The last thing Ferdinand ever wanted to hear out of Tohsaka were the words 'this will change the course of history'. They were words that brought terror and morbid curiosity.
Tohsaka had been someone who was carelessly, confident in her own power and value. She acted without ever thinking of just the kind of impact she was having on the world around her.
The mass production of paper and cloth. The introduction of the printing press, high quality glues, water pumps, and inks. The creation of new magic tools, an advanced form of body strengthening magic and the rediscovering of an ancient ritual to bring Spring. And the food. Gods, the food.
Any one of these would be an accomplishment that most nobles would brag about for decades, but Tohsaka just introduced them one after another without any care, and seemingly no need for trial and error. She kept things close to the vest, but never treated any of her inventions as if they were more than a way of making a bit of pocket money for her research.
So when Tohsaka, who had created so many world-shaking things without seeing their relevance, said that something would change the course of history, Ferdinand prayed to the Gods for real for the first time in years, hoping that Ehrenfest would survive whatever was coming.
Then, he called everyone. Sylvester, Florencia, Karstedt, Elvira, Rihyarda, Justus, Eckhart and Bonifatius.
If he was going to hell, he was going to have company.
They all gathered together at the castle, signed the contract promising to not seize the idea from Tohsaka and the Gilberta Company after hearing what they had to say, and then the meeting began.
"This is… overwhelming." Elvira said after staring at the fifty pages of blueprints that Tohsaka had brought with her to the meeting, detailing every single aspect of the project from the wagons, to the engine, to the switching of rails and the storing of the train cars. Everything was written down and drawn with sharp detail, with necessary measurements given, along with the calculations of how fast it would go, material costs and a time table for construction.
It seemed that the object would move by using a boiler filled with Feystones charged with the fire mana gathered from the regional volcano in order to turn a turbine, a magic fuel source that doesn't require nobles and would slowly solve a rampant Feybeast problem in that area.
"I can't say that I understand any of this technical stuff, but I can understand what it does well enough." Sylvester said, sitting back with a hand on his head. "For travel between any two cities connected by one of these rails, you can transport goods fifty times faster with a fraction of the manpower and cost of going by carriage. A territory which would usually take a week to travel to in a caravan would be reachable within half a bell."
"The implications are certainly… staggering." Karstedt said as he stroked his mustache. "Do we have the mana to spare on a project this big? I mean, building something that stretches across the entirety of the Duchy out of ivory stone."
'Ivory Stone' refers to the white stone created by the foundation of the Duchy. A material that was both insanely sturdy and resistant to both extreme temperatures and magic. It was a material that could only be created by a member of the Archduke Family who had gone through the proper courses at the Academy, and to attempt to damage it was both futile for even normal nobles and an act of treason.
"While the ground it covers is large, the size of the rails is small, so the cost is pretty low. …I'd be expensive, but it could be done." Justus admitted as he checked the girl's numbers. "Not in this time frame though. There is no way we could gather enough golden dust."
"Just leave that part to me. If you supply me with Feystones, I'll make the dust myself." Rin said in a reassuring tone. "Also, I'd like to note that we won't be covering the entire Duchy from the start. I intend to build a rail going to Illgner first, as a way of showing the kind of economic benefits it will bring and then allow everyone else to invest. It will bring our starting investment down to only one thousand large gold coins, which the Gilberta Company will cover, and the project should be finished within two months. If you will assist me that is. We could use steel rails instead, but that will increase the amount of time required to build it from a few months to several years."
"...Well, I can't exactly spare the mana at the moment for it. So it would be up to Ferdinand and Bonifatius. But I can see about getting the Feystones." Sylvester said, looking towards the pair of older Archducal Candidates for any volunteers.
"I can't make heads or tails of this, but if you insist, I can help lay down some of the larger buildings." Bonifatius said, scratching his chin.
"Are we really considering this?" Ferdinand asked, drawing the eyes of everyone at the table.
"...Well, if the project is a success, then Ehrenfest will see a huge economic boom, and if it fails, it is on the Gilberta Company's shoulders. While it is a lot of mana, I'd say it is too appealing to pass up." Sylvester admitted.
"And if it succeeds, who is going to have control over it?" Ferdinand said, holding up the magic contract they all signed at the beginning of the meeting. "Tohsaka and the Gilberta Company. They would control the most effective form of trade within our entire Duchy. Something so powerful that if they decided to cut a territory off, that territory would fall to pieces. She'd effectively have absolute rule within Ehrenfest with no one able to question her out of fear of the repercussions. She could favor one faction over another in order to force a civil war, or demand that everyone support her claim for the seat of Aub."
All of the high nobles who were only thinking about how to profit from the railroad stopped and slowly turned their heads towards Rin.
