The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"Y-young lady...? Wh-where did you get all of that?!"

Shanks gasped in confusion when the four wagon train filled with loot rolled by him and his comrades.

"Oh, when we promised the forest elves that we'll search for their missing family members, they got super generous."

Cranberry waved her hand dismissively and laughed off the question.

"And Lai-lai? Was she really not there?"

Rotte walked over to Cranberry's cart and ask with concern.

"No. Just like that old elf had said. She was never there in the first place."

Cranberry shook her head.

"..."

The three Dandelions looked down in disappointment.

"But still, it's not like we have no idea where to look for her."

The red-haired girl shrugged and got the attention of the three adventurers.

"Do you mean...?"

Uresha asked.

"First things first, we need to deal with all of that."

Cranberry didn't let her finish and motioned at all four carts.

"Zombie already agreed to pull them until the next city or a big town, so just hop on and let's be on our way."

She explained and beckoned other adventurers to get on the wagons.

"..."

As they did, Zombie glared at them, annoyed.

His master always carries them during fights and now he has to actually carry them?

It wasn't something that he was completely fine with, but he wasn't going to ignore his master's wish, so he didn't complain out loud.

The Dandelions also knew better than to question Cranberry's decisions, so they hopped on the first cart right where all the valuables were.

"Those are...!"

Uresha gasped and picked up two delicate rings that looked like a set.

"You can have those. Actually, you all can pick something if you like, still, only one item per person, we'll be appraising and selling the rest later. Just like always, you're getting one-sixth of the income."

Cranberry nodded benevolently.

The three Dandelions looked at each other with complicated expressions.

Then, they all nodded at the same time and took something from the pile.

Uresha and Shanks took the matching rings, and Rotte took a pendant.

"Alright, we're should aim at the settlement closest to the Envy's estate. Remember to point my Zombie in the right direction at crossroads.

Cranberry instructed and picked up another book to read.

"..."

Zombie turned to the Dandelions and glared at them without a word.

"What does he...?"

Rotte mumbled, feeling uneasy under the evil stare.

"For starters, we should go to the east."

Shanks figured out what had to be the blue undead's intention and gave the first direction.

Zombie nodded, turned away, and started pulling the cart.

Honestly, it wasn't a fast way of moving around.

Their overall speed was slower than when they were traveling by a proper carriage because the wagons they were using now had far worse suspension and the blue undead was adjusting the peace so that the ride wouldn't be too unpleasant for his master.

In the end, they had to spend the night in some random village, unable to reach their destination before dusk.

Since their cargo this time was way more valuable than usual, Cranberry reluctantly sent Zombie to guard it through the night.

When the group checked up on him in the morning, they found him crouched on the ground, drawing in the dirt with his left hand.

...and the corpses of three foolish villagers who thought that they could sneak past him to filch something were neatly stacked by the wall of the inn.

After Cranberry returned his right hand back to him, the group went on their way.

The next city or a big town that had an appraiser and an adventurers guild office turned out to be the very same city where Envy family's main residence was.

What a coincidence...

After a little hold-up at the eastern gate, the group entered the city of Tart.

"The guards will most definitely warn Envys about your presence, young lady."

Shanks secretly warned Cranberry.

"No other way around it."

But the red-haired girl didn't seem too bothered.

"It's better than sneaking in and getting spotted like a common thief. No offense."

She shrugged her shoulders and smirked.

The rat-faced thief closed his eyes and took a deep breath, giving his best to not frown.

"Anyway. Young lady, do you want us to handle everything, as usual?"

He somehow managed to make his voice sound friendly

"Ha..."

Cranberry frowned and glanced at their wagons.

"...sure, but we'll go with you this time."

She said after a moment of hesitation.

Shanks tilted his head in confusion and exchanged surprised glances with Uresha and Rotte.

"I've heard some rumors that people, especially merchants in Tart, are extremely cunning and vicious when it comes to business. I kind of want to see them in action."

She smiled mischievously and waved her hand at the blue undead, beckoning him to approach her.

Shanks nodded in understanding and left to join his concerned companions, and Zombie glared at them as they were talking amongst each other in hushed voices.

His initial opinion of the Dandelions has changed completely.

Recently he never seen any of them step up to help during a fight, and since they weren't encountering that many monsters that needed to be put apart to sell, he categorized the adventurers as unreliable meat shields.

Still, they clearly had some uses for his master, so they maybe weren't that useless after all...

Suddenly, he felt something wrapping around his neck.

He tilted his head in surprise and glanced to the side, just to have his vision blocked by a curtain of blood-red hair.

It was his master.

Cranberry had leaned down from her seat on the second cart and was hugging the blue undead from behind.

"Hey... just so you know, I'm going to stir up some trouble to force someone from the Envy house to show up."

The red-haired girl whispered straight into Zombie's ear.

"Try to follow up on everything I do, but don't use your venom, and don't finish anyone who I'll attack but don't kill in one hit. Understood?"

She instructed him and asked, not pulling away and waiting for his answer.

"I'll do my best."

The blue undead nodded.

"That's my Zombie~"

Cranberry hummed in satisfaction and let go of her eternal servant...

*peck*

"...?"

As the red-haired girl was moving away, Zombie felt a soft sensation on his cheek.

He tilted his head like a confused puppy and turned to the side searching for the cause.

It definitely wasn't an attack, it felt too nice, so what else could it be?

Then Zombie turned to his master, but the red-haired picked that exact moment to jump off the cart and walked towards the Dandelions without looking back at the blue undead.

"Zombie, let's go."

She called and waved at him to follow.