOP THE SONG FROM PLAYING!? TEACH ME--"
Before he could finish his sentence, a girl, who was slightly taller than Aoi, kicked him in the side. Moriyasu accidentally tapped the capture button as the girl was beating Rui. Moriyasu's face in the photo was smiling awkwardly with his left hand doing a thumbs up as Rui was being beaten by the girl in the background.
"Meru, stop! PLEASE! AHHHHH!" Rui begged for his dear life.
"I already told you several times to stop running to school, didn't I!?"
"Yes! YES! STOP IT! NO MORE!"
As they entered the classroom, the song "Chameleon Joshikousei" could be heard in the background.
"Anai-san has arrived, I see." Sakura muttered.
First Period…
2nd Year Class…
Fuchigami-sensei entered the room then asked the person behind her to stay outside. As usual, the class was uninterested. She then went in front of the whole class and gently put down her books on the desk in front of the blackboard. She then gleefully told them the news. “Class, we have 2 new students!”
Everyone in the class then looked at her.
She then went back to the door, opened it and asked the transferees to go inside and introduce themselves. The first transferee who went in front of the class, was quite flashy, and wore quite a serious face but suddenly smiled when he saw the ever so nerdy Treasurer, Anai Chihiro who was wearing the school’s uniform, a white blouse under a vest, concealed inside the school’s official blazer. Fuchigami-sensei then told him to introduce himself. This transferee also bore a familiar face according to the students.
The student then wrote his name on the board and faced the class with a stern look on his face.
Inoue Yuriya, a student sorted to Class H then whispered to Okamoto Naoko, her seatmate, “Isn’t he the guy in the fashion magazines? The one beside Yuizou-kun in this month’s Hakata Fineboys Magazine, right?”
“KYAA! He is the one! He looks so much better in personal!” answered Naopon who squealed after seeing one of her dream guys in real life.
The flashy transferee student nodded and said, “My name’s Matsuoka Natsu. From Fukuoka Commercial High School. I was sorted into Class H. My talent is dancing, acting, and modelling. And oh, playing the Saxophone.” He then smiled at Chihiron.
The students saw that Natsu was interested at Chihiron and thus gossiped about the two of them. “That Anai! Not only did she bewitch Maki-kun to be interested at her, she also bewitched Matsuoka-kun! What a flirt.”
However, Chihiron was rather avoidant of Natsu the whole time, averting her gaze from him, sticking to her hopefully correctly stated trial balance for Moriyasu’s audit after school hours.
Fuchigami then noticed this and said, “Oh, are you acquainted with Ms. Anai here?”
Natsu then confidently replied, “Of course. We even slept together.” This caused an uproar in the class.
His statement made Anai stand up and retaliate in return. “N-natsu, that was 10 years ago! When we were children!” Those words coupled with Chihiron’s deadly glare made Natsu apologise instantly.
“Oh come on. I’m sorry, okay? I just missed you, that’s all.” said Natsu, sweating profusely.
“Well, that’s that so to make matters easier, Mr. Matsuoka, please sit beside Ms. Anai. Ms. Anai, please tour him around the school later when you have the time.” she then signalled the next student, and then looked somehow at Sakura, Aoi, and Maki.
The transferee then made his way inside the room, wrote his name on the board and faced his classmates. He was wearing an orange hoodie inside his blazer, his hair disorderly but disorderly in a somehow fashionably rebellious manner.
Sakura, unfazed by both transferees, then listened to what the 2nd transferee has to say.
The transferee then inhaled and exhaled loudly as he puffed his chest, gathering his courage. “Good morning, my name ish Kodama Haruto. Naish to meet you!”
The whole class then snickered as they heard the transferee’s lisp. The first transferee however, gave a disappointed expression.
This made Haruto embarrassed. “What’sh with you guysh and lishpsh?! Are you guysh picking up a fight!?” Haruto dared his classmates.
Fuchigami then thought that the 2nd transferee is a rebel so she texted the ever-so-mischievous principal about it. The reply from the Principal came in faster than expected, its words implying that the rebellious transferee be guarded by the Student Council President. Fuchigami, with a somewhat troubled face then signalled Sakura to step forward and read the Principal’s message. Sakura, upon reading the text then obeyed without question.
“Mr. Kodama, please sit beside Ms. Miyawaki. And please tour him later as well, Ms. President.” Fuchigami then concluded the homeroom by starting their Science Class. Haruto sat beside Sakura, the latter who greeted the former with a cold and distant smile. Haruto then took this as a sign that the President was within his reach. He thought that the youth these days were all about partying and having drugs and fun so he decided to try acting like the cool guy that he's not. After the class, Sakura then interrupted his thoughts by giving him her phone number, which she gave to almost everyone in the campus because of her duty as the Student Council President. Haruto gave his in exchange then decided to try his luck by sending her a kinda idiotic message.
