The Innkeeper

Full of determination, Gerard watched a few episodes of Initial B and then walked out. Waiting for him on the street was an old lady with a small child in her hand. She was one of the guests, and had taken a liking to being driven around by Gerard, despite the fact that her Qi training cultivation allowed her to be fit enough to get around on her own.

"Thank you for waiting, mademoiselle," Gerard said to the lady. She had insisted that was how Gerard should address her. Were Gerard familiar with the cultures of Earth, he would have picked up on the fact that such an address was typically for unmarried women, and then may have wondered why the lady made a point to let him know. But since he was unfamiliar, he did not respond. The lady, however, was undeterred - she was not beyond being more forward if she needed to be.

"It was no trouble at all. Are we all set?"

"Indeed, mademoiselle, we are. Please, climb aboard my barouche-landau, and I shall take you to your destination."

Barouche-landau is what she called his golf cart, and eventually Gerard started copying her. He helped the lady climb into the golf cart and, once he settled them in, sat on the driver's seat. A silver light shone in his eyes when he grabbed onto the steering wheel, and a similar silver light coated the tyres. Releasing a handbrake that should not have existed on a golf cart, Gerard accelerated at speeds that rivaled a regular car.

With the wind flowing through his silver hair and the melodic laughter of a femme fatale accompanying him, Gerard was ready to drive fast and drive furiously.

*****

Lex ended his meditation after nearly an hour, but there was no update. He did some exercise, ate some food, took another shower, and did everything else he could think of to fill the time, but neither Miranda nor anyone else that followed her came back to the Inn. At this point, Lex was nearing his limits of self-control.

He decided to go to sleep, and if they did not appear by morning, then he would go find someone else to help him check up on his family. Reason told him he should not connect anyone to his Leo identity as it would be dangerous for him in the future, but he no longer cared.

In truth, the distraction from worrying about his own family was causing him to miss out on many things. He missed Ragnar coming back to the Inn, and hearing about the changes that had happened before his eyes. He also missed Ragnar telling Anthony that they had new orders and would be leaving the Vegus system right after this war and that someone else would take over.

He missed the increasing number of devils who were coming and going from the Inn. Many of them were reporting to the mysterious devil accompanying Loretta, but many of them came randomly from unknown places. Unaware or uncaring of the things that happened before, many of those devils caused multiple problems. Well, they tried to cause problems. When Lex's guards took care of matters, they would stop and detail the devils because Lex had ordered them not to kill.

In the one instance Lex's bodyguard had to step in, he destroyed the devil's soul and handed the body over to the Sovereign Galactic turtle. Unexpectedly, the bodyguard and the turtle had developed a good friendship.

That did not present a long-term solution to the number of devils entering the Inn, however. One may wonder why so many devils were coming in. The truth was, the devils had access to teleportation portals that could not be replicated by the Jotun Empire. Using those portals, they could travel far and wide, which is how they managed all their various demon farms. As a result of those portals, the golden keys had been spread far and wide across the universe already, though not all demons understood the perceived background of the Inn.

Lex also missed all the joy of his guests. He missed the beasts diving into the lake and relaxing. He missed the students from the academy climbing up Midnight mountain and having a snowball fight. He missed the coalition of mothers who often followed Z around, introducing the boy to their own kids, who had also finally entered the Inn.

He missed the moment when all the new rooms he'd built were promptly occupied. He'd missed the moment when John exited the Mystery trial for the third time, suffering from rapid mood swings, going from depressed to frustrated and back. Most importantly, he missed the moment when Larry finally woke up.

It was safe to say that there were numerous things that Lex was unaware of that he would have thoroughly enjoyed, but until this ordeal passed, he would not be able to focus.

The next morning, the first thing he did when he woke up was scan the Inn for Miranda. Unfortunately, she was not there. Then he made a list of anyone he could potentially ask a favor from.

As much as he would have liked to ask the Morrisons for help, it seemed like they were not on good terms with the council and we wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble. Eventually, his sight landed on Will Bentham.

The old man had come to the Inn in a wheelchair, but was now well on his way to good health. He had started cultivating again, and despite all the time he spent relaxing at the Inn, he was also a dedicated businessman. In fact, currently, he was having a meeting with some members of the Rose Society. His bodyguard, who had stopped appearing for a while, was also back.

He listened in to their meeting for a moment, and when he discovered they were in a good mood, decided that things had not turned out badly for them during the worldwide revolution. Putting on his glasses that disguised him as Leo, Lex decided to teleport directly outside Will's courtyard and knocked.

Hugo, Will's bodyguard, opened the door and was surprised to see Leo. He, like many other people, had memorized the faces of some of the prominent Inn employees. This Leo, who rarely appeared, had been titled one of the more mysterious ones.

"Excuse me for bothering you, my name is Leo and I run the Gamer's den. Is it possible for me to meet with Mr. Will?"

"Yes, come in. I'll let him know you're here."

Hugo guided Lex to an empty room and then hurried away to let Will know about the unexpected guest. He could have directly taken Leo to the old man, but he had a feeling that the young man wanted a private meeting, which was indeed the case.

Barely a minute later, the old man walked in with a warm smile and seemingly genuine delight. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Leo got directly to the point.

"Mr. Will, it's slightly embarrassing for me to find you like this, but I had an urgent situation and wondered if you might be able to help me."

"Please, speak freely," Will said. Though Leo surely tried to hide it, as someone who was great in social situations, Will could immediately identify the various indicators of extreme anxiety. From the constantly fidgeting fingers, shaking leg, to the hurried speech and eyes that kept scanning the room, Leo had them all. He couldn't believe his luck that an Inn employee actually came to him for help. If he was able to do this, even if he got nothing in return, at least his relationship with the Innkeeper should improve, right?

"I am aware that you come from Earth. I have a... let's say friend on Earth who is extremely concerned about his family. If you could somehow help him get in contact with them, or reach them, I would greatly appreciate it. I will remember this favor."

"Transporting your friend will not be an issue at all. Where is he, and where does he need to go?"

"From New York to London," he answered.

"Extremely simple, consider the matter done." He took a piece of paper and wrote down a phone number.

"Have your friend call this number and let the driver pick him up. I will arrange everything else."

"Thank you, Mr. Will. I will give this to him straight away."

"Please, just call me Will. Such a small matter is not even worth calling a favor. It is my pleasure to be able to help you out."

"Thank you," Leo said, this time a little more heartfelt. "I won't forget this."

Without extending his stay, Leo left the courtyard, and then teleported back to his room. He was so excited, he completely did not pick up on Will's excitement.

Lex wasted no time and returned to Earth, and dialed the number he was given.

"I was given this number by Will, he told me to have you pick me up," he said, finally relaxing a little now that things were finally in motion. Though, he still had his armor underneath his clothes and the Heavy Harley hidden.

Half an hour later, he was sitting in a black car with tinted windows on his way to the airport. He did not notice that along the way, his phone ran out of battery, but even if he did he would not have been surprised. He spent very little time on Earth lately and hadn't charged his phone in a long time.

Fifteen minutes after he had left, several Bluebird agents appeared near the area where he had called from.

"Target has disappeared and his phone can no longer be traced," one of the agents reported on a call.

"Can you trace the person he called?"

"It was a private number, we can't trace it."

"Keep searching. The target is reusing his regular phone number so that likely means he still does not know he is being tracked. As soon as he shows back up on the grid I want him detained!"

"Understood."