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

Gill had been here for four months and this was the first time he encountered this… curiosity.

Of course, looking at the amazed crowd it seemed he wasn’t the only one.

He had heard of orcs before. Next to Goblins, orcs were the race the humans had the most contact with.

And by ’contact’, it didn’t mean the friendly sort.

Gill’s dark eyes stared at the newcomer on the stage, both curious and apprehensive. The man was a humanoid creature except he had a lot of furs and it gradiated towards the side of his face, like long sideburns.

His most particular feature though was his pointed elongated ears with red fur, which twitched involuntarily whenever there was a particularly loud murmur amongst the crowd.

Behind him, right below the base of the spine, was a slender bushy tail. It hung low and his shoulders were hunched, as if unconsciously showing submission.

It reminded him of foxes.

What a peculiar sight…

Gill’s eyebrows rose and he walked a bit closer and took a free seat, sitting down to see what happened next.

With his sharp eyes, he could see the creature’s—no, the man’s—eyes. He had green irises with an imperceptible ring of gold.

The orcish man was looking around with apprehension, though he was obviously trying his best not to show his fear, his weaknesses, though he wasn’t being particularly great at it—not in his experienced eyes, anyway.

The man also had plenty of scars and was a bit dirty. He was pitifully emaciated but Gill could see the rich men and women still admiring him—though in the sense of looking at a new toy.

Of course, no matter how pitiful, it did not touch the hearts of most. If anything, it was too normal and taken for granted.

Not caring for the non-human man next to him, the chubby auctioneer raised his hand to flashily introduce the ’item’.

”Now, for the finale!!!

”This is the half-orc captured in the remote village of Hoskle, on the border between the human and orc kingdom!” The auctioneer said with great enthusiasm. ”When the territory was defeated in last month’s territory war, how surprised the victor was when they found not one, not two, but FIVE half-orcs living in the village!”

The man dramatically paused, making the audience scoot forward from their seats in anticipation. Then his shoulder slumped, looking disappointed.

”Sadly, one of those half-orcs died fighting us, another went missing, and the two women were taken very early on, so—This is the only one! This is a once-in-a-decade chance to own your own half-orc!” The flabby man yelled, his golden teeth shining on everyone’s faces.

”Starting price is 100 gold, increments of 1 gold!” He announced, raising his arm theatrically. ”Bidding, begins!”

”110!”

”115!”

”150!”

”155!”

”160!”

”165!”

”200!”

Silence.

”I’m sure my cousin would love this specimen.” A familiar voice slurred and Gill realized it was Cassandra. ”I’m sure he’d be happy to share the view.” She was talking to one of her new slaves.

It irked Gill to no end.

Also, who didn’t know her cousin was the lord here, let alone her father was a lord of a big town?

And… Jonathan was a well-known queer. He may not want to show off his lovers to others.

Long story short, no one fought with her for the half-orc.

”200 gold! Going once!”

The thought of Cassandra winning a handsome fox made him feel a little uncomfortable.

More importantly, while he was not sure how strong half-orcs were, he had heard of the impressive strengths of orcs. If he could bring him to Altera—

”Going twice!”

Gill raised his hand. ”210 gold!”

Silence reigned in the massive room and all heads turned to him. Their eyebrows raised in curiosity, mostly with faces of watching a good show.

Who would go against the lord of a town so openly? Who was he?

”215!!”

It was Cassandra, and Gill continued to bid.

”220!”

This went on until it reached 350 gold which was already way out of budget.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes, but she reluctantly put down her bidding paddle.

She didn’t forget to send a glare in his direction though.

The auctioneer looked at them in alteration, interested, before bellowing the announcement.

”Going once! Going twice!” Pause. ”SOLD to the handsome gentleman over there!

He clapped his hands, looking at Gill very carefully. ”Congratulations! You now own your own half-orc!”

…

When the auction ended, the crowd started to file out of the building, but not without major discussions about what had happened.

”I wanted that half-orc!”

”Ah, we stood no chance.”

”Who won it anyway? He dared to go against Ms. Cassandra…”

”I’m not sure either.”

”He probably has a decent background though,” one said. There was no other explanation. Maybe he was someone from a similarly large town. Maybe even a city.

”I agree,” his companion said, ”And few people would spend that amount of money for a half-orc.

