Thief of Time

“A guest checked in for three days, claiming to be sick?” Dia eyed the logbook, its frail owner standing behind the counter, his hands raised up high. A greatsword’s tip touched his neck; a single movement would draw blood. “And on the day he checked out, the military camp caught fire…what do you think?”

“I think he’s probably the target,” Farah said, the greatsword in her hand steadier than a statue.

Dia looked at the old man. “Might want to be careful with that sword.”

“No worries,” Farah replied. “I’m already treating him very leniently, considering that he dared to show me disrespect.”

Shrugging, Dia continued to flip through the logbook. No one else was suspicious, and after giving it another look over, she tossed the book carelessly on the counter. “So? What herbs did you buy for this visitor?”

“Don’t make her repeat that sentence, or you’ll never be able to speak again,” the countess added.

“I-I brought him some herbs for the common cold,” the old innkeeper replied, terror in his eyes.

“Is that so? Do you have proof of your purchase?” Dia asked.

“Y-yes.” The old man raised a shaking finger. “Over there.”

Risti walked over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing a small stack of parchment. She flipped through it, before fishing out a single piece. “He’s not lying about this.”

“At least you’re wise, innkeep.” Farah narrowed her eyes. “Risti, can you do something with it?”

“Why do you assume that I can?”

“Call it instinct.”

“Fine, fine.” Risti walked over. “Well, it’s lucky that I have a skillslip for this stored up…”

“Do you use your skills every day?” Lily asked.

“Usually I do,” Risti replied, her eyes turning away from the parchment. “I mean, how else would I be able to see what my beloved Princess Dia does all day?”

Dia shivered at those words.

“Well,” Risti continued, “it’s not like I get to see her handwriting or information related to her all day, so I save up some skillslips when that happens. Second hand information does produce lower quality, though, so we might be in for a wild ride.”

“A limitation of your skill, eh?” Farah sighed. “This thief is truly sneaky. Not even leaving traces of his handwriting behind.”

“It is said that one’s writing is connected to the spirit,” Dia replied on instinct, “so most bounty hunters either don’t write much, or they write in a forced manner. Even if we got his handwriting, it probably won’t do much.”

“Really?” Risti asked. “I never knew that.”

“It’s a legend of sorts for us bounty hunters,” Dia replied, sifting through the knowledge in her head. “Naturally most people won’t know about it. It’s a tradition passed down through word of mouth.”

Although I really wish that I knew this a lot earlier. Dia thought about the amounts of paperwork she’d done in her time, and shuddered. If other odd skills like Risti’s existed, and they were used on those documents...well, it would at least explain why she always felt watched.

There were probably other factors to it, but still.

“Us bounty hunters, eh?” Farah’s eyes twinkled. “I didn’t know that there were any Named that actually raised their children as a full-blown bounty hunter, though.”

“That’s what they want you to think,” Risti said. “It’s the same with people like Princess Dia; there’s always bad information about her floating around. You have to be careful and sift out the right things. Did you know that there were rumours about Princess Dia sneaking out of her bedroom just to eat confectionaries in the kitchen?”

“Really?” Lily asked.

“I did hear about that,” Farah muttered. “Wait, are you saying that they’re fake?”

“Yes, yes. All fake! She doesn’t need to eat much at all! Those rumours about her liking to eat commoner snacks are fake too.” Risti sniffed. “She doesn’t eat low-class food.”

Dia didn’t know how to react to yet another bombshell like this. First, those so-called rumours…were actually true. As to how anyone knew about her sneaky actions was another question, though. Second…wasn’t Risti holding her to a bit too inhuman a standard? Princess of Lustre she might be, but that didn’t mean that she was one of those legendary familiar spirits of the gods.

Was it a good thing that she got it wrong? Or was it bad? Dia wasn’t too sure, but she was definitely sure of one thing. Once all these blew over and her name was cleared, she was definitely going to move into a wooden hut at some isolated mountaintop and never come down.

Not with so many crazy people gunning for her.

Princess? I don’t want that anymore! In the first place, why do you care so much about me? I’m just your average rich pampered princess; there’s far more people who’re better than me!

“Something wrong, Isolde?” Farah asked.

