Baccano! - Volume 12 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

THE ODD FAMILY IS AWKWARD

“Holy crap—it’s huge…!”

That was the baby-faced young man’s first comment.

A second later, he snapped his mouth shut and darted a hasty glance at his surroundings. Clearing his throat, he pretended he hadn’t said anything and tried again, with a bit too much sophistication this time.

“ Ah…I mean, uh, it’s magnificent, isn’t it? Perfect for venturing out in the vast reaches of the ocean and sky, I’d say.”

The bespectacled young man gave a bright and pleasant smile, but—

—the illusion was broken when, behind him, he heard someone choking back laughter.

“Snrk! …I—I can’t…! Ah-ha, ah-ha-ha!”

At the sound of the innocent, childlike giggles, the young man flinched.

“Wha…? What’s the matter, Czes?”

“Oh, c-come on…! You’re trying way too hard, Firo!” Biting back his laughter, the boy who’d been called Czes looked up at the young man. “Besides, F-Firo… That tux looks terrible on you!”

“Erk… R-really? Does it look that bad…? Well, it’s not like I can change it now, so give me a break, okay?”

Maybe he didn’t think it looked good on him, either. Firo Prochainezo, the young man in the tuxedo, took off his nonprescription glasses and put them in their case, scrutinizing his own clothes.

“Hey, Ennis, what do you th—?”

As he turned to his right, Firo stiffened.

Standing beside him was a familiar woman with whom he’d spent over seventy years by now.

Firo had become immortal as the result of a certain incident in 1930, and ever since, he’d been living with this woman. A year after that, Czes—Czeslaw Meyer, a boy who was also an immortal—had joined them. They’d joyfully welcomed him as a kind of little brother, and the three of them had spent these many long years together.

For a human, it would have been a lifetime. For an immortal, it might have been no more than an instant.

When about fifty years had passed, Firo had gotten up the courage to propose to that woman—and now here she was, still at his side.

Ennis.

Ennis Prochainezo.

From her features alone, Firo’s wife appeared to be about his age, but thanks to the calm aura she exuded, people often assumed she was somewhat older.

And as Firo’s eyes landed on his wife, time froze for him.

The dress she wore had a rather low neckline, and although its design was plain, that simplicity only emphasized the beauty of the woman wearing it. Her arms were exposed, and since she usually wore a suit, this garment made her seem completely different.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Firo had never seen Ennis’s arms or cleavage. She dressed lightly at night, as you’d expect, and he’d seen photos from times when she and Czes had gone to the beach or the pool.

However, the way she looked in the bright sunlight, wearing a brand-new dress for the first time, left far more of an impression than he’d anticipated.

Noticing that Firo’s gaze was riveted on her, Ennis looked down, seeming embarrassed.

“Um… Does it look bad?” She sounded a little apologetic.

“Wha…?! N-no, Ennis, not at all!” Firo hastily waved his hands and shook his head.

The gesture made him look like a naïve kid with his first love; it was hard to believe they’d been together in some form for more than seventy years.

When Firo was wearing his glasses, he just barely managed to pass as a young adult, but now that he didn’t have them on, and especially now that he was floundering in front of a girl, he could have been mistaken for a boy.

Once again, he tilted that youthful face back, craning his neck to see the towering, floating thing in front of him.

The best word to describe the structure before them would be giant.

Elegant, opulent, resplendent, magnificent—all those words were apt, but giant was the one that applied more than anything.

The luxury cruise ship Entrance.

It was a floating royal palace, as if someone had taken a brand-new resort hotel and set it on the ocean.

The ship had been built a few years earlier as a joint project between enormous Japanese and American corporations, and now it was one of the most distinguished cruise ships in the world.

It was said to offer luxuries from all over the world, and although it was a passenger liner that hosted various events, this unique ship was also equipped with huge cargo bays large enough to drive cars around in.

In the past, an international motor show had been held on board; it was even more famous as an event venue than a cruise ship.

However—there was one more unusual thing about the vessel.

Its sister ship, Exit.

A second ship of the exact same type had been built, and the pair had been christened Entrance and Exit, in the sense of “Entrance to paradise” and “Exit from the ordinary,” respectively.

The most vivid display of the uniqueness of these two ships was the “Crossing” that occurred when they sailed across the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. The ships would pass within eyeshot of each other, and each vessel would launch fireworks toward the other, wishing it well on its voyage.

“Hmm. What’s so great about seeing the exact same boat?” Firo had muttered back when he was flipping through the pamphlet. However, now that he was actually looking at this ship, the event made a whole lot more sense to him.

Full length: 1,004 feet.

Total height: 180 feet.

Total width: 171 feet.

