Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume3 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===


Some of his time had been taken up by attending the high-level conference, but even so, after his Personal Guards were established, Leo continued to personally go on inspection tours in the villages, and to appoint youths. Exaggerated rumours sprang up about how “the prince is hunting for men,” and “where Lord Leo passes, not a single able-bodied man remains”.

A few days after the meeting, Leo held a large-scale kabat tournament in the grounds outside of Guinbar Castle. Those who qualified to take part were men above fifteen and beneath forty. That was the only requirement.

“Anyone who manages to win three times in a row will receive a reward,” Leo had his subordinates spread the information throughout the villages.

More rumours spread about the ‘man-hunting’ Lord Leo – “If you catch the prince’s eye, he’ll appoint you to his Personal Guards”. As a result, the number of participants swelled to a startling degree.

Since kabat was a form of grappling contest that originated in Allion, there was practically no one in Atall who had officially performed it. The good thing about kabat, however, was that the rules were simple and that it was fun to watch, even if the contestants were not particularly skilful.

The crowd got excited as those who took pride in their strength spectacularly collided with one another, and when those of less impressive physique made free use of inspiration and technique to topple those larger than them, the spectators roared their appreciation.

When one contestant valiantly managed to knock his opponents down one after another, they cheered that: “He’ll end up a great general.” When a soldier of slight build threw a large opponent, the praises swirled: “He’s got a talent for fighting.”

The tournament’s fame grew by the day, and more and more people came to watch. As was common at the time, traders and prostitutes appeared wherever people gathered. Leo turned a blind eye to them. Bets on the matches started to take place between the spectators, but once the bookies had properly introduced themselves to him, Leo gave his tacit consent to them too.

At one point, though, an incident occurred.

Two young men who were clashing with one another in the circular ring made of piled earth were fighting with unusual ferocity. They repeatedly skirted close to breaking the rules with elbow strikes to the throat, or by striking their opponent’s jaw with their shoulders. Upon inquiry, it turned out that the two of them were from neighbouring villages, and that those villages were constantly quarrelling and competing. The two of them were close in age, they were both wild, and, from the time they were born, they each seemed to have decided that the other was their ‘arch-enemy’.

Even after the match was over, they continued to scuffle with no intention of stopping, until finally, other youths from the same villages also rushed into the ring, and a fight broke out among all of them.

“Prince, please step back!” The soldiers tasked with Leo’s personal protection stepped forward to shield him.

Percy and Camus, who had only just arrived in Guinbar, entered the fray to act as mediators. With the Personal Guards also threatening the youths with their spears, the brawl finally died down, but Percy then suddenly realised that Lord Leo was no longer there. He had apparently returned to the castle, escorted by guards.

The atmosphere on the grounds turned strange.

Even at the best of times, tempers frayed easily, but the prince’s absence threatened to spoil it entirely. Even if the matches continued, it didn’t seem that there would be much enthusiasm. “Right,” Percy threw off his leather armour.

“Everyone! I know that you don’t know me, but I’m Percy Leegan, a spearman who follows His Highness, Lord Leo. Is there anyone who will be my opponent? I will recommend whoever defeats me to the prince,” he entered the ring while shouting loudly.

“In that case, me too,” Camus also stripped the upper half of his burly body.

Percy and Camus’ names had spread since they were closely attached to Leo’s fame. The area abruptly started bursting with excitement.

Since Kuon was also nearby, Percy had been hoping that he would also step up but, for some reason, the boy had constantly been in a bad mood recently. He had been watching the kabat with a bored expression, and, perhaps because the earlier brawl had completely killed any enjoyment he had, he seemed to have left with the prince.

When Percy later returned to the castle, he addressed Leo in scolding tones,

“At times like that, shouldn’t the organiser turn around and come back?”

“But Percy, when there was that uproar, you were one of those shouting ‘Prince, withdraw’.”

“That was only supposed to be temporary. Without you there, Lord Leo, the situation was unstable. And because of that, look at me.”

Percy pointed to the cuts and bruises that covered his entire body. He had got them when breaking up the brawl, and in a series of kabat fights. Even the tip of his nose had been scrapped raw, and looked comically red.

