The Innkeeper

"What do you have in mind?" Gerard asked, his expression turning a little more serious. In matters regarding security he took nothing lightly, and this matter which involved them taking an initiative to propose a change in the way things operate was especially one that required his full attention.

"If I'm being completely candid, then if it were completely up to me, all rule breakers would receive the capital punishment!" Luthor said, his eyes narrowed. "But no matter what, we must not let the Inn's reputation be tarnished. As such, different levels of transgressions must have different levels of punishment.

"In that case, if we do things my way, the lightest transgression for a first timer will result in a one year ban from entering the Inn, while a repeat offender will get permanently banned. We can also suspend any tasks they're performing or requesting in the Guild room. Furthermore, depending on how serious the issue is, the punishment can be even more serious.

"According to what I know, some marauder's attacked the Inn some time ago, and are still being held at the Inn as prisoners."

"Yes, that is the case," replied Gerard. He took care of the prisoners' security and nutritional requirements, which is why he was one of the few people still aware of the prisoners. The rest seemed to have forgotten about them.

"They were pillagers who attacked the Inn. A lot of them were captured instead of just killed. The Innkeeper did not feel like executing them, so they have been kept hidden at the Inn so far."

"Excellent, so following that train of thought, we'll also need to develop a dungeon, or a prison. Guests who break very serious rules can be put in prison or punished otherwise. Of course, for matters related to this we will have to get the Innkeepers permission, but we should prepare a full-fledged proposal before we present it to him.

"Moreover, I've noticed that we have many strong cultivators, but most of them are at a low level. We should prepare a thorough recruitment plan and present it before the Innkeeper. Some of the guests are genuinely talented and we should utilize them to the best of our abilities.

"At the same time, I've noticed that we have many workers, and all of them are treated very well, but very few have additional benefits which has caused everyone to become complacent. I think we should design a promotion system to motivate employees to work harder…"

The evil gleam in Luthor's eyes began to shine even brighter. He had a very calculative and mathematical mind, and the Inn, as impeccable as it was, was full of inefficiencies. Of course, that was not the Innkeeper's fault, but a result of the workers, who he found lacking.

The Innkeeper had trusted him, and Luthor would not disappoint him. That, he would make sure of.

*****

Lex had dismissed Luthor because he wasn't expecting to see any more guests and wanted to explore the Inn he had been away from for so long, but it was not meant to be.

A number of Inn employees applied to meet with the Innkeeper, for they had many things to report. Although Mary had kept him abreast of all matters that required his attention, that was only on the large scale of things. The minor details relating to the Inn were many things he had overlooked as a result of his absence.

Well, he could not blame anyone, nor was his work getting any less by avoiding it. He began meeting everyone one at a time. The first worker he met was the Sovereign Galactic turtle, who had requested his presence at the greenhouse.

In fact, it should no longer be called the greenhouse but a farm due to its massive size and formidable output.

Fields of vegetables were planted over the sloping hills of the Midnight Inn, with several orchards nearby as well. The formation that was supposed to protect the greenhouse had undergone many upgrades, both in size and function. Since it was only designed to confuse any who entered, and prevent them from delving inside too deeply, the upgrades were not costly. Or at least, not too costly at only 700 million MP!

It had resulted in the greenhouse staying safe so far, though now Lex was considering adding fruit picking as an activity for guests to indulge in.

A random thought occurred to him, which was that he would probably get some cool upgrades if he got his hands on some kind of farming system. After all, any aid his own system gave him in terms of maintaining the 'greenhouse' was very limited.

"How have you been?" Lex asked as he appeared in front of the massive turtle that had buried its shell in the soil. Lex had no idea what it was doing, nor did he want to ask.

"There has been a small, teeny tiny accident," the turtle said, slowly. "Yes, just a small teeny tiny accident. Oh dear, why does no one ever listen to me?"

"What was the accident?" Lex asked, suddenly becoming serious. It was the first time he heard the turtle lose control of a situation.

"Well, a guest paid me a handsome commission to plant a sapling and help it grow up quickly at the Inn. Since the conditions for the sapling to grow were too difficult to find normally, I accepted. At first, all was well. Then the sapling grew a consciousness. Then it fused with the Delinquent Viper Vine hidden underneath the Inns soil, and took control of the vines."

Lex was extremely alarmed at the news, as the Delinquent Vines spread as far as the Inn extended, and were a very important part of the Inn's security system. They were what restrained any trouble makers before guards or security could reach them. If someone hijacked the Inns security… that would be problematic.

"Show me," said Lex gravely.

The turtle, after considering for a moment, rolled over. The soil that covered it was ripped from the ground, falling everywhere but leaving a hole in the center where the turtle had been.

There, in the ground, was a small, but very familiar plant.

"Igishima?" Lex said, suddenly startled. He remembered the sentient plant well, for it had given him quite the shock back when he saw it the first time during the Midnight Games. But it could not be Igishima, for he remembered receiving a notification saying that it had died, and it's MP balance had been sent to its inheritor.

Yet the plant looked too similar for it to be a coincidence.

"The name is McDonald," said the small sapling, "Young McDonald."

"Hello Young," said Lex with a hint of amusement when he realized that… this plant was actually an employee as well! But unlike the turtle, which had hired itself as an employee, this time the system claimed McDonald as having been born only due to the unique environment it provided, and so accepted it as a part of the system in the form of an employee.

"I have been told that you've taken over the Vines underneath the Inn. What are your intentions, little sapling?"

The few green leaves on the sapling changed color, as if blushing out of embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to do it, promise. It just... kind of happened."

"Well I hope you can continue to use them to protect the Inn, since you've taken control away from everyone else."

"I don't know how…" said the sapling, its voice reduced to a squeak.

"The turtle will teach you," said Lex, before turning to give the turtle a silent look. This was the first time he had lost control of the situation, and Lex kind of found it amusing. He also did not forget the little scamper had been accepting MP payments privately. It seemed the turtle was entering its mischievous age.

"Let me know if there's anything else," said Lex one last time, before teleporting away to his next worker. He really had a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of work to do. But, in a way, this was probably the best way to settle back into the flow of things.

He met with a few workers who were planning Harry's wedding and wanted Lex's permission with a few things. He met with workers who had, predictably, gained a bit of weight from eating too much of the Inn's extremely organic, extremely nutrient rich foods and he met with a few who were just making up fake excuses to be able to meet the prestigious Innkeeper.

He met with Gerards old racing crew, who had grown vastly in numbers now. Their fleet of golf carts could be seen all over the Inn, some even racing against the Midnight Train. He met with Little Blue, the flying whale, who had grown a lot more cheerful these past few months, and he met some of the animals who had been living at the Inn for so long that they began cultivating.

Everything was going well, then he met with Velma. She approached him pulling behind her several bags, all full of notebooks. She had reports to give, and they were extremely detailed. After all, she was the gossip queen of the Inn.