The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"My lady, say, why are you so insistent on training the detection [sight] skill?"

The androgynous short human with long blood-red hair and piercing pale-blue eyes asked the beautiful girl who was focusing her glowing eyes on a faraway forest-covered mountain visible from the window of her room.

"You have me to protect you, am I that unreliable in your opinion...?"

They grumbled and fidgeted on their spot at the freshly made bed.

"I'm not interested in the detection skill for its usefulness or anything. What I am after is the miracle lense skill that is the evolution of the farsight skill that is the evolution of the detection [sight] skill. What I'm using now is the farsight."

The beautiful girl clarified.

"O-ohhh... I see... as expected of young lady Claymore!"

The wide-eyed Kopia nodded their head in understanding even though they didn't have the slightest idea what that miracle lense was all about.

The farsight was clear, it was a skill that allowed the extreme enhancement of the user's vision without the need of telescopes and such, but the miracle lense...?"

"I found a guidebook for learning it in one of the archives while I was searching for the way to earn a strong tracking skill. Miracle lense allows the user to take a peek at anything their hearts desire without any obstacles, no matter how well hidden or how far away it is."

Claymore explained without Kopia having to ask her directly.

"My lady, don't tell me...! Do you want to try to find the missing young lady Cranberry by yourself?! Why? What's in it for you? You don't have any connection to her!"

Kopia furrowed their brows unable to comprehend the girl's motives.

"...see? That's why I know you don't have even a speck of monster blood in you, you don't remember how things were before the system reset."

Claymore sighed and shook her head.

"...? My lady? What are you talking about?"

Kopia tilted their head and furrowed their brows.

"Nothing important, say, what was the real question you wanted to ask me about before?"

It was Claymore's turn to change the subject.

"Eh...?"

Kopia tilted their head even further in absolute confusion.

"Ah! Oh, that's right!"

Suddenly they clapped their hands together and nodded.

"Say, my lady, there is something that I don't understand about the Love-blessed body."

They properly sat upright and asked in a serious voice.

"Hmm? And what is that you don't understand?"

Claymore blinked a few times and the light of a detection skill faded from her eyes as she focused on the person in front of her.

"How come you can change so perfectly? When you are in your base form you have the features of both the male and female forms. But when you choose what you want to be for a day, you change completely!"

Kopia exclaimed furrowing their brows.

"Like, you do bandage up your breasts to flatten them in your male form, but is that even necessary? I mean, your shoulders look way broader, your jaw gets stronger, you even lose your plump hips! And while you're a girl, your whole body slims down and gets curvier, and somehow your adam's apple disappears! And there's no trace of the... the, you know... bulge... or anything!"

Kopia ended up saying while shyly glancing at Claymor's waist.

"Are you sure you are not someone like me? Have you tried changing into a different person before?"

They asked curiously.

"..."

Claymore didn't answer immediately and turned back to the window and reactivated her skill.

"...! D-did I say something that made you angry, my lady...?"

Kopia flinched and get off the bed and got on their knees immediately.

"I'm terribly sorry, my lady, please forgive this stupid, insensitive servant...!"

They cried out while their shoulders shook.

"I'm not angry, you know? At least not as much as you think."

Claymore sighed without pulling her eyes away from the faraway scenery.

"Then why...?"

Kopia didn't dare to raise their head.

"While I understand your curiosity the words you used are the same words everyone uses - everyone except Cranberry and Zombie, that is."

Claymore explained with a shrug.

"My lady...?"

Kopia flinched and asked, surprised by their master's kind voice.

"Once Cranberry learned about my Love-blessed body, she only asked me one thing - is it useful for getting stronger - and as for Zombie, he didn't even ask and just accepted Cranberry's words without a single complaint... though that might have more in common with the connection they share more than anything."⁹

"My lady, but when did you ever spoke or exchanged letters with...?"

Kopia asked immediately once Claymore closed her mouth, but the girl didn't answer them.

"As for my body. It's always the same no matter what. It's the perception of others that change. The Love-blessed body comes equipped with the most powerful charm-type skills and my love-switch isn't able to block them all. Once I say something, it becomes the absolute truth to anyone seeing me. That's the whole secret. Though, I'm pretty sure that I also asked you before not to peek under my skirt, didn't I? You little rascal."

She instead answered Kopia's previous question and added a gentle scolding too.

"...I'm sorry..."

Kopia lowered their head and blushed from embarrassment.

"You know, I...

/Proficiency level reached

Farsight (level 10[max]) »» Miracle lense (level 1)

"AH! I GOT IT!"

A message popped up for Claymore, causing her to jump up and threw her hands up triumphantly.

But it wasn't the end of the messages...

/Ultimate route available

/System restriction removed

/Skill upgrade

Miracle lense (level 1) »» Future sight (level 1)

"...eh...?"

Claymore flinched and her arms dropped as she stared at the skill name in confusion.

Future sight?

W-was it just as its name suggested...?

"My lady...?"

Kopia asked, worried about the girl's odd behavior.

"..."

Claymore just shook her head decided to try out the new skill on the spot.

Of course, she did that while focusing on the red-haired girl and her blue undead.

Once she did...

"...!"