22.

When I got back, I saw Irene telling another folktale to the kids with Erza on her lap as they listened to it intently. Even though Irene has to go back to report and train the soldiers under her squad, she will squeeze every single second she have to accompany her daughters and act as their mother.

I joined them as I sat down with them and waited for them to finish.

Soon it was time for Irene to go back but before she left, she noticed me thinking so deeply as she hugged me from behind before asking the question.

"Is there a problem, my love? You seem to be thinking really deep today?" She asked.

"Well, Jura said that the Principality of Veronica is gathering a small army and would move in 3 days to take down the Wolf King and warned me about them trying to cause trouble." I said as Irene's face morphed into anger.

"If they dare as much as lay their hand on anyone on this house! I will personally wipe their country down!" She said as I faced her and held her face and pinched it.

"You don't look so beautiful if you're angry. So calm down. If they come in as customers and pay then I will serve them food. But if they don't... then they don't need to go back to their country." I said to Irene as she calmed down.

"I will send Juliet and Heine here as soon as possible as they can't come earlier since they're on a mission right now." She said.

"I told you, you didn't have to." I said.

"Maybe for you, but for my daughters, they need it." Irene said as I agreed and nodded.

Though Pitou could protect them, I don't want to take chances. I would not be able to forgive myself if something happened to them.

"Then I will take my leave." She said and gave me a light kiss on the cheek as she did the same to the chipmunks.

After she left, I told Pitou to protect her sisters from harm and told the chipmunks that I'm going to be out and will be back for lunch.

I went out and traversed the territory of the Wolf King. I have been exploring the Wolf King's territory sometimes after practicing so I know that they reside in a cave.

When I appeared outside the cave, I see so many cluster of wolves and when they saw me, they immediately started growl as I raised my hands and shouted.

"Oi! Wolf King, I need to talk with you! This concerns the life and death of your pack!" Hearing my words, even though they can't understand what the f*ck I'm saying, they felt that I mocked the King and the Pack as they started growling even more and was ready to pounce at any moment.

They stopped when a loud growl from inside the cave resounded and brought the wolves to lie down.

Seeing the docile wolves, I went inside the cave and lit up a torch. Though there is light inside from the cracks and crevices, it is still really dark so I need a torch.

When I head deeper and reached the end of the cave, I saw a rock mound with the Wolf King majestically standing on all fours with the meager amount of light shining down on it.

"Its been a while isn't it, Wolf King?" I said but the Wolf King didn't reply making the atmosphere awkward. To dispel the awkward atmosphere. I head straight to the point.

"The Principality of Veronica is gathering a small army to take you down in 2 days." I said as the Wolf King growled.

Hearing that growl, I felt that the Wolf King is anxious and nervous as well, so I extended him an olive branch.

"I could help you protect your kin. If you become a guardian of my tavern." I said and paused and waited for the Wolf King to digest what I said before continuing.

When I asked the system about what would be the benefits of becoming one of the guardians of my tavern with the Guardian Ticket. The system told me this:

[The system would transform the Guardian physiologically to become stronger than what it previously was. If the person have a power level of an E-rank adventurer and became a guardian, the system will transform him physiologically to befit the rank of an S-rank guardian.]

I am confident at the resources offered by the system and if the Wolf King agrees, I could see what kind of rewards being a guardian would give.

"You have two choices, either you lower your pride and become a tavern guardian and save your pack or be stubborn and be wiped out. The choice is yours, Wolf King. I'll be waiting for your answer." I said my piece, left the place, and went home to prepare our lunch.

I returned home to see Kagura and Erza fighting with sticks while Pitou is watching. When they saw me, they immediately started running to me.

"Father can you teach me how to use a sword?" Erza asked with shining eyes.

"Me too, teach me too!" Followed by Kagura with shining eyes as well.

Pitou is uninterested in using a weapon as she felt that it is better to fight using her claws. I don't know if I should teach them this early but after deliberating about it, I decided to teach them the basics for now. I can also use the training to familiarize myself with other kinds of sword.

"Well, I'll teach you after lunch, okay?" I said as I prepared our lunch.

After having our lunch, I motioned for the chipmunks to follow me as they sat down beside me. While they are resting, I told them about the story of Mulan while making a makeshift sword.

I finished the story after making the makeshift swords and gave one to Erza and Kagura.

Erza's sword is a standard wooden sword while Kagura's is a bokken or a wooden katana.

I started training them by making them swing the sword for 100 times and told them to stop if they can't raise their arm anymore and not push themselves hard.

I was kind of surprised to see that they didn't flinch or complained but they started swinging the sword as I told them to slow down and swing the sword down in full force. I also taught them about basic stances as I fixed the flaws in their stances.

I then followed them by swinging a wooden katana as well. Seeing me, swinging a sword with them, they were motivated as they started matching my rhythm when I strike.

When Erza and Kagura reached 50, both of their arms started feeling heavy but they can still raise their arms. When they reached the 80th swing, Kagura cannot raise the sword anymore as she stopped and sat down panting with sweat flowing down her body, while Erza swung her sword for the 90th time and every swing felt really hard for her but she persevered.

When she grows up, she wanted to be the one to protect her parents and her sisters so they won't separate anymore from her. When she heard the story of Mulan, she was amazed by the girl as she disguised herself as a man and joined the army. She heard that her mother is a general when she chance upon our conversation, and promised to make a name for herself.

When she reached the 99th swing, she felt like she could not raise the sword anymore and felt like she was defeated and came up short. She was about to break down to tears because its her first loss but she felt my hand on her shoulders as she looked at me who had a smile on my face.

"Its fine if you came up short, Erza. It is still your first time holding a sword. You never gave up, that's all that matters." I said as Erza finally broke down and hugged me as I looked over to see Kagura who was sleeping on the swing as I brought the chipmunks to their room to let them have an afternoon nap.