To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan
Hey Pres! Want to have
sex with me?
--END OF MESSAGE—
Sakura instantly received this message. To which she gave a neutral reply.
To: Kodama Haruto (2nd Year Class H)
Sexual harassment in the Campus is
not allowed. You have been warned.
Your next attempt would deem it
necessary for me to call the attention
of the Student Council Treasurer to
issue you a fine slip. Have a good day.
--END OF MESSAGE—
Haruto has been cockblocked by school rules. However, being the pushy person that he is, he wouldn’t allow such petty rules to get in the way. He then replied:
To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan
Eh? Just an hour would be
fine!
—END OF MESSAGE—
After Sakura received it, she looked at the direction of Chihiron, who blushed after seeing the transferee beside Sakura. Upon noticing Chihiron’s behavior, she snapped her fingers to call her attention. Chihiron then stood up from her chair, and went to in front of Sakura’s chair with her mini wheel of fortune.
“What is it, Ms. Miyawaki?” Chihiron asked, avoiding Haruto’s gaze.
“Fine slip. Sexual Harassment.” Sakura answered as she showed the conversation on her phone between her and Haruto.
“S-sorry, Kodama-san. You just transferred and now, I’m issuing you a fine slip…” Chihiron apologized and then spun the wheel. In the background, specifically on the chairs of Motomura and Moriyasu, Aoitan could be seen chanting prayers which could be lip synched to ‘Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza…’ After a few seconds, the wheel lost its momentum and it stopped to 5. Chihiron wrote the slip and gave it to Sakura.
“You didn’t listen. Now, you owe us 5,000 yen.” Sakura said then passed the gray piece of paper to the poor transferee. The poor transferee, defeated, paid the fine.
Natsu was facepalming after seeing Haruto pay his first fine to his Childhood friend.
Fuchigami continued her lecture as if the whole fine-collecting thing was normal. Miyawaki’s Student Council is known to be so profit-oriented to the point that fines are collected before its members solve the underlying problem. As Fuchigami was walking around the room, she then remembered something important. She then returned in front of the blackboard. “I just remembered, by the way.” The whole class then looked at her. “Ms. Anai, Ms. Miyawaki, and Mr. Moriyasu all passed the 2 Licensure Examinations they took just this May. Namely, the Certified Bookkeeper Examination and the Certified Tax Technician Examination with Ms. Miyawaki getting into the top 10 of both exams.” The whole class applauded.
The three of them stood up and bowed in front of their classmates. Fuchigami then looked at Aoi. “And Ms. Motomura, thanks for your participation.”
Aoi then confidently answered as if she was the topnotcher, “Sure thing. Any time, Professah.” She said these words with matching actions from her right hand as if hitting an imaginary friend in front of her.
Sakura just facepalmed internally as she remembered what Aoi did in the first day of their review.
Flashback…
March 2015…
4 students were originally invited by the Principal to undergo the course. Miyawaki Sakura for being Class KIV’s Topnotcher and of course, because she’s the current Student Council President. Moriyasu Maki for being the Student Council’s Auditor, and also because he’s one of the top students of Class KIV. Anai Chihiro due to her status as Student Council’s Treasurer and also because of her, being the Class H’s Topnotcher. Motomura Aoi because well… She’s the Vice President and because the Principal wasn’t really thinking.
Fuchigami-sensei went in front of the 4 students and said, "Welcome to my Advanced Accounting Review Class. We only have 3 months to prepare you guys. The Licensure Tests would be at the end of May. Blame our Principal for being the incompetent fool that she is for making you guys suffer in this 3 month course just because she needs a slave accountant-slash-bookkeeper to keep the school’s accounts.”
The four students then sighed. Fuchigami-sensei then passed around a thick 1000 pages worth of handout for them to scan. Sakura scanned the handout and started understanding the basics as she tried the theories on the short problems. Moriyasu doesn’t seem to have problems with the handouts due to his background in Accounting, thanks to his Cram School. A few minutes later, Sakura and Moriyasu could be seen comparing their answers, with either of them correcting the other. Chihiron, on the other hand, tried grasping the gist of every paragraph in her own words but couldn’t seem to understand anything. And finally, Aoitan, who only got into the program due to her status as Student Council Vice President, was silently browsing through the pages of the handout.
