The Innkeeper

The question boomed like thunder in the five men's ears, especially because they had no idea why they were so helpless. They felt no pressure of a superior spiritual sense, and the usual resonance and disturbance created by formations was lacking.

How were they supposed to know that the formation provided by the system was vastly superior to anything they had ever encountered, therefore it created no disturbance in the ambient spiritual energy.

Half the spectators got goosebumps all over their bodies when they saw the confrontation, and the other half were giving each other dirty looks and continued drinking.

Lex wasn't paying attention to that, though. He was looking the five men in the eyes. He had raised the stakes now, but it was also up to him to lower them. If he really did end up killing these people, it would create more problems for him - problems that he wanted to avoid.

"Of course the possibility remains that these kids did not come with the intention of starting a war. Maybe they are just spoiled, entitled brats." Lex paused again, and this time, instead of the men, he paid attention to everyone else's reaction to what he was saying. For this next part, how much everyone believed his words were more important than the men he was threatening. Lex had some experience with wild, crazy rumors, and now it was time for him to create some on purpose.

"Maybe they're so used to not being punished for taking advantage of 'commoners' that they never even considered it was anything wrong. Or maybe they know that, no matter what they do, they can get away with it. Speaking of which, it kind of reminds me of the serial killer roaming about."

Suddenly, even the sailors who were laughing at the noble's misfortune, froze, and then turned to Lex to listen to what he had to say. The moment they docked in this town they heard about a crazy killer on the loose. This was not the kind of place they would want to stay, but considering the darkness, they did not have the opportunity to go elsewhere.

Mario especially paid attention, for the killer had seriously affected him - in more ways than most people realized.

"I heard that no one can catch the killer, and that no one even knows who it is. The killer, who had been killing nonstop everyday, and apparently stopped the last couple of days - maybe to honor the presence of the Noel brothers. The more I think about it, the more it sounds like a bunch of noble kids having fun killing the common folk, and then using their influence to derail before it can point to them."

Lex paused again to let his words settle in. This time he was no longer choking the 5 men, simply keeping them from speaking, but the dread they felt was the same. No matter what they did or how influential they became, they absolutely could not cross the Noel family. If word spread that they were using their authority to randomly kill people in the lands under the Noel family's protection, they would not survive!

The sailors who at this point were intoxicated, high or exhausted from work or just plain dumb, did not think for even a second deeper and accepted this new information as truth. Some were suddenly afraid of being silenced and started to leave, while others looked at the nobles with anger.

The five gentlemen never considered the common folk as a threat, for they themselves were nascent realm cultivators. While such a realm was far more common here than on a planet like Earth, it was still not something casually reached. In this entire town, besides the five of them, who were only living here temporarily due to the darkness, only the mayor and Mario were in the nascent realm.

"So which is it? Are you here for war or are you just so used to keeling over whenever you want that you never even considered that I might actually take issue with being your latest victim?"

At this point, he released the five gentlemen from his hold, allowing them the opportunity to respond. The mustached man nearly fell to his knees when the force holding him up disappeared, but he recovered quickly and took a few steps back, to join his cohorts.

The men were rubbing their neck, as if loosening their ties, and looked at Lex with newfound caution. This matter needed to be handled delicately.

*****

"God damnit" roared Anakin as he fell to his knees, cursing the very skies, and even the Gods if they existed. He returned to the Inn just in time to hear the latest rumor: because of suspicious behavior on the part of the husband of the woman running the Lady Cosmos competition, a certain Brandon Morrison, the bikini portion of the competition had been canceled.

Then he cried, along with many other men, and even women, yet their dream would remain a dream. Even the happiness of his newfound wealth could not console him as he walked listlessly around the Inn.

He knew not where he was going, nor where he was. He only knew the name of his enemy: surname Morrison, first name Brandon.

It was amidst his mindless wanderings that he ended up in an almost entirely remote area of the Inn, save a group of three boys who sat around a circle table silently, their expressions grave.

Suddenly he felt that they too knew his pain, and that if they shared with one another the stories of their idols, maybe the pain would be lessened.

"Fret not, those who have dared to love," he said dramatically as he approached the three men. "Though our dreams have been sabotaged this time, there is always hope next year."

He looked with gleaming eyes, expecting understanding and recognition amongst his fellow men. Instead, all he received were curious stares and silence, at least until one of them said, "He's lying. He probably has no hope for next year either."

As if his heart had been pierced by an arrow, Anakin collapsed onto the ground. Indeed, his heart was cynical, and he did not believe there would be bikinis next time either.

Rafael and Larry both looked towards Noman with anger and frustration. Were it not for the rules of the Inn, they would have murdered Noman a hundred times over.

This human lie detector didn't know was pretty much an idiot, but for reasons they could not explain, he was immediately able to tell when someone around him lied. Moreover, every time he heard a lie, he would mumble as much under his breath, as if cultivators didn't have hearing sharp enough to pick up on it!

The truth had yet to be revealed, but Rafeal was completely unable to build a connection with Larry when they first met because Noman kept revealing his lies. At the same time, Larry felt frustrated because people kept trying to approach him, and Noman apparently knew more than he revealed, but only pointed out when others lied. In fact, even when Larry casually lied, Noman picked it up.

Larry and Rafael both had secrets that could not be revealed to the world, and they needed to know how much Noman knew. But he never admitted to anything, yet kept pointing out lies.

It was frustrating the hell out of them. It actually came to the point that the two of them, despite not knowing each other much, felt a sense of camaraderie in their hate for Noman.

"Alright, alright. I can see you all are having an important meeting and don't care about Lady Cosmos," said Anakin. "I'll get out of your way and let you continue. After all, I'm just an ordinary, completely average person. It's all the same no matter where I go."

Before Anakin could even turn around, however, he heard the same boy mumble, "he's lying."

The wary Larry and Rafael suddenly looked towards Anakin, who was also looking suspiciously at Noman.

Why did the situation keep getting worse?

"Hey hey, what do you mean, I'm lying? You're lying! Your mother is lying! I never lie!"

"He's lying again," he mumbled, before speaking out loud, "hey there's no need to bring my mother into this, although she did indeed lie a lot."

Instead of getting annoyed or frustrated, the way the other two did, Anakin stared at Nomaan for a moment before he got a brilliant idea.

"The sky is green," he said.

"He's lying," Noman mumbled.

"My name is James Pot."

"He's lying."

"I have an excellent business idea."

"He's actually telling the truth. I wonder what it is."

Anakin grinned and patted Noman on the back.

"My friend, you and I are going to make a lot of money together."

Anakin tried to lead Noman away, but Larry and Rafael immediately stopped him.

"Not so fast there buddy. He's not going anywhere until we solve our… situation."

The extremely perceptive Anakin immediately guessed the intricacies between what happened with the three of them. With Noman's disposition, he was bound to create problems if left unmonitored. A part of him wondered how Noman had survived so long outside the Inn. All of that was for later. For now…

"Why of course, first come first serve. Let me introduce myself. My name is Anakin Indiana McClane, and in the field of solving problems, I am a master."

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