Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 98: Following the Trail (2)

A Hooded Man!! That is the first clue!

"Did you ask him who it was, Martha?" Riku inquired, keeping his tone even.

"Oh, many times!" Martha exclaimed, a flash of her earlier frustration showing. "But he’d just brush it off, pat my hand, and say it was a ’secret mission’ for Lord Gregor. Something very important and confidential, he said. He told me he couldn’t tell me more, for my own safety and Pip’s. He also started leaving for the manor at odd hours, sometimes long after his usual shift should have ended, saying there was extra work, special duties."

"A secret mission?" Riku exchanged a look with Lila and Elara. This was an expected excuse if he had to hide something.

"Did he seem afraid of this mission, Martha? Or perhaps excited by it?" Riku pushed further.

"A bit of both, I think," Martha said, her voice thoughtful. "Sometimes he’d come back looking pale and worried, like he’d seen a ghost. He wouldn’t sleep well those nights. Other times... other times he seemed almost... hopeful, like he was involved in something grand, something that might change our fortunes. He brought home a little extra coin now and then, pressed it into my hand, and said it was a bonus for his discretion and loyalty to the Hummers."

She sighed, a deep, mournful sound. "He was always a good man, Master Riku. A good husband and father. He never kept secrets before this. But he swore this was important, for the good of House Hummer, and that it would all be over soon, and then things would be better for us. So... so we put up with it. I trusted him." Her voice cracked again. "But now... now he’s gone, and I don’t know what to think."

Pip, who had been listening silently, let out a small sob. "Father... Father promised to take me to see the performing bears at the festival next week."

Elara, her own eyes glistening with empathy for the child, moved to comfort Pip, murmuring soft words to him. Lila also did her best to comfort her

However, Riku’s mind raced. An excuse quoting a secret mission for Lord Gregor, clandestine meetings with a hooded stranger, extra coin, erratic behavior... and then vanishing just as the Creep-infected stone was discovered in Lord Gregor’s room. This was no simple case of a runaway servant. Thomas was clearly entangled in something far more dangerous, and likely far above his station.

Riku leaned forward slightly. "Martha, about this hooded figure Thomas was meeting... I know you said they were always in the shadows, but can you recall anything about them at all? Even the smallest detail could be helpful. Their height? Their build? The way they moved or spoke, if you ever heard a voice?"

It’s so difficult, Master Riku. It was always dark, and Thomas made sure I stayed well away. I never heard a voice, not clearly. Just indistinct murmurs sometimes." She shook her head slowly. "I’m sorry. The hood always obscured their face completely. He was definitely male, well-built, perhaps slightly taller than Thomas. And the way he moved, even in the shadows... There was a certain noble’s demeanor about him, an unspoken air of command."

Riku nodded slowly, a mental image beginning to form.

Well-built, confident, perhaps arrogant... a noble’s demeanor.

Lord Alaric!

Riku’s mind immediately went towards the cousin of the Baron whom he had met earlier. The sneering disdain, the way he carried himself in Lord Gregor’s bedchamber, the barely veiled contempt for anyone he considered beneath him.

It fit.

The lingering animosity between Alaric and the main Hummer line, Lord Gregor’s pointed remark about being "fully aware of what you and your mother are planning"... it all started to click into a disturbing pattern.

He was still unsure, lacking concrete proof. But a strong conviction began to settle in his gut. Alaric was involved. The hooded figure Thomas was meeting, the one who likely gave him the Creep-infected stone, could very well have been Alaric, or someone acting on his and Lady Vayne’s orders.

"Please, I have told you everything I know. Find my husband. We will give you whatever we have. If he has done anything wrong, we will take the punishment." Martha broke down once again, and Pip, who had just composed himself, started crying with his mother as well.

Seeing the crying mother and child, Riku felt really uncomfortable. At this point, he secretly swore to help the mother-son duo later, though it might be slightly tricky if Thomas was really the criminal.

However, it seemed like they had gotten everything they could here. It was time to follow the other trail.

"Mrs. Martha. Have faith. We will be back with good news soon. Here, keep this gold coin. This should help you for some time. " Riku consoled Martha and gave her a gold coin.

"What? I cannot take it. This is too much!!" Martha immediately denied.

"Just take it. Think about Pip. This money should at least help you set up a small business, if the worst comes to be the real thing." Riku didn’t budge, and shoved the coin into her hands.

"I...I...Thank you. We will not forget this kindness." Martha bowed, tears continuously spilling from her eyes.

The trio offered some more comforting words to Martha and Pip, and eventually left the house. Riku walked ahead with Lila, telling her about his suspicion regarding Alaric’s involvement in the whole thing.

Elara, however, trailed slightly behind them, unusually quiet, her gaze fixed on the cobblestones.

Riku, soon sensing her subdued mood, slowed his pace to walk beside her. "Elara? Is something wrong? You’ve been very quiet since we left Martha’s cottage."

Elara looked up, her eyes shadowed with a familiar sadness that Riku recognized from their time in Oakhaven. "It’s just... hearing Martha talk about her missing husband... and Pip, about his father..." She hesitated, then her voice dropped. "It reminds me of my own father, Riku. He disappeared in the Whisperwood, just like Thomas vanished. And we haven’t found anything about him yet.

A pang of guilt struck Riku and Lila. In the whirlwind of events – the Creep, Riku losing control, the lack of goodwill points, the making of talismans, and the Hummer family drama – they hadn’t given Elara’s personal tragedy the attention it deserved.

"We are so sorry, Elara. We should have given more attention to this matter." Lila said as she hugged Elara. Riku patted her back on the side.

"She’s right. Let us take a detour right away to look for him."