Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 2===


When Darren Actica received the report from those of his vassals who had escaped back, he was left literally dumbfounded. 

The force which should have been more than enough to rout Savan’s soldiers had been annihilated, and on top of that, his son Togo had fallen into enemy hands. Moreover, it had become clear that the one who had brought and commanded those troops had been Lord Leo Attiel, and that it was for the sake of building him a large-scale church that Savan’s stone was being quarried.

Darren ground his teeth. It was obvious that Savan and the prince had read his movements and set a trap. His hatred was not only reserved for those two, however, and he dearly wanted to personally chop off the heads of every last one of the bunch which had shamelessly come scurrying home.

Still, the most pressing problem was Togo. It would take no time at all to reveal that the real identity of “Iron Mask” was Darren’s son. Just when he was trying in vain to devise some kind of counter-measure, a messenger arrived from Savan.

Darren made up his mind. Accompanied by several attendants, he rode hard and arrived at Guinbar Castle just as the sun was setting.  

Savan had him guided to the hall which was used for audiences. Although, for all that it was called a hall, it was a cramped room, longer than it was wide, that got crowded with just thirty people inside. There were a few hanging lamps, but it still felt gloomy and oppressive.

Sitting in the castle lord’s seat, Savan thanked Darren for taking the trouble to come all that way. His manner was not at all appropriate for a meeting between castle lords of equal standing, and it was as if he were dealing with a subordinate. Darren desperately fought to swallow his anger and humiliation.

“This is a strange business. You say that an outlaw leader is using my son’s name?”

“Yes, exactly. Your honoured son, Sir Togo, is not with you? If you had brought him along, this absurd inquiry could have ended before it began.”

“Ah, yes, but his health is poor, and he is confined to his bed. My son is very frail, not at all like me. Him leading bandits is simply impossible.”

Darren had broken out into an unstoppable sweat. Savan offered a perfunctory show of concern for Togo’s health before continuing.

“Well then, just to make sure,” he clapped his hands and ordered the captured criminal to be brought before them. 

Before long, a man with his hands tied behind his back entered the hall. Darren scowled: the man certainly seemed to be Togo, but he was still wearing that iron mask. They were sure to have torn the mask off of him and checked his identity when he was first captured, so they must have deliberately put it back on him. Were they trying to put psychological pressure on Darren by having him go through the whole process of having his son be exposed?

The man in the iron mask still didn’t say anything as he was brought forward. There was only one thing that Darren could do.

“It’s a different person,” he spat out after the first glance. “As I just said a moment ago, Togo is at my castle. Which means this can only be a completely different person. Good grief, just what kind of cunning snake is this that he would even use my son’s name?”

“Yet when he was being interrogated by the soldiers, this man seemed curiously well-informed about the Actica House, and the face under the mask looked a lot like your son’s.”

“In this world, there are those frightful beings known as sorcerers. According to what I’ve heard, they can take other people’s appearance and pull off large-scale magic tricks. In Allion especially, the centre of politics is overrun by those who use sorcery. Isn’t this just one of Allion’s tricks to undermine Atall?”

“Oh,” while Savan was glaring warily at Darren, Darren on the other hand was carefully scrutinising the surroundings. He could not see Lord Leo, who was said to be in Guinbar. As for Togo, perhaps he had already completely resigned himself, as he only occasionally stirred slightly, without ever uttering a word.

''Are you taking you father’s feelings into account? Then just stay as you are'', Togo, Darren thought with a prayer-like fervour. ''For now, there’s no other choice. But sooner or later, there will be a chance for me to rescue you.''

That was the direction that Darren’s thoughts were running in, however Savan took the worst step of all those that Darren had anticipated.

“If it isn’t your son, then you won’t mind even if I have him executed on the spot, right?”

For a second, Darren stopped breathing. 

Said otherwise, it was only during that one second that he hesitated. He had already made up his mind and prepared himself ever since leaving his own castle.

“No, I don’t mind. This bandit was caught in your territory; do whatever you want with him.” Darren spoke clearly, his face calm and his voice unwavering.

Savan was beaming as he nodded his head.

“I see. With that, all doubts have been cleared. I really must thank you again for having come. If you have time, why don’t we have a drink? How about a cup of wine after the execution?”

“I’m sorry, but I too still have one or two trifling matters to attend to. I will be taking my leave.”

''Damn you…'' Darren was smiling, but his heart was boiling with anger hot enough to melt iron. 

Of course Savan Roux must have known from the start that the man he had caught was Togo himself. On top of that, he was going to execute the son in front of the father’s very eyes.

''Damn you, Savan, you fucking bastard. You’re only this cocky because the prince decided to help you on a whim. And where is Lord Leo? Bah! What does that childish brat think he can do, when even Sovereign-Prince Magrid fears me? One day, when your church is built, I’ll burn it to the ground along with this castle, you bastards. You’ll get your reward for what you’re trying to do here.'' 

