Agnese was inside a room of the flagship of the 'Queen's Fleet', the 'Queen of the Adriatic Sea'. This ship was a whole lot different from the other escort ships, and the room was a lot more amazing.
It was a square room.
The length was about 20 meters, and it looked like a perfect square. However, on closer look, the four walls were tilted inwards. This room wasn't a cube, but a square-base pyramid. Looking up at the walls that gave off a white light bulb-like glow, one could see the peak that was so high above.
But there was something weird with this peak.
On first glance, it looked like it was 100 meters high. Of course, this ship wasn't that tall. This may have been a result of magic being used to keep the space that the ship was unable to retain. Either that, or it was a form of trick art.
This wasn't the only strange thing. This square-base pyramid was covered with equilateral triangular tiles. Basically, equilateral triangles couldn't possibly form a square base, so there should be some other tiles to fill it up.
But no matter how one looked, there didn't seem to be such a thing.
This as basically trying to force the introduction of a graphical theory that couldn't possibly exist. These unique characteristics were indicating a Holy space that was unexplainable through the laws of physics.
There were no decorations inside the room.
The completely flat surface of the floor, which was caused by the reflection of white light on the ice, seemed to be showing its rejection to other people. There didn't seem to be any space for negotiations, as an invisible pressure forced in from outside.
Agnese stared at the middle of the room.
There was an iceball-like object, 7 meters in diameter, in the middle of the room, and it was unknown how it stuck onto the floor. This inexplicable object similar to a soap bubble was the 'cage' that Agnese should be staying in.
The low rumbling reached Agnese's ears.
She frowned.
"'Divine Cannon of St Barbara'…? What on earth is it firing at?"
The sound echoed throughout the four corners.
After a while,
"Don't you understand? Sister Agnese."
In this dim room, the person leaning on the ice object said.
It was the figure of a male.
He was wearing a heavy sacred robe, and the 4 necklaces on his neck looked like annual rings of a tree trunk. There were several Crosses hung on them.
Agnese thought, that's the Menorah (The Menorah is a symbol of Judaism, and also the emblem of the coat of arms of Israel. The reason why '7' is used is because '7' represents the number of days that God created the world, 6 days of creation + 1 day of rest, and the Menorah is shaped like a tree to symbolise the Tree of Life). This was another representation of the Sephirot (they are the 10 attributes/emanations in the Kabbalah) and the four worlds through the 7 candles.
"Bishop Biagio."
Suddenly, a voice that didn't belong to the duo could be heard. The voice came from the Cross on his body.
"Ship 37 was sunk. Can we stop our firing…the mainland would likely interfere if we continue. Just deploying the fleet alone is enough to cause Veneto—"
"Leave the dealings with others to my subordinates. That's not under my jurisdiction."
After saying that, the man named Biagio stroked the Cross on his neck with his fingers. That should be the switch for the communication thing, as the voice of the follower was cut off.
He looked at Agnese's face, and smiled,
"I've been to many departments, but it's really hard to find any competent followers."
"If they're incompetent followers, it should be the officer's role to develop them."
"That's just idealistic thinking. And, that's why you fail in life, Sister Agnese. You're here because you didn't choose your followers wisely."
"Maybe."
Agnese casually replied.
Biagio twisted his lips viciously,
"…I said before not to let the 37th ship near the main fleet before the intruders are found. In the end, even the 'bridge' got linked. What would happen if the intruders got onto the other ships? If something happened to you, we couldn't even restore anything."
Hearing his words, Agnese hugged her own body with her two hands.
Even so, it should be impossible to hide the fact that her nun's habit's functions were destroyed.
Her habit was specially made. On the design of revealing skin, there was a spell of Christian punishment on it. It was an exposed punishment—the mark of shame, meant to use shame to punish the person. No matter whether it was suicide or homicide, the counterspell would prevent the person from dying. This wasn't because someone cared and wanted the person to live; it was to add on to the misery and pain. As it would cause an extremely huge 'burden', it couldn't be used for a long time.
"However, it's really ironic."
"Don't say that, Sister Agnese."
Biagio laughed,
"It's really unexpected, that of all people, only a heretic like you is compatible with the large scale spell of the Roman Catholic Church that protects the Adriatic Sea."
The crux of the 'Queen of the Adriatic Sea' was the 'Appointed Time of the Rosary'. Agnese didn't know the details of the structure and effects, but it was said that it was only effective when Agnese's mind was crushed.
"Humans use their minds to create magical energy inside their bodies. But if the 'Appointed Time of the Rosary' uses magical energy created by an ordinary person, it can't be fully utilized. So, Sister Agnese, it's time for you to take the stage. Please fulfill your purpose to the fullest."
These words may seem exaggerated, but the main gist was to create an 'abnormal magical energy', so they had to turn a human into one with 'an abnormal mind'—which was to turn the person into a handicap—that was all that it was. Agnese was supposedly suited for this because the way her brain 'would be destroyed' was suited for the 'Appointed Time of the Rosary'.
Though despicable, nothing could be changed even if Agnese grumbled.
She knew all about this the moment she stepped in.
"More importantly, I heard that number 37 was sunk. What's going on?"
"Are you implying that you want to know what's going on?"
"…That management committee, which are your subordinates, they should be down there."
"I supposed their methods should be decided by me, no?"
Agnese remained silent. She thought that before the ship was sunk, the boy and the rest should have already escaped that ship.
"If they only relied on their escape spell, it's a bit too optimistic."
"…What do you mean?"
"It may be faster for you once you see their corpses, but it's too troublesome to pick up the bits and pieces that are scattered on the Adriatic Sea. In that case, it'll be rather hard to determine who they are. What now?"
Agnese silently gnashed her teeth.
Hearing the soft sound of Agnese gnashing her teeth, Biagio smirked.
At this moment,
"Bishop Biagio, we have an emergency!!"
An urgent voice came from one of the numerous Crosses.
Biagio frowned.
"What?"
"There's a giant construct underneath where number 37 was sunk. It seemed to be salvaging the remains…"
Biagio carelessly twisted his lips.
"An underwater spell…like what Sister Lucia did just now, is that underwater again? We may have to reorganise the 'Queen's Fleet' capability in order to control the waters. You said that it's a huge construct? If so, it's impossible for one person to create this kind of thing alone…as expected, there's an 'organisation' in Chioggia. That's why I said to crush them. I've already given this order, and again, my subordinates have failed me. Really, not only did they not crush the 'organisation' successfully, they even let the intruders on the ship escape…"
Biagio stared at Agnese's face.
This time, there was no smile on his face, as his eyes betrayed his anxiety.
"…Really, those guys are so useless."