"Well, I can't say he is wrong. Anyone who controlled the railroad could do such a thing." Rin openly admitted.
"Are we really going to entrust our Duchy to a girl with an unknown background who has access to completely unexplained knowledge and power?" Ferdinand said, staring down at her.
"If you want to make concessions, I am all ears. Without you, I can't do this, nor can you do it without me. I'm sure we can come to an agreement so that everyone can benefit." Rin replied with a calm smile, sitting relaxed with one foot kicked up above the other.
"If you want us to trust you, then tell us who you really are?" Ferdinand said.
"That's funny, coming from you. Does anyone at this table even know who your mother is?" Rin countered, the lack of people coming to his defense was answer enough. "It is a really unusual thing, isn't it. An Archduke somehow finding a woman who was a mana match for him and getting her pregnant without anyone noticing. Sounds super suspicious. It's no wonder no one wanted you as Aub."
"I have proven my loyalty to Ehrenfest." Ferdinand said.
"And I have not? How much good have I done for the Duchy in just this last year alone?" Rin said, getting up from her chair and glaring at Ferdinand. "If you want me to promise not to suddenly shut people out of the railroad system without your permission, fine. If you want a larger cut of the profits and a say in the prices, fine. If you want me to sign a contract stating I will never try to become Aub, gladly! But you have no right to demand my life's story. And don't speak to me about trust. Not when I am only here because I am useful and you would kill me the moment I no longer have value to you."
She then started to walk out, Angelica falling in behind her. "Where are you going?" Sylvester asked.
"Back to the Temple. Since no one feels like actually doing business, I have better things to do with my time. Rihyarda, make sure you return the blueprints to the Gilberta Company later." Rin called back, slamming the door as she exited.
Ferdinand glared at the door himself, until he heard a familiar voice that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Young Master Ferdinand! Is that how you treat someone who is only trying to do their best!?" Rihyarda shouted, sliding into lecture mode.
"Rihyarda, she…"
"She is a child! Not even as old as you were when you first arrived at our door!" Rihyarda shouted at the Priest, not letting him talk back. "She's a scared little girl who spends every night in her secret room because she doesn't trust her guards not to slit her throat in her sleep! A child who occasionally just starts to cry whenever she hears a sad story! A child who only wishes to be left alone! And you are treating her the exact same way that Veronica treated you!"
Ferdinand stopped with his jaw hanging open, looking as though he was slapped in the face. An expression no one but Rihyarda could have ever dragged out of him.
Ferdinand slowly put his hand over his eyes as he tried to come to terms with the fact that HE was the evil stepmother in this scenario. That the girl genuinely thought that they were going to kill her if she didn't make herself useful.
…Worst part about it was, she wasn't exactly wrong. The girl was too dangerous to be allowed to simply walk away if she didn't want to play by their rules.
He was also planning on trying to force her to show them her memories in the name of safety, something normally reserved for the most heinous of noble criminals.
"You really are too mean to her." Bonifatius agreed.
Ferdinand tossed him a glare, as he was not among those who he would be powerless to do anything but to accept a lecture from.
"It's true that a majority of her life is a complete mystery and her talent isn't something that can be explained by the words 'genius', but she didn't end up a child wandering around without any family and having to depend on the mercy of merchants for no reason. And despite everything, she is a good hearted girl." Florencia said as she got up from her seat as well. "I'm going to go see if I can talk to her."
Florencia left the room to follow after her adopted daughter.
"...So what are we going to do about this railroad thing?" Justus said, returning to the subject after Florencia was gone. "It really is something too valuable for us to just ignore. It could probably make Ehrenfest into a Greater Duchy in a couple of years by itself."
"Everything that our girl has done so far could already do that." Elvira pointed out. "Though I have to admit, if one could trade between towns on the opposite sides of the Duchy as if they were neighboring villages, the political landscape is going to see a huge shift. And if this becomes an interduchy system, everything is going to change."
"There is also the utility of it as a political tool." Eckhart said, nodding along with his mother's words. "Ferdinand is right in that any province that gets cut off from it would effectively be cut off from all trade within the Duchy. If it is under the control of the Archduke, it would be an incredible political tool. Just increasing the cost of use in a single territory above the others would quickly bring them into line as trade dries up."
"...Alright. With limits placed on what she can do with it, I will agree to the project." Ferdinand said after a moment's thought.
"And you'll apologize to her, right?" Bonifatius asked, getting a glare from the man. "Thought not."
Rin was furious after that damned Fake Priest's attack on her.
It was irrelevant, of course. Her proposal was too valuable to them for them to simply walk away after hearing it. But the way that he had used the fact that limits would need to be placed on what one could do to maintain fair practice in order to try to turn everyone against her left her blood boiling.
