Tales of Leo Attiel ~Portrait of the Headless Prince~

Part 1

After four full days, they had finally arrived before the enemy encampment. It was only on the first day, when they had been galloping on horseback, that they had exchanged frivolous small talk with their companions – which was also a sign that they were feeling tense about the fighting to come. Afterwards, it been nothing but an accumulation of hunger and exhaustion. Whenever they had one of their breaks, everyone would simply sink down without saying a word. When they next stood up, their feet were even heavier than before. What awaited them at the end of the path was only more exhaustion. Yet somehow, while sometimes encouraging, and sometimes scolding friends who had stopped walking, they had reached their destination according to schedule.

Yet just like that, those efforts of theirs which had almost been torture turned to nothing.

The enemy was prowling the mountain with raised torches. Have they gotten wind of our attack? wondered Percy. For a moment, his entire body was paralysed. The unit which was supposed to strike at the enemy and bravely lead their allies to victory, was now no more than a platoon in enemy territory that could do nothing except wait to be tortured to death.

Kuon smoothly and nimbly climbed a nearby tree to get a wider view of the line of lights. Just as he was narrowing his eyes to try to make how many they were, he spotted another group which has descending further down the very slope that they themselves were on. This group did not yet seem to have noticed them, but they were all shouting something at the same time. Kuon’s ears caught a single word:

“Prince”

Kuon hastily dropped from the tree and reported to Percy. They numbered about twenty or thirty and, from the looks of things –

They aren’t preparing for an attack? thought Percy, but it would be all the same if they noticed them. It was thanks to Kuon’s swift actions that Percy had broken out of his paralysis. Even if it had just been for a moment, he was ashamed of how he had been able to think of nothing except waiting for death.

Coming to a quick decision, he waved his hand to order his men to descend the hill.

The first thing to do is to get past that group and find somewhere to hide while Kuon scouts out what the situation is... such was the plan that Percy’s mind was formulating, but it was shortly to be rendered useless.

One of Atall’s soldiers who was hurrying towards the front caught his foot in a tree root and tumbled downwards. Because he took the soldiers in front of him with him, the noise was deafening. All at once, shouts erupted from overhead.

“Who are you?”

“The prince?”

“No... I...”

Quickly! – while grabbing the hands of the fallen soldiers to help them get up, Percy was waving his other hand more furiously than ever before. His allies ran down the hill as though flying down it, but Allion’s soldiers were coming after them from overhead at roughly the same speed.

“Wait! If you don’t wait, we’ll use our arrows on you!”

“We have guns, too.”

As Allion’s soldiers joined up, there were more and more lights overhead. Percy could no longer hide his voice.

“Run, run!” he urged his allies while he himself stopped. He intended to let the enemy get close enough to see him, then run in a different direction from his allies, and he was slowing down to divert the enemy’s attention. His head and heart were filled with cold dread, but his fear for his own safety was nothing compared to the terror of seeing his allies annihilated. For the inexperienced Percy, that latter pain would be unbearable.

At that point, Camus came racing back. With a: “What are you doing?” he was about to pull Percy by the shoulder, but Percy instead grabbed the warrior monk’s arm.

“Please get everyone down the mountain,” he begged him.

Camus’s eyes wavered before suddenly flaring sharply, and he knocked Percy down. A moment later, an arrow had pierced the ground where Percy had just been standing. It had not come from overhead, but from the side.

We’re surrounded – Percy bit his lips in despair as he stood up. Apparently, the enemy had split into two groups to chase them. And needless to say, Allion had the advantage of terrain.

It was in that instant that a gunshot rang out in retaliation nearby.

It had come from Sarah. She too had come back at some point. Her aim was true, and the Allian soldier who was readying his next arrow collapsed forward. But now twice as many arrows again were being released from overhead and from the right. Now that it was clear that the opponent had the means to counterattack, Allion’s troops no longer had any mercy.

Percy, Camus and Sarah hid behind trees to avoid the arrows, but, at the same time, they could not make the slightest move. The net around them tightened. Percy’s heart was pounding furiously, when he suddenly looked up. The stars were starting to appear.

Then, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed something crawling. Although he couldn’t clearly distinguish the figure, Percy knew instinctively that it was Kuon. He was probably hiding up a tree, waiting for a opening to fire an arrow before jumping down and causing confusion among the enemy.

Idiot. You should have just escaped – Percy inwardly cursed at him. It was impossible to overturn the situation with Kuon alone attacking the enemy.

So this is all there is to the second son of the Leegan House.

If there was one miracle cure for the dread that was freezing his body and soul, then that was resignation. Percy once again felt something like despondence.

I wasn’t able to return them a single blow.

So in the end, was the heat that he had felt in his blood when he had been thinking up these tactics no more than the recklessness of youth? A chill struck Percy’s heart and soul. The faces of his parents and older brother ran through his mind. Next was his fiancée, Liana’s, smile.

At that moment, he shook himself like a wet dog and threw off his lethargy.

Wait. I can’t let them find out that I’m a noble from Atall.

If his identity was uncovered, he would be bringing danger not only to the temple, but also to his native country. That was a fear of a different nature and a different magnitude than his previous dread. Whatever death he was to die, there was no way it would be one that brought shame to his loved ones.

His hesitation disappeared in an instant. Within his heart, the narcissistic longing that was his craving for heroic deeds resonated perfectly with his desire not to feel the fear of death any more than this.

“God’s hand rest over my head. You bastards, praise the name of the Lord!” shouting what few prayers he knew, Percy leaped out alone.

The sound of an arrow grazed past his ear, and the next one struck just a few millimetres from the tip of his boots. Just as he was about to charge at the enemies with his spear in hand –

“You idiot!”

A voice came from overhead. Kuon sprang down from the tree, cutting down one of the bowmen as he did so. He then killed another. But they were outnumbered. Pressed back by the enemies’ spears, he drew back towards Percy.

“You idiot,” Kuon yelled again as he swung his sword and knocked away an enemy arrow.

The idiot here is you. Why didn’t you run away? Percy was about the shout back despite himself. But Kuon’s strong hand grabbed him and brought him back once more to the shadow of the tree. Meanwhile, Sarah had starting shooting again.

There seemed to be slightly fewer arrows piercing the trees. Yet this was not because the enemy was daunted, but rather because they had guessed that their opponents were few in number and so were moving rapidly to tighten the net.

His breath ragged, Percy looked in turns at Kuon, who was right next to him, grasping a sword, at Camus, who was hiding behind a different tree, then at Sarah, who had her gun in her hand. Each of them wore desperate expressions. And any second now, he might never be able to see their faces again.

When he realised that, his chest was filled with a burning emotion that was different from fear. It hadn’t even been two months since they had first met. Yet as they faced death together, shoulder to shoulder, it felt as though they had been together their entire lives.

“Shit!” a very uncharacteristic swear word spilled from Percy’s lips.

The idiot is probably me.

His spear could not save his home country, nor could it even protect his irreplaceable friends. Percy’s hands shook. If it were possible, he would have wanted to carry out a charge and give them a way to escape. But he did not believe that Camus, Sarah or Kuon would go along with that.

In that case – how about if we all move at the same time? How about if all four of them simultaneously started running in different directions? Even if one person was shot, that would still leave three, if a second person was shot, that would leave two, and if a third person was killed, at least the last remaining one should be able to escape.

All he could do was hope for the best. Percy made eye contact with his friends. Had Camus understood his intention? He had turned to his younger sister and seemed to be telling her something.

And then –

“Wait, stay your arrows!”

