"Yo, Miluno."
Wearing oil-stained coveralls, Metal leaned against the door of the Steel Dragon Machine Workshop.
"I figured you'd come looking for me these past couple of days, so I barely left this place."
"Don't use me as an excuse, invention maniac. You were just tinkering with something new, weren't you?"
This wasn't some ancient era without letters. I'd contacted her before coming over.
"Hand it over~"
She held out her hand, and I tossed the retro pocket watch to her.
Although the portable Exoskeleton Armor had been severely damaged, the pocket watch itself was mostly unharmed.
"Come in. Let me inspect it properly."
I hadn't come by in a while, and the rest area on the factory's first floor had once again become a complete mess. I couldn't stand seeing things dirty, so I was about to clean it up for her again.
But sensing my intentions, she hurriedly stopped me.
"Mom! You don't need to clean up. I'll take care of it myself later!"
"Why am I 'Mom'?"
"Who else barges into my room and immediately prepares to do a huge cleanup besides Mom?"
As Metal spoke, she spread the Exoskeleton Armor out on the workbench. Its damaged state made her frown as well.
"What left these bullet holes? It actually pierced my armor?"
"A Witch's nail. It has powerful armor-piercing properties. I thought you might have a use for it, so I collected one."
I took out one of the Leather-Pants Witch's "Human-Planting Nails."
Besides its ability to control human bodies, its hardness—enough to penetrate Exoskeleton Armor—was also remarkable. It should have considerable research value for Metal.
That was why I had collected a nail from the battlefield.
"This was clearly just a civilian means of transportation, and you took it to fight Witches?"
I shamelessly asked,