Chapter 905: Interlude

Cain frowned. "You got a what?"

"A vacation from this work."

"You are being punished? Feels like you’re being punished."

"No, opposite." Ludwig looked up at the gray sky. "Necros told me I’m working too hard."

Silence spread through the group until Tull blinked. "Death told you to take a break?"

"Basically."

Thomas floated closer. "Are you dying?"

"No."

"Did he hit his head?" Tull asked.

"I’m fine."

Kaiser gave a dry chuckle. "I suspect Necros has finally recognized that permitting you to wander continuously from catastrophe to catastrophe may be unhealthy for everyone involved."

"Fuck you too."

Celine smiled faintly. "So he really told you to stop?"

"For a while."

Ludwig shrugged. "Apparently killing four Usurpers qualifies me for vacation."

Celine’s smile grew. "Good."

Ludwig glanced toward her. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you need one."

"I’m not someone who easily get exhausted..."

"That does not mean you cannot need rest."

"Technically, it kind of does. Considering what I am"

Celine ignored him. "We have been moving constantly."

She began counting on her fingers. "Wrath. Envy. Pride. Now Sloth. The Empire. The Yellow River. Solania. This whole damned continent was just one mess after another."

She looked directly at Ludwig. "When was the last time you did something because you wanted to rather than because another calamity needed killing?"

Ludwig opened his mouth before stopping. Celine waited while he searched for an answer.

"That long?"

"I was thinking."

"You should not need to."

"Fair."

Ludwig looked across the ruined landscape and wondered what he actually wanted to do. For once, the decision did not have to concern the next Usurper or a threat capable of destroying another kingdom.

An answer came surprisingly quickly. "What do you think about going home?"

Celine tilted her head. "Home?"

"Bastos."

She stared at him until Ludwig smiled. "The Emperor gave me the Bastos Marsh."

Celine’s expression changed instantly. "Our marquisate?"

"Apparently."

"When did he gain the right to give that away?"

Ludwig laughed. "I think the argument is that no one has lived there for a very long time."

"That is not the same as no one owning it."

"I’m not defending Imperial property law."

Celine folded her arms. "So you own my ancestral lands now."

"Technically."

Her eyes narrowed, and Ludwig raised both hands. "You can have them."

"Oh?"

"Sure."

"You are giving me my own land?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds worse."

"It is worse."

Ludwig laughed. "Fine. Consider me temporary management."

Celine looked entertained now. "Our landlord."

Ludwig’s face fell. "Don’t call me that."

"Lord Ludwig, landlord of House Bastos."

"That sounds fucking awful."

Cain coughed into one fist, prompting Ludwig to look toward him. "Don’t encourage her."

"I said nothing."

"You were about to laugh."

"I would never."

Celine looked back toward Ludwig. "Why Bastos?"

"There are a few things I need to check."

"What things?"

Ludwig scratched the back of his neck. "I may have sent some people there."

Celine stared. "When?"

"The moment I came out of the Tower of Trials."

"You sent people to Bastos immediately after leaving the Tower?"

"Yes."

"And did not tell me?"

"I had other things happening."

"What people?"

"Useful people."

"That is not an answer."

"It’s the answer you’re getting until we arrive."

Celine’s eyes narrowed, causing Ludwig to add the explanation quickly. "I mostly just want to make sure they’re still alive."

"Mostly?"

"There may have been remnants of one of Wrath’s Kings in the region."

Celine stared while Ludwig smiled sheepishly. "So there is a very small possibility they were assaulted."

"A small possibility?"

"Moderate."

She gave him the eye.

"Fine. A possibility."

Celine sighed. "Then yes. We should go."

She turned toward Cain. "What about you?"

Cain raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"Are you returning to Solania?"

The ancient vampire looked southward and remained silent for several seconds. Eventually, his eyes moved toward Celine.

"It has been a long time since I visited my brother’s home."

Celine’s expression softened slightly as Cain continued. "Perhaps I should see what remains."

"Then you’re coming?"

"For a time."

"Good."

Ludwig looked toward Tull. "And you?"

Tull stared at him. "You dragged me across Solania, into the Dark Continent, through a living canyon, into Sloth’s palace, and then I spent part of today embedded in a wall."

"Yes."

"I’m going home."

"Fair."

Redd raised one hand. "Same."

Thomas immediately flew toward Ludwig. "I’m going wherever you’re going."

"Of course you are."

Kaiser tapped his staff against the ground. "Then I suppose this disastrous expedition is complete."

"Disastrous?"

"You erased a canyon."

"Successful expedition."

"You nearly became Wrath."

"Successful."

"Cain became a puddle."

Cain looked irritated. "Temporary."

"Tull became part of a mountain."

"Canyon," Ludwig corrected.

Tull pointed at him. "Fuck you."

Kaiser stared at Ludwig. "Disastrous."

"Successful."

They looked at each other until Kaiser finally sighed. "Both."

"I’ll take it."

Ludwig turned south and prepared to leave before something stopped him. His gaze moved beyond the ruined canyon and broken landscape toward the distant White Kingdom.

"Oh."

Celine followed his gaze. "What?"

"We forgot something."

Kaiser groaned. "No."

"It’s not another Usurper."

"That phrase no longer reassures me."

Ludwig pointed toward the direction they had come from. "The citadel."

Silence followed as everyone remembered what still waited there. Without Sloth, Ludwig had no idea what had happened to the White Kingdom or the people trapped inside it.

The Authority might still remain, or the inhabitants might already be awakening. The cubes could be returning to their original forms, and half the palace might collapse if its construction materials regained the bodies they possessed before Sloth transformed them.

Celine understood the problem. "We should check."

"Yeah."

Ludwig looked toward the others. "One quick stop."

Tull stared at him. "You just got ordered to take a vacation."

"I know."

"And within five minutes, you already found more work."

"This doesn’t count."

"How?"

"It’s on the way."

"It absolutely counts."

Ludwig ignored him and started walking. "Come on."

He glanced toward the distant White Kingdom. "Sloth’s dead."

A grin slowly appeared across his face. "I think it’s about time the people of the Dark Continent remembered what doing something for themselves feels like."