The Innkeeper

Chapter 1767: Unwilling and unable

After staring at the letter opener for a few minutes, the Celestial pulled his vision away and began looking around the office. All the while, he could not help but contemplate his own state of mind.

A short while ago, just the sight of a Dao Lord on stage had him, and quite frankly everyone else, extremely startled. They had all kinds of thoughts, not knowing how to respond to the sudden surprise, and were only able to calm down after the Dao Lord told them to. Who was going to disobey a Dao Lord? No one. No one was going to go against a Dao Lords’ words.

Yet, surprisingly enough, he was now sitting right across from the Innkeeper, one of the most, if not the most reputable, new Dao Lord that the Humanoid Alliance was paying attention to. The surprising thing wasn’t that he was sitting across from the Innkeeper. The surprise lay in the fact that he felt so calm, so at ease in front of the Innkeeper.

All the panic and anxiety he’d suffered while anticipating this meeting seemed to slip away, as if it were never anything to worry about at all. It was as if he was meeting just another random dude instead of an all-powerful Lord whose very existence was altering the Humanoid Alliances foreign policy.

The Innkeeper opened up his drawer and dropped the letter in it casually, before turning back to the Celestial.

“I didn’t catch your name,” said the Innkeeper, instead of addressing the letter.

“Oh, yes, my apologies, Innkeeper. I am called Biscus,” the Celestial said. Naturally, he did not think that the Innkeeper didn’t really know his name. He was a Dao Lord, so of course he knew Biscus’ name. It was perhaps just polite to be properly introduced first.

“No need for apologies, Biscus. It is not a big deal. There is, however, an issue, which is that the letter still does not state why you think I would be able to help you with your task. As you may know, I do not usually concern myself with things outside of the Midnight Inn.”

Biscus smiled awkwardly, yet for some reason, he felt that there was no reason for him to hesitate in explaining the reasoning behind the alliance’s decision and hoped it changed the Innkeepers mind. He doubted it, though. If even the letter didn’t change his mind, Biscus doubted he could.

“Well, as I’m sure you know, information about the Temple of Fasting is supposed to be of the utmost secret. Even the alliance itself has no way to track down its location and make contact. However, through a message sent by senior Cassandra herself, we have become aware that she is attempting to break into the Dao realm.

“The alliance puts a great deal of importance on this, for if she succeeds, she can uplift the entire human race, which would greatly help the alliance as well. The issue, then, from what I understand, is that the Temple of Fasting is located in an immature realm, making it impossible to undergo a complete Dao tribulation. The Midnight Realm, likewise, is not mature and so cannot support such a tribulation. Thus, we need to transport senior Cassandra to a secure location where she may be able to undergo her tribulation without issue.”

The Innkeeper leaned back in his chair, looking at Biscus as he spoke, though his own thoughts were wandering elsewhere. Cassandra had been Lex’s teacher, of sorts, when he went to the Temple of Fasting. Thinking back on it, she had been more like a nanny, or dare he say, mother, than a teacher. More than her training, what Lex recalled was her force feeding him and making sure he got plenty of sleep.

While initially he had been very distrustful of her, thinking back now, Lex realized his distrust had more to do with his own issues than anything Cassandra did. Being lied to by one’s parents, and then abandoned, was something that took some time to overcome. He hadn’t seen her in a while, though, mainly because, as Biscus mentioned, she was getting ready to become a Dao Lord.

Lex didn’t know the details. He didn’t know if her tribulation had already begun, or if she was in some premeditation for it to begin, or something else was going on. The less he knew about Dao stuff for now, the better. What he did know, however, was that Cassandra’s main body was in the Temple of Fasting, which was in the Origin realm. So, yes, she was in a realm that was not mature yet.

But the issue remained. Even if Lex really could get to her, which he couldn’t, he wasn’t so sure moving her was the best idea. After all, Cassandra was a smart lady. If she needed to leave the Origin realm for her tribulation, or if she needed his or the Innkeepers help, she would have mentioned it. She didn’t. So now, not only could Lex not help the alliance out with their request of getting access to her, he didn’t really want to either.

Also, the fact that the humans from the Inn could go and train in the Temple of Fasting was supposed to be a secret. The Temple was not a location open to others. It could only be accessed by humans, and even then, Lex only let his workers access it. So…

“Biscus, I understand the intentions of the alliance, and the reasoning behind it. That is not the issue. I have command over the Inn, not the Temple. I do not know its location, nor do I have any way of communicating with Cassandra since she went into her retreat. So, the problem remains. It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I simply cannot. I’m unsure as to why the alliance is under the impression that I can help with this to begin with.”

Biscus smiled awkwardly. How was he supposed to know? He’d just been told that passing along the letter would solve all the issues. But even after reading the letter, the Innkeeper seemed either unwilling, or unable to help.

“I will pass along your response,” Biscus said. “I apologise for bothering you.”

“Not at all,” said the Innkeeper, waving his hands. “The Inn is open to all, and I do not mind addressing any concerns that you, or the alliance has. Feel free to reach out to the Inn whenever you wish.”