From overhead, a voice tore through the night air just as though it was itself a huge arrow. The attack suddenly ceased. Out of reflex, Percy looked up the hill and saw a figure on horseback. It was approaching towards them, handling the horse with almost outrageous skill down the steep path.

He recognised that imposing figure.

The rider received a light from one of the bowmen and raised it to his own eye level.

“Oh, I see. If it isn’t the gentleman who helped me by taking my horse’s bit.”

With the light shining on him, Claude Anglatt smiled broadly.

Percy, Camus, Kuon and Sarah were captured by Allion’s forces.

When Claude had called for their surrender, saying that: “I promise you will be treated with courtesy,” Camus had barred his teeth, growling “What!”, but there had been no other choice.

The next action that Percy took was not taken because he had resigned himself to dying, but because he wanted to save the lives of the other three. Faster than anyone, he had left the shadow of the trees and had thrown down his weapon. He had then asked the others to do the same.

Sarah and Kuon complied, and, in the end, Camus had thrust his spear into the ground, his voice raw with anger.

Even though they were captured, they were not tied up. With Allion’s soldiers in front and behind them, they walked along the mountain path.

“Let go, don’t touch me!” yelled Kuon. Percy managed to sooth him by pointing out that, forget not being touched, it was already unusual for prisoners not to be bound hand and foot.

“Honestly, this is why I told you not to follow us,” Camus said to his younger sister in a serious voice. “Have I ever told you anything that didn’t turn out to be true? Look, it’s the same thing this time, too.”

“What are you bragging about when you’ve been captured by the enemy? I don’t remember having been any kind of burden. Which means, Big Brother, that this is your mistake.”

“What mistake did I make? This plan was impossible from the start. I followed that impossible path, grasping my spear even while knowing that it was hopeless. That is a man’s resolve, and something that you cannot understand.”

Walking in front, Percy’s ears were burning. In their current predicament, he had prepared himself more than once for death, but he was far from having done so with the mental fortitude of a valiant warrior. It was simply because he couldn’t bear the fear that was squeezing his neck tighter and tighter. Percy Leegan was made sharply aware of his own inexperience.

Looking up at Claude’s back as he guided them from the front, Percy let out a quiet sigh.

Were the other soldiers able to escape? If so, then it was still worth risking death.

He expected that they would be taken to the fortress, but for some reason, Claude did not choose the road leading to it, and instead continued to climb upwards, leading the four of them to a clearing in the trees.

Watchfires were burning and an encampment had been hastily set up. Upon seeing Claude, soldiers holding guns stood to attention. This was probably somewhere that Claude had been supervising until he had gone to deal with them. Percy was wondering if they had set up a camp away from the fortress because they suspected that there would be a surprise attack, when just then, another rider came racing back from a different direction.

“Oh – Father?” the newcomer opened his eyes wide when he saw Claude, who was likewise on horseback. “Where did you go?”

“Just some minor business,” Claude glanced towards Percy and the others, grinning. He was not looking at them as you would at prisoners. Percy was startled to realise that it was instead exactly as though he was looking at a group of mischievous brats who had been caught red-handed.

“More importantly, did you find them?”

“There was neither hide nor hair of them on the immediate surroundings. Hayden’s soldiers appeared to the north, so we couldn't get close.”

“Damn Hayden. He’s so caught up in this, he’s forgotten he’s supposed to be in command,” Claude barred his teeth. “He’s the man who deliberately spread rumours in the country about soldiers from Atall, and now he’s gone and decided that the prince kidnapped my daughter – he’ll probably be aiming for the prince’s life.”

“He’s also the man who sent you off as messenger, Father. I won’t show him any mercy if he does anything to hurt Florrie...”

“Don’t do anything rash. Sorry, but would you go investigate the surroundings again?”

“Aye,” Claude’s son pulled on his reins and immediately galloped out of the camp again.

For a moment, Claude remained on horseback, glaring towards the north, then jumped down. “We have a bit of a situation of our own, here,” he noted, with a somewhat bitter smile.

Percy could not stop himself from speaking up. “May I ask you what it is? Wasn’t it because you were expecting our attack that you set up this camp?”

“Not at all,” Claude admitted with startling frankness. “A problem’s cropped up. And it’s a problem I can’t get involved in. If my men so much as approach, that Hayden guy will start up the rumours again.”

Percy did not understand what the circumstances were, and it was his first time hearing the name ‘Hayden’. However, he had remembered something when he had heard the word ‘prince’ earlier.

Claude Anglatt... and the prince. Right, Lord Leo, the second-born prince of Atall, was sent to Allion as a hostage. And if I’m not mistake, he was placed in Claude’s territory.

Percy experienced a shock that was completely unrelated to his own current situation. Earlier, Claude had also said that “he’ll probably be aiming for the prince’s life” – just what on earth had happened here? Although he did not fully understand, it was certain that whatever it was, it was connected to his own country.

As though he had only just noticed the existence of the four of them, Claude Anglatt swept his gaze over each of them in turn.

“A warrior monk from the temple, a nun and a mercenary... is it?”

“Even if you torture me, I won’t reveal a thing,” Camus glared fiercely. “Besides that, it’s fine if I’m the only one to experience the shame of being taken prisoner. Surely a general from Allion wouldn’t lay hands on woman, right?”

Claude ignored Camus and turned his gaze towards Percy last.

“Were those rumours actually true? I see, I did think that for a mercenary, you... You’re a soldier from Atall, aren’t you?”

“A-Absolutely not. That I... I couldn’t possibly...” Almost giddy from his memories, Percy was about to deny his own origins, but –

“It’d be better not to hide it. If you’re from Atall then, in a way, your goals coincide with ours.”

Claude stopped him quickly, looking as though he had absolutely no patience to listen. Then, he made a proposal that startled all four of them.

“Would you save the life of Atall’s prince, Lord Leo Attiel?”

Part 2

“Leo, you need to run away quickly.”

It was only a little past noon when Florrie Anglatt said that to Leo, her expression anxious.

Leo had been in a parlour, reading. The swaying curtains were embroidered with reproductions of famous paintings depicting the spirits in human form.

Run away?

At first, he thought it was a joke, but Florrie’s usually rosy cheeks were pale and the blood also seemed to have drained from her lips.

“If you don’t run away quickly, Leo, you’ll be killed.”

The tears that were pooling in her eyes seemed about to slide down her ashen cheeks.

At present, Claude Anglatt was not at the residence.

– It had all started when relations with Conscon Temple had deteriorated. Leo would not easily forget how a group that included the high noble, Hayden Swift, had gone to the temple but had failed in bringing about a reconciliation. When a punitive force was raised with Hayden at the helm, Leo had felt considerable surprise.

They had only sat together for a single meal, so Leo himself didn’t know why he felt that it’s not like him.

“It won’t drag on too long,” Claude had said, looking uninterested. It was obvious that he was opposed to attacking the temple by force. However, as an upstart general, he could not say anything against the plan that Hayden, a distant relative to the royal family, was pushing forward. Claude seemed to be hoping that at least this would be over soon, given that the temple was recruiting soldiers but was unlikely to have an organised plan of resistance.

Yet the fighting went on for longer than expected. And Claude could not remain uninvolved.

A few days earlier, a messenger had arrived at the Anglatt mansion. He carried directives from Hayden, “Send soldiers to the highway to help escort the provisions of goods. Claude is to command them in person.”

