Aurora Wortonâs suggestion for Garrett Nordmark to recruit some people from public health institutions wasnât 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 Garrettâs time. On the third day, early in the morning, just as Garrett was barely awake, a carriage bearing the Magic Councilâs emblem was waiting eagerly outside the villa, ready to pick someone up.
Garrett couldnât 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 wasnât that they didnât 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 couldnât get close...
The carriage clattered along, winding its way to the foot of the mountain and taking Garrett directly to the Magic Councilâs 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 departmentâs 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 tableâs sand tray was shaky and somewhat translucent, with houses, streets, rivers, and trees detailed and miniature, precisely replicating Nevis City.
Garrett couldnât resist leaning over to take a closer look. Thereâs the Bridge Magic Academy, the white tower nearby, the villa area... the small train station... even his newly constructed Mage Tower was marked!
Impressive!
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"This is Nevis Cityâs 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 oneâs 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 magicianâs badge on the manâs chest showed three silver stars and three white circlesâa third-circle arcane magician, an eighth-level magician. His academic rank was clearly behind his magic level, but combined with his position, he was likelyâquite formidable.
Being strong is good! Public health institutions also need to enforce laws with strength, and with his connections, it wasnât clear where else to look!
Thank goodness the review committee sent him!
Garrett showed a genuine smile and shook hands firmly. The middle-aged magicianâs 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. âIn the past two days, the emergency management departmentâs surveyors have already designed the water pipes, would you like to see if thereâs 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 wonât do," Garrett immediately shook his head:
"Itâs too prone to contamination..."
"...Thatâs not my department," Magician Colin waved
his hand:
"The construction of water facilities is someone elseâs job, I just brought you to see the sand tray. Remember the locations, and someone will come later, and weâll go to another room for a meetingâ"
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 wasnât 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 roomâs 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 todayâs 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 theyâve had.
Elder Wood was personally present. As for the Magic Councilâs sideâ
"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 youâre about to do something big again? Mind if I join?"
"Of course, itâs great if youâre interested!"
Garrett nodded happily. Lynn sat behind the instructor against the wall, and seeing Garrett occasionally stretching his neck trying to see him, couldnât help but laugh:
"Donât look anymore, Mr. Troka didnât come!"
Garrett sheepishly retracted his head. He wasnât 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 cityâs 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 meetingâs 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 memberâs speech, then smiled slightly.
It seems the meetings over the past few days werenât in vain, and the arguments werenât 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, Iâd like to share some of my thoughts:
First, Iâve 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. Iâll submit the specific drawings later.
For middle and high-class residential areas, itâs best if every building, every house, has piped water access..."
"Thatâs 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:
"Weâre already doing piped water in our territory! Two blocks, twelve buildings, all under our responsibility! The council canât just come in and tear up the pipes for no reason!"
He glanced at Selina as he spoke. However, she didnât 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. "Itâs not that it canât be done. Since your family is handling it, the council wonât needlessly dismantle it. But the councilâs involvement in water supply isnât 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 councilâ"