The withdrawal of the expeditionary fleet from the Bortele System meant that Saint Commander Casella Ingvar was free to travel to the New Constantinople System. She and her mech had already boarded a fast courier vessel that would deliver them to Diandi Base as fast as possible. Many people had great expectations for Casella Ingvar and her soon-to-be-upgraded ace mech. Ves tried his best to juggle his attention between the Minerva Mark II Project and the Final Glory Project. The latter was still important, but Ves did not want to neglect the former. The availability of the SF-02 massively sped up progress in every design project, but it also forced Ves to work more intensively than usual. He had to develop inventive solutions to different problems at a faster pace. In the past, a lot of calculation and simulation work took days to complete, so Ves could use that time on other activities. That was not as easy to do as before. Unless Ves ordered his smart AIs to perform a really big job, he usually obtained the data he needed within minutes or hours. This forced him to expend a lot more brainpower than before. While his productivity had increased, his mental fatigue also built up a lot faster. Fortunately, all of the work would pay off in the end. Ves and Gloriana both felt gratified at all of the progress they made. "How is your screening of the applicants going?" "I am already interviewing the potential new recruits in person." Gloriana replied. "Many of them are old students of yours. Their attainments in living mech design are not deep, but they hold genuine passion in the field. They have the potential to become the Alexa Streon or Maikel Larkinson so long as you provide them with private tutoring." Ves looked interested. "I don’t have a lot of free time, but I guess I can guide their studies every once in a while. They should be able to learn a lot more from my documentation. I can also tell Alexa to pass on her knowledge to the new recruits, as they only require the basics." "The only downside is that most of the new recruits are still Novices or Apprentices that are still years away from becoming Journeymen. Whether they will be able to break through when they are 30 is still in doubt." "I don’t mind if the new recruits take their time." Ves responded in a calm voice. "Even if they are still stuck as Apprentices, I can still delegate a lot of simpler work assignments to them. They can also provide me with new perspectives on living mech design. Trust me, they can definitely help me a lot." His wife did not question his assertion and simply nodded in acceptance. She switched topics. "Casella Ingvar and her Minerva will be arriving early. This is good as we can collect more data and finetune the design according to her actual parameters. We can also apply minor changes to the design of the Mark II before we finalize the project. Make sure you do your best. This is by far our most important ace mech to date. The Saint Commander is a role model to the Larkinsons and a wonderful force multiplier." "You don’t need to tell me that, honey. I understand her strategic importance more than you. Don’t worry about the Minerva Mark II. The design is already in a very good state so far. The assistance provided by the smart AIs has only made our work better." His wife was worrying too much. She was juggling a lot of responsibilities as well and accrued a considerable amount of stress. Ves tried to reassure her as best as possible, but he didn’t think he made much of a difference. They soon discussed another matter. "I have received a notification that Venerable Rosa Orfan is making a good recovery." Gloriana mentioned. "The doctors permit her to receive guests. I think you should pay her a visit. I would do this myself, but the Riot Mark III Project is predominantly your work, so you should have this honor." Find exclusive stories on freewebnovel The mention of Rosa’s recovery mildly took Ves by surprise. He had overlooked her presence in these past few weeks. "I will take care of it. She must be feeling really depressed about her defeat and near-death experience. She could use a bit of encouragement, and what better to delight a mech pilot than talk about her next mech?" "Are you still insisting on using up our limited reserves of armor-grade superdimensional matter on the Riot Mark III?" Gloriana questioned. Ves let out a tired breath. "We already had this debate. Superdimensional matter should always prioritize melee mechs first. Of the projects that are in the pipeline, the Riot Mark III Project is the first that qualifies. Even if Venerable Orfan is just an expert pilot for now, I believe that her latest defeat has only strengthened her determination to grow stronger." "I hope you are right, Ves, but… what if you are wrong?" He shrugged. "Then I have made the wrong bet. Simple as that." His wife became speechless. Ves smiled and patted her shoulder. "I will go visit Venerable Orfan right away." He did just that. Ever since Rosa Orfan received heavy injuries, she received emergency treatment from the Red Association before being transferred to Diandi Base to recover in a more comfortable location. When Ves entered the Orfan’s room, he could see that the expert pilot was engrossed in the footage of the Fist of Defiance’s latest smackdown. "Good afternoon." "Hey." Ves moved closer and sat on the chair that was conveniently placed next to the expert pilot’s bed. Her injuries had been rather serious at first, but excellent treatments caused her to look almost completely okay. Her mood was relatively subdued, however. "How are you doing?" "...Fine, I guess." The high-tier expert pilot said. "I was close. I almost had it. I ultimately fell short. Jannzi ultimately had to bail me out, and almost got killed in the process. I feel like such a failure." "Good." "You