The Villainess and I, her Zombie

In the end, Zombie didn't ignore the old elf's request, and instead of dragging him by the long blond hair, the blue undead got the rope from the Dandelions who were called back and with Cranberry's help ended up carrying the elf-like a mailman bag.

"The fucking world is coming to an end and I am facing more fucking  humiliation than ever in my entire fucking life..."

Olive sighed heavily, but no one was listening to him complain.

As it turned out, a good chunk of the first stage of the journey to the hidden village was blown off by the fight between Olive and Zombie, so for a few more minutes, the guide was unnecessary.

The Dandelions were left behind just in case since Cranberry couldn't promise their safety and Zombie simply didn't care enough about anyone else except Cranberry to even try protecting them.

"Anyway, since the village will be abandoned when we fucking get there, I'll only ask you not to fucking loot it, alright? We don't have any fucking heirlooms or artifacts so..."

"The elven chronicles say that you usually build your villages around very specific kind of trees."

This time, Olive's attempts to make conversation came to fruition, but not on the subject he wanted.

"Yes, usually."

Olive nodded.

"Our race gets really fucking impressive bonuses if we settle around old trees that absorbed mana from the air for at least a few hundred years. Though there's a little fucking trick that allows us to..."

He started explaining with surprising gusto for someone who was essentially severely wounded and taken prisoner.

"What properties does your tree have?"

Cranberry interrupted him.

"Properties...?"

All of a sudden the old elf started playing the fool.

"Hundred of years soaking in mana is bound to grant some special qualities to the tree."

Cranberry smirked and glanced down at the elf.

"Wasn't your sacred tree the reason the ancient kingdom of the elves got destroyed? You got raided until nothing was left."

She pointed out causing the old elf to look away in anger.

"...yes... that's exactly what fucking happened..."

Olive's answer was curious, or rather not its meaning but the delivery.

His tone was almost mechanical as if that was the answer he was repeating hundreds of thousands of times...

...but it didn't sound like it was something that he wanted to say.

"Hey, you're listening?"

Cranberry snapped her fingers bringing Olive back to reality.

"I asked what properties does the tree in your village possesses."

She said impatiently.

"...it's a fucking good magic conduit. If you channel a certain kill skill through it, the wood won't fucking turn to fucking dust but instead pass it to the fucking target. Really fucking good for arrows. It's also nice and fucking sturdy. It can't be cut down with any fucking skill nor weapon that we possess, so to fucking make something from it we need an elf with a fucking special class and skills that let them influence the growth of the living wood to the desired shape."

The old elf explained.

"I see..."

Cranberry nodded and pulled out one of the two arrows she received from Zombie, and tried to break it in half.

Nothing major happened, it bent only slightly.

"Ha...!"

The red-haired girl gasped and activated her body-enhancing skills.

Then she tried breaking the arrow again.

The arrow bent like a crescent moon but didn't even crack.

"Hee, and I thought that those were just some ordinary arrows."

She smirked and nodded with satisfaction.

"Good, we're both due for an upgrade."

"...? If you fucking say so...?"

Olive shook his head in confusion.

"I was talking to my Zombie. Do I have to remind you that if you piss me off I won't hesitate to kill off all your friends and family in the village?"

Cranberry frowned and glared coldly at the old elf.

"And I fucking told you that there will be no-fucking-one there. They must have seen the fucking fire I caused and fucking escaped. That's how our fucking evacuation plan works."

Olive responded with a very similar frown.

"Graough. (He's lying, not even one life signatures had disappeared) Graough. (Most of them are even using some skills, but definitely not escaping.)"

Zombie declared looking seriously at his master.

"My Zombie says that you're full of shit. Escape plan? Your friends are preparing an ambush for us as soon as we enter the village."

Cranberry laughed coldly and repeated Zombie's words adding just a bit of flair to them.

"Fucking good one. Fuck no, they are definitely fucking escaping. That's how I devised that whole fucking plan and the elder agreed to it without fucking hesitation. She wouldn't just fucking abandon it for no fucking reason, the lives of fucking everyone are at stake!"

The old elf explained honestly.

It was something that he definitely thought was the truth.

But clearly, what he thought was the truth and what actually was the truth, were two completely different things.

"Ha! I'll return a question from before right back at you. Weren't you supposed to be wiser than that?"

Cranberry rolled her eyes at the old elf.

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

Olive got agitated, but Cranberry only smirked at him.

"How many people in your village do you know?"

She asked.

"Every fucking one. On a first-name basis. For me, they're all family."

The elf declared proudly.

"I see. And for the elves, the family is the most important?"

"Of fucking course it is!"

Another question met with a fast and decisive answer.

"Then why do you think that they will abandon you just to save themselves?"

Cranberry asked and observed how the confidence disappears from Olive's face and gets replaced by a grim realization.

"...fuck..."

The elf gritted his teeth and looked away with a bitter expression.

"Graough, graough? (Master, should I use my new skill and shoot out some venom at them when we get close enough?)"

Zombie asked innocently.

"My Zombie is considering bombarding your whole village with soul devouring venom if they will attack us first."

Cranberry repeated the prettied-up version of Zombie's words.

"Graough. (No, master, I meant it as a preemptive strike.)"

"Shush!"

Zombie corrected his master but was hushed down with a quick wave.

"Use the remaining time to think out a way to get us inside without causing us any trouble, and nobody else will get hurt."

The red-haired girl declared pridefully and hastened her peace.