Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume2 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===


There was more to Camus’ report. The warrior monk of the Cross Faith had received firm instructions beforehand from Lord Leo:

“Don’t say a word during the meeting, and hand over a letter once it finishes.”

The meeting proved a test of Camus’ self-control but, with help from his little sister, he was able to get through it and, at the end, he handed over the letter, saying that it was “from the prince”, just as he had been told to.

Even though it was no more than a excuse, Dytiann’s ostensible motive was “to meet Lord Leo”, so given that he had not attended the talks, there was nothing surprising about the fact that he had entrusted a letter of greeting to his representative. Yet seeing Leo checking with Camus that “You definitely handed over the letter, right?”, Percy guessed that there had been more to the contents than just simple salutations.

What was in it? He would find out a few days later, when the usual group was once again lined up in one of the castle rooms.

“The day after tomorrow, I’ll be going to Bernard’s castle,” said Leo.

This lay east of Savan’s territory, and you had to cross Darren’s domains to get to it. Leo explained that he had arranged to meet directly with Dytiann’s envoys over there.

“Then, Your Highness, the letter that was handed to the envoys was about that?”

“Exactly. I told them that I wanted to meet with them and fixed a date to do so.”

The envoys from Dytiann were currently staying in a town in the east of Atall, while waiting for a reply from the sovereign-prince. Yesterday, Leo had received a reply in which they agreed to see him.

As for what was going to be said during those talks…

“I intend to request reinforcements from Dytiann,” Lord Leo stated plainly.

Camus objected right from the start.

“That lot cloak themselves in God’s teachings, but in the end, they’re only thinking about filling their own purses. Even if their reinforcements are useful for a while, sooner or later, they’ll prey on the temple and on Atall.”

Meanwhile, Percy tackled the issue from a different angle.

“Are the reinforcements a request from His Majesty?”

As soon as he had asked the question, Leo sent him a sharp glance. It was a gesture that was clearly saying, “don’t ask anymore.”

''Don’t tell me the prince decided that on his own!'' Percy was struck speechless.

Sovereign-Prince Magrid was probably still hesitating: stuck between Allion and Dytiann, he couldn’t give his answer thoughtlessly. Yet Leo, who had been given no diplomatic responsibilities, was saying that he wanted to join forces with Dytiann.

“Your Highness, please wait a moment,” Percy’s expression and tone of voice of course grew firm. “My prince, previously, you said that our only enemy was Hayden Swift. And that you were going to fight him and win. I… no, everyone here, believed those words. But if you allow Dytiann to intervene, then the war front will certainly shift. If several states are involved, then any attempt to bring things to an end will be vastly more complicated, and we probably won’t be able to avoid a full-scale war. This goes beyond defending the temple, and could lead Atall into an even worse crisis.” 

“That won’t happen. I won’t let it happen,” Lord Leo’s expression had remained fixed for some time now. 

For a moment, Percy did not know how to deal with this aristocrat who was younger than he was. ''Is he ecstatic because a few things have gone as he hoped?'' He wondered uneasily. 

It would be great if he was simply restless; that was common in boyhood, after all. The problem was that Leo was seriously concerned about the country’s future. And because he was brooding so seriously, the boy could not see his surroundings. He believed that he had to carry Atall’s weight alone, and that only he was serious about protecting the country. But a boy’s earnestness could sometimes give rise to danger.

Leo stuck his hand out before him as though to hold back Percy’s fears.

“Won’t you hear me out first?” said the prince.

While Percy, Camus, Kuon and Sarah listened in attentive silence, Leo Attiel talked about how he saw what would happen from now on.



Percy Leegan was astounded.

Back in that room at an inn in Tiwana, when Leo had revealed that he would be luring in Darren’s soldiers and defeating them in order to obtain allies and soldiers of his own, Percy had genuinely been amazed. This time, it went beyond that. It was no longer simply on the level of worrying that the prince was selfishly allying himself with Dytiann, or that he was calling for reinforcements without consulting anyone. Percy didn’t realise it, but his hands were shaking.

Sarah was staring wide-eyed, and even Kuon, who was usually indifferent during these kinds of talks, could not hide his astonished expression.

Leo had revealed to them all of his plans.

“''You can’t!''”

It was Camus who vigorously leapt to his face in that instant. He had not been seized by sudden fury. Actually, Percy thought that he had endured remarkably well to have listened until Leo had finished talking.

Leo, for his part, responded with perfect calm.

“Why can’t I?”

