Armipotent

Chapter 2031: Hiring Reliable Guard

“Aren’t you a bit harsh today?” Li Shuang asked after taking her first bite of their lunch.

Right after the meeting, she and Tang Shaoyang went to Elin’s Floor. It was no longer Elin’s kitchen, but the floor as the floor turned into a kitchen. A bigger, built-in refrigerator with all kinds of different storage to store all kinds of ingredients. Origin even modified the building, expanding it further, giving Elin open space for her herbs.

They sat around the table not far from where Elin usually cooked. Elin was still preparing the last dish. Their daughters were with them, along with their pets. Li Shuang purposely called them back early to calm their father. Ava, Kang Xue, Viona, Jasmine, and Ashley were with them at the table.

“It’s because my daughters will become their target once they grow bolder enough with their movement. They know they can’t do anything to me, so they will target you and my daughters. Just the thought of my daughters being in danger when they are supposed to be in the safest place, can you imagine that?”

Tang Shaoyang was honest with his thoughts and concerns instead of hiding them like in the past. He had been open with his wives, not hiding anything from them.

Li Shuang went silent because her husband was right. She glanced at the others, trying to change the topic. That answer told them how much he trusted his own people, but that might change after this event.

“Also…” Tang Shaoyang was about to tell his wives to watch for similar cases in the future, but his words might put pressure and more work on Li Shuang, who was pregnant. That might not be good for the baby if the mother was too stressed out.

“Never mind,” He shook his head, enjoying the food.

This was the reason why he wanted to stay at home all day. The company of his wives and daughters put him at ease. He shared the story of what he had been doing, including the cultivator and the Sacred Realm. How did he get to know about cultivation.

This was the moment he told them to cultivate as well, including Li Shuang and Elin, who were not involved in a battle. He told Elin that she might improve her cooking with cultivation; controlling the fire on her own was a good perk for a Chef. The same with Li Shuang, he told her about cultivation techniques that could help her be free of stress.

Among Li Shuang, Kang Xue, Elin, Ashley, Jasmine, and Ava, only two of them appeared to be interested in cultivation. Those two were Jasmine and Ashley. He could not get a read on the former Queen, but he could tell that Ashley was interested in the Sword Technique.

He told them that he might leave to visit the Sacred Realm, telling them why he must leave. Of course, he excluded the main reason, which was a war between the Heaven Founder and the Murim Alliance. He could not tell them that he wanted to gather dead bodies for his spirits and to build more skeletons for the skeleton army.

That night, he ended up choosing the cultivation technique for each of them. Of course, there was a short lesson for them to start the basics first, and the teacher was not him, but Ouyang Biya. He summoned Ouyang Biya and let her teach his wives.

The three little girls listened to the adults’ conversation, and Li Yue said she wanted to learn as well. She was eight years old and will soon turn nine this year, one year older than Li Jiaying. Tang Xiulan, being the youngest, wanted to follow her big sisters to learn as well.

Tang Shaoyang wanted them to learn, giving them a head start over any other children so they could protect themselves. They might not be able to fight properly, but at least the cultivation would give them the ability to run from danger.

Of course, Ava and Li Shuang strongly opposed the idea of their daughters learning to fight this early. This was not the time for them, not yet. Fortunately, it didn’t turn into an argument because Ouyang Biya opposed the idea of teaching the children.

Ouyang Biya told them the ideal was to start at eight, especially for those from the cultivator family, but most of the training was physical training rather than cultivation itself. That was the preparation for the cultivation later on, but they could skip that part. Especially for Tang Xiulan, who had reached level 100.

Tang Xiulan’s level kept rising as she grew up, and it stopped when she reached level 100. Fortunately, the Stat Points were not automatically distributed to her stats. Or else, she needed some training to control her strength so she would not hurt her sisters. Ava had been monitoring and reminding Tang Xiulan not to do anything with those things until she was sixteen, but that might change with cultivation.

Ouyang Biya helped the girls choose the cultivation technique, except for Elin and Li Shuang, who were set on what Tang Shaoyang promised. That night, Ouyang Biya had an intense discussion with Jasmine and Ashley. Jasmine and Ashley could not really decide what they wanted. Kang Xue and Ava had no choice but to listen as well.

Tang Shaoyang finally imparted a technique. This could be considered as an experiment, and Tang Shaoyang was relieved that the technique did not disappear from the codex after he imparted it to someone else. The codex was more powerful than he thought, and he could see why the Heaven Founder would send one of their Elders to get this into their hands.

Tang Shaoyang did not bother them after imparting the technique. He put his daughters to bed before going to the rooftop. This was one of his favorite places to relax. He could not fully trust that his home was safe for his daughters anymore, so he needed several layers of defense for his daughters.

It just felt wrong not to trust the people he trusted with his empire, but this incident made him no longer trust them to keep the empire safe. This was not the first time.

His index finger tapped the railing, thinking about what he should do for his daughters’ safety.

