Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3===


If you asked him 'what are you', Leo would have no other choice but to give you his name –

“I’m Leo Attiel.”

Recently, however, he had been wondering about it more and more often. 

''Is that really the case?''

''Am I really Leo Attiel?''

He had repeatedly been wanting to ask that of himself. Which was mostly because, since his confrontation with Hayden Swift on the night of the banquet, he had constantly been on the move.

So far, everything was going as planned.

The first thing had been to visit the vassal-lords and other nobles to argue the need to reorganise Atall’s army. The reason for that had been the same as what he had earlier explained to Percy and the others: he wanted to ascertain how many people understood the danger that Atall was currently facing, to see how many shared his own anxieties at this point in time.

Just as he had expected, almost no one saw the pressing threat that was menacing Atall. It was exactly as Camus had pointed out: even though everyone, their faces pale, had gone to petition the sovereign-prince in person as soon as relations with Allion deteriorated even slightly, now that the banquet had created a friendlier mood, they had all gone back to their happy-go-lucky way of thinking, and no longer seemed afraid of anything.

That being the case, rather than having any sense of crisis management, they were like children who simply read the expression on their father’s strict face. 

Leo didn’t find that entirely unreasonable. Seven years ago, there had been war with Allion, and the ones who had misjudged the situation had been those of the ruling house. Or at any rate, that was how most of the vassal-lords saw it. Failure to discern Shazarn’s internal situation and inability to predict the course of the war had led the country to receive a harsh blow from Allion. That, along with the affair of the dragonbone vein, had been one of the causes that had to lead the princely House’s loss of authority.

Therefore, it was completely understandable that the vassal-lords, who didn’t want to see the same mistake repeated a second time, had moved to criticise the sovereign-prince. However, if they were blithely unaware of the impeding threat, then that was a completely different story.

Within all that, Leo had the good fortune of meeting Savan Roux, a person who had some sense of the danger that the Principality of Atall was facing. This wasn’t based on predictions like Leo’s thoughts were, but was an inevitable consequence of both the harm Savan had suffered from Allion in the past, and the geographical location of his fief. In addition to that, he had been put through bitter experiences by Darren, one of his compatriots.

''Someone who feels the danger down to their bones will be ready to move at any moment'', was Leo’s estimation. Which meant that he would be far more ready to take action than those who saw no need to change the current situation.

That was why he decided that the first thing to do was to approach Savan. Then, while thinking about what would come after that, he had hit upon the idea of converting to the Cross Faith. The plan was not only to draw psychologically closer to Allion, but also to use the construction of a church to block Darren, and to earn Savan’s trust all in one go.

– It was at around about that point that Leo had started to question whether he was really himself. 

Not that he had any time to worry about it, instead pushing forward to fully implement the plan he had come up with.

''To truly have Darren submit, I can’t simply use my position as prince to keep him in check. Since he’s sending soldiers, I have to retaliate with even stronger force.''

With that in mind, he had deliberately hidden the fact that a church was being built so as to lure Darren’s soldiers.

''It will turn into a fight. In which case, this is a good chance for me to experience my first battle. So I’ll need soldiers that I can move around freely. If I only use the troops borrowed from the Royal Guard, it won’t be enough to earn recognition.''

That thought led him to recruit soldiers from among the people. At the same time, he steeled his resolve to ready himself for his first battle. This is repeating what has already been said, but during that short time, he did not have time to hesitate. What kept him preoccupied was always what would come after he had put it all into practice, and after convincing his father to build a church, he was not without regrets.

''Saying I believed in the Cross Faith was insincere. I’m hiding my real intentions from Father and from my older brother. And even though I don’t feel even a shred of piety towards the god of the Cross Faith… Right, you could say I’m even deceiving a god. How long will I keep up this lie?''

When he was at the scene of actual fighting, his body and mind had once again been shaken. The brutal atmosphere; the fear that an arrow might come flying from afar at any moment and pierce his throat; it was completely different from when he had sat at his desk, turning over his thoughts. He wanted to curse his past self, to ask him why he had come up with a plan that had put him in so much danger.

And also –

There had been that situation that Leo had never imagined when he was sitting thinking at his desk.

The peasant militia that he had hired for himself.

Although the battle at the quarry had ended in complete victory, it had not been a fight without casualties. Five of the farmers had lost their lives, and more than a dozen had lost arms, legs or received similarly severe injuries. Since the victims’ parents had not been told that their sons would be sent into battle, they were utterly astounded, and plunged into sorrow and grief. Father Bosc took the responsibility of offering them mental succour. Percy brought him to the parents of the fallen, and asked him to preside over their burial.

“Your sons have left for the fields of tranquillity. Please mourn for them. But please remember that those left behind in this world have their own duty. So that your sons may find peace, you too must reconcile yourselves to finding peace of mind as soon as you can.”

Even though the priest’s prayers and rituals, and the many words he spoke to them, truly could not appease their feelings, they did provide them with a support to lean on.

Nevertheless, among the village youths, growing ambition outweighed sorrow and grief. Regardless of whether they had lived or died, the young men who had taken part in the fight received money, and those who had killed even a single enemy soldier were given a far greater amount.

