Nanase Kizuna pushed open the large doors of the meeting room and found that the board members and the Tenjouin Family had arrived earlier than her.
The entire circular meeting room was adorned in modern decor. The permanent corporate directors settled into their seats, whispering among themselves, wondering what maneuver Reisei Kirino, the Sakura Witch, would make next.
She walked forward and shut the door firmly behind her.
Everything had changed, Nanase Kizuna thought to herself. Before Shangjing became as affluent as it was now, before shopping complexes and office buildings sprung up, the city was filled with low, wooden ancient buildings.
She remembered how the Corporate Alliance had dismantled the feudal rule in a mere nine hours, forcing the Northern Archipelago to open its country. At that time, nobles and daimyo could only constrain their samurai and silently watch as entrepreneurs shipped goods across the ocean to flood the local markets.