"Smack."
Moen patted Grandpa Makarov on the shoulder.
"What is it? Moen, I don't have time to play with you."
Makarov, who was seriously picking out magazines, spoke without even turning his head.
"I have something very important."
Moen spoke helplessly. Who would've thought that this lecherous old man carefully selecting skimpy magazines at a magazine stall was actually the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, one of the Ten Wizard Saints?
"Let's go with this one!"
Makarov picked up a magazine and then put down the money.
"What's the matter? Talk when we get back?"
After paying, Makarov turned to look at Moen, his expression solemn, as if he were a completely different person from before.
"Let's talk when we get back."
Moen nodded. He had long since gotten used to Grandpa Makarov's rapid role-switching. This was the serious Guild Master mode—of course, it could switch back to the unserious Guild Master at any moment.
Sure enough, right after Moen said they'd talk when they got back, the old man's posture immediately slumped, and he started holding the magazine while going "hee hee hee."
"."
Moen smiled helplessly. He really didn't know what was so good about those magazines—completely unstimulating. It could only be said that this skimpy magazine was still far too green and healthy.
Grandfather and grandson quickly returned to the guild hall. Once inside the Guild Master's office, Makarov decisively put down the magazine, looked seriously at Moen, and waited for him to speak.
"It's like this."
Moen began explaining the matter of cooperating with the Heartfilia Consortium.
"This is a good thing."
After hearing Moen out, Makarov nodded. Expanding the southern railway market—although the Heartfilia Consortium was essentially doing it for their own business—was indeed something that benefited both the nation and the people. If the southern railway lines could all be opened, it would be very convenient for everyone.
"So should we cooperate with him?"
Moen looked at Grandpa Makarov. Although he himself was very much in favor of it, whether or not to do it still had to be decided by Makarov. After all, seventy percent of Fairy Tail's influence came from Grandpa Makarov.
"What kind of person do you think that Jude is?"
Makarov didn't answer directly, but instead asked a question.
"Jude… a successful businessman. Very shrewd. His vision and ability are both quite good, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to build up such an enterprise."
Moen spoke about his impression of Jude. His understanding of the man wasn't actually that deep; he was only describing the impression left from this meeting.
"Is his character reliable?"
Makarov didn't doubt the man's ability. He had also heard of the Heartfilia Consortium's rapid rise in fame over the years. What he cared about was Jude's personal moral character.
"At the very least, he looks like a reliable businessman."
Moen gave an objective evaluation. The meaning was very clear, private morality was hard to judge, but with benefit involved, Jude should still be fairly reliable. At the very least, the profit share he initially offered wasn't low.
There was no way Jude hadn't thought that they would push the price higher. This meant the final price Jude was willing to bear was actually higher. Although there was also an element of gambling on Fairy Tail accepting directly, that was normal business practice for a merchant.
"You've already put the ugly words up front. If he still dares to do something shady, what do you plan to do?"
Makarov's expression remained calm as he continued asking.
"That depends on what he does. If it involves loss of life, then he pays with his life. If it's just things like embezzling property, then at worst he won't be allowed to continue. Whatever he swallowed, he spits it all back out. Leave him some capital and let him go be a wealthy idle man."
Moen narrowed his eyes, the words he spoke carrying a chill.
If Jude dared to commit acts that trampled lives under the banner of Fairy Tail, then he should be prepared to pay with his life. That was the bottom line. As for other issues, Moen would still leave him some dignity and not punish him too harshly.
"Mm. We can't lose our bottom line for the sake of money."
Makarov nodded. If it were any other business, he wouldn't even bother. They didn't need to make that much money anyway. Fairy Tail's income, even if it didn't compare to great tycoons, was still plenty—they had no need to develop too many side ventures.
The reason he was considering cooperation at all was because this matter involved railways, which was a very beneficial undertaking.
"I'll leave this matter to you."
Looking at Moen, Makarov finally nodded.
This could also be considered a test. The relationships Moen had developed himself—now it was time to see whether Moen could properly grasp and manage them.
As Guild Master, one had to consider matters comprehensively. If Moen messed things up now, Makarov could still shield him. But if one day he was no longer there to block the wind and rain, then everything would have to be handled by Moen and the younger generation themselves.
"Alright. I'll keep a close eye on it."
Moen nodded seriously, feeling rather energized.
Their target was the entire southern railway network of the kingdom. Making money was just a bonus. If this could be done well, it would be a great merit and if it truly succeeded, the sense of achievement would be immense.
Moen could also clearly feel Grandpa Makarov's delegation of authority. Last time, bringing him along to the Guild Master's regular meeting had actually been a signal. Grandpa was truly cultivating him as a Guild Master candidate, even though he was only thirteen years old.
