Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 2===


The horse-drawn carriage which had left Guinbar arrived in the resort area in the evening.

There was a river flowing at the foot of a gently sloping hill. The woods growing along its banks occasionally opened up to reveal the villas of nobles and wealthy merchants.

The carriage drove into the grounds attached to the most luxurious residence of them all.

Leo, however, was not riding inside it. About an hour earlier, he had blended in with the group of riders which were escorting the carriage to its destination. Immediately upon arrival, the prince had stepped out of it and had stood at the summit of the hill which overlooked the villas to the south.

The only ones within the carriage were soldiers who was serving as decoys. Leo’s fiancée, Florrie, had remained at Guinbar Castle.



─ She was the most unfortunate one.

To prevent the plan from being leaked, Leo had hidden it even from her. Since receiving the invitation from Leo a few days earlier, Florrie had been happy and excited at the thought of spending time alone again with her fiancé after so long, but when it was finally time to leave Guinbar, Leo had shown up in her room.

“Something urgent came up. Don’t take a single step out of your chambers until I get in touch with you,” he had suddenly said.

Florrie was surprised and was about to voice her complaints, but any thought of getting her fiancée to listen to her vanished in an instant. Leo’s eyes were looking straight through her, and were gazing at somewhere far distant and different from where she stood.

''Leo is up to something'', she realised.

“I get it. I’ll just wait here all alone until you come back,” she smiled.

Without even returning her smile or nodding to her, Leo had simply said, “See you,” and, stopping only to assign guards to her rooms, he quickly left Guinbar.

Left by herself, Florrie had stood at the window for a while. Beyond the balcony that stretched out from the floor below the one she was on, she could see a group of riders lined up in a row. Leo, now bearing weapons, walked towards them, took a horse’s bit from a page, and swung himself into the saddle. He then gave an order, and in the blink of an eye, he and his group had vanished from Florrie’s sight.

There were times when Florrie Anglatt could not understand Leo.

One such occasion had been half a year ago, when she was told that “Lord Leo killed Hayden.”

Hayden was the person who had been going to take her back to Allion, by force if necessary. When she had heard that he was dead, she had been confused about her own feelings, unsure whether what she felt was surprise, relief, or something close to sadness.

Above all else, she found it impossible to image Leo Attiel fighting at the head of troops, and brandishing a sword towards Hayden.

That wasn’t the first time, however.

Take her father, for example, Claude Anglatt. Both his voice and his body frame were huge, and when he yelled harshly at his retainers or at his sons, his face was terrifying. Yet towards Florrie – and her alone – he was gentle and indulgent. It was instead her mother who was strict about her upbringing, and whenever Florrie was crying sadly because her mother had gotten angry over some small thing or another, Claude stealthily sneak up behind his daughter, and would hold her tight in his big arms.  

“My beautiful princess, you’re always bringing happiness to everyone around you with your smiles and your songs, but today, it’s the princess herself who’s in a sad mood. I won’t go easy on anyone who makes you cry. When all’s said and done, I’m the strongest man in Allion, after all.”

When Claude said that, Florrie would sniffle and ask, “Stronger than Mother?”, whereupon, Claude would pretend to look terrified. They always had that conversation at times like that.

“What did you say!? So the one who made you cry – in other words, the person in the worst mood here – is Ellen? That explains why thunderclouds are swirling around the living room. Sorry, but she’s the one person I can’t go against. She’s stronger than me. And at the end of the day, her word is law in this house. So you’d better hurry and apologise quickly. If you say it with a cute expression, Ellen’s mood will immediately improve. The dark clouds will be blown away, and I won’t have to be afraid of my strongest foe. Everyone will be happy.”

When he was at home, her father was always laughing heartily, yet when he took part in war outside, he would plunge into groups of fully armoured soldiers and slaughter crowds of enemies – even though she knew it intellectually, she could never equate her father as he was at home with ‘the valiant Claude Anglatt’ of rumour.

It was much the same for her two older brothers. Even though they could sometimes be a bit mean, their expressions were gentle when they talked to Florrie, and she simply could not imagine them killing people if ever there was a war.

''I suppose men have a different face when they’re outside from when they’re at home'', was how Florrie saw it. Which was why she had intended to do her best to try and understand Leo. Yet that thought had now turned into : ''Leo has become a man''. By which she meant that he now showed her a different face from the one he showed to others.

