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nThe day after Ervas ate Nyarlathotep's delicious flesh, Veronica's main body was inside the large tent that was designed for metalwork and crafting.

nHere, carefully designed a chimney and a large furnace, which the few Squirrel women that were talented in metallurgy gathered alongside Veronica's main body.

nAlthough Veronica would often not show any sign of fatigue in her metallic body and produced so many clones that it seemed surreal, she would often get 'sore' in a way.

nHer metallic body, after creating many clones, would become weak and soft, this was a problem that she had just begun to realize, due to this, she stopped making more clones. Well, it is not like she did not have hundreds, to begin with.

nHowever, if this strange problem continued, it might affect her fighting style. She feared that if she were to become too sore and soft, she might end up becoming a metal slime.

nNot like there was anything bad with being one… right?

nHowever, she quickly found a solution to this problem.

nWith the help of Anna, perhaps the most talented metalworker and blacksmith of the tribe, she finally managed to reinforce her metallic physical body… By having each of her main body parts heated in the furnace and then hammered by Anna. By the way, the hammer was also her clone.

nClank! Clank!

n

"Haaah~ This is heavens! Anna, you're so good at this, become my massager

" said Veronica.

n

"Sigh… I think we are done, for now, Veronica. You can leave now…

" said Anna.

n

"Oh? So soon?

" asked Veronica.

nAnna was a mature Squirrel woman at her prime, having recently hit twenty-five years of age, she was ripped with muscles, her chocolate-skinned body was always soaked in sweat due to being close to the furnace and she had many scars across her body. She had tomboyish short brown hair and an emerald eye.

nHer appearance was perhaps completely different than most Squirrel women in the village, as she had a strong and toned body, scars across her body, 'unattractive' short hair and she also had an eyepatch in her left eye.

nOne would wonder why she was crafting items if she could be hunting down monsters, changing Jobs, and getting stronger.

nIt was because, in an accident where she protected a group of children that had gone to explore the Devil Forest alone, she lost her right leg and her left eye. Any prosthetic limb crafted by the tribe would often fail, and she had an awfully hard time balancing her body while fighting, due to this, she gave up on hunting and slowly developed as a crafter.

nWhen Ervas used the Job-Changing Crystal to change Jobs for everyone, she had the option to become a Warrior… but choose to be a Metalworker and then changed Jobs to a Blacksmith.

n

"Sigh! Come on, Anna~ One more…!

" asked Veronica.

n

"No,

" said Anna, giving Veronica a serious look.

n

"Veronica, you already angered Anna… why don't you give her the gift you've been preparing for her?

" asked Shade from within Veronica's Abyssal Soul, which he found very comfy since she evolved it.

n

"Oh, right!

"

nVeronica reassembled her main body into one and then hugged Anna.

n

"How could I forget, Anna! Happy birthday!

" she said, kissing Anna's forehead.

n

"W-What? How did you know the date of my birth?!

" said Anna, bewildered, dropping her hammer while moving away from Veronica's embrace.

n

"Ouch! Don't drop me!

" said the hammer.

n

"Well, a little bird told me about your birthday! And then I racked my brain thinking, what could I gift to my beloved friend!

" said Veronica.

n

"I-I am not your friend, Veronica… and I don't need any gift…

" muttered Anna.

n

"She's as stubborn as ever…

" muttered Shade.

nIsmene, who was the chief of the tribe, told Veronica of Anna's birthday.

nSince Veronica appeared in Anna's life, Anna had grown less gloomy and serious, and more confident.

nSince the accident where she lost her leg and her eye, she had become a serious woman, immersed in her crafting, desperate to be useful for the tribe. She slowly lost her bonds with her sisters and even her mother… and because she had never had a child, she did not even have a child to take care of or that could cheer her up.

nShe immersed herself in the only thing she thought she could be useful at and isolated herself from her family.

nShe barely talked, ate always alone, and would often work for days without rest.

nIsmene would sometimes come to scold her, but Anna would ignore her and bring her more equipment for the tribe, shutting her up with it, saying 'Look, I am being useful for the tribe, now leave'.

nThe elders were thankful for her hard work, and by seeing how any attempt to make her deepen her bonds with the tribe failed, they let her be.

nThat changed when Veronica and Ervas's party came to the tribe.

nVeronica was the first one to see her talent and gathered her alongside others like her.

nAnna was asocial and would not cooperate with the other crafters, but through Veronica's bright personality and her persuasions, such as various tools and excellent materials for crafting and metallurgy, she slowly gave in.

nShe quickly developed as a leading figure in the group of crafters and blacksmith, and Veronica came every day, often more than once to greet her and craft alongside her and the rest of the girls.

nVeronica's personality was just overwhelming bright and enthusiastic, like a bright and blinding sun… even when she was technically undead.

nVeronica convinced Anna to hammer her body every day to strengthen its endurance and quality using her 'Metallurgy' Skill. And through this, Anna could not help but open up to Veronica, and through her influence, she also became more talkative.

