The Innkeeper

That day, the Sol-birds in the sky disappeared on the horizon, giving birth to a rare sunset in these lands, and bringing forth darkness that would last for many days. The temperature dropped drastically, so much so that fog started to form with every breath.

The tavern wasn't temperature controlled in the way the Inn was, and the addition of a fireplace was something Lex hadn't thought of at the time of his initial renovations. After considering the situation for a moment, Lex purchased a simple formation to resolve the problem. But, instead of deploying it directly, he had Rick set it up manually, for his guests to see. It would take a few hours to set up, and would only cover the main hall, but that was good enough.

Yes, this was nothing more than a simple tavern. Even the formation for heating was simple.

Unlike the academy, which had Sol-light perpetually all the time, and had well-defined and automated systems for when the light disappeared, the rest of the realm was quite different.

The darkness was absolutely lethal in this realm, in more ways than one. In the absence of light, for reasons unknown, spirit energy would begin to mutate, poisoning anyone who tried to absorb it. Even the Crystal race and Kraven were not immune to this kind of poisoning.

If the darkness persisted, the mutated spirit energy would begin to clump together, giving birth to strange monstrosities. There was no fixed pattern for the kind of evil entity the darkness could birth, and there was even a widely popular theory that the Kravens themselves were born of the dark, due to the black slime that covers their entire body.

The monsters formed had basic sentience, just enough to fill them with avarice for flesh and blood of any kind. Fortunately, the monsters formed were usually weak, and it would take months of darkness to actually give birth to monsters strong enough to actually threaten entire towns. Still, lone travelers, small parties and unsecured outposts of any kind were vulnerable to such monsters, and actually consisted of the main casualties.

These still were just the most common form of danger that existed in the dark. The longer an area suffered from darkness, the greater and more unique the danger would form.

This was why towns and cities in the Crystal realm operated differently based on whether it was light or dark. The single most important difference was that all travel outside the town area would be strictly restricted. Most people were given either paid holidays or had reduced working hours based on their jobs.

There was no danger of mutation or poisoning in the town itself because any kind of light at all would prevent this from happening, so all towns were well lit. The danger, usually, was from the areas surrounding the town.

For Lex, the sudden arrival of darkness actually meant an increase in business. From sailors to haulers, from menial workers to rich merchants, from farmers to landlords, all of them had a habit of enjoying themselves the most during the first few days of darkness. Work hours were reduced, and there was little to no danger from the surroundings.

Of course, not everyone got their time off immediately, but enough people did that Lex suddenly went from an almost entirely empty tavern, to one where all the seats were nearly filled in less than an hour.

The triplets immediately got to work, showing off their skills to Lex. Considering the fact that Lex was still short staffed, he expected them to struggle more in handling the crowd, but their experience of living in a house with 9 other siblings made them particularly skilled in handling a crowd.

He immediately decided to hire them. Which brought him a new challenge, which was he wasn't sure how much he should pay them, for he didn't know what the normal salary was in Babylon. He'd discuss it with Dino later.

The day passed by quickly, and though Lex's tavern was full, it was not nearly as boisterous as yesterday. Lex took this time to acquaint himself with some of the locals, while at the same time spreading the word that he was still looking for a good chef.

As the night was concluded, Lex nodded at himself for successfully getting through the day without any accidents or problems. Yes, he was running a completely normal tavern with nothing excessive or mysterious going on.

Of course, that was only his opinion based on his perspective. Because of the limited time he had spent in the cultivation world, and the unusual experiences he had, he was completely oblivious to the fact that the Midnight Tavern had already developed a certain reputation, with the tavern owner being the most mysterious.

Ignoring the fact that he suddenly moved in and opened up a tavern seemingly overnight, without anyone hearing about it prior to the actual opening, there were still a few things that struck out as odd or impressive.

His behavior under the pressure of an immortal need not be mentioned at all, for it was already understood that that single action marked Lex as someone with a powerful and mysterious background.

