The Villainess and I, her Zombie

Zombie picked up the barrel-like armor from a secured location and only went inside the city from the opposite gate to the one closest to Laura's farm, with fancily dressed Kopia by his side.

With Kopia's current form, even though she was short for the standards of an adult, she was still much higher than the six-year-old posing as a dwarf – which was a good thing, Zombie certainly didn't want any suspicion about him messing around with kids.

As for Kopia...

She was happily holding Zombie's hand – not only with her own hand either – a few strands of her hair were coiling around the boy's hand too, which was a clear sign that even though the humanoid weapon was enjoying the walk, but she was also always ready to turn into any sword of Zombie's liking if the need arose.

The two of them passed the merchants and innkeepers setting up their businesses with sleepy faces and went straight for the northern gate.

"Hmm?"

Once they arrived, and haven't seen a carriage of any sort that could be used to transport slaves inside or outside the city walls, Zombie furrowed his brows and scoffed.

He turned around the sun still wasn't up but the color of the sky visible from above the city walls clearly indicated that the sunrise wasn't that far off.

"Master, you angry...?"

Kopia tilted her head and asked, lowering her head as if she thought that Zombie's bad mood was her fault.

"Yes, I am – just look at it, where is our employer? They've set up the departure time themselves, but aren't ready at all, what, do they confuse the departure with meeting time or something?"

Zombie squeezed Kopia's hand reassuringly and then motioned at the carriage-less surroundings.

|You know how Envys territory's merchants are, they want to show off that they are better than anyone else just as much as they want to scam their customers from all their money.|

Patience spoke, still sounding a bit fed up with the closeness between Zombie and Kopia.

"...?"

Zombie raised his brows and looked around a little bit more carefully.

|Then, what...? Are you saying that this asshole is just waiting somewhere near and is consciously making us wait for them to make us know who is in charge?|

The boy frowned, gritting his teeth, and his foot began impatiently tapping against the pavement.

|Most likely.|

Patience sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

"..."

Zombie's frown grew much angrier, not only because of Patience's words but mostly because he indeed spotted a carriage that perfectly suited the implied mission parked next to the stall with food – with a slightly plump man with two steaming skewers in both hands, glancing their way from time to time with a self-satisfied smile.

"Haa... Hey, can you imagine being late on the mission you assigned yourself? It must be some third-rate merchant who doesn't value his time at all. Khahaha!"

Zombie sighed and shook his head, speaking loud enough to get the attention of a few passersby and shop owners, including the man stuffing his face with meat from the skewers.

"Pathetic!"

"...!"

Somehow, Kopia perfectly read Zombie's intention and cheered with a mocking laugh, which was met with the face of the self-satisfied man.

"Exactly. If he doesn't value his time, that means he's just some fool with nothing but empty pride inflating his ego. He surely realized that he actually doesn't have anything of value that he could pay us with, and is too ashamed to even show his face! Let's just head back to the guild – we need to report a false mission, that piss-poor merchant needs to be fined."

Zombie shook his head theatrically and motioned at the road leading into the city with his head.

"Let's!"

Kopia nodded happily, leaning on the small frame of the armor-clad boy.

"!!!!"

And they just left, causing the self-satisfied man to throw away his half-eaten skewers and hurriedly climb on the carriage and macked the backs of the horse monsters pulling it, to make them rush towards the northern gate.

"Ah! Mister dwarf!"

The man called out, waving his hand.

"Oh? What is it, good sir? My companion and I are in a hurry to report a prankster setting up a false mission to our guild, if possible be quick about your business."

Zombie glanced at the man over his shoulder and shrugged.

"Mister dwarf! The mission is not a prank, I'm the one who hired you!"

The man stopped the carriage beside the pair and hurriedly explained, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

|Look at him, acting so tough but getting all scared once he met someone who won't allow himself to be played with! What a pathetic specimen.|

Patience scoffed and sounded as if she shook her head and frowned with disgust.

"Is that so...?"

Zombie raised his brow and carefully looked at the man, judging him from head to toe.

"I was a bit late because I had to make sure that my employees I've put in charge of the shop will do a good job – I am a renowned merchant with a well-known shop by the man square – Jealous eye – you surely have heard about it! We specialize in rare goods and curiosities!"

The man explained, giving his best to regain his composure and show off, but once he showed weakness, there was no recovery.

"Jealous eye, huh..."

Zombie smirked mockingly.

He indeed knew the place – it was one of the shops that sold insanely overpriced artifacts sometimes trying to pass off used goods as brand new ones...

...it was also a place being backed by the subordinate branch of the main Envy family...

|Ask about his name just in case.|

Patience sounded as if she furrowed her brows.

"I've heard about it, mister...?"

Zombie nodded and stepped forward, glaring at the merchant with suspicion.

"Jackfruit Green."

The man introduced himself, sounding a little bit calmer as if he knew that his name would be enough to change the adventurers' minds - which was already a little bit suspicious.

But at the same time, what wasn't suspicious in the Envys territory, where scams and lies were not just common amongst, but rather expected out of the citizens.

|...He's of no importance to the story as far as I know... But he indeed is an owner of the place – in the game, Jealous eye was a shop that would teach players to be careful with money since the item description was almost always false – with a different font used to indicate the forgery – but with how things are now unless someone has the appraise skill they won't be able to tell until they tested it out.|

Patience came forth with a little bit of trivia on the subject – a bit of trivia that certainly didn't put Jackfruit and his shop in a favorable light for sure – especially when it came to the value of the potential reward for completing the mission.

Bur, Zombie wasn't aiming for the reward in the first place - though if he was, he would have turned right away without giving the man a second look.

"Well, then. Mister Jackfruit. Let's not waste any more of your precious time and move out."

The boy posing as a dwarf smirked mockingly, opened the carriage's door, and let himself and Kopia in uninvited, closing the door and knocking at the carriage's wall to hasten the stunned merchant.