"So you were asked to look after Marie's condition, and somehow that turned into taking care of her in bed?"
In Shiomi's room, he sat seiza on the floor, back straight, facing Morgan, who was sitting on the bed with one leg crossed over the other as she delivered her calm but pointed question.
"Uh… yes…" Shiomi admitted awkwardly.
He hadn't tried to hide anything about crossing that forbidden line with Olga Marie. He had confessed everything honestly.
And now, naturally, he was being questioned.
It wasn't just Morgan in the room. Scáthach, Artoria, Skadi, and Touko were all present as well.
Each had pulled up a chair and formed a neat semicircle around him.
From the formation alone, it looked very much like an interrogation.
Only in formation, though.
"Um… Morgan, this really isn't Teacher's fault. It's mine." Olga Marie, who had been guided to sit beside Morgan, blushed furiously as she hurried to defend him. "I was the one who… who seduced him. I used my situation, being alone and helpless—"
"How could that possibly be your fault?" Shiomi cut in immediately. "Don't just take responsibility for things that aren't yours. If we have to assign blame, then it's probably mine for not guiding you properly."
"Teacher…"
Olga Marie felt an inexplicable surge of happiness.
She wasn't even sure what exactly she was happy about. That he hadn't denied their relationship? That he was protecting her? Or something else entirely?
She just knew she felt light.
She should have been ashamed.
Instead, there was a strange sense of renewal, as if she had stepped into something new and irreversible.
"He's right," Scáthach said calmly, folding her arms and raising a finger. "Your biggest flaw is taking responsibility for things that were never yours to begin with. Whether it was Mash Kyrielight's circumstances or the matter of the 'Alien God' and the Bleaching of Human Order, you always do this."
"Master?" Olga Marie blinked, startled at the sudden shift in topic, unsure how to respond.
Touko picked it up immediately.
"To a Magus, whether it's themselves or their children, they're just cogs meant to carry on a lineage and its purpose. If someone more 'suitable' appears, the carefully raised heir can be discarded without hesitation. Or a child with no preparation at all can be dragged into Magecraft overnight."
"Miss Touko…"
Olga Marie fell silent.
She had already heard fragments of the truth about the inheritance of the Fifth Magic.
In that regard, Touko's example carried weight.
"Even if you were born for a purpose, you still have the freedom to choose," Artoria said evenly. "Whether you become a king or live as an ordinary person, as long as you act without betraying your own heart, that is enough."
"…Artoria."
Olga Marie was beginning to understand.
Artoria had been created as the Child of the Red Dragon, shaped to be King of Britain.
And yet, the path she walked in the end had still been her own.
"Fate may have set the rails long ago," Skadi added gently, "but that only makes your choices and your attitude more important. If the Bleaching truly is the sin of Animusphere, then bear only what you are capable of bearing. Even a god grows weary carrying an entire world. You are only human."
Each of them spoke from experience.
Their words weren't hollow comfort. They were conclusions drawn from lives that had been just as constrained, just as burdened.
Only then did Olga Marie realize—
She wasn't the only one shaped by circumstances beyond her control.
Her chest felt tight with gratitude, and more than a little embarrassment.
"S-So… this turned into counseling for me. Does that mean none of you actually blame me for seducing Teacher?"
She shifted nervously, trying to read their expressions.
But all five of them wore their usual calm smiles, as if nothing especially shocking had happened.
"Probably… maybe… not?" Shiomi shrugged and began to move as if to stand.
"Who said that?"
All five of them spoke in perfect unison and immediately pressed him back down.
"…Oh."
Shiomi scratched his head and obediently returned to his kneeling posture.
Olga Marie, still seated on the bed, flinched slightly.
In her impression, Teacher was always gentle, composed, even a little restrained.
On the battlefield, he was sharp and overwhelming.
In private… he had shown a quiet firmness that both steadied and captivated her, guiding her patiently and carefully, until the shock and pain brought on by the manifestation of the 'Alien God' had faded into nothing.
And yet right now—
He looked completely at their mercy.
Wasn't he supposed to have become a god?
"Punish me however you like. But what about Marie? What are you planning to do about her?" Shiomi narrowed his eyes, looking as soft and harmless as a rice cake about to melt.
"Isn't that something my husband should decide for himself?" Morgan leaned forward slightly, fixing him with a steady gaze. "After all, if you could charm a fifteen-year-old fairy girl, then a Marie in her twenties hardly counts as a challenge. And frankly, I'm not in much of a position to accuse anyone of being too easy."
"Eh?" Olga Marie blinked. "It was that early?"
For some reason, she suddenly realized—
Teacher was unexpectedly… rather predatory.
"I will, of course, treat Marie properly," Shiomi said seriously. "Even if I originally intended to keep some distance, things have progressed this far. Responsibility is only natural. Marie, what do you want?"
"M-Me?" Olga Marie lowered her head and thought for quite a while, fingers twisting together shyly.
"If Teacher is willing to continue this relationship… then I… don't want it to end."
"Is that so?" Scáthach lifted a brow. "To the rest of us, it's hardly shocking. But as my disciple should have told you, it's better not to let this spread."
"I understand." Olga Marie nodded quickly.
Whether it could be made public wasn't important.
She had already gained something decisive.
Something that allowed her to believe, without doubt, that she was not the same as the 'Alien God.'
"So… may I stand up now?" Shiomi asked again.
"Hmm. Let me think." Morgan deliberately pretended to consider it. "Well, this wasn't meant to be a formal trial anyway. In that case—"
She reached out as if to help him up.
Suddenly, Storm Border shook violently.
Caught off guard, Morgan stumbled forward and landed in Shiomi's arms.
"Eh? What's going on? Enemy contact? An Alien Apostle?" Olga Marie instantly snapped out of her earlier flustered mood and moved to confirm the situation.
She connected to the bridge.
Da Vinci's voice came through the communication line.
"Emergency report. Storm Border, currently stationed within the Bleached Earth region, is under attack by an Alien Apostle. Cross-referencing with the Servant Spirit Origin database confirms the identity. It is the Alien Apostle who killed the giant god Atlas in the Lostbelt the other day."