[401-600] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 446: Three Ladies

The welcoming party held a banquet for the visiting representatives. Though the Vesian Revolutionary Front ostensibly resisted against aristocracy and the excesses associated with them, they weren't strangers to the finer things in life.

The Flagrant Vandals pulled out a lot of stops to impress the newcomers. The dining hall was situated at the top decks that encompassed a massive transparent dome from above. Ves saw unknown stars and unknown ships orbiting around the Wolf Mother. He also spotted the red dwarf, but couldn't determine where they were in Vesian space.

"To my friend, let us toast!"

"Haha!" Mr. Meffeth blustered. "You always bring the finest wines from Rittersberg!"

For a mech regiment deep in debt, they sure held little back for this occasion. Ves recognized several exclusive dishes that must have cost a lot of credits to acquire. The cloud rice from Cloudy Curtain, the luminescent blue mushrooms from Bentheim, the finest red wines from Rittersberg and the aeliotonoc whale meat imported from Moira's Paradise served to everyone present could have afforded half an Inheritor mech.

The sheer amount of waste really boggled his mind. Though Ves lived a lot easier when he started earning loads of money, he didn't spend his money on frivolous and temporal luxuries such as good food and wine. He was way too busy to slow down and appreciate the finer things in life. Ves regularly ate simple meals reconstituted out of cheap nutrient packs.

"Alloc, who is this young gentleman over here?" The mature-looking woman asked as she daintily played with her salad.

"This is Ves Larkinson, an Apprentice who has just arrived at the Vandals a couple of months ago. He's very bright and has unique talents."

"Unique you say?" Florissa Minyn drawled out as she twirled a finger. Her eyes glazed over to Ves and he could feel the curiosity bursting out from them. "Are you talented in many areas?"

Ves awkwardly smiled. "Alloc is exaggerating. I've only entered the industry for a few years."

"Ves doesn't have much practical experience, but he's good with theory and he has a special touch for improving the piloting experience. His customers back home are rabid fans of his work!"

That caused the other two girls to glance over in his direction. A blonde who introduced herself a little earlier as Iris Jupiter asked another question.

"So you're an entrepreneur in the Bright Republic? How many mechs have you sold?"

"I don't keep track of the exact figure. If I include the sale of mechs from third-party manufacturers that have licensed my design, then it should be around three-thousand to five-thousand mechs I think."

If Ves only took the sales figures of the LMC into account, the number would look much less impressive.

All three women looked mildly impressed. The other girl, a raven-haired woman called Lucille Hornbach blinked at him as if he was an alien.

"That's impressive, Mr. Larkinson! You must have earned an enormous amount of bright credits! Why are you even here?"

Florissa quickly bumped Lucille with her elbow. "That's not very polite!"

"Sorry!"

"It's okay, Miss Hornbach. I have nothing to hide." Ves smiled at them, even though he just said a big fat lie. "My history is a little complicated. I'm apprenticed to Master Carmin Olson. Even though I've only received a few pointers from her so far, it inevitably casts some doubts on me. I don't blame the Mech Corps for pushing me away from the frontlines."

None of the Vesian mech designers cared about that. Their eyes practically sparkled as soon as he mentioned his Master.

"You're apprenticed to Master Olson?! The genius that rose up from the Vermeer Group?!"