《Free Lances》


 Prologue - Getting Out of Bed on the Wrong Foot

    "To the victors, go the spoils~


    For the losers, only soil~


    Only those that lived through the day~


    Gets to spend their mercenary pay~" - Popular tune amongst mercenary companies.


    Avishka Forest


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, southern region


    Western Alcidea


    2nd day, 4th week, 6th month of the year 2 FP.


    "Damn it."


    The raindrops drizzled, as they fell and made their way through the jungle canopy, before they fell upon the small group of bedraggled survivors below on the ground. Some people shifted, covering their wounds from the rain. Others shooed off insects that started to approach them, attracted as they were by the smell of blood and guts.


    "God damn it!"


    Reinhardt swore for only deity knows how many times that afternoon. The large therian man had a few wounds on his figure, which stained his snow-white spotted fur with the deep red of blood, bandaged crudely, clearly a rushed treatment.


    "God motherfucking damn it!!!"


    He swore yet again, before he buried his feline face in his paws, and pondered. He pondered what to do, how to get himself - and the others with him - out of this desperate situation they fell into. How to survive and stay in one piece.


    Just earlier that morning, he and many of his fellow mercenaries had marched together with high hopes. They were the Free Lances mercenary company, one of the best known in Alcidea, and they were employed by the nobles of Knallzog who had attained the honor of launching the first foray into their neighbor, the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz.


    Every one of them had thought it would be an easy job. After all, not even half a year ago, the Holy Kingdom had launched an attack towards a new settlement pioneered by the Unliving to their west. They had suffered near total losses to the retaliation they received instead, and what few survivors remained went home in shame.


    Not unexpectedly, both the neighboring Kingdom of Ezram to its west, and Knallzog to its south, took that opportunity to rub salt in the wound of their hated neighbor. As it was, the group Reinhardt was part of were only the advance forces, reconnaissance in force, so to speak.


    Even so they had encountered barely any resistance as they went through the countryside, and even took Fort Ascher, the southernmost military fort of Theodinaz, with relatively little resistance from the locals.


    None of them had thought of the job as anything more than easy money when they departed from the fort three days ago to do further "reconnaissance" in the surrounding areas. Their group wasn''t the only one, as there were at least a dozen groups, both mercenary and soldierly, spread out to different directions.


    So none of them had expected the ambush that befell them earlier this morning. He now recognized that they had been blinded by hubris, and had grown lax as they faced minimal resistance. They paid for that hubris in blood.


    The ambush that struck them had not just hit them by surprise, but also overwhelmed them with numbers. Their detachment of mercenaries only numbered five hundred or so, half the Free Lances, led by their captain, Ingrid Edelstein herself.


    Reinhardt wasn''t sure about the count, but at least three times as many enemies had attacked them from concealment. Nearly a good quarter of their men had fallen to the opening barrage of arrows, javelins, and rocks, and those who survived soon found themselves beset from all sides.


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    It wasn''t anything like he had ever faced before. Reinhardt had been a mercenary and actively fought since he was fourteen, easily half his life spent on battlefields or heading towards another, yet never had he fought against such crazed opponents.


    Their ambushers were not particularly skilled. They were not well trained. They were not even properly disciplined. Yet they all, men and women both, fought like madmen, as if they feared not death, and fell upon the mercenaries like rabid animals.


    The Free Lances had lost half of their remaining four hundred or so as they forcefully charged and broke through the encirclement, and retreated towards the jungle to their south.


    Even then, their ambushers doggedly pursued, nipping at their heels, and at least another eighty men and women lost their lives before they reached the woods, their pursuers close behind.


    It was then that Ingrid Edelstein made her decision. She tasked Reinhardt, her adopted nephew, to take their wounded as well as the younger members who were still alive, and flee through the woods, back to Fort Ascher.


    The venerable dwarf herself, remained behind with the surviving older veterans, as they formed a rearguard. All those men and women had lived decades as mercenaries, and had long made their peace that they''d likely find death on the battlefield one day.


    Reinhardt had seen his adopted aunt wade through the sea of bodies, her body bathed in blood. The luxurious beard she took pride in tattered, and what was left of it matted to her chest with drying blood. She and the men and women besides her held the line against the tide of bodies that rushed them, buying time for Reinhardt''s group with their lives.


    That was the last he saw of her, and he knew in his heart that he would never see her again in this life.


    His small group, forty-six in total, had run themselves ragged through the jungle, and had not dared to stop for a break until they had run for a few hours, when the wounded amongst them could run no more, and nearly collapsed of exhaustion.


    He had sent a few of their more nimble members, who were in good health, to scout behind them, and only after they reported that there were no signs of pursuers did he give the permission for the group to take a rest.


    More than half of the group were wounded. The rest were young men and women in their early twenties or even younger. At twenty-eight, Reinhardt was already one of the oldest amongst them, and to his horror, he realized that he was in command, as they looked towards him for orders.


    He quickly ordered those who were injured to treat their wounds as best they could, and had a few of the uninjured mercenaries keep watch over their surroundings. Only then had  he sat upon a fallen log, and tended to his own wounds.


    It was fortunate that his wounds were just superficial. Light cuts and slashes that failed to injure deeply, shallow flesh wounds that basically had minimal consequences. Even so, he carefully cleaned the injuries with clean water - four of his group were of the water affinity, so at least they were in no danger of running out of clean water - and wrapped them in bandages.


    He looked around at the ragged group that now looked up to him for leadership, and considered the assets they had left. They had their weapons and armor with them, naturally. None but one of them were injured so badly that they couldn''t fight, as most of those so injured were already swallowed and slaughtered by the mob they fought against.


    Each of them had three days'' worth of emergency rations in their storage artifact, and as his adopted aunt had tossed hers to him before she made her last stand, they also had the supplies sequestered within.


    Put together, they had maybe a week''s worth of rations between them, hopefully enough to allow them to return to Fort Ascher before they ran out of supplies. Right as he thought of it, a feeling of dread passed through Reinhardt.


    If their reconnaissance detachment had been attacked, what of the others? Were the other detachments subjected to similar attacks as well? Might it be that the fort itself had been attacked by their enemies?


    Even as he questioned the possibilities, he prayed - and he was not a religious man - to whatever deities were willing to listen, hoping that his wife and child were safe. His wife Elfriede was a fellow mercenary, and their four year old daughter Erycea was with her.


    Usually they had left Erycea in the care of some of the camp followers when they were out fighting, but the child had taken ill before Reinhardt''s group departed, so Elfriede chose to stay behind to take care of her instead of joining him.


    Now they were both in Fort Ascher, along with the other camp followers and the noncombatant dependents of the company. The fort had kept close to three thousand soldiers to guard against possible incursions, but now Reinhardt wasn''t sure if that would have been enough to stop the madmen he fought against earlier.


    The image was still vivid in his mind, how those madmen had fought with utter disregard for their lives. He still remembered all too well, how one of them had kept coming even after Lianne had pierced them with her spear, until they managed to grab onto her hand and drag her from the formation, where more of the madmen fell on her with reckless abandon.


    Reinhardt was nearby, and had seen everything. He even tried to come to her assistance, but the push of the bodies was too much to overcome, even for one with his prodigious strength. He thought he saw her kill another of the madmen, then a second, before she fell under their blades. Just like that, a friend he had known for years perished before his eyes.


    "Rein?"


    The familiar voice calling his name broke Reinhardt free from his thoughts, and he turned towards the voice to see another of his old friends. Kasimir was a half-orc, his mother one of the rarely seen orcs who chose to wander the world, rather than stay with their tribe.


    He looked awful, with his rough, reddish hair matted to his scalp by the rain, and bandages wrapped around his head. Reinhardt knew that his old friend had many reasons to look awful too. Not only was he very close to Lianne¡­ but his mother was amongst those who joined the suicidal rear guard led by his aunt.


    Kasimir had just lost the girl he loved and his mother in the same afternoon. It would have been a miracle if he felt well after all that.


    "What do we do now?" Kasimir asked with a trembling voice. As his close friend, Reinhardt knew that the half-orc was far more emotional than his gruff appearance suggested, and that he was likely struggling not to cry at the moment.


    "We do what we can," said Reinhardt in reply as he looked his old friend in the eye. "We survive, and try to make our way back to the fort. Fortune willing, the other half of our company did not run into an ambush like we did¡­ hopefully."

 Chapter 1 - Embers of Hope

    "Amongst people in our line of work, hope has always been the best motivation to go on. Hopes for riches to enjoy life with. Hopes of finding fame, maybe cushy employment with some rich nobles, or even hopes of making yourself a noble through deeds of arms. All those helped us mercenaries sustain our spirit, as we lived from one battle to another, selling lives, ours or otherwise, for coin." - Ingrid Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances mercenary company, circa 1 FP.


    Two days had already passed since they escaped from the ambush that had killed the rest of their companions. Reinhardt and the forty-five survivors with him made their way south, towards Fort Ascher. The going was slow, as they dared not take the main roads, and the rugged hills or the dense jungles they had to go through on the way slowed their progress noticeably.


    They had only covered less than half of the previous three-day distance in those two days, and already they saw some unsettling signs. There were armed men and women patrolling the roads, which they avoided with great care along the way.


    At a glance those men and women looked little more than some ragtag militiamen being made to do work the soldiers were too lazy or busy to handle. Reinhardt thought otherwise. He remembered all too well that the horde that had ambushed his group were mostly similarly attired.


    Thanks to the natural talents of the few therian members in his group, they had managed to avoid those patrols without being noticed. The Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz''s beliefs had advocated human supremacy, and other races weren''t welcome in their lands.


    Fortunately that also meant that their soldiers had nobody capable of detecting the presence of others by scent from hundreds of meters away, nor did they have people whose eyes were so sharp, they were practically natural spyglasses.


    Reinhardt''s nose wasn''t the sharpest of the bunch, but it was still far keener than human noses, and twice he had caught patrols from well beyond visual range by the faint scent carried through the winds.


    Hannah had helped notice a few more with her sharp eyes. The young girl - she wasn''t even twenty yet if he remembered right - was a hawk therian, a rather rare breed in these regions. She was a poor combatant, with her fragile bones, but her ability to scout from the skies was priceless to mercenaries like them.


    She had been shot down during the ambush, and had only survived because the others had carried her while they ran - not that hard a feat, given how light she was - and administered to her injuries as best they could.


    Even so, Hannah''s wings were badly injured, as she broke one of them and a leg on her fall as well. Even now, Kasimir mostly carried her around on his back as they tried to return to Fort Ascher.


    Her sharp eyes proved that she was worth all that trouble, as they had allowed the group to evade several patrols without being sighted. Even the few who had grumbled at first - they had lost relatives or loved ones to the ambush - quieted down and thanked her since then.


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    The fact that there were patrols on their way back was horrible news to Reinhardt. It meant that their enemy likely intended to hit the fort as well, and had not wanted any survivors to warn the fort ahead of time. They also made their trek back more difficult by a good bit, forcing the group to take one detour after another.


    In the end, it was dawn of the fifth day after the ambush before they got anywhere near the vicinity of Fort Ascher. Reinhardt stopped in his tracks, as his nose caught a whiff of a scent in the air. He sniffed a few times, before he turned to his group of survivors with a serious look on his face.


    "Smoke," he said with a low voice, which elicited a hiss of anger and concern from the group. That morning, the wind blew from the south, which meant the smoke came from the direction of Fort Ascher. That was definitely not the sort of news any of them hoped for.


    A couple hours later, they saw the fort in the distance. Obvious signs of damage were present on the walls of the fort, and many areas showed signs of a recent outbreak of fire. More damning were the multitude of dead bodies scattered around the fort. The distance was still too far for even Hannah to tell who held the fort at the moment, as they couldn''t see any flags raised from it, but she could tell that the dead bodies were dressed similar to their ambushers.


    Even so, that the fort was so damaged, with parts of it burnt, some of the smoke coming from the inside, meant that the attackers must have managed to get inside before, if they weren''t the ones in control of the fort now, that is. Reinhardt wished to do nothing more than to run for the fort to check the safety of his wife and child, but he forcefully restrained himself.


    The group spread themselves more, as they continued onwards. They moved slower, more cautiously, under the assumption that they might be walking straight to an enemy-held fortification.


    Less than an hour later, probably a few kilometers from the fort, they spotted it. Men and women garbed much like their ambushers had camped by every road that led towards the fortress.


    There were not that many of them, maybe fifty or so in each camp, clearly intended more for warning than to block the road. Despite that, there were too many such camps that there was no way for Reinhardt to bring his group of forty-six past them without being noticed.


    Reinhardt gathered his group in some dense jungle a kilometer or so away from two such camps. He looked at each of their eyes in turn, before he knelt by the ground, and used his innate magic to create a very crude map of the vicinity on the soil.


    "This is where we are," he pointed with one claw. Then he drew a line from their position towards one of the camps, one situated at the mouth of a trail leading into the dense jungle, and made a cross with his extended claw. "This camp is likely our best chance to make a breakthrough and run to the fort. It is partially covered from sight by the jungle, so the nearby camps would likely react late. Our own approach also benefits from more cover as well. Any questions?"


    "What are the odds that the fort has fallen into enemy hands?" asked Kasimir with a glum look on his face. His father was in the fort when they left, as he was an armorer, not a mercenary, and he was worried for his safety.


    "Low. They wouldn''t have set up these camps if they controlled the fort, and it''s also far too impractical if it''s all meant to be a trap," replied Reinhardt quickly. He tried to make his voice sound as level and certain as he could, even as his own heart dreaded the possibilities. He had to project a strong front for his people. "Any other questions?"


    "So we just break our way through, then run? Why not just run from between the camps instead?" asked Nicole, a young girl who only recently joined them as a mercenary. Much like many in the group, her parents had been mercenaries as well, and she had grown up alongside them.


    "Around half in each of those camps had bows with them," said Hannah in reply. "If we just tried to run from between two of the camps, we''d be well within bow range of both camps. That wouldn''t have ended nicely."


    "Thanks, Hannah," said Reinhardt with a nod to the injured girl. "So that''s the plan, boys and girls. We hit fast, we hit hard, then we run before the rest can get to us. Any questions? No? Very well. Prepare yourself for battle."

 Chapter 2 - Breaking Through the Encirclement

    "Generally, it is easier to attack, than to defend. The equation changes tremendously when fortifications come into play, however." - Marven McDougall, Commanding General of the Elmaiya Empire, circa 412 FP.


    "Good gods¡­" muttered Hannah from her perch on Rodney''s back. The young man had his right arm broken during the ambush, and was the only other in their group unable to fight well. Because of that, he was given the task to carry Hannah on his back. The therian girl was slung over his back, tied to him with some ropes so she wouldn''t just fall off. "These people are rank amateurs, aren''t they?"


    Her comment was honestly quite justified. Their group had cautiously made their way towards the camp they targeted, with their few scouts ahead of them to watch for lookouts. Now they were already within a stone''s throw from the camp, and the only thing they ran into was one man who went into the woods to relieve himself.


    Nicole had run into the man and silenced him before he could react, a textbook stab to the kidney while covering his mouth, followed by slitting his throat. Their other scouts reported that the way ahead was clear.


    The camp itself was rather haphazardly set up. Tents pitched in a rather disorderly manner, with only makeshift wooden blockades covering the front and the back. They had not even covered their sides, and other than the few on watch - again, only covering the fort and the road, not their sides - most of the people there lounged or sprawled around all over the camp.


    There was not a semblance of military discipline amongst them, and the camp looked more like a mob than anything. Hannah even saw a couple copulating behind some bushes on the other side of the camp.


    "This is odd," noted Reinhardt after he took a look. The men and women he led had hidden themselves in the dense jungle beside the camp, as they gathered before they launched their attack. "I recall that the ones who ambushed us were more competent than this."


    "Likely a different group, boss?" asked Nicole from beside him. "Or maybe¡­ their commanders were amongst those dead bodies around the fort. I recalled seeing a few that wore proper armor amongst those that ambushed us. There aren''t any here."


    "Might be. Either way, what we''re going to do wouldn''t change," replied Reinhardt with an equally low voice. He was at the very front of their formation, along with the rest of the best fighters in the group, while those who weren''t as skilled were protected in the middle. "Everyone ready? Good. Let''s go fuck these assholes up."


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    They made no noise, even as they suddenly rushed out from the jungle. All the ragtag group of militiamen in the camp noticed were just some rustling in the jungle, which they likely took for some animals passing by.


    When dozens of armed men and women burst out from the jungle, they were caught by complete surprise. The first screams for help were not even sounded until after ten or so of them were cut down where they stood - or lay - by the experienced mercenaries.


    Reinhardt stood at the very front of the group, his large, muscular frame drawing attention to him, which a couple of their smaller members used to hide behind him and strike by surprise.


    He roared as loudly as he could as he charged, a calculated risk. If his roar made the other nearby camps think that it was merely an animal attack, then they were likely to delay their response, thinking it a minor matter.


    His strong arms wielded his polemace expertly, as one strike directly shattered the wooden shield one of the men held in front of him, and the man''s bones as well as the strike continued unabated. He struck another on the chin with the backswing, the strike crushing the woman''s jawbone and dropping her where she stood.


    Another older man rushed at him with a rusty hatchet in hand. The look in his eyes reminded Reinhardt all too well of the fearless lunatics that had ambushed his group, and he kicked the man down even as he blocked the blow from the hatchet and another man''s sword with his polemace.


    Then he pushed the sword away, and a swing of his polemace shattered his opponent''s head, sending blood-drenched bits of bones and scalp, as well as gooey brain matter all over the place. The splatter seemed to shock the three other militiamen behind the dead man, as they halted for a moment.


    Reinhardt took that moment to step on the other, fallen man, and drove the spike which capped the other end of his polemace through the man''s skull, right between his eyes.


    By now, his usually snow-white spotted fur was mostly red, drenched as he was in blood, and as he roared again, baring his sharp fangs for all to see, for the first time he saw an intimidated look on his opponents. Whatever madness had gripped them and made them so fearless seemed to be broken by the slaughter, and they actually tried to turn and run.


    Reinhardt didn''t allow them to.


    One vertical swing of his polemace struck the escaping man in the middle. The solid metal weapon drove the man''s head down into his torso, as his spine crumbled under the strike. The man fell to his knees, his neck practically gone and his head embedded halfway into his torso, as dead as one can be.


    Nicole slipped out from behind Reinhardt and skewered one of the other runners with the short spear she favored. He saw how her stab expertly went between ribs and out through her target''s chest, before she pulled her spear back out and stabbed the man''s throat once more from behind to be sure.


    The last escapee was already a bit further by then, but even she wasn''t spared. She had almost reached the jungle on the other side when an axe hurled through the air and embedded itself into her skull from behind. The woman dropped dead on the spot, right in front of two pairs of surprised eyes.


    It was the couple in the woods that Hannah noticed before they struck. They took one look at the carnage in the camp, and wordlessly turned around and fled into the jungle. A couple of the mercenaries looked questioningly at Reinhardt, and asked whether they ought to chase them down.


    "Leave them. We spent too much time already," he said curtly as he stored his bloody weapon back into his storage. By now he doubted the other nearby camps haven''t sent people to check. "We make a run for the fort. Whether you make it or not¡­ will depend on how fast you run."

 Chapter 3 - Running with Lives on the Line

    "When all else fails? Get the fuck out of there as fast as your legs can take you, you nitwit!" - Stratagem 48 from Oscar Dowfrey''s "Forty-Eight Stratagems of War".


    "Go go go! Run like your lives depend on it!" Reinhardt yelled as his group of survivors started to run from the massacred camp towards Fort Ascher. It was a few kilometers away. Hopefully not too much to ask of his group.


    He himself was the last man out from the camp, and as he left he noticed the sounds of people running towards the camp, from both sides. From his right - the same direction that the lucky couple had fled to earlier - he even heard yells and commotion, and they were coming closer with every moment.


    Reinhardt wasted no time, and as he ran away, he fluidly dropped down to his hands and feet, and transitioned to a loping gait on all fours. He was a full-blooded therian, his body far more akin to an animal, despite his humanoid build. He was perfectly capable of running on all fours faster than a horse can run at full gallop, even if it wasn''t for long.


    He periodically looked back as he ran, and noticed that there were two groups of men and women much like those they had just massacred in the distance, some of which were pointing at his escaping group. Some of them also lifted bows and shot arrows their way.


    That just made him scoff. The distance between his group and those archers were already far, far enough that any but the best archers would have difficulty hitting a stationary target. He paid it little heed, just checking back from time to time to make sure no lucky archer happened to aim their arrow in his way.


    Moments later, when the arrows were still in flight, he caught up with the rear of his group. Rodney and Hannah were at the very rear, as the young man - Reinhardt recalled that he had some dwarven blood in him - was rather short, and short legged. Not the fastest runner in their group.


    At least he didn''t seem troubled in the slightest by Hannah''s weight on his back - even if said girl was very light due to how her kind was built - and he even had the time to snap off a quick salute to Reinhardt when he overtook them.


    The first wave of arrows fell upon them shortly after that. Most of the shots went wide, which was to be expected with the distances involved. Even so, Reinhardt heard a pained grunt from behind, and he turned his head to look.


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    He saw Rodney stumble and crash to his knees, with an arrow protruding from behind his right shin. He had fallen forward from his momentum, and did his best to land on his chest, so as not to accidentally injure Hannah on his back.


    Worse, a second flight of arrows was already on its way. He noticed immediately that these ones were more tightly grouped, more accurate compared to the first shot. Reinhardt drew to a halt, and pivoted around as he ran back to where Rodney fell as fast as his limbs could take him.


    Even though he was one of the fastest runners in the company, he still failed to reach them before the second wave of arrows fell. Most still went wide, but at least half a dozen accurately fell on Rodney and Hannah.


    Reinhardt saw how Hannah twisted around on Rodney''s back, then in desperation used her one good wing to shield them both. He winced in sympathy as he saw most of the arrows land on her wing, with another landing on her leg, but breathed a sigh in relief when she moved her perforated wing with obvious pain, still alive.


    "Get on my back! Quick!" yelled Reinhardt as he stopped next to Rodney and Hannah. He strained his muscles to do so, but managed to hoist them onto his back. Then he went off running with the two on his back. "Hold on tight! And don''t talk! You''ll bite your tongue!"


    Rodney fortunately got the message, and held on as best he could with his one good arm. More arrows fell just a few paces behind them as they left, Reinhardt running much faster than Rodney ever could, even with their combined weight on his back.


    Fortunately, that was the last of their troubles. They were out from arrow range soon after, what few shots sent their way by dogged pursuers going wide. Their pursuers chose not to chase after them, as they reached the fort not half an hour later.


    "Who goes there!?" asked an armored dwarven soldier who peeked his head out from behind the crenellations. His armor had seen some obvious abuse, and his voice just sounded tired to Reinhardt.


    "Free Lances! First Company!" He shouted back from below the wall, unheeding of the many crossbows he knew were aimed at him from those crenellations. "We have injured! Requesting permission to enter!"


    Nobody answered him for a while, but not a few minutes later, the gate was opened, and his group was carefully ushered in, while dwarven soldiers in dented armor kept watch behind them.


    Reinhardt had some difficulty lowering Rodney and Hannah from his back, but a couple of the dwarven soldiers noticed, and helped untie Hannah from Rodney''s back, and laid her gently on a spread mat. They then lifted Rodney off Reinhardt''s back and placed him next to Hannah on another mat.


    "Fuck, girl," said Rodney when he got a glimpse of Hannah''s condition. The therian girl was alive, but she had an arrow in the side of her left thigh, and another half a dozen that perforated her one good wing. Fortunately due to the distance those arrows had lost enough momentum that they failed to go further after they went through her wing.


    "If we both get outta dis shit alive I''mma take ye to the best healer money can buy and get them wings fixed, I swear by me granddaddy''s hairy ballsack. I owe ye one," he said, knowing all too well that if Hannah wasn''t on his back and hadn''t shielded him, those arrows would be in his body right now.


    Reinhardt had left them shortly after they were lifted off his back. He walked towards where the secondary barracks of the fort was located, and saw with building dread that the building was damaged, with signs of heavy fighting around it.


    He lost his patience by then, and barged into the building. He had to know if his wife and child were all right, and all other matters flew out of his mind like trash being taken out.


    "Elfriede! Erycea!" He yelled with worry as he entered the barracks.

 Chapter 4 - A Sigh in Relief

    "Fear not the grim reaper,


    Nor the bloody cleaver,


    For compared to losing those,


    Whose love and care you chose,


    Mere death would be cleaner." - The Lone Soldier''s Limerick, dated from before written history, passed down by word of mouth through the ages.


    "Rein? You''re back?" answered a voice from further inside the building, at which point Reinhardt''s dread finally petered out, and he sighed deeply with relief. He walked quickly towards where the voice came from, but she came out and met him before he reached there.


    Elfriede looked as if she had been through some rough times. Her usually neat, straight hair was frazzled, and he could see some bandages peeking through the collar of the tunic she wore. Her left arm was supported in a sling, and wrapped with many bandages, all of which showed the color of seeping blood on them.


    Reinhardt didn''t say anything more, and instead enveloped his wife in a warm embrace, if carefully so as not to disturb her wounds. He felt Elfriede hug him back with her one good arm in return, and they just stood silently there for a moment.


    It was a rather odd, contrasting sight for some. Reinhardt was a full-blooded therian, with features that closely resembled a large predatory feline. His large body - a bit over two meters in height - and powerful, muscular frame was covered with white, spotted fur, and his long, thickly furred, fluffy tail swished to and fro behind him in joy and relief.


    In contrast, Elfriede was a human. She was rather tall for a woman, a meter seventy-five or thereabouts, with a lithe, slender build akin to that of a dancer. Her straw-colored hair reached to her shoulders, yet what most would be drawn to were her eyes. Her pupils were a silvery gray, and always looked unfocused, as if she was looking into nowhere.


    When they embraced like that, it looked almost as if she was being swallowed into his fur, which was thicker and fluffier than most would have expected. He looked almost twice her size on such close comparison, even.


    "Are you all right?" asked Reinhardt after they finally parted from the embrace. In his heart he knew that was a silly question. She was standing right in front of him, yet her injuries truly worried him, and told much about how bad the situation must have been at the fort. "Is Erycea all right?"


    "Cool your head. We''ll live," replied Elfriede, which elicited another sigh of relief from her husband. While he couldn''t help but worry for her and their daughter''s safety, he also knew that they were in good hands.


    After all, Elfriede was an even better fighter than Reinhardt himself, to the point that out of ten spars he would count himself lucky if he managed to win one. When he considered that the fighting at the fort was apparently so bad to the point that even she was injured so, he was somewhat glad she had stayed to look after their daughter.


    "Wait. What do you mean, you''ll live?" he asked, as he finally caught onto the unusual wording of Elfriede''s answer. She didn''t answer him, and instead led him towards a room further in the back of the building, and opened the door.


    Inside the room, Reinhardt saw their four year old daughter Erycea, lying on a bed. She sniffed the air as the door opened, and slowly raised herself to a sitting position. Even from where he stood Reinhardt noticed the still-healing bruise on his little girl''s shoulder and forehead, as well as how her torso was bandaged rather tightly, and how she favored her left side.


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    "Papa?" asked his little girl as she looked at him with bleary eyes. Apparently she was sleeping when he came, and his arrival had woken her up.


    Reinhardt watched as his little daughter gingerly stepped down from the bed. He winced in sympathy when she winced in pain from her obviously hurting side, and he went to hug her before she could walk much further.


    "My sweet little girl¡­" he said as he tenderly, carefully hugged his daughter. Erycea was large for her age, around the size of a six or seven year old human child. Her mixed heritage meant that she physically grew faster, especially when compared to children from most other races.


    Her features mostly resembled his, with that strong resemblance to a predatory feline, though it had traces that reminded one of a kitten instead on her still immature face. Her figure was a bit closer to her mother''s however, with longer legs and a shorter torso, though he knew she could - and still preferred - to run on all fours like he did. Both of their tails wagged to and fro in joy as they embraced.


    Unlike him, Erycea had hair instead of fur on the top of her head. Her hair was the same snow-white shade as her spotted fur, and grew down to the small of her back. Reinhardt gently caressed his little girl''s hair with one paw-like hand, then rubbed her head gently, something the girl always liked.


    "Who did this?" asked Reinhardt as a hard edge leaked into his voice. Now that he looked closer he saw another bruise on Erycea''s cheek, and two of her fangs were missing. Sure, they were milk fangs and she would grow another later, but the mere thought that someone had hurt his child lit the embers of rage that smoldered in his heart once more.  "Which bastard did this to you?"


    "T''was a bad lady," said his daughter with a little sulk. The look on her little face when she sulked like that made it hard for Reinhardt to refrain from petting her again, but he held on until Erycea finished her words. "They hurt mama. I tried to help, but the bad lady kicked me."


    "You''re my brave little girl," he said as he gave her face a lick with his rough tongue, which made her purr in satisfaction. Even that elicited a wince out of her though, as the action apparently strained her injured side somewhat. "Go rest now. Sleep well, so you''ll heal faster."


    Reinhardt gently carried his daughter and laid her down on the bed once more, and spent a moment petting her head, before he draped the blanket over her. It didn''t take long before Erycea fell into another slumber, and both he and Elfriede quietly left the room, closing the door as quietly as they could behind them.


    "So¡­ tell me. What happened?" He asked once they closed the door and walked a bit further so their voice wouldn''t disturb the sleeping Erycea. Reinhardt hadn''t noticed when he entered, because his wife and child were all that was on his mind, but now that he took a second look?


    He noticed that many of the camp followers who shared the building together, as well as some of the older children, sported injuries of varying seriousness. Some people he knew were missing as well, whether it was for more mundane reasons or worse, he was not certain.


    "They hit us hard yesterday. Broke into the fortress even," said Elfriede with a completely even tone. "Fuckers didn''t seem to know - or even care - about the unspoken rules. The bastards hit us rather badly, though fortunately it was the Legion''s folks that found it out the hard way, not ours."


    "Since they clearly didn''t give a shit about respecting us, we took the fight back to them. A whole squad tried to barge in here, so I faced them," she continued, with a wince on her face. "One of the sons of a whore was good, got me a couple times while I was dealing with his shit-eating friends. Then next thing I knew, Ery jumped in and had her jaws clamped on his throat."


    "Ery did what!?" Reinhardt said with utter incredulity in his voice.


    "Erycea earned her first kill yesterday. Tore the shithead''s throat right off," stated Elfriede nonchalantly, as if it wasn''t her four year old daughter who had just killed a man the day before. "He probably didn''t think much of her. Just a kid, he thought. At least until he realized that she didn''t have fangs for show. Serves the asshole right."


    "What about her injury?" asked Reinhardt with a more subdued voice.


    "Another of the buggers kicked her off the crapsack. All that did was to cause the git to be missing a large-arse chunk off his throat though," said Elfriede with more edge in her voice. She was just as doting as Reinhardt was to their daughter, so he could guess her reaction to that. "The cunt dressed like one of their officers¡­ so I caught the snatch¡­ alive. Only chopped all of the twat''s limbs. Ol'' Harscape ought to be interrogating the bloody mink, or trying to, at least."


    "Doubt the bitch''ll spill, though," added Elfriede in the end, almost as an afterthought. "The shitstain''s got the looks of a fucking fanatic. Those types ain''t squealers. What about you? How are you back so soon?"


    "It''s¡­ a long story," said Reinhardt with a dejected sigh. "Want to come with? I''ll be giving old Harscape the report. Might as well listen in."


    "Works for me."

 Chapter 5 - A Glimpse of the Situation at Large

    "Information is not ammunition, but it''s sometimes better than some. Best is to have both, though." - Old dwarven saying.


    Ten minutes later, Reinhardt and Elfriede were in the temporary office used by Graf Angus Harscape, ruler of the northernmost region of Knallzog which bordered Theodinaz, and the overall commander of this first incursion.


    Despite being situated underground - the dwarven engineers were quick at work to prepare some underground quarters for their officers - the office was bright, courtesy to an enchanted plate that emitted light affixed to the ceiling. Otherwise, the room was as spartan as it got, with only an armor rack and weapons stand besides the Graf''s low desk and bedroll.


    All three of them sat cross-legged on some woven mats that served as their seat, right on the ground. Reinhardt had just related his tale of what had happened to the first company he was in to the old dwarf, and now he browsed the map spread on the table between them in contemplation.


    "Bad news indeed," he said with a sigh after he pondered the map for a while, placing a white token on the location on the map where the first company of the Free Lances was ambushed and decimated. "And please accept my sincere condolences for your loss, lad. Good work staying alive and getting your people back here."


    "Thank you, your grace," said Reinhardt with a nod. He noticed that the old Graf looked visibly aged compared to the last time they met, and obviously tired, as if he had not slept much of late. "Perchance, may I inquire on the situation we''re in now? And what exactly happened to the fort? I saw the damage on my way here."


    "It''s looking pretty grim, lad," replied the Graf with a sigh. He had been old friends with Reinhardt''s late aunt Ingrid, with rumors that they were even intimately involved in their youth, so he was used to calling Reinhardt informally. "We''ve gotten messages from four of our own detachments as well as the Brewers, that they too faced ambushes like you did. Of the rest, we had no news whatsoever yet, but it''s safe to assume that everyone faced an ambush along the way."


    "The reports we got mentioned various sizes, the 7th regulars got hit by a force as large as what hit your first company, and only barely escaped. The rest reported smaller groups of ambushers," elaborated the old dwarf as he barely stopped his hand from scratching a bandaged wound on his forehead. "They are returning here, but reported more resistance on the way back, since their larger groups couldn''t hide as easily as yours did. We might see some of them by the end of the week with luck."


    "Oh, and drop the formality, lad. I owe your late aunt too much, and it''s just the three of us in here anyway," added Angus with a tired smile. "Notwithstanding the debt I owe your wife for yesterday, that is. Without her help we might have lost the fort by now."


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    "About that, uncle Angus," asked Reinhardt as he glanced between the old dwarf and his wife. "What exactly happened yesterday? This is the first time I even saw Elfriede injured that badly, and Ery was hurt too!"


    "They struck the fort with overwhelming force," stated the old dwarf simply as he looked Reinhardt in the eye. "There were at least ten thousand of them that hit us in a mad rush yesterday at dawn. You know as well as I do that we only had three thousand soldiers in the fort."


    "And then?"


    "They breached the gates before noon," replied Elfriede from beside him. "Many of them went and struck at us. The Vanguard Legion''s dependents had major losses, as they were the ones who took the first hit. We saw what happened, and didn''t take it quietly."


    "She led the camp followers and other dependents of the mercenary groups left in the fort to fight back, and it was with their help that we managed to turn the tables and pushed the enemy back," added Angus to confirm what Elfriede said. "Right now, we have only five hundred or so soldiers who are well enough to fight, with maybe another thousand if we count the dependents willing to help. Our enemy lost most of their leaders and barely had two thousand left when they retreated."


    "There''s forty-four including me in my group who can fight, two badly injured. We also took out maybe fifty of them on our way here," said Reinhardt in reply. "I assume we bunker down and wait for other groups to trickle back then?"


    "They do not have what it takes to try for another push, but we also don''t know if they had reinforcement or more ambushes waiting for us. We have far too many wounded on top of that," answered the Graf with a frown. "Staying put and hoping that some of our detachments manages to return would be our best bet at this moment."


    After a little bit of small talk about watch shifts and locations with the Graf, they were dismissed. Together the husband and wife walked out of the underground complex in silence, and they only talked once they were back out under the sun.


    "Aunt Ingrid is gone, huh?" said Elfriede, her gaze vacant and looking at nowhere in particular as usual. It was a sight that some of his friends often called eerie, but Reinhardt was used to it, since after all, his wife had been blind since birth. "What would it mean for us? For the Free Lances?"


    "I''m¡­ not sure, dear," admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. He himself was not sure of the future, as much of it depended on whether the second company survived or not, and in what shape if they did. "We''ll probably discuss it when and if the second company returns. It''s a decision we''d need to make together."


    "Sal and Gr¨¹n should be fine, I think. Those two aren''t the sort to die stupidly," replied Elfriede, in a bout of self-assurance. Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr were her best friends since before she met him, and both of them were with the second company''s detachment.


    "By the way, how is that injury of yours?" Reinhardt asked with some worry.


    "Nothing too bad¡­ I just tore some muscles because I supposedly ''overexerted an already injured limb'', or that''s what the old quack said," answered Elfriede with a frown. "Should heal up within the week, she said."


    "Wait, why isn''t Oliver the one taking care of your wound?" asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. The only healers in the fort were those attached to the army, as the mercenaries had brought theirs with their detachments. Oliver was the young life-affinity prodigy that served under the Graf, while the "old quack" Elfriede referred to was an old nature-affinity mage. "Even if you''re not part of the army, you being the best fighter here ought to give you some priority for healing."


    "Oliver took a bad hit to the noggin'' yesterday," she replied. "Kid''s still out cold, haven''t woken up at all since yesterday, so the old quack''s pretty much the best we got right now."


    "Well¡­ shit."


    "Shit indeed."

 Side Story 1 - Elfriedes Day (Part 1)

    "The worst possible thing you could ever do while hunting is to hurt a beast''s cub. That will more likely than not result in a rampaging mother beast out for your blood, all semblance of survival instincts thrown aside." - An old hunter''s advice.


    Fort Ascher


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, southern region


    Western Alcidea


    6th day, 4th week, 6th month of the year 2 FP.


    "Fucking shit!" cursed Elfriede as she listened to the battle outside being relayed by an observer from a window in the secondary barracks that housed the camp followers and other dependents of the Free Lances mercenary company. "And it had to bloody rain too, at that."


    Outside the window, was a scene of carnage, as the predominantly dwarven soldiers of Knallzog fought against a literal horde of what looked to be local militia. Normally, such a fight would have gone one-sidedly to the soldiers, but this wasn''t normal circumstances.


    For one, pretty much most of those militiamen were fanatical zealots, unafraid of death in their pursuit to be "worthy" in the eyes of their so-called God-King. Making things worse, there were supposedly at least ten thousand of those fanatical lunatics besieging the fort, if not more.


    Elfriede, much like the rest of the Free Lances, were part of the first expedition sent by Knallzog to forcefully reconnoiter their neighboring country of Theodinaz, which was a long-time enemy with a long history of hostilities.


    Said first expedition consisted of the forces Knallzog managed to deploy in haste, meant to probe the enemy nation''s defenses, and to establish a forward base should it prove feasible. Their hated neighbor had taken massive losses not half a year ago, and they had been eager to capitalize on that.


    The fifteen thousand men and women of the first expedition force were mostly soldiers from the forces of the northern nobles, those near the border with Theodinaz. In the meantime, a greater main army was being assembled in the capital city of Knallgant and was scheduled to catch up to the advance forces in a month.


    Out of those fifteen thousand, eleven thousand belonged to the soldiers led by the various nobles. Their overall commander was Graf Angus Harscape, who was the highest ranked noble in the north.


    The remaining four thousand were mercenary troops belonging to three large companies. Barnaby''s Brewers was the largest of the three, as they sported three full companies of six hundred well-trained men and women each.


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    Also present was the Vanguard Legion, a collective of many smaller outfits that banded together in order to tackle larger jobs. They counted two full companies, a thousand and two hundred men and women, to their name.


    Elfriede herself was part of the Free Lances, which comprised of two short companies of five hundred each. Normally, she would be out in the fields, by her husband''s side, but not a week ago their young daughter was taken ill, so she had remained at the fort to take care of her, while her husband was out on further missions.


    She had expected to just miss out on what was supposed to be an easy reconnaissance mission. She had not expected ten thousand fanatics to swarm the fort they were in at the crack of dawn.


    Much like most mercenary companies, the three companies that were part of the expedition brought their camp followers and dependents with them. All those had stayed in the fort, while the fighting men and women went out to earn their pay.


    There were at least five thousand of them between the three companies, which was rather few for the four thousand mercenaries, because the Brewers were known to only bring those who served a function to the company. Their dependents were left behind in Knallzog as was the norm for them, as they only ever worked for the predominantly dwarven nation, effectively functioning as an irregular and unofficial part of their army.


    The Vanguard Legion and the Free Lances both brought their dependents along, as neither companies had permanent bases. The rest of their camp followers were their blacksmiths, armorers, cooks and prostitutes, and all other jobs an army on the move might have need of.


    "How''s it looking out there, Friede?" asked an old woman from behind her. She noticed old Ursula, whose grandchildren were part of the company''s mercenaries, and served as a cook herself, approaching her. The old woman was rather hard on hearing and didn''t catch what their observer relayed of the battle outside.


    Elfriede had not watched the battle herself because there would not have been a point to do so. She was blind from birth, and navigated the world by a combination of sound and the movement of wind. As a wind affinity mage she could sense the fine movement of wind around her, but that ability did not extend that far, only ten meters at most, if she were to maintain it comfortably.


    "Pretty bad," she replied to the old woman with a shake of her head. "They''re close to breaching the gates, and still outnumber the soldiers here by at least twice."


    "Do you think¡­ that they might attack us as well?" asked Ursula with trepidation in her voice. It was an unwritten rule of war not to attack non-combatants of the enemy side, such as a mercenary group''s camp followers and dependents. Such a rule was not always followed, but most of the time, it was adhered to.


    "I don''t know¡­ We''re dealing with a bunch of fanatics here. I wouldn''t put anything past them if they thought their so-called God-King wanted it done," replied Elfriede with another shake of her head. "Have everyone keep a weapon nearby¡­ just in case."


    Elfriede went to her room - she had merited a private room rather than had to share the bunks with most of the rest, both because she was an active member of the company and because she was caring for a sick child the past few days - and armed herself.


    She only wore light armor, a suit of long-sleeved gambeson, thin and light, yet made of many interwoven layers of good quality fabric. Her two swords - double-edged swords with blades halfway between a shortsword and a longsword in length, and a sharp spike as the pommel - were sheathed in crossed sheaths behind the small of her back.


    Elfriede told her four year old daughter, who had only recently recovered from her illness to be good, and to stay in the room, while she walked out. She noticed that most every adult - and some of the older kids - in the building kept a knife or cudgel nearby, and nodded in satisfaction.


    She hid herself on the second floor, where she would not be noticed by people entering the building, but could jump down to drop onto people coming in through the front door, and waited.


    Elfriede hoped that her blades would not need to be unsheathed that day, but at the same time, she prepared herself, in case they were needed.

 Side Story 2 - Elfriedes Day (Part 2)

    "As cruel as wars might be, there remained some unwritten rules that were generally observed in conflicts of this day and age. Chief amongst them were to avoid attacking non-combatants, whether they be civilians just trying their best to live through the conflict, or your enemy''s dependents.


    Those who ignored these conventions, tend to be ostracized by other nations, seen as uncivilized brutes, and not rarely, even attacked and exterminated by their neighbors with extreme prejudice.


    Someone who had done such atrocities once, could always do it again after all." - Excerpt from "History of Modern Warfare", Circa 12 FP.


    "They breached the gates!" announced Ayrie from her perch by the uppermost window of the building. The nine year old girl was a quarter-elf, her half-elf father one of the long-time camp followers of the company, serving as a master armor crafter.


    She was chosen to watch the ongoing battle in the fort outside and report it to the rest because she inherited some of an elf''s sharp eyesight, and thus was the best suited for it. That, and should the fighting reach them, at least she would be in a relatively safe place up there.


    Elfriede crouched below the girl, a bit to the side, next to an opening on the second floor, which was there to accommodate the closest staircase to the front door. From her position there, people entering from the front door would not notice her, and she could drop down from literally on top of them.


    "Keep us updated," said Elfriede from her position. The battle was still too far away for her senses to notice much, but the sounds of the tumult outside still reached her sensitive ears nonetheless. "It''ll be good if they hold onto the conventions¡­ but if they don''t¡­"


    "Don''t you worry so much, Friede," said Ursula from beside her. Just to be on the safe side, the dependents of the Free Lances had gathered the younger children on the second floor, with the elderly people guarding the staircases. Even an old cook like Ursula was part of the efforts, as she had a hefty wooden rolling pin in her hand. "Even if they come for us, we''re no civvies wet behind the ears. We''ve been living in warzones for most of our lives."


    "We will make them regret it if they come for us."


    On the main floor itself, all the younger and physically fit ones, including some of the older children, were gathered. They kept to the sides of the buildings, and had makeshift armor and whatever could serve as a weapon right next to them.


    If the conventions were adhered to, that would be fine. They would negotiate safe passage, or at least terms for ransom should the soldiers defending the fort lose the battle. On the other hand, should a blade be raised at them, they would respond in kind.


    "By the deities!" yelled Ayrie from her perch by the upper window. That window was only there for ventilation purposes, and less for actually looking to the outside. The young girl had to climb a ladder to reach it, and stood on its rungs as she peeked out from the open window. "They''re attacking the Legion''s people! They''re butchering them!"


    "Fuck," cursed Elfriede wholeheartedly when she heard what Ayrie said. The Vanguard Legions had even more dependents and young children than the Free Lances, and she didn''t want to think of the implications.


    Either way, the Legion''s dependents being attacked meant that they themselves would likely be on the receiving end of the same treatment soon. Some commands were quickly relayed, and everybody on the first floor wore their makeshift armor and grabbed whatever weapon they could find.


    "Some of them are headed our way!" reported Ayrie from her perch up high. Nervousness was audible in the young girl''s voice, which Elfriede did not blame the girl for. This would be the first time combat is a real, visceral thing for the young girl, instead of just some distant event. "Looks like some of them got some sort of fancy armo- Gah!"


    Elfriede sensed the arrow as it sliced through the air, but due to the angle involved it was too sudden, and too fast that she had not had enough time to warn Ayrie above. Even so, she was already moving when the young girl fell from the ladder, and caught her relatively gently before she hit the floor.


    An arrow protruded from Ayrie''s left eye, and the girl was clutching the injured eye, crying from the pain. She had been fortunate, the arrow that struck her had a broad-headed fleshcutter arrowhead, the sort used for hunting animals, not for war.


    That same broad head failed to punch through and was stuck in her eye socket. Had it been an armor-piercing bodkin instead, Ayrie would have died as the arrow would have gone into her brain.


    One of the elderly men on the second floor quickly rushed to the injured girl, and carefully removed the arrow from her face, before he did what he could for the wound. They had no healer with them, just some herbal poultices and similar, but they did what they could.


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    Meanwhile, Elfriede crouched like a predator stalking prey by the opening, her anger ignited. Whoever did that just now, would pay for it when she got her hands on them.


    She did not have to wait long. Not five minutes later, someone kicked open the front door of the building, and she sensed the group of men and women even before they entered the building with weapons drawn, and cried out "kill the heretics" and other somesuch slogans.


    Elfriede noticed right away that these were not the common militia sort Ayrie described attacking the fort. The men and women below wore some fine chain shirts over gambeson, and had finely made weapons. Definitely not militiamen, who usually just went with whatever was at hand.


    She allowed the first twenty or so in - those immediately found themselves mobbed by the waiting people inside the building - and jumped down on the next batch, to hold the entrance and cut the flow of reinforcements.


    Elfriede landed right on top of a surprised man, and her blades flashed even as she dropped to a crouch with her knee pressed against the back of the man''s neck. The impact from her landing broke his neck, while she ignored the bruise it caused to her knee.


    The two soldiers in front of her gurgled, as they clutched their slit throats while Elfriede calmly stood up, nonchalantly driving the spikes on her blades'' pommels into the back of the neck of another two soldiers behind her before they could turn around.


    Those two had quick, near instantaneous deaths, probably never even knew what hit them, whereas the two that had their throats slit were damned to a much slower, agonizing death. They would slowly suffocate, as their lungs were flooded with their own blood.


    She then went on a rampage, her twin blades flashing left and right, as she massacred the next dozen soldiers to force their way inside. Throats were slit, while a lucky few found faster deaths as she punched the spikes on her pommels through their skull. Their chainshirts had covered their torso well, so Elfriede could only aim at other spots.


    Even while she fought, she kept watch of the overall situation. Thankfully, since she relied on her magical senses to begin with, that meant she did not have to take her attention off whoever she was fighting. The first batch of soldiers she let through was busy as they were swarmed by an angry mob. Only half of them were left, as others were dragged down and lynched to death already.


    That was when someone who was actually troublesome stepped in.


    Elfriede noticed him right away. Just the fact that the man wore a solid metal breastplate singled him out from the crowd. He attacked her with two others, his two compatriots trying to distract her while he went for his strikes.


    While the two compatriots of the man were not that much trouble, the man himself was. His strikes prevented Elfriede from just making short work of his two compatriots first, and a couple times, he even landed hits on her.


    A gash in her gambeson already opened up near her abdomen, while a couple of bleeding wounds scored her left arm, from when she pushed it to strike at one of them, slicing one of her opponent''s eyes in exchange of the wounds she took on her arm.


    Seeing her wounded encouraged her opponent, and they pushed at her harder, while some other soldiers trickled around them and held back the rest of the people in the building. Elfriede had a harder time with a wounded arm, and a few times, blades scored her flesh, even though she finally managed to finish off one of her opponents.


    Both remaining men swung their swords at her and she blocked it with her own blades. She winced as she felt the blade chip, but there was little option at that point. Both men pushed down on her, as they attempted to overpower her.


    They were pushing hard at her when a ball of white spotted fur landed on the head of the man who gave Elfriede the most trouble.


    With her senses, she naturally noticed what - or rather, who - it was. She had noticed her daughter watching her fight from the opening above since a while ago. She had not expected the little half-breed girl to jump down and try to aid her, however.


    Erycea, her little girl, clawed the man''s face with her sharp claws as she landed on him, which lacerated both of the man''s eyes. The man had just opened his mouth to scream when the little girl opened her mouth wide and sunk her sharp fangs into his throat, which his breastplate had not covered.


    The man had dropped his sword in surprise, and stumbled back as he tried to pry the girl off his throat with his hands. That left Elfriede freed from one of her opponents. She had not wasted that chance.


    She pushed aside her opponent''s sword with one blade, while her other blade slashed through the last man''s throat, a slice so deep the man was nearly decapitated. Then she turned around, the other man had fallen on his back in his struggle to dislodge the girl from his throat.


    Elfriede sensed it when another person with a more ornate breastplate stepped into the room and kicked her daughter away from the man. She heard her daughter yelp in surprise and pain, the cracking sound when the metal boot struck her daughter''s side and sent her daughter flying.


    She was not one to rage, no. Elfriede was one of those people whose anger manifested in a cold, silent fury. It was in utter silence that she charged the woman in ornate armor that kicked her daughter.


    It was with extreme prejudice that Elfriede literally dismembered the woman, slicing off both arms at the elbow, and both legs by the knees. The mother in her wanted to just kill the woman right then and there, but the logical part of her realized that the woman was likely a leader of the enemy''s side. Those were always worth catching alive.


    The fight in the building had mostly quieted down by then, the soldiers inside mobbed to death by the "harmless" elderly, women, and children they ran into. A group of the fitter men and women barred the door for her, while Elfriede went to her daughter, who Ursula was now looking after.


    "How is she?" She asked with some obvious dread in her voice.


    "That kick broke a couple ribs," stated Ursula as the old woman gently checked Erycea''s injury. The little girl was quiet, clearly in pain, yet she gritted her teeth rather than cry out. Her mouth was still bloodied, as when she was kicked away, she had not relinquished her bite, and a chunk of the man''s throat was torn away as a result. That man was busy suffocating to death right now. "She also lost a couple of her fangs, but they''re milk fangs so they should grow back with time. I don''t think her life''s in any danger, though."


    Elfriede breathed a sigh of obvious relief at those words, and knelt by her little daughter. She gently rubbed Erycea''s head and planted a kiss on her forehead, before she talked to the girl with a smile on her face. "You did well, girl. Now stay here, and rest. Mama will go take out the trash for a bit."


    With a nod from her daughter, Elfriede stood up and turned away, though not before she asked some of the older dependents to look after her daughter for her.


    She herself gathered those who wished to fight, and led them out of the building. They were going to take the fight to their enemy instead.


    "Oh, and keep that cunt alive. Ol'' Harscape would pay a pretty penny for her. Just roast up those wounds to stop the bleeding," said Elfriede as an afterthought on her way out.

 Side Story 3 - Elfriedes Day (Part 3)

    "Too often people took those whose trade does not involve violence as weak, easily subdued, just sheep to be sheared. People also forgot all too often that a cornered rat would even bite back at a cat." - Old folk saying.


    When Elfriede led the men and women willing to fight with her - not all of them, as some remained behind to guard those who cannot fight - she found that the situation in the fort had deteriorated into a mess.


    Naturally, she had not seen it with her own sightless eyes, nor could she sense the entire area of the fort with her magical senses. She just used a far simpler method, namely having someone with sharp eyesight take a look around and tell her of the situation.


    Ylisera served that role for her. The young elf - barely one hundred fifty, practically still a teenager by her race''s measures - who worked as one of the company''s contracted prostitutes definitely had the sharp eyesight needed.


    She was also very deadly with a blade, as evidenced by the long, thin knife normally used for cutting fish she held with a reverse grip in her left hand. Half the length of the knife''s blade was dyed scarlet with fresh blood, and the elven woman held a finely crafted saber with an ornately decorated handguard in her other hand.


    It used to belong to the bitch Elfriede dismembered earlier. Before their group moved out they naturally took the time to strip the dead enemies of anything useful. Their fine weapons and chain shirts were now being used by the best fighters amongst Elfriede''s group.


    "The dwarves are still holding," said the elven woman. "I see the Graf fighting with them. They''re holding by the warehouses and the mess hall. Can''t tell how many of them left though."


    "And the rest?"


    "They set the Legion''s barrack on fire, but I see many of them fighting back there. The Brewer''s place, also burning, might be empty there, though," reported Ylisera after another quick look. "There''s heavy fighting by the smithy and the workshops. I think old Hogarth''s there, pushing these shitstains out."


    "We head for the workshops," decided Elfriede on the spot. There were not that many enemies left. Out of the ten thousand plus reported early in the siege, maybe only three thousand remained now, though the fort''s defenders also took heavy casualties. "Gather our forces, then we fuck these sons of bitches right up the shithole."


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    Most of their enemies were poorly armed and untrained militiamen. They were brave, sure, zealots one and all with their beliefs driving them forward, but even the dependents of the mercenaries were hard people, used to living near or in warzones.


    If they gathered all those able and willing to fight between the three groups'' dependents and various camp followers, Elfriede did not doubt that they would be able to at least push back against the enemy, so she led her group towards where the workshops and smithy were located.


    There were many enemy soldiers there, maybe five hundred or so, fighting against the craftsmen who refused to just lie down and die. Some of those soldiers turned towards Elfriede''s group, and tried to stop them.


    Elfriede tore her way through them. These militia soldiers practically had no armor, some quilted leathers or thick cloth at best. Her blades, even somewhat chipped from the earlier fight, tore through their pathetic excuse for defenses easily.


    Some fell clutching their slit throats as they slowly drowned in their own blood. Others died more swiftly, as a sharp blade through the heart tends to ensure that. Yet others stared in disbelief at their scattered entrails as it spilled out of their disemboweled abdomens.


    Ylisera glided between the enemy soldiers. Her saber and knife reaping lives as she passed. The young elf was very short for an elf, barely a meter eighty or so, but her lanky, slender frame, long limbs, and the graceful way she moved made her look inhuman in an ethereal way.


    Elfriede knew that the elven girl was a better fighter than many of the company''s active members, but the girl did not like fighting much. She preferred - and some would say, thirsted for - sexual activities instead, which was why she''s a camp prostitute and not a mercenary.


    Even so, it felt good to have a reliable fighter next to her. The two women led their group as they cut their way through the enemy soldiers. The artisans and craftsmen fighting on the other side noticed their approach as well by now, and intensified their resistance.


    It wasn''t long before Elfriede fought her way to a place close enough to the other group to sense them through her magical senses. She noticed Hogarth right away. Her adopted father-in-law led the artisans and blacksmiths, the old dwarf pummeling soldier after soldier with a sledgehammer in each of his burly hands.


    Despite being over five centuries old, the old dwarf showed that he still possessed a lot of strength in his old body. His bulky frame led the way as he charged the enemy soldiers with a loud bellow, rock-hard muscles forged by centuries of work as a blacksmith swinging the sledgehammers in his hands as if they were mere wooden sticks.


    Elfriede also noticed Goran, Ayrie''s half-elven father, and master armorer for their company. The slender, groomed men wielded two of the large, thick, pointed scissors he normally used to cut leather with. He jabbed them into people''s eyes and throats coldly, as he followed behind Hogarth.


    Not fifteen minutes later, the two groups met each other, as they fought together and forced the last hundred or so surviving enemies before them into a panicked retreat, as they ran and stumbled against each other in their haste to escape.


    Zealotry and belief had its limits, and for these few, they feared for their life more than they had belief. Elfriede and Hogarth had shown them rather viscerally just how fragile their lives were, and exactly how little they cared for their enemies.


    Which was to say, none at all. To them, the enemy existed only to be destroyed.

 Side Story 4 - Elfriedes Day (Part 4)

    "After battle, take your time, rest and recuperate,


    Fill your bellies, fuck your wenches, and go to celebrate,


    Afterwards, it repeats, a cycle from days of yore,


    What is peace, but some rest, in between two more wars?" - "The Cycles of Yore", ancient soldier''s poem, unknown author.


    "Friede, lass," said Hogarth as he breathed heavily and their two groups took a moment to rest and recuperate after the fight. The lull in fighting was localized, as elsewhere in the fort the battle still raged on. "Good to see you alive¡­ so since we have a pack of shit-eating assholes to put down, I assume you got a plan of sorts?"


    "We gather everyone willing to fight," replied Elfriedee as she took the chance to gulp down some water from a waterskin. Then she pointed with her blade towards the still ongoing battles elsewhere as she spoke. "What''s left of the Legion''s people, the Brewers'' people, everyone we got. Group up, and fuck those shitheads up the ass so hard they''d be shitting outta their mouths by the time we''re done."


    "Sounds like something up my alley, lass," replied the old dwarf with a wide, grimy grin. He had been working on his anvil when all this happened, and the soldiers that barged into the smithy found out the hard way why people rarely dared to bother the Free Lances'' master blacksmith when he was focused on his work.


    After all, getting a chunk of glowing, red-hot steel shoved down your throat has got to be a very unpleasant way to go.


    Put together, there were about four hundred people with Elfriede, and nearly twice that willing to fight out of the artisans and smiths. The forge and workshops were shared by all three companies'' people, so there was quite a mix from all three groups there.


    Together, they had over one thousand people willing to fight, and that entire group descended like an avalanche on the smaller troops of enemy soldiers fighting with the Vanguard Legion''s and Barnaby''s Brewers'' dependents.


    That conflict was short lived. Their enemies had only left enough troops to rein in the masses, as most of their remaining troops were busy fighting the remaining Knallzog soldiers, whose dogged defense still stymied their advance.


    Of the Legion''s people, only around a hundred joined their group. Too many of their people - many children included - were either injured or lay dead on the ground, something that the few legionnaires who joined seemed intent on avenging.


    The Brewers were better off, the two hundred and fifty people still able and willing to fight all joined the group. That company''s policy which made every camp follower they took with them join their weapons practice at least twice a week paid dividends, as all their camp followers were quite capable of defending themselves.


    Altogether, there were roughly fifteen hundred people gathered under Elfriede''s lead. She led them from the front, as they charged the enemies while they were still engaged with the dwarves.


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    That pincer attack broke the back of the enemy formation, with the surviving dwarven troops acting as the anvil to their hammer. By the time the dust settled, maybe two thousand of their enemies escaped from the fort, out of the ten thousand or more that first attacked.


    The rest lay dead or dying on the ground, and the inhabitants of the fort - soldier and mercenary both - quickly got to work and dragged the corpses away. The bodies were dumped outside the fort unceremoniously, but only after they had been stripped of everything of value.


    As dependents of mercenaries, Elfriede''s people were very used to roaming the aftermath of a battle, to strip corpses out of everything of value. Their contracts included generous salvage rights, and they were very determined to make the best of it.


    A few lucky corpses got to keep their tunic - usually too damaged - and their pants - usually soiled - on, while others were stripped down to their underwear. Some unlucky people who had the bad luck to die cleanly ended up as naked corpses on the pile.


    Meanwhile, Elfriede, along with representatives from the Legion''s and the Brewers'' people, sat across from Graf Angus Harscape, the overall commander of the expedition, in his underground office dug underneath the warehouse. A very old half-elven matron fussed over her wounds, as she worked nature affinity magic to accelerate their healing while she talked to the Graf.


    "We owe your people a debt," said the old dwarf formally, as he gave a short bow to her and the other representatives. "I know situations like this aren''t covered by the contracts we sign, but please consider this as a sign of gratitude."


    "Your people have full right to all salvage from this battle," said the Graf firmly, to a sharp intake of breath from the other two representatives. Full salvage was very rarely offered to mercenaries, even in the most generous contracts. "Should you find what you receive to be in excess, we might be interested in purchasing some, at a reasonable price."


    "We thank you for your generosity, your grace," intoned Elfriede as she returned a bow along with the other two representatives. The other two left to inform their people of the news, while she stayed behind.


    The old matron left moments later, leaving her alone with the Graf, after she had carefully fashioned a sling to support Elfriede''s left arm. The wounds she took early in the fight had worsened afterwards, and made it hard for her to use the arm properly.


    "Once again, thanks, Friede. I owe you one," said the Graf, now with a far less formal tone. The old dwarf and the captain of the Free Lances - her husband''s adoptive aunt - had gone back a long way and were old friends. "I swear your whole family is making this into a habit. I owed Ingrid way too often when we were young as well..."


    "So what do we do now?" she asked back, formality thrown the wayside. When they were in private, the dwarven noble always treated her and Reinhardt like family.


    "Four of my detachments sent missives back three days ago. They ran into ambushes, but succeeded in repelling it. They reported being harassed by repeated guerilla attacks as they were making their way back," answered the old dwarf with a frown. "The Brewers also reported the same. They had re-merged their three companies following the ambush and were on their way back last I heard. Of the rest¡­ we have yet to receive news. I''m sorry."


    "So in the end, all we can do is wait and believe in them out there, huh?"


    "I''m afraid that is the case, yes."


    Elfriede gave an exasperated sigh at the answer, before she remembered something. "Oh right. We caught one of their leaders early in the fight. Kept her alive in case you want to see if you can make the snatch moan for you."


    "Oh? That''s good news. I will pay the bounty as per contract for her," said the old dwarf with a pleasantly surprised expression. "Any other request?"


    "When you''re done with the bitch? I want her back. Cunt fucking kicked my daughter. I''m not letting her die easily. Not on my fucking watch!"


    "Consider it a done deal."


    ******************************


    When the Graf''s men went to the secondary barracks used by the dependents of the Free Lances for their lodging in order to fetch the prisoner, they were greeted with wails of extreme pain just as they opened the door, and the smell of roasted pork.


    Both dwarves paled when they found the source of both screams and scent. Elfriede was humming a cheerful tune while she pressed a red-hot metal spatula against the stump of a woman missing most of her arms and legs.


    "Just cauterizing the wounds so the bitch doesn''t croak," she had said.

 Chapter 6 - Like Wine Trickling Down a Jug

    "Ain''t nothing angrier out there but a merc'' being denied their rightful paycheck~


    ''Cept maybe the fury of a damsel at the altar cos'' her man took a raincheck~


    Piss not all the mama bears off, lest life goes astray~


    As hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, they say~" - Old ribald tune, commonly sung amongst soldiers and mercenaries.


    Fort Ascher


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, southern region


    Western Alcidea


    1st day, 1st week, 7th month of the year 2 FP.


    Reinhardt yawned loudly as he slowly climbed up the steps to the fort''s walls. Those who had been fit to fight amongst his group were scheduled to take the morning watch today, their rest and respite lasting but a brief night.


    There was little to complain about, honestly. The fort had been so low on manpower, that it was already good that they didn''t make him stand watch from last night. He saw Kasimir as the half-orcish man made his way to another section of the wall with sleepy eyes, and others from his group of survivors similarly headed to their posts.


    Rodney and Hannah were exempt from the watch duties due to their injuries, though Hannah had insisted they move her to a high place where she could help keep watch with her sharp eyes even from her sickbed.


    Elfriede was similarly exempt - mostly because she cannot see to begin with - and stayed at the barracks, where she took care of the recovering Erycea. It sickened Reinhardt that Erycea wasn''t the only child injured in yesterday''s mess. Many of the children amongst the Legion''s dependents were even killed in cold blood.


    "Oh, hey, little boss. Here to take the watch?" greeted Ylisera''s familiar voice as he stepped up to the walkways on top of the wall. The elven camp prostitute wasn''t wearing one of those frilly, low-necked dresses she loved so much, but more practical pants and tunic with a gambeson covering her torso instead.


    She called him by his nickname - which had stuck with him for a while, especially amongst the older members of the companies, since he was Ingrid''s adopted nephew - since they were quite familiar with each other. He himself had been a frequent customer of hers in the past, at least before he got together with Elfriede.


    And yet, the sight of the well-made saber and long knife sheathed by her waist reminded him all too well that although Ylisera favored working as a camp prostitute for the company, the woman was perfectly capable of killing many of her mercenary clients should it come to a fight.


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    The attackers found that little tidbit out the hard way when they attacked the fort the day before yesterday.


    Ylisera''s new saber and long knife were salvaged from those very attackers, and Reinhardt saw many other people - dependents of the company members, or their various camp followers - wielding weapons and armor taken from their dead enemies as well.


    Many of those people had just grieved for the loss of their family members last night, as Reinhardt had the unpleasant responsibility to let them know what happened to the first company.


    A lot of them cursed the deities, some even cursed at Ingrid or him in their grief, and a few even had to be restrained. Yet after the emotions cooled down, and the grief settled somewhat, he saw only burning determination in their eyes.


    Determination, and a desire for blood.


    The vast majority of the company''s followers had volunteered to fight more battles, at least for the duration of this conflict. Only a few shied away, as most of them wished to exact some payback for their lost families and friends with their own hands.


    How the dependents of the other companies would react, Reinhardt didn''t know. They would fight back when threatened - that much was a given - but whether they would deign to help supplement the few remaining soldiers or not remained to be seen.


    Reinhardt sighed audibly, even as he politely nodded to Ylisera and sat down next to her. The crenellations on the fort''s walls were tall ones, tall enough to hide most of an average human behind them, with only their eyes and the top of their head peeking out.


    For someone as tall as he was, he needed to sit down before the crenellation covered him, and he barely had to rise a bit to look over the top of the structure. Ylisera was shorter than him by a head, but she was still taller than the average human, and also found the crenellation a bit too short for her liking.


    "Think we''ll get some news today?" She asked him as he settled down beside her. It had been nearly a week since the ambush that decimated the first company of the Free Lances, and what tidbits of news they received from Graf Harscape, expected that if the other detachments met an ambush on the same day, assuming they faced resistance on their way back, some survivors might reach them by today.


    "Maybe. Maybe not. Hard to tell," he replied honestly. "We got back here in five days, but we were on the run, always hidden, and didn''t fight until we ran into the encirclement here. If whoever else is returning comes through the main roads¡­ they''d have far more resistance to deal with."


    Reinhardt''s group had avoided contact with any enemy for most of their way back, and even then they saw that there were at least three different detachments of enemy troops on their way back. His group was small enough to take detours to avoid them and still make good pace, fortunately.


    The same could not be said for larger groups, especially if that group carried the injured and wounded with them. For those groups, conflict on the way back was nearly inevitable.


    He was about to make more small talk with Ylisera when he noticed that the elven woman had gone tense, as if she was trying to make out something in the distance.


    "What is it?" he asked, as he felt his own heart beat faster and his muscles tensed.


    "Not sure yet¡­" replied Ylisera with her face scrunched up in concentration. "I thought I heard some vague noises of fighting, but I can''t hear them anymore¡­ wait¡­ there! North by northeast! Do you see them!?"


    Reinhardt squinted his eyes, and shaded them with one hand as he tried to make out whatever was in the distance. He could barely see a thing that far - Ylisera had sharper eyesight than him by a fair bit - but he did hear one of the dwarven soldiers ringing the alarm bell on the watchtower. Those soldiers had spyglasses to keep a lookout with.


    Before too long, he received concrete news on what was happening. There was fighting to the north, and whoever was fighting there, was headed closer to Fort Ascher.

 Chapter 7 - Free Lances, Second Company

    "Though we deal in lives bought or sold,


    As we fight in both hot and cold,


    We still go to the afterlife in glee,


    For while bloodied, our lances remained free." - Motto of the Free Lances Mercenary Company.


    "We''re through! Go go go!!! Now!!!" yelled Gr¨¹nhildr from the very front of their group.


    Behind her, what remained of the second Company of the Free Lances rallied for another push, as they forced their way through the enemy soldiers that barred their way, Gr¨¹nhildr at the lead, the tip of the wedge they forced through the enemy formation.


    There were maybe two hundred of them left, out of the five hundred they had sallied out with. Nearly a third of their number were injured badly enough they couldn''t fight. Those were relegated to carrying those too injured to even walk in the middle of their formation, while everyone who could fight, fought and protected them with their lives.


    They too faced an ambush while on their reconnaissance mission, nearly a week ago now. Fortunately they had detected the ambush early, and managed to fight their way out, even if nearly two hundred of their members laid down their lives to make that possible.


    More of their people had died or sacrificed themselves in several more skirmishes they fought along the way back, the persistent enemies constantly nipping at their heels. More names to remember and avenge.


    The Second Company''s commander had been amongst those who had perished, just a couple days ago, when an arrow took him by the throat. Their best healer long gone, they had no way to save the man''s life and could only reduce his misery by granting him a quick death.


    Most of the officers were also dead by now, as their enemies focused on them with dogged persistence. Only a couple of the more junior ones survived, but even then they were so heavily injured one of them remained unconscious for the past three days, and the other was blinded.


    Gr¨¹nhildr was no officer, but she was a well-respected combatant for her skills, and well known for leading the charge. She did all she could to lead the rest by example, which merely meant that they were to follow her and kill whoever was in the way.


    Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi


    They had run into an enemy patrol of roughly a hundred men barely an hour away from Fort Ascher, which quickly doubled in size as more enemies arrived from nearby encampments.


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    Rather than allow their group to be bogged down so close to their destination, Gr¨¹nhildr gathered their best fighters and forcefully charged through the enemy formation.


    The bulky, muscular, mixed breed woman herself was at their very front, as she swung her pair of axes with reckless abandon. Keen observers might have noted the unnerving blankness that enveloped the edges of her axe''s blades, as if nothing existed along those thin lines.


    Those unfortunate ones who got a close up view of her blades, found that it cleaved through their weapons, armor, and themselves effortlessly, like a hot knife through butter.


    Before too long, the second company had forced their way through the enemy formation, ten or so of their number paying the ultimate price in the process. They had little time to waste, as already more enemies were approaching from further away.


    Once they were through, Gr¨¹nhildr hung back for a bit, allowing the others to run ahead of her, until she was at the rear of their lines, shoulder to shoulder with her best friend and partner Salicia. The two women exchanged glances and a nod, before Gr¨¹nhildr took off running, with Salicia covering their backs.


    The taller, one-eyed woman saw that the enemies they left behind tried to give chase, and more importantly, that some of them had pulled out bows and were nocking arrows onto their strings.


    "Oh no, you don''t," stated Salicia coldly as she pulled out a massive bow taller than her already considerable height from her storage. An arrow the size of a small javelin appeared in her left hand, and she nocked it to the bowstring lightly.


    Then the woman halted her run. In one smooth, fluid motion she stopped running and stood stably as she turned around. Her arms simultaneously pushed and pulled her massive bow to its full extension, well-honed muscles executing the motions fluidly despite the weight of the draw they faced against.


    Salicia nocked her arrow, drew, aimed, and loosed, all in less than a second, before she took off running again.


    Salicia Adenauer


    Less than a second later, the arrow struck its target, an older man in the Theodinaz kingdom military uniform who was aiming his bow at the fleeing mercenaries. The man never got a chance to shoot, as the arrow accurately pierced through his right eye, entered his brain, and only got stuck when it struck his helmet on its way out from the back of his head.


    He died without knowing what hit him.


    Salicia repeated her actions after she ran a short distance, then again, and again, as she kept up with the rear of the escaping mercenaries with her long strides. Every arrow she shot claimed a life, every life claimed, an officer or leader amongst the enemy.


    After her tenth shot, the enemies stopped trying to chase or shoot arrows at the mercenaries, and instead held up shields in wariness.


    Salicia had a satisfied smile on her face at the sight of the cowering enemies. She was an archer first and foremost, and had not been able to pull her weight as much as she would have liked in the earlier melee. It was only now that she finally got a chance to do what she did best.


    ******************************


    "Deities be praised¡­ It''s the second company!" said Ylisera from where she stood to watch the running battle. "I see Gr¨¹nhildr¡­ ah! Salicia''s earning her pay well too~"


    "About two hundred?" asked Reinhardt as he estimated the number of survivors now running unimpeded towards the fort. Their appearance was both a relief, and a painful blow to him.


    A relief because they still lived, and clearly had weathered the difficulties better than First Company did. Yet also a painful blow, to see so many people missing from their numbers.


    "About that, yeah," nodded Ylisera after she counted for a short while. Then she saw that Reinhardt had stood up and was making his way down from the walkway. "Where are you going, little boss?"


    "Getting the gates open, what else?" he said as he rushed down the stairs. "Yell and let us know if something changes about the situation!"

 Chapter 8 - Reunion

    "All that was divided, must in time, unite. All that was united, will in time, divide." - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor and founder of the Elmaiya Empire.


    "Sal! Gr¨¹n! Glad you two made it!" said Reinhardt with genuine relief in his voice. The two women returned his offered welcoming hug with friendly embraces as soon as they finished seeing to the injured''s treatment.


    He had known them - and been close friends with the women - for close to six years now, from when they had been new to the company. Elfriede had been part of the group of three women back then, and since he married her, he had naturally grown quite close with her best friends.


    More importantly, he was truly relieved to see them back, because if anything happened to them, he knew Elfriede would have been devastated. Notwithstanding the more pragmatic reasons, that is, as Gr¨¹nhildr, being a rarely seen void mage, was one of the deadliest warriors of the company, while Salicia was indubitably their best archer.


    He patted their backs even as Gr¨¹nhildr returned his embrace with one that made his bones creak. Even though the mixed-breed woman was even shorter than his wife, she was also far bulkier, and much, much stronger. Probably comes with the territory, as Reinhardt knew the muscular woman had some orcish and dwarven blood in her.


    "I take it the second company also met an ambush, then?" he asked once they separated. His eyes roamed towards the dozens of wounded - some of whom were in really bad condition - that Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr had helped reach the fort.


    "We actually detected the ambush early, thanks to Lili and R¨®zsa," replied Salicia as her one good eye looked towards where the twin half-elven women lay on stretchers, both with heavy injuries. "They were scouting and noticed the ambush, although they nearly got killed on their way back to warn us. We all owe our lives to them."


    The twins were shapeshifter nature mages, and habitually scouted ahead in animal guise. That was how they discovered the ambush before it could be sprung, but some of the overzealous ambushers had noticed and tried to kill them on sight.


    They barely escaped alive to warn the rest of the company, with R¨®zsa delirious from blood loss and Lili paralyzed from an injury to her spine. The company naturally refused to abandon them, and kept them protected even while they retreated through the enemy pursuit.


    Another news that made Reinhardt sigh with relief was that three of the five healers attached to Second Company made it out alive. None of them were particularly powerful healers, but with how few healers remained at the fort, every little bit counts.


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    "Damn¡­ and I thought we got it bad. We only had like around a thousand trying to ambush us. Lost more from all the roaming patrols we ran into though," said Gr¨¹nhildr with a sigh when the topic eventually turned to what happened to the first company. "So¡­ we''re all that''s left of the Free Lances?"


    "Unless some survived in the woods, likely so," replied Reinhardt with a grim nod. They had come into this contract with their full strength, a thousand or so combatants. Now barely a quarter of those still lived, and many of those were injured.


    Even though their dependents and camp followers had taken up arms and boosted their numbers a good bit, he knew better than to rely too much on them. Those who fought well like Ylisera were the exception, and while most knew how to use a weapon, they were barely better than most militia rabble.


    They were pivotal for repelling the assault in the fort two days ago, but that was partly because they were cornered and fighting for the sake of their families. He doubted that most of them could achieve that sort of morale under different circumstances.


    As part of forces that defended a fort? They would serve well enough, but the vast majority would not be too useful in military operations other than to serve as cannon fodder. That was a line he refused to cross, however.


    "So how fucked are we?" asked Salicia without preamble. The one-eyed archer was always blunt, and almost never minced her words. "What do we have left?"


    "Between what remains of our companies? We have maybe a hundred and sixty. Two hundred if we give the lightly injured time to heal," said Reinhardt as he mentally counted their remaining assets. "Two fifty if we include those who could really fight amongst the followers, with another three hundred to help hold the fort."


    "At least we''re not low on supplies, or armaments. You saw all those corpses out there on your way in," he added after a moment of thought. "We got full salvage on that bunch, divided three ways with the Brewers and the Legion."


    "So we''re down to less than half a company effective, and almost out of commanders," said Salicia, as she summed up the situation succinctly. "Who''s in charge now? Captain Ingrid''s gone, and Vice-Captain Marco didn''t make it either."


    "I¡­ don''t know, to be honest. Aunt Ingrid had me lead what''s left of First Company back then, but I had expected some of the commanders from Second Company to take charge when you all returned," he admitted with a worried expression. "We should probably call a meeting to decide."


    "We should, yeah," nodded Gr¨¹nhildr in reply. "But not now. I could use a good bath and half a day of sleep first¡­ and a fucking barrel of ale."


    "Yeah, I know the feeling," he said with an understanding nod. "Only made it back yesterday myself. Though I had other worries in mind at the time."


    "Nothing happened to Friede or Ery, no?" asked Salicia, as some worry was evident in her voice. The first time she showed much emotion since she returned. "No, that shouldn''t be the case. You wouldn''t be so calm and chatting with us like this otherwise."


    "Friede''s taking care of Ery right now, in the barracks," he answered with a nod. "We''re on watch duty at the moment, and not like Friede''s any good for that."


    "Fair point," replied Salicia. The corners of her lips slightly raised in amusement at the jab to her old friend.

 Chapter 9 - Burden of Responsibility

    "A proper chain of command is amongst the most crucial things for an army to have. Even so, not everyone was suited for command, or competent enough to command. For many, just the weight of the responsibility, that the lives and deaths of so many depended on them, was a pressure they found too much to bear." - Derrick Husvarl, Grand General for the Jarldom of Gulski, circa FP 196.


    Later that night, representatives from every group that survived amongst the Free Lances'' personnel gathered together in a private room in the former barracks their people lived in.


    There were not that many of them there. Reinhardt was present, representing what remained of the first company. Nicole represented their surviving scouts. Salicia was a frequently seen face in such meetings as she had represented their archers for a couple years now.


    The survivors of second company had pushed Gr¨¹nhildr to serve as their representative. Old Ursula was present, representing the support staff. The dependents had asked Elfriede to represent them so she was present as well, seated besides her husband.


    Hogarth represented the craftsmen and artisans amongst the camp followers, while Ylisera represented those who had volunteered to fight with the rest. the eight of them gathered there to make the decisions that might very well determine their future.


    "Everyone who should be here, is here. We should begin, lad," said Hogarth after he closed the door to keep the discussion private. The old blacksmith took his seat across from his adopted son, his beard and clothes still partially covered with soot.


    He, along with the other blacksmiths, had been busy at work the past two days, as they adjusted or repaired many of the salvaged equipment from the enemies. He had come to the meeting straight from the smithy, still covered with sweat and soot.


    "Right," said Reinhardt as he surveyed those present in the room with his eyes and nodded. It was traditional for the representative of the first company - Aunt Ingrid - to chair such discussions, but now that responsibility fell to him. "We all still got plenty to do, so I will keep it brief and not mince words."


    Everyone else listened closely to what he was about to say.


    "Uncle Angus, that is, Graf Harscape, called for me just an hour ago. The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th regulars survived the ambushes that hit them, and had combined their forces with those of the Legion''s and the Brewers'' survivors," he stated calmly, as the good news infused some much needed hope to the expressions of those present. "They should reach Fort Ascher by midnight or tomorrow morning at the latest, and still number approximately four thousand."


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    That brought some murmurs to the group. The return of those forces would place their available forces at approximately five thousand, out of the fifteen thousand they had started out with. Unlikely to be enough to take the battle to the enemy, but if they were to hunker down in the fort and wait for reinforcements, plausibly enough to survive this mess.


    "Once all our forces are gathered, uncle Angus will summon the representatives for all the mercenary groups to discuss our plans going forward," he added, the information technically confidential, but the Graf had told him anyway since he considered him like family. "And to re-negotiate contracts where required."


    Grumbles sounded from most everyone, although the mood settled into reluctant acceptance soon enough. It was not uncommon to renegotiate contracts with mercenaries when the situation changed as drastically as what happened to them.


    "Rest assured that everything we did until then would still earn us full pay as per the previous contract," said Reinhardt to some relieved sighs.


    "Now, to the second issue. We need to choose a new representative and commander for tomorrow''s meeting. None of the senior command staff made it out alive, which pares the choice down to one of us," he said solemnly as everyone looked down and gave a few seconds of silence for the departed. "Any volunteers?"


    "Count me out," said Gr¨¹nhildr immediately as she shook her head. "I''m not cut out for telling people what to do. I''ve got more use just going out there and chopping some assholes up."


    "Me too," said Ylisera mere moments later. "I may know my way with a blade, but I ain''t got any idea how to command people, ''less it was to arrange a big, messy orgy or something."


    Old Ursula similarly just shook her head and declined when Reinhardt looked her way.


    "Why don''t you do it, Rein?" asked Salicia from the side, the woman''s one good eye looking straight at him. "You got what''s left of the first company back here without losing another man. That''s worth something."


    "I agree," said Nicole from her seat on the other side of the table. "We were hunted all the way here, but boss kept us safe and alive. I''d vote for him as our leader."


    Reinhardt looked at the two women in surprise but felt Elfriede''s hand on his arm. She just nodded, as if telling him to just shut up and accept it. With her being blind and completely inept at strategizing, naturally she was not even in the running in the first place.


    "Aye, lad. The folks we got left would also expect you to lead them onwards now that Ingrid''s gone," said Hogarth, his adoptive father. Reinhardt was an orphan who had been adopted by Hogarth and his late wife - Ingrid''s older sister - when he was still an infant. "The Lances had always been a bit of a family business anyway. Ingrid was captain just like her dad before her, and since none of her kids took to the trade¡­ that leaves you for the next generation."


    One look around the room and Reinhardt noticed the nods Gr¨¹nhildr, Ylisera, and Ursula gave in agreement to Hogarth''s words. He felt as if a weight settled down on his shoulder¡­ and in the pit of the stomach, as it dawned on him that they were serious.


    That his decisions would now decide the future of the company, whatever it may be.


    "All right then. I will represent us to tomorrow''s meeting," he said with a deep sigh. "I just hope we all will not end up making me call the shots."


    "Eh, worst case, we go down swinging~" replied Gr¨¹nhildr a bit too cheerfully to his words.

 Chapter 10 - Command Decisions

    "Ya really got to be picky with yer employers when yer a merc like me.


    Most would just treat ya like an expendable worker. Their money for whatever it is they paid for.


    Some are arseholes who try to make ya bleed for them then refuse to pay their dues. These types rarely get to cross people more than once, though.


    Rarest of the rare would be the real nice guys. Understanding, honorable, and puts his money where his words are. Pretty sure these folks are endangered though, if not extinct." - Raoul Evreets, retired veteran mercenary, circa FP 206.


    It turned out that the Graf''s prediction had been pessimistic. The combined forces of the surviving regulars, the Vanguard Legion, and Barnaby''s Brewers reached the fort just an hour after dinner time that night, not three hours after Reinhardt was officially made the new captain of the Free Lances.


    They numbered just under four thousand, and their approach to the fort was unimpeded. Apparently the enemy patrols and those that encircled the fort got out of their way when they saw just how many people had come.


    Their slower arrival was not unexpected. The regulars from Knallzog''s army were primarily heavy infantrymen, same with the Brewers. In contrast, the Free Lances were more of an irregular troop, adept at raids, infiltration, and fast strikes.


    Out of the just under four thousand survivors who made it to the fort, three-quarters were army regulars. Less than three thousand had made it back out of the eight thousand that went.


    The Brewers survived the mess in the best condition, as over a thousand men made it back. Nearly two-thirds of their full strength. Sadly, the same could not be said of the Vanguard Legion.


    Barely a hundred fifty or so ragged individuals had made it back to the fort. The legion had taken losses that made even those taken by the Free Lances pale in comparison, and even worse, some of those men and women returned alive only to find that they had lost their loved ones.


    Out of the many smaller companies that comprised the Vanguard Legion, only one made it out relatively intact, with eighty of their hundred amongst the survivors. Every other company in the Legion was utterly devastated. Some had only so few survivors they could be counted on the fingers of one hand.


    Reinhardt had not actually talked with the returning survivors that night, and waited until the next morning, when representatives from the survivors - and the army - gathered in the mess hall, seated around a large table with the Graf at the head.


    Reinhardt was present for the Free Lances, along with Elfriede. Barnaby G?thorl, the commander of Barnaby''s Brewers, a venerable dwarf nearly as old as Hogarth, sat next to them, alongside his second-in-command, a younger dwarven female. The surviving commanders of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th regulars were also present. The commanders of the 7th regular didn''t make it.


    Two people came to represent the Vanguard Legion. One was a middle-aged man with dead looking eyes who looked haunted. The other was a massive bear therian matron easily half again as tall as Reinhardt, commander of the one company that survived relatively intact.


    She made the bulky dwarves look like children.


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    "I believe everyone gathered here is aware of the situation we''re in," said the Graf without preamble, his voice heavy. "First, please report the condition of your forces, so everyone knows what each of us has to offer."


    "The regulars, counting the remnants of the 9th and 10th who stayed in the fort and your grace''s personal guards, have three thousand five hundred and thirty-two combatants," reported the commander of the 1st regulars as he stood up with military precision. "Including the lightly wounded who could recover to fighting shape within the week, we can probably field four thousand heavy infantry. Another five hundred within a month."


    The Graf nodded at the report, politely thanked the commander, then looked at the gathered mercenary leaders. They looked at each other, then both Reinhardt and the therian matron looked at Barnaby together.


    "Us Brewers got nine hundred seventy we can deploy at once, add another hundred or so given a week," said the old dwarf as he read from a sheet of parchment his aide gave him. "That said, I''m afraid our skirmishers and scouts took the brunt of those ambushes. They''re practically gone as a unit. Most I got left are heavy infantry as well. Got like two hundred or so of my followers volunteering fer defense work though."


    "We have two hundred fifty or so left in the Free Lances, another three hundred who volunteered for defense," Reinhardt said next. "Most of our wounded are injured rather badly, so what you see is what you get for the foreseeable future."


    "Yer troops are irregular, nay lad?" asked a younger female dwarf, the current commander of the 4th regulars by way of battlefield promotion.


    "We are, yes. We specialize in raids and infiltration, not open warfare. Since we are lacking scouts at the moment, I can offer my services in that regard at least," he answered with a nod. He then added the last trump card his company has to offer at the moment. "Also, should we reach Zefirous, we have information on several possible routes into the city, if the information is somewhat dated."


    "Hmm? Where do ya got such info, pray tell?" asked Barnaby with a curious look. The Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz was well known for how insular it was, to the point that intelligence was difficult to come by. His curiosity - and suspicion - was understandable.


    "I was born there," answered Elfriede in his stead, which drew the eyes of everyone in the room except for Reinhardt. If information was hard to come by, deserters from the holy kingdom were practically unheard of. "Ran part of the underworld until I had to go, even. Can''t be sure if all those old routes are still usable, but I''d bet at least some would be."


    "Yer from the kingdom?" asked Barnaby with some genuine surprise evident in his voice and expression. "Begging yer pardon, but ya didn''t strike me like anything I expected outta the people here. How didja even manage to get out?"


    "The borders are watched, sure, and people trying to escape the kingdom get caught far more often than not," she admitted in reply. "But those measures were on the lookout for healthy adults. They didn''t care as much for some barely matured, blind girl. Probably thought I''d be in some beast''s belly once I strayed off the road."


    "Damn, lass," said the old dwarf with some consternation. He then gave an apologetic nod to the others on the table."Sorry fer the interruption. It''s yer turn, methinks."


    "About that¡­ our situation is a tad more¡­ complicated," said the massive therian matron with a disappointed sigh as she looked at the haunted man seated beside her. "I will let him explain for himself."


    "We''re through. Done for. Over," said the man with a thoroughly depressed tone. His haunted eyes looked at everyone else in the room, as if in disbelief that the others were still planning to fight on. "There is no more Vanguard Legion. Too many of us are gone. Over half of our families are gone! We''re over!"


    "As he said," added the matron with another disappointed sigh as the man rambled on some more. "He represents pretty much everyone else who used to be part of the Legion. Many of them are even worse off."


    "A couple took their own lives when they returned to nothing but dead children," added the matron with a grim tone to her voice, which brought silence to the room.


    "You said everyone else," said the Graf after a while, as he zeroed on the matron''s peculiar wording. "I assume your group has a different opinion, then?"


    "Pretty much. We are not done. Not anywhere near," replied the matron with a more animated tone of voice. "My family is small, but we know our way around battles. I have eighty-two with me. Mostly shock troopers, with a smaller contingent of skirmishers."


    "Hmm¡­ if it does not bother you, what do you think of working with the Free Lances for the meantime?" asked the Graf after he pondered for a while. "Your two groups are pretty much all the irregulars we have left, and I know the Free Lances lacked shock troops of their own."


    "We are amenable to that, although we reserve the option to retreat on our own should we fall into an untenable situation," replied the matron with a nod after she thought for a moment. Then she turned to Reinhardt and offered one of her positively massive paws for a shake. "Mischka B?nfinn."


    "Reinhardt Edelstein," he said as he introduced himself. The matron''s handshake was very firm, but he could bear it. "This is my wife, Elfriede."


    "I hope we will have a fruitful cooperation," said the matron with a nod, before they sat back down and continued the meeting.

 Chapter 11 - Knowing the Opposition

    "Know thyself, know thy enemy, and thy will find thyself ever the victor. Know thyself, but not the enemy, and fate decides the victor." - Ancient military proverb, unknown source.


    "So, to recap what we know of the enemy," said the Graf after all the side matters were done. The Brewers and the Free Lances - as well as the matron''s unit from the Legion - had their services retained for the duration of the campaign. The rest of the Legion''s remnants wanted out, but understood the situation and agreed to help defend Fort Ascher until they had a way to retreat.


    "We are dealing with mostly militia, yet their morale is not to be underestimated," reiterated the Graf as he pointed with his thick finger towards the roads the detachments had gone to. His fingers traced the various reported ambush spots, and the spots they assumed the missing units were ambushed at. "Estimated enemy force remained at ten thousand, and that is a conservative estimate. They are approximately two days behind our returning forces, so we could be seeing them as early as tomorrow."


    "Anyone got an idea why these people are so¡­ persistent?" asked the therian matron as she raised her meaty paw. "None of my folks speak their tongue, so we ain''t got the slightest idea what they''re yelling about."


    "They''re fanatics. Religious fanatics," answered Elfriede with disdain positively dripping from her voice. "For many of the less fortunate people here, the fucked up words of the God-King they love so much is their bloody sustenance. If he asks them to die, they''ll do exactly that. With a smile on their faces no less."


    "Yet you clearly do not share that viewpoint," remarked one of the dwarven commanders, the 6th''s, if Reinhardt was not mistaken. "Are there any organized resistance of some sort we could get in touch with, perhaps?"


    "Not out here in the boonies, no. Most of the village people here are the ones who drank deepest into the beliefs. I can''t really speak for any of the other cities either, since I''ve never been there," replied Elfriede honestly. "If the underworld in Zefirous has not changed too much in the past twelve or so years, however, we might have some potential allies there."


    "That''s worth keeping in mind. Thank you," said the dwarf politely as she - her voice was a notably higher timbre than the rest, though Reinhardt could never tell the difference otherwise - scribbled on a piece of parchment.


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    "At least that explains why the ambushes we faced were so varied in quantity," said the Graf as he contemplated the unfurled map. "All those empty villages on our way here, likely had gathered by the side and waited to strike the fort, while the villages ahead formed these ambush forces. The number of ambushers we all faced correlated directly with the number of villages in the route''s vicinity."


    "It was our mistake to have assumed that they were evacuated," admitted the dwarven commander of the 1st Regulars as he gave a bow in apology. He had served as the main strategist for the expedition thus far. "That has cost us far too much. I shall tender my resignation once this expedition is done, or else atone with my life."


    "That can wait until later," said the Graf curtly. "Right now it is more important to focus on the here and now. We have around five thousand people we can devote to the fort''s defenses. If those bastards come for us, they will bring at least twice, likely thrice or more of our numbers."


    "While we know the main force from Knallgant would be on their way within the week, if they haven''t already departed, that means we still need to weather at least two, likely three weeks on our own," he explained grimly. "We could try to cut and run, but that would be unlikely to succeed, unless we were to abandon our wounded."


    Most everyone present shook their heads at those words. They had at least two thousand wounded between all their groups, and none of them were willing to give up on their wounded friends and comrades. The regulars would obey if commanded to do so, but that would crush all semblance of morale they had left.


    "I figured as much," said the Graf with an understanding nod. "That pretty much leaves us with only one option. We hunker down in the fort and hope we can repel all comers until the main force arrives to relieve us. Everyone in agreement?"


    A chorus of "Aye!"s answered the Graf, who looked at the gathered men and women with pride in his eyes.


    "Very well. I will send messengers with the shift arrangements later. For today, all of you should rest as best you can and regain your strengths. The 9th and 10th will take the watch while you do," he said to the gathered commanders. "Dismissed. Have your people prepare as best they could for the upcoming battle."


    As they left the mess hall, Reinhardt and Elfriede followed Mischka towards where her people camped. They had wanted to see the ones who would be working with them and hopefully arrange tactics between them.


    When they met Mischka''s people, however, they understood why she had called them her family back at the briefing, and what she had meant by saying they were mostly shock troopers.


    Most of the eighty-two people present amongst Mischka''s group either matched or exceeded Reinhardt in size, if not in height then in width. They were all huge individuals, their figures bursting with muscles. Even the weapons they practiced with were huge ones normal people would have trouble even lifting.


    Over a quarter of the unit were literally part of Mischka''s family. Five of them were her children, each with their respective spouses. Another twenty were her adult grandchildren. The unit itself was a mix of larger breeds of therians, dwarves, orcs, and humans, as well as half-breeds, but every single one of them were large in size for their race.


    "As you can see, we ain''t much for thinking," said the therian matron with a teeth-baring grin. "Just point us to whatever you need smashed, and we''ll smash it right up~"

 Chapter 12 - Waiting

    "Most any conflict out there would be one part fighting for your very lives, and nine parts waiting between fights. Personally? I''d rather be fighting for my life any day of the week than waiting at all." - Poron Loskcher, Captain of the Boisterous Brigade mercenary company, circa 264 FP.


    Fort Ascher


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, southern region


    Western Alcidea


    4th day, 1st week, 7th month of the year 2 FP.


    Two days had passed since the meeting, and as predicted, the enemy forces that chased behind the survivors of the regulars had arrived yesterday and gathered with the ones surrounding the fortress.


    While they easily numbered ten thousand, maybe twelve, they made no signs of attacking the fort again. The Graf had said that maybe their last failed venture had bred some caution onto their enemies, for they had failed to conquer the fort when it had merely three thousand in it with ten thousand of their own.


    Now that the fort had roughly five thousand defenders in it, that caution was rather warranted.


    While the fortifications had taken damage from the previous battle, most of it had been repaired. The east gate, breached by the enemies in the previous battle, was damaged beyond repair and was instead sealed up with soil and rocks instead, further solidified by the earth mages amongst them.


    Such workings would work well against mundane attempts to breach the makeshift barrier, yet at the same time, it was also far more vulnerable to enemy mages, unlike the heavily enchanted walls and three remaining gates.


    For Reinhardt and the surviving Free Lances, they mostly rested, and licked their wounds. The survivors reunited with their families and spent some time together, while the return of three healers - if weak ones - with the Second Company''s survivors allowed them to focus their efforts better.


    On the insistence of the badly injured survivors themselves, the healers were made to focus on the injuries of the lightly wounded who could contribute to the company immediately first. Elfriede was naturally one of the recipients of that treatment as one of their best fighters, and she had been freed of her sling as of yesterday night.


    Reinhardt found her in the open area near their barracks, a place that was previously used as a training ground by the fort''s previous inhabitants. There, he saw his wife sparring with Ylisera, with wooden sticks in their hands instead of their deadly blades.


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    Elfriede clearly focused on using her left arm in the offense, likely acclimatizing herself after nearly a week in which she wasn''t able to use her left arm properly. Even so, Ylisera visibly had a hard time keeping up with her, and conceded the match when the wooden stick in Elfriede''s hand rested against her neck not long afterwards.


    "Up and about already, huh?" asked Reinhardt as he approached them. His steps were nearly silent out of habit, as his padded paws made little noise to begin with.


    "Just making sure the arm healed right," replied Elfriede as she stretched her arms. She had not turned towards him, but that was a habit he had grown used to after the years. Since she does not perceive her surroundings through her eyes, she lacked many habits most people with working eyes had. "How''s it going out there?"


    "Same old. The bastards are just sitting pretty out there, likely waiting for more of their buddies first," he said in return with a shake of his head. Like everyone else, the Free Lances took their turn on watch at the walls, and Reinhardt had just returned from the morning''s shift. "I always hated the waiting."


    "Nobody fucking likes to wait, that''s about right," commented Elfriede with a sigh. The wait got on their nerves a bit, and some people had been visibly more irritable because of it. "Hope the cocksuckers get their balls back and come calling before too many of us get antsy from waiting."


    "They''re also running on borrowed time," Reinhardt said in reply. Elfriede and Ylisera had started another bout by then, but he knew full well that she could hear him just fine while sparring. "The main forces departed Knallgant shortly after uncle Angus reported our situation, so they might be here earlier than we had thought. He just received a missive yesterday."


    "Good news for once, at least," replied Elfriede nonchalantly as she clashed with Ylisera. Reinhardt knew from the way she intensified her attacks that she didn''t feel like discussing the what ifs with him at the moment, so he nodded, and left her to her spar.


    He walked further into the training grounds when he spotted two figures he recognized. Kasimir and Nicole were striking at some practice targets. The violent manner with which they struck suggested that they did so partly to channel some pent-up frustration and grief.


    "Kas! Nicole, how are you two holding up?" He asked when the two had paused for a moment of rest.


    "Oh, hi, boss," said Nicole as she turned around and faced him. The red eyes and the traces of tears on her face showed that she had just recently cried. It must have been very recent, as she had been on a shift just before Reinhardt''s.


    One look at the rhomphaia the young girl held in her hands told Reinhardt much of the tale, though. The odd weapon, which was like a short polearm with a long blade that looked like someone took a sickle and straightened it, was one used by Nicole''s aunt¡­ who had been amongst the Second Company''s heavily wounded.


    "Aunt Dacia gave it to me earlier," said the young girl with her voice strained, attempting not to sob. Her aunt had been the one who raised her, as her parents - both mercenaries as well - had passed away when she was still too young to recall. "She¡­ she thought I might as well have it, since she¡­ likely no longer had a use for it."


    "They said that aunt Dacia might never walk again, barring healing from a true master healer," said Nicole as the girl finally sobbed and wiped her tears with the back of one hand. Her aunt had taken a spear to her spine in the ambush the Second Company suffered.


    Reinhardt didn''t exactly know what to do with the grieving girl so he could only rest his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of reassurance. While healers who could heal such horrific injuries do exist, the cost for such a treatment tends to be exorbitant, and far beyond a mercenary''s means.


    "What about you, old friend?" he asked Kasimir, who still looked depressed, but at least it was somewhat better than the haunted look he had during their escape.


    "Father was heartbroken and locked himself into his room with his grief," he said with a heartfelt sigh. His father was a gentle soul, a herbalist who usually helped take care of the children amongst the company''s dependents. "I''m actually glad Lianne was an orphan, otherwise I wouldn''t know how to break the news to her next of kin."


    All Reinhardt could do was to give his old friend a hug in sympathy. The ambush had taken many loved ones from all of them. He had been fortunate compared to many others, yet he dreaded that his luck might not hold on forever.

 Chapter 13 - Grim Vengeance

    "Most people who experienced carrying out their vengeance on others would tell you, that it''s a hollow thing, and not even the satisfaction you''d have expected would come from it, a mere pointless exercise, even.


    Yet others would not care for all these, as all they wanted was to just return the pain others had done unto them, often many times over. Some call these people not right in the head. I prefer to think of them as just being honest with their baser nature." - Angus Harscape, Graf von B?rengant, circa 5 FP.


    The next afternoon, Elfriede was summoned by the Graf, and since Reinhardt happened to be on his way back from a briefing at the time, he decided to relay the message himself since he was headed there anyway.


    When he asked where Elfriede was after he didn''t see her in the barracks that served as his people''s residence, Ursula pointed out that she had gone out towards the back with Erycea in tow, along with Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr.


    The scene that greeted Reinhardt as he opened the door to the back area of the building, which was rather secluded, was his wife and her two friends only clad in their smallclothes as they washed themselves with damp pieces of rags.


    Erycea was with them, looking better and no longer wincing with pain as she moved around, being cleaned by her mother in a wooden basin filled with water. She looked pretty much like a drowned kitten with her fur wet and matted to her body like that, so Reinhardt couldn''t help but chuckle a bit at the sight.


    "Oh. It''s just you," said Salicia with a sigh as she turned to look. The tall, slender woman happened to be washing her hair at the time, exposing the large diagonal scar that crossed her entire back from shoulder to waist.


    Gr¨¹nhildr just grunted in acknowledgement as she stood up and dried herself roughly with a towel. The mixed-breed woman''s body rippled with corded muscles, and riddled with scars all over. Much like some dwarves and orcs do, she kept many of the scars she obtained from past battles as a sort of remembrance.


    His own wife had far fewer marks on her lithe form as she did not share that habit of her good friend''s, though the wounds she recently took on her left arm had left some scars there.


    "What it is? It''s not like you to walk in on us girls bathing without a reason," said Elfriede without even turning around as she busied herself cleaning up Erycea''s fur. "Besides, it''s not like there''s anything new for you to see here anyway."


    "Uncle Angus asked me to pass on that he wants to see you, as soon as possible," he relayed without missing a beat. He noticed that Elfriede was almost done with Erycea so he grabbed a towel from the side and walked over to them. "You get dressed, I''ll dry her up."


    "Okay. Be gentle with her right side, it''s still a bit tender," said Elfriede as she got up and dried herself thoroughly, before putting on some fresh clothes. Neither of her friends cared much for Reinhardt''s presence there. It wasn''t like that was the first time he saw them naked anyway.


    "Did you have someone heal her up?" asked Reinhardt as he carefully patted Erycea''s fur dry after she shook off most of the water in them. The speed at which her broken ribs recovered was not natural by any means.


    "Loren did it as a freebie after he finished my treatment early," said Elfriede as she shrugged on a fresh pair of pants and tied it at her waist. Loren was a young water affinity healer, one of the three that returned with Second Company. "Said I was his last patient for the day anyway, and he got a little bit left. Any idea what old Harscape wants?"


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    "No idea," replied Reinhardt as he carefully dried his little daughter before giving her a long tunic to put on. "And that''s good then. Remind me to thank the boy next time I see him."


    "Mm-hmm. Let''s go see old Harscape then. Sal, can you look after Ery for me?" said Elfriede as she finished changing. Both of her friends were also nearly done with their baths.


    "Sure, go ahead," replied Salicia as she wrapped her headband over her right eye as usual.


    Reinhardt and Elfriede left Erycea behind with her "aunts" as they walked side by side towards the fort''s mess hall, under which the dwarves had build their underground command complex.


    They quickly found their way to the Graf''s office in the warrens, with Reinhardt ducking to go through the low doors of the place. He had tagged along mostly because he was curious why the Graf had asked for his wife.


    "Ah, there you are, lass," greeted the dwarven noble upon noticing her arrival. "Just wanted to tell you that you can have the wench, as promised."


    "About time," said Elfriede with an eager tone to her voice and a slight smile on her face. "Did the cunt squeal?"


    "Unfortunately not. She''s rather tight-lipped. All she ever said when she opened her mouth was to curse us or praise their bloody godking," said the old dwarf with a sigh. "Our best interrogators concurred that she won''t be giving us any info, and even if she did it wouldn''t be reliable. So you can have her."


    "Why, thanks," said Elfriede with a spreading cruel grin that got Reinhardt''s fur stand on their ends. "Where can I find the bitch?"


    "Other end of the hallway, last door to the left," replied the old dwarf as he pointed with one meaty finger. "I''ve informed the guard there that you''re free to do whatever you want with the prisoner."


    "Much appreciated," said Elfriede as she stood up and gave a polite bow to the dwarven noble. "If you''ll excuse me, I have some work to do."


    Reinhardt waited until Elfriede has left for a while, right up to the point when a muffled scream of pain was audible even in the Graf''s office, before he looked the old dwarf in the eye and said his piece. "Uncle Angus," he said. "You are aware that under most laws this would make you an accomplice to murder, yes?"


    "Yep! I owe Friede my ass anyway for her help back then, this is nothing," said the old dwarf perhaps a little too cheerfully considering the muffled screams that were loud enough to reach them. "And not like I got any sympathy for crazy wenches trying to put ''defenseless'' women and children to the sword. She''s the one that kicked little Ery, you know?"


    "Oh. Good riddance then," he said in realization of just why his wife had been so eager just now. "Good thing we don''t have too much time, otherwise she''d be taking her time with this. This place ain''t got good enough sound insulation for that."


    "Your wife can be quite¡­ vindictive at times," admitted the old dwarf with a wide grin. "An admirable trait, honestly, especially when it''s directed to people you don''t like."


    Reinhardt made some small talk with the Graf for the next half hour or so, before the screams and groans slowly came to an end. They walked out of the Graf''s office to see Elfriede making her way out of the underground warrens, while dragging the limbless prisoner behind her by the hair.


    The captured woman''s mouth had nothing but bleeding gums left, without a single tooth in sight, while one of her eyes had been gouged out as well. Other than her face, most of the rest of her skin had been flayed cruelly.


    Not long after Elfriede exited the warrens, the dwarven guard who had stood near the prisoner''s room vomited the contents of his stomach in a nearby waste bucket with a decidedly very pale face.


    *****************************


    Nobody stopped Elfriede as she walked through the fort while dragging the flayed, limbless, half-conscious woman''s body behind her. Most who saw her immediately gave her a wide berth instead.


    Elfriede walked straight towards the corner where the fort''s latrines were located. A clever construction by a rot and a mud mage from the a previous era, which cleanly decomposed whatever material was tossed there, thus preventing the waste from contaminating the fort''s groundwater sources.


    That clever construction did not help with the disgusting smell from the collected waste of thousands of people though, and even then several people were near the latrines as they dumped buckets of waste into the pit. All of them parted and made way for Elfriede.


    "See that, bitch? That''s going to be your resting place from now till forever onwards," Elfriede said to the captive woman after crudely twisting a point she knew had a bundle of nerves on. The pain jolted the woman awake, her one remaining eye greeted by the sight of a pit full of waste below her, even as the nauseating stench struck her like a squall.


    The woman tried to say something, but all that came out were unintelligible mumbles as she was missing all of her teeth and her lips were quite demolished to boot. Elfriede held the woman''s limbless body over the pit by the hair as she looked her in the eyes, her unseeing blank stare one that provoked a sense of dread in the captive woman.


    "Eat shit, cunt," she said before she released her grip and allowed the woman''s body to fall into the cess pit below.


    Elfriede stayed for another minute or so and kept watch as the limbless woman futilely struggled to stay afloat in the pit of waste, only to slowly drown beneath instead, and only left once the woman surfaced no more.

 Chapter 14 - The Calm before the Proverbial Storm

    "Common military wisdom suggests having an attacking force at least three times larger than the defenders when assaulting and besieging a fortified defensive position. Personally? I favor having ten times as many, or five times at least." - Xie Long-Tian, famed general from the Huan Confederacy.


    "Fucking hairy ballsacks¡­ that''s a shitload of ''em out there," commented Ylisera as she watched the streams of people gathering together several kilometers away from the fort they''re in. Being a full-blooded elf she was one of the few who could see that far without a spyglass as aid.


    Much like they expected, more reinforcements of the enemy army had arrived, just a day after Elfriede had caused talks within the fort over what she did. Some had cringed at what they deemed to be excessive cruelty even to an enemy, while others had appreciated what she did, especially those who lost friends and family already.


    Now they had bigger things to worry about though.


    The enemy reinforcements started arriving shortly before noon, and they kept streaming hours later. None of them managed to get an accurate read on the enemy numbers, but Ylisera and the other lookouts agreed that there was approximately twice as much as there was before.


    In other words, twenty to twenty five thousand enemy combatants. Against the five thousand and change of them hunkered down in Fort Ascher.


    At least they had not noticed any siege engines in sight, barring some crude ladders and battering rams that were improvised out of the plentiful trees from the nearby jungle, but that brought little relief.


    "Think they''re prepping up for the siege? They don''t look like they''re about to hit us today," asked Reinhardt from beside the elvish woman. It wasn''t his turn on the watch, but he had went to the walls anyway once he heard of the news of the enemy''s arrival.


    "I can see them setting up camps¡­" said the elvish woman as she squinted her eyes and shaded them from the sun. "Looks like they''re preparing for a longer siege to me, doubt they''d be stupid enough to try hitting us at night. They''re all human."


    What Ylisera said made sense. The majority of the forces defending Fort Ascher were dwarves, who favored living underground to begin with. Their eyes had long adapted to low light conditions, and they could even see well in total darkness.


    As a full-blooded therian, Reinhardt also had excellent night vision. Night and day were of little difference to his kind. His wife, while human, perceived through magical means rather than her eyes, and she even found moonless nights to her advantage rather than a detriment.


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    No, if the human enemies they faced were to attack, they would most likely do so in daytime, which was more advantageous to them than any other time, and since it was already late in the day, it was unlikely that they would press the assault right away.


    "By Pesca''s hairy arse!" commented Barnaby from next to Reinhardt. The dwarven mercenary captain had just arrived and was peering through a spyglass to take a look of the situation. "Them be a lotta these goatfuckers."


    "Twenty to twenty five thousand or so," confirmed Reinhardt with a grim nod. "Think we can hold them off long enough till help gets here?"


    "Eh, lad, it''s not a matter if we can hold ''em off or not," said the dwarven man with a shake of his head, before he turned to face Reinhardt and gave a manic grin. "It''s either we hold the buggers off, or we die trying."


    "Fair point," he conceded with a toothy smile.


    ******************************


    Much like Ylisera said, there was no attack that night. Even so, many of the people in the fort slept fitfully, mostly the dependents and younger soldiers. The veterans just slept when they were told to, and soon slept like a log as they snored loudly.


    Reinhardt woke up early the next morning, refreshed and prepared for what he expected to be a grueling day. The walls were manned by the dwarven regulars, who were better suited for such holding actions, while the mercenaries under Barnaby and him were split into groups and tasked to hold the gates, when they were breached.


    Reinhardt had split his already small group even further. Salicia and around eighty archers - some were survivors from the Second Company''s archer detachment, whilst others were followers or dependants who were good with the bow - had stationed themselves atop the roofs of the building that had served as the fort''s chapel.


    The tall, one-eyed woman herself was perched atop the roof of the bell tower, the tallest structure in the fort as a whole, as it was erected atop an artificial hill as tall as the walls. Her role was to direct the rest of the archers as they laid down some indirect fire support for the rest of the defenders.


    Unlike the archers, who wielded long and short bows of various sorts, the dwarven marksmen lined up on the walls wielded different armaments.


    Most of them had repeating heavy crossbows with them, a crank-operated piece of machinery capable of firing ten bolts in as many seconds. Where most such designs that other races made were relatively low in power, these dwarven made monstrosities hurled their bolts with enough force to pierce through plate armor at a hundred meters, and lethal to lightly armored opponents up to twice that range.


    Their accuracy beyond thirty meters left much to be desired however, and the crank mechanism was so heavy most other races, even bulky orcs, were unable to even use the weapon.


    For every five dwarves armed with repeaters, was an expert marksman who used an even heavier windlass crossbow. The hefty bow hurled heavy bolts capable of lethal accuracy against most plate armor up to a hundred fifty meters away, with an effective range twice that if accuracy was not a concern.


    The only worry the dwarves had were whether their supply of bolts and quarrels would suffice in a prolonged siege.


    Behind the gates, Barnaby''s men had split into three groups, one behind each of the intact gates. A single line of heavy shieldsmen were backed by two lines of pikemen behind them, behind which were the rest of Barnaby''s heavy infantry strike force.


    Reinhardt''s crew were assigned the eastern gate, and he arranged those less skilled and the dependants who had volunteered to hold the sides of the half-circle formation.


    He himself, along with nearly seventy of the best fighters in what was left of the company, stood in the middle. Mischka''s people in two groups at their flank. They were the main force of the defense on whom the unenviable task of pushing back the enemy fell on.

 Chapter 15 - Cry Havoc, and Unleash the Hounds of War!

    "Sieges are in my opinion the ugliest form of combat possible. Strategy and tactics rarely play much role in them, as it was instead a pure contest of who would break first. Either the attackers were worn down, or the defenders'' willpower failed them at last, or, at times, the walls broke before either did." - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiyan Empire.


    When the over twenty thousand strong enemy force marched, it was with loud cries and yells that carried with the wind. As they approached, Reinhardt could hear their yells even inside the fort, as well as the amplified voices of the preaching priests that drove the mob into a more vicious mood, almost a frenzy.


    He was not particularly familiar with the language used in the Holy Kingdom, but had learned some words that Elfriede often used in her swears over the years. His keen ears caught repeated mentions of the words "heretics", "unbelievers", and what sounded like praises to the God-King, a name his wife only ever uttered in conjunction with vile curses.


    It was still early in the morning that day, the sun had only risen for a few hours. Their enemies had set out and marched just after breakfast, it seemed, and it would take them over an hour to close the distance at their marching pace.


    Rather than standing tensely as they awaited the arrival of their enemies, Reinhardt ordered everyone to sit down and rest, to conserve their energy as they waited their turn. There was no point in tiring themselves out when the enemy might not even breach the gate at all that day.


    ******************************


    From high above the ground, at her precarious perch on the bell tower''s roof, Salicia watched the enemy forces approach the fort from every direction, an encirclement that left no gaps whatsoever.


    The enemy forces - more a gigantic mob frothing at the mouth with zealotry, really - were still a good kilometer away by then, too far for arrows to reach, although their loud yells and magically amplified preaching was loud enough to be heard already.


    Most of the archers under her command were humans and orcs, a few therians whose builds were suitable for archery and a bunch of half breeds, all from the Free Lances. Some were professional archers, others just hunters who were good with a bow. One of them was even their bowyer, who was a decent shot himself.


    She watched closely as the enemy troops closed within three hundred meters, close enough that she could be certain of placing her arrow exactly where she wanted it to be, but stayed her hand. It was only their front lines, full of cannon fodder, without worthwhile targets.


    The dwarven marksmen also held their shots, as they allowed the enemy ranks to close for another fifty meters. Then they let loose.


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    From her perch high above, it was a pleasant scene to witness. Hundreds of dwarves on each of the fortress'' four walls turned the cranks of their repeating crossbows, and the mechanism within drew the string, nocked a bolt, and loosed as the crank turned.


    Thousands of bolts were fired within the following ten seconds, as they rained down upon the approaching enemies. As it were, the enemy held their shields high, prepared as they were for such a bombardement, yet the force of the impact still caught them by surprise.


    Here and there a shield flew away or turned as its wielder lost their grip on it, as the heavy impact of the bolts were more than they expected. Where the bolts met the haphazard collection of light armor the militia wore, they punched deep into flesh. Some even went all the way through and only stopped when it embedded itself in a second target.


    Despite the fearsome rain of bolts, most of them were actually caught on shields, and of those that made it past the shields, only a few were immediately fatal. Even so, the barrage scored at least a few hundred casualties, both injured and dead, amongst the enemy, which they seemed to ignore as they marched on.


    Salicia watched as the dwarves on the walls handed their empty repeaters to another dwarf behind them, who in turn handed them a fully loaded one, before they quickly reloaded new bolts into the empty repeating crossbow.


    Like clockwork, the dwarven soldiers on the walls rained arrows without a pause on their enemies, slowly but surely taking their toll. Against a normal group of peasant militia, just such a sight alone would have likely routed them.


    These enemies, while also militia gathered out of peasants, had zealotry and belief backing them however, and they marched onward, unheeding of casualties.


    By then the enemies had closed to a hundred meters. The expert marksmen amongst the dwarves began their grim work, as they sought out those who looked like commanders and tried to take them out of the equation with a quarrel to the head.


    After a couple salvos however, the enemy grew wise to it and kept their commanders covered, which made it harder to snipe them out.


    By then, the archers amongst the enemy''s back lines had approached close enough to fire back, and the dwarven marksmen on the walls had to look out for return fire as well.


    Incidentally, that placed them within range of Salicia''s group of archers. Due to their elevated position in the middle of the fort, and their use of bows, which allows arcing shots unlike crossbows, they had a lot of range covered.


    "Archers, face west! Follow my arrow! Ready!?" yelled Salicia from her perch at the roof, as she turned towards the west. The enemy army''s advance wasn''t too uniform, and their west side had pushed the farthest so far.


    The gathered archers on the chapel''s roof nocked an arrow on her call, and raised their bows to face the west. Salicia herself kept her one good eye on one man who looked like he commanded the enemy archers, a good hundred meters away from the walls.


    In one fluid motion, her left hand nocked an arrow on the string of her massive bow, then her right arm pushed, as her left arm pulled the string. She took but a mere moment to correct her aim, before she let go of the string with her fingers.


    "Five volleys! Loose!" she yelled as she let her arrow fly.


    Below her, the waiting archers kept a close eye on the trajectory of her arrow, and adjusted their aim to follow behind it. They loosed five volleys of arrows as she commanded, without questioning the order.


    Despite the ridiculously long range - around three hundred fifty meters - most of those arrows fell on the surprised enemy archers, who were mostly unarmored and unprotected. Despite the rather crude targeting of the volleys, the arrows still caused at least close to a hundred casualties, and sent the enemy archers into disarray.


    Their commander was in no state to restore order, as he was too busy dying at the moment. A large, meter-long arrow as thick as a small javelin had punched through his nose and out the back of his head.


    Salicia Adenauer, the Silent Reaper, does not miss her target often.

 Chapter 16 - Siege of Fort Ascher

    "Tall, foreboding walls we shall climb,


    The hefty gates will fall ajar,


    Oh, we shall bathe with blood and grime,


    For none proved they''re up to par." - Soldier''s tune, unknown author, believed to originate from the siege of Sabaya at the end of the Second Elmaiya Empire.


    Reinhardt allowed a grin to form on his face, displaying many sharp teeth, as he heard Salicia barking orders from atop the bell tower, followed by waves of arrows fired towards the enemies beyond the walls.


    The arrow fire from the enemies only came sporadically at worst, because their own archers under Salicia''s lead quickly gave them something to worry about. In turn, this allowed the dwarven marksmen on the walls to rain bolts on the enemy with impunity and whittle down their numbers.


    Given how dense the rain of projectiles was and how lethal the bolts were - they easily punched through shield and wearer both at fifty meters or less -, the defenders of Fort Ascher found it relatively easy to hold their enemies at bay.


    The exchange of projectiles continued for a few hours, until their enemies pulled back for some rest shortly after noon, their mostly militia soldiers unused to such prolonged battles, which the defenders aped, as they took their chance to rest and have a quick meal.


    Before an hour had passed, the battle was joined once more, once again mostly an exchange of projectiles. The enemy archers stayed away from the range of the archers atop the chapel this time, but that made their own fire less than effective against the defenders.


    By the time evening fell and the attackers withdrew to their new camps, a wide circle merely a kilometer away from the fort, the reports Reinhardt got indicated that at least three thousand enemies were injured or killed in that day''s battle. Their own losses were negligible, mostly light injuries and a couple very unlucky fatalities who took an arrow at a bad place.


    Scouts and other volunteers left the fort under the cover of the night and scoured the battlefield for still-usable bolts, quarrels, and arrows. Even with their efforts however, the dwarven marksmen were down to three-quarters of their stock of bolts.


    Salicia and her archers were better off as regular arrows were plentiful amongst the salvage they had from the previous battle. They still had over nine tenths of their stock to use.


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    ******************************


    The next three days were repeats of the first day, with the zealots trying to approach the fort, only to be beaten back again and again. It was not without cost, however, as by the fourth night the dwarves were down to barely a few reloads per marksmen. They were running low on crossbow bolts.


    "These madmen! They''re trading their people''s lives to run us outta bolts!" complained Barnaby in the meeting the leaders had that night. "We must''ve dropped ten thousand of them already, and they still keep coming!"


    "Hate to admit it¡­ but it''s working." Said Reinhardt with a sigh. "They still got over triple our numbers, and that''s not counting the lightly wounded. I bet they''d be willing to have those fight again to take some bolts for the rest."


    "The bastards haven''t even attacked us seriously!" Said the Graf with some anger. "We know they had mages. That was how they breached the gate when they attacked the fort last time. We''ve seen neither hide nor hair of mages in these four days."


    "Probably hiding away in the back, with the priests," commented Reinhardt snidely. Salicia had diligently reported what she saw from her high perch to him every evening, so he was very well informed. "They''re not committing until we run low on projectiles."


    "We''ll have no choice but to engage them in melee anyway at this rate," replied the Graf with a sigh. "I''ll have the remaining bolts be distributed to the best marksmen we got with orders only to shoot if they either see an emergency or a priority target."


    "My archers still have arrows aplenty, but there''s only eighty-six of them. They wouldn''t be able to put that much of a dent," said Reinhardt as he pondered. "What do you think are our chances in a melee?"


    "Fifty-fifty I''d say, if we can keep them choked with the gates," replied Barnaby with a serious look on his wizened face. "The walls ought to hold, we dwarves ain''t easy to dislodge. But the gates are a bit harder to hold."


    "We all just have to do our best then," nodded Reinhardt in agreement. "Did they try any sneak attacks?"


    "They tried the secret tunnels we collapsed back then a couple of times. We tried to collapse it on them, but they must''ve had a good earth mage with them," said the Graf with an annoyed harrumph. "They got away, though we got the tunnels sealed shut again at least. They haven''t tried again since."


    ******************************


    Much like they expected, the battle intensified the next day. Where in the past four days the enemy army backed away under too-fierce resistance from the rain of bolts, this time there were far fewer bolts fired at them.


    Their advance went far more rapidly, with their walking wounded making up the first lines, zealots willing to use their bodies and lives to shield those behind them in the name of the God-King they worship.


    Behind the wounded, men and women carried tall, crude ladders, whilst others who were headed for the gates carried battering rams. This time their advance was far more uniform, even if the lines of soldiers still looked more like a mob.


    Salicia ended up splitting her archers to shoot at the enemy archers in all four directions, and told them to fire freely. This time their return fire failed to cause disarray.


    The enemy archers just stood and fired back, even as the person right next to them dropped dead from an arrow. Even the sight of their commander falling only spurred them to fight harder instead.


    Inevitably, ladders were raised and erected against the fort''s walls. Dwarves with long bidents tried to push the ladders away, but doing so meant exposing themselves, and they were quickly targeted by the enemy archers.


    Before long, the fighting had reached the top of the walls of Fort Ascher once again.

 Chapter 17 - Once More Unto the Breach

    "A proper fortification is a nightmare to deal with, often a meat grinder where you send in men and receive nothing but dead bodies back. Poorly designed makeshift fortifications on the other hand¡­ often have flaws that were very exploitable." - Carlotta Inloszen, famed general from the Posuin Kingdom, from her treatise "On Warfare".


    Fort Ascher was as forts go, a shitty fort. Its walls, while wide enough for two dwarves to walk side by side, were too short. At only three and a half meters tall it was a height many therians could effortlessly leap to, Reinhardt included. Some larger breeds like Mischka only needed to raise their arm to reach the top of the wall, even.


    Similarly, the crenellations were too low, and too wide, less than ideal for archers. To be fair, the fort''s walls used to be city walls, as the fort was raised atop the remains of a long dead city. The Holy Kingdom had merely fixed the walls, and erected a few buildings to accommodate troops within.


    At least the walls were long enough to accomodate a good six hundred dwarves to a side, in two staggered lines, with more waiting by the stairs and in the four towers at the corners, atop which their best marksmen were situated.


    When the zealot militia finally clawed their way atop the wall, they found themselves face to face with a shield wall of dwarven heavy infantry, as the soldiers brought their shields in line.


    A greeting of heavy axes, maces, and warhammers, ones too heavy for a human to use properly, greeted the first zealots to crest the wall. Their dead bodies fell back down with crushed or missing heads.


    Arrows were exchanged by both sides, more from the enemy now than from their side, but the dwarves atop the walls were well-protected by their massive shields. Salicia and her archers, in their raised position, remained safe from the enemy archers and fired back with impunity.


    Finally, magic working started to be thrown around. A bolt of lightning seared through a dwarven soldier atop the northern wall. No second bolt arrived however, as a moment later Salicia sent one of her arrows at the mage in question.


    A ball of fire exploded against the shield wall atop the western wall, and once again the one-eyed woman turned to shoot an arrow at the offending mage. She had not expected that it was a decoy instead.


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    The earthen wall that barricaded the eastern gate shook, then crumbled, as an earth mage from the enemy side wore it down. The way thus opened, a throng of zealots charged through the open gate, right towards where Reinhardt''s people waited.


    There was no need to give the command. All the people who had guarded the gate with him the past four days had rehearsed their reaction well for when a breach happened.


    Twenty skirmishers from Mischka''s family hurled full-sized spears at the incoming throng of zealots with all their might. The spears easily penetrated two, three, even four people before they stopped, yet the zealots charged in undeterred.


    Just as they were about to enter the fort proper, Reinhardt led the fighters with him to stop them. Elfriede ran by his left side, while Mischka herself was to his right, leading her family by example.


    Reinhardt deflected an incoming spear to the side with his polemace''s shaft, smashing the militiaman''s head apart with a swift swing right after. Another came at his right behind the dead man, hatchet raised high.


    Reinhardt just shoved his polemace''s head into the man''s gut forcefully, before he pulled to withdraw his weapon. His leg then came up and kicked the shaft of the descending weapon and he used the force to revert to an upward swing which took the man''s jaw off and snapped his neck at the same time.


    He risked a glance to his sides to survey the situation, as the dead man''s corpse happened to fall on the woman behind him and delayed her for a moment. By the far sides, the few zealots who immediately turned once they entered the fort were handled safely.


    To his left, Elfriede danced between the onrushing zealots, her two blades claimed lives as easily as if she was reaping wheat. She understood the situation at hand all too well, and went for immediately fatal wounds in her attacks, ones where her victims ceased being a threat right away.


    On his other side, Reinhardt immediately realized that he had thought too much, and the therian matron had no need for his worries. Mischka wielded an unusual polearm, easily three meters long, half of which was the blade.


    Said rectangular blade - without a tapered point - was as wide as one of her meaty paws, and as thick as a human finger, the tapering edges it has almost a mere courtesy. Its equally long handle was thick and solid metal, a blunt ovoid in cross section to fit her paws better.


    The whole thing must have weighed at least a good twenty kilos, if not more, with that slab of metal for a blade, yet the therian matron wielded it as lightly as Elfriede wielded her blades.


    Human bodies had no chance whatsoever before such a blade, driven as it was by the muscles of a three-meter tall bear therian weighing well over half a ton. The blades weren''t that sharp, and Mischka''s victims were torn apart rather than cut in half.


    Mere moments were all it took for the therian matron to slaughter all the enemies before her, as she made the process look easy. They all fought on together to stem the tide of zealots trying to force their way in, trading places with others to rest themselves after an hour had passed.


    Three teams of fighters kept the rotation up until sunset, when the enemies finally withdrew once more. All of them were slick with sweat from the intense fighting, and between them all, they counted at least four, maybe five hundred enemies slain by their hands.


    It was not without cost. Twenty-two of their own perished in the fighting, and nearly twice as much were injured. Their best fighters made it out unscathed, but amongst the less skilled ones, the casualties were quite plentiful.

 Chapter 18 - Woes of a Mundane Battle

    "It bears saying that generally, mages sought out more lucrative careers than joining the military. Those that do apply and join the military on their own tend to be patriots, or those from military families. Most others favor seeking more lucrative employment in stations where they do not need to risk their necks." - Talbot Hoffenmeier, Herzog von Neuberg, circa FP 95.


    That night, when the commanders of the units gathered for another meeting, Reinhardt couldn''t help but to reminisce on the rather mundane nature of the day''s struggles. Other than the three mages who showed up on the enemy side, none of the enemies made overt use of magic in an attempt to breach their defenses.


    Probably because they ran low on mages in the first place.


    Due to its citizen''s zealotry, more mages joined the Holy Kingdom''s military compared to its neighbors. This powerful mage corps was one reason the neighboring kingdom had been reluctant to deal with the annoyance of their continued existence.


    Said mage corps was annihilated during the failed attack on the unliving settlement to the north-west half a year prior, so to say that the Holy Kingdom were running out on combat mages, would not be a wrong idea.


    On the other hand, the expeditionary forces had brought their own mage corps, the Graf''s own prized Stone Shapers. They were not combat mages however, but builders and engineers.


    The Stone Shapers were the ones responsible for constructing the makeshift barrier on the east gate, as well as the rapid creation of the underground warrens. They had also blunted the few attempts the enemy made to enter the fort through underground tunnels.


    As it was, the Shapers were kept busy expanding the underground warrens, to serve as a final bastion should the fort fall to the enemy''s assault. A few of them were detached that evening to rebuild the makeshift barricade that replaced the eastern gate, but that was about it.


    Since neither side had a combat archmage, nor a combat mage corps, the battle remained relatively mundane, reliant more on strength and morale. The zealots had plenty of the latter, to be fair, given their hard-set beliefs.


    On the other hand, the cornered soldiers and mercenaries had nowhere to run either, which forced them to do or die. Individually, most of the soldiers and mercenaries would be able to handle two or more of the zealots on their own, but in such a mass¡­


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    "We''ve lost close to three hundred of our own today," stated Graf Angus Harscape without preamble to the gathered commanders. "And nearly twice that number are injured. How much losses did we inflict on them in exchange?"


    "Hard to say fer sure since they keep taking their dead away with ''em," said the young female dwarf who commanded the 6th Regulars. Her accent slipped through her usually formal speech, indicating her fatigue. "Three thousand at least? Four? Maybe half that dead? Can''t really say either way about those that fell off the walls. Bloody fall''s prolly too short to kill ''em off."


    "At least two hundred dead on the east gate, around as many badly injured," reported Reinhardt. "We also took casualties, though, and I worry that they got more people to spare than we do, by far."


    "And what about from your side, miss Adenauer?" asked the Graf as he looked at Salicia, who had accompanied Reinhardt to the meeting since she had the best view of the battle from her perch up high.


    "They''re still holding back," stated the one-eyed woman with grim certainty. "Their priests stayed far in the back, rather than exhorting the crowd near the front like we had seen during the ambushes. I believe you mentioned that also happened in the previous attack on the fort?"


    "That is indeed the case, miss," said a middle-aged dwarf, commander of the 9th regulars. The units designated as the 9th and 10th regulars were the Graf''s own personal soldiers from his fief. "They were right by the front, and each time we take one out, the rest around them just went bonkers on us."


    "The fire and lightning mage from earlier today are dead, but I couldn''t get the earth one. He noticed the shot and blocked the arrow before he went running," reported Salicia from her seat, sounding clearly unsatisfied. "We''ll have to expect another breach by the east gate as long as the fucker lives."


    "Not just there," said Barnaby as he interjected. "The other gates are showing signs of damage as well. Can''t be sure how much longer they''ll hold."


    "That might be it," Reinhardt said in realization. "They might just be biding their time until the gates are all down, before they go all out on us. They have the numbers to spare after all."


    "A plausible scenario," said the commander from the 1st regulars. "If they were to get inside the fort - and an all-out attack from the walls and all four gates does give them the best chance for that - we''d be screwed."


    "Let us all hope it does not come to that," said the Graf with a heavy voice. "Just in case, however, have your dependents and the wounded start to move to the expanded warrens from tomorrow onwards. We will make our last stand there should the fort fail us."


    A chorus of "Yes, Sir!" and "Understood." answered the venerable dwarf''s words.


    ******************************


    The two days of hard-fought battle that followed were mostly a repeat of the previous day they had. The zealot militia pushed, but not with everything they had yet. To be fair, even if they did, they lacked the room to fully utilize their full weight of numbers.


    The zealots dwindled to maybe twelve thousand, fifteen thousand in their worst estimates, while the defenders inside paid the price in blood, and there were around three thousand of them active and fighting. A good thousand of those were the injured who chose to return to the line of duty despite their injuries.


    Barnaby reported on the night of the seventh day of the siege that the gates were on their last legs, and that he doubted they would last another day. Most of the non-combatant dependents and badly wounded had been evacuated to the now far more expansive warrens by then.


    Around two hundred more of the followers and dependents chose to stand and fight with the rest, including Reinhardt''s adopted father, which helped bolster their numbers somewhat.


    Even so, as the fort''s three remaining gates creaked and fell the next day shortly after noon, that was when all hell broke loose.

 Chapter 19 - An Exchange of Brutality

    "Sometimes, in the heat of battle, you just kinda lose sight of everything else around you, and all you got left in your mind is to kill the guy or gal you''re fighting against. It happens a lot, but sometimes, it happens to a lot of people at once.


    When that happens? Forget strategy. Forget tactics. All you got, and all you need, is just to kill." - Fargrim Obderhoede, retired veteran mercenary, formerly of Barnaby''s Brewers.


    When the three remaining gates fell, one by one, Reinhardt could feel the change in the air. It suddenly felt more stifling for some reason, foreboding, even. As if something bad was about to take place soon after.


    His hunch proved correct when not five minutes later, explosions happened at several places along the four walls, and he even saw a couple mangled dwarves - their survival unknown - thrown off the walls by the explosions in question.


    Right around then, he heard a shout of alarm from Elfriede. He quickly dispatched his opponent with a swift strike to the neck, then kicked the body towards the rushing crowd behind, before he turned to look in his wife''s direction.


    He saw one of the zealots - a younger woman, which was rather rare, since most of the enemies he had faced the past few days were middle-aged or older - trying to throw a vial with transparent liquid inside to the ground.


    Elfriede would have none of that, however, and before the woman could throw the vial down, her wrist was severed by one of Elfriede''s blades, while her second blade opened the woman''s throat up.


    Reinhardt noticed how his wife caught the falling vial - severed hand still clutching to it - with one foot, and tossed it back up where she caught it with her right hand without releasing her blade.


    Then Elfriede hurled the vial towards the crowd, far away from where they held the line against the zealots.


    A sudden, loud explosion ensued around where she threw the vial. The blast killed several of the zealots closest to it, and injured many others. Both the zealots in front and behind the blast paused for a moment in surprise at the unexpected blow.


    Reinhardt gestured for the second group of fighters to take over, and Gr¨¹nhildr smiled at him as she passed him by in their lead, pushing back the surprised zealots halfway through the gate.


    He himself went to Elfriede, as clearly she knew more than him what was up just now with the explosion.


    "That was Dragonfire Brew," stated Elfriede without preamble once Reinhardt and Mischka approached close to her. "A goblin concoction. Very volatile, and reacts explosively to most anything that''s not air or specially treated glass."


    "Where in the ten hells do they get shit like that!?" barked Mischka in question. The therian matron looked genuinely baffled at the idea of the human supremacist Holy Kingdom having a stock of explosive goblin concoctions. "I thought those cocksuckers don''t touch anything not human-made?"


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    "The gobbos didn''t exactly keep the recipe a secret. You know how they are. Most any alchemist worth their salt would know how to make some¡­ though few would be crazy enough to actually use the damned thing," replied Elfriede in turn. "I should''ve guessed the bloody lunatics would''ve used it this way. What would be a more reliable delivery method than a believer willing to die to carry it where it''d have the most effect?"


    "Good point. Nicole, get the rest of your team and share this info with the rest," said Reinhardt after a mere moment of pondering. Then he turned towards Mischka. "I assume you''ll brief your son and the third team about this yourself?"


    "I''ll let Yuri know, yea. This sort of bullshit isn''t what we''re trained for," replied the towering therian matron with an annoyed huff. Her son-in-law Yuri headed the third team of combatants, as he was her second-in-command for the family unit. "Won''t the second team need to be told as well though?"


    "Nah, we''ll brief them when they rotate out," said Reinhardt as he turned to look at the second team, which had almost pushed the enemy force out of the gate. "Gr¨¹n ain''t gonna give them a chance to even pull that shit on her."


    Within the narrow confines of the gate, Gr¨¹nhildr, as a void mage, proved overwhelmingly lethal as she led from the front and massacred everything before her. Any enemy that entered the range of her axes found themselves missing body parts moments later, and her ferocity alone had pushed the enemy far back.


    The blades of her axes were covered by a thin sheen of void magic, which extended the blade in both directions. Gr¨¹nhildr wasn''t a strong mage, so coating her blades and then some were the most she could do, but even that was plenty.


    Where the sheer nothingness of the void passed, none remained. The void-coated blades cut sharper and smoother than even the sharpest of surgical knives. Limbs and torsos were severed as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter.


    Gr¨¹nhildr herself played it smart. She remained at around three-quarters into the gate, and stood her ground there. That way her enemies were forced to engage her within the narrow confines of the gate, and also had horrible lines of sight to use ranged weapons.


    In a sight none of the other fronts had seen, the frontmost line of the zealots actually wavered before her. They only went forward because they were pushed ahead by those behind them. Needless to say, the ones behind soon became the front, and they found out the hard way why their comrades had been so hesitant in going forward.


    After an hour of slaughter and playing deterrence, Gr¨¹nhildr and her group withdrew to the back. The zealots charged in after them, but found themselves on the receiving end of a counter-charge of a good twenty burly orcs, dwarves, and therians the instant they cleared the gate. Yuri and his third group took over for Gr¨¹nhildr''s second group.


    Led by the massive elephant-therian man, who was even taller and larger than his mother-in-law, the third group crushed the zealot wave between their charges. Yuri''s own massive tower shield, as wide and tall as the man himself, bashed people as the warhammer he wielded in his other hand struck in tandem with the metal cudgel he wielded with his trunk.


    Niko, Mischka''s second son and Yuri''s husband led the other hand of the group. He was only a tad smaller than his imposing mother, and wielded a tower shield much like his paramour, with a massive cleaver-like blade in his other hand.


    Under their cover, Gr¨¹nhildr''s group had little issue disengaging and withdrawing from the front.


    "The fuck!? You could''ve told me that before I went there and chopped those fuckers up!" complained Gr¨¹nhildr as Reinhardt and Elfriede explained about the explosive vials to her. Even then, they could hear an explosion going off from time to time, but not many. It seemed that either the zealots didn''t have that many vials with them, or the forewarned defenders succeeded in cutting off most suicidal attempts.


    "Well, we did learn of it after you went and chopped them up," dithered Reinhardt to a chuckle from his wife. "And besides, we figured they''d be too busy being scared shitless to try that shit on you anyway."


    "...... Fair point," admitted the brusque woman as she plopped down and laid on her back besides the couple. As deadly as she was in combat, her stamina was by no means unending, and an hour of intense combat was tiring, no matter how one cut it. The brawny woman was also bleeding from a few cuts on her body. Fatigue was the main reason they had three groups in rotation to hold the gate.


    "So what do we do to deal with this shit?" She asked as she gulped down a whole waterskin to quench her thirst. "Just keep chopping them up to the point that they never get a chance to blow their own asses up?"


    "Pretty much," admitted Reinhardt with a sigh. "Or if you can, toss their explodey brew back at them."

 Chapter 20 - Desperate Measures

    "A cornered rat will bite even a cat." - Old folk saying.


    "So how bad of a hit did we take?" asked Barnaby with a tired sigh as he sat down by the table they have met at for the past few days. The venerable dwarf''s armor was dented at several places, and some of his proud beard had been burnt. He had apparently been close to an explosion and caught part of it earlier that day.


    "We have two thousand left, mebbe another hundred or two at most¡­ and that''s counting the wounded that can still fight," replied the young dwarf who used to be the assistant to the 1st Regular''s commander. The commander, who used to be the one reporting for the regulars, had fallen in the line of duty that afternoon. "That''s total, including all your mercenary forces as well. Best estimates placed the enemy at six thousand, but they might still have nine to ten thousand."


    "Pretty tall odds¡­ especially with the gates breached. We held them off today, but I''m not sure how much longer we could do so at this rate," admitted Reinhardt with a sigh. He made no comment about the rather pungent smell in the room. After over a week of constant battles, and little time to properly rest and clean up, everybody stank. "Any progress with the warrens, Graf Harscape?"


    "Aye, that''s the one good news I got for us tonight. The warrens are pretty much done, and all your followers and dependents have been moved there, as I''m sure you''ve all noticed by now," said the old dwarf with a tired smile. "I''m having half the shapers expand it further. Worse comes to worse, it should have room for what''s left of us when it comes to that."


    "The other half of the shapers will be erecting some makeshift fortifications around the chapel, since it''s a high ground. We will collapse all other entrances to the warrens except the one under the chapel and retreat there should we lose the walls," added the old dwarf. "They estimate they could probably get something decent done in a day or two. I trust you all can buy that time for them?"


    "We''ll do it or die trying," said Barnaby as he thumped his chest with one balled fist. "Won''t they be able to find the abandoned entrances though? What if they chose to go there instead?"


    His question was a valid one, as the chapel and the small hill it was situated on was in the center of the cluster of buildings in the makeshift fort. Fortifying the chapel meant that the other buildings would be abandoned outside the defensive perimeter.


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    "When the time comes, I will have my best personal guards stay in the warrens. These fanatics might get the drop on us here on open ground, but in the warrens¡­ I doubt they could get through us easily," replied the Graf with grim confidence in his voice.


    Reinhardt understood what he meant. The warrens and the tunnels connecting the many underground chambers were built under dwarven specifications. That is to say, they were all low-ceilinged, wide tunnels. So low that most humans would have to bend their backs to navigate them.


    Dwarves were naturally shorter than humans, mostly due to their short, stumpy legs. On the other hand, their arms were often twice as large as that of an adult human''s, if not more. Powerful and muscular, under the cramped confines of the underground tunnels no other race could truly match them in combat.


    Much of the warrens served as makeshift hospitals, where their wounded - mercenary and regulars both - were treated of their injuries. Under the circumstances, the many dependents of the mercenaries helped the all too few healers and medics at their work, even if it might be as simple as carrying their tools or boiling the water for them.


    "This would''ve been easier if they just charged like madmen like last time," complained the commander of the Graf''s personal guards. "Have ye tried to take out them priests, lass? Those seem to be the ones in charge of the mob."


    "I took two down today, but the rest were covered by shields before I could get another," replied Salicia with an annoyed huff from her seat. "Losing those two didn''t seem to affect them much, though."


    "How many more priests did you see?" asked the Graf in turn to the one-eyed archer.


    "At least four more. Maybe five. There was another who didn''t wear the robes but was shielded like the rest," she reported. "If you guys could drag down the shields or if they get within two hundred meters I have confidence in nailing them, but as it is, it''s rather hard to do."


    "We''ll keep that in mind."


    ******************************


    The following day''s battle proved to be a brutal struggle, as the zealots pushed the assault as soon as it was bright enough to see. They had avoided night attacks because it would just backfire on them. Dwarves favored living underground, and their sight was well-adapted to darkness, unlike human eyes.


    The remaining defenders spread themselves thinner and thinner, as they did their damndest to hold the walls and the gates. Barely two hundred or so meters behind their backs, the mage-engineers of the Stone Shapers were busy at work as they crafted one makeshift fortification after another.


    Despite all their efforts, it was a far closer fight. Their lines had thinned, and once Reinhardt had to interrupt his rest and led his ever dwindling first group of combatants to come to the assistance of the north gate, where Barnaby''s men faltered for a moment.


    Fortunately after his timely aid they managed to regain control of the situation, and the defenders doggedly persisted until nightfall, their numbers falling lower and lower as the fight went on.


    Reinhardt thought there might be less than fifteen hundred of them left and able to fight by that night, and in the meeting that night, they made the decision to abandon the walls, retreating to the makeshift fortifications around the chapel instead.


    That night, the members of the Stone Shapers worked themselves to exhaustion. Some further reinforced the makeshift fortifications, while others sabotaged the walls on specific spots, to deny their enemies any advantage they might grant.

 Chapter 21 - Victory or Death (Part 1)

    "If you call yourself a professional mercenary, then often, Victory or Death are the acceptable results. Defeat for a mercenary could at times be even worse than death, as it may well spell the end of everything you''ve built all your life. The loss of reputation alone might well cripple your company''s business going forward.


    So, Victory or Death.


    Either is fine." - Ral-Ast-Noor of the Bloodthorn clan, retired mercenary commander.


    When the dawn of the next day arrived, the remaining horde of zealots marched only to find themselves greeted with empty walls and open gates. Not a single defender was in sight near the walls.


    All the remaining dwarves and mercenaries had gathered by the hill around the chapel in the middle of the fort, now ringed by several layers of makeshift fortifications.


    The hardened earthen walls that made up the makeshift fortifications were short, barely two meters in height, a height that a healthy adult could climb with reasonable ease. They hid many short, stout dwarves behind them, however, completely concealed from sight by the earthen walls.


    Reinhardt and his remaining troops - barely a hundred and fifty of them still capable of fighting, nearly a third of which were Mischka''s people - were stationed by the chapel. Their role was as a reaction force, to reinforce where needed should the walls be broken.


    After all, many of them were too tall to hide behind the walls like the dwarves did.


    Salicia and her remaining sixty or so archers were still on their perch atop the chapel''s roofs. Since the fighting was mostly confined to the walls and gates, not many shots were fired back at them over the past week.


    They all knew that would likely change that day.


    With roars and yells, the horde of zealots streamed into Fort Ascher, while the archers amongst them went up to the walls to secure a higher vantage point. They had not bothered to check the badly damaged, abandoned walls at all.


    So when the fort''s walls crumbled apart and collapsed, it caught them by surprise.


    The collapse itself was not a complete one. The walls crumbled but still formed a makeshift barricade as a nearly three meter high pile of rubble. Many of the archers who had climbed the wall fell and injured themselves, though few died.


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    More unfortunate were those who happened to be within the gates when the walls crumbled, as they found themselves buried alive under the rubble.


    The zealots who already made it through only paused for a moment before they continued their charge, exhorted by a couple of priests in their midst. Those who were still outside cautiously climbed the rubble on their way in. It slowed their advance for a while to say the least.


    A few zealots barged into the abandoned buildings on their way to the chapel, but soon exited as they found nothing of value and nobody left inside. Meanwhile, the first few zealots had reached the first of the makeshift earthen walls and began to climb up.


    Those that climbed to the top of the wall soon fell back down as a burly arm cleaved them apart with axes, or pulverized their bones with a mace. The dwarves hidden behind the walls were in a perfect position to strike at those that had climbed the walls.


    Sometimes a zealot would react fast enough to stab downwards with a spear or a sword before they were felled, but the dwarves rarely took serious injuries from such haphazard strikes. They were regular soldiers of Knallzog, and wore proper armor, unlike the zealot militia who often didn''t even have any armor on them.


    Even so, many of the dwarves bore injuries from their previous battles, and there were five, maybe six zealots for every one of them. When more of the maniacal horde swarmed in, they began to face difficulties holding the line.


    In terms of skill and discipline, arms and armor, training and valor, the dwarves definitely overwhelmed the zealots. However, all the training in the world had not accounted for madmen who''d still grab and bite at you even after you''ve skewered them on your weapon.


    Many dwarves fell on the backfoot when multiple zealots swarmed them, some of which literally traded their lives just to get a blow in, or to grab onto their enemy before they perished, to hinder them even in death.


    One dwarf fell when a woman he had cleaved almost in half somehow retained the strength to grab his weapon with her hands and allowed herself to fall. That almost wrenched the dwarf''s weapon off his hand, and distracted him for a moment.


    By the time he had wrestled his axe free from the corpse, another zealot had jumped down at him, with a knife plunging down. The dwarf hacked at the man in mid-air, a blow so mighty he severed the man into two at the waist.


    The dwarf had not expected the man''s upper half to still plunge the knife into his chest as he fell, and grabbed his arm with his other hand and latched on with a dead man''s grip. The wound was shallow, the knife failing to pierce far through his armor, but the added weight and distraction of the dying man latching on his arm cost the dwarf.


    Another zealot - a young teenager, probably one that''s not even considered an adult yet - that looked quite similar to the man and woman he had just slain followed behind them with a spear in hand. He ignored the axe swung at him as he plunged his short spear into the dwarf''s left eye, where the weapon pierced through the eyeball, the socket bone, and went further into the brain.


    The boy paid for it with his life, for even as the dwarven soldier died, his axe bit deep into the boy''s shoulder, cleaved through his chest, and split his heart in twain.


    Similar scenes replayed itself all over the makeshift fortifications. The zealots would lose two, three, even four or more of their own for every dwarven soldier they take down, but there were always more of them behind.


    The dwarves had no such backup, and before a couple of hours had passed, they had organized a fighting retreat from the first defense lines to the second, under the rain of arrows from the zealots. The remaining archers amongst the zealots had advanced close enough to fire at the fortifications around the chapel, and many also fired back at the mercenary archers at the rooftops.


    The second line was abandoned shortly after noon, and the defenders rallied by the third line, a short distance up the foot of the hill. There they stood their ground once more, and lives were sacrificed on both sides, as the battle raged on.

 Chapter 22 - Victory or Death (Part 2)

    "Of the many nations in Alcidea, most relevant ones are large, powerful nations like Posuin, Clangeddin, as well as the Elven and Dwarven nations. Most other smaller nations that existed, survived this long by being a tough, thorny bone to chew.


    The larger nations considered the benefits of annexing these nations to be less than the losses they would have suffered in the process, and this in turn led to a tentative peace between nations." - Excerpt from "History of the Nations of Alcidea" by Owain Fiachna, Scholar and Historian, circa 565 VA.


    It was near the evening before Reinhardt''s group was committed to the fight. The third line suffered a breach, probably done by the enemy earth mage that had escaped Salicia''s grasp that last time, and the zealots poured in through the breach in the wall.


    While they overwhelmed the nearby dwarves, they in turn were unprepared for the rush from Reinhardt''s group, led by the remaining shieldbearers amongst his people. Center to their charge were the remaining eight shieldsmen from Mischka''s group, led by Yuri and Niko, each of whom wielded a shield taller and wider than a man.


    Behind them followed the rest of the group, a motley mixture of men and women from most races, as well as mixed-breeds. As mercenaries, they fought with less order and discipline than the dwarven regulars, but made up for it with ferocity and fierceness.


    Even as their frontline formed a shield wall and did their best to stopper the breach, The rest of the group fanned out and struck at the zealots who had made it through already. Mischka led part of the group to the left, while Reinhardt had Gr¨¹nhildr lead the rest to the right.


    He himself followed behind her wake with the rest of the group. While Elfriede was a better fighter, Gr¨¹nhildr''s void affinity made her the best in the company when it came to leading their troops for a daring breakthrough. The rest of the group simply had to follow her and guard her back.


    As he followed behind Gr¨¹nhildr''s left, Reinhardt saw a dying zealot who was missing an arm and part of her abdomen trying to grab a fallen spear near her. He put an end to that notion with a blow from his polemace, which splattered the woman''s brains all over the soil.


    To his left he saw Nicole as she deflected another zealot''s makeshift spear - it was literally a long staff with a kitchen knife tied on its end - with her rhomphaia and disemboweled the man on her counterswing.


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    The young mercenary stepped back a bit to avoid the intestines and guts that splashed to the ground just in front of her, and soon was busied with another zealot who ignored his dying comrade and went at her with reckless abandon.


    Further to her left, Reinhardt could see his old friend Kasimir at the edge of the shield wall. The half-orc mercenary tried his best to fight against the push of the throng of zealots in front while covering the pikeman behind him who struck from behind the shield wall.


    Reinhardt dealt quickly with another zealot that escaped Gr¨¹nhildr''s rampage by virtue of being on the side, far enough away from her axes. He deflected the man''s war scythe - a scythe blade mounted vertically at the end of a pole - far enough away that he only managed a slight cut on his body, a painful cut, but of little consequence at the moment.


    In return he jabbed the spike that capped the other end of his polemace deep into the man''s gut, and whirled the weapon around to bring the mace end atop the man''s skull as he bent forward.


    The blow took off the top half of the man''s skull, and pulverized his brain, killing the man on the spot. His body slumped forward, and Reinhardt took the moment of respite to survey the situation to his left.


    He frowned when he saw that the tip of the shield wall where Kasimir was had crumbled, and as a result more of the zealots had poured in from the gap, as they threatened to flank the shield wall. Of his old friend, he found no sign.


    Reinhardt blew a whistle to quickly get Elfriede''s attention. The whistle was made so the sound it emitted was inaudible to a human, though perfectly audible for some therians. Elfriede had memorized the specific vibrations that whistle made though, which made it a convenient way for him to get her attention from afar.


    After he blew the whistle, he made several gestures with his right hand, trusting that Elfriede paid attention to him and noticed them. She usually kept him within the range of her magical perception unless she had a specific mission elsewhere.


    When he noticed that half the mercenaries to Gr¨¹nhildr''s right turned and went over to his side, including Elfriede herself, he knew that she perceived his gestures.


    "Left the rest on the right, answering to Gr¨¹n," said Elfriede as she ran up alongside him, a couple new tears on her repaired gambeson, but no wounds on her body. "Where do you need us?"


    "The corner of the shield wall''s crumbling. We''re reinforcing them," replied Reinhardt curtly as he led the mercenaries towards the affected location.


    The zealots that tried to flank the shield wall found themselves flanked instead, and pincered as they were between the shield wall''s anvil and Reinhardt''s hammer, they were quickly decimated


    Reinhardt and his people fought fiercely as they held the breach, and only withdrew when reinforcements from the fourth wall - a group of dwarven heavy infantry led by Barnaby himself, all of them sporting injuries of some sort - came to relieve them.


    It was while they retreated that Reinhardt finally found his old friend. Kasimir''s body lay face down on the soil, and when Reinhardt turned his old friend''s body, he saw that Kasimir fell to many stab wounds that riddled his torso, neck, and face. Several broken spearheads were even stuck in his body.


    All Reinhardt could do for his old friend was to close his eyes, and bring his body away from the blood-soaked patch of soil he died on.

 Chapter 23 - Victory or Death (Part 3)

    "Some examples of such smaller nations were Boroes, a nation established by therians who had migrated from the southern continent of Ur-Teros centuries ago. Despite being sandwiched between the mighty Clangeddin Empire and the domains of the elves, they remained in existence because they served as a buffer between the two large nations.


    That, and neither nation was keen to fight a nation full of therians - well known for their ability to fight - over some not-so-desirable land to begin with." - Excerpt from "History of the Nations of Alcidea" by Owain Fiachna, Scholar and Historian, circa 565 VA.


    By sunset, the defenders had abandoned the badly breached third defense lines, and retreated to the fourth. Their second to last line of makeshift fortification, not counting the underground warrens. The zealots had paid the price as well, though, as Salicia caught the earth mage when he breached the third line for the fourth time, and successfully put an arrow through his face.


    By now maybe half of the defenders remained fighting, the rest either dead, or too heavily injured to fight more. They took their toll in blood, though, as evidenced by the blanket of zealot corpses that covered the ground they abandoned.


    As darkness began to fall, the zealots had not backed off and called an end to the day''s hostilities as they usually did. Instead, the priests - there were three of them Reinhardt could see, as the dwarven marksmen had gotten one earlier in the day with a lucky shot - further exhorted the mob.


    Their magically amplified voice preached their gospel, that those who sacrificed their lives in the God-King''s service would be granted a hallowed afterlife. They even raised their decorated staffs high and made the light shine from it to illuminate the battlefield, both theatrics to boost morale, and to allow the zealots to fight better in the darkening battlefield.


    It also made them very enticing targets, but several zealots kept up a shield wall in front of the priests at all times, covering them from the incoming bolts and arrows.


    That had mostly worked, at least until they advanced a bit too close and thus entered Salicia''s range.


    Salicia was an excellent archer, but that was not what earned her the reputation she had, that of an excellent assassin whose arrows always claimed their due. She was also a space mage, one with poor mana capacity, yet with skills honed so finely that the little bit of mana she has becomes positively lethal in her hands.


    The moment the three remaining priests all entered her range, the one-eyed archer nocked one of her javelin-sized arrows and drew her bow to its full extension. To most, it would look like she had aimed her arrow to nowhere relevant to the battle.


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    Yet when she loosed, a small spatial portal formed directly in front of her arrow. It was a tiny thing, barely large enough to allow the arrow through with its fletchings included. Her arrow went right into the portal smoothly, and exited from its paired destination.


    Above and behind one of the priests who busily exhorted the zealots.


    Unerringly, the arrow struck said priest right at the back of his neck, where the skull met the neck, and punched through the hard bones to protrude back out from the man''s throat, just under his chin. The priest was dead before his body collapsed.


    Before shieldbearers in front of the dead priest managed to even registered their ward''s demise, before the cries of anguish and dismay sounded from the zealots behind the priest who saw the whole thing, Salicia had adjusted her aim, drawn, and loosed two more arrows.


    Instantly the battlefield plunged into darkness, as the other two priests also fell victim to her arrows. A few quick-thinking zealots tried to use their own meager gifts of magic to illuminate the field, but all that earned them were bolts and arrows as they made themselves obvious targets.


    The deaths of the priests seemed to make some of the zealots waver. Unfortunately, those were in the minority. Most went into a rage instead and charged with even more reckless abandon than what they already displayed.


    Reinhardt was fighting hard on the southern side of the fortifications when a deafening explosion took place not too far to his left. He turned to see Gr¨¹nhildr''s muscular form thrown like a wet rag by said explosion, landing hard on her back some distance away.


    The bulky woman stirred, and tried to get up, which allowed Reinhardt a sigh of relief as he ran towards her. Where the wall she was defending used to be, was now a large breach. Several of his people lay dead or dying near there, as the zealots rushed through the breach and eagerly finished the job they started.


    As he helped Gr¨¹nhildr up - which the injured woman managed with difficulty - he realized what must have happened. The zealots must have used what flasks of the explosive brew they had on the other side of the wall, the resulting explosion turned the wall into a storm of shrapnel, which peppered the mercenaries on the other side.


    Gr¨¹nhildr had been close to the wall when it happened, and had reacted quickly enough to shield her head with her arms, both of which were riddled with injury. Others near her had not been as lucky. A few others close enough to the wall to be hurled by the explosion either died instantly, or were dying as they lay crumpled after the hard landing.


    "We''re retreating to the last line," Reinhardt said curtly to the injured woman. All around, he could see the surviving dwarves and mercenaries pulling a fighting retreat already. The massive breach basically spelled the end of the fourth line''s usefulness. "Can you get back by yourself?"


    "I''ll *cough* live," stated the burly woman as she coughed up some blood. The explosion must have injured her internal organs, though at least she survived. Reinhardt watched for a moment as she walked back with a slight limp to her gait.


    "Get yourself to the healers first thing," he said to her before he turned back to coordinate the retreat. "If we have to fight in the warrens, you being able to pull your weight will be a boon."


    Those words said, Reinhardt charged back to the front, as he hammered down a zealot who was just about to strike at Nicole while she was busy with another one. He saw Mischka lead her group to a steady retreat to his right, and Elfriede a distance to his left, anchoring the other end of their formation.


    He took the center and rallied the rest to him, as they fought and covered the retreat as best they could.

 Chapter 24 - Victory or Death (Part 4)

    "The Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz was another such bone, one where getting rid of their nuisance was mostly considered not worth the expenditure. Long a theocratic state, a revolution three hundred years ago, supposedly started by descendants of immigrants from my homeland, cemented the Holy Kingdom into what it became nowadays.


    A kingdom of fanatical zealots, to whom their revered God-King''s words were law and divine command at once. This fanatical zealotry was what gave most of the small nation''s neighbors pause about starting hostilities, despite the Holy Kingdom''s hostile policy against them." - Excerpt from "History of the Nations of Alcidea" by Owain Fiachna, Scholar and Historian, circa 565 VA.


    The fighting that erupted around the fifth, and final line of defense, a mere thirty meters away from the chapel, was violent, chaotic, and desperate. The leaderless zealots just threw their bodies at the defenders, without the slightest care for their own lives. The defenders, backed into a corner with no way out, fought like their lives depended on it, for it did.


    Less than five hundred defenders held to the last line of defense, while nearly five times their number in zealots rushed at them wildly, with no semblance of strategy or discipline whatsoever.


    Nearly half of the defenders were badly injured people who forced their body to move and fight with sheer willpower, as they went back into battle to help the others. Far too many of the original defenders were sent to the warrens with heavy injuries, or lay dead on the blood-soaked hill.


    Reinhardt saw how a couple of dwarves brought Barnaby away on a makeshift stretcher, the dwarven mercenary captain bleeding from a serious head wound. He saw uncle Angus, Graf Harscape himself, lead the wounded volunteers to help bolster the defenses personally. Even now the old dwarf fought at the frontlines along with the rest, which helped their morale some.


    Gr¨¹nhildr had returned to the frontlines a few hours after she withdrew, probably around midnight. The brawny woman''s arms were wrapped with bandages all over, and the void blades she clad her axes with flickered from time to time, a sign of her mana being unstable, yet she stubbornly fought on regardless, as she cleaved one zealot after another.


    Elfriede fought next to Reinhardt, or rather, she borrowed his bulk to shelter behind. She had taken a couple bad hits to her leg, one of the wounds bleeding quite badly, and he noticed how she moved with a pronounced limp, yet she refused to go back and also fought on.


    From high on the bell tower, Salicia kept firing arrows, often to directly help the wavering line. Twice Reinhardt turned to an onrushing foe just to see them struck dead by an oversized arrow from above.


    What few archers remained amongst the zealots had not remained idle, and had riddled the rooftops and the bell tower with arrows. All the other archers who were with Salicia had either withdrawn with injuries or died.


    The one-eyed woman herself somehow managed to remain atop the bell tower. She used the corners of the tower and the bell itself as cover, while firing back whenever she got a chance to do so.


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    Reinhardt himself had no idea how long they had fought, or what hour it was. He just fought on, without pause. The polemace he usually wielded lightly felt heavy in his arms, and his legs tired, yet he kept himself moving, fighting, killing.


    Over a dozen smaller injuries scored his flesh, bleeding wounds that had no time to heal with his constant fighting. The darkness helped somewhat, as the zealots fought worse in the darkness, their blows less accurate, whereas most of the defenders had little issue with the darkness.


    Sometimes they got unlucky, however. Nicole had tripped and fell down while she tried to take a step back, and immediately was pounced upon by a spearwielding zealot. The spear pierced through her stomach and out her back, pinning her to the ground even as she swiped with her blade and took the man''s head off his shoulders.


    Reinhardt saw a couple of older women - the dependents who could not fight - rush over and risked their lives to bring Nicole away, towards the warrens where their few healers awaited. He just did his best to cover their escape.


    He was somewhat delirious, perhaps due to fatigue, perhaps it was the blood loss, he did not know, but the rest of the battle was a blur in his memory. His body moved, guided by the memories of his well-trained muscles, as he struck and stabbed, bashed and pierced, and stood his ground with the rest.


    When a zealot threw a knife that stabbed into Elfriede''s shoulder while she killed another, he replied by bashing the offending man''s head in. Brain matter, blood, and bits of skull splattered everyone in the vicinity, including Reinhardt, but he had not cared.


    Another, younger zealot - barely out of childhood, perhaps - snuck in towards his wife from behind the man she was in the process of eviscerating, with a knife in her hand, her intent obvious. Reinhardt pushed away the man whose axe he had blocked with the shaft of his polemace, which placed him next to the surprised girl.


    He then smashed his mace towards the man he was fighting, forcing the man to block with both of his hands, and at the same time, leaned towards the sneaking girl, and tore the surprised girl''s throat out with his fangs before she could react.


    The man he was fighting bellowed with grief and agony, and pushed his mace away with a surprising sudden burst of strength, but by then Elfriede returned the favor, and before the man could do more, her blade had found his heart and pierced through.


    He gave her a grim nod to thank her which she returned without turning his way, as they fought on, against the seemingly unending wave of zealots.


    ******************************


    The battle in Fort Ascher lasted until the sun had risen the next morning.


    Not many remained standing on the battlefield, probably a hundred, in a circle around the cathedral itself, on the defender''s side. The zealots had five times that, yet these ones were those who had wavered, who had stayed in the back as their more zealous brethren charged and gave their lives for the cause.


    They dithered. Fanatical belief warred against self-preservation in their minds. If they all charged, it was likely that they would be able to wipe out the remaining hundred defenders, who were on their last legs, some barely able to just remain standing on their feet.


    Yet they doubted. The carnage that spread as far as their eyes could see had implanted a seed of fear in their hearts. Their steps, even when they tried to advance, were uncertain.


    They tarried too long.


    The clip-clop sound of hooves on a trot slowly, but surely became audible, a sound that gradually seemed to increase in volume, coming from their south.


    Some of the remaining zealots wavered once more. They know they did not have any cavalry remaining in the region, much less to the south. A few turned to run, to the protestations of others who tried to rally the rest.


    It was too late for them either way.


    With a sudden rumbling noise, the rubble that used to be the southern walls opened, an opening wide enough for twenty dwarves to march side to side.


    Through the opening, came the source of the noise everyone heard. A thousand dwarves mounted on large, sturdy, wooly rams with huge coiled horns rushed through, shield and weapons in hand, as they urged their mounts to a gallop and charged the remaining zealots.


    The cavalry had arrived.

 Chapter 25 - The Aftermath

    "Cleaning up a battlefield is one of the worst jobs there is after a battle, to be honest. I''d rather get stabbed and spend a week in the infirmary rather than clean up so many corpses again." - Francz Hikzsa, retired soldier.


    "Hah! Bloody hell! About damn time they came!" said Angus Harscape, Graf von B?rengant, with both joy and sorrow in his voice as he watched the cavalrymen plough through and trample the few surviving zealots.


    He had not received word to expect them, but when he thought of it logically, it made sense. His first detachment had no cavalry because his region was unsuited for their use, and thus their raised troops lacked them.


    On the other hand, the troops that gathered in the capital would definitely possess a cavalry troop, and it was not too unexpected to send them ahead to come to his group''s rescue.


    The relief from survival warred with the grief of having lost so many people in the old dwarf''s heart, and he slumped down and sat on the dirt, suddenly too tired to keep standing.


    "I guess we lasted long enough in the end," said Reinhardt as he plopped down beside the Graf with a relieved sigh.


    Neither of them looked good. The Graf had a large cut on his face that cleaved through his left eye, and at least half a dozen broken spearheads that failed to penetrate deeply due to his armor were still stuck on his torso. Reinhardt himself was bleeding from many cuts and stabs, half delirious from blood loss. A couple arrows still protruded from his chest and shoulder.


    "Hope they brought some fucking *cough* good healers with them," said Elfriede as she nearly collapsed against Reinhardt''s side while coughing up pink, frothy blood. The wound on her leg had worsened, and a broken spearhead protruded from her right chest, its point inside her lung. Her breathing was ragged and weak, interspersed with bloody, frothy coughs. "Otherwise we might *cough* not be around to celebrate."


    "Speak of the devil," said the Graf as he saw some of the cavalrymen who followed behind the charging group turn and rode towards them. "I think you might just be getting what you asked for, lass."


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    The leader of the group of cavalrymen was an old dwarf with long, white beard who made a clicking noise with their tongue when they noticed the Graf amongst the surviving defenders. They stopped their steed just a few steps from where the group were seated, and hauled themself off its back with skill despite their apparent age.


    "Angus you old coot," said the old dwarf, identifiable as female from the timbre of her voice, as she laid a hand on the Graf''s shoulder. A bright light shined, as the old female dwarf plucked the spearheads that remained with her other hand, and Reinhardt could see the Graf''s injuries mending. "Still playing with the soldiers at the frontlines like a brat."


    "Frigg you old wench," said the Graf back in a relieved mood. He apparently knew the old female dwarf from elsewhere considering the way they addressed each other. Several other dwarven healers had spread out to help the wounded, while others went straight inside to help those in the warrens. The few others near the Graf like Reinhardt and Elfriede were left to the old female dwarf''s hands, it seemed. "Still got the sharp tongue, I see."


    "You see far worse, you dumbass, at least half as good, I''d say," said the old dwarven matron, Frigg, in a more incisive tone. Reinhardt understood what she meant. She was a light affinity healer, and those fare poorly when dealing with delicate injuries like eyes and spines. The Graf''s left eye was likely blinded for the foreseeable future. "All right, you should be good now, let me tend to the rest first before we speak."


    The dwarven matron moved to Reinhardt next, but he gestured for her to help Elfriede first. Elfriede''s coughing had gone worse over time, and she was visibly weakening from the wounds she suffered.


    "Oh dear. Grit your teeth, lass, this will hurt a bit," said the old dwarf as she repeated what she did with the Graf. While she kept her healing magic flowing, her other hand grasped the shaft that protruded from Elfriede''s chest, and she yanked the bloody spearhead out with one pull. Elfriede just gritted her teeth and had not uttered even a word of complaint while the woman did that.


    "You''re that lad Sigrun and Hogarth adopted some decades ago, aren''t you?" asked the old woman while she worked on Reinhardt next. Gr¨¹nhildr was also pretty bad off from the fighting, but she was conscious and insisted that she could wait a while more. In the meantime, a young dwarf had climbed to the bell tower and helped carry Salicia down as she was too hurt to do so herself. "Did Ingrid make it?"


    Reinhardt answered the old dwarf''s question with a sad shake of his head, to which Frigg gave a sigh. By then the young dwarf who went to help Salicia had gently set the one-eyed woman down on her side. She had at least a dozen arrows protruding from her body, some on her back, others on the front. Two had struck her left leg at the thigh and behind the knee, which made it impossible for her to climb down on her own.


    While the old healer worked on Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia, Reinhardt felt Elfriede snuggle closer to him. Both of them were still dog tired, and half delirious from blood loss. Their wounds, while treated, still throbbed with pain and left raw, red scars on their flesh. Yet their lives were no longer in danger.


    "We get to live another day, I guess, huh?" said Elfriede as she leaned her back on Reinhardt''s larger form, uncaring of the blood and viscera that caked his fur. Not that she looked any better, to be fair.


    Reinhardt took a deep breath before he answered. The fresh morning air smelled horrid, tainted as it was with the overwhelming scent of blood, piss and shit from thousands of corpses. It was the scent that accompanied death, a scent he was used to from many battlefields.


    "I guess we did, indeed," he said with a faint smile as he draped an aching arm around his wife''s shoulder.

 Side Story 5 - Two Sides, Two Children (Part 1)

    "Whether you''re a patriot, a hero, a champion, or a murderer, a monster, an abomination, all depends on the point of view. For those whose side you fought for, they would naturally see you as the former. Those who lost their loved ones or more to your hands, however, would see you as the latter.


    One man''s hero is another''s monster." - Gaius Semprus Nikodemus, General to Xaliburnus to Conqueror.


    Luca was just a village kid.


    His home was a humble one, just him, his mom, his dad, and his older sister Lucia. They lived a humble life, as they worked the plot of land assigned to them by the God-King''s infinite generosity and kindness.


    Their family had little to their name, yet they wanted for naught as well. They diligently cultivated their plot of land, submitted most of their harvest other than what they needed to live to the temples, and blissfully listened whenever one of the holy ones had time to preach the God-King''s words to their unworthy ears.


    They would be considered poor peasants most everywhere, yet their family found contentment, a sense of greater purpose, and a shoulder to rely on through their belief. They basked on the infinite mercy and kindness the God-King offered them, and in return gave their faith, and pledged their lives to his service.


    When Lucia came of age, and was brought to the nearby city to be tested by the holy ones, the family rejoiced because she was found to be blessed. The whole village celebrated that Luca''s sister was one of the blessed, and was inducted as one of the God-King''s own hands in this mortal world.


    That celebration lasted for a good year, before unpleasant news reached even their small village to the south of the Holy Kingdom. News and rumors of cursed undead things - they called themselves something else, but the God-King''s omniscient eyes could not be fooled - trying to settle down in the cursed land to the west.


    Luca knew of those lands, a horrible place where beasts and monsters roam freely, where even the trees were rumored to hunger for human flesh. It was a land cursed by the heavens, it was said.


    Most of the villagers shrugged off the unwelcomed rumors after a few days. The monsters and the untamed land would swallow the undead even if it proved to be true, they reasoned.


    A year peacefully passed before more unwelcome news reached them. The undead had already begun to build their city in the cursed land. They had triumphed over the nature there, likely through blasphemous means God frowned upon.


    Such indignity was not to be tolerated, the God-King had decreed from his high seat. To share a border with filthy undead was unimaginable. A crusade was announced by the God-King''s will not a month later.


    Luca and his parents had traveled from their village to the southern city of Zefirous, just in time to watch the southern detachment of the God-King''s hands depart. They joined the crowd which cheered for the departure of the blessed soldiers, the enforcers of the God-King''s wills. They cheered even louder when they spotted Lucia amongst the marching men and women.


    Then they returned to their village, and waited for the good news. Surely, a mere few thousand undead would never stand a chance before the God-King''s fury and his tens of thousands of enforcers.


    When they received news of the disastrous end of the crusade some months later, Luca''s parents were gobsmacked with disbelief. The boy himself was more occupied asking for news of the expedition''s survivors.


    Less than one in twenty of the crusade returned alive, most in a horrible state that practically rendered them invalids for the rest of their days. Many of the returnees had gone insane, some had even asked blasphemous things and questioned the God-King''s teachings.


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    Lucia was not amongst those few who returned.


    Not half a year later, more bad news struck. News of the damnable demi-humans to their south mustering for an assault, like an animal that had smelled blood and pounced without thought.


    The holy one Luca had seen often, an old kindly priest named father Henry, had called the village to arms. All those too young, too old and infirm, were made to evacuate to Zefirous. Everyone else was to bring their weapons.


    Their homeland needed them. The God-King asked for their services, and the villagers were all too eager to answer his call.


    Luca lied about his age, and was allowed to join his parents in the fight. He was twelve, but he was always a big boy, large and strong for his age, easily able to pass himself off as older. They had gathered together with folks from four other nearby villages, and waited in the jungles, around the lone path that passed through their region.


    It was a very uncomfortable experience, with the insects that relentlessly bit him, and the horrible smell from the mixture of mud and animal dung they were made to rub on their clothes. Even so, he saw the reason why when their quarry came into sight at last.


    What arrived was a mixed group of demi-humans of every sort, from short, stout hairy ones that inhabit the south, to some that looked like animals, and even some hated greenskins from the north. There were some humans - traitors one and all - amongst them as well, talking to the lowlife demi-humans as if they were equals.


    Many of them smiled and laughed to each other as they marched unaware of the death that awaited them.


    Those smiles were erased when the archers - hunters from the gathered villages - barraged the demi-humans with arrows from their perch atop the trees on either side of the road. The arrows felled some, injured others. Then the gathered villagers, strong in their belief and faith, charged with a vicious roar.


    Luca and his parents were slightly to the back of the formation, and they missed out on most of the action, as the filthy infidels were beaten, though not before they took their toll in blood. A few of the infidels - less than fifty - escaped to the south, but the rest died where they stood.


    Nearly half of the gathered villagers were grievously injured or perished in the battle. The people from Luca''s village were mostly spared of the worst because they happened to be closer to the rear.


    He envied those that died. They had received their chance to be of use to the God-King. His only solace was the belief that the God-King must have another purpose for him; another place where he could be of use.


    Those that remained, excepting those whose injuries were so severe that they could not be saved and thus was granted mercy, marched south, to the frontier fort where the rest of the infidels were.


    There Luca saw the largest gathering of believers he had seen in his life, nearly twenty five thousand of them in all. People from villages all over the south of the Holy Kingdom, gathered together for their righteous cause.


    The infidels inside the fortress gave a hard fight. A week they had stalled the believers; a week their gates and walls, fangs and blades, denied the believers their just cause.


    A week Luca seethed. Father Henry had picked his family amongst some others to be kept in reserve in the back, for the final push that would spell the end of the infidels. It was a week during which Luca saw many friends and acquaintances leave to fight and never returned.


    He envied them.


    Finally, the promised day arrived. The infidels were beaten back from the walls, even if they used cowardly trickery to collapse the walls on some unfortunate believers. Luca and his family honored their sacrifices with a prayer even as he climbed the pile of rubble under which they were buried.


    When they reached the infidel lines, those in front of them had already driven them away from the first earthen ring that served as a makeshift wall, and they charged towards the second.


    They charged, climbing atop the pile of corpses that had accumulated before the makeshift walls, as they knew their late comrades would have asked them to, they bellowed praises to the God-King as they neared the top of the wall.


    Luca, who was behind, watched as a long, burly arm holding an axe swooped in from below and nearly cleaved his mother in half. He lost sight of her as she fell to the other side, her hands clenched on the haft of the axe.


    When his father reached the top of the wall, he jumped down with an angry bellow and his knife brandished. Luca arrived just as one of the stout, long-armed demi-humans wrenched his axe free from his mother''s body and cleaved his father in half at the waist.


    Yet even in death, Luca''s father drove his knife into his foe, and latched on to the demi-human''s arm with his other hand. It took a moment for the demi-human to rid himself of the weight of Luca''s father.


    Luca charged with a bellow, the short spear his parents gave him pointed towards the demi-human''s face. He saw the demi-human swing the vicious axe in his hand at him, but Luca did not care.


    A smile of satisfaction graced his lips as the tip of his spear, driven by his weight and momentum, pierced the demi-human''s eye, and further, deeper into the brain. Yet there was no chance for Luca to rejoice, for the wicked axe cleaved through his shoulder at the same time, sliced through flesh and bone, and halved his heart in twain.


    As he coughed blood, and the light faded from his eyes, the only thought in Luca''s head was whether the God-King had been pleased by his efforts, and a sense of gratitude, to be given a chance¡­ to serve.

 Side Story 6 - Two Sides, Two Children (Part 2)

    "In a mercenary company, there ain''t no such thing as dead weight. Everybody gotta carry their own weight. Even the kids could scour the field for loot when we''re done, at the very least!" - Bjork Lorner, Commander of the Vanguard Legion mercenary company, circa 1 FP.


    "Remember, be a good girl, and wait for us here."


    Erycea had kept her mother''s words in her mind. She listened obediently even when old granny Ursula brought her down a dark hole in the ground. There were rooms down there, in the dark, under the ground, where they were to stay.


    The rooms in question were dank, humid, and hot, unpleasant to be in, and they stank all too much of soil and sweat. Even so, the little girl remembered her mother''s words, and remained quiet in the room.


    She behaved herself even when others - some her age, some younger, others older by a bit - cried in the dark, helped when the adults tried to calm the other kids down as best she could.


    One time Bors - a half-orcish boy two years older than her - panicked and just would not calm down and even hit the adults that tried to calm him down with his fists so Erycea took matters to her own hands and laid Bors flat with a punch to his chin, just like her mother taught her.


    The hit dazed the boy and he seemed to return to his senses when he got up, as he cried and apologized to everyone. Such cases were fortunately rare, though, and most of their underground stay was calm, if uncomfortable.


    While the rooms where Erycea and some of the adults stayed at stank of sweat, when she wandered around a bit out of boredom, she smelt the strong scent of blood from other rooms.


    Someone from inside the room waved at her, gestured her to come, and even though the stench of blood and other unpleasant smells were strong, Erycea could still smell a hint of a familiar smell from within.


    She carefully walked over - on all fours - while taking care where she placed her hand and feet, so she did not accidentally step on someone, until she reached the source of the familiar scent.


    "Auntie Dacia?" asked the little girl as she looked at the haggard, yet familiar face of the middle-aged woman that lay before her.


    "Little Ery," said the woman, who looked older than her actual age of early forties as she gently raised one arm and rubbed the little girl''s head, messing up her snow-white hair. "Can you be a dear and get auntie something to drink? It''s by that table on the corner."


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    "Sure, auntie!" said the little half-breed girl cheerfully. Her mother had told her to be a good girl, so she would.


    Carefully, Erycea went to the corner, where a pitcher of water and some mugs were placed atop a table. She flipped one of the upside-down mugs, then held the pitcher with both hands and filled it three-quarters full of water.


    She carefully held the mug in both hands as she walked back - on two legs this time - with her tail stretched out for balance. When she got back to Dacia''s side, she gave the mug to the woman, who carefully grasped it with both hands before she drank.


    Erycea kept Auntie Dacia - and a few other uncles and aunties, big brothers and sisters she vaguely remembered - company for the next while, her presence seemingly lightening up the dour mood in the room. Everyone was also happy to rub her head or scratch her chin when she was nearby.


    A while later, she heard footsteps that approached the room, and looked towards the entrance to see old granny Ursula and big brother Loren. Granny Ursula seemed to sigh in relief when she saw her, as apparently she had been looking for Erycea for the past while.


    "Don''t blame her," said auntie Dacia from behind her. "The kid just tried to help us as best she could¡­ and having her around helped us take some weight off our minds."


    Erycea heard murmurs of agreement from some of the others in the room, and even Loren helped persuade granny Ursula to let her come over from time to time, to help in her own way.


    Granny Ursula had grudgingly agreed.


    From that day, Erycea came over to help when she had time. Sometimes she helped get water for them. Other times she helped carry the bags and cases for the healers and herbalists that visited. She was strong for her age, so it was within her means to do so.


    As the days passed in the underground chambers familiar faces were added to those who lay down in the room that stank of blood. Faces she remembered well, others she remembered vaguely, many more were crammed into the room.


    Her parents came to visit from time to time, and her mother always reminded her to be good before she left again, so Erycea always behaved herself. She tried to make herself useful, even if only in a small way.


    On the last day she spent under the ground, she saw the healer uncles busy at work. Some of those who came from above smelt freshly of blood, some insisted on being treated just in the middle of the corridor so they could get back to the fighting as soon as possible.


    Erycea saw how big brother Loren worked on auntie Gr¨¹n, who was bleeding and had pieces of stone all over her arms and legs, and helped fetch more bandages when he ran out halfway into his treatments.


    She saw auntie Sera carried on a stretcher, half her face deformed into an ugly bruise that had begun to turn purple. She fetched clean water for the healer to rinse some cloth in and carefully clean the injury on auntie Sera''s face.


    Her mother had limped along and made big brother Loren treat her leg right in the corridor. Erycea had come over and gave her mother a big hug, ignoring the blood and other icky things that were all over her mother''s clothes. That had brought a smile to her mother''s face.


    Later she saw grandpa Hogarth carried in, unconscious and bleeding from the head, and helped bring the healer''s medicine case as she rushed over to the unconscious old man.


    Big sister Nicole was carried in even later, part of a spear still in her gut. Erycea had helped hold her hand - even when Nicole''s grip turned painful for a moment - when the healer pulled the spear out and started to work on her wound.


    Erycea had stayed with big sister Nicole as she cried after the doctor told her something the little girl didn''t get, something about pines? The little girl cuddled the young woman''s side and helped calm her down, until they both fell asleep.


    Before she fell into slumber, Erycea only hoped that when she woke up, her mother and father would still be there for her.

 Chapter 26 - By the Skin of Ones Teeth

    "Theodinaz¡­ I don''t really want to recall about it, yet those days still haunt me in my nightmares to this day. The screams of my dead compatriots, the ravings of the fanatics¡­ as well as the hands of all the dead that seemed to be trying to drag you into the grave with them.


    It''s why I kept myself drunk most of the time. Only then would I get some peaceful sleep, and not have to think of the horrors I saw there¡­" - Bertoras Tapopolous, retired mercenary, formerly of the Vanguard Legion.


    Reinhardt watched as the caravan of wagons departed with sad eyes.


    He had been so tired that he - along with Elfriede and many others - had fallen asleep where he dropped, sitting with his back leaning against the chapel''s wall. He had woken up a little bit after noontime, and Elfriede stirred awake as well when he moved.


    Next to them Gr¨¹nhildr was sprawled on the blood-stained grass, snoring quite loudly in her sleep, while Salicia used one of her thick arms as a pillow, apparently unbothered by the thunderous snores. It was a sight that made Reinhardt couldn''t help but to chuckle.


    The first relaxed laugh he had in days.


    When he woke up, he noticed that the healthy followers and dependents had moved back to the buildings they abandoned. The zealots had been very single minded during the charge that the buildings - and the many parked wagons of the mercenaries - were mostly undamaged. Only those so badly injured they couldn''t be moved and the dwarves had remained in the warrens.


    Reinhardt had wanted to go around and ask about the situation, but found that he couldn''t. Curled up and asleep on his lap, and apparently unbothered with his waking up, was his little girl, sleeping with the tip of her tail grasped in her mouth.


    Elfriede had noticed Erycea''s presence before he did, and shushed him before he could make a surprised noise, as she smiled and gently stroked the sleeping girl''s back.


    Since he found himself unable to move, or walk around, Reinhardt just leaned back against the chapel wall as he thought back on the battle. It had been close. Far too close for any sort of comfort, as the aching wounds on his body and the weakness he still felt reminded him.


    Unlike Life and Mortality healers, who fixed wounds without any side effect or sequela, or Nature healers who simply boosted one''s natural regeneration, Light healers like the old dwarven matron that treated them were more a stopgap measure.


    Light healers "healed" wounds by sealing it with conjured constructs of mana, which the body would replace and assimilate over time. The drawback was that these constructs were unable to truly replicate the functions of damaged organs, and those healed as such would feel the effects - and the pain - for as long as the wound would have taken to heal naturally.


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    It was why Elfriede barely moved, and breathed rather shallowly. The injury to her lung was merely patched up for the moment, not properly healed yet. It had been a particularly close call in her case, as the dwarven matron had judged that she would have been dead if left untreated for just another hour.


    That she managed to somehow remain standing and fighting until literally moments before they were treated had surprised and impressed the healer quite a bit.


    Reinhardt himself had been fortunate, as he had no truly serious injury, just plenty of aching wounds. The only remaining side effect from the battle he still felt was the feeling of weakness from losing too much blood, but that would recover with time.


    In the distance, he saw some men and women as they loaded their belongings into a few wagons. He recognized one of them as the representative from the Vanguard Legion that he saw during that briefing a week ago.


    He remembered then that the few remnants of the Legion - Mischka and her people notwithstanding - had wanted out. They had taken their severance pay, a gesture of kindness from the Graf, who paid them a bonus instead of charging them for breach of contract, and now packed their worldly belongings on their wagons, together with their surviving family and followers.


    It was maybe a couple hours or so before sunset - the sun had started to drop towards the horizon - when the Legion''s people finished packing up and departed to the south, through roads cleared by the cavalry that came to their aid. Their caravan of wagons left from the gap in the wall the cavalry charged through.


    Reinhardt knew that their departure signalled the end of the Vanguard Legions. In all likelihood, once the caravan reached the safety of Knallzog, they would disband, and disperse to pursue their own lives. The final nail in the Legion''s coffin.


    Not that his own - it still felt strange to think of the company as his even now - Free Lances were much better off. They had maybe five men in fighting shape left at the moment, most of them Mischka''s people who came out of the mess better than others.


    The therian matron herself, Reinhardt saw help out as she carried heavy items with her left arm. Her right arm was supported in a sling. He recalled that the woman had her arm mangled during the fighting''s late hours.


    He wondered what the future had in store for him. For the men and women who had trusted him, and were still his responsibility even now. Did they have no prospect other than disbandment and separation?


    The Free Lances were mangled as a company. Reinhardt was well aware of that. Even if he counted Mischka''s people as his own, they had maybe two hundred survivors in total amongst the fighting men, including those followers and dependents who had volunteered to fight with them.


    Monetarily, they were at least in a safe spot, what with the full salvage rights the Graf had so kindly granted them. The thousands of corpses that were strewn in and around the fort were just waiting to be salvaged.


    He estimated that even if they paid all the condolences money to those who had lost their family members, they would still have enough for the remaining members to share between them, maybe enough to retire and start a new, modest life.


    Yet was that what he wanted?


    He recalled those he had lost over this mess. How aunt Ingrid had sacrificed her life to give him a chance to escape. Kasimir and Lianne, friends he had grown up together with, both killed in battle before his eyes.


    Nicole, the young, spunky girl who had just officially joined them a year ago, who he had always thought of a bit like a little sister, crippled, unable to move or feel anything below her waist. Hogarth, his own adoptive father, who had treated him as if he was his own child, was still in a coma, his prospects unknown.


    Even a glance at Ylisera''s face, where the scars and marks left behind from her injury prominently dominated the left half of her face, filled him with guilt. This was not how he had wanted things to be. Sure, he had dreamed many times since he was younger to have the Company answering to him, as youth were prone to do.


    But not like this.


    He refused to have his first command, only to give it up and slink away in defeat with his tail between his legs. Even when the reality of the situation weighed down on him, he still felt obliged to try something rather than pack up and go home like the Legion''s survivors.

 Chapter 27 - Like Vultures Descending upon a Cadaver

    "Few people are better at salvaging usable things out of a battlefield than the followers of mercenaries. When your income literally depended on it, you quickly become skilled even in such unsavory practices." - Ruben Osprey, retired mercenary, formerly of Lavian''s Birds of Prey.


    The next morning, Reinhardt was no closer to a solution to his woes. A good night''s sleep - on a proper bed no less! - had helped revitalize him somewhat, and that morning he took Erycea, who had woken up rather early, in his hands and cradled her in one arm as he walked around the place.


    Fort Ascher, or what remained of it, was still a complete mess. Yesterday the followers and most of the dependents had at least moved the corpses that blanketed the ground to where the rubble that used to be the walls were.


    Fortunately for them, it was easy to sort out the dead. The mercenaries and the dwarves both buried their dead reverently, while the enemy dead were stacked irreverently like firewood.


    Today everybody - even some of the wounded mercenaries who were healthy enough to help - worked by that pile of corpses, where they diligently sorted out anything that was still usable from the corpses.


    The dwarves mostly just watched, though sometimes a few young ones walked over and asked questions about some of the items the working people had chosen to keep. Sometimes he saw them make disgusted looks when the item in question were things like false teeth made of silver or gold.


    Those who worked and sorted the items - mostly the women, while the men did the heavy lifting and disposed of the sorted corpses outside, to be burned later - missed nothing. Even a peasant''s personal storage item, tiny pouch or wallet-sized ones, usually just with a handful of coppers, maybe a silver or two inside, were not spared.


    Any and all weapons were collected, so long as they were of remotely decent shape, or made out of metal, since even broken swords and daggers could be melted and reforged for other uses.


    Quilted or boiled leathers that were too damaged were discarded, the same with tattered makeshift gambesons and the like. Those who died with their armor in decent shape found themselves stripped soon enough, their armor going towards the pile that was the mercenaries'' salvage.


    Those who only wore poor cloth leggings were better off, but those with proper leather boots soon became barefoot corpses. The same applied to all sorts of belts and bandoliers in decent conditions.


    Anything that looked valuable was taken from the dead bodies. Corpses of men and women both were stripped naked to make sure they had no other valuables tucked in somewhere, then unceremoniously dumped at the growing pile of naked corpses and useless items outside the fort.


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    Jewelry of any sort was immediately removed from their dead owners. Even poor peasants usually had an earring or two, or maybe a ring or pendant, sometimes passed down from their parents. Some who had better positions in the villages had more riches on them as well. Reinhardt noticed one of the Lances'' dependents stripping off what looked like a golden ring set with a small diamond from the fingers of a middle-aged female corpse.


    Throughout all that, the corpses were handled roughly, without dignity. The workers handled with a callousness born from many similar experiences, with only a few younger ones turning green and puking their guts out from time to time.


    As followers and dependent of mercenaries, scouring a battlefield after the fact was part of their work, where the salvage they found would go towards supplementing their finances, or at times just for personal use.


    For a mercenary to get a new pair of boots after a battle was a most common sight after all.


    Throughout the grim and bloody work - some of the corpses still leaked when moved, the rough handling inadvertently reopening wounds where the blood had dried - Reinhardt had not bothered to cover Erycea''s eyes.


    It was not the first time she saw such sights after all. If anything he felt both slightly bothered, yet proud at how the grisly sight of so many corpses - and the thick stench of death - had not seemed to bother his little girl in the least.


    Beyond her scrunching up her cute nose from the smell, that is.


    He had received proper reports from Loren and the other healers while he brought Erycea around. The battle at Fort Ascher had been nothing short of disastrous, for either side involved.


    Considering that the dwarven cavalry had been so kind as to wipe out the badly injured zealots left behind in their camps, Reinhardt would not have been surprised if it turned out that they had depopulated the southernmost region of the Holy Kingdom over the past two weeks.


    On their own side, it was no less disastrous. The first expedition had practically ceased to exist in all but name. Maybe twenty, thirty men in total could be made to stand and fight out of everyone they had left.


    Out of the fifteen thousand total soldiers and mercenaries that entered the Holy Kingdom, barely three thousand were still alive. Over half that number were injured badly and needed intensive care for weeks if not months before they could fight again. If at all. He knew a good number of those injured were crippled beyond most healer''s ability to help.


    Over a quarter were in medical comas, their life and death still undecided, despite the best efforts of the healers. They would likely have started losing those had the cavalry detachment that rescued them not brought a good fifty healers with them.


    Out of those surviving three thousand, maybe two hundred fifty were his people. Barnaby''s men came out slightly better, around a third of their original numbers still alive, though many were severely injured. Barnaby himself hadn''t yet regained consciousness.


    Amongst the dwarves and mercenaries alike Reinhardt often heard talks, wishful prayers that maybe the Silver Maiden, the unliving healer who was known to walk about battlefields, dispensing healing to all she encountered, would pass by.


    He knew better than to fall to such wishful thinking. It was not that he did not believe in the tales. He knew the Silver Maiden was as real as it gets, as his late aunt was once saved by her in her younger days.


    Reinhardt just doubted he would be so lucky that the living legend herself would happen to walk right then and there and heal their wounded for them. Such a coincidence just doesn''t happen in real life, he knew that.


    Even so, he couldn''t help but to also give a quiet prayer to whatever deity might be listening to send her over if possible.

 Chapter 28 - A Pyre and A Miracle

    "Battlefield funerals tend to be whatever''s practical at the time, but usually, the winners either bury their dead, or light a proper ceremonious pyre for them. Maybe the corpses of important people get preserved and brought back home for a proper funeral.


    For the losers, their dead were typically either dumped into mass graves or burned together without ceremony. Some even left them for scavengers to devour, a common sight in less civilized areas.


    The corpses always got taken care of one way or another though. After the first time a plague nearly wiped out the winners of a battle, nobody ever just dumped corpses willy-nilly anymore." - Mauricio Verne, Chronicler for Callen''s Cutthroats, a mercenary company active in Ur-Teros, circa 318 VA.


    Ruins of Fort Ascher


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, southern region


    Western Alcidea


    5th day, 3rd week, 7th month of the year 2 FP.


    It took all the mustered workforce of the mercenaries - the Free Lances and the Brewers combined - three whole days to sort out the tens of thousands of corpses in the vicinity. They had even gone out to the distant camps and sorted out the corpses there too, before they set everything that remained on fire and allowed the fire to devour whatever was left.


    Outside the fort itself, the massive pyre of burning bodies had never ceased to burn all that time, as newly sorted corpses would be tossed in as more fuel from time to time. The light the fire had given off was so bright that some followers and dependents chose to work at night, and kept the pyre burning until the next morning, when another shift took over for them.


    The stench of burnt human flesh - Reinhardt always thought it smelled a lot like roasted pork - inundated the air around the ruins, though none of the hardened inhabitants seemed all that bothered by it. At most some of the children sneezed when the stench got overpowering.


    It was in the afternoon of the fourth day after the battle that the last of the zealot corpses - which had started to decay for a while and gave off an unpleasant stench - was finally deprived of everything valuable and unceremoniously chucked into the burning pyre, where the flames greedily enveloped the dead flesh.


    By then Reinhardt had mostly recovered from his injuries. As a therian his natural recovery had always been better than humans to begin with, and the lack of truly serious injuries also helped expedite the process in his case.


    The same could not be said for many others. Elfriede was still incapable of too much strenuous activity, the wound to her lung still hobbling her down. Mischka''s arm hadn''t recovered yet, neither had Gr¨¹nhildr - who had many more injuries than him - recovered, though Salicia was mostly better off by then.


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    Out of Mischka''s eighty two, only forty seven survived the battle. The matron herself lost her younger son Ivan, and three of her grandchildren during the battle. Her elder son, Niko, and youngest daughter Varilya had yet to regain consciousness either since then, the same with another six of her grandchildren.


    Reinhardt saw Yuri, the massive elephant-therian man he had fought alongside caring for his unconscious husband when he went to visit the infirmary. The burly man seemed deflated, the way one of his mighty tusks was broken in half and how his long trunk was severed halfway betrayed the serious state of his own injuries.


    On his end, Reinhardt had been there to check on his still unconscious adoptive father. Hogarth had not regained consciousness so far, the mace blow he took caved in part of his skull, and the healers even said it was a miracle that he survived the blow.


    They said that he might never be able to even walk on his own again should he ever regain consciousness, barring a truly skilled healer coming to his aid.


    It was the same case for many of the still comatose injured, and a good portion of the other severely injured people. A good portion of them lost a limb, sometimes two. More than three dozen had injuries to their spine and were rendered paraplegic.


    From the dwarven cavalrymen who had come to their rescue, Reinhardt had learned that the main force of the second expedition was roughly a week behind them. That meant he had three, maybe four more days to come to a decision.


    Given the abundant loot - while each zealot might not have much, there were many of them, that the salvage earned the mercenaries a very decent amount even after they split it in halves - he wondered whether he should cut his losses then and there.


    If they were to return, they would still have some money leftover in the company coffers even after the families of the dead were properly compensated, maybe enough to get the injured a proper retirement fee and to restart anew as a tiny outfit, maybe just twenty of them or so.


    On the other hand, Elfriede''s knowledge of Zefirous and the potential that she might be able to ease the expedition''s conquest of the city would have counted for a massive contribution, one likely to earn them a sizable sum.


    Elfriede herself had stated that she would have preferred to keep going if at all possible, although she too was all too aware of the dire state of the Company. Many of the others echoed the sentiment, but with a dejected tone.


    They wanted to keep going, yet were all too aware that there was no way to do so in the Company''s current state.


    Reinhardt tossed and turned in his sleep that night, his mind occupied with all the worries for both his own family and the Company. Elfriede was fast asleep next to him with Erycea cuddling against her side. How his wife always managed to sleep so quickly, and would be awake at the slightest disturbance, yet thoroughly ignored his tossing and turning was always a mystery to him.


    In the end, it was moot as both of them jolted awake when they heard what sounded like a commotion from outside. Elfriede rose carefully so as not to disturb their sleeping child, but the two of them were out from their bedroom with weapons in hand moments later.


    What they saw when they came outside, was the sight of many of the people on watch gasping at the approach of a figure that looked rather ghostly from a distance, given her all-white outfit in the dark of the night.


    Some had knelt and offered a prayer of thanks to the deities, while others wept in joy, in particular those whose relatives were amongst the crippled and the comatose.


    Reinhardt watched with slack jaws as the stranger in white walked into their camp, as the woman laid a gentle hand on Mischka, whose tents happened to be close to where she entered from. A moment later the therian matriarch removed her right arm, no longer mangled, from the sling and looked at it with some bafflement.


    "Take me to the injured," he heard the Silver Maiden say.


    Hope sprouted in his heart at that moment, amidst the surprise and disbelief that crowded his mind. Hope that he might have a better way forward, for himself, for his family, for his Company.

 Chapter 29 - Healing and Recovery

    "When the songs first came out, tales of the Maiden in Silver, who walked the battlefields and dispensed healing to the injured without recompense was mostly thought of as a tall tale.


    Two hundred years later, that remained the case here in Alcidea, we mostly thought of it as some folk tales from the south. After all, many such tall tales were sung by bards everywhere, so it was not like it was uncommon except perhaps for its longevity.


    Then the Maiden in Silver from the stories herself appeared here. I had met her myself. She wore whites, not silver, but with her silver-gray hair, I could see how the nickname had stuck. I was a peasant conscript at the time, and our duchy just had a conflict with our neighbor.


    There were dead and dying aplenty on both sides. The nobles were fine and shook hands and called an end to the fighting, sure, but it was us the poor folks who had to limp back home half crippled, or missing a limb, if we got home at all.


    But then she came, and where her fingers touched, ails went away. Many of us thought we had seen an angel that day, others just too baffled by their recovery to do much else but stare.


    I was of the latter group, as I saw both my missing hands grew back. That was the moment I decided to leave my home village, and share her tales with all those willing to hear." - Nedrick Pramber, Alcidean Bard, circa 587 VA.


    Much like the longer-lived dwarves - who had discreetly made way for the pale woman in white -, mercenaries like Reinhardt were all too familiar with the tales and songs of the Silver Maiden. Most everyone who has ever stepped foot on a battlefield were.


    Even so, to witness the living legend in the flesh, as she laid hands on comatose and other severely injured patients, only to depart seconds later, leaving a perfectly healthy man or woman in her wake, was an eye-opening experience.


    It was not that he had never seen a healer at work before. Old Jonas, the life affinity healer attached to the first company - who was killed in the opening moments of the ambush they fell into - would have been capable of healing similar injuries as well.


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    But it would have taken him hours to do so, and it would more likely than not exhaust him. The Silver Maiden healed her patients in mere seconds, and only paused longer before ones with severe head injuries like Hogarth.


    Even then she was done after a minute or two.


    Some of the dwarven physicians had followed her around and checked those she was finished with, though they had not roused them. The Maiden had told them to leave them to sleep for the time being, rather than to disturb their slumber.


    Every one of the dwarven healers and herbalists muttered things about how some of the things she did should have been impossible to do so fast. Others took notes. A few followed after her with idolizing eyes.


    She healed indiscriminately, though she focused on those with the worst injuries first, as those were the ones whose lives still teetered on a balance at the moment. Hogarth was amongst those she handled, and Reinhardt watched, marvelled as the sunken skull of his adoptive father was restored as if nothing had ever happened to it.


    The Silver Maiden went over to those who were crippled or lost a limb, but whose lives were no longer in danger next. It had only taken her a little over two hours to handle the hundreds of comatose patients, every one of whom now looked hale and hearty again, merely asleep.


    Reinhardt saw the Maiden lay a hand over Nicole''s abdomen, her other hand laid on Nicole''s aunt, who was next to her. Mere seconds later, he watched as the two women, young and old, stood up tentatively, kicked their legs a bit as if trying them out, then hugged each other and cried right then and there.


    He saw how Yuri''s missing trunk and tusk grew back in moments, as the elephantine man rubbed the once-broken tusk with his regenerated trunk as if in a dream. Many others who had a lost limb restored showed similar reactions as he did, as they marveled at their returned limb.


    Those who were still recovering from their injuries, like Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr, all found themselves restored with a single touch. He couldn''t help but notice the attention she paid to those she healed.


    Dwarves as a whole, and many mercenaries regardless of race tend to view scars as something similar to badges of honor, and rarely had them removed when they visited a healer.


    The Silver Maiden was meticulous enough that those who had kept their scars in proud display, earned new scars from their recent injuries, and their old scars were left untouched. On the other hand, those who had not been of such a persuasion, was left with smooth, unblemished skin as if nothing ever happened, like Ylisera.


    When the Silver Maiden walked past him and casually touched his shoulder with one hand, Reinhardt instantly felt as if all the lingering aches and pains he still had from his wounds vanished on the spot. The woman just walked on, as she made her rounds around the ruins, at times exchanging a few words with those she aided.


    She left just before dawn.


    Many in the camps rubbed their eyes, uncertain on whether they had dreamed the whole thing. Others still stared at their recently restored limbs. But it was not until the sun rose and the first of the comatose people woke up with a loud yawn, as if they had merely slept a long time, did the celebration began.


    Everybody raised a humongous cheer. Some cried in joy, others gave thankful prayers to the deities. The ruckus woke the slumbering ones, and they soon found themselves drowned in hugs from their friends and loved ones. Jubilation took over the crowd.

 Chapter 30 - A Rekindled Hope

    "There''s many reasons why survivors of decimated units might want to return to battle, even when by rights they were allowed to withdraw. Some do it for revenge. Others for achievements and potential fame.


    But the most common feeling of all amongst such people¡­ was the itch of a job left undone." - Kezia Naldevar, retired mercenary sergeant, formerly of the Hoff''s Harassers mercenary company.


    A rowdy, spontaneous celebration broke out in the ruins that morning. One filled with a jubilant mood and many joyful tears. The dwarves broke out many barrels of good ale which they had amongst their rations for use in victory celebrations, enough for everyone present to have a good drink, but not to the point of inebriation.


    Mercenaries and regular alike all joined together in jubilation. Even the more recent arrivals like the dwarven cavalrymen and their healer contingent joined in, despite not being affected directly by the event.


    Reinhardt spied the old dwarven matron who had first healed him, Frigg, drinking while complaining how the Silver Maiden had just basically rendered her whole group irrelevant. Her grumbling was more of a good natured one, though also laced with a touch of envy and frustration, as a healer of advanced age who was unlikely to improve much more in life.


    Most of the rest were just all too happy to celebrate their recovery. Two men who had lost their arms were arm wrestling each other while laughing their hearts out with their recovered arms. Others hugged friends and loved ones they''d almost given up on.


    Even Reinhardt spent a good bit of time with his adoptive father. The injury and subsequent treatment seemed to leave no side effects on Hogarth. He just couldn''t remember a thing between the time he took the hit to his head and waking up, but that was to be expected since he was unconscious all that time.


    The revelry continued until noontime, where they held a feast for lunch, the good rations they saved up brought out. Some fresh meat to be grilled were shared around by the dwarves, while the mercenaries shared some preserved meats and fruits of theirs in turn.


    When the pork hit the makeshift grills and the aroma wafted through the surroundings, some of the younger human members looked as if they were about to throw up. Reinhardt had not blamed them, considering how similar burnt humans smell to pork.


    That stench still lingered in the surroundings, an undertone to the smoky smell that still pervaded even a day after the pyre burned out.


    Not that it bothered Reinhardt - or Erycea for that matter - as they tucked into the sumptuous meal placed before them. Similarly, most of the veteran mercenaries ate unbothered, as it was mostly the younger humans amongst them that squirmed a bit at the smell.


    After the feast, everybody retired back to their dwellings. They were to stay put while they waited for the main force''s arrival, but otherwise there was no specific instruction from the Graf. Reinhardt took the chance and gathered everyone relevant from the Free Lances for an impromptu meeting.


    One that would decide their immediate future.


    The same eight people who had attended the meeting when they agreed to put him in charge were present, with a single addition: Mischka, the bear-therian matron who had worked with them throughout the siege.


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    This time they met inside a large tent, as Mischka''s large size meant she would have serious difficulty fitting inside most doors and buildings in the area, as they were built for human use. Even seated on the floor, the matron was taller than Reinhardt standing at his full height, and nearly twice as broad too.


    "You all know why we''re all here," said Reinhardt as he opened the meeting. "Though before we delve deeper, I would like to ask Mischka something first."


    "I assume about what my folks will be doing now that the battle''s over?" asked the imposing therian matron with a gentle - or as gentle as her naturally fierce expression could get - smile, to which Reinhardt nodded. "You and yours fought well by our side. If you plan to forge ahead, we''d like to come with you."


    "Of course, should you decide to turn back instead, we''d probably be looking for employment off the old dwarf instead," she added, referring to Barnaby. "My people and I would like to see this conflict through, to the very end. One way or another."


    "Thanks for the honesty," replied Reinhardt as he turned his eyes to look at the rest of the gathered people. He noticed Gr¨¹nhildr nodding in agreement, but that was expected from the battle maniac. Everyone else looked mostly ambivalent. "In which case, we should decide what we are going to do, going forward."


    "How many do we have left?" asked Ursula, concern evident in the old woman''s voice. It was an understandable concern, as besides being a cook, the old woman was also one of their few midwives. She had personally aided the birth of many in the company, and had always grieved for their losses.


    Now over three-fourths of the company was gone, one of her several grandchildren included.


    "Counting Mischka''s group? We have just shy of two hundred seventy," said Reinhardt honestly. "That had not included the volunteers, if we count those who are good at fighting amongst them, we have just over three hundred in total."


    "You can count on us, at least for this campaign," said Ylisera in support, to which Reinhardt gave a thankful nod. "Some might be sticking around for later campaigns as well, assuming we make it out of this one in reasonable shape."


    "How''s our finances, lad?" asked Hogarth from the side. As the company''s master blacksmith he was quite involved with the finances, since it linked to his work, and his late wife used to handle their accounts to boot. "We have a lot of compensation to pay with all the families of the deceased."


    "On that front, we''re actually pretty well off," replied Reinhardt with a slight smile. "The full salvage rights uncle Angus gave us extended to the battle just now, so once all those are converted to usable cash, we''d have more than enough for all the compensations, with a good bit of leftover."


    "That''s one tangle out of the beard at least," said the old dwarf with a nod. "Normally a company hit so badly like we''ve been would''ve pulled back, if not disbanded right away. I think you''re considering something different, though. Are you not?"


    "Has we been in the state we were two days ago, I''d have seriously considered withdrawing from this campaign and maybe restart with what few we have left, if any," admitted Reinhardt honestly to the gathered people. "But all that changed yesterday. With the main force''s arrival we likely won''t have much of a role to play at Fort Prydwen, but we might earn ourselves a good deal at Zefirous, should Friede''s contacts still be active."


    "I''m not a fighter, so that''s a decision the fighting ones ought to make. We''ll just follow behind you," replied the old dwarf, to which Ursula nodded in agreement.


    "We''ll follow your decision either way," said Ylisera from her seat with a smile. Nicole echoed the surviving scouts'' similar sentiment to the matter.


    "What are the chances of your old friends still being active and in a position where they could be of use?" Salicia asked as she looked at her old friend with her one good eye. The woman had always been the more pragmatic one of their group, when it was just the three of them.


    "I''d say decent, likely better than even odds. Varsha was a smart and ruthless bitch. Unless someone new toppled her in the decade I''ve been gone she should still be in charge," replied Elfriede to her old friend. "And knowing her, she''d likely smother any such threat in the cradle."


    "It''s a gamble¡­ but one with high payout and decent odds. Very well then, count me in as well," replied the female archer with a nod of agreement. "I guess that makes us pretty unanimous huh¡­ boss?"


    "I still can''t get used to being called that," said Reinhardt with a self-deprecating smile. He then looked at Mischka before he continued. "Though I guess I better get used to it. I guess all that''s left is to talk about how we''ll handle pay and compensation with your people?"


    "We won''t mind the same rates we had with the Legion for the duration of this campaign," said the matron. It was a generous gesture, as the Legion''s pay was notably less than what the Free Lances offered their people. "To be renegotiated at the end of the campaign, or when we went our separate ways, should it come to that."


    "Well bargained and done," he said as he shook the matron''s hand and sealed the deal.

 Chapter 31 - Arrival of the Reinforcements

    "King Aethelbald Stahlfaust the IIIrd was widely considered as the wisest king in Knallzog''s relatively short history - for a dwarven realm - that his birthday remained a celebrated holiday for the kingdom even now.


    Once an unassuming second prince on whom little expectations were placed, he rose up to the challenge and proved himself capable when his older sister, the then crown princess, fell in love with a human and eloped with her lover, never to be seen again." - Floren Jonqvist, Historian from Levain, circa 586 FP.


    "They''re here! South, due southeast, around two, maybe three hours away!" Reinhardt heard the shrill shout from above. It had been three days since the Silver Maiden''s unexpected visit, and right on schedule, the main force they awaited had arrived.


    The shout itself had come from Hannah, who had taken to the air once again and flexed her wings as she flew around the ruins, to "keep watch" supposedly. Reinhardt knew the therian girl just wished to be flying again, though, and accepted the excuse with a smile.


    It was an understandable thing. Her wings had been so badly hurt she had dreaded that she would never be able to fly again, only to have them restored to perfect shape in what were mere moments. Many of the badly injured still shared that sense of marvel with her.


    Even Elfriede confided to him in private that she too marvelled at the healing the Silver Maiden had dispensed so freely and swiftly. Apparently she had once taken a bad injury to her chest when she was much younger, and it had left scars in her lungs, one that made it so she had to use her magic to aid her breathing to even match what a normal person could do.


    She had supported herself that way for nearly two decades, and apparently, when the Silver Maiden healed her more recent injuries, she had also removed the internal scarring from her old ones. It was the first time Elfriede took a deep breath freely and unaided by magic since that day many years ago.


    Reinhardt also quickly found out the hard way that because she no longer needed to devote part of her magic to supporting her breathing all the time, she had more mana to spare for more combative uses. Something he found out after he was trounced more thoroughly than usual during their regular spars the past three days.


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    Other than how she used her magic for perception in place of her eyes, Elfriede mostly relied on one other trick with her magic, where she manipulated the wind to create a constant tailwind that followed her every movement when she wished it to be so. She moved just that tiny bit faster, her movements freer and swifter under the support of her magic, that it would throw off anyone who was already used to her usual speed and rhythm.


    She would also use it at the worst possible moments for her opponents more often than not, or otherwise use it in an irregular pattern that left her opponents guessing. Back then she had not been able to do it much, or for long. A limitation lifted with the healing of her old injuries. Reinhardt had been the first "victim" of that improvement.


    The arrival of the main force that had set out from Knallgant, the capital of Knallzog, was expected. Even so, that Hannah noticed them long before the dwarven lookouts - on the top of the bell tower, since the towers on the walls were not spared in the collapse - who kept an eye out with their spyglasses.


    Then again, the therian girl was not only on a higher vantage point, but her eyes alone easily rivaled the finest of spyglasses. An enviable trait to have in a scout, to say the least. Her recovery was a boon in many ways for the Free Lances.


    "They''re finally here, eh lad?" asked Graf Angus Harscape as he suddenly came next to Reinhardt. The Graf''s wounded eye had been healed by the Silver Maiden, but he chose to keep the scar over the eye as a reminder, yet another scar on his wizened visage. "A bit ahead of schedule too. They must''ve hurried them up by quite a bit to get here so soon."


    "How do you think the invasion will continue, going forward, uncle?" asked Reinhardt in turn to the Graf. They mustered a force of close to three thousand once more now, three hundred of his, another six hundred under Barnaby, and two thousand regulars under the Graf. Barely one-fifth of the original expedition, yet not an ignorable amount either. "Think they''ll have room for us?"


    "There''s too few of us left to be given heavy responsibility in the coming fights," stated the old dwarf with a shake of his head. "That said, we''d at least serve as reserves. Your irregulars might be employed as scouts going forward, and depending on whether whoever is in charge is willing to listen or not¡­ what tidbits your wife can offer might fetch you a pretty sum."


    "Any idea who''s actually in charge?" he asked with some concern. The brief messages exchanged prior to the siege said that the crown prince himself would lead the main force. Reinhardt was familiar with how politics usually went though, and would not be surprised to see a veteran general holding the actual reins and the prince being a mere figurehead instead.


    "We won''t know till they''re here, lad. I know that old fart McBaine''s part of the group, but if the prince''s as competent as what I''ve heard¡­'''' said the Graf in a consoling tone. Graf Lloyd McBaine of Meergant was notorious for his dislike of mercenaries, and his long time rivalry with Graf Harscape himself. He was also one of the most veteran military men in the kingdom.  "We will see."


    "Let''s just hope for the best then," said Reinhardt in return with a slight frown. "And plan... For the worst."

 Chapter 32 - The Crown Prince

    "At first, many of the courtiers placed little hope on the second prince, whose ascension to crown prince was sudden and unexpected. The young prince had mostly been known to laze around, and did neither well nor badly on his studies, by all accounts a mediocre prince who just enjoyed life.


    None, not even the old king and queen had expected his sudden transformation on the day he was named crown prince. Suddenly the lazy prince was no more, as he redoubled on and excelled at every subject he studied. The tutors who once decried him as mediocre ate their prior words right back when confronted with his later excellence." - Floren Jonqvist, Historian from Levain, circa 586 FP.


    Reinhardt had not felt particularly comfortable, standing at attention alongside everyone else in two neat lines while they waited for the main force''s arrival. Everybody had fallen into a parade rest in formation for ten minutes or so now, and they could all hear the sound of thousands of boots treading the earth approaching ever closer.


    The armies present in the ruins of Fort Ascher had split evenly into two lines. The cavalry that saved them, the Brewers, and Reinhardt''s own Free Lances on one side. The Graf''s surviving regulars on the other side.


    Lined up like that, his group''s irregular nature stood out in particular, especially compared to the other, far more uniform units. Where the other groups looked like one unit that trained and lived together, his looked like a hodgepodge gathering of people of all shapes and sizes, from every sort of background. An appearance that had just become even more diversified with the inclusion of Mischka''s people.


    That was how the Free Lances had always been, though, so that was one thing Reinhardt refused to change.


    Eventually, after what felt like forever to him, but in reality was probably no more than five to ten minutes of waiting, the main force reached them. Marching ahead of the pack were the cavalry.


    Another thousand "light" cavalry mounted atop rams similar to the ones that had saved them led from the front. The idea that such cavalrymen were considered light cavalry was one that only made sense to dwarven sensibilities.


    Each of those "light" cavalrymen wore heavy armor that rendered them nearly impervious to harm from all but the luckiest or hardest strikes. The black, wooly rams they rode on were huge, muscular beasts, each standing as tall as a dwarf at the shoulder, with dense, tough wool that would be difficult to cut through even with an axe and sturdy, curled horns atop their heads.


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    Another thousand of what the dwarves considered heavy cavalry followed behind. Each team of three dwarves were placed securely in a long, narrow seat that sloped higher towards the back, on top of the back of massive tri-horned rhinoceroses.


    The beasts alone were fearsome, massive specimens, each easily five meters from snout to tail, and nearly as tall as Reinhardt was at the shoulder. Their thick skin were natural plates of armor in its own rights, while the three horns on their snout - a large one at the tip, and two smaller ones next to each other behind it - were capable of uprooting entire trees.


    Each team of three dwarves atop the beasts were made up of three different roles. Up front was the driver, who held the beast''s reins and wore the heaviest armor, one that only exposed his eyes behind a thick, transparent crystal visor. Behind him was a sweeper, who held a long polearm with which they swept the sides as they rode through enemy ranks. At the rear, on a freely swiveling seat, was a crossbowman armed with a repeating crossbow, whose task was to hold or finish off any enemies that the others missed on their pass.


    Behind those cavalry, were a small group of around fifty war chariots, each pulled by three such rhinos. The dwarven idea of a war chariot was a boxy, spiky monstrosity on eight massive wheels, each with spiked rods extended from either side of the axles. Each chariot carried a team of ten dwarves, plus a driver up front in an extra armored compartment.


    Out of the ten on each chariot, one was the commander, another their lieutenant, while of the rest, half were sweepers, and half were crossbowmen. On open plains like most of Knallzog territory those war chariots were horrifying killing machines. Sadly, in the dense tropical jungles of Theodinaz, they would not be nearly as usable.


    Probably why the expedition had been light on them and heavy on infantry in the first place, Reinhardt thought. Behind the chariots were the infantry of the main force. Reinhardt couldn''t get a precise count, but he estimated them to be at least twenty thousand in number, if not more. Around a quarter were dressed in heavy infantry gear, while the rest were dwarven "light" infantry.


    Light by dwarven sensibilities, that is.


    Upon approaching the lined up soldiers in the fort, the cavalry parted into two halves and lined up on the sides as well, a wide corridor between them. The chariots did the same, and only one chariot from their midst kept proceeding forward.


    That one chariot attracted Reinhardt''s attention not because it was lavishly decorated, but because it was plainer than the others, which often had carved decorations made by their respective crews.


    Unlike the others, this one chariot looked to be covered in flawless, smooth, shiny black metal. It was the telltale sign of adamant - a rare and expensive metal only workable by master mage-smiths, known for its near indestructibility - plating, an excessive expense Reinhardt thought would be impossible to justify for a mere general.


    Sure enough, when the chariot drew closer, Reinhardt spotted a rather young dwarf - probably not even two hundred yet - who looked at the assembled soldiers with a critical eye. While in most nations a commander was easily recognizable from their more decorated armor and the likes, Reinhardt grew up in dwarven territory, and was well aware of their idiosyncrasies. It was not the designs or decorations to be watched, but the material of the armor they wear.


    Sure enough, the young dark-skinned dwarf with straw blonde hair and beard wore armor that looked far too thin for what a dwarf would wear, but also had the same glossy black sheen as the chariot he rode on.


    If that was not his royal highness, the crown prince himself, Reinhardt would eat his tail.

 Chapter 33 - Meeting and Reassurance

    "The first time then-Crown Prince Aethelbald went to war was during what was later called the aftermath of Theodinaz''s Folly. The opportunistic invasion of multiple realms into the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz following the devastation of its military forces outside the newly founded city of Paradise.


    Back then knowledge about the Unliving was not as common as they are today, and Alcidea was in the middle of a period the later historians called the Times of Turmoil, a century where armed conflicts, civil wars, rebellions, and the likes broke out aplenty. Racial tensions had run high at the time, and with their strongest neighbor falling apart, it might have seemed logical for the Holy Kingdom of the time to eradicate a new undesired neighbor while they were still weak." - Floren Jonqvist, Historian from Levain, circa 586 FP.


    Surprisingly, the Crown Prince had not demanded the soldiers to kneel or otherwise pay obeisance in his presence. He merely accepted their military salute, and returned one of his own, as his chariot trundled past the crowd.


    Before long, the main force had marched over, and started setting up tents in and around the ruins of the fort. Reinhardt spotted the Graf and Frigg, the dwarven matron who had healed them, gestured for him to follow, and he did so. The group also picked up Barnaby along the way.


    Quite expectedly, Reinhardt saw people who appeared to be commanders and generals gathered inside the same mess hall where they held their briefings before. The Crown Prince was amongst them, now with his helmet removed and placed on the table, his wild mane of hair freed.


    "Didn''t think you have it in you to show your face after this sorta debacle, you old goatfucker," said an old dwarf - one older than Graf Harscape by maybe a century - as he spat to the floor. The dwarf had his beard kept neat and straight, bunched up using three golden rings.


    "As if you could''ve done any better, you darned milk-guzzler," replied the Graf with equal gusto in his voice. Despite the insults they traded, the two dwarves were old friends and rivals. Mortal insults were just how they greeted each other.


    On the other hand, the look of disdain the old dwarf directed towards Reinhardt and Barnaby was as real as it got. Lloyd McBaine, Graf von Meergant, had hated mercenaries ever since his youngest, favorite son ran away from home to be one, and promptly got himself killed over a century ago.


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    "Good that you could join us, Graf Harscape, and gentlemen," said the Crown Prince before either Grafs could get another word in. Besides the Crown Prince and Graf McBaine, another six dwarves were in the room. Two wore attires that made it easy to peg them as leaders of the cavalry detachments. Another wore the trademark armor of Knallzog heavy infantry, while the last three dressed in lighter armor. "Now, gentlemen. Before we begin the meeting proper, please inform me in your own words, what went wrong with the first expedition."


    "No point beating around the bush. We went in overconfident after finding no resistance worth mentioning all the way to Fort Ascher. That was all a bloody trap," admitted Graf Harscape openly. "They had conscripted the healthy men and women from every village in the general vicinity as far as we could tell. Then all those conscripted militia used their superior knowledge of the local region to catch us in a series of ambushes."


    "We lost roughly half our men from that. The rest of our losses came when the lunatics stormed the fort with utter disregard of their own lives," added the old dwarf with a pained wince. "If we want to make use of this region for ourselves, we''ll have to bring our own villagers. Pretty sure the battle had pretty much depopulated this whole region off of healthy adults."


    "How many people are we talking about? I find it hard to believe that a trained troop of fifteen thousand could be reduced to so few just by a ragtag group of militiamen," asked the Crown Prince with evident doubt on his face.


    "We could not get exact numbers, yer royal highness, but estimates were that they lost close to five thousand, maybe more, when they ambushed us," reported Barnaby when the Graf looked at him and Reinhardt and nodded.


    "During the time our detachments were ambushed, the fort was also struck by a separate enemy troop, around fifteen thousand by our best estimates at the time," Reinhardt added. He had not been present during that fight, but Elfriede had given him the reports, and he himself saw the thousands of corpses outside the fort back then.


    "Their final assault had them number twenty five thousand or so, for a total of forty to fifty thousand if you add them all together," said Graf Harscape with a serious tone of voice. "As far as we could tell, most of those perished in the fighting. The pyre we lit to burn their corpses had burned for three whole days and nights."


    "And what about Generalhauptmann R¨¹dersdorf? Why is he not here to report? He did serve as the main military advisor for this mess, did he not?" asked the Crown Prince with a slightly displeased tone.


    "About that¡­ the Generalhauptmann perished during the last days of the fighting. He asked for his will to be passed on to the commander of the main force should that happen," said Graf Harscape with a pained voice. Hansel R¨¹dersdorf had been a friend of his and had commanded the first regulars, on top of being the military advisor for the expedition. He drew out a neat envelope from his storage and handed it over to the Crown Prince, who accepted it with a nod.


    "Very well, gentlemen. Despite this debacle, I could see that the task that lies ahead of us would be more difficult than we expected. Your services would still be required for the near future," said the Crown Prince, directed towards Reinhardt and Barnaby mostly. "I assume you both are willing to continue serving as per your contracts, since we had not seen you packing up and leaving like the Vanguard Legion."


    "Aye, sire. The Brewers are at yer service," said Barnaby as he saluted the Crown Prince.


    "The same goes for the Free Lances," replied Reinhardt as he too offered a respectful salute.

 Chapter 34 - Measures Going Forward

    "To call the Theodinaz conflict as anything other than an opportunistic grab of land, while getting rid of a loathsome neighbor at the same time, would have portrayed the conflict in false colors.


    The Holy Kingdom, especially with their human supremacist policies, was greatly disliked by their more inclusive neighbors. None of them were surprised that the dwarves to the south struck almost immediately after they received the news.


    Others had followed suit soon afterwards." - Floren Jonqvist, Historian from Levain, circa 586 FP.


    "Understood. We had accounted for fanatical militiamen in our prior planning, but not to this extent. That will force some changes to be made," said the Crown Prince as he pondered over the unfurled map on the table. On it, the lands of Theodinaz was drawn with detail, the works of some of their best spies and purchased intelligence.


    The Holy Kingdom''s land formed the shape of a rough square that stood on its edge, with a slight tilt to the left. Many small signs which marked the location of villages pockmarked the regions, with a military fort and a large walled town in each of the cardinal directions, all surrounding a city built on a hill in the center.


    Fort Ascher had not been part of that arrangement. It was merely the remnants of a walled city from a defeated nation that was refurbished to serve as a military outpost. Other than their breadbasket region to the west, the Holy Kingdom had always focused their military more to the south. Unlike their neighbors in the other cardinal directions, which were predominantly human, the dwarven kingdom of Knallzog was to their south.


    Ahead of them was Fort Prydwen, approximately a week''s trek northwards. Much like most of the central regions of the Holy Kingdom, it was built on better lands, in the plains that surrounded the central hill.


    Two days to its north laid the city of Zefirous, and another week from there, further to the north, was the hill on which the Holy City of Nu-Gu''od was built. Legend has it that the first God-King rose to divinity there, and the name of the city itself meant "Cradle of the God" in the old language the locals used.


    "If there had really been forty to fifty thousand of them dead already, that likely meant most of the southern region had been emptied out of viable conscripts," muttered the dwarf in heavy infantry armor. "That left the garrison at Prydwen, estimated to be around eight thousand, and another five thousand at Zefirous, plus however many they could get out of the inhabitants there."


    "It won''t be as much, or as rabid as what we had to deal with," stated Reinhardt from where he stood across the table. "The rural peasantry are the ones who drank deepest into faith. They had little else. Those in the cities had better lives, and more to lose. They wouldn''t be as eager to throw away their lives for their beliefs."


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    "Sounds about right. That''s what we sort of expected outta the boonies too, but we guessed wrong there," admitted one of the dwarves in light infantry armor. "That said, your information on Zefirous is more¡­ reliable, you said?"


    "With some luck, we might have a way to open the outer gates. I doubt the citadel is doable however," he replied with a nod. "One of mine is an escapee from there and has old¡­ acquaintances amongst the town''s criminal elements. They would likely be quite amenable to switching sides given the right persuasion."


    "Are you suggesting that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is to cavort with criminals and scum!?" interjected Graf McBaine angrily. Reinhardt could see the old dwarf about to say more scathing words, but couldn''t because a hand was placed ahead of him, a gesture to halt.


    "Peace, Lloyd. Should this be a feasible course of action, this would save us a siege against the outer walls," said the Crown Prince with an exasperated sigh directed at the Graf. He then turned to Reinhardt and gave him a more friendly look. "I am not daft enough to trade worthless things like pride for the lives of probably thousands of good men. We shall speak of this in more detail when we approach the city, Captain Edelstein."


    "Anyway, we have to deal with Fort Prydwen first. Graf Harscape, your Stone Shapers are still in good shape, if I recall correctly?" asked the Crown Prince as he pointed towards the southern fort with one meaty finger.


    "They were spared the fighting since they were busy expanding the warrens, your Royal Highness," replied the Graf with a nod. "They are ready to undertake whatever mission you have in mind."


    "I have three more companies of combat engineers with me. I would like your Shapers to work with them and have them work together to ramp the walls of Fort Prydwen," said the Crown Prince with a satisfied smile. "Then we will hit them hard and fast. I do not wish for a prolonged siege. We are racing against time here."


    "Beg pardon, yer Royal Highness, but why the hurry?" asked Barnaby as he voiced the question Reinhardt was also wondering about.


    "Ezram and the former Sevral Duchy of Clangeddin had joined the battle. Father had negotiated with them while we traveled here. We had come to an agreement that we shall not engage one another, and each side will keep what they managed to conquer," said the Crown Prince in a more serious tone. "Posuin''s at least too occupied by their internal mess to join in, though."


    Ezram was another smallish kingdom to the north of the Holy Kingdom, while the Clangeddin Empire to the east used to be the largest and strongest nation in Alcidea, at least before the assassination of the much-hated emperor seven years ago sparked massive infighting between the many claimants and several peasant rebellions.


    The Civil war that ensued broke the empire apart.


    Similarly, Posuin to the west was another large nation embroiled in civil war, as the army they sent towards the new Unliving settlement had balked at their orders upon learning the gruesome fate of the Holy Kingdom''s expedition. The general in charge had attempted to pull a swift coup, but had failed, and Posuin was embroiled in a civil war as a result.


    "We are aiming for the southern and western regions. Let the Ezramites and the Sevrals race each other to Nu-Gu''od and smash themselves into that rock. We will focus on the proper annexation of our nearby regions instead," said the Crown Prince as he traced a line from the south-east, to above the city of Zefirous, then to the left, passing above the western city of Norouz. "We will proceed swiftly, but with care. I want doubled scout deployments at all times. Let''s not fall into an ambush again. The Silver Maiden might not be around to bail our asses out this time."


    "Still surprised she showed up when we were down in the dumps, really," admitted Barnaby.


    "Oh, right, I forgot that it was classified information when you folks left," said the Crown Prince with a smile. "The Silver Maiden being in this area is no real surprise. After all¡­ she was the one leading the group of Unliving that made the settlement to our northwest."


    "Given her reputation, it was to be expected that she would take a look around a nearby warzone," he added with some thought. "And you folks happened to have a massive pyre burning for three days and nights next to your camp. It''d be weird if she had not come your way with all that."

 Chapter 35 - Marching into an Ugly Sight

    "Fighting a war is nine parts tedium, just drills, training, marching, or waiting, and one part actually fighting for your lives. All those tales about war always skiped the tedium, and usually downplayed the brutality of the fighting too.


    Got to make the heroes look heroic and all that for the audience, typical propaganda, really. Down here in the dirt, things are never as pretty as the stories told, ever." - Mildred Sobritzki, retired soldier from Posuin.


    The day after the main force''s arrival, the gathered army marched northwards, towards Fort Prydwen. The sight of twenty-eight thousand men and women walking in neat formation was an intimidating one.


    Due to the size of their army, only the main road between Fort Ascher and Fort Prydwen was truly suitable for their use. Even so, scouts - both from the dwarves and the mercenaries - spread out far and wide, just in case there were other unpleasant surprises waiting for them along the way.


    Nearly one sixth of the people who had survived amongst the Free Lances were part of their scout contingent. Partly because they were not the best fighters, and many of them had been amongst the injured carried back by the second company. Partly because they were all excellent at moving fast and undetected.


    Hannah had taken to the air once again, at an even greater height than usual this time, as she kept watch from above. Nicole and her aunt Dacia has each led a group of twenty four scouts each as they prowled the left flank of the army.


    Lili and R¨®zsa, the half-elven twins, had taken the guise of large wildcats and prowled even further afield. Everybody was on high alert, completely unwilling to be the victim of another ambush.


    In contrast to the mercenary scouts, the dwarven scouts were not as silent, their stocky, wide builds being a disadvantage in the region of tightly packed trees and vegetation. Even so, the way they spread themselves in multiple rows that remained in contact with one another at all times meant they served as a workable early warning system.


    There were no ambushes to be on guard for though. The assessment that they may well have depopulated tbe southern region off its peasants seemed more and more plausible as days passed, and all they saw were empty, abandoned villages.


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    On the fifth day after their departure, the army ran across the sites where the many detachments of the expeditionary force were ambushed. They paused their march for a day there, as the zealots had lined up the dead bodies of the expeditionary force on stakes all along the sides of the street.


    Reinhardt had led half his men towards where the first company was ambushed, while Dacia led the rest to where the second company''s dead lay. Despite the advanced state of decay the corpses were in, he could still recognize quite a few of them.


    They worked silently, more than a few of them shedding tears as they dug graves and respectfully interned the dead bodies. It could be considered a closure of sorts, as the company had regained the assets lost in the ambush through the recent salvage - many of the zealot leaders had appropriated storage rings and equipment salvaged from their lost ones - and now finally they had put the remains to rest properly.


    The mood was rather dour as they marched again the next day. Many of the dwarves seethed after they saw the dead bodies of their brethren disrespected so. To display a corpse on a stake was a shame reserved only for the greatest of sinners in their culture.


    Even the Crown Prince looked like he might blow his top at any moment when he first witnessed the thousands of dwarven bodies staked on display.


    Fort Prydwen was already within sight when the army camped on their eighth night of march. The Crown Prince had summoned the commanders involved to his large, but otherwise spartan tent for a quick briefing.


    "We shall assault the fort tomorrow," he stated without preamble once everybody was gathered. It was the same group that convened at Fort Ascher before they left. "Your roles in the fighting to come will be as follows."


    "Ebenezer, Simon, both of your cavalries are to patrol all the roads that led out from Fort Prydwen. I want no escapees¡­ or survivors," said the Crown Prince with a grim tone. "Leopold, your heavy infantry will spearhead our assault once the engineers built the ramp."


    "Understood, my Liege," replied the three dwarves as they saluted the crown prince together.


    "I want ten thousand of the light infantry, as well as Graf Harscape''s reserves and the mercenaries to disperse in the surrounding forests, and keep a lookout for secret routes out of the fort. They''re prone to have one on a fortification this old. Any objections?"


    This time his question were met with shakes of the head from the assembled people. While Reinhardt would have liked to have a bit of vengeance, he was not stupid enough to commit his remaining three hundred to assaulting a fort, a task they were decidedly ill-suited for.


    "Excellent. The remaining five thousand shall act as reserves to Leopold''s men. Should any of your men-" said the Crown Prince as he met first Graf Harscape, then Barnaby, then Reinhardt eye to eye. "-desire vengeance for your losses, they have my permission to be part of the reserves. Just have them report before the assault."


    It was a generous offer, though not one Reinhardt was inclined to take. He doubted his people would take the offer either. As mercenaries, they were a practical, pragmatic people. Vengeance is good to have, but not such a risky one.


    On the other hand, given what he knew of dwarven culture, he could see some of Barnaby''s or the Graf''s take up the call. He decided he should probably warn his people not to do anything regrettable when he returned from this meeting.


    He did just that when the meeting was dismissed a quarter hour later.

 Chapter 36 - Assault on Fort Prydwen

    "Assaulting a fort head on? Definitely ill-advised, unless you either got the siege engines to properly pry open the fortifications, or mages to otherwise render them irrelevant. Even then, it tends to be a bloodbath." - Dean O''Malley, retired combat engineer, formerly of the Stone Shapers.


    The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Reinhardt brought his three hundred - not one of them had been silly enough to risk their life and limb for mere vengeance, fortunately - towards the section of the forests assigned to him.


    He saw around two, maybe three hundred of Graf Harscape''s men and around fifty of Barnaby''s join the reserve of light infantrymen, and could only shake his head. Then again, it was their decision to make, and not his place to judge.


    This close to the center, the tropical jungle which dominated the south and the further reaches of the west of the Holy Kingdom receded, as the climate also became somewhat more temperate. Even so, it was still hot and humid, and the forests remained dense, if not as dense as what they had to deal with previously.


    The Free Lances were assigned the woods to the north-east of the fort. It was a dense patch, situated in between the major roads that led to Zefirous and Uraeos, the eastern city. It was also one of the more likely places for the destination of a secret escape route.


    Reinhardt had the scouts and part of his forces split into five groups, led by Elfriede, Salicia, Gr¨´nhildr, Dacia, and Ylisera, each with ten scouts and forty soldiers under their lead.


    He himself had the rest, which included Mischka''s entire detachment, and waited by the forest''s entry for the possibility that help would be needed. They were also left out partially because their large bodies made them unfit for maneuvering within the dense undergrowth of the forest.


    Hannah was in the air, above the forest, at a height where it would be very difficult to shoot her down, while it allowed her to keep all five groups in her sights at the same time. She served as their lookout for the operation.


    Over at the fort, the assembled dwarves already formed up and surrounded three sides of the fort, leaving only the north side open. Even then, it was not an option to escape from, considering that was where the bulk of the patrolling cavalry awaited them.


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    Unlike Fort Ascher, Fort Prydwen was a proper fort. Its walls stood a full seven meters tall, with crenellations all over and smaller towers manned by archers every fifty meters. On the four corners of the fort were larger towers which each housed a catapult on top, as well as many more archers.


    They rained arrows on the dwarves the moment they moved into range, yet the dwarves stoically raised and interlocked their shields together. Most of the arrows were stopped by the shieldwall they formed, and of those that made it past, they clinked harmlessly against the thick armor worn by the dwarven heavy infantry.


    Heavy boulders hurled from the catapults on the other hand, managed a handful of casualties. Even then, it was not a sure thing. Reinhardt whistled when he saw a group of particularly burly dwarves catch a boulder on their shield and just slowly let it fall harmlessly.


    Once the dwarves were closer, they were well within the catapult''s minimum range, which rendered it useless. With their shields raised to cover their bodies, the archers did little damage as well.


    With how all the dwarves dressed similarly and the raised shields covering them from sight, none of the defenders noticed the combat engineers in the midst of those dwarves. They went to work once they were close enough to the wall.


    Over two hundred earth mages pooled their efforts, and in an instant, created works even the greatest of archmages would be hard pressed to replicate. The land surged up from where the engineers were located, as it formed a ramp that rose so high, its highest point was a full two meters taller than the top of Fort Prydwen''s walls.


    The earthen ramp was not just to cover the dwarves from many of the archers on the walls - those in the towers still shot at them - but also to provide a means of entry for the attacking force. As if on cue, the dwarven heavy infantry charged up the ramp, sprinting up the incline with surprising speed considering their heavy armor and short legs.


    With loud bellows, the heavily armored dwarves ran to the top of the ramp, and took a flying leap from there, down towards the top of the walls of Fort Prydwen.


    A few dwarves died when spears happened to find a weak point in their armor and the force of their fall impaled them. More often than not however, it was the defenders who were crushed under a heavily armored dwarf''s boots, their bones crushed and flesh mulched by the impact.


    Once the heavy infantry reached the top of the walls, they immediately streamed left and right, climbing the towers and descending the stairs. Lighter armored infantrymen streamed in behind them like a wave.


    The defenders within Fort Prydwen never stood the slightest bit of a chance, as the dwarves quickly found out that there were less defenders present than expected.


    A few tried to escape from the north gate, which was the only gate not under siege. They quickly found themselves cut off and run down by dwarves atop their rams or rhinos. Not a single one survived or escaped.


    Around that same time, Reinhardt heard a shrill whistle from above, in a two-three-two pattern. It was a signal from Hannah, following codes they had agreed upon beforehand.


    The first two whistles meant the second group, the one led by Elfriede. Three whistles after, signaled that they had found some enemies, but had the situation under control. The last two at the end meant they needed him present to make a decision for some reason.


    Reinhardt left most of the group with Mischka in case there were other groups that needed assistance while he left, and only took five people with him, as he headed into the woods towards where Elfriede''s group was stationed.

 Chapter 37 - A Noble Captive

    "What''s scariest is to fight against people who ain''t got nothing to lose, not even their lives. Madmen like those fought like possessed, often tried to take you down with them as a last struggle, and rarely broke. It''s why most everyone hated dealing with zealots. They''re invariably of that sort.


    Of course, not all of them. There''s always the cowardly and the craven even amongst those types, ones who paid lip service to the zealotry rather than drink deep into it. These ones are usually the ones who got something to lose, highborn more often than not.


    They also squeal quite easily once brought to question." - Qant Nunarys, previously a General for the Clangeddin Empire, now the High Marshal for the Grand Duchy of Sevral-Galastine, circa FP 7.


    "What is it, Friede?" asked Reinhardt when he and his small group reached where the second group was posted. He spotted signs of battle, and could smell the blood in the air, but since the report said the situation is under control, it likely weren''t his people''s.


    "Caught this bunch of chickens trying to fly the coop," said Elfriede, while smelling strongly of blood to Reinhardt''s nose. A quick inspection showed that it wasn''t her blood, just that she got quite a bit of bloodstains on her gambeson, likely from whatever fighting happened.


    He also spotted the dead bodies of around ten people who looked decidedly better equipped than the zealot militia they had to deal with so far, in the process of being stripped of every valuable item on them. These men and women actually wore proper armor, plate over chain, and had well-crafted weapons.


    One of them was also still alive, though already stripped down to his skivvies, his right hand severed at the wrist - likely Elfriede''s work, Reinhardt thought, as she always had the habit of aiming for the joints when fighting armored opponents - and trussed up like a pig to be slaughtered.


    "Why keep that one alive?" asked Reinhardt out of curiosity. Their contract had not asked for them to capture enemies, as they could just turn in the heads as proof instead.


    "He''s their commander, prolly brat of the noble in town, given how well he was geared up," said Elfriede as she pointed to a particularly eye-catching pile of salvaged armor on the side. Reinhardt saw right away that it was really good quality plate armor, engraved with a heraldry emblem on the chest. "Figured the prince might appreciate some pigs that would squeal."


    "He hadn''t asked for captives but I doubt he''d mind, yeah," admitted Reinhardt. The noble captive uncle Angus tried to interrogate back at Fort Ascher had been a tough one who refused to open her mouth other than to curse them, but the bound up one before him - he looked like a kid barely into his adulthood - seemed far more afraid of them.


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    "His armor had the crest of the Larsen family," said Elfriede as she traced one finger over the emblem on the chestplate taken from their captive. "That''s the house which ruled Zefirous when I left. He''s either part of it or related to them."


    "That''s a decent catch all right. Any casualties on our side?" he asked with a nod. The salvage they would have to negotiate about with their employer, but usually catching a high ranking enemy commander would net them a bonus.


    "Bernd and Pat got a couple cuts, but nothing serious. Do we stay here in case there''s others, or do we pull back?" she asked him in return.


    "Keep your men here just in case. You come with me. We''ll deliver that brat over to the prince and see where it goes," said Reinhardt after a moment of thought. He left three of his men to cover for Elfriede''s absence, while the other two lugged their captive around like a log on their shoulders.


    "So how did you get them that easily?" he asked after they walked away for a bit. Although Elfriede''s group outnumbered the escapees five to one, given how well they were equipped he would have expected at least some of the enemies to have put up a solid resistance.


    "We got a bit lucky. Passed by their exit before they were anywhere near it," said Elfriede. In truth, how they had found the secret passage''s exit was mere happenstance. The exit was very well concealed, practically indistinguishable with the naked eye. It was their bad luck that Elfriede did not use her eyes to search. "They kept the passage ventilated, so I noticed the anomaly in the airflow and traced it to the end. After that we just set up an ambush for them and waited till they walked into it."


    "That''d do it I guess," he admitted. Trained or not, five on one odds with the five in ambush was a difficult situation indeed.


    ******************************


    "Good work, Captain," said the prince, who by then had already entered Fort Prydwen. All resistance had been taken care of by then, and the Crown Prince and his staff had quickly taken over the commander''s office.


    They too had noticed the disappearance of the fort''s commander - in this case whoever was out in charge of the fifteen hundred people left behind for a suicidal last stand to buy time - when they stormed the actual buildings, and had already found the secret passage from their end as well.


    That Reinhardt''s people already caught the escaping commander was good luck on his part.


    When he walked in, Reinhardt had noticed immediately that the people defending the fort were all elderly men and women, probably villagers who had been too old to join the militia that struck his people weeks ago, but nonetheless still fit enough to hold spears and bows for one last stand.


    None of them had survived the battle. They had not surrendered, and while a few did try to run, the dwarves were not in a merciful mood at all.


    "Supposedly he''s a scion of the Larsen family in Zefirous, or at least related," said Reinhardt to the Crown Prince. "His chestplate was engraved with their emblem."


    One of the Crown Prince''s aides whispered something to him, after which the young dwarf nodded, looking satisfied. He turned towards Reinhardt and Elfriede with a friendly expression. "Excellent, Captain Edelstein. This will be noted and we will add a bonus to your company''s pay," he said.


    "You may also keep whatever you salvaged off him and his men, though we expect you to pass on anything that might offer some information over to us," he added with a smile. It was a generous reward all considered, one Reinhardt knew better than to look in the mouth.


    "Our gratitude, sir," he said sincerely with a bow. "A pleasure doing business with you."

 Chapter 38 - "Interrogation"

    "Torture is a highly inefficient tool for interrogation. More often than not, should you break someone from torture, you would just get someone who would say whatever they thought would please you in order to avoid more pain.


    Because of this, information gleaned from torture must always be considered as suspect at best. A far better way would be to break a person down mentally, until they see you as their only friend in the world, and get them to confide this way.


    This method however, does often take more time than what most have to spare, especially in the battlefields." - Fibuela Svensd?tt¨ªr, Chief Interrogator for the Kingdom Down Under, Circa 287 FP.


    "I will talk! Ask me anything! Anything! Just please don''t hurt me anymore!" screamed the young noble the moment the Crown Prince''s interrogator removed the cloth that gagged his mouth.


    His terror seemed quite genuine, and the young man was crying as he screamed, with snot trailing from his nostrils, quite an indignified appearance to say the least. Even as the interrogator looked at him with a blank, baffled look the man broke down and sobbed loudly.


    Reinhardt was present in the room, an underground chamber in the fort''s dungeons that was clearly used as a torture room in the past. All sorts of torture implements dotted the walls of the room, a rather comprehensive selection that even made the royal interrogator the Crown Prince brought give an appreciative whistle.


    The people gathered for the interrogation included Reinhardt, Elfriede, Barnaby, Grafs Harscape and McBaine, the Crown Prince - Aethelbald Stahlfaust, as he insisted that the commanders could drop some formalities with him - and the military commanders of the main force.


    Most of them had come just to see some pain inflicted on the hated enemy - emotions had run quite high amongst the dwarves these last few days - but clearly none of them had expected to see the captive to give in before they even touched him.


    "I''ll speak! Please! Just please don''t hurt me!" cried the young man tied to the chair once again.


    "Feh!" the royal interrogator looked at the captive with evident disdain, before he spat to the side and left in disappointment. Most of the rest of the group gathered were surprised at the development, especially Graf Harscape who had dealt with a tough captive before.


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    "Very well," stated the Crown Prince calmly as he walked a little bit closer and lifted the young man''s chin with one thick finger. "Let us start with the simpler questions first then. Who are you? And what is your position in Theodinaz?"


    "F- Finch Larsen. I-I''m the third son of Count Larsen of Zefirous," said the young captive with a nervous stammer.


    "So, Finch, why are you in the secret passage? Running from your duty? I thought your people would rather die than do that?" asked the Crown Prince once more, this time with more genuine curiosity in his voice.


    "F-f-fuck that bullshit!" The captive yelled suddenly, his voice becoming animated for the first time. "I''m not like Leandra or those idiotic fools who lapped up the priest''s words as if they''re some sort of heavenly decree or something! I just want to live! Was that too much to ask for!?"


    After the outburst, the Crown Prince gave the captive a moment to regain his wits. After a few minutes, the captive calmed down, and then he began answering their questions more calmly, like a man who already had nothing to lose.


    Finch Larsen was as he said, the third son of the Count who ruled Zefirous. It turned out that he and his older siblings - the aforementioned Leandra and an older brother named Terrence, who was the heir - were sent southwards with a mission to buy time for the city to prepare itself against the invasion from Knallzog.


    Terrence and Finch had prepared Fort Prydwen for resistance, while their sister Leandra - who was a far more zealous believer of the God-King than her brothers - had insisted on taking the fight to the enemies, and she had left to lead the gathered militia that were meant to buy time further south, near the abandoned Fort Ascher.


    Leandra never returned from the south. All the reports they received from the survivors who trickled in said that she - as well as most of the gathered militia, all forty-five thousand or so, the able-bodied inhabitants of every village in southern Theodinaz - was dead.


    The latest such report arrived a scant week ago, and gave Finch a headache. Without a commander, the overzealous priests had ordered a charge against the cornered invaders in Fort Ascher, which had only ended in mutual destruction.


    It was at that time that Terrence took the eight thousand man garrison of Fort Prydwen and left to reinforce Zefirous, as he had judged that the smaller fort would stand no chance whatsoever against the dwarven main force headed their way.


    That was a correct assesment, true, but it also meant Finch was left behind with only the fifteen hundred or so elderly volunteers who had resolved to give their lives if it could delay the enemy even a moment longer.


    He did not want to die. With nearly ten thousand men, eight thousand of which were proper soldiers, they might have stood a chance to resist for a while. With what he was given? There was no chance whatsoever.


    Finch knew his brother was just using the situation at hand to conveniently remove potential obstacles for his own future. His own siblings included. He had despaired until one of the elderly volunteers symphatized with him, and shown him the secret passage just before the attack commenced.


    The old man had worked as a soldier in the fort''s garrison for decades when he was younger, hence his knowledge of the passage. Finch had left along with his ten bodyguards, though they had not expected to be ambushed the moment they walked out of the passage.


    He went on and rattled what he knew of Zefirous, including the troops there and the gates, before the gathered leaders left him to confer for a moment between themselves. Some of the information he had relayed were quite discouraging in nature, and they needed a moment to discuss about it.

 Chapter 39 - Making Use of Information

    "The plan never survives contact with the enemy. Information becomes outdated sometimes even before you receive it. All a commander on the field could do is to think, adapt, and hopefully, survive through the changes." - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor and Founder of the Elmaiya Empire.


    "Well, you all heard what that kid said," stated Crown Prince Aethelbald Stahlfaust to the gathered military commanders, nobles, and mercenary captains. They had all adjourned to the office he had requisitioned, and some amongst them had worried looks. "Thoughts?"


    Amongst the information Finch Larsen had spewed out was the tidbit that apparently Zefirous had started a recruiting drive in the southern region shortly after the disastrous military expedition had left half a year ago. They had garnered approximately seven thousand new troops from that, who were undergoing training within the city itself.


    That made the total troops at Zefirous closer to twenty thousand, plus whatever civilians they could rally to their side. The dwarves had hedged their bet on being able to take on their enemies piecemeal at Fort Prydwen, but since the Count''s heir had withdrawn the garrison to the city proper, that plan had gone up in smoke.


    While the dwarves were confident of pitting their twenty-eight thousand against an enemy twice their size, their enemy being in a walled city complicated matters by quite a bit. The walls acted as a force multiplier for the defenders, something the survivors of Fort Ascher had proven already for them.


    "Could he be lying to scare us?" asked Graf Lloyd Mcbaine from his seat. The wrinkled face of the dwarf had scrunched up with some consternation over the problem.


    "Unlikely," replied the royal interrogator. He had worked for the royal family of Knallzog as an interrogator for over a century, and was a highly skilled man. "The kid might be omitting stuff he doesn''t know too well, or maybe miscounted the number some, but he''s telling what he thinks is the truth, as far as I could tell."


    "So likely twenty thousand. Maybe more. In a walled city surrounded by a moat. Not the best odds if we want to take them out fast and still have enough to handle the west afterwards," said Ebenezer Ostlinde, commander of the light cavalry detachment. "My cavalry ain''t gonna be much use in a siege either, and I doubt they''ll be fool enough to engage us in the open."


    "My heavies could fight in town if the streets ain''t too cramped," said Simon Ebenfeld, the dwarven heavy cavalry commander. "But we ain''t getting in there lest someone gets that drawbridge down first, and that''s gonna be the tough part."


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    "It would be ideal if we could get into town and bypass the wall and the moat, yes," said the Crown Prince with a sigh. He then turned to Reinhardt and looked at him in the eye. "Captain Edelstein, I believe you mentioned one of your people might have a solution for this. Could you bring them to meet me after we are done here?"


    "Yes, your Highness," he replied. Elfriede was right there with him, but the Crown Prince''s words suggested that he wished for a more private discussion, so he had played along. "It shall be done."


    They discussed a few more possibilities for assaulting the city after that, but couldn''t really come to a conclusion. An attempt to dig a tunnel in was unlikely to succeed, with how common earth mages were.


    Similarly, an approach by water - the western side of Zefirous was built on the banks of a deep lake - was deemed too risky, as they would be sitting ducks during such an approach. Not to mention the lack of water breathing potions that meant only a small group could be sent at best.


    "What are we gonna do with the brat?" asked Graf McBaine as he stood up and was about to exit the room along with the rest. "We gonna spare him? Or¡­"


    "We are having him executed as a sacrifice for our war banner when we march on," replied the Crown Prince with a cold, heartless voice. Reinhardt suspected that would be the case. Given the policies of Theodinaz, the chances of the dwarves allowing any of the local nobles to remain was nonexistent. "Do assign a good executioner to make it painless though. It''s the least we could do to thank him for the information."


    "I will see it arranged as per your wishes," replied the old Graf with an understanding tone as he bowed and left the room. Before long, only the Crown Prince, Reinhardt, and Elfriede were left in the room.


    "Are you not going to fetch your informant, Captain?" asked the Crown Prince with some confusion.


    "There is no need to, Your Highness," replied Reinhardt as he looked towards Elfriede. "After all, she has been here all this time."


    "Huh. This is a bit of a surprise," admitted the Crown Prince. He looked at Elfriede with a hint of worry, but then he shook his head. "I made sure to look into your backgrounds before I left on this expedition, but I don''t believe I''ve seen any mention of Mrs. Edelstein being an escapee from Theodinaz."


    "I don''t exactly like to talk about it¡­ Your Highness," said Elfriede in reply. She was clearly somewhat refraining her usually crude speech since they were dealing with the Crown Prince. "It was a period of my life I would rather forget¡­ but since the Lances are here, there are no reasons for me to keep quiet about it when we could make use of it instead."


    "Understandable," said the Crown Prince with a nod. "I''ve only been here a few weeks but can''t imagine what the people here must have been through to become the way they are now. I can''t imagine it being a fun experience. Anyway, I believe your husband previously mentioned that you have contact with the criminal elements of the city?"


    "That is correct. Should there be no untoward changes in the city, my contact will likely still be the head of Zefirous'' organized crime," replied Elfriede honestly. "They have never been fond of the nobles¡­ or the God-King for that matter. With some assurances and rewards we might be able to pry open the gates with their help."


    "How would we contact them, though?" asked the Crown Prince in turn.


    "There are several underwater caves on the riverbank that connect to the city''s sewers. Large enough for a small group to discreetly enter the city that way," said Elfriede with a nod, having anticipated the question. "They''re smuggler''s routes, usually used to smuggle forbidden items into the city. I will need to head in myself, since nobody else knows the contact I have in town, though."


    "I get as much. I just have one question," replied the Crown Prince. "Pray tell, just how are you related to this¡­ *contact* of yours that you are willing to trust them with your life, Mrs. Edelstein?"


    "It''s a long story, but if you insist¡­"

 Side Story 7 - A Childhood without Light

    "Amongst philosophers, there had often been discussions on whether the nature of one''s lineage or the way one was raised affected a person more as they grew up. As one who had often dealt with the human mind, I would say that it was not the circumstances of your life that formed a person into whoever they are.


    Instead, it''s the decisions they made within those circumstances that did so." - Gillian Orwell, head of the Psychiatry and Psychology department in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 627 FP.


    Wondrous sights.


    Colors.


    Light.


    All those things were absent from the girl''s life. Hers was a world of darkness - a concept she doesn''t truly understand either - and sounds, of scents and touches. Where the sounds and scents carried by an errant breeze told her more of the world around her.


    When others spoke of her, praised her for the color of her hair or her looks, she never had an idea what they meant. The girl child was born without sight. She had eyes, pretty eyes of a silvery-gray hue, yet those eyes beheld nothing at all.


    It was not uncommon for such children, born with deficiencies, to be discarded by their parents as if they were trash. After all, not even healing magic was capable of healing deficiencies one was born with, and such children were often considered burdens, if not worse.


    The girl was fortunate that she was born to a mother who loved her regardless. She had no father, at least, not one she knew of. They were poor, but even so they led a decently happy life, at least for a time.


    But like all things, the good times came to an end.


    It all came crashing down when she was five years old. Despite the time that had passed since then, the girl never forgot the events of that day, and it remained as clear as if it happened yesterday in her memories.


    That fateful day, her mother had an unusual timbre in her voice - one the girl later recognized as panic - and had fussed up her hair, and smeared something smelly on it and her face both, before dressing her in some clothes that felt rough and told her to go out, and no matter what, not to return close to their home.


    The girl was blind, true, but she was also active, and she had mostly memorized the roads around her home. She did as her mother bid, yet also hid herself in a corner not too far away. Close enough to hear what was happening in there.


    She heard the sound of wood breaking apart, as if someone had broken their door, from the direction of the shack she and her mother had lived in. It was followed by angry shouts from what sounded like two, maybe three men, and some sobs from her mother.


    It took everything the girl had to not go to her mother, as she remembered the desperate way her mother had pleaded for her to not return no matter what. The shouts escalated, though from the distance the girl didn''t quite catch what they were about.


    Then she heard her mother''s screams. Screams which were brought to an abrupt end a moment later. The girl heard some rustling. Windows and doors were opened as people peeked out of their houses to see what the commotion was about. With that, she emboldened herself to move past the corner she had hid behind, so she could better listen to whatever took place.


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    "Fucking wench!" she heard one of the men curse. She also caught a whiff of the smell of a burning torch. Strange, it should not be dark yet, since she could only smell the one. There were always several torches lit in the streets when it was dark.


    "Leave it be," said another voice. This one sounded¡­ harsher, as if the speaker had some damage to their throat. They also sounded older to her. "Even if the wench hid her child, what can a child that young do in a city this big, on her own? At most she''ll be a beggar, or more likely starve to death."


