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

A/N: Extra Long chapter for Alyxatlas’ chapter request~! \\o/

Once again, thanks for the castle~

…

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The group saw Yassop and his own servants out the door. Yelena and Yanno looked at him and his back, feeling very complicated.

Even if they didn’t express it much, they’d miss the old man quite a bit. It was just that they didn’t know how to say it.

They were so used to being quiet and, in Yelena’s case, bitter, that they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything out-of-character.

Anyway, the group watched Yassop disappear from their view before heading in, with Helen looking at her new family members.

”While there aren’t a lot of people, why don’t you join me on a tour of the place?” she asked, tone gentle and kind that not even the grumpiest kid could say no to her.

The two nodded. They were curious about the new place anyway. However, there was palpable awkwardness between the mother and son, and the boy didn’t dare walk along or ahead of his mother.

Helen saw this but didn’t say anything. Time would heal, she believed, and time was only starting for them now.

The house was designed so that those from the upper floor could quickly go down and exit the house without having to go through the rest of the rooms.

This was why, before heading up the stairs, all they saw was the ante-room—a more formal living room for guests and the like.

The house was a manual construction building, so its arrangement was quite different from the other residential homes. After the ante-room, there was a large living room that could accommodate dozens of people at a time.

There were also separate sitting spaces so smaller groups could have places for more intimate conversations.

They passed by the other communal areas in the ground floor like a small library with several desks (which was also used by the students to do their homework), a canteen, a small multi-purpose hall, a lounge area for the staff, and so on.

The rest were rooms for staff and some smaller kids, so they could easily be taken care of by the adults. There was also another room which was occupied by another guest—like them—though Helen did not specify who it was.

Anyway, for the most part, the second floor was dedicated to the kids’ dormitories. They also had a small living room on the farthest corner from the stairs, and a lot of them tended to hang around there before going to bed.

The building was also a courtyard house, so there was an open space in the middle of a rectangular floor plan, which was another communal area the children and staff could enjoy.

On top of improving lighting and ventilation, the courtyard also improved the overall openness of the place. This would also allow each of the bedrooms to have nice windows and views, improving the kids’ well-being.

In the courtyard, there were some movable picnic tables, swings, and some seating areas. Whenever they wanted to have a party, they’d just rearrange a few furniture and set up a barbeque somewhere.

It would make the inner rooms smell of burnt meat and sauce but no one really minded that—especially the aborigine kids, who quite liked the smell.

They said it allowed them to dream of barbeque even while they slept. Very cute.

The tour ended about half an hour later and, unexpectedly, it coincided with the time a few of the kids went home. They were all quite small, no more than 10 or 11 years old, with some in the younger range of about 8 or 9.

They politely took off their shoes on placed them on the shoe rack before entering, their eyes bright and sparkling even when they were doing the mundane.

They sparkled even more at the sight of their headmistress, however.

”Miss Helen~!!!” a few kids yelled, running over to her for a hug. She smiled, hugging them back. She was a bit surprised to see a few faces though.

”Why, if it isn’t Pongo and Gururu1~” she smiled. ”It’s been a while since you visited us!” Of course, even after they got adopted, she still saw them as family.

”We miss you, too! We’re doing homework here with our new friends~!”

Helen laughed. ”It’s good to help each other,” she said, nudging the towards the direction of the library. ”You go on now. We don’t want you getting home too late.”

”Yes, Miss Helen~!”

The handful of kids disappeared into the corridor, but more and more kids came home. Suddenly, there was activity everywhere and each room was occupied by a small group of children.

Some were reading in a nook, some were chattering in the sofas, and there were also plenty of kids running around, spreading laughter across the halls.

There was something about it that made their shoulders slump in relaxation, their eyes softening.

They ended up watching everything for the next couple of minutes, with the small group just standing in the corner of the living room.

They were also greeted by a lot of kids, and Helen introduced Yanno and Yelena to them as well. They were greeted with so much positive energy that the two couldn’t help but smile a bit when they responded.

Bit by bit, the awkward nods and small smiles widened, and Helen thought it was a joy to watch.

At some point, they heard a few kids yell at the others. ”Miss Kimmy is out of her room~!”

”YAY! STORY TIME!”

”Story timeeee!”

Like this, the kids hanging around the living room bolted towards the corridor, dragging some others with them.

One of the people being dragged… was Yanno.

Yanno flinched, not knowing what he should do. He wanted to run, but his feet wouldn’t move.

The boy pulling him was confused. Yanno was even more confused. It was an odd situation.

Helen’s eyes softened. Because of his background, Yelena didn’t want him seen outside. It was as if the boy being seen by people outside of their house was cementing his existence.

The boy barely had any social interactions outside of the family. Of course, he didn’t know how to handle the sudden contact.

”Go with them,” Helen said, making the decision for him. For now, the boy was indecisive—naturally so, considering everything—so Helen decided to hold his hand until he gained some sense of self.

”It will be fun.”

They followed the small crowd towards the courtyard. There was a pregnant woman sitting on the swing, lovingly holding her stomach with one hand, and another holding a book.

In front of her were about a dozen kids sitting on the grass, looking up at him, listening intently to her words.

”Today, I will tell the story of a Little Sparrow, its mother, and the wind,” she said. ”Once upon a time, in a meadow surrounded by tall trees, there lived a mother sparrow and her little chick…”

Kimmy was quite animated. When she told of the story, her tone changed depending on the character, and she would also make her own sound effects.

To the children who grew up without art, this was naturally very fascinating.

She told the story about the mother going out to get food, but was unable to get back for many hours which, for a baby chick who was just born, was a very long time.

”The baby chick missed its mother very much, but the cool breeze of the wind comforted the chick, even bringing feathery wildflowers that reminded it of its mother’s feathers.”

”It was comforted and ended up falling asleep embracing the wildflower, and it was also embraced—in turn—by the wind.”

”Eventually, the mama returned with the food, and the baby bird was very happy.

”Mama! Mama!” she said, ”I missed you! But also I felt you with me!”

”The wind carried your scent and your warmth, and it lifted by wings and hugged me!”

”The mother bird smiled, kissing her baby bird. ’That’s because love is like the wind. You can’t always see it, but it’s always there—holding you close’ she said.”

Kimmy smiled, looking at the children. ”Every child deserves love,” she told them. ”Miss Helen, sister Samantha, and the other staff loves you very much.”

”You might not always see it—especially when you’re being punished—but always believe that it’s there. They will unconditionally care for you, and also trying to lift you up so you can be yourself and fly when you’re ready.”

She smiled, unconsciously patting her own stomach. ”That’s what mothers do, after all.”

Bianca’s (Baron’s cousin) adoptive kids