The Mech Touch

When Ves finally completed his crown design, he had to present it to his client before he could proceed with fabricating it. After all, it would be too late for him to cry if Rion didn't like the end product!

"Oi! Rion!" He called to the armored dwarf looking down from above. "I finished my design for your crown! Come take a look. If there are any elements that you don't like, tell me and I'll try and fix it. That said, this is the best crown that I have envisioned for a dwarven sovereign such as yourself. Any suggestions you make will likely dilute its concept."

Someone as knowledgeable as Rion was likely aware of this dynamic, but it didn't hurt to remind him of how troublesome it was to implement significant changes to an existing design.

Rion went through a lot of trouble to commission a crown from 'Vulcan' instead of anyone else. It did not make sense to second-guess or challenge the judgement of the contractor.

Of course, a lot of people forgot about this point and demanded changes anyway.

If their requests were something as simple as changing a color or making minor cosmetic alterations, then creators such as Ves were more than happy to accommodate their client's wishes.

If the proposed changes negated hours of work put into designing important elements, then a contractor would definitely get pissed!

Right now, Ves hoped that the Iron Emperor wasn't too picky. A lot of time had already passed and the deadline was only 6 hours away.

When Rion descended from the catwalk and approached the workshop terminal, he quietly studied the projection design from every angle.

"I AM IMPRESSED WITH YOUR DESIGN RESULTS. NO OTHER DESIGN IS ABLE TO STIR MY EMOTIONS AS YOUR WORK."

Even though the imperial crown only existed in a virtual form at the moment, Ves had invested so much of himself into it that it had already come to life in a way.

It was no surprise that Rion would feel attracted to the crown. Ves had specifically designed it to complement the Iron Emperor in many different ways!

All of those years of working alongside Gloriana allowed him to pick up many different lessons on how to tailor a product to a specific individual.

Although Ves still wasn't as good as Gloriana when it came to customizing his work, he still possessed a substantial skill in this aspect compared to many other mech designers.

The dwarven leader began to frown as he beheld the bulk of his upcoming possession.

"YOUR PROPOSED DESIGN IS LARGER AND HEAVIER THAN I PREFER. THE CROWN MUST BE LARGE ENOUGH TO BE RECOGNIZABLE, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT SHOULD LOOK OVERPOWERING WHEN I PLACE IT ON MY HEAD."

Ves anticipated this complaint. He had already thought of a suitable response.

"Don't tell me that your big head is too fragile to bear this crown. You're a dwarf. Your head is harder than that of other people. If you think your skull is too fragile, then just reinforce it with a metal sheath or something."

"YOU ARE DOING A POOR JOB IF THE ONLY WAY TO WEAR THIS CROWN IS TO AUGMENT MYSELF TO ENDURE ITS WEIGHT."

"On the contrary. I think I've done a great job!" Ves grinned. "My crown is meant to convey a lot of presence. It's not enough to rely on glows. It needs to possess a substantial amount of physical mass in order to turn it into a dwarven head ornament. Besides, the right to rule is meant to be a burden. You need to feel its weight on your head. You don't choose to wear the crown. The crown chooses you to be its bearer."

The strange words that Ves had issued caused Rion to sense a deeper message.

"TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS CROWN."

"To me, the crown is more than a heavy piece of metal. It is a symbol of authority. In order to make it as unquestionable as possible, I have made it inseparable from Vulcan. The crown possesses a lot of unique abilities but only those who hold the divine right of kings are able to channel its power."

Silence stretched as Rion weighed the implications of this explanation. He was attracted by the prospect of gaining new abilities. The Banner of Vulcan that had become his personal partner already bestowed him with useful capabilities that had served him well as a ruler.

Yet he did not let his dėsɨrės blind him to the potential risks and downsides of the crown.

"YOU HAVE TIED THE CROWN TO YOURSELF."

Ves smiled. He did not deny it. "Isn't that what you asked for? You wanted to borrow Vulcan's authority in order to gain legitimacy in front of dwarvenkind. This is exactly what the crown can do. It solves multiple problems. Not only will you be able to prove Vulcan's existence, you'll also be able to show that you hold the divine right of kings. Vulcan will directly validate your claim that you deserve to become the emperor of all dwarves."

Rion was clever enough to detect the loopholes in that arrangement. He could only pull off his masterplan if he retained Vulcan's approval.

There was no way that Ves remained uninvolved in all of this. If the mech designer wanted to spoil the emperor's plan, then he could easily change Vulcan's approval!

Although Ves preferably wanted to keep Rion in the dark about this possibility, it was too difficult to hide it. If the Iron Emperor hadn't sniffed it out, then Saint Mayorka would probably be able to discern the hidden intention behind this implementation.

What Ves needed to do was to provide a guarantee that Vulcan would not easily retract his approval.

"YOU NEED TO ALTER THIS RELATION." The Iron Emperor turned stony as he exuded a faint threat towards Ves.

