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

Before the war, the number of times they moved accomodations (they moved separately) was way too much. One time they’d be in the grand hotel, the next few days, they’d downgrade to an inn, and so on.

This was because they could feel people’s eyes on them here and again. Did they really look that suspicious?

But then they’d overhear some of them. It was when Xon was watching the elders or their closest associates, figuring out the ways to get close.

Unexpectedly, one of the weaker soldiers next to the military elder said something horrible. It was a whisper, but his level was high, so he heard every word.

”I think that person is a queer. He keeps staring at my bum.”

”!!!”

So that’s why he was being stared at?

This was just one of the few similar cases that happened to their group. Many of those who pointed at them were weaklings who shouldn’t even notice them since they were being so low-key.

There were also specifically sharp ones! ”I think I noticed him lingering suspiciously in the Eastern sector, too. It’s weird.” This person was not even level 10, just bored enough to people-watch as a habit.

Worse was that the guards, who were at least twice the reporter’s level, actually took his words seriously. ”Oh? Should we investigate, then?”

Xon had to move places again when he had barely settled in the inn.

To summarize, for better or for worse, anywhere with people—regardless of the average strength of the place—was a risk.

They couldn’t outwardly attack or even threaten anyone unless they wanted to go straight to prison, either. They could only begrudgingly hide for a few more hours before the war started, and then they could wreak havoc!

So now, at present, they—proper powerhouses in Towns—were living like homeless vagabonds.

They lived in the wild, far from the bright and lively streets. It was seriously pitiful. They were even afraid to eat too much, afraid they’d attract someone with an abnormally strong scent!

It didn’t even have to be a half-orc. Even the damned humans seemed to have an abnormal sense of smell when it came to food.

They hid in one of the tall trees, climbing up and hiding behind its canopy. For a while, it was quiet. They thought they had finally found a place to hide.

It was just that some time later, they heard some voices in the distance.

”What? Did someone see us?”

They lowered their presence as much as they could. This actually wasn’t a skill automatically obtained by anyone. For most people, the higher the level, the more difficult it was to hide one’s presence. The higher the level, the bigger one’s aether was, after all.

However, they had been trained since young to handle their presence. They could not be said to have completely disappeared, but they at least wouldn’t be beacons announcing their presences when they didn’t want to, at least when it was this dark.

The voices increased in volume, meaning they were getting closer, and the refugees gritted their teeth. Soon, they heard of people speaking at a distance, possibly less than ten meters away.

”Our watchers said they saw unusual movements in this area.”

By watchers, it could vary from guards at the walls, guards at the sentries, or someone nosy enough to be looking in this direction.

”It’s so dark, can they see it?” they heard someone ask. ”I mean, this area is undeveloped, and we haven’t had many street lights installed here yet.”

He asked because installing a number of streetlights through an undeveloped forest was normal here.

”Of course, although we don’t have night vision technology yet, we do have some people who have night vision skills!”

”Amazing.”

”Impressive.”

”Those people are recruited as guards, right?”

”Some of them, yes, some are still training.”

”Anyway, no battle pets were roaming around, and it’s already late at night for people to be gathering resources. So it was tagged as suspicious.”

”I see...”

Xon and the others tensely watched as the Alterran guards below them roamed around, looking for anything suspicious. When some passed by under them without looking up and then walked past, they almost breathed a sigh of relief.

That was until—

PIIP! PIIP!

PIIP! PIIP!

The sound was actually tiny, like squeaking, but it made Xon and his companion’s stomachs to fall.

”Good boy, Little Mochi, can you smell someone?” the guard asked, his voice unconsciously softening when he talked to the little critter.

His partner seemed amused and impressed. ”Hey, when you volunteered to walk the puppies, who’d have thought you weren’t just playing around?”

”Heh, don’t underestimate animal instincts, yo.”

PIIP! PIIPP!!

The puppy continued to ’bark’ and then tried to scratch a tree—the one Xon and his companions were in.

Orcshit

To think powerhouses of their level were afraid to be ’chased’ by guards below level 20 and a puppy!

They quickly jumped to other branches. They were high-level, so they naturally couldn’t be followed so easily. They managed to rush to a hundred or so meters away in the blink of an eye. Unexpectedly, the place they landed had a lone guard.

”HEY! HERE!”

Vlan descended and held him down, making sure he couldn’t move or yell. They couldn’t do anything else, or they’d go to prison, so their side could only manipulate the person.

”You did not see anything suspicious in this area,” Vlan said, looking at the person in the eye. Although they hadn’t had much interaction, the level differences allowed him to do some basic convincing. He couldn’t order him to do anything he wouldn’t do yet, however, precisely because he didn’t have time.

The guard’s eyes became dazed. ”A-Ah, yes,” he said, and the trio disappeared once more, a few seconds before the others who heard his yell arrived.

When the other guards appeared, the guard would answer that he must have seen wrong.

Like this, the Valov powerhouses resumed their vagrant lives, and they were incredibly bitter.

”Damn. That was close.”

”Those guards weren’t even level 20! To think we had to escape like this! Humiliating!”

”Tsk, I wish I had a skill that could make people do things without so many conditions.”

”The system would never give something like that,” another said. ”Pity.”

Since it was persuasion, it wasn’t against the rules, nor could they make a rule that could save people from that. After all, it was not particularly harmful on its own.

”This place is too troublesome.”

The others nodded, the vindictiveness in their eyes practically leaking.

They were so repressed that they were desperate for the war to start.

”I’m looking forward to the war starting!!”