Moreover, rumours started being whispered to the effect that,

“The fact that farmers with no experience in warfare were able to win victory is thanks to the power and skill of Attiel’s second prince. Even though it was his first battle, he confronted the enemy like a god of war.”

Leo figured that the rumours had mostly been spread by Percy.

“I also want to stand next to Lord Leo holding a spear.”

“I’ve always thought that would suit me much better than a hoe or a spade.”

Many came rushing to apply to join Lord Leo’s troops.

From a balcony at Guinbar Castle, Leo looked down towards the young men who were gathered again today. Among them, there were a few who were his age, and their honest faces shone with hope and expectation. Leo himself knew the feeling of longing for a bright future in which you could become something other than yourself.

A soldier soon appeared before them and stated the same conditions that Percy given before, namely: they had to have brothers, and they had to be single. When Percy had previously suggested those criteria, Leo had been surprised, but they were meant to take into account that ''there will definitely be victims in the fight. It’s best not to invite more resentment than necessary from the villagers.''

Leo hadn’t really taken that to heart. Even though he had expected there to be victims, there hadn’t been ay sense of reality to it.

The men who did not meet the conditions started muttering one after another.

“Boo-hoo, quit oinking like pigs, you lot. All those who don’t meet the conditions are to go home. And don’t bother lying, we’ll find out later and the money paid you will be taken back,” the soldier barked. Incidentally, he too had been a farmer only a few days ago, but he had managed to kill two enemies in battle.

Leo quietly stepped away from the balcony. 

Money was needed to hire soldiers. So were lodgings to station them in, provisions and also equipment. Leo, however, was not hiring them as professional soldiers. They would remain ordinary farmers, craftsmen or labourers who would perform their work as usual, while only occasionally being called up to train and do military drills. And they were paid when they responded to those calls.

You could say that Leo was stepping back from the system of a permanent army that he had spoken about to the nobles, but in his current circumstances, this was as much as he could do. Moreover, he had to ask Savan for the money to pay the soldiers. Now that the harassment from Darren had completely stopped, Savan trusted the prince implicitly and listened favourably to anything he said.

Gaining that trust also meant making his first ally among the vassal-lords, which was all according to plan.

Construction work on the church continued steadily and, about half a month after Leo had come to stay at Guinbar Castle, a simple chapel was completed. When that day arrived, the stones strewn around the building site were tidied up, the temporary scaffolding was dismantled, and decorations made from flowers were hung up all around.


Father Bosc had said that “labouring for free will earn forgiveness for many sins,” and this had spread far and wide, so that able-bodied men from the surrounding villages had gathered one after another, and the building work had been able to advance quickly.

The evening before the baptism finally arrived, and with it came one minor occurrence.

A single horse-drawn carriage arrived from Tiwana, guarded in all directions by soldiers. Florrie Anglatt was riding in it. She had come to celebrate her fiancé’s baptism – Leo having also informed her that his religious conversion was intended to bring about a reconciliation with Allion – but for some reason, she did not step out of the carriage.

She would not reply at all, even when the soldiers or the people of Guinbar Castle called out to her from outside. Upon hearing that, Leo came running.

“Is it all right for me to come close to a chapel of the Cross Faith?” her shoulders trembled as she sat in a corner of the carriage.

Florrie’s mother was a follower of Badyne. Although by no means a fervent believer, Florrie had been influenced by her, at least to the extent that she had been taught many of the charms and incantations characteristic of the faithful of Badyne. Ever-sensitive, she was apparently worried that treading on the holy ground of a different god would could bring punishment down upon her.

“God is tolerant. Besides, I would never believe in a god that would hand down punishment to a girl as innocent and upright as you. Come on, Florrie, I’ll show you around the chapel.”

Leo held out his hand, but Florrie’s mind had not been put at ease. Whereupon, Leo, suddenly and incomprehensibly, got down on all fours on the ground before the carriage door. Florrie, the soldiers and the castle personnel stared at him, astounded.

“L-Leo, what are you doing?”

“You do it too,” Leo called out to the soldiers.

They looked at each other, but since the prince had taken the lead in crawling on the ground, each of them, their expressions dubious, hunched over like he was. Florrie was open-mouthed.

“Just walk on our backs. Wherever you go, Florrie, I will definitely prepare a path of bent backs for you to step on. Because in that case, you won’t have walked on the ground, and even God won’t be able to say a thing about it. Come on, hurry up.”

Florrie’s face instantly went red. Her eyebrows slanted sharply downwards and she raised both shoulders.

''Treating me like a child again!'' Just when it seemed like she was about to shout out angrily, all the strength seemed to drain from her body and she heaved a sigh.

“Leo, no matter how much time goes by, you’re still mean to me.”

“Where would you find another man willing to give his back to lift his fiancée?”

“Do stop it. I hate that kind of thing, Leo.”

As she spoke, Florrie jumped nimbly from the carriage. Fortunately, the event ended with only the prince’s back being trampled on.



They were blessed with beautiful weather.

