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

Heine continued, "To be honest, when I left Prussia, I hadn't planned on staying in London for so long. After all, while I was traveling, I was also looking for local publishers to publish my collection of poems. I was lucky, and the quality of my poetry was recognized by readers from all over Europe, so where I went, the publishers I worked with made a fortune. But when I was ready to end my stay in London and visit Austria, I found out they didn't seem to welcome me there."


"They didn't welcome you?" Arthur asked, "Why is that?"


Heine took a swig of beer before responding, "Probably because I liked to use a string of glorious adjectives when describing Metternich? But you should know, I'm a poet, and a poet's language is always splendid and resplendent."


Louis asked, "What kind of adjectives did you use on Metternich?"


Heine earnestly cut his sausage and said, "I simply repeated what Tsar Alexander I of Russia said."


Chapter 253: Not Ordinary and Exceptionally Confident (5K8)_2