Page 98 of I Ran Away to Evil
The woman sat up and looked around. Her eyes went wide when she saw us.
“Don’t mind us,” Keith told her. “Henrietta decided to save you.”
I rolled my eyes a bit at that. “And Keith wanted to stay around to see if you all got healed.”
He smiled at me. “That’s right. And now they’re all revived, and we can go.”
“What about Priscilla?” I asked. The cat girl was safe with her adventuring party, if still very dead.
“They can bring her to the market outside and get a potion there.” Keith shrugged. “And then report back to me later tonight on why they aren’t leveling my healer properly.”
The three flinched at that, but Bowen argued, “That’s n-not true, Your Viciousness!”
“Oh?” Keith raised an eyebrow. I felt pressure burst out of him, hitting the man with some sort of impressive kingliness skill.
“Y-Yes!” Bowen stepped in front of the party and stuttered harder than before. “It’s m-m-my fault! I d-d-don’twantto fight. I’m ahealer.”
“And?” Keith asked.
“So he stays out of danger and heals us properly after every fight,” Sara cut in. She walked up and put a hand on Bowen’s arm. “We can’t increase his share of the experience any more without him doing some of the killing. But we’ll train him up eventually, even if it takes longer than the rest.”
Keith nodded. “Good.”
The Dark Lord turned away from the group and lifted up my hand, gently swirling a finger on my palm. “If that’s decided, should we get back to our date?”
I didn’t swoon. I thanked my Constitution twenty-seven. “Alright. But this time, I get to clear the floor, alright?” I turned to the shocked faces of the adventuring party. “Can you teleport out? Or do you need to go back through the first floor … which might still be on fire.”
“Oh no, Your Highness,” Sara told me. “We know where the exit teleporter is on this floor.”
“Thank you. This is my first time in a portal dungeon,” I explained. I hesitated but thought I might as well ask what was on my mind. “Excuse me, but are you under a curse?”
The party tensed up, but Sara just smiled a crooked smile. “Because I’m short?”
“Yes.” No sense beating around the bush.
“I’m not cursed. I’m not half dwarf, and I’m not under any spell,” Sara declared vehemently. “I was simply born this way.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. I’d had my fair share of curses, so I thought I’d ask. “Well, that’s that then. Sorry if it was a sensitive subject.”
“That’s alright.” Sara smiled. “You can imagine it comes up a lot.
I squeezed Keith’s hand. “Well, it was nice to meet you all. Stay safe carrying your friend to … um, safety.”
“We will. Now, get to lifting, boys! Priscilla ain’t gonna carry herself out!”
I watched the group get themselves up and gone, and I waved goodbye as they disappeared into the trees.
When we were alone, I turned to Keith and asked, “If we cook up this giant crab for lunch, that’ll give them enough time to get out of the dungeon, right? Then we can see how fast I can clear the floor. You cleared the first level in what, thirty minutes?”
“Twenty-eight.” Keith raised his free hand, and it lit on fire. “Should we boil the crab in one of the island’s small lakes, or cook it from the inside out?”
I licked my lips. “Boiled? I have garlic butter for our bread, too. We can make a dip.”
“I like the way you think.”
CHAPTER 60
Crushing His Skull Between Her Thighs
