"Let’s go to the Town Center," Ryo said, shaking them out of their reverie. "The Elders are waiting there now.
"We should start the alliance process as soon as possible so you could return back to your territories quickly."
"A-Ah yes."
Do they have to leave so soon?
They weren’t able to hide their thoughts on their faces at all. They looked very awkward, and many Alterrans had to cover their mouths to stifle their laughter.
After a couple of days of traveling together, although there were a lot of suspicions and cynicism, there were also plenty of friendships formed along the way.
For example, Bento nudged one of his new friends. "I wanted to show you the arcade, but yeah, I guess you have to go back soon. Pity." He said, faking a tear.
"..."
Another wrapped his arm around his friend, too. "What a bummer, indeed. I was going to treat you to a premium restaurant that could really imitate top Terran cuisine. I guess we can do that next time.
"..."
Even the aborigines like Tambai were now completely Alterran. He looked at his kinda-friend Crunk, who had been asking a lot about the female population in Alterra, hoping to break his singlehood with them.
After all, after everything, there were far fewer Xenoan women in the world (and about a third of them hated men now), so single men were abundant.
"I was going to wingman you to one of our bars. It’s a great place to mingle for singles...but, I guess you can wait."
"!!!"
And so on.
The visitors’ faces were completely red, ashamed, embarrassed, and remorseful. At the same time, how could they not know they were being teased?
But... who needed pride anyway?
The atmosphere around the newcomers’ party shifted to one of shamelessness and thick skin.
Those who befriended an Alterran immediately grabbed them to soften them up.
Crunk, Lord Crispin’s nephew, led in shamelessness. "Okay, stop it," he said, letting out an awkward laugh as he seized his friend’s shoulder. "We apologize for doubting you."
This was followed by the others, blabbering flowery compliments here and there.
There were a handful of people who were more open-minded than others and interacted with the Alterrans. Of course, after the stickers were introduced, most of them were friendlier, but it was awkward due to the earlier harshness. Now...they could only feel jealous of the few who built friendships early on.
Ryo shook his head, though there was a light smile on his face. He looked at the Lords. "Only the Lord and one or two assistants need to come with us. The rest can start exploring."
Most of the visitors cheered, bright smiles on their faces, while the Lords looked at everyone else with envy.
Look at these bastards.
Not even a day ago, these people were protective of them, refusing to separate and leaving them alone for a few minutes.
Now... they looked antsy to explore on their own and leave them behind.
Fortunately, just before they ran away, they did remember that their Lords, ones they swore to protect, were right there, staring at them.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World