Chapter 5: Servant VS Rabbit

"Graough...! (Master...!)"

Zombie was following Cranberry and groaning in a tearful voice.

"Graooough...! (Maaasteeer...!)"

Cranberry was walking slowly and gracefully, just as a young noble lady should while returning to her room after dinner.

"Graough...! (Master...!) Graough...! (It's been three weeks already!) Graough...? (Please, could you please help me search for my arm?)"

Zombie groaned and groaned and was making all the maids and butlers that passed them look at the master and servant duo with weird eyes.

But Cranberry didn't react whatsoever, it seemed as if she wasn't even acknowledging Zombie's existence.

At least until they've reached her room.

Once Cranberry stepped inside, she turned back and faced Zombie.

"WILL YOU EVER SHUT UP?!"

Her mask of calmness shattered and she shouted her lungs off.

"NOTHING BUT GROANING AND GROANING WITH YOU! YOU WANT TO GET YOUR ARM BACK, RIGHT?! THEN GO AND SEARCH FOR IT YOURSELF, ROTTEN BRAIN!"

*SLAM*

She screamed and shut the door right in his face.

"Graough...! (B-but I can't find it!) Graough...! (I've been searching for it every day and nothing! It's like it disappeared!)"

Zombie groaned at the door but no answer came.

"..."

He kept looking at the door for a few minutes but gave up in the end and walked away slouching.

"...remember, we are training today too. If you're late, no healing...!"

The door to Cranberry's room opened long enough for her to remind Zombie about their routine and then got shut again.

"Graough... (This sucks... you are my master, why don't you help me a little...)"

The sulking Zombie walked out of the mansion's backdoor just like he did everyday past those few weeks and went to search for his missing arm.

"Graough... (She just had to score a home-run, didn't she...)"

The boy groaned limping by the shed.

This time he decided to go even farther than before.

Up until this point, the farthest he went was to the well-trimmed hedge marking the boundaries of the rose garden that was the apple of the eye of Cranberry's mother, lady Raspberry.

Although the pale sickly noblewoman who rarely could gather enough strength to walk to the dining room for a meal never specifically told him to stay away from her garden, Zombie has already noticed her tall silhouette a few times, standing in the window of her room, looking at him whenever he got close to the hedge.

At least he thought it was her, his eyesight wasn't that great when he was alive and it certainly didn't get any better now.

Zombie looked over his shoulder and checked the mansion's windows, he already had overheard the maids talking that the lady Raspberry felt particularly bad since the morning so, of course, she wouldn't be checking up on her garden, but there was no harm in making sure.

Thankfully her window was empty, so Zombie put a bit more pep in his step.

Although he was still much slower than the average human, the everyday training sessions with his master were paying off and, even though still very stiff, Zombie could achieve a satisfactory speed.

After giving his best to be both fast and sneaky, Zombie finally entered the blooming rose garden.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, red, white, yellow, even blue, purple, and black... hundreds of most beautiful flowers were growing here, tastefully arranged by the lady Raspberry herself.

But Zombie didn't sneak inside just to enjoy the view, he lowered himself to the ground in an attempt to attract as little attention as possible and started examining the parameter.

He was crawling around checking every inch and cranny in search of even the smallest evidence that his arm landed there.

But, the grass around the roses was neatly trimmed and not even a single leaf or petal was out of place.

Yet the boy wasn't giving up.

After he searched the whole garden once, he started again, and even though once he ended the second search it was almost time for the training session with his master, Zombie decided that even if he can't search it all again he will at least check around the hedge for the third time.

So he got on all four... well, on all three, and with his cheek brushing against the grass, he started crawling.

When he was at the north-eastern corner of the garden the sun's position clearly indicated that his time was almost up.

If he wouldn't leave the garden immediately, he would arrive near the shed after Cranberry.

Which she will, of course, consider as him being late.

So with a heavy heart Zombie started standing up...

