The Innkeeper

Under normal circumstances, Lex would have been extremely nervous with almost 2700 people focused on him. Even up until yesterday, or to be more accurate, earlier this morning, Lex did not feel ready to address such a crowd without stuttering or at least mumbling or mispronouncing a few words. Yet right now, the way he looked at the crowd was completely calm and natural. It was as if he believed they should be the ones nervous in his presence, not the other way around.

He scanned the crowd briefly once, his eyes passing over the four divided groups. His gaze paused a second longer when he looked at the Devils, but continued on as if they were just ordinary guests.

“It brings me great pleasure that you all could make it,” he said, his voice loud yet still casual. “For those of you who did not get the opportunity to take a tour, or skipped it, let me introduce you to the Inn. For the travelers of the universe, or those who just want a home away from home, for the adventurers who want a respite, or the scholars who want to broaden their horizons, for anyone in need, anywhere in the universe, the Midnight Inn is the destination for you. We offer you rest, security, opportunity, adventure, excitement, enlightenment and more. I am the Innkeeper, and this is my humble establishment.”

Lex paused for a moment. He had just received a new quest from the system, and he was going to ignore reading it till he was done, yet a simple glance at the notification let him know how serious this quest was. He quickly made a plan in his head, and decided how to deal with it. This was going to be the fastest quest he ever completed.

“Recently, three new planets gained access to the Inn. To celebrate this, and to nurture an environment that promotes mutual growth and camaraderie I decided to host the Midnight Games, which will allow the three worlds to share their culture with one another, and compete in some games for prizes.”

He paused again, this time a little longer, as he looked through his guests. He spotted Marlo entering the coliseum, clearly agitated. Some of his muscle had returned, but Lex did not bother paying attention to that right now. He looked at all the guests’ faces, looked in their eyes, to see if he still had their attention. The oddly dressed humans, crossdressed devils and confused Beasts all had their eyes focused on him. No one had said a single word so far, but he would give them an opportunity to speak soon enough. Not to mention, some guests might not really wait to be given an opportunity._.

“The Midnight Games will be divided into two portions. The first portion will be a cultural show. Any and all guests from each planet can participate, and the event will entail whatever format the guest requires, whether it be a show, a presentation, a game or anything else. Of course, you cannot harm other guests in the process.

“This portion will be divided into a few stages. The first is the general stage, where everyone will be allocated a space and will have their presentations simultaneously. Based on genuine audience response, appreciation and popularity, candidates will be selected into the qualifying round, where they will be given the stage to present in front of the entire audience.

“That will lead to the finale, where the last two finalists will be given center stage. The winning team will win a prize not only for themselves, but for their entire planet as well. I hope that through that experience the people of all planets come closer together, and learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

“After that, of course, will then lead to the combat and the actual ‘games’ portion of the Midnight Games – much to some peoples delight.” Lex gave Marlo a look before continuing. “This portion is a little different, and also dangerous. Instead of taking place here at the Inn, these games will be taking place on Vegus Minima.”

That statement made Ragnar frown slightly, and caused Loretta to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Some of you already know, though most do not, that there is a great undertaking going on in Vegus Minima at the moment. For those of you that do not know, I will explain the details a little.”

Naturally Lex himself did not know about events happening on Vegus Minima, but under the events panel he can view major events going on in all planets connected to the Inn. He can incorporate those events into his own using the panel, which is how he learned about the largest event taking place on Vegus Minima – the hunt for the spawning portal, as well as a detailed description of events relating to it.

“Currently, the planet is divided. Much of it is under the control of demons known as zombies, while the rest of it is under the control of humans.”

This was a simple statement, but it attracted the attention of almost all guests. Some of the Beasts suspected as much, but learning that an entire planet – though they still did not understand the concept of a planet – was being controlled by humans shocked them! The Jotun soldiers and Devils were focused because clearly these ‘games’ were about to have a direct impact upon their confrontation that had just begun. Based on the direction of the games, support could go on either side. As for the Earthlings, well, which one of them had never seen a zombie apocalypse movie? It was as if their fantasies were coming to life in front of their eyes, and they were truly enraptured.

“Some of you may think that it is a simple battle, since the zombies have no direct way of reproducing, killing them would slowly but surely eliminate the zombies from the planet once and for all. But it is not so simple. You see, there is a spawning portal on the planet that lets more zombies enter the planet infinitely from another realm.

“The humans are desperately trying to locate the spawning portal, while the demons are doing everything in their power to keep it hidden. But in this struggle, the demons have had the advantage of time.

“They’ve taken a long time to set up a formation that not only hides the portal, it protects it from interstellar attacks. Should any weapons of mass destruction be used, the formation will channel the destructive energy directly into the planet’s core, destabilizing it and ultimately destroying the whole planet.”

Lex’s words caused not only Ragnar to grimace, it caused the Devils to frown as well. This was not a new tactic used in the war against Demons, and was in fact a very common one. Unless the occupants are ready to sacrifice the entire planet, such a formation would prevent the use of not only high leveled cultivators, it would prevent the use of heavily destructive technological weapons. Unless the formation can be located, that is.

“With that background information, I think I can begin to explain the games. The protective formation has ten, very important nodes that keep it running, and so there will be ten games!”

“Dear Innkeeper,” Loretta finally interrupted Lex, having completely understood the direction this was going in. But even while interrupting, her disguised masculine voice did not sound aggressive or accusatory, but rather remorseful and regretful. “It seems to me that there is a lot of discrimination going on in your ‘Midnight Games’. I thought the point of this event was to get along together, build camaraderie and learn about each other’s cultures. Yet now it seems to me that this is all just a build up to a slaughter…a slaughter of my people.” Loretta wiped an imaginary tear off her cheek as she said the last part.

“That’s not very nice, is it? Not the kind of behavior I would expect from an Inn. Especially not one that is trying to operate without needlessly provoking some enemies.”

Lex smirked. He was waiting for this – and so were a lot of people, and Beasts.

“I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding,” he said, amusement quite evident in his tone. “The Midnight Inn only ever promotes peaceful gatherings that help not only our guests, but the entire communities that they belong to. As a business, we have no interest in having ‘enemies’, only more guests. Our sole focus is on spreading our name across the universe, so that anyone who needs to rest knows exactly where they can come to.”

“See, again. Your actions and intentions aren’t really a reflection of your words. How can you say you’re not making any enemies when you’re clearly targeting us? How can you condem an entire planet full of my precious zombies to death, and yet claim to be looking for more guests?”

At her question, Lex started laughing. It was not a chuckle or a giggle, or a small laugh that ended quickly. It was a clear, loud laugh full of mirth and amusement. The sound of his voice echoed across the coliseum. It was not oppressive or tinged with hidden anger, but genuine amusement. Yet the more it was like this, the more the Devil’s frowned, and the more Ragnar looked confused.

They needed no explanation to understand that the Innkeeper did not take them as a serious threat at all.

“Loretta dear,” Lex said, wiping actual tears from his eyes, “I am not provoking enemies, I am just hosting some games, do you understand? I am not condemning a planet full of zombies to death, these are just simple games.”

The Devils and even the humans felt their back tingle at the man who considered the fate of an entire planet as a game.

“I have guests from all over the universe. I do not discriminate, and host everyone equally, so long as they obey the rules of the Inn. Do you understand? But when certain guests come to my Inn and repeatedly attack me, well, I don’t mind tweaking my games just a bit. After all, how long can one ignore an itch before scratching it?”

Lex asked the question wearing his brightest and most genuine smile, yet no one felt as lighthearted as he looked right now. This was the Innkeeper, and even the Devil’s threat was nothing more than an itch to him!