Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===


Darren Actica.

He was one of the vassal-lords who, between them, governed over the southern half of Atall’s territory, and who had once clashed with Leo over the quarry within Savan Roux’s domains. Although officially that fight had never happened, in the end, Darren had been forced to give up on the quarry, and had lost his oldest son, Togo.

It had been half a year since then.

Darren’s attitude never wavered, and he became the leader of what could be called the ‘anti-Leo Attiel’ faction.

“These Personal Guards are outrageous. Have you all forgotten the incident at Conscon? If the prince is put in charge of an armed force, he’ll go over our heads and our lands again, and start wars however he wants.”

He used every possible occasion to remind the vassal-lords of the danger that Leo posed.

Ostensibly, Leo had ‘acted on the sovereign-prince’s orders’ at Conscon, but rumours were being whispered about how he might have wilfully acted entirely on his own, and they had been spread by none other than Darren.

“The only result is that it’s drawn Allion’s attention. If the prince is allowed a free hand to do as he pleases, he might call forth unprecedented danger to Atall. His Personal Guards need to be taken away from him as quickly as possible,” he insisted.

Leo wasn’t the sole target of Darren’s attacks, and he also turned them against Savan Roux.

Given that a church was being built in his territory, Savan was strengthening his exchanges with Conscon. He was inviting a number of monks to discuss how to administer the future cathedral, and to work out plans to establish monasteries and churches throughout his territory.

Whereupon, Darren voiced suspicions that: “Savan strengthening his connection to the temple looks a lot like he actually intends to make the Guinbar area a part of the temple’s territory.”

Although Darren’s speeches – delivered sometimes calmly, sometimes fervently – were impassioned, the response to them had so not been very favourable.

Darren Actica was a particularly powerful vassal-lord, and even the princely House kept an eye on his mood. Nobody could afford to disregard him but, right now, Lord Leo was being extolled as a hero such as Atall had never seen before. There was no one who was going to deliberately oppose that trend. And since Leo was at the time being relatively quiet – probably because he was absorbed in playing with the new toy he had had been given – there was no reason for them to feel a sense of urgency.

''Shit, those damn fools are just sitting on the fence. As usual, all they care about is what’s right in front of them. It will be too late by the time they realise I’m right. By then, they’ll be nothing left for you bastards except kneel in a row before Leo, waiting for him to slice off your heads.''

It was ironic: Darren spent his every day criticising Leo, yet he was the only one who perfectly agreed with Leo's long-hald dissatisfaction against the vassal-lords and other nobles.

As his gloom-filled days piled up, the only one to offer him any support was Oswell Taholin.

Up until that point, the two of them had never had much to do with one another. This was natural enough: Darren had been the driving force behind toppling the previous sovereign-prince, and had accrued considerable power as the ruling House lost prestige, whereas Oswell was comparatively close to the sovereign-prince.

If one traced their family line back to its origins, then most of the nobles who administered the northern half of the principality could be said to be linked by blood to the princely house. Conversely, the Taholin family had strengthened their relationship with the centre of power either by adopting sons of high social standing, or by arranging marriages with well-connected children.

Therefore, rather than saying that Darren and Oswell ‘had little to do with one another’, it was more accurate to say that when they came into contact, they were like mutually opposing forces that repulsed one another, and so they actively avoided having anything to do together.

Yet now, they were rapidly narrowing the distance between them.

“I was the one who once persuaded the sovereign-prince to send reinforcements to Conscon, but I always advocated sending mercenaries whose origins were unknown, to help the temple in secret. I certainly never imagined that the prince would openly fly the flag of House Attiel, or that he would personally lead troops against Allion,” said Oswell.
Both of them appeared to share the opinion that “Lord Leo’s very existence might harm Atall.”

Having obtained such an unexpected ally, Darren almost felt like jumping for joy.

Since then, the two of them had been meeting frequently. Sometimes, it was in each other’s territories, and sometimes they avoided attention by dressing up as commoners and meeting in cheap, downtown taverns. On these occasions, they talked about what they could do to keep Lord Leo as far away as possible from government and military affairs.

When they held their many discussions, both of them looked for all the world like men who ‘worried about their country’s future’, although Darren’s heart was, of course, not so much concerned with the future of the country as it was consumed by hatred for Leo. Ever since being so badly burned by the second prince, Darren had vowed to have revenge on Leo and Savan. From start to last, it was all about his own personal feelings.

As such, when Oswell – a man completely unrelated to what had happened – climbed on board so eagerly, Darren felt complacent. ''You just need to talk about ‘fearing for the country’, and that kind of idiot jumps on it. It’s worth making use of him since it’s so easy to do so.''

