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

He had always been insecure at being one of the few Lords with a decades-old City who still did not have the exalted status as a High Lord—a ’King’.

When he went to visit Hassen City, he was reminded of this. The difference in treatment was really stark. In Hassen, the Lord and his immediate family were treated as royalty. People kneeled down when they entered, and whatever they asked for was definitely given.

Here, he still had to take note of the nobles. Look at him now—having to put on a show to take care of ’feelings’! If it became the Hassen Lord, he’d have just gotten rid of the entire family when he wished!

Anyway, his trip to Hassen simply reminded him to expedite his plans to take over what he always believed was his—the Golds’ property.

Speaking of the Golds, Zaol even approached Bleumrick before they left. Some of the two most high-leveled men in this City stood in front of each other, though their status became now heaven and earth.

”Can we have the antidote to the weakening potion?” Zaol asked the other man, trying not to betray the burning anger inside of him.

The guards had forced all of them to drink Hoffen’s restricting potion before they left the prison. He even got an extra dose due to his level. There should still be a few hours before the potion completely loses its effects.

”None of that anymore. It’s not a priority because it would lose efficiency on its own within a couple of hours,” he said. ”Surely that won’t be a problem?”

This made the Golds flinch. ”You—”

The weakening potion would not reduce the physical strength of a person. Rather, it’d greatly reduce the amount of mana a person could tap for a certain amount of time.

This was not too bad if one was within the walls—but this was a death sentence when outside of it.

Everyone knew this, but somehow the Lord managed to maintain his righteous facade. ”What if you decide to attack us or our caravans? What if you kidnap any one of our people and threaten some resources?” he asked, causing a burst of murmurs and debates among the crowds.

The Golds gritted their teeth, and Zaol narrowed his eyes at him. ”I made an oath—”

”An oath can have many loopholes,” Bleumrick said, shutting him up. ”So, for the sake of my citizen, I can only ask you to go as far away as possible as soon as you can.

Translation: Get out now while you’re weak and can barely defend yourselves.

”Having to punish you like this… it breaks my heart.”

The Golds frowned, sending him a bad look.

Self-rightous bastard!

”However, you were still one of my closest friends,” He said, voice cracking. ”And as much as I prioritize my people, I still can’t just casually throw you to your deaths.

”So, I will gift you this Superior beast repelling potion. It should last long enough until you recover your powers.”

There were murmurs around about how kind the Lord was, and how forgiving he was. If Lords could see their own prestige in the hearts of the people, Bleumrick’s approval rating definitely increased by a few notches from this.

However, the Golds did not feel thankful. Rather, they knew he was definitely up to something.

Obi wanted to snap at him—to reveal his thoughts—but Olga held him back. ”There’s nothing we can do at this point,” she whispered. ”Let’s just get as far away from him as we can.”

The family turned to leave, but Zaol turned to Bleumrick one last time. ”Remember your promise,” he said. ”You will not harm any of the people who served our family.”

As he said this, they heard several sniffles and outright sobs in the crowd.

He said this in public not for image, but in order to make sure Bleumrick followed after his promise. Like he said: Oaths could have loopholes. Some vague ones wouldn’t even take effect at all.

They looked at the side to see several of their former servants crying. Most had been sobbing even before, but they were outright bawling now.

Zaol and the others smiled warmly at them. ”Thank you for everything,” he said, and the others did the same.

”Also give those injured proper care,” he said, ”They will not do harm to Bleulle, and they no longer have anything to do with us.”

Many of their guards, even Ogro and Oren—Olga’s twin guards—were injured when they were trying to defend the family during their capture. They were in a very bad shape at the time, they didn’t even know if they were alive.

With no further ado, hundreds if not thousands of people lined up along the road, seeing the Golds—once mainstays and foundations of the City—leave their homes on foot.

...

As they went past the gates, the group applied the pungent Beast Repelling Potion to their items and their shoes. To maximize the potion—and also to minimize the chances of Bleumrick’s people coming after them—they planned to sprint as far as they could.

Their figures almost disappeared and many of the low-leveled people watching could only gape in awe.

The seven figures moved past the dense forests at impressive speeds, though as time passed, they couldn’t help but feel a heavier sense of dread.

”We don’t have any equipment at all,” Otto said, a deep frown etched on his face. ”The potion should still work for a few hours, and that Beast Repelling potion would lose efficiency faster,” he said. ”If we encounter level 40 monsters at our state, we’d be in deep trouble.”

Gaia bit her lips, staring in front of her in thought. About a kilometer or two later, she spoke up. ”Wait,” she said, tapping her husband’s shoulder. ”Let’s take a short detour. It’s not out of way.”

The children looked at each other, while Zaol nodded. Gaia’s movements along the forests seemed purposeful and they couldn’t help but feel curious.

They arrived at the side of the mountains that they’d still pass by, but then they started to separate from the usual path.

After about a minute or so, they found Gaia standing in front of a crack just wide enough to fit a person. Everyone else blinked when they saw her go inside without hesitation though they, too, just looked at each other before promptly following.

Zaol had to squeeze in a bit and it was a bit of a struggle for the next ten meters or so, however.

His unfilial son Obi tutted behind him. ”You should really control your diet, dad.”

”...”

Fortunately, even he managed to get through until the end of it. Interestingly, there was a small patch of forest inside, just as big as a small house.

They found Gaia kneeling at the corner, using a rock to dig. ”Let’s dig this up,” she said, and her sons quickly took over the digging task.

They missed Oslo and his earth ability, but they were strong enough so the digging was relatively fast.

About half a meter underground, they found a small box the size of a palm.

”It’s still here,” Gaia said, looking relieved. When she opened it, they saw a bracelet—and its main gem was a very familiar stone akin to stars.

A space stone!!