Armipotent - Chapter 2024

Chapter 2024: Finishing The Unfinished Businesses (2)
Tang Shaoyang thought the talk would go smoothly, but Azhug proposed something else. Instead of asking for GC, Azhug wanted one of the beast spirits from his collection. This was not something he would agree to, and this proposal alone was enough to shake his trust in Azhug.

That came with a realization that his three daughters were with Elnar. He activated his Chaos Eyes to look for them. Lilliana was with them, but she might not be able to do anything if Elnar took his three daughters hostage. To his relief, Elnar did not really take his daughters hostage, but this situation caused him to suspect Azhug and his workers.

“We came up with the idea not too long ago, Boss. We realize that a companion of a beast spirit would be a nice payment for our retirement. Let’s make it clear before you misunderstand our proposal, Boss.”

Azhug, without a doubt, was nervous. Especially when Tang Shaoyang lost focus a moment ago. It felt like his boss was suspecting them, so he checked on Elnar. The Ogre could understand why his boss had that kind reaction.

“First, we can only make a contract with one of your Beast Spirits if we finish our contract. If you are worried that we will leave after finishing the contract, then you don’t need to worry. The contract length is 100 years, and if we retire or quit before finishing our contract, our agreement to make a contract with the Beast Spirit is nullified.”

“Second, we can only pick the Beast Spirit you consent to. That means I can’t pick your rarest or strongest Beast Spirit to be contracted. We still need your consent.”

“Third, if we decide to continue working with you after finishing a 100-year contract. We will be working in your place for free. You don’t have to pay us anymore since you have paid us with a contracted Beast Spirit.”

“You can include those three conditions in the contract if you are afraid that we will deceive you, Boss.”

He had a prior agreement with his workers that was a 50-year contract, not 100 years. He was nervous and doubled the contract length. He was relieved that his friends did not complain when he mentioned the 100-year contract. Just like him, they seemed to be nervous as well.

Li Shuang nodded her head understandingly, but she did not immediately agree with the proposal. She did not know the value of a Beast Spirit. It would be precious and expensive if they were willing to work for 100 years without getting paid. She took a glance at her husband’s expression, and he clearly did not like the proposal.

‘It’s not about the proposal. It’s about those workers who broke their promise. It seems they have agreed on something, and this Ogre tried to change the initial agreement.’

“Do we have a soundproof room? I need to talk with my husband first before continuing the talk,” She broke the silence.

The nervous Ogre snapped out and nodded, “Ah, yes. The boss’s office is soundproof.” He stood up and led the lady to the office.

His boss and his team entered the room, and he was standing in front of the room as a realization dawned on him. His eyes went wide, shook, then he snapped toward the room. The lady said she was his boss’s wife. He immediately turned toward his workers, and they seemed to be able to read his mind and nodded to confirm his realization.

*** ***

Li Shuang was here to make sure her husband got a fair contract and was not duped by his workers. She started to question her husband about the value of the Beast Spirit and found out that each Beast Spirit had a different value depending on its rarity and type. The battle-type Beast Spirit was more expensive than the others.

Then there was an exotic Beast Spirit, the rarest among the Beast Spirits. The value for the exotic Beast Spirit varied. Some of them were cheaper than the battle-type, but some were much, much more expensive than the battle-type Beast Spirit.

“What about their pay? I heard you have a prior agreement. Tell me more about their pay.”

Li Shuang was surprised by how much her husband paid his worker. She thought he was being scammed until she heard an explanation about the rating. He showed her the menu to hire more workers, and she found the maximum rating for recruitment was five stars, but Azhug was a six-star caretaker. It explained why Azhug and his workers’ pay was so expensive.

“I can see why they want a Beast Spirit instead of getting paid. They want the rare Beast Spirit, something they could not get from the market. It makes sense, and I think their proposal is quite fair as well. They can choose what kind of Beast Spirit they want from your collection, but they still need your agreement. Of course, we still need to negotiate the contract. We can increase the contract length. Instead of 100 years, let’s make it 150 years.”

Li Shuang had a short discussion with her team. They started to understand the value of the Beast Spirit. That would make their job easier.

“The decision is in your hands. You must decide whether you want to accept their proposal or not, or you can look for a new hire, no?”

