The Villainess and I, her Zombie

The Brave Swords were a group of five young adventurers with a common goal of changing the world for the better with their own hands.

Even during the lull those brave men and women were tirelessly fighting with monsters to protect those in need as well as fighting off the bands of bandits that formed during those dangerous times.

Yes, they were truly a group of five adventurers that some even dare to call heroes.

The cheerful and kindhearted young man, Cherry, the warrior and the leader of the party. Slightly childish, but with enough strength to follow his conviction through.

Avocado, the brawny tank with a stoic expression on the outside, and a self-proclaimed playboy on the inside. His fuse was a bit short, and he might have been a bit too self-centered, but his act was slowly getting better by being surrounded by a group of friends that always tried to correct his behavior.

Lemon and Lime, twins girls and spellcasters of the Brave Swords. The older one, Lemon, the mage with a sharp tongue but a heart of gold, was usually the one to set Avocado straight. And the younger, Lime, the money-hungry healer with a mischievous personality that would more often than not be the one to stirup the easily bothered tank.

Finally, Lychee, the mysterious silent rouge. What she lacked in social skills, she more than made up to with insight, stealth, and power. While she usually didn't interact with her friends too much, she would always try to keep a watchful eye on their soft-hearted leader, and would always point out when their group was about to walk into a trap that the others have missed.

After a whole week has passed since everyone regained the connection to the system, the Brave Swords, as the up and coming stars of the adventurers guild, had their hands full of various requests. Some of them even non-profit.

Other adventurers wouldn't even spare a glance at the work that didn't offer any pay but Cherry couldn't simply leave the ones in need alone, and his party didn't want to leave him alone either.

For the time being, the amazing group finished reporting their latest completed mission at the reception desk and were about to hit the tavern next door.

All members of the Brave Swords were in a great mood with their pockets full of well-deserved money, when one of the female guild staff approached them with an urgent request.

"A noble from the fallen house is stirring some trouble outside?"

Cherry asked, raising his brows in surprise.

"Almost fallen house."

The female guild staff member corrected him and nodded.

"It's the daughter of the Pride family, she demands us to call for the Dandelions and refuses to leave. But what's more important, her corpse puppet is blocking anyone from entering the guild!"

The female guild staff member complained making a pitiful expression trying to pull on the warrior's heartstrings.

"Daughter of the Pride family...? Wasn't she the one who made the scene during her first kill party? The one who demanded to be engaged to the prince Roan?"

Lemon scoffed in annoyance, she didn't like overconfident nobles.

If Cranberry could hear them she would get rather annoyed that someone dared to speak out loud about how the system changed her backstory.

"Now, now, we shouldn't judge others so hastily."

Cherry laughed and patted Lemon's head, making her blush.

"We should at least hear them out. Miss..."

Cherry turned back to the female guild staff member.

"Did young lady Pride said why she wants to meet the Dandelions?"

He asked calmly.

"She demands them to clean the monster corpses from her territory. She's being a nuisance, really."

The woman answered without hesitation.

"Why don't you... call for the Dandelions...?"

Lychee muttered from behind Cherry's back.

"Ah! They have finished their mission a while ago and are probably drinking in Respite. It's just an annoying noble girl and one corpse puppet, you're going out anyway so could you all talk some sense into her? You do know which monsters settled around Pride's territory, don't you?"

The female guild staff member fidgeted and asked innocently

It was clear that she just didn't want to deal with the annoying customer or to look for the adventurers on their time off.

The Brave Swords all frowned and looked at each other.

"Pride territory... Griffins nesting ground... too dangerous for... a low-level corpse retrieval mission..."

Lychee said what everyone else thought, although it looked like each word she spoke was causing her discomfort.

"Lychee's right. I guess that this little girl hasn't realized that her family no longer holds the power in Fruit Salad."

Avocado sighed looking to the side.

"Hey, leader, let me talk some sense into her."

Avocado walked past Cherry, and patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"I have my way with the ladies, this one will be no different."

He winked and wrapped his arm around the female guild staff member's shoulders.

"Miss, lead the way so I, Avacado of the Brave Swords can resolve this problem!"

