Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 162: A Sweet Truce

"Mmm!"

Without waiting for another invitation, she leaned forward and took a much larger bite, her earlier terror completely forgotten.

Riku chuckled, relieved. He broke off the rest of the bar and handed it to her. Zella took it without hesitation and began munching on it with an enthusiasm that was almost comical. Her fear had been completely replaced by a focused, joyful devotion to the chocolate.

Sherry watched the scene, her head tilted in confusion. "Riku, what in the shadows is that stuff? I’ve never seen anything like it."

"It’s chocolate," Riku said, reaching back into his satchel. "A treat that I got earlier. Here, try it." He pulled out another bar and handed a piece to Sherry. "You will like it."

Sherry eyed the dark rectangle skeptically, then took a bite.

Her reaction was instantaneous. Her cynical, guarded expression melted away, replaced by the same look of wide-eyed bliss that had just been on Zella’s face.

"Mmmmmm.... This is..." she began, her voice a reverent whisper. She took another, bigger bite, closing her eyes. "This is.... so good."

She finished the piece in two more bites, then turned to Riku, her eyes blazing with a new fire.

"You," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You had this... this choco thing with you all along... and you didn’t share it with me?"

Smack!

She landed a light, stinging punch on his armored shoulder.

"We have been together for so long, and you were hiding something this divine with you all this time?"

Smack! Another punch.

"You monster! You don’t care about me at all!"

Riku threw his hands up in mock surrender, laughing. "Alright, alright! I’m sorry! I was saving it for a special occasion!"

Zella, watching the fearsome battle-mage get playfully beaten up by the shadow-weaver, let out a sudden, bright peal of laughter.

"Hahaha...."

The sound, genuine and unrestrained, echoed in the storeroom, completely breaking the last vestiges of tension.

Sherry froze mid-punch, her face flushing a faint pink as she realized they had an audience. She gave Riku a light shove. "Idiot."

Riku just grinned, rubbing his shoulder.

Even this was his fault?

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

After this minor icebreaking session, the three of them now sat on the dusty floor of the storeroom, a sense of camaraderie settling between them amidst the discarded chocolate wrappers.

Riku turned to Zella, his voice gentle now, his disguise forgotten. "So, do you believe us now? That we don’t mean you any harm?"

Zella, still nibbling on her last piece of chocolate, looked from Riku’s kind face to Sherry’s embarrassed one. She gave a small, hesitant nod.

"I believe you, but what are these things? I have never eaten them before." Zella asked.

"They are called chocolates. They are something that I had researched during my free time." Riku said. "If you want, I will leave some more with you, so that you can have them later."

"Really? You will leave more for Zella?" Zella asked again with hopeful eyes.

"Of course," Riku said, his smile warm.

"Now... about those light magic artifacts. You see, those artifacts are really important for my research. Without them, I will be in a difficult spot."

Zella’s face scrunched up in concentration as she finished her last bite of chocolate. "An artifact of light," she mused. "But what does it look like? I have thousands of items here. Junk, mostly. My grandparents are collectors, you see. They buy everything."

"It’s a scroll," Riku explained. "Parchment. But it’s not the scroll itself that’s important. It’s the magic within. It has my... signature. A unique energy. I can feel it’s here, somewhere, but it’s very faint."

Zella’s eyes widened slightly. "A magical signature? Like a tether? Ooh, that’s something which only high level mages can leave behind! My grandfather would love to see that!" Her professional curiosity was now fully engaged.

She looked around the cluttered storeroom, then at the even more cluttered main shop. Her enthusiasm dimmed slightly. "I... I honestly don’t know if I have something like that. I’ve never sensed any light magic here. We get so many things... crates from abandoned ruins, boxes from failed adventurers... it could be anywhere."

She clapped her hands together, a small puff of dust erupting between them. "Well, no use sitting here! If it’s in this junk heap, we’ll find it! Operation Find-The-Shiny-Scroll is a go!"

With a newfound energy, she led them back into the main shop. "Right! Let’s start with the ’Possibly Cursed Chests’ section. It’s the most promising pile of junk!"

Riku and Sherry exchanged a look, half amused, half daunted by the sheer chaos of the shop.

"I’ll start over here," Sherry said, pointing to a leaning tower of leather-bound books that looked like it might collapse if someone sneezed too hard.

Riku moved a stack of dusty grimoires. A small, mummified creature with too many legs tumbled out and rolled under a table. He decided to ignore it. He used a small gust of wind to clear the dust from a nearby crate, revealing a collection of mismatched, glowing crystals.

The search began. Dust flew. Strange artifacts were uncovered and quickly re-covered. Zella kept up a running commentary on the probable origins of each piece of junk they found.

"Ooh, that’s a soul-stealing salt shaker! Be careful with that one!"

"Is this a talking skull? No, wait, it’s just got a mouse living in it."

The air grew thick with dust. Sherry sneezed, a surprisingly delicate sound for a disguised shadow-weaver.

They were in the middle of excavating a large, iron-bound chest when a loud, firm knock rattled the shop’s front door.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The three of them froze instantly.

"Zella, child, open up!" an old woman’s voice called out, sharp but affectionate. "Your grandfather’s found another ’priceless’ cursed chamber pot, and he insists on bringing it inside! We need your help to carry it in!"

"It’s a historical artifact, you old bat!" a gruff man’s voice retorted from further away.

Zella’s eyes lit up.

"Coming, Grandpa, Grandma." With a slight skip on her feet, she went to open the door.

"Cough... cough... why is there so much dust. Wait! What is going on?" Her Grandma, who had just entered the shop, immediately became alert.

"Who are you people?"

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