The Mech Touch

　　"It's about time!"

　　"When's the wedding?"

　　"The wedding will take place in a couple of months!"

　　"Damn, I need to hurry up and propose to my own girl."

　　The happy news quickly spread throughout the Larkinson Clan. Two of the more prominent and powerful members of the Larkinson Clan were finally getting engaged!

　　Although many clansmen already expected them to tie the knot, many of them still reacted with pleasant surprise now that the two were finally hooking up in a more permanent fashion.

　　A lot of aunties began to gossip among themselves while plenty of men were somehow spurred into moving their engagement forward.

　　A romantic air had spread throughout the clan. Hundreds more couples soon began to plan their weddings as well! The fever that had descended upon the Larkinson Clan was so pervasive that even single men and women began to seek each other out. No one wanted to be left behind!

　　Although Ves was happy to see that his clansmen were becoming more serious about starting their own little families, he grew more and more suspicious when he noticed the extent the mania had spread. The pattern of behavior was too widespread for him to believe that Joshua and Ketis' engagement was responsible for everything.

　　He grabbed the Larkinson Mandate and shook the heavy tome for a moment.

　　"Goldie! Come out here!"

　　Nyaaaa?

　　A resplendent spiritual cat emerged from the book. The Golden Cat cutely floated in front of Ves while twitching her pointy ears.

　　"You did something to the Larkinson Network, am I right? There is no way that all of those clansmen just decided to go up to their crushes and push their relationships forward. It just doesn't happen on such a large scale. The only way this can happen across the entire clan is if there's something wrong with the network."

　　Goldie brazenly spun her body in a loop.

　　Nyaaa nyaaa nyaaaa.

　　"So you were responsible for what has happened! Do you have any idea what you've done?! You had a job but you clearly moved beyond that! Look, I don't mind the effect this time, but the fact that you decided to do this on your own is clearly a problem. I'm the one in charge of this clan, not you. Bring it up to me next time!"

　　Nyaaaaaaa.

　　The Golden Cat didn't seem to take Ves so seriously. The cat had developed a more independent personality as of late and didn't show any deference towards the clan patriarch!

　　"Get over here, you naughty kitty."

　　Ves grabbed hold of Goldie before she could spin around any further. Even though she squirmed and let out noises of complaint, he soon calmed her down by rubbing her head and back with his spiritually-augmented hand.

　　Nyaaa~ nyaaa~ nyaaaa~

　　"Don't think your cute act will absolve you from responsibility. I can forgive you this time because what's happening is great for everyone, but next time check up on someone before you implement another grand scheme. You have great power at your disposal, but it needs to be checked. No single person or entity can be right all the time. As long as more people are involved in the decision-making, the chance that our clan goes way off-track will be significantly lower."

　　There was a real danger of this happening if Goldie kept deciding on her own. Ves did not want to wake up one day only to find out that the entire clan had dumped all of its mechs in order to embrace pacifism!

　　Hearing Ves speak so seriously about this concern finally caused Goldie to take his request seriously.

　　Nyaaaaa.

　　"That's good to hear. This will be another little agreement between us, okay? Let me be clear that I'm fine with initiatives like these. Just tell me first if you have any ideas that can potentially help our clan. We shouldn't mess with people too much. A clan where everything must be controlled has no future at all. People need sufficient freedom in order to live."

　　Nyaa nyaaa.

　　Goldie showed enough comprehension that Ves felt that he had made his point. Goldie soon returned to the Larkinson Mandate in order to rest and accumulate her strength.

　　Though Goldie didn't seem much stronger this time, Ves had already noticed parts of her transforming and sublimating into a higher form of energy. The spiritual feedback provided by six expert pilots slowly helped her transition into a higher state of existence.

　　"It's going to be a slow process, though."

　　The spiritual bonds between the expert pilots and Goldie were rather weak, so not a lot of feedback actually flowed through them. Although the essence was a lot higher in quality, the bonds simply couldn't handle a lot of potent energy at once.

　　As a result, only a small percentage of Goldie's spiritual state had transformed so far. Though her growth allowed her to strengthen her own connections further, the process was still slow in the early stages.

　　Ves estimated it might take a decade or two for her to complete the transition. He had no idea what kind of state she was working towards, but it definitely had to be powerful if it relied on the spiritual feedback of expert pilots!

　　He looked down at the Larkinson Mandate. He touched its surface and felt the power flowing through its physical structure.

　　The book was one of the earliest artifacts he made. He explicitly created it with the intention of having it grow due to constantly hosting the Golden Cat.

　　The problem was that he didn't have a clear idea on how the book actually improved over time.

　　Did it grow bigger or tougher? Not really.

　　Could he use it as a spiritual weapon? Probably not.

　　Had its material composition transformed into a new and precious exotic material? Not a chance!

　　Although the Larkinson Mandate had been saturated with the spiritual energy of the Golden Cat, Ves did not spot any obvious benefits aside from a few spiritual quirks.

