"I am the Innkeeper."

His words made the guests flinch and look at him guardedly. But then they remembered how his aura felt weaker than theirs—regardless of how 'solid' his aura was compared to others—and immediately loosened up, immediately returning to their arrogance.

They were unsurprisingly confident. The merchants always lorded over others with their money, and the mercenaries lorded over others with their abilities, strength, and connections.

Although the mercenaries looked horrible now, the weakest one among them was still stronger than Finn, at least in terms of level.

Evo smirked, looking at him, while Clen was at the side watching everything.

"This is an inn, isn't it? There're no other customers either, so don't be arrogant!"

"Haven't you read the rules? The Innkeeper and any of the staff reserves the right to kick out anyone who affects the peace of the inn."

"And this bear?" He gave them a handsome smile. "He has all the power to kick all of you."

"Also, this dwarf," he paused. "Is a peak toughened level-dude. Pretty sure you don't want to mess with him with your current stats."

"Not to mention, I'm pretty sure staying outside in a sea of awakened monsters in your state can still kill you."

Hearing these things, the mercenaries were forced to calm down a bit. They were at the same level, but they had been greatly weakened from the long and horrid travels. The merchants also gritted their teeth, but they were cowards who hid behind others.

Their eyes, on the other hand, made sure to finally study their surroundings. Admittedly, the stress and tiredness got to everyone's heads, making them lose any sort of reason, showing the worst side of their innate arrogance.

The inn was well-designed. It had simple but homey furniture. The utilities were complete as well. There was also lighting, decor, and other paraphernalia.

It was aesthetically inferior to more expensive inns in the safe zone, but this was in the middle of nowhere. How did they build this much in such a place?

That said, now that their rationality had returned somewhat, rather than calm down and negotiate, the merchants' money-grubbing minds were already thinking of the possibilities such a place could give.

On a business level, building in a place like this might seem like a stupid move due to traffic. But this place had something like a barrier—and a strong one with unique characteristics, too. This alone made them very greedy.

Not to mention, if they could build a proper hub here, build access to the dungeons somehow, then they could be raking in money!

They were certain that the mercenaries, who had fought against the monsters while taking advantage of the barrier, also felt the same.

Anyway, all these newcomers were really thinking far ahead…

Then they looked at the so-called Innkeeper. He had a very good face, but otherwise didn't seem like anything to fear. Surely, they'd find a way to squeeze information about how this was built as well as the source of this kind of barrier rune, or perhaps sell the entire thing to them.

At worst, they could exchange an inn in the nearest Town. Most people would take that deal, right?

At best, they could get it all for free. They'd just need the mercenaries' cooperation and they'd all share this loot.

Similarly, the mercenaries, especially Evo, felt humiliated at being handled like this by a 'weakling'. He was already thinking of how to get his revenge.

Finn could not read minds, but he could practically tell what was on these bastards'.

Heh. These idiots. They were targeting him anyway, so there was no need to be polite.

If he wasn't going to kick them out, then he'd definitely milk them dry!

He smiled as he went behind the counter. As the Owner, he could naturally assign costs.

"We only have a few rooms right now," Finn said. "The room has a double-decker, so two people could stay there. The cost is 15 gold each person."

"The rest… can stay outside. I will only charge 5 gold for the entire night for each of you, and you can also rent a pretty nice tent for 1 gold a piece," he said, as if he didn't see their reddening faces looking at him in annoyance and disbelief.

"If you don't have that much gold, I accept 5 awakened cores per gold in exchange."

"What?"

"That's expensive! Are you fooling us?" Evo asked, voice rising. Durgan quickly stepped forward to block his approach, while Pang's figure rose as if he had any intimidating ability (he didn't).

Finn's smile remained. "We are in the middle of nowhere, try finding a good place to rest."

"Besides, I'm sure you noticed, but…this place is safe," he said. "For a little gold, you can use this place for the entire day. How long is the remainder of your trip?"

This made them quiet. Of course, they had realized there was a barrier. That couldn't have been cheap! It was why they were so greedy for it!

"Recovering here is also faster, and we will also include today's dinner in this package—completely for free. There is also a chance that it would be essence food, too! The buffs are quite good and helpful, I must say!"

"What?"

"It's true. It wouldn't be everything, but at least one dish would be. Of course, the rest of the food would still be delicious. I can guarantee you would enjoy the meal too."

This time, he added dinner in the package instead of breakfast. He needed them to taste their offering as soon as possible, after all, so he could get them to buy more.

"The meals after that, if you hope to eat in our kitchen, would cost 5 gold per person. A set includes a starch, a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and a dessert."

"We also have a hot shower! We will also wash your clothing for free, and you will have a good rest and recover your stats. Where else could you get this service? I doubt even hotels in towns could give something like this!"

"We can also let your friend outside in, but he'd have to pay an additional 10 gold lump sum plus an additional 20% penalty for everything he purchased hereafter. Is that alright?"

"You—"

This much money… That was not a small amount even for them, okay!?

Finn smiled at them. "Take it or leave it," he said. "Otherwise, you'd be joining your friend outside."

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