The Mech Touch novel Chapter 726

Due to his lower-class upbringing along with the intense efforts of the Fourth Prince to keep him under his thumb, Venerable Xie never developed a strong sense of pride and self-worth.

By all accounts, the fact that he broke through to become an expert pilot was purely an unanticipated fluke. Though his elevation overjoyed the Fourth Prince, the fact that he possessed such a strong and reliable bodyguard must have alarmed his fellow claimants to the throne.

Venerable Xie’s advancements in the ranks of experts likely accelerated Prince Hixt-Klaaster’s downfall in the Royal House of Talk.

Ves only surmised this from the scraps of information the Venerable revealed about his old employer. Neither Ves nor Captain Orfan managed to pry open his mouth about the matters of the Royal House of Talk and the Palast Kingdom.

"I do miss them, though." He sighed as the three lounged in a corner of the mech workshop where the Parallax Star underwent its final adjustments. "Talk is a proud House and one that has established a firm but just rule over the Palast Kingdom. Our state is experiencing a golden age under the rule of this House!"

The two citizens of the Bright Republic rolled their eyes. They heard similar praises from Vesian citizens who didn’t know any better. Still, it wasn’t as if they could say anything to the contrary. They learned that criticizing the Fourth Prince, the Royal House of Talk and the Palast Kingdom was a sure way to trigger the expert pilot.

The Vandals had to remind themselves that Venerable Xie only grudgingly left the Fourth Prince’s service. If Prince Hixt-Klaaster hadn’t bargained away his loyal retainer, the Flagrant Swordmaidens would have never gone through the trouble of rescuing him and his remaining men.

While Captain Orfan did a decent job at making Xie feel at home among the Vandals, his remaining attachments still held him back from committing to his new home.

In a way, Ves felt sorry for the hapless expert pilot. The man never had the opportunity to develop a firm and independent personality. His unbreakable emotional dependence on the Fourth Prince became a huge hindrance to everyone.

Over time, the Vandals would probably encourage Xie to grow a spine. Right now, they still needed him to be as well-behaved and obedient as a puppy.

As the works on the Parallax Star started to wind down, the work on the Pale Dancer began to pick up. Since Ves placed most of his attention to supervising the conversion of the Parallax Star, he placed responsibility to ensure the Pale Dancer’s adjustments went correctly to Miss Lisbeth, though with a few caveats.

She would only get to perform her duties after she survived an intensive training session conducted by Ketis. The Swordmaiden mech designer love for personal training drove Lisbeth to her wit’s end. Her body almost broke down several times during the training sessions, causing Ves to chuckle.

Miss Lisbeth still managed to summon up a smile when she showed up at work in the late mornings. Wracked with muscle pains and fatigue, she listlessly performed her duties in a robotic fashion.

Her exhausted mind and body left her with very little energy to exercise her own initiative. She also made for a pathetic sight whenever she came into view of Venerable Xie. Though the expert pilot remained scrupulously respectable to everyone he met, he showed signs of discomfort whenever he came into the presence of someone with a sloppy and disheveled appearance. _{freёweɓnovel.com}

To be honest, Ves felt rather disappointed by this expert pilot they obtained at a bargain price.

"You get what you paid for." He sighed when he met with Ketis after a quiet dinner. "Don’t think that all expert pilots are like Venerable Xie. Most of them are aware of their rights and privileges, and don’t hesitate to take advantage of it. As far as I’m aware of, even the experts in my own extended family aren’t above taking liberties when it suits them. It helps that we maintain a fairly good reputation, though. It lets us get away with even more stuff than usual."

The two enjoyed some free time together in a quiet corner at the ship’s bar. He took a modest swig of the filmy brew the crew of the Gorgon’s Gaze liked to drink. While he didn’t claim to love the nasty aftertaste, he started to get used to it at least.

Ketis preferred to knock over the stronger stuff the resident brewmasters had cooked up in their darkest lairs. Her extensive genetic modifications had hardened her against all manner of poisons, so she needed to imbibe a lot more alcohol to get a buzz.

Ves suffered from the same problem as well actually, but he didn’t drink because he wanted to get smashed.

"What’s it like to grow up in a family with expert pilots in your line?" She asked. "You guys must be royalty, right?!"

"Not really. You have to understand that while the Bright Republic treats expert pilots well, they don’t get elevated into nobility like they do in the Vesia Kingdom. It’s part of our belief that every human is the same."

That sounded alien to a daughter of the frontier like Ketis. "I can’t imagine what that’s like. Also, how do you get so many expert pilots in your line? Many people who have kids are struggling to get them to inherited the right genetic aptitude for piloting mechs, but your guys are swimming in experts!"