The Innkeeper

They had quickly learnt about the Innkeeper, who was generally very genial and had a positive reputation. This assistant innkeeper had only recently appeared, and while most of the staff knew her, the guests felt that she was extremely formal.

Still, she maintained order and performed all her tasks without bias, so there was nothing to complain about.

“I have good news,” she said after stepping inside the cabin. “The Innkeeper has sent word. To join the Midnight Inn, you must undergo a trial to prove yourself. Should you pass the trial, you can join the Inn as a tutor in swordsmanship and a historian. However, the Innkeeper also wanted me to let you know the conditions for joining the Midnight Inn. Once you join, you will become a permanent member of the Inn, and cannot quit. Furthermore, a restriction will be placed on you so that you cannot harm the Inn, its interests or any employee of the Inn either.”

She handed both of them their platinum keys and then left to give both of them their privacy.

“A historian,” Qawain said with a hint of curiosity. “I wonder what kind of job they’ll have you do. I hope it’s not fieldwork, that’ll defeat the purpose of coming here.”

“I will go ask the assistant innkeeper, and explain our situation. Wait for me before you take the test.”

Qawain nodded as he thought about the tutoring job. He had never taught anyone before, it would be an interesting experience.

*****

After Lex ate, he had a lot of free time on his hands. He found a nice, scenic place near the mess hall where he sat down to rest. Although physically he wasn’t tired, it had been a while since he relaxed. It just occurred to him that he couldn’t remember the last time he played a video game.

Not that he was sad about it, he spent his time doing interesting things and dealing with entertaining people – usually. Working towards his own goals, and feeling himself slowly getting stronger, and the Inn improving was a kind of satisfaction he had never felt before.

It was not the kind of grind of a 9 to 5 job, which both physically and mentally drained him. This instead felt rewarding.

Still, that did not mean that he should forget to relax from time to time. Unfortunately, with no games to play, no movies to watch and no friends to hang out with, his relaxation soon turned into boredom.

Stretching as he got up, Lex decided instead to tick something off his to do list – get a job. The academy provided him with the most pathetic accommodation Lex had ever seen, but at least there was a roof over his head. At the mess hall, he could eat for free after showing his student ID. But if he needed anything else, he would have to pay for it himself.

Besides, from his college days, Lex knew that working a campus job was an excellent way to expand your social group and just simply meet new people. The only people Lex knew in this realm were Honey, the nurse, and Vernan, the creepy guy, which meant he wanted to avoid about half the people he knew.

As almost everything was far away in this academy, Lex had to get on a bus to hail a ride to the career services department. This was where Lex could apply for jobs, and the process was much easier than expected.

The person at the counter first checked Lex’s upcoming schedule, checked his designation, and then provided him with a list of available jobs that would not clash with his schedule and also provided him with work experience relevant to his designation.

From the list, two jobs in particular appealed to him greatly. The first was as an assistant to a weaponsmith. This job would expose him to the various kinds of weapons used in this world, though he would take no part in the manufacturing process. He was only to take care of miscellaneous work such as cleaning and categorization. The second job was transcription. It would involve writing down and recording the research of various professors and tutors at the academy. This job, while extremely boring, should provide him with vast sources of information about various topics.

In the end, Lex ended up choosing to become assistant to the weaponsmith. The transcription job was too unreliable, what if he got stuck recording the work of some ridiculous job?

As soon as he was done selecting, he was told where to go, and that he had to check in immediately. It surprised Lex how quickly the job started, but it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.

He once again got on a bus, but his destination this time was different from all the ones he had been to before. So far, all the buildings he saw in the academy were far apart and seemed to blend into nature. Now, however, it seemed like he was heading into a city.

Skyscrapers that would put New York to shame filled the skyline with an endless stream of vehicles going in and out. Roads seemed to be stacked atop one another, all going in the same direction to facilitate speedy travel. What looked like small flying ships zoomed up above in the air, and in the distance, it seemed like Lex could see a river full of ships heading into the city as well.

It seemed like he had just stepped from a fantasy wonderland into a utopian cyberpunk future. The craziest thing was that… this was still just a single region in the academy. Lex took in the sights, mostly because once he got off the bus, he got lost on the way to his job. He was not used to navigating a city without a map on his phone. Eventually, with the help of numerous strangers on the streets, Lex found himself in front of a quaint little house with a small front yard and a yellow picket fence. This… was not what he was expecting from a ‘weaponsmith’.