"So you spent the last two years recruiting foreign mercenaries, former soldiers, ex-convicts, convicts, and outlaws?" Raeya looked at him in surprise.
"Yes, and talented people who were in need and had no place to call home."
"How did you even find them?"
"Marla and Sarah, what were they before?" The twins asked one after the other.
"I have my network of information." He smiled and then looked at Klara. "They are former soldiers of the Royal Armed Forces. Their platoon was suspended from their service after an incident."
"What incident?" She frowned.
"Their officers ordered them to wipe out a village. A massacre. Every soldier in the platoon was traumatised, and those who had served the Royal Armed Forces for over two decades chose to retire. Marla even deliberated over suicide, and Sarah just had no place in the world. They still have nightmares about what they had been made to do."
"That's horrible..." Alison's face was pale.
"Yes. There were two men in the platoon who refused to follow the command, and they were kicked out of the military. After the court martial of their officers, they were offered a chance to join the military again, but they refused. They now work for me and are the Captains of Unit 6 and Unit 7, Marcus and Sage. The two of them found their former brothers and sisters-in-arms and invited them to Redline Securities. Marla and Sarah were recruited by them."
"Oh..." All three girls were shaken by what they had just learned and understood how he managed to gather so many well-trained guards.
"My brother also helped me recruit some former soldiers who had quit the military."
"How many Aurors do you have?" Raeya curiously asked.
"362 Aurors. Two hundred of them are in the Foundation Realm."
"That many?!" Klara gasped.
They both understood what having so many Aurors under his command meant. He had a small army of his own.
"How many of them are in the Fifth Profound Realm and above?"
"Forty-four. And seven of them are in the Sixth Profound Realm."
"And they are all loyal to you?" the older twin frowned.
"Yes."
"Why are you so sure of it?"
"I know they are loyal. I would not have recruited them otherwise. However, the real asset of my security company is my Cyber and Intelligence Team, but I won't tell you anything about them." He casually said, and Raeya raised her brow at him.
"Why?"
"It's the nature of this business. You need to keep some secrets."
"We understand. By the way, how many of these Aurors are females?" Klara did not insist on asking about things he was not willing to answer.
"Eighty-seven."
"I have only ever seen a few." She curiously said.
"Some are in the reserve forces, but most have clients to protect, and their identities are kept secret."
"Clients?" Raeya narrowed her eyes at him. "Your mistresses?"
He sighed at her words and then chuckled.
"I only have Min-Jin and Ginny as my mistresses, Rae. Bonney protects Min-Jin. I assigned Nova to Ginny. By 'clients', I mean clients. We have celebrities and some important people who have contracts with our company to provide them security."
"Nova? The one with bob-cut hair and who wears a blue tie?" Klara remembered the woman, who was in her early forties and nearly 180 cm tall.
"Yes. She's an assassin."
"An assassin?" All three of them were disturbed by his words.
"Yes. And she is in the Sixth Profound Realm. Also, she's an Esper."
The twins looked at him in shock.
"What are her powers?" Klara curiously asked.
"Secret."
"What's an Esper?" Alison did not know what Espers were, and the younger twin explained it to her. "Wow..."
"By the way, which celebrities do you have security contracts with?" the younger twin asked.
"That's confidential." He smiled at her.
Raeya was lost in her own thoughts, frowning at how he had assigned someone so capable to protect his little mistress, but considering the fact that her life was in danger, she could understand his reasons.
The twins were amazed that Mikael had so many capable people in his security company. His forces were even stronger than their family's force. And this was not counting the Zarayne Family's forces, which were already amongst the strongest in the city.
But since Gabriel Zarayne, his second wife, and even the Old Zarayne and his wife were moving to Skylar City, they were sure that the majority of the Zarayne forces would leave with them.
"No!" Raeya snatched the pack of cigarettes from his hand when he took them out.
"You do know that I am an Auror, right? Cigarettes are not harmful to me."
"Doesn't matter. I hate them."
He sighed and pulled out his phone to check some things and send a few messages.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at their destination.
Even though all three of them had been there before to attend a party, they were still impressed by the atmosphere of the Galaxy Hotel.
Old Richard Goldwin, the former owner of the hotel, personally stepped forward to open the door for Mikael, and then the two men shared a hug and a handshake.
The Zarayne then helped his wives and his secretary out of the car, and a round of introductions started between the staff of the hotel and the new owner and his family.
