"This is a truly wonderful house, Eisen, are you sure that..." Khan started, looking at Eisen with an unsure expression. However, Eisen immediately nodded his head in response.
"Of course. I want you to be comfortable in this place. And until we manage to find a way to permanently rid you of the curse, that means to make you a home that can properly accomodate you."
Khan was taken aback for a moment, "What do you mean? You're planning on gettind rid of the curse?"
Eisen sighed lightly, "I saw your expression when I introduced you to Silber. It's clear that you're not particularly happy with the situation you're in. And frankly, with all the new information that we've gathered recently, it seems like we'll be able to figure out a cure for the curse at some point. Or rather... it might already be hidden somewhere, but I can't say for sure."
The elderly giant looked at the man in front of him, "If... if it was possible to rid the world of this curse, then why haven't you done so already? Why didn't you do it when you had the actual power to change the rules of the world?"
Eisen noticed Khan's voice. He was growing upset, but Eisen absolutely couldn't blame him. It was a horrible situation, and Eisen himself had wondered the same thing a few times. But of course, there was a simple conclusion he came to every single time, "Because I couldn't."
"So then what changed now? Why can you do it now?!"
"Because Samuel can no longer control us now. I used to think that Samuel only controlled us with the promise of returning to Earth, but after how long I've lived here, I'm not sure that was enough. He probably did something that would restrict us more, though I have no idea what it is exactly," Eisen explained, "Clearly, it wasn't something that let him command us fully.
Otherwise, there would have never been a reason to 'punish' the giants after I disobeyed him. But it was enough to restrict us into following the goals he set out for us. And I believe that, at the same time, he also had some way to punish us that he doesn't have anymore. When we reset out 'experience' points, I believe whatever control he used to have over us was completely removed as well."
"...And so? That restriction being gone is why you believe you can undo the curse?"
"Something like that. It's... all very complicated. I might be wrong about all of this, but fact is that before, Samuel was able to do things that he can't do now. If he was able to place a curse on a whole race, then why can't he do anything to stop us right now? I think it's all linked somehow," Eisen explained, looking at the elderly man in front of him, "I promise that I'm working on it, okay?
You'll be rid of this curse at some point."
"...Okay, so what is it?" Xenia asked. Eisen could tell that she was incredibly curious. Her ears were twitching as they always did when she wanted to know something, even if her face was hiding it fairly well.
"A train. That's what we're going to be building."
"What do you mean? What would we..." the elf started a bit confused, before she really started to think about it. She quickly realized what it was that Eisen was talking about, and stood up from her seat excitedly, "A train spreading throughout the world? Seriously?"
Eisen grinned broadly, "Right, I figured you'd be interested. If we can figure out a proper railway system, then that's going to solve a ton of issues at once, don't you think?"
"Yes! Definitely! Though it would of course be extremely expensive and time-intensive to construct, not to mention the issue of actually getting permission to build it all, but..."
"That's exactly what we're here to figure out. I'll suggest it to Komer as well, and I'll have him help me figure out a way to explain it all to the emissaries that will be coming to deal with the peace treaty. And as for the construction, we'll definitely be able to create some tools to make it all much, much easier," the old man explained, and Xenia thought for a moment.
"But wouldn't it also be a great opportunity to give work to others? Especially with more and more artificials coming in, a lot of people in the central continent are apparently being pushed out of their work," she pointed out, and Eisen immediately nodded his head.
"Right, exactly. That's why we'd just be doing the designing and building the prototypes. The rest of the construction would be done by other enchanters and metalworkers. Komer already started up a construction business recently, so he should be able to expand it specifically for the creation of railways as well.
And of course, he mentioned he wanted to get deeper involved in manufacturing processes as well, beyond just using the items I make for the shops."
Xenia laughed slightly, "That kid is really incredible, isn't he? He's working himself like a madman, but everytime I talk to him, he sounds more energetic than the last."
"Well? You're in, right?" Eisen asked, though the answer was clear in the first place.
"Are you kidding? Of course I am!"