After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World - Chapter 1703

Chapter 1703: Western Tensions
Meanwhile, tensions intensified in the West, and it was in no small part due to a certain Terran territory.

Not to mention Valov and Voumi Town, somehow, a Level 2 Town named Baccal Town had become involved somehow.

Baccal’s involvement was not too deep. Mafo contacted their Lord about Valov, telling them they were the hub of drugs. The drugs had also reached Baccal Town and had also affected, to a small degree, the nobility and the citizens there.

And then there were mysterious mercenaries (some said they were from Valov, some said they were from Voumi) and an increased amount of monster mobs messing with distribution in the area, so the conflict was high.

The mysterious mercenaries were Alterrans, of course. The Golds would forever be excited for contribution points, so they definitely had a hand in this.

Particularly, there was Obi and his three musketeers (Leez, Tener, and Dejel). What could town-level mercenaries do against fighters from cities, especially in the middle of the forests where no territory could protect them?

Not much! They could only blame whoever they said was to blame, not questioning it at all!

If they said they were from Voumi, they were from Voumi. If they said they were from Valov, then they were from Valov!

Anyway, Valov was known to have a backing of a City, and Voumi had been actively trying to gain one by sending elementalist slaves to their close subsidiaries, so claiming that strongmen were working for either of them was actually quite believable.

Speaking of which, thanks to the informants that the enemy ‘sent to their arms’ (i.e. the now-prisoners like Wazan), they also received bits of information about both territories, many of which ended up being useful.

While these people made oaths so they couldn’t be as detailed as the interrogators would’ve wanted, what they could squeeze out was enough using the deductive ability of Alterrans and the intelligence team.

To be fair, those guys really suffered unimaginable pain, and they were only granted death when they revealed what they could, considering their oaths.

For example, they got some names of lower-tier people they could monitor and get some clues from there. People of power tended to underestimate the roles of the ‘little ones’, after all.

It wasn’t against oath to name-drop like this, especially for people below the food chain. They could get more information about these people, and use them to enter deeper into the chain.

They also knew who was most susceptible to bribes, what kind of bribes worked best, and what kind of information they could extract, all things considered.

From there, they also started infiltrating Valov. The spies, this time, included level 20 and above aborigines. They considered Obi and the three musketeers, but they had been away from Alterra for weeks, and they claimed that ‘it was not good for the psyche’ to be away for so long.

Not to mention, word had it that the Lord in Valov was much sharper than others. Sending elementalists or anyone too powerful could garner attention.

Further, because the system was strict, if they shifted residencies, then they’d still have to pay the gold even if the contribution points were waived.

It was why, at village level, they limited the spies to those who weren’t citizens to save on this cost. As for Town-level, Alterra did not have enough, so their options of spies that’d take residencies were limited.

Obi and they were also serving as mysterious mercenaries when needed, so there was that.

So…they sent Jest, one of the people they got from Basset, Shinho, and a few of his team, as well as Massan. Among Terrans, they sent Foxii, though she was crossdressing for her own safety.

By this time, they had settled into their roles. Someone worked in the tavern, someone in the inn, someone in the stables, and so on. Their main tasks were to gather information…or to spread it, or both.

One of the things they disseminated was the fact that Voumi had been killing off the people from the Yutot Mercenary Team. This was something they had already planted a long time ago, but they needed it to be spread a bit more and with a bit more…embellishments.

This was because—according to them—Voumi had been eyeing the Iron Mountains for a while, which, considering Mafo’s greed, especially after losing their main industry, was completely valid.

Considering the previous deaths in the mercenary team from months prior, more people believed the rumors rather than being cynical about them.

They also spread that Voumi was planning to attack its master territory, Alterra, too.

Considering how Mafo had been trying to declare war for weeks now— many times he ranted and yelled in public while he was high—everyone pretty much knew the Lord wanted to attack Alterra by now.

They revealed this in order to make Alterra look less of a threat than it actually was.

They could not hide Alterra’s name anymore. It was impossible, but they could make sure to delay the troubles as much as they could.

At this point, as a Level 1 Town, they thought there were a few things they could still be afraid of. Soon, they’d be once again at the top of this tier, and those who try to harm them would only end up harming themselves!

The overall impression of the rumors was that Voumi was extremely unstable and was heading to war. This meant Valov would allegedly wait for the war to happen before making a move.

According to information (conveniently heard by Eian), Valov would likely they’d send an ally of the level of Voumi to attack them right after the war, making Voumi suddenly guarded and reluctant to attack Alterra again.

In Mafo’s increasingly paranoid mind, Valov was sure to get a subsidiary to attack them. It was a dangerous but likely move that everyone of his advisors agreed on.

Not only would they be weakened by then, but Valov could also regain ‘Guia’ village as an attachment!

They used different identities when spreading this out though, but it would only be a matter of time for spies of Voumi or their allies or people willing to sell information to pass this along.

An Alterran spy in Valov also managed to get an unsuspecting Valov guard to send a letter to a random Voumi guard he had never met before, believing him to be a spy of Valov.

You’re amazing, Gingo! That ugly bastard is such a fool to believe you and attack his own uncle!

The Leader is asking you to send the schedule of “that person”. We’ll need it within the week.

The Voumi hate had already long spread among the guards and mercenaries of Valov Town even before this.

The guard thought that he was suddenly a contributing member of the movements, because the Alterran, using the knowledge they got from Wazan, integrated so well that people didn’t even think they were not even local.

It so happened that, in Voumi, Eian had whispered to the Lord that he should start checking more Posts, especially coming from Valov. Who knew what they’d find?

One could only imagine how the relationship between Valov and Voumi could get worse from this point forward.