Let's rewind time to a few weeks back.
The bumps on the road caused the wheels of the carriage to jerk. Because of this sharp jerking, nobody on the gradually moving carriage was able to sleep.
Agnese Sanctis was sitting inside the cabin of the carriage. The carriage wasn't one made of cloth and frames, but a real one made of wood.
Her age was approximately between 10 to 15, and her height was slightly shorter than those of her age. She had white skin and lemon-tea eyes, red hair that was between coffee and blond, and braids that were several pencils thick.
She was clad in a black nun's habit and 30cm thick sandals. Though her clothes were made of highly flexible fabrics, it looked unnaturally clean. Normally speaking, there would be wear and tear when one washed the clothes, but there was no sign of it on her clothes. Just on this point, it was fair to say that she was really eye-catching.
The petite nun looked outside the window.
The rectangular window was about as large as a tray, and there was iron mesh hammered on the outside as if it was a metal net. Though the window was closed, one could sense the faint smell of the tide. On the other side of the glass window was the satellite city of Venezia, which was designated as a worldwide tourist attraction. There were families dragging their luggage around and coffee shop attendants approaching them.
"Is this your first time here?"
At the front of the carriage—the driver driving the carriage asked. As the wooden wall was blocking, Agnese couldn't see it.
The gruff voice of the middle-aged man was rather special, Italian mixed with some French. This man should be from Milano, Agnese guessed.
"Yeah, I've never been here before. Though I was born in the north, I am from Milano."
Due to the way she was learning it, her Japanese was somewhat rude, but her Italian was rather polite.
On hearing how the other person was replying in a similar manner, the driver's tone becomes even gentler.
"That's good. I prefer the mainland as well. How should I say it… the air there is fresher, I'll even feel motivated. But there are lots of things to see here. Even though it's my job, I do feel that going around sightseeing is an interesting thing. I'm glad that my workplace is in Italy; there are unique things everywhere. I might get sick of it if it was another country."
Hearing this, Agnese smiled.
She looked out of the window and said,
"There are many wonderful places overseas as well."
"Really?"
"Yes, because I like new things. Isn't there a phrase called 'World Heritage' or something? After looking there, I would find that it really is worthy of being hailed as a world heritage. Like the Fontainebleau garden, it really is a renaissance of plain art involving water and greens. The Cologne Cathedral can be said to be pointing the sharp edge to the sky. As for Japan, before saying whether it's nice or ugly, I have to say that the first thing I felt was an inexplicable feeling."
"I see."
The driver answered flatly.
The carriage continued to move forward. The reason the carriage was so slow was one, because of the driver, and two, because the thing pulling the carriage was not a horse, but a donkey. Obviously, this kind of carriage had no significant horsepower.
"Those people who walk the earth certainly say a different story."
"Not really. Most of the places I go to are in Europe."
"I never had the chance to leave Europe. Because of work, I can only move to where my carriage can go."
"Then if it's outside this area, you'll take a plane?"
"Yeah. But considering the practicality, the ground is much more stable. If we're to tangle with the science side, we can't use spells to prevent escaping… oh my, this topic isn't suitable for you right now."
"Please don't mind. But it's true that there's a sense of pressure when I'm taking a plane."
"Really? Just as I expected. The plane feels like it's forcing itself to fly in the air. If there were a hole, it would collapse due to the difference in pressure. Though this is a special rule in the air, I do feel that it's extremely scary. If it's a hot air balloon, I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride."
"But a hot air balloon is considered a type of plane."
"Ah, is that so? Then no matter what the thing is, as long as it involves the science side, I don't want to get involved with it in the future. Oh, we're here."
Agnese's body slightly trembled due to habit. The donkey-pulled carriage seemed like it had stopped. Her eyes turned from the window to the two doors behind.
She looked at the door that hadn't opened yet, and quietly said,
"The destination is… 'The Queen of the Adriatic Sea' and the 'Queen's Fleet', huh?"
As if in response to this sentence, the lock on the door opened.