Hayden Swift had established his headquarters at a location just south of Claude’s territory. The distance between the two was not very large, but the way was obstructed by steep mountains and deep valleys. Passing through them required having the right equipment and skill, as well as courage verging on recklessness. Horses could not be used to transport either goods or people, so, naturally, the route was inefficient unless one had an air carrier capable of high-altitude flying. Because of that, Hayden’s army was relying on the route from the west for its supplies. That was the highway that they were to protect.

“Even though I’ve been tasked with guarding the border, I’ve got to send soldiers to the highway?”

Claude was unable to hide his indignation, but Hayden had received the king’s consent for his military operations. So Claude had grudgingly ridden from his fortress to go and carry out his task.

Another few days had passed when a disturbing rumour reached Leo, who was at the Anglatt mansion. It was being whispered that the main reason why this battle was dragging on was because: The Principality of Atall is sending reinforcements to the temple.

The Principality of Atall was a neighbouring country with which Allion had crossed spears seven years ago. Not knowing its place, Atall had joined up with Shazarn to pick a fight, but once it had been made to realise the overwhelming difference in power with Allion, it had all at once lost heart and had accepted a reconciliation. Afterwards, they had handed over Lord Leo Attiel as a hostage.

Yet in spite of this, it was sending reinforcements to a force which was hostile to Allion. In other words, this was a betrayal.

“Oi, it looks like your country has abandoned you,” Jack, Claude’s second son, harshly pointed out to Leo at the breakfast table.

These past two or three years, his spite towards Leo had died down considerably, but he was apparently unhappy that his father had only taken Walter along with him to accomplish his duties, and although Jack’s expression had been starting to mellow, irritation was now creeping into it. At the same time, his attitude towards Leo was reverting back to what it had been when they were children.

“Once things are settled at the temple, Atall will be next. Since you’ve no more use as a hostage, the first thing that’ll happen is probably that you’ll he hanged as an warning to them.”

“Stop it, Jack,” again just as in their childhood, Florrie, who was sitting with them, defended Leo while tears were pooling in her doe-like eyes.

“Humph,” snorted Jack, biting into the bread he had soaked in his soup. “If you don’t like being called a traitor, you should take up a spear too. If you want to survive, you’ve no choice but to kill other Atallese and demonstrate your loyalty to Allion.”

He was able to make fun of Leo like that because the rumour had not yet grown beyond the point of being a mere rumour.

“Damned Atall, even though we showed them compassion seven years ago.”

“They’re pretty full of themselves for such a small country. We should’ve just conquered them back then.”

“We’re in charge of the hostage, right? Take this brat and throw him in a cell. If Atall doesn’t cease its aid to the temple, we’ll hang him. They will, of course, have been prepared for that.”

It seemed that the situation that Jack was describing, half in joke, might become reality. As previously mentioned, there were many adherents influenced by the Cross Faith within Allion. Consequently, while the country had not risen as one in support of subjugating the temple, the despondent feelings that had emerged in that situation found an outlet in ‘Atall’s betrayal’. Hatred started to swell against Atall, rather than against the temple.

It’s impossible, right? At first, Leo had been dubious about Atall sending reinforcements to the temple.

There was of course the fact that he himself was a hostage, but also, because of the influence of the vassal lords, who governed the southern half of the country, the sovereign-prince could not move large numbers of soldiers any way he wanted. In other words, he would never have been able to send enough soldiers to overturn the difference in strength between Allion and the temple.

Yet every day, the rumours gained more credibility, and Leo started to feel a little anxious as he begun to wonder if he had no worth as a hostage.

From the start, I was never sent to be a hostage. Back then, I had already been abandoned.

Leo chased away the feelings of bitterness and the memory of his mother’s voice just before they had time to graze the surface of his consciousness. The skill he had grown most proficient with during these six years was not using the sword or the bow; it was the strange ability he had gained to detach inconvenient emotions from his mind. It was being able to gaze from a distance at those dark emotions which had turned into a sludge, and which had then taken on a form that looked vaguely like Leo Attiel.

Thus, setting his own problem completely aside and thinking about the situation, he felt that there was definitely something unnatural about his father’s actions and about how Hayden had taken the initiative to lead soldiers.

Deliberately thinking things through to the end, he could only conclude that: it’s as though everything is conspiring towards my death. Conscon Temple, Hayden, Father – absolutely everything.

He unintentionally gave a bitter smile.

“I see – I’m going to be killed, aren’t I?” he groaned out loud, causing Florrie Anglatt to become frantic.

“No, no! You won’t be put to death, Leo! I won’t let them!”

Leo came back to himself when he heard a voice sobbing. The feelings, the stagnant sludge, that he had temporarily sent far from him now returned, and with them, it was as though the blood slowly started flowing again through his limbs which had gone numb.

According to the story he heard once Florrie had calmed down, she had heard women gossiping when she had gone down to the small town close to the castle. They said that Hayden had apparently sent envoys to the Anglatt residence, and those envoys consisted of several dozen men, all of whom were armed. Thinking about why they would go to the Anglatt mansion now that Claude, the head of the family, was away, it seemed that they had received orders to bring Leo Attiel to Hayden’s encampment.

Leo opened his eyes wide. “But what kind of business could he possibly have with me?”

“I don’t know. But those rumours – there are are those wicked, untrue rumours,” what Florrie was saying became hard to follow. “I also talked about this to Jack. I wanted him to promise that he wouldn’t hand you over, Leo, if those envoys came for you.”

Perhaps because she was still so worked up, Florrie’s eyes once again started to fill with tears as she talked.

“But Jack had nothing to say except cowardly excuses! He’s always throwing his weight around, but when it comes down to it, he doesn’t have any backbone!”

“I can understand Jack’s situation. Right now, he’s the acting head of the family, here in this castle. He can’t cause any unnecessary trouble on just his own authority.”

“What unnecessary trouble! Your very life is on the line!”

As for that, well... Leo mumbled something that sounded like he excuses.

Perhaps irritated by that, Florrie suddenly raised her tear-filled eyes and grabbed him by the hand.

“Let’s run away, right now. I’ll come with you.”

Her slender arms held surprising strength. She had already changed what she was saying from “run away” to “let’s run away together”. Leo remained silent but just then –

“Miss Florrie!”

A plump, middle-aged woman came barging in. She was a servant employed by the Anglatt family, and right now, she had an air of urgency around her. Worried that she might have misunderstood something, Leo was about to shake off the girl’s hands, but:

“I sent Milius from the stables to keep watch on the highway and just got a message from him. The envoys from the army will soon be here!”

“Leo,” Florrie’s hands gripped his with increasingly unusual strength.

While Leo almost had the impression that he was being burned by the fervent emotions surging in her eyes, he went along with Florrie’s actions and started walking.

Run... Should I run? But where, and how? He asked himself as they left the mansion and continued to the stables that located by the walls.

His heart was being tossed about on a wave of conflicting thoughts, but separate from that, Leo found it surprising that the maid, Milius who had gone to keep watch, and another elderly stable hand who had already saddled Leo’s horse, were all helping him like this.

No, it’s not me. It’s thanks to Florrie, he thought darkly.

If the hostage entrusted into the care of his house were to escape, then Claude, as head of the family, would naturally not let these servants go unpunished. The reason why they were willing to help even though it might mean losing their jobs, or even being charged with a capital crime, was probably because Florrie had begged them in tears. The daughter of the Anglatt family was loved by everyone in that house.

With help from the elderly stable hand, he climbed onto the horse’s back. As thought it was completely natural, Florrie sat behind him.

