The Innkeeper
chapter-1159

While Gerard negotiated a deal with the pirates through guests who had visited the Inn before, Velma was off on a small quest of her own. She started off on Vegus Minima, which had flourished over the past few years.

It was practically unrecognizable, and the newer generations knew nothing of the zombie apocalypse that had devastated the planet for hundreds of years as a simple story from the history books.

The most important thing, however, was that since the planet was far from the main Jotun empire planet systems and bases to begin with, it had benefited from the investment and guidance of the empire, but when the empire was struck by trouble, it was spared.

Due to various political realities, and the distance this planet from any of the nearest war zones, it had effectively been spared from even needing to participate in the war.

With reduced oversight, the governor of the planet had essentially become a king, though even now he dared not claim that title. After overcoming his Earth immortal tribulation, now as an immortal, not only was he leading the planet to thrive, but his family was also thriving.

Velma felt a mild urge to go find Layla, that little girl who used to play back at the Inn with Jimmy and the rest. But Velma had other priorities at the moment.

Cirk, the first designated pilot of the Inn, escorted her to one of the terminals where he summoned the Silent Night, and waited for her to board. From there they took off, shooting towards one of the uninhabited planets in the star system.

Calling it uninhabited was a stretch, since all planets that could not sustain life were being used to source rare and valuable minerals, ores and spirit stones to the three Vegus planets. With that in mind, there was technically a colony on all the planets in this system, but that had nothing to do with Velma.

With the Silent Night's speed, it only took a short while before they reached the intended planet, before changing course for one of the moons. This particular Moon was not being mined because it held no valuable minerals at all, and so had nothing remarkable about it at all. Or so it seemed, for when the ship began to land, it disappeared from sight.

Only Velma and Cirk, who were on the ship, saw that it had not disappeared, but crossed through a very powerful illusion formation, hiding a small home.

It was not large nor lavish, but through the use of various formations, it was cozy and livable. Artificial atmosphere surrounded the place. Grass and trees and plants grew as if on a normal planet. A few pet animals lazily walked the backyard or swam in the pool nearby. But the resident of the home was not visible.

"I'll wait here," said Cirk to Velma after parking the ship. Since he was not really familiar with the target, he did not want to intrude.

Velma only nodded, and stepped down.

"This is a lovely place you have here, Aslan," she said looking around. "But you should visit the Inn sometime. It's changed a lot."

No one replied to her, but that didn't bother her. She casually strolled the place, taking in all the views it had to offer, before finally reaching the house itself. The door opened on its own to welcome her in.

She made her way in, and though she was not familiar with the place, she eventually found herself in a room where a lone man was kneeling in front of a stone memorial. Lit incense sticks had been placed in front of the memorial, and the man seemed to be meditating in front of it.

Velma picked up an incense stick from nearby and also lit it, placing it in front of the memorial. Though, instead of meditating, she only bowed to the memorial out of respect, and then began to wait for the man to end his meditation.

A short while later the man opened his eyes and looked at the piece of stone in front of him. Instead of calm or peace, his eyes held only a deep sorrow.

Something about his posture indicated that he did not want to move, but eventually he got up and looked at Velma.

"Miss Velma, you have changed since I last saw you. You look more mature. It suits you."

"Thank you, I think so too," she said, and flashed a sweet smile. "You haven't changed at all though. I had hoped time would heal some of your pain."

Aslan, the mature man with a head full of white hair, only flashed her a remorseful smile.

"Time cannot heal all wounds, Miss Velma. To live is to suffer her absence, and to die is to condemn the memory of her to be lost forever from this universe. I do not know which is worse torture."

Velma had a great love for love stories, but not all love stories end happily. The man in front of her was a guest who had come to the Inn only once, and though that visit was brief, he had shared with Velma his own love story. Truth be told, they did not have too deep of a connection. But since Velma had been considerate enough to listen to him when he had no one else to speak to, he offered her whatever friendship he could.

Since he was a friend, even if a distant one, Velma did not really want to use him, but…

"Aslan, I have a situation on my hands that I thought you might be interested in hearing about. Would you spare me a few moments?"

"Miss Velma, I have nothing but time on my hands. Please join me in the other room so we may sit comfortably."

The man led her to a back room which had a lovely view of the back garden and sat down on cushioned floor mats that were placed in the room. He summoned a teapot and poured her some tea before pouring himself some as well.

"Please, share with me your troubles."