healingbonds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-23 05:00 pm
healingbonds) wrote2020-06-23 05:00 pm
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Etude of the Solitary Bandit | Chapter 8
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9
✦✧☾✧✦
A few days later, I arrive at the Northern outskirts of Central Country accompanied by the Western wizards.
There are no lively streets nearby, but because this region connects Northern Country and Central Country, there are many merchants transporting large packages.
There’s a bandit hideout somewhere in the vicinity. It’s the Western wizards’ mission to find the hideout, and make a rough sketch of the layout.
Murr was with us up until halfway through the journey, but he seems to have unexpectedly disappeared somewhere along the way. He might not come back tonight.
Chloe: A gang of bandits sound scary, even if they are human. Murr went off somewhere too, so will we be all right?
Rustica: We have the clothes that you made for us, Chloe, so it will definitely go well. We can trick them by pretending to be fellow bandits.
Shylock: The problem is finding the bandits’ hiding place.
Akira: That’s true. It’s supposed to be around there......
(Jumbled sounds)
At that moment, we hear hoofbeats. A group of men, traveling lightly, nimbly urge their horses on.
???: Hell yeah! We got another big haul tonight! Those rich idiots!
Wahaha! As long as the boss has "that," any job is a piece of cake! Let’s line up our treasures and drink till dawn!
The men disappear into the wilderness as they urge their horses onwards, kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake.
Chloe: ......Those people just now mentioned treasure...... Are they friends of the bandits......?
Rustica: But they looked like they were traveling light. Wouldn’t bandits be weighed down by their haul after they pull off a job?
Shylock: How curious...... Shall we pursue them?
✦✧☾✧✦
We’ve been chasing the men for a while when we catch sight of an abandoned building standing alone in the wilderness.
We stealthily peek into the building, where a large number of rough-looking people are gathered in a room furnished like an old tavern.
Treasures and riches, looking at odds with the abandoned building, lay scattered across a tabletop.
Chloe: This...... Isn’t this it? This must be the bandits’ hiding place......
Rustica: We just have to scout out what’s happening, and then report the situation in detail to the Northern wizards, right?
This is for their training: to capture the gang of bandits without resorting to killing them.
Akira: Yes.... I’m counting on you.
Shylock: Succeeding once should boost their confidence. And then, the Northern wizards should be able to discover new ways of enjoyment.
His pipe in his mouth, Shylock gently blows a stream of smoke through the window of the building.
Shylock: << Invibelle >>
(Smoke)
Enveloped in a haze of lightly drifting smoke, the people inside start falling over, one after another.
✦✧☾✧✦
Chloe: ......I wonder if everyone here is a bandit? Their arms are so thick...... What an intense tattoo! Ah, but it’s so fashionable.
Shylock: It doesn’t seem like they have any wizards in their midst. So how have they been transporting such large volumes of treasure in just an instant?
Rustica: There’s a room over there. Let’s go and check it out.
✦✧☾✧✦
We open the door to the innermost room, where heaps of treasure that look like stolen goods lay sleeping in piles.
Chloe: Incredible......! There’s glittering necklaces and gold objects; the chests are stuffed with gold coins!
Rustica: How wonderful. I wonder if there’ll be any surprise finds here?
Shylock: These are all stolen goods, you know. ......Oh, my. What’s that large board covered with a cloth hanging on that wall over there?
Rustica: It’s considerably large — it almost takes up a whole wall. Shall we remove the cloth?
<< Amorest Viesse >>
As Rustica murmurs his spell, the large piece of cloth floats into the air, and then falls to a corner of the room.
The cloth reveals a giant painting: a grasslands scene of ladies in lines walking in spring.
Even with my limited knowledge of art, I can tell the value of it. It is a masterpiece, at once subtle yet impactful.
Rustica: This is glorious...... It’s a work by a famous artist in Western Country. To think that I’d come across it in a place like this......
Chloe: They must have stolen it from a splendid mansion somewhere.
But how did they carry such a large painting into this room?
At Chloe’s words, I look around the room. Compared to the large painting, both the window and door are relatively small.
There is no way they could have brought the painting into the room, unless it had been disassembled. Yet there are no traces of that having been the case.
Shylock: As we thought — a wizard or a magical object must be connected to this in some way.
Rustica: Let’s leave the rest to the Northern wizards. It’ll be all right.
