After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 103

Chapter 103: A Moment of Respite
[24 days of Protection Period]

Now that she knew what they would face after the protection period, she suddenly felt a deeper sense of crisis.

She still hadn’t gotten over her little trauma from the last beast tide, now they had to go through wars?! And at least once every month at that!

It was only now that she noticed Brenda looking at her worriedly.

Althea sighed, unconsciously patting her stomach to calm herself. Her babies were responsive and gently kicked from inside, making their presence known, as always.

With renewed strength, she opened her alluring emerald eyes that had now regained its calm.

She then looked at the woman, who flinched a bit. She started giving instructions, her tone as stable as it could be.

“Go to the Weapon Store, and focus on creating mid-level weapons.” She said. In this way, not only would they have Level E weapons, but they could have improved Level E and even Level D weapons.

Of course, the latter was preferred, so she ought to give a bigger incentive. “You will receive 1% of the profits for each weapon you make. You will also get more if you innovate.”

She paused, looking at the other woman who was already gaping at her in confusion.

Althea assumed she needed more explanation, “It means that for every weapon you produce, you would get a residual. Further, you will receive a higher share per weapon if you innovate on a weapon yourself. I hope you do so.”

“My Lord?” Brenda couldn’t help but ask again, doubting if she heard it correctly.

Althea stared at her and repeated what she said, and how could Brenda dare make her repeat again?

Brenda still couldn’t believe it. She had never heard of lords giving more to the hired personnel beyond the conditions of the contract.

But when she saw the seriousness in Althea’s tone she could only bow her head in gratitude. “Yes, my lord.”

This was such a great honor it would take her the rest of the day to absorb it.

Before Brenda left, Althea couldn’t help but emphasize: “Remember: People don’t know of my status as the lord.”

“Yes, milord.”

Brenda left the room and walked down the flight of stairs, flinching at the heads whipping to her direction.

She cleared her throat and continued walking down, heading to the Weapons store as ordered, inevitably causing a disturbance to the people using the ground floor.

…

On the other hand, Althea, through the warehouse, teleported back to her room. Her shoulders slumped as she stepped into her room, heaving a sigh, and went to the bathroom to take her bath.

She looked at the new earthenware tub, now filled with water from the tap, connected to the tank above. She lit up the fire pit below the tub to warm the water.

She really needed a very relaxing bath right now.

She was partially in a daze as she prepared her bath, waving her hand along the water as she waited for it to warm, unsure of how to handle all the pressure.

A couple of minutes later, she judged that it was warm enough and headed to the counter. She took out an earthenware bottle on the surface, gesturing to put a couple of drops into the bath water.

The moment she uncapped the bottle, a gentle fragrance wafted out, lingering in the air. The room was filled with a mix of gentle aromas, carrying promises of relaxation and serenity.

Walking towards the tub, she tilted the bottle, and droplets of the scented oil fell from its lip, merging with the clear water below.

What she added was her latest floral essence extracted from wildflowers and mixed with a system-unnamed plant that smelled like Jasmine (and was thus named as such).

A contented smile graced her lips as she dipped her hand into the water. The soothing warmth and fragrance of the water was lovely. She shed off her clothes, stepping on the slippery surface of the tub, and sank into the water’s warm embrace.

As she laid inside the wooden bathtub with her eyes closed, a soft sigh escaped her lips, not wanting to think about the beasts and the wars.

Her worries were temporarily carried away by the relaxing aroma and the gentle caress of the water.

As her mind drifted, she couldn’t help thinking of how the NPCs revered her by virtue of her being the Lord said a lot about the hierarchy here.

A society with a sharp hierarchy meant that there was a contrasting concentration of wealth, something she could take advantage of.

Althea had always been confident in her products. Her products had always been top par and her luxury items sold for exuberant amounts. Even in this other world, she believed she would still do well.

Thinking of the wealth she could milk out of the nobles here, the feeling of dread about the inevitable end of the Protection Period softened a bit.