'Laxus, even if you've become an S-Class Mage, it's useless, because I've already been chosen by the emperor! Hehehe!'
Moen joked to himself inwardly, letting out two strange laughs in his mind.
Laxus had been showing off his S-Class Mage status to him. He just hadn't participated in this S-Class exam.
When next year's S-Class exam came around, he'd immediately break Laxus's still-warm "youngest S-Class Mage" record!
Let's see if he'd still be happy then!
Moen summoned a large crow, tied the written letter to the crow's claws, and then had it immediately fly toward the Heartfilia Consortium headquarters.
"Communication really is inconvenient. Why hasn't anyone invented a mobile phone yet? Is magic really such an inconvenient thing?!"
After releasing the crow, Moen complained. Speaking of which, there just happened to be someone in their guild who loved inventing things.
Moen looked around inside the guild and sure enough spotted him—Warren Rocko. Black hair, thick lips, an utterly unremarkable appearance.
But Warren's strength was not weak at all. The magic he used was Telepathy Magic. In battle, he could read his opponent's thoughts, and he could also establish a kind of "team voice chat" among his companions. The communication range was quite far, and its functionality was extremely strong.
Moreover, Warren was very sharp-minded. He was extremely intelligent—a "multi-core processor"—far stronger than the pile of single-celled organisms in the guild, and an indispensable member of the guild's operation.
"Warren, the idea I mentioned to you before has there been any progress?"
Moen found Warren and asked him directly.
"Huh? Sorry, Moen. There's no progress for now."
Warren froze for a moment, then scratched his head as he answered. The thing Moen had talked about was simply too difficult to realize, and he currently had no clue at all.
"Put more effort into it! Warren, I believe in you!"
Moen patted Warren on the shoulder encouragingly. It really was too much to ask—Warren was only sixteen years old after all.
Based on Warren's Telepathy Magic, Moen had reasonably proposed the concept of a "mobile phone," a magical item that could conduct long-distance voice communication, essentially an expanded application of Telepathy Magic.
But unfortunately, this was clearly not something easy to achieve. With Warren's current level of magical attainment, it was simply impossible.
Moen had also considered making a phone himself. He vaguely remembered the core principle, basically converting sound wave vibrations into electrical signals for transmission, and then restoring them back into sound waves but that was all he remembered. Once it came time to actually do it, he completely blanked out.
In this world where the technological level was extremely distorted, his half-baked scientific knowledge was really hard to use to change the world in any meaningful way. Many things he only understood at the level of basic principles, with absolutely no idea how to actually put them into practice.
In fact, this was the true portrayal of most ordinary people. They could talk about things eloquently and convincingly, looking like "I could do it if I tried," but unless they were professionals who had actually engaged in that line of work, the moment they really got hands-on, they'd be dumbfounded. "Specialization exists for a reason." Even within the same field, someone who worked in theory would still be lost if you threw them onto the front line to do practical operations.
Later, Moen figured it out. To achieve the same functionality in this world, the possibility of realizing it through magic was far more realistic than trying to build an entire scientific system from scratch.
Thus, Warren Rocko, who had loved researching various magical tools since childhood, became Moen's key target for relentless torment.
Moen continuously poured all sorts of his "novel ideas" into Warren Rocko. Who knew—maybe one day they would finally bear fruit?
As for researching it himself, Moen had thought about that too, but he couldn't use other types of magic. At most, he could only research theory. The real hands-on work still had to be handed over to professionals.
"They've clearly already researched communication crystal balls that can do video calls, yet there isn't a more convenient mobile phone."
Moen complained, causing Warren to shake his head.
"The principles are completely different. They're not the same magical system. And communication crystal balls are big and heavy, obviously not in line with your requirements."
Warren was the professional here, speaking clearly and logically.
"Communication crystal balls" were not suitable for carrying around. They were usually fixed in one location, though they could be used as fixed-position video phones.
"Can't you just shrink them down? Is it really that difficult?"
Moen asked curiously. If the "communication crystal ball" could just be shrunk, it would directly become a video phone. Or even just stripping out the voice transmission part would work!
"It can't be done. It's not the same magical system."
Warren shook his head helplessly. This simply wasn't the same concept at all.
There was no choice. Moen was always thinking from a technological perspective, but in reality, "communication crystal balls" being able to transmit both video and sound was completely different from merely transmitting sound. They were two entirely different types of magic.
There was no possibility of separating the video function from a "communication crystal ball" and then shrinking its size, this had all been researched long ago.
Magic really was something that was both convenient and inconvenient at the same time.
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