“I see, I’m sorry,” Leo gave a slight frown and nodded. He got neither angry nor depressed, and simply seemed perplexed.

The prince displayed almost startling amounts of talent but, on rare occasions, one caught a glimpse of how lacking in experience he was. Since he had been left in a foreign country from when he was very young, he probably didn’t have a standard by which to measure the effect on others of the actions of someone in authority.

– The incident was only a small one, but the impression it left on Percy would be an unusually lasting one.

It had been two months since his Personal Guards had officially been inaugurated, and about half a year since the end of the battles around Conscon Temple. As new faces joined, Percy gradually came to be acknowledged as Leo’s right-hand man by those around them, while Camus, who was coming and going between Conscon Temple and the Guinbar area, started to be know as a retainer who served as a link to the temple.

Yet – as I already mentioned earlier – the third hero who had once rescued Lord Leo from Allion’s territory, Kuon, the mercenary who came from the mountain lands, had been in a bad mood recently.

For a start, he had nothing to do.

He had, for now, joined Leo’s Personal Guards. However, there was no particular danger within the principality, and although, when the prince was moving around he did so without pause, when he stayed still, he did so for extended periods of time. Perhaps those times caused Kuon’s gloominess to increase, but he got into quarrels over the most trifling things with his fellow Guards and with the young men in the towns.

''Honestly, not this again'', sighed Percy.

When they had been fighting Allion at the temple, Kuon had often caused disturbances among his companions. Remembering how he had to run around and break things up each and every time, Percy decided that he needed to give Kuon something to do.

“If you’re free, won’t you supervise the training for the new recruits?” he asked.

Having no particular reason to refuse, Kuon accepted, but as he was taciturn and seemed to bad-tempered, he did not have a good reputation among the recruits. More importantly, although they were ‘new’ recruits, the overwhelming majority of them were older than Kuon, and since he had not earned any particularly noteworthy achievements in the previous battles, an increasing number of people started to look down on this ‘instructor’.

At that point, Kuon’s bad mood also increased.

“If you’re not happy, then come at me!”

The fights he picked only grew more numerous.

Yet interestingly enough, Kuon never slacked off about training. Even though he tended to talk as little as possible, and his manner was a little rough, he taught methodically. He was especially in-depth when it came to helping those whose physique was slightly on the underwhelming side, enthusiastically drilling them in how to choose a weapon, or how to use their size.

“When you tangle, it has to come from you,” he hurled his instructions. “If your legs are injured and you fall, it’s the end. When you take a blow, you absolutely have to pull back while your armour is deflecting it, and quickly move in to attack again from a different angle.”

It was obvious that he was familiar with teaching the art of fighting to others. Since neither Percy nor Camus had any experience with doing so, in that sense, Kuon was invaluable, and Percy often felt what a waste it was that he attracted so much criticism and displeasure because of his attitude.

“Kuon seems to be getting more irritated by the day. Do you know why?” Percy asked when Kuon wasn’t around.

He had approached Kuon several times to ask him what was wrong, but Kuon shot him down with a curt, “Nothing.”

“If that’s what’s worrying you, leave it to me,” Camus thumped his chest. “Kuon is my beloved disciple. Considering his personality, he’ll be stubborn at first, but with God’s love, I, his master, will pry open his hardened heart, and then surely, in a flood of passionate tears, he will lean his head on my welcoming chest and will honestly bare his emotions.”

Camus went up to Kuon, brimming with self-confidence.

“How about it, Kuon? Won’t you come to mass sometime soon? It’s nothing too formal. You only need to listen as the Holy Scriptures are read out loud, and immerse yourself in the atmosphere.”

First, he planned to use an indirect approach. He expected Kuon to answer with, “Shut up,” and to turn him down flat. And yet –

“Speaking of which, Camus, I’ve been meaning to ask you about it. God, that is.”

“O-Oh!” Camus’ voice was filled with emotion. Seeing Kuon so unexpectedly proactive, he only barely managed to avoid shedding ‘passionate tears’ of his own.

