In Chapter 9, Daniel is given his first solo job to do for Rosh. He is to ambush a lone man who will be walking on a certain road, take his money, and return to camp with it. Daniel feels "uneasy" about doing such a job, but rationalizes it to himself as he waits. Following orders, he pounces on the man, who claims to be a poor pauper, just as Rosh predicted. Daniel fights with him, and the man tries to stab him with one dagger, then another, but Daniel is able to overcome the man and get the knives away from him as well as his money bag. When he is about to leave the man lying at the side of the road, unconscious, he is struck by how the man resembles his grandfather, of whom Daniel has only faint memories. Daniel cannot leave a man who looks like his grandfather in such a precarious position. He drags him to the side of the road and stays with him until he regains consciousness. When he does, Daniel gives him one of the two daggers so that the man will have something with which to protect himself as he continues on his journey. This action earns Daniel derision from Rosh, who calls him "soft," but it shows that Daniel has a level of compassion that Rosh and the other bandits do not.
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