Tales of Leo Attiel ~Portrait of the Headless Prince~

Part 1

While Sovereign-Prince Magrid was having a hard time dealing with Dytiann, his son Leo was meeting with its two envoys under the pretence of being ‘the sovereign-prince’s representative’.

Just as Percy had identified, it was done entirely on the basis of the prince’s own judgement.

The meeting place was in a room of Bernard’s castle. Leo had told even the castle lord that he intended to “exchange greetings with the envoys,” and had certainly not informed him that they would be discussing policies as their country’s respective representatives.

Dytiann’s representatives were, of course, the same as last time: Commander Arthur Causebulk of the Sergaia Holy Rose Division, and Bishop Baal. Just as Sarah had said, Arthur was a very handsome man, and even his demeanour had a romantic appeal. Said otherwise, he did not seem like a soldier. Bishop Baal, meanwhile, was a skinny man of about forty.

Neither of them had stopped smiling since they had introduced themselves, but the nature of both those smiles were very different. Arthur’s was like a child’s: it didn’t hold a speck of malice or ill-will, and had all the warmth of one who lived in a safe and sunny spot, sheltered by adults. Baal on the other hand wore a reassuring smile that was entirely becoming of a priest, but his eyes were harsh.

When Baal’s hand had been stretched out in greeting and Leo had first met his gaze, he had felt cold, instinctive chills run across his skin. He had lowered his gaze in spite of himself, as though loosing strength.

Oh my... Baal, for his part, looked at Leo as he would at an ill-mannered child.

Camus, who was sitting with the prince, cleared his throat and they cut to the main point. Camus, acting as the prince’s representative, had previously handed over a letter allowing them to set up this meeting because, as Leo started to explain, “I have things that I very much wish to speak of to you alone.”

Which meant – in short – that this was a matter which would not be revealed even to the long-time retainers. Leo additionally announced that they were prepared to receive reinforcements.

“Oh, then His Majesty the Sovereign-Prince has already made up his mind?” Arthur’s joyful behaviour made it look like he was about to clap his hands at any moment.

Upon enquiry, it appeared that Dytiann had three large air carriers at the ready. Each ship could carry three hundred soldiers, and they could send them in sequence to the temple.

“Three hundred...” Leo said in genuine admiration.

Even the largest ship in Atall could not hold more than a hundred on board.

“Then, about these arrangements...”

Baal seemed to want to bring the discussion to a close, but Leo’s attitude towards Dytiann’s envoys now turned imploring.

“Previously, my father Magrid also sent reinforcements in response to the temple’s plea for help, as he could not bear to watch while God’s innocent faithful were harmed. Yet within our country, there is an immoral group which opposed that decision.”

The vassal-lords.

According to Leo, “they only think short-term and are afraid of Allion,” so this time again, they were sure to pour cold water over the sovereign-prince’s decision.

“Sooner or later, we will manage to persuade the vassal-lords, but since this is now an emergency, time is precious.” Therefore –

“When you head towards the temple, couldn’t you sail along the northern side of our territories, near to the capital, Tiwana?” Leo suggested.

Travelling in a straight line from the westernmost town in Dytiann to the temple would mean passing through the domains of the vassal-lords. This, according to Leo, would be a problem.

Baal and Arthur exchanged glances and this time, both of their expressions read: oh my. And they did so much more openly than before. They had clearly decided that in this situation and with this person opposite them, there was no need to conceal their inner thoughts.

So is that why they deliberately fixed a second day for a meeting?

For all that they’re supposed to be the ruling House, they can’t even unite their retainers, hmm.

“Well then, we’ll do it that way,” Baal accepted Leo’s plan, a faint look of contempt on his countenance. “I am in admiration before your determination; both the sovereign-prince’s, who wishes to help the temple however he may, and your own high-minded nobility, Lord Leo. Since you in particular have also received baptism, I hope that we will hereafter maintain friendly relations.”

Baal’s attitude was nothing but solicitude. Across from him, Leo looked relieved at having his proposal be accepted so easily.

“We will provide you with soldiers to guide you during navigation. Let us together protect God’s teachings from the hands of the wicked.”

In less than an hour, the conference drew to a close.

– It was after Leo and Camus had left the room.

“Filthy.”

Bishop Baal wiped away the smile he had worn throughout the meeting, and crossed himself with a look of deep loathing.

“A truly repulsive creature was here. Do you know it, Arthur?”

“Lord Leo, right? Lord Bishop, you seem to have hated the prince since even before the meeting.”

“But of course,” Baal rose from his seat and opened a window, as though to say that he could not stand the stench Leo had left behind. “That youngster doesn’t know a single tenet of the faith and doesn’t plan on learning any from hereon either; he only converted to observe Allion’s mood. In receiving the gospel only to protect himself, he blasphemes against God.”

