Victoria Harbor.
They called it a harbor, but it was not the kind connected to the sea and used to carry ships. Across all of Terra, aside from countries with inland seas and Lungmen, which had directly dug canals through its city-state, no one actually possessed such a thing.
The moment she stepped out of the car, Hoshino felt the thick "Victoria atmosphere." The sun was rarely seen year-round, rain fell without end, and a heavy gloom rushed straight at her. As far as the eye could see, nearly everyone carried an umbrella.
"So this is Victoria?"
Passing through the station, Hoshino stopped beside a dark green newsstand, looking rather unimpressed.
"Wouldn't living in a place like this for too long give you depression?"
"Victoria is the homeland of detectives. This kind of weather trains the mind and makes one's thinking more meticulous."
May retorted.
Hoshino did not respond. She casually scanned the newspapers. The newsstand inside the harbor had nothing particularly noteworthy, aside from an opera house currently staging the alternate-history opera Hannibal.
Carthaginian General Hannibal returned in triumph?
She did not really understand it, but it sounded impressive. Hoshino gazed at the newspaper through the glass display case and nodded thoughtfully.
Opera.
Just as Ursus had its ballets, Victorians had their own proud cultural calling cards: all manner of operas and musicals. The damp air nurtured beautiful singing voices, and the two complemented each other.
Hoshino only gave it a glance and had little interest in it. She walked out through the arched gateway, passed through the deep darkness, and watched the light ahead gradually grow brighter.
For the first time, the scenery of Londinium, Victoria's capital, unfolded completely before her eyes.
A sea of black-clad people.
They stood in the drizzle, holding identical black pointed umbrellas at