The Innkeeper

Once the patch of grass agreed to move Lex informed Mary to summon the turtle. Other than the grasses' surprising cultivation level, another reason why the turtle never attempted to communicate with the patch itself was due to the fact that the grass had the perfect disguise. Its aura was completely untraceable and,albeit slowly, it could move wherever it wanted within the lawn.

There was just one final thing left to do, which was give it a name. After all, Lex couldn't go around calling it the patch of grass. A single, unnamed turtle was already annoying enough for Lex.

After a moment's consideration, he named the sentient grass Zen. There was no particular reason behind it, and Lex definitely did not consider giving the grass the last name Garden either.

With that done, Lex finally returned to the Recovery Pod and lay down just moments before losing consciousness. If all went according to plan, this would be the second last time this happened to him.

For Lex, the matter was as simple as falling asleep and letting the Lotus do the work. The Lotus, instead, was actually under a lot of strain now. Improving Lex's body itself was not a difficult task, but Lex's mind and memories were plagued by aftereffects of coming into contact with the physical manifestation of a few laws. The memories, in turn, were putting an immense burden on Lex's body.

Therefore, what the Lotus actually had to do was make Lex's Foundation able to interact with,and support laws. This was incredibly difficult, and the Lotus was actually running out items to use to improve Lex's body in such a way. Divine Essence was one of the greatest shortcuts one could use to interact with laws, but it had used up the entire available supply at the Inn last time.

This time, it was forced to use the last remaining item available at the Inn that could do such a thing, and it was beyond precious. It was the final seed out of 3 rare seeds that Lex got.

The seed, if it had been allowed to grow, would have produced a plant much like itself. Well, though the second seed had been planted near the Fire Temple, and it was absorbing the heat and the divine energy in the area, it had not properly taken form, and so did not gain sentience.

Of course, there was the possibility that it would not gain sentience at all, and would just be an incredible and rare plant. Regardless, it would not change the fact that whatever the plant was, it had the potential to interact with laws.

The Lotus waited patiently for the turtle to bring it the third seed. Once the seed arrived, it would be a long process absorbing it into Lex's body. It would take at least 10 days.

*****

A few days later, Luthor was standing with Gerard near the Midnight Manor, waiting patiently. Through one of the soldiers that the general had stationed at the Inn permanently, Luthor reached out to the general through Gerard and requested a meeting. To avoid any misunderstandings, he also clarified that it was not the Innkeeper who was requesting the meeting, but the workers themselves in their private capacity.

The reason he had Gerard reach out to the general instead of doing it himself was that he felt a familiar face would get better results. Moreover, it was important to clarify that they were the ones requesting the meeting instead of the Innkeeper as they did not want to use the Inn's influence to coerce the general. Such tactics would build a bad impression of them.

Of course, since it was them requesting the meeting, they were prepared to hear that it had been rejected, or that the General sent his assistant instead.

Fortunately, as it happened, the general had to meet the person who was completing the tasks he'd put up in the Guild room so he had to come to the Inn anyway.

Of course, Luthor did not know that. He was under immense pressure thinking that the General was coming due to their request. He also had to make a ridiculously difficult request, with nothing to actually bargain with. At most, he could deliver a promise to pay him back in the future with a favor.

Despite his desperation, Luthor let nothing show on his face. His expression was patient and stoic, and even when a golf cart appeared on the horizon heading in their direction, he did not betray his thoughts.

The general looked like a young man, younger than Luthor even, yet no one who saw him would mistake him for someone inexperienced. Even with the soft smile that he bore, there was a commanding aura about him that made it impossible for anyone to underestimate him.

"General, it is good to see you," said Gerard as he climbed down the steps to greet him. "Thank you for agreeing to our request for a meeting, I know you are a busy man."

"It is good to see you as well, young man. I see you are beginning to regain some of your youthful appearance. That's good, there's no point in getting old so early in life. I look forward to seeing your progress, so there's no need to be shy about calling me over. Between old friends, such things need not be mentioned. Besides, you know how I'm always just looking for an excuse to come to the Inn."

Despite his usual steadiness, Gerard could not help but blush a little when Ragnar commented about him looking young. It was common knowledge that the general himself was over 3000 years in age. But, it could not be denied that the general was considered young for someone in his position and rank.

"Allow me to introduce you to Luthor. He has only recently joined the Inn, but as the Innkeepers assistant, he has been doing his best to get thoroughly acquainted with the Inn and all its guests."

"It's a pleasure," said Ragnar, but a hidden light flashed in his eyes. The last time he came to the Inn he had seen the Hearth, but he did not know exactly what the Innkeeper had done. Even after he came, and heard rumors of what had happened, he only treated it as the Innkeeper getting rid of miscreants. It was only later, when rumors of what had happened in so many galaxies, and the visage that they saw, began to spread on the Henali portal that Ragnar began to suspect the Innkeeper was behind it.

The stories of the guests from the Inn corroborated the stories in the portal, but he still did not dare to jump to conclusions about the Innkeepers actions or powers. As someone near the upper echelon of the Jotun Empire, he was extremely familiar with what the highest level cultivators could do. As such he knew that even if people thought they saw something, the truth could have been something else entirely.

It was best not to jump to too many conclusions, but the only thing that was certain was that people only saw what the Innkeeper wanted them to see. As for the truth behind the matter, it was not up to them to ponder over it.

Luthor, as the assistant to the Innkeeper, could not be a simple character either.

The three exchanged some pleasantries as they made their way to a private room. They spent a small amount of time chatting, mainly about the new changes at the Inn, before Ragnar moved the conversation to the matter at hand.

"As splendid and refreshing as it always is to come to the Inn, I have a few obligations waiting for me that I must get to - please excuse my haste. I was informed that you had a matter to discuss. How can I help you, gentlemen?"

"No, please excuse us for taking up your time," Luthor said. "It is extremely rude of us to try and solicit our guests, but there is a time sensitive matter that needs to be taken care of urgently. I am in need of some Entis Core, a minimum of 1 gram to be exact. Were we not in such a rush, I would have pursued other avenues. But since it is an urgent matter, I was hoping to use the Empire's resources to get it."

Luthor did not yet broach the topic of payment, for he wanted to gauge the general's ability, or willingness to take up this matter. He did not, however, expect the general's reaction at all.

"1 gram of Entis Core? It is not an easy request, but fortunately for you, we keep an emergency stash on the Command Carrier. I'll have it sent over right away. And please, in the future, do not hesitate if there's something else you need help in. You do not even need to set up a meeting, just send your requests directly."

Ragnar laughed as he got up, as if he had done the simplest thing in the world.

Luthor, flabbergasted, was not able to respond smoothly, and when he brought up the matter of payment the general would not hear of it at all.

In the end, they were left with the task completed, but feeling like they had missed something important. Leo made the task sound hard, so why was it so easy?

Luthor inexperience was showing once again, for the value of Entis Core was not as simple as the general claimed it to be, yet he had given it freely. There was definitely more to the matter than it seemed.