***One Month Later***
"so this is the town that was invaded by a monster?....."
Caius standing outside the gates of Edevin City, with his head raised up and looking at the signboard just above the gate.
"i believe the Emissary called it a city and not a town".
Ignatius sitting on the shoulder of Caius corrected his wrong outburst of Edevin being a town instead of a city.
"town, city. They are all the same".
"you dummy, how is a town and a city the same?..., the population of a town is less than the population of a city itself".
"i know that, and that is why I called it a town. How can a city be invaded by a single monster, yet none were able to kill it? can you believe that".
Caius made his way into the city through the widely opened gates, ignoring the line of people waiting for their turn to go in.
"halt".
He was stopped at the gates by one of the city guards before he could enter the city. The reason for stopping him, is due to him ignoring the queue and moving on his own.
"can you not see that there is a queue behind you".
Caius tilted his head in sideways, wondering if the guard was referring to someone else and not him.
"why do you keep on turning your head when I am talking to you".
"you mean me...."
Caius still looking confused, pointed his finger at himself, trying to identify if the guard was misplaced or its really him he is talking to.
"yes you".
The guard said, pointing his own finger at his face and turning them over to Caius's face.
"can you not see the attire I am putting on, or are you just doing this so you can feel special for stopping one of the four Cardinal's from entering the gate you are securing".
The guard was befuddled about Caius's question. What does his wearing have to do with why he was stopped from wanting to walk past a line.
"listen man, I don't know who you think you are or where you are from, as long as you don't have prove of it, you remain in the line and follow it through to enter the city. Is that clear".
The guard's decision was firm on not giving Caius special treatment, unless he hands over proof deserving him of it.
"wow Caius, this guy is no joke, looks like he means every word of it".
"I know, and it's starting to get me pretty mad".
Caius says, using his hand to rub his forehead while closing his eyes.
"so this is what the Emissary meant by you not being popular to the general public".
"my popularity is not the problem here Ignatius. This guy just wants to piss me off is all".
"so...., how is he doing on that".
Ignatius moved down from Caius's head to his forehead and bent its upper body downwards, looking through Caius's right eye.
"he is doing a very good job on pissing me off".
"also, no familiars are allowed into the city without having a leash on them".
"why you....., who do you think you are calling a familiar".
Ignatius on the verge of jumping at the guard in rage, was immediately caught by Caius.
"hold on there buddy. Don't go rage mode on me now".
"release me this instant Caius. Did you not hear him call the dignified `I`, a familiar".
Ignatius with his hands stretched out, struggled to set itself free from Caius's hold.
"i did buddy, I did. But if I leave you alone to lash at him, you might end up killing him, and I can't have that. The Emissary will no doubt scold me heavily if such a thing should happen".
"i promise not to kill him, just enough to have him give us the respect we deserve".
"no way. I don't trust you enough to hold back on not killing him".
"hey...."
It voiced out, after it stopped struggling and turned his gaze over to Caius.
"i am an Elemental Spirit King, and as such, my word means everything to me, or do you not know that...."
"I do, but not every word that comes out of your mouth is truthful. For an Elemental Spirit who puts a lot of values in the words spoken, you sure do spout of a lot of falsity".
"that's it, Caius...."
Ignatius's expression looking serious and fierce.
"i want to terminate our contract".
Caius's expression and the air around him changed from friendly to being docile.
"NO".
"it seems you are mistaken, I wasn't making a demand, I was commanding".
"It doesn't matt....."
"WAIIIITTTT........"
the rising tension between Ignatius and Caius seized to rise thanks to the presence of a robust human figure putting on a very flashy robe with expensive jewelries on both hands, legs and neck. Running towards them, with his braided hair dangling behind him like a princess.
"what the heck is that?..."
Ignatius's skin made of fire, slowly bubbled up with his eyes on the man running towards him.
"you took the words right out of my mouth. What kind of freaks live in this town".
Caius said, making a nasty face at the man.
*HUFF, HUFF*
the man finally got to where Caius and Ignatius were. His breathing was heavy, showing that he wasn't the athletic type.
"lord Arnoux, what brings you here...."
The guard that had kept Caius from entering, called out to the fat man with respect upon spotting him.
"lord?...., did you just call him a lord"
Caius found himself getting surprised at the fat man being called a lord by the guard.
"if you look closely, he does fit the description of a corrupt lord".
Says Ignatius, not in doubt that the fat man is indeed corrupt.
"now I get why the town's defenses was so easily breached".
"i apologize for not coming to welcome you on time".
Arnoux ignored the guard's question, and turned a deaf ear to Caius's insultive remarks as he bows his head and greeted him respectfully.
"lord Arnoux, who are they".
The guard was troubled by his Lord's respectful actions towards the individual before him.
The only personnel the lord has ever shown such acts toward, are the members of the royal family, and the guard is vastly knowledgeable on who the royal families are and what they look like, to know Caius does not belong to one.
"you insolent bastard, how dare you refer to this very important man as they? Do you wish to have your job taken away from you".
Arnoux's voice was loud enough to reach a quarter of the line wanting to enter the gates.
His threat of getting sacked from his job got to him, and the guard had to kneel before lord Arnoux begging to be spared.
"forgive me lord, I was only carrying out my duties as a guard and had no idea how important this man is to you".
"forget It, nothing you say can erase the embarrassing act you have committed towards his humble self".
"i am fine though".
Caius said, drawing Arnoux's gaze to himself.
"i mean, let's be realistic, I am also at fault for wanting to cross through the gates without waiting for the line, and the guard only did the job he is paid to do".
"imagine if I was someone with bad intentions, and he allowed me in because I threatened him with a background I refused to release to him?...."
Arnoux at this point, was no doubt in shock.
He came to the gates to attend to security matters to address future attacks from monsters, and coming up with several countermeasures to fight against it.
Om his way back to his home, one of the guards ran up to him, informing him that there was a commotion at the gates.
Arnoux at first wanted to scold the guards for coming to report this to him instead of taking it to the chief of security whose office is located here. But after putting some thoughts into it, he did not scold him and instead allowed him to explain.
The descriptive attire of the man causing the commotion was what caught Arnoux's attention as he hurried himself to the gates. Arnoux was sure that the person was a member of the Sanctuary Of The Holy Congregation, with the concept of the attire described to him by the guards, is exclusive only to them.
Getting here, Arnoux saw that the guards had offended the man, and so took actions to defend him rather than ask for reasons that had led to the commotion itself.
"city lord, I understand that you want to please me knowing where I am from, but shouldn't your priority lean more on assuring that your city is well guarded by competent allies?....."
Arnoux found it shameful to himself that he is being scolded by someone who looked way younger than him, but he did not dare to voice out his complaints.
"i apologize Lord....."
Arnoux stammered at the end of his words so that Caius could complete it by mentioning his name to him.
"don't apologize to me, apologies to the one who tried to do his job but ends up being unappreciated by his boss".
Caius finished talking and left Arnoux extremely pissed off. He started walking through the gate, with his destination being Edevin's Guild.
"you handled that nicely. I thought you were going to be in support of the lord".
"why should I? I am pissed off at the guard, but that is just on a personal level. He did his job appropriately, and I tried to stop him from doing that because of my ego".
"if anyone is to apologize, it should be me not him".
"i am proud of you".
Ignatius said, gently stroking the lines on Caius's head.