Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter3 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

While on the march, Orba heard various rumours about Helio. Unlike when he was Crown Prince, Orba didn't actively seek out information but the soldiers' conversation spontaneously reached his ears.

King Elargon of Helio had led reinforcements to Eimen in the north but had died in battle a month ago.

Then, as soon as that information reached them, the senior vassals had unexpectedly mobilised their soldiers. To avenge their king and bravely confront Garda's army – was not the reason. They arrested those who were of royal lineage and rose in revolt, attempting to become king themselves. Prostrate with grief at the death of his son, Hardross had been negligent and was captured from the very first.

Without waiting for the foreign enemy to arrive, Helio's royal court was bathed in blood. Those who opposed the rebellion, those who followed the spirit of the age and took part in the rebellion – the chief vassals were torn apart by strife and many talented people were lost.

Then amidst this upheaval, Elargon's orphan, Rogier, disappeared. Rogier was not Queen Marilène's child as she had not been able to produce one, but was a child born to the king and his concubine Teeta. He was nine years old.

When the foolish, gruesome struggle came to an end, the one who had won sovereignty over Helio was a man named Jallah. He had held the position of Deputy Director of Financial Affairs, but he was a man who left such a weak impression that upon hearing his name, the populace couldn't immediately call his face to mind.

Jallah had been on the side of the uprising but when the former chief vassal who led the rebellion had been about to finally grasp the throne, he had suddenly betrayed him and taken his head. After the leading figures came crashing down, Jallah had reaped the benefits with almost no effort on his part.

"Marilène seems to be the one pulling the strings in the background."

The soldiers gossiped. Not only the affair with Jallah but even the rebellion itself might be part of a strategy that Marilène had drawn up.  And then Marilène, who should have been in mourning for her husband, readily chose to become the wife of a rebel who had betrayed Helio's royal family.

"That woman married into it from Cherik. The king of Cherik is Marilène's older brother. She deliberately placed on the throne a man like Jallah that she can manipulate like a puppet."

Furthermore, it was even rumoured that Marilène might have assassinated Elargon's orphan son Rogier as well as the child's mother, the concubine Teeta whose whereabouts were also unknown.

And so they speculated about the dark connection between Marilène and her homeland, however, now that danger was closing in on Helio, no reinforcements had been sent from Cherik. There were various theories but, "It's because of Greygun," was the prevailing opinion.

He had been the commander of Cherik's mercenary force but had incurred King Yamka II's displeasure and had been driven out of the city-state. Jallah had then hired the man at vast expense. It was said that because of that, the enraged Yamka had suspended reinforcements to Helio.

''A succession of strategies and betrayals, huh?''

Even while believing that this had nothing to do with him since he had chosen to become a mercenary, Orba couldn't help thinking about it as he passed through the gate and observed the faces of the people who were lining the streets.

The victims were always the powerless populace. A boy was gazing towards Orba as he marched by. His thin body was clad in shabby and somewhat dirty clothes. But there was hope and yearning in his eyes as he watched the soldiers. Orba quickly turned his eyes away. He was exactly like he himself had once been.


Compared to Taúlia, Helio was surprisingly dusty. The roads were not maintained and plain stone houses were lined up on either side of the streets. Stalls and food carts stood out on the street corners.

Orba, Shique and Gilliam were walking along at the time just before sunset.

They were people who had come in reinforcement to another province. Regular soldiers of course but also mercenaries had a tight military discipline imposed upon them. They weren't even allowed to drink, since it might cause a diplomatic incident if the people or military forces of another country provoked a quarrel.

However, the commanding officer of the platoon the three of them had been incorporated into was a half-hearted man. The mercenary troop had been divided up and although Orba and the others were assigned an unoccupied private house as their quarters, their platoon leader hadn't given them any strict warnings.

"I'll do the roll call before going to bed. Be back before then," was all he had told them. After which, feeling restless, he had been the first to head out.

"But this town sure has nothing."

"Tsk. Listen, Gilliam. Since we attract attention as Mephians, be careful what you say."

Gilliam's bad mood was because although, like the platoon leader, he had been quick to go out, he had been refused entry into a back alley brothel. The store owner had given some plausible excuse or another but, in short, he didn't want to accept a customer from Mephius.

If a rumour sprang up that ''They slept with Mephians in that brothel'', Zerdian guests might stop coming.

So when the openly furious Gilliam had returned, Shique had invited him to eat dinner with Orba and him.

