Gubernur tampak puas dengan penerimaan Pengelola Inn, lalu meminta izin untuk menemui tamu-tamu yang ia bawa.
Sewaktu dia pergi, Pengelola Inn disambut Ballom, Bridget, dan Primal yang kelihatannya akrab bersama.
"Pengelola Inn, kau menyembunyikan hal ini dariku," kata Ballom sambil tersenyum akrab. "Kupikir kau tipe orang yang menarik diri. Siapa sangka lingkaran terdalammu ternyata legenda dari masa kecilku."
Pengelola Inn tertawa pelan, menunjukkan sisi yang kurang formal, lebih akrab.
"Bukan apa-apa. Aku hanya ingin mencoba bagaimana rasanya menerima tamu Dao Lord sekaligus. Acara ini akan memungkinkanku melayani situasi serupa dengan jauh lebih baik saat Midnight Inn benar-benar dibuka."
Ya, Lex menggunakan alasan bahwa Midnight Inn sedang dalam tahap soft launch. Tidak mungkin ia berpura-pura Inn sudah ada sejak lama. Jadi, ia jadikan segala fasilitas saat ini sebagai pekerjaan yang masih berlangsung. Begitu, kalau ada kekurangan, ia punya alasan; kalau ada yang terkesan, pencapaiannya terlihat lebih hebat karena ia berencana memperbaiki semuanya.
"Kau tuan rumah yang sangat ramah, tapi kau harus beri kami kesempatan membalas tamu," kata Bridget dengan senyum lebar. "Ballom dan aku merencanakan resepsi resmi. Perang yang berlangsung tidak cocok jadi latar belakang pernikahan, jadi begini selesai kita akan mengadakan pesta besar. Kau wajib hadir! Tentu saja, kau boleh bawa pasangan juga."
Pengelola Inn terlihat sangat terharu.
"Sepertinya ucapan selamat sudah saatnya! Kabar bagus sekali! Sayangnya, Bridget, karena berbagai alasan, aku tidak bisa meninggalkan wilayah Inn, jadi akan sulit hadir," jawab Pengelola Inn dengan rasa tidak mau.
"Omong kosong! Bawa saja tavernmu — kami tidak keberatan!" Bridget tidak mau menerima penolakan. "Dan jangan lupa undangan plus one-nya!"
Ballom memutar bola mata, sementara Pengelola Inn hanya tertawa.
"Kalau begitu, aku nantikan perayaan kalian," kata Pengelola Inn. "Aku sudah tahu siapa yang akan kubawa — dia sangat suka pernikahan."
Dalam hati, Lex memikirkan Velma, tapi semua yang mendengar langsung mengira dia merujuk ke Eclipse! Kalau itu bukan pengakuan terbuka soal hubungan mereka, apa lagi?
"Haruskah kukatakan, Pengelola Inn, sudah lama kudengar kabarmu, tapi semua cerita kalah nyata," kata Primal. "Ini, jauh-jauh, pesta terbaik yang pernah kuikuti. Kau benar-benar tahu cara membuat acara jadi menarik."
Pengelola Inn mengangguk dengan rendah hati.
"Terima kasih atas pujianmu, tapi peranku hanya kecil. Ucapan terima kasih sebenarnya harus untuk Eclipse, karena dia mengizinkanku menggelar acara di sini," kata dia.
Sebutan nama itu membuat kelompok itu menoleh ke arah Eclipse. Eclipse, Harriot, Nulli, dan Crusty sedang ngobrol santai, sementara Ventura dan Voidmaw sudah pergi ke tempat lain. Semua orang tampak sedang bergaul.
"Meski begitu, peranmu tidak bisa diremehkan. Kalau kau pernah ingin kerja sama dengan Bank Versalis, terutama untuk pengembangan Seat of Power, hubungi aku. Akan jadi kehormatan bagiku ikut serta, dan aku pastikan bank memberikan syarat terbaik," kata Primal, jelas menunjukkan nilainya bagi Pengelola Inn.
"Mungkin aku akan lakukan," jawab Pengelola Inn sambil memikirkan opsi-opsi mahal di sistemnya untuk pengembangan realm. Even though dia yakin dengan waktu cukup dia bisa membelinya sendiri, kalau butuh cepat, pinjam bank bukan ide buruk.
Bukankah pinjam bank saat bikin realm pertama hal wajar? Bukan semua orang waris realm jadi. Beli realm jadi di pasar zaman ini? Mustahil — pembiayaan jadi satu-satunya jalan. Heck, bahkan Henali bekerja sama dengan bank untuk mengembangkan Origin realm.
"Apakah kau berencana ikut rapat-rapat yang berlangsung?" tanya Ballom, mengalihkan pembicaraan dari basa-basi dan jejaring. Perang jadi topik hangat hari ini, dengan alasan baik. "Meski semua berharap momentum akan mereda, tanda-tanda menunjukkan perang justru akan semakin parah seiring waktu. Terlalu banyak kekuatan yang punya terlalu banyak waktu mempersiapkan perang, dan sekarang tangan mereka gatal."
Primal menggelengkan kepala.
"Menurutku tidak segampang itu. Semua ber spekulasi alam semesta akan dewasa dalam beberapa miliar tahun mendatang, dan tak ada yang tahu apa yang akan terjadi. Siapa tahu apakah masih ada peluang bagi Dao Lord untuk berkembang di alam semesta yang dewasa karena realm itu sendiri tidak bisa lagi berkembang. Secara pribadi, kuanggap ini perebutan kekuasaan. Terlalu banyak Dao Lord yang ingin memanfaatkan alasan berlatih pemahaman hukum sebaik mungkin, dan mengembangkan Dao mereka untuk menghadapi ketidakpastian tak terhindarkan dari alam semesta yang dewasa."
