London's cuisine was pretty unique.
There were many dishes to choose from and some were exotic enough that Shirou had to wonder about the taste.
The local food, fish and chips, was surprisingly delicious. And he also enjoyed eating the roast beef that was sold by the roadside vendors.
Shirou ate a lot, enjoying his time in London. He bought many different kinds of food, trying to enjoy as much local flavor as possible.
However, he had something else in his mind.
'That was too similar to a magecraft.'
What he saw earlier kept replaying in his mind, refusing to leave him alone. The way that the phone booth disappeared and how the ground shone.
He had a hunch that this wasn't normal at all. It couldn't be just some simple magic trick or mechanic. There was definitely something more to it.
If he had to compare it to something he knew, he would say it was like Tohsaka's jewel craft. Or rather, something more than that. He wasn't an expert in magic, but he could feel it.
Something was different from normal power that utilized reiryoku and reiatsu.
'What if...'
What if this was related to magic? What if there was something that had to do with magic?
What if the Throne of Heroes also existed here?
Avalon might be within his reach.
He put his hand on his chest and tried to calm his beating heart.
"Calm down..." Shirou mumbled. "There is no need to rush."
Right now, he needs to focus on eating. And he should try to enjoy his vacation first before getting too worked up about anything else.
So after eating his fill, he returned to his hotel and slept.
It had been a long day.
He woke up in the morning, refreshed and ready to start his day.
At first he planned to go on a culinary tour again, but he decided to visit the phone booth because he couldn't shake his curiosity.
So here he was.
Standing in front of a phone booth that stood in the clearing connected by four tunnel in the buildings around it.
He was about to touch the door handle but he stopped himself.
'What if that was magecraft that activates when I touch it?'
An unknown magecraft was dangerous
Shirou didn't want to activate a trap and die because of carelessness, so he carefully inspected everything around the phone booth.
There was no clue at all. He couldn't find any traps or spells that could harm anyone, which made him a bit suspicious. Maybe it was too obvious? Maybe he should have expected more?
Shirou scratched his head, confused.
"Should I insert a coin inside?"
"What are you doing here?"
A voice caused Shirou to jolt in surprise. He quickly turned around.
And in his sight, there stood a familiar girl with black uniform.
It was the girl who he had seen before, the one that disappeared in the circle of light. Her black hair swayed slightly from the wind and her eyes narrowed.
She stood with one of her hands on her hip and another one flicking her hair. She was glaring at Shirou as if he had offended her.
"What are you doing? This is a private property."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Shirou bowed slightly even though he didn't need to. "I got lost while looking for a restaurant. Then, when I was wandering, I saw you enter that phone booth and then it disappeared into the ground. I was just curious about it."
The girl raised an eyebrow at the explanation, but after seeing Shirou's honest face, she sighed.
"You saw what?"
"Yeah, you went inside that thing and vanished." Shirou repeated, pointing to the phone booth.
The girl looked at him, then at the phone booth and back again.
She crossed her arms, and looked away. It was obvious that she wasn't pleased. A sigh escaped her lips while she thought that she screwed up.
"..."
After a few moments of silence, the girl spoke up.
"My achievement will take a hit. The best thing to do is to just erase him."
"...?"
Shirou had a bad premonition and immediately put on guard.
Magus would always prioritize secrecy above everything. And if it was leaked out, the one who was involved would be eliminated to prevent information spread.
He wasn't unfamiliar with their customs, not after knowing about Tohsaka and the Magic Association.
And if he had to guess, then this girl in front of him should be one of those people who were hiding in plain sight and would eliminate those who found their secret.
In this world where Hollow and Shinigami were real, he wasn't really surprised that mages existed.
"Hey, wait! Calm down!" He said, raising his hands. "I also know about magic, so please calm down. Look."
Shirou traced a nameless sword to his right hand and held the hilt. He showed it off to the girl who looked wary and held a pipe in her hand.
"See. I'm also a magus like you." Shirou continued, grinning, "My specialty is projection. I'm Kurosaki Shirou from Japan. Nice to meet you!"
"Kurosaki Shirou?" She tilted her head and looked up for a moment before returning his gaze.
"Yes."
"A mage? No, what did you do? You don't have a witch kit and yet a sword appeared in your hand." The girl shook her head, confused.
'A witch kit?' Shirou thought to himself, 'I never heard about it before. Maybe it's a magical instrument.'
In the first place, his knowledge about magus and magic came from his observation and the basic knowledge Tohsaka gave him in 7 days of war.
He never really tried to find out more about it.
One answer that came to his mind was...
"Well, I am a bit special in that regard. A unique brand of magic if you will."
"I see. So you are a wizard then." She nodded in understanding. "It's my mistake for not knowing it. And you want to access Reverse London with that phone booth?"
"Reverse London?"
"Huh? You are a mage and you don't know?" She stared at him in disbelief.
"Umm... Yeah... I am new to the world of magic." Shirou scratched his cheek and smiled wryly.
Better tell the truth rather than be interrogated later for lying.
"That makes sense, I guess. You're too clueless to be a spy." She nodded, convinced, "But it doesn't matter. You said you were from Japan, so I guess you wouldn't have known much anyway."
"Right."
"Then, should I just show you around?" She offered with a small smile on her face.
"Huh? Is it fine?" He blinked in surprise.
"It's no trouble at all." The girl smiled brightly.
"After all I need to explain about your presence so my achievement doesn't take a hit." She continued in a small voice.
Stepping down the stairs, she approached the phone booth. She glanced at him for a second before entering and beckoning for him to follow.
"Stand behind me." She said as she stood inside the phone booth, putting a coin into the slot.
Just as she did, Shirou heard the phone ring and the girl picked up the receiver to speak.
"Noel Niihashi and guest."
The slot began to shine and a magic circle appeared below their feet.
"Wow..." He whispered, amazed at what was happening in front of his eyes. "This is..."
Shirou felt a pull on his body. And as if the gravity suddenly reversed itself, he started to fall down at a fast speed.
The phone booth elevator wasn't one for the faint of heart, he had to admit.
When the ride ended, the elevator arrived at a place resembling where he arrived from, the overgrown alley. However, the scenery that was outside was a lot different from the one he knew.
When he left the alley with the girl, Noel, he noticed it.
Something was flying in the sky, a flock of birds or maybe something else. There were many people around, but they looked normal. No one had a weird outfit on.
"Welcome to Reverse London." Noel said as she turned to him, "Let me escort you to Wing Bind."
**Chapter END**
This will be a short introductory act for future sake!