While the constructions of the Golden Zone rose toward the sky, the most important building was the closest to the ground, as it was one of the first buildings made on this island. The city hall entrance was without a door, like a tunnel inside of a mountain supported by rows of columns. Between them were sculptures of previous presidents of the city. The sculpture to the right presented the first, he looked the poorest out of them all in simple clothing with one elegant coat.
“Chris Tomathew was the founder of the city, and this coat was a gift from a first nobleman who contributed to the expansion of this city. Chris made an agreement that benefited both sides and especially the city, which quickly grew with new trades and residents who came from all over the world. He saw the Great Drowning as a chance, not the end.” A teacher stood by the sculpture, from time to time looking into his notes as the students listened to his lecture.
The entrance to the city hall was a busy place as many people were heading in and out of the building. Some came to admire the building itself without any business to attend to in the hall. Many people moved through there, and barely anyone was recognized except for one person. As the teacher spotted him, he stopped his lecture to ask a question. “Does anyone here know who’s the current president of Liberin City?”
A child with a notebook in front of the group raised his hand, closing the book and placing it under his armpit. As the teacher pointed his open hand toward him, he lowered his hand and answered, “The current president is Devin Golding, known as The Architect.”
“That’s correct.” Said the teacher, not even looking at the child as he admired the president. His presence was quickly noticed by everyone. The man wore a beige suit and light brown leather boots. His shirt was of a light yellow color that highlighted the rest of his suit as well as the green tie. On his shoulders was a short cape of a bit lighter beige color that was wrapped all around, only showing his collar and the tie. The cape was pinned with a golden chain. His brown hair was slicked back, shining with the gel he used. Under his golden-framed glasses, he had a thick mustache that didn’t fall into his mouth. His eyes were the same color as the green tie. His age couldn’t be hidden as wrinkles slowly painted his face, but the confidence and radiating positive energy made him look much younger.
He spotted the teacher’s gaze and simply nodded his head toward the man. The teacher was quick to respond with a warm smile. As he walked toward the entrance, more people greeted the president. Some with a simple nod or by saying hello, while the closer people shook hands with him. More people began to gather around him, making his walk much slower, almost blocking his path.
“Mister President! Mister President! It’s urgent!” Shouted a man with a file in hand as he pushed through the crowd.
“Apologies. The duty is calling.” Said Devin as he rushed toward the clerk. The man seemed exhausted after running around the city hall, looking for the president. Devin placed a hand on the clerk’s shoulder to calm him down and asked, “What urgency is that?”
“Mister President, you must've heard the bells.” Said the clerk, his breath calming as Devin’s presence was reassuring to the man.
“That is exactly the reason why I came to the city hall.” Devin took his hand away once he noticed the man was feeling better.
“Some monster appeared in the city, fortunately in the Red Zone. No reports of its appearance, but many people heard its scream, and it attacked one place. The tall tower from the Red Zone has fallen and destroyed buildings under it.” The clerk explained with a bit of a pale face, as he could only imagine how powerful the monster was.
“So no one has seen it?” Devin suddenly began to walk toward the entrance to the city hall. The clerk followed behind him, this time not running but marching.
“No one. One moment, a scream, and minutes later the tower collapsed.” Explained the clerk, keeping the file close to his chest so as not to lose it.
“Even if it was in the Red Zone, we cannot ignore the fact that there is a monster present on this island.” Devin pushed the double doors to the council meeting room. The sound of hundreds of chatters echoed between the walls and out of the room through the open doors.
The council meeting room was round, with tables and desks placed like a staircase leading down to the center where everyone could see the rostrum. Opposite the double doors were three stained glass windows, artificial light behind them made it look as if there was an outside world behind them. At the center, there was a glass representing Liberin City in the sunlight, the hope of humanity. To the left, in a bit darker shades, where its beginnings, a few houses with ships coming toward the brighter future. To the right, the stained glass showed the city piercing the clouds, far away from the danger of drowning. Every dozen feet a blue banner hung from the ceiling with a white crest of a tower inside the cog.
No one yet dared to lead the meeting. Everyone was concerned with their problems. The safety committee talked about repositioning the guards and the failure to stop the monster before it reached the shore. The city development committee devised new layouts for shelters and guards’ houses. The finance committee bit their nails at the thought of the expenses they would incur to repair the damage.
Through these heated conversations, no one even noticed Devin descending down the stairs toward the rostrum. Once he stood there, a few people stopped talking as they noticed his presence, some surprised as if he appeared out of nowhere. Seeing as their fellow committee members stopped talking, they began to look for the cause. Each eye was on Devin Golding, the president and the leader of Liberin City.
“Good day, everyone. It’s been a long time since a crisis like that has occurred in our city. What we need now is firm action and a suitable reaction. Head Guard, send men to inspect the outer walls. The guards off duty should be called for emergency patrols.” Seeing the faces of the finance committee members going pale, he had to add something. “Better being cautious than witnessing another fall of a building in our city.”
After being enlightened about the potential risk of losing much more funds, the financial clerks silently agreed with Devin. The Head Guard stood up and spoke, “I’ll send three squads to the wall and will call upon all guards for the duty calls.” The man in a dark blue uniform saluted toward the president as he answered the order.
“Make it eight.” Said Devin, surprising the man and making him move his palm away from his forehead. He then shook his head and changed his mind. “No. Ten squads should be sent to the wall.”
“But… Mister President… That would take away too many of our guards from the city.” The Head Guard argued back, hearing those orders already made him sweat, so he took his cap off to wipe off his forehead.
“Mister Tarmli, do you doubt the strength of our city guards? Didn’t one of our new cadets recently become an elite guard? The guards are mostly for safety in the city, the elite guards are here for special cases like those, so if anyone spots the monsters, the elite squad will take care of it.” Devin praised the abilities of the elite guards, and there was no doubt in his mind and conviction in his voice; he knew that they were capable of killing an unclassified monster.
“Right… You’re one hundred percent right. Apologies for doubting you, Mister President!” The Head Guard lightened as he realised that they had a squad like that, he forgot about them since they were barely called upon. Once he had apologised to the president, he saluted one last time and left the room to give orders to the rest of the city guards.
“The next matter we should discuss is the damages. Whoever has a report may speak up.” Devin asked and looked around for anyone who would stand up or raise a hand to let them speak. His face tensed as no one had a report about the damages; everyone was just looking around, waiting for that one person. “No one has a report about the damages? I heard they were massive, so at least a broad description should be made.”
The oldest man from the Safety Committee stood up and spoke, “There is no rapport since nothing was damaged. The city is perfectly fine.”
“I heard a whole tower had collapsed.” Devin suspiciously looked at the old man as he didn’t trust his answer.
“A tower had collapsed indeed, but not on our territory, so it doesn’t concern us.” The old man scoffed, clearly spreading hate toward the Red Zone.
Devin massaged his temple with two fingers as he considered his next words, annoyed by the way those politicians ignored the Red Zone. “No matter the zone, we are on the same island, same city. The damages there are damages to Liberin City.” The President lectured the old man, and before he could argue back, he added, “Looks like I’ll have to make that report myself.” Everyone watched in silence as Devin moved up the stairs to leave the meeting room.