Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

Chapter 325: Edison



"Go back? Shouldn't you be the one to go back?"

In response to Helena's question, Nightingale immediately countered:

"My work hasn't changed at all, because this could lead to finding a cure for the soldiers, so I plan to search for it."

"I see. A valid reason," Helena nodded slightly but quickly added, "But sorry, I can't allow you, a Berserker, to run off. If the front line falls into chaos because of that, the King won't allow it."

"The King? That person has no right to stop me. Of course, if he has a better cure, that's a different story."

Just as it seemed the argument was about to escalate, Guinevere quickly stepped in to mediate:

"No, this isn't urgent. Nightingale, don't you remember what we talked about before? Nokkneri will deal with the Eastern Army, our mission is to handle..."

Almost revealing his true thoughts, Guinevere quickly corrected himself:

"Oh no, I mean to unify the forces of the Western Army."

"Nokkneri? Who is that? And did you just say something interesting?"

Helena furrowed her brows:

"By the way, you and the shield-wielding girl next to you are also Servants, right? Could it be that you're from Caldea, which the 'King' mentioned might show up as reinforcements?"

"Yes, we are members of the human order protection organization, Caldea,"

Finally getting a chance to speak, Fujimaru Ritsuka popped her head in:

"My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka, and this is Mash. And this is Guinevere, a Heroic Spirit who has helped us from Caldea multiple times."

"Guinevere? Never heard of him. Looks like my knowledge isn't broad enough. When I hear the name, though, I think of the Queen Guinevere from the Arthurian legends, the one who had the illicit love affair with Lancelot."

Helena gave Guinevere a serious look and then shook her head.

"No, in a way, you weren't entirely wrong..." At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but add,

"Helena, think about it. If that legendary King Arthur was actually a girl, then it's pretty reasonable that her queen would be a powerful knight, right?"

"Ah?" Helena froze. "Is that how it is?"

"Uh, no, that's not the case. Don't listen to her nonsense," Guinevere said, black lines appearing on his forehead. "The Guinevere from your world is still a girl. I'm just a Heroic Spirit from a parallel world that doesn't belong to the general human history, who ended up here by chance."

After a brief hesitation, Guinevere added,

"Although I do have a good relationship with Artoria from my world, my relationship with Lancelot from my world is actually quite bad."

"Oh! So it's from a different future parallel world!" Helena's eyes lit up. "That's great! That means our plan is definitely feasible."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked, asking curiously.

"Because, as of now... I know this might be very rude to say in front of Caldea's human order protection team, but the fact is, humanity is probably beyond saving,"

Helena sighed.

"But, if our King could unite the entire continent of America, it might become a lost continent separated from some dimension, wandering forever. Don't you think that could be a kind of redemption in a way?"

Before Guinevere and Fujimaru Ritsuka could respond, Nightingale couldn't help but retort,

"I don't accept this as healing. I can't tolerate the idea that cutting off the bad parts means everything is fine!"

"I knew you would say that... So I'm asking them," Helena said, looking toward Guinevere and the others. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, what do we think... This question, let the Master of Caldea answer it," Guinevere said, glancing at Fujimaru Ritsuka. "But I guess the answer is, naturally, NO, right?"

"Yes," Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded, a firm expression appearing on her face. This was the only time she would show such unwavering determination. "If that's the case, it means all our efforts so far would have been for nothing."

"I see... what a pity. So we can't reach a consensus?" After hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's answer, Helena shook her head and sighed. At the same time, Guinevere noticed a flash of resolve in her eyes, indicating that she was considering forcibly keeping them there.

Not wanting to engage in a routine battle of words here, Guinevere quickly spoke up:

"No, before we consider this, it would clearly be more appropriate to meet the King you serve, right? If you want to recruit us new Servants for your battle power, at least showing us the leader of the Western Army is basic courtesy, isn't it?"

"—That's true," Helena blinked in surprise at Guinevere's cooperation, then couldn't help but smile. "Wow, you're easy to talk to. I thought we'd have to fight here."

... If you really tried to make me fight, I doubt you'd have the courage to take me to the base after that.

Guinevere thought to himself, but he smiled and raised his hand, saying:

"Yeah, long live peace."

...........................