“They're here, they're here! Lord Leo, Miss Florrie, hurry!” shouted the maid from a window on the second floor. She was craning her neck as far as she could, keeping watch on the highway.

Leo whipped the horse and it broke into a run. The back gate was open. The gate-keeper, a pimply-faced youth, raised his hand and watched as the horse passed him by and galloped out of sight.

They raced along a alley lined with trees. Leo had the impression that he could feel the cold shadow of the guillotine drawing up right behind them. Cold though it was, it also felt as though, wherever he drove his horse to – no matter where that was – that shadow would be calmly awaiting, it gleaming blade ready to chop of the head of the criminal’s head.

The sun had set.

After pretending to travel west from the mansion’s rear gate, Leo had left the horse in the forest and, carrying nothing but the saddle bag, had changed course and had taken a mountain path that headed south. Having spent more that six years there, Leo had some familiarity with the lay of the land.

The saddle bag contained a little bread and cheese, a pine torch as well as the flints and the metal fittings that went with it. When night had fallen, he lit the torch and they carried on. Walking through the dark mountains, he thought back to the time when he had clung to Claude’s waist as they rode through the darkness.

Back then, after being mocked as a “boy who is as good as dead”, he had run after Claude, his face flushed red. Although physically he had grown since then, the situation he now found himself in was not so very different from that time.

Leo continued walking in silence. For now, he had no purpose in mind; he could only keep on walking, relying on his senses. Florrie frequently looked back behind them. They continued along the narrow path, pushing their way through leaves and branches, until these suddenly opened before them.

It was a grassy clearing. That too reminded him of the place where he had lain, spread-eagled, six years earlier. A huge tree towered from the top of a gentle slope, and the dark, star-studded night sky spread out behind it. The space had opened so abruptly that, for a second, Leo felt dizzy.

“Leo!” at that moment, Florrie suddenly cried out.

Looking back, he realised that they could see the foot of the hill from this position. Rows of glittering lights stretched out in the distance.

“Are they from the army?”

“Yeah. The lights you can see on the left will be the ones who came to fetch me from the Anglatt mansion. The ones on the right are probably coming from the encampment that Sir Hayden set up. The road in that direction is supposed to be incredibly steep; he must really not want me to get away.”

“You’re still speaking in such a carefree way. Come on, let’s hurry.”

“Going beyond this point is the same as mountain climbing. So let’s rest, instead. You must be tired too, Florrie.”

“No, I...” Florrie wanted to protest, but she was gasping for breath.

Which was no wonder: it had already been four or five hours since they had abandoned their horse, and since then, they had kept walking. Florrie was drenched in sweat, and the clothes that were clinging to her were covered in dirt, so that she was already unrecognisable as the young lady from the mansion. She had admirably come this far without uttering a single complaint.

While Florrie was fretting, Leo dropped down by the tree and leaned against it.

“I remember doing something like this when I had just arrived here,” he spoke as nonchalantly as he could while feeling the cold evening breeze against him. “You know, back then, fires were also burning bright at the foot of the mountains, waiting to welcome Lord Claude and me. It was the proof that a great many people had gone out looking for me. And that was because I was none other than Leo Attiel. It’s the same, even now. Even though I’ve started to forget my parents’ faces, even now, I’m still the second son of the House of Attiel. That fact follows me around everywhere, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Florrie stared at Leo, finding it strange how he was able to so nonchalantly string his words together at a time like this. It was as though he wasn’t afraid of anything.

It was natural, though, since Leo had never believed that they would succeed in escaping. First of all, it would create a huge problem for the Anglatt House if they disappeared. Florrie and the servants who had helped her would of course be blamed, but Claude, as head of the house, would also be made to bear responsibility. Since he had originally climbed up from nothing, it was very possible that his lands would be taken from him.

That he had gone along with escaping with Florrie even knowing that was because when she had said Let’s escape, when she had taken his hand and gazed at him fervently, not even Leo was able to keep away and ignore the single, almost burning feeling that remained in his chest. He had decided to go with her, even if only for a short while.

And that “short while” would now soon the over. Leo closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he said, “Florrie, won’t you sing for me?”

“Leo, at a time like this,” Florrie stood on tiptoes, turning her gaze in every direction and completely unable to calm down. Crying out in a panic that the line of fire was approaching, she desperately tried to convince Leo to leave at once, but every time, he smiled gently and replied, “If you sing for me, Florrie.”

They repeated that several times over.

After Leo had sat without budging for about ten minutes, Florrie finally gave in.

Escaping any further now... was impossible – perhaps it was because she had acknowledged that on some level that for a moment, she hung her head, looking heartbroken.

She then raised it back up and, at first slowly and hesitantly, started singing. Leo watched the young songstress. He was smiling but Florrie’s attention was focused on the line of flames that was approaching them from below, until she seemed to sternly order herself to ‘concentrate’.

Florrie’s voice gradually grew in volume and in flexibility. Realising that her mind had begun to focus on her song, Leo once again closed his eyes.

It was a song that he had sometimes listened to at the mansion. It spoke about a young child innocently at play, and there were various interpretations to it. One was that, “if children can play cheerfully and without a care, it proves that the society which is raising them is in good shape.” Another was that, “adults who work tirelessly to earn the food to survive with miss the days when they could run around playing.” Yet another was that, “Life is after all but one long children’s game, so no matter what difficulties or crisis I find myself in, I will live with a clear heart and will never lose my sense of fun.”

As she sung, Florrie would occasionally imitate a child’s breathing. It was so accurate that listening with his eyes closed, he could almost believe that it was a little girl of six or seven who was singing merrily. Florrie’s singing voice overlapped with memories of Claude, of his wife, Ellen, and even of Walter and Jack forgetting to eat as they listened to her sing at dinnertime. The warm fire in the hearth flickered.

Before he had realised it, the back of Leo’s eyelids had grown hot.

Was it Florrie’s song that was piercing his chest so painfully? Was it her voice, her breath, her warmth that he could feel close to him that were enveloping him in such kindness, such gentleness, yet at the same time, in such violent emotions? I will not cry, Leo ground his teeth hard.

The singing suddenly stopped. The warm fire went out with it. Because he had been on the verge of immersing himself in his emotions, Leo wrenched open his eyes, feeling nothing but anger towards Florrie. As he did so, the young songstress buried her face in her hands and her slender shoulders shook.

“Leo, I’m so sorry for you,’ she said, sobbing convulsively where she stood. “If you wanted me to sing, I would have sung for you anytime you wanted. If it’s your request, anytime. But the very first time you’ve asked me to sing, why is it at a time like this?”

Leo was about to say something, but he stayed quiet instead.

“I wanted you to smile. Because when you first came to us, you always looked sad and brooding. I wanted you to learn to like Allion. Even though you must have been feeling lonely separated from your family, I hoped that you would get along with my beloved father, and mother, and brothers, that you would listen to my songs, and that you would say that you were glad that you came here. But... Leo, it would have been better if you’d never come to Allion. Then this wouldn’t have happened. I’m so very, very sorry for you...”

Finally unable to bear it any longer, Florrie crouched down, hunching her back as she sobbed. Her voice and words were enough to gouge out the heart of a listener, but, just as with the rough voices of the soldiers below them, the night was probably swiftly carrying them away.

“I should never have come,” at Leo’s muttered words, Florrie’s back shook even more violently than before. Leo looked down at bright lights crawling below them.

