Editing Tytania:Volume 2 Chapter 9 (section)

=== I ===
From November to December SY&nbsp;446, the political sphere of planet Bargash was gripped by a level of bewilderment and confusion rarely seen before. It was facing the threat of all-out war with Tytania.

The root cause lay in the fact that Duke Zarlisch Tytania had disregarded Bargash’s sovereignty and laws and forcibly carried out military operations. However, there was no prospect of Tytania admitting its wrongdoing or offering an apology. The Bargash government was thus forced to face a dreadfully grave dilemma: either plunge into all-out war with Tytania, or exhaust every diplomatic resource in pursuit of peace. It was clear that even if they sought peace, they would be presented with extremely harsh terms. Terms that would likely threaten the very survival of their nation.

Entrusted to Admiral Turbil and placed under house arrest in one of the military barracks, the comrades of the ''Honest Old Man'' exchanged the following conversation:

“If we’d let Zarlisch Tytania live back then, was there a way out for us?”

“No, probably not. It might even have led to a worse outcome.”

Let us suppose that Fan Hyulick and his men had taken Zarlisch prisoner and spared his life. Even if they had then made some demand of Tytania, there was no way he would have meekly accepted it. The Bargash government, suddenly thrown into disarray by the turn of events, would have been blackmailed into returning Zarlisch. Or they might have had Hyulick and his men arrested, or even killed. Zarlisch himself would have devised various means of escape, and the Tytania branch would undoubtedly launch a rescue operation.

To begin with, had they not shot Zarlisch dead in that underground cavern, it would have been Hyulick who would have had to accept his fate of being strangled.

“Well, in any case, what’s done is done.”

Walenkov summed it up matter-of-factly.

“The question is what we do from here on. What are your thoughts, Admiral Hyulick?”

“For the time being, we’ll buy some time,” replied Hyulick nonchalantly, crossing his legs leisurely.

“If Tytania invades with a large army, Bargash will have no choice but to steel themselves. And if they want to increase his chances of victory, they won’t kill us off that easily. No need to be pessimistic.”

In truth, Fan Hyulick was not quite as detached as his expression and tone might suggest. He wondered whether his judgement might be flawed. While he weighed the pros and cons, might a disgraceful end, be it arrest or assassination, be creeping ever closer to him and his comrades? That anxiety lurked in his shadow, constantly accompanying him. Even so, he had no choice but to stake his own and his comrades’ fates on a single possibility.

“If Tytania mobilises a large army for a head-on clash with Bargash, the commander would be no one else but Duke Ariabert. I am the only person in the universe who has ever defeated Duke Ariabert, even if it was a fluke. The Bargash government knows this. Unless they are 100% certain of peace, they won’t harm me.”

He had calculated this and double-checked it time and again. That said, in terms of lacking 100% certainty, Hyulick was no different from the Bargash government.

At times, Hyulick could see things too clearly. If he were to speculate on the inner thoughts of the Bargash government’s high-ranking officials, he realised that their lack of certainty regarding victory was even greater than their lack of certainty regarding peace. After agonising in a cold sweat, they might end up short-circuiting their thought processes and throwing themselves into the easiest option.

He tried to imagine such an ominous scene, but for the time being, Fan Hyulick was under house arrest and was not even permitted to meet with senior officials of the Bargash government. Given that, there was only one way to avoid being consumed by boredom and unnecessary anxiety: to try his luck with a woman.

“You could tell me your name by now, right?”

One day, in the great dining hall, he tried asking a certain woman.

“Well, yes, but I must be careful. If any evil spirits are listening in, my whole life will end up in a dark tunnel.”

The woman who laughed was a female soldier from the anti-Tytania faction who had been stationed in the underground caverns of the desert. Here, she was not wearing her sun visor, but she was still clad in her camouflaged field uniform.

Setting aside her laughter, Hyulick asked:

“Your name?”

“Seraphine Coopers. My friends call me Sera.”

Just as Mr&nbsp;Fan Hyulick had finally succeeded in learning the name that interested him, the Bargash government found itself at the very opposite extreme of peace of mind. Ajman, the Landless Clanner of Tytania, had presented them with terms of peace. The document comprised no fewer than forty clauses, which were not merely stringent but utterly Draconian.

Leaving aside the handover of those responsible for the war, the clause that nearly drove the Bargash government into collective cardiac arrest was the following:

“Permanently transfer to Tytania authority to conduct qualification assessments for Locators.”

It was impossible for Bargash to accept this condition. Locators were a professional body responsible for planetary development and administration in the frontier star systems. To cede the authority to assess qualifications would mean relinquishing the status of “Capital of the Frontier” for all eternity. Compared to this condition, matters of territory and reparations seemed as light as a spring breeze.

“Tytania has no genuine intention of making peace. From the very start, they’ve been imposing unreasonable conditions. They want to force us into war.”

“The untimely death of Duke Zarlisch is no cause for sorrow to them. It is nothing but a stroke of good fortune.”

“Isn’t that typical of Tytania? They would even exploit the death of a relative for their own gain. It is in their very nature to gnaw on the very bones of the dead.”