’I could ask Tarrior to assign guards for my daughter daily…’

Tang Shaoyang immediately threw the thoughts when he remembered that one Captain and four Squad Captains were behind the People Party. The same with TEIS, seven TEIS were supporting the People Party as well, and TEID was clean, but TEID was low in numbers since they required people with specific abilities. He could not ask TEID to be his daughter’s bodyguard.

“Ah, there are those two dragons…”

He remembered Ophelius and Ophelia. Those two were the strongest under him. They were reliable with one big flaw. They were too innocent for a calamity. Turning them into a demon also affected their mind.

“And I didn’t see them earlier…” Tang Shaoyang finally realized that the two Demonic Dragons were not with his daughters, ” Origin! Where are Ophelius and Ophelia?”

[They are in the Dimensional Tower with Lady Li Na.]

It made sense that the two dragons grew closer to Li Na because she was a summoner. She had an affinity for the beast, and the dragon was not an exception.

“I guess that leaves me with just one option, huh?” He muttered in a low voice and summoned the golden figure.

“Glodden at your service, Sir,” The Golden Imp Calamity bowed with his right hand in his chest, greeting him with a happy smile.

Tang Shaoyang chuckled, “I would like to hire you to protect my daughters even when I am away for a mission, Glodden. Tell me your rate?”

It was part of a contract that he would pay the Golden Imp Calamity for a task. It was to build his own hoard, and Tang Shaoyang helped Glodden build its hoard.

“My rate is not cheap, sir, but since it’s your request, I don’t mind giving you a low price. One gold coin per day,” Glodden had a wide smile when he said his rate.

Tang Shaoyang shook his head with a smile and immediately agreed, “Deal. One coin a day, thirty coins a month. I will pay you six months in advance, how is it?”

Glodden froze for a moment when Tang Shaoyang immediately agreed to his offer. The Golden Imp seemed to realize that his offer might be too cheap, and his Master could pay more than one coin a day. But he regained his composure quickly, shaking his head.

“No, you can’t pay me six months in advance, sir. The contract duration is two months. However, you can renew the contract if you are satisfied with my job. And I might say, I am the best for the job. Not only can I protect them, but I will also play with them. I am giving you an extra service for free, Sir.”

Tang Shaoyang was surprised when Glodden mentioned the contract. He was not expecting Glodden to understand the contract, and the imp was quite smart for that. It was clear Glodden would ask more for the next contract, and he realized it was because of his carelessness with how easily he agreed to one coin per day. Glodden clearly thought that he could and was willing to pay more than one coin per day.

Tang Shaoyang squinted his eyes, but then shook his head, “You are quite smart, aren’t you, Glodden?”

The Golden Imp Calamity smiled smugly after receiving the praise. He looked proud of his own progress. He learned it during the interaction between Tang Shaoyang and Azhug Oogurim.

“Alright, deal. Two-month contract, and we will talk about the extension in two months. However, I want a longer contract for the next contract. I don’t like to negotiate my contract every two months. I want at least a two-year contract for the next one.”

“We can arrange that later, Sir,” Then Glodden opened his palm at Tang Shaoyang, “I want half of my payment in advance, Sir. You can pay the rest at the end of the contract.”

Tang Shaoyang smiled and was amused at Glodden’s action. Instead of one month, he paid the small guy full, sixty coins.

The Golden Imp Calamity was having trouble holding the coin, holding them in his chest, ensuring none of them fell. He could not wait to visit his hoard to store his coins, turning his back on his master.

“But remember this, Glodden. If you fail at the job or if you let my daughters get hurt, you must pay the penalty. The penalty is ten times your pay.”

Glodden’s figure froze in the air, slowly turning his head at Tang Shaoyang. The little guy immediately remembered the Ogre’s conversation with the team. There was indeed a penalty in the contract, and the penalty was much higher than the pay. He realized he could not negotiate the penalty because the number was reasonable as well.

“I will not fail at my job, and I will certainly not let anyone hurt the Young Ladies!”

Tang Shaoyang was teasing the little guy. He knew Glodden was overkill for the job, but there was no one he could trust but his spirit at this time. They had an absolute loyalty to him because of the contract, and they were certainly much, much stronger than ordinary God Rank.

“You will also stay here to protect my daughter, Artras. Stay in my daughter’s shadow all the time, and only come out when it’s necessary.”

Artras was a demon spirit with shadow elemental power. He had four more spirits with similar ability, and he chose Artras, “Don’t worry. There will be rotation. Argon, Ronan, Hargug, and Rokian will also guard my daughters to replace you in my next return.”

He would eventually leave for the Sacred Realm, and each time he returned, one of them would replace Artras as his daughter’s guardians. This was the only way he could leave his home at ease without worrying about his daughter’s safety. It might be overkill, but that was better.

The Nirvana Alliance or the God Order might send someone after his family as well. They might be isolated right now, but they still could communicate, and they might hire some factions to kidnap his family.