Affinity:Chaos

"Are all of them going for the expenditure as well?" Grey couldn't help but ask Reynolds on seeing the number of people present.

"Not really, only those at the Late stages of the Origin Plane are allowed to go. Of course, there are a few who would go even with the warning from the guild," Reynolds explained.

"Oh, then why are you allowed to go?" Grey looked at him.

With the guild not allowing those below the Late stages of the Origin Plane to go, he didn't understand why they'd allow Reynolds to go. Reynolds was powerful, but not to the extent of being able to fight against a Late stage Origin Plane Elementalist. His Elemental Warrior could at best fight to a draw with a Seventh stage Origin Plane Elementalist.

And from what Reynolds told him, they're not aware of him being a high-grade summoner. He suddenly felt a little suspicious of the guild, after all, this was not the proper way to show gratitude to someone who saved the children of an important member of the guild.

"At first, they tried persuading me not to go since it was going to be dangerous. But after seeing my persistence, they decided to let me be. The leader of the expenditure has already made it clear to me that they can not guarantee my safety," Reynolds said.

"Hmm, at least they warned you beforehand," Grey threw away some of the suspicions he had towards the guild after he heard it was only because Reynolds demanded they let him go.

"Hmph! Uncle Reynolds is the strongest, he'll beat that monster up!" Alexa jumped into the conversation. She thought Grey was trying to play down Reynolds' strength.

"Haha, I'm sure he would," Grey chuckled but didn't say anymore.

The group walked to the front of the crowd gathered there, and on a small platform that was raised there, three men could be seen standing with hands behind their backs, facing the crowd.

Two of the men had long well-trimmed beards, while the last man had a mustache.

All three men had the same facial appearance that it's almost impossible to tell them apart. They had the same average body build, with the same length and color of hair. Luckily, two of them had a beard while one had a mustache.

Grey felt the two with a beard were a perfect copy of each other. Added to the fact that they were wearing the same clothes, he almost thought he was seeing double.

"It's the brothers of destruction,"

"With them around, what's the use in joining the expenditure? We'll only be cannon fodders to fight against the beasts there since they will be the ones to acquire it,"

Different conversations were ongoing with the appearance of the three identical brothers.

"Brothers of destruction?" Grey gave Reynolds a questioning look.

Reynolds raised both shoulders as if saying he didn't know anything about them.

Grey and Reynolds turned their attention to the young man who accompanied them here.

Seeing their gazes, the young man went on to tell them about the trio standing in front of them.

According to him, the brothers were identical triplets, which Grey and Reynolds had already guessed. The reason the trio was called the brothers of destruction had to do with their elements.

The two with a beard were Lightning and Fire Elementalists respectively, while the last one with a mustache was surprisingly a Darkness Elementalist. Having such destructive elements, and the strength to boot earned them the name brothers of destruction amongst the mercenaries.

It was said that they were linked, hence none of them could advance above the other. All three of them had purple elemental grades for their elements.

"Oh, but that's a weird name," Grey unconsciously said with a nonchalant expression.

Grey and his group were at the front of the crowd, not too far from the platform where the brothers of destruction were standing atop.

His words were heard by a few people who stood close to them, as well as the three brothers who were standing on the platform.

The hall suddenly went quiet, and the few people standing close to Grey and his group took a few steps back, distancing themselves from Grey and Reynolds.

Grey was oblivious to what was happening because Alexa was tugging at his arm.

"Look, little lady, you need to grow for at least fifteen more years before you can marry anyone," He tried explaining to her gently.

"Fifteen years?" Alexa asked with a confused face.

"Yes, in fifteen years time, you can marry whoever you… want," Grey paused during the last part of the statement when he noticed a shadow looming over him.

"Huh?" He turned around to see who it was.

"What did you just say?" One of the brothers with a beard asked with a calm expression but fiery eyes.

"That you could marry whoever you want in fifteen years time," Grey blurted out what he just said to Alexa.

"…"

A blank look appeared on the face of the man standing in front of Grey. He was not the only one who had that expression, almost everyone who was close to them had the same expression.

Reynolds was the only one who seemed to be trying to hold back his laugh. He was just like Klaus in some aspects, so he found this very funny.

"What did you say?" The man asked once again.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking to you earlier," Grey apologized when he realized what just happened.

The man looked at him with his fiery eyes, "I'm not talking about this, what you said about our name,"

"Huh? Name?" Grey asked with a confused look.

It was only when he looked at Reynolds and the young man who was with them did he recall it.

'Oh, that. Why would a grown-up man be worried about something like that?' He thought inside.

He couldn't wrap his head around how a man would confront him because he said their nickname sounded weird. Even he wouldn't be bothered if someone said his name was weird, much less his nickname, if he had any.