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

Anyway, the topics varied from their own people, interesting women, and then some news.

They talked about some villages fighting. ”Is it done?” The lord asked the one on his right, who nodded.

”Yes, milord, Hasa had taken down Mauin, with Tome soon after.”

”Very good,” he nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes.

The brothers’ eyes met, understanding. the lord here definitely instructed one of his subsidiaries to wage war on other villages, to take their tokens and resources.

It was none of their business, and this was normal practice in their world, but it did make for some interesting gossip.

One of the men sneered, tapping the table in annoyance. ”Milord, I heard Hemeppo seemed to have merged the two territories.”

The other cronie shook his head. ”Heh, I knew that one couldn’t be trusted.”

Although the disassociation of the Lord token was not common knowledge, the lords, who could see the actual tokens separating from their own bodies during wars, naturally knew of it. It was an open secret among lords and their most trusted confidantes.

”What do we do now, milord?”

”Let him be, for now.” He said. Subsidiary villages weren’t slaves, after all.

”We’ll just increase his taxes to 50% or else he’ll face my other subsidiaries.”

Anyway, subsidiary status lasted a year. He would have no choice but to follow this until the contract expired. The cronies naturally know this as well and they grinned.

”This is noted sir, I will forward this to him.”

At this, their other companion looked at him in mirth, ”When you visit, be careful of what they offer you.”

The man made a face, knowing Hasa Village’s questionable diet.

”Those people are insane. Obviously, there was no lack of food, but they still decided to eat people!

But then again, as long as they gave money and resources, who cared what other people eat?

At this point, the brothers had decided to stop eavesdropping and just go on with their day. However, the topic suddenly shifted to one they cared for, very much.

”Have you heard? There are many forces congregating in this area,” one said, and the other nodded.

”Of course! After all—there are so many new territories ripe for our picking!”

…

The next day.

The Golds got up early and continued to travel, hoping to get to Altera by the next sunset.

Honda obviously had an uneasy rest after doing his first act of rebellion, Olga looked tired after not sleeping on her soft bed, while Oslo and his brothers had a slight headache due to drinking, but thankfully not too much. They just drank a bit more than planned because they wanted to eavesdrop a bit more.

Anyway, the siblings decided to share the carriage for the last leg of the trip. They wanted to hear more about the territory from Oslo so they could better be ’prepared’, whatever that meant.

They applied a bit more of their stock of Beast Repelling Potion—which worked best in towns or villages due to the level limitations of the potion. This lovely invention allowed them to travel through with ease.

Some hours later, however, the carriage halted all of a sudden. ”There’s a mob sir.”

”Does it matter?” Obi asked.

After all, there should be no beast stronger than level 20 in the area, and the Beast repelling potion could easily repel until level 15 for a relatively good distance.

”No, sir,” the driver said, and they decided to ignore the mob which would actively avoid them anyway.

But then they heard screams and yells of despair around. Judging by the sound, there should be dozens of people out there begging for help.

This time though, the driver didn’t bother asking and just continued on their way. This was a common sight in Xeno and people generally wouldn’t bother with them.

It was nothing personal. It was just how it was.

Obi, a guard, naturally had a bit more heroism in him, so he looked a bit conflicted though. ”Can I see?” He asked, making his siblings look at him.

”We should,” Oslo answered, making the siblings’ heads whip to him instead.

Altera softened him up considerably.

He cleared his throat. ”It’s not far, let’s go and check anyway.”

”So kind?”

”Well, the Alterans once said ’Helping others is an investment in yourself’, and I personally think it makes sense.”

The siblings’ eyebrows rose and they looked at each other with mixed emotions of surprise and puzzlement.

They shrugged in the end and just let the two youngest brothers go down the carriage and go to where the scuffle was.

They found a group of people was being mobbed, and there were easily a hundred humans in there! What was more notable was that there were more women, children, and older people in there than strong men!

Everyone was trying to fight, but they could see how the men were still carrying much of the burden—how they still did their best to protect the families behind them even if it meant they lost flesh.

”Help!”

”Please help!”

They immediately jumped in, touched by the image of sincere protection the men were showing.

The mob wasn’t very strong, only level 8 at most, but there were a lot so it was understandable people would suffer. The men surrounded the weaker ones behind them. They were all bloodied and tired. Their eyes were brighter when they saw their rescuers, but no one dropped their guard, afraid of losing someone else at this juncture.

With Obi, Oslo, and a few guards leading the way, they cleared out the mobs with relative ease. Both siblings were Elementalists, and the sparkle of various elements also exploded, lighting up hope in the refugees’ hearts.

Obi pressed his fists together and a strong ember formed. He waved his hand a a massive flamethrower was fired, and for a while the line of fire seemed endless. When it died, it took about a dozen monsters in its wake.

Oslo was not to fall behind. He immediately raised the soil near the refugees, raising it so the monsters were pushed back.

His whole body turned and spikes emerged from this small hill, skewering a handful of monsters. He then took out his sword to get rid of the monsters who shifted their attacks to him, and he also easily beheaded each one that approached him.

It didn’t take long for them to clear the mobs, with the guards finishing off the ones in the periphery while the brothers took a closer look at the refugees.

The people were all injured and blooded and there were plenty who had lost an appendage or two. However, they all had bright eyes as they stared at them as if they were gods.

It didn’t matter if they lost an arm or a leg. To the village folk of Mauin, this was already a blessing.

After everything they had been through, they just felt extremely blessed to be alive.