“Or rather... I wasn’t originally supposed to come here,” he said. “It wasn’t me but the third prince – in other words, it was my younger brother, Roy Attiel, who was supposed to be given as hostage. Roy was eight at the time. He was young, but he was old enough to take on the role of hostage. Even so, at the very last minute, I was the one who was sent instead of Roy. Why do you think that is?”

Florrie could not answer.

Speaking of which, why am I talking about this now? As Leo inwardly asked himself that in a calm voice, he continued with his story without waiting for an answer.

“Mother doted on Roy. She said that if he as going to be taken from her, then she would rather go with him to Allion. She was so frantic that it was as though she might kill herself and take Roy with her the second someone tried to separate them. I had never seen her like that before. And then, with an expression that I had never seen her wear before, in a voice that I had never heard her use before, Mother said: ‘You should make Leo go. If it’s for a hostage, can’t it just be Leo?’”

“...”

“I’m not saying that she turned to me and hurled at me that ‘since it’s just you, it’s fine, even if you die’. But to the me of back then, it was probably pretty much the same. Anyway, even though I was already ten at the time, I really was a pampered child.”

Are you trying to say that it’s different, ‘now’? A voice whispered again inside his heart. It was the stagnant sludge, which had existed at a place a little separate from Leo’s heart and which, at some point, had peeled itself away, slowly and surreptitiously, to be near Leo.

Leo ignored it and carried on.

“I didn’t want my mother to be tormented any more than she already was – or rather, I hated the thought of being with this mother that I didn’t recognise, so I volunteered to be the hostage. I pretended to be an adult, you know, saying ‘This is a good opportunity to broaden my perspective’.”

You’re still pretending to be an adult. Are you going to start forcing yourself to believe what you can’t bring yourself to think? Do you want to play the adult in front of Florrie?

More than six years.

In the end, it was his mother who had stuck firmly in his mind. Even when he wanted to forget her or keep her away from his conscious thoughts, that face of his mother’s, that voice of hers, had always, constantly been by his side.

When Claude had found him, in a place not so far removed from here, and told him, “Until you’ve amassed power equal to the family name ‘Attiel’, why don’t you mentally lean on it for a while?”, he had felt as though he had woken up. He had worked hard in both his studies and at his military drills. He believed that carrying the name ‘Attiel’ was not his only possible path in life. Or at the very least, by concentrating on grappling with what was right before him, he believed that he would not feel as though he was rotting away.

Yet for all that –

You can’t become someone else. You're just the same as when your mother abandoned you. Nothing has changed, you’ve simply stopped yourself from thinking about it. Back then, you lost your future; you’ve even lost the will to think about the future.

He understood it clearly now. When the man called Hayden Swift had visited the Anglatt mansion, Leo had been fascinated by his somewhat pessimistic atmosphere, and had believed that here was definitely someone who was similar to him. They had both lost their enthusiasm for the future.

No, that man and you, you’re just spoiled children. Didn’t you say it yourself, earlier? The two of you have left both the past and the future to others, and simply bemoan the present. During these six years, you have been nothing but a crying, spoiled child.

“Yeah.” Florrie could not understand why Leo nodded his head. Still answering the voice inside his heart, he continued, “that’s exactly right. But the time I’ve spent in Allion was not completely meaningless to me.”

Perhaps attracted by how bright his voice was, Florrie lowered her hands behind which she had been hiding her face. Upon doing so, she noticed that Leo was gazing straight at her, and her cheeks along which tears were trickling instantly turned bright red.

“Because you were there,” said Leo. “You were there, as well as Lord Claude and your mother. Even though Walter and Jack were sometimes mean, there were also times when they were older friends to me. And they were good rivals in studies and in martial training.”

Although Florrie looked pure and innocent, in reality, she had time and again shown a talent for skilfully tricking those closest to her. On days when she invited Walter and Jack to “go for a long ride, just the three of us,” she would actually also invite Leo, and kept it a secret from both sides until the day. When the three of them met at the stables, their expressions turned sour, but a cheerful voice would pipe up from behind Leo, saying “Right, let’s go. The weather is beautiful today,” as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

Having been tricked, Walter and Jack would be sulky for a while, but at the end of the day, the three of them – counting Leo – were children. In the exhilaration of riding their horses fast through the wind, they soon forgot to be upset. Later, at the riverside, they would compete at fishing, throwing stones ad climbing trees. Although Florrie cheered them all on equally, in actual fact, she was just a little biased towards Leo.

There were many of those bright days that Leo could look back on with a smile.

“I’m glad I came to Allion. Because I got to meet you... all of you. So you don’t have to cry. You don’t need to feel sorry for me. Please smile, Florrie. And sing. There’s neither Atall nor Allion – wherever it is that you’re smiling and singing, that’s where I’ll be able to smile happily.”

Leo stretched out his hand as he spoke. As Florrie was timidly reaching out to take it, they heard the sound of innumerable footsteps reverberating along the ground. Startled, Florrie remained petrified.

Looking around, there were lights swaying along on the other side of the bushes.

“Oi, someone’s here!” 𝘧r𝗲𝑒𝔀𝘦𝙗𝓃oν𝑒l.𝐜𝗼m

“Whaat? Lend me a light.”

Several soldiers from Allion made their way through the bushes and came into sight.

Leo quickly stood up.

Part 3

Claude Anglatt held grave doubts about the dispatch of troops towards Conscon. He also found it suspicious that it was Hayden Swift who had urged the king to send the soldiers. At the time, however, the way he saw it was that: The fool just wants to vent his resentment and blame the temple for his failure at mediating. It’s just a childish revenge, and so he viewed Hayden with contempt.

However, the situation began to change after he had been ordered by Hayden to guard the highway. Rumours that “Atall is aiding the temple” started to run rampant.

Claude did not think it was possible, but apparently, Hayden had already captured and interrogated an enemy soldier, and he had learned from him that a force of thousand men had come from Atall, concealing their identities.

“It looks like the hostage, Lord Leo, is sending information about us to the temple.”

No sooner had that and other similarly groundless rumours started circulating, than embellishments were added. It even began to be whispered that:

“Wouldn’t it be Sir Claude who’s pulling the strings from behind the scene? He’s just a upstart, after all, and he’ll have gotten big money from Atall or from the temple.”

At that point, Claude began to harbour some nasty doubts.

Impossible. Right, it’s impossible but what with the relationship with the temple going downhill, with the fight being dragged on, with Atall’s sending troops... isn’t it just like everything is moving just to drive me into a corner?

His impression about it was roughly the same as Leo’s was. But whereas Leo had smiled bitterly and decided that “It really is impossible”, Claude could faintly discern who might be behind it.

He did not have any means of proving it, however.

Therefore, when Hayden assigned him to the dangerous task of messenger, he could not do anything but agree to undertake it so as to demonstrate his loyalty to Allion. At the same time, however, if he returned after safely completing his mission, it would result in fanning rumours such as, “He made it back because he has ties to Atall and to the temple.”

The shame he felt only grew stronger.

And then, a few days after the invitation to surrender had been refused, Hayden mounted an all-out offensive. Claiming that he had been able to obtain information about the temple, he had most of the soldiers leave from the headquarters. Just as Claude was thinking that this unproductive fight was finally coming to an end, he received some unexpected information:

“Hayden is going to have Lord Leo hauled to his camp.”

Claude, who had returned to command the highway guards, was astounded. He could not understand what Hayden’s intentions were. Even though he was a close friend to the king, and even if Atall was planning betrayal, Claude did not believe that Hadyen would, on his own authority, order Leo to be punished. But he still he hurried to the headquarters with his son and a few soldiers. He had wanted to find out what Hayden was intending to do, but the man was nowhere to be found within the camp. Even the soldiers who had been left behind were clattering about and could be seen heading off in all directions.

