9. Chapter 9: Daniel’s Great Thief (Session Log)
This is a session log of myself and my Player Character, with data and calculations omitted. Some background information on the official history and world of Amber is included, and those interested can take a look. However, the original book always takes precedence (which means some parts may involve edits or omissions).
Since this takes place in the first era, after the year 380 (the Year of Spring Dawn), within the region of Erluin, some spoiler-related content may be redacted. Overall, it supplements the main storyline world.
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[22:39]The story-telling rabbit changes the channel title to: Prologue: Daniel’s Great Thief
[22:40]—————————————————————————————————————-
[22:42] It was a day in March (Month of Resurgence), and in the Erluin region, the northern part of Ampere Seale still bore the remnants of winter.
[22:43] However, in the area east of Cru’s Castle, near Manowell Lake Avenue, the sun was shining brightly, and the forest paths were already bustling with carriages coming and going from the south.
[22:45] Inside the Mundoding Bar near Autumn Lake, a girl sat in the center of the brightly lit hall, her hair as radiant as pure gold and her azure eyes akin to the sea, inspiring an instant sense of warmth in those who met her gaze.
[22:47] However, she wore a silver knight’s armor, sitting up straight, with the crest of the Crusians adorning her breastplate near the neckline, confirming that this maiden was at least a knight traveling from Crusia.
[22:48] Her sword rested on the table, its sheath decorated with the most expensive mithril engravings. Her lance hung on the war steed outside – actually a unicorn – which had already attracted quite the commotion, drawing many curious onlookers.
[22:49] In front of her was a white porcelain teacup filled with tea mixed with cream and honey, accompanied by an exquisite pastry. A meal like this cost several gold coins in the vicinity, and the innkeeper had struggled to arrange it for her.
[22:49] Thank heavens, money talks.
[22:51] Ylise was not one of those noble young ladies who ventured out on sightseeing tours or under the guise of academic travels. On the contrary, she set out driven by a grand “reason” to fight evil and avenge her sister.
[22:51] To add, she left home without permission…
[22:52] Unfortunately, she didn’t even inquire the name of the villain she sought or where he lived. But that could be forgiven, considering the incident happened years ago.
[22:53] After leaving Ampere Seale – where she supposedly lingered for a month, reluctant to leave the luxury of a noble suite in a grand hotel – she suddenly recalled that the villain seemed to have ties to highland knights.
[22:54] Thus, she made a detour back from Paydal Song, passing through Machtin to reach Cru’s Castle. She stayed near the lake for another month before continuing her journey.
[22:54] But after great difficulty, she had finally arrived near Eldeck.
[22:54] With one week of travel remaining.
[22:55] That is, if nothing more interesting catches her eye along the way.
[22:56] Unfortunately, this young miss had a natural love for fighting evil and upholding justice. Passing through the Manowell region, she heard of the emergence of a malevolent gang – a nameless band of thieves.
[22:56] Pursuing this thief group led her to this village of Mundoding.
[22:57] Having temporarily lost their trail today, she decided to rest at the bar – though it was dreadfully dirty, with a thick layer of dust on the tables.
[22:57] What do you do next?
[23:01] “Um”
[23:02] “Such a messy place. Home was so much better, but bad people can’t go unchecked… uh, all this is that bad person’s fault!”
[23:02]Ylise clenched her fists and declared seriously.
[23:03] “So, you over there… yes, you… uh, isn’t your name ‘owner’ or something? Haven’t you heard anything about those thieves?”
[23:03] Accusing bad people is always a good way to deflect blame, but your actions immediately caused several mercenaries nearby to hastily distance themselves from you, as if fearing to be mistaken for criminals and struck down.
[23:04] The plump bartender rushed over in a sweat: “M… my lady, no, mi… miss… uh, miss… what can I do? I really have no idea! How could I know such things?”
[23:04] He stammered, a countryside bumpkin rarely exposed to such eminent figures from Crusia.
[23:05] Although he had heard rumors that a certain princess in the east harshly rebuked the Crusians a few years ago, most of that was probably legend.
[23:05] “H… how about I ask around for you?”
[23:05] “Good, hurry back.”
[23:06]Ylise said it as if it were the most natural thing.
[23:06] You watched the rotund bartender roll off like a ball.
[23:06] Do you want to do anything while you wait?
[23:07]Ylise glanced around the dirty bar, slightly wrinkled her nose, and went to the door to check on Yaya.
[23:08] As soon as you stepped out, you found the place thronged with people, all country farmers dressed in traditional Erluin Southern Mountain attire you’d only seen in geographies and annals. Now, the legends come to life before your eyes.
