The Innkeeper

Five days before the wedding, Lex was woken up from his slumber by Mary, who had been instructed by Lex to do so. To his dismay, upon waking, he did not feel reinvigorated and refreshed. Instead, the dull pain in his chest indicated his injury to his lung was still persistent.

While the feeling of exhaustion was greatly relieved, it was not at the level he had hoped. Was it too much to ask for to heal completely to full health and strength after an encounter in a quick and concise manner? After all, video game characters did it so often. Why couldn't reality be as convenient?

Shaking his head, Lex slowly got out of his Recovery Pod. In truth, he knew his thoughts were a tad unreasonable. This was a flaw of his spirit being merged with his body. Whenever he suffered a wound, it would affect his spirit as well. With a compromised spirit, it was natural that Lex had odd or unusual thoughts.

The matter was not too serious, and would only become a serious hindrance if his wounds were drastically greater than they were now.

While he recovered from his drowsiness, Lex reflected on his short period of acting as a spy. In his own opinion, his performance was subpar. It seems he had become too relaxed lately. He seriously needed to upgrade his repertoire of techniques. Sure, it was understandable that offensive techniques would be a weak point for him, but was it too much to ask for to have completely unsurpassed stealth skills, investigative skills, limitless knowledge on all matters he might encounter and and other useful techniques?

It seemed that Lex was suddenly feeling dissatisfied with Evisceration, his remarkable versatility due to his mastery of arrays, his unsurpassed defenses and potentially limitless options to accumulate various techniques.

Or perhaps it was the knowledge that the pup Fenrir surpassed him in stealth that was truly irritating him in his mentally vulnerable state.

Stifling a yawn, Lex got up and stretched his arms far apart as he loosened his body up. For a moment, he wondered if he should go back to that tower the Jotun empire was protecting. Passing a few more levels should help him grow, right?

Ultimately, he decided to do so later. No matter how random his thoughts were, he knew that he had to prioritize the wedding.

"Anything I need to pay attention to at the Inn?" he asked, even as he teleported to his office.

"Alexander delivered a message. Initially there were some issues convincing his team to get involved in the matter you discovered. No one wanted to get their hands dirty with the war. Eventually, though, they relented and investigated. So far there has been no concrete discovery, for anyone who has entered the chamber under the wall has lost contact, without exception. Even Nascent realm cultivators were no different."

Lex frowned, but did not comment.

"Besides that, for now, there is nothing too major. There are a few applications from several guests who wish to hold some events at the Inn that you need to review. The most significant one, at least from what I can tell, is the one being hosted by Vera Joel. She's using almost all the MP she got from you to host a Prophets Convention."

Lex raised an eyebrow out of curiosity and looked at the application. The event was planned for a couple of months later. The curious thing was that to attend the event, an attendee would need to first deliver the correct password. Yet the marketing for the event, as well as the password, were only to be published a day after the event was already over. He supposed only those who were able to divine out the event beforehand could attend, thereby automatically proving their abilities.

There were a few more events that guests had applied to host at the Inn, but none were as interesting. They mostly included birthday parties, weddings and the like. He approved them and forwarded the details to the relevant departments to begin planning.

He scanned the Inn once just to ensure that all was well, before diverting all his attention to the Crystal realm. Using his Remote Presence ability, a projection of him appeared at the tavern.

The mood in the main hall was drastically different from what it normally was, and there were no sailers for traders occupying the tables today. Instead, a host of refined ladies and gentlemen sat comfortably in their seats and talked in soft voices. On the small stage in the corner, a number of tiny fairies played soothing and relaxing music.

It felt more like he had entered the parlor for an exclusive country club rather than a local tavern, but it only made sense. The richest and most prestigious people from across the Hum nation were to arrive in Babylon, and the tavern was the central location where they would gather.

Of course, due to the small size of the tavern, only the most essential parts of the wedding would take place here, which would be limited to the most important guests. That meant the less important guests would have to use the few days prior to take in the prestigious yet rustic aura of the tavern.

Surprisingly, even the most particular and spoiled of these nobles did not make a fuss, for the tavern had truly seen numerous upgrades after the star rank upgrade. It was not just the Dribble Oak wood, which kept the air in the tavern fresh and filled the air with a reinvigorating scent, that kept these nobles humble. Each nail holding down the floor planks, each window, each utensil and everything else imaginable used in this tavern absolutely screamed opulence, while retaining a humble and simple aesthetic.

The grandeur was overwhelming, yet the blatant indifference to cosmetics and extravagance was a new experience for them, allowing them to enjoy it even further. In fact, the more astute guests at the tavern could already predict that a new trend of extremely valuable items disguised as everyday, mundane items was about to sweep the empire.

By being at the source of this new trend, they could gain ideas and inspiration, and be first to profit from it.

Others simply took this as a novel experience, and allowed themselves to live out their fantasies of traveling the lands and rubbing shoulders with the common folk.

Of course, there were always trouble makers. Naki, Nami and Nani, the triplet waitresses at the tavern, were always popular. Moreover, their budding extroverted personalities did not allow them to hide much of themselves. As such, their low-born origins were immediately picked up on by many guests.

Not many minded, and some in fact thought that they had been purposefully employed to add realism to this experience of living like a commoner. Some, however, decided to take them home for one evening. This had happened while Lex was asleep.

Naturally, since Lex's sleep was not disturbed by Mary, the situation was resolved without needing his assistance. To be specific, the personal guards of the Phillips family intervened before anything happened to escort the guest away from the town.

Jolene had strongly impressed upon her husband how important the tavern and Lex were, and that they should use every opportunity to ingratiate themselves. Although they were more than certain that the tavern could have handled the situation without their aid, they were all too eager to help. So now everyone knew not to mess with the tavern staff.

Of course, that was before Rick returned from his travels with the monster catfish in tow. Lex was not sure how he had done it, considering that monsters had a very aggressive nature, but Rick had somehow… tamed the catfish monster.

The monster at the peak of Nascent realm was hard to ignore, especially when it followed Rick around like a loyal puppy… eh, no, like a loyal monster fish. To fit into the tavern, the monster even shrunk its size. Considering that Rick had returned Zagan's scale, Lex was not aware of how he managed to tame it. He would look into it, but later.

For now, Lex first checked up on all the floors of the tavern, ensuring that it was alright, before sending someone to call the Noel and Phillips families. He had to brief them on the fact that some 'important' guests will also be attending the wedding, so that they could be prepared.

Moreover, he had to make preparations in case the situation developed negatively. His experience with the Crystal race was enough to wake him up to the fact that things wouldn't always go according to his plans. He had to make contingencies.

Fortunately, Zagan's scale would allow him to muster up a force consisting of monsters. Still, considering that the elite of the entire realm were coming, his emergency measures had to be adequate. Since he himself could not travel freely in the Crystal realm at the moment, he had to make use of others.

More specifically, he had to make use of all the secrets the Noel family had buried under Babylon.