Later that evening, beneath the sky.
Because of Shiomi's remarks, Aoko Aozaki realized the situation had likely gone far beyond expectations, perhaps even spiraling out of control. She and Alice followed Shiomi and Touko to the room where Scáthach and the others were staying. After finishing their questioning by Detective Tsukiji, the Chaldea group gathered there once again.
"Before we exchange information," Alice Kuonji said, looking at Shiomi on the sofa opposite her, "could Mr. Shiomi explain what you mean by a 'divine being' that is not the land god of Kumano Onsen?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Shiomi replied as he poured tea. "A god has appeared in this Singularity-altered place. As for the two Aoko Aozaki who died earlier, in my opinion, they were most likely killed after coming into contact with that god, without any chance to resist."
Aoko didn't strongly object. "Hmm… how should I put it? If I really did run into a god in the truest sense, I suppose I might lose."
"The issue is," Alice continued calmly, "only the 'second Aoko' died by divine authority. The 'first Aoko' was killed by Runes of Death. How do you explain that? Does that mean the first one wasn't killed by a god?"
"No. Both were killed by a god, and by the same one," Shiomi said. "If a god displays power beyond what the 'first Aoko' anticipated, then even without using divine authority, merely wielding Runes as a god would be enough to kill a human. Even a Magician would be no exception."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward Aoko. "To put it another way, if you were to face an existence like the great god Odin in a magecraft battle, how confident would you be of winning?"
"If I knew the opponent's level from the beginning, it might be different," Aoko answered after some thought. "But if I went in without any idea at all, then I'd definitely lose."
After thinking it through, she gave a relaxed smile, clearly agreeing with Shiomi's assessment.
"The god that appeared in the Singularity is something close to the great god Odin?" Alice's expression remained as calm as ever, but her eyes grew increasingly grave.
The great god Odin was the original source of the Rune magecraft system.
The Runes he possessed were not the Rune foundation restored by Touko, but primordial Runes, far more powerful and mysterious than those of the modern age.
If Odin were to wield those primordial Runes, calling him an existence beyond magic would not be an exaggeration.
"It's only the worst-case possibility," Shiomi said, holding his teacup. "I believe that god has not yet fully taken shape, which is why it hasn't revealed itself. Even so, divine authority is already rewriting the rules of this land. Once those rules are completely transformed into divine law, it will already be too late."
"The land is… being rewritten?" Aoko murmured, momentarily at a loss.
She and Alice had indeed sensed something strange about Kumano Onsen, but based on their investigations so far, it seemed like nothing more than changes caused by local anomalies.
The leylines were unchanged. The environment, too, remained the same.
"Maybe it's even more serious than that," Morgan suddenly interjected. "What's being rewritten might not be the land itself, but the fabric on the surface of the planet. Like the 'Nega-Genesis' of the goddess Tiamat…"
Shiomi froze for a moment, then lowered his head. "That wouldn't be wrong either, considering…"
"Considering what?" Aoko asked at once.
Shiomi's reaction was completely unguarded.
"Nothing," he said. "It's just that I'm already certain of that god's true identity." He raised an eyebrow and spoke slowly, each word deliberate. "Even so, I still don't quite understand why things turned out this way. What exactly happened in this Singularity to produce such a result?"
He had gone that far and still held something back. Just as Aoko was about to press him for an explanation, Touko cut in.
"Tenkei's meaning is already clear," her sister said as she looked at her younger sibling. "If Aoko has no intention of making public the information she holds about the Singularity, then Tenkei will hold back as well."
She was wearing glasses, yet her tone was unexpectedly stern and cold.
"Huh?" Aoko was genuinely confused.
If there was any hidden information, it would have to be something only the "First Aoko Aozaki" and the "Second Aoko Aozaki" knew.
As the "Third," Aoko could probably only uncover it through further investigation.
"Before we discovered the remains of the 'Second Aoko Aozaki,' my familiar detected her going alone to the old building late at night," Shiomi said flatly. "Based on that, I left my room and followed her in secret."
Aoko squinted at him. "Following a strange woman in the middle of the night? Sis, your friend has some pretty questionable hobbies…"
"You're free to think that if you like. I'm just stating what I found," Shiomi replied, unperturbed. He showed none of his usual flustered banter around women, instead maintaining a detached, almost indifferent attitude. "Before the 'Second Aoko Aozaki's' presence vanished, there was a large-scale magical energy reaction at the hot spring bathhouse. That fluctuation was almost identical in both scale and intensity to the one Touko and I sensed before we arrived at the inn, before encountering the 'First Aoko Aozaki.'"
A knowing smile appeared on Scáthach's face. "And judging from what happened afterward, it's very likely that the 'first one' had just jumped to the Singularity's year, 2001, at that moment. That magical reaction would have been produced by the use of the Fifth Law."
"So that means Aoko went to the bathhouse alone before dawn and used the Fifth Law," Alice said, lowering her gaze. "In other words, after learning something, Aoko used the Fifth Law to make contact with the deity Mr. Shiomi mentioned?"
"Most likely," Shiomi said. "The ravens I sent out investigated the area within a twenty-kilometer radius centered on the hot spring inn and found something interesting."
Artoria asked, "What did they find?"
"The land whose rules were altered first is precisely where this hot spring inn stands," Shiomi said, watching Aoko's reaction. "The farther you get from this area, the more normal the state of the land becomes. From another perspective, it means this rewriting hasn't fully spread yet."
"That may be true…" Aoko muttered helplessly. "But before I jumped here, the most I could figure out was that the 'first Aoko' came from 1999. She was already quite different from the 'second Aoko,' and from me now…"
"1999…" Alice's eyes showed a flicker of confusion.
"So that's how it is," Morgan suddenly spoke up. She slowly lifted a registry book, a playful smile on her face. "Before coming upstairs, I borrowed the inn's guest register from the owner and found something intriguing. In May of 1999, our family also stayed here. And yet… I have absolutely no memory of it."