“I see, there are points you have been thinking of. No, no, there’s nothing remotely strange about it. It isn’t as though, when you enter the faith and offer your body and soul entirely to the Divine Love, all of your doubts and misgivings are cleared away. Instead, it means that you are standing at the starting point. Everyone hesitates and loses the way whilst walking it, and that’s why we need the help of mentors and of senior disciples. Indeed, the path of faith is a hard one, and it is not one that can be walked alone. Well then, Kuon, what is it? Think of me as an older brother to whom you can say anything.”

“Camus, it’s something you said earlier. Before our ancestors rode a huge ship and landed on this planet… I mean, on the planet they lived on before that, you said that the Cross Faith already existed.”

“That’s right. Our Master is the God which has been believed in for the longest time. His great works are…”

“I’ve been wondering about it since I heard it, but…” Kuon continued, cutting through Camus’ words. “That god is on the previous planet, and he’s also on this planet, so does that mean he also rode on the big ship?”

“W-What?”

“But if you think about it, isn’t it weird? Or is there one more god every time there’s another planet?”

“D-Don’t be stupid. God definitely isn’t the kind of being that you’re imagining. God… right, He dwells in the hearts of all who believe and resonates with them… No, wait. That’s wrong. I was going to just give you my interpretation. I am still a greenhorn. This isn’t a topic that can be settled with my words alone. Let’s put it on the agenda for the next reading session. And for that, I need to get the materials ready at once. Faith is truly profound…”

Camus’ mind was struck with a puzzle of its own, and his attention was entirely taken up by it. To put it simply, he proved completely useless.

Percy felt extremely foolish.

''What a completely unreliable monk. He’s far more useful in fight''. But anyway, about Kuon. Percy was fairly sure that he wouldn’t get anything out of him either. ''But if I ask him directly, it might just make him even more irritated. And it will become difficult if he puts his guard up afterwards. I need to carefully remove the obstacles and give him as little provocation as possible, and take my time, without getting impatient, to edge my way closer…''

He continued to worry over it. As bad luck would have it, though, Sarah had witnessed the whole series of events and, the day after her brother failed in his attempt –

“Kuon, everyone says you’ve been strange recently. Well, since it’s you, did you eat something which was lying about on the ground and get a stomach ache?” she approached Kuon so outspokenly that had he been there to see it, Percy would probably have felt faint.

“It’s nothing,” Kuon was as curt as ever.

Sarah became indignant.

“Yesterday, I thought the stray dog was getting tamer and attached to me, but today it goes and bites me.”

“What? Who’s getting attached to you? If you got close, even a puppy that hasn’t grown fangs yet would bite.”

“What did you say? Animals love me, I’ll have you know.”

Even though it was a metaphor that she had brought up herself, it was very much like Sarah to then take it at face value. Just as it looked like they were about to get into their usual quarrelling –

“It’s good to see you getting along.”

Normally, it was Percy’s role to get between the two of them, but just this once, it was Lord Leo who stepped in. Not surprisingly, Sarah quickly stopped talking while Kuon looked uncomfortable.

Leo Attiel sat down on the bare ground.

They could hear the voices of soldiers coming from the castle courtyard where they were training. Leo was on a leisurely inspection of them. He was watching as the young men fought with staffs to capture the others’ flags or broke in horses, when Kuon suddenly asked a question.

“When’s the war going to be… if I may be so bold as to ask?”

Leo looked surprised.

“War?”

“Since you’re training soldiers, there’s going to be a war, right?”

“Just because you’re gathering and training soldiers doesn’t mean a war is definitely about to break out,” Sarah giggled. “The prince is doing what he’s doing so that he’ll always be prepared for when a war does break out.”

“I get that,” Kuon bit out, as much as to say ‘don’t butt in’.

Sarah shrugged.

“It’s not like I don’t understand. You want to earn glory as quickly as possible. And in the last battle, you lost your chance to kill Hayden, right? It’s because you don’t have any achievements to your name that the recruits treat you like a fool. So I understand that you’re feeling impatient.”

