Editing Tytania:Volume 3 Chapter 2 (section)

=== I ===
Viscount Balamy Tytania was on planet Tyron. He had been appointed as a counsellor to the Tytania resident mission in this land at the end of the previous year. Prior to this, at the age of eighteen, he had served as the senior ''aide-de-camp'' to Duke Jouslain Tytania, holding a position at the heart of Uraniborg, the ancestral seat of his clan.

His sudden relocation to a frontier sector was the result of a personnel decision that was better described as a temporary exile than a demotion. This was an event not included in his life plans, and the resulting sense of frustration was profound; yet, unless he could achieve psychological recovery, his future would not be a bright one. He had managed to somehow achieve some mental recovery even after the sudden death of his father, Marquis Estrade Tytania. Compared to that, this recent personnel change should be a trifle.

At the resident mission, he had been provided with his own office, a secretary, and a flat<ref name="ftn4">“Apartment” (住居) is pronounced “apartment”.</ref>, yet he had no specifically defined duties. The mission treated this Tytanian youth with great courtesy, but they had no intention of entrusting him with actual operational responsibility or authority. Rather, it was more a matter of subtly monitoring Balamy to ensure that he did not cause any further trouble. Balamy understood the situation perfectly well, but that understanding served only to offend the ambitious youth.

“Have you heard about the state of affairs on Planet Bargash? Lord Ariabert may be a mighty commander, but it is impossible to fight and achieve victory when there is no opponent to fight.”

“So, where on earth is the Blaze Flag Army? They cannot keep running away forever.”

“One way or another, they must be plotting something. Otherwise, those Bargash folk are fools. They’ll only end up provoking Tytania.”

Balamy overheard these kinds of conversations, both inside and outside the resident delegation.

Those who had hoped for a great decisive battle between the main fleets of Tytania and Bargash felt a sense of disappointment. They were military industrialists, engineers, military researchers, solivision reporters, or merely hecklers. In any case, on planet Tyron, it seemed that both Tytania and Bargash were nothing more than subjects for third-party commentary. At least for the time being.

“Well, this state of affairs can’t continue forever. It has merely delayed the inevitable for a while. That said, to have failed to grasp the Blaze Flag Army’s escape… one might assume that Tytania’s intelligence-gathering capabilities have grown a bit rusty.”

To say it was merely “a bit” was an understatement in Balamy’s estimation, and it was likely Ariabert’s perception as well.

It was said that the personnel of the Tytania intelligence division stationed in Bargash and the surrounding star sectors were facing a disgraceful situation, their faces flushing with shame and embarrassment. In the end, they had judged that the matter was concluded by Ariabert’s great offensive, and since their activities were also hindered by the onset of the state of war, they had withdrawn, resulting in this unsightly display. Once they let their target escape their net of reconnaissance and espionage, recapturing them was no easy feat; they were now left lamenting at just how vast the universe truly was.

If he could search for the whereabouts of Fan Hyulick and the Blaze Flag Army before anyone else, Balamy’s competence would receive its due recognition, and he might even realise his return to Uraniborg. He might even be recommended by Lord Jouslain and appointed to a position of importance. The young man decided it was a pursuit worth undertaking.

The term councillor referred more to a person’s status than to their actual duties; in a sense, it was a sinecure, but in return, it granted a great degree of freedom in one’s actions and flexibility with one’s time. This allowed for a dedicated focus on important matters and special assignments, and in that regard, Balamy had no concerns.

However, matters of finance did not always bend to Balamy’s will. His salary as a councillor was more than sufficient to cover his personal living expenses; among his colleagues in their forties, there were even men who lived quite comfortably, supporting wives, three children, and elderly parents, all while maintaining multiple mistresses. It exceeded the salaries of the ministers of the Tyron planetary government by some thirty percent. Furthermore, various expenses could be recorded under various headings, and funding was provided by local businesses and influential figures. Without ever having to resort to illegal acts or incur the resentment of others, one’s private wealth could be fattened quite naturally.

