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

Chapter 2137: Rocky Tribe

Althea asked this as they headed to a safe haven, which was likely where their tribe was located. Everyone went on foot, especially since the two orcs were injured, and they consciously walked a bit farther from the forest.

Althea used some of her remaining beast repelling potions this time. She didn’t have much anymore, and it was a bit cumbersome to make new batches, which was why she hadn’t used it much until now.

When the two orcs found out about the potion’s effects, they looked so shocked as if they just saw the sky turn purple. "Colored water can do that?" the deer asked.

"Maybe it’s because it sprays," the goat helpfully added.

The two nodded at their hypothesis, and Althea just smiled at them. "Now, can you tell me about this place?"

"No problem. Oh, and thank you, benefactor!" the cute female goat said, referring to her saving them before (they belatedly realized it was her) and also thanked her for the magic potion. She was limping, obviously injured by the fight before.

The deer, a meek buck, nodded, also saying his thanks. "Thank you, Miss..."

Like the other orcs, the way of speaking was a little fragmented and unnatural. However, it was understandable, and Althea just automatically arranged the sentences in her head so she didn’t get a headache.

The deer was named Gus, and the goat was named Baa. They were actually siblings. Among orcs, siblings were extremely rare. After all, their fertility was very low. It was already a blessing for one couple to give birth to one.

Ironically, the orcs only gave birth to single births. It was half-orcs who had the chance for multiple births, though so many surviving at a time was rare, which showed how sturdy Nana (or her husband)’s genes were.

To be honest, it was a bit counterintuitive to Althea, simply because of the bias created by Terran popular culture on how they think animal-humans were like.

Regardless, whenever she talked to them, her voice softened unconsciously. She was a bit of an animal lover. Further, because she knew of a deer and a goat orc before, she also felt a bit friendly with these two.

Different ’animal types’ of orc were still one race; their appearance variations were just like hair color in humans, so being the ’same kind’ might mean that there was a blood relation somewhere, albeit the connection could’ve been several generations prior.

So...the deer might’ve been a cousin from the ancestor side of Quo Town’s Nuki, and the goat here might be related to Ohara.

"This is the Hollow Forest," Baa explained when Althea said she had never been here before. He just assumed she was from a tribe someplace else.

Since Orcs had different appearances—many of which were so wildly different that one would wonder how they were the same species—Althea’s oddity really didn’t feel out of place at all.

"I have never seen such a hostile plant," Althea told them. "It actually eats people and monsters!"

"Hm? You mean a Wild root? Oh, yes, the Hollow Forest is their home."

At this, they remembered the events earlier and shivered. The two unconsciously took another step away from the forest’s delineation. "Am scared more Wild root will come."

At this, they rushed along the perimeter of the hollow forest, never going past 10 meters. They were very mindful of the borders, as if something could attack at any time. The beast repelling potion could shoo away most, but not all.

Further, it only worked on beasts, not on trees.

One had to remember this place had strong winds. If they went too far away from the forest, the beast repelling potion’s efficiency would actually decrease, leaving them with a dilemma. In the end, the potion gave them time to rest a bit, but it wasn’t something that could truly protect them while they were so exposed.

As such, they had their claws out the whole time, and it lasted half an hour while they were sprinting, so it looked especially tiring.

Later, she found out that they normally wouldn’t be this guarded.

"They never attacked us outside before..." The goat said. "They usually don’t when we’re beyond the forest, but...it’s weird today."

Althea realized she might’ve had something to do with it. These orcs seemed to know this area, and their home was probably near the perimeter of the forest, too.

If they said things like ’this had never happened before,’ then they probably really hadn’t seen it before. In such a case, she was the only variable that changed.

She wasn’t narcissistic; it was just the logical way to think of it. As such, Althea had used [Woodland Camouflage] whenever she could. Luckily, they hadn’t encountered another pseudo-sentient plant even when the skill was down. Maybe such plants weren’t that common. Hopefully so. They were extremely troublesome.

The study of Hollow Forest had to be put aside for a bit since she was led all the way to a rocky hill right at the periphery of the Hollow Forest.

She decided to learn as much as possible about these plants before attempting to enter the forest again.

She allowed herself to get carried because she wanted to know more about the place before heading too deep. Information asymmetry was absolutely deadly, especially since she didn’t have many people with her right now.

Not to mention, those plants were obviously trying to ’get’ her. They were even uncharacteristically going past their usual delineation, past the Hollow Forest, to grab her. It would be suicide to enter without a plan or the necessary strength to just barrel through without care.

The siblings’ tribe was called the Rocky Tribe. She quickly found out why it was named as such.

They were based on a massive rock formation actually within the Hollow Forest. It was near the periphery, but definitely within its delineation. It was a mass of hard rock that had probably been pushed up by ancient seismic activity.

It was likely formed along with a mountain range, though this part was like an extra incidental bit. Of course, the scale of ’bit’ was not small and could fit a typical village in terms of size.

This place was about a hundred kilometers away from the Feyun tribe. Not close, but not that far either, because it was less than a day of travel. Unlike the Feyun Tribe, which hunted near the walls, this tribe was protected from mobs because of its location. The mobs, even if they came, were likely eaten by the wild roots nearby instead.

On the other hand, it was pure hard rock, so the plants—sentient or not—did not take root.

It was a very good and sustainable piece of territory, so she wasn’t surprised when the houses looked a bit more permanent. Even without true agricultural practices, this tribe had graduated to nomadic status and achieved sedentary status.

Their population was understandably quite a bit bigger than Feyun, but every orc family seemed to have a space for themselves.

The orcs’ entrance was through a cave at the periphery, so they did not have to enter the forest to head inside. It was a natural tunnel that led to the rest of the tribe, so the orcs had made minimal modifications to the place.

There were a lot of caverns on the surface of this rocky valley. Some seemed natural, while others were dug up. All of them were opening up to the open air of the rocky valley, and orcs from either side could see their neighbors across, much like how neighbors from different buildings facing each other would do.

The largest communal area was at the valley bottom, which had been slightly flattened out through time.

There were dozens of orcs there doing their own thing, most related to meat. Whether it was preparation of meat, drying meat, cooking meat, slicing meat, butchering, and so on.

The universal industry for orcs seemed to be meat and meat preparation, which was natural since it was so integral to their life and survival, and not just as food.

Judging by the firewood next to the campfire, their fire was made manually, so they had the technology. There were also storehouses where some communal things like firewood were placed. Next thing would probably be tools, but they could use their own claws for most things right now.

As soon as they entered, several acquaintances on the valley floor turned their heads. "GUS! BAA!"

"You really went out? Just the two of you?"

"Wow, you’re lucky to be alive!"

"You’re so BRAVE!"

"Wow! You still have BOTH horns!"

"Did you bring more meat?"

"Wow! Who is this? She’s so small!"

While they were chatting like this, a white figure appeared. It dashed over and—

BANG!

Gus and Baa were headbutted, causing them to fly against the nearest wall.

"YOU LITTLE BRATS! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" The older goat bellowed. She looked absolutely livid, looking like she was about to kill the two.

The other orcs were standing by, and Althea was about to help out when she heard the two’s cries.

"Baaa!! MOTHER!!"