The Innkeeper

To say that the Midnight Inn was experiencing an unprecedented disaster would be an exaggeration. But to say that it had broken all records for the most bizarre situation Lex had ever experienced would be an understatement. The most accurate description of the situation that Lex could think of, was to say that he had just developed a great deal of admiration and respect for kindergarten teachers. Dealing with kids was not easy.

Around the time that the butterflies in the Inn, which had grown in size to be about 20 feet each, decided to identify as a nuisance, Lex decided to pause. He could not keep running from one incident to another. It was not a practical solution, nor would it yield the best results.

His initial panic had come from the fact that he had been in a rush to start searching his territory for materials and treasures that could heal the system. But he had to stabilize the situation here first. It only made sense that there would be some unexpected issues with moving to a new place.

He needed to delegate tasks and form a management committee. Fortunately, there were plenty of workers who were already in leadership roles. Unfortunately, most of them were still cultivating or experiencing breakthroughs and so weren't available.

He needed time to think, but first he sent Z to talk to the peacock union and calm them down. Which of them experienced an evolution or not was up to chance, and was not something that could be forced.

He searched the Inn for workers who were available, and found his options limited. Besides Z, the only one available to him at the moment was Fredrich, the Draconian Apostle.

Draconian Apostles were the second race of workers made available to Lex, and basically looked like massive honeybees. They found it difficult to survive in normal environments, and instead thrived in extremely hazardous or chaotic environments. Based on that description alone, he vaguely suspected that it may be able to survive in the Cosmic Sea. But that would need to be tested later on.

Fredrich was the first Draconian Apostle he had summoned, but considering that he hardly had any guests who needed to survive in extreme environments, he never felt the need to summon too many more.

That might change now, considering that there were quite a few treacherous places in this new realm, and he might need the Draconian Apostles to take care of the more hazardous environments in the Inn - such as the Cosmic Sea.

Lex summoned Friedrich, and a three foot long, chubby honey bee wearing a suit appeared in front of him.

"Fredrich, how are you finding this change?" Lex asked as the Innkeeper.

"It's absolutely wonderful," the chubby bee replied, directly in Lex's mind. "I can go anywhere I wish without feeling suffocated. The energy is incredibly rich. I can even feel that, somewhere in the distance, there is a true paradise waiting for me to explore."

"I'm glad you find this place more accommodating. But before you go exploring, I have some tasks I need you to do. Do you think you can handle them?"

"I… I will do my best!"

"For starters, a flutter of butterflies has grown much larger, and they are purposefully being a nuisance. They're bullying the sentient trees and making plans to kidnap the deer while they're sleeping. They may have planned several other pranks in the time I was not paying attention. Go talk to them and make sure they know not to disrupt the Inn, especially anywhere a guest might be affected."

"Is there… is there a way you want me to handle it?"

"As long as you don't harm anyone, and make sure they understand that they cannot cause a mess everywhere, you can do what you think needs to be done. I'll observe you, and if I think you need any guidance I'll provide it to you."

He needed to have more of his workers gain experience in leadership roles, and he could only do that by giving them actual tasks. After all, he couldn't dump everything onto Velma and the usual gang.

Speaking of which, a couple more workers had finished their cultivation while he was talking to Fredrich, which was perfect.

The first was Qawain. As a previously inanimate object that had come to life, he would have first hand experience in what it was like. He might also know the best way to handle his many newborn workers. Lastly, as someone who was soon going to become a father, and as someone who had adopted a child, he probably had the right mindset to deal with babies.

Hopefully.

Instead of teleporting the sentient sword over, Lex instead summoned him to himself. This was because he did not want to startle him by suddenly changing his environment. More importantly, he also wanted to let Qawain settle down a bit first.

One of the first major setbacks of coming to this new realm was that henceforth, it would be impossible to break through to the immortal realm while in the Inn. Even within the designated area of the Inn itself, it would be impossible. That meant that while Qawain had gained a lot, his breakthrough had been forcefully suppressed.

All was not lost, as the workers could always go to the Temple of Fasting to breakthrough in the future. But it would be a loss for his guests.

Then he turned his attention to the second worker who had finished cultivating. It was John. The same John who had a broken system in him, and had lost all his cultivation. Lex sent him a summons as well. Although he didn't plan on absorbing his system right now, because he didn't want to lose the system's functionality while he could still use the Host Attire. But it was time to set things up at least.

Before they could make their way over, however, he was surprised to discover that… someone was knocking on the wall surrounding the Inn. It seemed like he had his first guest already.