MIGHT AS WELL BE OP-Chapter 504: Unreasonable Expectations

Clement and Spectre just stared at Anthony, who had been talking to them a few seconds ago, as he went from shaking his head to nodding, then smiling, and then suddenly becoming somewhat sad, as though riding an emotional rollercoaster only he could see.

They could only conclude that he was communicating with someone else telepathically at the moment.

Anthony’s gaze eventually turned to them. Then, with a soft sigh, he spoke.

"Let’s go meet my teammates"

Clement nodded silently. As they were about to move, Spectre raised a question.

"Should we just introduce ourselves as normal soldiers, or can we also state that we are your subordinates?"

Clement seemed to nod in agreement with the question, clearly having the same concern.

"No need to overthink it. You can introduce yourselves as both. You don’t have to hide it from anyone anymore. But make it clear that you are my subordinates, and not my family’s"

Anthony calmly replied without missing a beat.

"That’s a relief"

Spectre said as the group began walking in the same direction, their footsteps falling into rhythm.

’Why are we walking? Can’t we just teleport there like how he teleported here?’

Clement wondered silently to himself.

"Why is it a relief?"

Anthony asked, not fully understanding the weight behind Spectre’s words.

"Well"

Spectre began, "We’ve basically been hiding it since the beginning back at the Academy. But now that we’re done with that place, there’s no longer any need to keep it secret. We never really had the chance to talk about it openly with you. But we discussed it among ourselves and decided not to mention that you were our master to anyone, at least for the time being"

Spectre paused briefly before continuing.

"It was mostly about keeping things simple. There were too many eyes and ears back then, and our strength wasn’t enough to withstand the kind of attention that revelation would bring"

"There’s no huge calamity that’s going to befall you just because you say you’re my subordinate"

Anthony said, his voice casual.

"In the Academy, we simply had to hide it because we were weaker... too weak back then. What mana rank were you all at that time? SSS rankers, maybe? But now it’s different"

As he moved, his tone was calm but confident, as if reflecting on a different era, one long past.

Spectre nodded in understanding. It made perfect sense. They had been too weak then. But now, they were stronger than many. Even so, he understood that in the vast scale of the galaxy, they were still like ants trying to shake the world.

"Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but Evelyn already told the Saintess of the World about us being your subordinates"

Spectre said suddenly, as if the thought had just struck him.

"Huh? When? Why? How?"

Anthony asked immediately. He wasn’t particularly worried, just surprised by the sudden news.

"Well, the Saintess of the World didn’t believe the lie about Evelyn finding an inheritance during the Academy break. So she pressed her with questions, more and more details. Evelyn finally broke and answered truthfully"

Spectre replied, letting out a long sigh as he spoke.

"Then how did she find out about the rest of you?"

Anthony asked, now growing curious.

"Well, since Evelyn admitted the inheritance story was a lie, the Saintess of the World simply deduced that the rest of us who claimed to have received similar inheritances also lied. But she never confronted us directly. Evelyn said the Saintess figured it out on her own"

Spectre explained.

As Spectre finished speaking, Anthony fell into deep thought for a moment.

"What made her begin to doubt Evelyn in the first place?"

He asked, clearly wanting to understand the chain of suspicion.

"Her rank and age"

Spectre answered.

"The Saintess of the World said Evelyn was simply too talented. No one could match her grandson, yet Evelyn did. So... here we are"

At Spectre’s words, Anthony simply smiled, amused but not entirely surprised.

"Any other thing you forgot to mention by chance?"

Spectre thought for a second, then shook his head as he replied, "Not at all"

But then, a voice that had been silent throughout the entire discussion spoke, Clement.

"Evelyn said the Saintess of the World was training her as your wife so she could have a great-grandkid"

Clement said without hesitation.

At Clement’s words, Anthony suddenly felt like he had tripped on a stone.

’What useless training’

He screamed internally, half exasperated and half helpless.

Before, he had been holding off his mother about this issue, and occasionally Irene as well, but now it seemed Irene had taken the matter even further, pushing it to a new level.

"Why didn’t you say anything earlier?"

Anthony’s gaze shifted sharply to Spectre as he asked the question.

Spectre cursed Clement in his mind.

He hadn’t mentioned this earlier simply because he didn’t think it was necessary. And now Clement, who usually had the most sealed lips, seemed to have the most slippery tongue at this moment.

’He’s lucky he’s stronger than me at the moment’

Spectre thought bitterly.

"I didn’t because I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed"

Spectre replied with a strange and awkward expression on his face.

"What military base is Evelyn stationed at currently?"

Anthony asked, shifting the topic back with a sigh.

As the Saintess of the World, Irene wasn’t restricted to a single military base. She went from base to base, healing and aiding as many as she could in a short amount of time.

"At this moment, I don’t know. But Evelyn said she hasn’t seen the Saintess in a week. Even if you go now, you won’t be able to meet her"

Spectre responded honestly.

Anthony sighed again. He had planned to rush to his grandmother and explain things in detail before her imagination ran wild and all her well-meaning efforts went to waste.

Anthony couldn’t understand women, especially mothers. They would urge their children to give them grandchildren. And when that happened, and the grandchildren grew older, they would begin urging those same grandchildren for great-grandchildren. It was like an endless cycle of unreasonable expectations.

Anthony simply couldn’t make sense of it.

He sighed and waved his hand. A portal appeared before him, swirling gently with spatial energy. Without hesitation, he stepped through it.

He had originally decided to walk so he could clear his head after losing a gift from ???. But now, that seemed like a bad idea. Who knew what other information would be revealed if he kept walking?

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om