Usually, a company hand-off like this would be a complete makeover. It was more logical for Michael to strip the HammerStone company for scraps and simply build his own establishment instead.
As for the previous employees, usually they would be cast out simply because they weren't needed anymore. After all, their skill sets may be completely different from what the new company may need. There were cases when a few employees would be retained because of their talent, but about 90% of the employees would be fired.
However, Michael seemed to think differently.
"I will hire every single one of you to work for my Reborn company," he said, with his voice booming and echoing to every corner of the HammerStone building.
Butch looked at his comrades, his coworkers…his family.
They seemed touched with Michael's offer, with tears welling up in their eyes. They thought they would have to leave Angora City itself to find another job!
"We'll do anything!" one of the employees wearing smithing attire said. "We'll work the minimum wage if we have to. Please just let us work in Angora City!"
The rest of them begged too, offering themselves at low wages just for a chance that Michael would stay true to his word.
But for Michael, that wasn't enough.
"No," he said to them. "If you are going to be part of the Reborn company, then that means that your quality of life will be up to our standards as well."
Michael began listing off all the benefits of becoming a Rebornian, including incredible salaries, fair time management, and other such amenities that the Nation of Reborn could offer.
Everyone's eyes widened as they heard Michael's offer to them. It was really good. Too good, in fact, that it made them think that it was too good to be true.
But Michael was serious. As soon as they accepted his offer to become a Rebornian, they would sign an iron-clad contract that would give them all the benefits that Michael promised them.
"What do you think?" Michael asked them. "Do you want to become a Rebornian?"
…
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…
In a small house in the outskirts of Angora City, a mother and daughter looked through their dingy and almost-broken cabinets to pack up their clothes.
"Mommy, where are we going?" the daughter asked, looking out her window sadly.
"We're going to another town, sweetie," answered the mother, who looked through all the tattered clothes and dirtied shirts they had.
"But why?" the daughter asked again.
The mother sighed and walked over to her daughter. She caressed the little girl's cheeks and smiled. "It's because daddy is going to find another job in a smaller place."
"But what about his previous job?" the daughter asked. "Didn't he say that he was close to getting a promotion?"
The mother tried to keep the smile on her face, but her facade got slowly broken down as she realized the sad reality they were living in.
"Something happened, sweetie. The company that your father works for is going to close," the mother answered truthfully.
The daughter pouted. "He said that he will buy me a chocolate bar once he gets that promotion! Is he going to break his promise?"
The mother cuddled her daughter tightly. She couldn't bear to disappoint her daughter, but unfortunately, there were just some things that they could not control.
Her husband worked for the HammerStone company as one of the thousands of blacksmiths in their arsenal.
Although the pay was low, they made it work. They may live in the slums, but at least they were in Angora City, where they could someday enroll their daughter in the Magic Tower or one of the good schools here.
Unfortunately, she awakened this morning to the news that the HammerStone company was shutting down.
She knew what this meant for her husband and her family. Without the money to pay for their daily expenses, they would have to move away and settle for a smaller place.
The only problem was that they didn't even have enough money to buy transportation. If they had to move, they would have to walk the entire way there, which would probably take months!
Her headache worsened as she thought about the hardships her daughter was about to face.
She couldn't bear to let her go through it.
Just then, the door to their house burst wide open, with her husband coming in with a huge smile on his face.
"Honey, what are you doing?" she said worriedly. "You almost broke our door. How are we going to pay for that?"
The man wearing overalls stained with grease rushed over to his wife and picked her up by her waist.
"WAH!" she screamed out. "What's gotten into you?"
The man gave her a big peck in the lips before putting her down and then going over to his daughter, hugging her tightly.
"Daddy, daddy, hehe why do you look so happy?" she asked, giggling.
"It's because I just got hired!" the man screamed, elation painted all over his face.
"Really?! That's great, honey!"
"And it's not just that," the man said, getting something from his backside pocket.
"I have this for you, my dear!"
He gave a rectangular bar with a violet and gold wrapper. In the middle it said; 'Reborn Chocolates.'
"Chocolates?! You got me chocolates daddy?!"
The daughter immediately began unwrapping the cover.
"Honey, that chocolate is quite expensive. Are you sure we can afford that?" his wife asked.
"We can now. I can buy my daughter a hundred chocolate bars if she wants to! We can even move out of the slums and live in a place that isn't constantly flooding and leaking whenever there's rain!"
The man began explaining to his wife about the job he got offered from the Reborn company.
It was at least 5 times the normal pay, and he didn't even have to work for four straight days and nights per week to do it.
"And you know what the best part of it all?" the man asked. "The owner of Reborn is offering to awaken anyone that wants to awaken, even our families!"
He grabbed his wife's shoulders. "Did you hear this, honey? Our daughter has a chance to become a mage!"
Overwhelmed with all of this, his wife collapsed onto the floor with tears streaming down her face. Even he was caught up in her emotions and cried happy tears with her on the floor of their one-bedroom house.
Their daughter happily munched on the chocolate bars, with bliss and happiness filling their household.
…
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…
They were not the only family who felt the generosity of the Reborn company today. Everyone who thought they lost their jobs ended up getting even better ones than before.
Michael gave them meaningful work, which seemed to be perfectly in line with their own strengths and talents that they didn't even know they had.
It only took about three days before the previous HammerStone company was completely integrated into the Reborn company.
Even the assets, mainly the HammerStone building located on the best part of the city, was starting its renovation to become a second department store for the Reborn company.
It became a very busy few days for Michael and the Rebornians, with the winter time coming in fast.
About a week later, Michael finally became 12 years old!