Sammy looked at them with a smile. "Sorry none of us were able to greet you earlier," he said, doing the standard casual salute of Xeno.
Naturally, even before Bart’s party left Iron Valley, Gill sent a letter to Alterra that their old friend Bart was coming and he was bringing another half-orc with him.
Everyone was so busy though so no one met them before now. So busy, in fact, that everyone thought someone else told Gochi of who was coming, which was one of the causes of the previous debacle.
Bart shook his own bad mood due to the news and greeted him with a smile. "So… this is your home?" He remembered when they were struggling to find a place just a few months ago. Now, they helped build such a thing. It was unbelievable.
"Yep. Nice, huh?" Sammy said with a proud smirk. "Sorry the others are unavailable; everyone’s preparing for what’s to come."
"Let us guide you, and let’s discuss some business along the way," he said. Bart nodded.
"Well, discuss this Extreme Heat I heard about by the way."
"Of course."
Bart asked the others to continue going around the territory with Louie and get as much information as they could. Meanwhile, he went with Sammy along with his right-hand man, Eloi.
Sammy brought them to the new pastry shop in one of the avenues. It was a nice two-storey shop with comfortable distance seating with half-partitions. There was a counter up front with a colorful menu pasted on a surface.
The design wasn’t too pink or anything though, or else Sammy would’ve felt weird taking two grown men taller than he was in there.
He ordered for them this time, choosing flavors for them before based on the Xeno fruit that they liked.
It was quite a popular shop and if it was after work hours or during break, there would be a queue outside.
Anyway, they settled into one of the more private corners of the shop as they waited for their orders. "So, ask away, as business partners, I will do my best to answer."
"How did you know it’s coming, and how are you so certain?"
"In our world, there are people who study the laws of nature and weather," Sammy explained. "We can’t 100% guarantee it will absolutely happen in the next few days, but the chances are too big to ignore."
"What are you planning to do? I mean, if you can tell us."
"We’re digging a lot of underground areas to keep water as well as to build abodes there," he kindly explained. "Heat is less underground, and this is further improved by our insulating materials."
Insulating materials? They then recalled the items from the specialty store. "I saw those in the store," Eloi said. However, they didn’t quite understand how it worked.
Again, Sammy explained, which was really nice of him. "They basically keep the heat in or out, so it’ll be useful whichever way the weather goes."
"We also added a lot of parks—because vegetation was also known to reduce temperature— and our buildings were customized to allow natural ventilation."
"That’s so interesting…" Eloi said and Bart nodded.
"It’s amazing what you guys did in a place like this," Bart said, just more impressed the more he saw and heard. "Not long ago, I remember this area being a no man’s land."
This made Sammy look at him. "What do you mean?"
"This area used to be a barren place a few years back. I suppose your people’s entry revitalized the place."
Sammy paused at this.
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