May 27, 2024.

Edo.

The Edo Castle, once the Shogun's residence, has been reconstructed to become even more majestic, boasting the tallest walls in the Guinness World Records, reaching a height of a hundred meters.

The New Edo Castle is situated at the center of Edo, with a commanding view over the entire city.

No building can surpass the Tenshu-kaku where the Conquer Barbarian General resides.

It is daytime now.

Individual skyscrapers appear a bit duller under the sunlight, lacking the magnificence they hold at night.

Yet, outside of these tall buildings, there is an area that is clearly a slum with low-rise structures.

Aozawa appeared on the streets of Edo, quickly entering a state of Schrodinger's Cat non-existence. With a single thought, he vanished from the street and reappeared inside a library.

Tall bookshelves stood within the library, separated by signs into different areas.

Aozawa had a very clear target, which was the history section.

His body transitioned from a semitransparent state to solid, and he pulled a history book from the shelf, flipping it open for a look.

History began to change from 1864.

The Ikedaya incident.

The mysterious figure Aozawa met with General Katsumoto and stated the ambitions of the Choshu Domain rebels, foiling their plot.

This was the first mention of his name in the history books, though it didn't detail the results of his discussions with Tokugawa Iemochi.

It seems the historians did not record Tokugawa Iemochi's plot to assassinate the Emperor.

The collapse of Kyoto is referred to as the Kinmon Incident in this world.

He is also mentioned by the Shinsengumi, who arranged for the evacuation of Kyoto citizens.

After this, his name can no longer be found in the history books.

In the ensuing Choshu subjugation, Tokugawa Iemochi followed his advice, implementing a scorched earth policy against the Choshu in the name of avenging the Emperor, killing, burning, and looting.

Thereafter, anyone advocating xenophobia was labeled as a co-conspirator in the Emperor's assassination and had their clans executed.

Tokugawa Iemochi, with an iron-fisted approach, suppressed all rebels and allied with countries like Britain and America.

During World War II, Tokugawa Iemochi could not spare any effort for external military campaigns, preoccupied with internal suppression to consolidate his own authority.

He didn't even send troops to invade Ryukyu, allowing it to maintain its status as an independent small country.

Yet Germany still found a troublesome ally in Asia, which was Baldy.

Benefitting from Baldy's stance, another weak regime received substantial aid from the US and Soviet Union, to the extent that someone met their end without even managing to be a tiger occupying islands.

Time has continued to the present.

The Shogunate still exists, maintaining a state of semi-isolation and semi-opening.

Foreign trade is limited to a few coastal cities.

The majority remain in structures of last century's simplicity, with illiteracy rates comparable to India.

Aozawa looked on with great interest; the butterfly wings he flapped changed the fate of Japan.

Quite fascinating indeed.

He thought.

A librarian appeared here, carrying books, wearing round glasses and a plain kimono. "Excuse me, sir, when did you come in? I have no impression at all?"

Aozawa closed the book, turned his head to glance at the girl standing there, and shook his head: "Don't worry, I'll leave right away."

Placing the book back on the shelf, he used Schrodinger's Cat, gradually turning semitransparent and disappearing from the girl's sight.

"Huh?!"

The girl looked shocked and hurriedly ran forward, waving her hand in the space ahead, finding no sense of a person's touch.

A living person just disappeared right in front of her!

The girl rubbed her eyes, could it be that staying up late reading led to seeing things?

Aozawa floated in the air, using Schrodinger's Cat to leave the library.

When he was reading the history book, he discovered an old acquaintance wasn't dead, and he planned to go take a look.

...

Edo Castle, third floor, with a separate protruding courtyard to the west.

It was already the season in May when cherry blossoms withered.

The entire courtyard's cherry blossoms had lost their former pink hue, becoming indistinguishable from ordinary trees.

Yukimura Tsuruko sat on a rattan chair, the warm sunlight falling upon her body, bringing a faint warmth.

Yet her hands remained cold.

She felt her time was nearing, and her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to those turbulent times.

Following the director, she had traveled far and wide, campaigning to crush one xenophobic patriot after another that threatened the Shogunate, sparing the people from war.

But was such an outcome wrong?

Yukimura Tsuruko still pondered the answer to that.

Those around her had gradually departed, and now the Shinsengumi still existed, but those she knew had already left this world.

She alone, as a Demon Warrior, remained alive.

"Sigh."

Yukimura Tsuruko lightly sighed, then raised her head to gaze at the courtyard gate.

A tall young man appeared there, clad in a pitch-black uniform, his black hair casually tied into a single ponytail with a hair tie, a katana at his waist.

"Yukimura villain! Today is the day you die!"

The young man wore a cold expression all over.

He couldn't figure out why Yukimura Tsuruko, usually heavily guarded, had presented a defense vacuum, but he definitely wouldn't miss this great opportunity.

Assassinating the Yukimura villain would deal a blow to the Shogunate and the Shinsengumi.

It would also boost the morale of the anti-Shogunate faction in Japan.

He was willing to take the gamble.

"This country has become so backward and decayed because of you and the Shogunate!"

Yukimura Tsuruko didn't say anything.

Over the years, to maintain their own rule, the Shogunate had consistently employed obscurantist policies on most rural areas.

In large cities, the pressure was immense.

No one was allowed to discuss freedom or democracy, Western ideas.

In this twenty-first century, forty percent of the people are without internet and lacking in electricity.