“It can’t have been something the prince thought of himself though. Surely his father must have forced him to it. And when you call him repulsive and a blasphemer, aren’t you being a little harsh on him?”

“You’re being very soft. Did you take a liking to the prince?”

As the bishop harrumphed, Arthur shrugged with an openhearted laugh.

“I sympathised with him. Did you see? Lord Bishop, it looked like he couldn’t even make eye contact with you throughout the entire meeting. Your face must have been terrifying.”

“Now you’ve gone and said it, Arthur,” the bishop chuckled in the depths of his throat. “Blaspheming against a bishop will earn you an eternity of roasting in the fires of hell.”

“Oh, scary. Lord Bishop, please, I beg of you, forgive me my sins.”

“Fine, kindly kneel.”

The exchange between the two of them had the air of young men joking around together. They had known each other for a long time: Baal had originally spent many years as a secretary to the previous commander of the Sergaia Holy Rose Division – in other words, to Arthur’s father – so he had known Arthur since the latter had been a child.

Their relationship between the two of them, however, did not stop there.

Even Lord Leo had sensed it.

After the meeting was over, the prince and Camus exchanged a few brief words of greeting with Bernard and his wife and child, then quickly left the castle. Leo looked pale.

“Pitiful,” glancing at him, Camus had a hard comment to offer. “If you let that frighten you, you won’t be able to act out your part. Or do you mean to say that you took Sarah’s nonsense seriously?”

“So you say, Camus, but you saw that bishop’s eyes too, didn’t you?” Leo looked like he was about to start shaking at any moment.

Sarah, who had been present at the first meeting, had previously shared her impression of the two envoys.

“I’m willing to bet that those two have a thing going on.”

“A thing?”

Kuon’s expression was boyishly blank, and Sarah pretended to flick the bridge of his nose.

“It means they have a very deep relationship. Those two, when they thought that no one would notice, well, they kept exchanging these sweet glances. Just looking at them made me feel exhausted.”

“Sarah!” Her brother had to scold her about going on endlessly about ‘that’ kind of topic.

According to what they heard later, in Dytiann, there were plenty of ‘those’ kinds of stories within the upper echelons of the church. Which was why Leo had been unable to bear Bishop Baal’s gaze, which had seemed to be appraising him. While he could fight against the swords and spears of enemy soldiers, this was a type of threat he had no experience with.

– Anyway, just as Sarah had noted, the two envoys from Dytiann enjoyed their sweet exchanges as soon as it was just the two of them.

“At any rate, forget arguing with Allion or with our Dytiann, it looks like Atall’s ruling House can’t even find firm ground to tread on under its own feet. There will be plenty of opportunities to take advantage of in the future. Simply learning that is already a good result,” Baal was in a good mood, having already laughed his fill at the prince who was no longer present.

“This departure for the front is an unparalleled opportunity for you, Arthur. I can’t come with you because of my work in the diocese, but the preparations will be flawless.”

“Really, when is the good bishop going to stop treating me like a child? It’s fine. We just need our troops to set up camp within the temple, right?”

“Exactly, it’s all good as long as you can arrange for our soldiers to be permanently stationed there. Even Allion can’t have sent that many men. They’ll pull back for the time being at least once they hear that Dytiann is taking part in the battle. After that, between Allion and us, it will be a contest of manoeuvring according to political influence. I beg of you, don’t try to do anything heroic. I will definitely arrange a stage for you to stand out on, Arthur.”

“I know, Bishop. Everything is in accordance with God’s will.”

During the meeting, both Dytiann and Lord Leo had gotten their proposals accepted, so to all outward appearances, it was a success.

Leo, however, did not have the leeway to rest on his laurels and be satisfied with these results. No sooner had he returned to Guinbar Castle with Camus after the meeting than he headed back out of Savan’s territory, this time taking Kuon and Percy with him.

“He certainly is busy,” Savan said, his eyes wide with surprise.

Yet if he had heard where Leo was headed to next, he would not simply have gone wide-eyed: the shock would have drained the blood from his face and he would probably also have set off with his soldiers, to try and stop Lord Leo at all cost.

Part 2

A few days later.

After crossing several mountains to the southwest of Savan’s territory, and stepping over the national border, one arrived in the domains of the Allian general, Claude Anglatt.

South of that territory, across even steeper mountains, stood a hastily constructed fort. Allion had built it to topple the temple, and its commander had long been absent, but now, Hayden Swift had returned.

He had not brought fresh troops, and the less than a thousand soldiers that were stationed in the camp was the sum total of his forces. Equally, they had not been ordered to pull back, which meant that Hayden intended to continue this war.

In that case, he could pay a little more attention. Claude was irritated.