It took everything Darren had to stop his limbs from shaking with fury as he turned on his heel to leave. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the man in the iron mask. It truly needed courage for Darren to look at him. 

And yet –

''Lord Leo!''

Darren’s startled gaze was pulled towards the direction of the man in the mask. At some point, Lord Leo Attiel had appeared close to where the masked man was. He was looking straight at Darren. While Darren hesitated, wondering if he should stop walking and greet the prince, Leo stretched his hand out towards the iron mask. He couldn’t possibly be intending to reveal the son’s face so as to watch the father’s reaction?

''Not even a demon would act that way. You think I’ll fall for your tricks?''

A set look came into Darren’s face. Leo quietly plucked off the mask.

''Ah!'' Despite his determination, Darren almost shouted out involuntarily.

When the mask was removed, the features bared beneath it were not those of his son. It was simply a different person whose build was very similar to Togo’s. Darren dimly recalled that this was one of the marauders that his son had led. It was hardly surprising that he hadn’t said a word until then since there was a gag blocking his mouth.

''W-What is this?''

Darren had just barely been able to hold back his agitation, but immediately afterwards, he was dealt the final blow. Feeling lightheaded, he took two or three staggering steps.

Togo appeared from behind the prince. Although there was a soldier on either side of him, he was not bound with ropes. But his eyes burned with an even fiercer anger than the one Darren had felt towards Savan, and moreover, it was turned directly towards his father.

''This was planned!?''

By then, Darren had come to that realisation. After placing the mask on a different person and making Darren believe that it was his son, Savan had confirmed that he ‘wouldn’t mind even if the man is executed.’ And they had let Togo witness the whole thing.

Who could measure Togo’s grief, despair and anger? He had acted on his father’s orders, yet his father had betrayed him.

He was surely filled with resentment towards Darren. And left behind in this castle, he would soon learn the feeling of hopelessness; since his father had insisted that he was ‘a different person’, he was no longer Togo Actica. He had also lost the support of House Actica. From here on, he was no more than ‘a marauder who had ravaged Guinbar’.

''When will I be executed?'' – It was obvious that Togo, his mind and body worn down by that terror, would be like putty in Savan and Leo’s hands.

He would probably plead before the sovereign-prince that he had gone to Guinbar on his father’s orders. If the testimony came from his Darren’s own son, then it would sound very credible. The political strength and influence that Darren had worked so hard to achieve would collapse. It was even possible that the sovereign-prince would take advantage of it to destroy the Actica House, which was a constant source of hindrance to him.

In other words, Savan and Leo had invited Darren here to threaten him: ''if you try anything further against this territory, we will use our trump card.''

Darren avoided his son’s eyes. In these past few minutes, his glossy skin had lost its springiness and he looked as though he had aged ten or twenty years in one go.

Leo walked up to him as he was totteringly leaving the hall. Although taken aback, Darren had to keep up appearances no matter what the situation was.

“G-Greetings, my lord prince. Were you also here?”

“Even though you went out of your way to visit, it seems that it was a waste of your time and effort.”

“Y-Yes…”

''Damned demon, what do you want now?''

Even though Darren’s anger against the prince was reignited, it didn’t have the same force as earlier. Up until now, he had judged Leo as being as worthless as Savan, but now he felt daunted when facing the prince, who seemed to have strangely transformed, as though possessed.

“But I’m glad you’re here, Sir Darren.”

“G-Glad? What do you mean?”

Leo explained that since he would be converting, they were in the middle of building a church in Savan’s domains. Darren had already known that for a while now, but he was just about able to feign surprise and to reply with: “I see.” The true surprise, however, was what was to come next.

“From what I hear, Sir Darren, you are also planning to build a new castle? I’ve talked about it with Sir Savan, and since we’ve gone to the trouble of starting to have the stone quarried, we were wondering if we couldn’t also cut out more to be used for something other than building the church. That being the case, we could sell you the leftover stone at a reduced price.”

''W-What…''

The two of them had already left the hall and were going down the stairs. They arrived in front of the gate. Leo suggested a cost ‘at eighty-percent of the market rate’. It didn’t seem like a particularly impressive cut in price, but a huge quantity of building stones would be needed to construct a castle, so it would mean a considerable saving for Darren if he purchased most of the materials from Savan’s territory.

“I-I am very grateful for your offer. Later… I will send a messenger to Sir Savan.”

“Please do.”

Having escorted Darren to the outside of the gate, Leo retraced his steps back into the castle, walking exactly as though he was returning to his own home. Darren turned around to glance at his retreating back only once.

“Just what is he, that prince?”

The almost aggressively gleaming fat seemed to have fallen completely from Darren Actica’s face, and his shoulders trembled.