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

A/N: HAPPY NEW MONTH (SEPTEMBER) EVERYONE! Thank you all for your support so far, and thank you for reading all the way to this Chapter!

Special hugs to the lovelies who sent me extra extra love by sending gifts, golden tickets, comments/reviews, and votes~! HUGSSSS

Also mentioning last month’s (Aug 2025) top 3 Golden gifters~ Edward_Flynn_1495, LavenWinkle, and Phantasea~! If you have Chapter requests, do tell me!

Now, back to the story~!

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Meanwhile, while the party was going on, King Evos looked at his ministers. He had a gleaming metallic chalice in his hand, engraved with regal, serpent-like patterns and some gems.

”Where is Kahonn?” he asked, taking a sip of high-quality wine from Holt City. ”He should be here today.”

That man was usually invited to their parties, though the ones he attended could be counted on one hand. That said, he specifically mentioned in the invite letter that his attendance was a must today.

”He’s out adventuring again, Milord, I heard he used the teleportation array to head to Bleulle.” This was nothing unusual.

”I see,” the lord said, his low voice dismissive. ”Inform me when he returns. We’ll need him to create a few more Token Guards.”

”Yes, milord.”

Kahonn’s deal with Hassen was to make a set number of his specialty tools each month and pay a large amount of tax, and they did not bother with him. Anyway, the man could only make one or two a month, and the materials themselves weren’t cheap, so it usually wasn’t cost-effective to invest too much in.

Further, the tool itself was not used too often. The tool was too expensive to use in villages, except for some special cases. And how many town-level wars actually had a chance of taking others’ tokens?

This was why the demand for it was also limited, so the previous arrangement was fine until recently.

Recently, the need for the tool showed an incline—after all, a new civilization appeared, and they came decades too early.

The villages themselves also had a lot of interesting things, so they were judged worth the investment of token guards.

Apparently, the few Token Guards circulating in the east had run out, and some caravans started looking for stocks in Hassen, which had its own maker of Token guards.

Evos had already decided to increase the selling price of the tool.

He had no idea: they wouldn’t see the guy for a long time.

...

The Hassen party continued, and the hall echoed with the consistent hums of chatters, combined with the sound of clinking cups—whether they were made of metallic alloys or crystals.

It was just that in a few corners, young men clustered together, appearing rather mysterious. It was normal for cliques to form, of course, and for them to form their own groups in parties. However, there was a difference this time.

Silva happened to be assigned nearby and saw what they were doing.

They were sniffing white powder through their noses, and then they looked inebriated and in bliss.

Silva’s eyebrows furrowed as he continued to watch on. He wondered what that was.

Maison also saw it and looked curiously. He was afraid to open his mouth, though. The guards weren’t supposed to ’exist’ after all, and if they distracted the partygoers, they could get kicked out.

Silva also quietly observed. He had a vague idea what it was but, because he wasn’t directly involved, he couldn’t be too certain about it.

However, if it was ”that thing”, then this could be an issue.

Fortunately, for now, the activity was limited to a clique.

It was just that these young men were all either heirs or heir candidates for high noble families. Many of them were known as trend setters, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it spread out.

Sure enough, more and more younger men expressed interest. Even if they weren’t part of the circle, they’d find themselves peeking rather openly, looking at the group with eyes filled with curiosity. ”Did you see that?”

”Piddes, Yollo, and the rest of them took a sniff of some white powder, and they seemed out of it. They had goofy smiles on their faces.”

”Is it a different type of strong alcohol?”

”Perhaps,” another said, gulping. ”I don’t know how one could taste through the nose, but it looks like they’re delectable, considering such picky men are enjoying themselves so much.

”It must taste really good.”

”Oh, I heard about that powder,” another said, and everyone in his circle leaned forward to hear more. Silva’s level was high, so he could also hear them clearly, too.

”In a sense, it really is like alcohol, but much more potent,” he said, teasingly. ”Further, the higher the level, the more they can take in. The more one can take in, the more powerful one is.”

At this, a few of them turned to look at the ’exclusive’ clique again. ”Elder Yossen’s son took in so much!”

”Well, Yollo is one of the most high-potential men in his generation, so it isn’t a surprise.”

They were discussing the powder as if it were some sort of rite of passage now—to show prestige and power, making more people curious about it.

”Where can we buy some?”

”Specific merchant groups sold it,” the newsbreaker said. ”It’s something from the East, I hear.”

Piddes and the others didn’t care for the mumbling, they even felt smug for accessing things commoners could only dream of.

Gulp

Silva’s eyebrows rose and he turned to the guard next to him. ”I want to try too.” Maison’s level was not as high, but the young men weren’t speaking in hushed tones either.

Silva gave him a look. Maison was the type to be influenced relatively easily, especially when it was done by influential people.

”Are you a noble? Those things are expensive.”

”If I perform well, maybe the Masters will give me a taste.”

Silva sighed. ”I don’t recommend trying,” he said.

Although he wasn’t certain if what Alterra and Shrao encountered back then were the same thing, he could at least tell by now that it was similar.

”Oh?”

Silva looked at him, lowering his voice on purpose. ”Do you want to be controlled by a substance?”

He then patted the man’s shoulder. Fortunately, they were standing along the darker side of the hall, so they didn’t bother the nearby guests with their chatter.

”Think of your daughter,” he said. ”I can guarantee you that if you get hooked on this, she will be the one to suffer.”