The Innkeeper

Chapter 2022: Even if you call me daddy

"What’s the big deal with Letters of Intent anyway?" Lex asked as he drew squiggles on a Midnight Inn letterhead.

"We’ve been over this already, haven’t we?" Mary, whose projection was lying on the ceiling as if it were a bed, answered. Of course, her hair still flowed downward despite her laying on the ceiling - even projections were subject to gravity in the Midnight Inn.

"Dao Lords are too powerful, and the limits of what they can do is literally unimaginable, so even the slightest move can cause misunderstandings. A Letter of Intent is more like an open declaration of your intentions to avoid misunderstandings.

"Of course, it’s not really binding or anything like that, so technically a Dao Lord can still act nefariously after sending such a letter. It’s just generally considered that Dao Lords are too prideful to lie, so once they’ve given their words, they won’t go against it."

"Ahan, got it. So it’s pointless pretentiousness," said Lex as he put aside his eightieth letter, and started working on the next one.

"It’s just a few letters. You’re acting like a baby," said Mary as she looked at Lex complaining.

Lex shook his head. Originally, he also thought it was no big deal. After all, he had written letters and memos as the Innkeeper before. Yet he’d always written short letters, so he never realized that it was draining in an unexpected way.

Although the system provided all the aura and power, the message itself came from Lex. One or two letters was fine, but writing so many drained him of mental energy in a way he had never seen coming. What was originally a task that would only take him an hour had gone on for over two days.

"You’re the baby," Lex muttered, too exhausted to come with a better retort. "Is Gerard free yet?"

Mary shook her head, watching in amusement as her hair dangled.

"Nope. The security situation inside the Inn is getting worse. The Security team is at its limit, and the Reaving Dread mercenaries cannot send anymore security. Unless you cop up even more money to buy better security, Gerard isn’t going to get free any time soon."

That was just the thing. His system still allowed him to buy more security, but he seemed to be at some kind of limit. If he wanted to buy more than the millions of guards he already had deployed, the system could facilitate him but the cost was going to jump massively. It was not a sustainable expense.

Lex clenched his fists, but then forced himself to down another shot of Midnight Signature Coffee Brew and continue writing letters. He’d even replaced his official chair with the Gabana fruit so that he could continue cultivating while he wrote - it was the only way to maximise his writing speed.

By the time the three day deadline came, and the Governor returned for the letters and keys, Lex had just barely managed to finish them. Of course, Lex did not give the Governor all of them. There were some he kept for himself as he intended on inviting a couple of people on his own.

Well, technically, he intended on Gerard inviting one of them. Finally done with the letters, Lex took off his Host Attire with deep red eyes and a frustration in his heart that only good old fashioned hard work could resolve.

The Tyrant’s Mask - a mask that the Inn workers had not had the pleasure of seeing in many years - appeared in Lex’s hands as he put it on his face, allowing his aura to change into the terrifying, devilish aura of the Invincible Tyrant.

Lex felt like he had just finished his final year project for college, that’s how mentally drained he was. Something like that could only be recovered from after an equally intense chilling session. Back in the day, for him that involved gaming and junk food. Now, it would involve releasing his frustrations on the troublemakers inside the Inn.

No, wait, he thought the wrong part in his head. He could only release his frustrations by gently and politely convincing those causing problems inside the Inn that this wasn’t a good idea - with his fists!

Within the Midnight Inn, it suddenly got a little darker, confusing the guests about the change. Yet dark or light, the Inn always looked magnificent, so they weren’t too bothered by it.

In a certain location, though, a large crowd was gathering as they watched an ongoing confrontation.

"It does not matter where you’re from or who your father is," the Security Guard insisted for the final time. "You cannot enslave other guests of the Inn."

The Security guard was only an Earth Immortal, and he had backup arriving, yet the one he was confronting was a Celestial Sourworm.

"Bitch, what do you mean?" the worm roared in anger. "Do you even know who my father is?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, the worm was about to shoot out the acid that its race was known for when a terrifying aura descended on it, tinged with the laws of Anchor, freezing it in place.

"I don’t know your father, but even if you call me daddy it won’t spare you from the beating you’re about to get," murmured a voice, low and edged with danger.

If the worm could have moved, it would have seen a human standing behind it, wearing a devilish mask that had a smile which could scare a soul right out of its body. Of course, no one other than the worm felt his aura. In fact, to the others, he looked like a hero. After all, his very arrival had caused the worm to freeze, finally resolving the situation.

But oh, the situation was far from resolved, for Lex had an itch in his heart that wouldn’t go so easily.

Thus, the legend of the Invincible Tyrant which had begun to wane was once again renewed. That day, the sound of wailing miscreants and cheering crowds could be heard all across the Midnight Inn.