"Yes! Yes! This is exactly what I wanted to see!"
Eous, being carried in Geno's arms so they could move faster, let out a deeply unsettling noise.
"The joy of sisters reconciling — it's simply exquisite!"
Watching Eous writhe and wriggle in his arms like some kind of deranged caterpillar, Geno's face went dark with visible displeasure — and he dropped her.
"Hey, what was that for~~ Ow~"
"Stop making faces like that with Eous's body!"
Eous rubbed her backside, then scurried after him on her little stubby legs. "Don't you think there's nothing better in the world than a sisterly reconciliation like that?!"
"Weren't you just shipping Manato and Anton earlier?"
"Nobody said I can't ship multiple things!"
Eous clambered back into Geno's arms, hands planted on her hips, wearing an expression of absolute, shameless triumph.
"Shipping everything will be your downfall."
After a couple more grumbles, Geno picked her back up anyway. She wasn't particularly heavy, and she was satisfyingly squishy to hold. Bangboos really were remarkable little things.
All praise to Lady Wanhui.
The thought drifted through his mind, and with it came another: maybe he and Twiggy should get a Bangboo of their own someday. The studio already had plenty of overtime Bangboos — but those were employees, not pets. Not family.
He was still mulling it over — planning to bring it up with Twiggy when he got back — when he walked straight into something solid and nearly sent Eous flying out of his arms.
"Are we there already?"
Geno rubbed his nose. It didn't really hurt, but it tickled — like something furry had drifted in. That was because what he had walked into was none other than the one and only Bear Thirren in the group: Ben Bigg.
"Oh — not yet. I just got a little caught up looking at the scenery around here."
Ben Bigg scratched the back of his head with an easygoing grin. Despite his rough-hewn looks, he had a remarkably gentle disposition — and, of all things, he worked a desk job.
That's right. This absolute unit of a man was an office worker.
As Belobog Heavy Industries' accountant, the company's entire financial ledger passed through his hands. And according to certain rumors floating around the office, Ben Bigg's build was actually considered on the smaller, leaner side among Bear Thirren as a species.
Which meant that, by Belobog Heavy Industries' standards, he was basically the petite one.
"Hm? Why does the top of my head keep feeling weirdly cold? ...Don't tell me I'm shedding again."
Ben Bigg, now seriously contemplating whether workplace stress was giving him bald patches, had absolutely no idea someone had just been talking about him behind his back.
Chatting as they walked, the group finally reached their destination: the Pioneer Memorial Plaza in the Old Capital.
And the moment they arrived, they saw exactly what they had come for.
"Look! It's the prototype!"
Grace recognized the machine the instant her eyes landed on it. She'd seen it once as a child — Hols behind the controls, running tests on a construction site, the massive frame moving through its paces.
"Dad..."
Koleda let out a long, weighted breath. This machine carried a meaning that words couldn't quite hold. It wasn't only about missing the man who used to lead them — it was also the promise that with the prototype's technology in hand, the artificial intelligence mechanoid they were developing would leap forward by years.
"No time to waste — let's go take a look right now!"
Eous was just as eager, immediately tugging Koleda along and scrambling up into the cockpit. Grace and Ben Bigg, meanwhile, began walking the exterior, checking the prototype's condition.
"Wiring's intact. Hull damage is less severe than I expected. Uncle Hols made excellent material choices."
Grace moved through the inspection with her tablet, logging data as she went. Everyone had something to do.
So what, exactly, was our friend Geno up to?
Spacing out. Yes, spacing out — though not in the empty-headed sense of the word.
He was spreading his consciousness outward in all directions, scanning the surrounding area for any sign of danger. Think of it like the divine sense in a xianxia novel — except Geno's version was considerably cruder and far less efficient. When he projected his awareness this way, his body couldn't move, and the data he received wasn't especially precise. At best, it worked like a radar.
Normally, learning techniques from manga and novels earns someone the label of "chuunibyou." The unfortunate thing — for that label, at least — was that Geno wasn't human, and he actually could learn them.
After a short while, Geno pulled his consciousness back and pressed his fingers to his temple.
"Phew. That still takes it out of me. Maybe I shouldn't keep experimenting with weird tricks like this."
His sweep had turned up nothing — not a single Ethereal signature within a ten-li radius. Reassured, Geno tucked his hands in his pockets and watched the others bustle around him, completely unbothered by the fact that he was doing absolutely nothing.
"Everyone, come look! What is this?!"
Suddenly, Koleda and Eous called out from the cockpit — they'd found something, and were urgently waving the rest of the group over.
When everyone gathered to look it over, they realized what it was: a delivery receipt for the prototype, signed by Hols himself all those years ago.
The evidence was undeniable. Hols had not run off with the money.
He had come here, and he had paid every last Dennie.
"Dad..."
Koleda stared at the receipt, and her eyes filled with tears. No one could truly know what this girl had carried all these years — the cold looks from strangers, the collapse of the company, the quiet erosion of her own self-worth.
All of it — every last trace of it — dissolved in an instant because of one small piece of paper.
From this day forward, she could hold her head high. Her father was no embezzler.
And yet — taken together with what they'd found inside the cockpit, Hols's fate was looking grimmer by the minute.
"We also found bullet holes and shell casings in the cockpit. There was a fight in there at some point."
Eous produced one of the casings she'd brought out, and the excitement that had just begun to rise in the group came crashing back down.
The mood cast a shadow over everyone — but Geno noticed something that didn't quite fit.
"That shell casing — mind if I take a look?"
Geno held out his hand to Eous.
Once it was in his palm, he turned it over carefully, studying it. He had the nagging feeling he'd seen this exact model somewhere before.
He tried to recall where — the memory was there, somewhere at the edge of his mind...
But before he could pull the thread to its end, a strange pulse rippled through his senses.
His head snapped up. His gaze locked onto the monument the prototype was currently leaning against — the pulse had come from there.
And even as he focused on it, the intensity was climbing.
"Watch out! Everyone get away from that monument — something's coming!"
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Jujutsu x Mieruko: Oh no, am I a villain too?
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