Chapter 123: A grandfather’s love for his grandson

It didn’t take nearly as long as Brent thought it was going to take to finish getting the things that he wanted done, done. Mr. Caulder and Esper Gardner managed to get the information that Brent needed, then transferred with the help of the Chronos Guild. It seemed that they weren’t actually all that opposed to having Brent take over.

Brent wasn’t quite sure why, outside of the fact that his brother was a damn monster and that Guides were being withheld from them, but he did think that his lack of an arm might play into it. Especially as the Lieutenants began to circle him like friendly stingrays, trying to touch him and see who and what he was.

Esper Parker was his line of defense against the Espers. Drawing a hard line, especially since they were from the Chronos Guild, and then doubling down when Brent whispered to him that the Espers needed guiding. That was something that Esper Parker wasn’t aware of, as Brent was the only Guide amongst the crew.

Brent didn’t blame them for not knowing, and was thankful that Esper Parker was so protective of him at the moment. He was busy fighting his own instincts to go to the ’injured’ Espers and heal them. It was something that most Guides didn’t even realise that they had the urge to do, because Guides were trained to be nice.

Brent only knew that it was an urge because he’d been around people like Colby most of his life. It had been a rather fucked up situation for him when after the man had helped take his arm, Brent had wanted to reach out and help him ease the pain he was in due to his lack of powers. Because he took Brent’s arm.

It had been a…fruitful discovery, along with another skill that Brent kept tight to his chest. One that he didn’t even think Kellen knew that he had. Brent hoped that Kellen never did find out that he had that skill either. He’d only be pissed that Brent had it, and then angry that he had to develop it in the first place.

It was nice, but alarming that the Captain and his people were agreeing with the Phoenix Guild when it had only been a couple of days ago that they were fighting in the streets. Or, at least, it felt like that. Aunt Dina had such open animosity towards them that Brent was more than a little confused about the switch in behaviour.

Especially when they had just…stood there and watched when Brent and the others had been attacked. Brent wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but there was a non-zero percent chance that some kind of brainwashing was involved, or conditioning. If someone was powerful enough, they could do that to the Captain, especially since they weren’t an S Class.

Hell, that could be an incentive for them to not have an S Class. Why have someone so strong willed when you can have someone of a weaker status, but can get the same job done and you can control? It was a horrifying concept to Brent, but not something that someone else wouldn’t consider. It also had all the hallmarks of his brother’s touch all over it. Maybe Brent had been told that no S Classes had wanted the role when in truth, his brother just wanted someone who was easy to control.

Brent and the others watched over the Espers, Brent being extra cautious with little Mr. Caulder with them. He was a civilian, and wouldn’t stand a chance against the stronger Espers, but he didn’t have to worry much.

Esper Harris and Esper Gardner had gotten along swimmingly with the older gentleman. Mr. Caulder had bonded with Esper Gardner because they both practised law, and then had bonded further over having to deal with the whims of their clients. Suffice to say, while Mr. Caulder had been a good friend of his grandfathers, his grandfather had given him many a headache to deal with.

That included his damn will, it seemed.

Esper Harris and Mr. Caulder got along over a love of whiskeys. Brent had found himself walking in on them a few times in Aunt Dina’s apartment at the kitchen counter, chatting excitedly over whatever Esper Harris had brought over. It was quite cute to see the two men bonding, especially since when Brent was alone with Mr. Caulder it was all business. They had been talking about plans and plots. What they could get away with, legally.

What his grandfather had left to Mr. Caulder as instructions.

They were slightly outdated, given the fact that Brent’s grandfather had failed to update those before his death, but his intentions were clear. His grandfather did not want to give a single thing to his other grandson.

That had been made clear in the letter that he had left to Brent. Brent had been hesitant to read it, worried that the old man had gone all sentimental on him in his old age, but it wasn’t like that. His grandfather had left him a rather thoughtful and self-reflective letter that was a good peek into the man that his grandfather had been outside of simply being Brent’s grandfather.

He did apologise, but it felt sincere. More sincere than the fact that the man had thrown money at Brent and helped him move away from his hometown in secret. That, and he didn’t just apologise for the fact that he helped his father create him. He also apologised for letting his brother grow into the powerhouse that he was. He had been blinded by the fact that his brother, at first, had reminded him of a younger version of his grandfather.

It was only too late that he realised that unlike himself, Brent’s brother had no desire to do good in the slightest. Not even for the family.

