The Innkeeper



After delivering his speech, Lex left the podium and let the banquet progress normally. He no longer felt like the mood of the banquet needed to be fun or jovial. Considering that the 1000 workers would be heading off to the battlefield, he felt that the rest of the time should be spent with the focus on them. After all, no matter how much Lex helped them prepare, there was a very real possibility that they might not make it back.

Still, the mood the rest of the time was very relaxed. If the workers felt nervous or anxious, they did not show it. Instead, they kept gushing over how much they liked their new suits. If one overheard their conversations, one would assume they would be heading to a field trip rather than to war.

Soon, a live orchestra standing on a cloud nearby began to play live music, and the banquet transitioned to the dance. This was quite entertaining to watch actually, since most people didn't really know any real dances, but as cultivators of various levels, they were quite adept in movement techniques. As a result, the Inn workers were making up dances on the go, which resulted in quite an interesting show.

The most interesting was the dance between Little Blue and the Sol bird. They were flying around, swinging like crazy in the air. Wherever Little Blue flew drops of water fell like rain, since it was still learning to control its ability, and whenever the bird passed by the drops evaporated instantly. Since the Inn protected everyone from the bird's heat, to the viewers it all seemed just like an interesting smoke show. Moreover, due to the constant rain and light, rainbows were formed wherever the two went.

With no one truly leading and showing them how it was done, the workers truly did end up doing whatever they wanted. Some bunnies began mounting peacocks and strut around one another, as if challenging each other to a dance duel. The massive, evolved Magikarpet had the turtle ride on its head and shook around, as if it was trying to dance as well.

The humans were not to be left behind either. They grabbed hands and spun each other round and around till one of them had their feet lifted into the air and began flying, until the other one suddenly let go, sending them flying towards a specific target. The humans… began playing darts using other humans…

Left didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he watched what they did, but decided not to interfere. There was no designated way to enjoy oneself, and if they were enjoying themselves by behaving like idiots… well, one had to remember that most of them were just one year old.

He teleported away, no longer overseeing the workers. The thing he had to do next was prepare to send his workers to the battlefield. It was really easy, since he had been provided a teleportation formation - he only needed to set it up.

He had never sent one of his workers outside the Inn before, although theoretically it shouldn't be an issue. In essence, in the way that he could choose to teleport to any place connected to the Inn, he could send his workers too. After all, if there was no mechanism to send out his employees then he wouldn't have received a quest to recruit Marlo as a porter oh so long ago.

Deploying the formation was… disappointingly easy. The lead up to the workers departure felt agonizingly slow to Lex, but eventually the banquet ended, and the next day came. But all the workers did not return to their posts just yet, and instead stood in silence as they watched the 1000 gathered workers.

It was time for them to go, but no one had any words left to say. They could only watch, and pray.

When the Innkeeper appeared, he summoned Luthor to have a private word with him first.

"I don't expect it to be a problem, but make sure that you all stay together. You all have to make sure to protect one another. While there will be others there with you, and they will be your allies, that is only theoretical. The only ones you can trust are each other. Everyone has a couple of keys with them, in case they ever need it, but I want you to take this as well."

Lex held out one of his Innkeeper business cards, drenched in the aura of the Innkeeper.

"If you run into any problems, or if they try to split you all up, don't hesitate to call me through the card. Though the Midnight Inn is sending a force to contribute in inane war, that does not mean we can be pushed around."

Luthor took the card and tucked it safely in the inner pocket of his coat. Although the Innkeeper told him not to hesitate in summoning him, Luthor decided not to summon the Innkeeper unless it was the last resort,

"As for the rest… treat this as a learning experience. The comrades you make during war are special, and cannot be discovered in simple times. Go, expand your contacts, as well as your horizons."

Luthor nodded in confirmation, but did not say anything. The Innkeeper was clearly trusting him to lead the others, which was a monumental task. Perhaps one would expect such a task to go to Gerard, based on his position as the head of security, but Lex felt he did not have the right temperament. Perhaps as long as he was within the Inn, it didn't matter so much, but on a battlefield, only someone as ruthless as Luthor would suffice.

With everything said, Luthor returned to the others, and they were teleported away. There was no fanfare of fancy speeches. Lex did not feel like there was a need to drag the matter on endlessly. Sometimes, it was better to just get on with it quickly.

With the workers sent out of the Inn, Lex prepared to return to the Crystal realm and complete his quest, but he was interrupted by the sound of a familiar notification.

System Notification: Hidden quest completed!

*****

The teleportation away from the Inn was seamless, despite it being powered by a formation provided by someone else. That was because with the Inn's upgraded teleportation abilities, Lex had more or less hijacked the teleportation point. Of course, just because there was an easy way to reach the destination did not mean that it was linked to the Inn. Not yet anyway, but that didn't matter.

When the 1000 workers of the Inn teleported over, they were instantly overwhelmed. Since this was the first time any of them left the Inn, they were not prepared for the 'polluted' and 'impure' air of the universe. The smell of synthetic cleaners filled the massive hall they teleported in, almost making them gag, but they controlled themselves. They knew war wasn't going to be easy. It only made sense that it shouldn't smell great either.

The group had teleported inside a dedicated teleportation area which was one of many in the entire hall. There were easily tens of thousands more troops appearing every minute, and they all wore different kinds of armors and gear. There was a host of personnel standing ready, guiding and registering each and every new group.

One such person approached the group from the Inn, dressed in a brown jumpsuit and a helmet sporting a silver visor, hiding the person's face.

"Welcome to battlefront 00974. Is there a designated leader among your group?"

Luthor stepped forward, standing face to face with the man. Much like the group, the man was in the Foundation realm, so when Luthor stepped near, his surging aura momentarily stunned him.

"Aff-affiliated group and number of soldiers, please," the man stuttered, unable to calm himself down in time.

"Midnight Inn, 1000 soldiers," Luthor said succinctly. Although the Innkeeper had told him to make comrades, he did not think he was referring to a weak floor worker like this.

"Midnight Inn… 1000 soldiers… alright I've registered your arrival. Someone will lead you to have your identities logged, and then your assignments will be given to you."

"Wherever we go, we will go together. We will not be separated," informed Luthor. Even if he didn't already have such thoughts, the Innkeeper repeatedly emphasized that they should stay together, so he would never compromise on this.

"You specialize in group combat? Well that shouldn't be an issue. Continue on with registration, and be sure to mention that you've trained for group combat. No one will want to diminish your combat effectiveness, so you'll all be stationed together."

Luthor nodded, as if that was barely an acceptable answer, and then began leading his group forward. He was pleased that no one had tried to split them up, and he took note of the 'group combat' that the previous man had mentioned. Hopefully, there won't be any problems later either. It would suck if he had to beat someone up so soon.