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

The only bright side out of this punishment was that, other than kicking him out of the house, there was not much else that could be done to him.

Toolmakers were pretty important and relatively uncommon even in cities.

It was why the Lords couldn't be too harsh on them. If they were disliked, the toolmakers, alchemists, and so on would just move to a city "that'd appreciate them better".

Further, if the Lord was vindictive and got them killed, if it was found out, it was possible that the other toolmakers would leave after the contract ends—after ensuring they'd be protected by their new employers, of course.

This had happened many times. For example, another toolmaker, Sleuth, was pirated by the Golds from another Town south. Sir Otto was travelling there and he was approached by Sleuth, who had just awakened the occupation.

Speaking of contracts, this was also why the standard contracts were only 5 years, or 10 at most, and would be renewed only when both parties agreed to the terms. It was a way to protect the toolmakers' interests.

"I'll be fine… I'll stay at a nearby inn," he muttered. Although…he had a feeling the decent ones would all be fully booked as well. With that thought, he decided to go straight to the area near the slums.

The inns there were poorly maintained and even dilapidated, but it'd probably be the only ones the Lord and his cronies wouldn't bother with.

Later, he confirmed that the 'poor' inns were truly the only ones with openings. He passed by some other inns on the way and they were all 'fully booked' despite the tables being relatively empty.

The inn was…really bad. It felt like the ceilings would fall down at any time, and there was the odd smell of rotting wood in the air. He wondered if it was truly any better than living on the streets.

He walked up to his room, his eyes twitching when he heard the stairs creaking every step he made. Before he could touch the knob—which looked a bit…slimy—someone tapped on his shoulder.

He turned to see that it was a guy a few inches smaller than he was. "Mister Kalfene?"

Kalfene ignored him by habit. He wasn't a social person and the people trying to pander to him could get annoying, so he automatically tended to be rude to people.

But then he felt the movement of aether around and knew that a Voice Blocker was activated.

His eyebrows rose as he gave the man a second look. The man smiled confidently. "Would you like to transfer to our Town?"

"A Town?"

Did Bleumrick intimidate everyone from taking him in that no one but a town offered him a job?

"Are you serious?"

"Very much so," he said. "Sir Otto and the others spoke well of you."

This made Kalfene pause, and he immediately looked around. The hallway of the poor inn was empty and there was the additional precaution of a voice blocker.

This person knew what he was doing. However, Kalfene decided to test him out a bit.

"Didn't you know? Dropping that name around here could get you in jail," he said. This was an exaggeration of course, but he didn't want to deal with this if this person was a lying opportunist.

Rather, it could even get him in trouble if he spoke positively about the Golds.

"Ah, is that so?" the man said. "Sir Otto didn't say anything about that, just that you are a very stubborn man and it would be a pity to let your talent rot."

"And you're telling me to go to a town?" From a City to a Town… where would he "rot"? Also, am I supposed to believe the Golds are alive and are now in a Town?"

Sean shrugged. "I didn't say that," he said. "I just said our Town can help you."

Kalfene was more inclined to think this person was lying, but he was too curious to completely dismiss him.

"He just said to show this to you," Sean said, handing over a piece of thin paper he recognized to be one of the products the Golds sold when they were still here.

What shook him more, however, was its contents.

"This…"

"It's an overview of a design for a tool related to your expertise," he said. "They already have a more detailed design and theories back home. They just need the toolmaker to create it.

"And Master Otto recommended you," he said. "Will you be up for it?"

…

In another area, Turbo knocked on Sleuth's door.

According to their investigation, this guy really hated noise, so they did not dare knock too much lest they make a horrid first impression.

As they waited, they sighed.

"Not gonna lie, I thought Sir Gregory would be around here," he whispered.

Sir Gregory went with them in the end to protect them from City-level monsters. While they considered that he just wouldn't enter the city, they pondered it was too unfair for such a great guy.

Besides, even if the Lord did see him, if they handled it well, then it could delay the realization that Grandmaster Hoffen was no longer there!

Anyway, when the powerhouse disappeared, they just thought that he either went to get some things from Hoffen's old home or maybe—just maybe—he had already been here to give them a headstart with the toolmaker. But alas, he still hasn't shown up after this long.

"Well, if we can't find him after the mission, maybe we can leave him here. He's very strong anyway."

"He can leave, but we can't. Don't you imagine what would happen if we left this place without sir Gregory… what if we encounter a strong beast?"

Sigh.

"So… where is he?"

They were not able to ponder about this for long because, around this time, the door finally opened. It revealed a man with short hair and very deep eyebags.

Turbo immediately went to salesman mode. "Ah, hello, are you Master Sleuth? We'd like to talk to you ab—"

He was stopped by his companion. "He's using a voice blocker."

"Huh?" Turbo blinked and turned to look at the toolmaker, who was staring at them blankly. He was wearing a voice blocker on his neck, and the aura around it indicated it was activated. "Can he understand us?"

At the same time, even if he was not hearing anything, he hadn't shut the door on them, which wasn't a bad sign.

"Er…we are here to offer a partnership," Turbo said, direct to the point. When he saw the other man's eyebrows rise a bit, Turbo realized the man could probably read lips.

This showed that Sleuth wasn't entirely anti-social; he just didn't want noise.

At this, Turbo took out a chalkboard from his space. As for why he had it, it was actually what his wife used in her classes, and she left it at home. He took it with him and forgot about it.

For the purpose of communicating with this man, it was the perfect tool, and the man watched patiently as he wrote on the board.

For Sleuth, this was…respecting his space.

And this alone made him open to listening to them.