The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"?!?!?!"

Cranberry flinched and changed the direction of her strike at the last possible second, barely missing the griffin by only a fraction of an inch.

The shockwave she caused hit the monster regardless but it thankfully the monster's defense was high enough for it to be received just like a strong gust of wind that ruffled the black feathers with purple shine.

Though the tree directly in the way of the missed swing got smashed into pieces and showered everything that was previously behind it with a torrent of splinters.

"Did... did you just say Blueberry...?"

Cranberry hands trembled, as she glanced at her servant's arm still waving at her from beneath the griffin's enormous body and then looked into griffin's eyes, while her ears continued to shine - the red-haired girl had never deactivated her detection skill allowing her to hear Zombie's muffled call.

"Skwee?! (Mommy! Mommy do you recognize me?!)"

The griffin screeched happily, fidgeting and shaking its wings in anticipation.

"Skwee! (I got very strong! I went to sleep and woke up like this!) Skwee?! (Mommy are you proud of me, are you?!)"

The emperor griffin was acting like a tiny puppy overjoyed at the sight of its master's return.

"Skwee! Skwee?! (Daddy! Daddy, are you proud of me too?!)"

The griffin screeched again, this time lowering its head clearly talking to the blue undead trapped underneath it.

"This one does sound a bit like Blueberry... That distorted screech is quite distinctive."

Cranberry lowered her weapon after she confirmed that the monster doesn't have any hostility towards them.

"What does she says? And first of all, does she even actually recognizes us?"

The red-haired girl asked, glancing back at her servant's hand.

"Graough! (She does!) Graough! (She still calls us mommy and daddy too!)"

A happy muffled groan came from below and the blue hand started patting the griffin's feathers.

"Graough! (Blueberry! Daddy missed you so bad!) Graough! (You have grown up so much I hadn't recognized you!)"

He growled.

"..."

*clang*

Cranberry let go of the baseball bat and the weapon hit against a piece of broken wood creating a small sound.

In the next moment, the red-haired girl was burrowing herself in the feathers on the griffin's chest and neck in a warm hug.

"Blueberry! I'm so happy to see you!"

She nuzzled against the feathers and stroked Blueberry's head just below the golden beak because she couldn't reach any higher with how large Blueberry had become.

"Skwee...! (Ehehe! Mommy's pats are the best...!)"

Blueberry closed her eyes and lowered her head so that Cranberry would have an easier time reaching it.

"Blueberry, say, how come you still remember us? Didn't the system changed your memories like with the players?"

Cranberry pulled herself away from the griffin for a moment and asked with a mixture of happiness and confusion.

"Skwee...? (The system...?) Skwee? (Oh! You mean the strange voice that sometimes calls in my head, mommy?) Skwee! (Nu-uh! It didn't do anything!) Skwee... (I remember everything!) Skwee! (How you and daddy brought me back from the forest!) Skwee! (How we trained and slept together!) Skwee! (How I joined my master!) Skwee! (And how daddy and I and Arion and Cinnamon and other wolves trained and got stronger!)"

Blueberry got much more talkative compared to the last time they've seen each other, or maybe she was just so happy to finally meet her favorite people again.

"Skwee, skwee, skwee... (And then, and then I went with master and master said that we can't go visit because you because your mommy isn't allowing us to do that...) Skwee! (I missed mommy and daddy!)"

The griffin screeched pitifully and started rubbing against both Cranberry and Zombie as if she wanted to get all the love and attention she has been missing on.

"Ha... um..."

Cranberry made an awkward expression, Blueberry was doing her best to give an explanation to her question, but she couldn't understand any of the screechings.

"Graough! (Blueberry is talking about everything that she remembers about us!) Graough! (Master, it sounds like her memories weren't changed at all!)"

Zombie growled happily while doing his best to crawl out from beneath the fluffy monster.

"Graough... (Well, at least the things about our past together.) Graough? (Master, was there anything about our Blueberry written in that awful diary that the system made?)"

He asked with surprising insight.

"Haa... No. There was nothing about her in the diary. If she remembers us, that means that the system hasn't changed her memory..."

Cranberry sighed with relief, but then furrowed her brows.

"... but that's odd... Blueberry, are there others like you? Does anyone else remembers everything like it was originally?"

She asked with concern.

"Skwee...? (Originally...?) Skwee! (Ah! I understand!) Skwee. (When I suddenly got stronger, other monsters also got stronger and my master grew up too.) Skwee. (But then master and Arion started acting differently, but I and other wolves noticed that it was weird!) Skwee? (Is that what you mean?)"

Blueberry screeched and tilted her head.

"Skwee! (But even though mommy and daddy also grew and look different and stronger, you don't act weird!) Skwee! (I'm happy!)"

She started rubbing against the Master-Servant pair again.

"Graough. (She said that all the monsters except Arion remember things how they've been and they noticed the sudden change in appearance, but Mary and Arion didn't.)"

Zombie translated for Cranberry, still trapped under the griffin.

"That's fine. It's way better than I expected."

Cranberry smiled and continued to pat the large happy griffin.

"Wait..."

Suddenly she stopped and furrowed her brows.

"Blueberry, why are you even here in the first place…?"

Cranberry asked slowly and her eyes widened.

"Don't tell me that you have run away from your master...?"

She gasped in disbelief.

"Skwee? Skwee! (What? Of course not!)"

The griffin shook her head and looked back at its empty back.

"Skwee...! (See? Master is right h...!) Skwee...? (Eh...?)"

Blueberry blinked a few times, staring at her back from different angles for way longer than it was necessary, and started nervously hoofing with her front legs.

"...skwee... (...uh-oh...)"