The three girls standing in front of Lex seemed to be in their early 20s, and a quick scan showed Lex that they were all still in the early phases of Qi training. This wasn't abnormal, since with the average life expectancy in this realm, people were a lot more used to taking their time with things.
They lacked a certain sense of urgency that was hidden deep within the psyche of Earthlings. Yet, considering the resource available in this realm, the uniformity of their cultivation realm, and the realm itself told Lex that they had not focused much on cultivating. This meant that they were either lazy, or lacked the time to cultivate. The faded colors on their clothes indicated that it was probably their financial situation that took up most of their time in the form of various jobs.
"Introduce yourselves," Lex said simply, after a brief moment of introspection.
"My name is Naki, and I'm the oldest sister," said the one wearing green.
"My name is Nami, and I'm the middle sister," said the one wearing yellow.
"My name is Nani, and I'm the youngest sister," said the one wearing orange.
"We have jobs already, but we all work separately. If we could all work in the same place, it would be a lot easier on us," said Naki.
"Yes, yes, it would be better for us, and better for you. We're hard workers, and everyone loves us," said Nami.
"Naki works as a floor worker in a grocery store, Nami works at a laundry service for rich people and I work in a kitchen in a restaurant, helping the chefs" said Nani.
The three girls radiated a vibrant and positive energy, and Lex had no issues hiring them, but he would first have to test their capabilities and decide what position they'd be good for.
"Your jobs sound good, are you sure you want to change them? The crowd at a tavern can be rough, and the work can be rougher. Of course, you won't need to worry about your safety, as I will make sure to take care of all my workers, but it still won't be easy."
"Yes, we're not shy," the three sisters answered at the same time. "We have 9 brothers so we grew up around boys, we know how to take care of ourselves."
9 brothers? Lex prayed for their mothers good health and didn't let his thoughts dwell on the subject.
"There's a few positions open. First, I need a few cooks and I also need barmaids. Rick handles the cleaning for now so I'm not worried about anything else, but whoever takes up the position will have long hours. Moreover, I need someone for housekeeping as well. Which of those jobs are you interested in? I have to let you know that I'll have to see how you perform in that position before I hire you."
All three sisters wanted to be housekeepers, but Lex didn't need that many. So they opted for a few different positions, but the premise was that they have the same work hours. Otherwise, there was no point in them changing their jobs.
Lex told them he'd make a decision after he saw them work, and instructed Rick to show them around and tell them where they'd be working.
Dino, who had been standing silently on the side till now, finally stepped up and said, "I heard your tavern was visited by the Noel brothers last night. If you managed to make a good impression then I'd say you're in luck, and your tavern will soon be visited by all the rich folk in town."
"They were brothers?" Lex asked as he compared their two extremely different personalities. "I take it that they're famous around here."
While they spoke Lex invited Dino to sit, and poured him a reinvigorating juice. It was way too early in the day for anything else.
"Of course they are," Dino said with a laugh. "They're the sons of lord Noel, the ruler of these lands. Babylon is just one of the hundreds of small towns under their family's rule, so it's very rare for any of them to visit. Every dozen or so years, someone from the lord's family makes an appearance to make sure everything is going okay.
"As for the Noel brothers, they're even more beloved than the lord himself. Though they're upper class folk, they both are very friendly. There are even countless stories of them even helping the common folk if they spot someone in trouble. Lord Pvarti even saved my grandfather's farm once," Dino told with pride in his voice.
His story, though, made Lex realize that Pvarti was probably a few hundred years old himself, despite him acting like a teenager in search of excitement.
The fact that baffled Lex, though, was that the lord of these lands was actually a human. Not that he was looking down on the human race or anything, but when he compared the wealth that the map showed in this area, he was expecting it to be ruled by the Crystal race.
That wasn't to say that this was the richest plot of land in the realm, but it was definitely up there on the list, so he expected a more powerful race to control it.
If not the Crystal race, then even the Trelops would make more sense. The unusual way in which they integrated with nature, making entire forests and other landscapes their bodies made them ridiculously powerful. Lex even expected that, if Trelops existed back in the Origin realm, if they became strong enough they could probably even treat entire planets as their bodies.
He made a note to learn more about this neutral territory, without arousing suspicion of course.
