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

After eating, those assigned to guard settled a couple of meters away from the campfire, though they were still within sight and earshot. There were indeed a couple of monsters venturing into their area, but they were mostly manageable.

The Beast Repelling Potion they had was something readily available to a Level 3 Pharmacy, which would be made available in Cities.

It had a lot more variety than the lower-level Pharmacies and offered Beast Repelling and Beast Attracting Potions against monsters up to Level 20, with diminishing effects as the level increased.

The group talked for a bit more things before going to rest. Strongmen didn’t need much sleep, but they would have to get some decent rest if they wanted to recover a decent amount of spirit and mana.

They were getting close to Bleuelle and it was inevitable they’d encounter more troublesome beasts along the way.

He told them a few more things they could find in Alterra, though it’d be hard for them to imagine unless they were already there. If he managed to secure them as business partners—better, as residents—then he’d get a large amount of contribution points!

Starting a family in Alterra would need a large amount of it! He was preparing for it well!

At the same time, he also found a bit more about them.

He got most information from Puto, who tended to overshare, and Raz who was naturally friendly.

The latter was one of the people on guard duty at this time, and he sat several meters away, though that didn’t stop him from joining in the conversation.

Puto asked a lot about the noodles (and was fascinated when he found there were dozens of other flavors available), while Raz was more interested in the sleeping bag.

Helios enticed them by saying they could buy a lot if they went to Alterra, and he could even get them good deals, which gained him additional favorability to the mercenary team.

Helios also asked what their city specialized in, so that he could perhaps broker some deals, and was surprised to know that it didn’t offer much.

”Avel City was one of the oldest territories in this world, though it only became a City a few decades ago,” Raz explained. In terms of culture or trade, he was much more knowledgeable than Puto (who was now daydreaming about instant noodles).

”It is located near a couple of hubs in the human realm,” Raz continued, lifting his sword to study its sheen and sharpness.

He frowned when he saw that it was a little dull and took out a sharpening stone from his space. ”You could say that its specialty is being the trade center in the South.”

Avel City was apparently closest to Crystal City, which is the source of the very beautiful and clear crystals. Up North it was also fairly near Bleuelle City, and—although a bit farther away—it also connected to Holt City in the West.

Avel City was also fairly near the Orc mountains, so a lot of Mercenary Teams needing to head there for missions would often pick Avel City as their destination.

The Takoda Mercenary Team was actually one of the highest-level mercenary team there and their top 10 members were elementalists. They were very proud about this because other teams had about half of that.

Their mercenary team was comprised of several groups, one of which was theirs, led by Enok. They were in the mid to lower levels though, but it was still a decent accomplishment.

Anyway, these Mercenary teams were also in a race to upgrade to a Class B Mercenary Team and everyone had been taking missions all over. Being the first to reach Class B in their City was not just a matter of pride, but also of lifestyle.

Becoming the strongest Mercenary Team meant that the nobles and the lord would partner with them, and that was not only an honor—it was a great upgrade in terms of money and prestige!

It was also why they couldn’t bear be penalized now. How bad would it be to be the cause of their team’s loss?

Speaking of Elementalists… after getting to know Helios more, they actually had the idea of recruiting him, though they didn’t while the contract was still ongoing.

It was an unspoken rule in the industry not to have other deals with the client while the current one was ongoing. Something about it possibly interfering with the mission or something of the sort.

Puto, after recovering from his noodle-daydream, butted in. ”Ah yes, Raz here knows the surrounding area best,” he said, grinning. ”He has a lover in every surrounding Town, y’know~”

Helios looked at the other man—relatively handsome, but his charm was more on the masculine side. He didn’t seem to particularly care that he was being gossiped about either.

Anyway, this topic made him want to go to bed already.

”He sharpens his sword everywhere, if you know what I mean,” Puto added with a sly grin, elbowing Helios, who was now already opening his sleeping bag to finally go to bed.

Seeing him being boring and ready to rest, Puto gave up his teasing and went to his spot and his pitiful blanket that only covered his upper body.

He couldn’t help but look at the elementalist and his sleeping bag, realizing he was quite a looker. ”You’re a handsome lad, and an elementalist to boot. How many wives do you plan to have?”

Helios’ eyebrows rose at the question. ”Just one.”

”Oh?”

”Boring,” Raz said, continuing to sharpen his sword while he guarded them. ”As guy a few years older than you are, I can tell you that there are a lot of tastes in the world you can explore. A mercenary is naturally adventurous—and this goes with lovers, too.”

Helios sighed and just entered the sleeping bag. These men weren’t bad people, but their upbringing was just different from his.

”There’s a difference between keeping your options open and keeping someone’s heart safe,” he said. ”I’d rather give my all to someone who matters than spread myself for something so… fleeting and unimportant.

”Don’t you think it’s much more meaningful to be the source of joy and pride to your loved one, rather than the cause of pain?

”That’s just my opinion though,” he said. ”I’m a hopeless romantic, you see.”

He closed his eyes and ended that topic.

Similarly, Raz didn’t speak anymore after that, and neither did the others.

Agree to disagree, they would say, though at the back of their minds, they would ponder about Helios’ words unconsciously, very subtly affecting their own worldviews.