Page 2 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Rufus was the former commander general of the Dark Enchanted Forest, a canine beastman who looked like a blend of wolf and golden retriever. He was sitting on the wagon beside his fiancée, Minstrel Bronwynn Lyriel. Brownie was a half giantess who had fiery-red-tipped brown hair and dark eyes with a glint of red.
They were both much taller than I.
As a troll, I was sturdy, curvy, and on the taller side of a human, but nowhere near a giantess. My light-green skin and dark-green hair were also uniquelytroll. I currently had mine in thirteen braids bound back at the nape of my neck. On top of being green, I also had long, sharp lower canines that stuck up and out. Surprisingly, they didn’t get in the way much or affect the way I spoke.
The only resemblance to my former human self were my eyes, the same honey brown they’d always been.
I enjoyed the physique of a female bodybuilder, but the thing I loved most about my new appearance was the smattering of white fawnlike freckles on the bridge of my nose.
They were hardcore cottagecore.
“Are you both heading straight for the Coral Palace?” I asked.
Rufus jumped down and offered Donna the horse an enchanted carrot. The mare happily accepted the treat.
To me, he answered, “We are, and you?”
I held up my invitation. It was a pass through the city gate and my ticket to the wedding ceremony of Calisto’s daughter, Countess Julia von Slyke, the Paladin of Light, and Necromancer Chloe Watercress—the original villainess of this season.
There was nothing on this godsforsaken world that was going to stop me from seeing those two women get married, since it’d beenmyhard work that had set them up in the first place.
Not thattheyknew that.
“I’m also staying at the palace,” I informed them, waving the invite once before shoving it back into my storage space. “But I’m going to visit the market first.”
“We could walk around together?” Brownie asked, hopeful. She sat in the driver’s seat, pretending to drive the wagon. Her horse chuffed, and the minstrel added, “Afterwe settle in Donna first, of course.”
“Alright. I’ll stay close to the fountain.”
Brownie nodded. “We should be back in an hour.”
Rufus eyed the wagon. “Do we want to store everything first?”
We were standing in an open courtyard full of other wagons and travelers being let into the city. It was crowded.
Due to the Summer Solstice Festival, shops that would’ve otherwise been getting ready to close were instead preparing for the night market. The city wouldn’t be asleep until long after midnight.
“Good idea.” Brownie fixed her lyre harp’s shoulder strap then grabbed her fashionable red bag before climbing down to join us.
Donnashrugged, and suddenly, all of the ropes and straps and hitches fell loose until the horse was free of her wagon. The joys of a magical world. Brownie waved a hand, and everything disappeared into the bard’s storage ring.
“Why do you load the wagon with things if you have a storage ring?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
Brownie shrugged. “If they’re busy stealing the decoy wagon, then I can run away.”
“I see.” Made sense with her history. After I’d found out the bard would run into three encounters every trip, I’d started making sureIwas one of them. A bridge troll riddle was much safer than a flock of griffins or a bandit camp …
“Alright.” Rufus took Brownie’s hand and nodded my way. “We will see you later, Miss Gerda.”
Brownie waved. “Fair weather.”
I finished the saying, “And fine luck.”
After they were out of sight, I headed for the nearest inn. I’d need a room; somewhere I could review my new notifications in peace.
I quickly found one off the beaten path. The Morbid Mule wasn’t the name of an inn I’d otherwise frequent, but it was cheap and serviceable for a few minutes of quiet.
There were updates to my quest and a few notifications in my log.
