After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

The group soon started to recover enough to stand up, though Gaia and Liu would still need a bit more care.

They could only thank Hoffen and Gregor profusely for their rescue. Gregor just nodded with a straight face while Hoffen waved his hand, as if shooing them away.

He even seemed annoyed and everyone stopped bothering him, just remembering the gratitude in their hearts.

They then turned to Cyna's corpse—being handled by Koro—and knew immediately what had happened.

Cyna… definitely tried shielding Gaia with her own body. Things just happened too quickly, their enemy too fast, for anyone to be able to react on time.

If she hadn't been there, then the damage to Gaia—who no longer had working defensive equipment—would've been far worse.

Perhaps… if she didn't do so, the Lady wouldn't have been able to hold on long enough for Hoffen's rescue.

The thought of their mother losing her life, too, made her family's bodies weaken in dread.

It was difficult to express how they felt. Gaia hadn't stopped crying when she realized it. Olga was also sobbing a bit, and she hugged her mother to console her.

They treated Cyna as family— like an aunt. She was really no less than a sister to Gaia, who grew up with her. She did her job due to her sense of duty, but Gaia wouldn't have minded it if she decided to retire and just live with her like a noble.

In the end, they could only thank Cyna for everything she had done for the family and gave her the most solemn funeral they could do, considering their circumstances and the time they had.

This was led by Zaol, who led the respectful salute—something other nobles would've found incomprehensible.

To them, the death of a servant was simply a matter-of-fact, but to the Golds, they lost a family member.

…and they would mourn for her for the rest of their lives.

...

After everything was settled, the party placed the injured ones—Gaia, Liu, and even Oslo (who had a lot of internal bleeding)—in Hoffen's carriage.

It was driven by his chef, Saffron, who—like Gregor—seemed to be a multi-talented guy. Obviously, around Hoffen who disliked people, each person who did end up with him would be able to fill different roles.

It had special incense that would help with recovery. It was also specially designed by Class A and Class B Woodworkers, so the carriage didn't shake as much. It wasn't completely balanced, but it was definitely much better than the typical carriage.

It was really very kind of him to lend them the car, and considering his reputation, they would never in a thousand years have imagined it.

Anyway, the injured had to occupy a bit more space for recovery so very few people could actually squeeze in his carriage. Hoffen's car wasn't big at all because the Woodworkers' skills could only work on a compact design. Hoffen never really thought he'd share the car with anyone, anyway.

Zaol and Olga had to join in to care for the injured, leaving Hoffen out of his own car.

"..."

Internally, he was already regretting his 'kindness', but he was also more curious about the future, so he just sneered at them, though sitting down on the other carriage in the end.

Fortunately, the cart Veronica brought in was relatively spacious, especially since her guards and Obi's followers refused to squeeze in with them. They wanted to do their jobs even if the Golds weren't paying them, which the family truly appreciated.

Not to mention, Obi's followers were quite excited to travel so far off for the first time.

They were orphans and therefore did not have family to leave behind. They really liked and admired Obi, and many of them were alive thanks to the kindness of the Golds.

They entered the guards under Obi, and the only times they had been out of Bleulle was during the couple of town wars that Bleulle decided to involve itself in. Those were definitely not the times to go sightseeing.

Also…, they were very curious about where the instant noodles and crackers came from! They ran out long ago, and they had been lusting after it for a while.

Anyway, inside Veronica's carriage, the atmosphere was tense, and some even wondered if Hoffen would suddenly feel impatient and poison all of them.

No one talked for a long time.

The extroverts all felt awkward, unused to not talking for so long especially when they had so much to discuss. But, at the same time, they were afraid to open their mouths and get poison shot in there.

The Master poisoned a lot of people who annoyed him before. Nothing was lethal, but they were all extremely bad.

There were even times when he would throw some experimental potions with odd effects to people who wouldn't stop bothering him. None of them were there to witness the show, but apparently someone turned blue for a few days, while someone's voice turned to that of a little girl's.

Almost all of the victims were nobles, too (commoners generally wouldn't dare get close to his house), and through the years, many of them formed groups and tried to punish the old man somehow.

However, all attempts failed, either due to Gregory or some other person who owed him their lives.

The potions, even the minor ones, weren't weak either. Level 40s would almost never get indigestion, but many people couldn't stop shitting on themselves when Master Hoffen took action.

Eventually, people just learned to let him be.

When Hoffen suddenly moved, they all flinched, only to realize he had just turned to ask them a question. "How long is the trip to Alterra?"

They heaved a breath of relief, making the old man's eyebrows rise in puzzlement.

"A few days."

"How long exactly?"

"About four or five days if we make a stop," Otto said. He was considering that they might make a rest stop around Bassett Town, like they usually did.

"Don't stop," the old man said, and Otto and the others looked at each other.

However, as uncomfortable as it was to travel for so long without a break, they could only follow the unpredictable old man lest something bad happened to everyone.

"Okay, then, as you wish, Master Hoffen," Otto said, and everyone breathed again.

Silence and awkwardness reigned again. Hoffen didn't seem to care and just entered his own mind, thinking of who-knew-what.

Anyway, after making sure that the old man didn't seem like he wanted to poison them after all, they couldn't help but look at him.

Otto couldn't help but open a conversation. "Master Hoffen," he said, voice warm and friendly, but also patient.

The old man turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been wondering how you found out about Alterra… so I assume it was because of that letter? I'm asking so I know where to take you when we arrived.

The others looked at them in alteration, very curious.

"A Letter?"

Otto nodded. "Miss Althea asked me to send one to him," he said. "I had no idea what it contained, of course."

They all looked at the old man—extremely curious.

Should they risk getting poisoned to ask?!