Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 17/Chapter 3

Synopsis
Both Touma and Index arrive safely in Edinburgh Airport at 8 PM local time. As Touma plans to give himself and Index some food to eat, they meet Kanzaki Kaori, who urgently asks them to travel immediately to Buckingham Palace in London as part of the Royal Family's orders to summon Index back to England. The Royal Family itself is in a precarious position due to the crisis caused by the Eurotunnel bombing, and a strategic meeting is held with the Knights of England and the Anglican Church to assess the actions to be done, and since magic is suspected to be involved, Index's knowledge is sought after, and Touma is present as Index's "manager".

Touma and Index soon meet Queen Regnant Elizard, as well as the three princesses of England: the eldest Riméa, the second eldest Carissa, and the youngest Villian. With Knight Leader representing the Knights of England and both Index and Kanzaki Kaori present on behalf of Archbishop Laura Stuart, the meeting soon begins in a reception room elsewhere in Buckingham Palace. After a short commotion involving the three princesses (and Elizard, almost) wanting to take a picture with Touma, the meeting commences.

Elizard begins with her stand that France is responsible for the Eurotunnel boming, something that is met with doubt by the princesses due to a lack of concrete proof. Index soon pins down the spell that interfered the controls of the Sky Bus 365 as Norse in origin, and is often used by females, adding the possibility of having a traitor within English soil. Eventually, the meeting commences with two objectives set: to investigate the cause of the Eurotunnel bombing, and to locate and apprehend the magician threat. After the meeting, Kanzaki relays with Agnese Sanctis and the latter pins down one cabal reserve army that may be responsible for the interference: New Light, whose target seems to be London itself. With Agnese asked to gather more information, Kanzaki decides to assign the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church in intercepting New Light. Carissa then takes Index with the other princesses to the city of Folkestone to help in the investigation of the Eurotunnel and requests Touma to not come due to the nature of his right hand, which may interfere with the investigation.

The four girls consisting New Light, Lessar, Bayloupe, Lancis and Floris, are detected in a road in north London, and Touma joins Oriana Thomson, who recently entered a deal with England to track down the four. Eventually, Oriana and Touma encounters one of the members named Lessar (who got into a mix-up with the magical artifact in her possession) and a fight breaks out, continuing into a pursuit across the London cityscape.

Meanwhile, Bayloupe is located by the Amakusa Church's Itsuwa, and Itsuwa skirmishes with her in a subway. Although Bayloupe manages to fend off Itsuwa's attacks, in her escape, she finds herself in the labyrinth Necessarius uses to test its member's survival ability, and as Bayloupe suffers the full brunt of the labyrinth's challenges, the case is transported to a lost-and-found room, where Itsuwa and Sherry Cromwell investigate the case extracted from Bayloupe. Sherry discovers through Itsuwa's airheadedness that the case transforms into a boat, and quickly links its origins to Norse mythology as the Skíðblaðnir. With Itsuwa's job completed, she leaves the subway station, only to find Kanzaki Kaori dispatching a third member of New Light using only her strength as a Saint.

As Index, Carissa and Villian head to Folkestone through the Traveling Fortress, Agnese continues her investigation in Edinburgh, where a yacht harbor is used as one of the old bases of New Light. Here, the analysis of their findings reveal the functionality of the Skíðblaðnir as a device that can teleport items among its wielders within a certain range. Agnese then contacts Touma as he and Oriana continue chasing Lessar, speculating that New Light may be intent of destroying England by triggering a large-scale spell that activates at the death of a member of the royal family, two of which is on a trip to Folkestone. Eventually, the pursuit of Lessar ends, but she soon reveals that there are five Skíðblaðnirs, and the fourth member of New Light, Lancis, is 30 kilometers north of London, is still out of reach of anyone. Lessar uses her Skíðblaðnir and is later shot at the shoulder. Then, as Oriana recognizes the arrow fired at Lessar as that of Robin Hood, a weapon used for military units under the control of Princess Carissa, Lessar reveals that the thing New Light is transporting is the Curtana Original.

The fifth Skíðblaðnir is in the hands of Knight Leader, who is currently with Carissa, several knights, Villian and Index. Knight Leader receives the Curtana Original, and Carissa officially announces her possession of the Curtana Original.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Knight Leader
 * Agnese Sanctis
 * Oriana Thomson
 * Itsuwa
 * Tatemiya Saiji
 * Sherry Cromwell
 * Lucia
 * Agata
 * Angelene
 * Caterina

New Characters

 * Villian
 * Elizard
 * Rimea
 * Carissa
 * Lessar
 * Bayloupe
 * Floris
 * Lancis

Abilities

 * Shorthand - Oriana Thomson
 * Communication spells - various

New Abilities

 * Skíðblaðnir - New Light and Knight Leader

Locations

 * Edinburgh Airport
 * Buckingham Palace
 * London
 * Edinburgh yacht harbor

New Locations

 * Folkestone
 * Necessarius Underground Labyrinth

Cultural References

 * Among the things Knight Leader shelved away before the strategic meeting could begin are an electric guitar, a soccer ball and a cup-and-ball, all of which have shown up in English culture.

Unanswered Questions

 * How was the Curtana Original acquired despite being stated as missing for a long time?

Quotes

 * Knight Leader: “I had been curious as to what kind of person was maintaining those 103,000 grimoires, but I never expected he would do so with her attached to his head. The mystic secrets of the Orient truly are a sight to behold.”
 * Knight Leader: “The order we enter the room does not matter!! Please, just act like a queen!! No, that isn’t necessary. No one is expecting you to have some surprising character, so please don’t bring out an electric guitar!!”
 * Elizard: “This is the United Kingdom, the nation of the queen. Why are you taking pictures leaving out the leading part!?”
 * Carissa: “Begin the invasion. I now have Curtana Original, the sword that decides the king, within my grasp. This makes me, Carissa, the ruler of the United Kingdom. Anyone that does not want to see the country decay under the rule of the previous pacifist queen, stand up of your own will. To bring about the new United Kingdom, leveling some things will be necessary and some destruction will be necessary.”