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

After 'seeing off' the dwarves, everyone went to mobilize to finally head back home.

They were asked to gather all their things, and take whatever weapons and resources they could find, too.

Old Shrao Village had to be abandoned in a rush back then, so there were plenty of things that were left behind.

Another interesting thing was that, because the place was still connected to the Lord Shiro's panel, it meant the resources could still be distributed to the automated buildings in the old place.

For example, Shiro didn't take away the allocations for the weapons and armour shops, which meant people could equip themselves with new weapons and armor here.

Shops would stop producing as soon as they reached a certain cap, or if the raw materials ran out.

That was why their group had been buying out the stocks in order to equip all of the 'slaves'. Because they were consistent in their purchase, the cap had never been reached, and the shops were maximized during their stay.

Another reason was that it was only occupied by monsters after the humans abandoned it (not counting the dwarves), there were a few resources still hidden in cellars and trunks.

The food was all bad now, of course, but there were still clothing, shoes, and some other tools that the 'slaves' could really use in their current state of starting from scratch.

As for what was in the Warehouse, the Lord just had to transfer them to the warehouse back home. Except for a couple of Class D weapons his late father stored (some of which he gave to Fos), there weren't many things that'd be useful in their travels anyway.

That said, there was a proposal to Shrao to develop this place into a viable stopover. After staying for a few days, Mao and the others saw its advantages.

The most prominent advantage was its location and terrain. This Village could survive for so long despite being near a Town precisely because of this.

The place was easier to defend and guard and, someday, its revitalization was very possible. They could turn it into a good hub connecting aborigine territories to the Terran region.

Anyway, while the thousands of people readied themselves, the main leaders went to the village center for a last meeting before their departure.

One of the advantages of system buildings was that they were easy to maintain themselves. Users still had to clean it, but they didn't have to worry about it falling into disrepair when they didn't.

Anyway, like many centers, the second floor was used as a meeting center. With thousands of people there willing to work, it was easy to clean.

In this meeting were Silvia, Rowan, Oslo, Mao, Sammy, Misha, as well as the representatives of the allied territories.

Before heading back to Alterra, it was best to summarize everything before heading out because they would be parting ways.

And for the allied territories, they hoped to have a lot of elementalist recruits with them. If the 'slaves' chose to go with them, then Alterra wouldn't stop it.

That said, there were still many details to iron out.

"Will Voumi and Valov be a problem?" Fos couldn't help but ask.

As someone who had lived nearby Voumi Town, he naturally felt intimidated at the thought that maybe—someday—their attention would be in their current region.

"Probably, but not any time soon," Otto said. "Anyway, I recommend planting more people there like what you did in Basset." This way, they would be able to monitor them well. As before, aborigines would be the best people to send there.

"Speaking of this, I encountered something unusual in Voumi," he said. He kind of forgot about it with everything that had to be settled, and the fact that he was going after Misha, who seemed set on ignoring him outside official duties.

Otto then took out a small bag and placed it on the table. "Try not to sniff or consume it," he said. "But I heard it was a good thing, though I didn't get a good feeling from the merchants who were trying to sell it to me."

After he approached Mafo, he was approached by various parties too. One of them was selling this 'good thing' that would apparently be 'extremely profitable'.

When he put out a bit, almost everyone reacted.

"This…" Even Fos recognized it.

Sammy looked at him. "Is it the same as the one found in your place back then?"

Fos couldn't be sure—it was just white powder to them. This was, at least, until people tried consuming it and then they'd call it 'magic powder'.

"It's drugs," Misha said from the side, confirming their thoughts. They turned to her. "Hesso's circle used it."

"What are the effects?"

"It should be what we know," Misha said. "Though with some difference because of the physiques of people here."

Sammy nodded, recalling a few things. "From what we know, this—including the ones found in Shrao—has been the first appearance of this thing here."

Although there had probably been some addictive substances in other territories, it was in the form of scents or of food, and the effect was nothing close to what actual drugs could do.

"This means the creator is likely a Terran."

"Definitely."

"I have only witnessed them use it once, and I have not witnessed other effects. Mostly it's energy and Euphoria for now," she said. "My ability also no longer worked because of it."

She said this as a matter of fact, but it made Otto look at her deeply. She caught his eye and she realized what she said and implied, and she hoped he wouldn't open the topic.

Although nothing actually happened, it was embarrassing to discuss with other people.

Fortunately, he let it go and proceeded with their discussions.

Otto looked at Fos and the others. "Can you tell us more?" he asked, completely shifting the topic, and it made Misha smile a little.