As they had no particular destination in mind, they strolled aimlessly along the streets. These were overflowing with various races of people, Zerdians of course, but also the many mercenaries who had originally been employed by this country.

Exactly as Gilliam had commented critically, there was "nothing" flashy that caught the eye. Although other countries insultingly called Mephius plain and solid, it obviously still looked far more colourful than a tiny city-state.

"Above all, there was entertainment. Entertainment in murdering people." Gilliam said with some self-mockery as he looked back on his days as a gladiator.

For his part, Orba barely opened his mouth and simply gazed apathetically at his surroundings, showing no particular interest in anything.

''Good grief. Leading is a terrible burden'', thought Shique, but he didn't hate taking on that role.
After walking aimlessly for about an hour, they entered a shop.

"Oh?"

The reason that Shique called out was that they suddenly caught sight of Talcott and Stan. The two of them were attached to the same platoon as them. Stan greeted them but Talcott deliberately ignored them, being engrossed in something else.

"I've had enough of that brutal mercenary business. When I met you here, I thought I had found a flower that is only for me. A flower that I feel I'll carry away with these hands rather than have it be picked by other guys. Say, when the fighting is over, how about leaving this town with me?"

He was making advances to a girl working at the shop. She was about twenty years old. Her head wrapped in a vivid red scarf, the woman turned her shoulder and dodged Talcott's hand.

"If you say the same thing sober and after having watched me put my make-up on, then I'll believe it."

She answered laughingly although she was wearing very little make-up. In short, she was quite used to this. Shique could well imagine that she broke away from drunkards like this every night and smiled involuntarily.

In the western Tauran region, there were huge differences in the status of women depending on the country. Here in Helio as in Taúlia, they were comparatively free as to their appearances – although there was still the regional characteristic of exposing as little of the skin as possible – and thus could get jobs in the service industry, but for example in Cherik to the west, it was forbidden for women to appear in public and when they went out, they were strictly obliged to envelop not only their bodies but also their faces in cloth so that only their eyes were exposed.

In any case, the woman who had gently chided Talcott went towards Orba and the others and took their orders. Upon seeing Orba's masked appearance her eyes went a little wide in surprise, but she didn't say anything in particular. Gilliam looked around the store. It wasn't very large and could only take five tables side-by-side, but there didn't appear to be any other store employee.

"Do you manage it alone?"

"My little brother is in the kitchen," The young woman answered adroitly. "He shook off my opposition and took part in the fighting in Eimen, and injured his leg. As he is surly even when he comes out, I've left the kitchen to him."

Her appearance was simple and she was not the type to attract looks and be called beautiful, but her expression and voice were bright and cheerful. She was surely very popular in the neighbourhood. In some ways, she was reminiscent of a woman called Mira, the attendant to the Imperial Guards' Infantry Regiment.

There was one other customer. He was also a member of the same mercenary platoon but unlike Talcott and the others, he sat alone. He was even more taciturn than Orba currently was and his voice wasn't heard again after the initial greeting. His name was something like Kurun.

The young woman who had given her name as Kay came in carrying the food. Roasted mutton flavoured abundantly with spices, pumpkin soup and various vegetables.

Gilliam had ordered beer but the store didn't have any. In its place, a liquor made from nuts was brought out. As it was sharp and very bitter, Gilliam pulled a face after just one mouthful.

"Neither the food nor the drinks here have anything going for them."

"Don't say that. Come on Orba, you eat too. Once you get used to it, eating any country's food is all the same."

As they were more than halfway through their meal,

"Oh, we've never been here before."

"Doesn't it look kind of dirty? That's why I said we should've gone to the earlier shop."

With a clatter of footsteps, the men entered noisily. Glancing at the entrance, Kay frowned for a moment.

They were well-built soldiers in plain equipment.

"Red Hawks," Shique muttered in a whisper. On their breastplates was drawn a bright red hawk. The emblem of the mercenaries led by Greygun.

Ever since coming to Helio, they had had considerable power there and so it was said that they behaved as though the town were theirs. They gallivanted around every day thanks to their abundant war funds and wrecked shops where they claimed there was bad service. They extorted money from wealthy merchants on the grounds that they were protecting the town. Those who defied them even a little were hit, kicked and finally dragged to the Red Hawks' barracks.

King Jallah pretended not to see any of this. Greygun's main hold was that Helio was currently a country with no one else to defend it. And so his soldiers grew more and more arrogant, and not a day went by without them causing trouble.

Shique and the others were getting to see that kind of typical behaviour. The soldiers haughtily sat down and ordered food.

