Michael spent the rest of the day with the locals of Orcus Town, seeing first-hand how horrible their living situation was.
Most of the time, the kids and the adults journeyed out into the dangerous forests to try and find some fruits and berries they could eat. However, they couldn't gather enough sustenance to live satisfied day to day. Most fruit-bearing trees were either smashed into the ground or fallen into the crevices on the ground.
The only water source they had came from the rain which only comes once in a while.
Michael talked with the middle-aged woman and found out her name was Beth. She was one of the only locals who stayed in Orcus Town despite its horrible state.
He asked her how things deteriorated so badly for the town.
"We already asked for help from the neighboring towns, but…they couldn't."
Due to the dangerous terrain of the forests full of crevices and chasms, no one was able to send any large rations to the town.
"We also asked help from the Order, but it would take them too long to get here. It came to a point where most people gave up and chose to move on to bigger and better things," she said with melancholy. "But not us."
"Why not? Wouldn't it be better to migrate to a much safer territory?" he asked her.
Beth looked around the ruins of the once great Orcus Town. Memories flashed in her eyes as she remembered a brief time when she was a kid when there were people and demi-humans of all kinds traveling in and out of their town, carrying all sorts of goods and trade.
"We can't move," she said. "Then, we would be abandoning what our ancestors built for us through the years.
You do not know this, but our town used to be the centerpiece for the Golden Road,"
Michael's ears perked as he heard something new. "Golden Road?" he asked her, expectantly curious. Just the name itself was triggering his intuition for business.
Beth nodded her head. "Yes, the Golden Road, aptly named because of all the gold coins being traded en masse every single day in the market. Do you see that road leading outwards, leading further into the Queens region?"
Michael looked to the ends of the town, where the road was wide enough for eight different horse carriages to pass through.
He could see the signs of a well-designed stone road that led deeper into the horizon. But it seemed to have fallen victim to the earthquakes and natural disasters that befell this town.
The Golden Road was nothing more than a chasm in the ground.
"There used to be thousands of carriages coming in and out of this town every single day, each one carrying products from all over the world, ready to distribute across the Queens region.
My grandmother used to sell spice. She had her store right there, just beside the building we use now for shelter. She told me that the Golden Road was what made our continent prosper, and brought up with it our Orcus Town."
Michael's imagination sparked as he tried to look through to the past of Orcus Town, when the Golden Road was at its peak.
Along with the sounds of horse hooves smacking on the stone road, he also 'heard' spice sellers shouting towards the potential customers walking through the streets, tempting them to taste the mounds of salt and peppers on the table.
He heard customers passionately plead for the price of apples to be lowered, arguing that the quality of the fruit was less than desired.
He could even see a couple of rascal kids pocketing a loaf of bread in their shirts while the vendor was occupied with a customer.
It was chaotic, but it was prosperous.
From how Beth described it, the Golden Road seemed to be this world's equivalent to the famous Silk Road back in his previous life. It was a vast network of routes where merchants and peddlers exchanged goods and products to be spread throughout the Queens region.
And if that was true, then Michael was sure that the Golden Road could not only spread products and items, but also culture and ideas.
If the Golden Road still existed, it could boost the Reborn company to even greater heights much faster and more efficiently than his original plan.
"This is our home," Beth declared. "And we will not leave it no matter the circumstances."
Michael's mind began to work as he tried to see the possibilities of the Golden Road, especially Orcus Town since it was the centerpiece of all trade and commerce in the Queens region.
"What if we recreate the Golden Road?" he asked Beth.
The middle-aged woman looked at Michael with an amused expression. "Sure, kiddo. If you want to do that, then you must grow up healthily," she said, chuckling.
Even though she didn't know where Michael came from, she treated him the same as any other kid in town who had lofty ambitions in the future. She didn't reject their dream, but she also didn't believe it would come true—at least, not in this town.
"I'm serious," Michael double-downed.
"I'm sorry, but you're not the first one that has said that to us," Beth said. "There were plenty of powerful royals or billionaire businessmen who offered to rebuild the town and revive the Golden Road. But eventually, they all gave up.
I'm sorry, but you're just a kid. There's nothing you or I can do to change the unfortunate circumstances of our town. That's just how it is."
Beth pursed her lips and tried to console Michael. But it seemed that the kid wasn't even discouraged one single bit.
There was a strange fire in Michael's eyes that somehow—just a little bit—made Beth believe that he could do what he wanted to do. There was a confidence in his eyes that was unlike that of a child.
"Where did you say you're from again?" she asked him.
But just as she said that, she suddenly heard excited shrieks come out of the kids as they looked on ahead of the gates.
"Woah! What's that?!"
"A box carriage?! Where's the horse?"