Chapter 3
Monarch just realized now that she and Carabiniere's appearances may not have been the most conspicuous, judging by the awkward stares levied at them by passing townsfolk. After passing through the front gate where they were asked quick questions by the sentries, she realized then and there that they may not actually be human. After all, what human had bird-like appendages attached to their head? Sure, the Sakura Empire may have had similar Kansen, but for regular people? Unheard of, and something to note very well as everyone they have passed so far had bird-like or other animal appendages attached to them.
"Signora Monarch, I have found the mayoral office!"
At least one good thing came about now. The townsfolk were decidedly less than helpful, with a few muttering what she was sure were insults, something about being a 'Victorian', whatever that meant. Walking across the town square, the once pristine white marble tiles and fountain were now cracked and dirty, water no longer flowed from the latter either. It had seen better days, an apt example of what this town currently was.
Making their way inside the offices, a stony-faced receptionist looked at them with contempt. Monarch braced herself for another near-hostile encounter. What kind of lands had they found themselves in, where its people distrusted foreigners to that extent?
"Excuse me, I am here to ask for a meeting with your mayor-"
"The mayor of La Marina is an exceptionally busy man, and as such he does not have time to be meeting with anyone right now, especially a Victorian." Monarch was rudely cut off by her speaking in what sounded like Toroan, and Carabiniere translated quickly by whispering in her ear.
So that's how it bloody is then?
"May we at least leave a message then? This is of great importance."
After another scowl was levied at her, the receptionist at least took her message, whether or not that was going to find its way up was anyone's guess. Exiting the mayoral office, Monarch took stock of their situation. She knew that Beatty's team had managed to reach their destination unharmed, but now they had to deal with the local authorities being less than cooperative. A shame, but there were other avenues of finding information, especially in a town as large as La Marina. Then there was what she was called by several townsfolk and that receptionist.
Victorian.
In the Royal Navy mainland, it was used to describe a period decades past now, though some of the older Kansen in the RN still described it with a melancholic tone. It appeared that here, something about her denoted to them that she was one such 'Victorian'. More investigation was required, but they had few friends here, and even fewer willing to lend them any assistance.
"Is something the matter?"
"Ah, nothing. I was just taking stock of our situation, have you noticed that everyone here seems to be dismissive of foreigners? Especially me, because I am a 'Victorian' as they so describe."
Carabiniere nodded, the Sardegnan destroyer proved to be very attentive and sharp in the short time they've been together.
"Signora, there's a currency exchange stand there, I believe it is functional."
Operational, but close enough. At where she pointed, there was s small currency exchange stand stuck in the wall of a larger brick building. It, like the town square next to it, was also run down, but surprisingly enough they could make out an old man still operating it. With a double take, she did indeed see deer antlers on his head.
Walking closer to him, he noticed them first and gave out a standard greeting in Toroan, all in a monotone and disinterested voice. Listed on the board were a list of what appeared to be the currencies he could exchange for, and its rate. None of them made sense to her, however.
"Excuse me, might I trouble you for some information?"
The old man put his paper down and looked at the two of them with curious eyes now. "Victorian? Ich have not seen many of you in a town like this, you are brave to come here. Are you related to the other one from yesterday?"
Despite answering in a thick Ironblood-esque accent, Monarch still understood everything he said. "I…do not think so."
"Really? Vouvire, has blonde hair and carries a large flag. I told her the same thing yesterday, but she didn't heed my warning. And now…another Victorian has come to my humble store…"
Interesting, so there was another 'Victorian' here, perhaps she could acquire some information from her as well? Something to consider later at least, La Marina was a large town after all.
"No, I don't believe we know each other. Anyways, may I ask where exactly are we? My companion and I recently survived a harrowing experience, and thus we have lost our bearings. This was the nearest town we've walked into."
An eyebrow was raised on the old man's face, as far as cover stories went it was not among the best, but for their purposes, it was sufficient enough.
"You don't even know you're in Iberia? On its coastline?"
Iberia…wasn't that the name of the peninsula that Gibraltar was attached to?
"I'm afraid not, what can you tell me about…" She had to start small for now. Iberia was most definitely the name of a nation, so not knowing that definitely seemed suspicious. "La Marina then? I'm sure this town has its splendid history."
