Chapter 361: In the inn (2)

"Nectarine, calm down!"

The man grabbed his wife, stopping her from throwing herself in tears at the undead sitting by the table.

"..."

Cranberry stiffened and tensed up.

Without Zombie making any sort of move, she instantly grabbed his hand under the table as if she wanted to make sure that he won't be taken away from her all of a sudden.

"Please, pardon my wife - this... such a thing to happen to our dearest baby boy...!"

The man made a mournful expression, looking at Zombie as if he was some brainless puppet unable to recognize them.

|Ah... They weren't told that I can speak just fine, were they?|

Zombie scoffed internally, closing the mouth that hung loosely at the words such as 'baby boy' coming from his former father's mouth.

|Our beloved child was turned into a mindless monster! This requires compensation! Is most likely what they came up with... But to their defense, you were actually a real asshole to them. Even threatened to kill them in their sleep at one point.|

Patience laughed back but not without forgetting to point out one of Zombie's choices.

|But if we put that aside, I was a lovely kid.|

|"Pffft...! Yeah, maybe in your first playthrough.|

Zombie gasped innocently, making the sealed overseer snort.

|So, what do you want to do with them? Will you burst their little misconception bubble about you being some mute monster?|

Patience asked curiously.

"..."

Zombie looked away from his former parents without showing even a single hint that he had recognized them and looked away - but squeezed Cranberry's hand back reassuringly so that she knew that everything is fine.

|Nah. Let's see how they want to roll with it. Blackberry already knows that I wasn't a good kid so this fake bullshit about me being a baby boy or something won't pass with him... and even if it did, all I need to do is just speak up.|

The blue boy scoffed and focused on the table in front of him as if there was nothing in his mind and he was just a corpse puppet with no free will.

"So you say, mister...?"

Lord Blackberry smirked and leaned back on his chair, not looking bothered at all by the tearful act put on by the two people standing by their table.

"Pear, your lordship. My wife and I are humble merchants with a tiny shop to call our own in this remote village."

Zombie's father bowed down deeply and answered - it sure did sound as if he practiced that line more than necessary because far from sounding genuine, he sounded as if he was trying way too hard to sound genuine.

|Yeah, there it is.|

Zombie turned to Cranberry and rolled his eyes while sighing internally and the red-haired girl relaxed a bit.

"Tiny shop? Remote village? My good shopkeeper, surely you jest. My daughter and I are returning straight from the capital and I've heard more than enough nobles complain that a wealthy merchant and his accountant dodge the proper taxation by exploiting the flaws in the law. Village shops are taxed less than the ones in towns and cities, aren't they?"

Lord Blackberry laughed jovially and smacked his knee with his hand as if Pear have said a really good joke.

"...I... you did...? My lord...!"

Pear flinched and hurriedly added, afraid not to offend the high noble.

"Dear, it's not time to speak about business! Look what happened to our son!"

Nectarine was not only had better acting skills but was also the more coolheaded one too as she tugged on Pear's arm to make him focus on the point.

"Yes... what happened to your son?"

Lord Blackberry nodded and made a curious expression.

"Pardon...? Your lordship, there was some sort of a monster attack and by the end of it our son died and turned into a corpse puppet by your daughter... or so we have been told..."

Pear answered slightly ticked off.

|So they didn't even go out to look at what was going on?|

Zombie thought to himself in amazement.

"Not about that. Before. What I want to know is what happened to your son to become so strong that he was able to kill a monster on his own. He looks to be the same age as my daughter..."

The bespectacled man moved his head to face his daughter and her undead familiar.

"If he was alive he would be seven years old.... oh... our poor Kiwi."

"..."

|Tsk... I would really like her to stop calling me that.|

Zombie couldn't help himself and frown, but as for the click of the tongue and a complaint, it was all internal.

"...I see..."

But even though his former parents have missed this subtle change, Lord Blackberry did not.

"Was he always that strong or did things changed after you sent him away?"