In fact, however, Oswell did not have a single shred of loyalty towards the ruling family, nor one ounce of patriotic feeling towards Atall. Looking at things from a national perspective, it was actually Oswell who was infinitely more unscrupulous than Darren.



─ Just as Hawking Ingram had once explained to Hayden Swift, Oswell Taholin, despite being one of the vassal-lords of Atall, had maintained a secret correspondence with Commander Hawking, and so, through him, with the Kingdom of Allion.

It dated back to seven years earlier.

Back then, when the principality had allied itself with Shazarn, and so had been attacked by Allion, Oswell had already agreed to work with Hawking. To borrow Hawking’s words, “if the time had come and we had given him the order, he would even have risen to cause trouble from inside the country.”

Even though it had already been seven years, Oswell was prepared to bare his fangs towards the Sovereign House of Attiel.

“Up until now, I’ve always bee striving to build a connection to the centre of power, but this tiny country doesn’t have a future anymore,” he believed.

“It would be ridiculous for a man of my intelligence to be destroyed along with this insignificant country. Someday, I want to wear a toga of cinnabar-purple,” he had thought for some time past.

‘A toga of cinnabar-purple’ was what high-ranking nobles in Allion wore to festivals or when they sat at important meetings.

When Hayden had been planning his second march on the temple, Oswell had received a communication from Hawking, and had already made preparations to gather soldiers. Yet in the end, the plan had fallen through since Lord Leo had defeated Hayden.

This had crushed Oswell’s second chance at becoming an Allian aristocrat, and it left him extremely despondent, yet even so, he continued to exchange messages with Hawking.

It was a few months later when a third opportunity arose.

Instead of the usual messenger, Hawking dispatched one of his direct retainers to Oswell’s residence. He piled bags of money onto a desk. The purpose of those funds was “to erase Leo and destroy Guinbar Church.”

''Erase the prince'' – Oswell caught his breath when he heard it.

But it only lasted a moment. He was a man who had twice plotted to stage a rebellion within Atall’s domains – he had long since steeled his resolve.

It was at that point that he started getting rapidly closer to Darren. Here, after all, was a man who was openly criticising Lord Leo. On top of that, during their many meetings together, he had come to realise something – ''this is a man who holds extraordinary spite and hostility towards Leo.''

It was certainly timely. If he did a good job of manipulating Darren, then he would be able to accomplish his purpose without getting his own hands dirty. In short, and contrary to what Darren believed, Oswell was the one ‘making use’ of his accomplice.

Incidentally, and to talk about details that were hidden even deeper, the idea of ‘erasing the prince’ came solely from the Allian commander, Hawking Ingram. It was not an order from the king. The king of Allion had already shrugged off the question of Atall, and was having a great time riding his war horses east and west to pacify the situation inside his lands.

However, Hawking had cooperated with Hayden before Leo killed him, and he had also met the prince in person at the afore-mentioned meeting. As a result, his instincts were telling him that – ''Leo Attiel is dangerous.''

For the time being, Leo was still young and, as far as Allion was concerned, he was not worth fearing. But although his country was small, his talent was disproportionately large, and one day, he would surely cause Allion harm.

And while he was at it, Hawking also judged that the church which was being built within Atall might prove an obstacle to Allion if the matter with Atall came to war. There were many adherents of the Cross Faith in Allion. He feared that, as had already been the case with Conscon Temple, the country might be held back from the inside because of the links between members of the same faith.

Although he had retired from the front lines, Hawking loved Allion, his native land, more than anyone. He was a man who genuinely believed that – ''If one day the entire continent is unified, then the flag flying in its capital city has to be Allion’s''. If his eyes landed on the sprout from a bad seed, then no matter how small it was, he would not rest until he had trampled it underfoot.

Which was why Hawking pretended that this was the king’s own will, and handed over those war funds while murmuring, “The king of Allion has great hopes for you, Sir Oswell.”

Basically, Hawking was using Oswell, Oswell was using Darren, and both of them were planning on removing Leo without getting their own hands dirty.

So then, Darren and Oswell.

These two met repeatedly, and their discussion gradually grew heated. At some point, Darren confided to Oswell about his son, Togo –

“He was murdered by those base, vile cowards, Savan and Leo.”

This, of course, was false. It was true that Togo had fallen into a trap laid by Leo, but he had actually been killed by an assassin sent by Darren himself. He had said it only as a way of attracting Oswell’s sympathy, but Oswell looked so sorry for him, his eyes even filling with tears, that it was instead Darren who got pulled in and who started to cry.

Oswell took the considerable funds he had received and handed them over to Darren, claiming that they were “what I’ve managed to scrape up.” Darren, needless to say, never suspected that Allion was manoeuvring behind the scenes.

Delighted with the offer of so much money, he hired soldiers for what was to come.



