Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 270: Sleazy

The bandit called Sleazy titled his head, clearly unaware of such a product called chocolate.

”Hm. Iʼve never heard of that…and I see no sign of products here in your carriage…”

Sleazy took out a knife out his pocket and twirled it in his hands, with its glint reflecting towards the chocolate merchant.

”Are you lying to me?”

”No no no!” the chocolate merchant cried out, raising his hands to protest his innocence. ”Itʼs true! I just sold out all my products, thatʼs why Iʼm returning to Angora City to get more.”

The bandit eyed the merchant with a glare, letting awkward silence linger in the carriage.

”I believe you! Haha, donʼt be so anxious!” Sleazy said, patting the chocolate merchantʼs shoulder.

”Listen, I donʼt want to take up any more of your time, but I just have to know. Is there a particular reason why a lot of people are going to Angora City?”

The chocolate merchant went silent for a second. His first instinct was to lie. After all, he didnʼt want Michael and the Reborn company to get into trouble.

But then, he remembered that Michael specifically told them to always spread the word about the Reborn products, whether they be customers or criminals alike.

The merchant even remembered a saying from Michael: ʼall press is good press,ʼ meaning any and all kinds of attention would benefit the Reborn company.

So, he simply told them what the public already knew. He told them about the newspaper article being spread around.

”Itʼs good to know you arenʼt lying to me,” Sleazy said, putting his knife back in its sheath. ”We have asked all the other carriages coming in Angora City and they all said the same thing. They want to visit the famous Reborn company.”

”So…you knew about them?”

Sleazy nodded and laid back on his seat. ”Oh yeah. We might be living in the woods, but we are not hermits. We are in touch with the current happenings of society more than you know.

Of course we heard about the current ranked #450th company in the world. Itʼs just hard to believe that itʼs true.”

That was not the first time the chocolate merchant heard that. One of the reasons why there were so many people visiting Angora City was because people were curious to see if the stories were true or not.

It seemed that it had reached the ears of the bandits as well.

CLAP!

Sleazy clapped his hands, surprising the merchant out of his thoughts.

”Well, thatʼs all that I want to ask you today. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The chocolate merchant watched as Sleazy got out of his carriage and waved at him with a big smile on his face.

The bandit gestured for the coachman to go, which prompted the old man to whip the reins and let the horses start trotting through the snowy road.

As the carriage got further and further away, the chocolate merchant looked back to see the road completely empty with no sign of the bandits anywhere. The snowy tracks on the road were just the horse and the carriage, nothing more.

The chocolate merchant decided to visit the Rebornians and tell them what happened today as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, in the bushes, the ten or so Bastard Bandits gathered around in a circle with Sleazy in the middle.

”What are we going to do, Sleazy?” one of the bandits asked.

”Iʼm feeling a little curious, you see. All those stories about the horseless metal carriages and Dwarven metal seemed to have made me a little bit…thirsty,” he said, licking his mouth.

The other bandits looked at Sleazy with worried expressions.

”Sleazy…the boss said that we shouldnʼt interfere in other territories. We should just stick to the SouthTip Forest and thatʼs it.”

”I agree,” a bandit said. ”And even if I do want to pinch a little bit of gold out of their pockets, we should only do it when they try to travel through the forest, not when they are still in their territory.”

Sleazy shook his head amongst the other bandits, clicking his tongue as he did so.

”You guys are so unambitious!” he shouted. ”Come on. Donʼt you see that weʼre not the only ones thatʼs thirsty to rip apart this new Reborn company? Iʼm betting that if we wait any longer, other companies would have already conquered the Reborn company and taken all their inventions for themselves.”

The bandits, despite being reasonable this whole time, felt a little bit agitated upon hearing Sleazyʼs words. It provoked their killer instinct.

If there was anyone that was going to prey upon this new and unproven company, then it should be them!

”But didnʼt they say that this company defeated those HammerStone guys? And not only that, theyʼre ranked #450 as well. Donʼt they have pretty strong fighters for doing that?”

Sleazy waved off the banditʼs concern. ”Come on. That HammerStone company is managed by a nepotism kid. Itʼs not that hard to destroy a house built upon fragile sticks.

And besides, itʼs not like weʼre going on an all-out war with them. Iʼm just proposing that we shake them down a little bit, you know, make their pockets bleed just enough for us to be set up for life.

With how fast theyʼre expanding, Iʼm sure that there will be some weak points that we can exploit.

Ask yourselves who you were before we settled down in this forest. Werenʼt we free spirits who took what we wanted without any question?”

The other bandits turned silent, with each one seriously beginning to consider Sleazyʼs proposal.

”And not only that, but I heard that they have Mithril Relics up their sleeves.”

This little piece of bait seemed to have finally convinced the bandits to agree with Sleazy. They looked at each other with confident smiles and expectant gazes.

They couldnʼt wait to get their hands on those gold coins that the Reborn company had been hoarding.

”Letʼs go back to our lair. Donʼt tell anybody anything. We just prepare our things and we leave in the night,” Sleazy warned them.

And with that, the bandits began trekking back deeper into the bald, snowy forest.

…bu to to…

Sleazy turned around, his eyes darting all over the place. He looked at the other bandits and saw none of them react to the rhythmic beating sound, making him doubt his own senses.

He began to convince himself that it was just a product of his own imagination, brought on by the cold winds of the winter.

…

…

…

Meanwhile, back in Angora City, Michael sat in his bed while the two Shadow Orc Chieftains reported the whole situation to him in great detail.

”Itʼs a good thing that you guys had Shadow Orcs protecting the chocolate merchants,” he said to them.

”Even if they are not part of our nation, they are still important to the growth of your company. It is only natural that we dedicate a Shadow to monitor them and their surroundings,” Narito replied.

”What shall we do, boss?” Sasuki said, kneeling. ”Shall we dispose of them?”

”Hmm…since theyʼre acting out on their own, just monitor them. Maybe they would lead us to more information about the other territories near Angora City.

Also, if they do try to rob us, then send the trainees. Itʼll be a good experience for them.”

The two Shadow Orcs nodded before descending back into the shadows.