After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1751

Chapter 1751: Hoffen’s Visitors! (Part 2)

Zenno only laughed at him and his willful suggestion. “You know how they are,” he said. “They’d rather not see the sun again than enter a human territory.

“If they didn’t need my fire awakening potions, I doubt I’d have met them within the next decade.”

“Fire Awakening potion?” Althea couldn’t help but ask. Hoffen blinked, but also pouted.

Would Althea like this guy more than him? Shouldn’t he have invited him, after all?

“Master?” she blinked, feeling the sour mood next to her. Hoffen looked away, pouting.

“Ah, I haven’t mentioned much about him, yeah?”

She nodded. “You didn’t want to talk about the other Class A—”

“He is best known for his elementalist potions,” Hoffen said, cutting her off. “It allows a non-elementalist to wield the power of the elements for a set amount of time.”

She blinked, impressed, and also took note. “I assume the dwarves need the fire awakening potion for whatever project they were doing,” she said, turning her head to the other alchemist. “Are you an elementalist as well, Master Zenno?”

He looked at her. “Indeed. I am a dual element of fire and wood,” he said with a smile.

Althea looked at him. “The potions are limited to fire and wood?”

“Yes,” he said, “The potion is highly dependent on my own affinities.”

Hoffen mumbled. He hated to admit it, but at least half of the [Elemental Integration] insights he had, he learned from watching this guy work.

At this, Zenno looked at Hoffen with narrowed eyes. “I remembered this guy had inherited a similar skill…”

This was quite a mystery in fact. Generally speaking, people who couldn’t control elements would not receive inheritances related to them.

Later, they came up with a theory that it was because he was so good, the system made a mistake, or just gave him a random skill to hold him back. That was what Hoffen mumbled every time the topic came up, anyway.

“Ah, Master gave it to me.”

“Oh?”

The two alchemists looked at her, a bit startled, and then at Hoffen, who sneered at their surprise.

“Why? Is it so hard to believe? I couldn’t even use it myself!”

“But you’re stingy as a hogbat,” Master Cheman said, and Master Zenno rubbed his beard and nodded in agreement.

Hoffen was absolutely offended. “WHAT?”

Althea’s lips twitched, understanding the reference.

Hogbats were fairly well-known monsters endemic in a wide area of caves up north (this was something she read in the ever-growing monster encyclopedia that many people contributed to).

They had an apparent tendency to hoard everything, including the rotting parts of their prey, regardless of how useless they were. They had somehow become synonymous with people who were extremely stingy.

This was naturally an insult, and the old men started throwing shade at each other.

Althea couldn’t help but chuckle. Old people could really become little kids, especially around each other. She was glad, however, that there seemed to be a genuine friendship between them.

That said, while she was not sure if she could get the two alchemists to her research lab, perhaps she could get them into the Guild idea at least.

“Ah, we’re entering the inner walls now. This is our main area,” she said after a while, diffusing the fight.

The two alchemists turned to look. They usually wouldn’t be curious about a town, but a territory that could place the latest special buildings outside the main areas meant they were either careless or that they had foresight.

Very quickly, they found out it was the latter.

Wide roads, themed buildings, and an overall bright and lively atmosphere despite it being deep into the night. At the same time, it gave off the feeling of security, safety, and strength. It was quite fascinating and worthy of study.

The two, despite themselves and despite having seen many, many other great territories, couldn’t help but look around in interest. They watched as they passed by several shops and streets, realizing that there was really activity everywhere.

Finally, they arrived at their destination, the Grand Hotel.

Hoffen had reserved the two rooms days prior, and as a person of great position, he was one of the people who could reserve the rooms that were purposely not open for reservations at all.

He was an Alterran now, and he had the Alterran pride. He wouldn’t be satisfied if his guests weren’t gaping in awe!

Not to mention, considering these two were from cities, impressing them meant a lot more than impressing townsfolk.

“Impressive,” they said as they looked around the high-end lobby, as well as the intricate chandelier above them.

Hoffen grinned, smug once again. “You haven’t seen anything yet!”

…

For the next day before the party, Hoffen made sure to bring his old colleagues around everywhere. He took them to the tourist spots like the view decks, the gardens, the arcades, and so on.

Hoffen had plenty of reasons why he was so passionate about this, and one of them had to do with pride.

Some time ago, when he first made contact with them through posts (with misdirections, of course), they had questioned his choice for settling in a little town.

After all, the resources were really far less, and this meant it’d be difficult to gather the materials needed or to have access to the right facilities for their level of profession. At the time, Alterra did not even have a Mercenary Hall yet, which was a great disadvantage for them who needed various materials.

He was so annoyed back then, but no matter what he said, he knew they wouldn’t believe him!

As such, he decided all the way back then to show them he was wise. No, the wisest of them all! It became his mission!

It had to be said: The old man Hoffen’s physical age might’ve advanced, but he acted like he was younger.

If Althea knew this, she’d smile. Wasn’t it a good thing to be young?