After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 403

Chapter 403: Encounters (Part 2)
For a while, Cassandra was a bit depressed from regret, while Veronica was cringing from the Garan horror story.

It was as if, if she was just a bit more entitled, she’d probably have been like that. It had to be said that few Xenoan women actually got spoiled to brattiness because the status of women was low.

Veronica couldn’t help but imagine herself as the woman in the story—

Cringe.

Thank goodness for her angel.

Where is that bastard, anyway?

Anyway, the two girls were quickly pulled back to the present as more and more people walked past them and took a wheeled contraption by the entrance.

“Those are shopping carts,” Lulu explained as soon as she noticed their souls finally returning. “People put things they wanted to buy there.”

Fascinated, the two’s curiosity dampened their depression, and very soon the two once again shopped freely.

The prices here were even cheaper than what they got in Ferrol, and with larger varieties!

Even containers were bought in excess. There was a new section selling decorative earthenware.

Earthenware and baskets were not a new thing, but the artwork for them was not. They also bought so-called ‘paper bags’. Who on earth used papyrus to carry items? Apparently, a village did!

A lot of them were even so colorful and pretty!

“This is new,” Lulu said, with similar fascination. “I guess they finally figured out several pigments of paint. Our research team sure is amazing.”

“Research team?” Veronica voiced out looking at the painting on the vase in fascination. It was an image of a famous park in Terran, which Lulu later explained.

“Yes, a lot of our products came from them. It’s led by Ms. Althea and Eugene. Err… Elders Althea and Elder Eugene.”

Cassandra looked at her friend. She knew before setting her sights on Brandon, this girl had a huge crush on Garan. “You didn’t lose in vain.”

“I’m after Brandon, okay?” Veronica said, crossing her eyes. But inside she was really impressed and a tad in disbelief.

The life of this glorious territory…, seems to be in the hands of women?

To be honest, they… couldn’t help but feel a bit disoriented.

And not in a bad way.

…

The group decided to eat lunch at the market today, opting to try out various small snacks in lieu of big meals at restaurants. The premier restaurant was moved to dinner time.

“The next and final stop before dinner is the luxury area,” Lulu said, then remembered something. “Actually, you can also have dinner inside the Bathhouse. I heard there was an additional feature, just added a few days ago.”

The two noble women liked the sound of it, even the servants and guards who were trained to be apathetic looked visibly brighter.

They went towards the luxury area, passing over the gardens. There were arches and beautiful flower arrangements, topiaries, resting areas, etc. There was also canopy archways that were fascinating to walk under.

They had seen grander gardens in big territories, but it was nowhere near as intimate and relaxing as this one.

They looked around and saw several couples having dates, having picnics, and holding hands. It was very romantic.

Should they invite Gill and Brandon here?

It was around this time that the girls caught sight of an unusual couple. Unusual because the girl had the familiar tall statute and the man was a few inches shorter. Cassandra also remembered seeing them before, they seemed to have just finished hunting outside at the time. They were clean now so they didn’t recognize them immediately.

They were also wearing nicer clothing with the girl wearing a cute sundress and the boy the so-called jeans and colored shirt. They were swaying their entwined hands as they walked, smiling widely at each other.

Lulu saw what they were looking at and smiled. “That’s Brenda, one of our first NPCs—errr, I mean, hired individuals.

“The guy is Troy, a weapons ‘specialist’. He is also my cousin.”

“Oh..”

“They’re… very lovely.”

Lulu giggled, “Yes, they’re soulmates.”

Soulmates, eh?

What a romantic term…

Anyway, the women continued to leisurely walk along the beautiful path, just relaxing, temporarily forgetting about their worries.

They didn’t know what Elvendell looked like when it still existed, but it shouldn’t be too different from this.

Passing through the gates and another garden, they soon arrived at the luxury building: The Bathhouse.

It was a beautiful building surrounded by lush pathways and gardens. “A village actually bought a luxury building,” Veronica mumbled, impressed.

