The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"Done."

A girl with medium-length light-brown-hair, opened her eyes and put down her hands that she was pressing to her temples just a second before.

The light of her skill has already faded, and she breathed out with relief.

"You do have quite the range on that skill, are you sure that the avatar of lust will be fooled by it though?"

Her companion, a menacing-looking figure wearing a long gray coat with a large hood completely covering their face, spoke cautiously.

"The ultimate route is active, which means the wonder lense will change into future sight. The only problem, and a minor one at that, was to time my skill correctly so it would overlap and cover the vision the moment they activate it. Easy."

The girl shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"Oh, really...? And how do you know you didn't mess things up?"

The hooded person frowned and asked doubtfully.

"Are you kidding me?"

The girl snorted and pointed at the now empty window of the Lust family mansion where just a short while ago Claymore was cheering for the acquisition of the skill she wanted for a long time.

"Everyone's memories might have been changed and twisted, but the general order of events did not, and the story keeps following the one I know by heart. I know exactly when and where every essential character will be at any given time and what needs to happen to make them follow a certain pattern."

The girl smirked and tapped her chest with a dangerous-looking smile.

"I allowed you to steal some of my memories just so you could see the truth for yourself, my doubtful capture target, you could be a little more willing to believe in me."

She added, putting her left hand on her waist, striking a confident pose.

"..."

Her companion didn't answer right away, he slowly straightened his back just so his piercing green eyes could be seen shining from underneath the hood while somehow the rest of his face remained hidden.

"Yes. You allowed me... Somehow, I wasn't able to just steal them - and that is precisely why I cannot trust you at all. As far as I know, you might be secretly on that hateful woman's side, leading me into a trap to bring me more despair..."

The person let out a low angry growl, staring down at the girl whose smile didn't waver even a little bit.

"You're overthinking it. Cranberry Pride is a threat not only to the system and its stability but to the whole world. Her death is the second thing I want the most in this world."

The girl frowned and her hand unintentionally reached to her face and she started carefully inspecting her nose bridge as if she was worried that there was something wrong with it.

"Her corpse puppet on the other hand..."

Suddenly she put her hand down and the expression that she showed to her companion caused him to tense up.

"If you ever try to hurt Kiwi, our deal is off."

She declared in a voice so cold that her companion unintentionally shivered.

"...and I will personally make sure that you'll taste every single bit of the horrible despair that you fear so much..."

The girl promised, staring right into the hooded man's piercing green eyes.

"...! A-as far as I know it, Kiwi is not her corpse puppet's name."

As if angry at himself for showing weakness, the hooded man scoffed and waved his hand in a domineering gesture.

"As if I would give a damn about the name that this murderer and kidnapper have forced upon that poor child."

The girl snorted and turned away.

"Prepare yourself. Right now Kopia should be scared to death, fearing that their beloved master might hate them. If we miss our chance and don't intercept them now, the next chance will come during a side-quest near the northern border, but by that point, Kopia will be hostile and it will be extremely hard to get them on our side - and we need them to get into the Sloth territory in time to get two more allies for our crusade."

The girl had pulled out a silver pocket watch and checked the time.

"..."

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, focusing on her memories before opening them again with a determined expression.

"Just say the line I taught you, loudly, that will be enough to pull Kopia in."

She spoke coldly and pointed at the crossing of two alleys behind them.

"...it's your fault if that fails..."

The man shook his head and turned his back on the girl.

"Now."

"WE MUST PREVENT CLAYMORE LUST FROM GETTING IN CONTACT WITH CRANBERRY PRIDE, OR THEY WILL DIE!"

Given the signal, the man didn't just speak loudly - he straight up shouted with enough strength to make the dirty remains of the windows in the nearby building vibrate.

"...EH...?!"

*wham*

"...uuu..."

An old woman dressed in rags, who just so happened to be sneaking by the alley holding onto some trash as if it was a treasure, gasped and tripped over her own feet and sniffled pitifully once she tried to get up.

"Look at what you did...!"

The light-brown-haired girl shook her head in disbelief and pushed by her hooded companion to help the old woman up.

"Sorry, granny, my companion is just a bit too invested in our quest."

She apologized while pulling the woman up.

"Quest...? You two have a quest that has something to do with the avatar of lust...?"

The woman's voice shook as her eyes widened from shock.

"It's nothing you should worry about granny, we won't let anything bad happen to the young head of the Lust family. Be on your way and forget that you ever met us."

The light-brown-haired girl assured her and gave her a little push on the back to make the woman move.

"Who are you two...?"

The woman didn't want to go and instead tried her best to turn around, staring intently at the girl and her hooded companion.

"Just some random people who want to prevent the villainess from killing all avatars, including the avatar of lust."

The girl explained and since the woman didn't want to leave them alone, she was the one to walk away.

"Let's go, we must hurry."

She passed her companion and nodded at him to follow.

And the two of them left the back alley with the perfect view of the Lusts' mansion.

"..."

Three steps, five steps...

"...your plan has failed..."

After the two of them took ten steps, the hooded man clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"WAIT!"

But before any of them could get even an inch further, the person behind their backs called out sounding desperate.

"My name is Kopia Envy! I am a personal bodyguard to Claymore Lust - if you have any information about the potential danger that could affect my master, I demand that you two will share it with me!"

The desperate persons cried out.

"..."

The light-brown-haired girl moved her head as if she was turning her ear towards the person behind her, but in truth, she only did that to show a triumphant smirk to the hooded man.

Then they both turned back to face the old woman.

But at the spot where the old woman should be standing, a frail-looking androgynous human was clenching their hands together looking as if they were sick with worry.

Their long red hair was covering the loose rags they were wearing but their piercing blue eyes were focused on the mysterious pair in front of them as if nothing else mattered.

"You must tell me about your quest! Please! I can't allow anything bad to happen to my master!"

Kopia cried out pitifully and took a step forward.