"There's something I don't get,you already have a system which can be considered a cheat in this world so why did you choose to become a slave of someone else willingly?" Lucius was so baffled by Ignis's choice that he couldn't help but ask.
"It's not that I wanted to bend the knee but things here aren't as simple as light novel protagonists make them out to be. When I woke up in this world with my system, the first thing on my mind wasn't to conquer this world but to survive and to do that, what's most important is backing."
Ignis then began to explain to Lucius why he had chosen to serve someone else. When he or rather they woke up, they weren't in Guest Inn like Lucius had thought but instead woke up in the outskirts of the city. That's where adventurers had found them and brought them to the city.
To many of them, becoming an adventurer seemed cool and the main character like and with many of them with their own systems or innate abilities, they wanted to be adventurers. The adventurers though dissuaded them from making rash decisions and adviced them to plan for their futures carefully.
They then attracted the attention of the Holy Church as newcomers were extremely rare and there were so many of them. The church had initially wanted to do the Awakening Ceremony for all of them but there were just too many so the church offered this option to those who wanted it.
Those with systems obviously didn't participate in this ceremony as they already knew how to get stronger quickly. Since they had already spoken with the Adventurers Guild, those who participated in the ceremony were all recruited by the guild.
A month or so passed and the Adventurers Guild together with the Holy Church seemed to have discovered something about them and offered massive benefits in order to pull the Earthlings to their sides. And many of the system users flooded the guild and the church after experiencing hardships of being independent in the city.
The crazy thing was that after these Earthlings were recruited, they disappeared as though they never existed and a few months later, they were declared dead by the church and guild. Those remaining felt that something was wrong and Ignis was one of them.
They then created their small organisation of system users and used everything they had to investigate the cause of death of their fellow Earthlings and after an extensive search, they found out that they'd been experiments on until they died.
Once they obtained this information, the group disbanded and everyone escaped on their own. The church and guild started hunting down those left and the guild obtained most of them with the church obtaining a few. Ignis had run all the way to the core of the city where he made friends with an old man who then introduced him to the City Lord.
Seeing his uniqueness, the City Lord gave him the offer to serve as the City Lord's Guardian Knight and in exchange, he'd provide him with full support. Ignis's system had something to do with Flames and he didn't know where he would even get them but with the City Lord's support, he quickly rose in power.
He then received news that the others had died after being caught by the church and guild. These two organisations even came to the City Lord to try and negotiate for him but fortunately he'd chosen the right man to serve. When the City Lord heard their demands, he was extremely infuriated by them because Ignis was not just his servant but Guardian Knight and in his anger, slaughtered them all.
The Holy Church and Adventurers Guild initially wanted an explanation from the City Lord but after hearing that Ignis had become the City Lord's Guardian Knight and they'd demanded for him, they quickly took a step back.
A Guardian Knight isn't just something one could covet or demand as it was extremely offensive to the Guardian Knight's master. It was like being told to give up your life saving treasure as that's literally what a Guardian Knight was.
Once the Guardian Knight contract was signed by both parties, all the experience obtained by the Guardian Knight, would share fifty percent to the master. Not just that, the Guardian Knight would trade his life in exchange for his master's if fatal harm ever befell the master. There was also the possibility of the master being able to borrow power from the Guardian Knight. And once the Guardian Knight died, the master couldn't contract another one.
This was how Ignis managed to protect his life. The City Lord also treated him extremely well and provided him with anything that he needed and even used his connections and favours to receive those things. The only reason Lucius remained safe was because he was asleep this whole time and the Awakening Ceremony only worked with a person being conscious.
…
This news shocked Lucius greatly because he didn't realise just how dangerous this place was. He thought that he was in a safe zone this whole time when he was instead in a lion's den. Lucius was about to ask Ignis what he should do when he saw Julia suddenly appear and approached him.
"I have a message from Father James, he asked you to see him after your shift ends." she said before turning around to leave.
"Wait! Can you please escort this friend of mine to Father James. He came here to see Father James and since you know where he is, please take him there." said Lucius.
Julia then looked at the man with yellow coloured armour, unlike Lucius, Julia could tell at a glance that the armour was yellow in colour because the metal used to forge it was under extreme heat.
"Hello, I'm Ignis. I came to see Father James. Take me to him!" said Ignis rudely. He wasn't a fan of the church and didn't want to come here in the first place but duty called.
Julia might not know many people but Ignis wasn't one of them, in fact, anyone who could fight knew about Ignis because this man was the City Lord's Guardian Knight so everyone had to know him lest they provoke someone they shouldn't.
"Sir Ignis, it is an honour to meet you. If you would kindly follow me as I take you to where Father James is." Julia knew that Ignis hated the church and everything in it so she didn't try to make small talk or anything like that because Ignis would just ignore her, or worse, decapitate her. She knew what everyone called this man on the battlefield, Fire Demon!
…
It was now in the evening and Lucius's shift was about to end. Ignis had left long ago, in fact, his meeting with Father James took only fifteen minutes and the guy left. Father James didn't even bother to see him out as Ignis straight out refused, not giving Father James face.
Lucius was now scared to go and see Father James because he no longer felt safe at the church and just wanted to quit and run away. And that's exactly what Lucius did, he wrote a resignation letter, left it on his desk and quickly left the cathedral. Unfortunately it was already too late, he'd just taken a few steps outside when Father James appeared beside him and patted his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?"