Final Chapter (Part 2)
No matter how many times she saw it, the streets of London beneath that dim sky, where old and new stood woven together, always felt impossible for Olga Marie to look at enough.
She had once almost believed she would never see it again for the rest of her life.
"By the way, why is Ms. Morgan the one driving?" Olga Marie asked from the back seat, a little curious.
Shiomi leaned against the passenger-side window.
"Do you even need to ask? She just got her license and bought a new car. She's basically a child who's just been handed a new toy."
"That's not quite fair." Morgan turned the wheel with practiced ease. "My husband is usually the one driving. I'm only doing this to spare him the trouble."
"Yes, yes, that too." Holding back a laugh, Shiomi agreed with Morgan's explanation while at the same time leaning away from the hand she kept reaching over with. "Eyes on the road, eyes on the road... Even if the people in this car aren't afraid of a crash, at least think about everyone else."
After Shiomi said that, Morgan had no choice but to give up trying to pinch him and put her hand back on the wheel.
"A driver's license..." Olga Marie murmured thoughtfully. "Maybe I should get one too sometime."
Once she was no longer living as part of the Magus aristocracy, having a few more practical life skills would only help in the days ahead, living together with Sensei.
"If you want to learn, there'll be plenty of time later," Shiomi said with a quiet smile. "If anything, we have more time now than we know what to do with."
"Mm." Olga Marie answered, her face full of anticipation.
The car soon left central London behind and sped along the quiet roads outside the city.
Olga Marie lowered the window and looked out at the scenery passing by.
"The Clock Tower hasn't been making things difficult for you, has it?" Morgan asked.
"The Clock Tower has too much on its own plate now." Olga Marie shook her head. "With Barthomeloi gone, the weakening of the Department of Policies is a settled fact."
"Not long ago, the Director and Zelretch came to visit me together," Shiomi said lightly. "They obviously know who did it."
What Shiomi meant was the extermination of the Barthomeloi family.
"But I didn't hear anything about any unusual fallout," Gray said.
"Of course you didn't." Shiomi shook his head.
They may have come with some purpose in mind, but the moment they saw Shiomi, they understood that some things could neither be reversed nor denied.
So in the end, there was not even a conversation. They simply exchanged a distant glance across the street, turned around, and left, making it clear that they had no intention of disturbing Shiomi ever again.
After all, if things continued that way, Shiomi could begin with the aristocratic faction outside of El-Melloi and Wodime, then move on to the neutral faction and the democratic faction, and keep killing until the Clock Tower itself could no longer function.
When it came down to it, choosing between a peaceful transition into an age where humanity no longer needed Mystery, and a rapid collapse, was not a difficult decision at all.
The Wandering Sea would only retreat into an age Shiomi could not reach.
Atlas had already more or less withdrawn from worldly affairs, and Sion, as its representative, stood on his side as well.
"To be honest, I already felt a year ago that this should have been dealt with that way," Shiomi said.
Unfortunately, at the time, on the one hand, his body had not yet fully recovered from the effects of divine punishment.
And on the other, the power in his hands was still not enough to guarantee the safety of the companions who had fought beside him if war broke out with the Clock Tower, or even the Mage's Association itself.
But things were completely different now.
Even the Second Magic User was no longer something he needed to worry about.
That was why Shiomi had been able to let loose and act without restraint.
"After Singularity F disappeared, when we came to our senses again, we found ourselves back in Chaldea before the attack had ever happened," Olga Marie said. "It didn't just resolve the Bleaching. It even erased the bad outcome itself."
"Exactly. For everyone else, it was only an instant. For us, though, it was quite a long process." Morgan kept her eyes on the road ahead, turning the wheel slightly as the road curved.
"But even Chaldeas..." Gray said.
"In a sense, what you all experienced was a kind of recreation of the world." Shiomi smiled. "Just a limited one."
Everything that happened on January 1, 2018, was completely corrected, and the fact that Chaldeas had ceased operation was fixed into place ahead of time.
All of it rested on the destruction of Singularity F.
"You never told us any of that, Sensei." Olga Marie puffed out her cheeks. "Only Master and those three knew, right?"
"There just wasn't time to explain." Shiomi smiled helplessly.
At that, Olga Marie and Gray both laughed too.
It was not that they wanted to complain. They only felt a little left out, as though victory had arrived while they were still dazed and confused, leaving them with a faint sense of emptiness.
"Come to think of it, where are Master and the others?" Olga Marie asked. "It's not just the few of us, is it?"
"Well..."
Shiomi lifted a finger and pointed to the left side of the road.
Olga Marie turned and saw Touko Aozaki driving her convertible sports car, with Scáthach and the others packed into the back, overtaking their sedan at a slightly faster pace.
"We're heading on ahead. Don't be too slow and keep everyone waiting."
After tossing out that line, Scáthach's group sped past as Touko accelerated.
Morgan immediately stepped on the gas and gave chase.
Thanks to that, they ended up arriving about half an hour earlier than originally planned.
"Honestly, why were you driving so fast? The weather's this nice for once." When he got out of the car, Shiomi laughed as he teased Morgan.
Morgan undid her seat belt. "It's been two months since everyone last saw each other. With the orphanage officially opening today, it seemed like a good chance for everyone to catch up."
"That's true." Shiomi nodded in understanding.
After all, aside from their own family, the people from Chaldea had all gone their separate ways after that.
Chaldea itself had been handed over to Goredolf, who had originally acquired half the authority.
Romani had left Chaldea and was now helping run the orphanage that had taken in the survivors from the Lostbelts.
Mash and Ritsuka were attending ordinary school in London, and came by to help out whenever they had time.
The other staff who had taken part in resolving the Bleaching of human history had remained with Chaldea.
Sion had returned to Atlas.
Da Vinci had chosen to step back, leaving Da Vinci-chan with Romani instead.
"As my husband said just now, we have plenty of time." Morgan gently closed the car door, walked around the front of the car to meet Shiomi, and took his hand. "Whether slowly or quickly, we can savor every day that comes from here on out."
"Yes. After everything we've been through, this is the ordinary life we finally took back." Shiomi looked at her with quiet warmth. "This time it won't be twenty years. It'll be far longer."
Morgan nodded. She was just about to answer when they heard their daughters shouting from the entrance of the orphanage, calling for the two of them to hurry over.
"Oh dear, looks like we're being rushed." Shiomi said with a smile.
"That's your fault," Morgan replied, smiling sweetly.
"How is it my fault?"
"Because you insisted on talking to me."
"What kind of logic is that?"
"I am the logic."
"Her Majesty the Queen is terribly unreasonable."
"And His Majesty the God King is hardly any better."
Still trading lighthearted barbs, the two of them walked toward the family waiting for them at the entrance to the orphanage.