    "We dealt with the wench, brother," said another voice, this time a younger one. "Let us leave already. I can''t stand the stench of this dungheap any longer."


    "Fine, fine. Just let me put that bitch to the torch just in case," said the first voice. The girl then heard the sound of wood falling on wood, and before long, a growing roar of fire, as well as a wave of heat against her skin.


    She had failed to notice that the onlookers had closed their doors and windows by then, and hid themselves inside their houses. She was the only one who still dared to peek at the tumult.


    "What are you looking at, brat!?" scolded the first voice as he walked by. Then the girl felt something strike against her chest, felt something inside break painfully, and found herself tossed against a wall where she lay coughing.


    Fortunately the three men ignored her after that and left shortly after. The girl had laid against the wall while coughing wetly for a while, before she crawled towards where her home was.


    Every breath felt heavy, and the side of her chest that was struck burned with agony, but she crawled nonetheless, and only stopped when the heat was too much for her to close further. She was certain by then. The small shack which she and her mother had called home¡­ was burning.


    And her mother burned with it.


    The girl had not known how long she sat there, on the muddy road, in a daze. She had not resisted when someone picked her up and carried her. The soothing voice was one she recognized, a neighboring grandma her mother often helped.


    She felt the grandma lay her down on a table, winced when her fingers proved the sore side of her chest. The old woman''s soothing voice told her to relax, then she gave the girl something to drink. It tasted rather odd, and soon after she drank it, the girl fell asleep.


    When she woke up, the grandma had kindly told her that her mother was gone, and had asked if she had anyone else to rely on. The girl shook her head, even as she fought back her tears, an effort that proved futile.


    After she cried in the grandma''s hands, she told the girl somewhat grimly that she would take her somewhere. The grandma said that at least there, she would have food, and a place to sleep in. The girl could tell that the grandma was feeling less than pleased with it, though.


    While they walked, the girl noticed that her side didn''t hurt as much as before, though she still found it somewhat hard to breathe, and found herself short on breath after a distance she''d usually walk through without issue.


    The old grandma had allowed her to rest when she was winded, and apologized to her, saying that it was the best she could do. The girl thanked the old grandma regardless, as she knew that the grandma did something with the pains in her chest.


    The grandma explained in terms she could understand that she tried her best to heal the girl, but that the injuries to her insides was not one she could heal properly, hence the shortness of breath the girl was experiencing.


    Eventually they reached a larger building, the sort her mother had often warned the girl to stay away from. It was a place where bad people gathered, her mother had said.


    There the grandma had handed her over to another woman, whose voice just sounded tired of everything. The girl was kept occupied with some food while the two had talked about what had happened yesterday, and the girl heard a loud sigh from the other woman.


    From then on, the other woman had taken the girl. She was allowed to sleep in a large room, with many other children her age. In the day - she could tell because she felt the sun''s heat on her skin - she was made to sit in a corner of the street with a small bowl before her, and told to beg for alms from passersby.


    It was not pleasant. Because the girl was blind, many of the other children often mocked or hit her. She grew used to the mockery and the pain after a while, and just tried to keep on living. At least where she was she had food to eat and a place to sleep.


    After all, where could a blind girl like her go to? It was not like there was some philanthropist that would suddenly scoop her up and give her work. What work could she even do? She who was not able to see?


    The girl endured a year like that, swallowing insults and beatings. The words honestly stopped hurting before long, as for the fists, it was just pain. The girl knew pain well by then. Even so, she still had no idea what she could have done differently. She had grown somewhat weaker over the year, her shortness of breath a liability, as it made her tire quickly.


    At least, until one night, something the girl had not expected happened.


    Her magic awakened.

 Side Story 8 - To Survive, One Must Fight

    "Children typically awaken their magic talent between the ages of five to eight. It was rare for the awakening to occur outside that window, though there have been documented cases of younger children awakening early in stressful situations.


    How each child approached, felt, and interacted with magic differed. More often than not, the children developed something that was in line with their desires and situation, which led to the diversity.


    This awakening was also the main reason why the Void Affinity was often considered taboo, and people usually tried to avoid having children with the affinity. Children were rarely able to control their magic that well in their awakening. With most affinities, this was a minor issue. With void affinity, it became an often fatal issue." - Fredegund Steinmauer, Mage from the City-States, circa 681 FP.


    That very night, the girl felt her world change.


    Suddenly, she found that she could feel the wind around her, almost as if they were part of her body. Every little breeze that entered from the gaps of the window, the soft breathing of the child in the bunk on top of hers, she could feel them all.


    With a slight effort, she quickly found out that she could also move the wind to her bidding. It was awkward and difficult to do at first, but became easier as she tried again and again. After maybe an hour of ceaseless effort, the wind around her practically moved to her will.


    The very first thing the girl had done was to push more air into her lungs as she inhaled. She forced more air in even as her right lung wracked her with pain, remnants from the injury she received a year ago, but she had not cared. She finally managed to breathe properly once more after all that time, even if accompanied with pain.


    Even that young, she understood the implications of what she did. She also knew that those above her would have made use of her if they ever learned of it. So the girl decided to keep it her little secret.


    The past year had taught her some things. She had known that the city they lived in was called "Zefirous", and the people who had taken her in were in control of most of the beggars, cutpurses, and other unsavory elements of the city. Or at least, part of those in control.


    There were two adults mostly in charge of the place she lived in. Proust, an uncouth man who was drunk more often than not, and often beat the children for looking at him askance, and Varsha, the woman who had taken her in from the grandma who helped her.


    The girl trusted neither of them, but if she had to choose, she would admit that Varsha at least treated them decently. She was in charge of handling their meals and everything, and she had never let them go truly hungry.


    Proust on the other hand just constantly seemed to be pissed off at everything, and would often get angry for what the girl thought to be silly reasons. He was the one in charge, though, and the girl just tried to avoid him as much as she could.


    As a blind little girl, it was easy enough for the girl to eke out sympathy from well to do passersby, something she had learned over the past year. She continued being a beggar for the next few years, but quietly, discreetly, the girl worked on herself.


    The cruel treatments she had experienced in the past year had taught her that one needed to fight to survive in this world. To be able to fight, however, the girl needed strength of her own.


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    Magic was the answer to her question. The girl quickly trained with the magic she awakened until it responded to her much like it was another limb of her body. She kept it going all the time, until she could no more, and found that she could keep it up longer and longer as she trained.


    Using the magic to breathe properly was the first thing the girl had done constantly, until it became such an ingrained habit that neither the process nor the pain caught her attention at all. She just kept it up, as naturally as breathing itself.


    She used the movement of air to perceive the world around her as well. Where once only sounds, scents, and touches truly told her of her surroundings, now she could feel everything close to her, every little pebble on the ground, every little hair growing on Proust''s ugly mug.


    Then the girl quietly worked on herself, while remaining a beggar all that time. She subjected herself to the wind, used it to shackle and restrain her body, so that her every movement was only possible through strenuous efforts.


    To others, it made her look like a weak, sickly girl, who was so weak even lifting her hand was something she could only do with difficulty. It made passersby pity her more, which made some of her fellow child beggars jealous, and incited more beatings at night.


    The girl just quietly took it, as she knew that it was not a good time to reveal what she could do. She just stoically took the blows and kicks, the pain and humiliation in silence, which made her tormentors soon grow bored.


    Besides, bruises made it easier to gain the pity of others anyway.


    The girl had also quickly noticed something else after she awakened her magic. Her being blind and submissive meant that when something happened, like food or money getting stolen, she was never even suspected. Most just overlooked her existence.


    Eventually however, she found that she could not remain quiet and submissive anymore. In the past years after she awakened, she had noticed how Proust would often take one of the older girls into his room at night, and they would be hurt and crying when she felt them next. Some never even returned.


    The girl approached his room on one such night, pretending she was randomly wandering around as she was prone to do. Her magical senses allowed her to feel things behind a closed door, so long as the air still flowed between the rooms, which was a given in their rickety building. The "door" to Proust''s room was just a mere sheet of fabric hung from the doorframe, even.


    She had not needed any magical sense to hear the cries of the girl inside however, as she felt through the air how Proust struck and cursed at her. The girl was one of the few who were nice to her, and she couldn''t help but feel anger at hearing her cries.


    Another thought that came to mind was how the girl inside had turned into an adult recently, and how she had sounded afraid about it. So this was the reason why.


    The blind girl thought quickly. She herself was close to ten, and she most decidedly did not want Proust to lay his ugly mitts on her even if that was still many years away. That placed her into a dilemma of sorts. Running was no real solution, even with her awakened magic. Other children had tried before and were always dragged back screaming.


    Trying to get Varsha''s help was not truly an option either. Varsha had often gotten angry at Proust over what he did, but she could never truly do a thing against him. He was in charge, and he was stronger to boot.


    Waiting in case a different solution presented itself never entered the girl''s thoughts. All that left the girl with only one option, which was to take the matter into her own hands.


    She waited until Proust was really drunk one night, around a month after the incident. That night, she quietly sneaked out of her bed, and went into the kitchen. She took a long, sharp, pointed knife from the knife rack, and very quietly made her way to Proust''s room.


    The blind girl could hear the abominable man''s snores from outside the room. Proust had instilled fear of him in most of the children, but the girl, blind and submissive as she seemed, had been skipped as he thought there was no point. He was about to pay for that mistake.


    Quietly, the girl parted the fabric, and slunk into the room. Proust was sprawled over his bed, snoring loudly and smelling strongly of booze. The girl tiptoed as she came closer, made almost no sound as she approached, until she stood right beside the sleeping man.


    Then she grabbed the knife she took with both hands, lifted it high, and drove its point straight through the middle of the man''s thick neck. The point of the blade even pierced through and went out the other side. The girl had been very lucky, and had struck precisely where two segments of the man''s spine had met.


    Proust opened his eyes wide in surprise and agony, but could do nothing as his body convulsed beyond his control. His lips moved as he tried to make a sound, but all he produced was a wet gurgle as the girl pulled the knife out and blood flooded his throat.


    It took Proust many long minutes of convulsions before he finally laid still and breathed no more, during which time the girl had clutched the bloody knife in her hand and stayed still, as she had not dared to move.


    Just when Proust laid still and breathed his last, and the girl was about to leave, she felt the curtain of fabric that served as the room''s door opened, and a woman stepped inside. The girl could feel how the woman held a dagger and a lantern in her hands. It was Varsha.


    "What in the devil''s ballsack fucking happened here!?" said Varsha as she took in the scene before her.

 Side Story 9 - Prowling The Streets at Night

    "Criminals and other undesirables always existed in every city that had thousands of people or more in it. These unsavory types tend to band together, as only then would they be able to amount to more.


    In most cases, the cities allowed them to exist, as long as they did not cross some pre-established lines. Often this also included generous bribes to many officials involved, as corruption was not an uncommon failing.


    Generally, the more oppressive the country, the more criminals were present, as most were those who were unhappy with their lot in life, or those forced to turn to crime because they simply had no other option.


    Because of that, it was of no surprise that the major cities in the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz were known to have rampant criminal activities and entire underworlds where many criminals formed gangs and fought each other for power.


    After all, those who found themselves on the bad side of the state religion for any reason would have no other recourse but to turn to crime." - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 662 FP.


    The blind girl had fidgeted with nervousness as she sat on a chair, nursing a cup of warm milk in her hands. She was inside Varsha''s private room, which had an actual door. The door was shut and locked, and she would not be able to get out unless allowed to by Varsha.


    She couldn''t help it and replayed the events of the past few minutes - it had felt like hours - in her mind. She had been petrified with surprise at being discovered when Varsha barged into the room, but to her surprise, after her initial surprised outburst, the old woman signaled her to remain silent instead.


    The girl had just stood in silence as Varsha pried out her knife from her grasp. Then she sensed how the old woman pulled out a strange, curved dagger from the back of her dress, and stabbed it through the wound on Proust''s neck. The dagger enlarged the wound, as if it was what caused them in the first place.


    Then the girl had followed when Varsha had whispered to follow her quietly. She felt how the old woman had walked to the kitchen and washed the girl''s hands - she had gotten some blood on them when she pulled her knife out - until they were clean.


    When the old woman washed the knife she had used and nonchalantly placed it back into the knife rack, the girl was somewhat surprised. The old woman then poured some milk in a pan, warmed it, and poured it into a mug.


    She had given the mug to the girl and told her to follow, so the girl did just that.


    "Now then, Reed," said Varsha. Reed was a nickname the blind girl got because one of the boys with a lisp could not pronounce the name her mother gave her correctly, and it had since stuck. "I can pretty much tell what happened on my own. I just want to ask you why? And more importantly¡­ How?"


    "I had long wanted to end that sick son of a bitch myself, but never mustered my courage to¡­ kill again¡­" admitted the old woman with a sigh. "I guess that''s one thing you got me beat at, girl."


    "I didn''t want him to lay his hands on


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    "And just how might a blind girl like you do that?" asked Varsha pointedly with an accusative tone. "Spare me the excuse of you being familiar with the place. We both know you''ve never stepped foot in that room until tonight."


    The girl - Reed - thought about her predicament for a moment. She considered lying to Varsha''s face for a moment, but her gut feeling told her that would be a very bad idea for some reason. Reed had learnt to trust her gut feeling.


    Besides, Varsha had caught her in the act - quite literally at that - and instead of the expected reaction, the woman had helped her cover up what she had done. That alone was more than she had ever expected. It was also the main drive behind her decision to come clean to the old woman.


    "I awakened my magic¡­ four years ago," admitted Reed with a quiet voice. It was still the dead of the night, and while they were in Varsha''s room, she spoke quietly out of habit. "I can feel what''s around me with it. That''s how I did it."


    "Huh. You''ve sure kept it hidden real fucking well. Didn''t notice a damn thing," admitted Varsha with a surprised tone. She then peered closer to Reed, the girl somehow feeling as if the old woman was peering into her, a feeling that gave her the creeps. "What else can you do with it?"


    "Not much," the girl admitted. "I can move the wind around me, but it''s not that strong. It wouldn''t hold a child like me, much less adults. I mostly use it to breathe right."


    "Right¡­ old Thora did mention you had a wound in the lung back then," said the old woman in reminescence. She then looked back at the girl, and fell into silence as she seemed to have thought of something, then struggle with herself. The girl was uncertain. She only felt how the old woman''s face seemed to twitch repeatedly.


    In the end, the woman seemed to have come to a decision. She sighed loudly, and covered her face with one hand, before she looked at the girl once more. This time, her eyes glowed with determination.


    "Tell me honestly, Reed. Do you feel anything after you killed Proust?" asked the old woman. Something about her voice sounded almost like someone begging desperately, for what Reed doesn''t know. "Anything at all?"


    "Don''t think so," said the girl as she shook her head. Then she fell into thought for a moment, before she added some of her thoughts to clarify what she meant. "If I have to describe what it felt¡­ it was like I just squished a really smelly bug?"


    "I guessed as much¡­" said Varsha with an exasperated, despairing sigh. The way she said it make it sound as if she was mourning, yet Reed had not understood why. "You''re staying with me tomorrow. With Proust gone they''d likely let me handle things here, and it wouldn''t look out of place for me to keep a kid or two to help do the chores."


    "All right?" said Reed, uncertain on what the old woman was going for.


    ******************************


    Things progressed as Varsha had predicted the following day. There was a ruckus when Proust''s corpse was discovered, and more adults who smelled bad came over. They said something about assassins in a panicky tone which Reed didn''t quite catch.


    After that day, Reed no longer had to spend her day and night outside, begging for alms regardless of sun or rain. Varsha had kept her around as she said. Supposedly to help her do chores.


    What nobody else knew was that during those hours when it was just the two of them in the house, Varsha had subjected Reed into gruelling training. The old woman had quickly latched onto the girl''s logic that she needed to be stronger to have a say in her life, and that motivation carried her through the gruelling training.


    For some unknown reason, Varsha seemed very experienced with such training. She put Reed through grueling trials that left her feeling as if she had just been trampled by a stampede, yet the girl felt how she improved slowly but surely.


    Other than physical conditioning, Varsha also taught the girl other things. Namely which parts of a person''s body were lethal to stab, and many other ways to end a person. It was then that Reed realized that the old woman was highly experienced with such things, completely at odds with how she had thought her to just be a matron who was all talk but had not dared to take action.


    They lived that way quietly, until two years later, the visibly grown Reed, now twelve, met Varsha again in her room at the dead of night. There Varsha gave the girl a belt, which held a pair of short swords with daggers in place of a pommel, sheathed in leather scabbards.


    "Take these with you. They''re a bit old but they ought to cut better than the kitchen knife you used last time," said the old woman with pride evident in her voice. Reed took the belt and clasped it around her slim waist, the blades on either side of her hip. "They''re the last pair I used when I was still active. Don''t be afraid of breaking them. We''ll just get you new ones. You know the target for tonight, yes?"


    "Yes¡­ Varsha," replied Reed. The old woman had told her to just call her by name when they were in private, so she did just that. What she was about to do that night was a test from her. She was to go out to another place similar to theirs, and kill a man there, before planting a dagger Varsha had prepared on his body.


    Reed had not asked the reason. It was irrelevant to her. She was unsure whether she was up to the task, yet at the same time eager to prove herself, and to know how far she had come after the last two years of training.


    And thus the girl left through the shutter, and prowled into the dark, moonless night.

 Side Story 10 - A Reaper Without Sight

    "When criminals clash against one another, it is almost always a bloody, yet clandestine affair. They could not afford the attention of the officials on them, and thus rarely resorted to open violence.


    Gang wars do still happen, typically amongst smaller groups, and in areas the officials did not care about. The larger, more organized criminal organizations however, often relied more on assassinations and quiet killings.


    Remove the head of the snake, and devour the body, was how most such groups operated. More often than not, unless there was severe bad blood between groups, most of an opposing organization''s members would be assimilated after the higher-ups are removed.


    Of course, those who proved suspect were often removed as well, rather than be given a chance. After all, criminals do not play nice with each other." - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 662 FP.


    The three years that followed were turbulent years for the underworld in the city of Zefirous. High-ranked people from criminal organizations would be found dead, and an investigation often pointed towards their enemies as the culprit.


    Such things were not uncommon, but the frequency with which they happened in those three years were unnatural. The cases had started with small fries, people in charge of a group found dead. Most thought they were killed by their rivals in opposing groups, which was not unexpected.


    Then it escalated. Within a year one of the lords of the smaller organizations was found dead, and his criminal empire crumbled as his underlings gobbled up parts of it for themselves. Nobody had suspected an old woman who had taken over the division that handled the child beggars or her blind helper.


    A string of sudden deaths continued, and before the others realized, that same old woman had taken over nearly a quarter of the city''s underworld. A bonafide rival for the remaining crime lords. Even so, they noticed that the assassinations also struck her men along with theirs, and had thought her merely an opportunist who took the opportunity to rise.


    The remaining crime lords - the ascendant old woman included - had gathered and discussed the situation they faced. They worried that it was the nobles and officials who were behind the killings, which seemed mostly indiscriminate, and that it might be a ploy to remove them from the city.


    Guards were doubled, and the crime lords never left their safehouses without considerable escort, yet the assassinations continued on. Slowly, however, two of the crime lords found a pattern, one that suggested that it was the third crime lord that had played them instead.


    They had contacted the old woman and together their three organizations wiped out the offending crime lord''s. Yet at the cusp of victory, when the old woman had already retreated after her people bore the brunt of the charge, an assassin took the life of one of the remaining crime lords.


    His people heard his screams, and walked in to find the other crime lord looking flabbergasted with a bloody dagger in his hand. Their emotions already riled from the prior fighting, those men lynched the last crime lord on the spot.


    Quite naturally, that crime lord''s subordinates were in turn enraged at the perceived betrayal. The two organizations went to open war with each other, to the point that the city guards had to cull them down.


    After the dust settled, the old woman named Varsha took in the remnants of the destroyed criminal organizations, and reigned as the sole queen of the city''s underworld. She quickly greased palms left and right and gave assurances that such open fighting would not happen again, and was thus left alone by the guards.


    That summer night, the new queen of the Zefirous underworld sat in her room, on the topmost floor of a five-story building that was the best brothel in the seedier parts of town. Reed, now fifteen, stood across from her, sipping a cup of warm milk like that night she killed for the first time five years ago.


    "Take this," said Varsha as she tossed a ring to the blind girl. The girl snatched the ring from the air with ease regardless, and quickly looked into it. It turned out to be a storage ring, a typical one the size of a rucksack. Inside was a good amount of money, rations, clothes, weapons, and most conspicuously, a tag on a chain.


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    "What is this?" asked the girl as she brought out the tag and showed it to the old woman.


    "It''s a tag from the adventurer''s guild. Valid as identification most everywhere but here," explained Varsha with a pleased voice. "It''s not a counterfeit. Took some doing to get one, but it''d legitimately registered, under your new name."


    "New name?" she asked again, with obvious confusion.


    "The name your mother gave you was¡­ too characteristic of this place. It might hinder you abroad. Besides, I doubt you''d want to keep going by Reed all the time, no?" elaborated the old woman. "Inside are rations and gear you''d need to get your skinny ass out of this shithole of a country. I remembered all those times you muttered about how you hate this place."


    "There''s a big world out there, girl. You''re a free woman. Go out there and carve your own path," added Varsha. "Consider it as payment for all the dirty shit you''ve been doing for me these past years if you like."


    Reed had been the very person behind the assassinations of the past three years. At first, she had abused her appearance, and pretended to be a harmless, blind girl who was lost, before she went for the kill.


    Later on, she grew bolder. She had quickly learned that most people were troubled greatly by the darkness. For her, however, darkness had been her world to begin with, as the way in which she sensed her surroundings had not relied on light.


    She quickly made a habit of striking in the dark of night, and extinguishing torches and lanterns where she could. In the darkness, she was a predator, and they were the prey. As such, their lives were hers for the reaping.


    While Varsha had never treated her badly over those years, she had still felt that something was off. The old woman was too good on her, showing consideration and kindness that she should not have to a mere tool of hers.


    Reed had wondered why, and finally voiced the question that had bothered her all these years.


    "Why?" she had asked. "Why are you so kind to me? I had honestly expected that you would have disposed of me now that my job is finished¡­ not this."


    "Sit down, child, and let this old woman tell you a story," said Varsha as she stuffed a smoking pipe with dried herbs and lit it. Reed did as she was told, pulled a chair, and sat down as she sipped the warm milk.


    "Many years ago, there was a woman. An old assassin, who had grown tired of such a life. She had faked her death, moved to another town under a new identity, and tried to start a normal life anew," said Varsha, with some mockery in her voice. "She had even found a man she cared for, and had a child together with him. A pretty little girl, more precious to her than anything else in the world."


    "And yet those happy times had not lasted long. When their daughter was five, her husband was conscripted for war, and he never returned. Even so, she raised her dear daughter as best she could. Even tried to get her better work, where she could enjoy a better life," she continued, now with some evident sorrow in her voice. "That also backfired on her. Her daughter was employed by the Count of the great city of the West, yet a mere year after, she came back home, disgraced and heavy with child."


    "Even so, she welcomed her daughter back, hid her in the poorer part of town, but made sure that she would be undisturbed there. When the child was born, she would visit from time to time, but mostly contented herself with looking from afar," lamented the old woman some more as her voice slowly built up into a crescendo. "But even then, that was not enough."


    "The bastard whoreson noble trash who had gotten her daughter pregnant had traced her into town, and on a day when the old assassin happened to be away, killed the daughter. They hurt the daughter''s child too, which the old assassin was surprised to find delivered to her by a neighbor of her daughter''s," added Varsha, hatred evident when she spoke of the noble, though her voice softened by the end. "You probably understand why now, do you not¡­ Frida?"


    When Reed heard the name, the very name her mother had given her, she almost choked on her milk. Yet her surprised mind quickly put the facts together even so.


    "So you''re¡­ my grandmother?" she asked with a surprised voice.


    "Just call me by my name. I don''t deserve to be called a grandmother," scoffed the old woman. "I turned and used my own grandchild as an assassin, all because I didn''t have it in me to take up the blade again myself."


    "Even so¡­" the blind girl said. "You gave me strength. Strength to carve my own path in this cruel world¡­ as well as a way to get out of it. Tell me honestly¡­ Varsha¡­ why did you raise yourself into the ruler of the underworld these past years?"


    "It''s hard to get stuff like that tag unless I go that far," admitted the old woman with a smile. "It''s the least I can do¡­ for my granddaughter. Let me be a doting grandmother for once."


    "Thank you¡­ for everything¡­ grandma," said the girl as she embraced the old woman. They remained like that for a few moments, before they separated again at last.


    "Oh right. You mentioned that you registered me under a new name. How do you say it? I can''t exactly read what''s on the tag," asked the girl after they parted. While her magical senses allowed her to feel things down to the details, it was pretty much useless for reading.


    "Elfriede," replied Varsha. "It''s a variation of the name your mother gave you in the dwarven lands to the south. It''s also common enough to not be out of place elsewhere."


    "Elfriede, huh?" said the girl as she pronounced the name. She noticed how it sounded rather similar to her nickname. She thought it fitted. She was no longer the naive, helpless child who depended on her mother, nor the dispenser of death for the queen of the underworld. A new name¡­ for a new life.


    ******************************


    Getting out of the Holy Kingdom was easier than she had thought. The guards by the border kept an eye for healthy adults, but she had pretended to be a lost, helpless blind girl. The way she stooped and showed obvious difficulty finding her way made them ignore her.


    A blind girl getting lost in the jungle and never returning was not something they would have thought of as strange, so she did just that. The jungle itself was a bit of a challenge, but she walked out from it, in the neighboring Kingdom to the west, after some struggle.


    There was no sign of the frail-looking, stooped, blind girl who tapped the ground with her stick and tried to feel her way ahead in lands she did not know. She emerged from the forest with her back straight, radiating confidence in herself, and walked with large steps towards the nearest town.


    Towards a new life.

 Chapter 40 - Zefirous, the Bastion of the South

    "No such thing as no risk, high rewards. More often than not the best paying jobs are the riskiest ones." - Sandra Eschery, retired veteran mercenary.


    "That¡­ is quite an interesting background to have, Mrs. Edelstein," said the Crown Prince politely. Reinhardt knew some bits of Elfriede''s story disturbed the young dwarf, but he was too polite and in control of his emotions to show it.


    "For what it''s worth, Your Highness, this is the first time *I* heard of this story as well," admitted Reinhardt plainly. Many mercenaries disliked speaking of their past, and Elfriede was one of those. On his part, he never really pushed to ask either. "I will vouch for her integrity nonetheless."


    "Noted," said the Crown Prince as he seemed to ruminate on the possibilities for a moment. Then he seemed to have made his decision, and lifted his face. His eyes looked straight towards Elfriede. "Mrs. Edelstein, I will not fault you for keeping your past secret. That said, I must inquire. I assume your contact in Zefirous is this lady Varsha, your¡­ grandmother, is that correct?"


    "That is so," replied Elfriede with a nod. She had not seemed the slightest bit nervous to converse directly with the Crown Prince like that. "I have reason to believe she is likely still in control of the underworld in Zefirous. Suffice to say¡­ there is little love for the church or the nobles amongst them."


    "And what, in your opinion, can we as the invaders offer for them to risk their lives to help us get into the city?" asked the Crown Prince bluntly. "Because while my men are competent, I doubt they could sneak into a city full of humans, which meant whatever action taken would be done by those already inside, along with all the risks."


    "A full pardon for their previous crimes, and giving them the chance to live legitimately would win many over," said Elfriede in reply, equally bluntly. "Those who turned to crime were mostly forced to do so by the circumstances, often by their birth even. Most of them would not turn down a chance for a better life."


    "And for the unrepentant ones who revel in all the crime and violence?"


    "Varsha keeps things running a lot tighter than most. The worst of those sort, we''ve long gotten rid of," she replied, her tone nonchalant despite talking about what Reinhardt knew involved killing people. "We do not tolerate sick bastards in our midst, that was one thing Varsha never budged on."


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    "An admirable stand to make," accepted the Crown Prince after some deliberation. "I will extend some trust to you on behalf of your husband and your company''s service and sacrifices to us. Do you believe an offer to co-govern the city after we took it on top of the pardon would be attractive to madam Varsha?"


    "Co-govern?"


    "We will have to have some of our own administrators to watch over things as well, as is standard for conquered territories," explained the Crown Prince patiently. "Should she prove suitable, we will instate her in a more official and permanent position after a few years."


    "That is an extremely generous offer¡­ Your Highness," said Elfriede with some creeping doubt in her voice. "Pardon me if I overstep, but why the generosity?"


    "There are times a ruler needed to be ruthless, and times for them to be benevolent. So I have learned all my life," said the Crown Prince, sounding almost relieved to be asked the question. "We never had a grudge against the common people of the Holy Kingdom, just their leaders, which unfortunately does hold sway strongly here."


    "It honestly pained me to see all the deaths in Fort Ascher¡­ both ours and theirs. It would take generations for this region to recover from all those losses, even with immigrants from home," admitted the young dwarf, now looking more his age and burdened by the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. "If possible, I wish to avoid a repeat of that in Zefirous. If there were already underlying sentiments against the Holy Kingdom, it would be foolish not to support it. And besides¡­ placing a local to govern would be viewed more kindly by the locals than having one of our own as governor, would it not?"


    "Quite a few would spit on her as a traitor, especially the older, better off people, but I''d say the move would net you the sentiment of most of the poor in town," admitted Elfriede in turn. "And besides, Varsha knows how to deal with people spitting on her anyway. They already do that all the time."


    "Understood. You have made a reasonably convincing case," said the Crown Prince with a gesture to dismiss the meeting. "By the time we reach Zefirous I will have a formal offer prepared for you to bring, complete with my signature as guarantee."


    ******************************


    Four days after the conquest of Fort Prydwen, the dwarven army reached Zefirous. The Bastion of the South had earned its nickname well. The city was well defended.


    Its walls were not quite as tall as Fort Prydwen''s, merely six meters from ground level, but the four-meter wide moat all around the city made it that much harder to scale. The moat itself was at least twice as deep as it was wide, and the only way into the city was through the gates.


    All the drawbridges had been pulled up, however, as they lined up against the wall like a door. Atop the walls many guards in the Holy Kingdom''s colors stood and watched the dwarven army as they circled the city from three sides, at a distance beyond an arrow''s reach.


    The west side of the city bordered a large, deep lake, the largest in the Holy Kingdom. A port was built outside the walls, on a small peninsula that jutted out into the lake. It was cut off from land by the wall, and was completely surrounded by the lake itself.


    What caught the besieging dwarves'' attention was the presence of around a dozen ships that looked to be military transport ships, docked on the port, and proudly flying a flag that bore the heraldry of the Noble family that ruled the western city of Norouz.

 Chapter 41 - Taking a Plunge

    "Where organized crime exists, so would smuggling. The activity of bringing contraband material through discreet channels had always been a staple of the criminal underworld. Quite often, the main clientele for these smuggled goods were those high up in society, which further provided them with blackmail material and a veneer of security for their operations.


    After all, drug addictions are always troublesome things to handle, be one rich or poor." - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 661 FP.


    "You sure you got enough for this?" Reinhardt asked worriedly as he saw off the small group that had gathered by the bank of the lake. They were far away from Zefirous, and it was dark at night, such that even a keen-eyed watcher with spyglasses would not be able to notice them there.


    "It''s best to go with less this time," replied Elfriede as she made some final checks on her clothes and equipment. Her weapons were sheathed on either side of her waist, and she had tied her hair into a bun and tucked it behind her head. "Loren can only handle five of us at a time, and besides, we need people who could at least pass off as fully human to not attract unwanted attention in the city."


    Together with Elfriede, four other members of the Free Lances were gathered. Her old friends Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia were present for the mission. Neither of them were fully human - Salicia had some faint elven ancestry and Gr¨¹nhildr had a lot of orcish and dwarven blood - but both women could pass easily enough for full blooded humans without close inspection.


    Also present was Nicole, who would be their designated runner and messenger. When Elfriede sent messages back out, it would be her who received the task to return to camp. Loren rounded out the group. The young water mage chosen for his affinity, and more importantly, how he could allow up to five of them to breathe underwater for a limited time with it.


    "I know¡­" said Reinhardt, somewhat deflated that his wife would be infiltrating the enemy base, a highly risky proposition to say the least, while he could do nothing to help. "Just¡­ promise me you''ll be careful."


    "I will," stated Elfriede simply with a reassuring nod. "If all goes well, I''ll be seeing you again within the city. Take care of Ery till then."


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    With those words, Elfriede turned and gathered with the rest. Loren cast his magic over the five of them, its effects supposedly allowing them to breathe in the water for the next couple of hours, and one by one, they plunged into the lake.


    Loren was at the lead of their group as they swam in the darkness, using his magic to help make their path smoother. Elfriede had passed him the route, and told him of the markings to look out for, so it fell to him to lead the rest.


    She herself had trained to be able to navigate in the water, through sound and by using her magic to forcefully create bubbles of air which she used to detect things close to her. She never really liked being in the water though, as it made her feel insecure to have her senses limited so.


    The five of them swam near the bottom of the lake, and in the darkness, they were pretty much invisible to those above the lake. It took them a good hour to cover the distance until they finally reached the rock formation on which the city was built, and Loren carefully searched around until he finally found what he was looking for.


    An underwater cavern, in the deepest section of the lake, with clearly man-made markings etched deep into the stones by its opening. The smuggler''s route into the city proper, and now, their group''s route as well.


    It was a narrow cavern, to the point that they had to swim in single file to pass through it. Elfriede swapped with Loren and took the lead, in case they emerged into a situation where they would need to fight, and led the way as they all swam inside.


    The cavern was quite irregular in contour, and had a slight upwards slope. The group followed it until they finally reached an underground lake somewhere beneath the city half an hour later. Elfriede carefully and silently emerged from the water, as she flared her magical senses to watch their surroundings, but found nobody in the vicinity.


    At least they had not had the misfortune to stumble upon a smuggler bringing in their goods then. One by one, the others emerged from the waters behind her, and stepped into the dry ground. Nicole took a good look at their surroundings as well before she signaled the all clear.


    Then the five of them dried themselves and changed into dry clothes from their storages. Keeping the wet clothes on was not an option. The pitter-patter of the dripping water was a potential giveaway in their situation.


    Once dried properly, the five of them advanced from the shores of the underground lake, towards a nearby cavern. This one was more obviously manmade, the stone roughly tunneled through, with supports of wood placed against the wall here and there.


    Elfriede was in familiar grounds at that point, the undercity of Zefirous being a place she had known like the back of her hand in the past. Even now, ten years later, she still remembered her way, and took the group through the twists and turns of the tunnels.


    Some of the paths they had not taken led to dead ends and traps, as the criminal organizations had made the tunnels into a maze to keep smugglers who took that route from going to other dealers. Elfriede knew every bend of the tunnel by heart, though, and easily led the group through the correct path.


    As they neared the end of the tunnel, faint sounds of conversation carried over, and Elfriede gave several hand signals to the group, for them to follow her lead. They were there to talk, so she had gestured for them not to kill, just to intimidate.


    Then they gathered up by the last corner, and struck together at her signal.

 Chapter 42 - A Palpitating Return

    "When I was younger, there was an urban legend in Zefirous, of the reaper who prowled the darkest nights, a beast without sight whose fangs were the only greeting any unfortunate enough to meet it would receive.


    That legend mostly proliferated in the poorer areas of town at first, but over the years it had become so prevalent that parents used it to scare their children when they refused to go to bed. It was that widespread amongst the townspeople.


    The few of us who knew of the truth about the legend always had a hard time holding our laughter each time we heard someone else mention it." - Annelise Creussens, Governor of Zefirous, circa 41 FP.


    It was a boring night, thought Karenina as she lifted her water bag and took a quick gulp of the cheap, watery ale inside it. For all that the city was supposedly under siege, life for her and her ilk had gone on mostly unchanged. The nobles had conscripted many of the poorer folk, but stayed their hand away from the criminals.


    They had not trusted them.


    Nor should they, thought the young woman as she absentmindedly flicked a knife into the air and caught it on its way down. There was no love lost between the denizens of the city''s thriving underworld and the government, only a mutual tolerance that was brought about by circumstances more than anything.


    Karenina herself knew she would be all too happy to stab one of those pompous noble types in the gut if she were given the chance to do so. Probably why she drew her current assignment to guard the path leading to the smuggler''s cave down in the sewers. With tensions running high Varsha probably didn''t want to risk the hotheads causing an accident.


    Which was why most of them were in the sewers, bored out of their minds and nursing their limited supply of ale. The smuggler''s cave was a path nobody except their organization or the smugglers they cooperated with knew of, and Karenina doubted any of them would be coming with the city under siege and all.


    The ten of them, all thugs and cutthroats of the worst kind the city has to offer, were sitting around a small bonfire, on crates and broken barrels and other such trash. It was their fortune that the smuggler''s cave was underneath one of the sparsely occupied sections of the city, so it had not stunk too badly even in the sewers.


    "Bloody hell," cursed Cassie, the short-haired girl who was probably the closest thing to a friend Karenina had. The two of them were the same age, and had even shared the same background. Orphans picked up and made into child beggars, violated by their asshole of an overseer when they were young, and working with Varsha, who had taken them under her wing, after said asshole was found dead with a dagger in his throat one day. "I''m all outta booze! Somebody fucking share me some booze!"


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    "God-King''s hairy armpit, Cass," lamented Arne, Cassie''s on-again off-again boyfriend, who was laughing as he twirled his thin mustache out of habit. He was one of Varsha''s early subordinates, four years older than both girls, and had joined Varsha after she took down the organization she was part of and put it beneath her heels. "I swear you gotta have a second stomach for booze or something. You''ve been drinking way more than any of us, girl."


    His needling was understandable, since he was almost twice Cassie''s size, yet at the same time, the slim, small girl always ate and drank more than he ever could, as if her stomach was a bottomless pit.


    Both Cassie and Karenina had worked under Varsha as her blades in the dark. Their job was often to get close to their target undetected, then leave them with either a weeping smile on their throats, or a knife under the ribs. The two of them were some of Varsha''s most trusted people, all of whom were children who had once grown up under her care, but they were also trouble magnets and prone to violence at the drop of a hat.


    "Just pass me yer boozebag or fuck me or something you nitwit," said Cassie with an exasperated sigh. All of them were bored out of their minds, which was to be expected. "It''s so bloody fucking boring to be doing jack shit nothing down here."


    "No fucking on the job," interjected Karenina with a giggle from the side. The way Cassie and her boyfriend bickered was old hat to her by then. At least it brought some amusement to help them tide over the boredom.


    They were all busy chuckling and amusing themselves over the couple''s antics that none of them detected the intruders until it was too late. Karenina thought that if Varsha had witnessed their bungling that night, she would have their hides.


    Before any of them could react, strong, slender hands pulled Karenina down from her seat and into the stone below. A group of cloaked strangers - just three, really - charged out from the smuggler''s cave, and the next thing they knew, another of the cloaked strangers had Ryan''s neck pressed against a wicked curved blade, while the third had a pair of axes hovering a hair''s width away from Cassie and Arne''s faces. The edges of those axes seemed to be coated in night itself, an eerie look that made neither of the threatened figures dare to move even the slightest bit.


    The first thought that went through Karenina''s head was that this wasn''t supposed to happen. They had a multitude of traps and tripwires installed in the maze between where they were and the underground lake where they usually met the smugglers. Strangers shouldn''t be able to navigate that without tripping at least some of them.


    Her next thought was that she was screwed, as a razor-sharp blade was pointed directly at her throat, a mere hair''s width away, while the cloaked figure rested a second blade at Lucien''s throat with their other hand.


    "Nobody move!" she heard one of the strangers, a woman, bark out in some surprisingly flawless Holy Kingdom tongue. She also saw how Vash tried to grab his crossbow, but was brought to a halt by an arrow that pierced the stone wall just in front of his eyes.


    They had more people in the tunnels, Karenina thought, as the woman repeated her warning in a tone that promised death to those who refused to listen. For some reason however, Karenina thought the voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn''t place where she had heard it before.


    From her position, sprawled on the ground and kept there by the blade just over her throat, she could not see the cloaked woman''s features, as her cloak had hidden a good part of her face from sight. However, what the woman said next jogged her memory of the past, and she finally realized where she had heard the voice before.


    "Wait¡­ Nina? What are you doing here?" asked the cloaked woman with some incredulity in her voice. She then turned her face towards Karenina - though noticeably not looking at her - and withdrew her blade as she lowered the cowl of her cloak, revealing a mess of straw-blond hair.


    The way the woman stared into nothingness, that shade of hair, and the way she called her - only Karenina''s closest friends called her Nina, most calling her Karen or Rennie instead, and Karenina only had few of those - all merged into a figure she had not seen for a decade, yet was still recognizable to her even so.


    "Reed?" she asked with some trepidation in her voice. "Is that you?"

 Chapter 43 - A Reunion in the Sewers

    "Can''t say life here is pleasant, honestly. Sure, all them highborn jackasses and them priests keeps sayin'' that we should be happy with our lot in life, that all will be rewarded by the godking''s hairy arse in the afterlife and all such dogshit.


    Maybe they be foolin'' some countryside hicks who ain''t knowin'' any better. Not us city folk. We live here wonderin'' what we might get to eat, if anythin'' at all tomorrow, while all the noble pigs and priests be eatin'' good right above our heads.


    And they wonder why we''d oh so happily shank em in the butthole if one of them idiots ever stroll over to our place without their fancy guard boys." - Zyd Creussens, thug and muscleman from the Zefirous underworld, circa 1 FP.


    Elfriede couldn''t help but remember her former life right in that very city, when the woman beneath her called her with her old nickname. Even after a decade, she still recognized her old friend. The contours of her face had not changed that much in her senses, maybe somewhat harder, with a couple of scars that were not there the last time she saw Nina.


    But it was without a doubt Nina. The older girl who had always been nice to her even when she was still pretending to be a blind, helpless girl in her childhood. None of the soft kindness in her childhood friend''s face remained, proof of the harsh life she had been through. That they had all been through.


    Elfriede knew that Varsha had taken Nina and some others from the batch of children she was part of and groomed them into her trusted enforcers. Some like Annelise - a young, timid girl who had been treated like a little sister by most everyone - were taught and trained for administrative work.


    Others were trained to be enforcers and killers, intimidating thugs in the light and blades hidden in the dark. Elfriede knew Nina had been trained to be one such hidden blade, but nobody except Varsha knew about her being Varsha''s best assassin.


    "All right. Stay calm, all of you. Don''t make too much noise, and nobody needs to get hurt," said Elfriede calmly, using the Holy Kingdom''s tongue. The thugs stilled and watched the situation with bated breath, though some looked far more nervous than others, namely the ones still with blades poised over them.


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    "Give them some space, Gr¨¹n, Nicole," she added in common, at which point both Gr¨¹nhildr and Nicole withdrew their weapons from the faces and throats they were poised against. Elfriede herself did the same with her other blade. None of them sheathed their weapons, though.


    "Okay, you can get up," said Elfriede to Nina, who was still sprawled on the ground beneath her. "Please don''t make any funny moves though¡­ you''re one of the few I considered a friend in this shithole. I''d hate to have to kill you¡­ but I will if I have to."


    Nina rose from the ground slowly, carefully, as she made sure to have her hands out in the open while she got up. A gesture of capitulation amongst the thugs in town, showing that they were unarmed and harmless.


    Elfriede nodded as Nina rose to her full height and gestured for the woman to stay close to the wall, which Nina obeyed quickly. Then she turned to face her old friend before she said her next words, back in the local tongue. "Sorry about that. Didn''t realize it was you until just now¡­ Either way your being here is fortunate. I assume Varsha still has the underworld securely in her grasp?"


    "She does," replied Nina quietly. Nina eyed her old friend all that while, and found that while she definitely looked mostly the same, if more toned and severe, her demeanor was nothing like the quiet, timid blind girl Varsha usually kept around as an errand girl about her. "You¡­ have changed a lot, Reed. We thought you were gone after you disappeared back then."


    "You just never saw the real me," replied Elfriede with a slight sigh. Back when she left Varsha had framed her leaving as a "disappearance", which was nothing uncommon in the underworld. "The reaper had stopped killing shortly before I was gone. I guess nobody put two and two together there."


    "Huh? But Varsha said the reaper died from their injuries after that final assassination-" Elfriede could almost hear the click as the gears latched on to one another and Nina put the matters to a conclusion. "You were the reaper all along!?"


    "When Varsha took you, Jess, and the others for training, I was already out and about, killing people," replied Elfriede with a nod. "It was the perfect cover honestly. Nobody ever suspects the quiet, timid, blind errand girl."


    "But how?" asked Nina with obvious incredulity in her voice.


    "Same way she got the jump on us?" chimed in Arne from the side, still sweating and looking afraid of the axes in Gr¨¹nhildr''s hands. "Got to admit it, Rennie, she got us good just now. We''d all be dead if she wanted us dead."


    "Anyway, we''ll have time to talk later," said Elfriede as she cut into their discussion. "Varsha still using the same old hangout? Or has she moved since?"


    "She''s still in our old place¡­ why?" asked Nina with obvious trepidation in her voice. "Please tell me you aren''t planning to harm her."


    "No such thing," assured Elfriede to her old friend, at which some tension left Nina''s shoulders. "I came bearing an offer for her. An offer that might change this city for the better, once and for all."


    "In the meantime, please stay here and remain quiet for the time being. My partners will watch over you, but you won''t be harmed unless you force them to do so," she continued. "Gr¨¹n, Sal, Nicole, keep an eye on them. Share them some of the nice booze and jerky while you all wait here. Hopefully I won''t be gone for long."

 Chapter 44 - A Foundation built on Inequality

    "In the name of our mighty God-King,


    Who hath graced this world with his presence,


    May his will be done, his vision be the future,


    May all be content with their lot in life,


    As they all worked to realize his visions,


    The ungrateful shall be chastised, the unbelieving be purged,


    Yet the God-King shall claim and purify their sinful souls,


    So that they may start life anew in his everlasting mercy." - Seventhday prayer in the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz.


    The sewers beneath Zefirous was a path well traveled to say the least, as the unsavory criminal elements of the city often made use of them to travel unseen. The revolting stench was a small price to pay for the unhindered passage.


    Zefirous itself was a city segregated strictly by social class and wealth. In the center of the city were grand buildings and idyllic parks, mansions belonging to the various minor landed nobles and the richest businessmen, as well as the churches of the God-King.


    The Count''s own citadel was built in the very center of the noble district, and those who wished to visit his opulent mansion were forced to pass through the strictly guarded gates. As a concession to the God-King, the largest of the city''s nine churches, a grand cathedral, was also built within the citadel''s walls. That cathedral was exclusively for the use of inhabitants of the noble districts, while the other eight on the outskirts of the district served the rest of the city.


    Like spokes radiating from the hub of a wheel, the eight main roads of the city and the region surrounding it were the merchant''s district, where many merchants opened shops, based their businesses, or peddled their wares.


    Naturally, many establishments like taverns, inns, eateries, and brothels targeting these merchants were also opened in these areas. The highest class of these establishments even boasted of having inhabitants from the noble district as their patrons.


    The regions surrounding the roads had more such establishments, aimed towards poorer clientele, and housing for the city''s middle class. They were working men and women who made enough to afford a comfortable, if not opulent life.


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    Between these spokes, were the slums, where the poor and the criminal eked out a living for themselves. These areas easily accounted for nearly three quarters of the city''s inhabitants. The riches of the city were often built upon their downtrodden backs.


    For many that lived in these areas, food for the next day was their main concern. It was not an uncommon sight to see poor children begging in the outskirts of the merchant''s district, or to rummage through the trash there in search of edibles.


    Most visitors to the city never saw these people. They were forbidden to traverse deeper into the merchant''s district, much less the noble district, on the pain of death. People caught breaking those rules were usually summarily executed on the spot by guards.


    It was no real surprise that many of the poor turned to crime, and that the criminal organization in control of the city''s underworld thrived.


    After some twists and turns in the sewers, Elfriede came out through an open grate by the roadside in the quiet, sparsely populated southwest region of the town. From there to Varsha''s old hangout on the eastern side was quite a long trek, through many areas forbidden for people of the slums.


    Of course, Elfriede knew the best routes over the rooftops, that also left her hidden out of sight - not that it mattered much, since the local guards never looked up - along the way. The putrid stench in the slums - not much better than the sewers, really - soon gave way to the cleaner air in the merchant district as she ran and leapt across rooftops.


    The hardest part was honestly crossing the main roads, which was quite a gap. Fortunately the nightly patrol had grown lax and undermanned - many of them likely conscripted to defend the walls - and some large trees with sturdy branches allowed Elfriede to cross unnoticed.


    From the southwestern section she crossed into the southern section, then from there she crossed further to the southeastern one. From there, Elfriede was in her home ground. Varsha''s territory before she ruled the entire underworld was in the east and southeast of the city.


    Elfriede noticed the difference right away. These areas were far more lively even late at night compared to the areas she crossed. The slums here even smelled better, still mostly of cheap ale and piss, but not as bad as the previous regions.


    Walking over the mostly unchanged rooftops, Elfriede quickly crossed the southeastern section, and moved to the eastern one where their old hangout was located. Her memory was plenty to guide her through the darkness as she moved unseen and unheard by those below.


    Before an hour had passed since she left the sewers, Elfriede was standing on the rooftop of some old multi-story housing just across from the largest tavern in the area. The tavern was where she lived under Varsha''s care after she took over the east, and she knew the place all too well.


    After she made sure with her magical senses that there was no traffic passing through the street, Elfriede took a running start, her steps silent even as she ran, and leapt across the road, landing with barely any noise on the roof of the tavern. The guards by the entrance below heard the noise, but had dismissed it as probably just another cat on the roof.


    Elfriede carefully, silently pried open the fourth shutter from the right at the top of the sloping roof, and slid into the opening, landing on the floor below with barely any noise.


    Even so, in the time between when she pried the shutter open and entered, the room''s occupant had awakened, turned the lantern on, and drew a dagger from beneath her pillow as she stared at the descending figure without fear.


    Rather than risk a misunderstanding, Elfriede immediately lowered her cowl, at which point she felt the old woman''s eyes grow wider as she stared even more. With her hands out in the open and in plain sight, Elfriede finally greeted her aging grandmother.


    "Good to see that you haven''t lost your edge after all these years¡­ Varsha."

 Chapter 45 - An Offer to Consider

    "Do I have regrets in life? Sure. Plenty of them. I regret that I couldn''t give a better life than one of blood and violence to the kids under my care. I regret that they had to dirty their innocent hands with the blood of so many assholes they would never get their hands clean ever again.


    Definitely didn''t regret marking those assholes for a painful death though. Deities know they fucking deserved worse!" - Varsha Creussens, Crime Lord of Zefirous, circa 0 FP.


    "Elfriede¡­?" asked the old woman when she finally managed to regain some hold over her surprise and emotions. Her instincts still held strong and she never placed down the dagger in her hand, though. "What in all the hells are you doing back here in town!?"


    "Long story, Varsha," said Elfriede with a smirk that was both happy and sad at the same time. She had somewhat missed Varsha, and rejoiced on meeting her again, yet also somewhat saddened by how the old woman felt more bent with age, heavy with the responsibilities she chose to shoulder for her sake.


    "You might want to read this first, would make explaining easier afterward," she added while she slowly brought out the scroll prepared by the Crown Prince and gently lobbed it to Varsha.


    Varsha caught the scroll deftly with one hand, and nimbly broke the wax seal with her fingers before she unfurled the scroll. The old woman had to pull out a corrective monocle to read, her eyes blurred due to age.


    Elfriede just waited patiently, as she seated herself on a stool near the shutter with her arms folded over her chest. Varsha read the scroll quickly, then she re-read it twice more, each time looking more agitated. Elfriede noticed how Varsha seemed to stare at the bottom of the scroll, where the Crown Prince''s signature was supposed to be, for a good while before she raised her head and looked straight at Elfriede once more.


    "This is too good to be true," muttered Varsha with obvious doubt, as well as a tinge of hope in her voice. The old woman rightfully wouldn''t trust promises so easily, as was ingrained into her by her years of running an organization of criminals. "Yet this signature is genuine, isn''t it? This is a fucking binding legal contract signed by the Crown Prince of Knallzog himself, is it not?"


    "I can''t really tell what he wrote there, but I was present when he did the signature and stamped it with his seal," said Elfriede bluntly. The Crown Prince''s aide had read the contents of the document to her, but with her being blind and naturally unable to read it for herself, she had no way of checking it. "For what it''s worth he''s been a good employer for us so far, and seems the sincere sort."


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    "Right, of course you can''t read it for yourself," said Varsha as she shook her head. The intact seal on the scroll also showed that it had not been opened between when it was sealed and when she received it. "The terms offered are beyond generous. Full pardon. Legitimacy. Authority to govern provided we pass a trial period satisfactorily."


    "Sounds about right. He did discuss those when he was talking with me," replied Elfriede with a nod. "Did he add anything else on top?"


    "Everything on the premises that we managed to render significant aid in taking over the town," answered Varsha with a widening smile. "Getting to stick some noble pigs in the arse is something I''d do when I have the chance to anyway¡­ and I doubt anyone under me would really mind turning against this shithole of a country."


    "So you agree? That was faster than I expected," admitted Elfriede. She had thought Varsha would have needed more convincing, which was why she had insisted on meeting her alone, to have a private talk. "I honestly expected that I would have to convince you for a good hour or two."


    "Maybe I''ve grown old¡­ but I trust you, child," said Varsha with a smile in turn. "If you could vouch for someone''s integrity, I think that''s enough reason for me to place my bet there as well. Besides¡­ chances like these don''t come every day."


    "We should take some time to properly hash out a plan, though," added Varsha with a more businesslike tone, all serious and contemplative now. "I have a few sources in the garrison, but we would need time to contact and use them. Ideally we should coordinate with the army outside as well, if possible."


    "We came prepared for that eventuality," replied Elfriede as she nodded once more. "If possible, I would like a reply within three days to report to my employers."


    "Three days is plenty," nodded Varsha. "We''ll have things hashed out by tomorrow night at the latest, or I''ll eat my bloody shoes. Wait¡­ you said ''we''? You didn''t come alone then?"


    "I came with some partners from my company. They''re babysitting Nina and the bunch you got with her by the smuggler''s cave," she explained. "Speaking of which, maybe I should go fetch them before they get too bored there."


    "Give me a minute. I''ll get some people to take over the watch," replied Varsha as she stood up from her bed. The old woman wrapped a nightgown around her frail body, and unlocked her door before she peeked out and yelled at the top of her voice. "Zyd! Get your bloody arse over here, you big oaf!"


    "Comin'' ma''am!" came a reply shouted from the corridor, followed by rushed, heavy footsteps approaching the room. When the footsteps halted, Elfriede heard surprisingly gentle knocks on the door to Varsha''s room.


    Even before Varsha told the man outside to come in, Elfriede had already sensed him through the wind. The man was a massive specimen, easily taller by a head compared to Reinhardt, and built as if he was carved out of a large chunk of granite. Yet despite his intimidating size and muscles Elfriede felt a softness on his features, the sort she felt more commonly in young children.


    "What can I do, ma''am?" asked the giant of a man after he entered the room. He looked somewhat surprised at Elfriede''s presence, but had not asked questions. Clearly one used to following orders without questions.


    "That is Elfriede," said Varsha as she pointed towards Elfriede. "You will take Vasco and his group and have him take over for Karenina''s group by the Smuggler''s cave. Take her with you as well. We have guests coming."


    "Understood ma''am, will do," said the man. Then he turned to Elfriede and bowed slightly, before he invited her. "Miss? Should we get goin''?"

 Chapter 46 - The Situation Inside the City

    "Plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, the fancy types would say. We just say it how we see it. Shit happens." - Leander Gavin, retired mercenary.


    Elfriede went down the stairs of the establishment together with the giant of a man. She stood by and just observed through her senses as Zyd rapped loudly on a door and called out the man named Vasco - not someone she knew, likely a newer addition to Varsha''s crew - from where he was playing cards with some others.


    Those people threw a questioning look her way, but refrained from asking further when Zyd introduced her as "Varsha''s Guest". Together the twenty of them walked out of the establishment and headed towards a nearby building Elfriede had not recalled being there when she left.


    The building was quiet at night, but through her magic-reinforced senses Elfriede could sense the presence of many softly breathing adolescents and children in the main building, many of them as young or younger than Ery.


    They skirted around the main building, and headed to what felt like a warehouse in the back. Except it was not. The warehouse was guarded by a good twenty thugs inside, who waved them through on seeing Zyd.


    Underneath the warehouse was an entrance to the sewers Elfriede had not known of. Probably one built during her absence. Zyd quietly led their group through the labyrinthine sewers and brought them to smuggler''s cove rapidly, clearly familiar with the route.


    As they approached the cave, Elfriede relaxed a bit as she heard some happy chatter through the air, accompanied by what sounded like soft snoring noises. At least her old friends and new friends had stayed peaceable while she left.


    Sure enough, she found them sitting around while playing cards in the cave. Gr¨¹nhildr had clearly passed around some of her stash of good ale, one so strong none of the others other than the dwarves in the company liked it. The cave positively reeked of it.


    "Oy, Nina, Varsha wants ye back. Vasco''s takin'' over the watch," said Zyd as he turned the corner after he rapped his cudgel against the stone in a three-four-two pattern. "Those be our other guests I take it?"


    "Yo, Zyd, nice for you to come fetch us," replied Nina as she folded her hand of cards in frustration - Salicia''s usual lack of expression proved to be a great advantage for her in games like these - and greeted the big man with an affectionate peck to his cheek. "You heard him, guys. Pack your shit up."


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    To their credit, most of the people in Nina''s group gathered up their stuff in minutes. Other than Cassie. That girl was sprawled over one of the barrels they used as seating, snoring softly and reeking strongly of alcohol.


    Not that it proved to be much of an issue, as Arne just slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes with a long-suffering sigh of resignation. Something that elicited smirks from several members of the group, and even some of Vasco''s.


    After the quick change of guards, they followed Zyd back through the same route they had taken. It took a while longer to traverse than Elfriede''s rooftop path, but was also much safer from prying eyes.


    Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr seemed to have integrated themselves well with Nina''s group, while Nicole and Loren seemed more guarded, as they were still unused to such environments. Dealing with criminal elements was nothing new for Elfriede''s former partners though, given their previous line of work.


    When they reached the establishment that served as Varsha''s headquarters once again, Zyd led them to the dining room, where Varsha had awaited them along with several other people. Elfriede recognized some, while others were new faces to her. Most of Nina''s group also dispersed when they saw the gathering, though Nina herself and surprisingly, Zyd, remained.


    "Your other friends?" asked Varsha, to which Elfriede nodded. They gathered around a long table, over which she could sense a large scroll of parchment. She naturally couldn''t tell what was on it, though Salicia whispered to her that it looked like a detailed map of the city.


    "I''ve gathered my lieutenants while you were gone and discussed it with them. We''re throwing our lot in with you over this shithole of a kingdom," stated Varsha plainly, to which Elfriede noticed that most of the rest of the gathered people gave firm nods. One of them briefed Nina and Zyd and quickly got them caught up as well. "How much do you know of the current city''s garrison?"


    "We know the troops on Fort Prydwen were withdrawn here, and also saw the ships flying the Norouz flags by the port," replied Elfriede honestly. "Adding conscripts, we expected a garrison of twenty to thirty thousand."


    "Thirteen thousand soldiers. Another two thousand town guards. Norouz sent their count''s younger brother with three thousand more. Around twelve thousand conscripted from the poor districts," elaborated a young woman, probably in her early twenties or so, from Varsha''s side. Elfriede recognized her voice as Annelise''s, a younger girl that many in their group had treated like a little sister. "Thirty thousand sounds about right. That said, the conscripts are not exactly willing¡­ and the guards are compromised. We have no ins with the soldiers though."


    "That is a problem," admitted Elfriede honestly. "Without the walls and moats, the army outside could probably handle even three times what''s gathered here. The walls and moats are a problem though."


    "Think if we can lower the drawbridge and open the gates for them it''d count as a big enough contribution for the offer?" asked one of the older men in the room after he pondered for a moment. "While we could probably make a mess amongst the conscripts and get the gates open, I don''t see us doing that much more. Definitely won''t be able to help with the citadel."


    "That would definitely fit the bill, yes," admitted Elfriede. "Do we have enough manpower to force the gates open?"


    "Not all of them," stated Varsha. "They got around five thousand of their best stationed in the citadel, with the rest spread mostly over the north, east, and south walls. I''m thinking we might be able to force one of the gates open provided we start a distraction to the west first."


    "One would be plenty," said Elfriede. "The roads in Zefirous are large enough that the heavy cavalry can go through them. Once those things get inside town¡­ I don''t see the garrison repelling them."


    "We will have to arrange things first, and also coordinate our movements with your¡­ employer outside. I assume you came prepared for that?" asked Varsha, which was answered with another nod from Elfriede. "All right then¡­ this is what we''ll do¡­"

 Chapter 47 - Audacious Infiltration

    "Infiltrations into enemy territory¡­ ain''t something for amateurs. You need the training and know-how to do it well. Best if you could get a local to either brief you of the local idiosyncrasies or better yet, guide you through the place.


    Beggars can''t be choosers though, so sometimes you just make do with what you got." - Khaled Ali Hassan, General and later Khagan of the Urzas Khaganate of northern Ur-Teros, circa 207 FP.


    Three days later, at roughly two in the morning, the plan Varsha outlined was set into motion. Elfriede, Salicia, Gr¨¹nhildr, and Nicole went with Nina and Zyd, as well as some of Varsha''s trusted fighters and together the twenty five of them snuck into an abandoned warehouse some distance from the southern gate.


    The city itself was in high alert, and fighting raged on the walls, as archers fired at the teeming mass of dwarves outside, only to be forced to duck back beneath cover when the dwarves returned fire.


    It had been six hours since the siege had begun, when the dwarves suddenly probed the defenses from afar and rained bolts and quarrels on the defenders. The dark, moonless night had not helped the defenders, as unlike the dwarves, they could not see in the dark. Any lighting they tried to use quickly received the attention of tens of dwarven marksmen, however.


    During such a commotion, Elfriede''s group met with a senior guardsman in the abandoned warehouse. There the man brought out many sets of the tabard and helmet worn as uniform by the guards, and the group quickly wore those over their clothes.


    Some of the outfits were not exactly the right size. Zyd''s was clearly stretched to its limits by his large frame. Gr¨¹nhildr''s was too long and reached halfway down to her knees, while Salicia''s was too short and barely reached her waist. The guardsman assured them it was not an uncommon case amongst them though.


    Under his lead, they headed towards the southern wall, where the guardsman claimed that they were reporting for duty. They were waved through after a cursory inspection by the soldier on duty. It helped that the helmet the guards wore covered everything but their eyes with a cloth to preserve their anonymity.


    As they strolled past the outer cordons, the hardest part was through. The guardsman parted with them once they were safely out of sight from the entrance, and hid himself as he wished to have nothing more to do with the upcoming mess.


    Elfriede and the rest of her group on the other hand headed towards the large building set right behind and over the gate. The gatehouse, where the controls for the drawbridge and the portcullis were located, was set inside that building''s top floor, and it remained to be seen whether they could reach it as agreed or not.


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    There were only twenty-five of them, and definitely more guards inside the building. It would be ideal if they could bluff their way to the gatehouse, but none of them thought it likely. In the meantime, they hunkered down near the area, keeping themselves hidden as they observed and waited.


    Roughly half an hour after they passed the checkpoint, they heard a commotion outside. Some snippets they heard mentioned a riot in the west side of town, which was the exact distraction they had been waiting for.


    Cassie and Arne had been the culprit of said riot. The short-haired girl was particularly talented as a troublemaker, and did precisely that in the west side as they had planned.


    Elfriede and her group waited another ten minutes, enough time for some guards to be moved away and sent to the west side, before they tossed the dice. With Zyd in the lead, they just walked in the open towards the gatehouse building and reported themselves as reinforcements.


    When the guard at the entrance queried them further, Zyd played the dumb brute who was just "following orders" without knowing the details. He was a natural at that, and before too long the guard gave an exasperated sigh as he cursed the town guard''s commanders and their "inability to follow proper protocol" before he waved them in.


    That was an unexpected boon for Elfriede and her group. In the worst case they had expected that they might have to fight their way in much earlier. Any defenses they get to cross without fighting was just an extra boon.


    Their luck ran out when they approached the stairs that led towards the second floor. The guards there were far more insistent on their questioning, and eventually, Elfriede had to take the matter into her own hands.


    Neither of the two guards managed to yell out a warning before her blades pierced their throats and took their lives in short order. After they dragged the corpses into the stairwell, two of Nina''s thugs who had the closest builds to the dead guards took their clothes and put them on, as they pretended to be the very guards that had just been killed.


    There were no guards at the top of the stairs, as apparently they had been guarding against intruders from below, not from above. However, there were other patrolling guards in the area. As much as Elfriede''s senses allowed their group to avoid several patrols, one eventually noticed their presence. They were quick-witted and immediately sounded the alarm as well, as the town guard was apparently not supposed to be in that area of the building.


    Left with the choice where they either tried to bluff their way out once more or to damn all pretenses and go all out, both Elfriede and Nina chose the latter. The soldiers who stopped them for questioning never knew what hit them, as they were butchered on the spot before they could react.


    The infiltrators ditched their now-useless uniforms and rushed towards the staircase to the top floor. They ran into two other patrols and slaughtered them as well, leaving three of their own dead as the cost.


    After they climbed up the stairwell, they noticed that there was just a single large room at the top of the building, the gatehouse itself. There they split their group into two, as they already heard the noise of soldiers climbing up the stairs as they chased after them.


    Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia, along with Zyd, all stayed back with half their forces. The narrow stairwell allowed Salicia to hold the soldiers back with her arrows while any who made it past had to deal with the rest. It was a chokepoint where the few of them can hold against many.


    Elfriede, Nina, Nicole, and the rest went straight for the gatehouse. They had two of the burlier thugs kick the door in, before Elfriede slipped into the room, and came face to face with around twenty soldiers who pointed spears in her direction.


    At least, until one of them, who she judged their commander by his slightly better outfit, seemed to look at her and gawked in surprise. Then he said something she had not expected at all.


    "By the god-king''s shriveled warty dick¡­ drop your weapons, all of you!" commanded the man with urgency evident in his voice. After a moment the rest of the soldiers in the room obeyed the command, though Elfriede sensed that many of them turned towards the commander, likely with questioning looks in their eyes.


    "We surrender," said the man.

 Side Story 11 - A Tacticians Woes

    "If you ask me, the worst thing you could face in battle as a strategist or tactician is being assigned to an incompetent lout for a commander. This is doubly worse if they also have lofty ambitions as well as delusions of grandeur and competence.


    These complete morons get people killed by their utter incompetence and arrogance, and worst thing is there''s usually nothing you can do to stop it. Then after you get beaten silly like a redheaded stepchild they''d pile the blame on you to top it off.


    I honestly can''t thank you enough for allowing me to attend this execution. You have truly granted me a wish I''ve had for a long time now." - Soran Hervelg, disgraced former strategist from the former Kriggaris Jarldom, on witnessing the execution of Jarl Snorri the Incompetent of Kriggaris.


    Lars had not had a good day of late.


    Not that he had had many good days in his life overall.


    He was born an orphan in Zefirous, the southern city of the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz. Yet he was fortunate enough to be raised in one of the few orphanages in the more affluent district of the city.


    Children raised in those orphanages tend to be recruited by the local nobles for employment when they grow up. It was a dream to pursue, a realistic sort of a goal in life for them.


    Lars himself, while he was far from the most physically fit boy, proved to possess good intelligence, and when he was sixteen, he and a few others were recruited by Leandra Larsen, second child and only daughter of the count who ruled the city, as her entourage.


    He couldn''t say he liked his mistress - she was far too much of a religious fanatic for his liking, as he had seen much of the priesthood''s hypocrisy growing up - but working for her gave him a chance, and that was all he wished for.


    While most of the others who were recruited with him were trained under the family''s instructors to serve as her future bodyguards, Lars studied strategy and tactics in the library instead.


    His mistress had a deep seated desire to contribute to their kingdom by feats of arms, and since he was rather useless as a fighter, he pursued a path where his intellect would be a boon instead.


    Fortunately for Lars, he proved talented as a tactician. After several trials where he''d command the house''s soldiers in mock battles and won by significant margins, even the kids who were recruited with him - some of whom used to bully him - showed him grudging respect.


    They themselves had earned their place as the mistress''s guards. Only three of them were left from the original seven. Two Lars saw working as servants in the house later. He never saw the other two again and had not asked.


    For his own part, he had slowly recruited more orphans from the orphanage he was from, to form a retinue, for the mistress to ostensibly command. In reality, the boys and girls he recruited answered to him alone.


    Everything went well for a while, life was better than he had expected. His retinue had slowly grown over the years to fifty, while Lars himself turned from a gangly, bookish sixteen year old boy to a healthy twenty-four man.


    Then things went to shit. The emergence of a city built by the unliving folk - Lars himself didn''t have anything against them, unlike the more religious members of the populace - caused the high priests to call for a crusade.


    Lars was fortunate that the count had forbidden his daughter from participating in said crusade, because most who left on it, never returned at all. They were utterly decimated by the unliving they fought against.


    Then they were invaded from the south not half a year later by their dwarven neighbors. This time Lars was not so fortunate, as all three of the count''s children had been ordered to delay the invasion force. He embarked with his mistress with nervousness at his first real battle.


    Of course, things had gone to shit almost immediately.


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    The count''s two sons had disagreed with his mistress on how to best deal with the incursion, as they were adamant about defending Fort Prydwen south of the city and refused to budge.


    His mistress had insisted on taking the battle to their enemies instead, a daring notion he favored since they had far better knowledge of the local terrain compared to their enemies.


    They had sallied out, only accompanied by the mistress, her hundred-man personal guards, and Lars'' retinue. Then they met up with the volunteer militia gathered from all the nearby villages.


    He was faced with an exercise in frustration when they met with the priests who had gathered together the massive militia of over forty thousand men. Those idiots had no idea whatsoever about tactics, and in their fervor had advocated meeting their "infidel" opponents in open battle.


    Even if they were zealous believers who do not fear death, Lars had no doubt that a proper army one third their size would have eviscerated their band of ragtag militia in an open battle. He tried his best to persuade his mistress to a wiser course of action. Fortunately, their long acquaintance made her listen to him.


    Rather than a foolhardy open battle, the priests grumbled but listened when his mistress ordered them to set up ambushes deep in their territory. The majority of their force were set up for these ambushes, as they had learned that their enemies had sent out many detachments to scout their surroundings.


    Lars, his mistress, as well as his retinue and their personal guards, had taken fifteen thousand with them, as they went through trails rarely used, deep in the jungle and only known to the locals. They circled around the enemy forces and snuck towards their base at Fort Ascher instead, which they planned to catch by surprise.


    Using those trails cost them quite a bit. Over a thousand of their men never left the deep jungles, including five people under Lars. Nevertheless, they managed to reach near the fort undetected.


    They struck with ferocity. The militia, while untrained, fearless in their advance. It took them many sacrifices, nearly three quarters of their men dead or dying, before they breached one of the fort''s gates at last. By then the invaders were reduced to a paltry few hundred, who made their stand inside the building further within.


    That was when things went to shit.


    His mistress had counted her chickens before they hatched. Thinking victory close at hand, she took some of the men to "purge" the "infidels" from their kingdom over Lars'' protests while she tasked him to finish off the invaders before him. She had not cared that those she was attacking were noncombatants.


    However, she was instead defeated. From afar, Lars saw his mistress lead her personal guards into one of the fort''s barracks. She never left that building. Instead its inhabitants - most of them women and older children - had stormed out, wearing armor and wielding weapons he last saw used by his mistress'' personal guards. One of them even wielded the mistress'' prized saber.


    In despair, he saw how they struck the other group of militia attacking those noncombatants from behind, as they turned into a cohesive force over a thousand strong and struck at his detachment as well.


    It took everything Lars could muster to get what few people remained with him to withdraw, at the cost of over half of his retinue. Most of them died when they tried to stall the enemy, only to get cut down by a woman wielding odd short swords with blades on its pommel.


    It was a sight that occupied Lars'' nightmares for days afterwards.


    He tried his best regardless to salvage the situation. The remaining people, he arranged in a distant encirclement to keep the fort under their watch. They had planned to gather by the fort after the ambushes, so he hoped reinforcements were underway.


    When some of the invaders returned first, clearly survivors from the ambushes he planned, he was not surprised. Many of those priests had chafed under his instructions. That they bungled up their ambushes was not unexpected.


    Without his mistress present, he had no way to get the priests to heed his advice. All he could do was watch from afar as those fools wasted lives in their assaults to the fort.


    He left and returned to Fort Prydwen in defeat the day the priests called for a final push, knowing that the battle would only end in mutual destruction at best. Of the fifty men and women in his retinue, only twenty remained by then. He was unaware that he had saved all their lives by leaving a day early.


    When he reached Fort Prydwen a week later, he was chastised for returning without his mistress, as he expected. What he had not expected was for the first young master to withdraw the majority of the fort''s defenders to Zefirous. His advice went unheeded, his words no longer given any weight.


    He was told to follow them as they returned, as they needed every man they had to help defend the city from the invaders. His punishment was deferred until after the battle was over.


    Even so, when he returned to the city, he found himself posted to the southern gatehouse with his retinue. It sounded like an important assignment, but in reality it was a dead-end assignment given to those who had no more prospects.


    There he and his retinue, who remained loyal to him even with all that happened, languished even as the city was besieged by the invaders. They stomached indignities and harassment from people higher up on the hierarchy, as they simmered in resentment.


    At least, until one night the door to the gatehouse was kicked open, and in walked the very same woman from the nightmare that plagued Lars for days after Fort Ascher. The woman with the odd shortswords who had so effortlessly butchered many of his companions.


    There were eighteen of them with him at that moment - Lydia and Meryl, two of the girls who joined his retinue recently, was accompanying an officer who came to "inspect" the drawbridge''s mechanism, which was just an excuse he made to harass them - and yet Lars knew they stood no real chance. He could see more people behind the woman, and even then she had butchered more people than what he had with him on her own back then.


    So he did the only thing he could think of in the spur of the moment.


    "By the god-king''s shriveled warty dick¡­ drop your weapons, all of you!" he heard himself say, as he unhooked his scabbard from his belt and allowed it to fall along with his sword within.


    Several of his people looked at him questioningly, but obeyed when they realized that he meant what he said. He had no other choice. This, at the very least, gave his people a chance of surviving.


    He refused to have more of their blood on his hands. They deserved better.


    "We surrender," said Lars, as he slowly and carefully raised his hands.

 Chapter 48 - Mission Accomplished

    "Sometimes, things just lined up the right way and what was supposed to be a tough job ended up being far easier than you''d expect. Don''t go around hoping for that to happen all the time though. That just gets your dumb ass killed most of the time. Just take them as they come." - Garron Fletcher-Weiss, retired veteran mercenary.


    "You¡­ surrender?" asked Elfriede with some doubt creeping into her voice. The logical part of her screamed to be wary of a trap, yet at the same time, all those men and women before her had disarmed themselves and raised their hands. Two of Nina''s people were already collecting their spears to be brought to those defending the stairs. "How do I know this isn''t just some trick?"


    "Look¡­ lady. I''ve seen with my own eyes what you can do back in Fort Ascher. We wouldn''t stand a chance even with just you against us," said the man who seemed in command after he gave a long, resigned sigh. "You can do whatever you want with me. Just¡­ Please let my people live. They deserve better than this bullshit."


    "They''re clear," reported Nina to her, her tone similarly one full of unasked questions. Her people had just finished gathering the dropped weapons and were hauling it over to the team that held the stairwell. Nina had told nearly half of their group to head there and help reinforce their defenses. "They''ve really disarmed themselves, even down to the small blades we usually kept hidden. It''s a bit early to say so¡­ but they might mean it."


    "All right then. I''ll take your surrender for now. Your fates aren''t up for me to decide, so we''ll get to that later," said Elfriede bluntly. Their group was left with herself, Nina, Nicole, and two of Nina''s thugs. "One of you will lead us to the drawbridge''s mechanism. The rest stay here."


    "I will do it. All of you, stay here and behave yourselves," said the man who had called the shots so far.


    Elfriede noticed how several of the soldiers there changed their expression at his words, one of¡­ unwillingness perhaps? Maybe resignation too. They had made the same expression when the man had asked her to do "whatever she wanted" with him earlier. Apparently a commander held in high regard by his men, then.


    He led her and Nina - they had left Nicole and the other two to watch the rest - through a locked door at the other end of the room. It led to a short corridor with another door on its end, that one unlocked. A simple setup which allowed defenders inside the room to hold it as a chokepoint as needed.


    The man motioned for them to be quiet as he tried to open the door silently. Inside the room were many contraptions of heavy chains and levers, that Elfriede could not make heads or tails on. Not just that, but she also sensed three people inside the room.


    One of them was a bearded man in finer armor than she had seen any of the guards or soldiers wore. Next to him, were two young women in the same uniform as what the local soldiers wore. Elfriede had not missed the frown of disgust on the two women''s faces, their ruffled tunics, nor how the man''s hands was hungrily groping one of the women''s chest under her clothes.


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    Elfriede noticed the man turn their way as he heard them enter, how his face started to contort with outrage. She also noticed the man with her make a slow, deliberate motion with his thumb across his neck, as well as the surprised, questioning looks on the young women when they saw the gesture. Then he nodded.


    "What in the God-King''s name gave you the gall to interrupt- Aaaaaaaaagh- *gurgle*" said the bearded man in outrage before his shout turned into a pained cry, then to a wet, throaty gurgle.


    The woman who had frowned in disgust behind him had silently drawn her dagger and plunged it between the seams of his armor. Right into his kidney, if Elfriede guessed right. Then the woman he was groping also drew her dagger and stabbed it through his throat from the side, until its point came out the other side.


    As the man dropped to the ground and clutched his profusely bleeding throat, the girl who had stabbed him from behind kicked him hard right between his legs, while her friend, whose shirt was torn because the man''s bracer caught on it while he fell, spat on his face.


    "Fucking asshole," she had said.


    Then both women turned towards Elfriede and Nina with questioning eyes. The man with them ordered them to lay down their weapons and stand to the side. Both women obeyed the order reluctantly, while the man walked towards the contraptions and worked on several levers.


    Almost immediately, Elfriede could hear the sound of chains being drawn in by the mechanisms. Another pair of chains were instead released from where they were anchored. She assumed those were the ones that held the drawbridge in place.


    After a few minutes, the rattling of the chains finally ceased, and silence once again reigned inside the room. The man looked towards her with a complicated expression, while the two women who raised their hands on the side seemed full of questions.


    "There, the drawbridge''s down, and the portcullis are opened. They won''t be able to close them again unless they get in here," said the man with another resigned sigh.


    "Lars? What the hell is going on?" asked one of the girls from the side, the one with the torn shirt, Elfriede noticed, as she raised one arm and used the other to hold her torn tunic together.


    "Pretty much what it seemed like, Meryl," said the man, now identified as Lars. "These ladies are most likely affiliated with that army just outside town. I''ve just surrendered our whole unit to them. So please, behave yourselves for the meantime."


    "Why are you doing this?" asked Nina from the side, now full of curiosity. "I can get wanting to live. This shithole of a kingdom ain''t worth dying for and all¡­ but you''ve gone above that already."


    "It''s precisely that. This shithole isn''t worth dying for. Too many of my friends had died already for the fucking lies those priests and nobles spout everyday," said Lars, with a dejected sigh. His words were quite emotional, enough that Elfriede decided that the man was either genuine, or was a very good actor. "I''ve had enough. Might as well throw my lot with the ''infidels'' if it meant a possibly better life for them."


    "One question¡­ Lars, wasn''t it?" asked Elfriede at last. Now that they had the drawbridge down, all they had to do was hold until their reinforcements arrived. With Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr holding the stairwell, she had little doubt they would hold without issue. "You said for us to do whatever we like to you. Why would we want to do that?"


    "Oh right. Of course you didn''t know," sighed Lars as if he lamented his life. "I had orchestrated the ambushes, and the surprise attack against Fort Ascher. I had assumed your people would want a pound of flesh from me for that."

 Chapter 49 - Assault on Zefirous

    "Here in Alcidea, the most common form of fortification is that of the walled city. A massive wall, often many meters wide, would be erected all around a city. The topside of the wall was wide enough to station large numbers of troops on.


    More elaborate constructions might trade off some absolute durability in exchange for room on the inside of the wall. These walls are usually heavily enchanted, and comes with murder holes and many slots from which people inside can strike at those outside.


    Walls like these were always costly to assault, but should they be breached, or the gates opened, then the battle was pretty much over. The attackers would be able to enter at will, and the defenders on the walls would find themselves pincered from within and without, to be dismantled piecemeal." - Dean O''Malley, retired combat engineer, formerly of the Stone Shapers.


    Reinhardt couldn''t help but to nibble on his claws out of nervousness.


    It has been three days and nights since Elfriede and a few others went into the walled city. All signs pointed out that they had made contact with the criminal elements and set up a plan, as per the message Nicole had conveyed.


    In accordance with that plan, the dwarves had mounted a siege attempt since early that night, as they harried the defenders with bolts and quarrels from afar. Their combat engineers had worked together and created large catapult-shaped golems, a dozen on each of the three sides they assaulted, and lobbed huge boulders at the walls with them.


    By now they had kept up the assault for six hours already. Hidden in the south side, with the darkness as their cover, were the dwarven heavy cavalry. Reinhardt and the Free Lances were also gathered there, as they waited nervously for the drawbridge to be lowered.


    It neared the promised hour, and yet no sign of the drawbridge moving was visible. He couldn''t help but feel nervous for his wife and comrades inside, a worry that only escalated as time passed and still no signs were visible.


    Until finally, around half an hour past the promised time, there was movement. Even from afar he could hear the dismayed shouts of the defenders, as the drawbridge slowly but surely lowered itself. The rattle of heavy chains accompanied its descent, and it sounded like the best music in the world to Reinhardt''s ears.


    All at once, the dwarves suddenly intensified their barrage. Bolts and quarrels were fired from their heavy crossbows until they blanketed the skies and forced the defenders of the southern walls to hunker down beneath their shields. At the same time their combat engineers burned their mana prodigiously as the catapults lobbed stones at three times the usual pace.


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    As the drawbridge approached the ground on their side of the moat, the middle of the dwarven lines parted, and the heavy cavalry slowly brought their hefty rhinoceros mounts to an easy canter, before they transitioned to a trot, and then a full gallop. Reinhardt and his troops ran behind them as fast as their legs could carry them.


    The drawbridge had not quite settled on the soil yet when the foremost cavalrymen reached it, but they had not cared. With a skilled heave of the reins, the drivers made their ponderous mounts leap over the half-meter gap and land atop the drawbridge with a rumble. Others followed them similarly, their combined weight helping the drawbridge settle on land faster.


    Some panicked soldiers inside had tried to bring some wooden barricades over, logs tied together on cross-shaped stands of sharpened logs. Those barricades would have stopped regular cavalry, and slowed down infantry.


    Against dwarven heavy cavalry however, they proved mostly useless. The two drivers of the frontmost pair of rhinos simply instructed their mounts to ram the barricade, horn-first. During their advance, their crossbowmen rained bolts at the defenders using their repeating crossbows.


    Wood splintered and broke apart as the massive beasts struck them, as the dwarven cavalry just broke through the barricades like they were made of sticks. Halberdiers on the back of the rhinos raked the defenders with their long halberds as they passed, while their crossbowmen fired into the crowd with impunity.


    By the time Reinhardt and his troops reached inside the city behind the heavy cavalry, all that greeted him were the sight of broken barricades, and many, many corpses strewn all over in the wake of the cavalry''s rampage.


    The cavalry themselves had mostly left through the main streets towards the other gates, other than two groups of ten each that blocked the nearest stairs, as they prevented those soldiers on the walls from coming down to help.


    Reinhardt was barely affected by the carnage. Some of the dead were killed by crossbow bolts. Others sliced apart by the polearms wielded by the halberdiers. A few very unlucky ones were trampled to death by the rhinos, their corpses splattered like overripe fruits that had fallen on the ground.


    He quickly commanded his troops to charge into the gatehouse building to support Elfriede inside. Mischa''s detachment he left outside to guard the doors and prevent enemies from coming in behind them.


    The city was not his worry. The dwarven infantrymen already followed close behind his men. They would handle securing the city.


    Reinhardt quickly caught up with the first of his troops who made it inside. Resistance was sparse in the lower floors. On the stairwell leading to the second floor however, they found several dead men. It looked as it the guards had fought amongst themselves, judging from the wounds and the uniforms of the corpses.


    The second floor itself was pretty sparsely defended, at least until they approached the stairwell to the top floor. There he found most of the building''s remaining defenders gathered as they tried to fight their way upward.


    He gave them no time to react to his troops'' presence, and struck them from behind with brutal swiftness. Reinhardt himself led from the front, his heavy polemace crushing his poorly armored foes even as the guards panicked.


    It took his troops less than five minutes to settle the crowd before the stairwell. A few had tried to escape towards the next floor, only to be skewered by very familiar thick, heavy arrows as soon as they rounded the bend.


    Carefully, Reinhardt approached the bend and announced his presence loudly, swishing his tail to and fro from around the bend as a signal, before he moved around it, his weapon still in hand.


    He was greeted by a rare smile on Salicia''s face, as the one-eyed woman met him at the top of the stairwell. She and Gr¨¹nhildr, along with nearly twenty local thugs, had held the stairwell until his arrival.

 Chapter 50 - Yesterdays Enemies, Tomorrows Compatriots

    "As odd as it might sound, us mercenaries rarely hold grudges for long. In the end, our loyalty is to coin, and the highest bidder. It was not uncommon for a mercenary to one day find themselves fighting side by side with forces that had cost them family, or a loved one in the past.


    The vast majority stomached their indignation, and just tolerated it. Work was work, as long as they were paid properly, and a mercenary was rarely choosy about their employer. Some who could not stomach the idea would usually quit. Cases of mercenaries going after their employers over personal vengeance¡­ were rare.


    When it happened though, the company in question usually faced heavy penalties, so most mercenary captains took stringent measures to prevent such cases from taking place at all. They were mostly successful in this endeavor." - Gilbert de Faiz, former Chronicler of the Vanguard Legion mercenary company, circa 551 VA.


    "So¡­ let me get this straight," said Reinhardt as he seated himself on a table in the gatehouse. The twenty-one surrendered prisoners knelt before him, one man ahead of the rest. Reinhardt took a long pull from his pipe, and exhaled audibly to collect himself before he continued. "You claim to be the one who set those ambushes we ran into? And the first surprise attack on Fort Ascher as well?"


    "I proposed the plans, and they were enacted, yes," replied the man in front, who Reinhardt had learned from his wife to be named Lars, and seemed to be in charge of this group. His reply only gave him the beginnings of a headache, and he took another long pull from his pipe.


    Reinhardt rarely smoked. He usually only did so when he needed to concentrate, or was faced with a hard decision to make. As Lars related his story, he realized pretty well that this was definitely one such time.


    The man took a while to relate his story, and Reinhardt allowed him to. Elfriede stood not far to his left, as she leaned her back against a wall. The fighting was ongoing in the city, but his troops'' responsibility that night was to secure and hold the gatehouse, so it was none of their business for now.


    "All right, I get it. Give me a moment," said Reinhardt after Lars finished his story. He tapped his pipe upside down against the edge of the desk he sat on, and shook off the ashes in it, before he rummaged in his storage for a moment and brought out a small pouch. "I''m gonna need the harder stuff for this shit."


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    A sweet, fragrant smell filled the room as he carefully pinched a small bundle of dried herbs with his fingers and stuffed them within his pipe, then he struck a match against the rough surface of his armor and lit the pipe''s contents with it.


    "So¡­ Lars, was it not?" asked Reinhardt after he exhaled the smoke from his lungs. The herbs he stuffed in this time were a mild narcotic, quite addictive and detrimental if consumed directly, but pretty safe when smoked in small quantities. It helped him maintain a clear head. "You do realize that admitting what you just did would likely get you drawn and quartered if not worse, yes? There''s plenty of dwarves who''d be out for your head if they learned of this¡­ and some of my own people as well."


    Reinhardt had stooped lower as he spoke each word, until face was right before Lars'' face. His sharp fangs were in full display, and he noticed how many of the men and women behind Lars flinched at the sight, as unused as they were to non-humans.


    "I am aware of it," said Lars with a resigned sigh. Reinhardt noticed that while the man himself seemed resigned to his fate, many of the ones behind him appeared as if they wanted to protest, yet held their tongues. "All I ask for is for my people to be given a chance to live. They deserved¡­ better."


    "Huh," said Reinhardt as he pondered. At the moment only he and Elfriede were in the room with their captives, as everyone else was outside to secure the gatehouse. Their safety was not at risk, as he was no slouch himself and besides, he was pretty certain his wife could have ripped through everyone in the room on her own anyway.


    When he threw a glance at his wife, to seek her opinion on the matter, he saw her shrug her shoulders. The gesture was her way of saying that she had no opinions on the matter and that it was his call to make. He pondered for a while more, as he smoked his pipe.


    "I''d say you have two options right now," said Reinhardt as he broke the oppressive silence that filled the room as he pondered. Lars looked up from where he knelt and looked him in the eye.


    "And what would they be?" asked the man.


    "We could hand you over to the dwarves," said Reinhardt with a nonchalant tone. "They would likely pay a bounty for you. After that I don''t know what will happen to you. Drawn and quartered if you''re unlucky. Hanging or beheading if you''re luckier, I''d say."


    "I expected that much," admitted Lars with another sigh. "And what''s the second option?"


    "You could work for us," stated Reinhardt simply as he stuffed some more dried herbs into his pipe and lit it. "Mind you, you should still expect at least a few slaps. Maybe a stabbing or three as well, but if you do choose to work for us, they''ll likely hold back¡­ so long as you prove yourself¡­ useful to keep around."


    "I was honestly expecting more¡­ anger and vengeance from your kind," admitted Lars honestly. "I had heard that the mercenaries were pretty badly hit by those ambushes."


    "Oh, we have our resentment, that''s a given," said Reinhardt. "But I also know when to admit when someone pulled one over on us. Now I got you at my mercy. If I don''t take the opportunity, when else?"


    "After all, for us mercenaries¡­ yesterday''s enemies being tomorrow''s compatriots weren''t an uncommon thing."

 Chapter 51 - Fall of Zefirous

    "The gates are the greatest weaknesses of the walled city model of fortification. Once the gates were breached and the enemies managed to enter, the battle was usually decided then and there.


    There were rarely other endings to such a situation, save the rare occasions where the defenders succeeded in holding the gate against the enemy." - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor and Founder of the Elmaiya Empire.


    "All right. We probably dithered here long enough," said Reinhardt as he stood up, took one last pull from his pipe, and dumped the dregs and ashes on the floor. "You¡­ Lars. Come with us. Time to see if you can make yourself useful, starting now. The rest of you, behave yourself and stay here¡­ if you like to keep breathing."


    Together with Elfriede, Reinhardt brought Lars with him as they left the room. Outside, many of his troops and the remaining thugs milled about, rather relaxed since they were guarding the third floor of the building.


    "Nicole! There''s the prisoners you all got earlier in the building. I want you and¡­ Karenina''s people here to watch over them in the meantime," said Reinhardt. He stuttered a bit before Elfriede whispered her old friend''s name to him. "Treat them well if they behave themselves, but if any stepped out of line, you know what to do."


    Nicole nodded solemnly, as she looked towards Nina and exchanged looks, then headed to the building with Nina''s remaining thugs following after them. For Reinhardt''s own part, he assigned part of the Free Lances to remain in the building and stay on guard, as he selected their sixty or so best fighters and left the gatehouse.


    Outside he brought Mischka''s group of warriors along with him, which gave him a force of a hundred strong, composed of only the best fighters in his company. Elfriede and Ylisera were with him, as were Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr.


    They marched through the city streets. It was dawn by then, as the sun''s first ray began to brighten the day. The fighting had mostly ended. At most he saw dwarven infantrymen as they besieged some of the towers atop the gates, where a few stubborn soldiers had hunkered down.


    Near the walls, they saw a pile of spears as people that looked like conscripted townspeople lined up neatly, disarmed themselves as they tossed their weapons to the growing pile, and then were let go.


    That generous allowance for the conscripts who surrendered to return to their homes had broken the defender''s back soon after the breach, as the remaining soldiers proved unable to stop them, and were quickly overwhelmed by the dwarves when they tried to.


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    The fact that the dwarves kept their promise probably won them quite a bit of goodwill from the city''s residents, Reinhardt thought. He noticed how many families peeked from their houses or from the nearby alleyways at the marching soldiers and mercenaries. They were nervous, wary, and yet also hopeful all at the same time.


    As they neared the center of the city, Reinhardt finally caught wind of distant sounds of fighting that still raged. The noble district - as Elfriede told him - had seen better days, unlike the mostly untouched poorer districts they had passed through.


    Here and there, he saw how some of the mansions burned. Some others had people - all locals, many dressed in rags - who ran in and out as they absconded with items from the mansions, at times even peeling off decorative filigree and the likes.


    It was not as if the dwarves were unaware of such happenings. Some of their soldiers were present in the area. They just watched it all happen, an implicit approval that made the crowd go even wilder.


    They had not even bothered to stop the crowd when they dragged out a richly dressed obese man out from one of the mansions, stripped him naked in the middle of the street, spat and stomped on him, then doused him in lamp oil and set him afire.


    From Elfriede he received a brief context to the situation. The man burned alive was one of the richest merchants in town. His main product was prostitutes and trained slaves, and those were often poorer children who were abducted young and indoctrinated into their roles, many of which died along the way. It was no real surprise that the locals hated his guts enough to burn him alive.


    Apparently, the dwarves were content to allow the townspeople to sort things out amongst themselves. They turned a blind eye to the looting of the noble district, as well as the occasional lynching that took place. Reinhardt ordered the Lances to do the same. It was none of their business.


    Finally, after a while they reached the dwarven army. The majority of their heavy infantry formed a shieldwall all around the citadel in the center of the city, while marksmen behind the shields exchanged fire with the soldiers who defended the Citadel''s walls.


    There Reinhardt sought out the Crown Prince, and quickly received his direction from an officer at the back. The Crown Prince stood at the back lines, where he watched the siege on the citadel, along with his advisors and commanders. He noticed Reinhardt as he approached together with Elfriede.


    "Captain Edelstein! My compliments! Mrs. Edelstein''s help has saved us valuable time and lives, and shall be noted as a first class contribution!" said the Crown Prince as he approached. The other commanders around him also gave Reinhardt and Elfriede appreciative nods. "Now, I know for mercenaries like you, you won''t care much for medals and such, so I took the liberty of converting the award into something more¡­ substantial. The three thousand gold coins shall be paid at the end of the campaign."


    "Our thanks for your praise and the generosity, your Highness," said Reinhardt and Elfriede both as they gave a slight bow to the Crown Prince, who was clearly in a good mood. "Anything we can do to help with the siege?"


    "I don''t think so," said the Crown Prince as he glanced at where several massive golems used a gigantic ram to strike the citadel''s gate over and over. The defenders scrambled every thing they had, threw large stones and poured boiling oil, but the golems just ignored those and kept working. "Unless you know something we don''t?"


    "May I speak, sir?" asked Lars with some trepidation from behind Reinhardt.


    "Oh, who is that? I had not seen him before," asked the Crown Prince as he spotted Lars.


    "A local collaborator, your Highness," explained Reinhardt simply as he turned to face Lars. "And go ahead. I brought you here in case you could prove yourself useful, after all."

 Chapter 52 - Rage of the Oppressed

    "One lesson many tyrannical nobles, governors, or kings often failed to grasp until they stared you in the eyes was that oppression, which is somewhat effective to keep a population down, only goes so far.


    At some point, the people you oppressed just can''t take any more. When such people, who by then likely had nothing to lose, snapped, they tended to make such a big mess that they would usually at least take their oppressor down with them, one way or another.


    I always found that a balanced usage of rewards and regulations to be more effective myself. I just hope my future successors learn from my example well." - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor and Founder of the Elmaiya Empire.


    "I used to work for the Count''s family," admitted Lars openly, which elicited some raised eyebrows from the dwarven commanders present. "Even lived by the mansion for a few years before."


    "Go on," said the Crown Prince, now with an intrigued look on his face as he paid attention to what Lars said.


    "My late mistress once took me to a secret path she liked to use to go out into town incognito," said Lars with some pangs of regret in his voice. "It was a secret route out of the Count''s mansion, and the exit was somewhere in the port outside the western gate."


    "So you''re saying¡­"


    "I believe it is likely that the Count and his family would attempt to escape from there should the citadel fall, yes," nodded Lars in answer to the question. "It might be prudent to send a detachment to the port to keep a lookout in case they do take that route."


    "Interesting," commented the Crown Prince as he absent-mindedly twirled his beard in his right hand. "Would you say this man is a trustworthy one, Captain Edelstein?"


    "So far he has been, but I would say his usefulness and trustworthiness are still on trial, your Highness," admitted Reinhardt bluntly. "Just in case, may I take my troops to the western port?"


    "Go ahead. We''ll be done here in a few hours one way or another anyway," replied the Crown Prince with a nod. "If you do find the Count and his family escaping that way, try to get them alive if you can. Two hundred gold for the count if he''s living, a hundred each for any of his family or that noble from Norouz. Half that for their heads."


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    "Certainly, your Highness. Consider it done," said Reinhardt with a bow before he brought his troops away, towards the west.


    ******************************


    "You mentioned your late mistress earlier?" asked Reinhardt as they walked towards the west. He, Lars, and Elfriede were ahead of the rest as they led the way. Lars only had vague recollections of the secret path''s exit, but with that information and Elfriede''s senses, they ought to be able to locate the spot.


    "She was the Count''s daughter. Took me and some other orphans in to work for her. Compared to the other nobles we have¡­ she''s not that bad, if far too much on the zealous side," said Lars with a sigh. "Last I saw her was in Fort Ascher, when she took her guards to ''purge some infidels'' against my advice. She never returned so I assume she''s gone."


    "Yeah¡­ I think she''s¡­ quite definitely a goner all right," said Reinhardt as he repressed an urge to wince. There was exactly one such person that matched the description Lars gave. The very same one Elfriede dismembered and subsequently drowned in the latrine pits.


    "I guess it says a lot that by our measures, she was one of the better ones," said Lars in a self-deprecating tone of voice. "Both the nobles and the church just lived lavishly while they stepped on our backs all the time. Their propaganda holds well in the boonies and villages, where the folks were uneducated and never knew a different life¡­"


    "But here in the city, those of us who lived in the lower class couldn''t help but to notice how those very same priests and nobles that preached for us to sacrifice for the lord never practiced what they preached," he added with venom dripping from his voice. "Where we eke out a living off moldy bread, stews of rats and cockroaches, and often-spoiled meat scraps, they lived lavishly in their mansions."


    "Definitely explains why that church we passed on the way was getting looted then," replied Reinhardt with a toothy smirk. "What about that one, though?"


    Lars looked towards where Reinhardt pointed his finger, and noticed an all too familiar church being sacked. Priests and nuns were dragged out by angry townspeople and lynched on the spot, while he saw many of the town''s women carrying young children of various ages and tried to calm them as they took them away.


    "That church¡­ is one of the two sanctioned orphanages in town. That''s also where I grew up," said Lars as he watched the mayhem impassionately. "I say ''orphanage'', but to be honest, it''s closer to a place where they indoctrinate young children into zealots and fanatics of the so-called god-king," he added as he spat to the ground and punctuated his words. "Most of my people also came from this background, ones I thought were not too deep into the propaganda."


    "It''s a pretty fucked up place you live in, man," said Reinhardt as he watched the chaos. He walked by without interfering though, as there were already some dwarven infantry who kept watch over the mess.


    It was a smart call, he thought. To "give" the hated upper class of the city to its poor for them to vent. The dwarves were content to watch as the crowd looted and lynched, and they never interfered unless some got out of line.


    Similar sights were plentiful throughout the noble district of Zefirous, and even many of the storefronts of the merchant''s district were not spared. Often Reinhardt saw people who looked more like thugs and cutthroats amongst the crowd as they fanned the flames and led them in the looting.


    None of the crowd proved stupid enough to accost the hundred-strong group of very obviously armed and dangerous men and women, though Reinhardt thought Mischka''s group of massive warriors might have played a part in scaring the crowd off as well.


    It took them a good while of walking from the center of the city to the western gate, which was already ajar, and from there they went to the lakeside port. By then the sun had begin to set already.

 Chapter 53 - Secret Pathways

    "Secret pathways are pretty much the norm for larger noble residences, a city lord''s mansion, much less a castle or the likes? They''re bound to have a secret way out or three. People who got to such high positions rarely have clean hands after all, and that usually made them at least somewhat paranoid about their own skins." - Gunther Bj?rnsk¨±ld, the "Castle Breaker", famed mercenary captain circa 419 VA.


    "Oh, heya Reed! What''cha doing here?" Said a short-haired, freckled woman who held a bloody hammer in each of her hands as they walked into the port area. A tall mustached man with a long billhook in his hands followed along behind her. "Here to join in the fun?"


    Unlike the more¡­ unorganized way the people rioted and looted within the city, the port area was handled in a much more orderly manner. Groups of thugs tore down the doors to some stores and warehouses and emptied them out, while they left others alone.


    Reinhardt even saw the obvious look of schadenfreude on the faces of the merchants who were left alone and watched their rivals get robbed blind.


    "Hi, Cass," replied Elfriede to the freckled woman. Reinhardt recalled that she had mentioned an old acquaintance of hers was amongst those who pulled off the distraction west of town. Must be that freckled woman then. "Afraid not. Here on business. Could we borrow Arne for a bit? Got a place to find around here."


    "Eh, the boys have things in hand anyway, why not. I''ll come along too," said the freckled woman as she pushed the tall man behind her towards Reinhardt''s group. "Not like we got much better to do at the moment, and it''s getting boring to crack some unresisting lardsack''s face."


    "We''re looking for a specific building in the ports," said Elfriede to Arne, who had stepped closer, while she mostly ignored Cassie''s antics. The freckled woman had a talent for causing mayhem, which made her something of a loose cannon, but a useful one when used well.


    "Well, I''m born and raised right around here, so if you got enough clues to go around I''m pretty sure I could lead you to whatever you''re looking for," said the tall, mustached man. He tried to project a calm, steady look, but Elfriede caught a slight flinch and shiver from him when Mischka came closer with Lars in tow.


    "He will give you the details," said Elfriede as she pointed to Lars. For his own part, Lars came forward and quickly laid out all the details he could remember. They talked for a few minutes as Arne questioned him for details, before the mustached man nodded.


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    "Yeah, I think I know the place he meant. It''s a mostly unused warehouse around the fifth dock," said Arne with some confidence. "Follow me then. I''ll lead the way there."


    Despite how the looting had gone on for hours now, the docks were a large place, and so far most of the looting happened in the first three docks, which were where the richest merchants had their businesses.


    With Arne and Cassie ahead of them, the thugs let Reinhardt''s group pass without any fuss - not that any of them were insane enough to mess with such a large group of armed people to begin with - and they made their way through the docks at a quick pace.


    Where the first three docks were organized neatly, with decorated storefronts and roads paved with bricks, the fourth dock - which was separated by a distance to the first three - was noticeably worse. The brick-paved roads gave way to mud, and the stench of fish guts mixed with uncleaned excrements of every sort, human or otherwise.


    The fifth dock was in the same squalorous condition as the fourth, and there Arne quickly led the group towards the inner side of the dock. Here and there, they noticed how the people that lived there peeked out from behind their shutters and curtains, too afraid to come out from their ramshackle shacks.


    When they neared the area Arne mentioned, Elfriede paused for a moment. Reinhardt was about to ask her what happened, but she gave him a gesture to be quiet, and slowly walked towards a different direction, where she knelt and placed her hand on the mud.


    "It was faint, but there''s air circulating into an underground path around here," she stated after a while. Then she raised her head and turned towards Arne. "Looks like you got it in one. It''s headed in that direction."


    Between Arne''s knowledge of the docks, and Elfriede''s magical sense, they quickly found the warehouse they were looking for. It was an unassuming, dirty building. Only notable by the lack of signs of activity around it. Elfriede had traced the underground path towards that warehouse, though, and through her senses, she noticed around a dozen people who discreetly kept guard inside the building.


    "Around a dozen inside. The underground path isn''t a big one. I''d be surprised if more than thirty could even take it at once," said Elfriede quietly after she searched the warehouse and its surroundings. "Do we take care of those inside first and take their place?"


    "Better not," said Reinhardt as he shook his head. "The noise of a battle might alert the runaways, if any. For all we know they might have another escape route, so I''d rather wait for them to come here, then hit them."


    "Works for me. I''ll get them in place then," said Elfriede before she got up and immediately arranged for their hundred-strong force to hide themselves in the surroundings of the warehouse.


    In a few cases, they hid themselves inside the nearby residences. The residents were silenced with a hand over the mouth, then a gesture to remain silent coupled with a few coins. They were all too happy to remain silent after that.


    They had some difficulty with Mischka''s group, as their size made them rather difficult to hide, but after some finagling and a few words from Cassie and Arne, they hid the larger members in another warehouse a short distance away.


    After nearly another half hour of waiting, Elfriede finally gave a few silent gestures. She had sensed people in the underground path, and they were arriving soon.

 Chapter 54 - Nobles on the Run

    "The first priority one should have in any battle is to preserve one''s own life, for where there''s life, there''s a way to be had." - Ancient saying, source unknown.


    To say that Terrence Larsen was annoyed was an understatement.


    Born as the eldest child and heir to Nils Larsen, the count of Zefirous, he had been taught to lead from a young age. Of the superiority of nobility and the God-King''s grace, all lessons to be expected of a noble heir in the Holy Kingdom.


    He was never as zealous in his belief like his younger sister - and had no desire to be anywhere near that fanatical in his life, ever - but he proved competent in the subjects his teachers taught him, be they economics, strategy, or swordsmanship.


    Terrence was born a winner at life, and had expected a leisurely life as he simply needed to wait for his father to abdicate before his rightful birthright would be granted to him.


    Needless to say, the invasion of the infidels threw a wrench right into his plans and dreams.


    When he was sent to the south to delay the enemy advance, he managed to find himself a justification to retreat to Zefirous before too long. Along the way, he conveniently removed his younger siblings as well.


    Leandra was no real threat to him, and it was more her stubborn fanaticism that made her take herself out of the running. Finch on the other hand, he was all too glad to be rid of. Finch had always been their father''s favorite, and it had worried him that his father might have chosen to ignore primogeniture on a foolish whim.


    What Terrence had never expected even in his wildest dreams however, was that the infidels would take Zefirous on the first night they mounted the siege for real. The moats and walls of Zefirous had been his greatest assurance of safety, an impenetrable obstacle he felt safe behind.


    That they failed on the very first night of battle had made no sense.


    It was only later on that fragmented reports trickled in. The drawbridge was opened by traitors from within, one report said. Many of the conscripted soldiers had surrendered and abandoned their posts, another claimed.


    Both he and his father had cursed the thankless, worthless peasants for their cowardice, but it had done little to better their situation. They were still safe in the citadel momentarily, but they knew the situation would not last long, with the invading infidels within the city.


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    Sure enough, the citadel was besieged by the infidels before the sun had even risen. After a couple of hours, it was clear to them all that the citadel would not hold for much longer.


    That was when Lester Brequod, younger brother to the current Count of Norouz, had beseeched his father to escape if he had an escape route out of the city. The situation was untenable, claimed the nobleman, and it made no sense for them to fall with the city.


    His father had dithered for a moment, but finally agreed. They had quickly packed their most valuable belongings, then the three of them - the count''s wife had passed away when she gave birth to Finch - along with two dozen of their most trusted soldiers, half theirs, half house Brequod''s, left the citadel discreetly through a secret underground passageway.


    The underground path was built well, enchanted to prevent detection by earth mages from above, and led towards the port in the west of the city. Terrence couldn''t help but frown when he walked into the passage and breathed the stale air within.


    Soon he frowned even more as the stink of the slums replaced the stale air in the passage. Sections of the passage had ventilation, which had allowed fresh air to circulate. Unfortunately, for secrecy''s sake all these were located in the slums of the city.


    The smell became even worse as they proceeded onwards. The air stunk of rotten fish and other unmentionables, a stench that almost made Terrence gag. He only barely managed to avoid vomiting on the spot.


    After what felt like an eternity, he finally emerged in a dusty, empty warehouse, where a dozen soldiers of his house in civilian clothing greeted them. His father quickly stepped forward and straightened his clothes as he stood before them.


    "Report, what is the situation of the port?" asked his father after the soldiers gave him a respectful salute. Terrence braced himself for disappointment, as one of the first reports they received that night was of rioting in the western region of Zefirous.


    "Rioting and Looting in the first to third docks, milord," replied the older man who seemed in charge of the soldiers of the warehouse. "They had left the fourth dock onwards alone so far, but I don''t think we would be able to fight our way through there while ensuring your safety at the same time."


    "Shit," cursed Lester Brequod vehemently. Unlike Terrence and his father, the nobleman from Norouz had worn full plate armor, and had clearly exerted himself a bit during their trek to the docks. "My ships were at the first dock."


    "We had accounted for this possibility," said his father as he attempted to project a calm demeanor. "We have a smaller ship hidden here in the fifth dock. It should be enough to take us away to safety."


    "That bodes well. I applaud your foresight, Count Larsen," said Lester as he gave a relieved sigh. "So what are we waiting for? Lead us there, if you please."


    "Very well then. Captain Vorscht, have your men lead the way. Lord Brequod, if it does not trouble you, I would like your men to secure our sides," said his father with a nod. "The rest of my troops will secure our rear. Let us make haste."


    "Agreed," replied the nobleman as he ordered his guards to guard their sides. With a creak, the warehouse''s doors opened. A dozen guards in House Larsen''s colors marched out as they looked around and kept watch of their surroundings.


    The three noblemen, flanked by another dozen guards in House Brequod''s colors, followed closely behind, while the dozen guards in civilian clothing covered their rear.


    They had barely walked fifteen meters away from the warehouse before the captain of the guard in their front seemed to have noticed something and tried to shout a warning.


    He was silenced permanently before he could shout when a large meter-long arrow punched right through his skull, with the arrowhead protruding from the back of his head.


    Then all hell broke loose.

 Chapter 55 - Paying unto Them with Their own Coin

    "People always feared thick forests, jungles and valleys as spots where an ambush might await. I say that the most viable spot for ambushes are none of those.


    Instead, it would be within a city, with soldiers hidden in every building you could lay your hands on, to strike swiftly and fade again into the dark alleyways, until your opponent becomes paranoid at every shadow, every house and building in their sights." - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor and Founder of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Reinhardt was about to sound the signal for the ambush, with a signal flare that would explode with a brief flash and a loud noise, enough to disorient unprepared enemies and completely make a mess out of their night vision, when he noticed how one of the soldiers up front seemed to have spotted something.


    When the man opened his mouth to yell, Reinhardt pulled the cord and launched the flare, its dull red glow visible in the sky for a few moments. Just before he shut his eyes and held his hands over his ears, he saw an arrow take the man before he could yell, as Salicia had evidently noticed him as well.


    After a flash he noticed even with shut eyes, and a loud pop he heard even through his covered ears, he opened his eyes and leapt from where he had kept watch behind the roof of a larger shack, and landed with his polemace in hand.


    All around him, his troops poured out from the nearby shacks or the roofs, weapons brandished at the ready. Their targets were caught off guard. Many of them had failed to shield their eyes and ears and groaned even as they rubbed their temporarily blinded eyes.


    Reinhardt had no qualms whatsoever as he bashed in the head of one man who still busily rubbed his eyes. The flanges of his polemace formed a large dent on the man''s helmet, and he went down, bleeding from every orifice on his head.


    Their own targets, the nobles, were easy to identify. The three men in the center of the formation had practically announced themselves to be those nobles, with how two wore fine silks and the third wore an ornately crafted suit of full plate that eclipsed what the soldiers wore.


    Two of those three - the younger ones - reacted fast enough to cover their eyes and ears. The older one failed to do so though, and clearly reeled from the aftereffects of the flare.


    Even if they had not dressed so noticeably, the way the dozens of soldiers with them - those who managed to cover themselves from the flare at least - went into formation around them was a telltale sign anyway.


    They might as well have flown a banner that said "Here there be the Nobles you want" with how they acted.


    Gr¨¹nhildr struck from Reinhardt''s left, and he saw how one of the soldiers raised his shield to block her axes. The void-sheathed blades of her axes first cleaved through the man''s shield and arm, then took his head off his shoulders before the pain even registered in his mind.


    Salicia shot another arrow from her perch atop a warehouse in the distance. One of the soldiers on the other side of the formation stumbled and fell dead, as an arrow struck him from behind, right where his head and neck met.


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    Then Mischka and her group came and bullied their way through the enemy formation like a tyrant lizard loosed upon a flock of sheep. Reinhardt couldn''t help but wince in sympathy as he saw bodies sent flying, often bent in shapes the human body was definitely not supposed to be in.


    Even though some of the soldiers tried to reinforce the direction broken through by Mischka''s people, they faltered almost immediately as the therian matriarch herself stepped forward.


    Her massive three-meter half-ton frame towered over the human soldiers, and the oversized blade in her hand sheared one soldier in half before it got caught in the armor of a second, who was bent almost in half and hurled violently into the ground, the sickening crunch of bones breaking audible as he landed.


    From behind the massive frames of Mischka''s group, who had gone wild on the remaining soldiers, Elfriede, Cassie, and Ylisera came out. Mischka had admitted that her people might not be the best for capturing people alive, as they tend to be too rough for that, so they left that to those three instead.


    Both of the nobles in fine silks had drawn long, thin swords with elaborate hilts, the sort favored by nobles for formal duels. Reinhardt had always looked down on those as they were mostly ineffective on the battlefield. The one in plate armor pulled out a two-handed greatsword with a wavy blade though, and seemed quite adept at its use.


    Elfriede''s old acquaintance, the freckled woman she called Cass, descended on the older noble with a nearly manic grin on her face. The noble tried to stab at her with his sword, but he was clearly out of practice, grown weak and corpulent from age and a life of excess.


    Cassie caught the blade between her crossed hammers, clenched them tight around it, and twisted. The thin blade bent at first, before it reached the limit of the metal it was made of, then snapped cleanly.


    Before the nobleman could draw his dagger out, Cassie had already struck his right hand with one hammer, hard enough to shatter several of the bones in his hand, then with her other hand she struck his left knee, right in the kneecap. The nobleman howled in pain and fell as he clutched his shattered kneecap.


    The younger nobleman seemed to be reasonably proficient with his sword, and unlike the older one, had stayed in good shape. Unfortunately for him, he faced Ylisera, an elf who had lived over six times his own meager lifespan.


    After a parry with the dagger in her left hand, the saber in Ylisera''s right hand struck. She aimed right at a gap in her opponent''s ornately decorated handle, and sliced off a couple of his fingers with a quick cut.


    Even as the nobleman screamed in pain and dropped his sword, the elven woman twisted his other arm behind his back, and kicked his knees from behind as she forced him to kneel.


    As for the armored one, Elfriede seemed all too eager to handle him herself, so Reinhardt had not interfered. That nobleman was skilled with his sword, and he had deftly used his advantage in reach to keep Elfriede at bay, while the few times she managed to close in and strike, his armor deflected her blows.


    When the man noticed the other nobles were already taken down, however, he was visibly unsettled, and tried for a wide swing at waist height, either to force Elfriede to back off or to leap over the blade.


    Elfriede did neither.


    Instead, she bent her legs at the knee and allowed her body to drop to a nearly horizontal position as the muscles of her calves and feet strained to keep the posture. The wavy blade went over her, and she struck it from behind as it passed with one of her blades.


    The additional momentum made her opponent lose control for a moment. A moment long enough for her to dive inside his defense. She had swooped low, her left arm cocked back and low to the ground, as if she was about to slash upwards.


    Her opponent leaned back on reflex, his own greatsword out of position and too far away to block or parry the blow. He placed his trust in his armor, which had stopped every blow so far.


    Unfortunately, his plate armor, like most, was meant for riding, which meant some parts were left uncovered. Elfriede had not aimed for a slash. Instead, she stabbed the dagger on the pommel of her blade straight up, right into the nobleman''s crotch.


    Not even the chainmail he wore beneath his armor covered that area, and the clothes he had underneath parted easily as the blade sunk into his flesh, and the armored noble screamed like a pig being butchered as he collapsed, with his hands clutched around his crotch.


    Reinhardt couldn''t help but wince and reflexively close his legs together at the sight.

 Chapter 56 - Captives of Worth

    "The practice of ransom is the norm in most warfare. Commanders, nobles, knights, even footsoldiers in large enough quantities, are worth a ransom, or a prisoner exchange at least.


    It was when one of the warring sides refused to adhere to this practice that things got bloody. The number of the dead often multiplied, and it was not rare that such wars were followed with even worse slaughter.


    Countries that refused to practice ransom were thus usually avoided when possible, or else exterminated when not. By the modern day, no such country remained in the world." - Delvin Amble, J?tunbergian historian and chronicler.


    "Hooo-wee! That was fucking refreshing!" claimed Cassie to Elfriede while some of the other mercenaries trussed up the captive nobles they took down. They stripped the nobles down to their underwear to ensure they had no more tricks hidden, and also patched up their wounds, if rudimentarily. "I owe ya one, Reed! Been wantin'' to smash that fat fuck''s face in since like forever!"


    "Glad you enjoyed yourself then, Cass," said Elfriede as she scraped off the blood from her blade as if it had personally offended her. Reinhardt could almost feel the palpable disdain and disgust she had, towards both the blood on her blade and the man it came from. "We done packing up yet? If these shitstains ran here, that likely meant the citadel''s a goner already."


    "Just about," Reinhardt said as he lit his pipe. It felt rather cathartic to have things go well for a change. Between their ambush, the element of surprise, and the plain individual superiority of their troops, the attack had gone as planned.


    All thirty-six enemy guards were dead within three minutes, and all three nobles captured alive - though it had taken some finagling to stem the bleeding of the poor fuck Elfriede stabbed right in the family jewels - which made them good for double the bounty.


    On their side, only three of Mischka''s people, who had barreled through the enemy formation head-on, even had injuries, tiny ones that barely amounted to a scratch in their massive frames.


    Most of the delay between the fight''s end and now was spent as they stripped the nobles and patched up their wounds. As for their fine clothes, weapons, and armor, they naturally packed those up as well.


    Three of Mischka''s people carried a noble each over their shoulder, as if they were mere sacks of potatoes. From Cassie and Arne''s words, two of the nobles were the Count and his oldest son, though they were not familiar with the third.


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    Even so, Reinhardt had half of his people stay in the warehouse the nobles came out of, and bid them stand guard, just in case there were more to come. Salicia took command there, while he and Elfriede took their captives and walked back towards the citadel.


    The walk back took them less time, partly because by then the riots and looting had settled down. Many of the city''s inhabitants had just¡­ sat there, some clutching children close to them, as the high from the adrenaline washed off and the reality struck them.


    Their city had fallen, and the new non-human conquerors stood right before them, thick and stout of body, with short legs and oversized arms, and their proud beards in full display even with their armor on.


    Reinhardt saw the uncertainty and worry in most of the civilians'' eyes, and also how many flinched when he and Mischka came into view. For people who had never interacted with anything other than humans all their lives, the sight of them must have been quite a shock.


    Where the dwarves might be close enough to pass for a human who was just shorter and thicker and hairier who had some really swole arms, there was no disguising his own kind, and their far more animalistic features.


    He heard some of them hiss in surprise and fear, how others muttered in fearful tones - whether it was over his presence or over their uncertain fates, he knew not - when he passed by. Yet others noticed the human figures being carried like sacks in the shoulders of Mischka''s people.


    Some recognized them and yelled out what he assumed to be their identities, and almost as one, many of the adults in the crowd spat audibly as they affixed hateful stares at the captives.


    One of the women who stood close to the dwarves had misjudged and her spit landed on a dwarf''s scuffed boots. Reinhardt saw the woman blanch at the realization, and she scrambled forward as if she wanted to lick off the spit off the shoe with her tongue.


    Neither he nor the dwarf understood what the woman said, though from the tone of voice they could guess it to either be a profuse apology or begging for mercy, or more likely, both.


    The dwarf stopped the woman with a firm hand on her shoulder though, and he just gave her a laugh and shrugged as he scraped it off his boots in the dirt. He then said a few words to the woman but neither seemed to be able to communicate with the other.


    Reinhardt saw Elfriede peel off from their group and approached the dwarf and the woman. She then quickly said some words to the woman, then related her words back to the dwarves, before they all went their own way, the woman returning to the other civilians while bowing in thanks every few steps while the dwarf remained at his post and just waved back with one meaty hand.


    "What was that about?" Reinhardt asked when Elfriede returned to his side. He could guess most of the conversation even if he didn''t understand the woman, but her reaction had felt a bit overdone. Elfriede on the other hand spoke fluent dwarvish and Holy Kingdom.


    "The woman was pleading to spare her family," stated Elfriede coldly. The armored nobleman she caught happened to be near them and she casually punched him in the face as she walked by, knocking loose a couple of teeth. "It wasn''t unusual to punish the whole family here for such trifles. I wager how that dwarf just shrugged it off since it''s not like his boots were shiny anyway had already won some hearts amongst these folks."


    "Sheesh," said Reinhardt with a scrunched up expression. "I had thought it was bad here before, but didn''t think it''d be that bad. No wonder you had gotten the fuck out of here as soon as you could."


    "Oh yeah¡­ that and many other reasons."

 Chapter 57 - A Surprisingly Peaceful Occupation

    "Some idiots treat their own people so badly that they''d cheer when invaders took over the city. When it reached that point, all the invaders needed to do was just to be at least halfway decent people and they''d have the people pacified with minimal effort." - Farina Herencia Leandros, famed general from the Posuin Kingdom, known for conquering ten cities in one year, circa 237 VA.


    By the morning of the next day, Reinhardt woke up in a proper bed for once - "borrowed" from some of the buildings inside the citadel - and was about to stretch and yawn, yet found himself unable to do either.


    His left hand was somewhat numb, which was no surprise as Elfriede had used it as a pillow all night long. Her lithe form still clung tightly to his side, with one of her arms draped over his chest and a leg over his own.


    Yet what really made him unable to stir was the warm lump of fur on his stomach. His little daughter must have walked over to their bed last night and curled up to sleep on top of him, as she was wont to do from time to time.


    It had been a tiresome two days, where neither of them got any sleep at all. The assault at night continued straight to the city''s occupation, without time for breaks in between.


    Yesterday, shortly after he had delivered the noble captives - another four hundred gold pieces worth - he had excused himself. The Crown Prince was kind enough to allow his men to take one of the barracks in the citadel to use as a resting place.


    The battle in the citadel had been dogged and brutal, yet once the gate was breached, there was little the defenders managed to do against the rush of dwarven heavy infantrymen. By the time the fighting ended, maybe a few hundred dwarves lay dead, with twice that number injured.


    Not a single one of the defenders had asked for quarter, so none were given.


    With a sigh, Reinhardt rested his head back down on the bed and closed his eyes. Since he couldn''t exactly budge in his current situation, with both his wife and child sleeping on him, he might as well get some extra rest.


    There was no emergency at the moment anyway.


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    ******************************


    He woke up late that day, when Ery stirred and gave a cute yawn as she sat up on his belly. Elfriede was similarly awakened by the noise, and they took their time getting out of bed.


    They were given the room that had belonged to one of the count''s officers it seemed, as it had quite a few amenities he normally wouldn''t have expected in an army barracks. They took full advantage of those amenities and freshened up before they changed into fresh clothes and went out.


    Ery they had asked to wait for them though, and neither Reinhardt nor Elfriede went out unarmored. The city might have been occupied, but there was no telling if some individuals might have chosen to wage their own resistance to the occupiers.


    The Crown Prince and his commanders were occupied, as they were apparently in a meeting with Varsha''s people to discuss the city''s governance. Most of the dwarven army were resting, with roughly a quarter of their number on patrols as they kept the city''s order.


    Reinhardt thought that the patrols might not have been that needed, after all.


    While most of the city''s remaining inhabitants - still more than enough men and women, children and eldery to outnumber the occupiers by three to one or so - still looked at the dwarves with fear, a few had started to look at them with gratitude and respect instead.


    One of the first things the Crown Prince had done after the fighting ended was to open the food warehouses and distribute a lot of their contents to the poor citizens. It was a move that no doubt won some hearts, as many of the poorer folk rarely if ever got to eat their fill.


    Other than that, he also ordered the army to set up field kitchens all over the place, and many of the poor citizens lined up, some with disbelief in their eyes as piping hot food were freely distributed amongst them in abundance.


    Thin, malnourished children got to eat until their stomachs were contented for probably the first time in their lives. Many of the parents who had young children had bowed and thanked the dwarves sincerely. Reinhardt might not speak their tongue, but their body language and tone of voice already said a lot.


    That the Crown Prince had prohibited any pillaging or raping also helped calm the townspeople down. Such activities were commonplace amongst victorious armies of the continent, with the dwarves of Knallzog being one of the few nations who held their military to higher professional standards.


    As mercenaries based in the same country, both the Lances and the Brewers also adopted such professionalism and had made it a core of their own standards. As such, the inhabitants of Zefirous were mostly left unharmed even after occupation.


    Those few whose houses were pillaged or were summarily lynched in the streets, only had their own fellow townspeople to blame. Townspeople whose resentment had long built up against them, given a chance to act freely against them at long last.


    For an occupied city, life mostly continued normally. Other than the presence of dwarves who kept guard, or the occasional cavalrymen on patrol, there was little that hinted at a battle that just took place a mere day ago. He even saw how some young children ran along a group of patrolling cavalrymen and tried to touch their steed''s wool, or stood in awe as a rhinoceros passed by.


    The region itself was in a horrible state. The working adult population was reduced to less than half of what it used to be, probably closer to a third. On the other hand, there was an abundance of children present, as the too young children from the many villages had been brought to Zefirous, and were now cared for by many townspeople who sympathized with them.


    Perhaps if Knallzog were to bring some of their own people to help repopulate the land, then after another generation the region might return to how it used to be, Reinhardt thought.

 Side Story 12 - Changes in Zefirous

    "Change was usually a hard thing to stomach for many. Even if it made life better for most, there would always be a few dogged people who persisted in their preference to the older ways they were used to.


    Some countries tried to integrate these people peacefully, with tolerance and understanding. This worked at times, but at other times only emboldened those people to act out instead. As unreasonable as it may seem, they were unreasonable people to begin with.


    Neither my predecessor nor me were that soft or understanding. We grew up in the streets, all too aware of what life was for most in the old ways. We would do *anything* to keep it from ever returning.


    If that meant a few dozen throats had to be quietly slit in the night, then so be it. Hell, I''d do it myself if necessary." - Annelise Creussens, Governor of Zefirous, circa 36 FP.


    Varsha Creussens had been many things in her over six decades of life. A beggar, a cutpurse, at times a whore or a courtesan. Later she moved to killing and assassinations, was good at it, even, but she grew tired of such a life before long, as it weighed down on her conscience.


    She had tried to live a normal live, as a normal person. Something she went as far as faked her death for. For a short few years, she was contented with such a life, before it too, came to an end violently as her husband perished in war.


    Even her attempts to raise her daughter to allow her a better life had not worked out that well. Despite all her efforts and hard work, her beloved child still ended up losing her life to a pissant whoreson of a noble. All she was left with was her young, half-crippled, blind granddaughter.


    She had tried to make life somewhat easier for her grandchild even from her meager position within the city''s criminal element''s hierarchy, but in the end, it was her grandchild who surprised her.


    That day many years ago when she found her grandchild in the overseer''s room, having just put a knife in the deplorable man''s throat, Varsha had been ashamed of her own reluctance, the unwillingness to dirty her hands once more.


    She had changed from that day onward. From her low position, she quietly plotted to overthrow the rulers of the city''s underworld, starting with the faction she was part of. Her grandchild had been a blade in her hand during those eventful years, as she had inherited her skills and had taken to the killing without any of the burdens that had plagued her long ago.


    Over those years she had crawled up the ladder until she became the sole ruler of the city''s underworld, a position she kept with a firm hand on the rudder. She used her position and connections to the black markets to get her grandchild a legitimate identification, one that would have allowed her to live outside the accursed nation they were born in. A better life where she could carve her own path.


    Now, a decade after she had left, her granddaughter had returned. Older and more mature, yet at the same time, someone who had fully immersed herself into a life of violence, judging from the scars on her body and how she came as a representative from a mercenary company that was part of the army besieging the city.


    The offer she had brought on behalf of her employer was almost too good to be true. Yet Varsha chose to take it, a gamble that her own grandchild would not have been party to such a deception which targeted her.


    She was honestly surprised that the dwarves - the priests had always referred to them only as demi-human barbarians who supposedly feast on human flesh - had kept their promise to the letter. Not a single one of the stout, thickly built invaders pillaged or raped in the city, as they simply stood by and kept things in order.


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    They had not even retaliated violently when a few people who were besides themselves had thrown themselves against them, as the dwarven soldiers had handled those people almost gently, if firmly.


    When she was summoned in the morning to discuss the future governance of the city, she was surprised as she saw the how the dwarves distributed food to the poor, and how they had set up large field kitchens to feed them as well.


    Varsha was nervous for the meeting, even if she had brought two of her lieutenants and Annelise - who had served as her assistant for a while - with her. She was surprised yet again to find herself in the presence of the Crown Prince himself, however, along with two grizzled old dwarves he introduced as Grafs - a dwarven noble rank equivalent to a duke in neighboring Posuin or Clangeddin - of Meergant and B?rengant, both high nobles of the dwarven kingdom.


    The ensuing discussion was civil, and went beyond even her wildest hopes. The dwarves were committed to uphold the agreement they offered to her. She would be made regent of the town, after a five-year observation and probationary period.


    They had even discussed matters that went further, like plans to repopulate the region. The dwarves had prepared for such an eventuality, and said that they had as many as twenty thousand farmers and workers who had volunteered to the new lands.


    To that, Varsha had given her own counter-suggestion, which was to allow the poor of Zefirous to help handle all the now abandoned villages and farmland together with the dwarven immigrants, though under the condition that they were to adopt and raise a child orphaned by the war.


    The three dwarves had conferred for only a short moment before they told her that it was a brilliant idea, and even proposed fo allow the dwarven immigrants to also adopt such children, to further integrate the peoples together. It was a suggestion she had never expected to hear, in all honesty.


    Their amicable discussion lasted until the afternoon, before they finally excused themselves, though not before they scheduled another appointment the next day. Before she left, Varsha asked where the mercenaries her grandchild was part of lived, and they had pointed out the direction to her.


    Varsha had told her lieutenants to return first and share the good news with the rest. She brought Annelise - who wanted to see how her once "big sister" lived - with her and headed to the barracks she was pointed towards.


    When she reached the barracks, the sight that greeted her was an unexpected one. The large barracks was enough to easily accomodate two thousand soldiers. The mercenaries had made full use of that and brought their dependents and families there as well.


    It was a rowdy sight with many children playing around outside the barracks, watched by people she assumed were their parents. They were a mixed bunch, people of every sort and race present in their midst


    Varsha searched for familiar faces in the mixed group of people she could see, but in the end it was a familiar face that found her first instead. A tall, one-eyed woman jumped down from the roof of the barracks and landed nimbly near her, which surprised Annelise and almost made her jump.


    "What brought you here, madam Mayor?" asked the woman. They clearly had expected that the dwarves would have held their end of the deal, which was indeed the case, and that Varsha would be the Mayor of the city soon.


    "I''m just looking for¡­ Elfriede," she replied as she mentioned her granddaughter''s name, the one she had chosen for her when she left a decade ago. "Is she around perchance?"


    "She''s out with the captain," replied the one-eyed woman with a shake of her head. Then she looked up at the sky before she went on. "They ought to be back in an hour or two at most though, if you don''t mind waiting."


    "That''d be fine, thanks," Varsha replied. The one-eyed woman pointed at an empty bench and invited her to seat herself, and she did so. Annelise seated herself next to Varsha, her eyes still wide open in wonderment at the mixture of people from all sorts of races around her.


    They spent the time waiting as they watched the children at play. It was an¡­ enlightening experience about the other races, especially when a massive bear-like being that towered over them came over, just to crouch down and allow a bunch of the kids onto her back before she ran around the place with the kids whooping in joy. Many of the other kids had ran along with her. Some on all fours.


    An indeterminate amount of time passed before Varsha finally spotted her grandchild returning, as she walked besides a tall man who looked like a large, predatory feline of sorts. Probably the captain the woman mentioned earlier.


    Varsha was just about to stand and call out to her when one of the kids - a little girl she thought probably five or six years of age - that looked a lot like a miniature version of the captain had run to them and leapt into her granddaughter''s embrace.


    The child had called her "mother".

 Chapter 58 - Introductions to be Made

    "Of all the surprises you could get, I''d say suddenly finding out you''re a great-grandmother was one of the biggest in my life." - Varsha Creussens, Mayor of Zefirous, circa 7 FP.


    "Oh, hi Varsha," said Elfriede nonchalantly when they had walked closer to the barracks. Reinhardt quickly noticed the old woman who stood near a bench with her arms crossed, alongside a younger woman who appeared to be in her teens.


    "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What had I taught you all these years for?" said the old woman as she clicked her tongue. Reinhardt noticed the mock outrage in the woman''s tone and let it be. If her story was the truth, then this was his grandmother-in-law after all. In his arms, Ery squirmed and turned around to look at her with curiosity as well. "You didn''t even let me know you got married? With a kid at that!?"


    "Didn''t want you distracted while we''re fighting for the city," cited Elfriede all too nonchalantly. Reinhardt thought that she probably just outright forgot to share the news, which wouldn''t be strange. When on a mission, Elfriede tended to be very focused on the job often to the point of forgetting many things. "Honest."


    Reinhardt heard the old woman make a harrumphing noise, one that made it obvious that she hadn''t bought Elfriede''s excuse. He had to hold back a chuckle at the look she gave Elfriede, and just shook his head at the sight.


    "Maybe it''ll be more comfortable to have a chat inside," he said as a friendly gesture to the old woman. The woman looked to him, then back to Elfriede, then back to him again, before she sighed and gestured for him to lead the way, so he did just that as they followed behind his long strides.


    ******************************


    "I do not believe we have been formally introduced yet," said Reinhardt as he brought them to one of the empty meeting rooms in the barracks. The four of them had seated themselves around a small table, with Erycea seated on Elfriede''s lap as she looked on with curiosity. "Reinhardt Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances mercenary company," he said as he extended his right hand for a handshake.


    "Varsha Creussens," replied Varsha as she accepted the gesture and shook Reinhardt''s hand. Her grip was decidedly firm for a woman of her age, and he felt some worn calluses on her hand that indicated a life filled with violence. "I guess you already heard the news, but I''ll be the mayor of the bloody city starting tomorrow. Officially, that is."


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    "Right. I guess I should probably call you grandmother-in-law as well, since I''m married to your granddaughter," said Reinhardt with a smile. Varsha seemed unperturbed, while Annelise flinched a bit at his smile, which had unnerved many people before, on account of there being too many sharp teeth in open display. "That''s Erycea, our child," he added as he pointed to Ery, who raised her little head above the table as she looked at Varsha curiously. "Ery, say hi to your great grandma."


    "Hi, great grandma," said the little girl cheerfully from Elfriede''s lap. Reinhardt saw the change in the old woman''s demeanor instantly, how the tension on her shoulders and the mock indignation vanished.


    He had guessed right. There were no grandparents out there that were immune to a young grandkid being adorable in front of them. His own adoptive father had always reacted the same way when Ery gave him a cute look.


    Before long, Varsha and Annelise''s focus shifted from talking with Reinhardt and Elfriede to doting on Erycea, who quite naturally enjoyed being doted upon. After a while, Reinhardt excused himself and left Elfriede to play host to Varsha while he dealt with a different introduction to be made.


    He went down to one of the smaller individual rooms and opened the door, where he found Lars reading a book on his bed. The young tactician had gotten up immediately when Reinhardt came in, and looked him straight in the eyes with resolve. "So¡­ it''s time to settle the bills, is it not?"


    "You always knew the time would come," said Reinhardt as he brought the young man along to descend the stairs. Several eyes turned to look at them as they reached the main floor of the building, which was where most of the mercenaries were housed. "Relax, we got healers around so you won''t die."


    "That''s like the opposite of reassuring to hear, you know?" protested Lars to which Reinhardt only chuckled. Instead, he called out loud to the gathered mercenaries, followers, and dependants, which made most eyes turn to him and Lars.


    "Now that I have your attention, folks," he started as he pushed Lars forward, which drew the gathered people''s attention to him. "This man is Lars of Zefirous. By his own admission, he planned and suggested the ambushes we fell into and the first attack on Fort Ascher."


    "Since I''m introducing him here, most of you likely already got a gist of what''s up," he continued, as he raised a hand to forestall any outbursts from the crowd. "This guy got us good. And had surrendered himself. I feel it would be a waste not to make use of his talents, given his history. As usual, should any of you feel like you still have grievances you wish to vent, step forward now, or else we''ll consider things even unless he proved a disappointment."


    For a long moment, nobody moved as they just stared at Lars. The attention made the young man gulp in nervousness, and he almost sighed in relief when finally someone moved towards him with firm steps and slapped him hard on the face.


    "That''s for my grandson," said Ursula as she looked Lars in the eye. Reinhardt was aware that the old woman had lost one of her grandchildren in the ambushes. "You better live up to the expectation and use that brain of yours to keep my other two alive!"


    Ursula was followed by a succession of others, every single one of whom had lost a loved one or friend in either the ambushes or the first battle of Fort Ascher. Some punched him. Others pinched his arm or leg and twisted hard until they left a quickly purpling bruise.


    A few even stabbed him, though they kept to the limbs. Kasimir''s father was one of them, as he stabbed Lars on the shoulder while crying for him to give back his family. A few others also got emotional as they vented their grief on him.


    All the while, Loren was on duty as he kept the injuries from growing too serious. By the time the crowd dispersed and finished, Lars was beaten black and blue, bruised all over, with at least a dozen stab wounds on him, but his life was not threatened.

 Chapter 59 - Appointment and Punishments

    "Due to the dwarven preference to life underground, the cities in their territories were often split into an over-city and an under-city. It was common for a non-dwarf to be appointed as mayor of the over-city, as while the dwarves remained overall in charge, they were content to leave the matters above ground to those that actually lived their lives there.


    This policy has generally resulted in a happier populace who were content under the dwarven rule, and its widespread use was partly the reason why Knallzog had grown from a small kingdom of refugees and exiles into a powerhouse that rivaled the Kingdom Down Under over the past few centuries." - Floren Jonqvist, Historian from Levain, circa 586 FP.


    In the morning of the next day, Reinhardt had brought the entirety of the Free Lances as they lined up neatly to the side of a large public square just outside the former Count''s citadel. On the other side opposite his, Barnaby''s people had lined up as well. Part of the dwarven army lined up between them, an intimidating display formed by their combined formation.


    Opposite from the arrayed soldiers and mercenaries were the townspeople. Most adults who could afford to had gathered, as the dwarves had told them all to gather on the public square. It had taken hours to get tens of thousands of people in place, but eventually they decided that enough of the people had gathered.


    The Crown Prince, Varsha, Grafs McBaine and Harscape, and Elfriede had climbed to a prepared wooden stage set before the assembled army. Then the Crown Prince cleared his throat and the people fell silent. Several wind mages worked in tandem to transfer his voice to every spectator present.


    Then the Crown Prince launched into a speech. It was a formal speech, delivered in ceremonial tones, in formal dwarven language as tradition dictated. At first they had considered using common since none of the locals spoke dwarven, but the presence of an interpreter allowed them to do things the traditional way instead.


    Every sentence or two the Crown Prince paused and allowed Elfriede to translate his words into the local tongue, which she did fluently. The speech itself was mostly formality, its contents about the history of the kingdom, their claim to the city by right of conquest, and how, by the power invested in him, he proclaimed Varsha as the probationary Mayor of the city, to serve further should her tenure prove satisfactory.


    In return, Varsha swore an oath of loyalty and submission to the kingdom, following the dwarven traditions - Elfriede had translated them for her - while Elfriede translated her words into dwarven back to the Crown Prince.


    The crowd had listened carefully, and gave a wary applause when the ceremony was done and the dwarves along with Elfriede left the stage. Varsha then stood at the center of the stage. The old woman stood tall, with her hands on her hips.


    "Citizens of Zefirous!" she said, with the wind mages amplifying her voice to reach even those at the back of the crowd. "Times have changed, as you all have no doubt noticed. We are part of the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz no more, I don''t think any of you would want to be part of them any longer anyway, would you?"


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    Murmurs and headshakes from the crowd answered her, to which Varsha gave a satisfied nod before she continued on.


    "For far too long have we toiled and suffered under the yoke of those who called themselves our betters, whether it be by birth or by ''holy decree''. Far too long had they enjoyed extravagance while they stepped on our backs," she said even as some muscular men carried wooden boards towards the stage. "For far too long had the nobles and the priests sucked on our lifeblood just to enrich their own!"


    More murmurs arose from the crowd, as well as shouts of approval and anger. Her words had stoked the crowd''s tempers, just as she wanted it.


    "Now behold! These are the ones who used to dine from wealth gained from our sufferings!" yelled Varsha at the top of her voice as the men set up the wooden boards - each the size of a large door - on the stage. On each of the five boards, a man was nailed directly to it by their wrists and ankles. Three old, two young, all with the typical pale skin of Theodinaz nobility.


    Many in the gathered crowd recognized them despite their miserable states. The men were the Count, his eldest son, the noble who came from Norouz, and two of the highest ranked priests of the church, who had been found hiding in the count''s mansion.


    Then Varsha descended from the stage even while the dwarves behind the stage parted to the side. She stood in front of the crowd as she clapped her hands thrice, and the same group of large men came as they carried tens of large crates from which a rotten stench emanated.


    When the dwarves had captured the cities main food warehouses - located within the Count''s citadel - they had found a massive stockpile of food, enough to last the city and its people for a year, easily.


    That was not all however. They also found plenty of food that had gone bad and rotten. Apparently the nobles preferred to let the stockpiled food rot rather than give it to the poor. The horrible waste was one that disgusted the dwarves, bur Varsha asked them to keep some of the rotten foodstuffs.


    Now those crates were brought before the waiting crowd and opened. The rotten stench instantly intensified, and several people retched on the spot. Varsha seemed to ignore it as she stepped towards one of the crates and took a rotten egg into her hand.


    "These whoresons would rather let their food rot than give it to us! Look at all these before you! Look at all our new lords gave freely to us! Those all come from what these whoresons hoarded!" she yelled with an increasingly agitated tone. "Nay! Calling them whoresons is an insult to whores everywhere! Even they would have drowned these shitstains at birth!"


    After her tirade ended, Varsha pulled her arm back, and hurled the rotten egg right into the face of the one noble from Norouz with all her strength. The eggshell shattered as it accurately struck the man''s forehead and disgorged its putrid contents all over his face.


    "People of Zefirous! Let us pay unto our lords exactly what they deserved! Do not throw stones! They need to suffer longer for their crimes!" added Varsha as she egged the people further.


    The angry crowd needed no further agitation. They went to the carts and picked up rotten eggs, fruits, and vegetables, and hurled them towards the stage. The putrid stench intensified right away, as the dwarves and the mercenaries distanced themselves further away from the stage. Some of them with sharp noses like Reinhardt had long plugged their nostrils to spare themselves of unnecessary suffering.


    Even when the nobles and priests were half-buried under rotting foodstuffs, the crowd''s rage was yet to be sated. Then some of them had a bright idea and left the square¡­ only to return while pushing a cart full of buckets of night soil.


    Those men and women lifted the buckets with manic grins and dumped their contents all over the stage even as the dwarves and mercenaries retreated further away, unwilling to become collateral damage as crowd dumped bucket after bucket on the stage.


    Eventually, some of the dwarves had enough when the filth began to flow their way and used magic to create an earthen rim around the stage. That did not stop the now enthusiastic crowd though, as they kept bringing more buckets of filth from all over the city and poured it in.


    They only stopped when the night soil inside the earthen rim had completely drowned the five men inside, and the crowd finally dispersed in satisfaction.

 Chapter 60 - State of the War

    "Reliable, timely information is one of the most crucial factors one needs to execute a war or campaign. Far too often, commanders on the field would grow overconfident over outdated or inaccurate information and cause disasters for their men.


    This shall be avoided at all costs going forward, ladies and gentledwarves." - Crown Prince Aethelbald Stahlfaust III, a speech just prior to departure into the Holy Kingdom, circa 2 FP.


    "Latest information stated that Ezram fought a hard battle at Fort Uspov north of Eganiz and awaited reinforcement before they will make an attempt to assault the city itself," said Graf Angus Harscape of B?rengant as he read the latest intelligence report in his hands. "Estimated losses on their side are said to be in the thirty thousand range, with slightly more losses taken by the defenders."


    "And what of the east?" asked Graf Lloyd McBaine of Meergant from his seat to the other side of the Crown Prince.


    "The forces of the March of Galastine had marched alongside those of Sevral," said the old dwarf with a more severe tone. "Best estimates placed their combined forces at close to sixty thousand, perhaps seventy or more."


    That the dwarven expedition was dwarfed in numbers - they would have only had forty thousand even if the first detachment was intact - was of no surprise to the gathered leaders. That was more due to a difference in military doctrine and mindset.


    The norm for most nations was to maintain a small cadre of professional soldiers - usually directly under a noble or a monarch''s command - and to supplement their numbers with conscripted peasant levies and mercenaries.


    This was the case in the former Clangeddin Empire and Posuin Kingdom, as well as Ezram to the north. The Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz was an outlier in this particular case.


    For a small nation of only around a million people, they had a massively disproportionate military at hand. Roughly fifty thousand served as garrison forces, ones entrusted to defend their kingdom from invasions.


    But what most nations were wary of, was their elite military force, the Hands of the God-King. This force of roughly fifty thousand had been the best the Holy Kingdom had to offer. Only the fanatically loyal were allowed to be part of the unit, and they also had a disproportionately high ratio of combat mages in service.


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    It was no exaggeration to say that their neighbors had left the Holy Kingdom alone despite their loathing because of this unit. The expenses needed to handle such a massive horde of trained zealots backed with oversized mage cadres had made strategists and tacticians in the neighboring kingdom suffer from headaches.


    When the Hands had broken themselves on the Unliving of Paradise, so too had ended the worries, which led to the current invasion of the Holy Kingdom.


    In contrast to the human habit of using peasant levies, the longer-lived dwarves took a different approach. Every single dwarf received mandatory military training in their youth. While not many remained and made a career for themselves in the military, should it be needed, the dwarves had massive reserves of militarily trained people to call upon.


    As it was, the current invasion into the Holy Kingdom was undertaken with merely those elements of the military Knallzog could mobilize rapidly. Even then they were not to be underestimated. Any dwarves who made a career in the military were easily more than a match for two or three trained human soldiers.


    "They had taken Fort Ougadox with minimal losses, and currently laid siege as they attempted to assault Boeranaz, though with minimal results as of yet," added Graf Harscape, as he mentioned the eastern city and fort of the Holy Kingdom. "I expect they''d be stuck there for a couple weeks to a month at most."


    "And of our third detachment?" asked the Crown Prince. The first detachment was the one led by Graf Harscape. The second was the Crown Prince''s group, which had departed prematurely when they received news of the ambushes the first detachment faced. The third detachment were the rest of the troops supposed to depart with the Crown Prince but had not made it in time when he departed.


    "They should arrive within the week, Your Highness," replied the Graf with a smile. The third detachment had twenty thousand more soldiers, mostly drawn from the kingdom''s further southern and eastern regions, which was why they arrived late.


    "Very good," noted the Crown Prince with a nod. He then sheafed through a bunch of sheets and took a quick glance at their contents.


    "So, gentlemen, despite the early debacle we faced, so far our advance has still kept up with our planned schedule," said the Crown Prince as he cleared his throat. "The loss of the majority of the first detachment was regrettable, but we had evened out with this victory in Zefirous, which went much, much better than we could have ever expected. Praises for the Free Lances for having made this possible."


    Reinhardt bowed his head in thanks as the dwarves offered him nods of gratitude. The original plans for Zefirous had called for a siege and heavy assaults, and had accounted for an expected loss of ten thousand soldiers or more. They had instead only lost less than a thousand, with around another two thousand injured.


    "We have roughly twenty-five thousand who are ready to fight more¡­ Graf McBaine, when the third detachment arrives, I want you to pick five thousand from their ranks," said the Crown Prince. "We will leave the injured here, while you shall lead the garrison forces to hold the city. Do not interfere with the city itself unless they step out of line. Is that understood?"


    "Yes, Your Highness," replied the old dwarf with a bow. "Your will shall be done."


    "Excellent," said the Crown Prince as he nodded. "For the rest of you, have your troops be ready for departure by seventhday, but otherwise, you may rest for the time being."

 Chapter 61 - Finding Information

    "Other than its often-fanatical populace, another reason its neighbors mostly left Theodinaz alone was because the nation happened to be highly defensible from three directions.


    To the south, thick tropical rainforests formed jungles inhabited by all manners of beasts and monsters, a region where only the foolhardy or the daring would tread beyond the available trails and roads.


    To the east, the great river Norges formed a physical barrier right by the border with the Clangeddin Empire, the river''s current swift and its waters so deep even a rider on a horse would find themselves fully submerged in it.


    On the North, the Faradein mountain range made invasion a difficult prospect, with the only large pass through the range covered by a military fort, which promised to make any invasion attempt a bloody one.


    Only the west of the nation was open. The breadbasket of the Holy Kingdom, it was a region of rolling plains that transitioned to deserts near its southern borders. Due to its lack of natural barriers, this region was always the most heavily garrisoned of the Holy Kingdom''s territories." - Halec Losarte, Cartographer from the Kingdom of Posuin, circa 569 VA.


    "So we''re headed west next then, captain?" asked Lars when Reinhardt returned to their temporary residence and relayed the news to everyone else. After the announcement, he had called for the unit leaders to gather, the same gathering as the last time in Fort Ascher, only with Lars added.


    Unexpectedly, when offered their freedom to leave and live their lives in peace, almost all of Lars'' small group of twenty had declined and chosen to join him under the company''s services instead. The two who had left, had done so as they apologized profusely, as they had families of their own to care for, but was seen off in good humor by the rest nonetheless.


    The eighteen that remained were all youngsters, in their early twenties at most. All of them were orphans like Lars himself, and none of them had families of their own. In a way, Reinhardt increased his estimation of the tactician a notch, given how he had inspired such loyalty in his people.


    "That is correct," he answered with a nod and a swish of his tail. One of his fingers, claw extended for emphasis, traced a line between Zefirous, where they were at, and Norouz to its north and west. "Keep in mind that we will be a small player this time. Three hundred and change of ours in this army of around forty thousand."


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    "And our objectives?" asked Lars as he peered closer to the map. The map was a new and detailed one, spoils from the count''s mansion. He carefully looked closer to the lands near Norouz as he waited for Reinhardt''s reply.


    "Stay alive, and if possible, do whatever we''re paid to do," replied Reinhardt quickly. "Given our low numbers, I doubt we''d be tasked with anything crucial. The Crown Prince''s been an understanding employer so far, but better to prepare for anything just in case. Do you have anything you wish to add, Lars?"


    "Just a few things," replied the young man. His intense look as he studied the map despite his still-bruised face made for an odd juxtaposition overall. "What the intelligence reported pretty much matched what I know of."


    "The western region had always been garrisoned the most heavily since it''s both important and also open, unlike the rest," continued the young tactician. "Even when they sent off the Hands last year, they left the western garrison pretty much untouched, so we can expect them to be in full force, plus whatever they levied out of the region."


    "And how much would that likely amount to?" asked Reinhardt in turn. "The Crown Prince''s men estimated at least fifty to sixty thousand awaiting us."


    "That''s an optimistic estimation. I''d wager we''d have closer to seventy-five to ninety thousand to face instead," answered Lars with a frown. "The west had more villages than the south by a good bit, and we can expect their garrison force to come in full force as well. Say sixty to seventy thousand militia, of the sort you''ve all faced in Fort Ascher. Plus another twenty thousand soldiers on top, more than half of them cavalrymen."


    "That many? The reports had said that the west held a sizable cavalry contingent, but had not been clear about their numbers."


    "Norouz and its surroundings are where the biggest horse ranches in the Holy Kingdom are. They supply the majority of the warhorses used by the army," said Lars as he circled around the western city with his pointer finger. "They naturally kept a large cavalry contingent themselves, given their location on the plains. I do not have exact numbers, but last I heard it was over ten thousand."


    "That''s information worth bringing to the table. Good work," praised Reinhardt with a nod. Several of the others also gave Lars nods of acknowledgement as well. "Though I don''t think even cavalry would budge the dwarven lines that much, especially with their heavies up front."


    "I believe the majority of the cavalry will be comprised of light cavalry, captain. Skirmishers and raiders, not chargers and linebreakers. At least that''s how the doctrine was with the Hands," added Lars. "While I have little doubt the dwarves would easily hold their own against a charge, mobile skirmishers might trouble them more unless measures were taken beforehand."


    "Also a warning worth bringing to the table. Carry on if you have any information you think might be even the slightest bit relevant," said Reinhardt with another nod. "Anything that comes to mind will do."


    "Hmm¡­ The current count is a general in his own rights. He had made his name in battles against Posuin as a teenager three decades ago, and again when another incursion happened just a decade ago," said Lars after some thought. "He was supposedly close to his younger brother¡­ so he might very well lead his army personally when the news of his brother''s¡­ execution reached him."


    "Then maybe we ought to feed him shit like we did his brother then," chimed in Elfriede from the side, as several of the others gathered couldn''t help but chuckle.

 Chapter 62 - War Preparations

    "When you get the chance to take a break, to fix things up or make them better, even if it''s a mere half a day before the fellas who used them had to go and fight for their lives again, you always take it.


    Every little bit helps. Every single scale or chain repaired might just save a life. Fixing those little notches off the blades might be all that kept them from breaking apart. You''d be surprised how quickly a mercenary band might fall apart without competent followers to support them from behind." - Helmut Poerengard, blacksmith and camp follower for Horst''s Hellraisers mercenary company, circa 3 FP.


    Since they took Zefirous and settled the populace by thirdday of the week, the assembled armies had the remaining four days to rest and relax for once. Most of the army had done so, as they caught up to the rest they were short on after an overnight battle.


    A few who had been more energetic took walks around the city. While much of the merchant district - especially the more opulent parts - were decidedly inoperative after the looting and sacking they had been through, the lower regions, where the poorer people congregated, were already back in operation.


    For a city under hostile occupation, the atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful, and one full of hope, if somewhat tinged with worry and apprehension. That the dwarves had so freely shared food with the populace and even set up some field kitchens to feed them had won the hearts of many, and definitely caused the tension to deflate.


    Varsha had also gone to work almost immediately after she was officially set as the probationary mayor. Many people Reinhardt would have pegged as members of the criminal elements or the less savory parts of the city patrolled the streets and kept order. Others volunteered and helped take over the field kitchens so as to allow the dwarves to rest.


    Some of those dwarves in turn walked the streets on their breaks, as the sight of them became a common thing in the city. A few times Reinhardt spotted a dwarven soldier on break sitting alongside some of the townspeople by an eatery and chatted with them, even as the townspeople tried to talk back in often broken, heavily accented common.


    The language barrier was honestly the biggest issue in assimilating the city. Even common wasn''t commonly spoken amongst the populace, as most of them only knew the Holy Kingdom''s tongue. Varsha''s people were an exception, as she had made sure all of them could speak common.


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    Already he heard of plans to have people who speak common to accompany those that would migrate to the now empty villages, one to translate and act as a go-between with the dwarven settlers to come, and another to teach the language to the rest.


    But where the city already began its transition to a hopefully peaceful future, and the fighting men and women rested their tired bodies, for other groups, the battle was at its most intense.


    In every smithy in the city, the clangs of hammers on metal resounded. Blacksmiths, both local and those affiliated with the occupying army were busy at work as they repaired weapons and armor, and in a few cases, made new ones.


    Fletchers busied themselves as well, as they turned a collection of trunks and branches, feathers and glue, as well as pre-made or repaired arrowheads into functional arrows by the bundle. A couple of fletchers from the Free Lances drew odd looks as they worked and crafted oversized arrows the size of a small javelin for a certain someone.


    Armorers repaired damaged gambesons and leathers that were still salvageable, and otherwise made new ones as they recycled the materials as best they could. The days between battles were always the most hectic for these people, as they worked to make sure their fighters would go into the next battle in the best shape possible.


    Where those working for the army focused on repairs, the blacksmiths of the Free Lances worked together with their armorers, as they crafted suits of brigandine mail sized for the massive group of people under Mischka''s command.


    Due to their size, many of them had gone into battle mostly wearing gambesons or quilted leathers, as it was difficult and prohibitively expensive to get a blacksmith working on proper armor they could fit into.


    With all the battlefield salvage they acquired so far, however, money and materials weren''t a big worry. Reinhardt and Lars had both agreed that the bulky, physically intimidating group would be even more effective had they been properly armored, and as such they had set their followers to make it so.


    Already the first few suits - tailored to match their wearers - had been finished, while blacksmiths worked to make the plates to be riveted inside the layers of the armor by the armorers.


    Mischka wore one of the first suits as she gave a few test swings with her massive blade. The brigandine covered her whole torso, upper arms, and fell far enough to also cover the top half of her trunk-like thighs. Her forearms were covered with bracers made similarly, extending into fingerless gloves that covered the back of her paws.


    Other suits, individually tailored, were being finished as well. One for Yuri even had an extra sleeve to cover his trunk with.


    By the time the seventhday came, the day the third wave of the dwarven offense grouped with them and a day before they set out towards the west, the Free Lances were prepared for battle, better equipped than before by a long shot. Many of their smiths and armorers were in a deep, exhausted sleep after the last few days of hard labor.


    On firstday morning the next week, the army departed from Zefirous, forty thousand strong as they marched westward. A garrison of five thousand was left behind, along with the couple thousand wounded, and many of the townspeople even saw them off as they marched.

 Chapter 63 - The Eve before the Battle

    "The relative widespread usage of spatial storage artifacts meant that an army''s logistics was usually only limited by the pockets of the nation it came from. Using such artifacts turned logistics from the hardest part of a campaign into a completely different game.


    Richer nations could afford to equip every single soldier with a storage roughly the size of a rucksack to a trunk. Any storages larger than these were typically reserved for officers to use, which tend to be heavy with vital documents and supplies.


    At first it was the norm to carry one''s food supplies in crates full of smaller storage artifacts, each of which crammed to the brim with rations and other foodstuff. This practice died out long ago when some enterprising nation managed to starve out their opponent''s larger army by stealing the crate they carried their food in, forcing them to a humiliating surrender.


    Since then, it was more common to distribute these food supplies to designated soldiers in each squad or team, a practice which carried a bonus in that isolated soldiers usually had plenty of food supplies to help them survive better on the run." - Eldigan Sch?nberg, scholar of military history, circa 607 VA.


    "They''re nearby, boss. Ought to be tomorrow for the fight, latest," said Hannah as she returned from her scouting mission. The Free Lances had traveled together with the dwarven army of forty thousand for the past week and a half towards Norouz. They were camped for the night, roughly two days out from the city, when Hannah spotted the enemy.


    "They shouldn''t be that dumb to try a night attack on us¡­ did the army''s scouts also notice them?" Reinhardt asked after he gave the avian girl a moment to rest and take a long drink from her water bag. "And we''re a bit too far to pull one off on them unnoticed, I think."


    Unlike humans, dwarves could see just fine in the night, as they were used to living in the dark underground. For that reason, when the human kingdoms nearby fought the dwarves, they always avoided fighting at night, and were especially wary against night attacks.


    "They definitely noticed them. Saw them watching on my way back," replied Hannah with a nod. "Also I think the new guy''s right, boss. There''s definitely a lot of the fuckers out there. Prolly twice our numbers or so. Lotsa horses too."


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    "Guess we''ll know for certain in the meeting later tonight," said Reinhardt after some thought. He had passed on the intelligence he got off Lars to the dwarves before the army departed from Zefirous, and vaguely heard of them making anti-cavalry preparations, though he was uncertain to what extent they had done so. "Good job, take a break for now. Night watch''s on three shifts as usual."


    ******************************


    "It would seem that your local collaborator has been a useful one indeed, Captain Edelstein," said the Crown Prince during the meeting that night. Two new dwarves were present instead of Graf McBaine, who had stayed in Zefirous, both officers from the third wave. "Our scouts had reported that the enemy numbered roughly ninety thousand, with heavy cavalry presence."


    Out of the twenty thousand soldiers of the third wave, Graf McBaine had taken a thousand heavy and four thousand light infantry to garrison Zefirous. That left them with roughly two thousand five hundred more heavies, around ten thousand light infantry, two thousand more light cavalry, and five hundred heavy cavalrymen. All of whom quickly integrated themselves into the army.


    "Mine reported the same just earlier," reported Reinhardt. He noticed tokens were placed on the nearby plains on the map stretched out over the table. "I take it we will confront them head-on in the plains then?"


    "That seems to be what they desired. A reasonable choice given their large number of cavalry, if one I wouldn''t have made in the same position," replied Graf Harscape from beside the Crown Prince. "That said, we haven''t fought these lunatics much this past century. They might well have forgotten just what we''re capable of."


    "The battle lines then? With our cavalry on sides to trounce on theirs?" asked one of the heavy infantry commanders. Reinhardt had noticed the way the tokens were arranged, ones signifying heavy infantry in a long line ahead, with the light infantry represented with larger tokens behind, and the light cavalry on the sides. A relatively standard military formation, all considered.


    "Just the lights," said the Crown Prince after some thought. "I want the heavies with my war chariots. We''ll punch a hole through their formation when the opportunity presents itself. I trust in your infantrymen to use the opening."


    "Captain Edelstein," added the Crown Prince, addressing Reinhardt. He had been worried about what his company would have to do. They were only a little over three hundred, negligible in the sea of forty thousand bodies. "I would like your company to act as an independent reaction force here," the Crown Prince said as he pointed to a spot between the light and heavy infantry lines.


    "You may act on your judgement. Strike if an opening presents itself, help cover up openings on our side if any opens up. I know there aren''t that many of you, so I only ask that you buy time for the rest of our soldiers to react, not to hold the lines with your lives," he elaborated. "Naturally, more contributions would translate to more pay."


    Reinhardt thought of the role, and found himself in agreement with what the Crown Prince had tasked him to do. His unit of mercenaries were irregulars by most nation''s classifications, and definitely so by Knallzog''s, which favored solid battle lines and tight formations.


    On the other hand, his unit was far more mobile than even their light infantry, and with Mischka''s group, they possessed shock troops that eclipsed even the dwarves'' vaunted heavy infantrymen. Their only lack at this point of the battle was their numbers.


    "It shall be done, Your Highness," replied Reinhardt with a respectful nod.

 Chapter 64 - Opening Moments

    "War doctrine varied greatly between races as a whole. The goblins for example, due to their preponderance in jungle-laden areas, strongly favored harassment and guerilla attacks from concealment.


    Orcs favored a single, blistering charge to decide a battle on the spot. This came as a nasty surprise to the humans, who favored attrition tactics to make full use of their usually superior numbers.


    Elves were skirmishers and raiders by nature, though under the influence of a warlike enough Warchief, they had been witnessed to do devastating frontal assaults as well.


    Dwarves on the other hand usually favored a steady defense, paired with what was usually a crippling counterattack. A dwarven army defending a fortification had been shown to regularly defeat enemies five times their number or more." - Eldigan Sch?nberg, scholar of military history, circa 607 VA.


    It was one thing to visualize troop formations with tokens on a map in strategy meetings.


    It was an entirely different feeling to be standing shoulder to shoulder with those very same troops, prepared to fight alongside them, with the people he was responsible for arrayed out neatly behind his back.


    Reinhardt was not a newcomer to battlefields. Yet this was probably the first time he - and many of the current Free Lances left - participated in a battle of this scale. The largest he had participated in during his career as a mercenary before this was a battle that saw roughly fifteen thousand men to a side, nearly a decade ago, during a "skirmish" between the dwarven kingdoms.


    Due to his group''s position - and the overall shorter height of the dwarven army - he got a good look of their overall formation. It was very much like what they discussed the night before, the formation forming a rough trapezoid more wide than deep.


    At the very front, just ahead of where his group was placed, were a wide line of dwarves arrayed ten deep. Each of them were clad in heavy armor and carried a tower shield the size of a door, with only a single slot for vision at eye-height, filled with a clear crystal of sorts.


    Behind him were the dwarven light infantrymen, arranged into eight square formations, four wide and two deep, of roughly three thousand men each. He noticed that each formation had a dedicated group who carried three meter long spears as well, probably as a countermeasure to the enemy cavalry.


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    As for cavalry, their own "light" cavalry was to the sides at the rear of the formation, split into two groups of two thousand riders each, one group on each flank of the formation. Each of them also had five hundred or so of the heavy cavalry further out on their outer flank.


    Dwarven cavalry, even light ones, were relatively slow for a cavalry unit, but they were unparalleled in destructive force, only truly matched by the rare orcish war-lizard platforms. While they would fare poorly in a chase against the enemy cavalry, should they manage to force a head-on clash, the results would be devastating for the humans.


    The Crown Prince himself stood tall on top of his war chariot. He was in the center rear of their formation, the fifty war chariots grouped together, with the remaining heavy cavalry on their flanks as they awaited their chance to strike.


    With a spyglass to his eye, Reinhardt took the chance to observe the enemy formation arrayed against them across the field. Their more numerous enemies were arranged in a curve, a formation meant to envelop the opposing side.


    He saw their numerous cavalry at the ends of the curve. Each of the sides having roughly a thousand mounted knights on armored warhorses, as well as five thousand more lightly armored riders armed with javelins and spears. Quite typical human heavy and light cavalry, all considered.


    As for the rest of the massive army facing them, the majority of them looked little different than the zealot militia they had to deal with early on in their incursion. Men and women of all ages often with makeshift weapons in their hands, all of whom looked far too eager to fight.


    The exception was a force of maybe seven to eight thousand that held the enemy center. They looked to be trained soldiers, better equipped with uniform gear, and in a more disciplined formation. The Crown Prince and his aides had guessed that their opponent might attempt to bog them down with their militia first, before their infantry and cavalry struck.


    Slowly, the two armies moved closer to one another. They entered arrow range soon after, and both sides began to pelt their enemies with projectiles almost at the same time.


    The militia''s archers were clearly less trained, their coordination lacking, and their aim more haphazard. They made up for it with sheer numbers however, as their arrows fell like raindrops on the dwarven army.


    In return, the dwarves in front stoically raised their massive shields at an angle, while others behind them lifted their shields up high to form a roof above their formation. Their second line shifted slightly, as they moved to the slight gaps between the shields and pulled out heavy repeating crossbows, which they fired from those gaps in return.


    Their fire took a far heavier toll on the enemy militiamen, but the enemy had plenty more where they came from, and the sight of their fellows falling and dying to the bolts only seemed to enrage them more.


    Behind the first line, Reinhardt had also ordered his men to raise their shields. Those who did not usually use a shield had carried a makeshift wooden shield for this purpose, while Mischka and her group took they front as they raised their truly humongous shields and helped cover the rest with it.


    The rain of arrows carried on unabated, as those in the rear lines also came into range and added their contribution to it. The humans were able to put more weight to their fire, but the dwarves had far more effective results given their opponent''s general lack of proper armor.


    Then finally the frontline of the zealots reached within three hundred paces of the dwarven frontline, and they began to charge with a loud bellow as they waved their weapons menacingly.


    In response, the frontmost dwarves planted their heavy shields into the soil and braced against it as they formed a literal shield wall, while the second line brought out their weapons. The third line angled their shield to cover them from arrows in turn, as the whole line stopped in place and readied themselves.


    The bloody clash between the frontlines signified the beginning of the battle of Jahra Plains.

 Chapter 65 - A Brutal Clash

    "Despite the advances and development of new tactics and strategies, the battle line remained one of the oldest tactics in the books that were still in use even to this day and age.


    It was a simple tactic, one where you simply line up your troops and clash against the enemy lines, and then hope that their lines break first before yours did. Morale, training, discipline, and equipment all played a role, while many supplementary tactics were often built around the idea itself.


    Despite the modern variations, it remained the humble footsoldiers holding the lines with their lives that formed the core of most battles in this day and age." - Eldigan Sch?nberg, scholar of military history, circa 607 VA.


    The first clash between the frontlines, where the waves of fanatical zealots threw their lives with reckless abandon against the dwarven shield wall, mostly went to the dwarves'' favor. Where each of their strikes tend to cripple or kill, the weapons the zealots used often failed against their far thicker armor, barring a lucky strike.


    Almost like a machine, the entire dwarven frontline fought with a steady rhythm. They braced their shields against their opponent''s charge, waited a moment for them to stall, pushed them back, then swung the shields to the side in unison.


    During that brief interval when the shields were turned aside, axes, spears, hammers, polearms, and other weapons struck out. The frontline struck with hand weapons, while the second line behind them struck with pole weapons in unison.


    Then the dwarves planted their shields into the soil once more, and the cycle repeated.


    Here and there, an unlucky dwarf was felled or injured by a lucky strike that found the gaps between their armor plating. Those behind them nonchalantly stepped forward to take their place, allowing those injured to retreat should they be able to do so.


    The dwarven line held strong against the charge of the zealots, as they killed or injured five or more for every casualty they took. Even so, the archers from the zealot''s side made life more difficult for them with the incessant rain of arrows.


    Unlike the zealots and their bows, the crossbows favored by the dwarfs were not designed for arcing shots, and required a direct line of sight. Because of that, the dwarves had not been able to answer as much as they liked to the ranged harassment.


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    Then, on a signal, the first four squares of light infantry moved to the sides, to the left and right of the line held by the heavies, while they remained a distance from the melee.


    From behind the shields of their compatriots, the dwarven marksmen assigned to these units fired away with their repeating crossbows, towards the throng of zealots that pushed towards the battle line, as well as felling those who had started to move in their direction.


    Over half of all the dwarven marksmen were concentrated in these four squares, a deliberate setup by the dwarven commanders to maximize their effectiveness, one that worked as zealots dropped one after another under the barrage of crossbow bolts.


    The situation held for a while, as the zealots kept throwing themselves on the dwarven frontline. It was not as if they had not taken their toll, despite the horrific losses. On some parts of the line, Reinhardt noticed how the fourth or fifth dwarf had already taken the front.


    Eventually though, the leaders on the Holy Kingdom''s side grew tired of the stalemate which was costing them far more than the dwarves. Loud bugles were sounded from their formation, and shortly afterward, Hannah signaled from high above that the enemy cavalry had started to move.


    The light cavalry came first, formed into small groups of a hundred or so each, as they executed slashing attacks and harassed the light infantry with thrown javelins as they passed.


    While the dwarven marksmen took their toll on the enemy cavalry, the exchanges were relatively even. The cavalry never committed to a full strike, wary of the long spears carried by the dwarves, and mostly harassed from a distance with javelins.


    It turned out the light cavalry were mere distraction and smokescreen for the real attack.


    From the flanks, the Holy Kingdom''s heavy cavalrymen crashed into the dwarven formation with their lances couched and lowered. Some fell to the spears that awaited them, but the rest proved their mettle and training as they charged through.


    Even so, the charge slowed down somewhat due to the dogged resistance from the dwarven infantry, and that was when the dwarves committed their own cavalry into the fray.


    Pound for pound, a dwarven light cavalryman was roughly an even match for most other nation''s heavy cavalry. When they struck from the enemy''s flank, with superior numbers, and spearheaded by their own version of heavy cavalry?


    The results were devastating to say the least.


    As the dwarven cavalry charge caught the enemy''s heavy cavalry formation right in the middle, shortly after they fought their way through the dwarven infantry, knights and horses both were knocked airborne, as the rhinos of the dwarven heavies rammed them mercilessly.


    What followed in their wake were the rest of the cavalry, as they rammed their way through the enemy''s wedge formation from the side, cutting off the smaller front part as they enveloped the rest between their charge and the reforming infantry lines behind them.


    Where it took a lot of training before a warhorse could be made to willingly charge into an enemy formation, the dwarves had no such issues with their rams and rhinos. Those animals instinctively rammed their enemies in the wild to begin with, and all they had to do was to steer them in the right direction.


    With the cavalry from both sides in play, the battlefield instantly became more chaotic, especially as the zealots had also used the distraction to spread their lines in an attempt to envelop the dwarves, only to be met by the remaining dwarven light infantrymen.


    It was in such a situation that Reinhardt noticed a situation nearby where his troops could be of help, and he led his men to battle.

 Chapter 66 - Trading Lives for Coins

    "You ain''t gonna find many stuck-up idiots with grand delusions in the mercenary trade, kid. Most of us who tread this path know we''re no warriors of justice or something so flowery, nor is our line of work anything pleasant.


    Putting it in the bluntest way? We''re all just murderers for hire, paid with coin for the lives we take and sometimes lost on the battlefield. You ain''t gonna find many upstanding people with good morals around here, so you''re totally barking up the wrong tree.


    Try the adventurers over yonder instead. I bet if ya preached at them enough, some would flock to your so-called just cause. Who knows? Maybe you''d even get a few stupid enough to die for you for free.


    Good luck either way, pal. Now shoo~ if you wanna hire us Busters, don''t come without a pouch of gold or three." - Brendan Pead, Captain of Brendan''s Busters, when approached by a revolutionary looking for support.


    "Lances! To me!" Reinhardt yelled over the bustle of the ongoing battle. His loud voice caught the attention his troops, and he quickly signaled them to advance, as he pointed to a direction with his weapon.


    Two squads of the enemy light cavalry had attempted to squeeze through a gap in the dwarven infantry formation, and were already halfway through. They probably planned to then wheel around to strike the dwarves from the rear, but Reinhardt spotted them first.


    To be fair, it was not exactly hard to notice cavalrymen in the midst of a dwarven army, given the height difference.


    The Free Lances were not far from where the cavalry would have emerged when they broke through the formation, so it was a chance for them to contribute to the battle, since all the other units were occupied and the Crown Prince''s chariots were too far away to react fast enough.


    With a couple hand gestures, he gave orders to his troops. They quickly assumed a wedge formation, with half of Mischka''s unit and other elites forming the point, and others on the right flank.


    His timing was on point, and they slammed into the right flank of the enemy cavalry shortly after they broke through the dwarven formation. Shieldbearers had led their charge, and those men and women - led by Yuri and Niko - bashed their massive shields against the sides of the horses before them, hard.


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    Normally an infantry unit charging a cavalry unit would have been the stuff of folly. The equation changed drastically, however, when a good dozen of the "infantry" in question were positively massive, bulky specimens of their respective race strong enough to lift a horse and its rider above their heads.


    When the shields slammed violently against the side of the horses, bones were pulverized and organs were ruptured before the hapless steeds were thrown sideways by the impact. Many of the riders screamed as well, their leg haplessly sandwiched between a merciless slab of metal and their mounts and crushed in between.


    Yuri and Niko swiftly led their shieldbearers to do an about face to their left, and formed a shield wall to prevent the rest of the cavalry still within the dwarven formation from escaping it. Out of the sixty or so that already escaped the formation, seven were crippled by the shieldbearer''s charge.


    Then the elites of the Free Lances charged from the position vacated by their shieldbearers, Reinhardt leading the charge personally. Some of the cavalrymen reined their steeds to face the oncoming threat, while the twenty or so at the front ran ahead, turned, and tried to hit the Lances on the right flank.


    That was where the rest of the unit''s shieldbearers awaited them with a wall of shields and spears however. If that was not bad enough, just as their commander tried to egg them on to charge, an oversized arrow pierced right through his forehead and killed him on the spot.


    Salicia had gotten two of the sturdier members of the company to briefly throw her into the air and had sniped the commander on her way down. She landed safely as the same two men caught her as she fell.


    Meanwhile, Reinhardt''s team had engaged the rest of the cavalry. Some of them still reeled as they had their fellows thrown at them. These few never got a chance to fight back as they were slaughtered where they fell.


    Others who were unaffected by the charge fought back. The distance was too close for them to build much momentum, so they ended up embroiled in a melee, which quickly went against their favor.


    Reinhardt took on one of the few men who wore good, light chainmail instead of just leathers or gambesons - he assumed them to be a commander of sorts - and deftly parried the man''s spear to the side with his polemace.


    As the man was clearly skilled and used to fighting on horseback, with no openings even then, Reinhardt struck a different target instead. The head of his polemace struck the man''s horse right on the knee of its right foreleg, snapping the limb backwards.


    The horse whinnied in pain as it threw its rider down, and Reinhardt had not missed the opening. The shaft of his polemace - good, solid steel at that - caught the falling man across the chest hard and laid him down to the ground. Before he could react more than coughing in surprise, Reinhardt had whirled his polemace a half circle and bashed his head into a bloody mess with it.


    A quick glance around showed him that the situation was under control. Mischka straight up cleaved a man and his horse into halves with her oversized cleaver of a blade. Gr¨¹nhilde was near the therian matriarch, and had cleaved both forelegs off a horse with one axe, as she removed the head of the falling rider with the other.


    Elfriede and Ylisera to his other side had leapt atop the horses as they passed, and quickly dispatched of the riders before they could react, then reined in the animals and turned them around. The cavalry detachment that tried their right wing fell under the spears of the shieldwall, aided by Salicia''s arrows.


    Meanwhile, the dwarven formation used the time they bought to close the gap, as they sandwiched the majority of the stuck cavalrymen between them and cut them down to the last man.

 Chapter 67 - Unexpected Meeting

    "One big issue with the whole idea of chivalry: commanders leading from the front. More often than not, unless your commander is *really* good at fighting, this just results in a dead commander and his troops running around like a headless chicken." - Earenvel Ulthian, veteran elvish mercenary.


    After only a brief moment''s rest, a situation at the edge of the right flank - not far from their current location - made Reinhardt mobilize the Free Lances once more. They made best speed as they rushed to where they could make a difference.


    One of the enemy''s commanders amongst the mob of the zealot militia had managed to bring a detachment - probably a thousand five hundred strong or thereabouts - and looped around the dwarven lines, where they now threatened to hit the far end of the dwarven flank from the rear.


    The dwarves attempted to redeploy to meet the threat, but by then the infantry there was spread thin already due to the earlier cavalry strike, and were already pressed hard by the zealots besides, so they had not made it in time.


    Reinhardt''s three hundred or so men filled that gap for them, and allowed the dwarves to focus on the zealots rushing them. They stood against five times their number, but in an open battle, they were not afraid to match their mettle to the enemy''s.


    "What would you do?" Reinhardt asked Lars in the midst of their formation just as they reached the area the zealots rushed towards. It was a test from him, to see how useful the young tactician could make himself.


    While Lars was not that good a fighter, he had learned how to fight at least, and besides the Lances had no room for someone to sit in comfort in the back while the rest risked their lives anyway. Lars commanded his own small unit, the eighteen retainers of his who chose to follow him.


    "Stand our ground," replied the young tactician after a glance at the onrushing enemy. "We could break through them, but it would serve little purpose given their numbers. Better to hold the line until reinforcements arrive. I have a feeling the Crown Prince might make his move soon."


    "We think alike," said Reinhardt with a nod. His hand already signaled for his troops to form a defensive line by gestures, with all their shieldbearers forming the front of the defense line.


    When the zealots slammed into their shieldwall, the center held steady as the shieldbearers from Mischka''s unit anchored themselves and braced for impact. Those at the sides buckled somewhat, but managed to push them back and maintained the line.


    Reinhardt noticed a man in fine armor atop a fine horse commanding the mob, his words relayed by priests who helped incite the mob further. He also noticed how Elfriede had stopped Salicia when she was about to take a shot at the obvious commander.


    "That one''s mine," he heard her say, with a tone that brooked no argument. For her own part, Salicia just nodded and lowered her bow, as she instead took potshots at the priests.


    The line held strong, even when one of the zealots had the bright idea to have several of his compatriots toss him over the shield wall. He made a mistake, however, and attempted the stunt just where the shield wall changed from oversized shields the size of doors to more normal shields on the left side.


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    Right next to where Yuri was.


    The massive elephant-therian saw the man come, and nonchalantly swatted him out of the air like he would a fly with the flanged mace he wielded using his trunk, sending him back where he came from.


    Reinhardt and his Free Lances held the line for a while, before they felt the vibration from heavy footsteps on the soil, coming from their right. A glance to the right told Reinhardt the source of the vibration, as well as the heavy footfalls that started to reach their ears.


    It was the Crown Prince, with what seemed like half of the chariots and heavy cavalry he had held back from the battle. A quick look suggested that the other half raced towards the other side of the battlefield.


    Their path brought them right against the backlines of the spread-out zealots. Neither the chariots nor the cavalrymen paused, and just went straight through the zealot lines instead.


    Some zealots were hurled into the air. Others were trampled by rhinos or ran over by chariots. Some unlucky ones were directly gored by the horns of the heavy beasts. The riders were not idle either. Long polearms scythed through the zealot ranks and mowed them down like wheat, while the marksmen on board rained crossbow bolts towards the back of the zealot formation.


    Reinhardt had not missed the opening the assault gave them. He whistled twice, loudly and in quick succession. Salicia reacted first and shot an arrow right into the forehead of the enemy commander''s horse, sending the man to the ground as his steed buckled under him.


    The shieldbearers at the frontlines followed, as they split into two groups. Yuri and Niko led half their numbers as they struck and pushed to the left. Varilya and her husband Bj?rn - a white-furred bear therian who rivaled Mischka in size - led the other half towards the right.


    Reinhardt and the rest of the Free Lances struck from the gap they opened, as they cut a path through the enemy formation towards where their commander was. When they reached the location, they quickly cleared out the zealots from the area, and left an open circle as Elfriede confronted the man.


    Duels might have little use for mercenaries, but they were aware of the impact on morale losing a "fair" duel could bring to the soldiers on the opposing side. Also, Elfriede had claimed the man for herself, and nobody was keen to challenge her for that.


    The young man - more a boy, really, now that Reinhardt got a closer look, probably no older than sixteen - had just extricated himself from under his fallen steed with some difficulties, his well-made plate armor scuffed and dirtied.


    He seemed to grasp the unspoken challenge, and wielded his sword and shield at the ready, as he warily eyed Elfriede who was walking towards him. Elfriede herself had an emotionless look on her face.


    The boy was good with his sword, and well trained. He managed to keep himself alive for a whole minute or so against Elfriede''s flurry of blows. It was not long before he made a mistake she capitalized on, however.


    When one of his sword strikes was a little wide, Elfriede pushed inside his range, even as the blade of the boy''s sword cut a deep gash on her left cheek. In turn, she slammed the pommel-blade of her left hand weapon into the boy''s wide open elbow joint.


    The boy''s hand went slack and lost power as Elfriede''s strike severed muscles and nerves, but to his credit, he tried to fight on, and made an effort to bash her with the shield in his left hand.


    Elfriede rammed the shield with her shoulder before it could gather enough momentum, which threw the boy''s hand aside and left him vulnerable. Mercilessly, she drove the blade of her weapon into the boy''s left armpit, all the way to the hilt, into his torso cavity and organs within.


    The boy collapsed on his knees like a puppet with a string cut. His eyes teared up even as he tried to speak, only to manage a bloody gurgle instead. His dimming eyes looked at Elfriede with a look that was part despair and part questioning.


    "This is the only mercy I can and am willing to offer you," Reinhardt heard Elfriede murmur as she drew her blade out from the boy''s armpit and used it to sever his head from his body. She then picked up the head from the ground by the hair.


    "You''ll want to cash this in later," Elfriede said as she tossed the severed head over. Reinhardt caught it in mid-air, and as he got a proper look up close at the dead boy''s face, he realized where the odd feeling he had when he first saw the boy came from.


    He had thought the noble from Norouz they caught in Zefirous before somewhat resembled his wife. This dead boy however, would have easily passed for a younger, male version of Elfriede. The resemblance between them was just that uncanny.


    "Was he...?" he asked tentatively, unsure of what to think at the moment. He recalled the story Elfriede told of her past, and had a suspicion as parts of the story linked together.


    "You guessed it," admitted his wife all too nonchalantly, her cheek still bleeding from the deep cut that almost reached her jawbone. "The bastard who raped my mother and got her pregnant with me, and later killed her... Was also his father. He''d be my younger half-brother by that reckoning I guess."

 Chapter 68 - Battles Conclusion

    ¡°No matter how fanatical or brave, everybody has their limits. In battle, when such a limit was reached, that was when soldiers broke rank and fled for their lives. Where one began to run away, others would soon follow, as such craven behavior was always contagious.


    Because of that, many often said that an army was only as strong as its weakest links, which was one reason why so many nations pushed to standardize and discipline their soldiers to the utmost. A panicked rout was rarely recoverable from, and almost always led to disaster.¡± - Markgraf Eugenia Stahlfaust, The Hammer of the East, circa 305 VA.


    The battle was settled.


    It still raged on, sure, but in Reinhardt¡¯s mind, he was certain that the Crown Prince¡¯s charge had pretty much settled the battle. Where the dwarves held a bloody stalemate at the frontlines before, trading one of their lives for four or five of their enemies, now they pushed hard, as they broke the enemy lines and struck them from inside their formations.


    The cavalry and chariot charge wreaked havoc on the backlines of the zealot formation, to such an extent that not even the support of the trained soldiers interspersed in their formation could do a thing about it. Those foolish enough to try and stop the charge just found themselves ground beneath the steel-shod hooves and merciless metal wheels instead.


    A couple times the chariots deliberately charged straight through the midst of the enemy formations. The trained rhinos pulling the metal chariots at speed paid no heed to a spearwall formation, as the spearheads broke apart against their slabs of armor. The few that found flesh barely penetrated the dense, hard skin of the beasts, the tiny wounds barely an annoyance to them.


    In turn, their horns gored whoever stood in their path, and they stomped down hard on those who fell beneath their hooves, as their weight combined with the force of the impact and caused those poor zealots to burst apart almost like an overripe fruit.


    The dwarves atop the chariots themselves were drenched by the blood and gore they caused in their wake. Not one of them found it to be a nuisance, not even the crown prince blinked when bits of a man¡¯s brain splattered onto his face, as he just wiped it off nonchalantly and commanded his chariot onward.


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    Both detachments of chariots and heavy cavalry ran rampant amongst the zealot formation, as they left slaughter in their wake, and the carnage finally did what the dwarves had not managed in battle before. They broke the zealots¡¯ will to fight on.


    Further back in the enemy formation, some frightened zealots began to turn and ran, at first one or two, then others joined them as they fled for their lives. At first, the soldiers tried to stop them with some success, but when elements of their own heavy cavalry fled past them as well, having been humbled by their dwarven counterparts, the rout increased in scale and broke the zealot formation.


    The dwarves elected not to pursue the fleeing enemies, in favor of encircling those who fought on without realizing that part of their army, likely including their own lord, Reinhardt thought, had fled for their lives.


    Encircled and without support, the dwarves systematically butchered the trapped zealots and soldiers caught within their formation. Reinhardt had his men support them, but had not pushed for an overly active participation in the slaughter.


    There was little reason to risk injury after all, when the battle was all but won.


    What was later known in the history books as the Battle of Jahra plains started early in the morning, and carried on until the sun began to set. The Holy Kingdom¡¯s western defenses were shattered. An estimated two-thirds to three-fourths of their numbers lost, either to battle, or to desertion as some militiamen simply fled back to their own home villages.


    At least thirty to forty thousand lost their lives to the dwarven army. Since the region was mostly uninhabited, the dwarves took their time and looted the corpses clean, before they were unceremoniously tossed into mass graves.


    In the meantime, their scouts sought after the fleeing enemy¡¯s whereabouts and discovered two things. One was that the enemy had fled not to Norouz, but to Fort Fendorf, west of the city proper. The second was that there seemed to be a revolt and infighting on the streets of Norouz itself.


    Another thing they learned was that out of the three sons of the Count of Norouz, the younger two were killed in the battle. Elfriede had personally decapitated the youngest one - whose head fetched the mercenaries an extra fifty gold - while the second son of the count had been trampled to death by some of the heavy cavalry. It was honestly a miracle his head remained undamaged so he could still be recognized.


    The count himself, along with his eldest son and heir, had been amongst those who fled to Fort Fendorf. Signs suggested that they had hunkered down and prepared themselves to resist from the walls of the fort, and that they had at least a good twenty thousand or so defending the place.


    While the losses were not as high as projected, the dwarven army still took at least three to four thousand casualties in the battle, with over that number wounded, which lowered their number of able fighters to under thirty thousand. As a result, they chose to play it safe, and decided to have the cavalry keep watch over the fort from a distance, while the rest marched on towards Norouz itself.


    Reinhardt¡¯s troops were naturally amongst those headed towards the city. Elfriede¡¯s ability to interpret better than anyone else for them was priceless, since if the rumors of infighting proved to be true, what awaited them at the city might not be a battle but more of a negotiation with the locals instead.


    It was unexpected that their enemy would set themselves up to be defeated in detail like so, but the dwarves had not minded. They would first take care of the city, and the fort afterwards.

 Chapter 69 - A City in Fear

    ¡°Not the first time something like this happened. You bring most of the guards out, then you never return? Even odds all the ruffians and other cutthroats in your town might band together and suddenly declare like, Hey, this place ain¡¯t got an owner no more. Ours now! Just like that.


    I mean they rarely gave a fight worth telling about, but the mess to clean up after was always some of the worst around. Then again, what else would you have expected from a town where the lowlives got the run of the place, even if it was only a few days?¡± - Stefan Horst, Captain of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers, after pacifying a city in riot, circa 4 FP.


    ¡°Damn, and I thought your home was bad enough as it was,¡± said Reinhardt to Elfriede with a heartfelt tone when he received the latest reports from Norouz. It was the third day after the battle of Jahra Plains, which was located roughly two days away from the city. The army had taken two days'' rest after the battle while they sorted out and buried the corpses, and had then traveled to Norouz.


    Their scouts had naturally busied themselves as they tried to find information from the city. The reports relayed back to the army so far painted a bleak picture. That included the report Hannah had just delivered from her scouting mission.


    At the moment, the army had camped for the night, and Reinhardt had gathered the same group of unit leaders they had used as an impromptu council of sorts, plus Lars and Hannah, in the large operations tent. Before them, spread on the table, was a map of Norouz, courtesy of Varsha.


    ¡°So, Hannah, please brief the rest of what you had reported to the Crown Prince earlier,¡± said Reinhardt to the avian girl. He, Elfriede, and Hannah had just returned from a leader¡¯s meeting, and had shared and received the latest intel from the town.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty fucked up,¡± admitted the girl as she absentmindedly fiddled with some of her wing feathers. ¡°Parts of the city are on fire. Many people were stringed up or impaled and shown from the city walls. Hard to tell the details from high up, but I¡¯m pretty sure there were like, several roving gangs who went around looting and raping and burning things all over the place as well.¡±


    ¡°It does not surprise me,¡± replied Lars as he pondered with his chin resting on his hand. ¡°Even in Zefirous, we heard of seriously bad stories about the underworld in Norouz. That the Count was heavy-handed on the populace only made things worse over there. Even the late Count Larsen often shook his head and lamented about the state of the city.¡±


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    ¡°Any relations between your houses?¡± asked Salicia from her seat.


    ¡°The current Count of Norouz, Jan Brequod, is in-laws with the late Count Larsen. His wife is the late Count¡¯s younger sister,¡± explained Lars. ¡°They often communicated and openly talked about the state of Norouz in the Count¡¯s household. It was mostly lamentations about Count Brequod¡¯s inability to handle the¡­ peasants despite his heavy handed methods though.¡±


    ¡°So we got a populace that¡¯s likely been suffering for quite some time, who got fed up and raised up in revolt,¡± added Ylisera from the side. ¡°And there¡¯s elements in the city who went wild and just¡­ looted and pillaged. The criminal elements let loose, I presume.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s likely that they organized the revolt in the first place, and then just called the place theirs,¡± replied Elfriede after some thought. ¡°Varsha always said that the current boss of Norouz¡¯s underworld was an ambitious asshole of a whoreson. From all I heard about him, this seems like something up his alley.¡±


    ¡°So to summarize, the city¡¯s likely under criminal hands, who''s having their way with the populace. I guess that¡¯d at least paint the army as the better option after we take over the city,¡± nodded Reinhardt as he too took in the implications. ¡°What about the defenses?¡±


    ¡°Shoddy. Makeshift things all over, and some parts of the city were even fighting amongst themselves. I saw some areas barricaded with those inside fighting against those outside,¡± replied Hannah honestly. ¡°Can¡¯t be more than five, ten thousand at most? If you count just the mobs.¡±


    ¡°Very doable numbers, especially with the army we got. We might not even have that much to do for this fight, but just have everyone be ready for action in case we¡¯re called,¡± said Reinhardt, to the nods of the people around the table. ¡°That would be all for now. Dismissed. Lars, Friede, you two stay please.¡±


    After everyone else filed out of the tent and only the three of them were left behind, Reinhardt looked at the two next to him. They were the only locals around, other than Lars¡¯ small group of followers. If anyone might have heard of any way in or out of Norouz that few know of, it would likely be them.


    ¡°Either of you perchance know a way into Norouz that¡¯s not used much?¡± he asked hopefully.


    ¡°Afraid not,¡± replied Elfriede with a shake of her head. ¡°I was never out of Zefirous until the day I left the Holy Kingdom altogether. Never been to Norouz.¡±


    ¡°I have no clue either,¡± said Lars when Reinhardt turned to him. ¡°I could ask my troops, but I highly doubt any of them would have anything useful to share. Like the madam, we¡¯re all natives of Zefirous as well. I¡¯ve been to Norouz a couple times before, but that was through the front gates.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ oh well, guess it¡¯s just wishful thinking on my part,¡± said Reinhardt with a sigh as he shook his head and laughed at himself. ¡°Another thousand gold in the coffers would go a long way with the rebuilding we¡¯d need after all this.¡±


    Elfriede just wordlessly patted him in the back, right between the shoulders, before she scratched him there through his coarse fur, which elicited a thankful look from him as he pulled her closer. Lars was clever enough to read the mood and excused himself from the tent.

 Chapter 70 - Dealing with Vermin

    ¡°With people, even if they were your sworn enemy who wore your father¡¯s skin as a cape, negotiation always remains a viable option. On the other hand, when dealing with beasts and vermin, there is no such need. The only language those kinds understand is that of violence and death.¡± - Phakk, son of Thokk, Therian mercenary.


    The dwarven army reached Norouz late afternoon the next day. From up close, the sight of the columns of smoke rising from some parts of the city, as well as the ripening corpses being hanged or impaled on the walls showed just how bad the situation in the city was.


    Much like Zefirous, Norouz was encircled by tall, thick, sturdy walls, and deep moats, which made the four drawbridges the only avenue of entrance or exit into the city. Unlike Zefirous however, Norouz does not have a standing army that outnumbered the dwarves defending its walls.


    When the army drew close to the walls and a herald - with magically amplified voice - demanded the drawbridges be lowered and the city surrendered, it took nearly an hour before a group of rough-shod men and women climbed up to the walls and faced the army.


    Their leader, a bald, scarred man who wore fine clothes and excessive amounts of jewelry that made him look more like a parody of a nobleman, stepped forward with a wooden cone in his hand, and gave his reply to the demand as he shouted into it.


    ¡°Go lick yer momma¡¯s arses, ya hairy midgets! This city be mine and nobody gonna take it from us!¡± yelled the man out loud to the raucous cheers of the people behind him.


    The reply naturally ticked off quite a few of the dwarves, though the Crown Prince remained calm as he stood with his arms behind his back on his chariot. He turned to the side and looked at Reinhardt, who had Lars and Elfriede with him.


    ¡°Is that the man who ruled this city¡¯s¡­ underworld?¡± asked the Crown Prince, directed at the two Holy Kingdom locals. Comprehensive intelligence on the Holy Kingdom was difficult to find due to how isolated they were, so the dwarves had little to no info on the more local things.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never met him personally, but he definitely fits the stories I heard. Cocky, arrogant son of a whore with more ambitions than good sense in the head,¡± answered Elfriede.


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    ¡°His appearance also matched the descriptions I have read. Bald, scarred, loves gaudy clothes¡­ I¡¯d say it¡¯s safe to assume so, Your Highness,¡± added Lars to the conversation as he gave a polite, nervous bow.


    ¡°Hm. Angus. According to the intel, it¡¯s his men that¡¯s busy pillaging and raping in the city, yes?¡± asked the Crown Prince as he turned to face Graf Harscape to his other side.


    ¡°We believe so, sire,¡± replied the old dwarf as he nodded, ¡°Some districts in the city were putting up a fight, so roughly half the city is under that man¡¯s¡­ ministrations and roughly a third of the rest resists him. Most of the rest¡­ burned.¡±


    ¡°Clearly a vermin then. You know how we deal with their kinds,¡± said the Crown Prince with a nod after a moment of thought. ¡°Pass my orders. Have a mages build a ramp to the top of the wall, then charge in. Spare no mercy to either that man or his ilk, unless circumstances proved they had some reason to be redeemed.¡±


    ¡°As for that man, I want him alive. Hundred gold reward for whoever delivers him trussed up like a chicken to my feet,¡± added the man after a moment.


    Immediately, the army set out to make the Crown Prince¡¯s orders a reality. As they marched under the laughable amount of arrows the defenders of the city walls fired, the dwarves escorted their mages towards the moat.


    There the mages began to wield their craft under the shields of their allies, as some shaped the earth and started to form the ramp. Others hardened the earth to allow it to support the weight of the army about to step foot on it. Yet others formed supporting pillars anchored to the bottom of the moat to stabilize the construction.


    In less than fifteen minutes, a massive ramp, as tall as the city walls and easily around four hundred meters wide, took shape and rested flush against the walls, the amount of magic poured in by the mages overwhelming the ancient enchantments on the walls which tried to prevent such works from being made in its vicinity.


    Then the army rushed up the ramp. This time they allowed the heavy infantry to rest - they had taken severe losses in the previous battle and were left with barely half their numbers - and instead the rest of the army picked up the slack.


    Reinhardt led his crew up the ramp as well. The massive shields of the dozen shieldbearers from Mischka¡¯s people covered their approach and dispersed those foolish enough to stand before them, only to open and allow the strike force behind them to stream out.


    As he simply used his bulk and strength, Reinhardt pushed three people off the walls, and let them fall to their deaths below. Others beside him quickly cleared out thugs and other poorly organized defenders, as they made their way to the stairs and filtered down into the city proper.


    There was no sign to be seen of the gaudy bald man anywhere, as he had probably hidden himself somewhere safe, so instead, the army that made it in quickly spread out, as most of them systematically took over the city, one block at a time.


    Several smaller detachments were sent ahead, to find the enemy leader and clear the path for the rest at the same time. Reinhardt and the Free Lances were amongst these, as they raced their way through the confines of the city in a hunt for their quarry. The soldiers were simply carrying out their tasks. The mercenaries, were after the bounty,


    After all, a hundred gold was a princely sum, usually reserved for nobles and the like, and very few mercenary would balk at money being offered.

 Chapter 71 - Suffering of the Weak

    ¡°In war, it was always the weak, ones unable to defend themselves, who suffered the most. Whether they be farmers whose entire harvests were confiscated in the name of the war effort, leaving them and their families to starve, or unfortunate villagers of a defeated nation, who more often than not become the victim of the typical pillaging and raping many countried allowed their victorious soldiers to do¡­ The most bitter price was always paid by those least capable of affording it.¡± - Deimosthenes Herodotus, Anti-War Philosopher from the Union of Free Nations, circa 408 FP.


    ¡°Gr¨¹n, you take the second team, sweep one street west of ours,¡± commanded Reinhardt once the Free Lances reached the city proper. Given the amount of people rushing into the city, he had quickly marked three adjacent streets for his group to handle. ¡°Dacia, take the third team and sweep one east. Hannah will stay airborne and serve as our emergency contact if needed.¡±


    With a grunt of acknowledgement, Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia led one-third of the Free Lance towards the street they were assigned to. Dacia did the same, with Ylisera and Nicole beside her, as they moved towards the eastern street.


    The street Reinhardt had left for his own group - which included Mischka¡¯s people - was the main street. He chose it not out of greed, but out of more practical consideration, as it would have been¡­ problematic for many of Mischka¡¯s larger people to traverse the narrower alleys of the town.


    From time to time, his men ran into sporadic resistance along their way. Thugs and lowlifes, often wearing a few too many jewelry on their person. They were quickly dispatched, before those running behind stopped briefly to strip the valuables off their corpses.


    Reinhardt had no idea what possessed many of these men to stand and fight against them. They were clearly far outmatched, yet many went against them as if possessed. He still pondered the issue as he smashed through one man¡¯s cudgel and his shoulder in a single motion, only to find that the man tried to grapple him with his other hand despite his injury.


    Even though his mad attempt surprised Reinhardt, it had not shocked him enough to make him falter, as one of his legs kicked hard into the man¡¯s abdomen. He flexed his muscles and allowed his claws to unsheathe, right into the man¡¯s guts. Then he disemboweled the man messily as he tore his leg out, a thread of slimy intestines stuck to one of his claws.


    He spotted another thug, a woman, who also tried to keep fighting even after Elfriede opened her throat, and only stopped when she hacked the woman¡¯s head off with both her blades at once. The man he was fighting tried to crawl to him, but expired with bloody froth spilling from his mouth.


    ¡°They¡¯re fucking drugged up the gills,¡± cursed Elfriede as she spat on the face of the dead woman. ¡°These fuckers probably don¡¯t even feel pain anymore, if they even had any coherent mind left after so much drugs.¡±


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    ¡°That explained why so many of the houses we passed had their occupants ransacked and killed then,¡± replied Reinhardt as they pressed onwards, deeper into the city. ¡°They were probably so high they didn''t know their friend from foe anymore.¡±


    ¡°Likely. Parts of the city must have resisted them as well. Take a look, to the northwest on the next alley,¡± said Elfriede in return. When they reached the next alley, Reinhardt saw what she meant. The area clearly had been barricaded crudely, a makeshift one made from stacked furniture and other household items, and seemed to be breached just recently.


    ¡°Think there might be survivors in there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Probably. The barricade seemed to be broken rather recently, probably not long before we arrived,¡± replied Elfriede as she carefully touched some dying embers on the remnants of the barricade. ¡°Unless the idiots in there were so high they¡¯d reverse the order of their pillage, rape, and burn chances are good there¡¯d still be people alive in there.¡±


    ¡°Have Gr¨¹n and Dacia lead the rest ahead. We¡¯ll take a short detour here,¡± said Reinhardt after he pondered for a moment. ¡°See if there¡¯s anyone in there we can ask about things. Save their asses, if possible.¡±


    All the mercenaries behind him nodded as they followed him into the side street. It was one of the larger roads in the city, and behind the barricades lay the dead bodies of many men, both old and young, who died clutching the weapons in their hands.


    The first few buildings in the street were already burning hard, but they found human bodies in the next few. Women and their children, who had been abused and then murdered in a cruel manner, their bodies left in their houses to burn down along with the building.


    It was in one of the larger buildings - one that by appearance seemed to be a middle-class brothel - where they found survivors. Several women lay dead on the floor, their corpses marked with obvious signs of abuse and in various states of undress.


    Further inside, raucous, lewd laughter was heard, and Reinhardt found himself barging right into a group of men who were busy having their way with many of the building¡¯s inhabitants. He had not needed to give the command before Elfriede and Mischka, who were right beside him as he barged into the large room, went to work.


    Elfriede had just silently walked past the men, who often found their throats suddenly slit before they realized what happened. Some of the women - and men, as it appeared the brothel kept prostitutes of both genders - screamed underneath them as their assailants slumped over on them while holding their bleeding throats.


    Mischka was far less subtle, as she just used her massive paws and slapped heads off their necks, to the terrified screams of the prostitutes being violated. At the end of the line was a man who given his glazed look, unaware of what was happening around him, was clearly drugged to the gills, and busy raping a young girl.


    He suddenly found himself held aloft in mid-air as Mischka grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and with a look of utter disgust on her face, bit off his arms before she spat them out, the did the same with his legs while the man wailed like a pig being butchered alive. Then she dropped the limbless man to the floor right in front of the girl he had violated, and offered one of her hands silently to the girl.


    While the girl was apprehensive at first, her eyes, still wet with tears, hardened after a moment, and she took Mischka¡¯s hand as she rose to her feet, her other hand trying to cover her body with the remnants of her torn robe.


    Then the girl looked at the limbless, dying man on the floor, and with hatred in her eyes, walked to him. She raised her foot, and stomped down with her heel right at the man¡¯s nether regions, repeatedly, until all that was left was nothing more than a bloody mess of crushed flesh, blood, and urine.

 Chapter 72 - What Was Left

    ¡°You can find all sorts of people amongst mercenaries. From the rare honorable types who would help a person in need, to cold-blooded pragmatists who would just walk away unless it benefited them to render assistance, even to assholes who would just compound your misery instead.


    Amongst most of the larger mercenary groups however, they usually strived for professionalism and tried to render a positive image for their group. After all, few employers like the idea of employing what amounted to little more than bandits masquerading as hired soldiers, and given the option would favor those who already had a good reputation to their name.¡± - Clarisse Iolasn, Former Guildmaster of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild of Jonkver, circa 31 FP.


    ¡°Get them to calm down first,¡± Reinhardt ordered over the shrieks and screams of the frightened victims. While the mercenaries had saved them, the experience of having a dying man suddenly flop over you was likely a frightening one for the prostitutes. ¡°Then see if any of them has anything useful to offer.


    He left the work to the few human members of the mercenaries with them, like Elfriede, as he had judged that having the likes of him or Mischka around might just frighten them more instead. He saw the girl Mischka had helped up stagger over to a man he had mistook for a girl at first - he had worn a torn dress not unlike what the other prostitutes wore - and cried on his chest as he hugged her.


    With around half the group, he had his people search the rest of the building. Much of it was damaged and ransacked. Several rooms had dead people in them, probably ones that tried to resist. In one room the faint crying of a child caught his attention, and he found an infant child in the hands of their dead mother, who still clutched over them protectively even in death.


    Reinhardt carefully pried the infant out from the dead woman¡¯s arms, and passed them over to Mischka, who almost instantly acted like the grandmother she was. It was an odd sight to see the massive bear woman coo over the infant as she tried to calm them down, her massive paws capable of decapitating a man with ease held the fragile young with a gentleness he never expected.


    When they returned downstairs - with no other survivors to find after they combed the building - they found that Elfriede had mostly calmed the group, as they sat by one side, covered with blankets and nursing some strong drinks.


    ¡°Got a few who''re willing to talk,¡± said Elfriede as she came and greeted them. ¡°I take it most everyone else is dead, huh?¡±


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    ¡°Pretty much, other than that little one,¡± said Reinhardt. There were at least forty, maybe fifty dead bodies strewn around on the upper floors, and only around twenty survivors - counting the infant - that they inadvertently rescued. ¡°Whoever did this was rather¡­ thorough.¡±


    He watched as Mischka brought the now sleeping child over and gently asked the somewhat fearful group if any of them could take care of the infant. One of the older women gathered her courage and stood up, as she muttered a name Reinhardt guessed to be the child¡¯s mother. Mischka gently handed the infant to the woman¡¯s hands, who cradled them with care and obvious sadness.


    On the other hand, the same effeminate man he noticed earlier stood up and walked towards him when he noticed their return. Elfriede turned to face him and gestured with her hand to indicate that Reinhardt was the one to speak to.


    ¡°I hear you want information,¡± said the man, with a sterner tone than Reinhardt expected. He took a second look at the man - likely a male prostitute considering how he was dressed - and upped his expectations a notch in his mind. ¡°On the bastards who did¡­ all this.¡±


    ¡°We are interested in that, yes,¡± he replied honestly, with a grin that displayed his many sharp teeth to the man. To his credit the man barely flinched at the sight and stood his ground. ¡°Especially about their head, if you know anything.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t that much we could offer, but I can guide you into their territory if you would like,¡± replied the man after he pondered for a moment. ¡°We were part of one gang in the city, they were another, but I¡¯ve been to their territory a couple times before¡­ for work.¡±


    ¡°Brave. I assume you offer this because you want something from us in return?¡±


    ¡°Please keep those who survived¡­ safe. That is all I ask for.¡±


    ¡°Bargained well and done,¡± replied Reinhardt as his grin widened. ¡°Mischka! Get around five of your boys to keep guard around here, have them take another fifteen from the rest just to be sure.¡±


    Mischka quickly set to work with a nod, as she left Varilya behind to guard the area. The remaining eighty members of the mercenary troop filed out of the brothel, with the male prostitute showing them directions.


    The man introduced himself as Alva, and explained that the now-ravaged city block he lived in had resisted Uthgar - the bald, bejeweled man who was the leader of the largest gang of criminals in the city - when he tried to take over. Their defenses were breached just that morning, with most of the inhabitants killed, only the prettier young ones spared so the thugs could have their way with them.


    That was what happened to the group in the brothel from that morning until Reinhardt¡¯s group saved them. At first there were many more of the thugs, but most had been called away just an hour ago, right around when the dwarves began their assault on the city, with only the few too addled by drugs to understand the command left behind to their carnal pleasures.


    Alva led the mercenaries deeper into the city, into roads far smaller and dirtier than the main roads. He claimed it was the way into the main lair of Uthgar¡¯s gang. The roads were at times so small Mischka had to turn sideways to be able to move through them, but as they walked further, the sound of fighting became louder, so Reinhardt thought they were likely headed in the right direction.

 Chapter 73 - A Good Deed Repaid

    ¡°Some liked it as fresh as possible, others said it¡¯s best served cold. Yet others called it a pointless endeavor that just left you hollow. The common thing they all agreed about revenge, however, was that it generally remained an obsession until it was finished.¡± - Old saying amongst mercenaries.


    While neither Reinhardt nor Alva spoke each other¡¯s language - Alva only spoke bits and pieces of badly accented common at best - no words were needed as he led the mercenaries through the maze of alleyways by gestures. When he did speak, Elfriede translated for him, which allowed them to communicate properly.


    As the sound of fighting grew louder, Elfriede suddenly called for the group to halt and remain silent with a quick gesture, then she gestured for them to wait, while she skulked towards the next corner ahead of them.


    Reinhardt waited along with the rest of the group, as well as Alva who clearly had questions in his eyes, until Elfriede returned five minutes later, and gestured for them to proceed. Sure enough, as they turned the corner and walked a distance into the twisting alleyways, they found corpses on the side, all freshly slain with their blood still flowing out of their wounds.


    ¡°The road should be clear now,¡± said Elfriede nonchalantly as they passed the fourth corpse on the roadside. ¡°There were half a dozen of them keeping watch in this area that I found. I can¡¯t guarantee I got all the fuckers or that nobody noticed. For all I know someone kept an eye on them from further away.¡±


    ¡°Seems safe enough,¡± replied Reinhardt. While he had a sharp sense of smell, it proved rather useless in his current environment, where the stench of waste, trash, and refuse overpowered everything. ¡°At least we didn¡¯t have a bunch of angry thugs running our way yet. Can you tell how far the fighting is?¡±


    Elfriede was quiet for a moment, as she listened carefully while they walked. While some of the therians and elf hybrids in the group has acute hearing as well, Elfriede had lived most of her childhood relying entirely on her hearing to locate herself, and nowadays, she could use her magic to help carry the sounds from further away as well.


    ¡°Two fifty, maybe three hundred meters, due that way,¡± said Elfriede after a while as she pointed towards the north-east. ¡°I think we¡¯re behind their lines. I can vaguely hear dwarven voices further out, while the ones closer sounded more like humans.¡±


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    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s unexpected. I guess we didn¡¯t waste our time taking that detour after all,¡± said Reinhardt as he gratefully patted Alva¡¯s back. His light pat was forceful enough that Alva almost stumbled although he caught himself quickly. ¡°Bring him to the rear and keep him safe. Lili, R¨®zsa, you two scout ahead, with Friede behind you. Keep her informed if you spot any other lookouts.¡±


    The twin half-elves nodded, as they coursed magic through their veins and after a short moment, transformed into large cats which bounded up the rooftops. Elfriede followed them from below, together with a few others who were skilled in sneaking around and dispatching people quietly. Reinhardt and the rest of the mercenaries followed them from further away, careful not to make undue noise as they walked.


    From time to time, one of the cats returned and reported the situation, usually that of a dispatched lookout, which the main group soon passed. The bodies were just dumped by the sides of the alleys, or in the ditch, where available. Reinhardt had not heard even a single scream, but then again, he knew Elfriede was experienced in work like these.


    He found her and her group waiting by a corner, the sounds of battle much closer compared to before. With silent hand gestures, she signaled to him that the fighting was just around the corner and to their right, and that the twins had reported an enemy force around five times their number holding the alleys from the dwarven force attacking them, if barely.


    It was a risky decision for Reinhardt to make. Assaulting an enemy position with five times their number - even if by surprise and from behind - was a risky endeavor. Yet if they were only barely holding against the dwarves, an attack from behind might very well break them on the spot.


    He relayed his orders with quiet signals to the rest, and the group of eighty shuffled around as Mischka and her group moved to the front, with Reinhardt right behind them. With a last exchange of nods, they did away with all pretense of stealth and charged out of the alley, with their weapons and shields in hand.


    The sight that greeted Reinhardt for a moment before Yuri and Niko¡¯s massive shields covered his line of sight was that of a makeshift barricade being held by a large group of thugs, while dwarven infantry was slowly but surely pushing them as they made their way in.


    Neither side expected his group to burst into the fight from behind. The dwarves reacted faster, and intensified their offense before the thugs could devote much attention to Reinhardt¡¯s charging group. At the same time, Lili, who had shifted back into her normal form, pointed out a bald man in fancy, bejeweled clothing shouting orders from the balcony of a building just behind where the fighting took place.


    The same man who had been on the walls earlier.


    ¡°Friede, take ten with you and grab that bald shitstain,¡± he said as they ran towards the fighting. ¡°No reason not to cash in on the bounty when it¡¯s right in front of us.¡±


    ¡°Five is enough,¡± replied Elfriede with a nod as she ran alongside him. ¡°You¡¯ll need the manpower more than I would.¡±


    ¡°Five, then. Don¡¯t skimp and take the best with you,¡± he deferred. Then he offered his left fist over to her, which she bumped with her own. ¡°Stay safe and fetch us that bag of gold!¡±


    ¡°You too,¡± she replied with a smirk as she signaled with her other hand for the five who accompanied her earlier to follow her. ¡°Give them hell.¡±

 Chapter 74 - An Assault into the Enemys Rear

    ¡°Being hit in the rear always does horrible things to the morale of the poor assholes being ravaged. It was not only a matter of morale either. Having enemies on your backs meant you had to fight with the fear of being stabbed from behind, which might happen anytime for all you know.


    That sort of dread kills fighting efficiency, and where one falters, others tend to follow. Even well-trained troops fall prey to this issue at times, as it was just part of the old instinctive psyche to fear, to make an attempt to flee when flanked by predators from both the front and behind.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    During their weeks of working together, Reinhardt had naturally attempted to integrate Mischka and her people into the Free Lances. That effort included joint training when they had the chance to, and it had not taken long before both of them agreed that some of their methods were relatively incompatible with each other, while others worked even better in tandem.


    One tactic often used by Mischka¡¯s group that Reinhardt adopted for use was their linebreaker shield wall charge. They still relied entirely on Mischka¡¯s people to serve as the pivot of the tactic, which was honestly a simple one, where the shieldbearers took the front of a wedge and charged through the enemy lines, then opened their wall from the middle to allow the troops behind them to charge right into the middle of the enemy formation.


    The tactic served Mischka¡¯s people well, but previously they faced issues where they went in too deep and often got flanked by their enemies as a result. With the more numerous Free Lances behind them, their flanks were secured, while they in turn provided the Lances with a highly effective assault tactic.


    Reinhardt had tried to replicate the feat using his own people, but to little success. Even the strongest and largest of the Lances, himself included, can¡¯t really push their way forcefully past more than four or five people. Mischka¡¯s shieldbearers on the other hand were almost as effective in charges as the heavy cavalry rhinos the dwarves used, as they utilized their massive bulk along with the momentum of a charge to great effect and simply crushed whatever was before them.


    In the end, they settled for a supportive setup, where Mishka¡¯s shieldbearers spearheaded the charge, with Reinhardt¡¯s troops behind to help secure their flanks and rear. Reinhardt himself and other elites of the group usually followed right behind the shield wall, along with the therian matron herself, as they would be the ones disgorged into the middle of the enemy formation.


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    One such charge formed up shortly after the Free Lances cleared the alley. Even with Elfriede and another five splitting off, they still numbered seventy-five, with ten shieldbearers at the front of the wedge they formed. Yuri and Niko led the charge from the center, their massive door-sized tower shields held before them.


    The sight of a literal wall of metal charging their way spooked quite a few of the thugs that had turned around on noticing the appearance of Reinhardt¡¯s group behind them. Others - probably their lieutenants or the likes - tried to fashion them into a defensive line even as the dwarves on their other side pushed them even harder, but it was to little avail.


    Mischka¡¯s shield charge had broken through soldiers in formation before, even toppling cavalrymen with the force of their charge. A ragtag group of poorly organized thugs never stood a chance of withstanding them. A few ineffectual weapons were thrown to bounce off the shield wall, and then the wall of metal was upon them.


    A horrible crunch resounded as the shields slammed into the thugs with the force of a charging bull behind it. Lucky ones were shoved aside with a few broken bones. Unlucky ones were struck down only to be trampled to death by merciless metal-shod boots of the shieldbearers.


    Niko and Yuri exchanged a look shortly into their charge, and they led their men to push sideways, opening the center of the shield wall right into the center of the enemy formation. The baffled thugs had no time to even react before Reinhardt and Mischka charged out from behind the now opened center of the shield wall with their men following behind and started their grisly work.


    Reinhardt just bashed aside two men at once, the man on the left dropped with a shattered head, while the flanges of his polemace struck against the side of a woman beside the dead man, hard. The woman¡¯s body bent over unnaturally where he struck her, and she too collapsed without a fight as she spewed out copious amounts of blood from her mouth.


    To his left, Mischka wielded her great blade and cleaved right through those thugs arrayed before her. The first two fell apart in two pieces, their flesh and bones torn and shredded by the heavy blade. As for the other two, the flesh and gore on the blade had dulled it enough that it had not directly cleaved them apart.


    Instead, their bodies were folded around the blade - and each other - in very unnatural ways as Mischka just continued her strike without a care. Both men fell to the ground and convulsed as they vomited their shattered internal organs, before the therian matron made it worse as she stepped on them and yanked her blade out from the tangled mess they had become.


    Others of her clan and the mercenaries under Reinhardt fanned out from behind the two of them. Some of them helped Yuri and Niko push the flanks and widen the gap, while others struck out to the sides of their leaders and helped them push into the enemy formation.


    Undisciplined and poorly trained, hammered from two sides at once, the thugs broke before long, as the dwarven army breached their defenses on the other side. Many simply routed, as they ran into the maze of alleyways without a care. Some even dropped their weapon and armor just so they could run away a little bit faster.

 Chapter 75 - Cutting the Head off a Snake

    ¡°While the tradition of generals and leaders leading their men from the front has slowly died out in the military of many kingdoms, it remained a staple amongst mercenary companies. Mercenaries were a rougher, freer sort compared to soldiers. A mercenary captain who was unwilling to do what he commanded his men to would very quickly lose respect, if not outright deposed.


    For this reason, most mercenary captains joined their crew in the frontlines personally, or in cases of a family-run establishment where the leader had grown old and weak, have their progeny take their place in the frontlines. This willingness to shed blood together, or at least risk their own loved ones, was what engendered respect from their fellow mercenaries.¡± - Addison Zephyr, former mercenary, later employed as a strategist for the Free City of Levain, circa 102 FP.


    ¡°Bernd! Ignaz! You two keep watch on the front door!¡± commanded Elfriede. Her small group of six - herself included - had just barged into the building they spotted the bald man at. The six experienced mercenaries had swiftly gone to work as they slaughtered the fifteen or so thugs at the ground floor. The two she called out had taken light injuries in the fight, so she opted to leave them behind to guard the door.


    ¡°Therese, Silva, you two search this floor, see if you can find anyone hiding or a back door of some kind. There¡¯s bound to be one in a building this large,¡± she commanded another two. The building the thug leader - Uthgar was the name, she believed - had commanded from seemed to be a large tavern once upon a time, probably with more luxurious accomodations at the top floor, since those are usually the only ones with balconies in areas like these. Buildings like those always had a back door, in her experience.


    ¡°Olyvee, you¡¯re with me,¡± she said to the last member of their group, a half-elven woman who looked to be her age. Olyvee was Goran¡¯s younger sister, and had been hankering to kill people ever since her niece got hurt so badly back at Fort Ascher. She was one of the more veteran members of the Lances and one of their more skilled fighters as well.


    The woman nodded and followed Elfriede as she ran up the stairs. Both of them kept their weapons in hand, Elfriede with her blades and Olyvee with a pair of long knives that had wicked hooked ends. They were thicker than Elfriede¡¯s blades, sharpened only on one side and clearly designed for chopping.


    On the second floor they encountered a group of eight thugs, who had run down from the upper floors, and both women wordlessly struck out at the surprised thugs, who had probably never expected their compatriots downstairs to be overwhelmed so quickly.


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    Elfriede had lunged forward and pierced straight through the throats of two of the thugs before they could react, and she opened the wounds even wider as she tore her blades out to the sides. Both men collapsed on their knees as they feebly tried to clutch at the lifeblood flowing out from their throats.


    Olyvee hurled one of her knives straight into the middle of a surprised thug¡¯s forehead, the hooked end of the heavy blade going deep into the man¡¯s brains. She chopped the head off another man as she passed and yanked her thrown blade out even as the dead thug began to fall backwards.


    Each of them took on two of the remaining four thugs without much difficulties. Their opponents were thugs and cutthroats, criminals used to violence, even killing. Yet they were mercenaries. Violence was their trade, and killing was how they earned their living. A few amateur muscles were not even close to a match for them.


    ¡°Upstairs. Three people just ran towards a room to our south right above us,¡± replied Elfriede after she pulled her blades out from the guts of the last thug who was busy dying painfully from his many perforated organs. Olyvee wordlessly nodded and made for the stairs together with her.


    Elfriede had noticed the small group¡¯s passing during their fight with her senses, as she could sense the entirety of a ten-meter radius orb around her so long as the air flowed in those areas. They caught the small group - including the bald man they were after - just as they ran into one of the rooms.


    The room had a window facing the street, and the three were opening the window while one tied a length of rope to it. Two of them turned around and drew swords as the bald man squeezed his large frame through the window and used the rope to rappel his way down as fast as he could.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle these two,¡± said Olyvee curtly as she cut in front of Elfriede and caught both thugs¡¯ swords with her knives. ¡°You go get him. You¡¯d fit easier through that window than me.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± replied Elfriede. What Olyvee said made sense. The half-elven woman was nearly two meters tall, and was broad of shoulder, which made it harder for her to squeeze through the rather small window. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a share of the bounty when we cashed him out.¡±


    Elfriede was not worried in the least for the woman¡¯s safety. Even if those two thugs were better than the rest they fought so far, they were not that good, and were quickly put on the backfoot against the half-elven woman. She herself checked out the situation below with her senses, and noticed that the bald man was just about to reach the ground.


    Instead of rappelling down the rope like he did, Elfriede struck the wooden shutter of the window shoulder-first and broke it as she leapt out. She did a half-spin in the air and landed on her feet, facing the surprised bald man even as she flexed her legs to absorb the landing.


    The bald man looked left and right in panic, only to see his men being routed by Reinhardt as well as the dwarves, and as he realized that his only way out was through Elfriede, he charged at her with a bellow, an axe in his hand.


    Elfriede deflected the axe with one of her blades, even as she spun around and sliced through the man¡¯s wrists - deep enough to sever his tendons - with the other. At the same time one of her legs kicked out against his left knee, hard enough to break the joint and force it to bend backwards.


    The bald man screamed in agony as she stomped down on his other knee with the heel of her boot. Sure, the crown prince asked for him alive, but he definitely said nothing about him being in good health¡­ or in one piece for that matter.

 Chapter 76 - Occupation of Norouz

    ¡°Cowing a population properly is no easy task. More often than not, some will get the bright idea to stand up against their new rulers, and thus get themselves killed, usually not alone either. Even in a well done occupation, some dissidents would have the smarts to lay low, to wait for a more opportune time in the future.


    Finding and stamping out these seeds is usually a long process, often measured in generations, and thus it is a long term task that often necessitated having highly competent rulers over the occupied territory for a good while. This is one field where I truly envy those who were born as part of the long-lived kind.¡± - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya empire.


    ¡°Fine work once again, Captain Edelstein,¡± said the Crown Prince in praise with an honest smile as he accepted Reinhardt¡¯s ¡°delivery¡± of one crime lord, gagged and trussed like a chicken to be slaughtered with all his limbs crippled to prevent escape. ¡°The bounty will be deposited with the rest of your payment at the end of the contract as usual.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure doing business with you, Your Highness,¡± replied Reinhardt with a polite bow. The city¡¯s occupation was progressing well after the last of the resistance was taken down, even if the prevailing sentiment among the populace still mostly contained fear and uncertainty. This time they had no local elements to help calm and control the people down after all.


    ¡°We will be staying here to catch our breath for two more days, before we set out for Fort Fendorf,¡± added the Crown Prince as he looked at Reinhardt once more. ¡°I would like to hire the services of Mrs. Edelstein as an interpreter for that period should she be available.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, sire,¡± replied Reinhardt. The language barrier was by far the issue that complicated the occupation the most, with so few of the locals even speaking a few phrases in common. Ironically, those who learnt to speak common more tended to be of the criminal elements, as they usually had contacts outside the nation. This time around those were not an option to consider since the army had just basically uprooted the major criminal organization of the city. ¡°Our¡­ local asset from Zefirous had also been learning common of late, and he learnt fast. As long as it¡¯s not too complicated, he could be of use as an interpreter as well.¡±


    Lars had spent much of his time during the week they rested in Zefirous and again during the travel to Norouz learning the common tongue, so he could communicate with the rest of the mercenaries without needing much help from Elfriede to interpret. A couple of his underlings - that¡¯s what Reinhardt and the rest of the mercenaries considered the few men and women who followed Lars - also started to learn the tongue, but picked it up more slowly.


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    In the Holy Kingdom few learned the common tongue outside of the nobles - who often also had their own dealings with the outside - and the criminals, though some phrases were commonly used enough that they made their way into the local vocabulary. The assimilation of Varsha¡¯s organization was honestly an accidental masterstroke in terms of facilitating communication with the locals in Zefirous.


    Reinhardt had sent Lars and his group off with Gr¨¹nhildr during the battle earlier, and he later learned from her that Lars had helped them make two walled off groups - locals who were fighting against the gangs currently running the town - stand down by talking to them.


    The man himself met Reinhardt and reported what he did in accented, but passable common, and asked for a pardon for promising things he had no authority to promise to those beleaguered people back then.


    Since all he promised to them was that they would be treated fairly and be spared of the rape and plunder they expected to happen, Reinhardt all too easily approved what he did. While the practice was commonplace in many nations, it was not part of the dwarven culture to rape and plunder.


    As they generally thought in the long term, the dwarves favored building goodwill and cooperation with those whose lands fall under them, and as such, generally treated them as if they were already their people. As for the Free Lances themselves, such activities were forbidden on the pain of death, from the very first day the company was found, as their founder, father to the late captain Ingrid, was formerly a Knallzog soldier himself.


    Exceptions were made when the company was hired to specifically pillage the enemy territory, though, but personal pillaging was still forbidden all the same.


    ¡°That is good. We can never have too many interpreters to help deal with these people,¡± replied the Crown Prince with a nod. ¡°Graf Harscape, I would like you to remain here and pacify the city while we take care of Fort Fendorf. Will a garrison of five thousand be sufficient?¡±


    ¡°It is enough, my Liege,¡± replied the old dwarf with a bow. ¡°Though if possible I would like to have the criminal we caught to help pacify the people with, and the services of at least one interpreter in that time.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s all yours,¡± replied the Crown Prince as he looked to the bound and crippled crime lord without pity. ¡°As for the interpreter¡­ Captain Edelstein?¡±


    ¡°I can lend Lars and his people over for the time being. They¡¯re all locals and many are making an effort to learn common,¡± said Reinhardt in reply. While he was close with Graf Harscape he knew that in such formal occasions it was not the place to speak informally. ¡°They should probably be of help in dealing with the local populace.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping for Friede, but that works too,¡± replied the Graf with a nod. ¡°I take it the Free Lances are going to join the offensive on the fort then?¡±


    ¡°We plan to do so. We will see this war through to the end one way or another,¡± replied Reinhardt with certainty in his voice. ¡°We owe those who had gone before us too much not to do so.¡±

 Chapter 77 - One Battle after Another

    ¡°Marching from one fight to the next,


    All for the gold that one might expect,


    To receive in place of the blood spilled,


    Whether yours or theirs, kill or be killed.¡± - Ancient poem describing a mercenary¡¯s life, dated from the First Elmaiya Empire, author unknown.


    ¡°I have a rather close relationship with Uncle Angus, so you don¡¯t need to worry you¡¯d inadvertently offend him or something,¡± Reinhardt told Lars on the night before the day when the army would depart for Fort Fendorf.


    Graf Angus Harscape, as well as five thousand of the dwarven infantry, remained at Norouz to further pacify the populace and occupy the city properly. Even in these two days, the populace had calmed down somewhat compared to the day of the battle.


    That the dwarves had not committed any untoward acts on the populace helped, as had the crime lord¡¯s very public execution by stoning, where Graf Harscape told the citizens that anyone who had a grudge against the captive may step forward and cast a stone. All that was left of the former crime lord of Norouz by the time the angry people were finished was a pile of horribly crushed flesh that was barely recognizable as a man.


    Lars and Elfriede¡¯s presence as interpreters also helped the occupation proceed more smoothly, as they helped assure the locals that they would not be mistreated so long as they behaved. Those assurances, as well as the distribution of foods and medical needs by the dwarves, did a lot to calm the populace down from their previously agitated state.


    ¡°Understood, captain,¡± replied Lars in accented common. He and his group were staying behind to aid Graf Harscape this time, rather than join the rest of the Free Lances to battle, as they were more useful in that role. ¡°Anything else I should keep in mind?¡±


    ¡°Do form a good relation with the locals,¡± added Reinhardt after a moment of thought. ¡°We will likely attempt a recruitment drive to help pad our numbers when we leave, so having you get on the good side of the locals will help with that. Naturally, there will be a reward should you perform well at this.¡±


    ¡°Understood, sir,¡± replied Lars with a salute. He had gotten somewhat used to life with the mercenaries so far, adapting faster than most Reinhardt had seen in his life. ¡°Safe travels, and may you be victorious.¡±


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    ******************************


    The next morning, Reinhardt and most of the Free Lances, minus Lars and his group, departed from Norouz and headed west together with the rest of the dwarven army. They numbered roughly twenty five thousand altogether, with some of the wounded recovered enough to fight once more, even after subtracting the five thousand that stayed in the city as well as those still injured too badly to fight.


    From Norouz to Fort Fendorf was a good two days¡¯ journey for the army, moving mostly unburdened as they were given their highly effective logistics. Despite their short legs, dwarves were capable of marching tirelessly for entire days on end and cover a distance a human army would be hard pressed to match, barring a forced march.


    Their own light cavalry ranged out far and wide, as they served as the scouts for the army. The report they - as well as Hannah, who Reinhardt had sent out to scout as well - returned on the evening of the second day reported that Fort Fendorf seemed to be sealed shut, with the nervous Holy Kingdom army, estimated at around twenty thousand, hiding inside.


    Rather than besiege the fort, which would take far too long given how much supplies the army likely had with them, the Crown Prince ordered a repeat of what they did at Fort Prydwen, with some modifications to the plan.


    This time, the dwarves stayed outside of arrow range at first, as their mages went to work and erected tall earthen walls even taller than the fort¡¯s walls itself. The Holy Kingdom soldiers within the fort watched them work with some confusion, uncertain what the dwarves were planning to do. The fort was very well-stocked with rations and could easily hold for a couple years should they be besieged.


    Unbeknownst to the defenders of the fort, however, the dwarven construction mages worked from behind the cover of those walls, and had thickened them on three sides, making the walls tough enough to last a decent while even under a concentrated assault. For the last side, behind which the dwarven army awaited, the mages worked overtime to harden and solidify the wall, as well as stealthily constructing hardened support pillars on its other side.


    As such, the sight that greeted the defenders of Fort Fendorf three days later, in the evening shortly after the sun had just begun to set, was that of a section of the wall the dwarves built rotating around to display a series of pillars on its other side, built to various different height that grew longer the closer they were to the top.


    Then the massive slab of hardened earth moved up almost as if it was a living being, manipulated by the efforts of the entire cadre of earth mages the dwarven army possessed, and slowly lowered until the foot of the pillars gently landed on the ground, and merged with it.


    The end result of the display was a long, gently sloping ramp that led straight from the dwarven encampment to the wall, with a meter-wide gap between the end of the ramp and the wall itself. The dwarves clearly already prepared for that exact situation, as even while the ramp was still lowering itself, what was left of the dwarven heavy infantry had stepped onto their end of the ramp and began rushing towards the fort.


    Reinhardt along with the rest of the Free Lances followed behind them, as they ran alongside the wide, hardened ramp with the rest of the dwarven light infantry. They were positioned just behind the heavy infantry, which meant that they were expected to exploit the opening made by those before them.


    A heavy responsibility the Crown Prince gave them since he was quite impressed by the mercenaries¡¯ performance in the previous battle, and a trust that Reinhardt would see repaid, ideally in gold.

 Chapter 78 - Battle of Fort Fendorf (Part 1)

    ¡°In a fight for your life, you kill or die,


    Which fate you get, all on a roll of die,


    All for a handful of coins, as fortune gives,


    So that one might strive and carry on to live.¡± - Mercenary¡¯s ditty, from the Times of Turmoil, supposedly first sung by a member of Horst¡¯s Hellraisers.


    With a cacophony of roars, screams, yells, and the clash of metal on metal, the foremost dwarven infantrymen leapt the final stretch between the end of the ramp and the fort¡¯s walls. Some of them were struck down in mid-air by the concentrated efforts of the defenders, to fall to the moat below, their lives or deaths unknown, but more made it through the barrage, and landed right on top of the defenders.


    Most of them landed with a heavy crunch as their armored boots stepped on the hard stone of the fort¡¯s walls, their bodies crouched to absorb the impact of their landing, while a few landed with wet, disgusting squelches as they fell directly on top of a defender who was too slow to make way, and directly pulverized the poor sod under their fully armored weight.


    These brave dwarves remained where they were, braced on their knees with both hands on their shields, and after a moment, raised their shields above their heads in unison, slightly angled forward, and took the weight of the next batch of dwarves to leap over with strained muscles before they heaved and pushed those standing on their shields towards the enemies before them.


    Even as the second wave of dwarves struck the defenders with a tumultuous clang of metal colliding against each other, the first wave used the recoil to rush backwards towards the edge of the wall, and use their tower shields - each as tall or taller than they themselves were at a meter and a half of length - to bridge the meter-wide gap between the end of the ramp and the top of the walls.


    Moments after the last shield was laid in position, armored boots stepped on the shields and rushed past them as more dwarves charged into the fort¡¯s eastern wall, where they rapidly overwhelmed the surprised defenders and quickly formed a breach that covered most of the eastern wall.


    Dwarven heavy infantrymen were elites, men and women trained for years to fight for long durations all while wearing armor that would have rendered many other races immobile just from the weight alone. Due to this very same armor that they build their repute on however, they were not the most mobile, and while suitable for breaching a line and establishing a beachhead, they fare poorly when forced to go around all over the place.


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    That was why shortly after the beachhead on the eastern wall was established, the light infantry - Reinhardt and his Free Lances amongst them - rushed in from behind them and charged down the stairs while the heavies carried on a slow push on the walls of the fort, making their way through the northern and southern walls one step at a time.


    The fort¡¯s stairs were designed with a couple U-turns along the way, so that invaders who had reached the wall could not run straight down towards the bottom. Reinhardt and his group partly ignored the design however, as the therian and more skilled members of the group leapt down from halfway down the stairs, a good four meters up, and landed safely on their feet even while the rest continued down the stairs the safer way.


    A small group of dwarven heavies held a semi-circle as they held the bottom of the stairs against the crowding defenders. Reinhardt and his men landed a bit off the side from that fight, and they immediately went to work on the surprised defenders they literally fell onto.


    Niko and Yuri, along with Varilya and Bj?rn and a dozen other members of Mischka¡¯s team, charged straight towards the dwarven heavies, as they simply used the most of their bulk to barrel through all opposition and quickly set themselves up to reinforce the heavies in their defense of the stairs.


    The others carved their way through the defenders of the fort, with the intent to clear out their immediate surroundings first. Reinhardt knew all too well that charging into the fort in search for the Count was folly this early on. That said, nothing says his company couldn¡¯t be at the forefront of that hunt, once they had enough men on the ground.


    Mischka carved a path through the enemy soldiers almost by herself, the massive therian matron relying on her new armor to simply take the hits she deemed not dangerous while she countered with her massive blade. Bodies were strewn around with every swing of hers, either in crudely torn off halves or folded over themselves in a very unnatural angle.


    Salicia - along with the other archers in the Free Lances - stayed on the walls, spread out to the sides of the stairs, as they gave support fire from above to those fighting below. A couple times Reinhardt caught sight of one of the woman¡¯s distinctive oversized arrows impaling a defender who was just about to land a hit on one of the Lances.


    Gr¨¹nhildr carved her own path of carnage almost as impressive as Mischka¡¯s - Reinhardt suspected the discrepancy was mostly out of their size difference, especially in arm and weapon length - as her own pair of void-clad axes simply cleaved through all in its path, be they weapons, armor, or flesh, with equal ease and the defenders before her kept falling into neatly severed pieces of flesh.


    Elfriede and Ylisera danced amidst the chaos, their blades reaping lives where they passed. The two women seemed wholly at their element in the chaotic melee the battle had quickly devolved into, and made the most out of it as they carved their own paths of slaughter through their opponents.


    Reinhardt himself struck with wide, forceful swings instead of the shorter, measured strikes he usually employed, as he had no worries of friendlies too close to him at the moment, and freely used his own strength to the fullest as he crushed and pulverized the enemies before him.


    The Free Lances were capable of fighting well in formation, but at their heart, they were irregulars. A chaotic melee like what currently unfolded, was their preferred environment.

 Chapter 79 - Battle of Fort Fendorf (Part 2)

    ¡°Why care for the sneers of fools,


    When soon you¡¯d make their blood pool,


    Beneath their soon to be cold cadaver,


    Where they¡¯d be laid to rest forever,


    While you went on to the next battle,


    In which you¡¯d be testing your mettle,


    Till the day comes at last when death,


    Caught and took claim of your last breath.¡± - Ode to the Warriors, Antique poem believed to originate from eastern Ur-Teros, from the prehistoric period.


    ¡°Boss, the dwarves are in position and started to push out,¡± reported Nicole as she came from the direction of the stairs. A quick glance that way confirmed the report for Reinhardt, since he could see the fighting moving away from the stairs and its surroundings.


    ¡°Good,¡± he replied as he parried a zealot¡¯s spear with the shaft of his weapon and directed the spearhead up and away from his body, before he slid his own weapon down the shaft and bashed the man¡¯s head in with his polemace. ¡°What about the others?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re coming right this way, boss. Hard to miss you all to be honest,¡± replied Nicole as she deftly pushed aside another zealot¡¯s axe, then used the butt end of her weapon to hit it away while she carried through the motion and tore his neck wide open with the curved blade of the weapon.


    What she said was indeed the case, as in a battlefield where one side was humans and the other dwarves, Reinhardt and especially Mischka¡¯s group of large-breed therians were particularly conspicuous due to their height. All it took him was a quick glance around to notice that Mischka¡¯s shieldbearers had already reformed their formation to the flanks of the chaotic melee where his group was.


    Reinhardt quickly grabbed a small flute from his storage, and brought it to his mouth, before he blew hard into it in a two-three-two pattern. The shrill noise the flute made was noticeable even above the din of the battlefield, and within minutes, the first group that had jumped down with him had gathered around his location, as shieldbearers covered their flanks. A multitude of corpses was left in their wake.


    ¡°Everyone here? Good. We¡¯re heading for the inner citadel before our dwarven friends can beat us to the bounty,¡± said Reinhardt once the unit leaders gathered around him. ¡°Push hard and fast, but keep your lives a priority. Bounty would do you no good when you¡¯re pushing daisies.¡±


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    Those around him gave a chorus of ¡°Yes, boss¡± and ¡°Understood¡± as they returned to their respective groups. Reinhardt kept Elfriede¡¯s group with him, as he had Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr each lead part of the company to strike hard from their flanks, while his own group charged through the middle.


    The defenders of Fort Fendorf - a mix of militiamen and soldiers, with more soldiers in the mix - tried to halt their advance, but they were distracted, their attentions divided by the ongoing dwarven offensive in several other directions at the same time, and their commanders gave contradictory commands in the tumult.


    Reinhardt and his mercenaries abused the chance before them and pushed straight through the enemy lines arrayed before them, as they abused their individual superiority and used the chaos to ensure that their enemies never managed to reform the semblance of a formation and was instead picked off in a chaotic melee.


    With their own shieldbearers keeping their flanks secure, the three strike forces in the middle of the Free Lances formation were freed to go wild on the enemy soldiers before them. A junior officer on the Holy Kingdom side tried to arrange for a defensive formation to stop their charge, but instead found his defenses breached almost immediately on the flanks and Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr did what they did best.


    Then Reinhardt broke straight through the wavering center of the formation with his own strike team, and Elfriede sneaked away only to return a minute later with the officer¡¯s head hanging from her belt, as she had slain the man in the chaos that followed their breakthrough.


    They faced stiffer resistance as they pushed closer to the citadel in the middle of the fort, and where the defenders they fought previously were a mix of militia and soldiers, they gave way to knights closer to the citadel. A group of knights in plate armor, at least fifty in number, though dismounted, barred their path just before the citadel itself.


    Reinhardt was not having it


    Even as the knights fought desperately to bar their way, he had the best killers of his troops go forward to take them on. Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr almost immediately removed a couple of knights each from the battle in their opening strikes, and Elfriede took another down as she pierced one of her blades deep into the knight¡¯s armpit gap.


    Two of them struck together at Reinhardt with their swords, and he blocked it with the metal shaft of his weapon. Just as their weapons clashed, however, an oversized arrow suddenly flew past his head and right into the eye hole on one knight¡¯s helm, striking hard enough that the knight¡¯s head was thrown back by the impact.


    Reinhardt did not waste the chance Salicia gave him, pushed away the sword of the other knight, and struck with his polemace as his opponent was forced to step back. The knight managed to block the blow with his shield, which took a large dent for the effort, but he had not expected Reinhardt to use the recoil and allowed his weapon to flow into a spin instead.


    The spiked back end of the polemace parried away the knight¡¯s sword as he tried another strike, while the macehead spun nearly a full circle and struck from below in an upward swing, right between the knight¡¯s legs, with enough force to crunch up and bend the armor plates in the region. The impact even lifted the knight off their feet for a bit.


    Needless to saw, the knight gave a warbled screech of extreme pain as they fell to their knees, clutching the struck area, while Reinhardt swung his polemace back another full circle, and the mace made a satisfying thwack as it connected with the knight¡¯s helmet and bent it into their head.


    With blood flowing from the openings of the helmet, the knight collapsed to his side, and after a couple twitches, stirred no more.

 Chapter 80 - Battle of Fort Fendorf (Part 3)

    ¡°While bards and other storytellers often sang songs that drew a good picture of knights and chivalry, such images were more often than not, fabrications. Knight orders were mostly organizations observed in human kingdoms, and more often than not, the so called knights were little better than a marauding pack of bandits.


    The only difference was that these bandits were comprised of rich folks, often descendants of nobles and the likes, as in most cases a knight was expected to provide their own steed, weapons, and armor, and that they were sanctioned by the local lords. Needless to say, most peasants were less than thrilled by the idea of a band of knights passing through their village or section of town.¡± - An excerpt from ¡°The Bold Lies of Chivalry and Knighthoods¡± by Andulia Uthgwes, Historian and Assistant Professor at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 508 FP.


    ¡°Bet ya fifty silver the bounty¡¯s cooped up in there,¡± said Ylisera as the elven woman sauntered alongside Reinhardt and Elfriede. They were just before the tightly shut main door to the inner citadel, which several of the more burly mercenaries were assaulting with axes and hammers.


    ¡°No bet,¡± replied Elfriede with a shake of her head as she stayed close to the door and used her magical senses to keep watch of the other side, thus ensuring they wouldn¡¯t have run into an ambush on the way in. ¡°There¡¯s a stairwell right behind this wall. Some of the knights were running down and now waited for us behind this door, but others ran up. Ten to one says the fucks who ran up is right by our sacks of coins.¡±


    Mischka or one of hers would have been perfect for the breaking down the door, honestly, but they were all occupied - as was Gr¨¹nhildr and her team - with holding the flanks and rear, thus giving a chance for Reinhardt and his group to assault the citadel unhindered.


    Almost as if summoned, Reinhardt saw Gr¨¹nhildr headed his way from afar, and also noticed how the press against his mercenaries had lessened, as the resistance from the defenders dropped all of a sudden. He gave a few questioning gestures while Gr¨¹nhildr was on her way, as he saw Mischka rearrange her team to take up the guard duty.


    They were all too large to properly fit into the citadel anyway.


    ¡°Our dwarven buddies opened the eastern gates, boss,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr when she got close enough that her voice was audible without needing to shout. ¡°They straight up brought their chariots and rhinos right into the fort. It¡¯s a bloody fucking slaughterhouse out there.¡±


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    ¡°Damn,¡± Reinhardt almost winced as he imagined the carnage. The fort was rather packed with the twenty thousand soldiers and militia in it, and it was further packed when the dwarves fought their way in. Allowing the dwarven chariots and heavy cavalry into such a target-rich environment was just a recipe for complete slaughter. ¡°Good for us, though. We got a door for you to handle, Gr¨¹n.¡±


    ¡°Gimme a moment,¡± replied the burly, scarred woman as she walked past Reinhardt and towards the thick, damaged wooden gates. The group assaulting the gate opened the way for her, all too familiar with what Gr¨¹nhildr could do, and the woman went to work right away.


    The axes in her hands had their blades sheathed with a layer of jet-black void, and she struck, once, twice, four times, each strike accurately aimed at the hinges of the gates. Regardless of whether it was the wood, metal, or stone, all of them parted like paper before her void-clad axes, and she stepped back to give room for the others to get to work.


    Four of the Lances¡¯ smaller shieldbearers took up position before the gates, and as one charged, their shields held with both arms and poised in front of them. They struck the gates together with a loud bang and the gates held for a brief moment, before it started to tilt backwards, no longer secured by its hinges, until it finally slammed down in a cloud of dust.


    The Free Lances charged in without preamble, as they used the dust cloud as cover to strike at the knights waiting behind the gates. A few of the knights had even failed to react on time when the gate fell on them, and could only grunt in pain as the Lances literally walked over them on their way in.


    Elfriede was the first one in, as she had no need for sight, which allowed her to feel her way through the dust cloud with ease, and started her grisly work as she struck a couple knights close enough to be enveloped by the dust cloud themselves.


    By the time the dust settled enough for them to see through it, the Knights noticed that four of them lay dead beneath the blind woman¡¯s feet, while the rest of the mercenaries streamed in from beside her, in numbers too great for them to even have a chance of stopping.


    Ironically, where the militia of the Holy Kingdom fought without a care for their lives, fanatical zealots one and all, deep in their beliefs, and the soldiers were often the same, it was the knights that broke before the face of adversity, as some of them even threw down their weapon in fright.


    Elfriede had explained the odd juxtaposition to Reinhardt before. Those who made it to a knightly position in the holy kingdom were usually either very talented youths scouted from the populace, or the descendants of rich people. Either way, unlike the peasants who knew no better life and had drank deep into their beliefs, the knights were people who had much to lose should they die, and thus, far more prone to cowardice, unless they were also a fanatical believer.


    Which was ironically also relatively rare amongst the well-to-do.


    Some of the knights yelled at others who laid down their arms, only to be silenced by the merciless mercenaries. Reinhardt ordered that those few who surrendered were to be stripped of their weapons and armor, and secured until the battle was finished and they had time to discuss how to handle them.


    As for himself, he went upstairs along with Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr and around fifty others. They speculated that the Count would likely have kept his most trusted and most skilled knights by his side, and they were headed up to claim the bounty on his head.

 Chapter 81 - Battle of Fort Fendorf (Part 4)

    ¡°You basically have two options when your time is at hand. Either you accept it willingly, or you go kicking and screaming and more likely than not embarrass yourself in the process. Me? I choose to pass on to the next world quietly. Not like making a fuss would change anything anyway.¡± - Fabled last words of Xaliburnus the Conqueror, veracity unknown.


    ¡°They¡¯re close, just another floor up,¡± said Elfriede after they finished a fight against a small group of ten knights who had valiantly tried to hold the top of the stairs on the third floor of the citadel. Gr¨¹nhildr had made short work of their blockade, while Elfriede and Ylisera struck those on the sides the moment she broke through, and between them left Reinhardt with nothing to do.


    ¡°How many?¡± he asked in turn. He was all too familiar with the way Elfriede could sense through walls and floors as long as there was airflow between the spaces. It was a rather priceless ability for indoor scouting, to say the least.


    He himself knew of some other wind mages capable of similar feats, but they usually only do it in short bursts, as they rarely trained that particular aspect of their ability much. Elfriede on the other hand, used it to substitute for her sightless eyes, and had honed it to an extent that other mages never even thought of.


    ¡°Twenty-five, plus what I¡¯d guess are both our bounties,¡± she replied quickly. Elfriede generally kept her sphere of wind-sense active at all times up to a range of roughly ten meter away from her in all directions. The only reason it took her a moment was because she was counting the knights, who seemed intent on holding the stairwell. ¡°They¡¯ll likely try to hold the stairwell. The bounties are in the room behind them.¡±


    The top floor of the fort¡¯s inner citadel was rather small, with just a small landing by the stairwell, and a single room that occupied the rest of the floor. Elfriede detected two men, who from the features she could detect was almost certain to be their quarry, inside the room, all nervous and jittery.


    ¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to improvise a bit then,¡± said Reinhardt as he looked to the circular stairwell. The design of the stairs made it difficult for those up top to strike at people climbing, but at the same time, made it harder for those climbing to do so with momentum.


    ¡°Gudrun, Atman, I¡¯d like you two to take the lead, push through their defense, and leave the rest to us,¡± he said to two shieldbearers in their group. The couple - a dwarf and a great ape therian - were part of Mischka¡¯s group, some of the few small enough to be able to fight in the citadel without difficulty.


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    ¡°Gr¨¹n, you, me, Friede and Ylisera are going right behind them. We¡¯ll widen the breach they made,¡± he added. All three women nodded at his call and quickly grouped up beside him. ¡°Nicole, you lead the rest and follow through into the gap.¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss!¡± replied the young woman. While her aunt had recovered from her injury and was her senior amongst the scouts, Dacia had also mentioned that she might call this campaign her last, and as such had started to groom Nicole to take over as representative and leader of the Free Lances¡¯ scouts. The girl had so far taken well to the role.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this people. Don¡¯t get yourself killed, else you¡¯d be missing the party!¡±


    ********************************


    With two massive tower shields completely covering them from sight up front, Reinhardt and the rest climbed the stairs carefully. Some clangs of metal striking metal were audible as soon as they turned towards the final stretch of the stairs.


    The knights at the top of the stairs fired crossbows at them, but the weapons they used were smaller ones compared to what Reinhardt had seen the dwarves use, weaker ones. Their projectiles simply bounced or shattered off the tower shields held by the two shieldbearers up front, whose shields were far too thick and sturdy to be defeated with just that.


    Others tried to stab and push them off with spears as they got closer, but both shieldbearers grunted and set their feet hard against the stone steps, even as Reinhardt and Gr¨¹nhildr helped support them from behind. Step by step, they pushed ahead until they locked shields with the knights who tried to push them down the stairs.


    For a moment, an uneasy stalemate ensued as both sides strained their muscles in an attempt to push away the other, with no avail. The knights broke first, however, as one of them stumbled and fell as his muscles gave out under the strain.


    The results were immediate. Gudrun and Atman immediately pushed into the knights¡¯ formation, as they pushed back the ones in front of them. They took a few wounds as other knights struck at them from the sides, but their armor spared them from any serious injury for the most part.


    Mere moments after they pushed in and created a gap, Reinhardt struck down a knight on the side with his polemace, while Gr¨¹nhildr chopped another on the other side into halves as she stepped in. Elfriede and Ylisera flowed in between them and went to work as well, as their blades clashed with those of the knights, and Nicole followed with the rest of the Free Lances right behind them.


    As hard as the knights fought, they found themselves pushed back once the Free Lances made a headway. The cramped room was definitely not designed for more than fifty people fighting each other in a chaotic melee, and the knights - especially those with longer weapons like polearms - suffered because of it.


    On the other hand, the mercenaries they faced were far more used to such conditions. Even the ones with longer weapons like Reinhardt and Nicole knew their way around cramped quarters like these, and used their weapons cleverly in short, sharp strokes, often striking enemies who were busy with others using the other end of their long weapons.


    The fighting was vicious nevertheless, and more than a few of the Lances sported injuries of varying severity by the time it was over, but of the twenty-five knights that barred their path, not a single one remained standing. They had chosen to fight to the bitter end, and was slain to a man in return.

 Chapter 82 - A Reunion between Father and Daughter

    ¡°Hate takes on all forms, and out of these, I find the hatred between family members the saddest to see, where people who should have loved and cared for one another instead turn on each other, often with blades bared.


    Then again, there are just far too many instances of parents who should have never been allowed to have children, or ungrateful children who allowed their ambitions or greed to cloud their reasoning in this world, that it was not strange to see such familial hatred play out from time to time.¡± - Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden, Circa 482 VA.


    ¡°There¡¯s just two of them left,¡± said Elfriede as she wiped the blood off her blades on a dead knight¡¯s coat of arms. ¡°They¡¯ve noticed the fighting long ago, too craven to come out and help out their own loyal knights, though.¡±


    ¡°Want to do it yourself?¡± Reinhardt asked, well aware by now of the connection between his wife and the two nobles trapped inside the room. Even if there were two of them, he¡¯d place his bet on his wife taking them on with ease any day. ¡°Do keep in mind that the Prince wants them breathing if possible, though.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Elfriede with a nod of her head. The bounty they were given had not called for a live capture, but the Crown Prince did mention to get the nobles alive if it was possible to do. He also quietly mentioned to the mercenaries that he wouldn¡¯t be averse to paying a little extra from his own pockets for them. ¡°He didn¡¯t say they have to be in one piece, though. Just living.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t overdo it since I think he¡¯ll want to parade them in the city or something, so they should probably be able to stay alive that long,¡± he said in turn with a nod of his own. ¡°All yours, then. Want me to break the door? It¡¯s a pretty hefty one.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing¡­ dear,¡± she replied with a - for once - gentle smile on her face. Reinhardt returned her smile with a fang-baring one of his own, which he knew she would sense through the wind even though he was facing away from her.


    He picked up his polemace with both of his large, paw-like hands, and gripped the long handle tightly. The door towards the room where the nobles were cooped up was locked, and the door itself a sturdy one, one too tough to simply shoulder aside even for some of their larger members.


    So instead, he stood to the side of the door, as the other mercenaries gave him some room, and readied his mace, his arms stretched well behind him. He nodded and gave Gr¨¹nhildr the signal, at which point the burly woman swung her axes at both sides of the door, as they sliced through the hinges and the lock that held it closed.


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    Then she stepped aside and Reinhardt swung his polemace with all his prodigious strength. The blow landed right on the center of the door and sent the whole thing flying off its frame despite its considerable weight, as there was nothing that held in its place anymore.


    He heard a panicked shout from inside, a sound like one made when ice shattered against wood, then male voice that grunted with surprise and some pain as the door fell directly on him with a loud crash.


    Elfriede calmly stepped into the doorway, one of her blades moving to swat aside a lance of ice that flew her way with contemptuous ease as she did so. Apparently the count¡¯s eldest son was a mage of the ice affinity, though not a strong one judging from the size of his projectiles.


    Reinhardt peeked in from the doorway and noticed the young man immediately, who drew out his longsword - a slim example meant more for finesse and duels than for the battlefield - and a dagger from the opposite side after his attempts at magic failed him, as Elfriede drew closer, her face set as an emotionless mask.


    The young noble looked nervous, and glanced from time to time as his father, who still struggled under the heavy door that kept him pinned underneath its weight. His looks bore some unvoiced questions in them, as the similarity between Elfriede¡¯s looks and his own - or his brothers - was all too obvious to ignore.


    He didn¡¯t get to voice his questions however, as the next moment Elfriede¡¯s twin blades came for him. They were aimed at less lethal spots like the shoulder because she wanted to catch him alive, sure, but it was still a threat he could not ignore.


    His blades clashed with hers, the office they had hid in was more than spacious enough for the two to fight freely, yet he fell to the backfoot almost immediately. His training under various tutors, the few duels and spars he had with other nobles, none of those proved a match for her blades, ones honed by the blood and souls of the hundred of lives she had reaped in her life, both on and off the battlefields.


    Before too long, he made a mistake she exploited, as she struck his sword aside, then jammed the blade on her weapon¡¯s pommel into the back of his palm, the pain and injury enough to make him lose his grip on his sword, which clattered to the floor noisily.


    Reinhardt winced as he saw how the poor man failed to react at all before Elfriede severed the tendons of his other arm at the elbow, and kicked in one of his knees in the same move, sending the young noble to the ground in a screaming heap.


    Elfriede then asked for Gudrun and Atman to help her out. The door that kept the Count pinned turned out to be too heavy for her to move herself. The couple walked in without preamble, while a couple other mercenaries kept the young, now crippled noble, tied up and gagged as their prisoner.


    The first thing Count Jan Brequod of Norouz saw after the heavy door was lifted off him was not a sight that brought him relief, as it was the stout, bearded visage of a dwarf and an ape-like demi-human that loomed over him threateningly.


    What he saw next made him almost cry out in despair though, as a young human woman stepped over, with a blade pointed at his throat. The woman had the all-too-familiar flaxen shade of hair all his children had, even mostly the same general facial features, if she was a good bit more tanned than they were. Moreover, her face reminded him a lot of a certain maid he dallied with in his youth, prior to his marriage, a woman he had taken care of so as not to leave any loose ends.


    He had heard that the woman had a child, but dismissed the chance of a four or five year old blind orphan surviving on their own in the slums of the city as nonexistent back then. Only then, when the woman opened her mouth and spoke the words he dreaded, did he realize the mistake he had made.


    ¡°Long time no see, father.¡± said the woman with obvious venom in her voice.

 Chapter 83 - Ruthlessness and Mercy

    ¡°Cleansing the old ruling families when conquering a land was just the common practice, as cruel as it may sound. For one it stopped the locals from conveniently using them as a figurehead to rebel again, and in other cases, it even helped win some favorability with the locals should the current rulers be hated ones.


    On rare occasions, when the local rulers were beloved by their populace and cooperative with the invaders, they might be permitted to continue existing as vassals. These cases were few and far between though, and more often than not, a territory being conquered meant certain death for the old ruling family, and at times the bastards they left behind too.¡± - From a paper by Leigh Wainwrought, Sociology student at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 690 FP.


