Page 26 of I Ran Away to Evil #3

Stalking the Duke

Gerda

When the message came through, Henrietta immediately went into full Heroine of Justice mode and decided to put me somewhere “safe.”

“If I’m going to search the city,” she reasoned, “I’ll need you to stay here so I don’t worry!” She pointed at the city guardhouse that she’d brought me to. Henrietta wasn’t exactly happy to leave me there, but I’d refused a “ride” back to the palace.

I was not about to let the Dark Lady princess-carry me to the palace. Not when I could get there myself. “I’ll be fine!” I reassured her. Again.

“I still think you should teleport back to your bridge.”

“And have to walk back here from the forest?” I laughed.

It was a misleading statement, as I’d already walked across a sky bridge that arched between the west wing and the central palace, and could portal there with [World Bridge] at any time.

Unfortunately, at this point, I’d taken too long trying to convince Henrietta, and my inhuman Perception noticed John’s shadow appear and attach itself to mine.

“Just, stay here ,” my queen ordered.

“Alright,” I lied.

She hesitated only another second before activating, “[Quick Step].”

Henrietta was a highly trained scout and attacker; she would grid-pattern search the entire city streets within the hour. I paid attention to the direction she was headed in so I could time my own actions going forward.

“Miss?” One of the city knights greeted me as I entered the guardhouse. “How may we help you?”

“Hello.” I waved at the elf. “I’m wondering if I could wait here for my friends to come get me?”

He shot me an understanding look. “Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable.”

The small guardhouse, one of many stationed around the city, consisted of a small receiving area with a chair on either side, a defensive booth with a city knight stationed behind it, and the door into an enchanted holding cell beside the booth.

I took a seat.

Since John was still attached to my shadow, I was limited in what I could immediately do without revealing too much to the rogue. I chose “[Map].”

[You have activated the Perk: Map . A mini map revealing the areas you have explored is available.

System assist Zoom unlocked. System assist Track Troll Riddle unlocked.

System assist Danger Area unlocked. System assist Quest Item Area unlocked.

System assist Sooth Area unlocked. System assist Locate Bridge unlocked. ]

The ability came with a tiny mini map that popped up in my regular notification interface, but activating the map itself pulled up a larger version that took over the system window.

With my [System] skill on level six, I was able to add six different map features.

[Zoom] was obvious, allowing me to zoom in and out on the map.

[Track Troll Riddle] was connected to a specific ability I had using the [Troll Riddle] perk, which allowed me to give delayed riddles.

You have three days to learn my name , Rumpelstiltskin style.

This was also designed to let someone who couldn’t answer or pay leave with a timed debt.

They could come back later with payment or I could hunt them down on my map.

The perk itself came with a general “They went that-a-way!” feeling, but having an icon on my mini map was much more helpful.

[Danger Area] was also pretty intuitive, and it shaded out areas of the map that were dangerous with a soft transparent red.

This was more hit-and-miss than it seemed because I was now so powerful that a lot of things no longer registered as dangerous on my map.

I could walk around the first few floors of any dungeon and not have it go off at all.

[Quest Item Area] shaded places in green that had an item I’d accepted a quest to find. It was helpful, but if the item was in a dungeon or in someone’s spatial ring, then it wouldn’t show up on the map at all.

[Sooth Area] highlighted in yellow an area of the map directly related to any of the scenarios my abilities foretold.

And the last, [Locate Bridge], I’d picked up just in time to start my quest for world-bridge domination!

And by that, I meant I got it around the time I’d claimed all of the Dark Enchanted Forest bridges and was starting to link ones in other kingdoms.

[Sooth Area] was what I needed now.

“Gotcha.”

The city lay sprawled out on the map, and two areas immediately caught my attention.

There was a yellowed-out part of the map in the Coral Palace, the arena, and at the eastern city gate.

There was also a green circle; someone with one of my quest items was moving around the Coral Palace and I wondered if it could be Julian.

The map wouldn’t show the locket previously because the item was locked inside a subspace, but now that I knew it had the treasure, was the map following the locket?

I hoped not. I didn’t know how I felt about my [Map] stalking the duke. Or that the marker was now leaving the palace … and heading in a straight line for the yellow highlighted area by the port gate.

I needed to leave now if I was going to help at all.

A group of festivalgoers were walking past the guardhouse, and I stood. “Thank you, those are my friends.”

The knight waved. “Have a good night, miss.”

“You too.”

Then I slipped out into the night, following the crowd as they walked up the street. My shadow came with, so I waited until I’d cleared sight of the guard station and then activated my skill. “[World Bridge].”

[You have attempted to use the Perk: World Bridge . You have succeeded. You may travel to any bridge you have crossed or controlled since obtaining World Bridge .

Select bridge from the available options …]