At the mention of 'splendid history' the man adopted a melancholic expression. Monarch unwittingly picked up a topic that he seemed to want to avoid.
"La Marina…was a tourist town. Then something happened decades ago that saw this place deteriorate." He gestured behind them, to the dilapidated town square and buildings.
"I am not from Iberia, as you may have guessed, but I came here as a young man from Leithanien to enter into the tourist industry. It was good for a time, and I remember it vividly, but now look at it, the town is as good as dead. No more tourists come here, though with Terra now, who could even cross the lands for a holiday?"
Terra. He said it like it was the name of their-this world they were currently on.
"That's all in the past now. I survive off of what currency is being exchanged from traders and other pilgrims. If you only have Victorian pounds to exchange, I am afraid I do not accept them now. The currency has been very unstable ever since Londonium was occupied, but I'm sure you know more about that than I do."
Monarch could only nod at his words. That was a lot of information that she had to process, especially that part about Londonium being occupied. She may not have been to London much in her own world, but hearing it be occupied here, even if it was an alternative version of it sounded harrowing.
"Now then, enough sad topics. Do you have any other currency you'd like to exchange? I take in most forms of currency, even more archaic ones, you never know when a tribesman from Sargon will come in with a bag of gold coins after all."
Suddenly realizing that she did not have this place's local currency, she rummaged through her belt and produced a gold coin from her pocket issued to her for this mission. It was better safe than sorry, and they could potentially buy food supplies with it if need be.
"How much will you give me for this?"
If there was one thing Iberia was famous for, it was their cuisine, or more specifically, its culture of small cafe-style establishments all around the nation. Despite sugar being an expensive commodity all around Terra owing to its difficulty to farm and harvest, Iberia somehow managed to include alternative forms of sweet foods that didn't require that expensive ingredient to produce. This sweet iced tea, for instance, was made entirely using extremely sweet oranges for instance. Normally too sweet to eat as is, when distilled into a tea it was definitely much more bearable.
Saileach sipped on it with glee as Irene looked at her in surprise. "You like it? Even among my countrymen, it is considered too sweet, you must really like them…"
"Ah, no, it's more like the aroma of tea that I love. It has been quite some time since I've partaken in it, so forgive me for being so eager to try some…"
The Rhodes Island landship was filled with talented and eager chefs, but when it came to its selection of teas the choices were constrained somewhat. Coffee was the much-preferred choice by many of its staff, and seeing the amount of work they had to do, it was understandable why there was a much better selection of it compared to tea.
"Are you sure letting the three of them head towards the town was a good idea? I am not sure these claims of olive-drabed men on a tractor have any merit."
This morning, Ambriel had overheard rumours of uniformed men in olive coloured clothes at the Infected shantytown while in the market. Saileach thought it was just gossip, but Ansel had convinced her that it was a good idea to take stock of the infected situation on the coastlines of Iberia anyways. Rhodes Island could always use more information on large populations of where infected were present, lest Reunion, or what was left of them managed to incite anything. Generally, they tried to establish safe houses around areas with a heavy presence of infected, something which Saileach was surprised to learn about.
"I agree, but they are also going to ask for leads on those ships, so perhaps they may find something of great import-"
"Just the two, uh, dos, dos."
Saileach cut herself off upon hearing someone speak in a familiar language, and dialect. It was something she had not heard since leaving Victoria, save for the few conversations she has with Siege. Leaning to her left, she saw a red-haired woman with a peaked cap and large black coat walk in with a blonde-haired girl, no older than her teenage years in the uniform of an old Gaulish Gendarmerie officer. At least the latter was what she thought it was.
Irene had noticed her look, and she too looked behind her at the newest patrons who entered the cafe. "Do you know them?"
"No, but the red-haired woman, she's Victorian, that accent was unmistakable…"
Quite honestly, she was extremely surprised to see another Victorian here. Owing to a prior war against Iberia, Victorians generally weren't treated well here, and few ever came even for its famed tourist towns like La Marina. She came here on business, so seeing another one of her fellow countrymen here was a surprise.
"She looks like she's part of an army, but I don't recognize her uniform at all." Obviously, Saileach had spent some time in the Victorian army so she knew what their uniforms were like, and she could safely conclude she wasn't part of it whatsoever. Maybe she was a mercenary? But why would someone with her high-class dialect, in a similar manner as Siege be a mercenary of all things?