    ¡°I must say that your performance was most impressive, captain,¡± said the Crown Prince as Reinhardt met him in the confiscated office - the same one where they caught the nobles - of the fort later that night. The battle had been settled in half a day, a quick, brutal strike in the style the dwarves favored when on the offensive. ¡°Two cities and your crew had bagged seven nobles already, eight if we count the one you caught in Fort Ascher before our arrival. This is one reason I always advocated having some competent mercenaries around with the army. You people are always far better at sniffing out and catching high-value targets than my army boys.¡±


    ¡°I thank you for your praise, Your Highness,¡± replied Reinhardt with a polite bow. The Crown Prince had kindly added half again the promised bounty since they had delivered the nobles alive - if not exactly in good shape - to him. ¡°We strive to be worth our paychecks.¡±


    ¡°A welcome sentiment, captain! You have no idea how many less worthwhile companies only did the bare minimum stipulated in their contracts and coasted by to earn their money,¡± said the Crown Prince in a more friendly voice. At the moment their army was resting in Fort Fendorf for the night, as they planned to return to Norouz in a couple of days after they finished sorting out the salvage from the dead and the captives. ¡°To find one who consistently goes above and beyond, even if it is for gold, is always welcome. Oh aye, while they were not on the bounty list we had put up, the ladies will be counted for another fifty gold a piece, to be credited to your company¡¯s accounts when this is over.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated, Your Highness. We will put it into good use,¡± said Reinhardt with a smile. His fang-bearing smile often incited unease in many, but the dwarves seemed to just take it in stride. The company had also captured the Count¡¯s wife and his son¡¯s, along with the infant daughter the younger couple had, sequestered in the basement of the Fort¡¯s citadel in a safe room.


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    Clearly the Count had predicted the chaos the army found in Norouz, and had not cared beyond evacuating his own family - and a lot of his riches - away. He probably expected to win the battle then return home to crush the thug uprising in one go.


    ¡°If I may be so bold to ask, Your Highness, what is planned for their fates?¡± Reinhardt asked, although he knew that chances were all the ladies would be put to death alongside their men. The dwarves were ruthlessly efficient when they needed to be.


    ¡°The older ones will be publicly executed alongside their husbands,¡± replied the Crown Prince without missing a beat, clearly expectant of such a query. ¡°As for the babe, that one¡¯s got no real faults of her own, so we¡¯ll likely either have one of our own raise her, or else put her in an orphanage. By the time she grew up I am certain we will have this region securely in our grasp anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ is mighty kind of you, Your Highness,¡± Said Reinhardt honestly. He had honestly expected a very public execution for the child as well, and said as much. ¡°Most human employers I know of would have made an example out of all of them.¡±


    ¡°Well, we ain¡¯t human,¡± replied the Crown Prince with a guffaw. ¡°We dwarves will do what¡¯s necessary to gain what we want, but I¡¯m rather proud to say that we usually refrain from the excesses the human often went for.¡±


    ¡°Besides, even if someone eventually found the child¡¯s identity and used her as a figurehead for an uprising somewhere down the line, it¡¯d just help us round up the dissidents anyway, which I¡¯m fine with as well,¡± added the dwarf with a conspiratorial wink as he poured himself some ale in a large flagon and drained it in one go. ¡°I am certain whoever ended up caring for the child will know better than commit to such folly, wouldn¡¯t you agree, captain?¡±


    ¡°Yes, indeed, Sire,¡± was all Reinhardt could say. By now, his company had turned in too many familiar faces for people to not notice the similarity between the Count of Norouz and his progeny to his wife, yet the Crown Prince and his men never mentioned a single word about it. While he had not said it outright, he had hinted that it might be to their mutual advantage if Reinhardt and his mercenaries simply took the infant girl away from these lands, so that nobody would ever use her for untoward purposes. ¡°I will mention the matter to my wife.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t ask for more, captain Edelstein,¡± replied the dwarf with a nod. ¡°Thank you again for your fine work, you are dismissed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, aye, it almost crossed my mind, but I have one more message I would like you to convey to your people,¡± added the Crown Prince just as Reinhardt rose from his seat and was about to leave.


    ¡°What may that be, Sire?¡±


    ¡°We plan to execute the count and his family publicly in Norouz in around a week,¡± stated the dwarf nonchalantly. ¡°Should there be anyone who wishes to have the honor of ending their lives personally, let them know that it is a favor we would not mind giving consideration towards.¡±

 Chapter 84 - An Unsightly Fate for the Defeated

    ¡°Public executions had long been used as a way to make an example of certain people, usually criminals or defeated enemies, so that others would think twice before they tread in their footsteps.


    In some cases, these might be mercifully quick, by way of beheading or other methods that killed the condemned near-instantly. Others make a point to visibly prolong the agony of the sufferer to further punctuate the message they wished to send out.


    From this, various¡­ creative methods of execution had sprung up in the past, from ones where the condemned were impaled on a stake and left to die of exposure over days, stuffed into a bronze effigy of a beast which was then set on fire, roasting the condemned alive inside, to slowly lacerating the condemned by way of thin, carefully controlled cuts, where a skilled executioner could make up to a thousand slices before the condemned gave up the ghost.


    Truly, cruelty is one of the greatest inspirations for certain people.¡± - From a paper by Leigh Wainwrought, Sociology student at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 689 FP.


    Central Square, Norouz


    Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, western region


    Western Alcidea


    5th day, 1st week, 9th month of the year 2 FP.


    That early winter day - where the weather cooled down but was not yet cold enough for snow or ice to fall upon the land - the people of Norouz gathered in the central square, where many looked at the raised platform with eyes that contained hope and hatred in equal measure.


    Hope was for a possibly better future. After generations of life where the poor of the city was exploited and used as expendables by the rich and powerful, many were not exactly against the idea of the dwarves taking over, regardless of what the priests and the nobles preached all the time in their pasts.


    After all, it had already been two weeks, and the new overlords had yet to mistreat them the way all the others they had known did. They were even helpful and kind enough to feed the poor. For many, the justification in their heads was simply ¡°how bad could these new lords be?¡±.


    Hatred was reserved to their erstwhile lord, and his family, who were carried up the stage by the dwarves, as both the Count and his son were clearly unable to walk on their own, their faces locked in painful rigors by the injuries they suffered. Reinhardt had to look away a bit when they brought the Count over.


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    Elfriede had not been the slightest bit gentle with the man, and had left him an utter cripple. With his arms and legs so badly mauled the dwarven doctors simply opted to amputate them by the elbow and knees so he does not die too soon, and his spine broken near the end, which left him insensate from the waist down.


    He knew she likely did it on purpose, just to subject the defeated noble to the indignity of having to wallow in his own wastes and unable to do a thing about it. Much like the way she all but jumped at the Crown Prince¡¯s offer to act as the executioner for today.


    They had also discussed the child, the Count¡¯s infant granddaughter, and both came to an agreement that they would not mind taking her in to raise as their own, especially since it would help them gain a good impression from someone likely to be the next King of the Mountain. When he returned to the Crown Prince¡¯s office back then with their agreement and Elfriede¡¯s request, the dwarf had sagely nodded, a look of a man who had his plans working as he expected.


    Reinhardt had not minded being part of the dwarf¡¯s plans in this case though, as it was of no detriment to his company, and besides, they needed both the payment and the goodwill of their employer to recover properly, since for the time being they were still based off Knallzog after all.


    He saw Lars come up on the stage, along with Graf Harscape, who was temporarily the city¡¯s overseer. The Graf listed out the crimes they charged the Count and his family with, including failure to provide for his people, negligence in keeping order, abuse of privileges, and many more.


    All those were in dwarven, and were part of the dwarven law, though Lars had evidently done his homework as he translated them fluently into the local language. Some of the locals murmured as they listened to the announcement, many with surprised looks on their faces.


    The very idea that a ruler could be charged for those crimes was an entirely foreign concept in the Holy Kingdom, where their rulers claim their right to rule by the God-King¡¯s grace and accept no disagreement towards it.


    When Graf Harscape ended his speech with how the whole family would be sentenced to death, the crowd cheered. Elfriede waited until the cheers died down before she went up the stage, a two-handed axe in her hand and her blades sheathed by her hips.


    Some of the crowd looked at her questioningly, as her flaxen hair and features were a bit too similar to the Count and his son - and the heads of his younger two sons already set up on stakes by the sides of the stage - for them to not notice.


    They quieted down though when she came to the first of the lined-up family, the Count¡¯s daughter-in-law, who married into the family from the city of Eganiz to the north, a daughter of the Count there, who by now was probably also being strung up by the Ezramites who took over the city.


    The young woman looked at Elfriede in the eyes, with a serene calmness unlike the panicked look in the eyes of the Count, his wife, and his son, and laid down her neck on the chopping block as she closed her eyes.


    Her calm had a reason, as Elfriede had visited her the night before, and told her to at least die with dignity, with a promise that her child would be spared, and raised safely, far away from the Holy Kingdom. The young mother had clutched onto that promise as she chose to do what Elfriede said, and to pass from this life with dignity.


    Elfriede raised the axe, and it fell down with a solid thwack as its blade met with the wooden block. The head of the Count¡¯s daughter-in-law rolled down, the sharp axe having parted it from her body with ease, granting her a painless, quick death.


    For the others, there would be no such thing.

 Chapter 85 - Making a Gruesome Example

    ¡°In some countries, public executions were even treated as a form of entertainment, as a reprieve from the harsh toll of endless work. It worked in a perverse way, as the sight of the criminals being executed gave a reprieve to the spectators, who got to witness others who were even worse off than they were.


    Needless to say, such cases were mostly found in nations where the living conditions of the average person was so poor that such gruesome entertainment helped take their minds off their own troubles, if only for a moment.


    From history, most nations that employed this method to calm down their populace were ones where the flames of revolt and change were nearly at the boiling point to begin with, and the practices - along with the ruling dynasty, if not the nations themselves - rarely lasted for long.¡± - From a paper by Leigh Wainwrought, Sociology student at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 689 FP.


    ¡°The lady Iselina Eilazen of Eganiz had been deemed guilty of lighter crimes, and thus granted the mercy of a swift death,¡± declared Graf Angus Harscape solemnly to the people, with Lars translating his words after every sentence. ¡°Should she be guilty of other things from her former hometown of Eganiz, that is beyond our jurisdiction and shall not be pursued.¡±


    ¡°For the rest of the Brequod household, the Knallzog court of laws had found no reason deemed suitable to lessen their punishment, and thus they are sentenced to the vilest of deaths,¡± added the old dwarf to the crowd¡¯s roaring cheers. Some of them had looked oddly unsatisfied with the quick death granted to the lady Iselina. ¡°They are to have their bellies opened, and hoisted high above the ground, for the vultures to feed on,¡± he announced once the cheers subsided, which just caused them to erupt into greater heights once more.


    Two burly dwarves had tied the three nobles to a large cross made of wood, each of their limbs tied to one end of the cross. As Elfriede approached the first one, the Countess, they swiftly disrobed the noblewoman, leaving her naked from the waist up, bound and gagged to the cross.


    Despite the woman¡¯s panicked mumbles and headshakes, Elfriede approached undeterred, and accepted a curved, serrated knife from one of the dwarves, who then bowed and made his way to the side.


    Without mercy, she plunged the blade deep into the side of the woman¡¯s body, right around the middle of it, then dragged the blade to the other side as she opened up a large, bleeding gash on the woman¡¯s abdomen. Elfriede repeated the process, but made a vertical gash that crossed the first one she made instead even as the woman convulsed in pain and soiled herself in her agony.


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    The two dwarves quickly set the cross horizontally on the stage as they expertly pulled out and spread out the contents of the woman¡¯s abdominal cavity, with some sections nailed to the cross as well, then set the cross atop a long pole for just such an occasion and erected the whole construction high in the air, where the stench from the Countess¡¯ opened belly had already began to attract some carrion birds.


    While the dwarves busied themselves with the Countess, Elfriede repeated the process with the young count, who to his credit, managed to bear the pain with somewhat more dignity. At least he had not soiled himself from her ¡°tender¡± ministrations.


    The dwarves were beside her and helped deal with the rest as well, as they splayed out the young Count¡¯s various organs and hoisted him up in the air beside his mother, who already attracted a murder of crows by then.


    Caws and other bird noises covered up the Countess¡¯ mumbled screams as the crows feasted on her opened flesh and organs like it was a buffet set out for them. Below, many of the crowds had raised up another cheer at the sight.


    The Brequod family had not been loved at all by most of the city, as they had ruled with a heavy hand and never cared for the suffering of the poor. To say that many in the city celebrated their horrible demise was simply an understatement.


    When it came to the Count¡¯s turn, Elfriede repeated the same incisions, but stayed where she was. When the dwarves had set the cross horizontally and was about to begin pulling out the Count¡¯s organs, she bid them to wait a moment, as she wanted to do some of it herself.


    With her bare hands, Elfriede mucked around the opened belly of the man, uncaring for the filth or the stench, until she finally found what she looked for. With a yank, her hands pulled out a length of the man¡¯s slimy, gray intestines, large ones which still leaked half-digested excrement from the severed end.


    She gestured for one of the dwarves to help her remove the Count¡¯s gag, which the dwarf did although he raised a questioning eyebrow at her request. The Count screamed in terrible agony the moment they removed his gag.


    None of them were worried the man would attempt to commit suicide by biting and swallowing his tongue, as Elriede had delivered him to the dwarves with mangled limbs and missing all his teeth back then.


    ¡°You know, dad, you always seemed to have all sorts of shit to say to people all your life, both to the ones here, and others like my mother,¡± commented Elfriede coldly as she peered close to the Count¡¯s - her father¡¯s - face. ¡°I think it¡¯s about fucking time you learn how that shit tastes for yourself.¡±


    As she said that she pinched the Count¡¯s nose with one hand, which forced him to open his mouth as he gasped for breath, then shoved in the cut end of the intestines she held in her other hand, excrement and all, straight into his throat.


    Only then had she turned away and allowed the two dwarves to do the rest of their work and hoist the count up next to his wife and son, to be feasted upon by crows and other birds that had begun to flock to the meal provided for them.


    Nobody dared to say a word to her as she passed, be it the dwarves or the surprised spectators.

 Chapter 86 - News from Rivals

    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna tell you all-polite and proper that we¡¯re doing a good and justified bloody thing for this campaign, that the deities themselves be telling us to do this, no. I¡¯ll lay it down to you all straight and proper.


    This is a bloody landgrab, that and us getting rid of that one neighbor you¡¯ve never liked, is all. The whole point of this expedition is to take their nice, fertile farmlands and cities for ourselves, and get rid of the racist bigots next door as a bonus.


    Now that you know what¡¯s up, I only ask you this. Are you with me!?¡± - Crown Prince Aethelbald Stahlfaust III, a speech during the gathering of troops for the foray into the Holy Kingdom, circa 2 FP.


    Three days after the execution, while the army recuperated in Norouz, Reinhardt was summoned to a staff meeting by one of the Crown Prince¡¯s aides, and was told to bring Elfriede and Lars with him.


    When he arrived, he saw the usual dwarven commanders, though besides Graf Harscape was an old man who judging from his lighter skin tone was a local. The old man seemed nervous to be in the presence of so many higher-ups, though the Graf patted his back gently in a reassuring gesture.


    ¡°Glad everyone could make it,¡± greeted the Crown Prince from his seat behind the desk without preamble. ¡°I had asked you all to gather here to discuss some recent developments in this region.¡±


    ¡°This letter arrived last night by messenger bird,¡± he continued as he waved a folded letter in his bulky fingers. ¡°News from the forces of Sevral and Galastine, that claimed that they had breached the Holy City of Nu-Gu¡¯od¡¯s defenses, but that the God-King and his closest retainers were nowhere to be seen.¡±


    ¡°Had they escaped?¡± asked Graf harscape with an equally surprised voice as the others. Clearly the Crown Prince had not briefed even his other advisors of the news yet.


    ¡°The Sevrals were no fool. They had completely encircled the Holy City before they struck,¡± replied the Crown Prince. ¡°Which meant that the God-King either used a secret passage they failed to detect¡­ or¡­¡±


    ¡°Or that they had fled the city before the encirclement was even completed,¡± said Reinhardt, completing his thought for him, to which the Crown Prince gave a graceful nod. ¡°Were the God-King¡¯s personal guards accounted for?¡±


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    ¡°They have seen neither hair nor hide of them throughout the battle. Similarly, many of the valuables from the treasuries were missing,¡± said the Crown Prince with a shake of his head. ¡°The Sevrals had beseeched us and the Ezramites both to be vigilant and to help catch the God-King should we find him. They don¡¯t care what we do to him or whatever he has on him as long as we help offer proof that he¡¯s dead and gone.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you wanted us here as well,¡± commented Elfriede from her seat next to Reinhardt. ¡°You want people who know the in and outs of this region to find possible escape routes.¡±


    ¡°Precisely so, Mrs. Edelstein,¡± replied the Crown Prince with a satisfied nod. ¡°I have already sent a missive to Graf McBaine in Zefirous to work with Mayor Creussens and patrol the area, and will send around half our troops over to aid with the work. For this region, I would like to ask if any of you have any knowledge of possible routes an escapee like the God-King might take.¡±


    ¡°My- my family descended from hunters, Your Highness. We know quite a few trails in the forests and hills, I can point them out on the map immediately,¡± said the nervous old man, who Reinhardt learned was the elected Mayor of Norouz for the time being. The man spoke in broken and badly accented, but understandable common.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not much help for this region. Not that I know much about the surroundings even in Zefirous anyway,¡± said Elfriede, who made a point to wave her hand over her eyes. As she was blind naturally she was not familiar with maps and the likes.


    ¡°I do not presume to know the region that well, that is likely Mr. Mayor¡¯s jurisdiction,¡± said Lars honestly, which made sense as he lived his life in the south. ¡°That said, logically if the God-King made his escape, he would most likely flee southwest, right towards us.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How do you deduce that?¡± asked one of the dwarven commanders.


    ¡°North is a poor choice. The Ezramites are still sieging Eganiz, and thus on high alert with their whole army in the region. It would be folly to head that way,¡± explained Lars confidently. ¡°Same applied to the East, as the forces of Sevral and Galastine infested the areas. More importantly though, even if the God-King managed to pass through the troops in those regions, further beyond lay only enemy territory.¡±


    ¡°South would be the same since it led directly into Knallzog,¡± commented Graf Harscape as he mused about the possibilities. ¡°Aha, I see your point, young man.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Posuin to the west, while it¡¯s embroiled in its own civil war, is the only neutral neighbor the Holy Kingdom had. It was the best choice for high-ranking escapees from here,¡± said Lars. ¡°The nobles there were also famously corrupt so bribes would go a long way to buy security, doubly so if the God-King still has his personal guards with him.¡±


    ¡°A fair assessment. Harscape, you get the map annotated with the mayor,¡± commanded the Crown Prince after a moment of thought. ¡°The rest of you, I want you to organize patrols around the further paths, in groups of at least three hundred. The God-King¡¯s personal guard supposedly number five hundred or so, so your task should you encounter them is to delay until help arrives,¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Majesty!¡± replied the military commanders in the room.


    ¡°Whichever group discovered and caught the God-King will be granted a share from whatever he brought with him from Nu-Gu¡¯od. This applies to our regulars and the mercenaries both,¡± added the Crown Prince. ¡°Five hundred gold in cash for the so-called God-King¡¯s head itself.¡±

 Chapter 87 - Boredom and Action

    ¡°For some gentle souls, ones too good for this sinful world, to go to war is a trial beyond comprehension. These poor souls could not fathom why people must kill one another, and are usually felled on the field of battle. Even should they survive, they returned changed, diminished, almost as if they had left a piece of their soul on the battlefield.


    Yet on the opposite side, were those who not only welcomed battle, they revel in it. People who would have had difficulties living in peaceful times, the sort who were prone to turn to violence and crime. For these people, a battle where to kill another was not just allowed, but demanded, was little more than a playground where they could sate their depraved desires.


    If only people could see eye to eye and understand one another better, such that the abomination that is war would no longer happen¡­¡± - Deimosthenes Herodotus, Anti-War Philosopher from the Union of Free Nations, circa 408 FP.


    ¡°No sign today either, eh?¡± asked Reinhardt as the Lances¡¯ scouts returned from their routine checks that morning.


    Three groups of scouts, one led by Dacia, another by Nicole, and the third by Lili and R¨®zsa, had scoured the borders of the small forest the company hid themselves in, with the latter two even climbing a tall tree in their wildcat guises to scout further away. Similarly, Hannah had been out in the air since dawn, where she kept an overwatch over the general area.


    In order to catch the God-King¡¯s group of escapees - which according to the latest information not only numbered at least five hundred but also counted the Archpriest, a known mist archmage in their numbers - the dwarven army had spread themselves in a diagonal line between Norouz and Zefirous, and beyond.


    In groups of three hundred, their army was spread out, each group responsible for a specific area, every eighth group made of cavalry for rapid response. The dwarves erected watchtowers over their areas, to ensure that the God-King had not sneaked past them, while Reinhardt¡¯s company opted for traps and ambushes since they happened to be stationed in a forested region.


    With a mist affinity archmage in the group, the God-King and his runaways might be able to hide themselves from sight with illusionary magic, because of which the dwarves also took their time to run an elaborate setup of tripwires and alarms to ensure that their quarry had not simply snuck by.


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    Similarly, Reinhardt¡¯s group in the forest relied more on their noses, as scents were a known weakness of mist-based illusions, which usually failed to account for it. Elfriede¡¯s wind-based sensing ability would have helped as well, were it not for the limited range of it.


    As things stood, they had waited two days out in the field for their quarry, but had seen neither hide nor hair of them so far. Some of the mercenaries grew bored over the wait, though none of them had grumbled or complained as yet.


    After all, they were still paid for this task, and boredom was preferable to potentially dying, even if the latter paid more. Many of them hoped they would have a role in the God-King¡¯s capture though, as the promised rewards were truly worth a king¡¯s ransom.


    The Crown Prince had also added a few more bounties when it was confirmed that several high ranking ministers and priests had escaped along with their God-King, the whole group amounting to a princely sum of a thousand gold coins, and that was just for their heads, too.


    As the invading nations no longer had a use for the God-King or his ministers and priests alive, all they wanted was proof of their deaths to use for pacifying the people who were still on the God-King¡¯s side. The Duchy of Sevral especially asked for those heads, as they faced the most resistance by the populace of Nu-Gu¡¯od.


    Reinhardt had no idea what concessions the Sevralites had offered in exchange for the heads of the God-King¡¯s party, but it must have been considerable considering the bounty the Crown prince had set. He had not really cared to know either though, as it was not relevant to his task.


    He was roused from his ruminations by Hannah¡¯s shrill screech as she rapidly approached their hidden camp, the screech a sign to prepare to move, as they had agreed upon. As their aerial scout, they had long devised a set of simple signals which could be communicated from a distance for her to warn the rest of the company.


    ¡°Hannah? What¡¯s the deal? Did the dwarves find them?¡± Reinhardt asked the moment the hawk therian girl landed in the middle of their camp, somewhat out of breath. Clearly she had hastened on her way back, given the tired look she had.


    ¡°They did, boss. The group directly to our north-west. The battle had just begun when I turned back,¡± replied Hannah in between gasps for breath. ¡°Their mage must have been good enough to cover up the signal flares.¡±


    ¡°Fuck. Lars! Set off the flares! Everyone else, we¡¯re moving out!¡± Reinhardt yelled immediately. Lars also reacted quickly to the command and set off two signal flares at once, one denoting contact with the enemy, and the second denoting that they were further north-west along the line. The rest of the Lances had already prepared themselves when they heard her screech, and were ready for departure within minutes.


    ¡°To me, Lances! Best speed north-west!¡± said Reinahrdt as he ran ahead of the company, which rapidly followed behind him. A smaller group of around sixty with him in the lead ranged ahead of the rest of the company, composed of the elves and half-elves, as well most of the therians amongst them. The rest of their elite fighters rode on the backs of the therians, who ran on all fours, the elves keeping up beside them.


    It was somewhat undignified to look at, but gave them the ability to send out their group of elites ahead of the pack at high speed, exactly for when time was of the essence like right then. Reinhardt himself brought Elfriede on his back as he ran on all fours, with Mischka behind him, who carried Gudrun and Atman - both not the fastest runners - on her broad back with ease.

 Chapter 88 - Against All Odds

    ¡°As a mercenary, at times you just had to do things that go against your survival instincts, if that¡¯s what your job demanded, or that¡¯s what ends up getting you a fat paycheck and bounty. It¡¯s a difficult task, to balance this bravado and spitting on the face of death with staying alive to enjoy the fat paychecks you earn from it.¡± - Devlin Steinkopf, Retired former captain of the Devlin¡¯s Daredevils mercenary company.


    The trip back to their camp had taken Hannah a good ten minutes at her top speed, while the runners and elites who went ahead took twice as long to reach the region she reported the fighting to be in, as the land route was more rugged and they were running with passengers on their backs.


    ¡°By Tohrmut¡¯s bony ass,¡± Reinhardt cursed as the small group he led crested a hill and finally saw the ongoing battle. Whatever illusions had hid them before, had been dropped, as the mist archmage seemed occupied with covering the signal flares the dwarves launched from time to time from sight. He had naturally been too far away to do anything to the flare Reinhardt¡¯s group launched though, and Reinhardt had also been notified of reply signals from their southeast.


    The dwarves had formed a battle line, but they were being pushed back by the more numerous troops they faced. Unlike the prior battles against militia and regional troops, the five hundred escorts of the God-King were elites of the elite of the Holy Kingdom¡¯s army, with a good smattering of mages in their midst to boot, as evidenced from the periodic offensive magic that landed on a dwarf¡¯s shield or body.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯d hold another fifteen minutes, cap,¡± commented Gr¨¹nhildr from the side as she dismounted from Niko¡¯s back. She had squinted her eyes to take a better look at the distant battle. Fifteen minutes was the time it would take for the rest of the Free Lances to reach them. ¡°They¡¯re getting pretty hammered down there.¡±


    ¡°Gr¨¹n¡¯s right, boss,¡± added Ylisera. The elf sweated but was not that short of breath, an impressive thing considering that she had just ran the whole distance alongside the therians at full speed, just relying on her physique. Elves were considered some of the best long-distance runners for a reason. ¡°I¡¯m seeing at least sixty, maybe as much as eighty down, hard to tell if they were just incapacitated or worse from here.¡±


    ¡°They will need help, and soon, lest the bird flies the coop,¡± added Mischka as she towered beside Reinhardt. ¡°It¡¯s pretty tall odds, but those further north-west ought to be headed this way as well from the signals, so if we can delay them just another fifteen, twenty minutes we¡¯d have them surrounded in a pincer, ripe for the taking.¡±


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    ¡°Guess everybody¡¯s in for going down for a fight then?¡± asked Reinhardt as he looked around, to be answered by nods and gestures of agreement all around. They all knew the risks associated, yet the rich prizes promised were worth the while in their considerations.


    ¡°We¡¯re mercenaries, Rein,¡± replied Salicia with a rare smirk on her face. The one-eyed woman already had her bow out as she peered into the distance. ¡°Risking our lives for gold and silver are just what we do for a living.¡±


    ¡°Guess it¡¯s bloody time we earn our paychecks then,¡± said Reinhardt with a fang-bearing grin on his face. ¡°Sal, you stay here, do what you do best,¡± he added to the one-eyed woman, who was the only archer who had come along with them. ¡°Mischka, gonna have to ask your boys and girls to take the brunt again I fear.¡±


    ¡°Shields up front, lads and lassies! Wedge formation!¡± Mischka commanded immediately. On her command, the dozen shieldbearers of her group that were present formed up into a wedge, with Niko and Varilya at the point of the wedge, flanked by their respective spouses. Everyone else formed up right behind them as they filled up the wedge.


    ¡°Charge! Extra portion of the bounty for whoever grabs that God-King fellow!¡± yelled Reinhardt as the formation ran ahead as one. They were not that fast, as they matched up their speeds to remain in formation, but it was fast enough to cover the short distance from the hill to the ongoing battle in a couple of minutes.


    The left flank of the God-King¡¯s troops noticed their approach and wheeled about to face them, as their infantry interlocked their shields and pointed spears at the charging mercenaries. From behind them, at least a dozen mages launched projectiles of fire, lightning, ice, and rocks at the mercenaries.


    Those magical projectiles landed on the shields of the shieldbearers up front, who just grunted and pushed through the blows. Even when a rock spear the size of a man¡¯s thigh landed on Yuri¡¯s shield the massive therian man just ignored it and kept running without a hitch.


    Almost immediately the magical barrage found themselves under counter fire, as two of the mages learned the hard way, as an oversized arrow took them in the eye and throat respectively, dropping them on the spot. The third mage Salicia targeted managed to react and avoid the shot that should have taken him in the heart, and the arrow only skewered the man through his shoulder instead.


    Meanwhile the Free Lances advanced under her cover, and soon closed on the left flank of the God-King¡¯s guards. The dwarves also noticed the arrival of help, and redoubled their efforts, as they held onto their ground and refused to give way, even pushing back at some places.


    With a ferocious roar from many throats and a cacophonous clash of metal on metal, the point of the wedge formation the mercenaries used collided with the shield wall on the left flank of the God-King¡¯s soldiers. The shield wall broke almost immediately, as the momentum of the massive, charging therians behind their shields were just too much for them to handle, and the wedge quickly pushed several ranks deep into the God-King¡¯s guards¡¯ formation.


    Then the point of the wedge pushed to the sides, as Reinhardt led the rest of his elites directly into the inside of the enemy formation with a roar that nearly deafened those near him.

 Chapter 89 - Ferocious Fight

    ¡°Good or bad, who cares? Just fight with all you got and let the deities sort out the rest!¡± - Common mercenary saying


    ¡°These asslickers are good!¡± claimed Mischka from the left flank of the Lances formation, where the therian matron personally held the corner of their formation and stymied the attempts made by the God King¡¯s Guards to push them out.


    Her words might have sounded contradictory as with almost every swing of her massive blade a member of the guards would either be hurled through the air or smashed to the ground, the lucky ones incapacitated, the unlucky ones bent into shapes the human body was decidedly not designed to be in. Their well-made armor of plate over chain proved little protection against the crude application of overwhelming brute force Mischka struck them with.


    On the right flank, it also proved to be poor protection against void-edged blades, as Gr¨¹nhildr was all too keen on pointing out. The soldiers who engaged her kept their long spears and even harried her with magic from time to time, unlike the rest of their brethren who had discarded spears for swords in the melee that ensued.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to kill them all, just hang on another fifteen minutes!¡± Reinhardt yelled back over the din of the battle. He himself was positioned in the middle of the frontlines, as his small group fought ferociously against the God-King¡¯s chosen soldiers and guards that hemmed them from three sides. The only reason they were not encircled was because the dwarves had bravely renewed their offensive and thus demanded the enemy¡¯s attention to themselves. ¡°We win as long as we get the son of a whore!¡±


    ¡°Easier said than done, boss,¡± said Ylisera as she weaved back from a thrust meant for her throat and retaliated with a slash that struck right in the gap of her opponent¡¯s wrist armor. Her finely made saber failed to cut through the chain mail he wore underneath but struck hard enough that it forced the man to drop his sword from the pain. ¡°Unlike the big bear and our lovely void witch there we ain¡¯t got the means to cut through their bloody armor.¡±


    Every single one of the God-King¡¯s guards wore finely made plate mail over chainmail, which made them hard to deal with for most of Reinhardt¡¯s crew. Those that used blades had the hardest time, as the armor was practically impenetrable for their weapons. Others who favored bludgeoning tools fought just fine though, and were only troubled by their numerical inferiority.


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    Reinhardt himself struck an enemy soldier hard on the shoulder, just as he shifted to the side to avoid the man¡¯s sword, which struck uselessly against the refitted plate mail he wore instead of landing on his head. His counterattack had more results, as the plate the enemy soldier wore buckled under his full-strength blow and passed the force onto his body.


    The man cried out and dropped his sword as Reinhardt had struck the shoulder of his sword arm, his other hand clutching his likely pulverized shoulder. Reinhardt took that chance to bring the other end of his weapon about and thrust the spike on that end right into the open area of the soldier¡¯s helmet, as it parted the fabric they wore to cover their faces and pierced into his flesh.


    He then kicked the dying man, his weapon coming off with blood and some slimy stuff that might be bits of the man¡¯s brain stuck on the spike, and struck again as the man¡¯s body fell against the soldier behind him and distracted her for a moment.


    That moment of inattention resulted in her receiving the mace end of Reinhardt¡¯s polemace right on the head, as her helmet caved in under the blow. Well-made or not, helmets like what they wore were not designed to take a full-strength blow from therians like him. The woman dropped to her knees like a puppet with its strings cut, bleeding from all her facial orifices, though with how forceful the blow was, he might well have snapped her neck and killed her instantly with it.


    Elfriede fought by his side, less effective than she could have been with all their opponents armored head to toe, but she made use of her opponent¡¯s rage when he saw Reinhardt kill two of his compatriots to shove his blade aside, then jam one of her own blades right into the man¡¯s face, into his mouth and piercing upwards into his brain. The man collapsed and she immediately struck at the soldier behind him and put them on the backfoot as well.


    Overall, however, the situation was more of a stalemate than anything. The Lances occasionally managed some kills, but their opponents held on for the most part, and even pushed back hard against their flanks. The corners of the formation, where the pressure was the greatest, was only held by Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s prowess, as they happened to be the most effective against these heavily armored opponents of theirs.


    From time to time an arrow would whistle by from afar, and take down another of the soldiers they fought against, with enough force to pierce through the plate mail they wore. Salicia had been firing more slowly than what she normally could do, though, as she had to take aim carefully in such a melee, and had to fully draw out her bow to strike through plate mail from the distance she shot at.


    Fifteen minutes was not a long time, but it felt like an eternity in such a brawl. A few members of the company took on injuries, some fell with their life or death unknown, yet the rest fought hard regardless, as they hammered their opposition as hard as they could, together with the dwarves they came to aid.


    Until finally their patience and struggle was repaid, as horns that signaled a charge blared one after another. The rest of the Free Lances arrived first, and charged in to reinforce Reinhardt¡¯s dwindling group. Then from the north-west came more horns, as first a group of dwarves on foot - then another group of light cavalrymen - joined the fray as well and they struck the God-King¡¯s soldiers together from three sides.

 Chapter 90 - Attempted Escape

    ¡°A Clever fox has three entrances to its burrow.¡± - Old Posuin saying.


    ¡°Get the wounded to the back for treatment, the rest of you, press them hard!¡± Reinhardt commanded his mercenaries. In the blink of an eye the situation turned, and now it was the God-King¡¯s soldiers who were caught in an assault from three directions. Some of the dwarven cavalry had even circled to their back and struck there as well.


    Reinhardt took the chance to pull back his elites into the protective fold of the rest of his mercenary company. Eight of the sixty with him had not returned, as they laid their lives down on the battlefield, but the rest made it through the brutal battle, if with varying amounts of injuries.


    He himself was fortunate to have suffered only minor cuts and bruises, but nearly half of the survivors with him had injuries bad enough they retreated to the back lines for the company¡¯s few healers and doctors to work on their treatment immediately.


    Some others remained near the front lines to fight on, though, despite their injuries. He saw Yuri fighting with at least half a dozen spears and swords embedded in his flesh, though for a therian of his size, they were likely shallow, inconsequential wounds roughly equivalent with what Reinhardt himself suffered.


    He even saw one of the soldiers sacrifice their life to stab Mischka with a spear. The forceful attack successfully pierced through the therian matron¡¯s suit of brigandine, but what injury it did to her was evidently shallow, as she just nonchalantly crushed the soldier under her blade, snapped the shaft of the spear, and fought on unbothered.


    ¡°They¡¯re fighting like those madmen we fought before, boss,¡± commented Ylisera from beside him. The agile elven woman was one of the few who pulled back from the fight practically unscathed, without even a cut or bruise on her. ¡°Just¡­ better trained and with discipline, and a shitload of gear.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how they do it,¡± replied Elfriede to those words. ¡°They chose the best out of the fanatics and drilled them until they became an elite military unit. We were honestly really lucky that most of the God-King¡¯s hands were gone before we even embarked on this mission. That whole bunch are raving lunatics loyal only to their so-called God-King. These here¡­ are probably the last ones.¡±


    ¡°We still saw no sign of the God-King himself though, lady boss,¡± said the elven prostitute turned mercenary with a frown. ¡°They don¡¯t have any carriages with them, and only a scattered few on horses who seemed to be commanders.¡±


    ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d have the God-King disguised as one of the common soldiers,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°That mist archmage of theirs also probably kept him further disguised, so nobody would recognize him on sight. One reason your eyes haven¡¯t spotted him so far.¡±


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    ¡°We¡¯ll just let the boys and girls press them harder along with the dwarves. I refuse to believe that they won¡¯t attempt an escape when it¡¯s made clear they would lose this battle,¡± he continued. ¡°Whichever group made the escape, that¡¯s where the God-King will likely be at.¡±


    ¡°Speak of the devil, I think they¡¯re making their break right now, boss,¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Going for three directions too¡­¡± muttered Reinhardt as he peered closely to gauge the battlefield. The God-King¡¯s soldiers had mounted a suicidal offense to push their belaguerers back for a moment, and three detachments - now suddenly revealed to be mounted, likely a handiwork of that mist archmage of theirs - made a run for it at the same time.


    Two of the escaping detachments attempted to run north and east. Those were too far away for Reinhardt¡¯s group to mount a pursuit, and besides, the dwarven cavalry had reacted fast and sent troops to chase them down. The last group ran southwards, and Reinhardt set his sights on that group immediately.


    ¡°Mount up!¡± he yelled. The command sounded a bit nonsensical since the Free Lances had no horses or cavalry with them, but their members knew what it meant. All the members of the group of sixty that had followed him, at least the ones still capable of fighting at the moment, either crouched down to all fours or jumped on the back of their comrades, as they took off in pursuit, with some others running alongside them just as rapidly.


    Salicia also noticed the escape attempt from her distant perch, and had fired a couple arrows at the escaping group. They immediately noticed how one of her arrows just went through a runaway soldier as if it was air though, while another hit something invisible - the rear flank of a horse which reared up in pain and threw its rider off its back - which suddenly appeared in their sights after it was struck.


    ¡°The Archmage!¡± noticed Mischka who ran next to Reinhardt on all fours as well. Their group were close to the runaways and picked up speed fast as they closed. ¡°I think we just hit the jackpot, captain!¡±


    ¡°If the archmage¡¯s here, so would the God-King, most likely,¡± he replied in between strides, Elfriede riding on his back. ¡°Pick up speed! The bounty¡¯s dead ahead! Anyone got a good way to remove that damned illusion off them?¡±


    ¡°I got an idea,¡± said Elfriede from his back. ¡°Just get me close enough so I can sense them!¡±


    ¡°Will do!¡± he said as he picked up his pace. Several bolts of fire and lightning seemed to appear out of thin air as he got closer, aimed straight for him and his group of chasers. Reinhardt nimbly leaped aside and barely avoided a lightning bolt that was meant for him, while behind him Mischka took a fireball directly on the shoulder, yet trucked on regardless, with only some burnt fur on her shoulder to show.


    A moment later another arrow from Salicia flew and struck something invisible, as a soldier materialized into sight with an arrow through his head. She had apparently taken a guess based on the speed and angle of the projectiles, and guessed correctly.


    The momentary pause that caused gave Reinhardt a chance to get Elfriede close enough that she began to notice the presence of others in her sensory orb of wind, and she quickly reacted as she pulled out a fist-sized bag from her storage and whirled it around on a rope over her head.


    ¡°Hold your breath!¡± she told him as she hurled the bag ahead of them, where it struck something invisible mid-flight, the shock triggering a small, enchanted crystal within the bag. The whole thing exploded in a puff of white which covered a wide area, white-flecked silhouettes appearing where there was nothing before, while others sneezed out of control, the invisible silhouettes flickering in and out of sight as their caster sneezed and lost concentration.


    ¡°I knew those flour-pepper bombs would be useful someday.¡±

 Chapter 91 - Like a Predator Pouncing on its Prey

    ¡°The tales of what mercenaries had done for the sake of bounties had been related often, and while some might sound exaggerated, most had a semblance of truth in it. Take for example the tale where a mercenary charged with a small team into the depths of the enemy formation, with only the lone survivor coming back out, the enemy commander¡¯s head in tow.


    Bards told of how the man went back to his commander¡¯s office, dumped the head on his desk, counted the gold he was paid for, smiled, and only then dropped dead from his injuries. Sounded silly, right?


    It actually happened for real, though. The mercenary in the tales was my dad, and that suicidal charge of his earned a bounty large enough to put both me and my two little sisters through education, and for our family to survive a good fifteen years.¡± - Damian Noven, Posuin Merchant Guild¡¯s representative for arms trade to armies and mercenary groups, circa 495 VA.


    Reinhardt gestured with his tail as he ran - using a set of gestures the Lances had learned to recognize - and had his group catch up to the now-visible escapees while they sneezed and stumbled in the cloud of flour and pepper.


    Those bombs were an old item in their inventory, made shortly before he had met Elfriede. Apparently she had once been hired to hunt a mist mage who made a name for themselves as a phantom thief before, and specialized in invisibility.


    While Elfriede herself had no need for such a visual aid, they had made a couple of them as precaution in case the thief proved to be able to escape her clutches. They were simply things, merely a cheap fabric bag with a small mana crystal suspended in the middle of its cavity


    The bag was enchanted to tear apart on impact, and the enchantment would also activate and destabilize the tiny shard of mana crystal and cause it to explode violently. The explosion would not have done enough to harm most things, but plenty to spread the flour and pepper - packed in at four parts flour to one part finely ground pepper - in the vicinity.


    They had ended up not needing them since they caught their target without issue back then, so the bags had just languished in their storage all these years. Until today, that is, as the flour covered the once-invisible escapees and the pepper disrupted the archmage¡¯s concentration, on top of causing some of the horses to stumble.


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    Reinhardt himself squinted his eyes and breathed through his mouth - he could feel the powdery flour and tingly pepper in the air with his tongue - as he approached the dispersing cloud, with the rest of the group in tow. The disruption would be temporary at best, or so he thought.


    Salicia had evidently noticed something amongst the revealed specked figures even from the distance, as a moment later an arrow pierced right through the eye of one of the flickering figures, and the illusion of invisibility as well as the decoy escapees all died out in that instant.


    A mist archmage might well be skilled in subterfuge and distractions, but they had little to none in terms of combat capability usually, as the archmage proved unable to do a thing to the arrow that pierced through his left eye and into his brain.


    Reinhardt and the rest of his group pounced on the rest without delay, as some of the larger therians simply barreled through the horses from the side, as those who rode on their backs blocked the panicked riders¡¯ attempts to stop them with their weapons.


    He himself darted forward as he was one of the faster runners of the group and leapt to the back of one rider, crushing the man between his bulk and the man¡¯s own horse as the poor mount stumbled and fell from the sudden increase of weight on its back.


    Even as the horse rolled over its rider, and tripped the one behind it, he had leapt to safety and quickly stood up on his legs even as Elfriede leapt off his back, his polemace in hand as he swatted down the next rider to come his way.


    Several others had dropped more of the riders, either by brute force like what Mischka and her kin did, or by other means. Ylisera had dropped a rider as she hurled a javelin accurately into the man¡¯s back, while Rodney from atop Yuri¡¯s back - he was near the back as he ran more slowly compared to the rest - dropped another with a well-thrown axe.


    Many of the escapees had clearly panicked and tried to force their way through, but before they could do so, Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr - who was on her back all along - as well as Gudrun, Atman, Varilya, Bj?rn, Ylisera, and others had arrived by his side, which rendered their attempt to escape futile.


    Two of the riders hurled bolts of lightning at them, powerful enough to incapacitate an adult human, but Bj?rn and Varilya just took the hits and kept coming, the attack doing little more than scorching a bit of their flesh and giving them an unpleasant tingly feeling at most.


    Yuri and Niko, along with the rest of the group had hemmed in the escapees from the back as well by then, and their coordination crumbled as they realized that they were pincered and surrounded, with no escape. The soldiers fought bravely, without fear for their lives, but they were just outclassed and outnumbered.


    Reinhardt noticed that some of them had stayed back and huddled protectively around an armored figure in their midst, however. He led the charge himself, as he smashed the kneecaps of an unfortunate horse, which collapsed and dropped its rider right by his feet.


    Bj?rn by his side finished off the fallen rider for him, his massive cudgel - easily as thick as a human thigh and made entirely of metal - crushing the poor man into a crumpled heap before he could react.


    The rest of the mercenaries smelled money in the air, with how some of the soldiers had been so protective of one in their midst in particular, and they all charged straight that way.

 Chapter 92 - Money in the Air

    ¡°Much like a bear braves bees for honey,


    So does sellswords charge pikes for money,


    Life and limb at risk, all for some spare change,


    Yet for all that is, none thought of it strange.¡± - ¡°Sellsword¡¯s Folly¡± a renowned anti-war poem by Deimosthenes Herodotus, Anti-War Philosopher from the Union of Free Nations, circa 412 FP.


    ¡°Die for the God-King¡¯s glory, Infidel!¡± yelled one of the guards - there were less than ten of them left now - as he sung his two-handed sword at Gr¨¹nhildr ferociously. The brawny woman only smirked at his face as she caught the sword by the blade with one of her axes, the void-coated blade slicing through the steel as if it was butter.


    With a dull thud, the severed half of the sword fell on her bare right arm, and left a shallow cut behind, one she completely ignored, just a new addition to the dozens of scars already marking her skin. Her other axe struck the soldier on the shoulder before he could pull his hand back, and left from the opposite waist, his armor and body parted with equal ease as his weapon previously.


    ¡°Eh, maybe get good first before telling people to die, shithead,¡± mocked Gr¨¹nhildr even as the two halves of the man fell to the ground, his eyes and mouth still twitching in disbelief and horror as he realized what happened to him on the final moments of his life. ¡°Don¡¯t think your God-King¡¯s gonna help you here either. He¡¯ll prolly see you in the afterlife anyway, so¡­ toodles~¡±


    With those mocking words, she stomped on the dying man¡¯s forehead with the heel of her steel-toed boots. The impact was hard, as Gr¨¹nhildr put her weight behind it, and broke the man¡¯s skull apart as his brain squelched disgustingly beneath her heels.


    The rest of the personal guards had not fared any better. One after another, they perished under the mercenaries¡¯ blades and blows, until only two were left. One of them was a young man with a panicked look, maybe not even twenty yet, with a sparsely growing beard that was evidently groomed. He was the only one who had not drawn a sword in the fight, while in front of him the last guard, a middle-aged woman warrior, tried her best to keep the mercenaries at bay with a halberd.


    None of the mercenaries seemed eager to tangle with the old, evidently skilled woman, and the reason for it became evident a moment later. An arrow streaked through the air at speed, and while the woman was alert enough to avoid being instantly killed, it still caught her through the chest, if not fatally.


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    She received no mercy however, as Mischka stepped forward at that moment, and brought her oversized blade down on the woman. The woman attempted to futilely block the blow with her weapon, but Mischka¡¯s blade just sheared through the weapon¡¯s shaft and cleaved halfway through the woman¡¯s torso instead.


    As she lay dying, she only stared at the younger man, and mouthed words that seemed to be pleading for him to escape. Only there was nowhere to escape to. The mercenaries had encircled him, and every single one of his guards were dead.


    Elfriede yanked the man off his horse as he stared dumbfounded at the woman¡¯s death, while Reinhardt pulled out a drawing from his storage, and compared the face on it with the young man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Hmm, other than looking like he hadn¡¯t bathed for days and being thinner than what the dwarves drew, I think we got our target, folks,¡± he announced after a moment of comparison, while Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr swiftly trussed up the man¡¯s limbs to prevent him for attempting anything.


    ¡°You know who I am and dare to treat me like this, subhuman cur!?¡± yelled the man finally after a moment. ¡°I am this Kingdom! The people will suffer and perish without my guidance! You fools do not know what you have done! I deman-¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± said Elfriede as she cut off his words with a kick to his jaw, not hard enough to shatter the jawbone, but hard enough to knock a couple of teeth loose. ¡°The people here had only misery and suffering under your neglect, and all you do is to keep feeding them false promises.¡±


    ¡°You-¡±


    ¡°You could have changed all that. Had you just had the fucking guts to stand your ground and demand your people be treated better, incite them in one of your speeches, nobody would have been able to stop you from doing so!¡± she yelled to his face. ¡°But nooo, you¡¯re just content to sit and enjoy the wealth squeezed out from your people up high in your bloody palace, aren¡¯t you? Not a fucking care given to where it came from, or even a thought, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I-¡±


    ¡°You know, Friede, the Crown Prince did specify he wanted his head, so¡­¡± said Reinhardt from the side with a teeth-baring grin. ¡°If you feel like venting on this shitstain of a son of a whore, feel free to. Just keep his head recognizable will you?¡±


    She only replied to his words with a vicious grin, and then she stripped the man, the God-King of the Holy Kingdom, of all his clothing. With that same grin on her face, she chopped off his sizable genitals and stuffed it in his mouth, before she gagged him so he could not spit it out.


    Then she tore his stomach apart, and dragged out a length of intestines with her hands, before she tied it up to one of the surviving horse¡¯s saddles. Thus was the naked and disemboweled God-King dragged from a horse, with his back to the ground, pulled by his own intestines, all the way to where the battle was just wrapping up.


    The Lances had taken a leisurely walk back, after they had cleaned up all the corpses for anything valuable, while taking the heads of the dead back. By the time they reached the battlefield a few minutes later, the God-King had passed on, his face contorted in a rictus of extreme agony and his back scraped raw from being dragged against the rough soil along the way.


    Whether he died from bleeding out, the pain, or the humiliation, nobody knew. None of them cared anyway. Instead, his head was simply removed and added to the collection of heads to be submitted to the dwarven Crown Prince.

 Chapter 93 - Unwinding after a Battle

    ¡°While distribution of spoils was often the most contentious part of a mercenary contract, due to cases of employers attempting to short the mercenaries of their share, or the mercenaries demanding more than what the agreement stipulated, the dwarves were renowned to have never fallen into this particular issue.


    Part of the reason was because some articles of dwarven law were directly relevant to such a proceeding, and the dwarves simply applied it. What was once the dwarven ritual of the sharing of winnings was adopted as a foolproof method to settle distribution of spoils. Movements had been abound in other nations to adopt such a similar system, but to little success to this day.¡± - from a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 681 FP.


    City of Norouz


    Former Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz territory, now the northernmost reaches of Knallzog territory


    Western Alcidea


    7th day, 1st week, 10th month of the year 2 FP.


    ¡°A toast! To Victory and to generous employers!¡± Reinhardt shouted over the din of the tavern. His words were welcomed by raucous cheers by the customers, most of them either his own people or Barnaby''s. Flagons, tankards, and horns bumped into each other, with none of them caring much about the cheap ale within, as they reveled in their victory.


    After the short battle where the God-King¡¯s attempted escape was repulsed, the armies returned to Norouz, where they had made their report to the Crown Prince, who was quite delighted by the results, to say the least.


    The four detachments that fought the God-King¡¯s retinue was rewarded as promised, with extra rewards given to the survivors of the detachment that first encountered the God-King¡¯s convoy - of which only barely a hundred fifty survived - and Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances, who were crucial in fighting off the escape attempt.


    On top of that, the bounty for the God-King¡¯s head was not the only thing they received, but also the bounty for the archpriest - the very mist archmage Salicia took down - and the Commander of the Holy Guards, one of the previous God-King¡¯s many lovers and godmother to the current God-King, the middle-aged woman who fought to the last.


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    An extra four hundred gold¡¯s worth of bounty was most definitely welcome even if the coffers of the company currently overflowed, as they had plenty of salvage to be further converted into hard currency as well, on top of the payment for the campaign.


    The Crown Prince himself had handed Reinhardt the payment slip signed by his own hand - cashable in any official holding of Knallzog proper, which at the moment had not counted Norouz and Zefirous yet as they still scrambled to import the necessary officials and infrastructure - which was a good bit over twice what they had originally signed for, with all the bonuses and bounties.


    It was a good thing, for they would need the money to reimburse the families of the slain amongst other things, but with such a bounty in hand, Reinhardt could comfortably distribute the hazard pay and a bit extra as condolences to the bereaved, and still come off with a healthy sum in hand to rebuild the company.


    Where there were a little over three hundred of them after Fort Ascher, they currently numbered less, since they had lost around forty-five to the battles in Norouz, Fort Fendorf, and that last fight where they caught the God-King. On top of that, around a dozen of the more senior mercenaries also chose to retire as they felt they had seen and risked enough. Some of them would remain with the Lances in a non-combat capacity like Dacia, but others would split off and go their own ways.


    Fortunately, when he asked permission from the Crown Prince to do a recruitment drive in Norouz and Zefirous before they left, the Crown Prince granted it without asking any questions. For the past three days the city had been in a celebratory mood, as the dwarves had not skimped and brought out the good food and drinks to celebrate the campaign¡¯s end.


    The citizens of Norouz had not expected that they would be included in such festivities, so they were quite surprised when the dwarves beckoned them over with all smiles and shoved platters full of rich roasted meats and tankards of good dwarven ale to them. It had not taken long before the whole city got pulled into the jubilation that way.


    Similar celebrations likely took place in Zefirous, and Reinhardt had allowed his company to rest for the week in Norouz, while he tasked Lars and several of his people who had learned common best to begin a recruitment drive around town.


    Just as insurance, he asked Elfriede and a few others to keep an eye on Lars as he performed the task, a precaution that turned out to be unneeded as the defector simply did what he was ordered to do as best he could. He did the job well enough to impress Elfriede, which was enough for Reinhardt.


    By fifthday of the next week, six days after their return to Norouz, Lars had brought a good fifty-two people who showed interest and proved capable enough that they would not be mere cannon fodder. He and his group had carefully sorted out the incapable and the questionable from those who applied. Elfriede and those supervising the recruitment drive helped out from time to time as well with checking the qualifications of the applicants, so Reinhardt was quite satisfied with the sorting.


    To his surprise some of the faces in the crowd turned out to be familiar. Amongst them were Alva - the male prostitute that they had rescued and served as their guide during the battle of Norouz - and his younger sister Kari. The effeminate man proved to be a good shot with a bow and skulking around, something he attributed to how he often used to poach game illegally just so he and his sister would not have to starve. His sister also proved to be a deft hand with a knife.


    After everything that happened in the past month, they had decided to roll the dice, and to attempt a different way of living than how they had lived all this while, a sentiment Reinhardt had naturally agreed to, knowing what they had suffered back then.

 Chapter 94 - Dividing up the Loot

    ¡°The feeling of counting your money in your hands, the way the coins glittered by the candlelight as they rolled and fell through your fingers, the heft of bags full of coins, and the jingle they made when shaken¡­ all those combined to create one of the best feelings in the world, I kid you not.¡± - Ebenezer Dagobert, treasurer for the Archibald¡¯s Aces mercenary company, circa 75 FP.


    ¡°Greetings, gentlemen. We are here today for purposes that you¡¯ve likely been waiting for all week,¡± announced Grad Angus Harscape to the room.


    It was the sixthday of the second week, just a day before Reinhardt planned to depart to Zefirous with the Free Lances, and that day they had gathered for one purpose only, namely to distribute the valuables that they had captured along with the God-King


    When the God-King had escaped, he had brought the majority of the most valuable items in Nu-Gu¡¯od¡¯s vaults and treasuries, and they had found well over a dozen large storage rings on his body back then.


    Over the past week, several experts of appraisals had worked around the clock to appraise the mountain of treasure contained within. Representatives from the four detachments that had earned themselves a portion of the treasure were also present, a dwarven tradition to ensure that everyone agreed on how the items were to be valued.


    Then came the day when all the items had been sorted and appraised, and the four detachments sent their respective leaders to make the decision on what to pick from their share of the loot. The three dwarven soldiers who came all looked positively giddy at their share of the wealth, and had chatted happily with each other about their plans.


    Some of the most common plans were to treat their whole detachment to some of the most expensive restaurants in Knallgant, or to pool the wealth and start up a brewery of their own. On the other hand, the commander of the detachment that found the God-King first - who was entitled to a larger share of the loot like Reinhardt was - had more solemn plans, to split it evenly, with the shares of the fallen to be given to their families.


    By monetary value alone, this one reward had almost doubled their income from this entire expedition, but that was not where the crux of the matter lay. Amongst the treasures were items that were very hard to purchase even if one had the money, now free for the taking, should they choose to use part of their share for them.


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    He had already discussed with the others prior to the day, and they all agreed that choosing items that they would not be able to acquire normally would be the best route. They had more than enough spare money to give every one of their members a sizable bonus as their share of the rewards, so it was wiser to opt for some longer-term options.


    To that end, one of the first things he chose as the Free Lances¡¯ share were several ingots of pure mithril. The metal was only found in elven territory, and was exceedingly hard, if not impossible to come by outside of it. How the Holy Kingdom¡¯s treasury even had a few ingots was beyond his reckoning.


    The Lances happened to have an expert blacksmith, and a couple elven ones as well. Some had said that mithril was only workable by Elven metalworkers, but the truth was, all it required was the mana of an elf to help process it, and a blacksmith skilled enough to handle the finicky metal.


    What started out as several ingots of mithril would eventually, under their skillful hands, be forged into a multitude of lethal weapons. The weapons themselves were slated for the elites of the Free Lances, as Reinhardt had keenly felt how useful it was to have a team of elites capable of fighting against enemies several times their numbers, especially when used with tactical precision.


    They had also needed a larger amount of adamant and other metals, but those were purchasable relatively cheaply in Knallzog. Adamant itself was quite abundant, and the main reason for its exorbitant price was that very few blacksmiths outside the dwarven nations knew how to work with the metal at all, something exacerbated by the dwarfs¡¯ decision to only export pre-made alloys to other nations.


    Hogarth was a skilled enough blacksmith to know the ins and outs of handling the precious metals, his five centuries of experience being a priceless treasure in the field of metalworking, especially for small mercenary companies like theirs.


    By cutting the middleman so and collecting the raw materials to work themselves, the blacksmiths basically allowed the Free Lances to upgrade their equipment quite drastically for a reasonable cost, rather than the exorbitant one it would have cost had they ordered the equipment from other smithies.


    Those ingots of mithril took up most of the Free Lances¡¯ allocation, and for the rest, Reinhardt chose some items that were not too valuable, but were regardless hard to come by. Relics from prehistory, weapons and armor from nations last contacted centuries ago, and the likes.


    Hogarth had asked for them to study the design as well as the logic behind them, in the hopes of gaining new inspiration. None of the others had minded such a use of the reward, as they could always re-sell the antiques as curiosities later on after Hogarth was done with them.


    Some of the designs looked positively awkward to Reinhardt, but he was no blacksmith and he figured that even if it didn¡¯t help him gain some inspiration, at least it would make his foster father happy for a good while.


    When everyone had used up their shares - the dwarves had mostly opted for coin to share amongst their units - they signed off papers that stated their names and the items they had chosen for their share of the loot, a copy of which was kept by Graf Harscape to be handed to the Crown Prince, while the other was given to them.


    A token formality to signify that the distribution of earnings had been done as the regulations stated.

 Chapter 95 - Along for the Ride

    ¡°With every battle, you could expect to say farewell to some old friends, whether it be to death or retirement. Similarly, after each campaign would come a time for rest and replenishment, to inject new blood into the company and induct a bunch of eager youngsters.


    How each company did it differs from company to company. Some made it a familial business, where the children joined the parents and eventually succeeded them. Others were a collection of strangers from all over the place, united only in their pursuit of wealth through carnage.


    Most companies that had been in the business for a good while ended up as a combination of both. A core of loyal, trusted people who had been with the company for generations on end, with the rest of their troops being recruited from elsewhere. It was simply the way things would naturally proceed.¡± - Adler Stanz, retired former mercenary, circa 589 FP.


    A day after the distribution of spoils, Reinhardt left Norouz together with the rest of the company, and their new recruits. While they had only recruited a little over fifty people, nearly two hundred joined their caravan, as recruits were allowed to bring their family along as followers, if they desired to. Many had taken that option as a chance to find their way out of the poor life they had lived in the Holy Kingdom, choosing to bet on the traveling mercenaries even while they likely kept an eye on the development of their former homeland under dwarven rule.


    Reinhardt hadn¡¯t minded the additions. The Free Lances would need them anyway, as a portion of their camp followers and support personnel were bound to leave soon after they received their portion of the pay and the fund for those who lost their family and loved ones in battle. It was inevitable, and he doubted more than half of the current followers would still be with him after that.


    Fortunately, with the company downsized as it was, they also needed less followers to support them, so those who remained would likely be able to handle their needs. Most of their most skilled smiths, armorers, and fletchers had also chosen to stay. Many of them had lived their whole lives amongst the Free Lances, and could not imagine a life outside the company.


    After a leisurely journey to Zefirous - one that took two weeks to complete - they rested once more in the southern city. The stark difference between Norouz and Zefirous was evident, as by then the city had cleaned up what rubble was left from both the battle and the looting. Guards with new uniforms also manned the walls already, occasionally with a dwarven supervisor watching them work.


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    The celebratory mood was also evident in the city, even if the celebration for victory happened weeks ago. The Free Lances was welcomed quite politely by Graf McBaine who was still stationed in the city, if not warmly, and they quickly set about to their business as well.


    While the majority of the Lances rested or enjoyed themselves in taverns and the likes, Reinhardt and Elfriede paid a visit to Varsha, who tasked her assistant Annelise to aid them with setting up their recruitment drive.


    With local help who knew the city well, their recruitment drive gave even better results than in Norouz. Many of the locals - some of them clearly former thugs and the likes, former employees of Varsha who found themselves having a hard time adjusting to a peaceful life - had flocked to them, and sorting out those who were jut unsuited for being mercenaries took the rest of the week.


    In the end, the Free Lances had two-hundred and seventy one before the recruitment at Norouz. They were three-hundred and thirty three after Norouz, while the recruitment at Zefirous boosted them back to almost five hundred, with another flock of family members who joined as followers.


    Some familiar faces had also been present amongst them. A good half of those who chose to join the mercenaries were former thugs in Varsha¡¯s employ, people who found themselves fidgety and unaccustomed to a peaceful life. Amongst them were Arne and Cassie, as well as Karenina and Zyd, with both couples bringing their entire families along for the ride.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to join us. But then again, I had not expected that you were married with children either,¡± said Elfriede when Nina came over to introduce her family, which was mostly Zyd¡¯s old mother since she was an orphan. She also brought twin children around Erycea¡¯s age, her children with Zyd. ¡°Did Varsha know you¡¯re coming with us?¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself. But yeah, Varsha gave her blessing for whoever wanted to depart with your group, yea. Many of us who used to be enforcers had gotten antsy with peace, I guess,¡± said the other woman with a nonchalant shrug. ¡°We just ain¡¯t used to not being allowed to solve things with violence, I guess. Being paid to kill things seemed like it¡¯d be a better fit for us than being guards or making a living as¡­ I dunno? A butcher maybe? I know how to stick pigs up and that¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°I get your drift,¡± said Elfriede with an understanding nod. Just then the infant child cradled in her arm woke up and cried, and she was immediately busy placating the child, while Erycea looked at the baby girl with fond curiosity.


    The child was the newborn granddaughter of the late Count of Norouz, the one Elfriede had promised the mother she would keep safe. As the girl was but three to four months of age at the time, she doubted the child would even remember her real parents, and after some discussion with Reinhardt, they had agreed to raise the child as their own, rather than hand her to someone else.


    Erycea had been mostly curious of her new little sister, and could often be seen teasing and making the baby girl laugh. The other mercenaries also had not minded the child. After all, children were aplenty amongst their caravan anyway.


    ¡°That the kid you adopted, huh?¡± said Nina as she looked at the girl, who was by then calmed and suckled on her thumb. ¡°Really never pictured you as a mother either, but it¡¯s a strange world after all. What did you name her?¡±


    ¡°The name her parents gave her was all too long and pompous,¡± said Elfriede with an amused snort. ¡°So we gave her a new one. We¡¯re calling her Alycea.¡±

 Chapter 96 - As Years Passed

    ¡°Most people categorize mercenary units by their size. Those under a hundred men were just the small fries, the ones who just started the business, or maybe just had a disastrous result. Few employers look for mercenary companies of this size unless they just happen to need them to do small missions.


    A common practice for companies of this size is to sub-contract to or join with a larger one, or in a few cases, to group up together as one and thus qualify themselves as a larger group. The late Vanguard Legion was one such group, composed of eight different companies of small sizes that acted as a whole.


    They no longer existed, however, as most of the Legion¡¯s fighting force perished in the Theodinaz Invasion a couple years ago. I heard only one of their companies survived relatively intact and in fighting shape, but they had since joined the Free Lances instead with the Legion¡¯s disbandment.¡± - Ulfgar Nordenschuld, town gossip and drunk from Knallgant, circa 4 FP.


    Outskirts of Eloyu Village


    South-Eastern Posuin, by the border between the Duchy of Dvergarder and the Barony of Ohu


    South-Western Alcidea


    3rd day of 2nd week of the 9th month, year 7 FP.


    ¡°What do you think, boss? Time for us to head in there and save them poor peasants from the scary bad knights?¡± asked Salicia half in jest as she peered to the distance from atop the branch of a large tree in the forest, one hand over her eye to shade it from the glare of the sun.


    Reinhardt was always impressed by how sharp-eyed the woman was, despite only having one functional eye since birth. She could see things in the distance most people would normally need a spyglass to even notice, and clearly enough to accurately put an arrow into them at a thousand paces even.


    They were perched on a large tree a short distance from a poor village in south-eastern Posuin, Knallzog¡¯s western neighbor, a mostly human kingdom though they had begun to tolerate merchants and mercenaries of other races in the past couple of centuries.


    The kingdom itself only existed in name at the moment, and was practically splintered into around a dozen competing factions, all fighting for the throne and supremacy, or just to be left in peace by their neighbors. At the moment the Free Lances were under the employ of Sandoval Utghwes, Duke of Dvergarder, and they had been watching the village since it was their latest target.


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    Inside the village square was a scene easily visible from his perch atop the tree, that of the villagers - generally thin, rather emaciated people who had lived hard lives and eked out a living out of what little they have - begging a group of thirty or so knights who were gathering sacks of wheat and other foodstuffs from the village to leave some behind for them.


    It was not an uncommon sight. The Barony of Ohu was one of the smaller factions on the map at the moment, and was hard-pressed by their neighbors. To eke out another day of survival and independence, they had resorted to basically robbing their own villagers of foodstuffs and youngsters to be sent to the front lines.


    Around forty or so of the village¡¯s youth were made to stand at the side, ¡°officially¡± conscripted to the Baron¡¯s army, and watched with uncertain eyes at the scene of their parents begging the knights not to take their food stockpile away, since winter was on the horizon.


    Other villagers - including the conscripted youngsters - looked on angrily, but they had no real weapons in their village, at best a few axes for chopping wood and the likes. As poorly geared as the Baron¡¯s excuses for knights were - with shabby, often damaged chainmails over stained gambesons - the villagers were still no match for them without proper weapons.


    ¡°Yeah, I think this should be a good time for that,¡± said Reinhardt from atop his perch on the tree. He nimbly jumped down to the forest floor - a five-meter drop that a human would have some difficulties making - and landed deftly on all fours, his knees and elbows flexed to absorb the impact. ¡°Shoot ¡®em up once you hear the signal, though leave some to bloody the greenhorns.¡±


    Not a minute later, a shrill whistle sounded, and with a cacophonous war cry, a group of a hundred mercenaries - most of them young men and women who had joined more recently - charged out from the woods. The knights and the villagers were shocked by their sudden appearance, and almost as one, they turned to look at the knight¡¯s captain in search of reprieve.


    All they saw was how an oversized arrow went straight through the middle-aged man¡¯s left eye just as he raised his arm and was about to shout a command to his knights. The villagers screamed and ran to the safety of their houses at the sight, even before the man¡¯s body toppled over from the back of his horse.


    As for the knights under his command, they soon found themselves mobbed by the hundred mercenaries. A few that were better at fighting tried to at least take some of their opponents down with them, but found even that stymied by blades that parried theirs away all of a sudden.


    Mixed in amongst the greenhorns were a dozen of the best fighters of the Free Lances, who were there to keep an eye on the newcomers, and to better observe their performance. They also kept the newbies safe should their lives come into jeopardy in the fight, and were the ones responsible for the knights¡¯ frustrations.


    Not fifteen minutes later, the fight was settled, as most of the thirty knights were wrestled to the ground and stabbed to death in close quarters, often ganged on by three or more people. A couple died on their feet, victim of some newcomers who either managed to get a lucky hit in or was just skilled with their weapon.


    A few had attempted to escape, only to find themselves suddenly lifted up, horse and all, by a waiting group of large therians who then casually squeezed the life out of the runaways. Throughout all this none of the two hundred or so villagers dared to leave their hovels and huts, and many eyes watched with trepidation as Reinhardt walked into the center of the village square.


    ¡°Get all these people gathered here,¡± he commanded.

 Chapter 97 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    ¡°In times of war, many villages often built up their militias out of whatever adults were left unconscripted. They all knew the stakes, and knew all too well that should they fall under enemy rule, fodder for pillage and rape was their most likely fate. Sadly, it was only recently that treaties were signed to outlaw such activities, as our ancestors had too many other issues to worry about such humane niceties.¡± - Esther Blomvqist, veteran mercenary, shortly after the Union-Elven war of FP 470-472.


    ¡°Beg your pardon¡­ Sire, but pray tell what we can do?¡± asked an old man who was probably the village headsman after Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries gathered the villagers from their huts and hovels. The old, the young, women and children, every single one of the two-hundred or so villagers were gathered in the village square, nervously glancing at the armed mercenaries that encircled them from time to time. ¡°Our village is a poor one, we beg your pity that we cannot afford to give you much of anything.¡±


    The old villager¡¯s trepidation was a warranted one, as being conquered by what was obviously enemy forces - some of the knights¡¯ corpses were still strewn about as the mercenaries were stripping them of every valuable - usually only translated to rape and pillage, often followed by a slaughter as well.


    ¡°Allay your worries, old man. Me and mine mean you no harm,¡± replied Reinhardt somewhat haltingly in the same language spoken by the old villager. Posuin naturally used their own language, and as they had allowed mercenary activity since the past couple centuries, most mercenaries made it a point to have at least a few people capable of speaking their tongue. Reinhardt speaks it, albeit only semi-fluently. ¡°That said, I cannot say that you will like to hear what I am about to say next.¡±


    He saw how the old village head fidgeted, as had many of the others. Families looked at each other with worry in their eyes, all of them uncertain of what he had in store for them. More than a few looked at Mischka¡¯s group of therians with undisguised trepidation and fear as they casually strolled by and deposited a few more knight corpses to the pile.


    ¡°Pray tell what you had to say, sire.¡±


    ¡°You probably gathered that we are mercenaries, employed by your neighboring duke,¡± he prefaced his words bluntly, giving the villagers no illusion to cling to. ¡°As per our contract, we will now give you all three options to choose from.¡±


    ¡°One. You can come with us to Dvergarder next door. There you will be assigned a plot of land to build a new village on. Make no mistake, you will be starting from scratch, though the Duke has promised some support for you to begin your new lives with,¡± he said to the watching villagers. ¡°The second alternative is that you can pack up what you can carry on you and escape to the woods. We will not pursue, but your fate will be in your own hands.¡±


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    The villagers murmured amongst themselves at the presented options. To leave their home and fields, and depart into the unknown was a scary thing, yet to escape to the woods - even if the mercenaries kept their word - was equivalent to suicide with the coming winter. Doubly so as some of them noticed how the mercenaries were already packing up the harvest they just reaped from their fields weeks ago and loaded them into wagons.


    ¡°Sire, can we ask what the third option is? You have only mentioned two,¡± asked a middle-aged villager. From his strong build and soot-covered apron, Reinhardt guessed the man to be the village blacksmith. He stood protectively in front of a woman of similar age and three young children.


    ¡°The third is that you could apply to join us. We could use a few more hands at the camp,¡± said Reinhardt with a teeth-baring grin that clearly frightened some of the villagers. ¡°You will be paid based on your skills, but make no mistake, the job comes with its inherent risks.¡±


    ¡°Or for the daring amongst you, you can also attempt to join us as a mercenary. The choice is yours. You have half an hour to decide, starting now. We¡¯re grabbing everything here either way.¡±


    With those words, Reinhardt stepped away to supervise the newcomers as they stripped the knights down to their small clothes. He allowed the villagers to ruminate amongst themselves, knowing that he pressured them to make hard decisions, but that was what he was paid to do.


    To tell the truth, his current employer, Duke Utghwes of Dvergarder, was one of the better lordlings in the now-sundered lands of the former Kingdom of Posuin. His command was for Reinhardt - as well as a few other mercenary companies he employed - to ¡°kidnap¡± entire villages and relocate them into his territory.


    By coincidence, the Duchy of Dvergarder had just cleaned up some land for agriculture shortly before the civil war broke out, and the attrition of the war resulted in a lack of manpower to actually cultivate those lands. That was why the Duke wanted villagers to work those lands.


    Life in Dvergarder would be better than the current poor, marginal life these villagers currently led, but they had not known that, and between mistrust and propaganda, telling them the fact would probably just engender more mistrust. Reinhardt had not minded playing the bad guy in this case, and to forcefully move the villagers on the Duke¡¯s behest instead of trying to reason with them.


    By the time the half-hour ended, the vast majority of the villagers chose to obey and follow them. A few hardliners chose to leave for the woods, and the Free Lances kept their word, as those men left unhindered. Around ten asked to join them instead, amongst them the blacksmith from earlier.


    They escorted the villagers out from the village, the place left as a collection of empty hovels, with even the pots and pans, tables and beds all packed up and loaded on wagons, nothing of value left behind. The villagers shuddered as they passed the village¡¯s perimeter, for there they saw the mercenaries¡¯ handiwork.


    Impaled on stakes set in a circle around the village was the corpse of the knights that had been killed in the earlier scuffle, their nearly naked bodies left in the open. A few crows had already begun to feast on the corpses as the mercenaries walked by.


    Just another bit of work, as the Duke they were employed under also asked them to make a statement should they run into any active military forces of the Barony during their mission.

 Chapter 98 - New Companions

    ¡°For a smaller mercenary company to subjugate themselves to the service of a larger one was not too different from a nation becoming a vassal to another. More often than not, the smaller unit was allowed to operate semi-independently, but under the command of the larger one. Their members and command structure were usually kept as it was at first, until they slowly integrated to become a true part of the larger company. This sort of practice was very common during the Times of Turmoil, the hundred-year period in which various conflicts small and large happened all across Alcidea.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean and former Professor of Socioeconomy at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 688 FP.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein! A pleasure to see you again, with another good harvest at that!¡± said Duke Sandoval Utghwes of Dvergarder just as the Free Lances and the thousand or so villagers they escorted - they had split up and struck four villages near the border at once - returned to Dvergarder.


    The other three groups had not encountered resistance, though Lars¡¯ group did run into a village that had practically no provisions whatsoever. Apparently the knights Reinhardt¡¯s group had intercepted and killed were also making their rounds when they happened to run afoul of the Free Lances, and Reinhardt had discovered a large sum of supply in several large storage rings on those knights.


    Because the village Lars went to was further into the Barony¡¯s territory, the youths there had been drafted months ago, which left mostly the sick and injured, old and young. Many of them showed obvious worries for their loved ones drafted into the Baron¡¯s army, but they also had no choice and obediently obeyed the mercenaries.


    Fortunately, the Duke seized the opportunity and asked Reinhardt to have the villagers lined up. He then delivered a rousing speech to them, and ordered food supplies and other tools necessary to build a village to be distributed to them, as well as tents for temporary shelter. The speech and distribution of food helped buoy the morale of the villagers, and more than a few of them were moved to tears that the ruler of their new home had talked to them in person.


    Reinhardt thought that the villagers, although most were forcefully brought to the duchy, would be unlikely to cause trouble after such a performance.


    They parted ways with the villagers from there, as the Duke¡¯s men took over and led the villagers towards the sites of their new homes. Reinhardt himself followed after the Duke with a few others in tow, as he dismissed the rest of the Company and gave them a day¡¯s leave in town.


    ¡°What do you need us for, Your Grace?¡± asked Reinhardt as the Duke led them to his residence. Duke Utghwes was a tall, stocky middle-aged man, broad of frame and of a powerful build. The way he walked spoke of years dedicated to martial training. He had a deep olive brown skin tone, which was rather atypical for southerners in posuin, who usually had a darker brown to charcoal black skin, but Reinhardt attributed it to the man¡¯s heritage as his family often intermarried with their northerner allies.


    ¡°It is more of a personal matter, Captain, one that involves your company,¡± replied the Duke with a smile. Duke Utghwes had been a model employer in the past half year the Free Lances had worked with him. As such, Reinhardt had not doubted his smile to be anything else than a genuine one.


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    The Duke had some of his servants bring them to a waiting room where they were served snacks and refreshments, and after a short while, rejoined them with a woman in tow. The woman was also tall for a human woman, of stocky, powerful build with a few visible scars on her olive skin. There was some resemblance between her and the Duke, but not enough to suspect familial relations between them.


    ¡°This is Soledad de Guzman, my third cousin,¡± said the Duke as he introduced the woman, who offered her hand for a shake to the mercenaries present. Her grip was powerful, and the calluses on her hands betrayed a history of holding and using weapons. ¡°She leads a small mercenary band and had been looking for a larger company to join. Since I happen to employ several companies in recent years, I had asked her if she wanted to choose between them.¡±


    With the introduction done, the Duke then left them with the woman. He had only been there to introduce them and to facilitate the meeting, and left the mercenaries to talk with each other afterwards. They quickly found that Soledad was far closer to themselves than to nobles like the Duke.


    ¡°So, Miss de Guzman, what brought you to decide the mercenary life is for you?¡± Reinhardt asked after they exchanged some small talk with the woman. ¡°And what made you decide to choose the Free Lances to join? I know that Uncle Stefan runs a bigger and more reputable company than ours.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Stefan¡± was Stefan Horst, Commander of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers, one of the largest mercenary companies in Alcidea, numbering close to five thousand men and boasting an earth archmage - Stefan Horst himself - amongst their ranks. Like Graf Harscape, he had been quite close friends with the late Ingrid Edelstein and was almost like an Uncle to Reinhardt.


    ¡°Two reasons, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied the woman with a big, honest smile on her face. ¡°One is that my band is composed exclusively of cavalry. We have a dozen heavies, plus two and a half dozen light cavalrymen under our banner. By nature, we are skirmishers harassers, while the Hellraisers mostly work by dwarven doctrine and specialized in sieges and defenses. I do not feel that we would be a good fit with them.¡±


    ¡°Fair point. And the second?¡±


    ¡°Your Free Lances had rebuilt from a disaster that would have caused many companies to disband just a few years ago, and I have done my investigations too,¡± said the woman with a confident smile. ¡°Your track record in the past five years had been flawless, and despite the disaster, your company¡¯s performance in the Theodinaz campaign received several commendations from your employer. That and your troops have a large number of irregulars with them, so I feel you would know how to make use of me and my boys properly, unlike more doctrinal types.¡±


    ¡°Gotta say, boss, she made a good argument,¡± said Ylisera from behind him. Over the past five years the elven woman had fought alongside the others, though she still slipped back to her old occupation from time to time when she felt like it, and her popularity had just skyrocketed amongst the mercenaries since.


    ¡°In case you worry about it, I¡¯m just another mercenary. Sandoval called me his third cousin, but I¡¯m from a distant branch family. We¡¯re just wealthy farmers in the boonies, nothing noble about it,¡± said the woman with another smile. ¡°Even used to clean the stables myself at ma and pa¡¯s place when I was young, so I won¡¯t be balking at some dirty work.¡±


    The Lances themselves were not new to such an offer. They had integrated two other smaller companies over the past five years, and despite the attrition from battles and people leaving because they realized mercenary life was not for them, had slowly increased their roster to seven hundred over the years, despite only doing smaller jobs to recuperate rather than search for fame in larger battles.


    To integrate another small company of forty would be of little issue to the current Free Lances, and an actual cavalry detachment - a small portion of the Lances could travel at speeds that matched cavalry for short periods, but they lacked actual cavalry - would be of use to them as well. As such, Reinhardt decided to accept the proposal after some thought.


    ¡°We will have to see how well we work together first, but otherwise, I will approve of your proposal for now, Miss de Guzman,¡± he said as he shook the woman¡¯s hand once more. ¡°We will muster outside the western gate at sunset tomorrow. Bring your band in and we will officially welcome you then.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Captain,¡± replied Soledad. ¡°And please, just call me Soledad.¡±

 Chapter 99 - Like a Child Given a New Toy

    ¡°You¡¯d think that professional mercenaries would mostly be responsible adults, but in reality, more often than not they act more like children who never really grew up, and did as they pleased. Their way of life was partly chosen because they enjoyed it, though some were naturally forced to the line of work by other circumstances. Many career mercenaries stayed mercenaries until the day they died because they liked being one, though.


    Sometimes you¡¯d see all these grown, burly, scarred adults letting out a very childlike glee, often over things like a new suit of armor, or a newly crafted weapon, sometimes over horses or other mounts too. In some ways, they were far more honest to themselves than most people in civilized society are, because they usually couldn¡¯t care less about what was considered acceptable or not for an adult in respectable society.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean and former Professor of Socioeconomy at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 686 FP.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally done, eh, pops?¡± Reinhardt asked shortly before afternoon the next day in a smithy their company had rented in Dvergarder. While Hogarth and the other blacksmiths of the company were used to working on the go with minimal amenities, some projects had needed more extensive facilities, and were only really doable in towns they stopped for a while in.


    Over the past five years, Hogarth had worked a good portion of the bounties they won in Theodinaz into new armors and weapons for the company. Reinhardt himself wore a new breastplate and bracers these days, made from a thin, solid layer of adamant steel his adoptive father had alloyed using his own formula, which made it slightly lighter than the normal sort being sold by the dwarves.


    The ingots of Mithril they took as part of their bounty years ago had languished in their storage for most of those years, as Hogarth had sought a way to effectively combine his knowledge of metalworking with the precious metal to further stretch it out. He claimed that he had found a possible direction just a few months ago, and Elfriede was the first to test out the results of his theories.


    ¡°See for yourself, lad,¡± replied the old dwarf as he wiped some sweat off his wrinkled brows with the back of one hand. Reinhardt had not failed to notice the proud smile on his adoptive father¡¯s face, and the way he looked as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.


    Near a corner of the smithy, Elfriede gave a few test swings to a pair of strangely-shaped swords - she had been intrigued by the collection of foreign antiques Reinhardt had brought as part of the bounty and had asked Hogarth to design her weapon based on some of them - while others kept a safe distance even while they watched her closely.


    A pair of identical, silvery sword-like weapons were in her hands, each with a double-sided blade roughly three quarters of a meter long, with a short, scythe-like hook protruding around three quarters of the way up the blades. The weapons also had a shorter dagger-like blade on its pommel, and the handguard extended into a crescent-shaped blade pointing outward, all polished to a shine and if he guessed right, likely razor sharp.


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    ¡°Aren¡¯t those blades a bit too thin even if you used mithril for them?¡± he asked his adoptive father with a questioning eye. The sword¡¯s blades were noticeably thinner than a typical weapon mercenaries like then used, and also far more slender to boot.


    ¡°The mithril¡¯s mostly like a coat around the core, concentrated on the cutting edges,¡± explained the old dwarf proudly. ¡°Wrapped around a core of my own mix of high-purity adamant steel. That thing will take nearly as much punishment as your bloody mace would before it needs repairs!¡±


    That was a statement Reinhardt had not expected. He had traded in his old, scarred polemace for a new one made of adamant steel as well years ago, and that weapon had barely needed more than a polish even after four and a half years of usage.


    ¡°The weight feels just about right,¡± commented Elfriede. She was used to using a weapon with blades on both sides so she had little difficulty adapting to her new weapon despite its different form. ¡°Mind if I test the cutting edge now, pops?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, lass. Oy! Set up the dummy!¡± yelled the old dwarf to some of his assistants. One of them, a large half-therian woman whose features resembled a bull or an auroch, lifted a training dummy made of solid wood the size of a human with ease, and set it up in front of Elfriede with a nod before she backed away.


    Elfriede took a deep breath to focus herself, then her arm blurred as she struck one of the thinner protrusions from the dummy, around the size of a child¡¯s arm. The wood parted with barely a whisper and simply slid off the dummy with a thunk as it landed on the floor.


    ¡°Try it on the thicker parts, lass,¡± said Hogarth with a wide grin on his face as he watched with eagerness. The cut on the wooden limb was mirror-smooth, far smoother than what a cut had any right to be, Reinhardt had thought. ¡°We worked some enchantments on that edge to make it as keen as it could be. It should work against even bigger stuff.¡±


    With a nod, Elfriede turned and gave another slice towards another protrusion, one as thick as an adult¡¯s limb. It sheared off just as smoothly as the previous one, with practically no resistance as her blade glided through the hard ironwood like it was water.


    Emboldened, she struck at the ¡°neck¡± of the practice dummy, made to be around the thickness of an orc¡¯s neck. The head of the training dummy slid off almost immediately, and Elfriede struck again, with both blades this time. When it landed on the floor, the circular wooden head of the dummy was in seventeen pieces, each cut as smooth as a mirror¡¯s surface.


    ¡°Damn¡­ These are good stuff, pops,¡± she said in praise after an appreciative whistle while Reinhardt picked up one of the slices that happened to bounce and land near his feet. He felt nothing but a smooth surface as he ran his finger over the cut. ¡°Lemme try something I¡¯ve tried but could never get right before¡­¡±


    Reinhardt felt as if the atmosphere became heavier when his wife concentrated then her hand moved. Compared to her previous movements, where her hands were practically a blur, this was a graceful, gentle glide, and the blade of her sword passed through the thick log-like ¡°torso¡± of the practice dummy as if it wasn¡¯t there.


    Nothing seemed to happen to the dummy, and those who were watching looked on with questioning looks for a moment. Then Elfriede stomped the floor hard with one leg, hard enough to cause a tiny shake to the dummy before her, and the upper half of the dummy slid right off and fell to the floor with a clonk.


    Everyone was silent and looked in awe at what she just pulled off.


    ¡°Oh yeah~ These are definitely the good stuff, pops.¡±

 Chapter 100 - Welcoming New People

    ¡°As is often the case, most mercenary companies without a permanent base took their followers and families along with them wherever they went, with their families often also being part of their camp followers and support staff. Many children were born and raised in such a setting, who later grew up and often joined the business themselves. These in turn would have their own children, perpetuating the cycle onwards through generations.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Life and Times of Mercenaries: A Dissertation¡± by Sedgewick Fenton, Sociology researcher from the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 411 FP.


    ¡°Welcome to the Free Lances,¡± said Reinhardt as he welcomed Soledad and her band that evening at their encampment outside the western gate of Dvergarder. He was accompanied by many of his lieutenant amongst the lances, amongst which were Lars, Elfriede, Salicia, Mischka, Nicole, and others.


    Two of the newer lieutenants were like Mischka, formerly captain or commander of their own company, before they decided to join a larger one for various reasons. Egil of the Yellowtooth Tribe was once part of a large mixed mercenary company called the Rimmon¡¯s Ravagers which got devastated during the Clangeddin civil wars, and had brought the last thirty or so survivors of his units in search of jobs when Reinhart met him three years ago.


    His unit was entirely composed of goblins like him, and most of them were slingers and skirmishers, with a few scouts. They had proven to be a valuable auxiliary component to the Free Lances in the past few years, and the goblin himself made fast friends with nearly everyone, especially with Ylisera over their shared love of fucking.


    Fatimah ibn Haimool on the other hand, was a visitor from the southern continent, who had taken her small company of fifty to Alcidea when she caught wind of the ongoing conflicts there, after she inherited its leadership from her late father. Several years and many close calls for her company made her realize that her band was simply too small to survive on its own in the turmoil, and she had applied to join the Free Lances with her band around two years ago.


    Soledad had dismounted as she entered the encampment, and most of her group had led their horses and wagons where their followers and dependents were to the living area. The woman herself met Reinhardt along with a similarly aged half-orcish man, and both accepted the welcome from the company.


    ¡°A pleasure to be here, Captain,¡± said the woman with a smile. She seemed like the sort who wore her feelings on her sleeves, from the short acquaintance Reinhardt had with her. ¡°This is my husband, Anatoli of Clan Fleetstride. He leads our light cavalry contingent.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you. This is my wife Elfriede, and those are my lieutenants¡­¡± said Reinhardt as he introduced the rest of the command crew in turn. Anatoli seemed like a typical stoic, rugged warrior type that mostly stereotyped the orcish part of his heritage, and calmly shook hands with everyone.


    Ever since the last of the failed crusades two centuries ago, the orcs of the northern plains had began to become a more common sight in the nations of Alcidea, as curious young orcs left behind the plains they lived in to see the ¡°outside world¡± for themselves, sometimes living their entire lives that way.


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    The mother of his late friend Kasimir was one such orc. Anatoli was likely descended from another, given his thick orcish blood, as while those wandering orcs often left children behind, their blood often thinned over generations. Anatoli¡¯s features hinted of him being a first-generation descendant of a wanderer.


    ¡°Oh, and that bookworm there is our son Juan¡­¡± the woman trailed off when a young boy, maybe eight or nine years of age dressed in a robe rushed over to look for her. Then a thought came to her mind and her brows furrowed with consternation. ¡°Wait a moment. Juan? Where is your sister?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m looking for you, mom!¡± said the boy with some urgency in his voice. He panted to catch his breath for a moment, clearly not one used to intense physical activities, before he finally continued his words. ¡°Sis took off to look for the local kids. Again.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ bugger,¡± cursed Soledad as she covered her face with the callused palm of her hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Reinhardt asked her out of curiosity.


    ¡°I have to beg your apology beforehand, Captain,¡± said the woman with an exasperated sigh. ¡°You see, my daughter Valeria was very close to her late grandfather, my father-in-law. She was fascinated with his tales of life in the Orcish plains.¡±


    ¡°Because of that, practically every town we¡¯ve been to, she would seek out the local kid and have a brawl with them to set up a pecking order,¡± she added as she shook her head. ¡°I scolded her many times but she had never grown out of that habit. I¡¯m really sorry. I didn¡¯t expect her to do this the moment we got here.¡±


    To her surprise, Reinhardt and the rest of his group laughed heartily at her apology, with some even laughing so hard until they wheezed for breath. Egil even rolled on and pounded the ground as he held his stomach in throes of laughter.


    ¡°Haah, no worries, no worries. Kids will be kids,¡± said Reinhardt as he wiped a tear from laughing too much. ¡°Just let the kids sort things out between themselves.¡±


    ******************************


    Valeria de Guzman-Fleetstride walked through the mercenary camp partly impressed by the size of the city of tents and wagons where they lived. She asked some young children about whoever was the ¡°boss¡± of the local kids, and found that the very first kid she asked knew what she was talking about.


    She followed the pretty blonde little girl - couldn¡¯t be more than five or six years of age, she thought - towards a small hill a short distance away from the camp. On the top of the hill grew a large tree, one that grew taller than all the buildings she had seen in her life, and around its roots, were a large group of around two dozen children of various races.


    Amongst them were at least half a dozen children around her age from larger breeds of therians, who towered over her in size and bulk, playfully wrestling against each other. Some of the other kids were younger, while others were older. The oldest and tallest kid of the bunch, an elven mixed-breed girl of maybe fourteen or fifteen with a large scar over her left eye, walked towards them as she noticed her approach.


    ¡°Heya, lil¡¯ Aly. What¡¯s up? And who¡¯s this one?¡± she asked with familiarity to the small girl that brought Valeria there.


    ¡°I dunno, she¡¯s looking for big sis, sister Ayrie,¡± said the young girl in reply.


    ¡°Ah, another one, eh? Come along, I¡¯ll take you to the little boss,¡± said Ayrie with a smile as she beckoned Valeria to follow her.


    The part-elven girl led her to the tree where a trio of human children - two of whom looked so similar Valeria pegged them as siblings - entertained a child even younger than the girl who brought her there in the first place.


    ¡°Yo, little boss! You got another challenger!¡± shouted the part-elven girl once they reached the tree, upwards at the canopy.

 Chapter 101 - Establishing a Pecking Order

    ¡°A lil¡¯ scrap between the kids is like an everyday thing. They gotta learn how to use them fists after all!¡± - Leonard Lozen, retired squad leader, formerly of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers mercenary company.


    Instead of words, the sight that followed the elven girl¡¯s shout was one that almost made Valeria jump up in fright and surprise. Someone fell - no, leapt down - from a branch high up on the tree, a good ten meters above ground, and plummeted to the ground with alarming speed.


    To Valeria¡¯s surprise, the falling figure landed on all fours, their limbs flexing to absorb the fall, and bounced back to their feet almost immediately. The figure was tall, at first glance looking probably a bit younger than the elven girl, but on closer appraisal likely just her own age, just taller due to their heritage.


    Valeria was not good at telling the gender of therian half-breeds - which the falling figure was, with white, spotted fur and hair, as well as a large, fluffy tail that swished to and fro behind her, as well as strongly feline features that was cut with some more human ones here and there - but she remembered how the blonde little girl had called her ¡°big sis¡± earlier.


    The half-therian girl lifted one of her hands and caught four falling orbs with it, just as she bounced back to her feet. The orbs were of clear glass, polished to transparency, and the girl¡¯s hand resumed juggling them in the air once more as she spoke.


    ¡°You¡¯re the newcomer, eh?¡± asked the girl with a curious look on her eyes. She was taller than Valeria by a head, but also more slender in build, the quarter-orcish girl being built broader and more powerfully. They stared at each other for a moment longer, before the half-therian girl broke the silence.


    ¡°Yo, Ayrie, get those boneheads to open some space. We can¡¯t fight with them filling up the flat grounds,¡± said the girl as she glanced at a flat section of grassy land by the foot of the hill, where three large bear therian children easily twice Valeria¡¯s size were play-wrestling together with another who looked like the love child of a dwarf and a big ape.


    The elven girl walked over and quickly shooed them away, which the far bigger therian children surprisingly obeyed in good humor, as the white-furred half-therian girl beckoned Valeria to follow her to the flat ground, the blonde little girl following along behind them.


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    ¡°Hold on to these for me, ok, Aly?¡± asked the half-therian girl as she handed the glass orbs she was juggling to the little blonde girl, who held onto them with both hands as she smiled and nodded in return. Valeria did not miss how the little girl called the half-therian one her big sister, despite their obvious difference, but had not asked.


    Instead, she followed the girl to where the rest of the kids had gathered around in a large, loose circle, and both stood to face each other in the center of the impromptu ring.


    ¡°Rules from pops, no fangs or claws, anything else goes,¡± said the half-therian girl. Valeria nodded in agreement, as she raised her meaty fists and took a stance. Partly thanks to her orcish heritage, she was big and broad for a nine year old girl, and very strong. Most human kids close to her age couldn¡¯t fight her for long, and she was emboldened and confident because of that knowledge.


    The slender therian girl took a lower pose, almost like a beast about to pounce on its prey, and while the two stared at each other at first, as they tried to take each other¡¯s measure, Valeria was delighted to see that the therian girl pounced first.


    Valeria swung a meaty fist at the charging therian girl, but the slender girl ducked under her punch and struck hard with her own fist - her hand was still a touch paw-like and made a somewhat awkward fist, but it still hit hard - against the orcish girl¡¯s abdomen.


    She had to step back a bit to absorb the blow, and when Valeria tried to grab the therian girl, she found that the girl had already circled to her side, and landed a second blow before she could retaliate. Despite her slender, almost lanky figure, the therian girl was blazingly fast, and packed a lot of punch in her fists.


    Soon afterwards, Valeria found herself stymied and frustrated, as the therian girl circled around her and kept landing punishing blows to her body. Her own counterattacks mostly whiffed and hit nothing but air, and the few that landed, mostly caught the therian girl lightly, as she shrugged them off.


    Before long Valeria found it hard to breathe, as her abdomen cried out in pain with every breath she took, and beads of sweat covered her brow as she panted for breath. The therian girl looked barely winded, and was just as fast and hard-hitting as when they began the match, despite how she moved around way more than Valeria did.


    Finally, a hard blow directly to the solar plexus drove out the breath from Valeria¡¯s body, and she slumped over to her knees as she coughed and gasped for air. The pain was nothing. She had been in many fights before, some against older teenagers even larger. It was, however, the first time someone her own age beat her fair and square in single combat like that.


    ¡°Not a bad workout, newbie,¡± said the therian girl, as she stood in front of Valeria, still bouncing on her toes, prepared to spring in any direction should the orcish girl turn out to still have a fight in her. If the girl sweated, Valeria couldn¡¯t see it, but then again, with her fur most nobody would be able to tell anyway.


    After it became evident that Valeria had no more fight in her, the therian girl approached and offered her a hand, to the cheers of the watching kids. Valeria took the offered hand, and was somewhat surprised by how the slender therian girl hoisted her to her feet with ease.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Erycea. Erycea Edelstein. You can consider me the little boss around here, since my dad runs the joint,¡± said the therian girl with a teeth-baring grin. ¡°What¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°Valeria.¡±


    ¡°Well then Val, welcome aboard to the Free Lances, Junior division.¡±

 Chapter 102 - Compassion for Some might be Cruelty for Others

    ¡°Have you ever heard of the gall of those feather-pushers? Those wimps who live their whole lives behind the safe walls of their cities? They want us to coddle our little ones? Calling training them to use arms so soon is unnecessary cruelty? Do they want our kids to roll over and present themselves as snacks when the next raider or wild beast comes over then?


    Those cocksuckers who¡¯s probably never been inconvenienced by things bigger than a fly have no idea how we live here, do they? Where a wolf would just as happily munch on one of your kids if you left them unattended, or savages would raid and hunt us down for fun. Maybe those shitheads ought to take up the spear and join them border guard boys for a while and have a taste of living here themselves first!¡± - Maria Stravos, village elder from an unnamed frontier village in Northern Clangeddin, later known as Maria the Goblin-Killer for her feats during the defense of her village from raiders.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Soledad,¡± said Reinhardt when he spotted the leader of the newest additions to the Free Lances approach him the next day. He was seated on an empty box while munching on a large leg of turkey, while his other hand gently held Alycea, who was laughing happily as he bounced her on his powerful thighs. ¡°What brought you here?¡±


    The culture amongst the Lances was for most members to do away with titles except when speaking to him, where many of the members called him ¡°Captain¡±, or for closer friends, a playful ¡°Boss¡±, and just to refer to each other by their first names. It was a symbolic gesture amongst themselves, to signify that they were all just simple mercenaries, regardless of whatever background they hailed from previously.


    Soledad was far from the first member of the Company with some noble lineage in her. After the Theodinaz conflict Reinhardt had learned that his wife turned out to be a bastard daughter of a Count from the now-gone Holy Kingdom. Others within the mercenaries had also admitted of previously hailing from a noble lineage, though they had not elaborated further, Salicia amongst others, and everybody else refrained from asking about it.


    ¡°Afternoon, Captain,¡± replied the noblewoman-turned-mercenary politely as she approached. Reinhardt could see that she seemed a bit unsure of how to say what she came to say, so he just waited as he played with Alycea on his lap some more. ¡°I was¡­ wondering what you meant when you said not to worry about the kids yesterday. I guess I got my answer when Valeria came home with so many bruises I lost count.¡±


    ¡°Not the first one to have similar ideas around here,¡± said Reinhardt with a slight chuckle as he curled his biceps repeatedly while Alycea hung on to his hand with both of hers, laughing all the way. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that with people from so many cultures around here, we quickly learned that the kids would get into brawls all the time unless they got themselves sorted out, so we had them do just that.¡±


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    ¡°Val also told me about some sort of Junior Division,¡± asked Soledad as she stood in a parade rest position, feet splayed with her hands behind her back. ¡°Did you set those up too? Sounds a bit¡­ extreme to have the kids look forward to this sort of life from so young.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, that¡¯s something they themselves set up,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head before he took one last bite from the meat and discarded the bone. ¡°Started out with some of the kids who knew they wanted to join the Company as they grew up, ended up as pretty much an informal club for them in a way, though every one of the kids there basically wanted to be one of us when they¡¯re older.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Soledad with a nod. Reinhardt noticed how her eyes trailed away as her attention was caught by the sparring practice that happened not too far away from where he sat. Many members of the Company loved to spar with one another in their free time, though one particular pair seemed to have caught Soledad¡¯s eyes.


    Elfriede was sparring with Erycea on the field, the nine-year-old girl already as tall as her mother¡¯s chest, as the training weapons they used struck one another¡¯s with high speed. It was obvious that Elfriede was still taking it easy on her daughter, since she only used one hand to fend off the pair of sticks Erycea used.


    ¡°Again,¡± said Elfriede nonchalantly after she rapped Erycea¡¯s side with the training stick she held in her hand. The sticks they used were made from a sturdy, but light and flexible wood native to the region, weighted with some metal near the handle to simulate the weight of a proper weapon. A hit from them still hurt quite a bit, however, as canes made from the same wood were used instead of whips for the flogging punishments in the Duchy.


    Elfriede had definitely not held back much while she trained her own daughter, as her strikes, while not hard enough to break skin, would still leave behind painful bruises to better drive the lessons home. Erycea herself seemed used to it, as at most she¡¯d only rub the struck area for a bit before she went straight back into the spar.


    ¡°Seeing that definitely answered how Val got beaten so badly yesterday,¡± said Soledad with a somewhat appreciative whistle as she watched the mother and daughter spar. ¡°Probably what the girl needed too I guess. She¡¯s too used to beating up city brats. That said, don¡¯t you think that might be too much for one so young?¡±


    ¡°She wanted to join us herself,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°If she had wanted a peaceful life, we would have done everything in our power to make it possible for her, but she wanted to join us instead. The best thing we could do for her is to make sure she got what it takes to survive this kind of life, even if it involved some harsh training. As a fellow parent, wouldn¡¯t you have done the same?¡±


    ¡°Fair point, Captain¡­¡± said the former noblewoman after she contemplated his words for a few moments. ¡°I guess some part of me still hoped that my little girl would find a more peaceful calling in her life, but after seeing how her eyes shined last night despite all the bruises, I guess I should come to terms with how she¡¯ll likely live our sort of life as well.¡±


    ¡°Then you might want to train her from early on for it.¡±


    ¡°I will do just that, yeah.¡±

 Chapter 103 - Mercenary Meeting

    ¡°The trick when dealing with mercenaries is not to appeal to them by way of morals of justifications. None of them give a damn about those, and all that would achieve is to waste time, both yours and theirs. No, to get mercenaries to fight willingly and properly on your behalf you only need to do one thing. Namely, to make it *worth* their while.¡± - Sandoval Utghwes, Duke of Dvergarder, circa 5 FP.


    ¡°Greetings, ladies and gentlemen,¡± said Duke Sandoval Utghwes to the gathered group. They were meeting at a large room in the Ducal manor, one typically used for the purpose of monthly meetings and official briefings for the Duke and his officials. ¡°A pleasure to see that you had all managed to make time for today.¡±


    Gathered that day, however, were not the Duke¡¯s officials. Other than a couple generals and knight-captains serving under the Duke, no other local official was present, and the rest of the crows was a gathering of Captains and various officers from five different mercenary companies, which filled the relatively large room to the brim.


    Reinhardt and several members of the Free Lances were naturally there. Other than his own people, there was an old dwarf he was all too familiar with, since he was an old friend of Reinhardt¡¯s late aunt. Stefan Horst was the Captain-Commander of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers, formerly a combat engineer for Knallzog, and one of the few known mercenary archmages around.


    The other three mercenary Captains and Commanders around, from the Silver Eagles, Spears of Ostvin, and Jaime¡¯s Janissaries were ones Reinhardt only had a more passing acquaintance with. They had mostly met in the line of work, and had even lightly clashed on occasion since they all worked the trade in the same general area. The relationship between them and the Free Lances were mostly neutral and professional.


    Duke Utghwes had hired mercenaries who plyed their trade in multiple nations, partly because the vast majority of the local bands - who were more often than not little better than slightly more organized bandit bands, and acted as such in their downtimes - were scooped up by the Central Duchies. Another reason the Duke hired foreigners under strict and foolproof contracts was because the missions he assigned were mostly defensive in nature.


    While the Kingdom of Posuin had technically fallen into a many-sided civil war for a good seven years now, the border Duchies of Algenverr, Jonkver, and Dvergarder had remained neutral in the conflict, their intention mostly to ride out the turmoil while keeping themselves safe. Despite the solid alliance between the border duchies, and their strong military force - as befit those stationed at the borders of the realm - they lacked the ambition to claim and conquer.


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    The other factions had not seen things that way.


    Seven years ago, the Kingdom had gathered an expeditionary force - most of which were from forces under Duke Emil Bostvan, the main proponent of the expedition - to strike at the newly established city of Paradise to their east. That was an expedition that never came to be in the end.


    The Duke had hoped to net in more troops and support from the border duchies to the east but had failed to convince them, and while they were arguing, news of a different expedition from the Holy Kingdom attacking Paradise reached them, shortly followed by their decimation.


    Duke Bostvan had lost his courage when he saw the reports. The expedition from the Holy Kingdom was just as large as his current expedition forces, but with many more mages, and yet they were decimated to a man regardless. Yet he had staked his pride and reputation on the line with this gambit of an expedition, hoping to accrue riches and fame through it.


    Nobody knew what went through the Duke¡¯s mind at the time, but what everyone knew later was that the expedition forces had discreetly went back to the Royal Capital and fought a battle there that resulted in the Royal Palace burning, with the King dead and the status of his heirs unknown.


    The Duke had decried his fellow Dukes of the Central Duchies as traitors to the crown who had used the king as a puppet and called for a revolution under the Royal Family¡¯s last heirs¡¯ names. The Central Duchies in turn called Duke Bostvan a traitor and a cur, one who had slain their own liege lord, and called for his head on a pike.


    Which party said the truth - if any - was unknown.


    While eastern Posuin was mostly held firmly under the grip of the three border duchies, the rest of the kingdom was a mess. The area to the north, surrounding the royal capital of Oleynuos, was mostly held by a coalition of four of the most powerful duchies in the nation, who had claimed that they were ¡°punishing rebels to the realm¡±.


    On the contrary, south-western Posuin was firmly held by the forces loyal to Duke Bostvan, who had the support of the gathered expedition force that rebelled seven years ago and sparked the civil war, which placed them on equal grounds with the central duchies when it comes to military forces. They in turn claimed to have sheltered the last heirs to the Royal family and called for the others to fall into their banner.


    Around half a dozen smaller counties and baronies had also proclaimed their independence during the mess, mostly in the southern regions of the nation, which formed a convenient buffer between Dvergarder and the forces of both the Central and the Bostvan factions. Their allies in Jonkver and Algenverr were not as fortunate, however, and often had to face those factions more directly. It was one such situation that caused the meeting of that day.


    ¡°I had asked you all to gather today because I wish to offer a separate, one-off mission from the contracts we have signed,¡± said the Duke after he seated himself. ¡°I know we had only agreed on defensive and raiding missions when we signed the contracts with your Companies, however, situations changed.¡±


    ¡°Our allies in the Duchy of Jonkver are under heavy pressure from Duke Bostvan¡¯s forces as we speak, and called for assistance,¡± he explained with a solemn, dignified voice. ¡°And I would like to discuss the possibilities of hiring some of your companies for this mission.¡±

 Chapter 104 - A Call to Arms

    ¡°A mercenary contract tends to be extremely strict in wording, a precaution taken to prevent themselves from getting taken for a ride by their employers. Everything from expected and special fees for various missions, the degree of freedom the mercenaries have from command, and what was expected of them, were all listed on these contracts to ensure a smooth cooperation.


    When an employer needed more out of their hired mercenaries, services not already covered by the contract they already signed, the common practice is to offer a secondary contract, considered separate from the main contract, with their own clauses and fees. Whether a mercenary company took up the offered contract or not, however, was entirely at their discretion.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Life and Times of Mercenaries: A Dissertation¡± by Sedgewick Fenton, Sociology researcher from the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 411 FP.


    The mercenary Captains fidgeted when they heard the Duke¡¯s announcements. Both the captains of the Eagles and the Spears looked eager and interested, while the captain for the Janissaries - the smallest of the companies present at only four hundred strong - looked more contemplative and worried by the news.


    Reinhardt shared that contemplative feeling, as had Uncle Stefan - Stefan Horst of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers - across the table from him. The rebuilt Free Lances had mostly avoided large-scale combat these past five years, as they focused on rebuilding the unit and training the newcomers, while Uncle Stefan¡¯s Hellraisers were specialists in defense and siege warfare, who rarely took the field on offensive battles.


    ¡°Before we begin to speak terms, I will first clarify that it will not just be your forces involved,¡± said the Duke with a practiced, disarming smile on his face. ¡°We will be riding to the aid of Jonkver¡¯s force of thirty thousand, and I will also be sending ten thousand of my own to their aid, with another five thousand reinforcements to be expected from Algenverr.¡±


    Jonkver was the smallest of the three border Duchies, with Algenverr and Dvergarder being stronger and each maintaining a force of nearly forty thousand soldiers in reserve. Most of these soldiers were militiamen, volunteers from the inhabitants of the region who joined periodic military training to keep themselves prepared for when they might be needed, but the same applied to most of their opponent¡¯s forces anyway.


    As Jonkver had the misfortune to border regions controlled by both the Central Duchies and the forces led by Duke Bostvan, they had been under the greatest pressure compared to their neighbors. Apparently the Centrals and Bostvans had agreed to come to a temporary truce to focus on the threat to their flanks first, as forces from both of them had entered Jonkver territory from the south-west and north-west.


    At the same time, Algenverr was pressed from the west by the Central forces, and Dvergarder naturally could not afford to leave their lands undefended, in case the Bostvans were planning on doing the same to them, which was why the Duke was sending only a portion of his forces to the aid of his ally.


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    ¡°Captain Horst?¡± said the Duke as the old dwarven mercenary captain raised his burly hand, signaling that he had a question.


    ¡°Will the operation be mostly offensive or defensive in nature, Your Grace?¡± asked Stefan Horst without preamble. The Duke was used to his brusque manner and direct way of speaking, so he took no offense to those. ¡°Our reply will depend a lot on this question.¡±


    ¡°It will involve both, Captain Horst, but I plan to contract your group to strengthen and reinforce the defenses of the region rather than to engage the enemy, as per your specialty,¡± replied the Duke with a nod, clearly having expected that question. ¡°You will be required to fight if they come for the places your troops are garrisoned in, of course, but will not be required to join the offensives.¡±


    ¡°Acceptable terms,¡± replied the old dwarf with a satisfied nod.


    The Duke had clearly expected the situation, as while the Hellraisers were the largest of the mercenary companies present by far - with over five thousand trained members - they were also notorious in their preference for defensive operations and siege battles, where they excelled. Still, with five thousand skilled mercenaries taking up the defense, they would free more of Jonkver¡¯s troops to take the offensive.


    ¡°Expected theater of engagement, and compensation, sir?¡± asked Guillaume du Riffons, Captain of the Silver Eagles. The Company, a little over a thousand strong, was known for its skilled cavalrymen, which numbered half their combat roster. The Captain himself was supposedly formerly a minor noble in Clangeddin who left his homeland with his knights to seek fortune elsewhere when the Empire broke down into infighting a decade ago.


    ¡°Most likely the forested plains in western Jonkver for the most part, as long as things go well,¡± said the Duke in reply. ¡°This contract will take place over allied territory, so no pillaging is permitted. I can offer full combat payment as standard as well as salvage rights based on performance.¡±


    While Guillaume nodded on those terms, the therian commander of the Spears of Ostvin clicked his tongue in annoyance. The large mercenary troop - close to two thousand strong - had been somewhat dissatisfied by the lack of pillage rights, which the Duke was adamantly against, but held his tongue for the time being. He remained and signaled his desire to participate as well despite the dissatisfaction. Mercenaries generally never broke their contracts except in dire straits, as the loss of credibility often killed companies just as surely as battles would have.


    Reinhardt and Dame Jaime Ilasvey, the Commander of the Janissaries - formerly a knight of Clangeddin who had lost her liege lord in the civil war that engulfed the empire -, were more cautious since they had the smallest units present. Even so, Reinhardt quickly identified that the forested terrain of western Jonkver would be a region where his irregulars could operate freely since they were used to such terrain.


    In fact, despite the small roster of the Free Lances, given favorable terrain like those he would dare to strike at enemy forces twice his size, provided they had the time and place to arrange for a devastating ambush first. After a short discussion with his lieutenants, the Free Lances agreed to take on the additional contract as well.


    Arrangements were quickly made, contracts were signed, and shakes were exchanged. When he returned to the encampment of the Free Lances that evening, Reinhardt immediately ordered the others to prepare for departure by the weekend, which his troops acknowledged with nods.


    It has been five years since they kept a low profile and mostly took safe, easy jobs while they rebuilt. Most of the mercenaries were already itching for a larger, proper battle to take part in.

 Chapter 105 - Building Excitement

    ¡°An easy way to tell how long a mercenary has been in the business is to look for how they act prior to a battle. Old veterans would be ambivalent, battles to them just a regular thing they do to earn their paychecks. The newer ones would usually be excited, likely ones who had not yet been to their first real battle, or nervous, those who had been to battles before but had yet become accustomed to it.¡± - Commonly said mercenary words of wisdom.


    ¡°Hey Lars, got a moment?¡±


    Lars turned around to see a trio of women approaching him. He recognized all three of them, fellow former citizens of the Holy Kingdom who joined the Company on their way out from there. Karenina and Cassiopea - though both of them hated being referred to by their full name - were both former thugs and assassins for the Crime Lord of Zephirous, now the city¡¯s mayor, while Kari was formerly a servant and cook for a brothel in Norouz.


    ¡°What can I do for you, ladies?¡± he asked as they got closer. Over the five years, Lars had integrated himself and his little group of followers into the mercenary Company, earning their trust and respect for the most part. Even though a few still eyed him with dislike, they offered him grudging respect regardless and admitted that he had what it takes to be made Lieutenant like he was now.


    ¡°Heard we¡¯re marching to war?¡± asked Cassie - as Cassiopea preferred to be called - with a tilt of her head. All three women were part of Elfriede¡¯s crew these days, responsible for risky headhunting strikes and assassination of enemy officers when they were in combat. Needless to say, with the lack of combat missions the Company took these past five years, they had not had much chance to flex their muscles. ¡°Friede¡¯s still getting a debriefing with the boss.¡±


    Elfriede had not joined the meeting with the Duke earlier, as she was training Erycea like usual. These days, she had mostly gravitated away from command matters, and left it to the other, newer lieutenants, like Lars or the former commanders of the smaller companies that joined them. In her own words, she had no business commanding more than a small group anyway.


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah,¡± admitted Lars with a nod. The news was no secret anyway, and the only reason these three had not heard of it yet was because their direct superior had not come along to the meeting with the Duke. ¡°I guess it¡¯s what you three had been waiting for, huh?¡±


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    ¡°Pretty much. We joined up because peace doesn¡¯t jibe well with us to begin with,¡± replied Karenina with a shrug of her shoulders. The rationale was the same reason why quite a few of the former thugs and criminals from Zephirous had signed up for the mercenary life, as they found a legitimate, peaceful life not fitting well with them. ¡°A little bit of actual work and some jerks who could use a couple of extra assholes stabbed into them would be nice.¡±


    ¡°What she said, pretty much,¡± said Cassie with a nod. To their other side, Kari simply gave a grim nod as well. The younger girl had joined the company along with her brother back at Norouz, and where her brother had been placed under Salicia¡¯s command as an archer, she had actively sought out a more dangerous assignment under Elfriede instead.


    According to her brother Alva, Kari used to be a kind, cheerful girl despite their poor living, but she had changed after the mess that happened in Norouz. Lars could sympathize, as he knew that the girl had been violated repeatedly back then, and had ended up pregnant with a child whose father she had no clue on, since whoever they were, they were most likely dead by then.


    Fortunately, she had people who not only sympathized with her - some of them even had similar pasts - but also took good care of her amongst the mercenaries¡¯ followers and dependents. The child she had was born safely, and grew up into a fine and healthy little girl. Kari herself however, still seemed affected by the past and while she cared for her child well enough, still sought out the dangerous work despite her brother¡¯s counsel.


    ¡°We¡¯d be marching by the weekend, so we still got a few days to prep up,¡± said Lars with a nod to the women. He had already given the orders to prepare for departure to his group, which had grown from less than twenty to a good sixty-seven, as most of the volunteers from the Holy Kingdom back then had been placed under him due to the language barrier issues they had. Many of them still worked under him, though some had split off to other units as well. ¡°I¡¯d assume the Lady Boss will tell you as much as soon as she¡¯s back off the debriefing.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha, thanks, man!¡± said Karenina with a nod before the three women turned around walked back the way they came. He could tell that they were itching for a real, proper fight, partly because Arne - Cassie¡¯s on-again-off-again paramour - was part of his crew and had often told him as much during nights when they were drinking together.


    He was honestly somewhat baffled at how their relationship went so far. The couple had two children already - one before they joined the Free Lances, one after -, yet they still fought like cats and dogs and broke off all the time, only to reunite a few days or weeks later. Neither seemed averse to the other seeing or even being intimate with other people either. In the end, Lars just shook his head at their antics, leaving their lives for them to live.


    Lars shook his head to clear his mind, as he went back to poring over the sheets of paper on his desk. They were mundane matters, logistical things like their stock of food and metals, spare weapons and armor, arrows and bolts, and other various little things needed to make the Company run smoothly. He had been helping out with the company¡¯s logistics these past four years, since the old man who used to run the accounting for them passed away in his sleep after a night of heavy drinking.

 Chapter 106 - Bidding Farewells

    ¡°When you leave for the battlefield once more,


    Bid your farewells to those you love and care.


    For while you¡¯ve lived and survived heretofore,


    Should you fall, the pain would be theirs to bear.¡± - Old poem commonly sung by Mercenaries prior to leaving for a battle.


    ¡°Be good and take care of your sister until we¡¯re back, all right?¡± said Reinhardt to the two girls who looked at him with unwilling eyes. This time, the expedition was estimated to take a couple of months at the fastest, so most of the mercenaries said their farewells to their families - at least those who does not serve the company in a supporting capacity as well -, who would be staying in Dvergarder, where they were safe, for the time being.


    Naturally, Erycea and Alycea would be left with the others as well, as they were far too young to be brought along. Accidents like what happened in the Holy Kingdom were few and far between, and Reinhardt felt it safer for his children to be protected in the fort city with thirty thousand defenders than have them come along to Jonkver with the Company¡¯s support staff.


    ¡°When can we help as well, father?¡± asked his nine-year old daughter with a disappointed face. Erycea had grown fast as was common for children of therian heritage, and was already as tall as Elfriede¡¯s chest despite her young age, built lithe and strong as well. On the other hand, his adopted daughter Alycea was still rather small even for being nearly six years of age, though given the group the girls hung out with, had been an active child as well.


    ¡°When you¡¯re older and your mother deems you ready, okay?¡± replied Reinhardt as he bent down and pulled his daughters to a warm embrace, which they returned in kind after a moment. Shortly after they began training Erycea, they quickly realized that the girl leaned far more towards Elfriede¡¯s style of fighting, which relied on speed and technique rather than brute force, and more of her training was placed under her since. Reinhardt himself sparred with his little girl from time to time, only to find that she had improved her skills at a ferocious pace.


    He thought it would be a while still. Elfriede was as strict a teacher as they come, and she was unwilling to allow Erycea to take the field herself until the girl could land a hit on her while she was fighting properly, which considering that she only used one hand to handle her so far, would still be a while.


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    Perhaps part of the reason the girl asked again - it was not the first time she had asked, nor would it be the last time, Reinhardt suspected - was that one of the children who usually hung out with her as a group would be joining them on this mission as a member of the company.


    Ayrie was the eldest of the children who hung around Erycea most of the time, being fourteen years of age, and had honed her skills in scouting and tracking under Dacia¡¯s - One of the several veterans of the Company who stood down from a combat position but took up the work of teaching the young instead - guidance, and had been inducted into the ranks of the Company¡¯s scouts just a couple days before the meeting with the Duke.


    ¡°Train harder until you can fight me on even ground, then,¡± said Elfriede as she walked by without a sound - an old habit she never got rid of - and ruffled Erycea¡¯s hair all of a sudden. ¡°When you get skilled enough to make me acknowledge you, we won¡¯t prevent you from coming with us anymore.¡±


    ¡°En,¡± said Erycea as she nodded. Elfriede gave both girls a tender hug as well, before she bid them to be good and to stay safe during their absence. Alycea also gave Elfriede a kiss on the cheek before she rose up, which Elfriede returned by ruffling the younger girl¡¯s hair as well. After having raised her for five years, both Reinhardt and Elfriede truly considered the girl as one of their own as well, despite her being adopted.


    As they walked away from the children, they met a few others who had just been bidding their own farewells to their own children. Mischka was there along with her children, as were several others from her unit. Also present were some of Elfriedes old friends, Karenina and Zyd, as well as Cassie and Arne, who likely just bid their goodbyes to their children. Alva was there as well, accompanying his sister Kari.


    They exchanged nods with one another as they walked together to where the rest of the company had gathered. It was still another half hour before the relief force was meant to depart, but it was better to be early rather than late. The rest of the Free Lances had already prepared for departure, both the mercenaries or their support staff, with only the dependents staying in Dvergarder.


    The many wagons of their caravan were loaded, while the mercenaries themselves already gathered in neat formations. A bit further in the distance they could also see the other mercenary companies as they too prepared for departure, or in the Hellraisers¡¯ case, already prepared and just waiting for the Duke¡¯s forces to come and lead the way.


    ¡°This will be our first major battle since Theodinaz, isn¡¯t it?¡± Elfriede asked suddenly while she and Reinhardt walked towards the front of the formation.


    ¡°It is. We¡¯ll have to use this chance to show that we''re back in proper business, after keeping a low profile for so long,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. The Free Lances had avoided larger battles over the past years as they rebuilt, but now, he felt that they might be ready to take the field once more. ¡°I just hope we¡¯ll manage to do well enough.¡±


    ¡°Just do your best, dear,¡± said Elfriede as she rubbed his back reassuringly. ¡°And remember that we¡¯re all with you on this.¡±

 Chapter 107 - Scouts on the Field

    ¡°To go into battle without knowing anything about the enemy is but mere folly.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Reporting, ma¡¯am,¡± said R¨®zsa as she shifted back to her usual form from that of a large wildcat. The half-elf remained one of the better scouts in the Free Lances along with her sister Lili, who kept watch nearer the edge of the forest. ¡°We noticed a couple scout detachments of the enemy. They are probably searching for a route through the forests, from the pattern of their search.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Keep a close eye on them but stay out of sight,¡± replied Nicole with a nod. Ever since her aunt Dacia retired from active duty shortly after the Theodinaz Conflict, Nicole had pretty much been groomed to be the new leader for the scouts of the company, a role she found herself settling into before long. Despite her young age, none of the more senior scouts really minded. Most scouts were loners who were ill-suited for command, and they felt Nicole would do the job better than they would.


    Out of the forces arrayed on the field this time, the Free Lances probably had the most comprehensive detachment of scouts. Between Hannah for long-distance general scouting and Soledad¡¯s newly joined cavalry for more regular scouting over good terrain, they had their own old crew of scouts who excelled at working in difficult terrain, especially woodlands, and Fatimah¡¯s group as well on top of that.


    While the members of the former Nightstalkers Company were most accustomed to working in cities and villages rather in the wild, most of them were skilled and well-suited for scouting in the wilderness. The small company was unlike most mercenary companies in Alcidea, which tend to focus more on direct combat, and were mostly more covert operatives, sneaks and assassins rather than warriors and brawlers.


    The woman herself was perched on a branch not far from where Nicole was seated, in their small, covert forward base in the middle of the forest. The forested terrain made it difficult for more conventional armies to move outside the roads and pathways, which means her scouts pretty much had free reign over the forests.


    They were located to the south-west of Fort Kuzi, a rather small fort which had been the frontline for the current conflict, where the defenders from Jonkver had held on against a numerically superior force of Bostvans. There were two such forts built in western Jonkver, with fort Kazka to the north and Fort Kuzi to the south, supposedly to serve as a second line of defense should enemies from the east break through the fort city itself, but in practice more a defensive measure against their own fellow nobles further west.


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    When they heard of the arrival of reinforcements, the invaders from Bostvan¡¯s side had withdrawn to their base, half a day¡¯s march from the fort, to reassert the situation. Nicole had heard that the force of the Centrals that besieged fort Kazka further north was more aggressive, and had directly clashed with the reinforcements from Algenverr. The Silver Eagles and the Spears of Ostvin had both been sent northwards to aid them as well.


    The main force of the reinforcements from Dvergarder - led by the Duke¡¯s own eldest daughter and heir along with three senior knight-captains - were camped just behind Fort Kuzi, together with the Janissaries and the Free Lances. Once they arrived, Reinhardt had proactively sent forth their scouts to scour the vicinity, with Soledad¡¯s detachment along with Hannah scouting towards the north-west, where the terrain had more grasslands and plains.


    Nicole¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s detachments were instead tasked to map out the forested region to the south of the main roads, a task they were well suited for. The forest itself was dense enough that moving an army through it would be a chore at best, but just the sort that the Lances themselves preferred, the sort they could set up ambushes from with ease. Last Nicole heard the main force of the Company was also headed their way, to set up camp in the forest as well.


    ¡°Report from Arthesh Hassan Al-Khaleed, Shahzade,¡± said a scout of Fatimah¡¯s as he reported to her around an hour later. The small group from the south still tend to use titles in their language to refer to each other, and rarely mingled with others, but given their exemplary performance, none of the rest thought it to be much of an issue. ¡°We discovered two groups of enemy scouts attempting to make their way through the forest.¡±


    The way the southerners dressed made them look distinct to the rest of the company, with how all of them - men and women alike - were covered from head to toe in their clothing, their faces masked with only their eyes exposed. That said, Nicole had to admit that the striped dark brown fabric they wore for this mission allowed them to blend particularly well with the forest around them.


    ¡°And what became of them?¡± asked Fatimah as the woman leapt down lightly from the branch she used as a seat, a good couple meters above the ground. The southern woman was not much taller than Nicole, likely slighter in build, judging from what she could tell, but clearly just as fit and skilled as her group was.


    ¡°They now feed the beasts,¡± replied the man all too nonchalantly. With the way they dressed, it was hard to tell one of the Nightstalkers from another, since they all dressed the same way and even carried the same weapons - A short, one-handed spear slung over their backs, with a curved dagger and an oddly shaped short sword with a forward-curved blade slung from their belts - to the point that it seemed only the Therians of the Company can tell them apart easily from their scent. ¡°We had also removed the remains deeper into the forest to remove suspicion.¡±


    ¡°Well done,¡± replied Fatimah with a slight, almost imperceptible nod of her head. Her detachment was sent along with Nicole¡¯s mostly as security, in charge of eliminating enemies they inadvertently ran into, so the scouts could focus on their job. ¡°Relay my praise to Arthesh Al-Khaleed, and keep up the good work.¡±


    The Nightstalker bowed deeply to Fatimah at her words, muttering a phrase in their language that Nicole often heard, probably some sort of ritualized words of parting, she thought. Then the man just seemed to vanish into the woods even while she kept a close eye on him.

 Chapter 108 - Plots and Preparations

    ¡°The results of a battle are decided by one part from courage, one part from tactics, and eight parts from prior preparations.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°Good work,¡± Reinhardt said when he stepped foot at the Company¡¯s temporary encampment deep in the forest a week later. The Bostvan forces had been passive for the past week, likely awaiting reinforcements of their own, while the forces from Dvergarder had erected makeshift fortifications and barricades that connected to Fort Kuzi¡¯s eastern side.


    Their plan was mostly a defensive one, as they had a logistical advantage as the defenders, cooperating with the twelve-thousand strong garrison of the fort. News from the north spoke of a more ferocious battle, that leaned to the defending side¡¯s advantage, though the arrival of reinforcements from the Central Duchies threw the northern front into a stalemate once more shortly after.


    After some discussion with the Fort¡¯s commander - a veteran knight-captain of Jonkver who was also a cousin twice removed of the current Duke - they had pooled their best warriors to man the makeshift defense lines, which were weaker than the fort¡¯s heavily enchanted and reinforced walls. The fort itself held most of the best marksmen and mages of the combined force, where they could use the walls for protection and proper vantage.


    The Janissaries had been entirely stationed in the fort, as they had several mages amongst their ranks and nearly half of their four hundred were well-trained marksmen. In contrast, Reinhardt had asked to set his forces up in the forest to the south - a couple hundred meters from the fort and right at the southern end of the makeshift defenses - where his irregulars could use the terrain to execute hit-and-fade tactics and harassment with impunity.


    Both Oswin Tovmund - the Fort¡¯s commander - and Andrea Utghwes - the Duke of Dvergarder¡¯s eldest daughter and heir - had seen merit in his plan, and had given him permission to act out the suggestion. Since the past week, the Company¡¯s support staff of followers had already streamed into the forest and started to build a temporary encampment deep in its midst, while the combatants snuck into the forest little by little so as to keep the enemy unaware of their movements.


    The scouts still kept a close eye on the enemy army half a day away, with extra care not to expose themselves. This was a case where the diverse forces of the Company came in handy, as Hannah could simply fly so high people mistook her for a passing bird while she scouted the enemy encampment from the air. She could not get much details from that height of course, but even the general disposition of the enemy forces was helpful to have.


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    Similarly, Fatimah and Nicole teamed up and kept eliminating enemy scouts that looked into the forests. They had not eliminated all of them of course, as a couple groups they allowed to return, but only after Lili and R¨®zsa ¡°accidentally¡± crossed their paths after attracting several of the forest¡¯s nastier predators in their wildcat guises.


    Those groups that returned to report, did so with several of their members missing, with reports of the ferocious beasts that inhabit the forest all too fresh in their minds. That naturally gave the impression that the missing scout parties were simply unlucky and had met their end under similar conditions, while assuaging the Bostvans of the possibility of enemies camping in the forest.


    They had never imagined the likes of Mischka and her crew, whose mere presence would have frightened away most predators in the forest with ease. The few animals who were not smart enough to heed their survival instincts were turned to dinner for the mercenaries instead.


    None of the Bostvans suspected that over seven hundred mercenaries had camped right in the middle of the forest like it was their home, where lean-tos and tents served as their shelter. Fire pits were dug up and covered, the fuel they used previously treated by the Company¡¯s water affinity members so that they burned hard and nearly smokeless, while the cover of the pits dispersed what little smoke they produced, giving away nothing from afar.


    Even Soledad and her cavalry were brought along, with their steeds housed at a makeshift fenced area deep in the camp. Reinhardt himself spent most of his first day in the forest checking out potential ambush spots and firing positions together with Lars, and noted them down on his map. As they were situated to the south of the likely battlefield, they were positioned well to strike the enemy¡¯s flank at the worst possible moment.


    Footholds and platforms were covertly built on the branches of tall trees that had a good view to the plains ahead, where archers and slingers would be stationed. The rest of the Company not involved in such preparations maintained their weapons and armor, to ensure that they were in the best shape possible when the battle was joined.


    Traps and tripwires were also set up along the edges of the forest, as the tension between the armies mounted. Just a couple days after the Free Lances set themselves up in the forest, reinforcements - estimated to be another fifteen to twenty thousand - arrived for the Bostvans, which placed their numbers at forty to fifty thousand.


    Everyone waited for the following day to come with bated breath, as they knew the battle would likely begin by then. The Bostvans outnumbered the defenders from Jonkver and Dvergarder by roughly two to one, and this time they had enough troops that if they managed to sweep past the defense lines, they would be able to besiege the fort safely while sending nearly half their army to strike deeper into the Duchy.


    Early the next morning, just a couple hours after everyone had their breakfasts, the Free Lances heard vague sounds of horns being sounded, followed by the rhythmic footsteps of soldiers in march. Sure enough, not a few minutes later their scout reported that the enemy forces were on the move, headed straight to Fort Kuzi and the defense lines.

 Chapter 109 - Dither and Probe

    ¡°The general tactics of warfare often differed greatly from race to race, but one prominently noticeable pattern is that races who had longer lives and usually less population tend to favor fast, decisive battles, so as to minimize the waste and casualties caused. It fell in line with their life philosophies, which their longer lifespans inadvertently affected.


    On the other hand, shorter-lived races, especially the ones who reproduced prodigiously like the humans and goblins, often had battles that lasted days, weeks, even months on end, where they ground each other to dust via attrition. The horrible losses of life such battles caused were nothing, as these promiscuous short-sighted people would likely have repopulated it several times over in a few generations.¡± - Iyaslen Dovr¡¯eniel, Elven researcher of History at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 650 FP.


    ¡°Take it easy, just keep the surveillance up,¡± Reinhardt commanded to the Company. When he received the reports that the Bostvan forces had stopped outside projectile range of the fort and set up camp, he knew they were likely planning for a prolonged fight, rather than a short, decisive battle.


    It would have been folly to commit his troops too early in such a fight, especially when the enemy had not even realized his presence yet. Instead, he ordered the Free Lances to relax and just keep up with their scouting and elimination of scouts that went into the forest.


    In the end, the battle had not started that day. The larger Bostvan forces chose to rest after they built their temporary camp, while the defenders also saw no reason to sally out either. Other than a few people who braved arrow range to shout some insults, there was no actual action on the battlefront.


    Neither side attempted to pull a night attack, as both sides were all too wary of such tactics and had their defenses set up accordingly. The night passed rather uneasily, before finally the sun rose once more, and the battle began for real the following morning.


    An hour or so after sunrise, the Bostvan forces marched and assaulted the makeshift defense lines built by the reinforcement forces from Dvergarder. Despite the week-long effort of their engineers and mages, the earthen ramparts were naturally weaker compared to the ancient fort with its reinforced and heavily enchanted walls.


    A portion of the Bostvan army besieged the Fort from three sides, while the rest of them threw themselves against the earthen ramparts defended by the Dvergarderian forces. Arrows were loosed as the soldiers marched in formation, shields raised to defend themselves from the defenders¡¯ retaliatory fire.


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    Despite the numbers involved, the battle was far less intense than the ones at the Theodinaz conflict, Reinhardt thought. Unlike there, neither side were full of fanatical zealots without a care for their life, and as such the battle was far less intense, as soldiers retreated to the rear when they were injured, and deaths happened more by accident or bad luck most of the time.


    Where in a battle against the Zealots of Theodinaz the dead would outnumber the wounded by a large margin, in normal warfare it was the reverse. Injuries and incapacitations were far more common than death, as soldiers were taken prisoner or simply wounded and retreated behind the lines.


    It helped that both sides also had better armor to equip their soldiers with, unlike the zealots who often just fought with what clothes they usually wear in their daily life. Even the lowliest of soldiers in either army were given either gambesons made of thick layers of cloth or suits of cuir bouilli, cheap armor made from plates of boiled, hardened leather.


    Neither was the most effective form of armor for war, but just having them greatly cut down on the deaths, as attacks that would have killed without them became less life-threatening injuries instead. Reinhardt kept his crew watching the battle from the sides, all too aware that the fight that day was likely just the first of many probing attacks to the defenses.


    By sunset, both armies ceased hostilities as the Bostvans retreated back to their camp in an orderly manner. The defenders had not given chase, and before long, an uneasy peace settled in together with the night.


    Despite how the battle lasted the entire day, with easily sixty thousand or more people involved, Reinhardt guessed that at most a thousand had died in total. There would be many times that number in injured of course, but most would only be of light injuries, the sort that would not prevent them from fighting some more the next day.


    That evening he sent his observations to the Young Duchess Utghwes, along with a mention that he would commit his troops when an opportune time arrived after the battle was truly joined. A reply letter arrived before dawn the next morning with her approval, and agreement that at least the next few days would be the same, as both sides continued to probe each other.


    Their guess indeed came true, and for the rest of the week, the battle seemed almost half-hearted, with neither side committing their forces for real and only probing for weaknesses. Those that died during that period of time could only blame their own poor luck.


    On the firstday of the next week, the atmosphere around the normally half-hearted battlefield intensified in a way that all the soldiers and commanders could feel in their hearts. That day, the Bostvan forces made their first serious foray, as they brought out the reason they had mostly dithered and probed for the past week.


    Members of their army had cut down lumber from the edges of the forest behind their lines - too many and too close to the edge for Reinhardt¡¯s men to take them out unnoticed other than sending an occasional band of wild animals their way - and used them to build siege engines. Large trebuchets were erected on the backside of the Bostvan lines, where they could hurl large boulders at either the fort or the earthen ramparts from safety.


    To the soldiers that defended the Fort and ramparts, the siege engines were a major source of fear and worry.


    To the Invading Bostvans, they were a source of confidence and strength, one that assured them of their victory to come.


    To Reinhardt and the Free Lances, the siege engines were bags of gold for the taking.

 Chapter 110 - To Cast the Die

    ¡°The Die is Cast, and Fate foretold,


    Only God knows, what the Future holds,


    One can Struggle, against Destiny Rage,


    Yet All shall play their role on Stage.¡± - ¡°The Die is Cast¡±, poem by pre-historic philosopher and shaman Undrus of the Glenhallow Tribe.


    In just about any mercenary contract that involved combat, it was almost certain that extra bounty clauses would be added, targeting either officers or nobles, or items of strategic importance. The bounties given to the Free Lances for their capture of many nobles in Theodinaz was an example of this clause at work, but it was naturally not limited to just people.


    Siege engines, food stores, stables, and other items of military significance also tend to have bounties attached to them, with some less scrupulous employers placing bounties on villages to be sacked and the like as well. How detailed such bounties might get depended entirely on the mercenary commander and their employer¡¯s negotiations, and their familiarity with such contracts.


    Duke Sandoval Utghwes of Dvergarder proved to be an employer who was very familiar with such clauses and had listed a very comprehensive list of things applicable for bounty claims in the contracts he signed. Amongst them, siege engines were even divided into several categories each with their own bounties.


    Large siege engines like the trebuchet used by the Bostvans were in the highest category, worth a good fifteen gold a piece, and there were a good dozen of them on the field. Totaled and put together, it made for a very generous sum indeed.


    The trebuchets had already begun to work. Reinhardt noticed from his perch atop a large tree branch that their ammunition seemed to be magically produced by a couple of earth mages, who gouged out chunks of soil and compacted them to a rock-hard consistency. Probably the only way they could get ammunition, since large rocks were very rare in the plains near the fort.


    Those transmuted rocks were apparently porous, as he saw how the Bostvans soaked them with oil and set them alight just before they hurled them with the siege engines. They struck against the walls of Fort Kuzi - often shattering on impact - and the makeshift earthen ramparts both, with far greater effect on the latter. Some of the rocks even struck behind the ramparts and likely killed some soldiers directly.


    Reinhardt had not struck right away. Instead, he waited for a while more. After a couple hours of combat, the footsoldiers of the Bostvans were mostly engaged in earnest with the defense lines, while their backlines, where their squares of archers and siege engines fired away, was lightly defended. With how the frontlines were brawling in melee, they were confident that the defenders would not be able to send out a foray to strike at their rear.


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    They had not accounted for the Free Lances in the woods at their flank.


    Over the last couple of hours, Reinhardt had quietly positioned his Company closer to the forest¡¯s edge, still far enough in that those outside were unlikely to notice their presence, but close enough to quickly close the distance to the Bostvan¡¯s backline. Most of the company, a full six hundred or so, including Soledad¡¯s cavalry, were prepared for a charge, while their one hundred and fifty archers under Salicia¡¯s lead were standing on platforms or perched on large branches higher up on the trees.


    Finally, Reinhardt decided that it was time. The last ¡°fresh¡± batch of footsoldiers near the southern end of the Bostvan¡¯s formation had just been rotated to the frontlines, and he chose to strike when they were halfway there.


    The Free Lances made no noise as they skulked through the forest as quietly as they could, until one of them noticed an enemy soldier pointing their way while gesticulating to his comrades. At that point, Reinhardt blew a whistle, and many things happened all at once.


    Mercenary shieldbearers of all races - what was left from Mischka¡¯s group of shieldbearers from Theodinaz, now reinforced by new recruits that passed the size qualifications like Zyd and others - rushed out from the forest with a surprising burst of speed, given their prodigious size. At the same time, a rain of arrows flew from the forest as the archers fired away at best speed.


    Within the minute it took for the mercenaries to cross the remaining distance from the moment of their discovery, Salicia sniped out a dozen commanders who tried to turn their soldiers to face the incoming threat in a more orderly manner. Their sudden demise threw those same soldiers into disarray, as some turned while others stood confused.


    Needless to say, confused soldiers in haphazard formation stood no chance whatsoever when struck by the moving shieldwall that had so much force behind them it would have blown even cavalrymen away. The core of shieldbearers led the charge as they simply pushed away everything before them, while other mercenaries covered their flanks as they charged.


    The Free Lances broke through and shattered the defending footsoldiers without much difficulty and soon passed through their formation. Several squares of Bostvan archers - easily several times their numbers - and the siege engines lay before them.


    One of the archer commanders, the one whose square of archers were the nearest to the Free Lances, noticed their approach, and had just shouted to gain the attention of his men when an arrow pierced through his right ear and out from the other side, killing the man instantly. All his archers saw when they turned to face him was the sight of their commander toppling over from his horse, with an arrow through his head the way children often used gag arrows to joke around.


    They were completely unprepared when the majority of the mercenaries pivoted and turned their way, Soledad¡¯s Cavalry leading the charge. The cavalrymen had not charged into the archer formation and risked getting bogged down, but instead struck a slashing attack against the southern side of the formation, which was followed by the mercenary foot soldiers as they barreled into and through the archer formation. The archers were poorly suited for close combat and collapsed like a house of cards before the onslaught.


    At the same time, a smaller detachment, led by Reinhardt himself along with many of the elites of the company, rushed towards the siege engines, even as the soldiers that operated them and the mages stationed there turned to meet their charge.

 Chapter 111 - Spreading Havoc

    ¡°Contrary to most stories and popular belief, combat mages are far from the world-ending army of ones that they are often portrayed as. For the most part a combat mage served as a tactical weapon and force multiplier in battles, using their magical gifts to change situations and create chances otherwise unavailable for the taking.


    They create options, rather than the be-all end-all solutions who devastate armies single handedly like most epics and tales say. In fact, the vast majority of combat mages, be they archmages or not, are just dangerous, powerful individuals, and little more than that. They are usually just as easily killable as you or me. Trust me on this, kid. I¡¯ve put a bunch in the grave myself.¡± - Salicia Adenauer, the Silent Reaper, circa 6 FP.


    Reinhardt managed glimpses of what lay ahead from the transparent visors built into some of the shields that covered their front, and could tell that the few infantrymen who worked the siege engines had braced themselves to form a spear wall, with the butts of their spears fixed against the ground.


    Behind them the two earth mages that had been creating munitions for the siege engines also began to cast against the onrushing shield wall headed their way. One of them, the woman, hurled spears of rock against the shieldbearers, to little effect, as her projectiles merely shattered or bounced off the solid metal shields they carried, the impact barely an obstacle to their charge.


    The other mage was smarter and manipulated the ground below, to create potholes and steps instead. It worked better as a few of the less watchful mercenaries stumbled on those obstacles, with several twisting their ankles or worse from the fall. Sadly, the mage could not see behind the shield wall, and thus had not noticed that the people wielding the massive shields were similarly far larger than normal.


    He had made the potholes and steps of a size that would have stumbled most humans, but they were sadly a size or three too small to bother the shieldbearers much. Niko¡¯s foot struck one of the earthen protrusions and just crushed it without more than a slight stumble to his gait, while Yuri¡¯s trunk-like leg stepped directly on one of the potholes and crushed it beneath him, resulting in a wider, far more noticeable hole where the pothole used to be.


    Similarly, the spearwall made by the Bostvan infantrymen failed to cause a pause against the charging shieldbearers. Their spears either snapped in half or were pushed deep into the ground instead, with nearly half of the infantrymen who held those spears roughly shoved aside by the shieldbearers. The other half had reacted fast enough to jump back before they were swatted away like flies, and drew their swords.


    Almost like clockwork, the shield wall split from the middle as the elites behind it rushed out, Reinhardt himself in the lead. He led most of the troops to tackle the remaining infantrymen, while the shieldbearers pivoted and headed for the siege engines, their greater strength and heavy weapons better suited to dismantle those contraptions.


    While they did so, Elfriede led a small group of ten straight for the two mages and their squad of bodyguards, with their lethal intent obvious. Reinhardt gave her a nod as she passed by while he struck at a Bostvan soldier with his polemace. The soldier tried to parry Reinhardt¡¯s blow with his sword, but the only result was a broken sword, while the spiked mace itself landed and crushed the soldier¡¯s right shoulder and neck in the same blow.


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    On Elfriede¡¯s side, most of her group of ten tangled with the squad of sixteen that were likely bodyguards for the mages. Karenina took the chance to hurl a throwing knife right into one soldier¡¯s eye, even as she blocked another¡¯s sword with the long club in her right hand. The sword¡¯s metal blade made a slight chip on the hard wooden club, but failed to do more.


    Then Nina brought her other hand to the club and twisted, nearly wrenching the sword from her opponent¡¯s hand. She struck the man on the chin with the butt end of her club, which dazed him for a moment, long enough for her to swing the wooden club hard against the side of his helmet and send him to the ground, half unconscious. Before the man could regain his bearings, Nina stabbed through his throat with the spike on the metal cap that covered the end of her club.


    Another Bostvan soldier was just about to take the fallen one¡¯s place when he was stopped cold by Kari, who had stepped in and used the sword breaker - a dagger with a thick metal prong to ¡°catch¡± a sword¡¯s blade - in her left hand to guide his sword away, while she stabbed the short sword in her other hand deep into his gut, then pulled it out and stabbed him through the neck for good measure.


    To their side, Cassie tangled with a man who was likely the commander of the bodyguards, judging from his slightly fancier outfit and better armor. She had not cared much about it though, as the hammers she wielded rained blows on said armor relentlessly. One of her blows caught the man¡¯s hand at a good angle and likely crushed the bones of his palm, causing him to drop his sword, and she finished him off shortly after with a hammer blow to the forehead.


    Most of the other soldiers were either dead or disabled, as the mercenaries under Reinhardt put them down rapidly. Meanwhile, the shieldbearers had directly wrecked a couple of the trebuchets by then, before some of them got an idea and doused the further ones with the oil used for the rocks, then set the whole contraption on fire. Five of the trebuchets burned, while another four were dismantled into broken pieces, the last three being assailed by the heavy weapons of the shieldbearers.


    Further to their east, the rest of the Free Lances had mostly decimated one archer square and engaged another two in close, one-sided combat, while some of the soldiers from the frontlines tried to turn back to aid their back lines but were still a distance away. The mercenaries also kept themselves to the west and south, so that the archers could not shoot at them without risking friendly fire.


    While everyone else fought their respective fights, Elfriede tangled with the two mages by the trebuchets. The two mages tried to keep away, as one of them manipulated the soil they stood on to carry them further from her, but she ran faster than the mage could escape.


    The female mage formed spiky orbs of compacted earth and flung them towards Elfriede, but she avoided them with ease. Even when the orbs came from her side or behind she either got out of the way without a hitch in her step, or simply sliced them down with her blades. When the magically compacted earth touched the enchanted adamant portion of her blade, they crumbled, as the anti-magic enchantment broke the bonds that kept them compacted.


    When the other mage tried to make her stumble by messing with her footing, he found that Elfriede avoided every pitfall or obstacle with ease despite how she never even glanced down. Neither of them knew that her magical senses noticed their every attempt as soon as they made it.


    Finally she got close enough to lunge at them, and in their panic, the two mages reacted separately. The man erected a shield of earth before himself, while the woman conjured dozens of needles of hardened stones and hurled it at Elfriede.


    Elfriede noticed the needles, and weaved her body to avoid some even as her two blades cut down others. Some she avoided so closely that they left slight cuts on her skin or her gambeson, but not a single one struck home. Then she struck back, the blade in her right hand swinging through the earthen shield as if it was not there, and across the woman¡¯s face.


    The male mage looked utterly baffled as the earthen shield he raised crumbled while his female compatriot screamed as she clutched her eyes - both of which were cut through by the tip of Elfriede¡¯s blade - with both hands. He was so busy with trying to keep them away and creating obstacles that he had not noticed how Elfriede¡¯s blades were enchanted for anti-magic as well.


    Neither mage managed to react before Elfriede continued her spin and lashed out with her left-hand blade. This time the blade took both mages by the neck, and the keen mithril edge parted flesh and bone as easily as a hot knife through butter. Two heads and two arms slices in the middle of the forearm tumbled to the ground, and Elfriede quickly stored both heads and removed the storages both mages carried before she left.

 Chapter 112 - An Orderly Retreat

    ¡°The difference between a good mercenary and a dead one is that one knows when and how to beat a retreat.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°They¡¯re pushing hard on the right flank, boss,¡± reported Ylisera as she peered at the distant battlefield. She had been part of Reinhardt¡¯s smaller detachment which went for the siege engines and mages, and with her eyesight, also doubled as their eye on the battlefield. ¡°Think it¡¯s time to call it off?¡±


    Reinhardt glanced at the siege engines, where the roaring flames having consumed five of the trebuchets, and the last one of the unburnt ones having just crashed to the ground as Yuri heaved and tore one of the logs that constituted its body apart. He also saw that Elfriede and her smaller group was returning, with a couple of headless bodies on the ground where his wife last fought.


    ¡°Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Have the boys collect anything worth a bounty,¡± he commanded. Ylisera left and passed down his words, and the mercenaries quickly went to work as they collected heads and rank insignias of the enemy commanders and lieutenants and stored them. Each of those was worth a small bounty, which would still be something when accumulated.


    For his own part, Reinhardt brought the enchanted whistle to his lips - a keepsake from his late aunt which the company had used for battlefield commands for a long while - and blew it. Three long shrill whistles were followed by two short ones, the noise carried a long distance by the enchantments, a signal for an orderly retreat while collecting any valuables on the way.


    All of the mercenary commanders and squad leaders had been taught the simple signals, which were just a simple combination of a command to advance, hold, or retreat, coupled with their urgency. As it was, the bulk of the Company had savaged two squares of archers and was working on a third, but the first group of returning footsoldiers were already close by.


    Too close for comfort, Reinhardt decided.


    On hearing the signal, the mercenaries beat an orderly retreat, as some collected heads and rank insignias to be exchanged into bounties while others carried the few injured or fallen mercenaries. Shieldbearers held the rear, while the cavalry under Soledad kept watch form the flanks and struck when the enemy tried to chase them too closely, only to fade away again before they could be bogged down..


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    Reinhardt saw how an enemy commander - probably a noble, he guessed - on a horse forced his way near the front of the returning Bostvan footsoldiers, and raised his hand before he hurled a fireball at the escaping mercenaries.


    Unfortunately for him, the mercenaries were schooled in anti-mage tactics, at least when it comes to regular battlefield mages. There was often little one could do against archmages other than hope for someone to put a knife into them so there were few tactics for fighting them.


    Five of the shieldbearers nearest to where the mage hurled his fireball lined up and interlocked their shields, with the shield in the middle supported from behind by the sides of two other shields, which were in turn supported by the other two. They rushed forward and took the fireball directly on the center shield.


    The blast was strong enough to hurl the five burly men back, as well as dent some of their shields, especially the center one which took the brunt of the explosion. The man behind the shield itself grimaced as he stood up while nursing his likely broken arm, but was healthy enough to withdraw with the rest of his comrades.


    Before the mage could fire a second fireball, A small portal formed just above and behind him, and a large arrow shot out from the portal the next moment. The shot struck accurately into the gap between the back of the man¡¯s neck and his armor¡¯s collar, and sunk deep into his body.


    The commotion caused by the first fireball¡¯s blast had clearly made Salicia notice the mage, and she put him down before he got a second shot. The mercenaries had not tried to go for the body as it would be unwise to try for it with the rest of the enemy footsoldiers around, the bounty not worth the risk.


    Fortunately for them, the Bostvan footsoldiers looked somewhat lost at the dead man, likely their commander, and that delayed their pursuit, allowing the Free Lances to break free and back into the forests once more.


    All the while, their archers kept raining arrows at the Bostvan forces that tried to pursue them from the safety of the woods.


    Once inside the woods, the mercenaries dispersed into smaller squads as they weaved and twisted their way around the traps they had dug previously. Similarly, their archers stored their bows and left their perch as soon as the last of their footsoldiers passed underneath and followed them in the withdrawal.


    Several groups of Bostvan soldiers chased them into the forest, angered and humiliated by the disproportionate losses the small group had managed to inflict in the short time they fought. They found a multitude of traps that slowed their pursuit, however.


    Pitfalls lined with sharpened stakes awaited the unwary and pierced through those that fell into them. More sharpened stakes were tied to a long, flexible rod of wood that was bent and kept tense, only to swing an impale when someone triggered the tripwire it was attached to.


    Other tripwires resulted in large logs that swung down and crushed people against a large tree, or poisoned arrows shot from clever mechanisms. Most of the pursuing Bostvans were either discouraged or downright taken out by the traps, but a few squads persisted in their chase, unaware that most of their troops had given up the chase.


    Shadows stalked the treetops and bushes and struck at these persistent ones, as the mercenary scouts did their work. Nicole¡¯s, Fatimah¡¯s, and Egil¡¯s detachments worked together and ensured that none of those who pursued too persistently left the forest alive.

 Chapter 113 - Gains and Losses

    ¡°There¡¯s a saying that every mercenary captain had to be a good accountant, since they had to keep balancing gains and losses all the time, albeit the gains and losses at times being measured in life rather than gold.¡± - Karel Rotyul, retired mercenary treasurer.


    ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± Reinhardt asked later that evening, when the whole Company had gathered in their makeshift encampment deep in the forest once more. He noticed people from Nicole¡¯s, Fatimah¡¯s, and Egil¡¯s group returning, which meant they were done taking care of the pursuers.


    ¡°Got rid of the stubborn ones, boss-man,¡± said Egil with a toothy grin the goblins habitually did, which could be a little unnerving for some due to their array of sharp, dagger-like teeth. Reinhardt just returned a grin full of fangs, though, the mutual gesture between the races being one of friendliness, as it showed that while they had fangs, they were not about to use it. ¡°Some of them sure get pretty persistent, I say.¡±


    ¡°Most of them dropped out before too long after the traps, boss,¡± added Nicole while she tried to scrape off a stubborn bloodstain from her weapon. ¡°One group had their commander barking like mad and insisted that they chase us to the ends of the world though.¡±


    ¡°I expect since all of you are here already they were taken care of?¡± he asked just for confirmation.


    ¡°They had been removed, captain,¡± replied Fatimah, the southern woman lowering her mask to take a drink after the long trek. Reinhardt was not too sure on human standards of looks - being raised amongst the mercenaries who were leaning heavily to dwarves back then - but he thought Fatimah didn¡¯t look all that far from his wife, and he had heard other humans call Elfriede beautiful before. ¡°The wild beasts shall have a feast tonight.¡±


    He did not know why the southerner woman almost always kept her mask on except when eating or drinking, maybe it was the odd, undulating pattern tattooed on her cheek, maybe other reasons. He did not bother to pry either way. As long as the woman and her group - who also shared the habit with the mask - remained loyal and competent, he could care less.


    ¡°Excellent work. Have a report of your kills, losses, and bounties submitted to Loren as usual,¡± said Reinhardt with an appreciative nod. While years ago when they first joined the southerners were still a bit awkward with the terrain in Alcidea, they had grown used to it by now. Fatimah¡¯s people were listed as light auxiliaries and scouts, but he recognized their habits for what they were in actuality: Assassins in an unfamiliar environment. ¡°Good work, everyone. Now go get yourselves some grub and drinks.¡±


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    To say that it was overkill to have their whole group jump on a squad of soldiers lost in the woods was an understatement, but safety was one of Reinhardt¡¯s main concerns. He wanted no survivors from the enemy side and ideally no casualties from his side.


    The mercenaries had a rather cheerful dinner, as the battle today, while quite intense, had gone almost entirely their way from start to finish. The only unexpected thing was that mage who forced his group of footsoldiers to chase faster and actually engaged them, but even then, it was but a minor hitch to the plan.


    Several members from those who were in the back had toasted Salicia for her timely arrow, as they would have likely taken more casualties from that mage if not for her. As it was, all the mage caused in damages were one broken and two sprained arms, and a set of bent shields, which were negligible in the overall situation. The burly man whose arm was still in a sling even called a toast for her personally, to the cheers and raised flagons of the rest.


    Reinhardt had just finished his bowl of stew and washed it down with some bittersweet ale when Loren came over. He had gravitated to the unofficial position of bursar for the Company over the years, since he had a good head for numbers. It was common for the company to report their results to him first, for him to summarize before it was brought to Reinhardt.


    ¡°How does it look, Loren?¡± Reinhardt asked, offering a flagon of ale to the young water mage. Loren technically had counted more as part of their support staff, as his combat capabilities were poor, but as he was also one of their few healers, he was brought along with the others to the encampment.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s not too bad, Cap,¡± he replied after gulping down the contents of the flagon and sitting down. ¡°Not many casualties on our end. Thirty-six light injuries, seventeen heavy injuries, already stabilized, and three dead in total.¡±


    Reinhardt nodded, the casualties well within prediction. While his group had not taken any, those who struck and held off the Bostvan archers were fighting against larger numbers after all, even if their opponents were less skilled in melees. That only three people died was close to a miracle, but also spoke for the training his people had gone under.


    ¡°And what of their losses?¡± he asked, glancing back towards the north where the battlefield was.


    ¡°Well, from what we could confirm so far, twelve trebuchets at fifteen a piece, three mages of which we have proof for two, twenty five a piece. The boys also gathered up around thirty heads of lieutenants each worth one gold, and two commanders each worth ten,¡± listed Loren as he perused a sheet of parchment in his hand. ¡°Assuming they just count the ones we have proof of, that¡¯s two eighty gold, Cap.¡±


    ¡°Not bad,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. Two hundred eighty gold was a sizable sum, when a peasant household usually lived by copper and silvers. Five to six silvers was considered enough for most peasant households to live well for a whole month, which was why life as a mercenary was attractive to many.


    Just their idle pay - pay for when the Company was on downtime and resting - was easily ten silvers a month, which was doubled when they went into combat. From there, various hazard pay and bounties come into play, with some of the more generous Companies like the Free Lances even paying condolences money to the family of those who lost their lives in battle, in the Lances¡¯ case to the tune of four hundred silver.


    Assuming the relatives of the fallen mercenary remained with the Company as followers, their lives were pretty much provided for, and even if they chose to return to their hometowns, that sum of money was enough for them to last for a good while, long enough to find another living or even start a business.

 Chapter 114 - Relentless Harassment

    ¡°In prolonged battles, the victors were usually the ones who simply held on the longest, not the bravest or the mightiest.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°So what now, Rein? They know we¡¯re here and would likely expect us from now on,¡± asked Elfriede when the commanders had gathered together in the command tent that night. While their strike earlier that day had been wildly successful, they all knew that it was partly because they had the element of surprise, which was now used up. Their opponents would know to expect them from then on, which made future attacks more difficult.


    ¡°We stay here in the forests,¡± said Reinhardt as he used a claw to circle the region of the forest they controlled. After their retreat, the Bostvans had not pursued further after many of their pursuing troops never returned from the forest. ¡°And make life hell for them.¡±


    Where the former Free Lances under Ingrid¡¯s leadership was considered irregulars by dwarven senses, the current Company under Reinhardt were irregulars in the true sense. They had learned from the past, and incorporated the mistakes and successes they had before into their current doctrine.


    The Free Lances as it stood specialized in fast raids and ambushes, as well as reconnaissance in force and guerilla warfare, the last of which Lars had helped them pick up quite well. The former Holy Kingdom native had outlined how he would have done things had he been in charge, and Reinhardt had agreed that it would have been a hellish slog to tackle indeed. Naturally the Company had adopted such tactics into their own.


    At the moment, a fourth of the company was on guard in various positions throughout the forest, prepared to make life hell for any Bostvans who dared to enter their territory. Those guards would rotate in shifts to ensure that the Company was never caught flat-footed.


    Any enemy soldiers who entered the forest would be whittled down by traps and ambushes, sneak attacks and misdirections, until they grew weak enough to be finished off. In the past week the Free Lances had turned the forest into a deathtrap for anyone entering the region without a map of where the traps were set.


    ¡°Sal, from tomorrow onwards, your folks will have to pull in some extra work,¡± said Reinhardt as he turned to face Salicia. The one-eyed woman simply nodded. Her archers - now further reinforced by some slingers from Egil¡¯s group - had taken no casualties given the concealment they shot from. ¡°I want you to harry the Bostvans from the side whenever they go into battle. Go wild on their commanders and make them keep their heads down.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± replied Salicia with another nod. ¡°We¡¯ll likely need some guards, though, in case they go into the forest in force.¡±


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    ¡°Nicole, Egil, Fatimah, I want your people to be on shift when Sal¡¯s harassing them. Delay and harass if they come en masse, eliminate when possible to do with minimal risks,¡± said Reinhardt after he nodded to Salicia. ¡°Mischka, I¡¯d like your people to be their backup. Help them retreat should the enemy come in too fast with too large a number.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done, Captain,¡± replied the large Therian matron with a fang-bearing grin. ¡°Any other things?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, try not to overextend or overdo things. We just want to harass them and remind them that we¡¯re here for the next few days at least,¡± said Reinhardt as he traced a line from their encampment, looping behind enemy lines, before reaching the Bostvan encampment from behind. ¡°When they get complacent and used to our presence, we¡¯ll raid them from behind and set their asses on fire.¡±


    ¡°Friede, Gr¨¹n, have your people assist Pops with the incendiaries,¡± he said next. While food and other important items were likely stored in storage items and thus difficult to burn, they could still burn the encampment itself and the people in it. ¡°And Soledad, have your riders be prepared, make sure all your mounts are in good condition for the raid. Be ready to go anytime.¡±


    A chorus of nods answered Reinhardt, and he smiled in satisfaction. ¡°For the rest of you, have your troops be prepared to take up their shifts as guards. Remember, always whittle them down first until you¡¯re certain you can wipe them out before you strike for real. Dismissed.¡±


    *******************************


    The Free Lances put the plan that Reinhardt had concocted with Lars¡¯ help to work the next day. The Bostvan forces clearly still reeled from the losses they took the day before, as a good quarter of their archers were incapacitated or dead, and they were down to a single, rickety, barely working siege engine salvaged from the wreckage of the others.


    This time, three full squares of footsoldiers - a thousand men each - were held back to guard the archers from another attack like the day before and watched the forest in full alert. Meanwhile, the makeshift contraption the Bostvan engineers had practically magicked out of the wreckage the mercenaries left behind hurled its first stone at Fort Kuzi.


    Salicia peered closely at the makeshift siege engine from her perch within the forest and noticed something. Since the mercenaries had completely wrecked the siege engines the day before, many parts of the siege engine in use were nailed together or held in place by thick ropes. She sent a missive to Reinhardt asking for permission to break it.


    By the time the reply arrived, the battle had begun on the defense lines, and the Free Lances added a periodic rain of arrow and sling bullets from the flanks of the Bostvan forces, with Salicia taking out any commander who made themselves noticeable to her from afar.


    The one-eyed woman smiled when she received Reinhardt¡¯s affirmative reply, and took aim. The makeshift siege engine was just within her range if she extended it using the little bit of space affinity magic she mastered, and she just waited for the right moment.


    When the siege engine¡¯s arm swung for another throw, Salicia loosed her arrow at once. The large, thick arrow flew straight and went right into a small portal barely large enough for it, then reappeared from a second portal a hundred meters further away. It passed through the frame of the siege engine and sliced through two ropes. Ropes which happened to bear the load and stress for the frame at the moment.


    Needless to say, the result was catastrophic as the makeshift trebuchet imploded on itself, the stress too much for the rest of the frame to handle. Chunks of wood were hurled around and struck those unfortunate enough to be nearby, while the last rock it tried to hurl fell on top of an unfortunate square of Bostvan infantry instead.


    Far away from her perch atop a branch in the forest, Salicia smirked as she saw the results of her handiwork.

 Chapter 115 - Ambush in the Woods

    ¡°Attacking during the night, when the enemy was the least guarded, was an age-old tactic that any military commander worth their salt would think of and guard against. Just because someone knew and prepared for it however, didn¡¯t mean that someone is safe from it.


    Guards grew tired and bored over time, became complacent and lax in their duties. A good commander was one who exploited those moments of complacency to the maximum effect, to strike when it was least expected.¡± - From the ¡°Maxims of War¡±, ancient military manuscript from the Huan Confederacy.


    Throughout the rest of the day, the mercenary archers rained arrows on the Bostvan forces from their southern flank. With their small numbers compared to the number of soldiers fighting, their efforts probably only counted as an annoyance for the Bostvan commanders, though their soldiers likely thought differently.


    The most damage they did was almost entirely Salicia¡¯s handiwork, as the one-eyed woman sniped the Bostvan commanders and lieutenants, and even squad leaders one after another as long as she noticed them. Just her actions alone threw the southern flank of the Bostvan forces into some disarray as their commanders either no longer dared to give commands openly, or fell dead.


    After a while, the Bostvans had enough of the annoyance and sent a square of light infantry into the forest to root out the archers. All that managed to do was to cause the mercenary archers to turn their focus on the incoming infantry, who were welcomed not only by a barrage of arrows, but also by various traps prepared by the Free Lances from days ago.


    While they pushed onwards bravely, all that resulted from their efforts was that they became the victim of multiple ambushes along the way. Even so they fought until they reached the line of tall trees the archers used as their perch.


    It was there where what was left of the square found themselves assaulted by Mischka¡¯s entire detachment, which had been reinforced back to nearly a hundred people by then. While outnumbered, Mischka and her folks made up for it with pure brute force and unrelenting ferocity as they simply barreled their way through the Bostvan infantrymen.


    Yuri had simply pushed with his pair of tower shields linked in front of him and only stopped when he had rammed them into a large redwood tree several times thicker around than he was. Several Bostvan soldiers had been caught between his solid metal shields and the tree, and were reduced to little more than meat paste by the impact.


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    Others in the way were directly trampled down by the mixed horde, which then spread into two as they wedged the Bostvan infantry formation apart. Mischka herself led the offense on one side. The spears used by the infantrymen deflected or bent against her heavy armor even as her blade reaped them as if they were wheat to a farmer¡¯s sickle.


    Yuri and Niko led the other half of their group towards the opposite side as they pried apart the Bostvan formation. The heavy armor the unit wore rendered them mostly safe from the weapons of their enemies, and the few strikes that managed to hit a weak point or a joint were more annoyances than serious injuries to them, thanks to their great vitality and size.


    Zyd was amongst the group as well, as he had been assigned to join them to make best use of his prodigious size. The former thug was clad in heavy plates, fashioned out of salvaged pieces and refitted to his massive frame, with a heavy tower shield in one hand and a large metal cudgel on the other. The burly man made use of his inborn strength and size and just squashed soldiers that stood in his way with heavy strikes of the cudgel.


    All the while, people from Nicole¡¯s, Fatimah¡¯s and Egil¡¯s group struck from the outside of the Bostvan formation and whittled them down, while the archers above fired down into the center of the formation where there was no risk of friendly fire.


    In less than an hour, the square sent to stop the mercenary archers were gone, with most of its people slaughtered other than a few who lost their courage and ran away early. Those that tried to run from the ambush were chased down and slaughtered like animals, their corpses quickly stripped of valuables on the way back and left to feed the wild beasts.


    The mercenaries themselves barely took any casualties, while the Bostvan forces seemed to have learned their lesson. They had not sent a second force to pursue the mercenaries, but instead shifted their southern flank a good bit further northwards, out of reach of the arrows fired from the forest.


    Of course, such a move did not come without a price, as the defenders on that now-freed southern side pelted the rest of their formation freely instead. Apparently the Bostvan commander was more worried about another potential ambush from the forest, however, and they maintained the distance even into the following days of battle.


    That left Reinhardt and his mercenaries with nothing to do for the next few days, which they spent on preparations for the night raid they planned. Earthen jugs were filled with highly combustible oil, mixed with some alchemical accelerants that would make it burn hotter and faster, then sealed and a strip of cloth was tied around it.


    They planned to strike the rear side of the enemy encampment because it was the side that was defended the most lightly, and usually important people would have their tents placed closer to the rear. Many of the Bostvan soldiers they took down also only had personal storage items, the commander clearly not caring enough to issue larger ones for the soldiers, so chances are their supplies would be concentrated on a few commanders.


    Logically those commanders, or at least the supplies, would be stored closer to the rear to avoid losing them during battle. Reinhardt had informed the young Heir of his plans through messengers, and she apparently liked it so much that they ended up altering the plan for a double assault, hitting the Bostvan camps from both sides at once.


    Three days later, after a heated battle that must have left at least a few thousand people dead on the battlefield, Reinhardt watched as the sun went down under the horizon and the moons rose in its place. The larger moon was in a new moon phase, while the smaller was only a bare crescent, and the night was dark as pitch.


    Just as they wanted it.

 Chapter 116 - Night Assault

    ¡°Even with the presence of mages around, using the natural elements in warfare remained an important thing. In fact, it became more prevalent over time when one side knew the other had mages employed in battle.


    The reason for this was because of how most mages are not skilled enough to truly hide their mana fluctuations, which meant another mage could get an idea of their whereabouts with concentration and effort. Over time, this led to a strange complacency of its own, where people did not expect attacks using the elements when their mage detected no mages in the vicinity.


    Dammed rivers, oil and torches, or large rocks and logs were mundane ways that proved surprisingly effective in catching those complacent forces off guard.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    It was roughly three in the morning when the mercenaries made their move. They had actually only brought half or so of their forces for the assault, with the archers and the rest in the woods nearby. Reinhardt had selected only the battle-hardened mercenaries under him to participate, and left the rest to set up ambushes and other surprises for likely pursuers.


    Another factor that went into his selection was whether those members could fight in dark nights or not. As the Company had mostly been active in Knallzog, the former Holy Kingdom, and Posuin for the past few years, their new recruits were predominantly humans and dwarves, with more of the former. Humans tend to be awful at seeing, much less fighting, in the dark.


    There were exceptions of course. Former thugs from Varsha¡¯s group that joined them seemed pretty comfortable with the dark. They did most of their work at night under the cover of darkness after all, so they were rather used to it. Fatimah¡¯s group also seemed perfectly at home in the dark of the night, despite their being mostly human.


    Otherwise, the rest of the strike force was composed of the dwarven, elven, orcish, therian, and goblin members of the company, all of whom could see in the dark in some manner. They quietly looped through the forest and emerged to the rear of the Bostvan encampment, with none the wiser, as the dark, nearly moonless night concealed them from sight well.


    Their target, the encampment, was pretty much just a collection of tents of various sizes, with a wooden fence and some watchtowers built around it. It was clearly temporary in nature, and while there were a few torches burning here and there, much of the encampment was dark as most of the Bostvans slept.


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    There were guards, of course, who patrolled with torches in hand, as well as people stationed on the watchtowers, although that did little good with the darkness. Most of the watchers looked bored, while a few yawned into their hands repeatedly, courtesy of the late hour.


    Reinhardt brought his troops just to the edge of the forest, from where it would roughly be a few hundred meters to the rear of the Bostvan encampment. Even in the darkness, they would likely be noticed if they went out of the forest, so they waited for the arranged distraction.


    Said distraction manifested itself moments later, as several jugs, wrapped with cloth that had been soaked in oil and set on fire, fell from high above into the midst of the Bostvan encampment. Hannah had been lent one of the Company¡¯s larger storage items filled with dozens of the jugs and dropped them from high above one after another.


    The first jug went unnoticed until it struck the ground and burst apart in flames, flames which quickly latched on to the fabric of the nearby tents and consumed them as well. Panicked shouts were heard from the encampment, which redoubled as the second, then third jug fell and burst into flames as well.


    A mage in his underwear came out from one of the burning tents and raised his arms as he created a wall of water above his head. The next jug to fall struck the water and burst, the oil burning on the water¡¯s surface. The soldiers nearby were just about to cheer when an arrow suddenly sprouted from behind the mage¡¯s neck and he collapsed.


    His wall of water collapsed along with him, and when it fell on the already burning oil below, all it did was just to further spread the flames.


    Not long after the jugs landed, warning shouts and bells were sounded from the front of the encampment, as a detachment from the Dvergarder forces struck them as well. Caught mostly off guard and asleep, many of the Bostvan soldiers ran out of their tents unarmored, some just clad in their underwear, and tried to fight back but were cut down rapidly.


    Reinhardt brought his forces to strike from the rear at that moment.


    The distance of a few hundred meters was covered in less than a minute by many of the mercenaries, as Yuri struck the wooden fence bodily and broke through, shield-first. Niko and Varilya repeated the feat moments later and opened a gap, which others from their group widened to allow the others in.


    While the fire rages in the center of the encampment, and many torches were lit and brought to the front to help fight off the Dvergarder assault, the rear of the encampment was darker and unlit by comparison. The watchers in the towers were silenced by Salicia the moment Reinhardt brought the Free Lances into the fray, and they descended on the unsuspecting Bostvans like a wolf amidst a flock of sheep.


    Gr¨¹nhildr led a group and went for the wagons that the Bostvan army had used for transportation, and her void-clad axes chopped the wheels and axles of the wagons apart to render them unusable. Another group led by Egil snuck towards the stables and hurled flaming jugs which burst apart and burnt brightly within. As a result, many horses ran amok in the encampment, some of them half-crazed as their fur was lit afire.


    In the tumultuous chaos that resulted, the mercenaries spread out, and did their best to spread the havoc further. Jugs of incendiary oils were hurled out from time to time, while Bostvan soldiers who managed to get out from their burning tents were met with blades and claw, their lives torn asunder before they could do a thing of worth.

 Chapter 117 - Covert Operation

    ¡°Trickery is the basis of all strategies. To pretend to go after one target while the true force heads for another, or to feign weakness to lure the enemy into a trap, those are just the most basic things a commander ought to learn.


    Sure, some people decried such trickery in battle as dishonorable or foul play, as they offended their oh so tender sensibilities and honor. In reality, those people are little more than fools, whose primitive addled underdeveloped brains could not fathom such ideas.


    They are to be ignored and trampled, for after all, all is fair in war.¡± - Gregorius Aurelius Secundus, Famed general and later Second Emperor of the First Elmaiya Empire.


    While the majority of the Free Lances strike force under Reinhardt¡¯s lead spread havoc in the rear of the Bostvan army¡¯s encampment, a smaller group of twenty moved far more quietly. They stuck to the shadows, and only fought when they could not avoid it, in which case they took care of their enemies in silence before they could make a sound.


    The small group was composed of selected members of the mercenary company, those who were skilled in subterfuge and moving quietly, and more importantly, those who were able to move unhindered in the dark of the night. As such, most of the group were people of Elven descent as well as select members from Fatimah¡¯s Nightstalkers, with Elfriede in the lead.


    Ylisera and Olyvee, along with Lili and R¨®zsa were part of the force, as well as another five mercenaries of elven blood. Ayrie was amongst the group, as the young girl stuck closely to her aunt, and showed that she deserved to be there despite their young age.


    Those of elven blood had sharper eyesights, to the point that they could easily identify shapes and movement even in the darkest of night. It was the main reason they were chosen over Egil¡¯s goblins, whose eyes needed more light to function well at night, even if they could perceive heat sources as well.


    On the other hand, the dwarven members of the group were ineligible because they were less skilled in subterfuge in general. The same applied to most of their therian members with good night vision. Fatimah¡¯s crew had some enchanted artifacts that allowed them to see clearly in the dark, and were skilled at the covert work the mission demanded, hence their presence.


    As for Elfriede, she never relied on sight to begin with, and her magical senses, which extended in a sphere around her, was invaluable in such a situation. Under her lead, the group snuck in the darkness as they avoided frantic groups of soldiers or removed the ones in their way, headed straight towards a set of fancier tents deeper in the enemy encampment.


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    Their scouts had spotted three such clusters of tents, one in the middle of the encampment, and another two further ahead and behind. The ones in the middle and closer to the front were too far away for them to target safely, but the one in the rear was an enchanting target with acceptable risks for the mercenaries.


    Reinhardt had guessed that those tents likely served as resting places for officers, with the ones at the front likely reserved for the field officers and the central ones for the high commanders. They hoped that some supply officers - maybe with a portion of the army¡¯s supply if they were lucky - would be in the rear tents.


    As they approached the large, decorated tents, Elfriede noticed how there were still guards stationed around them despite the havoc that engulfed the encampment from the night attacks. With silent hand gestures, she gave commands to the group, and they split up, four of them to each of the five tents.


    Elfriede herself went with Olyvee and Ayrie, as well as another half-elven member of the mercenaries as they skulked closer to the tents. They waited in the shadow, just out of sight of the guards nearby, as she counted the numbers in her head.


    When Elfriede counted to a hundred, she leapt out of her hiding spot, and her blades swung at the unsuspecting guards. The keen mithril edges of the weapons met and parted flesh and bones almost as if they were mere paper, and two heads rolled on the ground before either guard realized what happened.


    Olyvee took out one of the further guards with an expertly thrown knife to the face. On the other side, Ayrie and the last mercenaries downed the last guard, the younger girl¡¯s thrown dagger accurately striking the guard in the throat, even as the older mercenary¡¯s circular chakram bisected the man¡¯s face.


    Similar scenes repeated by the other tents, as the mercenaries descended on the unsuspecting guards and polished them off quietly. The only noises that were produced were those of blades striking flesh, and the rattle the guards¡¯ armor made as they fell dead.


    ¡°What is this ruckus!? Could you peasants not do anything correctly!? Stop dithering like cowards and deal with these traitors already!¡± yelled a man as he came out from the tent Elfriede¡¯s group had targeted. The man rubbed his eyes with a hand, clearly still half-asleep, and wore a pompous-looking uniform over his haphazardly donned armor.


    Elfriede had not even turned to face the man, as her left hand just struck to the back, the short scythe-like blade on her weapon pierced the man¡¯s temple from the left, and silenced him permanently. She had long noticed his movement with her wind-based senses, and had been in position to take the man down the moment he left the tent.


    Before the dead man could even drop, Elfriede had severed his head and stored it for bounty. She also took the man¡¯s lapels, which had his rank insignia, and a string of rings she found on the man¡¯s neck, worn like a necklace.


    That done, Elfriede entered the large tent where she found another officer type - this one a middle-aged woman who was still in the midst of donning her armor - while the rest kept watch outside for her. The woman inside the tent just spotted her and was about to raise her voice when her head rolled over before she realized she had been cut.


    The occupants of the tent dealt with, Elfriede then ransacked the place as she took anything she thought might be valuable, especially documents and storage items, before she finally left. As soon as all the other teams had also searched their tents, they exchanged nods and hurled a flaming jar into each tent, before they sneaked away back to where the Free Lances still caused a massive commotion.

 Chapter 118 - Luring Prey into a Trap

    ¡°To chase a fleeing enemy into difficult terrain is to gamble with your own lives.¡± - Old military saying.


    ¡°They¡¯re starting to toughen up, boss-man,¡± reported Egil as the small goblin snuck to Reinhardt¡¯s side. Reinhardt himself was busy as he directed his mercenaries to strike here and there, as they caused more chaos in the Bostvan encampment.


    Most of the enemies had placed more importance on stopping the night attack from the Dvergarder forces up front, which was done in force. It was an overt threat Reinhardt had planned out with the young Duchess, where her forces played at being the main threat while Reinhardt¡¯s made themselves look like a distraction.


    In actuality, both forces were distractions for Elfriede¡¯s group of assassins, on whose shoulders the success of the operation lay. Reinhardt finally noticed the return of Elfriede¡¯s group as he tangled with one of the Bostvan knights who started arriving to reinforce the rear.


    He blocked the knight¡¯s sword with the shaft of his polemace, before he kicked the knight back, and struck down hard. The knight managed to get his head out of the way, but the mace still landed hard on his right shoulder. Armor crumpled beneath the blow, while flesh and bone crunched, with the knight dropping his sword from the pain of his crushed shoulder as he retreated desperately.


    Reinhardt had not given chase to the man as he instead blew the tones of a retreat into his enchanted whistle, and watched as his mercenaries gathered from the chaos of the encampment. From high above, Hannah had also caught the shrill whistles, and dropped one last flaming jar, this one with the fabric outside treated so that it burned a bright blue, an agreed-upon signal for the Dvergarder forces to beat a retreat as well.


    It had not taken long for the mercenaries to gather for a retreat, and before they left, they hurled the last of the prepared jugs of oil all over the place. The jugs burst apart and the oils inside caught fire almost immediately, which formed an impromptu wall of fire to cover the mercenaries¡¯ retreat.


    It was only after they were halfway back to the forest that signs of pursuit came from behind them. While it was dark and hard to get proper numbers, Reinhardt estimated maybe two to three thousand soldiers chasing after his mercenaries, so up to ten times the number of the small detachment with him.


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    The mercenaries ignored the pursuit of the angry soldiers, and simply ran with best speed into the forest. As they got closer, the archers under Salicia¡¯s command started to give a half-hearted volley aimed at their pursuers.


    Whoever commanded the pursuit probably took that as a sign of weakness, and led his forces straight into the forest. Just as over two-thirds of the pursuing force entered the forest however, the rain of arrows intensified and barraged those still outside.


    Meanwhile, those who entered the dark forest found themselves stymied by many traps, from pitfalls and snares to swinging stakes and logs, that the mercenaries had set up beforehand. The mercenaries knew the safe routes, while their pursuers could only inch forward the hard way.


    It was when the pursuers got deeper in after they spent many of their soldiers as sacrifices, past the traps, and close to where the mercenary archers were stationed, that the ambush was sprung.


    The detachment Reinhardt led had turned around and charged their pursuers, with their now-typical shieldwall in the lead. At the same time, the rest of the mercenaries under Lars¡¯ command struck from the sides of the pursuers.


    Pincered from three directions with arrows raining from above, the pursuit force soon fell into disarray, and the mercenaries made full use of the chaotic melee to slaughter as many of the Bostvan soldiers as they could. They fell into even more disarray when Mischka pushed her way to the commander - still mounted atop his horse - and swatted the man down with her great blade. The man landed in two pieces, in clear sight of many of his frightened soldiers.


    At that point, the disarray turned into a rout, as the Bostvan soldiers tried to escape from the forest. They were harried by the mercenaries until they escaped the forest itself, and were still subjected to a barrage of arrows until they finally escaped far enough away from the place.


    Out of the two to three thousand that had chased the mercenaries, a third never entered deep into the forest proper before the one in front began to rout. Out of those, maybe half returned, many of whom bore injuries that would get worse without treatment. On the mercenaries¡¯ side, they lost another dozen or so, with around four times as many injured, overall still a very good result for them.


    Reinhardt quickly ordered his men to comb the battlefield for salvage and valuables, as the injured were evacuated back to their camp deeper in the forest where their healers awaited. To search for valuables in the dark of the night was a hard task, so they had simply stripped the dead soldiers of everything that looked even remotely valuable or usable and stuffed those items into extra storage artifacts they carried just for that purpose, and left the stripped corpses for the beasts to devour.


    By daybreak, the Free Lances had returned to their encampment. Most of the mercenaries simply deposited their salvage for their followers to check and sort, before they went to sleep on the hard ground, tired after a night¡¯s worth of hard work.


    That said, not every bit of salvage was equal, as Reinhardt had gathered his officers to discuss the salvage Elfriede had brought with her, namely the necklace of rings she took from the Bostvan officer she killed by the elaborate tent.


    Many of their eyes shined as they saw what was stored within those rings, and what it meant for the battle as a whole.


    Things were about to change on the battlefront.

 Chapter 119 - Hitting the Jackpot

    ¡°An army marches on its stomach.¡± - Old military adage.


    ¡°Pesca fuck me,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr with an appreciative whistle as the necklace - really just a string on which around thirty rings had been suspended on - was passed around the officers and she checked their contents.


    Her sentiment was one that was shared by most of the others, as they learned that all of the rings were larger ones, each easily as large around as a room, and were filled to the brim with foodstuffs of all sorts, from grains to dried meats and smoked fish, to things that were luxuries for soldiers like honey and dried fruits.


    Most of the rings were not high enough quality to hold a stasis enchantment that preserved its contents, but two were, and they had fresh meats and vegetables, fruits and other easily spoiled foods like seafood and sweets within.


    ¡°So¡­ Did we just rob them bosties of their rations, Cap?¡± asked Gr¨¹nhildr after a moment of appreciation and contemplation.


    ¡°Some of it, at least,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod, his grin wide with all his fangs bared. ¡°From the content within it¡¯s only enough food to last them for a month or so, not counting the luxuries, so I doubt it¡¯s the only stock of foodstuffs they got.¡±


    ¡°The cap¡¯s right,¡± Salicia added when she got to check the contents as well on her turn. ¡°The regular foodstuffs haven¡¯t been used at all, while only the ones with the luxuries had some gap in the storage space. Chances are they got others with the rest of their food elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Most likely. Nobody should be dumb enough to place all their eggs in one basket, especially with military rations,¡± said Soledad with a smile on her face. Her cavalry had not played that much role that night, as their horses would likely blunder into a trap if made to run into the dark forest, so they had been part of the ambush led by Lars instead. ¡°Even so, losing this much has got to hurt them.¡±


    ¡°How much rations would you have brought with you if you were the Bostvans, Lars?¡± Reinhardt asked with a contemplative look as the necklace of rings returned to his hand.


    ¡°Hard to say for sure, boss,¡± said Lars as he pondered for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the Bostvan commander¡¯s like, and how they think. If it were me though, I¡¯d bring a minimum of three months¡¯ worth of rations for this sort of mission. Maybe two if there¡¯s pillaging in the plans as well.¡±


    Over the past five years, Lars had a change of status, from a newcomer who used to be an enemy, to a respected officer in the mercenary Company. His abilities as a tactician was acknowledged by even those who hated his guts, who gave him grudging respect nowadays even if they still refused to talk with him outside of work.


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    He and Reinhardt had been responsible for the Company¡¯s tactics and stratagems, and were the main proponents of their shift to the irregular unit the Company became. Lars hated the idea of fighting fair, and would always seek out ways to stack the odds to the Company¡¯s favor by any means. It was a sentiment that saved lives and gained him appreciation from the mercenaries as a whole.


    ¡°So we got probably a good chunk of their rations on this run,¡± said Elfriede from beside Reinhardt. ¡°What are we going to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if our allies are interested in buying them,¡± he replied with a grin in turn. He quickly wrote a letter on a small strip of parchment, rolled it, stamped it, and tossed it to Nicole. ¡°Nicole, have one of your fresher people go over to the young Duchess and pass that on.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha, captain.¡±


    *******************************


    Several hours later, just before noon, the Heir apparent to the Duchy of Dvergarder, Lady Andrea Utghwes, arrived at the mercenary encampment along with a dozen of her knights as guards. The young duchess looked around at the mercenaries, many of which had just woken up after some rest, and handed the reins of her horse to one of her knights as she descended from its back.


    The young Duchess herself was around her mid twenties, with a deep olive-brown skin much like her father and a mop of dark brown curly hair that framed her face. The way she carried herself in her full suit of armor spoke of her training and experience of a warrior, however, a family tradition the Utghwes family had maintained for ages.


    Nicole had met and greeted the Duchess, and led her to the command tent, where the Duchess bid all but one of her knights to wait outside. The one who joined her inside the tent was the senior Knight-Captain of the Dvergarder forces, her trusted aide and swordsmanship teacher.


    ¡°You said you have something that will likely interest me, Captain?¡± she asked to Reinhardt with an inquisitive tone. In reply Reinhardt casually tossed the necklace of rings over to her, which the Duchess caught with ease. Her brows rose up in contemplation as she checked the contents of the rings.


    ¡°What do you think, your grace? Good enough?¡± replied Reinhardt with a smile.


    ¡°This explains why the Bostvans had been quiet today¡­ You must have plundered a good chunk of their food rations last night¡­¡± said the young Duchess in a contemplative tone. The Bostvan forces had not mounted an assault that day, although they seemed agitated from what their observers could tell via spyglass. ¡°Great job, Captain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯re interested in purchasing those rations for your own use. What do you think?¡± asked Reinhardt in turn. His contracts with the Duke gave his army full rights to battlefield salvage they obtained on their own, so the plundered rations were his by rights. ¡°Let¡¯s say at cost price.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± said the young Duchess almost immediately. While they had their own rations, getting more for cheap on the enemy¡¯s expenses was never a bad idea, especially if they were to succeed in repelling the Bostvans and headed north to help the defenders of the other fort. ¡°The rings?¡±


    ¡°We''d like to keep them for ourselves, but you can consider them on loan for free until this campaign is finished,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. In truth his much smaller group of mercenaries had no need for such quantities of rations, and they were mostly interested in the storage rings. The Company only had around twenty storage artifacts of that size, mostly spread around the officers. ¡°That said, care to join us for lunch? We also found some good stuff that the boys are cooking right now,¡± he added after he gave a couple sniffs to the air.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that kind offer then, Captain.¡±


    From the command tent, Reinhardt brought the young Duchess and the Knights to the central area of the encampment, where the mercenaries were cooking their lunch. Whole sides of fresh meat were being roasted over the fires - there was no longer any need to hide their presence since the enemy already knew they were there - while large crabs, lobsters, and shellfish boiled in cauldrons.


    Gr¨¹nhildr had baked some sort of compact, crumbly cake with fruit and honey as well, that were placed on large trays and cut to chunks. Despite her looks and demeanor, the burly woman loved her sweets, and had even learned to bake some of her own over the years.


    For a meal on the battlefield, it was definitely a luxurious one, to say the least.

 Chapter 120 - One Last, Desperate Push

    ¡°Sometimes people tried anyway even when they knew they had lost. Many were simply too stubborn to accept defeat.¡± - Old military saying.


    ¡°Looks like you snatched a good chunk of their rations indeed, Captain Edelstein,¡± stated Andrea Utghwes, heir to the Duchy of Dvergarder, as she stood on one of the large watchtowers behind the earthen ramparts to the eastern side of Fort Kuzi.


    ¡°They¡¯re desperate, all right,¡± replied Dame Jaime Illasvey from beside her. The other mercenary Captain and Reinhardt had accompanied the young Duchess on top of the watchtower, together with a couple Knight-Captains of hers. The ongoing battle below was ferocious, but it was not to the point that they needed to be there personally. ¡°I¡¯d never have my people do some of that shit down there regardless of the pay.¡±


    Indeed, the Bostvan forces had attacked the next morning after Reinhardt¡¯s talk with the young Duchess with a ferocity unseen in their previous attempts. Unlike before, where their assaults were measured and tactical, this one was launched with full ferocity, an all or nothing attempt to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. Most likely, this one battle would be the last and decisive one for the southern front.


    ¡°Guess we inadvertently set their asses on fire,¡± said Reinhardt as he pondered the battlefield below. The Bostvan soldiers attacked the ramparts viciously, exhorted by their commanders and sergeants, who bellowed commands loudly.


    What amused him was how the southern flank of the Bostvan forces still maintained a distance from the forest, despite how his troops had moved back to the main encampment yesterday. Of course they had not shown themselves yet either, and even Salicia still kept herself hidden, waiting for a juicy target to venture closer.


    ¡°Think we can abuse that southern flank of theirs?¡± asked Dame Illasvey before he could. The middle-aged woman¡¯s forces were mostly harassers and skirmishers by nature, so she often thought of similar tactics as what the Free Lances used. ¡°Gotta say that your sniper sure put the fear of god in their commanders there, Edelstein.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re planning to, not now, though,¡± replied the young Duchess with a nod. She pointed down to the mobs of Bostvan soldiers with one hand to underline her next words. ¡°They¡¯re still high in morale at the moment. Let¡¯s wait until they tire themselves more first. Also, I¡¯d like both your forces there when the time comes, ideally fresh.¡±


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    ¡°You can count us in, ma¡¯am,¡± said Dame Illasvey. Besides her, Reinhardt gave a nod to signal his affirmation of the command as well. The small group stayed on the watchtower a bit more as they kept an eye on the battle, before they descended around noon.


    When they descended, they adjourned the meeting to a safe area further behind the ramparts, where the group supped on a sumptuous lunch - a donation from Reinhardt¡¯s side from the luxurious foodstuffs he had plundered during the night assault - which were cooked on open fires. Some mages even directed the winds to blow towards the Bostvan forces to taunt them with the aroma of good food.


    They were joined by a middle-aged dwarf in their feast, one Edwina Horst, niece to Stefan Horst and one of the higher ranking officers of the Hellraisers. While the archmage himself stayed and built defensive measures around Jonkver to prepare for the worst case scenario, the majority of his forces, four thousand men under his officers, had joined the detachments headed to the forts, two thousand men on each..


    The earthen ramparts were their work, as the many combat engineer mages in their forces helped them build the structures rapidly and efficiently, while they also hid some tricks inside them. It was one of the main reasons why the Bostvan forces had been stymied time and time again over the past few days, as the earthen ramparts they thought weak turned out to be nearly as sturdy as the fort¡¯s walls itself.


    ¡°Oh, aye, easy enough to get your troops out while keeping things safe,¡± said the dwarven woman with a nod as she crunched on the leg of a large crab - shell and all - and chewed happily. ¡°You wanted it for today? Give my boys a couple of hours and we¡¯ll have it ready.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± nodded the young Duchess at the engineer¡¯s words. Their group of commanders had a relaxed meal of luxurious fresh meat and seafood, almost as if they were not at war. ¡°We will count on your engineers then, Miss Horst,¡±


    Several hours later, when it was late into the afternoon and the sun already came close to setting, a strike force mustered behind the southern end of the ramparts. Over five hundred cavalrymen - with the young Duchess herself in the lead - was gathered, together with a couple thousand infantrymen. The infantry were the elites from Dvergarder, together with Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances and Jaime Illasvey¡¯s Janissaries put together.


    They had waited until the Bostvan forces tired themselves out against the solid defenses, and the young Duchess had decided that it was time to strike. Normally the Bostvans would have already began to retreat around that time of the day, but probably due to their desperation, they had kept up the assault today.


    Several of the combat engineer mages of the Hellraisers - Edwina Horst herself included - stood ready just next to the ramparts, to the sides of the mustered forces, and awaited the signal. When the young Duchess gave a nod and raised her sword, the engineers went to work.


    To the surprise of the Bostvans, the southern end of the ramparts opened outwards towards them as if they were a pair of double doors. Many of the nearby commanders naturally noticed it, and had just begun to order their men to abuse the opening when the forces inside rushed out and struck them from the side with utmost ferocity.


    The flank attack had surprised the Bostvan forces, and caused a momentary lapse in their assault. That momentary lapse cost them dearly, as more and more such ¡°gates¡± opened up along the ramparts as prepared Dvergarder forces rushed out to attack, and even the Jonkver soldiers from Fort Kuzi sallied out in offense for the first time.

 Chapter 121 - Blades have no Eyes

    ¡°When on a battlefield, status often meant little, as at best it would make the enemy capture you alive for ransom. That only applied for battles where the two sides had only fought for profits or maybe silly notions like honor, though.


    In a real battle where both sides hated each other¡¯s guts, all status would do is to place a target on your head, and you can be sure that your enemies would be all too happy to collect it, without your body, that is.¡± - Gregorius Aurelius Secundus, Famed general and later Second Emperor of the First Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Charge! No Quarters!¡± shouted the young Duchess from atop her black mare as she led the cavalry charge from the very front. Due to the speed of their steeds, the cavalry - with Soledad¡¯s smaller group of riders behind them - struck the Bostvan flank first, as the faster strikeforce of Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries followed them moments later, with the rest of the infantry a bit further behind.


    From high atop the walls of Fort Kuzi, archers from both the Jonkver army, the Dvergarder army, and the Free Lances rained arrows into the midst of the Bostvan forces. Dwarven marksmen part of the Hellraisers also showed themselves for the first time along the ramparts, and they rained down bolt after bolt from their repeating crossbows with horrifying results.


    The marksmen naturally avoided the areas which were under attack by their own forces, and concentrated their fire deeper in, to prevent the Bostvans from reinforcing said areas. Their suddenly intensified fire caused many soldiers to panic, and helped pave the way for the counter-offensive from their own forces.


    Reinhardt and his mercenaries struck the Bostvan forces further westwards to where the cavalry charged the enemies. This time, they fought in a most standard formation, their warriors interspersed between their shieldbearers, who worked together and fought in a rhythmic way. Those with the shields focused on the defenses, which freed up the warriors to kill their way through the enemy forces, and the mercenaries worked together almost like clockwork after years of training together.


    Reinhardt himself led the left flank of the mercenaries, while Mischka brought up the middle and Gr¨¹nhildr the right. He used the spike on the rear end of his weapon¡¯s shaft to pierce through the belly of a Bostvan soldier, ignoring the spears aimed at him as Zyd beside him bashed them down with his cudgel or blocked them with his tower shield.


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    A kick shoved the Bostvan soldier back with her entrails training from her stomach wound, before Reinhardt brought the mace head of his weapon down and crushed the skull of another enemy soldier. The hard leather helmet given to the soldier just shattered like brittle twigs underneath his powerful strike, and the man flopped backward with the top half of his head mostly pulverized and an eye lolling out from its socket.


    To Zyd¡¯s other side was Karenina, who used her spike-capped cudgel with skill as she pushed back one soldier before she gave a couple quick stabs into the gaps of his armor. Another Bostvan soldier tried to get her from the side, but Zyd swatted the man aside and into the one Karenina had sent reeling just now. She then put both of them down for good with a quick flick of her hand, as two throwing knives embedded themselves accurately into the soldiers¡¯ throats.


    On the other hand, Elfriede further to Reinhardt¡¯s left needed no assistance from the shieldbearers near her. She was like a fish in the water with her new weapons, as they cleaved the hard leather armor that was issued to the Bostvans as if they were wet paper. That naturally freed up the shieldbearers who were supposed to watch out for her to take care of others instead.


    Elfriede cleaved through the neck of one Bostvan soldier only for the one next in line to barely block her blade with his sword. Her mithril-edged blade carved a chip into the steel sword, but had not cut through, and the soldier had just breathed in relief when Elfriede pulled her weapon back all of a sudden. On its way back, the scythe-like extension high on her blade struck the soldier¡¯s neck from behind and severed his spine with minimal resistance.


    The blade in her other hand tangled with another soldier¡¯s sword, as she had caught the sword¡¯s blade between the crescent-like extension of the hand guard and the body of her own blade. She kept the weapon bound to hers as she pushed it aside, leaving the enemy soldier open. Then, before he could react, the sharp dagger on the pommel of her weapon plunged through his skull from the side, and she pulled it out as she kicked the corpse away.


    Unlike the Free Lances, who plunged directly into the enemy forces, the Janissaries remained further back. Their troops were exclusively light infantry by military categorization, and they kept to the edges of the battle.


    They specialized in skirmishing and harassment, and showed it. Thrown javelins and axes were chased by a rain of accurately fired arrows, as their archers were trained for firing on the move. They would pause only briefly to aim and release their arrows, before they moved once more behind the infantry lines that kept them safe.


    When the forces from Fort Kuzi and the rest of the Dvergarder troops hit the Bostvan lines, their resistance crumbled as their soldiers began to rout. Such a situation forced their higher ranking commanders to lead from closer to the front as they tried to regain control of the deteriorating situation.


    Several people from the rear of the army rode forward, their fancy clothes and gleaming armor practically screaming out their identities as commanders. Perhaps it was because Salicia had remained silent so far that they were emboldened to come forward, perhaps they had no other choice considering the circumstances.


    It was a moot point in the end, as unbeknownst to them, that was exactly what Reinhardt and the young Duchess had awaited all along.

 Important Announcement Re: Patreon

    So, I would like to take a moment of your time to announce a couple important things:


    1. As some of you may or may not have heard, Patreon has made a new billing option public! Instead of ''first of the month'' billing, creators can now opt into ''pay on the same day you sign up''!


    https://blog.patreon.com/introducing-a-new-patron-billing-option</a>


    Now, this is a big change from how Patreon has done things for many, many years. It''s *hard* getting the message out to people that there''s now a new option, and even harder to tell who''s signed up for it. I''m trying to get the news out to as many readers as possible, so you all know what''s going on with your favorite creators.


    I personally have enrolled in this.


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    This means that any patrons who signed up from this point on will now be charged for subsequent months of subscription on the same date they signed up on.


    2. As some of you are undoubtedly aware, my first story, Blood Demon''s Retirement, is ending, with the final chapter coming to patreon later today. Readers of the Archmage/Archmagus tier would be able to read it there from today, and those of the Mage/Magus tier would receive access to those chapters around next month.


    This does not mean that patrons of the archmagus tier will be deprived of a story for the amount they paid for, however. A new story of mine, "And None Shall Remain", will debut on Royal Road around late October or early November, and likely on patreon as early as the middle of next month. Please look forward to it!


    As for those who enjoyed Blood Demon''s Retirement, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude, and would like to assure you that this will not be the last time you see those characters from the book, as my planned fourth entry in the anthology (slated around the time Unliving or Free Lances ended on patreon) will pick off shortly after where Blood Demon''s Retirement ended.


    I wish you all a great day, and thank you for taking your time to read this!


    Sincerely,


    Avitue

 Chapter 122 - Springing the Trap Shut

    ¡°The hardest part about setting up a trap is to get your target to go where and when you want them to be. Once that part¡¯s done, the rest is usually easy.¡± - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Several things happened at once when those commanders from the Bostvan army advanced in a bid to control the situation.


    From high above, Hannah had kept an eye on the situation below from a safe height, using a spyglass to further augment her sharp eyesight. She had not missed the advent of the Bostvan commanders, and immediately brought out an enchanted whistle - lent to her by Reinhardt for this express purpose - and blew into it hard, four times in succession.


    Despite the distance, the shrill sound of the whistle reached the battlefield undiminished. The people who heard them and knew their meaning reacted almost at the same time as it was an agreed-upon signal, a signal that the prey had entered the trap.


    Salicia reacted first as she stood up from where she hid behind a crenellation atop the fort¡¯s walls. Her sharp eye quickly scanned the battlefield and located her target - though with how ostentatious the Bostvan commanders had dressed it was far easier than she expected to find them - and she brought her massive heirloom bow out.


    The massive enchanted bow, a family heirloom made of yew heartwood and stringed with monster tendons, stretched as she brought it to a full draw in mere moments, and loosed her shot in the same instant as she created a spatial portal far ahead in the arrow¡¯s path. The enchantments carved into the wood reacted at the same time and caused the arrow to fly ahead with a force double of what the bow would have given it physically.


    Mere moments after the first arrow sunk into the portal and emerged back out from a second portal a hundred meters further ahead, Salicia loosed a second arrow that went for a different portal, then a third, fourth, and fifth, each one headed for their own individual portals, each aligned with a different target.


    Since this time their employer wished to capture their targets alive when possible, she had not aimed for the commanders themselves, but instead aimed for their steeds. Her arrows accurately found the ears or eyes of the galloping steeds and pierced deep into their brains, killing the horses almost instantly and causing them to crash into a heap, often with their riders pinned below them.


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    Shortly after Salicia had fired her arrows, the young Duchess Andrea Utghwes commanded her cavalry troops to turn westwards, straight into the core of the enemy forces. It was a measured move, however, and they turned southwards and back out of the enemy formation after they covered some distance.


    It was a calculated move to isolate the fallen commanders of the enemy forces from their reinforcements. The young Duchess herself led the charge, as she struck down with the battleaxe in her hand at the heads and shoulders of the Bostvan soldiers she passed by. Her cavalry troops¡¯ lances had long been discarded after their initial charge.


    At the rear of the cavalry formation, Soledad brought her own cavalry as she led them and followed the wake of her distant cousin¡¯s troops. That said, her cavalry was not entirely like those led by her distant cousin at all.


    Where the standard doctrine for cavalrymen in Posuin had them carry long, disposable lances for the initial charge and switch to a one-handed weapon and shield from then on, Soledad¡¯s cavalrymen more closely aped foreign cavalry standards, and many of them carried heavy, two-handed weapons instead, often with some javelins or even bows and arrows as well.


    Part of the tradition had come from Soledad¡¯s mother-in-law, the previous commander of the small unit, who was a tribal orc from the north. The orcs had their own cavalry, but favored longer, heavier weapons over what most humans used. Mounted archers and skirmishers were also a common part of their cavalry, as many of the orcs had trained since young to hunt from atop their steeds.


    Soledad herself wielded a glaive, a long pole weapon longer than she was tall, with a curved blade designed for chopping at its tip. She struck to either side, but mostly in front of her since she was at the point of the formation, while others behind her cleared their respective sides.


    While the ¡°heavies¡± amongst her troops - those who wore heavier armor for protection, up to and including cladding their steeds in heavy barding - formed the spearhead of their wedge formation, the more lightly equipped cavalrymen behind them, led by her husband, fired arrows or hurled javelins as they raced by, both to support the heavies clearing the way, and to keep those behind them from rallying.


    The long line of cavalry had just exited the Bostvan formation, having caused casualties far out of proportion with their numbers with their charge, before the young Duchess had them wheel around, pass behind the Free Lances¡¯ formation, and struck the Bostvan lines once more just a bit eastwards of where they struck the first time.


    Then they repeated the circuit, as her cavalrymen barreled through the Bostvan formation once more and kept those who wished to reinforce their fallen commanders at bay. The long line they formed created a nearly closed circuit with only a small gap between the front and rear of the formation, where the Bostvans attempted to reinforce each other only to be shattered apart once more by the cavalry charge.


    From atop the fort¡¯s walls, Salicia had also commanded the archers near her, who were temporarily delegated under her command, to fire at those on the outside of the isolated region, hammering their reinforcements with a rain of arrows. She herself sniped out anyone she noticed giving commands to the enemy troops without mercy, further throwing their coordination into chaos.


    As for the commanders that had fallen under their steeds, Reinhardt himself led his mercenaries straight towards them, as he shifted their formation from one that was intended for a stable, slow push, into one that was designed for their usual forceful breakthrough.

 Chapter 123 - Meat on the Chopping Block

    ¡°A cornered prey could still bite. That¡¯s why you remove their fangs and claws first to be sure.¡± - Gregorius Aurelius Secundus, Famed general and later Second Emperor of the First Elmaiya Empire.


    Even as they fought the Bostvan soldiers around them, the mercenaries elongated their formation, the wedge condensed into a diamond formation instead with their shieldbearers at the sides and rear. With shields in hand, they repelled the assault from the enemy soldiers as they pushed further onward and left them behind their wake.


    Reinhardt and Mischka spearheaded the formation at the front, as they crushed their way through the enemy soldiers with brute force and savagery. Reinhardt was no slouch in that department, but fighting alongside the therian matron, he couldn¡¯t help but feel small and weak.


    Then again, that would be what most everyone not part of her detachment of giants would have felt anyway. It was hard to feel strong when one fought alongside someone half again your height and nearly double as broad and three times heavier than you were.


    Reinhardt parried the spears of three soldiers who all focused on him with the shaft of his weapon. Given the tight room - he was nearly shoulder to shoulder with the next person in line - he would have normally faced some trouble to deal with three at once, but then again, he was not alone either.


    With a heave, he shoved away those spears and caused their wielders to lose their balance for a moment. At the exact same time, Elfriede snuck out from behind him and her blades flashed as she carved through the throat of two soldiers at once. Reinhard crushed the top half of the third soldier¡¯s head with his polemace while they were still surprised by the death of their compatriots.


    Like a phantom, she then slipped right back to her spot behind him, maneuvering around swinging weapons and arms with ease, often by the slightest margins. Reinhardt knew that the way her senses worked, she would have a perfect ¡°feel¡± of the position of everything in her vicinity, which was how she moved the way she did even in the crowded battlefield like now.


    Unlike Reinhardt, Mischka received no aid. Rather, she had needed no aid whatsoever, and others near her struggled to match her pace, even. Every large step the therian matron took was accompanied by a brutal swing of her oversized blade, which by now was so thickly covered with blood and gore the blade was unlikely to cut well at all.


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    Not that it mattered, when she just crushed those she bashed with it instead, sending bodies bent into very unnatural angles to the sides and pulverizing bone and flesh whenever she struck someone. Those who took one of her blows did not die in a pretty way, and that more than anything demoralized those who stood in her way greatly.


    Since the Bostvan forces were temporarily isolated from their reinforcements, Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries successfully pushed their way through them, straight to where the commanders whose steeds Salicia had shot out from under them were. Some enemy soldiers around the area gave their all to resist the mercenaries as they approached, to little success.


    When Reinhardt reached the scene, he saw that the enemy soldiers had freed two of the five from under their dead mounts. Both of the rescued commanders seemed injured pretty badly however, as neither walked on their own and had to be carried by their soldiers as they tried to escape. The other three were still pinned beneath their mounts even though the soldiers were trying to pry them out.


    Unfortunately for them, Reinhardt had no interest in letting the prey before his eyes escape. He split the formation into two with Mischka leading the other side, and they led their troops to encircle the escaping Bostvans, while Elfriede¡¯s smaller detachment descended on the soldiers who were rescuing and carrying their commanders.


    It took her group of killers mere minutes to take care of the soldiers there, before Mischka and Reinhardt returned the way they came and signaled for the mercenaries to reverse their advance into a measured retreat. Gr¨¹nhildr was at the rear of the formation and led their charge on the way back out, as Reinhardt led his troops to guard their back.


    Mischka and a couple of her people had gone to Elfriede¡¯s group and helped her remove the horses off the still-trapped Bostvan commanders. The horses were large, muscular ones, which made sense considering the heavy barding they were clad in, and took some effort even for the large therians to remove.


    Out of the five Bostvan commanders, the luckiest one only broke his ankle during the fall. Three had one or both of their legs crushed beneath the weight of their horses, and broke at least several bones during the fall. None of them were in mortal danger, however, unlike the last, unfortunate one amongst them.


    His horse had reared and fell directly on top of him when he died. When Mischka freed the man from beneath his steed, he was unconscious, and clearly dying, with part of his chest caved in from the impact. Even so, they took him along with them anyway, in case the healers under the young Duchess could save the man.


    They were only paid to retrieve those commanders after all, and the young Duchess had admitted that chances are not all of them would be alive. The mercenaries simply gave their best effort since that was what they were paid to do.


    With Gr¨¹nhildr in the lead, they carved their way out of the Bostvan formation, leaving behind a trail of dead and injured soldiers in their wake. The cavalry stopped their repeated charges when they noticed the withdrawal, and also retreated while the Dvergarder forces intensified their push to attract the enemy¡¯s attention.


    Then their groups pulled back together and headed back to the defense line, leaving the Bostvan forces - which were visibly in disarray - behind as the sun began to set. By the time the battlefield plunged into darkness, the battle had ended, and both forces had retreated back to their respective encampments.

 Chapter 124 - Good Warden, Bad Warden

    ¡°For every treaty or agreement to treat captive nobles and officers in a civilized manner, there existed at least a dozen loopholes through which they could easily be abused instead. Most military commanders worth their salt were familiar with these methods and usually had at least some knowledge or training to deal with them.


    Most nobles on the other hand, could be obliviously unfamiliar with them, which results that could easily be imagined.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    ¡°I am the second son of Baron Hisaz of Levros, I demand-¡±


    *Slap*


    ¡°Nobody here gives a dick to who your daddy is, you waste of sperm,¡± said Elfriede as she rubbed her hand clean, as if she had just touched something dirty. Her slap had been hard enough that it loosened one of the captive nobleman¡¯s teeth, and made him squirm despite how he was tied to the bed by his arms and legs. ¡°So shut that shithole the fuck up or we¡¯ll get some needle and threads to shut it for you.¡±


    The loud-mouthed noble was the lucky one amongst their captives, the one with the broken ankle, as his companions were too busy screaming in pain from their injuries to speak, much less complain. Medical staff - including a couple healers - from the Dvergarder contingent had already begun working on their injuries, but the noisy one had been left for last since his injuries were the least life-threatening.


    Of the other four captives, one had his left leg broken in two places and his kneecap shattered, while another broke both his legs, which basically made certain he wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere without help. The other two were in far more serious condition, as the third one with a broken leg had nearly bled to death by the time the mercenaries brought her to the camp.


    Apparently a sharp end of her broken thigh bone had nicked a large artery, which caused severe bleeding that nearly killed the woman along the way. The condition of the last one was the most severe, as he had multiple damaged organs and broken bones everywhere that the medics said it was a miracle he even made the trip to the camp alive.


    Curiously though, none of the Dvergarder soldiers were present in the tent other than the medics working on them, as instead several members of the mercenaries kept watch over them. Whether it was by coincidence or on purpose, most of the people inside were part of Elfriede¡¯s group, specifically the former thugs amongst them.


    ¡°Go on, scream and whine some more,¡± said Nina as she prodded one man¡¯s leg with her finger. The prod was gentle, but it was to an injured spot, and the tied-up captive in the bed gave a muffled scream, through the gag that covered his mouth. ¡°Maybe your ma would come and get you if you scream loud enough.¡±


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    ¡°Assuming she wasn¡¯t too disappointed to have birthed a shitstain like you, that is,¡± jibed Kari from the other side of the bed. None of the people present in the tent other than the medic had any good sentiments towards nobles as a whole, and they made it clearly known with the captives as they mercilessly mocked and jabbed at them. ¡°Or is the old hag too dead to come already? I know a good necro, we can raise her up so you can suckle on those rotting teats again.¡±


    For their part, the medics treated the mercenaries as if they were not there, and simply focused on their task in silence. Since two of the captives had yet to regain consciousness, the three conscious ones ended up receiving the brunt of the abuse, all while they were tied up and powerless to retaliate.


    Naturally, the mercenaries had not abused them just because they felt like it. Even if those particular members disliked nobles as a whole, that was no reason for them to do what they did. They were being paid to play the bad wardens, so the young Duchess could later step in and be the good, reasonable one.


    ¡°Your people seem to know exactly where to hurt them in the worst ways, Captain,¡± said the young Duchess a short distance outside the tent. She and Reinhardt stood close enough that the loud conversation from within the tent carried over to them, but their own talk would be inaudible from within as long as they spoke quietly.


    ¡°Well, many of them had legitimate reasons to hate nobles, Your Grace,¡± admitted Reinhardt honestly to the young noblewoman. Normally mercenaries like him would have refused a job that asked them to mistreat influential prisoners like these, but in this case, the captives already hated their guts anyway and he doubted he¡¯d ever sign a contract with the Bostvans so why not earn some extra cash along the way? ¡°Present company excluded, of course.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± asked the young Duchess with an inquisitive and playful look on her face. ¡°Is it my good personality that charmed them?¡±


    ¡°Hell no, we¡¯re totally mesmerized by that fat coin pouch of yours, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a chuckle. The young Duchess was pretty easy going as nobles went, much like her father, and had been a good employer so far. He wouldn¡¯t have jested with an employer he didn¡¯t like working with. ¡°Oh, right, here¡¯s what you asked for,¡± added Reinhardt as he flicked a coin at the young Duchess.


    ¡°Many thanks, Captain,¡± said the young Duchess as she caught the coin in mid-air. It was a mere copper coin, the smallest denomination usually used by peasants, worth little for people like them. ¡°With this the deal had been set in stone.¡±


    ¡°You know, I still find it hilarious that your treaties have such easily exploited loopholes,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°Much less that you¡¯d walk us through on how to abuse them like this.¡±


    ¡°Well, what can I say, Captain? Those treaties were made during the days when we were still tribes roaming these lands. We were a far more¡­ honest and honorable people back then,¡± said the young Duchess with a wistful sigh. ¡°Becoming nobles seemed to have brought out the worst in our people, I¡¯m afraid. Seeing how they had treated others that fell into their hands before, I honestly feel no qualms to accept your bribe to turn a blind eye to them getting roughed up by you and yours.¡±


    ¡°All while you pay us a bonus for roughing them up in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least I¡¯m sticking to the letter of our treaties,¡± said the young Duchess in a more cheerful tone as she walked closer to the tent. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I think it¡¯s a good time to berate your troops for their insults to the nobility while I stroke those bruised egos our captives must have suffered.¡±


    ¡°Going to wring every little bit you get out of them before you ransom them off, huh?¡±


    ¡°Given the indignity I will have to go through to soothe their egos, damn straight I¡¯m going to wring every drop of usefulness out of their bloody asses first.¡±

 Chapter 125 - Temporary Truce

    ¡°Most wars lasted years on end because what might have looked like temporary peace to outsiders were by no means anything like peace. Temporary truces between warring parties were more like rest periods, where the parties involved swore off hostilities against one another for reasons either political or practical.


    The instant the truce expired though, they would go right back at it with renewed gusto, probably moreso since the period of relative peace would have allowed them to rebuild their armies to a better state than before.


    Truce-breakers were rare, as it was the sort of reputation one does not simply shrug off. Few nobles would parley with a known truce-breaker, as it was the worst sort of oath breaking tantamount to throwing one¡¯s credibility down into a ditch and shitting on it. For that reason, truces were generally held as sacred and their conditions followed to the letter, if not entirely in spirit.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    ¡°So how did things go, Your Grace?¡± asked Reinhardt when the young Duchess called for a commander¡¯s meeting two days later. Over the past two days both forces had traded messengers back and forth, as they sent missives likely related to the captives and the overall situation.


    Many nobles might have taken offense at the relaxed way Reinhardt addressed the young Duchess of Dvergarder, but much like her father, Andrea Utghwes was a warrior first, noble later, and she was used to people being blunt and relaxed around her. The same applied to her knight-captains. The commander from Fort Kuzi raised an eyebrow but said nothing either. The current Duke of Jonkver might be a bit stricter about manners but presently the young Duchess of Dvergarder was the ranking noble.


    If she saw fit to take no offense from the perceived rudeness, nobody else would say a word about it either.


    ¡°Good news overall. I think we can safely say that the battle at Fort Kuzi is over,¡± announced the young Duchess to some murmurs from the gathered commanders. The way the face of commander Tovmund brightened as he spoke in low voices to his subordinates spoke much about how relieved he was to hear that. ¡°The Bostvans had agreed to a truce for the next year, in exchange for us allowing them to ransom their captured nobles.¡±


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    More murmurs grew as she said those words, as by now the commanders were well aware of the presence of the Bostvan captives. All five of the captives survived, though two of them were unlikely to walk unaided ever again without the interference of a really good healer. The young Duchess was not kind enough to lend her own personal healer to them, and she had not cared whether the Bostvans considered them worthwhile enough to heal back to shape or not.


    Surprisingly enough one of the captives - the woman who nearly died from internal bleeding - was a direct relative of Duke Emil Bostvan himself, as she was one of his nieces. That probably played a role in why the Bostvans agreed to a truce so readily.


    Well, that and their lack of provisions, as well as the heavy losses they had taken. Out of the forty-five thousand strong army that had arrived at Fort Kuzi, roughly two-thirds remained, while of the defender¡¯s twenty thousand they barely lost three or four thousand to death or injury. The disproportionate amount of casualties was mostly due to the effect of the defenses, especially the earthen ramparts that were far tougher than they had seemed to be at first glance.


    Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries got off pretty lightly overall, with maybe forty dead and another hundred or so injured. Most of the injuries were light enough that the injured would be fit to fight after a few more days of rest, with only a small portion badly injured.


    The rest of the meeting was more a discussion about what they planned to do next. While the battle at Fort Kuzi was over for the time being, reports from Fort Kazka up north painted a less pretty picture, as it told of many bloody clashes where both the Centrals and the defenders kept sending reinforcements to the meat grinder.


    A decision was reached before long to send what forces they could up north to help as soon as the Bostvans had left. Even so, part of their forces would have to remain on defense just in case. Commander Tovmund eventually relented and agreed to remain behind to defend the fort with three thousand men, together with the contingent from the Hellraisers as support. The heavily injured casualties - thousands of them - would also be left behind to recuperate, while the rest of the remaining army, over ten thousand strong, would march northwards towards Fort Kazka.


    By dawn of the next day, the Bostvan messengers sent over the agreed upon ransom, and went back with the captives in tow. They dismantled their encampment that very noon, and had departed back to where they came from by sunset. Scouts from Fort Kuzi naturally kept track of their movements, while the rest of the army rested in preparation for the hard marching ahead of them.


    The next day, after they were certain that the Bostvans had truly retreated, the force of over ten thousand soldiers and mercenaries marched northward. They marched from dawn until dusk, keeping up a speed that the soldiers would have been hard pressed to keep up with if not for the many wagons they brought along. The soldiers took turns to rest in the wagons as they marched, which allowed them to keep up with the punishing pace.


    It was roughly a week¡¯s distance between the two forts, and the army marched tirelessly for six days, only for the young Duchess to call for an early break on the afternoon of the seventh day. They were close to the battlefield by then, and she commanded the soldiers to get some extra rest, as they would go into battle the next day.


    She wanted them to be fresh for that battle.

 Chapter 126 - Reposts and Stratagems

    ¡°While very few bards would sing about them, and next to no legends ever praised them, the importance of scouts on the battlefield cannot be overstated. To march blind into a battle without proper information was little different than committing assisted suicide, and no commander worth their salt would make that mistake.


    A scout¡¯s work was simple and unglamorous, even if the dangers were no lesser. They fought no decisive battles or pulled off heroic feats for others to celebrate, yet the information they brought home was often the key difference between victory and defeat. Truly, they were the unsung heroes of the battlefield.¡± - Gregorius Aurelius Secundus, Famed general and later Second Emperor of the First Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Please repeat what you just said? I don¡¯t think I heard you right,¡± said Andrea Utghwes when Hannah returned to report on what she had seen of the battlefield by Fort Kazka early the next morning. She and several other scouts who were skilled in remaining unseen had been sent out the night before to perform reconnaissance on the battlefield, and as she was the fastest, the others had written their reports and handed it to her to pass on.


    ¡°It¡¯s a mess out there, Your Grace,¡± said Hannah before the gathered commanders present in the command tent. Other than the young Duchess herself, a couple of her Knight-Captains were present, as well as a senior Knight-Captain who led the detachment of Jonkver troops from Fort Kuzi, along with Reinhardt and Dame Illasvey. ¡°The others had passed on their reports to me for expediency and you will find that they shared the same opinion.¡±


    ¡°We could not tell with certainty due to the darkness, but parts of the Fort as well as the ramparts built next to it seemed to have crumbled,¡± added the therian girl as she reported the situation. ¡°The Central troops had built a large encampment right within siege weapon range, and we saw their trebuchets hurling stones without pause at the walls even in the dark of night.¡±


    ¡°And the defenders had just allowed them to do that?¡± asked the young Duchess with some obvious skepticism.


    ¡°We spotted signs of battle between the Fort and the encampments, so they probably tried to contest the shelling, though likely to poor results,¡± replied Hannah to the noblewoman. ¡°For what it was worth, the encampment of the Central army seemed to be focused on guarding against their front, so their flanks and rear are relatively less well-guarded.¡±


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    ¡°They had not reinforced their southern flank? You really got all their messenger birds then, good work,¡± replied the young Duchess. During the days when the truce had been discussed and following it, Hannah and Salicia had been stationed further north of Fort Kuzi, where they waited for and intercepted any bird that looked like it came from the Bostvan encampment.


    Many of the birds they took down were just innocent critters who became collateral damage, but others were messenger birds with messages that explained the loss and retreat of the Bostvan forces tied to them. They had kept up that vigilance against messenger birds throughout the trek northwards, and it seemed like their efforts had paid off.


    The Central faction¡¯s army up north had not received the news of their ally¡¯s defeat down south, and likely had no idea that a force from Fort Kuzi was now breathing down their necks.


    ¡°We could exploit that¡­ maybe if we muster behind these hills and wait for them to be engaged with the forces at Kazka¡­¡± muttered the young Duchess as she pointed at a line of small hills roughly a kilometer or so to the south of Fort Kazka. The other commanders in the tent walked closer and started to share their opinions as well, with their largest concern being the distance between the hills and the Central¡¯s encampment.


    ¡°It would take our infantrymen at least five minutes to cover the distance even at a full run,¡± stated the Knight-Captain from Fort Kuzi. ¡°That might buy the Centrals enough time to reinforce their defenses properly to welcome our forces.¡±


    ¡°We have less than a thousand cavalry between us all¡­ that¡¯s a reasonable amount but rather risky to assault the encampment with, especially since they had barriers to prevent a cavalry charge¡­¡± said the young Duchess in contemplation, then she noticed Reinhardt making a gesture to catch her attention. ¡°Yes, Captain Edelstein?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s anti-cavalry barriers, me and my men could remove it for you, and we can cover the distance about as fast as your cavalry,¡± he said with some confidence in his voice. ¡°It won¡¯t be all of us, of course, but I got at least a couple hundred who can move fast enough to keep pace with your horses, some with people on their backs, even. We can open the way for you to go through if you¡¯re willing to risk the charge.¡±


    ¡°A valid offer, if somewhat risky. I am leaning to agree with your offer, honestly,¡± said the young Duchess. ¡°We will only get the element of surprise this once, no reason not to make the most of it.¡±


    ¡°I would like to propose that we send half our infantry to harry the flanks of the Central army while they fought, Your Grace,¡± said one of the Knight-Captains from Dvergarder with a solemn tone. ¡°That would be a risky task since they would be outnumbered, but it would buy more time for the rest to do damage in their base. I volunteer for this task.¡±


    ¡°I would also like to volunteer my men for this task, Your Grace,¡± said the senior Knight-Captain from Fort Kuzi with a nod. ¡°This is our land we are fighting for. It would shame us if we refused to take the brunt of the battle upon ourselves and leave the hard part to our allies.¡±


    ¡°Very well, Sirs. Do your utmost and please return alive,¡± said the young Duchess with a nod. ¡°I guess we are all in agreement then? If so, have your men readied and well-rested. We strike once the battle has heated up to a boil.¡±

 Chapter 127 - Charging into the Fray

    ¡°Cavalry, when used well, could serve as a force multiplier in battle. However this mostly applied to battles in the open plains where they had room to maneuver freely. In situations like sieges, or battles within close confines, cavalrymen can often find themselves without room for maneuvering on their mounts, and thus were often downgraded to infantry that used their mount¡¯s mobility to get there sooner.


    Naturally, there were cases where cavalry had managed to fight well in close confines, but those were usually cavalry like those of the goblins, which used smaller mounts like wolves and large felines that maneuvered with great grace and agility, or those of the dwarves which often had enough power to simply ram through buildings on their way. These were more often than not the exception to the norm, however.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    The battle at Fort Kazka began a couple hours after dawn, as the army from the coalition of Central duchies marched out of their encampment and formed a solid formation roughly a quarter of the way between the encampment and the fort, well outside of the defenders¡¯ arrow range, which left them unable to reply to the bombardment from the siege engines that kept going without pause.


    So many stones had been hurled that they had begun to pile up by the foot of the fort¡¯s walls, combined with the rubble from the pieces of masonry knocked loose off those very same walls. The venerable fort looked notably the worse for wear after what must have been weeks of bombardment. Parts of its walls were close to collapse, and many of the soldiers that manned those walls carried injuries on their bodies.


    Below, gates from the sides of the fort and parts of the earthen ramparts next to it opened as forces from both Fort Kazka and their reinforcements sallied out. They had little choice in the manner, as unless they could disable their opponent¡¯s siege engines, their armies would just be sitting ducks for the picking as they could not retaliate at all.


    The soldiers that sallied were notably outnumbered, maybe only twelve thousand in all, whereas from the news the young Duchess received there should have been around double that in total after a second wave of reinforcements from Algenverr and the main city of Jonkver itself. It spoke a lot of the heavy casualties they must have taken in the battles so far.


    On the Central side, around twenty thousand or so soldiers were arrayed in formation, and there were likely some more within their encampment to guard and man the siege engines. To sally into battle was little more than a forlorn hope for the defenders, but it was probably the only choice they had other than to wait for their defenses to be breached.


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    Both sides yelled and charged, as the armies clashed roughly halfway between the fort and the Central army¡¯s encampment. The difference between the two sides were instantly made clear, however, as while the defenders attacked with ferocity and obvious urgency, the Central forces were content to allow them to break themselves upon their solid defenses, seemingly in no hurry whatsoever.


    The young Duchess allowed the battle to carry on for a good hour first, to make sure that the Centrals were well and truly occupied by their opposition. Only then did she give the signal for the assault to commence.


    Roughly three quarters of the forces that came from the south revealed themselves as they circled from behind the hill at that point, roughly a kilometer to the southern flank of the battle. The forces, which were comprised of over half of the Free Lances, the entirety of the Janissaries, most of the forces from Dvergarder that went north, as well as the detachment from Fort Kuzi, made their presence known as they charged towards the battlefield, straight at the flank of the Central army.


    The Centrals were clearly surprised at the unexpected development, but quickly shifted part of their formation to face the new foe, even as the invigorated defenders from Algenverr and Jonkver redoubled their assault, their morale soaring at the sight of allied reinforcements.


    Just as the forces from the south approached arrow range however, the situation changed once more, as the cavalry detachment led by the young Duchess herself charged over the hill and straight towards the Central army¡¯s encampment, along with a select group of Reinhardt¡¯s elites, the ones who were able to keep a pace that matched a horse for a short while either on their own or while carrying someone on their backs, and the fighters deemed good enough to carry on their backs.


    Behind them another thousand or so of Dvergarder¡¯s elite infantrymen followed as they ran as fast as their legs could take them. Even so they couldn¡¯t help but lag behind and were not even halfway to the encampment when the cavalry had reached there.


    Reinhardt and his elites led the charge, and the therians amongst them fluidly shifted from running on all fours to standing up even as those on their backs leapt down as they reached the anti-cavalry barricades set around the encampment, mostly in the form of a row of stakes pointed outward at a diagonal angle.


    Mischka and her group instantly went to work and either crushed or uprooted the barricades on their way, while the rest of the Free Lances split up to their sides as they covered them and fought off the encamptment¡¯s defenders who came to face them.


    Gr¨¹nhildr led the group on the left while Reinhardt himself dealt with the right side, and moments later, the cavalry led by the young Duchess arrived. The inside of the encampment was too crowded and the Centrals had built more barricades within, which made cavalry raids an unviable proposition to undertake, but the young Duchess had long readied herself for that as well.


    With an agile leap, she dismounted from her steed, as did the rest of her knights, as they left a couple junior knights to guard their horses while the rest of them grouped up with the Free Lances. Together, they broke into the encampment and began to wreak havoc within.


    Knights were trained to fight on foot as well, after all.

 Chapter 128 - Meeting Tough Opposition

    ¡°Unless your side could directly overpower the other side and push the battle into their camps, in which case the battle was as good as won already, attacks towards an enemy¡¯s encampment generally aimed for specific targets.


    In the past, before the mass proliferation of storage artifacts, this used to be supply storages, where the food and spare equipment of an army was kept, the destruction of which was certain to drop morale severely. Other common targets were stables and things like siege engines when they were stored in camp.


    In the modern day, while targets that were not storable in an artifact like the stables or siege engines remained common targets, the most common target was instead a decapitation strike that targeted officers or mage cadres, in an attempt to reduce the enemy¡¯s prowess with minimal effort.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    ¡°Straight for the siege engines, Your Grace?¡± asked Reinhardt when the young Duchess stepped up next to him in full battle gear. Andrea Utghwes wore full plate mail like her knights, her own suit being of finer make and craftsmanship as befitted her station, and carried her kite shield and battle-axe with practiced familiarity. Reinhardt was not too surprised to see the young Duchess come to him near the front of their formation, as she had led the cavalry charges from the front as well.


    ¡°Exactly so, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied the young Duchess as she stepped into formation next to him, near the tip of their charge. She calmly blocked a Central soldier¡¯s spear with her shield as she hacked off the man¡¯s head with a vicious swing of her axe, while Reinhardt smashed another soldier next to the one she killed. ¡°I was about to volunteer some of my knights to lead the way but I see you have that well in hand.¡±


    The reason for the young Duchess¡¯ comment was not just the headway the mercenaries already made, but also how Mischka was leading their charge further inward. The therian matron simply used her bulk and brute force to cleave her way through the defenders, with none of the soldiers that stood in her way spared from a horrible fate at the end of her massive blade.


    Even though some soldiers from the battlefield had turned to reinforce their encampment, there were not that many of them and they were still a distance away, while the rest of the Central army was pinned in place by the assault from their east and south. For the moment, the only defenders of the encampment were those soldiers who had stayed to man and guard the siege engines.


    Their charge reached the large clearing on the eastern edge of the encampment where the siege engines were stationed smoothly, as the mercenaries and knights carved a path through the defenders. Behind them, elite infantry from Dvergarder secured their retreat path and fought off the Central soldiers that tried to cut it off and strike the attackers from behind.


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    That was where they ran into some real opposition however, which Reinhardt noticed right away when Mischka, Yuri, and Niko, who were at the head of their formation, were not only halted by their opponents, but even forced to take a step back with some injuries on their bodies.


    ¡°We got some tough nuts up ahead, cap,¡± said Mischka as she licked the blood that dripped from a cut across her left arm. The cut would have struck bone if she had been a human, but with how large and thick her arms were, it had merely caused a flesh wound instead. More worrisome however was how the cut went through her brigandine armor, which was many layers of fabric and leather reinforced with metal plates within.


    ¡°Some fucking spellslingers too!¡± added Yuri as he braced against his pair of tower shields with Niko next to him doing the same with his own. A series of loud impacts and a burst of fire came from the other side of their shields as they blocked the assault of what was likely several mages working in tandem. Both of them were slightly singed by the fire, and their heavy armor had some dents from some earlier strikes, which spoke testament to the ferocity of the magical barrage.


    Reinhardt and the young Duchess peeked past the shields to take a glance at their opposition, and found that the Centrals had arrayed themselves into a defensive formation around the siege engines, with likely a full cadre of mages protected in their midst. Most eye-catching however was the pair of warriors clad in full plate mail that stood ahead of the formation, likely the ones who had repelled Mischka¡¯s charge and injured her.


    One of the two warriors carried a massive tower shield well over two meters tall and half as wide, though with the blades and spikes built around the sides and edges of the shield it clearly served as a weapon of sorts as well. The other carried a long, slender single-edged greatsword with a slight curve that gleamed with the silvery shine that was telltale of mithril. Just from how they were equipped alone, Reinhardt pegged those two as nobles who probably devoted their lives to warfare.


    ¡°Dammit. That¡¯s Randall and Vaughn Oleysun, the Sword and Shield of Gestis,¡± said the young Duchess who clearly recognized the two warriors, the title she mentioned including one of the Central duchies. If Reinhardt had not remembered wrong, the Oleysun family were the hereditary rulers of the Duchy of Gestis. ¡°I had not expected to see them here in the camp.¡±


    ¡°Battle addict sorts I assume?¡± asked Reinhardt.


    ¡°Pretty much. They¡¯re the fourth and fifth sons of the current Duchess, and went all-in on building their reputation as knights since they were nowhere near the line of succession with three elder siblings ahead of them,¡± said the young Duchess. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate them. They¡¯re actually good at fighting, unlike most who pursued such a path.¡±


    ¡°Well, we got answers for those types,¡± muttered Reinhardt as he thought quickly. Their advance had halted during the brief conversation as their shieldbearers tanked the magical barrage sent their way by the defenders. The defenders themselves seemed content at keeping them away for the time being.


    ¡°Friede, Gr¨¹n, I¡¯ll leave those two to you,¡± said Reinhardt as he quickly took command. ¡°Mischka, we¡¯re pushing straight for their mages, then the engines. Ylisera, take the rest of Friede¡¯s group and take care of those mages one we get there.¡±


    A quick series of affirmations came from the mercenaries, and they shifted a bit to the side as their frontline made a sudden push towards the enemy mages. The two warriors from before came to intercept, but before they managed to do so, Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr came out from the formation and intercepted them instead.

 Chapter 129 - Always a Higher Sky

    ¡°There was generally no such thing as an invincible warrior. They were either delusional people who dominated their tiny wells, and thus had simply not met their match yet, or people who built their reputation on ¡®fair¡¯ fights on stages with all sorts of rules.


    When it comes to the real warriors, the only thing that existed were the survivors and the dead.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Really now? They send some wenches after us?¡± said Randall to his younger sibling Vaughn when he saw Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr walk out to face them. His tone of voice made it clear that he saw it as an insult to his pride and pedigree, though a single glance at the weapons in the hands of the two women made him realize that he might have to take them a bit seriously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take them that lightly, brother,¡± said Vaughn in reply, as he too had noticed the shine on the weapons wielded by the two women, and hefted his massive bladed and spiked shield in a ready position. He was always the more cautious of the two. ¡°Those are blades with mithril edges they¡¯re packing unless my eyes are going bad already.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I noticed,¡± replied Randall with a nod. His own greatblade was case with a mithril edge, which was what granted it such a keen and vicious cutting edge. Given his own fascination with the weapon and how religiously he kept it clean and spotless, there was no way he missed the telltale silvery glint of mithril from his opponent¡¯s weapons. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of them quick so we can get back to supporting Vandel and Christa.¡±


    Randall kept a wary eye at the weirdly shaped weapon the woman who headed towards him had in her hands. They looked like a thin sword, but with entirely too many protrusions and edges added to it, though he guessed that his opponent likely had not gotten such a weapon for vanity reasons. He gave a tentative swing with his greatblade the instant she stepped into his range, only to see the woman sway gently and avoid his slash by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    He furrowed his brow in some consternation. While the slash was just a tentative swing meant to probe his opponent, he still struck faster than what most people he faced could even react to. The woman seemed to have moved away even before he swung his blade, with such ease as if she saw it coming from long ago.


    With an annoyed grunt, Randall swung his blade another few times, from different angles of attack as he probed for weaknesses and flaws in the woman¡¯s reaction. His greatblade was longer than he was tall, but its slim construction meant that it was light, and ridiculously fast for a weapon its size. Yet despite how the blade flashed into a blur when he swung it, the woman he faced avoided his blows with the same ease, no matter where they came from. She had not even raised her weapons as of yet.


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    Randall took a glance at his younger brother, and saw that he was on the backfoot already as the other woman, a burly one that had arms bigger than most men he knew, struck at him wildly with her pair of oddly shaped axes, but more worryingly, he saw how Vaughn¡¯s shield already had several cuts and gouges that marred its surface.


    That was not supposed to happen.


    Randall knew that his younger brother had custom-ordered that shield and paid a lot of money to have it made with an adamant alloy and even enchanted it to resist magic. Even his mithril-edged blade would not have been able to leave more than a slight mark on the shield. He knew, he tried.


    Yet the shield currently had deep cuts and gouges that came close to piercing through the solid metal. Some of the blades and spikes built on the sides had even been severed entirely, and Randall noticed how Vaughn kept trying to parry or deflect his opponent¡¯s strikes rather than block them, which was something he did not usually do. He usually just relied on his shield¡¯s sturdiness to block everything head-on before he counterattacked.


    He had not failed to notice the eerie black sheen that seemed to cover the edges of the woman¡¯s axes, so Randall attributed the damage to Vaughn¡¯s shield to that. He had heard of void magic before, though like most he had never seen it with his own eyes due to how rare void mages were. Still, the sight matched those stories he heard of it.


    ¡°Son of a-!¡± cursed Randall as he was forced to leap back. The woman¡¯s oddly shaped blade had grazed his chestplate, and to his worry, left a sizable cut on the metal. It was the sort of thing he should have expected since he had suspected that her blades were mithril-edged too, but his moment of inattention had given the woman a chance to leap into his range and strike.


    Immediately, Randall became serious as he mobilized his limited mana and channeled them around his blade. He was a wind affinity mage, and had long trained to combine his relatively meager mana reserves with his swordplay in a way that caught many of his opponents off guard and gave him his current title as the Sword of Gestis.


    An invisible blade of wind coalesced around the blade of his sword, effectively making his cutting edge far broader without any visible sign. He slashed viciously at the woman with the expectation to catch her with the invisible blade.


    Instead, his eyes nearly bulged out when he saw how the woman avoided the invisible edge to his blade by a hair¡¯s breadth like before, despite how he was certain that there was no way she could have seen it. Randall brought his blade into a reverse swing as this time he manipulated his mana to send out a bladed limb out of the edge that coalesced around his blade.


    Yet the woman also dodged that. Even when he further manipulated the blade to strike at her like a snake - something he rarely did since his mana reserves would quickly deplete if he did it too much - it only managed to leave a slight scratch on her forehead and cut a few threads of her hair.


    He saw how the scratch caused some blood to leak out and drop towards her left eye, and struck once more once the blood entered her eye and inadvertently caused her to blink, intent on exploiting the blind spot.


    However, the woman ducked below his swing and used one of her oddly shaped blades to strike the back of his blade and push it further away as she charged ahead with a mocking smirk on her face. Her other blade glinted under the light of the sun as she struck at Randall.


    Then Randall had no time for thoughts other than to fight for his life as she descended upon him like a hurricane.

 Chapter 130 - Overwhelming the Opponent

    ¡°It was far from uncommon for highly skilled people to fight each other one-on-one while their respective side¡¯s soldiers kept each other away from the impromptu duel. Such cases were partly due to the pride held by the nobles who often were the participants of such duels, an partly because at times, the combatants were just so skilled that for a common soldier to attempt to intervene would just result in their death and little more.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Vagaries of Warfare¡± by Maxim Stavros Odenlos, Military Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 443 VA.


    ¡°I guess she really had changed for the better since she had that kid,¡± thought Gr¨¹nhildr as she spared a glance at where Elfriede clashed against the knight who wielded the long, slender blade. In the past, Gr¨¹nhildr recalled the way how Elfriede would have fought like a beast and went for the jugular without a care for her own well-being, with only her skills being what kept certain death at bay.


    Nowadays, she was more careful and measured, as she took note of what her opponent could do first before she charged in and struck. While her ferocity was little different to back then, she was no longer as uncaring for herself, something Gr¨¹nhildr thought was a good thing. A change she noticed since her old friend had her child. Probably the thought of having someone who would truly be sad if she was to be injured or killed helped temper her over time.


    Gr¨¹nhildr herself fought with the same sort of ferocity grown through many battles of life and death, her bulky form moving with a litheness that seemed unreal for someone built like her. She had kept her opponent completely on the backfoot, as his favored fighting style ended up being useless against her, and he could do little but focus on defense at the moment.


    Much like Elfriede, Gr¨¹nhildr was one of the best warriors in the Company, with no little part thanks to her rare affinity and her skill with it. Since she had always relied on the void coating of her blades to cut through things rather than the actual blade or weight of her weapons, Hogarth had asked if she would have favored a lighter weapon with a wider blade instead, since the heft would be of no matter anyway.


    Gr¨¹nhildr had agreed back then, and Hogarth had crafted her new weapons out of another design they found on the foreign book Elfriede¡¯s weapon was based on. What she wielded nowadays looked more like a pair of short spears, a full meter each with spearheads on either end, with a crescent-shaped blade much like what Elfriede had on her handguard built below one of the spearheads.


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    She could use it as a handguard or a brass knuckle with a sharp edge if she were to grip the weapon there while still using it like a short spear, or she could hold it by the other end and use them like axes, the way she did now. Hogarth had even edged the blades and spearheads with mithril as well, which allowed her to use them judiciously even without her magic as an aid.


    As it was, her opponent¡¯s large, bladed shield was likely enchanted to resist magic to an extent, which was the only reason her blows had not cleaved it asunder as of yet. Even so, more and more cuts and gouges formed on the surface of the shield, as the void-clad blades of her weapons struck the shield relentlessly.


    While she kept her opponent on the backfoot throughout the fight, it was practically a stalemate, as Gr¨¹nhildr couldn¡¯t breach her opponent¡¯s defense either, until a while later she got an idea to turn the tables.


    After she made her opponent parry a blow from her left-hand axe, she stabbed down with the spearhead just below her grip on the other hand. The void-coated spearhead found an already weakened section of the shield and pierced through, roughly by the middle, and the pained scream from her opponent told Gr¨¹nhildr that she had guessed right.


    She violently yanked her weapon¡¯s lower end to the left and right, which elicited more screams from her opponent, before she hooked the left side of the massive shield with the underside of the crescent blade of her weapon and pulled it away.


    It moved out of her way this time.


    Her opponent failed to keep hold of the shield because she had mangled his left hand with her previous strike just now. His armor was clearly not as well-enchanted as his shield, as her spearhead had pierced through it and severed three of his fingers before it carved deep into his hand.


    Despite his hand¡¯s condition, her opponent still tried to fight back as he went for a short sword carried on his belt with his one remaining healthy hand. Unfortunately for him, Gr¨¹nhildr was faster and kicked that hand hard with her steel-toed boots. The resulting impact made a crunching noise, and she saw how two of his fingers seemed twisted and broken as he screamed in more pain.


    Then Gr¨¹nhildr kicked the knight¡¯s chest and made him lay on his back, as she pointed one of her weapons¡¯ spearhead straight at his throat, the entire spearhead coated with the jet-black sheen of void magic, which promised nothing but oblivion should the knight try to resist.


    The knight beneath her feet seemed to have understood his predicament, as with obvious pain, he raised his mangled hands and raised them up in a gesture of surrender. The rest of the matter was no longer Gr¨¹n¡¯s to worry about, as a couple of mercenaries that had stayed back to support her and Elfriede came over and quickly tied up the knight to be taken as a captive.


    After all, she heard the knight was the son of a Duchess, and those sorts always had a healthy ransom on their heads, best taken alive rather than dead for that reason whenever possible. Such ransoms were later divided between the Company - who facilitated the prisoner trade - and her as the one who caught the prisoner should it be agreed upon.


    Her job done, Gr¨¹n took another glance to see how her old friend was doing, and was delighted to see that she was just about finished as well.

 Chapter 131 - A Difference in Mentalities

    ¡°You wonder why so many nobles who trained in the martial arts since young would often perform horribly in a real battle?


    Honestly, that question had a simple answer. More often than not, they simply lacked the experience. Training, no matter how skilled your tutors might be, as well as spars could not replace actual experience with battles where your very life and death was at stake, and all too often those who had never been exposed to it got cold feet once they met the real thing.


    This mostly happens with the richer kids in the inland provinces, mind you. Those on the border know all too well of the folly of having inexperienced kids who were groomed in a glasshouse take the field. Instead, they give their children harsh training often straight at the frontlines from young. Most young nobles from the borders had earned their first kill the hard way by the time they turned fourteen.¡± - Duke Stef Agazy, of the Sevral Duchy, Clangeddin Empire, circa 480 VA.


    Elfriede couldn¡¯t help but smirk as she ducked under another of her opponent¡¯s slashes, far enough that even the bladed invisible limbs that clawed for her completely missed. To most, such a trick to use magic to extend the reach of one¡¯s blade might have caught them off guard, especially given the invisible nature of said extended reach.


    To Elfriede however, it was plain as day. She quickly deduced that her opponent was a fellow wind affinity mage, one who had channeled his skills into a way to further his swordsmanship. It was honestly a valid method, to condense the wind into invisible blades much like the common wind blades most offensively inclined wind mages did, and then attach them to his weapon to use as an extension of the blade.


    Most people would not have noticed a thing until they were cut, and while most mages worth their salt might have caught the fluctuations of mana, they would have been uncertain as to the form and shape it took. Unfortunately for her opponent, Elfriede ¡°saw¡± what he did with extreme clarity, and easily avoided the blade, invisible extensions and all.


    Where her opponent had channeled his magic and mana to an offensive purpose, hers were focused mostly on a perceptive path instead, as the magical sense she relied on to get around was merely an application of her magic, one that she had now honed through over two decades of constant usage.


    She had felt every little twitch of her opponent¡¯s muscles through those senses, from which she could interpolate the trajectory his blade would have taken and avoided it preemptively. The invisible blades of wind around his oversized sword¡¯s blade was glaringly perceptible to her, as their form was also reliant on the wind to form.


    Whereas a wind mage trained and skilled in the more orthodox techniques might have tried to unravel or unmake the wind blades, Elfriede had no such thoughts. The only thing it had done was to make her avoid the blades with more of a margin to account for the movement of the invisible blades. Movements that had dulled and lessened, as her opponent could no longer focus on the offense for a while now.


    Elfriede¡¯s own blades, despite their mithril coating, were not exactly capable of slicing through well-made plate armor like what her opponent wore. Even if they managed it, they were more likely to be stuck in the process, which was something she would prefer to avoid. On the other hand, her opponent¡¯s similarly constructed weapon would likely have cleaved clean through her gambeson, her flesh and bones, and out the other side with little difficulty.


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    That assumed that they ever managed to land a proper hit, though. Something Elfriede made difficult with her skilled movements, evasive steps that had long been ingrained into her reflexes.


    Most likely it had something to do with how during the years after she had left the Holy Kingdom and before she joined the Free Lances, Gr¨¹n was her daily sparring partner. Spars with a void mage like her ingrained some habits into Elfriede¡¯s fighting style, like how she simply would not block a strike unless it was unavoidable, preferring evasion or parries by far. You simply do not block a void-clad blade unless you had some seriously expensive stuff enchanted with anti-magic, period.


    And even those rarely last that long unless they were the really good stuff.


    That way of fighting was in full display as she deftly avoided her opponent¡¯s slashes, with only the occasional parries when he went for a tricky strike. In contrast to how she was practically untouched other than the small nick on her forehead, her opponent¡¯s platemail showed marks and shallow cuts on many places where Elfriede¡¯s blades had struck home. He had managed to avoid any injury so far, but that was partly because he was lucky. One of the strikes had stopped a tiny distance away from a seam between two plates.


    The man was skilled, Elfriede would give him that. He wielded his overlong blade expertly and knew not to overcommit on his strikes, which prevented her from exploiting openings as often as she would have liked, but in the end, his training and the way he fought felt more like a knight having an honor duel before his liege and a large audience, where they would have stopped at first blood traditionally.


    While his strikes sometimes had lethal aim, more often than not they felt like they just tried to land a hit regardless of the effectiveness of such a hit. Her opponent was good enough to cover such flaws with quick defensive moves or relying on his well-crafted armor, but they were there.


    In contrast, Elfriede never learned how to fight properly. All she ever learned was how to kill, and that included things that would have been frowned upon hard by those who considered themselves a more civilized part of society. Doubly so for stuck-up nobles like the one she was against.


    As she leaned back to avoid one of his slashes, Elfriede lowered her left arm to the ground, seemingly for support, but in actuality to scoop up a bit of the sandy soil using the crescent blade affixed to her weapon¡¯s handguard. As she lithely returned to full height, she tossed the sand over her opponent¡¯s helmet, aimed at his eye slits specifically.


    The surprised noble gave an incongruent yell of outrage and annoyance and he jerked backwards in surprise, some of the sand likely having landed on his eyes, and Elfriede had not wasted the chance. She kept the man¡¯s blade at bay as she caught it between the point and the scythe-like extension of her own left-hand blade, while she pressed close to make it difficult for him to maneuver with his oversized weapon.


    Her right hand flipped the weapon into a reverse grip, and she used the short dagger built into the pommel to accurately stab into the gap of armor at the man¡¯s armpit. She stabbed upwards this time rather than sidewards, since the man looked like he would be worth more alive than dead, and was rewarded with a pained squeal as her mithril-edged weapon pierced through the chainmail her opponent wore underneath his plate armor and into his flesh.


    Then Elfriede pulled the weapon out, and jabbed the point of the blade into the man¡¯s other elbow, which made him drop his sword. She quickly caught the falling weapon with the tip of her shoes and kicked it up where she caught it with her left hand and stored it into her storage artifact. Reinhardt had lent her one of the large ones she found from their night raid a week ago.


    Other mercenaries who kept watch in case their support was needed quickly rushed forward and tied up the injured noble like a hog as they all returned to the path kept open by both the Free Lances and the young Duchess¡¯ knights. The rest of the Company had went ahead, so Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr exchanged a look before they pursued after them.

 Chapter 132 - Priorities to be Chosen

    ¡°To go into battle and accomplish everything you planned to do beforehand was a pipe dream in the vast majority of cases. In general, it was already good if you could accomplish some of the goals planned for a battle, as the generally chaotic nature of warfare made it difficult to do more than that.


    As such, one of the first things a military commander learned was how to choose between their goals, which to prioritize on and which to give up, all during the ever-changing situation in the heat of an ongoing battle. These decisions more often than not are what led a military unit to ruins or riches.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    ¡°Resistance¡¯s pretty stiff, Your Grace, and we might be running out of time soon,¡± said Reinhardt to the young Duchess who marched right beside him, as they were the two commanders who led this foray into the enemy camp. The young Duchess¡¯ assistants, her senior Knight-Captains, had organized those who defended their way back out, to ensure a safe retreat for the detachment. ¡°Which would you rather prioritize? The mages or the siege engines?¡±


    ¡°The siege engines,¡± said the young Duchess after a moment of thought. While Reinhardt knew that Andrea Utghwes was trained in the path of knighthood since young - like every other heir of Dvergarder - it still surprised Reinhardt somewhat to see the young Duchess happily join in on the dirty work herself. Then again, she had also led the cavalry charges from the front. ¡°Doable? Or would you rather advocate we retreat?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s doable,¡± replied Reinhardt with some fondness. Most employers would not have bothered to ask for his opinions, and might have just ordered a charge regardless of the situation, as many saw mercenaries as expendables. That the young Duchess not only treated them properly but also asked for and weighed his opinions was a rare thing, especially amongst noble employers. ¡°I¡¯ll have to order our best shieldbearers off to lead that charge, though, so it¡¯ll fall to the rest of us to distract and keep the mages busy.¡±


    ¡°Count me and my knights in on that,¡± replied the young Duchess with firm resolve that brooked no disagreement. While many of the knights had strung themselves thin to secure the way out of the encampment, a group of twenty-four - four knight squads if Reinhardt recalled the organization used in Dvergarder right - followed closely behind the young Duchess, likely her personal guards. ¡°Just get me those siege engines.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt. He then passed on some orders, and almost immediately, the mercenary force shifted directions. Where before they had pressed hard towards the mages and forced them to pull back and thus cease their harassment for the time being, the spearhead of the formation shifted towards the siege engines, and quickly pushed halfway there before the defenders realized the shift happened.


    At the same time, Reinhardt himself led the other half of his mercenaries, alongside the young Duchess, as they charged hard towards the mages, to keep them from bombarding the flanks of Mischka¡¯s detachment, which headed for the siege engines under his orders.


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    Under the threat, the mage cadre further distanced themselves as their guards did what they could to halt the charging mercenaries and knights in place. The mages climbed up a small hill in the camp in their retreat, and used the height to gain a proper line of sight to the assault force once more. A magical bombardement ensued shortly afterward.


    Reinhardt had to duck and roll under a bolt of lightning aimed his way. He glanced back and saw that the others behind him had also seen the bolt coming, and Zyd had taken the blow on his shield. He seemed mostly unharmed, though the way his hair and beard stood on end was a tad hilarious to witness.


    Then he saw a large lance of ice - an oversized icicle, really - aimed his way, and Reinhardt simply swung his polemace at the projectile with all his might instead. The mace struck the icicle right at its point, and it broke into a rain of relatively harmless hail that pelted him as well as those nearby.


    To his side, he saw the young Duchess take a fireball to her kite shield, but stood her ground. Her armor and shield were likely enchanted to various degrees, as he saw little more than a scorch mark on her shield once the dust cleared. She was then forced to take a couple steps back when a lance of stone struck towards her.


    She blocked the lance with her shield, but the forceful impact still left a dent on it, and forced the young Duchess to step back until two of her knights caught her from behind and helped her steady herself. With the mages on a higher vantage point, they were left free to rain down magical attacks towards the mercenaries and the knights below, while their guards formed into a line at the foot of the hill to prevent them from charging through.


    The bombardment was getting worse, and Reinhardt saw that they already caused some casualties amongst the knights and mercenaries. His own force of archers were outside the encampment, as they helped the majority of their forces in keeping the Central forces busy on the battlefield. Salicia had come with them, but she had split off early on to take down the archers stationed on the camp¡¯s many watchtowers and used them as firing platforms for herself. Given the distance between their location and the watchtowers, they were likely outside her range.


    He was just about to ask the young Duchess if they should begin a fighting retreat - from a glance he took, he saw a couple of the siege engines already burning, so Mischka¡¯s people were working on those already - when the situation changed once more. His keen eyes noted an all-too-familiar, tiny portal form high above the hill where the mages were, and from there, several large, thick arrows flew out.


    The arrows took the mages by surprise, and out of the ten arrows that emerged from the portal, nine of them struck fatally. The last mage targeted by the arrows managed to react and tried to get out of the way, so she only took an arrow to the back of her knee rather than one through the head or the heart.


    They had plenty of effect however, as the panicked mages immediately ceased their bombardment and tried to escape to the other side of the hill, convinced that they were in the sights of an expert archer. Reinhardt and the young Duchess both saw what happened, and immediately exchanged a glance.


    ¡°If Your Grace wished to take the mages out as well, we should push the charge while they¡¯re in disarray,¡± said Reinhardt immediately.¡±Sal¡¯s can¡¯t keep it up for much longer, so we either strike while the iron is hot, or use this opportunity to retreat.¡±


    ¡°Then we strike,¡± said the young Duchess decisively as she gestured a charge towards her knights. She herself ran alongside Reinhardt as they charged at the defensive line at the foot of the hill. ¡°And what do you mean she can¡¯t keep it up much longer?¡±


    ¡°Despite her skill, Sal¡¯s not much of a mage. Poor mana capacity, as they often said,'''' explained Reinhardt even as he smashed a soldier¡¯s spear aside and bashed the man¡¯s arms in the same movement. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her do like a dozen shots through such portals at most, so she already burned most of her mana with those ten.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll make this quick and not waste the chance she gave us.¡±

 Chapter 133 - Mages on the Backfoot

    ¡°Two things separate good commanders from the rest: To know when things had stacked up in their favor and exploit the moment for all it was worth, and to know when it was time to call it quits and beat a retreat. Those who failed to comprehend these would remain mediocre at best throughout their lives.¡± - Androsinus Diogenes Sextus, General during the later periods of the First Elmaiya Empire, best known for conquering half of the Western Isles for the Empire.


    ¡°We¡¯re through, get them!¡± commanded the young Duchess as she bashed the edge of her shield against the face of a Central soldier while she kept the man¡¯s sword bound to her axe. The man reeled from her flow with a bleeding nose, but Andrea refused to let up. With a twist of her hand, she wrenched the man¡¯s sword from his grip while she struck at the man¡¯s nose once more, this time with the corner of her shield.


    Something cracked and snapped inside the man¡¯s head under her blow, and the soldier dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, his entire nose driven into his face from the strike. She looked up and saw another Central soldier charging at her from the left, and had just raised her shield to face the man when he was suddenly barreled over as another soldier was bodily thrown against him.


    Andrea saw how the other soldier was already coughing up pink frothy blood even as he fell on his compatriot, and that his chest looked as if it had been caved in. Her guess proved correct when Reinhardt stepped out next to her the next moment and struck down with his polemace - an odd, yet brutally effective weapon, she thought - as he directly crushed the heads of the fallen soldiers before they managed to extricate themselves from the situation they were in.


    ¡°Roger that,¡± said Reinhardt, who had apparently heard the young Duchess¡¯ command just earlier. He had not disagreed with it, since it was indeed a chance to damage if not entirely disable the enemy¡¯s mage cadre, which was not likely to come often. ¡°How many of your knights can you spare for an assault, Your Grace?¡±


    ¡°Two squads,¡± replied the young Duchess after a quick glance at her knights. Some of them had taken bad hits from the magical barrage early on, while a few more were injured during their charge just now. ¡°I¡¯m not taking the injured to deal with mages.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. Then he turned to face his troops and whistled loudly, shortly after which several others came to him for commands. ¡°Sera, you got all of Friede¡¯s group with you no? Get them here. Fatimah, I want you to pick your best killers. We¡¯re going mage-hunting. Lars, you have command until I get back. Keep our escape route secured.¡±


    Both Ylisera and Fatimah nodded at Reinhardt¡¯s command, then left to fetch their people. They returned a scant minute or so later, and together with the young Duchess and her dozen knights, they grouped up and climbed the hill as they chased the mage cadre that had taken shelter behind the hill after Salicia¡¯s arrows scared them off.


