The Villainess and I, her Zombie

Chapter 46: Durian's manor - the arrival

Cranberry and Zombie, escorted by the Dandelions, arrived at their destination.

Durian Greed's estate.

The mansion itself, as well as the surrounding gardens, looked surprisingly humble considering that their owner was a part of the royal family, even if he was just from a branch that has fallen out of grace.

"Young miss, we haven't been told to wait for your return..."

Shanks rubbed his hands nervously and hunched down apologetically in front of Cranberry.

"Yes, that was very much expected of my mother to do."

Cranberry nodded indifferently while carefully observing the surroundings.

Their group arrived much earlier than expected and that clearly surprised the servants of the household, who started running around everywhere attempting to finish the preparations.

"Is that so...? In that case, then, we'll bid you adieu, young miss."

Shanks bowed and jumped back up on the carriage without further pleasantries.

"Oh? Aren't you going to warn me about the rumors surrounding this place?"

Cranberry grinned nastily and turned her head to the shocked Shanks.

"And I thought that we're such good comrades..."

She made it sound as if she was pouting, although she obviously wasn't, which caused the rat-faced man to tremble.

"I... simply assumed that you already know more than I do, young miss. I'm a thief, not an information broker."

He exchanged quick glances with the rest of the Dandelions who were unloading the baggage from the carriage and carefully weighed his words.

"You sell yourself too short, my books no matter how extensive won't cover rumors and gossips one can gather in a tavern after few drinks."

Cranberry twirled and smiled cheerfully.

Seeing her act in such a stereotypical girly manner sent a chill down Shanks's spine.

And the alarm in his head has gone off.

She must have been either completely pissed off or planning something.

Neither of those options was to Shanks's liking.

"Young miss have seen right through me..."

He bowed his head and apologized.

"Truth to be told, I wanted to be a bit dramatic, and as we would be leaving, I would turn my head slightly towards you and warn you about the slave crest of lord Durian..."

Shanks leaned down and whispered conspicuously.

"It is said that although he can use his magic on an unwilling target to dominate them, if the target is WILLING to receive it, the benefits it would grant would be far greater."

He whispered and glanced meaningfully towards the servants around the mansion.

Cranberry stopped smiling and straightened her back.

She put her hand to her chin and stroke her lips with the index finger.

"Graough...? (So we're going to walk in not only into a mansion full of his slaves, but his loyal slaves...?) Graough... (That sucks...)"

Zombie, who up until now was checking on whether all of Cranberry's luggage was properly unloaded, came over and groaned making a concerned expression.

Cranberry raised her hand and put it on the blue boy's head.

"Are you worried?"

She smirked.

"Graough. (Yes. A lot.)"

Zombie admitted without hesitation.

"Thanks for the advice."

Cranberry turned back to Shanks, but although her words seemed warm and she was smiling, her ice-cold eyes were piercing through him like daggers.

"You wanted to warn me in a dramatic way, huh... If you will touch my belongings again without my permission, I will rip your arms off."

"...!"

She said in a friendly manner that made Shanks shudder.

He flinched and cursed himself for stupidly reciting a scene from the only novel amongst Cranberry's books that he borrowed without her knowledge during the travel while she wasn't looking.

"Please forgive my impudence."

He hurriedly bowed as low as he could and apologized.

"Did you at least finished reading it?"

"Huh...?"

But Cranberry's next question threw him off completely.

"Did you at least finished reading the novel you filched?"

She repeated while rummaging through her purse.

"N-no, I-I'm a slow reader, but it seemed interesting...!"

He hurriedly explained.

"Here."

Cranberry wasn't even listening to him anymore, she pulled out a book from her purse, walked over to the carriage, and offered it to the rat-faced man.

"It is a nice read, although a bit predictable, but a good time nonetheless. Return it to me after you're done."

Since Shanks was so stunned that he wasn't able to lift a finger, Cranberry simply put the book on his lap and walked back to her servant.

"Next time just ask. I don't mind borrowing my books to those who like reading."

She shrugged her shoulders and glared at the mansion.

"That should do it, I don't see him anymore, Zombie, we're going."

Cranberry said something rather strange while making a serious expression.

"Graough. (Understood.)"

But either way, Zombie simply nodded grabbing the luggage intending to follow her.

But right as he was taking a step forward...

"Yo, little blue. Come over here for a bit."

Of all the people that could call out to the blue boy, it was Lairs.

She looked like he was unsure whether or not she was doing the right thing, but in the end, she beckoned at Zombie to approach her.

"Graough...? (Eh? Why should I...?)"

He tilted his head and groaned.

"His name is Zombie."

Cranberry frowned and squinted her eyes at the hooded mage.

"Who the fuck cares! Just make him come here for a fucking second!"

Lairs scoffed and punched the carriage angrily.

"Graough...? (Master...?)"

Unsure Zombie groped and looked at his master.

"Just go see what she wants."

Cranberry shrugged and shooed him away.

So the blue boy hesitantly approached the elven mage.

"..."

Zombie crossed his arms and glared at Lairs expectantly.

The woman checked the sides making sure that no one from outside their group is near and leaned down.

"That whole Gorut monster or whatever, Envys gave it to that fucker Durian, in exchange for some kind of favor..."

"GRAOU...?! (WAIT, WHA...?!)"

"Shut up, you fucking blockhead!"

Zombie growled shocked but Lairs blocked his mouth with her hands, which caused Cranberry to clench her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"I don't know much about it, but..."

Lairs quickly glanced towards the mansion, the large door opened and an equally large man showed up.

"It seems that Envies are planning to stir some shit up with Prides. I don't give a fuck about you and I fucking hate your master, but let's just say that the whole Envy family bothers me even more."

She seemed so serious that Zombie couldn't even groan doubtfully to ask about the source of her information.

"So, I don't fucking know, better be careful around that stinking boulder fuck."

Lairs patted Zombie's shoulder and jumped into the carriage.

"Ah! Now that's what I'm fucking talking about!"

She laughed sprawling on the cushioned seat.

"Ure-ure, get in! Shan-shan too! Rotte, you're driving."

She decided on the roles for the way back and proceeded to ignore the confused blue boy.

"Zombie, don't stand there like that, it seems that my husband is coming to greet us personally. And remember to keep up the dumb corpse act, the Greeds might still hold a grudge against us for the dragon incident."

Cranberry called him and motioned at the approaching giant with her chin.

"Graough...! (Ah! Yes, I'm sorry...!)"

Zombie hurriedly ran over to her and picked the baggage back up.

Then...

/Warning

Unable to progress the story due to insufficient data

/Calculating...

/Master receives a story quest

Resist Durian's allure for 4 hours

Success: the story will follow route a

Reward: Servant's MDF +25

Failure: the story will follow route b

Reward: Master will receive the unique title: Durian's Toy (+20000 HP, -1000ATK, -1000MAT, -1000DEF, -1000MDF, -1000EVA)

"Gra-graough...! (Wha-what the hell is this?!)"

Zombie's eyes almost bulged out of his eyesockets seeing the preposterous message that popped up.

"Haa... so that's how the system wants to play, huh..."

Cranberry smirked and stretched her back.

"It isn't even subtle with which route should we aim for, seriously... Zombie, if by any chance I fail this mission..."

Her smirk changed into a beautiful smile.

"...then kill me. That's an order."

She said in a relaxed manner as if she just stated something obvious, and left Zombie both speechless and utterly panicked.