That was when his grandfather began to realise that he was going to have to come out of retirement and do some heavy lifting. While he was sorry that he was getting Brent involved, he didn’t plan for it to be long. He also didn’t want for it to have to happen after his death, but there was little that he could do in that regard.

Sometimes, old people had to die for the change that one wanted to see to happen, even if you were that old person.

His grandfather had left a plan-the slightly outdated plan-in Mr. Caulder’s hands. It was slightly outdated for good reason. His brother was less likely to check it if he didn’t think it had been changed. The new plan was handwritten, left exclusively at Mr. Caulder’s work and hidden away somewhere that his brother would never think to look.

When Brent had originally asked where they had hid it, Mr. Caulder had looked a little flushed before he explained “in the women’s washroom, tucked inside the box used to discard sanitary products”.

It was ingenious, and Mr. Caulder admitted that it didn’t come from his grandfather. That hint came from his grandmother, a woman who had passed ages ago from a disease that her husband’s researchers couldn’t combat in time to fix.

That was one of the few medicines that his grandfather, and even his brother, had kept free since it had been released. The solution was found, the cure made, and then named in honour of the woman who had inspired them to research it in the first place.

Brent’s grandfather’s letter also included some interesting information. Drop boxes, storage units, apartment numbers and codes to things that Brent had never seen before, and even Mr. Caulder, the man in charge of checking and reading off his estate, was unaware of. Brent’s grandfather had explained the reason behind it simply.

They weren’t his, they were in Brent’s father’s name, a man who had been ’disowned’ but had never truly stopped working for Brent’s grandfather. He had gone into hiding, changed his name, and while he was still alive, he was completely alienated in another city, working away on undoing what he had done. Brent’s grandfather had supplied him many things so that he could do so, all he had asked in turn was the ability to use his name to hide things from the family.

His father had readily agreed, and the listings were just that. It turned out that his father had never ’gone against’ his own father. Instead, he had seen what kind of monster one of his sons was turning into, and what kind of monster he had made when he had created Brent. He had wanted to make up for what he had done. Brent’s Mother also knew, and had kept it all from her children.

That hadn’t been a pleasant passage to read. The one about Brent’s creation and what had truly happened. Brent had always known that his dna had been blended and spliced in a way that no human should truly be meddled with, but it was something else to read it from the man who had protected him despite it.

Brent’s grandfather confirmed that biologically, if anyone checked his dna, Brent would be the offspring of his Mother and Father, just like the rest of the siblings. However, if one was an Esper who specialised in that kind of thing, they would notice that there were some…odities to Brent’s genes that were…unusual.

In fact, there were lots of Espers and Guides who were awakening after Brent that were in a similar boat. It appeared that even after Brent’s father had realised what he had done, it was too late.

The information had already spread, and those who wanted to awaken, or wanted more people to awaken, began to mutilate with genes before, during and after. It was horrifying to consider, but there was a sinking, suspicious feeling in Brent’s guts that he knew what was going on.

His mind couldn’t help but continue to go to Charlie, the small boy who was an S Class Guide. Who had been brought to a Guiding Center. Who had never known anything better. It felt like a damn Guide farm when he had described it to him, and damn it, of course his family had a role to play in it.

That conversation was going to suck when Brent had it, because he would. Hiding it wouldn’t help him anymore. Brent’s grandfather explained that his father did not want to see him, would not want to see him. He viewed Brent as his biggest failure. As a parent and as a human. Brent didn’t take it personally.

He didn’t exactly view him in a positive light either, but it was good that his grandfather made that clear. He didn’t need any lingering feelings on it.

Either way, Brent was glad that the letter ended shortly after that. Just his grandfather telling him that he was proud of Brent, of the man that he had become despite what everyone else had thrown his way. He had read the reports that his people had given him on Brent’s achievements and what they meant, and he couldn’t be prouder of the man he had become.

Truly, despite everything, he was the best of them all. He did not give into temptation, but avoided the lure of what many of the James family couldn’t. Money. Greed. Social status. Brent defied all of the James family just by existing, and his grandfather was pretty sure that even if Brent hadn’t been ’bred’ to be a Guide, he probably would have become one anyways.

Too much had happened to him for that not to be the case.

Those words remained with Brent long after he’d finished the letter. Even as he stood in the Chronos Guild, waiting for everything to wrap up so that he could go back to the Phoenix Guild for more waiting, they hung. Too much had happened to him, huh? Was that how it worked?

It felt like he knew some things about being awakened, and then not enough at all.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep