Chapter 469: Visiting Main Street
Michael had the permit to establish his company in Metropolis. And after winning the low-class tournament, he now had a space to build his first headquarter in Main Street.
He walked up to the Association headquarters first thing in the morning and visited Claudia in her office.
"Michael, just the man I wanted to see. Do you know what’s been happening throughout Metropolis right now because of you?" Claudia asked, putting her hands on her waist and starting sternly at him.
"What did I do?" Michael asked innocently.
"Oh I don’t know...maybe it’s the fact that a once-in-a-lifetime genius has appeared in the walls of Metropolis! Everyone’s been talking about the boy who could wield all four elements at once!
I would have thought that the Magic Tower would have intervened by now, but strangely, they stayed silent throughout all these affairs. Did you pay them off or something?"
Michael didn’t know what she was talking about. However, he did remember Seberus telling him that he would get the Guild of Arcana off his back in Metropolis. Whatever Seberus did, worked.
"Anyway, you’re now one of the most popular people in Metropolis. For better or for worse, your company is now in your shadows."
Michael didn’t mind it all that much. After all, he experienced popularity in all the territories he had been in, like Kingsbridge Town and Angora City. Though for those times, his company was the cause of all the commotion due to how innovative they were.
"Also, there were a lot of disgruntled voices yesterday during the final day of the festival. Everyone complained that they couldn’t buy any items from the Reborn company stall.
I had to issue a statement saying that your company will soon open its doors to all customers permanently."
"Thanks. I guess I need to start working on our building."
Claudia nodded like a teacher lecturing a student. "That’s right. You better act fast so that you get your operation up and running before the parade happens.
I don’t know exactly when it’ll be, but you should hurry and establish a store within a month. I think that’s a harsh time limit, but you need to in order to keep up with the parade."
But unlike Claudia, Michael didn’t worry about the building. After all, he had concrete by his side. If he wanted to, he could hurry the construction in a single day. He was more worried about the design rather than how fast he could make it.
"Can I see the place?"
Claudia took out a scroll from her desk and tossed it to Michael.
He unwrapped the parchment paper and saw an official-looking document regarding his new territory in Metropolis.
"This is your copy of the land’s deed. Don’t worry if you lose it. We have all documents ensured to be kept in a vault," she said proudly.
He ignored her and kept the deed in his shadow inventory.
"Ahem...you are entitled to receive 10% of the territory in the Main Street of the Upperwood District. Now, due to the rules of the tournament, you cannot pick which part of the street you own.
First, the winner of the high-class tournament picks, then the mid-class, and whatever’s left will be left to you. If you follow me, I’ll show you your land."
She headed out of the Association headquarters, with Michael following closely behind.
They eventually landed on a different part of the Upperwood District, which was quite far away from the Market Plaza where the majority of people gathered.
Only carriages and horses flowed through this area because there weren’t any sidewalks for people to walk on.
Still, the reason why Main Street was so sought after was not because of the locals, but because of the tourists that would pass through this area in the parade.
"This corner of the street is now owned by the Quench company. Dicky already had the place surveyed and this building will soon be knocked down and repurposed for their needs."
The whole street was filled with empty and abandoned buildings previously owned by Flarecorp.
Most of the items inside were already salvaged, but there was some remaining paraphernalia left behind like some wooden signs, some torn-up flags, and even discarded uniforms.
"Over on the end of the street is your territory."
They walked over to the end of Main Street and saw what looked to be an empty warehouse, with its doors open wide. The place had boxes and crates strewn all around.
There was another warehouse on the opposite side of the street, and Michael owned that too.
All in all, Michael was quite satisfied with what he got. The place may look small area-wise, but he knew that he could always build upwards if he needed more space.
Of course, the most ideal-place that he could have gotten was at the first corner of the street now owned by the Quench company. They would be the first ones that the foreigners saw during the parade.
But besides that, there wasn’t really any difference from the territories in Main Street.
"How do you like it?" Claudia asked worriedly. "This entire place looks dingy, but with a little bit of cleaning, it’ll serve as a good enough headquarters. If you want, I can introduce you to a good carpenter company that can renovate this warehouse into something better."
He declined. "There’s no need. I’m tearing the entire thing down."
She looked at him, wanting to see if he was joking.
"Are you sure? It’ll take two months to build it from the ground up. If you want it to be hurried, then you’ll have to hire an expensive construction company that can use magic to build it faster."
"Don’t worry. I have other plans."
Claudia went silent for a second before relenting. "...I won’t ask. I don’t think I have the capacity to be shocked again."
She correctly deduced that Michael had something up his sleeves.
"Anyway, that’s about it. If you have anything you want to know, don’t hesitate to ask me."
Just as she was about to walk away, Michael reached out to her. "There is a favor that I want to ask you. There’s these four companies that entered the permit test, and I want to know where they are."
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Otto, Rhena, Carter, and Pedro packed up their things and got ready to return back to their territories. They had to give another bad news to their family, just like the year before this one.
Still, this experience wasn’t all that bad. They may have lost the test, but they were able to witness something incredible with Michael and the Reborn company.
They felt a sense of pride when they heard about Michael’s accomplishment. They felt happy for him and his future in Metropolis.
As their carriage left the gates of Metropolis, they couldn’t help but look back fondly at the mega city.
And it was at that moment that they saw a golden-haired boy standing behind them.
"Michael! Why are you here?" Otto asked, getting out of the carriage to greet him.
"I just came to ask you guys something."
"What is it?"
"I’m offering you a chance to establish your companies in my territory. It’s not Metropolis, but I guarantee you’ll have a better life there."