Something unexpected must have happened.

Claude caught hold of an attendant to the Swift family to ask him about it, but the attendant, who was the youngest son of a prestigious aristocratic family, looked down on him from the start.

“A skilled commander does not carelessly reveal his movements, even to his allies,” he said.

Claude seized him by the collar.

“T-T-This is coercion...”

“I’ve received information that the enemy will be attacking the headquarters while the soldiers are all away. Now speak: where is this esteemed ‘skilled commander’?”

He just said whatever came to mind, but the attendant went pale and revealed the whole story. Whereupon, Claude also went white.

Leo Attiel fled from the mansion? And with my daughter?

Claude was astonished, but when Hayden had heard the news a few hours earlier, he had apparently, and for reasons known only to himself, received an even greater shock than the general, and had completely lost his composure. He had taken about half of the soldiers who had remained stationed at the headquarters, and had them board the precious air carriers that the base had been equipped with as a precaution.

It was abnormal. Who had ever heard of a commander leaving headquarters during an assault to go conduct a manhunt in the mountains?

That man is as incomprehensible as ever.

Claude was inwardly exasperated but, at the same time, his blood ran cold. Just who was that man’s obsession focused on? Was it on Lord Leo, whom he had wanted to summon to the camp, or was it on Claude’s daughter, whom he had pleaded to take with him when he had only just met her? Either way, he was dangerous.

Claude had his men search the headquarters’ surroundings. While he did not know when Leo had run away, and although the possibility was slim, he decided to start from the beginning. Steep mountains and precipitous valleys separated Claude’s castle from the headquarters, and with his daughter in tow, it would be impossible to cross them on foot.

It was while they were searching that, by chance, they came across the attack unit led by Percy Leegan. For Claude, the lie that he had told Hayden’s attendant had apparently become reality. As a result, he captured Percy’s group of four, but he inwardly considered that:

They’re brave men. Well, no, there’s also a woman among them. Warrior monks are nothing to look down on.

However, when he looked again at their leader, Percy, he found himself feeling suspicious. Claude had invited a priest of the Cross Faith to his mansion as a teacher for his sons, and he did not sense the same kind of aura from Percy. And he certainly did not look like a mercenary or a bandit. Putting together his manner when he had taken the bit to guide Claude’s horse, and the way he had been willing even to sacrifice himself to allow the soldiers to escape...

I see. Maybe the rumours that Hayden spread weren’t necessarily lies.

He realised that Percy was a soldier from Atall, and, moreover, that he was from a noble family. While he was angry that the matter of the ‘reinforcements from Atall’ had brought about this current difficult situation, at the moment, he had no time to waste on blaming them. Instead, a solution which surprised even him flashed through his mind.

“Would you save the life of Atall’s prince, Lord Leo Attiel?”

Once he actually said it, he felt that it wasn’t a bad idea.

Hayden was searching on the north side of the mountain, which meant that he was not far from Claude’s castle, but if Claude had offered to help, given that he was under suspicion, it was unlikely that his soldiers would be allowed to approach. But Atall’s soldiers and the warrior monks were, from the start, enemies of Allion.

“You were travelling along these paths after sundown; you must be used to the mountains. Even so, it’s a gamble whether or not you’ll be able to find the prince, but how about it: won’t you try out your luck?”

Claude offered his suggestion after giving them a brief rundown of Lord Leo’s situation.

Percy remained silent throughout but, inwardly, he was bitterly regretful: to think that not only had Allion gotten wind of Atall’s participation, but that on top of that, it had driven the hostage Lord Leo into danger.

“Are you planning on using us as a decoy?” Kuon spat out, at which point Camus looked as though understanding had dawned on him, and he nodded in agreement.

“Are you perhaps saying that just as we approach this Hayden person and his troops, you will deliberately let them find us and create a commotion, during which time, you will go and rescue the prince?”

“That’s not a bad idea, either,” Claude grinned. “Naturally, we’ll also be sending as many people as we possibly can, so if you do get found by Hayden, we’ll go with that method.”

Both Kuon and Camus sullenly fell silent. They had nothing to answer back. Besides which, they both had a favourable impression of this very honest man. Given the situation, however, they did not want to show it openly.

“Well then,” standing next to her brother, who had been talked down, Sarah interposed. “How about if we find Lord Leo first? Should we bring him to you?”

Claude was surprised that a woman could speak up like that in this kind of situation, but he realised that he quite liked these four people. For one thing, they guts to attempt a surprise attack on the headquarters with only so few soldiers. Considering that they had timed it perfectly to be right after the soldiers had left camp, Hayden had probably been tricked by the enemy.

Thinking so, Claude felt hugely relieved, and his mood lifted considerably.

“Naturally, I would hope for you to bring the prince back to me, but... who knows what might next.”

Huh? The four made the same expression. There was something quite innocent about it.

“Well yeah, my orders are to defend the border, so there’s no way I could be talking with enemy warrior monks and soldiers from Atall. And in the first place, how would I even meet them if they don’t do something as unthinkably outrageous as try to attack the headquarters? So whatever it is that people I couldn’t possibly meet get up to, there’s no reason for me to take part in it.”

Percy gulped. What Claude was basically saying was: Give up on attacking the headquarters. In exchange, if you find Lord Leo, it’s fine for you to take him back to your own country.

Those words were unthinkable, but returning the prince to Claude’s care would not solve the situation. For one thing, it was still unclear what Hayden intended to do with him, but given that he had run away, things would probably be very bad indeed for Leo. If Claude were to protect him, it would lend credibility to the completely unfounded rumour that he was connected to the principality and had betrayed his own country, which would spell catastrophe for the Anglatt family.

In which case, to Claude’s way of thinking, it’s better if he manages to escape out of the country.

The way Percy saw it, however, that’s still plenty dangerous. Having allowed a hostage to escape from his territory, there was no way that Claude would be able to avoid blame. Rumours that he had deliberately let Leo flee were bound to spread. Yet despite that, and although Leo’s existence was dangerous, caught between the prince and getting into trouble with his own country, Claude had chosen to let him go.

Percy’s chest felt hot.

This man is truly compassionate.

From Claude’s point of view, there should be no issue with delivering Leo to Hayden. Or rather, that was the obvious course of action. Yet even so, he had looked after Leo for six years, and he could not bring himself to simply send him to die.

Besides, it was not only Claude who was in danger. In actual fact, even if Lord Leo managed to safely make it back to his own country, his situation would still be uncertain. Allion was already aware that Atall had sent reinforcements, and if the hostage escaped on top of that, there was a good chance that the next place Allion would dispatch troops against would be Atall.

Even so...

Still, from Percy’s point of view, Claude’s compassion was deeply impressive and to release Leo was... at which point, Percy gave a wry smile.

“What’s making you laugh?”

Percy shook his head at Claude’s question.

“Nothing. I forgot for a moment that we were prisoners. If it’s possible for the four of us to survive, and also to save the prince, then there was never ay reason for us to decline,” he declared cheerfully.

Part 4

Leo Attiel was cornered. Soldiers from Allion were getting close. There were about seven of them. Leo had already decided on his course of action, but there remained the problem of Florrie, Claude and the people of the Anglatt House. Leo stood up, his eyes fixed on the approaching lights.

“Florrie, after I’m captured, when you’re being questioned, tell them that you escaped with me because I threatened you,” was what he was about to say, but Florrie didn’t let him. Instead, she pulled the dagger she kept at her waist for self-protection.

