NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76: Grand Obstacles
It was a reversal of the natural order. In a food chain, cats were supposed to eat rats, but here, in front of Ritsuka, the rats were eating the rotting corpse of a cat. In fact, the cat had been eaten so much that it was more like a shell, the insides hollowed out and turned into a burrow of sorts for the rats.
Such an unpleasant scene caused a grimace to spread across Ritsuka's face. Disgust rumbled in his stomach. The teen walked out of the alleyway with Mash following closely behind.
Stepping out into the main street, Ritsuka had to force his jaw to stay closed lest it drop to the floor.
Tall townhouses, each four to six stories tall, filled the edges of the wide street like an audience gathered to watch a performer's dance. Their facades were adorned with intricate stone carvings and iron balconies, and all had gas light bulbs hanging off them. All of the townhouses were stores, all held tall window panes at the front, and all were a stage presenting to any passersby what was being offered.
Ritsuka's gaze moved from one storefront to another. He marveled at everything from trinkets gleaming under velvet backgrounds, to large jars of colorful candy that'll make any child's mouth water, to rows of fine china each having a different pattern sat in a makeshift dinner table as if to tell the audience what it's for. There were even jewelry of such intricate design Ritsuka could only make out that it was a mass of glittering sparkles. On the other hand, a clothing store offered all kinds of wacky designs that appeared very out of place in Ritsuka's eyes.
Half a dozen horse-drawn carriages trotted through the middle of the cobbled streets, their wheels clattering rhythmically. The horses were obviously well-groomed and used to the presence of humans. A river of at least a hundred people stayed near the edge. Most continued on their way, ignoring the rest of the world as an unimportant blur soon to be forgotten. Not all though. Some paused to gaze into the windows of the stores. A young boy yelled about today's news, selling it for a few pennies.
Ladies in tight corsets and gowns carried parasols, and men wore top hats and fine suits. A woman in a lavender dress exited a store carrying a fan.
"Woah."
This was London during the Victorian Era. The Capital of the largest Empire in history, during the peak of its power. The Empire that the Sun never sets on, because it's certain that at any time, at least one portion of the British territory was at daytime.
As Ritsuka dipped his toe into that flow of people near the edge of the street, he found himself mostly ignored, with little stares displaying signs of disgust. Mash received looks of curiosity. He looked at the sky and saw only ashen clouds above with no blueness anywhere to be found. Not even that band of light pierced through this blanket above him. The teen then noticed how there was a sweet scent filling the air as if incense were being burned. The smell came from a store that sold incense.
Ritsuka then looked down at his bracelet and tapped on it several times, speaking into it, "Director? Director Olga?"
No response. It was as if the bracelet was purely cosmetic rather than an actual communication device. No response from his Master-Servant connection either.
"This Singularity really is strange." Ritsuka remarked as he scratched his head, "We should try and find where the others are."
Mash nodded in agreement, "You're right, Senpai."
But where to start? That was the most important question. Ritsuka looked down at the back of his right hand, at the symbols proof of his role as a Master. He thought about who to call first, before eventually deciding that Iskander was probably the best option.
"Come before me, Iskander!" Several heads were turned as Ritsuka said that, only for them to return once nothing happened. "Huh?"
Ritsuka's eyes blinked in confusion. Iskander didn't appear next to Ritsuka as he should've, and at the same time, a Command Spell faded, signaling how it was used.
A chill ran down Ritsuka's spine. Olga's saying that this Singularity was drastically different from others echoed inside the confines of his mind like screams inside a canyon. He covered his mouth in shock before slowly turning to an unsettled Mash.
"It seems we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."
Ritsuka looked around. He found everyone going on with their lives. "Excuse me…" He asked, but everyone ignored him, pretending he didn't exist.
After the fifth ignore, Ritsuka paused with a grimace on his face. Were all British people this unfriendly?
He kept asking around, until finally— "Constable! Where is the constabulary? This oriental is trying to accost me!" A finely dressed gentleman with a top hat called out after Ritsuka tried to get his attention.
Ritsuka stared blankly at the man, the same way one might as if to ascertain if the phenomenon in front of them was real. Indeed, this man was really accusing Ritsuka of accosting him when the teen simply asked a question.
"Excuse me, it's a simple question—"
"Help! Assistance, I beg you! Where are the constables?!"
That's when four men dressed in long black trenchcoats with stripes on the sides of their arms appeared from the crowd like sharks slicing through a school of frightened fish. Many had thick, well-groomed mustaches. Each wore tall hats with a police star at the front, serving as their symbols of authority.
"What, pray, appears to be the matter here, good sirs and gracious madam?" The one with the most strips on the side of their arms said, calm and collected with a hint of snobbishness that Ritsuka managed to catch.
"I was—" Ritsuka was cut off.
"This oriental hooligan was accosting me!"
"I was not—"
"Very well, come along with us to the station, where we shall see to your proper registration. And you, Dick, confiscate that shield."
