The Innkeeper

“By the way,” Lex asked Mary casually as he munched on some homemade – no sorry, Innmade – baked chips. “What are the requirements for a PB Guest (Pro bono guest)?” He needed to calculate how long Chen and Blake would be at the Inn, and if they would have any free time after they left the recovery room or if they would be immediately sent back.

“The most basic necessity I guess is someone who can’t afford the Inns commodities,” she replied, sitting on Lex’s shoulder. “But there are a few conditions. Firstly, no one can be a BP Guest more than once. Secondly, they must have a certain need that the Inn can fulfill. You can’t randomly accept a homeless man as a guest; even though staying at the Inn for a while would solve his homeless problem, once he returned he would not be any better off. This means that anyone who becomes a PB Guest needs to be better off somehow when they leave. As the foremost universal establishment, our services can’t be shallow or without lasting effect. Once a PB Guests’ needs have been met, they can stay for at most one day to rest and prepare before they leave. Thirdly, PB Guests don’t need to use a golden key to enter. If you see someone you think deserves to be a PB guest, you can directly assign them the status and when they should be invited, and the Inn will directly bring them in at the time you chose. You can only assign PB Guests once a month though, most of the time PB Guests will be chosen directly by the Inn. When and how the Inn will choose, I cannot say.”

Lex nodded, shoving a spoonful of chocolate fudge sundae in his mouth. Where were the chips? He already ate them and had moved on, how long do you expect someone to keep eating the same thing?

“And will they get golden keys upon leaving?”

“Yes of course, any guest who leaves the Inn will get a golden key. How else do you expect to get return customers? At least, until you level up your authority, that is the most reliable method for guests.”

“By the way, since there are two other planets near Vegus Minima that are inhabited, why didn’t they show up on the list when I was using the golden ticket?”

“Each time you use a Golden Ticket the list shown is random. There is no guarantee that you will see all the inhabited planets in an area. However, since you have access to Vegus Minima now, you can directly gain access to the other planets in its solar system by purchasing access via the Midnight Inn Market. The same applies for the planets in Earth’s solar system, but that access is just a little more expensive than you can afford at the moment. For example, let alone Mars, just to gain access to the Moon you would have to spend 10,000MP!”

Lex nodded again, taking a sip from his Oreo shake. The Inn really had some amazing food service. Not being able to afford access to those planets was a minor surprise, because he was expecting not to have enough authority. Either way it was out of reach for now. The question on his mind was how much to invest in his two guests? If they just left with their own golden keys, they may not share the knowledge with others out of greed for keeping the key for themselves. If he gave them a few extra keys, maybe they would distribute them to their confidantes, which would increase the number of guests. Other than that, should he also give them something from the gift shop to act as an incentive? But they were relatively weak, if he invested too much in them and they died once they returned to their world it would be a waste.

His plan was to use them to distribute some keys and invite more people in. When his authority increased he would build an Armory so that he could also sell weapons, something the people of Vegus Minima dearly needed, as well as a few entertainment establishments so that his guests could blow off some steam and relax. Currently those buildings weren’t available to him, not to mention that he did not have MP to spare.

Speaking of increasing his authority, Marlo was taking his sweet time using his key. Taking a few days to prepare made sense, but Lex could not afford it if he took a few weeks to prepare, as that would put him past the Quest deadline. He had just a little more than two weeks before that deadline ended. Lex planned out his next series of actions for a while, before deciding on practicing a bit.

To be honest he would rather relax and play games, but after his experience in Vegus Minima they seemed boring to him. What he really wanted was the adventure and excitement of exploring new planets, but logic told him he should wait till he was a little stronger before returning. Till then, practicing combat and getting used to his strength would be the best use of his time. Furthermore, his hand to hand combat was actually quite terrible. Although he had learnt a few things in Marlo’s class, most of them were ways to avoid or trip up his opponents instead of fighting. Marlo’s class focused on self defense, and according to Marlo until they entered Qi Training and were able to use spiritual techniques there was no point in focusing too much on fighting and instead focus on escape and evasion.

Still, for those who wanted to do extra work online tutorials were made available by Marlo. The reason why Lex followed Marlo’s tutorials instead of others he found online was because his techniques set the foundation for other techniques he would learn at Qi Training. It was good to build a foundation.

