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

The place they went to was one of these ’smaller’ palaces (i.e. not really small), all of which had at least two guards by the door, and had a few making rounds nearby.

In terms of size, it was around the same size as the Voumi Town Lord’s palace (Milo had seen it a bit during the auction), but going in, he knew it was much more ornate and well-designed.

Milo was eleven years old and didn’t know much about design and buildings and stuff like that, but the place really enticed a sense of awe and superiority, automatically humbling people.

This was the feeling minor palaces could induce. He could not imagine how it would be in the main palace, which was several times larger and grander than this.

Going past the common areas, Milo was led further inside. A couple of minutes later, they entered a study of sorts. It was more like a small library with bookshelves lining the walls and a large, intricately carved wooden table in the middle.

Scrolls and books splayed on the table’s surface, and there were a few kids seated there, all with various expressions on their faces. They all had interesting silver or pale shades of hair.

The most prominent one was a young child, probably 6 or 7 years of age. His hair was not grey like an old man’s, but shimmering like polished silver.

Next to him were a few kids around his age, and then there was also a girl who seemed about two or three years older than him. Her hair was more on the peach side, though, and it reminded Milo of his favorite peach mousse.

The girl had a solemn expression on her face as she stared at the younger, silver-haired, boy.

”Brother, like I said, that is mine,” she said, pointing at a vellum book of sorts. ”I’m the one who can understand it better.”

The young boy looked at her, chin up and quite arrogant. ”No, father said this prince can have it.”

”He didn’t ask me!”

The little boy didn’t seem bothered by her tone. ”Well, go and ask him then!”

”You’re not even going to read it!”

”So?” the boy asked. ”Tell that to father, if you want.”

The girl pursed her lips and glared at the boy, a head smaller than he was. However, she could only succumb and turn away bitterly, as if she knew it would be useless to ask.

Milo frowned, but after so long at the bottom of the ladder, he knew not to open his mouth.

He watched as the girl stomped her way to the door (which still somehow looked demure and lady-like) and ended up passing by him. She didn’t notice him at all and ended up bumping into him.

Milo gasped and immediately bowed, shivering a bit and fearing for his life. He knew aborigines really looked down on servants and, from what he gathered, the high nobles here were treated like royalty.

He wouldn’t be surprised if they killed people simply because they blocked their path.

Was he going to get killed because he stood still??

However, the girl just paused and stared at him in annoyance. She simply turned away in the end, leaving the room without another word. He blinked and his sight followed her back, but she was already gone.

It was only then that the boys in the room noticed him. They looked him up and down, and Milo immediately felt awkward.

It was the ’leader’ boy who spoke first. ”Who is this?” he asked. At this, Kuba stepped forward.

”He will serve as your page, your highness,” he said. ”His official service is within a few weeks, as we still need to train him for a bit before he is ready to serve you.

”However, I thought you’d like to see him,” he paused, looking at Milo. ”He is also an elementalist-to-be.”

This made the boy and the other kids look at him with interest. ”Like Ogur, then.”

”Name?” The silverhead asked, sounding very bossy. This made Milo’s eyebrows furrow.

While humility and cowardice had been etched onto him, especially after migration, he had to admit he felt annoyed when it was a younger boy doing the commanding.

”Milo, your highness,” the eleven-year-old said. He tried lowering the timbre of his voice to appear older, but it was useless. He was at that awkward age before adolescence, and it showed in how his voice cracked between high and low-pitched without his control.

”What’s your element?”

”Sand, your highness.”

”Show this prince.”

”I haven’t awakened yet, this servant apologizes.”

Allain looked at him. The kid looked nine or ten years old, so it would still take a bit to awaken.

If Milo knew what he was thinking, he’d try to lower his voice even more. He was eleven!

The prince looked disappointed either way. ”That’d mean a few more years before he’s useful, right?”

”He is eleven years old, your highness,” the hunchback corrected respectfully. ”He will awaken within a few months—we will make sure of it. Other than that, he should also be useful in other things in the meantime.”

”He seems really...weak though,” Allain said, mumbling at the side, and oddly enough, it was really making Milo quite annoyed.

((For someone who was crying a lot and useless against older aborigines before, he was certainly feeling a bit rebellious towards a prince.

Young boys could be quite peculiar. Not that Milo knew this yet, of course.))

The rest of them had no idea what was going on in Milo’s psyche at this time.

At the words of the Prince, Kuba simply nodded, not contradicting him, but also not fully agreeing. ”We will be training him thoroughly in terms of literacy, etiquette, as well as combat skills, your highness. Please do not worry.”

The young boy narrowed his eyes at Milo, irking the young boy even more.

”You’d better be useful then,” he said, crossing his arms. ”Don’t disappoint this prince!”