The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3596

Chapter 3596 Yarman Republic

In the Age of Mechs, the only craftsmen that enjoyed respect were mech designers.

Every mech pilot owed more than they could ever imagine to all of the people who devoted their entire lives to push mechs to greater heights. Mechs could never have become so powerful so quickly if people like Ves or Gloriana did not put a massive amount of effort into their own innovations.

Mech designers played such a pivotal role in enabling mech pilots that they enjoyed a lot of attention and admiration from the public. Other professions simply couldn't compare in terms of fame, prestige, desirability and importance!

Even so, that didn't mean that everyone was eager to become a mech designer. The demands were fairly high and there was a massive surplus of people wanting to become the next Star Designer that could shake the mech industry.

There were still plenty of individuals who went on to become doctors, spacers, chefs and so on. Their jobs might not be so special in this day and age but they all had their own pride and ambitions.

Cefigo Maran Barach was a man who held many dreams. From his youth, he listened to the stories and lessons of his many aunts and uncles as they practiced their craft. He became engrossed by the stories of the House of Barach when it was at its peak.

Over 200 years ago, the House of Barach used to be a lot larger and more prosperous than its current state. It ranked among the top of many other designer houses of the Yarman Republic, a first-rate state that was situated in the center of the Milky Way.

The Yarman Republic did not come close to matching the size and power of the Terran Confederation and the Rubarth Empire, but it was still a genuine first-rate state that stood above most other states in human space.

Yarman did not choose to compete against the Terrans and Rubarthans. The struggle would be pointless as the two superstates would never tolerate the rise of another equal rival.

Instead, Yarman shifted its societal and cultural emphasis on more peaceful pursuits. The Yarman Republic found success when it began to encourage excellence in art and craft.

The rise of designer houses that specifically sought to conquer the galactic market for high-end, high-margin luxury products cemented the state as one of the fashion powerhouses of human civilization!

The House of Barach was part of the first wave of designer houses that facilitated the Yarman Republic's rise as an economic and cultural bulwark.

Compared to the bolder and more extreme designer houses, the House of Barach's emphasis on timeless tradition and understated elegance caused its products to be a bit more boring than that of others.

Yet by not going along with the latest trends, the House of Barach's classic designs rarely went out of style. Its craftsmen all developed a solid core of products that were guaranteed to sell no matter how much the market changed.

That didn't mean they never sought to create anything new. No designer house was able to exist forever if it coasted on its own success. The Barach artisans still valued the ability to experiment and innovate in order to come up with the next best selling designs that could prolong the enduring success of their house.

It was a pity that the good times didn't last. The House of Barach experimented so infrequently that its ability to design successful new products couldn't keep up with the competition.

Other, more daring designer houses took much more risks and employed more fashion forward designers. Plenty of designer houses collapsed because they released ruinous product lines, but the savviest and most competent among them rose to even further heights.

When the competitors of the House of Barach all reached a greater height, the Yarman Republic underwent an enormous change.

The bigger houses decided to consolidate the luxury goods sector. They no longer wanted the Yarman Republic's resources to be split between so many different fashion entities.

In order to facilitate the growth and expansion of Yarman brands throughout human space, the state needed to put its support behind a smaller number of its most successful designer houses!

Scale and brand awareness were key to competing against foreign designer companies!

This spelled the end of the House of Barach as a first-class commercial power. After a long and exhausting journey, its remnant had finally managed to enter the new frontier in order to start anew in a mostly virgin market.

Sadly, the Barach craftsmen lost too much in the process. Many techniques became lost when the older craftsmen lacked the means to pass them on to the next generation.

It was far too risky and expensive to maintain all of their first-class ships and equipment. Without a solid income source, all of this wealth only hastened the House of Barach's collapse!

In order to preserve their heritage, the Barachs had made the difficult decision to degenerate into second classers.

The Barachs of today always felt ashamed of this necessary transition. It was the ultimate mark of failure and one that had always weighed heavily on their minds.

The reason why the Barachs were forced into making this decision was because they failed to design products that sold well enough. While the flight from the Yarman Republic was to blame for much of it, there was no way to deny that the Barach craftsmen simply weren't competent enough to adapt and succeed while on the move.

When Cefigo Barach looked at the famed and infamous patriarch of the Larkinson Clan, he saw someone who would have been able to make the House of Barach great again.

The journeyman tailor barely knew anything about engineering, but he could see the art in the young leader's work. The man's many mechs were vibrant and brilliant. The machines all displayed a sense of barely-controlled chaos. Each of them was a little different from each other, showing that their designer wasn't afraid of variations.

What was more, the man's 'living mechs' were so different from normal mechs that there was no doubt that the Larkinson Patriarch was an innovator at heart!

"So, are you going to explain yourself anytime soon, or will you keep staring while getting lost in your own thoughts?" Ves impatiently asked.

"Ah, my apologies, sir. I couldn't help but notice and admire your work. Your cat looks exquisitely made. It moves so organically that it looks as if it is truly alive!"

"Meow!"

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