Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume2 Chapter7 (section)

===Part 3===


This was the last arrow that Leo shot. He had turned himself into an arrow to bring an end to things, at least for now. This ‘fourth arrow’ added itself to the ones he had released on the battlefield.

Yet if, during the battles around Mount Conscon, there had been someone able to observe things from the ‘Heavens’, they would probably deem that “Lord Leo’s visit to Allion was the ‘fifth arrow’ from Atall’s side.”

Then what was that fifth arrow? Who was sent out?

Only a very few people know the answer to that now.



At the same time as the rumours were spreading in Allion, they blew like the wind into Atall. As the facts were revealed to them one after another, everyone’s expressions went from astonishment, to pallor, to dread. Then, when it became known that Lord Leo had already peacefully concluded his audience with the king of Allion, people finally felt at ease and, with that sense of security, the story of how Lord Leo had rushed to the temple and repelled Allion’s forces now sounded exhilarating. In the blink of an eye, voices rang out throughout the land in praise of Leo.

There were some, however, who did not view him favourably.

The first was Dytiann.

The upper echelons of the Church had sent Arthur Causebulk on a mission that they had viewed as a mere formality, yet he and the entire advance troop of three hundred had died in battle. Nobody in Dytiann could believe their ears. Arthur’s mission had merely been to lead the Sergaia Holy Rose Division to the temple, so an outcome like this one simply shouldn’t have been possible.

Just before he left for Allion, Leo had sent Dytiann a letter. In it, he explained that when they had been about to land with the Holy Rose Division’s air carrier, Arthur had received information that the fighting had already begun, whereupon, he had declared that “we will show them Dytiann’s mettle in this holy war,” and had personally decided to lead an assault deep within Allion’s territory. The plan had been to cut off the attacking forces from their headquarters and to wear down their spirit, but, alas, Claude Anglatt had been quick to realise what was happening, and he had laid his troops in ambush. The result was the tragic annihilation of Arthur’s unit.

Leo lavishly praised Arthur Causebulk, saying that the victory at Conscon Temple was largely thanks to his courage, and he accompanied his words with expressions of gratitude. At around the same time, a letter from the temple’s acting representative, the contents of which were very close to what Leo was saying, arrived in Dytiann. Attached to it was the desire to honour Arthur as one of the temple’s saints.

Dytiann had failed entirely in its designs. Not long after, they received a communication from Allion. Since they had to leave themselves a way out, they could not afford to be careless in their remarks to Atall. They sent a letter of congratulations for their victory to both Atall and the temple.

There was one person, however, who could not settle for this.

“Impossible!”

Bishop Baal cried out, his face ashen. He who had gone to Atall with Arthur as an envoy continued,

“I made sure to tell Arthur not to stand on the frontlines. Yet they say he attacked the enemy camp? And on top of that, he was conveniently ambushed by Allion’s troops? A-And above all else, they were annihilated without a single survivor! It’s completely unthinkable. This is ''Allion'' we’re talking about: they would have taken hostages to get information about Dytiann, or ransom money, or whatever. They must have been working with Atall. They massacred the unit to ensure their silence!”

He continued to fire off words to himself so forcefully that it seemed as though the veins which were starting out from forehead would burst at any moment, and he would collapse as his blood gushed out of him. Yet no matter how much of a ruckus he kicked up, he could not alter Dytiann’s policy all by himself.

“You…”

Finally, his face as crimson as though he were crying tears of blood, Baal pledged a terrible oath before the church’s altar.

“You who murdered Arthur, I will bring down the hammer of God’s judgement upon you. No… it may be Allion who is directly responsible for Arthur’s killing, but in reality, the ones deserving of hatred are Atall – and also Leo Attiel. That accursed boy, pretending to cling to us in desperation, while inwardly, he was sneering at us. With an expression as innocent as a child’s, he offered Arthur in sacrifice to the devil. Watch well: one day, I will definitely, definitely, take your head – you who are possessed by the devil – and I will raise it on high above this altar!”  

And then, there was one other…

The other person who could not view Lord Leo’s actions with any kind of pleasure was Magrid Attiel.

Indeed, yes, the prince’s own father.

When he received the succession of reports about this latest mayhem, and once he grasped the whole picture, he shook with surprise, agitation, and then with anger.

