After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1854: A Few Weeks of Stability (Part 2)

Later, they’d find out that the cure only worked while the patient was still ill, and they wouldn’t restore what was lost. Those who had already survived and gotten past it, and therefore had their foundations destroyed, wouldn’t have a use for the current cure.

However, the family wasn’t too disappointed. Alterra had produced and figured out so many things by themselves already.

This meant that, in time, hopefully, new and improved medicine could be created—medicine to help people like his mother.

If they didn’t, then that simply meant it was not possible in the first place. Having Alterra work on it meant that the best really had been done, regardless of the result.

On their way to Alterra, they unfortunately encountered some town-level monsters and had to get into a fight, causing his mother to be injured even when there was no direct contact.

Fortunately, Bright Village was nearby, so they settled down there for a while, asking their healers to help the mum. She was fine, but she needed a day’s rest.

Speaking of Bright Village, their perfume business had really taken off, and a third of their farms were dedicated to raw materials for this item.

They were even building new factories and warehouses for these specific harvests. A few more scents were created, and they had a well-equipped laboratory (with Alterra tech and investment) and a wider array of products.

Their depots were filled with glass bottles (imported from Alterra at dealer’s price) for perfumes, scented soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and so on.

They heard that the plants were also improved and modified to their needs by the wood user sister of the Lord. Their brand name was called [Bright Misha] in honor of her.

Soon, the two of them were called to the Lord’s office. While their identities were naturally not popularized and even hidden (which they didn’t mind; They liked the contribution points their spy work gave and didn’t care about fame), many people were still in-the-know.

"Welcome back to the Region," Micheal said, sipping his tea while Juno served the two of them tea as well.

"I would like to buy some information you gathered from the territories you passed through this round," he said. "I’m thinking of tapping the market there as well."

Their items were premium items and with the creation of the factories, their productivity would spike.

If he were to spread their products to places Alterra hadn’t touched yet, wouldn’t he gain a bit of prestige?

Micheal’s challenges were really understandable. With Alterra right next to them, gathering prestige was too hard!

He wanted to see his territory become a town before he died!

...

For Belluga, their industry was leaning towards linen and cotton-making.

Except for some farms dedicated to food and vegetables, a good portion of their farms were full of cotton and flax as well.

Their improved seeds and plants were bought from Alterra, but they also found their own plant experts to continuously care for, and perhaps improve, the plants a bit more.

For a while, they were focused on simple factories by hand, and the quality of their work was not bad. It so happened that they had a lot of seamstresses and a few clothing experts in their midst too.

Because they were doing everything mostly manually, unlike Alterra, which was heading to partial-automation already, their products were a bit more expensive.

However, thanks to Alterra’s strict purchase limits, Belluga never lacked clientele. Further, even if theirs were more expensive than Alterra’s, it was still much cheaper than what locals charged for their own cloths.

They also invested a lot and bought some machine designs from Alterra, and for a while, Raine’s wallet was in the red. It was even more disconcerting when the cold wave happened right after that, followed by a pandemic, so their investment stagnated at red, and even fell deeper into debt.

Fortunately, they managed to resume the work now.

Further, with some partial automation going on, they could finally increase their produce and sell to more people (they had a long queue of buyers as well).

They also started to look for varieties that Alterra did not have, in order to differentiate themselves. Whether it was in embroidery works, patterns, and so on, they had to find their own identity in the industry.

Many of these needed specific talent and expertise, in which case they sent out recruitment notices through the Alterran network.

There were also some job hunting companies in Alterra now, and the Lords of other territories just had to send their requirements, and they would receive a list of applicants, complete with resumes made under honesty oaths, with the documents delivered through the caravans.

Applicants could also send their resume to the agency for a fee, and the company would also get a commission fee for each ’connection’ granted to them.

It had to be said: Alterrans’ brains were really flexible and could find business opportunities everywhere.

Anyway, right now, Raine was looking over a few resumes. It was really interesting. A year ago, she never would’ve imagined herself doing this at all.

She shortlisted two people. She wasn’t surprised that there was no Alterran citizen among the applicants (who would want to leave when they were already there?), but she did get some good ones from other Terran villages.

After making a shortlist and making notes in each resume, Raine finally relaxed, sitting down on her recliner that faced the Village. Quiro, her guard, poured her some newly-steeped tea.

Quiro had now recovered from the virus, though it was still advised that he didn’t use his element for a while, just to let his body completely recalibrate.

Because of this, he was now assigned to the Lord’s side for the entire working hours, unlike before when he had shifts assigned to monster clearing.

"You should rest, Milord," he said. "It’s a time of stability, and you deserve to breathe."

She gave him a small smile. "Not easy. Suffering is all I’ve ever known." She...just wasn’t capable of relaxing, of putting her hands down. It felt unnatural and uncomfortable.

Quiro’s eyes stayed at her, as if he was having some secret thoughts. How could Raine not feel his stare?

After a sigh, she looked at him and met his eyes. "What are you thinking?"

"I was wondering how to ease your burdens, milord," he said, kneeling down. "I would do anything."

...

___

A/N: After my Oasis Story (Which will be short, probably <400 chaps, really), I will post the new FL apocalypse story! Hope to see you there~!