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

Iron Valley

At this time in Iron Valley, the day passed by as usual. A lot of things changed since the ruling party was replaced. For one, the housing situation had been gradually improved, and so did the state of the food industry.

More farms had been created, and the crops available had been diversified. Slowly, more and more plants and products had been grown and harvested, adding to the variety of homegrown foods—a lot of which the locals hadn’t seen.

Further, the industries related to the mines were expanded, and more jobs were created in turn.

The productivity also skyrocketed. If the goblins hadn’t said that the mine was still large, they’d worry about exhausting it after a couple of years.

The increased productivity, of course, meant much larger income for the territory. Althea had made it a point to use most of the profit of that satellite back to the satellite. More and more (and better) houses had been created, with more amenities added in.

A few Alterrans had also relocated there for a chance of a good life. Alterra was great, but for people with high ambitions, it was too saturated unless you had something really special to offer.

One of these people was Tofu, a kitchen hand back in Terra. He was no great cook compared to the others, but he had the business mind and the ambition that pushed him to make the decision.

When he found out a new Caravan was heading to Iron Mountains, he dragged his wife (who couldn’t cook but was so good with money that she could be an accountant) to go with him. Together, they started a business in this brand new territory.

He also knew from Hugo that they had built farms here as well. Although much of the sauces had to be bought at higher cost from the Gaea Grocery branch there, the purchasing power of aborigines was also higher.

He could definitely charge a lot more for less delicious food (at least compared to what Alterrans were used to)!

He knew he had to carve a name for himself early before other people did the same. Among those people, there would be those who knew how to cook better or had family recipes. In terms of taste, he might not be able to match anymore.

However, by the time they arrived, he believed he’d have enough capital to start a new venture—whatever that would be!

Most awesomely, because he was the first one to start an Alterran business here, he was also given a lot of preferential treatment!

For example, he was given a very low downpayment—and he was allowed to use a shop house along the main avenue!

5% downpayment! The balance had payment terms with 15 years to pay! There was no greater deal than this!

He looked at his shop that had just opened, heart filled with excitement. People curiously looked inside after an aggressive marketing campaign on the streets, and more and more people started entering and settling on the table.

He giggled to himself before heading to the kitchen, cooking the first orders the restaurant would ever have.

And so, that was the birth of ’MediocreFoodsYouLove’ by Tofu, and he would indeed make a lot of money.

…

The pretty short-haired Silvia, at this time, was doing her daily rounds around the territory. Walking beside her and matching her pace was the head guard, Rowan.

They claimed it was completely professional and they really did do their jobs religiously. However, anyone with eyes could see that this was a half-date.

For one, there was no need for two professionals to walk less than a foot away from each other.

Another, there was no reason for them to have flushed faces and dilated pupils the whole time.

”People’s lifestyle is improving,” Rowan said, turning to her. ”Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

”Not yet.”

”Shall we check out the new shop?” Silvia offered. ”Miss Althea asked us to report on how the businesses are going.”

Rowan nodded. ”Yes, we should check its status together.”

”I agree.”

Their words were relatively platonic, but if one considered the chemistry sparking between them, then one could see it was anything but that.

They arrived at the restaurant sometime after brunch. Tofu’s restaurant had just opened but, unsurprisingly, he already had a lot of customers.

Even if majority of the people here were aborigines, even the simplest marketing technique (i.e. yelling some catchy slogan outside the door) could attract them.

Fortunately, there was no queue for now and it was easy for Silvia and Rowan to find their seats in the corner. Allegedly, it was so they could observe the place from a more holistic point of view.

It was just that the fact that they had their own space… made the flirting a little less subtle.

No, they were not feeding each other. However, they were often caught watching the other eat, and then shyly look down when the other lifted their heads.

It was ridiculously sappy.

The ’inspection’ ended wth them agreeing that, while the quality and taste of the food was nothing compared to Alterra, it was definitely unique and far superior to what the local population had been used to.

They judged this business to be high-potential and would not need any government assistance at all.

The two continued their ”non-romantic” walk around the village. They went on a comfortable pace, exchanging a few bits of small talk along the way.

However, their non-date was be cut short when they heard some commotion happening in an area. Their feet moved quickly to follow the noise and they realized where it was happening.

”There’s a commotion in the Iron Shop,” Rowan said with a deep frown, immediately heading to the center of the crowd. The crowd, a little scared, saw them and heaved sighs of relief, immediately clearing the way for them.

The shop’s frontage was a bit of a mess. The shop clerks were pale and scared, with a few guards separating them from the hostility.

The guards were led by Hugo, who was standing tall and unperturbed, despite being outnumbered.

Across them was a small group of tall aborigines—and they were not weak.

At the very least, their levels were definitely not something found in Villages.