As chief designer of the Royal Design Institute, Howard Dylan enjoyed considerable renown.
He was primarily responsible for Airship design, and most of the Empire's current Airship designs had come from his hands.
That was also why, after Li Wei was invested as a Thistle Knight, the important task of designing his flagship fell to Howard.
Howard took this assignment very seriously. He had risen to chief designer of the Royal Design Institute not only through his natural brilliance, but also through his keen political instincts. Li Wei was the first Thistle Knight invested by the Empire, and the Royal Family had ordered them to spare no expense in completing Li Wei's Flagship as quickly as possible.
Howard understood perfectly well what that meant.
Ever since Emperor Arthur's time, the Empire had been founded on military might, and its sword-bearing nobles held the greatest power and influence. At the pinnacle of those nobles stood the Thistle Knights, the counterparts of the Twelve Knights. Moreover, as the first Thistle Knight and commander of the Thistle Knight Order, Li Wei needed a flagship that was both the most dazzling and incomparably powerful.
That was what Howard thought. What troubled him was that he had no idea what Li Wei thought.
Li Wei was not the only person entitled to commission an Airship after being ennobled. Over his decades as a designer, Howard had drawn up Airship designs for quite a few other nobles.
But how should he put it... amateurs telling professionals what to do... happened far too often.
Not to mention clients ordering contractors around. That was an even bigger headache.
Many nobles cared nothing for safety or practicality. Instead, they demanded all kinds of decorations and colors. Some even drew fantastical designs and asked Howard to make them a reality.