The Innkeeper

He also wished he had some kind of guide or manual about this breed of dogs, and even checked the system for something like that, but had no luck finding anything of the sort. He would need to keep an eye out for an expert on beasts so he could ask him some questions, such as, what was he supposed to feed the dog? Was a dog like this still allergic to chocolate? Because, to be honest, Lex had a lot of chocolate in his apartment. His excuse was that he left some on his guest’s pillows to improve their experience, but he had been munching on it every chance he got. But for now, he had done everything he could regarding the dog.

With the rewards finally handled and the event finally over, Lex could now turn his attention to a matter he had been putting off, which was meeting Remy Lavern and learning more about this secret society. Personally, he didn’t think it was such a big deal, even as far as prompting the system to give him a quest regarding it.

Without delaying the matter any longer, Lex teleported from his room to the lake where the young man seemed to be reading a book by the water. Surprisingly, the book was in Japanese. It must have been given to him by Akihiko. The two seemed to have become decent friends over the course of the games.

“I see you seem to be getting along with Akihiko,” Lex said, as he came up and sat beside Remy.

“Yes, Akihiko-san is surprisingly wise for someone so young. I have learnt much from him.” Suddenly Lex realized that this man who looked very young might actually be very old, but maintained his appearance due to cultivation. On the other hand, despite his vigor and good health, Akihiko was a human mortal in his fifties, and so naturally looked like an old man. Judging people by their appearance, despite the old adage not to do so, was a habit that Lex would have to overcome.

Lex scanned him, to learn a little more about this man who prompted a quest.

Name: Remy Lavern

Age: 9999

Sex: Male

Cultivation Details: ???

Species: Atila-Morpher

Midnight Inn Prestige Level: 1

Remarks: Very literally the slippers on his feet are worth more than you, so scam him like a call center based out of a basement

Ah, yet another old geezer in disguise. But what in the world was an Atila-Morpher? He looked human, and if he were hiding or altering his appearance, the Host Attire would have detected it.

“Mortality and short age bring a perspective to time many cultivators lack,” Lex replied to Remy’s comment about Akihiko’s wisdom. “I am curious though, what would someone like him have to teach someone like you? Your lives must be extremely different from one another.”

“That’s also what I thought, at first at least. But the details can vary, pursuits can vary, even desires can vary, but the pattern remains the same. He took the experiences of his short life and superimposed them upon mine. The lessons he learnt in a year, I could not even learn in a thousand.”

“He must be a wise man, then.”

“It is a tragedy that the line between wisdom and idiocy is so thin. No matter what I say, Akihiko-san refuses to cultivate. Why would anyone willingly forsake a better and longer life?”

“Everyone has a story, he must have his reasons. I am more interested in hearing about you, though. I hope you’ve been enjoying your stay.”

“Heh, I just had the easiest breakthrough of my entire life and saved thousands of years of work, so how could I be anything but great?” Remy asked with a massive grin on his face. “At first, I was only considering this place because of the ease of teleportation, not to mention the phenomenal entertainment, but after that breakthrough, I’m convinced. Our base can be in nowhere other than here. That’s not to mention at all, what place could be safer than here? I saw with my own eyes how that young chap Ragnar stayed in line. If even someone like him behaved, what else do I have to worry about?”

“Are you so sure?” Lex asked, amused. “I have no problem with it, so long as all your members follow the rules, but this is a public place and I have many guests. It is not really a good idea to have this as a base for a secret society. That’s not to mention at all the very fact that you and I are having this discussion. Shouldn’t you be hiding the fact that you want to host your society here instead of blatantly telling me?”

“I doubt I could keep secrets from you,” Remy said very casually, “and I’m sure if we had any secret meetings here, you’d eventually find out. The point is not to keep the secret from you, but to get your help keeping the secret from everyone else. Besides, isn’t this being a public place the perfect disguise? Even if our members come often, with such a diverse clientele, no one will pay extra attention to us.”

Lex raised his eyebrow. What Remy said did make sense, in a way. Lex felt like he was insisting on using video game logic, but since he was fulfilling a quest, who was he to stop him?

“So then, what would you like to do? I doubt simply renting a room for a meeting is all you had in mind.”

“If only things were so simple. You see, the first step in hosting the society would be distributing the golden keys to the few members of my organization. The problem is, some of them are in other galaxies and I do not have the time to spare to travel for so long just to distribute keys, as I have a job. So, while I’ve already had keys sent to the ones within my reach, if possible, the first thing I would like you to do is distribute the keys.”

This request by Remy was extremely reasonable, based on the premise that Lex could teleport people across the universe. Unfortunately, he could not actually freely teleport wherever he chose, and totally depended on the location of the planets connected to his system.

“Mary, is there any way I can control what planets the Inn connects to?”

“Well, your authority has increased significantly from when you started. If you get some item from the planet, it might be possible to target it specifically. It would still depend on how far it is, though, from the regions the Inn normally starts searching from.

“How can I find these people?” Lex asked, to which Remy scratched his head.

“Would their names and descriptions work?”

Lex only stared back at Remy as if he were an idiot. Let alone the whole universe, there were billions of people on any given planet, many of whom would share a name. How were those two details good enough in any capacity? Even if Lex were really as powerful as everyone believed, that was still too much, right?

“Some kind of personal item will suffice,” Lex said, finally.

“Eh, yeah I guess that’s fair. I’ll see if I can get my hands on anything like that. I guess sending them the keys will have to wait. Now, onto my second request. The thing is, the purpose of our society is very specific, and we require a certain kind of environment to carry out our activities, so…”

As Remy began outlining what he needed, Lex started to get worried. Was he about to host… a society of BDSM fanatics?