Keberadaan demi-manusia yang tinggal di permukiman manusia bukanlah hal yang aneh atau luar biasa, terutama di Wilayah Kings yang letaknya sangat dekat dengan Lahan Gersang, tempat tinggal Sebagian besar demi-manusia.
Namun, mereka belum sepenuhnya diterima secara sosial hingga menjadi pemandangan yang lumrah. Biasanya, seorang demi-manusia akan mendapat satu-dua tatapan aneh saat menyeberang jalan, tetapi kebanyakan orang hanya akan mengabaikan mereka dan membiarkan mereka melanjutkan hari tanpa mengganggu.
Sebagian besar demi-manusia yang bermigrasi ke permukiman manusia melakukannya karena mereka pikir ada peluang untuk mendapatkan kehidupan yang lebih baik di sana daripada di Lahan Gersang yang tandus.
Di sini, mereka harus menawarkan jasa mereka kepada manusia demi mendapatkan cukup uang untuk bertahan hidup. Sebagian besar pekerjaan yang harus mereka kerjakan adalah pekerjaan kasar yang mengandalkan fisik, seperti mengangkut logam berat ke seluruh penjuru kota, menggali sebidang tanah yang luas, dan pekerjaan biasa lainnya.
Hal inilah yang menjadi batas kemampuan sebagian besar spesies demi-manusia. Bagaimanapun, mereka dianggap tidak mampu melakukan pekerjaan rumit seperti menjadi pegawai kantoran atau bahkan perajin terampil.
Jadi, demi-manusia tidak lebih dari sekadar ‘tenaga otot’, yang nilainya diukur semata-mata dari kapasitas fisik mereka.
Namun, sejak perusahaan Reborn muncul, lanskap bagi para demi-manusia di dunia manusia dengan cepat berubah.
Tiba-tiba, muncullah para demi-manusia yang bisa berbicara dalam bahasa manusia dengan sempurna, dengan kosakata yang rumit dan tidak bisa dibedakan dari manusia normal.
Bukan hanya itu, mereka semua tampaknya juga menguasai sihir. Hal ini mengejutkan kebanyakan orang karena mereka tidak pernah menyangka demi-manusia mampu merapal mantra bintang 3 ke atas.
Ada satu insiden sehari setelah otomobil diperkenalkan, di mana para Insinyur HobMankey memamerkan bakat mereka dengan merapal mantra bintang 3 di hadapan ratusan penonton.
Mereka melengkungkan Tanah sesuai kehendak, menciptakan celah besar di tanah hanya dalam waktu beberapa detik.
Kemudian, mereka menyulap proyeksi 3D visual dari pom bensin yang sudah jadi di tempat kosong tersebut, memudahkan para pekerja untuk mengikuti cetak biru hingga ke detail terkecil.
Mereka mengambil alih kendali proyek dan membuatnya seefisien mungkin, menunjukkan penguasaan mereka atas pekerjaan semacam ini bahkan melebihi para pekerja konstruksi manusia veteran.
Para demi-manusia itu juga menunjukkan bakat sihir yang kuat, dengan gudang pengetahuan mendalam yang bahkan melampaui standar manusia saat ini.
Hal ini benar-benar menjungkirbalikkan pandangan awal orang-orang tentang demi-manusia. Orang-orang mengira mereka hanyalah makhluk sederhana, seperti hewan yang mendapatkan kesadaran dan hanya bisa berbicara ala kadarnya dalam bahasa manusia.
Namun, apa yang mereka tunjukkan hari itu mensejajarkan mereka dengan manusia, di mana keduanya memiliki kapasitas untuk berpikir lebih tinggi dan lebih kompleks.
Seiring semakin banyaknya demi-manusia yang datang untuk mengambil alih bisnis Reborn di seluruh wilayah, fenomena ini kian meluas dari hari ke hari.
Tiba-tiba, sudah menjadi pemandangan biasa melihat sesosok Lamia menjual ikan di pasar basah, tawar-menawar dengan para pelanggan.
Sudah biasa melihat sesosok Centaur yang sangat mengintimidasi berpatroli di kantor-kantor Reborn untuk menjaganya tetap aman sepanjang malam.
Sudah biasa melihat Satyr mengemudikan truk-truk besar di jalanan, membawa pasokan dan kiriman untuk perusahaan.
Tidak butuh waktu lama juga bagi orang-orang untuk menyadari bahwa para demi-manusia ini adalah individu-individu yang sangat berbakat, di mana masing-masing sangat mahir dalam pekerjaannya.
Sebagai contoh, perusahaan Reborn merambah bisnis vegetasi, menjual kelebihan tanaman dan hasil panen mereka ke setiap pasar di Wilayah Kings.
Dan sudah jelas sejak awal bahwa hasil panen mereka jauh lebih besar dari biasanya. Wortel mereka berwarna lebih jingga dan jauh lebih panjang, kubis mereka jauh lebih lebat daunnya, dan mereka bahkan menjual tanaman yang sama sekali bukan musimnya.
Jelas sekali bahwa para demi-manusia dari Reborn berada di tingkat yang sepenuhnya berbeda.
Mereka bahkan jauh lebih kaya dari yang disadari orang-orang!
Ada banyak HobMankey, Satyr, dan Dwarf yang memilih untuk membeli rumah dan tanah sendiri di kota karena mereka akan tinggal di sini untuk sementara waktu guna menyelesaikan proyek-proyek mereka.
Mereka membeli properti di tengah-tengah kota itu sendiri meskipun harganya mahal.
Harus dicatat bahwa Kingsbridge dianggap sebagai kota yang makmur, dihuni oleh warga kaya dan berada. Namun, bahkan dalam hal itu pun, para demi-manusia Reborn sama sekali tidak tertinggal dalam hal daya beli murni.
Setiap dari mereka tampaknya mampu menghamburkan koin emas begitu saja seolah itu bukan apa-apa.
Bagaimanapun, Michael tidak pelit dalam memberi mereka koin emas. Mereka bekerja keras demi itu.
Ujangan mereka mencapai ribuan koin emas, memberi mereka cukup uang untuk hidup mewah di kota untuk waktu yang lama.
Dan alasan mengapa para demi-manusia ini mendapat reputasi sebagai
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.
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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.
…
…
…
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.
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