Neudämmerung — Central Plaza. Morning.
The new district did not exist yet.
It existed only on paper.
Gorman had drawn it with precision over three days: twelve residential blocks east of the main market, a central market of its own, workshops organized by guild, access to the southern aqueduct, an interior plaza with a well.
Solid. Functional. Efficient.
---
Kaito had reviewed it the night before.
He found it correct in every way that mattered on paper.
And yet.
---
He called the assembly at dawn.
In the central plaza, which was the largest space in Neudämmerung with open air and capacity for over four hundred people if not all of them stood at the same time.
Gorman arrived with the plans rolled under his arm and the expression of someone who trusts his work.
"It's all here, Commander. We just need to present it and coordinate the start of construction."
Kaito looked at him.
"The plans are for later. First, we listen."
Gorman blinked.
"Listen to what?"
"To them."