“We cannot coexist with the likes of them. The only reason we have managed to maintain peace until now is because Bargash has upheld common sense and decency. But we have learnt that decency is only something to be upheld towards human beings. It is powerless against beasts. The only way to discipline them is the whip!”

Voices of fierce indignation surged both within and outside the Bargash government.

“There is still room for negotiation. If we act rashly, we’ll fall right into Tytania’s trap. We must remain calm and seek the best course of action.”

The peace faction desperately tried to appease their fellow citizens, but their numbers and influence were rapidly dwindling. Tytania had fired a bullet straight into the Bargash people’s patience. Their forbearance had evaporated, and they were on the verge of exploding.

However, the Bargash government could not simply cry out “This is War!” so easily. They tried to find a way out of the impasse, but there was no such thing as a miraculous solution. They held repeated discussions, postponed reaching a conclusion, and in the end were criticised by the hawks for being “indecisive”, it was nothing short of a thankless task.

Admiral Turbil, however, was full of vigour, oblivious to the confusion and anguish of the senior government officials. Such was the advantage of being the one who had already crossed the river.

“If it comes to a humiliating peace, there’s no doubt I’ll be killed by Tytania, but I shall not die alone. I’ll take a hundred of those self-important politicians in Parliament down with me.”

“Why not blow up the whole Parliament building to smithereens with cannons? Once we’ve gnawed through the tables, all that’s left is to smash up the canteen.”

Lieutenant-Commander Irk took off his cap and fanned his face. He and Rear-Admiral Turville had once been regarded as the cautious, level-headed faction within the Bargash military establishment, but as a result of Lady Fortune’s negligence, they now found themselves forming the most hard-line wing of the anti-Tytania faction.

As the Bargash government had become mired in endless debate and was unable to reach a resolution, it decided to summon anti-Tytania figures both civil and military who had been placed under house arrest, such as Admiral Turbil and Fan Hyulick, to the Supreme Council’s Security Committee to hear their views. Naturally, they were all unarmed, with four soldiers assigned to monitor each of them. They ought to count themselves lucky not to have been handcuffed.

After about 500&nbsp;seconds of perfunctory questioning, the Chairman of the Supreme Council, leaning back in his chair, addressed Hyulick, who remained standing:

“Do you have the confidence to fight Tytania and win?”

It was a question that was crude rather than frank. Fan Hyulick felt under no obligation to satisfy the kind of person who’d hurl such a question at him.

“It depends on the conditions.”

“Conditions… you mean the reward, right?”

Hyulick was dumbfounded by this reaction. It was the sort of remark that would have delighted Mahdi, or maybe it was simply the result of watching crude space-pioneering dramas on 3D Solivision<ref name="ftn20">“3D TV” or “solid TV” (立体ＴＶ) is pronounced “solivision”.</ref> day in day out. Within the sixty-minute slot, complete with adverts, the hero of justice would invariably vanquish the evil aliens. All one had to do was sip a beer and enjoy the action from another world. No harm ever befell those who watch 3D Solivision.

“You are the man who defeated Duke Ariabert Tytania. You must have some sure-win tactic even if the enemy outnumbers you ten to one, right?”

“No such thing exists in this world.”

Hyulick replied with an icy detachment verging on indifference. Even if the Bargash government were dismantled by Tytania and wiped from the cosmos, it might not be all that lamentable in the grand scheme of history. He was even beginning to feel that way.

“So you’re saying you’re going up against Tytania without any prospect of victory?”

Ignoring the Chairman’s exaggeratedly wide-eyed expression, Hyulick replied:

“Duke Ariabert Tytania is a famous general. I won the Battle of Cerberus because I caught him off guard, but I don’t think such a tactic will work a second time.”

This was his true feeling, though it was sprinkled with a few crumbs of acting. He couldn’t afford to have people think he could easily defeat Duke Ariabert in military strategy and tactics by making an enemy of him.

Doctor Lee, his gaze lingering on Hyulick’s profile, interjected casually:

“There is no need for Fan Hyulick to defeat Ariabert Tytania in person. The point is simply that the anti-Tytania faction must defeat Tytania, am I wrong?”

The fact that he referred to them as the anti-Tytania faction rather than planet Bargash was a sign of Doctor Lee’s cunning, or perhaps his craftiness. Doctor Lee had no intention of promising to secure victory or save Bargash alone.

One of the councillors, who had been casting disapproving glances at Hyulick and the other “irresponsible outsiders”, clenched his fist and slammed it down on the desk, presumably in an attempt to intimidate them.

“This matter is crystal clear. These men should be chained up and taken to Tytania’s headquarters. They are the ones who must bear the responsibility for the war against Tytania. If we simply hand them over, Tytania will not dare to resort to force.”

“The first part of your argument is entirely correct. However, the second part is nothing more than a fool’s fantasy.”

Doctor Lee gave him a failing mark. His expression was that of a sarcastic and merciless interviewer.

“Compromise and concession depend on the other party. Having lost Duke Zarlisch, Tytania cannot restore her prestige unless she completely subjugates your Bargash government. If you take a step back, they will take two steps forward. You can’t possibly fail to understand that. You are merely pretending not to.”

When the councillors fell silent, Doctor Lee also fell quiet, and Amzekar took up the argument in his stead.