He had set soldiers to guard the way between his territory and the fort. Although these mountains looked impossible to travel through on foot without excellent equipment and know-how, two hundred soldiers had previously emerged from them to save Lord Leo. That was apparently thanks to a mercenary who had himself been born in a mountainous area, but since he alone had done the guiding, it meant that there existed a route which was virtually a blind spot, even for the locals.

Even though his headquarters had only narrowly avoided being attacked, Hayden seemed perfectly unconcerned by it. Instead, it was Claude who was setting up precautions.

“It would take pretty big guts. Me, if I had a mistress who shoved a blade to my neck, I wouldn’t go and sleep snoring next to her the very next night.” Claude laughed at the retainers through the use of unfunny metaphors, yet no sooner had he stretched a surveillance net throughout the mountains than he caught prey.

And it was big game at that.

When it was brought in front of him, Claude was once again left irritated; the captured prey was Leo Attiel’s group.

Leo and the others were more or less made up to look like pilgrims of the Cross Faith, but they surely could not have believed that alone would deceive the sharp eyes of Allion’s soldiers.

Actually, although he was a captive, Leo’s expression was cheerful. He had been intending from the start to meet with Claude. The fact that he had not gone through official channels was because there were certain considerations which meant that he did not want anyone else to know about it.

“Good grief, all these braves gathering in my surroundings,” said Claude while picking his nose. Instead of a show of contempt for the one opposite him, it was proof of familiarity towards someone who was, in fact, practically family.

They were in a room at the castle. The sun had already set, so lamps and candles were needed to light it.

“Well, I was thinking I needed to present my greetings to you, Prince, at some point. The order has just gotten a bit reversed.”

Rumours of the betrothal which had been announced in Tiwana had already reached Allion. Not surprisingly, Leo could not stop himself from blushing and lowering his head.

“I-I’m very sorry. It was inconsiderate of me not to have gotten your permission, Sir Claude.”

“I’m amazed. My sons were in uproar, going on about ‘our little sister has been kidnapped by Atall’. If they knew that Lord Leo had nonchalantly come sauntering back, they’d be sharpening their swords in their rooms around about now. I advise you not to wander down any unlit streets at night.”

“Y-Yes,” Leo was finding it decidedly hard to lift his head.

Claude was talking as if it were a joke, but the reality was that he must be feeling at least somewhat humiliated because of his daughter. If nothing else, people were gossiping about how, “Claude must be connected to Atall,” and “that’s why he let the prince escape.” Then on top of that came the news of a betrothal between his daughter and the prince, and the criticism from the capital must have grown even stronger.

Claude, however, laughed it off heartily.

“My wife, Ellen, was the only one who smiled about it: she said she’d know it would happen sooner or later. As for me, as a parent, I’m just not sure. Is this man good enough for Florrie?”

“T-That’s...”

Claude listened with a fatherly expression to what Leo told him about how Florrie was living well in Tiwana. Still, they did not have much time for idle chatter.

“Now then, you won’t have sneaked into my territory just to tell me about your engagement. What’s your business?”

Leo looked towards the soldiers and stewards who were in the room with them. Claude took the hint and ordered them out. Leo’s two attendants remained in the room – although they had of course disarmed before entering the castle – but Claude himself was a ‘brave’, and had no fear of letting them remain.

Being one of the attendants, Percy watched as Leo broached the main topic.

This is going to be a re-enactment of what happened back then, huh? He thought to himself. ‘Back then’ was by no means far in the past; what he meant was the scene in which sparks had flown when Lord Leo and Camus confronted one another head-on. There will probably be more and more of those kinds of scenes from now on.

That was the presentiment Percy had as he watched Claude Anglatt’s expression change from over Lord Leo’s back.

The general was experiencing the same feelings as the people who had only known Leo for a short amount of time.

In other words, he was feeling the same amount of surprise as Percy had; just as Darren had, he found himself filled with doubts – Is this boy who is spouting this nonsense really the same Lord Leo who stayed in my domains for six years? –, and, just as Camus had, he ended up feeling enraged.

“Hang on, Leo,” Claude held out his large hand to interrupt the prince’s talk. “What are you saying? Are you planning on telling me about some fantastical story you saw in a dream?

“No. I’m telling you about the plan I intend to carry out from hereon.

“No, it’s a dream,” while Claude’s eyebrows rose in anger, his lips alone somehow managed to retain the shape of a smile. “Because if you aren’t talking about a dream, I can’t just keep silent and let you go. Leo... you, what you’re saying is that you’re going to betray me... betray Allion.”

“You’re wrong,” Leo shook his head.

“How am I wrong!” Claude finally roared. “Even if you’re getting engaged to Florrie, do you think I’m the kind of man who would betray my country for my daughter and my future son-in-law? Leave, Leo. Go back to Atall right now! If you don’t, I’ll cut off your head with my own hands!”

As Claude spoke, he actually seized hold of the broadsword which had been hanging from the wall. In that instant, Percy and Kuon, who were both behind Leo, prepared to leap into action, but Leo spread his hands either side of himself and stopped his retainers.

