After regrouping with Master and the others, and confirming that everyone aboard the Storm Border was safe, they returned to their rooms to rest. The moment he had a chance, Shiomi asked about something important.
Important not just to him, but to Chaldea.
"How's Marie?"
"I had Baobhan Sith take her back to her room," Scáthach said with a shake of her head. "She took it hard."
Shiomi understood at once. Maybe we shouldn't have kept it from her. Even without conclusive proof, would it have been better to tell her first?
"Hard to say." Morgan shook her head as well. "If you can't confirm it, bringing it up early just creates more trouble."
That had been Shiomi's view too, back when he and Morgan first agreed on it.
But now U-Olga Marie had appeared, calling herself the "Alien God," and their suspicions were steadily hardening into fact.
The disaster of the Bleached World hadn't come from some threat beyond the stars, but from something far worse. And now Olga Marie had been dealt a blow even heavier than Marisbury's death.
"Then there's nothing for it." Shiomi pressed his lips together. "Once the recovery plan is settled, I'll go see her… I just hope she doesn't do anything foolish."
Skadi lowered her gaze. "It won't be easy. The Beast of the End appearing in that form… whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, or something decided long ago…"
"The very existence of the 'Alien God' is enough to make the Director doubt who she even is," Touko said, cutting in. "Especially when it comes to the self. I'm not wrong, am I?"
Shiomi had no answer.
"Kept in the dark her whole life… at this point, she's probably starting to question why she was born at all, and what Marisbury Animusphere was really trying to do by raising her as his successor." Artoria spoke with real empathy.
After all, she—Arthur's king—had been born as the Child of the Red Dragon for the sake of saving Britannia.
The difference was that she'd known it from the beginning. She accepted the mission laid out for her, and still had room to choose.
It was Artoria herself who chose to walk that brutally difficult road, and to arrive at the ending that belonged to King Arthur.
Shiomi folded his arms and stared blankly at Master's toes, which happened to be in his line of sight.
It wasn't that he was captivated by her feet. He was simply stuck, with no easy way forward.
"More importantly," Morgan said, "even if no one's said it out loud, we need to give a clearer explanation now, even if it's only a hypothetical conclusion. We have to lay everything out. Whether everyone can accept it, and whether they're willing to keep trusting Marie—accept her as the Director and let her continue leading Chaldea…"
"You're both right." Shiomi nodded slowly. "I'll think it through, and then we'll call everyone together for a meeting."
He turned to Touko. "How are the others doing?"
By "the others," he meant not only the twins from Olympus—the only two who boarded and left the Lostbelt with them—but also the three Crypters who had been captured and locked in the confinement room.
Kirschtaria, Peperoncino, and Hinako Akuta.
"The twins shouldn't be a problem," Touko said. "Before departure, they chose to offer their faith to you. That became the anchor that let them continue existing outside the Lostbelt. But with the Olympian gods gone, Klironomia will probably lose its effect as well. Their lifespans will end up about the same as the people of Atlantis."
If anything, the twins preferred it that way. They wanted to be ordinary humans again—to grow up, grow old, and die normally.
But for that, they would need Shiomi's help: he would have to strip away the tangible effects of the Machine God Authority that still lingered in their bodies.
"As for the Crypters," Touko continued, "they've been behaving for now… though it's not like they have a choice."
The binding Runes personally set by Skadi had stripped them of their combat abilities. Even Hinako Akuta was now no different from an ordinary human woman, completely incapable of fighting.
On top of that, three Valkyries stood guard inside the detention room.
"I see. In that case, let's go check on the Crypters first." Shiomi rose to his feet. "Kirschtaria gathering his allies to support us saved us quite a bit of trouble. We'll need them present at the briefing about the 'Alien God' to provide information—especially—"
Before he could finish, a transmission came through.
"Shiomi, please head to the detention room immediately! Something's wrong with Kirschtaria Wodime!" Romani's urgent voice rang out. "His vital signs are extremely unstable. He could die at any moment!"
Everyone in the room froze.
Morgan immediately recalled what Kirei Kotomine had said: unlike the other Crypters, Kirschtaria's right to live belonged to the "Alien God."
Now that he had been captured by Chaldea, to the "Alien God" he was nothing more than a discarded pawn. There was no reason to let him continue living.
With the Atlantic Lostbelt resolved, the next logical step would be to clean up the Crypters as well.
Hearing Morgan's explanation, Shiomi rushed straight to the detention room.
Kirschtaria lay on the verge of death.
The "Alien God" was attempting to use the life-lock placed upon him to forcibly reclaim the life it had granted. Yet the Wodime family's Magic Crest—a treasure passed down for a thousand years—was barely keeping him alive, preserving that last fragile breath.
"Please, Sensei! Save Kirschtaria!" Ophelia pressed herself against the small window in the cell door, pleading desperately with Shiomi.
"Even if you hadn't asked, I would."
Shiomi gave a calm smile and placed his hand over Kirschtaria's chest.
"If the 'Alien God' has chosen to take back the life it gave you, then I'll grant you a new life—one that's yours alone."
As the words left his mouth, Kirschtaria's face—twisted in pain despite his unconsciousness—gradually relaxed. His breathing steadied.
When Shiomi withdrew his hand, Kirschtaria slowly opened his eyes.
"…I am… deeply grateful…"
"For me, this isn't difficult anymore. It was your family's Magic Crest that kept you alive until I arrived," Shiomi said evenly. "The fact that the 'Alien God' acted this way means whatever alliance or contract existed between you has been voided."
"You're correct." Kirschtaria did not try to hide it. "You saved my life because you need the information I possess."
"Then hold nothing back," Shiomi said as he stood. "You're prisoners, but we have no intention of mistreating you. However, with the Bleached World crisis still unresolved, we won't be keeping anyone around who does nothing but eat."
Kirschtaria offered a composed smile.
"I understand perfectly."