"There's a rumor," Dino continued his story, not noticing Lex lost in his thoughts, "that lord Pvarti actually broke off an engagement that his father arranged for him. They say the lord is furious, and is planning on seriously punishing the young lord."
"That makes sense. Bertram said that he was delaying going home," Lex informed Dino, adding to the juicy piece of gossip. Nothing helped integrate people into communities more than sharing gossip.
"Hahahaha indeed! Oh my wife will be so sad we missed them when she hears about this," Dino said, barely containing his laughter. "I should get back to my bakery or else we'll just spend the day chatting like this. Good luck with the sisters, though you don't have to be lenient on my account. They're good girls so I expect they'll work hard, but if you don't think so, then don't hesitate to tell them no."
"Thanks, I'll let you know how things go," Lex said. How well they performed really depended on if he got any guests. An empty tavern would make it very hard for him to judge how well they worked.
"Oh and uh," Dino suddenly said, his bright disposition suddenly changing to one full of hesitation and concern. "I meant what I said. If the Noel brothers compliment your tavern, expect a lot of rich folk to drop by. But well, justโฆ just be careful if their sister comes as well. Just as much as the brothers are beloved, the sisterโฆ uhh, well sheโฆ just take care if she comes."
With that, before Lex could ask any questions, Dino rushed off, afraid Lex would ask him what he meant. Lex raised an eyebrow in curiosity. If there really was some trouble heading his way, it would be best to get some information on it.
He used the spatial formation to walk through the kitchen door and enter the backyard instead, and headed towards the Rumor room. Since whatever information Dino was sharing was likely rumors and gossip anyway, he believed this room would be just as reliable.
The room was akin to a small study station, with an oakwood desk placed against the wall, with a book placed on the desk. Lex took a seat and opened the book that seemed to have endless pages.
This book would list all the currently ongoing rumors in the tavern's vicinity. He didn't know how large the range was, but he assumed it would at most cover Babylon. He could read the rumors randomly, or he could specifically pick a certain topic.
Directing choosing 'Noel family - sister' mentally, Lex began to read from the most commonly circulated rumor, and slowly his expression started to worsen. The fact that all the rumors seemed so typical and predictable made Lex certain that they were likely true. In summary,
Pamela Noel, older sister to Pvarti and Bertram Noel, was an extremely spoiled girl. All signs indicated she suffered from princess syndrome, and was extremely dominating in her ways. To make it worse, her cultivation was not weak either, at the Nascent realm, but worst of all was that she was greatly indulged by not only her father, but by her brothers as well.
Lex prayed in his heart that she wouldn't visit the tavern, he was in no mood to babysit.
Just as Lex was reading through these rumors, at the other side of Babylon, another person had entered the Noel brothers carriage. Pvarti was sharing various stories of his adventures with this person, and when his tale finally reached a certain tavern, even Bertram couldn't help but mention that it had a surprisingly pleasant wine collection.
"Oh?" the woman exclaimed. "Even little Bert likes it. I'll remember to check it out next time I'm around."Larry Dershaw was sunbathing near the lake in the Midnight Inn, the one near the Recovery room. Nearby, his girlfriend, a Neko, meaning a cat-human, was napping comfortably. From time to time, Larry would softly run his fingers through her hair and lightly scratch her head, causing her to purr in her sleep.
His life right now could be said to be perfect, if one ignored the fact that he was still a fugitive on his home planet, being hunted by some unknown powerful person, while at the same time his family that had been exiled to the moon had mysteriously vanished, with no indication of whether they were alive or not.
On the bright side, he was able to absorb many strange new ores while at the Midnight Inn, pushing his cultivation to the Golden Core realm. Furthermore, he had just gotten another new shipment of 'spaceship scrap' which, after he absorbed, would boost his cultivation once again.
Affording such scrap was pretty easy for him once he gained a mastery of his powers, since he was able to use them to start a new business. People would sell him their metal scraps, and the only corresponding price he had to pay was to retrieve a purified form of certain metals within that scrap. For example, someone could sell him a tonne of electrical waste and only ask for the gold retrieved from it.
After a recent kidnapping attempt back on Earth that he was only able to escape since the kidnappers weren't aware of his cultivation, Larry had more or less moved to the Inn. With the business running through the Guild room, not only was he progressing in cultivation, he was making a decent amount of money. Yes, if he could just let go of the fetters he had on Earth, Larry would have a great life.
