For Olga Marie, Tenkei Shiomi was a towering senior within the world of Magecraft, someone she felt compelled to address as Master.
It was precisely because he was there that, after her father Marisbury passed away and she took over both the Animusphere family and Chaldea, she was able to find a place of refuge amid pressure that felt as vast and crushing as mountains and seas.
From the bottom of her heart, she regarded Shiomi as an "honored mentor."
What pushed that hazy, ambiguous first love a step further was the disaster of Singularity F.
She should have died in the bomb planted by Lev, her physical death reducing her to nothing more than a wandering soul. Yet because of the doll body her teacher gave her, her life was prolonged, allowing her to continue living on as Olga Marie. From that moment on, Shiomi became something like a god in her eyes, a presence that stirred emotions of extreme complexity within her heart.
Longing for her father, reverence for her teacher, affection toward the opposite sex, and a devotion bordering on worship of a deity.
All of these feelings intertwined until Olga Marie could no longer look away from Shiomi. Even if he would never turn back to look at her, she felt that simply being able to watch him was enough.
Learning that Shiomi was in fact a Magus from the Land of Shadows, trained by the famed Queen Scáthach, did not come as much of a shock to her.
If anything, someone as formidable as Teacher Shiomi ought to have experienced forms of training beyond what modern Magi could ever attain.
Even so, on the eve of confronting the unprecedented enemy that was the great god Zeus, the sudden revelation that the person she had long admired was himself a god still threw Olga Marie's usually orderly thoughts into complete chaos.
"What do you want to ask?"
Standing at the front of the Storm Border's deck, bathed in the night wind of Olympus, Shiomi asked Olga Marie quietly.
It was a truth that would have to be made public sooner or later. He had already anticipated everyone's reactions, and it was hardly unreasonable for Olga Marie to stop him and want to talk.
Even if she voiced doubts, Shiomi would have found it perfectly natural.
After all, someone who had always fought alongside Chaldea as a human suddenly no longer being human one day was bound to leave people disoriented.
"...I'm sorry. I don't even know what I want to ask." Olga Marie looked at him with a troubled expression, her silver hair thrown into disarray by the wind. "I just suddenly wanted to talk to you, Sensei..."
"After all, this goes beyond not only common human sense, but even that of Magi," Touko said, showing her understanding. "Even a Magician... Aoko probably wouldn't be able to make sense of it either."
She recalled what had happened back at the Kumano Hot Springs Singularity. Even then, Aoko never really stopped to think about how the 'New God' that caused the sudden upheaval of the Singularity had come into being.
Why was it possible for a human to transform into that kind of deity?
In truth, it wasn't only Aoko as a Magician. Touko herself had also given up on digging deeply into the reasons.
Whether as a Magus or as an ex-girlfriend, it was the same.
Even Shiomi himself did not understand the origin of it all. The change had simply appeared before his eyes, and after rejecting it time and again, he ultimately chose to accept it and move forward with it.
"I just suddenly don't know what to say." Olga Marie glanced at Shiomi, conflict filling her eyes. "Teacher is still Teacher, but all of a sudden it feels like you're going to a place very far away..."
"Maybe you're thinking about how, after the Age of Gods ended, all the gods of Proper Human History left this world and went to the far side of it?" Shiomi gently tidied her wind-tossed hair. "I'm not going anywhere. Even if this body has become a god, it's not to lead humanity back to the Age of Gods. It's simply that this crisis requires me to be this way."
"Teacher..." There was emotion in Olga Marie's voice.
Whether it was because of Shiomi's reassurance, or her admiration for his resolve, even Olga Marie herself couldn't quite tell.
"So don't look at me like that. We're still companions, and I'm still your teacher." Shiomi patted her head helplessly. "If you start treating me like a god just because of this, that would be far too strange."
"That's true," Touko added, stepping in. "I remember that during Chaldea's efforts to restore human history, you interacted with Divine Spirit Servants too, right? Director, did you ever think of worshipping them?"
"But they're gods who already left the world, manifesting only by possessing humans... it's not the same as Teacher," Olga Marie said, a little self-conscious.
Shiomi was different. He existed here as himself, in reality, both human and god.
The feeling was completely different.
Of course, that had a lot to do with Olga Marie's personal feelings.
If it had been someone else, even if it were Touko beside her who turned out to be a god, Olga Marie would have been surprised at most, then confirmed whether they would continue assisting Chaldea, and that would have been the end of it. She wouldn't have been burdened with such tangled emotions.
"I see. That makes sense." Touko deliberately steered the conversation aside to ease the delicate atmosphere. "Magi are creatures who pursue ancient Mystery and long to reach the Root. They're human, yet already removed from ordinary human common sense. Seeing someone you know reach the finish line ahead of you, it's natural to feel a bit of jealousy."
Olga Marie immediately flushed and protested, "It's not like that, Ms. Touko. I'm not jealous of Teacher at all. If Teacher really did reach the Root, I'd only feel honored."
"But I never taught you Magecraft," Shiomi said with a laugh.
"But you really are like a teacher. You've taught me so many things," Olga Marie said earnestly. "No matter where you go from now on, as long as you're still here, still in Chaldea, please don't leave me behind..."
Then, realizing she had just said something rather serious, Olga Marie's face turned even redder.
"There's not much time left before departure. I should go back and check on the preparations." She hurriedly took two steps back, bowed to Shiomi, then turned and ran toward the inside of the ship.
Touko patted Shiomi on the back, laughing. "That was quite a passionate confession."
"Don't tease me..."
"You couldn't possibly have missed the point," Touko said with a lazy smile.
"It's because I understood that I'm telling you not to tease me," Shiomi sighed. "She probably got carried away and let it slip. With a great enemy right in front of us, as the Director, Marie's nerves must be stretched tighter than anyone else's."
"Mm, sometimes I really do think you're rather cold," Touko joked.
"I'll leave that judgment up to you," Shiomi replied evasively.
Touko smiled deeply and grabbed his arm.
"I won't be able to fight alongside you in what comes next. Make sure you win."
"Yeah. I promise."