Last Gun Alchemist

Ezra walked into the club building after scanning his student ID card at the entrance.

The moment he stepped inside, he noticed that only a few second-year students were sitting around the reception area. They were scattered across the chairs instead of gathering in one place, and although they were talking among themselves, their conversation carried a serious tone.

From what Ezra could hear, they were discussing how well they had performed during their examinations.

"Good morning, seniors."

Ezra greeted them in his usual plain tone, though his words still carried the politeness expected from a junior speaking to his upperclassmen.

"Oh, good morning, Ezra."

The seniors greeted him back with pleased smiles.

Ezra gave a small nod and continued walking down the hallway toward the workshop.

However, the moment he moved away from the reception area...

"Hey, do you think he knows about the rumors?"

A female second-year student whispered quietly to the friends beside her, her eyes following Ezra’s back as he walked farther down the hallway.

"Sheesh, Latisha said we should never speak about the rumors in front of him."

One of the male second-year students replied as he raised his index finger to his lips.

"Yeah. You know he has to be at his best for the Combat Festival, so we can’t let the rumors get to him."

Another male second-year student spoke calmly.

"But it’s Ezra we’re talking about. Would he even care about the rumors?"

The female student who had spoken first asked.

The whispers continued.

Normally, those voices should have been impossible for Ezra to hear at that distance.

But by the time he reached the front of the workshop, he was already far from the reception hall, with the hallway and several walls separating him from the group of upperclassmen.

Yet Ezra could still clearly hear what they were talking about.

His hearing was simply sharp enough to pick up the faint sounds.

However, Ezra didn’t care about a single word of it.

There was no reason to turn around.

No reason to question them.

And definitely no reason to explain himself.

Ezra calmly placed his hand on the workshop door and pushed it open before stepping inside.

Immediately, the sound of hammering struck his ears.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The repeated sound of metal being struck echoed throughout the workshop.

At the same time, the working steam-powered furnaces produced their own deep mechanical noises. Steam moved through the pipes, gears turned inside several machines, and the faint smell of heated metal hung in the air.

And in the middle of all those sounds...

Was Vera herself.

She wore a sleeveless workshop outfit, with a black inner sleeveless top visible around her arms and shoulders. Her long black hair had been gathered neatly before being covered with a scarf wrapped around her head, preventing loose strands from falling into her face while she worked.

A pair of black protective goggles was tightly fitted over her eyes.

Sweat slowly moved down the side of her face before falling onto her moving arms.

It was obvious that she had been working inside the workshop for a long time.

Ezra knew that Vera had already sensed his arrival.

She was basically aware of him, but she was too busy to speak or look up.

Plus, Ezra had no intention of disturbing her.

To him...

This was the first time he had actually seen Vera performing blacksmithing alone.

The first time he had watched her work inside a workshop had been when they were still working together with the members of Ashcraft. Back then, he watched her supervise and observe the craftsmen of the Ashcraft department, assisting them and learning from them, but never truly saw her work like a craftsman.

But now, there was no one else around them.

He could finally observe her properly.

Ezra walked toward one of the chairs placed near the side of the workshop and sat down quietly.

His eyes remained on Vera.

Clang!

The hammer descended again.

Vera continued striking the heated alloy without speaking.

What immediately caught Ezra’s attention was the way she used the hammer.

She didn’t swing it down with the visible force that a normal blacksmith would use. There was no exaggerated movement of her shoulders or arms, and she was not throwing her entire body into each strike.

Instead, Vera simply moved the hammer downward with a controlled motion.

Yet...

Clang!

Every strike landed with the same force one would expect from a proper blacksmith.

The alloy beneath the hammer shook slightly with each impact.

Ezra narrowed his eyes.

Vera barely moved more than necessary.

The muscles in her arm didn’t tense visibly, and there was no strain appearing across her body. She didn’t look like someone who was using a great amount of physical strength.

Yet her hammering was no weaker than that of an ordinary blacksmith.

It was almost as though she had found the exact point where effort could be reduced without reducing the power behind the strike.

Ezra continued observing her.

Then his eyes became slightly more focused.

The method Vera was using didn’t even seem to involve Cognis-enhanced strength.

That was what made it more impressive.

Ezra had seen many Alchemists use Cognis to assist their physical movements. A person could strengthen their arms, legs, or muscles and use that additional power to perform tasks that their Alchemist body would struggle to handle.

But Vera didn’t appear to be doing that.

Her movements were simply...

Efficient.

Every strike.

Every adjustment of the alloy.

Every change in position.

There was almost no wasted movement.

Ezra quietly continued watching.

After some time...

Vera finally stopped hammering.

The alloy she had been working on had now been shaped into a perfect rectangular bar.

She placed the hammer down and picked up a pair of metal tongs.

