Chapter 480: Meeting the Vanderbilts
“It’s no worries,” Michael said.
He used his Shadow skill to contact Sheina, who was still back at their new headquarters. He told her to bring food supplies from Angora City to the Vanderbilt estate.
And a couple of minutes later, they suddenly heard the sound of the bell ringing from the gates. The butler came out and saw the white-scaled Dragonborn waiting patiently outside, with about ten crates stacked neatly on the sidewalk behind her.
“Greetings…can I help you?” the butler asked.
Sheina bowed and introduced herself. “My name is Sheina and I came here on behalf of Lord Michael.”
“Michael…” the butler muttered. It was only a second later that he realized the name. “OH!”
“Lord Michael has instructed me to give these food supplies to your estate.”
The butler could only stand there, with shock and awe, as Sheina opened one of the crates and showed fresh meat and produce ready to be cooked. There were even some expensive spices like salt and sugar on some of the crates!
Sheina helped the butler take the crates inside, where the rest of the Vanderbilt family gawked at the bountiful food that was in front of them.
They were by no means poor, but they could only ration themselves with stale bread and leftover soup. They hadn’t seen this much food in over ten years! The little William wasn’t even born yet when they were successful enough to frivolously buy this much food.
“Is…is this alright?” Tracy asked them, worried. “We couldn’t accept such a heavy gift.”
Lylia immediately eased her worries. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of food to spare. Too much, even.”
“Yes. This is just a small token of our gratitude for letting us into your home,” Bart said. “And besides…we’re family.”
The Vanderbilts were teary-eyed as they said that. Bart had to shout cheers and celebrations just to bring back the mood of the party.
The dinner came to a close, and the topic of conversation shifted to what they were doing here in Metropolis. Max hadn’t said anything to them yet, so the other Vanderbilts were completely clueless.
Michael’s other uncle, who was Max and Bart’s brother-in-law, spoke about one of his businesses in Metropolis.
“I sell cleaning products to help with our debt,” he said. “I even have my own formula for the cleaning solutions. But we have to wait a couple more months before it gets approved by the Duchess.”
Bart was surprised. “Does it usually take that long,” he asked.
“It’s easy if you’re in a high ranking company. But for struggling companies like us, we get pushed down the line. We are not their priority.
So, Michael. You’re planning on creating a company here in Metropolis, right? If you’re planning on selling your own items in Metropolis, make sure that you book an appointment with them months in advance.”
Max immediately solved the misunderstanding. “He already has a company,” he said. “And the boy just got his permit a few days ago.”
And this time, all the adults at the table gasped. They thought Michael was just an ambitious kid who set up a little company purely for the experience. They didn’t think he was good enough to pass the test.
Only five companies get their permits every year! That spoke to Michael’s talents if he was able to get that in his youth.
“Wait a minute…didn’t the Upperwood Festival just finish?”
“Yeah…that coincides with his permit test.”
Lylia put her hands on Michael’s shoulder with a proud grin on her face. “That’s right. Michael here passed the test while the festival took place. He even won a tournament!”
More and more gasps resounded throughout the table. They truly couldn’t believe that such a young kid could accomplish so much!
“My god…he has the same talent as father!”
“Why do we only know about him now?”
They went through the same rollercoaster of emotions as Max did when he first met Michael.
And while his parents beamed in happiness as their relatives praised him, Michael felt a little bit awkward. Somehow, it was a bit more embarrassing getting praised by relatives rather than strangers.
Thankfully, they were soon interrupted by another bell that rang on the gates.
The head butler opened the doors and took a peak at their guests.
His eyes widened as he saw the gleaming armor in their bodies. But their weapons and armors weren’t the one that was truly intimidating for the butler.
It was the crest that was on their chest.
They were none other than soldiers of the Duchess herself! The butler almost had a heart attack when he saw them in formation, raising the flag of Metropolis right outside their gates.
The butler immediately informed Max and the other Vanderbilts.
“Master! There’s royal soldiers outside!”
Max immediately got up off his seat and ran out the door. The other Vanderbilts on the table followed closely behind him, with Michael and his family not far behind.
They eventually reached the gates, where they saw a man in royal attire holding a scroll in his hands.
Once this royal man saw Max Vanderbilt in front of him, he unfurled the scroll and began to read it to them.
“Hear ye! Hear ye! The Duchess of Metropolis hereby requests your appearance at her royal court. Please accept this invitation at your earliest convenience.”
Because of the immediately-recognizable armor of the royal guards, the other people around the Vanderbilt estate couldn’t help but get curious and eavesdropped on the side of the road.
“Wait, aren’t those the Duchess’ personal guards? Why are they here? And on the Vanderbilts’ personal estate too…”
“This doesn’t make sense. Those guards are only deployed for important guests of the Duchess!”
“Yeah…hasn’t the Vanderbilts fallen out of ranking? Why would the Duchess personally send her guards to meet them?”
The reputation of the Vanderbilts had tanked because of their bad business decisions. So, it was truly a mystery to them all that they suddenly got the attention of the Duchess herself.
This situation was so strange that they could only come up with theories that didn’t make sense.
“Wait, could the soldiers be here to take control of their mansion?”
“Maybe… they lost most of their territory by now. It’s not a leap to think that they’re losing the mansion as well.”
Meanwhile, Max and the other Vanderbilts ignored the gossip that happened around them. Instead, they focused on the royal man who addressed them.
“Excuse me, but who is invited by the Duchess?”
The man in royal attire looked at the scroll again and announced;
“The Duchess requests the visit of one Michael Vanderbilt and his family…also, she requests the current leader of the Vanderbilt branch here in Metropolis, which is you, Max Vanderbilt.”
The other Vanderbilts gasped once they heard that. Their nephew even got the attention of the Duchess?! Their status as Vanderbilts only allowed them an appointment that was nearly a year away from today. Yet Michael was personally being attended by the Duchess’s personal guards!
They couldn’t help but gawk in awe and excitement at Michael’s stature.
“I’m Michael,” Michael said to the royal man.
“Please get into the royal carriage and we can go on our way to the castle,” the royal man said.
Michael, his parents, as well as Max all boarded the royal carriage that was attended by thirty of the Duchess personal guards.
Now, this incident had gone long enough to gather a lot of spectators on the side. Many of whom, thought that the guards were here to seize the property of the Vanderbilts.
“MAKE WAY!” the soldiers shouted at the pedestrians. “These are the Duchess’ personal guests and she ensured that they must be treated with absolute care and respect. Anyone who gets in our way will be punished by law!”
Mass Release Goal (500 GT = 6 chaps) (1000 GT = 10 chaps)