Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, the Southern Cross Aircraft Carrier successfully docked at the harbor.
Soon afterward, crew members poured onto the deck and began unloading cargo.
"I'll leave the rest to you. Kazuha and I are heading to Inazuma City in a bit."
Beidou spoke to her first mate.
The Southern Cross Fleet had traveled to Inazuma many times before.
They were already highly experienced in handling trade operations here.
Her absence for a short while wouldn't cause any problems.
"Yes, Captain!"
The first mate nodded and immediately joined the others unloading goods.
After giving her instructions, Beidou looked down at the shocked expressions of the people gathered below and grinned.
"Kazuha, ever since we switched to this carrier, the whole fleet feels different. Look at the expressions on those Inazuman merchants' faces."
In all her previous visits to Inazuma, she had never seen reactions like these.
Now that they'd upgraded from muskets to cannons, so to speak, the Southern Cross Fleet finally carried some real prestige.
"So that's why you kept sending photos to Lady Tianquan last night?"
Kazuha couldn't help laughing.
While he had been teaching the crew the basics of operating the carrier, Beidou had spent the evening taking pictures and videos with her phone.
Then she sent all of them to her rival.
Seeing how excited she had been, Kazuha couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for Ningguang.
Putting himself in her shoes...
If someone kept showing off like that every day, he'd probably feel the urge to draw his sword.
"Hahaha! Ningguang must be furious. I bet she didn't sleep a wink last night!"
Beidou's face was full of amusement.
As the saying went, your greatest rival often understood you better than anyone.
After dealing with Ningguang for so many years, Beidou knew her quite well.
If her guess was correct, Ningguang was probably desperately searching for a way to upgrade the Jade Chamber.
She might have even gone to Han Feng's manga shop to look for help.
After all, the previous upgrade had come from a reward obtained there.
Thinking of that, Beidou's smile widened.
"Kazuha, let's head to Inazuma City now. Maybe we'll even run into her at the manga shop."
"Sounds good."
Kazuha nodded.
The two immediately disembarked and headed straight toward Inazuma City.
Grand Narukami Shrine
At that moment, a familiar figure slowly walked up the shrine path.
It was Yae Miko, returning from Inazuma City.
"Finally back."
Looking around at her surroundings, a smile appeared on her face.
Only a single day had passed.
Yet her mood was completely different from yesterday.
Yesterday, she'd been weighed down by worry over Inazuma's future.
But after visiting the manga shop, things had changed.
Not only had Makoto obtained a powerful weapon that might alter the past, but Ei herself had finally started to change as well.
The Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree remained in place.
But now, Yae Miko could finally see hope.
Things no longer felt as lifeless and stagnant as before.
"Lady Guuji!"
Several shrine maidens quickly bowed when they spotted her.
"No need to be so formal. Have any of you seen Sayu?"
Yae Miko asked with a gentle smile.
She had specifically returned to find the little ninja.
The manga shop was far too fascinating to keep from her.
Who knew?
Perhaps it could even solve the obsession that had troubled her for years.
The shrine maidens exchanged awkward looks.
"Lady Guuji... Sayu is very good at hiding. It's difficult for us to find her."
At those words, helpless expressions appeared on their faces.
After all, they were ordinary people.
"That makes sense. I'll look for her myself."
A knowing smile appeared on Yae Miko's face.
The little girl was probably sleeping in some tree again.
Unfortunately for Sayu...
That trick wouldn't work on her.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Yae Miko found her sprawled out on a tree branch within the shrine grounds.
"Eh? L-Lady Guuji... you're back?"
Sayu had just climbed onto the branch to sneak in a nap.
The moment she noticed Yae Miko smiling up at her, her entire body trembled.
She immediately jumped down.
"I thought you'd try running away."
Yae Miko reached out and gently rubbed Sayu's head.
Sayu could only sigh inwardly.
As if I'd dare...
If it were one of the shrine maidens, she could still find a way to hide.
But Yae Miko was different.
Her substitution techniques couldn't fool her.
Her breathing concealment techniques couldn't escape her senses.
And if she outright ran away...
There was a good chance she'd make Lady Guuji angry.
Even while Yae Miko was patting her head, Sayu didn't dare resist.
She didn't even dare complain.
Because she had a feeling that refusing would lead to something terrifying.
The stories about Lady Guuji's reputation weren't exactly encouraging.
Still...
If this kept happening, she'd never grow taller!
Thinking about that dreadful possibility, Sayu finally gathered her courage and spoke.
"L-Lady Guuji... if you keep patting my head, I really won't grow any taller..."
"Don't worry. I've already found a solution to that problem. There's hope for your height after all."
Yae Miko crouched down with a bright smile.
"R-Really?"
Sayu's eyes immediately lit up.
Her entire body became animated.
Being short was practically her lifelong nightmare.
Watching her peers grow taller one after another while she remained stuck looking like a child had filled her with endless anxiety.
To solve the issue, she'd tried every method imaginable.
Eventually, she had arrived at a firm conclusion:
As long as she slept enough, she would definitely grow taller.
That belief was why she seized every opportunity to nap.
If there wasn't an opportunity, she'd create one.
If there wasn't a suitable environment, she'd create that too.
That was how she'd developed her famous "lazy" habits.
"Of course."
Yae Miko nodded confidently.
She had absolute faith in the manga shop.
If a random reward could swap her soul with Makoto's from five hundred years ago...
Then helping someone grow taller should be a trivial matter.
But looking at Sayu's excited expression, a mischievous glint suddenly flashed through her eyes.
Then she smiled sweetly and said:
"However... growing taller comes at a price."
"It'll cost ten million Mora."
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