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    A younger mage peeked out from behind the hilltop and saw their approach, yet she never got to voice a warning, for as soon as she stood up from behind the cover of the hill, a small portal opened and another oversized arrow flew through it. The arrow took the young woman through the throat, and she fell with her hands clutching the arrow in a futile attempt to keep death at bay.


    Because of that, when they crossed the top of the hill, they caught the remainder of the mage cadre - roughly twenty people - by surprise, as they had hunkered down out of sight on the other side of the hill in fear of an arrow claiming their lives like it had killed the others.


    The surprised mages were flustered by the appearance of the group of knights and mercenaries, and only some of them gathered their wits enough to launch attacks at them. Even so, it was far from enough to halt the momentum of the group¡¯s charge towards them.


    One of the mages caused a series of stone spikes to sprout out from the ground before Reinhardt, but he simply leapt on top of the spikes, and used them as a platform to launch himself into a jump that took him the rest of the way to the mages. Behind him, the nimbler ones amongst the group repeated the feat, while the rest simply hopped over the obstacle.


    Another mage cast a blade of wind towards him, which he simply took head-on. He twisted so that most of the wind blade struck the armor plate over his torso, where it dissipated harmlessly and only felt like someone tried to punch him. The rest struck his left arm, and while it managed to cut through his gambeson and fur, it only left a shallow wound on his muscular arm.


    Reinhardt cushioned his landing somewhat as he landed directly on a portly mage. The mage underneath him likely had not shared the sentiment, however, as the impact not only drove him to the ground on his back, but also left him with the contents of his abdomen spilling out from a gruesome wound, as Reinhardt had not missed the opportunity to rake the man¡¯s belly with the claws on his feet.


    He swung his polemace towards an older mage to his left, only to find his strike blocked by a stone wall conjured by the mage. As the mage¡¯s attention was on him, however, he failed to notice the lithe form that landed behind him, and Reinhardt only caught the glint from a swing before the stone wall collapsed to reveal the headless body of that same mage, still standing on the same spot.


    Ylisera traded him a wink as she struck at another mage close by. The mage cadre was mostly young and relatively inexperienced. Most of them had no idea on how to defend themselves properly at such close ranges, which was a sign of poor training, or of a life mostly spent in comfort and safety.


    Reinhardt saw Fatimah and her men descend on those mages like wolves assaulting a flock of sheep, as they struck with their weapons and reaped their lives in silent efficiency. The slaughter had not taken long, no more than a minute or two since the mixed group had crested the hill at most, yet the remnants of the mage cadre had already been driven to a rout.


    By the time the young Duchess and her knights reached them - they ran a bit slower since they were weighed down by their armor and lacked the agility to simply leap over things the way Reinhardt¡¯s people had done - the last mage was just put down by Fatimah with a throw of her short spear, which took the escaping mage in the back and sent him down to the ground. The woman then approached to retrieve her spear as well as the head of the mage.


    ¡°You¡¯re a bit late to the party, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a smile to the young Duchess as she reached him. ¡°We¡¯re just about done.¡±

 Chapter 134 - Retreat to Fight Another Day

    ¡°Pulling off an orderly retreat is about as hard as winning a battle beautifully.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°I¡¯d say it looks like a good time for us to beat a retreat, Your Grace. They¡¯re pulling their troops back from the main battle. They could take us down piecemeal before the rest of the forces we came to help caught up with them,¡± said Reinhardt as he took a chance to check the situation of the battlefield from the top of the hill the enemy mage cadre died on. ¡°What would you say?¡±


    ¡°Lend me the spyglass for a bit?¡± asked the young Duchess. Reinhardt wordlessly passed her the spyglass and waited as she took a look at the battlefield for herself. After a moment of thought, the young Duchess returned the spyglass to him and nodded. ¡°I concur, Captain, let us retreat then. Are the siege engines taken care of?¡±


    ¡°As you can see,¡± said Reinhardt while he pointed at the burning forms of the siege engines. The closest few had already burned down to rubble and ashes, and only the further ones kept their shape still. In the distance he spotted the bulky forms of Mischka and her detachment as they pulled a fighting retreat back towards where their main force was. ¡°I doubt they¡¯d be able to make any patchwork ones out of what¡¯s left of those.¡±


    This time around, Reinhardt had Mischka¡¯s group carry extra jars of combustible oils just for burning down those siege engines. They had no lack of it since such oils were used to fuel the more mundane lanterns in the army encampment, and the young Duchess had easily agreed to the request as well.


    ¡°Make it so, then, Captain,¡± said the young Duchess with a nod as they both ran down the hill and regrouped with their forces. Reinhardt followed the command with several shrill whistles into the enchanted command whistle he used, and was satisfied to see his people react promptly to the signals. ¡°Good work today.¡±


    Once everyone had regrouped, they traced their path back out from the encampment, which was a relatively easy task, as most of their forces had stretched thin to secure the way out. Before too long they had regathered themselves outside the walls of the encampment, where everyone did a quick count of their people even while the knights mounted their horses.


    They had lost around one people in twenty, while more than one in ten sported injuries, but considering the amount of damage they¡¯ve done to the enemy encampment, it was overall a good raid. Reinhardt had gathered his smaller group and headed towards where the rest of the forces from the South kept the Central forces at bay, while the young Duchess had other plans.


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    ¡°Lend me Soledad for a bit. I¡¯m going to take my knights and strike their flanks so our troops can break contact, then we pull a general retreat,¡± she had said before they parted. At the same time, the young Duchess also tasked Reinhardt to help lead the retreat towards the east, where their allies from Algenverr and the forces of Fort Kazka were located.


    It was an arrangement Reinhardt had agreed on. Soledad and her group was relatively fresh as they had guarded the area near the entrance they made into the encampment, whereas the rest of the group that came with him were somewhat fatigued after the sprint they performed to reach the encampment alongside the cavalry.


    While Reinhardt brought Lars back to the rear of the army fighting on the southern flank, where the Company¡¯s archers and slingers were located, guarded by the rest of the mercenaries that had not joined the charge at the encampment, The cavalry under the young Duchess¡¯ lead rushed towards the battle lines.


    They struck the fighting Central faction¡¯s troops from the side, and quickly threw their formation into chaos in their passing. Since by then the signal for an orderly retreat had been given, the soldiers freed from their opponents quickly took advantage of the chaos to break free from those they fought against and withdrew in an orderly manner.


    ¡°Lars, go and help coordinate the retreat with the others,¡± said Reinhardt as soon as they reached the rest of the Company. While they were somewhat tired from the run, they were in good enough shape to fight some more, while some even carried the injured and the few prisoners they captured along with them. ¡°I¡¯ll lead the retreat from this side. We¡¯ll evacuate the wounded and those we rescued first.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Cap,¡± replied Lars with a salute as he left to coordinate with the other commanders. In their assault of the encampment, the mercenaries had also found captives in one of the tents they passed. There were not many of them, barely half a dozen, likely people with high enough standing to be ransomed by the looks of them, so they simply carried them away as well.


    Those captives sported various kinds of injuries, though their wounds were treated quite well, and they didn¡¯t seem to be mistreated during their captivity. One of them, a young woman with the characteristic brown skin of the northern regions who had bandages wrapped over her forehead and left eye, seemed to be the one in charge between them, and she approached Reinhardt once they started to retreat.


    ¡°Many thanks for the rescue, Sir,¡± said the young woman.


    ¡°It¡¯s just part of the work we¡¯re paid to do, though I¡¯ll admit it was more a coincidence that the tent you¡¯re kept in happened to be right next to the path we took,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly. The withdrawal had proceeded smoothly so far, as the Central forces chose not to pursue, as they were wary of being caught in a pincer attack from the east and south. The young Duchess and her cavalry had also joined them in retreat, after they fought their way through enemy lines and back out, though they were still a bit behind them at the moment. ¡°You are?¡±


    ¡°Miriam Levan-Tovmund, Sir. I shall convey this debt of kindness to my Uncle the Duke,¡± replied the young woman with a nod and a smile. Reinhardt had expected her to be a noble, but not one so closely related to the Duke himself. Then again, the border duchies do seem to have that habit of training their progeny as knights and leading from the front. ¡°I am certain that he will remunerate your services generously.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I like to hear,¡± replied Reinhardt with a spreading smile on his miens.

 Chapter 135 - The Situation Up North

    ¡°The first thing you do when you meet with friendly forces who have been in the region for a longer period of time is to get them to brief you on the situation. No amount of reports or hearsay could match a proper briefing from the people who had been fighting for their lives all the time, even if they could supplement the information later.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    The battle soon came to an end for the day as both sides retreated to their respective encampments. Reinhardt expected that the mood at the Central camp must be a dour one, compared to the celebratory, revelry mood that swept through the defenders¡¯ encampment when their forces arrived from the battlefield. One look at the defenders told the tale of people who had been in a hard, yet nearly hopeless fight for a while, given a new life thanks to their intervention.


    ¡°We cannot thank you enough for your timely assistance, Your Grace,¡± said a tall, burly, bearded man who was easily identifiable as a southerner from his nearly charcoal-black skin tone. The man was the current acting commander for the forces at Fort Kazka, formerly the second in command, as their commander had been killed in action during a daring foray several days ago. ¡°We shall always remember this debt of life.¡±


    The words he said to the young Duchess might have been mistaken for an attempt at brown-nosing at first glance, but Reinhardt could tell from the man¡¯s voice and body language that he was completely sincere. Considering the sorry situation the northern front had been in, he was not surprised at the sincerity either.


    ¡°We only did what we ought to do,¡± said the young Duchess humbly as she shrugged off the praise. Like Reinhardt, she had looked around the encampment the moment she entered, to get a look at the situation at hand, and like him, her brows had scrunched up at the poor situation they both saw. ¡°Who is in command on this front at the moment? It would be good if we could arrange the strategies and command chain on the double.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Understood, Your Grace. If you would so kindly wait at the command tent for a moment I will have the commanders fetched for a meeting right away,¡± said the burly commander of Fort Kazka with some evident nervousness in his voice. Neither Reinhardt nor the young Duchess missed that hint of nervousness.


    ¡°That does not sound encouraging,¡± whispered Reinhardt as they headed towards the command tent together with the other commanders from the south, namely the detachment commander from Fort Kuzi, Dame Illasvey, and two of the young Duchess¡¯ senior Knight-Captains.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t. We¡¯ll see what the situation is like soon, I guess,¡± she replied with a nod to his words.


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    In the end, they had not waited long, as within fifteen minutes the acting commander of Fort Kazka returned, along with two faces Reinhardt recognized. Ser du Riffons of the Silver Eagles looked the worse for wear, with a bloody bandage wrapped around his forehead, though from the looks of it, it was an older wound as the blood looked caked up and dry. The scuffed and dented look of his armor told more of the tale as well.


    Representing the Spears of Ostvin was a large therian man that resembled a jackal - which was a rare thing for one of his breed - which if he recalled right was the second in command of the Company. The lack of presence of their erstwhile Captain meant that the man was likely either incapacitated or worse, since Reinhardt doubted he would have dared to skip the summons otherwise.


    Behind them, came two others, who were both helped into the tent by others, as they clearly had difficulty walking in on their own. The first one was a sickly-looking young man, who was wheeled in on a wheelchair by a soldier, both his legs tied to splints and kept immobile. The other one was a woman around the young Duchess¡¯ age who walked with the help of a crutch - her left leg was bandaged quite heavily - and had her right arm supported by a sling, with a visible bruise on her face.


    ¡°Gris? Damien? What happened to you two!?¡± asked the young Duchess in visible surprise when she saw the two injured people. She clearly had known them well enough to refer to them by first name, which made Reinhardt guess that the two were likely nobles as well, since the nobles of the same generation in the region usually knew each other.


    ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re doing better than us, Andrea,¡± said the woman of the pair. She then looked at the gathered commanders with a somewhat melancholic look before she continued. ¡°I got jumped by the bastard siblings from Gestis. Barely made it out, if at cost, as you can see.¡±


    ¡°As for Damien, his horse fell on him,¡± added the injured woman almost as an afterthought.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯d be happy to hear that we got the two in captivity then,¡± said Andrea with a smirk on her face. ¡°We got them in the assault earlier, and freed a few others we found along the way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I met Miriam already. She gave her thanks.¡±


    ¡°Why are you and Damien here? I had heard it was supposed to be Nestor who leads the reinforcements from Algenverr?¡± asked Andrea with some obvious curiosity in her tone. Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez was the eldest son and heir to the Duchess of Algenverr, and an accomplished general on his own rights. The information they received stated that he was supposed to be commanding the reinforcements from the north.


    ¡°The Centrals attacked our way as well, shortly after we sent that news,¡± said the injured woman. Griselda Kris el-Geroulaz was a noble scion of her own right, as she hailed from the Barony of Gerouz, to the east of Algenverr. The small barony, part of the Clangeddin Empire, had successfully colonized the eastern reaches of the swamplands that separated the regions, and had an informal alliance with the Duchy of Algenverr over the years. ¡°Nestor had to stay back to lead the battle there, so they sent Damien first, then I came later after the situation in the north stabilized some.


    Griselda was also Nestor¡¯s Fiancee, a further tie to bind down the alliance between the powers, especially now since the countries to which both Algenverr and Gerouz belonged to were caught in the throes of civil war. The main reason Andrea had been surprised at Griselda¡¯s injured state was because she knew the woman to be a skilled warrior herself, and had not expected her to be that badly off from the fighting.


    ¡°Well¡­ damn. That explains a lot I guess. Let¡¯s get this meeting in order first then. We have a lot to talk about.¡±

 Chapter 136 - The Larger Picture

    ¡°Due to the nature of the geography of the northern continent, battles usually broke out between multiple smaller states rather than large ones, which by default led to military coalitions and alliances. Often, the forces of said coalitions and alliances fall under the issue of having too many commanders at the helm and fell into infighting before the battle even takes place.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    ¡°So to summarize, the forces we face here are mostly from Gestis and Lovia-Hosberg, with only token forces from Kolitschei and Wanarua, correct?¡± asked Andrea Utghwes, the young Duchess of Dvergarder, as she collated the information the northern forces provided to her. Miriam, the young noblewoman they had rescued from the enemy camp, had also joined them in the command tent, as it turned out she was in command of the reinforcements sent from Jonkver. ¡°And the main forces of those two Duchies are hitting Algenverr as we speak?¡±


    ¡°Nestor had things in hand at the wall, but that was the situation when I left,¡± replied Griselda with a nod. The ¡°Wall¡± was an euphemism for a long stretch of forts connected to each other by walls built on the west side of Algenverr. With the long history of bad blood between the Duchy and its nearest neighbors, they did not even have to pretend it was for any other purpose than to guard against them. ¡°As far as we could tell it was mostly a diversionary assault. They did not really put their backs into it.¡±


    ¡°They did the same in Dvergarder. Bostvan must¡¯ve bought the Barony next door over to let them pass through their lands,¡± said the young Duchess with a nod. Reinhardt had not heard of those news, but from how calmly she said it, he guessed that it must have been a non-serious issue. ¡°Dad crushed them the moment they stepped foot into our lands, but they sure retreated fast. Likely planned to be a diversion as well, we guessed.¡±


    ¡°Diversions to the north and south meant they had seriously aimed for us in Jonkver then,¡± said Miriam as she perused the map, which now had extra tokens placed on it to represent the battles that took place in Dvergarder and Algenverr. ¡°If you total the amount they sent between here and at Kuzi, it¡¯s a good eighty thousand, more than enough to break through our defenses, I would say.¡±


    ¡°The forces from Bostvan we faced at Fort Kuzi didn¡¯t seem as dogged as these ones here, from what I can tell. There were plenty of them, sure, but they didn¡¯t seem too¡­ motivated to go into battle,¡± added the officer who commanded the detachment from Fort Kuzi. ¡°More like they were just¡­ doing their obligations.¡±


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    ¡°They weren¡¯t the best Duke Emil has to offer, yeah,¡± said Andrea with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve seen his elites before. They were nowhere in sight, neither at Fort Kuzi nor at Dvergarder. The vast majority of what we dealt with were peasant conscripts with a backbone of some trained soldiers, and little more than that.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense if you think about it,¡± chimed Damien in from the side. He had a bit of difficulty getting a good look at the map from his wheelchair, and was nowhere near as accomplished a warrior and general as his older brother, but he was no beginner either. ¡°Bostvan is to the south-west, the furthest away from our three territories. If they do manage to conquer Jonkver and open our flanks for further assaults, they would be the worst positioned to benefit from it. The other four on the other hand had far more to gain as they¡¯re much closer to us. Wouldn¡¯t surprise me if Duke Emil only sent a large but weak force to show his participation without actually committing his elites.¡±


    ¡°Notwithstanding old animosities between our lands,¡± added Griselda as an afterthought. ¡°Gestis, Wanarua, and Kolitschei pretty much hated our collective guts, and Lovia-Hosberg usually just tagged along with those three. Bostvan¡¯s got less of a history of animosity between us by comparison.¡±


    ¡°Did you find out who¡¯s in charge of the enemy forces here?¡± asked Andrea to the other commanders. ¡°I know we caught the siblings from Gestis, but those two are more warriors and less generals. At least, unless their old hag is mad, she wouldn¡¯t have put them in charge of a military force, much less an army this size.¡±


    ¡°It used to be Gertrude von Lovia in charge, at least, that was when they first came,¡± said Damien with a guilty look on his face. ¡°Things actually went pretty well when we fought against her, but four days into the battle, she caught an arrow in the face. Then things went to shit.¡±


    ¡°So whoever took over was smarter than that old bat, huh?¡± asked Andrea with a raised eyebrow. She was familiar with the name Damien mentioned, a younger sister to the current Duke of Lovia-Hosberg, with knightly motivations but no great prowess in either combat or strategies.


    ¡°You can say that again,¡± replied Griselda to the question. ¡°Maurizio took over for his dead aunt, and he¡¯s got a mean streak going. He¡¯s kept us on the backfoot for the past couple of weeks and pushed us hard while he maintained the bombardment nonstop, and we were running out of options already. At least, until you came and burned his toys. Nice work, that.¡±


    Maurizio von Lovia-Hosberg was the second son of the current Duke, and one Andrea was familiar with, as he had made a name for himself as a competent military commander, if often disparaged by others for his often ¡°unknightly¡± conduct in battle. As a military woman though, she knew all too well that victory spoke louder than anything else, and facing someone who was willing to pull all the stops for it was far worse than dealing with an old bat who was firmly entrenched in the ideas of chivalry.


    ¡°So we got one of the best generals in the Central faction breathing down our necks, though his army¡¯s pretty weakened by now,¡± said the young Duchess as she thought on the matter. ¡°Any suggestions on how to best cut off the head of this snake, anyone?¡±

 Chapter 137 - Measures of the Desperate

    ¡°It was always easiest to fight someone who considered honor to be more important than anything else. Those types were always easy to fool and tended to fall into ploys. On the other hand, it was always the worst when you had to deal with one of those madmen who would do anything for victory¡¯s sake.


    After all, you never know what they would subject their own people to for that purpose.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°He had fought conservatively over the time we dealt with him, but then again, he had the advantage with those siege engines back then,¡± said Griselda with a frown. ¡°Now that he had lost that advantage, I have no idea what he might resort to, especially if the rumors we heard up north were true.¡±


    ¡°What rumors?¡± asked Andrea with furrowed eyebrows. Lovia-Hosberg was the northernmost of the central duchies, far closer to Algenverr than to Dvergarder, and naturally rumors from there flowed slowly towards the south.


    ¡°Right, you probably didn¡¯t hear much of them down south,¡± replied Griselda. ¡°We caught wind that supposedly Maurizio was losing favor with his family, and that this assault would likely be his last chance to win his way back into their good graces, so there¡¯s no telling how far he¡¯d strive for a victory against us.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why would he be out of their good graces?¡± asked the young Duchess with evident surprise. ¡°I don¡¯t know him that well but I don¡¯t recall hearing reports about conflict between him and the Heir, or other family members.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rather recent development, after this bloody war started,¡± said Damien in support of his future sister-in-law. ¡°It was mostly rumors, so we had not spread it around, but we heard that he might have dabbled in some¡­ unethical alchemical experiments. Involving potions that would make a common man turn into a fearless soldier that felt no pain.¡±


    ¡°Combat drugs aren¡¯t a new thing,¡± said Guillaume du Riffons from the side with a frown on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it in use myself from time to time, though most of the time they¡¯re used by desperate people trying to buy time. Most people who imbibes them usually lose control of themselves though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, the rumors claimed that the drug Maurizio developed supposedly allowed its drinker to retain their rationality enough to follow orders,¡± replied Griselda with a frown. ¡°Of course, such drugs would have required human experimentation, which might be why he fell out of good grace with his family. They might be trying to cut him off to spare themselves the scandal.¡±


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    ¡°If he had such effective drugs though, he would not have kept quiet about it,¡± refuted Reinhardt from where he stood next to the other mercenary commanders. ¡°Unless there are some negative side-effects to its usage, which means that he might not dare to make use of it unless it¡¯s a last resort.¡±


    ¡°That lined up with what I know about such unguents as well,¡± added Dame Illasvey to the conversation. ¡°Many of those combat drugs were literal last resorts because even if you didn¡¯t die in battle while fighting like a madman under its influence, the drug itself would seriously fuck you up by the time the effect wore off.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ what you¡¯re all saying is that since we now put Maurizio into a corner and snatched the impending victory from his jaws, he might well resort to such things in an attempt to salvage the situation since he¡¯s cornered from within and without, is that right?¡± asked the young Duchess after she put together the information from all the commanders. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to fight more carefully tomorrow then.¡±


    ¡°Also, Gris, I¡¯ve been wondering all this while, but why are your injuries still in such a bad shape? Where in the hells are your healers?¡± she asked her contemporary. Her question was a valid one, as the three border duchies had been where the first movements of the medical revolution started many centuries ago, where healers began to freely share their knowledge with one another and used their abilities in ways that often approached charity, rather than the more predatory practices that were prevalent before and had limited magical healing to the wealthy and influential. At least a few skilled healers were always retained by the respective ducal families.


    ¡°Two are dead. Another three had yet to regain consciousness,¡± replied Griselda with a pained tone of voice as she looked down. ¡°One of the mages on duty that night was drunk and failed in his duty, and despite his apprentice¡¯s efforts, a stone struck our field hospital, where the healers were working at the time.¡±


    ¡°Dammit¡­ please tell me you at least flogged that bastard,¡± grumbled Andrea with a disgusted voice at the dereliction of duty. ¡°Whose man was that mage?¡±


    ¡°One of ours, shameful to say,¡± replied the acting commander from Fort Kazka with what looked like a flush of shame and anger on his dark skin. ¡°He had been problematic and had issues with excessive drinking before, but we had not thought he was so far gone that he¡¯d be so derelict in his duties. We¡¯ve already hung and made an example out of him.¡±


    ¡°Fuck. What¡¯s done is done, I guess. I¡¯ll lend you the healers from my forces, Gris,¡± said the young Duchess with a frown on her face. ¡°Get yourselves fixed tonight, since we¡¯ll probably need everyone we can spare tomorrow if what you said proved true.¡±


    ¡°Roger that, and thanks, Andrea,¡± replied Griselda with a nod. Since her arrival, Andrea had pretty much taken command of the front, which the former commanders on the north had not refuted. After all, they had fared poorly in their battle so far, whereas she had not only finished the fighting on the southern front, but did so quickly enough that she managed to even come to their rescue at an opportune time.


    ¡°As for the rest of you, Have your men get some proper rest for tonight. I want double watches, just in case our opponents get smart and try to hit us in the night,¡± she added. ¡°If nobody else got anything to offer, you¡¯re dismissed.¡±

 Chapter 138 - Adapting to the Worst Case

    ¡°Can¡¯t go wrong with always preparing for the worst. It saves lives.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    ¡°Looks like our worst predictions came true in the end, huh?¡± asked Griselda from where she stood atop the damaged walls of Fort Kazka. They had kept the original defense force of the fort, along with all their cavalry and the four mercenary companies within the fort, while the rest were spread out on the ramparts that spread from the eastern end of the fort.


    The battle started early the next morning, shortly after the troops had their breakfast. That the battle took place was not unexpected, since Andrea tried to offer terms of truce via a letter to the enemy camp the evening before, only to receive no reply whatsoever. What was less expected and unwelcome was the odd way the enemy soldiers looked that morning.


    In general, even trained soldiers often showed some trepidation here and there when they marched into battle, some subtle signs of nervousness or worry, much less when the soldiers in question were mostly conscripted from amongst the peasants of the region. Even as both noblewomen peered into their spyglasses though, they detected no such uncertainty amongst the marching enemy soldiers.


    Instead, it was on the officers¡¯ miens that they spotted the signs of uncertainty and worry, while the soldiers under them all looked too motivated to fight a hard battle instead. Their eyes were reddish and bloodshot, and the way they stared at the defenders at the fort and the ramparts were almost like beasts that eyed their prey before them.


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± nodded Andrea with a frown from beside her fellow noblewomen as she laid down the spyglass. Both of them were clad in full armor, as neither were the sort to hide in the back during a battle. While both kept their weapons inside their storage artifacts for the time being, Griselda¡¯s armor had a rather unusual design, as the forearms of her vambraces flared out to form a pair of bucklers, which showed quite a few signs of abuse. ¡°Got anything in mind?¡±


    ¡°If what Your Grace said yesterday about them still obeying commands is true, then wouldn¡¯t a decapitation strike work?¡± asked Dame Illasvey from beside them. The mercenary leaders - including the acting commander of the Spears of Ostvin - had gathered at the top of the wall to look over the situation together with the other commanders as well. ¡°If we could demoralize their commanders enough for them to sound a retreat that should do the trick, no?¡±


    ¡°The question is whether they were allowed to retreat or not,¡± said Ser Guillaume du Riffons from beside her. The old former knight, well in his fifties, was the oldest and most experienced of the commanders present, and the others knew all too well not to dismiss his advice. ¡°If as the information said the enemy commander is desperate for a victory, then we would need to take him out of the equation first before others might signal a retreat. That might well be far easier said than done, especially if those soldiers down there were drugged up as we suspected.¡±


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    ¡°Probably our best bet for a quick resolution though,¡± said Griselda after some thought. "While I don¡¯t think they would be able to breach our defenses, if all those soldiers are drugged up and fought to the death, we¡¯d probably be little better off than them by the end of the day as well.¡±


    ¡°Think we can afford to let them commit against our lines then try for a quick strike straight for Maurizio¡¯s head?¡± asked the young Duchess after she gave the matter some thought as well. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of a diversionary two-pronged strike with all our cavalry from the north and south gates, followed by a headhunting strike from the west gate.¡±


    ¡°Could work. Would be risky for all parties involved, though. Who do you have in mind to command those?¡± Damien asked from his perch beside his future sister-in-law. Both of their injuries had been fixed overnight by the healers in Andrea¡¯s employ, and the two were fit to fight already.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to lead one myself, so they¡¯d take it seriously,¡± said the young Duchess without preamble. ¡°Damien, I¡¯d like you and Ser du Riffons to lead the other diversionary detachment.¡±


    ¡°That would be a highly risky maneuver, Your Grace,¡± said the old mercenary, with the implications of his words left unsaid. Of course, by then Andrea was more than familiar enough with how they worked that she caught on to it immediately.


    ¡°Of course, Ser du Riffons. We¡¯ll offer quadruple the usual hazard pay for this operation, and a bonus on top,¡± she said swiftly to cut off the older man¡¯s argument. All four mercenary leaders nodded when they heard her mention the price she was willing to offer. After all, to them there was no mission too risky, so long as the price was right. ¡°Captain Edelstein, Ser Aragunis, Dame Illasvey, I¡¯d like your companies to be part of the headhunting detachment. Your people are more skilled in those matters than mine.¡±


    ¡°Agreeable, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod, which was aped by his fellow mercenary captains. ¡°And for our leader?¡±


    ¡°Think you¡¯re up for it, Gris? You¡¯d likely be better for this than Damien. It¡¯ll be risky though,¡± asked the young Duchess.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯ll be a chance for payback for my failure so far. Count me in,¡± said Griselda with a firm nod.


    The group of commanders went down from the wall soon after, as arrows began to be exchanged between the armies. The coalition army from the Central Duchies seemed committed to a full assault that day, and before long, the sounds of battle echoed within the fort.


    Meanwhile, the people designated to take part in the three aforementioned detachments prepared their troops within the fort. Not all of them would participate, though, as they left behind those that were unsuited for the deep strike. Reinhardt left behind his contingent of archer and slingers under Salicia and Egil¡¯s command to help support them from atop the fort¡¯s walls, while the infantry contingent of the Silver Eagles also stayed behind to defend the fort as they could not keep up with their cavalry.


    Other than Reinhardt¡¯s four hundred or so mercenaries, their detachment consisted of the three hundred remaining able combatants of the Janissaries, tasked with harassing the opponents as they passed, roughly another five hundred mixed infantry from the Spears of Ostvin, who would secure their rears, as well as Dame Griselda herself along with a hundred or so of her elites from Algenverr. They would join the Free Lances at the spearhead of their formation.


    A couple hours later, when the battle was well and truly joined, and they had received confirmation aplenty on how the enemy soldiers fought like madmen without a care for their lives, the commanders present decided to throw the dice. The north and south gates of Fort Kazka opened without warning as the two cavalry detachments rushed out from within and charged straight through the throng of maddened Central soldiers.


    After a delay long enough to allow their enemies to react to the sudden development, the western gate also opened up, and Reinhardt led the Free Lances in a vicious charge at the enemy army.

 Chapter 139 - A Hunt Amidst Foes

    ¡°There are generally two types of generals out there. One type relied on their wits, and commanded from the safety of the back lines. These commanders usually managed to get a better understanding and control of the battlefield, at the cost of their troops¡¯ morale, and despite their location on the backlines, were usually susceptible to headhunting strikes from the enemy.


    On the other hand, those commanders who led from the frontlines and fought alongside their soldiers would boost morale by their sheer presence. They might have less awareness and control of the battlefield as a whole due to a worse vantage point, but these people often had instincts honed through battle that allowed them to exploit mistakes in a manner that those who commanded from the back could never match.


    If you thought that a commander¡¯s presence on the frontlines would make them even more susceptible to being taken down, you would be both right and wrong at the same time. Those who dared to lead the charge from the front naturally had the confidence and skills to do that in the first place, and to take them down would be far easier said than done.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°Forward! Don¡¯t stop until we reach that bastard in the back!¡± yelled Reinhardt as he charged ahead with Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr, as well as Lady Griselda beside him. The therian matron¡¯s two children and their respective spouses led the left and right flanks of their formation alongside the best of the Company¡¯s shieldbearers, as they charged forward to lead the way.


    Their formation took on the shape of a blunted wedge, with the shieldbearers as the frontal flanks of the formation, where they simply utilized their bulk and momentum to shove the enemies away to allow for those behind them to pass through. The center of the wedge was where those who were best suited for carving a path through the enemy lines like Mischka and Gr¨¹nhildr and their respective teams were positioned and they were the main driving force of the formation¡¯s advance.


    In the center of the formation, the Company¡¯s lighter infantry, namely their scouts under Nicole and Fatimah¡¯s leadership worked together with the light infantry of the Janissaries to keep the enemy at bay as they passed through, while the rest of the Janissaries - all their skirmishers - did what they specialized in and harassed the enemies with thrown spears and axes from behind the infantry lines.


    At the rear, the remaining combat-capable members of the Spears of Ostvin fought off the enemies that tried to pursue them. The Spears were a mixed infantry company, who usually fought as line infantry to hold the lines, so they did fine in their role at the rear. The Free Lances were chosen as part of the spearhead along with the Algenverr elites because they had the best shock troops out of the forces gathered at Fort Kazka.


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    Despite being a noble lady, the Lady Griselda proved to be just as vicious a combatant as her counterpart from Dvergarder. She fought alongside the knights from Algenverr right at the frontlines, where she expertly caught and deflected blows with the bucklers built into her vambraces, while she smashed her foes with the pair of flanged maces she wielded skillfully.


    The knights from Algenverr seemed to have more training as heavy infantry compared to the ones from Dvergarder, who were primarily cavalrymen, but that was likely due to the different terrain of their home regions. They advanced swiftly even while they smashed through the opposition before them, despite how their enemies faced them head-on fearlessly.


    Even they were surprised with the practiced ease with which the Free Lances cut down the enemies before them, though. The soldiers with bloodshot eyes who charged forward heedless of their lives seemed to give the mercenaries not even the slightest pause as they simply tore them apart efficiently and moved on.


    ¡°These fuckers brings back some bad memories,¡± commented Gr¨¹nhildr amidst the slaughter. The burly woman was at the forefront of the charge, as she led the way and cleaved through those that stood in her way with her void-clad weapons. All of the mercenaries who served during the Theodinaz campaign couldn¡¯t help but recall the days when they were mobbed by fanatical zealots there, and juxtaposed that memory with the drugged-up soldiers they now faced.


    ¡°You can say that again,¡± said Mischka from her left. The massive therian matron swept past half a dozen soldiers in a single swing and sent them - or parts from their bodies - flying to pelt the ones behind them and disrupt the enemy formation. She couldn¡¯t help but reminisce somewhat about her younger son, who was killed in the fighting on Fort Ascher. ¡°Remind me to pour a cup for Ivan when we¡¯re done with this mess.¡±


    ¡°Will do,¡± said Reinhardt from the other side as he smashed through the defenses of three soldiers at the same time. The drugged-up soldiers might not feel pain, and were fearless, but there was little they could do but to perish noisily when their bodies were broken to the point of dysfunction. The experience of dealing with similar people in the past helped the mercenaries deal with them more efficiently, unlike the knights who at times stumbled when they were attacked by a soldier they had thought out of the equation.


    ¡°You all seemed terribly used to dealing with people like these,¡± said Griselda as she finally caught up to the foremost edge of the formation with the aid of her knights. The young noblewoman panted a bit for breath as the mercenaries had kept up a hideously rapid pace when one considered that they were rushing through line after line of enemy troops, which caught many of the knights flatfooted. They had to put in some effort to catch up while being weighed down by their heavy armor.


    ¡°What can we say, Your Grace? Had some unpleasant experiences with religious zealots before. Many of us present here remembered those times all too well,¡± said Reinhardt as he casually parried a couple spears while he directed another to bounce against his chestplate fruitlessly, before he swept through all three spearmen with a wide swing of his polemace. ¡°There¡¯s not that much difference between those high on drugs and high on religion after all.¡±


    Their detachment carved their path through the Central forces¡¯ lines rapidly, and before too long, they had reached their destination, a raised command tower where the enemy commander gave his commands from by flags, to be relayed to the field commanders further ahead. The detachment then split into three sections.


    Two sections, led by Mischka and Reinhardt, went to the sides and around the command tower as they encircled it to prevent their target from escaping. The third section, with Griselda and Gr¨¹nhildr amongst them, brought Elfriede¡¯s smaller detachment - who were specialized and skilled in headhunting - straight towards their target.

 Chapter 140 - Death Warriors

    ¡°The practice of raising Death Warriors, soldiers who were often raised and indoctrinated from early childhood to become completely loyal, mindless killing machines who followed their superior¡¯s every order, was not an unheard of practice. Quite a few nobles and royals secretly kept a cadre of such warriors at their beck and call, as a hidden knife in their sleeves.


    Publicly however, the often inhumane ways used in the creation and nurture of such warriors were heavily frowned upon, and those who openly revealed their possession of such often found themselves on the receiving end of public criticism and mockery. As such, Death Warriors were most often used in secret, acting in the shadows where their superior would have plausible deniability even should they be discovered.


    Nobody had ever caught and interrogated a properly-raised Death Warrior successfully so far, as they would rather take their own lives upon the failure of their missions.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°They¡¯re getting tougher,¡± stated Lady Griselda as she parried one soldier¡¯s sword with one heavily scarred buckler and a second with the mace in her left hand. At the same time, the flanged mace in her right hand struck and bashed in the side of one soldier¡¯s head, which left the man to crumple on the ground, drugged up or not. ¡°What do we do? They¡¯re catching up as well.¡±


    They found stiffer resistance as they moved closer towards the command tower, and it was noticeable how the soldiers there not only had better armor but also carried proper swords as sidearms to their long spears, unlike the rest they¡¯ve plowed through so far. Much like they had expected, the Central forces had placed their conscripted militia as the fodder up front while they saved their trained private soldiers for their own protection.


    Most of the soldiers around the command tower had been distracted as they tried to fight off Reinhardt and Mischka¡¯s detachments, which went around and threatened to encircle the command tower along with the commander himself, which left less for their detachment to deal with. Even so, the resistance was still heavy, and it took them a while to push through the defenders, during which time those on the rear of their formation started to feel the pressure as the Central faction soldiers they pushed through earlier caught up with them.


    ¡°We make a hole through their formation,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr nonchalantly, as if that was an easy thing to do. The enemy formation had formed a rough ring around the command tower, with a smaller group - notably dressed differently from the rest - keeping close to guard the tower itself. ¡°Get Friede and her gang to that tower, and let them do what they do best, then we get the fuck out of dodge once they¡¯re done!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a better suggestion, so let¡¯s do as you suggest,¡± replied Griselda. She immediately ordered her knights to charge further, and Gr¨¹nhildr did the same on the other side. Together, they forcefully pried an opening in the defensive formation around the command tower, and Elfriede¡¯s group of twenty-five slipped through said opening.


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    When the enemy soldiers saw and wanted to intercept them before they could reach the tower, Griselda and Gr¨¹nhildr intensified their assault to keep the soldiers on the outer layer of defense occupied, while Reinhardt and Mischka did the same from the sides and the rear, which allowed Elfriede¡¯s group to sneak in uncontested.


    They had not participated in the fighting so far, and were thus fresh and ready to fight. Most of the twenty-five were veterans who had done the dangerous work of headhunting in a battlefield for years by then, if not decades, though five of them were newer trainees who were brought along to train on the spot.


    As they approached the command tower, the man on top of the tower yelled out some commands, and the dozen soldiers beneath all imbibed what seemed to be a vial of potion. Then they screamed like rabid animals and wielded the large two-handed cleaver-like blades they carried as they charged at Elfriede¡¯s group.


    ¡°What the-!?¡± yelled Olyvee in surprise as she blocked one of the large cleaver-like blades with her own long-knives. The impact from the blow almost wrenched the weapons off the half-elven woman¡¯s hands, and she had to leap back to diffuse the rest of the force. What surprised her the most was how the blow had been far stronger than anything she had expected out of a human.


    ¡°Friede! Watch out! I think they¡¯re on some sort of drugs!¡± she yelled out just as she landed on her feet. The soldier had chased after her and swung his large cleaver once more, but she avoided it this time, noticing that the swing was definitely faster and more powerful than she had seen even big, strong humans like Zyd managed.


    ¡°I noticed!¡± yelled Elfriede back as she leaned under the swing of another soldier and struck after his blade passed. Her mithril-coated blade left a deep cut on the man¡¯s forearm, deep enough to reach the bone. Normally such an injury would have left people unable to wield a weapon with the arm, yet the soldier fought on as if he had felt nothing. ¡°These fucks are drugged up the gills!¡±


    On a closer look, the members of her group noticed how the eyes of the dozen soldiers were blood-red, and that they were leaking blood from the corners of their eyes. They fought like raving lunatics, without any heed to the injuries they received, faster and stronger than a human ought to be by a good bit.


    It took nearly a minute before the first one fell down, as Nina, Ylisera, and Kari took him on together. Kari managed to very barely parry away the swing aimed at her, which Nina then struck further out, causing the soldier to lose their balance for a moment. Ylisera then took that opening and jabbed her saber straight into one of the man¡¯s eyes and into his brain, which finally caused him to drop dead.


    ¡°Gang on them! Two of you take one each! Have the rookies help out as well!¡± commanded Elfriede as she took on one of them on her own. The rest of her group quickly ganged up on the remaining soldiers, who fought like possessed madmen and pushed them hard. She made no attempts to block or parry the forceful swings of the cleaver, and instead avoided them as she slashed at the abdomen of the soldier before her.


    The mithril edge of her blade cut straight through the man¡¯s chainmail and deep into his flesh, with a wide, gaping wound as the result. Several strands of slimy intestines had drooped out from the opening, yet the man fought on as if he had not noticed the fatal injury. He even tried to fight on even when Elfriede sliced his hands off after a while more, and only gave up the ghost when she punched the dagger-end of her pommel through the roof of his mouth when he tried to bite her.


    ¡°Deal with them as best you can! I¡¯m going to take the head of that asshole up top!¡±

 Chapter 141 - A Hidden Card

    ¡°Always keep some tricks up your sleeves when you could afford to. You never know when those would come in handy.¡± - Benjamin ¡°Benji¡± Morgenstern, former mercenary captain.


    While the rest of her little detachment dealt with the remaining ten guards at the foot of the command tower - taking them on two or three against one, and even then they struggled quite a bit against them - Elfriede went around to the back of the tower where the ladder to the top was located and began her climb. Their target for the mission was to take the head of the enemy commander, one way or another, and she had no intention of failing her mission.


    The command tower itself was not that high, only about three-quarters the height of the walls of Fort Kazka, and was made out of wood, with a small watchpost at the top to survey the battlefield from. It was also clearly mobile, judging from the eight wooden wheels that supported the structure at the bottom. Fortunately for Elfriede the rungs of the ladder were built into the tower¡¯s back rather than being a rope ladder or other easily disposable method of ascent.


    With her wind-based senses, she noticed how a female officer peeked out from the top and looked down her way, which was not unexpected as it was difficult for her to hide her approach either way. She felt how the woman picked up a crossbow and aimed down at her, firing a bolt straight towards her face.


    Elfriede calmly grabbed one of her weapons from storage and cut the bolt in mid-air before it could reach her, then continued her climb unaffected. The officer at the top managed to fire a second shot when she was but three meters away, but Elfriede deflected the bolt to the side, where it only whizzed by her face close enough to leave a slight cut on her earlobe but little more.


    The female officer drew her sword and tried to hack at her when Elfriede reached the top of the stairs. All that while she noticed that there was another man at the top, who was fussing with something that looked like liquids in vials, which she couldn¡¯t exactly prevent. The man imbibed the contents of the vial he mixed up just before she reached the top.


    With one hand, Elfriede caught the officer¡¯s sword between her own weapon¡¯s blade and the crescent-shaped protrusion from her weapon¡¯s handguard, and yanked it to the side. With her other hand, she used the scythe-like protrusion near the top of her weapon to hook the woman¡¯s rib cage from behind, and tossed her down from the high platform with a heave while she hooked her leg around a rung to keep her position on the stairs.


    A shrill scream accompanied the female officer on her way down, only to be cut off abruptly when she landed on the hard ground. Her body was contorted into a decidedly unhealthy shape, and Elfriede could tell that the fall had likely killed the woman instantly, given the shape she was twisted into. With the obstacle gone, she used her weapons to hook the floor of the watchpost on top of the tower and pulled herself up with both arms.


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    ¡°Always¡­ Always the fools refuse to see and try to understand what flies over their limited reasoning,¡± grumbled the man who was now the sole inhabitant of the watchpost as Elfriede lifted herself up. The man seemed hunched over in a menacing way, and his body felt strange to her senses, almost as if the man¡¯s muscles squirmed and tried to break free from the confines of his skin. The hunched figure nearly screamed his next words, before he suddenly lunged at her. ¡°They want their proof so much¡­ I will prove my worth to them!¡±


    Elfriede reflexively dodged to the side when the man lunged with superhuman speed towards her previous location. He struck the floor where she stood with his gloved fist, and the solid wooden floor shattered under his blow, while her attempted counterattack only left a gouge on his chestplate. Clearly he was rich enough that not even a mithril-edged weapon worked that well against the armor he wore.


    ¡°Fuck dammit,¡± cursed Elfriede as the clearly enraged man rushed at her once more and struck one of the corners of the watchpost. The way his fist punched through the solid wood gave her no illusions about what might happen if one of those punches caught her directly. ¡°I knew we¡¯d be dealing with a lunatic, but I didn¡¯t expect this much crazy.¡±


    Her words apparently registered despite the maddened state of her opponent, as he glared at her viciously with bloodshot eyes that leaked blood from the corners. He gave an inhuman scream even as he tore another part of the watchpost¡¯s wooden walls and hurled the sizable chunk straight towards her.


    Despite the man¡¯s inhuman, guttural screams, Elfriede noticed that he did not seem to have completely lost his mind, as he retained the capacity for tactics at the least. The man had launched himself behind the projectile he threw, probably intending to use it to cover him from her sight for a moment. If Elfriede had relied on sight, she might well have fallen for the trick.


    Instead, she calmly distanced herself from both the projectile and the charging man. The man noticed that she avoided his trick, and immediately launched himself at her once more. He was faster than her, and most likely far stronger, yet Elfriede managed to get by as she sensed the beginnings of his motions, and avoided them accordingly. Her blades left scores and cuts on the man¡¯s armor, but failed to find anything fleshy despite her efforts so far.


    In truth, Elfriede mostly intended to stall for time. Whatever concoction the man had imbibed that led to his current state, she doubted that it had no side effects, so she only needed to wait until those manifested. However, her plans went awry when one of her cuts found a previous one she left on his armor and cut deeper, scoring a bloody wound along the man¡¯s chest.


    The man seemed to have gone berserk when he was wounded, and struck with even wilder ferocity. Soon enough, his brutal strikes had compromised the structural integrity of the watchpost, and it shifted beneath them as it began to crumble. Left with little choice, Elfriede leapt out from the open front of the watchpost. Despite the height, she was somewhat confident that she could land well enough to avoid any serious injury.


    What she had not expected was to see the man dive out from the watchpost and run vertically on the side of the tower as he went after her, with a gleaming saber in his hand. Caught in mid-air, she could not avoid it when the man leapt at her and sliced with his blade, and she was left with no recourse other than to cross her blades in an attempt to block his strike.

 Chapter 142 - Bloody Struggle

    ¡°You see it often in theaters and heard of it in fairy tales, stories of heroic battles where the hero would emerge victorious after a long, desperate struggle that left them on their last legs, only for them to either gain an opportunity or use the last of their strength to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the end.


    What such stories often neglected to mention was how the hero would likely be dead within the hour from all their injuries if they were left unaided, doubly so for those stories which featured a lonesome hero without companions.¡± - Caravela el Boedewijg, contracted healer for the Bernd¡¯s Bloody Bloodletters mercenary company.


    Ayrie was one of the five novices that Elfriede¡¯s small detachment had with them. The mercenaries basically made their newer members - those who had went through training but had yet to prove themselves - ¡°apprentice¡± themselves to more experienced ones for a campaign or two, and only later assigned them to a more permanent position after they had the requisite experience.


    Very few of those novices had chosen to apprentice under Elfriede, though, for she was well known as a harsh mistress, if one whose skills were also without doubt. What made most novices turn away was the fact that her detachment was almost always going to undertake some of the most dangerous missions, which meant their lives would be heavily at risk as well, since they would be following them to battle.


    Ayrie had chosen to apprentice under her not out of a dare or something, but because she would, in a way, blaze the trail for the younger members of the mercenary company, who were slowly coming of age and would join the elder on the battlefield as time went on. As one of the oldest of the current generation of youngsters, she felt that she had the responsibility to do her very best as an example to the younger kids.


    She chose to apprentice herself to Elfriede as a show of determination, in many ways, knowing that it would also give her more leeway in the future. The kids of their generation had all pretty much followed Erycea¡¯s lead, Ayrie herself included, and given that Ery¡¯s parents ran the company, chances were high she would eventually work her way up to her own detachment to lead in the future, which the children of her generation all wished to join.


    As such, Ayrie was doing her best to aid the seniors with the task Elfriede had given them. In the short while after she had left for the command tower, the ten berserking guards were down to eight, and those remaining eight were being ganged on by the twenty-four members of the detachment, which tossed them on the backfoot despite their clearly drugged-up state.


    Ayrie had found herself a bit powerless to help much in the battle, as the guard all wore armor that her knives simply couldn¡¯t do a thing against, so she resorted to distraction instead, as she flung those very same knives accurately towards their eyes instead. While she did not hit her target, it forced the guard to dodge or block the knives, and took their attention from the others for a moment, which they never failed to exploit.


    Another three of the guards were hurt and on the verge of dying, only kept on their feet by the drugs they ingested, when a rumbling sound came from the tower and distracted everyone for a moment. They all witnessed as the top of the tower collapsed and Elfriede leapt out from the height, only for a man in armor to run down the wall of the tower as he chased her down, leapt, and struck at her in mid-air.


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    Ayrie had some of the sharpest eyesight amongst those of the Company, partly from her elvish heritage, and she spotted the blood that trailed Elfriede¡¯s descent as she fell from the height, propelled a bit further towards the still-ongoing battle by the strike she took. The young girl noticed right away that something must have gone awry at the top of the tower, and she was not the only one either.


    All the guards that remained attempted to escape from their fights to the aid of the armored man who struck at Elfriede, but were stopped by the members of her detachment. On the contrary, some of the senior members skillfully extricated themselves from the fight to come to her aid instead.


    The armored man had landed first, and seemed to have absorbed the fall by merely flexing his legs before he stood back up as if he had not just fallen from a place five times a human¡¯s height. Despite her injuries - and from the way the blood splashed as she landed Ayrie was certain it was not a light wound - Elfriede also made her landing safely.


    She landed first on the tip of her toes, and allowed herself to smoothly collapse to the ground in a natural way that turned into a backwards roll as her weight went from her toes to her heel, then to her flexed and bent legs as she let the momentum took over and rolled on her back over the grassy soil. By the end of her roll she had stopped on her knees, as she raised her head towards her opponent, an expression of wariness on her features.


    On the other hand, Ayrie¡¯s attention was drawn to the bloody rent on Elfriede¡¯s chest. The woman¡¯s fine gambeson, which was made with layers of blade-resistant fabric, was torn open, with the cut running diagonal from near the base of her neck all the way down to her abdomen, deep enough that Ayrie could see bone from the wound. It also bled profusely, and Elfriede clearly winced as she stood up on somewhat shaky legs.


    Then the armored man lashed out on the nearest target to him, which to Ayrie¡¯s misfortune, happened to be her. In some panic, the girl flung out a couple of knives at the eyeslit of the man¡¯s helm, only for him to swat them out of the air with an armored arm. As the man descended on the surprised girl, she used her meager magical skills as a last resort and flung a glob of mud right into his face.


    That moment of blindness gave Ayrie just enough time to get herself out of harm¡¯s way, though not unschathed, as the man¡¯s blind swing had struck her outstretched arm and left a deep cut down her left forearm. Ayrie couldn¡¯t help but to hiss with pain as she clutched her injured arm and drew back, and around then three more figures struck at the armored man in unison.


    Bernd was one of the most senior members of Elfriede¡¯s unit, a middle-aged mercenary who had always been amongst the best warriors in the Company. He struck from the armored man¡¯s left side with his axe, and reacted with some surprise when the man struck the axe aside nonchalantly.


    Olyvee was Ayrie¡¯s own aunt, her father¡¯s younger sister, who unlike the more peaceful-minded armorer had been part of the mercenary company¡¯s fighting force for decades. Her long-knives flashed but missed the armored man¡¯s throat as he leapt backwards with surprising agility.


    Ylisera was one of the company¡¯s contracted prostitutes, though over the past five years she had joined the in the fighting and proved so good at it she remained there, and her saber flashed from the side as she struck at the armored man from the side.


    Then the armored man retaliated. Ylisera¡¯s sharp instincts and elvish agility was the only thing that stood between her and certain death as she managed to halt her advance and turn her strike into a parry at the last moment. Even so, her finely made saber broke in half as the man¡¯s saber struck it, and his blade went on to leave a deep cut on Ylisera¡¯s cheek, slicing across the bridge of her nose even as she dodged back desperately.


    The man¡¯s return slash almost threw Olyvee back in a bodily manner, as the half-elven woman was forced to retreat after she blocked the slash. Her long-knives, thick, hefty ones with forward-curved blades designed for heavy chopping, both had a sizable chip on them, from where she blocked the saber strike.


    Bernd took the opening the man gave when he struck at the women and chopped down with his axe, but the armored man caught his axe in one gauntleted hand, then yanked him closer before he could react or release his weapon.


    Then a slash from the deceptively slender saber the man held bisected Bernd in half. His legs and lower torso tottered for a moment longer, before they fell down beside his severed upper body, a shocked look still etched on his face as he died.

 Chapter 143 - To the Bitter End

    ¡°Only those higher up on the totem pole of command, who had the big picture and other things to consider, think of battles in terms of victory or loss. For those who were amongst the men and women fighting under their commands, the only thing that mattered was whether one survived a battle or not.¡± - Harriet Storm, retired veteran mercenary.


    ¡°Friede, you all right there?¡± asked Nina as she rushed over to Elfriede¡¯s side after she disengaged with one of the crazed guards - which she left for the others to handle - and helped support her old friend who was on shaky legs. To Elfriede¡¯s other side, Cassie did the same wordlessly, the three having gone a long way from their shared childhood as orphans in Zephirous.


    ¡°Not very, hurts like a motherfucker, but I¡¯ll live,¡± said Elfriede in reply as she allowed her old friends to help support her. Over by the armored man¡¯s side, Ylisera had drawn a spare saber and distracted him while Olyvee carefully tried to land a good hit. Therese had also moved over to help them with tears in her eyes as she screamed and anger and hacked at the man with a poleaxe.


    Her state of anger was one Elfriede could understand, since Therese and Bernd had originated from the same small village in Knallzog, and had joined the Company together. They had been friends turned lovers turned spouses, so her rage and grief at his death was something that was only to be expected. Even so, her wrathful blows had done little than to help distract the armored man so far.


    ¡°Can you help them out? That fucker¡¯s tough, and he drank something far more potent than what his mooks had,¡± asked Elfriede to her two old friends after she regained some stability into her stance. Her left calf and thigh hurt, so she likely sprained some muscles on that landing earlier, but she stopped any pain from showing on her face.


    Both women nodded to her words, and hefted their respective weapons as they gave a hand to the three already engaged with the armored man. The man¡¯s superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes made it hard for the five of them to gain an edge, though they managed to keep him under tentative control for the time being. Elfriede approached the battle, but had not joined it, as with her left leg barely functioning, she would be more a burden than an asset in such a rapidly moving fight.


    ¡°Think you can do that trick with the mud again?¡± asked Elfriede to Ayrie, who came over and helped her shuffle closer to the battle with her good arm. The much younger girl - barely out of childhood at fourteen, really - looked at the ongoing battle with some nervousness. The old scar over her left eye seemed to twitch as she blinked, before she nodded to Elfriede with some uncertainty on her features. ¡°Good, wait for my signal then. Until then, just see if you can fling a knife of two to make the bastard flinch.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± said Ayrie with a nod as she suppressed an urge to wince at how the wound on her left arm stung each time she moved. The young girl gritted her teeth and pulled a couple of knives from the bandolier slung across her chest, and hurled them at the face of the armored man. The man avoided them by a mere shift of his head, but Nina took that moment of inattention to attempt a strike from the man¡¯s left side.


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    Instead of her weapon finding any purchase, however, the man leaned away and shifted so that the spiked cap at the end of her long cudgel merely struck his armor and bounced off, even while the saber on his other hand simultaneously deflected strikes from Therese and Ylisera, while he deftly avoided blows from Cassie and Olyvee. Then he backhanded Nina aside, his fist striking her cheek, hard enough to send the woman stumbling away from the force of the blow.


    Elfriede saw how in their concerted efforts to deal with the man - and mostly failing - Therese left herself open to retaliation, a chance which the armored man had not missed as his saber slashed viciously. Therese only had the time to attempt a block with the shaft of her weapon, but the saber simply sliced through the wooden haft as if it was paper, along with several fingers from the woman¡¯s left hand.


    Then the blade mercilessly cleaved through the woman¡¯s abdomen, where it opened a deep cut, disemboweling her quite thoroughly. The blade had not lost its momentum either as it chopped further towards Cassie, who was to Therese¡¯s left, and neither could she evade fast enough to avoid it. Cassie reacted fast enough that she managed to strike the blade with her pair of warhammers even as the saber carved into the right side of her abdomen, and for once, the keen blade was stopped as it bit into the metal head of the hammers.


    ¡°Now!¡± yelled Elfriede to Ayrie, who reacted almost instinctively and hurled another glob of conjured mud straight at the armored man¡¯s helm. Since his right hand was still holding the blade that was still stuck in Cassie, and his left arm was busy fending off Ylisera and Olyvee, the man failed to block the mud, and it splattered directly against the eyeslit of his helmet, entirely cutting off his vision.


    Nina happened to strike again at that moment, even as an ugly bruise was visible on the left side of her face, and she jabbed the spiked end of her weapon against the back of the man¡¯s left knee, which was uncovered by his plate armor. The chain mail he wore beneath had not covered that area either, and the spike sank deep into the joint.


    At the same time, Olyee bodily grabbed on to the man¡¯s left arm and held it away, which gave Ylisera a chance as she dove in and stabbed both her spare saber and her dagger into the man¡¯s open armpit. Her saber snapped as she pushed it against the chainmain, but the sturdier dagger broke open some links and pierced through, if not deeply.


    Then Elfriede had somehow launched herself as well towards the man, despite her injuries. She flipped the weapon in her right hand around, not trusting herself at the moment with piercing through a small target using the longer point of her blade, while she hacked at the man¡¯s right elbow joint with the blade in her left hand.


    The pommel of her weapon ended in a long, wicked dagger point meant for piercing through lighter armor, and Elfriede drove that point through the eyeslit of the man¡¯s helmet even as she bodily fell onto him. They both fell down, with the man below her, and she couldn¡¯t help but wince and swallow a scream of pain that threatened to come out when the fall further aggravated her wound.


    ¡°Fuck¡­ Shit¡­ Ow¡­ You got him at least¡­¡± said Cassie even as she grasped tightly against the large cut on her side.


    ¡°Someone help me up,¡± said Elfriede as she noticed that her legs couldn¡¯t support her well enough to stand at the moment. ¡°It¡¯s bloody time we get the fuck out of here. Hang in there, Loren and the medics are with Rein, so we¡¯ll live if we get there on time.¡±


    ¡°And one of you help me remove this fucker¡¯s head,¡± said Elfriede as Nina - with the left side of her face pretty badly smashed up from the man¡¯s fist - helped her up. ¡°Our client only asked for his head, and he definitely got quite a bit of good shit on him.¡±

 Chapter 144 - Breakthrough and Escape

    ¡°Brave charges deep into the enemy lines generally makes for good tales to be retold to the future generations, or for inspiring passages in the history books. Done right, these charges would secure their goal, usually the head of an enemy commander of importance, and might be influential enough to decide the course of the battle right then and there.


    What the stories and the books often neglected to mention on purpose, was how for every successful charge there were three failed ones where all the brave men and women achieved was to deliver themselves to an early grave.¡± - Bonweisz ¡°Bongo¡± Tockenweil, veteran mercenary Doppelsoldner.


    Gr¨¹nhildr had not failed to notice the moment the soldiers who still tried their best to prevent the rest of the combined mercenary forces from approaching the command tower wavered. It was not that long after the top of the tower crumbled, something everyone in the vicinity simply could not fail to notice at all, with the ruckus it made.


    To their credit, it was not the obviously drugged-up soldiers that wavered - those fought on like madmen without a care for their own well-being and kept coming no matter how many of them were cut down - but likely their commanders. The soldiers somehow still listened to commands even in their drugged-up state, so when conflicting commands came from their commanders, who had just lost their source of direction, their formation could not help but waver and break apart.


    The mercenaries abused that opening with extreme prejudice.


    Together with the knights under Lady Griselda, Gr¨¹nhildr led the charge as she cleaved apart any soldier that stood before her, the crescent-shaped blades of her weapon coated with a thin sheen of void magic that simply cut through everything in its way, be it flesh, bone, or even metal weapons and armor. She left bodies cut into pieces in her wake, even as the rest of the troops behind her scrambled to catch up to her pace.


    Both the mercenaries and the knights broke through the defending formation within minutes, and they reached the command tower, where they found Elfriede¡¯s detachment putting down the last two resisting guards. Even so, Gr¨¹nhildr couldn¡¯t help but frown when she saw the situation there, which was not like what she had expected.


    The two guards that resisted to the end seemed to collapse on their own shortly after her arrival, as blood poured out of every single one of their facial orifices, and they dropped like puppets with strings cut, despite how they were still fighting viciously moments before. They had clearly taken their toll on Elfriede¡¯s group, however, as Gr¨¹nhildr immediately noticed how many of them were injured, some badly enough to require the aid of others to even stand.


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    And Elfriede herself was one of those with such injuries, which surprised the burly woman as she was all too familiar with her old friend¡¯s skills.


    ¡°What happened!?¡± yelled Gr¨¹nhildr as she ran towards and past the group, headed for the defenses on the other side of the command tower who were fighting against Reinhardt¡¯s and Mischka¡¯s troops that had encircled the area. The burly woman slowed her stride a bit to allow those behind her to catch up to her, as well as to listen to the answer from her old friend.


    ¡°Drugs, I¡¯m betting. Our target had what looked like a more potent version of what they gave the soldiers, same with his guards,¡± explained Elfriede with a wince of pain. ¡°We¡¯re down five, probably six, and half of the rest are out of commission for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Gr¨¹nhildr said with a nod as she jogged away. She herself had noticed that five people were missing out of Elfriede¡¯s twenty-five, three of the younger novices, and two of her veterans, while many of them were nursing injuries that ranged from relatively light if painful, to serious and needing immediate medical attention. The few healers like Loren who were willing to join the combat were with Reinhardt¡¯s group, so to regroup with them became their first priority. ¡°Take a break for now, we¡¯ll get you guys out of here. The rest of you lot, help them out if they can¡¯t run with us on their own!¡±


    WIth nods and grunts of agreement, some of Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s burlier subordinates moved to Elfriede¡¯s group, and helped carry the injured on their arms, careful so as not to jolt them too much and aggravate their injuries. Of the injured, Therese and Cassie were in the worst shape, as they were literally holding their wounds to prevent their innards from spilling out wholesale.


    Elfriede herself was too badly off to do any more fighting, and simply allowed one of Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s men to carry her along, while Ylisera and the still-healthy members of the detachment headed out to help Gr¨¹nhildr fight through the defenders on the other side.


    ¡°Hey, Sera, use this!¡± said Elfriede just as the elven former prostitute jogged past her. She then threw a glimmering saber over to the elven woman, who deftly caught it by the heavily decorated basket-hilted handle in mid-air and spent a moment to marvel at the sheen of the blade. ¡°Saw you breaking your sabers earlier, might as well use that asshole¡¯s. It¡¯s at least a really good one.¡±


    ¡°Fuck me in the ass,¡± cursed Ylisera as she looked closer at the saber in her hand. The gleaming silvery saber was slightly different from the one she had used before, which was mostly straight and only swept up to a curved edge near its top. The blade of the saber Elfriede tossed her was gently curved along its length, almost like a willow leaf in shape. More importantly though, Ylisera recognized the silvery sheen of the saber all too well. ¡°This bloody thing¡¯s made out of pure mithril! No bloody wonder he carved through my saber like it was made out of clay!¡±


    ¡°Guess being a noble pays well since they keep showing up with such expensive shit,¡± said Elfriede in an annoyed tone. ¡°That bastard with the overlong two-hander also had a mithril-edged blade. Would¡¯ve been hard to deal with him had I not gotten the new blades from pops.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. This thing isn¡¯t edged with mithril like your weapon or that one you mentioned,¡± clarified Ylisera without tearing away her eyes from the saber she held almost reverently in her hands. ¡°This thing¡¯s made entirely out of Mithril. Every bit of the blade. Got to be elvish handicraft, from the looks, so he probably got or robbed it off someone else.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s yours now,¡± said Elfriede nonchalantly. ¡°So go chop some heads off with it.¡±

 Chapter 145 - Regrouping

    ¡°Contrary to popular belief, splitting your forces in the face of a numerically superior opponent is not necessarily folly. On the other hand, splitting your forces in the face of a numerically superior opponent whose forces are also individually more skilled than yours, is indeed a folly that would most likely just result in your defeat.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, after the Battle of West Logra where his elites split up and dismantled a numerically superior tribal force, then crushed the chieftain¡¯s guard when they tried to do the same against him.


    Meanwhile, over at the rear side of the Coalition army¡¯s formation, Reinhardt and Mischka had successfully encircled and were both attacking the defending army around the command tower, while repelling the soldiers who tried to come to their aid from the outside. They could have left through the rear of the enemy formation and escape at any moment, but refrained as they waited for the rest of their detachments to arrive.


    The Janissaries had split into two halves and followed after Reinhardt and Mischka¡¯s troops, where they provided valuable skirmishers to support the frontline held by the Free Lances, while the Spears had guarded their rear and were supposed to follow after the center group through the enemy formation instead.


    As he left Mischka and Lars to lead half their forces to make sure their escape route stayed open, Reinhardt himself took the rest to pressure the enemy troops around the command tower to further distract them and prevent them from reinforcing the battle there. He had received the signal that Elfriede¡¯s detachment was through earlier, and they only whiled away time as they waited for results.


    When the top of the command tower crumbled and collapsed, it caught the attention of many, Reinhardt¡¯s included, and he knew that the troops they were waiting for would likely arrive soon. As such, he gave the command to his troops - by gestures communicated with his tail to those behind him - to redouble and intensify their assault.


    He himself tackled one of the enemy¡¯s better combatants, likely a field commander of the enemy army judging from his better-made and well-decorated plate armor. Although not every noble in the region seemed to be the sort who led from the front like the ones he worked with, it was still a custom for field commanders to lead by example, and they were often chosen more for their combat prowess than leadership capabilities.


    As mercenaries, Reinhardt was all too familiar with that custom, as amongst their kind it was a given that a leader, much less the Company¡¯s captain, would be expected to lead the charge directly from the very front. As such, even though he had been Captain for five years by that time, he had never once neglected his training, and kept his skills honed with an almost religious fervor.


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    The opponent he faced was skilled with his sword and shield, someone who clearly had experience on the battlefield, who knew to use everything he had to the utmost. That said, Reinhardt was just as experienced, more than half of his thirty-three years spent on battlefields great and small, and he also possessed a great advantage in physique due to his bloodline.


    He was, after all, of a larger bodied therian breed, and by default he could easily overpower most humans with ease, while remaining both faster and more agile than them at the same time as well despite his bulk. His opponent¡¯s shield already had several large dents from his strikes, and the man clearly winced when he took hits to the shield, which hinted at some further injury done to his arm.


    Even so, the man¡¯s skills prevented him from finishing the battle as fast as he would have liked. When the tower crumbled however, Reinhardt resorted to one trick he rarely used due to how limited it was in usage: His natural affinity for earth magic.


    Unnoticeably, the soil rose behind his opponent¡¯s leg just as he was about to take a step back. The risen soil was not high, only a couple finger¡¯s width at most, as thick around as a man¡¯s wrist or so, nor was the soil hardened, as it crumbled when the man inadvertently tread into it unawares. The man stumbled a little at the unexpected resistance, and almost lost his balance as a result.


    Reinhardt¡¯s polemace swung in from above at that very moment. Despite the man¡¯s attempt to block the blow with his shield, the strike still sent him down to the ground on his back, and drove the breath out of him. Reinhardt immediately followed it up as he stomped down on one of the man¡¯s knees hard enough to dent the armor and dislocate the joint, even as he stabbed down at the man¡¯s sword arm using the spike at the back of his weapon.


    The man tried to parry the blow but could get no power from his position on the ground, and Reinhard¡¯s strike wrenched the sword out of his hand. The subsequent swing of the polemace struck down against the front of the man¡¯s helmet, and dented the whole thing inward, more than deep enough to crush his features and end his life at the same time.


    He quickly noticed the disarray amongst the enemies when he lifted his head. Apparently the loss of commands from the tower had caused the remaining enemy commanders to give out conflicting orders on how to proceed. Some more cowardly commanders tried to retreat, while braver ones yelled at their people to continue fighting.


    Much like what Reinhardt had expected, he soon saw the central detachment under Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s command make their way through the enemy forces as they struck the defenders from behind. The Free Lances had not needed his command to further intensify their assault from the outside when they noticed that, and within minutes, Gr¨¹nhildr had carved herself a path through the enemy formation, from which the rest of her detachment streamed out.


    Reinhardt exchanged nods with Gr¨¹nhildr as the burly woman jogged past him, an unsaid command to let Mischka lead the retreat once everyone was accounted for, while Reinhardt would lead the rear guard. He looked expectantly at the group of mercenaries that streamed in, but halfway through the process, the smile on his face turned into a frown.


    He noticed Elfriede and a few others from her detachment being carried while they bled profusely from gruesome wounds, and immediately turned towards his troops and yelled.


    ¡°Loren! I want your medics here on the double! Get those asses moving! We have injured!¡±

 Chapter 146 - Those who Could be Saved, Those who Could Not be Saved

    ¡°One reason why so few healers agreed to work with the militaries was because of the often soul-crushing dilemma they were put through in those jobs. As a healer, most of us were sworn to do our best to help people, with all we could offer in their time of need.


    Yet in the military, you would often be inundated with so many injured you ended up having to pick and choose who to save, and who you would leave to die simply because there were not enough healer to go around, and some of the injured would have to be left to their fates as a result.


    All of it just¡­ made you feel so powerless and impotent, and often, you felt like you had condemned every man and woman you left to die with your own hands. Many would often begin to distance themselves further from their patients as a result, shutting away their conscience for efficiency and effectiveness, chopping away at their own souls just to save as many people as they could.


    Worst of all? At times when you pass by those who had been deemed too badly injured to be saved, they would look at you, not with accusing or despairing eyes, but with looks of understanding, of peaceful acceptance of their impending deaths.


    That was the most painful thing of all.¡± - Vera Lucia Loniare, retired army healer, now serving as a healer in a quiet, small village in the frontiers.


    ¡°Leave me be,¡± said Therese when Loren came over to help her with her injuries. The middle-aged woman still bled profusely, foul-smelling blood leaking out from the massive wound on her abdomen, even with the bandages tightly wrapped around it as first aid, and she just shook her head at the young healer¡¯s crestfallen face. ¡°I know my body, kid, and I know what you and your friends are capable of. You can¡¯t help me through this, so save the ones who you can help instead.¡±


    Loren was one of the only five medics associated with the company who were willing to follow the rest to the battlefield, rather than waiting for their return at the camp. None of the medics were that powerful as healers, with only Loren and another nature-affinity healer of mediocre power amongst them even capable of magical healing, the rest relying on more mundane medicine and techniques. Their powers were limited, much less with injuries as bad as Therese¡¯s.


    With a crestfallen look on his face, Loren left after he exchanged a nod with Therese, who returned an understanding look that seemed to console him, before he left and took over from one of his fellow medics who was dealing with Cassie¡¯s injury. Cassie had one of the worse injuries amongst the group, along with Elfriede and Therese, but her injuries seemed more hopeful at least. As long as they could keep her stabilized long enough to return to their encampment, she could likely still be saved.


    The nature-affinity healer in their group was tending to Elfriede¡¯s injury, which while gruesome-looking, was in many ways, a flesh wound as it had not reached her organs. Even so, the wound bled profusely, and it was the healer¡¯s top priority to stem the bleeding until they could get her to better healers in the encampment.


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    With only mundane healing capabilities in their hands, the other three medics worked on those with lighter injuries, like Ayrie. Ylisera even ignored them and followed Gr¨¹nhildr to the front lines instead, the deep cut on her face still bleeding all over her clothes. The retreat was going well enough that the healers were able to concentrate on their work even while they were on the move, and Reinhardt even had time to visit them after they left the enemy forces behind.


    The battle was dissolving into a one-sided rout by then, with the coalition forces¡¯ field commanders giving contradictory orders to one another, which the defenders took advantage of with extreme prejudice. The young Duchess and her northern cousin even wheeled their cavalry around for repeated charges into the flanks of the faltering enemies, which helped divert their attention from the mercenaries circling around them to head back to the fort.


    As Reinhardt came to visit, he was directed to Therese by a pale-faced Elfriede. Most of the injured from her detachment had been stabilized by then, other than Therese, who was beyond the ability of their present healers and medics to save. As the Captain of the company, it was only suitable for Reinhardt to at least listen to the last words of someone who had given their life under his command.


    ¡°Heya, boss,¡± said Therese as Reinhardt walked alongside her. Two of the company¡¯s men carried her on a stretcher, and while the woman looked pale and weak, she also looked at Reinhardt with a surprisingly serene look on her face. She was dying, and she likely knew it all along, which was why she sent Loren away to care for the others instead. ¡°Came for a visit before the end?¡±


    Reinhardt just nodded quietly to her question, with a bit of guilt and frustration on his features. If only they had a better healer employed, or if only they could get back to the encampment sooner, then Therese wouldn¡¯t have to die. But the grim reality before him dictated otherwise. They had no such healer, and were still at least another half hour or so from the encampment, since they had to skirt around the battlefield. In the end, all he could give her were some words of comfort. ¡°Thank you for all you have done for us¡­ and sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been twenty-seven years¡­ since Bernd and I left our little village in the middle of nowhere and looked for a more exciting life,¡± said Therese as she reminisced a bit about her past. Reinhardt was well aware of her condition. The cut on her abdomen had also carved through many of her organs and tore them apart, and the only reason she was still so lucid and aware was because Loren gave her some painkiller draughts to make her more comfortable. It was all he could do for her. ¡°We¡¯ve been working as mercs for over two and a half decades, most of it with the company¡­ We had expected it might end this way one day¡­ so we weren¡¯t that surprised.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m about to die¡­ or maybe it¡¯s the painkiller getting me high, but I sorta feel clearer in the head than I¡¯ve ever been before, boss¡­¡± she said as her voice slightly faded. ¡°I don¡¯t really regret the choices I made. I don¡¯t think Bernd would either. We lived the high life, and at least went out fighting¡­ better than expiring in the bed, old and decrepit to the point that we¡¯d need help not to soil our pants¡­¡±


    ¡°You all did well,¡± said Reinhardt in a consoling way. ¡°We are proud of you.¡±


    ¡°Heh, feels weird to hear such pleasantries coming off your mouth, boss. Save ¡®em for the snotty nobles instead¡­¡± said Therese with an even weaker voice. The woman was dying, the light of life slowly fading out from her eyes. ¡°Just promise me one thing¡­ My little tykes¡­ they¡¯d be the recipient of our final paycheck, no¡­? Please take good care of them for me¡­¡±


    ¡°I will look after them as if they were my own, I swear,¡± replied Reinhardt. Bernd and Therese had two children, an older boy who had just turned fifteen and was Goran¡¯s apprentice and student, and a younger girl around eight who hung around with Erycea¡¯s group most of the time. By default, since they were the only families of the deceased, both their final paychecks and death benefits would be paid out to them.


    ¡°Thanks¡­¡± said Therese with halting words and she slowly but surely weakened. ¡°I can at least¡­ rest in peace¡­ knowing that¡­ they¡¯re¡­ in good¡­ hands¡­¡±


    With those words, the woman closed her eyes, and exhaled one final time as the flame of her life extinguished.

 Chapter 147 - Medical Treatment

    ¡°We do not save lives because we desire payment or for bolstering our worthless egos. We save lives in order to make the world a better place, even if only by an infinitesimally small bit more.¡± - Nolan Asclepius the IVth, famed healer and grandson of the Medical Sage Asclepius, one of the historically confirmed founders of the Healers for a Better Life movement, circa 289 VA.


    ¡°All right now, Madam Edelstein, these should take care of those wounds,¡± said the old healer as he skillfully tied a knot and snipped off the excess of the thread he used to sew shut the wound over Elfriede¡¯s torso. The old man was one of the veteran healers in Andrea Utghwes¡¯ employment, a skilled veteran healer of the nature affinity. His mortality affinity counterpart was tending to Cassie, whose injuries were far more life threatening. Elfriede¡¯s could be considered a mere flesh wound in comparison, so the healer with more direct healing capabilities looked after Cassie instead of her.


    Most of the healers under the employ of the border duchies were adherents to the Healers for a Better Life movement, a teaching that encouraged healers to regularly trade their knowledge around to help each other improve rather than guard it closely. The movement also encouraged the healers to heal people as much as they could, just to help make the world a slightly better place, since they had the power to do so.


    Those healers also rarely demanded fees, though they would not refuse donations from the well-to-do to help support their own living. All they asked from the poor on the other hand were a few words of gratitude, and a promise to maybe help relay the kindness to others when they could in the future. The healers themselves often lived rather frugal lives, though they were never really hard up on living either, as people who sold food or ran eateries often let them eat for free out of gratitude.


    Elfriede winced a bit as she raised herself up. She was naturally unable to see the work the healer had done, and given his nature affinity, there would be no immediate effects either. She sensed however that the healer had not only made certain that the bleeding stopped entirely, but had also sewn up the large cut neatly, even if she still felt the pain as she moved and inadvertently stretched the injured muscles.


    ¡°Now, now, please do not exert yourself, Madam. I would prescribe you at least one full week of bed rest to allow those injuries to heal properly. No exertion for that period, lest you wish for the wound to reopen,¡± said the old man as he kindly shook his head. ¡°On top of that, I would recommend that you eat heartily during this period of rest. Ideally red meats and bone marrow if you have some, as your body would need nutrients to reproduce the blood you had lost.¡±


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    Elfriede nodded at the old man¡¯s warning and advice as she gingerly put on a fresh tunic. Since the healer was of nature affinity, what he had done was to spur up and accelerate her own body¡¯s natural healing, to such an extent that a gruesome wound that would have normally taken weeks if not months to heal properly and would likely leave lasting side effects could be healed within one week while leaving no sequelae behind.


    ¡°You¡¯re done already, old fart?¡± asked the mortality affinity healer as she walked by from a bit further in the room. They were all sequestered in the fort¡¯s medical room, which the healers had taken over and turned into a field hospital where they worked on the worst injuries, while leaving the lighter injuries to the more mundane healers.


    Elfriede and the other returning mercenaries with heavy injuries were beelined directly to the place when they reached the fort, apparently on the young Duchess¡¯ orders. The young Duchess and the other nobles themselves were still at the frontlines, and the last time Elfriede heard about them was just before they reached the fort, when Reinhardt told her that the battle was won and the enemy were in the middle of a rout.


    ¡°Are my people all right?¡± she asked with some trepidation to the old female healer. She had been in charge of those with the worst injuries - injuries worse than Elfriede¡¯s own - since Elfriede had outright asked her to prioritize those with the worst condition rather than get herself treated first. There were three of them with worse injuries, including Cassie, while the other two were also already dealt with by the old man before he worked on Elfriede herself.


    ¡°They¡¯ll live,¡± said the old woman with a nod. Although Elfriede could not see, from her senses she detected the overall fatigue of the old woman, and guessed that she must have been busy at work all day long. A similar sense of fatigue was noticeable on the old man as well. ¡°I fixed them up as best I could. Can¡¯t do much about missing teeth, but I¡¯ve reconnected the jaw that was torn off, so that man would be able to eat solid food again in a few days. The other only had a deflated lung, so that was easy as well. As for the foul-mouthed girl, all I can say was that she had been very lucky indeed.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How so?¡± asked Elfriede with some curiosity.


    ¡°The blade cut deep into her abdomen, but the injury to her organs were relatively minimal. Most of the damage had been to her appendix, so I took the liberty to get rid of it altogether,¡± said the old woman with a shake of her head. ¡°She had some slight inflammations on it, too, so removing it now just saved her the trouble of dealing with a burst appendix later on. Other than that, she should not consume anything solid for a couple days, and she¡¯ll be fine otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the deities for that,¡± said Elfriede as she exhaled in relief. ¡°And thanks to both of you too. We owe you our lives.¡±


    ¡°Think nothing of it, madam,¡± replied the male healer. ¡°We¡¯re just doing what we can, our little part in this world of ours. If our efforts can help save a life, all¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not as philanthropic as this guy, but eh, you lot did well out there, probably helped finish this battle sooner. The sooner this battle ends, the less people will have to die,¡± said the old woman in turn with a shake of her head. ¡°I¡¯m old, and I know that life¡¯s better under the border dukes. I just wish that defending that way of life doesn¡¯t mean I have to keep watching as youngsters young enough to be my grandkids give their lives on the battlefield day after day.¡±


    ¡°I guess we just fight in our respective ways,¡± said Elfriede as she nodded to the old woman¡¯s words.

 Chapter 148 - Battle of Honor

    ¡°Honor is a hard concept to pin down in terms of value. On one hand, you have people who treat it as more important than their lives, and would rather die than sully their honor. On the other hand, you have people who¡¯d just feed it to the dogs like so much meat scraps.


    For me, what matters is whether my opponent¡¯s honor is usable in an abusable way or not. I don¡¯t care for it myself.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    ¡°Sure is an odd custom for you nobles to have,¡± commented Reinhardt on that sunny afternoon, two days after the final battle of Fort Kazka. On that day, much pomp and ceremony were observed as nobles and knights from both sides met close to the fort, and formed a circle as their leaders met in the middle and formalized the results of the battle. ¡°Reminds me more of the tribes to the north and how they do things, honestly.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a leftover custom from the days when we were tribals ourselves,¡± replied the young Duchess from where she was seated nearby, cross-legged on the dirt, like everyone else. The day after the battle was concluded, a messenger came from the coalition army, who delivered a letter where the current acting commander - a minor noble from a side branch of house Oleysun, distant cousin to the captured siblings - admitted their loss and sued for a battle of honor to settle things completely. ¡°I think when we became a kingdom, our ancestors thought it¡¯s a good way to settle conflicts without rubbing each other¡¯s face into the ground too much.¡±


    ¡°Kinda made sense in that way, I guess,¡± said Reinhardt as he nodded. He supported Elfriede¡¯s back with his arm, while his wife laid across his lap, still convalescing due to her injury. Not many of his mercenaries were present that day, only his lieutenants at most, as the occasion was more the nobles¡¯. Similarly, the other units had sent their Captains and officers as well, with the majority of their group being knights in service to the nobles instead.


    A battle of honor was an old way for concluding conflicts in the late Kingdom of Posuin. It involved a series of one-on-one duels between the nobles involved in the conflict, with a wager set up between them. In such a way, the loser of a battle would either be able to lighten their burdens somewhat, or else, be completely convinced of their loss. Such an event had not taken place back at Fort Kuzi because the nobles of the Bostvan side were all captured or killed by the final battle, and thus they had nobody with the status to call for such an event.


    As for the wager, the coalition side had requested that should they win, the captured nobles from their side would be allowed to go free without ransom, together with their captured equipment. Since the wagers were required to be similar in value, Andrea had demanded that should the coalition side lose, they would pay half again the ransom, and the ransomed people would only be sent back with the clothes on their bodies and nothing more.


    She herself would be the one fighting for their side on the third and potentially conclusive fight that day, as per tradition, against the acting commander of the coalition army. A battle of honor was typically held as a best of three or best of five, decided by the one proposing, and the coalition army had asked for a best of five.


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    ¡°I mean, I would love to send one of yours up there to really beat the snot out of them just so I can see the look on their faces and laugh myself to sleep, but sadly, rules say it¡¯s only us nobles allowed to fight for this,¡± said the young Duchess with a mischievous tone which were accepted with polite laughter by the mercenaries seated by her. ¡°Either way, this is pretty much just for show anyway. I don¡¯t think they have anyone particularly good other than the Oleysun siblings and Maurizio, so it¡¯ll be a wash either way.¡±


    Right then, drums were beaten and horns were blown on the coalition side, as their first duelist stepped to the middle of the circle made by the two groups. The man had the jet-black skin common to the people of southern Posuin, and was dressed in an elegant shirt, the only weapons he brought being the sword and dagger hanging from his belt. As he drew his weapons and waved his sword with a flourish, Reinhardt noticed that he used a long, thin rapier, which was not uncommon for nobles to wield in duels, though they were less effective in real battles.


    From their side of the field, Damien Jonas da Nunez walked out to meet the challenge. The second son of Algenverr Duchy wore simpler, slightly loose fitting clothes, and held a spear in his hands. The spear was a tad longer than he was tall, and when he lifted it to a ready position, Reinhardt could tell that the young nobleman was definitely skilled with the use of the weapon just from the way he held it.


    ¡°I thought you said he wasn¡¯t that good at fighting?¡± asked Reinhardt to the young Duchess, pertaining to one of her comments about the young nobleman that she had let slip in the past. The moment the signal for the fight to start sounded, Damien had rapidly thrust his spear at his opponent and drove the opposing noble to the backfoot, as he desperately dodged and parried the incoming thrusts.


    ¡°Damien is not that good indeed¡­ compared to most others of his generation in the border, that is,¡± said the young Duchess with a clearly amused smirk. ¡°That said, it¡¯s mostly because the rest of us are just that much better than him. None of us raised on the border grew up soft, so even he would be able to hold his own against many of the better duelists from the Central regions.¡±


    ¡°I see, so it¡¯s more of a case of looking bad by comparison then,¡± replied Reinhardt as he nodded sagely in understanding. He had fought alongside the young Duchess and the Lady Griselda both, and indeed, the two of them were good enough that most in his mercenary company would not be their match at all, and they¡¯d even give his better fighters a good challenge. ¡°What was the saying? Born at the wrong time to shine?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it, yeah. Nestor¡¯s a prodigy when it comes to fighting, and of all things, the fucker even had a good head on his shoulders for strategy too. He¡¯s pretty much outshined every single one of us who were born in the same generation as him,¡± admitted Andrea Utghwes with a tone that hinted at some annoyance, but of a teasing sort. ¡°He even had the gall to look good while he¡¯s at it, which is how he got you hitched to him, ain¡¯t it, Gris? Love at first sight, innit?¡±


    ¡°Andrea! It¡¯s- It¡¯s not like that!¡± protested the young noblewoman at the young Duchess¡¯ words. While she had a healthy tan and solid build due to her active lifestyle, Griselda still stood out amongst the locals, as her skin was very noticeably a couple shades lighter than even the northerners like Damien. The humans who lived further east, in the Clangeddin Empire, and even the Holy Kingdom, almost looked like different people to those that lived in Posuin, despite all of them being humans. ¡°I mean¡­ I won¡¯t deny that I definitely didn¡¯t mind getting engaged to him, but still¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, look, Damien¡¯s won,¡± said the young Duchess as she cut off her friend and fellow noblewoman¡¯s excuses with an amused smile. On the stage, Damien had just struck down his opponent, as the other nobleman knelt while he clutched his left thigh, where Damien¡¯s spear had landed a deep puncture wound. Damien lifted his weapon high to declare his victory, even as the knights on his side cheered his name.

 Chapter 149 - Battle of Western Jonkver, year 7 FP: Conclusion

    ¡°When the fighting¡¯s come to an end,


    Time to stop being so worried,


    And start digging holes in which to bury,


    Those whose lives had arrived at their end.¡± - Old poem, typically sung by soldiers at the end of battles while they bury the dead.


    ¡°The brat did well,¡± said Griselda as she nodded and congratulated her brother-in-law to be as he returned to their ranks. After that, she stood up and tidied her clothes a bit, even as horns were blown and drums were beat to announce the entrance of the next pair of duelists. Since their opponents had sent out their combatant first in the previous round, this round their side would be the one to send someone out first, and they had previously agreed for Griselda to handle that part. ¡°My turn to beat their faces in, then.¡±


    With confident steps, Griselda stepped forward into the dueling grounds, as she brought out her pair of flanged maces out of her personal storage, and gave them a quick flourish as she walked. The way she easily flourished those hefty maces with the same ease the previous nobleman did with his much thinner and lighter rapier spoke a lot about her ability to use them.


    Across from her, came an older nobleman with his hair and beard already turning partially white, though he kept his long hair slicked back and tied to a ponytail, with his beard neatly combed as it fell almost to his chest. Griselda had not recognized him in person - she was from the east and was not as familiar with the Posuin nobles as she was not born and raised there - but remembered Andrea¡¯s briefing about the man.


    The man was from the side branch of house Oleysun, who was good with the sword and thus often trained the younger members in swordplay, though with the rise of Randall and Vaughn Oleysun¡¯s fame, his name was mostly forgotten as he had grown older and weaker compared to his prime. That they sent him out suggested that the coalition army must be really hard up for combatants right then.


    They probably were, all things considered. The scout reports Griselda received showed that their enemies had paid a horrible price for the ferocity their soldiers showed during the last battle, when they were drugged up. While the reports failed to give concrete numbers - understandable considering the situation and difficulty to scout out the enemy camp - the approximations she received almost made her gasp in shock.


    Around one in every ten of the soldiers who had been drugged two days ago had passed away from the after-effects of the drug they consumed. Out of the survivors, three in four were struck ill from the same after-effects, and the few that had lighter symptoms were somewhat under the weather as well even so. As an army, the coalition army had just lost any remaining combat effectiveness they had, and she needed no genius to tell her how resentment must have brewed against their commanders in the opposing camp.


    Maurizio likely had an antidote to temper the after-effects with him, considering how he imbibed what looked like a concentrated form of the drug himself, but he was never able to distribute it since he died to the mercenaries sent after him. Even then, considering how severe the after-effects was, Griselda doubted that there would be no long lasting sequelae from the drug, which also made her understand why Maurizio, for all his purported brilliance, came close to being disowned by his family.


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    Her mind snapped back to the present, as her opponent stepped forward and raised his longsword in a knightly salute to her. The old man carried a shield on his other hand, while Griselda had borrowed a pair of bucklers and strapped them to her forearms, since the duels were conducted unarmored. She returned his salute with one of her maces, and they both squared off to start the fight.


    The old warrior was a cautious one, and his experience meant that he left no openings for Griselda to abuse from his stance. Instead, she charged headlong, a move that most duelists would have never taught to another. Griselda was no duelist, however. As she had been raised in poor lands, which suffered from frequent monster attacks in the swampy, more fertile regions they had inhabited. From a young age she had been taught to fight, and while she had less experience fighting other people compared to her opponent, her instincts were honed through a decade of life and death battles in the wilderness.


    As such, when the old nobleman struck with his sword, she had deftly caught the blow with the buckler on her left arm, and used it to angle the sword away from herself. The nobleman raised his shield in defense and blocked one of her blows even as he stepped back and away from the second, but he was clearly somewhat unnerved at the way she fought.


    Rather than attempt to win through superior skill or clever techniques, Griselda charged at the old man like a raging bull, full of ferocity and aggression. The old man was flummoxed by the charge at first, and further confused when he spotted the openings Griselda left in her headlong rush, yet failed to abuse them because of her ferocity.


    He felt that if he tried to strike her openings, then one of her blows would also find him in turn, and given the ferocity of those blows, the old man was unsure if he might survive such a hit. On the other hand, Griselda seemed to pay the risks no heed as she kept pushing and struck tirelessly with her maces. The shield held by the old man was dented all over and even deformed along the edges by then, courtesy of her many strikes.


    When the old man finally felt that he could no longer spare the risks and resolved to strike Griselda even as she struck at him, he found that the openings she left were traps. The moment the old man struck for one of the openings she had left on purpose, Griselda averted her strike¡¯s trajectory to the side, towards the old man¡¯s sword hand. One of her flanged maces struck the old man¡¯s hand and shattered his fingers, while the other struck his sword and flung it far away, where it landed a mere handspan from the foot of a watching knight.


    The old man cried out in pain as he held onto his broken hand, before he gathered himself and gave a bow to Griselda as he admitted his defeat. He then walked back towards his side while Griselda calmly walked back towards her side to the cheers of the knights. She saw that Andrea had stood up and unlimbered her limbs when she arrived at the group.


    ¡°Good work,¡± said Andrea as she tapped Griselda¡¯s shoulder with one hand when she passed by. The third duel¡¯s participants were the respective commanders of the armies, which meant Andrea and the current acting commander of the coalition forces. Griselda gave her fellow noblewoman and friend a thumbs-up gesture as Andrea walked out with her shield and battleaxe in hand.


    The final battle was anticlimactic as Andrea simply demolished her outmatched opponent with powerful blows of her axe, and soon had the opposing commander yield as she placed the blade of her axe against his throat. With the formalities done, one of the knights from the coalition side brought a chest full of coins as the ransom for the captives - a prepared amount to match the wager - and handed it over to the defenders.


    From her side, Andrea Utghwes ordered the captives brought out. The captives were in reasonably good health, other than their injuries, which only received normal care rather than a full treatment from the healers. They were handed over to the coalition side, sans their equipment, which had become part of the wager, and the gathering separated from there.


    The very next day, the remnants of the coalition army had retreated from Fort Kazka, while the defenders cheered once more for their hard-earned victory.

 Chapter 150 - The Next Generation

    ¡°The practice of training soldiers since very young was not unheard of. In fact, if you just cared to browse the history books, you would learn how many nations, regardless of whether they portrayed themselves as virtuous or not, would often train warriors who were so indoctrinated for loyalty unto death from childhood. Religious orders were often guilty of the same.


    And yet, despite the generally negative connotations of such practices, there were also those who were simply children that grew up in a warrior family. Maybe their parents were soldiers themselves, or maybe they were children of mercenaries. It was not strange to see these children train from a young age to later join their parents in the same line of work once they were able, though there was naturally far less indoctrination happening there.


    My own personal unit is little different. All of us, myself included, were children whose parents were part of the republic¡¯s soldiery, and it was our dream from a young age to be able to aid them in their duties and obligations, to help defend the nation we were born and grew up in like them.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    ¡°Oof!¡± said the little blonde girl as she fell onto her back. Yet, rather than just fall as a little child her age - all of five years old - would have normally done, instead she leaned into the fall, then took it into a backwards roll that ended with her back on her knees in the same smooth motion. The serious look on the little girl¡¯s face, with the stick that looked more like a quarterstaff in her hands, looked somewhat amusing, but the determination in her eyes could not be hidden by it. ¡°Again!¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, lil¡¯ Aly,¡± said her ¡®opponent¡¯, who was also little more than a youth himself. Unlike most kids who were barely ten, however, Gustav was easily as broad, if not broader than many adults around the shoulder, even if he was rather short and squat in build. The child of a dwarf and a great ape therian, he shared the looks of his parents, had shared a resemblance to an ape that grew a beard, though also one with truly massive arms compared to most others.


    Since he was the shortest amongst the older kids, he usually served as Alycea¡¯s sparring partner, since even if Aly did hit him with her stick, he wouldn¡¯t have even felt it, and despite his rough looks, Gustav had good control over his strength, and would take care never to hurt Alycea for real. At most, he would just gently shove or trip her, when she messed up, and children her age were surprisingly resilient to falls and injuries.


    Alycea already had a few scrapes on her elbows and knees, but kept fighting as if they had not existed. Much like many of the other mercenary kids, she too idolized her parents, and wished to join them as well. While she might act cute and spoiled in Reinhardt¡¯s presence, when he was not around, Alycea trained quite extensively, especially considering her age.


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    ¡°Keep it up, Aly! Smack the big goof on the balls with that stick!¡± came an encouragement from the sidelines.


    Erycea happened to be resting after some training of her own, and watched her adopted little sister¡¯s training while she filed her claws to keep them at their proper length. If she left her claws to grow too long they might become a bit troublesome for daily activities, so Erycea always filed them down to the proper length while maintaining their sharpness once a week or so.


    While Erycea filed her claws, a quartet of smooth glass orbs revolved around her like moons orbiting a planet. The orbs were of glass she had transmuted herself out of sand, and she kept them spinning around her to practice her control. Erycea had awakened her magic at seven, and while the glass affinity was not normally seen as being useful for someone who wished to take up arms, it had not taken long for Elfriede to think of an idea on how to use it in combat.


    To actually be effective with it though, Erycea would need to be able to control multitudes of small glass fragments at the same time, hence her practice. Each of the glass orbs that revolved around her were in actuality composed of a multitude of much smaller grains that fit seamlessly against one another to form the orb. Her training was to keep them in place even while she kept the orb moving, entirely with magic.


    These days, Erycea kept them revolving around her most of the time unless she was sleeping or training with her mother, at times, while physically juggling them with her hands, focused on controlling the separate grains and making them stay together while the whole thing moved around. Her sense of control had greatly improved, but not enough to be able to keep them afloat and in one piece while focused on sparring with her mother yet.


    Unlike her, though, little Alycea looked up to their father more, and the few lessons she had gotten were mostly from the others who used a pole weapon like Reinhardt. If her little sister - and Erycea did consider Aly her little sister, adopted or not - kept up with the hard work, the girl would likely go far as she grew older.


    Erycea couldn¡¯t help but smile when she saw her little sister, who she had watched grow up from infancy, try her best to ¡°beat¡± at Gustav, the half-dwarvish boy kindly sparring with her using a stick of similar size to her own, which looked almost like a small branch in his huge hand¡¯s grip. Despite his bulky build, he moved swiftly and calmly blocked Aly¡¯s strikes, before he spotted her leaving a big opening and swept her legs out from beneath her, depositing the little girl on her behind.


    When Aly got up, rubbed her bottom, and yelled for another round, Erycea couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the sight, and since she finished filing her claws, she got up and picked up a pair of weighted sticks that her mother advised her to use for strength training.


    Each of the sticks weighed at least a couple kilos, easily as heavy as a full-sized one-handed sword, and she swung them around as she went through the moves her mother had taught her. Despite their weight, Erycea was far stronger than most children her age, due to the constant and rigorous training she had gone through for years, and she kept swinging them for a couple hours even while she maintained control over the glass orbs that revolved around her.


    The girls only stopped their activities when old granny Ursula banged on an empty pot, a signal that it was time to eat, and they ran boisterously back towards the tent city where the mercenaries¡¯ dependents and support staff lived in at the time.

 Chapter 151 - A Gathering of Sinister Clouds

    ¡°Despite the best efforts from the best sort of men and women, no region in the world could truly claim to be free from crime and underhanded activities. Even in the best, most prosperous places, there would always be those who simply could not fit into society at large, the rejects, the exiles, the never-do-wells who would often turn to crime and violence to live the way they wanted.


    It was most telling that even in regions as prosperous as the Lichdom, where hunger and starvation was unheard of, and the punishment for banditry is not just death, but eternal servitude thereafter, some never-do-wells still attempt to prey on the populace. Even their gruesome ends at the hands of the necromancers who oversaw the region failed to prevent others from making the same mistake in the future.


    For some, a safe, fulfilling, normal life was just the sort of thing they could never do, regardless of how horrific the alternatives might be.¡± - Alosyius ¡°The Old Man¡± Grange, former mercenary turned guard captain, Dvergarder, Posuin, circa 6 FP.


    Hidden deep in the uninhabited regions to the south-west of the Duchy of Dvergarder, in the small mountain range that served as part of the border between the Duchy and its neighboring Marquisate of Aluvo, were a network of caverns and hidden trails, where a small microcosm of society, formed by those rejected by society at large, formed.


    The network of caverns and the cramped living spaces dug within the mountains were the handiwork of various exiles, outlaws, criminals, and never-do-wells that were unwanted by society and had been since cast out, where they made a living by doing all sorts of things the rulers of the regions frowned upon. The network of caverns was one of the largest gathering places of such types in the entirety of the former kingdom of Posuin.


    While these criminals struck everywhere within the former kingdom, prosperous regions like the Duchy of Dvergarder was always their favored target, as there was always more to earn there. However, with the strict security measures the Duchy had in place, the high rewards came coupled with high risks as well, and criminals who attempted a foray into the Duchy failed to return more often than they did.


    The Duke of Dvergarder had long wanted to eradicate the hideout, but its location on the mountain range - which was a touchy subject as both Dvergarder and Aluvo laid claim to it - made sending troops without risking the rise of a larger incident difficult. The Duke had also rightfully suspected that quite a few of the criminals had been ¡°encouraged¡± by his political rivals and enemies to turn their eyes towards his territory.


    Unfortunately, the always-tenuous political situation, followed by the outbreak of the civil war that engulfed the Kingdom, prevented the Duke - and many of his predecessors - from cleaning out the place, and as a result of the decrease in security as part of the guards that kept the Duchy secure now fought in the front lines as soldiers, such criminal types had grown bolder and made many attempts that tested the patience of the Duke over the last few years.


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    That early winter morning - though winters were pretty warm in Dvergarder, except maybe for a couple of weeks in the middle of the second months where it sometimes snowed - a large collection of such criminals were gathered within a stuffy cavern that served as a bar and tavern of sorts, where swill that would make horse piss look tempting were served and drank, and of course also turned over heads and splashed on faces.


    In a table tucked away by the corner of the cavern, sat a group of seven, who calmly drank their swill - most others noticed that they had the better sort of ale rather than the usual shitty one the tavern served, but none dared to accost the group over it - and snacked on charred and undercooked pieces of roasted meats of an unknown kind while they talked to each other in low voices, ignoring the ensuing brawl in the middle of the tavern.


    The group of seven were known as the Reasley siblings - although none of them were siblings - and had some infamy as kidnappers, most notably for their successful kidnapping of a young noble in Oleynuos itself, where they escaped safely after they collected their ransom. All seven were hardened criminals, who were currently in the midst of discussing their potential next target.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you all, their coffers must be flush with gold, with that recent victory and feat in the north,¡± said the oldest man on the table, a weasely sort who looked maybe forty or fifty, with salt-and-pepper beard and long unkempt hair, as he slammed his tankard on the table, spilling some of the ale within, to punctuate his words. ¡°If we can just pull this off then we¡¯d be flush for at least a couple years!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re right next to Dvergarder itself, though, Big Bro,¡± said another of the group, a chubby, younger man maybe in his mid-twenties, with some messy stubble on his chin. ¡°The Old Man¡¯s cracking down hard lately, and not even our man inside can really stop him with that.¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself, though, little bro,¡± countered an older woman with only one eye who had a long, jagged scar from one side of her mouth that reached all the way to her ear. ¡°They¡¯re right next to the city, not in the city. The Old Man doesn¡¯t really police the surroundings much, as he¡¯s focused on the insides of the city itself. I say it¡¯s an acceptable risk.¡±


    ¡°It should be easy enough to ensure that the patrols near that area would be some of the ones eating up our coins, too,¡± added a suave-looking man who wore glasses and had a neat, trimmed mustache. He had been the one who dealt with bribing people for their group¡¯s benefits. The ¡°Old Man¡± they referred to was the Guard Captain of Dvergarder, who was competent and not an option, but he was growing old, and his second in command turned out to be far more agreeable to their entreaties¡­ and coins. ¡°All considered, I agree with big bro, this should be a profitable venture.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯d be that hard to deal with anyway. What do they have there in that camp? Retirees, the old and the weak, nothing we can¡¯t deal with,¡± said a brawny woman with a bit of a gut next. ¡°I¡¯d say it ought to be much easier than that job we pulled off in the capital back then. That ass had some real guards.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in favor too,¡± said a skinny, tall man who looked like he could not stay still for long. ¡°We¡¯ve hit harder targets before, successfully, and besides, all their fighters are gone anyway. How much trouble could a bunch of old decrepits and children pose?¡±


    ¡°I have a bad feeling and wanted to say otherwise, but you five clearly want to do this, so screw it, count me in,¡± said the last person on the table, a younger woman whose head was shorn bald and had earrings dangling from her ears and nose. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen anyway?¡±

 Chapter 152 - An Ominous Feeling

    ¡°Some people say that children tend to notice things better, probably because of their more innocent outlook on the world, and their less jaded minds, which allowed them to perceive things adults might have written off or glossed over. Combined with their tendency to voice out what they noticed, this is one reason why spies and other undercover agents always learned not to attract the attention of children amongst other lessons.¡± - Nostra Rulloanse, retiree, rumored to once being associated with intelligence work for the Kingdom of Knallzog.


    ¡°What is it, Val?¡± asked Erycea to Valeria, who she had been sparring with rather often of late. Valeria had also learned on how to fight from her parents - though more as an infantryman, as the girl had shown from early on that she was hopeless when it comes to riding - and being one of the nearer to Erycea in age and overall size, was one of her frequent sparring partners. ¡°Feeling like someone¡¯s been watching over us again?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been sorta nagging me in the back of my mind,¡± admitted Valeria even as she thrust the long stick she held one-handed while she blocked one of Erycea¡¯s sticks with the wooden shield held on her left arm. Erycea parried away the thrust with her other stick, and they continued striking at one another viciously in the spar. ¡°I think it¡¯s the same person all the time, but I can¡¯t be too sure. Too many people passing by on their way in or out of the city.¡±


    ¡°A couple of the others said they felt the same way of late,¡± replied Erycea as she echoed the conversation she had with some of the others in her group recently. The sticks in her hands never ceased moving even while she talked, however, and made loud noises as they clashed with Valeria¡¯s own stick and shield. While the sticks themselves were made of light, flexible wood that would at most leave a bruise if they do strike each other, they were weighted near the handle to simulate the weight of actual weapons, which meant swinging them around was a proper workout for children their age. ¡°That said, if even you noticed, there¡¯s no way the adults wouldn¡¯t. Since they haven¡¯t said a thing about it, either it¡¯s nothing we have to worry about¡­ or it¡¯s something we could handle on our own.¡±


    ¡°Makes some sense, I guess,¡± said Valeria as she acquiesced while she glanced to the side, where others in their little group of children who aspired to join their parents in the Company worked out and sparred with each other. Of particular note was the three bear therian cousins, who usually favored training on the other side of the hill where the larger open areas were. Each of them were around Valeria and Erycea¡¯s age, but their size already rivaled adult humans, and then some, due to their breed.


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    The vast majority of the group of children were either close to Erycea¡¯s age, or younger. Ayrie had been the eldest amongst them, and the first to achieve their mutual goal, while other than her a couple others were at most a couple years older than Erycea herself. Vladislav was currently the eldest of their group, at just a bit over twelve.


    He was one of Mischka¡¯s grandchildren, the youngest child of her younger son Ivan, who perished at Fort Ascher years ago. Often together with him were his cousins Tasha and Vera, twin daughters of Varilya who were a couple months younger than Erycea, though already much larger due to their breed and heritage. All three of them easily matched a human adult in height already, while being broader and stockier. Vlad already started to tower over many human adults, even.


    The three usually mostly sparred between themselves - or with Gustav, who was probably the only other child in their group that matched them in term of physical prowess despite being much shorter - because they were just much stronger than the others, and were worried that they might accidentally hurt the others if they were not careful during a spar.


    Erycea was one of the few who at times joined their spar, though. She was fast enough that she provided some real challenge to the larger trio, and despite how they were vastly superior to her in terms of physical strength - which was no surprise since they were easily over twice her size - she was far more agile and limber, and they had difficulty even touching her at all.


    As for the younger kids, some Alycea¡¯s age while others maybe a year or two older than her, most of them still spent more time playing than training seriously, though a few like Alycea had started to hone herself despite her young age. The older kids left them be, and mostly just watched with fondness, as they all knew just how precious it was to have some time to just be kids like the younger ones, and none of them would have deprived that opportunity from the younger ones.


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s been like, what, three days that you felt like somebody was watching us?¡± asked Erycea just as she and Valeria concluded their spar. Throughout the spar, Erycea kept the orbs of glass spinning around her, though far enough away so as not to disturb the spar itself. The orbs unraveled at times when her concentration flagged every now and then, but on the whole she mostly managed to keep them in shape. ¡°I¡¯ll ask grandpa about it just to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, good idea,¡± replied Valeria as they walked together towards where the younger children were playing - or training, in a few cases like Alycea - and stashed their training gear in a large chest that Vlad and his cousins would later help bring back to the tent city the mercenaries¡¯ dependents lived in. ¡°Better safe than sorry in matters like these, especially since there¡¯s the young ones around.¡±


    ¡°I know. I doubt anyone watching us in secret like that had any good intention,¡± replied Erycea with a frown. ¡°It can¡¯t be people from the Duchy, we¡¯ve been camped here for over a year now and had been open with them, so they have no reason to spy on us in secret. So it¡¯s likely someone else.¡±


    ¡°What if they make their move before the adults do?¡±


    ¡°Then let them come. We¡¯ll show them that we haven¡¯t been training for show.¡±

 Chapter 153 - A Plan Taking Shape

    ¡°Many people tend to think of criminals as spontaneous and moody types, who committed their crimes more due to whims rather than thought-out plots and detailed plans. Such thinking could not be much further than the truth, and when it did, it generally only encompassed the lowest rank of criminals, the hired muscles and the scapegoats and whatnot at best.


    Most criminals that made a career out of crime on the other hand, rarely did things without a plan, as many that I caught with my own hands would testify. Some of them might well have managed to make a career as master tacticians or strategists, or as administrators and ministers, had only their intelligence and cunning be directed to a more productive manner.¡± - Alosyius ¡°The Old Man¡± Grange, former mercenary turned guard captain, Dvergarder, Posuin, circa 6 FP.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± Edwin Reasley asked as two members of his small gang of seven returned from their discreet surveillance of the targets they had in mind for their kidnapping operation. As the leader - and from whom the group took its name - his own face was far too infamous by then to do such things himself, often plastered on bounty posters left and right, and as such he generally avoided big cities whenever he could.


    He along with the more recognizable members of their group, that was, Nebula, who served as their main muscle and was a blood mage of middling prowess, Katja, who was a former assassin and often dealt with those that needed to be dealt with quietly, her scarred face making her prominent in cities, ¡°Ace¡±, which he knew was a nickname for their twitchy sneak, who despite his quietness was the strongest mage in their group, with his wind affinity keeping noise from alerting people during their operations, and Xevra, who was an expert at grappling and was usually in charge of manhandling their target to submission when they were feisty, were camped in a small travelers¡¯ rest, a mere clearing by the roadside, a couple days away from the city.


    Vincenzo, who claimed and often styled himself as the descendant of former nobles, was generally the one who was sent to spy on things, as with the man¡¯s skills and his mist affinity, he could disguise himself into various different people to avoid scrutiny. Along with him was Jacob, their youngest member, who had that baby-faced, innocent look on him that fooled far too many over the years. Even his disguise was mostly intended to touch up that natural ¡°honest¡± look while simultaneously keeping him unrecognizable to the authorities.


    Over the past week since their arrival near the city, the two had disguised themselves and pretended to be travelers as they joined merchant caravans that happened to be headed into the city, only to leave the following day the same way. After three forays into the city, they had passed the camp - more a city of tents and wagons, really - where the dependents and support staff of the mercenaries they targeted lived six times, and gleaned what intelligence they could in those passes.


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    ¡°You can forget getting into the camp itself. Those in the camp might be retirees and cast-offs at best but those mercs keep up a tight guard, even that close to Dvergarder,¡± reported Vincenzo as he sat down by the fire. The vigilance he noticed was not out of any distrust to the Duke of Dvergarder and his people, as the Free Lances had found him almost a model employer so far, but merely standard procedure for the mercenaries when they were on contract. ¡°That said, there¡¯s still a good chance we can follow through with your plans. It would need some slight changes, though.¡±


    ¡°Quit beating around the bush and just explain it simply, will ya?¡± asked Nebula as she gnawed on the leg of a boar the criminals had caught off the nearby woods. Technically the woods belonged to the Duchy, and while the locals do hunt animals from there often, they had permits to do so. Of course, a bunch of experienced kidnappers had not thought much about poaching while on the job.


    ¡°The brats were often out of the camp and playing around a hill a bit to the south-west of the camp itself,¡± said Jacob with a frown. ¡°The hill itself isn¡¯t that far off the main roads, so we could make a swift grab there without alerting the camp and get out before they respond.¡±


    ¡°And how many of those kids are usually on that hill you mentioned?¡± asked Xevra with an interested look on her face. As a group of kidnappers, they usually targeted important people, with children being preferred since they were much easier to steal and cart away compared to adults.


    ¡°Hard to tell, honestly. The kids we saw seem to suggest at least a couple dozens of them, maybe more. We can¡¯t exactly take a closer look without being suspicious, nor did we chance checking the backside of the hill since that area faced their camp,¡± said Vincenzo with a slight frown. ¡°That said, I hadn¡¯t noticed anything too worrisome. A dozen or so brats around ten, another dozen younger ones, even a couple toddlers.¡±


    ¡°And our primary target?¡± asked Katja, who tended to be the most focused out of the group. While they would be fine with as many children as they could safely kidnap, they knew that they needed someone more important to be able to make their demands properly, namely someone related to the higher-ups of the mercenary group.


    ¡°Always with the others,¡± said Jacob with a nod. ¡°She was always there everytime we passed through, often playing at being soldiers with some of the others.¡±


    ¡°You sure it¡¯s the primary target?¡± asked Edwin with some obvious doubt in his voice. Their youngest member was at times a bit scatterbrained, so he¡¯d rather have the confirmation.


    ¡°Both the primary and who we believe was the secondary target were sighted,¡± said Vincenzo with confidence. ¡°Can¡¯t really be certain with the secondary target, I saw at least a couple blondish kids out there, but the primary is unmistakable. Beasties of that kind are rare as fuck around here, and her father¡¯s the only one we ever even saw this generation.¡±


    Beasties were an old slur that were used in the kingdom, specifically targeted at Therians. The kingdom¡¯s old human-centric policies meant that non-humans had not been welcomed at all, a state of matters that had only begun to ease up over the past century prior to the civil war. The border duchies tend to be more friendly to non-humans, but those from the lands further in still held many of the old prejudices.


    ¡°I guess that settles it, then,¡± said Edwin after some deliberation. ¡°Get yourselves ready. We¡¯ll strike tomorrow near sunset.¡±

 Chapter 154 - No Plan Survives Contact

    ¡°There is a reason why adaptability is so highly prized amongst commanders of the modern militaries. The reason is simple. No matter how meticulous you planned things out, no matter how foolproof your strategies are, no matter how well you trained your people to execute those ideas, one truth remains and often reared its ugly head when you least expect it to.


    No plan survives contact with the enemy.


    Something WILL go wrong and mess up all your carefully plotted out plans, some factor you had either missed or never even considered, maybe something the enemy kept in hiding until the last moment, or maybe some of your well-trained people might just fuck it up at the crucial moment. You¡¯d never know.


    That¡¯s why we prize adaptability in commanders, since it¡¯s the adaptable ones who usually managed to turn a fuck up into something salvageable.¡± - Albert Henry McDouglas, famed commander from the Union Wars, circa 319 FP.


    ¡°They¡¯re there as usual, big bro. Usually they stay there till around sunset, so we ought to get things done as planned,¡± reported Jacob the next day, after another reconnaissance run to make sure their targets would be present. ¡°Our target¡¯s there too, and I don¡¯t see no adults near the area like usual. The brats seem alone.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re sure it¡¯s the right kid, right?¡± asked Vincenzo from the side. Jacob had gone on the recon on his own that day, to allay suspicion and to finalize the bribes with their inside man in the city, so that the patrols that passed near the mercenary camp would be sloppy and lazy ones. He was not the most attentive when it comes to recon other than the obvious things, however.


    ¡°Definitely her, big bro. I know I¡¯m not that attentive, but you literally can¡¯t miss that girl. Only one there with white spotted fur. Saw some smaller blondes too, but not sure if any of them are our other target,¡± said Jacob as he defended himself with a huff. ¡°Either way, same as usual, bunch of maybe a dozen and a half to two dozen kids, nothing that looks threatening to our plan.¡±


    ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll proceed as planned, then,¡± said Edwin with a nod as he addressed the rest of his motley crew. ¡°Neb, Kat, Xev, you three make sure to keep your hoods up. Your faces are scary enough it might well scare off those kids. Ace, you keep things quiet as usual. Vince, you and I are gonna back Jacob, who¡¯ll make the first grab. Once he makes the grab, all of you go all-in.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha,¡± replied Nebula with a scoff. She had looked lightly on their targets, but then again, she had reason to. They were mere children. What trouble could they cause to the group of adult, experienced kidnappers, even if they weren¡¯t human children? The brawny, somewhat chubby woman was a lay bum, and despite her size, mostly relied on her inborn blood affinity to overpower people, but that ability to do so had helped their group several times in the past.


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    ¡°Good, let¡¯s get this done and then we can dine on the demi-human fucker¡¯s blood money,¡± said Edwin with a smirk on his face.


    ******************************


    It was maybe half an hour to sunset by the time Edwin¡¯s ragtag group of scoundrels reached their destination, and their faces lit up when they saw the group of children still playing at being soldiers by the hillside. Much like his fellows had reported, most of the kids looked like they were ten, maybe twelve at most, with nearly half the group being younger kids that included a couple toddlers from the looks of things. This would be an easy enough grab for his group.


    The seven of them pretended to discuss things amongst themselves, before they walked towards the hill openly. Vincenzo and Jacob had noticed passing merchants and other travelers chatting up the kids out of curiosity three times in their week of surveillance, so they knew it wouldn¡¯t be seen as odd by anyone for their group to do so as well.


    In the distance they could see the tent city where the dependents of the mercenaries lived, and the city walls of Dvergarder further beyond that. Why the mercenaries had not simply lived in the city, he had no idea, but then again, when he counted the number of tents, he thought they probably just wanted to save money, since accommodations for hundreds of people would have cost a pretty penny indeed.


    Edwin, Jacob, and Vincenzo had walked ahead of the rest, who to outside eyes might look like a group of travelers who were caring for their odd-looking twitchy member, and put on their best friendly smile while they approached the group of children, many amongst which were swinging sticks and playing pretend at being soldiers, or maybe it was mercenaries, in their case.


    When he heard how Jacob put on his best ¡°friendly uncle¡± look and started chatting up the children nearby - one of them was a young, blonde girl maybe five or six years of age, a probable that might be their secondary target - Edwin couldn¡¯t help but smirk under his hood. Jacob was their best when it came to dealing with children, and he could easily trick them to walk into his hands most of the time.


    It was when Jacob moved closer and made his grab for the little girl, that things changed and their plans literally went to the shit hole.


    The beast-like girl with white, spotted fur, their primary target, had been somewhat close to where Jacob and the little blonde girl were, and when Jacob moved, so had she. What none of them expected was how fast the girl moved, almost as if she was a white blur in their eyes, and before they realized what happened, the girl had grabbed the young blonde one and took her away from Jacob¡¯s hands.


    Then she put a couple bloody, clawed fingers to her lips and whistled loudly.


    ¡°Fuck! That little bitch cut me!¡± cursed Jacob vehemently as he grabbed his right arm with his left. Even as he moved forward - all of them were moving to grab their targets and run by then - Edwin noticed why. There were four parallel cuts on the back of Jacob¡¯s right arm, which bled profusely. It looked almost as if a wild beast had clawed him, but one look at the white-furred girl and the blood that still dripped from the claws at the tip of her fingers spoke of a much different picture.


    So their target was capable and willing to resist, in the end. It mattered not, though, as the younger children were already beginning to scream in surprise and some panic, while a couple of the older ones had ran over to the white-furred one¡¯s side. Despite all that, they were just children, so the resistance they could put up wouldn¡¯t matter too much for his group. Nebula already cracked her fists as she charged ahead of the rest, in eagerness to bully those weaker than her, as usual.


    It was around then that Edwin caught sight of several bigger figures who ran over from behind the hill, three of them on all fours, and his face paled instantly.


    ¡°Oh¡­ shit!¡±

 Chapter 155 - When the Bucket of Excrement Upended

    ¡°What to do when things go to shit you ask? Just do whatever you can and pray for the best.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    What should have been an easy operation - just to get in, grab some kids, and get out - instantly turned into a mess beyond what Edwin had predicted. Sure, all they had to deal with were a bunch of children, that part was true. The problem was that he very quickly realized that those children were not playing soldiers, but had sincerely trained much like how one would.


    The ¡°sticks¡± he saw from afar and had thought they were playing with were lightweight, sure, but made of hardwood nevertheless. While getting struck by it would only leave a bruise at worst, many of the sticks had their ends tapered down to a blunt, but still narrow end. A jab from one of those, even in the hands of a child, to a soft area like the abdomen, would still have sent an adult reeling, and could easily bruise something inside.


    Not to mention that some of the demi-human kids had actual claws and fangs, and from the scratches that built up on Jacob¡¯s arms, were not in the least shy to use them on others, despite how their scouts never mentioned it. None of the kidnappers had really fathomed that the kids had been disciplined not to use their fangs and claws unless it was an emergency situation, much less than they knew exactly what they had to do with them.


    For a moment, things looked up once more as Nebula just barreled through the group of older kids that used their sticks like spears to keep them at bay, shouldering and tossing around some of them aside in her charge. The brawny, chubby woman cursed from the pain when several of the sticks prodded her particularly hard, and doubly so when one of the kids had the smarts to have braced the stick they held against the ground for her to run into. That stick had actually pierced through her belly and out her back, but she called on her innate magic to help her ignore it as she shoulder-checked the kid aside.


    Xevra and Vincenzo, as well as Edwin himself had followed the path created in her wake as they headed towards the girl with feline features and white, spotted fur, their primary target, when they were halted in their path by the arrival of four other kids from the other side of that hill. Probably it was a misnomer to have called those newcomers ¡°kids¡±, however, as three of them were easily larger than even Nebula, and the last one, while shorter by a good bit, was half again as broad at the shoulder as the brawny woman.


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    Two of those newcomers, both demi-human children with beastial features that recalled that of a great bear, though only about as large as an adult human in size or so, tackled the brawny woman bodily, and to Edwin¡¯s surprise, halted her in place. He had personally seen Nebula plow through four to five adult guards in the past, so how two immature children could hold against her, he had no idea, but he already knew they were in trouble, especially with how those two beastly things locked one of Nebula¡¯s arms with one of theirs and flicked out wicked claws with their free paw-like hands and went to town on the woman.


    Another kid that looked similar to the two that stopped Nebula, but even larger in build, had simply barreled over Vincenzo and pinned him to the ground even as the mustachioed man desperately struggled to keep the wide open, fanged maw of the kid away from his face using his hands, a struggle he was clearly losing.


    The last of the four kids from the back of the hill had approached them with a weird, loping gait, as he used one of his long, grossly oversized arms almost like another leg, while he held a tree branch as thick around as a human leg with his other hand. The way the short youngster looked like a bearded monkey somewhat disturbed Edwin as well, with how used he was to just dealing with humans all his life.


    Xevra tried to intercept the weird, bearded, monkey-like kid, but quickly found herself troubled when he swung the thick wooden branch like a cudgel at her. His swings were wide, almost haphazard and full of openings in fact, but the speed and force with which he swung forced the woman to keep her distance cautiously, all too aware that a direct hit might well shatter bones or worse.


    When Edwin looked back, he couldn¡¯t help but to frown in dismay at the rest of his group¡¯s performance. Ace was useless in a fight, as he needed to focus to maintain the silencing barrier around them. He had said that he would silence the vicinity of the entire hill, but they had not accounted for there to be other, bigger kids right on the other side of the hill itself.


    Katja was paralyzed with indecision. Whereas the former assassin killed guards and others that had run afoul of them many times in the past, she had always been insistent on not harming young children. In fact, whenever the group happened to kidnap a young child, Katja would then take good care of the child personally while they waited for the eventual ransom.


    In just about every case, the child would end up attached to her to the point that sometimes they were reluctant to part with her. Edwin had expected her to be about useless for fighting unless they ran into the adults, but had not expected this sort of scenario in his plans.


    On the other hand, Jacob was being beaten up by around ten children with their staffs and spears - he could no longer see those as mere sticks anymore - though he at least kept their attention on him even as he yelped in pain as the blows rained down on his chubby form.


    That left Edwin as the only one of his group free to take action, and his mind spun to seek a solution where he could somehow salvage the current situation his group had fallen into. It would have been both hilarious and humiliating for his group of kidnappers to end up getting caught and rounded up by kids of all things.


    Immediately, his eyes locked at the slender demi-human girl with white, spotted fur, who had withdrawn a bit to the back as she stood protectively in front of the dozen or so younger children. Edwin pounced at the girl, since he thought that if he could get her, their primary target, and maybe a couple of the younger ones, it would at least give him something to demand ransom and maybe the release of his people with, since chances were they would have to leave some of their own behind.

 Chapter 156 - Corner a Beast at Your Own Peril

    ¡°Generally, unless you¡¯re certain that you¡¯ve crushed the enemy¡¯s morale enough to make them yield, you should leave a way out for your enemies. Leave none whatsoever, and your opponents would become cornered beasts.


    Cornered beasts would bite anything near them in their desperate struggle.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Erycea noticed right away when the weasely-looking man turned towards her. With Alycea and the other younger children behind her, there was no room for her to retreat, which left only one option for her, which was to fight. Although she had killed a man before, years ago in Fort Ascher, back then she also had surprise going for her, and she doubted that the man in front of her would let her fangs get close enough to his throat for her to repeat what she had done back then.


    She couldn¡¯t help but to look at the training ¡°swords¡± she usually used. She knew all too well that the light wood, while sturdy, would barely leave a bruise if she struck the man with it. Unlike the mock-spears used by some of the others, the tips of her training weapon were not tapered either.


    After some quick thinking, Erycea finally had an idea on how she could hurt the man who menacingly rushed at them with it, as she flipped her training weapons around, holding them by the tip rather than the handle. That placed the weights meant to simulate the heft and balance of a real weapon much further away from her grip, and those metal lumps would definitely cause more damage if she struck the man with them instead.


    Sure enough, the man halted his rush and backed away a step when she swung the makeshift maces at him, the baton he held in one hand trembling as he blocked one of her blows. She had not expected the man to grab at her weapon and used it to yank her towards him, though, nor did she manage to block his baton, though she got her head out of its path so the stick only struck her left shoulder instead.


    While the girl managed to mostly ignore the pain that flared on her shoulder, the hand that grasped at her face and pushed her down was harder to ignore. With the hand covering her sight, Erycea felt her back hit the ground as the man pushed her down, and her ears caught the worried scream of her little sister behind her.


    Something snapped in her mind at that moment, a final thread of restraint that had been there without her knowing, a memory of how a man¡¯s final struggle - caused by her fangs and claws - had gone, ones that had weighed on her mind subconsciously without her realizing it all the while. With that, things suddenly changed in a manner too rapid for many to perceive at all.


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    The first change that manifested happened to the orb of glass that Erycea kept orbiting around her out of habit. Where before the orb had been composed of a multitude of rounded and concave chunks that fit into each other, those shards morphed into wedges with razor-sharp edges even as the orb unraveled in the blink of an eye. Those shards and wedges then flew straight towards the face of the unsuspecting weasely-looking man, and pierced through his face at many places, while a couple even embedded themselves into his eyeballs as he screamed in pain and surprise.


    That scream of pain redoubled itself as Erycea bit down on the hand that covered her face. The man recoiled away from her, with one hand clutched over his injured face, where it covered his one good eye from the rain of glass shards. His other hand was missing the thumb and index fingers entirely, while his middle finger was severed past the first segment.


    Erycea spat out the missing fingers and some blood even as she looked at the reeling man viciously. She ignored the throbbing pain on her shoulder as she pushed herself off the ground with her left hand, and struck at the outside of the man¡¯s knee with the training weapon in her other hand. The metal lump that served as weight struck the joint with a satisfying thump and the weasely-looking man screamed in more pain as he fell to one knee.


    By fortune or coincidence, Alycea thrust her training spear at the man right as he fell to a knee. Whereas the thrust might have just struck the man¡¯s leg at worst before, when he fell to one knee, he inadvertently placed his nether regions right in the path of that thrust, and the tapered end of the training spear in the little girl¡¯s hand struck right where it hurt most.


    Even as the man¡¯s scream took on a higher pitch, Erycea struck once more with the makeshift mace she used her training weapon as, and the metal weight struck the side of the man¡¯s head hard. She watched as the man¡¯s eyes rolled to show their whites, and how he toppled over listlessly to his side, his mangled hand still bleeding and his face lacerated all over by tiny glass shards.


    Erycea took a glimpse around the hill, to get a view of the situation at hand, and saw that the rest of the fight was pretty much under control. The burly woman was pinned to the ground with a good chunk of her face and shoulders mauled by Varilya¡¯s twins. The other woman had her arms pinned behind her back by Gustav¡¯s even burlier hand, with one of her legs twisted the wrong way.


    The other man, the dapper one with the mustache, was secured under Vlad¡¯s bulk, with multiple deep claw marks on his figure, the fight clearly out of him. As for the other three, the scarred woman looked paralyzed and uncertain on what she ought to do, while the chubby one already curled up as the rest of the kids around Ery¡¯s age beat him up.


    When the last one, the twitchy, gangly man looked as what befell his comrades and turned to run, he had not made it more than five steps away before a slender javelin and an arrow sliced through the air from the canopy of the large tree atop the hill, the same tree that Ery often lounged on. The javelin struck the man¡¯s leg from behind, as it pierced through his left calf and turned his run into a painful tumble which ended with him clutching his wounded leg. The arrow landed on his right butt cheek and just added insult to the injury.


    When Erycea saw the three adults who had hidden themselves amongst the canopy of the tree all day just in case they needed some help begin their descent, and the last, scarred woman raised her hands in surrender, she knew that the incident was pretty much over.

 Chapter 157 - Rounding up Prisoners

    ¡°The practice of giving bounties to wanted criminals is an age-old institution. At times, when the hand of justice was stymied, you¡¯d be surprised what some people¡¯s greed might be capable of. Of course, generally bounty hunters rarely lived that long, due to the perils of the occupation, which might even cause the criminals to put their own bounties on the hunters¡¯ heads if they become famous enough. Still, for some, the potential profits outweighed the risks in their mind


    Unless you¡¯re *the* Bounty Hunter, that is, in which case nobody sane would even try to mess with you.¡± - Leopold Kuhlen-Nistra, Former bounty hunter, presently the Guard Captain of Jonkver, circa 520 VA.


    When Goran - nominally with the Company as an armorer, which he was good at, though prior to that he and his sister had been independent mercenaries themselves - nimbly leapt down the last five meters or so to the ground from the tree he was perched on, he was pleased to see that the situation had indeed been handled acceptably.


    He, along with Dacia and Norul - a Half-Orcish man who worked as a fletcher for the company - had stayed up on the tree all day just in case the children¡¯s worries turned out to be reality, which was not unlikely, given how serious and sharp those children in question were. Hogarth had wanted to accompany them, but finally relented when he realized it would mean climbing and staying up on the tree¡¯s canopy, a height of well over ten meters from the ground.


    Out of the seven intruders, all but one were already secured by the time they reached the ground. The one that remained unsecured being the lanky one that tried to run, who still struggled wildly - probably due to pain more than anything - and thus was left alone until he calmed down a bit. Goran himself was the one who hurled the javelin that pierced the man¡¯s calf, though he was probably more pained by the arrow Norul landed right on his butt.


    Instead, Goran walked along with Dacia with a pair of daggers in his hand just in case the intruders tried to struggle more. The one Erycea had knocked out - and left with dozens of glass shards embedded all over his face - was out cold, and given how the girl already hog-tied the man skillfully, with the ropes that bound his arms tied further to the ones that bound his legs, which made him curl up almost like a shrimp, the man was unlikely to cause any issues even if he woke up. The sight of how little Alycea stood watch as her older sister tied the man up with the stick in her hand raised high for a blow brought a chuckle to him.


    The three who attempted to head straight for Erycea together with that man, were also taken care of pretty well. Vladislav - already nearly a head taller than even Goran himself despite his youth - had a very submissive looking man tied up tightly. When Goran considered how the man¡¯s scratched-up face was also wet with saliva from when the young therian must have threatened to literally chew his face off, the armorer also sympathized and understood why the man submitted right away.


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    Probably the most troublesome one was a somewhat short, brawny woman who still struggled despite how she had a wooden stick through her belly and was held in place by Tasha and Vera, both of whom were an entire size larger than she was. It was not until Dacia prodded the woman with her short spear that she finally saw the writing on the wall and submitted, as Tasha secured her arms behind her back while Vera tied the woman up.


    The other woman who was caught by Gustav looked at Goran with a pleading look, and Goran struggled not to laugh out loud when he saw the woman¡¯s predicament. While Gustav had handily overpowered the woman, he was terribly unskilled when it came to ropes and knots. Since the younger children were not much help either - though they brought him the ropes - in that matter, he resorted to tying up the woman so haphazardly she was almost twisted into a ball in the process.


    Further away, the chubby man was all bruised up and submitted readily when the children stopped beating him up and tied his arms behind his back. The way the man looked at the others who were in worse condition and shivered made Goran feel that he likely would pose no problems either.


    He could tell that these men and women were probably kidnappers, given how they tried to go for Erycea and seemed wary of using lethal means. Reinhardt was pretty well known in the Duchy by now since therians of his kind were beyond rare in Western Alcidea, so it would not have been difficult to connect the dots when one looked at Erycea, and the child of a mercenary captain was the sort of target daring kidnappers might well go for.


    They probably had not expected that the kids were not playing at being soldiers, but were sincerely training from a young age instead. As adults tend to look down upon children, they paid the price, doubly so since they apparently had not noticed Mischka¡¯s grandchildren, who usually stayed on the other side of the hill where there was more room. Gustav they probably dismissed as a threat due to his shortness as well.


    What they did not know came back to bite them in the rear, as any one of Mischka¡¯s grandkids could already give even experienced human mercenaries a run for their money in hand to hand combat despite their tender ages, their sheer size and power granting them a massive advantage in that field. Gustav was the same, despite his deceptively short stature.


    Goran helped the children secure the screaming lanky man together, and oversaw how the last member of the group, the scarred woman, sighed dejectedly and just offered her hands to be tied up without resisting. From what the children told him, that woman seemed paralyzed into inaction throughout the whole mess, and had surrendered as soon as the others were caught and the lanky one turned and ran.


    Given how Goran found a multitude of knives, blades, and concealed weapons on the woman¡¯s body, he quickly realized that there must be more to the story behind her inaction, as she was the only one amongst the group who carried blades, the others only armed with cudgels and blackjacks at most. That, combined with the vague feel Goran could sense from the woman, the feel of someone who had killed many times, made him wonder what her story was about.

 Chapter 158 - Commendations and Payment

    ¡°Words, no matter how nice, don''t mean much shit for us, unless you tack on a nice bag of coins to it, *then* you¡¯re speaking our language.¡± - Gregor ¡°Savage Beast¡± Humpernickle, famed mercenary, known for hating it when people call him by his last name.


    ¡°Well done up north, Captain Edelstein. My daughter also asked me to pass on her compliments for your fine work,¡± said Duke Sandoval Utghwes of Dvergarder approximately three days after the attempted kidnapping incident. Reinhardt and the rest of the northern expedition had just returned that very morning, and while most of the mercenaries immediately returned to their encampment, the leaders of the units went into the city to meet with the Duke.


    The young Duchess and her retinue had entered the city the previous evening, as they departed ahead of the pack on horseback, and prepared a welcome for them. Indeed, as the tired but victorious group of soldiers and mercenaries entered the city, they found a warm welcome from the citizens, both old and young, male and female, who cheered for their safe return.


    Some of the older children present on the scene scattered handfuls of flower petals from baskets as they passed, while others crowded the returning army and proffered tankards of ale as well as various delicacies like freshly roasted meats and the liked to show their appreciation. They showed no discrimination between the house troops and the mercenaries, and even Reinhardt happily accepted some and happily chowed down on the offered food and drink.


    The ordinary soldiers - who were all locals of the duchy - had at times hugged some of the cheering citizens, the parents, lovers, or children they had left behind when they went to war. For some, the reunion was more somber in tone, as in some cases friends of the family had to inform their relatives that their son or daughter, brother or sister, mother or father, would not be returning at all.


    At the end of their march, which ended before the Ducal Mansion, the Duke himself had awaited them alongside the rest of his family. Much to the surprise of the soldiers - the vast majority of which were conscripted commoners, even if the Duchy¡¯s commoners were perhaps better trained and experienced due to their being on the border - the whole family gave a respectful bow from the waist to the gathered soldiers.


    Then the Duke himself had given a short speech about how he bowed out of respect to the courage and sacrifices of his people, who had gone to war on his name, and how their efforts were not in vain, nor would it go unrewarded. Many cheers - and not a few tears - erupted amongst the soldiers when the Duke proclaimed that every household from which a member had contributed to the campaigns would be exempted from taxes for the next two years, and those that had lost a family member because of it, freed from their obligations for the next decade.


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    With good cheers and yelled praises for the Duke, the mustered soldiers finally broke off, as from there they would either return to their homes - for those who lived in the city itself - or else take a short break, enjoy the city¡¯s hospitality, and then embark on the return journey to their homes. They were not worried about the compensation the Duke had proclaimed, as every house that had sent someone to fight in the war had been recorded during the conscription, and the Duke had always been true to his words.


    As for the rest of the gathered military, namely the Duke¡¯s personal army of professional soldiers, they were also dismissed with a free week of paid leave, while their leaders - along with the mercenary leaders present - followed the Duke¡¯s family into the Ducal mansion. There the Duke met with them in his office as he personally gave his commendation and rewards to them one after another.


    The officers from the regular army received their commendations first, followed by the mercenaries after they had left the room. For the mercenaries, the Duke had not reneged on his word, and along with his words of commendation, he also slipped them a storage artifact with their payment within, as well as bonuses and condolences money where appropriate.


    Out of the four mercenary companies, the Janissaries were likely the most fortunate when it came to the casualties they took. They had barely one in ten of their members still nursing an injury or worse, partly due to their skirmishing approach to battle. The Duke gave them their pay, condolences money for the few who were unfortunate and died, as well as a bonus for the victory, but not much more since even their injured were mostly healed thanks to the healers employed by the Ducal house.


    The Spears of Ostvin were far less fortunate, as they had lost over a third of their members, including their Captain. When their acting captain expressed his intent to leave the Duke¡¯s service to refill their ranks, the Duke took it well, and also paid them what they deserved. They got significantly more in condolences money, but money didn¡¯t help repopulate a group that easily, all considered.


    Despite the state they were in when Reinhardt met them at Fort Kazka, the Silver Eagles actually had lighter casualties all considered. Only about one in five of their members fell or were badly injured, as they were veterans and knew when to advance and retreat properly. Unlike the Spears, they expressed their desire to continue working for the Duke for the foreseeable future.


    As for the Free Lances themselves, Reinhardt had tallied the butcher¡¯s bill together with Lars after the battles. With the badly injured taken care of by the Duchy¡¯s healers, Their casualty count was similarly light, with roughly a hundred twenty or so who either perished or had expressed their desire to seek a more peaceful occupation, which was not an uncommon thing especially with newer mercenaries who faced their first battle and felt that they were lacking.


    ¡°I would also like to express my condolences for your losses, and my praise for the nobles your Company had helped us capture during the battles,¡± said the Duke as he handed Reinhardt the a storage ring. Even as he shook the Duke¡¯s hand, he peered inside the ring and noticed the sizable bonus the Duke had added to their agreed-upon pay, mostly for the bounties they were responsible for. A smile formed on his lips as he chatted amicably with the Duke for a short while, at least until the man¡¯s parting words caught him by surprise.


    ¡°Oh, and Guard Captain Grange also offered his compliments. The band of kidnappers your people handed over had been wanted in our Kingdom for the past decade or so,¡± the Duke had said.

 Chapter 159 - A Parents Anxiety

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, probably it¡¯s just the motherly instincts in me, but that time when I heard that my kid hurt himself, I had just dropped everything else, no matter how urgent, just to be at his side a moment sooner. Needless to say, quite a few people didn¡¯t take it kindly, but the party leader was fortunately on my side and excused that incident.


    After all, he was a father himself, and likely knew what went through my mind.¡± - Eris de Blanche, former adventurer, when asked why she once dropped an important, high-paying assignment and ran back to her home.


    While equal parts of curiosity and anxiety warred in his heart, Reinhardt knew better than to bother the duke by asking about the details of the matter he had just mentioned, and just nodded politely in thanks before he left after a little more small talk. His steps as he walked out of the Ducal Mansion was notably faster, however, as if he was in a hurry to go elsewhere. Elfriede and the others beside him also noticed and understood how he must have felt, so they similarly kept up with his fast pace.


    Fortunately, by then the crowd that had gathered to welcome them in the city had mostly dispersed - many to welcome back or mourn their loved ones - so their path back towards the gate was unimpeded. Reinhardt also calmed down somewhat as he remembered that the encampment was orderly and showed no signs of panic when they passed by on their return.


    Had there been any emergency that was worth calling his attention to, someone from the camp would have accosted them before they even entered the city in the first place. The lack of such a messenger meant that whatever the situation might be, it was likely nothing that would be considered too serious by the elders that remained at the camp.


    As such, when a constable under the Guard Captain met his group on their way out of the City and invited him for a short visit, he took the offer with Elfriede, while he told the rest of his lieutenants to head back to the encampment ahead of him. The City Guard¡¯s main office and barracks was a bit further westwards from the Ducal Mansion, but still near the center of the city, and there he was met by the old Guard Captain himself.


    ¡°Ah, greetings, Captain Edelstein. Thank you for taking time to visit this old man,¡± said the Guard Captain, who most just referred to as the ¡°Old Man¡± due to his advanced age. A former mercenary himself, the Old Man still maintained a robust physique despite his age, and could often be seen on patrols along with many much younger members of the guards. ¡°We of the City Guards are indebted to you and yours, so please accept this token of our gratitude.¡±


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    After the Guard Captain gave a short bow to Reinhardt and Elfriede, one of the younger guards passed them a basket of delicacies and sweets, which made him raise his eyebrow a bit, along with a small storage ring that was loaded with a reasonable sum of coins. The odd gift had made Reinhardt wonder why the Old Man had given them sweets of all things, but his next words soon clarified it.


    ¡°The kidnappers your children had caught were infamous, and had bounties all over the Kingdom before this mess broke out. The bounty was still valid, and we had placed its entirety in the ring,¡± explained the Guard Captain. ¡°As for the basket, it is a token of our gratitude for their bravery and effort, and a small gesture of thanks since catching these criminals had allowed us to uncover the rot within our own establishment.¡±


    ¡°Well, glad that we could be of help, sir Grange,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. He made some more small talk with the Guard Captain before he left the office, and as he left, Elfriede met him, as she had asked around to find out what exactly happened during their absence. Part of it Reinhardt had guessed from the congratulations he had received, while others only came to light after Elfriede asked around a bit more.


    It turned out that a wanted band of kidnappers had attempted to snatch the children they had left behind, only to find the tables turned on them by said children instead. Reinhardt was not too surprised when he heard that, as he knew all too well just how hard the children had actually trained despite their young age, much less with Mischka¡¯s grandkids in the mix, each of which would already give many human adults a run for their money on their own.


    Apparently one of the kidnappers that had been turned in to the guards - Reinhardt was told that out of the seven captured, two were detained by his people for reasons unknown, while the other five were turned in to the guards - had confessed to bribing the vice-captain of the guards to lighten their patrols when they made their move. That combined with the distance of the hill where the children played from the city proper meant that the guards had no idea what happened until the kidnappers were turned in.


    Naturally, the old Guard Captain had not taken the news lightly, and in the three days since, had started an investigation into the alleged bribery which impacted several of his subordinates. All the regular guards who were found to have accepted a bribe to turn a blind eye were cashiered from the corps, while the officers were not only stripped of their rank, but also thrown in jail, their fates pending a proper trial in the near future.


    Given how nobody had mentioned anything about the children, Reinhardt breathed in relief since it likely meant that nothing serious happened to them. His guess was proven right when he returned to the encampment, which had already welcomed the rest of the Company¡¯s return, and he was greeted with the sight of his two daughters running over as they leapt to his embrace.


    For a moment, Reinhardt and Elfriede just stood still as they embraced the two girls and enjoyed that moment of togetherness between them, before he finally roused himself from the pleasant hug and walked deeper into the camp to inquire the details of the incident, with Alycea riding on his shoulders and Erycea walking between him and Elfriede.

 Chapter 160 - Deserved Praise and a Curiosity

    ¡°Selective usage of praise is one of the best ways to handle and teach young children, whose minds were still in their formative years. Sincere praises given when they did well would be remembered for a long time, over random praises given for small things, and thus would in turn remind them of what they did well enough to be praised for.¡± - Miranda C¨¨br¨²n?, Psychologist, Soulweaver, and Head of the Sev-Galas Orphanage, circa 673 FP.


    ¡°All in all, those kids be pulling their weight and then some, all right,¡± said Hogarth as he spoke with his adopted son in a relatively private tent. Reinhardt had immediately gone for him as soon as he returned, because Hogarth was the one in charge of the encampment while the mercenaries were away, and he was naturally in the know about everything important that happened, including the kidnapping attempt. ¡°They didn¡¯t even give Dacia, Goran, and Norul much to do other than bag that one runner!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear,¡± said Reinhardt with a smile, since his dwarven adoptive father was clearly in a good mood. He knew Ery and Aly were both fine, but hadn¡¯t visited or seen the other kids yet, but given the old dwarf¡¯s good mood chances were that none of them took any grievous harm in that kidnapping attempt. He asked anyway to make certain. ¡°None of the kids were hurt?¡±


    ¡°Eh, a couple bruises and sprains, mostly from the pudgy bitch, but that¡¯s about it,¡± said Hogarth with a scoff. ¡°Nothing serious, and I¡¯ve seen those kids hit each other worse than that fer sure. Guards said that the bunch were experienced kidnappers, so they probably tried not to hurt those they wanted to snatch too badly and all, so that helped.¡±


    ¡°Besides, had things went serious we got like a bunch of us ready to rush over as soon as Dacia pops the signal. Turned out it wasn¡¯t even needed at all, hah!¡± added the old dwarf with a bark of laughter. The old dwarf had always doted on his adopted granddaughter, so Reinhardt knew that he would have prepared things just in case it was needed. ¡°You ought to go and pat your little girl¡¯s head some, you know. She handled that well, looked after the small ones and all, even took one of them out herself.¡±


    ¡°I will, pops,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. The way both dwarves and therians like him typically raised their children generally gave them a lot of freedom to be themselves, unlike humans who tend to coddle their children more. If a dwarven or therian child were to come home crying with bruises from a fight, all they¡¯d do would be to tell them to make the other kid cry the next time, and maybe teach them how to do that. ¡°By the way, I heard you kept a couple of the kidnappers?¡±


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    ¡°Yea, one¡¯s the head of the bunch. I figured ye or yer wife might want to have some¡­ words with him, and besides he¡¯s wanted dead or alive anyway. His head¡¯s worth the same as sending him over in one piece,¡± said Hogarth nonchalantly. ¡°As for the other one¡­ it be a tad more¡­ complicated. That lass just couldn¡¯t seem to hurt a kid, and just gave up on her own once we were done with the rest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check them out later then, thanks again, pops.¡±


    When Reinhardt left the tent, he saw Erycea waiting for him with an eager look in her eyes. Elfriede was a bit further away, taking care of Alycea who seemed to be peckish at that time. Reinhardt couldn¡¯t help but smile at the sight of his two children, real or adopted matters not by then, as he saw Alycea as one of his own already by then, and stepped closer to his daughter.


    ¡°Did I do well, daddy?¡± asked his little girl. By then, she was nearly as tall as his chest already, as tall as some of the shorter humans despite her young age. Their kind does grow faster physically, and while Erycea was only a half, she still inherited their blood strongly, and it showed. Unlike his more bulky, muscular form, Erycea was lithe, yet it was a litheness that constrained strength within, more than what one would have expected just from looking at her.


    Reinhardt smiled as he extended a hand and rubbed the little girl¡¯s - no matter how she grew, she would always be his little girl - head, ruffled her fur and messed with her hair, which was the same shade of white as most of her fur a bit. He felt her joy as Erycea giggled under his tender rubbing, and smiled as he looked her in the eye. ¡°Yes, dear. You did well,¡± he said.


    While at first he had wanted for his daughter to pursue a more peaceful path in life, those plans were shattered long ago, and he had come to Elfriede¡¯s point of view that their child should be allowed to pursue the life she wanted, rather than what they wanted. The girl had trained hard over the past few years, from an age many would call too young to do so, because she wished to fight alongside her parents, and her training had shown results to boot.


    After he praised Erycea to her heart¡¯s content, he went over to where Elfriede and Alycea were, and accompanied them for a while. After some time the kids took off to ¡°play¡± with their friends, though he knew all too well that for that bunch of children, their idea of play involved a lot of grueling training and spars that often left them bruised all over.


    Together with Elfriede, he then went to the tent where the captives were held. He himself was quite curious about what Hogarth said, on how one of the kidnappers had practically given no resistance whatsoever and couldn¡¯t seem to bring herself to harm the kids, so he wanted to know about that one¡¯s story, since that sort of behavior usually carried some story behind it.


    As for the head of the kidnappers, he was more than content to just leave the bastard to Elfriede¡¯s tender ministrations, after which they could exchange his head for another bag of coins. That sort of man deserved no better.

 Chapter 161 - One Womans Tale

    ¡°If you¡¯re a former criminal, or still one at large even, being a mercenary would probably be one of your best bets if you wished to make an honest living instead. Unlike most, mercenaries rarely cared that much about what you did in the past (unless it was too horrible even for them, that is. You won¡¯t see any baby-eaters getting employment in any decent company) and mostly care about whether you can prove yourself to be useful and reliable or not.


    As a result, you¡¯d see quite a few notable mercenaries in history who had turned a life of crime into a more proper living, some even rising to greatness with their names noted down in the history books. Did you know that Oliver Grimjaw was a wanted murderer in Posuin before he became a succesful mercenary? Bellona Carlisle was another. She used to pick pockets in the Caliphate and only barely escaped having her hands chopped off, but nowadays people mostly remember her as the nastiest archer around.


    Heck, I myself used to run a small bandit group. We¡¯d hit tax collectors and the likes and share part of our loot with the locals. Easy way to win hearts, that. Once the heat got too much, we skipped over to the Empire and made a living as mercs from then on. We never returned to our old homeland though. Pretty sure they still had bounties for our heads even now.¡± - Farrel ¡°Mugger¡± Holmes, Captain of the Merry Men mercenary company, operating out of the Clangeddin Empire, circa 438 VA.


    ¡°So, what do you want to do first? The fun or the business?¡±


    ¡°Business first, I think. Fun can always wait a bit anyway.¡±


    The voices roused Katja from her slumber. Years of practice and training had made her a very light sleeper anyway, so even the slightest noise would have woken her up. The woman was tied to the central post of a tent with her hands behind her back, with the tent itself being small and pretty much empty other than herself. From the talks she had heard the past few days, she knew that Edwin was similarly cooped up in another tent, while the rest had been turned in to the local authorities.


    She knew all too well that the fate that awaited her would not be much different. That the children her group had aimed for were actually skilled enough to beat them down was completely out of their expectations, and later she learned that there had been several of the adults on watch to begin with, so their little heist was always doomed to failure from the start.


    Katja couldn¡¯t help but to squint with her one good eye when the tent flap was opened, which let some of the sunlight in, right against her face. Then the light was promptly turned to shadow as a large figure who had to duck to even enter the tent walked in, followed by a more normal sized woman behind him - or maybe her? Katja could never really tell with Therians - who then stood side to side as they looked down on her from their full heights.


    The Therian one looked odd, not the kind that they usually saw in the region, with feline features, and white spotted fur, but most notably of all, that large, thick, very soft-looking tail that swished to and fro behind their back. Only a moment passed before Katja recalled where she had seen the same features, on the little girl they had targeted and had nearly brained Edwin instead. The Captain of the mercenaries himself, then.


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    As for the woman who stepped up next to his side, Katja instantly recognized the feeling she gave out. A fellow killer, one who had taken many lives for whatever reasons. The way the woman¡¯s greyish eyes had not even looked at her was at the same time, condescending yet unnerving, but something told her that the woman had probably not even intended that.


    ¡°So, we were told that you not only confessed to everything, but had been very helpful compared to the rest,¡± said the big therian - the human woman next to him barely reached his shoulder - with his gruff voice as he looked at Katja. ¡°They also told me that you neither fought nor resisted unlike the rest, despite being the only one armed to kill people. That brought up many questions, so I¡¯ll start with the simplest one: Why?¡±


    ¡°I just couldn¡¯t¡­¡± replied Katja quietly.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t what?¡± asked the mercenary woman sharply.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t bear to raise my blades upon children¡­ not anymore¡­¡± she said. Then Katja told everything she had cooped up for a long time, things that not even her compatriots amongst the kidnappers had known, to the two mercenaries, who to her surprise, had the decency to simply listen to her tale. The two of them even brought out chairs and sat while they listened.


    Katja - that name was not even a name in truth, but merely the local dialect for the number thirteen, which was the number she was assigned when she was young - was an orphan who tried to survive in the streets of her birthplace, which she was no longer certain of, when she was young. She was soon taken away by a cult of assassins, who then raised her into one of their agents over a decade.


    While she had not thought much about her new life at first, things changed when she grew older, and some of the older assassins placed her in charge of a cadre of young children who were being raised into new members of the cult. That was when she began to truly question what they were doing, and failed to keep her suppressed conscience in check.


    The training that the cult put the children through was grueling and cruel. Even during Katja¡¯s own days, out of a batch of twenty children, only four of them survived to the end, and out of those, only two became assassins for the cult, for they were pitted against each other at the final trial, with only the survivors deemed worthwhile. Back then Katja was too busy simply trying to survive to think about it, but when she was made to do the same to a group of children, she soon found that she couldn¡¯t stomach it.


    She had actually escaped the cult - along with her batch of children - while she leaked their presence to the local authorities at the time, the battle between the cult and the troops a diversion for her escape. The children she had then left in orphanages, while she herself tried to lay low and live quietly. It was during those times that she met with Edwin Reasley and was hired by him when she was looking for work.


    Despite their work as kidnappers, the Reasleys were relatively decent ones, as they generally tried to avoid killing unless it was guards who got in their way, or victims that their families refused to ransom out. The few times they kidnapped children, Katja was the one who took care of the kids, and fortunately, they were always ransomed out, so she faced no true dilemma with them.


    After her experiences, Katja simply couldn¡¯t bring herself to harm children, so when the mercenary children had fought back against them, she had been paralyzed by indecision. Which was why when everyone else was taken down, she had simply given up and had not resisted in the least. She knew that chances were that she¡¯d be punished severely - there was a dead or alive warrant for Edwin and Nebula, and bounties for the rest of them - but perhaps she was just tired of a life on the run.

 Chapter 162 - Just Dues

    ¡°Crime does pay pretty well at times, just make sure not to get caught, or else¡­¡± - Saying attributed to the Masked Shadow, famous phantom thief circa 419 VA.


    ¡°This one isn¡¯t too bad. You want her, Friede?¡± asked Reinhardt to Elfriede after they heard the captive former assassin¡¯s story. Naturally, prior to the interrogation they had also asked for the relevant records off the city guards, and what the captured woman spoke was the truth. The kidnapping group had indeed¡­ mellowed somewhat after her joining, as odd as it sounded. ¡°She can pay off the bounty the usual way.¡±


    ¡°Normally I wouldn¡¯t care as much, but my team does have a need for competent people at the moment, so she¡¯s in luck. Sure. I¡¯ll take her,¡± said Elfriede. By default, former assassins like the captured woman would be asked if they were interested in joining Elfriede¡¯s team - who practically acted as assassins on the battlefield - when they joined the Company. With the current state of the team, having lost one-fifth of their members, she was in need of new people indeed.


    ¡°You can get up now,¡± said Elfriede as she nonchalantly sliced open the woman¡¯s bindings with one slash of her weapon. On the other hand, Katja looked rather baffled that the mercenaries had so easily - and one-sidedly - decided to take her in, though when she considered the alternative of prison or worse, she just took herself as fortunate. ¡°You¡¯re mine from this day on, understood? You¡¯ll work with no pay other than food and shelter until you¡¯ve paid off your bounty in its entirety from the salary you¡¯d normally get.¡±


    ¡°And after that?¡± asked the former assassin with some nervousness. She knew that if she was caught she¡¯d have to pay the piper for her part in the crimes of the group, so she was prepared for that much at least. ¡°What happens after the bounty is paid off?¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯d be just another member of the company, free to make your own decisions,¡± said Reinhardt as he shrugged, as if his answer was the most normal thing in the world. ¡°You¡¯d get your salary according to performance, up to you what you¡¯d use it for, and if you so desire, you could even leave if that¡¯s what you preferred. We¡¯re a pretty relaxed bunch overall as long as you don¡¯t cross us.¡±


    ¡°And what of the others?¡± asked Katja with the same nervousness still in her voice. While she was not that close to the others in the group, she couldn¡¯t help but worry somewhat about their fates, as they had spent some years together after all.


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    ¡°We¡¯ve already turned in most of them to the Old Man. I heard that the one burly woman had multiple death warrants on her head for former crimes and would be executed, while the rest just faced jail times. It¡¯s not like we have any use of people who can¡¯t even deal with our kids, after all,¡± said Reinhardt nonchalantly. ¡°As for your former leader¡­ I¡¯ll just say that he tried to touch what should not be touched and we¡¯ll be turning in his head for the bounty tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± said the one-eyed woman as she looked down and sighed.


    Elfriede had Nina - who happened to pass nearby - take Katja over to the rest of their team, while she and Reinhardt went over to another small tent. There, Edwin Reasley, the head of the group, wanted dead or alive for dozens of kidnapping and murders over the past two decades, was similarly tied up to a post. His condition was notably worse than Katja¡¯s was, though.


    For one, the man had scores of small wounds all over his face, that had by now scabbed over, while one of his hands were missing two and a half fingers - courtesy of Erycea¡¯s bite, they had heard - and there was a large, swollen bruise on both the side of his head and his left knee still. The man only looked half-aware as Reinhardt and Elfriede entered the tent, before he caught a good look at them and his eyes widened in obvious fear.


    ¡°I guess even a dog knows when it bit something it shouldn¡¯t have,¡± commented Reinhardt dryly. Not that he felt any sort of pity for the man before him, considering that said man had tried to kidnap his daughters - and considering his track record - might have done even worse. As such, he felt perfectly calm as he turned around to look at Elfriede and nodded.


    ¡°He¡¯s all yours, dear. Just keep in mind to not mess his face to the point that it¡¯s unrecognizable, would you? We still need to trade his head in for the bounty,¡± he said with all the calmness of someone ordering dinner, rather than someone who had just condemned another to a gruesome, painful death. In contrast, Elfriede looked positively eager to get her hands on the man, and had already whipped out a large knife as she approached him.


    The first muffled screams - the man was gagged - sounded shortly after Reinhardt left the tent, and he just shook his head as he thought about it. He ordered the others to not bother Elfriede for the time being, and went off towards the hill where the incident had taken place. There he saw the group of children already back at play and training as if nothing had happened at all.


    The sight of the dozens of children swinging around weighted sticks - though some like Mischka¡¯s grandchildren and Gustav swung around logs instead of sticks - as they diligently practiced made Reinhardt sigh and feel almost as if he didn¡¯t deserve such wonderful kids. Even his younger adopted daughter, Alycea, could be seen amongst them, although with her small, youthful frame she had trouble even properly swinging the sort of weighted stick her sister used for training.


    A smile came unbidden to his lips as he watched the children at their practice, one that grew wider when his daughters noticed his presence and ran over to him before they leapt straight into his embrace. As he lifted both girls - one on each arm - he couldn¡¯t help but notice how Erycea had grown , already tall enough to nearly reach his chest when she stood straight up. In his memory he thought that not so long ago she was still that adorable ball of fur that barely reached his knees.


    They grew up so fast.

 Side Story 13 - Unexpected Anxiety; Birth

    ¡°Such a thing as an expectant father who remained calm at their child¡¯s birth does not exist in this world.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Inside an Inn,


    Logdstadt, B?rengant,


    Northern Knallzog,


    Approximately Nine years and seven months ago,


    Reinhardt Edelstein - often jokingly called the ¡°Little Boss¡± by his fellow mercenaries, as his aunt led the Company - paced with worry and nervousness, almost as if he was intent on carving a circular groove on the wooden floor of the inn¡¯s lobby with his footsteps. It was an entirely foreign feeling, one he was entirely uncertain on how to handle at all, and definitely one where he¡¯d rather charge headlong into a prepared enemy position than experience it.


    In all his twenty-four years of life, the sort of predicament he was currently in was something he had never experienced, and even his adoptive father and aunt merely laughed out loud and told him that it was the sort of trial he¡¯d have to deal with on his own when he told them about it. That, combined with the nervousness and worry that only redoubled everytime a vague scream of pain came from the room nearby, caught him flat-footed and all aflutter, uncertain on how to proceed.


    The cause for his worry and nerves was the same as the source of those screams from the room within, Elfriede, a young woman who had joined the Company a year and a half ago during a time when his aunt took part of the Company to Eastern Knallzog for work. Apparently the girl had been part of a small group of three, and had often taken the less clean jobs on offer, which got them into trouble as a result.


    One of the three was a great-grandkid of Aunt Ingrid¡¯s old war buddy, and as the Company happened to be in town during the incident, they had approached them for shelter while their erstwhile employer tried to silence them. One thing led to another and Reinhardt¡¯s aunt had given the three women shelter, while in exchange they would work under her for the duration of the job, where their talents could prove useful.


    By the time the job was finished, the three women had apparently liked working under his Aunt Ingrid, and had followed the rest of the mercenaries back as part of them. Reinhardt had also gotten to know them - if only in a cursory way - back then, but had not thought much about them at the time. Things changed approximately three months after their return, however.


    That fateful evening, Reinhardt happened to be drinking at one of the taverns in town, as the Company was on general leave after the conclusion of a job. He had just relaxed himself as the drink started to take hold when Elfriede - the blind woman of the trio - had approached him that night, and straightforwardly propositioned him for a night of fun in the bedroom.


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    Mercenaries were rarely of the prudish sort, and of course, Reinhardt himself had many experiences mostly with the camp prostitutes that the Company employed. As such, since he was in the mood himself, he naturally agreed to the young woman¡¯s proposition, and joined her in her room that night. He had not expected that the three women shared the same large room, nor that the other two had also sought out bed partners for the night as well, but didn¡¯t exactly mind it either way.


    The night of passion and pleasure that followed was very much to either party¡¯s satisfaction, it turned out, and that momentary tryst turned into a more steady relationship as the two of them frequently met and bedded each other from then on. Unfortunately for both of them, things had not remained that simple, and soon enough something that complicated matters occurred.


    Namely that Elfriede had gotten pregnant.


    Reinhardt had naturally used contraceptives on the regular, but when confronted, he recalled one time when he thought that the tincture had tasted a little funny, but then had shrugged it off since it was the last of the batch he had anyway. Before long, he put two and two together, since he was pretty much the only man Elfriede had been seeing in the past few months, and thus the most likely culprit of her condition.


    He had naturally accepted that if it was indeed his child she carried, then he would take responsibility. What he was not prepared for, however, was how pregnancy affected Elfriede particularly badly. Rein had heard stories, and seen quite a few cases himself, and knew that some women went through pregnancy easily and lightly, while others were severely affected by it. Elfriede seemed to be of the latter sort.


    As a result, for the last eight months he had been stuck with a cranky, temperamental woman who quite rightfully blamed him for her condition. Both his adoptive father and aunt just laughed so hard until they nearly choked when he voiced his troubles to them, as apparently the issue was something he would have to handle by himself, as nobody would really be able to help him with it.


    Now that the end of that period of stress came, however, Rein couldn¡¯t help but find himself completely nervous and worried about the child that Elfriede was giving birth to. His mind was plagued by all sorts of worrisome thoughts, like complications during the birth - which had taken over half the day already as it was - amongst other noisome things like the thought of what it might be like if the child had turned out to not be his.


    All those thoughts broke apart and were replaced by anxiety and surprisingly, joy, in his heart when after one final, prolonged grunt of pain, a second noise followed from within the room. Rather than a baby¡¯s cry, the vague noise from within the room was more akin to the mewling of a newborn kitten, albeit louder and more piercing in tone.


    Then Rein saw Old Ursula, one of the Company¡¯s cooks who also doubled as a midwife, come out from the room and beckoned for him to come in. Just as he passed by the old woman, she spoke to him in somewhat amused tones. ¡°Congrats, little boss! She¡¯s a healthy little girl, definitely takes a lot after her dad too, I¡¯d say!¡±


    He first saw the newborn baby cradled in the scratched-up arms of the nurse who bathed and dried the child. The baby looked almost like a fluffy ball of fur, like an oversized kitten with silvery-white fur, fur that almost exactly resembled his own spotted fur. The scratches on the nurse¡¯s arm was because the baby had not yet learned how to withdraw her claws, and those had scored many lines on the tough woman¡¯s arm, who gave them no heed.


    As the child was proferred to him and he took her small, fragile form into his arms, Reinhardt marveled at the little baby girl, his little baby girl, and couldn¡¯t help but feel the affection that grew from his heart towards the little life he held in his hands. The baby girl cradled in his arms, he moved closer towards Elfriede, who still lay sweating on the bed after the birthing, and brought the child nearby.


    Then Elfriede grabbed his shirt by the collar and drew him close before she gave him an ultimatum that he would never forget until the day he died.


    ¡°Next time you want to fuck, get some bloody proper tinctures first, or else I¡¯ll be bloody chopping off your balls and have them for dinner, understood!?¡±


    The little baby girl in his hand chose that time to mewl as if to underscore Elfriede¡¯s words.

 Side Story 14 - An Overrated Miracle of Life; Shackles

    ¡°Look no further, at the greatest miracle of life there is. Where the old give birth to their progeny, the young ones who carried on the line, onwards through the flow of time, until they in turn became the old and passed the torch onwards to their own progeny. Is there more great, more beautiful a sight, than the miracle where life came to be? From the union of parents, to form the offspring, carrying the best of both, like a torch to light the path of the future?¡± - Excerpt from the ¡°Miracle of Life¡±, famed work by Uthos of Logarren, prehistoric philosopher and author.


    ¡°Come on, Friede,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr as she playfully poked Elfriede¡¯s greatly swollen belly with one rough, callused finger. The brawny, scarred woman had such an annoying, playful smirk on her face that even the usually stone-faced Salicia couldn¡¯t help but smirk as well. It only made Elfriede wish she had some shit in hand to shove into the mouth of her old friend right then and there. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard. Just think of it as taking a really big dump~¡±


    ¡°Fuck you too, Gr¨¹n!¡± said Elfriede as she tried to slap the burly woman¡¯s hand, only for her to retract it first as she giggled. Although she was annoyed to no end by her old friends - there were just five of them in the room co-opted as a delivery room, Elfriede, Gr¨¹nhildr, Salicia, old Ursula who served as the midwife, and a nurse she brought to help out - Elfriede had to admit that at least the joking around had taken her mind off the pain of the contractions she was going through. In the end, she settled for giving her old friend a middle finger, which just made the brawny woman cackle some more.


    Elfriede¡¯s current predicament - her pregnancy and impending childbirth - was something that had stemmed from what started out as an innocent fling for fun months ago. That night, since she and her friends had been in the mood for some more carnal pleasures, she had been on the lookout for a receptive partner when she sensed Reinhardt Edelstein, the adopted nephew of the Company¡¯s leader, at the bar.


    At the time Elfriede had not known of his identity, just that he was a large and strong therian male, and more importantly, well-equipped where it mattered for her needs and wants. He proved quite receptive to her proposition, and before too long they had tussled on one of the beds in the large room she shared with her old friends. That night also proved to be a wild night that kept both of them up until nearly dawn as they kept going at it and immersed themselves in pleasure all night long.


    What was intended to be a one-time tryst for mutual pleasure ended up becoming a repeated affair, as the two of them met up repeatedly after that night. Elfriede had not minded it one bit, for after all, the sex was amazing, so she had no reason to refuse. Their pseudo relationship carried on for a few months without incident, until one morning, she woke up from her sleep too early in the morning because she was struck by a sudden and furious bout of nausea.


    When the sickness repeated itself over the next few days, she finally went to a healer to check her condition, and the reply she received was one that both utterly surprised her and changed her life for good from that point on. The old healer, one of the Company¡¯s veterans, had only checked her for a moment before he congratulated her on her pregnancy.


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    Since she had only slept with Reinhardt for the past few months, he was the only possible culprit that came to mind to Elfriede, and she immediately sought him out and confronted him about it after she left the healer¡¯s office. It took him a while before he recalled one time over a month before that time when the tincture he used for contraceptive had tasted a bit odd, but he shrugged it off at the time.


    The eight months that followed was like hell on earth for Elfriede. Her body felt like it was no longer her own. She felt bloated nearly all the time, and the shift to her center of gravity due to her swollen stomach as her pregnancy went along threw her finely honed instincts off. The persistent soreness that accompanied her every waking moment was compounded by how she was frequently forced to get up and head to the bathroom.


    As if that weren¡¯t enough, she often felt peckish, and at times craved things that made no sense even to herself. One time she had even woken up in the middle of the night and craved for roasted poultry for some reason, though fortunately Salicia was around and shot down a migrating duck as it silhouetted itself against the greater moon for her, which they then roasted and dined on.


    Needless to say, between her feeling like her body no longer belonged to her, and the various other annoyances, Elfriede¡¯s mood became temperamental over those months, something Reinhardt - as the culprit of her present condition - was often subjected to. To his credit, he at least took the abuse without much complaint.


    Everything that pissed her off seemed to culminate to the present day, where she laid in bed as the pain from the contractions of her womb nearly drove her mad, with just her two friends - Reinhardt was outside - along with the midwife and nurse for company. What Gr¨¹nhildr said jokingly was surprisingly a pretty apt comparison, she found. To give birth - the so-called ¡°miracle of life¡± - felt little different than taking a really  long, hard, shit.


    The pain was something else altogether though. When the contractions got bad, Elfriede had to really bite down hard on the bundle of cloth placed in her mouth so she would not shatter her teeth or accidentally bite her tongue instead. It felt as if her stomach was about to split apart from the inside, so badly that the hand she gripped the frame of the bed with left marks where her nails scored the wood.


    Finally, after what felt like an eternity to her - and with pain on a whole other level compared to before - the child finally slid out of her womb, and entered the world. As the midwife expertly tied and cut off the umbilical cord of the baby and carefully patted the infant¡¯s back, the child¡¯s first cry - more like the mewling of a kitten, really - finally graced her ears.


    One feel at the child¡¯s form - who Ursula handed her nurse assistant to bathe in some warm water - made Elfriede certain just who the father was, as her baby resembled an oversized kitten more than anything, with her sharp little claws leaving scratches on the arm of the nurse who bathed her. Elfriede took the time to breathe a sigh of relief and to regather her strength, as the ordeal had left her utterly spent.


    Still, when Ursula invited Reinhardt in and he brought the cleaned child - their child - over to her at the bed, she gathered enough strength to grab him by the collar and pull him close.


    ¡°Next time you want to fuck, get some bloody proper tinctures first, or else I¡¯ll be bloody chopping off your balls and have them for dinner, understood!?¡± said Elfriede with every intent of making good of her threat.


    The little baby girl in his hand chose that time to mewl as if to underscore Elfriede¡¯s words.

 Side Story 15 - Early Years; Innocence

    ¡°No matter the race, in general a child would be extremely dependent on their parents for the first six months to a year of their lives. Some races matured faster, as for example goblin children could be quite self-sufficient as early as a year old, while others matured slower and were dependent on their parents for longer in return, like the human children who were often completely helpless until they reached four or five years of age or so.


    For some races, a child might be far more independent at a much younger age, yet lacked the proper intelligence to perceive the world properly. Therian children were notorious for this, as many of them tended to be rather feral, almost like animals, for the early infancy period of their life, despite their rapid physical maturity. For them, a parent¡¯s role was often relegated to that of a supervisory and protective figure, one who kept them from biting off more than they could chew.¡± - Miranda C¨¨br¨²n?, Psychologist, Soulweaver, and Head of the Sev-Galas Orphanage, circa 675 FP.


    Elfriede had heard plenty of stories - and had witnessed more than a few cases herself through her magical perception - that related how caring for a child was a difficult, time-consuming, and draining ordeal on the parent. Fortunately, while pregnancy proved to be something that was grandly beautified by propaganda over the ages for her, childcare turned out to be the reverse.


    Her little baby girl - that she and Reinhardt had named Erycea after some discussion - was not like a typical human child, which could generally only squirm helplessly wherever they were laid down to rest and cry for attention intermittently. Her child tended to stay awake for a few hours, then slept soundly for the rest of the day until she woke up again the next day, which easily allowed her to get a good night¡¯s rest as well.


    At first she had worried for the child - a foreign feeling that she rarely had for others, other than maybe her two old friends - but after she asked around, both Reinhardt and his adoptive father Hogarth, who had taken care of Reinhardt when he was but a toddler himself, as well as several other therian members of the Company confirmed for her that it was nothing unusual for therian children.


    Where human children would sleep for a bit, then wake up and cry, then repeat the process at all times of the day, therian children seemed to conserve their energy for their wakeful period, then ran through it in one go before they slept straight to the next day. Elfriede herself took advantage of her child¡¯s long sleeps to get herself back into shape as soon as she could.


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    Pregnancy had left her feeling as if her body had not belonged to her for many months, and she wanted to scrub off every semblance of that feeling as soon as she could. With the sort of intense workout she did, she quickly regained the strength and flexibility that she had temporarily lost over those months of forced inactivity, and finally she smiled in contentment as she felt like her body truly became hers again.


    Where a human child would mostly demand one¡¯s attention and care all the time, though, her child needed attention of a different sort. Therian-blooded children, especially one whose therian blood was still thick like Erycea, tended to physically mature much faster than human children. Indeed, a couple days after the baby girl was born, she had already opened her eyes, her pupils a pretty shade of bluish-gray, a mix of her parents, or at least that was what Elfriede was told by the others. She couldn¡¯t exactly tell colors apart after all.


    At a mere week and a half old, the little baby girl had already begun to crawl around when she was awake. Between her active nature and how she was still incapable of sheathing her claws, it meant that whoever was taking care of her would end up with an armful of scratches from the little girl¡¯s claws. Reinhardt had actually filed and dulled those claws to prevent the child from hurting themselves, though, so at least those scratches weren¡¯t as bad as they could be.


    That was something Elfriede appreciated, as she also had to breastfeed the child when Erycea was awake, which inadvertently meant that her breasts would also end up getting scratched up all over by the little girl. While Therian children could also be weaned early from breast milk - as early as the first couple of months of their life for some breeds - Elfriede allowed Erycea to keep breastfeeding for longer, since otherwise her breasts would feel swollen and painful.


    When Erycea was a couple months old, the little girl had managed to move around far more quickly, if on all fours. It was a normal thing for therian children, as their instincts would generally cause them to learn to move on all fours first. From that point onwards, Elfriede felt less like she was taking care of a baby, and more like she was taking care of a cat instead, because her little girl definitely acted that way.


    Therian children were somewhat feral in their infancy, where they lived primarily by instinct as their intelligence had yet to grow enough to temper it. Like all children, they were also horribly curious about everything, but unlike most children their age, they tend to be far more mobile, which meant that at times Elfriede or Reinhardt had to chase the little girl around the encampment when she slipped their watch.


    The sight of either of them chasing after their child - who to many might have looked just like a large cat with fluffy white spotted fur and a positively luxurious looking tail - as she ran around the place merrily, be it chasing after some insects or rat, or just out of sheer curiosity, brought no small amount of mirth to the mercenaries who witnessed it.


    Reinhardt always proved better at chasing down their child, since he was faster and stronger, and could easily catch up to the girl with several leaping bounds. On the other hand, Elfriede¡¯s magical perception meant that she easily found Erycea on the times where the little girl tried to hide from them, as she could easily notice the girl¡¯s presence regardless of which nook or cranny she hid herself in.


    Fortunately, roughly when Erycea was a year old, her intellect developed enough that she understood more, which helped keep her escapades under control.

 Side Story 16 - Taste of Blood; Determination

    ¡°A lesser known fact about therians, particularly those that had features of predatory beasts, was that as a people, they were often strongly influenced by their instincts. Legends had it that if such a therian were to taste the blood of another person, then their instincts would drive them to seek out violence.


    Whether this legend had truth to it or not was unknown, but it was a noted fact that such therians were often found working as mercenaries or other professions where violence was part of their daily life. There was probably some truth to those legends, though whether it involved the blood of another person or something else entirely, nobody could tell for certain.¡± - Bonaventure Joffur, researcher of therian cultures from the Elmaiya Empire, circa 102 VA.


    Fort Ascher brought great changes to the Free Lances as a Company, and it also brought changes to Reinhardt¡¯s little family - and they were a family by then, as despite the relative lack of romantic inclinations from either Reinhardt or Elfriede, they had admitted that they did enjoy each other¡¯s company, and it probably helped that the sex stayed amazing, as they stuck together to raise their child, and formalized the marriage a year later - amongst others.


    Probably the biggest change to their family, however, was how Erycea, while she outwardly seemed unbothered, was disturbed somewhat by how she had killed a man back at the desperate struggle in the fort. While Erycea showed no outward signs, the incident had left its mark on the little girl¡¯s psyche, though probably not in the way most people would have expected.


    Elfriede was probably the first to notice, when she spotted the little girl spying at her daily training with her sensory perception. She had long ensured that her child had not felt burdened by the life she took, and while the little girl showed far more capacity for empathy than her mother, she fortunately knew better than to assign any of it to the enemy.


    Instead, what Erycea had apparently felt from the incident was just how powerless she was. The little girl knew all too well that what she managed to do, she only succeeded in because the enemy was far too distracted to notice her at the time. The little girl had felt that powerlessness all too keenly and decided that she did not want to have any more of that.


    When the little girl had discreetly - or so she thought, as there was little anyone could hide from Elfriede as long as they were in the range of her perception - attempted to repeat the workout her mother had done, both Elfriede and Reinhardt had talked about it between themselves, before they accosted their daughter together.


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    They had not reprimanded the girl, though, as instead they gave her pointers on the sort of exercise that¡¯d be more suitable for her young age. While Reinhardt had wished for the child to have a peaceful life if it were possible, he was not against her training either. After all, a healthy body was an asset no matter what sort of life one planned to live in the future.


    Erycea had trained until her youthful body could handle no more, the active way she used to scamper and run around channeled entirely towards her training instead. Naturally, the sight of her workouts attracted the attention of other children near her age, many of whose parents were also part of the mercenary company¡¯s fighting force or support crew.


    Even while the Theodinaz campaign proceeded to its conclusion, a group of like-minded children had gathered around Erycea and worked out alongside her. Much like how Reinhardt used to be called the ¡°Little Boss¡± by his contemporaries, the children had in turn called his daughter the same way, as the Company was already under his command by that time.


    Given the formal joining of Mischka¡¯s smaller unit into the Free Lances, her group¡¯s dependents naturally came along, and amongst them were several children near Erycea¡¯s age who had shared her desire to no longer be so powerless. They too had been in Fort Ascher, had seen others kill and be killed in their defense, and wanted no more of the helplessness they felt as they could only watch it all happen before their eyes.


    The little group of children soon expanded to a couple dozen, and as many of those children had non-human blood in them, they were far more physically fit than what one would have expected of children their age. Where other children played, they trained themselves to the point of exhaustion. Some of the other parents - for those who still had their parents - had expressed their worry, but after some discussion, agreed that a healthy body was never a bad thing, and that some of the adults would keep an eye on the children to ensure that they had not overdone their training.


    During the Company¡¯s stay at Norouz, some of the locals looked at the group of little children practicing as if their lives depended on it with curiosity. Some had thought that the mercenaries were cruel for making even such young children train so hard, at least until they learnt that those children did the training entirely out of their own desires.


    The desire to no longer be powerless was probably something hard to fathom for the local populace, who were used to being the downtrodden ones, where both the nobility and the rich would tread upon their existence on a daily basis. Even so, the sight of the children¡¯s efforts resonated with the hearts of a few individuals, who later chose to leave everything they had known behind and instead throw their lot with the mercenaries.


    It was also during that period of time, at the end spurt of the Theodinaz campaign, that another major change occurred in young Erycea¡¯s life. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she became a big sister, as her parents brought a young human baby - one so young and small that they were still helpless and completely reliant on others for their living - home and told her that the girl would be her little sister.


    That was the first time Erycea met the little girl who would go on to become her little sister, and at the time, the first thought that came to her mind was just how adorable the baby girl in her mother¡¯s arms was.

 Side Story 17 - I am a Big Sister now?; Protective Instinct

    ¡°Many biologists past and present had submitted various theories on why the young of any creature, be it those of civilized people or animals of the wildest variety, looked cute and adorable regardless of the beholder. That such an odd case of convergent evolution was noted amongst practically all creatures in existence had baffled scholars for ages.


    The latest theory was a ridiculous, yet also logical one. That the young developed universally adorable features to make themselves perceived as harmless and to trigger protective instincts in those that laid eyes upon them. As silly as the theory might have sounded, there was logic to be found behind it as well, and it had sparked a fierce debate amongst the scholars of the persuasion over the past decade or so.¡± - Winrad Alois IInd, Biology Scholar from the Elmaiya Empire, circa 208 FP.


    Erycea had naturally come into contact with many other children in her few years of life, ever since she was old enough to remember and understand things. The children of the mercenaries were often raised together by their support staff and other dependents when their parents were off on the battlefield, so Erycea had naturally spent a lot of time in the company of other children in the troupe, both younger and older ones than her.


    While there were several kids she considered friends, none of them had evoked the sort of reaction she felt from the little baby. She was uncertain why. Maybe it was because the little baby girl resembled Erycea¡¯s own mother quite strongly. She knew that the child could not have been her parents. Mother would swell up for many months before a child came to be, and she did not see any such signs with her mother. Besides, the child was larger than a newborn to begin with.


    ¡°This is Alycea,¡± her father had said as he gently rubbed the baby¡¯s little head and tussled her straw-blonde hair with his hand. Her mother had a rare smile on her usually expressionless face as well, as she lowered the baby cradled in her arms so Erycea could touch her. ¡°She will be your little sister from now on, so take good care of her, okay?¡±


    Erycea had just nodded, as she carefully, tentatively touched the baby¡¯s soft cheek with one finger. The little baby girl in Elfriede¡¯s arm giggled as the touch from the fur of Erycea¡¯s finger tickled her, and reflexively grabbed at her finger, which she then suckled on even as Erycea smiled and giggled as well, amused at the child¡¯s antics.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take care of little sister,¡± said Erycea as she rubbed the side of her cheek against the baby¡¯s, which elicited another giggle from the tiny baby girl. Erycea smiled more as little Alycea rubbed her cheek against her fur, which the little baby girl seemed to enjoy quite a bit, and she felt a need to protect and keep the little girl safe no matter what at that time. ¡°I¡¯m a big sister now. Big sisters keep little sisters safe, right?¡±


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    ¡°Indeed, good girl,¡± replied her father in praise.


    ******************************


    The experience of watching and taking care of another child as she grew was surprisingly¡­ enjoyable rather than troublesome for Erycea. It probably helped that her little sister was a relatively quiet child, compared to some others who would often cry endlessly for no discernible reason all the time. Little Alycea generally only cried when she was hungry, or needed a change and a wash, and was generally well-behaved and rather quiet otherwise.


    Although her parents were present more often - the Company worked some lighter missions during those years to recuperate from what Erycea later learned - they were not always around, and when they were busy at work, Erycea helped take care of her little sister personally. It helped that she had grown strong enough to carry her little sister around safely, and could help rock the child in her arms when she was feeling sleepy and needed some help falling asleep.


    Seasons quickly passed, and before long, a couple years had gone by. Erycea had grown taller and stronger, large and tall for her young age, though she leaned to a slender figure like her mother rather than the bulkiness of her father¡¯s form. Alycea on the other hand was a two and a half year old toddler by then, who often happily ran around the encampment on her little legs.


    The little toddler was a very active child, once she started being able to move on her own, and typically it fell to Erycea to look after her little sister, a task she had grown used to by then. That day Erycea happened to be looking after her little sister as she played around the camp, and had not noticed that her father had quietly snuck up behind them.


    ¡°I will teach you how to be fierce!¡± said Erycea to her little sister with her hands placed against her hips. She had just rescued her little sister from the clutches of a couple of naughty kids who teased her to no end, where she couldn¡¯t retaliate as she was much smaller than they were. Erycea on the other hand easily handled them and thought that maybe she ought to teach her little sister on how to handle such situations on her own in the future.


    ¡°But sister,¡± said Alycea as she looked up to her with innocent eyes. Then she did something that simultaneously almost made Erycea squee like a little girl in glee and also made her want to shake her head. Her little sister bared her teeth in an approximation of a fanged grimace - though with none of the intimidating effects and far too much adorableness instead - and said in all seriousness. ¡°I am feerse!¡±


    Erycea wanted to sigh in exasperation, yet she also wanted to just hug and nuzzle her little sister with all her might. The choices was soon taken from her hands, though, as a strong arm grabbed and lifted both her and Alycea, and she felt the tickly wet sensation of a rough tongue on her fur. Alycea naturally got the same treatment, as Reinhardt picked them both up and nuzzled their heads against his warm fur.


    ¡°Yes, indeed. My daughters are the fiercest,¡± he said with an amused chuckle.

 Chapter 163 - Birthday Present

    ¡°The tradition of gifting someone a present on their birthday was a concept that only presented itself amongst the short-lived, where they celebrated the person¡¯s survival for yet another year. Those born in the long-lived races rarely paid much attention to the date they were born on, as to them, it was expected to live a long life to begin with.


    As such, birthday celebrations were one of the things that had confused the longer-lived races when they first encountered people who celebrated them. Amongst their kind, even to this day, such tradition never really took hold at all.¡± - Wolfgang Reiner von Olvsholm, Dwarven sociologist, circa 209 FP.


    A Smithy in the City of Dvergarder


    South-Eastern Posuin, Duchy of Dvergarder


    South-Western Alcidea


    4th day of 1st week of the 4th month, year 10 VA.


    ¡°Happy birthday, Ery!¡±


    That particular day in spring was Erycea¡¯s twelfth birthday. Her parents had brought her over to the smithy that the Company¡¯s blacksmiths rented that morning, and she entered only to be inundated by the cheers and well wishes of the group of people already gathered within, led by her grandfather himself, who walked right over and wrapped her up in his strong, warm embrace.


    ¡°Thanks, Grandpa!¡± said Ery at last as she gathered her words and returned Hogarth¡¯s embrace with her own. It felt a touch awkward those days to hug her dwarven grandfather, as she had grown nearly as tall as her mother already, which meant that her grandfather barely came up to her shoulders. He was much wider too, which made it hard for her to hug him properly, but she gave it her best shot anyway.


    As she looked behind her she noticed the slight smirk that formed on her parents¡¯ lips, and even her little sister¡¯s mischievous look. All of them must have known of this beforehand, leaving just her in the dark on purpose. She¡¯d get back at them next time they had their birthdays, she thought.


    ¡°Yo, Clara, bring it over!¡± said her grandfather as he gesticulated with one of his burly arms at one of his assistants. The assistant in question was a half-therian woman whose features looked rather bovine, with large horns on her head and hooves instead of feet, one of the support staff that Mischka¡¯s group had brought with them into the Company. Erycea recognized her partly because her daughter was part of the group she was usually with.


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    The bovine woman brought a long, tightly wrapped bundle and handed it over to Hogarth, who then in turn passed it over to Erycea with a smile on his bearded face. ¡°It¡¯s your birthday present from us, lass. If you¡¯re gonna be joining your ma and pa on the field in a couple o¡¯ years, you¡¯ll want something your hands are used to by then, so we made these for you.¡±


    Since a temporary peace had descended over the former Kingdom of Posuin in the past three years, the Free Lances had mostly done light duty in the Duke¡¯s service as they recuperated from their losses with new members. The relaxed period of time also meant that Erycea¡¯s parents could be around for her more than usual, and Elfriede in particular had intensified the girl¡¯s training.


    She and Reinhardt had agreed that their daughter looked like she would be ready by the time she turned fourteen or fifteen, and they, together with Hogarth, had planned to gift Erycea weapons to call her own, as they brought out some of the precious metals they had saved up from the bounty they earned in Theodinaz many years ago. Hogarth and his assistants then turned those metals into the gift that they now presented to Erycea.


    Erycea was somewhat nervous as she unwrapped the gift her Grandpa Hogarth had given to her. From the overall size of the package, they looked roughly around the length and width of a one-handed sword, but it was far heavier in her hands, so she removed the sheet of fabric used to wrap her present swiftly and unveiled them.


    What she found in her hands were a pair of weapons that looked like swords at first glance, especially since their hilts strongly resembled a sword¡¯s handle. One look at the ¡°blade¡± of the weapons would make one realize how wrong that perception was, however, as rather than any sort of sharp blade, what extended from those hilts were solid, heavy bars of metal instead.


    It was a weapon that acted like a cross between a sword and a mace, since its weight distribution and shape allowed it to be used with the flexibility of a sword, but it delivered the crushing percussive blows of a mace instead. Each of the long metal bars that served as the ¡°blade¡± was as long as Erycea¡¯s arms, ridged and shaped in a way that would easily catch a sword blade that struck it at a poor angle, and looked as if they were a stack of upside-down pyramids with pentagonal bases at a glance.


    At the tip of the weapon was a sharp spike that allowed it to be used to stab and puncture with. A second, identical spike was situated at the pommel of the handle, while the handguard formed a thick and sturdy set of knuckle-like protrusions that both protected her hands and allowed her to punch people hard without having to release her weapon.


    The weapons were a pair, identical in every manner, and as Erycea grabbed them by the handle she felt a hefty, but usable heft to them. Her parents and grandfather had made the weapons for her early, so she could grow used to it over the next few years. That way when the time came she would be more than ready to use them for real.


    One glance at the oddly dark shine of the metal that comprised the weapons told her that her parents must have brought out some good materials they saved, as that sort of shine was something she only ever saw in the weapons of a few of the mercenaries, generally the best fighters amongst them. That her parents saved up a part of the materials for her touched the young girl quite a bit.


    So she pulled over and brought her parents to an embrace as well, as she felt her father tussle up her hair like he usually did, and her mother patted her back in a reassuring gesture.


    ¡°Thanks a lot¡­ Mom¡­ Dad¡­ Grandpa¡­ I promise I¡¯ll make good use of these.¡±

 Chapter 164 - State of the Company

    ¡°Running a mercenary company is a lot like riding on a see-saw, honestly. Things constantly went up and down, all the time. At times you¡¯d feel like you¡¯re in the high heavens, your company strong, reputable, and respected, commanding top coins for pay. At other times, you¡¯d feel like you were always one step away from the brink of dissolution and bankruptcy, and that was assuming your people didn¡¯t stab you over one too many missing paychecks.


    In short, it¡¯s not for the faint of heart.¡± - Jonas Hawk-in-the-Woods, Former Captain of the famed White Company, circa 387 VA.


    Later that evening, Reinhardt and Elfriede held a small birthday party for Erycea, with her group of friends as the guests. They allowed the children to just have fun and enjoy themselves, before he quietly snuck away once he was sure that their attention was occupied by the party. Not far from the clearing where they held the party, he found Lars awaiting him with a sheaf of papers in his hand.


    ¡°So how are things looking up?¡± asked Reinhardt. Lars had over the years grown into the role of their chief strategist and logistician, and recently Reinhardt had tasked him with watching over the new members of the company, recent inductees who still needed to go through training before they could be deemed battle-worthy alongside the rest of the Company.


    While the past three years had been filled with a tentative peace - the Border faction had not been expansionists, while both the Central faction and the Bostvan faction took the chance to lick their wounds - there were still a bunch of skirmishes and small-scale action, and Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances were at the forefront of those engagements, where they excelled.


    The past three years also saw a consolidation by the major factions in the civil war. Most of the smaller baronies, viscounties, and the likes had fallen under the umbrella of the larger factions. Of those, the Border faction - the three Duchies of Algenverr, Jonkver, and Dvergarder - reigned over the eastern borders of the nation.


    As for the rest of the former kingdom, it was split by the other two major factions. The northern half was under the control of the Coalition of Central Duchies, as they termed themselves, while the southern half was under the forces led by former Duke Emil Bostvan, who had since proclaimed his faction¡¯s right to the throne by virtue of the royal prince he had secreted away from the capital many years ago.


    While the faction called themselves the legitimate successor to the Kingdom of Posuin and used that name, the others still called them the Bostvans more often than not. That the royal prince was married to one of the Duke¡¯s younger daughters only made the rest consider that prince as little more than a figurehead, mouthpiece, and puppet for the Duke¡¯s own ambitions.


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    Said ambitions caused the suffering of the smaller splinter states on the south, which soon fell one after another to the Duke¡¯s forces. The Barony of Ohu which bordered Dvergarder in particular folded after a single week, since their own forces were already plagued with desertion and low morale. Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances had pretty much poached the population of the eastern half of the Barony, which in turn caused many of their soldiers whose family was taken to Dvergarder to desert and escape eastwards as well.


    ¡°The rookies will still need another few months of hard training, minimum,¡± reported Lars without an expression on his face. The last time the Free Lances had taken notable losses was during the battle in Jonkver three years ago, and the majority of their losses were newer rookies who lacked real battlefield experience. That caused Lars and Reinhardt to subject the new recruits that came later to harsher training to either weed out those unsuited for the battlefield early, or to at least prepare the rest better for the battles they would face in the future. ¡°The recruitment is doing pretty well lately, though. We¡¯re getting a steady trickle of new, willing recruits, particularly from the immigrants.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear at least. What¡¯s the numbers like, counting them?¡± asked Reinhardt.


    Typically, in wartime conditions like in the former Kingdom¡¯s territory, mercenary companies were not allowed to recruit out of the populace of their employer¡¯s land. Given the service offered by the companies under his employ, however, Duke Sandoval Utghwes had allowed the companies to do small-scale recruitment in his lands, which helped them make up for their losses from the battles.


    Even so, not all the companies had stayed. While the Silver Eagles and the Hellraisers still worked under the Duke¡¯s employment, the Janissaries had left to work for Duke Berthold Tovmund of Jonkver, which to be fair had Duke Utghwes¡¯ blessings. The Spears of Ostvin on the other hand had left, as they were badly hurt by their losses and cited their inability to carry out the terms of their contract under their current condition. That the Duke had allowed them to leave with a sizable bonus had given the other mercenaries an even better impression of the man as an employer.


    ¡°Seven-fifty combat ready at the moment, Captain. If we include the trainees who could join the line within half a year, eight hundred and change. Nine hundred counting the expected number of newcomers that passed through the training on average by next year,¡± said Lars calmly as he recited the numbers out of his memory. ¡°I¡¯d say another year or two like this and we might well recover to a thousand strong once more. Then there¡¯s the kids to consider too.¡±


    Reinhardt couldn¡¯t help but nod and sigh at the mention of the kids. The so-called ¡°Junior Division¡± that he had at first thought to just be kids at play had over the years transformed into a group of children who worked themselves to the bone to such an extent that many of the adult mercenaries were shamed at the sight of them training and ended up training harder themselves. Several members of the group had already joined the Company formally, and every single one of them acquitted themselves admirably.


    Ayrie had merely been the first of the group to join the Company, who had since honed her skills with actual experience on the field and had become one of the Company¡¯s best scouts and assassins despite her young age. Then three of Mischka¡¯s older grandchildren had joined as well in the past couple of years, each already taller and broader than Reinhardt himself despite their tender age. Needless to say they lived up to their lineage proudly.


    He also noticed how the children - even the ones who already joined the Company - looked up to his daughter as their leader. The day Erycea was to join the Company proper, she would likely find herself at the head of a spirited and highly skilled group of youngsters who looked up to her. He only hoped that she would prove herself deserving of their trust by then.

 Chapter 165 - Hellish Training

    ¡°No matter how good the steel, it becomes worthless unless forged and tempered properly.¡± - Old dwarven saying.


    ¡°Come on, you maggot! Strike harder! My dead grandma hits harder than you even at seventy and that was decades ago!¡± yelled Nina fiercely as she effortlessly parried a blow from a trainee¡¯s wooden sword using her long cudgel. She, along with other senior members of the mercenaries were helping train the more promising recruits in combat techniques, as they had the leisure and free time to do so of late.


    It was also part of Lars and Reinhardt¡¯s harder training program. All too often young and new mercenaries who had some skill with weapons got too cocky and overconfident, which at times ended up costing them their lives or more on the battlefield. As such, they pitted such rookies against the nastier and more experienced senior mercenaries to beat some humility into them, with a tirade of insults to boot.


    Sure enough, before long Nina shoved the trainee¡¯s wooden sword aside as she pushed against their shield with her knee, which unbalanced the trainee and caused them to fall on their back. Then Nina mounted the hapless trainee and struck once at their wrist to make them drop their sword, followed by a second strike to the ribs. Of course, she used the blunt end of her cudgel, not the spike-capped end, but the blows would still leave painful bruises as a reminder for the trainee.


    Not far from where Nina taught the trainee a painful lesson, Kari did the same to another young trainee, who looked every bit the farmer boy he likely was. The boy was skilled enough with a spear that he was tossed to the group, but Kari made short work of him as she deflected a thrust with one training knife and charged in close to the poor boy.


    A painful rap to the back of his hand made the boy loosen his grip on his training spear, and the follow-up strike to the inside of his elbow made him drop in. Kari then stepped on his foot with one of hers, before she kneed the boy right in the crotch and caused him to double over, even as she placed one of her wooden daggers right against the side of his neck.


    ¡°There, you¡¯re fucking dead now. Don¡¯t think just because you got the longer weapon it means you could forget about learning how to fight up close!¡± said Kari viciously to the trainee. It had been eight years since the once weak girl and her brother had joined up with the Company, and nobody sane ever thought of them as ¡°weak¡± anymore. Her brother Alva was recently promoted to the archer detachment¡¯s second-in-command after the retirement of some seniors, while Kari had been part of Elfriede¡¯s crew for over six years now.


    They were proof on how one could succeed in the arguably brutal line of work as a mercenary with little more than dogged determination. The siblings went from a former prostitute who merely had basic skills with a bow from hunting in the woods and young woman who was half in despair as she carried a child by rape to term into a pair of hardened killers who had sworn never to be the victims ever again.


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    Alva was nowhere near as skilled as Salicia was at long-distance archery - but then again nobody amongst the mercenaries was - but he had a knack for guiding a group of archers to strike at a general area with good accuracy. Kari on the other hand, had relied on determination and guts to work her way into her current position, with a recklessness that at times bordered on the suicidal. Still, given the nature of the kind of work Elfriede and her crew did on the battlefield, she fitted right in with them.


    When Reinhardt looked at the young woman he couldn¡¯t help but to glance a bit further away, where the group of children that followed Erycea did their own training, amongst whom was Kari¡¯s seven year old son Roven. She cared for the boy, though she had a difficult time being truly close and loving with him, partly because of the circumstances of his conception. Lars had placed the training location for the trainees within sight of the children on purpose, in the hopes that the sight of the children¡¯s training would shame the trainees for being lazy by comparison.


    Sure enough, it was not long before Cassie brought that to the attention of the trainees she looked after.


    ¡°Tired already? It¡¯s only been an hour! What sort of weakling are you all? Look at those kids over there!¡± she yelled, as she pointed towards the group of young children who practiced by the hill a bit further away. The kids had been practicing from before the trainees were present, and they had yet to stop for a break, even the younger ones like Alycea and Roven who were barely seven to eight years old. ¡°Even little kids had more stamina than you! Aren¡¯t you bloody embarrassed to call your fucking lazy asses adults!?¡±


    As if to punctuate Cassie¡¯s tirade, repeated deafening noises of metal striking wood resounded, loud enough that even the trainees could hear it clearly. The source of those noises were Erycea and Beth, Clara¡¯s daughter who was a couple of months older. Beth was a quarter-therian girl who inherited much of her mother¡¯s blood, as evidenced by her horns and hooves, and she trained to become a shieldbearer.


    Said training involved maintaining a steady posture without moving even a step back while others whaled on the shield she held up with her left arm. It happened to be Erycea¡¯s turn that day, and she used her pair of new weapons which struck the shield with great force that had caused Beth¡¯s arm to go halfway numb over time.


    Erycea¡¯s own weapons showed no signs of warping or damage despite the repeated impacts against the hardwood shield. Hogarth had made the weapons out of a personal alloy recipe of his, which gave the weapons extremely good durability combined with a hint of flexibility, which when put together allowed the force behind each strike to fully transfer to the target while minimizing the rebound for the user.


    The only drawback of the alloy was that the resultant metal was hideously heavy, as the alloy incorporated a high percentage of adamant compared to most other similar alloys. Each of Erycea¡¯s weapon, despite their one-handed construction, weighed almost as much as a pair of greatswords. That the girl not only managed to wield them one-handed, but also kept swinging them around for hours on end was in no small part thanks to her therian heritage, which granted her a faster physical development than humans.


    In the end, the two young girls only stopped their training another half an hour later, when Beth finally had to call a pause to their training since Erycea¡¯s last blow had sundered apart the hardwood shield she wielded. Erycea¡¯s fur was matted with sweat by then, and she was breathing hard, but the girl looked satisfied with what she managed.


    So was Reinhardt, as he looked on from afar.

 Chapter 166 - Fruits of Labor

    ¡°Hard work done for your own behalf is the one thing that will never betray you.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Good. You keep this up for another couple years and work on your stamina more, and you¡¯ll be fit to fight with us all right,¡± said Elfriede in a rare praise of her daughter, as she was a particularly harsh trainer who rarely if ever gave any praises at all unless it was truly deserved. When Erycea¡¯s performance reached a stage where she could no longer poke into the mistakes made by the girl though, she gave the praises freely enough.


    The repeated noise of wood meeting wood - neither of them practiced with their real weapons, the weighted wooden analogues used not out of safety, but to spare their real weapons from unnecessary damage - resounded rapidly as Erycea whipped the pair of weighted sticks in her hand, their weights adjusted to match her real weapons, towards her mother. Despite the hefty weight of the sticks, something an adult human would have had issues controlling even with both hands, she swung them around one-handed with relative ease, if with obvious effort to maintain the speed she went with.


    Even Elfriede no longer took on her daughter lightly. She used training weapons in both hands, and carefully parried or deflected Erycea¡¯s swings rather than how she casually blocked them one-handed in the past. The young girl was already physically stronger than her mother, thanks to her mixed-blooded heritage, and she would only grow even stronger in the future. The speed she whipped around the hefty weighted sticks in her hands placed enough force in them that a strike could likely break bones, hence Elfriede¡¯s careful, measured response to them.


    She could no longer afford to directly block them like before, after all, as the blows came with far too much weight and force behind them.


    At the moment, Erycea had displayed that she could fight with her weapons well, well enough that even an experienced and skilled fighter like Elfriede had to take her on seriously. The only thing the girl lacked was the stamina and strength to keep at it for prolonged periods of time, as her hefty weapons tired her out rather quickly compared to before. Still, those were problems that would solve themselves as the girl was still growing, and with her diligence in training Elfriede thought that by the time she was fully grown, Erycea would prove to be more than a match for her unless they fought for keeps with lives on the line.


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    In some ways, Erycea¡¯s choice of weapons, something Hogarth had forged based on designs out of the same old book Elfriede¡¯s weapons were from, was a prescient choice. With the young girl¡¯s strength it would have been a waste for her to use bladed weapons that required finesse in their use. A blunt weapon on the other hand allowed her to fully use her strength, regardless of the angle of the blow, and also gave her far more flexibility in dealing with armored opponents.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Keep at it. You won¡¯t need to think too much on where to land a blow since any blow will work with what you got,¡± said Elfriede as she narrowly parried off a strike that went low towards her shin. Indeed, as she said, a blunt weapon combined with the power and speed Erycea placed behind her blows would likely hurt or incapacitate someone regardless of where she hit, regardless of whether they wore armor or not. ¡°In fact you can try to aim for the spots people usually didn¡¯t think much about, throw them off-balance either way with that.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said to aim for the fatal points when we can in the past?¡± asked Erycea with some doubt, though to the girl¡¯s credit, her swings neither slowed nor paused while she talked, as she kept Elfriede busy parrying and deflecting her blows.


    ¡°When there is a chance to go for them, then sure. Most people know of the points that would kill them or worse when struck, though, so they would keep those places under guard when they could,¡± said Elfriede casually as the training weapons in her hands smoothly deflected a forceful blow from her daughter. ¡°On the other hand, people who wear armor, especially those with good armor, would usually place a good bit of trust in the protection they gave. You can abuse that mindset to land blows that debilitate them and make them easy to kill instead.¡±


    ¡°After all, if you cripple or even temporarily disable one of their limbs, chances are it would create openings that you can then make use of, and with those weapons of yours, a good hit, even through armor, has the potential to do that. If once wasn¡¯t enough, just hit them again,¡± she added as she turned a blow aside and used the movement to slip in an attack of her own, which grazed Erycea¡¯s cheek as the girl only barely managed to avoid it. ¡°Also you will still need to keep your defenses in mind. While such a flurry would likely cause most people to panic, the experienced ones would see the flaws and make use of them, just like this.¡±


    ¡°Understood, mother,¡± said Erycea with a nod as she used a vicious strike to force Elfriede to draw back and make some distance between them. Even at barely twelve years of age, Erycea already grew as tall as her mother, with greater strength to boot, so she knew that in the near future she would likely further eclipse her mother physically. Physical ability was no replacement for learned skill and experience, though, and in those regards, her mother remained her superior by far.


    She still had much to learn from her mother, she knew that much. That said, even Erycea herself noticed that while her mother taught her a way of fighting similar to what she herself used at first, later on she shifted to something else. She played more the opponent to overcome rather than the goal to achieve. Erycea understood why. Her mother wanted for her to find a path that was entirely her own, rather than walking down the path already trodden by others.


    It was a wish the girl strived to fulfill, partly out of her own desire to be strong.

 Chapter 167 - First Mission

    ¡°The blooding of rookies was an often-debated practice. Many mercenary Companies, and even some armies, adhered strongly to the practice, where newcomers were sent out on a relatively easy mission to kill people. The mission might range from subjugating smaller bandit groups for the mercenary types, to executing death row inmates or captured enemies, or even raids done on villages belonging to the enemy with orders to slaughter them to the last.


    Detractors of the practice called it a waste of lives, as it was not rare for said rookies to lose their lives under such missions, or even quit when they found that they did not have it in them to take the life of another. On the other hand, proponents of the practice considered it a necessity, claiming that no training would ever be able to replace the feeling one got from doing the deed themselves.


    To this day it remains a controversial and much-debated practice.¡± - Laeviniel Al¡¯rediad, elven researcher of history and history Professor at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 673 FP.


    Deep in the forest


    Eastern Posuin, Duchy of Jonkver


    South-Western Alcidea


    7th day of 3rd week of the 9th month, year 12 VA.


    Hakim Ojibwe watched the bandit encampment from atop his perch on a sturdy tree branch, the yellowing leaves of the tree in the autumn giving him plenty of cover. Clutched in his hands was an expensive spyglass, one that was entrusted to him when he did well enough in training to be made the tentative commander of his group of rookies.


    At eighteen years of age, he was a strong, spry lad. Tall and lean, but with toned muscles from the grueling training he had endured for the past two years under the hands of the mercenaries, he carefully placed the spyglass back into the storage artifact lent to him and climbed down the tree as quietly and silently as he could.


    The son of a blacksmith who had joined the Free Lances mercenary Company as part of their support staff when their village was ¡°raided¡± by the mercenaries five years ago, Hakim had basically grown up in the mercenary encampment, and when he turned sixteen two years ago he had resolved to help support his family by joining the mercenaries himself, despite his father¡¯s preference for him to continue the family craft.


    His decision resulted in two grueling years of training under the hands of the mercenaries, who had not taken their training lightly. More than half of the rookies from Hakim¡¯s batch - many of them older than him by a good bit - had quit when they couldn¡¯t handle the training, and he had taken pride in how he had succeeded when they had dropped out. He also performed well enough to gain the tentative squad commander position, though it was over a group of fellow rookies, many of whom were his friends by now.


    When he reached the bottom of the tree, he found Malika, one of his closest friends, waiting for him. She came from a very different background, and supposedly her father was the village chief from one of the largest and most prosperous villages in Dvergarder. That said, the rumors he heard said that she had disagreed when her father wanted to marry her off and ran away to join the mercenaries instead out of spite and rebellion. Nobody had expected the tender rich girl to excel in her training though, and she was Hakim¡¯s closest competitor for leadership position out of his batch, as well as his current second in command.


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    ¡°How did it look?¡± asked Malika almost silently, her voice inaudible to even the others nearby other than Hakim. The two of them were tentatively in command of their squad of forty-three other rookies who had ¡°graduated¡± from the training of the older mercenaries, and at the moment, they were deep in the woods in Jonkver, just near a bandit outpost, on their first mission.


    A mission intended to either blood them, or bleed them, depending on how they did.


    At the moment, the Free Lances were on loan from Dvergarder to Jonkver, as the Duchy had taken advantage of the lull in the civil war to reinforce their defenses with the help of the Hellraisers. After they had turned the defenses of Dvergarder into an infuriatingly solid fortress, the Hellraisers and the Free Lances were then loaned out to Jonkver to help out the defenses there, whereas the Silver Eagles had been loaned out to Algenverr to similarly help them out.


    Where the Hellraisers did their job by reinforcing and building new defensive fortifications, the Free Lances instead went to work as they rooted out and eradicated bandits and other lowlifes that had naturally sprung out like weeds as a result of the ongoing civil war. Over the past few months they had all but wiped out the large bandit troupes that plagued the Duchy, except for one. The very same one that Hakim and his group of rookies were tasked to eliminate.


    ¡°As the earlier intelligence suggested. A hundred, prolly a hundred twenty or so,¡± replied Hakim to Malika with a hushed, worried voice. Naturally, the Free Lances were not cruel enough to task forty-five rookies, wet behind the ears, to handle a contingent of bandits double their size, however, it was the very nature of their allies that made Hakim worry even more for the mission¡¯s success.


    After all, the other squad assigned to the mission were also mostly rookies like Hakim¡¯s group. A few of their members had joined the mercenaries earlier in the past few years and rejoined the bulk of the group when they joined, but overall the vast majority were rookies.


    More than that, the vast majority of the other group were little kids around the age of Hakim¡¯s younger twin sisters, barely fourteen or thereabouts for most of them.


    Even the oldest member of the group, a girl with elvish heritage who sported a large scar over one eye and another on her right arm, was barely a year older than Hakim himself, so he was naturally worried about the other, much younger group, and only hoped that they would not make a mess out of the mission assigned to their squads.


    Sure, there was a group of older, experienced mercenaries to keep watch on them, but from what he knew of the mercenaries, that group would likely not intervene unless the rookies already majorly fucked up, and that was an assesment he wanted to avoid at all costs, if he could. This was his opportunity, his first mission, his first command, and he would not fuck it up, even if it¡¯s only for his own sake.


    ¡°Tell the crew to prepare. We¡¯re hitting them at sunset,¡± said Hakim quietly to Malika, who then turned and left to relay his command to the rest of the squad, hidden deeper in the jungle. Hakim then turned to his other side, where a young, pale-skinned girl with brownish hair had been waiting. The fifteen year old girl, Rhiannon by name, was one of the other squad¡¯s scouts, and was assigned to relay messages between the two squads.


    ¡°Sunset, got it. Anything else you wanted relayed?¡± asked the girl before Hakim could say a word. He just remained silent and shook his head, while internally hoping that the kids of the other group would not be overeager and mess things up. Rhiannon took his gesture for her answer, and the next thing he knew, she vanished into the woods before he realized it and left Hakim alone with his thoughts.

 Chapter 168 - Out for Blood

    ¡°It was common practice to have adults or veterans in the vicinity when blooding rookies, partly because it was often the case that many of them lost control of themselves one way or another in the process. Some might revel too much in the bloodshed, others might well shut down in response to the mental shock of the process. It was hard to tell until someone was truly placed on the spot, honestly.¡± - Dione Carlisle, Veteran Mercenary.


    ¡°You¡¯re back, I see. What¡¯s the word?¡± asked Erycea when she noticed Rhiannon had returned. She was familiar with the girl, who was a year her senior and had joined their group after the Theodinaz campaign. Rhiannon and her twin brother Llewelyn were Karenina¡¯s children, and both had joined Erycea¡¯s little group almost as soon as their parents brought them into the mercenary Company.


    ¡°Okay, seriously. How the hell did you find out!? What even gave me away?¡± asked Rhiannon as the girl sulked in her hiding spot. Other than her voice, there was no sign whatsoever that the girl was around, at least until she emerged from the bush she was hiding in, covered in clothes patterned with browns and greens to blend in with the forest. She prided herself in being a very good sneak, yet Erycea always caught her every time, somehow.


    ¡°I guess I could tell you, after all these years, to commemorate our first mission,¡± said Erycea playfully as she looked at Rhiannon. Then Erycea tapped at her nose with her index finger as she gave the other girl a meaningful smirk. ¡°It¡¯s your scent, Rhia. I¡¯ve been friends with you for nearly a decade now. I can literally smell you from afar, so you ain¡¯t got a chance at hiding from me, ever.¡±


    ¡°Oh, fuckdammit,¡± cursed Rhiannon as she sulked some more, while her twin brother patted her back in sympathy. Where Rhiannon was a scout for the group, Llewelyn was part of their shieldbearers, though he usually stayed near the outer edge of the shield wall since he could not really compare with the ones who held the center despite being a healthy, brawny youth. ¡°No bloody wonder you always found us so easily when we played hide and seek as children.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the word from Hakim?¡± asked Erycea once more. Hakim was placed in nominal command of the operation, so her squad of thirty-six - there were not that many children from her group that had come of age yet, though in a few years more would likely join them as those whose ages were closer to Alycea would grow up - would listen to them for the operation unless they deemed the command idiotic.


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    ¡°He said that we¡¯d strike at sunset,¡± replied Rhiannon. While operational command was given to Hakim, the two squads were expected to fight independently while at the same time not get in each other¡¯s way. Given how the mercenary Company itself was technically composed of many detachments, it was merely a taste of what they could expect going forward.


    ¡°Sounds good to me. Those bandits are all human, so the shift from light to dark would trouble their eyes a bit,¡± said Erycea with a nod of approval. A good portion of her own squad was human, but everyone who trained under the mercenaries had also trained to adapt to shifting levels of light, as well as how to fight in dark conditions. Those with therian blood like Erycea herself naturally had no need for such training though, given how they had far better night vision compared to humans.


    ¡°Well, guys, you all heard that. We hit these lowlives at sunset. What do you guys say? Let the rookies take the first blood, or do we clear the way for them to mop up?¡± said Erycea as she addressed the rest of her squad, who had relaxed and sat around her. They were hidden deeper in the forest, so there was no risk that the bandits would hear them.


    ¡°I say we hit the bastards hard till they shit out their teeth,¡± said Ayrie with a chuckle from her perch on a tree branch. As the oldest of the squad at nineteen she was technically no rookie by any measure, as she had worked amongst the mercenaries for the past five years. She had voluntarily joined Erycea¡¯s squad when she and many others joined the Company though, together with some of the other children who had joined ahead of the rest.


    ¡°Gross, big sis,¡± said Gustav with a mockery of a scandalized voice from beneath. The boy, who was sixteen by then, had not grown much taller, barely reaching Erycea¡¯s shoulder at his height of one fifty-six. He was as broad as he was tall, though, with his arms easily as thick as an adult human¡¯s waist. The beard that he fondly kept since young had also grown into a luxurious curtain that covered his chest by then. ¡°But yea, I say we show them bandits no quarter and go all-out from the get go. No reason not to.¡±


    ¡°Add my vote to that. I say we let the rookies get the bandits looking at ¡®em then we steamroll them from the side,¡± said Vladislav. At seventeen, the therian boy was already over two and a half meter tall, not quite as large as his uncles and aunts or grandmother yet, but he was definitely getting there. Together with Gustav, Tasha, and Vera, he formed the core of their shieldwall, as he easily lugged around a tower shield taller and broader than he was.


    ¡°Count us in. About time we see some action,¡± added Valeria, the quarter-orcish daughter of Soledad who had joined their group after Erycea beat her down years ago. She sat besides Beth, Clara¡¯s daughter, with whom she had become fast friends. Beth herself nodded and gave a thumbs-up gesture to signal her agreement with the plan.


    One by one, the rest of the squad voiced their assent to the plan, and so Erycea and her squad prepared themselves for action, as they waited for the sun to set beneath the horizon¡­

 Chapter 169 - Battle at Sunset

    ¡°A great commander could at times defeat a stronger opponent even with a weak army, but give an incompetent commander the strongest army in the world, and chances are they would still lead them to defeat somehow.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°You think it¡¯ll be fine?¡± asked Malika to Hakim with some obvious worry in her voice. Since they had relayed the plan to the other squad, the only reply they received as a curt ¡°will do¡± from the girl named Rhiannon, who then promptly vanished into the woods once more. The way she seemed to appear and disappear like a ghost had understandably unnerved some of the other rookies in their squad.


    ¡°It will have to do,¡± replied Hakim as he kept an eye on the bandit encampment. The bandits had been quiet as they hid in their camp and refrained from going out due to the manhunt perpetrated by the Free Lances for their sort. The camp itself was pretty lively otherwise, with the bandits walking around between the buildings and tents, and a few campfires being lit since it was starting to get dark.


    As far as encampments went, the bandit camp was not the best-defended one, but it was well camouflaged in the forest. Instead of obvious palisades, the walls of the bandit camp took the form of simple fences, a row of sharpened stakes bound to another piece perpendicular to them, which had their rear ends buried in soil, angled diagonally outwards.


    If that had been it, the fences would have stood out like a sore thumb in the forest¡¯s environment, but the bandits had been clever. They planted shrubs of thorny brambles beneath the fence, which grew to cover and envelop the fence, hiding it almost entirely from view while adding a thorny, prickly obstacle to any wild beasts or people trying to enter their camp through them.


    Instead of watch towers, the bandit sentries perched themselves on the branches of large trees that ringed the clearing where the encampment was. Even the buildings and tents within were camouflaged with with vines and bushes growing on and around them, which made it easy to dismiss as just another part of the forest at a glance.


    There was only one proper entryway into the bandit camp, and that was through the gate, which was made out of a movable, yet equally well-camouflaged set of fences much like that surrounded the encampment. When the gate-fence was in place and ¡°closed¡± it basically formed part of the seamless fence that surrounded the encampment.


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    Hakim¡¯s plan was simple, namely to use a small portion of his squad to cause a distraction at one side of the encampment, before the rest of the squad would attack and breach the gate. Malika had the fire affinity and could squeeze out lances of fire that were likely damaging enough for their purpose, since the gate was entirely made out of wood and plants. Since senior mage Loren was also present amongst the veterans that served as their observers for the mission, they were not too worried about causing an uncontrollable forest fire either.


    The plan was riskiest for the diversion, which was why Hakim chose to take the task upon himself, leaving the rest of the squad under Malika¡¯s leadership for the actual assault. If the main squad failed to breach the gate in short order, it would place the diversion in great danger. Hakim only hoped that Malike would be able to do her part without a hitch or that the other squad would help relieve the pressure off him.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time. Do your best out there, Mal,¡± said Hakim as he proffered a fist to Malika. Malika bumped her knuckles to his as she nodded, knowing that their assessment - and part of their future prospects - would soon be decided on the field of battle. She looked at Hakim¡¯s retreating back as he walked away together with the other fourteen who had volunteered for the distraction duties.


    ¡°Stay alive, Hakim,¡± she muttered just before he vanished into the woods.


    ******************************


    Hakim led his small detachment of fifteen rookies - five archers, five shieldbearers, and five spearmen including himself - through the forest, taking care to keep themselves out of the sight of the bandit sentries. They lurked as close to the encampment as they dared to as they waited for the sun to set. When the sun set below the horizon and darkness started to take hold, Hakim gave the signal.


    As one, his five archers fired, each targeting one of the two sentries atop the trees on their side of the encampment. Neither sentry managed to sound the alarm as the arrows took them down on the spot, but the bandits were alarmed nonetheless when their bodies fell off their perch and landed loudly. Hakim and his group then made sure to keep the bandit¡¯s attention on his side as he and the other spearmen hurled flasks of oil stoppered with a lit wick towards the fence.


    When the flasks broke against the fence or the ground before it, the wick naturally lit the oil contained within, and caused a fire to break out at the fence that encircled the bandit encampment. Almost at the same time, a smattering of arrows flew out from the camp towards him and his men, but they were prepared for that. The shieldbearers lifted their large shields, while the rest of the group took cover behind them.


    Multiple thunks of arrowheads embedding themselves into the shields resounded, and Hakim noticed right away that the arrow fire headed his way was a good bit heavier than his expectations. He grimaced when one of his shieldbearers fell to one knee after an arrow slipped beneath his shield and pierced through his calf, which forced the people hiding behind him to huddle closer and help hold him up.


    As he gathered his courage to take a peek past the shield, he saw at least a dozen bandits rappelling down from the trees that they used as watch towers and rushed towards him and his men, and more discouragingly, the conflagration at the fence was on its way out, much faster than he ever expected even if the bandits had likely prepared to fight a fire.


    He only hoped that things went better on Malika¡¯s end.

 Chapter 170 - Man Plans, Fate Decides

    ¡°The first thing you should plan out after you finish creating a plan is what you would do should the plan fail. Unless you have a highly experienced and adaptable commander on the field, all too often people would panic when a plan inevitably met with reality and failed at some juncture. In general, the best ways to handle such a situation is either the presence of a flexible and adaptable field commander, or contingencies prepared for every possibility.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    When Malika saw the fires go up at the side of the bandit encampment, she led the remainder of the rookies into a rapid charge towards the encampment¡¯s gate as they had planned. The moment they had a clean line of sight towards the gate, Malika gathered the mana in her body, and formed a trio of lances, composed of pure magical flames, and sent them towards the gate where they quickly engulfed it in flames, just as they had planned.


    That was the extent to which their plan had gone as planned.


    Before the shieldbearers who were tasked with breaking apart the gate could even close the distance, a wave of mud fell on top of the burning fence and foliage and smothered the fire. The mud quickly hardened from the heat, which in effect sealed the holes Malika had made at the cost of most of her mana, which already threw part of their plan off right there.


    Then the rain of arrows that were aimed at Hakim¡¯s group swiveled her way after only a short pause. Whoever commanded the bandit archers, they knew what they were doing. Since half of Malika¡¯s shieldbearers were already halfway to the gate, some arrows got through despite the best efforts of the rest of the shieldbearers, as grunts and screams of pain came from those unfortunate enough to be shot.


    ¡°Shields up! Hold the line!¡± yelled Malika even as the shieldbearers that had run ahead backpedaled as fast as they could. The casualties her people had taken were light, but the effect of the plan¡¯s screw-up on the rookies¡¯ morale was the real issue. She herself took an arrow to her left forearm, fortunately a shallow wound as the projectile lacked the force to pierce much deeper after it went through her gambeson and hard leather armor, but still a painful wound that made it hard for her to move her left arm.


    She sucked it up and pretended she was fine, if only to keep her people¡¯s morale from falling further.


    Malika saw how some bandits - a dozen or so - rappled off the large trees in Hakim¡¯s direction. She could not afford to worry about him, however, as not only had the rain of arrows kept her squad pinned in place, she could also see how a group of bandits had mustered on the other side of the gate, probably half again their number if not more.


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    The plan they hatched had clearly gone down the shitter, and when Malika looked at the lusty grins of the bandits - her group had more than a few young women amongst them - she only barely suppressed a shudder in disgust. With her healthy right arm she lifted her curved sickle-like khopesh as she tried to rally her troops, but she could tell that they barely responded to her calls, as many of the young rookies had fallen into understandable panic.


    Malika has just started to wonder if this was how she was going to die when the situation changed yet again.


    From the other side of the field - the opposite side of the bandit camp from where Hakim was - another group of people emerged from the forest, so quietly that if Malika hadn¡¯t happened to look that way when they came out she would have probably missed them. It was the other group of rookies assigned to work with them, and Malika saw how they quickly shifted into formation, their dozen shieldbearers, some of which carried shields so large Malika boggled at the thought of someone even capable of moving while carrying one, at the front.


    The bandits had not missed out on their appearance either, and the rain of arrows that went to Malika¡¯s group lessened as a result as a good portion of the archers shifted their fire towards the newcomers. To Malika¡¯s surprise, however, the newcomers neither turtled up nor cowered under the rain of arrows, and instead they started to pick up speed as they ran headlong towards the bandit encampment.


    Probably the bandits expected the newcomers to halt or at least be delayed by the fence, since they focused on moving the gate aside and started to sally out towards Malika¡¯s group. When barely fifteen or so bandits had left the encampment and headed her way, however, the other group struck the thorny, spiked fence at full speed.


    And they had not stopped.


    Instead, Malika saw how an entire section of the fence - together with the thorny brambles that grew around it - was directly torn apart as the group of young mercenaries charged through with barely a hitch in their steps. The surprise was not only hers, as the bandits clearly had not expected that sort of development either. The rest of the bandits still within the encampment quickly shifted their attention to the new threat, which fortunately left Malika with only the fifteen or so that had charged her way ahead of the rest.


    Once again, Malika commanded her troops - all twenty or so that were still standing and not too afraid to fight - to brace themselves, and this time they listened to her. The shieldbearers formed a solid shield wall as they braced for the attacks from the incoming bandits, while the rest of the troops readied their weapons behind them.


    Just as the first of the bandits pounded on the shield wall with his axe, Malika gathered the last of her mana and launched one last lance of fire at the man. The bandit had clearly not expected the group of youngsters to have a mage with them, and while he managed to partially get himself out of the way, the lance of fire still struck him on the left shoulder.


    The resulting burst of flames had not killed the man outright, but it left him with horrifying burns - some all the way to the bone - on the left side of his body, with even the left half of his face thoroughly ravaged by the flames. His screaming, grotesque figure on the ground achieved the purpose Malika hoped for, however, as it drove home some fear into the rest of the bandits while at the same time bolstering the morale of her people.

 Chapter 171 - A Young Beasts First Hunt

    ¡°Humans baby their young until they have spent a good fifth of their lifespan. While some mocked and decried us as animals for it, we strongly believe that the young do not need so much coddling.¡± - Garull Mane-of-Silver, Head Shaman of the Kosva Tribe from the Western Isles.


    ¡°Angle shields! Low wedge!¡± yelled Vladislav from his position slightly off the center of the shield wall¡¯s center. Erycea had no need to give them orders. Vladislav had joined the Company ahead of them for a couple years when he was fourteen, then returned to their fold last year to teach them tactics and strategies related to the shield wall charges his grandmother, uncles, and aunts were known for. Erycea fully backed his command of the shieldbearers of their group and gave her full confidence behind him.


    While the bandits had reacted surprisingly fast to their presence, and had immediately welcomed them with a rain of arrows, the shield wall at their front took out the brunt of the projectiles, and the few that passed through them were swatted out of the air by the more dexterous of the young mercenaries behind. Erycea herself had split her large orb of glass into six smaller orbs and used them to smash many arrows off-course during their approach.


    As the shield wall approached the fence - their one obstacle in their headlong charge to the bandit camp - the shieldbearers followed Vlad¡¯s command and held their shield at a steep angle as they braced the upper side against their shoulder and even held the top of their shields with their other hand. The low-angled shields simply crushed through the bushes of thorny brambles like they had not existed, and only paused when they collided with the fence.


    For a brief moment, that was.


    The instant they felt the resistance against their shields, Vlad, Tasha, Vera, Gustav, Valeria, and Beth - the only ones in the shieldwall who had shields large enough to cover their bodies from head to toe - pushed hard with their whole bodies, their free hand holding the shield in place, and heaved. It was a contest between muscles, the earth, and wood. The earth lost that contest as the buried part of the fence was literally uprooted by the efforts of the six young mercenaries.


    As if what they did was just a minor thing, the six young mercenaries continued their advance with barely a hitch in their steps, as they rushed straight at the surprised bandits within the camp. Some had already left the camp and headed towards the other group of rookies assigned to the mission, but such was life. Besides, if they wanted to be mercenaries, they should at least manage those bandits who went their way on their own, Erycea thought.


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    There were sentries atop the trees on the side they mounted their assault on, but as the group of young mercenaries passed, those sentries dropped from their perch atop the tree. Ayrie took one out with an expertly thrown dagger that took the bandit in the neck, while Aurora - Cassie and Arne¡¯s daughter - Took the other out with a shot from her crossbow.


    When the young mercenaries clashed with the gathered bandits, bodies were thrown through the air.


    The entirety of the bandit gang were humans, many of them barely even in fit shape, so the effect achieved when several young bear therians, each easily taller than even the tallest humans and weighing nearly half a ton each, struck them forcefully while running at full speed, the results were to be expected. Several of the bandits were simply shoved aside, less fortunate ones found themselves hurtling through the air with broken bodies.


    As if on cue, the shield wall then split to the sides while forcefully pushing aside the bandits, as the twins Tasha and Vera led the push to the left, while Vlad and Gustav did the same to the right. The rest of the shieldbearers guarded their flanks and kept the bandits on the sides occupied, while the rest of the young mercenaries charged right into the throng of the gathered bandits.


    They were outnumbered nearly two to one, but they did not care.


    Just as the bandits noticed the young mercenaries behind the shieldbearers, Erycea split her orbs of glass into thousands of tiny, razor sharp shards, and hurled them wholesale at the gathered bandits at eye level. Screams echoed from the gathered bandits as the shards of glass pierced through their face, with the unlucky ones catching some directly in their eyes or in their open mouths, and to say that they were distracted at the moment would have been an understatement.


    Erycea and the rest of her group descended on them like a hurricane the next moment.


    She herself led the charge from the very front, with her pair of metal truncheons in hand. The first bandit in her way - one unfortunate man who must have had dozens of glass shards embedded all over his ugly face and was busy clutching said face - probably never saw her coming as the truncheon in her right hand struck from above and shattered his skull with a single blow, sending bloody shards of bone and gobs of gooey brain matter hurtling through the air.


    Rhiannon stabbed the bandit to the left of the one Erycea brained, the leaf-shaped blade of her swordstaff embedded through the gut of the unfortunate female bandit. To Erycea¡¯s right, Ayrie slit the throat of another bandit with the short sword she held, even as her other hand hurled a dagger into the gut of a different bandit.


    The bandits behind the frontmost line were less affected by the barrage of glass shards, mostly because the ones up front had taken the brunt of the assault, so the next bandit Erycea encountered fought back. He tried to swing his axe towards her, but failed as she swiftly pierced through his wrist with the spike on the end of her left-hand truncheon.


    Before the bandit could even scream in pain, Erycea¡¯s second truncheon brutally struck his jaw from the side and directly tore the man¡¯s entire jaw right off his face and threw it hard into a second bandit further to the man¡¯s left, who panicked at the sight once they noticed just what had struck them in the face. Erycea then swiftly ended the man as she pulled her first truncheon out of the man¡¯s wrist and used the spike on its pommel to pierce through the man¡¯s skull from the side.

 Chapter 172 - Earning Ones Place

    ¡°Few things move the young and unaccomplished like acknowledgement of one¡¯s worth.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Doing well there, Val.¡±


    Valeria paid no attention to the words said to her as she focused on finishing off the bandit she faced first. The quarter-orc girl used her shield to bash the face of the bandit hard enough to jerk his head back with profuse bleeding from the nose, while at the same time the lower half of her shield kept the man¡¯s axe pinned against his own body. One expertly placed jab of her spear to the man¡¯s throat was all it took to end the fight, as the man crumpled like a sack of potatoes even as he clutched his bleeding throat.


    ¡°Thanks for the compliment,¡± she replied to Tasha who held the position to her right. The bear-therian girl was only a year older than Valeria¡¯s own fourteen years, but was easily twice as large as she towered over most everyone else in their little group other than her twin sister and their cousin. The door-sized slab of metal Tasha and Vera used as shields were pretty much impervious to whatever the bandits managed to throw their way, and the hefty war pick on Tasha¡¯s right hand easily punched through the bodies of two unfortunate bandits at the same time as she swung it.


    Further to her right, Tasha¡¯s twin sister Vera - older by an hour - covered her sister¡¯s flank as she cleaved a bandit in twain with her massive battle axe, shield, armor, and man all bisected into halves by the mighty blow. To say that the bandits were not equipped to handle two and a half meter tall therian warriors clad in heavy armor and weapons was an understatement to say the least.


    Despite the bandits¡¯ numerical superiority - there were over twice as many of them in the encampment still compared to the thirty-five young mercenaries in Erycea¡¯s group - they found themselves overwhelmed horribly in personal prowess, something made worse by the strongest four shieldbearers in Ery¡¯s group, who could each take on multiple foes without breaking a sweat.


    To the opposite flank of where Valeria and the twins were positioned, Vlad and Gustav secured the other flank for the young mercenaries. Both of them carried comically oversized metal tower shields that could easily serve as the doors of a castle gate, at least from a human¡¯s point of view. For the two of them - even if Gustav was only half as tall as the shield he carried - the shield was just the right heft and weight to be comfortable.


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    ¡°Not much of a challenge, aren¡¯t they?¡± asked Vlad lightheartedly to Gustav even as he shoved back four bandits at the same time with a push of his shield. He followed the move with a sweeping blow from his warhammer - a weapon he had inherited from his late father - that caught the two bandits who were unfortunate to not have fallen on their backs from his shove. The next instant, both of those bandits were sent flying with their bodies twisted in ways a human body was definitely not designed to be twisted in.


    ¡°What can ya expect? They¡¯re just bandits used to bullying villagers, not trained soldiers,¡± replied Gustav as he held his shield steady with one burly arm even against the efforts of multiple bandits that tried to push against him. A downward smash from the massive metal cudgel in his other hand then turned one of those bandits into a pile of minced meat and crushed bone splattered on the ground, and scared the rest enough that they drew back on the spot. ¡°I guess they thought about easing us into the work with some easy meat first.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve trained for this most of our lives, so I¡¯m glad to be here together with you all once again, just like the old days,¡± said Vlad with some reminiscence. The two of them were very relaxed despite fighting on the battlefield, but then again the crude weapons used by the bandits would likely just bounce off their heavy armors if they landed a clean hit anyway. ¡°And glad to see that nobody¡¯s failing to live up to expectation.¡±


    Despite all the training they had done since a much younger age than most, many of the children remained nervous about killing another person. Some had worried that they might not be able to commit to the deed and would fail that way, but to everyone¡¯s surprise, when they were placed into a combat situation, everyone did what they had to. None of them had wavered as they killed the bandits.


    Of course, some of the older kids like Ayrie and Vladislav himself had passed that hurdle years ago as they had joined the Company ahead of the rest, but the rest of the younger kids, the ones around Erycea¡¯s age, only faced it right then and there. Erycea herself was not counted, as she had earned her first kill nearly a decade ago, far ahead of the rest.


    ¡°I do agree that these bandits are mostly weaklings, but could you two not chat so much while fighting?¡± asked Beth from Gustav¡¯s right. The therian descent girl carried a tower shield as well, which while not as large as those wielded by either Vlad or Gustav, still measured a good two meters tall and three quarters as wide. The short sword in the girl¡¯s other hand stabbed a bandit in the kidney, lung, and throat in a smooth, practiced one-two-three motion as she fought. ¡°It¡¯d be a bad example for the younger kids.¡±


    The ¡°younger kids¡± in their case were the gaggle of young mercenaries who, like Erycea, had just turned fourteen that year. Even those children showed no mercy to the bandits however, as they made use of the skills they had practiced for years to take down one bandit after another. The long periods of practicing together had also made them have a habit of working together, and it was not rare to see a bandit trying to fight one youngster only to find themselves fatally injured by another instead.


    Just like how Llewelyn kept a bandit busy with his sword and shield only to suddenly shift his shield to the side, leaving an opening. Before the bandit he fought could react to the opening, Aurora had shot the man right between the eyes with her crossbow, after which Llewelyn moved his shield back into position with a smile and a nod to the girl.

 Chapter 173 - A Practiced Approach

    ¡°Many people tend to consider the advent of civilization as a shift from the survival of the fittest that nature mostly adhered to, where those who would have found it hard to survive in nature¡¯s harsh cradle were given a better chance at life, and whatnot.


    It was most definitely not that.


    Instead, the advent of civilization merely changed the definition of the fittest compared to what nature required. While survival itself became easier, there were many other things which preoccupied people, things like money, fame, and power, which slowly but eventually became the new ideals of survival itself.¡± - Lenneth Aurigan, Philosopher and economist from J?tunberg, circa 420 FP.


    While the rest of her crew cleaned up the bandits, Erycea led a smaller team further forward, towards where she spotted a middle-aged woman giving commands to the rest of the bandits. The intel they received had no information on the leadership of the bandit gang, as they had never made it obvious, but with one look at how they operated, she guessed that the woman was the one in the lead, at least in battle.


    She gave a couple of gestures to her people using her tail¡¯s movements, something those behind her would relay to the relevant people, and before long, a smaller group of six people had gathered around her. Erycea and the rest had trained in group tactics other than their usual physical training over the past couple of years, and she had borrowed some tricks from her mother, which led to the formation of the smaller group that gathered now.


    Where her mother usually relied on the aid of the rest of the Company to deliver her group of what were practically battlefield assassins into striking distance of their prey, Erycea modified the idea, and instead formed a smaller group that was still capable of similar tactics as her group as a whole. While her smaller group lacked the pure brute force capabilities offered by Vlad, Tasha, Vera, and Gustav, they could still use most of the same tactics, if on a much smaller scale.


    Valeria and Beth took their positions in front, a bit to the left and right, while Llewelyn stood between them in the middle. The three shieldbearers then pushed their way through the bandits together. The way they set it up placed the pressure mostly on Valeria and Beth, since they also had to worry about their flanks, compared to Llewelyn who only had to worry about whatever was ahead of him.


    Erycea and Rhiannon struck at those they passed by, guarding their flanks and backs, while Aurora and Ayrie supported them from the center of the formation, both with their blades and with their throwing dagger and crossbow as the opportunity permitted. Together they pushed their way through the throng of bandits - many of which were more than distracted by the rest of their group - and slaughtered their way towards where the middle-aged woman Erycea spotted was.


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    Once they reached the vicinity of their target, their formation shifted once more, as the three shieldbearers moved to the rear, where they covered the rest from the attention of other bandits that had pursued them. The remaining four charged straight towards their target, Erycea right at the front, Rhiannon covering their rear, with Aurora and Ayrie at the sides.


    Some of the bandits tried to intercept them, but Ayrie dropped one with a pair of daggers that she flung with a practiced flick of her wrist. The daggers embedded themselves in the poor bandit¡¯s eyes and went deeper, and the sight of his dead body falling on its back gave pause to the others for a moment. On the other side, Aurora snapped another shot from her crossbow which took a bandit right through the nose before she slung the weapon behind her, knowing that she would likely not get another chance to reload in the meantime.


    When they saw how Aurora slung the crossbow behind her, one of the bandits was encouraged to attack her, only to find his machete blocked by the steel tonfa that Aurora brought out. The man had the presence of mind to block the blow from the flanged mace in the girl¡¯s other hand which she pulled from where it hung by her waist with his shield, but had missed out on how the tips of her tonfa were sharpened.


    He realized it only after she had perforated his abdomen repeatedly, and as he stepped back while he held onto the holes on his belly, Aurora¡¯s mace struck his face head-on and sent him toppling back, no longer looking recognizable even to his own mother.


    On the other side, a different bandit slashed at Ayrie with a saber, only for the quarter-elven girl to catch his blade between one of the curved flanges that extended from her shortsword¡¯s handle and its sturdy blade. Ayrie twisted her blade, which forced the bandit to lean sideways a bit from the unexpected force acting on his saber, and took that chance to stab through the man¡¯s throat from the side with a dagger in her other hand.


    Behind them, Rhiannon used her swordstaff to fend off the bandits that tried to circle around behind Valeria and Beth, who guarded their rear. She and her twin brother Llewelyn worked seamlessly together, as they kept the bandits away from their teammates. Llewelyn mostly focused on the defense while his sister took a more offensive approach, but at unexpected times they might suddenly swap their opponents as if by some tacit understanding, which more often than not took their opponents by surprise.


    All the while, Erycea struck down any bandit who got in her way with her pair of truncheons, their solid metal construction pulverizing flesh and breaking bones with ease. Not even weapons were spared, as one of the bandits in front of her found out the hard way, when he swung his sword at her only for Erycea to bash it aside with one of her truncheons.


    Except that Ery had swung her weapon with enough force to directly shatter the sword¡¯s blade and even caused it to fly off and strike a different bandit on the face, leaving a nasty cut on the man¡¯s face. The baffled bandit never got to react to his sword¡¯s breaking either, as Erycea then ended him as well with the return swing of her weapon, which struck the man¡¯s neck from the side.


    And broke it as easily as it did his sword.

 Chapter 174 - A Taste of Despair

    ¡°It is rare for those who are used to being situated at the top, where they could abuse their power over those less fortunate, to be able to accept and adapt to a situation where they were placed at the bottom instead, to be downtrodden upon by those greater than themselves.¡± - Lenneth Aurigan, Philosopher and economist from J?tunberg, circa 420 FP.


    Molina de Anduilaz had once been a noble¡¯s daughter, though that was long in the past. Her family lost their nobility title and all the benefits that entailed decades before the civil war, when she was still a young child, due to political reasons her parents had refused to elaborate on even until the day they died in poverty. That had left her, who was but a young child at the time, and her older brother little option but to try to eke out a living some other way.


    They were well-learned compared to the peasant rabble, but even so, they were also spoiled noble children, unaccustomed to hard, honest work and used to being served by others. That poor aptitude for honest work, combined with the bad harvest that plagued the land that used to be their family¡¯s, leading to a famine outbreak, eventually made them start to look at less virtuous ways of staying alive.


    The two siblings had hid their identity, and worked together with a group of peasant rabble who were similarly situated, people at the end of their ropes, who had no above the board options for staying alive. Her brother then made use of those people¡¯s grievances towards the government and directed it, in the form of raids towards the grain warehouses of the new noble who took over their ancestral lands.


    Since they knew the land like the back of their hands, they had not only succeeded in the raid, but also escaped mostly unscathed from the noble¡¯s retaliation and hunt. Their little band soon grew from an influx of other peasants in similar situations, and before long they went from barely a dozen men to nearly fifty strong. That extra manpower allowed them to hit harder targets in their acts of banditry, all while remaining out of the guards¡¯ reach.


    Over the years they grew into a bandit gang over a hundred people strong, the scourge of the region, that the lord and his successor had no success against, a shame which often saw the lord in question disparaged in noble assemblies. Once the civil war broke out, their gang made the most out of the chaos to run rampant, though they started to tone down their activities when the land they operated from fell under one of the large faction¡¯s influence.


    Even then, they found new employment as a messenger from the opposing faction had paid them a small fortune to continue their activities. They did as asked, ramping up their banditry to harry both the nobles and populace of the region, at least until the patrols were increased so much they had no choice to lay low for the time being.


    That was five years ago, at which point the same messenger who had hired them in the first place gave them another offer. Namely to do the same on the neighboring Duchy of Jonkver - which had just repelled an invasion from said faction - over the next few years or so. The siblings, by then long accepted as the bosses of the bandits, had conferred, and after some deliberation had taken the deal.


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    At first things were easy. The locals were still reeling from the battle that had taken place not too long ago, and the guards lacked manpower. It was ripe ground for bandits to prowl on, and it turned out their gang was not the only one who thought that way as they encountered multiple other bandit gangs in the region. The bandits had quickly reached an understanding to leave each other alone with so many easy prey to target instead, though.


    They ran roughshod over the many outlying villages in Jonkver for a good few years after that, the undermanned local guards and soldiers unable to keep up with their activity. Sure, a few of the dumber gangs got caught and hung, but that was their own fault, so none of the other gangs cared much. At most they took more care in planning out their escapes should the guard be at hand.


    But then the mercenaries came.


    Unlike the guards, who generally avoided the forests when they could, or even if they went in, performed poorly in such terrain, a fact that the bandits had abused to escape them again and again, the mercenaries took to the forests like fish to water. Within a month of their arrival, three of the gangs that were daring enough to operate deeper in Jonkver had been eradicated nearly to a man, with only a few lucky survivors who happened to not be present when the rest of the gangs were massacred in their hideouts.


    Over the next nine months, the bandits learned what fear was as one after another, the gangs that came to exploit the conditions in Jonkver were hunted down. The fortunate ones perished when the mercenaries struck their camps. The unfortunate ones were handed over to the local authorities who were all too eager to make examples out of such criminals with gruesome public executions.


    Some of the gangs who were newer or more cowardly had already left the territory early on, and Molina¡¯s gang was one of the last that still remained, partly because of the ¡°job¡± they had agreed on, and partly out of pride. Both she and her brother soon came to regret that pride, however, as the mercenaries found their base and attacked them as well.


    At first, it was manageable enough, just a bunch of young kids, probably rookie mercenaries, trying to take on their camp through the gate after they pulled off a diversion. The idea had merit, sure, but their attempt to burn the gate down fell apart since Molina herself was a reasonably powerful mage of the mud affinity. She had nonchalantly doused the flames even while she commanded the bandits who were good with bows to rain arrows at their assailants, and things looked winnable at that point.


    But then they came.


    The second group of mercenaries that struck their camp was less numerous than the first, and looked even younger at that. There was no comparison between them, however, as those younger kids had simply uprooted the fences in their way on their way in without even losing a beat. Similarly, while the other group was fighting hard against a smaller number of her bandits, those newcomers pushed their way through the others almost like a hot knife through butter.


    Molina¡¯s brother even charged in himself, in an attempt to rally their underlings¡¯ morale, but Molina could only watch how his prized sword - a heirloom they had managed to steal back from the noble that had taken over their possessions - was snapped in twain by one of the young mercenaries, who then snapped her brother¡¯s neck as well the next moment.


    Then they came for her.

 Chapter 175 - The Way of the World

    ¡°Some people get stepped on. Some others do the stepping. It was just how life goes.¡± - Lenneth Aurigan, Philosopher and economist from J?tunberg, circa 420 FP.


    As she killed another two bandits along the way, Erycea finally fought her way towards the middle-aged woman who stood at the back of the bandit formation. Another pair of bandits tried to intercept her on the approach, but Ayrie apparently saw that and had the time to spare to fling a pair of her daggers at the intercepting bandits.


    Given the hurry she threw the daggers with - and the distraction, as Erycea figured that the older girl was likely fighting some other bandits at the time as well - she had not scored kills with them, as one of the daggers stabbed into a bandit¡¯s shoulder, while the other managed to parry the dagger headed for his face with a reflexive move from his machete.


    Their momentary distraction proved fatal, however, as Erycea pounced on them during that very moment. The truncheon in her left hand struck at the bandit with the machete, and while the man tried to deflect the blow with his blade, he had not expected the force behind it. As a result the truncheon just skidded down the blade of the machete until it found the man¡¯s hand and snapped the bone in several of his fingers instead.


    Even as the bandit with the machete screamed, Erycea¡¯s second truncheon pierced through the left eye of the other bandit, the one Ayrie injured with a throw of her dagger. The sharpened tip of the truncheon went through the man¡¯s eye, broke through the eye socket, and went further into the man¡¯s brain, and that was before Erycea gave it a good stir to be sure the moment prior to withdrawing her weapon. The dead bandit dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, and Erycea instantly whipped the truncheon - its upper end still covered with gooey brain matter - sideways towards the other, screaming man.


    Her blow caught the man just to the side of his upper jawline, and it was forceful enough that not only had the bone cracked on impact, the blow also ripped off the top of the man¡¯s head right at the joint and threw the gruesome upper half of the head elsewhere. Only a body with its lower jaw still attached was left behind, which toppled over a moment later.


    No other bandits came to intercept on behalf of the middle-aged woman, probably either not loyal enough to do so, or scared off by the gruesome fate of the two just now, and that suited Erycea just fine. The middle aged woman raised a hand towards her with a panicked look even as her other hand fumbled with the hilt of a weapon at her waist, and Erycea immediately understood why the rookies¡¯ plan to burn the gate had failed so badly.


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    While the wave of mud summoned by the bandit woman was not exactly lethal or dangerous unless one were to drown in it, it would likely have given the woman an opening to exploit given its disruptive effect on her opponent¡¯s sight. Unfortunately for the woman, she was not the only mage present. Erycea had long recollected the shards of glass that she used as an opening move as she passed, and kept them hovering behind her. She willed the shards to cover her, and the wave of mud splattered impotently on the pane of solid glass that suddenly appeared before Erycea.


    Just after the wave of mud subsided, the pane of glass smoothly split into two as they opened like a doorway for Erycea to pass through the middle, before they broke apart into shards and flew back into her storage the next moment. The surprise on the bandit woman¡¯s face was evident, though she at least managed to bring out the weapon she fumbled with earlier, a well-crafted one-handed sword that seemed to have more decorations than necessary, and stabbed with it towards Erycea.


    In turn, Ery had just nonchalantly met the thrust with a swing from one of her truncheons.


    Her strike met the flat side of the woman¡¯s blade, with predictable results, as the overly decorative sword snapped in half just like that, its upper half sent flying off to the side where it even stabbed a shallow wound into an unfortunate bandit¡¯s calf. The woman only had time to stare blankly at the broken half of her sword before Ery struck the outside of the woman¡¯s elbow with her second truncheon, hard enough to snap the bones and crush the joint until it bent the wrong way around.


    Then she used her truncheon to twist the woman¡¯s injured arm behind her back to the obvious painful screams that move elicited. Ery then grabbed the woman¡¯s other hand with her free hand and twisted it similarly behind the woman¡¯s back and stepped on both of the woman¡¯s wrists with one foot as she put her weight behind it to immobilize her captive for the time being. The authorities wanted some bandits to make examples of, and their leaders were the best for that.


    As Erycea looked up from her captive, she saw that the fighting inside the encampment itself had mostly died down, as the few remaining bandits had given up the fight. They likely knew that there was no pleasant fate awaiting them even if they surrendered, but a desperate man would reach for anything, even if it meant living only an extra day. Most of the bandits had been turned into corpses on the ground by the rest of Ery¡¯s group, which further illustrated the futility of resistance to the bandits.


    Vlad had quickly assigned some of the group to secure the captives, one of whom came over and helped Erycea tie up the bandit woman¡¯s arms behind her back with a length of sturdy rope. From what she could tell it seemed that her group had not lost anyone in the assault, though there was still fighting outside the encampment, where the other group of rookies still fought against the bandits who had left the camp before Ery¡¯s group made their assault.


    She yelled at Vlad to gain his attention, and conveyed her intent with a few gestures - sign language her father had insisted that she and whoever she planned to appoint as a sub-commander to her unit learn by heart, the same one used by the Company¡¯s leaders - to which Vlad nodded firmly before he relayed her command.


    Not a minute later ten of the young mercenaries went out the gate to strike at the still-fighting bandits from behind, while another ten headed for the opposite side of the camp to strike at the ones fighting there. The ones who headed there were led by Ayrie and Aurora, and had included the rest of their members who were skilled with ranged weapons.


    After all, there was no need to climb the trees just to rappel down the other side when shooting the bandits in their backs would achieve the same result.

 Chapter 176 - An End to the Battle

    ¡°Why bandits get to be so rampant, you asked? Why we didn¡¯t just scour the woods ourselves? It¡¯s simple, honestly. Them bandits? They¡¯re folks who had lived outside the law for a good while. Hiding out deep in the woods is like the norm for them. It¡¯s pretty much their home over there.


    The folks who joined the guard on the other hand? Most of them are nice folks, but you¡¯d be lucky if you can even find one in ten who can find their way in the shallow woods, if that. Most of us law-abiding folks generally had no real reason to bother going deep into the woods, so those are pretty much unknown territory for us.¡± - Lagari Tutuola, Guard Captain of the City of Jonkver.


    Hakim and the rest of his troops were in a somewhat desperate situation, as they tried to resist the ten bandits that attacked them. Several cut wounds already adorned his body even as the bandit - who was more experienced than he expected - parried his spear once more with his machete before another swing was sent towards Hakim, this time slicing into his forearm and leaving another shallow wound there.


    The bandits had fought carefully, their teamwork practiced, and four of Hakim¡¯s fellows were already sidelined in the back with injuries that were serious, though by some fortune none of them had taken a fatal wound yet. Even so, the remaining young mercenaries at the frontlines carried injuries big and small, and realized that the bandits had probably planned to tire them out before they went for the kill.


    Just as Hakim considered leading a desperate last stand while the rest of his troops made a retreat, the situation changed once more. The bandit that gave him so much trouble suddenly stumbled and literally fell towards the spear he thrust towards the man. He was still partially in shock even as his spear skewered the bandit through the belly, but the next moment, he realized that it was not his skills or some manner of blunder that had killed the man after all.


    For a crossbow bolt had pierced through the back of the man¡¯s head, buried halfway into the man¡¯s brain.


    All around him, the other bandits also fell one by one, with knives, arrows, javelins, and various other ranged weapons protruding from their backs. Not all of the bandits had perished from the sudden attack, but Hakim¡¯s people were not stupid enough to falter at the chance given to them and quickly struck at the injured bandits to finish them off.


    Only one of the bandits had the fortune of escaping the attack from behind, but his luck soon ran out, as despite his being older, stronger, and more experienced, he still stood no chance against ten pissed off rookie mercenaries. Despite his best efforts the last bandit was soon pierced through by multiple spears, with Hakim¡¯s own spear taking the man right in the throat.


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    It was only after they confirmed that every last bandit on their side was dead that Hakim allowed himself to give in to his fatigue and collapsed where he stood.


    ******************************


    Malika¡¯s situation by the gate of the encampment wasn¡¯t much more optimistic than Hakim¡¯s, as her group had more than half their members down and likely out for the count as well, though they at least managed to injure a couple more bandits to the point that they could fight no more as well. Even so, the remaining dozen or so bandits pushed her people hard, and they only held because their wounded was right behind them by that point.


    So when all of a sudden a wall of metal struck those bandits from behind and started pulverizing them like they were made out of rotten wood, both the bandits and Malika¡¯s people were caught off guard by the sudden change. The sudden arrival of a squad from the other team - one led personally by Vladislav¡¯s hulking form - immediately turned the tables to the mercenaries¡¯ favor.


    Looks of despair crossed the face of many of the bandits, those who had a chance to react to the change, that is. The bandits who were further behind had been pulverized before they even realized that something had gone very wrong at the encampment, to the point that the mercenaries could pincer them from behind like that.


    Yet not all of them gave way to despair. The face of one particular bandit instead twisted into a look of vicious determination, as the man renewed his offense with utter disregard for his life. He seemed intent on dragging as many of the young mercenaries to the grave with him, rather than submit to whatever gruesome death likely awaited him.


    The bandit happened to be the one Malika was fending off, so she received the brunt of his assault.


    With her left shoulder injured and her being unable to lift up her shield, Malika still tried her best to block and parry the bandit¡¯s reckless assault with her khopesh, but found herself pushed back in short order. When the bandit swung hard and forced her guard open, she thought she was about to die right then and there, and felt almost as if time had slowed down for her.


    At least until an arrow unceremoniously struck the bandit right through the middle of his forehead from behind her.


    The near-death experience left Malika feeling exhausted as she slumped down on the ground, her left shoulder still throbbing painfully from the arrow that was still partly embedded within. She only managed to breathe a sigh of relief after the last bandit was taken down, and she was finally certain that the battle was over for real.


    ******************************


    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you make a move,¡± commented Ylisera from her perch where she overlooked the battle from a distance away. She was part of the senior group that accompanied the rookies for the mission, and they would have intervened if things had gone worse. Given that Ylisera knew all too well what Erycea and her group was capable of though, she was certain that they would not have to intervene at all.


    ¡°She looks like a bright one. No reason to waste the potential,¡± replied Alva from where he knelt on the thick branch not far from her. The arrow that took the bandit at the last moment and saved Malika was fired by him, who had also come as an observer. Ylisera had not refuted his word, as she figured that Alva likely saw something she didn¡¯t in the girl he saved, and just nodded. ¡°I think they¡¯re about done now. Should we go and fetch them?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡±

 Chapter 177 - Reports and Assesments

    ¡°The typical method of advancement for most soldiers involved performing feats that caught the attention of their direct superior. These men would in turn report such feats to their own superiors, and so onward until the news reached the top, should it not find itself discarded along the way or subsumed by others to advance their own agendas.


    Unless the feat was of such great magnitude that it could not be covered up in any way and had been witnessed by too many, it was often that the credits for such performance to be taken away from those who deserved them by the undeserving.


    And people wonder why our military kept getting worse by the generation.¡± - Silvanista Dehoerren-Favski, Commander of the Imperial Guard of the Clangeddin Empire. Confirmed killed in action in the defense of Maglos the Tyrant, last Emperor of the Clangeddin Empire.


    ¡°So how did the kids do?¡± asked Reinhardt when he saw Ylisera and Alva slip into the mercenary encampment not far from the forest later that night. While the last bandit gang had been saved to blood the rookie mercenaries since they were conveniently there, the rest of the gangs in the vicinity had been thoroughly rooted out by the rest of the Company, who had mostly returned to their camp with captives and loot by sundown.


    ¡°Could be better, could be worse,¡± replied Ylisera with a shrug of her shoulders. She and Alva had traveled ahead of the rest to report in since the others would likely camp for the night in the forest and only return the next day. By then they had confirmed that there were no more real threats to the rookies in the vicinity, and had left the rest of the group assigned to them as observers to keep an eye on the kids. ¡°Mind you, that¡¯s just the rookies. Lil¡¯s boss and her crew did about as expected. The merc blood runs strong in those kids, I swear.¡±


    ¡°No surprise there. Even I can¡¯t handle that girl most of the time these days!¡± said Reinhardt with a joyful guffaw. While Erycea still sparred often with him and Elfriede, he regularly found himself overwhelmed by his own young daughter, who seemed to have combined his wife¡¯s skill and agility with his own power and ferocity. It was to the point that he lost most of their sparring sessions badly of late, though Elfriede still handed Erycea sound defeats regularly. Even she needed to put in some effort to do that, however. ¡°Any casualties?¡±


    ¡°Around half of the rookies have injuries of every kind, some will need medical attention once they return, but shouldn¡¯t mind waiting the night for that,¡± reported Alva quietly. Most armies would have looked at his and Ylisera¡¯s past as former prostitutes and never took them seriously. In the Free Lances however, effort and performance mattered, and both of them had relatively high positions in the leadership hierarchy of the Company. ¡°One died, and it was such a silly death too at that.¡±


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    ¡°How so?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity.


    ¡°The poor bugger was too afraid to rush in with the rest and had stayed in the back, behind even the rear lines of the formation. The bandits had overshot their first salvo. Poor bugger caught like seven arrows and died on the spot,¡± explained Alva as he shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. ¡°Also, another ten or so of the rookies expressed their desire to resign, or looked like they¡¯re about to.¡±


    ¡°Pretty much as expected then,¡± noted Reinhardt. It was all too common for young people to perform well through training, only to chicken out once the real fight happened. He wanted no such types for his mercenaries either, so it was better to root them out this early rather than later. If anything, eleven quitters - counting the dead rookie - out of forty-five was a better number than most batches managed so far. ¡°Any of them caught your eye?¡±


    ¡°The kid they placed in command had a good head, and had some guts, though his plan didn¡¯t work out in the end. He still stood his ground with his men, though,¡± said Ylisera nonchalantly. The observers had generally approved of Hakim¡¯s performance as a leader. His plan¡¯s failure was attributed to lack of intelligence, as the bandits having a mage that happened to counter his plan was not expected. ¡°So¡¯s his second in command, pretty good snap decisions and kept the morale going when the rookies were about to break. They¡¯ll both need some more coaching, but they seem like good seedlings.¡±


    ¡°I concur,¡± said Alva with a nod in support of Ylisera¡¯s words. ¡°Those two showed promise. That they had not panicked and lost control when their plan fell apart was probably the best thing we could have expected from rookies like them.¡±


    ¡°What about Ery¡¯s crew?¡± asked Reinhardt, some parental worry as to be expected in his voice, though also mixed with obvious pride at his daughter.


