Lex did not know what to think about the peculiar group who had arrived in his tavern to get soone waxed. Instead, he was studying their ship, which could sohow completely elude his senses. Considering that he had yet to see anything and anyone formidable at all in the Empire, and everything told him that the Empire was pretty weak compared to the usual empires he dealt with, this was a rare surprise. More importantly, the number of assassins secretly heading towards the Treehouse tavern following the ship were not at all as well hidden as the original ship.
It was a little disappointing that the ship's incredible stealth capabilities had been rendered pointless by a traitor within their ranks, but Lex hardly cared about that. With all the assassins being in the Golden core, at most, they were nothing to be afraid of.
Instead, he continued to study the ship and its unusual ability to hide from him, while bits of his mind focused on other things.
The elves had returned to the Treehouse, now exploring the garden down below without fear. They would make their way up eventually, and probably stay for a long ti. They seed to be murmuring sothing about finding the chosen one, as well as the joys of the garden and such.
That Nascent soul cultivator who had been rushing to the tavern had strangely stopped right outside the garden, and kept fidgeting with his tie in front of a mirror, as if he was nervous about how he looked for an upcoming date.
The underground maze, which would soon beco the tavern's Escape room, was almost ready as well.
Eventually, the elves who were having the ti of her life rolling in the grass like little children, got up when their shaman finally admonished them. Of course, it was a little difficult to take him seriously when the shaman himself was covered in grass, but they were not foolish enough to point that out.
Tetsuya, who was sitting on a balcony eating pizza for the first ti ever, watched as they entered, nurous thoughts running through his head. He was actually looking forward to eting the elves.
Once he let them know who he was, the great and mighty Paul, they would help him escape the Treehouse without arousing the Empire's suspicions. Or, even if the Empire was suspicious, they would help him escape unscathed.
That was because only he could lead the rebellion, and only he knew how to trigger it fully.
Yet while he was pleased to see the elves coming up, he was equally appalled by the appearance of the Empire forces.
The soldiers he ignored well enough - they themselves seed too disturbed. Instead, it was the Nascent soul cultivator downstairs that he recognized who troubled him. With such an entity nearby, no plan of escape was good enough.
A Nascent soul cultivator could wipe them all out. His rebellion was not yet strong enough to face them, or he would have triggered it already.
But while he could not face a Nascent soul cultivator, it seed Lex was not concerned about them at all. He himself seed quite strong, with Tetsuya unable to gauge him at all. But the staff in the tavern were another matter altogether. While they hid their cultivations well, Tetsuya's instincts warned him strongly every ti he ca face to face with one.
From his past experiences with the various warnings he received, Tetsuya could easily tell that they were all in the Nascent realm.
A tavern where the countless workers, serving tea and making the bed, were all Nascent level cultivators. Tetsuya could not wrap his head around it at all. This single tavern was strong enough to control the whole planet, so why were they just running a tavern?
Although Tetsuya did not know the answer, and had a few suspicions, what he did know was that their presence gave him the confidence to take a few risks. He swallowed the rest of his pizza, and got up, walking towards a group of Empire soldiers standing in a corner.
"Hello there," he said, waving at them. "Sorry for intruding. You're the only other guests I've seen in this tavern and wanted to have a chat with you about this place. This place is amazing! Do you have any idea how it ca here?"
Tetsuya's voice carried all the enthusiasm and excitent of a coincidental guest who had stumbled onto the tavern, not at all like an experienced warrior who could clearly tell that there was sothing amiss about it.
"At first I thought this was sothing built by the Empire, so I rushed over to take a look. But to my great surprise, there's no affiliation! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard!"
The soldiers looked at one another, uncomfortably. But since their mission was to find out about the tavern, talking to the only other guest besides them was a good idea.
"Even though this tavern is not the Empires, the high leveled personnel of the Empire are in direct contact with the tavern keeper," one of the soldiers said, putting up a front as if the tavern was still under the Empires command. Technically, he did not lie, for the tavern keeper himself stated that he had contacted their superiors.
"Ah yes, the tavern keeper. He's a nice fellow, even gave a tour of this place. You should really check out the Gift shop - it has a few insane trinkets lying around. By the way, did you happen to catch the tavern keeper's na?"
Before the soldiers could respond, the doors of the eatery opened, and an incredibly well dressed yet nervous looking man stepped in, followed by a few guards.
"You there," the man said, calling out to the soldiers as soon as he saw them. "I am commander Scru Bhe. Where is the leader of your team? Summon him imdiately?"
"Yes sir!" the soldiers exclaid, saluting the man before quickly running out of the room.
But it was only then that Scru Bhe noticed that they had been talking to Tetsuya, and approached him with a smile on his face.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, young man. Please do not take offence at my abruptness, I was just a little excited. I can scarcely believe I'm here."
"Not at all, commander Scrub," Tetsuya said with a fond smile. "I was just asking those n if they happened to know the tavern keeper's na. They talked as if they knew him well."
"It's Scru Bhe, not scrub," the commander corrected, though he seed too distracted to pay attention to it. Coincidentally, at the sa ti, the elves also entered the room.
"The tavern keepers na, you say? Why are you satisfied with a single na? He is a man of many nas. Handso Devil. Crazy Bastard. The Chosen One. King of Lovers Island. Angel Killer - though that last one isn't because he killed angels, but because countless angels seem to have fallen in love with him. I've even heard him called A-Moving-Treasure-Chest, because apparently he was worth quite a few planets at one point. No, a single na is not good enough for him and many nas just don't do him justice. I think it's best if you stick to calling him tavern keeper."
Tetsuya was feeling a little dissatisfied with the answer, though he did learn that apparently this old acquaintance of his was much more popular than he had imagined. What he didn't know was that while he was thinking of extracting the tavern keepers na from the scrub in front of him, the elves were also staring at the man.
"Did he say that the tavern keeper is the chosen one?" one of the Elves whispered to another.
"It can't be a coincidence," another responded.
"We may have found our salvation," the shaman whispered, as tears stread down his eyes.
Around the sa ti, about a dozen assassins entered the tavern, under various guises, and coincidentally, Lex finished making his basent at the sa ti. Now, he couldn't exactly go ahead and force his guests into entering his Escape room, which may or may not be excessively dangerous, though Lex had built in an ergency escape feature to avoid deaths or severe injuries. He could, however, think of various ways to entice his guests to participate in it willingly.
The elves were whispering amongst themselves, Tetsuya and Scru Bhe were chatting, Henry was getting waxed in ungodly places, and the assassins were slowly making their way up the stairs.
Suddenly, they all saw a virtual screen pop up in front of them, startling all of them initially. But when they paid closer attention to the screen, they saw that it was a re announcent.
Announcent: To celebrate the opening of the Treehouse tavern, an event is being hosted with a prize: Peak Nascent Defense Talisman. The talisman can defend against all attacks within the Nascent realm for 15 minutes. The event takes place in the tavern Escape room. The first to solve and exit the Escape room gets the prize*.
* Giving up and exiting the Escape room does not count as completing it.
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