The Innkeeper

Chapter 2496: New letter

The two listened with great interest while Moon shared details of Lex’s past. It was actually quite interesting to hear about something Lex wasn’t good at, for it seemed that no matter what obstacle he faced, he would always rise to the challenge.

"To be specific, it’s not that he lacks the ability to court someone, or that he can’t find someone that he doesn’t like. It’s just that... I don’t know, actually. After such a long time I don’t know if what he was like back then is even relevant. All I can say is that I felt like he treated it as... ordinary.

"I remember back when he was in college, he apparently had a girlfriend for a while. I never met her, but I heard about her a couple of times before they eventually broke up. I don’t know the deeper reasons behind the break up, but based on how Lex used to talk, I just felt like he treated her like any other friend - like he had no special feelings for her."

For a moment, both the other ladies sat with Moon’s words and thought about it for a moment. Mary, especially, had much to reflect on because she had observed Earthen culture from an objective point of view and could try to understand its influence on Lex.

"At the end of the day, we can’t trick him into something like this, for that would be moot," said Mary after thinking for a while. "We need to, instead, allow him to overcome this obstacle on his own. If what he lacks is feeling like someone is special, I can compile a list of some of the women he’s had some kind of spark with and we can naturally create opportunities for them to interact.

"If natural proximity and exposure don’t work we can try something more sophisticated. I feel like letting him know that we want to do this would be the last resort for once he’s aware of it, he might behave and react differently. It’s best if these things are resolved naturally."

Velma’s eyes sparkled as a few ideas came to her.

"I can engineer the perfect ’organic’ interactions between him and any target we pick - that’s not an issue. Neither of them will ever suspect a thing. What we need to do first is choose someone."

As if she had been waiting for that very prompt, Mary pulled out a small list from her pocket which held the names of a few women.

Moon looked at it and found that she didn’t actually know many of the names on the list, and couldn’t help but look at Mary suspiciously. Why did she have such a detailed list already prepared?

The list included names like ’Helen - Earth’, ’Honey - Crystal realm’, ’Asani - Elf Princess’, ’Misha -Fuegan terrorist lady’, ’Giselle - girl who looks like she came out of an anime/silver hair’ and so on.

There were actually quite a few names on the list, as well as a record of instances which made Mary suspect that they might be compatible with Lex.

"Quite a few of the girls listed here aren’t even inside the Inn. And this one is married with four generations of descendants by now," Velma said as she pointed towards nurse Honey.

No one questioned how or why Velma knew such information, just as no one questioned why Mary was able to produce the list. All of that was irrelevant to the task at hand.

"Isn’t it quite convenient, then, that we’ve been asked to go bring back some Inn workers. While we’re at it, might as well bring back a few extra guests as well."

Velma nodded.

"Speaking of which, I just got news. Z and his group have returned to the Inn - I need to go check up on them, and then at the same time I can learn what the inter-realm travel situation is at the moment."

While speaking, both Velma and Mary noticed how Moon subconsciously began fixing her hair once Z was mentioned, but neither of them pointed it out or even acknowledged it in any way.

Mary nodded.

"We should not delay - the situation is very unpredictable at the moment and there’s no telling what kind of complication might arise," Mary said, and then disassembled her formation.

None of the ladies made any mention of what they had discussed once the formation was lifted, but all of them were highly focused and motivated towards their goal.

Velma and Moon headed over towards Z, and encountered an unexpected surprise when they saw them. Liz was also accompanying their group as they returned. That was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.

The thing that drew their attention most, however, was a Henali delegation which accompanied Z. Mary immediately recognized that this was a very official delegation, meaning they had some kind of objective related to Dao Lords.

A Letter of Intent was usually sent before a Dao Lord visited another. This was to avoid misunderstandings and to allow the other to prepare for any unintended Dao radiation that might harm their followers or even territory. But that was not the only kind of letter shared among Dao Lords.

Mary looked at the size of the delegation: 10 Celestial Peak Henalis, each of them from a very pure bloodline which could be identified through their appearance. Their clothing likely identified them as a part of some large or noble family, which meant that these weren’t retainers. No, these were direct members of the Henali with the highest rank and authority beneath the Dao.

Somehow, she felt like the matter they were here to deal with was far graver than a simple Letter of Intent.

"Velma, this is Adana Kokan, a direct descendant of the Governor of the Origin realm, and he has come here on an incredibly urgent task," Z said, skipping all the small talk and getting right to the matter at hand.

"They wish to deliver a letter to the Innkeeper. If the Innkeeper is not available, then they will need to be housed until he is."

Velma was about to make arrangements for them to be housed when she got a notification from the Innkeeper himself! He was waiting in his office. He must have clearly predicted this.

In truth, Lex had merely noticed their arrival from the tavern and merely used a part of his attention span to send an Innkeeper projection into his office.

"The Innkeeper is waiting for you in his office. I will personally guide you," she said before glancing towards Z, and then at Moon who was on the side.

"Moon, I’ll need to deal with this. Can you help Z settle his friends?"

Moon was not expecting to be asked for help, but she was clearly more than happy to do the job.

"Fine, if you insist," she said in a very casual tone that almost made Velma smirk. Unfortunately, her professional curiosity forced her to retain a neutral expression so that she didn’t ruin what was clearly going to be something she would hear gossip about later.

"Please, follow me," said Velma to Adana and the rest who treated Velma as a high authority. "I hope that once your business is concluded you will stay at the Inn for some time and allow us to share our hospitality."

She spoke pleasantly, causing the delegation to feel at ease, while her words were, in truth, the most harmless and subtle probe to learn more about their itinerary and perhaps purpose.

"Circumstances do not allow for any leisure, I’m afraid," Adana said, maintaining a strictly dignified expression. "What we do next is entirely dependent on the whims and wishes of the Innkeeper. However, if business is concluded, we must return to the Origin realm promptly for there is no time to rest at the moment."

Velma gave a soft regretful look, as if it was unfortunate that they wouldn’t be able to enjoy the Midnight Inn. In truth, she filed away the fact that the entire delegation reeked of fear. They tried to hide it, and they did a good job, but keeping a secret from Velma was easier said than done.

Whatever their task here was, they came with the knowledge that they might not make it back. It seemed that whatever they wanted to give the Innkeeper was not good news, though she detected no hostility from them.

She also noticed the connection between the head delegate and the rest. It seemed that they were all from the Governor’s family. That was most likely a deliberate choice, perhaps in the hope that their pedigree might grant them leniency from whatever they were about to incur.

Along the way Velma continued to make smalltalk, drawing out more and more information from them. Lex, who was paying attention to the group, could not help but appreciate Velma’s efforts.

She was not the only one who had picked up on various bits of information from them, however the ease with which she extracted information was a work of art. He made a mental note to give her another promotion. The problem was that at this point, she literally did whatever she wanted to. How was he supposed to promote her from that?