From early morning onwards, crowds gathered around the brand-new chapel. Since a great many people had been hired to help with the large building-work, it had been widely talked about and those gathered there came not only from Guinbar’s castle town, but also from other neighbouring towns and villages. 

Some stalls had also been set up. Many of them sold food, and the sugary scent of pastries wafted alongside the fragrant smell of roast meat. Now and then, you might catch sight of people who seemed to be performers, and musicians played their instruments here and there. 

Rather than a solemn ceremony, it was more like a festival day, but according to Father Bosc, a baptism was “like the start of a new life, and it is best to have as many people as possible celebrate it with you.” Of course, he was also aiming to have people feel closer to the unfamiliar Cross Faith. Besides, even though it was a baptismal ceremony, the people would not be able to observe Leo’s baptism into the faith.

The ceremony was currently under way, and Leo Attiel was shut away in the chapel while Father Bosc recited his god’s catechism. The people were outside, eating and drinking whatever they liked best, chatting pleasantly, and waiting impatiently for the prince to emerge from the chapel.

Several nobles had also turned up. It went without saying that Savan, the lord of Guinbar Castle, was there, but so was Darren Actica. Other than Florrie, no had come from Tiwana, and although several elderly and distant relatives of the ruling House had shown up, jolted along in horse carriages, Leo’s family members were not present.

Finally, there was one more vassal-lord: Bernard. His wife and child were with him; his still youthful wife was as beautiful as rumour claimed, and their little daughter, who had inherited both her parents’ good looks, was truly lovely. They were the very picture of a happy family, and fit in perfectly with the splendour of the occasion, yet Bernard looked somewhat glum.

He had talked with Leo at the banquet and he remembered the impression he had of him at the time. Taking into account the announcement of his betrothal to Florrie, as well as his petition for reorganising the army, Bernard’s thoughts had been that ''it’s easy to see that he wants to do something. This could be interesting, but I’ll want to be watching him from as far away as possible''. Although enjoyable from a distance, Leo was dangerous enough to burn anyone who carelessly got close.

When he heard that Lord Leo was going to be baptised, he realised ''that'' prince wouldn’t be doing it simply for the sake of it, and that there were certainly some intentions regarding Allion lurking behind it. Consequently, he had wanted to pretend to go sightseeing somewhere with no relation whatsoever to the ceremony, but his wife and daughter both insisted that: “we want to go to the prince’s baptism.”

His wife was from a small country west of Atall which was now part of Allion’s territory, and she had been born and raised as part of the Cross Faith. His daughter, who was still only six years old, had also been influenced by it. Pestered by his wife, Bernard had even built a small chapel for his castle.

A letter, written in the prince’s own hand, arrived for Bernard’s wife and daughter.

''Dammit, that was completely unnecessary.''

Bernard cursed the prince but also himself for having revealed in the course of conversation that his wife and child belonged to the Cross Faith.

When his wife had received the letter, she had been deeply moved. If the prince joined the faith and a large church was built within the country, then naturally, the situations for adherents of the Cross Faith would vastly improve compared to what they were now. She even suggested that Bernard could maybe build a secondary residence near Guinbar, so that they could go and worship whenever they wanted to.

'''Completely''' ''unnecessary!''

The ceremony within the chapel came to an end, and Lord Leo emerged from within, greeted by cheers.

It was probably a lingering trace of the ceremony that his hair and face were damp. Leo’s expression was bright as he waved his hand. Recently, he had simply been tying his long hair into a single bunch at the back of his head, but today, it was carefully braided. Besides that, he wore a white cloak over his ceremonial clothes and, as he waved smilingly, he looked like a noble youth who had slipped out of a story, so much so that the young village women gathered there could only gaze at him in admiration.

Young men dressed in brand-new armour carried the flags of the Attiel House as they walked behind the prince. Accompanying and intersecting with those flags was another one of a blue cross on a white background.

Young girls dressed in many-pleated, sleeveless tunics were lined up along the path that Leo was following, and as they sang, they showered him in petals to wish blessing on his baptism.



For now, the baptismal ceremony had been completed. 

Naturally, the construction of the cathedral continued. Lord Leo’s baptism had attracted a lot of interest, and there was an incessant stream of people from the neighbouring villages wishing to be baptised as well. Also, despite the fact that the construction work was still ongoing, pilgrims from all over had already started visiting the territory. Once they heard that people were flocking to Guinbar, merchants also travelled there in great numbers. And since large-scale building work naturally needed not only craftsmen, but also labourers for the manual work, there were many people who came looking for jobs, and who brought their families with them.

The result was that Guinbar’s markets were thriving, and Savan received an amount of revenue that would have been unthinkable up until then.

After his baptism, Leo remained at Guinbar Castle. He had preparations to make for the next stage in his plan.

Savan, the lord of said castle, had no objections. He wept when Father Bosc offered a special prayer before the tombs of his two sons. The distrust and anger he had long felt towards the ruling House no longer included Lord Leo. 

As for Leo, he immersed himself in his work for a while, but it was then that something outside of his predictions came to alter the situation.

The Dytiann Alliance took action.



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