Having demi-humans living in human settlements wasn’t exactly weird or unusual, especially in the Kings region which was very close to the Parched Lands where most demi-humans lived.
However, they weren’t exactly socially accepted enough to be the norm. Usually, a demi-human would get one weird look or two when crossing the street, but most people would just ignore them and let them go about their day without disturbing them.
Most of the demi-humans who migrated to human settlements did so because they thought that they had a chance at a better life there than in the desolate Parched Lands.
Here, they had to offer their services to humans to earn enough money to survive. Most of the jobs they had to do were physical grunt work, such as transporting heavy metals throughout the city, excavating large plots of land, and other mundane jobs.
This was about the limit of what most demi-human species could offer. After all, they weren’t considered to be capable of complex jobs such as becoming an office clerk or even a skilled craftsman.
So, demi-humans were treated as nothing more than ‘muscles’, with their worth being valued through their physical capacity alone.
But ever since the Reborn company appeared, the landscape for demi-humans in the human world had quickly changed.
Suddenly, demi-humans appeared who could speak in perfect human language, with their words being complex and indistinguishable from a normal human.
Not only that, they all seemed to be capable of magic as well. This surprised most people because they never thought demi-humans were capable of casting 3-star spells and above.
There was one incident the day after the automobile was introduced where the Engineer HobMankeys displayed their talents by casting a 3-star spell in front of hundreds of spectators.
They bent the Earth to their will, creating a large crevice in the ground in just a matter of a few seconds.
Then, they conjured a visual 3D projection of a finished gas station in the empty spot, making it easy for the workers to follow the blueprints down to the very small details.
They took control of the project and made it as efficient as possible, showing their mastery over this kind of job even better than veteran human construction workers.
The demi-humans also showed powerful talent in magic, with a deep well of complex knowledge that was even better than the current human standards.
This completely overturned the initial perception people had of demi-humans. People thought they were just simple creatures, like animals that gained sentience and could only speak the bare minimum of the human language.
But what they showed that day put them on the very same level as humans, both having the capacity for higher and more complex thinking.
As more demi-humans came to take control of the Reborn businesses all over the region, it became more and more widespread throughout the days.
Suddenly, it became normal to see a Lamia selling fish in the wet market, haggling and bargaining with the customers.
It became normal to see a very intimidating Centaur patrolling the Reborn offices to keep it safe through the night.
It became normal to see Satyrs driving around the streets in large trucks carrying supplies and shipments for the company.
It also didn’t take long for people to realize that these demi-humans were incredibly talented individuals, each being extremely good at their jobs.
For example, the Reborn company delved into the vegetation business, selling their excess crops and harvest yields to every market in the Kings region.
And it was clear from the get-go that their harvests were much bigger than normal. Their carrots were more orange and a lot longer, their cabbages were a lot leafier, and they were even selling crops that were completely out of season.
It was clear that the demi-humans of Reborn were on a whole different level.
They were even a lot wealthier than people even realized!
There were a lot of HobMankeys, Satyrs, and Dwarves who chose to buy their own house and lot in the city because they were going to stay here for a while to finish up their projects.
They bought properties in the middle of the city itself despite its high prices.
It must be mentioned that Kingsbridge was considered a wealthy city, with rich and affluent citizens dwelling inside. But even then, the demi-humans of Reborn did not fall behind in terms of pure purchasing power.
Every one of them seemed to be capable of throwing gold coins away like it was nothing.
After all, Michael was not stringent in giving them gold coins. They worked hard for it.
Their stipends were thousands upon thousands of gold coins, giving them enough to live lavishly in the city for a long time.
And the reason why these demi-humans obtained the reputation of being gold-throwers was because they didn’t care much about saving money. After all, they had everything they wanted waiting for them back at home.
“I don’t know if this is true,” Michael’s driver whispered. “But I heard that all the demi-humans that appeared are from their own country in the Parched Lands!”
Of course, people eventually found out that they all came from the Nation of Reborn. However, it wasn’t that widespread yet because people still believed that the Parched Lands had no capacity to become prosperous enough to have a nation for itself.
Though, most people were starting to find out the truth. After all, they could easily verify the truth by going there themselves.
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A couple of minutes later, Michael finally arrived at the Reborn office. He flicked a gold coin at the driver as a tip who eagerly thanked him for his generosity.
Once he left the car, he was immediately met with another long line in front of the Reborn building.
But this time, the line wasn’t made up of people, but of demi-humans.
Ever since the rumor about the Nation of Reborn spread across the Kings region, there were more and more demi-humans who sought to join them and hopefully become as prosperous as the talented demi-humans from Reborn.
They left the Parched Lands in search of a better life. But they would have never thought that a better life was waiting for them back in the Parched Lands.