Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume3 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 2===


After the death of Bishop Rogress, Conscon Temple hailed a man called Neil as its new leader. 

He had originally served as a monastic assistant to an abbot, and was only just in his forties. He had close-cropped hair, and he was always mindful about being clean and tidy. He was a man whose emotions easily showed on his face, who laughed often, and who cried in times of hardship along with his friends and disciples. As such, he was a complete contrast to Bishop Rogress, who had always seemed as solid as a rock, but Neil's earnest personality inspired the love and respect of all.

It was said that he had been a shepherd when he was young, but that he had taken up the sword to protect his native land. 

Recently, after completing his holy duties in the morning, his daily routine had been to walk around the mountain. The temple was currently in the middle of being restored. Neil halted his steps when he came upon several men busy rebuilding the main gate, which had been damaged by Allion's artillery fire.

During the battle, Neil had been one of those at this very gate. Gun in hand, he had desperately fought back. The ruins of the gate had been sprayed with blood, and Neil crossed himself before it as a way of paying his respects to the many who had fallen there – be they friend or foe – and to give thanks for his own survival.

About half of the Personal Guards that Leo had left at Conscon were pitching in to help reconstruct the buildings and gates. The more people helping, the better, and Neil thanked them for it. Still, the Personal Guards had their own purposes, and as for what the remaining half of the soldiers who were not helping with the reconstruction work were doing, they were spending their days drenched in sweat as they cut down trees to the back of the temple, and levelled a large patch of ground.

Camus, who was both Bishop Neil's assistant and a member of the Personal Guards, had taken several of the Guards with him and gone to Allion, and was currently there buying airships. Apparently, the prince had ordered him to do so. The ground which was being cleared and levelled was intended as a training space for airship pilots, and Neil had further been informed that there were plans to one day also purchase ships capable of holding several dozen people at a time.

''The prince is full of energy'', Neil thought admiringly.

Since he had learned from Bishop Rogress, he had absolutely no objection to increasing their weapons in order to defend themselves. Rogress had admirably demonstrated with his own life that one could not defend one's beliefs without power.

Yet even while Neil admired the vitality of youth, he could not help but feel suspicious. News of Atall's situation had reached the temple, and Neil was aware that the prince had picked a fight with a vassal-lord, and that as a result, Leo's position within the country had grown precarious.

The Personal Guards had been left at the temple because of that, and the fact that they were getting together something that could be called an 'air force' was proof that although he had temporarily been defeated, Leo was planning to mount a counter-attack at some point.  

It was a fact that Leo Attiel was a unparalleled ally for the temple but, at the same time, Neil feared that his very existence might become dangerous to them.

''It's fine as long as this is just meant to be a show of power to the vassals. But if it goes beyond that and he is actually harbouring a frightening ambition...''

Leo was the second prince. His older brother Branton would one day succeed their father and become ruler. But what if Leo voiced an objection to that? What if he contended that “I deserve to be the sovereign-prince”? And what – if the time came – he intended to ask the temple to support him given their friendly relationship?

''We'll be forced to make a choice. I believe that refusing to get involved in a country's internal power struggle would be the righteous decision, but then there's the fear that if His Highness Leo wins and becomes the next ruler of Atall, our relationship with them will deteriorate.''

Even though they were currently at peace with Allion, he had heard that there were still many who still proclaimed hostile intentions towards the temple. If a rift appeared in their relationship with Atall, then Conscon would be surrounded by enemies on both sides.

''Even if we just want follow God's warnings and live in righteous poverty, simply spreading those teachings to as many as we can... politics and war are never far behind'', Neil lamented.

''And thus, so that no power can threaten us, we unfortunately need 'power'.''

It all came back down to Bishop Rogress' stance on the matter. And so it was that Neil spent his days with unease lurking not so far at the back his mind.

Camus came back a few days later, having apparently managed to purchase six airships. These were ornithopter-type vessels which had been built in the Kingdom of Garbera. In addition to ether repulsion, this model had wings which literally flapped, just like the birds whose shaped it mimicked. Compared to modern ships, with their unmoving wings, it was distinctly old-fashioned. Yet although they were lacking in speed, altitude capacity and flight endurance, their absolutely outstanding in-flight stability and low-cost engines meant that they were still being widely used. 

