The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"Here."

Zombie returned the holy sword to the young man doing his best using a combination of low-level healing skill and conventional first aid to stop the bleeding – though the teeth he lost would be requiring the help of a qualified healer to be put back.

"Ah, thank you! Once again sorry for being so hasty with attacking you – it's just that usually undead monsters are far more... savage."

Chery fidgetted taking back his sword and lowered his head apologetically.

A victim sincerely apologizing to the bully – it was a peculiar sight to see even for the said bully – but Zombie didn't let any of that show on his face.

"Say, Cherry, Lychee, is there only the two of you – normally, the adventurers travel in groups of five, if I remember correctly."

The blue undead asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Yes. We come from a tiny remote village on the outskirts of the Greeds territory, basically on the edge of the Gluttonys territory. There really isn't much to say about that place – but it's nice and peaceful."

Cherry said, shrugging his shoulders dismissively.

"A remote village was able to equip you with a sword augmented with a light attribute? Aren't those expensive...?"

Zombie asked, recalling the prices of the augmented swords back in the shop where he would always buy new swords for Kopia to consume.

Particularly the ones with the holy attribute were so expensive that he was unable to afford even half of one at any point in time.

"Ah... this one is special..."

Cherry blushed bashfully and hugged the returned sword protectively.

"You see, there was a little lake near our village – and there was a legend about a fairy living there. Well, he found out that it wasn't a legend."

Lychee joined the conversation eager to take Zombie's attention away from her companion.

"A fairy you say?"

Zombie raised his brow curiously.

"Yes. Honestly, I thought that it was just a legend, and I that the lake is inhabited by some stray monsters that only look friendly because of a charm skill or something, but one day I... well... I went there to investigate it and fall in..."

"What?! You thought that you wanted to go for a dive!"

Cherry admitted in embarrassment which caused Lychee to gasp in shock over the unexpected revelation.

"Well... I did end up diving... in a way... more like drowning... Then I saw a bright orange light, and I was back at the surface – and a whisp of orange light spat called me an idiot and spat out this word from who knows where telling me to take it and never return. It called me an idiot many times."

The young man confessed looking away in shame.

"That really isn't what you have told me or the other villagers."

Lychee pointed out with a cold expression.

"Orange light you say... interesting – so you are saying that the spirit of the lake was a whisp and not a fairy?"

Zombie asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Whisps are technically fairies, though they are connected with the death attribute so they lack the physical form like in the picture books."

Cherry straightened his back and declared happy that he could be helpful.

"Interesting... and the sword... do you know anything about it...?"

Zombie poked more, searching for more interesting clues.

"Well... it did say that if I find the right key – the true power of the sword of the braves would unlock."

Cherry responded after a moment of hesitation.

|A sword of the braves...? Curious... I certainly remember the holy sword he had looked different – was it the same sword but after with its true potential unlocked?|

Zombie thought to himself – or rather he thought to himself so that Kopia could read his mind and calm down since she had been shaking hungrily from the moment that the blue undead let go of the sword.

|Try to hold back – think about it that way – I will let you eat it once it will reach its full power. I bet it will be much better then than it is now.|

"...!"

Zombie added and felt Kopia flinch in her scabbard and settle down, content with that promise.

"Hey – I think that you two should get some more companions – don't get me wrong, a rogue and a warrior isn't a bad composition, but you should really get a tank, a spellcaster, and a healer."

He went ahead and spoke up.

"I bet that would make things easier, both when it comes to completing the missions as well as unlocking this blade's true potential."

Zombie smiled reassuringly and straightened his back.

"I'll leave the two of you now – do me a favor and don't mention that you saw me – as for the merchant – say that you saw an odd girl with copper eyes killing them from behind. Bye-bye."

*BOOOOM*

He instructed and launched himself kicking off the ground with enough power to cause a dust cloud to raise up.

…

…...

"Master – are you sure that it's alright to let them go? I'm sure that the blade he had would be tasty as it is now."

Kopia's muffled shrill came out of the luxurious scabbard as she was using the chance that no one would be able to notice her speaking – mainly because there was no one around them.

"Maybe..."

Zombie finally deactivated the heartthrob skill and the light blue light faded from his eyes as he nodded.

"But I'm quite interested in that orange spirit that Cherry talked about – though I'm not sure whether it is what I expect it to be."

He added with a light shrug - without Patience confirming or denying his theories, he certainly didn't want to jump to conclusions without any evidence.

"Also, in the end, it really was a nice test whether I can defeat someone without killing them – although I bet things won't be as easy when it comes to the capture targets in a few years – especially with Claymore who should be completely immune to any charms, to begin with – I guess I can resolve conflicts in an amicable manner when it comes to the fruit-named characters."

Zombie declared in a satisfied voice.

"Eh?! Does that mean that we won't be killing humans anymore?!"

Kopia cried pitifully and poked her blade out of the scabbard.

"Huh? Where did that come from? Not killing humans? Ridiculous – no, we just won't be killing potentially useful humans - whether they have a unique name or not - and that's it."

Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed at the silliness of his self-aware sword.

"So the people trying to spy on you?"

"Annihilate them all, no matter if they are serving Envys or Greeds – we can't have them noticing that I keep in contact with the elves from the hidden village."

Zombie declared coldly.

"...and what about that one who arrives once a week to talk with you?"

Kopia asked, sounding as if she was not only referring to someone very specific but straight up looking at them.

...because she was...

"Mister undead. I'm here for the report as well as to inquire you about the death of another of our people."

A copper-eyed woman showed up and glared down at the blue undead crossing her arms with a sour expression.

"Ah, Pitaya. Right on time, as ever. Say – your eyes. Is that color common or do you have a daughter that you abandoned in the Wrath's territory?"

Zombie asked mockingly – taunting the woman on purpose to take her attention away from things that she could have overheard.

"...none of your business..."

But her reaction was as cold as ever – still, the similarities between her and Ti, the future member of the CriTiCal trio of bodyguards, were rather uncanny.

"You got yourself a new toy, I see."

The woman scoffed, looking at the signet on Zombie's hand with a frown.