It wasn't like Zombie shouldn't feel like he did, lonely, sad, jealous over families of livings of all the thing, and in need of comfort and contact - he literally COULDN'T have been feeling like that!
He was an undead!
That's not how things work for him!
Coconut pointing out the absence of the ancient wedding ring on the blue undead knight's ring finger was like the missing piece of the puzzle - unfortunately, that piece did not respond to reveal the entire picture but rather posed many more questions.
Thankfully, Zombie knew someone who was a walking book guide or at least a splendid tutorial.
*WHAM*
"!!!!!"
"The fuck?!"
"Zombie?! What's going on?!"
The blue undead knight didn't even bother slowing down to open the door to the headquarters building and just straight up kicked them open fiercely, causing both elves and the red-haired girl inside to jump in shock and confusion.
"My ancient wedding ring is gone."
Zombie declared raising his left hand to show the absence of the artifact.
"Wh-what?! But you still had it when we were entering the fort!"
Cranberry gasped in confusion, standing up and walking towards her undead knight.
She grabbed his hand and carefully studied his fingers as if expecting to see something suspicious.
"Did you remove it...?"
She asked cautiously, already preemptively getting angry.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I took it off and then came running to you for attention."
Zombie scoffed, rolling his eyes, and shook his head.
"Zombie, this artifact cannot be removed, unless the wielder wishes it - or their finger would get removed together with the ring."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Olive also stood up and walked over to the blue undead and the red-haired girl.
"Well, they're clearly is a third option that we don't know about because I am sure as hell that I didn't take it off!"
"...!"
Zombie scoffed with an unusual agitation and complained - that made both Cranberry and Olive look at each other with concern.
"Say... you didn't just come here to inform me about the ring, did you...?"
It was plainly obvious that something was wrong with the blue undead, at it made the red-haired girl worried.
"Exactly. I have this weird feeling inside of me, grief, jealousy, definitely something that shouldn't be there."
The blue undead knight explained while tapping his chest.
"I visited Tangelo and had her check me up, but she said that everything was fine - no status effect or anything."
He added with a slight shrug.
"Haa... rotten brain, it's literally impossible for you to suffer from any status effect in the first place - you have the superbia skill, remember?"
Cranberry breathed out but she sounded more concerned than annoyed.
"How long are you feeling different?"
Mirabelle also joined them and asked while using a skill on her own to confirm whether the statement about Zombie being completely normal was true or false.
"I don't know? A few hours?"
Zombie furrowed his brows and responded with a worried expression.
"Could it be possible that it happened once you lost the ring?"
The leader of the elven village asked carefully.
"I didn't lose it - it went missing!"
Zombie scoffed, rolling his eyes in a fussy fit.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Of course, it's not your fault."
Mirabelle reassured him while glancing meaningfully at the other two.
"Now, wait here a little bit."
She added before pulling Cranberry and Olive to the side.
"What is going on with Zombie, even without the ancient wedding ring he should be immune to any outside influence..."
Mirabelle asked Olive in a hushed voice.
"That's not it. An owner of the superbia skill is immune to every control skill - including charms, possessions, brainwash, and even the subdue undead - which would be my guess to what happened - if not for the fact that he has superbia."
Olive shook his head and declared with a bothered expression.
"Wait, you mean that all this time, he could have fallen for hexes, curses, and similar lesser skills...?!"
"...!"
Mirabelle shook her head in disbelief and something that she said made Cranberry flinch and go wide-eyed in realization.
"Also not really - he is resistant to curses because of his species - hex might be the case... or some other shamanic art..."
Olive pointed out making a meaningful expression.
"No. It's not any of the monsters that we brought with us..."
"...?"
"Cranbaby?"
The red-haired girl shook her head and started massaging her forehead, causing her elven parents to turn to her in confusion.
"What do you mean it's not the monsters? Then, after all, do you know what is going on with him?"
Olive frowned and motioned at the patiently waiting undead at their back.
