Chapter 908: Idle Hands

Back Through Solania

The journey back took considerably longer than Ludwig expected, although nothing delayed them. For once, there were no armies blocking the mountain passes, no Usurper waiting somewhere ahead, and no desperate race against an approaching calamity. Even the creatures inhabiting the more dangerous stretches of Solania seemed content to leave the group alone.

With no reason to rush, Ludwig did something he had almost forgotten how to do and took his time. They traveled through the mountains without forcing the pace. Sometimes he stopped simply because he liked the view. Other times, he wandered from the path to inspect strange formations carved into the cliffs or stood beside an overlook for several minutes with no purpose beyond staring at the world below.

Tull noticed by the second day.

"You’ve stopped again."

Ludwig stood at the edge of a ridge.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Nice view."

Tull stared at him.

Redd walked past them.

"Vacation."

Ludwig pointed at him.

"See? He gets it."

Tull muttered something under his breath and kept walking.

Solania remained difficult country even without Wrath occupying the mountains. The roads were narrow wherever they existed at all. Some passages forced the group along cliffs with drops deep enough that their bottoms disappeared beneath mist, while other routes climbed so sharply that an ordinary army would spend hours crossing what Ludwig’s group managed in minutes.

Despite repeatedly reminding himself that he was supposed to be taking a break, Ludwig found himself evaluating the region from a military perspective. Any army attempting to invade from the Dark Continent would have a miserable time crossing Solania.

An undead army might manage it. Undead had no need for food, rest, warmth, or concern over whether a supply convoy had fallen from a cliff three days earlier. A living army had none of those advantages. Soldiers needed water, food, shelter, and medicine. Pack animals required paths wide enough to move through, while siege equipment somehow had to be transported across the same narrow passes.

Even a powerful army could bleed itself dry merely trying to cross these mountains while maintaining anything resembling a supply line.

Ludwig looked back toward the eastern horizon several times during the journey. Beyond Solania lay the Dark Continent, and beyond the regions they had explored stretched a world he knew almost nothing about. The White Citadel occupied only one portion of it. Canyons continued farther east, forests disappeared toward horizons Ludwig had never seen, and whatever countries, creatures, ruins, civilizations, or horrors existed beyond them remained completely unknown.

Ordinarily, that uncertainty would have bothered him. Curiosity had gotten Ludwig into enough trouble that unexplored territory practically felt like a personal insult, but this time he turned away from it.

"Not my problem."

Celine glanced at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing, it just feels good to be free."

He kept walking.

The crossing took almost a week. By the time the Holy City of Solania finally appeared beyond the last mountain ridge, Ludwig had begun feeling somewhat relaxed. Physical rest remained mostly irrelevant to him, but the journey had eased some of the exhaustion from his mind.

The city looked different without an apocalypse surrounding it. White stone towers rose behind immense defensive walls, while golden roofs reflected the daylight. Bells rang somewhere beyond the gates, and the roads leading toward the city were once again crowded with pilgrims, merchants, clergy, travelers, and soldiers.

Things had been considerably less peaceful the last time Ludwig visited. People recognized him almost immediately, and he noticed the whispers beginning before they even reached the gates.

"That’s him."

"The savior of Solania?"

"I thought he left for the eastern mountains."

"He came back."

"That vampire is with him."

"Which vampire?"

"The woman."

"Don’t stare."

Ludwig looked toward Celine.

"They’re staring."

"I noticed."

"You want me to glare at them?"

"No."

"Could be fun."

Celine smiled faintly.

Solania’s relationship with Ludwig remained complicated. He had openly used dark magic, raised undead, and associated himself with Necros, all things the Holy Order had spent generations teaching its followers to distrust.

He had also exposed a corrupt Pope, fought the false descent of the Demon King, and stopped Sloth’s armies from pouring across the mountains. Those accomplishments made hating him inconvenient, so most people settled for fear. Nobody wanted to discover whether antagonizing Ludwig was worth the risk.

They reached the main gate, where several paladins immediately appeared on armored horses. Hooves thundered toward the entrance as half a dozen members of the Holy Order crossed the road and spread around Ludwig’s group.

Tull’s hand moved toward his weapon, while Redd shifted slightly beside him. Celine merely watched as Ludwig sighed.

"Are you asking for trouble?"

The lead paladin nearly fell from his horse in his haste to dismount.

"No!"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow as the man landed awkwardly.

"No, sir. Absolutely not."

"Then surrounding us with armed paladins is an interesting greeting."

The others immediately dismounted as well. One paladin hurriedly removed his helmet.

"Lady Titania requested your presence if you returned through Solania."

"Oh."

Ludwig glanced around.

"That’s significantly less exciting."

The paladin looked relieved.

Cain stopped behind them, and Ludwig turned toward him.

"You coming?"

Cain looked toward another road branching away from the city.

"No."

Celine glanced at her uncle.

"Where are you going?"

"There are matters I should attend to near the fishing hamlet."

Cain left without much words afterward.

The rest of the group entered Solania. Ludwig, Celine, Redd, Thomas on his shoulder and Tull followed the paladins through streets crowded enough that their escort became genuinely useful. People stepped aside when they recognized the armor of the Holy Order. Others moved when they recognized Ludwig, and a few crossed the street entirely.

"Still popular," Tull said.

"I have charm."

"That isn’t what they’re afraid of."

They eventually reached the Sacrosanctum, where the enormous golden gates opened to admit them. Ludwig stepped through and stopped when he looked around the garden.

Many things were missing. The enormous statues that had once dominated the grounds were gone. Their pedestals remained in several places, but the marble figures had been removed, including the gigantic depiction of Titania herself.

Ludwig pointed.

"I’m pretty sure there used to be more statues here."

