Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully
Chapter 122: Old Chamberlain (2)

Chapter 122: Old Chamberlain (2)

Leaving Lysaria at the manor with a promise to return, Riku and Seraphina immediately set out. Under Seraphina’s lead, they proceeded to the former Lord Chamberlain’s grand city residence, a place he had been forced to vacate weeks ago.

The manor was eerily silent. The City Guard posted outside let them pass without question, recognizing the High Archon’s authority.

But inside, they found only emptiness.

The grand home hadn’t been ransacked; it had been professionally and meticulously stripped clean. Every piece of furniture, every rug, every tapestry was gone. More importantly, all personal effects—letters, journals, documents, even worn articles of clothing—had been removed.

"They’ve completely stripped it," Seraphina said as she looked around the hall. "They left nothing."

Riku walked through the empty rooms, a deep frown on his face. He extended his senses, searching for any lingering traces or scents that he could follow.

Tracker’s Scent [-10 Goodwill Points]

He focused on the dust motes in the air, trying to find a single thread of Arnold’s presence. But there was nothing. The air was sterile, wiped clean of any personal signature. The conspirators had been ruthlessly thorough.

After searching for a while, Riku and Seraphina finally gathered in the now-empty, silent study, their first concrete lead having turned into a dead end.

Seraphina turned to Riku, her arms crossed.

"Well?" she asked, her voice dripping with skepticism. "There is nothing here. What now?"

Riku met her challenging gaze without flinching. "When a physical trail is erased," he said calmly, "you look for a spiritual one. An echo."

"An echo?" Seraphina scoffed. "You speak of reading residual memories from a room? That is high-tier divination. I have never seen anyone actually perform such a spell, yet you claim you can?"

"Normally, I would not attempt it," Riku countered. "However, this time is an exception. I can perform a ritual to view the recent past of this room."

Seraphina studied him for a long moment, her professional curiosity warring with her suspicion. Finally, she gave a curt nod. "Very well. Proceed. Show me this ’echo’."

Riku took a position in the center of the empty study. He closed his eyes, centering himself, and spoke to the System.

’System, that spell I used before... the one that let me see what happened at the inn when I... lost control. What was it called? And what would it cost me to use it now, consciously?’

A familiar blue panel shimmered in his mind.

[Spell Identified: The Gaze of the Overseer. A high-tier divination art that allows the user to perceive echoes of past events imprinted on a location. It is a reality-viewing spell of significant power.]

[Warning: Casting this spell requires immense concentration and control.]

[Goodwill Points Cost to cast - 20,000 Points]

Riku’s mental breath hitched. Twenty thousand points. It was a staggering cost, but it was to be expected for a high-tier divination spell.

’Do it.’

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. They were no longer their usual warm brown. They now glowed with an intense, unsettling purple light.

The Gaze of the Overseer [-20,000 Goodwill Points]

[Goodwill Points remaining: 84,200]

The air in the study grew heavy, charged with immense power. The purple light in Riku’s eyes intensified, spilling out and casting eerie, violet shadows across the room. Seraphina instinctively raised a hand, a barrier of pure light forming around her as she felt the raw, untamed magic he was unleashing.

Ghostly, purple-tinged images began to form in the air, and the room’s past replayed itself like a fragmented, spectral dream.

"Are these..." Seraphina could not believe what was happening in front of her. The echoes of the room were actually being played right before her eyes.

There, she saw three cloaked figures, their faces obscured. They weren’t just removing furniture; they were using strange, glowing tools to magically scrub the room, erasing every trace of personal energy, every lingering scent, every magical signature. It was a professional, almost military, cleansing.

As the process continued, the vision zoomed in on a detail. As one of the cloaked figures turned, something small and metallic slipped from his gauntlet, falling silently onto the floor. It was a silver cufflink, intricately designed. The vision was so clear that Riku and Seraphina could see the crest engraved upon it: a weeping willow tree, its branches entwined with a coiled serpent.

Before Riku could focus on it further, another figure noticed the dropped item and hastily scooped it up, pocketing it with a furtive glance and scolding the first figure for being careless.

Soon, the place was completely stripped clean. There was nothing left in the room that would remotely suggest someone had ever lived there.

Then, another buff Capital Warden entered, and after examining the now-stripped mansion, gave a few words of appreciation.

"Well done, lads. The Grand Luminar will definitely be pleased."

"But, sir, why are we doing this? Didn’t the Old Chamberlain retire only a few days back? Must we vacate his house so soon?" one of the guards involved in the stripping process asked casually.

"Silence," the Capital Warden roared. "Why are you being such a busybody over a retired old man? His time is long gone. Remember, if I hear a single murmur of this outside, all of you shall lose your heads."

"Now, dismissed."

The vision shattered.

Riku stumbled back a step, the purple light fading from his eyes, leaving him feeling drained and slightly disoriented. He took a deep, shuddering breath.

Seraphina lowered her shimmering light barrier. Her face was pale, and her usual composure was gone, replaced by a look of stunned reverence and dawning horror.

"The echoes..." she whispered, her voice tight with disbelief. "They were real. I saw them. I heard them."

She looked at Riku, her eyes wide. The earlier hostility was completely gone, replaced with awe. "That power... what are you?"

Riku shook his head. "That doesn’t matter right now. Did you see the crest on the cufflink?"

"I did," she confirmed, her mind clearly racing. "A weeping willow entwined with a serpent."

"Does it mean something to you?" Riku asked.