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

The prevalent housing module in the Town was a two-storey building, placed side by side to save space.

In some areas, these houses also doubled as shops and shop houses. It also had a number of open spaces, and its main roads were wide enough for two beast cars to pass by.

There were some awkward spaces, awkward bends, weird bottlenecks, and the like, but compared to normal villages, it had pretty decent planning.

Voumi was an old town after all, and it had decades upon decades to improve upon itself.

Rowan took Silvia straight to the house he had been renting to see his grandmother.

Their house was located in the Western district, which was one of the more decent places for low-income households like theirs. It was also a bit more expensive, especially when one wasn't well-off, but he was willing to do so for peace of mind.

"Tell me about your grandmother…" Silvia said with a smile. She wanted to know more about the woman who raised Rowan.

The more she saw about this world, the more she appreciated Rowan's tolerance. It would really take a very strong woman to raise a man like Rowan in this world that looked so badly down on her.

Rowan's eyes warmed at the thought of the old woman.

"She's the only adult I grew up with. My mother died giving birth to me, you see," he said as they walked forward. He couldn't help but think of various memories of the place as he grew up.

Rather than his grandmother teaching him unorthodox things, it was more that Rowan found it odd that she wasn't more respected.

Basically, because men were often fighting, hunting, (or philandering), it was the women who were keeping the family together. He never did understand why they were treated like they were.

He was very vocal in asking these questions too, which caused him to be treated as a 'weird' kid for a while.

Other than that, even when he was without parents, he grew up like any other kid in this neighborhood.

Basically, as soon as they were able, they'd help the adults meet their needs. They would also play a few hours afterwards, and he did have a couple of friends growing up.

The outside of a Town was too dangerous for them, so they always stayed within the walls. The only job they could take was gathering resources like wood and stone.

If their parents had a job or a specialty—regardless of whether it was stamped by the system—then they'd probably apprentice there to learn the trade.

His grandmother's work was hemp cloth seamstress, the only type of cloth readily available to commoners and below. There were plants inside so he and his grandma would wake up early to gather those resources before anyone else.

One day though, it was discovered that he was an elementalist, even before he awakened. The Lord apparently checked the list every few years and saw his name there.

He was taken by the guard team to be trained, raised to be loyal to the territory, and that he was.

One had to know that being an elementalist and being a guard was a great honor that paid well in the territory, and he happened to be both. Those were grandma's proudest moments and the smile on her face was something he still remembered.

However, because a lot of the monsters outside were too strong for the weaklings and the Training Hall was expensive, his level wasn't as fast as it could've been.

However, he worked hard and made sure to jump into battle when the monster mobs included monsters he could handle, using his element to the maximum capability. He could even serve as a great assist to handling town-level monsters.

This was why he was still better than others and he had slowly become a rising favorite amongst the guards.

It irked Hesso, the Lord's nephew, who was older than him by a couple of years, and was also a couple levels higher.

Although…, that man wasn't strong as he should be because he only gained the level because his guards would let him have the last hit, artificially letting him gain the experience instead.

Hesso was an arrogant man and didn't like how Rowan lacked reverence when facing him. To 'put him in his place', Hesso challenged him in a very public match.

The thing about Rowan was that he didn't really care as much with how people saw him. Similarly, he didn't care much about others either.

So when they sparred, Rowan, thinking that an older man with a higher level would still be a challenge, did not hold back.

Rather, he had taken him down easily—embarrassingly easy. Hesso, who was used to false victories given by others, had never been so humiliated in his life!

Long story short, Rowan had been targeted ever since.

Hesso would ask others to bully and beat him up. They succeeded at first, but Rowan always found a way to either escape or redirect them.

Despite his relatively lower level, his skill was really developed, and he was able to take on the spineless people who levelled up because they cheated.

Eventually, they managed to get rid of him by sending him to a village in the guise of discipline, making him vow not to return for at least after a year of service outside.

Now, at present, he was finally back, and with the love of his life.

A lot really changed within a year.

As they passed by the neighborhood, a few kids playing tag passed by. They had some resources on the basket at their backs.

Like him back then, they were busy even as kids, so their play time would usually be combined with the times they were working.

A gentle giggle next to him brought him back to the present. "I imagine you being a child like that," Silvia said, Rowan smiled and raised her palm to his lips. "When we get married, let's have many."

She smiled. "Hmn, and they will run on the streets carelessly."

Rowan's heart warmed and he couldn't help but look forward to the day that he'd see that.

They eventually reached the house at the corner. It was mostly identical—people generally didn't customize houses—but Rowan had good memory, so he knew which one was theirs.

He opened the door after knocking, not expecting to be stopped by the system.

[You do not have access to this abode]

"What?" Rowan mumbled, pushing down a bad feeling creeping up his gut. "She must've restarted the access."

In the end, they just knocked a few more times and the couple waited outside nervously.

However, the person who opened the door was a gruff man with a sneer on his face. "Who are you? I don't have money! Ask again next week!"

Rowan's eyebrows furrowed as he stepped forward, grabbing the man's arm to stop him from heading back in. "Where's my grandmother?" he asked, trying to stay as calm as possible, though he was failing miserably.

The man frowned and turned, but paled when he saw the looming figure with a heavy aura grabbing him. He even felt the vague burning pain on his arm!

"W-What? Is this a new style of debt-collection? LET GO!"

Rowan did not have the patience for this. He immediately grabbed the man's collar, growing desperate as the seconds passed by.

"WHERE IS MY GRANDMOTHER?!!"