The Innkeeper

Chapter 1170 Negotiations

Lex reappeared inside a small conference room within the Inn, where two humans, an orc, a devil and an angel were sitting, chatting amongst themselves. Originally he hadnʼt planned on having a meeting with all of them at the same time, but time constraints and a few logistical issues made it so that all of them ended up arriving close to one another.

”Sorry for being late,” Lex said politely as he grabbed a seat. ”I hope you all had a pleasant chat.”

The orc looked at Lex and very blatantly probed him with his spirit sense. From what Lex knew, they were a very warlike race and lacked subtlety, which is why one needed a certain level of strength to have a discussion with them. Otherwise they would not deem you worthy of even having a conversation.

Lex was not bothered, and only revealed a hint of his Domination. Right now, all Lex needed to do was show him that he was not weak. He did not need to show him the extent of his power.

The orc grunted with approval before saying, ”it is not often I see devils and angels sitting together on the same table. You are a bold one.”

”Not at all,” Lex said casually. ”I just believe that we can all benefit from working with one another.”

”Before we begin,” said one of the humans, ”I must inform you of some of our rules. Before agreeing to the task, the parameters need to be clearly defined. If you want us to do anything extra, then that will require additional payment. Moreover, the Reaving Dread is a very popular mercenary group, which means that there is a chance that your opponent may have also hired some of our people. Just know that the Reaving Dread mercenary group will never fight its own people. If both sides have members of the group, then instead of a direct clash, the orders will need to be changed.”

The two humans and the orc were from the Reaving Dread mercenary group, the very group that often provided security to the Inn for its events. But this time, Lex was hiring them directly, which is why for the first time he was actually having a meeting with them.

”You will have very specific orders,” Lex stated. ”There is no chance of you facing others from your group.”

”If I may,” said the devil, rubbing his stubbled chin, ”I have a proposal as well.”

”You have a proposal even though you donʼt even know what this meeting is for?” Lex asked, intrigued.

”Well, I can venture a guess. After all, each of us here has a certain reputation. Weʼre not exactly farmers and flower pickers. Each of us represents a formidable fighting force, so I can foresee a fight. Now requiring all three of us, well that must mean the fight coming up is big. If thatʼs the case, hiring everyone will be expensive.

”Which is why I have a proposal for you. Itʼs for your own interest, really. To make this whole endeavor more affordable for you. Depending on the strength of our enemies, if you agree to hand over all the prisoners to me afterwards, based on the number of prisoners I can reduce the fee for our cooperation.”

Lex shook his head, disapprovingly.

”There will be no prisoners left alive. This is a redundant offer. Letʼs get onto the actual discussion. Just know that, throughout this whole deal, you wonʼt be informed of the specifics until itʼs time for you to act.”

The orc and the humans didnʼt care about that, but the devil and angel were perturbed. ”How can I agree to anything unless I know the details? What if you want us to attack our allies? Or there is some conflict of interest?”

”This is our first time cooperating, so of course there is a deficit of trust,” Lex said very calmly. ”I can share the details with you, but for that we would have to go to the Chamber of Secrets. You can decide then if you find it agreeable, but then the details will be wiped from your memory when you leave. You will only remember whether you chose to agree or not. I believe this is a lot more secure than other conventional ways of sharing secrets.”

Indeed, simply wiping memories was much simpler than making soul oaths or being bound to contracts which would result in devastating damage or repercussions if the agreement was breached.

They contemplated for a moment, but saw no drawbacks to the suggestion. The orc and humans though, once again, did not care. It was pretty much determined that they would be hired as long as their stipulations were kept in mind.”

The group then ventured into the Chamber of secrets, and Lex began to reveal some of the basics of what their agreement would entail. Even with the chamber in play, Lex kept most of his plan a secret, but he did divulge who and what they would be targeting and what would be expected from them. Of course, Lex also detailed what benefits they gained to stand by agreeing to work with him.

The angel was very good at masking her emotions, showing nothing of what she actually thought, though Lex could still read her. The devil, on the other hand, was visibly excited. The more Lex talked, the wider his smile became, and it was almost like he couldnʼt restrain himself.

That wasnʼt really a good thing, for him at least, because when it came to negotiating his pay, Lex knew he could push hard. The angel, on the other hand, presented a much tougher front when it came to negotiations.

Of course, that was only what she thought. Lex could read her like an open book. It also helped that he knew exactly what the angels wanted from him. They could have gotten treatment for their wings from the Inn anyway, but Lex didnʼt mind upselling his treatments in exchange for more of their favor.