Soon, they arrived in the President's Office, where every member of the management team informed Mikael about how the hotel and casino were doing and what their jobs were.
They were all worried that the new owner would replace them with his own people, and Richard requested him to give the team a chance.
"I am not planning on taking away your jobs, so relax." He smiled and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, at least, not yet." He added, and they all tensed up again.
Mikael then stood up and glanced at them, meeting their eyes.
"Since Richard has requested me to give you a chance, I will give you a chance. No one will be laid off for the next four months, and your performance will be thoroughly evaluated, and you will go through a process of investigation. Those who perform well and pass the investigation will keep their jobs, and those who fail will be laid off. The objectives remain the same. Understood?"
"Yes!" they all answered in unison, and then an aged lady, who was the Human Resource Manager, raised a question.
"Sir, what is this investigation going to be about?"
"I am sure you are aware of my identity. I am a Zarayne. My wives are Albonns. We have quite a lot of enemies in the city. So, anyone who is found to be in private contact with them needs to leave. It is a necessary precaution."
Everyone, including Richard, understandingly nodded their heads.
"Alright. Get back to work. Mr Thomas, you and your deputies will come to my office in exactly thirty minutes. I am going to create a new branch of the Security Team, which will hold a higher authority than your team. We will discuss the details and finish the paperwork."
"Yes, Sir."
"Thank you, Master Zarayne!" Richard then stood up and shook hands with him.
"I will see you off." He smiled at the man and then left the office with him and everyone else.
A while later, Mikael returned to the office with two men, both seemingly in their early thirties, but undoubtedly older than what they looked.
One of them was a man who was over 200 cm tall, and the other was around 190 cm tall. Both were well-built, but not too muscular, and their postures were straight and strong, as the postures of soldiers should be.
Marcus, who was the taller of the two, had blonde hair, and Sage had brown. Both kept the crew cut. The latter even had a scar on the left of his neck, which made people flinch at the sight of it.
Raeya and Klara left the office when the Security Team of Galaxy Hotel and Casino arrived for the meeting, and they looked around the place under the lead of the old woman who was the Human Resource Manager.
Realising that Mikael was going to be late, they had their supper at the restaurant and then followed the old woman to take a look inside the Owner's suite, which was on the topmost floor.
There was a guest suite as well, similar but slightly smaller, and it was opposite the Owner's suite.
Afterwards, they took a look at the casino, which was filled with people and quite noisy, something that none of them liked.
The tour around the entire establishment took them three hours, and when they returned to the President's Office, they found Mikael and Alison still working and going through some files.
Seeing that they were busy, they silently sat down, and after Raeya observed how Alison and Mikael behaved around each other at work, she opened her phone and went through the chats.
"Jules is requesting that both of us attend her wedding on Sunday," she informed her sister, who nodded her head but remained focused on going through the news.
Raeya knew that it was a yes from Klara, so she confirmed to her classmate that they would be there.
She furrowed her brows when her friends asked her to bring Mikael as well. She was not comfortable with the idea.
His ex-girlfriends and girls whom he had slept around with were going to be there, and she wanted to avoid any unnecessary drama that would spoil her friend's reception.
"Alison," Mikael, who finished reading the file, closed it and called out to his secretary, who was sitting in front of him.
"Yes, Boss?"
"I want to create an Independent Music Label. When we get back home, talk to Ginny about it, and work together with her. She will be the future president of the company. For the next five years, until she finishes her studies, she will handle my official music accounts."
"Okay." The girl nodded her head and smiled, a little happy in her heart.
Min-Jin showed her the videos that were circulating on social media, and she was really happy that Mikael was going to make use of his musical talent.
"What are you planning?" Raeya curiously looked at him after she heard his conversation.
"I want to make use of the popularity that I have gained in the last few days. As a celebrity, I can better promote my fashion and lifestyle brand, and if one day I become big enough of a celebrity, maybe my wives will hire me to promote their beauty and cosmetics products." He mischievously said, and the older twin rolled her eyes.
"Our company is targeting ladies for now."
"I know, but you might need me to flirt with a few female celebrities in the commercials." He playfully smirked at her and chuckled when her eyes dangerously narrowed at him.
"Shall we go home now? Mum's waiting for us." Klara interjected, and Mikael nodded his head and stood up.
The four of them left the hotel at 10 pm, and by 11 pm, they had arrived home.
In that one hour, something outrageous happened that shook the entire Kingdom of Dragonia.