VOLUME 1|Grand Theft on the Grand Express, Prelude

Of all the various strategic masterpieces which I have devised throughout my lifetime, I consider my battles with the Imperial celebrity Narcissa Richmond to be among the most memorable. It proved intriguing to me from the onset alone, when I received her challenge by way of The Observer, a website which served as my chief source of news.

"I – the GLORIOUS MADAME RRRRICHMOND – will defeat and unveil to the world the face of my great rival: THE GRANDMASTER OF THEFT! The world will soon know what I – the MAGNIFICENT MADAME RRRRICHMOND – has already known: That she is just a GUTLESS, POMPOUS FOOL who is unworthy of her PRETENTIOUS title. To prove she DOESN'T DESERVE anybody's fear, I'll stand alone against her and risk one of my greatest treasures: UNDINE'S TEAR! SO COME AT ME, 'NOBLE' THIEF! Face me at THREE PM at Acquiro station this Saturday, where I'll board the E train. I – the SPECTACULAR MADAME RRRRICHMOND – will singlehandedly see to it that the Grandmaster receives an all-expenses paid one way ticket TO JAIL!"

That set my mind ablaze! Her challenge showed so much promise. For starters, there was her process for capturing attention. Not only did it attract various others to attend, it shaped the battlefield to her advantage. Her maneuvers were meant to make me conform to her strategy, her rules. Everything was set by her schedule and the locale was to her advantage. Moreover, she employed the train as entrapping terrain, which had all the characteristics of a spider's web: simple to enter, strenuous to escape. The wisest decision when confronted by such terrain was to steer clear of it all together, which I'm positive she was conscious of.

Another hazardous factor was her helpers. Although she claimed to stand alone, the truth of the matter was that she manipulated the Imperial Guard into serving as her bodyguards. Their watchful eyes, particularly with such a powder keg situation, were a formidable deterrent. Planting aid within the crowd that would inevitable be present was likewise a hazard for me, given that they'd be indistinguishable.

Finally, she had absolute sway over the item which was supposed to be stolen. With Undine's Tear already in her grasp, rigging the contest was laughably easy. Moreover, it was the wisest course of action. After all, it's a strategist's duty to leverage any conceivable factor when in the midst of battle. In fact, I would've been underwhelmed had she chose not to after the previous moves.

In any event, her maneuvering was noteworthy. She would've declared already checkmate, were I the same level as the better part of the populace. However, I wasn't; I was the one who leveled the playing field for those who were exploited by people much like her. After all, I wouldn't have deserved to be called The Grandmaster of Theft if I were outfoxed that easily.

Author's Commentary/Feedback Questions

Greetings ladies and gents! Welcome to my serial novel: Grandmaster of Theft! This here is a project I dreamed up during teenage years and began constructing. This is overall a romanticist epic which will feature action, adventure, mystery, romance, tragedies, horror, comedy, and thrillers. Overall, my goal is for anybody reading to leave this entertained. If someone cares to think about some things presented in stories or learn from it – such as the information surrounding social science, philosophy, tactics, strategy, etc., that's fine by me and I'm glad for it. I do research on all of this and can back it up, for better or worse. But it's not my core objective. I'll admit I don't care to be Shakespearian or a great innovator or anything like that. As long as people leave this feeling they had a fun time and wish to see more, I'm happy.

At the bottom I'm going to place commentary on characters, chapters, story elements, etc. I'll also place questions which really help me mold the story to better story while staying true to vision. They're things I really want to hear response on. I am open to praise, criticism, and questions beyond that. Praise helps me figure what people respond positively to, criticism assists with things I may not have considered and welcome being challenged. In fact, plenty of revisions made are me acknowledging past criticisms I feel worth addressing while staying true to image. I'm all ears, even if I do ultimately disagree.

Anyway, the prelude here was initially a part of Chapter 1, but I felt like breaking it off. As a whole, it's really meant to just set the stage for the first story arc.