02x15 - Queen's Fleet

[bunniefuu]

Agnese...?

Wait!

I wish you would wait just a moment!

What are you two doing around the Queen of the Adriatic Sea?

Oh... we just happened to end up on the ship by chance.

Is the "Queen of the Adriatic Sea" the name of this ice fleet?

The fleet's name is the "Queen's Fleet."

This ship is one of the escort vessels.

Apparently, you really don't know anything, do you?

What exactly are you doing here?

I'm helping to search for intruders.

However, I never imagined the intruders would be you two.

I might be able to take advantage of this.

We just barely got roped into all of this.

If you're going to keep yammering like that, I'll scream.

You'd best not get on my bad side if you want to get out of here.

For now, we have no choice but to obey her.

Just what is in it for you if you allow us to escape?

Compensation. As long as I get that, we'll be fine.

"A Certain Magical Index II"

Yubi de hajiku koin mitsumeta

Omote nara GO Ura wa STAY

Mazu kotae wo kikasete

"Douka oshiete kuremasen ka?"

Tenshi wa misadameru egao no mama

Mayoe! Sono te wo hiku mono nado inai

Kami ga kudasu sono kotae wa fukou datta

Sou sore koso kami kara no okurimono

Norikoetara miete kuru sa dakara ima sugu (Look for it by oneself, no buts about it)

No buts!

What exactly is this "Queen's Fleet" in the first place?

Well, it's a fleet built to patrol the Adriatic Sea.

I had never heard of it before.

There are only a very few departments that do know about it.

We were att*cked out of nowhere by the guys on this boat.

Are you sure this fleet was instituted just for patrolling?

Maybe you literally got caught by one of the patrols.

Hmm?

You are the people who ruined the Roman Orthodox Church's project.

Moreover, one of you is here from Japan, and the other from London.

Well, all pretense aside, this is actually a kind of labor camp.

It's where they gather offenders like me,

and have us work off the losses that we have incurred.

That's why about the only ones on this ship are my squad--

or rather, my former squad of Sisters.

Anyway, to get to the point,

in return for letting you two get away,

I want you to find Sister Lucia and Sister Angelene,

and rescue the two of them from this place.

By rescue, you mean...

Those two used a magic spell to outfox the scouts,

and broke out of the lockup.

The two of them were apparently planning to rescue us,

once they had their preparations in place.

So, the two of them were brought back,

and had the book thrown at them?

Preventing their breakout spell must come first.

They'll probably be processed to keep them from using the spell again.

Processed?

Are you talking about having their powers of thought taken from them?

Meaning, the violation of their brain structure?

I want you to rescue them before that happens. That's my request.

Doing so will also give you the spell to escape, right?

Yes, but isn't the spell already known to the Roman Orthodoxy?

The Queen's Fleet has a major operation ahead of them.

They can't afford to be distracted by a couple of people breaking out.

I will head to the flagship as a diversion.

While I'm gone, please come up with something.

Are you saying you're helping us?

Not helping you, just using you.

But you're caught too, right? Run away with us.

What the overseers are afraid of is an uprising by the laborers.

I'm something of a mental safety device to guard against that,

if you can call it that.

I have the authority to walk around freely aboard the ship,

and am also exempt from the labor.

It's surprisingly comfortable living aboard here.

Sisters Lucia and Angelene have nowhere to go, though.

They should have just gotten away themselves.

If you are lucky enough to get out of here,

be sure not to get involved with the Roman Orthodox Church again.

I know. But now that we're so vastly outnumbered,

I'm not so sure we're getting out of this.

Oh? Is that something the guy who earlier went up against

so many Sisters singlehandedly would say?

Th-Thanks.

Your habit--

it was specially adorned to provide

a magical restraining effect, was it?

Shh!

If that is the Queen's Fleet,

then it won't do any good for me to go alone.

There is no one here, is there?

No. Agnese did say it was mostly unmanned.

That's the room where Lucia and Angelene are.

What's that?

Is something the matter?

Stand back, Orsola!

This suit of armor is like a robot that runs on magic, is it?

Yes. It appears to be part of this ship, in an altered form.

Don't move!

How do you think we destroyed that?

Whoops, I spoke in Japanese without thinking,

but you still understand me, right?

If you choose not to heed my warning,

I will just have to use this.

We have come to rescue you.

Do you really think we will believe what you say?

Well, you see...

As far as what Agnese told us,

you guys can perform the magic we need to get us out of here.

So she told us to rescue you and get you to cooperate with us.

S-Sister Agnese, you say?

Consider for a moment the possibility that this is a trap!