Just as Larry was musing as such, he felt a shadow covering his body and blocking the sunlight. For a few moments he ignored it, but after a few seconds when the shadow did not move, Larry opened an eye to look at what was going on. Two asian men were standing in front of him, staring directly at Larry.
"Can I help you?" he asked without really getting up. Although he was running a business, everything was handled through the Guild room, so no one knew his identity. As such, there was really no reason for anyone to be looking for him, especially people he did not know.
"Mr. Dershaw, would it be possible to have a moment of your time? We have a proposition we believe you would be greatly interested in."
Larry's good mood swiftly vanished, and he took in the two men standing in front of him once again. He was trying to recall if he knew them, or had met them ever before, but was drawing a blank. His girlfriend, Irene, sensed the change in Larrys mood and instantly woke up as well. She looked at the two men standing above them with obvious hostility.
"What is it regarding?" he asked, standing up. His height had increased recently, and at six feet two inches (1.87 meters) he suddenly found himself looking down at the two men. The change in perspective seemed not to affect them as the one who spoke previously continued, "My associate and I were working for our client, searching for a mysterious Minor realm. On Earth, we finally found a lead, but the person in question who has the relevant information refused to cooperate with us. Through some private investigation, we were able to determine that the person in question had close ties with the Dershaw family. We are hoping that we would be able to work out a deal with you to help us out. Regardless of whether the person knows anything or not, you will be compensated for your time."
Larry pursed his lips as he thought about what they had said, and the chances it was real.
"Oh, I should mention, the Minon realm we're searching for is suspected to have an opening on the moon, as well as on Earth."
Larry, who had only just begun to question whether these people were telling the truth, was suddenly shook. He had long assumed that after his family was banished to the moon, they were secretly imprisoned or killed, but the presence of a secret Minor realm revealed another possibility.
Just as he was about to ask more questions, a random man passing behind Larry mumbled "They're lying."
This time, both Larry and the asian man who was speaking were startled. They turned to look and saw a random teenager passing them by, not even looking at them as if he had said nothing.
"What do you mean?" Larry asked the kid, having suddenly regained his vigilance.
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐น.๐โด๐ฎ
"Huh?" he asked, looking back at them. "What are you talking about?"
"You said they're lying," Larry clarified.
"Indeed, I would like to know your motives in interfering in our business," the asian man asked, his voice polite yet cold.
"I said nothing of the sort. I don't know you. How could I possibly tell that almost everything that man said is a lie?" the teenager asked, though the question sounded incredibly faked, as if it was a scene played out by a very bad actor. In the asian man's eyes, though, it just seemed as if he was being mocked.
"Kid, I advise you to mind your own business and not interfere in other people's matters. A careless remark or prank such as this could land you in big trouble."
"See, you can tell the truth," the kid replied with great enthusiasm. "I mean, yes, yes, you are right. I won't interfere in other people's matters." With that the kid promptly turned around and quickly walked away.
An awkward silence was left between Larry and the two men, who were just exchanging looks.
"Please consider the matter," the asian man said, as he passed a business card to Larry. "You can conduct your own investigation about this matter if you require, before reaching out. I go by the name Suzuki. I'll visit the Inn again in a few days, and we can discuss the matter further then."
"Sure," was all Larry said, as he took the card.
The two men withdrew, leaving Larry and his girlfriend alone.
By the time they regained their privacy, Larry had lost the mood to sunbathe. He looked in the direction the teenager had gone off and, after a moment's hesitation, followed the same path.
Elsewhere in the Inn, Ragnar appeared, with three others appearing behind him. They were also generals, and each had a command carrier of their own. In terms of strength and seniority, they were Ragnar's equal. In terms of experience, they far surpassed him.
For the past few weeks, the generals had been discussing how to investigate the presence of a Jorlam within their galaxy. Despite Ragnar informing them about the Midnight Inn, and especially the mysterious Innkeeper, relying on the Inn was not the method they decided to go with.
This was because this was an extremely serious matter that required the highest level of discretion and secrecy. Relying on an Innkeeper with a mysterious background was just too dangerous.
