After finishing the conversation with the Duke, Michael and Yuna returned to the Reborn headquarters. He convened with the Dragonborns and everyone else inside his room, who had lots of things to tell him.
There, he learned everything that happened with their fights, including all the damage that they inflicted upon the buildings of Angora City.
"Hoho, tonight was quite eventful." Grieve laughed. "I don't remember the last time I had this much fun. Oh wait, I don't remember anything hohoho!"
"Huu…" Umisu cried, regretting her excessive actions that resulted in the destruction of the public library. "Those poor books!"
"What? You got to destroy a library?! Awww, I shouldn't have overslept!" Zion said, stomping his feet.
"I'm going to bed. Sheina, you're going to take care of all the reconstructions, right?"
Jaku sluggishly dragged his feet back to his bedroom. Even though Sheina tried to drag him back, he seemed to be too fast for someone that was sleepy.
"Ha! You scaled meanies are still inferior to my Shadow Orcs!" Fudge bragged, jumping from one Dragonborn's head to the other. "They didn't even need to destroy public property to defeat them! And you still call yourselves the best fighters. Ha!"
Zion chased Fudge, with their ruckus creating chaos and noise all over the dorm rooms.
"You guys are going to sleep now, right?" Sheina asked with a smile, yet her eyes glinted with a strange red light. This seemed to have done the trick and subdued the two trouble makers.
"Lord Michael. Shall I send Rebornians to fix all the destruction in the City?"
"Please do," he replied. "Make sure to give them a few gifts as compensation too. A few hundred gold should suffice."
It was important for him to have the citizens look at the Reborn company in a positive light so that they would keep on buying from them.
"Very well," Sheina replied. "I shall work on it tonight."
The white-scaled Dragonborn left the room with a pep in her step. Even if he insisted that she worked on it tomorrow, she would still do it regardless of what he said.
…
…
…
The next day, everyone in Angora City was awoken by the sounds of incessant shouting in the streets.
"Extra, Extra! Get your newspapers here for only ten bronze coins!" a teenage boy screamed, using a rolled up newspaper to project his voice louder.
"Shut up!" one of the citizens above the balcony shouted back. "I don't want to read the news today!"
"You'll want to read it, sir. I assure you," the boy shouted back.
Eventually, the man walked down to the street and purchased a newspaper for himself.
And immediately, the headline shocked him to the core and got rid of any sleepiness left behind in his body.
He began reading the article fervently. He didn't even mind that he was in his boxers while he was out in the streets; he just had to read the news!
Practically everyone who held a newspaper in their hands, either they be workers riding in a carriage, barbers cutting hair, or just mothers cradling babies, they all had their eyes stuck in the words plastered in the newspaper.
{Reborn Company: Sponsor of Angora City}
It was in this article that everyone learned about the agreement struck between Michael and the Duke just hours before midnight.
Many would have protested this fact, but the next page of the newspaper detailed the fact that the Reborn company achieved the 450th ranking on its debut in the Golden 500!
This prompted people to fill the streets of the Reborn company. They wanted to see the 450th ranked company in the entire world for themselves.
"Coachman, please drop me off at the Reborn department store," a young man said excitedly to the carriage driver.
However, the coachman refused. "I can't. The whole street is blocked off!"
The entire avenue was jam packed by people clamoring to enter their headquarters. The stories told in the newspaper article about free-flowing water, air conditioners, and railways piqued the curiosity of everyone. They wanted to know if it was real.
The Rebornians had to keep the people at bay or else things could turn into a stampede.
"I'm sorry, Lord Michael. We weren't expecting this much of a reaction," Sheina said, looking down the window.
"It's fine. Just give the people what they want. We have new products coming from the Nation of Reborn, right? It's time we open the upper floors to the public."
The reason Michael called it a department store in the first place was because he had already planned it to be filled with a variety of products ranging from vegetable products to hammers and nails. The only reason why he hadn't done that in the first place was because they still didn't have any permission to continue to the Golden Road, so the replenishment of products would have been hard.
But now that they had an agreement with the City, the construction of the Golden Road could continue on its way. He could finally bring the products back in the Kings region to Angora City and vice versa.
"Very well, Lord Michael. I'll have our people prepare the second to fifth floor of the department store," Sheina said.
As the Rebornians were busy accommodating the massive influx of people coming into the store, Michael took this time and descended into the shadows, teleporting out of their headquarters.
A second later, he arrived in a very different part of the city.
In front of him was a building in a dwarven forge-inspired architecture with a massive title on the front that said {HammerStone company}
Even though it was already late in the day, Michael saw no people entering or leaving the doors. In fact, it seemed that it was barred shut through metal chains.
He learned yesterday that he was now the proud owner of the HammerStone branch and all its assets, meaning he now owned the building in front of him.
After sending out his shadow into the gaps under the door, Michael was able to teleport inside where he was met with the surprised faces of the previous HammerStone employees.
"I'm sorry, sir. But our company is closed—"
Butch, the leader of HammerStone's adventuring party recognized Michael.
"Sir Michael. You must be here to seize all of our assets," he said solemnly. "We were just about to pack up our things and go."
All around him were employees who had depressed looks on their faces as they packed up things on crates.
"What are you all doing?" Michael asked them.
"Well, since you own the branch now, it means we have nowhere else to go. We're leaving town," Butch answered for everyone else.
Michael looked around and saw about hundreds of people all around the building. There were probably a thousand more employees who now found themselves unemployed and without work.
"Why don't you just work for me?" Michael asked them.
Butch and everyone else stopped what they were doing. They seemed surprised that Michael even offered them this option.
"But…we tried to ambush you," Butch said.
"That was the Stone-Cold guys. As for as I'm concerned, they have been punished. Meanwhile, you and everyone else here are still talented people. I don't see why I should get rid of you."