Due to the size of the cargo bays and the event stage, its regular crew was slightly smaller than usual for a ship this large, but even so, it had the capacity to carry more than twenty-five hundred passengers and a thousand crew members. If you tipped an average skyscraper over onto its side, the ship would probably still be longer.

“They tend to call this thing a castle on the ocean, but…I don’t think many castles are this big,” Firo said appreciatively, sounding as young as he looked without his glasses.

Meanwhile, Ennis was also gazing up at the white wall. “I didn’t think they’d manage to create something like this in less than a century,” she murmured, a sentiment that was based on the long life she’d lived.

“I dunno about that. Personally, I think this country’s frontier days were more impressive. You shoulda seen how fast they were laying down those rails everywhere.”

Even when confronted with this enormous ship, Czes didn’t sound especially impressed behind them.

That was when Firo remembered that this boy, who seemed so much younger than they were, had actually lived more than two centuries longer.

“Maybe so, but we weren’t alive back then, all right?”

“Are you starting to feel like respecting your elders a little?” Czes teased with a smug little smirk, and Firo ruffled his hair with his left hand.

“Don’t get full of yourself, kiddo.”

“Waugh!”

Czes ducked away from Firo’s hand and hid behind Ennis, his hair a mess.

Ennis watched them both, smiling gently.

It was a heartwarming scene; even someone outside their little family would think so.

Yeah, this is going pretty well, Firo thought. They really did seem like a family, and he felt utterly blessed for it. Czes has been so much happier ever since he got back from his trip with Maiza, too… I dunno what happened, but it must’ve been something good.

Half a month earlier, Maiza and Czes had returned from a journey to visit other immortals, their old companions.

For several decades before that, Czes would put up walls between himself and the rest of the world, then deliberately act like a child in order to hide them.

But after he’d returned, those walls had mysteriously disappeared.

Before, he’d never done anything to remind Firo and the others that he was older than they were, but lately he’d started cracking jokes about it himself.

Firo had gotten curious and asked Maiza about it, but the only answer he’d gotten was “You’ll have to thank Elmer for that.”

Elmer—Szilard’s knowledge held hardly any memories of the man. Szilard had barely looked at other people in the first place, so that was only natural. However, from the memories of the alchemists Szilard had eaten, he could gather that Elmer was a very odd duck.

Well, he had a long life ahead of him, and he’d probably run into him someday.

Firo would thank him when that day came, but for now, he decided to focus on making sure the new Czes felt accepted as their older little brother.

Both as the cool and levelheaded Camorra executive he usually was and as the man he was with his family—an awkward kid who hadn’t changed in seventy years.

“Still…everybody around here seems loaded. Figures.”

The passengers crowding around him were diverse, but every single one of them smelled like money.

The handbook had said, “You are requested to attend the launch ceremony in formal attire,” so Firo had been planning to wear his usual suit, but—

“Firo, on a boat like that, ‘formal attire’ means tuxedos. Your regular suit counts as casual.”

His boss, Molsa Martillo, had admonished him, and so he’d gone all out and had a tuxedo tailored.

Czes wasn’t the only one who’d laughed at him. When he’d worn it to Alveare as an experiment, he’d ended up getting razzed by Randy and Pezzo, the other executives, the lower-ranking associates of the family, and even regular customers who had nothing to do with the Camorra.

“Man… Even Maiza laughed. Isaac and Miria said it looked really good on me, but I dunno what compliments from them actually mean.”

At present, the scale of the Martillo Family’s business had dwindled considerably.

It was true that the police had clamped down harder and were watching them more closely, but people also didn’t go out and gamble as much as they used to.

Due to the organization’s policy of not dealing drugs, their only stable sources of income were protection money and the spice import agency they’d started as a cover for their underground businesses.

That said, those circumstances had changed a few years ago.

Although their scale was smaller, they weren’t hurting for money.

Molsa had gotten into futures trading out of his own pocket, and a few years ago, he’d struck it rich and used the money to open a chain of Alveare restaurants.

That business had begun to stabilize, and so the Martillos’ dealings as Camorra had become more of a side business. Lately, some of the restaurant employees didn’t even know the Martillos had a darker side.

I wonder if we’re just gonna end up going straight.

His old self wouldn’t have stood for that, and he probably would have fought it.

However, now that he’d acquired a family and lived such a long time with them, going out of his way to engage in underground business didn’t seem necessary anymore.

Well, I did swear loyalty to the caposocietà and to the Martillo Family. No matter what happens, I’ll stay true to my word.

He’d stick with them to the end. He didn’t know where that end would be, but until then, at the very least, he’d take good care of what was within his reach.

Suddenly, Firo came to himself with a start and looked around.

