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

Ryo and the others arrived at the Center some minutes later. They entered the meeting room to see a group of people of all ages sitting on a large oblong table.

There were various boards parallel to the walls. They seemed to be the Xeno version of whiteboard discussions. They also had writings on them, though some were covered by curtains.

It felt...new, to say the least.

Anyway, the Lords and their cronies entered with a tense atmosphere around them.

They couldn’t help but give Ryo and the others a look. Would they report on their arrogance?

Fortunately, at least for now, the Elders and the others at that table were smiling at them, seeming to be friendly. For now.

”Welcome to Alterra Town,” an old woman said. They blinked, belatedly realizing that this was none other than Mathilda Ross, one of the better-known politicians even outside her own country.

She stood up to greet them, and the others followed. The three of them wiped their sweaty hands and went to shake hands with each of them, feeling honored.

Althea and the others also introduced themselves and their main scope of work before they started the meeting. This was to give them an idea of who was handling which item, especially when they were in completely different fields.

The government style impressed the visitors. Back in Terran, many countries had adopted a multitier system, wherein there was one ruling party and several other political parties serving as advisors rather than rivals. However, in those countries, there were still some internal tensions that were somehow absent in this group.

Was there really no Lord? Or was the Lord so indisputable that every elder followed him or her wholeheartedly?

To be honest, after they found out that the token could be stolen during wars, none of them completely trusted anyone. The oaths had their limits and loopholes, after all. The best they could do was give enough power to the people who should have it, but at the same time, still keep an eye out for them to some degree.

They wondered how it was for the Lord here. They really hoped to directly interact with that person if possible.

Everyone took a seat and began the discussions. There were also tea and snacks served by the servants to them.

”This alliance is a certain thing, rest assured,” she said, seeing their anxious faces.

”The fact that our people brought you here means your territories are good enough and you at least have a moral compass to strive to make things better for your citizens.”

At this, they quickly felt shy and sent shy looks to Ryo.

Ryo: ”???”

”We would like you to tell us more about your territories, however,” Mathild said. ”This will help us facilitate trade and exchanges between us better.”

The Lords proceeded to give an overview of their territories. They tried to put their territories in as much positive light as possible. This was in stark contrast to their cynicism a few days ago. Now, they were practically desperate to secure this Alliance.

Even if Miss Mathilda said the alliance was already guaranteed, it could also be a test! Alterra was so far ahead of them, their minds couldn’t help but make them feel inferior, make them think that they had to present their territory better to even be worth listening to.

The Lords, with the assistance from their brethren, spoke of the products and items they had developed in the past year. Sadly, all of them were already available in Alterra and with even more variety.

Hodai and Crispin then mentioned the salt mine that they were sharing, which... was smaller than the one Alterra was taking from.

That was it. That was all they could offer.

They couldn’t help but feel even more ashamed.

The Elders saw their embarrassment and quickly tried to lighten up the mood. ”No, it is good that you’re developing in parallel. We can sell you some of our weapons to stabilise your areas more, giving room for more innovations.

”We wouldn’t have offered the alliance if our people didn’t think you’d contribute to our growth,” Mathilda said, comforting them, which was both embarrassing and touching to their guests.

”If you accept our alliance, we simply hope that you feed us information about everything that happened in the area around you, especially anything unusual and suspicious entities.

”We also hope you send some minerals and plants unique to your place and sell them at a good price to us.”

”Similarly, we will be offering dealers’ price and increased purchase limits to you.” They did not know yet, but this was one of the main things they’d thank their respective gods for.

”We will not be asking for your assistance in wars related to us, but we may ask you to assist when we are rescuing a Terran territory,” Mathilda said. ”The benefits, most likely from the territory we will attack/defend against.”

”...can we also ask for your assistance in case an aborigine territory attacks us?” Hodai asked. They had been attacked a few times before this, and there was a very real chance of losing everything in the next one.

”Yes, but there will be a limit, and it will not be for free.”

This was the main difference between subsidiaries and allies. They would likely send some support to subsidiaries when needed, in exchange for a fixed percent tribute every month. Allies were more of the ’we don’t attack you, you don’t attack us’ kind of thing, so assistance was much more calculated.

”The main point is that we cannot attack each other or purposely send harm to others’ way. The other goal is to improve communications between the areas, and prepare each other for whatever impending threats may come upon us.”

The Lords looked at each other and then at the Elders. This was... really good, and there was no reason for them to refuse.

In retrospect, the recruiting Alterrans were fairly clear that the main thing they wanted was knowledge and information. At the time, it was too difficult for them to understand that a ’peer’ territory was going around and risking their lives to network, but now it felt like a matter of course.

Like this, the group headed down to do their oaths, led by Mathilda and under the witness of several territories, including some visitors who got wind of it.

And so, Alterra received a few new allies that day.