“Leo, when they get here, please take me as hostage and run away,” she held out the dagger for him to take.

Unable to say anything, Leo was about to accept the dagger out of reflex, but the lights had already almost drawn up to them. Steel armour appeared in sight, reflecting the colour of the flames from the torches. Leo pushed back Florrie’s hand, and the dagger with it.

“Are you Lord Leo Attiel?”

The one who stepped forward brought the light closer to peer at Leo’s face. Leo could Florrie about to come flying from behind him at any moment, and held her back.

“...That’s right,” he nodded.

Another soldier nodded in return. Having already resigned himself, Leo took a step forward.

“Leo!”

The only thing that was painful to him was the sound of Florrie’s sobbing voice striking him from behind. It was only then that his hands and legs started to shake.

Even though he was supposed to have resigned himself.

No, he couldn’t really tell himself whether or not he was ‘resigned’, but, at the very least, he had to prevent trouble from falling on Florrie and Claude because of him.

Because that was the last display of honour that ‘Leo Attiel’ could show.

At the moment, because of the darkness, Leo failed to realise something. The soldiers naturally took hold of him but, although one would have expected them to descend back down the mountain with him, the one in the lead was smiling strangely beneath his helmet.

“Would the young lady please come over here.”

“Wait, please wait...”

Yet another soldier forcefully dragged Florrie by the hand, and started to climb down the path a little ahead of the rest of the group.

Once Leo and Florrie were separated, the soldiers who were with Leo reached to unsheathe their swords.

Just then –

“Have you found the prince?”

A different group emerged from behind them. Three soldiers, also wearing armour from Allion.

“We found him first. The reward from Lord Hayden is ours.”

“Who cares? As long as the prince was found,” one of the young men from the newly-arrived group said easily. “But why have you got your hands to your swords? They said that the prince was unarmed.”

Lord Leo noticed then for the first time that the soldiers in front of him seemed about to take out their weapons.

Meanwhile, Florrie continued to be dragged further and further away. Waiting for her to be gone, the first soldier gave a low, scornful laugh.

“What, didn’t you hear about it? Our mission changed when the prince escaped.”

“What do you mean?”

“After the prince fled from us and escaped into the mountains, nobody knows how he met his end. Maybe he was attacked by a ravenous beast, or maybe he slipped and fell to the bottom of a ravine.”

Beneath their helmets, the soldiers from the new group exchanged glances. The young man who had spoken first nodded.

“In other words, your saying that Lord Hayden is using the fact of the prince’s escape to secretly get rid of him.”

He spoke loudly, clearly enunciating every word. Leo gasped and took a step backwards. Florrie, who still being taken away, apparently also heard, and started to shout something in their direction as she struggled with the soldier who had hold of her.

“You idiot, saying that so loud!” groaned one of the soldiers who was about to draw his sword.

This time, it was the young man who chuckled scornfully.

“Were you planning on taking care of things once the young lady was far enough away? You guys aren’t very smart. I guess those were your orders, but you started showed bloodlust too soon. Looks like you’re not used to fighting.”

“What!”

The mood within the first of group of seven turned dangerous. But... Leo could not clearly make out what happened next. It was that fast, and that bewildering.

The first thing was that the man who brought his hand to his waist was, in the end, unable to draw his sword. The young man who had mocked them as ‘not very smart’ casually thrust his spear at him. The tip unerringly pierced his throat, and while Leo was staring in surprise at the red blood that came gushing out, the other two from the new group had already started to move.

One of them likewise started to quickly attack the nearby soldiers with his spear. The one lowered his stance and charged into the group of soldiers, drawing his sword as he moved. He was the fastest of all. He leaped like a wild beast, twice jumping off the ground, smashing through one soldier’s helmet, and striking the legs of another one. As both of them fell to their knees, screaming in pain, the ‘beast’ was already flying towards a third soldier.

Leo could only stand there in amazement. He did not even notice that blood from the first victim had splashed onto his face.

– The three of them were, of course, not soldiers from Allion. The first to go for his spear had been Camus, the warrior monk from Conscon Temple; the second spearman was Percy, the noble from Atall; and the one who moved like an animal as he sprang at the enemy was Kuon, the mercenaries from the mountains.

A few hours earlier, having accepted Claude’s request, the three of them, along with Camus’s younger sister, Sarah, had entered the mountains. Their weapons had also been returned to them. Claude chose a few of the soldiers who were with him to act as their guides. They were originally hunters who were familiar with where the many small hunting cabins dotted around the mountain area had been built. For about half of the journey, they followed animal trails known only to these men, and things went relatively easily.

Everyone remained mostly silent. Percy felt guilty now that his identity as an Atallese noble had been seen through, but Camus, who had seemed curious about the principality’s movements, did not say anything.

They parted from the hunters when the lights carried by Hayden’s soldiers started to come close. Once it was just them again, Sarah had whispered quietly:

“There’s also the option of just escaping like this.”

For her, Lord Leo’s situation was of no importance whatsoever. The one one who was fastest to shake his head, however, was not Percy, the Atallese aristocrat, but Camus.

“God’s faithful do not go back on their word. The general placed his trust in us. We must return him that trust.”

“What you say sounds nice,” Sarah spoke bitterly, “so, of course, you have some kind of plan, right? If you hadn’t, you’d declare that ‘God’s faithful do not take promises made with savages seriously.’ Since the only thing that you’re good at, Big Brother, is saying what’s convenient for you.”

“W-What did you say?” as Camus nearly raised his voice, Percy got between them.

While mediating between the siblings, he felt that he could guess at the contents of the ‘plan’ Sarah had spoken of. If we rescue the prince, we’ll earn a favour from the principality. In which case, the next thing to do is to urge them to openly send reinforcements to the temple. Which was why he did not reproach Percy despite only finding out now that he was a noble from Atall.

Kuon, the only one who had remained silent, acted as their guide from then on. Along slopes so steep that it seemed you could not climb them without crawling with your knees close to your chest, over so terrain so complicated that there did not seem to be a single foothold, Kuon walked on as though it was nothing, then, just when they occasionally reached a part where it looked like a person could walk unhindered, he would scramble up a tree to check their surroundings.

Percy, Camus and Sarah desperately followed at his heels. Sarah, who was at the end of the line, had almost run out of strength but, just as when they had been they had been struggling to reach the enemy headquarters, she did not utter a word of protest. Instead, it was only the times when Kuon stopped and waited her for to catch up that she spoke.

“You’re looking at me... like a wounded and pathetic pet dog... this time, it’s between those eyes of yours... that I’ll put a bullet,” she threatened, gasping for breath.

Kuon’s went wide for a second before narrowing into slits, after which he once more walked by himself, cursing under his breath. Although he felt sorry for Kuon, Percy could more or less understand Sarah’s feelings. Kuon had never said anything like “you’re slow” or “I’ll leave you behind if you’re any slower than this”. Sarah persisted when even the average man would have collapsed by the side of the road, with the result that Kuon probably more than half acknowledged her, but realising that made Sarah even angrier at him, or, perhaps, angry at herself. Such was Sarah, but her presence was to prove invaluable. And not because of her skill with a gun.

At that time, Kuon’s eyes let him down. Focusing only on scouting out what was ahead, he failed to notice a group of six of Allion’s soldiers approaching from behind. This group had lost their unit, and they were coming after them because they thought that the light Percy was holding belonged to their companions. When they heard the rustling sounds from someone coming through the underbrush behind them, Percy and the others exchanged startled glances.

