"Graough. (This village is boring.)"

Zombie sighed while sitting with Cranberry by one of the tables of the only inn in the village.

The village was so small that the fact that the inn even existed in the first place was already a miracle.

"The food is bland too."

Cranberry nodded, looking at the spoonful of soup that Zombie held in front of her face.

"Graough? (You don't want it?) Graough! (Master, don't force yourself to eat if you don't want to!)"

"Wait!"

The blue undead was about to take back his hand but Cranberry grabbed his wrist and shook her head.

"It might be bland but it's edible, and I am hungry. It's satisfactory enough. Aaa!"

She declared and opened her mouth.

"Graough? (Ah! Is that so?)"

Zombie gasped happily and smiled.

And then he continued feeding his master as if it was the most normal thing to do.

"I could get used to getting spoiled like this~"

Cranberry hummed with joy.

"..."

The attention of most of the villagers was already focused on them since they were the rare visitors who weren't traders, that the village did have maybe twice or three times a year, but with how the two acted that curiosity changed right into shock.

After the soup was finished Cranberry went ahead and changed her seat from a simple wooden chair to Zombie's lap even though there was still more food waiting for her on the table.

She leaned back on his chest and put his right arm around her stomach.

"...haa~"

She breathed out with bliss, resting her head near the blue undead's neck.

"Graough? (Master, how did the prince got out of the village?) Graough...? (Our carriage is gone, did he decided to run all the way back...?)"

Zombie's low growl tickled Cranberry's ear.

"Ha ha! No, no. Think about it~!"

She laughed and poked his cheek with her finger.

"Roan's a prince. There's no way that the queen would let him travel around without any bodyguards. He must have gone and left with them."

She explained patiently.

"Graough? (Were there any bodyguards?) Graough... (No one showed up even when our carriage got blown up...)"

Zombie was skeptical.

"They were, they were~"

Cranberry hummed again and closed her eyes.

"Protecting the life and protecting from any charm are two different things. While traveling like that and hunting monsters along the way, why would the hired bodyguards bother shielding their clients from every attack? If they're expensive to hire, they should be able to at least recognize the strength of an attack and react accordingly."

She said while enjoying the soothing coldness of Zombie's body.

"Graough...! (Ooh! I see...!)"

Zombie growled and nodded although, in truth, he hadn't understood a thing.

"For now, the best option for us is waiting in this village for his return. Nothing good would come from us running around like headless chickens, asking everyone about Lairs or Envys."

Cranberry patted Zombie's hand and explained, even though the blue boy wasn't even going to ask about what will they do about the elven mage in the first place.

"Graough...? (Master, are there other bodyguards guarding you except me...?)"

The question that came out of the blue undead's mouth and the tone he growled in, certainly took Cranberry by surprise.

"Haa...? Other bodyguards? Do you think of yourself as my bodyguard?"

She asked blinking in confusion.

"...graough...? (...d-do I don't count as one...?)"

Zombie responded with an embarrassed growl.

"...!"

Cranberry twitched and her mouth started forming a smile.

She shook her head and tried to make a serious expression but the pesky happy smile was forcing its way on her face.

"Zombie~? Are you jealous~?"

She turned around in his lap, now facing him, and traced circles with her finger on his wide chest.

"G-graough... (D-depends...) Graough...? (Are there other people around you that I'm not aware of...?)"

Zombie turned his head away and was glancing at his master, badly faking indifference.

"As someone from the seven main families, of course that I do have a bodyguard."

The red-haired girl answered with a slight smile.

"Graough...! (Ah...!) Graough?! (Wait, if you do then why did this whole scenario with werewolves even happened?!) Graough?! (Where were they?!)"

Zombie furrowed his brows and started groaning in anger.

"...haa, I don't feel like explaining it to you..."

Cranberry sighed in disappointment and turned back around toward the table.

"...so you only cared about that..."

She sulked, picked up the fork, and started stuffing her face with food, chewing so furiously as if the meal had severely disrespected her.

Zombie didn't open his mouth, waiting for the answer.

"Haa... fine. I don't know why they didn't act. Maybe they got bribed or something. Or they made the deal with the attackers. I don't care."

