The Innkeeper



With a number of letters now in hand, the next step was to deliver them. That part, unfortunately, was easier said than done. He no longer had months to travel, as the wedding would take place in less than two months. He would need to recruit some aid, but at the same time finding people with the necessary connections to deliver the letters to the heads of the various nations was not easy.

Frankly speaking, he barely had a way to deliver the letter to King Cornelius. Although, admittedly, he was looking forward to seeing the Kings' reaction when he found Lex at the inn. He had sent his son looking for him, but now Lex was openly inviting the King to his own tavern, and with some kind of mysterious and unknown backing. It would be a good show.

He could ask the Phillips family to have the letters delivered. The letters may reach or they might not, as the connection of that family to other nations was of questionable value.

He had a better idea, though admittedly it was a little crazy. First, though, he scanned the Inn. It would be a test of his luck if it turned out…

He smiled, and teleported away, reappearing at the bar inside Midnight manor. A sulking crown prince by the name of Aegis was futilely attempting to intoxicate himself with the selection available at the bar. Unfortunately, Lex had nothing that would work on immortals, and so he was failing miserably at his objective. Defeated, for now, he was resting his forehead on the bar as he pondered on the future.

"I take it you've had a bad weekend," Lex said extremely casually as he sat beside him.

"Bad weekend. That's one way of putting it," he replied without lifting his head from where it rested on the bar. "I had to run with my tail tucked between my cheeks! I ran into an army made entirely of immortals. Even I'm not stupid enough to think I could take that on. I've been hiding here ever since."

"Yeah I can see how that would bring the mood down," Lex said as he ordered himself a Pina Colada. 'Why was that drink just so good?' a part of him wondered, though mostly he was still just focused on Aegis. "It's unfortunate, then, that I have some more bad news for you."

Aegis finally looked up, his eyes filled with fatigue. He had recently mustered up a lot of courage and determination as he had once again decided to face his undefeatable father. Turning over a new leaf was a lot of work, both literally and mentally. As a recently recovered alcoholic, he was not used to it and was having a tough time, so when he was faced with the tidal wave of immortal Kraven, his newfound resolution immediately crumbled.

Given enough time, he would probably be alright. He only needed to recover mentally before he could once again take up the challenging task of uncovering his fathers secrets regarding the Kraven with newfound vigor! After all, the Kraven just became a much bigger threat.

Unfortunately for his natural development, Lex could not wait so long. Moreover, despite any rebellion he may have shown against his father, Lex now needed him to return to him, so an intervention was absolutely necessary.

He put an invitation on the counter and slid it across the counter till it stopped in front of Aegis. A beautiful yet random scribble adorned the front, radiating a majestic aura, while at the same time translating to a single name: Cornelius.

"The situation in the Crystal realm is a lot more dire than just a massive Kraven invasion," Lex said, taking a sip from the frothy, bubbly drink he received. His visage did not match that of a person discussing potential armageddon at all. "The Crystal realm itself, the very fabric of its reality, is in jeopardy."

Briefly, Lex explained his discovery of Cosmic Erosion Elixir, and put the explanation of the elixir onto the powerful Innkeeper, the mysterious owner of the Midnight Inn, and thus the Midnight Tavern, as well.

Aegis' eyes never left the letter, a feeling of unsurpassed foreboding filling him. If the realm itself was at risk, he had to put aside his grievances and ensure that his own father received this invitation. The upcoming meeting held unprecedented significance and could forever alter the history of the realm. Moreover, this was far more serious than any other conspiracy he could even conceive. He needed to confront his father and discover if he had foreknowledge of this threat. If he did… Aegis could not even imagine what he would do if his father already knew of this.

"As it happens," Lex continued, waking Aegis from his reverie, "I need to send invitations to the leaders of the other nations as well. Do you have any idea how I can do so?"

"Delivering the letters to the capital of the nations of Varns, as well as the Sentinels, is not an issue at all. With our long history of cooperation with the Varns, and the frequent necessity for diplomatic missions to the Sentinels, we have teleportation formations already set that can reach their leadership. For the Crystal race, it is not so easy, but there is a process through which we can go. The new country formed by the Poliod's is completely out of our reach, and we have no ties with them, so I cannot help you there. The Trelops don't really let outsiders into the sacred lands, so delivering a message to them is difficult."

Lex nodded, as if that was already a great help, but then suddenly paused. He counted in his head, and suddenly realized that the number didn't add up.

The Crystals, Humans, Trelops, Sentinels, Varns and Poloids together formed six of the seven races that occupied the Crystal realm, but the seventh wasn't even mentioned. Although Aegis did not know he did not need to deliver a letter to the Crystals, he at least mentioned them. But he had completely ignored the seventh race, and not mentioned it at all. In fact, it was now occurring to him that he had never even heard mention of the seventh major race in the Crystal realm! Not in the academy when he was learning the history and geography of the realm, nor anywhere else had there ever been mention of a seventh race, except in mention of the fact that there were seven main races.

Suddenly, all of Lex's attention was focused on this issue. Why had he never noticed this small oversight before? This was abnormal!

"For the Crystal race, the Trelops and Poliods, I'll think of another way. You know, it occurs to me, that you did not mention the seventh race, nor have I ever heard mention of them."

Lex focused all his attention on Aegis, completely mentally prepared for some unexpected revelation. Could this unknown seventh race be behind the anomaly at the Crystal realm? Could there be some secret behind this matter? Was this unknown race perhaps so enigmatic that people would subconsciously ignore them unless there was a matter that specifically concerned them?

Aegis, who was up until now struggling to deal with shock, gave Lex a peculiar look as if he had heard a most unexpected question. Wasn't this… common knowledge?

Unfortunately, for Lex who was not a native of the Crystal realm, it was not common knowledge.

"The seventh main race of the Crystal realm… doesn't really have a nation. That's because… that race consists of Sol and Frio birds. The entire Crystal realm is their territory. There is nowhere they are not welcome, and nowhere they cannot accept the worship of all living things."

Lex's extremely serious look morphed just a bit as he suppressed his lips from twitching, but ultimately failed.

"Do they… have some kind of leader or do they just live freely?"

"There is a primogenitor Sol bird, and a primogenitor Frio bird, so I suppose they could be called leaders. They live in the territory of the Crystal race. But, I've never really heard of the Sol birds acting in unison as a race before. The largest their groups go to is a single flock. In fact, even when their flocks began to grow too big, they split and form two smaller ones."

Lex nodded. He would… skip the invitation for the birds as well then, since he had no way of reaching the Crystal race territory. He put down two more invitations on the counter, and requested Aegis deliver them to the Sentinels and Varn capitals to their respective leaders. As for the rest… Lex sighed, and turned his attention to Zagan, the latest Inn worker who had yet to perform a single task.

The moment he had arrived at the Inn, he underwent a breakthrough to a higher realm, and had since then been in retreat. It was time for him to contribute a little. 

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