Chapter 431: Start of the Permit Test
The very next day, the start of the Upperwood District Festival finally commenced. It was a weekend, so a lot of people had come out of their homes to celebrate this very joyous occasion. Even people not from the District came in droves, basically filling the streets with carriages and horses.
This was because the festival brought on lots of competition within the companies in the district, allowing for lots of discounts, special limited time items, and especially cool events that everyone can participate in.
The Quench company, for example, had a 20% discount on all of their kitchen utensils for the entire duration of the festival. This was something people had been waiting for all year round, so there were lots of people already lined up in their stores even before the sun had come up.
But this festival wasn’t just for the companies, it was also for the people. This was the only time they could relax and unwind, celebrating the culture of Metropolis with a lot of other people.
There were banners all around, with colorful triangular flags strung up high along the buildings, creating a very fun and festive mood for the people walking along the streets.
The Market Plaza was no different. In fact, the festivities had been boosted up even more. The wooden stalls from companies on their permit test had upgraded their stores to accommodate festivities just like the ones on the street, hoping that it would attract more customers. Now, whether that worked or not, was another conversation entirely.
While Otto and the others had already set up their stalls early in the morning, Michael hadn’t yet showed up at all.
They were getting worried for the rookie, thinking that his nerves got to the best of him and he ended up quitting the permit test entirely.
Of course, that was not true in the slightest.
With his Mobile Food Truck ready, Michael drove the vehicle towards the gates of the city, with the guards and other people looking at him with strange expressions.
"What is that?!"
"Is that made out of metal?"
"Has a monster come over to invade?!"
They saw this gigantic metal structure that was moving at speeds far faster than what they thought was possible. Not only that, the hum of the engine made them mistake the automobile for a large monster that had come wandering over into Metropolis.
They quickly raised their weapons in the air defensively.
However, as the Mobile Food Truck rolled in closer, the soldiers was able to see humans through the glass panes!
"What the hell?"
Michael opened the door, surprising the soldiers and making them flinch away.
"A human boy?"
The soldiers slowly approached Michael.
"Boy. Is this your tamed monster?"
"Nope," Michael responded. "This is my carriage."
The soldier was immediately doubtful. "But where is your horse? How is it moving such heavy material if you don’t have at least ten horses pulling the reins?"
Michael knew that he wouldn’t be able to explain how an automobile worked in a short amount of time, so he just presented them with a letter.
The soldier took the letter and saw the wax seal on the very front. His eyes widened when he realized that it had the bearings of the Guild of Arcana. Not only that, but they knew that this seal was only available to Mystic Masters!
"Seberus Augindore!" the soldier proclaimed.
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared on top of the wax seal. This proved to them that the letter was authentic, and not a counterfeit.
"I apologize for the delay," the soldier said. "You may come in."
Thanks to Seberus’ authority as a Tower Master, Michael was able to bypass any security inspection on the vehicle that would have taken days, if not weeks given how complex and strange an automobile was on the inside.
"Thanks," he told the guards before going back inside the automobile and driving it inside the gates.
As soon as the engine roared to life, the soldiers flinched once again.
Once he was inside the gates, he immediately noticed the gaze of someone far away. He looked through the windshield and saw a person floating in the very top of the Magic Tower.
He must be the Tower Master of Metropolis, Michael thought.
Now thankfully, Seberus had already informed this Tower Master that any and all inquiries on him and the Reborn company had to wait until the end of the permit test so as not to disturb him. So, as much as the Tower Master wanted to talk to him, the old man had to keep his distance and simply observe.
And it wasn’t just the Tower Master. The automobile immediately stole the glances of everyone in its near vicinity. Its massive size compared to a normal horse carriage in the street made it stand out even more.
"Woah! Is that a metal monster?!"
"Mom, is this part of the parade for the festival?"
"What’s that name on the side of the metal...Reborn? I’ve never heard of that."
Of course, he took advantage of all of this attention and advertised the Reborn company. This was one of the reasons why he didn’t teleport the Food Truck directly inside Metropolis. He wanted a more dramatic entrance.
Hopefully, anyone curious about the ’metal monster’ would follow the truck into the Market Plaza and become customers for his permit test.
Entering the park, all eyes were immediately on him and the truck. They all watched as this humongous piece of metal rode through the green grass until it eventually settled into the spot near the lake.
Michael parked on his spot and got out of the vehicle, only to be swarmed by Otto and the rest of them.
"Woah, Michael! What is this?" Carter asked.
"Yep. It’s my stall."
Before they could even question him about it, the sound of metal clanking rang out from inside the automobile as the workers inside began to unfold the metal container to show the interior of the vehicle.
The counter windows opened, the roof unrolled, and the four demi-human Rebornians greeted everyone with a warm smile.
"Oh my god. That is a piece of art," Pedro complimented. He observed the metalwork inside the vehicle and was immediately blown away by the quality.
"How is this even possible?" Otto asked. "Come to think of it, I never even asked you what your Reborn company is all about."
"The truth is that..."
Michael began to tell them all about his origins in the Kings region, and how he had eventually reached Angora City and wanted to expand deeper in the Queens region.
"The 450th rank? That is very impressive," Rhena said, amazed. "I really think that you would have had a much greater chance of getting that permit if you had started a week later."
Michael smiled and didn’t say anything. Instead, he gestured for the Rebornian workers to start unloading all of their products in front of the stall.
They began setting up desks and pulling out new and strange pieces of technology that no one in Metropolis had ever seen before.
It was an immediate eye-catcher, if nothing else.
Michael looked at all this and said, "Reborn is open for business."