Chapter 909: Rest for the wicked

Titania frowned.

"The Usurpers threaten this world."

"Lots of things threaten this world."

Ludwig folded his arms.

"Necros asked me to deal with the Usurpers personally. Your gods have their own problems."

His eyes moved toward the empty garden outside.

"Especially one very specific problem with horns and an unhealthy history of invading everything."

Titania understood.

"The Demon King."

"How’s that going?"

"No news."

The answer came immediately, changing Ludwig’s expression.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing of value at least. Not about him not about others." Titania walked toward one of the side chambers, and the others followed.

"Former Pope Clementine vanished after the events here."

"And the Hero?"

"Gone."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow.

"The useless one?"

Titania glanced toward him.

"Yes."

Titania continued.

"Several of his closest followers disappeared as well."

"Together? Can’t be a coincidence."

"We assume so."

"Tracking magic?"

"Failed. Everything we tried came back negative."

That was becoming familiar. Ludwig remembered another notification he had received concerning the Shrike.

"Speaking of people disappearing..."

Titania looked toward him.

"The Shrike."

She stopped walking, and Ludwig noticed the reaction immediately.

"So you know?"

"We attempted to locate her."

"And?"

"Nothing."

"Figures."

Titania frowned.

"You knew she was missing?"

"Necros told me." Ludwig leaned against one of the stone pillars. "She worked here for a while."

"Yes."

"Surely someone put something on her. Tracker, mark, whatever you holy people use when you’re pretending not to distrust the suspicious assassin."

Titania gave him a look. "I was imprisoned while the Shrike worked with the Order."

"Right."

"But I know precautions were taken."

"Tracking magic which I assume didn’t work."

"Yes. It did not.""

Ludwig sighed. "Of course." He didn’t have much hope after the notification he received told him of her disappearance.

Titania’s expression darkened.

"The signal does not exist anywhere near Solania. Nor the empire... or the continent if it matters. We would have almost been certain of her death if it wasn’t for the fact that a piece of her remains wriggling in one of our researchers’s hands."

"Can that piece be used in tracking?"

"Tried it, didn’t work."

Ludwig looked toward Celine and saw that she had understood the implications as clearly as he had.

Titania continued.

"For all we know, she is no longer on this continent."

"Or somewhere tracking magic can’t reach."

"Yes."

The information was not useful, so Ludwig filed the problem away. Necros had explicitly told him to stop, and the Shrike could remain missing for one damned week.

Titania looked toward him.

"So why did you return to Solania?"

"Passing through."

"That is all?"

"Pretty much." Ludwig smiled. "I’m on vacation."

Titania stared while Celine laughed quietly.

Ludwig pointed toward her. "See? She believes me."

Titania looked genuinely surprised. "Necros instructed you to rest?"

"Suggested it." Ludwig shrugged.

"You accepted?"

"Why wouldn’t I, I needed it to be frank."

Titania almost smiled.

"Then perhaps you should."

"I plan to." Ludwig smiled

"Solania can accommodate you." Titania said.

Ludwig shook his head.

"No. I have people waiting back home."

Titania nodded.

"You intend to meet the Emperor first?"

Ludwig thought about it. "No, too much trouble."

Saying it felt surprisingly good.

"I’m seriously taking a break." Ludwig pushed away from the pillar.

"No meetings. No politics. No reports. No explaining why I destroyed a canyon."

Tull looked at him.

"You probably should explain that last one to someone."

"Not today. And not me, I had people with me there they can do the explaining."

"They can do it wrong." Tull said.

Ludwig looked at him, but Tull pulled both hands up.

Titania gave him a faint smile.

"You truly intend to stop."

"For a little while."

"Good. You’ve been doing too much."

They made their way toward the exit, with Titania accompanying them through the Sacrosanctum. As they approached the outer gardens, Ludwig noticed someone waiting near the gate.

Misty was not carrying the enormous anchor she usually kept with her, and its absence made her look strangely incomplete. She approached the group as soon as she recognized them.

"You’re back."

Her eyes immediately moved toward the east.

"What happened beyond the mountains?"

Ludwig stared at her. "Sloth happened."

"You killed it?" She asked.

Ludwig only smiled, it was enough for her.

Titania continued walking without reacting. Apparently, Ludwig’s impossible achievements lost their impact quickly.

Misty looked toward her and then back at Ludwig. "How did you do it?"

Ludwig pointed toward a nearby bench. "You want the short version or the version that takes several hours?"

"The full version."

"Then not right now. Because I’m on vacation. I’m planning to go home."