Sakura stopped momentarily to watch a serious Aoi who looked like she was really studying. Sakura was shocked to see her like that for the first time. ‘I think this is her calling. She’s going to excel at this sort of stuff. I can feel it. I’ll be expecting a lot from Aoi-chan from now on.’ Sakura thought then nodded a little. She then looked at Moriyasu and whispered, “Look at her, Moriyasu. She looks so cute when she’s studying seriously like that.” Sakura then smiled.
Moriyasu then sighed and replied, “I wouldn’t be so sure.” He then moved away from Aoi’s chair.
Sakura wondered as to why Moriyasu did that. She then looked at Aoitan who was reading the middlemost page of the handout. Aoitan then closed the handout, sighed, then pushed the handout a bit away from her. Aoi then closed her eyes and suddenly… scattered her handout in the air and then ran as fast as she could to the door. “FREEDOM!” Aoi shouted as she opened the door and then scurried away from the plague that is, the subject itself.
Sakura’s mouth was left agape. Moriyasu then rolled his eyes and closed Sakura's mouth. “I told you, didn’t I?”
End of Flashback…
Fuchigami then sighed and said, "Well anyway, let's congratulate our 3 passers!"
All of the students in the class gave them a round of applause. After the class ended, Chihiron and Sakura started touring the students assigned to them.
"This is the library. The librarian is a really strict woman so it's best you keep quiet." Chihiron then looked at Natsu. "Are you still listening?" she asked.
"Yeah." Natsu answered then smiled sadly. "It's been so long since we last talked. I just feel that you've really grown into such a good looking woman." he added.
"Stop with the flattery, Natsu. And I agree. The last time I saw you, you were still a snotty nosed brat who liked annoying me together with Aoi. Now, you're in the magazines, and Aoi is still annoying me in class." Chihiron replied, smiling sadly.
"Aoi? The cheerful girl we used to play with was Aoi? She's also the Aoi in the classroom?" Natsu was perplexed with the sudden development.
"Uhh… Yeah? What's wrong?" Chihiron asked in return.
"Didn't she die with the whole Motomura clan in the Motomura Massacre of 2005?" Natsu, hearing Chihiron's answer, is now getting scared.
"Yeah… However, she survived. And even managed to get the clan ring so that everyone would recognize her as the sole heir of the fortune or so I was told but let's not talk about it here." Chihiron then pulled Natsu to the rooftop.
Rooftop…
"Phew. Let's talk about it here. Nobody in the school knows that the Motomura in the school is the survivor to the Motomura Clan massacre. They just know that she was overseas or something when it happened." Chihiron was panting heavily.
"I see. Is she… Still the same person we were friends with?" Natsu asked nervously.
"Yeah… I guess? But for some reason she's really hard on me these days. Could it be…? That she…" Chihiron was thinking deeply.
"That she what?" Natsu then interrupted her thoughts.
"Ah, nothing! Enough of the gory talk. I was asked to tour you around the school, not tell you about some sad event." Chihiron then smiled at him. "Alright, let's go to the Cafeteria, shall we?" Chihiron then went down the stairs, leaving Natsu for a few seconds in the rooftop.
"Nothing… Has changed…" Natsu said as he looked at the back of his childhood friend. 'Or did something change?' he then followed Chihiron.
Meanwhile…
"Kodama-san, this is the Cafeteria. It has set themes daily and the themes may vary from Local to Foreign menus. If you don't like the theme for the day, the Local dishes can be ordered in the leftmost stall. Now, let's go to the other parts of the school. Let's start with the bookstore, shall we?" Sakura was explaining the facilities of the school as fast as she could to Haruto who wrote everything in a pocket-sized notebook diligently.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Haruto answered as he followed Sakura to the Bookstore.
"For someone who asked me to have sex with him in first message, you sure are obedient." Sakura said, not even batting an eye on him.
"I was trying to imitate what boys my age would say." Haruto sighed then looked at the bookstore.
"Anyway, if you need to buy school supplies or books, this is the place for that." Sakura said then looked at Haruto. "My first impression of you was bad enough but you're not that bad of a person. Let's get along well." she then smiled at him and offered her hand for a handshake.
Haruto then smiled back. "Nice to meet you." he then shook her hand.
"Oops, it's time for class. Let's go back. In the afternoon, I might attend a separate class due to our class statuses." Sakura then turned her back on Haruto, showing him the way back to the classroom.
"Oh, so that whole Class KIV and H thing isn't just about class scores?" Haruto wondered as Sakura started walking back to their classroom.
