The Innkeeper

"I have, indeed, learnt a few things that I want to discuss with you. But before I get into that…" Lex did not really continue, but he looked towards Belmont who still looked furious.

Ezio sighed, as if he had been asked to take care of an extremely tedious matter. Eventually though, he turned to look at Belmont.

"What is it that you are surprised about exactly? That in this instance of forceful imprisonment, I did not cooperate with you wholeheartedly? Are you familiar with the concept of prisons and prisoners? What part is surprising for you exactly? Allow me to educate you on the matter."

Despite the blatant condescension, Belmont was not provoked. Though he allowed a bit of his pride to get to him when it concerned Lex\'s reaction to the Crystal races achievements, in professional matters he maintained his calm always.

"The only thing I am curious about is how you managed to hide the existence of the clone. Our methods are supposed to be thorough, so before anyone is admitted we test for clones among other things. If there is a loophole then the security of the entire place will be compromised."

Ezio shook his head as if disappointed.

"Young man, the moment you think you know everything or are prepared for everything, you enter the territory of arrogance. To keep this place secure, you must preclude endless threats and possibilities, but I only need to come up with a single weakness or flaw to penetrate this place\'s security."

"Do not be pedantic, old man," Belmont said, his earlier grace of a lord all gone. "If you do not wish to say that is fine. We can still find out on our own now that we know there is an issue."

"When did I say that I wouldn\'t tell you? When I was imprisoned, I was tested for any soul connected devices or techniques outside my body, and the test came back negative. That was simply because the clone was in the gestation period. The connection with my main soul had not been formed yet, but within the clone I had left a small piece of my soul as well, which was absorbed. Thus, as a result, at the time of my capture there was no response to your tests."

"But you have been under lockdown. There is no way your clone should have been able to connect to your soul."

"It was not needed. Since the clone already absorbed a part of my soul, it already became destined to become an extension of me the moment it was born. It\'s just that during your testing, it had not been born and so was not picked up."

Belmont did not immediately reply, for he could not confirm the authenticity of his claim. According to his own understanding, such a thing still should not have been able to circumvent their investigations. After all, Valesco was not a project undertaken by the young and inexperienced Crystals. Some of the Crystals involved in establishing it were even older and stronger than Ezio, and so should have enough experience to account for such things.

Still, since Ezio had given his explanation, he would be sure to report it. They would, of course, still go through with their own investigations. But none of that was actually Belmonts\' domain. After all, his responsibility was the border. The only reason he had conducted the investigation himself was because he felt if he went through the \'proper protocol\' things would have taken much longer, and this was not a matter on which they could afford to lose time.

As if Ezio had read his mind, he smiled and turned to Lex.

"Now then, shall we discuss. I am quite eager to see what you have learned. I\'ll have you know, quite a bit of effort was put into erasing records of events from back then. Even many of the people who lived through the time remain ignorant of what actually happened. But do not be too worried. Even if what you have learned falls short of my expectations, you can always visit me again later. After all, like I said, I was not expecting you for another century or so."

Lex did not hesitate to smile as he heard Ezio. Clearly the Crystal did not want to raise its hopes too high for whatever Lex had managed to learn, and was trying to leave an opportunity for him to return in the future. He had no idea why he would be allowed to visit Ezio again in the future after his misconduct had already been discovered, perhaps he was expecting some leniency for unknown reasons. But that did not matter, for Lex could not even determine if the realm had a few centuries left to exist.

What if the realm was destroyed long before then? What would be the point in keeping all these secrets by then?

"I am also eager to see if I can meet your expectations. After all, if I cannot, who knows if I\'ll ever be able to get a chance to meet you once again. If you don\'t mind, I\'ve also asked Lord Belmont to listen in on our conversation, since I may need his help in the matters that follow."