Chapter 917: Learning How to Be Bored

Ludwig had discovered something horrible about himself.

He was bored, and not in the mild sense that could be fixed by reading a book, taking a walk, or watching Thomas repeatedly fail to convince the kitchen staff that a fire spirit should be allowed near the liquor cabinet. Ludwig was genuinely, painfully bored, and it took him longer than it should have to understand why.

He sat in one of the restored rooms of Bastos manor with one leg hanging over the arm of a sofa. Nothing happened while he stared at the ceiling, so he waited a little longer in case the world had merely been delayed.

Still nothing.

His fingers tapped against the fabric several times before he muttered, "Fuck."

Thomas floated nearby and turned toward him. "What happened? That sounded like something went wrong."

"Nothing happened," Ludwig replied. "That’s the problem."

The fire spirit stared at him until Ludwig finally sat upright. "I have absolutely nothing to do. There isn’t even something pointless demanding my attention."

Thomas considered the problem with more seriousness than it deserved. "You could sleep, eat, drink, or find somebody willing to fight you."

"I don’t need sleep or food, and I already tried drinking. Fighting someone might work, though."

"No," Celine said from the doorway.

Ludwig turned and found her holding a stack of papers.

"I wasn’t planning to attack anyone. I was only considering the available options."

"You looked far too interested in that option, so the answer remains no."

Thomas floated away before Ludwig could recruit him into anything stupid. Celine crossed the room and dropped the papers onto a nearby table, immediately drawing Ludwig’s attention.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Things you promised not to concern yourself with while resting."

"That description makes them sound interesting. Are they taxes, roads, trade, or actual problems?"

Celine narrowed her eyes. "You became far too excited when you said problems."

"What kind are we talking about? Bandits, monsters, unexplained disappearances?"

"Two families disagree about where one field ends and another begins. The northern mill needs a new waterwheel, and three merchants are arguing over storage rights."

Ludwig’s interest died quickly enough to make Celine laugh. He lowered himself onto the sofa again and stared at the ceiling.

"I understand why nobles start wars now. After enough land disputes and warehouse petitions, marching into another country probably feels refreshing."

"That realization is exactly why I’m handling the reports," Celine said. She gathered the papers before he could change his mind and left him with the problem he had been trying to avoid.

Ludwig finally understood the depth of his situation. He had forgotten how ordinary life worked, which sounded ridiculous the moment he admitted it.

Before Ikos, he had understood boredom perfectly well. People worked, studied, returned home, complained about working, and looked forward to days off before wasting half of them wondering what to do. Jobs provided money and survival, but they also gave time a shape.

Morning meant getting ready. Certain hours belonged to work, others belonged to rest, and every day possessed a recognizable beginning and ending.

Ludwig no longer had any of that.

Technically, he was unemployed.

The realization struck so suddenly that he sat upright again. Celine had barely reached the door before glancing back at him.

"What did you discover this time?"

"I don’t have a job."

"You are the Marquis of Bastos," Celine replied. "That is very clearly a job."

"You’re doing it, which means it’s your job."

Celine paused with the papers still in her arms. "That is unfortunately difficult to argue against."

Ludwig pointed toward himself. "Then I’m unemployed. I’ve apparently been wandering around jobless for years."

"You are an Apostle of Necros."

"That position pays terribly. I haven’t received a salary once."

"You’ve never asked Necros for money."

"I shouldn’t have to ask my employer to pay me."

Celine stared at him. "You keep insisting that Necros isn’t your employer."

"He keeps insisting the opposite. I’m still reviewing the arrangement."

She shook her head and left before the conversation became any more ridiculous. Ludwig sank deeper into the sofa while the word unemployed continued bothering him.

It explained more than he wanted it to.

His life in Ikos had never slowed enough for him to notice. From the moment everything went wrong, some disaster had always been waiting for him.

He had been driven out of the academy, and then Bastos happened. The Moonflayed King, the corrupted estate, his death, undeath, and more issues followed one another before he had time to understand the first problem. After that came the Dawn Islands and the Queen of Thorns, then Tolmud, Wrath, Solania, and even more Wrath.

Five years had disappeared in a land determined to turn every sunrise into an argument. When Ludwig finally returned, the world refused to allow him to sit down. The Desert Kingdom led to Lust, then Envy, Pride, the Dark Continent, and Sloth.

