Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===


This happened a little before Hayden returned home.

Leo had been visiting a great many nobles and vassal lords, arguing for the establishment of a permanent army… When the rumour reached Sovereign-Prince Magrid, he naturally couldn’t just ignore it, and, one morning, he summoned his son.

Sitting at the dining table, Magrid broached the main topic after the meal was over.

“You’ve turned seventeen, haven’t you? As a prince of the Attiel bloodline, I’m sure you have many thoughts and ideas. But if you want to say something, you should tell it directly to your father. You got the retainers involved for nothing, and might have caused needless concern.”

“I am sorry, Father,” Leo bowed his head obediently. “Although I have my own ideas, I am still inexperienced. I was worried that my own limited ideas would only bother you, Father, so I wanted to discuss them with the vassal lords.”

“And, what did everyone say?” asked Branton, Leo’s older brother, looking deeply interested.

Leo laughed slightly as he shook his head.

“They didn’t think much of me. And because of that, somewhere along the way, my visits to them started to be made mostly out sheer stubbornness.”

“That makes sense,” Magrid nodded with relief.

If the talk had ended there, the occasion would have ended in complete harmony. It was the first time in a long time that all the members of the family, Leo included, ate breakfast together. He could have entertained them with tales of his time in Allion, and they would have passed some time quietly together.

However –

“Then, Father – would you hear what I have to say? Oh no, I won’t take up much of your time. From now until the audience starts is all I need,” Leo dove in determinedly.

For a second, Magrid looked annoyed, but this was after all the child who had been sent away as a hostage for six years. He clearly felt some compassion and sympathy for him, as, in a display of generosity, he said,

“It’s fine, but keep it short.”

Just as he had to the nobles, Leo presented his idea at length to his father. The sovereign-prince’s answer, however, was already obvious; as stated previously, Atall’s current system aimed for the greatest possible financial efficiency. Within the country, the vassal lords held considerable authority, and the majority of the income from each of their domains went straight to them. In other words, there was no surplus in the sovereign-prince’s treasury.

“Then you should tighten the pressure on the vassal lords. Have them pay a percentage of their revenue to the national treasury,” Leo brought out another argument. “Are you not the sovereign-prince and guardian of this country, Father? If His Majesty exercises his authority and gives the order, nobody could oppose it.”

“National affairs are not as simple as you think. The sovereign-prince and the retainers are all equally human. Being the guardian of the country does not give me the right to act as though I were a god.”

“Leo, think about it,” Branton came to his father's aid, “you are, of course, father and child, and you love and respect your father. But what if someone took your favourite toy or book by force and without asking you for permission? Even if that person was your beloved father, wouldn't you fight back and, after it was taken, wouldn't you feel bitter about it?”

The reason behind the somewhat childish allegory was that the image of Leo already being a young man of seventeen had not quite taken hold within Branton yet. But Leo was not able to make allowances for that. His face flushed red.

“We're not talking about children's toys. This is a situation which could influence the state of the country. With all due respect, Father, Brother, neither of you understand how important this is.”

After shouting that out loud, what he said next was enough to make everyone there feel uncomfortable.

“If this was Allion, this wouldn't even be up for argument. It's so truly childish. In Allion, the king wields absolute power, and all the retainers bow before him like grass blown down in the wind. That is how you hold a country. For Allion...”

“Enough, Leo!” Magrid finally burst out.

He was usually a gentle monarch, so the maids and even the government officials eating at the lowest end of the table looked surprised.

“Are you trying to say that I lack authority as the ruler?”

“N-No... that isn't...”

“If you like Allion that much, then you can leave your father's protection right now and go running to the king of Allion.  Should I personally write him a letter asking him to take you in?”

Unsurprisingly, Leo could not stand up against that angry rebuke. He bowed down and apologised in tears. Still breathing roughly, Magrid showed himself to be a father:

“Well anyway, you've been away from the country for many years, and you did, after all, accomplish something important. The fact that you are thinking and planning for the country's future is proof in and of itself that you  are growing into adulthood.”

Afterwards, Branton worked hard to calm to situation by asking Leo about his time in Allion, and especially for tales concerning the announcement of his betrothal to Miss Florrie.

Incidentally, Leo's mother and younger brother, Roy, were also present, but the two of them appeared wholly uninterested in the conversation. Seeing her youngest son finishing his meal before anyone else and putting his knife down, his mother asked anxiously,

“Are you not eating any more, Roy? You're not feeling unwell, are you?” When Roy nodded with an abstracted air, her expression turned faintly alarmed. “Don't go to studying and training today. Stay in your room; I'll come and check on you later.”

Beyond that, she did not say anything.



The events at the dining table soon leaked out and spread all over thanks to the servants' gossip.

As a sequel to that, the prince who had so energetically been expounding on his ideals became utterly despondent after being scolded by his father, and once again secluded himself in his room.

Leo Attiel certainly remained in his room for a few days. He went out only once, but immediately shut himself in again. To the people around him, he seemed as though he had been possessed by some timid insect, but very soon after that, the second prince of Atall would make his move, and would implement various measures involving his country and its current enemy, Allion.

