Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume1 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 2===


After returning to Tiwana, Percy Leegan had, naturally, gone to stay at his parents’ residence. House Leegan had a mansion close to the palace, and compared to Leo Attiel, he received a warm welcome from his family. Even so –

“You did your duty well.” – His parents’ expressions as they were congratulating him were a lot like Sovereign-Prince Magrid’s when he had thanked for the trouble he had taken.

The palace had not yet decided how to assess his actions in helping the prince escape, and his parents and brother had likewise not yet decided what attitude to take. Even when listening with rapt attention to Percy’s tales of the battlefield, they could not conceal the worry behind lurking behind their appreciative expressions.

“Will you be going back to the battlefield?” his father asked, trying to make his question seem offhanded.

“If I receive orders to, then I think I would like to head back to Conscon immediately,” Percy answered without a moment’s hesitation, but he had yet to receive official notice about what was to happen to him next.

It felt a bit anti-climactic. He had imagined that bringing the hostage prince back would stir things up considerably within the country, but the only news was that the vassal-lords had descended onto the palace, and not a single concrete action had been taken.

It was as though both the country’s position and Percy’s own situation were hanging in mid-air. 

''Isn’t it the same for ‘Lord Shalling’?''

Nauma Laumarl and his troops were still at Conscon Temple. Given that there were suspicions about Atall’s participation, the sovereign-prince naturally very much wanted to pull them out, but if several hundred soldiers were to travel to Atall, the spies at the temple would have their suspicions confirmed. Until the situation had calmed down, Nauma had no choice but to remain where he was as “Lord Shalling”.

Nauma must be pretty bewildered as well. Percy was supposed to lead the soldiers in an attack on the enemy headquarters, but instead of accomplishing that mission, he had returned to their own country before anyone else, taking the prince with him as a sort of small souvenir. Not just bewildered, either.

“T-That damn cub from House Leegan has gone and a fool of me all over again! He robbed me of my soldiers and grabbed all the glory!”

Percy could easily imagine that worthy gentleman working himself up into a towering rage.

“Given that it’s Lord Nauma, that does seem about right,” that pleasant laugh came from Percy’s fiancée, Liana. Her curly, raven-black hair danced lightly above her shoulders.

Her father was one of the vassal-lords, and she had travelled with him when he had come to meet with the sovereign-prince. Ever since arriving at Tiwana, Lord Gloucester, who would one day be his father-in-law, had remained at the palace, so Percy had not seen him once since returning.

Lord Gloucester had been one of those that the sovereign-prince had consulted about the matter of the temple, which meant that he was one of those who had opposed sending reinforcements. Not only had his daughter’s fiancé been part of the army that the sovereign-prince had sent – overriding those objections – but that fiancé had then brought back a dangerous source of trouble to the country. Percy wondered what Lord Gloucester’s expression had been when he had heard of all of that.

''The engagement might be broken off if I play my cards badly'' – it was a danger that he dreaded, but Liana did not mention her father at all. Her manner was exactly the same as usual as she served Percy tea. Her tone was teasing as she continued,

“And since it’s Lord Nauma, he might very well tell everyone that you fled back to Atall by yourself.”

“Don’t say I fled back. If it were possible, I’d want to go back to Conscon as soon as…” Percy started to say, but held his tongue. Going to the battlefield to protect his childish dignity would help neither Atall nor Conscon Temple.

“This gentleman’s feelings seem to still be on the battlefield,” Liana noted with annoyance, seeing that the crease did not disappear from between Percy’s brows.

– It had been about five days since Percy and the others had returned to Tiwana. 

He had invited Camus and Kuon to a tavern away from the city’s main streets. Both of them had been provided with a room in a high-class inn within the town as a reward for having rescued the Second-born Prince. Apparently, they had even been made the offer of having residences built for them, but both had declined.

Camus was a given, but Percy tried to persuade Kuon.

“You don’t have anywhere to go, right? It might not be a bad idea to set up house here.”

