—–
“I guess this is more like it!” Said Catarina as she looked at her body and gave a few turns while looking at herself in the mirror.
Vampires can’t look at their own reflection, but that stops when they become Zombies, so she can now look into her reflection, and she seems to like her appearance.
“I love it, much more like it… Ah, this hair is annoying, and you’re right, long hair is for sissies… I am a strong person. I don’t need this stupid long hair,” She said, using her sharp claws and cutting her long and silky hair, leaving her hair short, only reaching her neck.
“Hm! That’s like it… How do I look?” She asked me, Silvio, and Francesco, as the other trio were currently preparing dinner.
“You look wonderful, sister,” Said Silvio.
“Very cool and rude. Like you always look like…” Said Francesco.
“You’re looking like a snack,” I said while giving her a thumbs up.
“Snack?” She asked while raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a compliment,” I said.
“Alright…”
Her tight black leather pants made her beautiful legs look even sexier, and those wide hips killed me already. The tight white shirt also gave her an adventurer and mature air. Also, the black jacket only made her sexier. She even put some chains around her hips for some reason. She doesn’t even fight with chains. This woman is very worried about how she looks to others. Must be related to her traumas or something.
“So? What are we doing now?” She asked.
“What do you mean?” I responded.
“Who should I kill? Smack? Torture?”
“Oh, no, we don’t do that here… We are currently moving to the south to settle down and slowly build a village. You’re here to join us on our expedition and stay with us like an ally,” I said.
“Eh? Then why did you even…? What’s the point?” She asked.
“The point? The point is that you’re back now and get to enjoy the life you couldn’t! Even if you’re now dead, you are freer than before, right? So you can enjoy whatever you want,” I said.
“Huh… This is indeed quite weird, but I guess I can’t do much about it…” She sighed.
“Right? Like Silvio and Francesco… You guys were also cold-blooded murderers, right?” I asked.
“Indeed. But we found happiness in being with the people… they accepted us surprisingly fast, even when they learned we were former Vampires and even now as ghosts!” Exclaimed Silvio.
“Indeed, I was very surprised they accepted ghosts like us so easily,” Said Francesco.
“I guess that’s more because I am a ghost and literally everyone knows and accepts me… So accepting more is not hard,” I said.
“Oohhh!”
“So that was it!”
“Even then, we help with the fire and warming people at night!” Said Silvio.
“We can divide our bodies into little will-o-wisps that instead of being cold, are very warm, sot the people sleep with one of us to warm their carriages,” Said Francesco.
“Oh, I didn’t know you went to such an extent, you guys are surprisingly nice,” I said.
“Of course! Ohohohoh!” Laughed Silvio.
“Yes! Ohohoho!” Laughed Francesco.
I looked back at Catarina; she was making a face as if she was cringing at them.
“Ugh… What has become of these idiots? Well, they always liked to serve…” She sighed.
“You’re also serving! Now come outside, let’s prepare dinner with the rest of the crew! Onwards!” I said, leading the party.
Catarina had nothing else to do other than to move behind me and obey. As a Zombie that generally doesn’t get tired nor need food, she doesn’t have anything else to do, so she’s willing to do anything in the end.
Kind of like all of us Undead! It is very boring to be an Undead when you realize those things!
This is why I like to help others! It’s fun! I prefer to be a nice person because there’s always more to do.
More people = more things to do.
If I am a massive murderous psycho and annihilate everything…
Fewer people = nothing to do.
Also, I am a nice person and my mother always said I was a good girl.
And I miss my mother a lot! So I will try to make her proud even though I’ve already let loose a crap ton this time around…
But I am making up for it one step at a time!
Also, who cares if I slaughter assholes anyways?
I am literally just killing the people everyone hates.
Anyways! Time for cooking!
“Hahahaha! She’s burning,” Laughed Catarina, pointing at Partner who was receiving the sunlight, although the sun was about to go out of the horizon and was very dim.
“Ggrr! You dare laugh at a superior to you? I have a greater Vampire Authority now! Hehe, you know how I got it? I drank the blood of your corpse!” Laughed Partner, provoking Catarina as she gritted her sharp teeth and looked at Partner hysterically.
“Y-You drank my blood?! You bitch! I am going to fucking dismantle youuuuu!” She cried.
“Hehe, try it, little one,” Laughed Partner rather smugly.
She had become a bit more confident and gained a strong and prideful personality. I guess that making her mind sharper and more intelligent, hastened her mental maturity, and also made her true nature blossom…
Although when she’s with me she always reverts to her baby mode and is just very cutely asking me to cuddle with her and tell her how lovely she is for me…
“L-Little one?! Ugh…! THAT’S IT!” Roared Catarina, reaching towards Partner.
“Stop,”
SMACK!
Catarina suddenly fell face-first into the ground.
“Ugh?! W-What the… How did you do that?!” She asked.
“As long as I have you registered inside my Grimoire, you’re mine. If I tell you to stop, you stop. If I tell you to dance… you dance,” I said.
