Page 150 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Queen’s Seal and Master Crystal
Gerda
Six Weeks into the North
It was my usual Thursday morning bridge battle.
“If you have it,
you want to share it.
If you share it,
you don’t have it.”
I didn’t bother activating any particular ability as I dodged the arrow. “You could at leasttryto solve it. That would save us so much—”
I ducked an axe.
“You know what,fine.” I whipped out both arms and shouted, “Bridge Blast!”
Instead of activating a real perk, I summoned a ball of paralysis fog from my storage. The poison would knock out anyone who inhaled it, freezing them for a solid two minutes.
The assassins braced to defend against my bridge ability as the ball rolled between their feet, erupting in a plume of blue smoke.
“What—” The catkin holding the bow keeled over right away, his companion not too far behind. While they were momentarily indisposed, I grabbed the two of them and portaled us to a bridge on the eastern tip of Servalt.
“The answer is ‘a secret,’” I told the unconscious pair, then left them there.
This was getting ridiculous … so I scheduled a meeting with my king.
* * *
“What isthis?” Keith pushed up his glasses to read my proposal.
“An answer tobothour problems,” I told the Dark Lord.
Henrietta stood behind him, looking over my request. “Oh, that would work. But do we have the personnel?”
Keith pointed to one part. “Why are you asking for six teams and not four?”
“There are four major bridges, yes, but what about the bridge near Gren’s Keep?” I pointed out the next highest-traffic path after the main road. There weretwodungeons beside Gren’s Keep, and the beastman village saw a lot of foot traffic. “All of the other bridges move around, and I’ll need a team to manage them.”
“That’s reasonable,” Henrietta said, smiling. Keith’s brow pinched together.
“If I lead a division of the Dark Horde to manage bridges, then we can better defend against all of these pests who are getting through your barrier,” I added.
“And yet,” Keith pointed out, “if you just gave up the bridges you aren’t able to properly manage, that would also solve my problem.”
I knew he was going to fight this, if for no other reason than revenge for all the trouble I’d caused. Hecould’vebeen thankful—he wouldn’t even be alive right now if it wasn’t for me—but telling him that wouldn’t get me anywhere.
Instead, I listed off all the reasons I was right.
“With a properly run bridge brigade, there will be better security against assassins and spies. We could establish a proper merchant checkpoint system to oversee goods and wares transported through the woods. And there would be less traffic stops because I won’t be managing the entire kingdom’s bridgesby myself. And!” I stressed the last, “you will continue to receive mygeneroustax payments. All whileIcontinue to maintain our roads and highway infrastructurefree of charge.”
“You have to admit, love”—Henrietta wrapped her arms around Keith’s neck—“it’s a good plan.”
Keith turned around in his chair to face his wife. “If you think so …”
