Memories of the Past

After watching this memory, Morty silently tore off the memory vial and threw it onto the ground like garbage.

He had always thought Grandpa didn't care about him at all.

Yet for his sake, Grandpa had gone out of his way to collect local specialties that Doctor Rick might accept, flattering him with a fawning smile and sweet words.

Any Rick was an existence of extreme arrogance.

If someone tried to make them bow their heads, they would become the most stubborn, hardheaded creatures in the world.

Yet for Morty's sake, he had done exactly that.

It was the equivalent of throwing his dignity to the ground, stomping it back and forth into mush, spitting on it several times, then cursing it out.

Thinking of this, Morty picked up more memory vials.

Memory 0023...

Morty and Grandpa had just finished drinking at the political marriage wedding of two alien races and were drunkenly piloting their spaceship.

"Ri... Rick, are you lgb or not?! This is already your thirty-fourth suicide attempt! When are you going to grow up?!"

Even while saving Morty, Grandpa didn't forget to belittle him.

Memory 0200...

On an alien battlefield in some universe.

In this mad world, which had yet to be discovered by the Galactic Empire but had already been at war for n years, a godlike ruler who had descended from the heavens was launching his grand expedition to unite the galaxy.

Morty and Grandpa had come here as mercenaries.

"People! In this life, people should do things they can brag about when they're old. Don't you agree?"

Standing inside the catapult, Morty's legs shook uncontrollably, every muscle in his body trembling with fear.

Because eight kilometers away, there was a transport convoy surrounded by green-skinned orcs.

And Morty was about to be hurled there by the catapult to deliver the energy shield barrier in his hands to them.

With Grandpa's operation and assistance, the danger of this mission had already been reduced to the absolute minimum.

But... who the hell wanted to be used as a rock and launched eight kilometers away by a catapult???

After making one final inspection of the catapult, Grandpa grinned and pulled the lever on this blessed machine, launching Morty through the air.

The soldiers nearby, who had long since been dumbfounded, began discussing it among themselves.

"This... somehow feels really loyal?"

"Although sacrificing yourself to save others is worthy of praise, being used as a human rock is typical green-skin behavior. We still shouldn't encourage this!"

"Right, right, right! How could we dignified Imperial soldiers imitate the green-skins?"

No sooner had they spoken than a super invincible great-destruction armor-piercing annihilation magic missile struck the catapult and Grandpa from the green-skin position a hundred kilometers away, guided with goblin-made precision targeting.

When Morty returned with the convoy.

As Grandpa, barely clinging to life, reached out a hand toward Morty...

"Ha! You old bastard who threw me around like a rock! So you have your day too!"

"About to die, huh?!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

After gloating smugly for a while, Morty opened a portal, took Grandpa back, and saved his life.

Only after Grandpa's body had fully recovered under the effects of accelerated recovery serum did he ask, "All this time, you've acted like you wanted to get away from me. So why did you choose to save me when I was about to die?"

Morty, who had already been urged several times by Beth to leave the underground base and return to the surface for dinner, turned back.

"Because you're a stinking old man who'd be all alone whether you're here or on the road to the underworld. You obviously care about me, but you insist on acting tough. What's with that?"

"As for why I saved you?"

"Then tell me, why would I want you dead?"

"You're Rick, I'm Morty. Together, we can face every hardship in the world!"