After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1517

Chapter 1517: Returning Karma

“H-Harold!!” William gasped. “It’s you!!”

The two old men darted to each other, embracing the other with an arm. Tears immediately lined up in their eyes, absorbing the fact that the other was really alive and well.

They parted after a few moments. William patted Harold’s shoulder, though his attention was taken by a little girl holding the other’s hand.

It was an adorable little girl who was looking at him in curiosity.

“Is this little Maya?” he blinked. In retrospect, it had been a few years since he had stayed in the House in Aberdeen City. The child’s height seemed to have shot up to twice as it was.

“Yes!” Harold smiled and then looked behind him. “Say, hello, daughter. Ah, Gina is as pretty as always.”

Gina rubbed her cheek in embarrassment. To be honest, the green soap still had some marks on them so their faces had some reddish spots. Nothing major, but not pretty either. It definitely made her self-conscious in front of people she knew from the ‘good days’.

“Ah, old guy, you jest,” was all she said, blushing though more from embarrassment.

William chuckled and looked at Harold and Maya, seeing as they were nourished and well-dressed. “You live here?”

“Yes! We were fortunate to be among the first inhabitants here,” Harold said with a smile. “Do you have any plans?”

“We’re going to the forests to gather resources,” he said, and then described the rest of the itinerary.

Harold looked at him and grabbed his shoulder. “I… I’ll help you! Come with me!” he said, practically dragging the former boss elsewhere.

Similarly, Maya held on the Gina’s hand to follow after their dads. The woman flinched at the contact and smiled when she saw who it was, allowing herself to be led elsewhere.

They then said their goodbyes to the others, who could only look on in envy because of their obviously advantaged start.

Anyway, the four people walked several streets, soon passing by communities of midrise buildings.

In anticipation of the large injection of population, a few dormitories and mid-rise buildings were built.

They had to reduce the number of forests and parks by a bit to make room for them, however.

In terms of resource gathering, this was fine because the forests not far outside the walls were still technically part of the territory. This meant that it wouldn’t be too dangerous to forage there, considering there were still plenty of sentries and battlement guards (with the halforcs building a villa) outside.

On the other hand, it also felt sad because many of them had been used to having parks in these places. Of course, they understood this decision, and they just looked forward to the official expansion of the territory.

Anyway, the erection of new dorms meant a lot of openings! Many people from dorms who had been slowly saving up the past few months rushed to rent or pay down payment. In turn, this also freed space among the newcomers to get the dormitory beds.

Alterran dormitories were quite comfortable, especially compared to how refugees lived before coming. However, how could Harold let the former boss live there when he had the ability to do more?

He brought them over to one of the new midrise buildings. Everyone in Althea’s team had at least a property under their name. Even if they weren’t using it, they’d rent it out or reserve it for friends they’d find in the future.

Harold had one reserved for Maya when she grew up (he was very advanced), but he could just buy her one later. Anyway, he had insider information and knew where the next expansions would be. He’d get one in an even better location for future Maya.

For now…this one would be for someone else.

William and Gina gaped at the tall 7-storey building that had no business in a Level 1 Town.

It even had an elevator!

“This…”

They were in disbelief as Harold and Maya led them to it, and their mouths were agape as they felt it move, feeling the familiar sensation of the room rising.

Then… they were led to one of the rooms, bypassing some of the residents there, some of whom couldn’t help but look at them. Someone even knew Harold and greeted him respectfully.

William and Gina looked at each other, impressed. It seemed like Harold didn’t just survive like them, he built a great life.

So… was Harold taking them to his unit? At this, William seemed concerned. He had heard the dormitories weren’t too bad, and he felt bad to intrude on other people’s spaces, especially when they were condominium units (i.e. small).

Harold opened the door to the two-bedroom unit. There was only a bed with no mattress and a wooden sofa for now.

This made them even more guilty. How could they squeeze in people’s homes like this?

William cleared his throat. “We don’t want to intrude—”

“We don’t live here.”

“What?”

“It’s yours.”

“What?”

Harold looked warmly at the two. “I owe you. Maya and I do,” he said. “Thank you for letting us stay in your house back then.”

If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have been in a safe place until the migration, and they wouldn’t have met Althea so early on. So many things could’ve happened during that time, and their lives would’ve been very different from how it was now.

“Your house saved us,” Harold said, patting William’s shoulder. “Now let us pay back and give you one, too.”

…

Other than them, there were also other happy reunions. Well, in a sense.

“Gale!” Cassas, former lord of Calma Village, patted the young man’s shoulder. He was followed by a group of familiar people, happy to see them. “It’s good to have you here!”

The people from Calma Village, at least those who had managed to come with Orz and them, had settled nicely and had built good lives for themselves.

The newcomers were happy to see them, though many of the newcomers couldn’t deny the feeling of envy and jealousy.

While they were suffering as slaves, these people abandoned them to live the good life.

Considering how they once took the same path, shared the same roof and bowls, had the same strength and power—it was difficult to see that after their paths diverged, they were on the lower path.

However, Gale and the rest also knew that Cassas, Orz, and the others were not to be blamed. If they had somewhat forgiven Minko, they naturally could forgive these people too.

Fortunately, Cassas and the others were not insensitive. Rather, they felt incredibly guilty.

Even if what they did wasn’t exactly traitorous—after all, they simply ran away to save their own lives—it definitely felt like they betrayed their old brethren’s trust.

Hence, with the leadership of Cassas, they decided to chip in since they were better off. Even Orz, Minko, and the other soldiers joined in.

It could be a way to ease their own guilt as much as it was to help others out of kindness but, did it matter which one it was? The fact of the matter was, they were determined to help their friends, make sure they would walk the decent life they deserved.

That same day, not only were the Calma ‘slaves’ sponsored for a whole month of living—they were also freed from their ‘slave’ status!

Long chap~!