After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1185: Town’s Subsidiaries (Part 2)

In Belluga Village, they were lucky to have an ample population of aborigines from the East.

Compared to Shrao and Bright—which shared refugees from the West—Belluga was the only affiliated Terran territory in these parts. They were also the landing place of many Terran refugees from this region, injecting even more good talent into their population.

Belluga had also never been taken over unlike the other subsidiaries, nor did they ever incur massive debts to Alterra either.

This was why Belluga actually had the fastest progress among subsidiaries, next only to Alterra's direct satellites.

Interestingly—under the leadership of the new lord and his assistants— the population had also leveled up quite a bit during the past few months.

The most notable improvements were Esias and Cecil, who had reached the peak of the level cap and had shown significant progress in their elements. With the new monsters coming in, their progress would not slow down even if they stayed in their village.

Speaking of Esias, they found out that they were the Witt family's acquaintances.

Even if it was not in the best situation—considering it was to give news of their parents' deaths—the relationship and camaraderie were there.

At first, Raine worried Esias would be pirated away. However, despite all expectations, they stayed—which made Raine appreciate them even more.

In any case, Belluga managed to settle their mobs much faster than Bright did so now the lord and her cronies were finally taking a rest at their shared home.

It had to be noted that the house was not Kimmy's one-of-a-kind villa—which was a combination of three modules—but a two-module home amongst a community of others. Raine shared it with Kimmy's remaining 'ex-husbands'.

Until now, Kimmy's old house was empty, maintained by a cleaning crew Raine hired every week.

It was prepared in case she ever wanted to return, but also because none of them could face their show of cowardice, weakness, and incompetence that they associated with Kimmy and that home.

Perhaps, it would only be occupied once Kimmy forgave them—though who knew if that would ever happen.

Of course, with the many things and responsibilities they had to handle, those depressing thoughts only had time to occupy their minds during null times. It was very difficult during the first few months but they managed to survive.

Fortunately, things were getting a bit better, and when they got the news that Kimmy had given birth and was going around town with an occasional smile, it felt like a small part of the weight was lifted off their shoulders.

At the very least, they could finally sleep at night again.

And thanks to the many refugees they took in and the good housing programs they implemented, the times the three of them had to personally move to fight had been reduced a lot.

It gave them more time to handle the administration works, which ultimately helped improve people's lives as well.

Anyway, at this time, they were lounging in the living room. Raine was reading a newly-delivered newspaper from Alterra while Suide rested his head on Orland's wide shoulder.

Suide looked at Raine, who was coolly sipping tea. He looked at her pretty androgynous figure, sighing.

"Such a pity," he said, velvety voice echoing in the near-empty living room.

Raine's eyebrows rose as she looked at the man. "What is?"

"You'd have been quite a beauty if you dressed up properly."

Raine's fingers paused but chose not to grace him with a response.

The way they found out about her gender was a bit embarrassing so she resolutely didn't want to remember it.

It was just a week ago, actually, and she had not had a day where it was not mentioned since then.

At the time, she was so busy with everything going on—with Alterra's impending upgrade—that she failed to realize her period had arrived.

During a meeting with the other 'husbands' and some guards, she ended up making an embarrassing mess on the furniture.

She tried to pass it off as an injury of sorts, which worked for most men, but Suide was not most men.

And what Suide knew, Orland would too—so here they were.

Anyway, Suide was more intrigued than shocked and he immediately showered her with questions.

Eventually, they found out she had been crossdressing for many years—even in Terran—and felt heartbroken for her.

Suide was particularly vocal about it, moaning every so often how good so-and-so dress would look on her.

It was especially prevalent when there was a new fashion item that came out, particularly from Andrei (and brought to Belluga by a caravan).

If the light-haired man had the money, he would even buy the dress, hoping Raine would try it out. The latest one was a beautiful red dress made of silky material and for some reason, Suide was convinced it was made just for her.

Raine naturally just ignored him, and the man just said he'd be keeping it in the closet in case she changed her mind.

Even now, Raine still couldn't imagine herself wearing such a dress—and in a world like this, too.

"That red dress would've been really nice…" Suide said, repeating the same line for the nth time since he got that dress.

"I used to model for him, you know, I mean Andrei," he then said, looking a bit wistful. "He really has an eye for beauty."

Then he went on about his experiences there, the fun he had modeling in Malin, or in Prang, or in Old York.

He might even slip up about a previous boyfriend or two he met during those trips, which made the atmosphere around Orland a little cold.

Suide cleared his throat and patted his partner's hard pecs. "You were the best one," he said, and the tension on the latter's face softened considerably.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

"Love you…" he said, hugging the bigger man, whose stern face softened even further, gracing a handsome smile in the end.

Raine's eyes traced over the couple before pulling away, looking out the window in a daze.

Love, eh?

Before more thoughts about that issue took root in her mind, she pushed it away, shifting to more urgent things.

She looked at the current article she was looking at. The newspaper was just sent this morning by the first Alterran caravan to head out after the war.

There, they saw the Post Office was built.

Communication had always been one of the cornerstones of progress. Alterra… would not be slowing down at all.

"Belluga cannot be left too far behind."

With Alterra entering a new phase of its growth, Belluga was bound to follow. For one, staying stagnant meant death, and they couldn't let that happen.

"Although our prestige would grow at a snail's pace, our population should rise as Alterra's does," she said. "Although Alterra is—and, admittedly, will remain—the best choice, it is saturated there and the residencies have become very expensive.

"At some point, a lot of common folk would opt to just live in a nearby village and visit Alterra every so often instead."

She put the paper down and looked at her people.

"That will be the niche we will take," she said. "And that will be the niche we will dominate—at least in the East."