Aftermath & Decision

"...I-It means overpowered."

Jayce said as he tried to be as cute as possible by putting up the best puppy face he could.

But, Taylor didn't seem to be affected by it, not even a little bit as he stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"....is that so?"

Taylor said without a change in his expression. Despite not showing it in his face, he was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions, such as anger, shock, confusion, doubt and so on.

'Did this brat just rat me out? Wait! Firstly, was that abbreviation even the true one? What if he changed it afterward to flatter me?'

Taylor's thoughts were going through a multitude of possibilities but in the end he just shook his head and sighed. It's not worth thinking about.

"Sigh... Whatever, the mission is now completed. Let's get back."

"OK"

But Jayce suddenly paused and looked around with a frown on his face. He asked,

"Are we just going to leave all this stuff here? I mean, wouldn't it be a waste?"

"..."

Taylor raised an eyebrow at his question. He didn't expect his grandson to be such a swindler.

'I kind of feel like he's a lot similar to the Emperor Maaran of the legends. Except he was said to be a miser and a thief because of his past, where he was poor, whereas Jayce is the complete opposite in that regard. A silver-spooned swindler.'

He pursed his lips to avoid smiling or laughing out loud. He cleared his throat,

"Ahem! These kinds of things aren't a big deal. A Roderick shouldn't even look at this kind of trash. We have artifacts far greater than this, you understand?"

"Yeah... but, mosquito meat is still meat though."

Jayce muttered under his breath.

"*Cough Cough* Don't worry, these things will be confiscated by the government."

"Oh!"

Jayce nodded repeatedly as he understood. After all, the government is none other than themselves to a certain extent.

Then, the pair of grandfather and grandson left the place and headed towards the Roderick mansion.

...

After around 90 minutes, they reached the Roderick mansion. Actually, Taylor could've directly teleported to his room. But he decided to give him another tour on the way, causing it to be as long as this.

As they expected, Clara didn't appear to have any intention of interfering in this anymore.

"Well then, that's all I could do. The decision is yours to make. Whether you decide to become strong for yourself or become stronger because people force you. Good luck."

After dropping him off, Taylor said those lines as he disappeared into thin air again.

Jayce stood in the same position for a while, then went to bed.

"It's already 7 pm already."

By the time, Taylor took Jayce out, it was already 10 in the morning, so the mission and all that tour lasted till now.

'Mm, that Indus chicken dish 'Pipokoli' we ate on the way was classic.'

They also stopped at an Indus Empire restaurant which serves their traditional food for an evening snack but ended up eating whole meals.

He then went and laid down on his bed.

For a normal child, all that has happened would seem like a miracle or atleast if they get to know those people died then they would feel variety of emotions from pity to fear. Even Jayce, who knew of the result from the very beginning though seeing people who were alive just a while ago seemingly disappeared without a trace, he felt fear and powerless.

It wasn't that he shrugged it off that time when they were killed but rather he felt it to be a logical conclusion, a result they brought it upon themselves. It had to be said Taylor did a good job by preventing Jayce from seeing murders, even for Jayce with all that knowledge that depicts variety of gruesome images, he's still a kid. Reality is entirely different than imagination.

'There's no other way. Other than to get stronger. Well, it's not something I had not planned beforehand. But, still doing it not because I want, but because of being forced, it is still a disturbing feeling.'

'I can't even make myself say things like *I will become the strongest in the future and get my revenge*. I feel too...cringe at the thought of saying such things?'

Jayce had already decided to leave the room tomorrow morning and let others feel relieved rather than cooped up in his bedroom.

'Well, you can't do anything about it. It is what it is.'

Then, Jayce took the lunch box that was left behind for him in the afternoon and read some other letters. This time, only his father and mother wrote him. His mother especially nagged him about not to put any pressure on him.

Jayce after reading those letters, went to bed. Tomorrow will be filled with emotional drama which he dislikes.

....

Next morning.

It was around 5'o clock. Jayce had already woken up as he had slept earlier last night. He was now standing in front of the room door. Calming himself as he knew, he wouldn't be treated the same way as in the past any longer or, at the least, he wouldn't be able to view them in the same way as in the past.

He opened the door but just as he was about to step out,

"Jayce!"

A familiar voice called out, cutting through the silence. It was his grandmother, her eyes twinkling.

"Grandma"

Jayce muttered.

"So, you decided to step out. Can you tell me what you have decided?... And also if it has anything to do with your grandfather."

Clara said. She reluctantly added that last sentence.

"...I have decided to grow stronger for my sake. I will give my best."

"That's all?"

Clara raised an eyebrow. Because of which Jayce tilted his head.

"No, never mind. I was just thinking about something...go on others are actually waiting outside as they 'coincidentally' come here at this time."

Jayce looked at her for a while, then nodded his head and walked outside. Not even five steps had he taken a shadow appeared before him.

"Jayce, my baby boy!" Sera, his mom exclaimed, pulling him into a bear hug. "It's about time you showed up. We've been waiting for you."

Jayce was caught off-guard. Even though he knew they'd be here, he didn't expect this.

"Mom, about wh-"

Sera shook her head, not letting him finish, a warm smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She knew that Jayce didn't like to talk about this kind of stuff. He had always tended to be like that, but if he wanted to he would say it outright. So she knew if he seemed reluctant, it wasn't right to ask him.

"None of that matters now, Jayce. What's important is that you're here, with us."

Then, one by one, people came out exclaiming his name, grabbing and patting him by the shoulder, hugging him tightly, or ruffling his hair.

Jayce found himself at the epicenter of a whirlwind of emotions. Surrounded by the loving embrace of his family, he felt as though he was standing in the eye of a storm. But a storm that didn't harm him but rather gave him warmth and embarrassment.

Yes, although Jayce would never admit it, he was in fact a little embarrassed by all this unconditional love he was receiving. But at the same time, he questioned himself, questioning his attitude towards these people and towards the affection they were showing him.

'Well, maybe I was right. They might not have changed but I did. The moment I knew of the fact that they were completely aware of my actions so far, I thought of reevaluating them. Though I understood how they didn't treat me any differently and felt grateful for it. I never even considered revealing these secrets to them. Even now, I don't want to do that. Maybe my abhorrent indifference and extreme rationality is not as great of a gift but rather also a punishment...a curse that makes me unable to be truthful even to the most important people in my life...'

----

A.N.

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