CHAPTER 1

The Streets of Chioggia
Il_Vento_di_Chioggia.

1

The Marco Polo International Airport was famous for being the front door of northern Italy and, in particular, Venice.

The airport was located on the opposite shore from Venice, whose place on the Adriatic Sea earned it the moniker “City of Water” on the Italian mainland. For the most part, the airport was for tourists. Their journeys were broadly divided into two possible routes: taking a bus or train across the Bridge of Liberty, a nearly four-kilometer-long bridge and the only available land route to the main island, or using a boat from an opposite shore and taking the sea route.

Tourists could take routes to other places besides Venice’s main island as well, such as Vicenza, Padua, Bassano del Grappa, and Belluno. Whatever the case, tourists traveling to northeastern Italy from abroad would always land at this airport, and the passenger jet Kamijou and Index rode on was no exception. Normally the airport didn’t receive direct flights from Japan, but Academy City seemed to be a special case.

Several dramatic scenes unfolded, like Touma surmounting questions from foreign officials at the immigration gates and breaking into a cold sweat during the long wait for their suitcase. Despite it all, they eventually succeeded in exiting the airport.

Index had changed out of her simple blouse and skirt Kamijou had bought her in the Academy City airport and back into her normal white habit. They couldn’t bring the safety pins onto the plane, so they had reconstructed the fragments of cloth with new joinery they procured as soon as they got into Marco Polo International Airport. He found himself worrying, somewhat seriously, about his status as a young man when they’d come all the way to Italy and the first thing that had happened was a girl pestering him for a handful of safety pins.

Even so, they had made it safely out of the airport and set foot on foreign soil.

Now they were supposed to meet up with the rest of their tour group—they’d come via a different flight—and begin their trip as directed by their guide. If northern Italy had anything to offer, it was the city of Venice, which was itself a World Heritage Site. But there were plenty of other noteworthy locations. Kamijou had actually read all the materials twice last night without sleeping, so he knew.

And when it comes to Venice, you’ve got St. Mark’s Square, the Doge’s Palace, the Ponte dell’Accademia, the Natural History Museum, the Naval History Museum, and the most famous theater in the world, the Teatro La Fenice! For souvenirs, there’s glasswork and mask making! There’s even a ton of places to see outside Venice, too, like the city where Galileo taught! This is all just secondhand knowledge from the guidebook, but still! That’s all gonna be actual experiences and memories soon! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Amazing! This is gonna be the best!!

That’s what he’d been thinking, anyway.

“Touma…They’re late.”

“Yeah. I don’t even see the guide, much less anyone on the same tour…”

Over two hours had passed already since the arranged meeting time.

He knew guides had a tendency to pick places good for tourists, even if there were many other places they wanted to go, but to think the very first spot would be a flop!

They were at the bus terminal in front of the airport now. Still, it was mostly indoors. The ceiling and pillars along the station were part of the airport, and it was lit not by sunlight but by rectangular light fixtures in the ceiling. The ground and ceiling were both entirely level, so it didn’t feel like they were outside in the slightest. It felt more like they were in a parking garage specially designed to be lit up.

The buses passing through without stopping were distinguishable by color, like having a blue or orange frame. Kamijou had figured out they seemed to mark differences in service routes or systems. Still, it wasn’t as though the service schedule was very easy to read.

I see. This must be what Orsola felt like when she was having trouble riding the bus…, he convinced himself, remembering the smile of the go-at-her-own-pace former Roman Orthodox sister. Beside him, the heat had gotten to Index. She was already starting to slump in exhaustion.

Europe’s average latitude was about the same as Hokkaido’s, which meant its temperature would be lower than Japan’s, making for a comfortable time…or so it had said in the guidebook. It seemed like there were always exceptions.

Bordering the airport was the Adriatic Sea. Warm, salty winds blew in from the ocean, unceasingly mixing and whirling into the bus exhaust as they came and went. The temperature itself might have been comfortable, but the regional wind buffeting his face and body was still lukewarm. Enough time out here and his spirit would be eroded like crags hit by waves. The people walking around nearby—European tourists and businessmen, by the looks of it—were also glancing up at the sky and patting the sweat on their faces with handkerchiefs.

“Touma, have we been left behind?”

“Damn it…We were right on time, too…Man, calling them didn’t work, either! We might have to go on our own for now.”

He wasn’t sure whether it was because his phone was made in Academy City or just that phone companies were working extra hard lately, but his cell phone appeared to be usable in Italy, too. Still, he’d called the number they’d given him beforehand and heard nothing but an automated Japanese voice mail.