Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter2 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

"It seems you'll have trouble with women."

It was said so suddenly that Orba nearly spat out the mouthful of soup he had just taken. They were within the dining hall of the Fifth Army Corps barracks. The one who had called out to him with a tray in hand was Stan, a man who was shorter than Orba and who was eye-catching because of his width.

He was originally from the coastal countries but various things had apparently happened and the story was that from childhood onwards he had grown up amongst the Zerdian nomads. About five or six years ago, Talcott had been visiting that region and had lured him away to live the life of a mercenary.

"Can you predict that by his looks?" Next to Orba, Shique asked with amusement. "How can you tell when he has bandages wrapped around his face?"

"As for how, it's more about a glint in the eyes or the surrounding atmosphere. The old woman who brought me up was especially good at it but I only found I could do it myself after I'd left the tribe."

Stan’s face had wrinkles that seemed completely out of place as he was around twenty years old. Because of that, when he was quiet, which was usually the case, his appearance gave a sense of dignity, but when he spoke, he was artless and simple.

"And? What kind of women troubles are we talking about?"

"Well, I could tell if I could see more of his face. Right, there are signs that he has some kind of fate with noblewomen. You should be careful even if you get invited to the bedroom; right now, if you spend the night together with either, it won't be a good thing."

"With either?"

"Stan, what are you doing?" Talcott appeared from behind. Also carrying a tray, he punched Stan in the back. "I told you to get a seat. You don't have time to speak to Mephians."

After he had one-sidedly declared that and given Orba a sidelong glare, the two left.

"Noblewomen, is it?" Sitting besides Shique, Gilliam gave an uninterested smile as he gnawed at a chicken bone. "If I remember right, either in Tydan or Ba Roux you saved a woman who was being attacked by a dragon in the amphitheatre. From what I heard afterwards, that was Mephius' imperial princess."

"That's not all though. I've told you about Orba, right?"

"You'd have to be crazy to believe that drivel."

Gilliam had heard about Orba being Prince Gil's body double. But as he had been away from Solon during the time Orba spent as a body double, the tale seemed impossible to believe. For a start, he knew from gossip that the masked gladiator Orba was active within the Imperial Guards and that he had won the overall victory at the Founding Festival's gladiatorial games.

"Are you saying that he played the parts of both Orba and Gil?"

With that, he refused to listen anymore. Shique had also half given up.

"If you don't believe it, fine. But don't go telling anyone else."

"I'm not stupid enough to make myself a laughingstock."

It was still early in the evening but Gilliam was drinking wine like it was water. It was three days since they had been hired as mercenaries. With war close at hand, they practised working in files and each one was reviewed as to which weapons and fighting styles they were good with, but even though they were drenched in sweat every day from training, the mercenaries were still wilful.  

''I came to the wrong place''.

It occurred in passing to Orba that having to hide his face was inconvenient. Since he had thrown everything away anyway, he should have gone to a land where the prince of Mephius' face was unknown.

"Orba," said Shique who seemed to have realised his mood.  "I know how you feel; this region's climate and features are just too different from Mephius that it's tough in and of itself. Oh well, once we've had our fill of work here, we can always go somewhere else. How about the coastal countries next time? Have you ever seen the sea, Orba?"

"You sure take things at your ease." He had intended to feign curtness but couldn't help but smile wryly.

The dining hall was filled to the brim with mercenaries of all origins and ages. But Mephians were rare as Taúlia and Mephius had not had diplomatic relations for over a hundred years. If you went back to the time of Zer Tauran when the city-states currently scattered throughout the west had been united under a single flag, then it was close to two hundred years. During that time, there had been innumerable fights. Things were fine since this was a gathering of mercenaries, but if this had been a hall used by regular soldiers, the circumstances for Orba and the others would have somewhat different. Even if Governor-General Ax Bazgan had suddenly decided in favour of reconciliation with Mephius, it was not so easy to break the chains of fights and hatred that had accumulated between both countries over the long years.

"You being you, you must hate not having a plan." His face having now gone red, Gilliam spoke. "You're not particularly interested in the mercenary business, are you? After leaving the Imperial Guards, what were you planning on doing?"

"Well..."
[[Image:Rakuin no Monshou v05 059.jpg|thumb]]

"Well, nothing! From back when we were gladiators, I could never understand what you were thinking. But now it's different from when we were gladiators, we're companions who'll fight shoulder to shoulder. If you were a bit more cooperative..."

