As the eldest son of a ducal house, Edren possessed resources sufficient to create the most optimal conditions for himself, without regard for cost.
The most common strategy was to attract cutting-edge technology from the magic city and academy—those specially customized or deeply modified unique machines—by offering free maintenance in return, allowing the First Hangar to study and learn from them.
This was his exclusive advantage, a luxury that Elena and the others could not hope to replicate.
“I-I…”
“Waaaaah…”
Faced with such blatant “financial power,” Elena felt completely powerless. A surge of frustration blocked her chest, nearly bringing her to tears.
Seeing that Ye Xu seemed tempted.
In her desperation, she suddenly grabbed Ye Xu’s arm, pressing it tightly against her chest, almost burying his arm in her ample softness, and said in a somewhat spoiled, willful tone:
“No-no way! Anyway, junior brother, you’re not allowed to go to their side!”
Seeing Elena resort to such an unladylike “desperate move” that disregarded noble decorum, Edren’s eyes nearly split from rage.
“Hey! Elena, have you no shame?!”
He immediately stepped forward, trying to “rescue” Ye Xu, but Elena stuck out her tongue at him while turning constantly with Ye Xu in her arms, always keeping herself between the two.
Watching the chaotic scene before him, Ye Xu only felt a headache coming on.
This Magitech Knight was completely unexpected.
He had no idea beforehand that the Simar couple would prepare such a “grand gift.” If he had known, even if they insisted on giving it, he would have asked for a more low-key older model. That way, it absolutely would not have drawn so much attention now.
“Junior brother~ Promise your senior sister, okay~”
“Senior sister will give you a twenty-percent discount…”
“No! Thirty percent!”
“In the future, I’ll personally handle all maintenance for your machine!”
“Please~ Pretty please~”
While the First Hangar’s financial resources were indeed enviable, this beautiful acting hangar chief of the Third Hangar possessed her own unique advantages in this domain filled with steel and sweat.
Even though his experience far surpassed that of his peers, facing such a direct “offensive,” Ye Xu found it somewhat difficult to withstand.
Fine…
“Alright.”
He sighed helplessly, took out the contract, quickly checked the options for “berth rental” and “premium package,” and signed his name and student number.
—Even though he was pragmatic in daily life, since the other party had set aside her pride and pleaded to this extent, it would be unkind to refuse again.
After all, the higher the noble birth, the more importance was placed on face.
One could tell just by looking at Elena’s current attempt to appear composed while her ears were flushed red.
A quirky and clever noble girl like her surely had no shortage of suitors in the academy.
Rejecting Edren was perfectly reasonable, for the temptation was indeed overwhelming. For a normal youth of this age, falling for it would not be shameful.
But rejecting Elena would inevitably invite gossip and easily bring trouble.
Of course, he, Ye Xu, was absolutely not the type to waver over such “seduction.”
Not to mention that in his days as the rebel army’s leader, countless people had thrown themselves at him.
Even in these past two years as the Emperor’s Daughter, gazing daily at “his own” reflection in the mirror had long rendered him nearly immune to beauty.
“Yay!!!”
Seeing Ye Xu sign the contract and hand it over, Elena immediately cheered in delight, raising the paper high and spinning in place several times.
With the deal done, Edren and the members of the First Hangar could only cast Ye Xu a look of disappointed resentment, shaking their heads and sighing as they reluctantly departed.
“Then, junior brother, go ahead and drive your beloved machine into our hangar now!”
“I’ll explain the precautions in detail later, and after that, you can leave.”
In her ecstatic joy, Elena instinctively tried to link arms with Ye Xu again, only for him to subtly dodge.
Only then did she snap out of her euphoria, remembering her earlier “bold move,” and her cheeks flushed red once more.
It really wasn’t her fault. If anyone was to blame, it was the inexplicably pleasant scent of night-blooming jasmine on this little junior from House Nal.
It made her feel her very soul relax unconsciously. Combined with the urgent situation and a moment of impulse, she just…
“Ahem… Ahem…”
Fortunately, as the acting hangar chief, she could still maintain composure in such a situation.