Wait, what’s with me? Why am I thinking about all that now?

As he took a few deep breaths, he realized where the tension had come from.

Is it really something to get this nervous about?

Stealing a glance at Ennis beside him, Firo squeezed his hands into loose fists.

…This “honeymoon” thing.

It all started with one of Isaac and Miria’s usual conversations.

“Say, Isaac?”

“What is it, Miria?!”

Inside Alveare, the TV had been showing a feature on the marriage of Marie Antoinette when Miria had spoken up, eyes sparkling.

“How long is a honeymoon a honeymoon?”

“Well, it’s the first trip you take after you get married.”

“It is? Even if it’s been years and years?”

“Of course, Miria! After all, when two people are in love, they can find new things any old time!”

“That’s amazing!”

For Isaac and Miria, it was a perfectly ordinary conversation, but Firo had looked over at them.

What’s their deal? I know they were talking about it on TV, but I don’t think that’s all. Did they finally decide to start thinking about getting hitched?

The couple was indifferent to things like marriage or family; they seemed happy just being themselves. It was unusual to hear them talk about this subject, so Firo decided to listen in on their conversation for a while.

However—

—the next instant, he regretted he was even there.

“I see! Then Firo and Ennis still have time, huh?!”

“Of course they do!”

He spluttered and spit out his mouthful of liquor, then decided to assume that it was just an auditory hallucination brought on by drinking so early in the afternoon.

…But the rest of the restaurant wouldn’t let him.

“Huh? What the hell, Firo? Didn’t you guys take a honeymoon?”

“No wonder they don’t have a kid yet!”

Randy and Pezzo started cackling, and the other people in the restaurant who had too much time on their hands joined the conversation, one after another.

“Wait, actually, don’t tell me he hasn’t even…”

“Well, I doubt it’s possible.”

“The guy’s a serious late bloomer. It’s practically a challenge to male DNA.”

“Maybe not worrying about dying anymore sort of muted his instincts for procreation?”

“No, I think he’s probably just embarrassed… Well, never mind.”

“Are you kidding me? The guy’s about ninety—are you kidding me?”

“I actually feel bad for Ennis.”

“At least they kissed.”

“Yeah, we saw that, too.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Come to think of it, some weirdos crashed the wedding ceremony, didn’t they? That made a such a big impression I forgot about the rest of the wedding.”

“Well, sure. The church was one big puddle of blood.”

“Man, that takes me back.”

With nothing better to do, the others in the restaurant gradually gathered around Firo, cackling and discussing his relationship.

“So what about it? Even if it wasn’t an official honeymoon, have you ever taken her on a trip anywhere?”

“N-no, sir… I had to stay here.”

“In that case, I’ll take over as contaiuolo for you again, so don’t let that worry you.”

“Not you too, Maiza!”

After that, Firo’s merry yet irritating friends started noisily grilling him.

Firo tried to duck the barrage somehow, but—

—Miria gave him an unusually serious look and struck the finishing blow.

“Well, Firo, it’s just that… Ennis wouldn’t say anything, but every time this stuff comes up on TV, she watches it really intently, you know?”

That came as a fairly heavy shock, and after he got home that night, he went to talk to Ennis and cleared his throat.

“Uh, hey, Ennis?”

“Yes?”

She noticed something about him was different from usual; her expression turned serious as well, and she waited for him to go on.

“……”

Silence. It wasn’t easy to say “Let’s go on a honeymoon” while he was looking right at her.

“What is it, Firo?”

“W-well, uh…”

Ennis was technically his wife, but she treated him much the same as before they’d gotten married. There was less distance between them now, but she was still relatively proper around him. He doubted that would ever change, even if they eventually had a daughter or son. It was the most laid-back way Ennis knew to be, and he had no plans to complain about it.

Still, in this situation, her propriety made him tense.

On the night after their rather eventful wedding, she really had been happy to have received the name “Prochainezo.” Remembering the softness in her smile back then, Firo quietly found the words.

“…Let’s take a trip.”

“A trip?”

“U-unless you’d rather not.”

“No, if it’s with you, I’d love to go.”

“…!”

Ennis had said it so easily, it left Firo flustered.

It wasn’t clear whether she’d noticed that as she gazed steadily into his face. “But, Firo, did something happen? This is so sudden.”

“Huh?! …No, well, uh…”

As he groped for something to say, there wasn’t a trace of the dignity of an underworld executive about him. He was just a boy who was embarrassed to come out and tell her he wanted to take her on a honeymoon.

Just then—

“I’m home.”

Czes had chosen an excellent time to come home, and Firo gave an answer fueled by desperation.

“It’s…it’s a family trip!”

“?”

