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nHaving finally reached the squirrel-kin tribe and seeing as many of the raccoon people were accommodating themselves inside their golem houses, Pekorina and her party rushed towards the biggest tent in the tribe, which harbored all of the rescued former captives of Oggoth.

nPekorina entered the tent in haste, leaving the rest of her party behind as she glanced at all the people waking up and chatting with each other. She saw Ervas and Veronica distributing soup made with vegetables harvested from his plant-type monsters and Demon boar meat.

n

"You're here,

" said Ervas.

n

"Ervas! Where is my family? Are they okay?

" asked Pekorina as she glanced everywhere until she felt the touch of delicate hands over her shoulders.

n

"You're as hasty as ever, my daughter,

" said a familiar voice to Pekorina.

n

"Pekorina, you have grown a lot, I can already feel it just by glancing at you,

" said another familiar voice.

n

"I'll have to train a lot to catch up with sis,

" said another of her familiar voices.

n

"It's really you, Pekorina!

" said another voice.

n

"They're right behind you, you shouldn't have entered too hastily, you completely missed them,

" said Ervas.

n

"Ah!

"

nPekorina glanced at her back to see her entire family, her big sister, her little brother, her mother, and her father… who was wearing full body armor, a shield, and a sword, but it was her father, nonetheless.

n

"This… Everyone! I missed you so much! Pekooo!

"

nPekorina began to cry as she hugged her mother tightly, then her sister hugged her, her little brother, and then her father.

n

"We also missed you so much…

"

n

"We knew that you would have been able to survive until now, you were always a resilient girl

"

n

"I'm so relieved you're okay, Pekorina! Ervas was right! He… and Veronica saved you!

"

n

"They were a bit scary when we talked with them at first… but it seems that they said the truth

"

nAt Pekoramu's words, Ervas and Veronica could not help but feel a bit hurt.

n

"Scary…?

"

n

"Little brother, Ervas and Veronica are not scary! They are perhaps the nicest people I've ever met in my life! Well, yeah, they are quite scary when you look at them! But they're so nice that it beats the scary party!

" said Pekorina.

n

"So we are scary…

" muttered Ervas ad Veronica at the same time.

n

"No! Well, yeah! But no!

" said Pekorina.

n

"You don't need to continue reminding us… we get it…

" muttered Ervas glancing at the ground hopelessly.

n

"Yeah…

" said Veronica.

n

"Wait, wait! I didn't mean to… Ervas and Veronica are… well, peculiar people, not scary!

" said Pekorina.

n

"My daughter, I think that you're making things worse with every word you say,

" said Pekobelle.

n

"Big sis please stop…

" said Pekoramu.

n

"Eh?! I was trying to apologize, you know, peko?!

" said Pekorina.

n

"Ah, you're saying 'peko' again? You'll never grow up if you keep saying that all the time

" said Pekonisia.

n

"I am already a grown-up adult, pekoooo!

" said Pekorina.

n

"Big sis, even I don't say 'peko' anymore…

" said Pekoramu.

n

"What's wrong with saying 'peko'?

" asked Ervas.

n

"You don't know, Lord Ervas?

" asked Pekoran.

n

"Me neither,

" said Veronica.

nPekobelle then cleared her throat to explain what exactly was… 'peko'.

n

"The sound 'peko' is something that we, the rabbit-kin people do when we are young. As we cannot muster words properly while being babies, we say 'peko!' to indicate something… Even when Pekorina grew up and knows how to talk, she always says 'peko' when she gets nervous,

" said Pekobelle.

n

"It could be said to be my daughter perk

" laughed Pekoran.

n

"Ah, father! Do not say that, pekooo! …also, you changed a lot, what happened?

" asked Pekorina.

nNoticing Pekoran's armor and phantasmal presence, Pekorina could not help but ask about it even when she was told not to point it out by Ismene and Anna.

n

"Well, long story short, I think I died back there… I do not remember exactly how so it wasn't anything serious! And when I gained consciousness again, I was at Lord Ervas and Lady Veronica's side, they used their abilities to guide me and give me clarity of mind, my soul was slowly healed by them and then I was reincarnated as a Living Armor, as it was the ideal body to protect you all!

" said Pekoran.

n

"Y-You died?! How could you simply say that you die, papa, you're an idiot!

" said Pekorina.

n

"Hey, I really am sorry for dying, ahaha! But I am fine now, so relax! I was reincarnated, so I am technically alive… in a way!

" laughed Pekoran.

n

"And how can you not remember how you died? You fool!

