The building process for Sharath's revolutionary sanitation system started with the grandest digging effort in House Darsha's history—what had originally been explained to the laborers as "digging a better hole" rapidly grew into an expansive, multi-stage infrastructure redesign with blueprints so meticulous they left even the most veteran foremen jittery.
By the time Master Jorik received the final blueprints, he was forced to double-check the very top corner to make sure that, yes, they were indeed signed by a five-year-old. He had no idea whether this was more impressive or creepy.
The Great ExcavationWork started at dawn on the first day, with Jorik barking commands, spades sinking into the ground, and Sharath perched on a tiny crate like a wee foreman supervising a royal palace job.
"It has to be deeper there," Sharath shouted, indicating the east end. "Precisely two hands' length deeper, so that the slope drops into the drainage channel."
The men looked at one another, vaguely perplexed by the precision. Jorik cleared his throat. "And, uh… how steep exactly should the slope be, young master?"
Sharath's eyes grew narrowed with the gravity of a man talking about war strategy. "Twenty-three degrees."
The workers stopped. "He just… knows that?" one whispered.
By the third day, the team had ceased questioning him. When Sharath told them to "dig here" or "strengthen that wall," they listened. He wasn't incorrect yet—and he walked with the confident humility of a person who had already managed a dozen successful sewer projects in a previous life.
The digging itself was transformed into a curiously refined piece of art: a twelve-foot-wide, eight-foot-deep chamber with sloped sides, smooth drainage channels, and robust timbers for support. It resembled an immense well from the top, and from a technical point of view, it was the framework of a cutting-edge waste treatment plant.
Magical Integration: Runes, Enchantments, and Molecular DecompositionAfter the excavation was done, Magister Aldren came to take care of the magical aspect of things. The old mage had anticipated something straightforward—simple purification glyphs, maybe a slight scent charm. What he got was crafting an interwoven web of decomposition runes, atmospheric cleansing wards, and molecular transformation circles, all from the kid's drawings.
"The runes here," Sharath demonstrated, gesturing to an area of wall, "must loop back into the primary circuit, so energy circulates smoothly and doesn't become clogged."
Aldren blinked. "Bottleneck?"
"Yes," Sharath replied bluntly, "the same way water does through pipes. But magical."
The mage stroked his beard. "Young master… you understand that this design is more sophisticated than the systems employed in the public works of the capital?"
It's just common sense," Sharath answered, as if it was a matter of tying shoelaces. "If you want it clean, make it super clean.
When they were done, the runic arrays resembled a tapestry of shimmering blue lines, each one linking to another in a precisely balanced web. The system would disassemble waste at the molecular level, filter water until it was crystal clear, destroy all foul odors, and recycle the residue into nutrient-rich fertilizer.
It was, literally, the finest latrine in the kingdom.
The Plumbing RevolutionWhereas the majority of the nobles would have been content with having their private facilities improved, Sharath envisioned more.
"Each bathroom in the manor will be linked," he declared one night at dinner.
Lord Varundar blinked. "All of them?"
"Yes. Family wing, guest quarters, servants' chambers—everyone deserving good sanitation."
The room fell silent. One of the footmen came close to spilling a tray. This wasn't the way noble mansions generally functioned. Luxury was for the elite; the lower ranks tolerated whatever could be decently overlooked.
Sharath would not have it. "Good hygiene is for all," he insisted loudly. "Or else what's the use? Disease doesn't ask your surname before it comes calling."
And thus, plans grew. Enchanted pipes would wind beneath the manor, joining each floor and wing. None—not even the stablemen—would be excluded.
Noble Bemusement at Its BestAs the news went out, visiting nobles couldn't help but peer over the works.
Count Aldamar showed up one afternoon, watching the workers carry gleaming slabs of stone, the mages inscribing runes, and the carpenters inserting pipes into walls. "What in the world is your son constructing?" he asked, his voice somewhere between interest and fear.
"A superior toilet," Lord Varundar said easily, having already had to recite this phrase a dozen times.
The count began. "That's. a definite improvement. Most children would have simply added flowers."
"Our son," said Lady Ishvari tactfully, "has his own method of dealing with problems."
"My word," the count breathed, observing Sharath personally examine a magical filtration unit, "he's conducting this like a war campaign."
When Workers Start TalkingBy the fourth week, the construction site had taken on a strange new rhythm. Workers began making bets on what the young master would request next.
"I've got two silvers that he's going to tell Aldren to 'reverse the purification polarity,'" one mason joked.
"You're on," said another.
Sure enough, later that day, Sharath peered at the runes and said, "Hmm. Reverse the polarity here—then it'll work twice as fast."
The masons came close to dropping their tools laughing.
A Sanitation Legacy in the MakingWhen the final rune was installed and the final pipe closed, the manor's sanitation system was unlike any other in the area. Waste was gone in an instant. Water emerged cleaner than spring-fed brooks. And the fertilizer it created was already being hauled to the gardens.
Lady Ishvari confessed, in confidence, that she had underestimated the resolve of her son. Lord Varundar started throwing in casual references to the system at dinner parties, as if having an infrastructure genius of five was just normal.
Count Aldamar, on visiting and sampling the new facilities, left after five minutes with the dazed expression of a man who had caught a glimpse of the future. "By the gods," he breathed softly, "the seat was warm.
The venture that started out as a complaint about the outdated privy had turned House Darsha into the most technologically—and magically—sophisticated estate in the province. Sharath's work was not merely convenience; it was a declaration.
And although few yet understood, it was just the start.