After a few long minutes, Cranberry gave up the silent treatment and explained.

"Graough! (Oh, I see!)"

Zombie nodded, pulled up a handkerchief, and wiped a smudge of sauce from Cranberry's cheek.

"Though, now that I think about it, I haven't seen that guy around since we woke up after the system changed everything..."

Cranberry put down the fork and leaned back on Zombie's chest.

"I never bothered to check what was going on with that since I always have you around, but it is odd..."

She tapped her chin with her index finger, staring at the inn's ceiling.

"Graough...? (You didn't care because you have me around...?) Graough...? (So... I am your bodyguard...?)"

Zombie showed up a surprising amount of wits with that comment and made the smile return to Cranberry's face.

"Haa...? No, no, no. Zombie, you aren't my bodyguard. You are MINE. That's the only label you need, getting into more details is unnecessary."

She declared proudly and raised her hand to poke his blue cheek.

"..."

Zombie tilted his head, squinted his eyes looking into the distance, and fell deep into thoughts.

Cranberry smirked and closed her eyes, satisfied after filling her stomach with food, and her heart with her cute eternal servant.

After a while Zombie nodded and shifted his position.

He leaned forward and simply hugged Cranberry from behind and nuzzled his cheek against hers.

"Graough...? (If I'm yours, then that means that you are mine, right...?)"

He groaned lightheartedly.

"?!?!?!?????!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!"

Cranberry's brain overheated for a moment and she couldn't even utter a word.

She just clenched her legs together, stiff as a board and red as a tomato, with her heart beating so fast as if it was about to burst out of her chest.

"Ugh...! Disgusting... isn't that filthy? That's a corpse puppet, isn't it?!"

"Apple, shut up!"

The words whispered by two random villagers worked on Cranberry like a bucket of cold water.

"All nobles are the same, they got messed up in the head from all the luxury!"

"Apple, you idiot, what if she hears you?!"

"So what? I'm a coachman for the Envy family! What some adventurer can possibly do to me?"

The rude man laughed at his friend who tried to stop him.

/Route c v/w's optional story quest received

The secret of Envy

*talk with the people in the inn

*learn about what the Envy family is doing in the shadows

*witness the kidnapping (completed)

*learn about the whereabouts of the elves

*investigate the hidden elven village

*find the missing elves

*investigate the Envy's residence

*learn the secret of Envy

*confront the avatar of envy about the elves

*report the Envy family to the royal family

Quest reward: depends on the % of the completion of the quest

/(10% completion - level up)

/1st tier reward granted

/Master and servant level up!

The messages popped up one after the other, but Cranberry only glanced at them and instead focused on the villager who offended her.

"Zombie, you saw the quest. Let's go ask around."

Her blissful mood was completely gone, and only the cold fury remained.

Cranberry slowly walked over to the table that the rude villager was sitting by.

"You're a coachperson for the Envys, huh?"

She nodded her head, looking down on the man.

"Yes, I am."

The foolish villager boasted, puffing up his chest.

"I see... I see... that makes things easier."

Cranberry nodded benevolently and leaned towards her blue servant.

"Zombie, make sure that no one leaves until I'll be done asking questions."

She said calmly.

"Graough? (Should I bring the barrel with the skill blocking thingy?)"

"No. Just don't let anyone get out."

Zombie asked and Cranberry instructed him patiently.

"Whoa, missy, I don't know how the likes of you act in their hometown but here we...GHHHH...!"

The innkeeper walked over to Cranberry and tried to get threaten her into backing off, but the red-haired girl simply swatted lightly at his head...

...and the innkeeper's face caved in, turning into a bloody mess - and the man fell on his back like a fallen tree.

"That bitch!"

"Look at what she did to Melon!"

"Oi! What the hell do you think you're...?! AAAAAAHHHHH!"

All the angry voices changed into the panicked screams when Cranberry picked up the table that the rude villager, Apple, was sitting by and effortlessly threw it at the loudest offenders, causing more than a few broken bones and concussions.

"Haa... Apple, right? Did I get it right? So, you are a coachperson to the Envy family, are you not?"

She repeated the question, now a lot more menacingly.