My next stop was a meeting with the duke.

“Lady Amaya, is there anything I can do for you?” William greeted me.

“Greetings! I just wanted to talk to you about Lilith’s proposal.”

“Ah, sure.” He sounded uncertain. “Is… is a demon lord truly trustworthy?”

“In a way, yes. She would not simply betray you, but she would use any deal to her advantage, if possible. As long as the deal is good for her you would be fine.” I answered.

He grimaced. “I am not confident in negotiating a deal with a succubus.”

“If you decide to enter an agreement I would be willing to help. I can ensure that she is not using her powers on you. I might be able to send some fey here as well. I think your academy has the potential to become something more.” I said.

“Oh? If you had some presence here that might change things.” He pondered that. “Would Lilith even be needed then? I doubt our population would welcome demons any time soon.”

“I think their presence would be a benefit. Not every demon is evil. A better understanding of demons could prevent incursions in the future. They also have different abilities than fey and present more opportunities to study magic. And in time Iron Rock could attract other magical creatures as well. Essentially Lilith, Lucy and myself would be patrons of your academy. We might donate some books, items and send teachers.”

“Building up the academy would be beneficial.” William mused.

“Oh, I have another idea as well. I would like to build a rapid transportation system between Iron Rock and the Dominion. Essentially, we would use the dwarven tunnels to build a fast moving metal carriage on rails.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He blinked. “What?”

“The dwarves have an extensive tunnel network and with earth magic it could easily be expanded. The carriage would be a metal tube moving on rails. That means it would be stable and could move with high speeds on a fixed route. It would only stop at a few designated stations and connect some cities. We would move that metal tube with a magical engine. The whole design is not finished yet, but I do have a lot of money and I think we could quickly create a prototype. We could even start construction on the tracks while we are working on the train itself.” I suggested.

“That… you can do that?” He asked.

I nodded. “I think we can create a magical engine that turns the wheels and allows for fast travelling. We could likely power it through a ritual so we would need some mages to run the train. Thanks to magical storage devices it would be possible to transport passengers and cargo at the same time. I think we might be able to make travel at least ten times faster.”

It was hard to estimate exactly how much faster it would be. This world did have enchantments to help horses move faster and reduce their exhaustion. And magical storages offered an easy way to transport goods. If you were rich you could even hire a fast moving adventurer. But all of that was really expensive. Most trade was simply conducted by wagons. Just having a storage device made you a target for bandits, which meant you needed more security.

“Ten times faster? That… that would make Iron Rock the centre of the continent, if all lines went through the city…”

“Ah, at first we would connect all lines here, yes. I am on good terms with the dwarven king and I am a noble of the Dominion. So it should be simple to get their agreement. Regardless of what you decide with Lilith, I would like to get this project started, if you approve. I would be willing to invest 100 000 gold coins. Nicholas Earthbreaker is an archmage focusing on earth magic. I want to talk with him next and discuss the plans for a train. I am hoping I can work with the academy to develop it.” I proposed.

“100 000 gold coins…” He seemed rather speechless. It took him a moment to recover. “I, I would welcome your investment and your project has my full support! I will contact the dwarven ambassador directly on your behalf and start negotiations for the route, if that is acceptable!”

That would save me some time. And I did not really know the local geography anyway.

“Sure. I would like the first line to connect to my own county.” I added.

“Certainly!” He said. “I will make sure to get the best deal possible, on your behalf. And I will make sure the people know about your investment. That you are actually an archfey is not public knowledge yet but you are seen as a hero in Iron Rock. I will ensure the people know who you truly are and will present the idea of fey visiting the city. I will… I will consider Liliths proposal. I think demons need to be handled more sensitively.”

“You could start with some rumors about a demon lord helping against the Inquisition. Just lay some groundwork about not all of them being evil.” I suggested.

“Hm. Maybe. We need to introduce people to the idea that the hells are divided. I will think about it.”

I nodded. Changing the opinion about demons would take time but also some work. I was hoping we could elevate Lilith’s reputation a bit. Then I would need to send some fey here, get people used to magical creatures. And those fey could offer protection and make people more comfortable about demons.

Of course, I needed to recruit some fey first.