Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 88: Using the Proto Crafting Package

"Tell me every single thing. Don’t you dare skip a single detail." Alaric screamed.

"This ’Master Riku’," the footman continued, his voice barely audible, "he suspected something. He asked to search the room and found the stone in the decorative bowl... and broke it. A red mist came out of it, My Lord. They all saw it."

Alaric staggered back as if struck, collapsing into a nearby chair. "Broken? The mist seen? That... that changes everything! That upstart commoner! How could he know?"

"Now, now, Alaric, my dear." A calm, silken voice emerged from the depths of a high-backed armchair near the fireplace, where it had been hidden in the deep shadows. "Such theatrics. It’s unbecoming."

Alaric looked up, startled. Seated within the chair was Lady Elara Vayne. Her sharp, aristocratic features were unreadable in the dim light, but the hand resting on the armrest – a prosthetic marvel of dark metal and wood – was unnervingly still. A sleek black cat in her lap opened one emerald eye, then resumed its soft purring as her metallic fingers continued their rhythmic stroking.

"Mother," Alaric said, his voice still tight but now laced with a grudging respect. "This... Riku... he has undone weeks of careful planning! Gregor is lucid again! He even threatened me! And now they know about the stone!"

Lady Vayne smiled faintly, a smile that did not reach her cold, calculating eyes. "Threatened you, did he? Gregor always had a bit of fire left, and it seems that he still has some even when he is at death’s door. It seems this ’Master Riku’ has merely fanned the embers."

She continued to stroke the cat, the metallic clicks of her prosthetic fingers a soft counterpoint to the purring. "Do not fret so, Alaric. This is but a minor setback. The stone in Gregor’s room was but one small piece of a much larger design. His temporary recovery, their discovery of one tainted pebble, means little in the grand scheme."

"But he’s alert now, Mother! They’ll investigate! They’ll question the staff!" Alaric protested, jumping to his feet again. "That footman there," he gestured angrily, "he could be implicated!"

"Let them," Lady Vayne said, her voice a silken whisper. "The true beauty of our plan, my son, is its subtlety, its pervasiveness. In fact, the people involved in this matter are not few. Looking deeper into the origins of this stone is not something that a mere house of a Baron can do,"

"Besides," Lady Vayne’s smile widened, a predatory glint in her eyes, "Gregor’s renewed vigor might even work to our advantage. A man who feels he has cheated death is often reckless, more prone to... misjudgment. He will overreach. He will make mistakes."

She looked down at the purring cat, then up at her agitated son. "Patience, Alaric. House Hummer will fall. Its lands, its titles, its wealth... they will all return to their rightful place. - with us. This little ’Riku’ is but a fleeting distraction."

"As for our friend here," She continued, looking at the bowing messenger. Another chilling smile formed on her lips.

"Chop him into pieces and feed him to the beasts in the forests. After all, Gregor won’t be able to find anything from inside the stomach of a wild beast, would he?"

"Nooo. Lady Vayne, Lord Alaric, I have been loyal. They will not get anything out of me. Please.. Please...Mercy..."

The footman could only cry out in despair as he was dragged out by the guards in the mansion.

"That settles that," The Lady said, continuing to pet her cat. "However, you still have to deal with this Riku and the others with him. I hope you can do that, Alaric?"

"Of course, mother. Rest assured. I will tear that commoner limb from limb. Only that can satisfy the anguish of my heart." Alaric said, grinding his teeth.

"Just you wait, "Master Riku". You shall rue the day you crossed me."

------------------

Back at The Respite. Riku, Elder Borin, Elara, and the others were enjoying a cup of warm matcha. Now that Riku had lots of Goodwill points, he did not have a problem buying the goodies from the system.

"Master Riku, you continue to surprise me. This tea tastes heavenly. If I did not actually taste it, I would refuse to believe that tea could be this tasty." Elder Borin said, taking a sip

Tharin and the other individuals for the underbelly nodded, a smile on their faces. Even Elara and the innkeepers were drinking the tea happily, loving the taste.

"It is a small thing, Elder Borin. Later, I will give you something even more delicious so that you can take it for Korgin and the others in the Underbelly."

"I will look forward to that, Master Riku," Borin replied. "Then, what is the plan now?"

"Well, now that we have the money, you must take it and make even more talismans. I can cast my spells approximately a thousand times more, so that should do for now. However, in total, I would need around 5000 talismans."

"5000 talismans? That is a lot, Master Riku. Even if we work at full capacity, we can only produce around 50 talismans a day. It would take a long time." Borin said thoughtfully.

"Hmm, this could be a problem. Do you think that we could buy a

Riku fell into a deep thought. Crafting the talismans one by one would take a lot of time, as Borin said. If only he could speed up the process in any manner freёnovelkiss.com

Wait. The Proto-Crafting Package

The System’s "Proto-Crafting Package" came to mind – the ability to request a blueprint and the non-magical components for a single prototype of a known device. He had unlocked it after the Vintross incident but hadn’t had a chance to utilize it yet.

System, Riku thought,

I need a way to quickly and consistently engrave the complex runic formations onto metal blanks for the talismans. Hand-etching each one is too slow. Could the Proto-Crafting Package provide something like a hydraulic press, where we could use a master die to stamp the runes onto annealed blanks?

A blue panel shimmered into his vision.

Ding!

[Of course, host.]

[Blueprint: Imprinting Press - associated non-magical components for one prototype press and one master die. Cost: 200 Goodwill Points]

200 points. Slightly expensive. But this should solve my problem, I guess.

Buy

[Request Confirmed. Goodwill Points: 980 - 200 = 780 Remaining.]

Nice!