Even after the prince had disappeared from sight, Florrie did not leave the window. She lifted her hand towards her head and plucked out a single strand of hair, which she briefly brought to her lips before winding it around the little finger on her left hand.
[[Image: Leo_Attiel_Den_v03_129.png|thumb]]
It was one of the many good luck charms used by followers of the Badyne Faith. As long as the strand of hair remained coiled around their finger, a person who was precious to them would be protected from harm. Florrie’s mother had taught her many such charms.

''Please let Leo stay safe'' – Florrie continued praying for a long time, holding her finger with the hair wound around it to her chest.



“Please be sure to make things up to Miss Florrie.”

Standing next to Lord Leo as he looked down on the villas from the hill, Percy Leegan, who had ridden with him, offered his advice. It was already the third such reminder.

“One day,” Leo’s reply was curt.

“When will ‘one day’ be?”

“War is coming. Percy, you know that too, right? From now on, things are just going to keep getting busier.”

Since Percy was being a bit too insistent, Leo was feeling petulant – ''He’s like an old man with the way he keeps making a fuss.''

Wanting to ease the tense atmosphere before they started talking tactics, Leo launched a counter-attack.

“I’ve heard about that too.”

“About what?”

“That your fiancée is Lord Gimlé Gloucester’s daughter.”

“Indeed.”

“Sir Gimlé harshly criticised my father about sending reinforcements to Conscon, and I doubt he was pleased when I defeated Hayden. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was secretly linked to Darren.”

Percy’s expression turned serious.

Currently, there was nothing to indicate that Gimlé and Darren were linked in any way, and even when Darren publicly denounced the prince, Gimlé did not seem particularly interested in it – yet it was a fact that he was very unamused by the recent string of actions that the princely House had been taking. That particular piece of information came from Gimlé’s daughter, Liana, so it was certainly reliable. And, of course, given that Percy had joined Leo’s Personal Guards, the vassal-lord held no kind feelings for his daughter’s fiancé either.

How would Gimlé react when, on top of all of that, the Personal Guards clashed in combat with Darren?

“And you’ll be making it up to Miss Liana…?”

“One day,” replied Percy, deliberately maintaining a fastidious expression.

Leo laughed.

“Well then…” Since Percy had to go and take up position, he took leave of the prince. “Your Highness, I earnestly entreat you to be careful. Please do not forget that on the battlefield, there are many occasions when one has an equal chance of being branded a coward or lauded as a hero. The most important thing of all is to watch for opportunities and then make a decision.”

“I know.”

“Then, with that…” Percy had been about to say something further, but – ''It’ll just come across as tedious'', he decided, and said nothing more.

When Percy left, he plucked a strand of his own hair and would it around one of his little fingers, but Leo was no longer looking in his direction.

When Percy left, he plucked a strand of his own hair and would it around one of his little fingers, but Leo was no longer looking in his direction.

He did not have fires lit, and the entire surroundings were gradually plunged into darkness. Several soldiers remained with him as bodyguards, but since they didn’t speak a single word of idle chatter, it was just as though Leo had been left behind, entirely on his own.

Leo continued to stand in silence, staring at the riverside that was now shrouded in shadows. At times like these, he was invariably haunted by a shadow that somehow resembled stagnant ''sludge''. The questions that shadow threw at him were questions that Leo had also asked himself.

''Where am I? What will I do? Who am I?''

The surroundings were so quiet, enveloped as they were in the dusk that was lit only by a few stars, that the voice seemed to echo louder than usual.

''War? What will you do if it comes to war? And what will you do once you are waging war?''

He knew. He had known for a long time now that there was no turning back. He could not afford to indulge in hesitation for even a single second.

''Now that things have started, questions like who I am are irrelevant. I am who I am right now.''

''And since I’m doing this…''

''You need to achieve sufficient results in battle. If you don’t, there would be no meaning to killing and being killed.''

Leo once again shook off the sludge that resided within him, shaking his entire body as he did so.



The troop of Darren’s subordinates had arrived near the riverbank.

They did not carry any lights either, but the land was level and clear in the area near the villas, so the five hundred men easily reached where they were going. Before long, they started to divide themselves into several smaller units.

Only the soldiers in the lead carried torches and Leo, from the top of the hill, could follow the movements of the glowing red points of light.

The enemy believed that there was only a handful of soldiers here, and the only thing they were worried about was that Leo might escape from them. Which was why they used the classic strategy for cases like that: compared to the soldiers gathering by the river opposite the villa, they placed a greater number of men in a position to cut off the path of retreat from the residential area.

