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

Back in Alterra, things were slowly getting back to normal. Guests and citizens were out and about again, working, hunting, and enlivening the industries again.

Most of the guests, in fact, were causing the leisure industries to spike again. After all, the more pressing things have been handled, and everyone just wanted to relax again.

For instance, at this time, aborigine women Cassandra, Veronica, Olga, and even Gaia were treating themselves in the Spa.

They sat on comfortable, cushioned recliner chairs, with skilled masseuses massaging their bodies.

Someone was also handling their heads and faces, adding treatments and cool cucumber over their eyes, with another set of hands massaging their hands, arms, and legs.

The masseuse ladies were pressing away all the tiredness and soreness that had settled in their muscles— and it was divine.

“Ah… this is so nice…” Gaia said, breathing out, as if relieving herself of all the problems she had gone through.

“Hmmm…” Olga mumbled, moaning a bit when the masseuse hit the right spot on her shoulders.

To be frank, all the fighting during the war got her stiff shoulders. She had to move her body a lot to effectively control such massive water whips. Not to mention, she covered a large part of the wall, pushing away enemies trying to get up, possibly a hundred meters from where she was.

Physically, mentally, and metaphorically speaking: She was really stretched out, so having her muscles pressed like this was heavenly indeed.

“We can do this every day,” Cassandra said, seeing the others enjoy the treatment. “I certainly do when I can.” Her body ached a lot during her pregnancy, and even now during post-partum, so these massages were really lifesavers for her.

At night, Gill would also do it for her. Her heart warmed every time and, despite everything wrong with how they started, she just felt like a lucky woman.

How many women could say that their husbands helped ease the discomforts of pregnancy? It was more likely their husbands would be ‘comforted’ by other women instead!

“This is really too good… thank you for inviting us here,” another voice sounded next to them. This was Sahara and beside her was her mother.

The mother-daughter pair also had the honors of getting invited here. At first, they were tense with being with such people, but the massage was really so relaxing that they almost forgot about their nerves.

This was especially true for Sahara, whose body was still recovering from her birth.

The scenery in their house was also funny. When they received the invite, the mother and daughter were extremely anxious. However, Helios—whose shift was later in the night—pushed them to go through with it.

“I will take care of our daughter!” he said. “Don’t worry about it!”

He then proceeded to show that he could handle the baby well—he could really lull her, hum for her, make her laugh, and feed her as needed.

The two women were shocked, really. Their perceptions were really bent by the man. After all, they had never seen a man be able to take care of a baby so well—ever.

The group also listened to a relaxing sound that came from the spa’s music boxes. It had a recording of the wonderful musical instruments there, and a different set would play every so often. They could not get enough, and it was adding to the entire relaxation experience.

However, through all of this, there was one person who had been quiet. This was especially noticeable because she was usually gregarious.

At this, Cassandra slightly tilted her head to the person next to her: Veronica. Normally, she’d find something to comment on with everything, but there was no such thing.

They were all wearing something over their eyes, so they couldn’t see each other. Cassandra somewhat wanted to take it off, but the masseuse held her hand.

“How was the talk?” She just asked in the end, and Veronica flinched a bit, though she didn’t see it.

The masseuse could though, and they looked at each other when they saw tears falling out of Veronica’s eyes.

None of them commented and just let it be, just doing their jobs to stabilize their moods somehow.

“It… was as I expected,” was all she said, not saying more because her voice would crack.

The other women heard this though, and they immediately dropped the topic.

Veronica stayed silent for the remainder of their time there, ruminating on her heart-to-heart talk with her crush.

When she found Brandon and he didn’t recognize her, she had fully given up. Even if she dyed her hair and shortened it, her face wasn’t altered in any way.

Instead, he looked at her like she was a stranger, which hit her heart sharply. When she introduced herself, her heart was hit again when she found out he didn’t even realize she was gone for so long.

All she got was a “welcome back” and then his attention was elsewhere again, probably in his workshop.

“Brandon needs a woman who understands his passion, that is not me,” she said, and that was that.

The women didn’t speak for a while. The silence settled. It was not heavy, but rather thoughtful.

It was Gaia who finally spoke. Her voice was gentle, seasoned with years of experience.

“As a woman who was blessed to find a rare good husband, and as someone who knew so many who did not—all I can say is that it is better to look for someone who truly fits you rather than get fixated on someone who couldn’t.”

Sienna nodded, her eyes distant as she remembered the past decades of her own life. She was so blessed and, to be frank, her case was so rare that she was shocked to find so many in Alterra.

“There is no rush,” she said softly. “There is no deadline in love. Some find it early, some stumble into it after they stopped looking,” she said.

She had heard of Veronica and her reputation from a few other aborigines after reaching Alterra.

“But… settling just to fill the silence is lonelier than being alone.”

This time, the silence returned—maybe even quieter. However, rather than empty, it was one full of understanding.

Thank you for supporting this story, my loves!