This day was really not going to Ritsuka's liking. The local police didn't even bother listening to Ritsuka's explanation as one of them grabbed roughly onto Ritsuka's forearm while another tried to grab Mash's shield.
Mash tried to fight back. Ritsuka smiled. A sense of justice against this injustice filled his heart with satisfaction. At least Mash could defeat these—and that's when things went wrong.
"Give it to me now!"
The police managed to wrangle the shield away from Mash as if she were a human, not a Demiservant. As if she wasn't a superhuman easily more powerful than a dozen men put together.
It was an incredibly wrong turn of events. One that stunned Ritsuka and Mash into compliance.
What the hell just happened?
The question lingered the whole way to the police station like a haunting specter. "Mash, are you alright?"
"No talking." A baton strike to Ritsuka's back caused him to let out muffled cries of pain. Ritsuka's pride refused to let this policeman hear of the teen being in pain.
Nonetheless, in the silence of this walk, the question of what the hell just happened continued to fester like an wound untreated. The only possible explanation for this, Ritsuka thought after cross-examining this Singularity with all others, was how this Singularity was 'strange'. Does it strip a Servant of their powers? Their transhuman abilities?
Ritsuka looked at how Mash's shield required two policemen to carry while Mash was able to do more with just one hand. The policemen were red-faced, obvious that even two was only enough to move the thing, much less swing it around like a stick. So, do Noble Phantasms still work?
Ritsuka didn't know. As the group exited the bustling shopping street, Ritsuka was instantly hit with the stench and sight of industrialism.
It was the very definition of an industrial heartland—or, more accurately, a glimpse into an industrial wasteland.
Rising up above the townhouses like distant mountains, a forest of smokestacks clawed at the sky, all vomiting thick clouds of industrial refuse. Ritsuka had to consciously breathe, as the air itself suddenly felt more corrupted, its weight pressing down with a suffocating, metallic tinge. Some of the chimneys stood so tall they pierced the blanket of clouds as if to reenact the Tower of Babel.
When Ritsuka was escorted further away from the shopping districts— now appearing more like a pleasant dream— the factories began to reveal themselves in the distance like killers in horror movies. Steel frameworks braced against the bricked facades of factories, their surfaces darkened with soot and weeping streaks of rust.
Even from so far away, Ritsuka could spot refineries spitting out fire from ugly towers, and the teen could swear he could hear a hammering sound, whether it was coming from his heart or from the factory he did not know.
Ritsuka had seen what a nuclear power plant looked like. Personally went past a chemical refinery. But those were primitive smithy compared to the factories in the distance just below the horizon.
Ritsuka had to tear his gaze away and focus on the closer townhouses.
The police station he and Mash were brought to was only three stories tall. Each of the second-story windows had arches on top of them. Stone trimmings separated each floor from the rest, which was a welcomed reprieve from the things in the distance.
As the two were escorted through the lobby of this police station busy with policemen moving about, they were placed inside a cell, Mash's shield confiscated and placed on a wall on the other side of the lobby.
As Ritsuka sat inside the cell, he collected his thoughts of the past hour. This Singularity was definitely the strangest one of all. It seemed any Servant who had their abilities stripped away, but not their armor or their Noble Phantasms. Yet at the same time, if Mash is anything to go by, they can still wield their weapons and armor as if they still had their abilities.
Ritsuka wondered if this 'nerf' applied especially to powerful Servants like Kuku. No, it surely must've if it applied Mash. If it didn't, surely Kuku would be flying around trying to find him, right?
The teen hoped that wasn't the case, that Kuku still possessed her powers. But as the day stretched on, and a flying Goddess didn't bust through the front door, Ritsuka's hope was becoming dimmer and dimmer, until finally— the door to his cell clanked as it opened. A new policeman, this one without a mustache, stepped in, "I shan't repeat myself; come now, let us see you properly registered."
Ritsuka followed, his hands cuffed as he entered an office where a woman clicked away using a typewriter.
"Name?" She asked, her voice sharp and her tone cold.
"Ritsuka Fujimaru."
"Quite a cumbersome name, I must say. Have you an English name? If not, you must choose one, for your Oriental appellation will not suffice here."
Ritsuka's brows furrowed, "What do you mean I have to pick an English name?"
"No one is going to call you 'Rit-su-ka'. What, pray tell, is your English name?"
Ritsuka grimaced, coming up one on the spot, "Richard."
"Richard Fujima. That's much better."
Ritsuka wanted to object, but he kept his mouth shut and just wanted this day to end. He chewed the inside of his cheeks as the woman typed away, the typewriter's keys clicked and clacked in an almost rhythmic fashion.
"Pray, what is your age?"
"Just turned 19 a month ago."
"How very youthful you appear." The woman remarked. "Might I inquire as to your place of origin? One must admit, you folk of the small eyes do bear a striking similarity to one another. Your blue eyes do suggest mixed blood."
