The Innkeeper

The man who was addressed as Emperor only slightly nodded to the soldier and kept on walking. The four men behind him didn't slow their pace either, though one of them, a tall, young looking man with dark hair and brown eyes, looked at the soldier for a brief moment.

"Why did that soldier recognize me, William?" the Emperor asked casually using his spiritual sense.

"Lieutenant Dan is a child from the Aragoni noble family. 3000 years ago you met one of their ancestors at a formal event and took a photo with them. It is likely framed in their family home. Another likely reason is that he is from the regiment led by General Ragnar, someone from Serafol's faction. Not only is Ragnar extremely loyal to the royal family, his growth record is phenomenal and he has shown excellent potential. Although he does not know it, his name has been entered into the potential candidates to marry into the royal family."

Jotun merely nodded and kept on walking. Under the instructions of the Henali he had arrived at the Midnight Inn to have a meeting with the Innkeeper. Yet he was informed the Innkeeper was currently occupied and they would have to wait.

Jotun didn't mind. This seemed like an interesting place, with multiple tribulations happening at the same time. He could take this time to relax.

He walked into the bar inside the Midnight manor to find it mostly occupied by some group. The Emperor ordered a drink and sat in the corner to allow himself to relax. Yet before he could do so, he heard an interesting conversation.

"Truck-kun? A serial killer who can travel across multiple galaxies?"

Interest flickered in his eyes as he continued to listen.

*****

Lex continued to look at where Anakin had been when he disappeared, but found nothing. While he hadn't tested out finding him with his spirit sense, just the fact that Anakin could hide from his eyes either meant that he overestimated his eyes' capabilities, or that Anakin's abilities were more formidable than they appeared. Especially when one considered that he was just in the Qi training realm!

"Not bad," Lex commented, and looked to his left. Though Lex could not see him, his intuition was still working. If Anakin wanted to prank him, it would take a lot more than just that.

Anakin was so startled when Lex looked at his invisible self directly in the eyes that his powers failed.

The prankster quickly regained composure when he realized that he had become visible again, and returned to his seat as calmly as if nothing had happened.

"You're right," Noman spoke as well as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I can tell when someone is lying. I can even tell if what I'm reading is a lie. Even if someone tells the truth, but in a deceptive way, so that the understanding I get is false, I can tell it's a lie. Moreover, my ability has nothing to do with cultivation level. I've never met someone, regardless of how weak or strong they were, who was able to lie to me successfully."

'That's not true,' Lex mimicked him in his mind in amusement. Still, he was observing him closely. That ability… was very impressive, and if it was not limited by cultivation realms… Well, Lex was tempted to hire him as an employee of the Inn right away!

"Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but do you mind if I test it out?" Lx asked as he focused more closely at the waves being emitted from Noman.

"Sure, go ahead."

"My name is Lex," he said and observed if there was any reaction. Nothing unusual happened, and Noman didn't do anything either.

"I am 27 years old," Lex said once again. He did not want to use obvious lies, and planned on mixing a few truths into his statements. Once or twice he might mention an absurd lie just to see if Noman himself identifying the lie made any difference on his ability, and what effect it had on those waves.

As he suspected, from the moment he started speaking there was a disruption in the waves. From being colorless, they gained a red color which, then, was absorbed into Noman's body. The moment the color was completely absorbed, Noman whispered, "he's lying."

Lex accepted the answer and was about to continue when something even stranger happened. Noman looked up at Lex and said aloud, "you're lying."

Lex frowned, and said a few more lines. The pattern with Noam repeating himself twice continued. Even the rest of the group began to notice that something unusual was going on, and the confused looks on their faces told Lex that this wasn't something they were aware of.

"Do you mind if I try something?" Lex asked.

"Go ahead," Noman answered confidently. No one had been able to disrupt his ability before and he was confident it would continue that way.

Lex walked up to him and said, "I'm actually bald."

The red colored waves appeared once again, but this time Lex quickly moved his hand right above Noman's head, blocking the waves. Something absurd happened.

The waves passed through Lex's hand, though he felt a strange resistance, but the red color remained behind.

This time, Noman did not unconsciously whisper out that Lex was lying, but he did confidently look at Lex and declared his lie - completely ignoring the fact that identifying such an obvious lie should not have made him proud.

But he did not get the reaction he was hoping for, as not only Lex, but the entire group was looking at him in a strange way.

Lex tried a few more, less obvious lies and the same thing happened. Lex did not know what the red color was, or why he was able to interact with it, but he did make a deduction of what was happening to Noman.

He looked at Anakin and asked, "does he always whisper when someone lies near him."

"Yes," Anakin answered, at exactly the same time as Noman who said, "no."

Lex frowned for a moment while he considered the possibilities, before he made his way back to his seat.

"Noman, before you came to the Inn, was there any chance someone was targeting you? It may have been a subtle feeling you had, or maybe you saw some hints indicating it."

"There was nothing subtle about it. There was a group of people trying to kidnap me. If I had not been delivered a golden key just in time, I would have been caught. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, it's just as I thought," Lex said slowly. "Someone has put a curse on you. Every time your ability is used, you can't help but say it out loud. There might be other aspects to it as well. My guess is, they're using that to track you. If you had tried to hide anywhere other than the Inn, they would have found you."

Suddenly, everyone in the group had an abrupt realization. Noman wasn't an idiot or completely oblivious to his own actions, as they had assumed. Someone had cursed him.