The after-fight party was small, consisting only of the Knights and Michael and his group. The Squires immediately surrounded Zion, asking him if he could teach them some of his moves. Those who chose to become a part of the Way of the Gauntlets were the ones who asked with a little bit more fervor in their voice.
"Teach us please! The way you punch is so fast and quick! I've never even seen someone duck and dodge like you!"
"And those gauntlets! Can you show us? Is it really made out of Mithril Artifacts?!"
Zion 'graciously' accepted all the compliments with a humble tone, saying that what he did was nothing special and all that. But of course, the smirk on his face said that he was enjoying the attention everyone was giving him.
He began punching the air and shuffling his feet, performing his shadow box training session for the Knights.
Michael noticed that the Squires and Knights from the Way of the Gauntlets were similar to the boxers of the olden days in his previous life. Their postures were completely rigid, with their hands just awkwardly positioned in the front.
It seemed that the boxing techniques in this world were not yet that advanced, seeing as they were completely bewildered by a simple feet shuffle.
"Michael…"
While the other Knights were having fun with Grieve, Fudge, and Zion, he was approached by Sir Jon who was walking on clutches on both sides.
"Are you recovering well?" he asked Sir Jon, and the Knight replied with a nod.
"My body can walk tomorrow… but my mind needs more time to recover. My Axe is my lifeline. The fact that it broke means that I should have died in that arena."
Michael consoled him. "You didn't know," he said. "I heard that Five was someone from a conglomerate called the Hepheasteus company."
"Ah. I see. Then it is no wonder that my weapon was not up to standard. It also explains why he is not yet recovered by his team."
"What do you mean?"
Sir Jon explained that after the fight, the Knights nursed Five back to health.
Usually, he should have been recovered by the HammerStone company by now to be treated at their building. But, no one had claimed him yet.
This meant that Five was most probably abandoned by his company.
"Those conglomerates are quite strict. A single failure can be enough for you to be fired and cast aside. It seems that whatever Five was trying to do in the arena, he was unable to fulfill it, leading to his dismissal."
Michael found it to be a coldblooded act. But, that's just the way things go. Even in his previous world, a single mistake could cost anyone their job.
And seeing as Five was strong enough to defeat a 5-star Knight like Sir Jon, he would have no trouble finding another employment in another company.
"By the way, what was that pill that he consumed?"
"It was most probably a cultivation pill. Usually, those are only consumed during meditation in order to increase the amount of mana intake into the body. But, he used it while in an active state, which led to all sorts of side-effects on his body."
Sir Jon then looked at Michael awkwardly, as if he was having trouble if he wanted to say something or not.
"This…leads me to a favor I need to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"Our whole Knightly Court wishes to procure chocolates and armor directly from your company."
Michael's eyebrows raised, intrigued at the proposition.
"We saw how inadequate our equipment is, and we are in dire need of an upgrade. Your weapons and armors have proven to be of the best quality we have seen in recent years."
Of course, Michael said yes. Becoming the weapon and armor supplier of the Angora City Knightly Court was a big opportunity that should not be let go.
"Although, I do have to remind you that chocolates have no real effects, right? We Rebornians just have a special skill that allows us to take advantage of its properties."
Sir Jon still insisted on having chocolates become a part of the deal. "Even if the effects are not as substantial as young Zion over there, we still feel a little bit of improvement upon eating chocolates.
And even if it is just a figment of our imagination, we have become addicted to its sweet taste."
Even now, the Knights were eating chocolate while drinking beer at the tables.
Michael eventually acquiesced and struck a deal with Sir Jon and the rest of the Knights.
And before they shook hands, Sir Jon had one last request.
"Oh, and can we also get more beer?"
…
…
…
After the celebrations in the Court, Michael and the others returned to their headquarters in the City.
They returned to Welcome's Inn, which was now completely covered in a large cloth enclosure that obscured the whole building from the outside.
The sounds of muffled hammering echoed on the outside, revealing that there was construction going on under the blanket.
This was all part of Michael's plan to renovate the whole building and turn it into Reborn's Angora City Headquarters.
Upon passing through the cloth clover, Michael saw that the whole building was destroyed from the inside, and the wooden structures were replaced with concrete pillars for more stability.
The new and old Rebornians made their homes in make-shift concrete rooms on the bottom floor.
Michael saw that the Red Mankeys from the arena earlier had successfully reunited with their relatives here.
They thanked Michael immensely for his help and asked if there was anything they could do to make it up to him.
Since their talent laid in fighting rather than constructing, there wasn't any job they could do right now.
So, he suggested they follow Grieve for now.
The undead General skeleton quickly took control of the Red Mankeys and began making them do all sorts of physical construction jobs to toughen up their bodies.
"Welcome home, Lord Michael."
Sheina greeted Michael and reported to him everything that happened while he was away. Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary.
"Did you have a productive day?" Yuna asked.
He told her the deal he struck with Sir Jon and the Knights, which gained him approval from the diplomat.
"Now, you just need to meet with the Magic Tower and gain their approval. Those two factions will be enough to persuade the Duke to let your Golden Road pass through Angora City."
"I'm planning on doing it tomorrow," he said to her.
In the meanwhile, since he wasn't going to do anything tonight, Michael ended up helping the Rebornian Engineers with the construction of the Headquarters.
And with his mastery over mana, the progress skyrocketed, allowing them to completely finish construction in a matter of hours!
By the time the sun rose in the sky, the new building was ready to be unveiled to the general public of Angora City.
…
…
…
Reborn became the talk of the City because of yesterday's fight in the arena. Word was spread quite fast, which prompted a lot of people to search for the Reborn company all over.
That was until they were led by some soldiers into a grand building in the middle of the street.
{Reborn Company}
"Huh? Where did this stone building come from?!"