Chapter 920: The Problem With Peace

The Holy Order arrived at Bastos the following morning, announced by bells loud enough to wake everyone in the settlement except Ludwig. He had already been awake for hours and watched the procession from the manor balcony as the first light spread across the restored roads.

Twelve priests, seven clerics and nearly twenty paladins crossed through the temporary gate near the settlement’s edge. Their white-and-gold clothing stood out against the old dark stone, followed by carts loaded with salt, silver instruments, blessed water, incense and enough purification materials to cleanse either a cursed territory or an extremely sinful wedding.

Misty led them toward the manor while Celine stood beside Ludwig with a warm cup held between both hands.

"That is a disturbing amount of holy water," Ludwig said. "How much corruption do they think we have?"

"Most of the outer territory is still affected, and you were the one who asked the Order for help." Celine glanced at him over the rim of her cup. "You sound disappointed that they actually came."

"I thought they might need me for something." he said in a shrugg

"The entire point of inviting them was to have trained specialists handle the cleansing. And you relaxing..."

Ludwig sighed and returned his attention to the road below.

Several former Tower inhabitants had gathered to meet the newcomers. Most offered cautious greetings, though those who had retained more monstrous forms kept their distance. The goblins remained together near the houses, a pair of orcs watched the paladins carefully, and one of the ogres retreated behind a building when a priest approached with a silver censer.

Misty noticed the movement and immediately stopped the procession. "Paladins, take your hands off your weapons. Priests, keep the silver instruments packed until we reach the corrupted ground."

One of the priests blinked at her. "Sister Misty, these are standard precautions. We were told that many of the inhabitants came from the Tower."

"They did, and now they live here."

The priest glanced toward the gathered goblins and orcs. "Some of them are still monsters."

Garath’s expression hardened, but Misty stepped forward before he could answer. "They are residents of Bastos. Anyone who cannot understand that may return through the gate.

That settled the argument. The paladins relaxed their posture, and the priests covered the more threatening silver instruments before continuing toward the manor.

Ludwig watched them pass beneath the balcony. "I already liked Misty. I think I like her more now."

"You could go downstairs and tell her," Celine suggested. Though for some reason Ludwig couldn’t name the air felt far colder that it was moments ago.

"Ahem... euh, yeah I’ll just go and see what they’re doing.

"It’s not like you have much to do. If it at least make you less bored you should."

He stopped without looking back. "I have plenty to do."

"Name one thing."

Ludwig looked through the balcony doors toward the unpacking carts below. "I’m going downstairs to find one."

The purification began along the eastern boundary of the restored settlement. As Bastos recovered, the divide between healthy and corrupted land had grown impossible to miss. Grass had returned near the manor, the streams ran clear, and ordinary leaves covered trees whose branches had once twisted into screaming faces.

Several miles farther out, Wrath’s influence still clung stubbornly to the earth. Red veins appeared beneath disturbed soil, dead trees continued growing in crooked patterns, and stagnant pools reflected crimson light regardless of the sky above them.

The Holy Order approached the work methodically. Teams marked controlled sections of land, priests drove silver stakes into the soil and clerics began layered chants while the paladins guarded the perimeter.

Ludwig arrived before they finished establishing the second circle. Misty saw him approach and gave him a knowing look.

"You’re here early. Did Celine send you to supervise?"

"More like chased out... still, I came to see how the cleansing works."

Misty pointed toward a priest pouring blessed water into a narrow trench. "The stakes define the affected area. The water weakens whatever remains in the soil, and the chants separate Wrath’s influence from the land without damaging anything healthy enough to recover."

Ludwig began asking questions. Misty answered the first few herself, then called over one of the senior priests when his interest shifted toward the purpose of the silver rods. The explanation lasted twenty minutes, after which Ludwig wanted to know why some sections required incense while others reacted to salt, whether the circles could trap active corruption and what happened if one of the stakes broke during the ritual.

The cleansing stopped each time someone answered him.

Eventually, a younger priest leaned toward Misty and lowered his voice. "Lady Misty, could you persuade Lord Ludwig to observe from farther away? Every time he asks something, the senior clerics stop chanting to explain it."

Ludwig turned toward him. "I can hear you."

"I assumed you could, my lord. Speaking quietly was an attempt to remain respectful."

Misty covered her mouth, though it did little to hide her smile. "He has a point. Your questions are useful, but they’re turning a three-hour cleansing into an all-day lecture."

Ludwig looked toward the circle. Several members of the Order immediately found reasons to examine their equipment.

"Fine. Send someone to the manor if the corruption does anything interesting."

"We define interesting differently, I hope it never gets to that, most of us will probably be dead if it’s by your standards." Misty smiled.

Ludwig left them to work and discovered construction the following day.

Several projects were active throughout Bastos. New houses were rising near the southern road, while a collapsed section of the western wall required rebuilding. Ludwig chose the wall and spent several minutes watching six workers struggle to move a stone block with ropes and a wooden pulley.

The rope creaked, one of the men cursed and the block shifted half a foot.

Ludwig walked over. "Would this be easier if I moved it for you?"

The workers froze. Their foreman looked from Ludwig to the block and appeared uncertain whether the question was genuine.

"My lord, we can manage. The pulley only needs to be adjusted."

"You have been adjusting it since I arrived."

Ludwig gripped the stone, lifted it from the ground and looked toward the unfinished wall. "Where does this go?"

The foreman pointed with a trembling hand. Ludwig carried the block over and lowered it into place, then returned for another while the crew watched in silence.

"Which one is next?"

"My lord, you’ve already helped more than enough," the foreman said. "We wouldn’t want to keep you from your duties."

"I don’t have any duties today. Show me where the stones go, and this section will be finished before lunch."

The workers began moving considerably faster. Fear drove every man to find a task, and casual conversation vanished from the site. Jokes stopped, complaints died halfway through being spoken, and anyone who caught Ludwig looking at them doubled his pace.

After placing another block, Ludwig surveyed the unnaturally quiet crew. "Do you people think I’m here to inspect you?"

The workers denied it with such speed that several spoke over one another. One man nodded by mistake, noticed everyone else shaking their heads and immediately changed direction.

Ludwig released a tired breath. "That answers the question."

Celine found him near the manor before lunch. She carried no papers, which meant the conversation had apparently been important enough to leave them behind.

"You terrified an entire construction crew," she said. "The foreman believes you were testing whether they deserved to remain employed."

"I moved three stones for them. They were the ones who invented the inspection."

"You arrived without warning, watched them struggle and began doing the work yourself. They assumed you were demonstrating how inefficient they looked."

"That makes no sense. Those blocks were heavy."

"Yes, Ludwig. Their weight is why the builders needed six men and a pulley."

"Which is also why I helped."

Celine pressed her lips together, trying to keep from laughing. "I explained your intentions. They didn’t believe me."

"Why would they trust their own ridiculous theory over the woman who governs the territory?"

"Because you are an undead Apostle of Death who owns their homes and could carry the western wall away if it annoyed you. Go find an activity that doesn’t involve evaluating people by accident."