The Innkeeper

The young Sol bird had recovered a lot during its brief stay in the Fire temple. It was not just the fiery aura that helped it recover, but the divine energy entering its body. An open secret in the Crystal realm was that the birds were treated as deities. Many tribes of different races worshiped the birds that kept away the darkness and illuminated their lands, providing them with safety and warmth. As such, while the birds were not deities themselves, they shared many aspects with them.

Weakly, it opened its eyes to look around. But before it could get a sense for its surroundings, its eyes focused on a single, massive leg. It raised its neck to get a better look and saw that the leg was attached to a massive turtle with a single horn poking out of its forehead.

"Oh dear," the turtle said warmly. "You look like you need some help."

*****

Belle, despite her instincts, controlled herself from reaping havoc so as to not attract any extra attention. She moved as fast as possible while maintaining stealth, and in only a few hours, reached her old home in London. It was abandoned, but it did not matter for she was there to check on a few hidden spirit tech within the building.

She entered into a tiny, hidden compartment under the building that could only be safely opened by entering the correct password. Any attempt at forced entry would destroy everything inside.

The compartment was barely large enough to hold a single person and contained a couple of devices that were continuously operating. Addressing the major security flaw these devices presented was one of the major reasons she was willing to come back to Earth. This was something she needed to handle personally, and could not even delegate to her clone that had previously existed here.

She opened up the device that looked like a massive copier/printer used in corporate offices, and dismantled it until she reached its core, where four drops of blood were held, each in its own container.

These were drops of blood collected from her and her siblings at birth, and could be used for various purposes. With her and her siblings, they served as spiritual anchors for their clones. When she and her siblings were taken off this planet, they obviously had no cultivation to speak of. Since they could not create clones themselves, her mother had used some very advanced techniques to produce the clones herself, and used these drops of blood to connect the clones to them.

They had other uses as well, for example, the one Belle was about to use.

She took the drop of blood that represented Lex and used a spiritual technique to look for him. But there was no response. Now that she had personally confirmed that her stupid brother was no longer on the planet, she could only wish him the best, and hoped that he led a safe life.

When Belle took over the William family, they could safely look for him and arrange his return. Until then, it was best he stayed away.

Then Belle looked at the drop of blood that represented Moon, her youngest sibling. There was untold fury in her eyes when she looked at that drop of blood, but she let none of that fury leak out.

One day, she would make everyone who wronged them pay.

She took all the drops of blood and stored them, then destroyed all devices. Once she extracted the hidden prisoners on earth, it was unlikely she would return to this planet ever again. Unlike Lex, she had no sentimentality towards any specific planet. When the Origin realm was so vast, and there was so much to do and explore, why should she constrain herself to a single planet?

*****

Moore was one of the many workers that Lex had arranged for the Inn during its many expansions. He had unlocked the Regalia Bloom bloodline early, which affected his appearance, making him more handsome. But his personality didn't suit cultivation. He was an extrovert and liked spending time with people, going out and doing things. Sitting silently in the meditation room and cultivating was just too boring for him.

So, while his cultivation had suffered, due to his increasing good looks and social personality, his excellent rapport with guests was quickly noticed, and he was promoted. He performed a series of jobs, from stall vendor to hospitality supervisor, to a few more random jobs until he finally became ground manager of the transit station.

But while he had plenty of experience with guests, and had faced both polite guests and those with a bone to pick, his current situation was completely… completely unprecedented.

They were back in his office, with Karen's entourage standing outside his office doors like guards. Inside, it was just him, Karen and Karen's daughter, who refused to get off her peacock mount no matter where she went.

As if that was not enough, Karen's appearance had changed drastically. Like an anime character revealing their next form, her outfit had magically changed while they walked back to his office, and now she was in an uncomfortably tight shirt and a miniskirt. When and how that happened was still a mystery to Moore.

"This is female harassment," Karen said softly as she continuously adjusted her crossed legs. "All I want is something to mount. You are supposed to be giving your guests the best services, but you want me to walk so much. You can't expect a lady to bear such a thing. I'm sure a handsome man such as yourself can do something to help me out. It would be a shame if I had to go to your superior."

Moore nervously pulled his collar and maintained unwavering eye contact with Karen. He could look nowhere else because the unnecessarily tight T-shirt she was wearing suddenly had buttons, and the top two buttons had opened on their own.

"Ma'am I assure you, your complaint has been noted and we will remedy the situation as soon as possible. In the meantime, I suggest that you try out our other forms of transport that are equally, if not even more comfortable and convenient. As compensation for any inconvenience, we can make your next ride free."

"You don't understand," she said, in an almost pleading voice as she leaned forward. "I… I need that mount! Can't you just give me a peacock? I'm not that heavy. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and she looked at Moore, and almost whimpered. Karen's daughter was watching silently from the side, as if she had experienced such a scene a million times.

For some reason, Moore was finding it harder and harder to focus. His mouth went dry and his pulse started rising.

He opened his mouth to reply… but then something unexpected happened.

Chad, the deputy head of the security, teleported into the room. Unlike Moore, who had a slim and modest physique, Chad was nearing 7 feet tall (2.13 meters) and was packing muscles like an overstuffed luggage bulging with clothes. The man always had a gifted physique, but once he discovered the gym culture and body cultivation, he entered a whole new world.

He was so ridiculously large that he almost reached half of what Marlo looked like at his peak physique.

"We meet again, Karen," said Chad, glaring at the woman.

The woman clicked her teeth when she saw Chad, and her mood dropped immensely. As if she had perfect control over them, her clothes transformed from her rather seductive attire to battle gear!

"I have done nothing wrong, Chad! This is harassment! Don't make me go to your boss!"

"I can smell your malicious intent from the other corner of the Inn," Chad scoffed, unwavering. "Besides, using your abilities on guests and Inn staff is strictly prohibited, unless you've received express permission!"

"Don't give me that crap! I've never met anyone who was unsatisfied with me. The whole charm of being with a succubus is in not knowing about it!"

"I've told you many times already, Karen, this is not acceptable. The only reason you haven't been banned from the Inn yet is that no one is willing to file a complaint. The day we find someone, you're out."

"This is ridiculous! Of course they wouldn't complain! Everyone loves me! You know what, I've had enough of this! I demand to speak to the Innkeeper. I'm doing your Inn a service by coming here. You should be thanking me. This is my right!"

"You can exercise your rights outside of the Inn," Chad replied, indifferent to her powers. She had tried to use them on him many times. Despite being stronger than him, her abilities did not work. How could he ever be attracted to someone who doesn't lift?

"This is not over. I want to schedule a meeting with the Innkeeper. I'll be expecting it next time I come."

Karen snorted, then disappeared from within the Inn. When she reappeared, she found herself in a room full of other devils.

"Were you able to avoid detection?" asked one of the devils impatiently.

"No, they were able to detect me as soon as I used my ability," stated Karen. The others in the room started noting down what she said and started updating their database. They were coming up with possible ways to fool the Inn.

"Do not be concerned. We will get to them eventually," said another devil with an air of confidence. Karen only nodded at him and said nothing, despite her frustration at being used so blatantly. He was the strongest of them, and so they could not really argue. After all, no matter what anyone outside believed, Rocketfellow was not an easy fellow to cross.