Chapter 2185: Return to Alterra

Virion saw how easily these people took all these in, and this was indicative that it was really not their first time encountering other rare races. One had to know that even cityfolk might not have seen as many varieties as Alterrans had.

The Alterrans eventually noticed him, a handsome redhead with exposed muscles and tattoos, and their eyes lit up.

They really liked unique creatures and unique people.

Sure enough, on the way back to Alterra, Virion had integrated so well with the group that one would wonder if he was an Alterran himself.

They arrived in Alterra a few days later, and the appearance of such a massive and distinctive group easily spread out.

In fact, since entering the area of influence of Alterra, they had already encountered several people, several of whom rushed back to tell the news.

This was why even before Althea and the others arrived at the gate, people already knew they were coming.

"Lady Althea, welcome back!"

"Sir Garan, we missed you!"

"You’ve become even more beautiful, Lady Althea! My day has been made!"

"Are those the new orcs? Are they new members?"

"Will it be impolite to ask if I can touch their tails...?"

"There are really new dwarves! That’s great! We really need more."

"Are they the elders Cotto had been talking about?"

"No? They look kinda different?"

"They look like gnomes hanging on fluff...hehe."

And so on.

"So this is Alterra, eh?" Virion said, looking around in interest. Along with him were two of his guards. One was a half-orc named Big, who looked like a big white bear. Another was a metal elementalist named Tarp.

They were from a City so they had seen a lot of things already, but they were definitely curious. For one, their feet moved on their own to the stalls and ended up buying a bit of everything.

Althea and Garan shook their heads but weren’t surprised. This was pretty much the standard reaction of newcomers here. Besides, the food really was presented well, not to mention they were really delicious.

They walked over to the three. "We’re separating here," Althea said. "We hope to go home soon, so we can’t really guide you. However, I already sent a letter to the guide team, and they would be able to help you out."

"Oh, thanks!" he then looked at Garan. "Hope we can spar again soon!"

Garan’s eyebrows rose, paused as if reluctant, but he nodded in the end.

Althea wanted to chuckle but chose to hold back. This tsundere...

...

Althea and Garan were greeted by several of their staff members. They probably wanted to make reports and stuff, but some things were confidential. In the end, they were just asked to come have tea at their home so they could talk there.

Goodness knows that they could not delay going home anymore, so they could only bring work home.

The two excitedly headed to their villa. As they opened the gate, they immediately heard the sounds of little footsteps as if the owners had been waiting for them by the door.

Da da da da

"MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! DADADDDDDAAAAA!!!"

"Yew back! Misyouu!"

"Meabow can go zoom zoom! Zoom!"

"Dun weev Pepa anymow! Pepa wanna go adventoo!"

Meatball nodded, raising his chubby arms to emphasize his point. "Avenchu! Avenchu!"

The couple’s eyes were soft, and their hearts coated with their children’s sweetness. They immediately kneeled down to capture the little soft buns and raised them up for a hug.

Finally home!

And, considering that they still had a lot of data to collect about the North, they would be staying for a while!

...

The commotion of the newcomers would sizzle in Alterra for a while and would definitely be a topic for discussions by locals and visitors alike.

"This place will never cease to surprise me."

"Well, there’s always something to look forward to, indeed."

It so happened that Bolbo, who was out with Urkin, was still there and finalizing a few more deals. Speaking of Urkin, although he had just arrived here during the Cold Wave, he had already made quite a niche for himself.

Using his family’s remaining assets as capital, he and some relatives slowly built a factory. They were newcomers, and their contribution points weren’t high, but fortunately, some rich Alterrans had land in the industrial zone to lease, so they did not hesitate to lease it for 10 years.

It shaved off a good fraction of their savings, and it was a very risky venture, but Urkin was a merchant at heart. No true merchant who’d want to ’make it’ in a new place would avoid taking any risks.

Urkin was also very sociable and had become friends with many shop owners and even the factory managers, so he was far more updated with current events than many aborigines who came before him.

Bolbo was very lucky to be his friend. He had even helped him a long time ago, so the latter was more than happy to do him a few favors.

So far, Bolbo had managed to secure a few rights to sell for Bleulle and his hometown of Ester Town, which was not too far from Jacoba.

Although Ester Town did have some tensions with Alterra, especially since it was a subsidiary of Bleulle, it was generally an independent territory, so whatever tensions they had against other territories, Alterra didn’t care as long as the deals were fair.

Not to mention, even if Ester attacked Jacoba, the town’s princess, Cassandra, did not seem to care much (not to mention they provided the trigger for that war), so his being part of Ester Town was not a demerit to him.

As for the business in Bleulle, he actually partnered up with the brother-sister pair Lizbeth and Lozer. The two were nobles there, but they did not have much capital. He managed to squeeze in there, gaining extra connections with the master city.

He heard they got close to Estra lately and the rumor was that they even became spies for the former Trion.

As for the Trion family, they seem to be making moves as well. It was unknown whether they would expend effort to regain this runaway daughter of theirs. They recently just found out about the fact that she was here at all.

Anyway, there was a lot of (not-so-good) fate between Alterra and Bleulle and it was quite interesting to watch.