After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1811: Holt City in Ice

Holt City

Unlike most villages and towns, cities were far better off. Everything was on lock down, of course, with just the occasional people or guard seen outside, wearing special shoes to let them walk over the high snow.

In Cities, it was more of a to-each-his-own thing, particularly since they were an old civilization and people had settled here for several generations, so their records and their knowledge, oral or written, were much richer than the shallow foundations of villages and even towns.

Hence, people, even young ones, generally already knew how to react in case of extreme weather conditions.

The keyword was still react, however, and the preparation was always limited to just maintaining a certain stockpile in their own houses.

Fortunately, the average levels in Cities were generally much higher than in others, especially a very old, established royalty-level City like Holt City, which even had soothsayers.

They also had the Windmill of Fortune, wherein they placed a strong protected heating source at the back of it, so as to warm up whatever was in its path.

Of course, this was located in the nobles’ quarters. Even so, there were not many casualties during disasters, at least among commoners and nobles in general in Holt City.

Holt also had their own barriers, like the one Bleulle was lucky to have obtained, but much bigger. However, it was generally not activated as it was very expensive to maintain, so it was usually turned off.

But the Holt City barrier, unlike others, had a passive that would ensure the Cold Snake wouldn’t be able to enter the area, which was helpful enough. Other than this, they were also rich in magic tools, and each noble and well-off household had several, the most superior ones gathered through the years.

That said, while magic tools related to heat production and light were expensive, there were a number of these types in the territory. Holt had a lot of toolmakers, and a good portion of them specialized in heating, light, and fanning, so they weren’t too prohibitive.

Even richer commoners, especially merchants, could have a few in their possession.

The palace, for one, even if it was still freezing outside, had such a huge amount of warming and lighting magic tools that people inside only had to wear a layer or two of thick clothing. If the person was past level 30, then they could even dress as usual.

It was in these times that those who served the royal family felt extremely lucky. Further, because their salaries were not low, they could also send a decent amount of resources back home, increasing the chances of survival of their families outside the complex.

At this time, in one of the palaces, several servants and their masters huddled around the study. It was technically comfortable, though one of the princes was very annoyed.

For example, Allain, one of the young princes, threw another book against the wall. Milo, his page, sighed and picked up the book.

"Why do I have to continue studying even in this weather?!"

Milo, now twelve years old, wordlessly placed the book in front of the young boy. "I heard a superstition that throwing a book can make you stupid."

"WHAT!?"

During this time, with Milo’s help, Allain had indeed improved his academic situation, which also allowed Milo’s stature to rise a lot.

Milo had also trained a lot while he was doing so. Although he was still a bit behind the other elementalist pages, he wasn’t that easy to bully anymore, especially when he was helping the master with his studies, too.

More than physical strength, this kind of assistance was indispensable and difficult to replace, which balanced out the power dynamics between pages, to a degree.

And so, a sort of silent armistice formed between Milo and the other pages, Ogur and Oran. Anyway, at least in the study, it was Milo who had the highest stature and was the most favored among them.

"Anyway, what would you rather do in this weather, your highness?" Milo asked, genuinely curious.

In the past months, after receiving education and gaining a bit of strength, Milo gained some confidence. He was needed, after all, and that made him proud that he was someone of value even among noble aborigines

Even Cauis, the one he once called master, had to be polite to these people, which built Milo’s confidence a lot.

Of course, he still didn’t take things for granted. He knew that a noble’s favor could come and disappear, so he still knew how to take advantage and build up his own strength rather than depending on other people’s favor.

Gone were the days when Milo was a crybaby. There was no sister to wipe her tears anymore, after all.

It had also been made clear that, if he were to be able to find his sister, he needed a bit of influence. As of now, he was a slave, but he was also an elementalist and a valuable page. Maybe someday, he could find her on his own terms.

Milo had already used the entirety of his first salary (slaves in the royal family received salaries, making it the apex job for slaves) to send a post to Voumi. He sent two, one for Sarah and another for an old friend, Uncle Ersat.

Sadly, there had been no response from either of them. He still didn’t know where his sister was sent, but he wondered if uncle Ersat got the letter at all.

Even if he was a slave, he heard the letters would continue to alert the assigned caretakers of the Post office if it remained stagnant, but he wondered how long that would start?

After his grades improved just recently, the master Allain had also sent word to the Glens about his concerns, though it seemed like the man was out of the City at this time, so there was still no response.

That said, Milo reckoned that if his master’s stature was higher, then the chances of his finding his sister were also higher, so he genuinely hoped he worked harder.

"Master, do you want to be left behind in the dust by Prince Aurellian?"

"You—"

Allain had heard of this line before, comparing him to his younger cousin. However, when it came from someone of the same age, it felt particularly annoying!

"I’m comparing you so you can exceed him, Master. Wouldn’t it be nice to beat a genius with elf blood?" Milo said, looking at the younger boy. He then handed the book back to the younger boy.

"TSK!" the boy tutted, but took the book anyway.