The Innkeeper



Once the meeting had subsided and the brothers all returned to the Midnight Manor, they ordered some food and all retired to the same room. The rooms in the Manor were not as big as some of the others due to the fact that they were some of the earliest designed rooms, but the five of them were able to fit in comfortably, especially considering that they were all just sitting around.

It seemed that the brothers were sitting and eating in silence, but that was only because their true conversation was taking place via spirit sense.

"What do you think, William?" asked Jotun, his voice lacking all the joviality it contained during the meeting.

"It is difficult to guess the intention of the Innkeeper, yet at the same time, the Innkeeper could not have made the truth more obvious."

A flashback of everything that happened appeared in everyone's mind, played scene by scene. The barely perceptible additional pause the Innkeeper took when looking at William was magnified immensely in the flashback, making it obvious to the group what had happened.

"From the first moment we entered, he already began giving us information through subtle hints. By looking at me longer than the rest, he singled me out, but then proceeded to not give me any extra attention. Instead, he initiated the conversation normally. But think, what was the first thing he began talking about?"

The flashback continued and just after Jotun introduced the group, the first thing the Innkeeper brought up was the star rank raising event a few days ago.

"That is the second hint. We can extrapolate what it means individually of the whole meeting, but I think all the pieces join together to form a puzzle, and no single thing is more important than any other. So now we have 2 hints.

"Next, after our idiot brother was done being thirsty for his wife, he put a front of asking how we liked our stay, but before we could answer, diverted the topic to me and my… history with the devil. So now, he has focused on me twice, as well as brought up the devils. The third hint.

"Then, in a roundabout way, the topic goes to youth, the fourth hint. Finally, after that, it goes to the topic of family, the fifth hint. After that we find out that the Innkeeper has left his family behind because they never aided him when he was young, but now that he's strong, they're probably coming back and trying to get on his good side."

William took in a big breath, as he silently analyzed all the information.

"In all of this, from me, to the star event, to the succubus, to youth and family, there is only one thing the Innkeeper is trying to tell us. He's telling us his background. And what do all of these things have in common? Devils.

"The Innkeeper is trying to tell us that… he is a Devil, who has left the Devils behind. Now, they're doing everything in their power to get him back."

"It makes sense! Devils only care about profits, and the Innkeeper even turned him contributing to the war efforts into a marketing pitch for his Inn," said Batu.

"Don't forget who benefited most from the star rank event? The Devils," said Nisar.

"There's a rumor that last year, the Inn had an event specifically targeting the Devils," said Henry.

Since the brothers had already made a deduction, they continuously found more and more evidence to support it. So the question now was, should they report their speculation, or keep it to themselves?

*****

Lex spent a few good hours sitting in his office after the meeting concluded. He ran through everything that had happened in his mind again and again. It did not help that there were so many things to attract his attention.

There was the matter of William looking like his twin. There was the matter of the Henali asking for some kind of toll. There was the matter of a potential war campaign being run from within the Inn in the future.

It was a good thing that Lex had learnt to keep his emotions calm, or else he might have been overwhelmed. But though he was not overwhelmed, he did not have it easy either.

For matters pertaining to his family at least, the clear answer that Lex kept coming to was returning to earth and confronting them. But at the same time, he didn't want to see his family either. It was an exhausting range of emotions.

In the end, he decided to get some sleep, and then think more about the matter when he woke up. Besides, he had other things to do - he couldn't spend all his time on this.

He teleported to his apartment and then let out a deep, exhausted sigh. He closed his eyes and let himself feel the mental exhaustion for a moment, before he opened his eyes again and removed his shirt. A nice shower would make his sleep even better.

But, as soon as he removed his shirt, and before he could do something else, the sound of fake coughing filled the room.

Lex froze, his vigilance rising to the maximum, and panic bells ringing in his head. He scanned the room with his spirit sense and checked with his intuition, but got no response.

The sound of someone clearing their throat sounded from a corner in his room, this time much louder and clearer.

Slowly, as if not to cause alarm, Lex turned towards the corner from where the sound emerged.

There, on an unfamiliar maroon leather sofa, a dark figure was sitting waiting for him. Though Lex was looking right at him, he could not detect any of his features, and could not feel his presence, despite the fact that he was looking right at him.

Suddenly, with a thought, he equipped the Host Attire, but still he could not detect the figure in the corner of his room.

"You're a very interesting fellow, Lex Williams," the figure said, after clearing his throat once more.