    ¡°Not even one serious injury. Some irrelevant cuts here and there, and armor that will need fixing, but that¡¯s about it,¡± reported Alva. ¡°Honestly, if I didn¡¯t know they were that young I¡¯d have thought them to be seasoned fighters with how they performed out there. None of them even wavered on what must¡¯ve been their first kills either.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, some of them are well past that by now, though I guess it would be a first for some of the younger kids,¡± said Reinhardt just as nonchalantly. ¡°The parents of some of the kids had brought theirs out to hunt down some scum within the past year, so I have it on good confidence that like nearly half those kids popped their kill cherry a good while ago.¡±


    ¡°Would that get us into hot water with the Dukes, boss?¡± asked Ylisera. Even if the ones killed were the scum of society, it was likely within the cities, and would still be considered murder by the law.


    ¡°Eh, nobody ain¡¯t gonna miss bastards who aimed for kids anyway,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°Besides, scumbags like those go missing all the time. What¡¯s another missing half-dozen to that anyway?¡±

 Chapter 178 - A Discussion by the Campfire (Part 1)

    ¡°Those who worked hard for something were bound to cherish it more than those who merely did what they had to and received it without hardships involved.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°May we have a moment of your time?¡±


    Erycea looked up from the campfire she and a few others from her group huddled by towards the source of the voice. Given the time needed to properly search the bandit camp for salvage and other possible loot, and how the day had already turned dark, both her group and the other group of rookies, together with the adults who served as observers for their first mission, decided to camp by the bandit camp for the night.


    The source of the voice turned out to be Hakim and Malika, who Erycea remembered were the ones in command of the other group. Neither of them looked that well off, with most of Hakim¡¯s arm and upper torso wrapped up in bandages since he had taken many wounds all over, while Malika¡¯s left arm rested in a sling while her left shoulder was heavily bandaged as well.


    ¡°Sure, have a seat,¡± said Erycea with a welcoming gesture as a couple of her crew shifted slightly to make room for the newcomers. The room left for them was directly across the fire from where Erycea sat cross-legged on the ground, right between Vlad and his twin cousins, which might have inadvertently intimidated their guests a little bit.


    ¡°Have some,¡± said Gustav as he passed a pair of wooden tankards over to the newcomers. The tankards were filled with strong dwarven ale - a gift from his dwarven mother to commemorate his first missions that Ery had helped carry in her storage - that the group had just recently cracked open and indulged themselves on. The strong smell of alcohol that wafted from the tankards made Hakim cough as his eyes almost watered.


    Eventually after his coughing subsided, Hakim gathered his courage - and a bit of pride since he didn¡¯t want to get laughed at by the bunch of younger kids around him who quaffed the drink back like it was water - and took a drink from the tankard, only to cough even worse to the laughter of the group. Malika also coughed a bit after she took a drink, but quickly recovered and took another drink from the tankard to the cheers of the surrounding kids.


    ¡°Not much of a drinker, huh?¡± asked Gustav as he proffered a tankard of water to Hakim, who thankfully received it and drank it down before his coughing subsided at last. ¡°Woulda thought ya can hold yer liquor, since yer pretty big an¡¯ all.¡±


    ¡°Never had anything more than stuff that¡¯s watered down to heck back at the village,¡± explained Hakim as he gave a thankful nod to the therian-dwarf hybrid. Hakim was a head taller than Gustav, but Gustav was easily twice as broad if not more, with each of his arms almost as wide around as Hakim¡¯s waist. ¡°I don¡¯t think da ever got a taste for it even now. Besides, aren¡¯t most of you too young to drink this sort of stuff to begin with?¡±


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    ¡°Me Ma¡¯s a dwarf, man! Been drinkin¡¯ ale since me was a wee babe!¡± replied Gustav with a booming guffaw that elicited more of its kind from the other kids nearby. While it was rather common in human lands to limit harder drinks to adults, and only give watered-down stuff to younger kids, the mercenaries were clearly not one to care much about said rules and traditions. Some like Gustav were pounding down on tankards of the strong ale as if it was water indeed.


    ¡°So what brought you here?¡± asked Erycea to the other group¡¯s leaders. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re coming over just to share the fire and mooch off some booze, no?¡± she punctuated her words by taking a swig from her own tankard, sighing in pleasure from the kick of the alcoholic drink. ¡°Though it definitely is good booze to mooch, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°Your group did way better than ours,¡± stated Malika bluntly as she finished off the last of the ale in her tankard. ¡°We¡¯re mostly curious on how you achieved that, if I may be blunt. We sort of fucked up out there.¡±


    Gustav passed Malika another tankard of ale, which the young woman gratefully accepted and immediately took a swig from.


    ¡°Eh, for what it¡¯s worth, I think you two did your best out there. You kept the others together, rather than panic and lose your heads running around uselessly. That¡¯s not bad for your first outing,¡± said Erycea with all seriousness towards the pair of youngsters. ¡°Had you panicked and lost control of your people, there probably wouldn¡¯t be much of you left at all. Getting out of that shit with only one dead, which is more or less their own fault? That¡¯s good work.¡±


    ¡°We still should have done better,¡± claimed Hakim bitterly as he looked down. The boy¡¯s voice was full of anger, but it was easy to tell that all that anger was directed towards himself for what he perceived as a personal failure more than anything. ¡°Our plan proved to be useless, and if your group had not hit them when you did, there¡¯d be many more of us dead out there.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason we got the adults as observers, you know? Those in the previous years had often flunked their first mission even worse. You guys are like the best batch we¡¯ve got out of the rookies in the past few years, I heard,¡± said Erycea lightly to soothe Hakim a bit. ¡°And you got a harder mission compared to them, to boot!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying this as if you weren¡¯t a rookie yourself?¡± asked Malika with some curiosity. The way Erycea spoke made it clear that she had not considered her group to be part of the batch of rookies to be blooded this year.


    ¡°Well¡­ let me put it this way. How long have you and yours trained before this mission?¡± Erycea asked back.


    ¡°Two years, give or take a few months for some,¡± replied Hakim off the top of his head. ¡°Most everyone in this batch joined after I did, so I was one of the first of the batch, and I was there for around two and a half years of training before this mission.¡±


    ¡°There you go,¡± said Erycea with a nod as if that explained everything.¡±A couple of mine had joined the Company earlier and rejoined our group out of friendship and loyalty, but disregarding that, most of us here? We¡¯ve been training from when most kids were still playing in the mud. Even those who joined us later must¡¯ve worked hard and trained for at least half a decade if not more by now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been training for this since I was five myself.¡±

 Chapter 179 - A Discussion by the Campfire (Part 2)

    ¡°Some only lounged around and were handed everything they needed. Others grasped what they needed with their own bare hands through various difficulties. Was it any surprise that those who worked for what they had proved to be fitter to survive when push comes to shove?¡± - Old Folk saying


    ¡°Since five!? Wait a second¡­ Aren¡¯t you kids younger than us to begin with?¡± interceded Malika with some surprise at Erycea¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Pretty much. I¡¯m almost fourteen and a half now. Rhia and Wel there turned fifteen not a week ago. Some of our youngest only turned fourteen like a couple months ago,¡± said Erycea all too nonchalantly at Malika¡¯s outburst. ¡°Just about all of us have been preparing for this since before we were half your age, or even less.¡±


    ¡°Your parents allowed you to do that?¡± asked Hakim with some obvious doubt. He knew Erycea¡¯s parents were the Captain of the Company and one of his lieutenants. On the other hand, his own parents would have probably yanked his ear and dragged him home that way if he said things like wanting to train to be a warrior from such a young age. Even when he talked to them two years ago they were pretty reluctant.


    ¡°Not like I ever wanted to be a scholar or a painter anyway,¡± said Erycea with a shrug of her shoulders as Rhiannon passed her a skewer of meat that had been broiling on the campfire. She took a bite into a rather tough meat - it wasn¡¯t the good stuff by far, since it was meant to get the kids used to rations - and easily tore it apart with her fangs before she chewed. ¡°When I told mine that I wanted to join the Company when I grew up, they had insisted on the training until then. My mother supervised most of my training herself, even.¡±


    ¡°So did mine, though she soon agreed that Aunt Friede knew better,¡± said Rhiannon from beside Erycea. The two girls were almost the same age and their mothers had been old friends, so it wasn¡¯t strange for them to develop a friendship as well. ¡°Not all of ours, though. Some were just happy to have us out of their hands and not causing mayhem for everyone instead, ain¡¯t that right, Vlad?¡±


    ¡°Hey, c¡¯mon now, that was like nearly a decade ago!¡± protested Vladislav from across the campfire. He was a bit of a hellion as a little kid, partly because those who helped take care of him back then spoiled him out of pity of his being orphaned, and he had hated that. Joining Ery¡¯s little group had given him a direction and got him out from the hairs of his caretakers back then.


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    ¡°My mom didn¡¯t really care either. Then again, she said it herself that she¡¯d be a pretty shitty coach at best, so she was happy to see me getting training from Aunt Friede,¡± said Aurora, who was a couple months younger than Erycea. The girl was a lot like her mother, slight and slim in build, which made her look even younger than her actual age. ¡°But yea, that¡¯s pretty much the case for just about all of us here.¡±


    ¡°I think Val¡¯s like one of the last to join our group, no?¡± asked Beth as she shooed away a small bird that perched on her horn. ¡°Really surprised at how well you kept up with the rest of us back then, Val, no joke. Had thought you¡¯d be crying for your ma in like half a day at most.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that meeting you guys had been an¡­ eye opening experience for me,¡± said Valeria as she leaned a bit backwards while supporting herself with one arm. The quarter-orcish girl nursed her drink slowly as the alcohol had started getting to her ¡°but yea, probably running into your bunch is one of the best things that happened to me, even if it got me all bruised up at first.¡±


    ¡°Really¡­ I don''t think I got anything to say to that,¡± said Malika as she shook her head and took another swig from her tankard. The young girl understood quite well that while her batch had trained hard for the past couple of years, there would have been no comparison between them and these kids, who had trained for the same for half or more of their young lives. ¡°That said¡­ how did you deal with the jitters?¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± asked Erycea in turn.


    ¡°You know¡­ that¡­ unpleasant feeling from killing another¡­¡± said Malika somewhat haltingly as she spilled out what might have been seen as a weakness by others. ¡°I had not noticed it in the heat of the moment, but after some time it sunk in that I¡¯ve killed other people back there. I felt as if that man¡¯s eyes were staring at my back all this while.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ for many of us, this was not the first time we killed,¡± said Erycea in reply, again all too nonchalantly, which caused raised eyebrows from Hakim and Malika, as well as nods from many of the surrounding youngsters.


    ¡°Those who had joined the Company for a bit ahead of us should be obvious,¡± added Ery, as she gestured towards Ayrie, Vlad, Gustav, and the twins. ¡°As for me¡­ I sort of got a head start since I first tore someone¡¯s throat off nearly a decade ago, back at Theodinaz.¡±


    ¡°Our mom took us out to hunt for scumbags last year in Dvergarder,¡± said Rhiannon while Llewelyn nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone would miss those thugs. They definitely deserved what they got for coming at us.¡±


    ¡°Hey, my mom also took me out hunting, though that was in Jonkver some months ago,¡± chimed in Aurora. ¡°I tell you, the guy I got had like this most disgusting look on his face, as if it wasn¡¯t ugly enough already, and the stinkiest breath too! He was all lewd grin until I carved a more permanent grin on his throat, back then. Serves the fucker right.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much half everyone around this fire got similar stories,¡± explained Erycea to the baffled pair. ¡°The rest probably don¡¯t, maybe some of them¡¯s feeling the same way you did, but what¡¯s done is done. Either they¡¯ll get through it or they¡¯ll decide that they¡¯re not cut out of this sort of living. I¡¯m betting on all of them toughing it out.¡±

 Chapter 180 - Force Assignments

    ¡°Woe be to those who refused to move on with the times.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°So how did the kids do?¡± asked Lars as he ran across Reinhardt on his way back to his own tent. It had been a decade since the former Holy Kingdom tactician defected and cast his lot with the Company, and by now, he was pretty much an integral part of them for a while. Despite his origins and how he started as their enemy, even those who had personal hatred for him had pretty much accepted his presence these days, even if they still generally avoided dealing with him if they could.


    At the present day, Lars was not only in command of one of the strongest platoons in the company, but also had the respect and near-worship of another, since the mercenaries had gained a steady number of recruits from the former Holy Kingdom over the past decade. He was also recognized as their chief tactician and strategist by the other leaders.


    Most importantly though, it was largely with Lars¡¯ help that the Company had adapted to their current form. Where the Company was mostly a rather motley group of light infantry - by dwarven measures - organized into two five-hundred strong companies, at the present date even with their numbers approaching what they had in their heyday, their organization had become a completely different beast.


    The current Free Lances was organized into over a dozen platoons each with their own leaders, who were not only trained for independent action and small unit tactics, but also collaborative maneuvers that involved multiple platoons. It made them somewhat weaker when placed on the line of battle compared to before, but greatly enhanced their flexibility and capacity for irregular operations, which the Company had leaned heavily towards already after the first reorganization.


    In fact Reinhardt had negotiated their recent contracts with an additional clause that allowed them to refuse if their employer wished to use them just as another part of the battle line, as that would be a waste of what they could do. Fortunately their latest employers understood that and placed them where their skills could be put to good use instead.


    ¡°Better than expected,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod and a smile. He himself had struck up a good working relationship with Lars, if not a true friendship given their past. That the former Holy Kingdom territory still gave the Company a regular trickle of recruits was partly due to what Lars suggested, which was to leave a small representative office there for just such a purpose, something that Elfriede had helped arrange with Varsha¡¯s aid and had paid dividends so far. ¡°Ery and the other kids did pretty much as expected, as for the rookies, they did better than most. Just over one in five quitters.¡±


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    ¡°Best batch we got over the past few years indeed,¡± replied Lars with a nod. The once-young and clean shaven man had taken to growing a neat mustache and beard in the style favored by the northerners of Posuin, and stroked his beard as he spoke. ¡°Last year was horrible, almost half of the rookies had dropped out and we barely got usable recruits out of those¡­ Any plans with this batch?¡±


    ¡°I know that we usually split them up to let them gain experience in different fields, but this time I¡¯m thinking of combining their two groups into one oversized platoon instead and let them grow that way,¡± said Reinhardt. Most platoons in the Lances were around forty to sixty individuals, so the combined platoon of seventy would indeed be one of the largest ones. ¡°Ery might well be taking over for me in the future, so might as well get her used to command from early on.¡±


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d be decrying that as nepotism, but I do agree with you in this case,¡± said Lars with a nod. None of the older mercenaries had missed out that Erycea and a good number of other children near her age had joined the Company en masse at the same time. ¡°Besides those kids are used to her anyway by now, so might as well let their relations grow stronger rather than mess things up.¡±


    ¡°You know, Lars¡­ speaking of kids¡­ you got any plans on having any yourself?¡± Reinhardt asked half in jest. Most everyone in the Company knew that Lars was infamous for being almost literally married to his job, to the point that he rarely socialized outside of work with the others. Reinhardt himself had heard of some rumors from Elfriede that some of Lars¡¯ long time followers were so exasperated at how dense he was to their approach that they were considering knocking him out and dragging him to bed instead. ¡°Given how popular you are with your folks I doubt many of those ladies would refrain from jumping straight to your bed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to even consider things like those, Captain,¡± said Lars with a long-suffering sigh. ¡°There¡¯s always more work to be done out there.¡±


    ¡°You could take it a bit easier, you know? We¡¯re already pretty well off now, and chances are the next couple of years would be pretty light duty as well, unless the Centrals or the Bosts regathered enough troops ahead of forecast,¡± said Reinhardt with a bit of a teasing smirk as he tapped the tactician¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Seriously, Lars. Nobody doubted your commitment to the Company after the work you¡¯ve done in the past decade. Take a break, get some rest and a bit of time for yourself for a change. And remember that you¡¯ll be one of us for good or ill as always.¡±


    With the bandit-hunting done and dealt with, the Lances would likely help the Hellraisers with reinforcing the defenses of Jonkver next. That job would be rather hard labor, but it¡¯s paid well, and the Company had a lot of people with too much energy to spare anyway. The honest work would be a good way for them to vent that excess energy less destructively. A lull in the fighting also gave them more time to train and incorporate their newer members with the rest, which was something they needed as well.


    ¡°I¡­ Thank you, Captain,¡± said Lars after a short while in which he was lost for words just before Reinhardt walked away from his earshot. ¡°I¡¯ll take your advice into consideration.¡±


    Reinhardt just smiled and waved at the man as he left.

 Chapter 181 - Job Done to Satisfaction

    ¡°There were generally three kinds of employers when it came to dealing with mercenaries. Those who quibbled and tried to haggle for every copper they could. Those who paid exactly as the contract said, no more and no less. And then there were those who went above and beyond and rewarded their hired killers with ample coins and other amenities out of either satisfaction or gratitude.


    Three guesses which sort us money soldiers like to flock to, and the first two doesn¡¯t count.¡± - Teac ¡°Whiteburn¡± Edwards, veteran mercenary.


    ¡°A pleasure to see you again, captain. I presume the bandits left in our Duchy has been thoroughly eradicated by now?¡±


    It had been half a week later, as Reinhardt brought his mercenaries back to the small town of Salver, roughly in between the two forts to the west and Jonkver to the east. The small town had been their forward base of operations of late, and their employers also often met them there for convenience rather than call for the mercenaries to come all the way to Jonkver.


    Said employer in this case came in the form of Werner Tovmund, the Heir to the Duchy and eldest son of Duke Berthold Tovmund. Unlike most of the nobility of the border duchies who tend to be rugged and built strong due to years of physical training, Werner looked every part the scholar he was, pale, rather slim of build, with the immaculately groomed mustache and monocle further selling the part.


    Unlike all his contemporaries - like say, Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez and Andrea Utghwes - he had not trained to be a knight since young, as his passions leaned more towards scholarly pursuits, and being the Duke¡¯s only child and heir, his parents had allowed him to pursue those passions. As a result, while he was skilled in governance and economics, situations like the current ongoing civil war stymied him somewhat.


    Old age and the excessive stresses caused by the conflict had caused Duke Berthold Tovmund to be ill and bedridden of late, so Werner had taken over the day-to-day ruling of the Duchy in his stead. Fortunately, given his lack of interest in military matters, the Duke had groomed some of his cousins to help deal with such matters as well, which allowed Werner himself to focus on governance.


    ¡°All the ones that had not fled with their tails between their legs are taken care of, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt politely with a nod to the young heir. The old Duke had gotten his sole child late in life, and even now Werner was still in his mid-twenties, a few years the junior of his fellows in the other border duchies. ¡°I believe they would know better than to return anytime soon.¡±


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    ¡°Good to hear,¡± said the heir with a nod of his head. While he lacked relevant military skills, his presence in the forward base had helped to ensure that the mercenaries - both the Lances and the Hellraisers, who were building defenses not far from Salver - were well-supplied and the building materials for the defenses came smoothly without delay. Given the conditions even the scholarly man knew that it was best to prepare for war since it was likely to rear its ugly head again in the near future. ¡°In that case I shall not take up more of your time. I¡¯ve passed the payment to Miriam, so you can collect it from her as usual.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with another polite nod. While Werner was not as close to the mercenaries like Andrea Utghwes was, the man knew that they were necessary and had treated them well, so he had no reason to complain.


    A quick stroll through the town brought Reinhardt to the building that had been co-opted by the Duchy authorities as their command post, which used to serve as the town hall before. There he found Miriam Levan-Tovmund, cousin to the heir, and acting commander of the Duchy¡¯s armed forces. Unlike her cousin, she was more of a typical border noble, who had trained for war from childhood and led from the front, which was how Reinhardt had met her the first time when he rescued her from captivity after all.


    The young woman looked similar to when Reinhardt had helped her out five years ago, with her dark brown tresses framing her stern face. If anything, Reinhardt thought she had a couple more scars compared to back then. He also noted how the woman had kept the large scar over her right eye - the same eye she had lost when he rescued her back then - even after she had the eye healed, a practice more commonly seen amongst mercenaries than nobles.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein?¡± asked Miriam as she noticed his presence. To be fair, it was hard to not notice Reinhardt¡¯s presence since the rest of the staff in the command post was human, and his over two meter tall beastly figure was unmistakable, even if he was nowhere as imposing as some of his own mercenaries. ¡°Back so soon from the job?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we split up and hit all of them at the same time, rather than risk some of them escaping the net and warning the others,¡± he replied casually as he returned her welcoming nod. As the acting commander of Jonkver¡¯s military forces, Miriam had also often liaised with the mercenaries, both their own hired bands and the ones on loan from Dvergarder. ¡°Met the Young Duke earlier and he told me to head straight to you for the pay?¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± said Miriam as she searched around her storage for a moment before she pulled out a bag of coins and tossed it over to Reinhardt. Despite how Jonkver had employed several mercenary bands recently, the bands they employed were meant more to supplement their battle lines, and had little experience with rounding up bandits in the woods, one reason the Lances got the lucrative job. ¡°Your efficiency really made me wish I could poach your Company off Andrea¡¯s hands, honestly.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the compliment, ma¡¯am, but we still got some years left in our contract,¡± said Reinhardt with a smile as he easily caught the bag of coins in one of his paw-like hands. A quick weighing of the bag in his hand told him of the rough amount the bag likely contained, not that the border duchies had ever cheated on their payments so far anyway, and he happily kept it in his own storage. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you.¡±

 Chapter 182 - Renewal of Hostilities

    ¡°When one had discerned the opponent¡¯s desires, it was child¡¯s play to abuse that knowledge to entrap the opponent.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    Seven months later¡­


    At the north-eastern region of the former Kingdom of Posuin¡¯s territory, around the border between the Duchies of Jonkver and Algenverr, turmoil once again paid a visit. Smoke could be seen rising from many villages on the western side of the area, and sounds of fighting echoed in the others as well, the whole sight encapsulated from above in the eyes of a young hawk in flight.


    People who happened to be near the westernmost end of the region, near where the two duchies bordered their western neighbors, might then see a large predatory bird descend into a forest, only to disappear in the midst of the trees within. Even when people saw it, no one had likely given a second thought to the matter, as they had attributed it to a bird of prey on the hunt.


    They could not have been more wrong, though also partially right.


    The ¡°bird¡± in question was indeed on the hunt, just that its prey was not the kind most people would have expected. When it descended into the forest, it was not because it had eyed a prey, no, but because that was where the rest of its flock awaited, as they prowled while waiting for their prey to enter their sights. Said prey was even on its way towards them when that happened, if in the distance.


    ¡°Report.¡±


    ¡°Targets headed our way as expected, little boss. Around thirty riders, four and a half klicks to the east,¡± replied Avilla Twin-Feathers, a young hawk-therian who had joined the Company just a year before Erycea did, and served as an aerial scout. The young therian girl - not that far off her maturity celebration when she had joined the Company - had proven to be quick on the uptake on her role as their eye in the skies.


    Like the rest of the half-dozen young therians of avian breeds, they had been recruited when Hannah, the Company¡¯s long-standing sole aerial scout, had taken some leave a year and a half ago and paid a visit to her hometown high atop the mountains in Kingdom Down Under, further east of Knallzog. She had brought an unexpected boon of eager youngsters from her tribe with her when she returned to the company.


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    While the tribe Hannah came from was a rather isolated one which rarely interacted much with the outside world, youngsters would be youngsters. Hannah herself had run across the Company when she absconded from her hometown as a youth barely past their maturity, in search of adventure and out of a desire to see the wider world for herself.


    As such, there were several youngsters who were lured by the promises of adventure and coin who followed her back to the Company when she returned, despite the protestations of their elders. It took some training to get the young therians used to their roles, but they were a natural fit for the job, once they got their instinct to dive and strike under control. Avilla was the best of the newcomers, and she happened to be assigned to Erycea¡¯s platoon for this mission.


    ¡°As we planned out, then. Hakim! Are the snares prepared?¡± yelled Erycea towards the fellow rookie, whose platoon had been merged into hers. Since she was in overall command of the combined platoon, most of the rookies from Hakim¡¯s group had quickly accepted the situation, since they had witnessed for themselves what Erycea¡¯s group were capable of.


    ¡°All set up, lil¡¯ boss! Got the pits and the swinging logs prepped as well, just waiting for the targets to come over,¡± replied Hakim from further away, closer to the sole road that passed through the forest. He had been responsible for setting up various sorts of traps to welcome the prey they had been hunting, together with most of the platoon.


    It was three months prior to the current date that raiders from the west - almost certainly people from the Central faction - had pillaged and burned several villages on the western end of Jonkver and Algenverr. Such attacks were meant to disturb the morale of the populace, to show them that the rulers they relied on were incapable of defending them properly, and as such the two Duchies immediately conferred and set up countermeasures to deal with them.


    Despite the stationing of guards around the western villages, the raiders were slippery, and still managed to kidnap or kill some villagers only to escape pursuit again and again. As such, Nestor Nunes from Algenverr and Miriam Tovmund from Jonkver had conferred and eventually chose the Free Lances to deal with these raiders, since they were in essence specialized in the same field.


    It had not taken long for Reinhardt and Lars to come up with a plan, which was to evacuate most of the villagers from the affected area - save for some brave volunteers - and replace them with disguised mercenaries. More of the Company also hid themselves with the villages in question, splitting up into platoons, while a few platoons, Erycea¡¯s included, were tasked to set up ambushes on the western borders to scoop up any that managed to escape.


    That day, the rest of the trap had likely been sprung already - hence the flames and fighting in the various villages - and the Company had likely taken out a good amount of the raiders, given the difference in fighting prowess. Since there were several roads leading out to the west, the four platoons set out in ambushes around them had no contact with others, other than via their aerial scouts delivering messages.


    In fact, Avilla took another quick flight to check on the situation from high above as Erycea checked their status with Hakim. The young therian girl took care to make herself look just like another bird of prey on the hunt, keeping her flight and movements natural, while her sharp eyes watched the movements on the ground below. She dove back down into the forest after a few circles, and renewed her report to Erycea.


    ¡°There¡¯s nearly forty now. Some others must have joined them along the way,¡± she said.


    ¡°The more the merrier. You heard her, boys and girls! The prey¡¯s about to come our way, so let¡¯s prepare to welcome them warmly!¡±

 Chapter 183 - Killing Field

    ¡°The term of a killing field typically denoted an area that had been prepared for either combat or ambush, often liberally seeded with traps and other unpleasantness. Should an enemy force blunder into one such area, if properly prepared, it would be rare for them to be able to leave on their own volition.¡± - Laugge les Charl, prominent tactician from the Clangeddin-Knallzog conflict, circa 407 VA.


    By the time the mounted raiders - forty-three in all - had approached the section of the road Erycea¡¯s group were stationed in, it was a good half hour later. The weather had been rainy of late, and as a result the roads were somewhat waterlogged and muddy, which forced the riders to slow down their horses to avoid a tumble or worse, since a fall when galloping at high speeds could easily result in fatal injuries to both the rider and the mount.


    It was raining by then, a drizzle that turned into a steady downpour. Visibility was poor as a result, and the mounted raiders entered the stretch of road that had been prepared by Erycea¡¯s group in the past day or so without any suspicion whatsoever. In the poor visibility, not a single one of them noticed the length of sturdy rope stretched across the road at ankle height, tied to trees on either side of the rope.


    At least, not until it was too late.


    The first five riders were fortunate. Their steeds happened to skip over the outstretched rope without even noticing its presence. However, the sixth and seventh rider in line behind them were not as lucky, as their steeds¡¯ forelegs tripped against the rope, which held and caused both horses to stumble end over end together with their riders. One of the riders was thrown hard against the ground, and he was the fortunate one as the other rider was crushed beneath his falling steed.


    Another two riders behind the fallen ones failed to react fast enough, and their steeds also fell, not because of the rope - which they avoided - but because they tripped on the fallen steeds ahead of them, becoming part of the pile-up that ensued. Those further behind at least had just enough time to avoid the pile of writhing men and horses, but they had no idea that more traps awaited them ahead.


    Just as the riders who were at the head for the formation - the first five who had been fortunate to avoid the trap - breathed a sigh of relief, a whinny full of pain came from one of their horses as its foreleg fell into a pit dug into the road and camouflaged with dirt and branches. The short fall itself had not injured the animal which caught itself, but the momentum of its own trot pushed it forward and snapped the limb, throwing its rider hard against a tree in the process.


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    As his neck snapped and his back broke on the impact, the rider was instantly killed before he realized what happened.


    Their torment wasn''t even done yet. Even as the riders behind them slowed down to avoid the traps, those at the front found that the stretch of road ahead of them had been churned into mud that reached halfway up the horses¡¯ shins. They too were forced to slow down due to the poor footing and the mud further slowing them down.


    Then a large wooden log swung towards them from above. Two of the horses were fast enough to react and ducked their heads underneath the swinging log, but another three had their heads crushed and their necks snapped by the force of the swinging log. The log had not even paused and gone on to smash their riders off their steeds, though some of them managed to jump away in time rather than be smashed by it.


    When other riders reached the muddy section, they too were met with more swinging logs, which eventually forced the riders to dismount and trundle through the mud on foot, while they tried to lead their horses by the reins. By then less than half of the forty plus riders remained, as others had fallen prey to the various traps, but they forged onward out of a strong desire for survival.


    Just as they had stepped out of the mud and saw the clear road ahead of them, they found more traps awaiting them before their morale could even rise up. Slender, flexible branches had been tied to trees on the sides of the road, with several wooden stakes tied to them, then bent as far as they would go. When those branches were released, they whipped out towards the road at great speeds, and the stakes tied to them directly skewered several horses and riders.


    The assault forced the rest of the surviving riders towards the center of the road, their numbers further diminished. Even before they could try to mount up their steeds, however, arrows, javelins, daggers, and other projectiles flew from the trees that lined the sides of the roads, aimed directly at the riders themselves and felling another half of the remaining fifteen or so men and women.


    That was when Erycea¡¯s platoon sprung their ambush.


    She had been ordered to catch some of the raiders, for both interrogative purposes and to be made examples to soothe the victimized populace. Since she was told that a few were fine, Erycea had chosen not to risk her platoon at all, and instead whittled down the raiders through various traps while they themselves remained in the safety of the forest.


    At the sight of how dozens of armed mercenaries flooded out from the sides of the road, most of the raiders lost their mettle and gave up right then and there. Only one of them tried to exhort the rest to resist and to sell their lives dearly, probably a commander amongst the raiders, and thus a more worthwhile target to capture.


    The man¡¯s exhortations were cut short when a crossbow bolt and a throwing dagger struck him on both of his shoulders at roughly the same time, as Aurora and Ayrie cut his tirade short.

 Chapter 184 - A Proper Cleanup

    ¡°Despite what popular stories and tales might tell you, it was a rarity for a battle to end with the utter annihilation of one side. Such things made for good stories and ballads precisely because of their rarity, though some people might take them to be the norm instead if they were unfamiliar with military matters.


    In an actual battle, it was common to see a battle decided before one in ten soldiers on the field had died or been wounded badly enough to no longer be able to fight. Other than rare exceptions, it was rare for an army to take more than a third to half of their number in casualties and still persist in battling their opponents.¡± - Siberat Gover, General from the Third Elmaiyan Empire, circa 159 VA.


    ¡°Rhia, how are those prisoners behaving?¡± asked Erycea when she noticed her long-time friend¡¯s approach. At the moment Erycea was helping some members of the platoon carry one of the logs they used as a trap towards the side of the road, with others carrying the other logs. The road they seeded with traps was a public road after all, so it would not do to leave their traps behind.


    ¡°All but one of them¡¯s been quiet and behaved themselves. Just the one Rory and Ayrie shot being noisy,¡± reported Rhiannon as she walked alongside Erycea, who had not paused her work even while she talked. Rhiannon together with a small group had taken the surrendering riders prisoner, as well as gathered the horses which were uninjured by the traps along the way.


    ¡°And what¡¯d you all do with him?¡± asked Erycea as she heaved and dropped the log at the side of the street, where it would not hinder the traffic. The previously muddy ground had been turned back to its solid state by the collective effort of several earth mages in the platoon. While each of them alone was weak, together they were able to re-solidify the ground to passable conditions. In the same way, Ayrie had worked for the whole day together with a couple other minor mud affinity mages to create the morass in the first place.


    ¡°Conked him in the head to keep him quiet then trussed him up like a pig,¡± said Rhiannon with a smile in reply to Erycea¡¯s question. Erycea looked towards where others in the platoon had gathered the dozen or so surviving horses from the raiders, and saw a trussed-up bundle laid across the back of one horse, much like a piece of luggage. ¡°Yeah, we just tossed him up there. Betting he wouldn¡¯t be walking quietly either so it seemed the best way.¡±


    ¡°Good enough, I guess,¡± said Erycea in reply as she nodded to her old friend. Both of them then turned as they noticed the approach of a dark-skinned human youth and Ery nodded to him in acknowledgement. ¡°Hakim, how¡¯s the roadwork?¡±


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    ¡°We¡¯re just filling up the last of the pits right now,¡± replied Hakim who had been assigned to fill the pits the platoon had dug in the road. His group had been the ones to dig them in the first place, and they kept a detailed map on the location of the pit traps, so it was a matter of time and manpower to fill them once more until the road was smooth.


    As for the other traps, they had been dismantled, the stakes brought to be reused at a future date - it was not strictly necessary to gather them up, but given how the Company had shifted to more irregular tactics, they never lacked a use for some good stakes either - while the ropes were neatly rolled and stored back. The branches and logs were even packed in Erycea¡¯s larger storage - given to her by her parents, though it was standard for platoon leaders to have one - to be used as firewood when they returned.


    Since they had a dozen horses to bring with them, the regular-sized - since a horse would probably die on the spot if Vlad or his cousins tried to mount them - members of the platoons took turns in riding the horses, while their captives were tied by a rope that connected the bindings on their wrists to the horses¡¯ saddles. The platoon went back towards the east together with their captives that way, only stopping briefly to strip the dead raiders out of everything valuable on their bodies.


    The stripped corpses they had simply left by the side of the road, a bit deeper into the forest, so as to allow the wild beasts to claim them without luring them too close to the road itself. More than a couple of their captives paled at the nonchalant and irreverent way the young mercenaries treated the dead, and eventually one of them could hold it in no longer and protested against such a treatment.


    ¡°That was Sir Ojibwa of house Muog! How could you savages treat a noble knight¡¯s body that way!?¡± yelled out one of the captives.


    ¡°Quiet, you,¡± said Aurora who happened to be marching next to said captive nonchalantly as she punched the man right on his mouth. Despite her rather small size - she barely reached Erycea¡¯s shoulder - Aurora could pack quite a bit of force into her punch, and one of the man¡¯s bloody teeth flew out from between his lips. She must have hit him hard enough to either make him accidentally bite his tongue or cut his cheek against his teeth as well, given the bleeding in his mouth.


    ¡°Funny,¡± noted Erycea coldly from nearby, having caught wind of what the captive said.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny about desecrating the dead, you barbaric savages!?¡± yelled the captive once again, which earned him another punch from Aurora, this time sending three of his teeth flying.


    ¡°I just thought it funny that now you called upon your oh-so noble status as knights and whatnot. Where was all that nobility when you were busy burning villages and murdering defenseless villagefolk?¡± replied Erycea with an incisive tone to her voice. ¡°You wanna be treated like some noble sir knights and slaughter helpless people at the same time? Can¡¯t have it both ways, jerkface.¡±


    ¡°For us all you fuckers are just what our contract asked us to handle, shitty raiders of unknown background. What our employers would do with you when we hand you over, I neither know nor care. They ain¡¯t paying me to ask questions,¡± she continued just as relentlessly. ¡°As for those dead shitbags? We ain¡¯t being paid to bury ¡®em, so of course we¡¯d be happy to let the beasts have their fill.¡±

 Chapter 185 - Camping at Night

    ¡°A good night¡¯s rest is both an important and often luxurious thing for us mercenaries. As such, most anyone worth their salt in this profession had long mastered the art of falling asleep at the drop of a hat, anytime, anywhere, whenever and for however long they had time to spare.¡± - Josuk Ulowinta, retired veteran mercenary.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s set up, lil¡¯ boss,¡± said Malika as she came to report. It had rained all evening that day, and since their assigned location was one of the furthest away, it would have taken them at least another half day to reach Fort Kazka, where the mercenaries would gather after the mission. Since it was expected for their trip to take another day, the platoon had camped for the night, at a clearing beside the road intended to be used as a camp spot for travelers.


    The clearing was large enough to accommodate the entire platoon, their captives, and the horses they caught. It was also located right next to a wide but languid stream, which made things easier for them. The mercenaries immediately took the opportunity to clean up their armor and weapons after the traveling they had been through, a quarter of the group at a time taking the chance to bathe in the river while they cleaned their gear.


    As for the rest of the mercenaries, another quarter were on guard duty, others kept an eye on their captives and horses, while the last quarter set up the tents and gathered ingredients. The rotation of the groups were done randomly, each group of seventeen to eighteen young mercenaries also allotted in a similarly random manner, in an exercise to help them get used to working with each other no matter who their partners happen to be. It also helped ensure that everyone knew whatever needed to be done.


    Erycea¡¯s group happened to be the third to bathe, while Malika¡¯s were the third to set up the tents and gather food and firewood from the surroundings. Most of what they gathered were firewood, with only things like wild onions and other herbs that could be used as seasoning, as well as a few wild fruits in the mix as edibles, since they had plenty of meat to cook with, given all the dead horses from the ambush earlier.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Are the captives behaving themselves?¡± asked Erycea as she stepped out from the stream onto the shore and shook her body furiously, sending droplets of water everywhere. The groups had just bathed together regardless of gender, as the rigors of the battlefield rarely had the luxury of observing modesty, and they were all used to it by then. Ery shrugged on a set of dry tunics over her still slightly damp fur before she gave the other woman her attention once more. ¡°And any good things from the gathering?¡±


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    ¡°Ayrie found a couple nests of wild bird eggs, and we got a good amount of wild onions and basil growing nearby, plenty to spice the food with,¡± reported Malika while Erycea slipped her legs into her pants. Erycea¡¯s digitigrade legs meant that she needed her pants to be tailored for her, rather than just using any random set of the right size like the humans did. ¡°Also should we feed the captives as well?¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just a day to go. They wouldn¡¯t starve to death just because they didn¡¯t eat for a day. Just give them some water to drink,¡± said Erycea all too nonchalantly while she laid out her armor - a custom set that¡¯s still slightly too large for her made out of multiple layers of smooth fabric reinforced by a metal mesh in between the layers - to dry on a rack by one of the fires they started.


    ¡°Just tell ¡®em shitbags to graze like the horses if they¡¯re complaining,¡± added Rhiannon as she also climbed out from the stream and dried herself as best she could with a towel. The young girl inherited her looks and personality mostly from her mother Karenina, and growing up amongst uncouth mercenaries had done little to soften her language.


    ¡°Good timing, Rhia,¡± said Ery as she turned to face her longtime friend. Rhiannon happened to be one of the better cooks in the platoon, so whichever group she was allotted to generally let her do the cooking when it was their turn to do so. ¡°I¡¯ll set things up since you¡¯re still changing. What¡¯re you planning to make with all those horses?¡±


    ¡°Horses¡­ hmm¡­ We won¡¯t need too many, just carve me the hind legs and rump off a couple of them. Mince the legs roughly and cut the rump into thin strips,¡± replied Rhiannon after a moment of thought. ¡°Mix the minced meat with some salt, pepper, minced wild onions, and beaten eggs. As for the rump slices, just lightly salt and pepper them. Also can you get some large stewpots started? Could use the bones and marrow to flavor it.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done,¡± said Ery with a nod as she turned towards the rest of her group, most of which had also left the river and dried themselves, some of whom already shuffled themselves into a set of dry clothes. ¡°Well, you guys heard the chef! Rory, you get some of the boys to help you carve and prepare the meat? I¡¯ll get the pots going.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± said Aurora as she nodded. The petite girl was one of the better butchers amongst the group, since her father Arne had once been a butcher before he was a thug turned mercenary. After Erycea brought out a couple of the dead horses which were in better condition, Aurora quickly chopped off their hind legs and rump meat with the help of some of the boys in the group to carry the hefty chunks.


    Then she swiftly separated the flesh from the bone and tossed the bones over to Erycea, who had several pots of water and herbs simmering over the campfire already. The platoon had skinned, bled and disemboweled the dead horses which were still in salvageable condition before they placed them into storage, so all they had to do was to prepare them at the moment.

 Chapter 186 - A Hearty Dinner

    ¡°Can¡¯t be picky about when you¡¯re getting your food when on the field, really. Even ate while soaked head to toe in blood and guts, once. I dunno if it was just the chef being bad or some of it got into ma mouth, but the slop tasted kinda bloody that day.¡± - Nakur As-Waleen, Mercenary from Ur-Teros.


    Cooking for over seventy people took time, as well as plenty of preparations. Not long after the bones were handed to her, Erycea had cracked them, revealing the marrow within, and evenly divided the bones between four large cauldrons filled most of the way with water that already simmered, each with a bouquet of wild and dried herbs as well as other tidbits like minced onions and garlic floating around.


    Meanwhile, under Aurora¡¯s direction the group who helped her with the cooking had sliced the rump meat into thin, even slices each roughly a finger¡¯s length, half as thick, and thrice as wide. After the slices were lightly salted and peppered, another then started to cook them in batches over a cleaned, flat stone placed directly on one of the fires, the heat of the stone quickly cooking the slices of meat.


    Once the horse meat was done cooking, they were then set aside in a large wooden bowl that was already half-filled with a mixture of sweet mead and freshly squeezed citrus juice from citrus trees that grew nearby. Another member of the group then mixed the meat well and left it to marinade for a bit until the next batch was finished grilling, at which point she transferred the already-marinated meats to another bowl and repeated the process with the fresh batch.


    While some members of the group busied themselves with the rump meat, Aurora busily mixed the roughly minced leg meat with the other ingredients she asked for, the mass mixed thoroughly until it ended up like a lumpy, mushy mess. Once the bowl was done mixing she then worked on another bowl as she handed out the first one to another of her assistants.


    The assistant then brought the bowl and used a pair of wooden spoons to create crudely shaped meatballs roughly the size of a small chicken egg, which he then plunged into the now-boiling soup in the cauldrons. He repeated the process until all the mixture in the bowl had been used up, around which time Aurora had finished another bowl. Then her assistant moved to the next cauldron and dropped dozens of meatballs into it as well, changing cauldrons with each bowl until all the meat had been used up.


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    After a while the soup began to take on an aromatic, meaty scent as the meatballs started to cook and float to the top. Aurora told them to allow the soup to simmer another quarter hour more, before they added some old, stale bread - a normal part of their rations, since none of their storage artifacts had the more expensive stasis enchantment on them - that was crumbled into tiny pieces into the soup to thicken it.


    Enough bread was added into each cauldron to turn the soup into a stew the consistency of a porridge, and they stirred and cooked it for a while more, before Aurora took a sip to taste and declared it done. Only then did the young mercenaries ladled large helpings of the stew into their wooden bowls and started to eat, the previously grilled and marinated slices of horse rump added on top of the stew in copious amounts.


    Even as they ate, the young mercenaries kept up the duty rotation. Erycea¡¯s group was the one who cooked the meal, so they also ate first, while the other three groups kept at their respective duties, be it keeping an eye on the captives, standing guard, or resting after they properly cleaned themselves. Only after Ery¡¯s group was done eating would another group do the same while Ery¡¯s group temporarily took over their responsibilities.


    Given the copious amounts of meat in it, the stew was savory and meaty, with a slightly gamey flavor, and some pleasant pungency from the onions and garlic used to flavor it. The stale bread had absorbed the liquids and thickened the stew properly, while the meatballs were chewy and slightly tough, but yielded to the bite with a pleasant bounce and strong flavor.


    The slices of grilled meat added a hit of sweet-sour flavor to the meaty taste as they had absorbed a good bit of the marinade, a little bit of which had been drizzled on the stew to be mixed in as well. The young mercenaries ate with gusto, each group - seventeen to eighteen of them - easily finishing off a large cauldron that held enough stew to potentially feed up to fifty people on their own.


    Granted, some large eaters like the large therians amongst them partly accounted for that.


    Naturally the meaty aromas reached their captives as well, at which point one of them - probably driven by hunger, as they had after all ridden for half of the day and been made to walk the other half of the day without any real time to eat - to ask for some, only to be answered by a thrown leather full of water to the face by their guards, with obvious implications.


    Even when they already finished their meals and tidied up, the young mercenaries kept their vigilance. They applied the same rotating groups as before as shifts of the night watch, with the group on shift to stand guard at night while the others slept. The group would then awaken those of the next shift after a couple hours before they went to sleep themselves, and the process repeated itself until dawn.


    Erycea¡¯s group happened to draw the final shift that night, so they got a good six hours of uninterrupted sleep in their tents before those from the third shift woke them up when it was their turn to stand watch. They then took watch for the final two hours, the captives and horses fast asleep as well, until dawn arrived and the first rays of sunlight came from the distant horizon.

 Chapter 187 - Return and Reports

    ¡°Some say that living as an adventurer and a merc tends to be little different. I kinda agree on that.


    You get a job, you go out and do it, then go back to report and get your pay, rinse and repeat. Usually it¡¯s just the manner of job that differs. I guess there¡¯s more training involved, for formation warfare and the likes, as a merc, but then again, them adventurers also drilled and practiced to tackle harder targets like large beasts, so again, it¡¯s not THAT different either.


    Biggest difference is that one group can pretend that they¡¯re nice people who wouldn¡¯t hurt others, while the other don¡¯t give a fuck about it either way.¡± - Volov Noomes, retired mercenary.


    By the time dawn arrived and the camp began to stir to life once more, the recently awakened young mercenaries got out of their tents - some from another¡¯s tent, even, as they were young after all - to prepare for the day¡¯s remaining travels. Some went and relieved Ery¡¯s group from guard duty, while others went to take care of the captured horses and prisoners.


    What all of them noticed right away was the fragrant meaty aroma that wafted through the air, though, as Aurora had started cooking for their breakfast hours ago. Nothing hefty like their dinner, just a thin soup with plenty of bones and minced horsemeat to flavor it, which the young mercs could then use to dip and soften their breads in, as well as helping warm their bellies on the relatively cold morning.


    As they ate - Ery¡¯s group was the first in line, as they had cooked the stuff too after all - and warmed their bellies with the hot, meaty broth and stale bread turned soft after a dunk into the soup, they quickly made way for the next group to eat, while they went and took down their tents and other preparations for the trip to come. Ery would have certainly preferred freshly-baked, fluffy bread over stale, hard ones, but nobody had invented bread that would not go stale after prolonged storage yet, and the few stasis-enchanted storages the company had were used for more important things.


    It was an involved process to take down and pack up their tents, but one that the young mercenaries were trained in. That day they happened to take their time, since everyone else was still eating and they were in no hurry, and the camp was cleared in an hour. If they had to do it quickly though, the group were trained to completely pack up everything within five minutes or less.


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    By the time the hour had passed, the young mercenaries were back on the road, the only sign of their stay in the camping area being the remnants of fires which had been meticulously put out. The captives were more cooperative that day, after Ery relented and ordered for them to be given a ration of stale bread in the morning so they had the energy to walk all the way to Fort Kazka. The one commander of the bunch who still tried to resist all the while was kept tied up and left to his own devices, though.


    The roads were pretty abandoned and quiet that morning, but then again, quiet roads in this region had been the norm since the civil war started and the Duchy got on the bad side of its western neighbors. Trade still went on, but mostly within the competing factions only, and not between them. Dvergarder had been more fortunate, as the dwarves of Knallzog had been keen to open a direct trade relationship with them, something they had done covertly before, now just done openly.


    Jonkver had suffered more though. The Duchy¡¯s location used to make it the trade hub of eastern Posuin, but most of that trade came from the west. With the halting of most trade from that direction, the Duchy¡¯s economy took a bit of a painful hit, one it had yet to fully recover from. Their neighbors in Algenverr and Dvergarder were less impacted as neither Duchy were that reliant on trade and were heavier on their own agricultures instead.


    Ery had heard from her father - probably information that was not meant for someone of her position in the Company, but her parents rarely kept secrets from her - that there were similar attacks aimed at Dvergarder and Algenverr as well, but those had met with less success. Both Dvergarder and Algenverr had built their forts further west than Jonkver, and had gathered the people of the few villages westward of the fortifications and brought them to the east.


    Jonkver had no such leeway as a sizable number of their population lived in the western ends of their territory, villages and towns that used to prosper thanks to the frequent passages of merchants and other traders. It was why the spoiling attacks affected them so much more compared to their neighbors, which either caught the attack before it could even do any harm or put them down with extreme prejudice swiftly.


    From the camp ground, it was not too far a distance to Fort Kazka. By the time the sun rose directly above their heads and warmed up the day, the fortification came into sight, and Ayrie¡¯s sharp eyes noted the number of tents pitched around the fort, those of their Company. The others had gathered there ahead of them, much like they expected.


    On the other hand, Ayrie also noticed that she saw no signs yet of the other two groups who were assigned to guard the other two roads likely used by the raiders, so Ery¡¯s group was likely the first to return out of the three. That was a good thing, as while she saw the others in the Company as her compatriots, there remained a good sense of competition between them.


    As such, Erycea led her platoon towards the fort with easy steps, their captives - both men and horses - kept in the midst of their marching order, and walked with their heads held high towards where the rest of the Company had set up their tents.


    Not too soon, either, for just as they were about to reach the fort, some of them noticed the approach of another platoon from a different road, one that they had beaten only by a matter of minutes at best.

 Chapter 188 - Welcoming Those who Returned with Success.

    ¡°Either you welcome those to return with success warmly, or you¡¯d be setting a bad example that would turn people away from yourself.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Good work,¡± said Reinhardt as he walked over to welcome the returning platoons just outside the fort. There was more than a little pride in his voice when he saw his daughter¡¯s platoon return with over half a dozen captives, since the majority of the raiders that escaped the ambushes he set together with Lars had gone towards her, and he was more than pleased to see that not even a single member of his girl¡¯s platoon was even injured in the process.


    ¡°Thanks, dad,¡± said Erycea as she nodded to her father¡¯s welcome. Her platoon had moved efficiently, and already handed their captives over to an officer from the fort, while the rest had split up. Some went to the mercenary encampment to relax, while others followed Aurora as she deposited the butchered carcasses of a couple dozen horses over to the quartermaster of the fort.


    The meat had been left unpreserved for over a day, but otherwise it was most likely still good for eating, and the cooks of the fort would not shy from using them for the night¡¯s dinner either, like most cooks associated with militaries. They had long learned to make full use of whatever was available at hand instead of being picky.


    ¡°Go fetch yourself some slop off the kitchens, it¡¯s about time for lunch anyway,¡± said Reinhardt to his daughter after he gave her another affectionate tussle of the hair. Unlike him, Erycea¡¯s half-human heritage meant that the fur at the top and back of her head grew particularly fast and gave her a semblance of human hair, which the girl kept relatively short other than a long, slim tail of hair she had kept around since her childhood, which reached most of the way down her back these days.


    ¡°Gotcha, be seeing you later then, dad!¡± said Erycea as she bumped his fist and walked towards the mess hall together with some others from her platoon. The decision to allow Erycea to lead her own platoon from the get go had not been an easy one for those in command to agree to, but some extraneous circumstances eventually got everyone involved to agree to the arrangement.


    For one, the Free Lances, as a mercenary company, had always been a family business, with the leadership handed down the Edelstein family since its inception. Sure, Reinhardt himself was just the third generation of leaders down that line, and he was adopted, but none of the other older mercenaries that had survived Theodinaz, a few of which had even served with Ingrid¡¯s father, the founder and first leader of the Company, had dissented when he took command.


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    As such, they were naturally of the opinion that when the time came, it would only be natural for the Company¡¯s leadership to pass down from Reinhardt to his daughter Erycea, and they viewed her getting command experience from early on in her career to be a good thing as a result.


    The other reason was because the youngsters who had been part of Erycea¡¯s original group had all already viewed her as their leader, the affectionate nickname of ¡°lil¡¯ boss¡± one used partly in deference to her leadership. It would have probably caused more trouble than it was worth to force them to separate to different groups when they had spent so long a time working alongside each other like that.


    Which was how Erycea was made platoon commander, over nearly seventy fellow rookies, all at a tender age of fourteen.


    After Reinhardt finished the few arrangements and confirmations he needed to do - to double check with the fort¡¯s commander about the captives and report their salvage and so onwards, various administrative things that a commander needed to do - he paid a visit to the mess hall to see Erycea and her friends crowded around one of the long tables.


    Before them were bowls of what the fort¡¯s kitchen served, a simple military ration that the cooks at the fort nevertheless managed to make pleasant enough to taste. Barley, wheat, and chickpeas - all crops commonly grown in Jonkver - was cooked until it turned into a thick porridge, with plenty of spices to give it flavor, as well as fresh vegetables or bone broth when they were available.


    Meat was a relative luxury on the frontlines, other than the preserved sort, due to the difficulties involved in keeping fresh meat unspoiled. As such, occasions like when Ery¡¯s group brought the edible carcasses of over two dozen horses were not wasted by the cooks in the fort¡¯s kitchen, who promised to cook up a lavish, meaty dinner for everyone that night, since for once they had plenty of meat to ply their trade with.


    While the young mercenaries had discarded the organs - there were no place to clean them in the vicinity of their ambush spot, and besides, organs spoiled quickly - the meat from the carcasses was still plenty to feed everyone present in the fort, with a good amount of extras which would later be preserved for future rations.


    Some cultures abhor the idea of eating horse meat, but Posuin wasn¡¯t one of those, and besides, given the poor conditions of the battlefront since the Duchy of Jonkver were having economic difficulties, any sort of meat - as long as it did not use to be a person - was welcome to the soldiers who lived there.


    To say that there was an increase of morale that night at the sight of large racks of roasted ribs - the meat was rather tough, since the horses were workhorses, but nobody minded that little inconvenience over the thought of having actual meat for a change - was an understatement.


    Reinhardt and Erycea had not even felt that the meat was tough, since their jaws and teeth were stronger than the humans, and happily gnawed around the rib bones as they picked it clean of every bit of meat attached to it. For once, an atmosphere of celebration filled Fort Kazka.

 Chapter 189 - The Torch that was Passed On

    ¡°While there were definite downsides to them, the power of a cult of personality could not be understated. All too many historical soldiers have braved hell for the sake of a commander they wholeheartedly believed in, and as such won more than their fair share of battles.


    Of course, the weakness of such a model of leadership was that if you cut off the head, then the rest often crumpled down quickly.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°Big sis!¡± yelled Alycea excitedly when she saw the slender, tall figure of her big sister walking towards her the next morning.


    Despite the early hour of the day, the little blonde girl - barely ten years old if they got their reckoning right - was already up and practicing with her long staff, having eaten breakfast in a hurry so she could get to her practice as soon as she could. It was a diligence none would have expected from a child that age, but Alycea had idolized her adopted family since she was a toddler who barely understood things, and had long wished to follow in their footsteps.


    While Erycea and the other children around her age had mostly ¡°graduated¡± off their training and joined the Company as full members, it had not meant that the sight of young children training themselves to their limits day after day vanished from the encampment. Instead, Alycea and the other younger children took up their place and drilled with discipline and diligence that was unexpected from a group of six to twelve year old children.


    ¡°Heya, Aly. How¡¯s the staff?¡± Erycea asked back to her adopted little sister. Although their ages only differed by barely four years, Alycea barely reached up to her older sister¡¯s chest, as she was a normal human, and had none of Erycea¡¯s physical growth, which was somewhat faster due to her therian heritage. Even so, the little girl remained spirited, and all too eager to catch up to her big sister and parents.


    ¡°Kind of getting used to it, still a bit hard to control when I swing it hard, though,¡± said Alycea with a smile to her older sister. The long staff the younger girl used to train was a full-sized one, one that was a good head and a half longer than the girl was tall. When Alycea gave it a hard practice swing, it showed what she meant, as the end of the staff visibly wobbled, a sign of the flexibility of the wood it was made of.


    That staff itself had a bit of a story to it, as it was a birthday gift from Salicia for the little girl¡¯s ninth birthday.


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    The Company was stationed at Jonkver at the time, and Salicia happened to browse the local markets during some of her free time when she ran into a couple adventurers - they looked and sounded the part of young adventurers - who happened to be selling off some gear to a pawn shop. The gear in question belonged to a dead teammate of theirs who had recently passed away.


    It was not uncommon amongst adventurers who died in their work to ask for their friends or comrades to sell off their gear - assuming said friends couldn¡¯t use it themselves - and had the money given to their families to live off on. It was exactly such a situation that Salicia happened to run into, and the staff caught her eye because she detected something neither the young adventurers nor the pawn shop owner noticed.


    Namely that the staff was made out of precious heartwood of some kind.


    Heartwood was the general term used for precious wood extracted from the core of ancient trees, which generally exhibited qualities that far surpassed other wood of its kind. They were also renowned for their ability to recover off most damage with an infusion of mana from its wielder, which made them particularly desirable as family heirlooms and the like.


    That said, heartwood was near impossible to distinguish from normal wood unless one was blessed with a strong nature affinity, had strong elvish blood, or had been in prolonged contact with heartwood themselves. Salicia had no nature affinity, and while she had some elvish blood, it was a very faint trace at best. The bow she always used, however, was a heirloom of her family¡¯s, and was made out of yew heartwood, and as such she recognized the unique vibes of heartwood from the staff.


    She had purchased it off the young adventurers at a price that was a good bit above what the pawn shop owner had offered, and the adventurers had been all too happy at her offer. It turned out none of them were aware of the true identity of the staff, not even their deceased friend, as he supposedly found the staff during an excursion in the forest, and had made use of it himself since.


    Salicia suspected that the staff had likely belonged to an elvish traveler who met their end in the wilderness, and the adventurer had just been fortunate to find the staff where it fell. Either way, since the adventurers were unaware of its true value, she bought it since she recalled that Alycea trained mostly with staves and polearms.


    The staff of willow heartwood - as they later discovered - would make for an excellent shaft for whatever weapon the girl chose to use once she was old enough, and giving it to her when she was still at a young age would allow the girl to get herself used to its unique qualities as well.


    Unlike most wooden staves, which were solid with little give or flexibility, the staff of willow heartwood was very flexible, and it definitely took some getting used to. Alycea eagerly pounced on the challenge though, and did her best to try to master the staff. Both Reinhardt and Elfriede had approved and thanked Salicia for the gift as well.


    After all, Alycea was bound to be physically weaker compared to her big sister and father, so something that gave her a possible advantage without relying on physical strength or brute force would indeed be welcome. The staff she gifted, with proper training, would allow the girl to make some hideously tricky moves that made full use of the staff¡¯s flexibility, which were likely moves nobody would have expected to see out of a polearm.


    Alycea¡¯s training with the staff for the past year had born some fruits, and she managed to get used to the staff somewhat, but there still awaited more training and challenges in the girl¡¯s future.

 Chapter 190 - New Commission

    ¡°Much like how birds flew from one place to another with the seasons, a mercenary moves as their commissions and employer¡¯s demands dictated.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Your Grace, good to see you in good health,¡± said Reinhardt as a greeting when he met Werner Tovmund in the town of Salver once again. The former heir to the Duchy - now the Duke as his father had passed away in his bed two months ago - looked positively haggard, likely because he was not prepared or trained for dealing with the sort of cruelty war could bring.


    The man was an economist, which made some sense since Jonkver had relied the most on trade out of the three border duchies. Reinhardt thought that Werner might well have made for a great Duke, one who could make the land prosper, had there been peace, but fate said otherwise. Instead, the economist scholar had to take the reins during a civil war unlike any the former Kingdom had ever experienced.


    Reinhardt could sympathize a bit with the man who was thrown into a situation he never truly prepared for.


    Fortunately, the young Duke was smart and humble enough to know when he was way out of his depth and delegated the military matters to his cousin who was groomed for exactly that purpose rather than interfere with them. It was something Reinhardt had been glad about, as he had heard of horror stories of militaries who were practically sabotaged from within by the whims of a ruler who had no idea how to run a military.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein¡­ The mission is completed I assume?¡± asked the young Duke with a sigh. The bags under his eyes indicated that he probably had not had a good night¡¯s sleep in a while.


    ¡°It has been done, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Have you considered the proposal from Algenverr and Dvergarder yet?¡±


    The young Duke sighed deeply, took a deep drink from the chalice set on his desk - one full of wine, Reinhardt could tell - before he looked back towards the mercenary captain and nodded. ¡°I have consulted with Miriam, Oswin, and Lepantiru. We agree to the proposed maneuvers and will cooperate as best we could,¡± said the man with another sigh as he named his cousin and military commander, another cousin who commanded the forces at Fort Kuzi, and the acting commander Reinhardt fought alongside back at Fort Kazka years ago, now the commander of the fort. ¡°These¡­ raids had shown me how foolish I was for hoping that the peace would last. That was my mistake and I will not repeat it.¡±


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    What the young Duke referred to as the maneuver was a plan hatched out by Nestor and Andrea, with the blessings of their parents. It was a bold plan, one where the border duchies would take the offensive to their foes, to show them that just because they had been content with their present territories and had no expansionist desires does not mean they were pushovers.


    The plan itself depended on a strong defense line - something the Hellraisers had spent the past five years working on for the duchies - which would allow the majority of Dvergarder and Algenverr¡¯s forces to sally out, while Jonkver¡¯s forces remained in defense, ready to aid either of the other two duchies should they come under attack while their main forces were away.


    Dvergarder even lent the militaries they contracted - the Duchy had the best economic conditions out of the three border duchies due to their continued trade with Knallzog - to the others. The Hellraisers would join Dvergarder¡¯s own forces, since there were several fortifications in the southern path they planned to take, where their knowledge and specialization in sieges and defenses would be of great use.


    On the contrary, the northern path which the forces of Algenverr would take were mostly plains and forested lands, as such the Silver Eagles, the Janissaries, and the Free Lances had their contracts temporarily transferred over to the Duchy of Algenverr, as the mercenary companies would participate in the northern prong of the assault together with them.


    It would be the first time the border duchies took on the offensive, the sort of plan more hot-blooded youths would think of, compared to their parents who favored a steady defense. Even so, Nestor and Andrea¡¯s arguments had convinced their respective parents on the merits of their plans, and given the full support that the Duchies poured into the plan, Reinhardt felt they likely knew what they were doing.


    He had never worked with Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez yet, though he had a passing acquaintance with the man¡¯s fiancee Lady Griselda and his younger brother Damien, but he was familiar with the young Heir to Dvergarder and had considered Andrea Utghwes to be a competent enough commander. Nestor seemed to garner high praises from all of them, so he hoped that those praises would be well deserved, for after all he would be tying his Company¡¯s fate to the man¡¯s competence soon.


    ¡°In that case, we shall prepare for our departure then, Your Grace,¡± he said to the young Duke of Jonkver with a nod. Since all three Duchies had agreed to the plan, that meant his Company would need to travel north to Algenverr to do their part in it. Apparently the raider attacks to the villages under his jurisdiction was the last straw that made the young Duke make up his mind to commit. ¡°Do you have any messages you wish for me to pass to Sir Nunez?¡±


    ¡°No, Captain. I wish you good hunting up north,¡± said the young Duke politely with a nod. ¡°I have no message I wish to pass to Nestor, other than one. Please come back with victory and not more headaches for me.¡±


    ¡°I shall pass it on, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a polite bow as he departed from the office the young Duke had commanded for himself during his stay in the town. He had the journey north to plan, and battles to fight soon after, ones fought in enemy lands this time, where they were on the offense rather than the defense.


    Just what his Company was paid to do.

 Chapter 191 - Mustering for the Offense

    ¡°Keeping information away from the enemy is an endeavor that often proved fruitless, as they would get their hands to it one way or another. What one *could* do however, is to attempt to delay the passage of that information for as long as was possible.


    That way, by the time the information reached enemy ears, it would be far too out of date to be of any proper use.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    ¡°Welcome, Captain Edelstein. We were just waiting for your people and a few others to arrive,¡± said Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez in welcome. The Heir to Algenverr was a tanned man in his early thirties, who kept a neatly trimmed mustache and beard that gave him a sophisticated appearance, though from the look in his eyes, Reinhardt could tell that he was a man of the battlefield, rather than a pampered noble son.


    They met at a one of the many fort-like sections of the long wall built to the west of Algenverr, where most of the expedition army - a good twenty-five thousand soldiers from Algenverr together with another five thousand mercenaries and sellswords - had gathered in preparation for their offensive retaliation towards their western neighbors to hopefully make them realize that the border duchies were not places they wished to mess with and if possible, end the hostilities.


    Reinhardt had gotten a look at the assembled forces on his way to Nestor¡¯s temporary office, and while he was unfamiliar with some of the assembled smaller mercenary groups, there were others he was familiar with just from their reputations, as well as old compatriots like the Silver Eagles and the Janissaries amongst them.


    The nobleman himself was surprisingly not accompanied by any guards in his office, other than his fiancee Lady Griselda of Gerouz who stood beside him. Reinhardt knew that neither the nobleman nor his fiancee were slouches on the battlefield, especially since his people had experience fighting alongside said fiancee a few years ago.


    ¡°Lord Nunez, Lady Geroulaz,¡± he said as he greeted them with a polite - but not humbling - bow as an employee to an employer. This would be his first meeting with Nestor, and the first time he saw Lady Griselda after the battle back at Fort Kazka some years ago.


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    ¡°It¡¯s Lady Nunez now,¡± Griselda corrected him with a smile as she lifted her hand to show the golden band around her ring finger. ¡°Glad that we¡¯d have you and yours to fight with us once more, Captain Edelstein.¡±


    ¡°Apologies, and congratulations, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod and a smile to match. He had sort of an understanding of the foreign lady and knew she was not one to hold her status above others, and was more of a soldier at heart. From what he had heard - and been told by his employers at Dvergarder - Nestor would likely be of the same sort. ¡°Though I guess the congratulations came a bit late.¡±


    ¡°None of your fault, Captain. We kept it quiet when we tied the knot four years ago, for the same reason my Honored Mother the Duchess gets to dote on her grandson in Algenverr despite most people not even knowing of his existence,¡± said Nestor with a nonchalant smile. ¡°No reason to let information on potential weak points slip to the enemy in wartime, so I would have to ask for your discretion on this matter.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Grace. This conversation never happened,¡± said Reinhardt with an easy nod. He was honestly a bit surprised that Nestor and Griselda not only kept their marriage but also the birth of their child a secret so well, but he got what the man meant and likely thought. Childrens of the leaders were not uncommon targets during wars that got ugly, so if the enemy never even knew of their existence, all the better. On the other hand, he was also responsible enough to leave a successor should the worst happen and he never returned from the battlefield.


    ¡°To the public eye Damien¡¯s the one getting hitched before me, though we love to tease him about that in private,¡± said the nobleman with a chuckle. ¡°But enough about personal matters. Your troops are prepared for the campaign to come?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Grace. All of the Free Lances, one thousand and thirty-eight strong, pledged ourselves for this campaign, as per the contract we had discussed and signed three months ago,¡± said Reinhardt with a more businesslike voice. ¡°As stated by the contract, we also request permission to garrison our dependents and support staff by the wall for the duration of the campaign.¡±


    ¡°Permission granted. I am glad to see your numbers recovering so well after Fort Kazka. I hope the new recruits are of acceptable quality as well?¡±


    ¡°Some of them are still rather green, but a good battle or two will either forge them, or kill them if they prove incapable,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shrug. ¡°Our latest batch of recruits had been exemplary though, and they helped motivate the older ones to catch up to them, so I am confident that we will be able to deliver a performance that is to your satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°Excellent, Captain Edelstein. Your Company along with a couple others will be moving independently along our flanks as we had outlined previously. I expect good news from you and yours,¡± said Nestor as he steepled his hands before his face and nodded. ¡°We shall depart within the week, so have your troops prepare for their departure as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt as he gave a salute to the nobleman who was now his employer - the Duke of Dvergarder having passed his Company¡¯s remaining contracted period over to Nestor after a negotiation of terms - and gave the man a polite bow before he left. ¡°You shall receive what you have paid for, and we will prove ourselves worthy of the price we ask for.¡±

 Chapter 192 - A Company, Reorganized

    ¡°The tales and stories focused on great feats of arms, of the tides of battle being turned thanks to courage and skill, and other grandiose scenes. Few ever even mentioned all that went on behind the scenes to even make those battles possible, the logistics of battle, the effort and precautions needed to transport the food for thousands of men over prolonged periods of time, the troubles and money that went to equipping so many soldiers with arms and armor, and other things often glossed over in favor of depictions of the battles itself.


    In truth, it was those who handled the logistics that made those battles possible in the first place.¡± - Rodolvan Esto Brammimond, historian from Levain, circa 219 FP.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re standing by and not cursing their ancestors out I assume they¡¯re doing well enough for your satisfaction,¡± said Reinhardt as he approached Salicia. The one-eyed woman stood beside a makeshift obstacle course - mostly just some fences and bags of soil placed over uneven ground - where a group of over a hundred mercenaries drilled.


    It was an odd drill, for the sensibilities of those who watched out of curiosity. Archers amongst the humans in Alcidea traditionally remained static, often in defended areas as they rained arrows down on their opponents. On the other hand, the mercenary archers were shooting with their bows while on the move, even as they climbed or leapt over obstacles, all without a single pause in their steps.


    Reinhardt even saw a couple of them stumble over an obstacle and still loosed their arrows into prepared targets a distance away while they fell.


    Similarly, the bows they used were very different from the longbows favored by most human archers. The large size and heavy draw weight of longbows had rendered combat archery mostly a male-dominated profession amongst the humans, as the average female would lack the strength to use them. The bows used by the mercenary archers were much smaller compared to the massive longbows.


    They were at most a meter long, barely two-thirds the length of smaller longbow specimens, and their shafts were recurved, sturdy and thick enough to comfortably grip in the middle, while the ends tapered greatly into slim points. That, together with how the archers wore their quivers by the waist instead of behind their backs made them very different from most archers employed in the human lands.


    So was the speed with which they loosed their arrows.


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    Each one of the mercenary archers held two or three arrows between the fingers of their bow hand, pointed forward, with another loosely nocked against the undrawn string of the bow. When the time came to shoot, they rapidly loosed an arrow, then nocked another from the ones they kept in hand and repeated it rapidly. The mercenary archers loosed all three or four of the arrows they carried in hand within less than two seconds that way, often with a third arrow already in the air before the first even landed.


    In contrast, it was considered normal for a skilled longbowman to manage ten shots in a minute.


    The longbow naturally had its own advantages, as it had superior range and power. The way the mercenary archers trained prioritized rapid fire and mobility, more in line with the way the current Free Lances have gone as a Company. Fighting alongside the Janissaries years ago had given Reinhardt and Lars ideas, and they had restructured some parts of the Company since.


    What Reinhardt saw was merely the culmination of Salicia¡¯s work in training the other mercenary archers over the past few years.


    While Salicia herself was mostly human, born and raised in the Clangeddin Empire, and the bow she herself used - an ancient family heirloom - was an impressive specimen of a longbow taller than she was, the one-eyed woman learned her archery not from human methods, but from orcish methods. The one who taught her archery was Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s half-orcish mother, who worked for her father as the head of the household guard.


    Where human archery generally focused on raining arrows over long distances to a general area while mostly remaining static, the orcs had instead perfected archery in motion, be it on the back of a steed or while on the run. Unlike how human archers often took their time to properly aim their shots, the orcs took aim and loosed all in the briefest of moments, as they took every chance they had to shoot their arrows.


    Of course, with the more robust constitution of the orcs the bows they used tend to be larger than what the mercenary archers used, although they used them with equal ease.


    Salicia herself had worked as a mercenary who dabbled in the assassination business together with Elfriede and Gr¨¹nhildr prior to their joining the Company. The one-eyed woman used to lead the drills by example, her long legs moving nimbly over the obstacles while she fired her massive longbow even more rapidly than the others with their smaller bows. At the moment, Alva was the one who led the drill, as he was officially made the acting commander of the Company¡¯s archers.


    As for Salicia herself, that freed her from having to direct the Company¡¯s other archers and instead focus on what she does best, namely assassinating high priority targets from a distance, while she herself remained on the move.


    ¡°They¡¯re getting there,¡± she remarked in answer to Reinhardt¡¯s unspoken query with a satisfied nod. The Company¡¯s archers were not the only ones who had been reorganized. Other members skilled with crossbows or javelins had been interspersed amongst the various platoons, while others were trained in the use of such weapons, so as to allow the platoons to strike at range when the situation called for it. ¡°Good enough to let them loose on their own, I''d say. Alva¡¯s proving to be a lucky find.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, had not expected the kid to have it in him to make it so well in this sort of life,¡± said Reinhardt in agreement to Salicia¡¯s sentiment. When the former male prostitute and his sister had asked to join the Company back at Norouz, he had his doubts. The siblings proved their mettle over the years though, with Kari being part of Elfriede¡¯s unit and Alva now gaining a status just below those of the platoon leaders in practice.

 Chapter 193 - The Logistical Trail

    ¡°An army marches on its stomach.¡± - Old military adage.


    ¡°Dried meat and salted fish¡­ Barley and wheat flour¡­ Are the ales and meads sufficient?¡±


    In a tent amidst the mercenary encampment, Lars of Zephirous battled with a thick pile of parchments on which he scribbled notes and numbers in tiny script, to make full use out of every bit of parchment he had. The lists were very mundane, as they listed the supplies the Company had gathered together, ones they purchased from the villages and towns they passed on their way to the wall as well as the ones shared with them by the Algenverrian army.


    Logistics was a vital aspect to any campaign, albeit one often glossed over despite its necessity, simply because it was boring to speak about. During the Theodinaz campaign, Reinhardt had not had the luxury to worry about their logistics - in fact, they had plenty since they reclaimed most of their supplies after the battle of Fort Ascher - and the campaign moved speedily, which resulted in its end long before he had to worry about it at all.


    The first few years afterwards also mostly dealt with short and easy missions, one that took a couple weeks and only small portions of the Company to do, which greatly simplified their logistics as well. Their defensive contract in Dvergarder also had clauses where their employer would provide for their food supply, which only made sense given the situation at the time.


    This offensive campaign from Algenverr on the other hand, was planned to last at least a few months of time, and involved the Company which had returned to its previous strength of a thousand men after so many years of recovery. The logistical trail behind it was by default more complicated and involved compared to anything they had dealt with since Reinhardt took over as the leader of the Company.


    Reinhardt himself was clear on that fact the first time he was briefed about the general purpose of the offensive nearly a month ago. As such, he had immediately sought out someone who could give him a hand in dealing with the logistics. Lars was the unfortunate one who ended up saddled with the mounds of parchmentwork in the end, since all too many of the Company¡¯s lieutenants were more brawn than brains.


    As such, he was occupied with all the logistics - though several of his old friends who followed him from Theodinaz helped him out with all the legwork involved - needed for the first longer-term large campaign the Free Lances would undertake since the change of leadership. Lars knew he was given a heavy responsibility, but he considered it as a show of trust, which was something he appreciated.


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    The man had come a long way from a deserter who latched on to a faint hope back at Zefirous.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Lars?¡± came a question from Reinhardt who entered the tent and almost immediately cast a shade as his bulky shape covered most of the entrance. He quickly stepped aside though, allowing more sunlight to enter the tent.


    ¡°Everything seemed in order, Captain. We have enough food for the planned duration of the campaign, plus an extra month as you ordered,¡± said Lars without even looking towards Reinhardt. His eyes read through some reports and his hand penned tiny letters even while he spoke. ¡°Our supply of consumables had been similarly prepared.¡±


    ¡°Really? Last I heard Master Fletcher Uthgar said it¡¯d be a tough order to finish in time. Not enough shafts I think,¡± asked Reinhardt with some surprise in his voice.


    ¡°Apparently he found some local trees that make really good arrow shafts when we reached Algenverr. All our archers are allocated with twenty quivers¡¯ worth of arrows, equal parts barbed and bodkins,¡± reported Lars even as he scribbled on a slim sheet of parchment and handed the note over to one of his men, who promptly left to deliver it. ¡°They prepared an extra thirty quivers for Salicia¡¯s use, together with that one quiver of special order from Sire Hogarth.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so pops managed to get those done as well. That¡¯s good to hear,¡± said Reinhardt. The ¡°special order¡± Lars referred to was a quiver of twenty arrows, each one crafted entirely of metal, with an arrowhead that tapered until it was as sharp as a needle, the furthest end of the point made out of adamant steel for hardness. The rest of the arrow was made from a more flexible alloy, one that allowed the metal shaft to flex and bend around the bow much like a wooden arrow would.


    The result were heavier arrows - which did reduce their effective range somewhat - with greater penetrative capabilities within that range. Hogarth already had Salicia test a prototype before, and with her heirloom bow, she proved capable of piercing through plate armor, the underlying mail, as well as the padded gambeson behind it at all two hundred paces away. Combined with her use of space magic she was capable of easily doubling that range.


    Since she had been detached from the archer platoon on her own request, Reinhardt saw little reason not to arm her better in order to allow her to do her job better. Of course, the difficulty of crafting those arrows - which took Hogarth¡¯s personal attention and a good amount of effort for each of them - meant that they could not exactly produce them in large quantities.


    Even that one quiver potentially meant twenty dead people at the right time and the right place, however, and Reinhardt knew all too well how killing the right person at the right time might well turn the tides of entire battles on its own.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± he told Lars with a satisfied nod. The main reason he had grabbed Lars to help out with the logistics was because he was the most bookish out of the Company¡¯s platoon leaders. All too many of the others were useless for such tasks, especially Elfriede, who wouldn''t even be able to read all the notes to begin with. As for trust, the former Theodinaz tactician had earned it many times over in the past few years, something he probably had not realized himself. ¡°I¡¯ll inform the young Duke that we¡¯ll be ready to march by tomorrow then.¡±

 Chapter 194 - The Westward March

    ¡°Prior to the invention and widespread use of spatial storage artifacts, supply lines were one of the most important things for a military campaign. Spatial storages changed everything, as their presence allowed armies of tens of thousands to march while carrying all the supplies they would have needed for a prolonged period of time with them, as long as the nation in question was wealthy enough to afford the larger storages needed.


    On the one hand, this removed the risks and troubles associated with the maintenance of supply lines in a protracted campaign. On the other hand, it also introduced new risks on its own, like the possibility of losing a large portion of one¡¯s supplies should some enemy assassins manage to kill and loot them from one of those in charge of keeping them safe, or even by said officers in charge accidentally misplacing or losing them, as storage artifacts were typically small objects.


    As such, it was commonplace to split an army¡¯s supplies into many portions, under the logic of not placing all of one¡¯s eggs in the same basket. That way when some were inevitably lost, the army would be able to fight on with the rest of the supplies.¡± - From a lecture on the history of logistics, by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy for the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 605 FP.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite something to see so many people march together like this,¡± said Kari as she peered to the side where the main forces from Algenverr marched westward. The Free Lances were on the front left flank of the massive line of soldiers, with the Janissaries and a couple other smaller mercenary Companies marching behind them.


    The assault force from Algenverr had split into two prongs, with a smaller contingent of eight thousand soldiers led by Damien along with the Silver Eagles and other mercenary companies totaling two thousand more men headed north-west to Lovia, one of the twin cities of the Duchy of Lovia-Hosberg. Said Duchy still reeled from the hefty losses they took in the battle at Fort Kazka a few years ago, and the forces sent there were more to intimidate and ensure that they kept to themselves rather than interfere with the offensive maneuver.


    Instead, the main thrust of the offensive, totaling thirty thousand men - seventeen thousand from Algenverr, another ten thousand from Jonkver under Miriam Levan-Tovmund¡¯s direct command, and three thousand mercenary soldiers - under the collective command of Nestor himself went to the south and west towards the Duchy of Kolitschei. Unlike Lovia-Hosberg, said duchy only lost token forces back at Fort Kazka, and their military forces were still in full strength compared to their neighbors.


    Nestor and Andrea¡¯s plans were based on their assessment of the Central and Bostvan factions. Namely that they were bullies, ones who feared the strong and abused the weak. Since other than the border duchies they were the largest faction in the war-torn former kingdom, they had run rampant, and apparently mistook the desire of the border duchies to stay out of the mess as weakness instead.


    It was a mistake the offense was meant to rectify, and hopefully teach them a strong enough lesson to deter them from repeating that mistake.


    To the south, the forces from Dvergarder had also marched out in full force under Andrea Utghwes¡¯ command, as they launched a two-pronged attack at smaller regions that had since thrown their lot with the Bostvans, or the Royals as they nowadays demand to be called. The purpose was similar, in the hopes that the full-fledged offensive would force their opponents to reconsider the threat that the border duchies posed to them.


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    ¡°We used to see it more often in the past,¡± replied Ylisera from beside the human girl with a nod. As an elf who was over two centuries old, nearly half of which she had spent with the Company, she had experienced a lot and seen many things. Most considered her one of the Company¡¯s oldest veterans, even if she had only joined the fight much more recently. ¡°But then again, back then the Lances under Ingrid tended to take part in bigger battles more often. Rein did the right thing to focus on smaller and more doable missions while we recuperated.¡±


    ¡°It¡­ kind of makes you feel just how insignificant a single person is,¡± noted Kari. The former brothel servant girl had worked her way up until she was admitted into Elfriede¡¯s group almost purely by her efforts. Her background and history also made her view Ylisera somewhat askance at first, until she realized that nobody ever disparaged the elven woman for her previous - and occasionally present, when the mood struck her - work as a camp prostitute for the Company.


    If anything, that just endeared her more to the rugged mercenaries she worked and often slept with.


    It was a somewhat jarring difference in perceptions and cultures to the girl who grew up poor in the Holy Kingdom, where prostitutes like all the sisters and aunts she helped take care of at her brother¡¯s workplace were looked down upon as the lowest of the low in society. Even the street thugs and beggars looked down upon them.


    Amongst the mercenaries there was no such thing. Kari had met most of the camp prostitutes - both men and women who sold their bodies for money to the Company¡¯s mercenaries - and had never seen anyone look down upon them for what they do. If anything, most of the mercenaries who often made use of their services seemed to have affection and gratitude for them.


    ¡°That is a sentiment many of the elders amongst my kind had echoed,¡± noted Ylisera with a slight chuckle. ¡°Good for you to have learned of it at so young an age.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Kari with a nod. ¡°That said¡­ Had you ever felt strange with your change of¡­ well¡­ profession?¡±


    ¡°What? To go from loving to killing people? It¡¯s not that different if you see it the right way,¡± said Yisera with a wide smirk on her lips. ¡°The job¡¯s still the same, to fuck people silly. Just that the way I¡¯m doing it now is much less fun for them. Still pretty fun for me, though. Besides, the Company needed every hand it could use for the time being. Maybe if Rein got us big enough later I¡¯d retire and go back to cavorting on the bedsheets rather than the battlefields,¡± she added with a suggestive wink.


    ¡°It still surprises me even now to see so many of you¡­ embrace the profession that way,¡± said Kari with a shake of her head. ¡°Probably just couldn¡¯t get the old prejudice I grew up amongst out of my head, I know.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve seen the shithole you and yours had to ply your trade from back then, so I sorta get what you mean,¡± replied the elven woman. ¡°While I¡¯ll admit that more than a few of our younger recruits went into selling their bodies out of desperation rather than because they just love sex and like the idea of getting paid for it, at least this is one of the better places to ply the trade. Rein runs a tight ship and everyone knows better than to get abusive with them unless they want to piss me off.¡±


    Kari nodded at that remark as Ylisera was widely accepted to be one of the deadliest swordsmen amongst the mercenaries.


    ¡°Besides, you¡¯d be surprised how many of them ended up finding someone who actually cared for and liked them regardless. More than half of those who worked the trade ended up getting hitched to one of the fighting boys and girls over time,¡± explained Ylisera. ¡°As a result, the vast majority of the mercs who were born in the company knows better than to disrespect the prostitutes, since chances are one of their parents or grandparents might well have been one in the past as well.¡±

 Chapter 195 - First Battle of the Campaign

    ¡°They say that the first time would be the worst, where all the nervousness built up. They speak the truth.¡± - Old mercenary adage.


    Not a week after the outset of the Army¡¯s march, they met their first obstacle, three day¡¯s march into the territory of Kolischei. Along the way the army went past several small farming villages, the inhabitants of which seemed to have had no idea whatsoever at the going ons.


    Nestor was not so naive as to believe that news of the army¡¯s advance had not reached the nobility of Kolitschei, a belief reinforced by the utter lack of enemy presence in the first three days of the army¡¯s entry into enemy lands. It was as if their enemy had heard of their arrival and withdrawn their soldiers to gather them together in order to repel the enemy advance, yet without caring enough to warn their people of the enemy¡¯s arrival.


    Knowing what he knew of the noble lords of Kolitschei, it might well exactly be such a case.


    His guesses were validated when he met an army of nearly five thousand awaiting him at Fort Ivola. To call the small fortification - merely wooden palisades surrounding a small wooden fort set on a hill, a typical and simple motte and bailey design - was perhaps a bit of a misnomer, but such were what passed for defensive fortifications in most of the Kingdom.


    The nobles who lived further away from the borders mostly fortified their main cities rather than built defensive fortifications elsewhere, since it was the task of the border duchies to hold the frontlines in their minds. That bit of selfishness on their part now returned to bite them in the rear as they had to deal with a lack of defensive positions outside of their own main cities over the civil war that embroiled the former kingdom.


    For the first battle of the campaign, Nestor had claimed the right to lay siege to the fort with his men, a move that was more political in nature as it was intended to be a statement to their enemies, as well as a show of competence for their allies - especially the newer, smaller mercenary groups - to raise morale. Reinhardt might have called it a senseless show of vanity at other times, but Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez did not strike him as that sort of noble.


    Nestor seemed to understand what went through the minds of his allies, and just smiled. He set up his army a good six hundred paces away from the fort. There he had a group of his soldiers - people Reinhardt recognized as combat engineers from the way they moved and worked - bring out large components from their storage artifacts and set to work to erect a half dozen trebuchets on the spot.


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    The siege engines were not loaded with large rocks as was the norm, as apparently Nestor found it unnecessary for dealing with a wooden fortification like what they faced. Instead, they were loaded with large earthen jugs that had a length of fabric attached to its stopper. A length of fabric that was lit on fire before the jugs were launched.


    Reinhardt instantly identified those jugs for what they were.


    They were pretty much just larger versions of the ones he had Hannah drop on the enemy encampment years ago during the night attack on the Bostvan forces. Considering that the fortification they were faced with was made out of wood, the choice also made sense. Apparently Nestor had no desire to claim the fort for his own use and planned to simply burn it to the ground instead.


    Even from afar, Reinhardt saw how the jugs broke apart against the wooden palisades, spilling the highly flammable oils they contained all over it. Oil that was lit aflame mere moments later by the wick of burning fabric each jug was attached to. Within mere moments large sections of the palisades were burning, the fire reaching high towards the skies and consumed everything in its way, despite the desperate attempts of the defenders to quench it with water and soil.


    Then Nestor ordered a second salvo, then a third and a fourth, and within five minutes Fort Ivola was entirely covered in flames.


    Not even ten minutes after that, the fort¡¯s burning gates opened wide, and the inhabitants of the burning fort rushed out in panic, some of them with their hair or clothes burning, all of them desperate to save their own lives and escape the flames that even then consumed the fortification they were supposed to guard. All they found was not salvation, but rather a ¡°warm¡± welcome from the army that awaited outside the fort.


    A rain of arrows fell before and amongst the escaping Kolitscheian soldiers, injuring many and killing some. Then Nestor rode slightly ahead of his men and had several wind affinity mages work together to amplify and carry his voice to the desperate and panicked soldiers near the burning fort. He had them first create a loud sound to attract their attention.


    Then he called for their surrender, promising not to kill those who laid down their arms and knelt down with their hands behind their heads. He also added that they had three choices before them. Surrender and live. Resist and be killed. Or, they could also burn together with their fort, if they preferred to do that. The choice was theirs.


    Before too long - and a debate that spiraled into violence - the desperate defenders of the Fort chose to surrender, though Reinhardt noticed from afar how some people were either tied up or just straight up stabbed during the altercation that took place when they discussed the options amongst themselves. He also noticed how those who were abused in the altercation mostly wore better clothing than the rest.


    Sure enough, when Nestor¡¯s army took in the surrendering troops, they learned that most of the noble commanders of the fort¡¯s defenders had either burned within the fort, or were taken down by their own desperate soldiers. The fortunate ones - the ones who treated their soldiers better, Reinhardt noted - were merely tied up and taken captive. The less fortunate ones merely received a dagger to the gut.


    After all, while five thousand soldiers defending a fort might have been able to withstand a force six times their size for a good while, without the fort they had no such hope. On top of that, the fire had damaged or destroyed many of their equipment, as well as injured and killed many of the soldiers. It was only natural that they panicked and surrendered when pushed to such a corner.

 Chapter 196 - Ramifications

    ¡°Every action has consequences. At times though people did them hoping for the exact consequences it would elicit out of others.¡± - Old military proverb.


    When Reinhardt walked towards the tent Nestor stayed in later that night, he happened to pass a group of military officers from Algenverr who happened to have just left said tent. It had not escaped his notice how a few of the older officers had conflicted looks on their faces, with one old officer in particular having his mien twisted in a combination of anger and loathing.


    On the other hand, the looks on the faces of the younger officers were more of a mixture of gloating and worship, which formed a great contrast and divide amongst the group. He put that consideration on the back of his mind as he approached the tent - a rather simple one considering the status of its occupant - and ducked underneath the opening as he entered.


    ¡°You asked for my presence, Your Grace?¡± he asked as he stood up to his full height once inside the tent. Fortunately the young Duke¡¯s tent was tall enough to accommodate his full height of over two meters and a tenth. Other than its size, though, it was far more sparsely decorated than he expected, and he inwardly nodded in approval at the young nobleman.


    ¡°Thank you for making time to come, Captain Edelstein,¡± said the young nobleman as he steepled his hands before him, a pose that Reinhardt had associated with the man being immersed in his thoughts. While there were two knights posted outside the tents as guards, Nestor kept no other guards within. He was alone other than Griselda standing before him, though Reinhardt felt that unless the noblewoman had slacked off on her training after her marriage, her presence alone was probably enough to guard the young nobleman and keep him safe.


    ¡°To what do I owe this pleasure, Your Grace?¡± he asked once more.


    ¡°A simple question, Captain Edelstein. I would like to hear your honest opinion on how the battle today was handled,¡± said the young nobleman without preamble. The way he stressed his words made Reinhardt wonder if it had to do with the faces of the officers he saw on his way in. In the end, he decided to give Nestor exactly what he asked for. His honest opinion on the matter.


    ¡°It was an efficient display of force, if there were some wasted resources that went up in flames together with the fort,¡± said Reinhardt bluntly, to which he noticed the edges of the young nobleman¡¯s lips quirk upwards slightly. ¡°Considering the amount of supplies you told us to prepare prior to our departure, I would assume that you deemed the extra supplies as unnecessary and instead chose to deny them from the enemy in a permanent way instead. Otherwise, it was a very effective and efficient choice. A victory with no casualties on our side achieved in the least possible time.¡±


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    ¡°Glad to hear someone from the outside agreed with that,¡± said Griselda with a slight chuckle from her husband¡¯s side. Given how the noblewoman had kept a stoic face since he came in and had looked a bit annoyed herself back then, he guessed that the looks on the officers faces must have been related to Nestor¡¯s question just now. His methods and approaches to the battle.


    ¡°You probably guessed it, Captain Edelstein, but sadly there are some amongst my own people who refuse to accept that times had changed and that their traditional, honorable methods can be fed to a pig,¡± said Nestor with some vehemence in his voice. ¡°People who thought that the honorable way would have been to challenge and storm that fort from the front. No consideration to the casualties we would have taken that way, because it was the honorable and right thing to do in their minds.¡±


    ¡°Amongst those from our professions, we just call that stupidity, Your Grace,¡± remarked Reinhardt with a smirk that bared his fangs. ¡°No offense intended.¡±


    ¡°Oh, go ahead and offend them for all I care. It is exactly what you have just said. Utter folly and stupidity from minds that were far too entrenched in tradition and other silly things,¡± said Nestor with a long-suffering sigh. From the way he acted Reinhardt guessed that it was not the first time he had this sort of conversation before. ¡°Did you know that prior to this civil war, Posuin had never fought other people outside of small internal skirmishes for over a century, Captain?¡±


    ¡°I must admit that I am no student of history, Your Grace,¡± admitted Reinhardt. There used to be some older veterans who seemed to always know all the history related to their employers and the region up to centuries in the past, but those men, much like many of the older mercenaries, perished in Theodinaz.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true nevertheless. As a result, most of the military knowledge that we have here? Either learned from tutors who likewise had never been truly involved in any proper wars themselves, or learned from books written by people from centuries ago,¡± explained Nestor. ¡°Those of us from the border duchies had more experience fighting due to the occasional beast outbreaks we had to deal with, but not even we had much experience fighting other people.¡±


    ¡°Ah. So you intend to say that most of the people we are facing would likely be armchair generals,¡± said Reinhardt in understanding.


    ¡°Precisely so, doubly so for the older ones who are even more entrenched in their ways. We cannot afford such folly amongst our own army, especially since what I did will likely incense the old farts at Kolitschei and make them take us more seriously,¡± replied Nestor with a nod. ¡°As such, I intend to discuss the next opponent we are likely to face with you and yours, as I feel that your people might well be the best suited to turn the tables against our opponents. Can I expect to see you and your lieutenants for a meeting say¡­ after dinner tonight, Captain?¡±


    ¡°Consider it done, your Grace.¡±

 Chapter 197 - A Tempting Offer

    ¡°More than half of a battle¡¯s decided in the planning done well before the actual fighting.¡± - Saying attributed to Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92-134 VA.


    Later that night, after a hearty dinner to celebrate the day¡¯s quick victory, Reinhardt gathered up his lieutenants and led them towards Nestor¡¯s tent. There they found the young nobleman already awaiting them, still without any guards other than his wife and two knights stationed outside. None of those present blinked an eye at the arrival of the mercenaries, so Reinhardt thought that they must have been informed beforehand.


    ¡°Welcome, everyone. I hope you¡¯ll excuse the lacking¡­ size of this place,¡± said Nestor with a friendly gesture after the mercenaries crammed themselves into his tent. Despite the overall large size of the tent, it barely fit all of them inside there, and there was barely any free space between where Nestor and Griselda was and the throng of mercenaries pressed shoulder to shoulder.


    Mischka even sat on the ground, cross-legged, and allowed a couple others to sit and lean against her to save up room since it would have been difficult to fit her any other way. Erycea and Elfriede sat on the therian matron¡¯s haunches and leaned against her coarse fur, while Egil sat on her shoulder like an oversized parrot so he could get a proper vantage point to look at and listen to the talk.


    ¡°It is fine, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. He stood at the forefront of the gathering, with all his officers present and accounted for. Lars stood on his left while Hannah - now the leader of the Company¡¯s fledgling aerial scout platoon - fidgeted as she tried to fold her large wings as compactly as possible on his other side. ¡°So how can we be of service?¡±


    ¡°I presume you have studied the map of the Duchy of Kolitschei before this,¡± stated the young nobleman with certainty in his voice, which Reinhardt affirmed with a nod of his head. ¡°Then you would undoubtedly be familiar that between Fort Ivola and the city of Kolitschei itself, there would be little to hinder our march, other than fertile farmlands.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of it, Your Grace,¡± Reinhardt replied simply.


    ¡°Good. What I commanded today on Fort Ivola is not just something done to deal with this fort. It is something I did to set an example for the duchy to consider,¡± explained Nestor as he gesticulated with his hands to make his point. ¡°If you were the Duke of Kolitschei, Captain, with almost the entirety of the wealthiest and most privileged of your subjects in your town, would you risk a siege when the enemy has just burnt down your previous fortification to the ground?¡±


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    ¡°I would have attempted to stop such an opponent from reaching the city if at all possible-,¡± said Reinhardt in answer before the meaning of the young Duke¡¯s words clicked inside his mind. Lars to his side also nodded thoughtfully around the same time. ¡°You burned down the fort to lure the enemy into a field battle rather than a lengthy siege, did you not, Your Grace?¡±


    ¡°That is so. I am glad you caught on quickly,¡± replied Nestor with a satisfied and genuine smile on his face. ¡°Tell me captain, have you heard of the Warforged?¡±


    ¡°I believe I have heard some tales and stories about them, but nothing too detailed. Elite soldiers from Kolitschei of some sort? I believe they were elite heavy infantrymen?¡±


    ¡°All correct, and I¡¯m not surprised that there haven¡¯t been many rumors about them since the last time the Warforged were deployed in full strength was in my grandfather¡¯s generation,¡± said Nestor with a nod. ¡°The Warforged are slave soldiers, Captain. People born into slavery who were raised from birth to be the most loyal and fearless soldiers there could be. If rumors were to be believed, they viewed it as the highest honor to be chosen as a Warforged for those not born into a Warforged lineage, and an equally great one to die in the service to their masters.¡±


    ¡°So, highly motivated, likely disciplined and skilled warriors who are unlikely to rout easily. Any details on how they fight?¡± Reinhardt asked as he went for the bits he considered more relevant to him,


    ¡°They were usually deployed as heavy line infantry, formations of ten shieldbearers who carried large tower shields covering forty or so pikemen with far longer pikes than normal. On top of that they also had a few elite swordsmen interspersed in their midst who either tackled those who managed to close in beneath the pikes or to disrupt the enemy formation offensively,¡± replied the young Duke. ¡°To my knowledge, Kolitschei likely had enough of them to form dozens of such formations.¡±


    ¡°And where do we come in on this?¡±


    ¡°Well, Captain Edelstein, five years ago when Gris returned from Fort Kazka, she regaled me with the tale of your Company¡¯s successful charge deep into the enemy lines to decapitate their command staff,¡± Nestor said as he glanced towards his wife beside him, who returned a nod when she noticed. ¡°I would like you and yours to do something similar to that, should you be amenable.¡±


    ¡°That depends entirely on what you meant by something similar, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt conservatively at the notion.


    ¡°Your Company seemed well-practiced in charging through enemy formations. I would like for you to pierce through the enemy formation from the flank, then take a turn and harry their frontlines from the rear,¡± said Nestor openly. ¡°Of course, this is a dangerous task, so for that I am willing to offer the same deal Andrea did back then. Quadruple the payment and hazard fees, along with first dibs on salvaged equipment.¡±


    ¡°You have my interest, Your Grace, but I would like to know more details about what you have in mind specifically,¡± said Reinhardt tentatively to the offer. ¡°For example, I doubt you intend to send just my company against the enemy¡¯s flanks. We are confident in our prowess and can likely hold out for a while, but we would be overwhelmed before too long without any supporting troops.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Captain. I¡¯ll take that as a tentative agreement for the time being and explain what I have in mind.¡±

 Chapter 198 - Plans and Contingencies

    ¡°A military commander that had not planned what to do should the first plan fail is one who courts defeat to their bed.¡± - Saying attributed to Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92-134 VA.


    ¡°You might not be aware of it since it¡¯s not done in Dvergarder to the best of my knowledge, Captain Edelstein, but many of the commanders amongst my army from Algenverr are part of the gentry,¡± said Nestor with tone that sounded nearly apologetic in his voice. ¡°Some of them had been in such a position since my grandfather¡¯s days, and they tend to be rather¡­ entrenched in their view of many things, including how warfare ought to be done.¡±


    ¡°The ones with the sour faces from earlier, then,¡± commented Reinhardt nonchalantly. He was normally uncaring about such internal conflicts, but had to since this one involved the army he was part of. ¡°So what do you plan to do with them?¡±


    ¡°Me? Why, nothing at all. I even allowed them to demonstrate the chivalry and courage they hold dear when they demanded to be given the honor of the opening strike in our next battle, whenever and wherever it may be,¡± said Nestor with a tone that hinted at some schadenfreude mixed with frustration. ¡°Because of course it would not be my place as a youngster to advise their seniors on how to do battle, is it not?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re more ruthless than I gave you credit for, Sir Nunez,¡± admitted Reinhardt with an open smirk on his face. ¡°I like that. Do continue?¡±


    ¡°Assuming the Kolitscheians decided to meet us on the field of battle, we estimate that it would likely happen here, here, or here,¡± said Nestor as he pointed to spots on a map of Kolitschei and its surroundings with his fingers. ¡°All three locations are wide open areas that would allow infantry formations to maneuver freely and give archers a clear line of sight, since they also prided themselves for their archery corps. Each of the locations had a convenient hill on the far side for their archers to array themselves on.¡±


    ¡°From the previous wars Kolitschei had been involved in, they usually arrayed their infantry formation with levies as supporting elements, while their men-at-arms formed the backbone of said formation. Their elite Warforged traditionally positioned themselves on the right wing of the formation, and were known to break into enemy formations and rout them from that position many times in the past,¡± he continued. ¡°Based on that, I had previously contacted Miriam to plan our responses together.¡±


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    ¡°There are a few more assumptions and guesses based on tradition than I liked there, may I ask the reason for the lack of more current information?¡±


    ¡°Simple enough. Kolitschei had not committed their forces in battle for the past decade or so, and instead mostly held a defensive posture. Everyone still recalled the legends of the Warforged, so nobody was keen on bashing themselves against the rocks, so to speak,¡± replied Nestor. ¡°By the same token, however, it also means that the people we are about to face would be less experienced in actual battle compared to the ones from the past tales.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a trade off I¡¯ll take, if you put it that way, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°I definitely would rather take on a well-trained and highly motivated inexperienced foe over a worse-trained, poorly motivated but highly experienced one.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what I thought too when I chose to target Kolitschei for this expedition,¡± said Nestor in agreement. ¡°Anyway, other than the commanders who will bravely and courageously charge our foes head-on with their retinue in a show of chivalry, I plan to divide our forces into five contingents.¡±


    ¡°I have with me four of the five legions that I¡¯ve personally built and raised over the past decade and a half in an attempt to reform Algenverr¡¯s military. They¡¯re superior to levies by far, though perhaps not as well-equipped as a typical noble¡¯s men-at-arms,¡± he continued. ¡°Each of the legions are two thousand strong, and I intend to revolve our formation around them.¡±


    ¡°Where is the missing one if I may ask?¡±


    ¡°The third legion is with Damien in Lovia-Hosberg,¡± replied Nestor before he lined up several figures on the map. ¡°Our centerline will be the contingent from Jonkver under Miriam¡¯s lead, while on our right flank I plan to have Commander Lankenau with the fifth legion and some of our levies together with all the other mercenary companies. Commander Igbal will hold the fourth legion back as our reserves.¡±


    ¡°Since you want us to hit the Warforged, we¡¯d be on the left flank then I assume?¡±


    ¡°Correct. I would like your troops to tag along behind the left flank¡¯s extremities. Griselda will lead the second legion and distract them while your forces go through them as we had discussed,¡± said Nestor as he nodded in approval. ¡°I will personally lead the first legion and the rest of our levies to hold the left flank while your Company and the second legion execute the maneuver. If all goes well, we¡¯ll turn the Warforged¡¯s favored tactics right back at them.¡±


    ¡°What if they refused to crack even after we struck them from behind?¡± asked Reinhardt with a hint of caution after he quietly discussed with Lars for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m confident of my men¡¯s capabilities, but we wouldn¡¯t be able to last too long in the midst of so many elites unassisted if this plan flops.¡±


    ¡°I will ask you to attempt two attacks against the rear of their formation. If my first legion had failed to break them after that, you have permission to fight your way right out of their formation and back into ours,¡± replied Nestor with an understanding nod. ¡°We will keep them occupied for you, but I know you probably consider words not enough of a guarantee in a case like this, so I will allow you to name your price.¡±


    ¡°Five times the pay if we succeed,¡± said Reinhardt bluntly after a quick discussion.


    ¡°You have a deal, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Nestor as he stood up and shook Reinhardt¡¯s larger hand over the table. ¡°Should this work out as planned, I will consider it the one of the best invesments I¡¯ve paid for in my life.¡±

 Chapter 199 - Eyes in the Sky

    ¡°Those with greater access to information, make better decisions. Those who make better decisions often win the battle. Information is a much-overlooked aspect of warfare in the minds of far too many a general.¡± - Saying attributed to Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92-134 VA.


    ¡°Reporting, boss!¡± said Avilla Twin-Feathers as the young hawk-therian tried to catch her breath. As the army marched further into Kolitschei, Reinhardt had loosed Hannah and her platoon of aerial scouts to search out for enemy movements, as it was a capability none of the involved parties in the war had other than them. It bore fruit sooner than he expected. ¡°Big sis saw ¡®em marching in neat columns, right out of their city. That was yesterday afternoon!¡±


    ¡°Excellent work!¡± said Reinhardt in praise. The aerial scouts had spread out as they monitored the many roads that led out from the city of Kolitschei, working in teams of two who took shifts to keep watch non-stop throughout day and night. Avilla happened to be paired with Hannah as the two kept watch over the main road and noticed the troop movements. ¡°Get yourself some refreshments from the wagons, I¡¯ll report this to the young Duke.¡±


    The army from Algenverr was marching when Avilla reached them. It was already early morning the day after she left to deliver the message while Hannah herself kept an eye on the marching enemies. Given their flight and speed, the avian therians made the trip that the army would have needed a week or more to make in a single day.


    Reinhardt quickly made his way towards the front of the marching formation where Nestor was. The young noble himself rode a horse along with several other of his commanders - Reinhardt noticed that a few of them kept their distance from him, namely the ones who had a sour look several days ago - and their collective eyes turned towards him when they noticed his approach.


    ¡°What is it that brought you here, Captain?¡± asked Nestor with a curious look in his eyes.


    ¡°My scouts had just given a report, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt as he took large steps that easily covered the distance as he caught up to the group. ¡°The Kolitscheian army had marched out from their city yesterday afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Prepostorous!¡± said one of the older commanders who rode further away from Nestor when he heard what Reinhardt said. ¡°Are you claiming that your scout could deliver a message over ten days¡¯ distance in a single night!? What tomfoolery is this?¡±


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    ¡°Halt your tongue, Commander Rensi!¡± barked Nestor with noticeable irritation in his voice. ¡°Just because your vaunted shadow scouts can¡¯t do the same doesn¡¯t mean others can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Well, unless his scouts could fly faster than most birds and even some wyverns, there¡¯s no way they could outpace mine anyway,¡± said Reinhardt with a shrug. He was mildly annoyed at the man¡¯s mocking tone, but he figured that there was no reason to debate with a man who would soon either be dead or wished he was dead anyway. ¡°Either way, I think we can interpolate how far they¡¯ve marched since and the likely place we¡¯ll meet them.¡±


    ¡°The Nedja plains,¡± said Nestor after a short moment of thought, accompanied by nods from the commanders gathered around him, including reluctant nods from those further away. ¡°I highly doubt they do not have their own scouts reporting our progress since we¡¯re in their territory, so they¡¯d know where we are. Since they marched out yesterday, they¡¯d reach Nedja plains half a day to a day ahead of us and can prepare to confront us there.¡±


    Reinhardt shared a nod with the Algenverr commanders. The Nedja plains was the second spot Nestor had pointed out amongst the three likely spots he expected the Kolitscheian army to meet them at. It was the middle one, neither too far nor too close to the city of Kolitschei itself. He assumed that the spot would probably be chosen as a compromise between a desire to keep the fighting away from the city while at the same time minimizing the supply lines they would need.


    ¡°Pass the order to have the soldiers march an extra hour, and cook up an extra half-rations for everyone,¡± said Nestor to his commanders, who in turn passed the order down the line to their officers who relayed it to those below them and so on. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t let them prepare the battlefield for too long. The soldiers should be able to rest better on full bellies after a hard march.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Reinhardt as he returned to his Company and relayed the orders. The extra hour of marching tired the soldiers more, but that fatigue combined with extra rations resulted in them also sleeping better in the night, which allowed the soldiers to wake up in the morning refreshed. The process then repeated itself as they marched ever closer to the Nedja plains.


    The day before they would arrive at the plains, Nestor relayed the order to end the day¡¯s march a couple hours earlier, and to prepare a feast - a relative one at least, since they were done with military rations for the most part - to raise the troops¡¯ morale for the upcoming battle. He clearly wanted the soldiers well-rested and motivated for the battle that awaited them ahead.


    Great cauldrons all around the temporary encampment bubbled and roiled as the army¡¯s chefs cooked up a kind of thick gruel made from grains, cheese, and animal fats boiled together. It was a simple and humble meal, just enriched with bits of dried meat that rehydrated itself as it boiled on that evening. Even so, the plentiful - and extra flavorful - food along with how Nestor and Griselda dined amongst their soldiers helped raise morale throughout the camp.


    At the section of the camp where the Free Lances stayed at, they had a more extravagant feast with whole animals being roasted on spits. By necessity, Reinhardt had to allocate a larger allotment of meat for his Company¡¯s rations, since they counted quite a few mostly carnivorous therians amongst their number, himself included.


    The bounty of storage rings they acquired years ago came in handy since a couple of them had been the expensive sort with stasis enchantment, which was what allowed the Company to bring a store of fresh meats with them as well. Since Nestor gave the order to feast for the night, Reinhardt saw no reason to hold back and brought out nearly half their supply of fresh meat for the feast.


    As for the envious eyes from some of the others - particularly a couple of the commanders that were apparently at odds with Nestor -, he could care less.

 Chapter 200 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 1)

    ¡°Say the prayers and march with grace,


    As one would death itself embrace,


    For one¡¯s fate was yet to be coined,


    At the very moment the battle was joined.¡± - Poem by Gadran of Histur, Warrior-Chief from the area that later became the Kingdom of Posuin.


    ¡°They sure brought quite a few of them out and waited for us, huh?¡± commented Reinhardt as he watched the enemy army¡¯s formation with a spyglass from near the top of a tall tree. Across the Nedja plains, the army of Kolitschei had been arrayed as they awaited the arrival of the Algenverrian troops. His best estimate in numbers - matched by that of Hannah¡¯s, who returned earlier in the day - was that there were at least twenty five to thirty thousand soldiers on the other side, roughly even in numbers with the troops under Nestor¡¯s leadership.


    From what he learned, Kolitschei should have at least ten thousand more troops than that, but those were likely left behind to hide the city itself, in fear of Nestor pulling a feint with his very obvious advance while having a second group attack the undefended city from elsewhere. Reinhardt knew Nestor had no such plans, but that he also planned for his too-obvious advance to make the enemy draw that exact conclusion as well, which led to the current battlefield.


    For Kolitschei to send out a roughly equal amount of troops as Nestor¡¯s was not unexpected. It was enough to ensure that the battle would likely be hard fought, and should the army lose, it was unlikely that Nestor¡¯s army would not have paid a hefty price for their victory, a price that the Kolitschei tacticians likely expected would prevent him from being able to lay a proper siege on the city.


    Nestor was naturally aware of the same logic, which was why he had paid the Free Lances up front for them to take on the daring mission assigned to them. Where the troops of Kolitschei desired to take the battle into one of attrition that would take place over weeks if not longer, Nestor had no desire to do so. Instead, he planned for an all-or-nothing assault, a high-risk, high-reward gamble to decisively set the course of the battle at the very first day.


    At the moment the Algenverrian army, their allies from Jonkver, and the hired mercenaries were still setting up their formation, which gave Reinhardt the time to take a look at the enemy formation himself. His Company knew where they needed to go and had already arrayed themselves behind the second legion of Algenverr¡¯s army, right at the edge of their formation¡¯s left flank.


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    To their right was the first legion - Nestor¡¯s own - interspersed with nearly half the levy they brought, while the ten thousand from Jonkver under Miriam Levan-Tovmund¡¯s lead held the center of the formation. To her other side at the formation¡¯s right flank was the rest of the Algenverr levy with the fifth legion, while the two thousand men of the fourth legion was positioned directly behind the centerline as reserves, where they were positioned to render aid to whichever position needed it the most.


    A bit ahead of the army¡¯s formation, Reinhardt noticed a smaller number of men and women dressed in good armor, probably around a thousand in all, who flew many banners he recalled seeing in his Company¡¯s passage through Algenverr. From Nestor he had heard about the intention of those commanders who disagreed with his tactics and strategy and adhered strongly to the old ways, and he shook his head at their folly.


    What the group of less than a thousand nobles and their retainers intended to do was to march ahead of the army and announce their presence openly, demanding their foe to face them honorably. That usually involved a roughly equal number of men of similarly good standing to face them, and they would then tussle until a winner was decided.


    Supposedly at times in the past such miniature battles alone at times decided who won and lost a battle, though when Reinhardt considered what Nestor mentioned to him during the planning, the young nobleman clearly had no intentions whatsoever to adhere to those traditions. He noticed him standing atop a small hill behind their army as he similarly surveyed the enemy army, and saw the cold look he gave towards the small detachment of nobles ahead.


    When those nobles had finished their preparations and started to march ahead with great fanfare from horns and drums, Reinhardt had to suppress an urge to wince at the display, and he leapt down from the tree as he walked towards the hill Nestor and Griselda watched the enemy from. They noticed his approach and welcomed him with a polite nod.


    ¡°Glad to see you joining us, Captain Edelstein. I noticed your troops are already in position, my compliments,¡± said Nestor as he welcomed Reinhardt.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt in return. He then looked once more towards the small group of nobles and their retinue who advanced until their were roughly mid-way between the two armies, and from what he could catch from so far away, seemed to be yelling out challenges to the enemy army, their voice amplified and carried by wind magic to cover the distance. ¡°Are they just¡­ going to slug it out over there on their own while we fight our own battles?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they would¡¯ve wanted, but I have no intention of letting things happen that way,¡± said Nestor with a smirk on his face. Then he seemed to notice something and brought his spyglass back over his eye. ¡°Huh. Had not expected that, but I guess you can¡¯t have it all.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Reinhardt asked as he peered through his spyglass in the same direction Nestor was looking at, and notices how twenty small units in neat rectangle formations moved out from the Kolitschei army, before they formed a larger formation, the twenty small units seamlessly integrating together in a five by four rectangle with barely any distance between them.


    ¡°That, Captain, is the Warforged,¡± said Nestor with some annoyance in his voice. ¡°It would appear that Kolitschei had raised more of them than expected over the last couple generations, and they likely sent them out as an insult to the challenge of those nobles out there. I had hoped that they might be able to lure some of the Kolitscheian nobles and thus catch them out of position, but such is life.¡±

 Chapter 201 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 2)

    ¡°Some people love to weave intricate plans. That is a practice I loathe, for such complicated plans often fail to manifest should any one of the many factors involved in it fail to happen as planned. Instead, I believe that when it comes to plans, simplicity has its own beauty.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Quite a few of them out there indeed,¡± commented Reinhardt as he took a closer look at the Warforged. He had not noticed them at first since they wore the same colors as the rest of the Kolitscheian army, but on a close inspection, he noticed the difference between them and the rest of the army they lined up beside. Reinhardt estimated that there were at least five thousand of the Warforged, maybe more, gathered on the right flank of the enemy formation as Nestor predicted, not counting the thousand or so who went to meet the challenge from the Algenverrian nobles.


    At first glance there was little difference between the Warforged and the levy or men-at-arms next to them. On closer inspection however, Reinhardt noticed how the slave soldiers were dressed far more uniformly than the rest. All of them wore some sort of knee-length tunic of light gray on dark blue - the colors of Kolitschei - over which they wore a breastplate that seemed pretty well made, if left unpolished. The drab gray coloring of the unpolished breastplate was what tricked his eyes the first time.


    The main difference was how they were equipped compared to the rest of the Kolitscheian soldiers. From the detachment that went forward to meet the nobles, Reinhardt got a closer look at their equipment. Like Nestor mentioned, the frontmost line of the Warforged formation was almost entirely covered by large tower shields taller than their wielder.


    Given that they were humans, Reinhardt doubted that they would have been able to carry those with one hand - the shields were similar in size to what some of his Company¡¯s stronger shieldbearers carried, though they seemed to be made of hide-covered wood - so probably specialized shieldbearers who carried the shield with both hands, he thought.


    It took a moment longer before they advanced enough for him to get a glimpse of the Warforged arrayed behind the shields properly. Those men and women seemed to have a smaller circular shield held by a strap against their neck and tied to their left upper arms, while they carried long pikes roughly six meters in length with both hands. He also noticed small hatchets carried by their belts, probably as a self-defense weapon for enemies that managed to close.


    As for the elite swordsmen Nestor mentioned, they were the easiest to identify. Unlike the rest of the warforged who only wore a breastplate and a simple metal cap of a helmet for armor, they were more heavily armored, their arms and legs covered in half-plates that protected them from most attacks. Those men and women carried no shields, as they instead carried a single two-handed blade with them - Reinhardt hesitated to call some of what he saw as swords, as they seem to come in great variety, probably up to the individual - and advanced closely behind the shieldbearers.


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    ¡°Damn, those are well disciplined troops all right,¡± praised Reinhardt as he took a closer look at the Warforged formation. The slave soldiers marched almost as if they were merely the same individual turned into a thousand, their steps and movements in synch with each other. Their formation was so seamless and compact it would have been the envy of many commanders and generals Reinhardt knew of.


    The only army he had seen so disciplined in formation was the dwarven army back at Theodinaz, so he was confident in saying that these were one of the most disciplined human armies he had seen in his life.


    ¡°I had hoped that the tradition might suffer after a couple generations of relative inactivity, but that was wishful thinking on my part it seemed,¡± Nestor admitted as he looked at the advancing Warforged with a slight look of consternation on his face. ¡°Then again, that was the main reason I insisted on having your Company with my army, is it not?¡±


    ¡°Should we do anything about them?¡± Reinhardt asked as he watched the two smaller detachments about to meet in the midpoint of the two armies. The difference in discipline was so obvious, as the nobles and their retainers were clearly less disciplined compared to the slave soldiers that opposed them.


    ¡°Nah, this is what they asked for. They can have it,¡± said Nestor coldly. ¡°It is a bit of a waste of life, especially with the men-at-arms who just had the misfortune of choosing a wrong lord to serve, but that¡¯s just how life goes sometimes. Instead, I¡¯d advise you to take this chance to have a good look at how the Warforged fights, Captain Edelstein. The least these arrogant fools can do is gain us some information with their lives.¡±


    ¡°If you say so. You¡¯re the boss here, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. Some people probably would have thought of Nestor as callous or ruthless to use the lives of a thousand men - many of them nobility - to gain information, but he understood the political issues behind the call. After all, those men were most likely his political opponents and had caused him no little trouble, so he took their indignity with his decisions and used it to encourage them to make a decision that would cost them their own lives.


    Two birds with one stone, so to speak.


    While normally Reinhardt would have been worried about a ruthless employer, he believed that Nestor was clever enough not to break contracts with the mercenaries under his employ - which would have alienated all mercenaries worth their salt from him in a wartime situation - and he also understood the logic behind Nestor¡¯s plans.


    After all, they were in enemy territory. While the nearest neighbors of Kolitschei from the Central faction, Lovia-Hosberg and Gestis, were likely still recovering from the last war, if they took too long then there was a good chance that either Duchy might meddle in the situation. They might even find the further away Wanarua intervening to boot. As such, Nestor¡¯s plans had revolved around speed in the first place, although he also prepared enough rations and other supplies for a worst case scenario of the fighting extending all the way into autumn.


    As he thought of those, the two smaller detachments began to clash.

 Side Story 18 - A Life Belonging to Others

    ¡°The practice of slavery, as abhorrent as the idea might be to many who consider themselves civilized these days, were in actuality still a common practice in different corners of the world. From the some smaller sub-nations of the Caliphate in northern Ur-Teros, to a few City-States at our east, even to a few members of our very own Union of Nations, many places still practice slavery.


    If we were to include the practice of slavery as punishment to the count, then most nations of the world in fact do practice slavery. Hard, forced labor are not an uncommon punishment for criminals throughout the world, and what is that but slavery under another guise?¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 691 FP.


    Alvaro ¨C no last name, as slaves were given no such things ¨C had been a slave all his life.


    He was born one, his parents both slaves at a farm belonging to one of the noble lords of Kolitschei. His family had been slaves for many generations, as his grandparents also worked their whole lives at the very same farm, over the very same patches of soil his parents worked when he was born. Such was just their lot in life, and he never questioned it.


    The trajectory of his life changed drastically when he was five years of age. At that age, he was considered large enough to help his parents out with some minor chores. Alvaro was a large and strong boy for his age, easily as large and strong as those a year or two his senior, and he cherished the opportunity to help out his parents wherever they needed his hand.


    It was during that time, when he was helping his father lift bales of harvested wheat into their wagon, that a recruiter for the fabled Warforged spotted him. That curiosity led the man to approach the small family of four ¨C Alvaro¡¯s little sister Nena was just born the year before and was strapped to their mother¡¯s chest with a piece of cloth acting like a sling for her to rest on ¨C and asked about him.


    When the recruiter learned that Alvaro was but five years of age, he knelt before the young boy and looked him straight in the eye before he asked Alvaro the question that would change the boy¡¯s life forever. He asked the boy whether he would like to be inducted into the order of the Warforged, as a trainee, with the possibility of joining the fabled order in full capacity should he prove competent enough.


    Alvaro said yes without even thinking.


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    It was the young boy¡¯s dream come true in the best possible way. The Warforged themselves were slaves like him and his family, but when one looked at the way they were treated by the free men of Kolitschei, the differences were like night and day. Where free men would often act as if slaves were invisible to them and only took caution around them to avoid damaging another¡¯s property, the Warforged were different.


    The Warforged were respected, idolized even, amongst the populace, both slave and free men. Even the nobles of Kolitschei had to tread carefully around them, for the Warforged answer only to one master, and that was the Duke that ruled over the region. Each Warforged was an avatar of war, trained from early childhood in the various disciplines of battle, cruel training that weeded out the worthless without mercy. Only the best of the best were inducted into the order once they were old enough.


    They were the elite of the elites of the Kolitscheian military, and the reason why the Duchy was so feared to the point that its neighbors never dared to enter armed conflicts with them over the past two generations. Rumors even abound of people selling themselves into slavery in their desire to join the vaunted order of slave warriors.


    So it was that Alvaro parted from his family after a modest feast with them that very evening. When his family returned back to the small hut they called home in the midst of the farmland, he followed the old warrior who had invited him towards a large compound built right next to the Ducal Palace. The compound was home to generations of the Warforged.


    There he had his name registered and was shown to a room which housed at least fifty other children around his age, all crammed up in three-tier bunk beds with little amenities beside a straw mattress. Alvaro took it in stride. In fact, the thin, slightly itchy straw mattress was already better than his home, where he and his family usually slept on a straw mat spread over the hard ground.


    Most of the beds already had two occupants by the time he arrived, so he looked around and finally found one that had only one occupant. Alvaro politely asked the girl who sat on the other side of the bed if he could sleep there, only to be answered by an uncaring, silent nod by the girl. Despite the curt welcome, however, the boy slept better than he ever had in his five years on that night.


    Training began the next day, even before the sun had risen over the horizon.


    It was then that Alvaro discovered that his group of almost sixty children was merely one of many. Over twenty such groups, all children aged five to seven, were awakened before dawn, kicked out of their beds where necessary, and made to perform various calisthenics and other physical exercises for hours on end until they sweated profusely under the unforgiving rays of the sun.


    The children were drilled relentlessly and only allowed a short rest at noon, when they were given copious amounts to eat and rich milk to drink. More than a few children had collapsed and refused to go on just that morning alone. They were soon removed from the facilities and sent back to their respective homes, their chance wasted.


    Alvaro persevered through the harsh training. Over time he realized what the instructors meant to do with the grueling physical workout and rich food. All of it was intended to build their rather malnourished bodies into a body more suitable for a warrior. The already tall boy grew taller and larger like a sprout as he relentlessly worked out day in and day out under the not-so-tender care of his instructors, the only goal in his mind was to make his parents proud by becoming one of the vaunted Warforged himself.

 Side Story 19 - A Better Life Through Hard Work

    ¡°While most people might think that a Slave¡¯s life would be a horrible one full of hard labor and inhuman treatment, it was not always the case. In some cultures, slaves were employed as teachers, as researchers and scholars who worked on tasks their masters set them to.


    Quite naturally these slaves were valued far more and treated far better compared to those who did hard labor on the farmlands or the mines. History also had many instances of slave soldiers, who were often at the very least elite units, often giving themselves a better accounting on the field of battle compared to free men.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 691 FP.


    Nine years quickly passed, and Alvaro managed to remain as part of the Warforged trainees despite the ever-increasingly difficult training they were put through. He had grown into a tall and strong young lad, one of the strongest out of the children his age. Years of non-stop physical training had forged a body that was almost like it was carved out of marble rather than made of flesh.


    Out of the over a thousand children from his batch of trainees, less than a hundred remained. Those hundred had since been re-divided into five barracks of twenty or so children each. From the sixty that had been in Alvaro¡¯s old room, only two remained, him included. Despite how their room had the least amount of trainees remaining, they also stood heads and shoulders above the others in terms of quality.


    Njeri was the girl who had shared the bunk bed with him when they were both small children. She was also the only other trainee from their room to have ¡°survived¡± the harsh training together with him. Unlike him, Njeri was leaner and lithe in physique, but all that did was to remind him of the great predatory cats he had once seen stalk off with a lamb from a neighboring ranch when he was young.


    As Njeri grew up and the differences between men and women become more apparent, Alvaro found himself surprised ¨C and in some way, relieved ¨C that a recruiter had picked her for Warforged training all those years ago. He probably had those thought because if Njeri had not been inducted into the training, chances were she¡¯d be a pleasure slave for whoever owned her parents by now.


    She was beautiful. Her skin was the darkest shade Alvaro ever laid eyes upon, as dark as the wood of ebony trees, much unlike his own olive brown hue which was typical to most northerners. Dark skin like Njeri¡¯s was one of the symbols of beauty amongst the people of Kolitschei and many of the nearby regions, and even then it was rare to find a person with a shade of such flawless ebony like hers.


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    That beauty had been transformed into the dangerous beauty of a naked blade after all the training he and Njeri had been through. Despite her lithe frame, the girl was by far one of the deadliest fighters in their group, as she had proved over the many spars all the remaining children had. Alvaro was about the only one who managed to hold his own against her amongst them.


    After Alvaro turned twelve years old, their training changed. Rather than general training intended to strengthen their bodies, they started to receive more specialized training under the watchful eyes of older Warforged from two generations ago. The children that remained after the weak and unspirited were rooted out were then subjected to new, yet even harsher training.


    Most were made to practice with long pikes, six meters in length with shafts of hardwood, a spearhead on one end and a spike on the other. Even lifting the massive weapon alone was an ordeal for a twelve to fourteen year old child, despite all the training they had gone through, much less training with it from sunrise to sunset.


    Those who had great physical fitness but were less coordinated with their hands were separated and taken to train as shieldbearers. They were given massive shields the size of a door and made to carry it with them during every waking moment, only allowed to set them aside when they slept at night. While the intensity of their training increased compared to before, nobody quit this time.


    They all knew that if they passed through this hurdle successfully, formal inducement into the Warforged lay before them.


    Alvaro and Njeri were part of yet another group. A much smaller one, with only six of them chosen out of their batch of a hundred. They were all the best performers amongst the group in the sparring practices, and as such had been chosen to be trained as Blademasters. It was the highest compliment and affirmation Alvaro received for his hard work of the past years.


    The Blademasters were the most respected of all the Warforged. They were the commanders of the Warforged formations, as well as the deadliest fighters in each. They were trained in the use of weapons of their personal choice, with the only criteria for ¡°graduation¡± being that they were able to defeat at least five veteran pikemen working together, all on their lonesome.


    Njeri was the first to graduate from their training, at the tender age of fifteen.


    Alvaro followed suit a couple months later, shortly after his own fifteenth birthday. The day the young man was inducted into the order of the Warforged as a Junior Blademaster was the proudest day of his life. He was even more touched when he saw his parents and younger sister amongst the small audience for the simple ceremony, part of his privileges as a Warforged.


    His parents and little sister were elevated in status overnight. From their previous position as slave laborers in the farmlands, they were brought in as servants in the Ducal Palace. It was as high and comfortable a position a slave could aim for other than joining the vaunted order of the Warforged. Alvaro later learnt that the family of every member were given similar privileges, unless the member in question requested that they be denied that privilege, sadly not an uncommon situation for those from broken households or with abusive parents.

 Side Story 20 - Called Upon to do Ones Part

    ¡°For every sort of privilege, comes a responsibility to even it out.¡± - Saying by an ancient unnamed philosopher.


    On a wonderful spring day, just a mere week after he turned seventeen, Alvaro heard the loud sound of bugles resound through the Warbound compound. It was a sound that all of them had been taught to keep an ear on, but also one he had never heard for real in his twelve years of training and life within the compound. It was the call to arms.


    The call which was only sounded when the Warforged was roused to war.


    Alvaro dropped the book he was reading ¨C one of the perks of being Warforged was that they were taught to read and write amongst other things and he found that he really enjoyed reading ¨C on his bed and leapt out before he ran outside. He was only wearing his shorts and nothing else, as it was their free time of the day and he was happily lounging around in his room when the call sounded.


    Many other Warforged in various states of undress ¨C some even clad only with blankets wrapped crudely around their bodies ¨C rushed out from their own respective rooms as well. The rooms they were assigned as official warforged were better than the barracks they used to live in, with only four of them in a room. It also allowed for them to get some privacy from time to time.


    As they passed the public bathhouse in the compound he waved down Njeri who had just ran out from there, clad in little more than a towel draped around her torso. Neither of them were bothered by their state of relative undress, having lived together for the past dozen years. In fact, most of them likely only wrapped something around their bodies because they did not wish to show up to muster naked rather than out of any sense of modesty.


    It had not taken long before all the Warforged present within the compound, nearly six thousand ¨C which was most of them, other than a couple squads tasked with guarding the Duke ¨C of them gathered by the training field, where one of the most senior Warforged had stood at the dais in front of them. Everyone lined up in neat formations despite their various states of dress and stood ramrod straight as they waited for the announcement that everyone knew would come.


    That war was upon them.


    None of them truly paid much attention to the announcement itself. They were all just filled with giddy excitement, especially the older Warforged who might be close to forced retirement when they grew too old to fight. War was coming and the Duke had ordered their deployment. The first combat deployment of the Warforged in the last two generations.


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    Before the sun had set, all of the Warforged, a little over six thousand men and women from young ones still in their teenage years to grizzled white-haired veterans from several generations back, had lined up outside the city¡¯s eastern gate. They were fully armed and armored, and Duke Orsla Banitu himself rode past their ranks as he inspected the assembled soldiers.


    Together with the six thousand Warforged were twice as many men-at-arms and levies from the various minor nobles that had territories near the city itself. As they marched further to the east, towards where the invaders from Algenverr was, more troops from nobles that lived further away from the city joined their ranks and swelled their numbers to around thirty thousand in total.


    When the day arrived where they stood across the enemy army across the Nedja Plains, Alvaro and the squad he was part of stood near the very front, and the young Warforged could barely contain his excitement. His squad consisted of forty pikemen, ten shieldbearers, and four blademasters including himself, with a young noble scion ¨C one of the Duke¡¯s nephews if he remembered right ¨C acting as their commander.


    Normally command of a Warforged squad would be assumed by a senior Blademaster from previous generations, but due to the long period of inactivity, there was a lack of those who had experience with command. As such, the Duke assigned some young folks from his family as commanders instead, with around twenty-five of them commanding a Warforged squad each.


    Alvaro watched as a small thousand-man detachment marched ahead of the enemy army and screamed out challenges, as a member of the nobility to another. From his position, he was close enough to see the mocking smile on Duke Banitu¡¯s face as he passed some commands to couriers who then relayed them off, and before long, twenty squads of Warforged, each led by a family member of the Duke, marched out from the army¡¯s formation.


    Alvaro¡¯s squad happened to be one of them.


    The young Blademaster was almost beside himself with excitement as his squad moved to the front of the rectangular formation. His squad was positioned just to the right of their center, at the very front, and they would have the honor of being amongst the first to engage with the enemies before them. All of them were aware of the privilege and responsibilities they were granted.


    All the shieldbearers gripped the handles of their large tower shields firmly as they readied their bodies and minds for the battle soon to be joined. The pikemen behind them marched forward with their long weapons held high with pride. Alvaro himself along with the squad¡¯s three other Blademasters - Njeri amongst them ¨C skulked between the shieldbearers and the pikemen, keeping themselves mostly out of sight.


    Their role in battle was either to charge in and disrupt the enemy formation, or to defend their squad from an enemy attack that managed to get past the pikes. They were given the independence to act as they saw fit, and wore better armor that also covered their limbs so that they could focus on the use of their weapons better.


    Behind them, amongst the rear ranks of the pikemen, rode their commander, the young noble perched on the back of his steed. Alvaro would have preferred to have an experienced veteran to guide and command his squad in their first battle, but he kept the complaint to himself. Even in his position, he understood the meanings and implications of a battle between nobles, just like the one he was about to take part in, as troops under one such noble¡¯s command.


    As the two small groups approached each other, the pikemen lowered their pikes, while their shieldbearers hefted their shields as they supported it with their whole bodies. In contrast to the enemy army who yelled war cries and obscenities, the Warforged only countered with an eerie silence as they marched to meet their foes.


    Then the opposing armies clashed against one another.

 Side Story 21 - To Find Purpose in Battle

    ¡°Some people might look just like everybody else around them, a peaceful and kind member of society, one that never resorted to violence in their lives when they could avoid it. Yet those very same people sometimes turned to literal demons when placed on the battlefield, and once they had gone through such a change, often found it difficult to return to their previous peaceful life.


    Many such people often tried and failed to acclimate themselves to peace. Many turned to violent crime, while yet others sought more of that excitement in their lives and went on to be adventurers or mercenaries, despite the risks those professions entailed.


    For some, once they had tasted the excitement of battle, there was no going back.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 691 FP.


    To an outside observer, the beginning of the battle between the two small detachments might seem lackluster and boring.


    After all, no sane person would run themselves right into a waiting wall of spearheads, and similarly no commander was stupid enough to give such a command unless it was out of desperation. As such, the Algenverr troops halted their advance just beyond the arrayed pikes of the Warforged, as they tried to use their shorter spears to shove aside the longer pikes.


    The Warforged naturally refused to allow them to do so, and they thrust with their pikes in retaliation. Most of those thrusts were deflected away or met with sturdy shields, though a few managed to slip past and find purchase into flesh. Even so, their opponents stoically shifted the injured to the rear and had fresh soldiers take up their spots on the line.


    In return, the troops from Algenverr pelted the Warforged formation with arrows. The large tower shields held by the shieldbearers at the front stopped most of the arrows. Out of the few arrows that went past them, most were blocked by the smaller circular shield the Warforged pikemen hung against their left arms. Only a few caused injuries, and in most cases the injuries were light.


    Some projectiles like javelins and throwing axes were also hurled from the Algenverr side, again to little effect, as the two armies faced off in a relative stalemate. The Warforged were very well trained, but mostly had little actual combat experience. In contrast, the people from Algenverr might have worse training, but the frequent beast incursions they had to deal with meant many of them had life and death battle experience.


    The two armies struggled to gain advantage over each other for a while, as they attempted to break the other¡¯s formation and form gaps they could exploit. Neither side¡¯s attempt succeeded, and from where he stood, Alvaro noticed his commander apparently discussing something with the other noble commanders present amongst the squads.


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    When dozens of Blademasters from the other squads came to the frontlines, Alvaro understood what their commanders wished for them to do. Sure enough, a command from above arrived, an order for the gathered blademasters from the twenty squads to brave the enemy lines and break their cohesion for the rest to exploit.


    Alvaro lowered the visor of his helmet as he waited for the order from the senior Blademaster put in charge of the mission. He exchanged a look of reassurance with Njeri to his right, as well as a couple other blademasters from their batch to his left as he waited. After what felt like both an eternity and a brief moment, the shouted command came.


    The moment the shieldbearer in front of him angled his shield to the side just enough to let Alvaro pass through, the young Warforged rushed out with his greatblade in hand. The first few steps he took were uncontested by their foes, who were probably caught by surprise by the sudden rush. Then he saw one of the enemy warriors hurl an axe to his direction.


    Reflexes took over as Alvaro raised his two-handed blade in a sweeping motion in the room afforded him between the pikes of his comrades. The curved blade of his weapon struck the flying axe by its handle and lofted it above his head, allowing him to pass beneath it safely. He saw Njeri to his right deflect a javelin using the parrying stick integrated into the buckler she held on her left hand as well.


    After he took another three steps, Alvaro was close enough to strike at the enemy frontline with his weapon, and they could do the same to him. A spear stabbed at him, but he struck it down with his greatblade, the sharp edge of his curved blade biting deep into the wooden shaft of the spear. Before his opponent could recover from the blow, Alvaro twisted his wrists and struck at the topside of his opponent¡¯s shield with the false edge of his blade.


    The weapon¡¯s curve allowed the tip to land behind the shield and its tip even noisily scratched his opponent¡¯s helmet, which sent the man flinching back in surprise. Alvaro took that moment to pull his weapon towards himself, the small bit of sharpened blade at the back end of his weapon¡¯s tip acting like a hook as he wrenched his opponent¡¯s shield away.


    Then he thrust forward with his blade and stabbed directly through the chain mail worn by the Algenverrian soldier, directly into the man¡¯s gut. A length of the man¡¯s intestine was ripped out from the wound when he pulled his blade back once more, and sent the man down to his knees as he clutched at his wound.


    To his left, other Blademasters similarly struck the Algenverrian frontlines with varying degrees of effectiveness. One unfortunate young Blademaster ¨C probably from the batch before Alvaro¡¯s own ¨C laid face down between the two armies, with an axe embedded into his face.


    Njeri to Alvaro¡¯s right already made her way into the enemy formation, though. She used the buckler/parrying staff hybrid on her left hand to defend herself as she tore through her opponents with the sickle-like shotel she held in her right hand. With her as an example to chase after, Alvaro squeezed himself into the gap he opened, and started swinging his two-handed Khopesh in wide, circular motions.


    The swings were fast and measured, and were not meant to slay his enemies but more to make them wary and prevent them from closing in on him. They did their job, and some of his enemies took an involuntary step back as the blade whizzed past just before their eyes. As a result the tight formation scattered slightly near where Alvaro was.


    His fellow Warforged behind him latched on to that opening as their long pikes stabbed enemy soldiers to the left and right of where Alvaro held his ground. The same scene could be witnessed up and down the lines as the Warforged started to break the Algenverrian formation and pressed their advantage.

 Chapter 202 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 3)

    ¡°Wars and battles in the past often took very different looks than what we are familiar with today. Back in the distant past they might be decided by a contest of champions, or of small groups of important people fighting against each other, with most of the casualties taken on the losing side taking place during their retreat or rout.


    As the times shifted, such things were left behind, and personal prowess took a backseat to formation and tactics. General moved from leading the charges directly from the very front to the rear of the battlefield, where they relayed order from the comfort and safety of their tents.


    Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, was hard to tell.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, Circa 691 FP.


    ¡°They¡¯re breaking,¡± commented Reinhardt as he watched the distant battle between the Algenverrian nobles and the Warforged.


    Even from the distance, with the aid of the spyglass in his hands he noticed how a smaller detachment of the better-armored Warforged wielding all sorts of weapons caused havoc at the Algenverrian frontlines. Havoc that created openings for their allies behind them. When the pikes thrust and found flesh, the formation that already wavered started to unravel in full.


    Gaps were opened where the Warforged struck, and the slave soldiers pressed their advantage as they advanced closer and intensified their attacks. The smaller detachment had not retreated either, but continued wreaking havoc in the midst of the enemy formation, their various weapons flashing left and right, often incapacitating their target or directly claiming lives.


    Now that Reinhardt got a better look at them, he realized that those must be the Blademasters Nestor mentioned, the elite of the elites of the slave soldiers. They acted as the shock troopers for the rest and definitely showed great skill with the handling of their weapons. That, combined with their lack of fear allowed them to damage the integrity of the Algenverrian formation, while raising their own morale and lowering the enemy morale all at the same time.


    ¡°I suggest we get back to our respective troops, Captain,¡± said Nestor from beside him. ¡°I will likely order the general advance soon.¡±


    The young nobleman shook his head for a moment as he stored his spyglass, probably at the folly and self-serving intentions of the people who had marched out to ¡°prove¡± their mettle in the traditional, outdated ways. Nestor himself held no love for such traditions. He was a military commander and a leader first and foremost, and to him victory was the only worthy result, no matter the means.


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    Antiquated concepts such as ¡°Honor¡± and ¡°Traditions¡± be damned.


    Reinhardt nodded at the suggestion which was more of a command and gave Nestor a military salute before he departed. From the corner of his eye he noticed the young couple share a hug before they too made their way to their respective legions, with Griselda headed roughly the same way Reinhardt was. Nestor himself veered off a bit further to their right where the first legion awaited him.


    Not ten minutes later, the command to advance was given, and the entire coalition army from Algenverr and Jonkver marched forward to the drum beats.


    With his height, Reinhardt kept track of the still-ongoing battle in the middle of the plains. The two thousand or so soldiers and Warforged engaged in combat there had not noticed the advance of the armies, as occupied as they were with each other. Across the field, the rest of the Kolitscheian army looked surprised to see their opponents march forward before the proxy fight was even concluded, and their reaction was also late as a result.


    The coalition army had already marched halfway to the center of the battlefield by the time their opponents reacted and marched to match them. The Kolitcheian army clearly made their soldiers march faster so as to be able to meet their opponents in the center of the plains where the terrain was more to their advantage, but they still reached there a step later than the coalition army.


    It was only then that those who fought the proxy battle in the middle noticed their arrival. For a brief moment, the detachment of Algenverrian nobles and their retinue seemed hopeful, and sent flag signals to the advancing army. Calls for reinforcement and requests for permission to retreat. They had clearly bitten off more than they could chew and now wished to wash their hands off the matter.


    Nestor quashed that hope of theirs right away, however, as he returned the flag signals with a stern rejection to both requests.


    Before Reinhardt¡¯s eyes, the small detachment seemed to unravel and rout not long afterwards ¨C probably because the nobles realized that no help was forthcoming and they tried to save their hides any way possible ¨C as the Warforged pushed even further into their formation. It was too late for those nobles to try to escape, however, as by then the coalition army¡¯s frontline had pressed against their backs and gave them nowhere to run to.


    They were sandwiched between their own allies which refused to give way so that they could escape, and the detachment of Warforged on the other side.


    The area of the frontlines which pressed against the backs of those nobles and their retinues were where the First Legion was stationed, as Nestor took the matter in his own hands. There was no sympathy for the overreaching nobles to be found. Further to their left the Second Legion under Griselda would offer them no solace, while to the right the Jonkver troops simply kept to themselves and allowed Algenverr to handle their ¡°internal¡± matters.


    By the time the Kolitscheian army on the other side reached the front and lent their support to the small detachment of Warforged that fought the proxy battle, the nobles and their retinues found themselves literally pincered by two warring armies that paid no heed whatsoever to them. If they happened to be in the way, then they would be slaughtered, just like that.


    The battle was truly joined between the two armies moments later, sixty thousand people clashing against each other on the Nedja plains, some fought for coins, some to defend their homeland, some to gain merit and honor, some because it was their purpose in life to fight. Their spears and blades struck at each other, weapons battering against shield and armor, and as fortune decrees, occasionally found flesh beneath.


    In the midst of the carnage, nobody paid much heed to the nobles and their retinue who had been left out to die by their own side.

 Chapter 203 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 4)

    ¡°People often say that no plan survives contact with the enemy. That is not strictly correct. Sometimes plans do survive and do as expected even after direct contact with the enemy.


    Sometimes.¡± - Kevan Lasendi El-Geroulaz, Baron of Gerouz circa 27 FP.


    Reinhardt directed the Free Lances to follow after the movements of Griselda and her Second Legion directly to their front. At the moment, the two armies had basically engaged each other in massive, tight-knit formation. The battle between them was more a race on who would manage to disrupt their opponent¡¯s cohesion on a large scale first, which would in turn cause openings to be exploited.


    Formation warfare like that was the norm in most of the world still, at least amongst humans and dwarves. Individual prowess mattered less in such a setting, while unit cohesion and discipline became the key. It was thus more beneficial when one considered that most human armies tend to be heavily bulked up by levies and conscripts.


    Training a conscripted peasant to be able to match a seasoned, well trained professional soldier in a one on one battle was something that would take a lot of time and effort. In contrast, training a group of such peasants to adhere to a formation and listen to the commands of their unit commander took far less time. As was often the case, practicalities often dictated the tactics used on the battlefield.


    Though in the case of the dwarves, it was their penchant for heavy armor and almost ingrained sense of unity and discipline that made them favor this style of warfare, rather than the practical necessities the humans ascribed to.


    At the moment, the Kolitscheian had a slight advantage to their morale as their Warforged had technically won the proxy battle so ¡°rudely¡± interrupted by the coalition forces¡¯ advance. Their frontlines also held well against the coalition frontline, with their right flank ¨C where the Warforged had been concentrated ¨C pushing hard against the First Legion of Algenverr under Nestor¡¯s direct command.


    The rain of arrows from the Kolitscheian rear, where their much-vaunted archers were stationed, did not help either. The coalition soldiers behind the frontlines were forced to raise their shields to cover themselves, which made it harder for them to support those ahead of them using their bodies and mass. At the moment, the lines still held, however.


    Griselda initiated the maneuver they had planned for since the day before at that moment, as she swung part of the coalition army¡¯s left flank in a wide, swooping maneuver, intended to strike at the Kolitscheian lines from its side. Their opponents noticed the maneuver, and before the Second Legion could complete it, multiple layers of Warforged units had peeled off from the back of the enemy formation and turned to face them.


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    With a loud clash of spears and shields, the Second Legion collided with the Warforged that shifted to defend against their maneuver. The trained soldiers actually held their own reasonably well, as they fearlessly pushed the long pikes of the Warforged aside using their shields and shorter spears. They managed to push close enough to the Warforged formation that the Blademasters assigned to those units were sent out in defense.


    That was when Griselda gave Reinhardt the agreed-upon signal and ordered the Second Legion to part to the sides.


    The sudden disengagement surprised the Warforged as they had not expected it. It took a moment before their equally surprised commanders ordered for them to pounce on the opening in the enemy formation, and they had just moved to obey said commands when they realized that it was too late to do so. The Free Lances had rapidly flooded into the opened gap and charged straight at them by then.


    While the Warforged were highly skilled, they still had a gap in their training. They were a local force of Posuin, and as such, had been trained entirely to fight against other human opponents given the nation¡¯s racial policy in its past centuries. To say that they were not well-prepared to face down a charge from a decidedly inhuman opposition would be an understatement.


    Much less when said charge was led by a group of therians that each stood at least three meters tall and weighed more than half a ton, wielding massive door-sized metal tower shields that were impervious to their pikes.


    The long, sturdy pikes they relied on to keep their enemies at bay bounced off harmlessly against the thick metal slabs that the shieldbearers called a shield, and were either pushed aside, or in the case of those who braced and anchored the other end of their spear to the ground, snapped in twain. The shieldbearers of the Warforged, all chosen for their large, sturdy physiques which allowed them to wield the massive tower shields they carried, were pushed aside like they were children trying to block an adult.


    Some of the warforged were forced to step back. Others stumbled and fell on their rears from the sudden push. The most unfortunate ones lost their footing in front of the onrushing wall of steel and were directly trampled to a meat paste by the heavy boots and footpads of the therian shieldbearers of the Free Lances.


    Neither did they stop there.


    The shieldbearers formed the point of the spearhead as the Free Lances in its entirety forced their way through the Warforged formation. Their target was to strike at the Warforged that were engaged with the First Legion at the frontlines from behind, and they needed to carve their way through a good part of the Warforged to do so.


    The shieldbearers managed to rely on their mass and momentum to bully their way through three layers of the Warforged¡¯s lines, but ground to a halt at the fourth. They knew what to do in such a situation however, and the shieldbearers themselves in turn parted to both sides, like a beast¡¯s jaw opening wide. From the opening they created, Reinhardt led the best of the shock troopers of the Free Lances directly into the fray as they took up the role of opening the way for the rest.

 Chapter 204 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 5)

    ¡°It takes a very different skill set to kill a beast than it does to take on a man.¡± - Ferro Lucius Spaghlieri, fencing instructor based in Levain, circa 692 FP.


    While Reinhardt and Mischka led the shock troopers of the Company from the front, Elfriede supported them from the sides, as her smaller group of almost forty men and women ¨C they had replenished their losses and then some in the past five years ¨C split into two groups and looked after their flanks. Each group had their own purpose in this battle. The shock troops were at the forefront and opened the way, while the shieldbearers had fallen back to cover their flanks on the rear side.


    Elfriede¡¯s group of killers were one of the groups tasked with getting rid of troublesome individuals from the opposing side if they tried to strike the flanks of the mercenary formation.


    She herself led half the group and covered the right flank of the mercenary formation, working in conjunction with Fatimah and her group. On the left flank Ylisera took the other half, where she paired off with Nicole and her scout detachment, which functioned as light infantry in the current battle. Most of the time they just rushed along with the rest of their mercenary brethren, but when a particularly troublesome threat came, they struck.


    Three of the Warforged pikemen had dropped their long pikes ¨C useless in the close quarters the mercenaries rushed to ¨C and pulled out their hatchets, about to make an assault to the flanks of the formation when they were suddenly struck down, each with a clean strike to the throat. Their killer was a scarred, one-eyed woman who slipped back into the midst of the rushing mercenaries without skipping a beat.


    It has been five years since Katja was practically strong-armed into working for the mercenaries, yet it was not something she regretted at all. The past few years had been the most peaceful and stable her life had ever been, and she even already paid off her bounty from her deducted salary a year ago. She chose to stay with the mercenaries at that point.


    During those years Elfriede and the others who worked under her had brought up a point that Katja could not deny. That she was a killer. A talented one at that. Her trying to deny what she was brought her little results, and instead the others pointed out that after some more years of working for the mercenaries and saving up, she could easily retire and live whatever sort of life she wished for.


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    Elfriede seemed like she had expected Katja¡¯s decision to stay when she expressed her mind back then.


    As Katja slipped back into her position in the mercenary formation, she caught a glimpse of movement further ahead. One of the Warforged Blademasters had apparently led a charge towards the mercenary formation together with around a dozen of the hatchet-wielding pikemen, only to be met by Elfriede herself, along with Fatimah and a few of her people.


    Warforged pikemen were trained for fighting in formation and cooperative tactics, and given their weapon of choice, favored keeping their enemies more than an arm¡¯s reach away from them. The current situation which the Free Lances had forced down their throats was to their disadvantage, even as many of them dropped their long pikes in favor of the hatchets they used in close combat.


    As well-trained as the pikemen were, Fatimah and her people were hardened killers with far more experience than them. The southern woman led five of her Nightstalkers with sword and short spear in hand as they made short work of the dozen Warforged pikemen rushing towards the mercenary flank. The pikemen never stood any chance whatsoever.


    With a swift strike of her short, forward-curved sword, Fatimah shoved one pikeman¡¯s hatcher aside, leaving an opening through which her short spear struck like a serpent, straight into the man¡¯s throat. She withdrew her spear from the dying man¡¯s throat the next moment and used its shaft to parry and deflect another blow aimed at her, before her sword flashed over and severed that opponent¡¯s hand at the wrist.


    A swift return slice with the forward-curved blade of the sword slit the man¡¯s throat open and caused his scream of pain to terminate in a wet gurgle.


    Meanwhile, Elfriede took on the Blademaster. The Blademaster was an older man, his coarse beard already partly turned to white with age, who swung a sword in one hand and an axe in the other with the deft precision of an expert. Elfriede met his every feint and swing with one of her own however, and quickly got the blademaster on the backfoot.


    The twin blades she wielded were lighter and more nimble than her opponent¡¯s weapons due to their construction, and their edges far keener since they were made of mithril. Before long, her opponent was distraught as one of Elfriede¡¯s strikes found a notch made by a previous strike on the man¡¯s axe shaft and successfully slashed through the wood cleanly.


    With decades of experience, the Blademaster just managed to lean his body out of the reach of Elfriede¡¯s blade even as he delivered a counterattack with his remaining sword. To his dismay however, Elfriede caught the blade of his sword mid-swing between her own weapon¡¯s blade and its crescent-shaped handguard, keeping it stationary for a brief moment.


    That brief moment was all she needed to land her blow. The short, scythe-like blade perpendicularly attached to her sword pierced through her opponent¡¯s cheek at an upward angle, the blade piercing deeper into the man¡¯s skull cavity from below even as the upright blade tore his cheek wide open and exposed his teeth and gums to open air.


    The fighting only took a brief moment from the start to the end, and Elfriede left together with Fatimah and the rest as they re-integrated into the moving mercenary formation as if they had never left. The only sign of their passage being the dead bodies they left behind, many lying dead with their eyes wide open in disbelief, unaccepting of their fates to the very end.

 Chapter 205 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 6)

    ¡°People always celebrated the generals, the commanders, as well as the strategists when battles were won. Far too many forgot about the humble footsoldiers, without whose spilled blood and sweat such victories would have proven improbable.¡± - Liang Si-Zhu, Famed Tactician of the Huan Confederacy, circa 92 VA.


    On the Company¡¯s left flank, Ylisera led the other half of Elfriede¡¯s crew as they did their best to ward off the Warforged and their attempt to halt the mercenaries¡¯ advance deeper into their formation. Nicole and her group did their best to aid them in that endeavor, the scouts used to hit-and-fade attacks and brief but violent ambushes, which made them suitable for that task.


    Despite their best efforts however, the left flank faced more trouble than the right. While Nicole¡¯s people were experienced in similar tactics, they were not a unified group of former assassins like Fatimah and her Nightstalkers. They could not kill off their skilled opponents as quickly and effortlessly as their compatriots on the opposite flank had.


    Fortunately they had other help as well on their side of the battlefield.


    Nicole struggled with one of the Warforged blademasters, who parried her Rhomphaia with his own glaive-like polearm and steadily pushed her back. The young woman had been in the lead of her own unit in the Company for a decade now, and had matured from the young girl who barely knew what she was doing back at Theodinaz, but her opponent had likely trained with his weapon longer than she had even been alive.


    Despite the disadvantages in skill and experience, Nicole still held her own against the older Blademaster, and kept him occupied. She was stalling for time, because she knew that she was not fighting alone against the enemy. She had the rest of her unit ¨C people who she had gone through thick and thin with ¨C behind her back.


    Certainly enough, before too long another of her scouts had finished off another of the Warforged that had followed behind the Blademaster and came to her aid. A spear thrust straight towards the side of the old Blademaster she was entangled with, drawing the Blademaster¡¯s attention for a brief moment as he parried the attack and sent it swerving off to a harmless direction.


    It was an opportunity Nicole had not wasted, as she swung her curved Rhomphaia with both hands in a vicious upwards swing aimed towards the relatively unarmored spot between her opponent¡¯s legs.


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    The old Blademaster reacted fast enough to block her strike, even as the blade of her weapon cut nearly halfway through the wooden shaft of the man¡¯s glaive. As a result, the weapons were stuck together for a brief moment, right when the scout that gave Nicole a hand earlier returned with another thrust from his spear.


    Even then the old Blademaster still managed to divert the spear enough that it only grazed the side of his waist, just below the armor, rather than pierce into something vital. It proved to be a moment of distraction he could ill afford as Nicole¡¯s blade came for his wrist before he could react much. The old man still managed to get his wrist out of danger and took the blow on the bracer that covered his forearm, but the blow still hit hard enough to crack bone regardless.


    He failed to deflect a third stab which sunk into the side of his thigh, and as he fell to one knee, the point of Nicole¡¯s blade struck him directly on his left eye as she thrust the blade forward like a short spear. Nicole gave the blade a quick twist to both sides before she placed her foot against the man¡¯s chest for support and yanked the bloody blade out.


    ¡°Thanks for the save, Wes,¡± said Nicole to the scout that helped her take down the old Blademaster.


    ¡°Just doing my job, boss. Should we give Miss Sera a hand?¡± he returned as they both rushed back towards the mercenary formation, having been pulled out of position by the battle.


    Slightly ahead of them, Ylisera and her group tackled another attempted assault by the Warforged. They clearly fared better than Nicole¡¯s group, however, despite being outnumbered by their opponents. One of the reasons why was that the group under Ylisera were after all part of Elfriede¡¯s group. The group that was regularly tasked with the riskiest missions yet returned mostly intact all the time. They were all veterans of many life and death battles.


    Another reason was Ylisera herself. The elven former prostitute moved with such grace that she looked as if she was dancing on the battlefield. The saber she held in her right hand looked far too fragile and slender to be an actual weapon, yet it parted flesh and clothes as if there was nothing in its way. It was the same saber the noble from Lovia-Hosberg had used five years ago, which Elfriede then gave to Ylisera to use. The elven woman had put the mithril saber to good use in the years since.


    The last reason was the large arrow as thick as one of Nicole¡¯s fingers that protruded from the eye of the blademaster that had led that assault. Salicia had been closer to the left side of the formation, and she kept an eye on situations that she thought needed some help. When she had seen the assault headed Ylisera¡¯s way while Nicole¡¯s people were still occupied, the one-eyed archer sent an arrow to help without any hesitation.


    Needless to say, the early death of the Blademaster leading them took the wind out of the sails of the Warforged¡¯s attempted assault, which left Ylisera and her people to clean the rest of them up before they could bother the rest of the advancing mercenaries. Within minutes none of the Warforged who made the attempted assault were left. Most had fought to their deaths, while one that tried to turn back and run only found Kari¡¯s blade in the back of his neck as a reward.


    Throughout that time, the Free Lances kept moving forward as they cut through the Warforged formation, until they went through the lines that covered the flank, and found themselves next to the rear of the formation. They were in a position to pincer the Warforged fighting against the First and Second Legions from the rear, and Reinhardt immediately gave the command to do just that.

 Chapter 206 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 7)

    ¡°The practice of mercenaries and soldiers who were regularly tasked with the most dangerous missions getting increased pay was a common thing in all nations throughout history. After all, people needed proper motivation to throw themselves into danger, and money was one of the easiest motivation sources to distribute.¡± - Idris Ogunve, General of the Army from Horststadt, circa 692 FP.


    Mischka B?nfinn had been a mercenary for most of her five decades and change of life. She started young, in a small family-run company led by her father, and eventually took over as leader when her parents retired and passed on the command to her. Their small company had been part of the Vanguard Legions for over a decade by the time of the Theodinaz campaigns, one of the last decisions made by her father before he stepped down.


    It had been a good decision for the most part, as their small group of therian mercenaries were powerful, but also specialized and needed the support of others to function at their best. The Legion¡¯s disastrous end in Theodinaz was a troublesome one for them, though the offer to work together with the remnants of the Free Lances at that time alleviated some of their issues.


    Over a decade later and that arrangement was far more permanent in nature, as while Mischka had worried about the skill of the young leader of the Free Lances back then, Reinhardt had proven himself competent as a strategist in the years since. More importantly, he knew when to take some time off from the action, which was something many mercenary captains often failed to consider.


    Not many captains would have even considered getting low-paying garrison work for their company while they rebuilt. More often than not captains of companies that were in dire predicaments either monetarily or in manpower would throw themselves into dangerous missions like moth to a flame, in the hopes of gaining enough money and fame to recover from their predicament.


    Mischka appreciated that Reinhardt was content to take the slow, safe, and steady way to refill his Company¡¯s ranks instead.


    Even this contract in the former territory of Posuin, he only took after he ascertained that it was mostly defensive in nature. While they were currently on the offense, it was one executed after much preparation and planning, rather than a haphazard one. More importantly, the Free Lances had also recovered to their pre-Theodinaz numbers by then, and were fully capable of executing the mission they were paid for.


    As such, Mischka had no qualms whatsoever to lead her people ¨C many of which were part of the best shock troopers in the Company ¨C from the front. Their role was a risky one, to break through the enemy lines using their superior size and mass, and for that, they were also rewarded plentifully. The knowledge that Reinhardt himself led the other half of the shock troopers also showed that he was willing to do what he commanded others to do himself, which further raised their morale.


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    Mischka had always considered the members of her unit as her family ¨C which got rather literal, when she considered that she used to count three of her children as part of the unit, along with a larger number of grandchildren ¨C but she had never considered the Vanguard Legion the same way back then. The Free Lances on the other hand, grew on her over the past decade, and made her feel like she had found a good home for her people even after her own time had passed.


    Her people had integrated well with the mixed personnel of the Free Lances, and three of her younger grandchildren had even forged a friendship with the Captain¡¯s own daughter, who was likely to succeed her father as commander in the future. As such, Mischka was determined to help make her people even more valued in the Company, the only way she knew how.


    By feats of arms.


    So Mischka stepped forward, ahead of the rest of her people. She was clad in a suit of brigandine that sat snugly atop her fur like it was a second layer of skin, a luxury she had never even considered before joining the Free Lances. Getting proper armor for someone her size was a difficult endeavor in most places, and was usually costlier than what she could afford.


    Joining with the Free Lances on the other hand meant she had the attention of Hogarth himself, who even amongst the dwarves was considered a grandmaster craftsman. He had first made suits of armor for her and the rest of her people back in Theodinaz, and never stopped striving to improve them over the past decade.


    The current set she wore covered her entire torso down to her waist, with flaps that covered her thighs and pauldrons that protected her shoulders. Her forearms and shins were clad in bracers and greaves of the same material, and what material it was. Mischka had never even dreamed of getting a suit of adamant steel armor for herself when she was younger, but Hogarth¡¯s incessant drive for improvement meant that was exactly what she wore at the moment.


    Hidden inside the layers of expensive, smooth silk ¨C good silk that by themselves were already quite resistant to cuts ¨C were segmented plates of high-purity adamant steel, each riveted and secured to the fabric coating. The many small segments afforded the armor a good amount of flexibility, without compromising its durability and toughness. Of course, such a set of armor was far heavier than what a human could have comfortably worn, due to its size and material, but it was a comfortable weight for one such as her.


    Similarly, her weapon was one that had gone through many changes and revisions over the years. The blade she used in the past had always felt too light for her hands, but was the most that the smiths she worked with at the time could manage to create. Hogarth went above and beyond and provided where they had failed, however.


    The weapon he crafted for her looked more like a solid slab of metal attached to a stick rather than a blade, of such weight that many humans would have trouble even lifting it, much less swinging the weapon, in which case its weight would have thrown them off their feet more likely than not. For a three meter tall wielder who weighed well over half a ton, however, it felt just right.


    It felt like an extension of her hands.


    With the blade in hand, Mischka stepped right towards the pikes extended towards her by the Warforged, and cleaved through them. The sturdy wooden shafts stood no chance against the force of her swing and snapped in twain, as she just pushed ahead with the rest of her family behind her. Those holding shields had no better luck, as their hidebound wooden shields were similarly no match for what she brought to bear.


    As she roared the command, the rest of her family behind her hit the Warforged lines like an avalanche, and just as unstoppably.

 Chapter 207 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 8)

    ¡°To attack the enemy while encircled by their formation, would be the sort of audacious maneuver that went down the history books as examples of great success, or as examples of when hubris caused a complete military disaster. There were no other possibilities.¡± - - Laugge les Charl, prominent tactician from the Clangeddin-Knallzog conflict, circa 407 VA.


    What Reinhardt ordered his Company to do was something that went against every shred of common military wisdom. His Company of a thousand mercenaries was deep within the Warforged formation, surrounded on all sides by at least six thousand of the slave soldiers. Rather than try to escape from the disadvantageous position, however, he commanded his troops to split up and attack the Warforged all around them.


    There was a direction to the seemingly nonsensical move, however. The main thrust of the Free Lances¡¯ offense was directed towards the rear of the Warforged formation that were engaged with Nestor and his First Legion on the frontlines. Reinhardt himself led the best shock troopers and killers amongst the Company in that direction with their goal being to collapse the enemy formation and open a way for them to rejoin their allies.


    The mercenaries who struck at all the other directions were tasked to stall and buy time for him to do that. They engaged the other elements of the Warforged formation around them while slowly giving way, keeping the enemy tied up with them and thus preventing them from assisting the frontlines. The Company¡¯s shieldbearers were assigned to these units to help bolster their defense for the mission.


    Lars commanded the overall battle on that side, with Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia working alongside him. That the former Theodinaz tactician was placed in charge of that side was a great gesture of trust from Reinhardt, since Erycea and her unit was part of the troops assigned there. Indirectly, it also placed pressure on Lars to do his best as he relayed command to one unit after another as the situation demanded.


    Gr¨¹nhildr led her troops and held the western side with the help of some shieldbearers from Mischka¡¯s troops, as it was where the Warforged assault was at its fiercest. The burly mixed-breed woman¡¯s paired weapons cleaved through dozens of pike shafts and reduced them to long sticks, the sturdy wood no match against the void-coated blades of her weapon.


    When an enemy Blademaster attempted to stop her from dismantling their pikes, the man found to his dismay that his weapon, while made of good steel, was no more resistant to void magic than the wooden shaft of the pikes. Gr¨¹nhildr sliced the Blademaster¡¯s weapon into three separate pieces before she did the same to its wielder.


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    All that while, the normally coordinated responses of the Warforged on the north side ¨C where Erycea¡¯s unit was stationed ¨C turned haphazard and messy. It was Salicia¡¯s doing, as while the one-eyed archer remained near the center of the mercenary formation with Hannah walking by her side, she still contributed to the battle decisively.


    The rest of Hannah¡¯s fellow flying scouts were high above the battlefield, so high that an arrow would not be able to reach them. They scouted out the location of enemy unit commanders with their sharp eyes from high above and relayed the information to Hannah below with high-pitched shrieks that were only audible to their kind and a few other tribes of therians.


    Hannah in turn relayed the location of those enemy commanders to Salicia, who would then step up onto a large, flat shield that would then be hoisted up into the air by two burly mercenaries. That allowed her to stand high above the fighting for a brief period of time before they lowered the shield back down to avoid retaliation from enemy archers.


    Each time she was hoisted up, Salicia would have three arrows held tight between her fingers and a fourth already nocked on her bowstring. She would rapidly shoot them one after another at her chosen targets, loosing all four arrows in as many seconds, the last arrow often leaving her bow just as the mercenaries that supported her foothold lowered her down once more.


    Every one of her arrows unerringly found its target, and either killed or incapacitated them. Since she focused on headhunting the Warforged commanders, their cohesion and chain of command was naturally impacted by her actions. In turn, that lessened the pressure faced by the Company¡¯s troops by a good bit, and she repeated the feat each time Hannah relayed her more targets to snipe out.


    As for the Company¡¯s southern flank, the Warforged there were the worst off, as they not only had to deal with the massive gap in the formation ¨C created when the mercenaries bullied their way through earlier ¨C but also with a pincer attack from both the mercenaries to their rear and Griselda¡¯s Second Legion from their front at the same time. They were far too busy fighting for their own survival to aid the rest of the compatriots.


    At the north side, Erycea and her unit fought alongside Nicole¡¯s scouts as they both formed a screen to keep the Warforged away from Alva and the Company¡¯s archers behind them. That in turn allowed Alva and the other archers to support those at the frontlines by raining arrows at the warforged, each of the loosing their arrows from relatively close range and thus able to shoot for speed rather than having to aim too carefully.


    The rain of arrows did not kill many of the Warforged, but the injuries they caused incapacitated quite a few, and more often than not caused a distraction that another of the mercenaries exploited to more serious results. To top it off, the archers were not the only nuisance they had to deal with either, as those who managed to get close to the mercenaries found out the hard way.


    Erycea¡¯s unit had several mages amongst their numbers, herself included, and they used their various affinities to further throw their enemies into disarray. Those Warforged who managed to get close to them found themselves under assault by flames, spears of ice, globs of mud, and shards of glass, all of which were aimed straight at their faces, often right at their vulnerable eyes.


    While they were thus distracted, they naturally become easy prey for the young mercenaries they face, and were swiftly dispatched, causing those behind them to grow warier.

 Chapter 208 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 9)

    ¡°With the emphasis placed on formation warfare in this day and age, individual prowess mattered less, while cooperation and discipline became the king of the battlefield. That said, this only applied when the combatants on both sides were relatively equal in general prowess.¡± - Gareth Magna Grusius, Military Strategist for the Clangeddin Empire, circa 502 VA.


    ¡°Four. Left elbow, left shoulder, head, right shoulder,¡± reported Hannah to Salicia after she heard the screeches from high above.


    Hannah and Salicia had worked out a system to point out the location of targets spotted from above relative to themselves. They basically imagined a human body laid down in a circle, with lines drawn from the center of the circle towards the perimeter in the direction of the targets. The body part the line intersected indicated the direction, with the head being the direction they themselves were facing towards.


    ¡°Got it,¡± replied the one-eyed archer as she stepped foot on the large shield set on the ground before her. Her left hand went to the quiver slung across her back and grabbed a quartet of arrows by feel, one between every two fingers. Even as the shield began to rise up ¨C lifted by the hands of two burly mercenaries ¨C she nocked the arrow held between her thumb and index finger on the string of her bow.


    The act itself was entirely second nature to her. Her eye already scanned the crowd of enemy soldiers in the direction Hannah indicated, as she had no need to look at the arrow in her hand to nock it properly. Her fingers already knew what to do by feel, a skill born from decades of constant practice with the bow in her hand.


    Even as she noticed the target Hannah had reported to her, her arms moved in unison, her left arm pulling the string of her bow even as her right arm pushed the bow itself forward. The knotted muscles on Salicia¡¯s back strained as they contracted and lent their strength to the process, the bow reaching its full draw even within moments, moments she used to aim.


    Then the arrow was loosed barely a moment after the bow reached full draw, her right hand instinctively flicking the bow slightly to the right to allow the arrow to pass clearly.


    The enchantments carved into the Yew Heartwood frame of the bow did their part in the process. When Salicia drew the bow, the enchantments lightened the load into half of what it should have been. When she released, they turned around and amplified the force which propelled the arrow and shot it out with double the force that the bow itself gave to the projectile.


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    Moments after the arrow was loosed, before it even reached its target, Salicia¡¯s left hand nocked the next arrow to the string. Her left thumb hooked around the bowstring and pulled even as she pushed with her other hand, the taut string digging into the thickly callused flesh of her digit. Most archers who drew their bow with their thumbs favored some sort of thumb ring to protect their hand, but Salicia favored going without, as she was able to exert more control this way.


    Her eye tracked towards the right even as she pulled her bow, spotting her next target in line and adjusting her aim accordingly. Her second arrow was loosed before the first even struck its target, and Salicia pivoted her torso further to the right as she repeated the process for the next target. Her arms repeated the well-rehearsed dance of motions as she did so.


    The first arrow landed just shortly after the third left her bowstring. The heavy arrow, easily as thick as one of her fingers and topped with a bodkin head meant for piercing through armor, struck the Warforged commander she aimed for right on the head. The man happened to look down at the moment her shot reached him, so the arrow landed on his helmet instead of his eye.


    Not that it did the man any good.


    It turned out that the helmet worn by the man was nowhere near enough to protect him from the sort of heavy arrow Salicia used, the force behind the projectile so great that it simply punched through the metal and into the man¡¯s forehead. The arrowhead even pierced through the back of the man¡¯s skull and went halfway through the other side of the helmet behind it before it finally stopped.


    By the time the burly mercenaries who lifted her up started to lower the shield back down, Salicia had already loosed her fourth arrow and dropped all four of her targets. She was only raised above the crowd for a few seconds, too short a time for the enemy archers to even notice her presence, much less aim and shoot her way. Those that did notice and reacted, did so too late and their arrows only landed on the shields raised by the mercenaries around Salicia.


    Salicia had accounted for at least thirty such commanders by that point of the battle, as she had also taken the time to loose a few shots at the Warforged units the Free Lances ran through. The resultant lack of coordination due to the loss of such officers helped the Free Lances break through the Warforged formation with more ease.


    Even a few of the Warforged formations further in the back found themselves suddenly falling prey to her arrows, as she ran out of closer targets.


    As a result, the once-tight formation of the Warforged showed signs of disruption, especially the ones under a pincer attack from the Free Lances and the Algenverrian Legions. Although the slave soldiers were very well trained compared to most, they still faltered when they were under attack from two sides without a commander to rally and command them.


    In a way the strict command hierarchy of the Warforged backfired against them, as their soldiers were unused to independent actions and thus took a moment too long to come to a decision on how to face the enemy. By that time, it was far too late as their foes had exploited the chance and pounced on them like a predator pouncing on a wounded prey.

 Chapter 209 - Battle of Nedja Plains, Year 13 FP (Part 10)

    ¡°Even the great behemoths could be taken down by a pack of fearless small predators nipping at its heels.¡± - Old orcish proverb.


    ¡°This is kinda¡­ easier than I thought,¡± said Valeria even as she pushed away a Warforged pikeman with her shield. The man stumbled into his compatriots behind him, who in turn used his own shield to support his ally from the back. It did the pikeman in front little good, though, as Valeria¡¯s spear flashed in and took him at the base of the throat the next moment.


    The slave soldiers ¨C she recalled the Captain calling them Warforged ¨C fought with relentless courage and were well trained, but they fought with a certain¡­ rigidity to them. Too used to fighting in formations where they were supported by everyone around them and vice versa, and poorly trained to fight in more independent actions, barring a select few.


    Something the young mercenaries from the Free Lances abused without mercy.


    ¡°They¡¯re too used to taking orders and following it rather than having to think for themselves. Aunt Sal just handed us headless chickens to finish off,¡± replied Erycea from beside her. When Erycea noticed the sudden lack of cohesion amongst their opponents, she had instantly made the call to switch from the defensive to the offensive. Her unit followed her command and took the fight to the opposing Warforged, where they found an enemy in disarray.


    Salicia¡¯s sniping down their commanders took a heavy toll on the Warforged¡¯s combat effectiveness. It was an issue that happened partly because of reforms instituted by the current Duke¡¯s father, who demanded that the Warforged unit commanders divorce themselves from the frontlines and command from horseback in the rear instead.


    That allowed those commanders to gain a better viewpoint of the battle while preventing them from risking their lives at the frontlines, but also inadvertently made them far more vulnerable to a sniper like Salicia who simply headhunted them like she was plucking feathers from a goose.


    Even while she traded words with Valeria and passed orders to those behind her with gestures from her tail, Erycea took on one of the remaining Warforged Blademasters as well. The older Blademaster she fought used a short double-headed spear with a metal shaft, but the middle-aged man struggled to defend himself as Erycea pushed him back with vicious attacks.


    His metal spear¡¯s shaft was already dented on many places, and even slightly bent near the middle, all of the spots were damaged from his attempts to block and parry Erycea¡¯s assault. The only thing that kept the Blademaster alive was his decades of training and experience as he desperately fought with his life on the line.


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    Erycea was much younger, but also far stronger and faster than the man, the paired metal truncheons she held striking with blinding speed and devastating force both. The man she faced might be over thrice her age, but she had also been trained for most of her life by some of the deadliest fighters in the Company as a whole, and had a physical advantage she was none too shy in abusing wholeheartedly.


    One of her truncheons struck low, followed by a high strike from the other as she withdrew the first, each contact sending waves of vibrations down the metal shaft of her opponent¡¯s weapon, and more often than not a dent where her blows landed. The older Blademaster tired swiftly underneath her relentless assault, and before long, he made a misstep that Erycea took advantage of in order to finish the fight.


    When the older man nearly lost his grip on his weapon after a particularly vicious blow, Erycea took advantage of it by not withdrawing her extended weapon. Instead, she pushed down harder on her opponent¡¯s weapon, which threw him off-balance, leaving an opening for her to take. Her second truncheon flashed past and landed directly on the Blademaster¡¯s left hand, easily bending the metal plates of his gauntlet and crushing both the flesh and the bone beneath.


    Even as the man cried out in pain, Erycea reversed the course of her other truncheon and struck upwards with it. The metal bar of the truncheon caught the Blademaster¡¯s helmet just over his temple, the blow lacking the force to crush his skull underneath, but still more than forceful enough to daze the man regardless.


    As a result, he never saw Erycea¡¯s other fist coming for his face, the spike-studded handguard of her weapon acting like a set of brass knuckles as they smashed directly into the Blademaster¡¯s jaw. The blow itself shattered the man¡¯s jaw into pieces and knocked his head backwards violently. He dropped limply. to the ground like a sack of potatoes moments later.


    Erycea did not finish off the man even as she walked past his unconscious form. Their employer had apparently asked for them to capture some of the senior Warforged if they could. During their rush through the Warforged formation, they had no luxury to do that and just went for the kills, but at that moment, since Erycea overwhelmed her opponent so badly and her platoon was doing very well regardless, she had the time to do just that. It was also why she took so long to take out the man.


    A couple of Hakim¡¯s men further in the back of their platoon stopped and tied up the unconscious Blademaster when they passed him. Erycea¡¯s platoon had already caught half a dozen of older Blademasters in their offensive push into the enemy formation so far. Erycea had personally caught two of them, while the rest was caught by her platoon¡¯s main shieldbearers.


    After all, as skilled as the Blademasters were, they could do little when a therian that was half again as tall as they were and nearly weighed half a ton just bear-hugged them until their ribs creaked in protest and they lost all consciousness.


    In general, that proved to be the downfall of the Warforged they faced. The Warforged were trained specifically to fight against other humans, since that was all they traditionally ever faced. They were completely unprepared for the large number of non-humans that the Free Lances fielded amongst their troops, and lacked appropriate countermeasures to fight them properly.


    It was a weakness that Reinhardt exploited as he led the push that broke through the back of the Warforged formation and carved a path to connect the pocket his mercenaries created to Nestor¡¯s first legion at the frontlines. That moment also marked the point where the balance of the battle shifted in favor of the coalition forces.

 Side Story 22 - When Reality came Crashing Down

    ¡°What one expected, and what one got from life, were most often two very different things.¡± - Saying attributed to an unnamed philosopher from Knallzog.


    The battle had been going their way for a while, then, it just didn¡¯t do so anymore.


    Alvaro¡¯s unit had been pulled towards the center of the Warforged formation after the battle had been joined, to allow them to recuperate for a while. The small group of Algenverrian troops they fought against had pretty much been swallowed whole by the Warforged when their own side refused to let them escape, and Alvaro had even distinguished himself in the fighting.


    He had been the one to charge deepest into the enemy formation, leading an ever-widening wedge into the enemy formation straight from the very front. It was a risky undertaking, and had he lacked either the training he had gone through or his better armor, he would have likely perished in the attempt. Instead, he succeeded, and even notched up another feat for himself when he took down an enemy noble.


    Alvaro had forged so far ahead that he even reached where one of the Algenverr nobles commanded the battle from atop his steed. The man had loosed his guards at him, forcing him to tangle with them while greatly outnumbered. He was on the backfoot and hard-pressed to hang on against them until Njeri caught up with him and helped fight them off.


    Together they fought off the man¡¯s guards, and Njeri eked out an opening that Alvaro capitalized on to break through their formation. That placed him within reach of the surprised noble, who failed to react to his arrival properly. The way the somewhat portly noble fumbled with the sword he carried on his waist was almost comical, his hand failing to grip the weapon properly in his panic.


    Alvaro just struck the man down with his khopesh, the curved blade cleanly chopping its way through one of the man¡¯s legs even as his horse reared away. The strike had also injured the animal, causing it to neigh in pain and rear up on its hind legs, unceremoniously depositing its now one-legged rider on the ground right before Alvaro.


    It was an opportunity the young Warforged had not wasted.


    He chopped down with his blade and collected the nobleman¡¯s head just before the signal to withdraw had been given because the frontlines were about to clash all around them. The feat had earned him a word of praise from the noble son that commanded his unit, and all of them felt elated as they pulled back to the middle of the formation to recuperate, allowing fresh units to do the fighting in the frontlines.


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    It was not too long after that when the tables turned with a suddenness that caught them off guard.


    Alvaro himself had not noticed the fighting that took place in the formation¡¯s right flank, a bit further behind where his unit had pulled back to. They only learned that an enemy detachment had forced their way into the midst of the Warforged formation when messages were relayed from others about the situation. By then the fighting had drawn even closer to them.


    Their commander ordered an about-face as the shieldbearers moved from the front to the back of the formation while the pikemen also turned around. Alvaro and the other Blademasters of his unit were stationed close to the commander, where they prepared themselves to deal with whatever situation they were faced with.


    They found out that they were not prepared for the situation they found themselves in, the hard way.


    The first sign that things were going awry was when Alvaro noticed that he could see the figure heading the enemy formation even over the heads and shoulders of his compatriots. It was a sight quite unlike anything he had ever seen before. The figure that led the enemy¡¯s advance stood half again as tall as even the tallest of the Warforged, and easily more than twice as wide.


    What the enemy reminded Alvaro of the most was a great bear, the sort of beast he had seen in the wilderness during his training once or twice. Except that this bear stood upright and led a wedge formation of similarly large, animalistic figures from the very front, and held a truly massive two-handed blade in its arms, which it swung with horrifying power.


    It was also wearing armor. Heavy armor that rendered it impervious to the pikes at the pikemen of his unit tried to stab it with. Their pikes either failed to do anything to the beast or were simply shattered into pieces by swings of that massive blade it carried. Even with all that, though, that was not the worst of what happened to them.


    The worst was that the beast was not alone.


    Behind it followed a horde of other similar, bestial creatures, some of them very similar to the one in front, others very different in looks. The shieldbearers failed to hold them back for even a moment, their sturdy tower shields shattered into halves with one swing, as were their bodies behind it. The situation rapidly spun out of their control.


    Alvaro had just turned to their commander, his mouth opening to ask for a command, when he saw a sight he would never forget. A large arrow, one easily as thick around as one of his fingers, struck the young nobleman directly in between his eyes, its point piercing out the back of his helmet even as the man lifelessly toppled over from atop his steed.


    He exchanged a shocked look with Njeri, neither of them knowing what they were to do in that sort of situation. Their training had decidedly not covered the sort of enemy they were facing at the moment, but after a moment of deliberation, they chose to run towards the front, where the enemies were carving through their lines like a hot knife through a block of butter.


    They had just traversed most of the distance through the throng of panicking pikemen when all of a sudden, the dead body of a Warforged happened to be sent flying in their direction. The corpse¡¯s helmeted head struck Alvaro right on his face, hard, and he knew no more.

 Chapter 210 - Broken Formation

    ¡°Push, stab, and hold the line,


    And life would be mighty fine,


    Falter, tremble, and break,


    And it¡¯ll be your last mistake.¡± - Battle-Hymn sung by Clangeddin soldiers, circa 408-497 VA.


    A battle could unravel at a pace that seemed horribly fast to outside observers. The battle at Nedja Plains was one such case.


    While the battle remained relatively even for a while, with the Kolitscheian army at a slight advantage, even, the tables turned not an hour into the battle when the Free Lances mercenary company broke through the Kolitscheian¡¯s right flank and disrupted their formation in short order. They fought their way into the enemy formation, and struck in all directions from there with a main thrust aimed to create an opening at the Kolitscheian frontline.


    Once that opening presented itself, the First Legion of Algenverr, led by Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez personally, led a charge directly into the fray and further splintered the Kolitscheian right flank held by their fabled Warforged. Despite their valiant effort to hold back the enemy, the Warforged failed to hold the line and was soon swept aside by the Algenverr elites and their mercenary allies.


    While the Algenverr elites turned towards the center of the Kolitscheian formation and struck hard to complete the rout, their mercenary allies went for the archers in the backlines of the Kolitscheian army. Those archers had not expected to be subjected to such an assault and in their panic, fired at the mercenaries. Many of their arrows failed to hit their target and instead struck the backs of their Warforged allies however.


    Being struck from behind by friendly fire of all things shattered the once-high morale of the Warforged. They gave way to the tide of mercenaries that simply burst through their lines and charged at the archers. Before long, the right half of the Kolitscheian archer formation also shattered under the assault of the mercenaries.


    When not even their fabled Warforged stood against the charge, the archers had even less chance.


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    To further compound their misery, just as the archers started to break and run, a small unit of cavalry ¨C not more than a thousand, gathered from all the forces that formed the coalition army ¨C chose that moment to rush into the battlefield from the side, where they had hidden themselves out of sight prior to that moment. The riders mercilessly chased the escaping archers and ran them down where they could.


    Soledad and her platoon ¨C now numbering over forty riders ¨C were amongst the cavalry. Due to the nature of the mission the Free Lances had to undertake, it was impossible for her people to fight together with them. Cavalry like hers couldn¡¯t afford to get bogged down, which was what happened then the Free Lances charged into the enemy formation. It was only their unique makeup that allowed the company to make a gradual push into the enemy formation that well.


    Now that they were unleashed along with what little cavalry the coalition army managed to scrounge up, Soledad led the charge enthusiastically, the rest of her unit following her closely.


    Their targets, the escaping enemy archers, were already distracted with running away. Only very few even turned to face the incoming cavalry to loose an arrow, and those arrows inflicted negligible casualties to the onrushing riders and steeds at best. As Soledad and her riders had veered off to target escapees further ahead, they were spared from such a treatment.


    With confidence, she directed her destrier mare towards the escapees. Her glave chopped down and decapitated one enemy as she rode past, while her steed bodily slammed into another and sent the man down to the ground, where he was trampled by many hooves that rode past. Soledad¡¯s trained steed had not even stumbled in the slightest as its hooves trampled upon the man¡¯s body.


    One of the next runaways she ran into had turned and loosed an arrow at her, but Soledad shifted on her saddle and leaned to one side, the arrow barely leaving a scratch on the side of her helmet. Then she returned to a more stable position on the saddle and slashed upwards with her glaive all in the same movement. The blade caught the archer right on his right armpit and cleanly severed his arm.


    Behind her, the heavy cavalry section of her platoon followed her path as they fanned out and struck any enemy that happened to come too close to them. Their heavy armor ¨C which their steeds had as well ¨C deflected the few haphazard arrows shot at them, while their weapons mercilessly reaped life and limb from their targets. Other enemies were simply trampled by the sturdy horses, their bones and flesh pulverized beneath many hooves.


    Anatoli and the lighter elements of the cavalry squad swept in behind them and cleaned up the stragglers that the heavies failed to eliminate. Javelins and throwing axes were hurled from atop horseback with great accuracy, while Anatoli himself wielded his orcish greatbow with expertise and returned fire with heavy arrows nearly twice as thick as what the human archers used.


    Despite their success, however, Soledad knew not to bite off more than she could chew. Just as her heavy cavalry approached the center of the archer formation where they were still more disciplined ¨C the Free Lances had yet to reach them ¨C she led her platoon to swerve around to the side. Rather than risk getting bogged down in the enemy formation, she brought her people on another cleanup run of the routed enemies.


    By the time her people were done with that second run, the Free Lances had reached the center of the archer formation and further dispersed them. Soledad brought her riders into a slashing attack to further throw the enemy into disarray, working together with the rest of the company as they cut deep into the rear of the Kolitscheian army¡¯s formation.


    At the same time, where the main forces of both armies clashed, the battle also approached its mostly determined conclusion by then.

 Chapter 211 - Born for War

    ¡°Some people are just, like, it was as if the deities themselves *made* them for the purpose of war. These rare people would go on and become the storied generals and leaders of their times, lest they be the unfortunate ones who were struck down by fate in the prime of their lives.¡± - Milias Iylhab, Military historian from Levain, circa 607 FP.


    Despite being the firstborn son of a Ducal Couple, Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez realized at an early age that courtly intrigue and the often-suffocating amount of formality nobles were regularly subjected to were not for him. He came to that realization when he received his first toy sword at four, and knew from that point onwards that he wanted to be a warrior more than anything.


    It was not a decision well-received by his parents ¨C his mother the Duchess had been sickly since young and couldn¡¯t follow the family¡¯s traditional martial training, while his father was a more typical ¡°soft¡± noble from the south-west ¨C but at the same time one that his grandfather greatly approved of. Nestor¡¯s old grandfather had been a more traditional border noble, who fought on the front lines in his youth as a knight, and held little to no respect for the more ¡°soft¡± kind of nobles from the inner regions.


    Young Nestor took to his grandfather¡¯s training regimen like a fish to the water.


    During his time in the Royal Academy at Oleynuos ¨C the place where young nobles were schooled in the various arts deemed necessary for them ¨C he garnered a reputation for himself in two very different ways. On the one hand, he was considered a rural boor from the outskirts by many of the others, due to his poor knowledge in matters like poetry, dancing, debates, and the fine arts.


    On the other hand, he also handed every single one of his detractors their asses on silver platters come sparring time.


    Nestor was widely renowned to be the best swordsman in his generation of noble youths, while his scores in classes related to military tactics and strategy was always at the very top, an undisputed champion in those subjects. His only close rival and friend during his academy days was Andrea of house Utghwes from Dvergarder, with whom he shared a friendly rivalry that lasted to the present day.


    All the people he humiliated back at the academy would have been horrified to learn that the sword was not even Nestor¡¯s weapon of choice. He only had to resort to it because even a practice version of his favored weapon would have been too risky to use in spars.


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    As he rushed together with his personal knights, with the First Legion of Algenverr all around them, men and women who had gone through his exacting demands and forged themselves into elites, Nestor felt nothing but exhilaration. He felt truly alive with the blood pumping through his veins while he ran ¨C on foot, as Algenverr¡¯s knights were typically used more as heavy infantry ¨C together with his men, clad in armor no different than theirs, indistinguishable to anyone who doesn¡¯t know what to look for.


    He and the knights were right at the very front. They were the best of his soldiers, well armed and armored, and as such, had the best chance of breaking through the enemy formation. They were the point of the chisel, for which the First Legion formed the body and the hand holding it. Like a proper edge, they plunged through the enemy formation from the flank and kept going.


    Nestor himself led from the front. They had already gone through the Warforged on the right flank of the Kolitscheian formation, and a short distance from them, directly ahead, was the center of the enemy formation. They were still engaged with the troops from Jonkver at that moment, while in the distance, their left flank was engaged with the rest of Algenverr¡¯s troops.


    Before he embarked on his assault, Nestor had sent a signal for the Fourth Legion at their rear to circle around and strike the enemy formation on their left flank, coordinating their assault with the Fifth Legion, in order to pincer the enemy forces between Nestor¡¯s own offensive on the right flank and theirs. He calculated that the Fifth Legion must have started their own assault by then.


    By that point of the battle, they would just be the final nail on this coffin the Kolitscheian army had been pushed into by their maneuvers.


    With a loud cacophony of arms and armor clashing into one another, the knights and the First Legion of Algenverr crashed into the right flank of the Kolitscheian center. Their opponents reacted late, clearly not expecting their right flank, anchored by their fabled Warforged, to be defeated so swiftly. That allowed the Algenverrian assault to pierce deep into their ranks before they could even turn to face the new threat.


    Together with his knights, Nestor was in the thick of the action. He wielded a shorter polearm that had a long spearhead at the top, a beak-shaped pickaxe-like spike on one side, and a hammerhead on the other, using the strange weapon with practiced moves. It was a skill born from countless hours of practice and spars, something he had done from his childhood days.


    One of the Kolitscheian soldiers thrust a spear at the young Heir to Algenverr, but Nestor caught the shaft of the spear between his weapon¡¯s hammerhead and spearhead, pushing it away with ease. He followed up the push by bringing his weapon down on a vicious swing, the beak-shaped spike on the other hand landing point-first on the opposing soldier¡¯s helmet.


    The pointed end of the weapon concentrated the force of the blow into a single spot and pierced through the metal plating of the helmet, digging deep into the unfortunate soldier¡¯s brain.


    A second soldier swung an axe at Nestor while he tried to extract his weapon from his dead opponent¡¯s skull, but Nestor parried the blow with the shaft of his polearm. He then wrenched his weapon out using his whole body, sending it into a swooping arc that forced his assailant to defend himself. While the enemy soldier blocked the blow with his own weapon, he was unprepared when Nestor stepped in close and used the short spike at the butt end of his weapon to jab at his throat.

 Chapter 212 - Battles Conclusion

    ¡°Only after everything was done and the butcher¡¯s bill tallied would you see the cost of your victory.¡± - Old military saying.


    By the time Nestor and the First Legion struck the Kolitscheian center from the flank, the battle was pretty much over.


    Under the assault from Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries, the archers in the backline of the Kolitscheian formation routed and fled every which way to save their lives. Some of their commanders were captured, others were killed, while the rest fled like rabbits when they realized that they were losing the battle. The mercenaries allowed the fleeing enemy to scatter and flee for the most part, as they were told to, but a significant amount were still slain or captured in the process.


    Deprived of their ranged support, and with their vaunted Warforged defeated and broken, the morale of the remaining Kolitscheian soldiers dropped like a rock, and despite the exhortations of their officers, they too soon broke formation and routed under the pressure. The Algenverrian troops allowed them to flee, at times even making way for the fleeing Kolitscheians.


    When some of the soldiers saw how their friends fled with their tails metaphorically tucked between their legs, they too joined the exodus, and the tight formation maintained by the army soon broke apart. It was an opening that their opponents immediately took advantage of, and as more Kolitscheians fell, so too did the number of deserters increase.


    Both Reinhardt¡¯s troops and Nestor¡¯s allowed them to escape freely. They knew by experience that the majority of such escapees would have fled back to their home villages and hid out of fear of punishment. Either way, the chances of them fighting back once more was minimal, and it was better to show some benevolence rather than force the enemy to fight to the last blood.


    The casualties from the battle of Nedja Plains were horribly lopsided. While the combined coalition army from Algenverr and Jonkver lost less than a tenth of their number ¨C the majority of those being incapacitated soldiers with injuries of varying degrees rather than death ¨C their opponents lost over eighty percent of their army.


    Most of those losses were neither due to deaths, captives, or casualties, but due to desertion. The only exception was the vaunted Warforged, who stubbornly chose to fight to the last. As a result, out of the six thousand or so Warforged that went into the battle, less than two thousand survived the battle as captives of the Algenverrian army, many of them with injuries that would likely spell the end of their career as a soldier.


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    Other than various officers and minor nobles, the Algenverrian troops also caught a big fish as they caught none other than Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei. The old Duke had attempted to rally his troops to the last moment, before he was swarmed by Algeverrian knights led by Nestor himself and subdued, taken as a captive.


    The only unfortunate thing was that they failed to capture the Duke¡¯s son and heir who was in command of the Kolitscheian archers. The man had turned tail and fled at the first sign of their side losing, and had gone far by the time the Free Lances and the cavalry struck them. Nestor suspected that he likely fled to Kolitschei City itself to prepare for a siege.


    Despite being a captive, the old Duke remained defiant and claimed that his son knew better than to negotiate for his release. He had clearly prepared himself for death and willingly accepted that fate, which threw a kink into Nestor¡¯s plans, as he had hoped to be able to negotiate a peace settlement that benefitted his side with the Duke as a bargaining token.


    In the end, after a day of rest, Nestor chose to march with twenty-four thousand of his men towards the city itself, leaving behind three thousand to look after the injured and watch over their prisoners. He brought the captive Duke with him, just in case, but was prepared in case he had to deal with the walled city the hard way.


    The scene that greeted them when they came into sight of the walled city of Kolitschei a week later surprised both Nestor and the old Duke, however.


    Reinhardt frowned from where his Company was situated near the front of the marching troops. He had received reports from his flying scouts ahead of everyone else and shared them with Nestor, but not even those reports had prepared them to witness what awaited them in Kolitschei.


    Thousands of people, maybe tens of thousands, were crowded outside the city walls, with nothing but the clothes they wore with them. From afar, Reinhardt could see some of them pleading and protesting by the gate, only to be driven away by a hail of arrows. It was a rather hellish sight to watch, and as the army marched closer he saw the obvious fear in the eyes of those people.


    Those people knew they had been left outside the city to die.


    Some quick queries confirmed the situation as what they had suspected it to be, a situation that flummoxed both Nestor and the captive old Duke when they heard what happened. It turned out that after the Duke¡¯s son and heir returned to the city three days ago ¨C having run his horse to the death in the process ¨C he immediately ordered the city prepared for siege.


    And he also commanded that all the slaves were to be thrown out of the city and left to fend for themselves, as in his opinion there was no value in keeping so many useless mouths to be fed in the situation.


    The reactions that Nestor and Duke Banitu displayed upon hearing the news were polar opposites from each other. Nestor was baffled for a moment, his expression clearly showing how dumbfounded he was at the situation, before he started laughing so hard that he bent over and had to hold on to his stomach. On the other hand, the old Duke seemed to seethe with rage to the point that Reinhardt worried if the old man would pop a blood vessel from excessive anger.

 Chapter 213 - Reaching an Agreement

    ¡°Most wars in history ended well before one side was completely eradicated. Most commonly, wars ended on the negotiations table, where the warring sides reached a compromise that both parties found acceptable and ceased hostilities on mutual agreement. Unless deeply ingrained hatred or other forms of blood debt was involved, it was rare for wars to end in eradication.¡± - From ¡°History of Warfare, Past to Present¡±, by Manuela Elioch, circa 379 FP.


    ¡°Hahaha- Apologies- Ahahahah- Do you think we can now renegotiate what we talked about before, Your Grace?¡± said Nestor as he tried his best to restrain his laughter, something he only managed with great difficulty, even wheezing a couple times as he laughed so much he couldn¡¯t take a breath. Griselda even came over and gently massaged his back to help him regain his bearing.


    Duke Orsla Banitu returned no answer as he clearly still seethed at the sight before him, what his son had done with the city, and even covered his face with both hands as his old frame trembled. Reinhardt thought that if they weren¡¯t on open ground with nothing standing in the vicinity, the old Duke might have looked for something to bang his head on already.


    ¡°You win, young Nunez. I have nothing left to say,¡± said the old Duke at last, his voice full of bitter disappointment as he looked towards the city he had devoted his entire life towards. A City that his foolish son might have just thrown away ¨C perhaps not in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense for certain ¨C by his idiotic decision making.


    Kolitschei¡¯s source of strength, what made them one of the strongest of the Duchies in Posuin, had been the cordial relationship between the masters and their slaves. It was a relationship of trust and ownership that had been groomed for countless generations, for it was the slaves that provided the labor that allowed their masters to enjoy life they way they did.


    In exchange for the labor and obedience, the masters were responsible for the safety of the region, and to ensure that those beneath them received proper care. Kolitschei was an odd place which instituted slavery, yet at the same time looked out for the rights of their slaves. In most circumstances, people who abused their slaves would be punished accordingly, a notion unimagineable in other slave-owning places.


    That relationship of trust between the owners and the owned had been the foundation of Kolitschei over the ages, and his stupid son had just betrayed that most sacred trust.


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    Duke Banitu always knew that his eldest son was an ambitious fellow, but he had shown no signs of incompetence over the years, and had felt secure naming him as his heir. He had not expected that the first time his son was put to the test under heavy pressure, he folded immediately and did the most foolish thing possible.


    He saw it in the eyes of the tens of thousands of slaves forced out and left to die. The look of reverence and obedience they used to have had been replaced by a look of disbelief at the betrayal in most. In some others, even that disbelief had morphed into anger and disgust ¨C rightfully so, at that ¨C as the slaves understood what had just been done to them.


    The old Duke knew that what happened in Kolitschei could easily lead to civil unrest throughout the entire Duchy unless he took drastic measures, and it took his old but still keen mind mere moments to decide the course of action he should take under the circumstances. His admission of defeat to Nestor, a youth young enough to be his grandchild, was the start of it.


    ¡°Release me, my knights, and all the freemen amongst those you had taken captive, and I will swear that oath to never trespass your grounds with hostile intent for a generation,¡± said the old Duke in a dejected tone of voice as he admitted his defeat further. ¡°The slaves¡­ including those outside the city¡­ you may take with you and do as you wished with them.¡±


    ¡°You are certain that you can regain your position, then?¡± asked Nestor with a slightly mocking smile at the old duke. The young noble knew he was in a position of power in the negotiations, and besides, the old Duke¡¯s acquiescence meant that he would gain precisely what he desired out of this conflict. ¡°Your son has the city and at least ten to fifteen thousand troops in there, as far as I can tell.¡±


    ¡°Within the year,¡± said the old Duke with a scoff. ¡°Given the folly he had already committed, I doubt it would take me longer than that to remove him from the seat. We will pay the war reparations as you demanded the year after I returned to power. Is that acceptable?¡±


    ¡°Acceptable enough,¡± replied Nestor as he offered his hand to the old Duke for a handshake. Sure, they would sign all the proper documents and whatnot afterwards to finalize and formalize the deal they struck, but both knew that the matter was pretty much concluded. Nestor even sent orders to the men left behind to start sorting the captured slave soldiers from the freemen.


    Nestor¡¯s purpose in the invasion of Kolitschei was twofold. One was to remove the neighboring Duchy as a threat, which the oath from the Duke had pretty much taken care of. The other was to steal some people from their far more populous neighbor.


    Algenverr was one of the largest Duchies in Posuin by land area, but it was also sparsely populated. Much of Algenverr was uninhabited, due to the region¡¯s undesirable reputation of not only bordering the fetid marshlands, but also due to the frequent beast tides they had to deal with.


    As such, when the duke¡¯s son had ejected all the slaves from Kolitschei City to further lengthen the time they could stretch their food supplies over under a siege, he had also inadvertently gifted Nestor with tens of thousands of potential willing immigrants who were used to hard work.


    Just the exact thing Nestor wanted.

 Chapter 214 - A Confluence of Events

    ¡°Just because the peace treaty had been signed does not necessarily mean that the land is at peace.¡± - Old military saying.


    In the end, the coalition forces from Jonkver and Algenverr never laid a siege upon Kolitschei City.


    Sure, they advanced close enough to threaten and worry the soldiers atop the walls, but stayed outside projectile range and never initiated a battle. Instead, before the eyes of the watching enemy soldiers, they took their time to move the dispossessed slaves outside the city to the back of their lines, where the surprised and often despairing slaves were greeted with warm food and makeshift but reasonable accommodations.


    Then they withdrew with the slaves in tow, before the surprised eyes of the defenders atop the walls. Some of those defenders likely breathed a sigh in relief, while others looked on, puzzled by the unexpected situation that unfolded before their eyes. None of what happened went according to what their lord told them to expect.


    All of them had expected the slaves to panic when the enemies arrived. They had expected that panic to descend into wild violence directed at their enemies, which would trigger a desperate battle that should weaken their opponents at the cost of mere slaves. None of them expected their enemies to refrain from responding with violence and instead calmly took the slaves away, however.


    The presence of old Duke Banitu, who helped calm down the slaves on Nestor¡¯s behest, was a key factor in the relatively peaceful proceedings. The old Duke knew that it was unlikely for the gathered slaves outside the city to be able to trust their owners the same way ever again after the betrayal they suffered, so he chose the pragmatic option and traded them for his men¡¯s freedoms, including his own.


    It was a deal that Nestor was all too happy to take. He had achieved his purpose with minimal losses, while at the same time, the internal civil struggle that would grasp Kolitschei in the near future would definitely prevent the Duchy from making any sort of offensive overtures anyway. Nestor believed that the old Duke should emerge victorious over his son in that struggle, but even if he failed, that was fine as well.


    The conflict would greatly weaken their neighbor either way and remove them as a potential threat for a good while regardless of who won.


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    After the coalition forces departed ¨C the tens of thousand of slaves carried along with them ¨C the confused defenders of the city were uncertain on whether they should celebrate or not. They maintained vigilance for another week and a half before they decided that the coalition forces had truly withdrawn, and the new lord organized a celebration in the city square.


    It was during the course of the celebration that a courier arrived from the scouts sent to the east, bearing grim tidings. News that the old Duke had not only survived the battle, but had also gathered the remnants of the army loyal to him and denounced his son¡¯s actions, proclaiming that he was unfit to rule and demanding that he step down before the old man made him.


    Worse, the news spread throughout the city shortly after it reached the new Duke, despite his efforts to keep it a secret while he consolidated his position. A rift formed between the retainers loyal to the old Duke and those who supported the new Duke, one that spread to the populace as well. After all, many had disapproved of the new Duke¡¯s commands to throw out the slaves as fodder.


    While the new Duke tried his best to control the situation within the city, even jailing some of his father¡¯s loyalists, he failed to stop others from escaping to join with the old Duke, while others laid low within the city itself. Within six months, the new Duke found himself isolated, his rule extending only as far as the city walls, as his father the old Duke had united the rest of the Duchy against him.


    When the old Duke brought his assembled troops to besiege his own capital city, the battle was anti-climatic, as some of the guards defected and opened the gates wide for them before surrendering. The only fighting that took place, happened in the grounds of the Ducal manor itself, as those who had thrown their support wholeheartedly to the new Duke saw no escape and chose to sell themselves dearly.


    Their attempt was futility itself.


    History recorded that the reign of Duke Karo Banitu, often monikered ¡°the Fool¡± by later generations, lasted a whole six and a half months, before his predecessor, Duke Orsla Banitu retook his seat of power after a mostly bloodless struggle. The fate of Karo Banitu was unverified, with some records claiming that he was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life, while others claimed that he was imprisoned in the deepest dungeon and perished shortly afterwards. Some even claimed that he was forever exiled with nothing more than the clothes on his back as belongings.


    Once he took power once more, the old Duke quelled what unrest remained. He pardoned some of his wayward son¡¯s supporters who were forced to do so by circumstances, and made amends to his people over the losses they suffered in the past year. Those amends nearly drained the Ducal treasury, but the Duke successfully regained his people¡¯s trust in that way, and also reassured the slaves that lived under him that what happened in Kolitschei would not be repeated.


    The war left Kolitschei greatly weakened, and it took years before the Duchy regained a semblance of its former power.


    Meanwhile, the cause of Kolitschei¡¯s many troubles and their enemy ¨C though now they had signed a treaty that called for a cessation of hostilities ¨C returned home to Algenverr with tens of thousands of Kolitscheian slaves in tow. What awaited those slaves in Algenverr was something they had never expected to receive in all their lives, yet was suddenly thrust before them by a twist of fate.


    Their freedoms.

 Side Story 23 - What to do with Freedom?

    ¡°Not everyone might view freedom as a blessing.¡± - Old Posuin saying.


    Of all the things Alvaro had expected himself to be after a losing battle, lost and directionless wasn¡¯t one of them.


    Death or crippling injury, he had prepared himself for. As a Warforged he was trained and prepared to sell his life dearly, which was what he had expected himself to be doing in a losing battle. He was somewhat incensed that he never got that chance, having been knocked unconscious by a dead body that happened to be sent flying his way.


    But such were the vagaries of life.


    He, along with the other surviving Warforged ¨C there was less than one-third of their original numbers, with most of them injured to varying degrees ¨C were disarmed and held captive, but to his surprise, were treated kindly by their victorious opponents. They were housed in simple but proper tents, and fed properly for the two weeks after the battle, which they spent in uncertainty along with the other captive soldiers.


    During those two weeks, as if the deities played a jest on him, the hostility he faced was not from his enemies who were also his captors by then, but from his own people. Instead, hostility came from the other Kolitscheian soldiers held captive, many of whom blamed the slave soldiers for their defeat, seeing their failure to hold the right flank as its cause.


    The hostilities never devolved beyond harsh words or mocking stares ¨C their captors and guards would break up any altercation between the prisoners swiftly ¨C but it still stung Alvaro nonetheless. It was not that he disputed their failure to hold the flank, for they had indeed failed in that task. It was more that he doubted that any of the other soldiers would have been able to do a better job at all.


    Sure, it was convenient to blame the Warforged for failing, but those who mocked them and decried their uselessness failed to consider how they would have fared under the same situation. Memories of that last battle brought an involuntary shudder to Alvaro, as he recalled the large bestial warrior carve their way through his compatriots.


    He had ran over the scenario over and over again in his mind after he woke up, and soon came to the conclusion that all he would have been able to do in that situation was to run ahead and perish in battle, at best. Nothing he could have done would have changed the outcome of the battle as a whole.


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    Fortunately, two weeks after their defeat, the old Duke returned, and he announced something that both brought relief and disappointment to Alvaro¡¯s heart. The Duke had apparently negotiated his own freedom, along with most of the captive soldiers, who cheered at the announcement. However, that had not included the captured Warforged, who had been left in the enemy¡¯s hand as part of the price paid for that freedom.


    On the one hand, Alvaro was glad that he and his compatriots could still serve their liege one last time even after their defeat. Yet on the other hand, he and his compatriots felt lost and abandoned, derived of the purpose they trained their whole lives for in one fell swoop, and left to the tender mercies of their captors.


    Which admittedly was better than what he had expected.


    To his surprise, he found himself, along with the remaining Warforged brought away by their captors, alongside tens of thousands of other people. People he knew. They were all fellow slaves from Kolitschei city, somehow gathered en masse and turned into the enemy¡¯s captives as well. A greater surprise was when he found his own family amongst them.


    It was from them that he heard of the full story of how the current situation came to be. Alvaro was partly enraged, but was more sorely disappointed when he heard his old mother retell how they, along with all the other slaves in the city were driven out under the new Duke¡¯s orders and told to ¡°delay¡± the enemies with their lives, as if they were just worthless disposables.


    He knew that to some, slaves like them were just property, but most people in the city had a closer, more genial relationship with those that served under them, often bordering on mutual respect. Such a move must have met with resistance, and apparently the old Duke himself was so disgusted by it that he negotiated a truce with the enemy in order to remove his own son from the position.


    Not that any of those mattered any longer to Alvaro and all the other slaves with him. They had been sold off, a price paid for the freedom of their masters. The large crowd marched silently under the lead and escort of their captors, unaware of what sort of future awaited them in the foreign land, with some despairing and others lamenting their fates.


    So it was with surprise and some bafflement when they halted the marching just before the army crossed the border between Kolitschei and Algenverr and a young nobleman on a horse went out to address the gathered Kolitscheian slaves.


    The nobleman introduced himself as the future Duke of Algenverr, their new liege lord, but no master. He further proclaimed that while the slaves gathered before him had lived their lives as properties of others, no such thing would be allowed going forward. Algenverr does not recognize slavery, or the use of slaves other than for criminal punishment.


    Instead, he invited the former Kolitscheian slaves to follow him to Algenverr, not as slaves who followed after their master¡¯s every command and whims, but as free men and women, whose choices were their own to make. He promised that those amongst them willing to take a chance would be allocated lands in the uninhabited areas of the Duchy, land to call their own.


    They would have to work hard to make usable farmland out of such lands, but the nobleman also promised three years¡¯ worth of material support to whoever chose to undertake such an endeavor. As for others who felt disinclined about working such lands, they would be employed in other fields. Not as slaves, but as employees.


    Free men and women, no longer anyone else¡¯s property.

 Side Story 24 - They who only knew Violence

    ¡°Despite their obvious importance in a wartorn era, professional soldiers who had dedicated their whole lives to fighting and killing often had the hardest time in adjusting to a peaceful era, even if that peace was one they fought hard to obtain. Where others rejoiced in the newfound peace, these people found themselves lost.


    Often they lacked direction and no longer knew what to do with themselves in a world where their sole talent was no longer in need. Some of these individuals fell into depression and crimes, while others sought after an outlet where they could make use of their skills. More often than not, mercenary work became such an outlet for these unfortunates, trapped in the cycle of violence.¡± - Thaddeus Ihanev, psychiatrist from Dvergarder, circa 308 FP.


    ¡°So¡­ what do you think, Njeri?¡± asked Alvaro with obvious consternation on his expression. The whole idea of being allowed to choose for himself was¡­ something he had never considered. He had been so used to simply doing as he was told, as was his lot in life, be it by his parents when he was still helping them out in the farm, or his mentors during the Warforged training, or his commanders after that.


    The idea of being his own master legitimately worried and scared him.


    He was at least fortunate in that he wasn¡¯t alone in the predicament. Many of the others had similar worries, especially amongst those who had higher positions than just laborers and possessed other talents. Their captors ¨C nay, their new lords ¨C had outlined several choices for them to choose from, and many were undecided on what to do.


    They could go out to pioneer uninhabited land, with the land itself as the reward for their hard work. It was a scenario that sounded too good to be true to many, but had not prevented many former farm laborers from flocking at the opportunity all the same. The allure of being able to own land for themselves was too great for many to resist.


    Those slaves who had been employed in administrative and intellectual tasks were also offered similar work as befitted their former occupation in their new home, and most had similarly flocked at the offer. Even a representative from the army had gone on stage and called for able-bodied men and women to join the army and defend their home together.


    Many of the Warforged had leapt at the offer, though some, like Alvaro and Njeri, were undetermined.


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    The main reason for what was because after the representative from the army, several representative from the mercenaries that fought with them were also given the chance to attempt to recruit some of the former slaves. Most of them elicited no real response from the slaves, except for one which instantly caught Alvaro¡¯s eyes amongst others.


    He couldn¡¯t fail to recognize the bestial figure on stage, even if he barely caught a glimpse of them during the previous battle. It was one of the mercenaries responsible for breaking their formation apart, apparently their leader to boot. Seeing the bestial man on stage ignited Alvaro¡¯s competitive spirit in many ways.


    During the Warforged training, they had been encouraged to compete against each other, with only the best ones making the cut to full Warforged status. That they, the Warforged, had been bested in battle inadvertently attracted him to those who defeated them. He had no chance to meet said people during the march to Algenverr, but now, that opportunity was dangled before him.


    It was what laid on the minds of many other Warforged as well, and the topic of their conversation.


    Njeri herself had been fortunate, as she had been next to Alvaro when he was felled by the flying corpse and met with the same fate, the corpse knocking her unconscious which led to her being captured alive. She had been talking with many of the other captured Warforged who were of the same thought, even as Alvaro was busied by his own circumstances.


    ¡°Many of the others had agreed. It would be no shame to join those who had proven themselves better than us in battle,¡± replied Njeri with a serious nod. ¡°It would be a more difficult life, the mercenaries gave no guarantees like the lord had, but they were open and honest about it instead of hiding it, which appealed to us. What about you? Have you talked things over with your family?¡±


    ¡°I have. They chose to¡­ leave the decision in my hands,¡± replied Alvaro to his long-time friend and compatriot. He knew that Njeri had no such obligations, as from what he could tell, she was either an orphan, or had separated from her family under particularly bad terms, though she never elaborated on the matter further. ¡°I personally wish to join the ranks of those who have bested us and proven themselves our betters, but I am uncertain if that would be a good option for my parents and sister as well.¡±


    ¡°Then why dither like a fool? They left a man in charge of recruitment right over there,¡± said Njeri as she pointed towards their front, where some men and women were busily taking notes as they sorted the former slaves based on the occupation they chose to pursue in Algenverr. A few were notably less busy by the sides, representatives from the mercenary companies, who naturally attracted less people.


    A large majority of the former slaves had chosen to pioneer new lands for Algenverr, the temptation of land ownership far too great for those who had lived their whole lives working lands that belonged to other people. Another sizable group registered themselves based on their previous administrative experiences, or were youths and healthy adults who wished to join the army.


    Very few people ¨C less than a couple hundred ¨C had chosen to use the freedom they had been given to return to Kolitschei, to the only life they had known, but they were a very notable minority. If anything, the fact that their new lord allowed those people to return unopposed spoke highly of the value of his words. He said they had their freedom to choose, and even when they chose something the lord disliked, he let them go unmolested nonetheless.


    As such, a couple hours later, the representative recruiter from the Free Lances was surprised to find a group of nearly two hundred former slaves, nearly half of them former Warforged, approach his station to ask him questions and express their desire to join the Company.

 Chapter 215 - The Butchers Bill

    ¡°Often the hardest part of being a commander is to read over the list of people you had lost in a battle, with the knowledge that all those men and women died in an attempt to carry out your command, and that part of the responsibility for their deaths lied with you.¡± - Attributed to a quote from the diary of Uvela Welo-Sabare, famed general from Posuin, circa 409-458 VA.


    ¡°So how¡¯s things with the young Duke, Boss?¡± asked Lars when he saw Reinhardt enter his tent later that evening. Lars¡¯ tent doubled as the logistical office for the Company whenever they were not on the move, as he had been acting as their chief logistical officer as well. ¡°Payment all as promised? Any issues we need to keep in mind?¡±


    The entire army had continued their march for a couple more days into Algenverr territory, before they stopped by the great wall. There, they were met with a large crew of support personnel that Nestor had summoned to help take care of the tens of thousands of former slaves they brought with them. The army itself along with the mercenaries camped around them to provide security and keep the order.


    ¡°Every single coin he promised, and then some as bonus for the role we played in the victory,¡± said Reinhardt, who had just returned from the Nestor¡¯s office to settle the company¡¯s payment. That Nestor not only paid them every coin he owed, but also added a bonus was something that naturally delighted the mercenaries. ¡°How¡¯s things on your end? Got a final tally on the butcher¡¯s bill yet?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that came in earlier this afternoon, just after you left, actually,¡± replied Lars. Most every battle would result in at least some losses, and given the contracts the company offered their members, those losses were eligible for reimbursement, either in the form of extra hazard pay for those who were injured badly, condolences money to the family of those who passed away, or the requisite negotiations for ending the contract with those who wanted to look for a safer way of living.


    ¡°So, how bad was it?¡± Reinhardt asked, his head tilted slightly to the side in curiosity. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be that bad from what I could see of our injured, but I don¡¯t know about the rest.¡±


    ¡°A total of ninety-four deaths, crippling injuries, or resignations,¡± reported Lars openly. It was a loss of nearly a tenth of the company¡¯s numbers, but one they could take given their present size. ¡°Nearly half the company are sidelined with lighter injuries too. Half of those would be out for another month or more, the rest likely could fight if there were any emergencies, but should ideally have proper rest for another week or two.¡±


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    ¡°Not as bad as I expected. We should have plenty to cover the hazard and condolences pay, right?¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod of his head. ¡°We got extras off the payment, then there¡¯s the salvage we got to keep, that amounts to a pretty good bit of coin, I¡¯d say. Our coffers still had a good amount of savings too, last I checked.¡±


    ¡°Correct on all counts, boss. We won¡¯t be having any issues paying the condolence fees, and we got enough in the coffers for nearly four years of operation assuming we maintain our numbers and did not take on any missions during that time,¡± said Lars as he exchanged nods with Reinhardt. ¡°We¡¯re in good shape and shouldn¡¯t have any financial issues for a good while, I¡¯d say.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. We might need to make use of those savings in the near future,¡± said Reinhardt with a satisfied sigh. ¡°Nestor confided in me that he expected the civil war to settle down over the next few years, so after our contract runs out next year, I plan to take the company back to Knallzog for a round of rest and relaxation. We¡¯ll run a few recruitment drives and refit our gear, while we¡¯re there.¡±


    ¡°A good call. We can always return and offer our services if things heat up once more over here,¡± said Lars in reply, then he clicked his fingers as if he just recalled something. ¡°Ah, right, boss. About the recruitment, I¡¯ve got something that needs your attention.¡±


    ¡°Oh? The former slaves? Hadn¡¯t expected that much out of them, but since you said something needs my attention, I guess something unexpected happened, huh?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity in his voice. ¡°Judging from the way you said it, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s anything unpleasant either, so what good news do you have about it?¡±


    ¡°We got a little over two hundred recruits who passed the assessment and wanted to be combatant, around double that in others who wished to join in a more auxiliary capacity or were dependents of the combatant recruits,¡± reported Lars with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely a whole order of magnitude over my expectations, all right,¡± admitted Reinhardt with some surprise. ¡°Any idea what attracted so many of them to us?¡±


    ¡°In fact, I do,¡± answered Lars with a teasing grin. ¡°Amongst those recruits were seventy-three who were formerly of the Order of the Warforged. Four of them were Blademasters, and the rest were all full-fledged members as well. When they and their families came to the recruitment booth, it attracted quite a few others, and the only reason we didn¡¯t take more is because not that many passed the assessment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ quite a lot of them. Any specific reason they mentioned? I¡¯d have thought Nestor¡¯s offer would be more lucrative for Warforged like them,¡± said Reinhardt after he gave an impressed whistle. While his company had cut their way through the Warforged, he respected their skill, and knew that their loss was mostly due to inexperience, as they never trained to deal with non-human opponents.


    ¡°Get this, boss. All those Warforged were survivors of the units we ran over. Apparently they respect our strength and wished to be allowed to join so as to learn from us. When we made it clear that they would be paid and their family members also given room in our caravan, they signed right on the spot,¡± elaborated Lars with some pride in his voice. ¡°All of them easily passed the assessment too, of course. Most of them are younger ones, so they¡¯ll likely be more malleable and receptive to adapting to our tactics.¡±

 Chapter 216 - A Year of Peace and Quiet

    ¡°If one only reads the depictions from the history books, sometimes they might be fooled into thinking of wars as things that kept going until one side or the other was vanquished in its entirety, because those were the sorts of wars that get written about most often.


    In actuality, most wars were much smaller conflicts, often halted once one side gained enough of an advantage over the other to force a compromise that was advantageous to them. Wars of extermination were rare, and only took place when great hatred already set root.¡± - From ¡°History of Warfare, Past to Present¡±, by Manuela Elioch, circa 379 FP.


    The year that followed was a peaceful one for the three former border duchies of Posuin, as well as the mercenaries they employed. Nestor¡¯s offensive campaign successfully earned the goal they aimed for, as pledges of non-aggression came from both Kolitschei and Lovia-Hosberg within that period of time, ensuring a relative peace between the regions at least for the next few years.


    Down in the south, Dvergarder¡¯s forces achieved similar success against the Bostvan forces they neighbored, and forced their opponent to similarly sue for peace. With the treaties signed, the border duchies withdrew their forces and breathed a sigh of relief, though at the same time they never allowed their guard to slacken.


    Their opposition ¨C both from the Central faction and the Royal faction ¨C were split amongst themselves. The northern assault had exposed the fraying seams of the alliance of convenience between the centrals, as the forces at Gestis and Oleynuos had simply watched while their neighbors were under assault, giving various excuses as to why they failed to render aid in time.


    Because of the divide, Duke Emil Bostvan of the Royal faction couldn¡¯t help but to pay close attention to his erstwhile allies to the north, as the divide showed how unreliable they were. The peace treaties half of the Central duchies signed with the border faction further worried him, as it opened the possibility that those duchies might choose to work together against him in the future.


    The three-way standoff continued with none of the forces involved possessing enough power to force their will on the other two, because should any one of them attempt to do so, the other two powers would most likely band together to resist them. That suited the border faction just fine, as they merely wished to keep to their lands without being bothered.


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    Over the year, several mercenary companies working for the border faction faced the end of their contract period. Some signed on for more, serving as additional garrison forces for their employers. Others chose to leave, as the region was clearly heading towards a prolonged period for peace, and they wished to look for more lucrative employment in regions with more conflict.


    Yet others chose to leave because they needed time to rest and recuperate from the losses they suffered while working in Posuin. The Silver Eagles was one such company. While the amount of casualties they took overall was quite heavy, it was not the main reason for their decision. Rather, it was the divide that happened within their ranks that forced them to such a decision.


    Ser Guillaume du Riffons was injured during the battle that took place when the forces from Algenverr clashed with those of Lovia-Hosberg during Nestor¡¯s campaign. The battle had been a small one, with the forces of Lovia-Hosberg withdrawing in defeat after losing barely a thousand men. There were some casualties on the Algenverrian side as well, however, and the old knight had the misfortune to be one of them.


    While the injury he suffered was by no means crippling ¨C especially with the aid rendered by the healers that took care of him upon the expedition¡¯s return ¨C it made the old mercenary captain decide that he was perhaps no longer suitable for the battlefield. As such, he stepped down from his position and handed the company over to his children.


    That was where the divide happened.


    His two children had opposing opinions on where to take the company next, and each had their own supporters. They almost came to blows several times until the retired old man scolded both of his children and told them to just go on their own paths if they could not see eye to eye. No mercenary company could afford having more than one leader, as contradicting commands would easily spell disaster in the battlefield.


    As a result, half of the Silver Eagles ¨C who renamed themselves the Silver Falcons ¨C followed the lead of Guillaume¡¯s younger daughter Wilhelmina, mostly composed of the company¡¯s infantry contingent, and headed to Knallzog to refill their number and recuperate. The other half ¨C who called themselves the White Eagles ¨C under the lead of Michel, the elder son, chose to head towards the Clangeddin empire where they sought after more lucrative contracts. With him was the majority of the company¡¯s vaunted cavalry.


    Of the other companies, the Janissaries extended their contract, taking up garrison duty in Algenverr, as the duchy had to divert a significant amount of their manpower to house and look after their influx of new citizens. As such, the usage of mercenaries to bolster their defenses and hunt down the bandit plague that sprouted up after any war was practically mandatory.


    Similarly, the Hellraisers signed an extended contract with Dvergarder. Since the vast majority of the Hellraisers were dwarves who lived many times longer than humans, their idea of short-term contracts also differed, and as such Duke Sandoval Utghwes secured their services for another decade, where the experienced combat engineers would build new fortifications that further bolstered the defenses of the duchy.


    The Free Lances on the other hand, bid their farewell to Duke Nestor ¨C freshly instated as Duke after his mother chose to step down just a couple months before ¨C late in the next year. Reinhardt chose to end the contract to rest and recuperate, but at the same time promised the young Duke that his Company would be back if they saw further unrest developing in the region.


    It was an amicable parting, more like friends seeing each other off, rather than an employer sending off their employee.

 Chapter 217 - Relationship Woes

    ¡°So ¡®tis said, that for many brave soldiers of courage,


    That the foe was less fearsome than a spouse and marriage.¡± - Old soldier¡¯s ditty.


    ¡°You look like you have something in your mind,¡± Reinhardt said to Lars when he noticed the other man looking distracted.


    The two of them were standing atop a small hill in Knallzog, with the rest of the Company camped out along the perimeter of the hill, a short distance away from the city of B?rengant. Due to the family¡¯s old friendship with Graf Angus Harscape, the Company habitually returned to the city on the northern side of Knallzog territory when they were recuperating.


    Their current return was the same. Reinhardt also took the chance to pay a visit to Ingrid¡¯s surviving son and daughter, both of whom lived in the city. Neither of them had interest in the family business and lived as a brewer and a civil official instead. As such, neither of them had any issue with him, an adopted nephew, taking over the Company, as they viewed it more as a responsibility they do not wish to handle.


    On the other hand, a couple of Ingrid¡¯s younger grandchildren showed interest in the family trade, despite the relative disapproval shown by their parents. In the end, Reinhardt took three of those young dwarves along with him when he returned from the visit, with a promise to their parents that he wouldn¡¯t allow them to fight until they had proven themselves ready.


    Those young dwarves were now training along with many other new recruits of the Company, as they had not been idle despite the period of rest and recuperation. In fact, Reinhardt and Lars were on top of the hill as they were watching a mock battle between two of the newest units in the company, where they fought each other with padded practice weapons to show their skills.


    On one side was Erycea¡¯s unit, while on the other was a unit composed of the former Warforged who joined them back in Algenverr. They had formed a unit of their own ¨C mostly because both Reinhardt and Lars felt that their previous training already gave them a solid base to build on ¨C and had trained in various tactics that were geared for dealing with non-human enemies over the past year.


    As a result, the former Warforged held their own much better, even against Erycea¡¯s people. They still faced noticeable trouble when they had to deal with large therians brute forcing their way into their formation, but they managed to take them ¡°down¡± these days, even if it cost them quite a few of their own. Erycea had fiercely pounced on that weakness and led her unit to victory that way, even while she kept the enemy leaders busy by directly engaging them in combat.


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    The former Warforged had chosen one of their younger Blademasters to lead them, to Reinhardt¡¯s surprise. It turned out that the two older ones had declined when asked to lead the unit, citing that they had been trained to command in a certain way for too long, and would likely have a harder time adjusting to new tactics.


    ¡°Oh? Uh, sorry, Captain,¡± said Lars as Reinhardt¡¯s question drew him out of his contemplations. He looked slightly embarrassed for having been caught daydreaming like that while they were watching a practice bout, no less, though Reinhardt hadn¡¯t pushed any further about it. ¡°I had a lot in my mind, I guess. Again, my apologies.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not like you. I¡¯ve never seen you in such a daze before, even while we were dealing with logistics or strategies,¡± said Reinhardt as he raised one eyebrow in curiosity. To see the usually cool-headed tactician so clearly out of his element was a rare thing, so in the end his curiosity won out and he pressed a bit further. ¡°Anything you can tell me about?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing that¡¯d concern the company in general, Captain, it¡¯s just¡­¡± stammered Lars as he seemed to weigh in his mind whether the issue was something he should tell others or not. He didn¡¯t take too long to come to a decision and answered Reinhardt¡¯s question in the end, though. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just put it bluntly. Meryl confessed to me last week.¡±


    ¡°I see. Congratulations are in order then? Unless you do not reciprocate her feelings¡­¡± said Reinhardt with a questioning tone. While he was not particularly well acquainted with everyone in the company, he knew of Meryl, as she was one of the twenty that first joined with Lars back in the Holy Kingdom. ¡°How are you feeling about it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ uncertain,¡± admitted Lars in reply, looking more nervous and worried than Reinhardt had ever seen him in their decade of working together. Even when he presented himself before the mercenaries for them to get their pound of flesh off him back in Zephyrous, he looked far calmer than right then. ¡°I don¡¯t dislike her, I guess? Just always thought of her more as a friend¡­ Though come to think of it, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever felt any serious desire to romance anyone either¡­¡±


    ¡°So how do you plan to reply then? You¡¯re not exactly that young anymore, you know?¡± said Reinhardt. He was almost forty himself, while Lars was in his mid-thirties already, no longer the young people they were when they first met back in Zephirous. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m one to speak when it comes to relationship advice myself, but Aunt Ingrid used to say that it¡¯s often better to be with someone who loves you, rather than someone you love. You don¡¯t seem to have any of the latter variety anyway, no?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad suggestion, honestly¡­¡± admitted Lars, who still seemed unsure of himself and where his feelings stood. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll think it over more properly later. Thanks for the advice, Captain, and my apologies for letting my mind stray while we were assessing the new people.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t miss too much, to be fair. The past year¡¯s training helped, but I don¡¯t think those Warforged would be able to take on the sort of opponents they struggled with that well either way. Then again, we have many other answers for that, so they ought to do well enough for the Company¡¯s needs,¡± said Reinhardt as he assessed the people fighting below. ¡°We¡¯ll just need to point them at the right direction and send them against those they¡¯re good with, that¡¯s all.¡±

 Chapter 218 - Celebration

    ¡°You would mourn when you needed to mourn, and celebrate when you needed to celebrate. To mourn when the occasion called for celebration is just folly.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror.


    A month later, Reinhardt joined many others as they celebrated Lars and Meryl¡¯s marriage ¨C which took place earlier in the same day ¨C in one of B?rengant¡¯s more expensive eateries.


    The gathering was a relatively small and private one, with only the unit leaders and other officers from the Company, representatives from the support staff and dependents, as well as what few old comrades Lars and Meryl had left amongst the company, fellow youths who had followed Lars back when he joined the Company in Zephirous over a decade ago.


    Back when they first joined the Company, there were twenty of those youths. At the present day, however, only eight ¨C including Meryl ¨C remained. The rest had either passed away, received a crippling injury and took up a support position, or retired from the mercenary business. All of them that remained had proven themselves many times over in the past decade, and had formed a strong bond with the other mercenaries in the process.


    Most of them had also found spouses amongst their fellow mercenaries or out of the support staff and dependents, which further tied them to the Company. In fact, Lars and Meryl were the last two bachelors of the group, so it was with great joy that they celebrated the union between the two. It was something the women amongst the group considered to be long overdue, thanks to Lars¡¯ general obliviousness to romance in general and Meryl¡¯s own lack of courage and confidence to initiate things.


    While it was not a large gathering, it was a feisty one, as Reinhardt booked a floor of the establishment ¨C not an uncommon practice for large celebrations ¨C for their own use. Good food and high-quality alcohol were brought out in large quantities, as the mercenaries celebrated and toasted to the new couple¡¯s future life.


    Near the end of the celebration, they even received an unexpected guest of honor, when Duke Harscape himself paid a visit and offered his well wishes to the couple. Apparently the old Duke had just returned from a patrol around his territory and caught wind of the celebrations on his way towards his manor. He even playfully scolded Reinhardt for not having sent him an invitation.


    It was a rare opportunity for the mercenaries to relax and celebrate to their heart¡¯s content, so they did precisely that. The party went on well past the midnight hour, with many of the drunken revelers staying the night at a nearby inn, while some of them had to be carried out as they were too drunk to walk on their own.


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    The celebration also served to mark Meryl''s retirement from the mercenary life.


    While she had fought as part of Lars¡¯ unit over the past decade, she also often served as his assistant when he was working on the logistical issues the company faced. After their marriage, she made her retirement official, as she would focus on logistics as part of the support staff instead, with the intent of replacing Lars as the head of logistics to lighten his burden after she learned enough.


    That also placed her at a safer position, as she planned to build a family with him, rather than continue to risk her life on the battlefield. Reinhardt approved of her choice, as he had also felt that Lars might have been overworked, given how he not only served as a tactician and unit commander, but was also the one responsible for the Company¡¯s logistics.


    Meryl becoming his assistant and eventually taking over the logistical duties would help reduce that workload.


    Shortly after the marriage, the Company moved out from B?rengant, having finished their recruitment drive there, and headed further northwards. With the current turmoil in the former territory of the Clangeddin Empire, the region was particularly rife with lucrative offers for mercenaries like them. As was common, the best offers were most commonly found in regions nearer the turmoil.


    B?rengant was no longer the northern border of Knallzog, as Zephirous had taken over that distinction in the past decade. Reinhardt and the Free Lances was headed to the city the dwarves took from the Holy Kingdom a decade ago for their next destination. There they planned to do a final recruitment drive while they perused the various offers from the former Empire¡¯s territory nearby.


    Of course, he also had more personal motives to head there, as he wished to pay a visit to his grandmother-in-law as well. It also allowed Lars and Meryl to visit their birthplace after nearly a decade, as the last time they visited Zephirous was when Erycea was six. Besides those motives, Reinhardt also had no small amount of curiosity in seeing how far the dwarves of Knallzog had developed the city in the past decade.


    There was already plenty of construction work going on the last time they paid a visit, most of which focused on building an underground layer beneath the city where a second city would be built. The city¡¯s existing underground infrastructure like the sewers were moved further below ¨C a feat that was made easier by the efforts of hundreds of earth mages skilled in construction ¨C while the resultant underground cavern was reinforced to support the city above without a hitch.


    That had been a decade ago, so for all Reinhardt knew, the underground city might have finished its construction by now. Since Elfriede exchanged letters ¨C she asked someone to read them for her as well as writing the replies, of course ¨C regularly with her grandmother, he knew that Varsha still served as the Governess of Zephirous, serving her third term in the position.


    It was something that would likely make his plans go more smoothly, as it meant that he would not need to deal with a new and unfamiliar person in charge to get permits for the recruitment drive. If the city had been developed further, that also meant it was more likely for the mercenary¡¯s guild there to have received the most up to date requests and offers, something further helped by their proximity to the former Empire territory.

 Chapter 219 - The March of Progress

    ¡°Progress is key to continued prosperity, for stagnation looms behind any place that refuses to change with the times.¡± - Saying attributed to Radven Oliphemus, one of the richest merchants in recorded history, circa 107 VA.


    Where the journey from B?rengant to Zephirous had been a disaster for the Company during the Theodinaz campaign nearly twelve years ago, the current route was a safe and carefree one. To be fair, what few bandits plagued the countryside ¨C not many, as the dwarves were particularly effective and vicious at removing them ¨C were unlikely to be so dumb as to accost a thousand-strong mercenary Company on the move.


    Where there had only been desolate villages that were completely abandoned by their inhabitants the first time they passed through the route, and small, growing villages trying to do their best despite the lack of manpower on later visits, now stood large farming communities that had grown multiple times larger than the last time Reinhardt laid eyes on them.


    Since it was early autumn, great fields of golden wheat, stalks of corn taller than most men, and fruit trees of various kinds dominated the landscape around the villages, depending on what grew best in that particular area. The once barely populated villages were bursting with people now, some of them so populous they could have passed for a small township.


    Nearly half or more of the populace in those places were immigrants from Knallzog, a steady stream of which trickled in regularly over the past years. The former Holy Kingdom had severely depopulated their own territory in their desperate gamble to repel the Knallzog invasion, and even a decade after the fact, Reinhardt doubted that the region had returned to the population it had prior to the war.


    For what it was worth, the locals and the new immigrants seemed to be living in relative harmony. A decade was a long enough time for adaptation to the changes, after all, and when Reinhardt visited one of the villages, he found that most conversations took place in either Common or Dwarven tongues, with only a few using the Holy Kingdom tongue to converse at all.


    There were also genuine smiles all around, as the villagers embraced a prosperity they had never tasted before. It made sense from both sides, when he thought about it. The fanatical believers of the God-King had mostly purged themselves by fighting like madmen back during the conflict, which left only those who had notably less belief in the supposed godhood of their leader. On the flipside, people who immigrated permanently from Knallzog tend to be those who were on the poorer side, lured to the new lands by the promise of land they could keep for themselves and a chance at prosperous living.


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    Both the natives and the immigrants were people who were used to hard times, and bonded over that mutual hardship they had lived through, which made for a more harmonious community than what most had expected. Given vast tracts of land ¨C there was plenty of land to go around but few people ¨C for their own use, these people immediately worked hard to make the most out of the land, and created a prosperity that was truly their own in the process.


    It was a change that pervaded over the former Holy Kingdom territory, as the villages they came across in their trip all showed signs of burgeoning prosperity. Even the ruins of Fort Ascher, the place where so much blood was shed back during the conflict, had changed beyond recognition in the years that had passed.


    Where the small fort once stood was now a town similarly named Ascher, which served as a hub for the local villages to trade their goods or to serve as a checkpoint for those intending to journey to the larger city of Zephirous further north. What surprised Reinhardt was the presence of a stele, right in the center of the town square, which was where the church had once stood.


    The stele commemorated the thousands of people who had lost their lives during the conquest of the Holy Kingdom. Reinhardt even found a small section with his late Aunt¡¯s name on one of its sides, along with an exacting count of the number of mercenaries from the Free Lances who had lost their lives during the campaign.


    It was an acknowledgement that moved him, along with many of the veterans of the Company.


    Perhaps because he was feeling generous and moved by the recognition, he called for the Company to halt and take a three-day break in the town. Ascher happened to be located halfway between B?rengant and Zephirous, so it was a good spot to take a break for those traveling between the two cities. The small town was likely to grow and prosper because of its strategic location in the future.


    Given leave to rest and relax, the thousand mercenaries quickly filled up the many taverns, eateries, brothels, and other such establishments the town had to offer. As was typical for mercenaries on leave, they were generous with their spending, looking for the best experiences they could get rather than saving up for the future like most did.


    After all, they were mercenaries, and they knew that the next battle might be their last, should their luck be on the bad side. Their generous spending and boisterous actions quickly endeared them to the local crowd, who joined in on the merriment. A few drunken brawls broke out here and there, but that was just to be expected when thousands of rowdy revelers were in any location.


    All that generous spending definitely gave a surprise boost to the local economy, however, and as a bonus it also helped increase the morale of the bored mercenaries.


    So it was that when the Company departed from Ascher three days later, most of them did so with smiles and fond memories, while the locals cheerfully sent them off on their way. The Company then continued their trek northwards, to the city of Zephirous.

 Chapter 220 - An Overdue Visit

    ¡°Relatives who lived in different cities often only saw each other rarely in the past centuries. Sadly, with the state of the world back then, long-distance travel between cities was often expensive and dangerous. Be it the threat of bandits, or all sorts of wildlife, there were plenty of dangers that awaited travelers in the days long past.


    The pleasant, safe roads we enjoy today is something many youths had taken for granted, but even their parents or grandparents could likely tell them of days when that was not the case at all.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, in the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 493 FP.


    ¡°About damn time you all showed up and visited,¡± complained Varsha when she met Reinhardt and his family at the city square of Zephirous on the evening they arrived in town. Despite her age ¨C easily pushing her eighties by then ¨C the old woman was still hale and hearty, spirited and robust in both body and soul. The responsibility of being the Mayor of the city seemed to have invigorated her rather than cause her stress and hardship. ¡°I¡¯d thought y¡¯all had forgotten this old hag and would only come over at my funeral!¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself, you old fart! You don¡¯t look like you¡¯d go to hell without giving Tohrmut a brawl first. The saying that scourges live forever really applies to you, doesn¡¯t it?¡± replied Elfriede just as crassly to her grandmother. The way the two interacted was far more crude and straightforward than any grandparent and grandchild Reinhardt knew, but he had grown used to it over time. ¡°How¡¯s the city going, anyway? Noticed that it¡¯s at least a cleaner shithole than before on my way in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting better. Tohrmut take my snatch, but that Prince of yours actually came through with all he promised, and then some,¡± replied Varsha with a smile on her old face. The old woman clearly looked like someone who lived a fulfilling life at that moment, with the way she beamed. ¡°Those dwarves actually re-built this shithole from the ground up, for the better, and they left us mostly on our own too. I could get used to neighbors like these all right.¡±


    ¡°I got nowhere near the sort of attachment you got to this place, but glad to hear, I guess,¡± replied Elfriede with a nod. Despite the crass manner with which the pair of grandmother and granddaughter spoke to one another, there was some notable affection between them still. ¡°You gonna stay mayoring up till you croak? Or you gonna hand it over to some young ¡®uns?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I ain¡¯t gonna do all the job till I croak. I ain¡¯t that dumb, girl. I got Annelise working as my assistant all these years to get her ready for the job so I can hoist it over to her once this term¡¯s done,¡± admitted Varsha with cackling laughter. ¡°She¡¯d be a good fit anyway, and I already got approval from my shorter, hairier counterpart for the handover in a few years.¡±


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    ¡°Ahem!¡± interjected a gruff voice from the side. Reinhardt turned his head to see an older dwarf he did not recognize walk towards them. The way Elfriede had not reacted to his presence made him dismiss the dwarf as a threat, however. His wife¡¯s senses were too sharp to not notice such things and he trusted it with his life. ¡°Madam Creussens, would it kill you to refer to your fellow Mayor with more respect?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Rein, Friede, let me introduce you to Lothar Ackermann, Mayor of the Zephirous undercity,¡± said Varsha when she noticed the dwarf¡¯s approach, one hand gesturing towards the dwarven man. The playful smirk on her lips never went away as she continued on, though. ¡°Also, Loth, you are shorter and hairier than me, so I¡¯m not exactly slandering you here!¡±


    Under the dwarf¡¯s breath, Reinhardt could hear the man grumble about things like why he was so foolish as to jump in to the offer to become mayor of a new town and whatnot, though from the tone, he could tell that the dwarf did not mean anything too serious about it, and it was more of an affectionate sort of annoyance. If even he could hear it, he knew his wife could, and he noticed her smirk as well, while the smirk on Varsha¡¯s lips just grew wider.


    Reinhardt knew that Elfriede must have used her magic to let the wind carry the dwarf¡¯s grumbling to her grandmother¡¯s ear as well.


    ¡°An honor to make your acquaintance, Mayor Ackermann,¡± said Reinhardt politely to assuage the dwarf a bit even while he struggled not to smirk or laugh from how his wife and grandmother-in-law were acting. ¡°We¡¯ll be in your care for a while to come.¡±


    ¡°Ah, greeting, Captain Edelstein, Mrs. Edelstein,¡± replied the dwarven mayor with equal politeness. The dwarf looked a touch embarrassed to have his fellow mayor speak so crudely of him in front of others, but was politically savvy enough to pretend like it never happened. ¡°I have received a copy of your request and approved it. I hope your fine Company will remain a friend to our Kingdom in the future.¡±


    ¡°Knallzog is where we originated from, and the kingdom has never treated us falsely so far. As such, we are happy to maintain this cooperation, Sir,¡± replied Reinhardt. Amongst the clauses in the contracts the Free Lances took, there was a clause that forbids the Company from being deployed against the interests of Knallzog. It was not an uncommon clause for companies that originated from or was based in one nation like theirs.


    ¡°It pleases me to hear that, Captain. In which case, I bid you a warm welcome to our fine city, and hope that your planned endeavor goes smoothly,¡± replied the dwarven Mayor with a polite nod. He had naturally been briefed and received a copy of Reinhardt¡¯s request to do a recruitment drive in the city, as well as his temporarily stationing his company in Zephirous.


    Normally recruitment drives from mercenary companies would be far more limited, if they were even allowed, but Reinhardt did receive a permit from the Crown Prince himself to do recruitment in the former Holy Kingdom¡¯s regions, and even a decade later, that permit was still valid.

 Chapter 221 - Looking at the Future

    ¡°Those who still have their families with them should cherish those moments while they last.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Oh, my¡­ Look at how big you¡¯ve grown¡­ Both of you¡­¡± muttered Varsha when Erycea and Alycea joined their parents later that evening. While Alycea was about the normal size for a child her age, Erycea was tall for a fifteen year old. She already matched her mother in height even a year ago, and was still growing to boot. As it was, she stood nearly half a head taller than the impressed Varsha.


    ¡°Hello, Great Grandma!¡± greeted Alycea cheerfully, a wide smile on the ten year old girl¡¯s face.


    ¡°Great Grandma,¡± said Erycea more calmly as she accepted the embrace of her great grandmother. Varsha had to reach up quite a bit to properly hug her due to their height difference, and that was with Erycea already bending her legs somewhat. Her legs were far more alike to her father¡¯s than her mother¡¯s, so she rarely stood fully upright on them, generally adopting a half-bent pose instead. Even that way she was already taller than her mother by a bit. ¡°Been a while.¡±


    ¡°Here, for you, sweetie,¡± said Varsha as she gave a handful of candies to Alycea. Sweets like those were not exactly luxury for the mercenaries, but they were in the Holy Kingdom since the area had a lack of local sugar-producing crops. The little girl accepted the gift with a big smile and went over to the side to play with other kids, as she knew that when the adults gave candies, they usually wanted to be left alone for a while.


    ¡°She¡¯s such a sweet little girl,¡± said Varsha as she watched Alycea go over to her friends. Of course, those friends were primarily other children around her age that were part of the dependents of the Company. Most of them were children of other mercenaries in the company, and the way they played was more akin to brawling and sparring rather than what most would associate with what playing children did. ¡°She¡¯s been training up too, I see.¡±


    ¡°She has, yes. Aly wanted to join us as well once she¡¯s come of age,¡± replied Erycea as she watched Alycea throw an older boy half again her size over her shoulder with a practiced move. Of course, the kid just got up and brushed himself off before they squared off again with eagerness. ¡°She¡¯s been training hard for it.¡±


    ¡°I guess our family just isn¡¯t intended for peaceful professions,¡± said Varsha with a bit of a wistful sigh. ¡°But then again, you all chose this path on your own will, and walked it proudly. That¡¯s better than most could say, I guess.¡±


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    ¡°I mean, if there¡¯s a job that¡¯d allow us to just lay down, relax, and be pampered all day without having to do a thing, I think most would have preferred that,¡± replied Erycea with a chuckle. ¡°Most jobs of that sort involve being under the whims of someone else, though, and no guarantee that someone wasn¡¯t an asshole. So yeah, I¡¯d rather take this sort of lifestyle. At least we¡¯re getting paid for doing something we¡¯re good at and mostly enjoy.¡±


    ¡°Good that you¡¯ve found your way in life so early,¡± admitted Varsha. As someone who had tread many avenues of living herself, she knew what it was like to feel lost and undecided. Fortunately her descendants did not face the same issue as she did. ¡°Also good to see that the Company had grown so well. It made me feel better to know that all of you are fighting alongside many compatriots.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been lucky, and dad¡¯s taking care not to bite off more than we could chew,¡± replied Erycea nonchalantly. ¡°Last we talked, he was trying to look for some relatively low-risk jobs in the former Empire, so we shouldn¡¯t be rushing headlong to battle anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing to know one¡¯s limitations.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, Great Grandma,¡± said Erycea as she waved to Niko and Yuri, who happened to be passing by with several of their younger children on their shoulders. The couple was naturally childless, so they instead adopted the orphaned children of their compatriots should the children prove willing. To date, the two had adopted at least a dozen such children into their household. ¡°It is for peaceful and relaxing times like these that we fight and bleed out there. Well, that and money, of course.¡±


    ¡°Money ain¡¯t everything, but most everything needs money,¡± chimed Varsha with an old saying.


    ¡°Damn straight, Great Grandma,¡± followed Erycea with a smirk.


    In the distance Erycea noticed her friends Rhiannon and Llewelyn, being shown around the new city by their parents Karenina and Zyd. The twins were born and raised in Zephirous, but they had also been away from the city for longer than then had lived there. Their parents on the other hand still knew most of the routes around the city by heart, despite the changes.


    From the other side of the city square she could also hear one of Lars¡¯ old compatriots giving a speech about the benefits offered by the Company. The recruitment process was going pretty well, and the Company would likely have as many soldiers in training as they had in active duty soon, if it kept up at the same pace as before.


    She even saw Lars ¨C part of her automatically thought of him as ¡°Uncle Lars¡± as Ery was used to calling the various unit leaders her aunts and uncles ¨C and Meryl strolling through the city. The tactician was on a rare day off, as Reinhardt had basically forced him to take his new wife on a vacation and honeymoon in the city once they arrived.


    More than anything, Erycea kept an eye on the playing ¨C or brawling, rather ¨C children nearby, where her own adopted little sister was deep in a tussle with many other children, both locals and from the Company. When she looked at them, she thought of the future, a future that might one day be her responsibility.


    As such, she knew to cherish the rare moments of peace and relaxation they had, before the call to arms would once again be sounded, like it always was.

 Chapter 222 - Unexpected Visitor

    ¡°Nobody expects a surprise inspection!¡± - Old dwarven proverb.


    The Free Lances stayed peacefully in Zephirous for a month and enjoyed the downtime in the city. During that time, their recruitment drive also gained them hundreds of enthusiastic recruits. Even after weeding out those who were clearly unfit for mercenary work ¨C those that lacked the fortitude and mentality, mostly, as that was harder to train than physical prowess ¨C they still had several hundred new recruits, which when combined with those still in training pushed their trainees to over a thousand members.


    Their peaceful stay was slightly interrupted when Reinhardt saw a small group of dwarves entering the city and heading to the Mayor¡¯s office, though, as he thought he saw an all-too familiar figure that should not be there. Thankfully he had Elfriede by him at the time, and thus an easy source with whom to check whether he was hallucinating in broad daylight or not.


    ¡°Friede, am I going crazy, or had the Crown Prince just passed us by in that carriage just now?¡± he asked. It was only a glimpse from the corner of his eye, but Reinhardt had honed his instincts and peripheral vision to notice things, since those were often crucial on a battlefield. The ebony-skinned straw-haired visage of the dwarven crown prince was something he believed he wouldn¡¯t mistake for another.


    ¡°It¡¯s him,¡± Elfriede said bluntly without needing any time to think. Like Reinhardt, she too had noticed the Crown Prince¡¯s passage. While she could not see with her eyes, her magically attuned senses allowed her to recognize any individual within her range even if they only stayed there for a brief moment. As such, she was far more certain than he was about the Crown Prince¡¯s presence. ¡°Did you see where his entourage was headed?¡±


    ¡°Towards Varsha¡¯s office. Should we head there too?¡±


    ¡°Might as well. I¡¯m curious what brought the Crown Prince of Knallzog to visit us here all of a sudden,¡± replied Elfriede with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°He looked like he was trying to go incognito too, at that.¡±


    By the time the two of them reached Varsha¡¯s office, the occupants of the carriage Reinhardt saw the Crown Prince in were already inside. Elfriede noticed that the Crown Prince was in Varsha¡¯s office, talking with her grandmother, so she politely excluded the area from her magical senses as she and Reinhardt waited for their discussion to come to an end.


    ¡°Oh, Captain Edelstein, Mrs. Edelstein. Good to see you,¡± said the Crown Prince when he exited the office together with Varsha a few minutes later. The dwarven prince grinned widely and gestured with his open palm towards another older dwarf that Reinhardt recalled being one of the guards that always stood by his side back during the Holy Kingdom campaign. ¡°See, I told you they noticed. Pay up!¡±


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    The older dwarf grumbled something unintelligible to Reinhardt and slapped a gold coin on the Crown Prince¡¯s awaiting hand.


    ¡°Anyway, good for you two to be here. We were going to look for you next since your Company was in town,¡± said the Crown Prince with a cheeky smile on his face. ¡°Mayor Creussens, if you would do the honor of explaining the situation?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Your Grace,¡± said Varsha with a polite bow. Varsha ushered Reinhardt and Elfriede to a side room, while the Crown Prince and his guards ¨C Reinhardt noticed another three waiting outside the room, in another side room ¨C adjourned to a meeting of their own. ¡°Anyway, as you two saw, His Highness Aethelbald is here in town, and his arrival here isn¡¯t a public one.¡±


    ¡°We noticed,¡± replied Elfriede bluntly. ¡°What¡¯s up with that? Surprise inspection?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the reason he¡¯s officially feeding those in the capital, yes,¡± admitted Varsha with a conspiratorial tone of voice. ¡°The actual reason he¡¯s going around with so few guards is to try to lure out a snake from its den, with himself as the bait.¡±


    ¡°Political conflict, I assume then?¡± asked Reinhardt. ¡°I heard that there were some clashes in court from pops when he visited Knallgant to get some material a while ago. Didn¡¯t expect that it was growing to a serious one, though.¡±


    ¡°How familiar are you two with the Royal Uncle, Karl Stahlfaust?¡± queried Varsha.


    ¡°Only as much as what Pops told us. We haven¡¯t been here for nearly a decade and he was the one who usually kept track of the political changes here,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°Radical conservative and dwarven supremacist if I remembered it right?¡±


    ¡°About right. Add being second in line for the throne and I think you should get the situation at hand,¡± said Varsha with a nod.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°So the Crown Prince is baiting his uncle to try to off him in order to get a reason to get rid of him then, I assume,¡± said Elfriede as she thought over the situation quickly. ¡°Sounds risky, but the Prince wasn¡¯t a fool from what I knew of him, so I assume he took precautions to make it hard for his Uncle to make a move?¡±


    ¡°You always catch on fast on shit like this,¡± commented Varsha with a sigh. ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it, yeah. The Crown Prince is traveling with his most trusted guards, as well as M?ster Goerenbrandt, the greatest healer who had ever graced the kingdom since its founding. The man is considered a national treasure, so any harm to him would result in a hideous amount of trouble for the perpetrator.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s giving his uncle the opportunity but at the same time forcing him to adopt a more careful approach, which reduces the options available,¡± Elfriede reasoned. ¡°Probably aiming for a more personalized attempt, which would hopefully result in a captive then, do I get that right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what he had in mind, yeah. With M?ster Goerenbrandt around, anything not instantly fatal should be curable, so it¡¯s not as risky as you¡¯d think,¡± said Varsha with a nod. ¡°He wants some of your people to be available to covertly be ready to grab any assassins as well as some more to overtly guard him. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°We owe the Crown Prince quite a bit from back then, so I¡¯ll accept the job on behalf of the Company.¡±

 Chapter 223 - Guard Detail

    ¡°Never think an important person is out and about unguarded. They almost always have a dozen guards hidden around them for every one they openly show.¡± - Saying attributed to King Aethelbald Stahlfaust the IIIrd of Knallzog.


    ¡°So Uncle Angus- Pardon me, I meant Graf Harscape will be arriving in town within a few days as well?¡± asked Reinhardt to the Crown Prince.


    They were in Varsha¡¯s office, with the only attendants being the Crown Prince, his elderly guard, a dwarf dressed in robed Reinhardt assumed to be M?ster Goerenbrandt himself, and Varsha. Reinhardt was just accompanied by Elfriede, and the Crown Prince was filling him in on the details of what he¡¯d need to know for the plan.


    ¡°Correct. I have been going incognito and keeping my presence hidden to frustrate my uncle in this journey so far, but the upcoming inspection together with Graf Harscape is public knowledge amongst the crown¡¯s advisors,¡± replied the Crown Prince with a nod. ¡°I know for certain that at least a couple of them are on my uncle¡¯s side, so he ought to receive the news as well.¡±


    ¡°I see. So Your Grace¡¯s publicly known covert inspection here would be the best chance for any plans he might have,¡± exclaimed Reinhardt in understanding. Elfriede had at times told him stories of her youth, and from those, the Company had worked up plans to protect their employers from assassins, making use of her inside knowledge on the matter. ¡°Since my Company happened to be on break here, I assume you wish for us to guard you more covertly?¡±


    ¡°Exactly so, Captain Edelstein. It was honestly a happy coincidence that you were around, as I had originally intended to enlist Madam Creussens¡¯ guards otherwise. Your men and women would be even better since you¡¯ve been in town for a while now,¡± replied the Crown Prince. ¡°Graf Harscape will not have that many guards around with him, only half a dozen or so, while I keep my entourage of four and pretend to be one of his entourage along with them. I want your people all around us in a natural way, while some keep guard over the entrances of the lower city as well.¡±


    ¡°That is something we can arrange, yes,¡± nodded Reinhardt in agreement. He would have to tap in on people he trusted the most and were skilled enough for this sort of assignment. Fortunately the Free Lances as it stood did not exactly lack such people. Since they were already prowling around the city with their families, that also made for a very effective disguise when they were guarding the Crown Prince. ¡°I will have people pretending to go around the city with their families while they guard you, handing off the duties to others as you pass different sections. We have enough people whose entire families work for the Company to make this easily doable.¡±


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    ¡°Excellent, Captain. I promise that you will find the reward for this job a satisfactory one.¡±


    ******************************


    Graf Angus Harscape arrived in Zephirous two days later. Unlike the Crown Prince, he came into town openly, as the temporary regent of the region. B?rengant happened to be the closest region of Knallzog to the territories they won from the Holy Kingdom, and for the time being, Graf Harscape was appointed as the temporary regent of the region.


    After another half century of integration or so, the region would be turned into another administrative region of Knallzog, with its own regent at the helm, but that was a matter for the future.


    Reinhardt joined Varsha in welcoming the Graf, although not in official capacity but more as a friend of the family. The Crown Prince was with their group as well, and he noticed him giving the old Graf a conspiratorial wink. The reception itself went off without a hitch, as it took place in the Mayor¡¯s office, which was likely the most guarded place in the city at the moment.


    No, the time when any assassins might potentially have a shot at the Crown Prince was during the inspection, where they would be going around the city.


    Naturally, the Free Lances ¨C at least the ones who had been picked for the job ¨C were set in various places throughout their route along the city. When they were in civilian clothing, they blended in easily with the locals, as Reinhardt had primarily picked out members who originated from the Holy Kingdom. He kept most of the more easily noticeable therian members mostly around the underground city¡¯s entrances, for when they needed to quickly guard the place in order to prevent any escapee from going underground.


    Of course, a few of them joined the guard detail as well, like Bj?rn, Varilya, and their whole family. The couple had four children, the elder two being part of the Company¡¯s support staff while the younger two were the twins in Erycea¡¯s unit. Mischka also accompanied them under the pretense of just being a grandmother accompanying some of her grandchildren.


    Reinhardt, Elfriede, and Erycea themselves accompanied the Graf''s main group together with Varsha and a few of her people. Their presence was more easily excused, as Reinhardt¡¯s adopted family were old friends with the Graf¡¯s. Of course, none of them went around unarmed, though only the Graf¡¯s guards went around openly showing their weapons and armor.


    They were greeted quite enthusiastically by the locals. After all, the people that remained were those that were either ambivalent or had been dissatisfied by the Holy Kingdom, which made them welcome their new rulers with open arms. Those who still stubbornly held loyalty to the dead kingdom were sent to join the kingdom they loved so much in the afterlife.


    After all, neither Varsha nor Graf Harscape were strangers to removing dissidents quietly using some more unsavory means. In fact, Varsha being who she was, she kept a few of her old subordinates for times when she needed someone quietly ¡°disappeared¡± without making a fuss. Karenina and the others who left were those who couldn¡¯t stand the long periods of relative boredom between each job.


    The first day of the ¡°inspection¡± went smoothly without any incident, and so did the second day. It was on the third and final day that the Crown Prince¡¯s gamble lured in its target, and someone made an attempt for his life.

