Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 956: Underused shadows

Michael exited out of the Elven village with a huge smile on his face. Both parties were extremely satisfied with the transaction, which was what made it all the better.

Once again, he had become a millionaire. He couldn’t wait to spend it all.

Now, on to the Thunderfoot company, he said to himself.

But then, after a few seconds of thought, he stopped in his tracks.

How do I get there?

As talkative as Jot’un was yesterday, he didn’t mention anything about his company at all.

Now, he knew that most human companies settled on the outskirts of the New Sparta bulwark, so he at least had a lead on where he could find them. And with his multiple Drones scanning the entire skyline of the city, he’d be able to eventually find them at least. He just had to keep his ears open for Jot’un’s incessant profession of his unrequited love for Aerith.

But just as he was about to do that, he suddenly realized something. He didn’t have to do that.

”Narito? Sasuki? Are you there?”

A second later, two gigantic shadows emerged out of the wedges in the New Sparta walls.

An orc with thick, gray fur appeared on the left, and an orc with spiky, pepper-colored quills appeared on the other.

”At your service, Lord Michael,” said the Orcupine Chieftain with zeal.

”Your wish is my command,” said the Orcanine Chieftain with an even ardent tone, as if trying to outdo the other.

It had been a long time since he called onto the two Shadow Orcs. He practically hadn’t interacted with them ever since he entered Metropolis.

But that couldn’t be helped. Metropolis was filled with a lot of powerful people. People with Maugnetic Aubilities. The Shadow Orcs’ penchant for snooping around would only land them in trouble. Even their talented and innate stealth skills wouldn’t work on those guys.

Still, that didn’t mean they were entirely obsolete. They were very instrumental in the steady and unrelenting expansion of the Reborn company.

While he was pioneering new lands in Metropolis and here in New Sparta, his people back in the Nation of Reborn were steadily building the foundations for the expansion.

They built roads, infrastructure, and everything else that the Rebornians were privy to. By his estimation, it wouldn’t be long before the quality of life in the lower Royal Continent became comparable to that of the Nation of Reborn.

And it wasn’t just large places like Angora City, Neo Orcus, or Batchrock Town.

It included every territory in the intervening locations from the Parched Lands all the way to Metropolis.

The Reborn Company made life comfortable for them. At least, in the Kings region and a part of the Lower Queens region.

And it was all thanks in part to the Shadow Orcs. They were the silent pillars that made sure everything worked as planned. Whenever there was a bandit camp intending to plunder and reave resources from a territory thinking that the Reborn company wasn’t there to protect it, the Shadow Orcs were there.

They solved a problem before they could even rear their ugly heads.

Quelling rebellions, usurping warlords, and upending political strife. You name it, they did it.

They were so good at their jobs that Michael wasn’t even aware of such problems. He was only clued in once it was solved, which made him think that the problem wasn’t that big in the first place.

But he was wrong. The warlords and marauders that they fought against had armies almost as big as a nation!

Of course, most of their numbers were ordinary mortals with no ability to wield magic at all, but still.

It was very impressive that these Shadow Orcs were able to defeat armies with ten times their number, all under the silent night, leaving no survivors.

”Are you guys busy?”

Narito, the Orcanine Chief, shook his head fervently. ”For you, Lord Michael. We are always available.”

Sasuki scoffed. ”Yes, he is available all the time, Lord Michael. But that is only because my Orcs have been doing all the heavy lifting.”

The two glared at each other, lightning clashing.

”I know you guys are busy with the expansion, but have you guys done any work in New Sparta?”

”We have just finished creating a serviceable information network, Lord Michael,” said Narito, flexing his shiny, shimmering werewolf-like fur.

A basic information network consisted of spies and agents deployed around every single public and semi-private area. This included the thoroughfares in between the quadrants, as well as most of the human settlements outside New Sparta walls.

This did not include places where there was increased security like the Beastfolks’ territory as well as some of the more powerful companies. They had ways to detect stealth using Aubilities, which the Shadow Orcs couldn’t circumnavigate around.

”We would have finished this a lot sooner, but there were a lot of unexplainable gaps in New Sparta that were hard to infiltrate,” Sasuki mentioned, his quills subconsciously rising.

Ahh... it must be because of Ersatz. They have a Stronghold here, so it makes sense that they have some security and precautions in place for people wanting to prod around.

”Don’t worry about those,” he assured them. ”Just play it safe. Anyway, that’s not what I summoned you both for. I just need some information about a company. Thunderfoot. Heard of them?”

Both Orc Chieftains nodded. ”Very much so, Lord Michael. We have had daily reports regarding them. They are a very popular bunch.”

Michael didn’t doubt it. ”Can you tell me where they are?”

An instant later, a tenebrous shadow emerged from the ground, forming a 3d, black map of New Sparta.

”They’re here, Lord Michael. We have some Shadow Orcs set up there, so you can simply teleport to them for ease.”

Michael nodded, before thanking them for their service. He really should be making use of their talents more often.

”That’s all for today. Good work.”

The two Shadow Orcs kneeled in deference.

And just as he was about to teleport, he turned back to the two and said, ”Keep your ears peeled. I’ll summon you again a little while later for some gifts.”