A New Dimension of Diplomatic Issues

It rained the next day. The rain in November wasn’t as rough as the summer monsoon, but there was nothing better to create a dreary mood. Shortly after the nuclear warhead exploded in Guangzhou, rumors spread that radioactive materials were mixed in the rain clouds. It probably wasn’t true, but with an uneasy feeling, I went out of the dormitory with an umbrella. Shradha Bhatt had asked for a brief meeting.

The Indian entrepreneur’s daughter was walking around the school campus wearing a white raincoat, dragging her suitcase on the ground. Seeing her walking toward the main gate of the school, wearing a military sword meant for “barrier removal,” I realized why she had called me.

“I’ve already spoken to the Major,” Bhatt said.

“I’ve decided to leave with Julia Curoo. A repatriation request came from parliament. The Major said he couldn’t guarantee our safety, but he still managed to arrange train tickets somehow. It’s at a time when voluntary withdrawal is permitted.”

“Then where is Ms. Curoo…”

“She’s probably already waiting at the entrance. Still, I thought I should at least say goodbye to the person who acted as our squad leader, even if just for a short while.”

Bhatt extended one hand to me, requesting a handshake. We weren’t particularly close, but we had lived nearby and met often enough to exchange light greetings. I shook her hand and asked:

“Where are you planning to go?”

“We’ll take the transcontinental railway to Yunnan Province and then cross over to Burma. Once we reach Burma, we’ll be on Indian territory, so it should be fine.”

“All of China is under martial law. It might not be easy to even leave Guangzhou. Be careful.”

“It’s perplexing that Briar Churchill isn’t coming with us. There’s a British Governor-General in India, so if she could escape to India, she would be safer there than here. It’s understandable for soldiers, but it’s strange that a British person isn’t fleeing to India right now.”

Shradha Bhatt, who usually growled endlessly at Bri, seemed to care about her in her own way now that such a time had come. I shrugged and replied:

“Churchill and I went to Beiping together during the previous Beiping incident. You remember, right?”

“…Yes, you were right in the middle of it. I don’t know the details, but…”

“We didn’t do anything particularly strange. However, being female civilians present at the scene posed a clear threat that we could become targets of investigation by the Public Security.”

“Because Chinese Public Security can fabricate crimes that didn’t exist?”

“Yes, so Burma is too far for Briar Churchill to use as an escape route. The only hope would be Hong Kong… but Hong Kong isn’t as close as one might think, and I hear that most British people living there have already fled.”

“Actually, I don’t understand the people who aren’t fleeing. I don’t.”

“There are many who can’t flee. Even in my case, the Korean government hasn’t called me to come back quickly… and it’s also burdensome to leave the barrier without good reason…”

The sense of crisis regarding China’s civil war was already widespread. Zhou Lizhi, judging that this school could be attacked by Chinese troops at any time, seemed to be actively cooperating with the evacuation of foreign students under his command. It was a reasonable judgment considering that these students would more likely be a burden than allies in a combat situation.

“…I hope everyone stays safe.”

“I hope so too, but I can’t guarantee it.”

Silence fell for a moment. Shradha Bhatt nodded as if trying to wrap up the conversation, murmuring with her lips.

“Squad Leader. I wasn’t an honor student, but I don’t think I was a stupid student either.”

“I agree. But we never had proper quizzes or regular exams to figure out whether we were good students or not. The school just wasn’t running properly.”

Bhatt chuckled at my joke.

“So what I mean is… even if I don’t know exactly how this situation is unfolding… even if I don’t know exactly, I think I understand the most important thing. When I return home, I’m going to focus on completely arming India. I’ll create a modernized, powerful Indian army. An Indian army loyal to the self-governing cabinet, not to the Governor-General’s office or the British command.”

“With the financial power of the Bhatt Group, that’s possible. I’ve heard a lot about how you’re also focusing on producing your own tanks.”

“I think all the people we’ve met here will play important roles in the crisis that’s coming to the world.”

I agreed with Bhatt’s opinion. This year’s first-year foreign student cohort had an unusually high number of extraordinary people. Compared to other years’ Huangpu foreign students, there was an oddly high number of crazy women and capable monsters. Shradha Bhatt would have been an incredible figure in any other year, but being mixed among such unusual people, I seem to have only noticed her common-sense-like appearance.

