Chasing Time

“Next, we have the most noble recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Grand Cross of the Bath, the Victoria Cross and the lower grades of Knighthood, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, the bell-ringer of the East India Company, the hero of the Crimean War, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifelong dear friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Great Dumas, a steadfast supporter of scientific luminaries like Faraday and Darwin, having served as assistant under-secretary, deputy under-secretary, and permanent under-secretary in departments of the Home Office and the Navy Department of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the inaugural Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, the first graduate and most distinguished alumnus of our school. Please welcome Sir Arthur Hastings to deliver a speech on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the University of London.”
Arthur's gaze swept across the crowd before him, looking at the young faces and murmured, “Agares, what do you think I should say?”
The Red Devil's wraith hovered behind him, saliva almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth, “Look at these ignorant souls; they still worship you as a hero. Why not say something they'd like to hear?”
Arthur took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar, “Oxford is a bunch of whores' bastards!”
“Oh!!!!”
The audience erupted into thunderous applause.
“Cambridge is the same!” he added immediately.
The applause grew even more fervent...
(The protagonist, possessed by a devil, travels through 19th-century Britain in a world without magic)

The Shadow of Great Britain

Westminster, London, 4 Whitehall, headquarters of the Greater London Police Department.


Arthur sat in the office on the second floor, a thick stack of police materials piled beside him.


Although every Police Superintendent at Scotland Yard faced such a stack of weekly police reports every Monday, it was without a doubt that Arthur had to deal with the thickest stack of them all.


The reason his materials were the thickest was simple - his jurisdiction included Tower Hamlets, the most chaotic part of London.


Besides handling the daily police work, he also had to submit a report on last week's riot in Hyde Park to Scotland Yard and the Home Office.


Finally finishing these tasks, Arthur leaned back in his chair and stretched, the sunlight streaming through the window revealing plenty of ink stains on his right hand, the one he wrote with.


He turned sideways, frowning as he looked at the documents on his desk and the numerous files in the office cabinet.


Chapter 139: Busybody