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

There were also particularly interesting encounters. For example, there was the encounters between Virgo—one of the Research Team’s premier mathematicians—and his ”ex-wife” Kimmy, who now pushing a stroller with a woman and a little boy next to her.

His eyebrows rose, and they nodded at each other in greeting. It was just that Virgo was not much of a conversationalist and most people would see it as snobbery.

However, Kimmy, who had technically lived with him for months, naturally knew of his quirks.

Still, she was still a bit defensive with men in general, and it would be a lie to say she wasn’t even the least bit bitter towards her ’husbands’ who were too weak to protect her back then.

However, after so long, she had learned to let go. Being bitter wouldn’t be a good atmosphere around her baby girl after all.

”Virgo,” she said in greeting and the man flinched, nodding as well. They had somewhere to go and didn’t stay to chat, and separated immediately afterward.

However, Virgo’s eyes followed her until they disappeared into the crowd.

Kimmy had never actually touched him outside his face or his chest. For the most part, she just appreciated him visually. It was a bit uncomfortable, but she gave him food, shelter, and let him depend on her for months.

So, despite her quirks, Virgo actually liked and respected this ”ex-wife” of his.

For a while, he couldn’t face her for being so useless after all that happened. It was one of the reasons why he was eager to move to Alterra.

Then Kimmy herself moved and it became awkward for a long time.

Seeing her happy now made him feel relieved. It wasn’t enough to let bygones be bygones, but at least a portion of the burden was gone.

As for how he’d make it up to her—he’d figure it out eventually. His EQ was too low for him to determine that himself.

...

”What is it?” Kimmy asked, feeling Yelena’s eyes on her. The woman blushed a bit, rubbing her arms, which was a sign of her nervousness.

”You can talk with them?” Yelena asked. Even until now, she was uncomfortable with strange men. She was quite envious of Kimmy, and a little uncomfortable she seemed to be expanding her circle again.

It could even be called… jealousy.

”Hmn,” Kimmy said. ”You’ll get there, no need to pressure yourself. Our lives are long.”

Yelena looked at her and nodded, looking at the cute baby on the stroller. The baby girl was so cute and lovely. Inexplicably, Yelena’s eyes shifted to her own son.

He was a good-looking kid and he must’ve been a cute baby.

She… missed that stage of his life, and a wave of regret came over her again—something that was happening increasingly often—and she did not know how to deal with it at all.

It was still awkward between them after so many months and, to be honest—even when they did little things together now like walking, eating, and the like—the conversation was still difficult.

No, it seemed like he never talked to her before?

She knew that he could talk now. She had overheard him talking a bit with his peers in the orphanage, and she had also heard of his laughter.

She felt a strange sense of pain and satisfaction when she realized it was his, and it confused her a lot.

In most cases, the boy would just hand her things without saying anything, or would just nod at her request and do it.

However—

”Mother…” a voice sounded next to her, and she was not quite sure if she heard it correctly. ”Mother…”

She blinked, looking down, confirming that the person talking to her was the boy.

”May buy some caramelized gouji fruit?” he asked, appearing a bit nervous.

Yelena was in a bit of a daze. Were these his first words to her?

Her silence made the boy purse his lips. Before he could retract his words though, she hurriedly nodded. ”Go ahead.”

He heaved a sigh of relief, and he ran away before she could give him any money.

”...”

However, he returned some minutes later (the stall owner had a lot of stock) and he gave everyone—including the two women—a stick of the sweet.

Yelena blinked. ”Where did you get the money?” she asked, and it made the boy flinch. She was just wondering, but her tone was a little sharp, making the boy misunderstand.

”She’s just curious,” Kimmy said, reassuring the boy. This made Yelena aware of her tone and her shoulders slumped in embarrassment, but she didn’t know how to apologize to the boy quite yet.

Fortunately, the boy didn’t retract too much and believed Kimmy. ”I help out in the orphanage, Mother.”

Kimmy looked at Yelena. ”They pay him for his work,” she said, tone soft, as if guiding her emotions. ”Your son is quite independent… you should be proud.”

There were the normal chores like washing dishes and clothes the children were expected to help out with. They were the ones to use these things and chores helped foster a sense of independence and sense of responsibility in children.

However, there were also jobs that would require a bit more strength—like helping in the garden or in their small farm—in which case the orphanage would pay the kids, allowing them to have some extra cash on their bodies.

”I see…” Yllana said, then looked at the boy whose body language was starting to close in again. She pursed her lips, shakily raising her palm and patted the boy’s head, making him flinch.

”Good job.”

The boy blinked, pursed his lips, and nodded.

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It was still awkward and the mother-son pair resumed their silent companionship, though their faces were visibly more relaxed.

Kimmy was sincerely happy seeing this progress, as it signified another step forward.

In fact, she and Yelena had progressed very slowly in dealing with their trauma. The process wasn’t straightforward at all.

Sometimes, things were great and they would pass the day without nightmares or shivering spells. Sometimes, it could be so bad that they couldn’t get out of bed because of self-induced flus.

It was two steps forward and one step back but, fortunately, they were moving forward overall.

As for that guy… they had an offer to kill him already, but she didn’t want so much brutality when her baby was just born. She just asked them to torture the bastard for a few more months. Let him suffer a bit more.

When the time came, she’d take his life herself.

It was around this time that a group of small voices chatting and laughing approached. It was the orphanage kids, running around the pedestrian sidewalks.

”Don’t go run over the main walkways!” adults would yell to remind them many times.

”Yes~” they would answer back, but they’d still hover dangerously on the edge anyway.

Kids.

Then the kids would see a familiar friend, and they would brighten even more. ”Yanno! Yanno! Come join us!” they yelled, ”We’re going to the playgrouuunddd. We’re meeting Mimi and the others theereeee~”

The boy blinked and looked up at his mother, who was staring at him.

She did not wait for him to ask. She gave him a small smile—the first one directed at him—and nodded. ”Meet us in the Plaza later, okay?”

The boy went into a daze for a moment before breaking into a wide smile. ”Yes, Mother,” he said with a soft voice before turning around to go to his friends.

The children waved at him to come, excited at his approach.

However, as he got closer, the smiles on their little faces disappeared and they looked at him with increasingly concerned expressions.

”Yanno?” they asked. ”Why are you crying?”