" said Pekobelle.

n

"Well, my wife, don't get all angry, I am still here with everyone!

" said Pekoran.

n

"I don't know but if he was revived, it's fine, right? Also, now he is a cool armor! Can I wear you, father?

" asked Pekoramu with bright emerald eyes.

n

"Well… I guess?

" said Pekoran.

n

"No, I want to wear you, father!

" said Pekonisia.

n

"No, me!

" said Pekorina.

n

"…C-Calm down! Everyone can wear me in due time! …Perhaps I should have asked to become various sets of armor instead? But that would be too complicated for Lord Ervas and Lady Veronica…

" muttered Pekoran.

nLeaving the reunited family of rabbits alone, Ervas and Veronica walked family per family explaining things out while also giving them a lot of food to recover their calories and energy.

nWhen they finally came across a gloomy bear man who lacked limbs, they stopped and sat down near him.

nHe was rather big, and his presence was intimidating for most of the people, so they were all quite far away from him… Even more when they glanced at his face, even after being healed by Veronica and Ervas from some of his mind traumas, the trauma of the detachment of his limbs was still there as it wasn't something that they could inform him about right away, they had to leave such memories inside on his mind to remind himself that the lack of limbs was due to a reason… because if he were to not know, he would most likely fall insane.

n

"Gaius, right?

" asked Veronica.

n

"…

"

n

"I am Ervas and she is Veronica, it is nice to meet you. We rescued you from the lair of monsters that were residing below the ruins where a Demon God is sealed, we apologize for taking so long,

" said Ervas.

n

"…

"

n

"We know that you don't want to talk, and we don't want to force you to do it either… But it would be nice if you could at least look at us, as we have something for you

" said Veronica, as she took out four pieces of equipment from the item pouch she was hiding inside her hollow body.

n

"…

"

nAlthough Gaius remained silent, he directed his gaze towards Ervas and Veronica. His eyes were black-colored, and so did his hair and fur.

nGaius' eyes seemed to be lost in an abyss… but as he glanced at Veronica and Ervas crimson eyes, he seemed to be slowly guided by another yet greater abyss.

n

"You…

" he said, as he noticed the four prosthetic limbs in Veronica's arms.

n

"Would you like to try them? I crafted them carefully with Anna's help. They are specially tailored for your body, size, and weight. It would break my heart if you didn't at least give it a try!

" said Veronica.

n

"Please,

" said Ervas at her side.

nGaius seemed to hesitate, his strong lips trembled for a bit, and his eyes glanced at the floor several times… but every time he tried to move away, he couldn't, as the limbs that he would always use to go away if people weren't there anymore.

nHe had to confront others without any choice to run away from his problems… just like he did back in his village.

nGaius was the son of the Bear-kin tribe chief of the mountains at the north. Due to several disputes with his father, who could not understand Gaius' passion for crafting and cooking, he decided to leave the village and to explore the world by himself while looking for ingredients around the world…

nHe was strong and resilient, and traveling through the Devil Forest was not a problem for someone like him… until he came across a large group of orcs, kobolds, and lizardmen.

nHe fought and beat many, but in the end, he was captured against his will, made into a slave, and then had his limbs cut, alongside his teeth and his tongue, and used as a reproduction tool for the females of Oggoth's army. However, these last memories were removed from his mind by Ervas and Veronica.

nIt could be said that he was an incredibly unlucky person, fate really never smiled upon the young bear man…

nBut now, his teeth and tongue were back somehow, but his limbs were still away, he could not do anything but stay still on the floor, falling into an abyss of insanity and melancholy.

nHowever, those that saved him not only offered him food and shelter, but even made prosthetic limbs for him, something that would be almost impossible due to his size and weight, on Gaius mind, any prosthetic leg made for him would end up being crushed due to the weight of his torso, and the arms wouldn't be able to channel his strength and would easily crush as well… or that at least, it would cost too much to make something that could work properly, he knew such things as he was a crafter himself.

nBut somehow, Veronica did it all overnight with Anna's help.

nGaius could not help but feel moved by her efforts to help such a hopeless man such as himself… was he even worthy of such kindness? Of such benevolence?

nEven if Veronica would have thrown him into the forest to get eaten by monsters, Gaius would have most likely been fine with it… the only thing he desired until now was to die.

nBut Veronica and Ervas did not want this, they wanted him to live.

nTo repay part of the favor that they did to him, he decided to accept their kindness.

n

"Hm

" muttered Gaius, nodding.

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