“That’s not…” Kuon started to gnash out his words again.

“Percy mentioned something,” Leo’s gentle voice broke in between the two of them. “Kuon, he said that you clearly have experience in training recruits. That’s how good at it you are, you know?”

“That’s… On the mountain, that's just normal,” said Kuon.

The ‘mountain’ he was talking about was not Mount Conscon, but the place where he had been born and raised. Leo had heard from Percy that Kuon’s birthplace was the rugged land that lay south of the Kesmai Plains – an area which was called “the Fangs Mountain Range” on maps in the principality.

“Most of the young men in the mountains become soldiers. It’s only natural that the seniors teach the juniors who’ve been incorporated in the same unit. If they don’t, then the unit loses strength and they’re the ones who’ll be in danger.”

“What do you mean by ‘unit’? Are you organised in units from childhood in your mountains, Kuon?”

“The ‘unit’ is… Well, you’re right, but it’s more like something like a family. Most kids join the same ‘unit’ as their father, although there also cases where that doesn’t happen, but then… you know, they change their ‘surname’.”

Kuon’s expression indicated that he was having a hard time explaining. Other than for martial arts, he wasn’t used to explaining things to someone who knew nothing about them. But Leo patiently listened to him, while still observing the soldiers who were training.

“For example, I was called Kuon Wei. The one who looked after me was a man called Datta Wei. And because Datta was the strongest of the Wei’s, he was the head of the ‘Wei’. So if I left the ‘unit’, I’d have a different surname.”

It wasn’t simply that Kuon was bad at giving explanations, when he said the name “Datta Wei”, his expression seemed pained. His past seemed to include some unpleasant memories, but Leo deliberately pretended not to notice.

“So, Kuon, you were trained by the people of the ‘Wei Unit’, and you also taught the younger ‘Wei’ children?”

“Those who were good with a sword taught the sword, for those who were skilled at archery, it was the bow, and if your strong point was marksmanship, you taught how to use guns.”

“I’ve heard that you’re good with all of them. You must have been given an important position. So, Kuon, if you hadn’t left the mountains, would you have one day ended up leading the entire ‘Wei’ unit?”

“No,” Kuon declared firmly. “That wouldn’t have happened.”

“Why not?” Sarah had been listening with considerable interest. Actually, since this was the first time that Kuon had talked about his birthplace, she hadn’t been able to rein in her natural curiosity. “Although it pains me to admit it, you’re strong, aren’t you? Or else, is your ‘mountain’ full of apes all as skilled as you are?”

“Even if I’d won the festival, I probably couldn’t have become Warrior Raga.”

“Who’s Raga?”

“The strongest warrior on the mountain. He was a swordsman said to have been granted the shape of a beast by God to expel evil spirits but, obviously, now, he doesn’t actually look like a beast... but when the time’s right, they choose the strongest man.”

Kuon really wasn’t any good at giving explanations. Leo and Sarah listened to him while sorting out the words in their heads.

''So ‘Raga’ is the name of a legendary swordsman from the mountains and, from generation to generation, they’ve been selecting the strongest man and respectfully give him that as a title – is that what he means?''

“Even though they said that either me or Diu might be the next Raga, if I’d beaten Diu, they’d probably have found all sorts of reasons for not recognising me as Raga. Like how Raga’s soul couldn’t dwell in a half-blood like me, or…”

Having talked up to that point, Kuon suddenly seemed to snap back to himself.

“Anyway, never mind about me,” he almost spat out his words. “I’ll work for you, Prince, if you give me money. If you say to do it, I’m fine with training recruits. But it’s just that if there isn’t going to be a war, then that isn’t worth doing.”

Leo carefully observed at his profile.

Given that Kuon had been growing increasingly irritated recently, his thoughts probably didn’t match his words. He wanted war. What Sarah had said about him wanting to “earn glory” probably wasn’t wrong.

Leo didn’t know what his reason was, but –

“Be patient for a bit longer, Kuon.”

Leo Attiel stood up while patting the dirt off from his backside, before stating something that left Sarah startled.
“It will only be for a short while. There will soon be a war in Atall.”



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