Editing Tytania:Volume 2 Chapter 4 (section)

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Duke Zarlisch Tytania was staying at the Hotel Alhambra in the East Sant Joan district of planet Bargash. Naturally, he was no ordinary guest; indeed, the hotel itself was owned by Tytania, and the entire building had been placed at his exclusive disposal. However imposing his stature was, it was impossible for him to occupy every floor. Apart from the top-floor suite, which was reserved for him and his four mistresses, the rest of the hotel was used to accommodate his entourage and soldiers.

On Zarlisch’s orders, the club in the basement was opened to the soldiers free of charge, and they stepped into a garden of luxury with fine wine and women that they would normally never have been able to approach. Praising their lord’s generosity to the skies, they drank vintage wine straight from the bottle, sang and danced, and demanded kisses and embraces from the female companions. Indeed, even the very lowest ranks of Tytania had their own modest privileges.

Meanwhile, Mr&nbsp;Fan Hyulick, a guest of Zarlisch, was leading a life of confinement in a cramped single room. Although he had been granted the honour of sharing accommodation with the mighty Duke Zarlisch Tytania, he could not bring himself to feel the slightest sense of excitement. There were three surveillance cameras inside the room, half a dozen armed guards outside the door, and soldiers stationed in the lift lobby and at the stairwell entrances; from the guest room directly opposite, separated by the courtyard, a tear-gas launcher glared sullenly at Mr&nbsp;Fan Hyulick by the window.

Surveying the room, which could only be described as bleak, Hyulick has thoughts that had a touch of sarcasm in them. It seemed Zarlisch believed his prisoner possessed the brute strength of a Gargantua-class giant. Had Zarlisch been keeping watch on his own, Hyulick would have been utterly powerless to resist.

Hyulick’s thoughts, of course, did not reach the ears of the Tytanian great noble. It was Zarlisch’s mother, not Zarlisch himself, who harboured an obsession with Hyulick’s life and limb. Had ten thousand armed Hyulick gathered, it might have been another matter, but as things stood, for Zarlisch this was nothing more than a rather personal obligation.

Fulfilling such an obligation inevitably entailed various troublesome trivialities. For example, the Tytanian man who had directly subdued Hyulick came to see Zarlisch and asked him the following:

“No doubt, you will be paying the bounty, right?”

Zarlisch’s powerful eyebrows twitched in displeasure, possibly because he took offence at such a petty question. And that alone was enough to strike fear into the person he was talking with. The man turned pale, his gaze dimming with subservience. He bowed profusely and withdrew. To be regarded as a coward was the greatest insult to Zarlisch, but to be called stingy was no less unpleasant. He summoned his ''aide-de-camp'', Commander Granite, and ordered him to pay the man his bounty. The fact that he specified, “In cash, mind you,” revealed Zarlisch’s true feelings.

As Granite was about to leave to make the arrangements, Zarlisch called him back and asked whether preparations were in place for a fleet battle in space. Satisfied with the reply that they were ready at a moment’s notice, Zarlisch pictured in his mind’s eye the scene of the near future, in which he would return in triumph after crushing the swarm of Blaze Flag Army forces closing in on him. A ferocious, triumphant laugh shook his magnificent beard.

That day, Mikhail Walenkov and Louis Edmond Pagès set out for the East Sant Joan district to conduct a visual reconnaissance of the security situation at the Hotel Alhambra. Zarlisch made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts, and it was clear that he was holding a prisoner in his custody. In that sense, the target of the assault was clear from the outset, but it was also certain that security would be extremely tight. To begin with, Zarlisch Tytania himself was an impregnable walking fortress.

In terms of both physique and physical strength, Walenkov wasn’t vastly inferior to Zarlisch. However, should it come to a fight, would he not be outmatched in sheer presence? That was Pagès’ observation. Walenkov was never a particularly belligerent sort to begin with. Like Pagès, he had become a soldier solely to earn a living.

“Doctor Lee suggested that we should feign an attack on Duke Zarlisch in space, while in reality we would rescue Admiral Hyulick on the ground, but…”

Pagès stroked his slightly pointed chin, furrowing his thin brows. He looked somewhat like a fox devising a strategy against a hunter and his hounds.

“At this rate, it looks as though the plan is going to fall apart. There isn’t the slightest opening we can exploit.”

At that, Walenkov nudged his comrade’s arm with his sturdy elbow. His thick fingers drew Pagès’ gaze. A poster was pinned to the wall beside them, announcing a gathering and listing the names of the guests of honour. Pagès read it and, as a sign of understanding, gave Walenkov a wink.