It was too bad that Ves was confident in his own approach. He had gradually understood that Rion depended far too much on him to pull off his great plan. Without a suitable crown, there was no way he could gain the unflinching support of all of those powerful and stuck-up first-class dwarves!

"Relax, emperor. I have no reason to see you fail. Vulcan loves his subjects and always welcomes more worshippers. As far as I'm concerned, your gains will become his gains as well. With the Vulcan Empire about to fall, there is an urgent need to spread the Vulcan Faith to other groups of dwarves. The crown can facilitate this process in the most effective way. As long as you channel its complete might while you make your case, I can guarantee you that all of those wealthy and powerful dwarves will back your ambitious plan."

The crown spoke to dwarves. That was undeniable. Even Rion could feel it when he looked at the design. Its large and blocky design along with its intimate connection to Vulcan caused it to attract the attention of dwarves in a more forceful and imperious way than the Banner of Vulcan.

The banner was a tool meant to inspire dwarves to fight against their adversaries. However, its shortcoming was that it did not convey enough authority.

If Rion was able to prove his right to rule with the help of the Banner of Vulcan, he wouldn't have waited so long to commission a crown!

Now that his goal was within reach, it was unlikely that he would want to spoil Ves' work despite the mismatch in expectations.

Just like how Rion had put Ves into a trap, Ves had also managed to get back at his client.

Time passed by as the Iron Emperor quietly considered the proposed design. Ves was sure that he was soundlessly communicating with Saint Mayorka, because her domain field briefly swept across the workshop.

Ves had already expected this to happen. There was no way Rion wouldn't want his pet ace pilot to search for potential danger.

Fortunately, Ves already possessed a good understanding of what high-ranking mech pilots were capable of. Even if the exact capabilities of ace pilots still eluded him, he could still make a lot of educated guesses by extrapolating the capabilities of expert pilots.

He knew that if he wanted to convince his client to accept this design, Ves had to be absolutely sincere about helping Rion achieve his goal!

The fact that this happened to make Rion dependent on Ves' cooperation was a happy bonus. With this dynamic in mind, the chances that the dwarves would break their word and kill the Larkinsons was practically nil!

"YOU ARE PLAYING A DANGEROUS GAME HERE, VULCAN."

"Becoming an emperor is not enough to command the allegiance of your kind." Ves boldly stated. "Only by obtaining the backing of a god will you be able to stand out from the wannabes and pretenders. I bet you're not the first courageous dwarf who thought about separating dwarvenkind from humankind. What makes you different is that your divine right of kings is authentic. All of those dwarves you're hoping to persuade had never encountered anything like it. They are bound to place their hopes on you if you manage to make good use of the crown."

In the end, the allure of obtaining a crown that would have the strongest possible effect on the dwarves won out. Rion could not afford to spoil this arrangement just because he was held back by his concerns.

"I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO MAKE THIS CROWN." Rion eventually decided. "HOWEVER, I SHALL BE THE ONE WHO WILL JUDGE WHETHER THE CROWN FITS MY PURPOSE. NO MATTER WHAT YOU CLAIM OR BOAST ABOUT YOUR WORK, I REFUSE TO WEAR A CROWN THAT IS INLAID WITH THORNS."

"You don't need to worry about that. The thorns on this crown only face outward." Ves chuckled. "The whole theme of this crown revolves around the right to rule. It is literally made for someone like you, so there is no reason for you to fear my work. The same cannot be said for other people. Some of the abilities of the crown allow you to discern the loyalty of nearby dwarves and protect you against those who wish you ill. It is a powerful tool that is explicitly designed for you to lead and manage a group of dwarves."

"I AM AN EMPEROR. I DO NOT REQUIRE THESE FUNCTIONS." Rion frowned. "MAKING USE OF THESE ABILITIES WILL MAKE ME DEPENDENT ON THEM. I DO NOT APPROVE OF SUCH A DEVELOPMENT."

Ves shrugged. "How you use your crown is your business. I'm simply presenting the whole package. It is up to you whether you want to use or neglect its capabilities. I think someone as disciplined as you should have no problem reining in your temptation. Perhaps some of the tricks I've mentioned will come in real handy when you are having difficulties with persuading a particularly stubborn group of dwarves. Your people can be quite intractable sometimes."

"THAT IS TRUE."

In the end, Rion did not put up any further objections. A part of him was deeply attracted to all of the powers that Ves had described. Even if he had to depend on Vulcan to activate most of them, leveraging the crown still allowed him to employ solutions that he previously couldn't make use of! If he wanted to found a dwarven empire within half a century, then he needed to move quickly and avoid alarming the Big Two.

"I TRUST IN YOUR PROFESSIONALISM." Rion looked directly at Ves. "AS LONG AS YOU TURN IT INTO A MASTERWORK, I WILL WRITE OFF ALL OF MY DEBTS AND GRIEVANCES TO YOU. THAT IS WHAT I HAVE PROMISED."

"Sounds great." Ves replied. "If you don't mind, could you give me some of those juicy first-class materials if I succeed? I'll work extra hard if there is a bonus on the line."

"GET TO WORK, VULCAN!"