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

Tanod hadn’t been rehired again for a few weeks, so he had no choice but to dorm in the Chancery, paying for the accommodations while waiting to get a job.

This was another risk in the chancery. If no territory chose to hire you, you had no choice but to pay for not-so-cheap accommodations in the Chancery. After all, they had to be accessed quickly if a territory decided to hire them.

It was taking a lot longer than usual though. Typically, fighters would be hired within 1 to 2 weeks, and much longer for auxiliary roles like cleaners, etc.

After all, it was much cheaper for territories to just hire local people and just get them to sign an oath rather than hire people they couldn’t punish or hurt when they wanted to.

At the same time, after some thoughts (while he stared at the ceiling waiting), it wasn’t hard to see why it was harder for him to get hired this time.

Although territories would not see their records, the chancery definitely prioritized hires with ’cleaner’ records—that was to say, lesser turnover rates—than others.

So, he ended up just accepting he would be staring at boring walls and ceilings in this small room for a few more days, or even another week.

His brother Tambai, on the other hand, didn’t have to wait as long. He entered the chancery of the nearby town to him when his brother—hundreds of miles away—had been rotting for weeks.

It so happened that a certain woman had been perusing all the options the past few days and the options before them had been passed over, soon reaching them.

It was Tanod who had been hired first, and immediately after his brother was hired. He didn’t even have the time to absorb the new room when he felt the teleportation array behind him activated again. He found himself turning his body to watch, and his eyes widened when he saw who was standing in the circle.

He froze in place, unable to comprehend that such a good thing happened to him!

Tambai emerged from the array and looked out to see an unusually decorated room. However, the first one his sights zoned into was a man who was standing in front of him.

”Tanod?!”

”Tambai?!”

The two brothers immediately ran to each other to hug, tears crawling down their faces. It had been a few years since they last saw each other! How unbelievable to see family again!

Althea—who was sipping tea on the sofa—watched with interest. When she had unlocked the possibility of hiring more, she naturally decided to use all slots so she didn’t have to repeat instructions. However, this was the first time she actually found 2 decent hires in a day, and they even knew each other!

She let the two sob their hearts out for a bit before speaking.

”Have some snacks while you catch up,” she said, making the two men flinch—remembering that not only were they not alone, but the other person was probably the lord!

They bowed a bit, guilty. Although a lot of the lords they encountered were idiots who were weaker than they were, they still knew to show their respect. After all, annoying the lords could get them blacklisted from the chancery!

She shook her hand and then pointed at the seats beside her. ”Stop bowing and come eat with me,” she said and it was only now they absorbed the sound of her voice—which was too feminine compared to what they were used to.

It was only now that they recognized the lord… was a woman? Although they existed, they were very rare!

The brothers lifted their heads to look, and they couldn’t help but gape.

So beautiful!

”How long are you going to stare?”

”AH! WE APOLOGIZE!” They yelled almost kneeling and Althea rolled her eyes.

”Sit down before I get annoyed.”

”Y-Y-YES!” they said, in sync, and appearing very much like brothers.

As they sat, the woman then pointed at the drinks and food. They were unlike what they had seen before, and they wondered what they were.

”They’re snacks,” she said, taking a bit and eating. They couldn’t help but gulp at the sound of the crunch, seducing them to try as well.

And they were easily the most delicious snacks they had ever tasted! Was this how nobles always ate? Now they knew!

They still had the mind to take only one each, appearing to have tasted enough even when their eyes would always gravitate towards the plate in longing. Althea shook her head, not wanting to force them. After all, they would be able to eat similar snacks if they explored Altera enough.

But seeing grown men look longingly at cookies didn’t sit right with her, so she cleared her throat. ”Eat what you want, I don’t mind,” she said and the brothers looked at her admiringly.

So kind! So generous!

They looked at her with teary eyes as they started munching on the sweet savory snacks as if they had been famished for months.

Ignoring the big men’s admiring looks, Althea then began her orientation—which was really kind of her, considering her position and schedule. However, she always made a point to know more about the people she hired.

After all she experienced, she considered herself a pretty good judge of character. She wanted to know if a person would be bad for Altera or not early on.

After judging that they would do no harm, for now, she then explained where they would go, where they’d sleep, et cetera.

By the end, the brothers were in a bit of a daze—not only because of the unique and new things they had been hearing—but also because their tongues relished in the sweet aftertaste of their food.

Sadly, there was no more and they wondered what they had to do to taste it again.

They thought they could do whatever mission the lord asked them if those desserts were the reward!

Althea had no idea people were willing to follow her orders to a tee for cookies, but she just maintained her relatively professional stance.

”And as for the final and most important tasks, I will ask of you…

”I hired you here to assist our territory in an upcoming war. We’re the attacking party, so there are a lot of risks.”

”Pardon?” War? Attacking party?!

Who wouldn’t be taken aback after what they had been through?

”Don’t worry, Altera prepared the best it could. We just hope you do your best as well,” she said, standing up to leave, and they also stood up by instinct.

The brothers entered a daze again as they walked out, but their worries were temporarily mitigated when they saw what the village was like.

They had both been in handfuls of other territories, and those villages had looked extremely similar. Their people also had similar stances and appearances, most of which were a little dreary.

But here, they saw the wide bustling streets full of activity and smiles, then they looked at a distance to see the walls and dense sentries standing tall, acting as guardians to those inside.

They couldn’t help but wonder: Did a town actually hire them instead?