Editing Tales of Leo Attiel:Volume4 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===


''By Tei Tahra's guidance, Kuon the fugitive has returned to the mountains.''

No sooner had that rumour flown round the village than another one swiftly started to spread.

''Kuon wants to overturn the Chief's decision, so he's going to fight a duel with Warrior Raga.''

The normally quiet atmosphere within the mountains was as noisy as thought they had suddenly been attacked by an entire enemy division.

Whenever anyone maintained their opposition to a decision from the chief, that person had no choice but to fight Warrior Raga in a duel, and win. Said otherwise, Raga was duty-bound to accept duels, but it wasn't something that happened very often. Most of the tribe lived their entire life in the mountains where they had been born, but even then, they might see it at most once or twice in their entire lifetime.

Moreover, his opponent was Kuon.

The 'unwanted child' whose contaminated blood had not received Tei Tahra's divine protection, the one who had ensnared then murdered Datta Wei, even though Datta had helped look after him – in other words, a 'betrayer' who was possessed by evil spirits, and a fugitive who had fled from the mountain before those spirits could be cleansed.

“Why is Kuon fighting Raga instead of being thrown to the fire?”

People were understandably puzzled. Nothing but death awaited a 'betrayer'. Those who were inhabited by evil spirits were usually killed by the youths who had only just reached adulthood, during their coming-of-age ceremony, and their corpse was burned in the sacred flames lit by the priestesses and shamans.

Such were the customs, lifestyle and laws of the people who lived in these mountains, which others did not approach.

“According to Mistress Mist, Tei Tahra's divine voice hasn't passed judgement on Kuon yet.”

“And also, Kuon seems to have brought a woman from a country called Atall with him. That woman asked the chief to lend them our military strength.”

“That's ridiculous. We don't belong to Atall here.”

“That woman also said something else: apparently, if we don't lend him our strength, the prince of Atall will attack and annihilate us.”

“We'll take him on and beat him back!” The youths shouted and raised their fists to the sky. Here, on this mountain, woman were included among said 'youths'. Warlike cries flew throughout the village, coming from men who were preparing to go hunting, and women who were tanning beast hides with smoke. Some of the more quick-tempered youths even held a sword or a gun in the fists they raised overhead.

“That woman who doesn't know the awe and terror of Divine Tei Tahra should just burn along with Kuon!”

“Of course the chief didn't give in to the threats from Atall. And of course, Warrior Raga, who was also there, roared the same thing as everyone here: 'we'll take him on and beat him back'. But at that moment, the one who spoke in objection was Kuon.”

At this point in time, Kuon was being seen as heinous sinner, but since he had not yet received Tei Tahra's judgement, he was not yet a criminal. Furthermore, he had undergone the coming-of-age ceremony. Since he was guilty of no crime, for all that he was called an 'unwanted child', and for all that he had left the mountain without permission for a year, he was still an adult of the tribe, and he naturally had all the rights that went with it.

Kuon had made use of those rights to directly oppose the chief's will. “I challenge Warrior Raga so that I can prove before Divine Tei Tahra that I am right,” he had insisted. People were astounded and incredulous. There were not a few of them who burst out laughing.

“A man living on borrowed time, waiting for Divine Tei Tahra to hand down His judgement, wants to prove to our mountain god that he's right?”

“That accursed 'unwanted spawn'? That 'betrayer'?”

“The lady priestesses don't need to wait to hear Lord Tei Tahra's voice. That bastard will be using his own body to show this mountain what justice is. It'll be proven the instant Raga's sword sends Kuon's head flying.”

Throughout all of that day, the entire village was occupied with the topic of the duel between Raga and Kuon. People were not only getting worked up by insulting Kuon; it had already been about twenty years since Warrior Raga had taken part in a fight over village policy. Although the outcome was absolutely obvious, the contest provided the people there with a certain form of entertainment.



“How is Kuon going to be killed? Is he going to be felled in a single blow, or are his nerves going to be ground down while Raga takes his time chopping his limbs off one by one? How long will Kuon last? Will their swords even clash once? No, they say that the beast eyes painted on Raga's mask hold the power to make evil spirits falter. That guy definitely won't be able to even move...”
Sarah intoned expressionlessly, in exactly the same voice as a priest transmitting a message from a god.

“...Is what they're saying, Mr Officer in Prince Leo Attiel's Personal Guards,” she addressed Kuon, who was on the other side of the iron bars, his back leaning against the stone wall. He didn't seem like he was going to answer, however.
Ever since he had informed Chief Suo and Priestess Mist that he would duel Raga, Sarah had treated him with the coldest of attitudes.

“Even though, thanks to my superb negotiation skills, it looked like I was the verge of getting a concession out of Suo. I would even have been able to have you released. But in spite of that, you went and said 'I'm staying here. I won't run away.' Hmph, well, how splendidly manly of you. And, what do you intend to accomplish with this duel? Savages from the wilderness, who won't even listen to reason, really seem to like fighting to see who's right,” Sarah declared, her eyebrows drawn tightly together.

However, when she glanced towards Kuon, whose face was hidden behind one raised knee, her cheeks puffed out.

“What is it? Why are you laughing?”

“The Cross Faith also has duels,” Kuon snorted. “Apparently, the style changes a bit depending on the country or city, but when things can't be settled with a trial, or when you want to avoid the time and trouble of going to trial, you can solve things by having a duel between the people concerned, or their representatives.”

“Th... Well, hum...”

“I heard about it from Camus. Seems he's also done it. I had to listen for almost an hour while he explained, complete with gestures, about how his spear had righted 'injustice' and proven his innocence.”

