That evening, Weston took up residence at the Royal Hotel in Crocus.
Although the Royal Hotel was outside the palace, the two were not far apart—only a ten-minute walk. It was located relatively inward within the city's second ring, an area accessible only to high-ranking officials and nobles.
With his status as a "Chief Imperial Court Wizard" and a Duke, staying at the Royal Hotel was perfectly normal for Weston.
"...So, that's the situation. I'll likely be staying in Crocus for a considerable amount of time. I'll have to trouble you to look after things at the guild for a while!"
"No problem, leave it to me!"
After a brief exchange explaining his circumstances, Weston deactivated the Communication Lacrima, ending his call with Mavis.
"Oh no! Two hours passed by without me even noticing..."
"I never used to understand why people spent so much time on long phone calls, but now I'm finally starting to get a feel for it. When talking to someone you like, it really never feels like enough!"
Glancing at the clock, which had somehow reached 11 o'clock, Weston couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly.
Immediately, he circulated his magic power, activated Archive, and began gathering intelligence related to "railways" and "Magic Trains."
Archive's information-gathering speed was rapid. In less than half an hour, it had scraped all relevant data within the entire Ishgar.
Weston quickly browsed through all the data, then flopped backward onto the soft, large bed.
"I didn't expect that Magic Trains had appeared in other countries long ago and have been running for over twenty years..."
"In that light, the Fiore Kingdom really is quite backward!"
Earthland is a world of magic, so the power source for trains naturally isn't coal or similar substances, but rather ores containing magic power.
However, since different countries have different ore reserves, the Magic Trains they each built are also different.
Weston spent a little time analyzing the types of ore used by the countries that had implemented Magic Trains, compiling them into a unified table.
The next day, he sought out Queen Lily and presented the intelligence he had collected and organized.
"In just one night, Sir Weston has already gathered the intelligence?!"
Such high operational efficiency instantly shook the heart of this Queen who resided deep within the palace.
"If Sir Weston were willing to serve the Royal Family—for instance, as a Minister or something similar—one person could probably replace all the other ministers combined!"
Her words were saturated with heavy hints.
Weston's eyes twitched as he heard this: "In that case, I absolutely must not join the palace! Otherwise, wouldn't I offend all the ministers and drastically lower the employment rate of the kingdom's high-ranking personnel?"
"Hahaha..."
"Sir Weston is truly humorous!"
Queen Lily covered her mouth and laughed, seemingly amused by Weston's remark.
Is it funny?
Weston felt that it wasn't funny at all!
This woman in front of him is no saint!
She actually dared to try and use such flattery to trick him into doing the work of several hundred people.
She is simply the most black-hearted capitalist in the world, a demon more terrifying than an Etherious!!
"According to my investigation, the styles of railways and Magic Trains in various countries look no different on the surface. The only difference lies in the power source of the Magic Train."
"Those ores with magic power are the core elements that drive the Magic Train!"
"I compared the ores used by various countries and selected three types that exist within the borders of the Fiore Kingdom."
"The first type is called 'Starlight Crystal.' Its magic capacity and conversion rate are the highest, averaging nearly 0.1 Edea per gram."
Queen Lily blinked in confusion.
Seeing this, Weston realized she had no frame of reference. After a moment of thought, he continued: "In other words, in an extreme state, the magic power contained in 27,000 tons of Starlight Crystal is equivalent to the magic power contained in one shot of Etherion!"
At the mention of "Etherion," Queen Lily's expression finally lost its composure.
Etherion is the public magical weapon of the Magic Council. Although it hasn't been used in the last fifty years, its power is documented in historical records.
Just one shot is enough to destroy a country!
As the Queen of a nation, it was naturally impossible for her not to have heard of such a powerful weapon.
"Then this 'Starlight Crystal'..."
Weston knew what Queen Lily wanted to say and immediately spoke: "It is extremely rare!"
"This ore is said to be created after meteorite impacts. It is essentially a non-renewable resource!"
"I imagine even if we searched the entirety of Ishgar, it would be... very difficult to scrap together 27,000 tons!"
Then why did you say all that?
You nearly scared me to death!!
Queen Lily breathed a sigh of relief inwardly: "What about the other two types?"
"The other two are Sunstone and Lacrima Ore. Although they aren't as good as Starlight Crystal in terms of energy storage and conversion, there are larger reserves within the Fiore Kingdom. However, the former has a lower utilization rate and the latter is difficult to mine—each has its pros and cons."
As Weston spoke, he compressed the basic data of these three ores and their corresponding locations within the Fiore Kingdom into a file and sent it directly into Queen Lily's mind.
Instantly, the data rushed in like a home intruder, leaving Queen Lily's head spinning.
It took over a minute for her to recover, drenched in sweat. Immediately, she cast a resentful glance at Weston: "I'll let it slide this time, but before you do something like this next time, please give me a heads-up..."
"Oh, alright!"
Queen Lily didn't mind Weston's perfunctory attitude. After a few seconds of hesitation, she made a decision.
"Since these three ores each have their advantages, we shall mine them all and use them according to the specific situation!"
"I will arrange personnel to handle that later."
"But the design and construction of the railway and Magic Trains must not fall behind either!"
"Master Weston, please hand over the collected information to the Governing Minister and have him appoint people to begin the research!"
"I believe that with these, the talents under my command will surely be able to build a railway belonging to the Fiore Kingdom itself!"
The Fiore Kingdom's own railway...
Isn't this basically just plagiarizing others??!
Ah, well!
Regardless, as long as the railway construction is successful and Magic Trains can be opened, everything else doesn't matter!
Quickly, the task of creating the railway and Magic Trains was delegated by Queen Lily.
It was still only the initial stage, and there were many troubles to solve. To be available at all times, Weston did not leave Crocus immediately. Instead, he continued to stay at the Royal Hotel, waiting for any problems that might arise.
Sure enough, a problem soon appeared.
Three days later, the construction team sent someone to deliver a message.
They had discovered something incredible in the mountains to the west.