"You just need to... marry me... Wait, I mean, my daughter!"@@@@

    "Hah?" Clovis dropped his jaw, not understanding her words or probably not wanting to understand them.

    *Cough!* She coughed lightly to restart the conversation and said, "Ah. My apologies. It was a bad habit."

    Kanaria couldn''t help but make a wry smile, not knowing what to say in this situation. She had been so influenced by her mother''s stories that the first time she learned about his identity, she was also like this.

    "With all due respect, Ma''am, I believe that something like this can''t be forced. Marriage without love or just because of intercourses won''t last long. Every marriage should be based on love, so—"

    To his surprise, she actually said the same thing as him.

    "The relationship has to be built first before talking about marriage."

    "Eh?" Clovis blinked his eyes a few times in disbelief. Kanaria and Jay also couldn''t believe that she would say the same thing as Clovis, like she knew what Clovis wanted to say.

    Vania continued with a smile. "As expected, you are his grandson. I thought only your appearances were similar, but I guess your characters were the same as those of your grandfather. I simply recited what your grandfather said to me."

    "..." Clovis was speechless.

    "It seems that my daughter has told you something about me and your grandfather." Vania chuckled. "Anyway, I just want to tell you three things. First of all, I''m not joking about earlier. Second, you don''t have to worry about the Drake Group or the Rusth family for the time being because I will take care of them. Last but not least, I don''t have any problems with Kanaria joining your group.

    So, please take care of her."

    Clovis was a bit overwhelmed. Vania brushed it off like nothing, but it seemed that she was still idolizing his grandfather.

    "Mom!" Kanaria, on the other hand, felt embarrassed when her mother put it that way.

    "Don''t worry. I have put that thought away after marrying your father." Vania shook her head, assuring her.

    Clovis gave a wry smile as he chose to ignore the embarrassment and say, "As the leader, I will definitely protect my group even if it costs me my life. I am thankful for your help with the Drake Group and the Rusth family.

    "Although I can talk big like this, I still don''t have enough strength to fight against them yet. So, I am thankful that you are going to help us."

    "Of course, this is going to be hard for us as well. So, I can only stop them for one year. If you don''t want to be attacked by these people, you have to find another Tier 5 explorer as your backer. Or you need to at least become a Tier 3... no, Tier 2 Explorer within a year. Can you do it?"

    "I can''t say for sure, but I believe they are doable." Clovis nodded with a solemn expression.

    "Alright then." Vania looked satisfied. "Also, you might want to be wary of that Ivan''s guy. While he is considered the most talented and has bright potential, his personality is slightly questionable."

    "I am aware of it and will be careful of him. As much as I want to get rid of him right away, I think that the Drake Group will spare no effort in killing us the moment I do that."

    However, she seemed to remember something. "By the way, Clovis. Do you know that there is another facility underneath your house?"

    "Huh?" Clovis tilted his head in confusion.

    "Well, if you don''t know it, that''s fine. I just found out about it when I was stalk... walking around the city. It seemed that there was another facility that was running for twenty four hours a day underneath your house."

    ''She just admitted she was stalking, didn''t she?'' Kanaria''s eyebrows twitched.

    Clovis looked down, remembering what Gregory had said to him previously. There were people eyeing his house. It seemed that they were looking for a way to get their hands on this facility, but didn''t dare to enter.

    They might even wait for him to sell this house so that they could buy it.

    "I understand. Thank you for the information, Ma''am." Clovis nodded. "I will check it when I go back to the surface."

    "No need to be so polite. Call me mom if you want."

    Clovis just ignored it, knowing why his grandfather avoided her.

    "By the way, you should stay in this room for a bit longer. I''m sure the commander is going to look for you in a bit to discuss the reward."

    "Yes."

    Vania waved her hand with a gentle smile before exiting the room. Her face soon turned cold again as if she didn''t have any emotion.

    As soon as the door was closed, Clovis couldn''t help but look at Kanaria, saying, "Your mother... how do I say this..."

    "No, no, no. Don''t say it!" Kanaria clutched her head as if she didn''t want to hear it. No, she refused to believe her mother''s actions.

    "Pfft." Jay laughed out loud. "Your chastity is in danger, captain."

    "..." Clovis''s eyebrows twitched. He let out a long sigh before saying, "We''re still too young. It''s not the time for that."

    "Other people of the same age usually have a partner or two. Unlike your grandfather''s generation, which is still sticking to the old morals, it''s better if the younger generations have a wife or two to repopulate the world... or at least, make sure the population doesn''t go into decline after a lot of people die to the beasts."

    "How about you? Just go matchmaking right now." Clovis snorted.

    "Me? As the heir of a big family, I have to search for my spouse carefully." Jay smiled while Kanaria rolled her eyes, saying, "Your father told my mother that he is questioning your ability, thinking that the lineage will end in you."

    "What?!" Jay was taken aback.

    However, their little chat soon stopped because the door was opened again and the commander came in.