The generic name for ships that floated in the sky was 'dragon stone ships', which came from the fact that the weightless metal which was the main component of airships was made from refining fossilised dragon bones. This refining process flourished within Garbera, and it was said that the make of their airships and the skill of their pilots was a clear cut above all others. It seemed that these ships, which Camus had managed to buy comparatively cheaply, had also originally been used to train new recruits in Garbera.

Moreover, the unfamiliar man he had hired and brought back with him to the temple had once taken part as a pilot in the airship races that were held at festivals and the like in Garbera. Camus intended to set him up as an instructor for everything from maintenance to how to handle the ships.

Training began the very next day. All the young men in the Personal Guards applied for it, and they were as exited as children who had been given new toys.

The first thing the instructor did was to give them a demonstration. The engine made a raspy, metallic sound when the low-altitude ornithopter took off. Appearance-wise, it was modelled on a Steller's sea eagle. Its overal span was about three metres long, and when the men working on rebuilding saw the artificial bird dancing through the sky, they gazed up in fascination. Whether they stared open-mouthed, cheered excitedly or got scared, they too were like children.

“If you pay too much attention to what's above, you'll trip over a branch or stone at your feet,” Neil, who was walking around the mountain that day as well, called out to them in a friendly voice.

At the time, he was headed somewhere else.

While one might have expected that here too, everyone's attention would be held by the airship, a single man was actually giving them all an impassioned speech, the topic of which appeared to be Bishop Rogress. In spite of himself, Neil stopped too stopped to listen, 

“He was a truly magnificent man. His pious way of life was so, but it was his way of death that truly moved my heart...”

''His way of death...''

Neil frowned in displeasure. It was just as though the bishop had simply been a warrior. 

The man continued about how extraordinary Bishop Rogress' suicide had been. The man had originally come to the temple as a mercenary, and had apparently settled down in one of the villages at the foot of the mountain after establishing a family there. He spoke of how he had seen companions kill themselves on the battlefield because they were so badly injured that they could barely even move.

“At first, it looked like the bishop had fatally slit his own throat with a dagger, but on investigation, it seems that he had stabbed himself in the heart. They say that the dagger had fallen to the floor when the bishop's corpse was found. So in other words, it wasn't a blade which was fixed in place, he actually pierced deep into his own chest with the dagger in his hand. That's not something you could do half-heartedly.”

The bishop had stabbed himself in the heart then had pulled out the blade. It was certainly an extraordinary scene to imagine. Neil unconsciously crossed himself, but as he did so, he felt a strong sense of incongruity. Given that it was Bishop Rogress, he would certainly have been able of going that far, yet Neil did not feel that he necessarily would have done so.

''Did he do it to demonstrate his resolve? His resolve which was literally to die rather than to allow the King of Allion, someone he had once had a close relationship with, to go any further in his tyranny?''

It was Lord Leo who had saved Conscon just before it fell to Allion's attacks. He had rushed from Atall, leading reinforcements, and had even slain Hayden, the enemy commander. But with that, they had only gained a temporary victory, and there was no denying the possibility that the war could have dragged on. Basically, it was Bishop Rogress' suicide which had led Allion to lay down its weapons.

''Right, it was the bishop's death. If he hadn't died...''

The forehead between Neil's eyebrows suddenly twitched and squirmed. A terrifying thought had taken shape in a corner of his mind.



At the around that same time, Leo Attiel was once again spending unquiet days in Guinbar.

''When will Darren make his move?''

His nerves were on edge as, unusually for him, he stayed in one place and helped organise the troops in Savan Roux's castle. Yet, unexpectedly, Darren was bidding his time.

