CHAPTER 57 Not Very Heroine of Justice

Henrietta

The idea of a date with Keith, walking hand in hand through a dungeon while a trail of monsters stretched behind us and the glow of [+1] experience points illuminated us in the darkness … might have been a deciding factor in my choice to abandon Lady Amy this morning.

"Abandon" was a strong word. I'd only agreed to go with her to the Damp Gizzard, and I'd done just that. We'd talked and had a lovely sleep—or at least she had—and I'd been happy to let her sleep in while I popped out to conquer a dungeon or two.

Alright, I was making excuses; it wasn't kind to run off before she woke up. I'd let a moment of selfishness overcome me, which was not very Heroine of Justice of me. Granted, I was only human. Maybe living with the Dark Horde was making me a little bit evil?

Something told me she would be there, waiting for us, when we finished the dungeon, and I would need to apologize. I was very good at apologizing; I'd had a lot of practice.

I would enjoy a lovely delve with Keith, and then regroup with my new … friend? We'd only known each other for a single day, but that seemed to fit. Were friendships always formed so quickly? Most of the people I'd met in the Dark Enchanted Forest had become my friends over the few weeks I'd been here … when back in Drendil, I just had Brownie and a few knights under my command that I could joke with.

Come to think of it, perhaps it was sharing a room. Back in Drendil, some of my knights had slept together every time we'd stopped at an inn on route to our quest. They'd told me they were friends with benefits. I always shared a room with the Knight Commander Havork, who slept on the floor or, if there was one, a chair.

So I guessed Lady Amy was my friend with benefits.

In the meantime, I waved an apology to the elf as Keith and I portaled to the first floor.

A field of golden flowers bowing to the wind under a blue sky dotted all over with racing clouds greeted us. My hair picked up in the wind and blew into my face.

I was going to let go of Keith's hand and try to fix my hair, but he squeezed it and said, "[By the Grey-Scale Wing, Tame the Elements]."

Magic settled over me, and my hair and clothes stopped whipping about. Keith, with his long black hair in a ponytail, stood pristine beside me. He smiled and waved with his free hand. "Shall we?"

I think I already loved dungeon delving with my Dark Magician King.

The second we stepped off the platform, I contemplated activating [Sword Aura] so I could see where all the monsters were, but finally decided against it. That would have been overkill on the first floor of a midlevel-strength dungeon. The best we'd find here was a level five, and that would be the boss monster for the floor.

"This floor is covered in goblin lilies, so watch where you step," Keith let me know as we walked through the ankle-high grass. He blushed a bit and continued, "Ah, my apologies. You're a veteran, so I won't talk your ear off with every little dungeon detail."

"Just because I'm a veteran doesn't mean I know everything," I teased him. "Are the local goblin lilies poisonous?"

"Yes, but they aren't lethal. The thorns have a paralytic effect to slow down their prey long enough to eat them alive. They take root in the grass." Keith pointed off to our left. "There's a lake off in that direction where most of the larger monsters mill about. And over there"—he pointed to our right—"is a floofpoof nest."

"Hmm." I looked around but couldn't see anything but grass. "Where is the boss?"

"With the floofpoof nest," Keith said. "Are you close to leveling? Should we clear out every floor or race to the stronger levels?"

I checked my character sheet.

Mana Points:

"Keith?" I frowned, noticing something.

He saw my face, and whatever he saw made him anxiously ask, "Yes?"

"What does ‘Experimental Subject Minion' mean?" The new occupation confused me. Had he started the paperwork to transfer my citizenship without my approval? That wasn't very nice.

Maybe people would say I shouldn't expect the Dark Lord to be nice. I'd say they were wrong.

"Oh! That." Keith pushed up his glasses then scratched behind his slightly pointy ear. "You signed the Experimental Subject contract a while back, and I finally finished registering it yesterday. It allowed me to immediately start paying you through your moniers guild registry the day you signed it, but it just sat in the inner sanctum until yesterday when I was cleaning things up in preparation for this trip. Now that it's official, the contract also allows me to dismember you and put you back together properly, to provide you with restorative care such as [Revive], [Resurrect], or [Raise], to credit your contribution to any published work, and to contact your next of kin as a retainer."

"Wow, maybe I should have read that contract more closely." I looked over my character sheet for anything else, but it all looked fine.

"We can write up a new contract? As the castle's baker or secretary. Or we could draw up a … Well, maybe that's too soon," Keith trailed off. His cheeks turned very red, and he coughed to clear his throat.

"Yes?" I couldn't imagine what had made him so uncomfortable.

"Nothing. So? Experience points? I'm not even halfway there."

I hadn't been tracking the experience points from defeating the mercenaries, griffins, or dwarves. "It looks like I'm 756 EXP from leveling."

"Let's party up to clear the dungeon," Keith recommended. "I don't know if it'll be enough after we share the experience points, but it'll get you close."

I glanced behind me to the platform and sighed. Our date wasn't going to last as long as I'd hoped.

"You don't have to worry," Keith told me. "We have the dungeon to ourselves, give or take one or two adventuring parties who arrived before us."

"Really?!" I skipped ahead and turned to face him. With a flourish, I pulled out my sword and gave it the habitual practice swing.

Keith pushed up his glasses with his free hand and then held it aloft. He chanted, "[Fireball]."

The light flickered in the wind that blew across the field of golden flowers.

"Wait!" I cried. "I have the best idea! You're an Arcane Sage … could we just burn down the whole level?"

"As you wish."