After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 889

Chapter 889: Aborigines from the South
While the Terran refugees from downstream fell into confusion about their new home, the Aborigine refugees from upstream of the river were still fighting for their lives.

They had been traveling for a long time now.

From the few hundred or so people they had when they left their village, they lost about a third. If they hadn’t even accidentally burned a good part of the forest to block the way (with flames also eating up a few of them) there would’ve been a lot less.

“No territories yet?” Shinho asked the scouts who were holding the torches to brighten up their way. They continued looking forward along the dense but dry forests, shaking their heads in the end.

“No… and the torch is losing oil. We’re running out, Shinho,” one said, looking worriedly at his fire.

It was then that another gust of wind passed by, causing a few torches to die down. “AH!”

“Oh no!”

They hurriedly surrounded the ones still burning, barely holding on. They surrounded them well with their own bodies, making sure to keep them lit.

If all of their torches died, then they’d be depending on the two moons for light. Although their physiques allowed them to see at night to some degree, it would not be enough if they were attacked by monsters. After all, those things had far superior eyesight than every one of them!

Another issue they had been dealing with was that more and more people had fallen into poisonous plants during their travels.

Many were unlucky and chose the wrong plants. For better or for worse, it was the poisonous plants that were most robust during the Extreme Weather seasons.

Some people, however, still ate them even if they knew they were poison.

After all, they were hungry and delirious and a lot of them ended up eating whatever they could find—risking poison rather than starving to death.

They were all too weak now, too hungry and thirsty, and their whole bodies were in pain. They didn’t even know how they were still moving.

At the back of the line, there was even a young lad carrying an old woman, dragging both their weights with his struggling body.

The old woman looked heartbroken, asking him to just let her go, but the young man—wan and pale—didn’t listen to her at all.

“Let me go, child,” the old woman said, touching her grandson’s thin shoulders, shaking from tiredness. She felt tears line up her eyes.

“No grandma,” the young man said. “I can still do it.”

This young man was Bumi, a fairly handsome tanned lad with curly hair. He was one of the few warriors left and he protected his only remaining relative, his grandmother, with his life. Now his grandma was at the end of the rope, and he could only carry her to keep her alive.

Not far from them was the ten-year-old Mamu, who had fought a lot for the territory with Shinho before. He was alone, all his relatives perishing from different disasters early in life.

He matured very early, and had grown up enough to handle himself. His small legs and weak body only allowed him to be at the back of the line though.

At the front, Shinho’s team led the way, clearing whatever obstacle they had to remove. For instance, the monsters, which came in small mobs.

Fortunately, most mobs were attacking various territories at this time, leaving the areas in the middle with fewer monsters for them to deal with.

He looked at his sister, Shishi, who was so thin that she was as pitiful as the dying tree. He then looked at his lover, who was also pale and weak, guarding his sister from eating whatever plant she saw lest she died a horrible death from poison.

This went on for a bit more time, and everyone’s guards were up, expecting to encounter new mobs by now.

They were hoping hard that they would never come, of course. After all, most of them simply did not have the energy to deal with another mob, but they were realists and they knew this world too well. They knew what it would be throwing at them at any time.

Rustle

He heard sobs behind him. Most people were obviously expecting the worst at this time. It was dark and they couldn’t see anything. Their hearts were raised, trying to determine who would be attacked first.

Rustle Rustle

The fighters were antsy, trying to determine where the first attack would be coming from. The moment a loud crack sounded in a direction, they immediately raised their weapons to attack—

“Halt!” A loud voice yelled, making everyone pause.

Shinho—weapon up and stance guarded—was about to open his mouth to ask more questions when he was met with a fascinating sight.

Small, focused, points of light appeared—and there were many of them.

The refugees’ eyes widened as they saw light after light appeared around them. They were clean and focused—not like the uncontrollable fires of their torches–and, because of the contrast of light and dark, it felt even more magical.

“So many…”

“Have we entered Elvendel?” Ferra mumbled next to Shinho, holding his arm. He could hear his sister sniff as well.

Similar whispers were heard all around their small group. Behind the crowd, where Bumi was, there was a similar mumbling. However, because of their location at the end of the crowd, they could see things clearer.

“They’re not monsters…” Bumi said, seeing so many lights and then to the people holding them. “What are those…”

The refugees froze in place as the lights found them, revealing a group of people. They were holding torches, but it was surrounded by a translucent surface. While it was less bright, it was safe from causing forest fires.

There were also people who wore the torches… on their heads? Some had them hanging on their waists…

Some didn’t have the brain energy to think about it, while some saw that it was indeed a convenient set-up and freed up people’s hands to do more important things. Say, like fighting for their lives.

While fascinated and curious, no one dared to lower their guards. More and more people appeared with their weird lighting contraptions. The whole time, Shinho and his people were staring deeply at them.

There was obviously no territory nearby here.

So… who were these people? And what were they doing so far away?