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

A/N: Sorry for the 1 chap again! There's a huuggeee storm/nonstop rain in here and I'm unable to write or even edit much the past few days. (i.e. the area is flooded, and the internet and electricity is botchy lol SOBSSS darn you global warming!!)

The side project was written a long time ago so I literally didn't have to think about it until its launch a few days back lol.

…

___

"Enok" arrived to see Mafo along with a few of his cronies in the room. "Did you get some funds?" Mafo asked.

"Yes, but it's not a big amount," he said. "The same amount I paid for before, but they want the remaining 2000 people."

Although on paper there were only about a thousand left, further investigation over the past days indicated there were more. It was just that they were deep into the more advanced barracks, trained there, and were therefore not affected by the illness.

This meant that those people would be part of the main forces during wars and possibly against Alterra.

Mafo stared at him. "What?"

He looked at them. "Did the illness get better?" he asked. "They seem like they would reach the city, but what about after? Are you expecting us to pay thousands of gold for a few-days worth of slaves?"

Mafo's eyes narrowed. Still… he had a vision of how much money he could make with these elementalists! This damned illness ruined all that! At the same time, he couldn't stomach going even lower!

"I can only give you the remaining ill slaves, which is only about a couple of hundred now," he said. "It's not like Elementalists are of low demand—even if they're a little defective.

The slaves were still alive even after a few days. Granted, these were the slaves who had minor symptoms before, which had only recently gotten worse.

"At worst," he paused, grinning. "We can just order them to self-destruct—that ought to kill a few enemies, yea?"

Otto's fist clenched, but he loosened them immediately.

Self-destruct was just as it sounded. Elementalists had the ability to commit suicide with a bang. It was just that they were so valuable that it was rarely heard of. But… if these people thought they were dying anyway, they might really do it.

Otto kept a straight face. "You're right," he said. "I do want to see it for myself."

"My colleague has arrived here," he said. "His name is Raz, I'll check if he has enough money to handle the transaction.

"Raz, eh?"

Mafo activated his Lord Panel, scanning for the person named Raz. It was a fairly common name, so there were three, but it was obvious who it was.

Raz. Level 35. 8210 Gold

Mafo's eyebrows rose as he looked at "Enok". "Seems like he's got enough money to buy a couple."

"Enok" looked surprised and then relieved. "Oh? Is that so? That's good," he said. "Then we'll take everyone we can."

…

In the end, Otto managed to secure about 600 people. Because many of them were fighters and some weren't ill, he naturally couldn't push the price too low.

Unfortunately, Otto did not see Misha among them. If he pushed for her now, then it'd be too risky and suspicious. Rather, it could even put her in danger.

Otto couldn't help but feel heavy, though he should not have been surprised.

This was already the result of him making subtle promises as a person from 'Warrior City'. It was too far away, after all, for Mafo to take each of his words as law. The name could only go so far.

Objectively speaking, the name had been used optimally, but Otto couldn't feel satisfied when the one person he really wanted to rescue couldn't be saved with it.

Mafo insisted that all he had remaining were his skeletal forces for elementalists, and he could not sell any more unless he could pay the fair price.

For now, Otto had to make sure to get the people he bought off out of there.

He'd return, even if he had to use another identity, to get Misha and the rest of them.

….

Otto, under the eyes of the Lord and his men, left the territory with several hundred slaves. The Lord also monitored the panel, to see if there was anything amiss.

When the name "Enok" disappeared from the list at the same time as the carriage did, he finally turned it off.

The real Enok indeed left the territory. This was because he was the one driving the carriage Otto was on, though the man would soon separate from them midway again, to start the last ditch effort to save more people.

Although the Elders mentioned that they didn't need to rescue everyone if it would compromise their safety, Otto was never one to do things halfway. Besides, he doubted he'd be in danger.

That said, he also doubted he'd stop until he rescued her.

Don't ask him why he was so fixated. His mind just told him such unique skills—and temperament—couldn't be wasted in a place like this.

As for the rest of the caravan, everyone there knew that they needed to get out of there to make sure they wouldn't be followed, so they had to use carts in the end. These were the same ones the 'sick' ones used, and they had just returned a couple of hours prior.

It was just that seeing the carts already back there would raise suspicion, or tell Voumi that they had a rest stop somewhere, so they only loaded the 'slaves' when they were already at a distance from the territory.

"Carts?" the slaves mumbled, a bit surprised. They were also startled by the fact that it was two storeys, too.

"First time I have seen this."

"We haven't seen a lot of carts."

"What do you think so far, Gale?" one asked, looking at the strong-looking young man next to him. "Where do you think they're taking us?"

The past few months, they had been trained to the bone. Were they getting sent out to finally join a war?

"Well, we'd just have to do our best to survive," he said. "We lasted a lot longer than many others, didn't we?"

They were citizens from Calma Village, who had indeed held on for a lot longer than others, particularly because of the soldiers who helped them out.

Except that those men abandoned them in the end.

After losing the war back then, many were taken by the winners and were sold off. They had been separated from their brethren and, in Voumi Town, less than a hundred were left.

When some of them contracted a strange disease, they could only count themselves as unlucky. However, at the same time, they didn't really care as much as they thought they would.

So, to them, this trade… was nothing new. They even wondered what idiot buys broken products.

Then they neared a village and saw Minko there.

Gale didn't even think. His elements surrounded him, and he practically flew, his fist landing on Minko's face, who did not even bother to avoid it.

BANG!

"JERK!" he yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

Everyone was shocked by the development, but seeing Minko not doing anything was enough for the rest of them to know this wasn't something they should interfere in.

"I came here to greet you," Minko said, looking at Gale and the other people behind him. "I'm glad you're okay."

Gale's eyes turned red and he grabbed Minko's collar. "You don't have the right to say that!"

"I have no excuses," Minko said. After all, they just protected themselves and their family. "I am not asking for forgiveness either. But I can help—"

"You should've taken us with you!!"

To be honest, they only truly felt angry at the beginning.

Of course he knew he was being unreasonable! Of course he knew that he had no right to expect so much from people who weren't even related to him. Their former world had long fallen, and even the soldiers didn't need to sacrifice anything for them at all!

They also knew that anyone in their position would've done so much less!

However, it didn't mean they didn't feel betrayed!

Rationality and emotions were completely different things, and frankly, Gale—among the rest of them—didn't quite know how to interact with Minko and the others who had left them behind.

Should they be bitter? Should they be relieved?

Gale was only 20 years old! And because the soldiers left them all behind, he, the highest-leveled one, had to take charge of so many lives—and he failed! They lost so many!

In the end, at least for today, he let his bitterness take over.

And they sparred, and would do so for the rest of the day.

…

At the side, the other people, including soldiers, watched on.

"Will this be alright?" Mao asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the tension in the entrance.

"Some people had to express bitterness in order to let go of it," Sammy mumbled at the side. "Think of it as… defacating."

"That is not a good metaphor!" Mao yelled. Way to ruin a supposedly introspective chapter. Very ill-timed! Minus points! Bad writing!

Sammy looked at him, with a very serious look on his face. "I thought it was quite apt."

"..."