“Wait. Sir Claude, please wait!”

Still in the same position, Leo stared straight at Claude. With his eyebrows drawn together and his teeth tightly clenched, his expression was desperate. He seemed to be declaring that even if Claude came at him with the broadsword, he would not move a single step.

“Sir Claude, you would never betray your country. I came here today because I was convinced of that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“General Claude Anglatt, this isn’t betrayal. On the contrary, you will be protecting the country from a threat.”

“Yeah, and I’m asking you what you’re on about,” still holding the broadsword, Claude clicked his tongue in irritation. “Do you want to talk ethics? You’re right, there’s no morality in Allion attacking the temple a second time like this. So do you want to say I should support Atall to end this unjust war and become a hero and saviour of Allion? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Claude had his doubts about taking military control of Conscon Temple and he suspected that, on the whole, this entire war had probably been started solely at Hayden’s behest. He also believed that it would be best if every plan attempted by the newly-returned Hayden and his troops could be thwarted. Nevertheless, it was unthinkable for Claude to actively support the enemy side.

“Spare me the fake concern, Leo. You’re far more educated than I am. But you still won’t convince me with the clever way of speaking that you’ve gotten from your learning. Go back to Atall. I won’t tell you to give me back my daughter; Florrie has chosen her own path. So...”

“Please wait!” Leo’s voice flew like an arrow.

Ah! For a fleeting second, Claude, a general famed on the battlefield, had the illusion that a bolt was flying straight towards his face.

Leo rose from his chair and tramped up to Claude, who still had the broadsword in hand, then swiftly knelt before him, his cloak swaying. While Claude stumbled a few steps forward, the prince raised his face towards him.

“I am not talking about ethics or morality. General Claude, with your own hands, you will drive back a ‘foreign enemy’ aiming at Allion,” he flatly asserted.

Claude stared down at the boy’s face. He was pouring with sweat in the glozing heat. The boy continued to look up at Claude.

This little guy... Claude once again felt the same misgivings. They were of the same kind that Darren, Percy, and perhaps even Leo himself held.

Someone who was insignificant right up until yesterday hatches out today and turns into a different person even while the eggshell is still clinging to them – I’ve seen guys like that a few times on the battlefield. Are you one of them? Just what kind of battlefield did you experience in Atall, Leo? No, if it comes to that, even this foreign country that Allion is to you might have been a battlefield.

He didn’t understand. And talking about something else that he didn’t understand...

“A ‘foreign enemy’? What foreign enemy? The only enemy Allion currently has abroad is Conscon Temple. Or Is Atall taking part in the war again? Is that who you’re talking of driving back? You, Lord Leo of Atall?”

Claude found it incomprehensible. Lifting his gaze a little, he fixed his eyes on Percy and Kuon, who were arrayed behind Leo. They – Percy especially – were watching what was happening while apparently holding their breath, and also holding themselves back. They had probably resolved to leave this to Leo. Such was the relationship between lord and vassal.

The general heaved a deep sigh and returned the broadsword to its original position. In exchange, he stretched a brawny arm out towards the prince.

“Let’s both sit back down, Leo... sorry, Lord Leo. I’m only saying I’ll listen to what you have to say. But that also means that there’s no going back. No matter how I try, I won’t be able to laugh it off as a joke or a dream anymore. If, once you’ve finished speaking, I judge that you’re a threat to me and to my country, I’ll simply have your head – and that, even if it means that my daughter will hate me for the rest of her life,” said Claude, holding out his hand to pull Leo up.

There was no longer the relaxed attitude of those who had been like family for six years. Nor was there an atmosphere like the one between son-in-law and father-in-law.

“Understood,” yet Leo Attiel’s face was bright as he took the hand that helped pull him to his feet.

While Leo, Percy and Kuon had headed towards Claude’s castle, Camus and Sarah had returned to Conscon Temple.

The road Leo and the others had taken was not an easy one, but rushing along mountain paths at night made it a difficult journey for the siblings. They were covered in mud and sweat by the time they arrived at the temple which they had both been missing. The situation there was likewise in a sorry state.

Even though Allion’s troops had been without their commander, they hadn’t gone easy on the temple. They had sent out soldiers around the base of the mountain to cut off the supply of food and funds. They quickly pulled back when the temple’s side attacked them, but no sooner did they do so than they then started firing from cannons placed at the foot of the mountain, whose existence they seemed to have suddenly remembered.

What wasn’t cut off was the flow of deserting soldiers escaping from the temple, which they believed no longer had any chance of winning. For a time, the temple had clamped down hard on fugitives, but thoughtlessly keeping soldiers who had lost their spirit meant that they had grown violent.

“Then give us food. Hand out money. Show us a path to victory!” they had raged.

