The Innkeeper



The interruption to the chaotic meeting room had a very prominent effect on everyone. Everyone in the room was rich and powerful, and though they had faced many hardships, few had ever faced true desperation. As such, when they suffered the seemingly magical hush that fell upon the room, which was especially emphasized by the calm yet loud knocking on the door, they let their imaginations take hold.

Some felt that their doom had come. Behind the door were the alien invaders, coming to kill them. They forgot that they were at the Inn and not on earth, their weak and feeble minds buckling under the pressure.

Others saw it as an intervention. Like the movies, their hero was about to be revealed, the leader they needed to drag them out of this quagmire and bring them to salvation. These were the ones desperately clinging to hope. But it was not the kind of hope that filled one with strength and determination. No, it was the hope that someone else would come and solve their problems for them.

A few, however, retained their wisdom and self awareness, and felt that behind the door they would most likely find a representative of the Inn. They too had hope in their heart, that the Inn would somehow lend them a hand, but it was overshadowed by the knowledge that it would most likely have something to do with the refugees.

The charity that the Inn had shown by reducing the rates for earthlings instead of profiteering was already worthy of commendation. If the Inn offered more help, they would become suspicious instead of relieved. Though it wasn't as if they would have much of a choice.

Though it took only a few moments for Bernard to walk up to the door and open it, for some unknown reason, that distance seemed to stretch on forever.

When the door finally opened, it revealed Leo standing behind it. The reveal turned out to be anticlimactic, as most of the people in the room did not even know who he was. Just because Leo's popularity had been budding, it did not mean everyone knew him. Only those who spent a lot of time at the Inn, and those that interacted with the Inn's workers, frequently would hear about popular news. Everyone usually came to the Inn focused on themselves, and so didn't really look out for local gossip.

Some, however, knew of him. Not because of his race, but rather because of the devastating threat he posed as someone capable of taking out numerous nascent cultivators at once. Basically, he alone could conquer earth in an up front battle!

"Sorry to disturb you," he said with a smile. His calm demeanor and polite tone seemed almost alien in that hostile environment.

"I'm here to speak with Miranda. If I could have a moment of your time, I think you would find it most fruitful."

In unison, everyone turned to look at the weary looking young woman. In truth the current situation should have had nothing to do with her. Her position was that of foreign relations director, which meant that in a war situation she should have had no authority to command or intercede. But due to the blackout, the structure of command became askew, for no one could contact the relevant people. As such, she had to take over and deal with the emergency responses. She did the best she could, but she was not trained for this.

Despite her best efforts to address combat readiness, much of what she could do was hampered because it took a long time for orders and news to be delivered. Moreover, a massive amount of resources had to be diverted to deal with the rioting masses.

A loss of power, lack of communication, and a massive spaceship above their heads and instantaneously caused a societal collapse. Petty crime was through the roof, people were robbing stores out in the open, fights breaking out in every corner. There were no words to explain the amount of frustration she felt at being unable to quell the panic, and let the people know that everything they were doing was in fact getting in the way of improving their own situation.

People just did not care, or were convinced the world was ending. No one would listen to reason. Why wouldn't anyone listen to reason?

In the end… in the end, when one rioter tried to force himself on her while she was trying to calm them down, she just gave up and decided to come to the Inn. Naturally, the rioter was met with an early grave. No matter what, even in her spiritually defeated state, she was a Foundation realm cultivator. A mere mortal was genuinely only asking for death by messing with her.

But while she wanted to just give up, and let everyone else handle the situation, something in her mind clicked when she saw Leo. As the foreign affairs director, she knew all the notable people at the Inn and Leo was no exception.

Though she felt drained, she couldn't help but think that if they managed to get the Inn's help, tiding over this invasion would be a piece of cake. Although she could not help by commanding their armies, if she could broker an alliance…

Suddenly feeling reinvigorated, she stood up and locked eyes with Leo.

"We are in the middle of an unprecedented crisis, Mr. Leo. If the matter is not urgent perhaps we can schedule an appointment for a less pressing time."

She was not as eloquent as she had hoped, but her intention was clear. She had to project strength and authority while hiding all her desperation as deeply as possible. In a negotiation, the more desperate party concedes the most. Since Leo came to find her, she currently held the power in between them, and she had to hold on to it as long as possible.

But, unfortunately for her, she did not know who she was facing. Lex could make an empire dance in the palm of his hands, let alone someone like her.

"Well, if you come with me, I think you'll find our meeting to be extremely productive. As for your unprecedented crisis… not that I should go around spreading other peoples private information, but I believe some of the original leaders of your planet are in a meeting with some devils. I believe they'll work out a deal to tide you through it."