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

Back in the living room, the younger generation talked with their new guest. They were also even friendlier to him now, because he came with gifts—cookies and tarts. Their stock was almost gone, and they didn’t dare eat them carelessly.

Now, they could!

The Golds looked at the tanned man in curiosity. ”I didn’t think I’d see an Alterran here so soon,” Otto said, leisurely placing his chin on knuckle. ”How can we help you? You mentioned that this was a personal trip?”

Helios scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward. ”I… this is a bit presumptuous but I am looking for someone, and you’re the only ones I know here.”

He did not know he could be such a hopeless romantic, but it is what it is.

The Golds looked at each other and then to him. ”Who is it?” they asked, very curious. How could he know someone other than them all the way here?

”It’s a person from Dune Town. Her name is Sahara,” Helios said, direct to the point. ”She’s the daughter of the lord there. According to my investigation, it’s likely that she is here.”

Otto and Obi looked at each other and shook their heads. Before Helios could feel sad though, they heard an exclamation from Olga.

”Sahara?” Olga uttered, her back straightened a bit. This made Helios’ eyes sparkle in hopefulness as he looked at her.

”You know her?”

”Yes, she was my customer,” she said. Olga liked her and thought she had a beautiful, clean, image in contrast to the other noble women who were practically painting their faces.

She used Sahara as a model for her products and the effect had been great. She also paid the girl some amount. Surprisingly, after the shop closed, she stayed behind and proposed to open up a deal with her territory.

Speaking of that… she should come by here within the day…

Olga looked at the man curiously. ”How’d you meet?”

”I… was assigned to Ferrol for a while, and I encountered her there.”

As he said this, the man was blushing a bit. Fortunately for him, Olga had some tact and didn’t push him to tell her more.

Still… Olga couldn’t help but recall the woman’s… bulging stomach.

She saw it when she let the other girl fit one of her dresses to model. It was not yet so big, but the fitted dress made the bulge a little obvious.

She didn’t think too much of it at the time but, looking at how frantic the man in front of her was, she couldn’t help but come to her own conclusions.

And they were juicy.

Was this what the Alterrans called an ’interesting tea’?

Olga did not say what was going on in her head and just looked at the handsome man. ”It so happens that she has been meaning to talk to us.

”She sent a letter telling us she should be visiting us today. You can wait for her here if you want,” she said.

But… how could Helios sit still when she was so close?

He shook his head, heart feeling giddy. ”Can… can you tell me where she’s staying now?”

”I think she’s staying in an inn with a guard and a maid,” she said, ”It should be a mid-ranged inn along the main avenue. I can ask the name if you w—”

”No, thank you very much,” he said, standing up —practically disappearing soon after.

…

At this time, the aforementioned woman was standing not too far from the inner circle, which was visible even a few hundred meters away.

It was surrounded by a tall wall with dense sentries. There were also signs of a magic barrier which could be activated as needed.

Next to her was her closest maid, a tall dark-skinned woman named Bayna, and one of her guards, the large and pale Glio.

They were there to visit the Golds, hoping to get the deal they had been looking for all this time. To be honest, she still couldn’t believe she managed to get connected with the Golds, but she knew there were still so many things that could happen, so she didn’t dare be too happy.

”Are… we certain about this, milady?” Bayna asked as she looked at the conditions of the next street. It was in stark contrast with their side of the street, which was filled with commoners.

Goodness, even crossing these streets to get to the inner walls was intimidating to them…

The place they stood was located just outside of the inner circle, and this was where the more exclusive commercial stores and houses were located.

The other street had markedly fewer people, and every one of them was better dressed than the other. Obviously, that was a place that nobles frequented. In front of City nobles, even their lady was small.

The ’inner circle’ contained the Lord’s Palace, the Top Nobles’ houses, and the Blu mines—and those alone. The other smaller nobles and rich people had to settle somewhere, right?

This was what this place was.

The closer the establishments were to this wall, the more expensive the location was. Basically, the commercial establishments the nobles used were all around this place.

There were also plenty of beast carts and rickshaws in this area. There were a lot of beast cart parking lots, which were larger than the housing areas for the poor that fit dozens of families in other parts of the city.

The nobles here only walked when the establishment was in the same block. Otherwise, they’d either go by rickshaw or by cart. One would not see a noble walking a long distance at all. Furthermore, each beast cart would require a ’pass’ of sorts to be allowed in this place, adding to its exclusivity.

So when Sahara—along with her maid and her guard—walked toward the gates on foot, they were fairly obvious. They received a lot of odd stares, making them self-conscious, but they learned to ignore them anyway.

It was just that… they did not notice a certain group of noble women in a tea house nearby, automatically branding them as eyesores the moment their eyes laid on them.