*nibble nibble nibble*

"Graough...? (Huh...?)"

He hadn't seen anything, but he definitely heard something!

*nibble nibble nibble*

/Proficiency level reached

Servant's skill upgrade

Toughness (level 4)

"Graough?! (What the hell?!)"

Zombie growled shocked.

He checked his body but nothing was abnormal, he clearly wasn't getting attacked...

Then why did his skill level grew?

This past three weeks Zombie learned that the message 'proficiency level reached' wasn't just empty words, one had to work very hard!

Especially for the Toughness skill!

Up until that point, whenever he wasn't able to dodge Cranberry's attacks, he would be beaten up mercilessly every day, until the message about severe damage would pop up, and toughness still wouldn't get past level three.

But just now it simply...!

*nibble nibble nibble*

"Graough...? (It's that sound again!)"

Zombie growled and focused all his attention on locating its source.

And there it was!

Meticulously covered with twigs and grass, a hole right under the hedge...

Well, more of a burrow.

If there was no sound leading him, he would have certainly missed it, like he already did twice before.

*nibble nibble nibble*

There was no doubt, those noises were coming from there.

Zombie carefully removed the twigs and grass hiding the entrance and looked inside.

As soon as he did that, the nibbling stopped.

The burrow itself wasn't deep at all.

The first thing that the boy saw was the white bone surrounded by the blue flesh just a few inches from the entrance...

"Graough! (My arm!)"

He growled and reached for it right away.

...completely missing a pair of glowing eyes...

But Zombie just grabbed his arm and pulled on it.

When he felt resistance, he just dug in his heels and pulled as hard as he could.

"SKWEEEEE!"

What he pulled out, biting into the hand with long front fangs, was a rabbit-like creature the size of a small dog.

The monster released Zombie's ripped arm, let out a furious cry and its body started glowing.

"Graough?! (What the...?!)"

The boy gasped in surprise, but training with his master wasn't for nothing.

He instantly recognized the charge skill and his own body shone dimly as he activated his skill.

In the next moment, the rabbit-like monster bit into the ground with his massive front fangs, exactly where Zombie was just a second ago!

The blue boy was already standing up and glaring at the rabbit.

"Graough...! (Scram! Go away!)"

He started stomping his feet and flailing his arms trying to scare the monster away.

"..."

The rabbit monster slowly raised its head and spat the ground and grass that get into its jaws.

It didn't look intimidated at all.

It was pissed off.

"Graough! (Shoo!)"

Zombie was waving his ripped arm like a baton and stepped closer to the monster.

"SKWEE!"

"...!"

But he instantly stepped back as the monster didn't retreat and instead hissed at him.

"Gra-graough...! (G-go away...!)"

Zombie hesitated, and his shaky voice betrayed his nervousness.

Up until now Zombie NEVER attacked anyone.

Since he became Cranberry's eternal servant, he was always on the defense, and suddenly faced with a battle, he didn't know what to do.

"Graough...! Graough! (I'm not going to give you my arm, so just scram! O-okay...?! It's not your chewing toy!)"

Eternal servant or not, he was just a seven-year-old with the memories of a high schooler from another world.

Fighting monsters in real life wasn't one of his skills.

But the rabbit didn't care about his feelings, its body started glowing and it charged once more!

Zombie dodged this attack too, but halfway there the rabbit's body glowed again and it changed the direction mid-flight!

(It has a high-level charge...!)

Zombie gritted his teeth and used emergency dodge again.

He was prepared to run but then something struck him in the back and he felt jaws closing on his neck.

"Graough?! (This bastard's charge is higher level than master's?!)"

He gasped as the force of the rabbit's third charge threw him between the thorny roses.

The monster was viciously biting into the boy's neck.

"Graough...! (Let me go...!)"

The boy cried but the monster just bit him again.

"Graough! (Let go of me!)

Even though Zombie couldn't feel pain the panic has settled in.

"GRAOUGH! (LET GO!)"

He roared.