Over Powered

"I think....grandpa is O.P."

"..."

"..op?"

Taylor tilted his head at this odd acronym Jayce used. This is the first time he ever heard this.

'What is o.p.? Overly Protective? Overly passive? Overly positive or O...'.

Taylor's thoughts went through a multitude of abbreviations that he could come up with for a second, but in the end, he couldn't pick one. So, he asked Jayce directly,

"What does that mean?"

"Mm? OP? Nothing, it just means Ov-"

He stopped in his tracks and looked at his grandfather intently for a while with narrowed eyes.

"I will tell you after looking at the coming mission."

"Wait, when did I tell you that you could come to watch?"

"What? You don't want me to come?"

"No, you're still a child."

"But-"

"No means no."

"Haa...guess you'll never know the abbreviation for it."

Jayce took a deep breath and said it in a unenthusiastic way. Those words caused Taylor's face to change. He narrowed his eyes.

"Are you blackmailing me? And that too with an abbreviation thingy?"

"No, no, no, no. I'm not doing any such things. Honestly, I would be a fool to think it would work. All I'm saying is, after going back home, I'm going to talk with my father and mother about how you brought me out of the mansion, told me about the death of a boy at the same age as me and showed me his deceased body to pay respect so that I can 'learn' from his fate and ending."

Taylor's eyes twitched at his words.

"I mean, I suddenly felt so down after knowing how fragile life is, and I also fee-"

"Enough."

Taylor looked at Jayce who was now showing an innocent expression as if he just genuinely meant those words. Looking at him, he thought,

'This pipsqueak, that abbreviation thing might've been better as a bargain chip than this. Clara would kill me if she heard that, regardless of whether that is true or not.'

"Huu, fine. I'll take you to watch, but you shall follow all I say. Got it?"

"YES, SIR."

Jayce smiled but that gave Taylor the chills as it seemed to him like a devil's grin. In the end, he couldn't help but ask.

"Why do you look so happy? You literally used dead people as a bargaining chip to blackmail me into this."

"Nope, I wasn't. It's just your perspective."

"Are you claiming that you didn't mention them while talking abou-?"

"No, I did mention them, but I didn't use them as a chip. All I did was, remember them."

"Is that the way you remember someone? Isn't it rude? Disrespectful towards the dead?"

'hah, you used them to teach me a lesson just a while ago, wasn't it rude and disrespectful then?'

Jayce scoffed inwardly but maintained a thoughtful expression on his face as he answered.

"Grandfather, it's just like the saying goes. One does not die when killed, but dies when one is forgotten. So.."

Taylor looked at his grandson with a deadpan expression as he heard those preposterous and ostentatious words.

"... they're dead. And I don't know them, so if they are able to be of any use to me, and I use them, then it can be considered that I am remembering and honoring them.... It's not like the dead are going to know, anyway."

Jayce muttered those last few words in an emotionless, Stoic tone.

Taylor's eyes widened at those last words of that sentence. His heartfelt heavy as his grandson, whom he had thought of as a child who was oddly intelligent, suddenly seemed like a Stoic and detached being.

At his level, these kinds of feelings are not mere observational judgment, rather they're produced through instincts and perception. He knows what his grandson might become if he's left unchecked or unbridled.

'I must, no, we as a family, must make sure he never goes distraught or becomes completely detached. Or it would lead to a terrible outcome. I just know it.'

Taylor resolved in his heart. He didn't say anything to Jayce about his words because he knew if he did it, rather than changing his way of thinking, Jayce might not act like his real self before him anymore.

Then, he took Jayce along with him towards the assembly after casting another illusion spell.

...

In a busy street, inside a magical products trading shop, which was a two-floor building that appeared extremely mundane.

It's not a very large shop as it doesn't have any powerful artifacts but rather just some day-to-day magic products. The shelves were arranged with many different kinds of products, from cameras to nail cutters.

There are over 13 people working there, including the one at the counter.

A man appeared to be in his 50s with gray hair and a trimmed beard. His looks along with his blue eyes were striking, he wore a white shirt and black pants and a sky-blue tie matching his eye color.

He was just sitting with a bored expression on his face. Surrounding was no one. No, there are two, but no one can see them. It's without a doubt, our Jayce and Taylor.

The mission was completed successfully by wiping out their hideout without Taylor even having to involve him personally. According to the information that was extracted, the gray-haired man before them was actually a 'King ranked' individual and also a regional head of the 'Shinto group'.

"Grandpa, how lon-?"

"Wait, how can you be impatient on this kind of mission?"

"Impatient? It's like an hour already. He's just sitting there the whole time. Why are you even monitoring him anyway?"

"I'm just making sure that we won't miss anything unknowingly. So just be patient until the signal."

"Stop lying, I know you're just pretending to monitor him, waiting for a reason, like, you want me to say 'I'm bored' or something of that sort, so that you can send me away."

Taylor ignored his rambling as he focused his gaze just on the person in front of him. Actually, Jayce was half right. Taylor indeed thought of it as a possibility, a chance to send Jayce away. But it's also true that he wished to wait until the signal from the others who were going for other targets they got from the information.

'This guy is the big fish. I should make sure collect his soul.'

The gray-haired man is the strongest along with some few grandmasters in this place. So, others that the team target are not a big deal. So, he came here first and had blocked all or any sort of communication from reaching this guy.

At that time, a message was notified to him through the Roderick family's insignia on his overcoat. The message of mission completion.

Taylor looked at Jayce, was looking bored and said,

"Jayce, I just got the message. It seems it would take another few hours."

Jayce turned to look at his grandfather with a tilted head.

"Do you think I will fall for it?"

"No, I am honest."

Taylor said in a 'I swear to god' kind of tone while wearing an impeccable poker face.

"Is that so? That's too bad then."

Jayce said and again lowered his head to keep staring at the floor.

"..."

Taylor, still wearing a poker face, watched him for a while before turning his attention back to the target.

Time passed. Over 15 minutes passed. But seeing Jayce not passing a single comment, Taylor became frustrated.

"Tch... I just got another message that they finished the mission sooner than expected."

Before Jayce could even react, Taylor moved.

Brightness. Jayce's sight was completely blocked. He couldn't hear nor see anything.

When his sight turned to normal, there was nothing, no, the place remained the same. But,

'No people or their bodies or blood or even any sort of evidence that a fight took place here. Nothing, it's as if they just disappeared.'

As Jayce was thinking this, suddenly a hand grabbed him from behind.

"*Screech* it wasn't me, it was my grand-"

He was frightened as he let out a scream while saying that, but as he looked at his very grandfather who had grabbed him. He stopped his sentence midway.

"..."

"..."

The two of them looked at each other in silence.

"Hehe... Grandpa. You asked me what O. P. is, right? I-It means OVERPOWERED."

----

A.N.

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