Naturally, Leo had predicted that they would do so, and he had thoroughly examined the lay of the land beforehand. The points of light were moving almost exactly according to the predictions he had made at the time.

While the enemy was on the move, a messenger came up to him.

“The soldiers have arrived,” he said.

The “soldiers” in question were none other than the Personal Guards which were supposed to have been sent to Conscon Temple. They had pretended to set off towards it, then took the first opportunity to change direction, and had arrived here by way of inconspicuous mountain paths.

“Do as planned,” was the only order Leo gave.

Maps indicating where they were to go were to be handed to each of the commanding officers. The six hundred soldiers moved swiftly and, just as Leo had hoped, messengers soon came running one after another to give their reports.

“The First Unit has completed its preparations.”

“The riflemen of the Second Unit have taken up position.”

“The Fifth Unit has completed its manoeuvres.”

“Good,” as soon as he knew that all of the units were ready, Leo had his men set fire to the pile of kindling which had been stacked up at the top of the hill. It was the signal for each of the Personal Guards to light torches of their own.

A commotion ran through Darren’s men when they saw the brilliant flames that were lit behind them. ''Did Lord Darren change his mind and send reinforcements?'' Many of them wondered for a moment.

The very next second, gunfire rained down upon them.

The main strength of Leo’s Personal Guards was that almost every man had guns.

The quiet surroundings were abruptly transformed as gunshots and smoke filled heaven and earth.

“E-Ene-Enemies!”

“They’re enemies!”

The confused and terrified voices of Darren’s soldiers surged from every direction. Of course they did – the men who had encircled the villa to prevent Leo from escaping suddenly found themselves encircled in turn, and the area around them was now filled with waves of hostility and killing intent.

No sooner had the gunfire abated than cavalrymen charged towards them. The small units that had intended to block Leo’s path of retreat now scattered. Darren’s men had not imagined for a second that armed soldiers would swoop down on them, shouting out battle cries, and so the ambushers effortlessly tore through them.

“Don’t panic! Return the attack!”

“Avoid further damage! Retreat, retreat!”

Contradictory orders flew, showing how badly they had lost their heads. With gunfire and gleaming spears closing in on them, every unit soon chose to fall back.

Aware of their disadvantage, the commander of Darren’s forces decided to abandon the encirclement and instead ordered all troops to gather in one place. In order to surround them, Leo’s forces were stretched out wide. Besides which, the commander quickly realised that ''our numbers are about the same as theirs''.

Leo, still watching the movements from the top of the hill, quickly raised his hand. The soldiers who were by his side all immediately lit torches from the bonfire, and started waving them in unison.

While they were doing so, Leo made his preparations. He checked the armour he was wearing, then jumped onto a horse that a page had brought up to him.

Behind him, soldiers bearing swords and spears had gathered at some point. These were not the soldiers that the vassal-lords had assembled; these were the three hundred villagers that Leo had recruited and trained. Simply put, Leo had arranged it so that those of his guards who had at least some experience would surround the enemy then, when they had driven them away from their various positions, his most inexperienced soldiers would be given the task of charging at the opponent.

Equally on horseback, Kuon lined himself next to Leo. Up until then, he had constantly seemed to be chomping at the bit, but now, his eyes were shining.

“Just as promised,” Leo said to him. “I’ve arranged a suitable opportunity for you to earn your first achievement.”

“Yeah!” the boy from the mountain lands shouted, so fired up that his real nature was laid bare.

After receiving the signal from the torches, the actions taken by the Personal Guards changed. Near the river’s shallows, they deliberately left an opening in the encircling net. The enemy braced themselves and charge through it, but Leo and his men were already galloping down the hillside to catch them in a head-on ambush.

The gunshots continued, causing loud splashes of water and sprays of blood. Next –

“Cut them down,” Leo urged his horse forward as he yelled.

The Personal Guards quickly closed the gap in the net that they had earlier left open. The enemy was caught in a two-pronged attack, coming from both riverbanks.

“Don’t waver, don’t hesitate!” One of the enemies repeatedly called out from the middle of the river. “Advance, advance, advance!”

When he saw that, Kuon leaped from his horse, ran forward, and jumped into the water. He cut his way past an enemy soldier, then past a second one and, while the rest were still reeling in surprise, he drew up towards the man who seemed to be the enemy commander.

“You little shrimp…”

Those were the only words that the enemy commander managed to say after spotting the figure approaching towards him.

