Episode 289: Landing in England
Land came into view. The surroundings were enveloped in a white mist, creating a fantastical scene.
After a full eight hours since departing from Germany, Yuma and the others had arrived at their destination: London Port in England.
Yuma and the others were planning to disembark as soon as they reached land, but when they told Jacob their destination was London, he said, “In that case, we’ll proceed up the River Thames,” and they entered the inland area.
The River Thames was very grand, and after passing under several large bridges, an even more gigantic bridge came into view. It seemed to be the famous “Tower Bridge.”
Passing under it, the ship continued further up the river.
The cityscape was visible on the opposite bank, but there were no signs of people, and it was eerily quiet. Only the mist faintly covered the river and the city.
“As expected, there’s no sign of people or Monsters,”
To Yuma’s words, Rui nodded, saying, “That’s right.” After the battle with the Blue King, they hadn’t encountered a single Monster on their way here.
Presumably, the Green Lord’s scattered “highly poisonous Scale Powder” had killed all the creatures in the sea. It was a cruel story, but thanks to that, they were able to come safely.
Jacob slowed down the fishing boat and gently docked it.
“Well, my role ends here. The rest is up to you guys.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
Rui bowed his head, and Yuma also said, “Thank you,” to express his gratitude.
Yuma and Rui jumped from the fishing boat onto the concrete quay and looked back at the ship.
Jacob, Finn, Felix, and Werner were all smiling broadly and looking at them.
“Do your best. If it’s you guys, you can even defeat the Blue King,”
Felix said while giving a thumbs up, and Werner continued.
“Just like you saved Germany, please take care of England too! If this place is a nest of Monsters, the whole of Europe won’t be at peace!”
Yuma nodded firmly and replied, “Understood!” Finally, Jacob leaned forward and shouted loudly.
“Don’t you guys die! It would be a bad awakening if you died so soon after I brought you all the way here. Cooperate with the Seekers of England and beat the Monsters to a pulp!!”
‘He’s still an extreme old man,’ Yuma thought, as he and Rui exchanged glances and smiled wryly.
“Everyone, please be careful on your way back. Monsters may not be appearing in the sea anymore, but you never know what might happen.”
When Rui expressed his concern, Felix replied, “We know,” and Werner scolded him, saying, “Don’t worry about us, worry about yourselves!”
Then Jacob said, “See ya,” and turned the steering wheel to move the ship away from the shore.
Yuma and Rui waved their hands vigorously. Felix and Werner, who had taken care of them in Germany and had come all this way.
Jacob, who had accepted their sudden request. Finn, who reluctantly came along and helped with the operation of the fishing boat.
Without them, they wouldn’t have been able to come this far so smoothly.
“Thank you. Felix-san, Werner-san, Jacob-san, Finn-san, you’ve really helped us! Take care!!”
When Yuma shouted loudly, everyone on the ship waved and shouted back.
Rui and Yuma watched the fishing boat gradually getting smaller. Eventually, it disappeared into the white mist, and the ship was no longer visible.
“They were good people, weren’t they?”
Rui muttered, and Yuma agreed, saying, “Yeah.”
“Well then, let’s go. The real thing starts here.”
“Yeah.”
Rui and Yuma started walking. They passed through brick buildings and stepped into the urban area lined with street trees.
Yuma looked around and was filled with emotion, thinking, “So this is London.”
There were stylish buildings that he had never seen in Japan all over the city. It was like a movie set.
In the midst of all this, Rui, who was walking next to him, opened his mouth.
“Yuma, have you noticed?”
“Yeah, there are quite a few of them.”
Yuma and Rui stopped and looked around. The city was lightly covered in mist, and they couldn’t see far.
But there was no doubt that something was approaching.
The two waited for their opponents to appear. Footsteps were approaching from all directions.
As Yuma stared ahead, what emerged from the mist was a human wearing a black mask. They were dressed in black military uniforms and carrying Guns.
They appeared one after another from the surroundings. They were people dressed in similar outfits.
They were probably soldiers. If so, were they the British army? Yuma and Rui raised their hands, indicating that they had no hostility.
When the soldier in front raised one hand, the other soldiers stopped walking abruptly.
It seemed that this person was the leader.
The soldier in front lowered his Gun and raised his black mask to show his face. He was a white man with brown hair. He had a sturdy build and was probably close to 180cm tall.
“Who are you? Where did you come from?”
He spoke in English, but since they had been wearing earphone-type translators from the beginning, they could hear him clearly.
“We are Seekers from Japan. There was a formal request for support from the British government, and the Japanese government responded.”
Rui spoke in fluent English. It was very helpful, but Yuma was a little annoyed at how capable and handsome he was.
“From Japan?”
The soldiers began fiddling with their ears. It seemed that they already had earphone-type translators on. Rui was relieved and now spoke in Japanese.
“Yes, we are Seekers from Japan. You are the British army, right? Could you take us to the person from the government?”
The leader-like soldier took a few steps back and discussed with his comrades in a low voice. After a while, it seemed that the conversation was over, and he approached again.
“Understood. We will guide you to the city where we live. Follow us.”
Rui and Yuma exchanged glances and happily said “Yes!” in unison, following behind the soldier.
The group sandwiched the two, forming a line of four in front and ten behind.
Although they couldn’t see clearly earlier, there seemed to be a total of fourteen soldiers. And since he said, “The city where we live,” there were probably many people living there.
Yuma was relieved that England had not suffered as much damage as Germany.
“My name is Andrew.”
The soldier walking in front suddenly introduced himself. He was the leader-like man who had taken off his mask and showed his face.
“Ah, um… Andrew-san. About how many people are there in the place we’re going to now?”
Rui asked with his eyebrows lowered. Yuma was also curious about how many people had survived.
“There are several million residents in central London.”
“Eh!? That many?”
Yuma couldn’t help but shout.
“Not just London. In several cities in England, millions to ten million citizens are being protected.”
“…That’s amazing. Other countries have suffered devastating damage.”
Rui let out a voice of admiration. Certainly, compared to Germany and India, the difference was like night and day.
“That’s because the Monsters started appearing from the sea. The speed of the attacks was slower than the Monsters coming from the land. That gave us time to escape inland.”
“I see.”
Rui nodded in agreement. For Yuma, it was good news that many people had been saved.
The group walked for about an hour and arrived at their destination.
They had arrived in central London, in a place called Brixton. But for the two of them, where it was didn’t matter.
The problem was the scene before their eyes. Towering majestically was the Ice Gate.
Beyond that gate, they could see a cityscape made of ice.