The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"Long time no see~ what brings you here?"

The blue undead smiled happily while tilting his head and looking all innocent and calm.

"..."

The dark-skinned woman bit her lip, scowling at him in response without saying anything.

"Hmm...? Oh, you are not going to tell me something like – I hoped that my eyes deceived me back in the Envys territory – are you?"

"..."

Zombie giggled, waving his hand dismissively to lift the atmosphere but ended up only making Mia furrow her brows.

"If you want to talk, take a seat – if you just want to stare then and watch me..."

Continuing with the lighthearted tone, the blue undead unbuttoned the first and second buttons of his shirt and opened it while making a playful expression.

"...maybe I should give you a little show...?"

/Skill failed

He said while his eyes flashed blue for a split second – but a system message informing him about the futility of that action showed up immediately.

"..."

Mia's eyes momentarily darted towards Zombie's chest anyway, but she hurriedly focused back on his face and frowned before raising her hand and pointing at an ivory bracelet around her wrist.

"I have an artifact that blocks charms, useful while hunting down Alraunes and some fairy-type monsters."

She explained before leaning against the door and lowering her head.

"How did it happen...?"

Mia asked vaguely, without looking at Zombie, but it was rather obvious what was she asking about.

"Does it matter? I worked harder and harder and it end up killing me – but as you can see, something as trivial as death did not stop me at all."

The blue undead laughed, spreading his arms as if to show off.

"How about yo..."

"I learned that you died while protecting that Pride girl. You got killed protecting her from a bicorn with that whole burning mark – the same that all those monsters that the famous Dandelions keep slaying left and right were said to have."

Zombie wanted to move the conversation over to the subject that interested him more, but Mia suddenly raised her head and looked him straight in the eyes - and she sounded angry.

"She also made you her servant."

Mia added as her expression was growing more and more grim with each word that she spoke.

|...haa... Not good, we don't want her being hostile towards Cranberry – calm her down somehow.|

The sealed being decided to instruct the blue undead, but honestly...

"Familiar. And according to her own interpretation – a husband too."

Zombie wasn't taking the words lightly and instead got quite annoyed and stood up from his seat and started approaching the dark-skinned woman while showing off the ancient wedding ring on his left hand.

"As if. Familiar, husband, servant. She turned you into a monster and I'm supposed to just accept that? You're nothing but a slave!"

Mia scoffed and waved her hand to the side.

"Oh? Weren't I one from the start? besides... That's reach coming from you, isn't it? Or are you trying to tell me that you are just passing through this place and know nothing about Druian's unique magic?"

The blue undead responded in the same tone as the woman did and walked up right in front of her.

"I... That's different...!"

Mia flinched and tried to back off instinctively but her back was already against the door so there was nowhere else to go – so she put one hand up to keep Zombie at a distance.

"Bullshit. You have the crest, don't you?"

"!!!!!!!!"

The blue undead shook his head, grabbing and pulling away Mia's hand before hooking his finger under the widest leather belt covering most of Mia's stomach and pulling it up to reveal...

...a pristine muscular stomach and silky skin with no blemishes...

"Z-Zombie, you pervert! I am not that kind of slave!"

Mia instantly lost the air of a composed adult and cried out in a cute, embarrassed voice grabbing onto the belt and pushing it back in its place.

"Uh-oh... Sorry..."

The blue undead's eyes widened and he stepped back, letting go of her while apologizing.

"You are so awful...! I'm genuinely worried about you and you act as if I was some loose woman!"

Mia covered her stomach with both hands to be doubly sure that Zombie will not start playing with any of her belts.

"...So you do know what a crest at that part of the body means...?"

Zombie leaned back and asked offhandedly.

"Of course! All of Durians playthings have a slave crest above their wom...! Ah...!"

Mia flinched and hurriedly closed her mouth, gulping down her saliva.

*rustle*

"...?"

She then flinched and looked back at the door after she heard a noise coming from the outside, but ended up dismissing it and turned back to the mysteriously smiling blue undead.

"You did not hear it from me, alright? I know that you came here with the first prince and that whole Pride girl because of the wedding – and Durian would not let me off freely if he learned that I leaked something so scandalous as having a whole bunch of those-kind-of-slaves. Alright...?"

Mia started nervously playing with her fingers and asked with a worried expression.

"And first of all – the existence of those-kind-of-slaves should be good news for your group, right? I mean, Durian wants to marry that Hope girl only to get the influence over her family and not because he wants her specifically!"

She added hurriedly, very clearly trying to damage control...

...though, there was no reason to do that anymore...

"Relax, Mia, I still think of you and Luke as my friends, you know? My lips are sealed..."

|...but whatever Roan heard while eavesdropping under my door before he dashed away in a frenzy, that's none of my business~|

Zombie calmed down the dark-skinned woman out loud, while finishing a sentence internally - glancing behind the blond prince's life signature running around like a furious - but still headless – chicken in search of Mary's chambers.

"That said... You said that you are not that kind of slave, but you are a different kind, right? Crest and all?"

The blue undead asked focusing back on the worried woman.

"Yes. Well, you weren't the only one who worked hard. Though I can't really say that it killed me – my training wasn't easy either."

She said while turning to the side and showing off a slave crest on her right shoulder.

"Accepting this was the best short-term decision I have ever made, though it really soured my relations with Laura..."

Mia smiled but almost instantly her smile dimmed at the mention of the former adventurer who lived in the Envy territory and helped wild kids become functioning adults – or at least she tried...

...after all both Mia and Zombie were functioning per se... that wasn't really how it was supposed to work...

"Hey – come and sit, let's catch up since we're both here anyway."

The blue undead turned around and get back to his seat and motioned at the one next to him.

|Want to bet on how long will it take Roan to find Mary...?|

Zombie smirked internally and thought.

|With his luck? Best case scenario – until midnight – keep Mia away from Durian until then and subquests should all line up exactly as we want them to.|

The sealed being responded to him, sounding only slightly jealous over the dark-skinned woman who sat closer to the blue undead than he invited her to.