The Innkeeper

"You've returned quicker than I anticipated," the tavern keeper said with a smile, but the huntress was not exactly in the mood to play games.

"What's happening? Why was everyone looking at me like that?" she asked, ignoring the confused buffoon who seemed even more confused upon seeing her.

"Ah that. Well you see, shortly after you left, the most peculiar set of rumors started going about. One of them said that a wild huntress was seen carrying around the corpse of the crown prince across town, while another rumor said that there was a valiant warrior princess who carried the crown prince out of the jaws of death, saving him from a team of following assassins, and brought him to the city to get treated from his injuries. Both of them agree that the person being carried was the crown prince though."

Instead of asking the tavern keeper why he knew these rumors if he never left the Inn, the huntress looked towards the buffoon with bewilderment.

"He's the crown prince?" she asked incredulously.

"Wait till you hear his story of how he ended up in the forest. You'll really begin to think the turtle buffoon is more fitting than anything else."

"Hey, that's not fair. You shouldn't talk about me like that," the buffoon said, sounding slightly offended. "I have feelings too, you know."

The huntress looked at the buffoon, feeling a sense of bewilderment. But she suppressed everything she was feeling and looked towards the tavern keeper.

"How can I fix this?" she asked directly.

"Young lady, I do not know why you think that I would know anything about how to deal with such a sensitive situation. I am a mere humble tavern keeper."

The huntress rolled her eyes. Must he say that every time he was about to offer help?

"To me, it sounds like you're in quite a pickle. Friends of the crown prince want to capture you for your crimes against him, and enemies of the prince want to catch you to find out where you're hiding him. At least, that's what I assume others might be thinking. I wouldn't really know.

"I suspect, a more fitting person to consult about such matters would be a prominent public figure, used to dealing with various interest groups and sensitive topics. One might consider a public figure and political leader, such as a prince, might know how to deal with such situations. It's unfortunate that there's no such prince here - just a buffoon. In that case, you can only pray that you run into someone influential, like Sultan or somebody of that caliber."

"Hey, I just said," the buffoon began to protest, but the huntress gave him an intimidating glare, causing him to shut up.

"Until this whole mess is dealt with, you're buffoon, not the crown prince, understand?" she asked him menacingly. How did the prince not understand that hiding his identity was important? It was such an obvious hint from the tavern keeper. She wanted to groan.

"Where can I possibly find Sultan? He's probably long gone by now."

The tavern keeper shook his head disappointedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm unable to divulge information about other guests like this. You might as well find an astrologist to study the stars and offer you some guiding prophecy."

The huntress directly looked up at the now dark sky, and saw that a number of stars were oddly bright that night. It was almost like those stars perfectly aligned with each other, forming a few words that read, 'the Sultan is at the Chamber of Commerce'.

"I'll just have to try my luck somewhere," the huntress said, and began to leave before pausing. She backtracked, grabbed the buffoon by the collar, and pulled him along right behind her.

The tavern keeper did not see them out, as if he was completely uninterested in the political intrigue that was now surrounding one of his favorite guests at the tavern. Instead, his attention was focused on a particular, blonde kid who was walking into the tavern and handing a coupon for a free meal to Naki, asking her for a lot of food. Naki, of course, complied.

The exchange was quite ordinary, and in fact, Lex had no interest in the kid himself. Rather, it was the necklace that the kid wore which contained the remnant soul of a Nascent level cultivator that interested him.

It was almost impossible to find Nascent soul cultivators on this planet. There was probably only one or two alive, hiding deep within their lairs, far away from society and the mundane world.

"You know, it's quite rude to eavesdrop on others' conversations," Lex said out into the open, and a seemingly invisible ghost near him suddenly turned visible. The ghost was startled at being revealed, and looked towards Lex with immense shock, followed by confusion.

"Who are you?" the ghost asked.

"Me? I'm just a tavern keeper, looking after my tavern. It's not easy to do, you know. There's a certain provision in this country's law that increases the tax I have to pay on the food I serve during a famine. Can you believe that? It's almost as if whoever wrote that law expected taverns to horde food and supplies or something." ȓ𝓪NȮ₿Ё𝒮

The ghost, for some odd reason, seemed embarrassed. But, as a ghost, he could not blush, so no one would ever know.

"Anyway, don't mind me," Lex said. "I don't mean to keep you here. I just wanted to let you know not to spy on my guests, it's quite rude. That would be like if I spied on you and discovered that you're hiding in a locket being worn by someone who shares the bloodline of the ruling sovereign of this country - an illegitimate heir for the king, one might say.

"It's fortunate, then, that I don't do such things don't you think? Otherwise I might go ahead and suggest that you help the existing crown prince by having the illegitimate heir swap places with him, thus becoming legitimate. Now that kind of high suspense, intense drama would probably keep someone on the edge of their seats, watching the progress at each turn and obstacle. "But, like I said, I don't spy on people, so I won't suggest something like that. Such a shame, though. That would have made for an interesting story to watch."

After a few moments of silence, the ghost sighed, and bowed to Lex.

"Thank you for not spying," the ghost said humbly. "I will avoid doing the same in the future, especially in places like the Chamber of Commerce."

"I'm glad you understand. Before you leave, might I recommend you try having Roan make you a drink? You won't regret it."

"The kid doesn't drink," the ghost replied.

"I never said anything about the kid. I said you should try one of those drinks."

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