think that is good?" "Failure is a fact of life." Ves said. "Everyone stumbles at times. What matters is that you survived and have an opportunity to do better next time. Besides, I don’t think that your failure is your fault. Your Riot simply couldn’t keep up that well. He is long overdue an upgrade. It is a failure on our part for not being able to update your battle partner in time." Venerable Orfan frowned. "You don’t have to shift responsibility away from me. I am an adult. I can handle it. I don’t blame you for taking so long to upgrade my expert mech. I grew too quickly. We all did. I did not fight as cautiously as I should. I was so eager to break through that I took unnecessary risks." "Do you feel that you deserved to die back then?" Ves quietly asked. "..." He snorted. "Well, it hasn’t happened, so there is no use thinking about it. Instead of looking backwards, let’s look forward. According to the latest reports, you will recover sooner than we will be able to fix up your Riot. It will still take several months for us to complete the Riot Mark III Project. You will love what we have in store." Ves began to give her an updated preview of what he intended to make for her. Venerable Orfan was already familiar with many details, but the decision to make use of armor-grade superdimensional matter completely took her by surprise! "Why do you look so surprised?" "I don’t… I don’t deserve this gift." Venerable Orfan said in a depressed tone. "I… am not only a failure, but still an expert pilot. Why don’t you upgrade the Dark Zephyr, the First Sword or the Lionheart instead? Tusa and Ark can make much better use of it than I. You don’t have to bet that they will break through in the near future because they are already ace pilots." Ves shook his head in rejection. "Their situations are not so urgent. The Dark Zephyr Mark III primarily relies on evasion, and the situation is not that different with the First Sword. The Lionheart is due for an upgrade a year later or so. I chose to apply superdimensional matter to your machine first because it is the best recipient for it. There are very few mechs that I trust to fight against enemy phase lords head-on. Your Riot is made for these kinds of battles, and your last performance has shown that you possess the grit, courage and will to persevere in the face of great danger and difficulties. Aside from the Bastion, your expert mech relies the most on armor to gain an advantage in combat." Venerable Rosa Orfan looked flattered. She could feel the sincerity of his words and understood that he genuinely thought that superdimensional matter was a good fit for her and her expert mech. "Is this… is this really the same stuff that is installed on the Invictus?" "Not exactly." Ves carefully answered. "The key ingredients are the same, but I am sure that the mechers have developed an alloy that enhances the original superdimensional matter. Even so, you are largely correct. Just make sure you don’t allow your Riot Mark III to get bitten by a phase whale. The reason why the Invictus was able to withstand blows of this magnitude has a lot to do with the God Kingdom of the Fist of Defiance. You won’t be able to increase the performance of superdimensional armor plating nearly as much as an expert pilot or ace pilot." "It is more than enough." Venerable Orfan said as a fire began to light in her eyes. She became more and more stoked about what she could pilot once the Design Department completed the Riot Mark III Project. "I feel more and more in debt to you and the clan. You already reserved a tier 3 Destroyer spear for me, and now you are willing to use up high-grade superdimensional matter for my mech in advance. I would feel incredibly guilty if I still fail to break through." It sounded a bit unreasonable for Ves to bestow so many benefits to an expert pilot that did not merit this treatment. Did he have ulterior motives, or was he crazy? "Work hard and stay loyal. That is all I ask of you." Ves tried to reassure her. "My motivation for making the Riot Mark III so good is because I love this mech. I love the concept that I have devised and I truly think it has great potential. While I can say the same for the Amaranto Mark III and the First Sword Mark III, every high-ranking mech has its own charm. Your Riot Mark III happens to be a rare offensive mech that has the potential to clash directly against enemy phase lords. We need this capacity the most, hence why I am willing to invest so much in your machine." Venerable Orfan looked touched. She truly felt flattered in all of the trust he put in a supposed loser like herself. Her motivation only burned hotter as a consequence. "I… will definitely live up to your expectations!" Venerable Orfan vowed. "I have made a decision. I want you to turn the Riot Mark III into a Carmine mech." That took Ves by surprise. "Are you sure? You should understand the consequences quite well. It is possible for me to convert the Riot Mark III into a Carmine mech, but once I do so, you are bound to this singular machine for the rest of your life." "The Riot saved me." She said. "I put my trust in him despite how outdated he has become, and he almost died because he stood by me. During that moment of life and death… I understood the importance of standing with your partners. I finally understand where Jannzi is coming from. Just like her, I don’t want to pilot any other mech anymore. I want to form a deeper connection with the Riot because I don’t think I will ever feel as strong and in tune with any other machine." "Very well. If you are sure about it, then I will work to fulfill your request. You still have a month of time to reconsider your choice. If you still haven’t reversed this decision, then our Design Department will endeavor to design the Riot Mark III as a Carmine mech."