Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume1 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 1===


After four full days, they had finally arrived before the enemy encampment. It was only on the first day, when they had been galloping on horseback, that they had exchanged frivolous small talk with their companions – which was also a sign that they were feeling tense about the fighting to come. Afterwards, it been nothing but an accumulation of hunger and exhaustion. Whenever they had one of their breaks, everyone would simply sink down without saying a word. When they next stood up, their feet were even heavier than before. What awaited them at the end of the path was only more exhaustion. Yet somehow, while sometimes encouraging, and sometimes scolding friends who had stopped walking, they had reached their destination according to schedule.

Yet just like that, those efforts of theirs which had almost been torture turned to nothing.

The enemy was prowling the mountain with raised torches. ''Have they gotten wind of our attack?'' wondered Percy. For a moment, his entire body was paralysed. The unit which was supposed to strike at the enemy and bravely lead their allies to victory, was now no more than a platoon in enemy territory that could do nothing except wait to be tortured to death.

Kuon smoothly and nimbly climbed a nearby tree to get a wider view of the line of lights. Just as he was narrowing his eyes to try to make how many they were, he spotted another group which has descending further down the very slope that they themselves were on. This group did not yet seem to have noticed them, but they were all shouting something at the same time. Kuon’s ears caught a single word:

“Prince”

Kuon hastily dropped from the tree and reported to Percy. They numbered about twenty or thirty and, from the looks of things –

''They aren’t preparing for an attack?'' thought Percy, but it would be all the same if they noticed them. It was thanks to Kuon’s swift actions that Percy had broken out of his paralysis. Even if it had just been for a moment, he was ashamed of how he had been able to think of nothing except waiting for death.

Coming to a quick decision, he waved his hand to order his men to descend the hill. 

''The first thing to do is to get past that group and find somewhere to hide while Kuon scouts out what the situation is…'' such was the plan that Percy’s mind was formulating, but it was shortly to be rendered useless.

One of Atall’s soldiers who was hurrying towards the front caught his foot in a tree root and tumbled downwards. Because he took the soldiers in front of him with him, the noise was deafening. All at once, shouts erupted from overhead.

“Who are you?”

“The prince?”

“No… I…” 

''Quickly!'' – while grabbing the hands of the fallen soldiers to help them get up, Percy was waving his other hand more furiously than ever before. His allies ran down the hill as though flying down it, but Allion’s soldiers were coming after them from overhead at roughly the same speed.

“Wait! If you don’t wait, we’ll use our arrows on you!”

“We have guns, too.”

As Allion’s soldiers joined up, there were more and more lights overhead. Percy could no longer hide his voice.

“Run, run!” he urged his allies while he himself stopped. He intended to let the enemy get close enough to see him, then run in a different direction from his allies, and he was slowing down to divert the enemy’s attention. His head and heart were filled with cold dread, but his fear for his own safety was nothing compared to the terror of seeing his allies annihilated. For the inexperienced Percy, that latter pain would be unbearable. 

At that point, Camus came racing back. With a: “What are you doing?” he was about to pull Percy by the shoulder, but Percy instead grabbed the warrior monk’s arm.

“Please get everyone down the mountain,” he begged him.

Camus’s eyes wavered before suddenly flaring sharply, and he knocked Percy down. A moment later, an arrow had pierced the ground where Percy had just been standing. It had not come from overhead, but from the side.

''We’re surrounded'' – Percy bit his lips in despair as he stood up. Apparently, the enemy had split into two groups to chase them. And needless to say, Allion had the advantage of terrain.

It was in that instant that a gunshot rang out in retaliation nearby.

It had come from Sarah. She too had come back at some point. Her aim was true, and the Allian soldier who was readying his next arrow collapsed forward. But now twice as many arrows again were being released from overhead and from the right. Now that it was clear that the opponent had the means to counterattack, Allion’s troops no longer had any mercy.

Percy, Camus and Sarah hid behind trees to avoid the arrows, but, at the same time, they could not make the slightest move. The net around them tightened. Percy’s heart was pounding furiously, when he suddenly looked up. The stars were starting to appear.

Then, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed something crawling. Although he couldn’t clearly distinguish the figure, Percy knew instinctively that it was Kuon. He was probably hiding up a tree, waiting for a opening to fire an arrow before jumping down and causing confusion among the enemy.

''Idiot. You should have just escaped'' – Percy inwardly cursed at him. It was impossible to overturn the situation with Kuon alone attacking the enemy. 

''So this is all there is to the second son of the Leegan House.''

