I Ran Away To Evil: Book 2 & 3 - A Cozy LitRPG RomCom

“Candace is about to start!” Brownie hurried us into our seats.

Lady Amy had unintentionally made us late. Until recently, even at the celebrations held in her own elven city, she had worked every festival as their Saintess, and never got to just walk around and enjoy the festivities.

Now, she was allowed to actually walk around and explore, and she was obviously having the time of her life.

“This is amazing, Brownie!” The elf saintess laughed. “Your cousin made it into the finals - who is she fighting?”

They’d arrived during the announcements and weren’t paying as much attention, so seeing that Brownie was in the middle of squishing in beside her beastman, Henrietta took the opportunity to say, “Cimor the Monk, she’s the preela.”

The preela were long limbed people from the empire of sands who were covered in short fur on their arms and back. They had long tapered ears, with tufts at the end, and were known for their ability to go long stints without food or water when needed. Cimor had black fur and pale brown skin, and she was holding a long staff in her hands at the ready.

Candace, Brownie’s cousin, was a giantess who stood almost twice the height of the preela, with pale skin and long silver hair. She was large and in charge, and had summoned shadow daggers in both hands.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Brownie was saying to Rufus.

The beastman nodded, though now that I was paying attention he did look worse for wear. “It’s not so bad without the notifications… and Slake gave me an idea.”

“Oh yeah?”

Rufus pulled out an empty poison bottle. “I can debuff.”

“You didn’t!”

He apparently had. Rufus flinched but remained seated when the announcer called, “BEGIN!”

Brownie held Rufus’ hand while she projected her voice to cheer for Candace. Rufus was smiling at his bard, and Lady Amy was on the edge of her seat, eyes gleaming. I sat back and pretended to watch the fight. My plans to relax were foiled by an obvious distraction.

Someone was watching us.

As a boss level monster, my claim to fame was my 43 Perception. If I didn’t notice the eyes of one Duke Julian staring at me, unwavering, from across the arena, then I could hand in my main character card and go back to being a grunt npc.

I tried to ignore Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome too, because my passive abilities were acting up.

Through the semi-transparent screen of my notification tab, I watched Cimor deflect a shadow blade and then run up her staff to kick Candace in the face.

[Martha’s Bridge crossing: 14 Travelers crossed today. Current cost: 91 Experience Points. Gambler’s Amulet in effect, 91 Experience Points converted into 91 Copper Pieces.]

[Black Fortress Bridge crossing: 39 Travelers crossed today. Current cost: 253 Experience Points. Gambler’s Amulet in effect, 253 Experience Points converted into 2 Silver 53 Copper Pieces]

As a bridge troll, I was magically obligated to watch over and toll my bridge. If someone crossed it while I was not there, then I was penalized.

[Title: Bridge Troll

A Bridge Troll is connected to their bridge, and must defend it. Let no one pass lest they solve your riddle, pay the toll, or defeat you!

Riddle: Issue a Riddle. If a traveler succeeds in guessing the riddle, grant them safe passage across the bridge. If a traveler who has guessed the riddle is injured while crossing the bridge, you suffer [Debuff: Deal-Breaker] for 24 hours.

Toll: Charge a Toll. A traveler may choose to pay a toll to cross the bridge. The toll is equal to one tenth the traveler’s level rounded down. If a traveler who has paid the toll is injured while crossing the bridge, you suffer [Debuff: Deal-Breaker] for 24 hours.

Defeat: Defend the Bridge. If you are defeated in battle or the traveler crosses your bridge, you are defeated. You forfeit Experience Points equal to one tenth your level rounded down.]

Deal-Breaker lowered my Charisma to 10.

The fact that I’d raided at least one dragon’s horde while searching for the quest treasures meant that I could afford the loss. Too, the fact that I took the [Troll Riddle] perk when I selected the [Troll Magic] skill, meant that I could magically enforce a riddle when I so chose.

Ah, Candace managed to hit Cimor in the stomach, sending the monk flying. In some magical move that defied physics, the preela activated an ability and kicked the ground before she could completely fly clear of the ring. She blasted straight up into the air, doing an acrobatic display of twists and kicks, and then landed back down as gently as a leaf touching the earth.

“What a move! Cimor managed to land in the circle! What skill! What talent! But Candace isn’t letting her relax. This is why they call her The Storm Bringer!” The announcer was happily relaying the entire fight, and I glanced up to actually watch the billowing clouds forming around the hands of the giantess. Her eyes had gone black and were spilling shadow magic, while lightning started to jump all over her face and hands.

The shadow daggers started to levitate and multiply until there were 4 blades pointing towards Cimor. The monk, for her part, planted both feet and swung her staff behind her. One hand came up, motioning for Candace to come at her.

A grin broke out across Candace’s face.

My skin pricked. Duke Julian was still staring at me, but that wasn’t the sensation I was getting this time. Someone or something else was watching me. It was easy to hone in and see every tiny detail, from the individual grains of dirt at my feet to the follicles of hair on a catgirl excitedly cheering from halfway around the arena.

I usually didn’t focus my perception; that way lay madness. But even my passive [Sense Danger] perk was screaming at me now.

There was a gentle, almost imperceptible whistle in the air as I caught a sky-blue coloured arrow out of the air before it could slam into my forehead. The top of a hooded figure peaked over the roof above Duke Julian’s box seat. I could only see their lilac purple eyes and brown hair for an instant before they were gone.

“Gerda!” Henrietta was on her feet and yelling. “Drop it!”

I didn’t need to be told twice. Luckily I was on an end seat and I simply let it fall into the stair pathway.

[You have attempted to use the perk: Appraise. You have succeeded. Poison Blackfog Arrow has been laced with waurg.]

Waurg was the poison equivalent of a frog curse and it was activated on touch alone. It would change the poisoned into a frog, and it was rare enough that most simply assumed it was a curse. You could not [Dispel] a poison like you could a curse, and the poisoned was an easy target in the meantime for fate to cause other accidents. Like getting eaten by a snake or a shrew.

“What is the meaning of this?”

I looked up and Duke Julian was standing right in front of me and the entire arena was dead silent. He picked up the arrow and inspected it.

“Wait!” I said, but the Duke was already running a hand over the flat blade of the arrow tip, inspecting the poison.