After both sides reached an agreement, Guinevere and the others quickly followed Helena to the rear of the Western Army. Upon arriving at a fortress, they saw a robot guard walking toward them:

"Mrs. Blavatsky, you've finally arrived. President King has been waiting for you. Please come right in."

"Did I hear that wrong? Did it say President King?" A shadow appeared in the air, and Roman's voice rang out, his expression a mix of confusion.

"....Such a casual title," The group's faces tightened as they heard the robot refer to the leader as "President King."

"Right? Isn't it great? A normal person would never think of such a title. That's why I find it so amusing," Helena laughed without concern, but Nightingale immediately mocked,

"Hmph, indeed. Calling oneself a king in a country that claims to be a democracy and republic—can there be anything more ridiculous than that? If this title can be accepted, I guess there must have been emperors in the past."

"You sure know a lot about these trivial matters..." Guinevere mused. "Sigh, if that emperor also became a Heroic Spirit, he'd probably lament the current state of affairs."

"Eh? An emperor? Who are you talking about? It sounds like you're discussing something I don't understand," Fujimaru Ritsuka asked, confused.

"They're talking about the Emperor of America, Joshua Abraham Norton, also known as Norton I," Guinevere answered, taking over the conversation:

"He's the only emperor in American history... but he wasn't a great president or anything. In fact, he was just an ordinary citizen from San Francisco. He found out that the American laws didn't forbid anyone from claiming to be emperor, so he simply declared himself emperor. He even went to the newspapers himself and demanded they print it."

"Ah? That really happened?" Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked in surprise. "Didn't the newspapers kick him out?"

"No, they didn't. After all, declaring oneself emperor in America was a pretty good gig, right?" Guinevere smiled. "The newspapers thought it was a fun story, so they made it the headline, and he was able to become emperor. After that, he would ride his bicycle to the newspaper offices every day and have them print his new decrees."

"Did the American people listen to him?"

"Of course not," Guinevere shrugged. "To put it bluntly, he was just a novelty for Americans who were bored of entertainment, a cyber-cricket in the newspapers. It was fun to watch him every day releasing decrees."

"But Norton I didn't give up. Instead, he continued to 'govern' and actually made many statements in favor of the people. His decrees were always written from the perspective of the common people, and he often acted as the mouthpiece for the public, criticizing the U.S. government or supervising its work. Over time, he gained quite a bit of popularity among the public."

"And then?" Fujimaru Ritsuka seemed genuinely interested, her amber eyes sparkling. "Did he later use that popularity as a platform to run for president?"

"... No," Guinevere shook his head. "He remained just a citizen with the title of emperor. He died later... At the time of his death, he had only a few dollars to his name. But on the day of his funeral, 30,000 people attended. Coincidentally, it was also a solar eclipse, and the whole of San Francisco became dim, as if mourning his passing."

"Wow..." Fujimaru Ritsuka paused for a moment, then sighed, "That's really unfortunate."

"But speaking of which, Master, you really know a lot. You seem to know everything no matter what we bring up," Fujimaru Ritsuka said, looking at Guinevere with admiration. "Compared to you, I really feel like I came from another world."

"Uh... no, I just know a bit of useless trivia," Guinevere said, feeling a little embarrassed as he scratched his face, quickly looking away.

Actually, the whole Norton story was something he'd researched out of curiosity after seeing it in the FGO storyline, but of course, he couldn't mention that.

At that moment, they had already arrived at the palace within the city fortress, and just as they stepped inside, they immediately heard a hearty voice coming from inside:

"Oh! Finally going to meet the Angel of Crimea? I'm so excited! I was planning to meet her after defeating those Celtic warriors, do you know how much I've been looking forward to this moment?!"

As the voice spoke, its owner appeared before them, and it turned out to be a large, blue-clad... lion.

"Everyone! Thank you so much for your hard work!"

The sight of the lion, especially its completely unexpected appearance, left everyone in the room momentarily speechless, and the room fell silent for a brief moment.

Only Roman could be heard exclaiming:

"Eh? Did my monitor break? Why is there just one creature? Is that a lion? A lion wearing clothes?"

And that lion was none other than the leader of the Western Army in this Singularity—President King Edison.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.