With soldiers like that on the inside, there was no longer any way to keep fighting. There was no other choice but to allow them to escape. Almost all of the bandits and marauders who had light-heartedly come to the temple as mercenaries had already vanished. Those left were little more than the Atallese troops led by Nauma Laumarl, who reluctantly remained because of the sovereign-prince’s orders. To be more specific, losses due to the repeated battles and to the departure of Percy’s unit meant that the original five hundred soldiers were down to three hundred.

Apart from them, there were about two or three hundred warrior monks. Even the nuns at the monastery had grabbed spears, saying that “if the time comes, we will fight”, but the current circumstances meant that they could not even get one proper meal a day, so their energy, which had once had the force of a forest fire, would soon be extinguished as though put out by heavy rains.

Naturally, there weren’t only monks and priests at the temple. The people who had originally been living on the outskirts of the temple were also present, and there many too who had fled there from the villages at the foot of the mountain. As he passed through the streets, Camus repeatedly heard the wails of children, and could sense the listless gazes of the adults.

Camus called on those of them that he knew by sight; more than half of them had already passed away. The more elderly among them had apparently declared that, “once this old deadweight is gone, at least there’ll be one less mouth to feed,” and, so saying, they had pushed their old bodies into going to fight the enemy, and had fallen in glory.

He pretended not to see how Sarah’s shoulders shuddered and heaved up and down throughout the entire day.

The sun had set by the time he met with Bishop Rogress. Camus told about how, although their surprise attack on the enemy headquarters had ended in failure, and they had – for a short time – been captured, they had ultimately saved the Atallese prince and had crossed over to Atall.

“To protect the temple, His Highness, Lord Leo, was baptised into our God’s religion, and is moving in various ways.” When he heard that, the bishop made the sign of the cross in front of his chest.

“Everything is in accordance with God’s will.”

“Nevertheless, Bishop, Lord Leo can only make use of a limited number of soldiers. We cannot be optimistic about the chances of victory.”

“Have faith in the Lord’s will. By complying with it, we will, at the very least, live lives we need never be ashamed of,” said Bishop Rogress.

As was only to be expected, the bishop’s plump face and figure were starting to look gaunt, yet both his posture and his manner remained firm. He presented the appearance of the ideal priest, and Camus should have been deeply impressed by it.

For some reason though, this time, Camus felt strange about it.

He was reminded of Abbot Tom, who had spared his and his sister’s life, and who had taken them in right after they had fled while their family home burned down. The abbot’s heart had been full of splendid ideals; but even though he had ideals, he had no power. Which was why, when Camus was driven out by fire and forced to flee, pulling his sister by the hand, for a second time, he had come to this temple, which had both ideals and power.

Even though Rogress and Tom were each supposed to have given him a completely different impression from the other, at that moment, Camus could see their faces perfectly overlapping with one another.

What am I thinking?

After taking his leave from Rogress, Camus shook his head quickly. Still, he could not shake the thought. It was as if there was an area in his own mind that he had not been aware of, in which a devil was crouching, with its black wings folded.

He remained plunged in thought until morning.

The next day, the two siblings were busy doing what needed to be done to fulfil the purpose of their separating with Leo and returning to the temple. Camus had hoped that he might forget if he immersed himself in doing something, but the devil wasn’t so easily driven away.

The next day again, he did something which he himself found hard to believe. Still possessed by that devil that he was deliberately pretending not to have noticed, he intended to act according to the orders he had received.

He himself could not understand why he, a devoted servant of God, could temporarily throw away his own faith.

“Surrender?” In a corner of the chapel, the bishop opened his narrow eyes just a little wider.

“These are not naturally not my own words,” said Camus. “It is just one possibility among the tactics that Lord Leo brought up. Although even if we call it a surrender, it would – again, naturally – only be temporary. The important thing is to make sure that Allion’s attention is focused on us.”

Camus spoke dispassionately, his face expressionless. The morning sun penetrated through the gaps between the pillars, and the two people’s shadows stretched out long.

“There are many faithful within Allion, and public opinion is conflicted about the temple. Not even Hayden would dare to harm believers who have surrendered... is the idea.” 𝙛𝔯𝒆e𝔀e𝗯𝓷𝗼𝘃e𝚕.𝒄𝗼𝗺

From start to finish, Camus had presented it as ‘Leo’s opinion’. This was by no means a lie: among the points listed in the plan that Leo had presented – to which Percy and Camus had added one or two considerations for analysis – the possibility of having the temple surrender had certainly been raised. The idea behind it was to attract and focus Allion’s attention on it. However, it had soon been dropped from the list of possible courses of action since there were just too many unknown factors – for example, even if their surrender successfully held the enemy’s attention, it was nonetheless impossible to tell whether Allion would let the populace and the faithful go free immediately, so on Leo’s side they would not be able to count on having Atallese soldiers attack from the mountains. Yet for some reason, Camus talked about it to the bishop as though it were still a valid option.

