CHAPTER 59 Some Sort of Impressive Kingliness Skill

Henrietta

I was used to saving people. In fact, it was kind of my job. I grabbed Keith's hand and activated [Sword Aura] to make sure it wasn't an ambush.

The number of times I'd been ambushed with a plea for help was seven.

It wasn't that the ambushes had stopped at seven. It's just that at some point, I was a high-enough level that my skills prevented me from getting jumped.

The point was moot because there was no ambush. Instead, there were three dead adventurers and a healer crying in a tree as a giant crab tried to eat him.

The healer let out a high-pitched scream and threw a fruit at the crab.

The crab happily caught and ate the fruit, and another, and another. It was about to eat the healer when I picked up a rock and used a bit of strength. The rock smashed through the giant crab's skull, and the monster crashed to the ground.

[You have defeated a Giant Crab. +3 EXP]

"Oh, thank the gods. I'm saved!" The healer, a tanned young man who looked and sounded like he came from Peldeep, slowly climbed back down the tree. He tried to fix his robes, and then he got a good look at Keith behind me. In an instant, the man was ramrod straight. "Your Viciousness!"

"You should probably worry more about your party members, Healer Bowen," Keith pointed out.

"Ah, well. About that." Bowen pulled out two yellow glowing potions. "I only have t-two Revive potions …"

We all looked down at the three dead adventurers.

Keith raised one eyebrow. "You can't use [Revive] yet? What about [Resurrect]?"

"N-neither." Healer Bowen turned an uncomfortable shade of pale and splotchy. "I'm s-still level seventeen."

"Hasn't it been a month?" Keith asked. "And you've only levelled up twice?"

"Yes, Your Viciousness." Bowen uncorked one potion and went to the biggest of his party members, a brown-haired beastman with a wolf's tail and ears. "I'm just not a very g-good adventurer."

I asked, "Are you the only one with potions? What about your party members?"

"No, miss." Bowen finished pouring the bottle into the big man's mouth. "They told me it's my job to supply the potions and the buffs, then I'm to get to safety."

"Argh!" The beastman coughed and rolled over to his hands and knees and sprang into action. He was actually impressive for someone who'd just been dead. "Bowen, where's the crab?"

"It's alright, Striker." Bowen patted his arm and shoved a thumb at us. "The king took care of it."

"Technically," Keith pointed out, "Princess Henrietta killed the giant crab."

They both bowed to me respectfully and I shoo'd them. "None of that, now. Go finish helping your party members."

Bowen dragged Striker over to their fallen comrades: an incredibly short human—shorter than a dwarf, even, but her status definitely said full human—and beside her what looked like a cat girl rogue. I was interested enough to listen in on their whispering even while they deliberately spoke under their breath.

"Should we wake up Sara or Priscilla?" Bowen waved at the two women.

"Sara," Striker said, pointing at the human. "If we revive Priscilla and carry Sara, we'll never hear the end of it."

"Good point. I'll find her arm."

Bowen used the potion on the short human, and after a few seconds, the woman shook herself awake. She slapped her face with her newly attached arm and groaned, "What happened?"

"Giant crab," Striker told her, offering her a hand up. "The one we defeated wasn't alone."

Sara sighed. "Give me a second."

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't want to fight. I'm a healer."

"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."