It was about ten days after the date Kaito had shared with Olivia and Kaori. Within the Pope's chambers of the Central Cathedral in Friendly City Hikari, Olivia was preparing to offer her prayers as she did every day.
However, in that moment, a thought struck her—one so sudden and profound it felt like a divine revelation.
(…Come to think of it, while this is the heart of the Holy Church and the center of faith for Shallow Vernal-sama, and though we possess every sacred item necessary for our worship… isn't it fundamentally wrong of me to direct my prayers for Kaito Miyama-sama toward the church’s prayer bells and divine icons? If I am to offer my devotion to Kaito Miyama-sama, surely I require items dedicated solely to him? This is a grave oversight. To think that I, of all people, failed to notice something so basic until now… I must make arrangements immediately. This neglect will surely affect the very quality of my prayers.)
Olivia’s faith was beyond measure. To her, praying to Kaito was every bit as special as praying to Shallow Vernal, the God of the World. Consequently, realize that she had been praying in an environment that was essentially a compromise felt like a personal failure. Overcome with deep regret, Olivia immediately resolved to procure the tools necessary to pray to Kaito properly.
However, there was a slight problem. It was true that Kaito possessed some of the greatest influence in the world through his connections and held a position of immense practical power; he was a figure truly worthy of being called the World's Singularity.
But strictly speaking, Kaito was just a migrant from an otherworld—an ordinary citizen in a very extraordinary position. Since there was no established religion dedicated to him, there were obviously no statues, prayer bells, or specialized ritual tools in existence.
(…How can this be? Is it possible that… no such items exist to facilitate prayer to Kaito Miyama-sama? Is that even allowed? Kaito Miyama-sama is a truly noble soul, a being who deserves to be worshiped as widely as Shallow Vernal-sama… N-no, then again, if Kaito Miyama-sama himself does not desire such things, perhaps it is unavoidable… But at this rate, I can never claim with confidence that my devotion to him is perfect. What should I do… No… Wait… Why don’t I simply make them myself?)
For someone with Olivia’s absolute level of devotion, the idea of continuing her prayers in what she considered a mediocre environment was intolerable. After racking her brain for a solution, she arrived at the conclusion that she would simply have to forge her own prayer tools.
(I don't need anything overly complex. I simply need to craft a divine statue in Kaito Miyama-sama’s image. Yes, I can recall every detail of his form with perfect clarity. If I order the tools, I can begin at once!)
The idea of hand-carving a statue of Kaito struck her like a stroke of genius. Highly impressed with her own plan, she immediately sent for sculpting tools and technical references.
Sometime later, within a subspace created by her own power, Olivia stood before her finished sculpture with an expression of pure despair.
Olivia was fundamentally a serious and diligent person. Furthermore, as long as she remained within the Friendly City, she wielded power comparable to a Supreme God. She had mastered the techniques from her books in an instant and, after a few practice runs, had set to work on the actual statue.
The resulting Kaito Statue was exquisitely crafted, boasting a level of detail that would have suggested the work of a master sculptor with decades of experience.
But to Olivia, its quality was utterly unacceptable.
"…Wh-what is this… This is far too crude… This statue captures nothing of Kaito Miyama-sama's greatness! Not his gallant features, nor his kind and warm gaze! It doesn't even begin to radiate his all-encompassing aura… It expresses nothing!"
To be clear, the statue was of very high quality. However, Olivia’s faith was so extreme that it defied logic. To her, "quite good" was synonymous with "compromise," and she refused to accept anything less than perfection.
In that moment, a fierce light ignited in her eyes.
"…As long as I am crafting a divine icon to represent Kaito Miyama-sama, I cannot allow myself to call such mediocre skill 'finished.' I need more technique… more training…"
Thus, Olivia's challenge truly began. Fortunately, her power within the Friendly City was absolute; it was a simple matter to revert the finished statue back into a block of marble.
She adjusted the flow of time within her subspace and began to sculpt again. And again. And again.
Over and over, she created and destroyed, created and destroyed. Driven by an inexhaustible well of faith, she continued her work with stubborn, single-minded devotion.
Being naturally diligent and used to spending vast amounts of time in prayer, Olivia possessed terrifying levels of concentration. She literally spent a subjective eternity sculpting without a single moment of rest, all to manifest the ideal image of Kaito that was burned into her mind.
Eventually, every wasted movement vanished from her technique. Her skill stepped into the realm of the divine.
She no longer needed to cycle through a dozen different tools. With just a chisel and a mallet, she could carve hyper-exquisite details with effortless precision.
Eventually, in the specific field of sculpture, she reached a level where she could rival or even surpass the world’s top practitioners, like Alice or Ein. And then, finally, the statue she had envisioned was complete.
(At last… it is finished. Of course, it is still several steps below the real Kaito Miyama-sama, but for the medium of sculpture, I have reached the absolute peak. I have finally achieved a level of perfection I can accept.)
As she gazed upon the finished five-meter-tall Kaito Statue, tears streamed down Olivia’s face. At long last, her peak devotion had birthed a creation worthy of her faith.
Without moving from the spot, Olivia quietly assumed a prayerful stance and began to worship before the statue.
(It is a wondrous feeling. Simply praying before this makes my heart feel so warm… I feel a sense of bliss, as if Kaito Miyama-sama himself were watching over me. I feel like I can immerse myself in prayer even more deeply than ever before.)
With a look of profound satisfaction, Olivia remained there, lost in her devotions.
Serious-senpai: "…Faith… Truly, faith solves everything. Since there isn't a drop of malice or lust in her, I think Olivia might actually be the most dangerous kind of fanatic."