Chapter 910: Bastos

In the end, the group became smaller before Ludwig ever stepped through the gate. Tull had no interest in spending his newly earned freedom from Sloth wandering into another abandoned territory Ludwig had somehow inherited.

He had business waiting deeper within the Empire and, in his own words, had already survived enough of Ludwig’s "vacation" to understand that remaining nearby was dangerous.

Redd agreed to travel with him.

However, the little fire spirit floated straight through the portal beside Ludwig and Celine without bothering to ask.

The gate closed behind them after they emerged. Ludwig took two steps and stopped, causing Celine to halt beside him while Thomas hovered between them. None of the three spoke as a breeze passed through the grass around their feet.

Actual green grass.

Ludwig slowly looked around. "...What?"

Celine’s expression had gone completely still.

The Bastos Marquisate was supposed to be red. That was the simplest way Ludwig remembered it. A red sky had hung over the region beneath a red moon, with a crimson haze drifting across the marsh. Wrath’s corruption had seeped so deeply into the territory that even the landscape had appeared furious. Trees had twisted into grotesque shapes, their bark forming faces resembling screaming demons, while thorny vegetation covered the ground and monsters moved freely through the ruins.

Every trace of that corruption had disappeared.

The sky above them was blue, with clouds drifting lazily across it. Green grass stretched over the earth and moved gently beneath the wind. Somewhere nearby, water flowed across stone, and birds called from the trees.

Ludwig turned slowly, searching the surrounding forest. The trees looked completely ordinary. Their trunks carried no screaming faces, black thorns, or pulsating red veins. Nothing lurked between them, and even the air smelled clean.

Thomas spun in a slow circle. "Are we in the right place?"

Ludwig looked toward the horizon and wondered the same thing. Then he saw the Bastos manor rising far to the east beyond the trees and smaller buildings scattered across the landscape.

The structure was massive enough that even the distance did little to conceal it. Old stone towers stood above broad wings stretching in either direction, unmistakably marking the ancestral home of House Bastos.

Celine had already seen it, and her eyes remained fixed upon the estate. "This isn’t supposed to look like this."

"You sound disappointed," Ludwig said.

"I’m confused. The corruption was everywhere, Ludwig. The land itself had changed."

"Yeah, it definitely had."

Celine moved away from the gate and crouched to touch the grass. Nothing happened when she rubbed one blade between her fingers. "Did the Emperor send purification crews? Mages or priests?"

Ludwig laughed at the possibility. "The Emperor didn’t need to."

"How do you know?"

"Because if he’d spent enough money to fix all this, he’d make sure I knew exactly how much I owed him."

Celine could not argue with that.

Ludwig surveyed the region again. Whatever had happened here was too extensive to be explained by someone cutting down corrupted trees and planting replacements. The entire territory had changed, or perhaps recovered.

That possibility interested him more. Wrath’s corruption might have remained only because remnants of its power survived within the Marquisate. Once those remnants disappeared, the land may have begun healing itself.

Ludwig had no idea whether that explanation was correct. For once, he was perfectly content not to find the answer immediately.

Vacation.

He reminded himself of the word again as they continued forward. The old road had become visible beneath the grass, and parts of it had clearly been repaired. Stones had been reset, collapsed sections cleared, and debris moved away from the path.

That was considerably harder to explain as a natural recovery. Someone had been working here, and Celine noticed the evidence just as quickly.

"These sections weren’t repaired before," she said. "Someone is here."

"Looks like it."

Thomas floated higher and searched the surrounding land. "I don’t see any monsters."

"Give it time," Ludwig replied.

Celine looked toward him. "You promised a vacation."

They passed the first cluster of buildings and soon found several more. The road eventually opened toward what had once been a ruined town situated near the Bastos estate, but the settlement had changed as thoroughly as the surrounding land.

Roofs had been rebuilt and windows replaced. Broken stone walls had been patched, while rotten wooden beams had been removed and replaced with fresh timber. Several streets had been cleared thoroughly enough that someone had even swept them.

Ludwig slowed as he studied the work. "This is getting suspicious."

