The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"Young lady, you sure you don't want to stay on the cart? Your face is kinda flushed..."

Rotte pointed out when Cranberry approached them.

"Shut up! I just feel like walking!"

The red-haired girl scoffed and glared at him with ice-cold eyes.

"Do you know the way to the item appraiser?"

She hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes. The place that one of the guards advertised as the shop that has the best offers is located in the alley, right next to the city square. Obviously, we should most definitely not go there."

Shanks kept nodding to himself while explaining.

"Envy territory sucks..."

Rotte sighed and rubbed the back of his head with a displeased expression.

"Haa? So you all have been here before?"

Cranberry looked at them with mild interest.

"Not exactly in Tart, but we had the displeasure of being forced to take a mission from the local guards."

Uresha sighed heavily and even she, with her kind heart, looked really pissed off.

"The folks from here will try to eat you alive even if you are their ally."

The large woman frowned and crossed her arms defensively.

"They will try to underpay you, even if you have their signature on the agreement. They will charge you an insane amount of money for staying at the inn. And then let's not even start with the food prices..."

Rotte counted on his fingers.

"Don't forget about the prices of the materials! Local guild bought everything we had for one-third of the market price!"

Shanks shook his head trying to forget the unpleasant experience.

"Ha. I see."

Cranberry nodded. She stopped blushing already and her heart rate returned to normal so she went back to one of the carts and took out a simple thick stick made out of dark wood with purple luster.

Funnily enough, the stick had the rough diameters of the baseball bat that the red-haired girl was using up until recently.

What was even funnier was that she and Zombie had found it in the back of the workshop of the weaponsmith in the elven village - it was stored away in the shop, gathering dust under scraps of metal and cloth, as if the craftsman was ashamed of what he had created and hidden it.

The girl swung her new weapon around a few times to check how it holds in her hands.

The dark wood tore through the air with an ominous sound and gathered the attention of a few passersby.

"Good. I want to see them try it with a Pride."

She nodded and smirked.

"Y-young lady... calm down! That was when we were still a bunch of rookies! There's no need to get violent!"

Shanks instantly raised his hands and started calming Cranberry like she was a wild animal.

"..."

The red-haired girl glanced at him, making an annoyed expression and her smirk changed into a doubtful smile.

"Let's just go."

She rested the new bat on her shoulder and waved her hand dismissively.

"...well then..."

Shanks clasped his hands together and started explaining while walking.

"Since without a doubt, the guards and the appraiser that he sent us to, have a deal, we can safely assume that the place will have the worst deals in the entire city."

He was speaking loudly enough for other people to hear him, and more than a few of those unintentional listeners made sour faces, as if annoyed that this group won't get fooled.

"That's why we should look around for a bit and search for another appraiser on our own."

"True."

"That's our best bet."

The Dandelions agreed unanimously.

"Nah, let's go there."

Yet Cranberry had a different idea.

"We want to make it quick, to continue searching for Lairs. We've wasted enough time already."

She shrugged her shoulders and ignore the snickering merchants that they were passing.

"...! Young lady...!"

For some reason, Uresha got teary-eyed.

It was very likely because she misunderstood Cranberry's intention and thought that the girl was so concerned with their fourth member, that she was going to forgo the maximum profit.

"If... if that's what you want..."

Shanks put his hand into his pocket and nervously rubbed the ornate ring inside.

"Thank you."

Rotte lowered his head to the red-haired girl.

"Wow, idiots."

Zombie sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

"...?"

Shanks looked back over his shoulder, looking around with an angry expression.

"?"

Zombie raised his brow and glared back at him but got ignored.

But apparently, the leader of the Dandelions didn't find whatever he was looking for and simply turned back.

"Should we split up then? To makes things even faster?"

"Not yet. I want to at least watch over the transaction with the appraiser and then either I or Zombie have to oversee how the books are packed before we'll send them back to my house."

Rotte came up with a proposal, but Cranberry had different plans.

"Ah, alright, I understand."

The warrior hurriedly nodded and he looked away awkwardly.

With that the group followed the instructions they got from the bribed guard and soon enough everyone, except Zombie who stayed with the cargo, entered the appraiser's office.

The bell above the door rung and as if it was a summoning tool, a skinny, twitchy man with dark bags underneath his eyes showed up.

As soon as he saw the young red-haired girl leading the group, his eyes shone and his fingers moved.

He was someone who judged others solely by their appearance and prided himself with never being mistaken.

Seeing the confident bossy walk, coupled with worn-out clothes - no doubt a hand me downs from older sibling's adventurer gear after they've given up and returned to the village - the appraiser could almost smell the innocence and naivete.

And her weapon was just some stick!

The other adventurers looked somewhat capable, but from their aura, it was clear that none of them was from the Envy territory.

So maybe they joined forces during a mission?

Or maybe the girl fooled them by saying that she knows her way around these parts...

In any case...

Easy pray.

Well, there was no doubt that they found the place after asking the guard, so that much was clear.

With the capable-looking adventurers in tow, it looked like their loot might have been worth something.

The only question was, how much will he be able to rip them off?

The appraiser barely contained the wide grin that was forcing its way on his face, and instead bowed deeply.

"Welcome, dearest customers!"

He exclaimed with a servile, oily voice.

The young and inexperienced but overconfident adventurers loved when others treated them like some important figures after all~