That stupid, evil, hypocritical, bastard Fake Priest could just go die in a ditch for all she cared. In fact, she'd throw a party.
"Master?" Angelica said, pulling Rin out of her thoughts. "Did something happen?"
"...Angelica, you were right there."
"Yeah but… I kind of zoned out after people started to talk about paperwork." Angelica admitted.
Rin couldn't help but to smile at her overly innocent guard. "Well, that's fine. I suppose it was nothing of importance anyways." Rin said before continuing to walk. "They will give us the clear sooner or later, and once they do, Benno can handle the rest of the logistics. In the meantime, let's get back to the Temple and start to plan out your education."
"Aw…" Angelica half groaned, her face displaying her childish disappointment.
"Don't worry. It will be fun. I promise." Rin told the girl with a smile. "You've been having fun with the games so far, haven't you?"
She'd already instructed a carpenter about cutting wooden blocks into the shapes of the different territories and landmarks, making a puzzle for Angelica to play with for her geography studies.
There were also games for learning basic math and reading that she could play with the other children at the orphanage, something she didn't mind doing at all.
Her only real problems were going to be history and religion.
For this, Rin planned on making children's bibles and a children's history book. Educational material targeted towards people like Angelica, with lots of pictures.
The history books would come first, simply because that was the first year's material at the Academy. Really, Rin was only doing this because she wanted to see Angelica do well, but in doing so, she was going to be able to make stencils for everything, so she might as well make a hundred of them, since every noble family had to send their children to the Academy.
It would give the workers at the orphanage workshop something to do and a way for them to earn money and 'credits'.
Payment was a foreign concept at the orphanage, where they all raised to simply feel glad to serve… which was weird, and honestly, not very effective. It was like slavery, only without anyone with a whip. To say that Gray Priests were rarely motivated to work would be an understatement.
Actually, since they were all so grateful to Rin for improving their living conditions, they had been more motivated than usual… which was terrifying to think about. Since if that was them motivated, what was unmotivated like? Those stupid robes didn't allow for quick movement or effective work either.
But since none of them could simply leave the Temple to go shopping and they weren't permitted personal possessions while living in the orphanage anyways, Rin had to come up with ways of rewarding them, either as individuals or as a group.
Thus, credits, the orphanage's form of money. They could be spent by individuals for special desserts, or accumulated by groups of people to buy upgrades for the orphanage. Those upgrades are things like better clothes, toys for the children, chalk boards, higher quality bedding, or a heating system.
A lot of these things would normally cost multiple small gold coins, but when divided among four hundred people, they could earn them fairly quickly. If they all worked hard, their collective earnings were around two small gold coins a week.
One of the items on the list that some viewed with longing was a large public bath house. They were starting to have a savings jar to slowly work towards it and would reach that goal in another three years or so.
Others wanted something that had long since been forbidden to them. The right to buy their own freedom from the Temple.
Regardless of what they wanted to do with their earnings, Rin didn't judge. Paying workers was just common sense to her.
Rin just wondered what the Blue Priests were going to think once the orphanage was a nicer place to live than the main Temple.
"Tohsaka." Florencia said as she caught up to Rin, her long legs making the job easy, despite Rin walking faster than was lady-like because of her anger.
"Is something the matter, mother?" Rin asked, wondering if they had changed their minds about the project already and were calling her back hoping she wasn't so upset as to just call it all off.
"That is what I was hoping to ask you. Are you alright?" The woman asked, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the normal bustle of the castle.
"...I'm fine. I was surprised that Ferdinand would try such a stunt with everyone watching, but the fact that he hates me is nothing new." Rin said, figuring that Ferdinand was unpopular enough that rumors of him trying to do something unpleasant to her was fine.
"Tohsaka, Ferdinand doesn't hate you. None of us do." Florencia said, placing a hand on Rin's cheek that Rin had to struggle with the impulse to slap it away. "Even if you were adopted because it was what was best for the Duchy, you are family now, and we do truly care for you."
"...Lady Florencia. I understand what noble society is like. I have seen it, and I have experienced it. Love isn't a guarantee even among those related by blood." Rin said, looking the woman in the eyes. She saw what looked like sadness there, but how could she be sure? Florencia was born and raised to manipulate those around her, to play this game that nobles play. Rin could not trust her any more than the rest of them.
"What would we need to do to get you to trust us?" Florencia asked softly.
What could she do to make Rin trust her? The only person who Rin had ever trusted unconditionally had been Shirou, and he had earned that trust in his own spilt blood.
"You don't need to do anything, because I trust in my own value. My life is guaranteed because I am smart and I have a lot of mana." Rin replied before bowing to Florencia. "I'm sorry if I have upset you, but I really must be going."
She walked away with Angelica right behind her, leaving Florencia to sadly watch her go.