Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 174: Rennan’s Story

Rennan took a long, shaky gulp of ale. He set the mug down, his hands still trembling slightly.

"I was looking for new trade routes," he began, his voice hoarse. "Up north, near the border of the Korvan kingdom. The famine has hit those towns hard, and I thought our water could help."

He shook his head. "Along the routes, one day I found something strange. A patch of air that shimmered, like a heat haze on a cold day. I thought it was just a natural magical anomaly. I got too close."

"It was a trap?" Riku asked.

Rennan shook his head. "A teleportation portal. One moment I was on the road, the next, I was inside a stone courtyard, surrounded by armored men. It was the Falco estate, in Dreadspire."

Lysaria gasped. You directly teleported into the Dark Empire? Those people practice the dark arts and are practically monsters..."

"Hey. Watch what you are insinuating." Sherry pouted, unhappy at Lysaria’s words

"I didn’t even have time to reach for the scrolls you gave me, Master Riku," Rennan said, his gaze apologetic. "They were on me before I could even think."

He described the interrogation. Lord Falco wasn’t cruel, but he was intensely curious. He wanted to know where Rennan came from, and more importantly, where he had acquired his unique goods.

"Your coolbox," Rennan said, a bitter note in his voice. "And the fizzy drinks. Falco was fascinated by those items. He confiscated everything. My cart, Clover, the scrolls, even me... he declared them all ’items of interest’ to his house."

Lila slammed her fist on the table. "That thief! He just stole everything?"

"He couldn’t risk it," Lord Arnold said, his voice calm and analytical. "A merchant appearing from nowhere, with unknown technology and access to a prosperous, hidden village during a worldwide famine? To a man like Falco, Rennan was not a trader. He was a security threat and a potential gold mine. Containing him was the only logical move."

Rennan nodded grimly. "That’s what he said. He couldn’t let me go. So he made me an ’attendant’. A servant. However, it was not as bad. Apart from the initial questioning, I would say that I and Clover were treated quite well."

"However, we were not allowed to leave."

An uneasy silence settled over the room.

Barou was the first to break it, his voice a low growl. "That bastard... to force my friend into captivity and make him work like a slave." He looked at Rennan, his eyes softening. "At least you are safe now, old friend. That is all that matters."

"Ah, no no.. not like a slave..."

Rennan wanted to say something, but Baroud quickly turned towards Riku, his expression one of deep, profound gratitude. "And you, Riku. You risked traveling into the heart of enemy territory for him. Elowen and I keep accumulating debts towards you. I wonder if we will ever be able to pay it back."

Riku just shook his head, a faint, weary smile on his face. "Don’t be like this, Chief Barou. Rennan is as much a friend of mine as he is to you," he said simply. "You don’t leave a friend behind. That’s all there is to it."

He raised his own mug of cold drinks, meeting the eyes of everyone at the table.

For a moment, they were not nobles, villagers, or mages. They were just friends, united and safe, in the home they had all built together.

"Everyone, today we celebrate Rennan’s return. From tomorrow, we restart the Lifewell Project. Soon, we will bring the effects of the famine to an end."

"Yeah!!! To Elowen!! To the Korvan Kingdom!"

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The weeks following their return from the north were a blur of organized chaos. Elowen, once a sleepy backwater, now hummed with the energy of a burgeoning industrial town. The Lifewell Project was in full swing.

At the newly expanded forges, the air was thick with the smell of hot metal and quenching steam. Elder Borin stood over a glowing copper blank, his instructions booming over the clang of hammers.

"No, no, lad! A wider swing! Let the weight of the hammer do the work!" he roared at a young Dwarven apprentice.

Nearby, Gnord, Elowen’s own blacksmith, argued with Elder Thrain over a set of blueprints for a new cooling vat.

"The heat distribution will be uneven," Gnord grumbled, pointing a thick finger at the diagram. "You need a secondary runoff channel here, or the bottles on the edge will cool slower."

Thrain squinted at the drawing. "Nonsense. The Dwarven spiral-flow method ensures perfect thermal equilibrium. Your human methods are crude and inefficient."

"Crude?" Gnord bristled. "My methods get the job done without needing a hundred pages of useless calculations!"

They continued to bicker, a familiar and strangely productive routine.

A short distance away, a new, long building was taking shape. Here, a team of Half-Orcs, their powerful muscles making light work of the heavy timber, worked alongside human builders from the village. They were constructing the new bottling and coolbox assembly plant.

Marquis Charles Hummer stood over a long table, directing the workflow. "The glass comes from the western sand pits. The timber from the northern ridge. I want a steady supply chain, no bottlenecks."

Rennan, looking more like his old self in a new set of sturdy merchant’s clothes, stood beside him, pointing at a large map of the kingdom.

"The roads to the southern provinces are clear," Rennan said. "But the guilds in the central plains will cause trouble. We’ll need to establish smaller, discreet depots. I’ve already made contact with a few independent traders who hate the guilds as much as we do."

Lord Arnold, observing the map, nodded in approval. "A wise strategy. Avoid direct confrontation. Let our product’s quality speak for itself. When the people see that our Water Runes work, the guilds’ influence will crumble."

Meanwhile, in the fields, the original villagers worked alongside retired nobles and former city dwellers. The sight of Lord Gregor, a man who once commanded legions, happily tending to a patch of carrots was no longer a strange one.

The Lifewell Project had united them all.

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