Rogress’ reply was both swift and simple.

“I have no intention of doing so.”

“But, Bishop...”

“I believe I have already told you: it is our duty to comply with God’s will. Even if only temporarily, even if as part of a plan, we cannot surrender to His enemies. Even if we should be defeated by Allion, whose might is so much greater than ours, the dauntlessness we will have shown by betting our own lives will surely reach the Heavens. And if so, God’s words will cross over our mountains, and in every city and citadel, they will ring out like the tolling of bells.”

Camus said nothing further, and respectfully lowered his head. After putting his fingers in blessing to Camus’ forehead, the bishop left the chapel.

”Defeated”... you say?

His head still bowed, Camus stayed a long while scrutinising the floor at his feet.

Arrogant though it might have been, he had been ‘testing’ the bishop. Even if he had not gone along with the plan of surrendering – just as Leo and Camus themselves had not – Camus had wanted to know by what kind of process he would reach that decision, and to see for himself what were the bishop’s inner thoughts.

Did he have determination? Was he prepared to drive away the enemy?

He was prepared.

Prepared to sacrifice himself for God.

Prepared only for that.

I believed this temple had power. That it was strong enough to drive back an unjust use of strength, that it had enough power to act upon God’s will. So I was fine with dying for it, as long as I could help it, even if just a little. If it meant that victory was within reach...

Camus imagined that perhaps, when he had been younger; Bishop Rogress and the god he believed in had also been harmed by unjust use of power. And maybe that was why, with Allion’s cooperation, he had built up his own armed force and economic territory.

And in truth, he had fought against Allion.

But here too, if it had to be said, he had only fought.

Perhaps he had never once believed that they might win. In this holy sanctuary that he himself had built, he would continue fighting without retreating before the use of strength, and perish. What counted more than anything else was that he would sacrifice himself for God’s teachings.

The scattered words and doubts within Camus’ heart were slowly taking shape. But that shape differed from the simple violent thoughts that he had previously held.

He had Percy, who had suggested the reckless plan of carrying out a surprise attack on the enemy headquarters; and Kuon, his treasured disciple with whom he fought side-by-side; and Lord Leo, who was going to use the most outrageous tactics to overturn the current situation. All of them longed for victory.

And also, on the palm of his hand, he could still feel the sensation of Sarah’s very young hand, when he had pulled her along. He didn’t want to see people burned in flames anymore. He couldn’t bear to flee from the fires anymore.

“... so after all, Bishop Rogress, you too...” he mumbled vacantly.

After which, he said nothing further.

Part 3

Hayden was confident that the temple would fall. It would, moreover, be a perfect victory, as rapid as possible and with as little damage to his own troops as possible.

For one thing, there was the intelligence from their spies within the temple. They said that the temple had been lured out by Allion into placing their cannons at the foot of the mountain. Since the warrior monks were also concentrated in the areas surrounding the guns, the corollary was that there were many passageways that were apparently completely undefended. It had been arranged that when they received the signal, the spies would guide Allion’s soldiers to those locations.

Soon after receiving that information, Hayden was planning to move his troops for a large-scale offensive. Originally, the temple should already have fallen by now, but back when he had received news of Lord Leo and Florrie’s escape, Hayden had been left with no choice but to postpone its capture. He had even gone so far as to leave the headquarters and depart for Tiwana.

He had not, however, given the order “not to do anything” while he was away. Just as Camus had guessed, they had continued to send out soldiers to cut off the temple’s supply lines, and to sporadically cause skirmishes in the villages at the foot of the mountain. The reason for that last one was because they wanted to force the enemy to maintain fixed gunnery positions.

Just as Camus had also seen, runaways were escaping the temple one after another. A spy mixed in among them had brought one more piece of information, and his report was the second reason why Hayden was convinced that complete victory was within reach.

“Oh-ho, so Atall’s soldiers have finally pulled out?” Hayden smiled as he sat back in his chair in a relaxed pose.

Of the Atallese reinforcements which had come rushing, about three hundred had still remained at the temple, but they had finally left the day before. Apparently, they had streamed down the mountain like the remnants of a defeated army.

Hayden chuckled to himself. Even if the sovereign-prince had wanted a little longer before deciding when to quit, there was no more time left.

Incidentally, among the information that Hayden had collected, there was also some concerning movements within Atall itself. There was no evidence that they would be sending in any fresh troops. The Atallese aristocrats had jumped at the bait called ‘peace’ that Hayden had prepared for them, and were savouring its false flavour. As for the sovereign-prince, he would have no thought of defying their opposition and sending soldiers to defend a temple with which he did not actually have any connection.

