Chef Gustaeu and their caravan entered Angora City. Their mount, which would have been considered quite normal in the majority of the territories in the Queens region, now stuck out like a sore thumb in Angora City.
In fact, they barely ever saw horse drawn carriages anymore. Most of them were now these metal boxes that moved with tremendous speed and roared like a tiger.
It was as if they had just stepped foot onto a different planet. They seemed to be the only ones who were weirded out on these metal vehicles.
And it wasn't just the automobiles that surprised them. It was also the grand ongoing renovation occurring all over the city! Every house seemed to be under construction with some kind of improvement, and every road seemed to be replaced by these gray flat stone-like materials.
Angora City was undergoing a great change!
"This capital city has changed far too much," one of the chefs said. "There must be a conglomerate controlling this, right?"
"I do not think so. Or else we would have seen their symbols plastered on every wall and house in the streets!"
"Then it must have been made by none other than the Duke himself! His name was Stelmane, if I remember correctly."
This large of a construction project wouldn't be possible if it didn't have the Duke's permission. This made it even more likely that it was the Duke himself who started all this renovation in the City.
It made even more sense when they put it into the current political context that Angora City was under.
The looming threat of Flarecorp must have spurred this great change as a way to protect themselves in the future.
Of course, this guess was still hindered by the fact that a Duke couldn't possibly gather this much money to create this change all by himself. But when they looked out onto the streets and saw the automobiles running through the roads, it all made sense.
The Duke earned money through those automobiles! If he didn't make them, then he must have taxed them and used that money to start the renovation.
Of course, they were wrong. They were still under the assumption that the automobiles were just metal-like monsters that the Duke tamed.
But they didn't know that, and they weren't all that interested in finding out. After all, they were just visiting Angora City, not intending to stay here for a long time.
Under this wrong assumption, they intended to visit the Duke's Castle and give him some congratulatory words. Unfortunately, when they arrived, they were greeted by the news that the Duke was off somewhere in the Kings region.
"King's region? Isn't that a barren wasteland?" asked the chef.
"He must be there for some business."
"Oh well, then we should head back East and seek out the Bastard Bandits' hideout."
After they replenished their rations for the journey, the caravan of chefs were just about ready to journey out of Angora City.
However, their arrival seemed to have alerted a lot of companies and parties interested in seeking out a relationship with them.
Who wouldn't? The Pyramidic Cuisine was in the top 200 companies of the entire world. Any business would want to establish relations with them, even if it was just a brief contact.
"Chef Gustaeu, we have just received welcoming letters from all companies in Angora City."
"They offer us their greatest hospitality. Some just wish to give us greetings, while others want to propose a business venture with us."
But of course, Chef Gustaeu, or more importantly, the Pyramidic Cuisine, was far too important to entertain the ramblings of companies that hadn't even reached the Golden 500 yet.
"Oh, there's one here, Chef Gustaeu," said one of the chefs, handing the dark-skinned man a letter with a letter 'R' symbol stamped on the wax.
"The Reborn company…" Gustaeu muttered.
They have, of course, seen their symbols all over Angora City. It didn't take them long to find out that the Reborn company was number 450th in the Golden 500 ranking during its debut, which was quite an impressive feat.
And upon further investigation, the Reborn company was the one who owned the automobiles in the first place!
Not only that, but they were the ones who created the roads in the first place!
Such a revelation completely stunned the chefs.
"Oh my god! There's no way a company like this spawned out of nowhere. They must be a secret subcompany of a conglomerate!"
"No, the news would have spread by now. It says here in the newspaper that they were founded in the Kings region and worked their way up here in a matter of a few years!"
"How is this possible?! Who is this Reborn company?!"
The three chefs accompanying Chef Gustaeu were all part of restaurant businesses that were all ranked higher than Reborn: 446th, 431st, and 425th respectively.
However, even they felt like they were being overwhelmed by Reborn's feats! After hearing about their article in the newspapers, they were sure that Reborn's true ranking was far higher than they had right now.
"What do you think, Chef Gusteau? Shall we accept their offer and meet with them for a business venture?" asked one of the chefs.
The dark-skinned main subconsciously twirled his braids as he thought deeply.
"No," he replied eventually. "Reborn seems to be focused on innovation and technology. We have nothing in common. There is no reason for me to connect with them, for it will only distract me from increasing my skill in cuisine."
…
…
…
As Castelle worked in her office, she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said.
The man soon entered the room, making Castelle stand up in deference towards him.
"Master Bart! Good morning to you," she said.
The man was none other than Bart Vanderbilt, the man famous for his honor and duty. and also, as the father of the great Michael Vanderbilt.
"Please, I told you to just call me Bart. It's awkward since you're in a much higher ranking position than me."
After he relinquished the Vanderbilt business in the Queens region, Bart spent the rest of his days helping out Michael's business as an assistant to Castelle, tending to matters that she was not accustomed to.
For example, Bart had heard from the grapevine that a famous chef from the Pyramidic Cuisine had come to Angora City.
Once he heard that, he was overcome with extreme nostalgia.
After all, the Pyramidic Cuisine held a very special place in his heart all because of one date back in his youth.
It was where he met Lylia, and where he fell in love at first sight.
During those days, the two of them were completely in love, with no discernible way of separating the two of them.
However, things have changed recently. Both of them had become a lot more distant.
They were still talking and spending time with each other, but the spark that was once there seemed to have been snuffed out by time.
And so, the prospect of a chef from the Pyramidic Cuisine coming to Angora City excited him the most. He could possibly relit the fire that was once in their hearts!
But unfortunately, Castelle brought bad news.
"I have just received word that they rejected our proposal," she said, bowing earnestly towards Bart.