Police force has arrived at the campus, investigating, and gathering witness reports to get an idea of what has happened. Now Violet has already told the police that was present nearby the balcony all the details, and now has gone to the original site where the shooting happened.
"May I help you?" One of the officers asked Violet.
"My name is Violet Evergarden. I've fought against the shooter and would like to help you if possible."
"I beg your pardon? You were at risk of getting shot, and the first thing you did was to pursuit him? I'm having a hard time believing you."
"In my past, I was an elite soldier under Major Gilbert Bougainvillea with an exceptional strength. Upon seeing everyone was in danger, I couldn't help but pursuit the shooter knowing I have the capability of doing so. Even if you may not believe me now, I ask you to listen to me, because I have critical information about the shooter."
"I also ask the same, officer." Dr. Rush said, who was being treated for his injury during the chaos. "I may have met her only today, but I can see that she works with integrity and sincerity. If she really did fight the shooter, she's your most important witness right now."
"Well, I suppose it's worth a shot." The officer said as he took out his pen and note. "We weren't really getting anywhere in this investigation anyway." Then Violet gave the officer as much information as she knew. Details such as the shooter having all-metal armor but being quite mobile or Violet dodging his bullets raised some doubts, but the officer accepted her witness anyway and she was dismissed.
The next day, at CH Postal company, Violet was called to Claudia's office. When she entered, she saw him with the latest newspaper, with a serious expression. She sat down, and Hodgins began to talk. "Violet, at the Leiden university, there was a shooting. When I heard that, I was worried for you. But then, according to one officer, you apparently fought off the shooter, only to miss him to save a woman from his explosive. Is this true?"
"Um…" Violet hesitated. She remembered getting scolded once for accepting a dangerous commission in the middle of battlefield before for her safety. Then she saw Claudia looking at her hands and saw that her prosthetic arm's knuckles were beat up and heavily scratched and tucked her hands in her arms.
"So then, it's true." He said. "Please, don't ever do this again! Do you know how scared I was for you?! I promised Gilbert to look after you in his stead! If something happens to you, I don't know if I could forgive myself!"
"But then, the alternative is for me to do nothing against the shooter. I couldn't stand to just run away with everyone else fully knowing that I had the power to stop it. I vowed to never take lives that carried a person's feelings, and it includes protecting it!"
"What about your life then, Violet? Does it mean nothing to you? Gilbert wanted you to live, so will you not treat your own life with care as well? If you know that death brings great sorrow around, then you should know that your death will do the same!"
Claudia then saw that Violet's face was down. "…I'm very sorry, Mr. Hodgins. It seems that I've acted out of my bounds as a doll…I failed to consider feelings of others I would know. I tried to hide it from them, but now I feel guilty."
"No, I'm sorry for raising my voice like that, Violet. You were only acting out of what you believed was a right thing to do, and I'm treating as if you've done wrong for stopping a shooter. I only ask one thing out of you, Violet; please value your life as much as you value others. Even just for sake of Gilbert, who did everything he can to give you new life."
"Understood. I'll keep what you've said in mind then. Again, forgive me for acting so hastily and making you worried."
Euler was back at his workshop. After an intense battle with Violet Evergarden, he upgraded the plate of his suit to be lighter than the previous version. This time, the metal was melted into a series of thin, tightly woven sheets that was still effective in stopping bullets, while being lighter for more mobility and acceptably durable as well.
Euler was seated at his table with sketches of his next plan. "Dr. Rush still lives due to interference from Violet. Even a hint of suspicion of me being the Undying One will be enough to get me in trouble. As he reviewed my thesis the most, he knows the extent of my intellect the most. I've been to his house before. He will have to die then, tonight."
He looked at his own advanced lockpick that was created after understanding the mechanisms behind locks used. Getting inside by pretending as if he was entering Dr. Rush's house like his own would at least eliminate suspicion of any witnesses around. But Euler looked at his electromagnetic pistol and decided that it was still too loud of a killing method. Euler glanced at one of his sharp metal tool, and imagined it to be attached as part of his suit. He thought of the next upgrade to give to his suit, and immediately got to work.
It was a late night. Dr. Rush has been released from his hospital and was at his house currently. He was in his bedroom, reading the newspaper headline about the shooter. According to Violet, the shooter's physique felt as if it rivaled her own, who was able to turn tides of battle on her own during the great war. What puzzled her however, was that the shooter seemed to know what he was doing, but significantly lacked the dexterity to execute what he had in mind.
"That's quite odd. That would be like a doctor having all the knowledge of what to diagnose each patient without an actual experience of practicing medicine. He would either have to be inhumanly smart, or use a cheat sheet to pull it off." Speaking of inhumanly smart, who would fit that category? Euler of course. But there was no way that Euler could pull off that physique somehow; his brain already consumes so much energy.