If there was one miracle cure for the dread that was freezing his body and soul, then that was resignation. Percy once again felt something like despondence.  

''I wasn’t able to return them a single blow.''

So in the end, was the heat that he had felt in his blood when he had been thinking up these tactics no more than the recklessness of youth? A chill struck Percy’s heart and soul. The faces of his parents and older brother ran through his mind. Next was his fiancée, Liana’s, smile.

At that moment, he shook himself like a wet dog and threw off his lethargy.

''Wait. I can’t let them find out that I’m a noble from Atall.''

If his identity was uncovered, he would be bringing danger not only to the temple, but also to his native country. That was a fear of a different nature and a different magnitude than his previous dread. Whatever death he was to die, there was no way it would be one that brought shame to his loved ones.

His hesitation disappeared in an instant. Within his heart, the narcissistic longing that was his craving for heroic deeds resonated perfectly with his desire not to feel the fear of death any more than this. 

“God’s hand rest over my head. You bastards, praise the name of the Lord!” shouting what few prayers he knew, Percy leaped out alone. 

The sound of an arrow grazed past his ear, and the next one struck just a few millimetres from the tip of his boots. Just as he was about to charge at the enemies with his spear in hand –

“You idiot!”

A voice came from overhead. Kuon sprang down from the tree, cutting down one of the bowmen as he did so. He then killed another. But they were outnumbered. Pressed back by the enemies’ spears, he drew back towards Percy.

“You idiot,” Kuon yelled again as he swung his sword and knocked away an enemy arrow.

''The idiot here is you. Why didn’t you run away?'' Percy was about the shout back despite himself. But Kuon’s strong hand grabbed him and brought him back once more to the shadow of the tree. Meanwhile, Sarah had starting shooting again.

There seemed to be slightly fewer arrows piercing the trees. Yet this was not because the enemy was daunted, but rather because they had guessed that their opponents were few in number and so were moving rapidly to tighten the net.

His breath ragged, Percy looked in turns at Kuon, who was right next to him, grasping a sword, at Camus, who was hiding behind a different tree, then at Sarah, who had her gun in her hand. Each of them wore desperate expressions. And any second now, he might never be able to see their faces again.

When he realised that, his chest was filled with a burning emotion that was different from fear. It hadn’t even been two months since they had first met. Yet as they faced death together, shoulder to shoulder, it felt as though they had been together their entire lives.

“Shit!” a very uncharacteristic swear word spilled from Percy’s lips.

''The idiot is probably me.''

His spear could not save his home country, nor could it even protect his irreplaceable friends. Percy’s hands shook. If it were possible, he would have wanted to carry out a charge and give them a way to escape. But he did not believe that Camus, Sarah or Kuon would go along with that. 

In that case – ''how about if we all move at the same time?'' How about if all four of them simultaneously started running in different directions? Even if one person was shot, that would still leave three, if a second person was shot, that would leave two, and if a third person was killed, at least the last remaining one should be able to escape.

All he could do was hope for the best. Percy made eye contact with his friends. Had Camus understood his intention? He had turned to his younger sister and seemed to be telling her something.

And then –

“Wait, stay your arrows!”

From overhead, a voice tore through the night air just as though it was itself a huge arrow. The attack suddenly ceased. Out of reflex, Percy looked up the hill and saw a figure on horseback. It was approaching towards them, handling the horse with almost outrageous skill down the steep path.

He recognised that imposing figure. 

The rider received a light from one of the bowmen and raised it to his own eye level.

“Oh, I see. If it isn’t the gentleman who helped me by taking my horse’s bit.”

With the light shining on him, Claude Anglatt smiled broadly.



Percy, Camus, Kuon and Sarah were captured by Allion’s forces.

When Claude had called for their surrender, saying that: “I promise you will be treated with courtesy,” Camus had barred his teeth, growling “What!”, but there had been no other choice.

The next action that Percy took was not taken because he had resigned himself to dying, but because he wanted to save the lives of the other three. Faster than anyone, he had left the shadow of the trees and had thrown down his weapon. He had then asked the others to do the same. 

Sarah and Kuon complied, and, in the end, Camus had thrust his spear into the ground, his voice raw with anger.

Even though they were captured, they were not tied up. With Allion’s soldiers in front and behind them, they walked along the mountain path.

“Let go, don’t touch me!” yelled Kuon. Percy managed to sooth him by pointing out that, forget not being touched, it was already unusual for prisoners not to be bound hand and foot.