Most of them were what he had thought about while he was shut away in his room.

Whether or not those plans succeeded as Leo had hoped is something that will gradually be revealed as the story unfolds, so we will leave that question aside for now. Nevertheless, it is worth saying that Leo held no hesitation.

Normally, when one was about to put large-scale plans into practice, one would definitely experience worries and doubts. Isn’t there something missing? If even a single thing is lacking, won’t it bring it disaster down on me and those around me? – such fears would arise. Leo Attiel, however, put into effect one after another the measures he had imagined.

Now then.

Allow me to interrupt the story for just a moment and ask a certain question.

Do you think that Leo, who, at the tender age of seventeen, carried out his plans with such a complete lack of hesitation – who seemed to be brimming with so much confidence – believed himself to have the makings of a wise general, worthy of leaving his name in history?

Or that he could have guessed that he would later be known far and wide as “the enemy of God”? That they would whisper in every land that he had summoned devils that oppose the Heavens, and that these had imparted their evil wisdom to him, and granted him countless vile traps to use?

That latter is, of course, impossible.

As for the former, it is difficult to know.

Leo had certainly had a talent for scholarship ever since he was young. He read. Both when he was in Atall and when he had been sent to Allion, he read to a staggering extent. Books were by no means inexpensive and, since Claude was an upstart, there was at the time no library in his castle. However, and in part because he hoped that Leo’s love of learning would be a positive influence on his sons, Claude asked the temple priest to buy old manuscripts and such as cheaply as possible, and gave them to Leo, who would finish reading them so quickly after getting them that Claude would joke about it.

“If my territory ends up bankrupt in the near future, it’ll either be because the warlock Hebetes of the bottomless stomach has secretly taken up residence in the castle, or because of that prince from Atall.”

Books are the crystallisation of the wisdom and knowledge of our predecessors. By making their contents ours, we can also imbibe some of that. However, not to repeat myself, but Leo was still only seventeen. He did not know the battlefield. He had never experienced the strategies of adults. Nor had he met and talked with all that many people.

And above all, there was the question of Leo’s personality.

According to those who had known Leo up until then, he was not, by nature, someone who enjoyed fights, and he did not choose the life he led. Although he had shown some slight ambition while in Allion, that was merely in the form of wanting to live a life as something ''other'' than an ‘Attiel’, but, in the end, even that was about to be buried beneath the fate he had been born to. Finally, even when Hayden was going to have him brought to his headquarters – where one cannot deny that death by hanging probably awaited him – Leo only fled because Florrie had dragged him by the hand and forced him to do so.

Even so, Leo cannot simply be dismissed as a ‘coward’. 

He accepted his responsibilities. He had a sense of duty as a hostage sent from Atall, and also when he had been determined not to bring trouble upon the Anglatt family. Leo treated those around him with as much sympathy and consideration as he would himself.

Knowing Leo Attiel’s true personality, it is impossible not to doubtfully question his future actions. Yet I can assert that he did carry out those actions, despite being as he was – or rather, because he was as he was.


When Hayden Swift left Atall, the vassal lords also returned to their domains one after another, as though being pulled along with him. 

They had originally come to the capital to censure the sovereign-prince for sending reinforcements to Conscon Temple. When a messenger from Allion arrived on top of that, Magrid couldn’t help but break out into a cold sweat. This turned out to be a stroke of luck, however: when the messenger’s attitude softened, the vassal lords also suspended their criticisms for the time being.

The sovereign-prince heaved a sigh of relief, although obviously, he didn’t believe that everything was now amicably resolved. There was still the matter of Conscon Temple. It was obvious that Allion had not yet given up on capturing it. However –

“If the temple falls, it will be as good as leaving Atall stark naked,” Oswell Taholin, who had thus persuaded his monarch to send reinforcements, had also returned to his territory without offering any further advice.

''Nauma Laumarl is still at the temple. Should I have him withdraw immediately? No, but… if we abandon Conscon, it’ll turn out just as Oswell said.''

It was a constant source of worry.

“There’s also the issue of Leo’s betrothal. First of all, we need to send a messenger to Miss Florrie’s father, General Anglatt, then next, one to the king of Allion. Could we go as far as having them acknowledge Atall as a friendly nation through this marriage, and have the envoys carry a treaty of non-aggression?”

Time and time again, he sat in talks with his retainers and Branton, his eldest son.

“When His Highness and Miss Florrie have a son, we could also consider sending him to Allion on the grounds of ‘sending him to receive education in his mother’s native country’.”

“Or perhaps we could have the child inherit the Anglatt family’s castle?”

During one, somewhat protracted, conversation, a soldier guarding the Chamber of State Affairs brought in a message. The very Leo Attiel whom they were talking about was outside the door. Magrid’s expression turned grim, whereas Branton’s brightened.

“Isn’t this perfect? After all, he ''is'' the one involved in this marriage. There are sure to also be circumstances on Allion’s side that only Leo knows about. There’s a lot to ask him about.”