Kuon forcefully pushed forward, bumping against the horse as he did so. He nimbly swung his longsword diagonally towards the his foe, and struck him in the neck.



Leo’s Personal Guards had been motley group of soldiers and, even now, it would be hard to say that they excelled at coordination.

When thinking back on it, Leo had a lot of things to regretted, such as points he should have worked out in more detail before they launched the operation, or ways of improving the timing of command. Still, in the end, the single most useful element proved to have been his prior survey of the terrain and, if one only took the results into account, they were able to rout the enemy with very little damage to their own side.

Leo had poured nearly the entire the military strength he could mobilise into this battle.

If it had just been a case of driving away enemies disguised as marauders, he could have held more of them back in reserve but, as I explained earlier, the Personal Guards were soldiers who had been gathered from all over. Their origins were equally varied. While some were the vassals of noble families, others, like the ones Leo had personally recruited, had never held a weapon before. There was also a difference in their degree of enthusiasm. On the one hand, there were those who zealously wished to repay the favour of having been appointed, while on the other, the soldiers who had been offered up by the reluctant vassal-lords did not have a shred of interest in their present surroundings.

Which was why Leo had wanted them to stand together on this battlefield, where they could obtain an almost flawless victory, and to give them the chance to build up a sense of being part of the same troop.

''I see'', Percy thought admiringly as he looked in turn at all of the soldiers' faces.

Previously, they had stayed at the same barracks, slept under the same roof, and joined in the same training, but it appeared that fighting side-by-side just once was far more effective than living together for any number of days had been. Soldiers from different areas clapped each other on the shoulder, boasted about their own achievements, or mutually congratulated each other on their success in the fight.

''But the problem is going to be what comes next...''

Percy was worried. Although this time, everyone had been able to band together against a group of marauders who were targeting Leo's life, the next person who would be aiming to kill him would probably be Darren Actica, one of Atall's vassal-lords. Among the soldiers who had come from other areas, there were sure to be some who would become agitated.

''We're going to be taking on nobles from Atall?''

''Does the prince also intend to bring the fighting to our native region?''

Not only would it lower the troops' morale, but there were sure to be men who would desert the unit.

Percy had talked about the problem with Leo several times before the beginning of this fight.

“We need to make the marauders confess that Darren is behind them and is pulling the strings.” He and Leo both agreed on this. Which was also why it had been crucial to gather most of the Personal Guards in one place.

''But we don't have that much time. If we take too long about it, the soldiers who managed to escape will join up with Darren.''

While Percy was lost in his own thoughts, Leo dismounted from his horse.

“Everyone, quiet down. Bring me the captured soldiers.”

At his words, the ecstatic guards fell silent, and the enemy soldiers who had surrendered after being unable to escape were brought to stand in a row before him, their hands tied behind their back.

Standing behind Leo, Percy Leegan checked to make sure that the other guards came over to see what was starting up. Earlier, he had casually placed his men in all the various units, and had told them beforehand to gather together at this point.

Once he was sure that a crowd had assembled, Leo Attiel thrust his sword at the first man in the line of 'marauders'. During the battle, Leo had inflicted deep wounds on three opponents, so the tip of his blade was covered in blood.

“Who are you? Why were you targeting me?” He demanded, his breathing ragged.

“Ha!” jeered the soldier who was the head of the row despite being seriously injured from a bullet wound to the stomach. The scornful smile on his pallid face came from the fact that Leo's voice had none of the strength of a person making threats.

“I don't anything about ''you''. I just got talked into a nice-sounding scheme to make some easy money. These fancy houses are packed with treasure, right?”

With his unshaven and slightly grimy face, the man really did look like the marauder he was pretending to be. The Personal Guards who were watching the scene angrily raised their voices.

“I see,” said Leo.

─ Back when more of Darren's soldiers had been causing mayhem in Savan's quarry, Leo had decided that he would face those soldiers as his 'first campaign'. He had taken several days to both work out a plan and steel his own resolve. He needed to mentally prepare himself before standing on the battlefield for the first time in his life. The situation now was similar to that one, and Leo had already pictured this scene for several days now.

''Do it without hesitating'', he repeatedly told himself.

And now the time had come.

“I see,” he said again.

The next moment, Percy, standing beside him, opened his eyes wide in shock. Leo had drawn his sword back until it was above his own shoulder then, without the slightest hesitation, he had cut through the soldier's neck.