Czes was staring at him in confusion, and Firo went on, talking fast.

“I mean! You know! You said Denkurou might be in Japan, right? Well, get this! Just a couple weeks ago, on the day you and Maiza came back, I made friends with a Japanese photographer! He told me to come over and visit sometime, but traveling alone is— Well, you know how it is!”

He wasn’t even thinking anymore as he rambled on; the words were just leaving his mouth—

—and at long last, he managed to say what he’d really wanted to say.

“So this is a perfect chance! Let’s go! All of us!”

The next day—

—when he heard about the situation from Randy and the others, Molsa had said, “Come to think of it, I never gave you a wedding present,” then he snagged and paid for three tickets on a cruise ship to Japan from some mysterious source.

At the time, Firo had thanked him profusely and accepted them, but later, when he saw the price of their cabin online, Firo’s eyes nearly started out of his head. Having spent thirty years as the syndicate’s treasurer, he was stunned.

That suite cost more than ten thousand dollars per person.

He very nearly went to go interrogate him (Capo! Tell me where this money came from!) but then thought better of it. He suspected the answer would be terrifying.

Plus, thirty grand shouldn’t be a big deal for a gang anyway. It’s kind of sad…

He was positive he’d be indebted to his boss for as long as he lived, but with that, their odd family—husband, wife, and older little brother—made plans to sail over the Pacific.

Two weeks passed.

As they finally prepared to board the vessel, Firo checked his passport and papers, reminding himself several times to calm down. Immortals were bound by a rule that kept them from writing down false names, and so in order to avoid trouble, there was one place on their passports that needed to be falsified.

Specifically, their age.

When he’d gone to Italy on an earlier occasion for a different matter, they’d noticed his passport said he was over seventy, and he’d been detained for a day while they looked into it. Victor Talbot had bawled him out on the ensuing international phone call: “Why didn’t you talk it over with me before you went, jackass?! Exactly how many problems are you planning on causing me? Huh?! Just you try making some kind of trouble over there and sticking me with the bill; I don’t care if it is a tourist attraction now, I’ll bury you in the basement of goddamned Alcatraz again!”

Although, technically, that had been partly Firo’s fault. “Check with a guy named Victor at the FBI,” he’d told them. “He’s my guarantor.”

To avoid a repeat of the incident, he’d had his age falsified under the table ahead of time.

As an immortal, he couldn’t give a fake address or name, but apparently if he got someone else to falsify his age, it was possible to manipulate official documents. This was probably because age would be irrelevant in a search for other immortals.

Similarly, Czes and Ennis had had their ages falsified so they wouldn’t draw attention.

Yeah, this is perfect.

With that thought, Firo went into his departure inspection in high spirits, but—

“By the way, is liquor sold on board in places other than the bar?”

Firo had cleared his throat and asked the question in as mature a tone as he could manage, but the girl at the desk just giggled.

“Even on the ship, minors aren’t allowed to drink.”

“…Take a look at the age on my passport, if you would.”

“Oh! You’re twenty-five? I’m sorry, I just assumed you were underage!”

Firo couldn’t even get mad at the receptionist and just trudged into the ship.

“I think twenty-five might have been a little ambitious, Firo,” Czes commented, giggling, while Ennis was deep in conversation with a staff member about having their luggage brought in.

“Lay off, all right? I thought I looked pretty mature in glasses.”

As he waited for Ennis, Firo sighed. Czes glared up at him, smiling in a knowing way.

“Still…you totally used me as an excuse, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You called this a family trip, but it’s actually supposed to be a honeymoon. Right?”

Czes’s voice was too quiet for Ennis to hear, but Firo froze up.

“Wha…?!”

“It’s fine, Firo.” Czes leaned in close to Firo’s ear and gave a slightly precocious smile as he murmured, a little meanly, “I’ll do my best not to disturb the two of you while we’re on the ship, and at night, I’ll hang out in the movie theater for you.”

“—!  …!”

Firo’s mouth gaped uselessly. He was about to argue, but just then, Ennis came back, and he had to fall silent again.

“Firo, what’s the matter? You don’t look well.”

“Bet he’s seasick already,” Czes said with a laugh.

Glancing at him, Firo was both impressed and reminded of something: This kid definitely had way more skill and experience in life than he did.

That said, right now, an actual child probably wouldn’t have had much trouble messing with Firo anyway.

The trio had declared they were going to Japan and passed through their departure inspections without any issues, and currently they were peering down onto the port from the edge of the ship.

They’d been shown to their room already, and the suite was bigger and classier than any hotel room Firo had ever stayed in. The fact had made him dizzy, and he’d simply left his luggage there and escaped out on the deck.