"Oh? There are Mephians here," one of them said, intending to be heard. "Oi, how many Zerdians from Taúlia did you kill? And they dare send them into Tauran!"

"Leave it. Or you'll be murdered by that boy in the mask."

Vulgar laughter sounded. Shique held back Gilliam who was about to wordlessly rise from his seat. That he had not been going to leave the shop was obvious from the way the muscles in his arms were bulging.

Kay brought in the food and alcohol. After the soldiers had complained harshly about the seasoning, when Kay had gone up to them to clear away the empty plates,

"Kyaa!"

Forcibly pulling Kay's hand, a soldier held her in his own arms.

"P-Please stop," courageous and firm, Kay did not lose her smile. "If you are looking for that kind of shop, there are any number in the alleys."

"I'm not interested in prostitutes. I'll show you a good time. As a Red Hawk's woman, you'll have as much money as you want. You'll get to wear nice clothes too. It's not a bad deal."

"Boorish louts," Talcott whispered audibly from where he was. "Their way of flirting is just vulgar."

"I have the shop I inherited from my parents, so..."

"Hah, just hurry up and close such a boring, worthless shop..." The one who spoke was a soldier with full cheeks.
While two or three of the others roared with laughter, Kay scowled and tried to stand up. At that, the soldier with full cheeks shoved her down.

"Sister!"

A young man had suddenly come flying out of the kitchen. Although it had to be said that he was somewhat lacking in force as he did so since he walked with a cane, dragging his right leg. Kay's brother no doubt.

"What are you doing to my sister? Get out!"

He was slender and still at an age where he could be called a boy, but he approached the soldiers with an impressively threatening look. One of them spread his hands wide.

"Oi, oi. You don't need to threaten us like that. Our bad. We'll leave at once."

As he said that, he kicked the boy in the stomach. As his body pitched forward, this time it was Kay who yelled out "Niels!" as she tried to go to him. Her hair was yanked from behind.

"Sure, we'll leave like you asked. But before we leave this shop, it might be that the shop disappears from in front of us, you know?" He forcefully lifted Kay onto his shoulder.

Tsk, Shique bit his lip. Even after having joined roughneck mercenaries, he still wasn't one to toe the line. But they couldn't kick up a row with the Red Hawks. Just then, he saw Kurun out of the corner of his eye. He had hunched his shoulders as though not wanting to be noticed and it looked like he was thoroughly frightened, except that his expression was furious. He was probably dealing with the same inner conflict – just as Shique was thinking that,

"Ugah!"

A strange groan sounded.

One of the soldiers clutched the side of his face.

''It can't be''...

Shique didn't need to wonder any further. At the soldier's side stood the figure of a man in a mask. His fist was stretched out in mid-air.

"Ho," Gilliam grinned and rose from his seat. "For once we agree, boy."

"W-Wait!"

Before Shique had time to stop him, Gilliam rushed in.

"These Mephian bastards!"

"Do you know what will happen to you for laying hands on us?"

"And you," Gilliam threatened in place of Orba, who remained silent. "Don't think you can get away after laying hands on a woman!"

"Damn you, try us!"

With seven of them, the Red Hawks were the more numerous. Even though no sword had been drawn, with the pushing and jostling a confused brawl broke out. While Gilliam caught one of them under his arm and tossed him away, Orba suddenly stepped back from the one he had been grappling with and threw a direct kick at his nose.
Breaking in at that moment to try and stop things, Shique was punched from the side. For a moment, he watched the blood drip from his nose and stain the floor as though it was somebody else's problem then,

"You bastard," his shaking voice sounded like that of a different man. "You injured ''my face''. The face of Shique Aeland, the descendant of an ancient dynasty! "

"Keep yapping!"

He dodged the next fist flung his way by quickly squatting then mercilessly kneed his opponent in the groin.

In the midst of this commotion, nobody noticed that the mercenary called Kurun had disappeared. As for Talcott who had been sitting further away, he had nimbly jumped on top of his table and was cheering enthusiastically. And thereupon hit Stan with his elbow.

He glanced towards the entrance, his eye caught by something, then with surprising speed started running towards the back door. Stan followed after.

At about exactly the same time that the two vanished from sight,

"What are you doing!"

More soldiers appeared in the doorway. No doubt they had come because they had heard the uproar. Unfortunately for Orba and the others however, they were not part of Helio's regular troops. On each of their armoured breasts, a red hawk proudly spread its wings.