"Oh sod it, I'm going to go and ask."
Before Irene could stop her, Saileach had already gotten up with her cup of tea and began making a beeline toward where they sat. The two were talking with each other quite intensely, and though it may be rude of her to do so, curiosity was a powerful driving force for people to do things.
"Excuse me, but are you Victorian as well?"
Saileach asked in the most elegant and polite tone that she could muster, and the red-haired woman seemed taken aback by her sudden appearance.
"Bloody-ahem. Yes, may I help you?"
Aha! So she is Victorian, I wonder where she's from?
Her peaked cap was taken off and placed on the sides of her table, revealing her near-glowing crimson-red hair to the world. "Ah, just a spot of curiosity. No Victorian ever comes here, and I myself am only here on work-related matters. Why are you here, if I may be so bold?"
Bold indeed, as an answer was stammered out quickly, most likely due to her asking with such directness. Saileach realized that she may have been a bit too forward in her question then and there.
"My…companion and I are only passing by. We're on our way to…" Her eyes seemed to dart all around her for a brief moment before responding. "Leithanien."
Leithanien through Iberia? That was an odd route to take considering how restrictive Iberian laws are regarding travellers passing through its territory. Most travellers instead took the much more popular Siracusan route instead, most companies these days had packages that made the journey much easier.
"Huh, long road ahead for the two of you I suppose. You picked one very unfortunate town to pass by. Say, where in Victoria are you from? I can't quite place where exactly your accent is from, and I've been all over, none of my friends I've heard sound quite exactly like you."
After hearing her talk for a bit more, her accent was most similar to Siege's, but not quite. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before, and her travels had taken her to most of Victoria's lands.
"Ah, well, you see I am actually from…Portsmouth, yes, Portsmouth." Her eyes locked onto hers, seemingly waiting for Saileach to give a response. Did she perhaps mean Portsmouth City? It was where Horn's father was located after all. The way she said it was most definitely suspect, but she had no reason to suspect a random traveller for now. Just as she was about to ask her a few questions to test her on Victoria's history, however, her RI phone suddenly buzzed, and she paused to take a look at the message sent.
'At the town, armed soldiers posted in front of the clinic, unrecognizable uniforms, olive green. They all have guns.'
Saileach read Ansel's message again and again before she realized the seriousness of that situation. Widening her eyes, she quickly signalled Irene with a hand gesture to get the bill before turning to the confused looking woman and her companion.
"Apologies, but my duty calls. If you're still here later on do find me at the La Noscea Inn!"
Excusing herself, Saileach placed down her cup of tea and grabbed her standard before making her way outside. The infected town was at least a twenty-minute walk, if she and Irene ran they could make it in less than ten. She quickly sent a message off to Ansel, telling him to hold his position with Rosa and Ambriel until they got there. Armed soldiers with guns in a town full of infected? Her gut feeling told her that it did not bode well, and whatever it was, they had to stop any harm from coming to the innocents.
AN:
Long-winded explanation about the use of Oripathy in this story below, skip if not your thing.
Regarding the use of Oripathy in this story, I feel that it is prudent of me to describe why I decided to make it that way. Arknights to me is a setting that is not ultimately about the disease that plagues its world, but conflict in general. Terra's issues, at least from what I understand of it, stem not from Oripathy, but rather as a side-effect of its societies. Heck, even the last few main story chapters have been entirely focused on the nations of Terra itself, there wasn't a lot about research into curing Oripathy. Most of what new lore tidbits were from things like Operator files from infected operators anyways.
I'm writing this mainly as historical/political in genre, so when Oripathy does get used in the plot, it's going to be used to advance the story of this brave new world that the port of Gibraltar has found itself in. Oripathy and its effects will still be present and further developed with respect to how it affects regular humans, and I do consider any pros and cons with the way I have decided to handle it, so don't go accusing me of writing a stomp scenario now; I've written too many other fics to fall into this trap. If you still feel that I'm going too far in one certain direction, then by all means do point it out, but know that the use of Oripathy in this story is final. The world of Terra is vast, and magical rock cancer isn't the only thing that can harm those from Azur Lane.
This is ultimately what I see Arknights as, if you do not like how I am handling it, you are free to click away.
Be civil in the comments below.
