Eurotunnel bombing

The Eurotunnel bombing (ユーロトンネル爆破) is an incident that occurred on October 12th of the story's first year, involving an explosion in the between the United Kingdom and France. Secretly perpetrated by France at the behest of the Roman Catholic Church controlled by Fiamma of the Right, the effects of the explosion would put a strain on the United Kingdom's economy and its people. During the British Halloween, Carissa would use the incident as justification to threaten France.

Background
The  (also known as the Channel Tunnel) is an underground tunnel beneath the Strait of Dover which connects England and France. Long envisaged but only completed in the 1990s, it is 40km long and is the sole land route between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Transport through the tunnel is done by rail, with the distinctive  carrying passengers from London to Paris via the tunnel.

After the destruction of St. Peter's Basilica, with Pope Matthai Reese out of commission as a result of his injuries from it, Fiamma of the Right took control of the Roman Catholic Church. Now with all of Europe under his heel, Fiamma manipulated the Roman Catholic Church into forcing France to cause unrest with England, in spite of the damage it might cause the country. Fiamma hoped that through the turmoil that he had created, he might be able to raze London and make him easily able to find Index's remote control.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom had become reliant on the Eurotunnel, their sole land route, for their trade, having removed many of their ports in order to give precedence for using the undersea tunnel. In its destruction, it would essentially cut off the United Kingdom's "life line".

The Bombing
To cause unrest, the French government then causes an "explosion" in the Eurotunnel on October 12th, damaging all three tunnels cutting off Britain's sole land route to mainland Europe. The spell that was used was a Roman Catholic spell, based on the legend of the House of Loreto. It was a spell for "moving a building", which had an incomplete effect on the tunnel, moving a single portion unnaturally and cracking the tunnel. Despite the fact that no bomb was used, the media would later report of it as a "bombing".

370 people would be trapped due to the collapse of the tunnels, and then later be rescued. It would apparently take at least three months before the tunnel could be repaired.

Economic Troubles
Predictably, both the United Kingdom and France's economies were heavily damaged by the collapse of the tunnel, especially the former due to the fact that they had become reliant with it. To remedy this, the United Kingdom began utilizing both air and sea transportation to transport goods, especially the former. Even passenger airlines like the Sky Bus 365 were tasked in the delivery of goods. Despite these measures, the economy of the United Kingdom became strained. Moreover, the high costs of transporting goods through air routes, and continuous delays by the airliners in order to deliver goods was just not feasible enough to maintain. Opening up the sea routes as well would also likely lead to the oversaturation of goods to transport.

As for monetary concerns, France was aided by European countries under the control of Rome and Russia. As for the United Kingdom, it was the United States of America that came to the country's aid. After the events of the Academy City invasion of Avignon, it was America that took the brunt of the economic blow of the incident, and it wanted to attract investors again in order to prevent the strengthening of the Euro and Yuan markets.

Reactions
Much of the reaction from leaders and people with power of the "bombing" was grim. Both Acqua of the Back and Vento of the Front immediately suspected France's involvement with the attack and Fiamma of the Right's manipulations. The British Royal Family and the Knight Leader had been suspicious of France and the use of magic from the beginning, though wary of the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church. They later opted to have Index analyze it before making their move, and had summoned for her and her manager, Kamijou Touma, for assistance, though Laura Stuart wanted to use Index to investigate Carissa's suspicious actions. Prior to this however, the British Royal Family, the Knight Leader, the representative of the Anglican Church, Kanzaki Kaori, and Index and Touma, gathered in Buckingham Palace for a short meeting.

Some French people did not take the collapse of the tunnels well. A French anti-England terrorist organization, of which Musset and Eiker Lugoni were members, blamed England solely for the economic troubles France is suffering. They would plan a terrorist attack on an airliner in order to force damage equal in amount to that of France on the United Kingdom by shutting down the country's air routes. The event would ground airliners in the United Kingdom to investigate the defects that the terrorist discovered, preventing them from transporting goods and further straining the beleaguered economy of the country.

Reports on the Eurotunnel incident either termed it as an "accidental explosion" or bombing.

Investigation
At the height of her coup, the British Halloween, Carissa, Knight Leader, and Index, went to Folkestone and visited the collapsed tunnel to find the true cause of the explosion. Inspecting the partially flooded tunnel, Index identified a Roman Catholic spell based on the legend of the House of Loreto as the cause of the destruction. Satisfied with confirmation that it was a French-based Roman Catholic spell, Carissa ordered military action against France before having Index knocked out.

The French president later contacted Carissa, stating that they should cooperate regarding the Eurotunnel terrorist attack. Carissa dismissed his desperate attempts at negotiation, exposing France's actions against England, sinking a French nuclear submarine in the Strait of Dover and threatening him with a retaliatory missile strike, ending the call by suggesting that he switch out with the Maiden of Versailles.