"We're here. This is the Memorial Plaza that Belobog Heavy Industries built back then."
Ben looked at the monument in the distance.
Koleda, Anton, Grace, and Eous gazed over at it.
"It really is magnificent. It's just that, with the Old Capital fallen, no one but us will ever get to appreciate it again."
Grace sighed.
"Look! There's a big white thing over by the monument!" Anton said.
Grace was so excited she could hardly wait to run over. "That refreshing color, those handsome lines! That's it, all right. That's the prototype!"
A giant prototype construction machine leaned against the stone steps, its body covered in mechanical piping and fitted with an excavator bucket and enormous forked claws.
It was bearing a massive, sharp-edged blue structure on its shoulders. Its body was covered in scars, giving it an aged look.
"But what's with this strange position?" Grace circled the prototype in confusion.
Ben said, "Yeah, I thought the prototype looked a little unnatural too... It's as if it deliberately held the monument in place."
"Could something... have happened here?"
Koleda stepped forward and looked at the machine her father had created. An inexplicable ache welled up in her heart.
"Ben, Anton, investigate around the monument. The Proxy, Grace, and I will check out the cockpit."
"Sinners are often the real heroes..." Koleda murmured. She had been wondering what those words really meant.
Had there really been more to what happened back then?
Eous quickly climbed to the highest point, and Grace's voice immediately came through:
"You two in there, be careful. The prototype has been in the Hollow for so long that some parts may have been corroded."
"Don't worry, sis. The cockpit is still sealed pretty well. At least it's still pretty clean inside."
Koleda answered over her shoulder, but the next second, when she saw the bullet holes in the seat, she froze...
"Huh? Wh-what's this?"
"There's no mistake. Those are bullet holes." Belle's voice came from Eous, full of certainty.
"And those aren't the only ones. Koleda, take a closer look around! There are bullet holes all over this tiny cockpit!"
[Waaah... don't do this! Is this story really going to hurt that bad? So Uncle Khors was the biggest hero, right?]
[MiHoYo! I hate you!]
[Poor Koleda. She misunderstood her father, who was a hero, from the time she was little, and only now does she know the truth...]
[Don't jump to conclusions. There might be another twist, you know?]
"What... happened here?"
Profound shock showed in Koleda's one eye.
"The shell casings all fell inside the cockpit. The shots were fired at close range. Looks like there was a fierce fight here."
"But it's been a long time. I can't tell whether anyone was hurt."
Belle's attention suddenly shifted to the central console. "Wait, there seems to be a stack of receipts on the console..."
Koleda spun around. "What? Receipts? What did he buy this time?"
"Wait, this paper is..."
Koleda quickly jumped down from the prototype. "Ben! Anton! Get over here! The Proxy found a receipt!"
"What's wrong, President?" Ben asked in confusion.
He took the receipt Koleda handed him, and his expression immediately turned to surprise:
"This is the prototype's delivery note! It has President Khors's signature, the amount, and the date!"
"That's right. The amount is the same as the missing money, and the date is the very day Uncle Khors disappeared..."
"That means Uncle Khors only took the money to pay the full manufacturing cost! He never ran off with it at all!"
Grace looked at Koleda and spoke earnestly.
"Ha ha! I knew an upright man like Mr. Khors would never run off with the money!"
Anton was excited, like a general who had won a battle.
"With this receipt as evidence, his name can be cleared..."
Belle sat in front of the Hollow Deep Dive System in a daze:
"Can his name really be cleared... Is New Eridu really as bright and sunny as it looks on the surface...?"
Wise sighed. "Sure enough, there's another problem. TOPS might really be a cancer."
[Holy shit! TOPS, you deserve to die a thousand deaths!]
[The Dragon Emperor is dead, and they were involved in the Belobog Heavy Industries incident. They're definitely the villain faction!]
"Hmm, wait. Does that mean the former president was the one who drove the prototype here back then?"
Ben seemed to have figured something out. "But why was there a fight here? Did an enemy want to get their hands on something, and the former president stopped them?"
"Sinners are often the real heroes..."
Koleda's eye lost focus, and her mind was a mess.
Had I misunderstood him all along?
Was he, the sinner, actually the hero?
Was I the one who was wrong for despising him all this time?
"Koleda!" Grace pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong? Why do I get the feeling she doesn't seem very happy?"
Feeling Grace's arms around her, Koleda finally burst into tears:
"Sis... I was the one who was wrong all along!"
"I've been hiding something from you all this time. That's why I thought Dad really had run off with the money!"
"On the night Dad disappeared, I saw him leave home with my own eyes..."
"It was late at night. The telephone in the living room woke me up, and when I saw him, he had a bag in his hand and was about to leave without saying goodbye..."
"I went over and grabbed him, but then I saw that the bag was stuffed full of cash! I really did misunderstand him for all those years! I really did despise him for all those years!"
"Ah... why? Why was I so stupid? He must be so disappointed that even his own daughter didn't believe him..."
Grace's pupils contracted slightly:
"Something like that happened back then? So you've been bearing all this alone all these years?"
Koleda buried her face deep in Grace's chest:
"What's the use of saying that now? The facts prove I was the one who was wrong! I was the one who failed as a daughter!"
"And we found lots of bullet holes in the cockpit just now! Something terrible happened here back then, and my dad never came back..."
"He's already in heaven. He can't forgive me either, can he?"
Grace stroked Koleda's head:
"Koleda, it's enough that you've realized you were wrong.
I'm not very good at comforting people, but all I know is that we have to avenge Uncle Khors. Let's find the killer together, okay?"