After spending thirty years in Maiza’s shoes, reckoning the flow of money into and out of his organization, he could tell at a glance just how valuable the place was.

Man, Ennis and Czes might be able to fit in here, but…I sure don’t. Ennis is pretty, so of course she fits in, but how come Czes is used to wearing tuxedos, too?

In an attempt to shake those complaints out of his head, Firo looked down over the ship’s railing and realized once again just how big this vessel was. This was the height of the roof of a modest building, and the people swarming around below seemed ant-sized.

The sight made him wonder if this thing would actually sail all the way across the ocean, and he took another good look at the whole ship.

Right now, he was on the forward deck—and that was only near the top of the ship’s middle level.

What took up the most space in the upper reaches of the ship was the structure built in its center, higher than the bow.

He hadn’t been up there yet, but it sounded as though they even had a river pool and tennis courts there.

I’ll go over later and lo—…?!

What the heck is that?

As he gazed up toward the top of the ship from the bow, Firo’s eyes went round.

An enormous crane beside the vessel was lowering a massive object onto the bow.

It was a gigantic shark, more than thirty feet long.

“Wha…? What’s a shark doing here?!”

Firo wasn’t the only one who’d cried out. The passengers around him were shouting, too, but not from fear. They were cheering.

“What is this…?”

Slowly, the giant shark was lowered onto a platform in the center of the deck, in front of Firo.

Several workers began busily centering the shark on its pedestal, and a few of the surrounding passengers started taking pictures.

“Ohhh, so that’s what they were talking about.”

“Incredible, isn’t it…? I can’t believe that’s a robot.”

“A-a robot? What was who talking about?” Firo asked Ennis and Czes, because they seemed to understand the situation more than he did.

“Huh? Didn’t you hear about it, Firo? After this ship reaches Japan, they’re gonna have a publicity event for a movie on board.”

“That’s what I heard as well. They’re using the ship to transport an animatronic shark, and they may also hold a variety of events during the voyage.”

“Is that right? I didn’t know any of that.” Processing this new information, Firo looked at the enormous shark again. “Boy, robots these days are really something, huh? If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was the real thing… By the way, what movie are they publicizing anyway? Jaws 5?”

“Um, I don’t really know, either. There was a section about it in the guidebook, though,” Czes replied.

The guidebook had been sent to them before departure, and Firo remembered that he had it with him. When he took it out of his jacket and opened it, he found a loose sheet of paper between the pages with the series name Mode Gears and the title Shark Flight written on it.

“Hmm?”

Firo had heard that title before, and he was about to read the paper more closely when—

“Uncle Firo!”

—a young girl’s voice called his name, and he turned around, wondering what was up.

Standing there was a redheaded girl with shining eyes, and a little ways behind her was a boy with a mechanical-looking expression.

“…Claudia! Charon, too!”

For a moment, Firo was startled—and then delight spread across his face.

“Ha-ha! Wow, it’s been forever! I haven’t seen you in—what, about a year? Ah, so this is for that movie, huh? The one where Charon’s the guy in the suit? Come to think of it, I did hear you were going to be in the sequel, Claudia. Well, you’re looking really good. That’s great.”

“Yes! I’m glad you’re looking well, too, Uncle Firo!”

The girl pirouetted on the spot, held her skirt out to the sides with both hands, and gave a little curtsy.

“What was that for?”

“I wanted to show off my dress!” It was an honest answer, and Firo just sighed and gave a little smile back at her.

“It’s been a long time, Claudia.”

“Ooh! You too, Ennis; I haven’t seen you in ages!”

Claudia was acquainted with Ennis as well, and her face lit up.

She called Ennis by her first name, but she minded her manners around Firo, the way children were expected to for older men.

Firo almost never got treated like a middle-aged man, and he absolutely loved it.

Still smiling, the girl turned to her uncle, who was now in a fantastic mood, and asked him a question.

“Anyway, I’m so surprised to see you! I never expected to run into you two on this ship… Are you taking a trip?”

“Us two? No, Czes is here… Huh?” Firo glanced around, but Czes had vanished.

When he looked into the distance, he spotted a small figure in a tuxedo near the door that led into the ship from the deck.

Claudia seemed to have spotted him, too; she puffed out her cheeks, pouting. “Geez! What’s his deal? He’s clearly avoiding me!”

“I dunno why, but Czes has been uncomfortable around redheads since way back,” Firo replied. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and he decided to do a little catching up with Claudia. “Oh yeah, how are your great-grandparents? Still doing well?”

“Yes! Great-Grandmother is well, and Great-Grandfather Felix is the same as ever. He said he was going to give Great-Grandmother a pirate’s treasured sword, so he’s in the Caribbean raising a sunken ship.”