nBut she was still shy and did not like to be honest about how she felt.

nConsidering her abilities, Veronica began to think about a functional prosthetic leg for Anna, and after two days, she finally came out with a good prototype.

nUnlike creating a clone or a weapon, a prosthetic leg needed a lot of things to consider to work properly, such as giving balance, reacting to the wearer's muscle movements, be light enough to not hinder it, but weight enough to not make it lose balance...

nThe prosthetic leg was one of her clones, which she planned for it to use her 'Phantom Form' skill to connect to Anna's muscle tissue and mana veins and react perfectly to her movements.

nAfter knowing through Ismene of Anna's birthday, Veronica asked Ervas to create a wooden box beautifully decorated with flowers and plants, where Veronica saved the prosthetic leg clone.

n

"What are you talking about? When it is your birthday, you get gifts!

" said Veronica.

n

"I am the one that should ask you what you are talking about, in our tribe we don't do that…

" said Anna.

n

"Well, small cultural differences here and there, but anyway, who wouldn't want a gift? You already love my hammer and the other tools! Now close your eye!

" said Veronica.

n

"What? I'm not… Sigh… Okay if that will make you leave me alone later…

" said Anna, closing her eye as she clearly showed some excitement in her squirrel ears twitching atop her head and her fluffy tail dancing around. Her face was also clearly flushing.

nVeronica chuckled as she opened her Item Pouch and took out the wooden box.

n

"Now open your eyes!

" she said.

n

"What kind of strange custom is this- a wooden box with flowers?

"

nAnna was clueless about how this could be a good gift for a blacksmith such as herself, but she received it and began to inspect it.

n

"There is something inside, open it,

" said Veronica.

n

"Where? How do I open this?

" said Anna, inspecting the wooden box.

n

"You meathead, here!

"

nVeronica took out the upper part of the wooden box, revealing its content.

n

"Happy birthday, Anna~!

" said Veronica, celebrating Anna's twenty-six years of age.

nAnna seemed troubled by what she was seeing.

n

"What is this…? It is shaped strangely… another of your clones?

" she asked.

n

"Sit down, it is a new leg for you!

" said Veronica, forcing Anna to sit as she raised her right leg.

n

"Ah! A-A prosthetic leg? Why do you think that it will work so confidently? I've tried many times to make one, but they all ended up being useless- Hyaa!

"

nVeronica's prosthetic leg fit perfectly on Anna's leg; it even had a fluffy cushion inside made out of Phantom so her leg would not irritate. However, it was a bit cold for her, as she had her entire body rather warm due to being close to the furnace.

nBut it being cold was not the reason why Anna cried a bit in surprise, letting out a very feminine voice.

n

"Oh? I liked that voice you just made~

" said Veronica, teasing the flustered Anna.

nThe prosthetic leg's phantom was slowly seeping like roots inside of Anna's entire leg, connecting to her mana veins and muscle tissue, and even her bones and bone marrow.

nIt was not painful, but it was 'itchy'.

n

"T-This feels very weird, stop! Stop! …huh?

"

nThen, as she tried to get the leg out, the itch disappeared, and it was now everything fine.

nHowever, she felt… something strange.

n

"What is this…? It is as if… my leg… it's back? But its metallic, how can it feel so real? I even can feel the warm heat of the furnace with its toes…

" muttered Anna.

n

"Try walking now!

" said Veronica, helping Anna stand up.

nAnna desperately tried to grab the staff she used to walk, and used it as support… but just as she stood up, she felt as if, she had a perfect balance.

n

"Huh? This is… I-I…

"

nAnna began to walk, her staff fell to the ground, she walked and walked, without losing balance, her prosthetic leg reacted perfectly to any movement she wanted to exert.

nVeronica glanced at her with a happy smile, showing her beautiful red lips and her phantasmagoric pale white face.

n

"Do you like it? It is still a work in progress and-

"

nBump!

nVeronica was now the one embraced by a hug, as warm tears began to drip through her shoulders.

n

"Thanks�� thanks, Veronica! I will never forgive what you have done for me!

" said Anna, breaking into tears of happiness and melancholy. For many years she tried to get back to hunting, to get back to protecting the tribe. But every time she tried, the prosthetic leg would break and fail, and she would end up on the floor.

nShe had lost all hope. Yet, Veronica suddenly appeared two and a half weeks ago and filled her cold heart with hope once again.

n

"Hehehe, you don't have to cry, that is what friends do. It is my pleasure to help you out as much as I can

" said Veronica.

n

"Friends…? I am sorry… for being rejecting your friendship like this… I am such… an idiot… Thanks…

" said Anna.

n

"Yeah, perhaps you're a bit of a dummy, but nothing that cannot be fixed!

" laughed Veronica.

n

"It seems that everything ended well… Though, this feels weird… it is as if Anna…

" said Shade.

n

"Veronica, I don't care if you are a female… or undead, or a monster! I love you!

" said Anna, glancing directly towards Veronica's eyes.

n

"…Eh?!

"

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