Third Arc: Eleventh Chapter

"Oh my! So this is Lumelica! It's so full of life!"

"Yes, truly. What a crowd, though. Is there a festival on, perhaps?"

Having reached Lumelica at last, we set our feet on the ground for the first time in ages at the inn's carriage stop. I still felt like I was swaying somehow, but even that queasiness was blown away by the sight of the streets around us.

Ringosta, the capital of Lumelica, was a bigger city than any I had seen in this world. Along the main street running straight from the gate at the city's entrance stood row upon row of shops, their windows crammed with all kinds of goods. The fountain square at the city's center, which I saw as we passed, had stalls set up and served as a resting spot for crowds of people, and the streets that spread out from it like spokes were lined with shops of every size, people bustling to and fro. The lanes were laid out like a net, so tangled that I thought if you once lost your way in them, you might never find your way back.

As Lady Julia and I stood gazing wide-eyed and bewildered at the inn's open entrance, a voice edged with laughter called to us.

"Ha ha! First time in Ringosta, young ladies? This is a dream of a country, where all sorts of people mix together! There are always plenty of people, festival or not, but right now there are a little more than usual!"

When I turned around, there stood a black-haired young man of not quite thirty. He twirled the cane in his hand, took off his top hat, and grinned. The loudly patterned tailcoat that fluttered with his movements gave him a comical air.

"Um, and who might you be...?"

At my question, put to him uncertainly, the young man answered with his black eyes shining bright.

"A pleasure to meet you! I'm Michael! Call me Mickey! Ha ha!"

...Mickey... it reminds me of something. ...I would rather not call him that.

"...Say, do you have relatives in Altria, by any chance?"

"Who knows? My family runs to large broods, so I would say I have plenty of relatives! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!"

Mickey, or rather Michael, smiled the whole time, though what he found so funny I couldn't say. Looking closely, his black hair shone as if wet and hung sleek, and with his lanky height he had a good figure. His features were extraordinarily fine, a handsome young man. But between that and the loud clothes, the whole effect was thoroughly shady.

Why was that? Maybe because the loudness of his clothes had broken through some limit. No, really, those clothes were loud. I didn't much want to get involved with him.

A jacket of big purple polka dots on a fluorescent green ground, and underneath it a stand-collar shirt of yellow stripes glaring against shocking pink, dazzling to the eye. From the hems of trousers the same color as the jacket peeked bright red socks, and his glossy patent-leather shoes were a vivid blue.

No. It was beyond my understanding. More to the point, I did not want anyone thinking we knew each other.

"By the way, you ladies came for Lord Elliot's wedding, didn't you? I've been put in charge of showing you around! If you like, I'll give you a tour of the city!"

"No, thank you."

"An instant no?!"

I had turned him down without thinking.