[23:08] The crowd buzzed like bees and parted to make way for you.
[23:09] You remembered the procession of Her Majesty the Silver Queen in the capital, and the scene was quite similar.
[23:09] Then you saw your unicorn, who scolded you with a glance, as if you shouldn’t have left her in a mere barn.
[23:10]Ylise ignored the crowd, walked up to Yaya, patted her head, and led her to go for a little stroll around the area.
[23:11] “There’s nothing to worry about, Yaya is very beautiful, so being noticed is normal! You’ll have to get used to people staring!”
[23:13] “But they tried to feed me grass!”
[23:13] “Grass!”
[23:13] The unicorn, with a voice as soft as a woman’s, complained: “Who eats that kind of thing?”
[23:13] “I am not a horse!”
[23:13] She sounded just like a petulant young girl.
[23:14] Indeed, she was just a young unicorn.
[23:14] “Oh? They tried to feed you grass? Grass is inedible! What a joke!”
[23:14] “Exactly!”
[23:15] And so, you complained together as you wandered around the nearby countryside, returning to the bar after about half an hour. It must be said, the scenery around Manowell was not bad.
[23:15] —Of course, it doesn’t measure up to the Empire!
[23:15] The portly bartender had already been waiting anxiously for you, drenched in sweat.
[23:16] If you hadn’t left your sword in the bar, he might have thought you’d indulged in an expensive meal and then fled the scene.
[23:16] “Ah, my… dear… miss, you’re finally back!”
[23:16] He wiped his sweat as he spoke to you.
[23:17] “So, how did it go? Did you ask around?”
[23:18] “I… I asked nearby adventurers. It seems there really is such a thief band. Last week, a caravan was robbed… err…”
[23:18] “Not exactly robbed…”
[23:18] “Stolen from.”
[23:18] The pudgy bartender stumbled over his words.
[23:18] “That caravan stopped here one night and found some of their goods missing in the morning.”
[23:18] “I… might have heard something like that.”
[23:18] He said.
[23:18] “Hmm, so does that mean the bad guys are inside the village?”
[23:19] “No no no,” the bartender flailed his hands. “How could that be? There are only so many people in the village, I know each and every one of them, none of them could be thieves!”
[23:20] “So, you mean that the thieves came into the village at night?”
[23:20] “P… probably.”
[23:22] “That’s good… got it! Anyway, knowing the clues is good enough!”
[23:25]Ylise casually placed a gold coin on the table and left the bar, weapons in hand, heading to the constabulary to inquire further.
[23:25] As the bartender gaped in awe, you left the bar.
[23:27] The constabulary in Mundoding was essentially a house at the edge of the village by the lakeside woods.
[23:27] The villagers directed you here.
[23:28] As you approached, you observed the isolated house. The door was open, and inside was a single room with a bed against the wall, the guard uniform and spare shoes tossed carelessly at its side.
[23:28] Beside a window stood a handcrafted desk.
[23:29] On the desk were heaps of maps.
[23:29] As well as a wooden plate with the remains of a meal, flies buzzing around.
[23:29] A coat was draped over an overturned chair.
[23:29] But there was no one inside.
[23:29] What do you do next?
[23:30] “Pfft, such untidiness. As a knight, one should take care of their appearance; otherwise, it reflects badly on their liege lord. Can they not understand such a simple thing!”
[23:31]Ylise clearly didn’t want to enter and chose to wait outside for a moment.
[23:31] While waiting, a rustling sound came from the nearby forest.
[23:31] Turning your head, you saw a young man in a vest, sword in hand, drenched in sweat, emerging from the trees.
[23:32] It seemed he had just finished practicing swordsmanship.
[23:32] “Oh.”
[23:32] He paused when he saw you.
[23:32] “We have visitors.”
[23:32] “Who are you?”
[23:32] He scratched his hair and asked.
[23:33] “Ylise is here to find the bad guys. Anyway, that fat one said the bad guys will come to the village at night. Do you know anything about the bad guys?”
[23:33] The young man paused for a moment, as if trying to decode your sentence.
[23:34] “Uh… Can you phrase it in simpler terms?”
[23:34] “Hmm, in short, the caravan has been robbed in the village. The boss said he knows everyone in the village, so the bad guys must have come from outside!”
[23:35] “Oh, you mean that.”
[23:35] “If that’s the case, since you’re in charge of security, you should definitely know about the bad guys, right?”
[23:35] The young man walked past you as if you weren’t there, went to the lakeside, picked up a bucket of cold water, and doused himself completely with a splash.
[23:35] Then he shook his head.
[23:36] “Well, that’s not wrong!”
[23:36] “But I am planning to resign soon!”
