The Villainess and I, her Zombie

Although Cranberry did say that she wasn't going to let him go until she finds the solution, Zombie didn't expect her to mean it in a literal sense.

But she actually was...

"Graough...! (Master, I really think that I should stay outside...!)"

He growled, doing his best to not be pulled through the door to the toilet.

"I am not going to let you get captured while I'm doing my business...!"

Cranberry was like a compact heavy-duty truck, and even though Zombie used most of his skills, he ended up getting forced inside.

"Don't stare..."

Cranberry furrowed her brows and grumbled lowering her head to hide the red face.

"EH...?!"

*crash*

As they were walking out of there they encountered one of the maids returning from lady Raspberry room carrying a tea set on a tray.

The woman stared between the Master-Servant pair and then at the room they came out of together, let out a baffled scream, and dropped the tray which resulted in loud noise of tea set breaking.

Cranberry glared at her with ice-cold eyes.

"What is your role?"

She asked in a voice brimming with accusation, grabbed her baseball bat that Zombie was always carrying on his back, and pointed it at the maid.

"A-ah...! I-I'm a maid! I'm just a maid! I swear I won't tell anyone! I haven't seen anything!"

The woman panicked and hurriedly dropped on her knees and started picking up the pieces of the broken porcelain.

"..."

Cranberry gritted her teeth, and her eyes and arm started glowing.

"Graough. (Living, my master didn't mean your job.)"

Zombie felt obliged to explain so he groaned at the maid.

The woman flinched and looked up, just to see the end of the bat less than an inch away from her head.

"I asked... what is your role... in the global event...!"

Cranberry growled through her teeth, shaking from anger, ready to blow up at any moment.

"Ah...! B-background character...! Background character! Please don't hurt me, young miss...!"

The maid trembled and raised her arms to protect her head.

"Haa..."

Cranberry breathed out with relief and lowered her weapon.

"Zombie, we're going back to the library."

She leaned on Zombie's shoulder and looked up at him with tired eyes.

"Graough... (Master, you should go eat something first...)  Graough! (We've been searching for the answers for a whole day!) Graough! (I'm worried about you!)"

Zombie groaned making a worried expression and tugging on Cranberry's clothes, trying to convey what he meant the best he could.

Cranberry frowned and looked away, breaking eye contact.

"Graough... (Cranberry, please...) Graough. (It's definitely okay for you to eat something.)"

Zombie nudged her side.

"Haa..."

Cranberry breathed out and straightened her back.

"You."

She turned to the terrified maid.

"Y-yes...?!"

The woman flinched and yelped.

"Bring me something that's light and easy to eat to the library."

"O-of course! Right away, young lady!"

The maid bowed her head repeatedly, picked up all the broken pieces on the tray, and ran away as fast as she could.

"Are you happy now...?"

Cranberry grumbled hiding her face behind Zombie's shoulder.

"Graough! (Yes!) Graough! (It's important that you'll take care of yourself, master!)"

Zombie groaned and nodded with satisfaction.

The two of them returned to the library to bury themselves in books.

Cranberry took only a short break when the scared maid delivered her meal, and although Zombie as an undead didn't need any breaks, he still put down the book to watched Cranberry eat.

Soon enough the daylight shining through the windows dimmed and the night came.

That didn't mean much for Cranberry, she merely lighted a candle and continued her searched.

As for Zombie, he didn't even need a candle since one of the properties of his undead body skill was the ability to see in the dark.

The hours passed and another day arrived with no leads found.

"Graough... (Master, you should go to sleep...)"

Zombie gently nudged Cranberry's side and groaned in a voice brimming with worry.

"..."

The red-haired girl raised her head from above the book and glared at him coldly but didn't say a thing and went back to reading almost immidiately.

"Graough, graough... (Master, please, you've barely eaten anything, you don't want to rest, I'm worried about you...)"

Zombie growled and started tugging on her sleeve.

"..."

Cranberry frowned and glared at him again.

"Don't bother me now. I think I've found something."

She explained shortly and looked back down.

"Graough?! (Really?!) Graough! (Let me see it too!)"

Zombie growled happily and leaned towards Cranberry to have a peek at the information.

"No!"

*slam*

Cranberry shut the book on the table and shook her head in a rather suspicious display.

"Graough...? (Umm, master...?)"

Zombie tilted his head in confusion.

"I-it doesn't say anything about capture targets and all, just some random information about the previous global event! There's no need for you to read that! J-just search the other books for different information!"

It was unusual for Cranberry to lose her cool like that so it only made Zombie more worried.

"Graough... (Master, you must be so tired...)"

Zombie's expression turned really sad and he reached his hand towards Cranberry's head.

She didn't pull away and instead leaned forward.

"Nnn... haa..."

When the cold hand touched her forehead she let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes.

"It's alright, Zombie, if I'll feel really tired I'll go rest."

She promised and even smiled a little.

"Graough. (Don't push yourself too hard.)"

Zombie smiled back and pulled back his hand.

After that, the only sound in the library was the sound of pages being flipped.

Suddenly Cranberry opened her eyes and jolted up in panic.

The candle she was using for the light source was already nearly burnt out even though she clearly remembered changing it out to a fresh one.

"Zombie?! ZOMBIE?!"

No matter where she looked she couldn't see her servant anywhere.

"Graough. (Master, calm down.)"

But her servant was there the whole time.

Only that instead of him sitting next to her, she was sitting on his lap while he wrapped his right arm around her waist and was using his left one to flip through the pages of another book.

"Ah...! Eh...? What happened...?"

Cranberry fidgeted in confusion, raised her head, and looked up at Zombie.

"Graough. (Master, even though you promised, you totally fell asleep.)"

He groaned with a hint of accusation resounding in his voice.

"Graough. (You fell asleep and almost knocked over the candle.) Graough... (You kept rolling around in your sleep, which is dangerous...) Graough... (So I had to keep you in check...) Graough! (Oh, you stopped flailing your arms as soon as I hugged you!) Graough! (You really are the cutest!)"

Zombie growled all of that without even an inkling of embarrassment and left Cranberry completely speechless.

"Haa... fine, whatever..."

She quickly turned around and breathed out after shrugging her shoulders, doing her best to stay calm.

Without changing her position, she picked up a book that she had fallen asleep on and found the last sentence she remembered.

"Graough...? (Master, shouldn't you go to bed...?) Graough...? (See, your nape is really red, maybe you have a fever...?)"

Worried Zombie groaned and gently touched the back of Cranberry's neck.

"?!!!!?!?!????!!!"

*THUNK*

Cranberry jumped up as if she was splashed with a bucket of ice-cold water, and instantly after landing back on Zombie's lap she planted her forehead firmly on the desk.

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

Zombie tilted his head, unaware of what he did wrong.

"...you... rotten brain..."

Cranberry, hidden between the curtain of her red hair, did her best to control her voice but even with all that willpower, she ended up sounding very bashful.