The Innkeeper

"Don't sell yourself short, Lex. You've done more harm to the Fuegans agenda in just the past year alone than the Henali have in centuries - and that was without the Innkeeper directly taking action, as far as I understand it. That said, the Fuegan do not wish to make an enemy of you or the Inn."

Lex shook his head.

"The Midnight Inn is neutral as far as these things are concerned. They barely participated in the conflict, and even that was merely at the behest of the rulers of the realm. As soon as that was concluded, the Inn left the Origin realm so that no one could use any moral high ground to force them into any conflicts. The Innkeeper just wants to run his Inn without bothering with whatever happens outside of it.

"As far as my own involvement is concerned… since you're so well informed, I'm sure you already know that I was practically forced into the conflict. I believe it was one of your allies who went out of their way to target my siblings. Why would I have cared about a fight that had nothing to do with me if no one had pulled me into it?"

"I can see you have a bad impression of the Fuegan, and very good reason for it too. But that doesn't mean that things have to stay that way, right? The orders I've been given are just to make contact with you and try to see if we can salvage our relationship. Besides, it's not like I was trying to trick you or anything. I told you my background up front the very first day we met, so it's not like we're trying to trick you or anything."

Misha held up her arms helplessly, as if to show that she hadn't really tried anything funny.

"I don't mind at all. As long as you guys tell me clearly where Damian is, and give me a full detail of everything he did in the Origin realm so I can tie up some loose ends, I don't mind trying to give this relationship a new start."

Misha gave Lex a wry smile, as if she already knew that she wouldn't be able to meet Lex's demands.

"I will communicate your request to my seniors, and we shall try to compile all the information we have on Damien, though I can't say for certain what we have on hand. But that's for later. For now, why don't we just chat. Is there anything you want to know about the Fuegan? Or maybe the Henali? I doubt you'll be able to get your hands on some of their secrets that we know. Maybe you're interested in the history of the Origin realm."

Lex squinted his eyes and studied Misha. She seemed completely earnest and unbothered by what the outcome of their conversation might be.

Either way, one of the reasons he got close to her was to learn as much as he could about the Fuegan, so there was no point in giving up such a great opportunity.

"What about you, though? Is making friends with me all that the Fuegan really want?" Lex asked nonchalantly, as if he too didn't care either way.

"Naturally, the Fuegan want to extend their friendship to the Midnight Inn and the Innkeeper as well. Though we may have been at odds before, we want nothing more than to move past any unfortunate misunderstandings we have had in the past."

"I can't really speak for the Innkeeper," Lex lied blatantly. "Although I can say that generally, as long as no one breaks one of the Inns rules, the Innkeeper does not judge anyone. All are welcome at the Midnight Inn, so long as they can behave."

"How wonderfully professional," Misha said with a smile. "So does that mean that if the Fuegan arrive at the Midnight Inn, the Innkeeper won't hand them over to the Henali?"

Lex resisted the urge to groan, for he could see the Inn getting dragged into universal politics already. It was quite unfortunate that the Inns modus operandi stated that no guest was to be turned away as long as they did not break rules.

"Again, I cannot speak for the Innkeeper. But generally, as long as someone does not break the rules of the Inn, there is no reason that they would be turned away, or brought to any harm."

"That is excellent news," she said, wearing a bright smile. "I must admit, once I heard of the Inn, I was really tempted to go there myself. The scale and power of its teleportation features are completely unheard of."
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"Actually, for the upcoming period, universal teleportations are going to be suspended," Lex said with a hint of regret in his voice, though he couldn't wait for it to finally happen. "Even within the Origin realm, teleportation features are going to be strictly limited. I expect this won't last too long, a few centuries at most. After that, the Inn should resume its business of accepting and welcoming guests from across the universe."

"A few centuries doesn't sound so bad. Just enough for a quick nap once this Expo is over. I'll look forward to seeing you there, then."

Lex smiled, and took a sip of his own drink as he pondered what to ask. Since he was trying to become more aware of the ongoing universal politics, he supposed he should stick to that line of questioning.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is the Fuegans end goal? They can't really think they'll be able to retake the realm from the Henali. I doubt whoever is backing them is doing so from the goodness of their hearts. They'll want something too, and if that happens, won't it just be trading one ruler for the next?"

"Not at all. I'm quite pleased that you asked. Actually, the Fuegan very much expect to retake full control of the realm. Like I said, no one knows more secrets about the Origin realm than them. The moment the realm allows Dao Lords to be born, and the first Fuegan achieves Dao Lord status, the tide of this war will shift dramatically. It's an open secret, and one of the reasons that the Henali have been trying to slow down the maturing of the Origin realm right up until the end of this era. In that regard, the Fuegan are actually very thankful for the Innkeepers actions of speeding up the realms maturity. Ideally, they'd like the Innkeeper to speed it up even more."