In the end, however, the Inn still ended up being their last contingency plan. If all else failed, they would have to take certain risks. After all, if a Jorlam matured, let alone their galaxy, all the neighboring galaxies, and even the entire Jotun Empire was at risk.
But they would not just directly give out the details of the mission, however. They had to know the qualifications of whoever would be helping them, and so, they had to come up with a list of difficult tasks as tests.
"Would it be possible to meet the Innkeeper?" Ragnar asked his personal holographic assistant.
"Unfortunately, the Innkeeper is not available at the moment. The assistant Innkeeper, however, is available if you wish to meet her."
"Then please, request the assistant Innkeepers presence. I have a series of tasks I would like to put up in the Guild room, but they have special requirements, and are not fit to be displayed for everyone. The reward for the first task would be in the price range of about 100 trillion MP."
Before the hologram could even reply, a projection of Mary appeared in front of Ragnar and the rest.
"Please, guests, let us go somewhere more fit to discuss business," she said gently. At the same time, she sent every single kind of notification she could think of to attract Lex's attention. Their energy problem might just have been solved.
"Little lady, if you don't mind me asking, will the Innkeeper be free any time soon?" asked one of the generals following Ragnar.
"Dear guest, I cannot speculate on the Innkeepers schedule. After all, he has left the Origin realm to run an errand. He could be back tomorrow, or he could take a while longer," she replied very calmly.
Her answer, however, caused the generals to exchange a certain look amongst one another. Only Ragnar wasn't too surprised. After all, for someone who could recruit a Celestial, this should not be a big issue.
It was then that he noticed a familiar type of aura. He looked towards the Midnight mountain and saw a massive dragon wrapped around the peak, sleeping. He froze.
In the vast universe, an inestimable number of events were taking place at any given moment. Separated by vast amounts of space, and sometimes even realms, any number of seemingly ordinary and completely unrelated events sometimes brought about strange and seemingly impossible results.
A number of people, some oracles, some mystics, some sorcerers, some cultivators, some who could pry the secrets of the foundations of the universe, and some who just happened to have unusual dreams, occasionally could see glimpses of the results before they happened, without understanding the process or cause. These people often claimed these visions as prophecies, or, often, an undeniable destiny.
The truth of destiny was a secret hidden within the machinations of the universe, if there even was a truth to be found. The only thing that could be determined, however, is that in the entire universe, there were very few places cut off from the influence of destiny.
This did not mean that the existence of these places would change the destiny of the universe, for even if key people were hiding in these places, the destiny of the universe would remain unchanged. To the universe, there were no real 'key' people to influence events. If one person or being was unavailable, another could take its place to perform a separate action to bring about the same result.
A very simple example of this was a hungry man at home. If he went into the kitchen but found he had no groceries, instead of cooking himself, he could order food to be delivered to his home. Whether he cooked the food himself or someone else brought it to him, the end result of the man eating food remained unchanged.
But there was an important question that needed to be pondered. In these few places that were cut off from the destiny of the universe, would a new and unrelated destiny arise? If so, it needed to be wondered if destiny was something that was influenced by a person or entity, or was it just a natural state of the universe?
Perhaps destiny did not even exist in the first place, and was simply an abstract concept created by the minds of sentient beings to explain a series of unusual events or unusual results. This was a debate discussed by many philosophers, existentialists, scientists, cultivators, beings of unimaginable power, and simple mortals under the influence of hallucinogens.
The origin of the debate, throughout time, often stemmed from a single thought. A single coincidence could be attributed to entropy, for in the endless chaos of events taking place, two events happening at the same time and influencing each other to bring about unexpected results could still be acceptable.
An example of this was the fact that despite being at the Midnight Inn for a long time, Noman Butt, the man with the unusual power to determine truth, happened to recover from his wounded state just in time to encounter a plot targeting Larry Dershaw. The timing was phenomenal, but it could be attributed to coincidence.
But then, if a series of unrelated coincidences, brought about in unpredictable ways, happened at the same time, subtly influencing one another, most minds would be able to accept that there was no underlying entity secretly influencing things.
Back in the Crystal realm, Lex had entered the meditation room and had muted all system notifications so that he could focus on his study of arrays. He had made excellent progress lately, and now with the combined effect of his thinking cap and the meditation room, Lex felt he could finally solve his long-standing problem of not being able to use arrays quickly in battle.
