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

Anyway, unfortunately there was no opening for the commercial areas for now.

But Olga was not too sad. She believed Alterra would be upgraded again in less than a year or two, and perhaps they could just use the house as an office until then. Besides, it was good to build a market first, and having a more intimate setup wouldn’t be too bad for a new business offering new services.

While their siblings were pretty much starting to do business already, Oslo and Obi, along with Otto’s men Leez, Deej, and Tener, were together elsewhere.

Oslo was guiding Obi and his men to the barracks to sign up as guards. With their strengths and Oslo’s recommendation, they’d definitely have good chances of promotion.

Contribution points remained the same with them. However, they’d be assigned to places with stronger enemies, so naturally they’d gather points faster than others.

Garan considered parachuting them into having their own team. However, while that’d have advantages, it was better for them to integrate into the entire force first.

Anyway, after registration, they went to have a meal. Obi’s treat.

He treated them to a nice restaurant near the barracks. This one served slightly spicy food which Obi absolutely adored, though that could just be the fire user in him talking.

”Thanks for the treat, Captain!” Tener and the rest exclaimed, happily digging in.

”No problem,” Obi said, looking at the men with warmth. ”You’re officially my brothers now, so just ask what you need of me.”

They had shown such loyalty to him, how could he not feel even more fond of them? He swore to help them gain much better lives here so they’d be glad they followed him.

The three flinched at his words, wondering if they heard it right. When they saw that Obi was being sincere, they sniffed a bit, hearts touched.

Being so close to him was, in fact, already a big honor. They were mere commoners, after all. Although Obi didn’t have his previous position as a city noble, he was still so high above them, and they believed he’d regain his position in no time. They felt guilty about this offer, but they couldn’t bear to reject his goodwill either.

All of them didn’t have families anymore, which was how they could afford to leave everything behind and follow Obi. Now, they had a family, too.

Oslo smiled, looking at big men nearing tears. ”You will see that you will meet more family here. Sincere ones.”

They ate in silence as they appreciated the moment, as well as appreciated the taste of the food and the experience it brought them.

It was really spicy and exciting. This mix of spices wasn’t something they’d get tired of!

It was around this time that the door opened, and the staff welcomed another batch of customers.

Leez’s gaze flickered a bit when she saw that it was a group of women in uniform entering.

This was Yllana, Cassie, and one of the newer members, Foxii, who was a water Elementalist among the Extreme Heat refugees back then. 1

They were definitely guards—their uniforms were... lovely. Feminine, but also practical.

Leez couldn’t help but admire as they sat down near them. These women walked with confidence, wearing uniforms that traditionally belonged to men. At the same time, they were not mocked. Rather, they received the respect they deserved.

Leez... felt envious.

She wondered if she could wear those feminine uniforms instead of the ones she was wearing now...

Obi turned to see her in a daze. ”What’s wrong?”

”Nothing...” Leez said, turning her attention back to the food in front of her.

Obi’s eyebrows followed the direction Leez was looking. When he saw that Leez was looking at a table of women, his eyes flickered, but he couldn’t help but elbow him teasingly. ”Interested?”

Leez shook her head, giving a wry smile. ”I’m... not thinking about those things now.”

Obi, who was also pro-career, nodded in acknowledgement.

”Good, good,” he said, patting the smaller man’s shoulder in approval. ”Who needs that sappy romance anyway, right?”

...

After the meal, they decided to continue walking around as a group in the guise of ’familiarizing themselves with the workplace’. They were just filling up their spaces from this shop, and that shop, and then that shop over there as a bonus.

The group went past the market and ended up in a bookstore, albeit a privately-owned one. It sold only novels and storybooks, and at this time, there were hundreds of selections in each genre.

This place was co-owned by Ansel and the Ramil-Raj brothers, with their sister Aditi as a main editor.

She was in charge of the vetting and recruitment of various writers from all over the territory to work with them. Of course, they would receive shares from their publications at an agreed-upon profit-sharing scheme.

Tener and Deej went to look at the ’Action’ section while Leez... went to the romance section.

Even if she didn’t have a love life, it didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy reading about it.

Obi explored on his own for a while as well, but his eyes gravitated to an area where he saw Leez frozen at a corner, apparently engrossed in a book there.

Curious, he went to approach. ”What are you reading?” he asked, peeking behind her shoulder.

Leez blushed a bit and hid it by accident. The instinctual movement made Obi more curious and he leaned down, making Leez blush even more.

Using his superior skills, he managed to take away the book from her grasp, lifting it up so Leez couldn’t get it.

His other hand held down her shoulder before she could jump. At the back of his head, he noted that the younger man’s shoulder was really small and soft. Did he not train hard enough?

Anyway, he wasn’t able to think too deeply about this because he saw the contents of the book.

It was by an author named ’Air_Ria’ and the title was something that really got his attention.

[Sunset With You: An Ansel and Oslo Fanfiction]

Yllana was one of the rescues in Guia, also Luis’ GF. Cassie is one of our first female guards (the kendo girl).