As the great-granddaughter of one of his oldest friends recounted the story, Firo smiled wryly, remembering the guy’s face.

“…That jerk Claire. He’s doing really well for a guy who’s over ninety…”

As Firo chatted with Claudia, a short distance away from them on the deck, a small commotion broke out.

“Hey, check it out.”

“Huh?”

“That’s Claudia! Over there. Isn’t that Claudia Walken?!”

“…There you go with the jokes again.”

“This guy was saying some crap about seeing Travolta down in South America, too.”

The source of the noise was a group of men and women dressed in relatively casual clothes compared to the tuxedos and gowns around them. Their suits and jackets were expensive, though, if casual, so they didn’t stand out all that much on the ship.

It was the group of businessmen who’d caused a ruckus in South America just a few days previously.

Even though a few of their friends had recently died, their conversation was hardly any different from in the restaurant.

“Forget that—just look! See?! Her! The little one over there!”

“Where…? …?!”

“Whoa, seriously?!” “You’re kidding!” “He’s gotta be kidding, right?”

As they spotted the girl, the group of movie buffs got more and more excited.

“What did I tell you?! It’s Claudia! What’s she doing here?!”

“It’s that! There, the shark! They said they were going to use it to publicize the new Gear film!”

“You’re kidding!! Claudia’s going to be in that B-movie series?!”

“What, didn’t you know? There, the one standing a little behind her. That’s her brother, Charon Walken, isn’t it?”

“For real?!”

“Yes, for real. Charon’s the suit actor inside the Gear, remember? Claudia’s his big sister, and I hear they pulled her in to star because of him. It’s a movie about a bunch of airborne sharks chasing people around, so I imagine that’s one of the sharks in question.”

“So Claudia’s the shark’s buddy?”

“Not really. They’re enemies.”

“Whoa… Geez, kid, choose your projects! But why this ship?”

“They’re probably going to do publicity work in Japan, yeah? You know, there’s that giant shark dummy…”

“Who goes to Japan by boat?!”

“Hey, somebody get a camera! Does anybody have a camera?!”

Although this group was being exceptionally noisy, Claudia had been surrounded by flashbulbs before she boarded the ship as well.

Even now that she was on board, a helicopter from some magazine publisher was flying around overhead.

Claudia Walken.

Even though the young actress was just fourteen, she’d appeared in many popular movies and made hits out of many others. She’d appeared in everything from profound human dramas to special effect–driven shows, B-movie horror films, and splatter flicks. The incredible versatility of her expressions made her a hot topic, and while contemporary Hollywood had high hopes for her future, she was already more well-known than a run-of-the-mill star.

Back when she’d made her debut, there had been rumors that her father, a famous comic-book creator, had forced the deal somehow, but she’d silenced all the critics through sheer skill.

By the time her annual earnings had surpassed her father’s, she still had many detractors, but no one claimed she’d built her current position on her family’s fame.

There was one other: a boy who’d become famous along with her.

Charon Walken.

He was Claudia’s little brother, and although he never took center stage, he was becoming someone every movie buff knew.

He was one year younger than his sister, and when she had debuted, he had entered the movie industry as a stuntman for child actors.

Due to his unparalleled motor skills, he was also becoming famous not just as a stuntman but as a suit actor in action-hero programs. He played the Gear, the young clockwork hero of the previous year’s Mode Gears, which had drawn particular praise for its practical effects–driven action sequences.

However, he categorically refused to become an actor, so while he “moved” roles, he absolutely never “acted” them. Even the Gear’s voice was dubbed in by a different child actor.

His features were so well formed that as long as he didn’t speak, he could be mistaken for a beautiful young girl, and his straight hair contrasted with his sister’s curls.

Many producers had tried to make him into an actor, citing the constant demands of female fans, but he told them he “wasn’t good at talking” and had successfully refused them.

However, he did appear in photo features in movie magazines without showing any reluctance, so apparently he wasn’t averse to exposure itself.

The simultaneous presence of those two movie stars, the one in the spotlight and the one behind the scenes, naturally excited the businessmen. The surrounding passengers, who seemed like celebrities themselves, also cheered, but no one was gauche enough to run up and ask for a handshake.

In other words, their behavior made them stick out terribly, but they didn’t seem to care and kept right on going completely gaga over the stars in front of them.

“Hey, seriously, doesn’t anybody have a camera?! Or a marker even! I’ll get them to sign my clothes…”

“How much of a drooling fan are you? —Oh, right.” One member of the group suddenly seemed to remember something. “I’m pretty sure Illness has one of those new cell phones with a camera.”

“Oho. Of all the people it could have been, it had to be you, Illne— Hey, where’d she go?”

