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

Aberdeen City, Many Years ago

One weekend in the early summer, the family was gathered in the kitchen by Althea. They were well-behaved and waited patiently as to what this was all about, and they soon saw Althea bringing in a colorful array of jars.

These jars were filled with vibrant tea leaves, fragrant herbs, and delicate flower petals.

The school was off the week, with Ansel and the two professors were relaxing at home. There was also Garan, a special Military soldier, who was also on a rare day off.

The parents looked at her curiously looked at her, her boyfriend—as always—was just watching her dotingly, while her little brother had a teasing smile on his face.

”I have been studying and testing these for a long time.”

”How many times did you get poisoned?” Ansel asked, and Althea answered with a bit of smugness.

”None!”

”Not because you’re immune now, right?”

”...”

Alicia laughed and gently tapped the boy’s head. ”Let Althea have her moment.”

”Che,” Ansel tutted and crossed his arms, though his eyes quickly gravitated back to the curious table in front of him.

Althea cleared her throat, entering a small zone she entered during her experiment, albeit a milder version.

She smiled as she delicately scooped a blend of loose leaves into each teapot, adding different herbs and flowers to each one.

Soon aroma wafted into her audience’s noses, making her audience unconsciously lean down the table for a bit more of a sniff.

For a while, only the sound of porcelain and metal clashing, combined with rustles of tiny leaves, was heard in the room. Finally, she ended the ritual with pouring hot water on the cups, placing a different blend in front of each them.

The looked brightly at the beautiful blend in front of them, sniffing the nice aromas that whiffed up their noses.

Althea smiled and started to introduce her work. ”For dad, I’ve chosen an exquisite blend of dried rose petals and camilla tea leaves. Smart and Bold, fitting dad’s scholarly pursuits.”

Howard laughed in his characteristic deep and hearty laugh, taking the cup for a sip.

His eyebrows rose as the aroma and taste enveloped him. It was as if transported to a distant rose garden in full bloom.

Althea judged it to be a success and turned to her mother. ”For Mom, it is a blend of green tea, lavender and chamomile. A fragrant bouquet that was calming as it is rejuvenating, much like what she is to me.”

Alicia giggled. ”Aww~ Thanks love. I’ll try it out now.” She inhaled the soothing aroma of the concoction as she sniffed, and it felt like she was strolling through a serene lavender field. Very relaxing.

”Ansel’s is a fruit-infused herbal tea with hints of apple, hibiscus, and orange peel. It’s a playful medley of flavors, a fitting drink for our youngest.”

The red head immediately took his cup, a bit excited, and was met with the tasty fruity explosion in his mouth. ”Hmm! Delicious~”

They all chuckled at his reaction, and soon Althea turned to her handsome boyfriend, who made her blush a bit under his deep stare.

”For Garan, it shall be a robust blend of black tea, mint leaves, and a touch of lemongrass. It is bold and invigorating, much like you.”

”Thank you, Althea.” He smiled and took a sip, met with a refreshing burst of mint that invigorated his senses, though his eyes never left her face.

”Is it tasty?” She asked, blushing a bit, before turning to everyone else.

Everyone nodded, praising her for her talents.

In any case, the kitchen that day was particularly fragrant, filled with warmth and happiness…

…and the contentment of a complete family.

__________________

Bright Village, Present

Garan stood up in shock and looked at him murderously. Even his two guards who tried to defend couldn’t move, startled by the man’s aura.

Micheal coolly raised both hands. ”We’re business partners. Ansel is even my friend, how can I hurt them?”

The suffocating atmosphere dispersed a little and Garan just looked at him guardedly. However, there was anticipation in his eyes which were what Micheal needed for this deal.

He turned to Dig and pointed at the cabinet with his head.

”Come, drink.” He asked, and naturally they didn’t dare to risk getting poisoned.

”Why would I bother poisoning you in my own territory?”

”Because you cannot kill us otherwise.”

”...”