Her job was to oversee the contract, ensuring her husband got a fair contract. The decision was in his hands. From her perspective, the contract was fair. Especially after hearing that the Tang Garden was a GC-draining project. This place needed a lot of capital, but that was not something they lacked. The Tang Garden would have more budget if they accepted Azhug’s proposal. That was the positive thing from the proposal.

*** ***

Azhug stared at the office door nervously, and it was infectious. The cat-folk, Liora, was pretty calm at first, but she started to get nervous, too. Mead and Lavender were nervous for a different reason.

The Fae, Meadow Brightvalley, was nervous about losing her job after proposing something like this. She liked this place and started to get attached to the Beast Spirits in this place. She had a fondness for the family of the Diamonian Rabbit as well.

As Elnar said, she could be considered a founder of this place, and she wanted to remain that way. She wanted to build the greatest menagerie, and her name would be mentioned whenever the Tang Garden was mentioned. That was a dream for her, and she made a decision that she would remain here even if their proposal was rejected.

Even if she didn’t get to make a contract with her favorite Beast Spirit, she did not mind it. She liked most of the Beast Spirits, but she had a favorite, a Beast Spirit that made her pick this job. The same with the others, they had their own favorite as well. That was the reason why Azhug decided to make the proposal. They had no ulterior motive or anything.

The Dryad, Lavender, was nervous that their boss might kill them after making an outrageous proposal. That was right, she was afraid that Tang Shaoyang would go mad and decided to kill them regardless of the penalty for killing the workers.

Azhug made such a proposal for his workers, his friends. He didn’t have a favorite; he loved all Beast Spirits equally. He loved his job; it was peaceful and calming, but he wanted the best for his friends. That was the reason behind his proposal, and he did not really care about making a contract with a Beast Spirit. There was no difference for him whether it was a contracted Beast Spirit or taking care of someone else’s Beast Spirits. As long as he could live and work around the Beast Spirit.

The door opened, and Azhug immediately straightened his back; so did his friends. The Ogre tried to read the result of the discussion, but he could not get a read on them. It was normal for him not to be able to read what was in his boss’s head. However, he was surprised that he could not read the four workers who were not even of a Demi-God Rank.

They returned to the couch across from him, not immediately telling him their answer yet. The suspense was killing him since he was already nervous. He started regretting proposing this clause to their contract. He hoped this would never happen, but he knew too well that he could not rewind what had happened.

That is when he realized why he dared to make such a proposal. Their boss had been good to them, gracious in paying them well. His boss was kind and willing to listen to his advice. Then he realized that he might take advantage of his boss’s kindness, thinking he could get away after making an outrageous proposal.

After a short pause, Li Shuang continued the talk, “We can agree with your proposal, but instead of a 100-year contract, we want to make a 150-year contract.”

Azhug was surprised, and so were the others. They were surprised that their boss agreed to their proposal. The Ogre almost immediately agreed to the contract length, if not for Mead, who reached his arm. This was the start of a negotiation, one of his areas of expertise.

He argued back, arguing for a shorter contract. Of course, the Ogre knew to be more respectful to the woman after finding out she was his Lady Boss. He remained respectful while doing his best to get the best result for his workers. Soon, he realized that he had met an expert because he was helpless and had to agree to a 135-year contract. He could not even make it to the 125-year contract, which was his initial plan.

Meadow and Liora did not mind a 135-year contract. Lavender hesitated at first, but she accepted it. Azhug made a sorry face, failing to achieve an ideal contract length.

The Ogre expected a harder negotiation, but everything went smoothly after the fierce negotiation for the contract length. The value of the Beast Spirit they could choose to be contracted. If the Beast Spirit they chose had a higher value than their contract, they had two choices. They could choose another Beast Spirit with the same value, or they could extend their contract to match the value of the Beast Spirit.

The discussion went smoothly because there was not really an argument. They just needed to reach an agreement on how they valued the Beast Spirit and their contract. Azhug did not need to worry about this because he knew his friends’ favorite Beast Spirits. This clause was added for formality, an assurance that they would not take something outrageous from the Tang Garden.

Even though they had a smooth talk for the rest of the discussion, it still took another hour to finalize the contract. By the end of it, Azhug was exhausted as he signed the Divine Contract. He was amazed by Lady Boss and her team.

‘There’s still a lot to learn for me, huh?’ That was Azhug’s conclusion after their discussion.