Rimuru didn't know what to do. After ending the thought communication, the only thing he could think of was that Artoria was trying to get him killed. The only thing he knew was that he would not say anything remotely close to what Artoria had told him to say to Guy. He'd just say something like, "she was too busy" or "an emergency came up." But would it work?
Well, at least Milim and Ramris would be there. They'd back him up. Probably. At least Ramiris would, and she had plenty of weight around there.
In his office, a large door appeared, opening up to reveal a purple portal.
It was time for him to run damage control.
/\\//\\//\
While Rimuru was going ahead to come up with an excuse on the spot for why Artoria didn't go, even when explicitly told by Guy to bring her, Artoria was at the Pendragon Federal Building discussing updates on the Eastern Empire and their reconstruction, and the updates on the train from Vesta and Kaijin.
"Lady Pendragon, everything is going smoothly. Masayuki is not only determined and eager, but he is also quickly learning, and the aid package is being used properly. The capitol city hasn't been fully rebuilt, but it's making very good progress. There's not a lot of anti-Tempest sentiment, thanks to efforts from Masayuki and Velgrynd and from the people here being very grateful for how we're treating them with all the help they're receiving. If it keeps going like this, we'll finish ahead of schedule and the Eastern Empire can back to being autonomous."
On an orb, Benimaru gave his report from his location in the Eastern Empire. It was only good news. Artoria nodded.
"That's good, Benimaru. Keep it up and you'll be able to come home soon."
"Of course, Lady Pendragon. I'll be back with another report in a month."
As the report from Benimaru and the connection with the orb ended, Vesta and Kajin, who were in the office waiting for it to end, finally started with the update on the train. Vesta carried a few large rolled-up pieces of paper and put them on the desk, opening them up and revealing the final designs for the cargo train and carriages.
"This is the initial plan for the train and the cargo carriages. We'll use a heavy, reinforced frame of steel and aluminum for the train. As for the cargo carriages, me and Kaijin have come up with different carriages for different types of cargo. Whether it's materials, food, dangerous items, or other things. For the wheels, we're prioritizing power over speed for the projected heavy loads this will carry. We also have some automated loading mechanisms to make loading and unloading much easier for workers. A lot of the material will be steel, but there will also be some wood as well." Vesta said as he pointed out different parts of the design of the locomotive.
Though it was a blueprint, it was clear that it was of a practical nature. It didn't look flashy or flamboyant; it looked boring and dull, which was perfect. It's a cargo train, not a passenger train. When they made passenger trains as well as a luxurious equivalent, then the artistic design would be needed, but not this. This was meant to carry and transport stuff, and the comfort of things didn't matter. All that mattered was making sure it got from point A to point B, without damage. Function, not show.
"That's nice, but it's still a cargo train, it's heavy, and the weight of the trains and carriages will need to be accounted for," Artoria said as she looked over the designs and blueprints for the different types of carriages to transport certain goods after looking at the locomotive.
"That's right, that's why we're going to the magic section of the train. Right now, it was all physical, but now here's the magic. We're going to use some runes to help with the weight of the train. We're also going to use magic for refrigerated carriages when transporting perishables, containment carriages for more dangerous items, like weapons or magical items, and other things. Of course, magic will power it. Now, considering the population of the city and its makeup of monsters, that lets out a large amount of magicules. We plan to use that to power it. Basically, we'll use different methods of harnessing magicules to power it, whether it's from the environment or simply having mages use their magicules to power it. It will all be stored in something like a battery to power all the functions of the train. We can also invent something that draws from the ambient magicules in the area to power it, which could be very effective in this city with its monster population. What's important is that we have many ways to get power."
This time, it was Kaijin who spoke, having more knowledge of these kinds of technology and mechanisms, as he showed more designs for other accompanying technology for the train.
"I see. What about safety?" Artoria asked both. All this wouldn't matter if it were dangerous to run for the workers. The last thing she wanted was for this to be something similar to the state of trains during the 1800s in America.
"We also have magic for that. Safety seals for cargo, wards for any wildlife or monsters, protective magic on the hull and carriages, and we also have backup systems and redundancy in case of any unforeseen failures. The brakes could break, and a backup system will kick in instantly. There's magic and physical backups. And in the unlikely case of a catastrophic failure, such as a derailment, there are emergency levitation runes and stasis runes. This will make the entire train lift up in the air harmlessly in the case of levitation or cause the entire train to immediately come to a stop in case of the statis, and we don't have to worry about inertia on that one since it's magic," Vesta said with almost a bit of pride in his voice. He can't remember the last time he could truly engage in such a massive project with this many factors. Well, there was that time in Dwargon, but he saw that as a blessing now, considering the things he could do here, the train project being only one example and perhaps the best one.