Well, they’re not wrong…

Micheal sighed and took the cup handed to Garan, drinking from it himself. ”Hm.. Delicious. It’s your loss. Such good tea from Ms. Althea.”

Sure enough, Garan flinched and after a thought, he took the teapot and sipped on its contents.

Silence passed by as Garan simmered in its taste, no doubt recalling certain memories. Soon, his stance softened and he looked at Micheal with less hostile eyes.

”Fine. How much?”

”2000 gold.”

”What?!” Logistics-Officer-Eagle gasped. Gill glared.

Garan frowned. ”That’s too much.” He said, ”You did not pay that much of a penalty.”

Micheal did not say anything in response.

Two thousand gold in Xeno was indeed an over-quote. However, his family lost much more than money.

For example, reputation. For example, his mental health.

Garan looked at the smiling man’s unchanging expression. The atmosphere stagnated for a while, before Garan finally heaved a sigh.

Did he have a choice?

He couldn’t coerce people outside for information. Especially, they obviously lived well here, how could they betray their lord?

Garan rubbed his temple. ”I only have 600 in my hands.” He told him.

This was true, the next dividend from Bart’s mercenary team would arrive in a few weeks.

Micheal was actually surprised he had that much (it irked him a bit). But, anyway, there was more than one part in this deal.

”Then...for the balance, I’ll take 500 from Althea, and for the rest just help us clean up 1000 monsters above level 5 around our territory and we’ll call it even.” He said. ”The final kill will be my guards’.”

Garan’s handsome eyebrows furrowed.

Discomfort in making his wife pay for something he owed aside, killing 1000 monster would take a while since there was no large mob, let alone they had to give the last hit to others which would easily triple the time requirement.

How could Garan stay longer when he already knew where his wife is?

No matter what, he couldn’t do it.

What if she was hurt while he was ambling about? She must be missing him so much, how could he bear let her suffer more—

”Don’t worry about your wife.” Micheal said, knowing his concerns. ”She’s doing very well.”

Garan looked at him to see if he’d say anything else but he was still just as cryptic.

Manipulative bastard.

As if unaware of his glare, Micheal retained his smile and continued with his vague clues.

”Altera is extremely strong. Bright territory cannot compare.”

Gill and Eagle’s eyes widened, while Garan remained stoic, but the way his eyes dilated was very telling.

”We got a lot of our resources from there. What you see here? The food, the prosperity? Altera’s is much more advanced.

”Even the design of the custom house had been bought from there.”

Gill and Eagle looked at each other with their eyebrows arched, a bit in disbelief.

They were really curious about this place! Before, it was just because of sister-in-law, but now they also want to see it for what it was.

Gill even thought deeper. From the way the captain recognized the territory name, perhaps sister-in-law had a lot to do with it!

That meant one major thing: That she was definitely doing well!

Micheal let his words brew for a while, before continuing to speak. ”Your wife holds a huge pie in there. How could she not live well?”

He smiled again, quite confident that he had placed his cards and would get an even better deal.

But when Micheal thought Garan would try to get more information, he just saw him nodding with a stupid look on his face. He looked quite smug, as if saying ’yes, my wife is the best’.

Tsk.

Micheal looked at the guy’s dreamy expression and sneered at his old self for losing to this boring-lovesick-idiot.

Heh. It seemed like he didn’t want to know he had children, then.

After a moment of dazedness, Garan turned serious. ”500 gold now, 500 gold I will pay in the future, and 500 monsters.”

He hoped to see her status in person as soon as possible. He also needed money to make sure he could give her some gifts when they met.

Micheal thought for a while and thought it was indeed fair. But… he had the upper hand here.

”500 gold, 500 gold owed, 600 monsters, one third of which must be level 7 or above.”

Garan paused, thinking. After a moment, he nodded.

”Deal,” he said, a bit helpless.

As he was led to the village center for a contract, he could only sigh, looking out longingly to a direction.

’I’m sorry wife, you’ll have to wait a little longer.’