When they heard Bathhouse, a part of them thought they just used the name and developed on themselves. After all, they were lucky and had a river nearby. It wasn’t the first time a river or lake-based territory used the same gig.

“It actually had an excess slot for it,” Cassandra added. And they could also note that there was also a lot of customization done in this one.

Generally, one of the possibilities why territories could afford bathhouses was because they had a strong backing. This meant that the basic needs from essential buildings had other sources. For instance, Astoria City was a tourist city near the sea.

They took advantage of the great location and integrated the water sources. They used boats as main transportation, had a number of unique technologies related to water, and they also had bathhouses larger than the highest level aether bath houses by the system.

This naturally attracted hordes of tourists—from nearby towns, villages, and cities from far away—making it one of the richest cities, ever.

Because of this, Astoria City became one of the leading cities next to Holt City and Wrathforge City. it was even superior to Oslo’s hometown: Bluelle City, the land of aether blueprints.

The other only reason a village could get a bath house was that they were extremely stupid, exchanging the important building slots for luxury construction rather than those with practicality.

It was usually this reason as most villages didn’t have rich cities as backing but, in Altera’s case, they highly doubted it.

A territory that had such a superior set-up would naturally fall for that trap.

“Let’s go?” Lulu asked, and the aborigines nodded and they headed towards the special building.

The approach to the building was so beautiful, and Cassandra and the others couldn’t help but admire it.

The building itself gave off a relaxed feel, and focused on breadth rather than height. It also had verandas, ponds, flowers, and crawling vines, and colorful trees surrounding it, framing its goodness, and people felt like they were in the entrance towards Fairyland as they headed toward the door.

The building opened up with a wall-less vestibule, lined up with potted plants and a small fountain. The flooring was also flowing, not straight, lined up with pebbles and sand and wood.

They have never seen such an arrangement before.

[Entering the Bathhouse. Please pay the entrance fee of 10 silver, valid for 3 hours. A fee of 5 silver for every hour extension shall be charged.]

“In fact, it is much more affordable with contribution points,” Lulu added as they entered. They only had to pay 10 contribution points and 1 silver per hour.

The girls nodded, but their eyes never left the surrounding sights at all.

The interior of the bathhouse was similar to the one they’d been to, but the furniture was a bit prettier and intricate, there were also displays that attracted the eyes.

In the center of the interior was a large tree—a bonsai, they called it— and behind it was an intricately designed counter with doors on each side, which would lead to areas for either sexes.

The company got a few curious looks but, otherwise, no one cared about them. Most people who used the bathhouse were either rich or strong, and they had more pride than others.

“Good afternoon, guests! Welcome to Altera Spa and Bathhouse~ Please choose a package you wish to have.”

Apparently, the entrance fee was only the entrance fee, no wonder it was so cheap.

They looked at the so-called menu and saw there were three packages. One was Bath Only for 10 silver, valid for three hours. The other was with something called a Spa, with various ‘packages’, ranging from 20-30 silver. The most expensive one had one meal included with everything else, at 50 silvers.

Any extension was charged per hour, automatically deducted in their wallets.

The two girls naturally chose the most expensive one. As for the servants, they allowed them to do what they wanted. Anyway, their salaries would allow them to spend a few hours here without batting an eye.

This place was really novel and they would definitely explore their hearts out.

And whatever ‘Spa’ was, they felt it was a good thing.

As they were finalizing their package, they saw the receptionist brighten at someone who just arrived.

Curiously, they turned to see that it was a newcomer.

She was an incredibly beautiful and shapely woman. She entered with a smile, oozing with confidence and seductiveness. She had flowing light-brown hair, white skin, and auburn eyes.

She was also quite tall compared to the other locals, almost as tall as the Aborigine noble ladies like themselves.

Anyway, the receptionist smiled and greeted the newcomer.

“Miss Juni! We’ve been waiting for you~”