That anger was equal to the king of Allion’s, who had lost a close friend. No, perhaps it even exceeded it. Magrid promptly had Leo return to Tiwana Palace, but as the rumours of Leo’s accomplishments had already reached the capital, the welcome he received there was unprecedented in its enthusiasm.

It was similar to what had happened before, when he had escaped from Allion. Now, however he was the hero who had defeated that same Allion. As Leo strutted along the road on horseback, the populace’s loud cheers washed over him like rain. Beneath the blue sky and alongside the flag that was emblazoned with the crest of Atall’s ruling house, a flag bearing a cross fluttered in the cool, refreshing breeze. This was the flag which symbolised Leo Attiel and, from then onwards, it would come to leave a strong impression on the people of Atall.

Claiming that he was “not feeling well,” Magrid did not go to meet his son. Yet that evening, he immediately summoned Leo to his chambers. The only other person in the room was Branton, his oldest son.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Faced with the furious shouting of his sovereign and father, Leo embarked on a lengthy explanation.

First, he revealed how he had received a letter from Bishop Rogress of Conscon Temple very shortly after his baptismal ceremony.

“It contained a direct plea to me for help as a fellow believer in the Cross Faith. After I had finished reading it, I was shaking. The bishop was already contemplating suicide even back then. But offering his life alone would probably not be enough to put a stop to Allion’s greed and ambition. Therefore, could I not, at the very least, send enough soldiers to protect the populace and the faithful, he asked…”

Naturally enough, however, the number of soldiers that Lord Leo could freely make use of was extremely limited. Thereupon, when the envoys from Dytiann repeatedly stated that they wished to “meet directly with the newly-baptised Lord Leo,” he had decided to see them on the pretext of a private greeting.

“And so you decided, on nothing but your own authority, to ask for reinforcements from Dytiann?” Magrid frowned.

What the sovereign-prince was most concerned about, however, was not how to berate his son. Apparently, upon receiving Leo’s unsupported permission, Dytiann’s military unit had openly crossed Atall’s territory in an air carrier. Magrid’s concern was that he had not received a single report of their being sighted by any of the patrols.

If a group of cavalrymen or of infantry had forced their way into Atall’s lands, the surveillance network spread out across the towns and fortresses would definitely have caught them. This incident, however, clearly revealed that conventional surveillance by itself was not enough to monitor movements by air carrier.

''I hadn’t realised that an armada of air carriers could suddenly appear in the skies above Tiwana.''

The development of large-sized ships carrying nothing but soldiers meant that the way of conducting warfare would change.

''Countries that are by the sea absolutely need a navy. Not only to prevent enemy attacks, but also to keep their territorial waters from enemy hands. Will an ‘air force’ become necessary in the same way for the skies which every country shares?''

Magrid was experiencing the sensation of encountering a new threat. Leo continued,

“There is no denying that I had no right to lead soldiers and to go in reinforcement to the temple. Please forgive me, Father… no, Your Majesty. But should I have pretended not to see the temple’s suffering? Should I have refused the favour that Bishop Rogress was begging of me with his life on the line? Up until then, I – Leo Attiel – had only ever been an insignificant hostage sent to Allion. How could I, when the bishop’s request was recognising me as a man, as a warrior, as a fellow believer of the same faith?”

You could certainly say that Leo was skilful. Why else would he bring out such a narcissistic comment at a time like this? Rather than say that “the prince was behind everything that happened and even entirely deceived his father the sovereign-prince,” it was better to present the disturbance as being due to “the prince going off and taking action because of his selfish desire to be a hero.” The rout of Allion’s army would then be no more than a result of that.

And thus –

“You fool!” Being berated by Magrid was probably well within Leo’s expectations. “Are you planning to become king, maybe? Do you realise that because of your selfishness, Allion’s army might well have been trampling into Atall at this very moment? A ‘man’ and a ‘warrior’ and a ‘believer’, was it? Are you saying that the people of Atall aren’t worth any more than that puny little pride of yours!?”

There was nothing that Leo could do except fall to his knees. At times like these, it was always the kind-hearted Branton who would come to his defence.

“I can understand Leo’s feelings,” and “my little brother is still very young – he still  has a lot he needs to study,” he said, while at the same time turning to his brother to rebuke him, “but you know, Leo, deciding by yourself to have an audience with the king of Allion, that really is going too far.”

In all honesty, saying that Leo had “gone too far” was putting it too mildly. However, even though Magrid could summon Leo in private and yell at him as a father, as the sovereign-prince, he could not publicly punish the young lord.