The way he was able to converse with Pvarti, treating him as a normal guest instead of fawning all over him also attracted a lot of attention. The timing of him opening the tavern too was suspicious, just in time to receive the Noel brothers.

But these few things were just noticed by the keen eyed. Moreover, Lex knew that not cowering under the pressure exerted by Bertram would attract some attention, but his plan was to solely build up some kind of deterrence against the rowdy and aggressive folk. This was something he was planning on taking time with.

No, what really caused the Midnight Tavern to develop an inexplicable reputation was that the drinks he served were just too good. Even the cheapest drink he served not only had excellent taste, they had yet to give a single person a hangover, and even left many people feeling healthier the next day. No matter how ordinary Lex behaved, just this simple fact was destined to never let him seem ordinary.

Currently, there was no real consensus on what Lex's background was, as the rumors had only just started to develop. What everyone seemed to agree on, however, was that it was unordinary.

The 'everyone' here, though, only referred to the actual customers he had received so far, which was a miniscule number. Many others had only just heard of the tavern, without a significant impression of it.

Just as the last of Lex's guests were getting ready to leave, three such men, who had only heard of the tavern, without really understanding it, entered. As a respectable tavern, the bar and kitchen were not open all night, and Lex was just about to inform them as such, when he noticed the energy in the room change.

His guests, who were getting ready to leave, stopped, their eyes glued to the three men. There was a look of apprehension on their faces, mixed with a trace of pity.

The guests' actions seemed extremely prominent, especially since they were openly looking at the three men, but the men in question seemed not to notice.

The two men standing at the back were large and muscular, while the man in front was short, shorter than Lex even, but his appearance was striking for another reason. He was wearing formal clothing, but his attire seemed mismatched. It was as if his clothes were close to working well together, but the colors were just a fraction away from being cohesive. Moreover, the hat he was wearing looked very odd as well. It was rude to judge or assume, but at a glance, it seemed like the man was trying very hard to replicate the wardrobe of someone from a higher stratum of society, without a proper understanding of what it actually entailed.

Still, none of that had anything to do with Lex, and he was not really one to judge others based on superficial things.

"The bar's about to close for the night," Lex said in a regretful tone. "You can still check into a room though, if that's what you're looking for."

The short man, who was up until now surveying the hall, turned and looked at Lex. He gave a warm, enthusiastic smile, took off his hat and put it on the bar.

"Oh, that's no trouble. I was in the area, and I heard about the crazy party you had here last night. I just wanted to take a look and make some introductions. The name is Elio Ricci."

"Pleasure to meet you Elio, I'm Lex."

"Ai Mr. Lex, you seem very young for someone who owns a tavern, I'm impressed. If you don't mind, I'd like to bring my father here tomorrow to enjoy your hospitality. If there's one thing my father enjoys, almost as much as a mean drink, it's meeting new people and making new friends."

"It would be my honor," Lex replied very simply. So far, Elio had done nothing unusual, so lex would not treat him differently from a normal guest. Yet he was all too aware that his other guests were still frozen in their place, meaning Elio was anything but ordinary.

"Very good, Mr. Lex. Very good. I'll see you in the morning." With that, he picked up his hat and stepped out of the tavern, followed closely by his goons, maintaining a warm smile throughout.

His exit, however, finally allowed the remainder of his guests to relax.

"That was Mr. Ricci's son, Elio Ricci," Naki, the oldest of the triplets, whispered to Lex. "Bakers street is a part of their territory. They take protection money from all the shops."

Lex suddenly understood what he had encountered. Instead of being troubled, Lex was actually excited. Yes, yes, as an ordinary tavern, he definitely had to pay protection money to the local gangsters. Maybe they'd have their secret meetings often in his tavern. Maybe the head of the gang, or, dare he say, mafia, was called the Goatfather like a very famous movie from back on Earth.

Oh yes, Lex was definitely getting excited. His one mistake, though, was that he forgot to hide his excitement, leading everyone in the tavern to look at him oddly.