Weston blew the dust off the Ophiuchus Key and tucked it into his robe.
In the original series, the Ophiuchus Key was owned by Yukino, a wizard from "Sabertooth." However, she rarely used it in battle, and Ophiuchus's own combat record was similarly lackluster.
But a Celestial Spirit's strength is linked to the contractor's magic power, so Weston didn't doubt the true combat potential of Ophiuchus.
As for why the Ophiuchus Key, buried in a dragon tomb, would eventually end up in Yukino's hands...
Even without his interference, the Fiore Royal Family would have built the train station, dug into the dragon tomb, and someone might have found the key during that process, sold it to a magic shop, and eventually, it would have found its way to Yukino.
Weston didn't care to delve into the specifics.
In any case, in this world, the key was now in his hands!
"Now that I have the Ophiuchus Key, should I collect the keys of the Twelve Zodiac Gates while I'm at it?"
Although the Heartfilia family passed down the responsibility of opening the Eclipse Gate from generation to generation, the original series showed that the family didn't possess all the Gold Keys.
After all, when Layla opened the Eclipse Gate, the word "collect" was used, and after the gate was closed, she was only left with three keys: Cancer, Aquarius, and Capricorn.
From this, it was clear that even if the Heartfilia family held Gold Keys, they certainly didn't have many.
Back at the Royal Hotel that night, Weston began using Archive to search for the existence of the Twelve Zodiac Keys.
However, finding twelve keys across the entire world was no easy feat.
It took him over three hours to finally locate the positions of all the keys.
"What..."
"Only ten keys are in Ishgar?"
"The Aquarius Key is in the Northern Continent, and the Libra Key has drifted to the Western Continent..."
"Decided!"
"Once this business in the Royal Capital is over, I'll go find those two keys!!"
A few days later, under the direction of the Minister of Transportation, the soldiers of the Fiore Kingdom began building the train station at another suitable location in Crocus.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Magic Trains was proceeding in full swing.
Queen Lily also issued a decree ordering local nobles to dispatch personnel to mine the ores that would serve as the future power source for the Magic Trains at designated locations.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Weston observed for a few days, and after confirming that there was no further need for his help, he took his leave of Queen Lily once more.
"I heard that Sir Weston went to the magic shops in the Royal Capital a few days ago to inquire about the keys of the Twelve Zodiac Gates?"
"I didn't expect Your Majesty to hear about that as well. I'm truly flattered!"
"How could I not know?"
Queen Lily's eyes twitched: "In order to get one key, Sir Weston nearly destroyed half of a commercial street. It's really hard for something like that not to reach my ears!"
Caught red-handed with such a deed, Weston didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he let out an "Eh?" of protest: "Who told that old merchant to be so black-hearted? It was clearly a key for 100,000J, but as soon as he knew my identity, the quote jumped ten times on the spot!"
"Disrupting market prices, don't you think someone like that deserves a lesson?!"
Queen Lily's face was covered in black lines: "If it weren't for that reason, even I wouldn't have been able to help you suppress this matter."
"You should know that is the busiest street in the Capital. The number of people who were nearly caught in the crossfire exceeded three hundred..."
So it was Her Majesty herself who stepped in to suppress the fallout?
I was wondering why that storm settled so quickly; turns out I have people in high places...
Speaking of which, since I have Her Majesty backing me now, can the guild be even more unrestrained in the future?
Weston pulled down the corners of his mouth and whispered: "But no one got hurt..."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing!"
Weston balled his fist and tapped his heart, saying loudly: "I said I will learn from this lesson. I won't cause such a big commotion next time I strike!"
As he spoke, he gave Queen Lily a "Trust me, I guarantee it" look.
"Uh... if possible, I would still prefer you not to strike at all and leave it to the courts for judgment..."
Queen Lily clearly didn't find this guarantee as trustworthy as the abilities Weston showed in other areas.
After all, the conduct of Fairy Tail was known to everyone in the Fiore Kingdom.
For a moment, Queen Lily felt physically and mentally exhausted, as if she had been busy for three days and nights without sleep.
Subconsciously rubbing her brow, she beckoned to a maid standing nearby holding a tray: "This was collected by the Royal Family. Consider it a thank-you gift for solving the 'Railway Dilemma.' I hope it proves useful to Your Excellency."
The maid whipped off the red cloth covering the tray. Two gold and four silver, a total of six dazzling lights shone into Weston's eyes.
"Celestial Spirit Keys?!"
Weston looked at Queen Lily in surprise, then pointed at himself: "For me?"
"Of course!"
"Ho-ho, as expected of Your Majesty, quite the generous hand!"
A few nights ago, when Weston used Archive to find the keys, he discovered three of the Twelve Zodiac Keys were in Crocus, two in the palace and one on the market.
He had originally planned to find another way to get those two keys later; he hadn't expected Queen Lily to bring them right to him...
This... this...
It really makes one feel a bit ashamed...
Queen Lily gave a polite smile: "Compared to the help Your Excellency has given the Fiore Kingdom, these two keys are nothing!"
Weston nodded: "True. Then I'll accept them without ceremony!"
Queen Lily: "..."
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. When does Your Excellency plan to leave Crocus?"
"Now!"
Before leaving Crocus, Weston didn't forget to pick up some rare flower seeds for Warrod.
Naturally, he didn't forget gifts for Mavis and Zera either.
On the carriage.
Weston quietly tallied the harvest from this trip to the Capital.
The dragon bones had been sent back to the guild earlier. Now, he lined up the eight Celestial Spirit Keys—one black, three gold, and four silver.
"The Ophiuchus Key dug from the Dragon Graveyard, the Sagittarius Key found on the market, the Gemini Key and Aries Key gifted by Her Majesty..."
"It seems it's time to begin the journey of collecting Celestial Spirit Keys!"