”Sure, they’re rare, but that’s it, right?”

”Right,” another laughed, ”Those things would be great fighters, sure, but they’re belligerent in nature. And judging by how meek that one was, it was probably just waiting to die a violent death, ideally with the owner.”

”Hm, it wasn’t the first time that happened.” There was once a city in the far west that captured a half-orc (as orcs in general couldn’t be tamed, only fought with). They were amazed by how calm it was, and they thought it must’ve retained a lot of its human calmness.

It was quite famous and even inspired an active hunting of half-orcs (albeit to no success as they were much rarer at the time).

The half-orc was also very beautiful and seduced a lot of powerful men.

In the end, the damned thing lead the entire party—a caravan—down a steep cliff. No one survived.

”How did Hoskle do it?” Another one asked. They heard that half-orcs actually lived with humans.

”Who knows,” the man shrugged, but he wasn’t naive enough to think he could mimic it even if he had the gugu brain to buy the thing.

There were similar discussions all around the territory. Other than Altera products, there was now the half-orc, Cassandra, and Gill.

And at this time, the two of these major points of discussion were looking at each other.

Their paths had crossed as they exited, with Gill holding the chain of the slave—now kindly covered by him with a robe—and Cassandra being framed by her two new male slaves.

They were both frowning as they stared at each other, not speaking.

Gill did not expect Cassandra to not pay him any heed. She just pulled her two new slaves away and walked past Gill as if he wasn’t even there.

Cassandra held her head high, refusing to look back to see his face. And he didn’t say anything else either.

The two didn’t speak all the way until they were far apart, still silent even when the other was no longer in sight.

It was just that as they were walking, Cassandra overheard something.

Her feet paused a little, her ears perking to listen.

”Who was that guy who won the half-orc?”

”I don’t know, he wasn’t wearing any emblems!”

”But he’s rich!”

”Hehe. Just what we like.”

”Let’s plan this carefully just in case he has… friends.”

”I know someone who wants that orc, too, he could smuggle him out without anyone noticing!”

”Good, good.”

It was all quite maddening but, still angry, Cassandra did not speak for prick.

With a frown, Cassandra just walked away.

Hmpf! Who cared about him!

…

Returning to the headquarters, everyone was surprised to see Gill holding a chain of a slave. The person was super tall but hooded and they looked at him curiously.

Gill gently took off the chains and pulled down the hood to show their new friend.

The aborigines were shocked and the Terrans looked amazed.

”It’s a half-orc.” Kleid said, eyebrows raised in surprise.

”What?!” The soldiers yelled, making the poor orc flinch.

”Amazing!” They said, knowing how rare it was to encounter other races. ”You definitely won this task!”

Gill shrugged and walked away, allowing the others to surround the newcomer in curiosity.

”This is amazing,” Luis exclaimed, making the half-orc’s ears involuntarily twitch—which in itself also made the childish soldiers gasp. ”That’s so cool!”

Sammy tried his best not to touch the man’s tail. ”Are you a fox? Are you sly? Do you swipe??”

The orc looked at them in fear, unused to this kind of enthusiasm.

”Aww don’t be scared.” They said and they pulled him to the living room, handing him some cookies.

”Eat.”

The fox looked at the guardedly, but he shakily took the cookies anyway, subconsciously following orders to avoid pain.

The two didn’t know this though, but they just thought he was scared of the new people and the strange environment. The knowledgable aborigines were even a bit surprised at his meekness, and someone was guarded because he had also heard the story of the minx orc.

But the fox in question didn’t know about the various thoughts about him. He just took a bite and his unique green-yellow eyes brightened, his tail unconsciously swinging back and forth

It felt sweet and filled up his empty heart. His eyes softened a bit and he couldn’t help but look at his new masters.

Their eyes met and he immediately looked down, knowing slaves weren’t supposed to meet their owner’s eyes so blatantly.

Luis looked at him like he was a new pet to be loved and cared for. The young lad pulled out another cookie and handed it to him. ”One more. Just one, these are very expensive.”

The orc couldn’t help but stare. Expensive? But given to him?

Inevitably, his eyes still met theirs, and he realized there was a stark absence of what he was used to.

He didn’t show derisiveness, disgust, or superiority.

All he saw was curiosity and… kindness.

What kind of masters bought him?