And also... among the topics covering Atall, there were reports concerning Leo Attiel. He alone had called for a reorganisation of the armed forces, but he had tragically failed and had thereupon immediately been baptised into the Cross Faith. Actually, rumour had already spread within Allion that his conversion had served as the pretext for building the first large-scale church within Atall’s domains.

So Atall’s ruling family does have a connection to the temple after all – there were may voices that cried out in anger and suspicion. Yet many of the adherents of the Cross Faith within Allion had favourably received the news of the prince’s baptism.

It made Hayden want to laugh.

Don’t you care how you look anymore?

Was he hoping to win over public opinion in Allion thanks to his religious conversion? Certainly, there were many who viewed it with favour, but that would not be enough to sway the country’s policy. Being baptised into the Cross Faith and establishing a diocese within the country was a shoddy, hastily thought-up plan that could not possibly halt Hayden’s momentum at this point.

Ha.

On the eve of his departure for the front, Hayden felt like laughing as he inclined his wine cup towards him. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t laugh. For a moment, he was bewildered as he couldn’t understand why that was.

He pondered for a while.

Silence reigned inside the fortress. While this might have seemed strange, it was the proof that every unit had already completed their preparations for tomorrow’s assault. As was Hayden’s habit, he kept both those of lower rank and the pages waiting in attendance at a distance, so he was alone. While hearing the faint hum that was the voices of insects, he arrived at his answer.

I see.

Hayden looked down on Leo’s plan. That was a fact; yet, at the same time, he was inclined to admire Leo Attiel. During the banquet in Tiwana, Hayden had provoked Leo; yet in and of itself, that had not been necessary. To be sure, Leo had committed the crime of taking Florrie away from Allion, but that was only a temporary thing. If the banquet had ended peacefully, he would have been able to bring Florrie back with him on the ship, and, very little time later, he would have destroyed Atall.

Leo, however, had responded to Hayden’s provocation.

He had publicly announced his engagement to Florrie. Moreover, as he trod down on Hayden’s foot, he had fired off these words: “Are you saying that your power can take the place of a proper cause, and get the army to move? Then show me. And I’ll show you how I turn the tables on you.”

Hayden had been engulfed in intense fury but, looking back on it after he had left Atall, he realised that Leo’s words had been no more than childish defiance. With no concrete plan to go on, he had simply blurted out how much he wanted to oppose Hayden. Which was why, when he was having his audience with the king of Allion and reaffirming his right to military command, Hayden had believed that, a brat of no more than seventeen, who isn’t even the heir, won’t be able to do anything. He can just wait and shiver. I’ll make him regret his words from the bottom of his heart when I march the troops upon them.

Yet Leo had shown movement. At least compared to those Atallese nobles who were indulging in the bait known as ‘peace’, he still had the will to oppose Allion. He was not just ‘waiting and shivering’. Even though, when Hayden had first met him at Claude’s castle, he had been no more than an insignificant hostage.

If I can say that you, who was supposed to live out your life as a worthless hostage, was the one who shook me awake from where I was sleeping in the ocean that is Allion, perhaps it can also be said that I was the one who woke you.

Hayden felt an oddly profound emotion. He was even relaxed enough to be able to objectively think of it as strange.

I’m drunk, he put down his wine cup with a forced laugh.

Even if he admitted that he was increasingly feeling something like a connection to Leo Attiel, there was no point thinking about it too deeply; in the end, Leo amounted to no more than one who would be engulfed by even the smallest of waves born from the ocean that was Allion.

But I’ll remember you, Leo Attiel, Hayden closed his eyes. I’ll take your head as Atall’s palace goes up in flames. But, I will be the only one who will remember you name, since it won’t be left either in history or in people’s memories. That is the least I can do for you, you who woke me up, as a show of thanks... and as your eulogy.

He soon started to snore softly, before being awoken again by the pages.

Until that day arrived, Leo Attiel was running abound making preparations.

He had met with Dytiann’s envoys, had snuck into Allion’s territory, and had spoken with Claude Anglatt. Concurrently to that, he was pushing along another strange item on his agenda.

In the western part of Savan’s territory – which was to say, everywhere that was close to the border with Allion – he had encampments hastily constructed.

The one whose cooperation he called upon was Bernard. Most of his territory was covered in forest, so Bernard served both as a domain lord and as the forester for the woodlands owned by the ruling House. Using the authority of the princely house, Leo had him cut down trees and have them transported to Savan’s lands.

Up to something weird again, thought Bernard, but his wife, who was an ardent believer in the Cross Faith, did not stay silent when she heard that the wood was to be used to build lodgings for the craftsmen working on the church, as well as for sheds in which to temporarily store the stone. Partly at his wife’s instigation, Bernard had hurriedly started work.

