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

Voumi Town's main industry was brick creation, which was… an interesting choice.

One had to be reminded that this world was a place where a Lord could build an entire palace at the press of a button. There were very, very few territories like Alterra that'd do manual construction.

So what could bricks be used for?

The bricks… were mostly for decorative purposes.

Rather than being used for construction purposes, the bricks were made with intricate mouldings on them fired through this world's equivalent to a high-temperature slip-cast kiln, which preserved the patterns and added a light sheen.

The nobles here (or in any world) needed various unnecessary things to show their status, so the industry was still pretty big.

It was like showing off an expensive car when it had such a low chassis that could get damaged when passing humps, two seats, and an impractically small amount of storage.

It was as if buying useless but expensive stuff somehow made one's status higher, much more effectively than buying an expensive but useful item.

This was the same concept here. For instance, if a house had a pile of these decorative bricks, then people would admire them as if they were amazing.

It was both odd and an understandable part of human nature.

Another industry was their potteries, though it was just earthenware items. Because there were other territories that also offered this, this wasn't their focus industry, but it was still very big.

At this, Althea looked to the side, staring at Eugene, the person in charge of product development in Alterra.

"Expand the kiln, and add the pigments in our products," she said.

"It's time to mass produce porcelain."

…

Voumi Town

Silvia and Rowan arrived a few days later, reaching Voumi's territory after traveling with little rest. They borrowed a beast car from Ferrol, which reduced a possible one or two-week trek to a little more than two days.

They went down the carriage a kilometer or so away from the walls, and walked on foot, pretending to be normal travellers and refugees. They wore coats, a large basket backpack, and Rowan also changed his hair color to give himself a bit more time before he could get recognized.

Voumi Town had a 4 meter high outer wall—a Level 4 wall—with sentries about 300 meters apart, but there were people walking around the battlement. It wasn't nearly as dense as Alterra's defense though.

The couple looked at each other and, holding hands, joined the queue with a bit of anxiety in their hearts.

There was a short line outside the gate and it didn't take them long to enter. The visitor fee was not cheap, already at 80 copper.

From where they were, they could see a distant taller wall guarding the inner circle. Because the area it surrounded was small, the sentries around 150 meters apart looked especially dense.

"The Level 5 wall guards the Lord's Palace and the land surrounding it," he explained as they walked along the town's lively streets. "There are also villas there, but no one lives there normally.

"Only in case of attacks, he would let in nobles and people he liked inside."

This was a way to minimize the cost of a Level 5 wall, while at the same time perpetuating the separation between people in the Lord's graces and everyone else. Basically, those the Lord liked would get extra defenses during the war, so a lot of people pandered to him more than they would other Lords.

As they walked, Silvia noticed that there were a lot of clay being hauled to different places of the town. Some were in hauled by people, some by carts, and so on.

In this level, the town wasn't bad at all. It couldn't be compared to Alterra and Ferrol's vitality, but it was decent enough, which wasn't much of a stretch because Towns were supposed to promise better and stabler lifestyle than villages anyway.

"So this is your home, then?" Silvia asked, holding Rowan's warm hand, who held it tightly in return.

Silvia and Rowan, under their cloaks, were wearing the typical commoner style clothing, but it was made of comfortable fabric rather than hemp. The color was plain though so it didn't stand out too much, and only those who either touched it or knew about.

Silvia's cloak was particularly bigger, and even had an extra layer in case the wind would blow it away.

It was a little stuffy, but Rowan had made it clear how women were treated there. Without it, it could get dangerous for her.

This was a town so his strength wasn't too special here, and there were no rules prohibiting fights either.

To be honest, Rowan really preferred it if she didn't come with him, but she insisted, saying it was for her own growth and enlightenment.

The deeper they went into town, surrounded by people stronger than he was, Rowan felt heavier and heavier. He held her hand tighter, making Silvia look at him in concern.

Before she could ask him what was wrong, however, a scream cut through the air.

"Kyaaaa!! Help!"

They turned to see a young woman being dragged by a man.

They felt angry, but the man was past level 20s, and so were his cronies.

No matter how much it boiled their insides, they could not interfere. They stood no chance trying to dip their toes into this mess.

Silvia almost stepped forward, but she stopped herself, which made Rowan relieved. Back in Iron Mountains, she was one of the vocal women to go against practices like this. It garnered her a lot of hate among the male aborigines, and worship from the females.

Fortunately, fortunately, she knew such a thing would not work out in Voumi.

At the same time, Rowan's anxiety could not be quelled. His heart clenched as he saw the woman forcefully taken into a house, absolutely helpless.

"We should get back…" he said, pulling Silvia away, and they walked away in silence, feeling like they were being eaten inside.

They could hear her screams slowly losing volume, and Silvia stopped her tears when it completely stopped.

She turned and couldn't help but stare at Rowan, seeing him pale, and his hold on her so tight that it was hurting.

She felt guilty for insisting to come with him and causing him trouble, but at the same time she selfishly wanted to go anyway.

She was ambitious and wanted to see the world, contribute in a different way than she always had, and at the same time, she wanted to see where Rowan grew up.

Still… she couldn't help but mumble a few things, though frankly the emotions from what she had witnessed must've gotten in her head and she ended up saying some thoughtless things.

"No matter what happens, I won't blame you," she told him. It was meant to be reassuring.

Unexpectedly, he pulled her into one of the alleys."Don't you dare say that again!" he bellowed, his arm hitting the wall next to her.

Silvia's eyes widened as he saw Rowan's usually cool facade crack. However, he soon realized what had happened and forced himself to calm.

His head drooped down pitifully, and he rubbed it on her shoulder.

"You must be careful no matter what—" he said. "Otherwise you could see me die protecting you."