Catarina suddenly began to dance, and everyone broke into laughter.
—–
Catarina was even more pissed. The only freedom she had was in her facial expressions.
“Did you just make me into a Zombie to laugh at me?! Am I laughingstock to you?!” She roared once again.
“Okay, stop dancing and calm down,” I ordered.
“Sh-Shut up! I would prefer if you destroyed my soul than to go through such humiliation! I hate you!” She cried, running away into the carriage we were in before.
Ah… was I a bit too harsh on her…?
But she insulted Partner and told her she was going to dismantle her, so she really pissed me off.
But really, I guess her sharp tongue is also provoking me…
“Master that was funny… Thanks for protecting me from her animalistic behavior,” Said Partner.
“D-Don’t worry about it! I am glad she got what she deserved, but… Eh, I feel kind of bad now,” I sighed.
“Eh? Why do you have empathy for a woman like her?” Asked Partner, surprised.
“I ask the same! She’s just very rude,” Said Emeraldine.
“Sigh… If you girls really know Maria, you would’ve already guessed why. Isn’t it pretty obvious already? Maria is a woman with a lot of empathy… If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have… well… erm…,” said Lucifer.
“Yeah! But sometimes she’s too extreme,” Said Emeraldine.
“Also, I don’t like her as a party member… She can stay away from us,” Said Partner while pouting.
“Okay… I wasn’t going to really add her to the main crew, as the main crew will always be you guys, but she’s going to be part of our allies… I need a lot of strong comrades, so she was a given… Though, I shouldn’t have done that, to be honest. I never liked bullying… I was bullied too. I… I shouldn’t have done what I hated people to do to me….” I said.
“Master…” Sighed Partner as she petted me.
“I also… kind of saw in her eyes some… sadness… deep down, I felt like I had made her feel even more terrible… She suffered so much… Ugh, I am such an asshole,” I sighed.
“Hmph! I find it is very nice of you to think that, but even then, an asshole is always an asshole. She’s acting cockily and even laughing off at Partner’s efforts to acquire Sunlight Resistance. It is obvious you’ll react angrily because Partner is important to you, and she deserves it too! I also have a terrible past, but I don’t use it as an excuse to be an asshole with everyone,” Said Emeraldine.
“You’re right… Well, let’s continue cooking, for now, guys! Let’s forget this useless drama.” I said, immediately switching up.
I decided to just think of this later, and we began to cook. We made some soup with meat, bones, potatoes, and carrots. We also made some salad for everyone, and we distributed a slice of bread. There were also fruits too, and we grilled a few monsters we found along the way and distributed grilled meat.
After everyone filled their bellies, I took a plate with a lot of food, and another with some warm soup, alongside a slice of bread and warm tea with my hair snakes helping me carry things.
I walked back to my carriage and found Catarina in a corner in silence, glaring at the moonlight.
“…”
She was looking at the sky sorrowfully as if she had lost her way long ago.
She felt so empty…
All the courage inside of her was gone.
And she looked like a small girl hiding from everyone, trembling in fear.
For a moment, I saw something, as if a phantom of the past, emerge before my eyes, a little girl on the floor, trembling, abused, while crying desperately for help.
But never receiving anyone’s help… the only embrace she ever received were the flames of the manor she was confined in, as they engulfed her in burning agony.
“What do you want?”
She asked me as she looked at me with a rejected look. Her eyes seemed angered, but she also felt fearful of my power.
“I came to talk… Look, I promise you I won’t do that again…” I said.
“Huh? Like I would believe you… We were enemies some days ago. What makes you think I’ll believe you? I bet you get high by just playing around me like a toy, don’t you?” She said angrily.
“…”
“Everyone with power is the same… all you bastards only like to play with people like toys… you get a hard-on with that, right? You fucking disgusting pigs….”
“…”
“I was better off with the Vampires because, at the very least, they recognized I was a tool made for murder and just told me who to kill, and that was it. They didn’t have the time to play around with me as you do….” She said.
“Catarina, listen to me, you misunderstand me… I am not like that. I did it because I got angered. You just insulted someone very special to me. Like my friend said, having a trauma doesn’t give you the pass to act like an asshole with whoever you want to. If you keep acting like that, you’ll eventually come across someone who will retaliate,” I said.
“Tch! She was just… she responded at me angrily too!” Shouted Catarina.
“That was because you laughed at her out of nowhere,” I said.
“T-That’s because she was funny! She was willingly burning herself! That’s funny….” She said.
“No, it’s not funny… It was just an asshole move,” I said.
“…”
“Here, I brought you some food. I just want you to eat. I made sure to recover your internal organs, so you should be able to digest food,” I said.
“I don’t want that!” She said angrily.
“Come on. I made it for you… I just want to reconcile with you,” I said.
“Why are you trying so hard for it? Are you so selfish you can’t bear people hating you or something? That’s how the world is! Not everyone will agree with you! There will always be someone that will hate you!”
—–