The Innkeeper

Lex observed the two items. The commendation letter and the approval of the empire could possibly be useful in the future. After all, the empire spanned many galaxies so who knew when and where he might encounter their influence. But, at the moment, it served no real purpose.

Similarly, the token served no purpose for him right now, but the gesture it represented was very valuable. Besides possibly giving him access to the Morrison family's library of spiritual techniques, it also served as a token of Alexander's gratitude. That, to him, was worth more than the actual techniques he would likely encounter. After all, his own technique was nothing short of the best in the entire universe!

He smiled, and teleported them away to his study in his own apartment. If he ever needed to use either of the items he would have them, but otherwise they would enter his private collection.

Now it was time to turn his attention to other matters - specifically, the refugees. A quick scan revealed that roughly four thousand people who counted as such refugees could be found at the Inn - including Gisele and two very familiar kids.

There were supposed to be more, but they had already moved into the Minor realm that the empire was incharge of protecting. The ones who were still here were the ones still recovering from the effects of the poison that had infected their bodies.

Charles had been very effective in treating the incredibly dangerous poison for some reason, and his treatment didn't even include chocolate this time - or leeches! In his own words, while he was not too familiar with the human body, he was well versed in the habits and behavior shown by nature, plants, small animals and insects. He could use just that understanding to manipulate nature in certain ways, and even the most toxic poison was still a part of nature.

He sounded a lot like an elf or a druid to Lex, but as long his methods worked, who was he to question him? As much as Charles wanted to continue to enforce his methods on the remainder of their treatment, he couldn't manage that, alongside all the other numerous tasks he had to perform in the little time he had. Lex slightly suspected the man had ADHD for he was delving into too many unrelated matters. Still, his incredibly high competence in each field made it so that Lex did not mind too much.

Lex explored various options that the system gave him, and even consulted Mary on what he could do. He even considered the possibility of hosting a very specific event, but it was all for naught. The only way for the refugees to escape to another planet was if their prestige level rose and then they chose to teleport to another planet linked to the Inn. Speaking of which, it also needed to be mentioned that the connection to Polebitvy still existed.

That meant that the planet had survived being ripped out of its star system, and whatever else it had been exposed to during its time in its first ever field trip. He sighed and scanned the Inn to search for whichever Jotun officer was incharge of the refugees, and was surprised to find that it was the very senior Alexander had taken him to. The man seemed to have lost a lot of weight in the past two weeks, and looked pale and sick, yet he was still attending to some paperwork. Lex recalled that the man was called Radamei.

Instead of summoning him, Lex teleported over himself, and knocked on the man's door.

"Come in, come in!" he said in a somewhat hoarse voice. It was clear that he had suffered some kind of injury to his throat since he last saw Lex, and his voice had been affected.

"Excuse me for interrupting you, dear guest. I am the Innkeeper, owner of this humble establishment," he introduced himself as he entered his room. There were piles of paper everywhere, and temporarily set up computer screens all over, making the small bedroom appear quite messy.

Radamei was startled, and immediately stood up, revealing various bandages all over his body.

"Innkeeper! It is an honor to meet you! Your Inn has saved a lot of lives! A lot of lives I tell you!"

"Yes, I heard of your plight. It is fortunate that you were able to get your hands on the keys to the Inn. If only command had listened…" Radamei's voice faded out as his thoughts seemed to drift off. Clearly, the man had not yet completely recovered from the trauma he suffered.

Lex could not even blame him. Watching a massive monster grab ahold of your planet and then suck it into a tear must have shaken up a lot of people's minds.

"Unfortunately, there is a small issue," the Innkeeper said softly, waking the man up from his thoughts. "Everyone who escaped is stuck here unless they attain a prestige level and teleport to another planet. Though I wish to help, I cannot break the rules of the Inn, or else how can I expect others to follow?"

"Having a way out is already good enough, not to mention the empire is preparing camps within another Minor realm to relocate everyone. With time, everyone will get a chance to leave eventually."

"I'm glad you have a positive outlook on this matter. The survivors are lucky to have someone like you keeping an eye out for them."

Radamei only shook his head, as if he disagreed, but did not say anything. Clearly the man needed some rest as well, though it did not seem like he would be getting any in the near future.

Lex left the room, and was finally free to do his own tasks, when an idea suddenly came to him. He changed out of his Host Attire and put on his Clark Kent glasses before approaching Charles as Leo. He thought of a good way to test the extent of Charles' unique insight.