As a result of this, he happened to miss Mary's attempt to attract his attention so that he could give his input on the deal Ragnar was requesting, leveraging a series of tasks with the minimum payment being 100 trillion MP.
The timing of Lex's retreat was completely unrelated to anything happening at the Inn, for there was nothing foreseeable that required his attention at the Inn. Moreover, it was still early in the day at the Crystal realm, so he had plenty of time to focus on his research before he expected any guests.
At the same time, Cwenhild, his supposed half-sister, who just obtained the qualifications to enter the core of the academy, disappeared. The five people she sponsored entered the core academy, discovering that no one knew where she was.
Near the border of the Hum nation, the crown prince stood in the center of a battlefield that had turned silent. Around him lay the corpses of Kraven, but he treated them like nothing. He was sober for the first time in years, and the look in his eyes was extremely complex.
In his hand, he was holding a plastic fork. It was from a cutlery set Amelia had gifted Lex, after she ate at his apartment once and realized he had no utensils at home.
๐๐พ๐ฃ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐น.๐๐ฐ๐
Back in Babylon, rumors of Pvarti spending the night in the small town spread like wildfire. It caused all the townspeople to scurry and make preparations, for any rumor caused by the lord's family usually caused an influx of lesser nobles and various other wealthy people searching for some way to gain their favor.
The surge in work, the recent death of the captain and a number of prior debts and agreements with private investors caused the ship on which Big Ben worked to be seized. All those who happened to be on the ship at the time were hired or given other jobs, while the rest were left to sort out their own matters.
At the same time, the serial killer inhabiting Babylon struck again. But this time, having learnt from his previous mistake, he killed in a place with no witnesses. He killed his victim in his own home. Moreover, due to his research, he knew the victim lived alone, so it would be a long time before anyone actually discovered the murder.
This was not a bad idea. Killing people in their own homes provided him with a new kind of satisfaction. It just so happened that this victim was neighbors with the triplets who were applying for new jobs at the tavern. The triplets had a large family, so they were protected from being targeted by the killer based on the premise that he was avoiding any witnesses to his murders - for now.
While all this was happening at the Midnight Inn, a number of odd coincidences were taking place as well.
Larry caught up with Noman and tried to investigate his motives. Before the conversation could even begin properly, or rather, before Noman could no doubt flawlessly act his way out of the situation without arousing any suspicion whatsoever, someone recognized Larry and called out to him.
It was Marlo, followed by his wife Sophia, and their son Rafael. In this way, three people with unusual secrets, Larry, Noman and Rafael, came face to face for the first time.
In another corner of the Inn, Ragnar was looking at the Dragon sleeping atop the mountain. Unlike humans, who were born weak and had to grow in strength, dragons from the first moment of their existence were near the epitome of the entire universe. Were it not for their very individualistic nature, Dragons could establish a civilization at the Overlord level, or even beyond, if such a level existed.
Most civilizations, human or otherwise, were at the Ground level, stuck on the planet where they originated. Many had reached the Sky level, meaning they could escape their planets and spread their influence within their star system. Some eventually grew to the Star level, meaning they could spread their influence between star systems. Very few could grow to the Galactic level, such as the Jotun empire, and span several galaxies.
Above the Galactic level was the Overlord level, such as the mysterious Henali. Ragnar knew next to nothing about what kind of a level the Overlord level really was, or who or even what species the Henali were from. All he knew was that the Jotun empire relied heavily on them for protection, and abided by their rules.
In the case that the existence of the Jorlam was proved, it was Henali that the Jotun empire would rely on to resolve the issue, for only someone at their level were qualified to deal with such an existence.
So then the presence of a dragon, a being that could potentially rival Henali, reassured Ragnar that he had made the correct decision by coming to the Inn. Of course, he would not approach the dragon himself. These things were still better left to the Innkeeper. He exchanged a look with the other generals before continuing to follow Mary.
Elsewhere in the Inn, Remy Lavern, the Atila-Morpher who caused Lex to get the quest to establish a space for a secret organization, appeared once again. Casually, he walked to the cabin he had rented out for a year and entered. This cabin had been especially redesigned by Lex to meet Remy's requirements, and was the space in which he was planning on convening his secret organization.
A short while later, a second person arrived at the cabin.