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

A/N: Thank you for reading all this way, guys! I'm sorry that I keep focusing on other POVs xD This story had been marinating in my mind for so long before I published it that a world was formed and I couldn't bear not show it kek.

Happy New Month guys! Special mention to the top 3 golden givers last month (July 2025)~ Phantasea, Lavenwinkle, and Edward_Flynn_1495 and kaladin123. If you have chap requests, just tell me! I can't guarantee when it's gonna be squeezed in, but it will!

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The Alterrans heard his reaction and nodded, as if they were being validated. "So they are dwarves, after all!"

Otto blinked and walked forward. He had seen some a few times, but they were very rare and guarded.

He heard Bleulle had some as well, though they had already died of old age. However, they still used some of the tools they invented.

The Blu mines weren't ordinary mines, after all. Normal pickaxes couldn't handle them, and even goblins took a while. Material for a single ready-to-use set could take days to harvest. It simply wasn't sustainable, and it was also why it was so expensive.

So, sometime during his grandfather's time, they got the dwarves to invent a tool. It was powered by several people cranking it, but it increased production by a fold.

Of course, their prices didn't go down despite the increase in supply. The Lords wouldn't allow it to, and it simply added to the profit margin.

Otto had first seen one when he was a teenager—it was the last dwarf in Bleulle. It died from health complications, and he had seen it being hauled out and buried outside.

"Where… did you find them?" he asked, very curious. Dwarves were very careful about humans.

"They were here when we came."

"Liars!" The little guys yelled, looking wronged. "You promised not to imprison us! JERKS!"

Sammy rolled his eyes. "You also promised to just borrow our phones! Not escape and steal it away!"

"..."

"..."

In response, the dwarves pursed their lips, which was a little funny because it looked like they sucked their entire lips in, creating an asterisk.

Someone (Mao) took out his phone and took a picture of this scene.

As most people were, any novel creature—and anything they did— must be documented!

Otto couldn't help but kneel down to look a bit more closely. It was really fascinating.

After they lost the ones in Bleulle, he had only seen one again decades later, when a caravan owned a dwarf slave and went from City to city to show it off. For a fee, of course.

This was a rich caravan and because they always proceeded to various places, they were difficult to trace.

It happened that, at the time, that caravan was showing a dwarf with a similar appearance.

"They seem to be adolescent dwarves…"

"Oh?" Sammy couldn't help but say. Mao, who had just finished taking his 5th picture of the moment, went over. "How to tell?"

"As far as I know, it is their facial hair," Otto said, touching his own handsome, chiseled chin. "The more they had, the older they were," he said. "So I assume that having only sideburns would mean they're fairly young."

This made the dwarves flinch, looking at them as if they were wronged.

"We're already 30!"

"I'm 32!"

They said this, indignantly. Otto was not fazed.

"I heard that the average lifespan of a dwarf, even when they have low levels, is more than 200 years."

After doing some mental math, Mao couldn't help but smirk at the dwarves. "Heh… so you're still babies."

He still hadn't gotten over being repeatedly called 'ugly human'! No, his was worse. They called him a Sclurgushboar!

He didn't know what that meant, but it must've been an insult!

Mao then looked at Otto. "Do you know what the maximum lifespan is?"

"If the dwarf managed to level up a lot… then the average should be around 300 years," he said. The one in Bleulle lived a bit shorter than that though, and he reckoned it must have a lot to do with the lifestyle Bleulle provided.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel regret.

Although his family handled the mines, they didn't handle the dwarves, just slaves and goblins. Dwarves—back when they had them—were directly under the Lord's family, and they had their own abode elsewhere.

His father was already leading the family at the time. They could've really treated the dwarves better with the remainder of their lives, had it been allowed.

His melancholic thoughts were pushed aside when people started talking to him.

"Master Otto… you know so much…" Lacie said, tone smooth and admiring. The newcomers, as well as a couple of people in the vicinity, couldn't help but nod.

"We had some information about it in our family library before it—"

His jaw clenched, remembering that the precious library was no longer theirs. Misha's eyebrows rose a little, noticing this.

However, he was quick to school his expression. "It should be fairly accurate, considering what they just said."

He sighed, looking at the soldiers. "Did you ask Alterra what they wished to do?"

He was curious what they'd do with an entirely new race, especially one like the dwarves. They were a very different case from the goblins, whom they received mostly as slaves. Because they were slaves, they were much more servile and open to changes—dwarves were not like that.

"We already sent word yesterday, asking about what to do with them, and for now, we're waiting for replies." The fastest route was through Shrao. The Lord was there the previous day via the warehouse and received the news, and then he passed it on to Alterra by the Center as a subsidiary.

Otto nodded. "While we wait, let's find a place to meet up," he said. "I have a lot to brief everyone in."

He looked at the dwarves, who flinched and glared at him, all while their mouths looked like asterisks. "We'll… deal with you later."