The Innkeeper

Chapter 2062: Probes

The Crystal race. Lex’s relationship with them wasn’t the best. Although he met too few of them to form a judgment for the entire race, his general perception of them was that they were arrogant, pompous pieces of talking crystal. They were incredibly strong, but self centered enough to let their entire realm suffer slaughter for their own hidden agendas.

He would not go to the extent of saying that he hated them, but he certainly wasn’t a fan.

Regardless, seeing that the topic of conversation was finally deviating from ’Lexus’, Lex thought that it was time for him to retreat from the rumor room as well. He did, however, make a mental note to keep on coming back here to check up on what was happening.

Just as the Innkeeper was about to leave, though, the crystal elemental who had been talking to him in the beginning sought him out.

"Innkeeper, if you have some time, I would love to have the opportunity for a one on one conversation," he said, walking up to the Innkeeper. "When I sent you that Letter of Intent, I had not even vaguely anticipated that it would lead to something like this. It was quite the pleasant surprise, though it has not distracted me from my primary purpose."

Lex looked towards the elemental and quickly thought back to all the Letters of Intent he had read, trying to recall which one this is. It took hardly a second before he remembered. This should be Dao Lord Promon, representing the Elementals of Myriad Hue Esse Major realm.

"Of course," responded the Innkeeper. "Come, let us go somewhere we can converse in private."

Ordinarily, Lex would lead a guest to a room for that would be safe enough considering the system’s isolation features. In the case of a Dao Lord guest, however, Lex decided it was best to play it safe and went to another Chamber of Secrets.

"We can talk freely here," said the Innkeeper as he went and grabbed a seat at the center table. "Of course, feel free to add any additional layers of security if you wish."

Promon studied the room for a moment, but then shook his head.

"If it’s good enough for you, then it is good enough for me," he said, right before taking a seat opposite to the Innkeeper. "I must say, your reputation precedes you. When the wars started, we decided to take extra precautions to avoid any accidents. While researching new threats, your name surprisingly came up pretty high."

For once, Lex allowed the Innkeeper to show an expression of mild surprise as he heard Promon’s words.

"Oh? A threat? Me? How is that possible? I do not disturb anyone unless they harm my Inn," he said, explaining himself.

"Yes, that’s exactly what your bio stated," Promon said, agreeing with the Innkeeper. "However, that does not change the fact that your teleportation ability rivals some of the best in the whole universe. If any force were able to gain access to your teleportation capabilities, they could launch a surprise attack that could decidedly affect the tide of an entire Realm war!"

Ah yes, the teleportation. That had been troubling Lex from the very beginning of his Inn. In fact, he recalled once that some force did exactly that - they used the Midnight Inn to assist in launching an attack on X-142 back in the day. He had to change the teleportation rules after that, though it was hardly perfect even now.

"In fact, I recall that some forces even tried to plot against the Inn, considering forcing you to act on their behalf. The planning had only barely begun when you sent out your punishment, affecting anyone planning against the Inn. I must say, I was incredibly impressed when I heard about it. At the same time, that didn’t help your threat ranking at all," Promon continued.

Lex was slightly confused about what punishment he had sent out - but then he remembered. Some time ago, he had spent a lot of MT on security, and the system had thus done something to prevent any incident. While he wasn’t sure about what the system had done, it seemed like that was taken as a subtle warning from him by the other Dao Lords.

Well, as long as it kept him from getting attacked, he felt good. At the same time, knowing that Dao Lords had considered attacking him, he felt incredibly vulnerable.

"Of course, besides the warning, it was also the fact that no one could locate your realm that kept you safe," Promon continued. "Even when they sent agents inside your Inn, it made no difference. It was as if there was some kind of incredible formation around your realm that hid it perfectly. Ironically, being so well hidden only raised your threat assessment even higher!"

The Innkeeper chuckled upon hearing Promon’s story.

"It seems that no matter what I do, some people will see me as a threat," the Innkeeper said jovially, as if he didn’t take this too seriously.

Promon shook his head, as if he was exhausted by this as well.

"It’s the curse of being too skilled," he said with reluctance in his voice. "Being weak would get you attacked, but by being strong you’re viewed as a greater threat. The only real solution, I suppose, is to be such a big threat that no one dares to offend you. So far, you have proven yourself exceptionally exceptional in teleportation, your ability to sense danger from afar is incredible, your ability to send out warnings across the universe is noteworthy, and your stealth is remarkable. If that doesn’t make you the perfect assassin, I don’t know what does."

Lex could not help but admit that, from Promon’s point of view, he really did have all the necessary skills to become an incredible assassin. Of course, from his own point of view, he was merely a young, handsome lad who was slightly in over his head.

"I see your point," said the Innkeeper. "But I am only interested in running my Inn - not in getting involved in any wars. I’ll just have to make sure that everyone understands that."

Promon nodded as he looked away, his thoughts growing distant.

"That is one solution, I suppose. I don’t know how well it would work, though. For now, it’s fine, but once the wars grow more intense... once Dao Lords start getting involved, and start falling, things will get a whole lot more desperate. Who knows what might happen then."

Lex could tell that Promon was gearing up for something, and he could even guess what that something was.

"Indeed, many things have become unpredictable, as of late," said the Innkeeper vaguely.

Promon finally turned towards the Innkeeper.

"In that case, would it not be prudent to search out for allies?" he asked. "Strong allies, the kind who can do more than just handle themselves. For someone of your status, it might be more appropriate to search for the Primordial Queen, but what if you’re not the one searching? What if I am? In that case, would there be any chance of reaching some kind of agreement?"

The Innkeeper did not react immediately, and instead just studied Promon. This could very much be bait to test his actual inclinations, just as it could be a sincere request to form an alliance. Or it could be a trap being woven against not just him, but Promon as well.

He himself had said that the Innkeeper had a high threat assessment, so couldn’t this conversation also be a part of an assessment.

Even if he was highly skilled, as long as he chose no sides, he would not attract too much attention. Yet the moment his teleportation turned from a hypothetical to an even slightly possible threat, he was sure he would be faced with more than just mild probes.

Lex had no interest in getting involved, as hosting a tea party and getting involved in a fight through the capacity of a Dao Lord were two entirely different things.

"Unfortunately, I have my hands tied with managing my Inn, and am not able to focus on any other matters. In fact, I will not be leaving the Inns territory any time soon," the Innkeeper answered diplomatically.

Upon hearing the Innkeeper, a certain rumor about his Seat of Power came to Promon’s mind, but he did not give up so easily.

"What if, and I mean hypothetically speaking, you were never required to leave the Inn? What if you were only required to teleport something discreetly once in a while? You could gain a handsome reward, and I’m sure building a Seat of Power, you would need as much help as you can get. After all, who would want a bank getting involved in their personal matters?"

Now Lex was sure this was more than just a random probe, though that should have been expected when meeting a Dao Lord in a private meeting. He was testing the Innkeeper, as well as baiting him and even trying to understand if he could be bought. At the same time, he was trying to get any benefit he could find out of the Innkeeper.

Lex predicted the next line of questioning would involve regular services he offered in his Inn, but used for ulterior purposes. He needed to find a proper answer to get out of this mess.

Ah, if only he could somehow make Wu Kong the scapegoat once more. Unfortunately, he did not want to push him too much, lest their relationship sour. Best to find a new scapegoat then.