─ While Darren was furthering his plans, Leo Attiel was actually paying close attention to his every move. After all, this was a man who even had his own son killed, and who was clearly hostile towards Leo. Moreover, over the past half year, he relentlessly and openly criticised Leo’s own actions, as well as the creation of his Personal Guards.

During that half a year, they had only seen each other once. It was on the day when Leo had returned to Tiwana’s castle to prepare for the conference, and they had passed by each other in a corridor.

“I hear you have been admonishing me. Please be gentle, Sir Darren,” said Leo.

“Now, now. I say what I do simply because I have sworn allegiance to the princely House, and because I hope to see a brilliant future for Atall. Your Highness Leo, you possess talent second to none. I earnestly implore you to turn that keen intelligence of yours in a different direction,” Darren had responded with a smile.

While publicly maintaining that relationship, Leo had secretly sent several people to Darren’s main citadel. Disguised as merchants or pilgrims of the Cross Faith, they were to carefully observe the situation in both town and castle.

Most of those sent out that way were the former retainers to the Leegan House, owing to the fact that they had the most experience. Leo, always alert to opportunities, decided that “this is the perfect chance,” and had several men from his own troop go with them, to learn how to carry out reconnaissance duties.

At first, there had been no movement from Darren’s side but, after the talks with Allion and Dytiann, Leo received more and more reports of human activity. Lesser castle lords under Darren’s banner, and the governors of his forts were bringing their troops to his main castle town.

They claimed that “marauding soldiers sent by another power have set up base nearby.” Yet when Leo sent people to investigate, just to be sure, they didn't hear the whisper of a rumour about marauders.

With that much information in hand, even someone other than Leo would be able to realise that Darren was planning on taking military action. It was also clear that he did not want his objective to be known.

Did he intend to come up with some reason or another to attack Guinbar again, or was he thinking of targeting Lord Leo himself?

“I’ll only end up on the defensive if I just wait and see,” Leo was forced into making a rapid decision.

Unlike when he had opposed Hayden, and every time, Leo could not postpone things until after he had carefully thought things through. There was, however, one very considerable difference between this time and all the previous ones –

Before, Leo had always been driven by a sense of urgency and necessity. Which meant that he had no choice but to make his move, just as though he was being pushed forward by fire. Even if his methods had been a bit rough-and-ready, simply waiting would result in him being consumed by the flames, so the first priority had been to find a way – any way – to take action.

This time, however, when he heard that ''Darren is making a move'', Leo’s expression had been exactly like someone who has been told that a long-expected caller has finally arrived.

''He’s moving? He’s doing me the favour of making his move?''

Now, when he stood to meet the enemy, it was no longer because he had no other choice, nor because doing so was the only way to protect himself and what he held dear.

This was an opportunity that Leo Attiel had no intention of letting slip.



Leo immediately summoned Percy, Camus and Kuon to Guinbar Castle.

“I’m thinking of luring him in,” Leo stated after explaining about Darren’s movements. He wanted to probe the vassal-lord’s intentions by deliberately leaving him an opening. And if Darren was really thinking of killing him, Leo would entice him into trying to carry that out, then turn the tables on him and attack him by surprise.

'It’s dangerous'' – both Percy and Camus shared that thought, but neither spoke it out loud. They were starting to get used to Leo’s way of doing things. Of course what he did was going to be dangerous, and the prince himself acknowledged that danger when he declared that ''I no longer have any choice but to do this''.

Even in that situation, however, Percy could not help but give him a reminder.

“Prince, I’m sure you are well aware of this, but fighting against Darrens’ group means…”

“Bringing civil war to Atall,” Leo readily acknowledged. “But I don’t intend to allow that fire to spread. We’ll extinguish it at once by swiftly and accurately targeting his weak point. This is necessary.”

Percy nodded. If anyone – be they from Allion or from Atall itself – was targeting the prince’s life, then Percy would naturally grasp his spear while standing as Leo’s shield. And if Darren was plotting to rebel because of his personal grudge against the princely house, then it would bear out Leo’s fears that the country lacked unity, while also providing the prince with an opportunity to show off his strength to the other vassal-lords.

Which was precisely why they needed to be swift and accurate. They could not allow anyone the time to interfere.

Leo proposed a plan, on which Percy and Camus offered comments. Kuon sat on the floor in a corner of the room, cradling a sword. Although he remained taciturn, the irritation that had been showing on his face recently had been wiped away.

When the meeting was over, he spoke for the first time since entering the room.

“Is it going to be war?”

The prince confirmed it –

“It is…. Probably.”

“I’d be bothered if it wasn’t,” the corners of Kuon’s mouth curled upwards.

After holding several other similar meetings, Leo started to take action.

