The Innkeeper

Chapter 1850: Her past I

When Giselle woke up, she expected to feel severely weakened from her use of techniques far beyond her. The truth was, without the Sands of Time she got from the Temple of Frozen Dawn, that was not a technique she could have used at all. Just the attempt would have killed her, let alone the repercussions of successfully casting it.

So when she opened her eyes and found herself completely refreshed, and even a little stronger than she remembered being, she was stunned. For a moment, she wondered if everything had been a dream and that she hadn’t actually gone to kill that Defiler. That thought only lasted a moment, though.

Giselle picked herself up and recognized the familiar layout of the room she was in. It was the layout of the wooden cabins dotted on Mount Midnight, the largest and oldest mountain inside the Inn.

The mountain was covered in snow throughout the year, and provided an amazing view of the Inn. What was surprisingly pleasant was that the chill on the mountain affected even her, despite being an immortal. It wasn’t an uncomfortable chill, nor would it harm her in any way if she ignored it. It simply existed so that guests could enjoy the warmth of the cozy coats, and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate the way only cold weather allowed for.

From the cabin window she saw Lex sitting on a picnic table, writing something on a piece of paper.

"How... how did I recover so quickly?" she couldn’t help but ask as she stepped outside.

"I had the nurse dip your body in diluted Jorlam’s heartblood," Lex said without looking up. "As it turns out, giant celestial beings who eat entire star systems are pretty resistant to time erosion - and a bunch of other stuff."

Giselle froze, but it only lasted a few seconds. She was both surprised, and simultaneously not surprised. It was Lex, and the Midnight Inn. If Lex told her next that the Inn had a Deity as a gardener or something, she’d just take it in her stride because this was just that kind of place.

"Hey, totally unrelated to anything, but you wouldn’t happen to have any Deities as gardeners, would you?" she asked as she sat opposite to him.

"Nah, not Deities," Lex said, continuing to write his letter. "We do have a Sovereign, though. Oh, and a bunch of Deity Rose bushes last time I checked. There’s a few Heavenly Trees but they’re barely saplings at this point. Why do you ask?"

Giselle stared at Lex for a few seconds, her expression revealing nothing of her inner thoughts.

"It’s nothing. Forget I asked," she said, blaming herself for asking. "I owe you an explanation for what happened."

This time, Lex stopped and looked up at her.

"Only if you really want to," he said, shrugging. "I’m not really bothered by such things."

Giselle shook her head.

"No, you have a right to know. Just so you’re aware, that herald of misfortune stuff, and being marked by being close to me is all fake. I’m not just saying that - I’ve had myself checked, extensively, and by extremely reliable places. If there was even a fraction of such a possibility, I would never have involved you, or anyone else in my hunts."

Lex raised an eyebrow as he heard her statements, though he didn’t doubt her. After all, it was highly unlikely that he would be marked by someone or something and just never sense it.

"Defilers cannot be trusted. Everything they do, every word they say, they’re all, well, almost all said and done with the purpose of deceit. Their insane selfishness is one of the most major flaws in their psyche, which is a good thing because the stronger Defilers get, the harder they are to beat.

"You and I dealt with that Defiler pretty easily, but if they were up against ordinary Immortals then... perhaps there is no number which they could not defeat. After all, to counter a Defiler without something that can resist Profane energy is essentially impossible. You already understand a lot of that, but the point in saying all of this is... you don’t need to worry that I implicated you in something, or that Defiler’s will come after you for revenge or something like that."

Lex sighed. Giselle’s clear repetition of the same stuff about Defilers again and again told him that she was very conscious about getting other people involved in trouble because of her, and that she wanted to assure him that if there were such a possibility, she would never have taken him to begin with.

"Listen, you’re forgetting that I’m the one that came to you for help finding Defilers, not the other way around. Even if there was some trouble as a result of that, I was completely mentally ready for it. As for your history with the Defilers... well, we all have complicated pasts. You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to - especially since I’m about to ask you for a couple of favors anyway."

This time, Giselle was the one who raised an eyebrow, before turning down to look at the letter Lex was writing. For some reason, she couldn’t see its content, but that was not surprising.

"No, you’ve been a good partner, and you should understand my past - especially since I get the feeling that we might end up working together again in the future," Giselle said, though she didn’t immediately begin her story either.

She took a few moments, holding in a deep breath as she contemplated how exactly to share the story. She’d never done it before, so she wasn’t sure how to begin.

"In case you couldn’t tell, the Defilers are not working alone. There is someone... or something that helps them hide, and carry out whatever it is that they want to do in the universe. Or else, a majority of them would be discovered and wiped out before they could do any real damage to anyone."

"I’ve heard," said Lex. "The Defilers Club, or DC."

Giselle opened her mouth, and then closed it. She opened her mouth again, as if to speak, but then closed it again. Lex felt slightly smug, though he didn’t explain how he knew that already. It was best if she assumed he had some hidden, mysterious sources for information.

"DC? That’s... well, I hate to break it to you, but whoever told you that was probably lying. I mean... Defilers Club? Well, I suppose it’s technically a believable name for an evil organization... and not a cigar lounge or something."

Giselle was trying very hard not to laugh, but the serious expression Lex had made while talking about DC made it very hard to contain herself.

Lex, on the other hand, cursed internally. That was the last time he was going to listen to anything a stupid Defiler had to say.