"...yes..."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Cranberry nodded her head with a bitter expression.
"Why do you sound as if that's not a good thing?"
Mirabelle asked in confusion after exchanging worried looks with Olive.
"Because the thing that happened, happened because of me underestimating the enemy..."
Cranberry bit her lip and said in a voice that suggested just how furious she was at herself.
"Excuse me for a moment."
She apologized and returned to the blue undead, grabbed his hand, and led him outside.
She made sure that they were alone and even used the detection+ [hearing] to check just in case.
It was very important to not have anyone around for what was about to happen.
"What's going on? Why did you bring me here?"
Zombie furrowed his brows, defensively crossing his arms and glaring at Cranberry as if she wasn't trustworthy at all – which honestly made the red-haired girl quite pissed in and of itself...
"Zombie – focused on me. "
The red-haired girl managed to calm down and waved her hand to get the blue undead's attention.
"...?"
In response, Zombie did shut up but he kept glaring at her with distrust.
"Alright... You were right and I was wrong. I'm sorry."
"...! Huh...?!"
Cranberry did the unthinkable and bowed down her head in an honest apology, causing Zombie to take a step back in shock.
"What do you mean...?"
He took another step back, staring at the red-haired girl in disbelief.
"You were right – the only explanation for this situation is that..."
Cranberry didn't try to follow him and instead raised her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"It is Caramel – your older sister started messing with the system and is trying to force the events to happen – the way you act now is because of her skill, suggestion – which..."
"THAT PIECE OF FILTH IS SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE?!"
the red-haired girl wanted to explain things properly, but before she managed to speak even half of what she hoped to say, the blue undead exploded in pure anger, activating every single offensive skill that he had in pure, unadulterated rage.
"WHERE IS SHE...?"
Zombie growled in a low, threatening voice that sent chills down even Cranberry's back, as his eyes began glowing murky red and he turned around scanning the entire fort in search of his most hated life signature in the world.
"Zombie – Zombie – look at me."
The red-haired girl smiled with satisfaction, already seeing the change in both behavior and aura of the blue undead knight, and approached him – she even reached out and gently grabbed his face before – not so gently – turning it towards herself.
"Caramel won't be here, but the person or people she sent here to steal your ring surely will - now, think."
Cranberry demanded looking into furious black eyes.
"Your ancient wedding ring went missing – inside the fort – it must have – I always make sure to glance at it to boost my mood and I clearly remember seeing it on your finger as we entered."
She explained while Zombie was gritting his teeth in anger, opening and clenching his fists as if he feel the urge to destroy something with them but was holding back just for the red-haired girl.
"I will explain things in-depth later, but for now let's just say that you were freed from Caramel's suggestion skill because you used superbia skill."
"But I remember getting so angry that I used superbia inside the fort..."
Cranberry said but was interrupted by the confused Zombie.
"Ha!"
The red-haired girl gasped triumphantly.
"Do you remember who you were around after the last time you used superbia?"
She asked with a cunning smile.
"..."
Zombie's eyes widened in realization.
"...someone I met after that point is working with that pile of human waste..."
He muttered feeling more and more anger coursing through his veins...
/You receive a skill
Ira (level 1)\\
/Error\\
/You already received the skill in the past\\
/Calculating...\\
/Changing the reward\\
/You receive a skill
Resentment (level 1)\\
"..."
Zombie froze, staring at the chain of system messages popping up in front of his eyes.
"Zombie? Why are you standing here for? We need to get going and start looking for the culprit before they will realize that you are back to normal."
Cranberry tapped the blue undead's cheek and stepped away from him.
"...I know who did it..."
"Ha...? Already? Are you certain...?"
Zombie spoke and made Cranberry raise her brows.
"Yeah... and I honestly fucking can't believe it..."
He nodded and declared slowly turning around and glaring straight at the building where a certain patient was supposed to be staying long term...
...the same one whom he healed a few hours before....
