Now for a Mage

Soon after being freed from the pillory, Rose was once more dressed and equipped with her trusty dagger, countless untrustworthy throwing knives, and a few unsavory devices that she barely told herself about, let alone her lawful good paladin teammate, and she was ready to go. At least, until she found out what the quest was.

"We have to fight a Succubus? You never said nothing about no sex demon! I deal with footpads by running from them! What am I supposed to do against a Horny Hell Hooker?"

"Is … that what people call them?"

"Depends on the tavern."

"I expect you to get behind me as I Smite Evil. But if the risk is too great, you may leave now and I won't stop you."

Rose glanced towards the exit of the inn where they had stopped for lunch. "How much is this quest paying again?"

"I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure I have it written down somewhere. Ah, here it is." She pulled out the letter Queen Cassandra had given her and handed it to Rose.

"Let's see," Rose said, skimming it. "'To the bearer of this seal,' blah blah blah, 'for the protection and safety of the people,' get on with it, 'upon the completion … will be paid a sum of no less than …'" She gasped, and nearly orgasmed for the second time that day. "You … you know what? Forget about the money. You helped me out earlier when I needed you, and I would never forgive myself it I turned my back on you now."

"You're loyalty warms my heart," Aurora said flatly.

"I'd warm your bed for that kind of haul," Rose whispered to herself, imagining herself on a golden throne with gold coins raining down on her. "I mean, what are friends for, am I right? But we'll need at least one more person before we go. Every working team must have a fighter, a thief, and a mage. After that, you can throw in a healer and then maybe a jack-of-all-trades an another meat shield for redundancy, but the fighter-thief-mage combo is essential."

"That sounds reasonable," Aurora said. "I'll head over to the Tower of Sorcery to see if there are any takers."

"And I'll put on a dark cloak and sit alone in a tavern until adventurers start asking me if I have a quest for them."

Aurora frowned. "Has that ever worked?"

Rose laughed. "All. The. Freaking. Time."