One of the reasons was that this matter was simply too big. The reality was that Leo had lead soldiers to fight Allion’s army, but if it became known that this had not been what the sovereign-prince wanted, then it would be revealed for all to see that not just the country but even the ruling House itself was lacking any kind of unity. It was all too easy to imagine that this would allow the vassal-lords to gain even more power, not to mention that Allion or Dytiann might see in it a perfect opportunity to intervene in Atall.

The second reason was that Leo had successfully protected the temple. He had also prevented relations with Allion from deteriorating any further by personally meeting with the king. Atall’s current situation could not possibly be any better than it was. And in fact, the people were already starting to see Leo as a hero.

And finally, the last reason was that Leo would soon be getting married to the daughter of an Allian general. This was certainly also one of the reasons why the king of Allion had allowed Leo into his lands. On top of wedding Florrie, Leo also had a strong connection to the Cross Faith, and was preparing to establish its first diocese in Atall. From here on, he would be responsible for contact with Allion in more ways than one. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that Leo’s very existence was now a lifeline for Atall.

Thus, the sovereign-prince could not, at this time, publicly condemn his son.

After scolding Leo harshly then having him leave for the time being, Magrid sat far back into his chair and heaved a very, very long sigh. He summoned a page to prepare him a drink.

“Even though it’s a bit late, should I get a tutor for Leo?” he said to no one in particular. “Or maybe, even if it ''is'' right after his wedding, I should have him cloistered away in the cathedral as a priest of the Cross Faith? Either way, he’s too dangerous to leave as is.”

Magrid twirled the wine cup in his hand.

Even though they were father and child, Leo had spent six years growing up in Allion, so Magrid did not know his son’s personality. Because of that, he was not surprised at how much Leo had changed in such a short amount of time. In other words, the way he saw it wasn’t that “Leo has changed,” but rather, “that boy has always had the potential to be dangerous.”

This would have a huge influence on the relationship between the two of them.



Thus did Leo Attiel triumph over Hayden Swift.

Around that time, a letter of thanks was sent to Leo from Conscon Temple. According to what it said, a priest who been the equivalent of a close aide to Bishop Rogress would soon be inaugurated as the new bishop. Camus had risen considerably in rank, going from being merely one of the warrior monks to becoming the new bishop’s assistant. He would also serve as the point of liaison between the temple and the church at Guinbar. He and his sister, Sarah, would be staying at the temple for the time being, “until the situation has calmed down”.

When Sarah had informed Leo of this, she had added some other, completely unnecessary comments.

“Please take care of Kuon while I’m away in case he gets lonely. That puppy is always disappearing somewhere as soon as you take your eyes off of him, so I think it might be a good idea to teach him kindly with a collar,” she said, in a deliberately loud voice, so that Kuon would be able to hear.

Percy had a really hard time soothing the boy’s fury.

Half a month after being reprimanded by the sovereign-prince, Lord Leo left Tiwana with Percy and Kuon, and once more headed to Guinbar Castle. He wanted to see how the cathedral’s construction was advancing but, once he got there, he received a report that dashed cold water over his victory.

“I am truly sorry, Your Highness,” Savan Roux, the lord of Guinbar, hung his head of grey hair. “I had guards keeping watch night and day but… they took their eyes off of him for a second…”

Togo, the son of the vassal-lord Darren, who had been in custody in Guinbar Castle, had been killed.

He had received a single sword stroke in the back. The killer must have been a man of considerable skill since Togo had probably died instantly. This had been neither a personal settling of accounts, nor a drunkard’s brawl. It was assassination.

And as to who it was who had ordered it…

''Darren?''

Leo thought of the man who had worn such an innocent expression at the time of the prince’s baptism. Within the bustling confusion caused by that huge crowd, had he perhaps been choosing a suitable place for Togo to be brought to and assassinated?

By using Togo as their trump card, they had once been able to drive Darren Actica into a corner, but now that Darren had personally gotten rid of that trump card – gotten rid of his own son – the danger posed by that vassal-lord would be resurrected.

Was this what was bred on Atall’s soil?

''In that case…''

From a parlour in the castle, Leo Attiel gazed into the distance.

''In that case, there’s no choice but to change what grows on this soil.''

The next enemy would be neither Allion nor Dytiann. Instead, it would be –
“Atall.”

Reflecting the lights in the parlour, Leo’s eyes gleamed.



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