"Yeah. Students from Class KIV are expected to study more about Science as students from Class H are expected to hone their talents more. What was your talent again?" Sakura kept walking.
"I can play the piano." Haruto replied shyly.
"That was unexpected. So they handed you an application sheet for the Orchestra?" Sakura didn't even turn around and looked unfazed by Haruto's surprising talent.
"Yeah. I signed up and I was immediately taken to a special audition. I guess the Maestro and the student jury were satisfied since they gave me a pass to the practice area?"
Sakura raised an eyebrow. 'The orchestra did that? Then he must be a prodigy of some sorts.'
The tour concluded without anything noteworthy. The classes went the same way as well. They all went home as afterwards.
6 o'clock pm…
School Gates…
Sakura was walking out of the gates when Haruto called out to her.
"Miyawaki-shan!"
Sakura turned around nonchalantly. "Yes, Kodama-san?"
"Thanks for showing me around today. And sorry for my behavior earlier again." Haruto bowed his head slightly.
"It was nothing. Please do your best in your studies." Sakura then looked back at where she was headed and walked away. A limousine then stopped several meters away from her, its rear right door opening as she headed to it. "Have a good day." She said as she entered the car and closed the door. The car drove away and Haruto could only look at it.
'That concludes the day one of my infiltration in school. Hopefully, clues will start appearing in the following days.' He then took the bus directly to the student dorms.
7 o'clock pm…
Hakata Private Academy Shrine…
A humbly dressed man in his 20s entered the shrine. He was only wearing a white shirt inside a black blazer. His trousers obviously used every day to the point where one could see its wear and tear. "I…am Iriyama Arthur. I'm here now. Are you here?" He shouted.
"Silence." A deep voice muttered from the covered center part of the temple. "I am h're." The voice added. "What doth thee wanteth?"
"Ah, good. Good. I-I… am here to request the retrieval of my family heirloom. It is currently being shown in the Sakaguchi Museum of Art." He replied. "It's the sword in the stone in the British Legends."
"The Excalibur?" The deep voice showed curiosity.
"No. Contrary to the legends where Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone were one and the same, it is not the same. The sword in the stone just proves one's ancestry."
"I seeth. How didst t endeth up into the museum?" The deep voice asked.
"My ancestors who were British were far relatives of the man who once wielded the Excalibur. When he died, the sword was found by my ancestors whose descendants descended to migrate to Japan in the 1950s. In the first year of the new millennia, while I and my family were in a vacation, an assassin broke into our house, killed most of our servants and stole it." The man answered.
"I thought it was 'sitting atop of a stone'?" the dark voice's interest has been piqued.
"It was but since they were relatives, my ancestors pulled it out and hid it." The man gently answered. " I really want the sword back. It's the family's proof of identity. I beg of you… Please…!" The man knelt and lowered his head, trying to stop his tears.
"Thou art wary of the cost of what thou art currently asking this god to do, art thee not?"
"Yes…! Please help me… I want my family's honor to be restored… I am willing to give anything at the end of our bargain…" the man was in tears.
"I seeth. Well then. Sign the contract in front of thee and ent'r the cost thee has't to payeth. I shall taketh nay petty change."
The man crawled as quickly as he could to the area near the center of the shrine's interior. He signed the contract almost instantly, putting himself as the collateral.
"What's this? Thee hath made yourself a collateral?"
"Yes."
"V'ry well then. Thee may leaveth."
The man then stood up. "I… Am a Tactician in the Police Force so if ever you need the floor plans and even the formation of the Police in the night of your heist, please tell me. I'll leave my card on the floor." He then left a silver plated card on the floor.
The man left the shrine interior and the shrine after bowing in front of it. Several minutes after leaving, a shadow emerged from the interior of the shrine.
"The famed sword in the stone? That Sakaguchi sure knows what she wants." a small silhouette appeared beside a nearby tree. "This heist will be interesting, don't you two think?"
A taller silhouette appeared beside the shrine arc. "A Police Officer asking us to steal something. How ironic."
"Only proves how messed up this situation is. The museums have become so untouchable the original owners couldn't do anything when their artifacts are forcibly taken or stolen from them either directly or indirectly by the museums." A voice inside the shrine answered. The voice wasn't deep but rather belonged to a younger person. "But this client would be a huge asset for us. An informant inside the Police force could make our heists easier." the voice added.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the school building, a female school staff who was working on some research paper was distracted by the sudden vibration on her left pocket. She then froze for a second and then a small grin formed on her lips. "I see. Time to go home." she turned off her personal computer and headed to the door, closing the lights and locking the door on her way out.
-=To be Continued=-
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