One impossible disaster followed another, with barely enough time between them to clean the blood from his clothes. Ludwig had spent so long moving toward enormous objectives that ordinary existence now felt unnatural.

Being undead made the problem worse. Humans escaped half their boredom by sleeping, but Ludwig possessed all twenty-four hours of every day. Night was not an ending for him. It was simply daytime with fewer people available to annoy.

By his fourth week in Bastos, Ludwig finally understood why ancient immortals developed bizarre hobbies. He estimated that he was two months away from collecting rare spoons.

The truly dangerous part was knowing there were useful things he could be doing. Gluttony’s influence existed somewhere, and Van Dijk remained occupied with the search. That knowledge pressed against the back of Ludwig’s mind whenever he stared at the same wall for too long.

One evening, he gave in and contacted his master.

The magical connection took several moments to stabilize. Van Dijk appeared looking exactly like someone who had traveled for days without caring about comfort.

"Have you found anything?" Ludwig asked immediately.

Van Dijk stared at him. "Hello to you too. I assume you’re asking about Gluttony rather than my general well-being."

"You look alive, so I’ve already answered the second question. What happened with the reports near Tibari, the disappearances, and the village where they found livestock completely drained?"

"The reports near Tibari were handled, the disappearances were investigated, and the livestock led nowhere significant," Van Dijk said. His expression gradually changed as Ludwig prepared another question.

"What exactly are you doing?" Van Dijk asked.

"Just asking..."

"Celine contacted me."

Ludwig stopped. "She did what?"

"She explained that Necros ordered you to rest and warned me that you might attempt to join the search."

"He suggested that I rest. Celine exaggerated the wording."

Van Dijk smiled. "Then allow me to remove the ambiguity. I am ordering you to remain in Bastos."

"You can’t order me to do that."

"I am your master. Giving you orders is one of the few privileges the position still provides."

"That doesn’t make you my employer."

"I have no idea what that means."

"It means I’m apparently unemployed, which is becoming a serious problem."

Van Dijk stared at him for several seconds before laughing. Ludwig waited with growing irritation until his master recovered.

"Gluttony remains my responsibility for now," Van Dijk said. "If I find anything important, I will tell you."

"I could reach your group within days. You know I can travel farther than everyone you brought and don’t need sleep."

"That is precisely why you need to learn how to stop," Van Dijk replied. "You spent five years in Solania fighting Wrath, returned home, crossed half the continent several times, and then fought three more Usurpers."

"Four, if we count Wrath."

"I was excluding Wrath because I had already mentioned him."

"That makes more sense."

Van Dijk shook his head. "Sit down and remain there until the concept stops feeling like punishment."

"I am already sitting."

"Good. Continue doing that."

The communication ended before Ludwig could object. He stared at the empty projection and muttered, "Bastard."

The embarrassing part was how close he came to leaving anyway. For nearly ten minutes, Ludwig seriously considered preparing Nightbreaker, locating Van Dijk, and joining the hunt.

It would have been useful, productive, and arguably necessary. Ludwig had mentally packed most of his equipment before Necros’s words returned to him.

Rest does not become Sloth merely because it exists.𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Ludwig groaned and allowed his head to fall against the back of the sofa. "Fine. I’m staying."

Political correspondence provided slightly more entertainment. The Emperor had been careful not to summon Ludwig directly, which was probably another result of Celine’s interference. Instead, formal messages arrived requesting information about the Dark Continent.

Ludwig answered most of them.

The first letter asked about Sloth, so Ludwig wrote, "Dead." The second asked about the White Citadel, and he responded with, "Claimed."

The third message was longer and requested the identity of whoever had claimed it. Ludwig answered, "Kaiser."

Another letter arrived two days later. The Emperor apparently wanted clarification on whether Kaiser meant if the dark magic user, the Lich not the person under Ludwig. Meaning if he were serving the empire or claiming it for himself.

Forcing Ludwig to write a fourth response containing a single word: "Yes."

That answer produced a much longer silence. It also probably annoyed the emperor, Ludwig didn’t care.

Eventually, the Emperor sent a carefully worded inquiry regarding the territorial status of the White Citadel and whether the Empire should consider the surrounding region open for settlement or exploration. Ludwig explained that Kaiser had claimed the citadel and an extensive portion of the land around it, then added that attempting to take any of it would be unwise.

The Emperor wisely did not object. He did, however, announce his intention to send an Imperial expedition into the Dark Continent.