This is the enemy stronghold.

I cannot imagine any reason why we would go so far

as to even use Sister Agnese's name just to rescue you.

Sister Lucia...

All right. There is some logic to what you're saying.

By the way, how is it that we escape?

It would take too long to explain.

Sister Angelene...

Oh, um...

Awesome!

A subclass of the magic that uses ice to build ships

can open up voids within them.

By taking advantage of this, we can solidify seawater

to create seabed coasters.

What's wrong?!

I-It looks like our restraint clothing is also equipped

with a kind of countermeasure spell.

If we follow the right procedure and break apart the seams,

we can disrupt part of the restraint functionality.

Disrupt?

Then look, there's a quicker way for me to--

Now, now, don't tell me you mean to strip them bare naked, too.

What's going to happen to us now?

More importantly...

...there's something about tonight's supper that bothers me.

What do you mean?

Nothing in this world is more important than the Lord.

I-It bothered me, too.

Three days in a row now, they used olives as the secret ingredient.

Oh, and the baths are a little too hot, too, huh?

Secret ingredients don't make any difference!

And also, the baths are lukewarm, if anything!

Y-You think so?

It's true, the grown-ups do not seem to pay it too much mind...

Which would mean...

Is something the matter?

I-If you're going to have a word with them, I'll come with you.

Yes, indeed...

That might not be a bad idea.

When can we join up with Sister Agnese?

Sorry.

Agnese probably won't be coming.

She said she would act as a diversion so you could be rescued.

It sounds like she went to the Queen's Fleet's flagship.

You've got to be kidding!

The Queen's Fleet has some large-scale magic,

meant to protect the Queen of the Adriatic Sea ritual grounds!

Queen of the Adriatic Sea?

All I know is, it's held on the flagship of the same name.

The key to activating it involves a spell of a different name,

known as the Rosary of the Appointed Time.

Also, Sister Agnese is used for the Rosary of the Appointed Time.

W-What's going to happen to Agnese?

Not even we know all the details.

However, at the least, her brain will certainly be destroyed,

and she will be left so that only her heart is b*ating.

The Queen's Fleet has a major operation ahead of them.

They can't afford to be distracted by a couple of people breaking out.

A-An att*ck! But from where?

It can't be. From one of their own ships?

"A Certain Magical Index II"

"A Certain Magical Index II"

The holy cannon fire of Saint Barbara?

Just what are they aiming at?

You don't know, Sister Agnese?

Bishop Biagio...

Ship number has been sunk.

Any further fire may be interference from land.

Let another department deal with any public attention.

That is beyond my purview.

If anything were to happen to you, there would be no undoing the harm.

How ironic.

The Rosary of the Appointed Time...

Imagine, an apostate like you,

being the only one appropriate for this spell.

Bishop Biagio, we have an emergency!

What?

We are reading a giant structure underneath Ship number !

It appears to be retrieving the wreckage!

A submersible spell...

Orsola and the others...

This isn't good...

I really... could die here...

Toma!

Index...

Do you feel okay, Toma?

Yeah...

T-Tatemiya Saiji?

Yeah, deputy pope of the Amakusa Church.

Although nowadays, we tack on "of the English Puritan Church."

Here.

Oh, thanks.

Not at all.

Wait, what am I doing here?! Where are Orsola and the others?!

Oh, we managed to take all of you in.

We're speaking with the men elsewhere, however.

I see. So, is this something like an Amakusa secret base?

This isn't a building.

Huh? You don't mean...!

I'd like to say you're aboard a submarine,

but it's not quite as high-performance as that.

At best, you could say it's close to being a wooden ship

that is equipped with submersible capability. It's a diving boat.

You bring along something like this to help with a move?

It's only natural that we'd have a w*apon close at hand.

Besides, naval warfare is what we excel at most.

Paper is made from wood, and wood is what boats are made from, too.

Agnese...

W-What?

Nothing. Whatever you're going to do next,

you first have to tell me what it is, in detail.

In that case, shouldn't you be talking to Lucia and Angelene?

Huh...?

Looks like you made it out safely, too. Hmm?

Oh, you do not have to embarrass them so.

Huh?

The habits these two were wearing were restraint clothing,

provided by the Roman Orthodox Church, you see.

Yeah?

In order to destroy them,

they had to use your right hand while you were unconscious.

Eh?

So you're saying...

Yes, that's what I'm saying.

Toma...!

F-For you to be upset by that...

...isn't reasonable!

Oh, that's right! This is no time to just be standing around!

U-Um, Sister Agnese is still--

We still have an objective to carry out.

Itsuwa, now's your chance! Do it!

