A Hospital in Another World? C.270

"Mr. Nordmark? Your tea."

"Ah, yes, thank you, little Jenny."

Garrett snapped out of it, took the tea cup, took a sip, and then pounced back onto the map. Friar Street, Anlo Street, Maine Street, Clifton Street... West Denham Street, Welfare Street, Garden Avenue... Green Village, Wolf Village, Penis Village...

City, countryside; upscale residential areas using magic arrays and divine magic arrays for water collection, middle to upper-class residential areas with water delivered by dedicated personnel, lower to middle-class residential areas drawing water from wells, slums drawing water from filthy sewers...

In recent days, he had personally traversed every corner of Nevis City, and then, based on his investigations and memory, marked out the different sources of water on the map. From dots to lines, and from lines to areas. Tomorrow, he would visit Thunder Tower again to have the tower spirits calculate the mortality rates in different areas, as well as the mortality rates due to different causes of infectious diseases...

He finished marking twenty streets, and when he turned around, little Jenny was still standing quietly two meters behind him, looking at the desk with eager eyes. Garrett paused his pen:

"Little Jenny, what’s the matter?"

"S-Sir." The little girl held the tea tray, pressing her thumbs tightly against the edge of the wooden tray, her nails turning white. She stammered a few times, then, seeing Garrett smiling at her without any impatience in his eyes, finally struggled to speak:

"Sir, I’ve finished my tasks for today. Can I borrow a book to read? Don’t worry, I’ll be extremely careful, I won’t dirty it at all, and I’ll return it immediately after reading..."

Garrett smiled slightly. Come to think of it, things had come to this point because of his own fault. If he hadn’t mistakenly thought the little girl had jaundice and insisted on checking, which ultimately removed the disguise made by the girl’s mother, that creditor wouldn’t have come to demand payment, and they probably wouldn’t have resorted to violence.

Since he had intervened, the mother and daughter probably couldn’t stay there any longer. He could only help them to the end. As for the fact that both the mother and daughter could read, that was a pleasant surprise.

"Of course! Little Jenny, the bottom row of the left bookshelf, you can read any book there. You can take it back to your room to read as well. You can only read one book at a time, and remember to return it after you finish reading! Work hard!"

"Thank you, sir!"

The little girl bowed, carefully took out a book, and put it in the pocket of her apron. Then she bowed again, holding the tea tray, and left the study with small, light steps, almost soundlessly.

Garrett smiled and returned to his work. After organizing population data, mortality rates, birth rates, he quickly delved into tax records. Calculation, statistics, assessment—

Five days later, Garrett was confident and requested the opening of the hearing.

The hearing took place in the municipal hall at the foot of the mountain. Not just anyone could enter the Mage Tower, especially the Tower of Heaven at the top of Igor Peak, enveloped in a maze and powerful magical forces. Prolonged exposure for ordinary people could cause irreversible health damage. Therefore, the dignitaries of the review committee rarely condescended to come to the municipal hall to preside over this debate themselves.

Because of the arrival of the dignitaries of the review committee, the municipal hall opened its grandest and largest conference hall. As soon as Garrett stepped into the hall, he saw eight members of the review committee sitting high on the platform facing the entrance of the conference hall. When they saw him enter, most of the committee members had stern faces and pretended not to see him.

In front of the platform was a spacious conference table, and to the left of the conference table, five rows of chairs were arranged from low to high, filled with dozens of people. Among them were knights with serious faces and straight backs, spellcasters wearing robes and mage badges, and some people in luxurious clothes, visibly nervous, looking up at the platform, obviously tense.

Merchants?

Officials?

Or...

Garrett glanced at them, then was led to the right side of the long bench. Five rows of chairs identical to those on the left, but empty. After Garrett sat down, he turned his head to the left, where Aurora Worton was, and to the right, where Bernard the Barbarian was...

Well, in terms of debating, the Barbarian couldn’t even be considered a combatant. There were only him and Aurora, the two of them debating against dozens of people on the opposite side. Not to mention the difficulty, one could imagine how much strain his throat would be under today.

Garrett rubbed his throat and quietly cast a minor healing spell on himself to soothe his throat. As the fingertips flickered with white light, he immediately saw many envious gazes from the crowd opposite him—oh, they weren’t extraordinary individuals, no wonder.

However, as an ordinary person, being able to sit with spellcasters and influence the committee’s decisions, the power and wealth of these people deserved his attention. In front of the committee of magisters, he mustn’t capsize!

Garrett patted his waist pouch, his fingertips touching the stack of documents in the spatial bag, finally feeling a little reassured. The next moment he quickly got up—there was a rustling sound of chairs dragging on the floor from the platform, and the magisters also stood up collectively, focusing their attention forward and smiling and nodding.

Garrett turned to the door and bowed slightly. Elder Wood gave him a slight smile, leading the way into the conference hall and taking a seat in the spectator’s gallery.

Then, one after another, local war god temple’s archbishop, Bishop Hampton, an unknown high-ranking priest from the Spring Temple, entered in succession and took their seats side by side.

The archbishop of the temple of the war god even nodded to Garrett and smiled warmly.

With the arrival of the clerics, there was a bustling sound of footsteps, and another group of people entered. Among them was a person with a tall and straight figure, full of vigor and vitality. It was Selena, the female knight Garrett had dealt with before, the eldest daughter of Count Ifenis, Lady Loxi.

It seemed that this group were all aristocrats. Garrett exchanged a glance with the female knight, and Selena raised her chin slightly, waving her fingers to him with a slight movement. After the nobles took their seats, another group of merchants entered, bustling and noisy, filling up the back rows of the spectator seats.

The doors of the conference hall closed with a bang. In front of the conference table, a clerk in a black robe with white shoulder-length curls rang the bell and raised his voice:

"Regarding Mage Garrett Nordmark’s request for the allocation of special funds to establish a public health institution, a special hearing is now in session!"

Garrett: !!!

Familiar but unfamiliar, I didn’t file this application!

He quickly looked towards the platform. On the platform, the protective magic archmage smiled slightly and gestured to him.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Go for it!

If you win this debate, you’ll be the first head of the public health institution!

"Next, please present arguments from all parties regarding the necessity, feasibility, and budget of establishing a public health institution!"

The clerk raised his left hand and lifted it up. Across from Garrett, a mage in a deep blue robe with three silver stars on his badge stood up immediately. As soon as he spoke, Garrett’s face darkened:

"I believe that the current medical resources in Nevis City are sufficient to meet the needs of the entire city. There is no need to establish any other institutions!"

Thank you, @Tungsten Small Shadow, for the 1500 starting coins.

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