Celine smiled faintly. "You sound upset that the land is being repaired."

"I’m upset that somebody repaired my land without telling me."

"Your land?"

Ludwig glanced toward her and corrected himself. "Our land."

"Better."

Movement appeared farther down the street. A young man emerged from between two buildings carrying several pieces of cut timber beneath one arm. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with dark hair, a simple shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and work trousers stained with dust.

The moment he saw Ludwig, he stopped. His face brightened, and the timber fell from his arm.

"Chief!"

Ludwig stared as the young man hurried toward them.

"Chief Ludwig! It’s good to see you."

"Is it?" Ludwig pointed toward him once he stopped. "More importantly, who are you, and what happened here?"

The young man blinked as his smile faltered. "You don’t remember me?"

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in my life."

"But you saved us."

Ludwig frowned. "From where?"

"The Tower."

That helped, though barely. Ludwig studied him again and eventually shook his head.

"No. I’m pretty sure the people I saved from that Tower were lizardmen, goblins, orcs, ogres, and maybe a troll or two."

Ludwig pointed toward the young man. "You are very clearly human."

The man laughed as understanding finally reached him. "Oh. I was human before."

Ludwig’s expression changed. "Before what?"

"Before the Tower changed me. When we left, many of us began changing back."

"Back into humans?"

"Those who were human originally," the young man explained. "Some of the others remained as they were."

Ludwig looked toward the settlement. "What about your memories?"

The young man’s smile weakened. "Some returned. Pieces, mostly."

He tapped the side of his head. "I remember another life...a city, parents, and I think I had a sister. Those memories feel far away, though."

Ludwig understood the distinction. "And the Tower?"

"That remains clear."

That explained why the man still called him Chief. Whatever life he had possessed before being dragged into the Tower had returned only in fragments, while the years he spent inside remained much stronger. He remembered the tribe, the monsters, their struggles, and Ludwig eventually helping them escape.

The young man smiled again and gestured down the road. "Please, follow me."

Ludwig looked toward Celine. "Apparently I’m Chief now."

"You seemed comfortable being Lord five minutes ago."

"That was different."

They followed the young man deeper into the town, where the extent of the reconstruction became increasingly obvious. People worked throughout the settlement, and although there were not hundreds crowded into the streets, enough were present to make the place feel alive.

Several small figures stood beside a damaged building. Ludwig recognized them as goblins immediately, though they looked nothing like the half-naked creatures most people imagined when hearing the word.

Their clothes had been made specifically for them, including proper trousers, shirts, and small leather shoes. One goblin stood upon a wooden scaffold and carefully painted an exterior wall while another repaired a window frame. Two more carried away broken pieces of stone, and one wore an apron over his clothing.

Ludwig pointed toward him. "That one looks more professional than half the builders I’ve hired."

Celine glanced at Ludwig. "Have you ever hired builders?"

"No, but I’ve seen buildings."

The goblins noticed him before Ludwig could defend his expertise. One nearly dropped the paint bucket while another looked down from the scaffold.

"Chief!"

"Chief’s back!"

Word spread ahead of them. Ludwig heard voices from the surrounding buildings as doors opened and people stepped into the street. Some were human, while many others were not.

An orc carried a stack of lumber over one shoulder. Two human women cleaned vines from the side of a building, while a pair of goblins swept the street using brooms almost twice their height.

Every remnant of the old corruption was being systematically removed. Black thorn bushes had been piled into carts, dead red roots cut from the earth, and areas Ludwig distinctly remembered being overtaken by twisted growth now held ordinary soil. Even one of the massive ruined structures that had once housed swarms of grotesque bat-like creatures had been removed, leaving only a cleared foundation.

"They’ve been busy," Ludwig said, but Celine barely seemed to hear him.

She had stopped beside a small garden. Ludwig walked several steps before noticing her absence and turned back.

"Celine?"

The garden had not been fully restored. Some of its stone borders remained broken, and an old tree leaned slightly toward one side. Young flowers had been planted around its base, their roots still too shallow to have spread through the earth.

Celine stared at the garden until Ludwig returned to her side. "This place... I know it."