The Innkeeper

Lex was so mentally drained that at first, he didn't even notice the increased pressure around his neck. But when his head actually moved a little because of one of the roots, he promptly realized… someone was giving him a massage.

Alarmed, he jolted up and turned around to see two roots bending upwards, as if someone was holding up their hands to explain they meant no harm.

"What the…" Lex murmured while he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Bro, broseph, brobert, brosellini, relax. You're so stressed. It's totally killing my peaceful vibe."

The voice… seemed to be coming from the roots. Lex saw no mouth and no one else, so it could only be that.

"Are you a… Trelop?" Lex asked, suddenly remembering something from one of his classes. Trelops were one of the main 7 races of this realm, but the information about them seemed to be vague. What he could firmly conclude, however, was that they were some kind of sentient plants.

"Bro, of course I'm a Trelop. The name's Karom, nice to meet you. I must say, the negative vibes you've been giving off got me shook, bro. You need to relax. It doesn't suit your aura."

"Karom, like the Forest? The forest is named after you?"

"Bro, why you gotta do me like that? If you must use my full legal name, it is Karom Alejandro Forest III. I am the forest bro, it's not named after me. Well, I'm the forest up until the Deadfall cliff. After that is my cousin, Goli Malevolent Forest. Don't let his fresh maple appearance fool you, that bro is a racist. He don't deal with no one other than Trelops."

Lex was once again confused, but he tried to let go of his normal precepts about living beings, since he was in a new realm now. This was a forest full of hundreds of different species of plants and probably hundreds of thousands of trees. Yet Karom claimed to be the whole forest itself - how was that possible? But, it seemed that it wasn't that the definitions of Trelops that were vague in his class, just that he was unable to comprehend them properly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too," Lex finally replied, getting a handle on the situation. "In the future, you shouldn't wrap your roots around someone's neck without asking, it can be considered rude."

"Bro, can you blame me? You're the one that lay down on my roots. If anything, that was rude. But it's fine, I get it, you humans are weird. I keep telling that other human as well that Goli won't like it if you pass through him, but he's adamant. Well, it's no bark off my trunk what you guys do. Say bro, you wearing some cologne or something on your back? It smells really nice."

"No cologne," Lex replied briefly as he sat back down on the ground. The surprise of having roots around his neck gave him a boost of adrenaline, but now that the situation had calmed down, Lex was once again reminded that he was tired. Furthermore, he suspected the 'nice smell' that Karom was referring to was from the Lotus on his back. There would be no way Lex would share any information about that. Just another half a million years and the Lotus would give him a 5 star world.

"Damn bro, that sucks," the roots replied as they slumped, looking disappointed. "I was hoping to use a cologne to impress some meadows. My moms been on my case about getting a girlfriend. It's true what they say, even when you move out of your parents' forest, they never stop trying to control you. She says if I don't get a girlfriend on my own, she'll set me up with a swamp! Swamps are too clingy bro, trust me, you don't want to get with a swamp!"

"Is that the reason you came to me? To ask about the cologne?" Lex was a little protective when it came to matters of the Lotus, predictably, and this was the first time anyone had shown any indication of sensing the Lotus.

"Partially. You smell nice, so it won't be a problem for you to get along with most Trelops. Not Goli though, so don't even bother trying."

Lex nodded and continued, "this other human you're talking to. His name wouldn't be Ptolemy, would it?"

"Yes bro, Ptolemy. He reached out to me a few weeks ago, and we cut a deal. I'll be moving the trees out of his way until Deadfall cliff, and in exchange, he brought me some very rare seeds for my forest. Bro, once I'm done renovating, you won't recognize me anymore."

On some level, Lex had to admire how well prepared Ptolemy was for this expedition. In that case, he should take a page from Ptolemy's book and start making his own preparations.

"Hey Karom, since you can cover a much larger area than me, I have a question for you. Do you know about any spirit stone mines or large reservoirs of energy nearby?"

"Many bro, and they're all underground. But, I can't tell you bro because I need them. But, I don't mind telling you of a few in Goli's territory. If he had to move away, I would be so happy, bro. He's so annoying."

Unexpectedly, just like that, Lex learnt the location of several spirit stone mines. If their expedition could uncover even one it would be considered a success, which is why Lex knew that it shouldn't have been so easy learning about them.

He spent the rest of the day chatting with Karom, asking him indirect questions to learn more about Trelops. He refused to believe that there wasn't more to it, and that a living being could be something that should be a part of the landscape. It was too strange.

When he went out for dinner, Karom did not follow as he was not used to talking in front of too many humans. When Lex left his tent, he was surprised to see how much the area surrounding the camp had changed. The trees had started moving out of the way on their own, and as if that wasn't enough, they were using their roots to stamp down the ground where they moved from to create an even and level road.

He could see the relatively straight road leading deep into the forest, but some moving or shuffling of trees in the distance made it clear that the path wasn't complete yet.

After dinner, when he returned to his tent, Karom was missing, which Lex was completely fine with. He scanned the Inn once, to make sure everything was in order, before he went to sleep. He needed rest, for tomorrow the expedition would once again start moving.

*****

Mary stood silently in the interrogation room near the greenhouse, her expression frosty. A part of her, admittedly, was slightly upset that they weren't able to properly interrogate the Raskals. This was because the Sovereign turtle had done something to them that turned them into mindless puppets.

Since she hadn't seen him do anything, she wasn't sure exactly what he had done. Regardless, the result was that the Raskals would answer any question that was asked obediently.

What she learnt was… truly frustrating. The Raskals had no idea what organization they worked for, simply because they had never been curious about it. In a way, they were the perfect soldiers because they could not retain any valuable information to leak.

They did not know the reason for the attack, nor did they know if there would be any follow up. All they could share was that their objective was to destroy the Inn, plain and simple.

She resisted the urge to rub her forehead as she thought of the problems that lay ahead.

Let alone the fact that Z and Todd were injured, and that they would have to remain in their respective RPs for the night, they had no effective measure against any subsequent attacks. Whoever attacked should not give up so easily, and if that were the case, they would need to prepare.

If there was any bright side to all this mess, it was that the turtle was planning on using all the dead Raskals as fertilizer, and was thus very satisfied. They should help speed up the Delinquent Vines growth, or so she was told.

Just as she was struggling with indecision about what to do, she noticed something wonderful!

The Lich, Anita, had completed her trial and had officially become a member of the Inns staff. A wide grin painted her face. Lex had told her about Anita's strength, and it would definitely come in handy should they suffer another attack.

Quickly, new plans started to form in her mind as she decided to get to know Anita a little better. This way, when Lex woke up, she would at least have something to present.