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~~((The Totally-Not-Random May 1st Special -- page 3 of 18))~~
'What have you heard?' said Hanton.

"You wish to comment on rumors and speculation?" said the King.

'It may help me to contextualize my response.'

"Very well..." The King took a moment to think. "I have heard that you and Martinus butted heads rather strongly on the matter of militarization. And to be quite blunt with you, I have heard that you were quite the warmongerer, which was what ultimately made him decide to relieve you off your advisory role."

'Ah.'

Hector found that a little surprising. Thus far, Hanton Gaolanet hadn't struck him as the warring type at all. From their previous conversation, that seemed like the last thing that Hanton would want.

Unless he'd been lying, of course.

'The truth, then, may confuse you,' said Hanton. 'Militarization is not a simple process--or even easy to define, necessarily. There are many methods of waging war, and not all of them involve building tanks and munitions factories. On the whole, I was actually AGAINST militarization. Martinus was much more interested in pursuing it than I was.'

"Excuse me?" said the King. "Are you trying to claim that it was Martinus who was the warmongerer, not you?"

The Sparrow paused for a long sigh. 'Well... yes. While I would not say that I opposed every aspect of militarization, the basic sentiment is the same.'

The King's expression spoke of doubt, and he shook his head. "Pardon me, but that flies in the face of virtually everything that I have heard about both him and you."

'Oh? I am relieved to hear that, then. Because that, too, is as I intended it.'

The King was certainly no longer alone in his apparent confusion now. "What in the world do you mean by that?"

'After Martinus fired me, I... took fairly dramatic action. It would have been a problem if the rest of the world perceived the King of Atreya as an aggressor.'