After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World novel Chapter 965

The case of Alterra, Belluga, and the other allied territories was, unfortunately, very rare.

Most villages were and would remain in chaos for a while. After all, the heat wave this time was particularly harsh and a lot more people than expected had perished.

This was in stark contrast to the towns and cities—which could take food from subsidiaries, had more special building types available to them, and had plenty of ways to feed themselves.

They were also filled with a stronger population with higher physiques and tolerances, so they were naturally much more stable.

Basically, only very poor people, especially those who lived in slums—outside of the system buildings with some insulation properties—perished during the heat wave.

They also received a lot of refugees, obtaining a lot more money and taxes. After the disasters, the best course of action for refugees was always to find a town if their strength could allow it.

This was especially true among those in the so-called Central Plains area. This was an area with flat lands and great resources. It was also of sufficient distance from rivers and various lakes.

It contained the largest collection of territories in the human territory. Here, Villages were dense and had an average distance of a day travel between each other. There were even towns with edges directly touching villages.

Among these territories, located at its northern edge, was Jacoba Town. This Town was known for its industry handling Isatis, which was the main raw material to get blue dyes and ink.

The original lord found the field and thought it was beautiful, including it in his territory.

The lord was intrigued with the plant and after years and years of research and spending on manpower, they discovered that the plant could create pretty blue dyes applicable to fabric and ink.

Before blue dyes were discovered, the common colors were only black, green, brown, red, or orange and their derivates. Blue was very rare—though couldn’t compare to the ongoing rarity of the violet and purple—and it naturally earned them a bit.

It was just that the labor and handling cost too much and therefore sold for a very high price that not a lot of people could afford it.

Things spiked upwards when, shortly after, people from Bleuelle came to their area. It was another territory at the edge, specifically the northeast edge, of the central plains. It was not just its ability to make a blue color pigment, but it apparently had an effect on the precious Blu, increasing its success rates!

As for its effect to the Special Blu ink, it dyed the excessively light pigment of the Blu with the ideal blue color which they found—after many years of experimentation—could absorb and retain the most aether.

They entered a deal with the territory and, from then, the growth of Jacoba Village grew until it was just below Town-level after another decade.

They managed to keep the partnership because they studied hard and found a technique to keep it growing and to create a better raw material for Bleuelle to purchase.

Nearby villages naturally heard about this and decided to get a share of the pie. While the plant itself wasn’t unique to Jacoba—the techniques of handling it were.

Jacoba hid the knowledge for a huge price—taking two-thirds of the profits without any more work—and it naturally irked many territories.

The stories from the older generation told them that it led to a very brutal war where several villages allied themselves against Jacoba, which was helpless against their forces.

The former lord and many of his family members perished, and a new lord came to be. Soonafter this, the others immediately went to attach themselves and became a subsidiary.

The new lord and his cronies continued their deals with Bleuelle and others, though they naturally had to give up some technology to the territories that helped them win the war.