One of the paladins coughed.

"Lady Titania ordered them removed."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Even hers?"

"Especially hers."

Ludwig looked impressed.

"Why?"

The paladin hesitated.

"She said they served no purpose."

Another paladin continued when the first seemed uncomfortable.

"The stone is being reused. Some will reinforce shelters. Some has been sold to fund relief efforts."

Ludwig looked toward the empty pedestal where Titania’s statue had once stood.

"I see."

"The Holy Order was never meant to accumulate wealth for itself," the paladin said. "Nor spend the offerings of the faithful glorifying those already capable of defending themselves."

Ludwig laughed, causing the paladin to lower his gaze.

"Though the Order did manage to wander pretty fucking far from that philosophy. But this is good. This is better."

None of the paladins answered because there was little they could say in their Order’s defense. Their former Pope had deliberately summoned a false manifestation of the Demon King so he could manufacture a heroic victory and elevate a useless Hero. Some failures were too embarrassing to excuse.

The inner doors opened, revealing Titania waiting beyond them. She wore her armor again, polished white plate decorated with gold detailing along its edges. Her long white hair had been left loose, falling across her back instead of being hidden beneath a helmet.

She looked first at Ludwig and then at everyone behind him.

"You returned."

"That usually happens eventually."

Her gaze sharpened.

"What did you find?"

Ludwig smiled.

"Lots of things."

"Sloth?"

"Also Sloth. He was pretty big to miss."

Titania stepped closer.

"Where is he?"

"He’s Gone." Ludwig smiled.

Her expression changed. "Gone where?"

Ludwig smiled at her, which made her look far more irritated than a second ago.

"Did he retreat farther into the Dark Continent?"

"Nope."

"Did you drive him away?"

"Nope."

"Ludwig, you’re being annoying."

Ludwig enjoyed the pause for perhaps a little too long.

"I killed him."

Titania did not react immediately. Then she frowned.

"You killed Sloth."

"Yep."

Titania stared at him.

"You left to investigate him. All you were asked to do was find his location and then report back for a full assault...""

"I investigated aggressively."

"That was not the objective you described."

"Plans changed."

Titania looked toward Celine, who merely shrugged.

"It happened. Nothing much we could have done about it." Celine added.

"You expect me to believe that in less than two weeks you entered the Dark Continent, located the Slothful Death, fought him, and killed him?"

Ludwig thought about it.

"When you say it like that, it does sound a little unreasonable." Ludwig said.

"It is unreasonable."

"Want proof?"

Titania’s eyes narrowed.

"What kind? You have his skull somewhere?"

Ludwig smiled.

"Nah, something better.."

He raised one hand and snapped his fingers.

[Idle Hand of Sloth]

The world stopped. Sound vanished entirely, leaving Ludwig standing in absolute silence while Titania froze before him. Celine stood nearby without moving, Redd no longer blinked, and Tull’s coat remained suspended in the middle of shifting beneath a breeze that no longer existed.

Every color around Ludwig dulled into gray. The world appeared paused rather than dead, held inside a single moment from which only he had been excluded.

Ludwig looked around.

"Okay."

He moved one hand and found that everything felt perfectly normal. After taking a few steps, he walked around Titania while she remained frozen in place. Her sword rested at her side, drawing his attention from the weapon to her and then back again.

"This is probably rude."

He took it anyway. The weapon slid from its scabbard without resistance, allowing Ludwig to examine the blade.

"Tsk. Quite painful."

The sword warmed in his hand at first and became quite hot. Probably not liking being handled by an Undead wearing Living Vessel.

Ludwig returned to where he had originally stood and placed the edge near Titania’s throat without allowing it to touch her. Ten seconds felt surprisingly long when everyone else had been removed from them.

Then time returned all at once. Sound crashed back into existence as the wind resumed and fabric shifted around them. Titania’s hand instantly moved toward her hip, but her fingers closed around an empty scabbard.

Her eyes widened before finding Ludwig and, more specifically, her sword resting beneath her neck. She moved immediately, but Ludwig pulled the blade away before she could react. He reversed the weapon and offered her the hilt.

Titania took it, and they stared at one another until Ludwig spoke first.

"How did you react?"

Titania frowned.

"How did you take my sword?"

"I asked first."

They continued staring while Celine looked between them and Tull sighed. Titania finally gave in.

"When you snapped your fingers..."

Her expression became thoughtful.

"I felt danger."

Ludwig’s amusement faded into interest.

"During it?"

"No."

Titania shook her head.

"The instant before."

She looked at the sword.

"I attempted to retaliate."

"You did?"

"I thought you were about to attack."

"And?"

"This happened...."

Ludwig nodded slowly. The ability stopped time, but it apparently could not fully conceal the instant of danger preceding its activation from entities with sufficiently sharpened instincts.

Titania sheathed the sword.

"You moved faster than I could perceive."

"Not exactly."

She looked at him.

"That came from Sloth?"

"Reward for killing him."

Titania went quiet before becoming slightly alarmed.

"That is extremely dangerous."

"Oh, definitely."

"How frequently can you do it?"

"Once a day."

Some of the tension left her shoulders.

"For now."

Chapter 1

It immediately returned.

Ludwig smiled.

"Apparently it can grow."

"That is not reassuring."

"I thought you’d appreciate the honesty."

Titania sighed and looked toward the vaulted ceiling.

"The Order has done too little."

Ludwig tilted his head.

"For what?"

"These Usurpers."

She looked toward him.

"Wrath. Envy. Pride. Now Sloth."

Her jaw tightened.

"You have been confronting them while we remain here repairing what our own leadership broke."

"That’s not your responsibility." Ludwig said. "This one has always been mine. "