When she stepped out of her room, Olga Marie instinctively adjusted the hair draped over her chest, worried that any slight disarray in her appearance might give sothing away.
"It's fine. You look perfectly normal."
Shiomi ca out a mont later, speaking from behind her as he casually straightened her collar.
"Really?" she asked, still lacking confidence.
"Then let ask you this. Could you tell from Touko or Skadi's behavior when they've spent ti alone with ?"
That left Olga Marie speechless.
"…No."
Or rather, unless Shiomi deliberately hinted at it, it would be very difficult for anyone to notice such things.
They left together and headed for the small conference room to et with Kirschtaria. The topic they were about to discuss wasn't especially urgent. In fact, it was more long-term than anything else.
But as they walked, Olga Marie's mind was clearly elsewhere.
"Um… you've been spending a lot of ti with lately, Teacher. Is that… really okay?" she asked as tactfully as she could.
Like just now. They had spent the entire afternoon together in her room.
That effectively ant less ti for the others to be alone with him.
"Well…" Shiomi, for once, looked slightly less composed. "You'll understand in a little while. For you right now, it might be a bit too intense."
"T-too intense?"
The word made her blush all over again. Just thinking back to what they had done in her room made her feel it had already been quite intense.
The conservatism of the Aristocratic Faction wasn't limited to Magecraft. Their secular values were equally traditional. Tasting the forbidden fruit before marriage did not exactly align with Animusphere standards.
So for her, even that already counted as crossing a line.
Of course, if one frad it purely as replenishing Mana, then the standards shifted entirely.
In that sense, Magi were rather double-minded.
Fortunately, the path to the small conference room was long, with several turns through the ship's interior. By the ti they arrived, Olga Marie had regained her usual composure.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Shiomi greeted.
"I ca early," Kirschtaria replied, rising to et them. "When the Director and Teacher suddenly said they wished to discuss the future of the Departnt of Astromancy, I had no choice but to take it seriously."
Looking at Kirschtaria's calm and steady deanor, Olga Marie couldn't help but think again that he truly was Marisbury's foremost disciple.
"I have a feeling… that Animusphere may not be able to continue."
Once seated, she went straight to the point and explained why they had called this eting.
"Is this because of the 'Alien God,' or because of the possible cause behind the Bleaching?" Kirschtaria asked.
During his ti in cryogenic sleep, Kirschtaria had co into contact with the 'Alien God,' but he had not learned the full details of the Bleaching plan. Still, relying on his own brilliance, he had deduced that it was closely tied to his ntor Marisbury—and to Animusphere itself.
"Both," Shiomi answered. "No matter how we fra the report after restoring Proper Human History, we won't be able to shift responsibility onto so unrelated party the way it was done during the Incineration of Humanity."
The King of Magecraft's ritual and the Animusphere lineage were fundantally different in the eyes of the Clock Tower and the Mage's Association.
The forr had been sothing distant and almost unreal.
The latter was a concrete, established Magus Family.
"With your current strength and connections in the Clock Tower, safeguarding both Chaldea and Animusphere under shared responsibility shouldn't be difficult," Kirschtaria said.
"Preserving them isn't the problem," Shiomi shook his head. "As Marie said, Animusphere itself is unlikely to endure."
"The original body, before the Magic Crest could be transplanted, was seized by the 'Alien God.' No matter how this ends, Animusphere's inheritance will suffer a severe blow."
For the Aristocratic Faction, losing a millennia-old Magic Crest was enough to be judged unqualified.
The Departnt of Policies would undoubtedly act. Either they would strip Animusphere of the Departnt of Astromancy, or reduce the family to a puppet.
"So Director Olga Marie's intention is…" Kirschtaria had already guessed the answer. "Since losing the Departnt of Astromancy is inevitable, better to entrust it to soone reliable while we still can?"
"That's exactly it, Kirschtaria Wodi," Shiomi said, resting his chin on one hand. "With your standing at the Clock Tower and the status of the Wodi family, and with the recomndation of the forr Lord of Astromancy—along with support from other Lords of both the Democratic and Aristocratic factions—taking that seat as the new Lord shouldn't be difficult, right?"
Though his assumption had been confird, Kirschtaria remained composed.
"Don't forget, I was an accomplice in the Bleaching Crisis. Once the world is restored, I… no, the Wodi family will face considerable criticism."
"Compared to the responsibility that Animusphere can never fully shake off, you and the other Crypters will have an easier ti distancing yourselves," Shiomi said. "As long as the division of responsibility is handled properly when the ti cos."
"And if you accumulate enough achievents, the report will look far more favorable."
By achievents, he ant the excision of Lostbelts.
"It does sound like a reasonable proposal. But why?" Kirschtaria's smile sharpened. "As the current Lord of the Departnt of Astromancy, would the Director really give up her position so easily just because she realized Animusphere can't be inherited?"
He wasn't so much doubting her as he was worried.
After all, she was his ntor's daughter. His fellow disciple.
Kirschtaria might be calm and exacting, but he wasn't heartless.
And yet, his question went unanswered.
Only when he looked away did he notice Olga Marie staring at Shiomi, completely absorbed, as if the mont Shiomi took over the discussion, she had stopped managing anything at all.
"Marie," Shiomi prompted, "Kirschtaria's asking you. Are you really willing to give up the Lord position?"
"Huh… ah…" Olga Marie blinked, then her shoulders sagged. "Of course I'm reluctant. But… there's no other way."
Besides, if she stayed bound to the identity of the Animusphere family head, sooner or later she would have to separate from her teacher.
And that was sothing she couldn't accept either.
Whether as a Magus or as a woman, Olga Marie wanted to choose the road that suited her best.
Shiomi understood that.
"I see." Kirschtaria seed to grasp the situation and, tactfully, didn't press any further. "Then, regarding the handover of the Lord position in the Departnt of Astromancy between the Animusphere family and the Wodi family… it may look like that day is still far off, but I'd like to lay out my view first, along with a few details I consider necessary."
"Better early than late. Let's start discussing it now."
Olga Marie was, in truth, eager to begin, but she still forced herself to stay composed.
...
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