After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 166

Chapter 166: Charisma
Aberdeen City, a year ago

“Really?” He asked, confirming Hana’s answer.

Hana giggled. “In my eyes, no one can be more charming and handsome than you.”

He smiled, “Good answer.”

Hand-in-hand, the two of them moved forward with the crowd to watch the person on the platform.

The man was already having his speech.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for gathering here today in this small open area in a park we all love.

“It is an honor and privilege to stand before you as a candidate for City Council. My journey has been a humble one, as you may know, but I believe this brings a unique perspective to the table.

“We have faced a fair share of challenges, but these obstacles have taught me the true value of resilience and persistence. I know the difficulties ordinary people face because I have lived them myself.

“In this journey, I carry with me not only my own experiences but the collected dreams and aspirations of our class—of the workers having two shifts, of the fathers providing for their families, of the mothers just hoping to give better lives for the children, or the typical youngin’ just entering the world of adulthood.

“I promise unwavering commitment to listen and work tirelessly on your behalf.

“Together, we share a vision of a brighter future for our city, one where opportunities will not be limited by circumstances, and every voice is heard, as it was—fortunately—been with mine.

“I hope to share this voice with all of you, let us all make our lives better.

“Thank you and may we journey towards progress together!”

This was followed by raging cheers in the small crowd, as well as a lot of screaming from the young women.

He looked around in interest, and then at the man with a gentle smiling face, and he just knew it was a mask.

______________________

Vismont Village, Present

Leaving the slum areas, the trio went to the village center to rent a house, and also to find out more about the territory.

The village center was a one-story building located near the center of the territory. As with Bright, there were trade surfaces and information platforms placed equidistantly on the floor area.

He saw the inquiry tabs and set another mission (after paying 50 damned silver) for information about a woman called Althea Witt. The reward ranged from 5 silver to 5 gold. Of course, the truth must be confirmed by the system first.

When he was done with his errand, he saw the twins had already rented a house, which was tagged in the purchaser’s—Leo’s—map.

One would be able to rent a room and share a common area with others or rent the whole house for a price of 10 silver a day. To save money, they rented a room to share.

“There is basically only one housing type, a two-story building.” The smaller twin said as they traversed the lively streets lined with stall owners sitting on the ground and selling various things.

They were mostly things they had from Terran, while a few managed to get monster parts from the beast tide and sold them for meat.

They soon arrived at the assigned house and went in, immediately seeing that there were no furnishings. It was basically just a roof above their heads, but it was really better than most.

Luke had even gone straight to the bathroom and came out refreshed and amazed.

Fanboy Luke went to stand in front of them, telling them in glee, “The bathroom here is way better than our old one. The toilet here actually has a seat.”

Leo nodded. It was indeed better than the previous one. Ansel didn’t bother, because Bright territory also chose the same type of house.

After resting for a bit, the trio went out to get something to eat. They lined up at the restaurant and endured another horrid meal, eating edible fruit they found to put down the horrid taste.

They ate slowly so they could stay longer. Keeping their ears sharp, they tried to be subtle while catching as much gossip as they could.

Restaurants were one of the places to gather Intel. Even if they couldn’t openly investigate the happenings in the territory, they could eavesdrop.

It so happened that the table next to them was composed of old and new residents, with the former giving news to the latter. “So you can’t kill here?”

“It was amazing. One of the gang members killed someone before and when the Lord found not only did he kick this person out, but he worked hard to build a prohibition. Since then, no one dared to kill.”

“That’s great. I have been wondering in the wild the past few days! I finally found a safe place!”

The old resident nodded proudly. “You don’t know. Our Lord had to pay a lot of gold to set this prohibition. He really thinks of us everywhere…”

While many of the conversations were about their daily lives, if it rounded to the Lord of the territory, it would be filled with amazement, gratitude, and awe.

Even Ansel was amazed by the guy’s charm.

Anyway, eventually, the topic turned to rants about their sufferings and the trio was no longer interested, leaving for the other facilities within the territory.

Other than the restaurant, there was also the weapon shop and armory in the main commercial area.

They went in to check out if there was any difference with the weapons and realized it was all the same. They still bought a few of each because of the durability limitations of level E weapons.

As they went out, they saw a commotion not too far away from them. Bored, the three of them decided to watch the show.

Several meters away, they immediately found out what the ruckus was about. “They’re building a well!” Came a yell within the crowd. “The people who shared will get priority!”

“The lord is fair!”

“The well! The Lord is building the well!”

More people followed the crowd and Luke had long joined in. The other two simply looked at each other and sighed, finding a nearby tree to climb and get a better, but comfortable, view of all the commotion.

They settled down on a tree each and they looked at the center of the crowd. It was Matthew, of course, in front of an open space near the village center.

There was a clear area of radius of about 5 meters surrounding him, and he seemed concentrating deeply on the task at hand.

Heh. Sure enough, a showman was a showman.

Soon, the land in front of him shook. From there, it seemed like a force suddenly pushed down the soil and created a hole. Slowly, the people watched as the well materialized speck by speck, and then brick by brick.

It was a magical sight that was never boring to watch.

Ansel looked around to see the expressions of the people.

It was a miraculous thing and, in the eyes of the people, so was Matthew himself.