Give him a smooch right on the earlobe!

Could you tell them what's going on?!

Oh, my...

This is starting to get interesting.

Please, just listen to me!

Pay attention!

S-Sister Angelene...!

I-It was always like this in our squad, wasn't it?

So, um, I did what I always do.

Always?

Rather than coffee or tea, I'd like to have cioccolata con panna.

What's that?

You pour lots of fresh cream over a chocolate drink--

Sister Angelene, a follower of the cross does not obsess about food.

Now, now...

Um... here.

Oh, thanks.

Not at all.

Again with the wet towel operation, Itsuwa?

Wow, you're sure taking your time.

No, not making too much headway is one of Itsuwa's charms, isn't it?

So then, how did the Queen of the Adriatic become the spell's name?

Long ago, Venice and the Roman Orthodox Church

were on fairly poor terms.

The Queen of the Adriatic was the thing that they prepared

to bury Venice with one strike.

Bury? Is it like a b*mb or something?

It doesn't just destroy;

it even steals all of the town's culture and history, as well.

All of it?

I'm sure Sister Agnese doesn't know any of this.

If she knew, there's no way she would just stand by doing nothing.

So in short, we're saying to bring back Agnese Sanctis

before this magic can be activated.

Anyhow, it's an awful can of worms.

Even so, we have to go.

Unless we do something, Sister Agnese will be crippled.

Would you have us just sit back and watch it happen?!

I was always being helped out by Sister Agnese,

so there is no way I can say goodbye to her without paying her back!

But our enemy is a real problem.

If we surround them with seabed coasters,

we might be able to stop the fleet!

You don't think that all it takes to deal with them

is to stop them from moving, do you?

W-Well, I...

Look, Tatemiya, you've said enough, haven't you?

Huh?

What we should be arguing over

isn't just about whether or not we want to rescue Agnese, is it?

She deliberately threw away her own chance to be saved,

to let her friends get away instead.

If we don't do something, her mind is going to be destroyed

with her feelings still exploited.

The question is, why wouldn't we rescue her?

Doing so would prevent the destruction of Venice,

and everything else, right?

In that case, there's only one thing to do, isn't there?

Don't you want to rescue her?

If not, I'm going there alone!

Geez, for our part, we were past that from the word go.

We've had a plan ready to go to begin with.

Eh?

I just wanted to hear if you were ready for this or not.

Tatemiya...

Listen up!

Now that we're heading off to the b*ttlefield,

let's be sure to come back alive!

What teaching did we receive from the Priestess?

The hand of redemption to the irredeemable!

Here, for you.

Oh, my.

I can't use it, so maybe you'd better hold onto it.

W-What is it, Index?

Nothing.

All right, let's get started.

Bishop Biagio!

Reading between thirty and fourty craft approaching!

They're just under fifty seconds from the ship's coordinates.

Can you sink them?

Acknowledged.

They haven't fired a single sh*t. You don't mean...

All hands, defensive positions!

What's happening?

They're fire ships!

It's an unmanned fleet, designed to self-destruct!

Giant structure at a depth of forty meters!

Probably a submarine!

Confirmed hit on the submarine!

Enemy forces on Ship number !

It's the Amakusa!

It couldn't be! The submarine was a decoy?!

Don't think about taking over each ship!

All you have to do is think about crushing their main force!

You guys head toward the Queen of the Adriatic Sea.

Yeah!

Hurry!

Index!

This way!

All right!

You idiots!

Why aren't you helping to rescue Sister Agnese?!

They're starting to sh**t!

They are planning to sink us along with the ship!

They're aiming directly at us!

They wouldn't!

Come forth, one of the Apostles,

publican, smiter of magicians, and humble servant!

Not good!

Come forth, one of the Apostles--

Look out!

Sister Angelene!

Sister Angelene!

Hitori de ii to tsubuyaita

to aru sekai no chuushin de

Tokei no hari wo orimagete

hitomi tojite'ta

Sugisatta toki wa modosenai kedo

ano hi oshiete kureta yo ne

sore de ii n' da to

Megurimeguru kisetsu ni kimi ga ita kiseki

kowarete'ta tokei sae ugokidasu kara

Ima wa sou muryoku na garakuta da kedo

fushigi da ne kaerareru sonna ki ga suru

Kimi no koe ga ima mo mada

koko ni aru kara

"Preview"

"Preview" To keep the Queen of the Adriatic Sea from activating,

we storm the flagship.

As more and more new mysteries are revealed, Index steps up.

Next time, "Rosary of the Appointed Time."

When science and magic cross paths, the story begins.