[23:36] Ylise took a step back and distanced herself a bit
[23:36] “I’m going to become an adventurer!”
[23:36] “So I don’t care about the village’s troubles.”
[23:36] He scratched his hair.
[23:37] “Eh? Then what about the villagers? Are you planning to evade the responsibility to protect them?”
[23:37] “Hmm…”
[23:37] “They’ll send someone else, right.”
[23:37] “People have their own aspirations, not everyone is suited for this position. I was born to do something else.”
[23:37] “Hmph, that’s just an excuse not to handle the troubles! An adventurer with no perseverance like you will definitely fail too! If someone had a little more responsibility, they would at least ensure everyone’s safety before thinking about themselves.”
[23:38] “You’re wrong! Not like that!” The young man hurriedly corrected: “Never mind, but who exactly are you? A knight sent by the superiors for inspection?”
[23:39] He curiously looked you up and down as if he had just noticed your appearance.
[23:39] “Ah, what a beautiful knight miss.”
[23:39] He couldn’t help but wipe his cheek.
[23:39] “Ylise is here to find the bad guys. Anyway, tell Ylise about the bad guys.”
[23:41] “Oh, I understand!” He suddenly got it: “You’re an officer cadet from the Bastia Knight Academy, right? Whether it’s training or studying? Hehe, I think someone like you would be better suited for jobs like helping others find kittens in trees.”
[23:41] “Even if you’re not around, if the bad guys are defeated, everyone will be safe until the new guards arrive!”
[23:42] “Hmm…”
[23:42] He seemed to seriously consider this suggestion.
[23:42] “That’s not wrong either.”
[23:42] “However, the other side is an actual serious bandit group. Can you handle it with just you, a young girl?”
[23:43] “Ylise will have no problem. Because the sister said Ylise is very capable. And Yaya is here too, although the teacher still says there’s a long way to go…”
[23:44] He thought for a while, didn’t understand what you said, and scratched his chin mumbling to himself: “Seemingly finishing a big task before leaving is also not bad… But one shouldn’t jump to conclusions easily.”
[23:44] “However, there’s only one guard on your side, right? If manpower isn’t enough, how can you protect everyone? There seem to be a decent number of people here, right?”
[23:45] “Hey, that’s none of your business, one person is enough for just this place.”
[23:45] “Ylise means it seems you’re not enough to protect everyone alone?”
[23:45] Ylise sized up the opponent and judged his strength
[23:46] You think this guy has no strength at all. Besides your teacher Veronika, you think almost no one is impressive.
[23:46] The young man replied unsatisfied: “How isn’t it enough? You should be more concerned about your own safety. Looking like a rich young lady, don’t wander around.”
[23:47] “Barely, so following behind Ylise should be fine.”
[23:47] “Wait, don’t make decisions arbitrarily! I didn’t agree!”
[23:47] “Hmph, how can we let the bad guys who bully the sister run freely!”
[23:48] “Meaning even following behind won’t work, really… Well, tell Ylise the location, Ylise will go alone.”
[23:49] “It’s not that simple.” The young man stopped as he was about to enter the house: “Do you even realize how dangerous this actually is? Anyway, I won’t tell you. It’s not my style to put an unknowing beautiful lady in danger.”
[23:49] After saying that, he came out again.
[23:49] “Well.”
[23:49] “Are you really going?”
[23:49] “Of course.”
[23:50] He sized you up.
[23:50] “Danger is danger, but fleeing from petty thieves who only steal from good people would mean you shouldn’t have chosen to become a knight in the first place.”
[23:51] “Alright, I’ll fight you with one hand,” the young man thought for a moment: “Looking at your knight gear, it should be fine. If you can withstand two of my attacks, I’ll take you along, right?”
[23:52] “But don’t lose to Ylise, okay.”
[23:52] The young man clearly didn’t take your words seriously, and casually picked up a wooden sword.
[23:52] “You go first.”
[23:52] Ylise drew her rapier and looked for a suitable place to fight
[23:52] “Shall we fight here? Understood.”
[23:52] He took the starting stance of the Erluin military swordsmanship.
[23:53] Ylise raised her sword and performed a standard knight salute with the starting gesture taught by her master
[23:54] “You still have a chance to quit. Ylise will fight seriously.”
[23:54] Ylise pointed at the opponent and said
[23:54] “Faster, I haven’t had breakfast yet, Miss Knight.”
[23:54] Ylise took a step toward the opponent and made a probing stab.
[23:55] The young man casually blocked and deflected your attack.
[23:56] “Hmph, you have some skills, not just a normal airhead, eh. True to the Royal Knight Academy’s reputation.”
