Chapter 284
Chapter 284
Aurora Worton’s suggestion for Garrett Nordmark to recruit some people from public health institutions wasn’t just a casual remark. In fact, before Garrett even made a move, people were already begging to be recruited...
The construction of the Mage Tower was completed. The interior was finished. The awakening of the tower spirit was done. All these tasks took up two days of Garrett’s time. On the third day, early in the morning, just as Garrett was barely awake, a carriage bearing the Magic Council’s emblem was waiting eagerly outside the villa, ready to pick someone up.
Garrett couldn’t help but smile upon getting up. Aurora was also in the carriage, emerging with a gloomy face and yawning as he waved at Garrett. How eager they must be, as if fearing even a slight delay!
In fact, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to come to pick him up, but for the past two days, Garrett had been busy with the Mage Tower. Surrounded by big shots of levels fourteen or fifteen, or even seventeen or eighteen, the group coming to pick him up couldn’t get close...
The carriage clattered along, winding its way to the foot of the mountain and taking Garrett directly to the Magic Council’s office. The six-story white tower stood tall and majestic, as imposing as when he first saw it, but Garrett no longer had the heart to admire it. He had his own Mage Tower now! Three floors below ground, nine above!
To the right of the entrance hall of the white tower, a large black iron door was tightly closed, marking the emergency management department’s area. The person who came for Garrett led him directly inside, through twists and turns to the deepest part, into a spacious and empty meeting room.
The room was broad and could accommodate twenty to thirty people for a meeting, with a long rectangular table in the center. The table’s sand tray was shaky and somewhat translucent, with houses, streets, rivers, and trees detailed and miniature, precisely replicating Nevis City.
Garrett couldn’t resist leaning over to take a closer look. There’s the Bridge Magic Academy, the white tower nearby, the villa area... the small train station... even his newly constructed Mage Tower was marked!
Impressive!
How often is this sand tray updated?"This is Nevis City’s magic sand tray," a voice suddenly spoke from the side:
"Maintained by twelve invisible servants carrying secret eye rings around the city daily, collecting sights seen by the secret eyes and updating it once a day."
Garrett turned around abruptly. Standing by the sand tray was an unfamiliar middle-aged magician, tall and strong, with a weathered face and piercing black eyes that seemed to see right into one’s soul. He nodded at Garrett and extended his right hand:
"Magician Garrett Nordmark? A pleasure. I am the head of the emergency management department, Johnny Colin, pleased to meet you. The future work of the public health office will be supported by law enforcement teams from the emergency management department, in cooperation with your office."
Garrett shook hands with him. A quick glance at the magician’s badge on the man’s chest showed three silver stars and three white circles—a third-circle arcane magician, an eighth-level magician. His academic rank was clearly behind his magic level, but combined with his position, he was likely—quite formidable.
Being strong is good! Public health institutions also need to enforce laws with strength, and with his connections, it wasn’t clear where else to look!
Thank goodness the review committee sent him!
Garrett showed a genuine smile and shook hands firmly. The middle-aged magician’s palm was as hard as iron, more like a warrior than a magician. After exchanging pleasantries, Minister Colin pointed at the sand tray and said:
"This shows the terrain and flow of water in Nevis City, along with the location of residential buildings, which is very convenient for determining the placement of water facilities. —In the past two days, the emergency management department’s surveyors have already designed the water pipes, would you like to see if there’s anything that needs changing?"
He pressed on the sand tray, made a few gestures, and whispered a short spell. Soon, blue lines, thick and thin, lit up on the sand tray, flowing down from the nearby mountains, clearly the water supply routes Garrett had mentioned.
Garrett leaned in for a closer look.
High and middle-class residential areas, low-income residential areas, many water supply pipes branched into individual houses and buildings; while in low-income areas, there were designated pools on the streets.
Small blue squares, even with splashing water, appeared to be open designs, creating a pool for people to fetch water.
"That won’t do," Garrett immediately shook his head:
"It’s too prone to contamination..."
"...That’s not my department," Magician Colin waved
his hand:
"The construction of water facilities is someone else’s job, I just brought you to see the sand tray. Remember the locations, and someone will come later, and we’ll go to another room for a meeting—"
Garrett stopped talking, trying hard to look and remember. Fortunately, becoming a magician had improved his mental and memory abilities, so memorizing such a large map wasn’t difficult.
"Ah, here they come." As time ticked by, Colin suddenly spoke softly. Soon, a series of bells rang near the meeting room door. Minister Colin immediately led Garrett out, heading straight to the fifth floor, into an opulently furnished meeting room.