 Chapter 224 - Assassination Attempt

    ¡°No matter the race, once ambition reared its ugly head, taking another¡¯s life to advance your own desires became commonplace. Many philosophers had theorized how people could be a far more noble entity if they were to embrace noble qualities, but reality proved that all too often their ideas were more wishful thinking than anything.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    Elfriede was the first to notice the would-be assassins.


    To sense their surroundings with the air itself as the medium was something any Wind affinity mage was capable of doing. Most of them never truly trained in the technique, however, and even when they do use it, they often only receive a general impression of their surroundings. Most of the detail went unnoticed as the mages tried to prevent themselves from succumbing to sensory overload.


    Unlike them, she noticed every little detail around her.


    Then again, she had been using her wind-bases senses as a substitute for sight since she was young, and over decades of constant usage, had grown extremely skilled at its use. As such, she noticed right away when a few of the nearby ¡°citizens¡± seemed to tense up in a different way upon noticing the Crown Prince, including how their hands went beneath their cloaks, to the hilt of the daggers at their belt.


    Sure, it was not strange to be wearing cloaks in the city, nor was it strange to carry weapons. Many of the citizens did either or both. To have that sort of reaction while looking towards the Crown Prince, however? That was a warning sign to her, and one she wouldn¡¯t fail to miss. As such, Elfriede quietly notified Reinhardt with hand signals used by the Company.


    Not a moment too soon at that.


    Mere moments after she warned Reinhardt, the twangs of crossbows reached her ears, from the opposite side of the assassins she noticed. She noticed how the Crown Prince¡¯s guards immediately moved to cover him, their thick shields taking the bolts fired at him with ease. At the same time, she also noticed how the assassins she noticed moved closer, taking advantage of the distraction from the other side.


    Most of those assassins never even reached them, as Reinhardt blew into his whistle to notify any member of the Company who happened to be nearby.


    Both Karenina¡¯s and Cassie¡¯s families happened to be right nearby, and the experienced mercenaries only needed to take a glance at the assassins trying to rush towards where the Crown Prince was standing to know what they had to do. They drew their weapons and immediately struck down several of the assassins who had not expected to be attacked from the side.


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    Only two of the assassins even came close to the procession, and while most of the Crown Prince¡¯s guards were busy covering him from the crossbowmen who rained bolts on them from the other side, Reinhardt and Elfriede already awaited the assassins. The first one had just drawn his dagger when Reinhardt¡¯s polemace smashed down and crushed the assassin¡¯s shoulder.


    The other lost his hand to Elfriede¡¯s blade, and the only reason they were alive was because the Crown Prince had asked for them to capture the assassins alive when it was possible. He likely intended to interrogate them and use them as proof of his uncle¡¯s plots, in order to topple said uncle from his position. After all, dwarves generally frowned upon scheming of that sort, and to be caught red-handed basically spelled the end of one¡¯s political career, if not their life.


    As for the crossbowmen who were shooting from afar, the Crown Prince¡¯s guards rendered them ineffectual, while Elfriede knew that Reinhardt¡¯s whistle did more than just warn those nearby. Above the city, Hannah and the rest of their flying scouts were patrolling as well. They had also heard the whistle, and even then Elfriede could hear their screeches ¨C indistinguishable from bird¡¯s screeches to those unfamiliar with them ¨C as they guided the rest of the Company¡¯s people stationed in the city to flank the assassins.


    Others were already stationed near the entrances to the underground city, with permits from Varsha to temporarily restrict access in and out from the underground. All was done to prevent any of the assassins from taking refuge there, as the Crown Prince had a certain surety that his uncle, being the dwarven supremacist he was, would mostly use dwarven assassins.


    Their interception of the assassination attempt went flawlessly, and perhaps that made them relax their guard a little bit.


    Once again, Elfriede was the first to notice. Perhaps because she never had a sense of sight, her hearing was particularly acute for a human. As a result, she heard Hannah¡¯s warning cry from above before the others. Her ears also caught the tell-tale twang of a crossbow being fired, from the side she and Reinhardt were on.


    Instinctively she moved to cover the Crown Prince¡¯s back. Her senses detected the bolt a moment later, which gave her a brief window of time to react. She flicked her right wrist, striking the bolt mid-air with the blade of her weapon.


    Had it been a regular bolt, her strike would have been enough to send it to the ground, but the bolt proved to be something more, and it deflected her blade instead.


    Caught off-guard, Elfriede did not let herself panic. Instead, she raised the blade she held in her left hand in the brief moment she had and used the crescent blade of the handguard in an attempt to deflect the bolt away. The impact was far heavier than what a crossbow bolt ought to be, and even with her utmost efforts, she only managed to divert the bolt slightly off its path.


    The bolt went through her left shoulder, punching through her clavicle and out from her back before it expended its momentum. The pain made her grit her teeth, while her left arm hung weakly from the injury but she took solace in preventing the clearly enchanted bolt from reaching the crown prince.


    Elfriede opened her mouth, about to tell the others the direction the assassin was shooting from, when she noticed how she couldn¡¯t make a sound. More than that, she noticed how she lost most feeling over the left side of her torso, and how breathing suddenly became much harder all of a sudden.


    She lost all feeling in her legs next as her knees gave way and she felt herself falling.

 Chapter 225 - Poison

    ¡°For ages untold, poison had always been the assassin¡¯s best friend.¡± - Old proverb.


    ¡°Friede!¡± Reinhardt yelled with worry and not a little bit of dread when he saw how she crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Even as he rushed towards her ¨C fortunately there were no other assassins left to deal with in the vicinity ¨C he still remembered to signal Hannah by whistle to guide whoever was near that sniper to surround and catch them, however.


    He breathed a slight sigh in relief when he nearly reached her and noticed the slight rise and fall of her chest, as well as the location of the bolt that struck her. The bolt went through her left shoulder cleanly, but it was quite a bit far from any vital spot, so clearly that wound alone wouldn¡¯t have caused Elfriede to drop like that.


    Something had, though, as Reinhardt noticed how Elfriede¡¯s whole body felt limp and powerless as he tried to help her get up. The only movement he saw coming from her was the slight breathing as well as the movement of her eyes. It was like she had lost control over the rest of her body in its entirety, which in itself was worrisome to say the least.


    ¡°May I?¡± came a question from his side. Reinhardt turned to see the Crown Prince arrive together with two of his guards and the robe-clad dwarf. The question came from the robe-clad dwarf, who if Reinhardt suspected right, should be M?ster Goerenbrandt himself, the famous healer. ¡°I believe I could be of help to the lady.¡±


    Reinhardt expressed his agreement when he noticed the Crown Prince give him a nod. The dwarven healer immediately knelt beside Elfriede, who was still being held up by Reinhardt¡¯s arms. The dwarven healer¡¯s hands quickly grabbed the bolt¡¯s shaft that protruded out from Elfriede¡¯s shoulder and snapped it in half with a practiced motion, before he pulled out the rest of the bolt out from her back.


    ¡°What happened to her, M?ster Goerenbrandt?¡± asked Reinhardt as politely as he could. He was not particularly knowledgeable in medical things, and had no idea what might have caused Elfriede¡¯s condition.


    The dwarven healer did not answer him for a moment, though he did lay one hand on Elfriede¡¯s wounded shoulder. The injury closed within seconds, leaving only a small leftover that would later develop into a scar ¨C probably something the healer did on purpose considering how mercenaries and dwarves both tend to consider scars as medals of honor ¨C but Elfriede still didn¡¯t move.


    Reinhardt felt his dread redouble when he saw how the dwarven healer frowned.


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    It was a strange feeling that he felt at that moment. If someone was to ask him about his relationship with Elfriede, he would have likely considered them to be more like good friends with benefits, despite their marital status in the documents. That decision was more for Erycea¡¯s sake anyhow, and their relationship had mostly settled to the same pace they had prior to the accident that resulted in her birth.


    He considered himself a pragmatic man. His relationship with others were ones of mutual benefit, like with just about everyone in the Company. He cared for his daughters, sure, but if someone was to ask him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to say whether he loved Elfriede or not. It was a curious thing, considering that they¡¯ve shared beds for the past decade and a half.


    Then again, he knew she probably thought in a similar way. Elfriede remained one of those people who almost never cared about another in any true sense. He only really saw her show such an attitude to their daughters, and her old friends. Arguably, she cared more about her old friends than she did for him, though not like either of them ever made an issue out of it.


    Yet now that her life probably hung in the balance, he couldn¡¯t help but worry for her sake. It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling to him.


    ¡°May Pesca rot those hairless cur¡¯s beards!¡± cursed M?ster Goerenbrandt vehemently, which caused even the Crown Prince to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Apparently the healer was not known for cursing often, considering the surprise on their expressions. ¡°Those goatfucking bastards laced the bolt with Midnight Shadow extract. Fuck!¡±


    ¡°Midnight Shadow?¡± Reinhardt asked with a worried voice. Either way he knew it was likely not a good thing given the poignant way M?ster Goerenbrandt cursed at its mention. Even the Crown Prince visibly paled upon hearing the name.


    ¡°A forbidden poison. One extremely lethal for us dwarves,¡± said the Crown Prince with an affronted tone. ¡°Its use had been outlawed on the pain of de-bearding and death for many generations. If the antidote for the poison was not administered within five minutes at the latest no victim had ever survived it. It would cause your whole body to be paralyzed and you¡¯d be left unable to breathe until you suffocate to death.¡±


    ¡°M?ster Goerenbrandt has the antidote, right?¡± Reinhardt asked with obvious worry but also some hope in his voice as he looked up. Elfriede still breathed weakly, and had yet to move anything but her eyes. ¡°Please tell me that he does. I am willing to pay whatever you ask for it.¡±


    ¡°I do. I came prepared with it just in case. The problem is not about money. The problem is that I can¡¯t administer it to her!¡± complained the dwarven healer in obvious frustration. ¡°She¡¯s human!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean!?¡± snapped Reinhardt with a threatening growl to his voice.


    ¡°Calm yourself, Captain. It¡¯s not what you think,¡± said the Crown Prince with an authoritative tone. He seemed conflicted with what he was about to say, and looked somewhat guilty as well. After all, Elfriede had taken the bolt meant for him. ¡°The only known antidote for Midnight Shade mainly consisted of Sudasorgh Grass extract. The problem is that it¡¯s also a poison. It¡¯s only a mild one for us dwarves, would make us miserable for a week or two at worst¡­ but it¡¯s also an extremely lethal poison for humans like her.¡±

 Chapter 226 - The Price of Failure

    ¡°Every clever rabbit had three entrances to its burrow.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Tlaynoc Naberthay of the Hidden Hand was one of the most ¨C if not THE most ¨C successful contract assassins in both Knallzog and the Kingdom Down Under for the past century. He and his band had killed dozens of rich merchants, politicians, and even minor nobles at the behest of others, never having failed a single contract.


    This job was supposed to be their band¡¯s final job, as its completion would likely mean they had to evacuate to another country to lay low afterwards. The temptation of leaving their mark in the history books while also being paid such a ludicrous amount that the entire band could retire and enjoy a century of life in luxury was far too much to ignore, however.


    It was also the riskiest and most high-profile job in their career, the target being Aethelbald Stahlfaust, the Crown Prince of Knallzog and first in line to the throne. All the information they received from their employer suggested that the newly integrated City of Zephirous would be their best chance to pull off the feat, as the Crown Prince planned to do a surprise inspection there.


    The information proved true and their target did make that surprise inspection while remaining incognito. Even so, the band had not rushed things. Instead, they carefully observed their target¡¯s behavior and chose the plan that would give them the highest rate of success based on that. It was why they did nothing during the first two days of the Crown Prince¡¯s inspection.


    He and his band had prepared a three-layered plan for the mission. Part of the group would be stationed in three locations on the west side of the city, from where they would rain crossbow bolts using the military-grade repeating crossbows they possessed. Their role was to primarily act as a distraction to lure away the Crown Prince¡¯s guard to one side.


    Tlaynoc himself commanded the second team of other assassins who would rush towards their target at an opportune time. This second team was both a serious attempt at killing their target as well as yet another distraction. If they could kill their target by the surprise attack, then all was well and good. If not, they would at least distract the guards from the true killing blow.


    That killing blow was supposed to be delivered by Tlaynoc¡¯s younger brother, who was the most skilled marksman of their band, capable of hitting a copper coin at three hundred paces. He was situated to their east and had an enchanted crossbow bolt ¨C something that the band had spent most of their advance payment on ¨C slathered liberally with Midnight Shadow extract.


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    It was supposed to be a clean, immediately fatal shot. The poison was just there for insurance. Yet none of them expected how the one human guard not only managed to detect the bolt and tried to deflect it mid-flight, but also took the bolt intended for the Crown Prince herself, wasting their one best shot at completing the job.


    Everybody in the band knew that the job was going to be the riskiest they had ever undertaken, but the allure of wealth and fame had motivated them to do the job regardless. However, none of them were prepared to face the contingencies the Crown Prince apparently had in hand, from the guards who were clearly extremely skilled to those hidden all around the city itself.


    Tlaynoc had seen the human families before during the times he scouted out the city while planning and observing things. To all appearances they looked just like a regular family with adolescent children ¨C he even had the one band member who was good at distinguishing human faces check to make sure ¨C that were shopping around the city.


    In some ways, the dwarven mindset worked against him since he subconsciously equated the young humans ¨C fifteen was most definitely still the age of a child for dwarves ¨C with helpless children. As such, he was caught by surprise when the whole family along with another brought out weapons and subdued his assassins with ease.


    The debacle left Tlaynoc with only one last option, namely to flee for his life. He had not charged with the rest of the second group, as he was always more the planner than the executor. His brother, he knew would already be running for the hideout they prepared after he saw his shot fail. As for the rest of the band, he hoped that their sacrifice would buy him time to get away.


    Not like he personally cared about any of them other than his own brother anyway.


    Despite his general lack of involvement in the actual killing itself, Tlaynoc kept himself fit. He swiftly ran through the city streets, taking care to act like a panicked civilian as he did so. He also kept himself to crowded areas, making sure that if he was pursued, his pursuers cannot simply shoot him without risking some civilian casualties.


    The experienced assassin weaved his way through the crowd, at times ¡°accidentally¡± shouldering a person aside to cause a slight pile-up of falling people to further deter whoever might be on his tail. After he was reasonably certain that he had covered some distance to his pursuers, he slipped into a smaller alley and prepared to make his escape to another hideout his band prepared in advance.


    He only made one mistake, and that was forgetting to look up during his run.


    Shortly after he turned and entered the small alley, a shadow was suddenly cast over him. He looked up by instinct and saw a white figure jumping off the roof of a four-story building to his left, silhouetted against the glaring afternoon sun. Then he saw something glimmer around the figure and the next thing he knew his entire face burned with a searing, sharp pain.


    Then he felt something hard strike him, almost as if someone punched him hard, and darkness took his mind.

 Chapter 227 - Pursuing the Assassin

    ¡°Where there is prey to be hunted, nature would make sure that there is a hunter to cull the numbers.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Before the assassination attempt took place, Erycea heard a whisper from her mother ¨C something she could do at a distance through the wind with her magic ¨C to watch out for a certain dwarf a bit to their right. As such, Erycea was keeping an eye on that particular dwarf when the mayhem broke out. She also noticed the dwarf turning to run when her mother took the bolt intended for the Crown Prince.


    Erycea was torn for a brief moment, her instincts wanting to go to her fallen mother¡¯s side, while her more rational side practically yelled at her to chase after the escaping assassin. She made her decision when her father went to her mother, knowing that staying around wouldn¡¯t be of any help ¨C she didn¡¯t exactly have medical skills to begin with ¨C and instead chose to do something that could be of use.


    The assassin¡¯s escape had gone mostly unnoticed by the groups led by Karenina and Cassie as they were kept busy subduing most of the assassins, and Erycea knew she was the fastest out of the people around. She took off with a bounding leap to chase after the assassin, whistling loudly with her fingers in the hopes that Hannah ¨C who was flying high in the sky above ¨C would hear the signal that she was giving chase.


    A return cry from above signaled to Erycea that Hannah would help her keep track of anyone moving suspiciously. Hannah and the rest of the aerial scouts had been on watch everytime the Crown Prince was out and about, as they kept watch from high above. Even at that moment, several of Hannah¡¯s colleagues directed mercenaries in other parts of the city to encircle and catch the assassins attempting to escape.


    Erycea saw the crowded street ahead of her with not a few panicking citizens who were running to and fro, most attempting to get away from the fighting. She immediately made the decision to take a different road instead of trying to force her way through the street. As she kept her weapons back in her storage, she leapt up towards the wall of a wooden building and climbed it swiftly, her claws digging into the wood with ease, and leapt onto the rooftop.


    From there she was in her element.


    Erycea was no stranger to the rooftops of Zephirous. Back when she was still a child, her mother had often taken her for a jog on those very same rooftops, as part of her training and partly for fun. She had always admired how her mother moved swiftly over the rooftops with ease, and had greatly enjoyed those runs together with her.


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    Despite a decade of development since the last time she had been in town, a sense of familiarity still returned to her as she saw the nostalgic landscape from the rooftop. Unlike her childhood days, however, she no longer had to run first to be able to leap the distance from one rooftop to another, as she had grown a lot since then.


    Erycea dropped to all fours in a seamless move as she ran on the rooftops of Zephirous, leaping from one building¡¯s roof to another¡¯s with ease, at times latching onto the walls of the next building as she climbed up to its roof in short order. It did not take her long to notice the escaping assassin once more, but she refrained from striking as the dwarf kept himself to busy and crowded areas of the street.


    Hannah kept watch from the skies, and after a few minutes of chase, signaled to Erycea that the coast looked clear, that there were no hidden ambushers as far as she could tell. Emboldened by the news, Erycea closed the distance between her and her target, while keeping far enough away to not be easily noticeable.


    To be fair, she would have been easy to spot if anyone just looked up, as her slender form running on all fours on the rooftops was unmistakable. The thing about most people was that they tend to forget about looking upwards unless trained to do so, however. Her target was also more concerned with keeping up a charade as a ¡°panicking citizen¡± and trying to get to his destination rather than keeping watch around him, so that helped too.


    Finally, her target took a turn into an alley where there were no other people inside. Erycea immediately picked up her pace and caught up with her target in short order. She was only separated from her target by a short distance and the height of the four-story building she was on. Naturally, she leapt off the building without any hesitation, descending on her target like a bird of prey swooping down.


    Her target looked up as her shadow ¨C she was silhouetted by the afternoon sun behind her back ¨C crossed his path and had a surprised look on his face. Erycea was in no mood to give him even a chance to resist, however, and a mental command extracted the orb of glass she trained with since childhood from her storage.


    That orb of glass dispersed into thousands of razor-sharp shards of glass the next moment, almost like a glimmering curtain around Erycea¡¯s form, and another thought coupled with a push of magic sent them shooting down at the runaway assassin. Many of the shards bounced off the cloth worn by the assassin, but hundreds still found their way onto his ¨C or her, Erycea couldn¡¯t really tell with dwarves ¨C face and embedded themselves all over.


    Even as her target recoiled from the searing pain of having so many shards of glass embedded in their face, Erycea landed in the alley, her legs flexing and bending to disperse the impact without injuring herself. She used her left hand to help support herself to avoid a fall from the momentum of the fall, while her other hand brought one of her weapons out of her storage.


    Given how disoriented her target was, Erycea could have very easily kill the dwarf with a single swing of her truncheon, but she knew her parents would likely prefer to have them captured alive for later interrogation. As such, Erycea did not swing her weapon. Instead, she delivered a textbook-perfect uppercut at the dwarf¡¯s bearded chin, the protrusions on her weapon¡¯s handguard acting as a brass knuckle, smashing hard into the dwarf¡¯s face with enough force in the blow to tilt his face upwards.


    The dwarf dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes from he blow, completely knocked out cold.

 Chapter 228 - Makeshift Treatment

    ¡°Not every illness or injury had a known treatment. At times we just had to work with what little we knew and our best judgment, when there were no precedents to call upon.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Then what can we do!?¡± asked Reinhardt with not a bit of his frustration and helplessness leaking into his voice. That Elfriede was injured was bad enough, but that she was poisoned by something where the antidote would have done even worse things to her than the poison itself was beyond frustrating. It was a situation where he was literally helpless as he had nothing in hand that could better the situation.


    ¡°A moment,¡± said M?ster Goerenbrandt as his brows scrunched up in concentration. Both of his hands were laid on the back of Elfriede¡¯s shoulders, and from such a close distance, even Reinhardt could feel the mana thrum as the dwarven healer worked his magic. ¡°Huh. This is quite an unexpected find to say the least.¡±


    ¡°What is?¡± Reinhardt asked with worry evident in his voice.


    ¡°The poison isn¡¯t affecting her as badly as it would have done to a dwarf. The effects are the same as far as I could tell but I¡¯m not detecting any breakdown or damage to her nerves that would have happened to us¡­¡± explained the old dwarven healer patiently. He was probably used to seeing panicking family members of his patients, to be fair. ¡°The effects on her should be temporary¡­ Do we have a good wind mage around? No¡­ wait¡­ she¡¯s already forcing herself to breathe using the wind!¡±


    ¡°Friede is a wind mage herself, yes,¡± said Reinhardt as he caught on to what surprised the old healer. ¡°She used to struggle with an old lung injury¡­ and used to use her magic to help her breathe properly. She¡¯s done that for decades.¡±


    ¡°That explains why her breathing is so smooth even with the poison affecting her¡­¡± mumbled the old dwarf as he quirked an eyebrow with interest. The old dwarven healer then moved towards the side, keeping one of his hands on Elfriede¡¯s shoulder all the time. ¡°Madam Edelstein, can you hear me? If you can, can you move your eyes? As far as my knowledge goes, victims of this poison should still be able to do that.¡±


    As a reply, Elfriede¡¯s eyes moved side to side. She clearly heard M?ster Goerenbrandt¡¯s words and was capable of doing so. It helped that her eyes were wide open, so the movement was easily visible to everyone.


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    ¡°Excellent, now, please look towards my direction for a no, and towards your husband for a yes,¡± added the old dwarf. As he moved to Elfriede¡¯s right, Reinhardt had moved himself over to her left, his arm helping support her back all that while. ¡°Your husband informed me earlier that you are a wind affinity mage and are forcing yourself to breathe at the moment. Are you able to keep doing this for a prolonged period of time?¡±


    Elfriede¡¯s eyes shifted towards Reinhardt for a short while before they returned to stare blankly towards the sky.


    ¡°Excellent. Is there another wind mage who is skilled with air movements in your company?¡± asked the old dwarf next. ¡°It would be better if we could get several of those to help with the situation at hand, even.¡±


    This time Elfriede¡¯s eyes shifted towards M?ster Goerenbrandt. There were several wind affinity mages amongst the Free Lances, but most of them barely qualified for such a title, and were very limited in what their skills could do. The ones who were more skilled specialized in different fields, like using wind to amplify their hearing or carry their voices, or like in Hannah¡¯s case, to use the wind to help make her flight more efficient.


    None of them were skilled in doing something like forcing the wind to move into someone else¡¯s lungs with enough force to make it inflate but without damaging it like Elfriede had done for herself for decades. Such a skill would have been useless against a resisting opponent anyway, as then their innate resistance would have overwhelmed a magical attempt to ¡°invade¡± their body.


    ¡°Hm. That is more troublesome,¡± said the dwarf with a slight frown. ¡°In that case, Madam Edelstein, are you capable of keeping your breathing going while you sleep? Either that, or forgoing sleep until you have recovered enough to be able to breathe unaided again. I am afraid those are the only options left, given the cards we were dealt with.¡±


    Elfriede¡¯s eyes turned towards Reinhardt once more. It was somewhat eerie to see her seemingly transfixed like that, with just her eyes moving.


    ¡°Dad! How is mom!?¡± asked Erycea the next moment. Reinhardt turned his head and saw his daughter running their way in great leaps and bounds on all four. Given that she had taken off to chase after one of the assassins earlier, Reinhardt thought that she likely just returned after finishing her task. The way she rushed over to where Reinhardt and M?ster Goerenbrandt made some of the guards briefly alert themselves, though they relaxed when she skidded to a halt next to her parents, her white spotted fur somewhat matted with sweat. ¡°Is she going to be all right?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re hoping for it, Ery,¡± said Reinhardt quietly to his daughter. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Erycea was not injured at all. While he trusted his daughter¡¯s capabilities, as a father he couldn¡¯t help but worry for her regardless. ¡°Did you catch the assassin? That one might be an important one given how your mother singled him out.¡±


    ¡°Got him alive. I left him with Kari and Alva since they were nearby. We made sure to get rid of anything he might be able to use to kill himself too, including his teeth,¡± said Erycea all too nonchalantly. ¡°We weren¡¯t too sure about just tying him up since he¡¯s a dwarf so I broke his arms too just in case.¡±


    ¡°Good work,¡± praised Reinhardt.


    ¡°Apologies for having made you worry, Captain Edelstein,¡± said M?ster Goerenbrandt. ¡°I believe your wife should be in no mortal danger as long as she could keep the air flowing to her lungs. She will need to do that until the poison naturally decays and leaves her body. I will ensure that she suffers no complications from this and recovers fully.¡±

 Chapter 229 - A Life Worse than Death

    ¡°There are many, many things that people will find to be worse than death. Trust me. I¡¯d know.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    To say that Elfriede was nearly frustrated out of her mind would have been a massive understatement.


    It had been a full two days after the assassination attempt, and her life for the past couple of days had been an experience she¡¯d have categorized as worse than death. It wasn¡¯t even the breathing trouble that plagued her. That resolved itself a few hours after the incident and she found herself able to breathe normally once more, if rather slowly and weakly.


    No, it was being confined to a bed while reduced to utter uselessness that she could not stand.


    Naturally, that was not all. The sheer indignity of having to have someone else aid her with her own ablutions was an utter embarrassment that made Elfriede wish there was a hole in the ground for her to disappear to. There was no other option, however, as while her subconscious muscle reflexes like breathing returned to normal, she still couldn¡¯t actively move any part of her body besides her eyes.


    At least they spared her some dignity as instead of having a stranger do it, Varsha thankfully volunteered to take care of her during that time. Being taken care of by her own grandmother ¨C despite their pretty unusual relationship ¨C softened the blow of the necessity of having someone else to clean her bottom like she was a baby as an adult. Elfriede would have probably chosen to kill herself if it was a stranger who did that.


    The feeling had returned to her body on the first night. However, while she could feel her limbs once more, she found that she couldn¡¯t move them. M?ster Goerenbrandt had declared that her life should be in no danger, but it might take a few more days before Elfriede regained control over her limbs properly, at the earliest.


    It was a torturous period of time for her, to say the least.


    Frustration built up as she was confined to bed, unable to move herself in any worthwhile manner. The first area of her body that she regained control over was her head, which she noticed as she woke up the next day after the incident. That at least allowed her to eat properly, even if she had to be fed by someone as her arms were still useless.


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    Her speech was still slurred and unintelligible on that first day, but she made up for that by manipulating the sounds with the wind to make them intelligible. That allowed her to converse with Varsha to help while away the time, at the very least. She asked her grandmother if it was fine for the Mayor to be away from her office for days on end, but Varsha had just laughed and said that there was a reason she groomed Annelise to be her successor after all.


    Sensations and a semblance of control started to return to her fingers around the evening of the second day. Elfriede immediately forced her body to move those fingers and toes as much as she could, until they grew numb and tired, in an effort to further stimulate her recovery. Even with all her efforts, she only managed to slightly move her hands and feet by that day¡¯s end, however.


    Reinhardt, Erycea, and Alycea visited her often during those days of convalescence, though they were thoughtful enough to make sure she wasn¡¯t disturbed otherwise. After their decades of being together, Reinhardt knew all too well that such a display of weakness was something Elfriede would be loath to ever show anyone, and even having them see it was already something that greatly annoyed her.


    ¡°Any news?¡± Elfriede asked when Reinhardt and Erycea visited her on the afternoon of the second day after the assassination attempt. They didn¡¯t bring Alycea along because the two were just back from a search, and were going on another after their visit. One of the assassins ¨C the marksman who shot the enchanted bolt ¨C had apparently managed to hide themselves despite the precautions taken. Repeated searches over and around had yet to find the assassin in question.


    ¡°Nothing yet. It was like that bastard vanished into thin air,¡± grumbled Reinhardt. They had captured ten of the assassins alive, including the leader of the band ¨C the escapee Erycea caught ¨C and killed another five, but the last marksman still eluded their hunt. ¡°He must be hiding somewhere in the area, as we scoured and stationed guards at every exit from there, both aboveground and underground, but we can¡¯t seem to find him. Not even the dwarves managed to.¡±


    Several dwarven earth affinity mages had helped the Free Lances scour the area where the assassin disappeared in search of hidden passages and the like, but they failed to discover anything. That meant that the assassin was either hidden in a magic-dampened chamber ¨C not an unlikely possibility given the relative wealth of the assassin crew ¨C or that he had already escaped.


    Given that Reinhardt had stationed his own men as guards on every exit of the city ¨C including the underwater cavern Elfriede used in her infiltration a decade ago, which was patrolled by Loren and a handful of half-merfolk mercenaries ¨C the likelihood of the assassin escaping was low. Doubly so since Varsha and Lothar had declared a lockdown on the city until the assassin was caught.


    It was catching that assassin that proved to be a problem, and that was despite how many of the local citizens had passionately joined the search in high spirits.


    ¡°Take me with you. Bring me over to the area that fucker disappeared in,¡± said Elfriede from her bed. She was able to move her lower arms and legs somewhat by then, but was still unable to do much by herself. That said, the paralytic poison had no real effect on her magical capabilities, and there was no other wind mage who honed their wind-based senses to her level in the city. ¡°I want to catch that rat bastard myself and skin it.¡±

 Chapter 230 - Finding a Leaf in a Hurricane

    ¡°Why I hired that blind man just now? You must be new to this, aren¡¯t you? Every recruiter worth their salt knew that any mage who was born with disabled senses would *always* use their magic to compensate for their disability in manners often unheard of. They¡¯re always a good investment.¡± - Ves¡¯Karl Rebindrenga, recruitment officer for the Sim¡¯s Slayers mercenary company, circa 102 FP.


    ¡°How is it? You got a good hold back there?¡± asked Reinhardt with some concern in his voice as he addressed Elfried, who was on his back.


    Since Elfriede had yet to regain full control over her body, they resorted to tying her to Reinhardt¡¯s back and securing her in place with several broad belts, Reinhardt holding her legs by the thighs under his arms, with Elfriede¡¯s arms draped around his neck. Such a position naturally meant that neither of them would be able to defend themselves effectively, so they were naturally accompanied by others.


    Reinhardt and Erycea had returned on their own to visit Elfriede, so they simply called for some of the Company¡¯s people stationed nearby for some manpower. The nearby group at the time happened to be Alvaro¡¯s, and he personally led twenty of his people including Njeri to accompany them, leaving the rest of the group to their patrols under the lead of the two older blademasters.


    The former slave-soldiers had adapted so rapidly and enthusiastically to mercenary life that Reinhardt even considered trying to poach some of the others the next time he was in Algenverr.


    ¡°It¡¯ll do,¡± replied Elfriede from Reinhardt¡¯s back. She could not move much, but with Reinhardt carrying her, she did not need to either. She was heading out to join the hunt to make use of her finely-honed wind-sense, not to walk around and pry things open. Elfriede was not a boastful person, but she doubted there was any wind mage in the city if not the entire region that had honed their wind-sense to the heights she had done.


    It was primarily a question of practicality. The vast majority of wind affinity mages, even those who specialized in scouting, rarely made great use of wind-sense as their method of choice. In general wind affinity mages train their talents towards a direction that would allow flight, or the carrying of voices over great distances, if they had not gone for more offensive directions, that was.


    While the wind-sense was a useful scouting tool, its limited range and tendency to cause the mage using it to suffer from a painful and at times crippling sensory feedback overload meant that most would only use it rarely, at times when they had no other choice. As a result, most wind affinity mages did not even develop their skills in that direction, and the few who did mostly only touched the surface of the technique.


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    What they received from such a use of the wind-sense was at most the general layout and positions of large objects or people in the area involved. Most generally refused to extend their range too much or go for a more detailed inspection in fear of too much sensory feedback for them to handle, and thus never truly honed their skills in that field.


    Elfriede was not like them.


    She had used wind-sense as a replacement for her lack of sight for three decades and counting. The technique itself had ingrained so deeply that it was second nature for her, to the point that she never turned it off, subconsciously fueling the technique with her mana even while she slept. Naturally, the depth she had reached with it could not be compared to anyone who simply used and learned it in a perfunctory manner.


    Compared to their crude and limited sensing, Elfriede was capable of discerning even the finest details of anything and everything within the radius of her wind-sense, which encompassed an area roughly ten meters around her in every direction, unless there was an airtight barrier in the way. The way her senses were also constantly in use allowed her to discern things that wouldn¡¯t be noticeable at all in a cursory, brief sweep.


    Reinhardt carried Elfriede on his back as they marched towards the region of the city where the runaway assassin was last spotted. There they ran across Gorev, one of the Crown Prince¡¯s guards who was an earth mage, who apparently was also trying to find the runaway assassin despite their failure for the past two days.


    ¡°Sir Gorev, on another search?¡± greeted Reinhardt with a nod to the dwarf who always affected a serious look on his face.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein, Madam Edelstein, good to see that you have recovered,¡± replied the dwarf politely. While Gorev used to be slightly dismissive of the mercenaries before ¨C he was not with the Crown Prince during the Theodinaz campaign ¨C his attitude turned to a respectful one after Elfriede had taken a bolt meant for the Crown Prince and Erycea caught the leader of the assassins.


    It was only the day after the incident that Reinhardt learned how the Crown Prince would have probably been fine even if the bolt struck him. M?ster Goerenbrandt was on standby, and unless the bolt struck somewhere which would result in an instantly fatal injury, the healer would have been able to handle it, most likely. Not counting the enchanted protective wear the Crown Prince wore beneath his clothes.


    Either way, though, their willingness to take a shot for their employer naturally caused an improvement in how the Crown Prince¡¯s people viewed the mercenaries. Where they used to be cold and professional, they now regularly invited the mercenaries for a drink together, a sign of high respect amongst dwarves, who only shared their drinks with those they acknowledged.


    Gorev himself had been scouring the area together with many other earth mages in the past couple of days with nothing to show. Given how the whole city had been tightly locked down with guards posted in every exit, the chances of the assassin having escaped was something they refused to contemplate, which was why the search had been intensified.


    Elfriede had not taken long before she found something, once she reached the right spot.

 Art!

    Recently got art done for Free Lances Volume 1''s Cover art! It depicted the desperate situation they were in at the first half of volume 1, and while it might be harder to look at with the low res version RR puts up, Here''s a zoom in on Reinhardt and Elfriede from the cover, for you!


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    Tell me, did they look like how you imagined them while reading this story? I''m honestly curious on how words compared to pictures in cases like this, and would appreciate some feedback from you, my dear readers!


    Also, obligatory announcement that Free Lances is 5 patrons away from the checkpoint where I will increase patreon advance chapters to 25/55 chapters for 5/10$ patrons!

 Chapter 231 - An Almost Perfect Hideaway

    ¡°People with things to hide and those who seek them out were always in a constant struggle to one-up the other side. Where those hiding things would often invent or discover new ways to hide something or someone, those who seek them out would in turn develop their own ways to defeat the new methods. The constant improvements between the two sides would always keep happening until one gave up.¡± - Jakub Ediakis, Locksmith.


    ¡°This was where the assassin made his shot from, as I¡¯m certain you¡¯re aware,¡± said Gorev as he pointed towards the rooftop of a four-story inn building. It was information offered primarily out of courtesy, as Reinhardt had also been informed of the assassin¡¯s path by one of Hannah¡¯s scouts after the incident. The assassin had made the shot from the rooftop, only appearing there a short moment before the assassination attempt took place.


    ¡°I assume you had the innkeeper interrogated already, yes?¡± asked Elfriede from Reinhardt¡¯s back. She had received some reports about the incident¡¯s aftermath, but lacked much of the details.


    ¡°Indeed. The assassin had simply booked a room on the inn¡¯s fourth floor when he came to town two weeks ago. His papers were in order so they had no suspicions. He mostly stayed to himself, but that was nothing unusual either,¡± explained Gorev with a nod. ¡°We are still holding the innkeepers and other guests under house arrest, but they have been deemed unlikely to be involved.¡±


    ¡°Blending in with the locals. A common trick,¡± replied Elfriede with a certainty to her words. Being a former assassin herself, she was naturally quite well-versed with the tricks of the trade, and immediately thought about what she would have done if she was in the assassin¡¯s shoes. ¡°Can you show us the trail he took in his escape?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. The assassin had rappelled down the wall of the inn, down to this avenue we are on. From here, he was observed to run towards the east,¡± said the dwarf as he nodded and pointed towards the east with his meaty finger. He then walked ahead of Reinhardt¡¯s group as he led the way until they reached a residential block that was heavily guarded on all sides. ¡°The last trace we found of him was when he reached this residential block.¡±


    The residential block in question was a large one, consisting of a couple dozen houses and various other buildings built next to each other. Ever since the assassination attempt, the area was under constant surveillance as that was where the runaway assassin was last seen. The residents were temporarily placed under house arrest as well.


    It was not a situation that could be maintained for too long a period. Placing the entire city on lockdown and certain areas under house arrest would have caused protests and riots in most places, though Zephirous got away with it so far thanks to the accumulated goodwill the Crown Prince had with the residents. Even then, if they kept the situation unchanged for too long, not even that would prevent the situation from becoming untenable.


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    As such, it was in everyone¡¯s interest to apprehend the runaway assassin as soon as possible, to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.


    ¡°Take me around,¡± said Elfriede to Reinhardt. Her senses allowed her to detect what was inside the nearby buildings, but the residential block was far too vast for her to be able to check everything without taking a circuit around its perimeter. ¡°I presume your people have checked the soil beneath the buildings here for hidden rooms and tunnels?¡±


    ¡°We have, as had people from the city guard and some from your company,¡± replied Gorev with a respectful nod. We even double-checked the area from below to make sure. All of us concur that if there was anything here, it¡¯s hidden beneath the residential area, with a great amount of magic dampeners keeping it hidden.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± commented Elfriede quietly as she concentrated on her senses, leaving no stone unturned as she checked the houses and other buildings from the outside using the wind as a medium. They had circled roughly three-quarters of the residential block before she noticed something that caught her attention and she called for a halt.


    ¡°Whose is this building and what is it used for?¡± Efriede asked as she gestured with one hand towards a large undecorated building to their left.


    ¡°Ah, this is a goods warehouse belonging to Warrick and Sons, a merchant company based in Knallgant,¡± said Gorev after a brief moment of recalling the information. ¡°We had naturally already searched here as well, but failed to find anything inside.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you,¡± said Elfriede as she nodded. ¡°Rein, take me a bit closer.¡±


    The two guards who stood in front of the warehouse looked slightly flustered to see so many armed people heading their way, and chose the better part of valor as they opened the gates and allowed everybody into the warehouse. For a quiet moment, Reinhardt stood in the middle of the warehouse ¨C still loaded with all sorts of trade goods ranging from sacks of grain to crates of ores ¨C as Elfriede focused on her senses.


    ¡°Sir Gorev, can you check once more with your magic to make sure you detected nothing? Five steps south, ten steps east from the northwest corner, beneath the floor,¡± said Elfriede.


    The dwarf looked questioningly at her request but did as he was asked. He went to the spot Elfriede pointed out then knelt down, both his palms pressed against the ground as he channeled his earth affinity to seek out any tunnels or pathways there. After a moment, he lifted his head and replied to Elfriede. ¡°I can¡¯t detect a thing, Madam.¡±


    ¡°Move your right hand a little to the front then a handspan to the left. Do you feel it at the tip of your fingers?¡± said Elfriede once more.


    ¡°Huh,¡± said the dwarf in surprise as he did what she asked. He could vaguely feel a slight breeze at the tip of his fingers, but he saw no air ducts in the area, or anything that could have been the source of the breeze. ¡°There¡¯s a slight breeze here¡­¡±


    ¡°The air moved as if it was being exhausted from somewhere¡­ I suspect that if we were to dig there, we¡¯d find a clue as to the whereabouts of our quarry, Sir Gorev.¡±

 Chapter 232 - No Way Out

    ¡°Say what you want about those dwarves, but I¡¯ll never agree to a request to storm one of their underground bastions. Nuh-uh. Do it yourself.¡± - Reiner Wolfgang Drachary, Captain of the Rampaging Doom mercenary company circa 419 VA.


    Within moments, the twenty former Warforged that Reinhardt brought with him had surrounded the warehouse, ten of them guarding the outside while keeping watch over the flustered and nervous pair of guards, the other ten inside with the rest. Alvaro and Njeri were both inside as they kept watch on Reinhardt and Elfriede¡¯s side, while Erycea found herself a perch on the second floor above them and guarded from there.


    Gorev had left to summon a group of engineers and quickly returned before ten minutes had passed, a full squad of a dozen dwarven engineers following behind him. The group of engineers looked no different to most dwarven light infantry at a glance, clad in chainmail over gambeson with hefty gauntlets, other than the weapons they carried with them.


    Most dwarven troops who were part of the infantry were outfitted with large shields and a one-handed melee weapon, a setup intended to make use of their greater upper body strength to dominate their opponents in close combat. The shield helped them close the distance against opponents with longer weapons, which when combined to the generally heavier armor worn by the dwarves, was a very effective fighting method.


    In contrast, the combat engineer squad carried something most people did not consider as an actual weapon. Each of them carried a spade with a particularly straight and thick blade that was sharpened at the edges. As such, those spades served both their original purpose as a construction tool and as a weapon in the hands of the skilled engineers.


    Given that the tasks of said engineers involved constructing various sorts of structures under battlefield conditions, it made sense for them to be armed, and making their weapons and tools one and the same was a way to solve the issue efficiently. Of course, they were never meant for actual combat deployment, but the spades still served as a deadly weapon should they be attacked by the enemy while busy at work.


    The squad of engineers fanned out to form a square around the area where Elfriede detected the unusual airflow and immediately went to work. Their hefty spades broke through the wooden flooring of the warehouse with ease, digging deep into the compacted soil beneath. It had not taken long before one of the engineers found something.


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    ¡°Sir!¡± reported the engineer as he raised his hand to signal the others. Both Reinhardt and Gorev approached to take a closer look, only to see that the engineer in question had dug deep enough to discover a small tunnel liberally lined with magic-dampening sheets of parchment beneath the soil of the warehouse.


    Sheets like those were semi-commonly used to ¡°hide¡± valuables from magical means of detection. It was most often used by nobles and rich merchants to hide things of small size and high value, as each sheet used represented a sizable investment. They worked by basically giving a false return to most magical senses, making whatever they were covered with ¡°blend¡± with their surroundings.


    It worked fine and not even Elfriede¡¯s senses had detected the small tunnel, but they could not line the tunnel¡¯s exit completely with the sheets as that would have made the ventilation tunnel useless for its purpose. In the end, that slight flow of exhaust from the ventilation tunnel, despite how it was already dispersed by the construction, was what Elfriede caught on to.


    Once they found the ventilation tunnel, it was easy for the engineers to track it to its source. Before too long, they followed it to the opposite corner of the warehouse, where they found a well-hidden hideout under the floor, similarly lined with magic dampeners all over. At that point, most of the engineers were told to withdraw, as Reinhardt brought his men forward and encircled the hideout¡¯s sole entrance.


    Four of the engineers stood to the sides of the entrance, their spades wedged just beneath the trap door that led to it. All around them, the mercenaries pointed their weapons towards the same trap door, with Reinhardt taking some distance since he was worried about Elfriede on his back. They all knew that the noise they made while they turned the warehouse inside out couldn¡¯t have escaped the notice of whoever was in the hidden room.


    With a nod from Gorev, the four engineers pushed their spades until it dug into the wood of the trap door and heaved. The trap door was ripped off its hinges by the combined force of the four dwarves working together, and almost at the same time that happened, a figure leapt out from the hidden room below and turned around as he sprayed the gathered mercenaries with bolts from a pair of hand-crossbows.


    The engineers covered their faces with their armored arms, though some were caught in surprise and grunted in pain as a couple bolts found flesh. The mercenaries were better prepared and raised their shields in unison, covering themselves and their nearest comrades using their large shields. Some like Alvaro and Njeri actually swatted the bolts headed their way in mid-air using their respective weapons.


    Before the cloaked figure that burst out from the hiding spot even landed from his leap, Erycea leapt down from her perch above and directly tackled them to the ground. As a dwarf, the cloaked figure was obviously stronger than Erycea, but she had some trick of her own and was on their back. Before they could meaningfully resist she had pinned one of their arms under his own body and twisted the other painfully behind their back.


    The array of spearheads and blades that were pressed against the cloaked figure the next moment killed off any thought of resistance they had. Several of the mercenaries quickly rushed up and tied the cloaked figure''s limbs with some sturdy rope.

 Chapter 233 - Captives and Recruits

    ¡°It¡¯s a pointless endeavor to cite things like mercy or decency to a mercenary. All they really care about is whether you¡¯re worth more dead or alive.¡± - Noelle Serin Whitaker, famous bandit queen, days before a group of mercenaries razed her base and traded her head in for gold.


    ¡°So, what is planned for this cur, Sir Gorev?¡± asked Reinhardt to the dwarven earth mage after several guards led the captured assassin away, likely straight to the dungeons.


    ¡°The Crown Prince wished for all the assassins caught alive to be interviewed to make sure we have the whole picture from them first, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied the dwarf with a polite nod. ¡°That said, he was aware of Madam Edelstein¡¯s animosity with this one in particular, so he asked me to convey that unless this beardless stain was vital to his plans, he will relinquish custody of the man to the Free Lances for you to do as you see fit with.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mighty generous on his part,¡± said Reinhardt with a toothy grin. He had thought he might have to forgo the bounty to request the man from the Crown Prince, but the way Gorev stated his words meant that the Crown Prince was going to give him the assassin along with the bounty once they were done with him. It would have been an expensive gift for Elfriede to forgo the bounty, but it was a hit the company¡¯s coffers could handle with ease anyway, given how overflowing they were at the moment.


    Other than expenditures spent on rebuilding and upgrading the company itself, the past decade had been fruitful years for the Free Lances, with contracts that allowed them plenty of time to recuperate, as well as generous employers as was the case with the Dukes of Dvergarder and Algenverr. Given the amount of recruits they managed to attract in their latest rounds around Knallzog, Reinhardt expected to be able to double the company¡¯s size within a couple years, which was unprecedented in the company¡¯s long and storied history.


    His adoptive Grandfather who he had never met ¨C Aunt Ingrid¡¯s father ¨C had started the company with a few like-minded friends, barely a band of a dozen at the time. By the time Aunt Ingrid took over the company had barely a hundred to their name, and she was the one who expanded the company to its thousand-strong state prior to the Theodinaz campaign.


    Reinhardt had inherited a company barely a quarter as strong after the disaster in Theodinaz, so it was an achievement he was proud of to be able to return the company back to a thousand strong within a decade, as well as being well on their way to doubling their numbers in the near future, a true first for the company in its history.


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    Part of the reason for the ease of his expansion was that Reinhardt was far less picky than his aunt when it came to recruiting people. Aunt Ingrid always insisted on only recruiting those who already had the skills to be a mercenary. Reinhardt believed otherwise and welcomed all comers, though they would be placed into a grueling training program first to ascertain whether they had the mental and physical capabilities suited to be a mercenary or not.


    Where most companies would have happily sent the new recruits straight to the frontlines as cannon fodder whose life or death hinged partly on their own fortune or lack thereof, Reinhardt and Lars devised a regimen where most new recruits instead spent their times doing mind-numbing drills and all sorts of miscellaneous work for the company instead.


    The first year of their training mostly consisted of that mind-numbing tedium and what some considered to be lowly work, and they weeded out quite a few of the recruits who lacked the willpower to endure hardship and tedium that way, while at the same time also drilling the basics into them until it was ingrained into their bones.


    It was only during the second year of training that those recruits finally received more serious drills that involved plenty of sparring, both against each other and more experienced mercenaries who happened to have some time to burn. That second year involved training in small-unit tactics in the method Reinhardt and Lars had developed, while the prospective commanders were taken aside to receive extra lessons in the larger strategies the company used, as well as cues to watch for.


    They often lost half or more of their recruits during the mind-numbing first year of training, but in return, those who made it into their second year rarely dropped out. Some did lose their nerve on their first real battle and either died or quit afterwards, but those were a small minority that was hard to detect. In exchange, those who successfully passed their training were more likely than not better trained than even many kingdoms¡¯ professional soldiers.


    Naturally, for recruits who already had previous training and combat experience ¨C like the former Warforged for example ¨C their training period was far shorter, mostly intended to integrate them into the way the Free Lances fought, as well as making sure they were loyal to the company.


    In the end, the method Reinhardt and Lars chose to deal with their recruits greatly slowed the influx of new blood to the company, as well as weeded out half or more of those who applied in the process. In exchange, those who did make it into the company were highly motivated and had more of a loyalty to them, with finely honed skills that rivaled more experienced career soldiers.


    It was a trade off both of them considered to be worthwhile. It helped minimize their losses in combat ¨C something that was always bad for morale ¨C and gave them a larger pool of people who they could trust their backs to. Combined with the way the more experienced mercenaries would often help look out for their newer comrades, it generally had not taken long for new recruits to bond with their more experienced compatriots and feel like they were one of the group.


    Sometimes it did prove to be a bit troublesome when people joined as a recruit in one country and chose to quit after the company moved elsewhere, though. In such cases, Reinhardt would often help arrange for transport back to their homes, usually as part of a merchant caravan headed that way or the likes.

 Chapter 234 - An Eye for an Eye

    ¡°Who cares about the world going blind as long as you¡¯ve gouged out the other fucker¡¯s eyes first? Not my problem.¡± - Lionel deShavo, also known as the ¡°Vengeful Wraith¡±, mercenary and contract killer.


    ¡°Greetings, Captain and Madam,¡± said Sir Gorev a week after they caught the last runaway assassin. The dwarven mage had visited the company¡¯s camp just outside the city walls ¨C because they had so many people it would have been troubling for all of them to enter the city at once, so instead the mercenaries only entered the city in batches ¨C and found Elfriede and Reinhardt in the midst of a sparring session. ¡°I am happy to see that the Madam has recovered well.¡±


    His comment was because Elfriede was pushing Reinhardt fiercely in their spar that day. While both were naturally using edgeless training weapons ¨C Reinhardt¡¯s real weapon was far too hefty for training as even a light blow with it could have inflicted serious injury and Elfriede¡¯s mithril-edged blade was similarly too lethal ¨C and Elfriede was still complaining about not being in ¡°top form¡± yet, the way she whirled and struck made the complaints look like self-depreciatory ones.


    ¡°Sir Gorev, what brings you here?¡± asked Reinhardt as he and Elfriede took a few steps back from each other and gave themselves a breather from the vicious-looking spar.


    ¡°Ah, I came to bring the Crown Prince¡¯s compliments. The captive had volunteered quite a lot of information we managed to correlate with other intelligence gathered from other captives or our own efforts,¡± said Sir Gorev with a warm smile. ¡°The Crown Prince also bid me to hand over the captive as agreed upon previously. He is now yours to handle as you see fit. His Highness only requests that you return his head intact.¡±


    ¡°About time,¡± commented Elfriede as she noticed the gagged, trussed, and blindfolded figure being led by two other dwarves following behind Gorev. The trussed up dwarf was naturally the runaway assassin who they captured a week ago, now sporting bruises and still-healing scabs likely remnant of the gentle care of the Crown Prince¡¯s interrogator. ¡°We¡¯re free to do as we wish with him, aye?¡±


    ¡°As his Highness said it, boil him, fry him, whatever, he¡¯s all yours. Just keep the head in mind,¡± replied Gorev with a rather forced smile that didn¡¯t quite manage to hide his distaste. Dwarves generally abhor the idea of torture regardless of its purpose as their culture emphasized giving even hated enemies a proper burial. As such, their ideas of it tend to be far milder than what most races would have considered torture to begin with.


    While torture itself as a tool for interrogation was less than reliable, often people had nowhere near enough time to use more insidious methods and defaulted to it. Of course, in some other cases, people did not even care about what their victims had to say at all. Some people would just inflict pain on others for their own enjoyment and nothing more.


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    Reinhardt knew that Elfriede had that sort of streak when some people really pissed her off, so he muttered a silent prayer under his breath for the poor assassin about to be relinquished to her tender cares.


    ¡°Ah, Loren, sorry to trouble you. Going to need you to do the usual,¡± said Reinhardt to Loren, the company¡¯s water mage who then went to accompany Elfriede with quill and parchment in hand.


    ¡°Just make sure the bonus pay¡¯s as usual, boss,¡± he replied with a rather solemn smile as he waved back.


    ¡°What is that about?¡± asked Gorev with curiosity as he watched Loren follow behind Elfriede wordlessly. The dwarf seemed to have no idea what was going on.


    ¡°Ah, nothing serious. It¡¯s just that¡­ people tend to talk a lot when Friede gets her hand on them. You wouldn¡¯t believe what some people would say just to be killed already,¡± replied Reinhardt all too nonchalantly at the dwarf¡¯s query. ¡°Just in case, we have one of our guys who¡¯s good at writing fast and is used to seeing blood keep her company to take notes. You never know, sometimes they might say something useful.¡±


    ¡°We have had Graf Harscape¡¯s personal interrogator had his way with the assassin, and the man¡¯s purported to be nearly as good as the Royal interrogator, so I don¡¯t see the point-¡±


    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!¡±


    A loud, shrill scream cut off Gorev¡¯s words, one that echoed through the nearby area. To his surprise, the mercenaries at work continued to go about their business as if nothing happened, paying no heed to the scream of agony. Before Gorev could gather his thoughts to ask some more, the scream further intensified, and kept increasing in both frequency and intensity for the next hour or so.


    Then there was a slight pause for maybe ten minutes or so, before the screaming started once more, even worse than before. The pause repeated itself another two times, before the screaming voice grew weaker and weaker, until Gorev could barely hear anything from the tent Elfriede had taken the captive assassin to.


    ¡°Curious, I take it? She should be nearly finished by now so I can take you along if you want,¡± said Reinhardt who had just returned from getting himself a quick meal, eating through the screams as if they weren¡¯t there.


    ¡°I feel like I would regret this either way I answer, so might as well,¡± replied Gorev with some uncertainty.


    Reinhardt brought Gorev to the tent where Elfriede did her work to the assassin and opened the flaps, his large form covering Gorev¡¯s sight from what was inside the tent. The stench that greeted his nose was an unmistakable one, though. That of blood and other unmentionables, a stench all too commonly found on a battlefield.


    Gorev saw Loren walking over with a stoic smile on his face and handed a sheaf of parchments to Reinhardt, and another to Gorev. He accepted them with some surprise and saw the densely packed row of writing in common on it, looking back at Loren with surprise in his eyes.


    ¡°He squealed a lot once he started talking, so I just noted down all he said,¡± replied Loren with a shrug of his shoulders. ¡°Chances are a good part of what he said are just hogwash he thought would please us and get him dead sooner to end the torment, so we can¡¯t vouch for anything here, but just in case there¡¯s anything useful, I think it¡¯ll be worth the while to check anyway.¡±


    Gorev nodded numbly as he looked at the sheaf of parchment, then he made the mistake of turning towards where Elfriede¡¯s bloody form stood. He saw the condition the captive assassin was in, even while Elfriede was in the process of removing the man¡¯s untouched head from his neck.


    Then Gorev turned his head in a hurry and vomited violently.

 Chapter 235 - Unexpected Benefits

    ¡°Most things can be turned into a little bit of extra coins in hand.¡± - Old Mercenary saying.


    ¡°... We must admit that we are rendered speechless for a moment. Most impressive handiwork, Madam Edelstein,¡± commented the Crown Prince when he came to the encampment not half an hour after Gorev reported the situation to him, asking for the mercenaries to wait since he could not make a decision. Unlike his guard, the Crown Prince saw Elfriede¡¯s handiwork with the captured assassin straight on and had not even blinked an eye.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness. I assure you it hurt him far more than it did me,¡± said Elfriede as she gave a polite bow to the Crown Prince. She was still clad in the same bloody clothes as before, though she took the opportunity to at least clean up her face and hands in the meantime. ¡°In fact, it was a rather pleasant exercise to de-stress with, I would say.¡±


    ¡°May we ask for the¡­ remains to be turned over to us? We have a feeling that just showing it off as an example of what awaited them might get a couple of the others to talk on the spot,¡± asked the Crown Prince more timidly than usual. Despite the composure he presented, he too was clearly rather distraught by what Elfriede had done to the captured assassin. ¡°Not for free, of course. Some of the¡­ topics this man mentioned prior to his demise hold great interest to us, so we would like to see it confirmed or otherwise, if possible.¡±


    ¡°Not my call to make, Your Highness. Rein?¡±


    ¡°I think you can have the body as a bonus as thanks for your generous employment, Your Highness,¡± said Reinhardt as if he already had an answer prepared. The Crown Prince had provided the company with a sizable bonus to thank Elfriede for literally taking a bolt meant for him, on top of the agreed-upon pay. Reinhardt knew better than to try to milk the well-paying customers and to return them some gratitude instead when he could. ¡°Would you like it packaged neatly? Would be less messy to transport it that way, and you can also spring it as a surprise for your unaware captives.¡±


    ¡°Please do, Captain, and thank you for the generosity,¡± replied the Crown Prince with a slight smile as he shook Reinhardt¡¯s hand with his own. Seeing that the business was concluded, Elfriede waved a goodbye at them as she left to get herself a proper wash, as her clothes were still soaked with her victim¡¯s blood. The Crown Prince sighed and shook his head as he watched her walk away. ¡°Graf Harscape had warned me on what to expect, but that just now¡­ was beyond my expectations, to say the least.¡±


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    ¡°Friede is a nice woman once you get to know her, just don¡¯t get on her bad side, at all costs,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smirk, purposely not mentioning the Crown Prince¡¯s slip of the tongue. The dwarf must have been quite shaken to accidentally omit the royal ¡°we¡± he usually termed himself with. Then again, those who saw Elfriede¡¯s ¡°handiwork¡± tend to have that sort of feeling. ¡°We¡¯ll have it packed in a few minutes for you to take away. Loren? You heard it, get that carcass nice and cleanly packed.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain,¡± replied Loren as he gave a salute and left to find a couple others to help him with the corpse¡¯s packing.


    Reinhardt himself looked at the dead assassin¡¯s corpse and remained unperturbed. Probably it was his familiarity with dead bodies on the battlefield that the sight of a corpse that had effectively been flayed alive, all the nerve endings exposed and purposely stimulated with salt and acid, didn¡¯t even make him blink. Then again, he¡¯d seen his wife do worse, but she had no compunction to not touch the face that time.


    Sometimes the deft and practiced way she skinned a person¡¯s face off in the most painful way possible gave even him the shivers. Thankfully the Crown Prince had asked for the assassin¡¯s head intact and thus she had adhered to that, leaving the dead man¡¯s head unblemished, if forever locked in a rictus of extreme agony and pain beyond words.


    Given how simple the dwarven idea of torture tend to be, he had little doubt that at least a couple of the weaker-willed assassins would squeal for all they¡¯re worth when they saw their comrade¡¯s fate.


    As for whether the information that came out of their mouth would be of any worth or were merely fake information planted to create discord, that would be up to the Crown Prince and his staff to decide and cross check on. Information gained off torture were notoriously unreliable as people often just said what they thought their torturer wanted to hear to be let off.


    When the torturer in question only wanted to inflict them with the most amount of pain and suffering possible, that rather changed the equation, though.


    Still, the Crown Prince¡¯s men will have a lot of things to verify and cross-check with other sources they had in the near future regardless. Reinhardt only took a rough glimpse at the report Loren gave him ¨C mostly confessions about the people involved in the attempt ¨C and shelved it in the back of his mind. Politics of this sort weren¡¯t something he was keen to get involved in.


    Honestly, it was relatively irrelevant whether the Crown Prince¡¯s uncle was truly the one who hired the assassins or not anyway. Reinhardt knew that the Crown Prince was wily and ruthless enough to make sure to pin the blame on his uncle ¨C his only real opposition at court ¨C either way, regardless of the other man¡¯s guilt or innocence.


    If his uncle was truly the one responsible for the assassins, it just meant more things the Crown Prince could use to topple his uncle¡¯s influence and faction, which Reinhardt thought was an inevitable result either way given the Crown Prince¡¯s stronger backing, which included the current king.

 Chapter 236 - Meeting Those in the Same Profession

    ¡°When turmoil brewed, chances were that those who liked to profit from it would have gathered nearby at the first sign.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Yo, Edelstein! Finally found you!¡± called out a voice to Reinhardt one evening.


    It had been roughly a month after the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince himself ¨C along with Graf Angus Harscape ¨C had left Zephirous for Knallgant two weeks ago, apparently satisfied with the amount of information they had to condemn the Crown Prince¡¯s Uncle with. Reinhardt himself was just walking the streets with Elfriede, Erycea, and Alycea after having a good meal together that evening.


    He turned around to see that it was an old acquaintance that greeted him. For a human in his mid-fifties, Ser Guillaume du Riffons was still a healthy and robust individual, and looked younger than his age given how he had a penchant for keeping a clean-shaven face. The only thing that truly betrayed his age was how the hair at his temples and sides had started to gray already.


    The old mercenary was clad in an outfit that wouldn¡¯t have looked out of place on a merchant or well-to-do farmer, just a neat tunic clasped at the waist with a leather belt and long pants, and his cheerful look combined with how he came openly indicated that he meant no harm. It was a mercenary tradition to come and announce themselves openly when meeting another under civil conditions.


    ¡°Ser du Riffons, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡± asked Reinhardt with a nod at the older human. He had to look down a bit on the older man, not out of arrogance or distaste, but simply because Guillaume du Riffons was shorter than even Elfriede was, and Reinhardt already stood a good head taller than her. ¡°Oh, hi there, Will. Didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡±


    ¡°Captain Edelstein, Madam Edelstein,¡± greeted Wilhelmina du Riffons, Ser Guillaume¡¯s younger daughter, who was a decade or so older than Erycea and had now inherited half of his former mercenary company. Reinhardt had heard that the Silver Falcons ¨C what the half under Wilhelmina chose to rename themselves to ¨C had been in Knallzog for rest and recuperation as well, but had not met them there previously. The younger woman had also developed some friendship with Erycea during the time the companies worked together. ¡°Hi there, Ery, Aly.¡±


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    ¡°Heya, Will.¡±


    ¡°Big sister Will.¡±


    Unlike Reinhardt, who was adopted into the mercenary life by people for whom being a mercenary was family business, Ser Guillaume du Riffons¡¯ family was once at the post of minor nobility in the Clangeddin Empire. While the rumor mills stated that he left after the civil strife caused by the Bounty Hunter¡¯s very public killing of the last Emperor started, he had actually left the Empire a good while before that.


    In fact, Ser du Riffons left the Empire in his late twenties, when Wilhelmina was still a suckling toddler. His family had been embroiled in some shadowy conflicts behind the scenes and ended up on the losing end. That had resulted in his father¡¯s execution and the confiscation of the family property, though Guillaume was fortunate to have been sent away ¨C with a sizable portion of the family fortune ¨C prior to those happenings.


    With his own knightly training ¨C he was a member of the Empire¡¯s elite guards prior to the escape ¨C and the fortune he had with him, he had started what became the Silver Eagles mercenary company. His old connections allowed him to draw some retired or disgruntled former knights to his banner, and with his fortune he managed to properly equip his then meager forces, turning them into a group of elites to be reckoned with despite their small numbers.


    It was with his efforts that the group had grown to its thousand-strong size over the decades, all without compromising on quality, so it must have stung the old man some to see it split when he handed it down to his children. Then again, Reinhardt thought that an old fox like Ser Guillaume should have expected such a split, especially given how the vast majority of the older members of the company remained under Wilhelmina¡¯s banner, with the youths being the ones who primarily followed Michel¡¯s.


    Reinhardt felt that the old knight had likely foreseen the impossibility to have his two children lead the company together and chose to let each of them have their own way instead, hence the company¡¯s split. Given how he himself stayed with Wilhelmina, it was obvious which path the old knight felt was better, or at least, which of his children he favored more.


    ¡°What brought you here, Ser du Riffons?¡± Reinhardt used the old knight¡¯s title partly to offer some respect as the older former captain was his senior in the line of work after all, and the old knight had also been magnanimous enough to help the Free Lances from time to time while the companies worked together in Posuin. ¡°I did hear that the Falcons were having some downtime in Knallzog, but didn¡¯t think you headed this far north.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the bulk of our forces are still at Logdstadt. I just took this girl here on a vacation so she would finally take a damned break, already!¡± said the retired mercenary as he elbowed his daughter playfully in the ribs. She in turn gave him a slightly annoyed look and a resigned sigh. ¡°I swear if I didn¡¯t personally drag her to have some rest this girl would¡¯ve worked herself to death trying to run everything on her own!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a feeling I can relate with,¡± remarked Elfriede with a rare smile on her face. ¡°We almost had the same problem with this musclehead here. He beat himself silly worrying about all the logistics and tactics back then after the mess we fell into. To be fair, we didn¡¯t exactly have many who were proficient in those fields back then either, so it was mostly him trying to keep things working,¡± she continued even as Reinhardt playfully swatted at the back of her head, which she calmly ducked under. ¡°Fortunately we got our hands on Lars pretty soon after.¡±

 Chapter 237 - Friendly Talk between Killers

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re all killers who sell the lives of others for coins. What¡¯s wrong about that? It¡¯s a living.¡± - Johann ¡°Gentleman¡± LeClave, when confronted by a philosopher decrying the evils of the mercenary profession.


    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ Improved¡­ A lot!¡± Wilhelmina managed to say between gasps of breath as she frantically tried to deflect and avoid Erycea¡¯s blows with her training sword. Despite Wilhelmina¡¯s preference for a greatsword taller than she herself was, she still didn¡¯t dare to block one of Erycea¡¯s blows head-on, for her weapons were each easily heavier than her own greatsword, squeezed into a compact and lethal package.


    ¡°Of course, Will! Been training every day!¡± replied Erycea more cheerfully. Neither girl were using their real weapons, of course, but the Free Lances had plenty of training gear for them to use, so both had decent approximations of their preferred weapons in hand, as well as some light armor to prevent injuries from hits that were uncontrolled. ¡°Not like you¡¯ve ever beaten me in a spar since I was twelve anyway!¡±


    ¡°One day¡­ I¡¯ll wipe¡­ That smug grin off your face!¡± yelled Wilhelmina with some difficulty as she finally managed to disengage and gain herself some distance. Despite being Erycea¡¯s senior by a decade and fortunately inheriting the height from her mother¡¯s side of the family, she was still shorter than the half-therian girl by a bit. It didn¡¯t help that Erycea was by far the faster and stronger between the two either, with inhuman flexibility and agility to boot.


    All in all, it took all of Wilhelmina¡¯s training and her leveraging the advantages of her longer weapon to keep the other girl from grabbing her by the throat within moments of the spar starting, effort that already made Wilhelmina breathe heavily from the tense exertion and constant stress. Sparring with Erycea just felt so much harder than actually leading a charge from the frontlines, she thought.


    Her difficulties were partly due to the juxtaposition of their respective fighting styles.


    The swordsmanship Wilhelmina used was primarily a technique meant for the battlefield, for battles conducted in formation of many soldiers, and while it had many methods that could be applied to single combat, the emphasis remained that of a one against many technique.


    Erycea¡¯s style ¨C which she made for herself under her parent¡¯s guidance due to nobody knowing any proper styles for the sort of weapons she used ¨C was the reverse. It was more of a duelist¡¯s technique with emphasis on disabling single opponents one at a time, applied to a wider field. Given what they had seen of Erycea¡¯s records in combat so far, she applied it to warfare successfully, to boot.


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    Probably helped that her mother did the same and was available for advice.


    ¡°Damn, Edelstein, Sometimes I really envy your kind your advantages,¡± commented Ser Guillaume du Riffons from the side, where he and Reinhardt were seated on the gentle slope with some flagons of good ale in hand while they watched their daughters strike at each other. ¡°I swear, I often feel like the only reason we humans have survived so well is because we keep outbreeding the rest of you out there.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s some advantages to being human too, like having an easier time finding employment in the human lands,¡± replied Reinhardt while he took a hearty sip of his drink. ¡°Most of us got into the job at Posuin since we happened to run across a job offer from the nobles who don¡¯t really care about things like those, but those types are a rather rare breed.¡±


    ¡°Eh, with Posuin splintering up to pieces that¡¯ll probably wipe that prejudice away too. People are always stronger together rather than separate, even if we could be so different,¡± replied Guillaume with a chuckle. He had insisted that Reinhardt no longer address him by his old titles, what with him already being retired and mostly giving up the sword. ¡°One of my old teachers back in the Empire was a rather weird half-orc, prolly¡¯ got some elf blood in him too, given how he looked so spry even at seventy. Taught me how to ride a horse¡­ wonder how he¡¯s doing over there.¡±


    ¡°Still going at seventy? He one of them Greentusks by chance?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. Wandering orcs from the northern prairies who traveled about to see the world was no longer an unusual thing ever since the last ¨C and largest ¨C northern crusade failed spectacularly a century ago. With the driving force of said crusades now also going out of the world stage, the orcs had been more frequently sighted in the past decades, even if daring ones amongst them had been seen from generations ago. The Free Lances themselves had several such members, both in the past and the present. ¡°Heard that clan had a lot of elves amongst them, so it wouldn''t be odd if he was one of them.¡±


    ¡°Never really asked, honestly. His teachings were always on the odd side, but it saved my ass more than once. Back then we didn¡¯t put much weight on his lessons, but after getting my saddle cut under me a couple times, I definitely appreciated them a lot more, now,¡± replied the retired former knight. ¡°For all the bells and whistles and pride our human cavalries have, we really can¡¯t hold a candle to most other cavalries, other than those used by the goblins.¡±


    ¡°Different specializations, I think,¡± replied Reinhardt in a thoughtful mood. ¡°Human cavalry tend to fall into that middle spot where we¡¯re neither as good as light cavalry compared to the goblins or orcs, nor as powerful as heavy cavalry compared to the dwarves. I feel that part of the issue is your choice of mounts, too. Horses might be fast and possess great endurance, but they¡¯re nowhere near as flexible or powerful as what the others rode into battle.¡±


    ¡°An apt look at the situation, I would say. Still, we¡¯re stuck with the hand we¡¯re dealt with. I just hope the company will live long and prosper under Will¡¯s hand,¡± said the old knight with a wistful sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t hold much hope for those who followed my dumbass of a son. He¡¯s got far too much ambition and ego for the little ability he got.¡±

 Chapter 238 - Plans for Tomorrow

    ¡°While many in the profession cannot help but to subsist on the short term, often barely making do from one payday to another, planning ahead is vital for those who wish to eventually grow out of that phase, I feel. Of course, you sometimes get a few who lucked out into notoriety and thus, money, but they remain a minority amongst those who managed to build a career out of the profession.¡± - Hans ¡°The Fox¡± Mulder, mercenary captain from Ur-Teros, circa 415 VA.


    ¡°So, got any plans for the near future?¡± asked Reinhardt as the evening set in and he invited Guillaume for a meal at the Free Lances encampment. Some people would think that it was an odd thing for mercenaries from different companies to talk about their plans to others, but it was a rather common occurrence, especially with companies who were on friendly terms, so that they could avoid being on opposite sides of a battlefield.


    It also happened sometimes between companies that had bad blood with one another, so they could make sure to face the other on the battlefield.


    Reinhardt had a rather good relationship with Guillaume, and as such they fell into the former case, where they were matching up plans to avoid potentially facing each other on the field of battle because they signed up on opposing sides. It was not always done, but since they had already met and were in the same place, there was no reason not to do it either.


    ¡°Our recruiting and rebuilding¡¯s going to finish in a month or thereabouts, after that Will is considering taking the company back to Algenverr for a garrison contract. That Nunez kid did offer us one for after we rebuilt after all. Nothing like come peace and quiet to further train the greenhorns first,¡± said the retired mercenary openly. ¡°What about yourself? Can¡¯t help but notice that you¡¯ve been doing some growing, here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve had quite a bit of success with our recruitments,¡± admitted Reinhardt. If things went as planned with the current batch of recruits they got, the Free Lances might well end up doubling their combat personnel. ¡°I¡¯ve budgeted for at least a few more months to weed out those who can¡¯t hack it with the rest, up to a year, while we look for lucrative contracts that ideally won¡¯t push them too hard. I¡¯m thinking the former empire next, as things are dying down on Posuin.¡±


    ¡°Damn. I wish we had that sort of luxury,¡± commented Guillaume as he washed down his food with a good chug from the flagon of ale. For food served in a mercenary camp, it could be considered positively luxurious, as both the stew and the roast had fresh meat and vegetables in them. All too many companies tried to save money as best they could, which usually led to food that was enough to sustain their people but tended to be poor in taste. ¡°Then again your group needed to have that sort of money going since they got people like you to feed.¡±


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    ¡°The split hurt you that bad, huh?¡± commented Reinhardt from across the small table. He himself tore into a whole leg of lamb with his fangs, as if to punctuate Guillaume¡¯s previous statement. Where most mercenary companies relied on compact rations primarily of some sort of dried grain with a small amount of dried or salted meat and fish to compensate, the Free Lances always had a large stock of meat with them. They needed it to feed the relatively large amount of obligate carnivores amongst their numbers.


    That sort of dietary need could have been troublesome in longer campaigns, if not for the fact that the very same obligate carnivores in question tend to be very good at feeding themselves by hunting on the go. Their combination of high intelligence and excellent physical capabilities meant that their prey ¨C be it some unsuspecting animal minding its own business or their foes on the battlefield ¨C rarely saw them coming.


    ¡°Sort of, I guess. The recruitment also took a bit, as well as the amount you had to pay out while everybody¡¯s just idling. Mine couldn¡¯t afford to stay unemployed for so long, hence why we¡¯re heading back to Algenverr soon,¡± admitted the old knight. ¡°You really got things going, didn¡¯t you? First time I met you, your company¡¯s barely half the size of mine. Now you¡¯re on your way to double my size with a lot of spare coins in the coffers to boot! I¡¯m honestly envious.¡±


    ¡°What can I say? We made some good investments with what we had after Theodinaz. We actually came real close to disbanding during that campaign, you know? Even went down to like, half a dozen effectives total at one time,¡± said Reinhardt as he related a bit of the story from the campaign long ago to his fellow mercenary. ¡°That¡¯s not even counting me. I was laid out and pretty much out for a good while at the time.¡±


    ¡°Damn. That¡¯s worse than I¡¯ve ever been, and I¡¯m including the times when my ¡®company¡¯ was pretty much me and a dozen or so other displaced knights,¡± said Guillaume with an impressed whistle. ¡°How did you even manage to recover from a situation that bad?¡±


    ¡°We got really lucky, believe it or not,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy grin as he gnawed off the last of the meat from the leg of lamb he was eating, leaving only the cleaned bone. ¡°Those left of us were halfway in despair while sorting out what we could salvage off the battlefield, when one night, a visitor dropped by into camp. It was the Silver Maiden herself.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me,¡± stated Guillaume with a joking tone, until he saw how Reinhardt¡¯s grin never subsided. ¡°No way. For real?¡±


    ¡°The Maiden herself in the flesh. By the morning there must¡¯ve been thousands that she healed up. My company went from eight effectives back to around three hundred, which gave us the ability to continue on with the contract, from which we made a sizable fortune,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°She even took care of some ailments people had for decades and never realized, believe it or not.¡±


    ¡°I swear, some of us just have to have all the luck.¡±

 Chapter 239 - Parting Ways

    ¡°Meetings are ephemeral. That is, unless you tie them to you, regardless of the kicking and screaming.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Be seeing you again, Will. Take care of the stubborn old man for us,¡± said Reinhardt when Wilhelmina and her father departed from Zephirous to rejoin the rest of their Company a few days later. The father and daughter pair¡¯s vacation had ended and it was back to business for them. ¡°Don¡¯t be letting the old fart croak prematurely on us, you hear? Else all the old fogeys will pick on you the next time you see them!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only fifty-six you flea-riddled bastard!¡± proclaimed Guillaume du Riffons who was right next to his daughter and clearly heard what Reinhardt said.


    ¡°And that¡¯s pretty much ancient for a human in this business, old man,¡± replied Reinhardt without missing a beat, a wide and toothy grin splitting his lips. The insults were of course good-natured ones, as they were close enough to be comfortable to use them that way. ¡°Also, rude, I¡¯ll have you know that I wash my fur at least thrice a week.¡±


    ¡°Only because I¡¯m totally kicking you out of the bed otherwise,¡± chimed Elfriede all too nonchalantly from beside Reinhardt before she ducked under a playful swipe of his tail.


    ¡°May the fortunes of war be with you, flea-bag!¡± said the old retired former knight as he chuckled and waved his goodbye to the couple seeing him off, while his daughter Wilhelmina apologized politely with a slight embarrassed blush on her cheek. ¡°Oh, and if you do happen to go to the Empire after this and fate puts you on the other side of the battlefield against my stupid son, I¡¯ll pay a bounty if you can bring him to me alive!¡±


    ¡°The same to you, you rickety old bag of bones!¡± yelled Reinhardt almost immediately in reply. ¡°And sure, will keep that in mind, if we have the chance to. You know how it is with war.¡±


    ¡°Good enough for that scatterbrained son of mine, at least.¡±


    ¡°There they went,¡± said Elfriede as Guillaume and Wilhelmina left her sphere of wind-sense. ¡°Should I have Loren put a reminder to give a no-kill order in case we run into his son?¡±


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    ¡°With the caveat of only when we could afford it,¡± said Reinhardt coldly. What old Guillaume asked of him ¨C to buy back his son in case the Free Lances fought against and beat him in battle ¨C was contingent on said son being alive. The thing was, it was far easier to kill an enemy than to try capturing them alive. ¡°I¡¯m not having anyone risk themselves just to catch the kid in one piece, unless they¡¯re doing it for the bounty, in which case it¡¯s their call to make.¡±


    ¡°Got it, will let him know,¡± said Elfriede with a nod. Loren, the water-affinity mage, had diverged in duties into the unit¡¯s secretary of sorts these days, on account of him being both literate and good with paperwork. The former quality was not a certain thing amongst mercenaries. The latter was unfathomably rare, so Reinhardt and Lars delegated part of the Company¡¯s paperwork to him over the years. ¡°Our plans going forward remains unchanged, I assume?¡±


    ¡°Yep. We¡¯ll be weeding out the unqualified amongst our recent batch of recruits till the end of this year while resting up here in town, at the very least. I have yet to see any employment offer that matched the sort of duty I was hoping for, so worst case, we¡¯ll stay here till around next summer before taking up the garrison offer from young Utghwes,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°I¡¯m hoping we¡¯d find something suitable and high-paying from the Empire before then, though, and Zephirous¡¯ is our best bet to get news from there the soonest.¡±


    ¡°Not going to be easy to find a contract that gives us relative free reign to keep training our newbies while paying well and not include much combat duties at the same time, Rein. I think you¡¯re being kinda greedy with those requirements,¡± commented Elfriede, who was one amongst the few in the know of what Reinhardt had in mind for their next contract. ¡°You might have to settle for something less. I know our coffers are overflowing at the moment, but I don¡¯t think we can remain idle for too long.¡±


    ¡°Lars said the same, y¡¯know? I get what you mean, really,¡± replied Reinhardt while pulling Elfriede closer to him in a warm half-hug against his side. ¡°I¡¯ll be happy with two out of three of the criteria, to be honest, and like I said, next summer would be the latest before we leave from here, one way or another. One can hope for some luck to come along the way, every once in a while, can¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I still keep getting the feeling that we¡¯ve been running our luck really low ever since Theodinaz given all the good things that kept happening, but that might just be me being paranoid,¡± admitted Elfriede. ¡°Can¡¯t help but worry more, I guess, especially now that Ery¡¯s part of the crew and fighting alongside us. I just don¡¯t want things to go badly for her sake.¡±


    ¡°The feeling¡¯s mutual, Friede. Either way, I don¡¯t really believe in running down our luck. I think luck is what we make ourselves, rather than what the deities hand out to us at random. As such, I plan to go about things how I¡¯ve done it so far,¡± explained Reinhardt in turn. ¡°Thanks for sticking it out with us during the hardest times, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Not like I got much of an option, what with Ery still being so small at the time,¡± replied Elfriede coldly, though also partly in jest. ¡°How time flies, eh? Back then we were worried about how we had no idea on the way to care for one little kid, and next thing we knew, we had another one. Both of them grew into such strong children, too.¡±


    ¡°Aye, I¡¯ve seen it myself,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°Little Alycea¡¯s practically taking over Ery¡¯s old place as the head of the kids near her age somehow, and they look like they wanted to replicate what Ery did and join the Company as soon as they were of age,¡± he added with some exasperation. ¡°Sometimes I¡¯m uncertain whether I should be proud of them or have headaches from their actions.¡±

 Side Story 25 - A Day in a Trainees Life

    ¡°Training was not just meant to teach you how to stab people. Most everyone already had an idea on how to do that, just got to stick the pointy end the right way. No, training as was done by most military institutions, both private or otherwise, were generally meant to build character. It was meant to make sure that by the time they allowed you to step onto the battlefield, you were prepared for it, rather than being one of those that broke down and whimpered incoherently for their mothers.¡± - Cassius Rogen-Bay, head instructor for the Elmaiyan royal guard, circa 321 VA.


    Open Fields by the Free Lances Encampment,


    Plains by Zephirous City,


    Northern Knallzog, Southwestern Alcidea,


    7th day of the 2nd week of the 11th month, year 15 FP


    ¡°What in Igunacio¡¯s burning arsehole are we even doing here!?¡±


    The complaint came from Kev, a young human boy ¨C probably sixteen or so, record-keeping tend to be rather spotty in poorer areas ¨C with some dwarven lineage who came from the small village of Bauernhof in the West of Knallzog. When the Company passed by the village earlier in the year, he had taken the chance to apply to join them as a recruit.


    Kev had been stuck in a perpetual hell of hard labor and boredom since.


    Honestly, the choice of becoming a mercenary was in itself by no means a bad one, especially for a kid from a poor village in the boonies like himself. Even the smaller and poorer mercenary companies offered salaries that were double what a farmer could make in a year in idle pay alone, while wealthier ones like the Free Lances doubled that amount once more, not including extra pay for combat and hazardous missions. It was a lucrative option of employment for those who believed that they had the guts to hack a living as a sellsword, to say the least.


    It was the second month of the same year when Kev applied, when the mercenary company passed by his small village on the developing western end of Knallzog where the wastelands were being reclaimed. He had traveled all the way to the center of the Kingdom since, getting to see even the capital city of Knallgant itself, if from afar, and then was taken all the way to the northern border of the Kingdom at Zephirous, where the mercenaries had stayed for the past months.


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    The moving around was something he expected when he signed up, as was being placed into training. While there existed mercenaries out there who would recruit newcomers and send them off into battle as cannon fodder, letting luck sort them out, the Free Lances were known as elites, and had far more stringent requirements for their recruits, investing money into training them before those recruits ever get to see a battlefield.


    It was not even that Kev thought highly of himself or anything.


    He knew that he was just a simple farmhand with no fighting experience to consider, not counting that one time he helped shoo away a pack of wolves that came too close to the village. Even then he was not so deluded to think that holding a pitchfork and poking them at some wild animals while making shooing noises counted as ¡°fighting¡± in any shape or form.


    As such, he was not surprised when the mercenaries decided that if he were to be considered for actual entrance to their ranks, he would need to both condition himself physically and train himself in the use of weapons first. Kev knew he was lacking in both fields and accepted those decisions. It was just that he never expected the process of training to be so mind-numbingly boring.


    In order to condition their physiques to a more acceptable level, new trainee recruits like him were made to do all sorts of odd jobs around the mercenary camps, ranging from things like fetching water from the rivers ¨C they were given a long pole with two buckets hanging from the ends to carry the water, the size of which were increased every once in a while ¨C or fetching firewood for the campfires ¨C often as whole logs that two or three trainees had to carry together on their shoulders ¨C amongst other menial duties.


    They also received more targeted training intended to build up their physical strength and stamina as well, for around a couple of hours every day or so. Each of the trainees were sorted into groups and made to repeat different exercises during those hours, under the watchful eyes of their trainers. It was boring and tiring exercise, to say the least, and was not what Kev had expected when he signed up.


    Actual training with weapons only happened once every seventhday for the trainees, and was the part that Kev enjoyed the most. There the trainees were told to choose from a large pile of training weapons ¨C each carefully crafted to be roughly the same size, shape, and weight as a real weapon though without any lethal points or edges ¨C and experiment until they found something that they felt suitable for themselves.


    After two months of such experimentations they were told to choose one weapon for themselves and their weapons training became more specialized as they were taught how to use the weapon they chose. Honestly, the weapons training was what Kev had been expecting out of the mercenaries, and he was rather baffled that the trainees received so little of it.


    Time went by quickly, and before he knew it, spring had turned to summer, which then gave way to autumn, and in turn winter came upon the land. The winter in Zephirous was cold, especially compared to the hotter region Kev himself called home, where winter only meant cooler temperatures suitable for the children to play outside with and a lot of rain for their crops, but it was a pleasant and novel experience to say the least.


    On the other hand, his patience was rapidly eroding over the unchanged training he had been subjected to for more than three quarters of the year by then, which led to his outburst.

 Side Story 26 - Brewing Dissatisfaction

    ¡°When faced with matters that were simply past their paygrade, few would understand the meaning. That¡¯s why we pay some people more.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°What is it now, Kev-boy?¡± asked Skuljd, one of his fellow trainees who happened to be nearby when Kev let out his emotion. She was a young dwarven maiden, still in her forties ¨C practically still a teenager for dwarven standards ¨C with her beard just barely growing out to fully cover her chin. Despite her young age, though, the way she carried an entire log by herself where most of the human trainees needed to work together in twos to do so highlighted the disparity between them. ¡°Cat got your dinner again?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s this training, or rather, chores they keep making us do that frays my patience, Skuldj,¡± he replied to her with a shake of his head. To his credit, despite his outburst he neither stopped walking nor dropped the log of wood he shouldered together with another fellow trainee. ¡°I¡¯m just not seeing why they keep having us do this shit instead of some actual training!¡±


    ¡°Builds discipline,¡± replied the dwarven girl with a slightly amused tone of voice. She was older than many of the recent trainees ¨C a lot of which were human, since the Free Lances also carried over quite a few recruits from Posuin, and even in Knallzog humans formed a large portion of the populace due to their natural proclivity to reproduce rapidly ¨C and in some ways, wiser. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re being singled out for this sort of training. Everybody got the same course, unless you prove that you got the skills it takes to skip a good bit of it, that is.¡±


    ¡°How do you even know that much, Skuljd?¡± asked Larissa from behind Kev. She happened to be carrying the log with him and naturally heard their entire conversation given her proximity. She was a mixed-breed child from a village not far from Knallgant, with mostly human blood but with some elvish and orcish heritage on her. Her father was the leader of the village¡¯s militia and had approved of her signing up to be a mercenary without too much fuss.


    She was easily a head taller than Kev and more solidly built as well, despite being almost a year younger and barely showing her non-human heritage otherwise.


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    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I got to ask more questions before I actually signed up and joined, got some extra privileges there, I¡¯ll be admitting,¡± said the dwarven maiden with a hoarse chuckle that almost sounded like rocks grating against each other. For all the ¡°privileges¡± she received, though, Kev knew that Skuljd had been doing the same sort of training as the rest for months now. ¡°You see, my late gran¡¯s the second Captain of the Company.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re related to the Captain then? I thought the Captain is a therian?¡± asked Kev with some confusion in his voice.


    ¡°The Captain would be a step-uncle twice removed or so from my end, yeah. He¡¯s adopted,¡± replied Skuljd with a shrug of her shoulder that made the log she was carrying wobble for a moment. ¡°Not like it got me any real special treatment, though. Everyone¡¯s going to train until they satisfy the company¡¯s standards, no exception, he said.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more curious about what you said earlier, actually. That bit about proving you got what it takes so we can skip out on some of this tedium?¡± asked Larissa from behind Kev, the three of them unconsciously matching their walking pace with each other to keep the conversation going smoothly as they went. ¡°How do we go about that, if you happen to know?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s easy enough. You just walk up to your trainer and say it to their face that you believe you got what it takes and want a chance to prove it,¡± replied Skuljd with an amused chipper to her voice. ¡°That said, I¡¯d suggest that you do a few things first before you do that sort of thing, though. Oh, and don¡¯t be telling them that I told you about it either.¡±


    ¡°Our lips are sealed. What few things should we do?¡± asked Kev with building interest.


    ¡°Well, you two likely ain¡¯t the only ones who are feeling unsatisfied, no? There¡¯s a few who already quit but those are mostly the ones who can¡¯t take the rigors. I bet there¡¯s some others who are feeling just as pent up as you two,¡± said Skuljd as she carried on nonchalantly. ¡°You should gather them up so you all could make your case together, so there would be more weight behind it that way. More likely for you to be heard.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± admitted Larissa as she nodded her head sagaciously at the advice. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Make your challenge in the morning after restday,¡± replied Skujd matter of factly. ¡°No bloody point trying for such a thing while you¡¯re dog-tired and panting for breath, now ain¡¯t it? You¡¯d want to be in your best shape if you want to give yourself the best chance at this sort of crud.¡±


    Both Kev and Larissa nodded at the dwarven maiden¡¯s advice. Neither of them took any direct action for the rest of that day, but by evening, they started to spread the word amongst the other trainees and gathered those of a like mind, those who believed that they had what it took to tough it out along with the Company by then.


    As chance would have it, the rest day they received every week when they were only given lighter duties so as to allow them to recuperate their conditions was on the secondday, so the two had three nights and two days to spread the word and gather others who had similar thoughts to themselves in order to make the challenge.


    So it was that on the thirdday morning of the next week, around fifty of the trainees walked together to their trainer ¨C which happened to be Dacia that day ¨C and made their challenge.

 Side Story 27 - A Challenge Accepted

    ¡°Newbies trying to challenge their seniors usually just made for lessons that were really engraved into the bones.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Mm-hmm~ quite a few of you here. Always nice to see some kids who had the guts,¡± said Dacia with a smile on her face. The middle-aged woman ¨C Nicole¡¯s aunt, who had retired from active duty after Theodinaz to instead work on training new recruits for the company ¨C looked completely unperturbed even while confronted with the over fifty youths. She looked around for a bit, in search of certain people in her vicinity before she finally noticed one of them. ¡°Hey, Katja! Which group has tryout duties this week?¡± she asked loudly.


    ¡°Tryout duties?¡± asked the scarred former assassin in turn. It had been a few years since Katja had been made to join the mercenaries, and despite the less than jovial way in which they first met, she had pretty much integrated into the company by then. She checked on a small piece of parchment she had tucked in one of her many pockets for a brief moment, before she replied to Dacia¡¯s question. ¡°This week is the little boss¡¯ group¡¯s turn.¡±


    ¡°Fetch around ten of them, will you? Any would do, though do get us at least one of the big boys or girls as well,¡± replied Dacia in turn. ¡°As for the rest of you, wait here for a bit. We can¡¯t test your claims without some people to try you out, after all,¡± she said as she turned to the gathered trainees, with a wide smile forming on her face.


    For the next quarter hour or so Dacia had whoever was around ¨C mostly other trainees, though she also got some help from the Company¡¯s support staff and some dependents ¨C to set things up for things to come. Crates full of training weapons were brought over, while a crowd slowly gathered to watch whatever was about to happen, even drawing the attention of some off-duty mercenaries who happened to pass by.


    Katja returned right around then, with a part of Erycea¡¯s platoon following her, including Erycea herself as well as her core members. The majority of the platoon had also followed along to offer moral support for their fellow compatriots, or at least they explained it that way. Youths being youths, they mostly came along to watch the spectacle instead.


    Maybe to get a good laugh or two at their buddies¡¯ expense, too, if fate would have it.


    ¡°We got some wanting to prove their mettle, I hear, Auntie Dacia?¡± asked Erycea, who led the group towards where everyone else already gathered. By then the audience had grown into quite a number, a mix of trainees, members of the Company¡¯s support staff and dependents, as well as some bored off-duty mercenaries who were attracted by the commotion. Erycea even saw her little sister and some of her friends by the sidelines.


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    ¡°You heard right, girl. Can you pick out one of yours for every¡­ five or so of them? I was expecting Katja to just bring a few of you over, but this way is even better, I guess,¡± replied the middle-aged woman in turn. ¡°I think one of the big ones would be plenty, though. Not many of them on the other side.¡±


    ¡°Got it, Auntie,¡± said Erycea with a nod as she turned towards her platoon. ¡°So, which of you want to show some of the newbies how things work around here? Volunteers only, first come, first served!¡± she announced cheerfully to them, at which point several of the platoon quickly presented themselves. The only ones who had not hurried were the few larger-bodied members they had, who discussed amongst themselves on who to send out instead since there was only room for one of them.


    Before long, Erycea had eleven people, including herself, standing on one side. Gustav was chosen to represent the bigger-bodied members, and they stood proudly across the fifty or so trainees who made the challenge.


    ¡°Rules are simple enough. Use the training weapons, no fangs or claws. Treat the weapons as if they were real. If you make a good enough showing of yourself we¡¯ll consider cutting off a portion of your training,¡± declared Dacia towards the gathered trainees, to enthusiastic cheers and looks. ¡°Other than those who are full-blooded dwarves or are of larger therian breeds, you will get your opponent chosen at random.¡±


    ¡°If we win, does that mean we get to join the Company right away?¡± asked one of the trainees.


    ¡°We¡¯ll speak if that happens,¡± replied Dacia with a smile on her face. ¡°Anyway, who wants to be first? None of the people you¡¯re fighting are much older than you. Hell, some of you are likely older than them, but they¡¯re already part of the Company for a reason.¡±


    ¡°I will!¡± said one of the trainees, a tall and burly young human around eighteen or so, with the beginnings of facial hair growing on his face. He picked up a two-handed training greatsword from the pile of practice weapons and stood confidently in the clearing where the fighting was to take place.


    ¡°Ery?¡± Dacia asked towards Erycea¡¯s side next, only to see them picking out straws from her hand. In the end it was Aurora who cheered at having drawn out the one long straw, and went to the crate to pick out analogues for the weapon she used, before she went to the clearing as well, where she stood across from the confident trainee.


    Looking at the two combatants, it looked to be as uneven a fight as it could be. The trainee was nearly twice Aurora¡¯s size, the girl having never grown any taller in the couple of years that had passed. Similarly, the large greatsword, almost as tall as he was, looked like a mismatch to the mace and tonfa Aurora held in her hands.


    It was indeed a very unfair match that only took seconds to resolve, because Aurora just ducked under her opponent¡¯s first swing, further pushed the blade away with the tip of her tonfa, and at the same time smacked her opponent right on the chin with her mace, dropping her larger opponent like a sack of potatoes on the spot.

 Side Story 28 - Engraving a Lesson to the Bone

    ¡°Things you read about? Things you listen to? Those don¡¯t stay in the mind for long. Things that got literally beaten into you, on the other hand, will stay with you for much longer.¡± - Old soldier saying.


    ¡°All right, he¡¯ll be fine, just won¡¯t enjoy the headaches he¡¯ll be having for the next couple of days at worst. You can take him away,¡± said Dacia after she inspected the unconscious trainee on the ground. The training mace Aurora used was more a shaped wooden cudgel than a real mace, but with blunt weapons, even their training versions could deliver lethal hits when one struck hard enough with them.


    Aurora had controlled her strength well, though, and only struck the boy with enough force to knock him out cold but without leaving any lasting damage on his body.


    ¡°Next! Send someone over who can last a while if you got any, will ya?¡± Said Aurora from the clearing as she nonchalantly twirled her tonfa around. The way the petite girl confidently strutted around had somewhat intimidated some of the trainees, with more than a few throwing a glance at the still unconscious compatriot of theirs. That said, her next words definitely incensed some of them, hitting right where it hurt. ¡°I don¡¯t know who told you, but nobody likes a quick shot like that in bed. Can¡¯t even last three seconds¡­ for real?¡±


    Wordlessly, one of the trainees, another young human boy, though notably lankier than the boy Aurora laid out cold in moments, stepped forward with his teeth gritted. He walked to the crate of practice weapons and picked out a long spear over two and a half meters long, standing directly across Aurora and giving her a challenging look.


    She just smiled from across the clearing instead.


    Once Dacia started the next fight, Aurora immediately dashed in. The advantage of having a longer weapon was an obvious one, and as someone who was both small in stature and using shorter weapons by choice ¨C though she still favored her crossbow over engaging in melee ¨C Aurora had naturally practiced to deal with that range disadvantage as well.


    Her opponent reacted fast and jabbed at her with his practice spear, but she pushed the tip aside with ease, not even blinking in the face of the strike. Her advance naturally made her opponent nervous as he backpedaled and withdrew his spear for another stab, which she similarly pushed aside with her tonfa. By then she was in striking range and struck back.


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    Two quick raps with her mace on the back of the boy¡¯s hands made him drop his spear in pain, causing Dacia to call the fight in Aurora¡¯s favor once again.


    The next trainee to step up was a human girl who picked up a pair of shortswords for her weapon. Probably affected from having seen how badly her fellow trainees failed to abuse Aurora¡¯s overall lack of size and reach with a longer weapon, she opted for the opposite course instead. It did the girl little good as Aurora trounced her just as swiftly, ending the fight as she hit the girl hard in the solar plexus with the tip of her tonfa.


    Neither of the next two opponents she got next managed to last for long against Aurora either, and in the end, the petite girl grumbled as she returned to where the rest of Erycea¡¯s platoon watched the fighting.


    Aurora left behind five unconscious or hurting trainees who had their ideas on what it took to join the company as an official member refreshed, as well as a gaggle of young rookies who nervously chattered to each other in the hopes of buoying up their spirits. After some discussion, a young therian boy with features resembling a tiger stepped forward to represent the trainees.


    Gustav walked out from Erycea¡¯s side to meet him, as the boy was one of the three earmarked for him to handle.


    ¡°Just you? Those two can join in as well. Would be a fairer fight then,¡± commented Gustav as he pointed at the two full-blooded dwarven youths amongst the trainees. The two young dwarves looked at each other for a moment before Dacia gave them a gesture to go ahead, at which point they walked forward and each picked out some training weapons.


    ¡°As mercenaries, we often can¡¯t be picky. Sometimes you have to fight alongside others, sometimes you gotta fight more than one on your own,¡± added Gustav before they started the fight. He himself carted over a wooden shield the size of a door and a wooden ¡°cudgel¡± almost as thick around as a grown man¡¯s thigh in his hands. ¡°Come at me, now. Don¡¯t be shy.¡±


    For what it was worth, the three trainees gave a valiant effort in fighting Gustav. The therian boy used a long halberd and attempted to strike from afar while the two dwarves opted for large shields and one-handed weapons to get in close. The three lacked the proper instinctual cooperation a trained unit had, though, as well as the experience Gustav already possessed.


    He simply used his massive shield to screen himself from the therian and one of the dwarves before he casually swatted the other dwarf off, sending the youth flying a good distance before he landed on his back audibly. Such a strike might have heavily injured or killed a human, but Gustav was pretty sure that the dwarf would get away with some painful bruises at most.


    Then he used his shield to push away the therian boy before he repeated the exercise on the other young dwarf. The second dwarf managed to catch the blow with his shield, but was sent flying off regardless. That was with Gustav already taking it easy on them, slowing his blows at the last moment so that the momentum pushed the young dwarves away rather than smash into them, and they realized as much as they signaled their acquiescence.


    Once he noticed he was left on his own, the therian boy dropped his weapon and raised his hand in surrender. He failed to land even a single blow when there were three of them, so he knew all too well that on his own, he stood no real chance whatsoever to prevail against Gustav.


    ¡°Smart kid. You¡¯ll go far in life,¡± praised Gustav with a nod to a therian boy.

 Side Story 29 - A Little Splash of Humiliation and Reality

    ¡°Sometimes you need to humiliate someone to make them see reality.¡± - Old folk saying.


    The rest of the trainees were dealt with in short order. Erycea had her people draw straws to determine who went next, while she herself only sat and watched from the side while entertaining her little sister and pointing out the mistakes the trainees made at the same time. Every five trainee, another member from Erycea¡¯s platoon went up to allow them to test their mettle and handily crushed the trainees.


    That was not to say that there weren¡¯t any promising trainees around. One of the larger mixed breed girls gave Hakim some trouble at first since she was taller and stronger than he was, an advantage of her heritage more than anything, before the more experienced young mercenary turned the tables around just as the girl was feeling confident.


    Hakim used his shield to block the girl¡¯s sword and cleverly trapped the axe in the girl¡¯s other hand using the shaft of his spear before he swept her feet from beneath her, which sent the young girl ¨C Larissa, Erycea thought her name was ¨C sprawled on her back, with the tip of Hakim¡¯s practice spear held against her throat.


    Other than her, the other promising trainee was a boy named Kev, less for his skill but for the way he persevered and kept fighting even when he knew he was hideously outmatched. Many of the other trainees lost their battles before it even began because they had been sufficiently intimidated by the way their fellows were swiftly dispatched by the young but experienced members of Erycea¡¯s platoon. Kev was one of the few who never lost their spirit.


    Which was saying something, as after the way some of Erycea¡¯s people went through the trainees ¨C Valeria in particular had practically rolled over her opponents in brutal-looking spectacles, though she took care not to hurt them too much ¨C the rest of them had every right to be intimidated at the sight.


    Kev happened to be in the last batch of trainees to go up to fight, and Rhiannon was in charge of that last batch. The boy made a good showing of himself, fighting carefully with his axe while he kept his body protected behind his shield. That said, all it took Rhiannon to dismantle his careful stance were some quick moves to disarm him.


    Erycea could see that the boy still looked rather unresigned at the results ¨C all the trainees had been handily beaten down, though some had made good showings of themselves in the process ¨C and thought that maybe he needed a little bit of extra lessons beated into his head. As such, she stood up and called him out just as he began to walk back dejectedly to where the rest of the defeated trainees were at.


    ¡°You. You¡¯re still unconvinced that you need more training, ain¡¯t it so?¡± asked Erycea as she accosted the boy. The sight might have been rather intimidating for many, given how she was easily half a head taller than he was, with her sharp fangs openly on display as she grinned. ¡°Want another chance to prove you got what it takes? Or are you too chicken for that?¡±


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    ¡°Let me have another chance,¡± replied Kev firmly as he looked Erycea up in the eye. His confidence was at least praiseworthy, to say the least.


    ¡°Okay. Go get your training weapon and head back to the ring,¡± said Erycea nonchalantly. ¡°Catch your breath as well while you¡¯re at it.¡±


    Kev did as she told him and waited for a bit in the ring alone, the focus of attention of the audience gathered around them. He was indeed given a few minutes to catch his breath and did the best he could to calm himself, to prepare himself as best he could for the second chance he had. The other trainees looked on, both with curiosity and with some trepidation as well.


    ¡°You know, I joined the Company when I was fourteen. That wasn¡¯t because my dad runs the Company, but because I¡¯ve been training for it for nearly a decade by then,¡± said Erycea nonchalantly, across the clearing from Kev. ¡°You guys might have a year or two of age over us, but you¡¯re missing out on that decade of training and the years of experience since. This year or two of training they give you is their best attempt to let you catch up.¡±


    ¡°To make this a bit more fair, I¡¯ll have you fight someone who is still training with the intent to join the Company. If you win, I¡¯ll propose to dad to reduce your training periods, for all of you, that is. If you lose, you take your training without any further protests, we got a deal?¡± asked Erycea as she looked towards the trainees with a predatory grin on her face.


    ¡°Deal!¡± replied the trainees in one voice after only a short discussion.


    ¡°Good. Aly, you take it from here,¡± said Erycea with a nod.


    Alycea stood up from beside her sister and nodded as she walked forward to stand across Kev. Once again, the fight looked like a severe mismatch at a glance. Kev was not the biggest for his age, but he was still a sixteen year old boy with most of his growth already done. Alycea was twelve, and not particularly large for her age either.


    The way the little girl held her long polearm ¨C one that was notably much taller than she was given her young age ¨C was almost comical, yet there was some certainty in her stance as well. Alycea¡¯s training weapon had a metal rod socketed into one end of the long wooden staff and a shorter one on the other side, both weighed properly to allow her to use a weapon that weighed just as much once they crafted the actual heads for her polearm.


    What Kev found rather odd was the way the wooden shaft of the weapon seemed to bend and wobble even as the girl held it steady. It was a solid wooden shaft, and wood shouldn¡¯t have been that flexible, even with a weight on its end.


    His doubts were answered when Alycea struck out towards his head. Kev instinctively raised his shield to catch the blow, only to see the girl wobble the shaft of her weapon, sending the weighted end swaying over Kev¡¯s shield and straight towards his face. He only managed to aoid it by a quick duck, and even then it still grazed his hair.


    By the time he collected himself, another blow descended from above. This time he tried to catch it with his axe, only for the pole to wobble and sway exaggeratedly once more, the blow landing a good bit away from where he expected it to land, nearly hitting his hand.


    He was unprepared when the little girl used his preoccupation with her previous strike to whirl around and thrust the other end of her weapon towards him. The point moved and swayed almost as if it was alive and avoided his attempts to block or deflect it, directly striking him in the gut hard enough to make him keel over in pain.

 Side Story 30 - Helping Saplings Sprout from the Ground

    ¡°Sometimes a sapling might need a hand to grow properly. As the one who planted it, it¡¯s your responsibility to lend that hand, should it be needed.¡± - Old folk saying.


    In the end, the challenge incident resolved peacefully and in a way that benefited the Free Lances as a Company. Sure, a few of the trainees quit ¨C not that those types were likely to last much longer either way ¨C as they were disheartened by the disparity between then and the mercenaries who was brought over to test them, a point further punctuated by how most of those mercenaries were either their age or younger.


    For the most part however, the trainees received both a much-needed humbling that allowed them to better assess their capabilities, as well as a solid dose of motivation to keep up with their training. While monetary incentives ¨C only full members of the Company get paid that salary they signed up for, though trainees received free meals and housing at the least ¨C were one thing, seeing other, younger kids do better than them incensed their pride and made them strive all the harder in their subsequent training.


    Nor was the challenge the only one. A few other trainees ¨C much fewer in number, only around a dozen or so ¨C tried the same not a week later, as they had missed out on the first one and were confident enough in their capabilities despite the display they had seen. Erycea happened to be in the mood for punching some bags that day and took care of all of them on her lonesome, though, which further punctuated the point.


    As for Skuljd, she received her commendation and promised bonus from her step-uncle.


    She, her brother, and her cousin were there to train in order to join the Company themselves, that part was no lie whatsoever. Since they were already more familiar though, Reinhardt had also tasked them to help spread the news of other avenues available to the trainees once some discontent had brewed up amongst them over the monotonous training.


    It was not a lie that she spread. The Company explicitly allowed such a challenge in case their early filtering had missed people whose capabilities were already above and beyond their compatriots, and at the same time, such an act would also show the trainees where they stood in relation to full members of the company, which was hoped to be a motivation for them to strive even harder.


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    Reinhardt having a few trusted members amongst the trainees helped spread the word and simply made sure that the option did not remain unknown, as a little bit of competition and rivalry never really hurt the young. Similarly, Erycea¡¯s group was picked to administer the test so that their youthful ages further highlighted the difference more starkly.


    As a result, the solidarity amongst the young trainees improved, and they took to the training more seriously, doubly so when later in the winter many of them were ¡°graduated¡± from the first part of their training ¨C with newer trainees who joined later on to take over their menial tasks that was part of their daily training ¨C and moved on to training that involved more of weapons practice and small-unit tactics instead.


    Their first year was meant to build character, to make certain that the trainees were unafraid of hardship and to not see any duties as ¡°beneath¡± them. That the boring menial tasks also weeded out those who lacked the mentality that Reinhardt felt was needed for his Company was an added bonus, to be fair, as was the usage of the trainees as free labor.


    That said, as winter grew deeper and spring loomed over the horizon, Reinhardt found himself rather troubled over a different matter. Namely the lack of contracts that suited the conditions he wanted. Since they were camped at Zephirous for that year ¨C something the city had not minded at all since the mercenaries directly caused a large influx of money streaming into the local economy and behaved themselves to boot ¨C they received many offers from the nearby former Imperial territories.


    Yet the majority of those offers were in search of additional fodder to pad out their armies in poorly thought-out conquests mostly fueled by greed.


    Reinhardt had enough experience to read between the lines. While many of the contracts offered riches and rewards that were far above what was normally offered, there lay many risks and traps behind them. For one, many of the offered contracts counted their chickens before they hatched. The offer of riches to be paid on victory.


    It was utter folly to think that victory could be guaranteed like that, so Reinhardt avoided those kinds of offers like the plague, with the agreement of his lieutenants as well.


    As such, his main worry was a lack of suitable contracts for the Free Lances to undertake. His own self-imposed deadline of summer was approaching, and while he had shortlisted a few contracts as possibles, none of them were truly ideal, or that good, for that matter. In fact, the best option on Reinhardt¡¯s table at the moment was to return to Posuin to undertake some garrison duties.


    Such a contract would be relatively safe, gave them plenty of time to train their trainees, as well as provide the seniors with a chance to rest a bit more, but what Reinhardt wanted was a contract that was all those, along with chances to whet the blades of their younger members under reasonable conditions, and ideally higher pay too.


    Some might consider that sort of contract as wishful thinking, given the current state of the nations around them, and while the Free Lances had overflowing coffers at the moment, to remain idle for too long would not be good for the company¡¯s morale either. It was one reason why Reinhardt was slightly troubled as the year changed and the warmth of spring started to replace the cold of winter.


    It was around the middle of spring the next year that a change in the situation arrived in an unexpected manner.

 Chapter 240 - An Unexpected Visitor

    ¡°Beware those bearing gifts, unless you¡¯re sure that the gifts were just that, in which case, enjoy the gifts.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Free Lances Encampment, Command Tent


    Plains by Zephirous City,


    Northern Knallzog, Southwestern Alcidea,


    4th day of the 1st week of the 2nd month, year 16 FP


    ¡°How¡¯s things, Rein?¡± asked Elfriede as she parted the opening of the command tent and stepped in. She could sense Reinhardt leafing through several sheets of paper while seated behind his desk. Normally when Reinhardt was busy with work he asked to be left alone until he was done, other than for emergencies, but of course, his family was exempt to that rule.


    ¡°Pretty much the usual. Another five offers from the Empire last week, none of them any good. At this rate we might as well send a letter to Duke Utghwes and inquire about his standing offer for garrison work, I think,¡± replied Reinhardt as he re-read the papers in hopes of finding something he had missed on his previous read, but to no avail.


    ¡°That bad?¡± Elfriede asked as she grabbed a stool and seated herself near Reinhardt, her back relaxedly leaning against his side. She always liked to borrow his furry warmth on colder days like these, and had sort of made a habit out of it over the years they had been together. The same habit that saw her cuddling Erycea a lot when she was small.


    ¡°Take this one for example,¡± said Reinhardt as he waved one of the sheets around. He naturally did not give the sheet to Elfriede, as while her magical senses allowed her to cope with most of the disadvantages of her blindness, reading is something she remained incapable of. ¡°Good pay even for an offensive mission, amazing salvage rights, but the employer¡¯s a small baron whose territory is entirely enclosed by Knallzog and Sevras-Galatine. There¡¯s pretty much only one way he could direct an offensive, and it¡¯s not a pretty one, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°So they¡¯re looking for fodder to die for them, huh?¡± replied Elfriede in understanding. While she was naturally unable to read the wordings on the sheets, she had pretty sharp instincts when it came to discerning situations with minimal information, and Reinhardt had at times talked with her when he had doubts and everyone else was similarly undecided. ¡°Can¡¯t spend the money when you¡¯re a goner.¡±


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    ¡°Exactly,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod of his head. He then fished out a different sheet with his surprisingly dexterous fingers. People often thought that therians like him whose hands more resembled paws than human hands would be clumsy with them, but that was a misconception. ¡°Then there¡¯s this one. Offers shitty pay and no salvage but promises you knighthood and noble titles as if we¡¯d give a dog¡¯s shit about that crap, ha!¡±


    ¡°Must be one of those nobles with some overinflated sense of entitlement and ego then, I bet,¡± replied Elfriede with a chuckle as she listened to Reinhardt¡¯s tirade. ¡°Where does that one come from, by the way? If you tell me it¡¯s from some baronet from podunk, the ass end of nowhere, I will laugh my ass off at it, for real.¡±


    ¡°Nah, at least the one making the offer¡¯s a Marquis, from¡­ Podovniy, I probably butchered the pronunciation there, but who cares. That¡¯s to the west of Boroes, East of Levain, decent size, if I remember right,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°So some fools might well see him as having some clout and fall for the trap. You know there¡¯s always some fools out there who dream of knighthood and nobility.¡±


    ¡°Never got why those fools value empty titles so much,¡± replied Elfriede with a snort. ¡°Doubly so when it often doesn¡¯t even come with extra salary!¡±


    ¡°Some people are just fools like that, I guess. They still dreamed of situations that are too good to be true, and refused to believe it when others tried to wake them from the daydream,¡± answered Reinhardt with a chuckle. ¡°Either way, it¡¯s their choice to make, so it¡¯s not something we should bother with. Their lives are their own to waste.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± said Elfriede as she relaxed a bit more and leaned most of her upper body against Reinhardt¡¯s broad side. He wasn¡¯t wearing armor at the moment, so his fur sort of cushioned her from beneath his clothes, which made him quite comfortable to lean against. Of course, so was his warmth, as his kind had body temperature that were warmer than humans like her. ¡°The rest just as awful, I take it?¡±


    ¡°One¡¯s half-decent, but not what I¡¯m looking for. The other two look like some brat¡¯s first attempt to hire mercs, honestly,¡± said Reinhardt with a sigh. ¡°I guess I was hoping for too much with what I had in mind. Can¡¯t even find missions with two out of the three criteria that¡¯s better than the garrison offer we already had.¡±


    ¡°Boss, Friede, pardon the interruption,¡± said Salicia as she suddenly barged into the command tent at that moment.


    ¡°Heya, Sal. What¡¯s up?¡± asked Elfriede back, still relaxedly leaning on her husband¡¯s side while holding his thickly furred tail tightly against her body, like it was some sort of body pillow. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve felt you this nervous, like, ever.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a slightly¡­ complicated situation at hand,¡± said Salicia with a shake of her head at Elfriede¡¯s question. ¡°We got a noble from the Empire in town, posting a request with the guild and specifically named us. They know we¡¯re here and want to make use of our services, and the job they¡¯re offering looks a lot like what you¡¯ve been looking after, Boss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unexpected, but not unwelcome,¡± said Reinhardt. Since the Free Lances were staying put in Zephirous for the past half a year, it was not strange that someone knew they were there. For a nobleman to look for them personally was a different case, though. ¡°Why the nervousness, though?¡±


    ¡°The nobleman in question is former Viscount Bernd Adenauer, now representing the Free City of Levain,¡± said Salicia in explanation. ¡°He is also my father.¡±

 Chapter 241 - Meeting the Father

    ¡°Blood spilled together is thicker than water of the womb.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°So, brief me while we¡¯re on the way, Sal. What should we expect from¡­ your father?¡± asked Reinhardt as the four of them ¨C Gr¨¹nhildr having joined them just as they exited the tent as she had apparently followed Salicia ¨C walked towards the city. ¡°Any political leanings and habits we should be aware of? Anything of value in consideration of the offer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid whatever I can tell you would be greatly out of date, Boss. I last saw my father over two decades ago,¡± admitted Salicia. ¡°We didn¡¯t part on bad terms, mind you, he just wanted the family to spread out as contingencies in case the political tension of the time back then blew up. As you know, Maglos getting his noggin¡¯ chopped off triggered the civil war in the Empire soon after that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, everyone¡¯s familiar with that by now,¡± replied Reinhardt. The death of Maglos the Tyrant ¨C by the hands of the infamous Bounty Hunter ¨C a couple years before the founding of Paradise was an event that shook the continent, and resulted in the Clangeddin Empire, the greatest power in Alcidea, falling into civil war as every region it encompassed started fighting for its own benefits.


    ¡°Pops was the sort that tried to remain neutral at all costs. It¡¯s a family tradition, almost, so I was rather surprised to hear that he¡¯s here representing another power at all,¡± continued Salicia as they walked. ¡°Our old territory was small, but was right next to Levain, to its east. We¡¯re mostly sandwiched between Levain to the west, Podovniy to the east, and Anduillas to the north. Trade and mining¡¯s pretty much our main incomes back then.¡±


    ¡°Mining? Anything valuable in your lands?¡± asked Reinhardt with curiosity.


    ¡°Nothing that valuable. One onyx mine and a small silver mine on our western side, a few iron mines as well. We make good steel and are known for our blacksmiths,¡± replied Salicia as she explained. ¡°I guess if the three regions around us fell into hostility, they would want our supply of weapons for themselves, so that might be why pops aligned himself with Levain.¡±


    ¡°And does that indicate anything?¡± asked Elfriede in turn.


    ¡°Only that Levain likely offered him either the best conditions or asked the most politely,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr in Salicia¡¯s stead. ¡°The lord was one of those whom you could plead with but not threaten. Threatening him would just make him resist all the more stubbornly.¡±


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    ¡°Gr¨¹n put it aptly. Him representing Levain is a sign that it¡¯s probably a better employer than the other two would be,¡± added Salicia as she nodded to Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s words. ¡°Mind you, Boss, that all this depends on him not having changed over the decades since I last saw him.¡±


    ¡°Understandable worry, and you¡¯ve told me plenty to go with, so thanks,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°You two want to come along? Your being there might give us a little bit more edge in the negotiations.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an offer I¡¯ll take, thanks, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Where she goes, I go.¡±


    ¡°Good, now let¡¯s meet this father of yours, shall we?¡±


    ******************************


    The four mercenaries reached the inn where Salicia¡¯s father stayed in the city not thirty minutes later. The inn was situated directly across the street from the mercenary¡¯s guild of Zephirous, which was a strategic location, and made sense as a place to stay for people looking to hire mercenaries. A boy from the inn went upstairs to inform Salicia¡¯s father of their arrival soon after as the innkeeper instructed him to do so.


    As for the guild itself, it was effectively an unofficial body that helped arrange for mercenaries to meet with employers, while receiving a small sum for their services. Their services had become so ubiquitous these days that they had enough power to the point that any employer or Company that was blacklisted by the guild would have a hellish time finding either employees or employment ever again.


    While the guild¡¯s various branches ¨C practically every major city has one ¨C communicated often through mail, the location still determined the sort of contracts that flowed towards them. The guild in Zephirous for example, primarily handled contracts from northern Knallzog and the remnants of the Clangeddin empire, which it was situated right next to.


    Any contract offer sent towards Knallzog from the former Empire would reach Zephirous first due to its proximity, which was why Reinhardt chose to rest the Company there over the past year as well.


    Before five minutes had passed, Reinhardt noticed the nobleman who could only be Salicia¡¯s father ¨C they had the same deep shade of dark blue hair, and there were enough similarities between their facial features despite the gender differences for him to be certain ¨C walk down the stairs quickly, yet not hurriedly.


    One glance at Bernd Adenauer showed that he was a fit and healthy man for his age and status. Typically nobles, much less ones in their sixties like him, were less than physically fit, but the man¡¯s slim, athletic build showed that he took efforts to keep himself in shape despite his age. In a way, he almost looked like an older, male version of his daughter at a glance.


    The way he dressed himself ¨C in simple but good quality travel clothes, lacking in the typical ostentatious displays often favored by nobility ¨C also made Reinhardt up his assessment of the man by another notch. The man clearly didn¡¯t show off his status, but instead it was evident from his posture and the way he held himself that he was a man of high standing.


    He also had to hold in his amusement when the man reached the last set of stairs and noticed them waiting for him, his eyes widening almost comically as he noticed Salicia amongst them. His surprised look was so genuine that Reinhardt believe he really had no idea that his own daughter was part of the Company he came to hire.


    ¡°Salicia!?¡± asked the nobleman with some incredulity. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Hi, pops,¡± replied Salicia all too relaxedly from beside Reinhardt. ¡°I¡¯m part of the Company you¡¯re trying to hire? You didn¡¯t know?¡±

 Chapter 242 - Terms and Negotiations

    ¡°Be wary if someone agrees to your first offer. Either you have made a very poor offer that grossly benefits them or you are about to be played for a fool.¡± - Old merchant¡¯s saying.


    ¡°Should we adjourn to the guild for the negotiations, Viscount Adenauer?¡± asked Reinhardt after a moment of surprised silence between the pair of father and daughter.


    ¡°Oh! Uh, certainly¡­ mister?¡± asked the nobleman after some surprise. Now that Reinhardt had time to take a closer look he somewhat doubted his previous assumption of the man being in his sixties ¨C mostly based off Salicia being around his own age ¨C as he looked far too well preserved for that. In fact, if the man claimed to be the same as Reinhardt at forty-one, he would have believed him. ¡°And please, no need for titles. I¡¯m no longer a Viscount these days.¡±


    ¡°This is our Boss, pops, Captain of the Free Lances,¡± said Salicia as she introduced him to her father.


    ¡°Reinhardt Edelstein of the Free Lances, at your service, Mister Adenauer,¡± said Reinhardt right afterwards.


    ¡°Right, right, my apologies, Captain Edelstein,¡± said the nobleman as he schooled his face back to project a calm attitude rather than his flustered surprise from before. He also straightened the set of his tunic the way one might straighten a jacket, probably a habit, Reinhardt thought. ¡°Pardon my discourtesy just now. I had not expected to meet my youngest daughter here, much less in your employ.¡±


    ¡°As a father, it¡¯s an understandable reaction,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    ¡°Let us, then, yes. Business first,¡± replied the nobleman.


    The five of them then crossed the street towards the mercenary¡¯s guild, where Reinhardt requested to borrow one of their negotiation rooms. Those rooms were just that, places that had been kept secure from outside listeners by various means, meant to be used for negotiations with clients. Reinhardt did not miss how Bernd Adenauer spent the entire short trip from the inn to the room talking enthusiastically with Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr, every bit the picture of a parent who had not seen their children for ages.


    ¡°Now, then, Mister Adenauer. The guild guarantees that whatever we said here will not reach another ear,¡± said Reinhardt as he sat on a long couch on one side of a small table. Elfriede sat beside him while Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr took up positions, standing to their sides. Salicia¡¯s father occupied a smaller seat across the table from them. ¡°Shall we begin with your offer?¡±


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    ¡°Certainly, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Bernd Adenauer as he nodded his head calmly. He brought up a roll of parchment ¨C the good sort which was almost white and very even, Reinhardt noted ¨C from his storage artifact and unrolled it before them, before sliding it over for their perusal. ¡°Noted in this document are the tasks required by the Free City of Levain from your Company as well as the remuneration we are capable of offering for those services.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± said Reinhardt as he brought the parchment closer to read. The script was written in legible, but tiny characters, the sign of an experienced scribe at work, so even with his good eyesight he preferred reading it closer to make sure he had not mistaken anything. The first thing he looked at was naturally the job offered by the Free City¡¯s council, as they called themselves.


    The listed job description looked simple enough but also contained an unexpected request within. The garrison duty and participation in defensive battles were pretty much the norm for the sort of contract offered, but what was less normal was the additional clause that requests their help with training soldiers with numbers stated to be in the tens of thousands.


    ¡°You want us to help train your soldiers?¡± he asked to the nobleman just to be sure.


    ¡°Precisely so, Captain Edelstein. If you would allow me to explain?¡± asked the nobleman in turn, as he raised the pair of glasses he wore, probably another habitual tic of his. ¡°At the moment the Free City of Levain happened to possess a large number of soldiers, but the majority of it were just peasant militia. They lack proper training in matters of warfare, and we require people who could teach them the necessary skills for that purpose.¡±


    ¡°And you lack such people in your City?¡± asked Reinhardt with some obvious incredulity.


    ¡°Let us just say that those qualified to train people present in our city might be¡­ unsuitable for political reasons,¡± replied the nobleman without missing a beat. ¡°For that reason, the council eventually approved the hiring of a neutral force to do the work for us. We required mercenaries that are documented as reliable and capable of such a task, and after some time sifting out those in our vicinity, we decided upon your Company.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do elaborate on your reasoning there, if you would, Mister Adenauer.¡±


    ¡°For reliability, I do not need to say much, I believe. The Free Lances have a long history and reputation spanning centuries back for always completing their missions or at least trying their very best to do so,¡± replied Salicia¡¯s father, to which Reinhardt gave a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°As for why we believe you would be capable of training our people for us¡­ well, your results speak for itself.


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°As per reports I have read myself, Captain, your unit was down to barely over three hundred combatants a little over a decade ago. Now you boast of numbers nearly quadruple that, and while some of that increase came from assimilating other, smaller Companies, quite a lot came from new members that you literally trained from scratch, was that not the case?¡± asked Bernd with a smile on his face. ¡°In fact if my information is not wrong your Company seems to be well on its way to reinforce itself to somewhere around two thousand strong if not more, with all the new recruits you took in.¡±


    ¡°You are well-informed, Mister Adenauer,¡± replied Reinhardt with a grin on his face. ¡°We can accept a training mission, but first, let us talk of the remunerations in more detail, shall we?¡±


    ¡°But of course, Captain Edelstein. That is why I have been sent here in person, after all.¡±

 Chapter 243 - Conditions

    ¡°Swear to the Deities, but some people seem like they live just to haggle. Ain¡¯t no way us normal folk going to out-haggle those deviants.¡± - Amber Bauer, small-time farmer and vendor from Elmaiya.


    In the end, the haggling and negotiations between Reinhardt and Bernd took hours before the two agreed upon a mutually satisfactory deal. The remuneration negotiated was slightly below what Reinhardt would have preferred, but it was enough to pay the Company¡¯s members assuming they were to idle through the planned three-year contract. On the other hand, Reinhardt successfully secured full salvage rights should his company be involved in combat during the contract¡¯s duration.


    Employers that offered or agreed to full salvage rights usually were in one of three situations: Either they had no lack of equipment and thus truly did not care for a bit of salvage, they did not expect there to be occasions where their hired mercenaries could make use of those rights, or they were relying on offering full salvage to negotiate for a lower base pay.


    There was a fourth possibility, namely that the employer expected their hired mercenaries to not survive combat, and thus naturally unable to claim their right, but Reinhardt had naturally kept a lookout for any signs of that behavior. Besides, employers who made a habit of doing that tend to get blacklisted by the guild sooner or later.


    The haggling itself had been a display that suitably impressed those watching. Neither Elfriede, Salicia, nor Gr¨¹nhildr had seen two people negotiate like two wild animals attempting to devour each other, yet at the same time without ever lifting the veneer of civilized behavior they both flawlessly kept intact. Elfriede had been present on many contract negotiations, so she was used to it, but the other two were not as acclimated.


    It was already evening by the time they adjourned, with the agreement mostly established, pending only a few things. Salicia¡¯s father excused himself to take a bath and refresh himself since Reinhardt invited the man for dinner, and the four mercenaries used that brief period to talk amongst themselves.


    ¡°So, Sal, how did you know that your father was in town?¡± asked Reinhardt openly. Saliia usually had nothing to do with the contracts so it was rather odd that she was the one that brought the news in the first place.


    ¡°Oh, Lars came and asked about pops,¡± replied Salicia openly. ¡°He was checking the contract offers earlier today and saw the offer pops made, then noticed our family name and asked me if we were related, just in case.¡±


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    ¡°Ah, good initiative from his side,¡± noted Reinhardt, who believed the explanation. He could always double check it with Lars anyway, and doubted that there was foul play involved either way. Salicia had been with the mercenaries for nearly two decades now, and was clearly content with her position and situation. ¡°Anything you can add about your father?¡±


    ¡°Only that your guess likely missed his age by a good bit, boss. How old did you think pops was?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re forty this year, so I¡¯m assuming he¡¯s in his sixties? Maybe sixty-five or so? Sure maintained himself well, though.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Damn, Sal, you win that bet all right! Cap went way off!¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr with a bark of harsh laughter from beside Salicia. ¡°Sorry, Cap, but the Lord should be ninety-three this year.¡±


    ¡°Ninety-three?¡± asked Reinhardt with some obvious incredulity in his voice. Salicia¡¯s father had not looked a hair over forty, other than his graying hair.


    ¡°Our family has some elven lineage going, Boss. Something like one-eighth or so in my father¡¯s generation? Either way it meant that he¡¯ll likely live to see two hundred, while I likely got till one fifty or thereabouts before I croak of old age,¡± explained Salicia. To further illustrate the point, she raised the hair over her ear and showed the pointed tip on her otherwise normal ear.


    That explanation clarified Reinhardt¡¯s doubts, as elven lineages of such a diluted degree were often hard to spot indeed, other than for the obvious effect on the longevity of the people involved. It also somewhat explained where the hell Salicia got her heirloom Yew Heartwood bow from. Heartwood was a material typically only found in elven groves, after all.


    ¡°Anyway, boss, what do you have in mind after the dinner?¡± asked Salicia. The agreement Reinhardt hashed out with her father was contingent on several things that would have to wait until the next day, so they planned to rest in the city itself that night and accompany the nobleman the next day. ¡°Anything Gr¨¹n and I should do?¡±


    ¡°Nah, you two can take your time catching up with him after dinner. Friede and I will just visit Varsha and borrow a room off her,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°If he volunteers any information that you feel might be something I need to know, then you can inform me tomorrow, but otherwise we¡¯ll just rest here tonight and bring him to camp at dawn, so he can get a good look at the kids working out.¡±


    One of the conditions Bernd Adenauer had requested was that he be allowed to watch how the mercenaries train their recruits, which was the reason Reinhardt chose to spend the night in the city. The daily training undertaken by both the mercenaries and their trainees started at the crack of dawn, so they needed to be present to wake up the nobleman and bring him to their camp in time.


    As for Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr, Reinhardt meant what he said when he told the two to ¡°catch up¡± with the nobleman. They had not seen each other for over two decades, which was a long time even if they were of elven descent. He was certain that they would have plenty to talk about, and if some things inadvertently slip out during that familial chat, all the better.


    They brought the nobleman to a lavish dinner in the best restaurant in Zephirous before they split up, Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr following Bernd Adenauer to his inn, while Reinhardt and Elfriede headed for Varsha¡¯s place. The next morning, before the sun had even risen, Reinhardt took some pleasure in waking up the surprised noble, as it was time to lead him to their camp.

 Chapter 244 - Inspection

    ¡°Just because you¡¯re getting paid to do nothing doesn¡¯t mean you get to skip out on the training.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°The sun had yet to rise over the horizon,¡± commented Bernd Adenauer while blearily rubbing his sleepy eyes, after he dressed himself and followed Reinhardt out from the inn. Salicia had warned him the previous night that he would be made to wake up early, but he had not expected it to be that early. ¡°Your people¡¯s training started this early, Captain?¡±


    ¡°They usually start around the crack of dawn, so they should be starting their daily workout just around the time we reach the camp,¡± explained Reinhardt. He had taken the trouble to arrange for a wagon ¨C just a simple open-backed flatbed on wheels with a perch for the driver in front ¨C to carry them back to the encampment, as the city¡¯s carriage service had not yet started at the early hour. ¡°Hope you aren¡¯t too picky about your ride.¡±


    ¡°Eh, better than walking, I always say,¡± replied the nobleman with a shrug as he nimbly leapt into the wagon and seated himself snugly against the front-left corner of the open area, his back resting against the short walls on the sides of the wagon, with his legs crossed. Reinhardt followed suit and seated himself next to him on the front-right corner, while the three women lounged against the back and sides of the wagon.


    The driver ¨C one of the Company¡¯s support staff, a son of one of the veterans if Reinhardt remembered right ¨C tugged the reins and brought the horse to a calm trot, as the wagon headed towards the Company¡¯s encampment. Using a wagon it was a shorter trip than on foot, helped further by the empty streets of the early hour, and they reached their destination in only fifteen minutes.


    Even at that early hour, the mercenary encampment was already full of all sorts of activity. Fires were lit as people were preparing breakfast, while others worked on various miscellaneous tasks. What their prospective employer came to see, however, was how the mercenaries trained their people, and that wish was fulfilled shortly after they clambered down from the wagon.


    As luck had it, Erycea happened to be leading her platoon as they jogged at speed around the camp. Even while they were idle, Reinhardt had insisted that every active member of the Company commit themselves to physical training at least three times a week, in order to keep their edge, so to speak. That day happened to be Erycea¡¯s platoon¡¯s turn, and the group made for a sight with how they maintained formation even while they ran, despite the disparity in sizes and shapes of the members.


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    More eye-catching however, was the group of younger children ¨C most around their early teenage years or thereabouts ¨C who ran behind Erycea¡¯s platoon, with a pretty blonde girl leading them on the run. Those young kids similarly maintained formation even while they ran at speed, keeping up with their seniors ahead of them.


    A couple other platoons who had their turn come up for the training followed behind, as they jogged at speed in a wide loop around the encampment itself, while at the tail end of the group were the young trainees that had survived the selection so far, led in their rounds by some of the Company¡¯s training officers. Unlike the active members, the trainees were made to train on a daily basis until they were deemed adequate.


    ¡°Physical training first thing in the morning?¡± asked Bernd Adenauer as he nodded approvingly while watching the mercenaries run laps around their encampment.


    ¡°Yeah, got to maintain their stamina even on idle days,¡± replied Reinhardt as he explained the sort of training he had his people do, and their schedule for it. Bernd nodded with satisfaction when he heard that the trainees were doing the training daily until they reached the sort of fitness needed for the job. ¡°I participate in the same training, but today¡¯s not my schedule.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so no exceptions even for the officers?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°You can see my older daughter there with her subordinates. She¡¯s a platoon leader in the Company as well,¡± he added while pointing to Erycea who just happened to pass by after another lap. ¡°And that¡¯s my younger daughter. She and her friends have been joining the training for years now because they wished to join the Company once they were of age.¡±


    ¡°Is that¡­ a normal thing to do?¡± asked the nobleman with some curiosity.


    ¡°Most of our kids were born and raised amongst us, so a lot of them wanted to join the Company as they grew up. It¡¯s nothing unusual for us. I was that way myself when I was young,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shrug of his shoulders. He himself was raised by his adoptive parents amongst the Company, and joining them as he grew up felt only natural to him. ¡°My older daughter also did the same. She joined our training since she was five, and joined the Company in full once she was of age.¡±


    ¡°Quite¡­ impressive,¡± said the nobleman after a moment of silence which was probably because he was not sure what he could say under the circumstances.


    ¡°Anyway, you are most interested in how we train our trainees, right?¡± asked Reinhardt, to which the nobleman nodded in the affirmative. ¡°Let me get your someone in charge of it, real quick. Hey! Dacia! Come over for a bit!¡±


    Dacia, who had been one of the training officers accompanying the trainees on their run, heard Reinhardt¡¯s shout and quickly passed the trainees over to the other officers before she peeled off from the group and headed to where Reinhardt and the others were standing, a distance away. The middle-aged woman stood at attention and saluted before them as she arrived.


    ¡°You called for me, Captain?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this here is Mister Bernd Adenauer, a messenger from a prospective employer,¡± said Reinhardt as he introduced the nobleman to her. ¡°He¡¯s interested in seeing how we train our newcomers. As such, I would like you and your crew to walk him through the process for the day. You can manage that, I assume?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Captain,¡± replied Dacia with a firm nod. ¡°Mister Adenauer, if you would follow me?¡±

 Chapter 245 - Gleaning New Information

    ¡°Be careful with who you give your trust to.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°So, anything new from your chat with your father last night?¡± Reinhardt asked Salicia soon after Dacia took Bernd Adenauer away with her to watch how they trained the mercenary trainees.


    ¡°Several things that I feel aren¡¯t secrets at all,¡± replied Salicia with a shake of her head. ¡°Pops was very open in our talks, but also remained guarded about things that should be guarded. I think he realized all too well that I¡¯d be obligated to report what he said and stuck to what¡¯s relatively common knowledge, or things he would tell you anyway in the future.¡±


    ¡°Is he always guarded like that?¡± Reinhardt couldn¡¯t help but ask. He had hoped that the former nobleman might have let slip of some things while talking to the daughter he had not met for decades, but apparently that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°The lord had always been that way, Boss,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°My mother worked as the guard captain for the lord¡¯s mansion back then, and I was pretty much raised there as milady Sal¡¯s playmate, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen the lord drop his guard¡­ other than maybe the time when he sent us back then.¡±


    ¡°A consummate professional then,¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°Always good to have those types on your side, I guess. So what bits did he offer during the talk?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll skip the bit about our family doing relatively well despite the conflict since that¡¯s unimportant,¡± said Salicia, to which Reinhardt nodded in agreement. ¡°Probably the most important bit he told us was the Free City¡¯s situation as a whole. As the name suggests, they hold the area around the former imperial capital and its surroundings, but they¡¯re¡­ a rather different faction than what we had expected.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°There are some nobles in the Free City¡¯s government, but they¡¯re not as influential as you¡¯d expect. The Free City is governed by a council that so far has been mostly chosen by the people itself. Some of the nobles managed to earn themselves a seat by bringing their territory into the mix, but not all of them do,¡± explained Salicia. ¡°Needless to say, many of them are not satisfied with only being a member of the ruling council.¡±


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    ¡°Since they hadn¡¯t tried to take things over, I assume they lack the force to do so,¡± commented Reinhardt.


    ¡°About right. The Free City¡¯s main military force is in the form of their citizen militia, and put together, those outnumber the forces of the nobles by more than twenty to one, even if all the nobles banded together,¡± she clarified. ¡°Most of those nobles are small landowners, barons, mostly, trying to link themselves to a bigger power. My father was one of the nobles with the most power prior to the civil war that joined the city, but he¡¯s fully on the council¡¯s side rather than seeing himself as one of the nobles.¡±


    ¡°Ah, hence his dropping his noble title,¡± said Reinhardt as some things clicked in his mind. Nobles in most places rarely dropped their titles, so for Salicia¡¯s father to request exactly that was an oddity. ¡°What is your father¡¯s standing in the city then? Did he inform you?¡±


    ¡°Pops said he was part of the city¡¯s council and no more,¡± replied Salicia. ¡°Some bit of background that¡¯s relevant here, Boss. The Free City came to be after the people of the former imperial capital got fed up with their home being treated as a trophy by the various nobles fighting over it and rising to claim it for themselves. It¡¯s practically a peasant uprising, at its core. They don¡¯t often view the nobles too kindly because of that.¡±


    ¡°Definitely explains why they would look far afield for mercenaries like us to train their people, then,¡± said Reinhardt as he scratched his chin in thought. ¡°They couldn¡¯t afford to have the knights associated with the nobles do it in fear of those being trained switching allegiances over time, even if some of the nobles managed to gain their trust to an extent.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we thought too,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr as she nodded.


    ¡°Father did mention that he was quite trusted by the majority of the council, but that the smaller nobles who joined later never saw eye to eye with him,¡± continued Salicia. ¡°I guess it made some sense if they sent him to hire us with the rights to negotiate on top. I think he¡¯s also hinted that he wouldn¡¯t mind seeing some of the other nobles get taken down a peg or two.¡±


    ¡°That counts for political jobs, and we charge extra for that. We¡¯ll see if he broaches that topic in our next meeting, though,¡± said Reinhardt as he pondered the implication. ¡°Anything you feel might deserve a warning or two from what you heard?¡±


    ¡°The Free City itself is a risky spot,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr as she crossed her arms. ¡°It¡¯s the largest city in the whole former empire, so all the nearby powers would be looking to take it for themselves,¡± she clarified. ¡°In exchange, the city only got a huge peasant militia and its walls to fall back to. Put them together and they could resist most attacks for a long while, but if they kept getting attacked, they might end up having logistic issues in the long run.¡±


    ¡°For the time being, they have money to purchase supplies from neutral parties,¡± added Salicia. ¡°One of their neighbors, Caroma to their north-west, is also allied with them, so they could purchase food from Ezram or further west and deliver it through their territory. Otherwise, Levain itself is practically encircled from all other directions by Podovniy to the east, Anduillas to the north, and a smattering of smaller breakaway powers to the south and west. There¡¯s just that one corridor to its north-west where Caroma is that allows them to bring supplies from elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Well, wouldn¡¯t be our first time in that sort of situation,¡± said Elfriede as she chimed in from the side. ¡°Besides, if all those powers couldn¡¯t handle militia on a wall for so many years, I feel rather confident that we wouldn¡¯t have too much issues working there.¡±

 Side Story 31 - Those Whose Lives were Decided at Birth

    ¡°Most people only look at the nobility to envy them of their fortune and status, yet at the same time fail to realize how those born into nobility often had the least say on how they would live their own lives.¡± - Marquis Gregor Albrecht Podovniy, from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 419 VA.


    Under most circumstances, the lives of Salicia Adenauer and Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi would have been mostly pre-determined from the day they were born, within weeks of one another, four decades ago in Aldenstadt, the capital city of Aldenburg Viscounty of the Clangeddin Empire.


    Born as the seventh child of then-Viscount Bernd Adenauer and his third wife ¨C the Viscount had some elven blood running through his veins, and remained a very hale and hearty man even in his fifties, looking no older than a twenty-something year old man ¨C in a cold autumn night, normally Salicia Adenauer would have had the life typical of a young noblewoman in the Empire waiting for her.


    However, she was born with a physical deformity, and that changed everything.


    Despite the prevalence and capability of healing magic to heal most any injury short of death, deformities and disabilities people were born with was the one thing that it was helpless against. As such, in many nations, those with such ¡°defects¡± were often discriminated against, and the Clangeddin Empire was no different.


    Had Salicia been born with a more easily hidden deformity, it might not have changed her life too much, but the blank eye socket where her right eye was supposed to be was impossible to hide without attracting any attention. In some ways, it was both a misfortune yet also a fortune, as it allowed her to live life more freely than if she had been born whole.


    Her childhood was a relatively pleasant one, with a stern but kind father and a mother who loved her regardless ¨C Salicia¡¯s mother was the Viscount¡¯s third wife and she was her first child, the viscount having outlived his first two wives, one of whom died in an accident and another in childbirth ¨C as well as a playmate the same age, which happened to be Gr¨¹nhildr, daughter to the mansion¡¯s guard captain who was born two and a half weeks after Salicia herself.


    While normally a noble daughter would be on the receiving end of all sorts of classes like etiquette and dancing, Salicia was excused such things and instead allowed to freely live her life. Her missing eye practically ensured that she had no future amongst the nobility circles of the Empire, the vast majority of whom would have seen it as a defect, even if her family had not cared about it.


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    It was while she was a young child, barely six or so, that she saw some of the mansion¡¯s guards train archery under their captain¡¯s ¨C Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s mother ¨C tutelage and grew interested in the subject. With her parents giving their permission, the little girl soon took up a bow for the first time, and before long, grew enthralled with archery.


    At the time her parents had thought that it was a good thing for her to learn, as long as she enjoyed it. If the activity could help her later in life, then all the better, but they had not put much thought into the matter at the time.


    It was that attraction to archery that later set Salicia on the path she ended up walking down for the rest of her life.


    During the years when Salicia was a young child, the situation in the Empire was more or less stable. It was something that only started to change around the time she was ten, when Maglos ¨C who was later known as Maglos the Tyrant, the Last Emperor of the Clangeddin Empire ¨C rose to claim the throne for himself.


    Maglos¡¯ rise to power caused a lot of unease and discontent amongst the populace of the Empire of the time, both the nobility and the peasantry. The formerly disfavored prince was known to be prone to fits of anger and was particularly cruel to those who opposed him, having slain all his siblings and cousins in his bid for the throne, as well as his parents.


    The political situation in the Empire started to deteriorate rapidly during the reign of Maglos, and when Salicia was fifteen, her father decided to enact a contingency plan to ensure that their family would survive through whatever upheaval might take place.


    Viscount Bernd Adenauer sent all his offspring ¨C other than his eldest daughter and heir, who was determined to stay and weather whatever happened along with her father, as well as the youngest four of his children, who were too young to leave on their own ¨C into various regions of Alcidea, the siblings separating to ensure that the family would survive the storm in some manner.


    Salicia, with Gr¨¹nhildr as her bodyguard, left towards the south-west, in the direction of Knallzog, where Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s family had some friends and relatives that could shelter them at least for the short term. It was during those final moments of separation that her father bestowed upon Salicia the family heirloom, a massive longbow that had once been their ancestor¡¯s own.


    Since the family mostly kept away from martial matters in the generations since, the heirloom bow had mostly gathered dust in storage, as there was nobody suitable to wield it. Bernd Adenauer thought that perhaps it was fate that Salicia happened to be interested in archery ¨C and indeed, at fifteen she was already wielding longbows with draw weights well into the seventy kilogram range ¨C and decided to pass down the heirloom to someone who could actually use it.


    At the time, neither of them knew that the heirloom bow was not only made out of near-priceless Yew Heartwood, but was also enchanted by master elvish enchanters from the northern plains, where their ancestor hailed from. Those were things that Salicia only discovered later on, after she started using the bow herself.


    The timing of Bernd¡¯s contingency plan proved to be fortunate, for not two years after Salicia had left her homeland, Maglos the Tyrant was slain in public by the Bounty Hunter, sending the Clangeddin Empire into an unprecedented civil war.

 Side Story 32 - A Life for Anothers Sake

    ¡°Body doubles, death soldiers, poison tasters, even some relatively less important retainers like pages and valets might well be considered to be living their lives solely for the sake of their lords. I can¡¯t help but wonder, what it felt like to live for another to such an extent like that?¡± - Pontius Abraxas, Philosopher from Knallzog, circa 101 FP.


    Life for Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi, eldest child of Daleeni Sigvaldi, captain of the guards for the mansion of Viscount Bernd Adenauer of Aldenburg, had been relatively predetermined soon after she was born.


    By happenstance, she was born just a little over half a month after the Viscount¡¯s own seventh daughter, Salicia. As was commonplace in the Clangeddin Empire, young nobles were often raised with other children around their own age, who would grow up to be their most trusted and loyal retainers, serving them for life. Given their close birth dates, Gr¨¹nhildr was marked for such purposes as well.


    Certainly, such a life couldn¡¯t be called a bad one in the Empire. As a close and trusted associate to a noble, the people raised with them would in turn get to enjoy many of the advantages said nobles enjoyed in life. Her own mother, a former adventurer who later found work in the mansion, had no objections about it, as it meant that Gr¨¹nhildr would be guaranteed a more stable life than what she herself experienced.


    As things were, life for people of mixed heritages could at times be difficult, especially if those mixed heritages were prominently visible. Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s mother Daleeni was a half-orc with a quarter dwarvish blood, so there was no hiding what she was. The Clangeddin Empire was a nation that accepted all races in principle, but underneath that veneer, there remained prejudice and discrimination against some, especially those of mixed heritages.


    It was after a relatively difficult career as an adventurer that Daleeni eventually settled down as a retainer to Viscount Derek Adenauer, the then-patriarch of the noble house, Bernd¡¯s father and the Viscount before him. She found that the family was one of the few with truly no prejudices against those of mixed heritages, partly because they themselves were such, the lineage possessing a notable amount of elvish blood that went back generations.


    A stable career with a reasonable employer was far better a living than the uncertainty of adventuring life, indeed.


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    Gr¨¹nhildr never really knew her father. Officially, the man who claimed to be her father was a second cousin of Viscount Bernd Adenauer, who happened to be visiting and had a tryst with Daleeni. There were rumors that it might well be none other than the Viscount himself who had sired her, however. What was certain was that the girl was born with not only orcish and dwarven, but also elvish blood in her veins.


    In some ways she was more fortunate than most other mixed-breeds, as she could easily pass as a human, albeit a rather broad-shouldered and stocky one. None of her heritages showed up particularly strongly on her features, though if one were to pay close attention when she opened her mouth they might notice that her lower canine teeth were longer than normal.


    Since she was young, her mother had started her training, as she was intended to be Salicia¡¯s retainer and guard, even if the two girls were far more friendly than that, as close to each other as sisters even. Gr¨¹nhildr was an active child, and took to the training like a fish to water, further helped by how her non-human heritage bestowed her strength and stamina that was superior to a normal human by a good bit.


    When she was seven years of age, Gr¨¹nhildr also awoke her affinity to magic. She was born with the rare ¨C and often dreaded ¨C Void affinity, but the household had been prepared for her awakening. As a result, she survived the often volatile experience ¨C it was often a touchy thing even for those with less dangerous affinities, much less for ones like her whose magic would annihilate anything it came into contact with ¨C with only a few injuries, the scars of which she kept to remind herself of the dangers that came with power.


    As she refined her control and usage over her rare affinity of magic over the years that followed, her value as a guard naturally increased by leap and bounds, though her relationship with Salicia never changed. The two young girls remained the best of friends throughout their childhood, a far closer bond than what most noble children would have had with their retainer.


    Things changed when she and Salicia were sent away by the Viscount as part of a contingency to ensure that some part of the family survived the social upheaval anyone in their right mind could see was building up in the Empire at that time. Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia were sent to Knallzog, partly because Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s dwarven great-grandfather still lived there and after some exchange of letters, had agreed to shelter them and help them find some way to make a living there.


    The two of them made it safely to their destination, and with the help of great-grandfather Abeldt, a retired mercenary formerly with the Free Lances Company, they quickly found work in the same line of business with his connections helping smooth out their path. The two worked together seamlessly in that line of work, and soon after found a third partner they grew to trust and befriend.


    It was also during those years that Gr¨¹nhildr learned that she viewed Salicia ¨C in some ways, her master yet also her friend ¨C as more than just that. She gathered her courage to admit those feelings bluntly, only to find that Salicia shared similar feelings. Their relationship changed from that day, from master and retainers who were friends at first, into lovers.


    That was when Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi realized that living a life for the sake of another could indeed be quite a pleasing and fulfilling existence, after all.

 Side Story 33 - The Trio of Reapers

    ¡°Nicknames are sort of a common thing once you grow some rep in this line of work. Oftentimes though, those nicknames could lead to stories that were often overexaggerated and overembellished over time, but at the same time, there¡¯s generally some kernel of truth to be found in them regardless.¡± - Harun Abu Saeed, bard from the Caliphate.


    It was a couple years after they lived in Knallzog ¨C mostly based from the northern town of Falaston, to the east of B?rengant, where Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s great-grandfather lived ¨C as adventurers that Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr met with another woman who would later become a lifelong friend of theirs.


    The two were on a mission that happened to take them to Motstadt, a smaller town further north of their usual base, and were reporting its completion on the local branch of the guild there when they witnessed a fracas that took place by the guild¡¯s request board. While normally such incidents were relatively commonplace and weren¡¯t worth paying attention to, something in this one caught Salicia¡¯s eye.


    Partly because from the looks of it, a group of local adventurers were making fun and jeering at a young woman ¨C Salicia thought that she was probably around their own age or thereabouts ¨C who just sighed irritably at their behavior. A couple of the older locals also saw the scene but had not raised a finger to do anything, other than to cover their faces, for reasons Salicia learned a moment later.


    Once the jeering got too annoying, the young woman moved with swift, decisive moves and dropped the whole party of six that were bothering her within seconds.


    It was quite something to witness, as even if the ones she dropped were relatively amateurish in their skills, there were six of them after all, and they fought back, or at least tried to do so. The woman acted almost as if she had eyes on her back, however, and easily avoided the worst that her opponents could throw at her while accurately landing her own blows with vicious precision.


    A quick inquiry with the local guild¡¯s staff member allowed Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr to learn about the other woman¡¯s ¨C who they learned was named Elfriede ¨C situation. The girl had apparently first arrived in town two years ago, and sought out work as a mercenary right away. There was one major problem that the girl faced, however.


    Namely that she was blind and thus unable to read any of the requests on the board, having to rely on asking others to read them for her.


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    Other than that, the girl had an exemplary track record with the missions she took, with the only blemish on her record being that she often seems a bit too happy to kill her targets ¨C or robbers that got in her way during escort missions ¨C at times. Still, her disability does at times cause issues like what happened that day, when some newcomers ¨C mostly those from out of towns, as the locals had time to get familiar with her by now ¨C picked on it to their own detriment.


    Something about the girl piqued the interest of both Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr, however, and they took that chance to not only help the girl ¨C Elfriede ¨C with reading the available missions, but also invited her to a meal to get to know her better. Elfriede was pretty taciturn at first, and seemed pretty uncaring about things other than to earn money to fund her relatively simple living in town.


    Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr offered her a temporary partnership with them, with the promise of quicker, well-paying jobs. The two of them had regularly taken part of the darker side of the mercenary trade from time to time, as it paid better. While the guild in general did not openly advertise that some of their members took jobs that were closer to assassinations and the likes, it was pretty much an open secret amongst the community.


    The pay was naturally higher, but the jobs were also riskier at the same time. Given Elfriede¡¯s penchant to killing to begin with, combined with ¨C what they later learned ¨C her ability to just seamlessly go around any place like it was her own home, without the need for any light, meant that she was a natural for that sort of job, just that the small guild branch in the small town she lived in had little work of such nature.


    Their gamble proved right, as Elfriede was indeed a natural for such jobs. While they undertook such jobs relatively regularly, Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr were rather picky ones, as they had their own lines they did not wish to cross. As such, they made sure to check the background of the requests to make sure that those they killed would be people who should have been killed off way earlier, or never reached the position they were on, had the world been a better place.


    People whose deaths would indeed, leave the world a better place.


    Corrupt officials or other people who abused their powers or riches tend to be the sort of target they mainly went for. Of course, not every mercenary was as discerning as they were, and as such those who undertake assassination work were generally cast in a negative light overall. Due to their selective criteria on the jobs they would take, though, the three were seen more positively overall.


    Within a year of Elfriede¡¯s joining, their group even gained some nicknames, at times whispered by others during conversations, as the ¡°Three Reapers¡±. Salicia was called the ¡°Silent¡±, as when she killed, generally the only sound that took place was that of an arrow piercing flesh and her target toppling over. Gr¨¹nhildr the ¡°Severing¡± owing to the fearsome ability of her weapons ¨C which she clad with her inborn void magic ¨C to sever anything in its path, and Elfriede the ¡°Sightless¡± due to her blindness.


    Unfortunately for them, while the pay for assassination jobs did indeed allow them to live comfortably with less effort, and gaining a positive reputation was a good thing, it also attracted some negative attention their way, as they found out the hard way some time later.

 Side Story 34 - Pride Begets Downfall

    ¡°Overconfidence is one of the biggest reason why so many young adventurers and mercenaries never return from a mission.¡± - Harida Ferndale, former guildmaster of Knallgant Adventurer¡¯s Guild branch, circa 209 FP.


    How the three women ended up joining hands with the Free Lances Mercenary Company was a story that took place around two years after Elfriede joined their group.


    At the time, the trio happened to be in Ostenbruck, a city in the far east of Knallzog, as they had just finished a mission that took them near the city. Since they happened to be in town, they perused the local guild branch to see if there were any requests that suited them, and found just the sort of mission they usually undertook.


    It was a typical request, all considered. The daughter of a local rich merchant discreetly placed a hit on her own father. A quick background check with the local information dealers confirmed that the rich merchant in question was indeed known to be a local tyrant, often doing whatever he pleased to people who fell into his hands.


    The man was also clever enough to always keep his less savory activities to be plausibly deniable, however, and had generously bribed the local constables to not look too closely as well, so as a result, he got away with it for decades already. Naturally, the three of them had not thought too much of it and accepted the request.


    While the assassination itself took place flawlessly ¨C Salicia simply used her magic to place an arrow through the merchant¡¯s brain from three hundred meters away while he was in a carriage leaving town ¨C it turned out that they had thought too well of their employer. The night after the three collected their pay from the guild, they were suddenly beset by masked assailants on their way out of the town.


    Had Elfriede not noticed some of the hidden assailants and warned them, forcing the ambush to be executed prematurely, the three might well have died that very night.


    As it was, while they managed to fight their way through the ambush, Salicia was badly injured, to the point that Gr¨¹nhildr had to carry her on her back while they escaped. The three women managed to gain a distance from their assailants thanks to Elfriede helping them navigate the dark night like it was day, but they were put in a dilemma.


    Namely that Salicia¡¯s injury was quite deep and needed treatment immediately. If they were to merely make a run for the gates, they would likely escape, true, but it would likely also cost them Salicia¡¯s life. It was during that run when by happenstance, they approached a large tavern where a pennant was flown next to the place¡¯s sign.


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    It was not uncommon for a larger mercenary company to fly their banner by the sign when they booked a tavern for their own use, in a way serving as a warning for others that the tavern was booked for the night. Gr¨¹nhildr recognized the black-on-white banner, however, as those of the Free Lances, the same Company her great-grandfather once served with, and betting it all on a keepsake from him, they barged into the tavern.


    When they barged in, the surprised mercenaries naturally held them at swordpoint almost immediately, though they gave Gr¨¹nhildr the leeway to fish out the token her great-grandfather gave her. He had said that if she needed help and the Free Lances were around, she could probably use it to get some aid, so she gambled entirely on that.


    Fortunately, at the sight of the token, an elderly dwarven woman called for the swords to be lowered and asked Gr¨¹nhildr where she got the token, nodding sagely when she learned that Gr¨¹nhildr was Abeldt¡¯s great-granddaughter. The old dwarf quickly called for an old healer from the Company to treat Salicia, while she made Gr¨¹nhildr sit down and tell her tale.


    The dwarven woman only raised an eyebrow when Elfriede said she wanted to go out to lead their pursuers to a false trail, but nodded and let her off, though she did send a couple of the mercenaries that looked like scouts after her a moment later. All the while, Gr¨¹nhildr related their story to the woman, who she soon learnt was Ingrid Edelstein, the Captain of the Company itself.


    By the time Elfriede returned ¨C unharmed, other than the few injuries she had received during the ambush itself ¨C an hour later, Ingrid had already learned of the whole story. Salicia¡¯s injury was also treated by their healer, though it would leave a large scar on her back. The dwarven woman had agreed to shelter the three of them for the time being, on the condition that they work for her for the duration of a mission that would take them further east.


    After a quick talk, the three of them agreed to the condition, especially as Ingrid offered them help finding out who tried to have them killed. The three had some fame, but that was mostly in the north, where they usually operated. This far east, they were far from their home ground. The Free Lances, on the other hand, had more connections all over, partly from being a thousand-strong mercenary company with a long history.


    By the time the three returned back to Ostenbruck a month later after working with the Free Lances, they agreed that they quite liked the additional safety ¨C and camaraderie ¨C offered by working for the Company, so when Ingrid asked them if they did not wish to stay on with the company, the three had accepted the offer after only a short deliberation between themselves.


    As a bonus, they also learned by then that the one behind the attackers who tried to have them killed that night was their own employer, the daughter of the rich merchant they took out. As such, over their weeklong stay in town on the way back, the three made a point to not only eradicate the band that attacked them down to the last man, but they also took the chance to publicly unveil all the crimes the rich merchant¡¯s family was responsible for in a way that was not ignorable by any means.


    They were not in town to watch the aftermath, but did receive news some months later that the merchant¡¯s daughter that hired them and then tried to kill them fell completely destitute after the family¡¯s assets were confiscated, then ran afoul of the criminal elements of the city over debts, and was supposedly sold to a whorehouse as a result.

 Chapter 246 - Final Details

    ¡°The value of contracts entirely depended on who, or what, would enforce its terms. The importance of such things led directly to the rise of guilds, associations that were widespread throughout the world whose main purpose was to be the enforcer of such terms when it involved any of their members.


    The rise of these international guilds was something that was rather poorly documented, but we do know for certain that the first guild to truly spread beyond national boundaries was the merchant¡¯s guild, closely followed by the mercenary¡¯s guild and the adventurer¡¯s guild.


    Their rise also signaled the end of the days when one could breach the terms of a contract and then simply flee away to avoid its repercussions, as said terms were enforceable in far broader scopes with the spread of these guilds.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics for the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 662 FP.


    ¡°What I have seen are¡­ quite to my satisfaction, Captain Edelstein,¡± said Bernd Adenauer when they met once more later that evening, as Reinhardt had prepared to host the former nobleman for dinner while they talked business. Dacia had brought the nobleman around the camp to watch the training that both the active mercenaries and the trainees underwent throughout the day. ¡°Should we speak of the contract now?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. We took the liberty to pen a preliminary contract for your perusal already,¡± said Reinhardt as he rolled a scroll over the surface of the table towards the nobleman. He and Lars had noted down the offer that the nobleman mentioned as well as added their own clauses, including additional clauses that involved extra pay for missions that involved messing with local politics and their right to withdraw from insurmountable odds. All of it was written in strict legal language with wordings that left no ambiguity that could be abused, of course.


    ¡°Well-prepared, I see,¡± noted the former nobleman ¨C now councillor ¨C as he picked up the roll of paper from the table. While the dwarves favored using paper, many other places still used parchment, either due to an unwillingness to import papermaking technology or the paper itself from the dwarves, or just out of tradition. The Empire fell to the latter camp. ¡°Then again, I supposed that¡¯s to be expected from an outfit of this caliber.¡±


    ¡°Let me see now¡­¡± said Councillor Bernd Adenauer as he opened the roll, which contained the points of his requests as he had mentioned to Reinhardt the day before, as well as various additional clauses from the mercenary side, primarily highlighting their own requests for things like accommodations and other such requirements, the vital clauses hidden amidst other, more mundane ones.


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    ¡°We could re-negotiate things if you find any problems with the preliminary contract,¡± mentioned Reinhardt nonchalantly while the dinner continued on. It was a quiet, private setting in his tent, just him and the former nobleman. It was simultaneously a gesture of trust and a show of confidence on his part.


    ¡°For the most part, the requests are reasonable and expected. There will likely be some pushback from the noble faction about your request to commandeer a barrack complex for your personell¡¯s use, but not one that we can¡¯t handle,¡± replied the former nobleman openly. ¡°I do like that you had latched on to the hint we laid out and added a clause specifically related to that. I do believe that the contract would prove satisfactory to most of the other councilmembers.¡±


    ¡°We still need to talk about the route and downpayment, of course,¡± said Reinhardt in return. ¡°Your request mentioned a safe route to Levain that would not involve any fighting along the way barring emergencies, as well a downpayment of three months¡¯ fees up front. How will either of these points be handled?¡±


    ¡°The downpayment is trivial. I am given authority to withdraw funds belonging to several businesses that had donated to the city council for this purpose, and as such we can take care of it as early as tomorrow,¡± answered the former nobleman with confidence. ¡°As for the route, We do indeed have one that should be safe as long as there are no incursions into the territories that we will travel through.¡±


    After Reinhardt brought out a map, Bernd traced a route with his index finger as he explained. ¡°From here we shall travel north into Ezram. Ezram has declared themselves a neutral party to our civil strife, and so far that has been respected, so I foresee no issues in passing through there,¡± he noted. ¡°From Ezram, we will head north and east to the eastern side of the United Baronies of Lavianey. They are also a neutral party, and we shouldn¡¯t face any issues as long as we paid a toll to pass there.¡±


    ¡°From there, we would enter the territory of the Republic of Caroma, which is allied to us from the Free City of Levain. It¡¯s a straight trek to the east from there until we reach Levain territory, and assuming military marching pace, we should be able to reach there within a month and a half,¡± he added. ¡°We expected that you would request the city to take care of your Company¡¯s living expenses once we¡¯re there, and have also prepared funds for the trip to the city to handle the expenses incurred.¡±


    ¡°I see someone in your city who knows how we prefer to operate. That¡¯s a good thing. Less misunderstandings that way,¡± mentioned Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°In that case, with your agreement, I will have a proper contract with the points following the preliminary one in your hand drafted by tomorrow, in triplicate, so we could sign it once you have paid the down payment.¡±


    Contracts in triplicate were the norm for the present era, with one copy going to the employer, one to the employee, and the last to the guild involved. That way, should either side breach the contract, the guild would be well-positioned to enforce its terms, one way or another.


    ¡°Understood, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied the former nobleman as he lifted his snifter of wine in a toast. ¡°Here¡¯s to a fruitful cooperation.¡±


    ¡°To a fruitful cooperation.¡±

 Chapter 247 - A Promising Youth

    ¡°There were both merits and demerits to the idea that children would likely be able to excel in the same field their parents were skilled at. On the one hand, such expectations might just end up being nothing but a burden for a young child, which might lead them to hate the occupation as a result. On the other hand, with one¡¯s own parents as experts in the subject matter, a child could hardly ask for better tutors.


    In general, there were about the same amount who made mockeries of the hopes placed upon them as there were those who succeeded and at times even made their names resound at a greater rate than their own parents. It¡¯s honestly a coin toss.¡± - Labraz el Cavirse, Royal Tutor to the Imperial Family of Elmaiya, scholar and former general, circa 109 FP.


    Near Maudleyva River


    The Border between Lavianey and Caroma


    Western Alcidea,


    7th day of the 4st week of the 2nd month, year 16 FP


    The Free Lances departed from Zephirous three days after they signed the contract with Councillor Bernd Adenauer, as a representative of the Free City of Levain. The contract signing itself took place without any issues a day after Reinhardt brought the former nobleman to their encampment for an inspection, with the requested down payment paid as they signed the contract together, with an official from the Mercenary¡¯s Guild as a witness.


    Typically it would have taken a Company of the Free Lances¡¯ size ¨C they had over five thousand people in total, counting the trainees, the dependents, and their support staff ¨C a while to mobilize for such a trip, but they had already prepared for such a thing from the start of the year, so a lot of the preparations had already been done.


    All they had left to do was to pack everything up and make one final purchase of fresh ingredients from the city, say their goodbyes to family or friends who were not part of the Company, and be off on their way.


    From Zephirous they headed to the north and west, before they turned north around halfway between Zephirous and Norouz, done in order to skirt around the territory claimed by the Duchy of Sevral-Galastine, which was a rival faction of the Free City of Levain in the former Empire. It likely saved them time and trouble to just skirt around the territory.


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    It was a straight trek northwards from there to the border of the lands claimed by the Kingdom of Ezram. As a neutral party, they allowed the large convoy to pass through once they checked the credentials both Councillor Adenauer and Reinhardt presented. If anything, the guards stationed at the border only looked wary at the sight of over a thousand fierce and very well armed mercenaries traipsing over their land.


    Reinhardt and Bernd Adenauer plotted a course through mostly less inhabited regions of Ezram in order to alleviate that worry. That meant that some of the roads they took were smaller than what Reinhardt would like, but it was worth the good impression that other future employers might take into consideration. As a result, however, their journey through Ezram territory took a full two weeks, instead of a journey that could have been done in one and a half weeks had they taken the larger roads that passed by the cities.


    They reached the border between Ezram and Lavianey and ran into a local officer who looked particularly seedy, the sort that was likely to extort money from people passing through the post he was in charge of. Said officer took one look at the mercenaries ¨C and was probably further incentivized by Reinhardt¡¯s very toothy grin ¨C before he decided to not look for any sort of trouble with them, however.


    Compared to Ezram ¨C which was relatively stable, as they had worked hard to incorporate the land they took from Theodinaz over the past decade and a half ¨C Lavianey was clearly less well off. Reinhardt knew that the area was historically relatively poor, and over centuries, some of the baronies that used to rule the territory were far wealthier than others that shared the land.


    As the Empire broke apart, those richer baronies joined hands and chose to unite the region under their rule. Some of the poorer ones joined voluntarily ¨C perhaps realizing that being a small barony during the civil war was little different to being on a small raft in raging rapids ¨C while others were subjugated more forcefully instead.


    The area the Free Lances passed through, along the south-eastern side of Lavianey, was an example of the latter.


    Everywhere they could see, the region was poor. The people were on the thin and malnutritioned side, their children often sitting or laying down listlessly rather than running around with the endless energy children typically exhibit. It took no genius to realize that the situation in the area was bad, and thus the mercenaries sped up their pace as they passed the region over half a week.


    It was at the border between Lavianey and Caroma ¨C a Republic founded when three territories that neighbored each other joined together shortly after the outbreak of the civil war ¨C that the Free Lances found themselves faced with an actual welcoming party, if it could be considered that.


    Certainly, a small platoon of only fifty people wasn''t much on the scale of things, but it was not the number of soldiers that attracted Reinhardt¡¯s attention, but instead their leader, a youth who couldn¡¯t be that much older than Erycea, who stood tall on his chariot.


    As a veteran mercenary, Reinhardt noticed the subtle telltale signs that less experienced people might have missed. The easy and authoritative way with which the youth carried himself and gave commands to his troops. The markings on his breastplate that some might have mistaken for decorations, but were ones Reinhardt recognized as the equivalent of medals awarded for gallantry and courage. Even the fact that he was clearly either important or wealthy enough to warrant expensive armor made from solid plates of metal.


    It was the day the Free Lances met with Scipius Cornelius Barca, a youth who would later become famous as the ¡°General who reached for the stars¡±.

 Chapter 248 - A Gesture of Trust

    ¡°Sometimes the value of a mere gesture could well be priceless.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯re young Scipius, aren¡¯t you?¡± asked Councillor Bernd Adenauer as he noticed the youth that led the welcoming party from Caroma. ¡°Last time I saw you, you were still a young boy, trailing after your mother in the celebratory feast we had. You¡¯ve sure grown up to be a splendid young man! I¡¯m sure your parents are proud of you!¡±


    ¡°Councillor Adenauer,¡± greeted the young officer politely, clearly somewhat embarrassed from having his childhood memories told in public like that. He quickly regained his poise, though not fast enough to prevent Reinhardt from noticing the momentary embarrassment. ¡°Father had asked me to escort you and your¡­ hired help for the duration of your stay in our borders.¡±


    ¡°Someone you know, then?¡± Reinhardt asked the Councillor with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Ah, right, Captain Edelstein, this promising young lad is¡­ Subcommander Scipius Cornelius Barca. Eldest son of Marshalls Publius Cornelius and Anni-Al-Bagh Barca, who you might have heard of,¡± introduced the nobleman, only pausing for a brief instant to take a look at the young man¡¯s military rank insignia. ¡°Scipius, this is Captain Reinhardt Edelstein of the Free Lances, our recent hire.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure meeting you, Captain,¡± said the young man as he extended a hand in greeting. ¡°I have read the reports about your rebuilding of the company after Theodinaz. That was an inspiration for me, to never give up despite the odds.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you too,¡± replied Reinhardt as he shook the young man¡¯s hand. He had indeed recognized the names mentioned by the Councillor. They were both generals with some renown from two regions that were now part of Caroma. Apparently after the union, they also got closer with each other and got married as well. It must have happened pretty early in the civil war, considering the age of their child.


    ¡°The journey through Caroma is slated to take approximately a week and a half, since we¡¯re traveling from west to east,¡± said Scipius politely as the convoy started moving. The lands that combined to form Caroma were roughly three times wider than they were tall on a map, so it was indeed a rather long trek to reach Levain, to the east. ¡°We would also be traveling a bit close to the southern border for expediency, so please be prepared in case some of our neighbors decided to try their luck during our trip.¡±


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    ¡°Still plenty of skirmishes, then?¡± asked Reinhardt. To the south of Caroma were mostly smaller territories, former counties and baronies in the Empire¡¯s era that had now broken up and declared their own independence. Some had joined with others, either in an alliance or by being conquered, while others kept standing on their own.


    ¡°It is how it is, unfortunately,¡± admitted the young officer with a shake of his head. ¡°While our east and west are reasonably secure, and we have a growing relationship with our northern neighbor, most everyone to our south are foes, other than Levain. On their own, none of them are our match, but there are enough of them that we could not march against one without drawing the ire of the rest, which would be a risky endeavor at best.¡±


    ¡°A stalemate where neither side has any real advantage, then,¡± noted Reinhardt.


    ¡°Indeed so. Our alliance with Levain helped secure one flank, but they lacked the capability to go on the offensive, otherwise Mother would have already led an expedition south to crush them all and be done with it,¡± explained the young officer. ¡°Not that I blame them for that. Hopefully your Company will be able to change that, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re being paid to do, so we¡¯ll do our best,¡± replied Reinhardt. The logic behind what Scipius said was something he understood well. According to Bernd, the vast majority of Levain¡¯s troops were citizen militias. People like those would have high morale on defense, since they were fighting for their homes and families, but that was rarely the case on the offensive, unless they were promised wealth or plunder.


    Even then their morale would never reach as high as it would in defense. Many people would willingly fight to the death in order to keep their homes and families safe, but those who would do so for money were fewer by far.


    That said, while the convoy ponderously ¨C they could not move that fast even with wagons to transport everyone, as their speed was pretty much dictated by the speed of their beasts of burden ¨C continued on its way through Caroma lands, Reinhardt couldn¡¯t help but wonder on the luck that the Free City of Levain had.


    The way that the Caromans willingly sent the son of their best generals to escort them ¨C the young man clearly a talent on his own rights ¨C was a gesture of trust that would be hard to find between people who were suspicious of each other. As such, it was more likely that the Caromans took the alliance very seriously, which meant a reliable ally on Levain¡¯s left flank.


    Which wasn¡¯t a bad thing, as it would at least make his job easier.


    Scipius continued escorting the group through their journey, with the hundred men under his lead following. He had only brought the cavalry half of his century ¨C the Caroman term for a hundred-man unit ¨C to greet the convoy because at the time he had the other half under his second in command arrange for a feast by a nearby town to welcome the guests with.


    Both halves of the century had since joined together, the infantrymen traveling by open-topped wagons alongside the convoy, while the cavalrymen rode their steeds. Scipius himself often spent some time chatting with Reinhardt or some of the mercenary lieutenants as they traveled. Even so, they never truly let down their guard as they traveled, with at least half the mercenaries wearing their armor and with weapons in easy reach.


    That prudence proved to be a wise choice when on the fourth day of their journey, when the road took them particularly close to Caroma¡¯s southern border, a raiding party from the neighboring power saw the convoy from afar and mistook it to be lightly guarded ¨C the mercenaries traveled with covered wagons, so the raiders probably couldn¡¯t see the armed people inside ¨C and chose to attack.

 Chapter 249 - A Foolish Endeavor

    ¡°Oftentimes folly was only discovered once it was all too late to do anything about it.¡± - Saying by Joaquin Obedayo, philosopher from Posuin, circa 249 VA.


    Reinhardt was the first to be forewarned of the impending raider attack.


    It was not due to negligence of incompetence on the part of the soldiers under Scipius, to be fair, but more a showcase of a capability most lacked. After all, They did not possess aerial scouts like the Free Lances did, which thanks to Hannah ¡°inviting¡± some of her fellow tribesmen over, had become one of the largest such units in the continent.


    The idea of working with flight-capable therians was nothing new, but in the past, all too many commanders ¨C and often the therians themselves ¨C had desired for a more active combat role for their fliers. Even Hannah had such thoughts when she was new to the Free Lances, though Ingrid quashed those thoughts quickly.


    Naturally, such an approach led to heavy casualties amongst the fliers. They were naturally suited to deliver sneak attacks from above, but recovering and escaping from such an attack in the midst of an enemy formation was a whole other thing altogether. As a result, it led to the tribes having a low opinion on mercenary work and actively discouraging their youths from pursuing such work, which in turn led to a very sharp decrease in their presence on battlefields these days.


    Certainly, a Wind affinity mage of good enough skill could also serve as an aerial scout, but they lacked some key factors that made flying therians like Hannah so effective at that role. For one, they lacked the sharp eyesight capable of identifying objects as small as a rabbit from a height where they would only register as a dot to those below, or the ability to maintain their flight for hours on end, for that matter. That was before considering the relative rarity of a mage who had the right affinity, trained the right way, had enough power to do it, and was willing to play the role.


    As such, Scipius was quite surprised when he saw Hannah swoop down to land on top of a wagon next to Reinhardt and deliver her report calmly.


    ¡°Around two hundred incoming from the south, boss, on horseback. Looks like light cavalry, likely raider sorts,¡± reported Hannah before she caught a waterskin tossed at her from below with one wing-arm¡¯s clawed fingers and drank deeply from it. ¡°They¡¯ll be here in¡­ around five minutes I¡¯d say, give or take a minute either way.¡±


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    ¡°Good work,¡± praised Reinhardt in turn. ¡°Oi! We got company incoming! Have the archers rotate to the south!¡± he then yelled at the mercenary convoy. In a show of disciplined precision, the wagons kept moving even while they made way for a dozen wagons to take the southern side of the formation. The lead wagon had Salicia on top of it, as she had been lying down on top of the roof of that wagon.


    ¡°So, light opposition I take it?¡± asked the one-eyed woman as she sat up on the thick fabric that covered the roof of the wagon she was on. ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Around two hundred, on horseback. Think your archers are up for it?¡± replied Reinhardt. Under normal conventions, light cavalry and archers would typically try to stay away from each other. The mobile light cavalry could speedily close the distance and do horrifying damage to the archers, while in turn, the archers could similarly collect their toll in blood while the light cavalry approached.


    The archers employed by the Free Lances functioned slightly differently to the more common archer groups employed by the nations of Alcidea, however. Where the traditional doctrine called for archers to be stationary and take well-aimed shots at their targets, theirs prioritized mobility and speed, and were equipped to match.


    Instead of the traditional longbows carved out of singular pieces of wood, the over hundred archers of the Free Lances ¨C nominally under Salicia¡¯s lead, but more often led by Alva as her second in command these days ¨C were armed with composite bows crafted by Hogarth, using a combination of bone, wood, and metals as well as some pulleys to create bows that were easier and faster to draw compared to traditional ones.. Those bows also offered roughly the same amount of power in a far more compact package.


    Of course, such bows also had their own drawbacks. For one, due to the different materials used to create them, they were more prone to being affected by bad weather and extreme temperatures. From an enchanter¡¯s point of view, they were also far inferior, as enchantment depended a lot on the size and quality of the material used, whereas composite items could not be enchanted as a whole, unlike Salicia¡¯s heirloom bow.


    Still, for the purposes that the Free Lances employed their archers, the drawbacks were outweighed by the ease of use and smaller size, which were attained without sacrificing performance. The bows were quite laborious to make, however, as it had taken the smiths under Hogarth most of the past year¡¯s rest period before they crafted enough of the bows to arm their archers, other than Salicia herself, that was.


    Then again, she favored her own far deadlier heirloom bow anyway.


    Under her command ¨C relayed by Alva to the rest ¨C the archers quickly prepared themselves for the task at hand. Scipius watched rather questioningly as he saw how the archers stood up at the ready in their still-covered wagons, each one having set a bunch of arrows seemingly into the wagon¡¯s wooden floor next to their feet.


    His questions were answered once the raiders came into sight. They had used the cover of a small forest to mask their approach, and by the time they were visible, they were only three hundred meters away from the convoy.


    By the time they traversed fifty meters, the covered wagons where the archers rode had transformed via some cleverly hidden mechanisms. The ¡°outer¡± side of the wagons which faced the riders was revealed to be built in the shape of a defensive wall, with crenellations and arrow slits, the outside made of wood lined with metal on the inside.


    Behind that barrier stood ten archers in each wagon, each of them holding four arrows in hand, one nocked into the string of their bow, and another three pinched between their fingers. There were no signal for them to take aim and loose, as instead Salicia simply fired the first shot from the top of the wagon she was on ¨C not one of the wagons with the archers, incidentally ¨C and the rest immediately followed in kind.

 Chapter 250 - A Show of Force

    ¡°Nothing gets through a thick skull better than a good hit with a pointy warhammer.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    Alva stood in a line alongside the other nine archers that shared the wagon with him, bow in hand, one arrow nocked on the bowstring, with another three pinched between his fingers. Like the others, his eyes intently watched the horde of cavalrymen rushing towards the convoy through the arrow slits built into their wagon¡¯s side. He knew that each of his archers had already picked a target in mind and they all just waited for the signal.


    That signal came just as the raiders came within two hundred meters from the convoy, a distance those galloping horses could likely cover within fifteen to twenty seconds at most. The signal itself was silent, but Alva¡¯s sharp eye caught the sight of a larger than usual arrow flying so fast he barely registered a blur. He did not wait until the arrow landed accurately in the eye of the lead raider before he lifted his own bow.


    There was no need to yell at the other archers to loose, as they already paid attention to his every movement, and once the archer next in line saw him raise his bow, they followed suit, with the next archer noticing that, continuing down the line like a wave. Before a full second had ticked by, Alva already pulled bow to a full draw, took aim while he did so, and loosed an arrow at his target.


    A smile graced his lips as he felt how light his new composite bow was to draw, barely heavier than the bow he used for hunting animals in his youth, yet possessing enough power to match a typical war bow nonetheless. In a smooth, practiced motion, he slipped one of the arrows pinched between his fingers onto the bowstring, nocking it as he released the arrow and shifted his fingers to pull the bowstring instead.


    The second arrow left his bow before the first even managed to land.


    While none of the archers employed by the Free Lances managed to match Salicia¡¯s speed and precision so far ¨C she was capable of loosing four arrows in less than two seconds, and that was while using her heirloom bow, which while heavily enchanted, was still around twice as heavy as the new composite bows used by the rest ¨C they still managed to loose an arrow every second, give or take, with a couple of seconds of delay when they needed to reach down to grab the next set of arrows.


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    Fifteen seconds was enough for the whole group of over a hundred archers to loose three sets of four arrows each, while Salicia picked off anyone that looked like an officer from the group of riders with extreme prejudice at an even greater rate of fire.


    The raiders braved the storm of arrows at first, but by the time they reached within a hundred meters of the convoy, half their numbers were already downed, either the riders having been shot out from their saddles, leaving riderless horses lost with nothing to do, or their horses were shot out from under them, generally resulting in a painful and often fatal fall for the rider.


    None of their officers also made it that far.


    Intimidated by the still ongoing flurry of arrows headed their way, half the riders turned tail and fled for their lives, with no officers to call them back in line. The other half that were more courageous and had not noticed their allies fleeing behind them tried to brave the arrows, to little success. The last raider that kept charging fell into a heap just in front of the wagons as his horse was show and bucked him off violently.


    From the start to the finish, none of the mercenaries other than their archers even made a move.


    Reinhardt only ordered some of the infantry ¨C some of the younger recruits ¨C to clean up the mess while the convoy kept moving unbothered. The young mercenaries quickly captured the riderless horses, and stripped the raiders of all their possessions worth something, leaving corpses in soiled undergarments in their wake.


    For the times when the raider in question wasn¡¯t quite dead yet, it was quickly rectified with a quick stab to the throat by the youngsters.


    In a show of efficiency, it took them less than ten minutes before they rejoined the convoy, which had not even passed through the area yet, due to its size. They quickly deposited the salvage to one cargo wagon ¨C where a clerk noted their names and the items deposited ¨C before they filed into the wagons that they traveled on and continued along with the convoy once more.


    The cleanup literally took longer than the ¡°battle¡± itself.


    ¡°You certainly¡­ possess a lot of confidence in your men, Captain Edelstein,¡± mentioned Scipius once they were underway once more. As he was a military officer himself, he couldn¡¯t help but compare what he had seen just now to what he would have done, before quickly concluding that he wouldn¡¯t have dared to simply rely on his archers to handle a group of light cavalry twice their size like that.


    To be fair, his archers were trained differently. They might get ten to a dozen shots off a minute, at best.


    ¡°They just did what they¡¯re being paid for,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly. ¡°We primarily utilize irregular tactics, so we have little use for field archers who are used to standing still and shooting at something far away. Ours are trained to shoot rapidly in bursts at closer targets, while on the move, and we equip them accordingly.¡±


    ¡°An unusual, but clearly effective approach,¡± noted Scipius. Considering how most forces in the Empire still adhered to the more traditional combat doctrines, he could see that the far more unorthodox Free Lances would be highly effective in such an environment. ¡°I see that Councillor Adenauer is getting his money¡¯s worth with this hire.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the compliment, subcommander,¡± Reinhardt replied. ¡°After all, that¡¯s what us mercenaries are for, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±

 Chapter 251 - Arrival at Levain

    ¡°Stories and fables might try to convince you otherwise, as often it seemed as if every journey the hero and their party undertake is filled with peril and disruptions at every turn, but fact of the matter is, around nineteen out of every twenty journeys were uneventful.¡± - From a lecture by Leigh Wainswrought, assistant professor of sociology at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 695 FP.


    ¡°Oh, Commanding Instructor Ze¡¯phane, didn¡¯t expect to see you welcome us yourself,¡± said Councillor Adenauer as they reached the border between Caroma and Levain. Other than the one incident with the raiders, their trip through Caroman Territory was fortunately uneventful, and they reached their destination as scheduled. Scipius and his men had already said their goodbyes, as they headed towards a fort on the south side of the border instead.


    Instead, Reinhardt found that the Levain side had also sent a welcoming delegation to greet them. To his surprise, the delegation consisted entirely of cavalrymen, around two hundred of them, with a tall, half-orcish man at their lead. It was that half-orc that Councillor Adenauer greeted fondly as they approached the arrayed cavalry formation.


    ¡°Good to see you return in good health, with friends, Councillor,¡± replied the half-orc with a nod. As they came closer, Reinhardt noticed that despite the deep timbre of the man¡¯s voice, the half-orc was dressed in some slightly unusual manner. It was something that would have likely gone unnoticed to anyone who was unfamiliar with orcish culture, but there were quite a few of those amongst the Free Lances, with Reinhardt¡¯s own late best friend being one, so he was quite knowledgeable in their traditional habits.


    For one, while long hair was common for both males and females amongst the orcs, the males almost always shaved the side of their head clean, usually only leaving patches of hair that formed into tribal patterns. This Ze¡¯phane on the other hand kept his hair long on the sides as well, with most of it bunched up into a long braid behind his back, and the rest tied into two smaller braids that fell in front of his ears.


    Similarly, his general posture, the air he gave out, and even the way he rode the horse all felt slightly off to Reinhardt, who was used to the more warrior-like types, since those were what the mercenaries generally attracted. If anything, the feeling that this Ze¡¯phane gave out reminded him more of his own Company¡¯s support staff, rather than that of a hardened warrior.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein, this is Commanding Instructor Ze¡¯phane of the Greentusks, formerly the head of the Imperial Stables. She has been helping us train up some cavalry and care for our steeds, which we do not have much of,¡± introduced Councillor Adenauer with one hand. ¡°Miss Ze¡¯phane, this is Captain Reinhardt Edelstein of the Free Lances Mercenary Company.¡±


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    ¡°A pleasure to meet you,¡± said Reinhardt as he shook the half-orc¡¯s hand. ¡°So, Twin-Souled, or Switched-Soul?¡± he then asked.


    ¡°Both, actually,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane as she nodded with a smile. Both the terms Reinhardt mentioned were how the northern orcs called those who were inclined to both of the traditional roles ¨C the ones who protect and provide, and the ones who care and nurture ¨C typically adhered to in the tribes, as well as those who felt that they were born in the wrong body. ¡°I did not expect to meet someone who knows what those mean! Always a long, awkward conversation when someone asked me to explain.¡±


    ¡°One of the aunties who often looked after me when I was small came straight from the north, so I¡¯ve learned a bit about it,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smile. ¡°We also had quite a few descendants from the northern tribes in our ranks, though not too many first generations, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°Probably all the war, honestly. Most of us actually enjoyed peace more, so all this war going on just curbed the enthusiasm of most who would have otherwise traveled away from home,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane without missing a beat. ¡°Well, not counting those who just wanted a good fight to prove their mettle, but you know those types often did not last too long under such messy conditions.¡±


    ¡°I hear you, all right,¡± said Reinhardt with a guffaw. The convoy had started moving further into Levain, and he was talking with Ze¡¯phane as she rode alongside the wagon he was on. ¡°So, former head of the Imperial stables?¡±


    ¡°I always loved caring for mounts since I was young, so it was a logical occupation. Got noticed and given a higher post, that was before the war, though,¡± replied the half-orc. ¡°Honestly, one reason I went out from the prairies was because we lack a healer skilled enough to correct a Switched-Soul¡¯s condition there, so I am here working to gather money to hopefully afford one such healer someday. Assuming I can find one.¡±


    ¡°That turned out to be harder than expected. Most healers did not dare to commit to such an undertaking because of the difficulties involved, while others felt that it was beyond their powers,¡± she continued. ¡°Some others charged truly exorbitant prizes for such a feat, though I am pretty certain that a good bunch of those that did so were just charlatans trying to cheat me out of my money.¡±


    ¡°I have actually met with one such individual before, but I don¡¯t know if she does that sort of work as well or not, or even if she takes money for healing,¡± muttered Reinhardt as he recalled of that one fortuitous encounter he had with the Silver Maiden back in Theodinaz. ¡°Maybe if you still haven¡¯t found a suitable healer by the end of our contract here I¡¯ll introduce you? That might be a few years, though.¡±


    ¡°Time isn¡¯t a great issue for me, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with a loud guffaw that displayed her prominent tusks. ¡°Half of my parentage are from elves, so I still have centuries left of my life. I definitely can spare a few more years, sure.¡±

 Chapter 252 - A Switched-Soul Guide

    ¡°The way people treat those who felt like they were born in the wrong body, as the wrong gender, often greatly differed depending on the region. In some places, people like these were not just accepted, but were often downright celebrated at times, and were considered honored members of the societies they were in. For certain societies, like specific tribes of therians, this was often even an important part of their life cycle, as some kinds transition naturally from one gender to another at some point in their life.


    Other places just treat them as normal, with most people politely using the way these individuals prefer to be called. Those that outright shun them were generally in the minority, and it was an occurrence most often seen amongst humans who congregated amongst themselves.


    On the other hand, while many of these individuals wished to find a powerful healer to alter their physical bodies to what they felt was right for them, that was often an undertaking that was easier said than done. Healers of that caliber were rare to be found, and even if available, it was uncertain that they could perform such a feat, or that the individual could afford the treatment, for that matter. As such, those who were fortunate enough to truly transition in their lives tend to be few and far between, at least so far.¡± ¨C From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 681 FP.


    ¡°Oh, I actually missed out on most of the mess here,¡± admitted Ze¡¯phane as they traveled. While Levain called itself a ¡°Free City¡±, its territory still encompassed quite a bit of the land around it, and it took around a day to travel from the borders to the city proper, further in some areas. ¡°I didn¡¯t see eye to eye with how Maglos did things, so I quit and wandered around in search of a healer capable of dealing with my issues. That was like, five years before he got his ass assassinated in public, thereabouts.¡±


    ¡°Huh, pretty lucky to have done that, I guess. Heard the capital was one of the messiest places early on in the civil war,¡± commented Reinhardt. While the Free Lances were not involved in the civil war that wreaked havoc over the former Empire¡¯s lands, they still kept in touch with the news from the region. As such, they heard about most of the major happenings of the war.


    ¡°It¡¯s the main reason the Free City exists as it is now, Captain,¡± replied Councillor Adenauer from his seat across the wagon from Reinhardt. ¡°The civilians of the capital were just tired of being treated like they didn¡¯t exist while warlord after warlord fought over the city in order to claim it for themselves, so they made a stand for themselves. They might not have many trained warriors, but a force of over four hundred thousand civilians rising up together in riot was more than what any of the warlords back then were prepared to handle.¡±


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    ¡°Of course, they¡¯ve downsized the militia to merely fifty thousand active members since, but that still includes another hundred thousand reserves,¡± the former noble continued. ¡°Not counting all the women, elderly, and children who would take up arms once more if they felt the need to, which would have put our numbers to like half a million put together. For that reason, nobody had been willing to try to dislodge them from their city.¡±


    ¡°I returned to the area around a couple years ago myself, got hired by the council and been training up cavalry for them these days,¡± said Ze¡¯phane relaxedly to support what the councillor said. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of eager youths willing to train, and we didn¡¯t really lack the steeds either, equipment could be better though,¡± she added as she took a pointed glance at the other cavalrymen she led.


    Reinhardt nodded as he saw what Ze¡¯phane meant by her words. The cavalrymen that rode with them were lightly armored, with only a lamellar suit made from weaving pieces of boiled leather together over their tunics. It was poor armor, though definitely better than nothing, and at best they would be able to serve as scouts and light cavalry in battle.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you hired me to also help with this issue, Councillor?¡± asked Reinhardt to Salicia¡¯s father.


    ¡°No, no, not at all, though if you were willing to offer some methods to construct better armor out of what resources we have, that would be greatly appreciated, and our appreciation would naturally be shown in bonuses,¡± said the former nobleman cleverly. ¡°Similarly, if after a battle you salvaged armor that were still in good shape from your enemies and had no use for them, we would happily buy it at market price.¡±


    ¡°Clever,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a chuckle. ¡°I can approve of such sales when the time comes, so that¡¯s not an issue. As for the tips¡­ I¡¯ll ask Pops about it, but no promises. You¡¯ll likely have to negotiate with him yourself,¡± he added with a wide, toothy grin.


    ¡°An acceptable compromise,¡± said the former nobleman as he nodded in agreement. ¡°I shall look forward to matching words with the senior, then.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, now that we¡¯re here, I would like to ask a few questions I am hoping you could provide more detail on,¡± mentioned Reinhardt. He had not asked the questions beforehand because it was simply not something someone asked until the other side was certain that everyone was on the same boat.


    ¡°More details about the Free City, I assume?¡± asked Councillor Adenauer lightly, having already anticipated the query.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°I know you¡¯ve given us the general situation before, and I¡¯ve refrained from pushing for details since at the time we were still on the way and technically not under formal employment yet. Now that we¡¯ve reached here, I think it¡¯s an appropriate time to ask for those details. What numbers and types of troops can we expect to be working with? How far would you like us to take the training?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Captain. Allow me to clarify those points, then¡­¡±

 Chapter 253 - The Seven Walls of Levain

    ¡°O, behold and despair, ye mighty!


    For thou shall find naught but death and gloom,


    The great seven walls won¡¯t yield lightly,


    And all that¡¯s left for you is but doom!¡± ¨C The Walls of Levain, epic poem by Garibald the Younger, poet from Clangeddin.


    ¡°Levain is the largest city in the former Empire¡¯s territory, and probably the largest in Alcidea proper, at least above ground, as you already know,¡± said Councillor Bernd Adenauer as he began his explanation. ¡°Before this whole mess started, it boasted a population of roughly a million souls, though we¡¯re down to maybe half that after all the fighting that took place. Many had fled or died due to them, before they took up arms and took matters into their own hands.¡±


    ¡°So those that remained are the ones who refused to move from their homes, no matter what, and would fight tooth and nail for it, should it be needed, right?¡± asked Reinhardt in turn.


    ¡°A good description, yes. These citizens are the main source of how we managed to maintain such a large army at the ready. Also the main reason none of our neighbors dared to commit to a serious attack so far,¡± replied the former nobleman in approval. ¡°They know that if we get pushed too hard, that might just incense the rest of the citizens to take up arms once more, and nobody wants to deal with an angry mob half a million strong.¡±


    ¡°And you want us to turn your militiamen into trained soldiers.¡±


    ¡°As best you can, yes. We do not ask that they be trained for attacking other regions, so you could skip on things like training for siege attacks, but we would like them to be well-prepared to defend our land whenever the need arises,¡± answered Bernd. ¡°And if possible, we would like you to train people who can pass on the knowledge, within five years.¡±


    ¡°That can be arranged, we never took this as a longer-term posting anyway,¡± replied Reinhardt. The request was reasonable enough, especially since he would make sure it comes with a lump sum of additional payment. He was not looking for a retirement home after all, just a comfortable job for his Company to let the new members grow into the job for a few years. ¡°Any information on what defenses we can expect to be able to use, should it come down to it?¡±


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    ¡°Levain itself is very defensible. The outer three layers of walls had taken quite a bit of damage from the prior fighting, but we have fixed most of those as best we could in the years since. Between the amount of defenders we have and the seven layers of walls, I doubt anyone would challenge the city itself anytime soon,¡± said Bernd with a proud nod. ¡°Other than that, most of the surrounding areas are mostly plains, with bits of forests here and there. Some hills to the east, but otherwise we¡¯re looking at flatlands for the most part.¡±


    ¡°Better for maneuver warfare then, beneficial for your large army,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Also makes sense on why you¡¯d train up a large cavalry contingent since you have terrain that¡¯s beneficial to their deployment. Anything else you can add? What forces do¡­ the troublesome elements you mentioned have?¡±


    ¡°The so-called troublesome elements are minor nobles who chose to join the city with their forces. On the surface, it looked like they joined voluntarily, but many of them were unsatisfied with being placed beneath the council,¡± explained the former nobleman. ¡°They lacked the power to do anything about it, though, as the people in the city were unlikely to tolerate any sort of coup from them. Those nobles have like a hundred to five hundred or so under them, each, and there¡¯s around a dozen in that faction.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a former noble yourself?¡±


    ¡°I am, though I did join the Free City on my own volition and approved of the way they did things,¡± replied Bernd with a smile. ¡°At the time, my ancestral landhold was pretty much a minnow stuck between three sharks. One of them sent a letter full of implied threats, another directly threatened me to submit to them, while the third sent a polite invitation. I took the polite invitation.¡±


    ¡°And what of your own forces?¡±


    ¡°I have nearly a thousand, who primarily guard the land I was formerly in charge of. They¡¯re familiar with the terrain so they¡¯re best suited to do so. Unfortunately, none of my guards are that talented with teaching others, much less dealing with warfare on a larger scale, which is the main reason the council agreed to hire your Company, Captain,¡± he explained. ¡°That is not to say that there was no opposition against your hiring, mind you. You can probably expect a vocal critic or challenge from one of the former nobles I mentioned once we¡¯re in the city.¡±


    ¡°We can take care of that. You¡¯re paying for it, anyway,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy smirk. To deal with people who were purposely trying to make things difficult to the council in order to advance their own interests had been a clause that was added to their contract, and it came with a bonus payment as well. Of course, he would need to find an above board and justifiable way to do so, but then again, that was what he was being paid for.


    ¡°Ah, we can see the City from here, Captain. If you would take a look?¡± said Bernd just as the head of the convoy crested the peak of a small hill ¨C it was one with a shallow incline either way, which made it more practical to simply build the road over it rather than around it ¨C that was on their way.


    In the distance, towards the east where the former nobleman pointed his finger at, Reinhardt could see the faint shape of a walled city. He took his spyglass out from the storage artifact, and focused on it to see a massive city with seven layers of walls. The city itself sat on the flatlands, with a river running through it from north to south, but had no moat or ditch around it. Considering the seven layers of walls, it probably expanded too often in its past that those defensive features just ended up being filled up on the next expansion anyway.

 Chapter 254 - The Former Imperial Capital

    ¡°Though a city might have lost part of its glory, nothing can take the ages worth of history engraved into its every corner unless one leveled it down to the ground completely.¡± - Markus Ionus Balius, Historian from the First Elmaiya Empire.


    Once they approached the city proper the next morning ¨C the convoy chose to spend the night outside rather than arrive way late in the night ¨C Reinhardt hmmed and hawed as he observed the outermost wall of Levain with a critical eye. The walls themselves were at a height of only ten meters, which was rather short for a capital city, though perhaps that was so due to expediency, as there was a great area to encircle with the wall, after all.


    Not many members of the Free Lances headed into the city. The majority of the company started to set up camp to the north-west of the city, where there was a clearing prepared for them to use. They were also upstream of the river compared to the city proper, which was a nice concession all considered. Reinhardt only took Lars, Elfriede, Erycea, Salicia, and Gr¨¹nhildr with him, plus a few members from Elfriede¡¯s platoon as ¡°guards¡±. Salicia¡¯s father and Ze¡¯phane guided them through the gates.


    The buildings between the outermost wall and the sixth wall of the city showed many signs of damage, as the outermost ring in general had been mostly abandoned after the city¡¯s populace dropped by nearly half. The ruins of the buildings were left behind to serve as obstacles to make life more difficult for any invading party, with only select sections cleared out to serve as roadways between the walls.


    As they approached the sixth wall, Reinhardt noticed that it was taller than the outermost wall at twelve meters in height. It was a clever setup, to have the inner wall be taller than the outer wall, so that invaders that managed to occupy the outer wall would still be at a height disadvantage to the defenders atop the inner wall further into the city.


    While there were only token amounts of people atop the outermost walls ¨C likely sentries who were there to give out early warnings of any approach ¨C the sixth wall was more heavily populated. Reinhardt could see dozens of people patrolling the walkways at the top of the wall from below, with the gatehouse leading further inside also properly guarded.


    The wagon they were on ¨C with Councillor Adenauer sitting next to Erycea, who held the reins ¨C were let through without much fuss, given how two high-ranking members of the city were vouching for them, and once through the gatehouse of the sixth wall, they began seeing the people that lived inside the city that used to be the Empire¡¯s capital.


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    Most of the citizens that remained had hard looks on their faces, looks Reinhardt were all too familiar with, that of a people who had seen enough war to last a lifetime. The situation they were in meant that they were forced to participate in more wars, however, unless they were content to huddling like scared mice in their houses while the various warlords fight over sovereignty of their home.


    He also noted the generally proud looks that the locals gave to the members of the militia that patrolled the roads, a clear sign of support from the locals to their fighting men and women, which was a good thing. That said, he also noticed how those same locals gave looks of disgust at a passing group of knights ¨C easily noticeable due to their better armor and the heraldry on the tabards they wore ¨C which hinted at some internal conflict which might be exploitable.


    After all, the masters of those knights were likely part of the list of people that Reinhardt would be rewarded for if he could arrange to either discredit them or make them meet unfortunate ¡°accidents¡± on the battlefield. Part of the local nobles who had grown unruly and wanted more authority than what the city council were willing to give them.


    It was a situation he was no foreigner to. On the surface, the council and the nobles remained civil and cooperative with each other, but behind the scenes, they tried to plot against the other side where they could get away with it. Maintaining the facade of unity was mostly for the benefit of the citizens, as both sides knew that they needed popular support to rule.


    Reinhardt himself could care less about that, though he was being paid to help the council, so if the opportunity presented itself, he would take any opening the nobles presented to drag them into the mud.


    Much like before, the fifth layer of Levain¡¯s walls was yet again taller than the sixth layer before it. The increase in height repeated itself every layer afterwards, with the second layer being easily twenty meters in height, resplendent with a multitude of ballistas and catapults at the top, arranged like the gemstones on a crown.


    He estimated that from the second layer, those siege engines could likely rain death anywhere from the third layer onwards, and even reach to the outside of the city proper. The way they were angled hinted at long-range bombardment rather than closer ranged shots, which if he estimated with the range of good quality dwarven-made siege engines, would just about reach beyond the outermost walls.


    Since the Empire was a mixed society, they lacked no dwarves to work in their forges, after all.


    Bernd and Ze¡¯phane led the wagon straight to the innermost layer of the city, enclosed behind a layer of walls twenty-five meters high. The area inside was where the Imperial Palace once stood, though nowadays, the ruins had been cleaned and the area rebuilt to accommodate the council chamber as well as residential areas for the councilors and their families instead.


    It was that very council chamber where they were headed to. A large building built in a shape similar to a theater, though left roofless, with fabric awnings that could be drawn out to cover the space below as needed. When they arrived, the council happened to be in the midst of its morning session.

 Chapter 255 - Friend and Foe

    ¡°It¡¯s always best to be in a situation where friend and foe are easily distinguished.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Greetings, my fellow Councillors,¡± said Bernd Adenauer as he stood at a dais set in the center of the room. The building was set up so that the speaker would address the rest from a position where all of them could hear his words clearly, a clever bit of architecture, that. ¡°I had just returned from Knallzog with the mercenary company we had agreed to hire as per the meeting four months ago. With me is Captain Reinhardt Edelstein of the Free Lances.¡±


    Reinhardt tuned out some of the former nobleman¡¯s later words as he mostly gave a slightly embellished account of his company¡¯s history to the other councilors as well as his impressions from the training program the mercenaries used for their own trainees. Instead, he took the time when the attention wasn¡¯t on him to observe the other members of the council.


    At a glance, there seemed to be around sixty or so of the councilors present. Much like he expected from a formerly imperial city, they came from all sorts of races ¨C there were even a couple who had obvious orcish or goblin ancestry amongst them, despite members of those two races still relatively rarely found outside the northern areas they called home ¨C and from all walks of life.


    Out of those, there were a few ¨C not more than five as best as he could tell ¨C that stood out like a sore thumb, with the finery they insisted on wearing and the general demeanor with which they looked down upon others. Reinhardt mentally noted those as likely part of the troublesome nobles that Bernd had mentioned along the trip. Targets for either defamation or elimination, where convenient, though ones he would need to take care to ensure that he did it the right way.


    After all, it wouldn¡¯t do for the civilians to learn of a building rift amongst their own councilors. On the other hand, they would be far more understanding if someone acted out of line and paid the price for it, instead. As such, Reinhardt noted to himself to keep a lookout on possible scenarios that could lead to such an impression where the chance presented itself.


    As for the other councilors, the majority of them were middle-aged or older, and from the looks of it, likely just part of the general populace who has had enough of being ignored by those above them. Many showed signs of their former occupations to the point that he could make educated guesses about them, and they generally showed notable interest and concern at what Bernd said.


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    Around a dozen members had the sort of posture and gruff look of military men. They were likely in the council as representatives of the militia and had fought in the battles prior to this, with other military backgrounds before that. It was the sort of subtle thing that a fellow soldier could just tell when they met another, as it wasn¡¯t that obvious a tell to most others.


    Out of those, one in particular attracted Reinhardt¡¯s attention. Not because she was a woman ¨C there were probably slightly more women than men amongst the councilors, though notably the ones he pegged as nobles were all male ¨C but because of her youth. The girl must have been like twenty five or so at most, which really stood out in contrast to the rest of the council, and was easily the youngest out of those present.


    It was not like she was one of those who looked younger than her age either ¨C those with elvish heritage tend to be guilty of that, like how Bernd Adenauer looked like a forty-something at his age, and how his daughter Salicia didn¡¯t look a whiff over twenty at forty ¨C as she lacked the telltale characteristics that would denote heritage from a long-lived race.


    Reinhardt could tell that the woman was most likely a purebred human, and more surprisingly, he noticed many amongst the councilors at times glance towards her, as if to gauge her response. He also noticed how the nobles only showed disdain at the times where their eyes looked towards that woman. Definitely something to ask about after this meeting was done.


    There were murmurs amongst the councilors after Bernd Adenauer finished his speech, and Reinhardt could tell that while there was still a general air of uncertainty laced with a bit of skepticism, most of the councilors looked hopeful, including the young woman he noticed. Of course, things wouldn¡¯t just end quietly like that, as shortly after the speech was concluded, one of the councilors Reinhardt pegged as a former noble asked for the right to address the assembled council.


    ¡°I still remain unconvinced that we would not be better off saving the money and making use of my house¡¯s esteemed knights to train our peasants,¡± rambled the man, to the obvious annoyance of many amongst the councilors. ¡°How are we supposed to know if these mercenaries are any good anyway? Training does not show results that fast, and by the time it does they could have made out with our money if they were mere charlatans!¡±


    Reinhardt poked at Bernd ¨C who was near him ¨C and quietly asked him if it was fine for him to interrupt the ranting noble, since the matter involves him. Bernd replied back that it was not how things were normally done, but considering the subject matter, it wouldn¡¯t exactly be inappropriate either. That was all the permission he needed.


    Garnering the room¡¯s attention was easy enough, as Reinhardt could make quite a loud noise just by slapping one of his hands on the wooden wall of the council chamber.


    ¡°Now, now, I could care less if you just want to vent over what you feel is a misuse of the town budget or whatever, but when you¡¯re slandering my company, that¡¯s another matter,¡± he said once he had the attention of the councilors. Many looked surprised at his interruption, while others had looks of schadenfreude on their face, especially those that looked to be from the militia. ¡°Don¡¯t you nobles have this liking for duels? We could arrange for one to demonstrate that we¡¯re worth our money, anytime.¡±


    ¡°Unless you¡¯re too craven for one, that is,¡± he added viciously.

 Chapter 256 - A Gauntlet Thrown

    ¡°One thing you need to understand about nobles or those like them who think of themselves as above the masses is that they have a *need* to maintain that image at all times. It¡¯s part of the reason why you hear of so many stories of those types doing silly things like getting their asses killed for the same of ¡®honor¡¯ or ¡®face¡¯, really.¡± - Thorsten Bogdanovich, retired mercenary, best known for having collected thirteen noble heads in one battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting proposal,¡± cut in the young woman Reinhardt already kept a note on before the sputtering noble could say a word in reply. Reinhardt even noticed the amused look of schadenfreude on the woman¡¯s face, though the noble likely hadn¡¯t, since he didn¡¯t have the keen eyesight innate to Reinhardt''s kind. ¡°What do you all say, my fellow councilors?¡±


    ¡°Looks like an agreeable option to close this debate one way or another to me,¡± replied an old dwarf from the other side of the room, probably one born in the Empire, given his lack of the typical dwarven brogue. ¡°Councillor de Kars had been complaining about this matter for months on end, and now that we have both sides present, a direct comparison seems like an apt solution to find out who¡¯s right in this matter.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said another councilor, from her looks likely one of elvish descent, as the pointed ears and gaunt physique were unmistakable. ¡°We have two parties who each claimed to be better here, I see no reason not to have them solve the issue between themselves instead.¡±


    ¡°Quiet in the council chamber, please!¡± warned an older bespectacled councilor who struck the wooden gavel in his hand against the table a couple of times. Reinhardt recalled that the man was the one who gave permission to speak for the councilors who wished to bring up issues, so probably the master of ceremonies or similar. ¡°I would like to call a vote on this subject. Those who approved of Captain Edelstein¡¯s suggestion that they should solve this disagreement on the field of battle, raise your hand and say ¡®aye¡¯.¡±


    Roughly nine out of ten councilors raised their hands and intoned a respectful ¡°aye¡± a moment after the old man made the announcement. There was no need for a count at that point.


    ¡°The ayes have the majority. Councilor de Kars, as the challenged party, do you accept?¡± continued the old man without pause, placing the ball back at the nobleman¡¯s court. The only ones who had not voted ¡°aye¡± just earlier were the ones Reinhardt pegged as nobles as well as a couple others who just looked squeamish at the idea of violence.


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    The situation at hand clearly put the nobleman on the backfoot, as he had not expected the sudden turn of event, not Reinhardt challenging his words like that on the spot. He probably wished to spit out some select curse words, but the position he was in prevented him from doing even that as he eventually nodded and quietly grumbled his acceptance.


    After all, backing out at that point would have utterly killed his argument once and for all and also smeared his reputation.


    ¡°As the challenged party, by the laws of Emperor Reynald the IInd, I have the right to choose the method of the duel,¡± said the nobleman after a moment, which was received with nods from the other councilors. Bernd quietly explained to Reinhardt that it was an old custom of the Empire that the challenged party would get to choose the method or when and where the duel would take place, and the challenger would pick the other. ¡°I propose a duel to death or surrender, with real steel!¡±


    If the nobleman thought that the prospect of death would have deterred Reinhardt, he guessed wrong, as Reinhardt just nonchalantly replied without missing a beat with an ¡°I accept.¡±


    ¡°One moment,¡± interjected the young woman once again. ¡°This duel is supposed to be about which amongst you are better qualified to train our troops, so I do not feel that a test of individual prowess would have much use for that, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Her objection was welcomed with agreement and murmurs from the other councilors for the most part, before the master of ceremonies hit his gavel once more and gestured for the young woman to speak once more to clarify her point.


    ¡°I think since we are assessing which of them could train better soldiers, we should have the duel done in a group fight, with only the youngsters allowed to participate. Say¡­ those below twenty?¡± continued the woman once more to the nods of others who were listening. ¡°Not like there¡¯s any point if we were to pit the veterans at each other in this case anyway,¡± she added. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what would be an appropriate number of combatants for this, I believe we should leave that for the related parties.¡±


    ¡°If we were to choose only those under twenty, there are a dozen of the most promising and skilled young knights in my entourage,¡± replied the nobleman after a moment of thought. ¡°There are others in my former territory, but it would require a few days to call them here.¡±


    ¡°Why waste the time?¡± interjected Reinhardt. ¡°You already said that you got the most promising ones here. A dozen on each side sounds good to me, one serving as commander while the rest as the soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Is that an acceptable proposal, councilor de Kars?¡± asked the master of Ceremonies to the nobleman, who thought for a moment before he signaled his approval. ¡°Very well, then as the challenger, it is your right to choose the time and venue for the duel, Captain Edelstein. Have you decided?¡±


    ¡°The ruins between the sixth and seventh walls, tomorrow at noon,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy smirk that made the nobleman blanch somewhat at the sight. ¡°I would also like to ask the esteemed councilors and as many members of the militia who happened to be free at that time to act as our witnesses.¡±

 Chapter 257 - Gifts Given are not Returnable

    ¡°All too often people wished to take back what they decided in moments of high emotion. Too bad life doesn¡¯t work that way.¡± - Old philosophical saying.


    ¡°That is certainly¡­ one way to make an impression, Captain Edelstein,¡± braved councilor Bernd Adenauer after they left the assembly a while later. The former nobleman had expected Reinhardt to hit back at the words said by his fellow former noble at the dais, but had not expected him to escalate the matter to this sort of proportion. ¡°Is it wise, though? Your people had just been on a long trip.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I specified tomorrow instead of now, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with the same toothy smirk on his face. ¡°We¡¯re a hardy bunch, a night of rest is more than we could usually ask for before we have to go and fight for our lives, so it¡¯s beyond plenty,¡± he explained. ¡°Also, that was one of the names on your list, was it not? I am nine out of ten certain that he was, but never did get to confirm with you.¡±


    ¡°Former Viscount Leonid de Kars is one of the people we would like to take down a peg or eliminate should the situation allow for such, yes,¡± replied Bernd with a harder look on his face. Oddly enough, despite being a former noble, he was one of the loudest exponents to getting the other former nobles in line or else getting rid of them. ¡°I just had not expected you to pounce on the situation so¡­ immediately. It caught me off guard, I admit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we specialize in, councilor,¡± said Reinhardt with a guffaw. ¡°Either way, that de Kars already sealed his fate anyway by choosing live blades. My people aren¡¯t the best at holding back to begin with,¡± he continued. ¡°And that specification to have the participants limited to those below twenty was a brilliant choice from¡­ what was the lady councilor¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°That would be councilor Estelle, Captain,¡± answered the former nobleman. ¡°She is also the unofficial leader of the city council.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Didn¡¯t expect that, especially since she¡¯s¡­ you know, like the youngest of the people up there,¡± admitted Reinhardt with some surprise. ¡°Anything special we should keep note about her? Or anything we need to know?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s very well-respected amongst the people and especially the militia, as she was one of the first to suggest, and then lead the resistance movement to take Levain for themselves rather than let various nobles fight for it over their heads,¡± replied Bernd somewhat wistfully. ¡°She was still a young lass at that time too, couldn¡¯t be more than twelve at most. Many of the other councilors look at her almost like a daughter, in a lot of ways.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ something of a history to have, all right,¡± noted Reinhardt after some thought. He was not one to dismiss what a child of twelve could do under the right circumstances. If anything, seeing such a child willingly take up arms and fight would have been a great motivator for the adults, to say the least.


    ¡°There¡¯s also some rumors she prefers to keep private most of the time, but I believe you could be trusted with it, but Lady Estelle did what she did back then because she felt responsible for having probably started this whole mess by accident,¡± added the former nobleman in a quiet whisper. ¡°By which, I mean the imperial civil war.¡±


    ¡°How- Oh wait. The Bounty Hunter slew your last Emperor in a very public manner, but everyone knows that the Bounty Hunter only takes up work if someone puts them up to it instead of acting independently¡­ but she must¡¯ve been what? Four? Five at that time?¡±


    ¡°Lady Estelle claims that when she was four, a hooded and cloaked figure had asked her why she was crying in the streets. She said she had laid out her grievances to that figure, and they had asked if she thought things would have been better without the Emperor, and if so, what she would pay for it,¡± recited the former noble, the tale coming easily to his tongue. ¡°Lady Estelle said that she had offered the figure some stale bread pieces and a few copper coins, all she had at the time, and the figure had taken only a single copper coin and claimed that the deal was done before they left.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Normally I would call that an implausible story¡­¡± commented Reinhardt with some doubt. ¡°But I assume there¡¯s more to the story?¡±


    ¡°The Bounty Hunter slew Maglos the Tyrant later that same year, and left a single rusty copper coin on the tongue of his decapitated head. This is something only the nobles and higher up knew about,¡± said Bernd quietly. ¡°Even if the tale was made up, Lady Estelle has grown into a leader in body and soul for these people by now, so I see no point in going against the narrative anyway.¡±


    ¡°Fair point. Not like it¡¯s something anyone could prove or disprove easily either way, and the narrative only helps your side in this case,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Anyway, I think you surmised the reason I asked for the councilors and the militia to be the audience for tomorrow¡¯s duel, no?¡±


    ¡°It would greatly discredit de Kars if his chosen competitors were to be defeated in an ugly manner, yes, that part I already surmised,¡± replied the former nobleman. ¡°You are certain of defeating them, then, Captain?¡±


    ¡°The moment the fight was restricted to those under twenty, that was the final nail in that man¡¯s coffin,¡± boasted Reinhardt. ¡°Ery, I want you to pick eleven of yours for tomorrow. There¡¯s no holding back needed, so pick whoever you think will do best at taking care of a bunch of wannabe knights in as dominating a manner as you can make it happen, that clear?¡±


    ¡°Crystal clear, dad. I already have the folks in mind. We¡¯ll take good care of them tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 258 - To Make an Impression

    ¡°Do not let pride lead you astray,


    For while it might promise glory,


    And words woven as a bard¡¯s story,


    More than one had found their end that way.¡± - Poem by Nialem Baghery, poet from Posuin, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°You look rather confident and relaxed, for the stakes on hand, Captain Edelstein,¡± commented Ze¡¯phane the next day.


    It was nearing noon, and two dozen youths representing councilor de Kars and the Free Lances were already assembled at different ends of an area of the ruins between the sixth and seventh wall of Levain. Reinhardt ¨C along with many others from the Free Lances ¨C were watching from atop the seventh wall, where Ze¡¯phane and some of the militia leaders had joined them.


    Across from them, the councilors were gathered atop the sixth wall where they waited for the designated time, along with other officers from the militia. The rest of the walls¡¯ walkways were quite crowded as many of the militiamen not on duty also came to watch the spectacle. There were at least a few thousand of them on the walkways, more than enough witnesses to ensure that the result of the duel was not something either side could back out from.


    ¡°Why should I be worried?¡± asked Reinhardt back at the half-orc.


    ¡°Well, it is your own daughter down there about to fight, no? In a fight with no holds barred, no less,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with some surprise on her features. ¡°Are you not worried about her well-being?¡±


    ¡°One thing you must consider, Miss Ze¡¯phane,¡± said Reinhardt calmly. ¡°Is that in this situation, Erycea is acting as a platoon leader and representative of my mercenary company, not as my daughter. The girl had worked all her life to gain such a position at her age, through her own hard work and effort. It¡¯s the least I can do to trust her to do the job I have assigned to her.¡±


    ¡°Besides, this fight is one that has been horribly stacked to our favor, anyway,¡± he added with a toothy smirk on his face. ¡°Have you taken a look at the team Erycea brought with her?¡±


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    The two teams were at the moment situated at their ¡°base¡± camps on opposite sides of the crudely defined duel area, which encompassed a section of the ruins between the walls. While the walls had a slight curvature to it, the two base camps¡¯ location were known to both parties, due to the tall flag that was set in each. On the council¡¯s suggestion, the duel adopted an approach closer to a tactical exercise.


    Whichever team captured their opponent¡¯s flag or wiped out the opposition first would be the winner.


    Erycea had brought most of her platoon¡¯s core members with her, with only Vlad and Ayrie absent, as they were past the age limitations and thus ineligible to join the fight. Instead, she brought three other members she trusted from amongst the younger ones. Her whole group looked like a mish-mash of disparate outfits and equipment at a glance, only unified by the white-on-black depiction of the Free Lances¡¯ emblem they wore on a strip of cloth tied to their left upper arm.


    In contrast, the group of twelve young knights councilor de Kars had gathered looked almost as if they were all cut from the same cloth, with identical armor ¨C chainmail over gambeson along with plates that covered their chests, forearms, and shins ¨C topped with a skullcap. The only one that had a difference was the youth Reinhardt thought was likely their leader, who had several plumes decorating the top of his cap.


    Moments later, the sun reached the highest spot in the sky, and the militia officer in charge of signaling the start of the duel ¨C a fire mage who used to be a blacksmith before the civil war erupted ¨C gave the signal in a brilliant burst of fire that erupted in mid-air between the two sides.


    Both sides started moving right afterwards, and the difference was quite clear right from the start.


    Erycea¡¯s group immediately split into four groups, with three of them immediately concealing themselves near the flag itself, in preparation to ambush whoever made their way there. Tasha and Vera dropped to all fours and split off to the sides. Despite their prodigious size ¨C the twins were already nearly two and a half meters tall these days ¨C they were capable of moving in deceptively sneaky and quiet manners, and their sharp noses allowed them to scout ahead of the team in a way that few others can.


    As for Erycea herself, she took Gustav, Aurora, Rhiannon, Llewelyn, Valeria, and Beth with her as they headed straight for the enemy base, albeit at a measured pace, making sure that they did not outrun their own scouts. They made use of the cover provided by the ruined buildings as they moved stealthily through the area, keeping their eyes and ears open for unexpected foes.


    Their wariness was superfluous in this case, however, as while Erycea¡¯s team had set off the moment the signal was given, their opponents were still giving instructions to the team at that moment, and they only sent out eight of their members ¨C in two teams of four ¨C minutes later. By the time they set off, Erycea¡¯s team had already reached the middle of the ruins and began to set up ambushes.


    She had split her nine people into three groups of three instead. She herself, along with Valeria and Gustav, continued to head towards the enemy¡¯s base. As for the rest, Tasha was with Rhiannon and Llewelyn on one side, while Vera had Aurora and Beth with her on the opposite side. Reinhardt had given her the task to win this duel in a dominating fashion, and she planned to do just that.


    Completely wiping out the opposition without giving them a chance to fight back all with fewer people should do the trick.


    To that purpose, she had Tasha and Vera prepare ambushes for the teams that their enemy would likely send towards their base. If the team was too large, then the two would gather and launch an ambush together, but if they found the numbers manageable, then each was to take out whoever they ran into on their own, all while Erycea¡¯s own group headed for the enemy base to take out the defenders there.

 Chapter 259 - Stealth and Ambushes

    ¡°Between those who traipsed around like they owned the place, and those who kept themselves hidden in the dark until the right moment, victory rarely favors the fools, unlike what some say about fortune.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    From the vantage point of those watching above, it was almost as if Erycea¡¯s people had completely vanished into the ruins, which was quite a feat given that there were a pair of bear therians larger and wider than the vast majority of people amongst them. Those above could only notice the occasional glimpse of movement when Erycea¡¯s own group dashed from cover to cover in difficult terrain, towards their target the enemy base and its flag.


    As for the teams led by Tasha and Vera, they set themselves up in ambush between what they considered the most likely ¨C that was, the easiest ¨C paths that the enemy team might have taken towards their base. Given the amount of rubble and otherwise damaged buildings in the area, it was easy for them to find hiding spots that allowed them to survey the area while remaining hidden.


    Vera¡¯s team had the fortune of having their targets stroll right down the largest, most convenient path on their side. There were four youths headed towards them, in an inverted triangle formation with two at the front, one in the middle, and the last covering their backs. They all wore the same armor and carried the sword and shield in their hands with confidence, though their uneasy steps betrayed some nervousness.


    All of the youths were human. Due to the age cutoff, it was less likely for there to be any that had dwarven or elvish heritage since for them, a twenty year old was still a child. It was not the case with the relatively rare orcs and goblins seen in the city, but the councilor who sponsored these knights clearly didn¡¯t have that good a relation with them.


    Similarly, therians were relatively rare in the former empire¡¯s territory, as they lacked direct contact with the southern continent unlike Knallzog. Those who did venture that far north often headed to Boroes instead, to gather with their own kind, rather than settle in the empire. Humans formed the majority of the empire¡¯s populace partly thanks to their greater fertility, so it wasn¡¯t that odd to see many of them around.


    While the youths were well armed and armored, there were still flaws that could be perceived simply from how they moved. For one, they were too rigid with holding their formation in the difficult terrain, often going to the trouble of crossing rubble the hard way rather than adjusting the formation to compensate. They were also nowhere near as vigilant as they should have been, a mistake they would pay for moments later.


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    The instant the young knights entered the ambush zone, Aurora rose up from behind the pile of debris she had been hiding behind, on the third floor of a ruined multi-storied house that looked like a precarious perch. Even so, the young girl was light-footed and easily climbed to her spot, which incidentally also doubled as an ideal spot to snipe from.


    That the young knights only reacted after the crossbow bolt she loosed thudded into the eye of one of their companions hinted at their lack of real life experience, as they were befuddled for a moment before they momentarily panicked. The knight in their center had just raised his voice and called for them to gather when the ruins exploded around them.


    Vera burst right through the remnants of rotten wooden walls that had covered her from sight, from a house just beside the path, right next to the knights who could only stare in abject surprise at her sudden appearance. Her massive battle axe flashed through the air and took off the head of the second knight at the front ¨C Aurora¡¯s bolt having taken the other out ¨C before they could even react.


    Even as the remaining two knights regained their wits, they immediately turned to run. The appearance of a behemoth like Vera was not something they had expected, but neither of the two were foolish enough to entertain the notion that they could have given her a fight worth mentioning. Unfortunately for them, Vera was faster than she looked.


    Before the young knight at the center of the formation had taken ten steps, Vera had caught up to him and slashed him in the back. Even with the youth¡¯s armor, the slash still packed more than enough force to crush his flesh and break his bones, as it easily snapped his spine in half. He fell right in front of Vera, who nonchalantly finished him off by stepping on the back of his neck with her weight on that foot.


    She had not bothered to give chase to the last runaway, as Beth awaited him just as he was about to turn a corner and bashed him insensate with her shield, before mercifully finishing the man off with a quick stab to the throat. The fight had taken mere seconds, and had caused quite a commotion amongst those who were watching from above.


    They had expected a fight, not a one-sided slaughter like what they had seen just then.


    Reinhardt noticed how councilor de Kars seemed to be trying to reassure other doubtful-looking councilors that the incident was only a fluke achieved by cowardly tactics or something of the sort, or at least he guessed that was what the man said with his wild gesticulations. He himself just grinned and watched the ongoing duel below.


    Moments later, Tasha¡¯s group ambushed the other team of four young knights that had been sent out on the other path and annihilated them even faster, with three of the young knights killed before they could even react and the last one begging for mercy on his knees once he noticed that he was all by himself and surrounded by three opponents who had just killed all his teammates.


    The three looked at him questioningly for a moment before they shrugged and tied him up.

 Chapter 260 - The Value of Reconnaissance

    ¡°Far too often, people try to romanticize deaths as meaningful or else done for glorious or otherwise good reasons. The truth couldn¡¯t be further than that. I have seen deaths by the thousands, I have killed hundreds if not thousands by my own hands. From all those deaths, those whose deaths have proper meanings are maybe one out of every ten, if that.


    For the rest? They just died meaninglessly, often for the greed and pride of others.¡± - Anul Onantio, famed general from history who served the Clangeddin Empire during its golden age of expansionism, who met an ignominious end when the next Emperor feared his popularity and had him killed on false pretenses.


    Below in the ruins, unlike the spectators high above, neither of the dueling sides knew of the progress their side had achieved. Both sides had their confidence in their subordinates, of course, and both sides could tell from the way the people above the walls cheered and gesticulated that some fighting had happened, though they had no idea as to the results.


    Some of the city¡¯s mages had set a soundproof barrier of wind to cover the audience above after all, to prevent them from yelling and warning those below.


    Erycea had full confidence in Tasha and Vera, doubly so given the terrain they fought in. She knew that her opponents were people who had trained since young to be knights, not unlike herself and her compatriots, and she expected them to have some skill in combat to match. That said, she knew that knights in the Clangeddin Empire primarily fought as heavy cavalrymen, so forcing them to fight on foot, in the ruins of an urban landscape was something they were unlikely used to, even if they might have trained for it from time to time.


    She doubted that their training included being ambushed by two and a half meter tall bear therians that could hide themselves so well that most people would have walked over or right next to them without noticing their existence at all.


    Erycea¡¯s platoon were naturally trained in the various roles the mercenaries might need them for, but above all else, they trained in two fields in particular. One was to act as a rapid reaction force. It was something Reinhardt suggested and Erycea found fitting, that the leader would be able to rapidly react to the ever-changing situation of the battlefield and use their personal unit as the situation demanded.


    The other was in stealth and reconnaissance, which given the composition of Erycea¡¯s platoon, often meant reconnaissance in force. Overwhelming force.


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    It was one of the reasons why everyone in her platoon had training to sneak, hide, and keep themselves out of sight. It might have sounded absurd at first, to train people like Vladislav, Tasha, or Vera in stealth, given their massive size, but the three proved the naysayers wrong as they took to the training like a fish to water, somehow mastering the skill to stalk around without making a single noise, keeping themselves unseen to all but the most eagle-eyed observer.


    Given how proficient Tasha and Vera ¨C and just about everyone else in her platoon ¨C was at stealth and ambushes, Erycea bet that the young knights had run afoul of one of their ambushes, which would have ended in an ugly way for the knights, without doubt.


    Erycea¡¯s own team of three headed towards the flag which flew over their enemy¡¯s base. They reached its vicinity not too long after the fighting behind them died down, and they hunkered down and observed.


    After all, they had no idea how many people the enemy sent towards their base. They could see four of the young knights near the flag, one of them standing with his arms folded right next to the flagpole, while the other three spread out in a defensive formation around him. For the young mercenaries, the way the knights set themselves up just reeked of folly, however.


    They stood there, tall and proud, in plain sight to anyone in the vicinity.


    At first Erycea thought that it might be a clever trap, the four in plain sight playing bait while others hid in ambush in the vicinity. As such, she ordered Valeria and Gustav to scout the surroundings, herself taking care of the part they did not cover. The three of them performed a thorough and careful inspection, all while remaining out of sight, before the reconvened at their previous spot.


    ¡°Can¡¯t find a thing, boss,¡± reported Gustav with a shake of his head, which sent his wild beard flashing from side to side like a broom.


    ¡°Nothing on my end either,¡± said Valeria with a dubious look on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re dealing with fools this time?¡±


    ¡°I had not expected it either, but I also saw no sign of anyone hiding in my area,¡± replied Erycea with a serious tone. ¡°Either these knights are even better at hiding themselves than Vlad and the twins¡­¡± she added as a hypothesis, which received only shakes of the head from her teammates. ¡°Or these knights are all there are out there. Whether it¡¯s overconfidence or just them being dumb, I don¡¯t know which. I¡¯m betting on the former, though. Often the case with knightly and noble sorts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m of the same sentiment. So then, how do you want to deal with these cretins then?¡± asked Valeria with some eagerness. ¡°If this is all they got to show, I doubt those that ran into the twins even put up a fight when they got jumped.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking one each, for the ones further out?¡± suggested Erycea after a brief moment of thought. ¡°We¡¯ll sneak in and take them out before they can react, just in case.¡±


    ¡°And the dimwit standing oh so proudly by the flag?¡± Gustav queried.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that one¡¯s their commander, so I¡¯ll take care of him. All good?¡± replied Erycea with a smirk on her face. Both Gustav and Valeria just nodded, not particularly keen on fighting over some silly knight with Erycea. Besides, while she always treated them as her friends, she was their commander after all, and could have just pulled rank instead of asked. ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s get to it and get this over with.¡±

 Chapter 261 - Capture the Flag

    ¡°Some people just refuse to see the writing on the wall even when their faces were being ground to paste on it, for some reason.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Erycea quietly stalked the ruins that had once been home to many, her figure low to the ground as she moved on all fours, not for speed ¨C although she does run much faster on all fours than on two legs ¨C but for stability and silence. In rugged terrain like the ruins, it was just so much easier to maintain her silence while moving when she did it that way.


    Much like her father, she left the palms of her hands and the pads of her feet uncovered. Their kind had soft but flexible paw pads, which were far more resilient than its soft looks would have suggested, and allowed them to walk through most kinds of terrain with equal ease. Together with her long, luxuriously furred tail, they helped her navigate the ruins silently while keeping her balance with ease.


    She slipped from shadow to shadow like a ghost, despite it being broad daylight. Her spotted white fur and the brown fabric coating of her armor does allow her to blend into the ruins pretty well, though. It was perhaps unnecessary caution, since her target didn¡¯t seem to even realize that he was in mortal danger, but she did it regardless.


    One of her father¡¯s teachings, namely never to take it easy just because the other side looked incompetent.


    While oftentimes such a look of incompetence was due to actual incompetence, the times when they were feigned, as lure to a trap, could not be discounted, and as such Reinhardt had lectured Erycea well on the need to never take an opponent lightly. They should always do their best, even against opponents that looked like easy pickings, and not hold anything back.


    It was for that reason that Erycea spent ten minutes painstakingly crawling through the ruins while making sure she remained out of sight ¨C even most of the spectators above could only barely notice her passage, and only those who specifically kept an eye on her, at that ¨C until she was perched in a position to the side, near one of the young knights who were still oblivious to her presence.


    Then she waited as she kept a count in her mind. The three of them had agreed to strike in unison, at fifteen minutes after they left the meeting spot, so she waited until the promised moment, quietly lurking in the darkness of the ruined building¡¯s second story, all while keeping an eye on her target and his surroundings at all times.


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    When the time came, she struck like lightning, a vicious pounce from above where she used the force of the drop to drive the spike-like end at the tip of her truncheon through her target¡¯s flesh, the weapons entering on both sides of the base of his neck and piercing deep into the young knight¡¯s heart and lungs before he even knew what happened to him.


    At roughly the same moment, Gustav leapt out from behind a building and struck another of the young knights. That knight managed to react and turn around, only to find himself on the receiving end of a metal cudgel as thick around as a human thigh. Despite the young knight¡¯s attempt to block the blow, it was for naught as he ended up as a crumpled, misshapen heap, his body crushed between his own shield and the ground, the force of the blow far too much for him to handle.


    Valeria took care of her target more quietly, as she struck the surprised knight right in his mouth with her spear when the youth saw her and was about to yell out a warning. Her spear was faster than his voice, so all he managed was a bloody gurgle as the spear pierced through the back of his mouth, through the base of his skull, and out the back of his head.


    By the time the young knight ¨C the commander of the opposing team ¨C near the flag realized what happened, he was surrounded from three directions by Erycea¡¯s team.


    ¡°So then, knight wannabe, are you going to kneel and ask for your precious little life or are you going to man up and pretend that that sword you carry isn¡¯t just something to wave around to compensate for your tiny prick?¡± asked Erycea, partly to see if the young knight would see sense and not waste his life, and partly to provoke him to anger if he was foolish enough to fight.


    An angry enemy was always easier to deal with than one who kept their calm, after all.


    Rather expectedly, the young knight¡¯s face distorted as he pointed at Erycea and yelled out some words she didn¡¯t get ¨C Erycea had said her words in common, but the young knight had replied in a local dialect, which was different enough than the Imperial language she knew of to be difficult to understand ¨C other than some words that likely called her a whore, animal, and the likes.


    Again, pretty much as she expected.


    Just as expected was for the young knight to rush at her with his sword held high in preparation for a vicious downward slash and his shield held in front of his body. Erycea never gave him any chance to strike, as she rushed him in return, the metal truncheon in her left hand striking towards the young knight¡¯s upraised arm.


    He had not expected that she was aiming for his hand, and the truncheon simply crushed the knight¡¯s fingers against the hilt of his own sword, the gauntlet he wore crumpled before the bone-shattering blow, and he opened his mouth to yell in pain even as the sword fell off his grip. His pained yell was cut short into incomprehensible noises when Erycea¡¯s second truncheon whipped past and directly tore his lower jaw off his skull, however.


    As grotesque as the injury looked, it wasn¡¯t fatal, though unless the knight met with a powerful healer he would be reduced to eating only liquid food for the rest of his days. Not that he had to worry about that, as Erycea brought her left-hand truncheon whipping towards the same spot, the blow tearing the rest of the knight¡¯s head off his neck crudely, the severed head rolling to the dusty ground while leaving a streak of blood behind it.

 Chapter 262 - Giving a Length of Rope

    ¡°When one has the advantage, press on for all it was worth, unless there were specific plans that demanded otherwise.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation,


    ¡°See what I mean when I said there was no point in worrying about her?¡± asked Reinhardt to Ze¡¯phane just after Erycea sent the head of the last knight rolling. She seemed uncertain if that was enough to declare themselves the winner, so she went to the flagpole, which was made of solid timber, and nonchalantly climbed up like a cat before she tore off the enemy team¡¯s flag and raised it high above her head.


    Councilor Estelle declared the end of the duel right after that, shortly after the soundproof barriers were taken down, and declared the Free Lances as the winner. Not that there was any doubt to that, given that they had eliminated eleven of their twelve opponents and snatched the enemy team¡¯s flag without losing a single member, and did so with ease, to boot.


    Reinhardt noticed that the reaction of most of the militiamen who watched the fight were more of shock and utter surprise. Some younger ones had looked nauseous at the gory display since Erycea¡¯s team had not held back, but most of the older ones nodded appreciatively. Most importantly to Reinhardt, they also looked suitably impressed, which was a good thing. Making a good impression on the people they would train was a good start to the task at hand.


    He could also see a red-faced councilor de Kars exhorting himself and seemingly protesting about the match, probably making accusations about things like ¡°cowardly tactics¡± and the likes. Reinhardt ignored the rambling former noble for the time being, as he would deal with him soon enough, and instead made polite conversation with other impressed officers from the militia who came to congratulate him.


    After a while, though, Reinhardt noticed that the councilors had not disbanded and seemed to be waiting for him on the sixth wall, so he made his way there leisurely, with a smile on his face. He had considered two main possibilities, namely whether de Kars took his loss like a man or if he instead whined like a little brat throwing a tantrum because things had not gone his way.


    Reinhardt could work with either outcome, but the latter one would allow him to drag the former noble¡¯s name deeper in the mud, which came with a bonus payment, so it was an outcome he definitely preferred. Lo and behold, the former noble seemed to have done just that, since the councilors would have likely dispersed were it not the case.


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    He liked it when his enemies were predictable.


    ¡°Congratulations on the victory, Captain Edelstein,¡± said councilor Estelle as he approached. Reinhardt took the offered congratulations with a nod, before he tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow playfully as he looked towards where the fuming councilor de Kars and his cronies stood at the side. ¡°Though it might not be the best timing, however, a few¡­ members of the council have questions about the duel we witnessed.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Go ahead and ask, then, and I shall answer to the best of my knowledge, Lady Councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy grin.


    ¡°Some of them voiced concerns over the¡­ feasibility of the displayed tactics in large scale combat. The area around Levain is mostly composed of open fields, so we deemed it a valid enough concern to ask about,¡± explained the young woman somewhat sheepishly. From the way she acted Reinhardt could tell that the ¡®concern¡¯ was mostly from de Kars¡¯ group, though the complaint was a pretty valid one overall. ¡°Councilor de Kars wondered if you would be amenable to a second trial, done in open fields.¡±


    While Estelle phrased it like a polite request, Reinhardt could tell from the way she looked annoyed and how she glared at the former nobleman from the corner of her eyes that de Kars must have put it in a far less polite way. Either way, it was well within his expectations, and since one of his own targets had so kindly offered his head on a platter, who was he to refuse?


    ¡°A valid concern, milady. We would be amenable to proving our training also applicable to field battles, as requested,¡± replied Reinhardt without missing a beat, his eyes roaming over councilor de Kars like he was a fat piece of meat on the roasting spit. ¡°Since we are the challenged party this time, I believe we have the right to set some conditions of our own?¡±


    ¡°That is so, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯re talking open field tactics, too small a number would not work to display it properly, but too many and we risk too much needless loss of life. How about fifty to a side? No more than four officers in total in that number,¡± suggested Reinhardt. ¡°Of course, I do not know if councilor de Kars has enough men to meet that number or not.¡±


    ¡°I have enough brave men in my entourage, mercenary,¡± spat out the former nobleman. ¡°I would like to request the lifting of the age limit. If we are to prove which of us had the better strategies to impart to our people, we should judge by having them fight at their best.¡±


    ¡°I second the councilor¡¯s suggestion,¡± replied Reinhardt without missing a beat. ¡°As for the venue, the open ground to the south and west of the city seemed like a good enough spot for me. What say you?¡±


    ¡°Acceptable. Like today, they shall not hold back,¡± replied the former nobleman haughtily.


    ¡°Accepted, and like today, I would request the esteemed councilors and commanders of the militia to be our witnesses. Does tomorrow at noon sound good? Or would you need more time to prepare?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow at noon it is!¡±


    With those words, a second duel between the mercenaries and the former nobleman was set in stone, to the exasperated looks of most of the councilors. None of them noticed the faint smiles that graced the faces of some of their fellows, however, and the way a couple of them hid looks of worry, or tried to hold their laughter from exploding.

 Chapter 263 - A Difference in Trust

    ¡°Why we kept getting people who had no business being in power in positions of power you ask? Simple enough, really. Either they were brought into power by those who themselves had no business being there¡­ or they started out as honest, well-meaning folks trying to do their best, only to find that yes, power corrupts.¡± - Bakhrie al Azir, Sultan of the Aselo Sultanate, part of the Hassid Caliphate, after a bloody coup and purge he led, circa 172 VA.


    ¡°I see you are as unworried as you were yesterday, Captain Edelstein,¡± noted Ze¡¯phane as she stood next to Reinhardt the next day. They were on top of the seventh wall¡¯s walkways once more, though at the southern section of the walls this time around. Around them were quite a few of the intrigued militia officers, as well as councilor Bernd Adenauer, who stood by Reinhardt to show his support.


    The rest of the council was grouped together a short distance to their east, while other members of the militia and townspeople who were interested in watching were gathered on their other side. Similarly, there was quite an audience building up near the gate, even spreading out to the sides where people tried to get a better vantage point to watch the duel about to happen.


    Roughly three hundred meters from the southern wall ¨C two hundred meters away from the closest of the audience, which was considered a safe enough distance ¨C stood two groups of fifty men each, a hundred meters apart, facing each other. On one side was naturally councilor de Kars¡¯ personal entourage, which were commanded by the knight that was his right-hand man.


    On the opposing side were the representatives from the Free Lances.


    Like the duel the day before, there was quite a contrast in the way the two groups looked. However, it was the other way around. The group representing councilor de Kars looked visibly stratified, with the knights wearing the best sets of armor and equipment of the bunch, making them easily recognizable. The footsoldiers under them instead made do with a layer of boiled leather lamellar on top of their thick fabric gambesons, while the archers at their rear did not even wear that.


    In contrast, the platoon sent out by the Free Lances looked almost as if they were cut out from the same cloth, with how they all wore brigandines that prominently displayed the company¡¯s emblem ¨C a pair of crossed lances in black over a background of white, with black trim ¨C on fabric covering of the brigandine suits they all wore. Their noticeably darker skin compared to the locals further made them stand out.


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    The Free Lances as a whole often had their armor custom-made by Hogarth and his apprentices once they had the funds to do so, and as the old dwarven smith was best at crafting brigandine suits, that was what most of them went for. Usually the fabric covering of said armor was left up to the wearer, as the outermost layer was more there to keep the inside layers clean, and was easily detachable.


    Alvaro and the other former warforged asked for theirs to have the company¡¯s emblem on it, however, partly to show solidarity, and partly to cement their sense of belonging to the company.


    When Reinhardt heard the first words of complaints the day before he already had a clear inkling what de Kars likely complained about. It was true that the Free Lances specialized in irregular tactics rather than in open field battles which were far more common in that day and age, but it did not mean that they were unable to fight that way.


    In fact, Alvaro¡¯s platoon happened to be one which was still far more accustomed to open battles compared to irregular tactics, though they were learning fast.


    They were also some of the best disciplined infantrymen Reinhardt had seen, and he knew all too well that his company had success against them largely because the warforged were too used to fighting only human opponents, and had little idea what to do against units comprised heavily of other races who made use of their natural advantages.


    All those were things they learned after they joined the Free Lances, along with some adjustments made to their tactics and equipment, to further suit the company¡¯s methods. When councilor de Kars asked for the lifting of the age limit, likely thinking that it would give him an advantage ¨C and Reinhardt did not fail to notice that the councilor¡¯s right-hand man looked to be a half dwarf of rather advanced age ¨C he had no idea what he asked for.


    Reinhardt himself had full confidence in Alvaro and his platoon, especially after the couple years of training they had with the company, which greatly improved their flexibility and skills without taking away what made them so effective back in their homeland. Indeed, the four rows of silent former warforged who stood tall at attention while they waited for the duel to start cut a stark contrast to the less disciplined entourage across the field from their position.


    It was a palpable difference that even those unfamiliar with warfare could notice, a difference in discipline and spirit that bared itself for all to see.


    It was also one reason why Reinhardt wasn¡¯t even bothered in the least when he heard that councilor de Kars along with a few others chose to spectate the duel from amongst the gathered audience below, from closer in. Close enough that their shouts could be heard by those dueling, if they paid attention to it and shouted loud enough.


    If anything, such a tendency to try to micromanage everything under him just showed Reinhardt the lack of trust the former nobleman had of his men. The mercenaries were far more independent by contrast. Reinhardt had handed the battle for Alvaro to handle, and he would not second guess his decision, placing his full trust in his subordinates instead.


    Soon enough, the sun rose to its highest in the sky, and a councilor signaled the start of the duel.

 Chapter 264 - A Trust Repaid in Spades

    ¡°Do not trust the questionable, and do not question the trusted, that¡¯s how I do it.¡± - Arafinas the Great, Emperor of Clangeddin during the later part of its golden age of expansion.


    To say that Alvaro was nervous was an understatement.


    It was only the previous afternoon that the Captain himself called for him and told him to pick fifty of his best, to represent the company in a duel today. While none of the warforged were strangers to battlefields, this would be their first actual foray under the flag of the Free Lances. Their first chance to show their worth to the company that had accepted them under their wing.


    Probably didn¡¯t help that Reinhardt had specifically told Alvaro to win the fight in a way that left no room for doubt either.


    Alvaro had picked the best fifty from the seventy-three former warforged that joined the company. They were arrayed in four lines of twelve each at the moment, a dozen shieldbearers at the front, while the remaining thirty-four spearmen were arranged behind them, the final two lines being thirteen men wide. He himself, Njeri, and the other two blademasters were interspersed between them.


    All of them had new armor and equipment courtesy of the company, with the shieldbearers and spearmen having been given a change of gear to better suit the new tactics they learned. Instead of a massive shield that needed two hands to wield properly, the shieldbearers now carried a still large tower shield that could be wielded two-handed, but also usable with just one arm supporting it.


    At the back of the large shield were holders for two short javelins on one side, and a short spear ¨C a meter long, with nearly half of it being a broad spearhead that could both pierce and cut effectively ¨C on the other, for the shieldbearers to use in combat. They were also armored far better than before, though that likely applied to every one of them these days.


    The spearmen had traded their massive six meter pikes for long spears that still measure twice as long as a man was tall. Their shields were smaller, and could either be strapped to their arm in a way that allowed them to use it while leaving their hands free to wield the spear with both hands, or with a grip held in their hand for better control in close combat.


    Similarly, the small hatchets they used to wield had been replaced by forward-curved blades that had a similar feel and balance to what they were used to, but were longer and deadlier, with greater flexibility as well. They too carried two short javelins hidden behind their shield, kept in place by holders on the backside of the shield.


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    All the warforged rank and file had been trained in the use of those short javelins, and even the blademasters each carried a quiver of three javelins behind their backs.


    Their opponents brought ten archers amongst their fifty, which naturally outranged what the warforged had with them. The moment the duel started, those archers loosed arrows as they could towards the warforged formation, but all the former slave soldiers did was to calmly raise their shields and march forward. Their shields were sturdy wood with a thin sheet of metal affixed to it, covered in leather, and the arrows failed to pierce through those shields.


    Meanwhile, the warforged marched unhindered with steady steps, even as the arrows from the other side fell on their shields like raindrops.


    They quickly covered covered half the distance between the two groups in the time it took for the enemy archers to empty half their quivers, and alarmed, the enemy shifted their formation, the archers moving to the sides where they attempted to land some hits while the rest of the infantry formation moved forward, forming a four-line formation each ten men wide. The four commanders on the other side ¨C one for the archers, two for the infantry, and one overall commander ¨C were all at the rearmost line.


    In contrast, the four blademasters amongst the warforged were right at the second line, stationed right behind their shieldbearers, where they could react to the situation fastest.


    As they reached a distance of twenty-five meters away from their foes, the whole warforged formation grabbed one of their short javelins. They then hurled the javelins at their foes while only opening small gaps in the protective coverage of their shields, the fifty javelins flying through the air in an arc to fall on their opponents like a swarm of angry hornets.


    Even though their opponents also carried shields and raised them, javelins carried a lot more force behind them compared to arrows, and they pierced through those shields, with unlucky soldiers finding the sharp ends entering their bodies.


    The former warforged rushed forward and covered ten meters closer before their enemy managed to calm their soldiers after the javelin volley, only to repeat the maneuver, this time from closer, with many of the javelins thrown directly ahead instead of in an arc. The order that was just reestablished amongst the enemy troops immediately fell into chaos once more as another swarm of javelins struck home.


    Then the former slave soldiers charged with weapons in hand, their trained legs covering the remaining fifteen meters of distance in seconds.


    First it was the shieldbearers that clashed shield to shield against the enemy soldiers. With the momentum of their run behind them, the former slave soldiers pushed their opponents until they lost their balance and had to be supported by the one behind them, which briefly kept those soldiers occupied with their allies. It was an opening that did not go to waste, as a moment later dozens of sharp points stabbed out from behind the shields.


    The shieldbearers in front stabbed out with their short spears, while the spearmen from the two rows behind them stabbed from above the coverage of the tower shields using their long spears, abusing the reach advantage of their weapons and the distracted state of their enemies to harry them fiercely. Already several soldiers on the opposing side fell as the spearheads found home in their flesh.


    While the archers on the enemy side dropped their bows and drew their swords at that point, their attempt to help was rapidly rendered futile, as the two veteran blademasters from the warforged side took seven men each and slaughtered them before they could do anything, before they pivoted and harried the enemy¡¯s flanks in a coordinated maneuver.


    Right as they did so, Alvaro and Njeri slipped out from behind the massive shields that kept them out of sight and started to go wild as they charged into the enemy formation.

 Chapter 265 - Like Predators Amidst a Flock of Prey

    ¡°In this era of formation-based warfare, those who hold steady until the opponent breaks, wins. Of course, there are lunatics who took risks and tried to break the enemy formation instead of holding steady and outlasting them, but these rarely succeed, and if they do, rarely more than once.¡± - Seko Tu Mboma, noble and commander from Posuin, circa 530 VA.


    Unlike when they were still with the Warforged, Alvaro and Njeri did not charge ahead on their own, entirely uncaring for their own lives. Instead, each of them brought four chosen subordinates with them, spearmen who were most skilled in close combat. The four were entrusted to guard their sides and back as they charged through the enemy formation relentlessly.


    The move caught their opponents off guard like it did with the retinue of the noblemen they defeated back at Posuin. It was the norm in that day and age for a duel between formation to rely on which side could outlast the other, a battle of tenacity and discipline, a test of nerves to see which side would break down before the other.


    To actively break apart one¡¯s own formation to flank, encircle, and then strike deeply into the enemy formation were things that were typically attributed to gloryhound behavior that would only lead to self destruction. It was fine to pull maneuvers and the likes when one outnumbered their foe and could devote additional formations to do so, but to break apart one¡¯s own formation in a clash was seen as suicidal.


    Too bad for them, the Free Lances had long made an art out of the practice, and the former Warforged naturally learned from them as well.


    Alvaro stepped forward with steady footsteps, his greatblade swinging around him in a blur that kept the enemy soldiers from daring to approach. The limbs and heads of those who had stepped too close served as testament to the fate that awaited any who dared to brave the whirling blade the young warrior kept in constant, circular motion around his body.


    The very air made a whirring, near whistling sound as he brought his blade around him in rapid revolutions, making full use of the weapon¡¯s prodigious length to keep his enemies at bay. While the enemy soldiers possess spears longer than his blade, they were not trained to use those against enemies within their formation, while those that drew their swords found themselves hopelessly outmatched by the length of Alvaro¡¯s greatblade.


    Given the shallowness of the enemy formation, it had not taken Alvaro long before he reached the backline where the enemy commanders were. The four enemy commanders still looked flustered at the situation of their army when he fell upon them and forced them to forget about commanding as they had to fight for their lives.


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    While Alvaro was skilled, one against four was not as easy as it sounded, especially since the enemy¡¯s high commander, the half-elven man, was just as skilled with the slender saber he wielded. In fact, Alvaro doubted that he could match the man in single combat should the man not be weighed down by his allies who often got in his way accidentally.


    Fortunately he was not alone for long either.


    Njeri and her group burst out from the enemy formation¡¯s other side shortly after he engaged the enemy commanders in a fight, and the girl herself pounced at the fight from behind. The half-elven high commander had the instinct and awareness to notice the danger and managed to block the stab Njeri directed at him, but his colleague beside him was not as lucky, as the tip of Njeri¡¯s crescent-bladed shotel slipped past his raised shield and entered his brain through his left eye.


    Alvaro immediately redoubled his assault on the remaining enemy commanders, while Njeri kept the half-elf occupied. While Alvaro was better at dealing with crowds due to his fighting style and weapon of choice, he had no illusions and knew that Njeri was by far the better duelist between them. As such, he entrusted the one tough enemy to her as he took care of the rest, entrusting their backs to their teams.


    It only took a few exchanges before one of the enemy commanders made a mistake and stumbled against the half-elf¡¯s back by accident as he retreated, causing the older man to almost get himself skewered by Njeri. Before the flustered enemy managed to apologize or regain himself, however, Alvaro already struck, and his blade cleanly decapitated the man on the spot.


    From there it was a two on two fight against a pair of opponents who had nowhere near the sort of tacit understanding he and Njeri had with each other after nearly two decades of training and fighting together. They cleverly maneuvered their opponents until the back of the other¡¯s opponent was open to the other, then they struck simultaneously as they switched targets.


    The sharpened point of the parrying stick built as a part of Njeri¡¯s buckler stabbed through the throat of Alvaro¡¯s last opponent from behind, while the half-elf only barely managed to avoid death from Alvaro¡¯s whirling blade, escaping with a bleeding cut behind his right shoulder. Even though he escaped death for the moment, his fate was pretty much sealed.


    After all, he was now injured, left alone, and fighting against both Alvaro and Njeri at the same time.


    It only took the pair another fifteen seconds before Njeri managed to trap the half-elf¡¯s blade between her shotel and her buckler, rendering him unable to defend himself when Alvaro¡¯s strike arrived and nearly cleaved his upper body in half from shoulder to waist. The man teetered for another step before he dropped dead on the ground before them.


    With all the enemy commanders wiped out, it was a trivial matter for the rest of the former warforged to encircle and eliminate the rest of their opponents. Some of the opposing soldiers saw the writing on the wall and threw away their weapons, kneeling with their hands raised high in surrender. Others were more stubborn and insisted on fighting until their last breath.


    Some of the surrendering enemies were killed, not by the former Warforged, but by their own former comrades. All it resulted was an internal dispute that had the mercenaries simply watch from the outskirts before what was left of their enemies collectively surrendered, having slain those who slew the surrendering ones earlier.

 Chapter 266 - Going to Work

    ¡°Where possible, always take care of potential problems ahead of time, so one could work undisturbed.¡± - Renatus Guis-vellanz, Vice Commander of the Danton¡¯s Demons Mercenary Company.


    ¡°I believe you understand where the source of my confidence came from, now,¡± said Reinhardt with a smirk as the battle neared its end in the distance. Ze¡¯phane gave an appreciative whistle as she saw the fight turn into a one-sided massacre, and Bernd Adenauer at Reinhardt¡¯s other side also gave a nod of appreciation at the sight.


    ¡°A good way to showcase your capabilities, indeed,¡± admitted the half-orc with a nod even as the fighting died down. Far below they could see the way councilor de Kars and his group went from cheers to angry shouts and commands to a quiet resignation over time as the table turned against their representatives, which contrasted greatly to the way Reinhardt had stood at ease throughout the match.


    ¡°There goes pretty much all credibility de Kars has, as well. I doubt the man has thick enough skin to stay in the council after this,¡± noted Bernd Adenauer with another appreciative nod. ¡°All in two days, too. You certainly work fast, Captain Edelstein.¡±


    ¡°We simply delivered what was asked of us, councilor Adenauer,¡± replied Reinhardt with a slight nod, though he did not bother to hide the toothy grin on his face either. ¡°When an opportunity comes to take down two birds with one stone, we wouldn¡¯t be worth our price as mercenaries if we did not make the best use out of it.¡±


    ¡°Well said, Captain,¡± noted the former nobleman with a nod. ¡°With these demonstrations, there should be minimal resistance to whatever training plan you have in mind for the militia. They had all seen the results, after all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the intention, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smirk as he walked towards where the rest of the councilors gathered.


    ******************************


    Sure enough, by the next morning, the Free Lances already started to train the city¡¯s militia in their way. The city had an abundance of militiamen, so it was easy enough to make a schedule so that they would spend five days of the week in training, one day on duty, while the final day was reserved as a rest day, on a rotating schedule so as to allow even training to all the militia members.


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    Under Reinhardt¡¯s suggestion, the city council also announced a call for the reserve members of the militia to join the training on a voluntary basis. That call alone practically doubled the number of people who joined the training, as many of the reserve militiamen heeded the call and volunteered. Fortunately, the company was prepared for such numbers.


    Reinhardt had roughly half of the company take turns in helping Dacia and the others who were part of the group responsible for training newcomers. They alternated on a weekly basis, so as to give the company members something to do, while the rest maintained their combat readiness. After the demonstration of the duels, the militiamen were quite obedient even when subjected to hard training.


    Of course, Reinhardt also set it up so the younger members of the company were distributed somewhat evenly between the halves, so their presence could motivate and provoke the militiamen into working harder. Nobody liked being shown up by youngsters half their age, after all, and many of the younger members of the company were even younger than that.


    While the regular members of the militia were mostly subjected to training that were aimed to improve their strength and stamina, discipline, and combat methods, those who served as the officers had extra portions of training reserved for them. They also had to learn more about commanding soldiers, inciting morale, and so on, notwithstanding various ways to make use of the terrain to their advantage.


    Since a large number of the militia were locals who had little to no military background ¨C most of the better ones were former city guards ¨C there was quite a lot that they could learn from the Free Lances.


    Reinhardt had conjectured that the main reason Levain managed to win its independence was partly due to high morale and overwhelming numbers in the past. The way the city was setup meant that it was rather vulnerable to attacks from the inside, and indeed that was how the locals managed to rebel against the nobles at the time.


    After they gained control of the city, given the seven solid layers of walls and their large numbers, it would be difficult for any outside force to take the city. Even at best case, they would only manage to do so after taking grievous losses themselves, which was likely one reason none of their neighbors made any serious push so far.


    Since Levain annexed the independent lands around it, however, its lands now reached a good bit further from the city itself, and in the past couple of years skirmishes with its neighbors had increased in both quantity and intensity. The militia that Levain relied on was not particularly skilled at field combat, however, even if their numbers remained most formidable.


    That was something Reinhardt planned to change.


    Other than the militia, the Free Lances also worked with Ze¡¯phane ¨C who had been teaching the locals plenty about horsemanship ¨C to form a cavalry unit for the Free City¡¯s use. The locals taught by the half-orc had become good riders over the past couple of years, but they still have minimal experience fighting on horseback or with cavalry tactics.


    Soledad and Anatoli, along with the rest of their cavalry platoon, became the solution to that problem.


