The Innkeeper

"Feel more… amenable?" Lex repeated. That was… disappointing to say the least. But since when have things been easy for Lex?

"Instead of such random things, you should focus more on ways to actually run the Inn. Those are the things I can actually help with," the system said. "Also, don't forget that for every request you make, you ultimately have to pay a price."

This gave Lex pause. He had more requests to make, though their priority was down the list. Unfortunately, all the requests that he had that were related to how the Inn was actually run were much less important than the other requests he had.

"Let me ask you a question. How come you're responding to me right now, and have never done so before? Does this mean you will respond to me in the future as well? If the situation about this new realm is uncertain, I might want to make some changes accordingly."

"I can't. This is a unique situation because of all the potent energy inside the realm that I can use. Even then, the only reason I am able to do so is because I want to burn off as much of the energy in this realm as possible to prevent it from becoming too big! Under normal circumstances, if you want to talk to me, then you need to bring my functionality back to at least 50%."

Lex paused. Did he have to think of precautionary measures beforehand? He glanced at Mary for a moment.

"Will there be any dangers for me and the Inn in the new realm? I've heard that when a new realm is made, some very powerful beings are born."

"I cannot say for certain how things will develop. All relevant information will be given to you in the form of notifications in case there are any latent dangers. I will do my best to ensure all new lifeforms born in the realm are automatically realm workers. But you have to realize that my functionality is broken, and the new realm is likely going to be very large, and it will only continue to grow."

Between the unknown dangers he would have to anticipate, and the ones he already knew of, Lex decided to focus on the ones he already knew of for the moment.

"Some time ago, I ran into a group that was hunting system users. They could somehow detect other systems, but I got the sense that they couldn't detect the Midnight Inn as a system. Against other system users, and those from such groups, how safe are you? Can someone tell easily that you are a system?"

This was one of his concerns. Although he understood that there was some entity capable of erasing the memories of others if they found out about systems, what if he encountered an Immortal who had a system? Would he be in danger?

"Systems are, inherently, weak against other systems. There's nothing that can be done about that. But even so, there is a hierarchy among systems as well. The Midnight Inn is a very high level system, so it is not easy for it to be detected by others. It would require at least an A rank system, or maybe even S rank system, to detect the Midnight Inn. But due to my broken state, I cannot confirm what exactly that level is."

"What if it's not a system, but a Host. For example, I frequently go to a place called the Infinity Emporium. Based on the way it works, I am almost certain that it is also a system, and a high level one at that. In the same way, if the Host for the Emporium, or some other system comes to the Inn, can't they tell whether the Inn is a system?"

The system did not immediately respond. It only hummed for a moment, as if considering its answer. But, eventually, it said, "I will let Mary provide an answer for that."

Surprised, Lex looked at Mary.

"At lower levels, you may think that everything mystical or magical comes from systems. But at higher levels you will realize that… the systems are not all powerful, otherwise the universe itself would have long been ruled by system users. You may suspect that the Emporium is a system, but that is because you are yourself quite weak. When you see something that is beyond the scope of your understanding, you automatically attribute it to a system. But when you touch upon laws, you will realize that some beings are much more powerful than you realize. Cornelius, the King of the Hum empire in the Crystal realm, is a good example of that?"

"Cornelius? But isn't he just in the Earth Immortal realm?" Lex was genuinely surprised that, of everyone he'd met, Mary listed him as an example. After all, Cassandra and Jotun were Celestial immortals, and much more powerful than Cornelius.

"Yes, he is just an Earth Immortal, in the way that you are justin the Golden core realm. The point is, the Midnight Inn is well hidden from other system users and weaker systems. Based on the power scale that the Innkeeper has shown himself to be a part of, even if someone suspects that the Inn is a part of a system, they will have to be much more powerful to test you out. In that case, if you really end up facing someone with a system of strength that high, you won't be able to protect yourself anyway. So you need not worry."

That was reassuring, somewhat. So either Lex would not have any issues, or face an issue so massive that he could not avoid it. It would be best if he could… Wait, that was so obvious! He should have asked for that first!

"Can I get another one of those full strength Butter Knife tokens?" Lex asked. If he could get his hands on those, then a lot of his troubles would automatically go away…