"It's been so long! I never imagined you'd become a daimyo in your own right, Xia Ji."
After embracing Tanihara Natsu for a while, she finally found a trace of familiarity. Come to think of it... she and Tanihara Natsu had not been apart for merely fifty years, but several centuries!
After all, time had not passed at the same rate for them.
Letting go of Tanihara Natsu, Yae Sakura took both her little hands in hers and studied her carefully.
She was somewhat different from the Tanihara Natsu in Yae Sakura's memories—more mature! It was clear that she had not taken the Hourai Elixir the moment she obtained it, but had instead chosen what she considered the most suitable age.
Around seventeen...
Compared to the somewhat childlike Tanihara Natsu from before, the seventeen-year-old before her had fully grown into a young woman. She wore magnificent garments, while her Princess Hairstyle had remained unchanged!
"You weren't around, Lady Yae, and I didn't want to keep idling my days away! I had to find something to do."
Though she answered Yae Sakura, Tanihara Natsu's gaze carried a trace of resentment. After waiting for so many years... it was impossible for her not to feel at least a little upset.
"So you became a daimyo and found yourself the task of governing a country?" Ignoring Tanihara Natsu's resentment, Yae Sakura looked at her strangely. This was no ordinary matter.
Unlike the Far East of recorded history, this was a world where gods and demons existed, an alternate world. Musashi Province here was not merely the size of a county, but a genuinely sizable nation with twenty-one districts.
The ranks of authority in the Far East could be divided roughly like this: Emperor > Shogun > Daimyo > Retainers/Guest Generals/Samurai > Soldiers/Commoners.
However,