    The couple worked together with Ze¡¯phane to coach the locals until they could muster a passable cavalry unit. So far, the locals had numbers ¨C two thousand cavalrymen was a lot in that day and age, much less in the hands of a single power ¨C and horsemanship taken care of. They started training with spears and javelins, both the couple and Ze¡¯phane agreeing that they were best trained as light cavalry.


    After all, the Free City did not exactly have the funds to gear so many heavy cavalrymen and maintain them.

 Chapter 267 - Intensive Training

    ¡°Due to the differences between races, and even subdivisions within a country, there was rarely any one particular way in which people fought. Each region typically had their own leanings when it comes to tactics and stratagems, especially in the earlier days.


    Around the Times of Turmoil in Alcidea, the norm for the age was to battle in formations, utilizing the might of the many, troop discipline, and camaraderie to outlast their opponents. It was during the later years of that era that some mercenary companies started popularizing the usage of small-unit tactics, in essence a miniaturized type of formation warfare, designed for greater flexibility and maneuverability.¡± - from a lecture by Ansen Lenos Cardigan, History professor in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 602 FP.


    ¡°I am here to convey my apology, Captain,¡± said Alvaro that morning when he visited Reinhardt¡¯s tent shortly after breakfast. ¡°We had failed to fulfill our mission as ordered.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Reinhardt with some surprise. The former slave-soldier who was now one of his platoon leaders looked positively aghast, yet Reinhardt couldn¡¯t find any flaw with the way the former warforged handled the duel the day before. They had thoroughly crushed their opposition while leaving no room for anyone to question their mettle.


    ¡°We failed to pull off a flawless win without any casualties on our side,¡± said Alvaro with a grave look on his face. ¡°During the fighting, two of ours were too intoxicated by the fighting to the point that they failed to watch their steps and slipped on enemy corpses.¡±


    ¡°How are their conditions?¡± queried Reinhardt with some concern.


    ¡°Ugos sprained his ankle, and Naleva had a mild concussion as he fell backwards and his head happened to hit a discarded helmet,¡± replied Alvaro sincerely. ¡°We had hoped to be able to present a perfect victory but failed due to their injuries.¡±


    To Alvaro¡¯s surprise, Reinhardt just laughed uproariously at his words.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Reinhardt as he stood up and laid a hand reassuringly at the younger man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Your people did a fine job, there¡¯s no need for such perfectionism, hahaha,¡± he added even while laughing some more. ¡°It¡¯s plenty that we lost nobody on our side and handed their side such a defeat, you all did just fine.¡±


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    ¡°Anyway, since we¡¯ll be training the militia from now on, I will need you and your men to participate and help training them as well,¡± added Reinhardt. ¡°Think you¡¯ll be up for the task?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ am not certain, captain. Elders Bulegu and Oleas has some experience in teaching others, but most of us were juniors and had no such experience,¡± said Alvaro as he named the two older blademasters that had also joined the Free Lances.


    ¡°You all still remembered how you were trained, though, no?¡± asked Reinhardt instead, to which the younger man nodded. ¡°Then just do that, train them accordingly. I¡¯m having your people mostly help with training these militia in unit cohesion and discipline, since you¡¯re all particularly good at that.¡±


    ¡°We will do our best, Captain.¡±


    ******************************


    ¡°Keep going! In the end, when push comes to shove, those who could fight longer will have the advantage in a battle! Whether you could fight longer and harder than your enemies will determine whether you live or die!¡± yelled Dacia even as she jogged alongside thousands of militiamen who were part of the training that day. Due to the number of people involved, the training venue was the plains outside the city, around where the group duel took place just days ago.


    ¡°Are you supposed to be youths in the prime of your life!? What a joke! I¡¯m old enough to be your mother and you¡¯re already panting for breath before I¡¯m even winded!¡± she added in a tirade as she slowed down a bit to berate the group that was trailing in the back. ¡°Look at that! Even the actual kids have just lapped you! Do you all have no shame to be calling yourselves adults like this!?¡±


    Sure enough, Alycea¡¯s group of children around ten to thirteen had just ran a lap over the slowest of the militia group. Like Erycea¡¯s group of friends before her, Alycea¡¯s group also intended to join the company once they were of age, and had been training daily for years on end. Even though their bodies have yet to mature, they already possess more stamina than the average adult by far.


    Rather, perhaps it was part of the childish exuberance that helped them withstand the grueling training at first, and helped build their stamina at such a rapid pace despite their young age.


    Most of the militia men were in their late teens to early thirties, with some from the reserved being as old as forty. The majority of them might have some stamina from the daily labor they were subjected to during work, but there was a difference between the sort of stamina such jobs needed and the sort of stamina a soldier needed on the march.


    The mercenaries were training them until they were at least up to that latter standard, and seeing young children ¨C many young enough to have been their own children ¨C doing better than them during such training definitely incensed quite a few of the participating militiamen. Many of them who had grown tired stubbornly tried to keep going so as to not embarrass themselves before the others.


    Little did they know that they were merely on the early parts of their training, and that before too long, the mercenaries would have them do the same amount of running while carrying weights. None of the militiamen noticed that under the rather puffy sleeves of the clothing worn by the children they saw, there were weights strapped to their limbs like bracelets and anklets, all as part of their training.


    Naturally, it would be too troublesome to make those sorts of weights for so many militiamen, so instead, they would have to make do with logs, heavy backpacks filled with sand and stones, and other makeshift weights instead. The results would be less ideal, but the training would be roughly as effective anyway, so it was considered an acceptable solution.

 Chapter 268 - Sharing Joy and Pain

    ¡°Those willing to share joys and pains with the people under them were the ones who end up being the most respected of leaders.¡± - Saying by Elmaiyan philosopher Vassily Erdzin, from the First Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    After a week had passed, several members of the city council visited the plains outside Levain¡¯s walls, to take a look at how the training that their militia was undergoing went. Most of the training took place to the west and the south of the city, areas that were more secure, chosen partly to reduce the risk of spies noticing the activity, and partly to lower the time the mercenaries needed to go to and from the training area every day.


    Probably because she felt it was part of her duties as the de facto leader of the council, but councilor Estelle led the delegation that went to visit the training area herself. The delegation itself was mostly composed of representatives from the various factions of the council, most of which were united under her lead. None of them expected to see Reinhardt himself easily jogging alongside the militiamen being trained that day however, much less while lightly carrying a wooden log over one shoulder.


    ¡°Esteemed councilors,¡± greeted Reinhardt as he noticed the presence of the delegation, coming to a quick halt and lowering the log he carried. Even as he did so, he made some gestures towards some of the other trainers who nodded and kept the militiamen going in their rounds instead of allowing them to stop and gawk at the visitors.


    ¡°We¡­ had not expected you to be part of the training yourself, Captain,¡± admitted Estelle with some surprise, which was accompanied by similar murmurs from the other councilors behind her. All of them looked just as surprised to see the captain of the company himself helping out with the training. ¡°Much less to such an extent.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just part of my normal training regime, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt lightly. While he already ran quite a few laps by then, all while carrying a whole log of wood on one shoulder, he barely showed any sign of fatigue whatsoever. ¡°Those of us in this line of work got to keep ourselves in good shape, after all. Just because I¡¯m the Captain doesn¡¯t mean I get to laze off my bum instead of doing the same. Since the timing happened to coincide, I figure it could serve as additional motivation for them as well.¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty exemplary attitude towards work, regardless, Captain. I wish more people would do the same,¡± replied the councilwoman with a sigh that turned into a chuckle. ¡°I see our people are getting trained hard as we requested.¡±


    In contrast to Reinhardt¡¯s easygoing jog, the militiamen who were training on the field were already showing obvious signs of fatigue and exhaustion. Many already trailed behind, people who were putting one step ahead of another purely by sheer willpower, driving their aching bodies beyond what it was normally capable of.


    The reason for which was also quite easily visible. Reinhardt had not been jogging alone that morning, as Alycea and her group also happened to be running alongside him. As the runners came around for the next lap, the delegation from the council naturally also noticed the group of young children who were not just keeping pace with the adults, but were easily leaving them behind.


    ¡°Those are?¡± asked councilor Estelle with curiosity as she noticed the group of children. Some of them were not humans, and a few who were of therian descent were even running on all fours while carrying even younger children no more than six or so years of age as passengers on their backs.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s my younger daughter and her friends. They had been training themselves in order to join the company once they were of age,¡± explained Reinhardt with some pride. ¡°What these militiamen are experiencing as part of their training now, has been part of daily life for these kids since they were much younger.¡±


    ¡°Having them around during the training always worked well to incense people to really bring out their full potential to boot,¡± he added with a smirk. ¡°After all, nobody likes being shown up by kids younger than themselves. We do the same to our trainees.¡±


    ¡°Are children like them¡­ common, Captain?¡± asked Estelle with some uncertainty in her voice. Some of the children who joined the run were no older than nine or ten, and while it was not uncommon for children that age to be helping out their families, seeing them go through grueling training that would make the average adult barely able to catch their breath was another matter altogether.


    ¡°Amongst companies like us? More common than you would think, Madam councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with an easy nod. ¡°Practically all those children have either one or both of their parents as part of the company, either as an active combatant or part of our support staff. Many of them have set it as their goal to join the company as they grew up. Both my daughters were no exception to this.¡±


    ¡°Your daughters as well? Wait¡­ the girl who led your team during the first duel¡­ was she your daughter?¡± asked Estelle as she put two and two together. Therians of Reinhardt¡¯s specific kind were practically unheard of in the northern continent, as apparently they came from a small tribe in Elmaiya in the southern continent.


    As such, just one glance at Erycea¡¯s looks and most anyone would immediately realize that she must be connected to Reinhardt in a familial way, given how rare their kind were in Alcidea. Reinhardt had not mentioned that to the councilors other than Bernd who already knew, and was himself quite surprised to see Erycea represent the company in the duel.


    ¡°Yep. Little Ery joined the company along with her group of friends officially during our last year in Posuin. She has done nothing but make me proud of her ever since then.¡±

 Chapter 269 - Trouble at the Border

    ¡°Border regions were typically some of the most well-armed places in a country, because when trouble comes knocking they would be the first into the fray, nine times out of ten. You want us to decommission our armies and melt our swords into plows? Why don¡¯t you go and fuck a sow instead, esteemed count?¡± - Duchess Sevani Utghwes of Dvergarder, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°When are we departing, Captain?¡± asked Bernd Adenauer with some worry in his voice.


    They had just received news late the previous night from Avila that there was a suspected enemy force of around five thousand men headed towards Levain¡¯s easternmost border, namely the territory that the former viscount used to rule over. Reinhardt had split the aerial reconnaissance platoon and assigned them to various spots on the borders of Levain territory to serve as an early warning system, and it worked.


    Avila spotted the enemy army early the previous morning and reached Levain itself to deliver her report at night. It was a distance that would have taken a week for most means of travel to traverse normally. The enemy army itself was still an estimated four or five days away from the inhabited area of the eastern border, even counting from the time she arrived in Levain.


    Reinhardt had naturally relayed the intelligence to the city council, and to his surprise, they immediately gathered and voted in an emergency meeting that very night, opting to send some troops to help support those already in the region. They also requested the Free Lances to participate in the mission as well, as it fell under their contract, being a defensive battle.


    ¡°In an hour, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt. Once the mission was confirmed he had roused the company¡¯s support staff to prepare things for departure. Roughly half the company ¨C the ones not on training duty that week ¨C would depart to help with the defense, while the rest would continue with training the locals. It was still rather early in the morning, but they were already nearly finished packing and preparing for the deployment.


    The city itself would send out ten thousand of its militiamen, but they would likely take longer to reach the east, roughly a week or so. The Free Lances were more accustomed to rapid deployment and could reach the eastern region in half the time, where they would then coordinate with the local defenders ¨C councilor Adenauer¡¯s private home guards and militia from the region ¨C to mount a resistance while waiting for reinforcements.


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    ¡°You¡¯re coming along with us then?¡± Reinhardt asked the councilor, who was riding a horse, alongside with around a dozen guards arrayed behind him. They were part of his home guard who had followed him to Levain to escort him, but stayed behind during his trip to Knallzog since that was intended to be an undercover one.


    ¡°That land was placed under my jurisdiction, and my family had lived there for generations,¡± said the former nobleman with a serious tone. Unlike his usually lighthearted, jovial tone, he looked dead serious at that moment as he looked Reinhardt in the eye. ¡°The people who lived there are part of my responsibility. If there were foreign invaders, I should at least be there to fight alongside them.¡±


    ¡°A commendable choice,¡± he replied in acknowledgement. ¡°I hope you and your men are prepared to ride hard, then. We aim to reach Aldenstadt by the third night from now, so we won¡¯t be slowing down to wait for anyone.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll manage,¡± replied the former nobleman with a slight nod of his head.


    Perhaps it was coincidence at play, but Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoons were not on duty that week, which meant that they would be part of the expedition. Even if they were, though, Reinhardt would have brought them anyway. The advantage of having people who knew the land was a great one, so the more locals he could bring along the better.


    As it was, he knew that there were a thousand home guards at Aldenstadt, personal soldiers retained by Bernd Adenauer¡¯s family. The region itself was not that heavily populated, but drawing upon a couple thousand people as militia should be doable. That still placed them in a numerical disadvantage without any serious defensive structure to even the odds, however.


    After all, the former region Aldenstadt was in could be considered to be right in the heartland of the former Clangeddin Empire. Levain was the only true walled city in that region, with the rest of the territories not really considering the need for fortifications. Disputes between nobles in the former empire rarely escalated to full-blown war, after all, and tend to be settled through duels instead, at worst.


    As a result, the civil war that raged through the empire rarely resulted in sieges, but saw a lot of urban fighting instead. The border regions where the majority of the fortifications lay were generally more militarized as well, which made it rarer for them to be the defender. They cleverly invaded others in the richer inner regions of the former empire instead of turning on each other.


    That exact situation was part of the issue Reinhardt has to deal with now, though when it comes to it, he would stake his current company against any takers when it comes to irregular warfare. The region Aldenstadt was located in happened to be rather mountainous, which meant there would likely be chances for the company to make good use of the terrain to their advantage.


    Of course, since he accepted the mission, he had pored over the best maps he could find to check the terrain around Levain. Similarly, the aerial recon platoon was tasked not only with watching out for enemy activity, but to create more accurate maps that they could rely on. That meant that the company was on limited aerial recon for the time being, with only Hannah ¨C who was kept behind in Levain ¨C and Avila with them, as the rest were spread out in the borders of Levain¡¯s territory.


    It was nothing they couldn¡¯t work around, though.

 Chapter 270 - Pests or Assets?

    ¡°One of the most vital skills to learn as a career soldier of any sort is to sleep. You need to be able to sleep anywhere, anytime, for however long you have time to rest, under any circumstances. It does not matter if you¡¯re stuck in a small fort with no way out and tens of thousands of raving lunatics who want to murder you are attacking the place day and night. You WILL take your rest when you are told.


    And you will wake up ready to fight some more, no matter how little or how poor your sleep was. You either do that, or you die.¡± - Ignaz Juro Alvarez, retired mercenary, formerly of the Free Lances mercenary Company, circa 42 FP.


    ¡°Those are¡­ intriguing beasts, Captain Edelstein,¡± noted Bernd Adenauer as they rested for the night rather late that night. Reinhardt had pushed for a hard pace that would allow their convoy to reach Aldenstadt by the third night, at least a couple days before the enemy force was expected to reach there, and the councilor was surprised at the way they traveled so rapidly. ¡°Useful, too.¡±


    The main reason for the rapid ¨C and somewhat punishing, as the horses that the councilor and his guards rode were still quite exhausted after the long day ¨C pace was the beasts of burden that the Free Lances had tethered to their wagons. The beasts were not something the former nobleman was familiar with, or had seen in the Empire for that matter.


    They looked like large, wooly goats, each as large as some smaller horse breeds, but with solid, muscular legs that put many larger horses to shame, with a pair of humps on their back and curly horns. The beasts somehow kept up a pace that a horse would need to canter to match even while they were pulling the wagons behind them.


    More surprisingly, the odd goats somehow managed to keep that same pace even while traveling through the rougher terrain of the roads further away from Levain, which generally were less well maintained. The wagons that the mercenaries rode were clearly also modified to be able to traverse such terrain without trouble, which allowed them to keep their rapid pace regardless of the road condition.


    Both Bernd and his guards had fallen back to the rear of the convoy in that stretch of road because they did not dare to travel too fast with their horses, fearing a fall or a stumble from the poor road condition. The way the goats simply rushed through the road as if it was flat land even while pulling the wagons ¨C a team of two goats were tethered to each wagon ¨C was something to behold.


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    ¡°Ah, they are indeed. These are Nialosian Humpback Goats, native to the Nialos mountain range in Knallzog,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°Very hardy beasts, these, and they can even climb cliffs almost as easily as they walk through flatlands. They¡¯re pretty commonly used in Knallzog as beasts of burden, but they don¡¯t really sell them to outsiders often.¡±


    ¡°How did you get your hands on so many, then?¡± asked the surprised councilor.


    ¡°My company is based in Knallzog after all, in a sense, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a laugh. ¡°Seriously though, my late aunt¡¯s father, the first captain of the company, bought a herd of them to serve as beasts of burden for the fledgling company back then. Over the years the company grew larger, but the herd also kept increasing in size, and we allowed them to keep breeding all the way. These days we have enough of the adult goats to move the majority of our combat forces at speed like this, even.¡±


    ¡°Very interesting,¡± noted the former nobleman. ¡°I¡¯d normally offer to buy a small herd of them from you at this point, but I get the feeling that there¡¯s something you left unsaid about them, isn¡¯t there? Otherwise these would be far more commonly used everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. These things are very hardy like I mentioned. They also eat just about anything, so there¡¯s no worry about feeding them either. Problem is, if you fail to keep the population under control, they turn into pests. Pests that would ravage the whole countryside and leave it as barren wasteland,¡± said Reinhardt seriously. ¡°It¡¯s the main reason they aren¡¯t sold to outsiders often. Not even the dwarves wish that fate upon their enemies. We mostly keep our herd at a steady number and butcher the excess, as they also make for good eating.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easy enough to just keep them under control, then?¡±


    ¡°Councilor, you¡¯ve been to our camp in both Knallzog and here. I¡¯m certain you had noticed the enclosure where we kept our goats both times? It¡¯s the one where there were guards stationed all around it,¡± asked Reinhardt back, to which the former nobleman nodded. ¡°We keep them under such strict guard because these things are bloody clever and like to try to escape all the time. It¡¯s fine if just one escapes, but if a mating pair escapes¡­ you might be looking at a barren mountain in say, ten years at most.¡±


    ¡°Surely you exaggerate?¡±


    ¡°Nope, apparently it happened in the past, and was the reason their sales were regulated in the first place. As such, if you do insist on buying some, I will request that you sign all the proper waivers first, so that any disaster that might happen in the future would not be part of my responsibility,¡± said Reinhardt with an amused shake of his head. ¡°You¡¯re looking at them as useful beasts of burden, but we on the other hand had to look at their history as pests that wreaked havoc on the environment.¡±


    ¡°I guess even pests could be useful in the right hands, then.¡±


    ¡°They sure are. Even the dwarves in Knallzog use them for rapid long distance transportation, though like us, they keep the herds strongly under guard to prevent escapees and wild herds forming. For that reason we mostly keep only a few males as studs and keep them under strict surveillance and guard unless we need them for mating purposes. We left those behind in Levain, of course.¡±

 Chapter 271 - Early Arrival

    ¡°The force that arrives on the battlefield first has the advantage, as they get more time to learn and where possible, abuse the terrain to their advantage. As such, striving to reach a battlefield ahead of the enemy is a worthwhile endeavor.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°While this has been a hard ride, captain, I am most impressed by your company¡¯s haste,¡± admitted councilor Bernd Adenauer, former Viscount of Aldenburg when they saw the lights of Aldenstadt in the evening of the third day since their departure from Levain. The Free Lances had pushed hard to reach the former Viscounty capital city in three days of travel, and had delivered on their promise.


    The former noble had looked in some wonderment how the mercenaries went about their days in their wagons, some at times taking naps despite the rough jostling of the uneven road. They slept only a few hours every night, stopping late in the night to rest and continuing the journey once more at the crack of dawn itself.


    Aldenstadt was a city located at the top of a small hill, with only two roads leading to it, one from the west and one from the east side. The convoy of wagons naturally took the western road up towards the city, the councilor leading the way as it was his hometown after all. As they approached the city proper, they saw that a small group of people had gathered to welcome their arrival.


    ¡°My Liege,¡± said a middle-aged half-orcish woman in armor with a bow as Bernd Adenauer rode into town. The way the woman looked paired together with her unusually broad build reminded Reinhardt immediately of Gr¨¹nhildr, and sure enough, shortly after the councilor returned the greeting in a friendly manner and rode off, Gr¨¹nhildr leapt off the wagon she was on and embraced the woman warmly.


    ¡°My little Gr¨¹n, you¡¯re back at last!¡± exclaimed the woman with obvious joy even as she returned the embrace with one that looked like it could break bones if applied to a less sturdy person. Not that Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s embrace was a soft one either, to be fair. The pair of mother and daughter took some time to themselves to celebrate the reunion after a long absence, before later on Gr¨¹nhildr led her mother to the city hall where Reinhardt held a meeting with the councilor and some of the locals.


    ¡°Captain, may I present madam Daleeni Sigvaldi, head of my home guard,¡± said Bernd Adenauer as Gr¨¹nhildr and her mother walked in. The pair exchanged a nod before they left for their respective seats. Gr¨¹nhildr needed to be present as Reinhardt had every platoon leader he brought present as well, while her mother was there as representative of the locals.


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    ¡°Nice to meet you, madam,¡± said Reinhardt politely with a nod to the middle-aged woman, who returned his nod approvingly. One glance at the older woman¡¯s musculature was enough to tell that she had not become the head of the guards through improper means. ¡°Hannah just returned a while ago with a report that the enemies are still around two days away. That gives us options.¡±


    ¡°We are not as familiar with the local terrain as much as you people are, so I would like to ask you if there are any places of notable military value we should keep note of in the vicinity? As far as our intelligence indicated, the enemy seemed to be around five thousand strong, and headed straight towards Aldenstadt. They tried to pillage the villages on their way but most of the villagers had evacuated safely thanks to our early warning, thankfully.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re talking a full invasion force, right?¡± asked Daleeni with a thoughtful expression. ¡°Aldenstadt¡¯s never been really geared for full-fledged war. The walls around our place¡¯s just there to keep vermin out at best, and while I¡¯d pit my boys and girls against most, I don¡¯t think they can carry the day against five times as many,¡± noted the woman. ¡°We got maybe two thousand, give or take a few hundred, that we can muster out of the populace I¡¯d say, but their skills would be suspect.¡±


    ¡°We were informed of that by councilor Adenauer along the way,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod as he matched the information together. ¡°We plan to attempt to minimize the impact of the fighting to the city itself, but in the worst case, I would like to ask the citizens to evacuate the areas near the eastern road, as that¡¯s where we will likely have to engage the enemies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have some of mine arrange for that, sure,¡± nodded the half-orcish woman firmly. Since their enemies were invading from the east it was a given that the eastern side of the city was the area most likely to be attacked first. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan? Do we just hunker down until reinforcements come from Levain? This place isn¡¯t that well suited for that, I think.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d only have to wait a day or two for those reinforcements, but I concur. This town isn¡¯t the most suitable for prolonged defense, other than its physical location. Still, that gives us some options¡­¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°Are there any areas to the east of the city where up to a hundred or so people could hide unnoticed?¡±


    ¡°The woods on the sides of the road are thick enough for that, I¡¯d wager,¡± replied the woman with a nod. ¡°It just happens that we haven¡¯t done the yearly trimming to keep the road clear yet, so there ought to be room to hide over there¡­¡± she added while she thought some more. ¡°Other than that¡­ there¡¯s the old iron mines, they¡¯re around half a day east of town, and the tunnel complex has many entrances, spanning a good area.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something to start with. Can you point out the locations of the mine entrances here on this map?¡± Reinhardt asked as he unfurled a large map of Aldenstadt and its vicinity. ¡°I do believe I might have some ideas that would let us do quite a bit more than just defend and wait for the enemies to come to our doorsteps¡­¡±

 Chapter 272 - Merrily Marching In

    ¡°There are some people out there who only realized that they¡¯re fucked when it¡¯s all but too late to do anything about it.¡± - Kaspar ¡°Ghost¡± Stevell, former assassin.


    Earl Severen LeCroix, formerly of the earldom of Kolain to the east of Aldenburg, watched his troops march before him in neat rows with some pride. Early on in the civil war, the Earl had looked around him for a backer to cling to, as his earldom was one of the smaller and weaker powers of the region. It had not taken him long before he decided to cling to the thigh of the March of Podovniy, the shield of the empire¡¯s east, and submitted himself and the land he reigned over as a vassal.


    In return, he was allowed to keep his former title and a good measure of control over his former domain. Kolain was a land wealthy from trade, as well as from the mines of precious metals found within its territory, but it was lacking in terms of military power. As such, the vassalage to the border March of Podovniy neatly covered that weakness, as the border marches were some of the most militarized regions of the now shattered Clangeddin Empire.


    That had been nearly fifteen years ago.


    In that timespan, the March of Podovniy had engulfed many other smaller territories in its vicinity, building itself up into one of the more powerful remnant pieces of the shattered empire. Earl LeCroix himself participated in a couple of those campaigns in an effort to win some appreciation from his new liege, Marquis Evon Podovniy, though he himself never actually fought in the frontlines.


    That was what the knights and soldiers were for, after all.


    Over the years the once weak Earldom of Kolain increased the size of its military, the ranks of knights were expanded, and militia were regularly recruited and trained for Podovniy¡¯s collective war effort. By the present day, Kolain proudly counted a good six thousand veteran soldiers under their banner, including a couple hundred light cavalry scouts and another three hundred knights amongst them.


    It was a force that had never known defeat in the past fifteen years, partly because the Podovniy March had yet to lock horns with powers that could rival it in size and power. Over the years however, the number of smaller powers decreased until the only remaining smaller powers were united in an alliance to the southern side of the former empire, so the march had to turn its eyes on its remaining neighbors.


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    Boroes to the east looked like a good target at first glance, the land being an independent entity that mostly served as a buffer between the former Empire¡¯s eastern border and the elven territory in the great forest to the north-east. The Marquis deemed it folly, however, as Boroes had been a neutral party throughout the civil war.


    There was no need to make a new enemy when instead they could enjoy the safe border and focus their might elsewhere.


    To their south was where the March of Galastine, which was primarily responsible for the southern border of the empire lay, but nowadays they called themselves the Duchy of Sevral-Galastine, after a political marriage between the daughter of Duke Sevral and the eldest son of Marquis Galastine. The forces of the combined Duchy was the main threat they faced, in Marquis Podovniy¡¯s eye, and thus they stationed a strong defensive force at the march¡¯s southern border as a result.


    On their north side was the former March of Anduillas, now calling itself the Anduille Regency. They were less powerful compared to the Duchy of Sevral-Galastine to the south, and the Marquis had considered them as a target, though he was undecided partly because of the last neighboring power that lay to the march¡¯s west side: The Free City of Levain.


    On paper, the Free City was the weakest of their neighbors by far, with practically the entirety of its military power being militiamen. What they possessed however, was an overwhelming number of said militiamen, as well as probably the most defensible location in the entirety of the former imperial territory. As such, the Marquis of Podovniy decided to send probing assaults to both Anduille and Levain, to judge their response and capabilities, and thus plan accordingly.


    Earl LeCroix had volunteered to lead the incursion force headed for Levain, as his former territory bordered Aldenburg which was now part of Levain, a region he was relatively familiar with.


    He himself had considered it a folly for Viscount Adenauer, the former leader of Aldenburg, to have associated himself with Levain instead of the more militant Podovniy. What hope was there in a bunch of peasant rabble who declared themselves independent? It would not take long before someone put those peasants in their place, the Earl had thought, and why couldn¡¯t he be the one to make such an achievement?


    It would certainly improve his standing before His Grace the Marquis. Maybe impress the man enough to get him to betroth one of his daughters to the Earl¡¯s son, as he hoped.


    As for the resistance expected at Aldenburg¡¯s former capital, Aldenstadt, the Earl thought little of it. At most they¡¯d have what? A thousand men? Maybe three thousand with some peasants added? Nothing that could stand before his veteran force of battle-hardened soldiers, certainly. All he had to do was be present as usual and cheer his troops from the safety of the rear lines.


    Success was close at hand, so he would have been foolish to not grasp it. He only hoped that the fighting could end faster so that he could return to a more comfortable dwelling once more instead of having to ride on horseback alongside his troops.


    As for the mercenaries he received news about, he did not think much about them. What could a mere thousand more men, much less filthy mercenaries, do in the face of overwhelming numbers, after all? All they would do is to add more bodies to the pile of corpses to be cleaned up once the fighting was over and done with.

 Chapter 273 - When Things Started to Go Wrong

    ¡°Arrogance and overestimation of one¡¯s own capabilities is the leading cause of death amongst nobles who went to the battlefield.¡± - General Publius Cornelius of Caeropa, circa 3 FP.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± asked Earl LeCroix when one of his senior knights, Sir Carns, rode back down the formation to report to him. The Earl considered the old knight a good warrior, but one who was perhaps a bit too cautious for his liking, as he often suggested taking unnecessary precautions in the past. Still, he was one of the best commanders in the Earl¡¯s employ, so it was a flaw the Earl chose to tolerate.


    ¡°Reporting, my liege,¡± said the old knight ¨C the man was old enough that his brown hair had partially turned gray, visible on his mustache and beard despite the helmet he wore ¨C as he gave a salute and rode alongside the Earl¡¯s horse. ¡°There has been another harassment attack to our flank, seven dead, fifteen injured. The attackers fled before we could react yet again.¡±


    ¡°They are getting annoying,¡± noted the Earl. His army¡¯s progress had been disturbed by random harassment attacks by assailants who kept fleeing after throwing a barrage of javelins or shooting off their crossbows since that morning. They were only a day away from Aldenstadt, and the Earl did not want to see any delays with conquering the city. ¡°Any suggestions? We must not delay in assaulting the city, lest the upstart peasants bring in reinforcements from Levain itself.¡±


    ¡°If my liege would permit it, I would like to send out two small detachments to chase down and eradicate these harassers when they come next,¡± replied the old knight. ¡°The detachments in question might be late in joining our assault, depending on how far away these nuisances had hidden themselves, but it should be an acceptable compromise over the continued harassment we have been receiving so far.¡±


    ¡°Make it so, then. Have Oersted and Baruz take the lead,¡± said the Earl as he nodded in agreement. While the harassment only did negligible damage to his army as a whole, they were annoying, and the sight of those who died or were wounded were not a good thing for morale either. ¡°How many people would you think is needed for this job?¡±


    ¡°If my liege would be so kind as to part with ten knights and a hundred soldiers for each of them, that should be enough,¡± replied the old knight after a short moment of thought.


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    ¡°Make it five knights and one hundred fifty of the peasants. We will need as many of our elites as we have on hand for the assault tomorrow. That should be sufficient for rounding up this rabble, don¡¯t you agree?¡± replied the Earl, to which the old knight voiced his approval after some thinking. ¡°Good, I¡¯ll leave it to you to choose from the men on whom you¡¯ll task to do this work. Dismissed.¡±


    ¡°Your will be done,¡± replied the old knight with another bow.


    Carns was an efficient commander, and by the time the harassers came next, a separate detachment, led by one of the knights named by the Earl and consisting of one hundred and fifty-five men, quickly split off from the main body of the army to pursue their annoying tormentors. The same thing happened when harassers from the other side came a while after that.


    The plan seemed to have been effective, as the army¡¯s progress was unimpeded by further harassment until they stopped to rest at sundown. Neither of the detachments they sent out have yet to return, but that was expected. Even in a best case scenario where the harassers had hidden away not too far from the road, neither detachment was expected to return before they began the assault on Aldenstadt the next morning.


    As it was, the army camped a short distance away from the road leading up the hill to Aldenstadt. From afar they could see how the city¡¯s eastern gate had been covered in its entirety with large logs of wood, likely a makeshift barricade the locals erected when they heard of the army¡¯s coming. Feeling confident about their impending success, the army ate their dinner then laid down to rest for the night.


    That sleep was disturbed by a commotion right around three hours past midnight, when most people were sleeping the deepest sleep of the night.


    Nobody was certain what happened for a while, and Earl LeCroix himself rushed out of his tent while still clad only in his nightclothes, completely flustered by the commotion. It was only minutes later that he managed to get a knight to report to him what happened and learned that the camp had suffered a night attack from unknown enemies.


    The attack itself was not that devastating. Around fifty dead, maybe four times as many wounded. Some tents were burned down, and the fire was the main reason for the commotion as it freaked out the horses tethered nearby and threatened to spread wider into the camp. Like before however, the attackers faded away without pressing the attack, lending credence to the guess that they were small in numbers.


    ¡°Shameful!¡± scolded the Earl when he heard of the extent of the damages. The damage itself was relatively negligible, but the disturbance to their rest and the unanswered night assault would likely nag at the soldiers¡¯ morale, which was an undesired thing. ¡°Bring me the leader of those on watch duty this shift! They shall pay for this unpardonable negligence!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Most of the soldiers on watch duty were found dead, milord,¡± said the younger knight he got to act as his aide with a rather flustered voice. ¡°That includes the one in charge of the team. We assumed that the attackers killed them first to prevent them from raising an alarm.¡±


    ¡°Damnation!¡± cursed the Earl vehemently as he had no target to direct his ire to. ¡°Where is Carns!? Why isn¡¯t he reporting already? I called for him more than half an hour ago!¡±


    ¡°Reporting, Sire,¡± said a young page, the one the Earl had sent to call for Carns back then, looking all pale and shocked as he knelt. ¡°Sir Carns is dead. We only found his headless body in his tent, which had also been completely ransacked.¡±

 Chapter 274 - It All Comes Tumbling Down~

    ¡°One mistake compounds into another, small ones piling up into greater and more fatal mistakes over time, until total failure occurs.¡± - Saying by Diaz Enos Zves, Philosopher from Clangeddin, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°Raise your shields! March onward! Show your mettle to these unwashed peasants! Show them what the battlefields have taught you!¡± yelled Earl LeCroix the next morning as he exhorted his troops to charge up the sloped road towards Aldenstadt from the back of the formation, with a wind mage conveying his words to the ears of the troops ahead.


    Despite the setback of losing his favored aide and the annoyance caused by the attack just earlier in the morning that day, the Earl chose to press on with his plan to assault Aldenstadt as soon as possible. He knew that it would take Levain at least a week to send reinforcements to the city, which should have given him a few days to either occupy or ransack it before they could arrive.


    Of course, he had no idea that his troops¡¯ presence was detected long before they even entered Levain territory and that said reinforcement was merely a day and a half away at that point.


    The soldiers from Kolain, most of the veterans who had seen at least five years of service, raised their shields even as a hail of arrows from the city uphill welcomed them. The enemy archers were nowhere in sight, as they had simply shot their arrows en masse at an angle where their shots would land around the base of the hill, where the Kolain soldiers were.


    As they climbed up the hill, the rain of arrows spread out more, part of the shots still aimed at the Kolain troops who were still near the base of the hill, while other shots aimed at those who already climbed higher up. Some of the soldiers naturally took injuries from the arrows, a few unlucky ones even dying, but this sort of arrow barrage was something they expected, and thus they continued to march onward stoically.


    Earl LeCroix ¨C still well and safe in the base camp further away from the hill, outside arrow range ¨C smiled as he saw the army march uphill with determination, the rain of arrows barely bothering them. In his mind, he could already taste the glory of the achievements that would be his, and even dreamed of the rewards the Marquis would bestow on him for it.


    It was around when the frontmost line of the troops reached a distance of two hundred meters from the city that things went horribly wrong.


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    First, a group of people emerged from hiding behind the rooftops of the houses nearest to the city¡¯s eastern edge. Each of them carried an oddly shaped bow that was shorter than the norm with quivers full of arrows behind their backs. Before his troops could react, those archers loosed several arrows each, their third or fourth arrow already in flight before the first even landed.


    The sudden barrage of shots was far better aimed than the arrow rain the troops had been dealing with so far, and caused more casualties as a result. Earl LeCroix cursed under his breath and was wondering why the knight in command at the frontlines had not ordered the soldiers to react to the barrage when he caught sight of said knight through his spyglass.


    All he saw was the sight of the knight in question lolling backwards as he was kept seated atop his saddle by the stirrups, a large arrow through the eyeslit of his helmet, with blood dripping out from the seam at the back of the helmet¡¯s neck.


    That was when the logs started to roll down.


    From the corner of his eye the Earl detected movement near the city gates, and he turned his spyglass in that direction to witness a group of large-bodied people ¨C many of which weren¡¯t humans ¨C removing a few stakes that had kept the logs by the city gate firmly anchored in place. Then they gave a heave from the side and the piled logs of wood started rolling down the slope one after another.


    Each of the aforementioned logs of wood were large enough that three grown men would barely be able to circle its circumference, and was only slightly shorter than the road was wide. Each of them must have weighed hundreds of kilograms at the minimum, and they quickly built up momentum as they rolled downhill towards the troops that now started to panic as they saw what was headed their way.


    A cacophony of screams went up as the massive log rolled over and crushed the soldiers in the Kolain formation¡¯s first few lines before its momentum was slowed and finally halted, allowing the soldiers further behind to barely stop its rolling rampage.


    Of course, that came to nothing when the second log struck the first from behind moments later and their combined weight caused another three lines of soldiers to be ground underneath them. A third log hit a bump when it rolled down and was momentarily thrown into the air before it landed just ahead of the first one, while several more logs followed from behind.


    The onslaught of the rolling logs alone was plenty to turn the frontline of the Kolain formation into disarray, some of the soldiers desperately trying to hold their ground, supporting the back of the soldier in front of them to push against the falling logs, while some others panicked and tried to flee every which way. The rain of arrows never stopped all that while, which only made the already miserable situation even worse.


    It was right at that moment when a sharp whistling noise came from the city of Aldenstadt, soon echoed by a loud and shrill bird¡¯s screech from above. A group of soldiers rushed out from the now unobstructed eastern gate of the city with weapons in hand, rushing down the hill¡¯s slope towards the stalled advance of the Kolain soldiers, while the archers kept up their barrage, switching their aim towards the enemy backlines.


    At the same time, many groups of soldiers seemed to emerge from the woods on both sides of the road, as they charged out and struck the surprised and panicking Kolain troops from the flanks. Most devastating was the charge aimed right at the formation¡¯s center, where a three-meter tall bear therian wielding a massive blade and a stocky woman holding a pair of oddly shaped void-clad axes slaughtered all before them and pushed hard into the formation.

 Chapter 275 - Plans Coming into Fruitition

    ¡°When the plan is ripe, that is when you pick it like a fruit. Rare to see that happen if the other side has someone who knows what they¡¯re doing in a position of power, though.¡± - General Publius Cornelius of Caeropa, circa 3 FP.


    Reinhardt smirked as he watched the Kolain army fall into disarray under the onslaught of the rolling logs. Given the slope of the hill, it was easy enough to stack up some really big logs by the eastern gate to later push them and let nature take its course. Thanks to their shape, they mostly stayed to the road, too, instead of being diverted to the side, which helped, as he had people hidden in the woods to the sides of the road.


    Two days ago, after learning about the network of mining tunnels, Reinhardt had sent out four of his platoons ¨C Elfriede¡¯s, Erycea¡¯s, Nicole¡¯s, and Fatimah¡¯s ¨C out with instructions for them to harass and if possible, lure parts of the enemy army into ambushes. It was a task they seemed to have done well, since late last night he received a report from them that they had taken out over three hundred of the enemies.


    While the harassment attacks with javelins and crossbows ¨C something the platoons carried extras of ¨C would not have caused that many casualties, they had successfully lured away three hundred or so enemies into chasing them. The platoons had prepared ambushes for that eventuality, and all the pursuers received was death by their hands once they fell prey to the ambush.


    The soldiers from Kolain might have battlefield experience, but they were lacking when it came to experience in dealing with the sort of irregular tactics the Free Lances favored and specialized in. Caught in difficult terrain, ambushed by enemies that not only matched them in numbers but also surpassed them in individual skill, most of them could only perish, with a few laying down their arms to surrender.


    As such, the four platoons had slain roughly as many enemies as their own number, on top of acquiring fifty or so captives. Reinhardt gave them another task for the day¡¯s battle, as he himself directed Aldenstadt¡¯s defense with Daleeni¡¯s help. He did not plan to hold a static defense, however, as the city of Aldenstadt was poorly suited for that.


    Instead, he first lowered the enemy morale by showering them wildly with arrows ¨C something the locals were more than good enough for, as many of them hunt on the regular ¨C from afar, the archers aiming at predetermined angles that would land their arrows in the general vicinity of certain areas of the path leading towards town. Once they got close enough, he had Salicia¡¯s platoon come out from hiding and let loose with more targeted shots, while also pushing down the logs down the path, towards the marching army.


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    Then he gave the signal for the assault with his whistle.


    Reinhardt himself led his own personal platoon ¨C mostly old veterans of the Company that were still active ¨C of sixty down the path, alongside Daleeni who led around five hundred of the home guard, directly assaulting the frontlines of the Kolain formation. On his signal, the rest of the home guard, four hundred men in total, split into teams of a hundred each, also emerged from their hiding spot in the woods beside the path and struck at the enemy¡¯s flanks.


    Gr¨¹nhildr and Mischka also brought out their platoons from the side to strike at the middle of the Kolain formation, forcefully breaking the enemy formation in half and preventing those in the back from reinforcing those ahead of them. Gr¨¹nhildr harried the back of the enemies further up the hill with her platoon, while Mischka and her folk set up a solid defense line and prevented those further behind from heading further upwards at the same time.


    That was roughly when Reinhardt and Daleeni brought their troops to strike at the now encircled front half of the Kolain formation from above.


    As he leapt over one of the large logs ¨C it had lost all its momentum after crushing many people and was temporarily anchored in place by the bodies stuck beneath it ¨C Reinhardt roared loudly, mostly to intimidate the enemy than anything, as he brought his polemace down on a Kolain soldier ahead of him. The enemy soldier tried to block his blow with a shield, only for said shield to shatter into halves, the blow breaking the man¡¯s arm and crushing his head underneath, undeterred.


    Not far to his left, Daleeni also led her guards into the fray, the middle-aged woman ferociously swinging around a large battle axe that a human would probably find far too heavy to even wield, much less swing around one-handed like she did. Given that Gr¨¹nhildr had mentioned that her mother was half orcish and a quarter dwarven, Reinhardt was not surprised though.


    He could also tell that Gr¨¹nhildr must have learned how to use axes from her mother, though unlike her daughter Daleeni had a shield on her other arm.


    As for the guards, while they were nowhere near as skilled ¨C they were mostly trained to handle civil troubles like bandits or riots at worst, not for warfare ¨C as his mercenaries, they were people fighting for their homes and families, and as such morale was high. Seeing how Daleeni and Reinhardt personally led the charge, they were further motivated and attacked the already reeling Kolain soldiers fiercely.


    Reinhardt also ordered his platoon to split up into teams of five and intersperse themselves with the guards. That way, the experienced mercenaries could help them out should they run into difficulties. Given the chaos that the battle had devolved to, the enemy formation had long been broken, and most of the fighting was on the small scale by that point, something the mercenaries were skilled in abusing.


    Of course, that was not all Reinhardt had in mind. The crucial part of his plan was to break the enemy morale ¨C the potential annihilation of half the Kolain army in the encirclement was for that purpose, as was his order for Salicia to snipe out anyone she noticed giving commands ¨C and the final blow was yet to come.


    A blow he had entrusted to the four platoons he sent out two days ago.

 Chapter 276 - Refuge in Ignorance

    ¡°Some people just refuse to accept anything that does not happen to conform to their personal worldview. Many of these delusional people even do so as adults in positions of power, which often led to outcomes as disastrous as you might imagine.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    Earl Severen LeCroix gaped as he watched the ongoing battle from afar through a spyglass, in the safety of his army¡¯s base camp, guarded by fifty of his knights and five hundred soldiers besides. The course of the battle had diverged far from what he had expected, and he had difficulty restraining himself from cursing out the incompetent knights that were commanding the offensive.


    He missed the late Cairns, and wished he was still alive to command the offensive in his stead. The dependable old knight always got him what he asked for, without fail.


    At the moment, the bulk of the Kolain army, a good two thousand soldiers along with most of the knighthood, were encircled by the enemy. The cowardly move to roll down massive logs had taken a lot of casualties before they were stopped, many of which had been from the knights, who were close to the frontlines as he meant for them to break through the city¡¯s defenses and allow the rest of the soldiers to pour through as soon as possible.


    All those soldiers and knights, more than two thousand people, were encircled by their less numerous foes, which must have numbered a bare thousand or so at most. What a humiliation it was for his army, to be toyed with by an enemy they outnumbered so greatly and even show fear before them. The Earl wanted to yell himself hoarse but knew that his voice wouldn¡¯t have carried so far up the hill, so he gave up that avenue.


    The rest of his troops who were in the back of the formation had also been stopped in place by a thin line of enemy defenders almost entirely composed of non-humans, with many massive therians amongst their numbers that had him suspicious on whether Boroes to their east had broken their neutrality. To see over a thousand soldiers be locked by no more than seventy and was even wavering was a maddening sight for the Earl to witness.


    Earl LeCroix was in the midst of weighing the idea of leading a charge with his honor guard in his mind, a beautiful thought where he already fantasized his bravery turning the tables on their foes and leading his soldiers to victory over them when a much closer ruckus pulled him out from his musings and back into the grim reality.


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    In horror, he saw how several of the soldiers at the rear flanks of his honor guards had fallen. Some were completely still where they fell, while others were screaming loudly in pain as they held either a javelin or a crossbow bolt that had pierced their flesh. Other soldiers and knights amongst the formation had just begun to react when another barrage of javelins and bolts flew towards them from behind and to the sides of their formation.


    The Earl saw how two groups of people mostly dressed in a mismatch of outfits charged out from within the forest to their sides, their advance covered by crossbow bolts fired by marksmen hidden amongst the trees. Even as the assailants drew closer, they pulled out short javelins and hurled them as one in a practiced movement, felling dozens more of the Kolain soldiers.


    Then both groups of assailants struck the rear corners of the formation with ferocity and savagery as they swept aside any soldier in their way and left dead bodies where they passed.


    It was difficult for Earl LeCroix to judge the situation well, between the chaos on the path leading to Aldenstadt and the assault on his command post. He could not even tell how many assailants were headed towards him at the moment, though he saw that they were approaching his position much faster than he thought possible, scything through his soldiers like a farmer reaped heads of wheat.


    ¡°Knights! Stop those scoundrels! I command you as your lord!¡± yelled the Earl in panic as he saw the enemies closing in on his position. On his command, forty of his knights split off from his side, twenty each headed to waylay one group of the assailants. The Earl watched with anticipation as he expected his knights to blunt the enemy¡¯s charge towards him, which in turn would buy time for the rest of the soldiers to gather themselves and strike these foes from the sides.


    It was with wide, unbelieving eyes that the Earl watched how one of the leading scoundrels ¨C a woman clad in black gambeson wielding a pair of oddly-shaped blades ¨C met with one of his knights and dispatched of him like he was a mere beginner instead of a trained and experienced knight.


    The knights of Kolain wore full plate armor of the latest model, the best sort that money could buy, which made them nearly impervious to harm from most sources, but the woman had just deflected a swing of the knight¡¯s greatsword to the side with casual ease before she jabbed the point of her other blade right through the knight¡¯s eyeslit with deadly precision.


    All of which happened in less than a single second.


    A look at the other side told the Earl that the situation there was just as bad, as he saw how a massive bear therian nearly three meters tall simply took a hit from another knight¡¯s sword on his armor without even flinching. The therian¡¯s counterattack with his warhammer was so forceful that it ripped the knight¡¯s helmet off his shoulders¡­ with his head still within.


    ¡°Retreat! Retreat! Sound the retreat! Protect your lord with your life as we withdraw!¡± yelled the Earl in panic as he saw his knights dying in a desperate effort to stop the assailants from reaching him. He himself had already turned his horse around and whipped its flanks to drive the steed to a gallop, escaping towards the east, back down the road.

 Chapter 277 - To Leave no Loose Ends

    ¡°When getting rid of enemies, either remove them to their very roots, so that no future trouble might emerge ever again, or do not bother at all.¡± - Ancient saying, unknown source.


    Fatimah ibn Haimool, formally known to her comrades in the Free Lances as the former commander of the Nightstalker Company, was perched atop a tall tree at the side of the main road, some distance east from where the fighting took place. She and around half her platoon ¨C what her former company had been reclassified into after they joined the Free Lances ¨C were waiting in ambush, and the prey would soon come to them, should all go well with the plans.


    Of course, other than her own people, nobody in the Free Lances were aware of their true origins, something they had kept a secret since they arrived in the northern continent of Alcidea.


    Back in the southern continent of Ur-Teros, they were known as the Order of Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra, or in their language, ¡°Those who Walks the Night¡±. Their Order was an ancient order of warriors who typically served the role of hired assassins for the various lords in the northern central region of Ur-Teros, their history dating back a thousand years.


    Two decades ago, when Fatimah herself was still a teenage girl in training according to the tenets of their order, disaster had struck, as one Sultan had taken offense to the slaying of his father, the previous Sultan, by the Order¡¯s hands when the man reneged on a deal they had agreed upon. The foolish Sultan waged war upon the Order, a bloody war that took place mostly in the shadows over the next year.


    The war ended with grievous results, the new Sultan ¨C and his whole direct kin for that matter ¨C slain by the Order¡¯s hands, but the Order itself reduced to barely a fifth of its original numbers. Naturally, other powers in the nearby region pounced as well, some swallowing up the late Sultan¡¯s territory, while others turning their sights to the Order, eager to get rid of them once and for all to prevent a repeat of the scenario happening to themselves.


    Fatimah¡¯s father, the head of the Order at the time, realized that it was a disaster that they were unlikely to survive, and had sent her away along with sixty trusted and devout members of the order to escape, to the northern continent of Alcidea. There they made their living as hired blades, losing some of their members until Fatimah made the decision to affiliate herself with the Free Lances.


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    It was probably the decision that saved them, the last remnants of the Order of Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra, from complete extinction.


    Over the past two decades the remaining fifty of them had settled down amongst the Free Lances. They found spouses, had children whom they passed down their skills on to, to continue their legacy. Some of the oldest of those children were even amongst their numbers, these days, a thing that brought pride and hope to the platoon as a whole.


    Fatimah herself had taken her Artesh Hassan, the trusted senior retainer who had been guarding her since she was a toddler, as her man, and had three children by him. Their children were younger, though, with the eldest and second being part of the Captain¡¯s younger daughter¡¯s clique.


    They were waiting in ambush as part of the plan that the Captain had sent to them the previous night, one that called for most of the deployed platoons ¨C Nicole¡¯s platoon and half of Fatimah¡¯s were providing cover fire while Elfriede and Erycea led their platoons for an assault ¨C to assault the enemy leader in his base camp. They expected said leader to attempt to escape, however, hence why Fatimah herself led the other half of her platoon to lay in wait for them to do just that.


    Their patience was rewarded before too long, as the noise of the ongoing battle in the distance one that told them that the assault had begun. It was not ten minutes after that when one of Fatimah¡¯s men noticed that some riders were headed in their direction. Fatimah pulled out a spyglass and raised it to her eye to check the situation, and sure enough, she saw their quarry in the distance.


    A rather chubby middle-aged man in richly decorated armor was likely their main target, the noble that led the enemy forces. He was surrounded by ten knights in heavy armor, who were riding hard in an attempt to keep pace with their liege, who whipped his horse as he ran away frantically. None of them seemed aware of the assassins awaiting them on the road ahead.


    Normally, dealing with knights in full plate armor like what their targets were wearing would be difficult for an assassin. Fatimah and her crew had plenty of experience of dealing with armored targets since they associated themselves with the Free Lances, though, and knew what they were doing. They waited until the riders were almost upon them before they sprung the ambush.


    Just as the riders reached where the Nightstalkers were hidden, multiple weighted nets ¨C like fishing nets but made of much sturdier material ¨C fell from the trees above. The surprised riders failed to react in time, and barring one knight whose steed was lagging behind, they were wrapped up by the nets and crashed to the ground, violently in most cases.


    The last knight was dumbfounded as he saw his liege and the rest of his compatriots crash with their horses, entangled by the nets, but before he could react, figures in dark clothing leapt down from the trees, carrying heavy maces in their hands. They used the momentum of their fall to add more power to their blow, and the poor knight found himself suffering from a rain of heavy blows.


    Once the knight fell off his horse, his armor dented and crumpled in many places and the man within crushed by the heavy blows, other assassins leapt down and walked closer to their entangled targets. The fish was already caught in the net, so now it was only a matter of reeling the net in.

 Chapter 278 - Breaking Morale

    ¡°Once an army¡¯s morale is broken, the battle is lost. The war might still be going on, but the battle is lost for certain.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famous military strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    Even from afar, while he was fighting off the enemy soldiers, Reinhardt noticed the commotion at the enemy base camp from afar and knew that the last part of his plan had started to come into play. He gave another signal using his whistle, one to redouble their assault, and jumped into the fray once more once he did so.


    The enemy soldiers were already on the verge of breaking, but their morale was held teetering above the breakpoint by the presence of the knights amongst them, who did their best to stem the incoming tide with their lives. Their efforts did fine on the flanks, where the members of the city¡¯s home guard were not pushing too hard, as they were instructed mostly to be there to visibly block an escape from that direction.


    On the other hand, the knights who were near the back of the encirclement were nowhere near as lucky, as there Gr¨¹nhildr led her platoon to push up the hill forcefully, leading the push herself right from the very front. The burly woman¡¯s pair of axes had their blades and points clad in her innate void magic, as they cleaved straight through anything and everything in their way.


    Not even the knights in their full plate armor could withstand her, as their armor was just made of good steel, not out of expensive material that even incorporated anti-magic properties like the noble she once faced in Posuin. Her strike sheared through their weapons, shields, armor, and bodies with equal ease, and already some of the knights were backing away in fear at her approach.


    From the top, Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s mother Daleeni similarly engaged the surviving Kolain knights fiercely. The middle-aged half-orc¡¯s axe might not be clad in void like her daughter¡¯s, but it was large and heavy, to the point that her blows would dent the plate armor and crush the flesh beneath, if not sever entire sections when she landed on thinner areas of the armor.


    Reinhardt joined her once he returned into the fray after giving the order. He brought his polemace down in a vicious blow aimed towards one of the remaining Kolain knights, who he caught by surprise. The man ¨C or woman, hard to tell when they wear full armor ¨C raised their sword to block the blow, probably out of reflex, but that did them no good.


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    To block with a sword, a maneuver often taught in many swordsmanship techniques, was something one does against another sword or otherwise similarly light weapon. Reinhardt¡¯s polemace was by no means a light weapon, doubly so since his had been built and sized specifically for his use. As such, trying to block a blow from it with a sword was merely an exercise in futility.


    Instead the blow just broke through their defense and smashed down against their helmet, hard enough to press the helmet against the rest of the armor until it dented and crumpled inward. Blood flowed out from the slit of the helmet even as the knights toppled over to the side like a sack of potatoes, while Reinhardt looked for other knights to finish off.


    His eyes quickly noticed another pair of knights who were trying to lead some of the enemy soldiers in pushing back against the assailants on their right flank, so he signaled some of his platoon members behind him using movements of his tail and ordered them to follow him. Ten members of his platoon and some home guard members flocked to him within a moment, and he led them towards the knights he saw.


    They clashed against the building offensive from the flank, the soldiers faltering under the momentum of their assault, as Reinhardt led the way with his veteran mercenaries behind him. The Kolain soldiers might have experienced a few battles in the past ten years, sure, but they still held no candle against mercenaries who had been putting their lives on the line for money on the battlefield before they were even born.


    It was not long before Reinhardt found himself face to face with the pair of knights trying to organize the soldiers, while his platoon members were keeping the other enemies away from him. He took on both knights at once, not too worried about fighting them one against two. It would be far from his first time anyway to do that.


    The two knights seemed to have some sort of tacit understanding between them, as their movements were quite well coordinated. One of them struck high while another struck low, their strikes working together flawlessly. Still, their cooperation was far from enough to even out the odds, as they were facing some far stronger than them, who was also clad in enough armor to outright ignore some of their strikes.


    As Reinhardt showcased when he caught one knight¡¯s blade between two of the spikes adorning the top of his polemace and wrenched it aside, leaving the knight in question wide open. He also showed an opening to do that, and the other knight tried to save their friend by striking towards Reinhardt¡¯s torso with his sword, only for it to bounce off the thick brigandine Reinhardt wore.


    In the meantime, Reinhardt had already swung his polemace back the other way and struck the knight¡¯s head from the side hard enough to severely dent their helmet and drop them on the spot. He then turned towards the other knight, who looked somewhat dumbfounded at Reinhardt and the fallen knight, and smacked the sword away from the knight¡¯s hand, before he smashed his polemace against the side of that knight¡¯s left knee hard enough to break the joint and make it bend the wrong way.


    Then he just ignored the injured knight as some of his platoon members tied them up behind him.

 Chapter 279 - Dealing with Captives

    ¡°What happens to captives whose home nation refused to ransom back for whatever reason? Well, that really depends on the captors, honestly. Some would just execute them to save themselves the hassle, but more commonly, those captives would be put to work in the mines or the likes, usually as long as the war continues, though they were commonly released after the hostilities were all over. Not always the case, though.¡± - Karl Angud, retired former mercenary.


    Shortly after Reinhardt took out that pair of knights, the Kolain soldiers broke. Those who were encircled started laying down their weapons and surrendering en masse, while those further behind who were still blocked by Mischka¡¯s platoon started turning tail and running away one after another in a hurry. Even the knights that remained gave up the fight.


    The reason for their morale breaking was not related to their being encircled, or those behind unable to assist those further ahead. It was all because their liege lord, the one they had sworn to fight for, had escaped the battle ahead of them like a coward, a sight that was the last straw that broke the teetering morale of the soldiers and knights still locked in combat.


    Before long, the Kolain soldiers further back had either knelt down in surrender or ran away towards the nearby forests. Reinhardt ordered no pursuit for those who were escaping, and instead, he led his mercenaries and the home guards to round up the surrendered foes. All in all, the battle at Aldenstadt had not lasted more than half an hour from the beginning to the end.


    The defenders took negligible losses. Less than ten mercenaries lost their lives, while the home guard only took around a hundred casualties, mostly injuries. The Kolain soldiers on the other hand had at least a thousand dead, counting those that had been wiped out in the ambushes by the platoons he sent out days ago, and nearly half their army had surrendered, resulting in there being more captives than there were home guards and mercenaries to take care of them.


    After a quick discussion with Daleeni and former Viscount Adenauer ¨C the former noble had actually taken up arms and joined the fighting, and proved quite a deft hand at it too, surprisingly ¨C they decided to tie up all the captives for the time being and to decide what to do with them later once reinforcements from Levain arrived.


    They were still busy tying up all the captives they had when Fatimah returned as well, dragging behind ten captives with them, none other than the escaping Earl LeCroix and his ten knights, which made Reinhardt approach the former Viscount once more for his advice.


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    ¡°So we got the enemy leader, one Earl named Severen LeCroix of Kolain, by his own admission,¡± reported Reinhardt to the former nobleman. ¡°Are we going to keep him for ransom, or do you prefer to report him as an ¡®unfortunate¡¯ casualty of the battle?¡±


    ¡°LeCroix¡­ LeCroix¡­ ah, him! He¡¯s relatively worthless, and I think not even the Marquis he now worked under would bother to ransom him, so it should be safe to get rid of him. The fool had an equally foolish heir, if I remember my reports right, so if he died in battle his former domain might be stolen from his heir by others. Some internal dispute for the enemy is never a bad thing,¡± replied Bernd Adenauer after a moment of thought. ¡°You captured his knights too, right?¡±


    ¡°I think they all either died fighting or were captured, at least as far as I could tell,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°There is one old knight amongst LeCroix¡¯s retainers that¡¯s known to be an excellent strategic mind, who usually served as his general. I would daresay that that knight is the reason why the troops from Kolain won so many accolades in the past decade, and also the one who led them to their victories in the first place,¡± explained the former nobleman. ¡°He goes by the name of Edwin Carns, maybe around fifty to sixty, should be easy enough to single him out on account of his age.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d like to offer him a chance to work for us instead?¡±


    ¡°No, the man is a known loyalist to LeCroix, having served the family since the previous generation of Earls,¡± said the former nobleman. ¡°I want him dead, and ideally I would like to see his head with my own eyes to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Let me inform my subordinates to check the surrendered knights for that one, then,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod of his head. He then turned to leave to where the mercenaries were directing the home guards on lining up the captives into neat lines. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    As it turned out, Reinhardt did return rather quickly, not five minutes after he had left, with Elfriede in tow. Elfriede and Erycea, along with Nicole and Fatimah and their respective platoons had already rejoined the rest of the mercenaries by then. Reinhardt had just started asking the captives about the mentioned Sir Carns when the captives gave him odd looks and asked back on why he¡¯s asking about someone he already killed.


    A quick check with Elfriede¡¯s group finally told him what had actually happened, as it turned out that when Elfriede made an assassination attempt the previous night, she had unwittingly killed and decapitated the person in question, unaware of his importance to the Kolain army. She had only made the attempt in the hopes of scoring a commander¡¯s head or two to fuck with the Kolain army¡¯s morale, but had not realized that she took out their general.


    ¡°Is this the right man?¡± Elfriede asked to the former noble ¨C now councilor ¨C as she nonchalantly brought out a human head from her storage. The head had long stopped bleeding, and the face was locked in a visage of unwillingness, but it was enough for Bernd to confirm that it was indeed the old knight he had been looking out for.


    In the end, Bernd Adenauer paid the Free Lances a sizable bonus ¨C out of his own pockets ¨C for the old knight¡¯s head, whereas the Earl was soon executed, with a mutual understanding amongst themselves to say that he was killed in the battle. His head was later exchanged for another bonus from the Levain city council, who were naturally surprised to learn that the mercenaries they sent ahead to help defend Aldenstadt had not only defended the town, but had even defeated and routed the attacking army, all by themselves.

 Chapter 280 - Family Reunion

    ¡°Catch up with your family when you can. You never know when you¡¯d return again if ever.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Huh. Didn¡¯t know Sal could make that sort of face,¡± commented Elfriede when she felt Salicia welcoming an older woman and a couple of men in their thirties with a warm hug and an expression she had never felt the stoic archer made in their decades of acquaintance: a broad grin. While Elfriede naturally could not see it happen, since Salicia was within the range of her sphere of wind-sense she could feel the expression the one-eyed woman was making.


    ¡°Yeah, she only really showed it with her little brothers, really. Surprised those rascals grew up so well,¡± commented Gr¨¹nhildr with a smile on her own face. ¡°They used to be such annoying brats when they were small, and would only listen to me or Sal, because unlike Sal¡¯s mom, we weren¡¯t afraid to beat them up a bit if they got too annoying, heh.¡±


    ¡°I never had a younger sibling, but I can imagine,¡± noted Elfriede in stride as she took a drink from the tankard set on a low table near her. It had only been one day since the forces from Kolain had been routed near Aldenstadt, and they were still waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements from Levain to take the captives off their hands.


    In the meantime, the Free Lances took the chance to rest and relax a bit after the battle, something the greatly appreciative townspeople of Aldenstadt were all too happy to accommodate. Throughout the night, the mercenaries had been received as celebrated guests in the town¡¯s bars, pubs, and inns, and plied food and drinks for free by the establishments as a token of gratitude.


    As the next day dawned, many of said mercenaries were sleeping in for once in a long while, many of whom were nursing hangovers when they woke up. Elfriede, Gr¨¹nhildr, and Salicia escaped that fate since they had went to a more measured celebration held by the former Viscount instead, along with the other platoon leaders present, and had rested for the night in the Adenauer family mansion which had plenty of guest rooms to accommodate them.


    That was how they got to watch the reunion that took place the next morning.


    Bernd Adenauer had dispersed his children in an attempt to avoid the ravages of the budding civil war so as to preserve the family, or at least part of it. Out of those children, the majority left to other countries, with some even ranging as far as the southern continent of Ur-Teros. A few of them refused to leave and chose to stay with their father, though.


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    Amongst those who stayed was the former Viscounts eldest daughter and heir, as well as his third wife and the youngest two of his sons, the latter being Salicia¡¯s mother and younger brothers. As for her older half-sister, the woman was more of an administrator, and had been acting as the mayor of Aldenstadt since their father was mostly in Levain due to his duties as a councilor. As for the younger sons, both of them were part of the city¡¯s home guard and had refused to leave, which made the reunion a possibility.


    Salicia¡¯s mother was a human woman who looked every bit of her age, likely in her mid sixties, while her younger siblings had similarities in their facial features compared to her, though they were more prone to smile and other expression of their emotions compared to their stoic older sister. The four spent some time catching up with each other since the company had at least another day to relax anyway.


    They had not reunited sooner since the company was busy preparing the defense of the town in the days leading up to the battle, and neither of her brothers were particularly high in position amongst the guards, and thus weren¡¯t part of the meetings, unlike Gr¨¹nhildr who frequently met her mother since Daleeni was a constant presence in the meetings.


    Salicia¡¯s two younger brothers even called their respective wives and children to introduce them to the trio. In the two and a half decades that she had been away from her hometome, Salicia had unknowingly become an aunt to five nephews and nieces. Her sister-in-laws were more of the demure sort of women that were more common amongst the former Empire¡¯s higher class, while the children ¨C the oldest of which was barely fourteen ¨C were quite curious about their mercenary aunt.


    It was certainly not a common occupation for a noble¡¯s daughter to take, but it was a path that Salicia was glad she took.


    Gr¨¹nhildr laughed out loud when the oldest boy, who was showing off the muscles on his bicep that he trained for, caught a glimpse of her thick, muscular arms, each of which was easily as thick around as the boy¡¯s thighs, and gaped with his mouth open. Salicia couldn¡¯t help but to find the situation amusing and joined in the laughter as well.


    The good mood made Salicia decide to join the showing off as well, and just in time, a flock of geese happened to fly overhead in a V formation.


    ¡°Do you kids like roast goose?¡± she asked to the children, who looked at her questioningly before one of the younger ones replied that they do. At that point, Salicia brought out her bow ¨C the same heirloom bow her father gifted to her decades ago ¨C and nocked a single arrow before she bent her body backwards, nocked the arrow, aimed upwards, and let loose.


    A moment later a goose crashed right in the family mansion¡¯s garden, with her arrow piercing its head from bottom to top.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s the goose. Now let¡¯s have the cook roast it up for us to enjoy,¡± she said nonchalantly, even as her young nephews and nieces looked in awe at the feat of archery she had just pulled off in the most casual manner. To the side, both Gr¨¹nhildr and Elfriede laughed with amusement as they witnessed the situation play itself out.

 Chapter 281 - Reasoning and Deduction

    ¡°Some things could be deducted by logical thinking. Some other things¡­ require a more irrational method to solve.¡± - Ibeniz Wolfgang El Sofrin, philosopher from the Clangeddin Empire.


    ¡°Pray, tell me, Captain,¡± said former Viscount ¨C now councilor ¨C Bernd Adenauer as he poured Reinhardt some good aged liquor. The two of them were seated under a shaded patio closer to the mansion while they watched Bernd¡¯s wife and his youngest sons reunite with Salicia for the first time in two and a half decades in the mansion¡¯s yard. ¡°What inspired you to make such an¡­ audacious attack on the Kolain forces? They outnumbered us by more than two to one, considering that militia levies aren¡¯t exactly the best in quality.¡±


    ¡°Well, councilor, there¡¯s a few factors that went into that decision,¡± admitted Reinhardt as he munched on a link of coarse, juicy sausage that the mansion¡¯s cooks had prepared for his breakfast. In Clangeddin the typical norm was to have a lighter breakfast, but that naturally did not apply to the mercenaries, since they were used to hearty and heavy breakfasts which was needed to power them through a day of battle.


    ¡°For example?¡± asked the former nobleman with curiosity, his own breakfast merely a couple pastries made from wheat flour turned into a dough, enriched with butter, then folded into myriad thin layers before baked into a flaky, crisp pastry. It was a stark contrast compared to the large platter of meat set before Reinhardt, which could have easily fed a family of four.


    ¡°I am certain you are aware that we spent the last couple of years in Knallzog, yes?¡± asked Reinhardt in turn, to which the councilor replied with a nod. ¡°We didn¡¯t idle our asses there. Since we had considered the former Empire as a potential workplace, we kept ourselves informed on the happenings here. That included reports from past battles from the various states we got now.¡±


    ¡°Carry on,¡± noted the councilor as he poured himself a measure of the amber liquor in a decorated glass.


    ¡°We learned many things from those reports. For example, the last time Kolain had been involved in any sort of armed conflict prior to the civil war was in the previous generation, and they had no experience with war until they submitted under the Podovniy March,¡± explained Reinhardt. ¡°As for the Podovniy march, until now they had mostly been throwing around their weight against those who had no proper way to resist, so they always won. Kolain¡¯s troops had never been in a battle where victory wasn¡¯t already in hand before the fight even began, excepting maybe a few older veterans. That was a weakness we chose to exploit.¡±


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    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Kolain army, veterans of the civil war, are actually inexperienced soldiers?¡± asked the councilor with some amusement in his voice.


    ¡°They have great morale, since they only ever knew victories in battle,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°To face them head-on with the troops we have, in the field, would have been a bad idea, a recipe for disaster, even. That would have allowed them to abuse their advantage in numbers and morale to crush us. However, I noticed that they had only ever participated in field battles and sieges.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you sent half your men out there, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Part of the reason. We in the Free Lances have been¡­ specializing in irregular warfare, for the lack of a better word. A fight should not be a fair one. It should be one where you have already stacked every possible advantage you could muster on your side before you even engage,¡± said Reinhardt with a toothy grin. ¡°We are mercenaries. We don¡¯t give a rat¡¯s ass about chivalry or honor or the likes. We only get to spend our pay when we live through the fighting after all.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I sent out those four platoons to harass and disturb the Kolains, to make them feel¡­ uncomfortable. They did their harassments to make sure that the Kolain troops realized that they were not going to march into another of their usual easily-won clashes against an enemy that was already cowering before the battle started. That they actually managed to lure out a good three hundred or so enemies into prepared ambushes was an unexpected bit of luck, too.¡±


    ¡°The night attack was meant to make them jittery and feel unsafe, though again, it was a bit of luck that of all people, Friede happened to have taken the head of their skilled veteran leader by chance. Those men were poorly rested and had their belief in their superiority already shaken by the time they climbed the path up the hill. While the arrows were never intended to break their morale, that was what we prepared the logs for back then.¡±


    ¡°Daleeni had wondered what you wanted them for at first back then, I guess it didn¡¯t cross our mind to roll them down the hill at our enemies.¡±


    ¡°One thing we have noticed is that all too often, people get stuck in unwritten rules and traditions in war. They were used to fighting a war in a specific manner, and aren¡¯t prepared to deal with new ways to wage war. It was a lesson we learned with blood, and never forgot, so instead we took the opportunity to pass on the lesson to others¡­ assuming they survive the battle.¡±


    ¡°I will say that while it was unusual and at times sounded rather unbelievable, it definitely worked. The people of this city owe their lives and safety to you and your men, Captain Edelstein, and would like to propose a toast in gratitude to the services you have rendered on our behalf!¡± said Bernd Adenauer as he raised his glass in salute.


    Reinhardt met the glass with his own as they clinked the glasses together before the two drank the hard liquor contained within. The strong liquor had a taste reminiscent of smoke with some wooden aroma and aftertaste, and burned its way down to their stomachs, where it slowly dissipated into a comfortable feeling of warmth.

 Chapter 282 - Above and Beyond

    ¡°Best part of winning is the celebration that follows.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°You know, Captain, you are aware that when the council requested part of your company to head to Aldenstadt, we were just asking for your aid in defending the town, right?¡± asked councilor Estelle when she arrived with a reinforcement of fifteen thousand militiamen from Levain, only to learn that the battle had been over for a couple of days by their arrival. ¡°Hell, we wouldn¡¯t have minded you calling a retreat if it proved too much after you¡¯ve done what you could.¡±


    ¡°I simply chose the option that would be most beneficial for my company and employer¡¯s interest, madam councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly, though he did not bother to hide his toothy grin either. Needless to say, the battle at Aldenstadt had been a good proving ground for how much the company had improved after a couple years of rearrangements and training. ¡°In this case it happens to be breaking the enemy morale before they reach town.¡±


    ¡°How did you come to that conclusion, to begin with? I know that most of us, including many of our officers must look like civilians playing at being soldiers to people like you who live on the battlefields for most of your lives, but what clued you in that an enemy army nearly twice your number and known for never being defeated in the past decade or so would be so easy to break like that?¡±


    ¡°Simple enough, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s a matter of motivation.¡±


    ¡°Motivation?¡± queried the councilwoman with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll need you to elaborate a bit more on that.¡±


    ¡°Simple enough,¡± said Reinhardt as he nodded. ¡°Think about this, madam councilor. Both sides of a battle, the attacker and the defender, bear some risks, literally risking their life and limb to go into battle. What motivates them to do this, however, tends to be very different things. Of course, notwithstanding mercenaries like us who fight for pay either way.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°For those on the defense, their motivations tend to be things that were a lot closer to their hearts. They fight in defense of their homes, of their families. It is a well known fact that the loser of a war often had their land ravaged, as many armies still give rights to pillage and plunder to help motivate their soldiers. The defenders of a battle fought to prevent their homes from being burned down and ransacked, so that their sons were spared the slaughter, so that their wives and daughters were safe from the grubby hands of the opposing soldiers.¡±


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    ¡°In comparison, those on the attacker¡¯s side have different motivations. There¡¯s honor and glory, sure. The right to plunder, pillage, and rape to their heart¡¯s content would naturally also appeal to the baser instincts of others. But they fight for benefits and profit, for reputation and honor. As such, unless they were truly professional career soldiers, they rarely fought with as much motivation as those fighting for their homes and loved ones.¡±


    ¡°So based on that you deduced that it would be more beneficial to attempt to break the morale of an enemy superior to your forces in strength and leave the safety of the defenses to mount a risky offensive?¡± asked the councilwoman, though her tone was more that of curiosity. After all, the results spoke for themselves. ¡°Enough confidence to send your own wife and daughter out to harry an enemy force with a detachment less than a tenth the enemies¡¯ size, even?¡±


    ¡°They were the best suited for the role,¡± explained Reinhardt openly. When it came to work, familial relationships have no place in influencing the decisions he made, only who was more suitable for which role. ¡°Besides, We have researched the battles that took place all over the former Empire¡¯s territory prior to our arrival. The battles here have been very¡­ traditional, either open-field battles of formation or the rare siege. That gave us reason to believe that the enemy we faced would not be accustomed to our irregular guerilla tactics.¡±


    ¡°A reasonable expectation, and one proven right by the results,¡± admitted the councilwoman with a nod of her head. ¡°Needless to say, Captain, we will offer a bonus in your paycheck for this outstanding result. This should also further convince the remaining detractors we have in the council of your company¡¯s methods and their values. I must admit that not everyone even in my own faction had a good¡­ impression on mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°No offense taken, in fact I would say that those people are right to be cautious,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°While these days the mercenary trade is much better regulated with the guild¡¯s help, just a generation or two ago there were many who were little better than roving groups of outlaws who occasionally posed as mercenaries. They and their ilk often gave the profession as a whole a bad name.¡±


    ¡°Right. Glad to see that you and yours are worth the money we¡¯re paying, and then some,¡± said the councilwoman with a smile on her face as she shook Reinhardt¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯ll likely march back to Levain in a couple days with the captives in tow. Would you be traveling back with us?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. We are in the midst of discussing plans to strengthen the city¡¯s defenses with the local home guard, but that should be finished by then,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°I assume since your neighbor to the east had started hostilities this place would need to be better defended, given its proximity to the eastern borders.¡±


    ¡°I am of the same mind. Councilor Adenauer¡¯s daughter had just reassured me earlier today that this region produces enough food to support a garrison of five thousand more men, so we¡¯re leaving some of the people we brought to stay here as garrison troops. We¡¯ll have them rotate with others every month or so,¡± replied the councilwoman. ¡°What sort of defenses do you have in mind? This city has potential for that, given its location on the hilltop.¡±


    ¡°Oh, just some little tricks that will make life hell for the next invader to step foot here, is all.¡±

 Chapter 283 - Defensive Plans in the Making

    ¡°Always more beneficial to be on the defense when you got a nice, cozy fortification to hide behind.¡± - Old soldier¡¯s saying.


    ¡°This¡­ is quite a thorough and extensive plan to come up with in a couple of days¡­¡± noted councilor Estelle when Reinhardt and Daleeni invited her to review the defense plans they cooked up together over the past couple of days.


    In the past, Levain had attempted to pose themselves as neutral, and as such, avoided moves that might appear to be a prelude to aggression to their neighbors. That was the main reason why Aldenstadt, as the easternmost city in the Free City¡¯s territory, was neither heavily fortified nor strongly garrisoned, as the building of either a military fortification or the placement of a strong garrison could be viewed as an aggressive shift by others.


    Now that their neighbor to the east, the Podovniy March, made the first attack, they no longer had to bother with that worry, as it no longer had any meaning. It was why the council had so quickly approved placing a stronger garrison force in Aldenstadt. Estelle herself had wanted to suggest that they reinforce the city¡¯s walls, but Reinhardt and Daleeni beat her to the punch in that regard.


    Drawn meticulously on the large sheet of parchment laid out on the table before them was the schematic for a fortification, one that called for a design that appeared like a four-pronged star with a bloated center section, or of a square with wedges pointed outwards from each corner. The plan called for the city to only have two gates, one for the eastern road and another for the western one.


    As for the forested areas of the hills to their north and south, they would be liberally sown with devious and lethal traps of every sort in order to prevent any invading party from using them as concealment. The defenders would naturally know the safe paths between the trapped areas, so they could still use the forests for concealment and ambushes.


    The fort¡¯s design with the prolonged wedges at the corners meant that the roads would be placed under a killing field for marksmen situated atop the walls, with the angles meaning that the setup formed a natural killing field along the road where marksmen from the eastern wall, as well as those on the north-eastern and south-eastern sections could converge their fire with ease.


    Since the fort was planned to encompass the city itself, it could easily accommodate the additional garrison of five thousand more people, which placed roughly eight thousand defenders in the city, including the local militia and home guards. It was a force to be reckoned with when they were aided by defenses like the planned ones.


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    None of the locals were worried about lacking material to build the fort. Aldenburg might be relatively poor in natural resources, but they had good stone in abundance, which were excavated from many quarries throughout the region, mostly on the western side. As for manpower, after having fallen under enemy threat once, the locals were all too eager to volunteer to help with the construction.


    After all, it was for the defense of their own homes to begin with.


    ¡°Captain Stefan Horst of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers is a close friend of my late aunt,¡± explained Reinhardt. ¡°I¡¯ve learned a few things from him, though my expertise in defensive structures and fortifications are at best beginner level compared to a master like him,¡± he added. ¡°Still, I know enough to be able to theorize some designs based on what he taught me.¡±


    ¡°Even here we are familiar with the reputation of the Hellraisers. I think many wanted to employ them, but wavered due to their preference for defensive missions,¡± noted Estelle with a shake of her head. ¡°As you might have guessed and learned already, in the turmoil since the Empire¡¯s end, most powers that remained were scrambling to acquire more territory, so even if they do hire mercenaries it would mostly be for the offense, while their victims would have a hard time employing mercenaries of the Hellraisers¡¯ caliber.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Stefan is pretty content with his current work in Posuin anyway, since they employed him to build their defenses there,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°That said, had you considered offering employment to them as well? I thought they¡¯d be a good fit for your needs.¡±


    ¡°Their defensive preferences are indeed a fit for our own preferences, but the problem is on the training front. The Hellraisers are predominantly dwarven in personnel and mostly used dwarven tactics, no?¡± asked councilor Estelle with a shake of her head. ¡°Our militia is a mixed bag, but humans remained dominant in number, so I do not think the fighting style they could teach would fit our needs well.¡±


    ¡°Fair point, I guess. You¡¯d probably also run into issues getting what dwarves consider proper equipment for so many men and women, since a lot of dwarven tactics were made under the assumption that the troops executing them were properly armed and armored according to their standards,¡± noted Reinhardt with a smile. ¡°I guess it made sense that you chose my company in the end.¡±


    ¡°It was something of a gamble and not necessarily agreed upon by everyone in the council, but one I¡¯m glad I chose to make,¡± said Estelle with a smile of her own in return. ¡°You and yours have gone above and beyond our expectations so far, so we expect to see more pleasant surprises from you in the future, should you be willing. We will likely be working together hand in hand for the next few years, after all.¡±


    Estelle¡¯s words carried a few unspoken implications that reminded Reinhardt how Bernd Adenauer had also handed him a list of councilors that the company was expected to help take down a peg or two when the situation allowed. Of course, that the vast majority of the names on that list also happened to be people who were against employing the Free Lances in the first place was a pleasant bonus.


    ¡°Why, madam councilor,¡± said Reinhardt with a hearty chuckle that displayed all of his sharp, sizable fangs. ¡°That is what you paid us for in the first place. We would only be too happy to oblige.¡±

 Chapter 284 - Triumphant Return

    ¡°Militaries were so fond of parading themselves on triumphant returns for a few reasons, mostly. For one, it gave the common soldier the chance to bask in the adoration of the crowd, which might include their family, friends, and loved ones, which meant a long-term boost to their morale and improved the chance of them volunteering should there be a next time.


    On the flipside, it also showed to the populace that stayed home that the military was strong and capable of protecting them. The festivities that generally followed also helped milden the losses that some of those people would inadvertently take, making them feel that the spouse, parent, sibling, or children never coming back laid their lives for a good reason.


    In many ways, such parades and the related celebrations were great tools for morale and propaganda.¡± - Publius Cornelius Barca, circa 52 FP.


    Roughly a week and a half after the battle of Aldenstadt, the half of the Free Lances that went there returned together to Levain with half of the militia that had been sent as reinforcements for the defenders there, the remaining five thousand militia stationed in the city as a garrison. Those militiamen would be rotated out in batches of a thousand men every month or so from then on, so as not to disrupt their scheduled training too much.


    The citizens of Levain ¨C or at least, a notable portion of them ¨C had lined up on the sides of the eastern main road to welcome the triumphant defenders, wildly cheering and showering them with adoration as they arrived. Councilors Estelle and Bernd Adenauer led the return parade, since Reinhardt claimed that since they already paid him, they can have all the glory, while he¡¯ll be happy with the money.


    Not that the mercenaries could avoid attention even though they gave the most prominent positions to their employers, though, since Mischka¡¯s platoon was amongst them and it was hard to not notice the group of massive folks that made up her platoon, especially since therians of large breeds tend to leave the former Empire for Boroes to the east instead since the conflict started.


    ¡°Getting cheered on just doesn¡¯t get old,¡± mentioned the therian matron to Reinhardt even while she waved back at some young children who were pointing excitedly towards her.


    ¡°It¡¯d help the amateurs gather more courage for when the next time war comes calling, yeah,¡± noted Reinhardt dryly. When he was a younger lad, he too was quite emotional about being part of such parades. Decades of living as a mercenary had mostly inured him to such feelings though. ¡°I¡¯m just glad that we work with people who understand that coins are the best way to motivate mercenaries like us instead of parades and awards.¡±


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    ¡°Still a good experience for the youngsters, though. They haven¡¯t been so far jaded to not have their spirit buoyed from stuff like this,¡± replied Mischka with a chuckle as she looked towards the side where several of her grandchildren were marching proudly as part of Erycea¡¯s platoon. ¡°I think you agree with me on that, considering that you placed them right on the side where they can get into close contact with the populace.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing to experience,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a slight smile of his own. The fact that his two daughters both decided to join the family business was a point of pride and a cause for worry to him, all at the same time, for rather obvious reasons.


    He had given Erycea notably more duties and responsibilities than most newcomers to the company, as it was more common to have the newcomers dispersed amongst the various platoons instead of leading a platoon on their own like she did, barring exceptional circumstances like with the warforged. As such, his giving Erycea a command that early was both a test and an opportunity for the girl.


    The girl had risen up to the challenge and performed splendidly at that.


    Given how the Free Lances had always been a family business, chances were very high that when Reinhardt retired ¨C or fell in battle, always a possibility in their line of work ¨C one day Erycea would be the next to take up the mantle, and as such he did what he could to help prepare the girl for such an eventuality. Of course, he hoped that it would only come to be when he retired peacefully in his old age rather than in the manner in which he inherited the company from his late aunt.


    Still, while Erycea had performed in exemplary ways so far, as her father, he couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat worried for the girl. It was a worry that would soon compound itself too, as Alycea would be of age as well later in the year and would likely follow her big sister¡¯s footsteps and join the company along with her group of friends. He knew that some of them were already eligible to join but chose to wait until Alycea joined before doing so themselves.


    If there was a silver lining to his worries, it was that the two sisters had an excellent relationship, despite how Alycea was adopted. If anything, Erycea could be a little too protective of her little sister at times, the relationship between the two always a harmonious one. Alycea had even expressed her desire to help Erycea out in any way she could when the latter became the captain of the company later on.


    The parade continued until the procession reached the city¡¯s main square, at which point they started to disperse and went their separate ways. The councilors and the militia commanders along with Reinhardt and his lieutenants went to the city council to make their report, while the militia left for their barracks, and the mercenaries returned to their own compound outside the town.


    During the council meeting where they gave their reports of the battle that took place in Aldenstadt ¨C and its unexpectedly speedy conclusion ¨C Reinhardt mostly spent his time taking note of the few councilors who did not seem too pleased with the news. He mentally noted their faces and names and matched them with the list he was given discreetly by Bernd, and to no surprise, found that they were all part of the list.


    Even while the scribes and militia commanders droned on and made a detailed report of the situation, as well as during the debate the council had over their worries about their eastern neighbor, the Podovniy March, Reinhardt mostly thought up ways on how to keep his company¡¯s work in training up the locals going smoothly, while keeping an ear out for any potential angles he could use to take down one of those councilors in the list.

 Chapter 285 - A Final Trial

    ¡°Once a child grows old enough to make their own decisions, I am of the opinion that the parent should stop holding their hands. Supporting them through various means to help them achieve their goal, sure, but the child must also put in their own effort for it, otherwise you would just spoil the child which might have detrimental effects when they grow older knowing nothing more than a life where their parents always held their hand and helped them along the way.¡± - Saying attributed to Reinhardt Edelstein, Third generation Captain of the Free Lances Mercenary Company.


    ¡°I must admit that I¡¯m curious to hear this sort of request from you, Captain Edelstein,¡± said councilwoman Estelle to Reinhardt when he made a common but unexpected request.


    Half a year had already passed since the battle of Aldenstadt, and the Free Lances continued their task over that fortunately uneventful period of time, training the local militia of Levain to a more combat-capable force. The passing of time also meant that some of the rookies that the company had been training eventually graduated from their training period and would be inducted into the company proper over time.


    In order to streamline the process, the company did that by batches on a yearly basis, though this time there were a particularly high number of trainees that would join the company, nearly doubling their total numbers. In the past they usually just split the trainees amongst the various platoons to shore up the numbers, but with the massive influx this year, the company had to resort to creating new platoons.


    For that purpose, some veteran members from existing platoons were chosen to head the new platoons, along with a handful of their fellows from their old platoon to serve as their field officers. Amongst these were people like Zyd and Arne, who had been working as part of Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon in the past couple of decades. They had been chosen to lead a new strike force platoon composed of some of the most promising of the rookies.


    In rare cases, some promising rookies were directly given command over a platoon themselves. One of those lucky rookies was Branka, a young orcish woman from the northern plains who was a cousin of Anatoli¡¯s, who was given command over the second platoon of archers that was mostly composed of new recruits like her. The orcish woman was a very skilled archer who wielded a very powerful bow and had easily made herself as the leader figure amongst the rookie archers during their training.


    Another exception were cases where Reinhardt wished for a certain newcomer to get command experience, as was the case with Erycea. That case naturally repeated itself as Alycea happened to come of age that autumn and chose to join the company together with her friends that year. Reinhardt had for the most part approved of their joining, but decided that his younger adopted daughter still needed one final test before he would welcome her to the company proper.


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    Which was the reason he went to the official in charge of the captives they took from the battle of Aldenstadt that day. Estelle happened to be there on other business when Reinhardt arrived and made his request, which led to her questioning him out of curiosity.


    It was common practice for prisoners of war like the captives taken in Aldenstadt to be put to hard labor unless they were ransomed by their side. Due to Earl Lecroix¡¯s unfortunate death, however, his former domain fell apart from a succession crisis, and as a result the prisoners had nobody who wanted to ransom them. Typically such prisoners were then left to the mercies of their captors, typically made to do hard labor until the war ended.


    That said, sometimes certain captives might be unfortunate enough to have private vendettas with someone from the captor¡¯s side who was wealthy enough to ransom them, in which case said prisoner¡¯s fate would be left to the mercies of whoever ransomed them. That was exactly what Reinhardt had visited the official for.


    He wanted to ransom two of the former knights amongst the captives, whichever two were the best fighters amongst them.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing personal against those knights, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt to Estelle¡¯s question. ¡°It¡¯s just that my younger daughter has come of age and is about to join the company as well, so I needed an opponent to give her a final test with. These knights just happen to be the most convenient ones, and in case you wonder, I¡¯m ransoming them with my personal funds.¡±


    ¡°I see. You intend to use them as sparring partners for her then?¡± asked Estelle with more curiosity.


    ¡°Sparring partners, she already has plenty of, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°The girl has the skills. She¡¯s been training since she was young for this, but she had never fought for real yet. At least, not against an opponent who would not have any qualms of hurting her, nor had she ever killed another person yet. She would need to be able to do that to join the company, hence me ransoming these folks.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ so you¡¯re intending to ransom a couple of knights for your daughter to kill?¡± asked the councilwoman in surprise.


    ¡°Not without a fight,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°Our profession isn¡¯t one for those who are half-hearted about it, so I will be giving those knights their weapons and armor back. Aly will either show that she has what it takes to make it in our world, or she would learn that it¡¯s not for her,¡± he added with a shake of his head. ¡°I honestly think that the girl should be able to do it, but you can never be certain until they have been put to the test. We didn¡¯t need to worry about it with Ery since she had crossed that line long before the time she joined the company.¡±


    ¡°I do not know if I should be horrified or impressed, Captain,¡± admitted the councilor honestly.


    ¡°If you¡¯re interested, you¡¯re welcome to watch,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly.

 Chapter 286 - A Fight for Ones Life

    ¡°Those who refuse to believe that hard work eventually pays off, likely never did proper hard work for long enough.¡± - Old folk saying.


    In the end, councilor Estelle found herself too intrigued by what she had heard from Reinhardt to pass up the offer. Fortunately there was not much work in the city council the next day, and the councilors dispersed well before noon. Estelle found herself headed towards where the mercenaries set up their encampment of tents and wagons outside the city, and found that she was early.


    It was not difficult for her to find Reinhardt, as his tall figure and white, spotted fur was easy to notice even from a distance. She found the mercenary captain standing around a small makeshift arena ¨C more just a fenced up area roughly ten meters in diameter to the side of the encampment ¨C together with his wife and daughter, as well as a group of young mercenaries that Estelle thought was far too young to be in that sort of business.


    The two knights from Kolain that he had ransomed the day before were inside the fenced area, both clad in gambeson and chainmail, though unarmed for the time being. Estelle happened to come right when one of the knights questioned Reinhardt, and was quite intrigued to hear the exchange between the mercenary and the captive knight.


    ¡°So you are saying that you have ransomed us and would set us free after this fight?¡± asked one of the knights as he fixed the fit of his chain shirt. The knight seemed to be a human in his thirties at most, and like his somewhat younger companion only wore pants, a gambeson, and a chain shirt that only covered his torso over it. Neither had any weapons on their person.


    ¡°If you win,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod of his head. ¡°I mean, if you lose, I¡¯d still free at least one of you, but they¡¯ll have to leave some part of them behind. I¡¯m thinking an arm. Simple enough, yes?¡±


    ¡°Fine, mercenary,¡± spat out the knight with obvious disgust in his voice. ¡°We¡¯ll play this sick game of yours.¡±


    In response to his words, Reinhardt snapped his fingers and four armed mercenaries brought over a rack of weapons and placed them right next to the fence before they stood guard to its sides. The message was clear. The knight who was fighting may pick his favored weapon, but if they were to try anything funny, they would be killed on the spot.


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    With some grumbling under his breath the knight Reinhardt had spoken to walked towards the weapons rack after a short discussion with the other, younger knight. The man looked over the various weapons, then pulled out and weighed a couple longswords in his hands, putting them back afterwards, until he finally found one he was satisfied with and nodded his head, standing tall near the center of the fenced area with the longsword in hand.


    ¡°I am ready. Let¡¯s get this farce over with!¡± yelled the knight.


    In response, Reinhardt only nodded lightly, and from the group of young mercenaries, Alycea walked out and leapt over the fence, into the arena. The fourteen year old girl had cut her blonde hair rather short, save for a long, slender ¡°tail¡± of hair at the back. The armor she wore was also reminiscent of the sort of protection Erycea wore, mostly just covering her torso, on the lighter side as armor went. Her staff of Willow Heartwood was firmly held in her hand, now serving as the shaft of a glaive with a long, slender blade on one end and a spearhead on the other.


    While the girl¡¯s youth was evident and easily noticeable, the knight made no comment about it, as instead his eyes fixated on the glint of the glaive¡¯s cutting edge and his features turned more serious. Like most seasoned warriors who had contact with people from the upper class, the knight recognized the telltale gleam of mithril that formed the edge of the blade on Alycea¡¯s weapon.


    That alone was enough of a hint to make him take the fight much more seriously, even if his opponent was little more than a juvenile. Instead, though, that warning also allowed him to notice details he had not paid much mind to beforehand, like how the girl walked with a clearly practiced motion, and the easy way she held the glaive that was longer than she was tall.


    All hints that despite her young age, the girl he was told to fight against was not one to be taken lightly.


    The fight itself began with a simple signal, and Estelle noticed how Alycea immediately took a step back to open the distance a bit more, placing her well outside the reach of her opponent even if he were to lunge at her. It was a clever decision to make, considering that the girl has the longer weapon by far. In contrast, the knight¡¯s longsword was at a clear disadvantage unless he could close the distance.


    Both the knight and Alycea kept their distance from each other at first, their eyes roving over their opponent in an attempt to note things that might be good to know once they started to clash. The two slowly circled around while keeping their distance in a show of wariness towards each other, which was not unusual in a duel.


    In the end, however, Alycea was the one to make the first move. Perhaps she felt that she already had some measure of her opponent, or perhaps she was just confident in her own skills, but she took a large step forward ¨C placing the knight just inside her range ¨C and swung her glaive from above towards him, using nearly the full length of the polearm.


    For his part, the knight probably thought that since he was likely a good bit stronger than Alycea ¨C the girl wasn¡¯t particularly tall for her age, a whole head shorter than the knight, and with a slender build at best ¨C he might be able to block and deflect her blow with his longsword. The attempt almost cost him, and the only reason the knight escaped without injury was because he was fast enough to evade backwards when Alycea¡¯s blow simply crashed through his attempted block.


    The mithril edge of the glaive still sheared through multiple links of the chainmail the knight wore, and its tip left a cut on his gambeson that had gone most of the way through.

 Chapter 287 - Fruits Born of Diligence and Effort

    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s impossible to know how newbies would react to actually killing others. I¡¯ve seen one of the most timid trainees just go crazy and start slaughtering enemies without any hesitation once placed on the battlefield before, and I¡¯ve also seen one of the most courageous, brave ones hesitate and found themselves unable to do it, not even when the other guy was coming at them with blade bared.


    It¡¯s just something you could never tell until you really put them to the test.¡± - Archibald Neuser, training instructor for the Krigarris Jarldom.


    The knight took another couple of steps back, temporarily taking him outside of Alycea¡¯s range. The girl allowed him to do so, as she knew that her opponent would be at the height of his wariness at the moment, and there was little point for her to press the attack against a now prepared opponent while he was the most prepared for it.


    Alycea watched calmly as her opponent carefully assessed the damage she had done to his armor. That she gave her opponent a moment to take things in was not something born from overconfidence or the likes, but was instead a trick from her part. She hoped that her opponent would falsely assume that the blow she gave him just earlier was the best that she could have done.


    After years under the tutelage of her mother and elder sister, Alycea Edelstein was capable of far more than that. That said, those same years of tutelage also taught her that she should give her all even if her opponent might be weaker, which was one reason for the subterfuge. Alycea wanted to take down her first opponent while keeping as many of her tricks and trump cards hidden as was possible to give her second opponent as little information as she could.


    It was why her first blow looked very normal to all eyes, despite the uniquely flexible nature of her weapon¡¯s Willow Heartwood shaft. Alycea actually actively reined in the wood¡¯s tendency to bend and flex during her strike, something she only learned after much practice. Normally during spars with her mother or sister she¡¯d use that trick to make a feint, throw off expectations, or to simply vary her moves.


    She used that trick to instead make her current opponent think that her weapon was a normal one, something he was familiar with, instead of something with more unique qualities.


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    After a moment of mutual silence, the knight ¨C Alycea was naturally aware of the identity of her opponents, captives who had been ransomed to use as opponent to baptize her weapon and perseverance in blood before she would be formally admitted to the company ¨C tried to rush in close, but she countered the move by defensively holding him back with the point of her glaive aimed at the center of his mass.


    Both of them fought relatively carefully as the setting of the duel afforded them the opportunity. Normally such a setting would be more beneficial to the knight, who was more likely to be trained and accustomed to such duels, but Alycea had also trained for such situations and was undeterred. She knew what to do with only one opponent and nobody else she needed to watch out for.


    This time it was the knight who lost his patience first as he batted away the tip of Alycea¡¯s glaive using the flat of his sword before he tried to rush closer once more. Alycea on the other hand was nonchalant as she saw the move coming and pulled her glaive back in response, before she countered with three quick thrusts aimed at the knight¡¯s torso.


    To his credit, the knight successfully avoided one of the thrusts, and managed to parry and deflect a second using his longsword. The third thrust struck home and drew blood, however, although the wound was a shallow one to the man¡¯s chest. A flesh wound that wouldn¡¯t affect the man¡¯s capability in the short term, to say the least.


    Even so, the knight¡¯s injury seemed to have emboldened Alycea as she went into the attack with a series of vicious slashes and thrusts that utilized the superior length of her weapon to keep the knight on the backfoot. As Alycea had always greatly admired her older sister Erycea, her fighting style had a lot in common with Erycea¡¯s as well, that of a careful passivity that could switch to a vicious and unrelenting yet measured offense at the drop of a hat.


    What a spectator ¨C or her opponent, for that matter ¨C might not have realized was that Alycea had been holding back all that while, despite the vicious barrage of cuts and thrusts she sent at her foe. She spent more effort keeping her weapon steady than in making those strikes, something her opponent had failed to realize.


    As such, once her opponent felt that he had gotten a grasp of Alycea¡¯s rhythm, he made a risky maneuver where he attempted to meet an incoming slash of Alycea¡¯s with his own blade. If he succeeded in reading her move properly, he would have slapped away Alycea¡¯s blow with the flat of his longsword, which would leave the girl wide open.


    Unfortunately for the knight, that was something Alycea noticed, and she chose to spring the trap she had set up all fight right at that moment, as she simply stopped countering her weapon¡¯s shaft¡¯s tendency to flex and bend at the right moment. As a result, her opponent¡¯s swipe entirely missed her glaive as the wooden shaft bent rather drastically towards the back as if swaying away from the blow.


    Then with a pulling motion Alycea not only counteracted the bend, but also allowed her glaive¡¯s shaft to flex back the other way, resulting in a slash that practically blurred in the eyes of the spectators as it struck towards the knight¡¯s throat. There was silence for a moment, before it was broken by the noise of a longsword falling into the ground.


    Which was soon followed by a human head that had been severed cleanly off its body.

 Chapter 288 - A Second Foe to Face

    ¡°One thing I always taught all of my students was to never let overconfidence befuddle their thoughts. Down that path only defeat existed.¡± - Kang Hung-Fei, martial arts tutor from the Al-Shan Empire, circa 681 FP.


    ¡°You may have bested Ser Montgover, but you will not find me, Ser Dagobert Eslinn of Kolain, such an easy foe,¡± said the second knight as he faced off against Erycea in the arena after the corpse of the first knight had been cleaned away. The knight held himself tall and confident even after witnessing the demise of his compatriot. ¡°Have at you!¡±


    Unlike the previous knight, the second one opted for a halberd as his weapon, one just as long as Alycea¡¯s glaive, thus negating her reach advantage. The knight probably thought that he had seen through her ¡°tricks¡± in the first duel, and with his choice of weapon matching hers in length, would be able to better leverage his superior physical strength.


    Too bad the knight had no idea that Alycea sparred against people who were physically stronger than herself the vast majority of the time. The girl was very used to being the physically weaker side in any fight, and had long adapted to that fact of life with various measures to make up for her lack of physical strength.


    Unlike her father and elder sister, she had no therian heritage to grant her superior physiques. Unlike her mother, she lacked the sense that allowed her to detect even the most minute of moves from her opponents before it would become visible to the eye, nor did Alycea possess instincts honed by many decades of fighting in situations best described as being on a razor¡¯s edge.


    Instead the young girl had to create measures of her own to compensate for her lacking physique. While she was indeed strong and very fit for a juvenile girl her age, enough to put some adults to shame, even against those adults who also trained their body, she was at a clear disadvantage. It was a trouble she had struggled to find a solution with for years.


    It was Salicia¡¯s birthday gift of a Willow Heartwood staff years ago that gave her a start to the path she carved with her own hand over the following years.


    Most people would have considered the staff unsuitable to be used as a weapon. The wooden staff was arguably too flexible, to the point that merely the act of swinging it would cause it to bend quite a bit. Where regular willow wood was fragile, though, the Heartwood staff had no such demerits, and was indeed extremely durable despite its flexibility and relative softness.


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    Like all Heartwood types, it also could naturally regenerate damaged parts by absorbing mana from its surroundings, or by an infusion from its user.


    Over the past few years, Alycea had painstakingly trained with the staff until she could move it like it was an extension of her body. The softness and flexibility it had formed the core of the fighting style she devised for herself, one that faced the hard with the soft rather than forcefully opposing it with more hardness.


    That soon came into play as she clashed weapons with the second knight, who indeed tried to leverage his strength advantage over her, only to be stymied at every turn. Where he forcefully tried to push aside Alycea¡¯s glaive while their weapons were in contact, Alycea simply gave way and instead made her own move to counter his, which more often than not forced him to pull back.


    He tried to overpower her with vicious blows, but found to his dismay that the shaft of the weapon in Alycea¡¯s hand would simply bend and dissipate the force of his blows before bouncing back into its original position like nothing happened, while the girl herself barely felt the impact. Even worse, his strikes and chops barely left scratches on the oddly flexible wooden shaft.


    Meanwhile, he had difficulties when Alycea struck back. The way her weapon¡¯s shaft bent and wobbled all over the place naturally made her strikes chaotic and unpredictable, which gave the knight fits when he tried to block them. Before a couple minutes had passed, the knight already sported several light cuts and nicks that bled where he failed to defend against Alycea¡¯s strikes properly.


    While he sounded all confident early on, he realized all too soon that he had only seen the surface of what Alycea had in store, and was pressed hard into the defensive after the first few exchanges. What confidence he had was long gone as he did his darndest to protect himself from the young girl¡¯s blows, which struck at him erratically and often from difficult angles.


    For her own part, Alycea was actually holding back during her fight with the second knight. She had not taken several openings that would have ended the fight, as it would have likely killed the knight. Her father had told her to spare the second one, though injuring him was fine, but the trouble was that it was always easier to kill than to merely injure someone. As such she waited until she could find a good opportunity to disable but not kill her opponent.


    That chance finally arrived when her opponent misplaced his hand when he blocked one of her blows. Instead of following through with the strike, Alycea twisted her grip on the weapon, causing the blade to swerve. Instead of landing on the shaft of her opponent¡¯s halberd edge-first, the blade instead landed on its flat, and Alycea dragged it along the shaft towards her opponent¡¯s hand.


    With a cry from the knight, both the halberd and seven of the man¡¯s fingers fell to the ground as he fell to his knees and tried to clutch his hands against each other in order to stem the bleeding from his severed fingers. Some of his fingers lost their last joint, while others lost more than that, with the man¡¯s right thumb completely severed.


    Alycea just stood triumphantly over her bleeding opponent, proud in the knowledge that she had lived up to her parents¡¯ expectations.

 Chapter 289 - Rubbing Salt in the Wound

    ¡°There is no such thing as waiting for your enemy to get back to their feet. If they¡¯re down, hit them more until you¡¯re certain they¡¯re staying down!¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Quite a display from your daughter, Captain,¡± said Estelle as a couple mercenaries walked in to help the crippled knight bandage his injured hands. He certainly was unable to do it himself, not with only three fingers remaining. ¡°I suppose I should congratulate you.¡±


    ¡°Why, thank you, Madam councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a proud smirk on his face. ¡°Aly worked hard for this day, so we always expected her to have the skills needed. This was more a formality as well as to see if she has the determination she¡¯d need for this sort of life.¡±


    ¡°Are you actually letting that second knight go free, though?¡± asked Estelle with some curiosity in her voice. ¡°For what reason, if I may ask?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just sprinkling in some salt into their wound and rubbing it in nicely,¡± replied Reinhardt all too nonchalantly. ¡°Our information sources stated that there¡¯s a bit of internal conflict in the Podovniy March surrounding the succession of the Kolain Earldom, and whether they should even be allowed to keep that title, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°That is the case, yeah. One reason there has been no parties who showed interest in ransoming our captives so far,¡± replied the councilwoman. Typically captured parties from a battle were ransomed within a month of their capture, so it was decidedly irregular for the captives they took from Aldenstadt to be allowed to languish in the mines for the past half a year. ¡°We also received news of drought that affected most of Anduillas and a good chunk of the north side of Podovniy, so that¡¯s another reason, most likely.¡±


    ¡°I heard news of that too, though I was uncertain of the veracity,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. While the Free City does share intelligence with them on a regular basis, he still favored using his own assets to glean more information from any potential enemies, and had put his company¡¯s staff at work to do so. ¡°Anyway, all that information is clear for us to see, because we are in a position to be in the know.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, the average citizen of say¡­ the Kolain Earldom in the Podovniy March would only likely know that thousands of their people marched to war half a year ago and many of them never returned,¡± he continued. ¡°I do not doubt that they would have learned of their defeat, even if the higher-ups tried to cover it, since there were so many escapees, and you¡¯re unlikely to silence so many mouths.¡±


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    ¡°I think I am starting to get an inkling of what you have in mind,¡± said the councilwoman. ¡°But please carry on.¡±


    ¡°I am just going to make certain that this knight would make it back to his home, that¡¯s all,¡± said Reinhardt with a cruel smirk on his face. ¡°So he can relate the tale of the suffering and indignity their army suffered, toiling day and night in the mines because nobody important cared for their fates. Even if they want him to adjust his narrative, I doubt he¡¯d be all that willing to comply when he sees for himself the kind of state his hometown is in.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, fermenting further internal conflict to keep the enemy busy putting out the fires in their backyard,¡± said Estelle as the understanding dawned upon her. ¡°A classic. As it is between the succession dispute in Kolain and the drought, Podovniy had been too occupied to think about waging another offensive in our direction. Further unrest would likely prolong that and give us more time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan, yes. Considering that it¡¯d likely take more time before the fort at Aldenstadt is finished building, I thought it would be prudent to add a bit more insurance to make sure that the Podovniy March keeps to themselves for the time being,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Honestly, I was just looking for some fodder that little Aly can whet her blade on when my strategist suggested it, so I figure, why not?¡±


    ¡°Two birds with one stone. Always a good idea when you can pull it off,¡± chimed the councilwoman in agreement. ¡°Do you expect that the situation in Kolain will worsen by much?¡±


    ¡°Got to give the people something to justify the loss of their family and loved ones. The way I see it, they already fucked that up when instead of trying to deal with the backlash from the losses first, they started fighting each other for power instead,¡± said Reinhardt somewhat contemplatively. ¡°That can¡¯t have been popular with the people there, but they probably just stomached it because it was still early.¡±


    ¡°¡®Things will get better.¡¯ That¡¯s a chant that the people who were lower down the power hierarchy usually keep chanting to themselves, if only to convince themselves that tomorrow might be a better day, to power through the way their life could often be a drudge,¡± he continued. ¡°Even so, everyone has a limit. I do not expect that merely adding another spark to the mix would cause a conflagration to grow, but every little bit added would chip away at the people¡¯s tolerance and patience.¡±


    ¡°A fair expectation,¡± commented the councilor with a nod. She was honestly quite happy to see that the mercenaries put some thought into the future even when they weren¡¯t paid for it. Just goes to show that they were a case of money well spent. ¡°We also received reports that apparently the coalition to our south had been clamoring for expansion of late, so you might want to warn the sentries you placed in that region.¡±


    ¡°It was something we also received rumors of. Thank you for the confirmation, Madam councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt politely. To the south of the Free City was a coalition of around a dozen small to medium-sized powers, which entered an alliance in order to prevent themselves from being devoured piecemeal by the larger powers around them. ¡°We actually have several plans in hand in case they choose to come for us.¡±


    ¡°Depending on where they choose to advance from, we are confident that we can make them rue the day they set their sights northwards.¡±

 Chapter 290 - Cavalry Progress

    ¡°The cavalry has always played an important role in battles from the ancient era to the present day, be it as scouts, mobile skirmishers, or more recently, as heavy assault units. In many ways, the way that a force could make use of their own cavalry and counter the enemy¡¯s helps to decide the course of a battle that involves them.¡± - Elson Horatius, Military historian from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 520 VA.


    ¡°I must say, their progress has been quite pleasing to witness, Captain, Commanding Instructor,¡± said councilwoman Estelle as she watched a demonstration by the cavalry team that Ze¡¯phane and Soledad had been training hard since the arrival of the Free Lances on Levain.


    It had been a couple weeks since the day Alycea had her little test and officially joined the Free Lances, and Estelle was accompanied by another couple dozen councilors who were similarly present to watch the fruits of the training that their city¡¯s budding cavalry force had undergone. It was a demonstration that suitably impressed them, to say the least.


    Whereas most of the Free Lances were busy training the majority of the city¡¯s militia forces, Soledad and her platoon were singled out for a specific task, namely to train the city¡¯s cavalry. Ze¡¯phane was an excellent instructor when it came to horsemanship and taking care of the steeds, but she was less knowledgeable about cavalry warfare, so that task fell mostly to Soledad, Anatoli, and their subordinates.


    They had come to an agreement early on that given the wide, rolling plains that most of the Free City¡¯s territory comprised of, the cavalry force was likely going to have the best effect as light cavalry. Besides, the cost for equipment that heavy cavalrymen would need, much less in the numbers they would need in order to be effective, was probably a bit unpalatable for the city¡¯s budget.


    Instead, the riders of the cavalry they trained wore only light armor, mostly just gambeson with boiled leather lamellar on top of it. They were armed similarly lightly, with a short spear and a shield, as well as a quiver that held nine javelins slung over their backs. Holders for their spear were set on both sides of their saddle, so they could place the spear there when they were throwing javelins instead.


    The javelins themselves were relatively small and short compared to some other examples. Each was only around a meter long, roughly as thick around as a thumb, with a long, pointed head not unlike a bodkin arrow. The design was clearly one intended to pierce through most lighter armor up to the ubiquitous chain mail, as plate armor would defeat such a projectile with ease.


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    Fortunately plate armor was still too demanding on craftsmanship and was thus too costly to be deployed in large numbers in most cases anyway, so it was deemed plenty to be able to pierce through the far more commonly seen chainmail.


    Ze¡¯phane¡¯s training had already given the volunteers chosen to be part of the cavalry a very solid basis in horsemanship, so that had made things easier for Soledad and Anatoli, who found themselves only needing to teach the already skilled riders on how to abuse their horsemanship skills and incorporate it into battle tactics.


    The demonstration their trainees put up for the councilors did just that.


    A group of twenty-five riders rode across the training field in five rows of five riders each, their horses galloping at full speed as they charged towards a set of man-sized targets meant to simulate the enemy. The riders drew a javelin in unison once they reached fifty meters away, and hurled the javelins at the targets as one at thirty.


    Then they continued riding towards the targets even as they pulled out another javelin from the quivers on their backs, before turning their horses around sharply only fifteen meters away from the enemy ¡°line¡±. Each rider threw another javelin as they turned, while at the same time another set of javelins thrown by the second row behind them flew over their heads towards the ¡°enemy¡±.


    As the first row of riders sped back up they hurled a third javelin at the enemy as a parting shot, the space they took for the turn so narrow that they passed close enough to brush a rider from the next row behind them, yet the team performed the feat flawlessly as each row repeated the process. More impressively, every single one of their javelins landed on a target.


    ¡°Are all of the first batch at this level of skill, Commanding Instructor?¡± asked another councilor towards Ze¡¯phane. The first batch referred to the two thousand riders that had been assigned for her to train in the past year or so, while the city was planning on doubling that number by the next year.


    ¡°They are, Councilor,¡± replied the twin-souled half-orc with confidence. Soledad who was next to her also gave a firm nod of agreement, as the two of them had worked together to train these riders to their current level of skill.


    Reinhardt also nodded with some satisfaction at the results. He had been present partly to accompany the councilors as they were after all checking on the results of his company¡¯s work. As the Captain it was only fitting for him to be present on such occasions. He was accompanied by Elfriede as usual, as she was always present beside him on such formal events, not because she was his wife, but as his guard.


    Hard to argue against that when she was arguably the deadliest combatant amongst the company¡¯s roster.


    That he was in a formal occasion also meant that he had to groan with some annoyance when he spotted Rhiannon ¨C Karenina¡¯s daughter and one of Erycea¡¯s friends who were part of her platoon ¨C looking for him with a slightly troubled face just as the demonstration was ending.

 Chapter 291 - Those who Never Learn

    ¡°Even donkeys refuse to fall twice into the same hole. That there exist people out there who would repeat the same mistake over and over again is honestly the best proof that some of us are less capable of recognizing patterns than a donkey.¡± - Liovar Rhodes, Philosopher from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 419 VA.


    ¡°Beg yer¡¯ pardon for the interruption, Captain,¡± said Rhiannon as she gave a salute to Reinhardt and the gathered councilors.


    ¡°You¡¯re already here anyway, so go ahead and speak. We just finished anyway,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. He had asked not to be disturbed unless there was something important during his meetings with the councilors, and he knew his daughter¡¯s friends well enough to know that they¡¯d abide by that, so chances were that there was something going on. ¡°I thought your platoon had off time today?¡±


    It was common practice for the company to allow some of their people time off when they were stationed for long-term contracts that placed them within easy reach to a city or town. Those who had time off would usually use their free time to enjoy the amenities that said city or town had to offer, and like most mercenaries on leave, tend to be generous in their spending, which made them quite liked amongst the locals to say the least.


    ¡°We did, and Mister Adenauer happened to meet us when we were having lunch and offered to show us around town,¡± replied Rhiannon with a nod. ¡°Things were going just fine until we ran into some¡­ umm¡­¡±


    ¡°Just speak frankly, don¡¯t mind the councilors,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°If someone is trying to find trouble with us, who are here under their employ, that means they¡¯re also indirectly looking for trouble with them anyway, so they should hear about it. Makes no difference where that¡¯s from you or from an official report I have Loren draft up for me later.¡±


    ¡°All right, so¡­ There were this bunch of¡­ umm¡­ nobly looking types, you know what I mean, the haughty, look-down-their-nose sort who we ran into around an hour ago. They got pretty disparaging and Mister Adenauer was saying things in our defense when one of the young ones walked up and threw a gauntlet at Ery,¡± narrated the girl somewhat nervously. ¡°Lil¡¯ Boss caught it, of course.¡±


    ¡°Throwing a gauntlet you say?¡± interjected councilor Estelle with a surprised look that soon turned to annoyance and a bit of anger. ¡°Did some idiot just try to pull an honor duel on one of your officers!? We just passed a resolution to forbid that bullshit to preserve our forces not two weeks ago, by Vitalis¡¯s hanging tits!¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ pretty sure that¡¯s what that nobly bunch said, yeah, um¡­ Madam Councilor,¡± said Rhiannon with a bit of nervousness.


    ¡°Knowing Ery, I bet she didn¡¯t say no, so where and when?¡± asked Reinhardt as he changed the topic slightly. He knew Erycea was unlikely to back away from that sort of challenge, so instead it was better for him to get a better grasp of the situation.Like knowing the time and place, since such ¡°official¡± duels wouldn¡¯t be started in the middle of the streets. ¡°Also, got any idea why that particular brat challenged her specifically?¡±


    ¡°Central square at sunset,¡± replied Rhiannon, which elicited a groan as the gathered Councilors covered their faces or foreheads with their hands. Whoever made the challenge clearly wanted to make a public spectacle of it, as there were more discreet yet appropriate places for such duels. It made it clear to them that the other side clearly had an agenda. ¡°As for why¡­ the noble brat did go something like, ¡®My name is blablabla, you killed my brother, prepare to die¡¯ and all before he threw that gauntlet, so I¡¯m guessing that¡¯d be the reason, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Huh, brother of someone she killed? Can¡¯t have been too many of that in Levain¡­ I think Ery only killed those two back in the duel that guy proposed back when we arrived¡­¡± pondered Reinhardt as he tried to recall any potential people who could have made that claim. ¡°Did either of those have any relations that might have done something like this, Madam Councilor?¡±


    ¡°One of them, the leader of the other team back then, is a nephew of de Kars, and his father and brother were known to be skilled knights. His brother was even studying in Caroma because of his talent, last I heard,¡± replied Estelle with a frown on her face. ¡°Considering how poorly he had made off of that incident, I wouldn¡¯t put something like this past him. I swear we need to make more ways to kick out councilors from the council when they get stupid like this¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, that at least lifted a worry off my mind, thank you, Madam Councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Anyone foolish enough to associate with someone that incompetent can¡¯t be that good, one way or another.¡±


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d agree with you, Captain, but I shouldn¡¯t badmouth my fellow Councilor, as much as I dislike the man,¡± replied Estelle with a shake of her head. ¡°That said, if it is indeed his brother and nephew that came to look for trouble, you might want to intervene if it goes further. Vincenzo de Kars was a relatively famed swordmaster during his younger days, and his elder son also seemed to have inherited his talent. He¡¯s also known to be a petty bastard.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s still an hour or so until sundown, so we should be able to get there in time and see whether we need to intervene or not,¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°Just to be certain, Madam Councilor, these people are making this a personal dispute with us and thus would not fall under the category of citizens of the Free City that we are contractually obligated to help protect, yes?¡±


    ¡°Most certainly so, Captain,¡± affirmed the councilwoman with a decisive nod. ¡°Your rights to defend yourself in whatever way you deem fitting is in play, so they¡¯re all yours. I don¡¯t think any of us would miss them.¡±


    Behind Estelle, many of the other councilors supported her words by nodding their heads in unison.

 Chapter 292 - Youthful Pride

    ¡°Many young people, especially the ones with talent, often felt themselves invincible, that they were the top of the world. Usually, it was only when reality caught up to them that they realized their folly. Of course, not every one of them survived that tumble from atop the metaphorical peak.¡± - Adama Oweni, Scholar from Posuin, circa 501 VA.


    ¡°So that one getting armored up¡¯s the one that challenged Ery I take it?¡± asked Reinhardt when he reached the central square of Levain ¨C along with Elfriede, Rhiannon, and most of the group from the training ground, including the councilors ¨C a while later. They were still early to the time agreed upon for the duel, and as far as he could tell, Erycea was just warming up on her side, while her opponent was in the process of being helped into his armor.


    Because of course the rich fucker had the means to get himself a full suit of masterwork full plate armor that covered him from head to toe.


    Normally Reinhardt would be a bit worried, as plate armor of that sort was something that rendered many weapons nearly useless, but in Erycea¡¯s case, the weapons she used as well as her fighting style happened to be uniquely suited for facing people in that sort of armor. In fact, she often referred to them with the derogatory term of ¡°tin cans¡± most of the time.


    As it was, he was curious on how long the noble boy would last against Erycea.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one, Boss man,¡± replied Aurora with a nod. Erycea had been in town with her friends when the challenge happened, so the rest of them kept her company when she went to the city square to answer it to show solidarity. ¡°Would¡¯ve loved to smash his face in myself, but fucker called for the lil¡¯ boss, so I guess I ain¡¯t getting that chance. Doubt lil¡¯ boss would leave much of him for us to hit.¡±


    ¡°That is Adrian de Kars, eldest son to Vincenzo de Kars,¡± explained Bernd Adenauer who was also present in the square, as he had been showing Erycea and her friends around town when the challenge happened. Naturally he felt somewhat responsible for not being able to prevent the incident from happening in the first place. ¡°He was studying in Caroma last I knew, so he must have returned after getting news about his brother.¡±


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    ¡°Which one was his brother, anyway?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. To his knowledge, Erycea had only killed two people that could possibly be related to that noble family, but he had no idea which was which.


    ¡°That would be the young knight who led de Kars¡¯s team back in the first duel, Captain,¡± replied the councilor, which jogged Reinhardt¡¯s memory of the fight back when they had just arrived in Levain. It was an extremely one-sided fight where Erycea and her people slaughtered the opposition except for one lucky man who managed to surrender fast enough.


    ¡°Oh, the one that Ery punted the head off of?¡± he replied. ¡°That one didn¡¯t seem all that competent.¡±


    ¡°He was not considered anywhere as talented as his elder brother, yes, though de Kars still knighted him and gave him a high position since he was his nephew anyway,¡± said the councilor with a shake of his head.


    ¡°See, that¡¯s just folly. Like, I don¡¯t mind someone employing their own kids or nephews and the likes, as long as they got what it takes to do the job, but doing so when they were clearly incompetent was just cruelty to whoever was unfortunate enough to be under them,¡± complained Reinhardt as he shook his head. ¡°I have my daughters working as part of the company as well, but they¡¯ve proven that they were suitable for it, and I gave them the position because of that, not because they¡¯re my kids.¡±


    ¡°An understandable meritocratic view, one I wish more people would adopt rather than just trying to cram in as many family and friends in high position as was the norm,¡± admitted the former nobleman as he shook his head in disappointment. ¡°Anyway, from the way you¡¯re acting, I must presume that you foresee little to no chance of your daughter losing this duel.¡±


    ¡°The day Ery loses to a human tin can is the day hell freezes over,¡± stated Reinhardt confidently. ¡°Now, if that rich snob there was a dwarf or an orc and had armor tailored to them, she might have some difficulty getting through that, though they¡¯re just as unlikely to catch her. A human wouldn¡¯t be able to use armor that¡¯s thick enough to give her that sort of difficulty unless they¡¯re a blood mage though, so she¡¯ll likely have him beat before long.¡±


    Shortly after he said those words, the young nobleman on the other side finished wearing his armor and stood up, picking up a large greatsword that his father proffered to him, and stepped into the center of the square, which had been left vacant on purpose for their duel. The young noble was clad from head to toe in his plate armor, with only a narrow slit for vision and holes for breathing once he lowered his helmet¡¯s visor into place.


    Across the square from him, Erycea also stood up lightly. She wore notably lighter armor compared to her opponent, a thin gambeson on which a surprisingly flexible brigandine was anchored. The armor mostly covered her torso, and while she also wore bracers and shin guards, she had skipped out on gauntlets or greaves, which was not uncommon amongst therians as they often found it hard to fight well while wearing those.


    Her own pair of truncheons were in her hands as she relaxedly walked into the square and looked her armored opponent in the eye while they waited for the signal to start to be given. That wait proved to be a short one, as before long, the sun set on the horizon and one of the councilors who had followed along signaled the start of the duel for them.

 Chapter 293 - Fatal Arrogance

    ¡°Just because you¡¯re dressed to the gills with the best armor money can buy doesn¡¯t mean you should charge the enemy like an idiot. That road leads to naught but an early grave.¡± - Hassan Ibn Namsul, instructor for the Chosen Guards of the Hassid Caliphate, circa 402 VA.


    Once the signal for the duel to start was given, Erycea nimbly leapt up to her feet from her seated position. Even clad in armor, she felt light, her movements unhindered. Of course, a lot of that was thanks to how Grandpa Hogarth had personally made her brigandine to make sure that it suited her exact needs, rather than leaving part of the process to his assistants.


    Where full plate armor like what her opponent wore was expensive stuff, something that would have taken weeks of a skilled smith¡¯s time to make, brigandines like what she wore were basically considered the poor man¡¯s alternative to it. It was far easier to have the smith¡¯s assistants and apprentices to churn out dozens of small plates of metal than it was for a skilled smith to craft a part of a custom-fitted platemail after all.


    What most people with such armor don¡¯t have compared to her was a master blacksmith with centuries of experience who specialized in brigandines, however. The brigandines worn by the members of the Free Lances were all put together under Hogarth¡¯s directions, at the very least, and like better armor, were custom-fitted to their wearer¡¯s needs.


    Erycea¡¯s own set was more flexible than what most would have expected out of the typically rigid armor, and looked a bit thicker as well. Her grandfather had made it with extra layers of cloth padding on both the inside and outside, not only for comfort but also to increase the armor¡¯s effectiveness against most attacks. The result was armor that was comfortable to wear and retained some flexibility without sacrificing protection.


    If it was a tad heavier than what most wore, Erycea wasn¡¯t troubled by it, since her therian heritage made her stronger than humans and her body could easily handle the extra load.


    In contrast to her light steps, her opponent took firm, steady steps towards her. She knew that plate armor like what he wore wouldn¡¯t have limited the man¡¯s mobility by that much, but it was still a noticeable weight, and most people experienced with fighting while wearing armor would usually take it slow when they could afford to in order to save their stamina.


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    That was a good thing. At least the spoiled noble brat had some experience behind him. The fight would have felt too much like bullying an incompetent toddler otherwise for Erycea. Instead of coming towards the young armor-clad noble, Erycea made a provocative gesture, essentially inviting him to come get her, if he could.


    She had not expected it to work, but it turned out that the noble fell for her provocation and stepped towards her with wider steps, his greatsword swinging towards her in a wide arc that gave little thought to defense. Clearly someone used to relying on their armor to keep them safe then. It was a notion Erycea would disabuse soon enough, but for the time being, she took a step back and easily avoided the swing instead.


    To his credit, the young noble managed to not only halt the momentum of his swing, he even redirected a good bit of it into a reverse swing from the other direction. This time, however, Erycea was not playing to his tune, and the metal truncheon in her right hand lashed out to meet the greatsword before it could fully build up its momentum for a proper strike.


    The impact was marked by a cacophonous noise of metal striking against metal, and although Erycea swung her weapon one-handed, she actually pushed the greatsword away with her blow. A sizable chip was visible on the greatsword¡¯s blade, near its tip, right where Erycea¡¯s truncheon had made contact with it and blew it away.


    Before her opponent could react, Erycea struck with her other truncheon, her strike aimed directly at the head. Her opponent managed to react in time to take a step back and avoid taking the blow full-on to the side of his head, as instead the truncheon¡¯s uppermost segment only managed to strike the conical protruding part of the man¡¯s visor.


    That blow was still strong enough to not only bend the steel plate of the helmet, but since the helmet was secured against the gorget of the chestplate below it, also to rip the visor off as a whole. One of the hinges that connected the visor to the helmet broke as the blow bent the metal aside, leaving the ruined wreckage of what used to be the helmet¡¯s visor hanging from the left side of the young noble¡¯s helmet, held in place only by the other hinge.


    Taken by surprise, the young noble stepped back a few more steps, as he took a distance from Erycea and nervously touched the wreckage of his visor with one gauntleted hand, his other hand still holding his greatsword and pointing it towards her. She allowed him to do so, seeing no urgency in the fight. Her opponent was used to fighting in armor, but was unused to fighting someone who knew what to do in order to deal with said armor.


    It was a fatal bit of arrogance on his part to assume that just because he had the best sort of armor that money could buy and had never been bested in duels under a controlled, safe environment then he would also be able to triumph in real fights. A typical case of spoiled youths raised in a glasshouse where everyone praised them for their ¡°genius¡± who would only learn later on that the world was rarely as nice as they expected it to be, to their detriment.


    Erycea planned to be that detriment for this one noble youth in particular, and she had no plans to let her opponent live and learn from the experience.

 Chapter 294 - A Price too Expensive

    ¡°Every action has consequences. This is something too many youngsters often fail to get in their heads, at least until some consequence they couldn¡¯t handle loom over them.¡± - Tomislav Kroyche, retired mercenary.


    Adrian de Kars was livid from the insult of having his helmet¡¯s visor struck aside like so much trash.


    Well, somewhat worried as well, as the bastard peasant wench of a mercenary was stronger and faster than he expected, but mostly livid at the utter lack of decorum and respect shown by his opponent. It was against regulations to aim for the opponent¡¯s visor in an honor duel, everybody worth a gold knows that for a fact!


    ¡°Honorless cur! Wench! How dare you ignore the rules that regulate duels between your betters!¡± cursed Adrian in his native tongue. To his frustration and dismay, all the reaction he saw from his opponent was how she tilted her beastial head to the side and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Of course the low-born mercenary doesn¡¯t even understand him!


    With a guttural scream of anger from deep down his throat Adrian stepped forward and swung his greatsword once more. The sword was a precious masterpiece, gifted to him by his uncle just before he left for Caroma to study. It had never failed him in the duels he fought against other young noble students while studying strategy and tactics in Caroma


    So it greatly annoyed him to see the mercenary wench so lightly evade his blow, even daring to smirk at him while she did that!


    He expertly halted the momentum of the blade and redirected it into a hewing downward cut with the false edge, a move done by a clever twist of his arms, only to miss his target once more by the barest margins, with the smirk remaining on his foe¡¯s features. He tried to wipe out that smirk by thrusting his blade towards her face, but his opponent easily bent her neck to the side and narrowly avoided the blow as well, all without breaking a sweat.


    Adrian was in the midst of retracting his blade for another series of strikes when he noticed a dark blur coming towards him from the side. For a brief moment he was glad that he no longer had the visor, as he might have otherwise missed it. He quickly tilted his blade into a guard position, primed to intercept the incoming blow from his opponent¡¯s odd weapons.


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    He had not expected the blow to simply smash through his guard, as it was heavier and more powerful than he had expected. At least his attempt to block it had slightly deflected the blow from where it was aimed towards his shoulder, however, and it landed against the side of his chestplate, which was easily the thickest piece of armor he wore.


    The impact that he felt even through the armor nearly drove the breath out from his lungs and shocked him. As a result, he failed to notice the second blow, aimed towards his waist, until it already slammed home with even more power behind it. Despite the skirt-like metal structure that covered his waist, the blow was one that caused him pain.


    Even as he stumbled back, he noticed that there was a sizable dent on the metal plate that covered his waist on the right side, and that walking back caused a piercing pain from his hip, one that almost caused him to stumble. Somehow the mercenary wench had struck hard enough to injure him through his armor, which was something that should not be happening!


    The suit of armor he wore used to belong to his father, after it had been resized to better fit him at his father¡¯s request. It had been made by some of the best blacksmiths of the Barony, and was a subject of envy to many of his peers back in Caroma. How could a mercenary¡¯s weapon manage to damage it to such an extent!?


    His questions and frustrations were destined to go unanswered, however, as when he tried to deflect another blow from his opponent¡¯s long maces, bad luck struck as the blow landed directly on a section of the sword¡¯s blade that was already damaged from a previous hit. The metal of his greatsword failed under the stresses imparted upon it and shattered, leaving him with only the lower half of the blade.


    Not that he ever had any chance to use what was left of his weapon, as the vicious blow continued on its path and accurately struck his left elbow. The blow easily crumpled the thinner armor that covered his elbow, the force of which was plenty to crush the flesh and pulverize the bone it protected. A scream of pain and outrage left Adrian¡¯s mouth, but before it could go for long, a second blow landed against his waist.


    The blow was aimed precisely where the armor was already bent and damaged, and the metal gave way underneath the force of the second strike, resulting in a sudden numbness in Adrian¡¯s right leg and waist area, as he found himself suddenly toppling over to that side. He only managed to halt his fall by stabbing the remnant of his blade into the ground below.


    And he only realized just how open that left him a moment later, far too late for him to do anything else.


    Vaguely, Adrian heard his father¡¯s angry yell from behind him, before another vicious blow struck his face, right at the area his visor was supposed to cover. Oddly enough, he felt no pain from the blow, not even as his vision distorted and then turned into darkness, nor as the voices around him suddenly seemed to come from much further away.


    The last thought in the mind of Adrian de Kars before everything disappeared into the darkness ¨C having one¡¯s face and brain demolished by a blow from a metal truncheon was not a survivable injury after all ¨C was a mixture of disbelief that he had lost, hatred towards his opponent, and in a small corner of his mind, some anger towards his uncle, who had started the trouble that had led to all this in the first place.

 Chapter 295 - Kick the Young and the Old comes out

    ¡°Nine times out of ten, that¡¯s how the story goes. You kill someone¡¯s son in battle, and next thing you know their dad comes out from the woods all screaming vengeance and wanting to take your head in turn. Sometimes if you kill off the dad, the grandpa might come next, though those are usually easier to take care of.


    Sucks when the grandpa happens to be some sort of high noble though.¡± - Leandros Dowfrey, Captain of the Dowfrey¡¯s Demons mercenary company.


    ¡°What¡¯s that wanker there going on about?¡± asked Elfriede when she heard the loud yells and cursing from the other side of the square. She had already shifted her sphere of perception so that she could ¡°watch¡± Erycea¡¯s fight, but the sphere was far from enough to span the whole square, so she had no idea who was yelling from the other side. ¡°And who is that, anyway?¡±


    Or what they said, for that matter, since they used the local language she wasn¡¯t familiar with.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯d be Ser Vincenzo de Kars, the former swordmaster, Madam Edelstein,¡± explained Estelle, who happened to be watching from next to the Edelstein couple. ¡°The father of poor, silly Adrian who challenged your daughter to the duel and had just gotten his brain unceremoniously splattered over the square. Ugh. That¡¯s going to be a pain to clean.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and what¡¯s he jabbering about?¡± continued Elfriede. From the tone of Estelle¡¯s voice, she could tell that the councilwoman was clearly not a fan of the de Kars family, which was understandable, considering that she and Bernd Adenauer seemed to be in the same faction and they were the ones who gave the extra list of council members to cut down a peg to the Free Lances after all.


    ¡°The usual spiel, pretty much. Honor this, cowardice that, claims that your daughter broke some dueling rules or whatnot. Typical of their sort to always try to make others look like they won by cheating when they lost,¡± replied the councilwoman with a disgusted scoff. ¡°Oh, the old one seems really incensed, he¡¯s stepping up himself and demanding a duel in the name of vengeance. I guess I can understand that a bit since he did lose both his sons¡­¡±


    Estelle¡¯s words trailed off when she noticed that Elfriede had walked towards the center of the square and laid a hand over Erycea¡¯s shoulder before the somewhat confused girl ¨C she guessed what was going on but had no idea on what was exactly being said ¨C could say anything.


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    ¡°My turn, girl. If they want to have the parents start meddling in their kid¡¯s fight, then I¡¯d happily do the same,¡± said Elfriede to Erycea.


    ¡°Huh, so that¡¯s what¡¯s going on,¡± replied Erycea as she caught on to what Elfriede said and the situation she was in. ¡°All yours then, mom. Will be cheering for you.¡±


    ¡°Good girl. Tell your dad that I won¡¯t take long.¡±


    Elfriede heard one of the councilors talk to the same angry voice she heard the first time ¨C the father of the man her daughter just killed in the duel ¨C as he seemed to ask him a few questions, which the man answered. She had no idea what they were saying though, as they were using the local tongue while they did that. Before long, the same councilor turned towards her and spoke, though fortunately he switched to common before addressing her.


    ¡°Madam¡­ Edelstein, correct?¡± asked the councilor, to which Elfriede replied with a nod. ¡°Ser de Kars had claimed a right of vengeance over the deaths of his sons against your family, and as such had made a formal challenge for a duel to the death over the matter. Are you going to answer the challenge yourself?¡± asked the man with some doubt in his voice.


    ¡°Yes, tell that old fart that I¡¯m here to answer his so-called challenge,¡± replied Elfriede nonchalantly with her arms crossed over her chest. ¡°And tell him to wash his neck clean so I wouldn¡¯t dirty my blade when I chop it off in a bit. Not sure if that idiot even speaks common, so do translate what I just said to him, word for word, please.¡±


    She heard the councilor dither for a bit before he said some words to her opponent, which seemed to incense him further. She couldn¡¯t care less, though. An emotional and angered opponent was always easier to handle than a calm and rational one. It was one reason she liberally used profanity on the regular, as noble types like her current opponent were always easily goaded by them.


    As if speaking politely would have helped save their lives in a battle.


    Through her perception from the wind, Elfriede could tell that the middle-aged man before her was only clad in an arming doublet rather than any heavier piece of armor, which just about matched her, as she was similarly only wearing the gambeson she usually wore. She sensed it when the man drew a longsword out from its sheath and took a stance ahead of her.


    To her surprise, he seemed to be waiting for her to bring out her weapons, instead of immediately going on the attack. Foolish nobles, always so tied up in their self-made rules and etiquettes.


    With a smirk on her face, she brought out her pair of blades out from her storage artifact ¨C in her case a pendant hidden under her clothes ¨C and noticed the slightly befuddled look on her opponent¡¯s face as he saw her unusual weapons. For some reason, many nobles liked to wear their weapon visibly instead of storing them in storage artifacts, despite how they were all clearly rich enough to afford a storage that would fit their weapons.


    Elfriede naturally didn¡¯t prescribe to that sort of habit. It was much more convenient to have her weapons stored in an artifact where she could bring it out with a thought. Wordlessly, she took a step forward towards her opponent, looking as if she gave no damns about the longsword her opponent had pointed towards her.

 Chapter 296 - Living on the Edge

    ¡°Some people seem to actually enjoy going into battle and risking their lives.


    I¡¯m not talking about people who were so jacked up they could barely think about anything but to fight and kill. That¡¯s just getting caught up in the heat of the moment, and that happened to everyone. I¡¯m talking about the actual sick perverts who went into battle to relish the feeling of toeing the line between life and death on their own choice.


    Those bastards either die quickly, or they get to become some of the better known names amongst us mercs.¡± - Eugen Ross, retired mercenary.


    Was it exhilaration? Thrill? That feeling of being truly alive whilst in the midst of a dance between life and death itself?


    Elfriede was uncertain what to call the joy she experienced and reveled in while in the middle of a fight. It was something she had felt since long ago, perhaps part of the reason she was so accepting of her grandmother¡¯s training and the subsequent assassin work that followed. Why would she say no when she enjoyed the work?


    The opponent before her was one that she had not faced for a good while, one who was skilled and desired to take her life, with no holding back. It had always been her favorite to fight those types, where the difference between life and death rested on the edge of a blade, but there were few such opponents in the past years.


    A couple of the blademasters from that one place in Posuin had been the last ones that gave her any challenge, and afterwards, it was pretty much either easy opponents or just sparring. Sparring wasn¡¯t the same, as there was no intent to kill involved, and besides, she mostly sparred with the very few people she cared about anyway.


    As such, she knew to cherish this sort of opponent after a long while and not to take them out too quickly.


    Her opponent was clearly skilled with the longsword he wielded, and he knew to make use of his range advantage, as his weapon was longer than her pair. Even so, Elfriede was used to that sort of situation, and knew exactly what to do. She lightly danced on the ball of her feet for a while, casually avoiding her opponent¡¯s strokes by a narrow margin.


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    She did it partly to incense her opponent and goad him into making more aggressive maneuvers, and partly to observe his fighting style.


    After a few strokes Elfriede was reasonably certain that her foe fought using the fighting style that could be considered the orthodox one in the former Clangeddin Empire. It was a style better suited to unarmored, one on one duels rather than the battlefield, and she was somewhat familiar with it. She was also familiar with how to kill its practitioners.


    One major advantage her wind-based sphere of perception had over sight was that she could anticipate her opponent¡¯s movements far better, as she would have sensed them beginning the movement before it would have been noticeable visually. It was how she managed to avoid her opponent¡¯s blows with such ease, as she had known where they would be headed towards the moment her opponent started to move.


    In a similar way, it also made it far easier for her to pull off otherwise risky blocks and parries compared to others.


    When another slash came diagonally towards her side, Elfriede did not dodge the blow, but instead raised the blade in her left hand. She did not attempt to block the strike with the blade ¨C that would just be folly, as the force of a two-handed blow would just blow through such a block with ease ¨C but instead used the crescent blade on the handguard to ¡°catch¡± her opponent¡¯s blade.


    At the same time, she twisted her body sideways and reached out with her right arm, her blade lashing out towards her opponent¡¯s hands as his body was outside her reach. To his credit, her opponent saw the strike coming and managed to get his hands out of the way, though not without taking a wound. The tip of Elfriede¡¯s blade sliced right through the man¡¯s leather glove and cut the back of his hand, leaving a bleeding, if light injury.


    That successfully incensed the man, who looked at his injured hand for a moment before his features turned into an angry scowl. He renewed his offensive towards Elfriede, his longsword deftly flicking from one attack to another, each carefully linked to prevent her from slipping into her own range while also threatening to carve her into pieces.


    For her part Elfriede allowed the corners of her lips to rise slightly as she joined the man in a dance of blood and steel. For the most part she avoided his strikes, those that were too difficult to fully avoid, she deflected or blocked using her own blades. The odd design of the blades came into use as she heavily made use of the crescent-bladed handguard or the dagger on the pommel to do so.


    If her opponent saw her smile, it clearly only further aggravated the man, as he put more force into his swings in an attempt to overpower her or blow through her defenses. His aggression only gave Elfriede more openings to utilize however, as she weaved her way around his strikes, waiting for a particularly good one to exploit.


    That moment came when a powerful thrust was aimed at her right shoulder. Elfriede calmly caught the side of the man¡¯s blade with the joint where the two tips of her own blade met and pushed it away from her while she tilted her body to the left and returned the favor with a thrust of her own using her left-hand blade. Her opponent tried to step back and avoid it, but Elfriede still sliced his cheek open with the tip of her blade.


    As an added insult to the injury, the second tip of her blade which was set perpendicularly to the first also sliced through a good chunk of the man¡¯s hanging beard.


    ¡°Is that all you got?¡± asked Elfriede mockingly at her opponent even as she licked the blood that stained the tip of her blade.

 Chapter 297 - To Each their own Part to Play

    ¡°I¡¯m not saying that the crazies can¡¯t be useful. They sure can be, especially the ones that keep making it out alive. It¡¯s just that there needs to be someone to keep them on a leash, so to speak. Someone to keep them from fucking things up and unleash them only at the right moment.¡± - Eugen Ross, retired mercenary.


    ¡°From the way you look, I believe you are not worried about the madam, Captain?¡± asked councilor Estelle as she noted Reinhardt¡¯s perfectly calm look despite his wife fighting a duel to the death before him.


    ¡°Oh, I know when Friede is fighting seriously and when she¡¯s just enjoying herself, Madam Councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly to the question. ¡°Right now, she¡¯s just enjoying herself, so I see no reason to worry for her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, mom¡¯s got that look on her like Aly used to when she got a new toy back when she was smaller,¡± added Erycea just as relaxedly. Neither she nor the other watching mercenaries seemed to be the slightest bit worried for Elfriede, with some even cheering her on. ¡°She said she wouldn¡¯t take long though, so I bet that guy¡¯s going to drop dead soon.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you know your mother. It¡¯s not often that she gets to enjoy herself, so let her be if she wants to take that poor sod up for a while,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°Rather than that, Madam Councilor, I would like to inquire whether we should expect more of this sort of¡­ interruptions in the future or not?¡±


    ¡°I can say that at least from de Kars, there will be no more of this bullshit,¡± replied Estelle with some vehemence in her voice. She was clearly quite annoyed at how the nobleman turned councilor behaved. ¡°In fact, within a week we should be done stripping him off his councilor position. At that point, it¡¯ll be up to his people whether they want to elect a new councilor or to no longer count themselves as part of the Free City. I have a feeling that they would likely elect a new councilor, now that de Kars had lost most of his personal forces.¡±


    ¡°Most? Certainly he didn¡¯t only have that few people under him, no?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. He only recalled the people from the two duels his people fought against the nobleman¡¯s, which only totaled to sixty-two people on the noble¡¯s side lost at most. ¡°Even if he has a small territory only sixty people sound far too few to have as a military force.¡±


    ¡°Well, he has a couple thousand, if you include the conscripts. You pretty much wiped out the vast majority of his core loyalists though, as well as most of his knights,¡± explained the councilwoman. ¡°Vincenzo and Adrian are pretty much his last hopes of clinging to power there, as I heard that his people had been predisposed to electing a new representative instead. Him losing them should seal his fate, doubly so once we kick him out from the council.¡±


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    ¡°Before you ask, getting rid of Vincenzo and Adrian de Kars will be counted for bonuses that we¡¯ll discreetly pass over to you later,¡± added the councilwoman, referring to the list of councilors that had been given to Reinhardt, with bonuses promised for helping get rid of them one way or another. ¡°If the others could be cowered from having de Kars as an example, it¡¯d be nice, but otherwise, you know what to do.¡±


    ¡°We certainly do, Madam Councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smirk on his face. ¡°As long as the pay is right, as they say.¡±


    Right around then, Elfriede seemed to have had enough of her fun as she made her move to end the fight. She parried another of her opponent¡¯s blows with the handguard of one blade, though this time she cut it much closer, and caught her opponent¡¯s weapon around the middle of the blade instead of near the tip. In turn, that gave her enough reach to strike back at her opponent, and this time, her blade left more than just a flesh wound.


    The mithril edge of her blade sliced through the thick fabric of the gambeson as if it wasn¡¯t there and went into her opponent¡¯s flesh even as her strike carved a wide, gruesome tear across her opponent¡¯s abdomen. The cut was more than deep enough to have completely severed the layer of muscle there, and as a result, the man¡¯s intestines spilled out from the wound, unabated.


    Even with the wound ¨C it was a fatal one if left untreated, but not immediately so ¨C her opponent refused to give up, and mustered his willpower to charge in a suicidal manner towards Elfriede. She nonchalantly pushed his blade aside, however, and hooked the back of his knee with her other weapon, which caused the man to fall on his back.


    He attempted to get up and fight once more, but found himself unable to stand, as Elfriede had severed the tendons behind one of his knees when she hooked his leg earlier. He struggled, but the best he could manage even while using his sword as a crutch was to raise himself into a kneeling position, unable to fight or defend himself.


    ¡°We yield! Cease the fight!¡± yelled Councilor de Kars from where he stood amongst the spectating crowd.


    ¡°The duel was supposed to be to the death, is it not? Or is it only that when your side is winning?¡± quipped Elfriede back even as she approached her kneeling opponent, who grimaced at the pain he was experiencing. ¡°This is no petty disagreement you nobles love to fight duels over in the name of your honor or whatnot. This is a duel between people who have agreed to stake their lives as the wager. Who the fuck are you to insult that!?¡±


    Even as she finished her words, Elfriede swung one of her blades, and after a moment where he looked dumbfounded and unable to believe it, the head of Vincenzo de Kars fell off his neck and rolled on the ground until it stopped near Elfriede¡¯s feet.

 Chapter 298 - A Birthday Present

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t feel like doing it for yerself, do it for others who care about ya. Birthdays are celebrated because someone cares, and that¡¯s what makes it so worthwhile.¡± - Karl-Heinz von Rodstadt, dwarven philosopher from Knallzog.


    After the duels were over and done with, Estelle kept her word, as within the same week, former Viscount Leonid de Kars had been removed from his post as a councilor. The disgraced man had angrily left the city and headed back to his former territory, only to find a welcome that was most definitely less than warm when he arrived there.


    It turned out that the council had sent a messenger ahead of him to inform the people of his former territory regarding his removal as councilor, and those same people had seen the writing on the wall. They immediately chose a different representative and sent her to Levain with a proclamation that the city wished to remain as part of the Free City¡¯s territory.


    Given that the majority of the man¡¯s most loyal personal retainers and the knight order he sponsored was dead, courtesy of the Free Lances, former Viscount de Kars suddenly found himself no longer welcome in his own former territory. He had effectively been disowned by his own people, who made it clear that he was unwelcome with pointed arms.


    The man was last seen leaving to the north with his few remaining loyalists while swearing payback, never to be seen again.


    Unbeknownst to everyone but a few people ¨C namely Estelle, Bernd, and a couple other trusted councilors in their faction ¨C Reinhardt had sent out several chosen members of Fatimah¡¯s platoon to waylay the former noble after he left his former territory. Leonid de Kars and his loyalists were murdered where nobody was around to witness the deed, and their bodies were dumped in the woods, where the wild animals soon devoured all that remained of them.


    After de Kars was removed from his position, his faction seemed to be cowed, and were mostly silent instead of being their usual confrontative selves in the council meetings. It was thus that the Free City of Levain and the mercenaries they hired welcomed the new year.


    While Reinhardt generally didn¡¯t particularly consider his birthday worth celebrating that much ¨C since he was adopted by his parents who didn¡¯t know his actual birthday and he was too young to know it either at the time, they used the date they found him on instead ¨C that year his family thought otherwise. He walked into his tent that evening to find his adopted father, wife, and daughter waiting for him alongside a feast set on a table inside.


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    At first he thought that it was just a whim of his father¡¯s ¨C he knew Elfriede was less interested in such celebrations than him, while Ery was unlikely to have proposed it ¨C but after they feasted and drank to their heart¡¯s content, he was surprised that Elfriede and Erycea presented him with a birthday gift. One that was all nicely wrapped up, even.


    ¡°Aww, you shouldn¡¯t have,¡± muttered Reinhardt in half-hearted protest at the gift, though he felt quite touched by the sentiment. When he opened the package, however, he was left uncomprehending at the form of the gift his family had prepared for him. Inside the package was what seemed to be an eyepatch, albeit one made entirely out of clear crystal. ¡°What¡¯s this, then?¡±


    ¡°Ey, that¡¯s something lil¡¯ Ery here¡¯s been working on with my help for a couple years now,¡± explained Hogarth with a wide, proud smile on his bearded face. ¡°The crystal you see is mostly a casing of sorts. It¡¯s highly durable, and mostly there to protect what¡¯s inside. Take a close look at the center of the eye piece and you¡¯ll see what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ curious¡­¡± noted Reinhardt as he brought the crystal eye piece close to his face and looked closely into it. Around the center of the piece he noticed that there seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands of fine lines contained inside. Lines that after a close inspection, he noticed looked similar to the sort of runes typically used for enchantments. ¡°So it¡¯s enchanted, huh? What sort? And I take it Ery made all the runes I see inside?¡±


    ¡°Took her a lot of practice before she could shape glass that finely, yeah. All the enchantments you see there are Ery¡¯s work,¡± said Hogarth proudly. ¡°The whole piece is enchanted to do three things. One is that it functioned as a spyglass. You should be able to adjust that function to different degrees of magnification easily enough.¡±


    ¡°Neat,¡± commented Reinhardt after he put on the eye piece ¨C it rested comfortably over his right eye ¨C and channeled a wisp of mana into it. The function Hogarth mentioned was easy enough to find, and he discovered that it was easily adjustable to his whim. ¡°You mentioned that it had three functions, pops. What else does it have?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need this for the second function. Sal helped with the enchantment for this one,¡± said Hogarth as he handed what looked like a choker with a circular piece of crystal set on it. ¡°It will basically allow you to see through that piece on the choker there, within a range of a couple kilometers or so. I think you should already have an idea where to use it, no?¡±


    ¡°... With this we could get a real-time relay on the battlefield situation as seen from high above as long as Hannah or one of her folks wore the choker,¡± said Reinhardt as he immediately caught on to the use of the enchanted artifact. ¡°Damn, this is near-priceless for commanders, pops.¡±


    ¡°I know, and I bet you¡¯ll be even more thrilled by the third function it got,¡± said Hogarth with a laugh as he brought out a box that contained twenty earrings within it. ¡°These earrings are receivers for the eye piece. With it, you can transfer a message within a kilometer towards the chosen receiver, or all of them at once, up to you. We had difficulty getting this one to work since we didn¡¯t have any wind mage specializing in voice transfer to help us with, until Miss Ze¡¯phane gave us a hand.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks¡­ pops¡­ Friede¡­ Ery¡­¡± said Reinhardt as he gathered his family into a warm embrace, which they reciprocated. ¡°I¡¯ll make good use of this gift, so again¡­ thank you all.¡±

 Chapter 299 - Results and Complications

    ¡°Everyone can boast of having achieved certain feats and make themselves look better than others. On the other hand, nothing beats concrete results when it comes to observing progress on a subject matter.¡± - Anduin Veros, Minister of War of the Third Elmaiya Empire, circa 230 VA.


    It was early summer of the same year, roughly a little over a year after the Free Lances arrived in Levain and started to drill their militia, that the first large-scale exercise to showcase the fruits of the training they had given were scheduled. It was mostly done for the benefit of the public, since the council was naturally kept up to date on the progress the militia had made over the year.


    As such, everyone involved took care to make it look extra impressive, to raise morale.


    Twenty-five thousand of Levain¡¯s militiamen were neatly lined up in formation, as they formed a long rectangle on the plains south of the city. The rectangle itself was divided into five smaller square formations of five thousand men each, each of which was in turn further divided into ten five hundred men units. Those units were in turn organized into five hundred-men platoons.


    Each small unit knew their position and role as part of the larger unit, and worked in unison with one another, showcasing great discipline as they marched in an orderly manner and assumed various formations for the people watching to witness. A large part of the city¡¯s adult population were spectating the exercise, some watching from the city walls, while others spread out in the plains around the area the exercise was held in.


    The gathered twenty-five thousand militiamen represented the results of the training the Free Lances had instituted upon them over the past year. The men and women marched with precision, discipline, and confidence, seemingly untiring even as they sweated under the rays of the summer sun. The men and women were no longer rookies who barely knew how to fight, but proper soldiers.


    Due to the amount of militia that Levain could tap into ¨C they officially fielded a force of forty to fifty thousand, but most of the adult populace were part of the reserves, which allowed them to field up to two hundred thousand if needed ¨C it was difficult to train them all in the span of a year. The physical training was easy enough to do en masse, but things like battlefield tactics and cohesion as a unit needed more specialized teaching, and the Free Lances lacked the people to do everything in one year.


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    Instead, they started teaching a small part of the militiamen first, then incorporated those same men to help them teach the next batch over the following year. Under that model, Reinhardt approximated that they should manage to teach the entirety of the Free City¡¯s officer corps within three years in total. The Free City could have probably done the rest on their own after the first batch, but they wisely decided that paying a little extra to ensure that everything went correctly was the smarter course of action.


    Like most other militaries fielded by regions that belonged to the former Clangeddin Empire, the militiamen were equipped and trained as light infantrymen. Fast on the foot and flexible, masses of light infantry had always been the core of the Clangeddin Empire¡¯s combat force. It was a choice driven by necessity due to the nature of their neighbors, in many ways.


    As the Empire bordered the predominantly dwarven land of Knallzog to the south, the Elven domains to the east, and the lands claimed by the orcish and goblin tribes to the north, they quickly learned that fielding heavy infantry was pointless. Heavy infantry were too slow to catch up with the nimble elven raiders, would not survive under the brutal arrows launched by orcish bows, nor capable of matching the dwarves at their own specialty.


    Because of that, it was a long held military tradition to field mostly light infantry, whose speed and flexibility allowed them to be more effective against the empire¡¯s possible foes. The forces that emerged from the carcass of the dead empire mostly maintained a similar military doctrine, though they had turned to fighting each other more.


    A typical brigade in the empire¡¯s olden days would consist of ten light infantry regiments, backed by one to two regiments of archers, and another of light cavalry. Heavy cavalry was mostly the domain of the knight orders due to the expenses needed to properly outfit and maintain such a force, and were rarely fielded in particularly large numbers.


    Following the infantry¡¯s parade and exhibition, two thousand riders ¨C the same ones that Ze¡¯phane and Soledad had been training over the past year ¨C rode out from within the city and joined the exhibition. Their appearance caused cheers to erupt from the spectators, as the riders rode in formation and seamlessly integrated themselves into the infantry formation.


    They split into smaller groups and rode confidently through the narrow gaps between the parts of the infantry formation, before they exited out from the sides and gathered together once more. As they did so, they formed themselves into wing formations at the flank of the infantry, neatly aligned beside them and further impressing the spectators.


    Like the infantry, they were the first batch of cavalry to have completed their training. The city council wished to raise more cavalrymen, but Levain lacked the warhorses needed for such an endeavor at the time. With Ze¡¯phane¡¯s help they had managed to setup a horse ranch to the north-east of the city, and as of that spring, it was estimated that they would have enough horses to train another three thousand cavalrymen.


    While to the common citizen of the Free City everything looked as if it could not be better, their leaders were nursing a headache, as they had just received an urgent report from the southern border during the exhibition. Reinhardt was naturally called upon as well, and the news was one that he had expected to happen.


    Namely that the coalition of smaller regions to the south had launched an attack towards Levain, with an army easily fifty thousand strong seen marching northwards.

 Chapter 300 - Sources of Information

    ¡°One of the most important prerequisites of battle is to gather as much information about your enemy when you can. The more you know, the better.¡± - Laiza ibn Estrazo, general from the Assadin Emirate, circa 102 FP.


    Since it was already the afternoon when the report arrived, and the best-trained soldiers in Levain were still tired from the exhibition, the emergency meeting quickly ended with a consensus to prepare for departure within the next two days. Fortunately they had time, as due to Reinhardt¡¯s habit of sending his aerial scouts far and wide, the enemy army they spotted would not arrive in Levain territory for another week at the least. Likely more, as part of the report said that they were incorporating more armies from the territories they passed along the way, which took up time.


    ¡°Get all the platoon leaders gathered. Call for Rubor and Eranoz too,¡± commanded Reinhardt that very evening once he returned from the emergency meeting. The council had asked him to join them in the potential fighting, as they keenly felt that they would need every help they could get. Reinhardt had obliged and prepared to mobilize the Company in its entirety.


    During the year they had stayed in Levain, the Company had pretty much doubled their number of combatants to over two thousand, mostly by incorporating recruits that had finished their training into the Company proper. There were other cases though where they gained manpower through local recruits who were already experienced.


    As the former empire¡¯s territory had been fighting a civil war amongst themselves for around two decades by that point of time, there had naturally been many mercenaries who tried their luck there. Some were large companies of hundreds to thousands of men, some bands of merely a few dozen, while yet others only brought themselves into the fray. Typically, such lone mercenaries would try to attract the attention of a larger force that they would then join, usually after a fitting show of prowess.


    Rubor and Eranoz were formerly such lone mercenaries, who after their latest contract ¨C conveniently, working for the very same southern coalition that now threatened Levain ¨C had expired, traveled north as they heard news of the Free Lances, with intention to join the Company.


    The ways they ended up making contact were quite memorable, though.


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    While they were old friends, the two lone mercenaries opted to go their own way into the city, and see which of them could contact the Free Lances first. Since they came from the south, the mercenary¡¯s encampment in the north-west of the city was covered from view by the city walls, so they entered the city and went their own ways.


    Eranoz was a full-blooded orc from the northern plains, and he happened to bump into Anatoli and Branka, who was showing his younger cousin around the city. Branka was not too accustomed to life outside the plains, since most of her time since leaving there had been spent in training or the mercenary encampment, so Anatoli took what chance he could to show her around.


    As fellows from the northern plains ¨C in Anatoli¡¯s case descended from one ¨C the three quickly hit it off. They further hit it off when they learned each other¡¯s occupations as fellow mercenaries, and Anatoli brought the older orc to the encampment the next day, to introduce him to the others. It was then that they learned that Eranoz¡¯s friend Rubor had also met with others from the Free Lancers, and that his story was by far, the more ridiculous of the two.


    Rubor was a therian from Boroes, one that resembled a bearded lizard, who was blessed with a large body nearly two and half meters tall. It was the reason he thrived in the battlefield despite his lack of association with larger groups, as he had yet to find one that he liked. His kind in general was rather promiscuous, so it was not a surprise to Eranoz to hear that he had spent most of the night looking for partners adventurous enough to share his bed.


    What did surprise him though, was that Rubor apparently found willing partners who also happened to be part of the Free Lances.


    The large therian man had been prowling various pubs and other joints the previous evening, when he happened to run across Alva and Kari in one of them. The siblings also happened to be out on leave, and chatted with Rubor when they ran into each other. The therian mercenary quickly got himself in their good graces just by being his jolly old self, and one thing led to another as they plied the drink through the night.


    Needless to say, the three of them found themselves waking up in bed after a wild night with a rather painful hangover.


    Even as they sobered up in the morning Rubor was pleased to see that his fellow bedpartners were not exactly perturbed by the drunken bender. Then again, Alva was a former prostitute himself, and Kari also worked in the brothel as a waitress before they became mercenaries. The three bonded quite closely and thus the siblings happily brought their new friend along to the encampment later that day.


    Now Reinhardt summoned the two of them since they were some of his more up to date sources of information on the southern coalition. While aerial scouts were great for keeping watch on large-scale troop movements without being noticed, they were all too conspicuous to blend in, so that task was generally left to other spies and agents.


    Reinhardt knew that the council likely had their own spies in the south, and those probably also already sent warnings about the military mobilization. It was just that his scouts could cover distance a good bit faster than messenger birds that they ended up reporting first. That, and he was uncertain how many messenger birds sent by the spies even made it out.


    Many nations trained hawks and the likes to prey on messenger birds that were not marked as their own, after all.

 Chapter 301 - A Glimpse at the South

    ¡°Will the cycle of war, of division and reunification, ever end?¡± - Last words of Thenes Mod Edamos, anti-war philosopher from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°Heard you be callin¡¯ fer us, Boss-man?¡± asked Rubor as he parted the tent¡¯s curtain and walked in. The large therian man almost reflexively ducked ¨C most buildings and tents were not made with his size in mind, after all ¨C but instead gave a pleased smile when he realized that there was plenty of room between the top of the tent opening and his head.


    His good friend, Eranoz of Clan Fleetfoot, followed behind him.


    The two had integrated well with the Free Lances in the half a year or so that they had been part of the company. Eranoz was a skilled rider, and quickly found assignment in Soledad¡¯s platoon, where he quickly rose to the rank of team leader due to his horsemanship skills. Rubor on the other hand became a rare addition to Mischka¡¯s platoon, where replacements and reinforcements were at a premium due to their demanding standards of physicality. The huge lizard therian thrived there, though, and actually looked relieved that he was no longer the biggest person around anymore.


    ¡°Yes, I did. You two were previously employed by the Southern Coalition before you joined us, were you not?¡± asked Reinhardt in turn. Both Rubor and Eranoz nodded, as it was no secret and their records with the guild pretty much stated it openly for anyone who wanted to know anyway. ¡°I want to know any intelligence you two might feel relevant about them.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so they¡¯re the ones coming this way, eh, Captain?¡± replied Eranoz, who seemed to have gotten the situation right away. Then again, Reinhardt had already given the command to pack up and prepare for departure before the meeting even convened, so it wasn¡¯t a difficult assumption to make. ¡°Any info on numbers? Some things we noticed while we¡¯re there might be relevant depending on it.¡±


    ¡°An approximation of fifty thousand,¡± answered Reinhardt openly. It would be common knowledge once they departed anyway, so there was no reason for him to hide it. ¡°They seem to be collecting more on the way here.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Then at least half of that number has got to conscripts from the second-classers,¡± noted the orc immediately.


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    ¡°Second-classers?¡± asked Lars from the side, whose ears perked up at the mention.


    ¡°Ah, right, you got to be in the coalition to know, but the coalition¡¯s pretty much divided into the first, second, and third class citizens these days,¡± explained the orc with a nod of his head. ¡°Those who were from the original four states that formed the coalition in the first place are the first classers. Of course, nobles and knights and whatnot are the first amongst the firsts, you get the idea, I¡¯m certain.¡±


    ¡°We do, yeah. Continue,¡± said Reinhardt with interest.


    ¡°Most of the people from the states the coalition conquered became the second class,¡± continued the Orcish man. ¡°You can probably guess the details. Less privileges, subject to higher taxes, conscription, and so on. I heard some nobles and rich merchants from those places did make it to first class, but not sure if that¡¯s a real thing or not.¡±


    ¡°And the third class?¡± asked Lars.


    ¡°That¡¯d be pretty much anyone who openly defied the coalition, which includes any region with lots of insurgency movements after the coalition beat them,¡± said Eranoz. ¡°They¡¯re pretty much treated like pariahs, worse than slaves, in some cases. From time to time, you hear of people from there getting elevated to second class for ratting out their comrades, you get the drift.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the force headed our way would be at least half conscripts?¡± said Lars as he fished for confirmation.


    ¡°¡®Lest they got somebody peddlin¡¯ miracles over there, got to be the case, Boss,¡± replied Rubor in turn. ¡°We¡¯ve been part o¡¯ a couple of major engagements while we worked there. The first class regions only got like, twenty-five, thirty thousand troops put together, at most,¡± he explained. ¡°They¡¯ve always padded their numbers with conscripts and mercs like us, honestly.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not the only ones to ditch ¡®em back then either,¡± Eranoz added. ¡°The folks up high over there had been clamoring for mercs like us to be incorporated into their armies and made citizens, or else be considered second class or worse. We saw the way the wind was blowing and chose to get out of there before we¡¯d be forced to.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Got it. Thanks to you two for the information, you can give this to Loren and get yourself a little bonus,¡± said Reinhardt as he tossed a pair of scrolls at the two, who grinned as they caught them in mid-air with ease. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed, help your respective platoons with the packing up once you got your bonus.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, Boss-man,¡± said Rubor as he turned to leave. ¡°Nice working with ya!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll see just how good the call you made to leave them and join us was in a while, Rubor,¡± said Reinhardt with an ominous grin on his face that the leaving lizard therian man didn¡¯t catch. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°So, we¡¯re proceeding with the first plan, Captain?¡± asked Lars from the side. The Free Lances had scouted out the major routes ¨C the most feasible places to bring large armies into Levain territory ¨C in the past year, and had set up surprises where they could. The southern approach was the place most rife with such surprises due to its geography.


    ¡°Yes. Egil, bring your platoon to the south ahead of us. Make sure the preparations are all in place, and once you get an estimate on the enemy¡¯s planned approach, set them up as appropriate,¡± commanded Reinhardt, to which Egil nodded. The goblin, like many of his kind, was skilled in setting all sorts of nasty traps and contraptions.


    The surprise Reinhardt had set up in the south was much simpler in nature, but he expected to see great results from them regardless.

 Chapter 302 - Further Insights

    ¡°Never completely trust information derived only from a single source. Even if the source in question was trustworthy, they may be fed with false information by untrustworthy parties without their knowledge.¡± - Raab ca Badar, chancellor of the Illasyn Palatinate, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°What your men had explained matches with what our spies have informed us of the Southern Coalition, Captain,¡± affirmed Estelle the next morning when the army marched out of Levain. The councilwoman was wearing armor, dressed for war, along with a few other councilors of a more military bent, and they had brought a large army to march south so they could ideally meet and halt the invaders before they entered the Free City¡¯s territory.


    A full thirty thousand men and women were on the move, twenty-five thousand light infantry ¨C the very same ones who had just performed the exhibition the day before ¨C on top of two thousand cavalrymen from Levain itself. The remaining nobles in the council had also called for their knight orders and men-at-arms, contributing another thousand to the force, while the Free Lances brought their entire roster of over two thousand along.


    Reinhardt had naturally sought Estelle ¨C who led the army as the acting commander in name, even if the actual command in battle was left to the militia officers ¨C out and found her at the head of the column to confirm the intelligence he got from Rubor and Eranoz the day before. The confirmation was a good thing, as it had meant that the two had not lied to him.


    ¡°Other than what they had said, which was mostly the general situation, I can add that some months ago, our agents saw some of the first lords of the coalition meeting with a messenger, but they were unable to gain more clues as to the reason of the meeting or the origin of said messenger,¡± added the councilwoman even as she rode at the head of the column. ¡°Some time later we received news that the same messenger had been spotted by one of our agents in Podovniy, however.¡±


    ¡°So they might be in cahoots with the Podovniy March, then?¡± asked Reinhardt before he went into thinking. ¡°Hmm¡­ If the Southern Coalition and the Podovniy March worked together, the latter could hit us while we were occupied with the former, which would have given us serious trouble. I wonder if they plotted this from further back, or thought it up because the drought made it hard for them to campaign for longer periods?¡±


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    ¡°Your thoughts are mostly in line with our assumptions as well, Captain. We had already sent a messenger to Aldenstadt to make sure they remain on high alert for movements from the March,¡± noted Estelle with a satisfied nod. ¡°On top of everything you have learned about the Southern Coalition, we can pretty much confirm that their morale is riding a high at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How so?¡± Reinhardt queried with some curiosity.


    ¡°Their armed forces had recently taken down the last of the smaller regions left after the empire broke up. By this point, it¡¯s pretty much just the larger ones left. Us, Caroma, Podovniy, Anduille, the Coalition¡­ There¡¯s Lavianey still, I guess, but they¡¯re too poor and far away for the others to fight over,¡± explained the councilor. ¡°The people in the coalition, at least the ones who had been part of it longer, had only ever felt their lives becoming better after each victory in war. Even the second-class ones had their work lightened by the influx of new people who typically got the worse jobs.¡±


    ¡°I see your point. So in their eyes, if they win and take Levain over, it¡¯ll just be more bodies to put to work on their behalf, isn''t it?¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Well¡­ With your permission, we have prepared some defensive measures in the south, on the routes we deem most likely to be taken by a passing army marching our way. Depending on the situation, it might help us solve the problem. I¡¯m just uncertain if you would authorize their use or not.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I authorize their use?¡± asked Estelle with some befuddlement in her voice.


    ¡°Because if you do, Madam Councilor, then you would be throwing away all the unwritten rules and niceties that your neighbors still cling to. I have no idea what made them stubbornly cling to such ideas, perhaps it reminded them of the glory days of the Empire and that by clinging to it they would be able to pose themselves as its successor? I don¡¯t know,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°What I do know is that those very same ideas created a lot of openings that could be taken advantage of. Things that your noble neighbors had always taken for granted for all their lives, kinda like the dueling rules that one idiot complained about in the duel to the death some months ago.¡±


    ¡°What exactly are you proposing, captain?¡± asked Estelle with some trepidations. While she was by no means as bound and accustomed to those unsaid rules the nobles often demand out of each other, she understood from the gist of what Reinhardt was saying that what he had in mind would likely go far beyond just flaunting those unsaid rules. It would likely be something that would make many frown upon it.


    ¡°I cannot confirm it yet, for the time being, as we have had no solid confirmation on the path that the enemy army is taking, Madam Councilor,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°With luck, however, I am quite confident in being able to defeat or at least drive away our foes with little to no loss on our side. Others would however view us as unscrupulous people who are willing to do anything to defend ourselves, however. That is pretty much guaranteed.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ will have to think about this first,¡± said Estelle with some uncertainty. ¡°Do I have time to think it over?¡±


    ¡°Should be plenty of time, at least until they¡¯re about to reach us.¡±

 Chapter 303 - South of the Free City

    ¡°Any commander who chose to not make use of geographical advantages is just a fool. All these nonsense about fighting ¡®honorably¡¯ in the open are just a pampered, sheltered, idiotic fool¡¯s ramblings and no more. When has that ingrate of a ¡®general¡¯ ever seen a battlefield anyway?¡± - Alberto Densus Macragge, retired general from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 394 VA.


    To the south of Levain were several minor domains ¨C where many of the noble faction in the council hailed from ¨C as well as a good chunk of uninhabited land. The southmost parts of the territory were places that neither Levain nor the Southern Coalition considered to belong to either side, since nobody lived there, and was mostly considered a neutral no-man¡¯s land.


    The main reason for that was because the eastern part of the region was covered by the Rodin mountain range, which stretched further east, while the western side was covered in rolling plains that teemed with wildlife. The presence of many predatory animals and even the occasional monsters made the plains unsafe for travel, so most merchants and other traffic went through a valley in the mountain range instead.


    Because of the geography of the region, if a large army in the tens of thousands wished to cross into Levain territory from the south, they pretty much had to cross either the plains, or the valley. Neither choice were ideal. The plains were infested with wild beasts, though with a large army, their passage was likely to drive away most creatures just by their sheer numbers alone.


    On the other hand, going through the valley would be an easier route, but it would also take a long time due to the limited size of the road there. It was difficult for more than ten men to march abreast of each other while walking through the broadest sections of the road, while the narrower ones might barely fit five men standing side by side.


    As such, it was understandable that when an army of over sixty-five thousand men from the Southern Coalition reached the aforementioned area, they decided to pass through the plains instead of the valley. If they had taken the valley route then it would probably take their entire army a week if not more to go through to the other side.


    Compared to that loss of time, traveling through the prairie would only take them a day at most, while their numbers should be plenty to scare off any animals that lurked within the tall grass of the plains.


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    Since it was a hot summer, with the northern areas of the former empire¡¯s land even affected by drought, the grass on the plains were dry and yellowish in color. They grew all the way to the chest of an average man, which made passage somewhat troublesome, but still easily doable with some effort. From time to time, the army shooed away what they thought were likely animals rustling in the grass around them.


    They had no idea that while most of the time they were indeed just scaring off wild animals, from time to time, a sneaky goblin would keep watch over their progress, while others further away in the distance continued their work as they prepared a welcome for these invaders.


    Egil and his platoon had reached the area two days ago, ahead of everyone else, and after some coordination with the aerial scout who kept track of the enemy army¡¯s progress, went to work as they set up the trap they planned together with Reinhardt and Lars after the first survey of the Free City¡¯s borders the year before.


    In truth, regardless of whether the army from the Southern Coalition took the valley road or the plains, they would have found an unpleasant and decidedly ungentlemanly trap awaiting them. High on the mountains that flanked the valley road, there were many piles of stones, logs, and other debris that had been prepared there over the previous year, for the creation of a man-made avalanche that would have sealed the valley road and buried whoever was inside it at the time.


    What Egil and Reinhardt had prepared on the plains was something simpler, but arguably far crueller. From the past year, Egil and his platoon ¨C as they were the most familiar with animal-infested regions like the plains ¨C had sequestered many hidden deposits of a certain powder all over the plains. When they returned there to set up the trap, they brought those deposits out and started to spread them in clear lines.


    There were two kinds of powders that the goblins were spreading, both of them being recipes from their homeland. One kind was what they typically used as kindling when on the go, as the fire affinity was rather rare amongst the northern goblins. The powder in question was quite inert under most circumstances, but upon contact with as little as a spark, it would quickly burst into open flames.


    The second powder on the other hand would sublimate when exposed to a certain amount of heat, and the gasses released would then act as a fire retardant. Reinhardt and Egil had included it on Lars¡¯ advice, as he had cautioned them that an uncontrolled wildfire might well do damage to the Free City as well. Over the past two days, Egil and his troops had been spreading those powders to surround a large area of the plains.


    Which happened to be the area the Southern Coalition troops were passing through at the moment.


    Those troops progressed unhindered through the plains, until around three-quarters of the way through when they were called to a halt. They halted because their forward scouts had reported the presence of enemy soldiers, arrayed atop a small hill shortly past the plains, roughly around half their numbers. As such, some leaders from the Southern Coalition army made their way forward, with a wind mage skilled in carrying voices along with them.


    It was only polite to demand surrender first before condemning their foes to their doom, after all.

 Chapter 304 - Exchange of Words

    ¡°When important people from both sides are present on the battlefield, it''s only polite to parlay before the battle. After all, there was nothing to lose, and with fortune, one might be able to convince the other side to cease their foolish resistance, saving time and energy.¡± - Edasic Bostvan, former Duke from the Posuin Kingdom, circa 405 VA.


    ¡°They¡¯re bringing out a lot,¡± noted Reinhardt as he peered through his enchanted eyepiece. He had quickly discovered that he could still make use of the spyglass function of the eyepiece even while he was tapping into the distant sight ¨C relayed from Hannah high above the battlefield ¨C and combined them to get a good look from above at the enemies.


    There were at least sixty to seventy thousand troops on the enemy side, by his best estimation. True to what Rubor and Eranoz said, a good majority of them were relatively poorly armed and equipped, little better than the Levain militia prior to their reorganization, in fact. On the other hand, at least ten to twenty thousand of the enemy combatants were as well-geared as the mercenaries themselves.


    Which was saying something, as the Free Lances were very well equipped by any standards.


    Around four thousand or so of the enemies were likely knight orders, given the pennants they flew and their excellent equipment. Another five to six thousand were worse equipped than the knights and men-at-arms, but better off then the conscripts. Judging from the various banners they flew, they were likely mercenary bands, probably ones that took the offer to become part of the Southern Coalition like Rubor and Eranoz mentioned.


    Sixty thousand infantry backed by nearly ten thousand cavalry was tough odds, given that the Levain force that came to intercept them merely numbered half that at best. Of course, if Reinhardt had his way, there would be no fighting to be done at all that day.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see if talking to them does any good,¡± said Estelle with a slightly shaken voice. Apparently she had not expected the Southern Coalition to truly commit to such an assault, which likely made use of around half of their total military power in one go. She had her horse move forward, along with Ze¡¯phane, whose skill with wind magic would be needed to carry her voice over the distance. She noticed that the enemy army had halted their progress and that several riders rode ahead as well.


    ¡°I am Estelle of Zavigne, appointed Leader of the City Council of the Free City of Levain. To the Southern Coalition forces before me: Be warned that you have trespassed upon lands claimed by the Free City of Levain. Explain the reason for your presence here this instant!¡± said Estelle, clearly attempting to make herself sound more forceful than she actually was. Ze¡¯phane dutifully used the wind to transmit her voice until it echoed loudly enough that the entire enemy army could likely hear it.


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    ¡°I am High Lord Esteban Dukoz of Sebaque, One of the First Lords of the Southern Coalition of Sovereign Nations, True Heir to the legacy of the mighty Clangeddin Empire!¡± came the reply from the other side, though the lord¡¯s boastful words were somewhat muted because his mage wasn¡¯t as skilled as Ze¡¯phane was. ¡°And we are here to reclaim the former capital of the Empire in our name.¡±


    ¡°We do not recognize your claim, or your so-called ¡®free city¡¯. You are naught but squatters and rebels, peasant cur who mistook forbearance and apathy for acknowledgement,¡± continued the noble, trying to make his voice sound as pompous as possible. ¡°Surrender and beg for mercy from your betters, and we may be lenient. Refuse, and know that you have signed your own death warrants!¡±


    ¡°We do not recognize your so-called authority over our land and people. We have taken our fates into our hands and will never hand it over to anyone else ever again!¡± replied Estelle just as vehemently, with Ze¡¯phane¡¯s magic helping her voice boom over the plains. ¡°Remove yourselves from our lands at once, or else¡­ We will show you how far we are willing to go in order to defend our lands from invaders like you!¡±


    ¡°Do your worst, peasant!¡± replied the lord with a scoff before he turned back towards his army. A moment later, the army continued their march towards the hill where the Levain army arranged themselves.


    Estelle similarly turned back and returned to her arrayed troops. She met the eyes of many of them as she approached, and saw both nervousness and no small amount of trepidation in their expressions, mixed together with the resolve of men and women who were fighting to defend their homes. With a sigh, she shook her head and brought her horse towards where Reinhardt was standing.


    ¡°If we were to engage them in battle, can we win, Captain?¡± asked the councilwoman with a dejected voice.


    ¡°Since our reinforcements are already preparing to departure in Levain, if we fight by making use of the terrain, coupled with delaying tactics and ambushes, we should be able to hold them off in the southern region until the reinforcements arrive, Madam Councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be pretty, though. The land will take a lot of collateral damage in the process, and even if we defeat them, it wouldn¡¯t be without at least thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives as the price.¡±


    ¡°These bastards are really not giving me much of a choice, aren''t they?¡± lamented the councilor with a loud sigh as she looked somewhat forlornly towards the enemy army still marching towards their direction. For a brief moment, she struggled to make up her mind, the lives of her people on the one side, with the immensity of the act she was contemplating to undertake on the other. The scale fell to one side before long, though, as she turned to Reinhardt and said decisively: ¡°Lend me the whistle.¡±


    Reinhardt had informed her of the trap he had setup in the southern region, and also told her that all it would take to spring the trap was to signal his men ¨C Egil and his platoon, who were still dispersed and hidden in the plains all around the enemy army ¨C with the whistle. He had not expected Estelle to ask for the whistle instead of just giving him the approval, though.


    ¡°You certain about this, Madam Councilor?¡± he asked even as he handed the enchanted whistle to her waiting hand.


    ¡°This is my land we are fighting for, Captain. My people who are standing behind us and prepared to risk their lives and shed their blood in its defense. As the leader they chose, it¡¯s only fitting that I also dirty my hands at least a little to share the burdens with them,¡± answered the councilwoman with a stern voice before she lifted the whistle to her lips and blew into it.


    Two short whistles, followed by two long ones, the signal Reinhardt had told her to use beforehand.

 Chapter 305 - Familiarity Breeds Contempt

    ¡°It is easy for outsiders to say things like how certain tricks should have been easy to guard against after the fact. They never consider the situation of the people involved, how those people think, what those people are familiar with. All too often, people might get too used to taking certain things for granted, and are simply unprepared for the time when someone else would yank it away from them.¡± - Alberto Densus Macragge, retired general from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 394 VA.


    High Lord Esteban Dukoz of Sebaque, One of the First Lords of the Southern Coalition of Sovereign Nations, truly considered himself ¨C and his country ¨C to be the True Heir to the legacy of the mighty Clangeddin Empire. In his mind, it is only fitting for them and no other to claim sovereignty over the lands once ruled by the now-shattered Empire.


    That they had to ally themselves to others and work together instead of achieving this noblest of goals with their own power had always irked him, but since he was previously only an Earl with a landhold that was neither large nor small, it was an impossible task to do by himself. It was a stroke of fortune that three of his neighbors shared similar ideas, which was what prompted the four to form the Southern Coalition.


    While the four of them were united to outside eyes ¨C they had to put up the front of unity at all costs, given that they neighbor the powerful Grand Duchy of Sevras-Galastine to their east and the small but militant Republic of Caroma to their north-west ¨C there were naturally some conflicts of interests between the four. Most of the time, the conflicts took place in private chambers, political debates and treaties where they tried to position their nation to get the best advantages. It was a normal thing, all considered.


    After all, despite the jockeying around for advantages, the four original founders of the Southern Coalition were bound by oaths and blood ¨C mostly by convenient political marriages ¨C which ensured that they would stay civil with one another. That had led to their success in annexing most of their smaller neighbors, which in turn meant that their Coalition was one of the few remaining powers in the former Empire¡¯s territory in the present day.


    This expedition to reclaim the former capital was a rather risky venture. Everybody knew of the formidable walls of the former capital, and even if the peasants that claimed it for themselves at the moment had only a poor excuse of a military, the walls themselves would cause great losses for any attacking force attempting to take the city.


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    For that reason the coalition had chosen to work together with the Podovniy March. The agreement was that the coalition would send in their forces first, to take the defenders¡¯ eyes away from the March. Once the defenders had committed their forces to face the coalition¡¯s assault, the March would in turn launch their attack from the east.


    That would leave the defenders in a dilemma on whether they should retreat back to Levain itself or continue to tangle with the Coalition¡¯s forces. It was a rather risky deal, but the agreement of splitting the territories of Levain between the two ¨C with the city itself going to whoever conquered it ¨C was too tempting. After all, even if the March¡¯s forces would have an easier time early on, they would at best be given a head start in assaulting Levain itself, which was by far the toughest nut to crack.


    In order to gain the right to personally lead the expedition ¨C and thus allocate a larger portion of the spoils to his own coffers ¨C the High Lord had made compromises with the rest. As such, out of the mighty force of sixty-five thousand under his command, a full ten thousand were elites from his territory, while the other three First Lords sent another ten thousand elites in total.


    The rest of their numbers were made up of conscripts from their conquered territories, second-class citizens promised better treatment for their families should they manage to acquire military merits, as well as mercenaries that had taken the offered deal to become part of the Southern Coalition¡¯s military. The high lord himself considered them as a ragtag band, one and all, but quantity had its own quality as well.


    To the outside world, they announced that they had raised a hundred thousand soldiers in their noble quest to reclaim the former capital. The announcement had been made once the troops had gathered and set out towards the north, several days ago. It was the proper thing to do, after all, to proclaim one¡¯s nobility and righteousness to the world, as well as to intimidate their enemies.


    Besides, it wasn¡¯t like the passage of over sixty thousand men could be hidden from curious eyes anyway.


    It was in that spirit that the High Lord went forth and personally exchanged words with the so-called leader of the peasant rabble he saw awaiting them by the border. The folly of the peasants for refusing to acknowledge their betters was annoying, but not unexpected. The High Lord just scoffed and returned to his army, prepared to order them to continue their advance when he heard the whistling noises from the other side.


    That noise was soon echoed by a shrill bird¡¯s cry from above, in the same pattern, and the High Lord recognized it as a signal. He looked around, expecting an ambush to sprout from the tall grass, but found none, to his surprise.


    It was only when the flames grew big enough to be visible from afar and the smoke covered the skies all of a sudden that he realized just how far his enemies planned to take things.

 Chapter 306 - Throwing all Pretenses out the Window

    ¡°While in more peaceful times war was often clad in some veneer of civility, in more troubled times, that thin layer of veneer would be washed away to reveal the ugly truth underneath. War was always full of ruthlessness and callous disregard for people¡¯s lives. Those who forgot that fact would find themselves paying dearly for it.¡± - Labraz el Cavirse, Royal Tutor to the Imperial Family of Elmaiya, scholar and former general, circa 109 FP.


    For a brief moment after Estelle blew the whistle in the code Reinhardt told her, nothing happened.


    Then Reinhardt quietly mouthed an affirmation, which was transferred through the artifact eye piece he wore to an earring that was attached securely to the side of Hannah¡¯s head ¨C therians of her breed had no noticeable outer ear structure, after all ¨C where it replayed the affirmation. Hannah knew what to do from there, and repeated the code, her shrill screech audible from many kilometers away.


    Almost as soon as her signal was given, over a hundred ¨C Egil¡¯s platoon had easily replenished and increased their numbers with their own descendants, amongst other newcomers ¨C goblins peeked out from their camouflaged hideouts in the prairie. They were arranged in a very loose and wide encirclement of the enemy army now advancing through the region.


    Each of the goblins were well-suited to life in such regions, as they had been taught many ways to deter the local predators from mistaking them as prey and were nearly unnoticeable to most eyes. As they heard the signal, the goblins stealthily advanced towards the wide ring of kindling and fire retardant powder that they had spread over the past few days.


    While they carefully tiptoed so as not to disturb the ring of fire retardant powder on the outside, the goblins soon reached the outermost part of the ring where they spread the kindling powder on, and brought out a simple firestarter tool: A piece of flint and steel. Pointing the steel rod towards the powder on the ground, they struck it with the flint, which caused a shower of sparks to fly out, straight towards where the kindling powder had been strewn.


    Many of the sparks died out before they landed, but a few made it, and it was enough. Upon contact with the spark, the kindling powder instantly burst into flame, which in turn also ignited more of the powder in its vicinity. The chain reaction quickly spread out along the ring, the dry grass of the prairie catching fire bit by bit as the flames spread.


    At first it was unnoticeable, as the flames were small and low to the ground, with what little smoke that emerged from the combustion mostly dispersed by the stalks of tall grass before it could become noticeable from afar. Once the sparks started from over a hundred various points met with each other, though, the flames had engulfed more of the tall grass and grew to a size that was visible even from afar.


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    It was the vanguard of the Southern Coalition¡¯s army that first noticed the fire and smoke that suddenly appeared before them. Then when some of those people turned around and noticed more fire and smoke in the distance, they raised an alarm which was relayed towards the command staff in the center of their army.


    By the time the Southern Coalition army started to react, the flames around them already reached the height of a human head, and the air started to smell of ashes. The realization that they were completely encircled by flames, set by an enemy unscrupulous enough to do so, was something that left the army¡¯s commanders speechless.


    All of them had been born and raised in the final decades of the Clangeddin Empire and its subsequent division. To them, warfare was little different than a large-scale expansion of an honor duel, an activity that was closely regulated by a series of rules the participants adhered to. It was a test of mettle, command, and maneuver, not a thing of unapologetic savagery.


    They had completely taken it for granted that everyone would fight by the same rules, as that had been all they experienced. Their neighbors from Sevras-Galastine, who participated in conquering the former Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, could have taught them the unpleasant truth, but since they were enemies, naturally they had no reason to do so.


    The fact was, such rules only worked when both sides adhered to it.


    At first, Estelle and the commanders of Levain¡¯s militia had also balked at the idea of setting the prairie on fire, but then Reinhardt had asked them a simple question. A question of whether their so-called pride and honor were more important than their people¡¯s lives and livelihoods. They had already proclaimed themselves unwilling to submit themselves to another power ever again, so why not show their determination to do so by casting off some of the last things that still tied them to the old Empire?


    What was the point of being polite to the enemy when the intention was to fight them to the death anyway?


    In the end, everyone agreed that Estelle would at least attempt to talk to their enemies first, before they commit one way or another, with the militia commanders entrusting the decision to her hands. The way the High Lord had so callously disregarded them was the last straw that broke the camel¡¯s back and forced Estelle to a decision.


    She found that when compared to the lives of thousands of people she cared about, the so-called ¡°honor¡± and ¡°pride¡± the nobility held so highly was worth shit. At first she was worried when she saw nothing after she blew the whistle, but when the ring of fire started to become visible, she gawked in surprise at just how widely Reinhardt had set the trap.


    The Southern Coalition army was encircled by a growing conflagration that was still hours of marching away at its closest point, which meant that by the time the fire grew closer to them, the heat and smoke might have already reaped the lives of most of the army. It wasn¡¯t a windy day, but given the plentiful tall grass in the prairie, it was wishful thinking if anyone hoped the fire wouldn¡¯t spread further.

 Chapter 307 - Flames have no Eyes

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re some lowly peasant or the king himself, before death, everyone''s the same.¡± - Saying attributed to the Bone Lord.


    While the conflagration started slowly and almost unnoticed, once the fire grew large, it quickly grew in an almost uncontrollable manner. In fact, were it not for the ring of fire retardant powder that enveloped the flames, it likely would have spread out and devoured the rest of the prairie and beyond in its endless hunger as well.


    Fortunately, Egil¡¯s platoon had taken the proper precautions to contain the fire. The fire retardant powder they spread sublimated once the heat of the flames got too close, and the gas releases smothered any nearby flames quickly. After the process happened several times, the grass near the powder ring had been consumed, and the fire no longer spread that way due to a lack of material to fuel itself.


    Instead, the fire spread rapidly towards the inside of the ring, where the Southern Coalition army was. As the flames around them soared high to the sky, the soldiers began to panic, and not even the loudest exhortations from their commanders managed to restore order completely. Some of the soldiers ran back towards the way they came, unaware that the fire had also spread in that direction.


    Yet others dropped to their knees, cried, and prayed to whatever god they worshiped. If the fire had started near the army, then it would have been an acceptable risk for them to attempt going through the fire before it could grow too large. Unfortunately, when it was set hours away from them, even the dumbest person understood that by the time the fire reached them it would be impassable, barring a miracle.


    The creeping advent of the wall of fire all around them also gave the army a sense of dread and impending doom, which was only magnified further as the temperature around them rose. The air they inhaled smelled of smoke, which tickled their throats and lungs and made them want to cough. Some wild animals even ran into the army in their attempt to escape the encroaching flames.


    Some of the smarter officers pooled the army¡¯s mages together and attempted to make a firebreak, an earthen fortification with a moat next to it. Even from afar, Reinhardt and Estelle could easily tell that even if they managed to create a functional firebreak, chances were that they would either suffocate from the smoke or be cooked alive from the heat anyway.


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    Besides, even with the dozens of mages in the army working together, any structure they manage to create would be far too small to accommodate more than a tiny portion of the whole army.


    As the fire crept closer and closer to the army, it became harder for those outside to see what happened inside the conflagration as the flames covered everything up. Some of the soldiers panicked and tried to rush through the fire in the vain hope of surviving the attempt. Others lost all hope and took their own lives to spare themselves the agony that approached them. The mages and the officers redoubled their attempt to create a firebreak which could shelter them.


    Naturally, the sight of some of their numbers attempting to shelter themselves while ignoring the rest incensed many of the soldiers who were left outside the firebreak. As the wall of flames loomed ever closer, eventually those soldiers lost all restraint, and attempted to force their way into the shelter the mages and nobles built.


    The resultant infighting saw thousands of soldiers ¨C primarily former mercenaries and those considered second class citizens ¨C turn their spears on the elites that the nobles and mages had with them inside the shelter. Blood spilled as tempers flared and the two sides fought each other despite being on the same side, all for the sake of survival.


    In the end, however, their fighting ended because the flames had encroached near where the army was. The temperature soared to the extremes, and where the soldiers had at first sweated like crazy, they ended up unable to even do so, as their sweat evaporated rapidly from the heat. Their skins were parched and blistered, the heat literally cooking many of the soldiers alive in their armor.


    Where the smoke was once simply suffocating, the smell emanated from it started to gain a semblance to that of pigs being roasted. Many of the soldiers from the Southern Coalition collapsed because they were unable to breathe, and even the moats outside the firebreak ¨C filled by the effort of many water mages ¨C boiled as the flames continued its relentless advent.


    The prairie burned from the afternoon through the night, all the way to the next morning, where a drizzle eventually turned into a heavy downpour and extinguished the remnants of the conflagration at last. By the time the fire died out, a tragic sight was revealed to the Levain troops on their hill. The sight of blackened bones, armor, and weapons scattered all over the plains merely a few hours¡¯ march away from them, as well as an earthen dome surrounded by a small moat, recently filled by the rain, where some of the Southern Coalition army had attempted to seek shelter from the flames.


    There were no movements, however, and no sign of life to be seen from the prairie. Only burnt and blackened remnants and ashes that were washed off by the water and pooled in the lower regions of the prairie.


    Reinhardt and Estelle exchanged a look with one another before the latter gave the order for part of the troop ¨C five thousand strong ¨C to advance. The cavalry also rode out and fanned to the sides, where they traced the borders of the conflagration to see if there were survivors or escapees from the enemy army. Everyone else went towards the pile of burnt metal and blackened bones that were the remains of the Southern Coalition army.


    They still had no idea whether there were any survivors from the enemy side or not, after all, so the troops advanced with them as a precaution, just in case there were some survivors who somehow still had the strength to resist.

 Chapter 308 - Well Done

    ¡°Never do things halfway. Either see through the job to the end, or never take it in the first place.¡± - Saying attributed to Caradeen Molock, Founder of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.


    As the flames had been quenched by the rain for over an hour by then, there was no real worry about burning themselves on the embers and hot ashes left behind by the conflagration. While the cavalry rode past the area where the main bulk of remains lay, the force of five thousand ¨C including several platoons from the Free Lances ¨C approached the earthen dome, as if there were any survivors from the blaze, it was most likely there.


    Burnt corpses in various degrees of damage were scattered all over the plains. The ones with least damage were the people who had gathered their courage and attempted to rush through the wall of fire that surrounded them. Out of these people, maybe one in ten made it through the conflagration with their lives, but for most of them, only temporarily.


    The large scale of the conflagration meant that any attempt to rush through the flames was near suicidal. Out of the few that made it out through the flames, four out of five succumbed to their injuries shortly afterwards, with only a handful of lucky survivors who survived long enough to be taken into custody by the Levain troops, where they received medical treatment. Even then, they sported horrible burns all over their bodies, and it was doubtful whether they¡¯d survive the week or not.


    Those who had been trapped and fallen to the blaze had far more tragic ends.


    More often than not, the only thing they left behind were blackened skeletons as well as the metal parts of their armor and weapons. The heat had burnt away everything else without mercy. The sight of tens of thousands of skeletons ¨C both people as well as various mounts ¨C proved to be too much for some of the younger militiamen, as Reinhardt heard some retching noises from their direction.


    Not that he blamed them, for many of the youngsters in Alycea¡¯s Platoon ¨C who he¡¯d brought along on purpose ¨C also looked pale and on the verge of regurgitating their breakfasts. To their credit though, they held it in and managed to continue the march stoically. He felt a touch of pride over that, considering how young most of those kids were.


    With the noise of bones being broken accompanying their footsteps, the group of five thousand soldiers encircled the earthen dome where the nobles and elites had tried to shelter themselves during the blaze. The dome was fully enclosed from all sides, with a moat roughly half a meter wide and roughly as deep around it, full of ash-sodden rainwater.


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    Despite the fighting where the second-class soldiers tried to force their way into the shelter, those inside managed to push them away before the flame completely engulfed the area and the dome was sealed. That only left the question of whether those inside the dome survived the blaze or not, which was honestly doubtful, even with all the effort they put up.


    Several tall and strong militiamen stepped towards the dome with wooden mauls in their hands as they started to break it. The earthen dome had been baked by the heat, which made it hard and brittle, and it was clearly going to take a while to create an opening through it. Even so, other groups of militiamen pointed their spears towards the dome in case those inside were still conscious and decided to make a final attempt at resistance.


    There was no such thing, though, and the work continued unimpeded until finally one of the mauls broke through the thick earthen layer.


    Almost immediately, the militia soldier who broke through the dome recoiled away and took several steps backwards, followed by the others. An unpleasant stench, one that made people wonder if some lunatic had been boiling vomit, piss and shit until it was concentrated, wafted out from the opening, and made many of the soldiers nearby cringe at the smell. Some of them vomited on the spot.


    Fortunately Ze¡¯phane and several other wind mages conjured a breeze to blow the stench away before it could nauseate too many people. After the breeze blew for a while, the stench lessened, and the soldiers continued their work. It was not too long before their wooden mauls created a larger opening, one large enough for several people to walk through side by side, and that was when the fate of those nobles and elites inside the dome was revealed.


    After the stench had wafted out, nobody had expected to find those people alive, but neither had they expected to discover over a thousand ¨C the high nobles had attempted to shelter themselves together with their officers and trusted knights ¨C thoroughly cooked corpses within. From what little expression that could be identified off their bloated features, the people inside clearly died in great agony.


    It took a while more before several investigators finally pieced together the clues they found and realized what had happened. Apparently, after the earthen dome was sealed, the water mages within kept conjuring water to wet the inside walls of the dome in the hope of staving off the flames. The heat was too intense, however, and despite their best efforts, that water ended up boiling instead.


    Their attempts to add more water to cool things down only resulted in an increase of steam being produced by the heat. The steam had nowhere to go in the enclosed dome, which ended up filling the dome with pressurized steam. Many of the people in the dome had already died or fallen unconscious from the heat by then, and those were the lucky ones.


    The rest had been cooked alive inside their own shelter, as their desperate attempt to create an outlet for the steam at the top was too little, too late. Not a single person survived, out of those who sheltered themselves inside the dome. Every single one died a tragic death with their corpses barely identifiable as they were so bloated and disfigured.


    In fact, Estelle and the other commanders only managed to identify the late High Lord by his armor, as his face had bloated beyond recognition.

 Chapter 309 - Sorting out the Leftovers

    ¡°Most stories and tales typically only focus on the battles. They never touch what goes on after the fighting is done.¡± - Bunore Ival-Esqia, Support staff for the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers mercenary company.


    After the confirmation of the High Lord¡¯s ¨C and all the other officers of the Southern Coalition army, for that matter ¨C death, Estelle and Reinhardt had a short meeting. Their contract granted the Free Lances full salvage based on their contribution in defensive battles they participated in. While there was no fighting in this case, the trap was planned, set, and executed by Reinhardt¡¯s people, and as such the whole victory was arguably all due to the Free Lances.


    That said, most of the salvage in this case came in the form of heat-damaged equipment, other than those belonging to the thousand or so corpses inside the dome. Estelle knew that the Free Lances themselves did not lack for equipment, so after some quick negotiation, she directly purchased the bulk of the salvage from Reinhardt, primarily the heat-damaged equipment.


    Hardened steel would be damaged by excessive heat, like the conflagration they had been subjected to, but all was not lost, as they could be reforged or otherwise used as base material for new items. In essence, what Estelle bought was the massive quantity of metal that would be re-used and reforged to make new equipment for the militia, who were still relatively lacking in that area.


    As for the pieces of equipment from the corpses in the dome, she left it to Reinhardt¡¯s discretion on whether he would claim them for his own use or otherwise. One key point to their negotiation was that Reinhardt¡¯s people would be the ones who collected the salvage from the corpses, as the militia was less well-suited to that task.


    People tend to be superstitious, and those from the Clangeddin Empire had a belief that the dead should not be disrespected or otherwise bothered, lest they haunt the living. As such, the militia had been particularly timid while they walked through the field of burnt corpses, and took care not to step on them, unlike Reinhardt¡¯s people.


    The mercenaries naturally could care less about such beliefs, and would just crudely shake skulls out of helmets without a care, stepping on the charred bones of the dead as if they were stepping on grass. Since Reinhardt had brought the vast majority of his company to the battle, it wasn¡¯t even that much work. Each of them only needed to collect the spoils from thirty or so corpses.


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    Reinhardt took some pity on the young ones and assigned Alycea¡¯s platoon to that task, as dealing with charred skeletons was at least much cleaner and easier than dealing with the thousand corpses in the dome.


    Due to the way those people died, many of them had their flesh merged into their clothing and armor, which made the extraction process not only more difficult, but naturally also far more gruesome. Of course, some of the older mercenaries took care of it without even blinking an eye. For them, it was a small price to have to scrape off skin and flesh from the good items that they could make use for themselves.


    There was naturally more good stuff for them to salvage out of the thousand bloated and cooked corpses inside the dome, as they were the high-ranked officers and elites of the enemy army. In addition, due to the lower heat they were subjected to, the items they used did not suffer from heat damage, unlike the ones that were directly engulfed by the conflagration.


    Good weapons that were ready to use, armor that needed a refitting at most, and several storage rings of larger sizes pried off the bloated, sausage-like fingers of the dead officers accounted for most of the spoils collected. The storage rings in particular were valuable, as they contained the rations and other equipment the army brought with them. Things the Free Lances had no need of themselves, but would still fetch a good price when sold to their employers.


    By the time night fell, the salvaging was pretty much done as well, and the army only rested while waiting for the cavalry to return before they would disembark on the return trip to Levain. Said cavalry returned just as dinner was about to be served ¨C although many of the militiamen had little appetite after what they saw that day ¨C and brought their report, which painted a picture on just how devastating the blaze was.


    A part of the Southern Coalition army, roughly one-fifth of their total number, had attempted to escape when they saw that they were surrounded by fire. Out of these, those that attempted to run towards the north had the worst luck, with only a handful of survivors that were caught by the Levain military. Those that tried to escape to the east and west barely bared any better, and many likely perished to wild animals even after they escaped the flames with their lives.


    From the tracks, however, a larger group had chosen to run southwards, and by coincidence, a northern wind was blowing around the time the wall of fire reached their vicinity. That meant that they faced a thinner and less intense blaze. The cavalry estimated that roughly half of that group ¨C around three thousand men ¨C likely survived to run back towards the southern coalition.


    Their escape did little to change the results, however. Fact remained that out of the Southern Coalition¡¯s army of sixty-five thousand or so men, over nine out of ten perished in the conflagration, including the High Lord of Sebaque and the majority of his state¡¯s elites. It was a blow that pretty much crippled the Southern Coalition¡¯s military power and rendered them unable to even think about getting adventurous with their neighbors.


    They barely have enough to defend their own lands, as it was.


    Whether that blow would cause the Coalition¡¯s other neighbors to take advantage of them or not, the people of Levain couldn¡¯t care less. They only breathed a sigh of relief as a threat to their own sovereignty had been eliminated, in a spectacular way that sent a message to everyone else that they were willing to do what it takes to defend it, too.

 Chapter 310 - Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

    ¡°All wars are typically one part fighting for your life, and ninety-nine parts of either boring tedium or dirty jobs.¡± - Arthur Mac Dougall, general from the Kingdom of Vitalica, circa 272 VA.


    Kev¡¯s mood had seen many ups and downs in the past week alone.


    He, along with Larissa, Skuljd, as well as several dozen other mercenary trainees had established themselves as the most ¡°promising¡± out of all the trainees. As a reward, they were assigned to one of the Company¡¯s newly built platoons, rather than having to compete with veterans in the existing platoons. That gave them more chances to show their mettle and prove their worth.


    That the leader of the platoon ¨C as well as her own group of around two dozen close friends ¨C he was assigned to was a good bit younger than most everyone else had not bothered him much. He was well aware of the girl¡¯s identity as the Captain¡¯s adopted daughter, and besides, it was her who smacked him around during the foolish challenge he had made a couple years ago.


    The girl was just twelve at that time, too.


    Since he was made an official member of the Company, life had been mostly¡­ the same. There was still the regular training, though less of it compared to when he was a trainee, and otherwise they were pretty inactive due to the nature of their current contract. As such, Kev was excited when he heard that they would be deployed for combat a little over a week ago.


    That excitement quickly spiraled down to nervousness and dread, however, as he thought about actually going into battle with his life on the line. Even so, during the week-long march towards the planned battlefield, words from his friends and seeing how the youngsters in the platoon were not in the least bit afraid of the battle to come raised his spirits once more.


    When he laid eyes on the enemy force, however, that raised spirit plummeted yet again, as he learned how the enemy army outnumbered theirs by more than two to one. Those were not good odds by any means, and some pessimism started to take root in his mind once again. He was worried that his first deployment might also be his last.


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    Yet the battle he dreaded never even took place.


    Before his eyes, he saw how flames engulfed a large portion of the prairie before him along with the enemy army who were still making their way through it. As he watched the roaring conflagration burn for a whole day and night, he had no idea what he should think. Should he be glad by the development? Or should he be disappointed?


    It was only after the fire had gone out that the platoon he was in was given their task, and it was quite a dirty one.


    ¡°I have to say that this is not the sort of work I was expecting to do as a mercenary,¡± he complained quietly as he shook a charred skull out of a helmet and deposited the helmet into a large sack already filled with other bits of salvaged equipment from the dead.


    ¡°Eh, I mean we¡¯re still getting paid combat rates, without the need to risk our lives, at that!¡± countered Skuljd from nearby. The dwarven maiden had just torn out the ribcage and spine of a human torso from within a suit of burnt chainmail with her powerful arms. The chainmail was tossed into a similar sack as Kev¡¯s, while the remains of the body was just tossed unceremoniously to the ground.


    Respect for the dead wasn¡¯t a big thing amongst mercenaries unless it was their own dead. Definitely not something they extended to the dead bodies they were looting though.


    ¡°Gotta say, though, never thought the boss had that sort of trick up his sleeve,¡± admitted Larissa who was also scrounging from salvage nearby. ¡°Just yesterday I was still worrying on how the fuck we were supposed to deal with so many enemies and how many of us would have to lay down our lives in the process. Now they¡¯re all just charcoal,¡± as if to punctuate her words, she stepped on a discarded ribcage and broke the brittle charred bones with ease.


    ¡°It was quite a sight, indeed,¡± affirmed Skuljd with a gravely laugh. By now their sacks were filled with tens of kilograms of charred metal bits from the weapons and armor that the enemy army wore. Most of the young mercenaries couldn¡¯t even move it on their own, so they worked in pairs or more to shift the location of the sack as they salvaged more. Only those like Skuljd or the other non-human members with great strength could leisurely carry the weight on their own. ¡°It¡¯s not everyday you get to see tens of thousands of people burnt to a crisp like that.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t remind me,¡± said Kev with a slightly green face. ¡°I don''t know if I could even eat pork anymore after that.¡±


    It was often said that burning human flesh exuded a pork-like smell, and everyone who had been present to witness the great conflagration would testify to that. The smell of roasting pork was prevalent alongside the typical smell of smoke and char, and only started to diminish late in the night. Many amongst the militia were nauseated and vomited by the smell as they knew where it came from. Some of them even swore off pork for the rest of their lives.


    Of course, that mostly affected the human members of the militia. Those from the other races ¨C even those who were half-human ¨C weren¡¯t as bothered by the smell. Naturally, members of the Free Lances were barely affected since they had a much higher proportion of non-human members compared to the militia.


    Some of them were even joking around about the smell when they roasted some pork by the campfire the night after the salvaging operation was finished, to the consternation of some members of the militia who were camped nearby.

 Chapter 311 - Nipping Trouble at the Bud

    ¡°It is extremely unlikely for any choice to have no detractors at all. The measure of a ruler is partly decided by how they handle these detractors, whether it was to convert them to supporters one way or another, or to directly remove them by hook or by crook. Good rulers typically know how to use both approaches as necessary.¡± - Andreas Gigantis Rewune, retired minister from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 519 VA.


    Despite the ¡°easy¡± victory, the way Estelle chose to deal with the Southern Coalition army caused its own repercussions.


    Specifically, the faction formed by the former nobles ¨C the one Leonid de Kars used to lead ¨C had great reactions over it. Some were thoroughly intimidated by the display of cruelty that Estelle had shown she was capable of ¨C while the plan and setup were done by the Free Lances, Estelle still personally made the call ¨C and chose to submit wholeheartedly to the council.


    Others were either infuriated or disgusted by what they perceived as an act of throwing away all the gentlemanly rules that governed society, and had rebellious thoughts in their minds. They even made plans with each other about a possible insurrection or breakaway from the Free City as a whole. That said, they were unaware that not everyone they discussed the matter with was truly of the same opinion.


    A few nobles felt that the plans their compatriots made were too radical and were more likely to hurt them all rather than benefit them. Some of those joined the faction that chose to stay neutral and watch where the wind blows, but one of them in particular sent a trusted retainer of his to deliver a letter directly to Estelle herself, where he leaked the discussion that had been brewing amongst some of the noble faction of late.


    All this happened during the first three days of the army¡¯s travels back to Levain. Estelle was angered when she read the letter, but she had expected something of that nature to happen when she decided to throw away all pretenses back in the prairie. The noble faction also made a fatal mistake in that they were found out while still on the road.


    The army had just started to enter territories that were inhabited around then, and some of the nobles split up from the main army as they led their men towards their home territories. It was an opportunity Estelle immediately pounced on as she had a short discussion with Reinhardt about her intentions. Sure enough, the Free Lances immediately went to work.


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    Two of the nobles who were part of the faction that wanted to rebel passed away from what was thought to be natural causes on their journey back to their home territory. This drew little suspicion, as those nobles weren¡¯t young anymore, and marching with an army might have taxed their declining physique. Even if some of their family members were more suspicious and demanded an autopsy, it was doubtful that any healer in their territory would recognize the substance that caused the two old nobles to perish from heart attacks anyway.


    After all, Fatimah and her people hailed from the Southern Continent and had their own ways, which included poisons those in the northern continent were completely unfamiliar with.


    As for the remaining five nobles who were part of the scheme, they reached their home territories safely, only to pass away one after another under various circumstances. One fell off his horse while hunting and broke his neck. Another was found poisoned by his wife who turned out to have a lover outside. Their attempt to claim his riches failed, while both the wife and the lover were arrested and destined for the gallows.


    A third noble from that group drowned while swimming in a lake, as was his habit. Nobody had expected the noble ¨C who was a skilled swimmer ¨C to drown like that. Yet another was killed when his carriage¡¯s wheels broke off while they were traveling at a high speed, the resultant crash instantly killing the nobleman.


    By that point of time, the last remaining nobleman who had been part of the scheme had turned extremely paranoid. He had a good idea what happened. Someone must have betrayed the group and told the council about what they were planning. He did not believe that the deaths of the other six nobles were from natural causes or accidents, as he thought it was more likely that the council decided to get rid of them.


    Unfortunately, he was in his home territory, so he couldn¡¯t even denounce the council¡¯s dirty move. After the noble sequestered himself in his mansion for three months, he was removed from his post in the council due to prolonged and unexcused absence, with a messenger sent to his territory to inform the people that they needed to elect a new representative.


    When the nobleman attempted to stop the people under him from doing so, the commoners revolted. They had lived under the Free City¡¯s rule for over a decade and had seen how other commoners in other territories lived, and as such, no longer feared nobles as much as they used to. The revolt quickly overwhelmed the nobleman¡¯s limited military forces and soon reached the gate of his mansion.


    At his wit¡¯s end and with no way out, the nobleman took his own life in the end, before the angry commoners could get to him.


    Naturally, the Free Lances ¨C and particularly Fatimah¡¯s platoon ¨C were rewarded with a sizable bonus for their work. The remnants of the Order of Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra might be skilled assassins, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they only know how to use violence. The deaths of those seven nobles were something they had plotted out on Estelle¡¯s and Reinhardt¡¯s behest, and they pursued nothing short of perfection in their work.


    Needless to say, the noble faction that loved to play opposition in the council chamber was far more restrained and quiet after those ¡°incidents¡±. Reinhardt had also struck out most of the names in the list given to him by Bernd Adenauer when he took the job back then, with the remaining few hopefully smart enough to behave themselves.


    Otherwise, they could join their compatriots under the soil.

 Chapter 312 - To Appreciate a Moment of Peace

    ¡°Several signs common to people who have spent much of their life on the battlefields are very noticeable. For example, these people are almost always capable of falling asleep anytime, anywhere, practically on demand. They also tend to live life vigorously and precariously, often with little thought for the longer term. After all, in a battlefield one might lose their life at any moment, so they learned to enjoy their lives while they still could.¡± - Labraz el Cavirse, Royal Tutor to the Imperial Family of Elmaiya, scholar and former general, circa 109 FP.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird,¡± complained Kev while drinking in a tavern in the city of Levain. Alycea¡¯s platoon happened to have their break that night, so he along with some friends he made from training went out to drink and enjoy themselves. ¡°Been nearly nearly half a year now since I¡¯ve become a mercenary and I¡¯ve never fought any actual battle in that time. Had expected it¡¯d be more¡­ exciting, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°Well, I for one ain¡¯t complaining about being paid well for light and easy work,¡± said Boris. He was the large tiger-like therian boy from the challenge back then, and had also made his way to Alycea¡¯s platoon. Kev and his friends had quickly bonded with the large but rather soft-spoken boy during their training. ¡°Still better pay than most jobs out there, even.¡±


    ¡°Boris there got a point, Kev-boy,¡± added Skuljd as she quaffed down an entire tankard of ale in one go. ¡°Money¡¯s money, and getting paid for doing easy stuff¡¯s always better than the alternative,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Besides, given the political climate around this region, I bet you¡¯ll get your excitement sooner or later. Shouldn¡¯t be long, either way.¡±


    Probably because the Southern Coalition army directly collapsed from the conflagration Reinhardt had set up to welcome them, the forces of Podovniy March had made no incursions into the Free City¡¯s territory, despite the supposed alliance between the two. Maybe if the Free City¡¯s army was occupied by the invasion from the south, they would have made a move, but the swift resolution of the invasion quashed their plans, at least temporarily.


    Even so, it was unlikely that the Podovniy March would remain silent for too much longer, as the loss of the forces from Kolain the year before was already an insult to them. If not for the drought and internal instability, it was likely that they would have launched a larger-scale assault towards Levain, but things hadn¡¯t played out the way they expected it to.


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    ¡°Definitely rookie words there, kiddo,¡± said Rubor, who happened to be at the same bar with Kari. The two seemed to have gotten into a closer relationship over the past few months, and they happened to have the day off as well. As for why they were at the same tavern, it was mostly because the place had the best ale in the city, so it became a favorite hangout for the mercenaries on their off days. ¡°Once you¡¯ve been in a few battles, you¡¯ll be appreciating downtimes like these much more, trust me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit on the boring side to just train, spar, and help others with their training though,¡± interjected Larissa from Kev¡¯s table. The tall mixed breed girl remained part of the circle of friends through their training and beyond. ¡°I guess we just want to get a little bit of excitement in our lives while we¡¯re still young.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s definitely excitement to be found in battles,¡± noted Kari with an approving nod. ¡°Most of those who actively sought it out tend to be either daredevils or a little off in the head though, like just about everyone in Lady Boss¡¯s platoon for example, myself included,¡± she added. ¡°There¡¯s definitely thrill in toeing that line between life and death, but it¡¯s not for everyone.¡±


    What Kari said made Rubor guffaw loudly, and at the same time also made the youngsters somewhat pale at the implications. They were all familiar with Kari and mostly knew about her history. She and her brother Alva had joined the Free Lances during the Theodinaz campaign a decade and a half ago, and had gone through many battles since then.


    ¡°What kids like you should think about is to acclimatize yourself to this lifestyle and to improve your skills. Did you know that nearly a third of all rookie mercenaries died in their first battle?¡± added Kari after she took a sip from the small cup of hard liquor in her hand. ¡°I guess for the four of you, you got lucky in that our opponent made a fatal mistake during your first battle and allowed themselves to be roasted to a crisp, but you can¡¯t expect that to happen all the time.¡±


    Kev, Boris, Skuljd, and Larissa nodded at Kari¡¯s reminder. The previous disappointment the four of them felt at the loss of a chance to prove themselves faded at her words, though being young kids, they were still eager to do so. Of course, since the mercenary company was working in a region still in the throes of civil war, they would get their wish anyway sooner or later.


    ¡°Peaceful times like these are to be cherished,¡± noted Rubor with a gentler voice than what one would have expected from someone of his stature. ¡°When I was working for the Southern Coalition, we had slave drivers for employers, and many people I knew or got acquainted with lost their lives in the many battles they fought. It¡¯s one thing to go to war often, but finishing a battle just to head straight into another skirmish the next day isn¡¯t a proper way of living, I tell you.¡±


    ¡°Got to have some fun times to make the hard times seem worthwhile,¡± added Kari in support of Rubor¡¯s words. ¡°Us being mercenaries are but means to an end, be it retiring with enough money to live in luxury for the rest of our lives, or maybe just making life better for your family¡­ Everyone has their own goals,¡± she noted. ¡°There¡¯s few who are in it for the thrill of the fighting, and others who went into this line of work because fighting¡¯s the only thing they were good at, but if possible, you kids should try to have a better goal for yourselves.¡±

 Chapter 313 - A Friendly Exchange

    ¡°Everybody has something they excel in. The only question is whether they have the leeway and courage to attempt the pursuit or not.¡± - Astra Cornelius Barca, general, statesman, diplomat. Elected leader of the Republic of Caroma 550-575 VA.


    Just as the autumn harvest was underway, a large army of thirty thousand soldiers entered Levain¡¯s borders.


    Unlike the previous two armies from the Podovniy March and the Southern Coalition, this army bore no hostility to the Free City of Levain, and in fact their presence was preempted by several diplomatic missives. It was with the approval of Levain¡¯s city council that the army from the Republic of Caroma entered the Free City¡¯s territory.


    Officially, the reason for their arrival was to ¡°exchange notes¡± with the now-trained militia of the Free City. Unofficially, they were there to pretend to have a friendly exchange with Levain, gather rations for a longer campaign in Levain itself ¨C which was already prepared by the Free City prior to their arrival ¨C, and then ¡°borrow¡± the Free City¡¯s territory to launch an assault to the Southern Coalition from an unexpected direction.


    The Free City¡¯s own council chose to cooperate with their allies, and after the ¡°friendly exchange¡±, their militia force of over twenty thousand would also strike forth towards the south. After the debacle on the prairie south of Levain, dissatisfaction with the First Lords had risen exponentially in the Southern Coalition, and several of the outermost regions which were close to the Free City even sent missives.


    Missives which indicated that they wished to change their allegiance to become part of the Free City¡¯s territory rather than remain under the Southern Coalition¡¯s rule.


    Naturally, Levain wouldn¡¯t send out too much of its troops. The planned combined assault with Caroma would put the forces they fielded at over fifty thousand men, way more than enough to claim the territories that they had their eyes on. Since it was an offensive, the Free Lances were naturally excluded, as they had signed a contract that only included defensive battles.


    In actuality though, Estelle and Bernd ¨C now firmly the leaders of the city council in both name and actuality ¨C asked them to serve as a reserve and to help lead the members of the militia still in training should something unexpected happen during the course of the offensive. The force that would head south consisted of almost the entire first batch of militia that the Free Lances had trained, minus part of the cavalry which were kept in Levain just in case.


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    The army from Caroma chose to set camp west of Levain proper, roughly half a day away. The camp itself was open and unguarded, a show of faith towards their allies, and while the camp was being set up, a delegation from the Caroman forces headed towards Levain. There they were welcomed by the city gates, the welcoming committee headed by Estelle herself, along with practically everyone of importance in the Free City¡¯s hierarchy.


    Reinhardt was present as well, together with all of his platoon leaders. The Caroman delegation were mostly a team of diplomats, but a peculiar quarter amongst them attracted Reinhardt¡¯s attention right away. While the four did not wear armor and dressed in simple tunics like the rest of the delegation, the way they held themselves and walked hinted at lifelong military training.


    Sure enough, after the pleasantries were done, Estelle took those four to the side and introduced them to Reinhardt as well as the gathered officers of the Levain militia present. Reinhardt had guessed the identity of the family ¨C the familial resemblance of the four was easy to notice ¨C since he recognized one of them from afar, though.


    Marshall Publius Cornelius of Caroma was not what he expected. The middle-aged man looked more like a timid scholar, of relatively short stature and a slightly pudgy build, but the way he held himself ramrod-straight still showed his true nature as a warrior. Unlike the common style in the region, he kept his face clean shaven, and even shaved his head completely bald, which gave him a rather strict look. His skin color, a paler shade of olive brown told Reinhardt that the Marshall likely descended from central Clangeddin, since only people from that region had that look to them.


    His wife, Marshall Anni-Al-Bagh Barca, looked more like what Reinhardt had expected. The woman was tall, easily a meter ninety or so, with fierce, rippling musculature easily visible underneath her darker bronze skin. The woman kept her curly hair tied into a crude ponytail at the nape of her neck, and looked far younger than her actual age. She could have passed for a woman in her late twenties despite nearing fifty.


    Their son Scipius was the one Reinhardt had recognized from afar, as he still remembered the youth when they met nearly two years ago. He was tall like his mother, though she still towered over him by nearly half a head, and had a firmly built physique, with his skin tone halfway between his parents. Over the past two years, the young man had started growing a short beard, which still utterly failed to hide his youthfulness.


    Besides the three of them was a young woman ¨C probably still in her late teens at most ¨C that Reinhardt didn¡¯t recognize but guessed to be another child of the two marshals. The young woman stood taller than her father, though not as tall as her brother, with similar features and curly hair like her mother¡¯s. She too had a demeanor that made it obvious that she had been through military training, a guess verified when the couple introduced her as their daughter Astra, who they brought along to experience her first war.


    Reinhardt also confirmed that the young woman was not a dabbler as he shook her hand and noticed the calluses on her palm and fingers.


    The group exchanged pleasantries with each other, with the Marshals showing quite a bit of interest in how the Free Lances trained the militia on the Free City¡¯s behalf. It was a pleasant conversation, but Reinhardt also noticed subtle probes from their questions. It made sense, however, as any experienced commander would wish to know the mettle of their allies if they had to fight together with them.

 Side Story 35 - To Put up a Front

    ¡°There are always some things you could learn from other people. Either take note of where they are better than you and use that as an example to strive for the better, or learn from their flaws so that you could avoid falling into the pits they have fallen into.¡± - Mian Tsu-Lao, philosopher from the Huan Confederacy, circa 12 VA.


    Despite being the children of two of the most celebrated heroes of their homeland, neither Scipius or his younger sister Astra lived a pampered life. On the contrary, from their youth, they had chosen to go through various hardships that most people would have balked at in order to better themselves. Only then would they feel that they had not shamed their parents¡¯ legacies.


    It was a drive that originated from themselves, as they had so often heard praises of their parents from a very early age. Their parents ¨C Publius and Anni ¨C were actually far more relaxed and had specifically told the children that they should grow up to be what they wished to be, for themselves, rather than for anyone else¡¯s sake. It was just that their two eldest children wanted to be seen as heirs that wouldn¡¯t bring shame to the parents.


    From a young age, both of them had gone through grueling training, closely supervised by their mother to make sure that their training wouldn¡¯t interfere with their growth. Most of their free time outside training was spent studying in the library. That was where the siblings diverted a bit, as Scipius was more proficient with the physical training, while Astra was better at studying despite being younger.


    Once they were of age, both siblings had joined the Republic¡¯s armed forces one after another. They requested no special treatments, and worked their way up the ladder from the very bottom. If there was any favoritism involved, it was probably in how the two of them happened to be given several chances to make their mark over the years.


    By the time Scipius was twenty and Astra was eighteen, the former had already risen to a thousand-man commander, while the latter already worked her way up to a two hundred-man leader. It was not that Astra was less skilled than her brother, but simply due to the fact that she had two less years of time to perform, since she joined the military later.


    That was when the Republic agreed to a joint offensive with the Free City of Levain, targeting the northern areas of the Southern Coalition, a mutual enemy to both nations.


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    Both Scipius and Astra were part of the expedition, which was directly commanded by their parents. From that alone it could be easily seen how much value the Republic¡¯s leadership placed on the success of the expedition. Given the colossal failure the Southern Coalition just suffered at Levain¡¯s hands, the fighting was expected to be light, but as everybody knew, a cornered prey might strike out at a hunter still.


    The thirty thousand strong army from Caroma made their way to Levain unmolested, and during the journey Astra took the chance to gloat a bit in one of the fields she was far better than her brother. Unlike Scipius, who at best was a passable rider that would only ride a horse for transportation purposes and definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to fight from atop one, Astra was practically born for the saddle. She rode her mare as if she and the horse were one being, easily running circles around her much more restrained brother.


    It was also one reason why Scipius always favored commanding from amongst the infantry, or failing that, from atop a chariot.


    They had expected to be welcomed at Levain, and sure enough, when Astra and Sirius accompanied the Caroman delegation to the city itself, they were met by the welcoming party ¨C which included pretty much everyone that mattered ¨C by the gate. Curiously, Astra noticed that Levain¡¯s side also brought what looked like the command staff of the mercenary unit they hired recently, the one she heard about from her brother.


    She was somewhat interested in that company, as it was rather rare to see such a mixed company in former Clangeddin territory. While the former Empire welcomed all races, humans still formed the majority of their populace since the lands that composed the Empire¡¯s territory were primarily human kingdoms and states in their past.


    The Free Lances on the other hand, had just about as many non-humans ¨C or those of mixed heritage ¨C amongst their command staff as they had humans, and her brother also told her that they fielded a significant portion of other races amongst their numbers. That their leader was a therian man of a breed she had never seen before, even taller than her mother, lent further credit to that claim.


    That said, it was not those things that piqued Astra¡¯s curiosity the most.


    What really interested her about the mercenaries was that two of their platoon leaders ¨C as the therian man named Reinhardt had introduced them ¨C were young girls around her age or even younger. She understood it somewhat when she heard that they were the Captain¡¯s own daughters, yet at the same time doubted that a highly successful mercenary company would so freely assign a platoon to a girl barely of age.


    Astra tabled her curiosity for the time being, and thought that she should ask for her parents¡¯ opinion on the matter when they had free time later that night. One way or another, to sell the illusion that they were actually in Levain to have a friendly exchange, there were planned mock combats between the Levain forces and their own over the next week.


    Other than to sell the illusion, that was also done to buy time for the Caroman army to prepare and check the supplies they had purchased from Levain.


    If she asked, chances were that her parents might help her arrange a mock battle between their side and the mercenaries. Astra had quite a bit of interest in that, as she wished to see the mettle of these mercenaries for herself.

 Side Story 36 - Impressions, Improvements

    ¡°One¡¯s first impression of another often formed the foundation of how one would think of that other person from then on.¡± - Mian Tsu-Lao, philosopher from the Huan Confederacy, circa 12 VA.


    On the day that followed, the friendly mock battles between the forces of Levain and those of Caroma began.


    Each side sent out five hundred soldiers, a large enough amount for the commanders on either side to show the fruits of their training, without risking a chaotic mess. It was generally difficult to control the progress of a larger mock battle, so the number was carefully chosen to allow both sides to display their skills while minimizing risks of injury or death.


    Both sides had their soldiers wear full armor, but their weapons were replaced with blunt and padded training weapons. Similarly, projectile weapons and cavalry were excluded from the mock battle. A blunted arrow might still cause serious injury if it happened to land on the eye or other sensitive body parts, while it was all too easy to accidentally trample someone if cavalry was involved. The archers and cavalry would have their own competition to show off against each other later.


    As Astra observed the maneuvering armies from atop the city wall, she noticed that Levain¡¯s militia had been trained to operate as a multitude of smaller commands that worked together to form larger formations, much like the Caroman military. It was an unusual approach compared to the larger commands favored by the late Clangeddin Empire, and Astra wondered if it was the mercenaries that taught the Levain militia to fight that way.


    There were differences, of course.


    Where the Caroman military worked in centuries of a hundred men each ¨C with a five hundred man commander in command of the whole formation ¨C the Levain militia seemed to function on smaller divisions of around forty men each. Those smaller groups gathered together to smoothly form larger formations, a slight sacrifice of overall cohesion in exchange of greater flexibility.


    That sort of setup had its benefits, Astra thought. With greater flexibility an army could react better to the ever-changing combat situation. That said, the setup also had its drawbacks, like the larger number of unit leaders needed, as well as the higher requirements the overall commander needed. If the commander did not know how to make use of the flexibility to their advantage, it might turn into a burden instead.


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    To her surprise, the Levain commander seemed to know what they were doing. When the frontlines clashed, he gave it a short wait to allow the soldiers fighting to get truly entangled with one another before he detached two smaller groups ¨C a hundred twenty men each ¨C to strike at the Caroman formation from the flanks.


    The sudden attack gave the Caromans some trouble, but before too long their commander arranged for a century on each side to turn and face the flankers. Caroma had sent out their elites for this exhibition, so the quick reaction from the veteran commander ¨C one of Scipius and Astra¡¯s teachers ¨C was to be expected. It would not do to lose their face in the first exhibition, after all.


    In the end, the fight bogged down to the point that both sides took heavy ¡°casualties¡±. The officials from both sides who refereed the exhibition match agreed to call it a draw, as both sides already had roughly half their soldiers ¡°dead¡± or ¡°disabled¡± by that point. The Caroman army had a slight advantage in the main fight, but took heavier casualties on their flanks compared to the Levain militia.


    The unexpected result forced many of the Caroman generals ¨C who had little expectation of their allies¡¯ prowess ¨C to revise their opinion on the militia force fielded by the Free City of Levain. The militia had performed far beyond their expectations.


    After a short break for lunch and an exchange of thoughts between Levain¡¯s and Caroma¡¯s officer corps, a second exhibition match started. Both sides sent out five hundred more men, entirely new troops, to show a more comprehensive look at their abilities. Astra noticed that the cohesion between this particular unit of Levain Militia seemed to be tighter than the previous one.


    Sure enough, instead of attempting to flank their opponent like his predecessor, the commander of the Levain Militia challenged the Caroman detachment to a frontal clash of arms. To the surprise of many Caroman officers and generals, the Levain troops even had a slight advantage in the clash as their soldiers pushed forward forcefully into the Caroman formation.


    In an attempt to reverse the situation, the Caroman commander sent out a century of troops to flank their opponents from the right. Before the flanking troops could even reach the Levain flank, however, two small units detached from the side of the Levain formation and intercepted them midway. The Caroman commander then made a gamble and sent out two centuries ¨C at that point nearly half of his remaining troops ¨C to strike from the other flank.


    Yet the Levain Militia saw the move coming and the Caroman flanking maneuver was met with a solid defensive formation as the Levain militia on the right flank turned to face them as one, stepping out so as not to disturb those fighting at the front. Their defensive maneuver allowed the militia to push their advantage at the front where they pushed through and broke the Caroman formation.


    The referees judged the match as a victory for the Levain Militia, to no surprise.


    A draw and a loss threw a damper into the mood of the Caroman officers, though some amongst them ¨C Scipius and Astra¡¯s parents included ¨C gloated at their more arrogant compatriots that underestimating an opponent was a sin. At the same time, those from the Levain Militia gained a lot of confidence thanks to their performance on the exhibition match that day.


    That night, Astra talked to her parents about her wish to see the mercenaries Levain hired to train their troops in action. Her parents agreed without much fuss, and Astra noticed the spark in her mother¡¯s eyes that showed that she too was interested in these Free Lances. A short negotiation between the two marshals and the representative from the city council later, and they set the fourth day of the exhibition for a friendly mock battle with the mercenaries.

 Side Story 37 - Horsing Around

    ¡°Horsemanship is a vital skill for the cavalry. One would not qualify as a cavalryman without good horsemanship, and trust me, mediocre horsemanship limited to knowing how to stay on the back of your horse won¡¯t cut it. I¡¯d know.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, famed general from the Republic of Caroma, circa 49 FP.


    The second day had two more mock battles between five hundred infantrymen each. This time the forces from Caroma managed to snatch a victory, while the second match ended in another draw, where both sides mauled each other with no clear advantage to be found. Needless to say, the results had surprised many of the Caroman officers quite a bit.


    They knew that Levain¡¯s militia was poorly trained as early as two years ago, and it had taken them by surprise that a couple years of training under mercenary hands would improve their quality so much, to the point that they matched up well against seasoned soldiers from the Republic. Given that Levain had a notable numerical superiority when it comes to troops, it was a sobering thought.


    Estelle defused their worries somewhat during the banquet held after the matches of the second day. She publicly admitted that only a small portion of Levain¡¯s militia had undergone such training, so the Caromans shouldn¡¯t expect the same performance out of every one of the Free City¡¯s Militia, which counted a good fifty thousand active members and well over a hundred thousand reserves at the time.


    Of course, she then made them nearly choke on their drinks as she alluded to how the ¡°small¡± portion she referred to was only the twenty thousand or so troops that would be sent to the south for the joint offensive.


    Those words changed the impressions the Caromans had of Levain, from a city that was only dangerous if you pushed them too much ¨C in which case they would make use of their city walls and massed militia to perish together with you ¨C to one that was an actual threat under any and all circumstances. Doubly so once more of Levain¡¯s troops had undergone the training of the mercenaries.


    The third day was set aside for the cavalries from Caroma and Levain to compare with each other. Due to the risks involved ¨C it was far too easy for someone to fall and get trampled when cavalries clashed with one another, or for a horse to be crippled by accident ¨C they competed indirectly. Both sides sent out groups of two hundred riders each and demonstrated their maneuvering capabilities on the wide open plains south of the city.


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    Once more to the surprise of the Caroman officers, Levain¡¯s contingent performed far better than any of them had ever expected. The two hundred riders from Levain galloped through the plains like they were of one mind, shifting from formation to formation at a moment¡¯s notice, with an unexpected ease and fluidity. They even split their force into two halves and rode through each other¡¯s formation at the end, often within touching distance of each other, without a single collision.


    While the riders from Caroma were well-trained and coordinated, they still lacked the seamless coordination that the riders from Levain showed. At least in the second portion of the exhibition they redeemed themselves, as they proved to be better at throwing javelins from horseback compared to their Levainian compriots, though not by much.


    After the break for lunch, however, each side sent a few more representatives to show off the best of their side¡¯s horsemanship. Astra was part of the Caroman riders chosen for that purpose.


    She noticed that out of the twenty-four riders that met them from Levain¡¯s side, the four in the lead did not look like they were part of the militia. One of them was a half-orc who looked male but wore their hair in a manner more typically seen in females. Astra heard the others refer to the orc as ¡°her¡± so she followed suit. The other three were a middle-aged human woman, another half-orc, and an orc, who all looked to be part of the mercenaries.


    The four of them turned out to be the instructors for Levain¡¯s cavalry.


    While the two sides were about even when they displayed their horsemanship against each other early on, it was when those four took the stage that Astra found her whole idea of horsemanship completely refreshed. The half-orc she noticed first took to the field astride a massive stallion, and to everyone¡¯s surprise, did so without any stirrups, saddle, or even reins and bridle. She rode the horse¡¯s bare back without any riding aid in sight.


    Despite that, the half-orc ¨C who Astra later learned was named Ze¡¯phane and used to be the head of the Imperial stables ¨C rode the stallion without any visible difficulty, using only slight nudges from her heels and toes to control the horse. At the same time, she displayed an ability to do just about anything while on horseback, from archery to acrobatics, that none of the Caroman instructors present felt confident in doing themselves.


    The three mercenaries were not quite as skilled as Ze¡¯phane, but they too showcased horsemanship that was beyond what the Caromans expected or trained for. It was the norm to hold the horse¡¯s reins with one hand while riding for the Caromans, but these mercenaries ignored that. Instead, they freely wielded polearms from horseback while controlling the horse entirely with their legs. The orc amongst the three also showed off similar bareback riding and mounted archery skills.


    It was a humbling display for the Caromans, and none of them felt any surprise that the Levain cavalry had grown to possess such skilled riders despite being formed only recently. With instructors at that level, it would have been difficult for them to not be good at horsemanship.


    Astra was particularly interested in the horsemanship skills she had witnessed, and resolved to ask her parents if she could visit Levain for an exchange after the current campaign was over to learn more from them.

 Side Story 38 - Direct Confrontation

    ¡°Beating up each other and making friends thereafter is just how we do things, I guess. It¡¯s a far more common occurrence that you¡¯d expect when it comes to people in this profession.¡± - Gerrard of Aivir, former mercenary.


    On the fourth day, a couple hours before noon, Astra and Scipius stood on the plains as they faced a force from the Free Lances. Their parents had arranged for the two of them to jointly lead the Caroman force in that exhibition match ¨C Scipius in overall command, while Astra was in command of two centuries ¨C where they faced off against mostly newer platoons from the Free Lances.


    Scipius was easily in his element as he relayed orders to the subcommanders under him, which included Astra, who in turn relayed them to the one subcommander that functioned as her aide. The two-hundred man leader rank she held was a provisory rank, one meant to test the mettle of a young officer to see if they were suited for higher command or not. Those that succeed would be promoted to five-hundred man commander, with Scipius¡¯ current rank as thousand-man commander another notch above that.


    While Astra was usually in command of a cavalry force ¨C being a good rider herself ¨C the exhibition match was infantry only, but it was something she could work with. Her cavalrymen were also trained to fight on foot where needed, so the hundred-man force she directly led was composed of her own people. Astra herself held a spear and shield together with them in the battle line.


    Across from them, the mercenary formation looked less uniform, as many of their members ¨C save for one group ¨C wore clothing in a riot of colors, as was commonplace for mercenaries like them. Astra could identify what seemed to be five separate units ¨C platoons, as the mercenaries called them ¨C from the way they grouped themselves up. Four of them were around or less than a hundred men strong, while the last one in the back was larger.


    She recognized the mercenary captain¡¯s younger daughter right in the frontlines, wielding a long polearm and accompanied by a unit that was mostly composed of youngsters like her. The captain¡¯s older daughter had her own unit ¨C similarly mostly composed of youngsters ¨C positioned on the left flank of the formation, while a unit mostly composed of dark-skinned westerners who dressed far more uniformly held the right flank.


    What caught her attention was the other unit at the frontline, which seemed to have chosen its members at least partly with physical size as a criteria. The unit had many people wielding massive tower shields as large as their bodies right at the frontlines, with a bear of a man seemingly in the lead. Astra warned her subcommander to be wary of that unit and to double up on their defense should they push hard against them.


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    Once the signal to begin the battle was given, the two forces clashed directly. Astra was surprised by how much they were pushed back by the mercenaries, especially the unit led by the big man, who simply pushed physically against her frontlines and forced them back step by step. They did not press their advantage too hard, however, which made her suspicious.


    Unfortunately, Astra didn¡¯t get to voice her suspicions as the mercenary platoon across her unit ¨C Alycea¡¯s ¨C pushed hard against them at that moment, with Astra meeting face to face with the youthful girl who commanded the other side. Within moments Astra was on the backfoot as she had to exert all her fighting skills to defend herself against her opponent¡¯s oddly flexible polearm.


    It was around that time, when the two hundred men on the frontlines under Astra¡¯s command were occupied by the mercenaries, that the two platoons on the mercenaries¡¯ flanks fanned out and struck towards the rear of the Caroman formation. They were clearly aiming for Scipius as he was the Caroman commander.


    The more uniform-looking platoon on the mercenaries right flank surprised Astra ¨C who was already marked as ¡°dead¡± by that time, as she failed to hold on against Alycea¡¯s onslaught ¨C as they held a tight formation while they clashed against the Caroman left flank. More than that, they also steadily pushed into the Caroman formation with surprising ease, and that was before several small teams moved out from within their formation to wreak havoc within Caroman lines.


    On the opposite side, the other platoon looked more haphazard in formation, yet more than made up for it with brute force. They had a trio of large ¨C each of them well over two meters tall, with the largest nearly three meters tall ¨C bear-like therians at the point of their charge, who simply pushed aside whoever was in their way with their massive door-like tower shields.


    Behind that charge, the rest of the platoon were no slouches either. Other mercenaries widened the gap opened by the pointmen, while another group covered their backs and sides as the platoon drove deep into the Caroman formation. It was only when their advance slowed down that the point of the wedge opened up and let loose another pack of mercenaries that had been hidden in the middle of their formation.


    Astra noticed the mercenary captain¡¯s older daughter personally leading that group as they fought their way through the rest of the Caroman formation. The Caroman soldiers who were in their way were taken down or shoved aside by the rampaging mercenaries, overwhelmed despite the relatively safe nature of the exhibition match.


    She herself likely had some bruises on her from the fight with the mercenary girl, as they had not held back their blows by too much, other than keeping their weapons sheathed and padded. If the younger girl caused Astra some bruises, then her older sister likely did even more. Astra winced when she saw a Caroman soldier get bodily flung into the air when he stubbornly persisted in trying to block the mercenaries.


    Before too long, the referee signaled a victory to the mercenaries as Astra watched her brother Scipius being taken down by the mercenary strikeforce. Mentally, she also considered the cause of their loss. In terms of strategy and tactics they had made no real mistake, however, their soldiers were just too far behind their opponent¡¯s in terms of individual combat prowess.


    Once the formation was messed up and the battle turned chaotic, they were already dancing to the mercenaries¡¯ tune.

 Side Story 39 - Making Friends

    ¡°Nothing like beating each other black and blue before having a flask of ale together.¡± - Ordren Nos Lisen, general of the Clangeddin Empire, circa 301 VA.


    ¡°They sure didn¡¯t hold back that much,¡± noted Astra during the lunch break set after their exhibition match against the Free Lances. She carefully rubbed the still-painful bruise on her right arm with her left hand, wincing slightly at the pain. The exhibition match had left her with several welts and bruises on her arms and legs, at the parts not covered by her armor. To say that her opponent had a way to land her hits there was an understatement.


    ¡°You can say that again,¡± agreed her older brother Scipius, who still sported a black eye and broken nose from the same exhibition. He had apparently gotten the bright idea to personally fight against the daughter of the mercenaries¡¯ captain when she came to headhunt him, and paid for the effort as the girl ¨C Erycea ¨C took him out within seconds. None too gently at that.


    ¡°Oh, there they are, brother,¡± said Astra as she noticed Erycea¡¯s distinctive look amidst the crowd at the banquet. Both the mercenary captain and his older daughter were very easy to spot, as they belonged to therian breeds not really seen in Alcidea. Their white, spotted fur made it easy to notice them at a glance from far away. ¡°Want to go over and say hi?¡±


    ¡°Might as well,¡± muttered Scipius under his breath. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯s new to receiving drubbings in mock battles, it was just that the last time he received so bad a drubbing was the last time he engaged his mother in one. His mother was not particularly merciful either in such mock battles, and would leave Scipius with quite a few bruises as a reminder.


    In contrast, Erycea was kinder as she only hit him once, though she clearly never heard or cared for the saying to spare the face when fighting.


    ¡°Hey there, you¡¯re Scipius and Astra, right?¡± greeted Erycea as the siblings walked closer to the sisters. Clearly, neither of the mercenary girls ever learned about acting dainty and gentle in formal banquets like these, given how Erycea was talking between large bites of a whole roasted leg of lamb she held directly with her paws. The younger girl, Alycea, was not as exaggerated ¨C or simply had a smaller appetite since she was not of therian heritage ¨C when it comes to the food on her plate, but ate just as vigorously as her sister.


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    ¡°Hello,¡± replied Astra in turn. It was quite a different feeling to meet the mercenary sisters out of the field of battle, especially the younger sister, whose rather small frame was covered with loose clothes that hid the robust physique she sported. ¡°You two sure gave us quite a beating out there,¡± she commented.


    ¡°It¡¯s just what we¡¯re supposed to do,¡± replied Erycea with a shrug of her wide shoulders. The half-therian girl was taller than even Scipius, which was to be expected given how tall her father was. ¡°Just one of the most basic feints, really,¡± added the girl in between large bites of meat. ¡°Aly and uncle Arne keeps your frontline occupied, then Alvaro draws your attention, which gives me an easier time going for your commander.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ Platoon, Alvaro¡¯s I believe? It was very impressive,¡± admitted Scipius as he filled his plate with some cheese and fruits. Astra knew her brother and his habits. He was not in the mood for heavier foods after a thorough drubbing. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen many infantry units that are so disciplined and cohesive, even amongst my country¡¯s best.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you can talk with him directly and tell him that, then,¡± said Erycea with a toothy smile. ¡°Oy, Alvaro! Come over here!¡± she then yelled over the hubbub of the crowd at the banquet. Within the minute a pair of figures with dark skin that was typical of westerners ¨C though the girl of the pair had the darkest skin Scipius had ever seen ¨C came over.


    ¡°You called, Little Boss?¡± asked Njeri, who arrived one step ahead of Alvaro.


    ¡°Yeah, Alvaro, Njeri, this is Scipius, Son of the Caroman Marshals,¡± introduced Erycea as she pointed at Scipius. ¡°Scipius, these are Alvaro and Njeri. They¡¯re the ones who led that platoon you mentioned,¡± she continued before adding one little tidbit almost like an afterthought. ¡°They¡¯re formerly of the Warforged from Posuin, if you¡¯ve heard of them.¡±


    ¡°Does your sister do that often?¡± asked Astra to Alycea on the side as she watched her brother¡¯s jaw drop in astonishment. As part of their studies, the siblings had naturally learned of famed military units from other nations, and both had heard of the Warforged before. ¡°How did you get a platoon full of Warforged anyway? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be loyal to the death to their liege?¡±


    ¡°Unusual circumstances back at Posuin,¡± replied Alycea lightly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t actually present as I wasn¡¯t part of the company yet at the time, but I know after a campaign against them, we got over a thousand of these Warforged as prisoners. Our employer took most of them under his wing, but some chose us instead, which led to Alvaro¡¯s platoon.¡±


    ¡°I sometimes envy you mercenaries. Your units practically cherry-picked some of the best fighters in Alcidea. We can¡¯t afford such a luxury with our armies¡­¡± noted Astra. The Caroman regular army were entirely volunteers, with some mercenary support, and as with the nature of volunteers, they couldn¡¯t be too picky. They couldn¡¯t afford to flunk out over half of their trainees like the Free Lances regularly did.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t really match an army like yours in number either,¡± admitted Alycea openly. ¡°We¡¯re mercs, so we¡¯re used to making use of everything we can use to our advantage on the battlefield, all the crap about a fair fight be damned,¡± she added. ¡°Fair fights are for losers anyway. You got to stack up the odds to your favor as much as you can before you get into a fight.¡±

 Side Story 40 - Overview

    ¡°A good combination is when the result is greater than the sum.¡± - Labraz el Cavirse, Royal Tutor to the Imperial Family of Elmaiya, scholar and former general, circa 109 FP.


    ¡°Seriously though, how do you people do it?¡± asked Scipius with obvious curiosity as the banquet wound down and both sides prepared for the second exhibition match. He looked at the gathering mercenaries with obvious wonderment, especially the groups that had people from every sort of race amongst their numbers. ¡°How do you get people from so many different races to work together so seamlessly?¡±


    His question might have seemed ignorant to some, but it made sense when one considered his background. While the Clangeddin Empire welcomed all races, their populace remained predominantly human, with an estimated nine out of every ten citizens being one. As such, they never had the numbers to deploy people from other races on a larger scale.


    At most, the Empire¡¯s military typically had scout units composed of elves or dwarven engineer units. Orcs, therians, and goblins were too rare in their territory and far less likely to join the military to compose units from them. The main reason for this setup was because the various races had their own characteristics, which made cooperation in a mixed unit harder.


    For example, dwarves had long arms which could lead to them hitting their own allies if they stood too close to each other, which wasn¡¯t good for unit cohesion. The dwarven armies from Knallzog and the Kingdom Down Under typically had looser formations that were balanced out by the heavy armor their soldiers wore. Clangeddin on the other hand was clearly unwilling to invest so much into so few soldiers, especially since their value as combat engineers were far greater than as warriors.


    Similarly, elves had longer limbs and a grace humans could rarely match. When they were made to fight in closed confines, it was often the case that the human members of a unit would get in the way of their elven compatriots, leading to a sharp decrease in effectiveness. As such, the Clangeddin Empire chose to prioritize unit cohesion instead and divided their army units by race.


    The Free Lances clearly had no such intention, as most every platoon of their contained members from most every race, other than the former Warforged who were all humans. As mercenaries, they also tended to prioritize personal prowess a bit more than unit cohesion, which many viewed as suicidal in the formation-based battles prevalent in the current age.


    Scipius knew better after he faced the mercenaries in combat, however. The lack of unit cohesion mattered little when the mercenaries were capable of breaking their enemy¡¯s cohesion in short order and forced a chaotic melee upon them. Under such circumstances, the more individualistic mercenaries reigned supreme over the soldiers who were used to and mostly trained to fight in cohesive formations.


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    The way the mercenaries arranged their platoons was something he found intriguing as well.


    Where the majority of the Caroman military were line troops, soldiers who were meant to hold the line in formation, the mercenaries designated each platoon by their purpose. They also had a couple platoons who were designated as line troops, namely the ones led by their strategist and the westerners Scipius had been introduced to earlier, but most of their troops had different roles.


    Two platoons were designated as archer troops, who also doubled as light skirmishers, given their unusual ¨C at least for those from the former Empire ¨C approach to archery. Similarly, there was a platoon of goblins who served as scouts and slingers at the same time, while two other platoons served the role of scout and light infantry.


    What probably formed the core to the mercenaries¡¯ line and tactics were their three strike platoons. Those platoons were composed of two distinct groups. There was a smaller group of shieldbearers who typically wield massive tower shields that held the line and pushed into the enemy formation by brute force, and a second group of hardened killers who would be let loose once the platoon was inside the enemy formation to wreak havoc from within.


    Those three strike platoons had also gathered most of the largest and fittest of the mercenaries ¨C some of them being therians three meters or more in height ¨C amongst their numbers, which made their charge nearly unstoppable by human armies. Scipius had learned that he and Astra had faced the third strike platoon, the newest one that had only been established a little under a year ago.


    Other than that, the mercenaries also had several all-rounded platoons, which were intended to be able to do whatever was needed of them, be it holding the line, charging through enemy lines, or whatnot. Coincidentally, the leaders of the three platoons considered of this type were the captain himself and his daughters. Scipius thought that the mercenary captain probably hoped that the flexibility needed for such a unit to work would instill good commanding habits in his daughters, as they were clearly groomed to lead the company in the future.


    Which wasn¡¯t too surprising as he had learned long ago that the Free Lances was a family business for generations.


    At the present, Scipius was most interested in watching the exhibition match set to start in a bit, as on the Caroman side was an army led by none other than his own parents, the Marshals of Caroma. His father had even brought his personal bodyguard unit for the hundred men he directly commanded, while his mother had taken some of the best fighters from her personal soldiers.


    The other three hundred-man units were commanded by veteran officers trusted by his parents, and the soldiers under them were similarly elites who had gone through many battles. Even so, Scipius couldn¡¯t help but sweat in worry when he looked at the mercenary side and saw the collection of nearly a hundred massive individuals that formed the first strike platoon of the Free Lances.


    On their side, the mercenary captain ¨C Reinhardt ¨C himself was leading them into battle, along with his wife, who led the smallest platoon in the company. That platoon was one that gave Scipius the shivers, as even from afar, he could tell that just about everyone in that platoon were killers, likely with more than a few that found pleasure in killing amongst their numbers, at that.

 Chapter 314 - A Fun Contest

    ¡°For many warriors out there, meeting with a worthy opponent would be one of the best things that could happen to them in life.¡± - Ragnar the Bald, Warlord from the Eastern Jarldoms of Ur-Teros, circa 31 VA.


    Reinhardt would be lying if he said he wasn¡¯t excited that day.


    After all, it wasn¡¯t everyday that mercenaries like him ¨C even with his success ¨C could compare notes with actual generals or other high-ranked military officials of some nation. Apparently his daughters beating up the Marshals¡¯ children was enough to incense their parents to personally lead the second exhibition match, though.


    Naturally, Reinhardt wouldn¡¯t disappoint them either.


    He brought most of the veteran mercenaries of the Free Lances with him, the ones who remained with the Company even after the disastrous campaign at Theodinaz and stuck with him ever since. Along with them, he also brought Mischka and her platoon, while Elfriede hid her platoon in the middle of Mischka¡¯s formation, the massive bodies around them completely shielding them from view.


    It would not do to treat the respected Marshals of Caroma with anything less than his best, after all.


    Across the field Reinhardt could see the way the Caromans set up their formation. Most of their troops seemed like veteran soldiers, while the ones in the back had the telltale signs of being a unit used to defensive battles. Reinhardt thought they might likely play a bodyguard role for the Marshals, or at least one of them anyway.


    The main reason for such thoughts was because he could see Marshall Barca right at the frontlines, amongst a hundred people who would not have looked out of place amongst his mercenaries. They looked rough, for the lack of a better word, the sort of people who enjoyed fighting for its own sake, instead of being disciplined soldiers.


    It was a minor surprise to see the middle-aged female Marshal standing in their midst and happily chatting with them like friends, but given her own large, muscular body and the large practice mace she comfortably carried in one hand, Reinhardt realized that the woman was clearly not the typical military sort. If anything, she and her band of fighters had more in common with mercenaries like him.


    Since the Marshal¡¯s force was on the front-right side of the Caroman formation, Reinhardt positioned himself at the front-left of his own formation, while Mischka¡¯s platoon took the front-right side. His opponent seemed to wish to break his formation by way of relying on their greater troop cohesion and discipline, at which point the fighters led by the female Marshal would go in for the kill.


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    Reinhardt intended to break their formation before that, relying on the unparalleled charge from Mischka¡¯s platoon to break deep into the enemy formation where they¡¯d deposit Elfriede and her group of killers to headhunt the enemy commander. It would likely be harder to do, given the mock battle setting which forced Mischka and her troops to hold back some to prevent serious injuries, but with their large bodies they ought to be able to force their way through regardless.


    Both sides stood at the ready while they waited for the signal to start, the Caroman soldiers ¨C for the most part ¨C standing firmly in place, showing great discipline as they held their training weapons at the ready. In contrast, both the mercenaries and the fighters that the female Marshal gathered around her looked rowdier and less cohesive, but they were just as prepared for battle.


    The moment the signal was given, both sides rushed towards each other at a run.


    Almost immediately, the Caroman soldiers across the field from Mischka¡¯s platoon showed their discipline and cohesion, as their front lines locked shields with one another, forming a solid shield wall even while on the run. It was a display that made even Reinhardt give an appreciative whistle, though he also shook his head at the same time.


    If they thought a mere shield wall would be enough to stop Mischka¡¯s troops from breaking their formation, they were dreaming.


    Sure enough, Mischka immediately ordered her platoon to form their usual wedge formation, with Yuri and Niko at the point. The neat shield wall of the Caroman troops was suddenly faced by one that was far larger and moving at greater speed, rushing straight towards them. Even when the Caroman troops Had their rear lines support the front and brace for the impact, they proved to be no match for the charge of Mischka¡¯s platoon.


    As the two shield walls clashed the Caroman formation was pried open forcefully, with some people even hurled into the air by the impact. Those who were sent flying landed painfully, but were mostly unharmed otherwise, as they were in full armor and everybody took caution to avoid trampling them by accident. Within moments, Mischka¡¯s platoon had driven their wedge halfway through the width of the Caroman army.


    Once their momentum slowed from the attrition, those at the point of the wedge used the last of their momentum to forcefully swing their line outward, which in turn allowed the fighters in the middle of their formation to rush out right into the midst of the Caroman formation. Needless to say, even with blunt wooden practice weapons, Mischka and her platoon¡¯s members still needed to strike carefully to avoid dealing excessive harm to their opponents.


    A lot of the Caroman soldiers would have nasty bruises and even a few broken bones here and there even with all that care, though.


    Reinhardt was pleased to see that when the female Marshal noticed Mischka¡¯s charge into the Caroman formation, she did not try to hit them in the flanks. Too many enemies fell into that trap, failing to realize just how difficult it is to even attack a troop that was rushing at full force like that effectively. Instead, she led her fighters straight towards Reinhardt himself, probably intent on replicating what Mischka had done to her formation.


    He gave her a toothy grin and beckoned for her to come as he lifted the heavy wooden pole he used as an analogue for his polemace, and saw a similar grin on the female Marshal¡¯s face.

 Side Story 41 - Anni, Daughter of Bagh, of Barca Village

    ¡°Beware the ones who actually enjoy the fighting. These people will either be undisciplined, useless troops who ignore orders to satisfy their own battle-lust, or some of the greatest field commanders you¡¯ll ever see.¡± - Vice-General Publius Cornelius of Caeropa, circa 610 VA.


    Unlike her husband, who was a career soldier all his life, as his family had been for generations, Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh of Barca Village, formerly head of the Oiloman military and now one of the Marshals of the Caroman army, hailed from humbler origins. She started her career as a young child barely twelve years of age, part of a vigilante militia group that defended her village since her home region at the time was rather chaotic.


    Blessed with a large and strong body ¨C and as she soon found out, a natural talent and love for fighting ¨C, it had not taken long for young Anni to take over the militia group, and soon expanded its scope to include other villages near her own home village. The warlord that ruled the region ¨C Oiloma was splintered into many small regions ruled by warlords who sometimes reigned over as little as one village at that time ¨C soon butted heads against her rag-tag militia and demanded their submission.


    They had refused.


    More than that, they had directly crushed the warlord¡¯s army ¨C which in itself was little better than their own militia ¨C on the field of battle. As a result, Anni¡¯s group became the de facto ruler of the region she was born in.


    Rather than attempt to rule the region, a field where she knew she had neither interest nor talent, Anni told the villagers to choose one of their own to govern, while she¡¯ll just remain in charge of their military, which was where she excelled. The chosen governor turned out to be her own old village head, an old matron who had picked up and raised the orphan Anni when she was young, so they worked well together.


    From there, the next fifteen or so years of her life saw many more conflicts, as a region with far too many warlords ¨C any number greater than one, basically ¨C was bound to have. The militia forces Anni led turned into veteran fighters under her lead, as she led them to one victory after another, always leading the charge from the very front herself.


    By the time Anni was thirty, there was no other power that claimed to reign over the lands formerly known as the Oiloma Marquisate of the Clangeddin Empire other than her own. It was around that time that their neighbors from Caeropa, who had maintained their stability over the messy chaos that engulfed the Empire, sent a delegation to offer an alliance.


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    Part of that delegation happened to include a certain promising Vice-General of the Caeropan military as a sign of their sincerity. Anni wasn¡¯t sure what about Publius attracted her, exactly. In many ways, the two were nearly polar opposites, yet they found the attraction mutual. A whirlwind romance followed while the delegation negotiated with the Oiloman government.


