The Mech Touch

ortle escaped from his threat.
”We have to survive the onslaught first. ”

After a bit more discussion, Ves was about to end the call.
The questions that he really wanted to ask had to wait until he could visit her in person.
Now that he conveyed his initial request and found out that Calabast didn ’t appear to be concerned, he could rest easy for the moment.

”Mr.
Larkinson, please wait a moment. ” She raised her elegant hand.
”Before you go, let me leave you with two warnings.
First, your recent rise to prominence has led to severe shifts within your Larkinson Family.
Don ’t underestimate the impact you have on your family ’s long-standing traditions.
Second, no matter what disaster might occur, don ’t act like a fool and get entangled in affairs that are greater than you.
Not every problem is your problem. ”

Was Calabast afraid that he would place his life in the line to defend the Bright Republic against the sandmen?

”I have a duty to assist my home state. ” He stated with some conviction.
”If the Bright Republic is in trouble, I won ’t stand by without doing my best. ”

Having worked so long on the Desolate Soldier, Ves constantly honed his mind with duty.
Some of it still lingered even when he wasn ’t actively working on his design!

”You ’re just a mech designer.
Isn ’t that your tagline? ” Calabast sighed at him.
”Your only purpose in life is to design mechs for other people to use.
Nowhere does it state that you have to place yourself in the line of fire and spit at your enemies. ”

He knew that, but he still felt restless at the thought of leaving his home state to its mercy.
The Larkinson blood within him compelled him to do more, but it was hard to imagine he could do anything against an inflexible foe like the sandmen!

The call ended soon after.
Ves mulled over Calabast ’s words for a bit but did not let it distract him from his current priorities.
Right now, readying the Desolate Soldier for release demanded his total attention.

As soon as he rejoined Gloriana back at the workshop compartment, she hugged him with much greater affection than usual.

”Hihihi! You ’re back! ” She cheered.

”Of course I ’m back.
There is always work to be done. ”

As Ves sat down at his seat behind a terminal, Gloriana shifted up to him and hugged him closer.

”Hey.
What ’s the matter? ”

”Nothing. ” She cutely shook her head.
”I just want to make sure you still like me, that ’s all. ”

”Of course I do! ”

She pressed her finger against his chest and started to draw circles on his dress shirt.
”Well, you just had a call with a woman you consider your partner. ”

”She ’s just a strategic partner to me. ” He reassured her.
He knew that Gloriana and Calabast held a private chat with each other one time, but he had no idea what kind of accord they reached.
”I doubt she ’s interested in me the way I do.
I ’m not her type. ”

”You never know.
While I ’m already aware of your brilliance, I ’m afraid that woman will change her mind once she realizes how exceptional you truly are.
I won ’t hold back if she thinks she can encroach upon my territory! ”

Oh, out of the three of them, Calabast probably knew him the best! In his eyes, Gloriana ’s fears were unfounded!

”Are you jealous? ” He asked with an amused smile.

Her palm slapped against his chest!

”Don ’t joke around, Ves! That woman is poisonous! You have no reason to cast your puppy eyes in her direction when I ’m around! I know it frustrates you that we can ’t express our intimacy to each other, but please be patient.
As long as we work hard enough, you ’ll definitely earn my mother ’s approval in time! ”

Though Ves found her apparent distress amusing, he didn ’t have the heart to keep her suffering.
He hugged her back and kissed her cheek.

”You misunderstand, Gloriana.
I only have eyes for you.
I ’m not the kind of scumbag who will cheat on you, and I have never considered that woman to be anything other than a strategic partner.
Instead of worrying your pretty little head over these nonexistent problems, why not get back to work? I still need to develop a variant and put the finishing touches on the Desolate Soldier design. ”

Upon his encouragement, they returned to work.
As soon as they started working on their project, all signs of disharmony disappeared.
Their shared occupation allowed them to share their feelings at a level that transcended ordinary conversations.

Ves already enjoyed designing mechs by himself, but sharing his passion with a loving woman was one of the greatest pleasures imaginable! He could hardly imagine going back to returning to his hermit ways and working on his designs all by his lonesome self!

Though his productivity declined a bit because he constantly had to work in tandem with Gloriana, the exchange of insights and the bouncing of ideas led to much more fruitful gains.

Not only were they able to achieve significantly better results, they also learned much more in the process!

All the while, Ves also became more and more familiar with her design philosophy, while Gloriana understood more of their principles.

Days went by as his subordinates back home tested the second prototype as fast as possible.
When Ketis transmitted the results to Ves, he discovered that the solutions suggested by Gloriana did not yield a lot of problems.

”That ’s pretty good! ”

The lack of any major issues meant that Ves possessed the confidence to make his third iteration of the Desolate Soldier design the final one.
He only took the time to address some of the minor problems that had emerged from the testing into the base version and his newly-developed variant.

Since Ves placed a lot of importance on the Ylvainans to propel his new products to success, he did not dare to neglect this side project! Both Ves and Gloriana meticulously began to apply their strengths to the localized variant.

”What will you call it, Ves? ”

”I call it the Holy Soldier.
Faith is just as important as duty to the Ylvainans.
My variant must channel both in order to rally the faithful! ”

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