To be a good prime minister, I first became the leader of a secret religion.

Chapter 38 Machine Guns and Confessional

Viscount Hammond's home, Bedford Square, was an upper-middle-class residential area in London.

The houses here all have a separate underground drainage inlet, one end of which connects to a sewer branch, and the other end is usually a cellar or basement.

After Winston had the Scotland Yard liaison surveyor confirm this, he exclaimed "Good!" three times.

This way, even after 10 p.m., the police can still make arrests or rescue people in Bedford Square!

To ensure his safety, Winston suffered from a severe phobia of insufficient firepower, wanting to deploy everything, whether physical or mystical. If it weren't for the fact that firearms hadn't been developed yet, he would have even considered using thermobaric bombs.

Putting aside thermobaric weapons, Winston has inquired and confirmed that machine guns do exist in this world.

In any case, the existence of the ancient gods did not have a comprehensive impact on scientific development, and Queen Victoria did not care about these things—although people were driven to suicide by a single glance or a utterance from Him, the Queen remained indifferent to the vast majority of events happening in her country.

Thinking of this, Winston almost chuckled. When he heard that the machine gun had just been invented and was considered merely a "new toy," he actually laughed out loud, cheerfully saying to the War Secretary who had come to the Prime Minister's residence for tea:

"I want to buy 120 machine guns; if you don't need them, I will."

Minister of War: "?"

Due to time constraints, Winston only managed to acquire five helicopters. One was parked at 10 Downing Street, three were temporarily stored at Scotland Yard, and the remaining one is now located opposite Viscount Hammond's back garden.

He had intended to have Scotland Yard deploy all its firepower into the sewers, but the machine guns of that era were too big, and the sewer entrances were too small, allowing only one person to pass at a time, so Winston had to abandon the plan.

v1888's sharp comment: [This thing is only effective in open areas. What if you go through all that trouble to get the gun over there, only to end up shooting your own people to death?]

"What do you know? The bigger the gun barrel, the greater the deterrent effect."

Besides, other guns these days are even less effective. Whether something is good or bad is only apparent in comparison.

Winston said, "Besides, why don't you just use your claws to lift the machine gun into the air and fire it rapidly? Britain is just one more effort away from inventing the first bomber."

v1888 launched into a tirade of profanities, the noise so loud it was irritating even from a distance: 【Is that something you can achieve through hard work?!】

Winston rubbed his ear, interrupting it, "Alright, enough joking. You're 'outside' now, aren't you? Have you sensed anything unusual?"

【……No.】

A black eagle in the distance perched on a treetop, raising its head, which looked strangely mask-like due to the lack of fur, and gazing at the starry sky and bright moon above.

Or perhaps the absence of anything unusual is itself unusual. Winston, you know... the moon above my head is silvery-white.

Winston blurted out, "Silver-white? Shouldn't the moon be blood-red?"

Only after speaking did he realize how deeply he had been influenced by his recent experiences and the original owner's memories, and added, "You mean, the moon—has turned back?"

Yes, this moon looks exactly like the moon in your hometown.

These words were so moving that Winston almost felt an urge to go out onto the terrace and look up at the sky.

But reason stopped him. He pressed himself against the window, trying to look up, but all he could see was a night sky shrouded in dark clouds, with a ring of scarlet, reassuring red moonlight outlining the edge of the clouds.

"...I can't see anything." After a long silence, Winston said in a deep voice.

Yes, that's the biggest difference between our two perspectives; other than that, I haven't noticed anything else noteworthy.

"Alright, you stay outside and keep watch. If anything happens, contact Norman Lovecraft in the sewers."

Police and machine guns fall under the category of applied physics, while Norman represents the realm of mysticism.

The old man, over fifty years old, never complained when he stayed up all night with Winston.

Everything is ready; all that's missing is meeting Viscount Hammond.

After Winston had walked around the house three or four times, exploring almost every corner except the attic and basement, the maid who had blushed at him earlier hurried over, a fine layer of sweat covering her forehead and nose.

"Sir! It's your turn!"

Winston stopped and asked, "What time is it?"

"I don't know, sir. Please come with me."

As the maid spoke, she faced Winston and backed away into the depths of the corridor.

Winston: "? Why are you leaving like this?"

"This is the Viscount's decree, sir," the maid replied respectfully, her hands folded in front of her. "I must keep an eye on you at all times to make sure you are still you, and have not been replaced by anything else."

Winston frowned. "What do you mean by 'other things'?"

The maid shrank back at his sudden change in demeanor and stammered, "I...I don't know, sir. The Viscount said they were...man-eating monsters."

It sounds like a purely scare tactic.

Winston asked, "But I've been acting alone the whole time, is that alright?"

The maid's face paled further, and she looked at Winston pleadingly, "Please, could you not tell the Viscount about this?"

Winston knew that the other person had been doing their job dutifully and that it was all his fault for misusing his skills, so he reassured him, "I won't say anything, don't worry. I'm still me, I haven't been possessed by any strange creature—or even if I was, that was a long time ago."

The second half of the sentence was added on a whim, recalling his time travel experience, and the maid seemed even more frightened after hearing it.

...Winston pondered that this was his first time in this apartment, and there was a maid staring intently at him, walking backwards. Shouldn't he be the one feeling scared?

The two arrived at the staircase leading to the attic, one after the other.

The maid, her face pale, whispered, "The Viscount's study is upstairs. Please come up."

Winston nodded, leaning on his cane to steadily climb to the top, and reached out to push open a small, semi-circular door in front of him.

Inside was a cramped room, almost like a closet, with three walls, a ceiling, and a floor made of neatly arranged reddish-brown bricks. A wooden stool sat in the middle of the room, but Viscount Hammond was not on it.

This is because there is a wall in front of Winston, and a door in the wall. Both are made of wood, and Winston can see the bare, uncarved bark on them.

There was a perforated, window-like structure on the door, hidden by a dark green curtain. Winston briefly recalled the layout of the apartment and was certain that the space behind the door was much larger than the small room he was in.

Clearly, the attic of the apartment was originally a single unit, and someone built a wall on the side of the room closer to the entrance.

This resulted in the current room, which resembles a confessional.

Winston walked unhurriedly to the dark green curtain, tapping his cane on the ground with a rhythmic thud.

He didn't speak immediately.

After a long while, the person at the other end of the room said, "The current prime minister arrived sooner than I expected. Good night, Your Excellency."