Balamy held little interest in or attachment to money itself. His desire for wealth stemmed from the need to possess and maintain a private intelligence network. He required both personnel and the financial resources to support them. Balamy lacked both. On this frontier planet, he was utterly isolated and without aid. He had no confidants nor any advisors. Because Balamy was a Tytania noble, there were many local influential figures who sought to curry favour with him, but he had no affection for most of them. They were nothing but mediocre philistines, and none were worthy of his trust or respect.

That was the realisation he had reached within almost four weeks of his arrival in Tyron. He had never originally been a particularly sociable young man, but since setting foot upon the surface of Tyron, he had become noticeably ill-tempered and difficult. He did not go out of his way to reprimand others or behave violently, but the presence of an invisible wall rejecting those around him was so evident that he was beginning to be shunned within the resident representative office.

Balamy did not care for such things. He was preoccupied with considering the matter of the planet Bargash and held a critical view of Lord Ariabert. In his eyes, the insincerity of the Bargash government was something that could have been entirely predicted.

“Is politics not the art of preventing them from doing exactly that? Is, after all, Lord Ariabert’s mindset only that of a soldier?”

Balamy’s excessive youthful vigour tended to run ahead of him, nearly leading him to underestimate the elders of his clan. The only person he held in high regard, much to his own chagrin, was his superior, Lord Jouslain. While he acknowledged Ariabert’s talent, Balamy could not suppress the thought that he himself would have pursued a different approach.

… Had Ariabert known Balamy’s true thoughts, he would have merely laughed and dismissed them as “full of spirit”. To Ariabert, Balamy’s presence was still insignificant. He concerned himself only with his two cousins, Jouslain and Idris, and his relationship with Jouslain had been friendly in recent years. He believed he only needed to keep a watchful eye on Idris’ excessive ambition. At that moment, having established his position on the planet Bargash with a large army, he had received several conflicting reports regarding the whereabouts of the fleeing Blaze Flag Army.

“Verify the authenticity of this information.”

A predictable order was issued from Ariabert’s command. The Tytania expeditionary force busily gathered intelligence, yielding immense results. Though perhaps “excessive” would have been a more accurate description than “immense”. If all the information they collected were true, Fan Hyulick and the Blaze Flag Army would simultaneously exist in fourteen different locations across the galaxy. Furthermore, the distances between these various points in space were separated by as much as six hundred light-years.

Staring at the display on the operation screen, Ariabert gave a short, wry smile. It required no effort at all to see the true nature of the situation. Most, if not all, of the information was false. It appeared that while moving through space, the Blaze Flag Army was scattering multiple layers of decoys and false reports to conceal its whereabouts.

“Fan Hyulick will certainly make a move. He will either raid some supply base or pick a fight with a small fleet. A single defeat is unavoidable. It would be beneficial if such an action revealed their location.”

This statement made it clear that Ariabert Tytania possessed an extraordinary spirit. The staff officer lacked the magnanimity of his supreme commander. It was the young Rear-Admiral Paulsen who voiced his apprehension and anxiety.

“It may take longer than expected. If their objective is merely to stall for time, they may remain low-profile and not engage us.”

In response to that opinion, Ariabert replied nonchalantly:

“That’s fine for now. We shall proceed with establishing the effective control of planet Bargash without being hindered by military interference.”

Ariabert laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, yet one could see the flash of a naked blade beneath it. If the Bargash government viewed Ariabert as an easy target, it merely provided him with more opportunities to take advantage of them. He was Tytania, and Tytania cared not about being insulted.

While he was not as blatant as his cousin Idris, Ariabert also remained steadfast in his pride as a Tytanian and his political values. Those who plotted to toy with the Tytanian nobility deserved to receive a rightful retribution for their arrogance. If Bargash were to perish, it would be by virtue of its own errors and folly. ''“I suppose I shall test their mettle,”'' Ariabert thought to himself.