“Huh? She was just here…”

The businessmen looked around, and then they all froze. Several of them might have even heard their spines going stiff.

The girl they were looking for—

—was sauntering right up to the movie star they were all talking about.

“Hellooo!”

“?”

A voice called to them abruptly, and when Firo turned around, he saw a girl in peculiar clothes. Age-wise, she appeared to be about halfway between Ennis and Claudia, but with none of the energy.

She wore a yellow-and-black Gothic-style dress, and she was holding an open parasol. The design on the parasol was creepy: a single enormous eye. But although that eye was wide open, the girl’s were languid and sleepy with large dark circles under them.

Except, on closer inspection, those dark circles had actually been painted on with thick eye shadow.

What is she, a baseball player?

Firo wondered if it was to keep the sunlight out of her eyes. This girl had just appeared out of nowhere, and he wasn’t sure what to think of her.

She struck him as more of a true-blue Gothic vampire than a Gothic Lolita, but the yellow cloth, which was especially bright in the sunlight, made it hard to make a final call. The design was less like mourning clothes and more like something vaguely blasphemous. The skirt was of a length that would be easy to move in, and below it, she wore boots that stretched almost to her knees, with safety pins attached to a section of the laces.

Her naturally golden hair was incredibly beautiful, and in combination with her slightly drooping eyes, she was quite cute—but her unique manner of dress, the eye shadow taking over her pale skin, and the general sense of ill health around her made the girl an irregularity on the brisk, refreshing deck.

She looked like a vampire who’d been weakened by sun exposure, but her voice was unexpectedly spirited as she spoke to Firo’s group.

“That shark is so cool, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Firo replied. “It’s really well made.”

“It’s incredibly, um…cute, don’t you think?!”

The girl gave a strange little giggle, confusing Firo even more.

“…Uh, I dunno about that,” he answered frankly. Maybe she’s a friend of Claudia’s? Another actress from the movie?

But—

“Thank you for saying my Sharkey is cute! …By the way, I don’t think we’ve met before, have we? Is she a friend of yours, Uncle Firo?”

“Huh?!”

Claudia’s question told Firo that he’d guessed wrong.

That’s not it? So she was just passing through…? Is she one of Claudia’s fans? he thought. He momentarily considered protesting how quickly Claudia had associated this strange girl with him, but—

“Oh, she isn’t? She’s got such a great outfit, and it reminds me of some of your friends, Uncle Firo. I just assumed…”

“Ghk.”

Christopher, Isaac, and Miria’s faces rose in his mind, and he was left with no alternative but to shut up.

“Um, see… I’d been wondering about that shark this whole time, and everybody said it was your friend, so I, um…I wanted to know if I could pet it. Uh, also, I’m sorry. They all said you were somebody really amazing, but I don’t know anything about you, so, erm, I’m sorry.”

You can keep that stuff to yourself, you know. Firo glanced at Claudia, wondering if the Gothic girl’s awkward comment had annoyed her.

He couldn’t have been more wrong. The young movie star wasn’t upset that the other girl didn’t know her; in fact, her eyes were sparkling like a little kid’s.

Making a small, pensive noise, Claudia gazed at the older girl, then grinned and took her arm.

“Well, it doesn’t matter whether you know about me or not! Your outfit is cute, and more importantly, you said Sharkey was cute, so… You must be a good person!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Pulling the Gothic girl along with her, Claudia started over to the shark. “This way! I’ll let you ride on his back!”

“Huh… I-is that okay? Um, hey, when I get on his back, can I hug his dorsal fin and everything?”

“Yeah! I’ll even let you give him a kiss!”

“Huh?! Oh, but…! That’s so bold! Um, erm, th-thank you!”

The peculiar girl flushed bright red now, and Claudia marched over to the shark with her in tow.

As he watched them go, Firo muttered in disbelief.

“Wha…? What was that all about?” Kissing and hugging…the shark?

There were plenty of other things he would have liked to comment on, but he kept them to himself. In the end, they could all be summed up in one remark.

Claudia’s got so much personality and energy… She’s really starting to remind me of Claire.

“And anyway, what’s Sharkey?”

“The shark’s name. Sis named it.”

The answer had come from Charon; Firo and Ennis hadn’t noticed, but he’d come over to stand beside them.

“Oh, is that right?”

“……”

The boy nodded, then stood there at attention, unmoving. Looking at him, Firo gave a rather chagrined sigh.

“You should talk a little more, would you? I know a lot of people in your family take after your great-grandma, but you’re almost as hard-core about it as Chané was.”

“…Mr. Keith talks less.”

“He’s a whole different issue. He is pretty chatty when he’s on the phone, though.”

