The Innkeeper



Even if Lex sped up the meeting, he had to go through the necessary steps. He had to pick who he was trading with, and in the case of the emporium, he had to pick out exactly what he wanted to buy.

This was a rare opportunity to rack up on various resources, cultivation techniques and information that he wouldn't normally be able to get in touch with. This was one benefit of appearing as himself: he did not need to pretend to be all knowing and powerful.

Of course, the emporium could no doubt guess that Lex's background was not simple. But what did it matter if they guessed or not? Lex was still in the golden core realm. It was understandable for him to have gaps in his knowledge.

If he could supplement his knowledge with that of the emporiums, not only would he be better off, it would be a lot easier for him to maneuver in the future.

Lex could not help but sigh. Things were just too chaotic. He was already in a time crunch to discover the anomaly in the Crystal realm before his deployment information from the Henali came. Now, he also had to prioritize his own cultivation using the elixir since it would soon disappear. At the same time he had to maximize his profits from it as well.

Not to mention that Lex had numerous employees who were stronger than him. They were currently suppressed because of the subtle influence the Inn played in ensuring they work honestly, not to mention those that saw his outburst when he used the Butter knife at its full strength. But there was Zagan, a monster currently still undergoing tribulations. Lex had to figure out how to keep him in line.

On top of all that, there was now apparently a group of people who knew exactly how to locate system users. Would they be able to detect him as well? He had no idea, but he had to check up on it sooner rather than later.

Lex didn't have an issue with the problem, but the fact that too many problems were coming all at once. How was one man supposed to do everything at the same time?

Oh yes, there was also a wedding he had to plan. He should see if he could get anything from the emporium to improve the wedding.

Poor Innkeeper, he was completely swamped.

"Mary, keep an eye on them and tell me if anything significant happens. I have to deal with this first."

Although it sounded a lot like Lex was lamenting, in truth he was pretty calm. He complained that he had to do everything himself, but he knew that he had been raising some pretty loyal followers.

Previously he was really worried since all his workers seemed to have an extremely mellow and amicable temperament. How would they deal with it if a situation escalated and he wasn't there?

But now, there was finally one fellow who was a bad seed. How would he be able to take it if one of his coworkers was challenged to a deathmatch? Not too well, if Lex had to guess.

Suddenly, Lex's tense muscles relaxed. Yes, he had to remember that the Innkeeper was never alone. He had the entire Inn backing him up.

"Do you have some tea?" Lex asked Powell as he perused the list. "This may take a while."

*****

The three Rhinocentaurs that were currently trying to sell the location for the system users were not the only ones who had arrived at the Inn from their organization.

Their organization was exceedingly mysterious, and each member could only join the organization by being invited. Each member was extremely powerful, for snatching a system from a system wielder was not easy at all. Systems gave their users unfair advantages, which made them extremely difficult to kill, which is why most members operated in groups. Of course, their organization also had a loose organizational system, and there was nothing really stopping one member from attacking another to steal their system so they had to be careful who they partnered with. At least, that's what it was like as basic members of the organization, which is what these three were.

They had been recruited due to their strengths, and had formed a team because they felt that it was easier to trust one from their own race.

As basic members of the organizations they did not have many perks, but they were eligible to get a special device which could detect systems in a close proximity. There were numerous limitations on the machine, and theirs was the most basic version of the machine too, so it was extremely lucky that they were able to discover Garlin back on Nibiru.

But Garlin did not have a simple background even on Nibiru, so they hired a helper using the chatroom. Of course, since the helper was stronger than them, they also signed a contract through the chatroom that the helper could not divulge any information about them, and could not try to harm them in any way. The contract was upheld by the chatroom, and if anyone tried to break it there was a severe punishment, so it was safe to use.

Their helper protected them from external interference while the three of them ganged up on Garlin. Once it became apparent that he was about to lose, Garlin tried to use the golden key to escape, but was ultimately killed before he could use it.

Later on, when they had retried the system and escaped pursuit, they gave all of Garlin's belongings excluding the system to their helper. It could not be helped, it was a part of his contract that all loot would be turned over to him.

When he was inspecting the key, he accidentally broke it and brought them all to the Midnight Inn. Initially they took things cautiously and made sure to understand their new environment. But when their helper discovered John was a system user, he did not hesitate to challenge him to a deathmatch.

There was no mention of systems, and John did not know his motives, but naturally he was provoked into accepting so currently a death match was underway.

It was just these three who were more cautious and did not dare to randomly pick a fight with the Innkeeper. It wasn't as if they had heard of his reputation before. It was just a part of their personalities to not provoke death.

Unfortunately, at least among the workers at the Inn, it was already common knowledge that these three had arrived with the same beast which had challenged John to a deathmatch in the Murder grounds.

The three were busy focusing on their chat interface, completely oblivious to their surroundings, when one of them suddenly felt something on his shoulders. He looked up, and was stunned to find a thin, delicate looking man standing calmly on his shoulders. He was wearing a smart three piece suit which only amplified his aura, adding an air of power to the arrogance he radiated.

The other two Rhinocentairs quickly noticed something was wrong, and looked up to find a human looking down on them.

"Welcome to the Midnight Inn," he said in an exceptionally cold voice. "I hope you find it to your liking."

The mans 'polite' words did nothing to diminish their sudden anger, and one of them yelled fiercely as he punched the man, trying to push him away. But the man very simply took a step forward, and moved from one of the rhinocenataur's shoulder to another's head.

"I heard that one of your friends challenged John to a fight to the death."

He squatted down, but such an action only brought greater attention to the fact that he was looking down on them.

"Here at the Midnight Inn, we take great pride in our hospitality. Since one of your friends is in a fight to the death, how can we bear to leave you feeling lonely? How about it? Are any of you interested in fighting with me to the death?"

Although the human did not seem powerful, his words brought the three rhinocenataur's great stress. Was the Inn making a move against them?

They immediately tried to exit the Inn, but found that they could not.

"What's the rush? Why leave so soon? I especially took my time to go to the security room and have them block you from teleporting away before I approached you. How can I allow you to leave without tasting our hospitality?"

The three rhinocenataurs' suddenly noticed that, at some point, they had been encircled by a large number of suited humans. Some of them were radiating an especially strong aura, though most of them were not so intimidating. But their numbers alone was something to worry the rhinocentaurs.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luthor, and I have recently added a new occupation to my resume. Alongside my main job, I have also become incharge of fertilizer procurement. Allow me to show you how I fulfill this role."