But Dr. Rush also recalled one time he scolded Euler for suggesting to mutate human's muscle or metabolism to somehow to attain maximum energy efficiency or strength. If someone could make mutation possible, it was Euler. And Euler also had a long history of making a new product in one try. To make a metal suit without any defect or problem on first try, it was only Euler who could pull off that trick. Euler's brain processed information at much faster rate than normal human, and if Euler had never been in combat before, it did explain how he was able to make last-second decisions, but not have the dexterity to do so.
Dr. Rush trembled. "C-Could he be the shooter then? Has he finally lost it and wanted to take revenge on Dr. Han and others?" Just as he said this to himself, he heard a door clicking, then his chest shook in fear when the door was opened as if someone had a key. "B-But I live alone! I should be the only one with a key! How did they enter here?" he thought. Dr. Rush sat in his room for a while. Then he heard the door being opened again and closed. Thinking that whatever managed to enter had now exited, he slowly opened a door out of his bedroom to check downstairs.
He was suddenly yanked out of his room by a large, metal coated man in a suit, and was slightly being choked to suppress yelling. "You sure have saved me the trouble of finding you myself. Good thing I've upgraded this suit's metal to be lighter and stealthier."
Struggling to get his word out, Dr. Rush spoke. "That…voice…! Euler, so it was you as I suspected! How could you do this to me?! Why are you doing this?!"
The discomfort that Euler felt back with his father returned, but this time, he suppressed it knowing there was no turning back. "The world spoke to me, Dr. Rush: It doesn't care for any truth so long as they feel good being a hero that defeated the devil. If they want a devil to defeat so badly, they shall get one, and I will be the one to save them from it. For I am the Anointed One, and I will be the key to defeat the Undying One that you see right now."
"You can't do this Euler! Why are you angry at me if the world made you to be the devil?! I never saw you as a devil! You know this, don't you?!"
"Unfortunately for you, Dr. Rush, you know too much. All that is left of me is to become a hero that defeats the devil so that my old purpose can be resumed. My life will certainly be over if you let the world that I'm the Undying One." Then a pair of thin wrist blades were unsheathed from Euler's right hand. "Say goodnight, Dr. Rush."
"No! No! No!" Then the blades pierced Dr. Rush's chest, and Euler dropped the corpse. Yet Dr. Rush's corpse still had an expression of one whose trust had been shattered by someone they knew. Suddenly, a surge of horror overtook Euler as he looked at his wrist blades stained in Dr. Rush's blood. It was as if some force that gave him the courage to kill someone has suddenly abandoned him and left him there to witness what he had just done.
But the circumstance now didn't give Euler the chance to process what he was feeling. He found the nearest water source to wash off the blood he had on his right hand and took a deep breath to control his shiver. He then exited and "locked" the door of Dr. Rush's house as if he was a natural resident there as well.
The rest of Euler's trip back home was him being disturbed by what he had done. Memories of Dr. Rush's collaboration with him kept coming back to him, then the memory when Dr. Rush helped Euler in his radiation therapy came up as well. Whenever the memory of Dr. Rush's horrified expression came up, his chest felt as if it was sinking down. He wondered why if he killed someone before, this felt so different, and wished to place the blame on his own brain for amplifying distracting emotions.
"It was merely a tragic sacrifice that was inevitable, that's all." Euler thought to himself. "It has to be…This is nothing compared to when I lost master…"
Back in the country of Enclume, Gerald had just received a letter from Egon Pierce. He opened the letter, and immediately became disheartened when the letter began with "I regret to inform you." The letter stated that after two events of public slandering, Egon treated Euler himself from an unknown respiratory complication. The respiratory complication went away on its own however, and Euler refused to tell any details, and declared that he will continue on path of his old purpose for his deceased master. Then Egon emphasized that his heart was broken when Euler seemed to imply that he cut ties with him.
After Gerald read the letter, he went up to a mirror. Then he punched a reflection of himself. "What a horrible man I am…I've let down my motherland, and now the boy that I raised with Alexei is broken, one way or the other. All just to satiate my greedy ambition to see my motherland flourish, yet what did that bring? A humiliating defeat, a death of my friend, and now possible ruin to the Anointed One's life."
He regretted and thought of all possible way he could've prevented. Perhaps a better guidance to make him the Anointed One, or perhaps urging Alexei more to teach to live a life beyond breakthroughs, or perhaps stopping Alexei to start smoking that led to his death, or perhaps even vising Euler himself despite the history of hostility between Gerald and Euler.
As Gerald was imagining these scenarios, the letter came into his sight, reminding him that reality could not change now. He slowly approached his drawer that had a revolver. He didn't load the gun, but subtly pointed the gun towards him, contemplating. Sighing, he put the gun down, for he feared what lied ahead beyond death for a sinful man like him, not to mention he felt as if he was a coward that was running away from guilt. He simply sat down, and silently let out tears for where his supposed "good" intent for his motherland led to.