As he trained, he did not notice the hours go by as in his mind he was always focused on zombies. He kept imagining fighting them, in one-on-one combat as well as in groups. He had also asked Velma to make recordings of his training so he could watch himself back later, and when he did it became apparent to him that his techniques were quite bad. It was hard to tell when performing them, but the deviation between his moves each time he performed them was huge. It was fortunate that most zombies were not intelligent or he might not have survived. He was unaware of how refined his techniques had become when he had zoned out while actually fighting.

He continued nonstop, until finally Gerard stopped him to tell him his two guests had left the Recovery room.

*****

“We should learn everything we can about this place,” whispered Chen as he and Blane walked out of the small, circular building.

Around them they saw a large garden, populated with trees few and far between. In the distance he could see a large building, which he assumed was the Inn. The weather was pleasant and the atmosphere was serene. It all seemed quite calm and normal, different from what Chen had assumed when he had met his impressive yet intimidating host. Yet after a few moments, he realized the quiet and peaceful environment was much more impressive than anything else. His entire life Chen had never felt completely safe, even when he was in towns protected by walls and barriers. Yet here, he couldn’t help himself from letting his guard down. Here, he felt at peace. Just that feeling of security made this place extremely attractive, let alone anything else they could offer.

“I’d like to bring Iris here,” mumbled Blane as he walked barefoot through the grass. Where his shoes had gone he did not know, but both he and Brother Chen were garbed in a simple cotton tunic and pants. He had none of his gear, and hadn’t seen it in the room they had left either, but he wasn’t worried – it was unlikely that his things would be stolen. They weren’t worth much to begin with anyway.

The two soldiers made their way through the garden towards the Inn, both lost in their own thoughts, when they saw their enigmatic host – the Innkeeper – walking towards them with a smile. Behind the Innkeeper walked a short, young lady who was dressed similarly, carrying a tray with a couple of glasses on it.

“It’s good to see you two recovered,” the Innkeeper said in a warm voice. He smiled at them in a welcoming way, but neither of the two soldiers could forget that this was the man who had easily taken down a Tier 3 zombie and this could not treat him lightly.

“Have a drink, it’s lemonade,” the Innkeeper signaled towards the young lady holding the tray. “I thought you two could use some refreshments as I give you a tour of our humble establishment.”

“Thanks,” the soldiers quickly said as they grabbed the drinks, wary of offending the Innkeeper.

“Come, let me take you to the Inn. And please, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.”

The two soldiers hesitated and looked at each other, before Brother Chen spoke up. “How can someone get access to the Inn?” Even if the Innkeeper never mentioned it, it seemed obvious that the Inn wasn’t actually in their world, and they had been teleported through the golden door. However, how reliable was it to wait for a floating door? There had to be a better way to come in.

“Some people can access it the way you did, by encountering the golden door. Most people will have to use a golden key. All guests get one when they leave, so you don’t need to worry about not being able to come back. As thanks for answering my questions earlier, I will give you two a spare key each, so you can invite someone else if you wish.” The Innkeeper waved his hand and two golden keys presenting themselves before the soldiers, floating in midair – waiting for them to be taken. The two soldiers quickly grabbed the keys and thanked the Innkeeper profusely, who only smiled at them in return.

“What do you need to do to be a guest here?” Blane asked, his mind thinking of Iris again.

“You can spend 50MP to reserve a room for a day, and can host one guest with yourself in the room. You don’t have to get a room, and can just simply use our other services such as the gift shop, the recovery room, visit the restaurant – whatever you’d like. However, please be aware that if you visit the Inn and leave without availing any of our services, you won’t receive a golden key upon your return!”

The two soldiers continued to ask Lex questions, and he answered them casually whilst showing them the Inn and introducing things. When the two soldiers discovered Botlam Dew could prevent someone from being infected and turning into a zombie their eyes shone with overwhelming greed – they didn’t do anything though and only made a mental note of its price.

The tour finally concluded and the two soldiers were getting ready to visit the restaurant for their complimentary meal as PB Guests when a thin, middle-aged man entered the lobby from the stairs. He gave the two soldiers a look before turning his attention towards the Innkeeper standing next to them.

Lex smiled as he read the name above the man’s head – Falak!