Although running a tavern was a nice little distraction, it just didn't have the sa feeling as being in and running the Inn. It wasn't just about the better spiritual energy and ambience. The Inn was inside his own domain, whereas the taverns were in others territories.
More importantly, it was good to set aside other problems, and just focus on running the Inn after a long ti. He wanted to go back to how the Inn originally was, before millions of guests suddenly showed up. Back then, he would interact with most of his guests and knew them at least to so degree.
Now, he wasn't about to go around and et a hundred million guests, but it wouldn't be so bad to at least know the regulars. He had more than just a few guests who had entered, and hadn't left for months. They were basically paying rent and living inside the Inn now.
Many of them even got jobs working for so of the guilds in the Guild room, and started socialising with their neighbors. With an amazing daycare, and the Midnight Library to serve as an excellent source of information, it was practically an amazing place to live and raise kids.
Wait a minute… had Lex been running the Inn like a city builder ga, all without knowing it?
That… was not so bad. Collecting rent like a rich landlord, Lex was now finally a part of the 1%. Or was he? He was not aware of the statistics of the universe, and as the statistics of Earth were no longer applicable, he might not be in the 1% anymore. But who cared? He was now like one of those second generation rich people, ruining the economy by raising prices sky high while complaining about how his tenants never pay rent on ti.
On second thought, being a landlord like that didn't sound so amazing. He was fine with being a magnanimous Innkeeper.
"Hey Mary, whatever happened to you gaining a virtual body that guests could see? I still haven't seen an option for that anywhere on the interface, and I doubt your body will be ready any ti soon."
Mary appeared, sweating and panting, dressed in chino shorts and a T-shirt that had sweat stains. Lex gave her the most bizarre look, but did not ask questions. He felt like he might be intruding on the life of his virtual assistant.
"Well, it's not like I can tell you out-right how to get that option. Go around, live a little. Do a few quests related to sentient holograms, maybe you'll find out. I'm not saying you're a racist or sothing, but you haven't hosted a single hologram as a guest yet."
"You're right, that's my bad," Lex acknowledged without arguing. Lex knew better than to argue with soone who had just worked out and was irritable about it - even if it was just a hologram without a real body.
"Anyway, summon Luthor and Ripley to my office. Let's see how good the dungeons that Ereboth created really are."
Lex teleported back to his office, and put on his Host Attire. Although Lex had the intention of not showing up as the Innkeeper often in public, at least for now, Ripley had hinted to Lex more than once that he had a gift he wanted to give the Innkeeper, so now was an opportune ti to get the man to do more work, and pay Lex for it as well.
Soon, the two of them entered one after another. Luthor was already familiar with Ripley, having been interviewed. Considering that the man had received a task from the Innkeeper, Luthor regarded him well.
This was especially because lately, Luthor felt great. For a long ti, he wanted to help expand the Inn and improve it sohow, but how could his agre strength compared to the Innkeepers? There was nothing he could do to contribute aningfully.
Yet now, faced with Ereboth, Luthor was able to use his strengths and cunning mind masterfully, and that's when Luthor had a realization. His personal, physical strength did not matter. Instead, it was his cunning mind that would allow him to help the Inn.
He was already on his path to turning Ereboth, that annoying planet, into a servant of the Inn. He was not good enough to be a direct worker, and would instead toil for the Inns benefits outside the realm, and this was just the beginning. Now that he knew what he could do for the Inn, Luthor began to plan who else he could take advantage of. As long as his targets weren't Inn guests or workers, everything was allowed.
"Welco, you two. You both have been working very hard for the Inn. I'd like to personally thank you for that," said the Innkeeper, as humble as always. Yet his words shook the two n to tears. In fact, while Luthor managed to stay standing, Ripley fell to his knees.
He could not believe… could not fathom such words being said from the mouth of a being reaching for above the Dao realm - or possibly already there.
"Please, Innkeeper, you do not need to say such words," Ripley said, finally understanding why the Drama-cats kept crying about the eternal rcy and greatness of the Innkeeper. "It is my utmost privilege to be of service."
Luthor, instead, did not waste any words. He just bowed. Between the workers and the Innkeeper there was a bond outsiders just simply could not match.
"In that case, it is extrely fortunate that I have found a way for you to continue enjoying this privilege for a while longer. Luthor here has been overseeing one of the Inns newer projects - an external one, in partnership with another party. But… I do not know if the experience the other party has prepared ets the standards of the Inn. Would you go ahead and do an audit of the new dungeons as well?"
"Of course! I will inspect every single grain of dust, every single molecule that makes up that entire dungeon, on the reputation of the Versalis Bank!"
Lex suddenly felt a pang of pity for Ereboth the insatiable. He might have t his match.
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