After all, they have a wizard in the North with impeccable taste who knows all about stealing treasures.
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9
✦✧☾✧✦
A few days later, I arrive at the Northern outskirts of Central Country accompanied by the Western wizards.
There are no lively streets nearby, but because this region connects Northern Country and Central Country, there are many merchants transporting large packages.
There’s a bandit hideout somewhere in the vicinity. It’s the Western wizards’ mission to find the hideout, and make a rough sketch of the layout.
Murr was with us up until halfway through the journey, but he seems to have unexpectedly disappeared somewhere along the way. He might not come back tonight.
Chloe: A gang of bandits sound scary, even if they are human. Murr went off somewhere too, so will we be all right?
Rustica: We have the clothes that you made for us, Chloe, so it will definitely go well. We can trick them by pretending to be fellow bandits.
Shylock: The problem is finding the bandits’ hiding place.
Akira: That’s true. It’s supposed to be around there......
(Jumbled sounds)
At that moment, we hear hoofbeats. A group of men, traveling lightly, nimbly urge their horses on.
???: Hell yeah! We got another big haul tonight! Those rich idiots!
Wahaha! As long as the boss has "that," any job is a piece of cake! Let’s line up our treasures and drink till dawn!
The men disappear into the wilderness as they urge their horses onwards, kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake.
Chloe: ......Those people just now mentioned treasure...... Are they friends of the bandits......?
Rustica: But they looked like they were traveling light. Wouldn’t bandits be weighed down by their haul after they pull off a job?
Shylock: How curious...... Shall we pursue them?
✦✧☾✧✦
We’ve been chasing the men for a while when we catch sight of an abandoned building standing alone in the wilderness.
We stealthily peek into the building, where a large number of rough-looking people are gathered in a room furnished like an old tavern.
Treasures and riches, looking at odds with the abandoned building, lay scattered across a tabletop.
Chloe: This...... Isn’t this it? This must be the bandits’ hiding place......
Rustica: We just have to scout out what’s happening, and then report the situation in detail to the Northern wizards, right?
This is for their training: to capture the gang of bandits without resorting to killing them.
Akira: Yes.... I’m counting on you.
Shylock: Succeeding once should boost their confidence. And then, the Northern wizards should be able to discover new ways of enjoyment.
His pipe in his mouth, Shylock gently blows a stream of smoke through the window of the building.
Shylock: << Invibelle >>
(Smoke)
Enveloped in a haze of lightly drifting smoke, the people inside start falling over, one after another.
✦✧☾✧✦
Chloe: ......I wonder if everyone here is a bandit? Their arms are so thick...... What an intense tattoo! Ah, but it’s so fashionable.
Shylock: It doesn’t seem like they have any wizards in their midst. So how have they been transporting such large volumes of treasure in just an instant?
Rustica: There’s a room over there. Let’s go and check it out.
✦✧☾✧✦
We open the door to the innermost room, where heaps of treasure that look like stolen goods lay sleeping in piles.
Chloe: Incredible......! There’s glittering necklaces and gold objects; the chests are stuffed with gold coins!
Rustica: How wonderful. I wonder if there’ll be any surprise finds here?
Shylock: These are all stolen goods, you know. ......Oh, my. What’s that large board covered with a cloth hanging on that wall over there?
Rustica: It’s considerably large — it almost takes up a whole wall. Shall we remove the cloth?
<< Amorest Viesse >>
As Rustica murmurs his spell, the large piece of cloth floats into the air, and then falls to a corner of the room.
The cloth reveals a giant painting: a grasslands scene of ladies in lines walking in spring.
Even with my limited knowledge of art, I can tell the value of it. It is a masterpiece, at once subtle yet impactful.
Rustica: This is glorious...... It’s a work by a famous artist in Western Country. To think that I’d come across it in a place like this......
Chloe: They must have stolen it from a splendid mansion somewhere.
But how did they carry such a large painting into this room?
At Chloe’s words, I look around the room. Compared to the large painting, both the window and door are relatively small.
There is no way they could have brought the painting into the room, unless it had been disassembled. Yet there are no traces of that having been the case.
Shylock: As we thought — a wizard or a magical object must be connected to this in some way.
Rustica: Let’s leave the rest to the Northern wizards. It’ll be all right.
After all, they have a wizard in the North with impeccable taste who knows all about stealing treasures.
Chapter 7 << | index | >> Chapter 9