　　"Hmmm. Maybe it needs more time."

　　Once he completed his inspection, he gave the Larkinson Mandate back to Nitaa for safekeeping.

　　Interestingly enough, Nitaa's custom-built combat armor had also been affected by constant long-term exposure to Goldie's presence. The spot closest to where the artifact was usually mounted was significantly more spiritually-charged than usual.

　　"Interesting."

　　There was hardly any value to it, though. If Ves wanted to see any real gains from this effect, he would probably have to wait for decades if not centuries in order to observe a strong difference.

　　This was the disadvantage of relying on growth. Everything took so much time to come to fruition. The true potential of his inventions might not even see the light of day before he reached a level of strength where he could easily design and build something that was more powerful straight away!

　　Even so, Ves had no intentions of giving up on the potential of growth. The process of growth and evolution could produce miraculous effects in the right conditions. At the very least, a living mech that had grown alongside a mech pilot would fit the individual a lot better than something designed by a third party.

　　Ves only had to look at the Shield of Samar which had not only grown more powerful but developed an even deeper symbiotic relationship with Venerable Jannzi.

　　The two were practically inseparable at this point. Even if Jannzi stepped outside the cockpit, Ves noticed that the bond between them was still intact!

　　If there was any mech that would first be able to show him the full potential of growth, it was probably the Shield of Samar.

　　Though the Everchanger grew quickly due to Venerable Joshua's highly-synergistic presence, the expert space knight enjoyed too much of a head-start.

　　Not only that, but Venerable Jannzi was an exceptionally focused and driven demigod. That alone honed her expert mech into a more powerful and suitable battle partner.

　　"Perhaps I don't need to wait too long for the Shield of Samar to complete its evolution."

　　As Ves continued to think about his other growth products, an alert sounded in his office. He quickly straightened himself up and activated his comm.

　　"What is it, Benny?"

　　"Uhm, boss? There is a local here who is insistent on meeting you in person. He says he has important business matters to discuss."

　　"Oh? If that's the case, why didn't he go through regular channels and arrange a meeting?"

　　"The man claims he hasn't been able to get through our people."

　　Ves began to frown. "If our relations staff don't think it's worthwhile for this fellow to meet with me directly, then he's clearly not worth my time. Minister Shederin or one of his many people can handle the lower-level affairs. I don't want to be bothered by trivial issues."

　　"I think you should hear this man out, boss. He claims to have been affected by you in person."

　　"Huh?"

　　He quickly went over his activities in the last few days. He didn't interact with too many locals, but he did remember a certain incident…

　　"Mr. Cefigo Maran Barach is still insisting on meeting you despite not being able to represent the House of Barach as a whole." Gavin said in an exasperating tone. It must be tiring for him to deal with a persistent guest. "What do you wish to do? I can tell security to escort him out, but we should try to avoid unpleasantries lest we alienate the local business community. Many of the companies who have settled here are quite close to one another."

　　"I see. Well, there's nothing urgent in my schedule so I might as well hear him out. Bring him in, please."

　　Moments later, a curly-haired man that was only a bit older than Ves finally entered the office at the top floor of the hotel.

　　"Meow?"

　　Lucky casually glanced and sniffed at the visitor. The cat returned to his nap after he concluded that the new entrant posed no threat.

　　Once the office door closed, Cefigo nervously stepped forward.

　　Even though they both belonged to the same generation, their status was too far apart. Ves was the patriarch of a rising clan, while Cefigo was just a middle-level artisan in a small and traditional designer house.

　　Ves was a Journeyman Mech Designer who was capable of imbuing his work with real extraordinary properties while Cefigo was a journeyman tailor who mainly excelled at making great coats.

　　Not everyone who bore the title of journeyman was the same, and both of them knew it. This was why Cefigo unquestionably lowered his head.

　　"Mr. Barach." Ves sat down and gestured for the visitor to do likewise. "I didn't expect to see you again, though in hindsight maybe I should. I must confess that I acted frivolously back when I passed by the storefront of your house. As a mech designer, I appreciate good craftsmanship, and I could tell that you were truly engaged in your work. How did it go, by the way?"

　　"It… was one of the best works of my career!" Cefigo blurted out. He activated his comm to show Ves a projection of the storefront. "The master artisans of our house had to work extra hard to balance out my sculpture. They were quite impressed at the quality and creativity I displayed!"

　　The House of Barach's storefront looked a lot more magnificent than before. Part of it was because it was finally complete, yet what really stood out to Ves was the artistry of the stone blocks!

　　The storefront looked as if it had turned into a portal that lured customers into entering a divine realm where they could obtain the most exquisite treasures that could be found on Pellysa III.

　　Ves genuinely looked impressed. "Your house will surely be able to attract a lot of customers with a grand display. Congratulations, Mr. Cefigo."

　　The other man smiled but maintained a modest attitude. "I could have never accomplished this much without your intervention, sir. I would like to talk to you about that today."

　　This was going to be interesting.