The boy from the mountains, however, only shook his head ambiguously. Sipping soup that held some meat on the bone, his eyes were as listless as usual. When that normally hot-headed boy was not given anything to do, he would either violently flare up in an instant, or, on the contrary, fall into lethargy.

Percy turned his attention towards Camus.

“Then what about you, Camus? What are you planning on doing from here on?”

“Is that something you should be asking me?” Camus threw a glare at Percy. It was easy to tell that he was irritated. Although he hadn’t touched anything to drink, his face was ruddy. “What on earth is Atall intending? The prince who was sent as a hostage was about to be murdered, you know? Now should be the time for the sovereign’s family and the people to unite and rise to smite Allion. Instead of which – just how much longer are they going to drag their feet?”

His tone was scathing. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how this pious servant of God was getting more irritated by the day. And all the more so since he had expected the principality to take immediate action after the prince had been rescued.

''None of you bastards can be counted on. Rather than waiting for you to make a move…'' it would better to grab a spear and rush back alone to the temple – it would hardly be surprising if he felt that way. No, actually, he might well have decided to do that several times already. 

However, Camus was neither reckless nor foolish. What could he accomplish, heroically hurrying back to the temple all by himself? Percy could perfectly understand the monk’s feelings. 

Just as Liana had said, Percy still longed for the battlefield.

That fiery chaos had disappeared. The strain of never knowing when a cannonball might fall from overhead, or whether luck might finally abandon him, leaving him to be pierced through the chest by an enemy spear, had also vanished, and with it, the cold sense of danger lurking at every moment just beneath the surface of their daily lives, even though they were living in supposed safety, beneath a roof and within the protection of four stone walls.

Not having anything against which he could hurl a sword, a spear, or his own fighting spirit was more frustrating than anything.

Eating a meagre meal around a campfire, getting into wild conversations that somehow seemed like deeply meaningful discussions for the people involved, then falling asleep, exhausted, to be ready for the next day’s battles – to Percy, those days had been so dazzling that it hurt.

''It’s the same for you, isn’t it? Then let’s go back together'' – he felt the impulse to grasp Camus’s hands and to make him that offer.

Percy, however, was possessed of strong self-control. 

“Sending soldiers to the temple was failure on our part,” he said with a bitter expression.

“And that’s exactly why. Now that they’ve seen through you, don’t be surprised if a group of armed soldiers descends on Tiwana in the near future. It’s better if the people here make a move before that happens. Standing around with their arms crossed simply means waiting for Tiwana Palace to be burned to the ground,” he said fiercely.

It was a simple way of looking at things, but there was some truth to it. Earlier, Percy had felt that the country’s situation was suspended in mid-air, but it was only hanging there by the very thinnest of threads. And the very slightest of breezes would make it sway, cause chaos, and, if things were handled badly, would make it snap. A restlessness born from fear constantly held him in its grip.

''…Lord Leo. Maybe I really did bring something truly dangerous back to the country.''

Just as Percy was thinking that, Camus asked,

“The prince. What about Lord Leo?”

Percy had the feeling that Camus had read his mind.

“W-What do you mean, what about him?”

“That prince we rescued spent many years in Allion, right? Allion are criminals who would even turn their guns against God. He must have tasted untold hardship, and besides, they were going to murder him in secret. He must have a deep grudge against them. If he issues a command, soldiers might gather. We can set the prince up as our leader and declare war on Allion as quickly as possible.”

“Well, as to that…” While measuring Camus’s mood and expression, Percy found it strangely humorous that he was talking about ‘we’. “I don’t think that he does have a grudge against Allion. This is only my own impression, but… it was General Claude Anglatt who was left to take care of the prince. And he saved the prince’s life even though it would plunge him into trouble. I don’t think he has feelings of wanting revenge so much as he has feelings of gratitude towards the general.”

“Right… that man, huh?” Camus hummed and crossed his arms. It looked as though Claude’s personality had a profound effect on him. His tone of voice became somewhat subdued. “Hmm, Lord Leo… To start off with, does he even have what it takes to be a leader?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m just going by his behaviour in the mountains, but he didn’t look like someone who leads soldiers.”

