After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 401

Chapter 401: Altera Grand Tour
They went past the couple and saw a few more couples, families, and friends roaming around—though many of whom were filled with monster blood—and frankly they didn’t know what to feel.

“I thought people were working?” One asked, referring to those who obviously didn’t hunt but are playing.

“It’s the weekend! Most people are off this day.”

“What?”

Lulu knew the concept of work hours the Aborigines had on their own. “Well, we are only required to work a certain amount of hours every day and have 1 to 2 days off every week. Of course, we are expected to strengthen ourselves to some degree during this time.”

“That’s… interesting. Aren’t the owners disgruntled by this rule?”

“Oh no. Studies show people are more productive when they get enough rest!”

The aborigines looked at each other, unsure of what to make of things. A lot of things weren’t easy to absorb, in fact, so they decided to just go with the flow.

As they walked, they noticed that the largest path was mostly empty except for a few people on the sides. There was an obvious delineated pathway with the main road luxuriously being all red stone and was separated by a line of shrubs and trees. The sidewalk was too crowded in comparison to this much larger avenue..

“Why don’t they use that road?”

“The sidewalks are usually wide enough. Although we don’t have cars yet, it’s a habit of our people to stay out of it. Of course, while there are no cars yet they can use it.”

“Cars?”

“Uhhhh, carriages.”

“Oh…”

Lulu smiled and then pointed in a direction, “Look, it’s being used right now.”

The aborigines followed where she pointed and saw a group of fast-approaching dots. As they came closer, they soon realized that it was people on those riding contraptions Oslo used when they saw him. The aborigines watched aptly as they passed by and until they disappeared from view.

They were going incredibly fast and unhindered, which made the large roads really convenient to ride.

“That looks fun…”

“Hmn.”

The roads were wide and smooth so the ride was also very fast. It seemed… enjoyable.

Lulu couldn’t help but feel smug at their reactions. “They’re called bicycles! They actually have their own lane, which they would have to use if more cars are introduced in the future. “We don’t know if cars will ever be developed though, so bikes will be occupying the roads for now.”

The bikes were literally just launched that morning (Althea rushed a bit to show off to the Aborigines), and suffice to say it was all sold out even before the morning ended.

Eugene and Althea made quite a bit of gold within a few hours…

“That looks fun… where can we get one?” Veronica said. In retrospect, she should’ve borrowed it when they encountered Oslo earlier, but she felt shy since all the Alteran soldiers seemed to want a turn themselves.

“They can be rented at specific areas in the territory, though only a set number is available, I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to reserve one immediately. The raw materials are still limited, after all.”

Last night, the guides had a fast-tracked guide on how the whole bike lanes and rentals were going to work out. They happened to all love the bikes and absorbed the rules and regulations very well in that short amount of time.

“I can show you where to rent when the tour is over.”

The two nodded blankly, eyes glued at where they saw the so-called bikes.

Soon, they reached a pedestrian-only street.

How did they know? That’s because there was a large sign with people and letters saying so. Underneath the text, they could recognize some other weird characters. It was a different language, which they assumed to be the language of their hometown.

Cassandra and Veronica were very curious about the place ‘their men’ came from, a pity it seemed to have been destroyed.

They were also curious about how they got here. They had heard of a few cases of civilizations appearing on the continent, though she wasn’t privy to more information.

She didn’t care at the time. After all, she didn’t even know whether she’d encounter the ‘aliens’ in her lifetime—let alone actually fall in love with one.

The lively noise pulled her back from her daze. She looked around to see the bustling streets filled with people and smiles.

This street, apparently called Market Street, was more intimate and fun than the extremely wide main avenues.

Their eyes couldn’t help but be attracted by the shop in the intersection though. It was covered and under construction.

“This is Ms. Althea’s store. She’ll be selling some specialty products, I think.”

“Ms. Althea?”

“She’s the Elder for Plant research and the only pharmacist so far!”

“Pharmacist!!” The two women exclaimed. An incredibly rare job! Even Cassandra who lived in a high-level town had only interacted with one all these years.

And… it was a woman?

“When will it be open?”

“Oh, actually she already has a pharmacy where you can buy her potions.”

The two women couldn’t help but recall those potions the Terran Mercenary team used. Could it be from there?

“Wait… Eagle said the potions are from their sister-in-law.”

“Does your Ms. Althea have a husband?”

“Yes! Also, an incredibly handsome man, who I reluctantly acknowledge as more handsome than my idol.”

The two nodded in interest. “Then, if she has a pharmacy, what’s she selling in this prime spot?”

“I hear she’s selling beauty products!” She said, excited for the shop herself.

“Beauty products?”

“Ms. Althea was famous for her WittBeauty products back home.” She paused realising the aborigines didn’t know about the famous brand at all. “They’re creams, solutions, etc. That could help smoothen skin, fix blemishes, make people more beautiful in general—

Lulu flinched when the two girls abruptly entered her personal space with bright eyes.

“When will it open?”

“I-It should be… in a few… days? I’m not sure—”

“Good enough!” The two girls said, beauty products by a pharmacist?! Unheard of! Must buy!

After all, women didn’t have much status in this world—they didn’t have as much power or as much money. There were not many noble women for pharmacists to really consider this market. There was much more money catering to men and things they needed for wars.

Pharmacists were also all men. How would they care about women’s needs?

But here—

Anyway, with high hearts, they eventually moved on further into the market street.

Most stores along the main avenue were food-related, mostly having to do with the raw materials for food being more widely available first than the bolts of cloth, so the market there boomed much earlier.

Hence, by coincidence, most of the clothing and article stores were concentrated along the market street. It was an unintended, but convenient, zoning.

As the party strolled down the street, the air was filled with the scent of freshly tanned leather and the rustling sounds of fabric.

The two girls looked fascinatedly at the stores and found several stores of clothing that interested them. Their guards and servants couldn’t help staring as well.

The shops were adorned with various textiles and intricate leather products. There were different types.

There was so-called linen cloth, the rougher and cheaper hemp cloth, and then there was the soft comfy cotton. There were similar shops selling end products. Some were all-around, but most focused on a certain thing for efficiency.

For example, there were shops focusing on simple dresses, there were some selling pants and other lower body apparel, there was some selling exclusively ‘cotton shirts’, and the like.

There were also different styles of bags, shoes, and other accessories.

There were so-called handbags and pretty boots with appearances they hadn’t encountered, but objectively looked pretty!

For example, there was what they called the body bag which was something to go over either shoulders, either directly dropping vertically or across the chest.

It was small and could hold their necessities that couldn’t fit in the space anymore, while looking nice at the same time.

This was just one among the many ‘styles’ introduced to them for the first time.

They were novel but comfortable and beautiful! It would be better if they had some defensive properties, but pretty ones with good properties were rare anyway and even they don’t wear it much.

There were no shiny gems, but in the eyes of the two women, the products were shining.

“These prices are three times less for locals,” Lulu couldn’t help but say.

But the two women, even the servants, thought the ‘three times more expensive’ prices were not expensive at all!

Even those non-attributed clothes and plain accessories cost much more in their hometown!

Trollhair, even the handkerchiefs there were more expensive than a proper shirt here!

Anyway, all these are so beautiful and so affordable. How many could they buy with a bit of money, they really really want to see!

The aborigines—especially the two girls—were extremely bright.

Shopping attribute: Activated!