Chapter 42: making a offer to guards

The four remaining guards stood completely there, their hands shaking as they held their weapons. They kept looking back and forth between their two friends groaning in the rose bushes and me. The pressure from Ascendant tier was filling the whole garden, making it hard for them to even breathe.

"I’ll give you guys a quick choices ," I said, stepping closer to them and adjusting my cuffs. "Option one, you keep holding those spears, and I turn your equipment into coins while I punch you on the face or make you donut. Option two, you listen to a my new offer."

The lead guard spoke his name was victor and he was looking stronger then the other guard. "An... an offer? What about Prince Raymond?"

"The Prince has been permanently terminated from the company," I said flatly, pointing my thumb down toward the dry fountain hatch. "His account is closed, his assets are liquidated, and his body is currently sitting at the bottom of that vault. In simple words he is dead."

Hearing this, the four guards gasped, their jaws dropping in total shock. They looked at the hatch, then looked back at me, completely stunned.

Behind my shoulder, I could hear Suzy catch her breath. She didn’t say anything, but her deep eyes were wide as she watched me handle the royal palace guards like an angry store line.

"Now let’s talk about your current salary balance," I continued, crossing my arms over my chest. "The old Prince was a terrible boss. He made you work twenty hours a day, locked the gates during the demon war and make you fight alone, and didn’t even pay your full cash bonuses at the end of the fiscal year. Am I right or wrong?"

The four guards looked at each other, their expressions suddenly shifting from total fear to surprise.

"He–He’s right," the second guard muttered, lowering his spear by an inch. "The Prince cut our monthly hazard pay by half last spring just to buy more gold paint for his bedroom walls."

"And he made us buy our own health potion refills!" another guard grumbled, his face turning angry as he remembered his past shifts. "We haven’t seen a real corporate bonus in two years!"

"Exactly," I smiled, taking a step forward. "That is a total compliance failure. Under the new management, things are changing completely. If you drop your weapons right now and stand on our side, I promise you a forty percent raise on your base pay, full medical potion coverage, and weekends off. Plus, you get to work for a boss who actually knows how to balance a spreadsheet. What do you say? Are you ready to sign the new contract?"

"Why would we trust you?" Victor said.

"I know it’s not easy to trust someone,but at least you can give me chance and i will show you." I said.

The guard looks at me for few second.

"Don’t worry i will not betray your trust because I am a man of my words"

After hearing those words The guard look at me in a different way like he saw something in me then he didn’t hesitate for a single second.

Clatter! Clatter!

All four of them threw their long spears straight onto the stone path, completely abandoning the royal palace rules. They straightened their shoulders and gave a respectful bow directly to me and Suzy.

"We accept the terms, sir!" the lead guard said, his voice full of sudden excitement. "The old Prince was a total parasite anyway. Lead the way to the throne room. We will open the front doors for you ourselves!"

I turned around to look at Suzy, giving her a confident smirk. Suzy stood completely shocked on the path, her sword lowering toward the grass as she stared at me with her mouth slightly open. Her mind was completely short-circuited. She had spent ten long years planning a brutal, bloody war to sneak into the palace and kill the royals, and I had just taken over a full squad of elite castle security in less than two minutes using nothing but a cash promise and a retail manager speech.

"Barry..." she whispered, her voice low and shaking as she walked up to my side. "You... you are a completely terrifying grifter. You just turned the King’s personal palace security into your own private staff."

"It’s not grifting, manager," I laughed, walking past the guards toward the main double doors of the castle. "It’s called structural hiring. Now let’s go collect the rest of the keys."

We marched out of the garden line, the four newly hired guards leading the way with their heads held high. The big doors of the palace courtyard were half open, but as soon as we crossed the main threshold into the high-arched upper corridor, a loud bell began to ring from the high tower above.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"The secondary shift has spotted us!" our new lead guard yelled, drawing a short sword from his belt. "The captain of the upper gate knows we aren’t supposed to be moving this way! They are forming a defensive line ahead!"

Down the center of the hallway, twenty more elite palace soldiers came rushing out from the side rooms, they formed a tight wall of spears right in front of the throne room entrance. Leading them was a massive man with a mustache, his face twisted in pure anger.

"Stand down, you traitors!" the enemy captain roared, raising his long sword. "By order of the King’s advisor, arrest the intruders and execute anyone who helps them!"

I stepped right past our guards, my hands tucked casually into my pockets as my energy began to swirl violently around my leather shoes.

"Your captain is shouting about a company policy that doesn’t exist anymore," I called out. "Raymond is dead, his vault is empty, and your current paycheck is officially worthless. If you want to keep your jobs and feed your families, you need to listen to our new corporate terms right now."

The enemy captain’s face went red. "Don’t listen to his lies! Charge them!"

"your attempt to force an overtime shift is totally invalid!" I roared, my active skill The Customer Is Always Wrong bursting out of my chest.

The wave of manager authority went into the entire twenty-man line all at once. The captain’s mouth half open, his sword stopped, while the twenty soldiers behind him blinked blankly, their bodies locking up completely.

"Let’s clean out the hallway, manager," I smirked.

Moving like a blur of black light, I lunged straight into their formation. My fists moved in perfect, direct lines, landing solid punches right against their helmets, knocking four guards into the walls in less than a second. Suzy came right behind me, her sword flashing gracefully through the air as she parried the remaining weapons and helped me push the entire squad onto the ground.

Within two minutes, the entire hallway was a total mess of screaming soldiers, and the doors of the main throne room were completely open and unprotected right in front of us.