"Haaa..."

Zombie sighed and put down his sword even though the giant white wolf didn't stop roaring and growling at him, trying her best to get him to run.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Are... are you actually suicidal...?! Get yourself eaten alone then!"

"...?"

Out of everyone present on the scene, only Zombie and one other person could actually see the illusion of the white wolf ready to attack at any given moment.

Even though Patience was sealed, her being a copy of the god – although a lot less powerful than the original – was still unaffected by those types of skills.

And how it was for Kopia?

Kopia herself was classified as a thing by the very system itself, and with that, she was unable to experience any type of mind attack – after all, how could an inanimate object be fooled by an illusion?

So that left the wounded mission giver, the oh so influential and prolific merchant, Jackfruit Green.

"Khhh! Ghhh!"

The plump man was wheezing and groaning trying to crawl away from the snarking mirage despite his wounds getting irritated which caused them to bleed even more.

|So that's what I would see in the first playthrough if not for being the undead...|

Zombie turned back towards the illusionary wolf, away from the man who was speeding up his own demise despite his constant yelps about wanting to stay alive.

|That and the combination of the rotten brain skill and superbia did the job for you.|

Patience sounded as if she was nodding in confirmation.

|Well then, I guess the best option to deal with this will be activating the superbia skill to show Olive... He was really shocked when he discovered I had it in the first playthrough – shocked enough to completely change his stance, now should be similar. Or am I missing something? Hmm, Patience?|

Zombie asked, staring fearlessly into the jaws of the wolf that was getting more and more aggressive in her attempts to make the boy flee.

|Yes. Either way, the superbia is the answer. Even if it won't force the elf to show up, it will at least protect you from getting killed off by the simple hallucination.|

Patience agreed, adding a disturbing detail by the end too.

|Huh? And how come an illusion could do that?|

Zombie furrowed his brows and questioned the sealed overseer.

|An illusion of high level and quality can affect reality to some degree – the mind is a powerful thing you know? If your mind will believe that you are getting ripped apart, your heart may not take it, suddenly stopping – and consequently, make you literally die from fear that cannot be stopped.|

Patience explained patiently.

|Huh... fascinating...|

Zombie nodded before smirking and activating the skill he brought with him into the second playthrough.

"!!!!"

As the boy's body began giving off a vibrant violet glow, the illusionary wolf stopped in place like a statue, frozen in time by the skill user.

|He may still be hesitant... Tell him something that may calm him down, but don't accidentally make it sound as if you are someone from the Envy family.|

Patience hurriedly instructed the boy, once again showing off her tutorial-like qualities.

|Sure...|

Zombie nodded and took a deep breath.

"Olive – I know about the thing in the basement of the Envys mansion and want to help free the elves."

The boy posing as a dwarf called out loud enough for his voice to echo through the trees, even though it would be just as effective to whisper it, with the approaching old elf using both the detection [sight] and detection [hearing] skills at the same time.

"Mad...! You went mad from fear...!"

Jackfruit gasped, turning around and staring wide-eyed at the boy in a barrel-like armor, getting even more scared than when he first saw the giant white wolf jumping out at them.

"..."

Zombie ignored the crawling merchant and began to look around instead.

Even though there was no sight of Olive anywhere, as far as Zombie's detection went, the illusion of the white wolf remained still like a statue which at least indicated that the old elf was willing to listen.

"I came here to make a deal with you, Olive. I know that you picked this place to hide away, but seriously. How long are you going to let some weaklings who lied and stole their way to the top bring fear to your whole race? Seriously... at least with the Venomancer, that guy was the monarch with actual power behind him."

|Oh-ho! Using the bits of lore you and your villainess had found out on your own in the first playthrough? Most interesting.|

Patience approved of the boy's method sounding as if she was smiling benevolently.

"O-Olive...? Who are you talking to...? No, wait... Is Olive the name of the elf that was spotted sneaking through this forest?! You bastard! You've used me to get in contact with your ally?! You little shit! As if any elf could ever oppose the Envy family!"

Unexpectedly even the wounded merchant joined in, adding an unintentional help while cursing at the young boy.

"...then, how will it be? You're willing to hear me out or should I make this guy disappear putting a mark on your back whenever you go?"

Zombie glanced at the cursing man and facing back at the still wolf.

|Good. Make sure to not mention the elven village – that should really tip Olive that you are an ally – in case we would let the guy go, even after being interrogated by the avatar of envy himself, Jackfruit will only say what he thinks he knows, that it all happened because a stray elf wandered into their territory from the outside to plot against their family together with a dwarf!|

Patience laughed with approval...

|...good thing I like your voice, or else the unskippable narration would really be getting on my nerves by this point...|

...which caused Zombie to sigh internally and complain in a flat voice.

|Eh...? You like my voice?! Ehehehe... gosh, stop it...! No, you don't! You're just saying that to make me embarrassed!|

Which made the sealed overseer sound as if she fidgeted bashfully and looked away while blushing.

"Ah, it's you. Sorry for not recognizing you fucking sooner, old friend, I've traveled a long fucking way and this foreign system-forsaken place makes me fucking anxious."

"...! Gah...! I knew it!"

After a few seconds, the illusion of the wolf opened her jaws and a calm male voice spoke apologetically and made Jackfruit growl

|Whew... good, I was slightly worried that he wouldn't pick up on my act.|

Hearing that, Zombie breathed out internally and smiled in relief.

|Olive's an old and experienced elf, what made you think that he wouldn't realize what were you going for?|

Patience asked, slightly confused and still sounding a bit shy after receiving an unexpected compliment.

|Hey, in the first playthrough he attacked Cranberry as soon as I brought him in, that wasn't a smart move at all, was it?|

Zombie pointed out with a scoff.

"Show up already. Your illusion is adorable, but it's kind of rude to not show up yourself to an old acquaintance."

The boy looked at the white wolf and his smile grew just a little bit mocking despite his best intentions.

"...give me another moment, I was about to leave this area just before you arrived so I'm pretty far away. I'm not that young anymore, you know?"

|Pffft...! Yeah, true, he isn't.|

The wolf voiced a complaint, making Patience snort inside Zombie's head.