It didn't take long before the rumors of the Reborn Truck Stop spread to Angora City. it became the premier destination for all people travelling down the Golden Road.
Those weary travellers tired of eating nothing but rock-hard bread and river water for weeks on end would suddenly find an oasis in between Angora City and the Grafted Cluster.
The 'Reborn Kitchen' was most especially crowded because of this, with many people craving for hot and fresh homemade meals after their long travels.
There was also the 'Reborn Inn', where they could sleep at for a very fair price. They no longer had to camp out in the wilderness where danger was plenty.
Michael was actually quite surprised that there were already a lot of people visiting the Truck Stop even though it had just finished construction. The other establishments like the convenience stores and other speciality shops weren't yet finished construction.
He attached his shadows to the Reborn Restaurant and listened in as an envoy of travellers talked amongst themselves.
"Ahhh, it's great to have such a safe haven in this place," one adventurer said as he drinked beer.
"True that, brother. The Reborn company truly is an innovator in this regard. No wonder they ranked #450," said another adventurer.
Meanwhile, the merchant they were escorting chimed in. "I even think that estimation is quite low. Do you know how much an automobile costs? It's tens of thousands of Gold Coins! And everyone's buying it now. In my opinion, they're probably even richer than the top 400."
"Speaking of which, I think I want to buy an automobile soon. It's too convenient, especially since it's faster than a carriage and can outrun those pesky fairies."
"I agree. I just hope they build a Golden Road on the Eastern side soon so that we won't have to deal with those problems again."
The shadow underneath their table perked up as Michael heard that word.
Fairy.
Unfortunately, the group of envoys strayed away from that topic soon after. They talked about a lot of mundane stuff, which Michael wasn't interested in.
Fairies, huh? ChatJK4, do you have any more information about them?
[Fairies]
— Difficulty: ★★★★★
— Element: Poison, Earth
— These demi-humans live in an entirely different dimension, which is intrinsically linked to nature and the Earth itself. They are often found where the Earth element is most abundant.
— The powder on their wings is said to give people and objects the ability to fly. However, they are also known for being pranksters, often playing tricks on humans and demi-humans alike.
Michael was quite intrigued to see these Fairies for himself, especially since one of the descriptors ChatJK4 gave them was that they lived in places with a lot of Earth mana.
Guess what was also present in places with a lot of Earth mana: ores and minerals!
From what I heard, these Fairies seem to be located in the Eastern region of Angora City. It's exactly where I'll branch out the Golden Road next.
This was good information to know before they started construction. After all, it seemed that these Fairies weren't too welcoming of humans, and often played pranks on them.
To find more about this strange phenomenon, he tasked the Shadow Orc Chieftains, Narito and Sasuki to do a little reconnaissance mission to find out the truth about what was happening East of Angora City.
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It only took about a day before Narito and Sasuki came back to Michael and reported to him about their findings.
"BU TO TO! Boss, we found out that recently, there have been a lot of reports about strange happenings in the roads East of Angora," Narito reported.
"RAH TA TA! There have been cases of people suddenly losing their things while they camp out in the wilderness. Sometimes, they magically come back and sometimes they don't. Some even find their coin pouches floating up and towards the sky, never to be seen again."
Their reports sounded like something a troublemaker would do. A prankster, one could even call them.
"Do you think it's caused by these Fairies?" he asked them.
"It is rumored so, boss. But none of them have ever been proven. The fairies never show up at the same place, making it hard to verify the truth."
Michael tapped his feet as he thought about it deeply. Something didn't make sense.
"Why haven't I heard about them before? It sounded like something that the people of Angora City would have experienced before."
After a long time at Angora City, never once did Michael hear anybody mention anything about the Fairies in the East.
This was weird because the two territories were directly connected by merchants and travelers alike.
"That's the thing, boss. These Fairies used to just be a fleeting rumor before. They would appear maybe about once a year to make some harmless pranks, but recently, they started to get active about once every day," Sasuki reported.
"When did this change happen?"
"About the same time that we built the Golden Road in the Grafted Cluster," Narito replied.
That is too much of a coincidence. Something must have affected the Fairies for them to act up after all this time.
"There's another thing, boss. Do you remember the Bastard Bandits?"
Michael nodded. They were the group of thieves that were positioned around the forests above Angora City. Sleazy was one of them, and according to Barcus, it seemed that the Bastard Bandits were under Flarecorp's payroll as well.
"Our shadow clones have been closely observing their every movement and their conversations. One thing we've found out lately was that they seem to be allied with another faction in the forest.
At first, we thought that their ally was only Flarecorp. But as it turned out, it's a completely different group.
They have a nickname for this group, sir. They call them Pixies."
Michael was very familiar with that term. He heard the name 'Pixies' associated with Fairies back in his previous world.
Was that a coincidence, Michael didn't think so.
After all, East of Angora City was located in a forest inhabited by the Bastard Bandits. That was also where the reports of the Fairies were being found.
"Could the Bastard Bandits and the Fairies be working together?" Michael muttered to himself.
And it seems that the Orc Chieftains thought so as well.
"Should we send out an elite Orc Taskforce to kidnap one of the bandits and force them to tell us the truth?" Narito asked.
Michael shook his head. "There's no need to go through all that trouble," he said to them. "We have our own group of bandits back home."
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Meanwhile, back in the Nation of Reborn, citizens and visitors alike were living an extremely well-off life.
Not only that, but the Nation of Reborn was one of the safest places in the entire world.
There were Centaurs patrolling every street and corner, making sure that everybody was safe. Each citizen also had a Shadow Orc clone attached to their feet that could summon support in a matter of a few seconds.
This was well known among the people. So, it would be common sense for people not to commit any crimes.
But surprisingly, people were committing crimes.
Not for money, no.
They just wanted to get caught and sent into the Reborn Prison, where they would be treated much better than even their own homes.