“Going by his build, he’s no fighter, either,” said Kuon. He sucked the bone from which most of the meat had already been picked off.

'''You’re''' ''saying that…'' Percy couldn’t help but think. After all, Kuon was still growing.

Camus nodded. “He definitely gave the impression of being a delicate aristocrat who’s only suited to scholarship. I’m not sure that anyone would gather if he issued a command,” he readily overruled his own earlier remark.

Percy was just going to give a strained laugh when Camus added something that Percy could not let slide, “But the men of Atall are pathetic.”

Looking at him closely, his eyes had gone redder than earlier. Perhaps at some point, without his realising it, Camus had emptied Percy’s tankard?

“We’ve been in Tiwana for several days and the men here only seem to be going around wondering what’s going to happen next. They shouldn’t just be thinking about what’s going to happen, but about what ''they'' should do. It’s not like it’s someone else’s problem; isn’t there a single one who is going to pick up a spear or a sword? At least we, God’s faithful, are bravely opposing Allion’s tyranny. So in the end, is there nothing that the godless believe in enough to risk their lives for?”

“Camus, you’re going too far in saying whatever you want. Everyone follows their own way of life. Saying that picking up a sword and fighting head-on is the only solution is…”

“No!” Camus banged his fist against the table. “That kind of sophistry is just superficial wisdom. At times like these, you want the guts to protect yourself and what’s important to you, and to defeat your enemy. That’s what the men of Atall are lacking!”

Percy was worried about how Camus’s voice was gradually getting louder. Looking around them, there was a group of young men at a table a little apart from theirs. Some of them were repeatedly glancing towards them. 

“I’m...” just then, Kuon, who had polished off most of the food but who had not had anything to drink, opened his mouth to speak. “... planning on going back to the temple soon.”

“What?”

Percy and Camus exclaimed together. Kuon seemed to be deliberately talking in a slow, leisurely tone.

“Instead of having a house built, I’ll be getting money. With that money, I can buy horses, guns and armour, and, if possible, hire some soldiers to go back to the temple.”

“O-Oh,” Camus looked deeply moved as his voice escaped from his lips. “Before I even realised it, did you awaken to the divine love that knows no fear of death? As your teacher, I am so happy.”

“I don’t remember seeing anyone as a teacher.” Kuon glared suspiciously at the priest. “But there’s no point staying here. Even if I had a house built, it wouldn’t earn me a living.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a hero who saved the prince. If you wanted to, you could be hired as a soldier by any noble.”

“Even if I become a soldier, I won’t be earning any glory if there’s nowhere to fight.”

Whether consciously or not, Kuon seemed to be making a cynical statement about Atall, which was not going to take any kind of action despite the fact that the prince’s life had been targeted. He crunched on the bone that he still held in his mouth.

“I’m going to the temple. And this time, I’ll get the enemy general.”

''This guy'' – Percy went pale. He knew perfectly well that it wasn’t in Kuon’s nature to make jokes. Which meant that he was being serious. Although he had said earlier that: “It’s fine as long as I can eat”, the fact that he was pursuing such reckless thoughts probably meant there was reason why he wanted to earn fame quickly.

Camus, meanwhile, was practically moved to tears.

“Is it true? Have you decided? Right, then I’ve also made up my mind. Between master and disciple, it should be the master who guides the disciple, but there is no doubt that you have shown me the way. It’s a waste of time to take too long to think about it. God will surely grant us His protection as we face forward. Let us go together and die together, Disciple.”

“I told you: I’m not your disciple. And I’m not planning on dying.”

“W-Wait,” Percy half-stood up from his chair as he hurriedly tried to stop the other two. “What can the two of you do if you back to the temple? You’d basically just be going back to die.”

“My brethren are still fighting in that place of death! The blades are at their throats, and after all, how could the men of Atall, who turn their eyes away from that fact, even begin to understand our courage!?”