“No, nothing,” Dia replied. “Just thinking about my skills.”

“Well, since you have supplementary training as a bounty hunter,” said Farah, “there’s really no need to be concerned about your skills being focused on combat. Incidentally, what skills do you have?”

She paused. “Well, those that you don’t mind showing off when fighting, anyway.”

“Sword Dance, Sword Sense, Sword Roar,” Dia replied.

“And this, right here,” said Risti, “is a true Princess Dia fan. She even has the skills of the real Princess Dia. Isn’t that awe-inspiring?”

“You know about Princess Dia’s skills?” Dia, despite herself, asked. “What other skills do you know about?”

“Hmm…” Risti beckoned everyone over. “Well, other than one skill the princess has never revealed...”

“You know the other two?” Lily asked. “What are they? Do share.”

Risti looked around. “The Sword Princess’ other, hidden, skills are Sword Fall and Fated Sword.”

“Sword Fall? Fated Sword?” Farah asked. “Those two are said to be skills that are taught by the late Ruler Umbra. Teaching such destructive skills to a subordinate…isn’t that dangerous?”

“They sound rather innocent, though.” Lily blinked. “What do they do?”

“Sword Fall summons a giant sword that destroys everything five hundred metres around it,” said Countess Farah. “Fated Sword, when used, cripples or kills the next person the currently equipped swords draw blood from.”

“That’s about correct,” said Dia. By the Moons, how do you know this, Risti? Should I cut you down tonight or something? Or should I reveal my true identity, fall on my knees and ask you to enlighten me?

“But now that I know she has skills like this…” Farah shuddered. “I think I’ll never invite her into my county. If someone makes her angry, and she uses Sword Fall, that’ll be the end of it.”

Dia wanted to say that she wasn’t ever going to use it, but now that Farah said those words, an irrational urge to use Sword Fall at Farah County welled up inside her. Suppressing it a moment later, she turned to Risti, who was clearly having delusions about her again.

“Alright,” said Dia, “can you use your skill to figure out where Tot is?”

“I’m nearly done with this delusion; give me a moment!” Risti trembled. Whipping out a book to write in it, she let out a languid sigh. “I’m so blessed to live in the same era as Princess Dia.”

“Really?” Dia shook her head. “Come on, there’s other things to live for, right?”

“…like her items and her hobbies, right?” Risti looked to the inn’s door, a faraway look in her eye. “Are you telling me that I should strive to follow her in all aspects, and not just admire her from afar?”

How did you even get to that? Dia coughed. “Yes, yes. After all…” —her eyes lit up with inspiration— “Princess Dia wants to be the best ruler, right? Wouldn’t it make sense for her to want her followers to be the best they can be?”

Risti’s eyes went round. “Yes…yes. You’re right. As expected of the number one Princess Dia fan.”

“…Tell me, how did you arrive at that conclusion?”

Risti opened her mouth, but Farah was the first to speak.

“I mean, your skills are the exact mirror of hers,” said the countess. “Clearly, you’ve lived your entire childhood with the princess as your idol. I wouldn’t even be surprised if you have Sword Fall and Fated Sword, given that you’ve dedicated your skills to follow hers.”

My plan to prove my identity’s busted! Dia let out a slow sigh.

“Exactly. Your skills — blessings that take years to build up — have been dedicated to Princess Dia. Three of them, in fact. Or even four. Maybe five. I’m not sure; some of the less famous Named are chummy with Ruler Umbra.” Countess Farah nodded to herself. “The point is, your skills follow hers very much. That’s why you’re the number one fan.”

Dia opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “Let’s put this aside for a moment. Risti, can you use your skills? Let’s see if we can find Tot with it.”

“Right. Tot.” Risti placed the piece of parchment she got from the cabinet onto the logbook, and then pressed her hand down on it. Moments passed in silence, before she looked up again. “Got it.”

“What did you see?”

Risti lowered her volume. “Tot went north. Most likely to a city. The vision I got pointed at Licencia, the City of Trades, but we’ll need to find out new trails there.”

“It’ll be hard,” said Farah, “but it’s a good start.”

“No time like the present,” said Lily. “I’ll call a carriage.”

Dia looked around at the three of them, and then nodded. “Let’s go.”