“Honestly, this is why I told you not to follow us,” Camus said to his younger sister in a serious voice. “Have I ever told you anything that didn’t turn out to be true? Look, it’s the same thing this time, too.”

“What are you bragging about when you’ve been captured by the enemy? I don’t remember having been any kind of burden. Which means, Big Brother, that this is your mistake.”

“What mistake did I make? This plan was impossible from the start. I followed that impossible path, grasping my spear even while knowing that it was hopeless. That is a man’s resolve, and something that you cannot understand.”

Walking in front, Percy’s ears were burning. In their current predicament, he had prepared himself more than once for death, but he was far from having done so with the mental fortitude of a valiant warrior. It was simply because he couldn’t bear the fear that was squeezing his neck tighter and tighter. Percy Leegan was made sharply aware of his own inexperience.

Looking up at Claude’s back as he guided them from the front, Percy let out a quiet sigh.

''Were the other soldiers able to escape? If so, then it was still worth risking death.''

He expected that they would be taken to the fortress, but for some reason, Claude did not choose the road leading to it, and instead continued to climb upwards, leading the four of them to a clearing in the trees.

Watchfires were burning and an encampment had been hastily set up. Upon seeing Claude, soldiers holding guns stood to attention. This was probably somewhere that Claude had been supervising until he had gone to deal with them. Percy was wondering if they had set up a camp away from the fortress because they suspected that there would be a surprise attack, when just then, another rider came racing back from a different direction.

“Oh – Father?” the newcomer opened his eyes wide when he saw Claude, who was likewise on horseback. “Where did you go?”

“Just some minor business,” Claude glanced towards Percy and the others, grinning. He was not looking at them as you would at prisoners. Percy was startled to realise that it was instead exactly as though he was looking at a group of mischievous brats who had been caught red-handed.

“More importantly, did you find them?”

“There was neither hide nor hair of them on the immediate surroundings. Hayden’s soldiers appeared to the north, so we couldn't get close.”

“Damn Hayden. He’s so caught up in this, he’s forgotten he’s supposed to be in command,” Claude barred his teeth. “He’s the man who deliberately spread rumours in the country about soldiers from Atall, and now he’s gone and decided that the prince kidnapped my daughter – he’ll probably be aiming for the prince’s life.”

“He’s also the man who sent you off as messenger, Father. I won’t show him any mercy if he does anything to hurt Florrie…”

“Don’t do anything rash. Sorry, but would you go investigate the surroundings again?”

“Aye,” Claude’s son pulled on his reins and immediately galloped out of the camp again.

For a moment, Claude remained on horseback, glaring towards the north, then jumped down. “We have a bit of a situation of our own, here,” he noted, with a somewhat bitter smile.

Percy could not stop himself from speaking up. “May I ask you what it is? Wasn’t it because you were expecting our attack that you set up this camp?”

“Not at all,” Claude admitted with startling frankness. “A problem’s cropped up. And it’s a problem I can’t get involved in. If my men so much as approach, that Hayden guy will start up the rumours again.”

Percy did not understand what the circumstances were, and it was his first time hearing the name ‘Hayden’. However, he had remembered something when he had heard the word ‘prince’ earlier.

''Claude Anglatt… and the prince. Right, Lord Leo, the second-born prince of Atall, was sent to Allion as a hostage. And if I’m not mistake, he was placed in Claude’s territory.''

Percy experienced a shock that was completely unrelated to his own current situation. Earlier, Claude had also said that “he’ll probably be aiming for the prince’s life” – just what on earth had happened here? Although he did not fully understand, it was certain that whatever it was, it was connected to his own country.

As though he had only just noticed the existence of the four of them, Claude Anglatt swept his gaze over each of them in turn.

“A warrior monk from the temple, a nun and a mercenary… is it?”

“Even if you torture me, I won’t reveal a thing,” Camus glared fiercely. “Besides that, it’s fine if I’m the only one to experience the shame of being taken prisoner. Surely a general from Allion wouldn’t lay hands on woman, right?”

Claude ignored Camus and turned his gaze towards Percy last.

“Were those rumours actually true? I see, I did think that for a mercenary, you… You’re a soldier from Atall, aren’t you?”

“A-Absolutely not. That I… I couldn’t possibly…” Almost giddy from his memories, Percy was about to deny his own origins, but –

“It’d be better not to hide it. If you’re from Atall then, in a way, your goals coincide with ours.”

Claude stopped him quickly, looking as though he had absolutely no patience to listen. Then, he made a proposal that startled all four of them.

“Would you save the life of Atall’s prince, Lord Leo Attiel?”