The Innkeeper



"What do you need me to do?" Lex asked, once again. All the tales Alexander shared were incredibly grave, and quite concerning. Since they both were technically citizens of the Jotun empire, any disruption to the empire, especially by terrorists, should have been a grave concern for both of them. For Alexander, it surely was. But for Lex, who was preparing to leave the Origin realm, this was more or less just one more war he was avoiding.

Living and owning an entirely separate realm freed him from so many restraints, and though he might have been called irresponsible for running away from the war on earth and now being mostly uninterested in the deteriorating situation in the empire, he was truly looking out for his own. Lex was not responsible for earth, but was definitely responsible for the Midnight Inn, so that was always his priority.

Still, helping out Alexander so long as it was within his capabilities was something he intended on doing. It was not just because he could potentially profit in the future if Alexander continued his meteorical growth. It was also because there were few people left who he, with his identity of Lex, could call friends and still relate and associate with. Although he had many identities, he never forgot that at the end of the day, he was still Lex.

"I need your help in conducting an investigation. I have some leads that could possibly reveal Jeffery's plan. The problem is, I'm fairly certain my identity is more or less compromised, and I don't know how much I can trust my teammates, even if their identities somehow weren't compromised either. Even if I can trust them, they don't really believe me so I doubt they'd be willing to help. You on the other hand are unknown to all the players in this game, so you should have no trouble investigating undetected."

"I don't have much experience as a detective besides what I've seen on television, but I'll do what I can. I just want to remind you, however, that I still have my own matters ongoing. I can only give you so much time."

Alexander grimaced. He wanted to question Lex on the grounds of morality. What could possibly be more important than preventing even more death and bloodshed? But he did not have the right to ask. After all, Lex was willing to help him out without any form of compensation, for now at least. He could not be blamed for giving priority to his own matters.

"Sometimes ignorance can be good. If you have the formal training of a detective, your means may more easily arouse suspicion. Instead, if you snoop around like an amateur, no one will take you seriously even if you are discovered. In this case, being underestimated means that the targets are less likely to hide or erase their tracks."

Moving on as if he had not just called Lex an amateur, Alexander turned on a screen which showed an extensively detailed map of their surroundings. The center of the map showed the area governed by the Jotun empire, which was shaded in green. The rest of the map was divided in two, either shaded blue or red.

"The blue areas are occupied by the official owners of this star system, while the red ones indicate areas where the rebels have managed to capture. Don't let the colors or titles fool you, both sides in this conflict are equally cruel and merciless, but that is not our concern for now.

"The terrorists don't seem to be supporting any one side in particular, and act independently where they can spread the most chaos. But I don't believe they can achieve all this without any ground support either.

"Your first target is here, in the refugee camp set up by the rebels. One of the leaders of the camp, which also doubles as a siege fortress, is someone who is highly suspicious. He has 'coincidentally' benefited greatly from multiple terrorist attacks which, in one way or another, greatly aided covert operations he happened to be conducting at the time.

"I'll pass all the relevant information to you, about the rebels as well as the nominal owners of this star system, so you get a better understanding of the conflict. What you're looking out for…"

The two spent many hours in the room as Alexander thoroughly briefed Lex on the situation. If anything unexpected were to happen while he was investigating, he would need a comprehensive understanding of things if he was to make the best decision. 

*****

In an ominously dark yet bare room sat five figures on the floor, hunched over a mound of glowing embers. The room was not cold, and the embers did not radiate heat, so the sight was unusual. The silence in the room was deafening and was filled with an aura of oppression.

Each of the five men had their gazes fixed on the orange glowing coal, as if looking at it was the only salvation they had in that muted room. Let alone look away, they did not even dare to breathe, as if the rising and falling of their chests would break the careful equilibrium that had been established.

Everything in that room was perfectly still. Everything, except for time. Nothing they did could stop the merciless march of time, and so, even without any external stimulus, the serenity of the room was eventually broken.

A deep, reverberating sigh filled the room as Jotun Marcus Sephore could no longer ignore the harsh reality that was confronting them. All the brothers knew it, but none wanted to face it.

The true severity of the chaos spreading through their empire was something only they, from the very top, could see. One simple metric through which the severity of the situation could be determined was the economic output of their empire. Overall, the empire's ability to generate wealth from its vast resources had diminished by 1%.

This 1% could not be underestimated, for it encapsulated the resources of over 20 galaxies. Jotun himself could not cover the area covered by so many galaxies, let alone the distance between each galaxy itself, even if he lived for a million more years. It was only through the use of techniques and technology that such a thing was possible.

More importantly, as one of the most favored agents of the Henali, they had relied heavily on the help of the Henali in establishing and running the empire. While they never acted themselves in the matter, the resources they had could manage the entire realm let alone a few galaxies so it should not have been a problem.

Now that there was a problem, it was an indication of a much larger issue. While Jotun was not qualified to comment on the activities of the Henali, as a human and as an emperor, he had to consider all possibilities and look out for the best interest of his people. An issue with the governance of the empire, which relied heavily on the logistical and technological aid of the Henali, most likely meant that there was an issue with the Henali themselves.

Whether they were aware of it or not, and whether they were doing something about it or not were all things they were not in a position to guess.

"Since no one wants to say it, I will. Our family has survived the turbulence of one chaotic realm, so another is not a problem. What we need to do now is decide on how to move should the situation deteriorate in the future. William, I hate to put you in this position, but we'll be depending on you for this."

William, who looked identical to Lex, could not help but sigh. In the end, he could not hide from his responsibilities.

"If you need me to use Gelid Anima to its full capacity, we will need to cure my disease first. It's already been so long, yet we have made no progress on that front."

"Make a list of the items you need. I will see if the Midnight Inn or the Infinity Emporium can help us find the items. If they can't, I'll have no choice but to redeem them from the Henali. Although redeeming such precious items will lock me into more tasks for the foreseeable future, it can't be helped."

As if he was already prepared, William handed Jotun a long list filled with names of exceedingly rare items. Blood of a Heavenly Deity, Petulant grass, which only grew on the surfaces of a few massive stars, and Absolute Crystal, a kind of ice that was colder than the supposed 'absolute zero', were just some of the items listed on the list.

"Until that is done, I'll at least start using a diminished version of my ability…" William said, talking more to himself than the others. Instantly, he entered a state quite similar to Lex's flow state, yet somehow different, and began muttering.

"We need to cut ties with rebel forces, allow heavy casualties to those who don't align themselves properly, fan the flames for pirates in the territories we give up…"

Just like that, with every word he spoke, the lives of hundreds of billions of creatures were condemned…