Chapter Ninety-Four: Integration

The entire Sunspire entered a period of urban development. Specific policies were determined through a system in which each department drafted proposals, other departments offered suggestions on implementation, and Patrick reviewed everything personally. If a policy could not be settled by discussion, or if the plan differed too greatly from the recommendations, then everyone would gather all the materials and decide in a meeting.

This made the Sun Temple’s administration more efficient and, as far as possible, made its rules and regulations more reasonable. In Azeroth, there were never so many local officials; at most, the highest administrative officer in a small town was a warden or a mayor. In such a town, he alone handled municipal affairs, finance, taxation, and law, and at best he could summon a small governing team to divide up the different duties.

But with only that handful of people, how could they possibly manage everything? A small town’s affairs, plus all the trivial little matters, could never be handled perfectly. So Patrick refined the authority beneath him, ensuring that each elf could fully master the matters in his or her charge. If disagreements arose in administration, all the elves could present the reasons for their decisions, exchange information, and finally arrive at a workable conclusion.

“The city is in a stage of development. It is recommended that we purchase large quantities of timber from the Golden Bough Valley of the Dawnstar family. The initial plan is to draw up a fifty-year cooperation contract. If the partnership proves successful, it can be extended to a hundred years.”

Querlintis, who oversaw municipal affairs, wrote very thoroughly, even explaining the timber’s uses and quality requirements. The Dawnstar side’s quotation was also reasonable; at the very least, it did not seek to gouge Patrick. An initial fifty-year partnership posed no problem. For long-lived high elves, fifty years truly was like the brief bloom of a fleeting flower.

Patrick glanced at the map and muttered, “Golden Bough Valley, huh. Doesn’t seem very safe.”

In the future, when Orgrim Doomhammer led the Horde’s armies to the border of the energy field of Bandinoril, the whole of Golden Bough Valley, Windrunner Village, and other regions would be brutally invaded by orcs, with countless high elves dying beneath their iron hooves.

The Horde’s dragon-riding army brought ruin and misery to all of Golden Bough Valley. Its timber and magical flora were utterly destroyed, turning the whole valley into a charred wasteland. Even by the time the Lich King attacked Quel’Thalas, Golden Bough Valley remained a scene of devastation.

Magic surged, and Patrick’s annotation was automatically recorded onto the scroll: the cooperation period must be only five to eight years. This is our first collaboration with the Dawnstar family, and we need time to fully understand the quality characteristics and structural features of their products. The first contract is a period of mutual testing, so the term should not be too long.

Patrick’s reasoning was well-founded and persuasive, revealing nothing at all on the surface.

“Increase the number of mages in the alchemy and enchantment workshops. As the team expands greatly, apart from tax and rent income, we need to correspondingly increase the number of people working within the tower, and build a complete mage tower industry.”

Patrick’s reply read: Approved. However, submit a concrete plan, and notify every department as well.

A qualified and highly efficient team could not rely on mutual supervision alone; it also needed a certain degree of cooperation. The team’s cohesion greatly affected its working efficiency.

As for making such large-scale changes to administrative methods, that was Patrick’s own affair. Though Therestha and Liadrin represented the royal family and the council respectively, neither of them could intervene in Patrick’s administrative apparatus, and the powers behind them were likewise not well positioned to infiltrate it. They could only watch as the Sun Temple remained firmly in Patrick’s grasp.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to see you now.”

A clear, melodious voice reached him.

“So Aurelia is here,” Patrick thought.

His subordinates all knew that their lord and the Windrunner eldest daughter were closely connected, so no one would stop Aurelia from teleporting directly to the sixth floor of the mage tower.

“Ever since you became the lord of the Sun Temple and a member of the council, you’ve had less and less time. Still not reached that goal you’ve been chasing in secret?”

After all, the Windrunner family was an old and distinguished noble house. Knowing something of the Carbong family’s circumstances was hardly surprising. The Carbong family had long struggled in Silvermoon City, and there had never been a high-ranking spellcaster in the household. As the direct heir of the Carbong line, Patrick’s striving upward to win rights and advantages for his family was entirely understandable.

So at first, Aurelia had assumed that Patrick’s privately chosen goal was to become a council member. Yet after he became one, his pace did not slow; instead, he pressed upward with even greater urgency, which left Aurelia somewhat puzzled.

Patrick could not explain why. The future held too many uncertainties; he could only accumulate strength little by little.

Aurelia’s intuition was astonishing, and with the gentleness and delicacy typical of a female elf, she had sensed even his smallest movements.

“So what, exactly, is your goal?” Aurelia asked, leaning so close to Patrick’s eyes that she could nearly feel his breath.

Patrick did not answer. He simply looked at Aurelia in silence. In both their eyes, there was only the reflection of the other. After several breaths, Aurelia was the first to yield.

“You really are a cunning elf.”

Then she changed the subject. “But there is one thing that makes you different from other elves. Whatever you do, you are always deeply focused, and you have your own strong opinions.”

“I read the letter you sent. I’ve already assigned a capable administrator to come and help you improve the Sun Temple’s ranger affairs.” Aurelia returned to the subject at hand. The responsibility of ranger marshal had always rested on the female elf’s shoulders and had never been abandoned.

“I’m going to reorganize the Sun Temple’s building layout and urban planning, so the location of the ranger barracks may need to be adjusted.”

Aurelia lifted a brow, her expression full of confusion. “Why do this? Do you need to build a city here?”

“It’s only a reorganization of the layout. The Sun Temple never originally had this many permanent residents. Now that more and more elves are settling here to develop, it needs proper planning.” Patrick added.

He showed Aurelia his planning map. In the future, there would be even more buildings around the outer reach of the Sunspire. The ranger barracks and ordinary residences would need to be separated. The city development of the Sun Temple would gradually expand, and commercial districts, military districts, and other areas would all need to be delineated.

In truth, Patrick had spent most of his time practicing spatially combined arcane sequences. The sealed chamber required the arrangement of a great number of spatial arcane sequences. He intended to place one of Norgannon’s platinum discs there and lay down a lattice of magical power, using the disc’s ability to absorb arcane energy from the void as a stored power source for the Sunspire.

Patrick had carefully investigated it. Though the platinum disc could not compare to the Well of Eternity, it was likewise a Titan creation, and the underlying principles of its function were fundamentally the same. In any case, these four platinum discs had originally been the core power sources of Uldaman, while the other obsidian machines and energy arrays there had merely been backup sources of power.

Time was hard to measure when it came to arcane research. It was not until one day that Aurelia arrived, leading two female elves to report to Patrick.

“These two are the elves specifically assigned to handle the Sun Temple’s ranger affairs. This one is Galindel Starbloom, and this one is Eleanora Stormstrike. Galindel Starbloom was once my deputy, and she can now command troops independently. Within the Farstrider forces, she mainly oversees troop deployment and logistical command, and she is a rare talent in command. The other, Eleanora Stormstrike, is now Galindel Starbloom’s deputy. The two of them can work with you to handle the Sun Temple’s ranger affairs.”