The Villainess and I, her Zombie

With the dawn of the third day of the research, Zombie finally realized something.

Cranberry clearly didn't know what a capture target role really was, and she took its name extremely literally.

She thought it meant that Zombie's role was to be the opposite of hot potato - that everyone involved would want to physically abduct him to gain some unknown advantages during the global event.

That's why she was so worried, didn't want to let go of him even for a second, and was prepared to fight for him at any given moment.

And all of that was very clearly taking a toll on her.

Never seen before dark bags appeared under her eyes and she was snapping at others way more than she usually did.

It seemed that the only way for her to return to normal was to find a method to keep her servant safe...

...or to let her know what the capture target role actually was...

If only there was someone close to her, who, by some divine chance, was a reincarnated person from another world, and even though he didn't know exactly what was going on, he at least knew the meaning of some of the words that the system used...

...

Yeah...

Mainly because of the side-effects of the rotten brain title, it took Zombie three whole days to realize that he could simply write what a capture target was on a sheet of paper and slid in in one of the books she hadn't read yet.

And eventually, that was the plan he came up with.

Though he kind of forgot that Cranberry was right next to him ALL THE TIME.

"Oh, are you drawing something? Can I have a look?"

Curious Cranberry glanced over her book at the paper that Zombie took prepared and already started scribbling on.

"Graough... (N-nothing...)"

Zombie tried to cover it with his right hand, but he didn't do it properly, leaving quite a bit of already written text for Cranberry to read since he couldn't move his fingers.

"...capture target is a character..."

Cranberry slowly read the words and her expression turned cold and extremely suspicious.

"What is this? Are you trying to make fun of me?!"

She clicked her head and clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Graough...! (N-no! It's just that I actually know what it is...!)"

Zombie hurriedly shook his head and denied such an accusation with all his might.

"...show it to me..."

Cranberry reached out her hand and waited, glaring at her servant.

At that point, the blue undead could only sigh and hand her what he wrote.

"Capture target is a character that the heroine will have to raise her affection with if she chooses to end up with him..."

Cranberry read out loud and started massaging her forehead with a tired expression.

"Haa... Zombie, I know you are really worried about me, but making up some nonsense won't really help."

She sighed and smiled apologetically at her servant.

"Graough! (No, master, it's not like that!) Graough...! (Wait, no, I am really worried about you...!)"

Zombie got confused for a moment, causing Cranberry to raise her brows in suspicion.

"Graough! (What I mean is, I actually know what a capture target is! And it's this!)"

Zombie was giving his best to show that he is serious and pointed at the note he wrote.

"..."

Cranberry made a sour expression and looked back at the note.

Her eyes traced the writing and she sighed again.

"I really can't imagine this being true..."

She shook her head.

"Zombie, all the previous global events had something to do with war, conquest, and so on. This..."

Cranberry tapped the note.

"This suggests that the current global event will be some sort of marriage interview for that whole heroine. Haa..."

She kept on sighing and slowly shaking her head from side to side.

"It's not like I think you are lying to cause me harm, but I..."

All of a sudden Cranberry stopped talking.

At first, Zombie thought that she was thinking about a good word to use, but then he realized that his master was staring at the baseball bat by the chair.

"...no way..."

Cranberry muttered and turned her eyes to Zombie.

"Could it be... is it the same as with that weapon...?"

She asked cautiously.

The blue undead looked between the baseball bat and his master in shock.

For a second he had no idea what she meant but then something in his brain clicked and he realized his chance.

"Graough! (Yes! It is exactly like that!)"

Zombie nodded vigorously.

"Graough! (I don't know why do I know that, but I know it!) Graough! (It's definitely the truth!)"

Once before Zombie used his knowledge from another world to help Cranberry.

As a child, he'd drawn a blueprint for the first baseball bat she ever used.

And even if it wasn't some groundbreaking discovery or creation, no one could explain how come an undead like Zombie could come up with it.

Back then, he simply wrote that one day he just had that knowledge in his head, and everyone took it as something connected with Cranberry's unique skill.

Now was the chance to use the same trick again.

Cranberry was reading the note for the third time, but this time, she was way more focused.

"This heroine. Who is she supposed to be?"

Cranberry put the note on the table and pointed at the word of interest.

Zombie hurriedly apologized, took another sheet, and started writing.

"Heroine is the lead or main character, she is the center of all the events happening during a story..."

Cranberry was reading his words as soon as he wrote them.

"So... like a heroine in a romance novel...?"

She asked for a confirmation.

"Graough. (Exactly.)"

Zombie nodded with a solemn expression.

"It's still a bit strange... Anyway, the capture target role. Do you know if you are the only one?"

Cranberry asked with a frown and looked at his hand expectantly.

"Most definitely no, there should be multiple ones. Two is a bare minimum, but the maximum depends on the scope of the story... haa... I see, so considering that this is a part of a global event, you might not be in quite as much of a danger as I thought."

She breathed out in relief and this time for the first time in three days she actually looked relaxed.

"Thank goodness...!"

She leaned on Zombie's shoulder deflating completely.

"...say... that whole heroine... do you think she will have something like the affection and bond levels like we do...?"

Cranberry sat back up straight and asked concerned.

"Graough. (Yes, she definitely should... at least the affection one.)"

Zombie groaned but also wrote it down just in case.

"...that makes me wonder... the maid said she's a background character, but I'm a backstory character. Doesn't that sound like I have no place in the actual event? Like, am I supposed to be killed off or something?"

Cranberry sighed and shook her head.

"Ha ha! As if!"

She let out a short laugh and grinned.

"...!"

Cranberry might have been joking, but Zombie certainly didn't share her sense of humor.

Instead, he feared her words to be dreadfully accurate...