First of all, he summoned the Personal Guards, who were stationed throughout Guinbar. The vassal-lords had assembled six hundred soldiers, while he himself had conscripted three hundred from among the people. Counting the reserve soldiers, the total number exceeded a thousand. Since ample funds had also been collected from the vassal-lords, they were equipped with guns, cannons and armour all in the latest model, and had plenty of horses. In terms simply of numbers, Darren could perhaps match that one thousand if he called up the soldiers in his territory for military service, but if he had to hurriedly arrange for cavalrymen, then he would have fewer than three hundred, even including the vassals of House Actica.

When Darren Actica learned of Leo’s movements, he felt considerably shaken.

''Does he suspect something?'' Darren wondered, upon hearing that the prince was gathering all of the soldiers he had to hand.

Just as Leo had guessed, Darren was preparing to attack Guinbar. After spreading false rumours that “Savan is plotting with Conscon Temple and intens to rebel,” he would march all of his troops on Guinbar in one go, on the pretence that, “I found out that Savan’s first wave of attack was going to be directed at my territory, and so I decided to pre-empt him.”

The plan was that later, when it came to making excuses to the sovereign-prince, Oswell would back him up. Although Darren was unaware of Oswell’s connection to Allion, that connection meant that Oswell could obtain endless amounts of letters and seals related to the Cross Faith within Allion. In other words, they could create ample evidence of a connection between Savan and the Cross Faith after Guinbar’s castle town had been reduced to ashes.

While he was at it, Darren had every intention of killing Lord Leo, given how frequently the prince visited Guinbar. For that too, he had prepared ay number of reasons.

“The good-natured prince was happily staying for a time at Guinbar Castle without realising anything about Savan’s schemes. When my troops neared the castle, the prince terribly mistook the situation, and rose to defend Savan. When the prince appeared before us, leading his soldiers, we were reluctantly compelled to fight against him. As a result, the prince fled, and we have not been able to find him since.” – something along those lines would do fine.

The prince liked to play at being a hero, so a made-up story like that one would sound plausible.

After obtaining Oswell’s support, Darren had explained the entire plan to no one but a handful of close relatives and vassals.

“We’ll do it.” – All of them, starting with Dingo Actica, his second son, had shown their willingness. They believed, after all, that his eldest son, Togo, had been killed when he fell into a trap laid by Leo and Savan. Darren had told no one, not even those closest to him, that he was the one who had sent out an assassin against his first-born son.

The head of House Actica was as he was, and, on top of that, his loyalty to the princely house was essentially non-existent. Or rather –

“The ruling house is so happy about that matter concerning Leo that they seem to have forgotten what happened to the previous sovereign-prince. Now is the time to show them our power.”

From the ambition he showed, it was as though he himself were a sovereign.

It was as their preparations were reaching the final stage, that they received reports that “the second prince’s Personal Guards are gathering at Guinbar Castle.” Darren’s face went pale when he heard about it.

Yet Leo did not keep his Guards long at Guinbar, and soon moved most of them away. Apparently, he was going to leave them for a while with Conscon Temple, which he had close ties to. Darren did not know whether a group of marauding soldiers had appeared nearby, or whether Leo wanted to have his men train with the warrior monks, but this was pretty good news either way.

There was more good news to come.

Leo had not only summoned his Guards, he had also invited his fiancée, Florrie, to come from Tiwana. It seemed that after seeing the Personal Guards off at the border, the prince intended to travel with a small number of the remaining soldiers to a an area of holiday villas on the edge of Guinbar. He was planning to enjoy a summer break with his fiancée in a region noted for its beautiful natural scenery.

''What an opportunity!'' Darren leaped for joy when he heard about it.

However, the excuse mentioned earlier would no longer be usable if Darren’s soldiers led an attack on a quiet rest area. At that point, he went to Oswell Taholin for help.

A new gift soon arrived from Oswell: five hundred full sets of armour.

Their make was not uniform: some were, of course, Atall-made, but sets crafted in Allion, Dytiann and various other countries had also been prepared. They were to allow Darren’s soldiers to pass themselves off as ‘marauders of unknown origin’.

Darren entrusted these five hundred ‘marauders’ to one of his relatives, a military man in command of a fortress. They would first surround the resort area, cutting off the prince’s escape route, then they would swoop in to attack.

Darren would personally lead the remainder of his forces to very edge of Guinbar’s territory. As soon as he received word that the prince’s head had been taken, the two troops would immediately join up and launch the assault on Guinbar – such was the plan.

''Togo, your father will avenge you of our foe.''

Before, Darren had been rather plump, and his skin had been glowing with health, but recently, his face had been growing gaunt. Within it, only his eyes still gleamed sharply.