Chapter 15: My name is...

"You saved us and all… and you haven't even told us your name."

"My… name?"

And with those words, the wind that endlessly rustled with the wind stopped whispering. The insects, which were taking advantage of the night, suddenly all became dormant. Even Sandie, who was leaning close to him, halted her breaths; not even a single strand of her hair moving.

This has happened once before– when the Zombie was transferred to the white room. Perhaps… this was his chance to escape?

The Zombie then quickly stepped back to try and run away from all the slayers that suddenly surrounded him with curiosity. But alas, as soon as he turned around, his eyes were suddenly bombarded with nothing but white.

"Kya!"

The Zombie once again turned around, only to see Zeni completely… naked. Seemingly washing her body with a shower that stood right in the very center of the white hall. Zeni then quickly cured herself on the ground as the shower disappeared; and very soon, her dress that seemed like a maid's outfit materialized and wrapped around her.

"Why are you here!?" Zeni then stood up as multiple… hair dryers popped out around her, causing her hair to dance wildly, "Don't you even know how to knock!? There should be a warning sign here not to just open the shop out of nowhere. No…

…you didn't even open the shop! But why are you–"

[The Readers of Fate have bestowed a name to the Host.]

"...And what does that have to do with me?" Zeni then waved her hand, causing the blowers to disappear; replaced by a chair on the floor on which Zeni immediately sat, "I'm the Shopkeeper, why would I–"

[The Host has yet to gain back the ability to read. Requesting the assistance of the Shopkeeper.]

"This is what you get for choosing a fucking Zombie as a Host," Zeni leaned back on her seat as she looked at the Zombie from toe to head. But as soon as her eyes reached the Zombie's face, one of her eyebrows rose up,

"I see your sorry excuse of a face is slowly improving, not bad. Not bad…

…Ah, fuck it. Let's just do this," Zeni then stood up from her seat. She then snapped her fingers, causing the floor beneath her and the Zombie's feet to rise into a platform, almost causing him to tumble.

Zeni once again snapped her fingers, summoning some sort of paper to appear in her hands,

"Let's see here… Pft, what the fuck is with these names."

"..." The Zombie could really only tilt his head as he watched as Zeni started laughing on her own. But after a few seconds, she let out a small cough; her eyes suddenly glowing in a sort of green light– like a dozen fireflies dancing in her irises.

"Nekros, Neo. Adam, David, Noah… Hm," Zeni shrugged her shoulders, "Not so many votes. Zombi's kind of cute, too bad no one voted."

"Is… that my name?" The Zombie slowly approached.

"One of them is," Zeni pointed her pam at the Zombie to make him stop, "I'm still reviewing all these lame names. Have patience, shouldn't the undead have a lot of that? But then again, I wouldn't know…

…I don't even exist."

"..." The Zombie could only once again tilt his head as he saw the glimmer on Zeni's eyes falter for a moment. But very soon, she once again started giggling and chuckling.

"Alright, I've reviewed everything…" Zeni then snapped her fingers once more, making the paper in her hands disappear, "...Bob."

"Bob… is that my name?"

"Well, that's a boring response," Zeni could not help but roll her eyes as the Zombie just pointed to himself, "Bob as of this moment, has 7 votes… suggested by Bob. Followed by Ammit with 4 votes or something, there are others but they're not really relevant since they're trash…

…Zero."

"Zero?"

"Yup, 9 votes," Zeni then clapped her hands, causing the platform to return to the floor, "Suggested by the Acolyte of Cthulhu…

…probably because you have zero Powerstones, pft."

Zeni then once again burst out in laughter.

[Zero's current Powerstones: 805.]

"What the shit!?" Zeni almost ate her own throat as soon as she saw the words that popped out in the air. She, however, quickly recovered herself by thumping on her chest repeatedly,

"A… anyway, you can really only afford a single item with that. Even though this isn't an official visit, want to check the shop now?"

"What is–"

"Sike, get the fuck out of here."

[The Readers of Fate want to strangle Zeni the Shopkeeper right about now.]

[Some of the Readers of Fate are starting to like Zeni the Shopkeeper.]

And without even any warning, the fading darkness once again embraced the Zombie– No. Once again embraced Zero's pale blue eyes as he suddenly returned to the forest where he was before; in front of him, Sandie.

"Yes, your name?" Sandie blinked a couple of times; her smile, not disappearing from her face.

"It's fine, Sandie," Anna shook her head as she placed her hand on Sandie's shoulder, "If he doesn't want us to know, then–"

"Zero," Zero then breathed out,

"My name is Zero."

"That's… a very cool name," the smile on Sandie's face grew even wider as she stepped even closer to Zero for some reason.

"Thank you for saving my team, Zero. The name's Hector."

"..." Zero then turned his head towards the old man that seemed to be the leader of the entire team; like the leader of the Giant Hornet, Hector also stretched his hand towards Zero. And once again, Zero only stared at it.

"You probably don't wanna be touching his hands, boss," Gab commented, "You didn't see what he did with the werewolf, he went apeshit on it."

"Hm…" Hector then turned his attention towards the carcass of the werewolf again, "You really did that all by yourself? What rank are you, C? No… you should at least be a B since you didn't seem to have any visible wounds."

"...B?" Zero has absolutely no idea what Hector was talking about.

"I thought so."

A collection of gasps entered Zero's ears; he looked at the other humans, only to see them staring and looking at him from head to toe.

"What? I'm also a B-rank, but why aren't you guys in awe of me?" Hector looked at his members, only for them to scoff, chuckle, and wave their hands,

"Insubordinate! You see what I have to deal with? I envy you Solo Slayers sometimes…

…at least you don't have to deal with mongrels!"

"Boo!"

"Get fucked!"

"...They're good people," Hector then stepped closer to Zero, "I have a proposal, Zero. There's no way you can take all of these to the city by yourself. How about we help you and well… you give us some of the materials?"

"...The city?"

"Yeah, the nearest one should be the Concretespire Safe Zone," Hector pointed towards the direction… where Zero came from,

"How about it? Sandie also seems to like you, so–"

"H… Hector!" If Sandie's leg wasn't injured, she would probably be stomping them right now and causing her bountiful bosoms to jiggle.

"But…" Sandie then slowly turned her eyes towards Zero; her voice, slightly becoming meek, "Hector's right. It would be a shame to leave these loots…

…you should join us in the city."