[23:56] He obviously misunderstood something.
[23:57] Then he stepped forward, tilting his sword.
[23:58] He slashed toward your shoulder.
[23:58] Ylise effortlessly blocked the attack with her shield.
[23:58] “Oh, impressive.”
[23:58] “Your turn.”
[23:58] He stepped back, holding the sword with both hands in a defensive stance.
[23:58] “Then, no more testing!”
[23:58] Ylise retaliated with a backhand thrust.
[00:00] Ylise cleverly hid her intention, this thrust came from under the shield, and the young man was clearly surprised. He stepped back, and his wrist was hit by the sword.
[00:00] With a clatter, the wooden sword fell to the ground.
[00:00] “Ssss, you’re good.”
[00:00] The young man covered his wrist and looked at you curiously.
[00:00] “Alright, now you can go protect everyone, right?”
[00:00] Ylise checked the opponent’s injury.
[00:01] “You really are a cadet from the Royal Knight Academy, living up to your reputation. I almost feel like staying, considering there’s a chance to be recommended to the academy from the guard unit.”
[00:01] The young man nodded. “Alright.”
[00:01] “But first, come with me to investigate. We can’t be reckless.”
[00:02] “Eh? Investigate? Fine, the intelligence before battle is important too.”
[00:02] He went into the house, put on the guard uniform, grabbed his coat, then took the sword scabbard from the wall and fastened the belt. He wore the helmet and boots, coming out looking completely refreshed and somewhat dashing.
[00:02] “Ah, I forgot to introduce myself,” the young man closed the door and turned back to you, “I’m Fareze. And you, Miss Knight?”
[00:03] “Ylise Merieuse.”
[00:04] “Hard to remember.”
[00:04] “You can just call me Ylise.”
[00:04] “Okay, allowing you to call me Ylise is a privilege. Be grateful.”
[00:05] “Grateful your head!”
[00:05] As he spoke, he led out a mottled horse from behind the house and asked:
[00:05] “Do you have a horse? As a knight, you can’t be without one, right?”
[00:05] “I don’t want to walk to the village with you. You’re not thinking of riding together with me, are you? I don’t mind though.”
[00:05] Ylise took out a small flute and blew.
[00:06] Yaya quickly trotted over, grumbling why you took so long to come and play with her.
[00:07] “No worries, Yaya. We’re about to punish the bad guys soon, with the sword of justice, we’ll sweep away those who bully the weak!”
[00:07] Ylise skillfully mounted the ‘horse’ and pointed her sword forward, saying
[00:07] “Hmph, united as sisters, we can break anything!” The unicorn snorted happily in agreement.
[00:06] Fareze’s eyes widened.
[00:06] He looked at you: “Are all cadets from your Royal Knight Corps this exaggerated?”
[00:07] “Are you perhaps…
“A young noblewoman? Let me guess, I’ve heard that the Duke of Siphai’s daughter is about your age. Could you be one of the princesses?”
With that said, the young man swiftly mounted his horse with agility.
“It’s not Siphai,” said the young girl.
“Alright then.”
With this exchange, they walked toward the village together.
The young man seemed to command a bit of respect there and quickly gathered the information they needed.
They were at the village’s crossroads.
After confirming the information, he turned back to her and said, “Alright, now we have a plan.”
“Would you like to hear it?” He appeared quite pleased with himself.
“Yes, yes, of please tell.”
“I’ve found out that a caravan will be camping here tonight. They seem to be from… uh…oh, I forgot, but that’s beside the point. If the bandits are still nearby, they will definitely come to steal again. If they’ve already left, we’ll all just go back to our respective homes. What do you think?”
“I’ll just stay with the knight here in the wilderness for one night. Besides, I don’t lose anything this way.”
“Good, those nasty bandits will surely show up.”
“Then let’s do that.”
He glanced at the sky.
“Hm, we still have time. How about I treat you to dinner? Our local specialty is trout, you know?”
Ylise shook her head.
“Ylise will take care of her own dinner,” she said.
“Wow, that’s impressive! Then how about you treat me?”
“Because my sister said it’s not good to have dinner with strangers. The trainer seemed to mention something similar, didn’t he?”
The young man clearly became more interested in this suggestion.
“There’s nothing wrong with eating a full meal before fighting, right?”
“Yes! Being a rich family’s young lady must be great!”
“Knight Miss, do you think I’m qualified to marry you?”
“Huh? Ylise feels that father will never agree to that.”
“Then there’s nothing to be done,” the young man shrugged his shoulders.
Thus, for dinner, they enjoyed a fine trout meal at a small shop recommended by the young man. It was said that the trout was the offspring of some ‘Golden’ trout from the lake. In any case, the meal cost ten gold coins.