Branton truly had all the thoughtfulness of an eldest son, however, not even he could have predicted what his younger brother’s errand was.

“I’ve come to report to you, Your Majesty.”

Once the door was opened, Leo stepped in with an expression just as bright as his brother’s.

“What about?” asked the sovereign-prince. “The previous conversation is already over.”

“Yes, of course. I have come to realise how thoughtless I was being. After you scolded me, Father, I have spent the past few days reflecting deeply upon myself.”

Then what was it he wanted to say? Just as the retainers were wondering if he had come up with an idea for entertainment at the wedding ceremony, Leo smiled,

“I was thinking that, in the near future, I would like to be baptised into the Cross Faith.” 



His tone of voice was utterly inappropriate for what he was saying. He announced it as casually as he would say something like, “from tomorrow onwards, I’m changing my horse’s name from Celios to Atlas.” Although, of course, one couldn’t just respond with, “oh, is that right?”

The people present, Sovereign-Prince Magrid included, were every bit as surprised as they had been when Leo had announced his betrothal with Florrie at the banquet.

Wanting to know if his son was being serious, Magrid sent away the retainers so that only Branton and Leo remained.

“A-Are you quite sane, Leo? What do you mean by this?”

While there were adherents of the Cross Faith in Atall, they were very few in number. Except for in the west, where the Dragon Gods’ Faith flourished, and in the east, in Dytiann, which was held together by the Cross Faith, people throughout the continent mainly held polytheist beliefs which had existed since the Magic Dynasty. Even in Allion, where the notion of spirits was deeply entrenched, the basis of their faith included many of those teachings and legends.

In this region, there were several ‘chief gods’, and in Atall, that role belonged to the “Iron Saint”, Lévy-Rahan. There was a fairly large-scale shrine to him in the capital, and the ruling family frequently used it during festivals and formal events. Consequently, it was unprecedented for a member of the sovereign-prince’s family to convert to another religion.

“As I said, I reached this conclusion after thinking long and hard about it.”

Leo’s point of contact with the Cross Faith had been Camus, the warrior monk. He was one of those who had saved Leo from a nearly certain death, and because of that, his teachings had left a deep impression on Leo. 

“In all honesty, I thought that things like gods only existed in the unreachable heavens, and had nothing to do with us mortals. I was in a distant foreign land, far from you both, Father, Brother, and I lost count of how many times I cursed the gods for giving me such a fate.”

Whether or not he was deliberately saying things that were painful for his father to hear, Leo continued,

“However, I was reminded that although God is an existence to respect, He does not mercilessly hand down a fate whose decrees one must blindly follow.”

He spoke with eyes wide open. The best example was Conscon Temple, Leo continued. They had fought against Allion, whose terror and might Leo knew well for having once lived there himself. They were motivated neither by self-serving pride not by a selfish greed for the spoils of war, but believed that by standing before God, they could empty themselves and discover their own true will and power as humans. 

Sovereign-Prince Magrid frowned. The threatening clouds that had been gathering between Allion and Atall had finally been dispersed, yet if Leo, who had fled from Allion, was now going to do no less than convert to the Cross Faith, he would simply be needlessly provoking their powerful neighbour.

Magrid was about to clearly state his opposition when Leo said something that was the complete reverse of his father’s opinion.

“If I receive baptism into the Cross Faith, I will be able to build a better relationship with Allion.”

When asked what he meant by that, he continued,

“There are many adherents of the Cross Faith in Allion. And there must be equally many who have very mixed feelings regarding the campaign against Conscon Temple. Those who loathe the temple from the bottom of their hearts are probably a minority. Which is why the brunt of the populace’s feelings turned against Atall, which broke the peace treaty and sent soldiers. Therefore, if I join the Cross Faith, the anti-Atallese sentiment should subside somewhat.”

Magrid swallowed back the dissenting opinion that he had been about to voice. It was certainly true that Leo had by far the best understanding of Allion’s internal situation.

“And although you could call this making up excuses after the fact,” Leo still had more to add, “if I, the second prince, am an adherent of the Cross Faith, won’t it make other adherents think that was why Atall couldn’t ignore the danger the temple was in? Or rather, we should actively spread this rumour: that the connection between the temple and the prince goes far back, and that the temple even went out of its way to send warrior monks to save the prince.”

In other words, the point here was to downplay the fact that they had “betrayed Allion” by deeply fixing in people’s minds the impression that they had “taken action to defend God’s teachings”.

Rather than expressing his own thoughts, Leo then spent some time talking about how far the Cross Faith had penetrated Allion, and abut how, although they were by no means a majority group – or rather, for that very reason – they felt a very strong affinity for fellow adherents, and even for those who lived far away from them.

After pondering the matter, Branton showed a willingness to endorse his little brother.

“If on top of his religious conversion, Leo celebrates his wedding to the young lady of the Anglatt House according to the rites and customs of the Cross Faith, wouldn’t the connection to Allion deepen in a double sense?” he spoke up in Leo’s favour.

Magrid folded his arms.