There weren’t so many enemies that they couldn’t overcome them, but if those enemies fired guns, or even simply shouted out loud, in no time at all, their numbers could double or triple. At that moment, Sarah gave the men an order:

“Hide.”

She personally shoved Kuon, who was staring at her blankly, to the ground. Then, for some reason, she started ripping up her own clothes. Once they were torn enough that skin was peeking through in some suggestive places, she took the light from Percy and went towards the approaching group.

Naturally, the soldiers were startled. They had been expecting to join up with their companions, yet the one walking unsteadily towards them was a woman whose naked skin was exposed.

“W-What the... Who are...”

“Those clothes... Are you a nun from Conscon?”

“Ye... Yes.” No one was more surprised than Kuon at Sarah shedding tears. “I escaped to the mountains. I was afraid of the fighting... I wanted to go back home, but I got lost. I... some bandits happened to find me...”

“F-Found you?”

“It was shameful. I can’t even say it...” Sarah suddenly started sobbing.

Although baffled and embarrassed, the soldiers from Allion could not tear their eyes away from Sarah’s body. Illuminated by the light from the flames, Sarah’s features were beautiful, and the bridge of her nose and the sharply defined contours of her chin line displayed the elegance of a young noblewoman. Captivated by that beauty and by the skin which peeked through her torn clerical robes, the men’s thoughts turned hazy.

Seizing that chance, Percy, Camus and Kuon scattered in three different directions. Synchronising their actions, they leapt out at Allion’s soldiers. From the experience of past fights, they each trusted the other two’s fighting skills. The way that even their breathing was in time with one another was simply splendid.

As a result, the ground was soaking up the blood of the enemy soldiers before they had even raised a cry.

At Percy’s suggestion, the three men stripped out of their own equipment and put on Allion’s armour. Camus also looted the tunic from one of the fallen and tossed it to his sister.

They continued on for a little over another hour. Just when even the men could no longer conceal their exhaustion, they heard a voice saying, “Someone’s there”. For a second, their blood ran cold, but it was the voice of the soldiers who had found Leo Attiel.

Sarah stayed back alone as the other three approached the group from behind, pretending to be allies.

– Which lead to the scene that Lord Leo Attiel was now starting at in utter amazement.

Partly thanks to the effect of surprise, they did not allow the enemy to so much as resist against them. Percy also jabbed his spear through the neck of the soldier who was taking Florrie away, and the man fell in the pool of blood from his companions. He was the last one.

At that moment -

“Leo... please get away!”

Florrie moved as though she had been released from a spell. She thrust the dagger that she had still been holding right in front of Percy’s eyes. Both the tip of the dagger and her own eyes were trembling. It was the first time in her life that she had seen people die before her eyes.

“L-Leave. Please leave,” Florrie’s voice was also shaking. “Leo and I won’t go back to Allion. So... Please, let us go. Please just leave us be!”

“Oh,” Camus smiled, his face smeared in blood. “It looks like you have enough spirit to kill us if we refuse. As expected from Lord Anglatt’s daughter.”

“Father... My father... You – why...”

Realising that in her confusion, the light of reason had returned to Florrie’s eyes, Percy jabbed his spear into the ground. Startled, Florrie pointed the dagger towards him again.

“At Sir Claude Anglatt’s request, we have come to rescue the two of you,” he said. “We aren’t from Allion. We are soldiers from Atall and clerics from Conscon Temple.”

“From Atall?”

This time, it was Leo’s turn to raise his voice in surprise. Percy smiled, and lowered one knee slightly as he bowed towards him.

“It is my great pleasure to meet you, Your Highness and second-born prince, Lord Leo. My name is undeserving of being placed before you, but I am called Percy Leegan.”

“Leegan... Ah, Nordred Leegan’s....”

“Aye, Nordred is my father. Unworthy though we are, my family has pledged allegiance to sovereign-prince’s House for many generations.”

“Humph,” Camus snorted from behind him. So you’re finally giving us your name – it was probably because he was thinking that.

“And, why did Lord Claude request something of a soldier from Atall and warrior monks from the temple?”

“We will explain in detail afterwards. Please come with us.”

Percy was about to stretch his hand out towards Leo when – “No!” Florrie clung to Leo so suddenly that Percy’s hand was almost pushed aside.

“Because, because... Leo will be killed if he goes! You heard what those soldiers said earlier? Hayden Swift plans to kill him! “

That right.

Although realising that it was sudden, Percy was seized with serious doubts.

That’s what I don’t understand. I get that Allion would pass judgement on the prince since they know about Atall sending reinforcements. But what was it those soldiers said? “Kill him in secret”... that was definitely what they were saying. And that’s something that only that man names Hayden is aiming for...

There was something very strange about this fight. Percy started to share the doubts that Claude and Lord Leo had both felt. However, there was naturally no time to think about it at length.

“For the time being, we need to leave,” Percy urged the prince in a firm tone. “Sir Claude’s soldiers should be waiting for us if we climb down to the east of here.”

Leo started to walk behind the three of them, soothing Florrie as they went. The prince himself was still confused. Though he had been aware that the guillotine was bearing down on him, Allion’s soldiers had not been going to capture him and take him for execution, but had been intending to kill him in the mountains. And then just at that moment, a noble from Atall, his native country, had protected him at Claude’s request.

When they climbed down the path, a woman was waiting for them. She was a beautiful girl who looked to be around the same age as Florrie, but she held a gun in her hand and was cautiously surveying the surroundings. Once she noticed Leo and the others approaching, she broke into a smile.

“Are you Lord Leo Attiel? It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Sarah from Conscon Temple, where...”

“Save it for later, Sarah. We need to leave here at once.”

“Buzz off, Big Brother. Don’t disturb our predestined encounter. This is the crucial moment that will decide whether your little sister can marry a rich man in the future.”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous. Sarah, even as a joke, you can’t say something like that.”

“Don’t take her seriously, Camus. She’ll just play you for a fool. That girl’s never happy unless she’s shocking someone.”

“What’s that, Kuon? Since when did the lowly mountain monkey get smart enough to criticise other people?”

“Stop it, all of you. Lower your voices. We don’t want Allion’s soldiers to walk into us like earlier.”

While hearing Percy’s voice, Leo Attiel turned back once to look at the open space they were leaving behind. The sky was pitch-black. It felt as though just by looking at it, that sky could suck up your body and soul, and Leo reluctantly tore his gaze away from it.

Everyone walked in a group.

Percy glanced repeatedly at Lord Leo, who was leading Florrie by the hand. Despite the Leegan House’s high social standing, as the second son, Percy did not have much interaction with the princely House. Lord Leo was the current sovereign-prince’s second son, and because he had gone to Allion as a hostage six years ago, this was the first time that Percy had even seen him.

Maybe it’s because of his age, but he’s kind of slender. His face looks like a girl’s too.

Honestly speaking, apart from his position as prince, there was nothing about him that left much of an impression. Florrie Anglatt, who had faced them, dagger in hand, had been far more striking.

Of course, back then, Percy would never have imagined.

That it was not just himself, the second son of the Leegan House, but also Camus, the warrior monk of the Cross Faith, and Kuon, the mercenary from the mountain lands, whose fates were bound with irresistible force to Lord Leo Attiel, and that force would soon attract trouble for the principality of Atall.

None of them were omniscient gods, so none of them could ever have imagined.

That nothing could have been stranger or more wondrous than this one night.

All of those who were led by Lord Leo would remember this night again and again.