The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 743: Changing The System of Sanctum

Two days later, at night after 10 PM — in the dark city of the Sanctuary, the building of authority: the Sanctum was glowing like a golden beacon in the sea of darkness. It was because of the light orb runic devices installed all over the Sanctum land.

Damian was scribbling, seated at his table on the seventh floor of the Sanctum. The inside of the Sanctum, too, had these runic lamps installed, which could be turned on and off with a simple switch, accessed by everyone passing through the hallway.

His seventh floor, which had become his permanent living space — since Lucian had been diving in the dungeon with others and had come back only this evening. Damian was trying to design a permanent giant ship-like stationary base which he could place on all the dungeons he had discovered in the ocean. The ten he had made for the demons were not something long-lasting.

Since his Waygate project was stalled and, without much reliable material, he couldn’t make anything else — well, he could, but Damian still wanted to give the dungeon explorers time to find something better than steel so he wouldn’t have to repair and replace things all the time.

The designing of ideas was how he relaxed. To others, it might look like he was still just working, but to him this was his most natural state of existence. The closest he came to a peaceful mind.

“Ahhm..” someone fake-coughed.

Damian was too occupied to pay any mind, though.

“Will you stop drawing those annoying circles and tell us why we are here?!” Sam said, getting fed up with him. “I just came back this evening. I wanna go and sleep!”

Ah! Right. He had totally forgotten he had asked his attendants to gather all the Transcendents — Evrin, Maelor, Prince Leon, and Grace. Damian looked up and saw the seven people staring at him with not-so-amused looks on their faces. Only Souldealer and Leon were trying to maintain polite expressions on their faces — the others didn’t even bother. The worst of which was Lucian, who had been there before anyone arrived.

“Good, you are all here. How’s the dungeon diving going?” he asked, pushing the papers and books to the side.

“It would be much more fun if we didn’t have to make reports on every single thing..” Maelor commented.

“It’s not supposed to be fun. It’s a search for materials.” Damian made a face at him.

This wasn’t an official meeting, so he didn’t have to put up airs. He could see Souldealer and Prince Leon were slightly amused by his shift in temperament. Damian took a sip of the alcohol Lucian poured for him and said the thing he had gathered them here to say,

“Our governing system is inefficient. I am going to change it.”

All faces instantly became serious. Everyone in the Sanctuary had somewhat expected him to change the highest table of three to include Lucian and Sam, but completely changing the system was something not everyone had thought of before.

“Change the Sanctum’s system? How?” Evrin asked.

“For starters, the highest authority won’t be three of us — it will be seven. One of which is the Keeper — no change in that. We won’t attend the meetings with others — each of us gets to choose three people who represent us in these meetings. Someone will have the highest authority among those too. The House of Lords, which will also be restructured, will have only one job — bringing issues from the locals and discussing possible solutions. Once the majority is in agreement, the bill will be signed by the highest authority and then it will come to the highest table. Here too, if the majority are in agreement, we approve the bill and act on it. If it’s something not viable, we cancel it or could send it back for improvement.”

“That’s.. a lot of changes.” Einar said.

Damian nodded. “It is, and I haven’t reached even half of it. That is why you are all here. It’s not your strength that has made me ask all of you for your opinions — but it’s simply because all of you are the pillars of Sanctuary. You all have cared for it, and you deserve a chance in shaping its future. When the changes are implemented and a month has gone by, the highest table will have a chance to decide whether I should keep going as the Keeper or my vision is not suitable for the Sanctuary.”

“You can’t step down!” Einar and Sam spoke up at once.

“I won’t,” Damian said with a smile. “The changes I want to make are something very big and new for this world — I am saying you get to choose if it’s good for our people or not. I am a Keeper, not the ruler — and I too can make mistakes.”

“It’s good that you are aware of it, Lord Keeper,” Souldealer said. Then added when everyone looked at her, “But can you explain how our governing system is inefficient?”

Damian exhaled. “First of all, it’s not the House of Lords — currently, it’s more of a house of three groups: the Dawnstar lords who still think they are guests here, people who go along with whatever I say, and Evrin and others who want to keep the things in Sanctuary as stable as possible. Secondly, tell me — what is the main job of the House of Lords?”

Everyone looked at each other, when finally Evrin answered, “To bring issues from the common people?”

“Right,” Damian nodded, “and who among the House of Lords has lived with these common people?”

Blank faces stared back at him, eyebrows of some raising in thought and surprise.

Damian continued, “The most important people in the government of any city or kingdom are the mundane, everyday people doing simple things to put food on everyone’s table. There is no kingdom without the people living in it. That is why — for my reign as the Keeper, not just the many members in the House of Lords but even one of the spots on the highest table will be reserved for a mundane person the city chooses to lead themselves.”

Now that was an even bigger surprise to everyone present than him saying he would step down.

“How could a person without power lead everyone?” Prince Leon asked before anyone could say anything.