Affinity:Chaos

"Oh, okay," Ellis replied a little downcast.

But in the end, he still pointed the spot out for him on the map. Since he could be of assistance to this senior who helped him, he would do it well.

'Hmm, is it the same place?' Grey thought to himself while looking at the map properly.

The Magical Beasts' forest was huge, so there was no way there would be only one bamboo forest. But hearing about a bamboo forest, he couldn't help but get his hopes up, even if not by much, but at least he had to check it out.

"Thank you. By chance, do you know of any other bamboo forests in the Magical Beasts' forest?" Grey asked.

Since Ellis speaks a lot, then he should be able to know some things about this place. Who knows, he might just know the location of another one.

"No senior, I only saw this one by chance. The area the bamboo is growing is not really large, around three to four hundred meters I think. But according to rumors, there tend to be treasures in places like that," Ellis replied.

"Okay, thank you for your information. I'll be going then," Grey said before turning around.

"Senior, can… can I come with you?" Ellis asked nervously.

"No," Grey replied decisively.

"But… but… there's something there I want," Ellis pleaded.

Grey stopped and looked at him, after thinking about it for a while, he decided to let him travel with him.

The reason for this was simple, he was clueless about the Magical Beasts' forest and Ellis seems to know a thing or two. Not just that, but he was also the one who showed him where the bamboo forest was located.

'As long as he isn't looking for what I need, then we're okay,' Grey thought as he gave Ellis a nod of approval.

"Thank you senior!" Ellis exclaimed happily.

"I'm not a senior, call me Zeke," Grey said.

This was the alias he had previously used, since he was in a place where he didn't want to use his real name, then he didn't mind using the same name once again. Frost City was hundreds of kilometers away from here, so the chances of people who knew Zeke Hoover appearing here were slim.

"Uh, okay senior Zeke," Ellis nodded with a little uncertainty.

"This is going to be a long journey," Grey muttered as the duo started the journey to where the bamboo forest was located.

As they were walking, Ellis would speak about the different places they pass through, he would also occasionally speak of his travels in the Magical Beasts' forest. To Grey's surprise, Ellis had been coming to this place since he was in the Fusion Plane.

The fact that Ellis was still alive still surprises him. From some of Ellis' stories, he spoke of times when he was betrayed by the people he was traveling with.

"Then why are you following me this freely?" Grey couldn't help but ask.

People who are betrayed more than once usually find it difficult to trust people close to them, much less a complete stranger.

"Maybe I'm just too naive, or maybe I'm stupid. But, for some reason, I've never given up on people," Ellis replied after a few seconds of silence.

"I'll take the first two, the third is crap," Grey replied with an apathetic voice.

He felt it was more preferable to believe that Ellis was naive and stupid than what he said about not giving up on people.

"It's okay, only a few people have agreed with me," Ellis said with a smile.

"Where are they?" Grey asked.

"Uhmm… why don't we forget about that?" Ellis asked after hesitating.

"They're dead, right?" Grey asked, looking straight at Ellis.

Ellis sighed softly before nodding.

"And you still believe in people? Looks like you're only alive because you're lucky," Grey scoffed and walked away.

"But, all the times I've been saved, the same people you say I shouldn't believe in are the ones who always come to my rescue whenever I'm in a life and death situation, especially in here," Ellis said while walking after Grey.

"Hmm, you do have a point there." Grey replied, before muttering under his breath, "I should've let him die,"

"What?" Ellis asked.

"Nothing," Grey said.

"I could swear I heard you say you should've let me die," Ellis said.

"You're wrong, I didn't," Grey replied with a straight face.

His voice didn't even waver, if one didn't know otherwise, they would think he wasn't lying.

"But… but…" Ellis didn't want to accept it, but Grey gave him deaf ears, so he was forced to stop speaking about it.

"Wait, all the people who save you, are they men?" Grey suddenly thought of something and asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Ellis nodded before asking.

"Hmm, no wonder. Don't believe in people, that's all I can tell you. Other than close friends, don't trust anyone else easily," Grey replied.

'Looks like his voice is actually more of a blessing. Heh! Those stupid people who would think he is a lady and would always try to rescue the beauty in distress, unfortunately for them, they will always get the surprise of their lives,' Grey shook his head as he thought of why Ellis was always saved whenever he was in trouble.

When he first heard Ellis' screaming for help, he also thought he was a young lady. Of course, he wasn't like those stupid guys who ran towards him. Had Ellis not come in his direction, he wouldn't have helped him in any way.

The duo continued walking with Ellis speaking almost nonstop throughout the time. Grey almost had the urge to block his ears, how could someone talk this much?

'Damn it? This guy's almost as annoying as Klaus!'

This was the only thing in Grey's head throughout their journey.

Grey was forced to increase his speed so they could get to the bamboo forest, sooner rather than later.