"Wonderful job. Now what about the tracks? The tracks are just as important as the train," Artoria explained to Vesta and Kaijin, and on cue, they unrolled another design and blueprint for the tracks.
"We also thought of that. The tracks will be made from steel that will be enchanted for various effects, like being impervious to rust, the ability to self-repair, wards to stop monsters from getting close to the tracks, and they will serve as another power source for the train. The tracks will absorb ambient magicules, and when a train passes over them, it will transfer the energy to the train, if needed. And to increase efficiency further, we're also proposing double-tracking. Double-tracking increases capacity, makes maintenance easier if we have to send out a team, faster operations, and allows crossovers to let trains switch from one track to another."
Artoria nodded as she heard Vesta's explanation, seeing the redundancy come into play. "Wow, okay. A lot more thought went into this than I thought it would. Seems a bit excessive on the energy part, but it's okay. So, the design and blueprint are here, but what about the actual cost? How much material will we need to build the tracks, train, carriages, and include all the magical modifications and other energy technology, and everything else?"
Vesta cleared his throat, getting to the part he dreaded the most, and perhaps the part that Artoria found the most important. She already knew the combined efforts of Vesta and Kaijin could make the train feasible, but she was worried about the cost. She knew building a train network cost millions of dollars in America, so she could only imagine how many gold or stellar gold coins it would take.
"Well, it's going to be very expensive. And this is for one line running from this city to Dwargon. Here. This accounts for the cost to build the train, tracks, station, labor, environmental costs, and more."
Vesta handed over a small packet filled with concise and straight-to-the-point information about costs to Artoria. She grabbed and looked through it. It outlined specific costs in certain areas, but she was only interested in the total. And when she saw the total, it caused an outburst from her.
"Goddamn! Do that many stellar coins and gold coins even exist!?"
"Now, now, I know it looks bad, but flip to the last few pages. That shows the estimated amount of revenue we could get from exports of food, magic technology, timber from the forest, finished goods, and military technology and weapons," Vesta quickly tried to reassure Artoria about the costs by showing the main point of what the cargo train is supposed to accomplish. And that was economic might.
Artoria flipped the last few pages, landing on the estimated export revenue. When she saw it, she went still for a moment, taking time to process the financial figure on paper.
"..."
"Lady Pendragon?"
Kaijin asked as Artoria stayed quiet for too long.
"Holy. F***ing. S**t."
Artoria said in shock as she looked at the money that could be made. She didn't know how this number was gotten, but even if it was cut in half, she would say the exact same thing.
"Uh…"
Vesta wasn't sure what to say as he looked at Kajin, looking for help. Of all the reactions they expected, this wasn't one of them, especially the language she used. Artoria shook her head and got back on track, forcefully processing what she read.
"I'm sorry about that. What is this based on? And is this just with Dwargon?" Artoria immediately started asking the questions she needed to know the answer to.
"Yes, it's based only on Dwargon. And this is based on the hypothetical amount that the cargo trains could carry. And we tried to be as moderate as possible, even to the point of downplaying it, but we thought we were still being biased, so we arbitrarily lowered the final number we came up with," Vesta replied, since he had the most experience with this kind of thing compared to Kaijin.
"I'm sorry…what? Did you pass this by our finance minister? That guy would go nuts over this."
"No, we haven't," Vesta replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Well, y'all should. Let that guy run the numbers properly based on your hypotheticals. Mainly just to see his reaction, but yeah."
"Does this mean you are going to give full approval?" Vesta asked.
"Of course! Yes! Get it done! I'll appoint Kaijin and Geld as the leaders of this massive project, since they're the most qualified for building, and you, Vesta, will be the lead technical consultant," Artoria immediately replied, setting up the principal command structure for this project.
"Thank you! I'll let Gazel know immediately and set it into motion!" Vesta excitedly exclaimed as he ran out, followed quickly by Kaijin.
Once they left, Artoria leaned back in the chair and kicked her legs up on the desk. "Yup, I'm sending a small 'visit' to Ingrasia and getting some of their land. Time to go full robber baron mode."
The costs to build the Dwargon-Tempest cargo train network? A lot. The potential revenue that it would generate? Enough to pay for the construction costs and even the operating costs a few times over. She needed to set up connections to their allies as soon as possible after the Dwargon train line is completed.