The heated alloy still gave off a faint red glow.

Vera carefully gripped it with the tongs before carrying it toward the Baking Furnace.

Ezra watched as she moved.

She did not rush.

Even while carrying the heated metal, her steps remained calm and steady.

After opening the furnace, Vera placed the rectangular alloy bar inside.

Then she took the presser mold and added it into the Baking Furnace as well.

Once everything had been properly positioned, Vera closed the furnace door and switched on the machine.

A loud roar immediately came from inside.

Steam rushed through the connected pipes.

The gears began moving.

The internal mechanism of the machine started working as the presser mold gradually shaped the alloy bar into the part Vera wanted.

Vera stood before the machine casually.

She didn’t need to interfere with the process.

Her dull black eyes simply remained on the furnace as she watched the mechanism work.

Ezra continued sitting nearby.

Minutes slowly passed.

The sound of machinery filled the workshop.

Then...

The baking process was finally complete.

Vera moved forward and used the tongs again.

She carefully removed the newly shaped part from the furnace.

The metal was still glowing red from the heat.

She carried it toward the left side of the workshop.

Against the wall stood a large worktable, and on top of it was a cooling machine with a transparent glass container.

Ezra noticed several other firearm parts already inside it.

They still carried a faint red glow as well.

Vera opened the glass container.

She carefully lowered the final part inside and placed it in line with the others, making sure everything was properly arranged.

Once the part was in position, she closed the container.

Then she activated the cooling machine.

A faint mechanical sound began.

The cooling process started.

Only after completing all of that did Vera finally remove her protective goggles.

She lowered them from her face before placing them aside.

Then she reached into the large center pocket of her workshop outfit and pulled out a napkin.

Vera slowly cleaned the sweat from her face.

"Enjoyed the show?"

She spoke calmly.

Ezra didn’t immediately reply.

"First time seeing you work as a lone craftsman."

He said plainly before giving a small nod.

"It was impressive."

Ezra was genuinely impressed by Vera’s skills.

He had expected her to be good.

After all, Vera was taught blacksmithing by Rogers.

So, he already had a good guess that Vera would be good at Blacksmithing.

Even the handgun Vera created, that she gave him.

Looked well created, but that was just Alchemy based crafting, not blacksmithing.

But seeing her work alone...

Approved his earlier guess on how good Vera is, as a craftsman.

"Then shouldn’t you pay up for the watching service?"

Vera looked at Ezra with her dull black eyes.

She placed the napkin back into the center pocket of her outfit.

"Don’t worry. I don’t charge a lot... except when it’s someone I don’t care about."

Her hands moved to her head.

She began removing the scarf that covered her hair.

Then she untied the part holding her black hair together.

The tied strands gradually fell loose.

"But lucky for you..."

Vera looked back at Ezra as she began walking toward him.

"I do care."

Her expression remained calm, and her voice was gentle.

But Ezra could still tell that she was deliberately teasing him.

"Forget the teasing words. Why did you call me here, Vera?"

Ezra asked, going straight to the matter at hand.

Vera stopped.

"Mmmm..."

Her dull black eyes calmly moved around Ezra.

More specifically, she looked behind him as though she was searching for someone.

Both of her hands remained behind her back.

"I don’t sense Miss Maid’s presence. Did you not bring her?"

Vera stopped moving completely.

She stood directly in front of Ezra and looked down at him.

"She’s back at home."

Ezra simply replied as he looked up at Vera from his seated position.

Well, she’s already in her advancement meditation state since yesterday night.

Ezra thought to himself.

His mind returned to the progress Lucy had made the previous night.

Ezra had made sure to supervise her mindset and her readiness before she consumed the Sixth-Grade Ese.

He couldn’t simply allow her to drink something capable of assisting her advancement without first making sure that her mental state was stable enough.

And after she finally consumed it...

Ezra had spent almost the entire night watching the movement of her Cognis.

Lucy had experienced pain.

However, she hadn’t faced any serious problems beyond the discomfort that came with her body growing stronger.

Her bones.

Her muscles.

Her entire body had been gradually adjusting to the changes.

The pain had remained under control.

And now...

Lucy had entered the stage where disturbance could become fatal.

Her awareness was gone.

Her body was completely focused on the advancement process.

Ezra could only wait and make sure no one interfered with her.

"I see... you’re already growing up enough that you no longer need a maid following you around."

Vera spoke in a soft, teasing tone.

Ezra’s plain eyes narrowed slightly.

"I will leave."

He replied firmly.

The threat was simple.

Vera stared at him for a moment.

Then her teasing expression faded.

"Alright, Musician."

Her tone became more serious.

The change was immediate enough for Ezra to stop preparing himself to stand.

Vera looked directly into his eyes.

"I want us to exchange Martial Art Ideologies."

She spoke calmly.

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