The Mech Touch

The big day had arrived.

After a week of downtime, the four Journeymen had recharged themselves both mentally and physically.

During this time, the sword fanatic wing of the Larkinson Clan also completed their elaborate works.

As a result, it wasn't just the unnamed mech arena aboard the Vivacious Wal that had undergone a makeover.

The rest of Twilight City had also been transformed! An atmosphere of festival fever had descended on the ship city. Huge banners displaying long and impressive greatswords hung from the walls of every tall structure. Ornamental displays of greatswords were placed in every street.

What was even more interesting was that the Swordmaidens already turned some sections of the city into open-air museums. The exhibits were all related to the history and the most notable individuals of the mech legion.

Every visitor that entered the transformed city would be able to learn all about the Swordmaidens through stories told by these exhibits. From the founding of the original pirate outfit to the tragic battle on Aeon Corona VII, visiting clansmen could learn about almost every defining moment of the Swordmaidens.

When Ves stepped aboard the Vivacious Wal, he navigated towards Twilight City which was hosting a lot more Larkinsons today than normal. Many people in the way automatically moved sideways when they noticed the heavy forms of his honor guard opening up a path through the busier passageways.

In truth, he could have taken a more private route where the rank-and-file members of the clan weren't allowed to pass through, but he wanted to sample the overall sentiment among the visitors.

"They say the Swordmaidens are trying to ensure that our next expert mech will also become a masterwork."

"Do you think the Swordmaidens will get what they want?"

"I don't know, but I'm not complaining. It's been ages since I've been able to attend a special event!"

Ves got the sense that the ordinary Larkinsons all treated this event as a festive occasion. While they would definitely celebrate the arrival of another masterwork mech, they all knew how unlikely it was for the mech designers to succeed again.

"They're right to think so." He muttered as he continued forward while Lucky was floating at his side.

"Meow."

"Hey, don't count Ketis out yet. She's not an ordinary Journeyman after all. She's also a swordmaster. I don't know how that will affect her capabilities, but I have a feeling that this will definitely put a spin on the Decapitator Project."

Her contributions to the previous expert mech design projects did not stand out too much. While she was helpful in increasing the effectiveness of their melee combat capabilities, her extreme specialization limited her versatility.

By the same logic, once she began to work on a mech design that fully aligned with her design philosophy, she must be able to add something special to it or else it wouldn't have been worth it for her to close herself off from so many possibilities.

When Ves reached Twilight City, he briefly took in its thematic makeover. The amount of references to swords and the Swordmaidens were so abundant that hardly anyone was able to keep their minds on any other topic!

"Interesting."

Ves was quite impressed with what the Swordmaidens and Heavensworders had managed to accomplish with the extra time they received. They scaled up this event so that it centered around more than just trying to make the Decapitator Project as good as possible. It had also become a publicity stunt that aimed to increase mutual understanding between the Swordmaidens and the rest of the clan.

Just like the Penitent Sisters, many ordinary Larkinsons considered the all-female Swordmaidens to be weird. By attracting visitors to Twilight City and inducing them to familiarize themselves with the sword-oriented mech legion, the Swordmaidens were trying their best to address this issue.

"Maybe they'll be able to attract a batch of new recruits as well, though they don't really need it considering the support they already have."

A lot of former citizens of the Heavensword Association had made their way to Twilight City and more would surely come once they received their turn. Ves could easily distinguish them from other Larkinsons because of their unique warrior-like demeanors and the swords which they carried everywhere.

Ves briefly frowned at the sight. "Is that necessary?"

At the moment, no one in the clan cared about Larkinsons carrying their weapons as they went about their day. Many serving Larkinsons were technically soldiers and enjoyed the right to carry weapons, but what about everyone else? Ves sincerely hoped that nobody had the bright idea to hand over weapons to kids without supervision.

As someone who tended to end up in sticky situations in places where he thought he was safe, Ves personally didn't object to letting everyone else carry their own arms. Every Larkinson was able to trust each other on an instinctive level so the odds that anyone would go crazy and shoot into the crowd was minimal.

That said, the same argument could also be used as a reason to forbid Larkinsons from carrying their weapons. It made very little sense for them to arm themselves as if they expected enemies to invade their ships at any time.

"Even if this happens, the ship security services along with internal defenses such as ceiling turrets and gravitic cages should be more than enough to restrain any unwelcome visitors."

Then again, any system could fail. In the worst possible situations, individual Larkinsons had to rely on themselves to preserve their lives. Ves didn't want to take away their chances.

"Ah well. I'll just let the chief ministers deal with this issue."

After referencing his comm, he managed to make his way over to an alley where the Swordmaidens put up a special exhibit.

Ves could immediately tell what it was all about as a large bust of Mayra was projected over the entrance of the alleyway.

The exhibit didn't attract as much traffic as the other ones. Compared to more bombastic displays that centered around iconic warriors such as Commander Lydia and Venerable Dise, a single Journeyman Mech Designer that was never a part of the Larkinson Clan did not generate much interest.

In fact, the only clansmen who were in the alley were various low-ranking mech designers who looked up to Ketis or wanted to find their own way in their profession.

