Silver

26. Train

"Why do you talk like that, as if you're not a child yourself?" She asked while looking at me with her squinted eyes.

"Because i am a very matured lady." I said with my most serious voice.

Mother only chuckled at what i said and sipped on her cup. I was about to reason to her how serious i am when we heard a knock.

"Come in," Mother said.

The door opens and a letter on a silver plate is delivered inside, but not only that, there's also a present that came along with it. The head maid Agnes showed me the plate with a letter. "Miss, a letter and a present was sent from the Flordel duchy."

I took the letter and as i've expected, it's from her, the only daughter of the Flordel duchy, Victoria.

"Who is it from?" Mother asked, as i opened the letter. "I didn't know that you're acquainted with that family," she added.

"It's from lady Victoria, mother." I told her seriously while reading the letter. It says that the present is for me and she requests to have an audience with me. I know it's rude to open a letter in front of a guest, but that's alright, mother and i are pretty casual when it's just the two of us.

When Monica introduced me to her friends, they seem to like me a lot. They always request for an audience and visits me, they also bring presents with them, which i don't really use.

The most persistent of them all is lady Victoria of Flordel, she always gives me presents and takes me shopping with her. She likes to cling on me, so i often see Lori in her, which made me see her a little less annoying.

"That lady seems to have taken a liking on you, do you like her too?" Mother asked me, with a teasing smile on her face.

"Mother, it's not what you think. Lady Victoria is like a sister to me, besides we're too young for that." I sighed with her teasing. Of course i know what she meant, I've been there.

Mother Duchess often tease me with the young ladies that i am acquainted with, just the young ladies, not even a single young master. I guess mother's instinct is really true.

"Just like Mother Tara with Lori." I can't help but to smile with the memory.

"I was just kidding my daughter, no need to think about it." She once again sipped her tea.

"I know mother," i sighed.

"Anyway, i need your opinion about something." Mother put down her cup and looked at me seriously.

"About what, mother?"

"About the transportation problem that the nobles are pestering me about." Mother said, she clenched her jaw and held her temples.

"You know that our duchy is the one responsible for the transportation of the empire, right?" I nodded at her question.

"But right now, there seems to be commotion as a count's family is planning to petition to the emperor that our duchy is irresponsible and can't do our job properly. This is regarding the lack in supply of foods in the entire empire. Because of the slow transportation, the supply of produce and raw materials that's coming to the different parts of the empire are plummeting. We've tried out a lot of different alternatives, but it's all in vain." Mother sighed and leaned her back on her chair as she closed her eyes. I never noticed earlier, but she really looks stressed right now.

"How about a different route, Mother?" I suggested.

"We already thought of it, we even tried to transfer the goods faster than ever, but the constant transferring will make the good's condition worsen." Mother smiled lightly.

"Aren't there transportation portals in our estate? Why not use it?" I remember a lesson about how there are five transportation portals in the empire, one is inside our estate another is in the imperial palace, and others I don't care the whereabouts.

"No, that's not possible, a portal is only use in emergency situations, concerning the whole empire, it was illegal to use it in unofficial business." Mother sighed.

"I see, so what you'll need is something fast and can transfer tons and tons of goods all at once..." i put my index finger on my chin as i thought of it.

"Wait, why not that? I know, that will be the best for the situation." I thought to myself as i realized that there is something i can do that can help mother. It's a good thing that i have a mechanical engineering licence, so i'm pretty confident that i got it right.

Yes, that thing, the start of the innovation in my last world... steam engine.

"I have an idea, Mother." I smiled at mother.

Mother and i walked to my work shop not far from my mansion but still a couple of minutes away. As i've said, i'm a person of hundred hobbies, and those hobbies i can't do before, i can once again get back to them because of all the free time i have in here.

There are lots of things in my work shop, but most of them are mechanical objects, i even installed the things in here myself, and it was fun, i learned a lot of new things.

I opened the big door and we came inside a huge open space, like those huge garage in my last world. But this place is full of random objects, from a small trinkets, to that large escalator, all of them i made myself. If you are curious how i made this big place in two months, all i can say is that... It's made of metal. Well most of them, and metal is an element i sure can manipulate well, perks of understanding science.

I walked towards the table in the middle of this big room with Mother following behind me. I picked up a piece of paper and gave it to her. It's the drawing of the steam engine, but this one is different, instead of steam coming from burning coals, this one uses air pressure that i got from a magus crystal from a monster bird, an air type of monster.

Mother looked at it and furrowed her brows. "What about it my daughter?" She asked while lifting up the paper.

I smiled at mother and walked towards a big object with a cloth draped over it. "It's the solution to your problem, Mother." I answered her while pulling the cloth off the object, the dust coming from it made me sneeze.

Mother walked towards me as she looked over the big object, it's a small version of a steam engine train. I made it just because i felt bored, whenever i am in here, i ride this thing and think.

"Let's get on mother," i held mother's hand and helped her get on the small chair in the train. I walked back the table and took the crystal from one of the drawers and walked back to mother, still sitting inside the train.

I got on the train in the driver's place and showed mother how i put the crystal on the charcoal burning furnace, but this one, is a clean and smaller magus extracting device.

I pulled the horn and pushed the starting lever, and off we go. I looked back at mother who seemed surprised with the sudden movement. "See Mother? This one can still go faster, it can carry lots of heavy objects and can transport people too." I told mother with a smile on my face.

After a couple of rounds just going around inside the space, we got off the mini train and mother looks like she's seen a pot of gold. A pot of gold wouldn't even make mother look like that, she can give away pots of gold if she wanted to, but that's what i can see.

Mother looked at me, now with a calmer expression and smiled lightly. "I think we have a solution now." She said as she pat my head. I'm glad to be of help with mother.

And that's how the construction of the newest transportation system in the empire started.