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

A/N: Just got word that there's a bug on the comments lately. Like, the comments will fortunately appear on the story, but they're not forwarded in our (authors') dashboards. So if I never reacted or commented on your comment, please know I just didn't see it xD Please keep commenting tho!!

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"Enok" was indeed with Hesso, and he had been hanging around there in the past couple of days.

The actual plan didn't involve this guy except to keep him out of the way, but Otto was the type of person to plant things here and there, just in case.

In Voumi's case, he decided to add a bit of tension between the current Lord and the 'assumed' heir. Who knew if it could be useful someday? There would be no loss to him.

And he got to see some interesting shows as well.

"Kiss me…" Hesso told the woman next to him. She smiled beautifully at him, but as someone who had been with a lot of women, Otto could tell she felt uncomfortable.

"I'm shy, Master Hesso," she said, demurely leaning her head away. "I only want our moment to be between us, you know?"

Hesso looked at her with admiration, and Otto could tell this was a line she used often when the man made a move in public. She would then probably convince him that they did the deed with her ability, even when nothing happened.

At least that was what he hoped was happening.

He should feel bad, but Otto couldn't help but want to push it a bit. He told himself he was just curious, and that he was here to plant contingencies

Sadly, his appearance and his apparent interest in Misha made Hesso want to show her off.

His eyes met hers, and for some odd reason, it felt like they were daring each other. Misha narrowed her hazel eyes as she looked at him, and he really did feel guilty.

"I want to show off this time…" Hesso said, a lecherous smile gracing his face. He was a little inebriated (this man was rarely purely sober), and his hand on her waist began to crawl upwards.

It didn't just make Misha's skin crawl, it pinched several nerves on Otto's.

He cleared his throat, pulling attention back to himself. "Hesso, actually, I'm here often to gauge your skills."

"What?" Hesso's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You are the heir for this territory, right?" he asked, schooling his annoyed expression into a solemn one. "Well, my master from a City is interested in taking this Town as a subsidiary, and he wants to make sure the continuity is okay."

Hesso's annoyance was lifted when he heard of 'heir'. He liked hearing it and he liked it being acknowledged by everyone, especially by outsiders.

Seeing him not thinking of flirting with Misha anymore, Otto heaved a breath of relief. Speaking of a 'master city', the letter should have arrived by now.

The farthest City he had ever been in was Warrior City—the System Barracks as well as the Warrior Arena's city of origin.

He happened to have developed a bit of a friendship with Virion, the heir to the City. To be honest, he was a bit of a musclehead, but he was an honest guy who was loyal to people he acknowledged.

That said, Otto thought he'd ask a few things before doing this favor (just for the sake of it), but unexpectedly, he was cooperative from the get-go.

Otto just had to tell him where he was staying, and the man promised to help out with whatever he needed.

He didn't know if it was his imagination, but the discussion became smoother when he mentioned 'Alterra'.

Anyway, this meant that the letter that arrived for "Enok" was not just a letter from Warrior City—it was an official one. This was why Otto could discuss these deals with confidence.

Back to the present, Otto stared at the other man. "Each generation has its own ideas…I worry the current Lord could be fixated on the current status quo. His approach to a dying industry, for one, isn't very reassuring."

At this, Hesso nodded. "I agree! No one's buying those things anymore! He should be focusing on getting something else that makes money!"

He sounded logical now, but what Hesso really had in mind was further enhancing the gambling and prostitution industries.

Regardless, that was none of his concern. Otto simply nodded in agreement. "I'm sure you have your own ideas as the future Lord, and I'm sure you will have the foresight to make good relations with our City.

"That said, I hope that you, as the heir, can also help me get better deals with the Elementalists," he said. "My City would owe you people a lot."

With this, both Mafo and Hesso would be willing to send the slaves away for a good price. Ideally, even those who didn't manage to 'infect' with illness. In normal circumstances, they'd be very reluctant to sell those. However, if they believed they had the backing of Warrior City, they'd probably think it'd be easy for them to replenish their 'stocks'.

Hesso narrowed his eyes on him. "Are you so desperate?" he asked. "Are you sure you didn't give them the illness?" He meant this half-jokingly in his drunken state.

Hesso was usually not smart, but when he did, it was certainly in inconvenient times.

However, neither Otto or Misha showed any change in expression. "That's an interesting premise," Otto said. "Except we are partnering with Basset Town as well."

Since Basset had lost to Alterra, it was fairly easy to make this seem like the reality. Basset indeed really did have a lot of Terran slaves, after all.

Hesso flinched. Basset Town was one of the nearby Towns that could attack them.

Misha took this as a chance. She patted the ugly man's arm. "Master, you should take a rest. It is not good to be discussing sensitive topics while inebriated."

Hesso sighed and nodded. "You're right… let's go to bed…"

Misha nodded. "Okay… she said, looking at some of the maids who were on standby. She looked at the prettiest one, who always looked at her with jealousy.

"You…" she said. "Can you escort Master Hesso to the bedroom? Bathe him well," she said, also referring to the rest of the servants in the room. "I'm sure he needs a lot of…assistance.

"Leave us. I will be seeing our guest off."

The women's eyes sparkled, and they definitely would pleasure him well. Hesso was not attractive, but he was very generous to women who pleased him. Seeing their lively gait, Misha pretended not to see anything.

When she turned though "Enok" was looking at her with deep interest. They waited until every other servant had left them alone.

"Are you… Terran?" she asked. "I'm asking because most of the slaves you're buying are called that name." He looked like an aborigine, and he was too powerful to be a Terran, but she couldn't help but wonder anyway.

"I am not," he said without a change in expression. Misha watched every bit of his expression, wondering if he was lying or hiding something.

Her shoulder slumped. Although her instincts told her there was something more to this, she couldn't help but feel disappointed at his answer.

Because she was a slave, Silvia and they didn't tell her everything. She just knew the overall plan, but was unaware of the details.

"I am not Terran, but I have been hired by them," he said. "I'm a citizen of a Terran territory, in fact."

"What?"

He did not worry about telling her this. Slaves would not be able to lie to their masters, but the questions had to be extremely specific. Who would think someone powerful would be doing so much under a new civilization?

Otto stood up and walked over to her. Since he first saw her, he couldn't help but wonder a lot about her.

He also wondered… if that curiosity would finally be sated today.

To be honest, even though moving Hesso could be useful, he wouldn't have thought or bothered with him if he didn't have this woman next to him.

She was tall for a woman, but she was still a bit small next to him. He looked her up and down, and she stared back defiantly at him. "What do you want?"

"I'm curious," he asked. "Can your powers work on me?"

He asked because he was wondering, but also how it could affect people beyond level 40. Until he could get her out of here, there was a chance she'd need to use it to save herself.

"You are strong," she mumbled. "It probably wouldn't."

"Hmn," he mumbled, looking at her, and thinking of how she had been getting under his skin. "I think it does."

Most other women were under his deep stare, they probably would've blushed. Misha's eyes flickered, instead.

"...oh?"

An electrifying tension passed between the two, and it made both of them wary and a bit…excited.

Before anything could happen though, new servants arrived, and next to him were some of the Lords' cronies.

They looked complicated seeing Enok comfortable in Hesso's house, but they didn't show much other expression.

"Sir Enok! The letter has arrived," he said. "The Lord requests your audience."

…

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A/N: My romance-fantasy side project is out!

The caveat is that the actual building starts a third into the story.

The set-up lasted longer than I thought it would lol.

That said, if you're still interested, do google "Genius Princess Built the Strongest Fief". Do heart the chapter and don't forget to comment~