The Innkeeper

Chapter 1377  Good reason

"To be entirely honest, specifically going and telling me all of this is doing more to make me pay attention to him than forget him," Lex said. "Why did you feel the need to tell me this over here?"

"You don't understand. Over here, if you learn about him, and then seal the knowledge, then you will not attract his attention. SImultaneously, you can leave yourself certain hints, affecting how you behave. This way, even with your memories sealed, you'll avoid specifically thinking about him from time to time.

"Even if you don't realize it, you've done the same with your time affinity. And think back to when you first met him. Any time you thought about him, he seemed to know, and even corrected your form of address. Can you really tell me you haven't thought about him since then? Even if you think about him randomly, despite not knowing his name, you will attract his attention.

"It's better to condition yourself to not to think about him at all, under any circumstance. As long as you do that, you will be fine. That is truly the only way to be safe."

Lex had to admit that, from time to time, he had thought back to that mysterious Dao Lord, simply because there was a Dao Lord within the Inn. It was hard not to think about it, since it represented a huge issue. But if ignoring him really was the solution…

"Did you say I did the same thing with my memories related to my time affinity? What hints did I leave myself?"

Mary just gave Lex a look, causing him to shrug.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me in this place?" he asked.

"Not really. That was the only thing I could specifically only say here. After all, even he can't see through a Sani Vortex - I think. Otherwise, if I mentioned this outside, he might have noticed."

Lex took a mental note to remember that some Dao Lords are much scarier than others. He was pretty sure he could guess the reason why, but he dared not speculate.

Instead, he spread his attention to Powell, who was sitting in the distance.

His conversation with Mary had taken one second, and though she said he would be fine for a few minutes, he'd rather not risk it, and wanted to get out here as soon as possible.

"You know it's almost strange to see you outside of the Emporium," Lex said, starting off the conversation casually. It would not be nice to question him about why he brought him to this not-at-all suspicious place, cut off from view from the entire universe.

Powell opened his eyes, looking towards Lex, though he had none of his usual energy or excitement. Instead, he looked quite worried.

"I was concerned you would not come," he admitted, though Powell's response was much slower than the speed Lex was talking at, meaning that their conversation would take at least a few seconds.

"Well, considering our long standing relationship, I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt," Lex said frankly. "Though pulling me into a Sani Vortex is really beginning to take advantage of that. I hope you have a good reason to bring me here."

"Naturally I do," he responded. "In fact, I am here for your benefit to begin with. You see, your frequent patronage of the Emporium is bringing you closer to gaining a special, secret status with the Emporium. Ordinarily, I am not allowed to tell you about this. I had to take great measures to tell you about this at great personal expense."

"I thought I had the highest level membership, making me a VIP customer," Lex said.

"Yes, on the surface, that is supposed to appear like the highest status we can afford a customer. But in fact, there is another level above it: the best customer, or perhaps it's better to say the level is allotted to the one who has spent the most at the Emporium within a century.

"You yourself are not close to the top just yet, but with your latest acquisition, you have entered the top 100 list of best customers at the Emporium. If you continue to shop at the Emporium at the same scale as you have been recently, then you will soon reach the status of the best customer. I suppose I don't need to tell you that getting such a status comes with its own perks."

"I can imagine, though I don't understand why you would hide something like that. Shouldn't you advertise such a position so that more people compete for such a position? I can only imagine it would be good for business. I'm also not seeing why something like this could not be talked about back at the Emporium."

Powell shook his head.

"This matter involves the interest of many. More importantly, it is the request of the current best customer that we keep it hidden, and so we have. I am restrained by many rules, so it is easier for me to say certain things than it is others. I cannot tell you what exactly the benefits of becoming the best customer are, but I can tell you that they are not so easily found elsewhere, for which reason the existing top customer has killed a lot of people."

Lex narrowed his eyes, getting what Powell was hinting at.

"The top customer has many privileges even besides the main reward, and one of those is to get a list of the top 100 customers of the Emporium whenever there is a change. Suffice to say, the top customer has more than once killed anyone who was deemed a financial threat to their supremacy over the list.

"Of course, those strong enough to resist the top customer have also survived, but in general even they experience a certain level of intimidation to reduce their spending at the Emporium. What was once supposed to be an incentive for others to shop more has long since become one of the leading reasons for why the Emporium loses its customers."

Lex groaned, for he was genuinely not interested in the position of best customer. But why did he have to go and say that guy liked to maintain his supremacy? Now he'd have to go and end that reign.