The Villainess and I, her Zombie

Roan's response made Cranberry frown.

"Haa... just as father said..."

She breathed out in disappointment.

"Oh, but the things change if we go to the appraiser."

The prince declared proudly.

"How so?"

Cranberry raised her brow.

"As long as you have someone from the Greed family by your side, the appraiser won't have a choice but to check you up as soon as you show up. It's a secret agreement that my mother forced on them. She's a scary woman."

Roan beamed at Cranberry and even made a victory sign.

"Graough... (That doesn't sound like something a ruler should do...)"

Zombie groaned pulling away from Blueberry for a moment.

"Great, we're taking you with us then."

Cranberry nodded and hopped on the griffin's back as if she was her master.

"Zombie, Roan, get on."

She commanded.

"Like hell! Get off of my monster, now!"

Mary freaked out, and as the tamer and the owner of Blueberry, she had all the rights to do that.

Still...

"Skwee! (Back off, master!) Skwee! (I'm helping my mommy!)"

*swoosh*

"Guhua!"

She got pushed away by Blueberry's wing and ended up on her butt after letting out a weird sound.

"Weren't you listening? I've only called for Zombie and Roan, you can just do whatever you came here to for."

Cranberry glanced at the girl beneath and furrowed her brows.

"Or just go home, you don't need to wait here for our return. Blueberry knows her way back, right?"

"Skwee! (I do!)"

Blueberry screeched happily.

"Graough, (She does.)"

Zombie confirmed the screech, took a seat right behind his master and waited for the prince to hop on behind him.

"...shouldn't I be behind her, I'm her fiancé..."

Roan grumbled while getting on but did it so quietly that no one else heard him.

Not waiting for Mary to even get back up or even to start complaining again, Blueberry spread her wings and took off.

"N-no! Wait!"

The brown-haired girl reached her hand after her griffin already disappearing in the distance and gasped weakly.

"My... my quest is proximity-based...!"

She whimpered weakly.

/Story quest A h/w failed

Capture target has gone too far without reaching the necessary affection level

"...!"

Mary was staring at the message, biting her lips from anger.

"...damn it...! What is even going on here?! Is she seriously a villainess and not a backstory character?! That's not what I've seen in my dreams...!"

She lowered her head and murmured furiously.

"Miss...?"

The guard at the gate called out to her not sure what to do but she ignored him and turned away.

"...this was supposed to be the easiest quest...! And what's wrong with Roan?! He was supposed to have a mother complex and greatly dislike his fiancé and not..."

Mary suddenly stopped and tilted her head.

"No, wait… Was Cranberry supposed to be Roan's fiancé in the first place...? Why do I remember it differently?"

She asked herself horribly confused.

...

Meanwhile, up in the air over the forest.

/Quest completed

Reward granted

Another strange message popped up for Cranberry and Zombie again without them particularly doing anything or even receiving a new quest prior to that.

From time to time, Cranberry gave Blueberry the directions until they finally arrived at a small village by the main road. 

"Graough? (Huh?) Graough... (I remember this place...) Graough! (Whoa...!)"

"What the...?!"

As they've landed,  the blue undead groaned, but in the next second, he was already getting pulled down from the griffin's back by his master, so without thinking he grabbed Roan and got him pulled too.

Even though Zombie was sure he had never visited that place together with Cranberry before, she seemed to know exactly where she was going.

And indeed within less than five minutes all three of them were inside a small but moderately luxurious building that looked like it was a home office.

"What may I help you with...?"

A short middle-aged man behind a counter put down a sandwich and raised his brow.

"My undead and I need appraising, the highest level you can perform."

Cranberry said pulling out a bag of jingling coins and tossed it in front of the man.

"Ah! I see! Let me just check..."

The man smiled and nodded.

Then he reached down and pulled out a large thick book and opened it near the end.

"Yes, I have a free spot in about two weeks..."

He said taking out a pen, ready to write down the appointment.

"Haa... No. We need it now."

Cranberry sighed shaking her head.

"I'm terribly sorry, young Lady Pride, but this is just how things work."

The answered with a bright smile, showing not only that he recognized who Cranberry was, but also that he didn't care.

"I see. Haa... Roan, if you may."

The red-haired girl sighed and gestured at the prince standing in Zombie's shade to come forward.

"Mister appraiser, I think you want to reconsider refusing my fiancé's request."

The blond prince stepped forward and leaned his torso slightly to the side.

"No, I certainly don... oh..."

At first, the man spoke with the same bright smile but when he looked at Roan's face, his expression changed into one of shock.

"OH! Yo-your highness?!"

He gasped, standing up from his seat and bowing deeply to the prince.

"You recognize who I am, good. Now, apprise my fiancé and her corpse puppet. "

It was Roan's turn to make a bright smile.

"A-at once, your highness!"

The short man rushed out from behind the counter and pointed at the couch by the wall.

"Young lady Pride, please, over there."

He said grabbing a pen and paper.

When the red-haired girl and the blue undead took their place, the appraiser pulled up a chair, sat down, and prepared to write down the results.

"For the greatest accuracy please, remove any mental defense type charms and if possible deactivate all the skills that raise the mental defense."

He said automatically as if he spoke those words thousands of times already.

Probably because he did...

Neither Cranberry nor Zombie have budged.

"Good. Now then..."

The appraiser nodded and his eyes lighted up with a bright light.

"...huh...?"

His face became pale as a sheet and he dropped his pen before he even wrote a first revealed value.