While Ves beheld the exhibit, his pet had something else in mind.

"Meow."

When Lucky spotted Ketis, he darted forward and fell into her embrace as if he was a spoiled baby.

"Oh hey, Lucky!" She grinned as she turned away from a gallery of snapshots. "You're here too now, huh? Have you been a good kitty lately?"

"Meow~"

As Ketis eagerly petted her battle partner who had fought by her side in the past, Ves slowly walked up and studied the gallery that she previously observed.

The gallery displayed various stills and short footage of Mayra back when she was with Lydia's Swordmaidens. Ketis must have downloaded this material from the old flagship of the Swordmaidens and stored it in her comm for sentimental reasons.

"I still miss her, you know." His former student said as she finally looked up from Lucky. "Don't get me wrong. I owe a lot to you and the Larkinson Clan and I'm grateful for all of the opportunities you've given me. It's just that I would never have made it this far if it wasn't for my first mentor and teacher. She started it all. She took a chance on me and patiently taught me despite my difficulties and my insistence on keeping up my swordsmanship. A stricter mentor would have forced me to pick one over the other."

Ves quietly wondered if he would have been one of them. He was a strong believer in specialization and he would probably react poorly if Maikel or Zanthar wanted to play soldier or something.

"Mayra is a great mech designer. I should have spent more time with her. She was taken away from us too soon."

"She's not dead." Ketis insisted as her eyes glinted and her force of will became sharper. "I feel it in my bones."

Ves delicately raised his palms. "Hey, calm down, Ketis. I don't want to pop your bubble, but are you sure about what you're saying? A lot of time has passed, and as far as I'm aware we never caught a whiff of her. She… she may have never left the surface of Aeon Corona VII."

"You're wrong, Ves! She's still alive! I believe she is still around somewhere!"

"Do you have any proof of that or are you just being desperate?"

Ketis frowned and continued to hug and pet Lucky as if he was her plushy. "I spent a lot of money to hire.. investigators who accessed a lot of databases and snooped around the Vesia Kingdom's Mech Legion. They haven't found any trace of Mayra, but they did gather enough proof to confirm that the Vesians often prefer to capture useful mech designers if the possibility arises. I think the Vesians still have Mayra holed up somewhere. Any Journeyman is valuable, particularly one who can design clandestine mechs without any connection to Vesian mech designers and Vesian design characteristics."

"Ketis.. while your theory sounds plausible, this is just a possibility. It might very well be the case that Venerable Foster and the Hostland Warriors just killed every single Vandal and Swordmaiden they came across once they won the big battle on the surface of Aeon Corona VII. I never heard anything about other survivors popping up. Sure, they might not be as significant as a Journeyman, but…"

The conditions on Aeon Corona VII were so awful that it was a luxury to be able to evacuate anyone from the surface. The abrupt awakening of Sigrund and the calamity that ensued from that point had led to the fall of a lot of people on both sides.

Ves thought it was probable that the Vesians might have captured Mayra alive. He also thought it was probable that his former enemies did not prioritize their captives when they sought to evacuate from the hellish planet.

Though he was unable to determine the truth, after so much time had passed without catching any trace of Mayra, Ves was inclined to assume the worst.

Ves approached the woman and patted her back. "You need to move on, Ketis. She wouldn't want you to mope and drag yourself down on her behalf. You're practically a daughter to her. Your happiness matters more to her than anything else. While you've certainly made her proud by attaining the same rank as her, this is not your limit. You can still reach greater heights, but not if you continue to weigh yourself down with misplaced guilt. She would become a lot more sad if you stall your own progress because you can't move on from this incident."

The air around Ketis roiled a bit as her emotions became affected by her inner turmoil.

"Meow!"

In fact, the air around her had grown so sharp that Lucky no longer felt comfortable to be around her. He phased out of her arms and flew behind Ves as if the Larkinson Patriarch was a protective barrier!

Swish swish swish!

The sheathed Bloodsinger flew by her side and hovered around like a worried bird. The greatsword's antics successfully interrupted whatever little phase that Ketis was going through.

"I'm sorry, Ves." Ketis apologized as she eventually managed to rein in her emotions.

"It's okay."

"It's just that I can't let go, Ves. Mayra is too important to me. Just as you said, she's the closest person to a mother to me. Maybe my mind agrees with you, but my heart insists that you are wrong. As long as that's the case, I will never lose hope. I will reunite with her one day."

"Uhm…"

She smirked. "I don't intend to turn around if that's what you're worried about. I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything if I go back at this stage. If there is one lesson I've learned from you, it's that power is everything. Right now, I'm far from powerful enough to make the Vesians and the Fridaymen listen to me. I just have to work hard in the next decades. As long as I gain enough strength, I can force whoever is holding Mayra to let her go free."

"What if that doesn't happen?"

A cruel grin appeared on her face. "Why did you think I left a PP behind? As long as the Vesians or anyone else isn't willing to comply with my demands, I will provide as many mechs to their enemies and make them regret their choices! If the Vesians can't produce Mayra one way or another, I will do everything in my power to crush their entire kingdom!"