"Can I come?"

Ludwig looked at her.

"To Bastos?" She nodded. "Why?" He asked.

She gestured behind herself.

"Look around, Titania is running everything."

Titania turned her head, but Misty continued anyway.

"We have no Pope. And nobody particularly wants to become the next one. The last Pope summoned a Demon King descendant to make the Hero look useful. So Titania is handling the Sacrosanctum." Misty looked toward the woman. "And she is annoyingly competent."

Titania raised an eyebrow.

"That was intended as praise."

"I figured."

Misty looked back at Ludwig.

"She reorganized half the Order in weeks. Everyone has assignments. Supplies are accounted for. Patrol routes have changed. Relief work is being expanded."

She shrugged.

"There isn’t much for me to do."

"So you want to come watch me do nothing."

"Yes."

"That sounds boring."

"After recent events?" Misty smiled. "I’d like boring."

Ludwig understood that more than he expected. Then another thought occurred to him concerning Bastos and the condition in which he had left the region.

The March had been soaked in Wrath’s influence in a painfully literal sense. Entire portions of the territory had been corrupted, and remnants of one of Wrath’s Kings had survived there alongside whatever horrors remained from the old Bastos catastrophe.

Ludwig slowly looked toward Titania. She noticed immediately.

"What?"

"How many clerics can you spare?"

Misty looked interested while Titania frowned.

"Why?"

"And paladins."

"The Bastos March is heavily corrupted."

Titania’s expression changed.

"Wrath?"

"Lots of it."

"How heavily?"

Ludwig considered. "Enough that I wouldn’t recommend licking the ground."

Misty stared at him. "There are still remnants of Wrath’s influence throughout the March. Probably corrupted creatures too."

"And you want priests." She asked

"Clerics, paladins, anyone who knows purification."

Titania thought for a moment.

"Sure."

Ludwig had expected considerably more resistance.

"That easy?"

"You saved Solania." She looked toward the empty spaces where the statues had once stood. "The Order owes more than gratitude."

Titania turned toward one of the paladins accompanying them.

"Organize a contingent." The man bowed. "How many, Lady?"

"Enough to establish a temporary purification camp within Bastos. Priests, clerics, and paladins with experience against corruption."

"Yes, my Lady."

Titania looked back toward Ludwig. "They will assist with cleansing the March where possible."

"I appreciate it."

"It benefits us as well." She said.

Ludwig waited for her to explain.

"Our Order needs experience outside ceremony and politics." Her voice hardened slightly. "Real work."

Ludwig smiled.

"I like the new management." Titania ignored that.

"It may also repair some of the damage our previous leadership caused between the Order and those who practice forms of magic we condemned too broadly."

Ludwig glanced toward Misty.

"She’s trying diplomacy."

Misty nodded.

"Terrifying."

Titania sighed.

"You can both leave now."

"Then we will. Have a good day Titania."

"Have a good rest."

The group eventually reached Solania’s main gate network. Cain had not returned, but Celine assured Ludwig that her uncle could find his own way to Bastos after finishing whatever business had taken him toward the fishing hamlet.

Tull stood near the gate, carrying an exhaustion born entirely from Ludwig’s company. Redd waited quietly beside him, Misty had somehow packed for the journey with remarkable speed, and Celine remained beside Ludwig. Behind them, preparations had already begun for the priests and paladins who would follow later.

The gate operator approached.

"Destination?"

Ludwig looked toward the enormous magical archway.

"Bastos March."

The operator paused.

"Bastos?"

"Yes."

"That route has not been used in..." He stopped himself.

"Understood."

Runes began illuminating around the gate as energy gathered inside the enormous frame and distorted the air. Ludwig watched the portal slowly take shape while considering what might be waiting on the other side.

He hoped nobody had assembled an army there. He also hoped Bastos contained no Usurper, demon, or fresh apocalyptic event. Ludwig stopped adding conditions before reality interpreted them as suggestions.

Celine looked toward him.

"Ready for your vacation?"

Ludwig smiled.

"Absolutely."

Tull looked over.

"I give it two days."

"Fuck you."

"One at best then."

"Bruh..."

Redd laughed as the portal opened and revealed Bastos beyond it. Ludwig stepped forward knowing that, for the first time in what felt like years, no urgent objective waited on his status. He had no Usurper he intended to hunt, no war he needed to stop, and no kingdom likely to collapse because he wasted an afternoon.

Home waited on the other side. If the world managed to control itself for a few days, Ludwig might even get some actual rest.