Chapter 124: Fruitful negotiations

"What the fuck do you fuckers want for releasing him?!"

Once the master-servant duo got to the part of the forest where the trees were reasonably intact, the old elf could easily guide them to the hidden village.

And the first thing that welcomed them at the right spot, was a shout of an angry woman.

"Well, that was easier than I thought."

Cranberry smirked and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't fucking appreciate being put up like a fucking shield."

Olive complained looking back at both Zombie and Cranberry while being propped up and displayed like a shield on Zombie's arm.

"Should I order my Zombie to shot the venom?"

Cranberry looked at him and raised her brow.

"No, no, no. Of fucking course not! I'm just thankful that you covered my privates at the fucking least... fuck..."

Olive hurriedly shook his head and waved his hand in denial.

"Graough? (Master, should we, like, cut off his finger and throw it to them?) Graough? (You know, to show that we're not joking?)"

Zombie groaned curiously, glancing at his master.

"Pfft...! Ha ha! No, I don't think that's necessary."

Cranberry laughed and patted his back.

"He's already missing his legs, that should be enough to let them know."

She giggled, but then she looked back at the old elf.

"Tell them that we're your friends, and we come in peace."

"ARE YOU, THOUGH?!"

Olive snapped at her, but in his position, it was the only thing he could do.

"Whatever you fucking do, don't harm my kept man anymore! Fuckers!"

The same voice shouted at them from the wall masked to look like the face of the cliff.

"Graough...? (Kept man...?)"

Zombie growled in confusion.

"Mirabelle! For the last fucking time! I'm not your kept man, for fuck's sake! This human and her fucking corpse puppet are fine. I need to fucking show them something fucking important. So open the fucking gate!"

The old elf shouted back angrily.

"..."

But there was no response.

"Graough. (A few life signatures are huddled up together.) Graough. (They aren't using any skills, I think they are just talking.)"

Zombie looked past the elf meat shield and stared at the walls with his reddish glowing eyes.

"Ha."

Cranberry nodded with an indifferent expression.

"Olive, are you fucking serious about this?"

Finally, the same voice called out again.

"No, Mira, for fuck's sake, don't go with that plan! There really is something I fucking need to show them!"

Olive responded hastily.

"Graough? (And what is he talking about now?)"

Zombie leaned back and asked Cranberry.

"They most likely had some backup plan in case someone got captured, and he tries to stop them from using it."

She explained with a shrug and Zombie nodded.

"...okay..."

The woman's voice sounded conflicted.

"Hey, umm... Olive's current holders...? Sorry for calling you fuckers!"

The voice apologized.

"But just in case, could you remove the cloth so we can check if he's unharmed except for his legs?!"

"...ha...?"

"Graough! (No problem!)"

The next words caused Cranberry to groan in confusion.

"Mira, no! Apple, fucking stop her!"

Olive shouted in panic.

"No, no, no! Don't even fucking think about it! She was fucking joking!"

His shouts became high-pitched when he realized that Zombie is actually trying to comply with the demand.

"No I wasn't! Show me that d...!"

"Fucking hell! Somebody...! fuck...! ... help me grab the elder! She's sexually harassing mister Olive again!"

"Noo, you fuckers! Let me have this...!"

"Pull her away from the fucking gate!"

More voices joined in the struggle.

"Haa... and here I thought that Lairs was kinda awkward."

Cranberry sighed, shook her head, and stepped back from behind the blue undead.

"We're opening the fucking gate!"

Another voice called And the camouflaged walls started moving.

"Is anyone using a skill?"

"Graough. (No one.)"

Cranberry asked and Zombie shook his head in denial.

"Graough... (They are doing something weird with their mana... but it's not a skill...)"

Zombie added tilting his head.

With how the things were, everything looked like they will enter the elven village without any trouble.

Both the red-haired girl and the blue undead relaxed, Zombie even lowered Olive who sighing with relief tied up but at least with his privates covered.

Then, from the circular opening in the wall, a large metallic pipe was pushed out.

It was big enough to fit Cranberry's head but still too small to allow her whole body to fit inside.

An object so foreign that at first neither Zombie nor Cranberry realized what it was.

The pipe moved as if being carefully aimed at the two.

Then Cranberry realized where she has seen it before.

"Hey, this kind of looks like the pictures of weapons that the Sloth family uses to fight the titan-class monsters, doesn't it...?"

She said looking at the pipe with great curiosity while letting go of Zombie's arm to have a better look.

"Graough...? (Weapons...?)"

Zombie grunted in confusion, unable to realize what it was, even when the answer was within the memories from his old world.

"No! Fucking idiots! Sto...!"

Olive yelled at the hidden elves but was interrupted before he could finish.

The high-caliber artillery cannon shoot at the master-servant pair from a point-blank range and the elves from behind the wall activated as many barriers and protection skills aimed at the captured Olive, as they could.

*BOOOOM*

*cling*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Yet something went wrong, the thunder of the explosion got intercepted by a clear metallic sound and then immediately followed by an even louder roar, and the whole fake cliffside exploded causing an enormous cloud of dust and smoke to rise and cover the area.

"We have a fucking malfunction!"

An alarmed, panicked voice shouted from a completely different direction.

"Fuck! Go get Lemon! Check for the survivors then spread out to look for Olive! If the other two fuckers are somehow fucking alive, fucking finish them off immediately!"

Before the dust cloud dissipated, the real gate far to the right of the fake cliff opened and a group of elves busted outside, glowing from all kinds of different skills.

The fair-skinned elf at the back who was issuing the commands had to be Mirabelle.

She was shouting orders, while carefully looking around with keen golden eyes.

She herself had used the most powerful protective skill she could use, but she knew from experience that weapons made by the Sloth family can be far more dangerous than they should, especially if an accident like this happens to occur.