Avocado pulled the woman with him without waiting for her response.

"Ugh... if only he kept his mouth shut, what a shame..."

Lemon clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"Only weak girls... fall... for a guy... like that..."

Lychee said, pulling up the scarf covering her face and discreetly glancing at Cherry looking after Avocado with admiration.

"Won't that be perfect then?"

Silent until now, Lime joined the conversation.

"That girl is supposed to be a pushover. Let's go and see how it will play out!"

She smirked mischievously and started pulling Lemon and Lychee towards the door  with her.

"Leader, you come too! Maybe you'll learn how to be more confident from observing Avocado!"

Lime snickered looking back at Cherry.

"Sh-shut up, Lime!"

The leader of the Brave Swords blushed and followed after his party members.

When they got outside the guild's building, Avacado was already approaching the red-haired girl standing alone in an intimidating pose with some sort of thin wooden mace rested on her shoulder.

At the first glance, she didn't look like a young noble lady at all, dressed all in the functional hunter's clothes and only a single companion.

On the other hand, the said companion, the tall, blue-skinned corpse puppet that was shining with all kinds of skills was barring people from approaching the girl or the guild's building, was dressed very extravagantly.

Jet black hair tied up in a low ponytail with a silver ring, white long-sleeved shirt - cropped with no other purpose than to show off his muscular stomach - loose black pants, and black thigh-high boots on high heels.

That attire was keeping people away almost as much as the purplish light of the active skills that was radiating from the puppet.

"Miss Pride, why don't the two of us go and discuss your troubles in a more cozy place?"

Avocado was already doing his magic, the confidence and charm were literally oozing from him.

"Are you the messenger boy or something? Good, go and call the Dandelions for me then. The other one turned out to be completely useless in that regard."

But the red-haired girl seemed to not notice any of that and treated the young man as a common servant despite his adventurer's gear in clear sight.

"Pfft...!"

Lemon snorted at her companion from behind.

"Miss... the Dandelions are currently unavailable..."

Avocado didn't seem to be bothered at all and begun building the topic again.

"Then make them become viable. This is a request from me and some lousy adventurers should be jumping with joy at the opportunity of fulfilling it for me."

The red-haired girl shrugged and started tapping her peculiar weapon against her shoulder.

"I've been giving you a chance because you are cute in an unconventional way, but if you are going to act like you're some tough shit then..."

Avocado flinched and hastened his approach toward the red-haired girl, it seemed that something she had said really got on his nerve because he dropped the playboy persona surprisingly quickly.

"Umm... Cherry, you can forget about what I've said about observing him, alright...?"

Lime fidgeted and whispered to their leader.

"Don't think that some fallen noble girly can talk like that to us adventurers just because you dressed up as someone capable!"

Avocado growled, reaching towards the girl as if he wanted to grab her arm and pull her aside.

"Touch me and I'll kill you."

The girl said, coldly glaring down at him.

"As if! Perhaps you don't know who you're talking to?"

Avocado scoffed at her and stepped to the side so that the girl would get a good view at the rest of his party in front of the guild's door.

"We are the Brave Swords! None of us is older than twenty-five, but all of us are over level 60!"

He laughed while bragging.

"The sword of mana, Lemon! The sword of kindness, Lime! The sword of darkness, Lychee! The sword of light, Cherry! And I! The sword of protection, Avocado!"

Avocado was brimming with confidence while introducing everyone in his group.

"It's people like us who are the future of this kingdom, not some rotten nobles that couldn't even protect the title that had put them in their position in the first place!"

"Haa..."

The red-haired girl breathed out and shook her head at the loud offense.

"I was honestly going to just have a talk with the Dandelions and get them to clean some monster corpses for a profit..."

She sighed, making a slightly sad expression.

"I never expected some FUCKING MORON, to go and disrespect not only my family, but the nobility as a whole..."

She shook her head.

"And what is someone like you...?"

"Such offense cannot go unpunished."

The red-haired girl didn't let Avocado interrupt her and simply talked over him.

"I, Cranberry Pride, together with my Zombie, are challenging you Brave Sods for a duel to the death."

She declared with a bright, bloodthirsty smile.