The man raising his cup was Bartholomew Roberts, one of the Servants dispatched by the Counter Force of Proper Human History.
He'd been staying on this island called Hestia, living alongside the villagers. He worked as a "porter," all while waiting for the day Chaldea would finally arrive in this Lostbelt.
After hearing his introduction, Shiomi lifted a wooden cup filled with rich, fragrant wine.
"I see. Then it's safe to treat you as an ally?" Shiomi set the cup down, resting an arm on the table as he looked at Bartholomew.
"Of course." Bartholomew's manner was bright and open—less like an islander, more like a minor noble out wandering the world. "That said, Chaldea isn't quite what I pictured. Only three of you? Or did your companions all die in that war in the eastern seas, leaving just you three as the survivors?"
"The ones who were wiped out were the Olympian fleet, and their commander, Odysseus," Shiomi said with a shake of his head. "Though the Servants who came as reinforcements probably withdrew before the strike from satellite orbit came down. Our ship is docked on the far shore of Hestia Island."
"So you're the scouting party." Bartholomew's gaze swept across the three of them.
His pirate's instincts were screaming one very clear warning: don't say anything careless to these two ladies.
"I am Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea," Olga Marie said, taking over smoothly. "I can represent Chaldea as a whole in discussions of exchange, cooperation, and allied action with any friendly Servants or factions. Bartholomew, could you tell us what you know about this Lostbelt?"
"As for the situation…" Bartholomew's tone stayed calm. "You're the ones who annihilated Odysseus's fleet, so you've likely already sensed most of it. Unlike Proper Human History, the Twelve Olympian Gods never severed ties with humanity. The Age of Gods is still ongoing. Why, I can't say—unless we can uncover information on ancient relics."
His eyes, quiet and steady, settled on Shiomi. Bartholomew didn't doubt for a second that whatever power Chaldea had used to turn the tables and destroy Odysseus's fleet lay with this man.
"So you don't know exactly where the divergence between the Lostbelt and Proper Human History is," Shiomi said, accepting it. He'd been turning the question over in his head on the way here anyway, and he was starting to see the outline.
"But I can tell you this," Bartholomew continued. "The Olympian gods don't live in Atlantis. They're at the center of the Atlantis Sea, above the 'Void Cavern.' Beyond the Fantasy Tree lies the Interstellar Mountainous City of Olympus. That's your real destination."
He pulled out a parchment map from behind him—an Atlantis sea chart drawn in careful lines.
"It's almost exactly like the myths," Morgan murmured. "The Greek gods don't live among mortals. They dwell in their own divine city, with their retinues."
Shiomi narrowed his eyes at the chart. "If the 'Void Cavern' in the central sea is the target, you'd think you'd just tell us to set sail from here and head straight for it…"
"Honestly, it wouldn't shock me if you tried," Bartholomew said with a shrug. "The problem is, the entrance to Olympus isn't on this side. And the closer you get to the 'Void Cavern,' the worse the winds and waves become. You don't want to spend too long sailing under conditions like that, do you?"
Then he added, "But there is good news. Of the three major hurdles on the way to Olympus, you've already cleared one."
"Three hurdles?" Olga Marie asked at once.
"The first was Odysseus's fleet." Bartholomew smiled. "That fleet is gone. And even in a Lostbelt, rebuilding enough strength to come after you again takes time."
After all, a fleet of that size had been wiped out completely. Next time, they'd need at least two or three times that force—maybe even ten.
Even with the Twelve Olympian Gods ruling this Lostbelt, they couldn't possibly prepare something like that overnight.
"The second obstacle is the gatekeeper of the 'Void Cavern'—Poseidon, the Sea God," Bartholomew said. "As for the third, you've already seen it for yourselves: the divine punishment arrow that falls from the heavens. Artemis."
The three of them exchanged glances.
"So it really is Artemis…" Olga Marie's voice turned a little heavy. "That goddess has become… a killing machine… no, a machine god."
Back in the Third Singularity, Okeanos, Artemis—being the true source of the Servant Orion's combat power—had helped Olga Marie and the others immensely.
Even knowing they might end up opposing Artemis, she hadn't expected it to be this direct.
"So Orion is operating solo because of Artemis too?" Shiomi asked, lifting his cup. Morgan did the same almost perfectly in sync.
"You can think of it that way," Bartholomew said, looking uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to comment further.
"Then if we intend to shoot down Artemis, is Orion our enemy… or our friend?" Shiomi asked bluntly.
Bartholomew fell silent for a long moment before he finally spoke. "Looks like I really drew the grand prize, getting left behind to support Chaldea. Are you telling me you actually have the power to bring down that Machine God floating in satellite orbit?"
"To be precise, I do," Shiomi said slowly. "It'll just take some preparation."
Killing a god wasn't the hard part. The real problem was that the god they needed to kill was sitting at an altitude ordinary power simply couldn't reach.
It wasn't something you could do by casually lifting a hand and opening your mouth.
"Ooh…" Bartholomew let out a low sound. A grin spread across his face, but cold sweat still beaded along his cheeks.
A pirate who'd fought through countless life-and-death struggles in life had just realized he'd landed himself in one hell of a job—and one hell of a partner.
"But don't worry," Shiomi said. "I'm not going to dump the troublesome parts on you. What I'm more interested in is the other thing you just said."
Olga Marie turned to look at Shiomi's profile. "Bartholomew said he was 'left behind.'"
"It seems our earlier guess about the island's Leylines was right," Morgan said, her gaze settling on the center of the sea chart on the table—the swirling vortex symbol that marked the Void Cavern. "Including Bartholomew Roberts, a great many Servants from Proper Human History have already been here."