Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully
Chapter 124: Meeting Vyon again

Chapter 124: Meeting Vyon again

The night was cool, and the streets were eerily quiet.

Riku, now a perfect double of the captured assassin, moved quickly. The location that the real assassin had given was not far. Soon, the imposing form of the Valerius estate rose before him—a grand manor of dark stone, surrounded by high, black iron fences.

Riku didn’t try to sneak in. He walked directly towards the main manor gate, his posture mimicking the weary defeat of a man who had failed his mission and was returning to face the consequences.

As he approached, two guards in the Valerius livery stepped out from the shadows, their hands on their swords. They recognized his face instantly.

"You!" one of them hissed. "The rest of the team returned an hour ago. They reported you were captured. What are you doing here?"

"I escaped," Riku grunted, his voice a perfect copy of the assassin’s gravelly tone. "It wasn’t easy. The others fled like cowards. I need to report to the supervisor."

The guards exchanged a look. "Report?" the second one scoffed. "You look more like a deserter. You’re coming with us. Supervisor Vyon will want to hear your report personally."

Vyon? Riku’s mind reeled for a split second, though his disguised face remained a mask of sullen indifference. The bodyguard from the Sunken Cistern is the supervisor here? This conspiracy runs deeper than I thought.

They grabbed his arms roughly and escorted him through the gate, into the manor’s courtyard, and through a side entrance. They led him down a cold stone hallway into what looked like a training room, its walls lined with weapon racks.

Sitting on a bench, calmly sharpening a wicked-looking dagger, was a man Riku recognized instantly. It was Vyon, the bodyguard from the Sunken Cistern.

"He used a sacrificial teleportation to escape you," Clara’s voice warned from the charm. "To be here now, looking completely unharmed... his masters must possess formidable healing arts. Be wary, Riku. He is not just a lackey; he is a well-kept one."

Vyon looked up as they entered, his cold eyes assessing the "returned" assassin. He gestured with his dagger, and the guards pushed Riku forward before retreating to the door.

"Report," Vyon said, his voice smooth and devoid of any surprise. "What happened at the Hummer estate?"

"The wards were stronger than anticipated," Riku said, sticking to a plausible script. "They had some kind of magical siren. It went off the moment we breached the wall. The Hummer guards were on us in seconds. We managed to kill two of them, but they were onto us. I barely managed to escape in the chaos of the deaths."

"You were captured," Vyon stated. It wasn’t a question.

Riku feigned a flinch. "No. I got away clean."

Vyon stood up, walking a slow circle around him, his eyes missing nothing. "Funny. The earlier people who returned told me that the Baron’s family had detained you. Your story is... perfunctory. You’re leaving details out. Tell me, how did you really get away from the Hummers after they caught you?"

Riku remained silent, playing the part of a defiant but cornered underling.

"It doesn’t matter," Vyon sighed, a predator’s smile touching his lips. He turned to the guards at the door. "He could have been followed. Or worse, tagged with a tracking spell. We can’t risk him wandering the estate. Take him to the cells. Throw him in with the others."

Riku’s mind raced. His first instinct was to resist and fight his way out. He could take Vyon and these guards easily. But then, Vyon’s words echoed in his mind.

Throw him in with the others.

A sudden, electrifying thought struck him. The others. Who else would Marquis Valerius be holding prisoner?

The former Chamberlain’s family.

This was it. This was his chance. A golden opportunity, delivered by the enemy’s own paranoia.

Riku let his shoulders slump in defeat, allowing the guards to grab his arms again. He offered no resistance as they dragged him from the training room, down a set of steep, cold stairs deep into the manor’s foundations.

A heavy iron door groaned open, revealing a row of dark, damp cells. The guards shoved him roughly into one of them.

The door slammed shut with a deafening clang, the bolt scraping into place, plunging him into near-total darkness. As the guards’ footsteps retreated down the stone corridor, Riku heard their grumbling voices.

"Can you believe this?" the first guard muttered, his voice laced with frustration. "The whole mission was a bust, the Hummers capture one of our own, and when he finally makes it back, he just gets tossed in a cell? What’s the point?"

"Quiet, you fool," the second guard hissed back. "Supervisor Vyon’s orders are absolute. It’s not our place to question. We obey, we get paid."

"Paid?" the first guard scoffed. "Paid coppers while the Marquis dines on roasted pheasant. It’s a dog’s life, I tell you."

Their footsteps faded as they left the prison cell. Riku leaned against the cold cell wall, a faint smile touching his lips in the gloom. So, there’s discontent in the ranks, he thought. Good. That’s a weakness I can use.

Soon, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. There were small windows through which moonlight crept in, so it was not pitch dark. Riku used a short-range teleportation spell to quickly come out of the cell. Then, he started investigating the underground prison.

Most of the cells were empty, though some of them had a few people. However, Riku could tell that none of them were the family of the Old Chamberlain. These people looked like commoners at best. Making a silent note to free them later, Riku kept advancing ahead.

At a certain point, he heard faint groaning noises coming from somewhere underground. Realizing that there was probably another cellar somewhere, Riku kept looking around.

Soon, he arrived at a staircase heading further down. As he walked on, he found that it was leading to a new cellar, guarded by two guards. He quietly used a sleeping spell, took the keys from one of the guards, and unlocked the door.

"What the..."