Camus’s booming voice finally reverberated throughout the room. Percy one again worried about the people around them, but it was already too late. Men were gathering to their table. They were locals who were all of them drunk, and who were, moreover, all of them young.

“We heard what you were saying.”

“The prince – was it you, by any chance? Are you the ones who brought Lord Leo back?”

“And if we were, what of it?” Camus proudly stuck out his chest. 

The men looked at each other.

“What do you mean, ‘what of it’? You goddamned priest, doing something so stupid!”

“Stupid?” Camus opened his always large eyes even wider. “On Mount Conscon, men are losing their lives one after another; yesterday it was my brothers, today it will be my friends. And everyone always knows that ‘tomorrow, it might be me’, yet even so, they all grasp their spear and their guns, and they fight! It was the same for the soldiers from Atall who went as reinforcements. They risked their lives in your place to fight against Allion’s tyranny. They were not members of the faith, but all of them fell protecting Conscon. Just like the faithful, they have received God’s blessing and have been called to Heaven. And that is stupid? Who dares say so?”

“Shut up!”

“Guys who want to die can just die. The bastards just went off and did whatever they wanted anyway. But I’m saying not to get us involved!”

For a moment, Percy looked up towards the ceiling, stained black from soot.

Caught up in the mood, they were just saying things to hurt their opponents. It wasn’t what they really thought. But although he clearly understood that, he still had hard time swallowing back the dark feelings that rose in his throat.

However – if ''Percy'' had a hard time, it meant that for those who had never had any intention of making any such effort, those words were the same as pouring oil over a burning fire. Camus’s eyebrows bristled like flames and, next to him, Kuon’s previously listless eyes opened wide.

Who was it who made the first move? 

There was the sound of a blow landing along with cries of pain.

“Shit! Bastards!”

“Right, you’re on.”

A chair flew over Percy’s head at the same time as all the men erupted with rage. Angry roars echoed in time to the sound of fists been slammed. 

“Stop. Stop it!”

As he was trying to calm things down, Percy got splashed in the face with the froth from a tankard of beer. Coincidentally, at the same time, he was hit hard in the chest and staggered back a few steps. 

Percy wiped the froth from his eyes and licked the drops which clung around his mouth.

After which –

“Riight.”

– Was all he said. One young man had his back turned towards him, and Percy put all his strength into kicking him in the backside.



Percy desperately dragged Kuon and Camus, who were still swinging their fists and their legs, from the inn. 

It had turned into a truly massive brawl, with even people who didn’t really know the details joining in. But seeing outsiders acting up, men who took pride in their own strength and youths who usually felt dispirited waded in.

With the number of their opponents swelling into a crowd, not even the three of them could get out of it uninjured. Their clothes were torn all over, and blood was oozing from their face and limbs. Camus’s eyes had already gone black and swollen.

Checking behind them as he went, Percy staggered into a narrow alleyway and, for the time being, remained gasping for breath by the edge of a building.

''Good grief. My family’s going to be getting a shock again.''

Although he did have that thought, for some reason, the weight that had been pressing down on his chest seemed to have lightened.

“Damn those unbelievers. Why can’t they show the same anger and guts that they turned against us to Allion?”

“Oh, that’s our master priest alright,” Percy spoke without thinking. “So then, Camus, were you putting your body on the line to teach them?”

“Of course.”

“…Really? Are you an idiot?” Kuon said scathingly, standing next to Camus who was puffing his chest out. He spat a mouthful of blood from his torn lips. “Then all I’ve got to say is wipe your own arse. In the mountains where I’m from, even babies known that much.”

“Oh? From where I was looking, ''you'' were the first to hit them.”

“Don’t be stupid. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kuon looked away.

Percy laughed and clapped the two of them on the shoulder.

The stars were sprinkled overhead.



Afterwards, Percy crept home with stealthy footsteps. He hadn't wanted his family to see him with a swollen face, but when he got there, he learned that Atall’s palace had received news that threatened to send it into uproar.

A messenger from Allion was said to be coming. His name was Hayden Swift.