The automaton lunged toward Klaus with astonishing speed. Its metal blades gleamed under the dim lighting of the hall, and its voice, echoing with Simon's, was full of madness.
The Automaton: (Shouting in an echoing voice) I am not just a tool! I am a means to achieve a truth!
The automaton extended its hand and launched a sharp knife toward Klaus's head. But in a fraction of a second, Rio stood in front of him, and she opened her hands, from which sharp, long knives emerged, making a sharp metallic sound that filled the hall with noise.
Rio: (In her quiet voice) I won't let you.
Rio confronted the automaton's attack. Her metal knives clashed with the automaton's knives, producing sharp sounds that filled the hall with noise. The automaton was attacking with force, and Rio was defending with skill. She moved quickly, using her combat skills to fend off its attacks, but she was slowly retreating.
Klaus: (Shouting) Rio, the lower part!
Rio understood immediately. She changed the shape of her right hand, and a small gun appeared. She fired a single bullet that hit the automaton's foot. The automaton wasn't designed to resist an attack from below.
The Automaton: (Screams in pain) No!
But the attack didn't stop. Rio was shooting at the automaton's feet, while Klaus was running around it, looking for its weak point. His eyes followed the automaton's movements, analyzing every detail of its design.
Klaus: (Shouting) Rio, the knee! The knee is the weak point!
At that moment, Rio focused her fire on the automaton's knee. After several shots, the automaton's knee made a sharp sound, then broke. The automaton fell to the ground, and it began to tremble.
Simon: (From the phone, in a voice filled with despair) No... no! Don't let him do that! Kill... kill him!
Rio was heading toward the automaton, her hand transforming into a sharp knife.
Klaus: (Shouts) Rio, wait!
The automaton stopped moving, but its voice was still echoing.
Rio stopped moving. Her hand holding the knife was still raised, but her eyes were fixed on Klaus, as if they were waiting for a command. The automaton was on the floor, not moving, but it was still connected to Simon via the phone.
Simon: (From the phone, in a voice dripping with anger) Kill him! Kill him now! Automaton, that's an order!
The automaton did not receive the order; it remained silent. Klaus realized that the automaton was finished.
Klaus: (In a calm voice) He's not under your control, Simon. You've become helpless on your own, just like the victims you killed.
At that moment, the automaton turned from a monster into a statue again. There was no longer any sound coming from the phone. Simon had realized that his plan had completely failed, and that his "puppet" was no longer responding to his commands.
Tears streamed from Simon's eyes from the disappointment that had afflicted him, and the sound of his desperate crying filled the police station.
Elias: The pain you feel is not comparable to the pain your innocent victims felt. If I could do the same thing to you that you did to your victims, I would, but you are lucky that the country's law protects you from me becoming a monster like you and killing you in the most horrible ways.
Rio approached Klaus, and her hands returned to their normal shape. She was still feeling confused.
Rio: (In her quiet voice) Why would someone cause something this terrible? Why all this violence?
Klaus looked at her, then at the shattered automaton body, and he kept looking around until his eyes reached the device that the automaton had, then he went to it while speaking.
Klaus: (In a calm tone) He doesn't see it as violence. He sees it as a correction. Simon believes that the history we lived was corrupt. And that his family was betrayed, and that this injustice must be erased. It was his family that had the right to rule, but they were betrayed.
Rio: (In her quiet voice) But that doesn't make sense.
Klaus reached the discarded device and picked it up, then he knew how to activate it, and he activated it. A bright blue light appeared and spread throughout the hall, then the door of the royal vault turned into a golden cloud and disappeared.
Rio looked in astonishment inside the vault that the door had prevented from opening.
Rio: (In a tone of astonishment) T...th...there's nothing! The vault is completely empty?
Klaus: Exactly, it's impossible for a criminal to leave evidence of their crime.
Rio looked at Klaus in astonishment.
Rio: A criminal? Do you mean the ruling family?
Klaus: Who knows? Maybe they are criminals, and maybe they're not. I only said my perception. Simon's words could be true, or he could just be delusional that his family is innocent and not guilty.
Rio: But accusing the ruling family of criminality without evidence is a disgraceful act that will cause you to have your detective license revoked and be imprisoned, Klaus.
Klaus: (In a laughing tone) Oh, I know, but it's okay because you're the only one who knows this, and I know you won't betray me because you care about me.
Rio: But doesn't Sergeant Elias know the details of the matter?
Klaus: No, he only knows that Simon is a criminal and that he's from the guilty Eure family, and he probably thinks that Simon hates the ruling family because of his affiliation with the Eure family who were exiled.
Rio: Aren't the actions that Simon took of killing and vandalizing property just for revenge for his family name because of an incident that time has passed over, strange? I mean, he could have continued his life with a fake family name without going on this series of bloodshed, so this doesn't seem logical to me.
Klaus: (Looks at her with a tired smile) Logic isn't what always governs humans, Rio. He believes that beauty cannot exist in a world full of lies. Therefore, he saw that avenging a false history is the only way to save the world's beauty.
Rio: (In her quiet voice) What's the wisdom in all of this, Klaus?
Klaus: (Contemplates for a moment, then looks at her) The wisdom, Rio, is that history, with all its mistakes and lies, is what makes us humans who make mistakes and lie. And love, hope, and pain are the experiences that a human cannot forget.
Rio: But how can you trust a history that can be distorted?
Klaus looked at her in surprise.
Klaus: No one says that history is an absolute truth, but there are methods that can be followed to study historical events and know what is distorted from what is correct.
Rio: Can one of these methods be used to know the truth of whether the ruling family is criminal or innocent?
Klaus: It's best not to interfere in this matter as much as possible.
Rio: Weren't you the one who was accusing the ruling family?
Klaus: On the contrary, it was just a perception. And also, I prefer not to get into this matter because a wise man once said that you won't gain anything from talking about political topics except a headache.
Rio and Klaus left the palace and went back to their home.