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

A/N: If you notice, I dislike writing war chaps lololol. It's exhausting and takes me FOREVER to write. So… Voumi town will be handled differently xD Guess how xDD

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He had been naive, but fortunately—fortunately—grandma was okay. For that, he was thankful.

He watched as the old woman obediently drank all the potion. She seemed to enjoy its taste too.

Miss Althea added some flavoring to her potions, as long as they didn't affect their efficacy. Amusingly, it seemed like it fit his grandmother's taste.

Anyway, the old woman felt the potion's effects and blinked, looking at her grandson. "A superior healing potion?"

She blinked and looked at Silvia, who was still wearing a hood. Rowan nodded. "You need it. Even if you could move, it'd have gotten much worse if we let it be."

The old woman felt pity for using such a precious thing. "You shouldn't have used it on me!"

Although they were a town, such potion was still useful at their levels. Pharmacy-grade was not unheard of, but it was definitely very expensive!

It wasn't something commoners like them could drink just because of a few injuries!!

"Grandma, let it be, rejecting it like this when you've already drunk it will make Silvia sad."

Silvia?

At this, the old woman turned to look at the hooded person. "This…"

Rowan saw her reaction and smiled. He walked over to Sivlia and held her hand. Silvia slightly pulled back her hood, just enough for grandma to see a bit of her face. "This is Silvia, my lover."

At this, the old woman's tears couldn't stop anymore. So her Rowan finally found his soulmate?

And she's so beautiful!!

"How happy…"

The old woman—Rhanna—walked over to hold the young lady's hand. They were so soft. A part of her worried if the girl could even do what needed to be done in the house, but at this time she was just happy for her grandson.

Anyway, such tasks could be taught.

But then some people passed by, and Silvia immediately pulled the hood down again.

These people were just gathering resources as well, but it wouldn't hurt to be safe.

The appearance of other people jolted the old woman awake and she panicked. She pulled her grandson down to sit with her as she whispered. "Why did you go back?"

"I…" Rowan blinked. "Couldn't I? It's been a year…" he said. "And… did you lose your money? Why are you living like this?"

Regardless of whether or not she was kicked out, with the combined savings he left with her, she could've afforded to rent a decent bed elsewhere.

"I chose to live this way," she said, making the younger ones flinch as they got more confused.

"Grandma?"

The old woman looked reluctant to speak. Rowan sighed and guided her towards one of the corners. To the old woman's surprise, he took out a voice blocker as well, and suddenly the world was silent and not even the rustling of the leaves could be heard.

She blinked, startled at the appearance of a magic tool on her poor grandson. "You…"

Rowan smiled. "I found a good home," he said. "They lent this to me for my own safety. We're going there soon, okay?"

Thinking of this, his heart clenched. He should have pulled her to Alterra earlier…

He shook this thought for a bit, taking the conversation back to where they left off.

"It's safe to speak now grandma, tell us: What's going on?"

Rhanna heaved a deep breath and looked at him seriously. Seeing the atmosphere, Silvia took out a foldable stool from her space (she needed it when she went out on her rounds because she often had to stay in one place to observe) and placed it in front of grandma.

The old woman looked at it curiously as she sat, thinking it was really convenient.

"I can give this to you," Silvia said, and the old woman blinked at her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I could get a few others at home."

"Sweet child…" Rhanna said, smiling, before turning to look at her grandson, whose eyes were filled with affection towards the young lady, though it was masked by his anxiety.

Rhanna was delaying so much because, honestly, she wasn't sure how to put it lightly.

"I left because I was afraid they would find out," she said. "I'm not sure if anyone from that side could recognize me…"

She was a little bug, but some of the older servants might have seen her. She couldn't risk it. So when she realized Hesso was nearing her, regardless of what he knew, she decided to succumb, run away, and go into hiding. What better place was there to disappear than in the slums?

"Grandma?" Rowan asked again. She was making him anxious.

"My grandson… you know how the previous lord was the current Lord's brother, right?"

Rowan's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes."

This was something everyone knew even when the lordship had changed before he was born.

Apparently, during a war, the previous lord was assassinated in his home. He died a horrible death according to the stories and the current lord—Mafo—cried in despair at the sight of it.

The story was Mafo went berserk and showed off his prowess. He ran after the assassin and killed him, taking back the Lord token.

Hesso was also the previous lord's son, and everyone was expecting him to inherit the token afterwards, especially now that the current lord was without a child. Mafo never denied it, either, and everyone could tell he actually doted on that nephew of his.

Rhanna took a moment to gather herself. She looked around and made sure there was no one around. Regardless of whether they had a voice blocker or not, this was a bit sensitive information.

She took a deep breath and went straight to the point. "You see… the previous Lord was your father, and your mother was his mistress."

Rowan and Silvia looked at her in disbelief, thinking he must've heard wrong. "Pardon?"

Silvia looked around, wondering if she should even be privy to this kind of information.

"The previous Lord's wife found out about your mother and had tried to get her killed, but we fortunately managed to hide her in the cellar."

"My poor daughter had to spend the last trimester in that stuffy place. Considering she was weakened by the attack, she could not survive the childbirth.

"It's why we never told you who your father is."

Rowan felt his leg weaken, and he used the tree trunk as his support.

He knew what kind of man Mafo was. He was a man who could easily run over a person and not look back. He definitely planned that 'assassination' to get the token.

More importantly, the person who caused his mother's death was also still alive... and living very well.

That woman was living with Mafo too, though she seemed to have built a harem of her own. He had encountered her plenty of times, and she was behind the suffering of many beautiful women who were deemed more attractive than she was.

So… Hesso was his half-brother?

He felt his stomach tumble at the mere thought of sharing a drop of blood with that bastard.

Disgusting.