After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 723

Chapter 723: New Arrivals
Alterra Village.

A few days later, about a hundred tourists from Ferrol found their way to Alterra. This group went with people from the Terran Mercenary Team who were called in.

A lot of the visitors were under Jonathan and his cronies, set to pick up their orders. They were sent so soon because the items… really sold fast and well.

However, Jonathan’s people actually comprised only half of the current caravan.

The thing was, a lot of people got wind of the deals and that they were heading to the ‘source’ of the items. Immediately, they decided to follow suit.

It was all quite the ‘coincidence’ that, about a kilometer from Ferrol, the Mercenary team and Ferrol Caravan had a number of ‘serendipitous’ encounters with the merchants from various territories.

For example, there was a caravan who would act surprised to see them. “Oh, where are you going?”

Then, no matter what their answer was, the other party would say something along the lines of “What a coincidence, us too!”

Then there was another that was even more blatant, saying “We were bored staying in Ferrol and decided to check out the nearby territories.”

Anyway, it was all quite obvious they wanted to cut Ferrol, the middlemen, and make the deals directly.

But… they couldn’t kick them out right? Especially when these people could just follow them anyway. A lot of these people were from various territories. Ferrol was not about to make enemies needlessly.

Besides, the lord made a deal with Alterra for exclusivity in their area. This meant their interest would be guarded.

This was how a massive group of 200 aborigines entered the gates of Alterra, looking around in interest and awe.

They heard it was a village and were just expecting something like Guia, but what was this?

This was a proper town!

Anyway, the 200 people segregated to travel by group and Fred’s Glorious Hospitality company became quite busy.

Of course, the territory told them not to overshare some information that they didn’t need to know. For example, the average level of their strengths or the detailed information about the Research Center was relatively sensitive and shouldn’t be spread willy-nilly.

Although the intimate information about the territory could be found out through other channels, it was advantageous to delay it as long as possible.

From a side, Gill and a few other soldiers sighed as they watched the new injected activity in the territory.

These newcomers were sure to increase the GDP of the territory by a lot. Not to mention, they had already raised prices to balance with the outside, so the profit was even better than before.

However, it was not entirely a good thing that they appeared at this time.

“Hmm, while I’m happy for the tourists, it would be harder for us to determine if Baltimore’s people snuck in,” Eagle said with a complicated expression.

“It doesn’t matter,” Gill said, a little absentmindedly as his eyes perused the newcomers person after person. “We’ll be prepared for them.”

He sighed in disappointment when he didn’t see the person he was waiting for—what did he expect? That Cassandra didn’t really go home, just went to Ferrol?

“Gill. Let’s greet them,” Eagle said, gesturing to meet the remaining part of the caravan—their own team members.

There were a few people who came. The strongest fighter was Klaus, who was beyond the level cap at 18. There were also the level 15s Knauf and Essed who could join in the war.

Thorance, the wood elementalist, was also there, albeit he was already level 16. However, he had auxiliary abilities. He was there to help Althea and Gru.

For the other back-of-house personnel, there was Semi and Furong, the carpenters, who would be arranged as apprentices to Houser for a bit of gold.

Just a bit, because what Houser could teach was limited to the basics. After all, he specialized in signage skills, which had limited use to their own carpenters.

Anyway, all of them were surprised at the beautiful scenery. It looked like a happy place to be. They immediately straightened up when they saw the bosses Gill and Eagle walk towards them with smiles.

“Welcome home.”

…

As for Guías’ side, the number of people traveling to Alterra naturally wasn’t missed.

They had indeed snuck in somewhere behind with their members. These people hadn’t been to Alterra yet and had just arrived in the vicinity, so Alterrans should not doubt them any more than the rest of the caravan.

These people were equipped with aether letters for ease of communication, ready to report to Baltimore and the others whatever useful news or information they could gather as ‘merchants’.

At this time, Baltimore and the others had set up camp a few kilometers away from Alterra. They set up in the mountainous side for more subtlety, and they waited for few more hours before they received their first letter.

Seto reported the contents of the letter to their lord, who was sitting silently at the head of the table. “They’re guests from Ferrol,” he said, looking a bit worried. “Would they interfere with our plan?”

“No, they’re guests, even if they don’t leave before the war, they wouldn’t care enough to intervene.”

“What about the other plan?” he asked, referring to killing off the enemy forces bit by bit, hunting them when they went outside.

“It’s a little difficult milord…” Eloi said, a little embarassed. “The way they grouped up meant risking our people’s lives.”

The Alterrans seemed prepared for war in the sense that no one was allowed to get out of the territory on their own—not without strongmen in their party. This meant it would not be easy to thin them out.

“…it is impractical to risk injury right before the war, milord.”

“Do I look like I don’t know that?” Baltimore asked, tone low, and it made Eloi fear for his life.

“No! I mean… we’ll weaken their forces who go outside when we can. We will group to bigger groups to increase our chances.”

Baltimore nodded. “Do whatever it takes to weaken them,” he said. “We cannot lose this war!”