Pengelola Inn merenung sejenak, lalu menatap Eclipse. Apakah mereka tidak tahu kematangan alam semesta ada di tangan Eclipse? Kapan alam semesta dewasa terserah dia, paling tidak menurut Eclipse sendiri, dan Lex mempercayainya. Masalahnya… kalau ini rahasia, kenapa dia ceritakan begitu santai padanya?
Dia tidak akan dapat jawaban begitu mudah, seperti dia tidak pikir bisa temukan alasan sebenarnya perang ini di pesta ini. Jadi, dia gunakan kesempatan ini mengumpulkan informasi sebanyak mungkin untuk membant Jack.
Dia merasa timing perang ini bukan kebetulan. Seseorang mencoba mempercepat Nexus event — pertanyaannya siapa, dan mengapa?
Tunggu, Lex tidak peduli. Pertanyaan sebenarnya… bagaimana dia bisa untung?
The Governor seemed pleased by the Innkeepers acceptance, and then excused himself to go convene with the guests that he had brought.
As soon as he left, the Innkeeper was approached by Ballom, Bridget and the Primal who all seemed to be getting along together.
"Innkeeper, you have been holding out on me," Ballom said with a familiar smile. "Here I thought you were a bit of a recluse. Who knew that your inner circle turned out to be legends from my childhood."
The Innkeeper laughed softly, revealing a less formal, more familiar side as well.
"It’s nothing of the sort. I was merely aiming to test out what it was like to have multiple Dao Lord guests. This event will enable me to cater to such a situation much better when the Midnight Inn fully opens."
Yes, Lex was going with the excuse that the Midnight Inn was currently in the middle of a soft launch. It was not like he could pretend that the Inn had existed for a long time anymore. In that case, he would make it so that everything the Inn currently had was a work in progress. That way, if anyone found any shortcomings, he would have an excuse, and if anyone was impressed, his achievement would seem even greater knowing that he planned on improving things.
"You are such a gracious host, but you must give us an opportunity to host you as well," said Bridget with a large smile. "Ballom and I are planning an official wedding for us. The ongoing wars don’t make for a great backdrop for a wedding, so as soon as this is over we intend to have a great celebration. You must come as well! Oh and, naturally, you are most welcome to bring a partner as well."
The Innkeeper seemed incredibly flattered by the invitation.
"It seems congratulations are in order! This is excellent news! Unfortunately, Bridget, for various reasons, I am unable to leave the territory of the Inn, so it will be difficult for me to attend," the Innkeeper said with great reluctance.
"Oh, nonsense! Please, bring your tavern as well - we won’t mind!" Bridget said, not accepting a refusal. "Oh, and don’t forget the plus one for the invitation!"
Ballom rolled his eyes, while the Innkeeper merely chuckled.
"In that case, I look forward to attending your celebration," the Innkeeper said. "I know just who to bring to the event too - she is greatly fond of weddings."
Internally, Lex was thinking of Velma, but everyone who heard him immediately thought that he was referring to Eclipse! If that wasn’t an outright declaration of their relationship then nothing was.
"I must say, Innkeeper, that I have long heard of you, but all stories fall short of the real thing," said the Primal. "This is, by far, one of the best parties I have ever been to. You really know how to make an event exciting."
The Innkeeper nodded humbly.
"Thank you for your compliments, though I only played a small role in making this happen. The real thanks should go to Eclipse, for allowing me to host here," he said.
The mention of her name made the group turn their attention towards her. Eclipse, Harriot, Nulli and Crusty were chatting among themselves while Ventura and Voidmaw had headed off somewhere else. It seemed that everyone was mingling.
"Even so, your part in this cannot be underestimated. Please, if you ever want to partner up with Versalis Bank, especially in the development of your Seat of Power, you must reach out to me. It will be a great honor for me to participate in such an endeavor, and I will ensure that the bank gives you the best terms," the Primal said, clearly displaying his worth for the Innkeeper.
"I may just do that," responded the Innkeeper as he thought of all the expensive options inside his system for realm development. Although he was certain that, with enough time, he could afford those on his own, if he ever needed to rush, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a bank loan.
Wasn’t it very common to get a bank loan when developing one’s first realm? Not everyone could inherit a fully developed realm, and buying a developed one in the market that day and age? Impossible - financing was the only option. Heck, even the Henali worked with the bank to develop the Origin realm.
"Are you planning on participating in any of the ongoing meetings?" Ballom asked, diverting the conversation from pleasantries and networking. The war was all anyone was talking about these days, and for good reason. "Even though everyone is hoping the momentum will subside, signs indicate that the wars will only grow worse as time goes on. Too many forces have had too much time to prepare for war, and now their hands are getting itchy."
The Primal shook his head.
"I don’t think it’s that simple. Everyone is speculating that the universe will mature in the next few billion years, and no one knows what to expect. Who knows if there will be any opportunities for Dao Lords to grow in a mature universe since the realms themselves can no longer mature. Personally, I think this is a power grab. There are too many Dao Lords who want to use the pretext of war to practice their comprehension of laws as much as possible, and develop their Daos to prepare for the inevitable unknown of a mature universe."
The Innkeeper pondered for a moment, and then looked towards Eclipse. Did they not know that the maturity of the universe was in her hands? When the universe matured was up to her, at least according to Eclipse herself, and Lex believed her. The issue was... if it was a secret, why did she mention it so casually to him?
He would not get an answer so easily, just as he did not think he’d be able to discover the true reason for this war in this party. In that case, he might as well use this opportunity to collect as much information as possible to help out Jack.
He had a feeling that the timing of the wars was not an accident. Someone was trying to speed up the Nexus event - the question was who, and why?
No wait, Lex didn’t care. The true question was... how could he benefit?
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