“Squad Leader, I’d like to fight under the same flag as the people I’ve met here, if possible. I intend to achieve independence for my country by any means necessary, but if I could achieve it by striking Afghanistan rather than attacking the Governor-General’s office…”

“Such a solution could exist. Showing respect to a declining empire is one method. But what if the empire gives a disappointing answer this time too? Like during the Great War?”

“Then India would have to think of other ways to achieve independence. Shouldn’t Korea also seek independence now? There might be better options than simply changing your master to America.”

I burst out laughing.

“With all due respect, the Republic of Korea is already an independent country. We don’t have Chinese troops stationed in our country, nor Chinese governors or government advisors.”

“Despite that, you know what I’m talking about.”

“By that logic, most countries in the world are someone’s dependent states. In fact, there are at most four or five countries that lead the world order, and the rest can be considered their vassal states.”

“Don’t you wish for the country you were born in to be in a position to lead something?”

I shook my head at Bhatt’s words.

“First of all, I don’t think I could reach such a position… and I’m not a patriot, but you are. The glory of the nation… national glory isn’t such an important issue to me.”

“Is that so? But I find you look very lonely.”

“I am lonely. You already know that I have some… that kind of relationship with a woman here at the academy… and all that is just a manifestation of loneliness…”

Bhatt shrugged with an awkward face.

“That’s also one way to escape from loneliness, but somehow I thought someone like you would wander looking for a country to pledge loyalty to. That’s how I found my way to escape my loneliness. Well, fine. We all find different methods. And we think differently too. I’ll be going now. Then, hopefully we’ll meet again someday if the opportunity arises.”

Bhatt turned away from me and began walking toward the school’s main gate, making splashing sounds. A moment later, my roommate approached from behind and spoke to me.

“They’re starting to leave, huh.”

“It’s worrying. Burma is quite far from Guangdong. The martial law troops will be watching closely. They’ll try to catch and torture anyone associated with Zhou Lizhi.”

“With the amount of electronic components China imports from the Bhatt Group, would they dare touch the Bhatt Group’s daughter? Plus, she’s going with an American. Unless the Chinese military has gone mad, they won’t touch them. Unlike me, who was directly involved in the incident.”

That is indeed the decisive reason why Briar Churchill, unlike Bhatt, cannot escape this city by train journey… but even so, that expression “unless the Chinese military has gone mad” was truly subtle.

Can we be certain that China hasn’t gone mad?

“Still, it seems you don’t dislike Shradha Bhatt that much after all, Bri.”

“I never particularly liked patriots.”

“Few in the world are as patriotic as the person who just left.”

“Well, she didn’t seem to be longing for the glorious days of the Mughal Empire.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The reason I dislike patriots is that more than half of them are fools who only obsess over past glory. Mozart, Beethoven, that’s fine, and studying is good, but copying sheet music directly is plagiarism. However, in patriotism, that doesn’t seem to be recognized as plagiarism. That’s why I don’t like it.”

“So you don’t have much ill feeling about British colonies escaping.”

“The construction of a new nation.”

Churchill shook her head and shrugged.

“One should have that much of a dream. That’s what makes them worth bullying a bit. I don’t even want to exchange words with those who want to revive the old empire. My artistic soul vomits in disgust, you know?”

Then I think I understand why Briar Churchill so blatantly avoids soldiers from her allied country. I had already suspected as much.

I returned to the dormitory hoping that both Curoo and Bhatt would safely escape to Burma. However, the news that came the next day was not so hopeful.

The train overturned on its way to Yunnan Province. From the circumstances, it seems that in Guangzhou, they had prepared a special unscheduled train for Bhatt out of consideration for her status, allowing her to go to Yunnan. The problem was that all of China was in a state of extreme tension.

The Yunnan provincial leadership had not been properly notified of the train schedule change from Guangzhou, and they received a false report that an approaching unscheduled train was a terrorist train carrying bombs.

The Chinese military attacked the train. Bhatt apparently survived without major injuries thanks to her instantaneous transformation of her body into metal.

However, Julia Curoo, the shapeshifter, was reportedly too slow to respond and failed to transform into an object that could protect her body.

The famous American celebrity, Curoo, eventually met a tragic death inside the train due to the Chinese military’s mistaken bombing.