The strike had been shallow. The man staggered and collapsed, clutching his neck as he writhed in agony. With his foot on the man's shoulder, Leo pierced him from above with his blade. The soldier's movement suddenly came to a stop.

“Next,” said Leo, and another enemy soldier was pushed out before him.
He asked him the same question.

“I-I don't know. It's true!” The soldier pleaded with tears in his eyes. “Please believe me. There was a guy who came to us with this offer. If you find him...”

It also ended in the same way. The only difference was that this time, Leo gave three strokes of his sword. The first cut was to the man’s leg, the second was to his face, and the third was finally the killing blow.

''Your Highness'' – Percy tried to call out, but couldn’t. Leo’s face, covered in the blood of his victims, was almost like a demon’s.

“Next,” said Leo.

And a third man met the same fate.

The soldier who was pushed forward when he once more called out “next,” was trembling from the start. Leo no longer asked his question, and silently raised his sword. The still-youthful soldier opened his eyes wide, his gaze riveted to the bloody blade.

“W-Wait… Please wait!”

The one who cried out was not the young soldier. One of the older soldiers came crawling on his knees from the line of captives, and tumbled at Leo’s feet.

“H-He’s my only son. Have mercy… I mean, please have mercy, Your Highness Leo!”

“I don’t recall having introduced myself as Prince Leo. My flag was not flown. Which means that you ''did'' know who you were attacking, doesn’t it?”

In a quivering voice, the older soldier confessed that they were soldiers fighting under Darren’s banner. He also told how, after killing Leo, they were supposed to attack Guinbar.

That was all Leo needed to hear and returned the sword to his waist.

“We’ll take a few of them with us. Leave the other ones here, but don’t untie their ropes.” After issuing that order, he gave a second one, “Gather at once at the foot of the hill.”

Everyone hastily obeyed. The expressions on the soldiers’ faces held a greater sense of urgency than they had ever shown before. That was no doubt partly due to their astonishment at hearing Darren’s name, but also partly to the shock of the scene they had just witnessed.

Regarding the latter, Percy felt the same way. Nevertheless, he went to his horse without letting anything show. Yet his hands as he took hold of his saddle were nearly shaking.

After making sure that everyone was going, Lord Leo once again climbed astride his horse. Suddenly, however, as though he had changed his mind about something, he jumped back down to the ground.

“Percy, Percy!” He called the name twice.

His voice sounded so desperate that Percy rushed over in surprise. Meanwhile, Leo had, for some reason, started running towards a thicket of trees.

“Please watch behind…” even as he spoke, he crouched down to the ground. Leo’s back heaved and there was a retching sound, like a frog croaking in his throat.

''Ah, that’s it'' – Percy understood.

“Is something wrong?”

“Is His Highness unwell?”

Several soldiers started to approach the thicket, but Percy stopped with a wave of his hand.

“It’s a confidential conversation. You can’t come.”

Behind where Percy was standing guard, Leo continued to throw up, keeping the noise as quiet as he could.

Lord Leo had already gone through his first campaign, and he had also killed Hayden Swift with his own two hands. However, it was one thing to kill an enemy in the heat of battle, but this was, of course, the first time he had swung his sword at someone who was not resisting, ad doing so repeatedly, tearing through their skin, crushing their bones, piercing their organs.

Several minutes passed as Percy remained standing where he was.

“I’m fine now, thanks,” Leo stood up and walked up to Percy’s side. His face was calm, and he seemed about to walk back to his horse and once more take the bit from the page.

Percy called out to him from behind,

“Your Highness, for the blood,” he held out a cloth.

Leo took it expressionlessly and wiped the blood from the enemy soldiers from his face – or at least he pretended to: it was actually the contours of his lips that he was wiping clean.

“I intended to kill them in a single blow,” he said as he was doing so.

“Aye.”

“But I failed. And then I realised that the other captives were afraid. That’s why…”

“I understand,” Percy nodded.

Actually, he didn’t understand. But as the prince made excuses for his actions, Percy managed to hold back his agitated feelings.

“In the future…”

“Yes?”

“I mustn’t put family members in the same unit. That’s what happens when you do.”

What he meant by ‘that’ was probably having a father freely give information as he pleaded for his son’s life.

Leo flung himself atop his horse. When Percy caught a glimpse of his profile, Lord Leo was just as he always was.

''Horrifying'', thought Percy as he too flung himself into the saddle and urged his horse forward, following after Leo.

''War is horrifying. And so is the position of leader in war.''