“That… That goes too far. It’s too despicable! And Dytiann, who is being asked for reinforcements… and Bishop Rogress...”

Camus was so worked up that his words weren’t coming out clearly. Yet Percy, and all of those to whom Leo had confided his ploys, understood what he was trying to say. 

At the same time, Percy Leegan was at a loss.

Was the young man who was taking Camus’ anger head on really the same one they had rescued in the mountains of Allion? His figure simply did not overlap with the forlorn boy who had descended the steep paths while pulling Florrie by the hand.

“I-If by some complete fluke that actually worked, then with that kind of battle, those who fought and died for the belief that God’s authority would one day shine upon the whole world wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.”

“Oh, ‘won’t be able to rest in peace’? Then would the souls of the dead find comfort from charging into what they know is a hopeless fight, armed with their faith alone, only to be annihilated?”

“That’s…”

“You yourselves once told me this: fighting is great and all, but there’s no meaning to it if you don’t win. So I tried to find a path to victory. And other than this, there is no way to defeat Hayden Swift and to prevent the front lines from extending any further.” 

“B-But… It’s going too far. Your way of doing things is even worse than that godless Allion, or than Dytiann, which pretends to love God just so that it can profit from it. I can’t go along with it.”

Camus was almost grinding his teeth. Opposite him, Leo stretched his hand out towards the armed monk while pressing him verbally.

“Then, Camus, tell me. If there is a way to win without losing any lives except enemy ones – so: a method without bloodshed in which everyone would agree to lay down their spears – please, by all means, tell me what it is.”

“I don’t know!” 

In a way, it was almost invigorating; Camus let out that single yell before turning his back on Leo so swiftly it almost caused a breeze.

“Where are you going?”

“I have no answer to your question. I can’t come up with any other plan that would work. But at the same time, I can’t betray my own beliefs. I can’t work with you any longer. I’m taking my spear back to the temple. I’ll fight in my own way. And you can laugh that it’ll just mean dying in vain… dying defeated. I bid you farewell.”

“Wait.”

Faster than Percy or Sarah could cry out to him, Leo had shouted out and thrown himself in front of Camus. When the warrior monk tried to pass to his left or his right, Leo moved to stand directly in his way. It would have been a comic scene, and completely inappropriate for the atmosphere, except that both of them were facing off against one another as though there were drawn blades between them.

“Please move aside!”

“I won’t.”

Their expressions were filled with the hostility of those facing an enemy.

“Camus, you seem to think that it doesn’t matter if your own blood is spilt, but how many lives do you think you can save with just the blood spilt from your body? Even if you are all resolved to sacrifice your lives so that there will be no other victims, the end result will be that you won’t have saved anybody.”

“Are you saying I should look at the big picture? What do you think a sheltered, ignorant noble can teach me?”

“Right now, I’m seeing more than you are, Camus.”

“What does a lordling who has never seen his friends die in front of his eyes think that he understands?”

Percy half-rose to his feet. The quarrel was going around in circles.

Wasn’t it strange? Previously, Camus had cursed at the vassal-lords, calling them “blind” for not seeing that Allion was a threat. Yet now that it was time to fight, it was Camus who was indignant after having been shown a path to victory, and who was being criticised by Lord Leo for being “blind”.

Percy didn’t know what was right in this situation, either. Confused emotions were running rampant in that room. Anyway, what everyone, himself included, needed right now was time to cool their heads. As Percy was watching, trying to find a chance to intervene, he saw Leo’s hand go to his waist and unsheathe his sword. The blade was one of those slender and curved ones that were widely used in Atall.

Camus, on the other hand, was unarmed. Given that he was not an Atallese soldier, it was only natural that would not be allowed to carry a weapon into the castle. For a second, his expression went stiff before turning into a faint and eerie smile.

“You’re going to kill me? Fine, do it. If you kill those who won’t do as you say, then you’re no better than Allion.”

“Big Brother!” Sarah shouted out.

Kuon was also in position to spring up.

Percy held his breath.

“No,” Leo smiled and turned the sword around, pushing the grip into Camus’ hand. 

The warrior monk’s thick eyebrows drew together at almost the same moment that Leo let go of the grip. Out of reflex, Camus caught the sword which was about to fall to the ground. Again almost at the same time, Leo’s two hands covered Camus’ so that it looked like the two of them were holding the sword together. Whereupon, Leo took a step forward, placing himself in a position where it looked like the blade was resting on top of his shoulder. Before Camus had time to react in surprise, it was already too late.

“''You'' will kill me,” said Leo.
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