If anyone asked, she could claim it was forced by circumstances—an extraordinary measure taken for the collective good—and surely no one would probe further.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
She dismissed the surrounding members who had gathered to watch the excitement and personally led Ye Xu into the hangar interior.
﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉
The massive hangar adopted a hollow structure, divided into upper and lower levels.
The upper-left, lower-left, upper-right, and lower-right sections each held fifty berths, equipped with dedicated racks for securing and assisting maintenance of the machines.
The hangar interior was a hive of activity, with a rough estimate of four or five hundred people bustling about.
Ye Xu entering with his Magitech Knight naturally drew numerous gazes. Elena met those looks with pride, puffing out her chest.
—This was a precious resource she had “secured” for the collective!
“For the empty spots, or those clearly occupied by training machines, just pick whichever catches your eye.”
“I’ll bring you the detailed service terms for the premium package later. If you’re satisfied, just sign it.”
The academy’s training machines were easy to identify: those older Magitech Knights modified for safety, though details varied slightly, were all painted silver-gray overall, with the Magic Academy’s emblem on the shoulders.
—Thirteen staves of varying styles and colors, symbolizing the Thirteen Sages who founded the Magician Association.
Since they were uniformly managed by the association and maintained by them, the parking position made no difference. Elena thus let Ye Xu choose one that appealed to him as the exclusive berth for his beloved machine.
“Hmm, this one over here then.”
The berths near the entrance held machines whose appearances were clearly distinct from training units.
They were likely either entrusted for maintenance by professional knights in the city or the personal mounts of other students in the academy.
Ye Xu selected the sixth berth on the lower-left level.
Because it was close to the hangar gates, making future retrieval of the machine more convenient.
“Mm-hmm, got it!”
Once Ye Xu made his choice, Elena immediately led him to the berth and directed personnel to move the old training machine originally parked there.
Then, she signaled Ye Xu to pilot the Magitech Knight into the berth and secure it firmly on the rack.
“Name: Yelaisi · Nal.”
“Student number: 9735 (year) 03 (class) 004 (number).”
After completing the registration for the exclusive berth owner, Elena asked: “Alright, then—what’s the name of your machine?”
“Name?”
Ye Xu looked puzzled.
“A name! The name of the Magitech Knight!”
“A qualified knight must form a bond with their mount.”
“The first step is to bestow a unique name upon your beloved machine!”
“You didn’t even know that???”
Seeing Ye Xu’s bewildered expression, Elena felt a pang of heartache, deeply convinced that this precious Radiant Sun Type-14 was being wasted on the wrong person.
“Uh…”
Ye Xu was momentarily at a loss for words.
He was not unaware of Elena’s thinking. Even in the empire, unless one piloted fully standardized knight-order Magitech Knights and referred to them only by number, any noble who had even slightly customized their machine would give it a unique name.
This served, on one hand, to display status and individuality.
On the other hand, there had long been rumors in this world that if you truly cherished your Magitech Knight, it would give birth to a soul, becoming your true exclusive mount and greatly enhancing combat power when piloted.
Incidentally, this rumor predated the invention of Magitech Knights, originally applied to various weapons, staves, or magical devices.
The truth of these rumors could be discussed another day. The current issue was…
His “exclusive mount” was truly not this one.
Was he supposed to say that this was merely a temporary transitional machine forced upon him by the Simar couple without his knowledge?
His real mount, the “Night God Throne,” was something this place had no qualification to house.
“Hmm…”
But considering he had already drawn enough attention today, he had no intention of showing off further.
A latest-model, deeply customized military-grade Magitech Knight was already, in the eyes of students, a one-in-ten-thousand rarity. Not giving it even a name would indeed seem excessively ostentatious.
After brief thought, he finally answered:
“Let’s call it…”
“‘Nightfall’.”
Nightfall—a name symbolizing the fall of that once-arrogant “Ye Xu” who had walked the world imitating the legendary Night God.
“Nightfall, huh… A good name!”
“Then I’ll register it right away?”
Elena nodded in satisfaction, then completed the detailed information entry on the magical console beside the berth.