The Innkeeper

Lex was deciding what to do with these fellows. There was no way he would just let them go. Not only did they need to be punished, but they needed to understand that if they tried to retaliate against Lex or his workers at a later date, there would be far worse consequences.

But first…

Lex turned to the rest of the guests in the hall, mainly the sailors, and said, "I'm sorry you had to see that. At most you can consider it a little bit of entertainment. For those of you who feel like you want to avoid trouble, now would be the time to leave. If, however, any of you feel like watching some drama, then feel free to stay and enjoy."

The sailors cheered and hooted, and none of them moved. Why should they give up free entertainment for no reason?

"Now that that's out of the way, does anyone recognize any of these guys?"

The room fell silent. It was to be expected, as these sailors were not locals. Mario and his crew said nothing either.

Lex frowned, then walked right up to the man with a cane and freed his face so that he could talk.

Immediately he started gasping, taking big breaths as he looked at Lex with horror and panic on his face.

"You… you…. You can't…. You can't…" the man started stuttering, unable to finish his sentence. Lex on the other hand, did nothing. He stood in front of him, and continued to look at him with an impassive face.

The sheer extent of the indifference on Lex's face scared the man even more for some reason, and he quickly found himself unable to maintain eye contact with Lex. When he looked away from Lex, Lex finally nodded and began to speak.

"Who are you, and where are you from?" he asked, making sure to leave his voice as bland as possible.

"I… I… You…"

"Stop," Lex suddenly said, realizing the man wouldn't be able to speak. "Just stop. Take a breath. Calm down. And answer my question."

The man obeyed Lex's orders, but when he calmed down, and finally was able to talk, he also regained a bit of his wits.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in? Do you know who I am?" he asked, his voice still trembling, though he was trying to seem more confident.

"Obviously I don't know who you are, otherwise I would not ask. And before you try to threaten me with your identity, know that I don't care in the slightest about it. So, now, answer my questions carefully. Or else, I'll just throw you lot in the back room and wait till someone comes to find you, and then I'll ask them instead."

Lex's threat seemed to do wonders, and the man quickly began to explain their background, no doubt doing his best to exaggerate as much as he could. In summary, the law was very loose in neutral lands, and as long as one wasn't too excessive, they could live as they liked. Since this neutral territory was controlled by a human, many powerful and wealthy human families settled in this region, forming a society of elites who more or less treated themselves as kings and queens. So long as they didn't antagonize the Noel family, they could do pretty much whatever they wished.

After he understood everything, Lex freed one of the random followers from his bindings, and instructed him to go find their backers, whoever they were. He was very clear in explaining the fact that he had no intentions of letting the rest of the group go until each of the respective families or powers behind them came. Since he had already messed up his 'ordinary tavern' routine, it was best to go all out.

Once the freed man scurried away, Lex turned his attention to Mario. Without saying a word he came and sat opposite to the man, his mood clearly very different from when they started their conversation earlier.

"You know, I've heard about you. Not a lot, but just enough to get an impression," said Lex, slowly.

"Oh? And what is your impression?" Mario asked, curiously.

"My impression… is that it's quite a convenient coincidence that the stupidest lot of self titled nobles came to cause trouble at my tavern the very day you came to visit."

Mario raised an eyebrow in question.

*****

Anakin I. McClane finished his drink and stood up reluctantly. The Lady Cosmos show was just too… too amazing, making him want to never leave! Moreover, he heard a rumor that a bikini segment was supposed to come up.

Yet as alluring as it was, he had to get to work. He knew that the moment he entered the bank vault, chances were high he'd trigger some kind of alarm. He could have bought more stuff to help him remain undetected from the Inn, but if he had the money to afford that stuff in the first place, he wouldn't be robbing a bank.

He picked up the various bags he'd left in a room he previously rented at the Inn, put on a mask and exited, coming out right in the middle of the vault.

Surprisingly, the vault was well lit even at night. It only made it more convenient for him. Not bothering with any kind of stealth, he took out the only weapon he bought from the Inn, a heated knife that could easily cut through the toughest zombie hide. He'd blown all his savings on this, but it was about to pay off.

Starting from a random corner, Anakin began to cut open the safety deposit boxes and began filling his backpacks with whatever he found. There were an annoying number of documents, a lot of nudes, some computer hard drives, but mostly it was just cash, jewelry and gold.

Anakin did not get greedy, as soon as the alarm he set on his wrist watch went off, he packed his bags and returned to the Inn. Maybe he would have had more time, and maybe his little heist hadn't even been noticed yet. Or maybe it had. None of it mattered.

Anakin had set rules for himself, and he would abide by those rules. Besides, he had money to spare now. Just to be safe, he'd be spending a week at the Inn before he tried to return.

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