Mission 54 (
Summary[]
On the roof deck of Princess Lorelei, Yor and the Swordsman continue their clash. Below, Loid and Anya return to the ship's halls after watching the fireworks show. Loid is glad that Anya enjoyed the fireworks but apologizes for not being able to find Yor, making Anya remember her goal to find Yor and help her.
Loid and Anya discover there is a bomb in the ship
Loid notices the undercover SSS agents in turmoil, and after reading their lips, he learns of a bomb in the ship's bilge. Unable to dismiss the possibility of something terrible happening if he stands by, Loid decides to intervene but first wonders how to get Anya out of the way. Anya reads his mind and shows him a drop-in daycare, saying she wants to play there. After dropping off Anya, Loid makes haste to gather intel. The daycare worker then turns to talk with Anya, who has also left on her own.
A disguised Loid is going to defuse the bomb
In the bilge, a crew member tries to handle the bomb with SSS agents breathing down his neck. Loid enters the room as another crew member, claiming to have served as a bomb-disposal technician in the Marines, and offers his assistance. Loid asks if the bomb can be moved, but the crew member replies that it is set to detonate if removed. Upon closer inspection, Loid sees that the bomb is a model favored by Western extremists and wonders if the target is an Eastern VIP or the ship itself. Knowing that WISE would be aware of any operations like this, he suspects it was arranged to look like a Western operation. The crew member asks Loid if there is anything he can do, and Loid assures him that he has this covered.
Meanwhile, Anya runs around the ship looking for Yor. She then hears the thoughts of the informant, who plans to make his exit, and mentions where Yor is fighting with the other assassins. Anya hears his thoughts coming from the front of the boat, but after she loses him, she rushes to Yor's location. There, Anya finds Yor's weapon, which she had dropped earlier. While Anya tries removing it from the floorboards, she hears Yor's thoughts. Above, Yor is fighting with the Swordsman, now having the upper hand. However, she lacks the reach to finish him off and end the fight. In addition, the Assassin Leader fires at Yor, keeping her at a distance from the Swordsman.
Anya throws Yor's weapon to the roof deck
After hearing this and seeing no stairs to reach Yor, Anya decides to help Yor by throwing her weapon up to the deck. Anya manages to get it to the deck, but it does not go too far, landing at a lone spot far from the fight. While disappointed, Anya overhears two assassins nearby planning to kill Olka and escape from Yor. As the men make their way to the hatch Olka, Gram, and Zeb are hiding in, one of them trips on Yor's weapon. The man falls back on a pipe and is knocked out, but not before firing his submachine gun and hitting the leg of his partner, who falls over and knocks himself out against the crate covering the hatch. After, Yor's weapon bounces and pierces the partner's rear. Anya hears this and says it was just as she planned.
Yor and the Swordsman about to strike
Yor hears the gunshots and turns around to see her weapon. After Yor retrieves it, she prepares to charge at the Swordsman for one final strike. Seeing this, the Swordsman sheaths his blade, also preparing for the attack. After Yor charges in, the Assassin Leader tries to shoot her, but he is shot by a reawakened Matthew and falls. Yor and the Swordsman quickly swipe at each other while passing and fall to the floor at the same time, but the Swordsman collapses with blood seeping from his chest. Anya is worried by the silence, but after hearing Yor think about how exhausted she is, Anya happily confirms that Yor won.
Back in the bilge, Loid successfully disarms the bomb. Everyone inside cheers, and as a SSS agent congratulates Loid, he thinks that being surrounded by them was more stressful than dealing with the bomb. However, while the men celebrate, Loid's face becomes stern, having grown a suspicion. The chapter ends with the informant sadistically bidding farewell to Princess Lorelei while another time bomb ticks inside the boat.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- The name of the daycare that Anya goes to, "Waku Waku Kids Room," uses the Japanese word Waku Waku (わくわく?), meaning "exciting" in English. The word is frequently used by Anya herself whenever she feels excited.
- The name of Anya's special move when she throws Yor's weapon, "Rising Hope" (
希望を届ける 光の矢 , Raijingu Hōpu?), is a reference to the song of the same name by the Japanese singer-songwriter LiSA. Furthermore, the corresponding chapter illustration depicts Anya as LiSA from the song's cover image.
References[]