After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1543

Chapter 1543: Young Master Allain

A/N: Last Milo/Holt chapter in a while~ lolol. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to last so long. Anyway, hopefully, when we get back to Holt City (in probably several dozen chaps) we’ll see more Silas and Aurellian.

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Anyway, serving Master Allain was not easy, but it wasn’t unbearable either. It could’ve been worse. Considering he was an aborigine prince, he could’ve been beating him up whenever he felt like it.

He was willing to endure that and find a way to get on his good side, though nothing of the sort had happened yet.

Even when the prince was in a bad mood (usually related to his studies), he’d just be unnecessarily harsh with his words, which was really nothing after what he had experienced here.

In Voumi… there would always be tears and screams. Even if there was nothing happening.

Here, although it wasn’t easy, he didn’t have to worry about being pulled somewhere and violated, let alone getting beaten up because the master was a little annoyed.

He was also trained harshly but humanely, unlike in Voumi, so he genuinely had nothing to complain about and only needed to work hard.

It also encouraged him to try and think of a way to get the master’s attention and favor, and perhaps give him enough leverage so he’d help him find his family—or at least send a letter. To where, he didn’t know yet, but he wanted to secure the medium to do so.

Before, he was very reluctant because getting the attention of ‘masters’ was not always a good thing, and it depended wholly on what type of master they ended up with.

In Voumi, he had managed to get out of ‘that’ kind of abuse thanks to his sister and Gurnam’s quick thinking, but he wasn’t confident he could do it by himself.

It was why he hadn’t done anything the past several days. He needed to find a way to be useful and valuable, but in a way that he’d prefer.

Now, he stared at the master, who was now having a tutorial session. Normally, his other pages, Ogur and Oran would accompany him, but they were currently training with monsters at this time.

Because the twins were from noble families too, even if the rank wasn’t high, their position next to the prince gave them a lot of learning opportunities.

On the other hand, pages and servants of common origins would remain at the back, ready to be called, regardless of what talents they had. Right now, Milo was the only servant there other than the maid, and they were pretending like they didn’t exist until the master remembered them.

The tutorial session was now ongoing, held after the academy time, which made the prince particularly antsy. He didn’t even look like he was listening after half an hour of lessons.

Milo felt this was understandable. Although he liked most lessons, the schooling itself could get annoying, and after-school lessons even more so.

The Academy was like a school, and this was where various things like literacy, fighting, and so on were taught. However, only noble people and very rich citizens could afford to go here.

However, to be fair, they really were learning, and the goal was not just to socialize.

According to some of the servants who had been to other cities, mostly while escorting the masters who went there, this wasn’t the case in many others. To those places, the academy was just a place to socialize rather than anything else.

That said, because Holt nobles really were serious about educating their children, it also meant that not doing well was particularly frowned upon, or at least treated as a problem to be solved.

One of these ‘problems’ was master Allain’s math prowess. Apparently, just a few days back, the prince did so badly in the test that the teachers wondered whether they’d keep their jobs.

As such, Allain’s mother had to call for this extra lesson, which obviously irked the boy. Milo listened to the lessons silently and without much presence.

There were some differences in techniques that Milo knew—a lot of them were unnecessarily confusing and meandering—but the process and processes were basically the same.

They were just basic addition and subtraction, in fact.

“This is so difficult! Are you sure you’re not trying to make it harder?” the boy yelled, slamming his hand on the table in annoyance.

Of course, it did not cause a single crack due to his low level, as well as the fact that every single piece of furniture in the palace was made by high-level Woodworkers.

The teacher obviously didn’t like the boy’s tone. “Master Aurellian understood it,” he said. “And he’s barely five years old.”

This teacher was an old nobleman and was the boy’s maternal relative, so he didn’t really have much to fear. Even if he did, it was too much to be intimidated by a young boy who only had his family going for him.

With this mood, he became frank. “Your mother told me you must not underperform compared to the younger prince.”

This seemed to have triggered something in the boy, and his eyes turned red, immediately going mad. “You—! Get out!” he yelled.

He obviously wanted to throw things at him, but just threw them down to the floor instead.

CRASH!

There were not many loose things on the table, of course. It was mostly books and scrolls, which were all quite expensive.

The teacher didn’t say anything. He simply bowed, sighing, before following orders. He didn’t seem disappointed or angry, just bored. This was obviously a common occurrence.

The lack of drama apparently made Allain even angrier. When the door closed, some more books flew. Something hit Milo, too, but fortunately, the boy’s level was not too high yet, so the injury wasn’t deep.

BANG!

“Aurellian this, Aurellian that!” the kid yelled, abruptly standing up. “Can’t they just leave me alone?!

“Why do they keep comparing me to that elfblood?! How is that fair?!” he screamed, wildly scratching his own head in annoyance. “Of course he’s smarter, better than magic, and stronger—that brat is not entirely human!!”

“Even if it’s just a tiny bit of elfblood—elf blood is elf blood!” No matter how little it was, it still had an effect! The playing field was never leveled! Should I blame father or mother for not having elven lineage?” Really, can they blame him for what they all lacked?!

The young boy ranted and ranted, walking to and fro, and then paused when he realized there were still people there.

His face turned red from both anger and embarrassment. “Aren’t you getting out?!” he yelled, and the maid beside Milo flinched, scurrying to the door.

Milo stayed in place, however, and Allain just thought he was intimidated by his prowess at first. This made him feel a little smug, his poor, crushed ego being repaired even if just a bit.

“Let me ask again: Aren’t you going to get out?”

The boy said a rhetorical question, not a command, and that was the only reason Milo—a slave—was still there.

Milo pursed his lips and thought, but he knew he didn’t have much time until an official command was uttered.

“Master, I know some simpler arithmetic techniques that would get you to the answers more effectively—” he said. “I guarantee your performance will increase.”

“What?” Allain paused, eyebrows furrowed and looked at him in suspicion. “What are you on about?”

“Your Highness must know that we are not from this world. What was being taught to you was mastered by us early on. It’s basic, even small kids—”

“What?!” he asked, but he took it more as an affront to his ability, and that Milo was mocking him. “Are you calling me worse than a kid?”

The teacher saying he was inferior to a child was one thing, but his slave, too?!

“…”

Milo took note to improve his speaking skills soon. His life literally depended on it.

“No, I mean, we are a weak race so… we can only depend on our minds,” he said. “Your Highness is definitely much stronger than most, and if you are taught with the right techniques, you will only get better.”

Milo took a deep breath. “This subject is a mere slave, your highness. You have nothing to lose by trying.”

“Hmn,” Allain paused, slightly calming down. He crossed his arms and looked at the slave. “Fine. I suppose I may have judged you prematurely.

Milo nodded, and Allain thought that was that. Unexpectedly—

“But I would like to ask a favor.”

“What?” The kid’s eyebrows furrowed. “A slave is daring to negotiate?”

This time, Allain asked this not in a demeaning way, but as a matter-of-fact, like he was genuinely confused.

Milo was tempted to just say sorry like always. However, he knew that he was alone, and he could only depend on himself. If he strayed from the right path, it would be difficult to get back again.

So…he just decided to blurt everything out. He had already said what he could offer; now he had to lay out what he needed. It might be greedy, but telling this early to a kid like Allain would clear out any suspicions.

“It won’t be difficult for someone as powerful as a Prince like you…”

To be honest, seeing this kid struggle in basic maths made him feel a lot less intimidated.

“First, I want to be a human in your eyes,” he said. “Please treat me as one. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to learn from someone inferior?” Milo asked and Allain actually found himself nodding.

“And second… can you help me look for my family?”

Guess what I’ll do with the elfblood