Affinity:Chaos

'Hmm, I don't recall Alice saying anything about this. But he should be fine, as long as they don't find Alice in the compound,' Grey thought.

He wasn't too concerned about Alice's father being summoned to the Capital. First of all, they didn't find Alice in the compound, and secondly, the Reiss family is a big family.

They couldn't be dated back to when the empire started, but they rose to prominence around that time, after the empire was formed. The Emperor wouldn't want to eliminate them over mere assumptions.

They were most probably searching for Grey's friends since they thought he might have shared the Great Earth Essence Liquid with them, there wasn't even any proof of that happening.

He was more concerned about the Earl family. He didn't like others getting in trouble because of him. But there was nothing he could do to help them, it's not like he could fight against the Smith family alone, and he didn't want to ask Gerald for help.

The Lenz organization would be able to easily help the Earl family with as little as a single letter, but Grey decided against it.

"Did the Smith have any demands?" Grey asked.

If the only thing the Smith family wanted was for them to provide him, then he would go to them so that the Earl family wouldn't be bothered.

He could easily escape when he got there. If the Smith family remained unreasonable, then he might get help from Gerald.

"You, of course. What else would they want, they want you," Elda replied.

"Well, that settles it. I'll go with you to your family. Then you people would take me to the Smith family, that should be able to get them to stop bothering you people," Grey said.

"What?! You're going to come with us?" Elda was taken aback when Grey said those words so carefreely.

"Yes, I got you people into this mess. It's only right that I fix it," Grey waved.

"No, I don't agree with it. They'll kill you," Aldreda immediately objected.

"It's okay, I'll be fine," Grey smiled softly.

"No, taking you to them is no different from killing you. I don't agree to this," Aldreda said.

"What are you saying, he said he'll be fine. Stop this tantrum," Elda immediately chided.

Unlike Aldreda, she was infatuated with Grey's look. She couldn't deny the fact that he was unbelievably handsome, but it didn't mean she'd choose him over her family.

"Sister! I…"

"Don't worry, I don't do things I'm not confident in. Do I look like someone who wants to die now?" Grey interrupted Aldreda as she was about to continue her objection.

"But, they will kill you," Aldreda said, tears already filling her eyes.

"Don't worry, I have a huge bargaining chip, so they wouldn't dare kill me. Also, have you forgotten I'm friends with Old man Gerald?" Grey asked nonchalantly.

He wasn't even scared of the thought of going there, the reason for that is simple, he had a plan against the Smith family. This would set the Smith family against the Emperor. Given the Emperor's nature, they might even attack them if he plays his cards well.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to take it that far since he didn't know what plans the Emperor had for him. But he would make sure the Smith got in trouble with the Emperor.

"What's that?" Aldreda asked.

"Me, they wouldn't dare kill me," Grey replied.

"When are we going?" Elda asked.

She had no plans of even knowing what Grey planned, all she wanted to do was take him back to her family, and then send him to the Smith family.

It couldn't be helped, after what happened at the ceremony, she hated Grey for using them. Presently, she didn't even believe the name he told them was his original name.

"Now," Grey replied.

He didn't bother about Elda's attitude towards him. She had changed when she noticed how strong he was, so he didn't take her acting this way strange.

'Alice, I'll have to spend a little time with this family before leaving. Hopefully, my plan is successful. If not, I'll just escape for the meantime, again.' He thought to himself.

His plan of setting up the Smith family was very easy, after the Earl family had handed him over to them, he would tell them of the Emperor searching for him and his friends, being a big family, he believed they must have heard a thing or two.

After that, he would decide what to do next after the family head responds. If the family head plans to take the Great Earth Essence Liquid, then he would communicate with Old man Gerald and get him to inform the Emperor of the Smith family holding him captive and trying to obtain the Great Earth Essence Liquid.

But if the family head decides to send words to the Emperor so they would send people here to get him, then he would escape with the space element, thereby making it look like they were trying to play games with the Emperor. If the people sent are in the Origin Plane, he didn't even mind killing them so it would look like it was the Smith's family doing, either way, he would set them up against the Emperor.

….

A few minutes later.

Grey and the Earl sisters appeared in front of a manor, it wasn't as big as the Reiss manor, nor the Lenz' manor, but it had the appearance of a wealthy family.

"This is my first time coming here, it's pretty nice," Grey commented as the gates were opened for the trio to step in.

"Hopefully, it will be your last," Elda said.

Grey shook his head wryly. Elda's animosity towards him didn't seem to reduce even after he offered himself to the Smith family so they wouldn't bother them anymore.

They went straight to the main building, heading straight to the main hall.

On getting there, two guards were stationed in the front of the closed doors.

"You can't go in Milady, family head is in a meeting with the elders to solve the family problems, he asked us to stop others from disturbing them." The guards stopped the trio.