This is a digression, but before returning to the temple, Sarah had once paid a visit to Bernard’s wife. As women dedicated to the same faith, they had a lot to talk about. The topic of the war at Conscon Temple was also brought up, and it left Bernard’s wife deeply worried. “Why can’t our country help the temple?” her words were unusual for a woman from Atall, or rather, they came dangerously close to stepping into the domain of politics. Because of that and because he intended to build a base to allow the Cross Faith to conduct large-scale activities in Atall, Leo had become something of a hero to Bernard’s wife.

Leo now had a huge quantity of timber to hand, but most of it was used no to build dwellings for the craftsmen, but to construct encampments.

Although even if they were called encampments, they were nothing more than structures with roofs that could house several dozen people. As for what they were used for, it was to lodge Leo’s five hundred militiamen – who, incidentally, had pitched in to build the camps.

They were joined by regular soldiers. Not, however, the Royal Guards that Leo had brought with him from Tiwana. Since those were no more than guards for the quarry who had been left to him by the sovereign-prince, Leo had sent them back to the capital once they had successfully drawn out Darren’s soldiers.

The regular soldiers in question were the three hundred led by Nauma Laumarl. Having been left for so long at Conscon Temple, they had been waiting impatiently for orders from the sovereign-prince, and finally been given permission to come down from the mountain. In actual fact though, Sovereign-Prince Magrid had not issued any such orders.

Leo Attiel had given Camus a dagger bearing the crest of the princely house on its hilt and, along with a letter, it gave the impression of being an order from Magrid that allowed Nauma and the others to descend from the temple.

Once they crossed the border, they had, for the time being, been guided to Savan’s nearby castle, where they had stayed a night to “recover after your long campaign”. Given that their impression of Savan Roux was that he was merely ‘an impoverished vassal-lord’, they were astonished by the magnificent reception they received.

Right, His Majesty the Sovereign-Prince must have given Savan the money to thank us for our services. We had a hard time of it, and His Majesty appreciates it, now that he was tasting civilised food and drink for the first time in a long time, Nauma was intoxicated.

The next day, while they were in the middle of getting ready to “return to dear old Tiwana,” Leo Attiel showed up. That too came as a surprise to Nauma. Which was understandable, since he was completely ignorant of Atall’s current internal situation, but yet another shock was in store for him.

“I’ll be taking charge of all the soldiers under your command, Nauma,” the prince announced.

Nauma himself was ordered to remain as captain to the men. Well, even if it was presented as “an order from the sovereign-prince”, that was, of course, another of Leo’s lies. In all honesty, he did not actually have any further need for Nauma himself, but if he returned like this, the sovereign-prince would find out that Leo had acted on his own to have them withdraw from Mount Conscon.

“P-Please wait. What does His Majesty intend for us to do now? Have we not made peace with Allion?” Nauma asked, but the prince stuck to it that it was “an order from my father, the sovereign.”

While Leo was explaining that he would be taking overall command of the troops, Nauma found himself unintentionally doubting his liege’s sanity – His Majesty must have been caught between Allion and the vassal-lords, and had to try and do something.

But anyway, if it was an order, he had no choice but to obey. Muttering complaints the whole time, he divided up the soldiers into a number of units, and sent them off to the encampments.

That evening, Leo Attiel was in the chapel. He had received information that Hayden Swift had returned to the frontlines. The attacks on the temple would start up again soon.

Camus and Sarah were at that temple now. Percy had headed to a different location, and was waiting for Leo’s signal. Kuon had been entrusted with an elite unit, and he too was waiting for the prince’s orders.

And Leo Attiel was also waiting. While soaking up the atmosphere in the simple and still completely unadorned chapel, he had one hand on the sword at his waist. His other hand was on his chest, and he could feel the beat of his heart against his palm.

The wind was blowing, and the candle flames were flickering. Leo’s shadow also seemed to sway, then it turned into that ominous, stagnant sludge, a one-dimensional figure that stood right before him, thrusting its black, featureless face at him.

Will you do it? It spoke in its silent voice.

“I’ll do it,” said Leo.

People will die. A great many people. Foolish little prince. Countless lives will be lost which wouldn’t have needed to be if only you hadn’t provoked Hayden. And you too will plunged headlong into hell.

“If I don’t take action, sooner or later, Atall will fall.”

Excuses, excuses. Their corpses won’t want to listen to those words from you, Little Prince.

“If they don’t want to listen, then they don’t need to listen. Somebody has to make a change. Somebody has to force things to move.”

Who was Leo speaking to?

“The relationship between the ruling family and the vassal-lords has collapsed simply because the ruling House wasn’t able to show the necessary strength when it needed to. As the ruling family lost power, the influence of the vassal-lords increased inversely to that. That’s why they can’t give a single order that doesn’t profit the vassal-lords, and can’t make a single move.”

In other words –

“Ultimately, the ruling family is to blame for Atall’s current weakness.”

– was what he was saying.

“And that’s why,” the moment Leo said it, the sludge returned to being a shadow. “that’s why, I will do it.”