"Wah! I never expected to hear something like that coming from you. You're the one who was always getting scolded by Tarkas-dono for causing trouble."

"Shut up!"

While the two were going back and forth, Orba stopped eating and looked up at the dimly-lit ceiling.

''How long has it been?'' He wondered.

Not that much time had passed since he left Mephian soil. Two weeks at most. And yet when he remembered all the things that had happened in Mephius, he felt like they were events from a far off past.

Nobody here other than Shique knew of it and if they were told about it, they would probably be like Gilliam and not believe that Orba, once a boy who had been forced into becoming a gladiator who killed for public entertainment, had by some trick of fate become the body double of the Imperial Dynasty of Mephius' Crown Prince Gil Mephius and had fought in this war-torn era.

It happened just after Mephius and the Kingdom of Garbera had made peace at the end of a ten-year war. Princess Vileena Owell was sent from Garbera as a fiancée to be married into Mephius and Orba, wearing the "mask" of Gil, had in Garbera defeated the great general Ryucown who had risen in revolt and in Mephius had foiled the aristocrat Zaat Quark's planned uprising. Furthermore, when Taúlia had crossed over the border and he had only a small number of soldiers to hand, he had prevented their advance by making use of the expectations held by Noue Salzantes, the resourceful Garberan commander who had tempted Zaat into revolt, and had established an agreement for peace between Taúlia's governor-general Ax Bazgan and Gil.

Where these many-sided activities would end, no one knew. Later, when Garbera and Ende had been on the verge of opening hostilities, Gil had ignored Emperor Guhl's orders and had rushed in reinforcement to Garbera.

Just as Gil Mephius' name seemed about to resound throughout the centre of the continent, the prince had suddenly disappeared from the front stage of history. He was assassinated by one of Mephius' twelve generals, Oubary Bilan.

… Of course since Orba was right here, this wasn't true. It had been made to look that way as revenge against Oubary Bilan for burning down Orba's home village six years earlier.

''Six years''.

It could be said that Orba had lived only for revenge against Oubary.

When he had lived on the streets by banding together with hoodlums, when he had been degraded to the status of gladiator and had been forced to live next to death, and when he was suddenly made the crown prince's body double because their appearances were exactly alike.

The black blood that flowed within him, the lines of his muscles that had changed beyond recognition in six years, the opponents he had gone through one by one; all had been solely for the sake of destroying Oubary. In a sense – although he himself would never accept it – those six years had shone. Although dark and repulsive, made of the viscous blood he was so drenched in that he could no longer tell if it was his or that of other people, they had shone.

As proof of that, now that he had achieved his revenge against Oubary, he had lost his aim in life.

Even acting as a body double had only been a way to get close to Oubary and thus get his revenge. And so, it was no longer necessary to wear the "mask" of Mephius' crown prince. For the double purpose of throwing Oubary down into the bowels of the earth and of making the prince disappear, Orba had set up Gil Mephius' assassination.


It had been two weeks since then.

Although somehow or another Orba had left with Shique and Gilliam when they had gone west to become mercenaries, as Gilliam said, it wasn't something that he himself had truly wanted.

''Now, after so long''.

If he became a soldier, who would he have to kill, what would he gain by it? Taking up the sword was troublesome. But Orba didn't know any other way to survive. In this short period of time, Orba had come to realise that he truly couldn't do anything except hold a sword. This was because no other way of living into the future had occurred to him.

Taúlia, or rather the entire region of Tauran, was nearing a crisis because of the troops of a mysterious sorcerer who called himself Garda. That rumour had been going around from since when Orba was the prince's body double. At that time, his existence had been no more than unidentified threat that had appeared in the north, but now the troops would soon be approaching Taúlia.

''Am I fascinated because I still want to be a hero? Officially enter into service in Taúlia then go up in the world by accomplishing one feat after another?''

Like the dream he had imagined in his childhood of becoming successful through nothing but his sword... Although that was a plan for the future, Orba didn't feel any more cheerful.

"You're a thoroughly strange guy." said Gilliam.

"What?"

"Even back when we were gladiators, you didn't have such gloomy eyes as now. Or rather, it's now that you look as though you're in despair because your freedom has been snatched away. When you're around, liquor loses its taste. Hurry up and go back to the room, Boy."

"I'll do that."

