Michael, Grieve, and Fudge returned to Neo Orcus, where they were immediately welcomed by the Dragonborns who had been waiting for quite a while.
After Michael sent a signal to their shadows that he was safe, they all returned to Neo Orcus without waiting for him.
"Lord Michael! Thank you, you were alright," Sheina said.
"Bro Mike! Where did you go? Did you have an adventure without us?"
".....glad you were safe…"
"Couldn't relax while you were out there by yourself."
Michael assured them all that he was okay. If there was any sort of danger in his life, he would have teleported back to Neo Orcus without even thinking about it. Sure, he was fighting with a 9-star undead skeleton, which was certainly the most dangerous fight in his entire life, but he didn't think it was that dangerous.
"Oh, let me introduce to you guys our newest recruit. Grieve!"
It was only now that the Dragonborns noticed the unassuming walking skeleton behind Michael.
The Dragonborns noticed Grieve's bluish-green eyes of light. It was faint, but they could sense an ocean-deep power hidden inside him that even they could not comprehend.
They would have been suspicious of the skeleton if not for the intangible connection they had with him.
It was almost as if they were all connected by a string, symbolizing every Rebornian's connection to Michael as he was the one who awakened their talents in the first place.
This was enough for the Dragonborns to realize that Grieve was their comrade, their family.
"Hehehe! See for yourself, mean scalies, I have my own junior now!" bragged Fudge to the Dragonborns.
Zion immediately pouted and expressed his jealousy. Of course, Fudge didn't waste the opportunity to rub it in the young Dragonborn's face. The Dragonborns had to restrain Zion as he began charging at Fudge, who was making mean faces at him.
Meanwhile, Michael approached Grieve.
"So, what do you think of the outside world?"
The general from the ancient world looked around and saw the unique architecture of Neo Orcus. His eyes were filled with wonder and amazement.
"You are a King, then. You own this land," Grieve said. "If so, then it is fate that I serve another King in my second life…wait, how do I know that? Hm…"
Grieve scratched his skull in search of an answer, but unfortunately, he could not.
Michael didn't even respond to Grieve and let him wander around the town with Fudge and Zion leading the way. Michael knew that those two were a terrible influence on Grieve, but he was already too late to stop them.
Meanwhile, he looked at his own shadow and summoned the two Shadow Orcs.
"Narito, Sasuki, are you there?"
The former Orcanine and Orcupine Chieftains ascended from the shadows, kneeling towards Michael in deference.
"At your service, boss."
"Do you know what happened to the tomb after we left?"
Narito began slapping his thighs and his chest in a rhythm as he began to recount the reports of other Orcs in the vicinity.
"The whole tomb collapsed after you left, boss. Thankfully, everyone was able to retreat before the whole thing sunk back into the ground. It became quite a topic for the adventurers, with some thinking that you were left buried under the tomb or some thinking that you had already left with the treasures in tow."
"A lot of people are asking about you, boss." Sasuki added. "Everyone is starting to wonder about the Reborn company after this whole tomb campaign. After all, everyone thought that it was either going to be the Knights or the HammerStone group that would be able to reach the treasure room. But, in a twist of events, you were the only one able to reach the tomb itself."
"We have heard quite a lot of chatter about the Dragonborns as well," added Narito. "They are all quite taken by the Mithril Artifacts they all wielded to fight against the Apex Jaguar. This led to a lot of people swarming the Reborn Armory to ask about the Dragonborns in detail."
The appearance of Mithril Artifacts had caused quite a scene, just as Michael expected.
"What did Mary do?" he asked them.
"She directed them to Neo Orcus, boss."
Michael nodded in satisfaction. Surely by now, the adventurers would have noticed the newly constructed Golden Road and followed its path to Neo Orcus.
This was part of the reason why he allowed the Dragonborns to show their strength in the tomb campaign in the first place. He wanted to make a strong first impression, allowing the Reborn name to stick to their mind.
And once their curiosity peaked, they would then follow the Golden Road and reach Neo Orcus in search for answers.
What was the Reborn company? Who were the Dragonborns? Who was that golden haired-boy who reached the tomb by himself?
And once they reached Neo Orcus, they would be so surprised by everything the town had to offer that they would completely forget why they were there in the first place.
Then, they would eventually find out about the Kings region which would lead them straight to the Nation of Reborn!
This was Michael's plan to get more visitors to the Parched Lands. This was the very goal of the Golden Road to begin with. It was a cookie crumb path that everyone would slowly follow until they reached the end, the Nation of Reborn, where all their dreams would come true.
And sure enough, a couple of days later, the first batch of adventurers arrived in Neo Orcus.
They were the ones who witnessed the Dragonborns defeat a 6-star undead creature by themselves. And technically, they would be the first tourists of the Golden Road itself.
Of course, the town welcomed their arrival with happy smiles and chocolate bars in hand.
…
…
…
Meanwhile, conversations were happening in Angora City.
It wasn't long before the results of the tomb expedition were brought back to the capital city. At first, the news was limited to the companies who joined the tomb campaign like the HammerStone company and others. But as time passed, the news spread like wild fire.
Many couldn't believe that a no-name company would be able to pull off such a feat. Most of the top adventuring companies in Angora City had never even heard of the Reborn company at all.
Of course, there were some who recognized their name through the chocolates being sold on the market. But, that only increased confusion within everyone.
A snack company owning an armory? Those were two completely different things.
Not only that, but there were also rumors that the adventuring party of the Reborn company were in possession of Mithril relics! That idea was absurd for most people, especially for smithing companies within Angora City. They knew exactly how rare it was, and how nobody could buy it so easily even if they had all the money in the world.
Even Butch, leader of the HammerStone adventurers, had to convince his company that what he saw was real.
Of course, even Sir Jon was met with a lot of doubtful glares from other Knights in the Court.
Everyone began to speculate about the Reborn company.
But none of them knew that their own shadows were twitching and morphing unnaturally under their feet.