When Rhode opened his eyes again, he was lying in his own bed in the Magic Tower.
Dappled sunlight had begun to spill through the window onto the head of his bed.
The first thing he saw was Lilia's delicate face.
Then Sally beside her.
"Oh, Rhode's awake!" Lilia jumped up happily.
Rhode touched his neck. There was no blood anymore.
Sally, the priest, must have healed him.
Having a healer sure was nice.
"I'm fine." Rhode gently patted Lilia's head.
He rather enjoyed the concern the young girl showed him.
"How did you find me?" Rhode asked.
"Sally found you." Lilia pointed at her.
Rhode looked at Sally.
Sally wore an inscrutable expression as she muttered, "Going out that late... I wondered what you were up to..."
Damn, so she'd thought I was staying out all night again and came to check on me?
Why was she so much like a college dorm matron?
No, more like a counselor in charge of daily life.
Well, whatever. Her checking up on me saved my life.
Otherwise, he had no idea whether he could have survived the bleeding caused by that garrote.
"What exactly happened? Who attacked you?" Sally asked.
"Hmm... I don't know either," Rhode said thoughtfully. "It was a very skilled rogue..."
"A rogue? I'm not afraid of rogues!" Lilia cried. "One Overpower with my sword..."
Warriors probably weren't as afraid of ambushes by rogues as mages were. Both were close-combat classes, after all, and warriors could take more punishment.
It seemed he needed to learn some defensive spells too. Ice Armor, Ice Barrier, things like that-at least they would let him withstand a few hits.
"But first, we need to find him." Rhode struggled to straighten up. "Let me think..."
He absolutely had to get to the bottom