This meeting room’s long table was oval-shaped, covered in dark black velvet that nearly touched the floor. Garrett was guided by Minister Colin to sit on the side of the oval table, near the end. After a short wait, the attendees began to arrive.
Garrett glanced around, unable to suppress a laugh:
The people here for today’s meeting were essentially a lower-tier version of those from the hearing two days ago~~~
The Temple of the War God sent a bishop, and the Temple of the Spring Goddess sent a priest, judging by the decorations on their robes, both seemed to be around level eleven or twelve. Each had attendants sitting behind them at the back of the long table, near the wall, with notebooks spread on their laps, eagerly looking on.
Seeing the notebooks filled with many writings and erasures, they must have been in meetings the past two days, heaven knows how many arguments they’ve had.
Elder Wood was personally present. As for the Magic Council’s side—
"Archmage Edgar! Why did you personally come over? Ah, Lynn, when did you get back?"
Garrett was genuinely surprised. Seeing this guide on his magical path, who also gave him potassium permanganate in a critical battle, boosting his fighting capability, he was much warmer to Lynn than to Archmage Edgar. Lynn managed a strained smile:
"I just got back the other day. Little Garrett, I heard you’re about to do something big again? Mind if I join?"
"Of course, it’s great if you’re interested!"
Garrett nodded happily. Lynn sat behind the instructor against the wall, and seeing Garrett occasionally stretching his neck trying to see him, couldn’t help but laugh:
"Don’t look anymore, Mr. Troka didn’t come!"
Garrett sheepishly retracted his head. He wasn’t looking for the black cat; he was searching for the golden skeleton...
Then, gradually, four or five nobles arrived, including Knight Selina who had been there that day. Garrett smiled warmly at her, just exchanged a greeting, when the transformation series evaluator entered the meeting room and announced the start of the meeting.
"In the meeting two days ago, we initially agreed to establish a public health office, with Garrett Nordmark serving as the first director.
The council will be responsible for monitoring and disinfecting the city’s water quality.
The Noble Union and Nevis City Chamber of Commerce will cooperate with the council, responsible for pipeline construction and daily water billing.
The Temple of the Spring Goddess will work with the council, responsible for reservoir construction, drinking water pipeline construction, and the maintenance and supply of drinking water.
The Temple of the War God will work with the council, focusing on combating littering and illegal dumping.
The Cult of Nature will work with the council, responsible for sewage collection, treatment, and purification.
The three major temples and the council together will build and maintain hospitals for infectious diseases..."
The committee member spoke at a steady pace, repeating the previous meeting’s resolutions, occasionally making eye contact with the heads of each temple, and half seemingly speaking directly to Garrett. Once he finished and saw the heads nodding in agreement, he turned to Garrett:
"Magician Nordmark, as the first director of the public health office, do you have anything to add?"
"...Yes," Garrett took a moment to digest the committee member’s speech, then smiled slightly.
It seems the meetings over the past few days weren’t in vain, and the arguments weren’t for nothing. Without his knowledge, the council and the major forces had already reached a relative balance.
The most obvious point was that the Temple of the Spring Goddess ultimately secured the supply and maintenance of drinking water, no telling how much they had to offer behind the scenes...
He organized his thoughts, leaned forward slightly, nodding respectfully to the leaders sitting at the head of the table. Once they acknowledged him, he slowed down and started speaking one point at a time:
"In terms of city governance, the elders here are much wiser than me. However, on the professional front, I’d like to share some of my thoughts:
First, I’ve seen the planning for the poor districts, where the drinking water spots are relatively dense and evenly distributed, which is good. But one thing to note, the construction of water pools should be closed, with a pump installed on top. Additionally, there should be a separate
inlet for timely disinfection. I’ll submit the specific drawings later.
For middle and high-class residential areas, it’s best if every building, every house, has piped water access..."
"That’s not possible!"
Across the table, a young noble next to Knight Selina jumped up. Garrett recognized him; he resembled the noble who spoke on behalf of the Temple of the Spring Goddess during the hearing two days ago:
"We’re already doing piped water in our territory! Two blocks, twelve buildings, all under our responsibility! The council can’t just come in and tear up the pipes for no reason!"
He glanced at Selina as he spoke. However, she didn’t pay him any attention, instead turning her head even more towards Garrett, giving him a few more looks.
"...I see."
Garrett rested his chin on his fist, pondering for a moment. "It’s not that it can’t be done. Since your family is handling it, the council won’t needlessly dismantle it. But the council’s involvement in water supply isn’t for profit, but for the safety of all city residents. You can continue supplying water, but your pipes and water quality need to be approved by the council—"
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