Did she… just say that Asians look the same? The words hit Ritsuka like a slap, echoing inside his mind like a lingering pain. Though Ritsuka has read about it in Romani's history lessons, he has never once personally experienced racism. He only knows of racism in an academic sense— through books and lessons alone. Japan was very homogeneous.
Experiencing it for the first time left him disoriented. He blinked as the woman continued on with her questions with a casualness found only in one who saw no wrongs in what they were saying, like someone talking about the weather.
Ritsuka reminded himself that this was another era. A different time. Given his experience with Rome and the time of piracy, he knew the social values would be drastically different. But nonetheless, how? There was a tightness in his chest at the injustice.
He wanted to know how those discriminated against live through it every day, knowing that tomorrow was only going to be the same.
After the barrage of questions was over, the woman asked if Ritsuka had any questions himself.
"Yes, I have several companions that are scattered across London and I was hoping you could put out a notice—"
"In a city as big as London, people disappear all the time, never to be seen again. Now scram."
Ritsuka glared at the woman, who was entirely unaffected as if the teen's glare didn't matter at all. The Last Master of Mankind thinned his lips until such the redness could no longer be seen. He turned around and walked out of that room, and the station. Outside, he found Mash waiting for him. She didn't have her shield anymore.
"Senpai, are you alright?"
Then he realized he was grimacing like he had just sucked on a lemon. His mouth transformed into a smile, "Yes Mash, I'm fine."
Mash didn't look convinced. She bowed, "Please forgive me Senpai! I wasn't able to hold off the police and… and now…" She sounded like she was about to cry, "My shield has been taken away…"
"Mash." Ritsuka's words stilled Mash's turbulent emotions, the conflict boiling inside her for failing to act as a Servant so badly to her Master. "We can get your shield back soon enough. With Iskander and Artoria's tactical genius alongside Kuku—lkan's abilities, it should be simple enough to break into the police station…"
"...Now we just gotta find the others in a city this large." The magnitude of what's required sent Ritsuka into a daze. He felt like something had just hit him on the head.
To find five other souls in a city of millions. In the largest city in its time that spanned tens of kilometers in every direction…
This was worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack.
He sighed. Well, he always wanted to try and do something without any of his superhuman servants. Now how does one go about trying to find them?
Ritsuka didn't really have any of that kind of experiences. Finding others that is. But what he did have was knowledge of the RPGs he once played. And in those RPGs, you'd often overhear many things as people's mouths grew loose from the alcohol in taverns. Ritsuka figured given how Mash had her armor, then the others must possess whatever they were wearing as well when they're separated.
And that made them stand out.
Especially for Zvezdnyy. The way that girl behaved and spoke, full of drama and theatrics, it's as if she wanted as much attention as possible. Words would for sure spread of a girl acting like that. It'll spread even more quickly if she still had her reality-warping ability.
And so, all they needed to do was wait.
"We should probably find shelter, Mash."
The cloudy sky above was showing a hint of redness. The world around Ritsuka was becoming noticeably darker than before they entered the police station. The night should be falling soon, though how soon Ritsuka didn't know, not with that damnable blanket of cloud above.
As the two walked, Mash started explaining what she knew about Victorian London. Ritsuka said nothing about how he already knew about this; he figured it would be nice to distract Mash from losing that shield.
"In Victorian London, there existed homeless shelters called a 'penny sit-up', where the poorest would pay a penny to sit on a bench. They weren't allowed to lie down and sleep, and monitors were employed to ensure such things didn't happen."
Ritsuka could still remember how much of a shocked face he had when he heard of such things counting as a shelter.
"An upgrade to this was the two-penny hangover, where people were allowed to lean on a rope and sleep. The final upgrade to this is a four-penny coffin, where you can sleep in a coffin-shaped wooden box. Alongside this box, you're given a tarp as a blanket."
He really hoped he and Mash wouldn't have to stay in any of those tonight. But realistically, they didn't have any of the local currency. What Ritsuka did have were some trinkets he could perhaps sell for some money.
So the two are heading back to the shopping street. Ritsuka's stomach grumbled as he realized he hadn't eaten yet. So he took out the emergency food capsules and swallowed a pill of concentrated nutrients.
When the two walked by a space between two townhouses, Ritsuka suddenly stopped as his ears picked up something. The rough sound and voices immediately reminded him of Rome. Specifically during the siege of Constantinople, where Nero's soldiers were ra… forcing themselves upon that girl.
Without thinking twice, Ritsuka ran into the dark alleyway, uncaring of how suspicious it all seemed.
Was it perhaps he felt guilty for being unable to prevent that rape? Not even the teen knew. What Ritsuka knew was that he had to do something, at least. He couldn't let a potential rape go untouched.
___
AN: I was really tempted to name this chapter 'Grand Racism'. As I was researching the Victorian Era, I discovered it was pretty racist with the advent of New Imperialism and the supremacy of the British people.
It should be obvious by now, but this is a MASSIVE AU compared to the canon London Singularity. I was inspired by Medrengard when writing out the factory scenes.
Anyway, that was a lot more comments! I feel more motivated to write out this chapter now.