Or perhaps it would be better to say that bidding his time allowed the situation to move in Darren's favour. The story of how Leo had led an army to invade Darham was now being talked about throughout the country. Even the vassal-lords, who had maintained a cautious attitude towards the prince since the events at Conscon, were openly starting to criticise him. Leo had already pegged Oswell as Darren's chief ally, but he was now joined by Tokamakk, whom Leo had seen at the banquet held in Hayden's honour, and Gimlé, the father of Percy's fiancée.

“That permanent army that the prince was loudly insisting on, was it just to eat away at our territories?”

“Since there's been no suitable explanation from His Highness, those troops should be dissolved right now.”

Opinions were lined up against Leo.

His support among the people also visibly started to fall away. The number of spectators at plays staring Leo in the main role were now starting to dwindle. Moreover, since his wedding to Florrie had still not taken place, this in turn was inviting unfortunate rumours that “relations with Allion might turn sour again,” and with it, people once more began talking about how this would all be Leo's fault for having opposed Allion.

Leo had to admit that he had made a mistake. Not knowing when Darren might attack, he had decided to remain in Guinbar, but had allowed Darren to take action in the capital, Tiwana. With no obstacle to hinder him there, he could do as he pleased and was steadily gaining allies and support. And since he was switching positions with Leo, it followed that the prince's side were earning nothing but enemies and ill will. 

In spite of this, Leo and Savan gathered soldiers in Guinbar. They needed to remain cautious against Darren yet, ironically, this gave Darren the perfect excuse to legitimately take military action.

“Savan has taken advantage of His Highness Leo's youthful ideals, he's twisted them, and he has won him over to his villainy,” Darren was now saying. “He's pursuing friendly relations with the temple. The prince's religious conversion was also all according to his plan. He's pretending to simply be building spaces for the Cross Faith within Atall, but in actual fact, he's extending his own power. It's the same as with the Personal Guards. Savan seized money and manpower from us, and created his own private militia.”

His powerful assertions didn't stop there.

“The marauders who attacked the prince in the resort area were probably also in his pay. And even now, Savan is continuing to gather soldiers. He is finally revealing his true colours as he prepares to send troops to each of our territories. And for now, his sights are on my Darham. Before now, he fabricated an issue at the quarry and was setting up a trap for me. On top of that, he probably hates me for having seen through him. It's not surprising that the first thing he wants to do is to shut me up, even if that means invading my lands tomorrow.” 

His repeated tirades drew public opinion within the capital towards him.

''You bet..''

Leo Attiel was so angry that all the blood in his body seemed to be boiling.

''You bet it could be 'even tomorrow'. It's that guy attacking us which wouldn't be in the least bit surprising. And I've gone and helped him prepare the ground...''

Even though Sovereign-Prince Magrid had announced that he would investigate the matter at the resort area, he had not taken any concrete action. He had simply heard Leo and Darren's side of the story several times over through the messengers he dispatched. To misquote the King of Allion back when Leo had met with him, was Magrid planning to draw the curtain down by pretending that “each of you misunderstood the other”?
Leo once again directed his anger at his father and sovereign.

''A vassal raised his blade against a member of the ruling family, so why aren't you reacting more? Why can't you seem to imagine that the same bloodstained blade will one day fall on you, who shares the same blood? Are you afraid of changing the current situation? Are you so afraid of breaking the safe and fragile balance of peace and order?''

''That's right, it's fragile, Father. Even if it looks on the surface like nothing is changing, 'order' is constantly crumbling. You can't protect it anymore simply by looking away from trouble. If you turn your eyes away from fights, then even that fact alone means that your 'order' can't possibly maintain its shape, and is changing even now. Darren might be the very symbol of that. He makes sure to look like he is perpetuating the 'order' that the Sovereign-Prince believes in, but deep in his heart – in revenge against me and Savan – he's planning to create chaos like you've never seen before.''

Leo's feelings were in disarray. Neither Percy nor Camus were nearby to offer counsel, while Kuon and Sarah had both disappeared a month ago. He thought that he could guess the reason for that, but as they not left behind any message, he had not positive proof of it. It felt like he was going back to that time at the banquet, when he was alone in the darkness without a single ally, while his surroundings stared inquisitively.