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

About half an hour before the declaration, someone knocked wildly on their door.

”MILORD! MILORD!” the man yelled. ”Urgent! An emergency post from our stationed forces!!”

Other than the hundreds of people they had camping near Alterra, most of whom were either allied or were beyond the level cap, they naturally had their spies inside, sending word of anything noteworthy.

Anyway, even if Alterra knew they were going to get attacked, they didn’t know which territory it was, so as long as the contents were subtle, there was no problem with sending letters via the Post Office right before the war.

Uric took it as per usual, and his eyebrows rose as he read. His men were not subtle.

”It is said that Alterra announced that the Cold Wave is imminent. It will happen exactly tomorrow! Are we still going to attack?”

It really has been a bit chilly lately. It was just that there were often cooler breezes from the mountainous areas, so they didn’t think too deeply.

”What?” Sebo gasped, grabbing the letter to read it himself.

”Is it even true?!” he yelled. ”I don’t think it is! We have already deployed hundreds of men in the area!”

Ulric’s stomach, which had already dropped from the news, dropped even more. ”They’re so confident, Milord, perhaps it’s a sign to listen—”

”SHUT UP!”

”Milord, according to my research, Alterra had been prepared for the previous Extreme Heat—abnormally so,” he said. ”Apparently, they had made apt preparations before it happened. Perhaps they have a seer in their midst.”

Seers were a few people who had higher instincts regarding the Extreme weather. While they were not always completely accurate, they were accurate enough to be believed. So far, they have received no news of an Extreme Cold happening within the next few days!

”Then I will wait a day. If the Cold doesn’t happen within a day, then I will attack them harder!” he gritted his teeth. ”Don’t they dare try to fool me!”

”But—”

”No buts! It’s already humiliating enough that I’m delaying it!!” Sebo screamed. ”Do you want me to throw you in prison!?”

Uric sighed, knowing how stubborn this old man was.

He could look out and hope that this wasn’t another trap.

...

Valov Town

”Did they attack?” Balthazar, Lord of Valov Town, looked at his men, already expecting an answer.

However, while he did get an awkward answer from them, it wasn’t what he expected.

Balthazar’s smirk disappeared. ”What?”

”Zabon Town did not attack, Milord,” his man repeated.

”Why?”

Obviously, Valov also had its spies in Alterra. So they reported a similar thing. ”Alterra claims the Extreme Cold is apparently upon us—tomorrow.”

”What?”

He felt the temperature. While it was a little cool, and felt only because his level was high, it wasn’t anything extreme. No one else had mentioned anything either.

He narrowed his eyes. ”What are they up to?”

”Nothing good, probably,” the man said, and it made Balthazar look at him. ”Do you think it is legitimate?”

”If not?”

”Perhaps, it is we who could—”

”We’ll get revenge for your brother,” the Lord said, stopping the man’s words. ”To do that with minimal losses on our side, they must be weakened first.”

The man who spoke was called Waran, and he was Wazan’s younger brother. His house had the Life Candle for each member, and about a month ago, his brother’s fire had died.

They had always suspected it to be Voumi Town. All clues were from there, and they had always lost their people after passing through Voumi Town, which only supported the suppositions.

It was why Waran often led harassment against Voumi mercenaries and caravans, making sure they suffered.

But after the Voumi-Flaret war, and after they looked back at Wazan mentioning where he was last heading, it was suddenly clear that Alterra probably had something to do with his death!

They were made into fools! And it was why they were also doing so much before attacking themselves.

Granted, the Lord had always been careful when going to war. After all, they had too much to lose, and the Hassen City associates would definitely not take kindly to any losses.

Lord Baltimore’s style, in the few times he had gone through a war, had always been to make sure they would win at all times. There must be no possibility of a loss, and so far this had not failed, and it was a point of pride for them.

It was different with Alterra. They hated to admit it, but even as a newly upgraded territory—and considering the powerhouses they had and the latest news of how the new Town handled their mobs—they had to acknowledge that there was still a small chance of Valov losing.

It was why they sent Zabon first. Even if they won, then Valov would simply attack Zabon and get everything. Knowing Alterra, even if they lost, they’d definitely disable Zabon for a long time, making them easy targets.

And considering their spies in Zabon and the human resources they had already planted there, it’d be easy for Valov to time the war well, making sure they wouldn’t get preempted by someone else.

Besston, Baltimore’s son, spoke. ”Yesterday, both Limestone Valley and Iron Mountains did not seem to be planning any sort of war at this time,” he said. ”As neither territory has a Post Office, we will still have to wait to confirm this. Perhaps the territories are indisposed to fight.”

”So they are delaying things?”

Balthazar sneered. His plan was to weaken Alterra once. He would assist by weakening Alterra in their own way as well, before he would take it on himself.

It was also his habit to ensure his enemies were weak before he used his own resources.

His people should’ve succeeded in poisoning the barracks’ food now, and it should show the next day.

If the war didn’t happen, then would that expensive poison be wasted? Useless!

Well, it doesn’t matter; Alterra would be in his palms soon enough!