While Kamijou was looking at the different-shaped Italian sockets and Index was playing with the television remote control, switching channels, Orsola's two hands were holding a tray full of cutlery as she walked out of the room.
The main dish was soup with oysters. Other dishes included a crab meat cold soup and something that was dyed black by squid ink and placed on the plate. According to Orsola, it was something made from corn powder and then boiled as a soup, and it could be directly consumed.
Just as Kamijou was about to sit down, an Amakusa girl who was delivering the plates of food said,
"Do you want one?"
She held out a hot napkin.
"Ah, thanks."
Kamijou nodded and received it. The girl just said 'my pleasure, my pleasure' as she frantically walked out of the room. Double eyelids, Kamijou thought. He could hear all sorts of noises, including "Itsuwa, how's the battle of the hot napkins?", "Idiot, it's too early now. The most important thing is to give a good impression," "Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?" What's going on? Aren't they supposed to have lunch with us?
"Eh, what's wrong with those Amakusa guys?"
Kamijou stood beside the dining table as he asked a question regarding the four teenagers.
"I heard from them that they're training now. If they don't follow the designated method to cook the designated food, their reactions will become slow…"
"The Amakusa is a religion that uses all sorts of religious rituals in their everyday life, including sleeping, bathing, and walking. Since the situation is different, they can only eat a limited number of things."
"Ah, such a troublesome group of people."
Being prompted by Orsola, who had a somewhat deviated conclusion, Kamijou and Index immediately said "Itadakimasu".
"Woah, this is great!? What's this, the soup is so delicious, huh?"
"Mn, it taste 500 times better than what Touma cooks."
"Don't say that when you didn't even help out one bit. But this is really delicious! Delicious!"
With the praise that was mixed with a bit of ill intent, Orsola bitterly laughed,
"I just hastily made these with the stuff that I already have."
"Hastily made…but the guidebook did mention a few of them. At least we achieved our goal."
"…Touma, I want to create the best memory of this trip earlier."
The two tourists here were completely satisfied before they had even seen the world's heritage that was 20km away. Orsola, who was supposed to be praised, now had to follow their conversation.
"Say… you're here to see Venezia, right?"
"Sort of; that was our travel plan, but we couldn't seem to contact the local guide. We had nothing to do after checking in at the hotel. Is Venezia really the leading tourist destination around here?"
"Going to Venezia to sightsee, coming to Chioggia to stay. Can't drive around in Venezia, the humidity is so high, and the cold floor…"
"Compared to here, the accommodation fee there is several times more expensive."
Orsola replied without any hesitation.
"But forgetting about those disadvantages, it's still worth the visit. Besides, it's called the 'Water Capital', 'Queen of the Adriatic Sea', 'Bride of the Adriatic Sea'… Well, it's a beautiful city with all sorts of accolades on it."
"Seems like there are more of the 'Adriatic Sea' prefixes."
Kamijou dipped a piece of the cheese-like colored stuff in some pitch-black squid ink. Though it was covered in squid ink, it was surprisingly mild.
"Ma, Venezia was originally a marine military state controlling the Adriatic Sea, so the prefix is rather appropriate. Every year, Venezia would have a national-level 'wedding with the sea' ceremony. At that time…the ruler of the country would throw a gold ring into the Adriatic Sea to symbolise the merging of Venezia and the Adriatic Sea and be closer to it."
"Eh, Venezia was originally a country?"
Kamijou asked. Index, who was drinking the cold crab meat soup with a scoop, replied,
"Touma, this country called 'Italy' was something that was only established recently. Before that, there were a lot of city states on the peninsula. It was somewhat like the Sengoku Era."
"…"
"What, why are you so silent now?"
"—Nothing. You're pretty knowledgeable."
"Wu, what? Saying this just now?"
Index's vision fell slightly onto the bowl, her face was somewhat red.
Orsola picked up an oyster with her fork as she continued,
"Venezia was one of the powerful city states, and said that she hated being controlled by outside, so she went against the Pope and nearly declared war. She didn't declare war, but was viewed as 'an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church' as she continued to prosper. Besides that, during her heyday, Venezia, together with Padova and Mestre, continued to take control of many city states in Northern Italy and made her name into history."
"Then what about here?"
"Ah, Chioggia and Venezia were competitive sea city states, and fought several times, that's about it. In truth, there were many city states in Northern Italy which had salt and foreign imports like Venezia, but due to war, politics, calamities and other sorts of reasons, the numbers dwindled, and finally only Venezia was left."
Kamijou made a sound in response.
Now, if the history had changed a little, the lasting name would have been Chioggia. Hearing this, Kamijou was somewhat touched despite not knowing too much about history.
It felt like playing a Sangoku-era or Sengoku-era game (changing history).
"No matter what, I do feel that since you're here, you should tour through Venezia first. For a Christian like me, it's a very interesting place where you can learn a lot of things. Even if it's not so, you can tour through and see the beautiful scenery. Though Chioggia has speedboats, she doesn't have tourist boats. The streets over there have scenes that can't be seen here. Here in Italy, the only place to escape the vehicles and yet continue to operate as a city is Venezia."
"Ho, seems interesting. Thanks Orsola. Then Index, we'll go to Venezia after we clear the stuff."
"Mn…I just want the food. It's great to stay here."
"You… how can you make such an unreasonable request to the person who fished you here?"