A bit biased, she contributed her change of mood to her product, naming it with the apt ‘Calming Spring’.

…

“Boss is so beautiful…” Sheila couldn’t help but whisper as the pregnant woman gracefully walked out of her room and joined them on the just-set table. “You smell very nice.”

“It’s a new product. I’ll give you one.”

Sheila brightened. Which woman doesn’t love beauty in their core?

Old Harold, who was quite dull when it came to all things beautiful, just continued to chew his food, much more interested in the gossip he caught.

“Someone came down from the second floor! They say it’s a woman as tall as a big man. Very strong, too, and she went straight to the armory!” He paused, finishing a few more bites  “Boss, do you know who it is?”

“Hmmm. An NPC, who will be in charge of the weapon shop.”

The men perked their ears in interest, while the children just enjoyed their flavored mashed potatoes.

“NPC?” Harold asked, not sure if he heard correctly. Eugene very helpfully explained to him.

“It’s called a non-Player Character. Basically a non-Terran.”

“Yes, it’s an aborigine hired through the village center.” Althea paused and looked at them strangely, “Also, she wasn’t the first NPC.”

“Eh?”

“There was also one last night, an armor maker. Everyone’s probably already asleep at the time so no one saw him, or at least noticed he wasn’t from Terran.”

“I placed him in one of the shops near the center.”

Anyway, they only had torches and the two moons at night. Who would stay up late? At this time, the vibrant nightlife was something exclusively from a ‘past life’.

For now, anyway.

In any case, Eugene brightened at the knowledge of such experts entering their territory. “That’s great to hear. So it could make more weapons and armor now right?”

Housekeeper-Harold, as always, focused on certain things first and foremost. “How much do they cost to hire?”

Althea shrugged and told them, getting them to nearly choke.

“15 gold a month?! Each?! So expensive?!”

The much-sought-after permanent residency was 10 gold, and so was the downpayment (just determined) for the most basic housing unit!

“I’ll just make sure they’re worth it,” Althea said apathetically. “I have the choice to rehire them after a month, anyway.”

The topic shifted to the other NPC, and also thought perhaps an armory would also be good. It was Eugene who spoke of differing opinions.

“Shouldn’t we just improve his working area?”

Althea paused and then looked at Eugene with a little admiration. “Very good idea.” She said, this way she didn’t have to use a building slot—that she didn’t have, by the way—on the building.

Of course, the gossip didn’t end there. This time it was Sheila who shared the news. She leaned over, looking quite gossipy, very unlike the timid self she first met her with.

“There were a hundred people who entered the territory this morning.” But her face scrunched to a depressed expression, remembering their states and the stories that came with them.

And she looked at Althea with a very worried expression. “They all looked horrible, it seems that their territory also got attacked by a beast tide…” She couldn’t help but shudder at the memories of how Royal Territory was before.

“Will they attack us too?”

Althea nodded and told them the truth, “Oh, definitely.”

All their hearts skipped a beat, and they gaped at her. “Boss? So sure?”

“If my theory is correct, the attack would happen within a few hours of upgrading.”

“Are we going to upgrade, boss?”

Althea nodded. “Very soon.” She did not reveal what she found about territory wars, for now, as they already had enough on their emotional plates at the moment.

The table was silent for a while and the children finally noticed the weird atmosphere and blinked their cute little eyes.

“But ours is better!” Maya said, eyes expressing how certain she was.

They all broke into smiles. Harold chuckled and he patted her head. “Well, our territory is definitely better than that guy’s.”

Althea nodded. “That’s why we need to strengthen the guards team.”

Eugene, who was in the military, nodded. “The citizens themselves should have a certain discipline as well. We don’t want them abandoning the territory in the middle of the crisis, add chaos, and maybe make things worse…”

Althea smiled. In fact, seeing there were more and more people coming in, she decided to publicize the rules she had set prior.

It was said that civilization was born from the delicate mix of freedom and order.

Althea completely agreed, and she would definitely make sure her territory was as great as it could be.