Lord Blackberry picked up again where he left off.

"He always was an unusual child, extremely talented! His sister awakened to magic and was chosen to be a student of the Hope family, and we thought that it could be the same for him...! Our poor boy! We had such high hopes for him... But now... But now...!"

Nectarine was crying her heart out, sobbing and cuddling up to her husband while looking at the indifferent blue boy.

"Yes... let's talk some more. What about the weapon the boy was using? A sword like that must have cost a fortune."

"!!!!"

"...?"

Lord Blackberry said casually, but even that made Zombie flinch so much that even Cranberry got worried.

"A sword...?"

Pear blurted out in confusion but Nectarine once again tugged on his arm, and probably even pinched his back where none of the two people and one undead by the table could see it.

"O-of course! The sword is a family heirloom, antique but still very sturdy - I gave to our Kiwi as a good luck charm more than anything but to think that the boy was using it as a normal weapon!"

The man quickly coined a somewhat convincing story.

"...I see..."

Or he would have if not for Zombie, looking Lord Blackberry dead in the eyes with an extremely mocking expression.

As far as the bespectacled man was concerned, he must have thought that Kopia was some powerful ancient artifact - a weapon that could change shape and even talk as if it had an ego? That was something unheard of.

The notion of something like that being in the hands of a merchant who just lent it to his prepubescent son as a good luck charm was as outrageous as it was ridiculous.

"That's how it is, huh... Zombie, you will tell me more about that sword, won't you?"

Lord Blackberry breathed out as if playing along with the pair's shenanigans was too tiring for him after noon full of surprises, and simply turned to the blue boy and asked.

"Wh-what are you...?"

Pear was taken aback by the nobleman's behavior...

"Of course, sir. But let me just say that the weapon isn't even from this territory. It's an artifact I came across by pure coincidence when I fell into a cave while exploring a forest. She is a one-of-a-kind weapon, that comes with a security measure - she is bound only to me."

And both his and Nectarine's jaws dropped once Zombie straightened his back and started talking as if he never became a blue-skinned undead monster.

Then the boy unsheathed Kopia in her short-sword form and put her on the table.

"If I as much as let go of her while not channeling one of the attack skills..."

Zombie continued the explanation and let go of his weapon...

...that suddenly flashed white and turned into a tiny sword-shaped letter opener...

"She becomes this shabby thing. Of course, I am more than willing to talk with you in more detail about where exactly and in what circumstances she came into my possession, but that's a story for a different time."

The boy finished, picked Kopia back up, and put her back in her scabbard, where she turned back into a short-sword.

"Curious. Very curious indeed."

Lord Blackberry nodded, completely ignoring the utterly shocked former parents of the undead boy in front of him.

"Fine. If that's so then we will be going now. We gave the workers plenty of extra time to change the wheels, so there should be no problem with us returning home."

The bespectacled man clapped his hands together and stood up - and both Zombie and Cranberry followed his lead.

"Wh- how... wait... what?! Wait! Didn't you want to compensate us?!"

This time it was Nectarine who completely broke out of her heartbroken mother's role and gasped in disbelief calling after the trio walking to the inn's door.

"Compensate you? For what?"

Lord Blackberry asked without sparing the pair a single glance.

"Go check what the system's faith teaches about humans turned into undead monsters - they are no longer humans and all the bonds that they had as living are severed. Weren't villagers around this part supposed to be very devoted? what made you think that you will be compensated for anything?"

Lord Blackberry shook his head and walked out.

"If that piece of filth will ever come back home, tell her that she better play nice, or I will kick her back to where she belongs."

Zombie glanced over his shoulder and declared coldly, but didn't stay long enough to witness his former parents' reactions since Cranberry was already looking back at him with unease because he let go of her hand so suddenly.

"See? Parents or not, some people are just not worth it."

Zombie whispered in her ear before taking her hand back and leaving together, following Lord Blackberry.