Just as he had roughly flung those words over his shoulder and was about to get up,

"Were you the one who beat Adelber in a sword fight?"

''Bouwen''.

As Bouwen Tedos, the commander of the Fifth Army Corps called out to him, his immediate reaction was to want to turn his face away. He had met him when he wore the "mask" of Prince Gil.

"That's him, general."

As Shique and the others were about to respectfully get to their feet, Bouwen stopped them with sign of his hand. Among the six soldiers present there, the only one who was legitimately a "general" was Bouwen. Although young, his bearing gave a feeling of dignity.

"I see. I really can't tell what his face looks like at all. Is what is under those bandages really so awful?"

"I was disfigured in an epidemic when I was child."

"Let me see. Even just a little is fine."

"..."

"What is it?"

Though he asked his question calmly, Bouwen's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's.

''Refuse and he'll suspect me of being an enemy spy or something''.

Orba felt intuitively. A mercenary who wouldn't show his face was certainly suspicious. As Shique and Gilliam watched silently on, Orba raised his hands to his bandages. As he was untying them,

"Ah, it's fine. My apologies." Bouwen stopped him with an upraised hand. Orba redid the bandage without saying a word. Shique had smeared the bandages with some suspicious medicine he had bought that dyed the skin red. Bouwen seemed to have seen it at a glance.

"Still, you certainly seem a bit frail for the battlefield. You said your name was Orba? You remind me of that Mephian gladiator. It would be spot on if you wore a mask."

After cheerfully adding "I'll treat you," he headed towards the kitchen. Meals here were basically free but if they paid out of their own pocket, they could get larger portions and buy alcohol.

"Hmm, quite a worthy person," Shique chuckled. "Orba, don't you think the impression is different from when you met him as the crown prince?"

"Maybe."

A new figure came racing in. He was an armed soldier who wore the uniform of the castle's Interior Guards. He stopped when he recognised Orba and the others.

"Oh, are you the Mephians who were hired as mercenaries?" He asked and went up to them.

Upon hearing 'Mephians', Gilliam grimaced. As they were former enemies of the Taúlians, had the soldier come here to pick some sort of fight or perhaps because of their past of being worked as slaves? Either way, he didn't want to be labelled as being a Mephian. Standing in, Shique asked,

"Do you need us?"

"No, that's – Ah, General Bouwen."

"What's going on?"

The soldier stood to attention as the general returned with a bottle of wine. And spoke a name that nobody there was expecting,

"N-No. It's Lady Esmena."

"The princess?"

"Yes. When she heard that Mephians had come, the princess said that she absolutely wanted to meet them."

"Wh-Why?"

"I was not given a reason. But, it is unusual for the princess to so actively request that something be done. Furthermore, as Lady Esmena has shut herself in her room these past several days, I wanted if possible to grant her wish."

"Mephius, is it?" For some reason, Bouwen bitterly chewed the edge of his lips. "But are you calling mercenaries before you when that is the only point they have in common?"

"Er?"

"No, it's fine. Well, how about it? Our country's Princess Esmena wants to meet you."

"We are after all but former sword slaves. To meet such an exalted person face-to-face..." Shique was about to refuse when,

"If we're talking about exalted people, didn't we serve as Imperial Guards to Mephius' crown prince?" Gilliam joined in from the side. He judged that this was a valuable opportunity.

''I-Idiot!''

While Shique glared at him, Bouwen opened his eyes wide.

"What? Imperial Guards?"

"N-No. It was only temporary." Shique covered up without a moment's delay. "We were once taken up by the prince and took part in the battle at Garbera's Zaim Fortress. After being given a reward, we immediately left Mephius, so we couldn't possibly call ourselves Imperial Guards."

Bouwen appeared plunged in thought for a short moment then,

"I get it. Hey, show them the way."

"Yes, Sir." The soldier respectfully obeyed. And so before they knew it, Orba and the others' wishes no longer seemed to matter.

''Esmena?''

That name flitted through Orba's mind. She was the daughter of Ax Bazgan, the governor-general of Taúlia. Furthermore, she had two or three times met Prince Gil face-to-face.

He should have already let go of his past as Gil. And yet, he felt strangely sentimental.

''I knew it, I came to the wrong place''.

"Hey, it turned out to be true," Gilliam said in a low voice as they were leaving. "That man's prediction. He said you had a fate involving noblewomen."