“That ''bastard'',” Sarah openly cursed her brother. Then immediately continued, “That's one thing, and I don't want to talk about it. Don't try to sidestep the issue.”

Kuon was left speechless by how high-handed she was being. It was as though she might be able to change the direction the wind was blowing through sheer force of will.

“There was no other choice. Even if your 'superb negotiation skills' had gotten us both out of the mountains, what then? Were we supposed to just happily go back to the prince? Without a single soldier following us?”

“That's...”

“If I win, I can change Suo's decision. In other words, we can help the prince by getting reinforcements. It's not like I ever thought that getting them to help would be easy. I was ready for at least this much.”

“Liar. You were about to run away. It's only because of the way things unfolded that it ended up like this,” Sarah made another bitter comment.

However, she changed her tone immediately afterwards, probably believing that there was no point continuing in that vein.

“That guy... That Raga, is he strong?”

“I told you before, right? The strongest man in the tribe is the one who becomes Raga.”

“So you're saying he's stronger than you?”

When Sarah asked him that, biting her thumb with irritation, Kuon for some reason looked dumbstruck for a moment. After thinking about it, he replied,

“I'm stronger.”

At his answer, Sarah once again retorted “Liar,” without a second's delay.

“Didn't you only just say that the strongest becomes Raga? If he's stronger than anyone, then that means he's stronger than you, right!”

“You can't take part in the fight to choose Raga until you're an adult. So I never took part until now, and the current Raga got that position while I was away from the mountain. In other words, Raga was decided while I was gone. If I'd been here, Raga would be me.”

Kuon met Sarah's tempestuous emotions with a dispassionate answer. The young nun still had her mouth open wide, as though she were about to say something, but all that came out of it was the sound of her breathing, and before long, she let her slender shoulders dropped. Instead of calling him an idiot, she asked, in a small voice,

“...So when will the duel be?”

“Didn't you hear? Suo said it, you know. It will start tomorrow at sunset.”

“T-Tomorrow,” Sarah's breath caught in her throat, then she gasped. “You're in no state for that. It's been three days since you were locked in here, right? I've heard that I was unconscious for about that long. Are you moving at all? If you just stay still, your muscles will become stiff and you won't be able to move them. And what about meals? You haven't been getting any, have you? I'm more or less a guest, so if I ask, I can probably get them to share some with you. Hang on, I'll go and fetch...”

As soon as she decided that, Sarah started to set off and seemed about to leave the cleft in the rock. Kuon had no time to stop her, yet Sarah herself suddenly paused when her hand was already on the edge of the entranceway.

“That won't be necessary.”

A new voice could be heard from the other side of the opening. It was Aqua, with a wooden tray in hand. Grilled fish and several types of nuts were arranged on top of it, and there was also a bowl filled with mashed corn.

“This is from Chief Suo,” said Aqua, silently gesturing to Sarah to 'get out' as 'she' walked past her. Sarah stood aside.

Aqua slid the tray through the gap between the iron bars and the ground's surface. Kuon's gaze shifted in turn from the tray to Aqua. Seeing the 'girl's' slender face again, it seemed to have matured a little since he had left the village. Aqua stared expressionlessly back at him, but before long, 'her' shoulders started to jerk in a way that showed 'she' was uncomfortable.

“Aren't you going to eat?” 'Her' voice was low, but it was sharp and firm.”It might be your last meal.”

“I'll eat. More importantly, Aqua, you were taking part in the ashinaga hunt, so I guess that means you've 'become a man', huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Too bad for Diu. He wanted to marry you.”

“Is that right,” Aqua answered indifferently.

Pulling the tray towards him, Kuon seemed about to ask something else, but Aqua abruptly swung 'her' slender frame around, and started to leave without another word. In a complete reversal from earlier, however, this time, Sarah was the one standing in the way, and Aqua had no choice but to stop.

“Move, Outsider.”

“Forget it. I was intending to kick that Diu person flying as soon as I got here. Where is he?”

“Diu? ''You're'' going to 'kick him flying'? Aqua chuckled softly after repeating Sarah's words.

The novice nun felt as though she was being laughed at as a completely ignorant outsider, and her face flushed crimson.

“Yes, that's exactly right. And I'm not 'you': I'm Sarah, the best woman warrior of Conscon Temple, who is going to beat up Diu, the puniest of your tribe.”

“Why? You've never met him, right?”

“I've heard about him. He set a trap for Kuon. The one who killed Datta Wei wasn't Kuon, and that Diu person...”

“Stop it, Sarah!” Kuon shouted angrily from the other side of the iron bars, but Sarah shook her head.

“I'm not saying it for you. I'm still furious.”

“Idiot. Camus said that your god teaches that even if someone hits you on the side of the face, you should turn the other cheek without hitting back.”

“How did he have the nerve to say that? That stupid spear maniac! You're stupid too, and so is Big Brother, and Lord Leo, and every single one of you men, all of you, all of you are stupid!”

Sarah was bent slightly forward in rage as she vented her fury, and Aqua passed by the side of her with unconcerned steps.

“Ah, hold on... this conversation isn't over...” Sarah made as if to stop 'her'.

“If you want to beat up Diu, you should just leave it to Kuon tomorrow,” Aqua said coldly.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Don't you get it? At the ceremony held half a year ago, the new vessel which Warrior Raga's soul chose to reside in was the one who used to be Diu Wei.”

The pine torches at the entrance of the cleft threw light on Aqua, and half 'her' body was illuminated red.