The Innkeeper

Chapter 1392  Ridiculous Gift shop I

Lex, of course, could immediately tell that Tetsuya was feeling awkward about something. It was not difficult to guess that the man did not remember Lex's name. Lex doubted if he even knew it to begin with.

So naturally, he did the reasonable thing, and decided to manipulate all events surrounding Tetsuya so that he would never be able to hear someone else call Lex by his name, and see how long he could keep this game going.

Considering that he himself was immortal now, and Tetsuya seemed competent enough to reach that level one day, it would be pretty funny if thousands of years later they continued to meet each other, but Tetsuya still did not know his name.

"By the way, while you may look different, I suggest you do not go by the name Paul while at the tavern. There's no need to push your luck," Lex said, teasing the man by bringing up names once more.

"Ah that's easy. Since no one knows my actual name, I can go by Tetsuya while at the tavern," Tetsuya said, eyeing Lex hoping for a similar response.

"Ah, yes, that sounds good. Come, let me introduce you to the Treehouse since you're our first official guest on this planet," Lex said, not directly heading towards the reception, but towards a fountain he had constructed literally minutes ago, using his treasure manufacturing abilities. It was easy, considering that the fountain was a simple treasure.

The liquid that flowed in the fountain was not water, but a potion that Lex bought from the Gift shop. He figured he could afford to splurge a little here and there. In essence, the potion would just refresh the mind and body of whoever drank it.

For now, going into the tavern, it only served the function of refreshing the mind. But for those guests who were leaving, a drink from the potion could help them resist the heat of the scorching Arra-kiss day. It was not like Lex felt his Treehouse needed any additional features to attract attention, but he had begun considering these smaller, more minor details lately as he considered how he could improve the Inn.

Compared to randomly gathering and drinking the dew that had gathered on the grass, taking a drink from this fountain was at least a much more respectable option, which is why he wanted to introduce it to Tetsuya.

"This is the Rejuvenation Fountain. A single sip from it will help rejuvenate incoming and outgoing guests, helping them recover from their fatigue and protecting them from the elements for a time." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The potion could not last long outside of the special container it came in from the gift shop, which is why Lex specially created this fountain which could support its existence. But that also meant that if the potion was removed for a while, it would lose its effectiveness. A small little protection to prevent hoarding and stealing - not that he expected such things to happen. Not at all.

Tetsuya reached into the fountain and pulled out a handful, taking a sip after a short pause. For a moment he considered if it might be poisoned or carry some hidden risk. But he quickly concluded that this elusive tavern keeper whose name Tetsuya couldn't recall was not a simple person. If he wanted to harm Tetsuya, he did not need to rely on such elaborate tricks.

When he took the first sip, his eyes widened as he felt a cool stream of energy flow through his mind, dispersing any and all drowsiness and making him feel awake. It was like coffee, but better! His body was already recovered which is why he didn't feel the effects on his body, but even so he could feel that it would definitely help him if he had just arrived at the Treehouse and hadn't drunk the dew off the leaves.

"Come on, there's more to see inside," Lex said, not lingering as he led Tetsuya towards the reception. The two of them could easily jump up all the way to where the treehouse actually began even without going through the reception, but then who would appreciate the hard work Lex put into creating it?

The reception was not too large. The interior was cool yet cosy, with marble flooring, wainscoting on the walls and elaborate carvings near the roof. Strictly speaking, the interior The reception desk was at the opposite end, with a couple of workers waiting there.

One did not need to check into the tavern to enter, obviously. Instead, the workers were there to control the teleportation formations to allow the guests to go up. Of course, there were also the stairs that guests could use if they wished.

"The main structure is not that high up, but for convenience I've added some teleportation formations," Lex explained as they stepped onto the white platform that looked nothing like a formation.

These formations had been created by Lex himself, so they could not achieve the seamless teleportation that the Midnight Inn provided. But as someone who himself was quite adept at manipulating space, Lex's insight into it was great enough that he had improved the formations considerably. When Tetsuya appeared stepped onto the platform and the teleportation occurred. As a Golden core cultivator, traveling through space was not exactly comfortable but it was a huge burden either. But surprisingly, he hardly noticed the fluctuations, or the sense of oppression, before reappearing in a new, larger hall.

"This is the main lobby of the Treehouse, and leads to the various sections, such as the rooms, the viewing decks, the stargazing terrace, the Gift Shop, the Meditation room, the Training room, and most important of all, to the eatery!"

While taverns were places that guests could spend the night at, what they were most known for was their food, their drinks, and the overall rowdy yet joyous atmosphere. Or at least, that's how Lex saw them.

For that, an eatery was of the utmost importance. In fact, Lex was double minded about putting the eatery up in the tree, and considered having it down in the garden, since it would give guests easy access. But eventually he decided that eating with a view was the better option.

Tetsuya felt incredibly odd following behind Lex as he led him through the walkways, which were open paths with railings that followed the long, sturdy stems as they led to various structures along the tree.

The situation on the planet was not pleasant. There was a civil war ready to erupt, and the locals and invaders both were incredibly tense at the situation. But here was this tavern keeper, excitedly showing Tetsuya his Treehouse tavern, which was quite remarkable.

Although there were countless other aspects to it that were incredible, Tetsuya mainly focused on how pure and concentrated the spiritual energy seemed to be up in the treehouse compared even to the garden down below.

If he could cultivate here for a bit, that would be incredible. But it was unlikely. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lex when he said that the tavern would be safe. It was just that he had to live according to his own judgment, and according to his judgment, this would soon become a place of great conflict. Or, at the very least, a place where the Empire places a great deal of scrutiny.

Such a place was not somewhere he could stay too long. But at the same time, he just could not make himself go.

"Since you're the first guest we've had at the Treehouse, there's a special prize for you," Lex said, though technically Tetsuya wasn't a guest yet. One had to spend money to transition from a window shopper to an actual one!

The Gift Shop at the Treehouse, much like the Meditation and Training rooms, were not official Inn rooms. Instead, they were things Lex recreated himself after drawing inspiration from the system.

Of course, now that the Treehouse had been recognized by the system Lex could integrate official Inn rooms, but he thought it would be a shame if his creations never saw any use at all before being replaced, so he held off on it.

Of the three, the Gift shop was the simplest. It simply needed the layout for a simple shop, and Lex personally bought the items from the Gift shop at the Inn, and placed them here himself to sell.

Unlike the early days of the Inn, where the Gift shop had only a few, weak items as selections, things had changed drastically. Like many other things in the Inn, the level of items sold in the Gift shop were directly related to Lex's own cultivation level.

Now that he was an Immortal, the Gift shop even had a few items that would be useful for Earth Immortals!

Of course, since this planet was a 1 Star planet, he would not upend the societal structure by selling overpowered things. Most items were in the Foundation level or below, with very few Golden core items, and only 1 Nascent soul level item sold in the Gift shop.

Even so, when Tetsuya stepped into the Gift shop, and read the names as well as the descriptions of the items, he froze. This… wasn't this too ridiculous?