The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3351

Chapter 3351: Symbol of Authority

Symbol of Authority

What was a crown?

In ancient times, it was a fancy way of denoting authority. Anyone who wore an elaborate metal band on the head would instantly be recognized as the one in charge.

Over the ages, the tradition of rulers wearing crowns became so strong that their association with power, authority and rights had become ingrained in the human consciousness!

Crown = ruler.

Though monarchies suffered a decline as people no longer took the divine right of kings seriously, they underwent a revival after humanity spread across the stars.

Many wealthy groups and individuals that invested so much into setting up colonies in distant planets wanted to enshrine their right to rule in a way that was compatible with inheritance.

Putting a crown on one's head and calling yourself a king or emperor usually did the job. These terms and the associations behind them were classic templates that humanity was already accustomed to. It was enough to revive them and modernize them so that they worked well in a time where kingdoms and empires stretched across many star systems.

Rion Aaden did not spend all of that time explaining his background, motivations and ambitions for nothing. He provided crucial context to Ves on why the dwarven leader needed a crown and what it was supposed to accomplish.

Just like all of those other rulers in the past, the Iron Emperor wanted to make use of its power and associations to assume leadership over the entire dwarven population!

"In normal circumstances, this is an absolutely silly idea that would never work in a million years."

A crown might look impressive and make anyone wearing it look a lot more dignified, but so what? If anyone could become a boss by donning a crown, Ves would have long made one for himself and put it on his head!

There was more to leadership than symbolism. Laws, rules, agreements, compacts, approval, wealth and other factors were much greater variables that decided who called the shots.

There were way too many examples in human history where the person who actually wore the crown actually held precious little authority!

Instead, it was the people behind the throne or the supposed 'vassals' who actually called the shots.

Ves recalled that the Vesia Kingdom closely matched this pattern. Every Vesian respected the powerful ducal houses first and only paid attention to the royal house afterwards. To the commoners, the king was almost an invisible entity!

Therefore, a crown could never make other people respect its wearer if they had no reason to do so. Crowns worked best if the rulers who wore them already gained the submission of the people through other reasons.

The problem that Rion handed to Ves was that the title and position of Iron Emperor only held sway in the Vulcan Empire.

In the greater galaxy, any dwarf who ran around while claiming to be the emperor of all dwarves would be laughed at before being driven away like an unwanted beggar!

This was because Rion Aaden's foundation among the dwarven galactic community was too inadequate.

Sure, Rion might have gained a bit of respect by becoming the head of a powerful dwarven state, but that would soon be a thing of the past as the Vulcan Empire kept losing territory to the humans every day.

The fall of the empire and his complete lack of hands-on leadership during this time would definitely turn into a stain on his record. Since the Iron Emperor already had a history of abandoning his subjects, who would be crazy enough to fall under his banner?

Since Rion could not rely on logic, facts or incentives to command the respect of the dwarves, he wanted to resort to a time-tested solution that was capable of indoctrinating any person into giving their loyalty to others!

"The crown that I need to make isn't just about creating a symbol of temporal power." Ves murmured. "It must also contain a religious element that suggests that Vulcan has given his divine decree that its wearer is the anointed leader of the dwarves."

Both of these tasks were easy enough to accomplish to Ves. As a mech designer, his technical proficiency was high. Even though he had never made an actual crown in his life, he could quickly get up to speed by performing a bit of research.

As for the religious element, Vulcan was his direct incarnation. Together with his increasingly more expansive spiritual engineering capabilities, he could finetune, specify and empower the glow of the dwarven crown in many different ways!

If his job was to make a crown that satisfied both these requirements, then Ves didn't need to make use of first-class materials and a first-class workshop. He could just whip something up in a couple of hours in his personal workshop aboard the Spirit of Bentheim?

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple."

Ves leaned his smooth-shaven chin against his palm as he reread the document that listed all of Rion's demands.

The dwarf was not that picky when it came to the style, appearance and exact functionality of the crown. The sovereign trusted Ves to design a crown that was fit for the purpose.

Though the document actually listed a lot of restrictions, most of them were merely there to make sure that Ves did not design anything too crazy or radical. Rion preferred to obtain a more classical-looking crown that did not defy too many conventions.

After all, a crown was not a fashion statement.

"Well, I didn't plan to design anything too unconventional anyway. I can work with a classical style." Ves muttered.

What Rion actually paid attention to was whether the crown was 'good' enough to do its job. The quality of its craftsmanship was the strictest requirement of this job. If Ves wasn't able to turn this crown into a masterwork, then he could say goodbye to everything!

For one, the crown had to be exclusive to Rion Aaden. It would only show its approval and its strongest impression when it was worn by its designated wearer. Anyone else who attempted to wear this crown must receive its rejection! _{ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com}

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