“Mr. Keith…doesn’t make phone calls. That’s the phone fairy,” the boy told him decisively.

Although Firo was concerned, he chose not to say anything else.

I guess this kid isn’t quiet because he takes after Chané. He gets it from Keith.

He’d heard that when Charon was little, he’d frequently been sent to stay with Keith.

Keith Gandor was the boss of a small crime syndicate and a mutual childhood friend of Firo and Claire. Firo didn’t know what Charon had found to idolize in the extremely taciturn man, but he’d grown into a quiet boy all the same.

Firo had no idea what Charon was thinking, but he considered him the last line of defense against Claudia’s wild impulses, and so if he was calm, Firo couldn’t ask for more.

“This may prove to be a lively voyage.”

Beside him, Ennis was smiling, but Firo’s feelings about it were complicated.

There was nothing wrong with lively, but at this rate, it might not be much different from their ordinary routine. This was a special chance, and he’d wanted to make some memories alone with Ennis. Then again, he suspected that might not be their style in the first place.

In the end, unable to come up with an answer, Firo smiled back at his wife.

“Yeah, looks that way.”

Then, as if it had been waiting for those words—

—an announcement that the ship was leaving port echoed all through the vessel.

In a shipboard corridor

I swear… Claudia’s here, of all people?

As he listened to the departure announcement, Czes was exploring the ship’s interior on his own.

“I really can’t deal with that family…”

Every time he saw that blazing red hair, it reminded him of the terror he’d experienced seventy years ago.

Claire Stanfield.

The man was a legendary hitman who went by the nickname “Vino.” He’d put Czes through pain and fear worse than death itself, inflicting lasting trauma on him.

Even after he’d inexplicably changed his name to Felix Walken, many of his children and grandchildren had inherited similar personalities.

Every time Czes was around one of them, he remembered that past terror, and Claudia was no exception. She’d been dropping by Alveare to play ever since she was younger than Czes looked, and whenever she was there, she’d dragged him around.

Her personality was moving closer to her great-granddad’s every year, and it felt like a threat to him, but—

I never dreamed I’d run into her all the way out here.

Walking down the ship’s corridors reminded him of another time.

That ugly incident on the Flying Pussyfoot.

I really don’t seem to have much luck with traveling.

As he walked along, lost in thought, he felt a thud and realized he’d walked into something.

When he looked up, a lone man was standing there. He was wearing a black jacket over a white shirt in midsummer, but he seemed cool enough; he wasn’t sweating at all. The white shirt stood out especially pale against the man’s dark pants and swarthy skin.

He probably had roots in Spain or somewhere similar, rather than South America.

His eyes seemed to hold a fiery passion, hemmed in by a wall of ice meant to keep it in check.

This is bad.

Czes knew at a glance:

Something set this man apart from citizens who walked on the right side of society. He’d come from a place where everyday life was different.

He wasn’t like the immortals. He seemed more like Firo and the others, as if he’d come from some shadowy underworld.

He wore blue sunglasses over his sharp, narrow eyes, and the expressionless mask of his face was different from Charon’s.

What do I do? Should I run?! he thought without even realizing, and his feet instinctively took a few steps backward.

The man seemed to have picked up on Czes’s fear. A slight smile appeared on his lips.

“Sorry about that, kid. I’m not used to this ship yet. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“U-um… I should be saying that to you, mister. I’m sorry!” Czes hastily apologized.

The man told him not to worry about it, then started toward the stairs.

As he watched the man head down to the lower levels, where the relatively cheap cabins were, Czes breathed a sigh of relief.

What on earth was that? I really hope it’s my imagination, but…

On seeing that there was a man who was clearly not a respectable citizen on board, Czes’s mind remembered a certain scene even more intensely.

If I recall correctly, I ran into Jacuzzi before everything went to hell back then, too.

The Flying Pussyfoot, a train on the transcontinental railway.

Immortals.

A homicidal maniac.

Terrorists.

A band of delinquents.

And—the Rail Tracer.

He remembered it like it was yesterday; a whole slew of strange people had boarded that train together and created an exceptional incident.

Czes’s heart trembled quietly.

That’s ridiculous. You’re overthinking it.

Several coincidences had come together to create that mess, and those kinds of events wouldn’t come along more than once every hundred—no, every three hundred years.

The prospect of a long voyage in an isolated environment probably had his nerves especially on edge, he decided. He had to forget about the man for now.

However, even before Czes forgot about the man—something else had slipped his mind, too. Something important.

Never mind once in a century—he was surrounded by people who got caught up in incidents like that one practically every year.

And he was destined to join in such a fate.

Whether by coincidence—or by design.