However, the taste wasn’t bad. Ylise noticed Ferazer eating with the fisherman afterward, and he managed to save her a significant amount of money.
She felt the young man could be trusted.
Yet somehow, after dinner, it seemed he was in a particularly good mood.
They arrived at the caravan.
After explaining their intentions and proving their identities, the caravan was, of course, pleased to accept their help. After all, traveling merchants were always happy to get assistance from the local defense force.
The twilight soon descended.
Ylise and Ferazer hid in a patch of bushes near the caravan. She anxiously watched the caravan, expecting the thieves to appear at any moment.
But the young man was lying on his side nearby, his hands behind his head, chewing on a blade of grass, as if nothing in the world could trouble him.
He peered through the gaps in the trees, where the sky was darkening with the first stars appearing.
“Hey… Ylise Miss?”
“Knight Miss?”
She turned towards him.
“It’s still too early, even the dumbest thieves wouldn’t show up so soon.”
“Let me tell you a story instead.”
Ylise looked at him with doubt, questioning why he would risk alarming the thieves with his action.
“Uh… okay, but keep your voice down.”
“Sure.”
“What kind of stories do you like?”
He asked quietly.
Ylise waved Yaya over to join.
“Just tell whatever story you want.”
“Ah, have you seen undead? Those bone skeletons.”
Ylise recalled.
(In magic class)
“I’ve seen them in magic class.”
“That’s good. You know, east of our country is a land of undead.”
“Three years ago, those skeletons invaded our kingdom. You should know about this, you’re from the North, right? You wouldn’t know the situation at that time.”
“Uh, I know, that’s the worst evil in the land, Madara.”
Ylise shook her head and continued listening.
“That’s right! Let me tell you, I personally broke out of an undead encirclement at that time. Can you believe it?”
“Hmm, anything is possible. Like my sister, who has gone through worse things and still managed to appear before Ylise.”
“Well said. Let me tell you the details! Hmm… why won’t others believe this…”
So he carefully recounted his escape experience.
Yet, listening to him, Ylise felt this guy might have just been lucky and never even bumped into a skeleton.
He claimed his greatest achievement was killing a necromancer. However, that necromancer clearly met an unfortunate rockslide before he could even attack and was crushed to death.
Still, in a way, the young man’s luck was exceptional.
As he finished his final tale, it had completely grown dark outside.
Ylise was about to refute him, but suddenly Ferazer put up a finger in front of her face, shaking it slightly.
Simultaneously, the unicorn nudged her slightly.
Ylise covered her mouth with both hands, moving lightly.
Then she saw the young man pick up his coat, climb up, peek at the caravan in the distance.
Ylise tried hard to peer in the caravan’s direction.
By the starlight, they saw a short, dark figure clumsily approach the caravan and quickly disappear into the circle of coaches.
Behind it, a second, third, fourth silhouette also secretly slipped in.
“Alright!” Ferazer’s eyes lit up. “Come on, let’s catch them!”
Ylise pointed at Yaya, silently asking if it was okay to ride.
“Of course not! Come on, have some sense.”
He glanced at her and shook his head.
“You need to take off that armor.”
“You don’t want to alert them.”
“Quick, I’ll go ahead. I’ll wait for you over there.”
After that, she saw him silently crawl out of the bushes and move forward.
“Hey! You can’t look, alright.”
“Understood, hurry.”
Ylise clumsily removed her armor.
His voice came from outside the bushes.
After a few minutes, she finally took off her armor, revealing the knight uniform underneath.
Good thing this armor was specially made by Veronika for her; a person could wear or take it off alone.
Ylise hung the armor on Yaya and carefully followed with her sword and shield in hand.
In the starlight, she saw Ferazer was already close to the horse team.
Just then, a short figure leaped out of the caravan.
It looked at them in the moonlight and pointed.
“Thief! Good timing!”
Ylise saw Ferazer react first.
He threw his coat at the short figure.
But he missed. It was dodged with agility. She was about 60 feet from the caravan, surrounded by brambles.
Ylise carefully crossed over the obstacles to get there.
“Haha! All your tricks won’t fool me!”
Ylise heard a self-satisfied, arrogant voice.
Then, the small figure took out a book and loudly read some words she couldn’t understand.
“Let the truth appear!”
With a soft “Puff.”
Suddenly, a brilliant light burst above their heads.
The glare forced them all to squint.
Finally, they managed to see clearly.
Next to the coach stood a young girl, wearing a large white wizard’s hat, holding a staff, and dressed in a white scholar’s robe, smugly looking at them.