    By the time the ink on the parchment was dried when the agreement for an alliance was signed three months later, the two of them already planned to marry each other.


    At that time, stability was in great demand. The once mighty Clangeddin Empire was tearing itself apart under the mismanagement of Maglos the Tyrant, and even when he was assassinated very publicly by the Bounty Hunter a couple years later, things didn''t change for the better. Instead, his death only drove the final nail in the Empire¡¯s coffin as its various regions broke out into open civil war.


    As such, the marriage between Anni and Publius was welcomed as a good omen. Within a few years of their marriage, Publius had worked his way to the top of the Caeropan military, while Anni in turn gave birth to their children while still holding the reins of the Oiloman military. They were often separated for months at a time due to duty, but that hadn¡¯t bothered their relationship much at all.


    When their home nations chose to merge together into what was later known as the Republic of Caroma a few years later, the couple had naturally supported the move. Their voices ¨C as the heads of the respective militaries of their nations ¨C helped convince many others and made the union a reality, a move that had proven fruitful in the years that had since passed.


    The current ¡°friendly exchange¡± with Levain, followed by the planned offensive towards the Southern Coalition, would be the first large-scale military operation Anni had presided over in the last decade or so, as most of the time the republic had only faced minor skirmishes over that period of time. Despite her age ¨C nearing fifty by then ¨C her blood still boiled at the thought of entering the battlefield once more.


    Naturally, she was all too agreeable to warm herself up a bit with a friendly mock battle against the mercenaries that had made such great changes to the Levain militia. The magnitude of their change was something she found difficult to believe at first, from poorly disciplined peasant militiamen to a cohesive and disciplined unit, if still rather inexperienced.


    She was especially eager to exchange notes with the mercenaries after some of the mercenary youngsters handed her kids a solid defeat earlier that day.


    Even so, Anni had not expected the devastating power that the mercenaries¡¯ therian-heavy platoon possessed, nor the way they easily shoved aside veteran soldiers like they were petulant children. She was familiar enough with the battlefield to know that even if she struck them from the side, it wouldn¡¯t stop the charge, so instead she opted to race them.


    A race to see who can take down the other side¡¯s commander first, that was.


    As it happens, she noticed the mercenary captain leading his forces directly from the front, and led her personal troops ¨C all veterans from her days as a militia vigilante who stayed with her through thick and thin ¨C straight for him. Her troops opened the path for her and kept the other mercenaries from interfering, as Anni pounced straight towards the mercenary captain with a gleeful roar.


    Her practice mace collided heavily with the log-like staff he held in his paws as they engaged in combat.

 Side Story 42 - The Two Marshals

    ¡°Sometimes like attracts like. Sometimes opposites attract. If you ask me, I think whoever said that love is blind has it right.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°You¡¯re a tough one!¡± said Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca in praise after she was forced to take a step back in order to properly dissipate the force from one of Reinhardt¡¯s blows. Even though the tall, burly woman took his blow directly on her shield, the force still nearly dislocated her arm, which tinged the manic grin on her face with a touch of caution.


    ¡°I could say the same to you, Marshal,¡± offered Reinhardt with a nod of respect from where he stood before her. He easily twirled the quarterstaff used to simulate his polemace easily, despite the fact that the ¡®staff¡¯ was more a small log easily as thick around as an adult man¡¯s wrist. Even then, it was still a good bit lighter than his actual weapon, which was made entirely out of metal.


    ¡°Wish I could¡¯ve run into you a couple decades ago,¡± said the Marshal with a grunt as she delivered a powerful blow from her heavy mace, one large enough that most would have used it with both hands, though the woman wielded it single-handedly with ease. Reinhardt blocked her strike relaxedly with the shaft of his staff, before he pushed the Marshal back forcefully and followed up with a swipe towards her leg.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I was already spoken for by then, Marshal, and my wife is a rather jealous one,¡± he jested even as the Marshal leapt over his swing and tried to bash him with her shield. Reinhardt didn¡¯t dodge the shield bash attempt and instead leaned into it, shoulder first, as he tackled the incoming shield with his whole body weight behind it and nearly sent the Marshal to the ground in surprise.


    ¡°What? No no no! I meant fighting you on the battlefield when I was in my prime!¡± corrected the Marshal with a slight blush as she realized just how easily her earlier words could have been misunderstood. A few of the fighting soldiers and mercenaries close enough to hear them actually snickered or downright laughed out loud at her words, both Caromans and Free Lances alike.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment, then!¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy smirk as he pushed harder against the female Marshal. The woman was skilled, strong, and experienced, but Reinhardt didn¡¯t lack against her in any measure either, and was even stronger and faster than she was. As such, it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to hold her at bay, as he knew all he needed to do was to buy time for Friede to do her part of the fighting.


    ******************************


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    In the back of the Caroman formation, Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma was having a headache.


    While he was considered the top general in the Caeropan army before the merge, and also the top general in the Caroman army afterwards, his specialty was in larger scale warfare. While some of that skill translated fine to small-unit matchups like the mock battle he was dragged by his wife and children into, there were many options he found himself lacking and wishing to have


    Like another few thousands of reserve troops that were prepared to be sent wherever they were needed, for example.


    His problem was that in combat with such a small scale, with only five hundred men on each side, personal prowess trumped unit discipline and cohesion more often than not. His opponents seemed to have a very clear understanding of that principle, given how they simply abused the physical superiority of their therian members to force their way into the Caroman formation.


    No matter how disciplined Publius¡¯ veterans were, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance when faced with a well-coordinated charge by a troop where many of their members were half again to twice as tall as themselves, while outmassing them by threefold or worse. When he saw his veterans manhandled like children fighting against adults, he knew that the mock battle was pretty much a lost cause unless his boisterous wife could fight her way to and take down the mercenary captain first.


    As such, he focused his efforts in directing a defense around his position. The enemy¡¯s charge ground down as they ran low on momentum, but he was caught by surprise when a second force ¨C one that specialized in brute force breakthroughs as that ¨C charged out from within the enemy¡¯s shield wall formation.


    Publius had just breathed out a sigh in relief when that second force ground to a halt against his personal bodyguard unit when they too spread to the sides to allow a third unit that had remained fresh and unengaged up to that moment to strike out, directly towards him. Publius thought that he recognized the wife of the mercenary captain amongst them, but didn¡¯t have the chance to make certain as his bodyguards were immediately put on the backfoot by these new attackers.


    While every Caroman general was required to pass through a yearly fitness examination to ensure that they could still march and fight alongside their men when needed, Publius had to admit that he had never been that good in terms of actual fighting capability. Even when he was in his prime, he was never that good a fighter, and was fortunate to have been given a command position early on where he could put his talent to work.


    As he unsheathed the wooden training sword at his waist, he looked stoically at the mercenary force that broke through his bodyguard unit¡¯s defense rapidly, headed directly towards his direction. Directly leading those mercenaries was indeed the mercenary captain¡¯s wife he recalled meeting on the first day. The woman showed magnificent grace and agility in her movements despite at most being a decade younger than him.


    It was a sight that made him feel no small amount of envy, especially the way she nimbly and effectively dispatched one bodyguard after another with her pair of oddly-shaped wooden practice weapons.


    When the woman stepped before him, with the rest of the mercenaries behind her keeping the rest of his bodyguards away, Publius knew the mock battle was lost, but was determined to at least give it his best shot against her.


    To his disappointment, he didn¡¯t even ¡°survive¡± the first clash.

 Chapter 315 - Make Merry after the Brawl

    ¡°Some of the best friends I¡¯ve made in life used to be people I tried to kill at one point of time. Funny how that worked out, heh.¡± - Angrboda of Clan Silverclaw, orcish mercenary.


    ¡°Hah! I told him so many times that just having bodyguards wasn¡¯t good enough if he himself can¡¯t fight his way out of a wet sack!¡± said Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca of Caroma with a loud guffaw as she toasted the mugs of some of the mercenaries she just fought against earlier with her own. The burly woman then drank the whole contents of the large mug in one go to loud cheers. ¡°You said he didn¡¯t even last one blow? Ahahaha! I must rub that in his face later!¡±


    ¡°I was honestly surprised by that, actually,¡± replied Elfriede who snapped her fingers to get one of her men to refill the burly Marshal¡¯s mug with more strong dwarven ale. She herself nursed a similar mug in her hand, though she took smaller sips out of it instead of chugging its contents in one go. ¡°I had expected a general to be more skilled in fighting than that.¡±


    ¡°Pubby¡¯s one of them brainy types, no real good in a brawl, but does well when he gets to direct others around,¡± admitted the brawny woman with another loud guffaw, clearly not above making fun of her own husband. ¡°He can¡¯t really hold his own, unlike your man. Gotta say I was quite impressed by what I saw. Haven¡¯t run into too many that trounced me so easily like that.¡±


    ¡°Would you believe it if I tell you that most of us under him consider Rein as one of those brainy types as well?¡± countered Elfriede with a smirk. ¡°Granted, he got a lot of natural advantages in a fight, given what he is, but he too is one of those brainy sorts you mentioned. Both him and Lars always coop themselves up to think of all sorts of plans whenever we have a battle to fight, I tell you!¡±


    The two women had quickly struck a sort of friendship between them after the mock battle had ended in victory for the Free Lances. In fact, many of the mercenaries had found themselves quickly warming up to the brawny Marshal¡¯s personal troops, whose rough and tumble personalities made them much more similar to the mercenaries themselves.


    Before long the two sides were sharing drinks, with some even carrying out the good drinks as well as some delicacies they had saved up, some smoked meats here, preserved sausages there. Within moments, the two groups had blended together into a raucous crowd that were clearly just having fun with themselves, with Elfriede and Anni at their center.


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    While the two women were enjoying themselves in the midst of their rowdy subordinates, another group of more serious looking people were gathered some distance away from them. There, the mercenaries and the Caroman soldiers also talked with each other as they drank together, but with nowhere near the boisterousness of the other group.


    ¡°Want some?¡± asked Reinhardt as he offered the pouch of dried herbs to Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma. He was standing by one of the pillars that supported the large tent they were under, his back leaning against the solid wooden pillar. His other hand was holding his smoking pipe, which he lightly inhaled from time to time, blowing the smoke out in rings as he exhaled. ¡°It¡¯s a mix of dreamleaf and dried nectaris cloves. A bit addictive, but should be fine if you just smoke them every once in a while. Helps clear your mind too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I guess I could use some of that myself,¡± replied the Marshal as he took a pinch of the dried herb mixture from the pouch and stuffed it into his own smoking pipe, lighting it with a practiced flick of his finger. The man was of the fire affinity, which meant that starting a fire was trivial for him, even if he was no mage. He took a couple puffs from the pipe and sighed loudly. ¡°That¡¯s some good stuff, thanks. I needed that.¡±


    ¡°Sorry if Friede didn¡¯t hold back enough back there,¡± apologized Reinhardt to the rather short Caroman Marshal. The man still sported a bruise to the side of his neck where Elfriede¡¯s practice blade had struck him in the mock battle earlier, one where she had not expected him to fail to dodge that badly and thus had hit him with a bit more force than she intended. ¡°She sometimes does get a bit heated up when fighting.¡±


    ¡°No apologies needed, Captain,¡± replied the diminutive Marshal with a shake of his head as he took another puff of his pipe. ¡°It¡¯s normal for warriors to get heated up in the midst of a battle, even if it was just a mock battle,¡± added the man calmly. ¡°If anything is to blame, it¡¯s my own lack of fighting skills. My own wife had chastised me often about it, but I didn¡¯t expect your wife to be the one to drive it home so poignantly.¡±


    ¡°Eh, don¡¯t feel too bad about losing to Friede,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°Even amongst my people, there¡¯s very few who could win a spar against her,¡± he continued as he let out a wistful sigh. ¡°Hell, if I were to spar with her, nine out of ten times she¡¯d trounce me within thirty seconds at the most.¡±


    ¡°And the one time?¡± asked the Caroman Marshal curiously.


    ¡°She¡¯d hand me my ass on a platter within a minute,¡± stated Reinhardt openly. ¡°Elfriede¡¯s arguably the best duelist in my entire Company, and that¡¯s including everyone, even Mischka and her folks,¡± he said, one hand gesturing towards where Mischka was chatting with one of the Caroman officers some distance away. ¡°That said, Ery¡¯s been giving her a run for her money of late. I¡¯m very proud of that girl.¡±


    ¡°Once, I was iffy about allowing my children to go into battle,¡± admitted the Marshal. ¡°I eventually gave in to them partly due to my wife being on their side. When I see your family fighting together, I guess I sort of understand why some people favor having their family fighting alongside them. Doubly so when they¡¯re that good at fighting I guess.¡±


    ¡°Well, what can I say? It¡¯s a family business for us.¡±

 Chapter 316 - Past Examples

    ¡°Expect all sorts of unimaginable things to happen at least once, somewhere, someday.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°You know, Captain Edelstein, there is something about you mercenaries I have been itching to ask for a long while now, but never had any proper source to turn to for an answer,¡± said Publius quietly as he enjoyed the relaxing feeling from the herbal smoke he inhaled. ¡°I wonder if you could satisfy this old man¡¯s curiosity and help provide some answers for me?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, Marshal,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. The middle-aged Caroman Marshal was a rather humble and straightforward man, which was something Reinhardt hadn¡¯t expected from someone who held such a high position. Much less when that someone came from a long line of what was pretty much nobility where he was from. ¡°If I can, I¡¯ll help with your questions.¡±


    ¡°How do you mercenaries do it?¡± asked the Marshal with a serious, if quiet voice. He looked thoughtfully at Reinhardt for a moment before he elaborated on his question. ¡°I mean, how do you handle the stress of not knowing whether you will have more work to feed your people in the future, not even considering all the risks inherent to the job? Even I find it stressful enough to manage the army, and they have the Caroman state to fund them!¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll admit it was a headache, especially early on,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. During the first weeks after he took over the Free Lances, he was too worried about survival to think about it much, but bankruptcy would have been a serious worry as well had he not been in that state. ¡°Things were easier to manage when there weren¡¯t that many of us. We could take on many small jobs that would need like five to ten people each and still make enough to support the company. Hard to do that once you reach a certain size, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I had thought as well,¡± noted the old marshal with a nod of his own. ¡°So how did you deal with it?¡±


    ¡°In my case, we got lucky and found a silver lining in the clouds,¡± admitted Reinhardt openly. ¡°The Theodinaz campaign had pretty much reduced our thousand-strong force to a quarter at best, and even with new recruits that joined us during the campaign, we barely had like three hundred fighters or so. That said, we also managed to recover plenty of salvaged loot and most of the company¡¯s original supplies. That gave us the funds to pay all the condolences money and keep a surplus which allowed the company to rebuild.¡±


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    ¡°After that, we made sure to keep a good amount of surplus in our coffers, enough funds to ensure that the company could survive for a good while even without any jobs to do,¡± added Reinhardt. ¡°These days, we pretty much got enough saved up to idle for up to half a decade or so if needed, even at our current size. Would probably have to halt the recruitment, of course.¡±


    ¡°That makes logical sense,¡± affirmed the Marshal as he nodded to Reinhardt¡¯s words. ¡°Do you never have worries that your employer might turn out to be a bad one, though? I know the guild helps to make sure that such incidents do not happen much nowadays, but I recall a story from the past that stuck with me all this while about just such a matter.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Which story?¡±


    ¡°It supposedly happened in a small breakaway nation to the south of the Empire, shortly after Maglos was assassinated and the civil war broke out,¡± said the Marshal. ¡°Details were rather scarce, and sometimes contradictory, but the gist of the information we received was that the local Count, who named himself King and all that, hired a band of mercenaries to work for him, offering generous payout.¡±


    ¡°He then supposedly took the dependents of those mercenaries hostage and forced them to subjugate the people of the region for him. Dirty work, lots of innocents killed in the process, you get the idea. When the mercenaries had enough, this so-called King then killed some of the hostages as an example. We didn¡¯t get much more details after that, but the nation collapsed some months later.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the Wenot incident,¡± noted Reinhardt immediately. ¡°That one¡¯s rather infamous amongst the mercenary circles, a big example on why we have to pay close attention and check our employers properly before taking a contract. One of the biggest scandals of the past decades, that one. You¡¯d hardly find any mercenary worth their salt who doesn¡¯t know it.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Did you happen to know how it ended?¡±


    ¡°In an ugly way. The band was enraged and crazily attacked the so-called King. Most of them died, but some successfully escaped after freeing what was left of their dependents. From what I know, the band was pretty much disbanded with nine out of ten of their members dead, and only around half of the dependents survived. The King didn¡¯t survive for much longer either, as one of his neighbors made use of the weakness and took the place over shortly after.¡±


    ¡°Honestly speaking, Marshal, with all the conflicts going on all around Alcidea nowadays, it¡¯s a seller¡¯s market for us mercenaries. We have all sorts of job offers coming from everywhere, and it¡¯s up to us which one we would take. The sort of mercenaries who fell into scams like what happened in Wenot were too rash. They were blinded by false promises and failed to properly check things out first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing outfits like your Free Lances wouldn¡¯t fall into that sort of issues then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just say that we have our own sources of intelligence and wouldn¡¯t take on a job without knowing what to expect, both from the opposition and from our employers,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a toothy smirk. ¡°As their captain, it¡¯s part of my job to make sure that the jobs we take on are to the benefit of the company. I would be failing in my duties if I couldn¡¯t ensure that.¡±

 Chapter 317 - Tactical Discussions and Drunken Antics

    ¡°A person¡¯s true color is displayed the brightest when they¡¯re drunk outta their minds.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Interesting, so you train your platoons to work with any combination of other platoons and base your formations on a much smaller level, huh,¡± commented Marshal Publius Cornelius after Reinhardt gave him an abbreviated rundown on how the Free Lances did things tactically. ¡°I guess the loss of cohesion isn¡¯t that much, or at least not enough of a disadvantage compared to the flexibility you gain in return from that tactical setup.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re nowhere near the top choice for open field battles in formation,¡± admitted Reinhardt openly. That much was no secret, and he wasn¡¯t afraid that exposing it would affect the company negatively. ¡°It¡¯s why our main goal in any engagement is to break the enemy formation as soon as possible and turn the fight into a more chaotic melee. There we can break off into platoons and each do our own thing, which is what we¡¯re best at.¡±


    ¡°Turning the battlefield into one advantageous for you. Classic,¡± noted the Marshal with a nod. The middle-aged man and Reinhardt had bonded a bit while chatting that evening, occasionally helping themselves to some of the food and drink available in plenty at the banquet. ¡°Since your company also specialized in ambushes and other tactics most nobles and commanders around here would consider not chivalrous or worse, that further plays to your advantage. I see why your company managed to grow so well in the past decades.¡±


    ¡°Why, thank you for the compliment, Marshal,¡± replied Reinhardt warmly. He found himself quite fond of the middle-aged man, who if not for his birth family¡¯s tradition or state of the world, might have likely ended up being the caretaker of an orphanage, or something of the sort. Something about the man just tics that way. Instead, he treated the soldiers beneath him with true, actual care, something few commanders did, and became a successful military commander by that merit.


    ¡°Anyway¡­ It¡¯s getting quite late already,¡± said the Marshal as he looked at the crescent moons high up in the sky. ¡°Should we do anything about them?¡±


    His question was accompanied with a pointed glance towards a rowdy crowd a short distance away, where their wives were chugging mug after mug of strong dwarven ale in the company of their respective subordinates. By that point many of the people involved had gone drunk, as they sang songs with increasingly ribald and lewd lyrics at each other.


    Oy, now, take yer crappy mittens off the lady, that wench there be my lay, the one with the big butt!


    Full o¡¯ breasts an¡¯ meaty at the thighs! Just lookit the way she sways and plays, walkin¡¯ off with a strut!


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    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m rather impressed that they could still make those lyrics rhyme while being so drunk,¡± admitted the Marshal with a shake of his head. With just one look at his long-suffering countenance, Reinhardt could tell that such drunken benders were not something he had never seen before. In fact, he looked thoroughly used to them and had long given up on doing anything about them.


    Tell that to the mule goin¡¯ wild on her back door!


    Though the place¡¯s so sloppy even he finds it a chore!


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s how it is. They say when people get drunk sometimes it helps make them be more honest to themselves,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smile, long used to the situation. Normally he wouldn¡¯t have allowed his people to be piss-drunk like that unless they were on their time off, but given that they were deep within friendly territory, with another thirty thousand allies camped nearby, it was a safe enough place to get drunk. ¡°Maybe some of our folks could¡¯ve been poets if not for all this war going on.¡±


    ¡°That made me imagine something that both made me smile and creeped me out,¡± said the Marshal with a chuckle when he looked at the drunk men and women who were still chugging down strong ale as if it was water, with his own wife in a drinking contest against the mercenary Captain¡¯s wife for some unknown reason. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll leave them to their drinking then?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit for our wives,¡± answered Reinhardt with a slight smile. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t do if they got angry at us for leaving them dead drunk in a pile of their own people, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± he added with a toothy grin at the Marshal. ¡°As for the rest¡­ it¡¯s not that cold tonight. Some fresh air while they sleep should help lighten the hangover they¡¯ll be having tomorrow.¡±


    The ribald songs and drinking went on for a couple more hours before the Lady Marshal¡¯s head fell against the table, dead drunk. Elfriede was barely hanging on herself, clearly woozy despite being seated. Around them, most of their subordinates were already snoring on the ground, sometimes in a tangled pile around each other, while a few drunkenly wandered around.


    Reinhardt and Publius carefully navigated the mess of drunken bodies and extracted their wives from its midst. Reinhardt had it easier, as Elfriede was rather slight of frame and he was much larger than she was. It helped that she was still conscious enough to instinctively wrap her arms around his neck as he carried her on his back.


    Marshal Publius had no such luck, however, as his wife was nearly a head taller and twice as large as he was. The best he could do was support one of her arms over his shoulders and help her semi-consciously walk out from the area, though even that made him huff and pant with effort.


    Reinhardt saw his difficulties and looked around, before he spotted a large figure in the distance and whistled sharply, gesturing with his hand after his whistle got the figure¡¯s attention. Within minutes a two and a half meter tall bear therian girl with light brown fur came over.


    ¡°You called, Boss?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I did. You¡¯re¡­ Tasha or Vera?¡± Reinhardt asked back. Varilya¡¯s twin daughters were so alike one another that most of the mercenaries other than those in Erycea¡¯s platoon ¨C who had spent years around them ¨C couldn¡¯t tell one from another unless they carried their weapons.


    ¡°I¡¯m Tasha, Captain. What can I do?¡±


    ¡°Be a dear and help the Marshal there carry the Lady Marshal back to the Caroman camp, will you?¡± replied Reinhardt as he gestured towards where Publius was trying to support his wife while walking towards their camp.


    Tasha nodded and walked over, taking the mostly unconscious Lady Marshal after a short talk with the Marshal. The therian girl easily lifted the burly woman in her arms and helped carry her for the Marshal as they walked towards the Caroman encampment.


    Reinhardt just gave them a smirk and a shake of his head before he too walked back towards the mercenary encampment with Elfriede on his back.

 Chapter 318 - Just what the Healer Ordered

    ¡°From the day people invented booze, the invention of methods to deal with the hangover they caused wasn¡¯t far behind. Such is the way of progress.¡± - Ferenc Sandoravi, retired former mercenary, self-proclaimed philosopher.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± groaned Elfriede when she woke up on her bedroll the next day. It was already close to noon by the time she woke up, which was much later than her usual habit of waking up at dawn, but that was the price to be paid for guzzling so much alcohol the previous night that her head still spun even then. The headache and dizziness was something she expected, as the burly woman from Caroma proved to be quite capable of holding her liquor.


    Just about any of the veterans of the Free Lances who had been part of the Company from before Reinhardt¡¯s time were good at holding their liquor. It became practically mandatory given how nearly half the Company of that time were dwarves, with the heavy drinking habit that implied. The Company also had channels which kept them well supplied with good quality strong dwarven ale, which meant all the veterans were habitual drinkers.


    Even so, the rowdy bunch of Caromans the previous night were quite good at it as well. Elfriede saw most of them drop from drunkenness before she left, but she recalled that a few were still drinking and singing by that time as well. All of those bastards would likely have the mother of all headaches by the time they woke up, if they had already woken up at all. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if they slept all the way to the afternoon.


    ¡°Oh, up already?¡± asked Reinhardt from the entrance of the large tent they shared in the encampment. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Like a fucking elephant stepped on my head,¡± replied Elfriede curtly to his question. ¡°What are you doing here anyway? Didn¡¯t they have more exhibitions to go through?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just more of the Caromans testing themselves against the Militia. Besides, the Marshals were still absent as well. Nobody¡¯s gonna complain if I skip out on one match,¡± answered Reinhardt. ¡°Anyway, take it easy and stay in bed for now. I had Ursula keep a pot of thick gruel and some fruit juice just for this situation. I¡¯ll grab some for you real quick.¡±


    Elfriede obeyed what he said and laid back down, one hand holding her throbbing forehead. She had perhaps overdone it the previous night, but eh, it was worth it just for the bragging rights of drinking a Marshal of the Army under the table. She closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them once more when she felt Reinhardt¡¯s figure enter her field of perception once more.


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    ¡°Here you go,¡± said Reinhardt as he handed a bowl of steaming hot gruel to her along with a wooden spoon. From the smell she could tell that Ursula had cooked it with some bone broth and likely with an extra dose of rendered bone marrow as well. That was good. While Elfriede knew that plain, easily digestible food was best when one had a hangover, she still preferred her food richer when she could get away with it. ¡°Take your time, we¡¯re in no hurry anyway.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± mumbled Elfriede between mouthfuls of the thick, filling gruel. The food was plain, but still cut with a hint of meatiness and richness, so she kept it in her mind to thank Ursula for the extra treats the next time she saw the woman. For the most part, she ate quietly until the bowl was emptied and Reinhardt proffered a cup of fruit juice to her.


    ¡°Times like these reminded me why I stayed together with you after all these years,¡± said Elfriede with a sigh after she gulped down most of the sweet and tart juice in the cup. It was quite pleasant to have somebody take care of her from time to time, especially on days when she had a hangover. With a smile and a shake of her head, she then downed the rest of the juice.


    Her headache had already lessened quite a bit by then, not by that much, but at least no longer torturous.


    ¡°What? Not because of my charming personality?¡± jested Reinhardt from beside her while playfully swatting her ear with his fluffy tail. Elfriede couldn¡¯t help but giggle from the ticklish sensation of his fur rubbing against the side of her face. One other benefit of having a Therian for a husband was that they generally loved to cuddle, which made even cold winter nights a comfortable and fluffy experience.


    Deities knew Elfriede regularly hugged Reinhardt¡¯s tail like a body pillow to sleep during winter nights.


    ¡°Ehh, rather than your personality I¡¯d say your being rich is more attractive,¡± replied Elfriede nonchalantly with a knowing smirk. For a mercenary company, the Free Lances were quite well to do. In fact, the money in the company¡¯s coffers at the moment would be enough for most of the command staff to retire in luxury if they wanted to. ¡°That and the big thing you¡¯re packing in your pants, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Am I just a rich patron to be used and discarded to you? You wound me, milady!¡± replied Reinhardt in overexaggerated mock outrage before the two of them broke into a fit of giggles together. It took a while before their laughter died out and the two regained control over themselves, with even some tears being shed from excessive laughter.


    ¡°Anyway, want to see the rest of the exhibition? You can also fill up your stomach some more at the banquet. We shouldn¡¯t have missed all of the first match yet, I think. It was pretty close between them,¡± said Reinhardt as he wiped some tears with a finger.


    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± replied Elfriede. It wasn¡¯t like she had better things to do anyway. Some relaxing and watching others beat each other up while enjoying the good food courtesy of the city council was not a bad way to spend her day. ¡°I guess might as well check out just how bad that Lady Marshal had it after last night. Wonder if she could even walk yet after all that booze.¡±

 Side Story 43 - Different Approaches

    ¡°It was common in the past for a famed warrior to be considered more than just the person they are. Some played that angle on purpose, claimed to be a descendant of the deities themselves, for example, and the likes. Such mythical propaganda often helped boost morale for their side, so most nations tolerated and even encouraged the practice.


    Sometimes though, some of them fell for their own propaganda and started to believe in their own greatness too much, all too often just to be brought down and reminded that they were just a person in the hard way.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 572 FP.


    Throughout her entire life, Astra had always seen her mighty mother as a pillar of strength for the family to lean on.


    As such, it was quite a great shock for her to witness that indomitable mother of hers in a clear position of weakness during the fifth day of the exhibition against Levain¡¯s forces. Her mother had arrived just before noon, walking slowly to the venue with dispirited steps, one hand periodically clutched against her forehead as if she was feeling a terrible headache.


    Her father had remained close to her mother all that while, sometimes supporting her from the side, at other times helping to ply her with hot cups of sweetened tea to help deal with her suffering. From time to time, Astra also noticed her mother looking at the mercenaries gathered near the Levain Council¡¯s seats across the venue from them and glaring at the mercenary Captain¡¯s wife in particular.


    She and her brother Scipius had retired for the night long before their parents returned the night before, so they had missed the small commotion when Tasha helped bring the completely drunk Lady Marshal to the Caroman encampment. They only heard of the story from their father shortly after he arrived for that day¡¯s exhibition, as those lower in rank were too afraid to gossip about the Marshals.


    After she had heard of the explanation, Astra couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat disappointed at the whole story, yet some of her worries also flew away at the same time. It was perhaps somewhat juvenile to be annoyed at another because they drank you under the table, as the mercenary Captain¡¯s wife had apparently done to her mother, yet at the same time, it was sort of an understandable and very human feeling.


    Doubly so when the woman in question looked pretty relaxed in her seat instead of suffering from a hangover just as bad as her mother was feeling at the moment.


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    The fifth day¡¯s exhibition was another closely fought one, with both matches somehow ending in draws. It was something that made many of the Caroman generals take notice. If a militia force could be trained to the point that they were able to match their veteran soldiers in a mere couple of years, that meant one of two things.


    Either the training methods used by the Levain soldiers were absurdly effective and that they should adopt the same methods for their own people, or that the Caroman methods of training their soldiers were outdated and they needed to adapt to the changing circumstances or be left behind. Their soldiers were acknowledged as elites by their neighbors, but most of those neighbors also used similar training practices from the old Empire¡¯s days¡­ except for Levain.


    At the banquet held after the exhibitions, some of those worried generals had a lengthy discourse with several of the officers from Levain. Before long, some of them called both Marshals ¨C her mother had at least mostly shook off the hangover by then ¨C and the mercenaries to the discussion. Some of them directly asked what made it possible for the Levain Militia to achieve such a level of skill within so short a time.


    The mercenary Captain had a very blunt answer to their question.


    ¡°The crux of the problem is that most everyone we saw so far still fought as if you¡¯re fighting a petty squabble between nobles of the same nation,¡± said Reinhardt openly to answer their question. ¡°It really shows when you fight big battles. All of you fight it out like war is a game, in some way. You expect to be treated nicely when you surrender and get ransomed after a while. That likely comes from the mindset of the nobles in charge, I guess.¡±


    ¡°The folks here in Levain on the other hand, are mostly what those nobles would call peasants. Most of the council lacked that noble mindset too,¡± he continues his explanation calmly. ¡°We simply taught the militia how to fight like their lives depended on it, because for them there are none of the luxuries like ransom that the nobles would expect to be granted to them after a losing battle. We taught them to do whatever it takes to win and stay alive. I¡¯m certain you all have heard what we did to the Southern Coalition¡¯s army just months ago, no?¡±


    ¡°We have, yes,¡± said General Ignatius, one of the most trusted subordinates of Astra¡¯s father. She and Scipius were present as well, listening to the discussion intently. ¡°That had been a subject of quite a few disagreements amongst ourselves. Some of us considered it a brilliant, if brutal move to make, while others decried it for various reasons.¡±


    ¡°When it comes to battle, the winners get to write the history books to their likings,¡± noted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°An army can try to uphold its chivalry or morals or any other such thing they want and stick to it, but when they lose, all they¡¯ll be immortalized as would be rebels or traitors or the like. Those values they try to uphold would just be mocked or twisted to be turned into lessons of why they lost.¡±


    ¡°I have no such grand visions or values. Neither do my men. We are mercenaries, and our services are simply bought and paid for. We do not fight out of patriotism, or morals, or chivalry, or righteousness and the likes. We just fight for coins, and aren¡¯t ashamed to be honest about it,¡± he continued. ¡°For us, the end does often justify the means, even when it was something others decried for various reasons. The militia, we taught the same way.¡±

 Side Story 44 - A Draw to Save Face

    ¡°The way some people ruin important things for petty reasons is something I could never understand in all my life.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden


    In the end, after the sixth day of exhibition matches, the forces from Caroma and Levain ended with an overall draw. A win and a loss for each side on the final day cemented the draw in place, although there were murmurs that the Levain troops on the final match had not done as well as they should have. Some claimed that the higher-ups told them to lose so the Caromans could save some face with an overall draw rather than eating a loss.


    Reinhardt could vouch for that rumor, given that he was around when Estelle gave the order, but kept his mouth shut. He personally thought better of the Caroman generals, but there was no telling if the officials behind them wouldn¡¯t seize on the loss to make things difficult for them out of pettiness or other base reasons. It was something they decided was better avoided at all costs.


    The seventh and final day of the exhibition was preserved to allow the marksmen and skirmishers from the two places to show what they could do. A massive target range was set up on the plains where the mock battles were held on the previous days, and in the morning, the best javelin throwers from both Caroma and Levain competed on range, accuracy, and power.


    This time, the match was one-sided. Unlike the small-unit battles, where the Levain militia benefited greatly from the teachings of the mercenaries who specialized in such battles, experience and skill were all that mattered. The Caromans had far more experienced javelineers from Caeropa ¨C whose skirmishers relied on javelins ¨C than the Levain militia had, and thoroughly dominated the event.


    There were still one member from the Levain militia and two from the Free Lances in the top ten, but the rest of the spots ¨C including the top four ¨C were dominated by the Caromans.


    However, that domination was flipped upon its head when they competed on closer-ranged use of throwing weapons like axes and daggers, which were typically used opportunistically and while on the move. There it was the mercenaries that dominated, as many amongst their numbers were particularly skilled with those types of weapons.


    Particularly eye-turning was Ayrie¡¯s performance, as the young quarter-elven girl lightly flitted through the course like she was taking a stroll. Her hands casually flicked from time to time, and a dagger would be accurately embedded in whichever target had just shown itself. The casual ease of her performance ¨C even if it wasn¡¯t the best ¨C along with her young age made many pay attention to her.


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    After they took a break for lunch at noon, the friendly competition continued, and this time, the archers from both nations finally had their chance to perform.


    Caroma was known to possess many strong archers, most of which came from the Oiloman half of the nation. Many of those veteran archers grew up poor and regularly hunted in the forests just to feed their families, and they kept honing their archery skills in the years that followed. Most of them were large in stature, with strong bodies, and each wielded a longbow taller than themselves.


    Out of the thirty thousand strong army from Caroma, one-sixth of them were archers, which directly told the value the Caromans placed on these marksmen. Where most archers deployed in war rarely managed good accuracy past two to three hundred paces, the Caroman archers directly competed at a range of five hundred paces and still maintained high accuracy.


    Normally arrows at such a distance would have lost a good deal of its momentum and rendered mostly harmless against most targets with half-decent armor. The Caromans used massive longbows that had draw weights of at least sixty kilograms each, however, with heavier arrows to match, so their arrows still had enough power to pierce through chainmail at that distance.


    As if to prove that point, the compacted straw targets used for the competition were clad in a layer of chainmail.


    Compared to them, Levain lacked such a strong tradition of archery, and barely had veteran archers who could compete. It didn¡¯t help that most of their archers ¨C which weren¡¯t that many, as only around a couple thousand people in the first batch were archers ¨C trained with the mercenaries for rapid shooting at closer ranges rather than long-distance shots.


    The competition was thus dominated by the Oiloman archers ¨C most of them grizzled, muscular, middle-aged men and women who had backs that looked as if they were carved out of stone ¨C who fired arrows that pierced cleanly through the chainmail on the targets even at five hundred paces away. Some even fired shots so powerful that the arrow poked out through the other side of the target.


    A few of the best went even further and hit similar targets stationed as far as six to seven hundred paces away, and still struck with enough force to pierce through chainmail. In contrast, even the best archers from Levain barely managed such a feat at four hundred paces. As such, it wasn¡¯t even a close match at all.


    Part of the reason was because the Caromans had more experienced archers, true, but another part of the reason was a more natural one. Other than those who had a background as a hunter or the likes, there were few amongst the militia who signed up as an archer. Amongst those, most were smaller in stature than the Caromans they were matched up against, and as such couldn¡¯t handle bows that were as heavy. It was only natural for them to perform worse when they had less experience and were using lighter bows to boot.


    The one-sided contest lasted for a good while, with the Caromans dominating the leaderboard, until in the last batch of contestants, three representatives from the Free Lances stepped up.


    Reinhardt had directly sent Salicia, Alva, and Branka to participate.

 Side Story 45 - A Little Showboating at the End

    ¡°Nothing wrong with showing off a little from time to time. It definitely helps take care of people who think too highly of themselves. An extravagant display to humble such people is often what it takes to get them to behave and introspect their own deficiencies.¡± - Mian Tsu-Lao, philosopher from the Huan Confederacy, circa 12 VA.


    Alva was the first one who stepped up for the mercenaries.


    Most of the veteran archers from Caroma didn¡¯t pay him much attention, given his slight frame and rather effeminate looks. A few noticed the odd-looking composite bow that Alva brought with him though, with some nodding as if in understanding when they saw its complex construction. They might not be skilled at craftsmanship, but as veteran archers they were all too familiar with the mechanic of a bow and how the construction of Alva¡¯s bow would likely have worked.


    As the first representative from the Free Lances to take the stage, Alva felt some nervousness. The past decade and a half of his life had been a drastic change, days where he served as a toy to sate the lust of women ¨C and certain men ¨C for money long behind him. Instead, he had not only adapted well to his new life as a sellsword, but even excelled at it. That Salicia suggested him to lead the first archer platoon in her stead was an affirmation he never expected but was nonetheless all too happy to receive.


    Technically, Salicia was still in command of all the archers as a whole, but as she generally spent her time assassinating important targets while they were engaged, actual command fell to Alva instead, and now Branka as well in the second archer platoon¡¯s case. After a few years in such a position, even the older, veteran mercenary archers showed Alva respect. Respect that he had earned for himself.


    And none of them were bothered even the slightest bit by his past either, which was nice.


    After a quick estimation of the targets, Alva decided to not bite off more than he could chew. He believed that he could likely hit the targets at six or seven hundred paces with enough force to count thanks to his bow, but he doubted his accuracy at that distance. Instead, he eyed a target set at five hundred paces away, and as he exhaled, grabbed four arrows at once between the fingers of his right hand.


    He calmly raised his bow into position ¨C normally he would have used both arms to pull a bow that heavy, but his weapon¡¯s construction allowed him to hold it in place while he mostly pulled with one arm instead ¨C and in a practiced motion, nocked an arrow to the string, eyeing the target without drawing the bow silently for a moment.


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    Then he exploded into motion.


    A small commotion of murmurs and gasps of shock occurred as Alva rapidly drew his bow, loosed his arrow, nocked a new one and repeated the process in smooth, practiced motions, before his hand went to the quiver on his back for another set of four arrows moments later. To the surprise of the spectators, he emptied his quiver of twenty arrows in barely fifteen seconds.


    Every single one of his arrows were embedded deeply at the target five hundred paces away, the chainmail pierced through all over by them.


    Even while some of the veteran archers were still staring slack-jawed at the target Alva had turned into a pincushion, Branka took his place. The orcish woman wielded a longbow more similar to what most of the archers present used, a simple one made from a long piece of wood and a string. What made hers differ from theirs was how large her bow was.


    Where most of the archers present used bows nearly as tall or slightly taller than themselves, Branka¡¯s longbow was massive, easily more than half again as tall as she was. That size meant that its draw weight would increase correspondingly, and the human archers present doubted they would even be able to draw such a bow properly.


    Branka wasn¡¯t human, though, so she easily drew her bow to its full draw length and aimed at one of the targets before she loosed. Her arrow punched straight through one of the targets at five hundred paces, the entire body of the arrow piercing the target cleanly. It was a sight that brought murmurs of awe from the assembled archers once more.


    Then she repeated the feat on targets six and seven hundred paces away with identical results.


    Salicia just shook her head as she watched her subordinates show their skills off to the veteran archers from Caroma. Already many murmured excitedly ¨C or in disbelief ¨C at what they had seen. Branka¡¯s feats of strength were more acceptable for them, as most people from the Empire had been told about the deadly orcish archers of the north due to their experiences in many crusades against them. Alva¡¯s rapid-fire accuracy was something that made them excited though, as was the odd bow he used.


    Since her people already made a deep impression, Salicia decided that it wouldn¡¯t do for her to take it easy. She briefly called a staff member who was in charge of setting the venue and asked for them to set a few things up. A short while later, several people walked over to one of the targets set seven hundred paces away and set a suit of plate mail armor over the chainmail already laid over it.


    The targets were shaped like a human upper torso, complete with head and part of the upper arms, so from a distance, it served as a passable analogue. Salicia quietly peered at the target for a moment, then grasped no less than six arrows between her fingers. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then suddenly exploded into motion as she raised her bow with one hand and drew the string with the other at the same time, her fingers already skillfully nocking an arrow on the string.


    Her arms seemed to blur as the six arrows were loosed within a couple of seconds, faster than most present could even perceive. It was not until someone brought the distant, armored target over for inspection that they gasped in surprise, however.


    Salicia had landed her six arrows with absurd accuracy, one arrow in each eye slit, one in each shoulder joint just past the chestplate¡¯s protection, one through the center of the throat, and a final arrow a handspan below the waist, past the area protected by the plates. A certain spot that was considered vital, particularly for males.

 Side Story 46 - Deceptive Maneuvering

    ¡°Some farewells mean not seeing the other for a long time to come. Some others shorten that time by a significant margin instead.¡± - Old folk saying.


    After the weeklong ¡°exchange¡± between the two armies, and another day where Levain held a grand feat for all the people involved ¨C which was quite a tall order, as preparing a feast for sixty thousand people couldn¡¯t have been easy or cheap ¨C the leaders from both sides bid their farewell. To all eyes, it appeared as if the Caromans had indeed just come over for a friendly exchange with their neighbors, the large number of troops likely brought as a show of strength.


    At least, that was what the spies other powers planted in Levain would report to their masters.


    Which was the exact sort of news both the Caromans and Levain¡¯s forces wanted to show them.


    The thirty thousand Caromans marched westwards, which was not a strange thing. The main road that led from Levain to Caroma headed west from Levain itself before it turned north into Caroman territory near the Husoz mountain range. The road itself was an old one, built that way mostly out of geographical considerations.


    Therefore, when the Caroman army instead turned south and followed the mountain range until they reached the great plains where the Southern Coalition¡¯s offensive was annihilated by fire just months ago, they did so mostly undetected, as whatever spies their neighbors managed to plant within either Caroma or Levain had long lost sight of the army until they reappeared near the border with the Southern Coalition.


    In fact, many of those spies would have been too dead to report anyway, as shortly after the departure of the Caroman army, Levain instituted a city-wide lockdown prior and following their army¡¯s departure. The foreign spies that attempted to make their report during that time were quickly apprehended, to never see the light of day ever again.


    In fact, a day after the Caromans left, Levain sent out twenty-five thousand of its own troops in a southward course. Out of those troops, the vast majority of the soldiers who had finished their training under the Free Lances were included, with only five hundred cavalrymen ¨C to serve as scouts ¨C and another five hundred militiamen left in Levain in case their skills would be needed. That made up over twenty thousand of them. The rest of the Army¡¯s numbers were made up by the private soldiers that the former nobles maintained.


    Councilwoman Estelle personally led the army, along with most of the veteran officers of the Levain Militia. In her stead, Bernd Adenauer was entrusted with the governance of Levain. The Free Lances also stayed at Levain, as their contract did not include participation in offensive missions, and besides, this time Estelle wished to test the fruits of their training anyway.


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    As a result, when the armies from Levain and Caroma reunited near the great plains, the Southern Coalition ¨C who only received the news from scouts that patrolled their borders ¨C was caught off guard. The Coalition still reeled from the massive losses they had taken months ago, and their remaining troops were barely enough to defend themselves.


    A massive hostile army that rushed straight towards their weakest border was the last thing they needed in the situation.


    If anything, the remaining First Lords of the Southern Coalition just made things worse for themselves. When they caught wind of the news that a massive army was mere days away from their border, they immediately called for a conscription of soldiers. Soldiers which were then immediately stationed to defend the domains of the First Lords.


    Because of course to the First Lords, they placed themselves on a pedestal above the rest of the Coalition¡¯s members, much less the second-class states that they had subjugated in its creation.


    What the decision did however was to instead amplify the discontent and anger many of those second-class citizens felt. It was mostly their people who died when the previous attack at Levain failed, and now the First Lords demanded that more of them were to take up arms and likely die in their defense? While leaving their own homes poorly guarded by only militiamen?


    Needless to say, many rebellions broke out all at once upon hearing that call, rebellions that were made worse as agents previously planted in the Coalition by both Levain and Caroma played the provocateur and further fanned the flames. At the same time, they also spread the news so the locals know that an assault from the north was coming for their First Lords, but not for them.


    The growing rift between the common populace and their lords ¨C the lords were almost entirely loyal to the First Lords, because they had been their underlings to begin with, with few exceptions ¨C meant that when the joint army from Caroma and Levain crossed the great plains ¨C at the exact spot Reinhardt had burnt months ago, in fact ¨C they were accosted by no foe.


    Oh, a few daredevils from the Coalition rushed and attempted to burn them to death, an attempt to pay them with their own coin, so to speak. That said, the newly grown grass in the region was still far too short, and besides, it was nearing winter. The grass was wet and the soil saturated. As such, the flame those miscreants set quickly petered out by itself before it could even grow much.


    Once they entered the Coalition¡¯s borders, the army split.


    The Caromans headed towards the North-western part of the Coalition, which covered lands that bordered their own, on the opposite side of the Husoz mountain range. Their intent was to conquer those lands and take them for themselves to extend their border further southwards.


    On the other hand, Levain¡¯s troops spread out and headed directly southwards. Levain had little need for more land, but they could use more people. With the current unrest in the coalition, it was a golden opportunity to lure away a good chunk of their oppressed second-class or third-class citizens and take them in as their own.


    The armies were there to make sure that even if their opponent fought back, they could fight them off with confidence.

 Chapter 319 - The Calm while the Storm Brews

    ¡°It¡¯s all but impossible to tell when a conflict will break out. As such, the best that a military commander can do is to keep their soldiers prepared for such an eventuality at any and every moment.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    Meanwhile, back in Levain, the mood was on a high note.


    Morale improved greatly amongst the militia, both active and reserves, and even amongst the populace after the dazzling performance by the first batch of trainees against the elites from Caroma. That was an expected and intended effect to be fair, as it was the main reason that Levain¡¯s leadership had asked for such an exchange in the first place: To provide their soldiers with a much needed boost in confidence and morale.


    Of course, the inside story that only a select few ¨C Reinhardt happened to be in the loop ¨C knew about was the fact that Estelle and Bernd had originally asked the Caromans to take it easy on their militia so as not to crush the newfound confidence the soldiers had. Their expectation was for their soldiers to give a ¡°decent¡± fight and take an understandable loss against the experienced Caromans, a lesson that would drive them to reach greater heights.


    Other than Reinhardt, none of them had expected their soldiers to be able to hold their own against veteran soldiers with many years of experience behind them like that.


    Reinhardt naturally knew that it was partly due to his own Company¡¯s specialization in irregular warfare and small-unit tactics ¨C things that inadvertently dyed those they trained ¨C that helped the Levain militia perform so well against the Caromans. For all their skill and discipline, the Caromans were still primarily trained for large-scale battles, whereas small-unit actions were not their forte.


    Naturally, Reinhardt had not declined the extra monetary bonus the Levain City Council paid his Company for their ¡°beyond satisfactory¡± work either.


    It was a bit strenuous for the Company to continue the training on their own ¨C the second batch had the rest of Levain¡¯s active militia as well as a large portion of the reserves as the trainees, totaling around a hundred thousand people ¨C but the five hundred first batch trainees left behind were those who did the best at teaching others. Besides that, many of the younger mercenaries had also gained some knack for it and could help with the training, so it was manageable for the time being.


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    All in all, the campaign was not intended to last that long. Estelle had informed Reinhardt that if things went well, the army should return by springtime. In the meantime, Reinhardt continued the training of the militia, though he had split the group into two halves and alternated training them by the week to make up for the lack of trainers. They had far more help from the first batch trainees before this after all.


    The campaign itself was a bit of a surprise since Levain had mostly maintained a passive, defensive stance throughout the civil war. That said, from a more pragmatic point of view, Reinhardt could see the obvious benefits of hitting an enemy when they were down. That said enemy launched the first attack ¨C even if that ended disastrously ¨C also gave them better justification to counterattack, to boot.


    As for the Caromans¡¯ participation, they and the Southern Coalition clashed on a semi-regular basis, and were allied to Levain on top of that. As such, they would fulfill both their responsibilities as an ally and strike an enemy of theirs at the same time. Reinhardt knew that around the time the combined army made their assault from the south, the Caromans would have sent another army from the north ¨C where their border with the Southern Coalition lay ¨C to truly exploit the situation.


    Given the fact that nearly half of the Southern Coalition¡¯s best soldiers had been burnt to death on the plains just months ago, it was impossible for them to have recovered from the loss. As such, Reinhardt predicted that the First Lords of the Southern Coalition would gather up their best remaining troops to themselves and hunker down like a turtle hiding inside its shell.


    That would naturally leave most of the northern regions of the Southern Coalition open for the joint force from Levain and Caroma to do whatever they wished. If anything, Reinhardt didn¡¯t expect there to be difficult battles in the south. The main reason it would take a while was that arranging for the migration of thousands of people took a lot of time.


    At least, as long as there was no interference from other parties.


    Even there Levain had done their preparations, however. Both Anduille and Podovniy still reeled from the effects of the drought they suffered, so it was judged that the chances of their making a move was low at best. Sevras-Galastine to the south was a powerful contender, but neither Levain nor Caroma shared any border with them, so if anything, if the duchy chose to benefit from the situation, it would be at the Southern Coalition¡¯s expense.


    However, while the logic behind the planning was indeed sound, the world sometimes did not function in logical ways.


    As a result, the situation soon developed in a direction none of them had predicted. An event that would later be recorded in the history books as the largest armed conflict to take place between the splinters of the former Clangeddin Empire, as it involved most of them all at the same time. A conflict later known as the ¡°Decimation of the Lords¡±.


    A massive armed conflict over benefits and sovereignty over the remnant pieces of the dead Empire, fought by those who either called themselves its successors wanting to reforge the Empire anew, as well as those who were simply tired of being ruled by others, wishing to decide their lives on their own. Their wills and desires clashed on the field of battle, their blood shed for their beliefs, their lives sacrificed in the fight for their respective goals.


    And amidst that brewing conflict, a certain mercenary company was caught up and played a role in the direction the fighting took.

 Chapter 320 - Encouraging Developments

    ¡°When things go too well, that¡¯s usually when the excrement bucket spills over.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    Council Chamber


    Free City of Levain, Levain City


    Central Alcidea


    7th Day of the 3rd Week of the 11th Month, Year 18 FP.


    ¡°So how fares the news from the frontlines, Temporary Chairman Adenauer?¡± asked a grizzled old dwarf who was one of the most respected blacksmiths in Levain, as well as a fellow member of the city¡¯s council chamber. He was also one of the councilors Reinhardt was most familiar with, as the old dwarf had quickly bonded with his adoptive father as fellow expert blacksmiths.


    When the then newly instated Chairwoman Estelle brought the proposal to not only support, but to directly participate in the Caromans¡¯ planned counteroffensive on the Southern Coalition, the council had been strongly divided. The military faction was strongly for the proposal, while the civilian councilors were worried.


    Levain had maintained a strictly defensive policy since its founding, in the hopes that its neutrality in the ongoing civil war around them would spare them the worst of the suffering.


    In the end, however, Estelle argued that as they had made the first attack against them, the Southern Coalition had clearly not cared about their neutrality. As such, she argued that merely remaining on the defensive would make their other neighbors think of them as cowards, punching bags to be tormented without consequences. She stated that without any show of might that might serve as a deterrence, it wouldn¡¯t be too long before one or more of their neighbors once more turned greedy eyes towards Levain.


    Her argument carried the proposal which gained majority assent, which led to the current ongoing campaign. Even so, some of the civilian councilors still felt some worry about it. It was a worry Reinhardt could understand. After all, people who mostly stayed away and avoided war all their life would naturally worry about participating actively in one.


    ¡°As of yesterday night,¡± said Bernd Adenauer from his seat at the highest position in the council chamber as he had been appointed Chairman in Estelle¡¯s absence, ¡°reports indicated light, scattered resistance. The Southern Coalition seemed to already be in the process of breaking up before we entered the fray, so we merely placed the last nails in the coffin,¡± he stated.


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    ¡°From the Caroman side, they mentioned that most of the resistance they faced were scattered groups of loyalist soldiers, typically led by the city lords. Our soldiers have reported the same, and added that sometimes the populace of the cities in question had already risen up in arms against their lords, so on a couple occasions we didn¡¯t even have to fight anyone at all.¡±


    ¡°This sounds too bloody easy,¡± muttered the old dwarf, to the agreement of a few other civilian councilors. ¡°Have we ascertained whether they are truly breaking apart or if this is some sort of ploy to lure us in?¡±


    ¡°Your doubts have crossed the mind of Chairwoman Estelle as well, esteemed Councilman Krueger,¡± replied Bernd with an understanding nod. ¡°So far, every sign pointed out to a rift between the first-class citizens of the Southern Coalition and those labeled as second or third class citizens. The local lords are typically on the side of the High Lords and their first-class people, but the populace in general aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°The second and third class citizens knew that their lords only viewed them as cannon fodder. Little surprise they behaved this way, honestly,¡± noted Reinhardt from his seat. He had been given special permission to join the council meetings for the duration of the war, since many of the military councilors had left with the expedition and the council had learned to value his opinions.


    ¡°So in your opinion, we should be able to win this fight without many issues, Captain Edelstein?¡± asked the old dwarf as he turned to regard Reinhardt. Due to the old man¡¯s friendship with Hogarth, he had quickly warmed up to the rest of the mercenaries as well, and was one of the most cordial amongst the council members, other than the ones who were firmly for the mercenaries¡¯ presence like Estelle¡¯s faction.


    ¡°That hinges on the assumption that no complications take place in the near future, but I would say so,¡± answered Reinhardt honestly. ¡°Even if the so-called First or High or whatever Lords the Coalition have gathered all the loyal soldiers they have, they would still be outnumbered by quite a bit, now that they lost a large chunk of their territory and with more areas rising up in revolt.¡±


    ¡°So in your opinion, what sort of circumstances would we need to watch out for, Captain?¡± asked the old dwarf once more. The military councilors present were happy to defer to Reinhardt despite their position. They had come to respect the experience that the mercenaries possessed and acknowledged that they themselves lacked that experience.


    ¡°Outside influence,¡± stated Reinhardt simply. ¡°The biggest potential problem would be if our neighbors to the east and north saw our offensive and instead of being deterred, considered us a threat that they could still nip in the bud. If that was the case, in the worst-case scenario they might cooperate with the Southern Coalition and motivate them to delay our army down south while they launched offensives against us, probably together.¡±


    ¡°That is a worrisome scenario indeed,¡± admitted Bernd Adenauer with a nod of his head. ¡°In that case, Captain Edelstein, what would we do should such a scenario come to pass? Hypothetically, of course. I am certain none of the councilors in the room wish for such a troublesome situation to happen for real.¡±


    ¡°Well, we would need to evacuate the people who lived outside the cities into the cities themselves, for their safety,¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°Safest would be for them to head to Levain itself, or Fort Aldenstadt for those closer to the east. People in the south should be safer overall due to their proximity to our army, as for the enemies? Let them come.¡±


    ¡°The second batch of militia might only be halfway through their training, but between their numbers and Levain¡¯s fabled walls, I have confidence that the Free City could take on all comers and make them regret their audacity to attack us.¡±

 Side Story 47 - What Was Once an Empire...

    ¡°Nobody would ever admit to it, but many of the people who flaunt their power over others are cowards. The slightest threat to their power and interests often caused them to overreact, sometimes disastrously. Scholars have often debated how certain debacles in history come about, questioning because certainly people in such vaunted positions would not make such foolish mistakes, would they not?


    They often fail to realize that even those in positions of power are just another person like themselves. A person with their own flaws and failings, far from perfection by any means. For such a person to eventually make a mistake is only to be expected.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy for the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 602 FP.


    After over two decades of civil war, the land that used to belong to the Clangeddin Empire housed only a few factions that had survived the constant mayhem.


    Out of those factions, the former Barony of Gerouz ¨C now the Gerouz Free State ¨C was by far the smallest and weakest out of the remnant factions. It was the state¡¯s location at the far north-western tip of the former empire¡¯s territory and its overall poorness that made it an undesirable target for its neighbors. At least, the state was poor until it opened the only sea port in the entire former Empire¡¯s territory and freely traded with its western neighbors.


    By that point, they had also signed a solid alliance ¨C complete with a marriage of heirs ¨C with the powerful Duchy of Algenverr from the former Posuin Kingdom, which gave them a strong backing that made attacking them an iffy proposition once more. With all those factors combined, Gerouz had the unique claim to be the one state that was practically untouched by the horrors of the civil war.


    Directly east of Gerouz was Lavianey, a state formed jointly by several smaller states from the region. Much like Gerous, Lavianey escaped the worst of the fighting by virtue of being too poor to bother conquering. Instead, its component states often fought amongst themselves, though primarily around the meeting tables, due to the greatly differing opinions they had.


    The remaining states that survived through the civil war were powerful in their own ways.


    The Free City of Levain, centered around the former empire¡¯s old capital, was the one state that eschewed the nobility¡¯s right to rule the most, as the peasantry had risen and taken over the old capital. Between the massive number of people that lived in the old capital ¨C easily around half a million despite the grievous losses the populace had taken early in the civil war ¨C and its seven-layered walls, the former imperial capital was a tough nut to crack should they focus on the defense.


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    To Levain¡¯s north-west was the Republic of Caroma, another joint state formed out of several smaller states in the region, the largest two of which had been Caeropa and Oiloma. The state¡¯s new governance also heavily involved their common populace, which made them unpopular with most other forces other than Levain. The presence of two highly skilled Marshals that led their military meant that even if their neighbors disliked them, they couldn¡¯t really do much against the Republic, however.


    Further north was the Anduille Regency, with most of its northern border directly faced against savage lands inhabited by goblin tribes. The nobles of the region had banded together, and called for a restoration of nobility rule over the former empire, but found themselves stymied as even the other states that agreed with them couldn¡¯t decide just who should be in the lead.


    On top of that, Anduille¡¯s southern borders were mostly with Caroma and Levain, two states diametrically opposed to it in terms of policy. Had the north been more bountiful, Anduille would have attacked the states to its south more often. Instead, the three incursions it had made against Caroma so far had been repelled with ease by the two Marshals.


    At the eastern border of the former empire, the Podovniy March had pretty much swallowed all the smaller states in the region and ruled as the hegemon of the east. Much like those from the Anduille Regency, they espoused the rule of nobility, and thus viewed their western neighbor ¨C Levain ¨C with contempt and greed at the same time.


    The southern half of the former empire was mostly split between the Southern Coalition ¨C a coalition of many small states that covered most of the former empire¡¯s western side and the northern part of the south ¨C and the Grand Duchy of Sevras-Galastine, a joint state formed by the union of the two largest duchies of the south.


    Where the Coalition often butted heads with Caroma and more recently, Levain as well, the Grand Duchy was mostly content to expand outward and spent its time coalescing its gains from those campaigns instead. As a result, the Grand Duchy claimed roughly one-third of the land that used to belong to the Holy Kingdom of Theodinaz, as well as lands that were once the domain of smaller states around it, and maintained its stability well in the process.


    Other than Levain and Caroma, every single one of these states were surprised when they received news of the joint attack the two states executed against the Southern Coalition.


    Some merely laughed at the expense of the Southern Coalition and didn¡¯t really put the matter to heart, like those in Gerouz and Sevras-Galastine, who were too far to intervene either way. The leaders of Lavianey were too busy debating one another when the report came and they only noticed it weeks later, not that they would have been able to come to any agreement on what to do about it anytime soon anyway.


    On the other hand, when the report reached the Regent of Anduille and the Marquis of Podovniy, both of them felt a chill on their backs. The one quiet neighbor that only defended itself had suddenly turned to the attack, and neither liked the possibilities that could emerge from such a situation. Naturally the Southern Coalition was the first to receive the news as well as spread it to some of the others, since they were the target of Caroma and Levain¡¯s attack.


    What nobody had expected ¨C other than as a distant worst case possibility ¨C was that both the Regent and the Marquis felt threatened by their upstart neighbor, and came to the conclusion that they were a potential threat that might endanger their sovereignty if allowed to grow. As such, the Regent and the Marquis sent missives to one another, all discussing one single topic.


    Namely how to nip said threat in the bud.

 Side Story 48 - Winning the Hearts of the People

    ¡°Many military scriptures fail to mention it, but winning over the hearts of the people is a crucial step in war, lest you were planning to subjugate everyone by violence to begin with. A little hint of kindness often goes a long way, and saves up both resources and lives in the long run. Many are just too short-sighted to understand its worth.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Enter,¡± said Chairwoman Estelle curtly from the desk she was working on. Even while on a military campaign, work seemed to find her no matter what she did, which was one reason she had a larger tent than most in the army. It was not out of a desire for comfort or luxury, but out of practical reasons entirely, unlike most people.


    After all, she needed one large enough to house the frequent meetings as her commanders looked up to her for approval and room to store all the paperwork that a campaign apparently entails.


    The figure that entered the tent was a familiar one to her. Albrecht Duncan was one of Levain¡¯s seniormost military officials, and one of the highest commanders amongst the militia. He was a former imperial commander, who had retired by the time the civil war broke out, only to take up arms once more when the people of the former capital rose up in rebellion.


    Sometimes Estelle felt rather uncomfortable to have a man who was easily old enough to have been her grandfather address her as a superior, but it was what the old soldier insisted.


    ¡°Ah, Commander Duncan. I presume you brought news of our progress?¡± asked Estelle warmly as the old soldier saluted her with military precision. Despite Estelle¡¯s lack of military ranking, she was considered the leader of Levain at the moment, and older commanders amongst the militia insisted on saluting her as if she was their highest commander.


    ¡°I have, Chairwoman,¡± replied the grizzled old man with a nod. Despite his advanced age ¨C almost in his eighties ¨C the old soldier still kept himself fit and healthy, to a level that would have made even much younger people jealous. ¡°Most of the people in Savoy have agreed to relocate to our territories and are making their preparations. The people in Estinuz are more divided on the issue. Roughly half wants to take us up on our offer, while the other half doesn¡¯t wish to leave their lands.¡±


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    ¡°That is not outside our estimations,¡± noted Estelle with a sigh. She had expected that not everyone would be amenable to the idea of migrating to a different place, even with the way she asked her soldiers to especially treat the people nicely. Some people have a stubborn loyalty to the place they had been born and raised in, so the fact that most people from Savoy agreed to migrate was honestly a bigger surprise.


    ¡°Have our men help them out with rooting out the remnants of the loyalists,¡± ordered Estelle after some thought. The people in Estinuz had risen up against their lord and had been fighting against the lord¡¯s loyal soldiers when the Levain Militia arrived and turned the tables in one fell swoop. Many of those who fought for their freedoms were the ones who wanted to remain in their homeland.


    The Lord himself had been on the run with remnants of his loyalists, so the militia offered their help to the local rebels to root him out. In many ways, their relationship at the moment was more of a cooperative one.


    In contrast, The people in Savoy had been downtrodden by their Lord to the point that they didn¡¯t dare raise their heads against him. Only after said Lord was slain in battle ¨C not a hard fight, as most of the Lord¡¯s conscripted troops broke formation and fled shortly after the battle was joined ¨C with his head paraded through the region did they dare raise their heads.


    Given the horrible state of the land ¨C a result of decades of mismanagement and corruption ¨C few of the locals refused the opportunity to move to greener pastures. Levain had plenty of habitable land, but the civil war had taken a toll on their populace, so they lacked the people to make use of those lands. It was the main reason they went to grab some from their ailing southern neighbor.


    So far, the Militia had faced practically no resistance from the two member-states of the Southern Coalition closest to them. Those further west posed no threat, as they were likely far too busy trying to stem the deluge of Caromans that flooded their way, as Estelle received reports of consecutive victories from the Caroman military already.


    As for the core regions of the Southern Coalition further south, all intelligence they received indicated that the First Lords of the Coalition had gathered tens of thousands of soldiers in their respective main cities and hunkered down like a turtle. They likely feared the consequences of engaging the Levain-Caroma joint force in a field battle and losing, as it would leave their core regions open to predation by the attackers.


    It was fortunate that the Rodin mountain range also cut the Southern Coalition off from the Podovniy March to its east, otherwise the March might have been tempted to intervene directly. As it was, due to the terrain, they had no way to do that unless they crossed lands that belonged to Levain or Sevras-Galastine first.


    In the meantime, Estelle had her people act not as conquerors, but as friends and liberators to the commoners of Savoy and Estinuz. Her militiamen kept the order in the region, helped distribute food ¨C they carried extras for this exact purpose ¨C to those who were starving, and even set up field kitchens where they distributed free soup, porridge, and stew to the poor.


    All those moves won them quite a bit of acclaim from the locals, which helped her main objective of luring in more people to live in Levain¡¯s territory. Rather than force the people to move, Estelle always felt that it was wiser to make them wish to move on their own.

 Side Story 49 - High Spirits

    ¡°The youths are the ones who would still find exhilaration and excitement in battles. This is something they should cherish. As they grow older, those feelings will slowly but surely morph to dread and uncertainty, and then to apathy and indifference, assuming they even survive that long, that is.¡± - Abram Islavein, elven mercenary.


    ¡°Mateus, take your hundred and hit their left. I¡¯ll hit their right!¡± Astra commanded from the back of her steed. At the moment her two hundred riders had just taken a detour around a large forest which served as their cover to enter the battlefield where her brother Scipius led his thousand men to fight against the forces under Benosi¡¯s lord, which numbered over double their numbers.


    The two siblings had been entrusted to take care of Benosi ¨C one of the smallest states in the Southern Coalition ¨C on their own. Some might have balked at being given so tiny a prey, but the siblings only felt excitement, as it was the first time their parents truly let them take charge in the field, without other units around to babysit them.


    While their enemies dwarfed their numbers, the forces gathered by the Lord of Benosi mostly consisted of peasant conscripts, and only around three to four hundred or so were from his personal retinue. As such, Scipius had confidence that he could have taken them on with his thousand men without too much difficulty as it was.


    That he had Astra by his side along with her two hundred strong light cavalry just made it easier.


    What the siblings had planned for the battle was a simple, and almost classical tactic. Scipius led his thousand men to do battle with the enemy, while Astra took a detour and used the terrain to hide her riders from them. Once the enemies were engaged in battle with Scipius and his men, Astra¡¯s riders would strike them from behind, the hammer to her brother¡¯s anvil.


    Normally it would have been an extremely risky move, to strike at an army over two thousand strong with only two hundred light cavalry, but since they were mostly dealing with conscripted peasants that were forced to be there, not only was the risk much lower, but the payoff greater as well. Both siblings deemed it an acceptable risk to take.


    Sure enough, when the conscripts saw riders suddenly appear behind them with a dust cloud obscuring their numbers, they panicked and broke before the men-at-arms interspersed through their formation as commanders could regain any semblance of control. A shower of javelins from the riders, followed by a charge, sealed the deal moments later.


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    Astra personally led half her cavalry to rampage towards the center of the Benosi formation from the right side, while her subcommander Mateus did the same from the left. At the same time, Scipius urged his men to push harder against their crumbling foe, throwing the already fractured enemy formation into further disarray.


    They purposely avoided harming the people who ran away, as seeing them escape safely would only encourage others to follow in their footsteps.


    As a result, it didn¡¯t take long for the majority of the conscripts to rout and abandon their lord. Those conscripts likely never wanted to be fighting to begin with, so breaking their morale was much easier compared to dealing with trained soldiers. The Lord of Benosi was soon left with his three hundred or so loyal soldiers, unable to extricate themselves from the fighting as Scipius pushed hard and threatened to encircle them.


    In the end, after a desperate charge where most of his retainers sacrificed themselves to block Scipius¡¯ pursuit, the lord managed to extricate himself from the situation with around two dozen of his men. He had not gotten far, however, before the smile that had just graced his lips turned into a frown that was filled with utter despair.


    Because Astra had taken her cavalry around and was now riding straight towards his direction.


    The escapees attempted to escape, still, but they were outnumbered nearly eight to one and outmatched as riders. Even so, they still tried. They knew that nothing good awaited them should they be captured there, as the Southern Coalition and the Republic of Caroma¡¯s constant fighting over the decades had made them aware that pleasantries like capturing nobles to ransom them was no longer a thing.


    Astra led the strike personally, her spear ¨C the spearhead modified for greater penetration as well as minimizing the chance of it snagging on things when she pulled it out ¨C thrust out before her at one of the riders around the Benosian lord. The rider still managed to block the thrust with his sword, but he failed to do the same with the three thrusts that followed in quick succession.


    The Caroman cavalry trained in group attack tactics for taking on other riders, after all.


    Within a short five minutes, the guards of the Benosian lord had been taken down. The lord himself was captured alive. He had fallen off his horse in his fright and broke a leg in the process, so Astra just had some of her men tie up the lord and waited where she was until her brother¡¯s men caught up after they took care of the rest of the lord¡¯s men.


    It was a decisive victory for the Caromans, where they routed the Benosian army over twice their size while taking minimal casualties for themselves. While it was only a minor battle in the whole scheme of things, later historians noted the battle as the first battle where two figures that would make their name in history participated as commanders.


    Benosi itself quickly accepted their Caroman conquerors without a fuss. As the region had been classified as a third-class state by the Coalition¡¯s First Lords, the locals had lived in abject poverty, and were all too glad to be rid of their yoke. In fact, many of the conscripts that had routed during the previous battle later volunteered to join the Caroman army, a rarely seen thing that made a certain couple of Marshals happy and prideful over what their children had accomplished.

 Side Story 50 - Hidden Machinations

    ¡°Those who plot in the dark are the amateurs. The true masters of the craft plots right in the open, often making the act of plotting itself a part of their plot as a whole.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°The Coalition is crumbling apart,¡± coldly stated a middle-aged woman as she read from a sheet of paper in her hand. ¡°Most of it due to their own faults, as far as I can tell. Even before Levain and Caroma decided to screw them over, they were already facing a sharp increase in insurrections and uprisings amongst their so-called second and third class populace. Who would¡¯ve thought that acting like an asshole to your own people would get them mad at you?¡±


    ¡°Heh. I do appreciate the sarcasm, but do keep in mind that these idiots are technically going to be our allies, Ilona, at least for a while anyway,¡± replied High Regent Lukas Worsted of Anduille to his military chief of staff. The High Regent was a young man, barely in his thirties, which was not a surprise as he only recently rose to his position as High Regent after the previous High Regent ¨C his father ¨C and his elder sister who was heir perished in fighting against the Caromans just four years ago.


    ¡°Noted, Sire,¡± replied the woman, who had been his father¡¯s most trusted general. She was the only reason Anduille¡¯s defeat against Caroma back then wasn¡¯t even worse, as she successfully organized a fighting retreat and brought a large portion of the army back to the Regency instead of allowing them to get killed in some futile attempt to avenge their liege lord.


    That was something Lukas approved of, as he knew all too well that his father was a hothead whose habit of aggressive attacks worked well against the goblin incursions their then-March had to face most often, but worked less effectively against other people. Chances were that his sister likely got herself killed trying to save their father, and if it were not for cooler heads like Ilona, the other generals from his father¡¯s generations would have wasted most of Anduille¡¯s military elite in that battle.


    Something he ensured wouldn¡¯t happen again by demoting some of those generals for their failure, as they did allow his father to get killed after all. He promoted some smarter people amongst the younger officers to take their place, and had spent the past few years rebuilding the state he inherited. The drought that happened last year didn¡¯t help one bit with that, though.


    Curiously, Lukas himself didn¡¯t feel too much animosity against the Caromans that killed his father and sister. He wouldn¡¯t have been the High Regent if it weren¡¯t for them doing just that, after all. If anything, he was somewhat thankful, even. His father was a brave general who was ideal for his role of guarding the former empire¡¯s northern border from the goblin tribes, but he was a poor administrator.


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    He was most decidedly not suitable to rule an independent state.


    In fact, if not for his sister¡¯s vehement arguments that helped cut down on many of the excesses his father had wanted, Lukas doubted that the Regency could have survived long enough for him to inherit it.


    As for the current incursion faced by the Southern Coalition, he couldn¡¯t care less, truly. Unlike his neighbors to the east, or those in the south, Lukas really didn¡¯t put too much into the idea of nobility rule, even if he openly espoused it, because far too many of the officials in the Regency were of that school of thought. In private, however, with so many horrible examples for him to pick and choose from, he had long doubted the veracity of said rule.


    At the moment he was faced with a minor quandary, as he recently received urgent letters ¨C delivered by rare and expensive messenger birds that could travel the width of the empire in a single day ¨C from both the Southern Coalition and the Podovniy March. The letter from the Coalition asked for their aid, with a blatant warning that if the ¡°peasants¡± were to further grow in power from devouring them, then the Regency and the March would be next.


    The letter from the March on the other hand opened with an admittance that the Coalition¡¯s warning was indeed a potentially worrisome one, and an invitation for the three states to work together to put the ¡°upstarts¡± in their place. While Lukas didn¡¯t particularly care for the argument they presented, as the High Regent of Anduille he needed to consider the benefits to his state first and foremost.


    He couldn¡¯t deny that having his two southern neighbors grow stronger would indeed threaten the Regency quite a bit.


    As such, he replied to the letters in the affirmative, and further asked them what they had in mind. One thing Lukas was certain of was that both he and Marquis Podovniy should pressure the Southern Coalition into committing what they have left in this temporary cooperation. After all, why should they bleed for others when the one in need was the Coalition in the first place.


    That said, the potential benefits if they could devour parts of Levain or Caroma was quite sizable, though that would also have to be weighed against the risks involved. From the reports his intelligence team received, Caroma had devoted at least forty thousand of their soldiers to this offensive, which meant that their homeland would be rather poorly defended.


    Of course, the Caromans likely know it, and they had a strong network of fortifications that guarded their northern border, leftovers from when the Empire had to deal with retaliatory raids from the orcish clans after the crusades. As such, it would be difficult to break through those defenses, but keeping them in place wouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Simply sending part of Anduille¡¯s army to make empty threats would likely be enough to do the trick.


    That in turn would leave Levain open for attack from both the Regency and the March, so the question that remained was how much they should invest in this plan¡­

 Side Story 51 - A Gut Feeling

    ¡°Some wars are like a series of protracted battles, where every bit of gain must be fought for with blood and toil. Yet others might as well end after the first battle, with one side crumbling before the other almost entirely after a single loss. Most are closer to something in between, though.¡± - Karsten Von Unterbruck, dwarven mercenary turned noble, one of the founders of Knallzog.


    ¡°I got the report from Cadmus. The plan is proceeding well,¡± said Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma to the gathered commanders in his tent, which being the largest in the army¡¯s encampment, also doubled as a meeting place whenever one was needed. Most of the people present nodded at his words, though a few, most notably his wife and Caroma¡¯s other Marshal, had a slight frown on their faces.


    ¡°Perhaps a little too well,¡± commented Anni-Al-Bagh Barca with a shake of her head. Unlike her husband who commanded based on logic and strategies, she was always one to rely on her instinct and gut feeling instead. Over the decades though, all the other commanders had learned to respect her often accurate gut feelings. ¡°Something¡¯s nagging me in the back of my head about this, can¡¯t say for sure why though.¡±


    ¡°Think the southerners can afford to give us a real fight, boss lady?¡± asked one of the commanders who hailed from Oiloma, one of Anni¡¯s old subordinates, who were the only ones that used that title to refer to her. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have that many people to spare though, not unless they want to leave their home base wide open to an attack.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± replied the Marshal. Even under the worst case estimates, the Southern Coalition would be hard pressed to mobilize fifty thousand men out of all the territories they still had. They already lost the northern third of their territories to both Levain and Caroma as it was, with only a few areas still holding on in the center of the north-west region.


    Mostly because they were the furthest away from either of the Caroman thrusts into that region and the armies haven¡¯t gotten there yet.


    ¡°Anni¡¯s gut feelings have a disturbing tendency to be accurate, so we should consider planning a contingency in case trouble really does manifest out of nowhere,¡± said Publius in support of his wife. Most of the commanders gathered nodded at his words, with only a couple of the younger ones looking somewhat lost. ¡°In your opinion, what are the most likely sources of trouble we could be facing in this expedition?¡±


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    ¡°Outside interference,¡± stated Markus, another senior commander who had worked with Publius since his youth. ¡°Our one ¡®enemy¡¯ is unlikely to be able to pose much threat to us even if they were to cast the dice into the winds and chose to gamble it all, but should other parties interfere, it would most likely cause quite a bit of trouble on our behalf.¡±


    ¡°Sevras-Galastine to the south has remained quiet so far, but if they suddenly decided to contest us over the Southern Coalition¡¯s territory, they would be a major threat,¡± continued the old man. ¡°Of course, that necessitates them going through the southern half of the coalition to begin with, so in such a case a quick negotiation to share the land should take care of the matter.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± affirmed Bartholomeus with a nod. He was another of Anni¡¯s former subordinates who maintained their military career and rose to a high position after their nations merged. ¡°I think we should look at the possibility of Anduille thinking we¡¯re weakened and occupied by sending a large portion of our military to the south like this. They might choose to attack our northern border in that belief.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they still suffering from the drought last year though?¡± debated another commander in the tent. ¡°Do you believe that they actually have enough supplies saved up to mount a large-scale military campaign even after that?¡±


    ¡°If it was the old Regent, I would have doubted it,¡± said Publius to that last question. ¡°I have heard that the new Regent was more cool-headed and placed quite an emphasis on preparations to deal with the frequent droughts their nations often experienced, however, so we can¡¯t discount that possibility.¡±


    ¡°Any chance of interference from Podovniy?¡± asked one of the younger commanders.


    ¡°We have considered that to be a low-probability case. The relationship between Podovniy with Anduille and Sevras-Galastine were neutral at best, and they were facing some drought and internal turmoil as well,¡± replied Markus. ¡°Besides, Podovniy would have to go through Levain, which would be easier said than done, given the amount of defenders they have, not forgetting the fortifications.¡±


    ¡°What if they all worked together for some reason? Call it a hypothetical worst case situation,¡± said Anni all of a sudden after she gave the matter some thought. ¡°If the Southern Coalition chose to fight and delay us here, while Anduille hit Caroma and Podovniy hit Levain, wouldn¡¯t we be put into a very bad situation? Especially since both of us are here in the south.¡±


    ¡°What are the chances of all three of them suddenly choosing to cooperate, though?¡± asked another of the commanders present. "The Southern Coalition, I can see them doing so, as at this point they should be rather desperate and would cling to any chance of survival. Would that be enough to move Podovniy and Anduille however?¡±


    ¡°Brutus raised a good point, but just in case, I will send a letter to old Maximus back home to increase his vigilance especially over our northern border, and a letter to Chairwoman Estelle about what we discussed,¡± said Publius after some thought. ¡°Do you all agree with this course of action for the time being? Or does anyone have anything more to add?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope my gut feeling is wrong this time, but I don¡¯t think we can really do much more without any idea what¡¯s going to happen either,¡± noted Anni. ¡°I agree.¡±


    After the rest of the commanders signaled their approval, Publius gave them a polite dismissal as he busied himself writing the letters to be sent that very evening.

 Side Story 52 - The Plot Deepens

    ¡°Those who reach too high would just find themselves burned by the sun.¡± - Saying by an unknown philosopher.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± noted Marquis Viktor Esvant of Podovniy as he read the missive he received from Anduille and compared it to the urgent requests for aid from the Southern Coalition. He had pored over the requests and debated the risks and benefits should he answer their call. For one, if multiple of their nations worked together, they could likely overwhelm the upstart peasants at the old capital and remove a thorn on his side.


    The missive he received from Anduille hinted that they too would be amenable to cooperation, but added a suggestion to have the Southern Coalition ¨C with whom both of their nations were neither friend nor foe ¨C take the brunt of the damage. It was an intriguing prospect, as having the Southern Coalition exhaust themself in delaying the best troops from Levain and Caroma would indeed make any invasion Podovniy and Anduille executed far easier.


    As a bonus, they could also turn on and devour the Southern Coalition after they were done, to boot!


    Most outsiders probably thought that Podovniy were struggling with internal conflict ¨C and indeed the succession crisis over the former Earl of Kolain¡¯s inheritance was yet to be solved ¨C but unbeknownst to them, if the Marquis wished to stop all the infighting, all it would have taken was a single command from him. A command he was quite itching to give out anyway, as the constant infighting annoyed him quite a bit.


    The contenders for the former Earldom¡¯s throne had completely forgotten that their father had capitulated to him, the Marquis of Podovniy, and as such it was well within his power to dissolve the Earldom should he see fit to it. In fact, that would take care of the succession issue in one fell swoop. Dissolve the Earldom, arrest the fighting ¡°heirs¡± for their misconduct, then split up the land to reward those who were more loyal to him. Several birds with one stone.


    Similarly, the drought that affected Podovniy¡¯s northern regions didn¡¯t bother the Marquis much. He still had enough supplies hoarded over from the previous years, more than enough for a military campaign that was projected to only take months at most. As for the peasants who cried out in hunger¡­ who had the time to listen to them?


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    At worst they¡¯d try an insurrection that¡¯d give his soldiers a chance to blood themselves, anyway.


    Instead, the Marquis started to consider the proposal he received from Anduille, that of combining their forces to take Levain out of the equation. Strategically it was a sound proposal, to focus their might on a single enemy rather than each of them hitting their own target. Of course, the proposal had its own issues, like the division of the spoils after victory, but that was a matter for later.


    Despite Levain¡¯s famed seven walls, the Marquis doubted that the peasants would be able to hold if the Podovniy March and the Anduille Regency brought their full force against them. In fact, he had constructed siege engines over the past few years for such a purpose, and was all too eager to put them to their proper use.


    Earl Kolain¡¯s disastrous defeat without even reaching Levain city itself was an embarrassment he could use as a pretext to strip the man¡¯s descendants of their rank, as well as to dissolve the former Earldom, so there was at least a silver lining to that. The Marquis had also been informed that the city where the late Earl perished had since built tall walls around itself, which combined with its position on a hilltop made it into quite a fortification.


    Even so, given the relatively small size of the fort, the Marquis doubted that they could have that many defenders stationed there. It would take too much time to conquer the fort first if their goal was Levain, but leaving a small portion of his army to encircle the hill and besiege the fort would be a quick solution that also removed all risks of the fort¡¯s defenders sallying out and hitting them from behind.


    As such, Marquis Viktor Esvant spent the evening plotting out a plan to take over Levain in the shortest time possible, and then sent it over to the Regent of Anduille to see if the other man could add something to the table. Given that they used expensive messenger birds, he received a reply within two days, and was pleased at the young High Regent¡¯s suggestions, which showed his willingness to keep Caroma occupied and on guard against him so Podovniy could focus on Levain itself, while still contributing a significant force towards attacking Levain as well.


    After another couple of exchanges between them, the Marquis had come to an agreement to the High Regent, and he placed his signature and seal on another letter ¨C right next to the High Regent¡¯s own seal and signature ¨C that they jointly signed demanding the Southern Coalition¡¯s active participation on the matter.


    They basically gave the Southern Coalition a choice between the pan and the fire. If they chose to ignore the letter, then the Coalition would likely be taken apart by Levain and Caroma¡¯s joint forces. If they took the suggestion, then they would have to engage the by then distracted Levainian and Caroman forces with the purpose of keeping them occupied when they wished to return to their threatened homes.


    Either way the Southern Coalition was bound to take great losses, but one path also held a sliver of hope within.


    Meanwhile, the Podovniy March and the Anduille Regency had much to benefit from if they successfully removed Levain out of the equation. Just the old capital itself held much value, both symbolic and pragmatic, to whoever held it. With their best soldiers far away in the south, likely to be detained and kept from returning during the assault?


    The peasants wouldn¡¯t stand much of a chance against his armies.

 Chapter 321 - Discouraging Developments

    ¡°It is very rare that everything goes according to plan.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°What is it that made you ask for me all of a sudden, Captain?¡± asked temporary Chairman Bernd Adenauer as he stepped into Reinhardt¡¯s tent in the midst of the mercenary encampment north-west of the city proper. It was rare for Reinhardt to call for him to come over instead of delivering whatever message troubled him, so he realized that it must be something Reinhardt wanted to keep extra private for some reason.


    Which most likely meant something troublesome but probably unverified, as Bernd knew that the mercenary would have approached him more openly otherwise. On one hand, he was glad that the mercenaries knew to keep such information a secret to prevent panic should they be overheard, while on the other hand, the fact that the mercenaries had such a superior intelligence network irked him, as one of Levain¡¯s councilors.


    Clearly he needed to urge the other councilors to fund their intelligence department more, once the current expedition ended.


    ¡°Greetings, temporary chairman,¡± said Reinhardt as he stood up from behind the large desk that occupied a good chunk of his tent, with a large map of Levain¡¯s territory spread out over it and several figures placed on top of the map. ¡°I apologize for taking some of your time when you must be busy, but we have a potential problem at hand.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much,¡± noted Bernd as he stepped closer to look at the map before Reinhardt. Unlike the usual map he used ¨C which depicted Levain¡¯s territory in quite a bit of detail ¨C Bernd noticed that the map before Reinhardt was one that included their neighboring territories as well, and a disturbing amount of figures and tokens were placed on those territories. ¡°What am I seeing here, captain?¡±


    ¡°Mobilization reports,¡± replied Reinhardt curtly. ¡°Around a few days ago, one of my flying scouts reported from the border that there seemed to be a large-scale mobilization in our neighboring lands, so I gave them the order to take a closer look,¡± he explained to the councilman. ¡°What you see here is what I¡¯ve reassembled based on their reports this morning.¡±


    Bernd studied the map in silence for a moment. Part of his mind envied the mercenaries for possessing a platoon of flying scouts, something few people have even considered since the avian therians were notorious isolationists, whereas wind mages capable of flight at a safe height would have issues maintaining such flight for long periods of time or distance.


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    The other part of his mind quickly caught on to what Reinhardt was seeing from the map. Both Anduille to their north and Podovniy to their east were mobilizing, and given how the majority of their troops were gathered, chances were high that should they march, their target would be Levain.


    More than that, however, it was the scale of the mobilization that caught him off guard. Reinhardt had been kind enough to use the same sort of tokens and figures that Levain¡¯s militia typically used to designate units on a map, so Bernd knew that he was looking at a potential mobilization of at least a hundred twenty to fifty thousand troops, not counting another twenty thousand that seemed to be positioned closer to Caroma¡¯s northern border.


    An amount that would be a serious threat to Levain, to say the least.


    ¡°What are the chances that these forces might have other targets? The Goblin tribes or Boroes, maybe?¡± asked Bernd even if he knew that his question was pretty much wishful thinking at best. ¡°Maybe old Esvant had taken leave of his senses and wanted to try his luck with Sevras-Galastine?¡±


    ¡°I like your optimism, councilor, but I¡¯m afraid none of those make for a logical choice. The most logical choice for these nations to attack after such a mobilization would be us, sadly,¡± replied Reinhardt with a slight chuckle and a shake of his head. ¡°I believe you have realized that as well the moment you saw the way they mobilized their troops.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know, I know. A man can dream sometimes, though¡­¡± replied the temporary chairman with an exaggerated sigh and an exasperated look on his face. ¡°Aistrofuri damn it, why must they do this right when I¡¯m the one who¡¯s bloody in charge¡­¡±


    ¡°Shit happens, councilor,¡± replied Reinhardt as he offered Bernd a spare pipe, already filled with the blend of dried herbs he sometimes smoked. The clearly stressed councilman accepted the offer and lit it before he inhaled deeply of the smoke and exhaled, then repeated the process a few more times before he slowly calmed down. ¡°All we can do is to deal with what we have in hand.¡±


    ¡°I assume you got something in mind then?¡± asked the councilor back after he sighed once more and slightly relaxed. ¡°I know our militia has grown by leaps and bounds since you trained them, but this second batch are only halfway through their training, and besides, our foes outnumber us by quite a bit even with our reserves unless we were to conscript people.¡±


    ¡°Well, we have several contingencies in mind for this sort of scenario, though it will have to wait until we know for certain how many enemies we are dealing with and from where they are marching in,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°Like I mentioned in the previous meeting, we¡¯d need to get the civilians evacuated. I assume Levain can hold that many people, even under siege conditions, no?¡±


    ¡°We shared some of our supplies with the Caromans, but after the plentiful harvests of the past couple of years, we have enough food in the city to easily last us a good five years even if all the people in the vicinity were to gather there,¡± replied the councilor confidently. ¡°Surely you didn¡¯t plan just to hunker down and wait for our armies to return and relieve us, though?¡±


    ¡°Most definitely not,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°If we were to do that, it¡¯s the same as giving our enemies free reign to intercept the returning armies, allowing them to divide and conquer us,¡± he explained. ¡°No, councilor, my plan is that if these armies do come marching in, then you should lead the defense of the city.¡±


    ¡°As for me and my troops, we¡¯ll be out there, making life hell for the invaders.¡±

 Chapter 322 - A Decision made in Distress

    ¡°Sometimes, taking your time to think about all the options available instead of rushing towards an opening is the right thing to do. At other times, dallying like that would end up being the worst thing to do instead.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°One hundred fifty thousand soldiers!?¡± yelled councilman Krueger during an emergency council meeting held a week after Reinhardt and Bernd¡¯s discreet meeting. By that point of time Reinhardt¡¯s aerial scouts had ascertained that the mobilization of troops in Andouille and Podovniy were both moving towards Levain, with their march even starting on the same day, which indicated a certain level of cooperation and correspondence between the two forces.


    The only silver lining to the cloud was that neither the Regency nor the March could devote their full strength in the offensive, as Podovniy needed to guard against their southern neighbor in Sevras-Galastine, while Anduille not only had to cover most of the former empire¡¯s northern border in fear of goblin raids, but around thirty thousand of their troops were also marching south-west, towards Caroma instead.


    A development that naturally forced the remaining Caroman forces to focus on defense instead of coming to the aid of their allies.


    ¡°We have discussed countermeasures against such an emergency in the meeting last month, so I already ordered heralds to call the citizens to evacuate either to Levain or to Fort Aldenstadt,¡± said Bernd in a calm tone, though from the way he smoked deeply into his pipe, Reinhardt knew that it was a manufactured, artificial calm he projected to keep the others from panicking. ¡°I have also sent a mobilization order to all our reserves, as well as a call for volunteers from the rest of the citizenry. All told, we should have at least a hundred thousand with which to defend our city just from those alone, with another ten thousand in Aldenstadt.¡±


    ¡°Should we recall those in Aldenstadt to come to Levain¡¯s defense?¡± asked one of the younger civilian councilors.


    ¡°No,¡± stated Reinhardt openly. In the absence of many of the senior militia officers and with the way most of the younger ones were obedient to his words, he basically represented the military for that day¡¯s meeting, even if reluctantly. Although the responsibility and politicking wasn¡¯t to his liking, he had to admit that it would be easier to push his plan through from the position. ¡°Aldenstadt¡¯s fortifications would hold against most attackers, unless the Podovniy March chose to focus their forces against them.¡±


    ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t they do that?¡± asked the same youthful councilman.


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    ¡°Because that would waste too much time and give us the chance to demolish their allies from Anduille piecemeal if they did so,¡± explained Reinhardt to the young man. ¡°Mark my words. The March would most likely besiege Aldenstadt, leaving at least ten to twenty thousand of their numbers to keep the fort¡¯s defenders from sallying out to hit their back lines, but otherwise they would most likely march straight for Levain.¡±


    ¡°If I remember right¡­ you mentioned that we should not fall into a passive defense, did you not, captain?¡± asked another councilor, this one an old, wizened man who had the looks and demeanor of a sage. One of the most respected old scholars in the city, if Reinhardt remembered right.


    ¡°That is correct, sir,¡± he said, defaulting to a general title as he didn¡¯t remember the old man¡¯s name. ¡°If we stayed passively on defense, that would just allow our enemies to overwhelm our army and allies when they return to our aid. That is a scenario we could not allow to happen at all costs.¡±


    Murmurs sounded throughout the council chamber as the councilors debated over what Reinhardt just stated. It was true that the force Estelle led to the south was the elite of Levain¡¯s soldiery, and many of their military leaders had also departed with the force. That was before they considered their Caroman allies as well.


    ¡°Even so, captain, are you certain about what you proposed?¡± asked the old scholar once more with evident worry in his voice. Reinhardt had given a proposal on how to respond to the aggression before he gave the details of the enemy forces earlier, so the council members already had some time to digest his plan. ¡°You would be out there, beyond Levain¡¯s walls, facing an enemy that outnumbered you over ten to one, even in the best case scenario.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of that, councilor, which is why I asked for volunteers from the militia members we have trained to join us in this endeavor,¡± replied Reinhardt with a firm nod. ¡°Even in the best case scenario, I fully expect at least a third of our numbers if not more would not return alive, and the possibility that none of us would do so always exists.¡±


    Reinhardt had proposed to bring the entirety of the combat force available to the Free Lances ¨C over two thousand men ¨C along with however many volunteers he got out of the militia to fight a guerilla battle against the enemies. They would harass and hinder the enemy¡¯s march and make them feel unsafe and worried anytime they had to leave their camp.


    Given the vast discrepancy of numbers, however, such a task was inherently extremely risky. One mistake could easily lead to a horrible end for the operation, especially given the fact that they would have others with them, should there be a good number of volunteers from the militia. Having more people in such an operation was both a boon and a bane at the same time.


    On one hand, they would have more manpower to make the enemy bleed, but on the other hand, the chances of making a mistake also rose with the number of people working with them. At the moment, however, Reinhardt would take any help he could get.


    He was not silly enough to believe that his two thousand mercenaries could do much against a hundred fifty thousand strong invasion force on their own.


    ¡°Very well then, captain. You seem committed and confident, and given your willingness to risk your neck for our sakes, we feel that we owe you at least this much trust,¡± said the old scholar after some more discussion with the other councilors. We are in approval of the plan proposed by Captain Edelstein of the Free Lances.¡±


    ¡°So are we,¡± intoned the old dwarf from across the council chamber, whose words of agreement were soon echoed by others near him. Before long Bernd recorded the approval of the vast majority of the council, and gave Reinhardt the permission to enact his plan.


    Now he just had to actually do the job and live to collect his pay.

 Chapter 323 - Unexpected Support

    ¡°Sometimes help would arrive from unexpected sources.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I have to admit that this is far beyond even my most optimistic expectations, councilors,¡± admitted Reinhardt the next day. After the previous day¡¯s emergency session, Bernd had publicly announced a call for volunteers to leave the city and meet the enemy under the leadership of the mercenaries. The call was for all willing volunteers, be they members of the militia, reservists, or volunteers from amongst the citizenry to gather by noon the next day.


    They had expected a few hundred, maybe a couple thousand volunteers at best, but were instead greeted by a throng of nearly thirty thousand.


    A good chunk of the volunteers were from amongst the second batch of trainees that the Free Lances were in the midst of training, but there were a good five thousand or so who were just regular citizens instead. The number of volunteers definitely surprised Reinhardt, and it visibly surprised Bernd as well, with only the old councilor next to them looking like she already expected this sort of scene.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that after the civil war¡­ we have had many occasions where we had to voluntarily defend ourselves from outside predations, captain,¡± said the old woman with a faint ¨C yet clearly prideful ¨C smile on her lips. The old lady was named Miriel Cavanaugh, and was the senior-most of the council members that represented the militia. She was also the de facto head of the militia forces left in Levain at the moment.


    While the woman was no longer as physically fit as she used to be ¨C as could be expected by her advanced age ¨C she was by far the most experienced military commander in Levain, as she was a half-elf who had a two and a half century long career in the former Empire¡¯s military. Granted, she had already retired for a whole century by the time the civil war broke out, but her experience and knowledge had not suffered much.


    ¡°I could definitely appreciate the enthusiasm¡­ but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to pick and choose from what we have here. Having too many is just as bad as having too few people in the sort of plan I have in mind,¡± replied Reinhardt after some pondering. ¡°I will be taking around¡­ a third of the people assembled here, at most. They have all been made aware of the risks involved, yes?¡±


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    ¡°Everybody who gathered here has been made aware that they are volunteering for a dangerous assignment under your leadership where there is a significant risk of death, captain,¡± replied Bernd with a nod of his head. ¡°I made sure to stress those points on the announcement we made.¡±


    ¡°Very well, then,¡± nodded Reinhardt. He already noticed that most of the few militia trainees from the first batch of training that were left in Levain had also mingled amongst the crowd of volunteers by that point. ¡°Madam Cavanaugh, I would have to trouble you to ask the volunteers from the militia to group together according to their assigned squads and platoons up to their cohort as best they could. Also I¡¯d like to ask all the scouts to gather together from one side. Same with the citizens who work as hunters or rangers for a living.¡±


    ¡°Simple enough,¡± noted the old woman before she yelled out a series of commands that swiftly had the gathered crowd divide themselves by the unit.


    Reinhardt made a quick mental note of the arrayed militia before him, as the units they formed were naturally irregular in size, though in a couple occasions pretty much the entire cohort of five hundred were present together. What satisfied him more was the sight of over two thousand militia scouts ¨C they were typically attached to the various cohorts as needed ¨C and over a thousand local hunters and rangers lined up to the side.


    He quickly made his decision.


    ¡°All right, all of you, move to the right,¡± he said to the gathered scouts, hunters, and rangers. Those people were all used to living in the wilderness, and were the sort he needed the most for the operation he had in mind, so they were naturally his first choice. After a moment¡¯s thought, he singled out another group composed of five hundred militiamen standing in ordered lines and also asked them to move to the right.


    That second group were people he recognized as the five hundred cavalrymen who had been left behind in Levain. They likely realized that they wouldn¡¯t be of much use in defending the walled city, so they volunteered to join Reinhardt as a unit instead. Considering the geography of the region, there was an area which was ideal for cavalry activity, so Reinhardt was all too happy to accept them to reinforce his own cavalry.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ you, you, all of you as well¡­¡± he noted as he picked one group after another from the assembled militiamen. It didn¡¯t take long for the gathered volunteers to notice that Reinhardt mostly picked groups which had more people in them. While none of the groups present had much experience in the sort of warfare he had in mind, unit cohesion would still help, so he naturally prioritized the cohorts that had more members.


    It was noticeable that he skipped the first batch trainees who had volunteered, though, despite their cohort being one of the most complete. Before too long, Reinhardt had picked out twenty cohorts of varying sizes, on top of the cavalry and the scouts. The number of the people he chose easily totaled over ten thousand.


    ¡°That will be all. While I greatly appreciate the willingness of everyone gathered here to volunteer for such a risky assignment, I¡¯m afraid that I cannot afford to bring too many with me. The city still needs your help in its defense, so I ask for your understanding,¡± said Reinhardt after he was done. It was the main reason he had skipped on the first batch trainees other than the cavalry.


    He judged that the city¡¯s defenders would need their skills and expertise more than he would.

 Chapter 324 - Splitting Up

    ¡°Military logic states that one should never spread themselves thin before a numerically superior foe. Of course, that wisdom mostly applies to field battles. In other situations, it is often preferable to spread your troops even while fighting a foe with overwhelming numbers.


    Sometimes it might even be the only hope you have.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Well, that pretty much confirmed their routes,¡± noted Reinhardt as he moved the tokens that represented the forces of Podovniy and Anduille on the map. The information they used naturally came from their aerial scouts, who were easily able to stay well out of arrow distance while observing the enemy with their sharp eyes. Of course, it was still difficult for them to get an exact count of the enemy forces, but they were used to taking estimates.


    At the moment, approximately a hundred thousand soldiers were mobilizing in the Podovniy March, headed westwards on a route that would take them past Aldenstadt then straight towards Levain city itself. It was the shortest possible route to take, on the only road well-maintained enough that the army could pass through in good order, so it was easy enough to predict their movement.


    From the north, the Anduille Regency mobilized somewhere around fifty-five thousand or so troops, but Reinhardt predicted that they would march more slowly, as the roads to the north were poorly maintained and thus in no condition to handle the passage of such a large army. Besides that, the heavily forested terrain of the north side of Levain would make passage even more difficult.


    As it was, the enemy armies were likely to be separate from each other until they reached Levain city itself, and that was something Reinhardt wished to exploit as much as he could. Even if that meant splitting up his already meager forces before the enemy.


    ¡°Lars, you will be handling things up the north side. Who do you want with you?¡± asked Reinhardt. He and Lars would each lead their own forces in their attempt to slow down the enemy while making life miserable for them. ¡°The only regions where the cavalry can be of any real use are to the east and south, so I¡¯ll be taking Soledad and the cavalry from Levain with me.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. I¡¯d like to take several groups that are skilled at assassinations with me. The forested terrain should allow us to take a few heads every now and then,¡± noted Lars after some analysis. ¡°Of course, I¡¯d also like a portion of the scouts, ideally the ones who know the region.¡±


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    ¡°You can have them. I¡¯ll have them gathered up and ask which ones know the north well. You¡¯ll take half of them with you, with priority to those who know the land,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod of his head. ¡°As for assassins¡­ Think Friede and Fatimah¡¯s platoons are enough or would you need more?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more than plenty, captain,¡± replied Lars with a shake of his head. ¡°I¡¯d like one of the strike platoons as well, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Take Mischka with you then. Podovniy directly borders Boroes, so chances are they have some training to deal with therian-heavy units to begin with,¡± replied Reinhardt after some thought. ¡°I¡¯ll take the other two strike platoons. I need Gr¨¹n for something I have in mind, anyway. That good with you?¡±


    ¡°More than enough. Can I have the first archer platoon? They¡¯re more trained to fight in the woods,¡± asked Lars next.


    ¡°You can have them. I¡¯ll take Salicia and Branka¡¯s second with me, though, and Alvaro¡¯s too,¡± replied Reinhardt after some thought. ¡°Take Ery with you as well. It¡¯s about time she gets to deal with something on this scale on her own. Aly might still need some guidance, so I¡¯ll keep her with me. You can take Nicole¡¯s platoon with you as well, since chances are you¡¯ll need more scouts. I¡¯ll take Egil¡¯s with me.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. The northerners are likely used to fighting goblins given their location anyway. What about the militia?¡±


    ¡°You take around four thousand of them, after deducting the scouts. I plan to leave some near Aldenstadt to work with Gr¨¹n there, and I¡¯ve got more enemies to deal with on my side anyway,¡± replied Reinhardt quickly. ¡°The artifact pops made for me will help a lot on my end, but your side would be too far for it to function, so you¡¯ll have to make the calls on your own, clear?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint you, Captain,¡± replied Lars. Lars knew that he had gone far with the mercenaries, despite being their enemy before his rather coerced joining decades ago. Still, the gesture of trust, with over half of the company¡¯s fighting force ¨C including Reinhardt¡¯s own wife and one of his daughters ¨C being left in his hands was one that moved Lars nonetheless.


    ¡°Have everybody pack for the long haul. We won¡¯t be able to return to Levain to resupply when the city¡¯s being sieged, so expect to be out there in the wild for months,¡± Reinhardt added as an afterthought. ¡°I¡¯ve already informed our staff to prepare all the supplies we¡¯d need, and already negotiated so they can take shelter in Levain¡¯s third circle, so they should be safe.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain,¡± replied Lars with a respectful salute. They both knew that after that day, the next time they would likely see each other again would be after the hostilities were concluded, since they would be separated from each other by the main body of the enemy forces. Reinhardt already planned to stick to the south side of the expected path of Podovniy¡¯s army to allow for an easier connection with Estelle¡¯s forces should they return from the south, while Lars similarly planned to keep his forces to the west of Anduille¡¯s to prevent getting pincered between the two enemy forces.


    All that was left to do for the both of them was to do the job they had been paid for, and try to stay alive while they were at it.

 Side Story 53 - Grasping at Straws

    ¡°A desperate man would do anything in their power to stay alive.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°You old fools! Don¡¯t you all see that they¡¯re just planning to make use of us for their own benefits!? All we will achieve by going out to fight is to kill ourselves sooner!¡± yelled High Lady Selice Deveraux of Nomen at her fellows. It was an argument she had made multiple times in the past couple of days, since the latest reply from Podovniy arrived, bearing the seals of both the Marquis and the High Regent of Anduille with it.


    It was also the cause of the folly that had taken over the mind of her fellows of late.


    Selice herself used to be an odd sight at the table reserved for the First Lords of the Southern Coalition, being only in her late twenties as she took her late mother¡¯s position as High Lady of Nomen just two years ago. Nowadays she was no longer the youngest on the table, however, as Gerard Dukoz of Sebaque who had similarly taken over for his late father just half a year ago was nearly a decade her junior.


    She was also the only member of the First Lords to advocate for internal development rather than attempting further conquest, a point of view that the others had always mocked her for. She had been against the foray made by then High Lord Esteban Dukoz against Levain, but had been overruled, and now they were paying the price for that failed foray.


    Yet she was outvoted once again by the others who seemed almost desperate in their bid to retain power, no matter the method.


    Her eyes glared at her fellow First Lords ¨C High Lord Jerome Fandol of Cezar, High Lady Corrine Olstien of Olfas, and High Lord Gerard Dukoz of Sebaque ¨C who had all chosen to agree with the proposal sent by the Podovniy March and Anduille Regency. A proposal to sally forth and delay the troops belonging to Caroma and Levain from returning, at the promise of a share of their territories after the conquest.


    Clearly a promise made in bad faith, to Selice¡¯s considerations, but none of the other High Lords chose to see it that way. They saw it as the final straw to grasp in order to retain their position of power.


    She could only scoff helplessly in frustration at their short-sightedness.


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    ¡°The Lords have spoken, High Lady Deveraux,¡± said Gerard¡¯s arrogant voice from across the table. The boy had not been anywhere near the line of succession for his house, being a no-good prodigal who only knew how to have fun all day and night. However, the late High Lord Dukoz had been so confident in his victory that he brought his other sons with him to the campaign, and that ended up leaving Gerard as the last survivor of his house. ¡°Three voices against one. We shall sally forth and win back our honor. If you are too craven for this worthy undertaking, then I guess we wouldn¡¯t mind having you guard your city.¡±


    ¡°Courageous boy,¡± cooed the old crone, High Lady Corrine of Olfas, which just seemed to make the boy inflate himself more. Of course the stupid boy had quickly been reduced to a puppet of the two old high lords within moments of his induction to the rank, which granted them an easy majority in any vote. That rendered Selice helpless to contend against them. ¡°Let the Deveraux cower in their towers. We will need someone to play the watchdog over our empty homes anyway.¡±


    ¡°Hear, hear!¡± added Jerome all too cheerfully. The High Lord of Cezar was a morbidly obese man who likely never contributed to any of his state¡¯s many victories, which Selice knew was mostly thanks to competent generals from the previous High Lord¡¯s time. There were also rumors of his affair with High Lady Corrine, which was almost an open secret in the coalition, but would also go a long way to explain why the two were always in agreement during any votes. ¡°Just the three of us can muster an army fifty thousand strong between us. You should just stay behind if you¡¯re scared, little girl.¡±


    And of course the two older High Nobles loved to call upon their seniority over Selice, as both of them were old enough to have been her parent, or even grandparent.


    She could only sigh in defeat, knowing all too well that she had been politically outplayed since the old pair had sunk their claws into Gerard, not that the boy would have seen reason had she gotten to him first anyway. That boy always had delusions of grandeur and great ambitions, yet with none of the ability needed to make them come true.


    A few whispered sweet words and praises from the ¡°kind seniors¡± were all it takes to bring him over to their side.


    Instead, Selice tuned out the mocking of her fellow High Lords and began to consider the sort of preparation she would need in order to ensure her and her people¡¯s survival. She could already envision the end of the Southern Coalition ¨C a Coalition started by her late grandfather, then taken over by her father ¨C within a year, so her priority now was to prepare for it.


    Because unlike the other three, Selice still felt a measure of responsibility to her people and nation. She tried to become a better ruler compared to her compatriots, but she was powerless to make any changes to the overall situation, with the best she could do being to change things within her family¡¯s own territory. Now change came for them, and violently at that. So violently she highly doubted the Coalition would survive.


    Even if she couldn¡¯t escape the fall unscathed, she would do her damndest to save as much as she could out of her family¡¯s legacy and attempt to at least not let her people be disadvantaged too much. It was something she would do anything for. Even if it meant she would have to grovel before another and lick their shoes clean or become less than a slave herself.


    No matter what it takes.

 Side Story 54 - On the Southern Front

    ¡°The biggest difficulty in war is that sometimes, you know that you have to do something, yet are unable to do it, for any of a variety of reasons. Getting shit done when you need them done is an art in itself during wartime, I swear.¡± - ¡°Warlord¡± Gregoria Samsonova, famed mercenary captain from the Elmaiya Empire, circa 639 FP.


    ¡°How soon can we return?¡± asked Estelle to the gathered military commanders in the tent.


    At the moment, the combined force from Levain and Caroma had just continued their southwards thrust, halfway through conquering another three states that were part of the Southern Coalition, when they received news from their respective home cities about the impending threat of an invasion from their northern and eastern neighbors.


    Given their alliance, and how the two armies were working together at the moment, Marshal Publius Cornelius had called for an emergency joint meeting between the higher-ups of both forces. The disconcerted looks in the face of the gathered military commanders did little to assuage Estelle¡¯s worries about her city, though.


    ¡°The timing was bad,¡± admitted Marshal Barca with a shake of her head. ¡°We had just sent out our troops to hunt down the remnants in Agoloch and Jenis shortly before the messages arrived. It would take us a minimum of three or four days to regather those troops, and another three or four to prepare for the return. That is under the premise that we give up on both of those states.¡±


    ¡°Ours aren¡¯t that much better,¡± said Estelle honestly. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to withdraw until all the people who agreed to follow us have been evacuated from Nagos and Ecira, otherwise we¡¯d be breaking the very principle we stand for¡­ Even in our best estimates it would take at least another week to finish the evacuation there.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, the wait itself isn¡¯t too big an issue. We received these reports very early thanks to your mercenaries¡¯ flying scouts, so those armies we are informed about are still at least a week or two away from actually attacking our lands,¡± noted the female Marshal, to the nods of most commanders present. ¡°What I¡¯m worried about is if they also contacted the Coalition. If we are forced to battle them because they are preventing our withdrawal, that would waste more of our time and allow their armies to strike our homelands.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a likely thing to happen, Marshal?¡± asked Albrecht respectfully. While he technically had seniority over the Caroman Marshals by virtue of having served in the former empire¡¯s army before the two were even born and was technically of a similar rank to them in Levain, his old habits led to his respectful speech. ¡°Would the Coalition be willing to do such a thing? If they were to attempt to delay us, we would cripple their military as a whole, even in the best case.¡±


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    ¡°Normally I¡¯d say that rulers of a nation shouldn¡¯t be that foolish, Albrecht, but we had examples of our own of those types. Look at de Kars and his cronies back then,¡± interjected Estelle before either of the Marshals could respond. ¡°All the intelligence we have of the Coalition suggests that most of their leaders were much like him in demeanor, so I wouldn¡¯t put this sort of idiocy past them, if someone were to bait them with a lure that tickles their fancy.¡±


    ¡°As pessimistic as the idea might be, I believe what Chairwoman Estelle said just now has merit,¡± affirmed Marshal Cornelius with a nod. ¡°We have been foes with the Southern Coalition for most of our existence, so I like to think that our intelligence on them would be more complete. Every bit of information I have indicated that at least two of the current first lords are short-sighted fools, however. The other two are too new to their status that our people haven¡¯t managed to truly grasp their personalities yet, but one of them has a slew of bad rumors surrounding him.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°There are far too many stories about how the youngest son of the Dukoz house of Sebaque is a wastrel, a good for nothing that only knows how to abuse his family¡¯s power and spend their money,¡± elaborated Publius with a sigh. ¡°That youngest son also happened to be the only survivor of the family¡¯s direct line after¡­ well¡­ after you put the rest of them to the torch a few months ago, Chairwoman.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°I guess if those from the Regency or the March dangle a tasty enough bait to those fools, especially since one of them already has a grudge against us, they would bite right away,¡± said Marshal Barca with a wistful sigh. ¡°I propose that we prepare for immediate withdrawal while maintaining full alert for enemy attack, since it looks like it¡¯s more than likely to happen now.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad that right now I¡¯m wishing that one of the more competent sons had been left behind instead of the fool?¡± asked Estelle rhetorically. If the new High Lord of Sebaque was competent they would likely see the bait being dangled for what it was, and there was hope that the lords of the coalition would end up bickering amongst themselves. ¡°I support the Marshal¡¯s proposal. Commander Duncan, see that it is done properly once we return.¡±


    ¡°As you command, madam Chairwoman,¡± replied Albrecht from beside Estelle. The old commander was used to following orders, and wasn¡¯t the best decision-maker when it comes to larger decisions, where he favored deferring to those of higher ranks, but he was by far the most efficient commander that Estelle had working for Levain.


    Whatever the orders given, Albrecht Duncan would see them done, no matter what.


    ¡°We should also make our preparations, I guess,¡± noted Marshal Barca. ¡°I will send out my cavalry to scout towards our south if that¡¯s agreeable with you. They carry messenger birds with them, so they can inform us of any enemy on the way sooner than yours can.¡±


    ¡°That would be much appreciated, Marshal. I thank you for your generosity,¡± replied Estelle with a nod. The situation had developed in an unpleasant way, but there were still ways to turn it into a victory regardless.

 Chapter 325 - When the Bird Leaves the Nest

    ¡°That moment when grown children would leave to lead their own lives is a moment that any parent worth calling one would face with both pride and dread. I would know. I have seven adult children myself.¡± - Orleika Walks-Far, Shaman from the Western Isles


    ¡°Be careful out there, and do me proud,¡± said Reinhardt as he laid a hand on Erycea¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Listen to your mother and Lars, all right?¡±


    It felt like such a brief moment sometimes to Reinhardt, but the little girl he used to cradle with one hand had already grown into a young woman taller than his shoulder. Sometimes he wished that he could enjoy pampering his little girl a bit longer, but he knew that she had grown to become her own person, one who had earned her qualification to be part of the Company proper, at that.


    Reinhardt had given many considerations as to where he would deploy his Company¡¯s various platoons for this war. For the most part, he avoided giving his opponents a foe they were familiar with, which was why most of the company¡¯s therians were sent to the north instead of the east, and also why he took the goblins with him eastwards.


    Another consideration he put in mind was how Levain¡¯s territory was wider from west to east than it was tall from north to south, and as such, the enemy forces from Podovniy would need to cover a longer distance of travel. It was for that reason that he led more than half of the forces they had ¨C including the volunteers ¨C towards the east, while Lars led a smaller troop northwards.


    The eastern side of Levain¡¯s territory was more open, with certain areas where a cavalry force could do some good, which was why Reinhardt brought all the cavalry they had with him to the east. Not only that, but some of his commanders like Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia were familiar with the terrain around their hometown in Aldenstadt.


    In contrast, the northern side of Levain¡¯s territory ¨C as well as the north and west of the former empire in general, which Anduille was part of ¨C was dominated by dense, lush jungles, which made road maintenance difficult at best. It was terrain similar to what the Free Lances faced back in Theodinaz decades ago, a terrain Lars would be intimately familiar with.


    Given his performance back then with an uncooperative army and lack of authority, Reinhardt was looking forward to seeing how he would do when given complete authority as well as skilled soldiers under his command. Especially when part of them were people who were used to fighting in the style that Lars used back then and had since refined together with the Company.


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    He got a feeling that the northerners were due for a headache in the near future.


    The mercenaries and the volunteers had all made their preparations. Extra rations ¨C enough to feed them for an entire year without resupply ¨C were packed for everyone, consumables were prepared aplenty, be they bolts, arrows, sling pellets, or various alchemical nasties concocted by the goblins. Everyone had their weapons and armor checked for defects before they left.


    While Lars would lead his roughly five thousand men towards the north directly and begin preparing the terrain to his favor with traps and other unexpected surprises, Reinhardt¡¯s force that headed east were split into two halves. Most of his group did the same as Lars. They dug pitfalls and made all sorts of traps to prepare for the enemy¡¯s arrival.


    Another group ¨C Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon together with a five thousand strong detachment from Levain¡¯s militia separate from the volunteers ¨C headed straight for Aldenstadt. The militia detachment was to reinforce Aldenstadt¡¯s defenses, increasing the city¡¯s defenders to over ten thousand men. On the other hand, Gr¨¹nhildr was to ¡°borrow¡± people from her mother, local soldiers who knew the terrain around the city like the back of their hands, and would then prepare to conduct operations from bases hidden within the abandoned mines near the city.


    Their job was to make the likely siege of Aldenstadt a nightmarish experience for the besiegers.


    Reinhardt had considered having Salicia do the same, but he felt that the one-eyed archer¡¯s capabilities were better used with the rest of his troops instead, since they would be harrying the Podovniy troops on their way to Levain and even after they reached the city. Salicia¡¯s ability to just pick off any enemy commander that strayed into her range was far too useful to omit for their purpose.


    Naturally, he couldn¡¯t help but to worry for Elfriede and Erycea¡¯s safety at the north, but Reinhardt shook his head to clear his mind. They all knew the risks associated with their occupation, and they all willingly took it. If anything, he knew that Elfriede was the one person most likely to return alive even should disaster struck in the north, and Erycea had also proven herself over the past few years.


    Reinhardt planned to use the artifact he had been gifted on his birthday back then to coordinate his troops for the operation, which should give them quite a bit of advantage over their foes. Since he wouldn¡¯t need many scouts with the artifact¡¯s help, he only took Hannah with him, while the rest of the aerial scout platoon was given to Lars to help him coordinate the northern area of operations.


    The volunteers from Levain helped a lot since even the ones with no experience for this sort of irregular warfare could at least help with constructing traps and the like. Meanwhile, the extra scouts, especially those who know the local area well, was also a boon. Reinhardt ended up sending a larger portion of the scouts ¨C everyone who were from the north or knew the north well ¨C to Lars, since he reckoned that the north would need the extra scouts more.


    They made their preparations while the enemy was still on the way, Reinhardt¡¯s forces leaving Levain even before the forces from Podovniy finished mustering their army. By the time the enemy forces reached Levain¡¯s borders, Reinhardt, Lars, and their people were already busy at work preparing all sorts of unpleasant welcome for the invaders.

 Chapter 326 - Preparing a Welcome

    ¡°One reason why intelligence is crucial is because when your enemy knows you¡¯re coming, they would have the luxury of time to prepare a warm welcome for you.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°No, No, you want it about half as wide and twice as deep,¡± explained Arne to a group of volunteer militiamen who were digging holes in the middle of the main road that led to Levain from the east. Reinhardt¡¯s group had also left the road behind them riddled with all sorts of pitfalls and other traps to further inconvenience the invaders as they passed.


    All of which were noted down meticulously in a map of the region, of course. It would have been irresponsible not to do so for later cleanup work after all.


    At the same time, they also caused slight damage to the compacted soil of the road in areas where they weren¡¯t creating traps to give the illusion that some work had been done there as well. Without a close inspection, it was practically impossible to tell apart which area actually contained some traps and which didn''t, which helped to camouflage the actual trapped zones.


    Most of the work had been done by the militia, with members from the mercenary company providing directions and setting up some of the more meticulous parts. The road was mostly trapped with pitfalls, drops that were narrow and deep, the opening supported well enough that it was unlikely to budge unless someone stepped directly in its center.


    The drop along was far enough that an average soldier would likely sprain their ankle unless they were very lucky, with worse injuries as a possibility. Naturally, the mercenaries weren¡¯t satisfied with just that. Some of the pits were left ¡°plain¡±, but others had sharpened stakes in them. Sometimes they were placed at the bottom, pointing upwards, while others had the stakes inserted diagonally into the walls of the pit, pointed at a downwards angle to allow easy entry but complicating egress.


    A few others even had a pool of flammables spiked with goblin kindling at the bottom of the pit, with a setup that would cause a flint to strike steel and ignite the whole thing explosively should someone step into the pit.


    Other than that, nearly invisible tripwires were set up on the sides of the road, where triggering them would cause a bent, flexible wooden pole with multiple stakes tied to it to lash out over the road and strike whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the way. Any forests along the road by the trapped zones were similarly trapped with all sorts of nooses, pits, and tripwires, which would make them hell to traverse.


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    All of which was only possible because the mercenaries had detected the attack coming before the armies involved even left their nations.


    When the Podovniy army reached the border between the two nations, Gr¨¹nhildr ¨C who went ahead of the rest of the force ¨C had already reached Aldenstadt, with the reinforcements from Levain a mere day behind her. After some quick negotiations with Salicia¡¯s older sister ¨C who was the acting governor of Aldenstadt ¨C and her own mother, they quickly came to an agreement.


    Daleeni lent Gr¨¹nhildr over a thousand men from the City¡¯s guards along with some volunteers from the people and the militia, all of whom were locals who knew the region well. The city¡¯s own defense would rely on the ten thousand militiamen ¨C including the reinforcements ¨C from Levain, as well as the walls that protected the place.


    Reinhardt¡¯s proposed plans had turned Aldenstadt into a veritable fortress, one that would be costly and painstaking to siege and take down with any sort of haste. It was one of the reasons he was confident that the enemy army would skip the fort and head straight to Levain instead. Due to Aldenstadt¡¯s location at the top of a hill and the way only two roads connected the foot of the hill to the fort, the number of people that could assault it at any one time was greatly limited, and bringing siege engines towards the fort was difficult at best.


    Of course, that was before one took into consideration how Daleeni ordered the roads that led up the hill to be trapped to hell and back once Gr¨¹nhildr left and the reinforcement arrived.


    Over in the north, Lars did the same to the ¡°roads¡± that led south to Levain. Unlike the east, the north side didn¡¯t have roads as large or well-maintained as the rest of the region. The often heavy rainfall made the roads of the region a muddy hell roughly half the time, while the hot and humid environment was not ideal for people to stay on the road for long either.


    Perhaps the northerners from Anduille wouldn¡¯t be too troubled by such conditions, since their homeland had a similar environment, but even so Lars doubted that too many of the soldiers had ever delved deeper into the lush jungles of the north. On the other hand, the mercenaries had trained quite a bit under such conditions, during the time they spent training and looking for contracts in Zephirous.


    The lush jungles in Theodinaz were quite similar to the northern ones, after all.


    If anything, the road¡¯s poor condition during the rainy season ¨C which was from the middle of autumn until around the middle of spring ¨C made it far easier to conceal any traps the group created, though they had to take precautions not to let too much water seep into the traps that needed to stay dry. On the other hand, in some places they actually just left their pit traps uncovered, with the puddles of water making it impossible to notice the hole until some unfortunate sod stepped into it.


    Lars himself was reminded of the time when he was fighting for his homeland against the mercenaries, before he joined them, and couldn¡¯t help but shake his head at the irony of using the exact same tactics and skills he used to inflict damage to the company back then to do so against a different enemy in their employ now.


    Such was life, however, and he definitely didn¡¯t mind his employment with the mercenaries, where he was for once recognized and valued instead of just dismissed due to his birth.

 Side Story 55 - The Worst Case Scenario

    ¡°Pray for the best, but also prepare for the worst. Just in case.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Tch. Already?¡± Estelle asked when she saw Albrecht barge into her tent uninvited with a slightly worried look on his face. It had only been two days since they had a meeting with the Caromans to discuss a retreat since their home nations were under attack. The fact that the usually unflappable old commander had a look of worry on his face was enough for her to guess that the worst had likely come to pass.


    ¡°Unfortunately so, Madam Chairwoman,¡± replied Albrecht with a shake of his head. ¡°Our scouts just reported back that they sighted the Southern Coalition¡¯s army just a day¡¯s march away last evening, so we should be seeing them this afternoon by the latest,¡± he said openly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid a battle against them.¡±


    ¡°I had guessed that this might end up being the case, but at times like these I hate being right,¡± said Estelle with a loud sigh as she covered her face with her hands for a moment. After only a short while she lifted her head once more and steepled her fingers as she thought about the situation. ¡°How many men are we looking at, Commander?¡±


    ¡°Estimates are around fifty thousand, Madam Chairwoman,¡± answered Albrecht without missing a beat, clearly having memorized the report on his way to her tent. ¡°Curiously though, we noticed banners from Cezar, Olfas, and Sebaque amongst the army, together with the flags of the remaining minor states further south, but didn¡¯t spot any belonging to Nomen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s better, at least,¡± noted Estelle with a thoughtful look on her face. ¡°Nomen is one of the First Lords¡¯ territories, so if they didn¡¯t participate there¡¯d be less elites for us to deal with. We also likely burned most of Sebaque¡¯s elites to death on the plains months ago, so that leaves only those from Cezar and Olfar remaining.¡±


    ¡°That is my assumption as well, Madam,¡± said Albrecht. ¡°Our scouts naturally couldn¡¯t get a clear look at the situation, but they estimated that only around twenty thousand or so of the enemy looked properly equipped, while the rest of the army looked more like conscripts. That matches up with what we know of the Coalition¡¯s habits.¡±


    ¡°Still a lot of them, though, and we don¡¯t exactly have our full force available either,¡± argued Estelle. At the moment, since part of the armies from Levain and Caroma were occupied with keeping order in the territories they already occupied, neither of them were at full power. There were only around twenty thousand troops in each of their armies, which placed their foe with at least a quarter as many soldiers. ¡°Any knight orders in sight?¡±


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    ¡°They were too far for the scouts to be able to identify their pennants, but they estimated at least two to four thousand knights,¡± replied the old commander honestly.


    ¡°So probably all the knights in Cezar and Olfas then, assuming Nomen is truly staying back,¡± said Estelle as she thought about the situation. The southern coalition didn¡¯t exactly care much for light cavalry as their lands were poorly suited to raising horses, which meant that most horses used in their military were imported ones.


    As a result, horses were pretty much something only ridden by commanders, nobles, or knights. The knights numbered the most of the three groups, and served as heavy cavalrymen that would charge through and shatter army formations on the battlefield. While the border regions did not put much value in heavy cavalry due to how they were poorly suited with the external foes they had to worry with, the Southern Coalition¡¯s lands were part of the former empire¡¯s interior.


    Where most of the fighting they saw was amongst themselves.


    In comparison, Caroma¡¯s cavalry was entirely light cavalry, a tradition that carried over from their past when part of the region was the nation¡¯s frontier against the tribal orcs of the northern plains. In the present day, the Caromans had pursued peace and trade with their neighbors, but the Empire had been enemies with those tribes for centuries in the past.


    Heavy cavalry was of little use against said orcs since their superior physical prowess meant that most heavy cavalry charges ¨C while they would still claim their prize in blood ¨C would just end up getting bogged down and killed by the orcs. In contrast, speedy and nimble light cavalry that used hit and run tactics were more effective, and also a good bit more likely to actually return from their sorties.


    Levain¡¯s own cavalry were primarily light cavalry since they learned from Ze¡¯phane, who was an orc from the north. The orcs¡¯ idea of ¡°heavy¡± cavalrymen were people who rode the rare tamed giant lizards that lived in those plains, with some of the largest of the creatures acting more like mobile archer platforms rather than any sort of cavalry.


    Since Levain lacked such beasts and only had horses suitable for their soldiers to ride on, they were trained as light cavalry instead. It would have been possible to train some as heavy cavalry, but the horse breeds that were favored by the late Imperial family ¨C which was the stock Ze¡¯phane used to breed the current herd of mounts used by the cavalry ¨C were northern prairie horses, which were swift and fast, but not suitable for carrying heavy loads.


    Besides, it would have cost twenty times as much to outfit a heavy cavalryman properly compared to a light cavalryman, and the Free City¡¯s budget was rather limited.


    The combined force from Caroma and Levain likely had more cavalry compared to their foes, as between the two of them they totaled around six thousand cavalrymen, with three quarters of those from Caroma. They also likely boasted an advantage in soldier quality, but the difference of quantity remained worrisome even so.


    ¡°Pass the order to the soldiers to prepare for a battle,¡± commanded Estelle in the end. ¡°Make sure to send this info to the Caromans as well, in case they didn¡¯t know of it yet, though I doubt that. Also ask the Marshals to meet with me as soon as they can afford it.¡±

 Side Story 56 - An Unfortunate Delay

    ¡°To destroy or otherwise render an army no longer fit for further battles is a task most difficult. On the other hand, if one merely wants to keep an army too busy to help others, that is a task far more easily achieved through many methods.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed strategist from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°The bastards aren¡¯t going to engage us,¡± cursed Commander Albrecht Duncan of the Levain militia quietly, so that his voice wouldn¡¯t be heard beyond the small gaggle of leaders from both the Levainian and Caroman army gathered around him in their temporary command post. ¡°They¡¯re just sitting pretty across from us to keep us here by the threat of their presence.¡±


    It had already been the third day since the Southern Coalition army¡¯s arrival near where the joint forces from Levain and Caroma were gathered. On the first day, there had been no battle, which was not unexpected as the Coalition¡¯s army only arrived late in the afternoon and busied themselves preparing their encampment.


    Back then the commanders had considered but eventually overruled the idea of a night attack, as it was clear that the Coalition army was well prepared for such an eventuality.


    The second day had only seen minor skirmishes, with the Coalition army making several threatening maneuvers but refusing to commit to any actual battles, retreating shortly after either the Caromans or Levainians reacted to their thrust. The skirmishes saw a few dozen dead each time, and injured in the three digit range, but those were ultimately inconsequential.


    Not when the joint forces of Levain and Caroma numbered forty thousand and their foes had fifty-seven thousand soldiers under their lead.


    By noon the third day, it was obvious that the Coalition army wasn''t prepared to tangle with the joint Levainian and Caroman forces in an actual battle, as they instead used their plentiful conscripts to make forays that were quickly abandoned time and again. They seemed perfectly prepared to just waste time and prevent their foes from retreating by the threat of a pursuit from a superior force.


    It had given the commanders from Levain and Caroma a bit of a dilemma, admittedly.


    ¡°Attempting to retreat with so many foes close at hand is too risky,¡± noted Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma. ¡°Even if we left volunteer rear guards, they could just overpower them with numbers, and that would also cause a hit to our soldiers¡¯ morale. While it is perhaps the simplest open trick in the strategy books, it is indeed an effective one in this situation.¡±


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    ¡°It would be easier if the bastards could be lured to a battle,¡± commented his wife, Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca with an annoyed scoff. ¡°If we could break these bastards and rout them, we would be able to pull back at our leisure, as it¡¯s unlikely they¡¯d be able to bother us if they¡¯re too busy running away for their lives.¡±


    ¡°The problem is that they¡¯re not biting the bait so far,¡± noted Estelle with a sigh. ¡°Each time we tried to bait their armies, they only solidified their defenses and hunkered down instead of sallying forward to meet us. The High Lords of Cezar and Olfas might not be gifted in military matters, but they have old generals who covered that deficiency for them.¡±


    ¡°Sebaque had no such leaders other than their fool of a lord, no?¡± asked Brutus, one of the Caroman generals under Publius. ¡°They should be the breaking point of our enemies, I think.¡±


    ¡°Normally I would agree, but they placed the bastard right in the center of the formation with his barely seven thousand men,¡± replied Albrecht to the Caroman General¡¯s suggestion. ¡°The other two old farts held the flanks, so if we tried to break through their center and mess with the brat, they would use their numbers to fan around and flank us in turn.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still a viable solution, but it¡¯d be somewhat costly as it¡¯d involve a pitched battle,¡± noted Publius with a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°Still¡­ If we wish for an expedient solution to the issue we face presently, it might be the best option available to us. Chairwoman, would your people be amenable to holding against one of their flanks while we held off the other?¡±


    Estelle gave a questioning look to Albrecht beside her, who after a moment of thought, nodded firmly in answer to that question. ¡°We should be able to, Marshal,¡± she replied to Publius right afterward. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°As I¡¯m certain you¡¯re aware of, the portion of my army we have present at the moment leaned a bit heavily on archers and cavalry,¡± stated Publius, to which Estelle and the other Levainian commanders nodded. They were aware that the Caroman army present had their cavalry and archers comprise nearly half of their numbers.


    In comparison, the archers and cavalry amongst Levain¡¯s troops only accounted for around a fifth of their total numbers. Granted, a large portion of the Caroman archers were burly mountaineers from Oiloma, who were just as comfortable with a melee weapon in hand as with a longbow, but they still weren¡¯t as well suited for close combat as the better-trained infantrymen.


    ¡°I plan to use most of our forces to stall the enemy left flank, and would ask your troops to hold against their right flank. It¡¯s fine if you cannot push them back since they would have greater numbers than us, as long as you keep them occupied,¡± explained the Marshal to the commanders present. ¡°While we do that, Anni will lead a strike force of five thousand straight into the enemy center which is held by the forces from Sebaque. Should she succeed in routing them, she would then flank the enemy¡¯s flanks from the inside of their formation.¡±


    ¡°The plan is rather risky for the Lady Marshal, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked Estelle with some doubt in her voice.


    ¡°Eh, can¡¯t catch a drake without going into its nest,¡± replied the female Marshal with a shrug of her broad shoulders. ¡°Besides, me and my folks are prolly the best suited for this job. Your mercs would¡¯ve been ideal too, but they aren¡¯t here, so them¡¯s the breaks.¡±

 Side Story 57 - Baiting the Enemy

    ¡°Sometimes, even the best option is still an unpleasant one.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    As Estelle watched the ongoing battle between the Levain Militia and forces led by the Southern Coalition¡¯s First State of Olfas, she noticed an immediate difference between her people and the Caromans despite how they fought them to a draw in the exhibition merely weeks ago.


    When it came to smaller scale battles, her people did well, extremely well, even. On the other hand, at a larger scale battle like the one they were currently embroiled in ¨C the Southern Coalition¡¯s forces had no choice but to fight back when the joint forces of Levain and Caroma assaulted them forcefully with all they got ¨C they still lacked experience and cohesion compared to their Caroman counterparts.


    Where Marshal Publius Cornelius handily fought off over twenty thousand enemies with only fifteen thousand of his own on their army¡¯s right flank, Estelle¡¯s militiamen couldn¡¯t do better despite fielding their full force of twenty thousand against an enemy only slightly more numerous than themselves. Meanwhile, the strike force led by the Lady Marshal personally still waited in the middle of their formation.


    They waited for an opening to exploit like a predator watching its prey.


    On the left flank, the Levain Militia formed solid formations under Albrecht¡¯s leadership, where they held a clear advantage over the conscripts their opponents used as cannon fodder. The problem was that they had to pay attention to the stronger force of men-at-arms that the First Lords fielded, the elites from their home territories.


    Those troops often hid themselves amongst the conscripts to strike unexpectedly, which caused some trouble to the militia formation.


    In contrast, the Caromans barely budged when the Coalition¡¯s elites made surprise attacks, their formation as firm as a reef against a tidal wave. It was at times like those where the greater experience of the Caroman soldiers really showed their advantage. As well trained as Levain¡¯s militia were, they mostly had no experience with real battles yet.


    If there was one field where the joint force had a definite advantage over the coalition troops, it was with their archers. The coalition troops had few of them despite their larger numbers, and what archers they had were rather poorly trained. There was no comparison between them and the trained longbowmen from Oiloma who rained deadly arrows into the middle and back of the enemy formations, or even the archers from Levain who, while less skilled, were just as effective during the fighting.


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    Then Estelle noticed how a cavalry force from Cezar ¨C over a thousand or so knights in heavy armor riding horses covered in barding ¨C circled around the fighting to strike at the militia¡¯s left flank. Her soldiers saw the incoming threat and swiftly set up a shield wall while bracing their spears against the ground, which discouraged the knights.


    Had the knights forced the matter, their charge would have still dealt a lot of damage to the militia, but it would have cost the knight at least some of their numbers as well. As such they canceled the charge, turning their horses around to return to their army¡¯s side in a smooth turn.


    Before they managed to complete the turn, however, Levain¡¯s own cavalry rode out from behind their infantry lines, all fifteen hundred riders on their nimble prairie steeds. They hurled javelins as they passed beside the enemy riders and harried them until some of the knights turned to chase them off. The light cavalry didn¡¯t inflict much in terms of damage, other than a few unfortunate knights who took javelins to gaps in their armor or horse¡¯s bardings, but they served their purpose to keep the enemy knights in check.


    The Caromans had even less issue with the enemy knights, as even knights in heavy armor had to worry about being whittled to death by a light cavalry force nearly triple their size. The Caroman light cavalry even had the leeway to send some of their riders to harass the Cezar formation they faced from time to time, and Estelle was certain that she saw the Marshals¡¯ daughter amongst the riders.


    After a few hours of back and forth where nothing of consequence really took place, finally the fish bit the bait.


    The troops from Levain and Caroma had made it look like they weren¡¯t paying much attention to the relatively weak center of the enemy army, and in fact made it look as if they had some openings in that area. They were hoping to goad and bait the inexperienced leader of Sebaque to commit to an attack, where he would then likely cause some openings to form on his own lines instead.


    So when he finally bit the bait, the troops in the region swiftly spread to the sides to give way to Anni¡¯s strike force who had been eagerly awaiting that exact moment. Before the Sebaque forces managed to react, five thousand Caroman soldiers led by the female Marshal herself struck them with overwhelming force and broke through their loose formation within moments.


    Sebaque¡¯s forces had been greatly weakened after Levain burned most of their elites to death months ago, including most of their experienced generals. As it was, out of the seven thousand soldiers, only a thousand or so were elites, led by the remaining generals of Sebaque and the young High Lord himself. It was far from enough to stop the charge led by Anni, however, whereas the conscripts they had to make up the numbers were pretty much useless before her assault.


    While it had taken the army most of the day to bait out the Sebaque forces, it only took Anni and her troops less than half an hour to break through the Sebaque formation, whereupon they immediately split into two halves and turned to strike at the surprised Coalition forces from the inside, where they least expected an attack.


    As for the remaining Sebaque troops they left in their wake, the other Levainian and Caroman soldiers nearby took the opportunity to finish them off. The ones that hadn¡¯t managed to run away, that was.

 Side Story 58 - Sebaques Folly

    ¡°The worst mistake anyone can make is to think of themselves as a predator when they were in fact, just prey.¡± - Old folk saying.


    While the joint forces of Levain and Caroma had noticed the weakness of the center portion of the Southern Coalition¡¯s formation due to the poor quality of troops and inexperience of the High Lord of Sebaque leading them, the leaders of the Southern Coalition themselves had not failed to notice the same.


    Both the High Lord of Cezar and the High Lady of Olfas might not have much in terms of military skill, but they were not foolish enough to discard the opinion of their old and experienced generals. As such, they had placed the forces of Sebaque in the center partly to mollify the foolish young lord of Sebaque with an ¡°important¡± assignment, as well as to keep them out of potential trouble.


    Each time the young lord tried to mobilize his troops, an advisor planted by the two First Lords would advise him that the time is not yet right, filling the young fool¡¯s head with delusions of grandeur from making the decisive move of the battle while at the same time keeping him under control.


    Not even they had expected the young fool from Sebaque to be so stupid and stubborn as to ignore the advisor when he lost his patience after repeated baiting from the other side, however. It was almost a textbook case of an incompetent commander dismissing advice from those who knew better, out of pride or arrogance or whatever, nobody would ever know.


    Both the High Lord of Cezar and the High Lady of Olfas were warned by their senior generals about the sudden movement of their center, and they looked on, baffled, for a brief moment before they sent messengers to call the young fool back. Unfortunately, messengers took time, as they had to traverse the battlefield to reach their target first, and it was far too late by then.


    The Young Lord of Sebaque led the charge from near the front, manic pride evident on his chubby face as he exhorted his troops ¨C mostly conscripts with the last couple hundred or so of the state¡¯s retainer men-at-arms that was left behind ¨C forward. He was so certain that it was his moment to shine in the spotlight, to strike the decisive blow that would turn the tide of the war and become a hero.


    In a way, his actions did indeed turn the tide of the battle.


    As the troops from Sebaque advanced, they found that the enemy soldiers in the perceived weak spot ¨C right around where the Caroman troops met the Levainian ones ¨C seemed to disperse before their advance. Such a sight emboldened the troops and the Young Lord, and even the fuming advisor by his side couldn¡¯t help but to question himself.


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    Once the enemy soldiers finished dispersing, however, the Sebaque forces found themselves face to face with five thousand burly and savage looking troops, led by what was probably the largest, burliest human woman either the Young Lord or the advisor had ever seen. Before either of them could react to the sudden reveal of the waiting army before them, the large woman bellowed a command and the thousands of enemy soldiers charged straight for the forces from Sebaque.


    The Young Lord could only watch as the savage northerners bowled over his troops as if they were adults manhandling children, his conscripts breaking with almost no resistance despite the yelled exhortations from their officers.


    Not that those officers survived for long afterwards, as the moment one of the savages reached them, they would slaughter the officers without mercy.


    Before the Young Lord could turn his horse and flee ¨C not that it would be an easy feat to do with the bulk of his forces crowded up behind him, as yet unaware of the fate awaiting them at the frontlines ¨C the enemy had already reached him. The burly woman herself led a smaller group of unwashed savages and went directly towards him, smashing the advisor aside with a large mace when he tried to intervene.


    Gerard Dukoz, the High Lord of Sebaque, almost vomited his breakfast out when he saw the bloody, pulpy mess the advisor was reduced to by that blow. Then he turned his eyes back towards the enemy and saw the same bloody mace advancing towards him with great momentum behind it. A belated realization came to his mind that the enemy was not interested in capturing nobles and ransoming them for money here.


    They were playing for keeps and he got in their way, like a frog that accidentally placed itself on the path of a carriage¡¯s wheels, with him having just as little power to change his fate.


    At least those were the last thoughts that passed through his mind before the mace shattered his skull into so many pieces as if it was a ripe watermelon, with blood and gooey grayish brain matter as well as bits of bone ¨C some with chunks of scalp still attached ¨C raining down on everyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity.


    His very public and gruesome death broke whatever morale his soldiers had left, and the enemy troops led by Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca in person broke through them rapidly, too fast for the other enemy commanders to react in time. Within half an hour they had broken through the Sebaque formation and immediately split into two groups as they pounced on the inside flanks of the Cezar and Olfas formation.


    The sudden change in situation was a costly one for the Southern Coalition forces, as the foes they were already entangled with immediately redoubled their efforts upon noticing Marshal Barca¡¯s success, which inadvertently placed the Coalition¡¯s forces on the backfoot. Despite the disadvantageous situation, however, the senior generals from both states showed their worth and allowed their armies to retreat back to their base in relatively good order as the battle ended around sunset that day.


    Which was quite a feat considering that the collective army had taken over three out of every ten men in casualties that day, though most of that were the Sebaque forces.


    In contrast, their foes from Caroma and Levain had taken far less damage, maybe one in ten in terms of casualties, and were of high morale following their success that day.


    All that combined to make the High Lord of Cezar and High Lady of Olfas curse out the late Young Lord of Sebaque for his folly.

 Side Story 59 - Letting the Enemy See what they Want

    ¡°Sometimes letting the enemy have their way might be the best path to victory.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°That went pretty well,¡± commented Estelle when the commanders met once again that night, with bowls of hot stew and hard bread set before each of them. The Caroman commanders had made it a habit to share the joys and pains with their soldiers, and as such ate the same rations that they did. Estelle saw that as a good habit to emulate and had followed along.


    ¡°I agree,¡± nodded Marshal Publius Cornelius as he dipped the stale loaf of bread into his stew. The stew itself was mostly flavored with preserved dried and salted meats, thickened with grains and spiced with whatever wild vegetables the foragers managed to find that day. Not something Estelle expected a Marshal to be eating, but the middle-aged man still ate his share with gusto without a care. ¡°Things could have barely gone better for us today. Minimal casualties on our side while we inflicted a good amount of damage on our enemies.¡±


    ¡°Not enough to really stop them, though,¡± noted his wife, Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca from her seat beside him. The burly Lady Marshal also ate her share of the humble meal without showing any distaste, though if the stories about her origins were true, Estelle guessed that she was used to even worse food in her past. ¡°Most of the Cezarian and Olfasian core troops aren¡¯t damaged, so they¡¯d still be able to put up a good fight, especially now that the dead weight is no longer something they have to worry about.¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest then, Marshals?¡± asked Estelle as she sipped upon the stew. The thick broth had a somewhat too salty taste with a hint of meat, likely due to the use of salted meats for making it. Even so, she wasn¡¯t bothered in the least by it. After all, she herself had lived her early life in the streets. Moldy, half-rotten bread was something street urchins like her would have fought over back then.


    ¡°Half the rest time for tonight, then we withdraw by dawn,¡± replied Publius with a conspiratorial smirk on his face. ¡°Ah, but we wouldn¡¯t be withdrawing for real, not yet, at least. We will have our troops prepare an ambush right here,¡± he said as he pointed to a spot on a map with his spoon. Estelle recalled that the region in question was a hilly one with multiple low hills set on grassy plains. ¡°Part of our troops will pretend to be slow to withdraw and lure the enemy there, where the rest will be waiting for them.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s around a day¡¯s march to the north from here¡­ I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be able to get there that fast,¡± noted Estelle as she recalled what she could about the region.


    ¡°Of course, we wouldn¡¯t be going there right away. We will march quickly tomorrow, but give our people enough time to rest at night, all while making it look like we¡¯re withdrawing in full,¡± explained Anni with a smirk much like her husband¡¯s. ¡°Around then we¡¯d also start showing signs that some parts of the army can¡¯t keep up with the rest to further sell the illusion we¡¯re feeding our enemies. I¡¯d like to ask if some of yours would like to volunteer for this? No insult intended, but for our enemies it¡¯d be more believeable that way.¡±


    ¡°None taken, Marshal. We are well aware how other nations view our militia,¡± assured Estelle with a nod of her head, a nod that was duplicated by Albrecht and the other Levainian commanders present. They were used to being underestimated and looked down upon by others. ¡°So how do you want us to do it? Let us know the details¡­¡±


    ******************************


    When dawn arrived the next day, the Southern Coalition forces were surprised to discover that the Levainian and Caroman encampments had been completely abandoned, with not a single one of the soldiers remaining. In the dark of the night, their sentries had been unable to notice their enemies¡¯ withdrawal until they were long gone.


    Both the High Lord and High Lady immediately mobilized their armies and sent out their scouts in pursuit. The offer they received from Anduille and Podovniy stipulated a condition in it, namely that the Southern Coalition would delay the return of the troops there for at least a couple of weeks. It had only been half that time, so they nearly panicked when they saw the sudden withdrawal.


    While the two armies led their forces in haste as they pursued the withdrawing Levainian and Caroman troops, they still saw neither hide nor hair of their foe until they stopped for the night. It was only the next morning that their scouts reported having found the temporary encampment where their foes rested the previous night.


    They also reported that part of the enemy forces seemed to be lagging behind the rest, so the High Lord and High Lady continued their pursuit with renewed vigor. By noon that second day, they sighted a smaller force, maybe only a quarter of their own in total, escaping in the distance, militiamen from Levain by the way they were dressed.


    Naturally the Southern Coalition forces increased the pace of their march as they rushed towards the distant enemy, which seemed to increase their own pace in turn upon noticing the pursuit. Even so, the distance shrunk with time, and a few hours into the afternoon, the escaping foes ¨C many of whom were visibly panting in fatigue ¨C were close enough that an arrow would have been able to reach them if not for both armies still being on the move.


    The escaping Levainians attempted to lose them in the hilly terrain, but the Southern Coalition¡¯s forces doggedly pursued them, even as their own formation stretched quite a bit as some failed to keep up with the rapid pace. As such, they were unprepared when the sounds of horns suddenly came from all around them, and more enemy troops appeared from around the hills.


    It was only then that they realized that they had fallen into a trap.

 Side Story 60 - Snapping the Jaws Shut

    ¡°A good surprise would be worth its weight in gold¡­ if only you could weigh surprises at all, that is¡­¡± - Eugen Ross, retired mercenary.


    By the time Marshal Publius Cornelius decided that the pursuing Southern Coalition forces were too close for comfort to the ¡°bait¡± being played by part of the Levain Militia, nearly three-quarters of the enemy forces were within the ambush zone they had prepared. Three-quarters of the joint Levainian and Caroman forces had gone ahead to prepare the ambush, including all their archers and cavalry.


    The moment the signal was given, hundreds of archers showed themselves near the tops of each hill in the region and began to shower the Southern Coalition troops with arrows from high above. The height advantage gave the archers a far better vantage point for shooting as well as helped extend their range further.


    Meanwhile, the infantrymen that had gone ahead and hidden behind the hills of the region came out of their hiding spots and rushed straight towards the enemy forces, while the militiamen who played the role of bait also turned around and reformed their formation, the small units they had split into to give an impression of every man running for themselves recombining into larger formations smoothly thanks to their training.


    They then held their ground before their flummoxed pursuers as they acted as the anvil to the ambush¡¯s hammer.


    The surprised Southern Coalition forces were unable to respond in time to the sudden development. Their formation was already scattered due to their haste during the pursuit, while their soldiers were strung out over a rather large distance, with part of the Olfas army not even within the ambush zone yet. As such, they failed to mount much of a resistance against the sudden assault.


    Within moments of the battle being joined, infantrymen from Levain and Caroma broke through the lines of their enemies from the Southern Coalition. Archer shifted their target to avoid the spots where the infantry were engaged with the enemies, some moving closer to the battle to improve their accuracy when it was the only option available.


    Spears and shields clashed against one another as the infantrymen fell upon their enemy¡¯s flanks, their coordinated assault breaking through the enemy¡¯s haphazard defense. Some of the enemy¡¯s elites, the men-at-arms maintained privately by the High Lords, tried to regain control of the situation by lending their weight to the fight, but found themselves stymied by the equally skilled Caroman and Levainian elites they faced.


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    Knights from the Southern Coalition attempted to break through the ambush with a charge towards the nearest unit of Levain militia, but found hard resistance instead as the militiamen braced their spears against the ground and quickly formed into a spear-and-shield wall formation that held strong even though the charging cavalrymen crushed and trampled part of the first few lines with their momentum.


    Once they exhausted the momentum of their charge while failing to break through the militia formation, the militiamen enacted their revenge as spears pierced through the knights and their steeds from the sides. The knights quickly found themselves unable to fight back effectively, and casualties quickly began to mount as one knight after another was unhorsed and summarily slaughtered by the militiamen.


    Despite those in the rear trying to help, most of the Southern Coalition soldiers trapped within the ambush found themselves unable to get out of the situation. Every avenue to extricate themselves were sealed, and as their formation crumbled, the coalition troops began to rout and crash against each other, those in the rear still trying to push forward while those ahead trying to escape to the back.


    Quite a few people were trampled by their own allies during the mess, and the ambushing troops naturally didn¡¯t let the opportunity go to waste either, as they pressed the offense harder against the coalition troops. Only after the commanders in the rear received news of the situation did the Southern Coalition troops initiate a retreat, which allowed the routing soldiers an avenue of escape at last.


    Even so, neither the Caromans nor the Levainians let them withdraw easily as they sent off their entire cavalry contingent to harass the retreating coalition forces until they had gone far away, the light cavalry claiming their own fair share of victims along the way as the coalition forces were too worried about escaping to fight back against them.


    The disastrous battle resulted in a massive loss for the Southern Coalition. In total, only a little over sixteen thousand out of them over forty thousand soldiers managed to retreat in any semblance of an order. The ambushing troops had slain at least ten thousand or so soldiers, while the rest had likely scattered during the rout. Many of them would likely run back to their home villages and desert the army, while other unlucky ones might meet their end at the claws and fangs of wild beasts. Only a miniscule portion was likely to return to muster with the remainder of the army.


    High Lord Jerome Fandol of Cezar, along with his entire contingent of knights and the vast majority of his elites, had been amongst the dead, which left two of the four First States of the Southern Coalition without a leader. The late High Lord had at least left his heir back in Cezar, but that also meant that only High Lady Corrine Olstein of Olfas was left in the frontlines.


    And all they had left was an army less than half of their opponent¡¯s in number, one that still reeled from the disastrous defeat, with the soldiers¡¯ morale at an all-time low. As much as the High Lady worried about their obligations and the future of their nation, she still heeded her generals when they advised against any further pursuit of the withdrawing joint forces.


    After the successful ambush, the joint forces of Levain and Caroma enacted a measured withdrawal for the first couple of days, to make sure that they weren¡¯t being pursued any further. Only after they became certain of that did they withdraw in full towards Levain.


    Unfortunately, even with the victory, they were still at least another week and a half away from Levain city, so they would not make it back before the invading forces reached the city.

 Chapter 327 - Irregular Warfare

    ¡°What was once uncommon and irregular might eventually become commonplace and regular. War is an ever-shifting thing.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Captain, can you see them clearly or do you want me to go lower?¡± came Hannah¡¯s voice, somewhat disembodied due to the distance, to Reinhardt''s ear.


    At the moment Reinhardt had sent Hannah off to scout the enemy movement in the distance, right around the limit of the artifact¡¯s functional range. From his eyepiece, he could see the marching troops from Podovniy as if he was looking from high above, the sight transferred from the piece Hannah wore at the moment.


    The picture wasn¡¯t the clearest, though that was less due to the artifact¡¯s capabilities and more due to the height he was looking from. Hannah flew at a height where she wouldn¡¯t only be safe from just about any archer, but would also not stand out due to her size that much. Of course, flying that high had its drawbacks as well, as Reinhardt didn¡¯t have the sharp eyes that allowed Hannah to see well from such a height.


    ¡°No, stay at your current height. I can see enough to make decisions, so just keep yourself safe,¡± replied Reinhardt as he looked at the marching enemy troops once more. Hannah was too far up for him to identify banners and the like, but he could get a general idea of the composition of the Podovniy troops even from such a height.


    Reinhardt felt that he truly needed to thank Lars once this current mission was done. The Free Lances, while considered irregular by dwarven standards in his late aunt¡¯s days, were pretty much regular troops under most other considerations. It was the decimation they faced in Theodinaz that made Reinhardt realize that there was so much more they could have done by not sticking to the commonly used methods of battle.


    Lars showed that to him ¨C and the other survivors of the Company ¨C by using inferior troops to defeat them piecemeal by surprise and ambushes, avoiding a frontal battle that his side would have likely lost and turning it into a victory by clever use of the terrain instead. It was one reason Reinhardt had been quite eager to include the former enemy tactician into the Company back then, a decision that had paid off greatly so far.


    The company had practically readjusted their tactics based on what they learned from Lars, partly to make up for their then greatly diminished numbers, and partly to try out the effectiveness of said tactics for themselves. The decades that had passed since then had proven those irregular tactics¡¯ worth time and again, and by now the Company was well-practiced in its methods.


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    It was why Reinhardt chuckled to himself when he noticed a small commotion spreading amongst the Podovniy troops from time to time once they hit the first region his troops had trapped prior to their enemy¡¯s arrival. Although he couldn¡¯t see the details from high above, he knew that some poor sod must have stepped into one of the traps and injured themselves, with the more unfortunate ones having their steed fell into the trap instead.


    Such traps wouldn¡¯t kill many, if any people, but it would cause the enemy troops to be wary of more traps, and thus slow their march down as they searched the area ahead of them for them. Which played into his goal anyway. Reinhardt kept most of his troops ¨C other than Gr¨¹nhildr and her fellows from Aldenstadt who based themselves in the abandoned mines near the city turned fortress ¨C further west down the path, where they made further preparations to ¡°welcome¡± the enemy.


    Every little bit of time they bought before the foe¡¯s arrival meant more preparations that awaited said foe.


    It was unfortunate that the Podovniy army had longer lines and also split their army into sections of ten thousand each or so, probably to prevent any one ambush or trap from hitting them all at once. Otherwise Reinhardt would have made a gamble and tried to burn them like he did with the Coalition army months ago. Evidently the Podovniy commander had heard of that event and planned against it, though.


    Reinhardt was never shy about using whatever means necessary to secure victory. In fact, the majority of mercenaries were the exact same way. The only reason most mercenaries kept an ¡°honorable¡± image about themselves was not due to some misguided sense of justice or actual honor, but out of sheer pragmatism. Staying on the ¡°honorable¡± side meant it was easier to find jobs, and those jobs tend to involve more trustworthy employers as well.


    On the other hand, those that crossed the line often found themselves hunted down by their fellow mercenaries for bounties placed on their head, so it just made little sense to sacrifice a profitable business for short-term gain.


    Reinhardt himself had several other ideas he was not sure he could implement or not against this enemy, but that will have to wait until he had the chance to try them out. The enemy forces outnumber his by tenfold, and they also had a strong contingent of cavalry, which meant that it was imperative for his forces to remain in hiding.


    Fortunately there were enough forests, caves, hills, and other such terrain that would allow the Free Lances and the volunteers they brought with them to hide themselves between Aldenstadt and Levain itself. Between the terrain and the prepared traps, Reinhardt was reasonably confident in his ability to lead his troops to harass the enemy while avoiding them at the same time.


    He knew that this battle would be the greatest challenge his mercenaries have faced since their rebuilding after Theodinaz, yet instead of worry he couldn¡¯t help but to feel some excitement inside his heart. In many ways this campaign would test how far the Free Lances had come over those years, a culmination of their decades of effort.


    So he was eager to prove his company¡¯s mettle, ideally in such a way that his employers would decide they were more than worthwhile of the price they command.

 Side Story 61 - Annoying Nuisances

    ¡°Be wary of nuisances. Sometimes they would pile up together and start becoming threats just because one was so used to dismissing them out of hand.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°By Pesca¡¯s hairy arsehole, not another delay!?¡± cursed Simeon Durant, adjutant to Marquis Viktor Esvant and his most trusted general. While some of the nobleman¡¯s retainer¡¯s flinched at the middle-aged general¡¯s liberal use of profanity, the Marquis himself ignored it, all too aware of his right-hand man¡¯s nature. Some things could never be changed, after all, and as much as Simeon often tried to hide it, his peasant upbringing showed itself whenever he was stressed or annoyed like this.


    ¡°Beg your pardon, General, sir, Your Grace,¡± replied the messenger, who looked somewhat nervous at addressing arguably the two most powerful men in Podovniy. People who could have his head with just a single word if they were so inclined. ¡°Seven more people had stepped on pitfalls. Three had minor injuries and sprains, but the other four were heavily injured.¡±


    ¡°And you all are so foolish as to keep marching like headless chickens when you knew there were traps ahead of you!?¡± yelled the general with more vitriol in his voice. ¡°Even donkeys are not so foolish as to fall into the same trap twice! Are you telling me that my soldiers are all dumber than donkeys, huh!? Are you saying that!?¡±


    ¡°We- we attempted to search the area ahead of us for more traps, general, but whoever made them is cunning. They were so well hidden and made that they wouldn¡¯t even react unless someone steps directly in the middle of one. Many of them were only found by people in the middle of the vanguard¡¯s formation, even,¡± said the messenger as he tried to explain himself.


    Podovniy¡¯s troops had spread themselves into ten separate units, each roughly numbering ten thousand men, with some distance between each unit. Close enough to come to one another¡¯s aid immediately, but not so close that a trap would be able to catch too many of them at the same time. It was a precaution taken since they knew that Levain had burned tens of thousands of Southern Coalition¡¯s soldiers to death just mere months ago.


    They had not expected to run into such light but annoying harassment during their march instead, though. Clearly their enemies saw them coming from afar, probably before their army even marched into Levain¡¯s territory. There were rumors that the mercenaries employed by Levain supposedly had some of the usually isolationist flying therians working as scouts, which would explain much.


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    That rumor also caused some paranoid soldiers to shoot down every fowl they saw flying above them, save those that flew far too high for arrows to reach. For the most part, the behavior ended up with a positive result, as more meat for the soldiers¡¯ dinner from the show fowl helped with morale, but the general had to caution them to watch their shots after some missed shots fell back down and injured a couple soldiers.


    At least it also meant that unless the mercenaries had fliers capable of flying above arrow range, their scouts wouldn¡¯t be able to get close to the army.


    ¡°Janos! Get your fat bearded ballsack over here! We got a job for you to do!¡± yelled Simeon once more, this time his voice aimed towards someone traveling behind them. After a few moments, an old dwarf riding on a large ram rode next to the general. The dwarf was Janos Silberfuss, commander of the March¡¯s sole team of combat engineers.


    Dwarven combat engineers were one of the units that the Podovniy March lacked for generations already. Since the elven domains and the Therian land of Boroes that they guarded against had been peaceful in the Empire¡¯s last century, many amenities had been stripped from the eastern March as they were considered no longer needed.


    The dwarven combat engineer teams were the first to go, nearly a century ago, and even the group under Janos was one that the March only managed to put together by recruiting from amongst the forces of the states they conquered since the civil war broke out. As for elven scout teams, the Podovniy March never had any, as it was considered ¨C perhaps rightfully ¨C risky for the elves to be used so close to their brethren from the Domains.


    As a direct result, the Podovniy March had no elven scouts, and only a single overstrength ¨C sixty-five instead of the usual fifty members ¨C dwarven combat engineer team. That Simeon called for Janos made sense, as the Marquis had ordered them to make best time towards Levain. They couldn¡¯t afford to slow down just due to some traps on the road.


    Dwarven combat engineers were predominantly earth affinity mages, which made them uniquely suited to the task of trap detection. Of course, having them head to the front to do so would expose the valuable unit to danger, but that was why Simeon also ordered the vanguard to fan out and guard the engineers while they do their job, after all.


    The Marquis and the General noticed that the pace of the march began to pick up once more shortly after the combat engineers took the lead and worked on detecting and disarming what traps they ran into. Even so, from time to time some members of the vanguard who were marching on the sides of the road, right next to the forests that bracket the road, fell into other traps that had been set there.


    Fortunately their disarming the trap by triggering them meant that the combat engineers were spared casualties.


    Even so, when the army finally rested for the night, the Marquis and the General were surprised to see many members of the combat engineer team half-dead with fatigue when they came to congratulate them on a job well-done. That was not supposed to happen after such light work as trap detection, so both of them asked why with incredulity in their voice and features.

 Chapter 328 - Joy from Anothers Misfortune

    ¡°Common decency has taught people not to derive pleasure from another¡¯s misfortune, but why is it that once war is declared, it suddenly becomes fine to take pleasure from the enemy¡¯s misfortune? Such double standards are unfit for civilized society and should be discarded with haste!¡± - Melos Lysot, anti-war philosopher from the Fourth Elmaiyan Empire.


    Reinhardt couldn¡¯t help but to chuckle to himself, which must have been an odd sight to people who didn¡¯t know that he was observing the enemy army from Hannah¡¯s point of view. The way the Podovniy forces pushed their combat engineer forward on the very first day they ran into the prepared fields of traps thoroughly amused him, since he knew exactly what would happen as a result.


    ¡°The plan is working, I assume, Captain?¡± asked a middle-aged dwarf whose bushy beard had started to gray at the sides. Leonid Steinmauer was a retired combat engineer who served the late Empire for over two centuries of his life, but had since retired to open a relatively successful bakery in Levain city, until the civil war broke out.


    Since then, he had offered his services to the city council and currently headed one of the three teams of dwarven combat engineers present in Levain. Reinhardt had taken two of those teams, one with his own group while he sent the other with Lars to the north. The last group remained in Levain in preparation of the work they will likely be needed for once the siege took place.


    After all, combat engineers were not only skilled at breaking down walls, but also in repairing and reinforcing them.


    ¡°Yes, master Steinmauer,¡± replied Reinhardt with a satisfied nod. He had made the plan once he heard that Podovniy barely had any combat engineer teams amongst their troops. ¡°The enemy are exhausting their combat engineers, right on the first day, so I¡¯d say it is working even better than my most optimistic expectations so far.¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m still surprised you managed to set things up in such a way that it¡¯d be a total pain in the rear to detect,¡± noted the dwarf as he looked over the trapped road in the distance. His combat engineers had been split into small teams of five and had been instrumental in helping the separate teams trap their section of the road exactly the way Reinhardt told them to.


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    Namely in a way that had the pitfalls distributed almost at random, with some hidden under areas where the ground had obviously been disturbed, while others hidden under areas made so smooth nobody would have thought the ground had been touched at all. The random intervals and directions, along with the narrow and deep nature of the pits, made them particularly difficult to discover using earth magic.


    Reinhardt himself was of the earth affinity, and while he was no mage, he was familiar enough with how earth magic worked. Unlike wind magic, earth was far more dense, and it was tiresome and exhausting to check through every bit of soil in the vicinity in detail. As such, most earth mages detect traps by either sending a ¡°pulse¡± of magic through the top layer of soil to detect disturbances in the ground or by sending out thin vectors at randomized directions to seek out larger obstructions or gaps underground.


    The way Reinhardt had set the traps on the road made both methods nearly useless. The narrow and deep pits were difficult to find by the vector searching method, whereas they also made sure to keep the top layer of soil sturdy enough to fool the other detection method. That forced the enemy earth mages to scour the road the hard and exhausting way, which would tire them out quickly.


    Tired people made mistakes, and when the time comes, Reinhardt would be there to reap the harvest.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I have some inspiration to pull from,¡± replied Reinhardt. Honestly, other than his own personal knowledge on earth affinity magic, the way Elfriede used her magic, how she could so easily detect every minute thing within her range, was his other major inspiration. Over the years Elfriede had told him a lot about her magic, and that included the sort of places that would be hardest for her to notice.


    He simply applied that logic against the way he knew earth magic worked, and sure enough, the results showed themselves already. While it took his half of the company and thousands of volunteers a week to set up the ¡°welcome¡± for the Podovniy forces throughout the road they would have to take to Levain, the results should be worth it.


    Especially after he pounced upon those few combat engineers working for his enemy and removed them from the equation altogether.


    He wondered how his enemies would react after he did that. Would they doggedly continue to advance, regardless of the losses they would take from the traps? Or would they start to have their soldiers sweep the road ahead clear of traps? If they forged ahead without regard, then they would take quite a few losses along the way and damage their own soldiers¡¯ morale. On the other hand, sweeping the road ahead would be a time-consuming process, which would buy more time for Levain.


    Either outcome was beneficial to Reinhardt, and he would adjust his own tactics based on the enemy¡¯s reaction.


    For the time being, the enemy was still two days¡¯ march away from Aldenstadt, where he would discover whether his first prediction about the war would come true or not. Gr¨¹nhildr, together with her platoon and volunteers from the Aldenstadt home guards had already set up bases within the old abandoned mines near the town, and would only make their move after the Podovniy main forces moved on.


    Reinhardt himself had already gathered his mercenaries along with the volunteers that came with them. Most of them had already gathered at a location roughly half a day¡¯s march to the west of Aldenstadt, where Reinhardt predicted the enemy forces would make camp on the day they left the city turned fortress.


    Only time would tell whether he was right or wrong.

 Side Story 62 - A Tough Bone to Chew

    ¡°One way to keep oneself secure during times of war is to make oneself so unpleasant and costly to attack that for most, it simply wouldn¡¯t be worth their while to do so.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Leave the third division of the second corps behind,¡± commanded Marquis Viktor Esvant after he watched the debacle that unfolded before him when an overeager brigade from the same division had volunteered to assault the city of Aldenstadt ¨C now turned into a fortress ¨C and failed miserably. ¡°Give them the order to surround the hill and besiege it, but not to do any direct assaults on the city itself. Standing guard order.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Grace,¡± replied Simeon from where he was seated astride his own mount near the Marquis. When the Podovniy army reached the hill where Aldenstadt was located, they had been surprised to see the city turn into a fortress despite only a year having passed since the failed Kolain offensive towards the same.


    Both the General and the Marquis already had a thought to just skip around the city, but the volunteering brigade gave them an opportunity to test the defenses to see if it was just for show or not. Of course, when said brigade returned like a beaten dog with hundreds of casualties, they understood instantly that the city¡¯s defenses were just as sturdy as they looked.


    It was not as if the Podovniy army had no siege engines. In fact, they brought plenty, since their main goal was Levain city itself. The position of Aldenstadt at the top of a hill made using such siege engines difficult at best, and hazardous at worst, however. On top of that, even if they were to take down the city, it would cost them time, too much time in the minds of both the General and the Marquis.


    On the other hand, it wasn¡¯t as if they could just ignore the city. If they did so, then the defenders of Aldenstadt could have sallied out and struck their backlines after they passed through, which would cause problems of its own if left unattended. As such, the Marquis and the Duke had a short discussion with a few other officers of theirs and came to a compromise solution.


    They would leave a division ¨C roughly fourteen thousand men ¨C of troops behind to besiege the city and make it difficult for those inside to interfere with the course of the war. Their troops were mostly there to keep those within the city confined there, and when the army returned after they had emerged victorious in Levain, it would be easy enough to conquer the smaller city as well.


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    It didn¡¯t take much time to make the arrangements, since the army was camped around the hill that night anyway, and when the rest of the Podovniy army ¨C minus the third division of the second corps ¨C left to continue their journey the next day, the people left behind fortified the part of the camp that had been left for their use to seal the two roads that led out from Aldenstadt.


    They formed what was pretty much a textbook encirclement, and while they had nowhere near enough people to assault the well-defended and fortified city, they had plenty to keep the city¡¯s inhabitants from going out. The division naturally focused their defenses around the roads¡¯ ends, since it was unlikely for a large number of people to descend the hill without using the roads.


    Well, it was possible, but it would have been a costly and tedious affair, so it was unlikely to be done.


    What none of the Podovniy troops expected was that there were already enemies waiting for them outside the city itself, and on the second day of the siege, when the main Podovniy army had gone far enough to no longer be a worry, Gr¨¹nhildr began to make her ¨C and by extension, the people with her ¨C presence known to the besiegers.


    To be precise, she started to do so the night before, but the results of her handiwork weren''t discovered until the next morning.


    The Podovniy division that besieged Aldenstadt had not only kept watch around their encampments at the end of the roads, but also sent out patrols to watch out and look for escapees who might brave the forests. Some of those patrols ranged pretty far and wide, and since they changed shifts halfway through the night, when Gr¨¹nhildr struck nobody noticed the disappearance of nearly a third of the patrols until morning came.


    It was difficult to not notice the bodies of the missing patrols, after all, as there was quite a crowd of wild animals gathered underneath them. Gr¨¹nhildr had the bodies hanged from the trees, using their own entrails as the rope. Quite naturally, blood as well as other organs fell off the corpses as they were hung like that, which attracted the nearby carnivorous animals.


    Some of the wild animals even jumped, latched on, and tore off the lower bodies of many of the corpses, and by the time the Podovniy soldiers from the encampments rushed over and shooed away the beasts, most of the corpses were no longer whole. The animals even ran off while carrying many parts they were in the midst of devouring, and it wasn¡¯t as if the upper bodies of the corpses were spared damage either.


    Birds had pecked out the eyes of most of them already, while an unfortunate few even had the rope of entrails that kept them aloft gnawed on by beasts that were capable of climbing the trees, which meant that there was little left of them to be found, other than bones that had already been gnawed by the animals.


    It was a horrifying display, one that even made many of the Podovniy soldiers nauseated at its sight, which naturally led to a plummeting of their morale. They reinforced their nightly patrols to prevent such an incident from repeating itself, and even sent out troops to hunt for the perpetrators, since whoever did that must be outside the city with them.


    All without knowing that it was what Gr¨¹nhildr exactly wanted them to do. She might not have anywhere near enough people to fight off the invaders, but she had plenty to make their life hell.

 Chapter 329 - Home Field Advantage

    ¡°Fighting an enemy on grounds they know as well as the back of their hands is little different than handing them an unnecessary advantage.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Good work. Inform Hayden and his men to cause a distraction near the seventh mine shaft then to make themselves scarce. Have Ophelia and her crew do the same near the entrance to shaft thirty-four,¡± commanded Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi after she listened to the report from her scouts and pondered the next step to take with a map of the region opened in front of her.


    Unlike most maps, however, the old map was one that focused on the network of mine tunnels and shafts that criss-crossed the countryside they were in. It was something they deemed the invaders were unlikely to have much if any knowledge of, since most of the people in the region that knew the mines were older people from the previous generations.


    Gr¨¹nhildr abused that local knowledge by assigning at least one such person to each team of a hundred or so volunteers from the Aldenstadt Home Guards, to guide them through the mines and the region around it. Deep within the mines itself, several temporary bases had been built in the time they had to prepare while waiting for the enemy¡¯s arrival, which Gr¨¹nhildr and her men used to base themselves from.


    Sure enough, while their enemies sent out search parties to find traces of their presence, they couldn¡¯t find any. The locals were familiar enough with the region to clean their traces properly, even in the night, and even if the invaders managed to track them back to the mines, all they would find awaiting them in the dark, cramped confines of the mine shafts was death.


    Naturally, Gr¨¹nhildr had set things up so that there were ways that they could do unpleasant things like collapsing certain areas of the mines from the safety of their bases should the enemy come calling.


    At the moment, the Podovniy troops had sent out search parties ¨C each of them in groups of fifty men ¨C to look for traces of the people who took and strung up their patrols by the gut last night, that naturally being Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s handiwork. Since she wasn¡¯t too certain on the quality of the enemy troops, Gr¨¹nhildr decided to play it safe. She had two groups led by old Home Guard veterans who were familiar with the mines to cause some distractions, while she would lead her platoon out to take care of one of the search parties and test their mettle.


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    Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon had increased in size to nearly ninety people over the years, so she would have a numerical advantage over her enemies, as well as a terrain advantage since she knew the region well, having often played there as a young child.


    After waiting the appropriate amount of time for the messenger to pass down her message to the relevant groups, she roused her platoon and led them out from within the dark mines. Gr¨¹nhildr herself had orcish and dwarven heritage, so she could see perfectly fine in the dark. Other members of her platoon had no such advantage, but the mercenaries had often trained in the dark to allow their members to do well in night operations, so they could make do just fine even without lights.


    Once they got out from the mine shaft, the midday sun was nearly blinding, but the mercenaries quickly adapted to the light after blinking their eyes a few times. They quickly ascertained the direction the enemy search party was supposedly around before they disappeared into the woods that surrounded the sites of the old mines.


    Since the old mines hadn¡¯t been in use for generations by then, much of the region around it was wild and untamed. The old roads that used to lead to the mines were overgrown by vegetation and reclaimed by nature long ago. As such, traversing the area was easier said than done, unless it was done by people used to moving around in the wilderness.


    The mercenaries had naturally practiced to do that on a regular basis even while they were working in Levain.


    Right after Gr¨¹nhildr and her platoon set off, the people she gave the orders to made distractions that lured in most of the nearby search parties at the designated locations before they disappeared into the nearby mine shafts, having disguised their tracks along the way. By the time the Podovniy search parties congregated around the locations, all they saw were confusing tracks that led to nowhere and leftover material that gave them no clues.


    The search party Gr¨¹nhildr targeted was further away from the area, so they had not gone to check the distractions, yet most of the other search parties near them had been distracted by the ruckus. That led to a brief period of time when the search party was outside easy reach from the other groups, where they couldn¡¯t attract the notice of others easily should anything happen to them.


    So of course Gr¨¹nhildr and her platoon were already in the targeted search party¡¯s vicinity at the right moment, having timed it so they would reach the area the search party was active in right around that time. Members of the search party who were further out in their formation were the first to notice the onrushing mercenaries and cried out in alarm to warn the rest, but it was far too little, too late by that point.


    From every direction around them, burly and strong mercenaries charged out, all thoughts of stealth abandoned now that they had been found out by the enemy anyway. To the search party¡¯s surprise, the mercenaries had completely encircled them, and a few members who were further out couldn¡¯t even return to the group¡¯s main body and join their defensive formation in time, as they were instead slain by the mercenaries who caught up to them.


    As for the rest, they quickly learned the futility of their defensive postures, for moments later, Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi, also known as the Severing Reaper, was upon them.

 Chapter 330 - The Severing Reaper

    ¡°Seriously, man, if you ever ran into someone from the same profession in the battlefield and you found out they have a nickname, you should stay the hell away from them at all costs if they¡¯re on the enemy side, or stick to them if they¡¯re friendly. People don¡¯t give us mercs nicknames that often or easily, so the ones who have them, tend to be something.¡± - Marina Ibrahim, retired mercenary turned barkeep.


    Gr¨¹nhildr almost laughed out loud when she saw the rather shoddy formation that the Podovniy soldiers assumed, though on second thought it was probably the best they could muster.


    Unlike the soldiers that manned the encampments who had heavier gear, the search parties were armed and armored more lightly to facilitate their need to travel through the wilderness. As such, they mostly wielded shorter spears with smaller, round shields instead of the larger shields typically fielded by line infantry. Not that it would have mattered much even if they were fully equipped, though.


    Gr¨¹nhildr earned her nickname due to the fact that she was a rare void affinity mage. Few people of her affinity who had any actual potential to be a mage survived past their awakening, and she had been one of the fortunate ones. Had the lord¡¯s house not offered the help of their resident healer when she had her awakening as a child, she likely wouldn¡¯t have survived that day.


    Her custom-made weapons soon had the telltale jet-black gleam of void magic cover their crescent-shaped blades, an act that came as easy as breathing to Gr¨¹nhildr after decades of practice. As she swung the weapon in her left hand, the void magic seemed to have left a trail in the air for a brief moment, as if a curtain of darkness covered the region it passed through for the blink of an eye.


    Four of the soldiers who saw her coming had thrust their spears towards her, and in that one strike she had severed the spearheads on all four spears at the same time, the cut surfaces of the wooden shafts so smooth it was as if the cut had been its natural state. Before the surprised Podovniy soldiers could react, Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s other weapon flashed past.


    All four men fell to the ground in two or more pieces. The rightmost soldier was decapitated, while the one to his left had his upper body severed in two from one shoulder to the other side¡¯s armpit. The one besides that man had both arms severed, one above and the other below the elbow, with his upper torso split in half along a line between said cuts, while the fourth man had Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s weapon exit through one side of his waist after it sliced through the rest of his torso.


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    The sight of how four of their compatriots just fell apart before her strike caused several of the enemy soldiers who witnessed the sight to recoil in surprise and fright.


    That sort of reaction was perhaps inevitable, but it was a fatal mistake in a battle, much less one where the opponents were experienced mercenaries.


    Other members of Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon crashed into the Podovniy formation, shieldbearers leading the charge as they utilized their heavy tower shields to protect themselves from the enemy spears and to bodily charge into and break their formation. Behind the shieldbearers, the rest of the platoon¡¯s fighters flooded in and slaughtered the shocked enemies before they could reform their formation.


    Gr¨¹nhildr herself joined her men, leading straight from the front with her pair of void-clad weapons. Any enemy that got in her way simply fell apart into pieces. No armor could protect them from the void-clad blades that parted metal, bone, and flesh as if they weren¡¯t there to begin with, and the carnage Gr¨¹nhildr left behind her served as a sight to intimidate the foes that still lived.


    The battle turned one-sided almost immediately, the search party ill-equipped to take on the prepared mercenaries, much less when outnumbered nearly two to one. Within less than five minutes, the fighting was over, with all but a few of the Podovniy soldiers dead on the ground. The few survivors only lived because Gr¨¹nhildr ordered her men to capture them for interrogation.


    Almost as swiftly as they arrived, the mercenaries vanished back into the woods, leaving only the dead enemy soldiers behind. Unlike their usual habit, they had not looted the dead bodies. It was not the time to do so, and besides space was at a premium within the mines where they made their base. They would be well paid for the job anyway, so there was no need to risk themselves just to get a small amount of loot like that.


    They carried the trussed and gagged captives on their shoulders as they skillfully made their way through the forest and towards a different entrance to the mine complex. From there, they made their way back towards their base, with part of the group taking care to erase what traces they left behind. Since the members of the group charged with the task were skilled at tracking themselves, they knew what to do and not only erased their trail, but also purposely left behind some false trails that led nowhere to confuse any enemy trackers.


    All that other search parties discovered around an hour later were the dead bodies of their compatriots, and while some noticed the missing people, not even their best trackers were capable of tracking the assailants back to wherever their base was. The slaughter left the Podovniy troops scared as well, and they ended up gathering together before they returned to their encampments.


    When the search parties were reinforced to a hundred men each the next day, all that managed to do was to slow the progress of the search as a whole, as there were fewer parties to go around. Even worse, to the Podovniy commander¡¯s dismay, two of his search parties never returned from their tasks, with only their slaughtered remains being found in the forests.

 Side Story 63 - A Painful Dilemma

    ¡°Rarely does life offer a clean and easy solution to everything.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I dare you to repeat your craven words again, senior commander!¡± challenged Sub-general Alven Levnos, the commanding officer in charge of the Podovniy Army¡¯s Third Division of the Second Corps. Despite the vehemence of the vitriol he spat out, however, the senior commander in question ¨C the one in charge of the Fourth Regiment of the First Brigade, whose people had been tasked with scouting and patrolling ¨C had not flinched.


    ¡°And, I will say it again, sir, that to send out more people out there, into forests we have no familiarity with whatsoever, when they are so poorly trained for the task, would just be feeding our troops piecemeal to the enemy¡¯s jaws and I refuse to consign my troops to damnation just to satisfy your Tohrmut-damned overinflated ego!¡± replied Astrid Ingedatter, the senior commander in question, with just as much vehemence in her voice.


    She no longer gave a damn that she had just cursed out the superior of her own direct superior by that time. One hundred fifty dead men ¨C she held little hope for the ones who were merely ¡°missing¡± ¨C from amongst her troops had long withered her patience and tolerance for the Sub-General¡¯s foolish idea of sending out ill-suited troops on a job they were untrained for.


    Not that the Third Division really had much in terms of options, unfortunately.


    The Third Division of the Second Corps of the Podovniy army was a rather typical Clangeddin formation, one composed primarily of flexible light infantrymen. Unfortunately, unlike the elite First Corps, whose members were all elites, well-trained, and well-equipped, the Second Corps had a far more¡­ varied quality of troops.


    Each Regiment ¨C or in some cases, Battalion ¨C of the Second Corps were formed from soldiers gathered from the regions that the Podovniy March had conquered and subjugated under their heels after the civil war started, with the leadership at the Brigade and Division level left to officers of noble birth who were loyal to the Marquis himself.


    Needless to say, that arrangement often created not a small amount of friction between the officer corps and their direct superiors, and regional loyalties often reared its ugly face during such conflicts. Astrid herself was the youngest daughter of the former Earl ¨C the current one was a turncoat who betrayed her family, but they were popular enough to keep alive in order to pacify the populace ¨C of Hevia, and was placed by the current Earl in charge of their state¡¯s contribution to the army.


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    Most likely as a way to get rid of her without staining his hands, she reckoned.


    Fortunately for her, while there were a lot of conflicts between the regional commanders and their superiors, Astrid had a rather good relationship with Tribune Ealendil Bergstrom, the half-elven commander of the First Brigade her troops were grouped under. The half-elven woman had served the March for centuries, but was well known for being by far the most reasonable superior in the Second Corps.


    Even while the Sub-General was yelling at Astrid with his emotions out of control, spewing all sorts of insults and demanding for Astrid to be whipped for cowardice and the like, the Tribune had quietly started a conversation with her other fellow Tribunes to discuss a countermeasure for the trouble they faced, namely that the enemy had a presence outside the city they were besieging, and that presence had no qualms to assault ¨C and thoroughly slaughter ¨C search parties of up to a hundred men strong.


    Once the Sub-General¡¯s tirade ended, the Tribunes stepped in and pointed out that Astrid¡¯s point of view was not wrong, rather forcefully, at that. It was almost as if Astrid was looking at a trio of elders ¨C which was partly because all three Tribunes were much older than the Sub-General ¨C who were glaring at a disappointing progeny of theirs.


    Even the usually arrogant Sub-General wilted beneath the glares of the three veteran Tribunes and rescinded his demand to have the ¡°cowards¡± hanged as an example.


    It was a foolish practice to have placed the noble brat of a Sub-General in command of the Division instead of promoting one of the veteran Tribunes, Astrid felt, but unfortunately, the March doesn¡¯t work that way, and none of the three veteran Tribunes had a drop of noble blood in them. It was probably one reason why the Marquis had decreed that if all three Tribunes of a Division were to disapprove of what their Sub-General was doing, they could overrule him.


    At least the Marquis had an inkling of the problem faced by his military.


    After a longer ¨C and less heated ¨C discussion, eventually the Tribunes coerced the Sub-General to a different plan, one where they would minimize the forays into the nearby forests, and keep the night patrols all within close vicinity of the encampment itself. During the day, a few regiments of the troops would methodically search the forests for their elusive opponents, traveling together so that the enemy could no longer isolate and slaughter individual search parties.


    It was not the ideal solution. The search clearly prioritized safety over speed, as their enemies had already proven their willingness to extract a price in blood whenever the Podovniy army showed weakness. It was something Astrid felt better about rather than the Sub-General¡¯s previous suggestion to simply increase each search party¡¯s size to a hundred and fifty men though.


    Their enemies were clearly skilled enough to slaughter a hundred men without allowing any survivors or escapees within a short period of time. Just adding half again to that number was more likely to be akin to feeding their troops piecemeal to the enemy.


    At least with the Tribunes¡¯ proposed solution, there would be a measure of safety in numbers for the search party, and while they risk some escapees from the city itself since they reduced their patrols at night, she thought it was an acceptable cost compared to getting her people slaughtered out there. She just hoped that things would go more smoothly from then onwards.

 Chapter 331 - Adjusting to Circumstances

    ¡°Rather than bravery, intelligence, strength, or the like, it is flexibility that should be heralded as the most important quality of a good commander. A commander who doesn¡¯t know how to be flexible when the situation calls for it, dies.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°So they¡¯re no longer biting the bait, huh? Shame, but I guess you can¡¯t expect all your enemies to be incompetent idiots,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr as she listened to the abbreviated reports from the group¡¯s scouts. The enemy was no longer sending out easily isolated and ambushed search parties but switched to a methodical search with a large number of troops keeping within each other¡¯s sight at all times instead.


    She had hoped to be able to thin down the enemy numbers a bit more through ambushes like she did before, but two hundred and fifty would have to do, she guessed. The captives they took from those ambushes squealed pretty easily and Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s men gained some insight into the enemy forces from them that way, before thanking those same captives by putting them to death swiftly and painlessly.


    There was no room for mercy under their situation, much less for prisoners, so it was the best show of gratitude she could offer them.


    ¡°Have the scouts reduce their outings, also tell them to keep a greater distance from the enemies. Since they got that many people grouped together it should still be easy enough for the scouts to keep track of them from a distance, no reason to risk themselves by getting too close,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr. ¡°We¡¯ll let the traps we set up all over whittle them a bit for today.¡±


    ¡°Also call Sefan, Inge, and Rob over. I¡¯ll be needing them to do some work tonight,¡± she added, naming three veteran home guards she remembered from her childhood. Those three in particular used to make a living as hunters in the region before they joined the guards. They were so good with slings that they were known to take down birds with an expertly slung rock.


    That particular talent of theirs was what Gr¨¹nhildr needed for what she had in mind.


    Much like she expected, the Podovniy troops retreated ¨C carrying a couple dozen people injured by the various traps the group had set up with them ¨C near the evening, and this time, they stayed within or close to their encampment rather than actually patrol further away. It was not a bad precaution to take against Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s people ¡°disappearing¡± some of them, but it left them particularly vulnerable for what she had in mind that night.


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    Gr¨¹nhildr led the three veteran guards towards an outcropping of the forest that was no more than a hundred meters or so away from the enemy encampment at the end of Aldenstadt¡¯s eastern road. From what Gr¨¹nhildr knew, that was supposedly where the enemy¡¯s overall commander was staying, which made it even better.


    ¡°What do you think? Can you drop these deep inside that encampment from here?¡± she asked the veteran guards next to her as she handed each of them a small clay urn that had been sealed airtight with care. The three veterans weighed the urn in their hands, then took a look at the enemy encampment, which was quite a large one for a while, before they nodded and arranged amongst themselves who would aim where.


    Moments later, the three walked out from the forest, relying on the darkness to hide them from sight, and placed the urns within the pouch of their sling before they began to spin it around over their heads. After several revolutions, the three veterans hurled the urns with a grunt, the added force from the sling carrying the clay urns ¨C which were quite light, barely any heavier than the lead projectiles the slingers favored ¨C at least three hundred meters, where they fell on different areas of the encampment.


    The moment the urns struck the ground ¨C or the face of an unfortunate Podovniy soldier, in one case ¨C they shattered and disgorged their content, the liquid contained within quickly sublimated and spread through the surroundings.


    A pungent, malodorous smell immediately spread through the surroundings, causing the Podovniy soldiers who were sleeping to suddenly wake up and gag from the stench. Some directly vomited where they lay or stood, while a few even fainted from the unexpected olfactory assault on their noses. Within moments, loud curses interspersed with the sounds of gagging and vomiting could be heard all over the Podovniy encampment.


    In the meantime, Gr¨¹nhildr had taken the three veteran guards with her back into the forest, together with the rest of her platoon that had come for the purpose of escorting them. They quickly vanished into the darkness of the forest, though a few of the platoon members couldn¡¯t help but giggle at the situation they had put their enemies in.


    Gr¨¹nhildr herself mumbled some words of appreciation under her breath to Egil, the Company¡¯s leader of their goblin contingent. While some of the goblins have also joined other platoons in the company, Egil sort of serves as a patriarch that all of them listened to. It was also under his directions that several of the goblins who knew alchemy worked on various concoctions commonly used in the north for the company¡¯s usage.


    What Gr¨¹nhildr had the slingers throw into the enemy camp was no poison or the like, but was instead something the northern goblins used as beast repellents. The concoction drove away beasts by stinking up to high heavens, the smell they emanated often described as something like a mound of rotting carcasses that had been left to cure in the sun for years, somehow, and the smell was notorious for sticking to everything in a wide range and making everything stink for at least a week to come.


    On one hand, it would thoroughly disgust her enemies, while on the other hand, her scouts should be able to identify some of the enemy just from their smell this way the next time they went into the forest.

 Chapter 332 - Reaping the Harvest

    ¡°Knowing when is the right time to make your move is the hallmark of a good commander.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Looks like the time¡¯s about right¡­¡± muttered Reinhardt to himself under his breath. At the moment he was looking at the vanguard of the Podovniy army, a day¡¯s march out from Aldenstadt. With the built-in spyglass function of his eye piece, he could see the exhausted looks on the enemy¡¯s dwarven engineers even from his perch above a tree a good distance away in the forest. ¡°Egil, Branka, Sal, let them have it.¡±


    His words were carried over the artifact¡¯s enchantments, which in effect spawned a miniscule portal to transfer the mana over to the recipient artifacts, where the air vibrated and repeated his words to the intended recipients. Said recipients were already deployed within arrow range of the main road the Podovniy troops were traveling in, and responded the moment Reinhardt¡¯s command arrived.


    Egil and his platoon started the barrage with a salvo of lead projectiles hurled by slings. The goblins were skilled ¨C and experienced, as hunts in their jungle-infested homeland necessitated such skills ¨C enough with their slings that they could do so from within the forest, which meant that they were still hidden behind cover while their foes would be hard-pressed to reply.


    Mixed in with the lead projectiles were a few clay urns filled with the same bug repellant concoction Reinhardt had left Gr¨¹nhildr some of. In this case, the intent of their use was less to incite disgust and discomfort on the enemy ¨C though that was a nice bonus ¨C but to serve as a distraction. After all, the first thing that people would think of when struck by the stench would be poison, more likely than not.


    The moment the first barrage hit, a few of the enemy soldiers had the misfortune of catching the lead projectiles on their faces and died. Even then though, it was the stink of the bug repellant that caused a disproportionate amount of chaos amongst the enemy formation. As a result, the soldiers who were keeping the engineers guarded broke formation and caused many gaps to appear.


    Which was when Branka and the second archer platoon made their presence known by raining arrows straight towards the coughing and gagging dwarven engineers now exposed in the center of the formation. The hundred or so archers of the second platoon loosed at least a thousand arrows at the surprised engineers in less than fifteen seconds, before the surprised enemy soldiers could regain control and reform their formation.


    The chaos was further exacerbated by Salicia, who took it upon herself to snipe down anyone that looked like they were trying to get the panicked enemy soldiers under control. She took down no less than a dozen such people during the time in which the second archer platoon rained arrows at the engineers, further supplemented by a rain of lead projectiles from Egil¡¯s platoon.


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    Only when the last of the engineers fell to the ground ¨C his skull shattered by an opportune sling projectile ¨C and they loosed one last salvo for good measure did they stop as Reinhardt gave them the command to cease fire and withdraw.


    Both the archers and the goblins swiftly retreated deeper into the forest, through paths that they had memorized beforehand. Behind them, the enemy troops sent some of their people to mount a pursuit, but it was too little, too late, as with the head start combined with their familiarity of the terrain, there was no way they would catch up to the escaping mercenaries.


    Besides, many traps set by those same mercenaries and their volunteer allies awaited them within the forest, and groups of said volunteers lurked in ambush at certain spots to ¡°welcome¡± any enemy that made their way deep enough into the forest. The enemy soldiers that went into the forest ¨C likely due to an on the spot decision by their commander ¨C had no idea what they were going into.


    Legs were caught in nooses which then led to the flexible tree said noose was tied to straightening itself, hurling the unfortunate soldier into the air and a likely unsurvivable fall. Long, flexible branches with multiple stakes tied to it snapped out at thigh-height when another soldier triggered a trip cord, the stakes easily piercing through the unarmored thighs of several unfortunate soldiers at the same time.


    A different tripwire resulted in a large log ¨C suspended from the canopy with vines ¨C to come swinging down and bludgeon multiple soldiers to death as it passed. Every now and then, screams came from other soldiers stepping into pit traps lined with stakes at the bottom. Morale quickly decreased amongst the soldiers who were sent into the forest, but they pressed on.


    Then they ran into the first ambush Reinhardt had set.


    The couple thousand enemy soldiers that had rushed into the forest soon found the archers and slingers they were looking for, or rather, found themselves to be the next target of said archers and slingers. A group of volunteer soldiers from Levain struck them from the side in a surprise ambush even as Branka¡¯s archers and Egil¡¯s slingers hurled projectiles towards them from the other side.


    Before long, however, the Podovniy soldiers who had hunkered down in defense while expecting more enemies realized that the ambushers had withdrawn back into the forest, trading a handful of their dead for more than three times that number in casualties inflicted. At the same time, the barrage of projectiles also ceased.


    Wary of splitting his troops deep within the forest, the commander in charge of the soldiers decided to pursue the ambushers, who were closer by compared to the archers and slingers. Unfortunately, that was the wrong decision to make, as within five minutes of beginning their pursuit, they fell into a second ambush while those archers and slingers made another return and pelted them with projectiles yet again.


    By the time they ran into a third ambush in the forest, the Podovniy commander decisively chose to give up the chase, realizing that he had been played by the enemy all along. They painstakingly made their way back out of the forest ¨C running into even more traps in the process ¨C until the bedraggled survivors finally made it back to their army.


    Out of over two thousand soldiers sent into the forest, nearly a quarter was lost somewhere within.

 Side Story 64 - The Price of Incompetence

    ¡°Incompetent commanders. The worst curse any military could suffer from.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Which bloody absolute idiot ordered our men to chase the enemy into the forest!? The enemy who has already shown themselves to be well-prepared for our arrival and have a penchant for traps at that. Tell me! Which moron was it!?¡± Yelled Marquis Viktor Esvant of Podovniy after he heard the report from the messenger about the situation at the vanguard.


    In a rare exchange of roles, it was the Marquis himself who was spewing insults at the top of his voice and his usually foul-mouthed general who remained calm that day.


    ¡°I told you shit like this would happen when you made the noble families ¡®donate¡¯ one of their spawn each to command the forces from their place,¡± calmly said Simeon with a knowing smirk that pretty much screamed ¡®I told you so¡¯ out loud plastered on his face. ¡°Those spoiled brats rarely if ever are prepared for the sort of things we see out in a battlefield. I don¡¯t even know how you could expect them not to make stupid calls when left on their own.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± sighed the Marquis as he admitted defeat to his long-time friend and general. ¡°I¡¯ll do something to change it after this, but right now I doubt a large shake-up of leadership would do us any good,¡± he added. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think anyone answered my previous question yet? So, tell me, which absolute moron sent his men into the most definitely trapped and ambush-riddled woods?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be Tribune Josef Bourgnoin, milord,¡± replied Simeon after a quick check at the note that the messenger passed to him earlier. Since the assault had happened quite late in the day, he and the Marquis who were positioned around the back end of the army column only received the news after they had set up tents for the night. ¡°That¡¯s the third son of Count Bourgnoin of Desavo, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Remind me to bust the Count to Baron once we return¡­ no wait¡­ does any of his spawn actually have any worth?¡± said the Marquis in obvious anger at the noble for sending such an incompetent to be the commander of his forces. ¡°If any of them have a brain we¡¯ll replace him with them too, while we¡¯re at it. The old Count can retire and go die of illness.¡±


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    ¡°None of his sons are any good, all wastrels, the lot of them,¡± noted Simeon with a frown as he recalled what he knew about the Count. ¡°If I remember right, his second daughter shows some promise, though. She was married off young but her husband died a few months after the marriage in a hunting accident. She had since returned to her home and lived there once more.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll do,¡± said the Marquis curtly, once again cursing himself in his heart about the necessity of appeasing the local rulers for easier assimilation. He knew he should have just hanged the lot of them, but all his advisors were always so vehemently against that idea whenever he proposed it. ¡°Oh, right, who was the one in charge of the troops sent to the forest back there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be Senior Commander Raoul Zebediah, milord,¡± replied Simeon quickly. ¡°Seniormost regiment commander of the brigade. For what it¡¯s worth, the man made the right call to retreat promptly once he realized just how prepared our enemies were.¡±


    ¡°I know that. Have the man promoted to Tribune to replace that incompetent son of a whore,¡± stated the Marquis decisively. The promotion was against the rules his advisors had made to appease the nobles under his charge by allowing their descendants to hold high positions in the military, but battlefield necessities and all that. Surely they would understand. ¡°Tell him that he may have his choice for his replacement as regiment commander.¡±


    ¡°Got it, milord. And what shall we do with the former Tribune Bourgnoin?¡± asked Simeon nonchalantly with another smirk on his face. The long-time career military man had always been against having such unproven nobles as commanders in his army. Unfortunately, those nobles and their supporters had far more voice in the March¡¯s councils than his like, and even his position as the Marquis¡¯ confidant was an often questioned one as it was.


    ¡°Twenty lashes in public with a reading of his folly before we march tomorrow morning,¡± replied the Marquis. Lashings like what he ordered were by no means light punishment, as the whips used were ones meant for draft animals. When used against people, they¡¯d scour the flesh off their bodies with ease. Even strong men tend to faint after ten lashes. Twenty was as good as a death penalty. ¡°Then have what¡¯s left of him hanged as an example. I will not tolerate more of this sort of stupidity and I hope his corpse will make my point clear to the rest.¡±


    ¡°It will be done, sir,¡± noted the veteran general with an understanding nod.


    ¡°I really wish I could do some things differently at times, Simeon, old friend, but even I chafe against the trappings of nobility,¡± admitted the Marquis, looking rather deflated after he vented his bellyful of anger at last. ¡°Now, don¡¯t bother to spare me the truth. How does it look with Janos and his engineers? How badly were they hit by this attack?¡±


    ¡°Afraid I got no good news there, milord. We got seven survivors out of the whole lot. Afraid old Janos bought the mines like most of the rest, and out of the survivors only two got off lightly enough to be able to work again within three days,¡± reported Simeon with a frown on his face. ¡°Also, the stench is causing issues, many of the medics had trouble concentrating while healing them, and a few even fainted.¡±


    ¡°Bloody cowardly cretins!¡± cursed the Marquis once more. ¡°I know it¡¯s too much to ask them to fight with honor on the battlefield, but this sort of shit is really getting on my nerves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid these ones know that we¡¯d break them with ease in an open battle, sire,¡± commented Simeon somewhat pointedly. ¡°And they¡¯re clever enough to seek out other paths. They¡¯re neither knights nor nobles anyway, so it was your fault for expecting honor and decorum from them to begin with. Especially after they roasted silly Dukoz to death months ago.¡±


    ¡°I know, Simeon, I know.¡±

 Chapter 333 - Trapped by Tradition

    ¡°There are times when traditions are beneficial and good for you, and there are times when they should be discarded right out of the door.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Shame they¡¯re headed straight for Levain,¡± mumbled Reinhardt quietly while he watched the enemy troops movement through his eye piece¡¯s enchantment from the safety of the camp the Free Lances and their allies had erected deep within the jungle. Hannah was keeping track of the enemy from on high, well outside arrow range as usual.


    If the enemy had spread themselves thin in order to properly conquer the outlying areas of Levain first before heading to the city itself, Reinhardt and the people with him would have been able to do a disproportionate amount of damage to them, but unfortunately that wasn¡¯t the case. With the enemies on a direct course to Levain, at best he got a week and a half to two weeks to harass them before they reached the city.


    Once they have reached and besieged the city itself, their encampments would be better fortified, and their sentries would be more alert and on guard to incursions. Reinhardt could still bother them even then, but it would be to a lesser level than what he was capable of pulling off while the enemy was still traveling to the city.


    Unfortunately, it was the norm of warfare to aim straight for the large cities and towns instead of conquering every bit of a nation gradually. The expectation of the times was that the smaller villages would surrender themselves to their new owners without much fuss, and be incorporated easily once their erstwhile rulers were removed from power.


    The dwarves from Knallzog had not subscribed to that method and instead did things in their usual methodical way back during the Theodinaz campaign, though the discoveries that all the villages were empty did put a damper on that. In the end, however, that methodical manner helped them integrate the land even better once they won, compared to the usual way.


    Reinhardt had also noticed Duke Utghwes of Dvergarder employing such methods, slowly creeping over the enemy¡¯s land, engulfing them one village at a time. Then again, the Duke had been quite a forward-thinking man and commander, a trait he passed down to his daughter the young Duchess. For most of the rest of Alcidea, campaigning straight to the enemy cities was still the norm.


    Podovniy was clearly sticking to that norm.


    As it was, the Podovniy troops were clearly slowed by the traps Reinhardt and his crew had prepared all over the road. Even on stretches of road where there were no traps, they slowed down since they were searching for traps that weren¡¯t there to begin with. If anything, such untrapped stretches of road turned the enemy soldiers somewhat paranoid instead.


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    Every now and then, they would discover and either disarm or mark a trap so the others behind them could avoid it. Even with all their efforts, they still missed quite a few traps which were only discovered the hard way by the people behind them, however. None of that did any good to the morale of the Podovniy soldiers.


    And Reinhardt hadn¡¯t exactly left them unbothered either. Every now and then, small groups of twenty to fifty people of his would approach the column of enemy soldiers and harass them with projectiles and thrown weapons from the safety of the forests. Reinhardt had especially stocked up on large amounts of projectiles and thrown weapons for this exact purpose.


    Some of the projectiles were not even intended to kill. Sometimes they threw urns that contained all sorts of unpleasant substances at the enemy. The stink bombs used on the first ambush was just one example. Another sort they used came from the idea Elfriede¡¯s team used way back when they were still independent mercenaries to deal with invisible targets.


    In this case, however, Reinhardt had not bothered with the flour ¨C since all the enemies were visible anyway ¨C and instead doubled up on the pepper load of the little ¡°bombs¡±. The resultant explosions spread very finely ground flakes of pepper and chilies all over the vicinity, irritating the eyes, noses, throats, and mouths of any soldier unfortunate enough to be caught in it.


    It wasn¡¯t anything debilitating or even serious, but it did wonders to mess up the enemy formation and even disturb their morale.


    Egil had even more evil ideas to put to use for their harassment. Some of the concoctions his goblin alchemists had created were lures. When the urns shattered all the Podovniy soldiers could smell was a faint fragrance, and they also felt nothing off about them, which made them wonder what that was supposed to be or whether the attack was a dud.


    Only when they moved further and passed the territory of certain¡­ insects did they find out what Egil had doused them with.


    Swarms of wasps, hornets, and bees mobbed the Podovniy army, focused on the sections which had soldiers that had been previously doused by the lure earlier. Quite naturally, under such a situation, most of the soldiers flailed about to try to get rid of the insects, and as the insects saw that as a threat, they stung the soldiers in response.


    Again, the enemy army took minimal deaths ¨C other than a few unfortunate soldiers who it turned out were allergic to bee stings and died horribly ¨C but the disturbance caused a lot of casualties, as many soldiers were stung to the point that their faces were so swollen not even their own parents would have been able to recognize them. They would recover, but it was doubtful that they¡¯d feel enthusiastic about the war by that point.


    Other than bees, Egil also had the alchemists from his platoon work on other lures their tribes usually used in the northern jungles. A different lure caused whole colonies of ants to disturb the sleeping enemy soldiers that night, while yet another lured practically every predatory animal in the vicinity to attack them by the morning.


    All while Reinhardt kept the harassment going without end, though he was careful to keep his people out of the way of any incoming swarm lured by Egil¡¯s concoctions.

 Chapter 334 - Command and Conquer

    ¡°Superior commanding methods paired with a good commander will always get better results than worse methods of commanding soldiers.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Now! Make your move!¡± yelled Reinhardt into the enchantment that would carry his sound to its recipient that had its paired receivers, in this case Soledad and Anatoli. The couple were leading their hundred or so cavalrymen along with the five hundred light cavalry left behind in Levain City, split into two groups of around three hundred each.


    They had also been waiting eagerly in the small section of plains between two stretches of forest that the Podovniy army would have to pass by on their way to Levain city for the past week or so, while preparing things for their share of the harassment.


    Upon receiving the command, both groups of cavalry ¨C at that moment already hidden behind low hills around a kilometer to the north and south of the main road and waiting just for such a command ¨C spurred their mounts to a gallop as they rushed towards the vanguard of the Podovniy army that had just emerged halfway into the plains.


    With the enemy half within the plains and half still in the forest, they could neither retreat nor counterattack properly, which was why Reinhardt made the call at that precise moment. The horsemen rushed towards the shocked Podovniy troops who started to panic, though a few cooler heads managed to get their units to form a spear wall to counter the expected charge.


    Except there was no charge happening.


    As the horses carried their riders within thirty meters of the enemy column, their riders hurled javelins towards their foes with all their strength, then hurled a second one at ten meters distance with greater accuracy than before. From that point, unlike the expectations of the Podovniy troops the horsemen turned their horses towards the west and ran alongside the formation while hurling more javelins as they passed until they finally ran outside throwing range.


    Those behind the leading horsemen followed what they did, and by the time the last horseman had left their throwing range, nearly two thousand javelins had been thrown into the column of Podovniy soldiers by the cavalry. By the time the soldiers regained their measure, the cavalry had long ridden out of arrow range, which rendered any attempt at counterattack pointless.


    The assault also left far more casualties than the previous harassment the Podovniy troops had suffered to that point.


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    Other than the first javelin each rider threw, all the other javelins were thrown from much closer distance by people who had trained endlessly to do so. The results spoke for themselves. Over five hundred Podovniy soldiers lay dead or dying ¨C which might as well be dead given how unlikely it was for a skilled healer to reach them in time ¨C from those javelins, while over twice that number sported injuries of varying severity.


    To make matters worse, those injured soldiers soon found out that the cavalry had also dipped the tips of their javelins in their latrines beforehand. Such a practice would ruin the metal after a while, but all those javelins had already been tampered with beforehand. Nine out of ten times, their shafts snapped apart upon impact due to a built-in flaw to prevent the enemy from reusing them against their original owners.


    While the excrement those javelins had been dipped into wouldn¡¯t exactly poison people to death immediately, they practically guaranteed that all the injured would suffer from infected and maybe even gangrenous wounds. A thoroughly unpleasant fate as a soldier on the march, much less in an army which might have too few healers to consider them important enough to treat.


    To their credit, whoever was in charge of the army¡¯s progress responded quickly and stationed two units of cavalrymen ¨C probably around a thousand or so in total ¨C directly behind the vanguard. Most of the Podovniy cavalry had been kept further back in the formation, likely because it was far costlier to lose a cavalryman to a trap than to lose a footsoldier.


    Reinhardt noticed ¨C through the enchantment ¨C that the cavalrymen carried banners of the Podovniy March itself, however, rather than banners that belonged to several smaller regions under Podovniy¡¯s rule, some of which had been replaced by a formerly mercenary unit¡¯s banner. That meant they considered their own local cavalry either more disposable or less valuable compared to some of the mercenary cavalry they had with them, which was a curious thing.


    Then again, given that the March traditionally defends the border passively from their fortifications and did not make many offensive forays prior to the civil war, Reinhardt could see them having a poor cavalry tradition. That and he knew for a fact that one of the formerly mercenary units that had since changed careers to nobles under the Marquis¡¯ employ was the White Eagles.


    Michel du Riffons¡¯ unit, which had split off the Silver Eagles years ago and brought most of their cavalry with them.


    Reinhardt knew that the Eagles had good cavalry, and in fact had thought that he might be seeing the White Eagles stationed as guards after that last attack. That would have made it easier to catch the brat and some of the old coots who were friends with Guillaume alive and ransom them to him, but the enemy¡¯s reaction nixed that plan in the bud.


    Win some, lose some. At least the cavalry¡¯s assault with the single-use filth-encrusted javelins should cause their enemies a decent amount of casualties and put them on high alert, which would further slow their progress and make them more antsy, and thus likely to miss some of the traps laid before them. Reinhardt already had another strike in mind before the enemy crossed the plains, even.


    He only hoped with his heart that things were going as smoothly on Elfriede¡¯s side of the battlefield. The distance and the fact that both enemy armies were literally between them meant that they would only have intermittent contact by way of Elfriede sending one of the flying scouts over to bring a report from time to time, and it was still another two days until the next scheduled report.

 Chapter 335 - At the Northern Front

    ¡°The worst thing in war is when you have to deal with an opponent you are utterly unfamiliar with. That means that many things they do would come as surprises to you, and surprises in wartime situations cost lives.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Shit on a stick! Help!!!¡± yelled an Anduillean soldier as the ground she ¨C and around twenty more of her compatriots ¨C suddenly broke apart under their feet and they were plunged into viscous mud where they were slowly but surely drowning under the weight of their gear. None of them had even realized the presence of the trap due to the clever support structures under the layer of soil that hid it, which refused to give way until there were many of them directly on the trap.


    It was amazing what a little bit of ingenuity combined with skilled engineers capable of bringing ideas into reality could do.


    As it was, Lars had plenty of vicious ideas in his mind, especially after he had conferred with Egil about the sort of traps the goblin tribes on the north commonly used. Lars abused his opponent¡¯s habit of dealing with the goblin traps and instead chose to make traps in methods never used there, and therefore unfamiliar to their opponents.


    Where Reinhardt had liberally seeded the road with nooses, narrow pits ¨C with or without spikes inside ¨C just small enough to allow a foot in, stakes tied to branches, and the like, Lars instead opted for larger scale traps that made heavy use of the dwarven engineer team assigned to him. With their aid it was possible to create traps that were nigh-impossible to detect without the help of another skilled engineer, which was something the Anduillean forces notoriously lacked.


    Instead of small harassment attacks that constantly bothered the enemy, he also arranged for larger ¨C and deadlier ¨C ambushes, once again doing the opposite of what his opponents were used to. As a case in point, just after the large mud pit trap was triggered, Lars commanded Alva¡¯s first archer platoon as well as other archers from the Levainian volunteers to rain arrows towards the surprised Anduilleans.


    They had not lingered for long either. Each of the archers loosed five arrows from relatively close range, going more for speed rather than precision, though Alva¡¯s crew was capable of attaining both due to their training. The arrow barrage ended after a mere fifteen seconds as the archers quickly withdrew deeper into the jungle they had hidden themselves in.


    Before the shocked Anduillean troops could even react to that, yet another unpleasant surprise awaited them as three separate groups of mercenaries suddenly emerged from the jungle that lined the eastern side of the path they were traversing. Mischka¡¯s platoon led the assault that struck furthest away from the mud pit, while Erycea led the one closest to it, with Elfriede¡¯s in between.


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    Mischka¡¯s platoon simply made use of their sheer physicality to bully their way through the enemy column. The soldiers unfortunate enough to be caught in their path were either smashed with brute force far exceeding human capability, butchered on the spot, trampled by the platoon as they went past, or for the lucky few, merely shoved aside like petulant children in front of adults.


    Those in the path of Erycea¡¯s troop met with much of the same result, though there was less shoving around involved ¨C since her platoon had much fewer large people to do it ¨C and a lot more brutal killing instead. Erycea herself led from the front and made herself a menace to the soldiers in her way as she bashed and shattered any who stood in her way.


    Some of the enemy soldiers were even pushed into the now exposed mud pit by her platoon¡¯s charge.


    Compared to the other two, whose tasks were primarily to keep the enemy occupied and unable to support each other properly, Elfriede¡¯s platoon in the center only had one purpose, and that was to kill. Her platoons had the most veterans, all of whom were hardened killers, with not a few who even found pleasure in the act of killing itself.


    Such unhinged types were usually frowned upon even amongst mercenaries, but Elfriede had proven that she could cow them into obedience, and their¡­ unusual passion for slaughter could be harnessed to make them worthy members of the company that way. It was such a crowd that was unleashed upon the Anduillean soldiers caught between Erycea¡¯s and Mischka¡¯s platoons.


    Elfriede herself led by example by wantonly slaughtering any enemy soldier before her, her pair of mithril-edged blades slicing through the thick gambeson most soldiers wore ¨C only the better off ones had chainmail or better ¨C as easily as it sliced through their flesh and bones. Which was to say, with extreme ease, given Mithril¡¯s renowned propensity for keenness.


    She took on the hapless soldiers in a methodical manner, one of her blades defending against their attacks, while the other reaping lives one after another, with the two blades interchangeable in their roles. Most of the Anduillean soldiers were just conscripts, farmers and the likes who were rounded up and made to practice for a few weeks before they were marched to war.


    They never stood any chance whatsoever, despite their numbers.


    To Elfriede¡¯s left, Ylisera and Olyvee guarded her sides, while Karenina and Cassie were on her right, each of them also exacting their toll of blood on the enemy soldiers, while the rest of the platoon spread out widely as they made their way through the enemy soldiers. Somehow, despite they facing way more soldiers than the other platoons, they managed to rampage through the enemy column at roughly the same pace.


    So all three platoons reached the jungle on the other side of the road within seconds of each other and quickly vanished almost as one. All the brief skirmish ¨C it had not taken more than ten minutes ¨C had left were the corpses of hundreds of dead or dying Anduillean soldiers, as well as more soldiers in the process of drowning in the mud pit.


    All while the nearest Anduillean commander was probably just apprised of the news at that moment.

 Chapter 336 - The First Step Taken

    ¡°Everything begins with a first step.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I was going to ask you how it went, but since I count all of you back, unless my headcount is mistaken I assume it went well,¡± said Lars in greetings as the groups that took part in the ambush returned to one of several camps they had erected deep in the jungle to serve as bases. Due to the dense jungles which made the northern part of the former empire mostly uninhabited, there were plenty of places to hide for those willing to brave the wild beasts and harsh ecosystem.


    ¡°We got around a couple dozen wounded, but nothing too serious,¡± noted Elfriede upon hearing his words. The charge through the enemy column was easier on Mischka¡¯s and Erycea¡¯s platoons, while hers had the task to take down as many of the enemy soldiers as they could in their passing. As a result, every single one of her platoon members had to fight through at least four to five enemies as they charged through to the other side. ¡°I¡¯m fucking surprised it went so well, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of habits and expectations,¡± explained Lars calmly to the gathered leaders from the returning platoons. ¡°Our enemies spent most of their lives on the northern border of the former empire, where most of their fighting was done against goblin tribes, either defending from raids or pushing them back to the northern jungles. They develop certain habits from that, and their gut reaction would be to do what they usually did while fighting said goblins.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you had Egil go off with Rein instead, huh? These foes would be wary of his trick and would know how to counter them,¡± said Elfriede with a nod. Other than Lars, Egil was known amongst the mercenaries for being one of their more¡­ creative trapmakers, which often proved highly effective against people who never dealt with goblins before.


    ¡°One of the reasons, yes. These enemies would be expecting various small traps, often non-lethal but debilitating, as well as constant harassment and annoyances, so that¡¯s why I went for the opposite approach,¡± elaborated Lars with a smile as he saw the platoon leaders catch on to his meaning. ¡°Goblins would avoid head-on clashes against human troops at all costs given how they¡¯d be at a massive disadvantage in that situation. That¡¯s why I had you all do exactly that. Where they¡¯re expecting a couple dozen injuries, we give them hundreds of dead.¡±


    ¡°Surely they¡¯ll wise up to such things, though?¡± asked Erycea from behind her mother. Standing tall ¨C even with her legs somewhat bent due to it being more natural for people with digitigrade legs like her ¨C the girl was nearly half a head taller than her mother, and notably broader too at the shoulder. ¡°Then again, I assume Uncle Lars has something in mind for that as well, do you not?¡±


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    ¡°Of course, Young Miss,¡± replied Lars politely. ¡°Now that they¡¯ve received a taste of what we could do, they¡¯re likely to scout far more diligently into the woods. Rather than traps, however, I had Fatimah and her platoon disperse to take down any unwary scout they ran into. Should they start grouping up to scout, we¡¯ll send larger groups to keep them blind, while our fliers will keep us updated on their movements.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also had people slip something unpleasant into the water sources they¡¯re likely to use. Nothing that¡¯d cause the place to be unusable permanently, but it should be enough to give many of them very uncomfortable lives ahead of them,¡± he added with a sadistic grin on his face. ¡°Remember that while inflicting losses on the enemy is a good thing, our primary mission is to delay our foes for as long as possible with as little damage to our forces as we can manage.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± came the reply from the platoon leaders as they nodded to what Lars had said.


    ¡°Still, even though I said that, we will still need to take more risks. These Anduilleans are used to goblin style harassment attacks, so that wouldn¡¯t affect them much. We¡¯ll see how they like getting actual night attacks, though,¡± commented Lars almost nonchalantly. ¡°Madam Mischka, I¡¯m afraid I will have to call upon your troops once more to spearhead the charge, though this time we will work together with the people stationed on the second base as well to make the assault count.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re always ready to earn our pay, boy,¡± replied Mischka with a guffaw that could have been mistaken for a fearsome roar. Given her seniority ¨C and age, as Mischka was well in her seventies by that point, something most forgot when they witnessed her sheer brutality in combat ¨C she had often called Lars as a ¡®boy¡¯ from long ago, which was something Lars couldn¡¯t really deny given that Mischka was more than old enough to be his mother. ¡°Just give us the word and we¡¯ll do our job.¡±


    ¡°Most excellent,¡± praised Lars. ¡°Have your troops rest for now. It¡¯s still early in the day, and we won¡¯t strike until deep within the night, when most slumber the deepest,¡± he continued. ¡°Make sure to tell everyone to get their fill of dinner, just in case. It will be a risky assault, and our enemies might even expect it, but I¡¯m hoping to throw them off with the scale of our attack, which should be well beyond their prepared response.¡±


    The various platoon leaders gave their affirmation to the order Lars gave and dispersed back to their respective platoons. When he gathered together those at the second base as well ¨C which included most of the mercenaries that went north with him, together with those already present ¨C that meant the assault would have around a thousand people.


    Felt like a foolhardy thing to assault fifty-five thousand enemies with just a thousand, but if everything went as planned, Lars hoped that the chaos that would happen would be sufficient to mask the night attack and prevent the enemy from responding in a timely manner.


    Worst case, the mercenaries would just retreat prematurely.

 Chapter 337 - Turn of Phrase

    ¡°Language always develops to match progress, so it can at times get jarring for long-lived ones who have the habit to sequester themselves for long periods of time to understand the new words, slangs, or mannerisms that would sprout during their solitary periods.¡± - Motocles Unionae, elven researcher, on the habits and failings of the long-lived races.


    How mercenaries like the Free Lances handled their everyday chores depended a lot on the situation.


    During times when they were fortunate enough to be stationed within close proximity to where their dependents and support staff lived, like on many defensive deployments, said support staff would handle the vast majority of the chores for them. Naturally, situations that allow such comforts were not too common as a whole.


    Most of the time, when the mercenaries were out in the field, away from their support staff, they would usually either rotate the duties amongst themselves, or have people assigned to doing what they were good at. The former method was more commonly seen amongst newer groups where the members didn¡¯t know each other that well yet, while older groups would usually have fixed roles while also ensuring that others could take up the role should it become necessary.


    After all, you could never tell when the one guy good at cooking might croak during a battle, after all.


    The Free Lances mostly subscribed to the latter method, with each platoon handling their own respective chores, and each having their own assigned group ¨C so that no one person dying would hurt the platoon too much ¨C at every task. In the case of Erycea¡¯s platoon, the group that was responsible for cooking was headed by Aurora.


    Mostly because she was by far the best cook of the bunch to the point that others were more than willing to do her chores on her behalf as long as she does the cooking.


    ¡°Think we¡¯ll get to see some of the tin cans when we hit them later tonight?¡± asked Aurora ¨C Rory to her friends ¨C to Erycea while slicing up some wild vegetables the group foraged out of the forest on their way back to camp. Normally the group would try to subsist by foraging as much as they could to extend their rations, but since they were busy with the ambush that day, they hadn¡¯t done much foraging.


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    ¡°Should depend on where we¡¯re hitting them,¡± replied Erycea while deftly removing the bones off several small birds they caught on the way back. Erycea directly used her hands and claws to do so rather than any utensils, as it was easier for her to do it that way. ¡°These northerners didn¡¯t have many tin cans to start with, as far as I know. So we¡¯ll have to see, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Beg your pardon, ma¡¯am,¡± asked an unfamiliar voice from behind them. Aurora and Erycea both turned their heads to see that it was a young man dressed in clothes that wouldn¡¯t be out of place for a hunter, likely one of the volunteers from Levain that was in the base, then. ¡°I¡¯ve just been wondering, but I¡¯ve heard your folks calling knights ¡®tin cans¡¯ often and wonder what it means.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, that¡¯s something they say in Knallzog and Down Under, I guess you Levainians wouldn¡¯t be aware of it,¡± replied Erycea after some thought, while Aurora turned back to the cooking as she noticed Ery handling the question. ¡°Hmm¡­ to explain what it means I¡¯ll have to elaborate a bit. You¡¯ve seen fruits or the like preserved in jars or urns before, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± replied the young man. ¡°My little sister¡¯s always crazy for them peaches preserved in honey.¡±


    ¡°Right, anyway, the big issue with that is if you got a bad urn or jar, you¡¯re looking at spoiled food, and getting the good jars or urns can cost quite a pretty silver, ain¡¯t that so?¡± asked Erycea, to which the young man nodded. ¡°So some dwarf Down Under found a way to replace those jars and urns with something that¡¯s both cheaper and easier to get right. They made these instead.¡±


    As Erycea finished her words, she brought out a large tin can out of her storage pendant. The can itself was square in shape, and quite big, perhaps as large around as an adult male¡¯s torso. No openings could be seen out of the can, which seemed to be completely enclosed from all sides.


    ¡°That¡¯s a tin can, then?¡± asked the young man.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± said Erycea as she handed the can over to Aurora, who deftly made a hole on one corner of the thin metal can with her knife before pouring its contents ¨C some sort of concentrated soup from the looks of it ¨C into the cauldron. ¡°That one¡¯s got a soup concentrate in it, good to feed as many as a hundred, if you dilute it enough. Just got to bring your own cauldron and water.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re cheaper and easier to make than glass jars, and preserve food better than clay urns, so it¡¯s becoming the economical option in the dwarven lands. Knallzog already adopted their use by the time I was born, I guess Levain¡¯s missed out due to the civil war and all,¡± she added. ¡°The metal¡¯s real thin as you can see, so we can just throw it away without feeling any heartache after we use them.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with calling knights that, though?¡±


    ¡°Funny story, that one,¡± said Erycea with a toothy smirk on her face. ¡°That originated from an old elven mercenary working for the Kingdom Down Under during the last days of the Empire. He¡¯s one of those who likely took part in the raids when he was younger and likely ate some people along the way. He called the knights Tin Cans after he saw the dwarves bring out food from the cans. See, to him, the knights are the same thing! Food in a metal container!¡±


    ¡°Everyone found that comparison hilarious, and as you know, the armor human knights use are really thin compared to what dwarves use, so they took to calling human knights tin cans as well. Most of the dwarves in our group¡¯s from Knallzog, so we also picked up the phrase from them.¡±

 Side Story 65 - Belated Realization

    ¡°Sometimes, a realization might only dawn on you when it was all too late for it to be of use.¡± - Old folk saying.


    High Regent Lukas Worsted of Anduille had difficulty sleeping that night.


    He received the reports nearly half an hour after the fact, since he and his staff were marching along with the last quarter or so of their troops, near the rear. The difficult terrain of the jungle forced his troops to lengthen their formation, as the roads were too small to allow them to pass through in their usual one, which also caused further delays in relaying of information from the front to the back.


    The ambush his vanguard had run into was something the troops were not used to, as most of their experience in combat had been against goblins. Anduille had mostly expanded their territory by diplomatic threats, and they had been the largest power in the north to begin with, so the other, smaller states in the region had mostly capitulated without much of a fight.


    And now that lack of experience fighting against other armies bit them in the rear.


    Not for the first time, either, as Lukas strongly believed that it was such a lack of experience that killed his father and elder sister in the short war against Caroma four years ago. He had since made reforms and instituted training programs to improve the readiness of his soldiers, but the fact remained that his soldiers still lacked real combat experience against opponents that were not goblins.


    Meanwhile, it appeared that the people defending Levain were determined to extract their pound of flesh from his army, given the sting they already dealt him barely a day after his army crossed the borders.


    It was a rather disheartening report that reached him after the fact. Over two hundred dead ¨C some of which drowned to death in a mud pit their enemies had dug in preparation of their arrival ¨C with over twice that number sporting injuries of varying seriousness. Whoever they were dealing with were horribly efficient, as witness reports said that the whole ambush had not taken more than ten minutes from start to finish.


    Everything was arranged in detail as well, from the archers who both opened the curtains to the ambush and provided cover fire for the ambushing troops to retreat, to the timing of the strike, which happened just as their troops halted due to the trap that blocked the road. The enemies must have hidden close to the road itself to be able to react in such a timely manner, which was no surprise given how visibility was shit thanks to the dense jungles.


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    In most places even the people who were proud of their eyesight could barely see more than a couple meters into the jungle itself, so dense was the undergrowth.


    That their enemies were patient and hardy enough to wait for them in the middle of such dense foliage was a hint that they weren¡¯t dealing with regular enemies, more likely than not. Regular enemies under such conditions were far more likely to display some flaws that might give away their location, or make other mistakes.


    Given how his troops had no idea whatsoever of the enemy¡¯s presence until they struck and the speed with which those enemies rushed out and back into the jungle, they were most likely dealing with professionals. The reports mentioned a large number of large-bodied therians, which definitely weren¡¯t a common sight in the former Clangeddin territory, so probably the mercenaries hired by Levain, then?


    The thoughts kept him awake, his sleep interrupted repeatedly after brief moments of rest as he kept finding himself woken up by his thoughts once more. Despite his age, this expedition was the first time Lukas was in charge of an army, much less leading them to battle. He quickly learned that the feeling of guilt he felt for getting some of his men killed was an unpleasant one, however.


    In the end, as sleep continued to elude him, he got up from his bed and dressed himself, leaving his tent after a quick wash using the water in the pitcher set near his bedside. It was late in the night, and all was quiet, quite unlike the experiences his sister had told him about during campaigns against the goblins, where a peaceful night of rest was at a premium.


    The little buggers loved to make things inconvenient for the army, to say the least.


    From the silence Lukas had a brief moment of hope that his enemies ¨C if they were indeed Levainian mercenaries as he doubted that the locals were that skilled ¨C had not subscribed to the same method of war, where they primarily made themselves too annoying to be worth continuing the campaign for. All considered, the casualties from the ambush stung, but they were less than one hundredth of his men, and with the orders to increase their vigilance while on the march, he doubted that a repeat would go as well for those ambushers.


    He walked around the quiet camp to clear his mind, the night breeze cold and clammy against his skin. It was a nice change to the damp heat of the day, which made everyone sweat prodigiously and cause their clothes to stick to their bodies uncomfortably. The northern region was always that way, with the temperature differing quite a bit between the day and night.


    Due to the cramped conditions of the road, the army couldn¡¯t set up a proper camp the way he would have preferred, so they instead set up simple fences that they¡¯d remove and carry along with them come the morning. Tents were pretty much only the privilege of people like him and his commanders, with most of the soldiers simply sleeping on the ground on bedrolls.


    Fortunately they had long learned to concoct effective insect and beast repellants so the soldiers were able to rest in a modicum of comfort despite the lack of proper shelter.


    The High Regent was a bit lost in thought as he walked around the camp, greeting the soldiers on watch as he passed them. That was, until his attention was caught by what seemed to be a small flame high in the sky. Before his eyes, the flames seemed to multiply, then they started falling down, in the direction of the vanguard camp.


    It was only when the blaze began to erupt in the distance that he realized that he was looking at an enemy night attack.

 Chapter 338 - It Starts with a Fire

    ¡°Fire has been both the best friend and the greatest foe of civilization from time immemorial.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Avila Two-Feathers was both excited and nervous as she took flight from her perch atop a particularly tall tree in the jungle that night. It wasn¡¯t the darkness that bothered her, despite it being well into the morning by then. Her eyes were capable of seeing well enough in the dark to make things out even from a great height.


    Instead the excitement and nervousness came from the fact that it would be Avila¡¯s first time being an active combatant for the company. She, like most of the other youngsters in her platoon, had been attracted by the stories Hannah ¨C an older cousin of theirs who had fled from home and roamed the world ¨C told them and chose to follow in her footsteps. Hannah had led them to join the Free Lances, the mercenary company she worked for.


    There, their role was primarily reconnaissance, as their ability to fly at great heights while still noticing things below them with a reasonable measure of clarity was priceless in the field. They made good money and the job was safe as very, very few archers would even be able to reach the height they flew at, much less actually hit them.


    Even so, some part of her wished that she could participate more actively in the actual fighting. The Captain had strictly prohibited the platoon Avila was part of from joining the fight, citing that they were far too valuable an asset to risk like that. As such, they were mostly consigned to watch the fight happen from safety, far above the battlefield.


    But desperate times called for desperate measures, it seemed.


    Lars had tasked Avila and the rest of her platoon ¨C technically Hannah was the platoon leader, but she was with Reinhardt and since Avila was her second in command, the leadership defaulted to her in this case ¨C with delivering certain items to the enemy encampment from the skies. It was still a relatively safe task thanks to the darkness of the very early morning hours, but they would have to fly a good bit lower to guarantee that they would drop their payloads accurately.


    Inside the backpack-sized storage artifact carried by each member of the platoon were four clay urns, each roughly the size of an adult human¡¯s head. The urns were rather fragile, the sort that would shatter even from a low drop, and they were each packed full of oil mixed with goblin kindling, while a fuse was tied to their lid.


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    The fuse was the stubborn, slow-burning sort, the kind that wouldn¡¯t go out even if one were to stomp on it with their feet. It was perfect for dropping from a high altitude like what they planned to do with the urns. The goblin kindling mixed within the oil would make it burn hot and bright if touched by even the slightest spark, which was guaranteed to happen when the urn shatters against the ground.


    Of course, the kindling also made the oil burn faster, so the damage would be more limited unless they happened to drop it directly on some flammable material the fire could use as more fuel. It was a worthwhile tradeoff though, as the bigger, brighter flames would cause more panic to erupt compared to normal flames.


    Avila and her platoon would create the distraction for the rest of the mercenaries ¨C along with the Levainian volunteers ¨C to abuse.


    As her wings carried her over the snaking enemy encampment below, Avila brought one of the urns out from the storage artifact, holding to it firmly with the talons of one foot while she grabbed a firestarter tool with her other leg. Only one of her fellow platoon members was of the fire affinity and thus could light the fuse without needing tools, and it wasn¡¯t her.


    She carefully lit the fuse using the tool, while keeping the fire shielded with her wings as much as she could. In the distance, her sharp eyes caught sight of her fellow platoon members doing the same, all while flying a couple hundred meters above the enemy encampment. Avila waited until everyone had lit the fuse on their urns before she gave a light screech.


    Her voice carried through the air, but none of the soldiers below stirred, as most of the sound was too shrill for them to even hear. Avila¡¯s platoon members were perfectly capable of hearing the signal, however, and almost as one, they hurled the urns with lit fuses down towards the enemy encampment.


    Then they brought out another urn and repeated the process over and over again until they ran out.


    By the time Avila and her fellow mercenaries had lit the third urn¡¯s fuse, the first urn crashed against the ground below, splattering its volatile contents all over the vicinity. A split second later, the still-lit fuse fell atop the oil and lit it afire, causing a truly impressive blaze to flare up into the night. The sight sent many Anduillean soldiers nearby into a panic.


    It also made Avila and her platoon far more visible, but they had not tarried overlong and immediately flew away once they hurled the last urns. By the time the Anduillean archers could even react, Avila''s platoon was well outside of arrow range already.


    Meanwhile the fires blazed and kept the attention of most of the enemy soldiers. Some unfortunate enemy soldiers were even directly splashed by the volatile oil and were instantly turned into living torches once the lit fuse dropped down. The sight of screaming men and women on fire did quite a number on the morale and mentality of the Anduillean soldiers and likely delayed their reaction by some measure.


    At the same time, the rest of the mercenaries under Lars and Elfriede¡¯s command made use of the opportunity and distraction that Avila had given them to launch an all-out assault against a different section of the enemy¡¯s camp, relying on the fire to delay any response and to prevent any reinforcement from bothering them until it was all too late.

 Chapter 339 - Leading the Charge

    ¡°Leading from the front is the riskiest part of any military maneuver, and the typical method in this day and age is to assign a sufficiently courageous field officer to do so. Some armies even made such practices entirely voluntary.


    On the other hand, amongst mercenary troops such a practice more commonly sees the commander in charge of the whole company or at least part of it spearheading said assaults. Unlike regular armies, mercenaries often needed to lead by example, as many wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with listening to someone who just gave commands from the safety of the back lines.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°War: Past and Future¡± by Woden Songvst, scholar from the Gulski Jarldom, circa 419 FP.


    As the flames lit up the night sky in the distance, Erycea led her platoon out from their concealed position in the jungle and led them in rushing towards the Anduillean encampment.


    By the time Avila and her fliers were in position to deliver the ¡°distraction¡±, the rest of the mercenaries and Levainian volunteers from the first two base camps had gathered in the jungle. Despite their close proximity to the enemy camp, they were undetected, as it was nearly impossible to see anything in the depth of the jungle in the darkness of the night for most.


    As such, they only had a rather short distance to cross before they left concealment and reached the enemy camp. Erycea spearheaded the charge of her platoon, which had grown from the original seventy or so people to just over a hundred in the intervening years. She and her closest compatriots were in the lead, as they always spearheaded any charge the platoon participated in, while Hakim and Malika led the rest of the platoon who followed closely behind Erycea¡¯s group.


    A bit further back from her platoon were a couple hundred more Levainian volunteers who would further make up their numbers for this night attack. Erycea¡¯s group was positioned to lead the charge against the frontmost elements of the enemy army and to wreak as much havoc as they could while simultaneously minimizing risk to themselves.


    She knew that further to the north, Mischka¡¯s platoon led another charge, with Lars and his platoon following behind them, backed up by another couple hundred volunteers. They had the hardest task, as they charged deepest into the enemy lines and needed to hold their ground to prevent the enemy from reinforcing their vanguard.


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    Then again, both Branka¡¯s second archer platoon and the Levainian archers were also raining arrows on the enemy army to support them.


    As for doing the actual damage to the enemy, the task fell to the group that included Elfriede¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s platoons in between Erycea¡¯s and Mischka¡¯s prong of the assault. Where Erycea and Mischka partly needed to corral the enemy forces, Erycea knew that her mother would be going in for the kill instead.


    The Anduilleans had erected some crossed wooden stakes tied to a longer rod to serve as a makeshift fence for their camp. It was enough to deter wild animals, but against a determined enemy force, they were little more than speedbumps. Erycea quickly ordered Vladislav, Tasha, Vera, and Gustav to uproot those makeshift fences and throw them out of the way.


    They did just that and the platoon rushed through the created opening without missing a beat.


    Many of the enemy soldiers were still rousing themselves from where they slept on the ground. Few of them were prepared for the assault, as the sentries who were supposed to warn them had been taken out while they were distracted by the fire further away. One of the soldiers saw the incoming attack and was about to raise his voice when a crossbow bolt suddenly went into his mouth and turned his scream-to-be into a gurgling noise.


    Aurora just yanked the hand lever of her crossbow to reset the string to a firing position and calmly placed another bolt on the groove as she ran alongside Erycea near the front of the platoon. The girl¡¯s hand crossbow was something her parents had ordered from Hogarth himself and gave her as a birthday present on the year she joined the Company, and was designed cleverly so that even she could operate the crank and lever with a single hand despite how the crossbow delivered a lot of force in its shots.


    On Erycea¡¯s other side, Ayrie ran along with the group while holding her long-knife in her left hand. Her right hand was busy flinging throwing knives at any enemy soldier in sight. Not every throw was a kill, but even for those who were only injured, suddenly having a knife stick out from their faces couldn¡¯t be a pleasant experience at all. As for the ones with bad enough luck to take a knife somewhere fatal, they were too busy dying to care.


    Valeria and Beth kept guard with their large shields and provided cover for the others to hide behind when needed, while Erycea herself was at the front and center of the charge with the twins. Erycea struck down enemy soldiers that crossed her path with her truncheons, the blows shattering bones even when they didn¡¯t outright kill her victims on the spot, and the sleepy, surprised enemy soldiers started to panic.


    As a result, and the bulk of her platoon and the volunteers following behind spread out and started the slaughter, the resistance they faced were light and disjointed at best. Erycea and her group had drawn the attention of the majority of the prepared enemy soldiers, which left mostly the unprepared ones for the others to mop up.


    This time, they were not going for a quick strike, but aimed for the greatest damage possible instead, as the Levainian volunteers who were at the back of the pack hurled lit torches at anything that looked like it might catch on fire, causing a blaze to erupt behind the advancing platoon. All too often, the fuel for said fires were piles of dead Anduillean soldiers strewn on the ground.

 Chapter 340 - Advantages in Disparity

    ¡°The way some races are just better than others at certain things is a fact that cannot be disputed. You would be hard-pressed to find a human who could match an orc or dwarf in strength, or match an elf in agility, or swim better than a merfolk.


    When it comes to applying these differences in a military unit, the practice often proved difficult. Such great differences in physicality made it harder for people of different races to act together as a unit. Naturally, this is undesirable, since discipline and cohesion is key to success in any military endeavor.


    To date, only some mercenary units and barbarians continued this sort of foolhardy practice of mixing soldiers from different races into a single unit. Most nations had seen the wisdom that different people work best when paired with more of their compatriots, rather than mixed with others who were far too different from them.¡± - Sol Jacinqt Evos, military scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, circa 391 VA.


    Mischka B?nfinn was old for a mercenary, having started her career at the tender age of twelve and continued fighting in various battlefields for six decades since. Despite her advanced age, thanks to her race¡¯s physiology, she was just as hale and hearty as when she was but a wee lass barely two decades of age.


    Arguably, she was even more hale and hearty compared to back then, as her well-trained body had only improved in the years since.


    The breed of therian she belonged to was known for their huge size and powerful bodies that were practically built for battle. What many people not part of their breed was aware of, however, was that they also barely show any deterioration from age. In fact, to Mischka¡¯s knowledge, those of her kind always either died in battle or just suddenly passed away without any prior warning in their old age, often being just as active as usual prior to their deaths.


    Which was to say that the old therian matron could likely live to a hundred ¨C it was rare, but not too uncommon for older matrons of the breed to live that long ¨C or more and remain as fit as she had always been.


    That night, she led her family ¨C though now the platoon had grown beyond the less than fifty members that had survived through Theodinaz to nearly a hundred strong ¨C as usual as they charged directly through the enemy lines. Their numbers had been bolstered in the years that had passed since they joined the Free Lances, as Reinhardt directed the largest and strongest few applicants they inducted into the company every year her way.


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    In fact, most of the company¡¯s members who had such a great physicality to the point that they could manhandle the average adult human as if they were children were in Mischka¡¯s platoon. A few were in other platoons, but the vast majority was with her. Apparently Reinhardt considered having a platoon that could be trusted to be able to break through even the sturdiest of defenses to be a great asset, rather than diluting that force by spreading it over many platoons to strengthen all of them by a smaller margin.


    One such new recruit to her platoon acquitted himself well in the frontline, though he was stationed closer towards the side rather than the center, where Mischka¡¯s family led the charge themselves. The large-bodied lizard therian man brutally tackled two enemy soldiers, sending one stumbling back while the second fell on his back and promptly had his torso squashed by Rubor¡¯s booted foot.


    At the same time Rubor also struck a third enemy soldier with his mace, his blow so forceful that it directly shattered the soldier¡¯s wooden shield as well as the arm behind it. As if he had something to prove, Rubor also dropped a fourth enemy soldier at roughly the same time with a swing of his long tail. He had a metal weight custom-made so he could hold on to it with the tip of his tail, and said weight directly crushed another enemy soldier¡¯s face.


    ¡°Nice going, boy!¡± shouted Mischka at the lizard therian man as she herself struck down four soldiers with her great blade. Two of the soldiers were directly torn asunder into halves by her blow, while the third one was literally folded over her blade. The last two were slightly more fortunate and were only blown away, though it would be a miracle if they didn¡¯t sport a broken bone or ten from her strike.


    Unlike their usual mission where they had to strike directly through the enemy lines, Mischka¡¯s people needed to hold the line against the incoming enemies tonight. As such, once their advance reached the rough center of the enemy camp width-wise some of her people continued pushing forward while others fanned out to the side, forming a defense line even as the mercenaries led by Lars in person formed up behind them.


    Mischka¡¯s troops would be the posts of the fence while those under Lars would be the boards that went between them. While losing the momentum of their charge did reduce their deadliness somewhat, the members of Mischka¡¯s group were in their element as they used their sheer physicality to simply overwhelm the enemy soldiers that were starting to head towards the vanguard they attacked as reinforcements.


    Lars had chosen the enemy vanguard as their target for safety reasons. He had reasoned that this fight wouldn¡¯t be a short and decisive one, and therefore preserving their own forces should be their top priority. As it was, Given the slaughter happening behind the blockade Mischka¡¯s unit formed together with Lars¡¯s own unit, the enemy would have plenty of casualties to sort out after the fighting ended.


    Meanwhile, while attacking the vanguard reduced the damage they could have done to the enemy army, it also made it far easier for the mercenaries and volunteers to escape once the opposition grew too heavy or they were done with the slaughter, whichever comes first. Until that time arrived, however, Mischka and her platoon would go wild against the enemy soldiers, both causing great amounts of casualties that belied their small number, and disturbing enemy morale at the same time.

 Chapter 341 - Killing for a Living

    ¡°Most people have some qualms about killing other people, even if they¡¯re used to it. The ones you have to worry about are the ones who actually enjoy killing. All too often those crazies end up losing control and start butchering people like crazy and end up being mass murderers.¡± - Ibrahim Neros, retired mercenary.


    Slash.


    Twist.


    Push away a spear.


    Slice the arms off the poor sod holding it.


    Step to the side to let another spear pass.


    Neatly slice the shaft with one blade.


    Take the man¡¯s head off with the other blade.


    To Elfriede, who found the dance at the blade¡¯s edge to be a thrilling exercise, where life and death could be decided by a single step or mis-step, a one-sided slaughter against poorly skilled opponents was little more than a chore. In fact, that was exactly what she viewed it as: the job she was being paid good money to do.


    Her platoon and Fatimah¡¯s had been assigned to the main killing field because their members were the ones with the least qualms about taking another person¡¯s life amongst the company. People were often quite willing to kill another in a heated battle, or when they were defending themselves. However, when it came to butchering a multitude of opponents who were barely able to resist as they were caught off guard, not everyone had the stomach to do the deed.


    All too often, people hesitate. The act of slaying another person who couldn¡¯t fight back properly presented a mental hurdle for most people. While they might be able to power through that hurdle once or twice, when they had to do it more often, they usually failed to cope with the guilt they felt. That typically resulted in openings that might well lead to their own demise, or worse, the demise of one of their compatriots.


    No such issues with the people in Elfriede¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s platoons.


    Fatimah¡¯s platoon were entirely surviving members of some assassin cult from the southern continent, as best as Elfriede could tell, or their own descendants. Their training as assassins showed in how all the men and women in the platoon would reap lives without even blinking, as if it was the most normal thing for them to do.


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    As a former assassin herself, Elfriede had identified them early on. She had also reported her findings to Reinhardt, but both agreed that as long as Fatimah and her people worked for the company sincerely, they would have no reason to call them out. If anything, Fatimah likely knew that Reinhardt knew about her platoon¡¯s real background, given how they had been assigned on assassination missions several times of late.


    It was a working arrangement both sides were happy with.


    On the other hand, Elfriede¡¯s platoon was composed entirely of the daredevils, the maniacs, the cold-blooded killers, and even the actual murderers from the company¡¯s roster. Normally most mercenary companies would be iffy on employing people like those, as they tend to get out of hand when handled poorly.


    Elfriede¡¯s role was to wrangle them into submission so that they would only kill when told to, something she was well-suited for given how similar her own mindset was to theirs.


    Naturally, a few members of her platoon had similar roles as Elfriede couldn¡¯t be everywhere at the same time. Her old friends Karenina and Cassie helped quite a bit in that regard, as did Olyvee and Ylisera, who all practically functioned as her lieutenants within the platoon. Together they directed the murderous impulse of their subordinates towards the right direction.


    Since the number of people in the platoon had increased over the years, Elfriede thought that she might need another such lieutenant to help her out soon. Out of the people she had worked for quite a while with, there weren¡¯t that many she¡¯d consider for such a position for one reason or another. Definitely not anyone who needed to be wrangled into submission themselves.


    Ignaz and Silva, two veterans who had survived through the Theodinaz campaign, were reliable, but ultimately too soft. They wouldn¡¯t be able to wrangle the hotheads and murderous maniacs of the platoon into submission properly.


    Kari, Alva¡¯s younger sister, was too much of a daredevil herself, which also made her unsuitable for such a position. Elfriede thought that the young woman often fought like she had a deathwish or something, with recklessness that was far from healthy. So far Kari¡¯s luck held and she survived many battles despite her reckless behavior, but one day it might catch up to her.


    In the end, Elfriede figured that Katja ¨C the former criminal caught by the company when the posse of outlaws she was part of tried to kidnap some of the children for ransom years ago ¨C was probably the best candidate she had for such a position. The one-eyed former assassin was calm and collected. She went about the killing with a cold, detached efficiency, in full control over herself.


    That alone was a rather rare quality amongst the platoon¡¯s members.


    Elfriede felt how the one-eyed woman slit the throats of two barely resisting enemy soldiers with her pair of short swords since Katja happened to be within the range of her perception. There was the tiniest of delays in Katja¡¯s movements, so maybe she was not as unaffected as Elfriede had thought. In its own way, that was good too. Having someone with a kinder conscience would be a boon as long as it didn¡¯t get in the way.


    Even while she was busy with her thoughts, Elfriede never stopped moving. Her body danced around the enemy soldiers as she simply allowed instincts and muscle memory to take over. Between her magically enhanced perception and the decades of experience she had behind her, she barely needed to pay attention to deal with the sort of enemies her platoon was slaughtering.


    As for the volunteers that followed in their wake, they were mostly there to finish off those who were still alive and to set what they could on fire.


    For Elfriede herself, it was just another day at the job.


    Parry away an enemy¡¯s sword with one blade.


    Stab into their belly and disembowel them with her other blade.


    Kick the dying enemy soldier into another.


    Pierce through the fallen enemy¡¯s throat in passing.

 Chapter 342 - Leaving at an Appropriate Time

    ¡°Learning the right time to make an attack, that¡¯s something many generals know how to do. Learning when to withdraw for one reason or another, that¡¯s something far fewer could achieve. All too often ambition, greed, pride, and many other reasons muddled one¡¯s mind and caused people to miss the right time to retreat.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Lars smiled with some satisfaction as he directed his platoon¡¯s soldiers to support Mischka¡¯s in holding back the enemy reinforcements that were headed towards their location. Part of his platoon were occupied with corralling the enemy soldiers caught between his troops and the killing field behind them, but as they were mostly dealing with broken, fleeing foes, they had it easier.


    He had to admit that there were definitely advantages to having groups of ruthless killers go do what they do best on the enemies. Elfriede¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s platoon who led the massacre in the killing field not only did their job with great efficiency, but they also practically shattered the morale of the enemy soldiers who survived. That made the survivors not even think of putting up a fight as fleeing was the only thing in their minds.


    As rare as it was in an actual battle, it was still a very pleasing sensation to have a plan go off flawlessly. The fire set by Avila¡¯s platoon served as both distraction and obstacle to keep the enemy occupied and prevented them from reinforcing their vanguard rapidly, while the head-on assault had so far gone without a hitch as well.


    They caught the enemy when most of their troops were fast asleep, which meant that by the time those same troops could muster a worthwhile response to the attack, it was far too late. Many of the enemy soldiers never even had the chance to wake up from their sleep as none of the mercenaries or volunteers were shy about stabbing a sleeping enemy.


    While the fighting ¨C nay, slaughter ¨C continued unabated, the mercenaries rained arrows without end from the cover of the jungle to the enemy troops trying to reinforce their suffering vanguard. The small group of orcish archers who joined the company and were now part of the second archer platoon under Branka¡¯s leadership made their presence known as well.


    Orcs generally favored massive greatbows which were often far too heavy for a human to draw even halfway since they often hunted megafauna like the thunder lizard in the plains of their homeland, and Branka¡¯s group was no exception. Each of them wielded bows that had draw weights that doubled or tripled those of war bows wielded by most human archers and fired arrows as thick around as a finger.


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    Even knights in plate armor were not safe from such bows, as the human armies discovered during the multiple failed northern crusades. Their effects against soldiers who only had gambesons for protection, maybe a suit of chainmail if they¡¯re wealthier, was devastating. A single arrow often pierced through two to three people in one go before it lost its momentum, and that was despite the archers using broad-headed barbed arrowheads instead of bodkins.


    What few enemy soldiers managed to brave the rain of arrows to come to their compatriots¡¯ aid found themselves faced with a well-organized line of mercenary troops waiting for them. Many of those soldiers met their ends at the tips of the mercenaries¡¯ spears, or for the really unlucky ones, died with incomplete bodies when they ran into the business end of the weapons wielded by Mischka¡¯s people.


    It was not until around twenty minutes had passed that Lars noticed how the screams and sounds of butchery coming from behind him was dying down, and he realized right away that Elfriede and Fatimah must be nearly finished. He decisively brought out and activated an alchemical flare to signal a withdrawal at that moment, the bright light from the flare unmistakable in the darkness of the night.


    His own platoon reacted in a practiced manner as they shifted from a line formation to an echelon, with Mischka¡¯s people following them closely. As they did so, they also swept through the killing fields behind them and made sure to finish off some lucky survivors that were left behind. The archers from the jungle intensified their barrage to cover their withdrawal.


    Within a few short minutes, the echelon shifted back to a line formation, albeit one that was parallel to the road rather than perpendicular to it. The Anduillean soldiers could only watch from afar as the mercenaries and their volunteers slowly vanished into the jungle behind them. The groups led by Lars and Mischka were the last ones out, as Erycea and Elfriede already led theirs into the jungle ahead of them.


    Meanwhile, their handiwork was made visible to the Anduillean soldiers after they retreated. Over a thousand corpses were strewn everywhere on the ground where the Anduillean vanguard had camped just a short while ago. Many of the dead had not only perished tragically, but were barely recognizable as the mercenaries had not given a damn about avoiding them and just directly trampled the corpses in their way instead.


    A few lucky ¨C or perhaps unlucky ¨C survivors could be found here and there, but they were usually in tragic conditions. Most wouldn¡¯t even survive the hour unless they received immediate medical attention from a skilled healer. Even so, the Anduillean soldiers were obligated to at least try to save their compatriots when hope still remains.


    As for the mercenaries, no signs of them could be found. If some of them had fallen during the fighting, they had likely taken the corpses with them during the withdrawal. The night attack lasted less than thirty minutes, but the impact it had on the morale of the Anduillean soldiers belied its short duration. Once again, due to the distance between the column¡¯s vanguard and where the commanders were, they didn¡¯t even receive news of the attack until it was too late.


    The mercenaries were already long gone by the time they organized a response to the attack.

 Side Story 66 - A Throbbing Headache

    ¡°One of the most annoying feelings in the world is to have an obvious problem but lack obvious solutions to deal with said problem.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Give it to me straight, Ilona,¡± said Lukas Worsted with a long-suffering sigh. He massaged his temple with one hand to alleviate part of the headache he was already feeling from the night attack his army was caught up in. The fact that they had been unable to react effectively at all was bad, very bad. It spoke much of the readiness of his troops.


    While four years of training and conditioning helped, a good chunk of his soldiers were still pretty much green troops who had never seen any real battles, after all. Sadly a lot of the veterans perished along with his father and elder sister back then.


    ¡°The butcher¡¯s bill isn¡¯t looking pretty, Sire,¡± replied Ilona with a grave tone. ¡°Over fifteen hundred dead, part of which was because our healers couldn¡¯t get to their aid in time. Around the same number in wounded, mostly light injuries from arrows. These enemies didn¡¯t leave many alive in their wake, I¡¯m afraid, which has also affected morale.¡±


    ¡°And the enemy casualties?¡± asked Lukas with a sigh, already knowing the gist of what happened.


    ¡°Impossible to ascertain, I¡¯m afraid. If these enemies took any casualties, which was likely towards the end after we put out the fire and managed to send proper reinforcements towards the vanguard, they must have taken those with them,¡± reported Ilona bluntly. ¡°We should have inflicted some, at the very least, but how many? That is something we could not confirm.¡±


    ¡°Bugger that!¡± cursed Lukas vehemently. While the casualties they had taken were overall small in terms of numbers and were primarily green, inexperienced soldiers, the impact that the attacks had on the troops morale could not be understated. It would be hard to keep the troops motivated if the attacks were to continue, which meant that something must change. ¡°Any chance we could flush them out of hiding?¡±


    ¡°I deem the chance to be greatly unlikely, Sire. These people clearly knew the local terrain well, and they have also shown great proficiency in navigating the jungle rapidly,¡± replied Ilona with her usual blunt, no-nonsense voice. ¡°If we were to send in troops into the jungle to hunt for these attackers, chances are that many of those troops would not be returning. All it would take would be an ambush in the jungle.¡±


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    ¡°Any estimate on their numbers, at least?¡± he said with a defeated sigh.


    ¡°Not many. Not more than a thousand or so, by our best estimate, though we cannot be certain due to the conditions last night,¡± answered Ilona. ¡°They were clearly well-prepared and used to pulling off this sort of attack, given how they set things up so that we couldn¡¯t immediately reinforce the vanguard due to the fire. It was impossible for us to ignore the fire, and they knew it.¡±


    ¡°Any information on their origins, then, at least?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sire. We have pretty much confirmed that we should be facing the Free Lances Mercenary Company, which was last known to be hired by Levain around two years ago. They are a company with a long, storied history that spanned back centuries,¡± reported Ilona studiously. ¡°In the past they were known to use tactics common to the dwarves of Knallzog and the Kingdom Down Under, but things changed since their near-decimation in Theodinaz a decade or so ago.¡±


    ¡°One of the survivors from the vanguard claimed to have spotted a feline therian with white, spotted fur and a large tail. That is a breed that was pretty much unknown here in the north, and the only known individuals with such features that we know of happened to be the current captain of said mercenaries and his daughter,¡± she added. ¡°From that, compared with the tactics we observed used by the enemies, we could pretty much confirm their identity. Part of the enemy forces acted differently, and we assumed them to be forces from Levain working together with these mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°And why have we not made preparations to deal with these mercenaries before we marched, pray tell?¡± asked Lukas with a thoroughly annoyed tone. He liked to be prepared for any eventuality, and told his military advisors as much. That they were caught unprepared, twice in the same day, annoyed him to no end.


    ¡°At the time¡­ we had considered them to be too small a unit to factor much on the outcome of the campaign,¡± admitted Ilona with a slightly abashed expression on her face. ¡°In the latest reports we received they were supposed to only number over a thousand, which we deemed to be unlikely to affect the course of a battle given the numbers.¡±


    ¡°Rectify that mistake immediately,¡± commanded Lukas in a sterner tone than what he usually used with Ilona. ¡°And give me a solution to dealing with these mercenaries. We cannot afford more of these attacks dragging the troops¡¯ morale down into the mud.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can distribute some of the veterans towards the vanguard, Sire?¡± suggested Ilona after some thought. ¡°The mercenaries lacked numbers, so they shouldn¡¯t risk attacking the center portions of our column where it would be all too easy for them to be pincered. That leaves the vanguard and the rearguard. I propose dividing our veterans into four parts, with two parts to ensure your safety. The rest would head to the vanguard and rearguard respectively.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow it. See that it is done immediately,¡± replied Lukas after only a moment of thought. The veterans in his army had mostly gathered around him during the march, but there were enough of them to split some off without risking leaving him poorly protected anyway.


    Besides, if his army were to unravel before he even reached his destination, it would definitely turn this whole endeavor into a big joke, and he did not wish to be the jester.

 Chapter 343 - Everything at its Own Time

    ¡°Attack when you have the advantage, retreat when at a disadvantage, hold your ground when you must, sneak around when the opportunity presents itself.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Their cavalry is sallying to engage you. Break off the run and harass their cavalry,¡± commanded Reinhardt through his artifact as he watched the battlefield from high above through the orb Hannah carried. From that vantage point, he clearly saw how the enemy cavalrymen started to separate from the infantry they were escorting to engage with an assault by the mercenary and Levainian cavalry.


    Too bad while the distance might have been too far for the cavalry in question to notice, their movements were clearly visible to an observer high above. As such, Reinhardt simply adjusted his tactics and passed on his orders to Ze¡¯phane and Soledad, who were leading the two prongs of the attacking cavalry. They heard and acknowledged his command moments later.


    As their commanders relayed the order, the attacking cavalry aborted their run and instead swerved towards the west ahead of time, giving the sallying cavalry from Podovniy no chance to catch up to them. Even when the vanguard of the Podovnian cavalry approached them, all they received was a warm welcome in the form of thrown javelins, which quickly blunted the charge.


    The frustrated enemy cavalry doggedly chased after Ze¡¯phane¡¯s and Soledad¡¯s people, but were left eating dust. Some of them broke off the pursuit after a while, but a couple groups of cavalrymen continued to persistently chase after their fleeing opponents. Reinhardt watched the chase from his artifact for a while before he gave another command at last.


    ¡°Alvaro, Branka, your turn. Ze¡¯phane, Soledad, break to the sides as we rehearsed,¡± he said into the artifact, trusting its enchantments to carry his voice to the people he intended them for.


    Soledad brought her group of cavalry to merge into Ze¡¯phane¡¯s as they rushed towards the south-west, crossing the road at one of the safe spots. Their pursuers were still chasing after them, and it was all they could do to keep the distance open. After a while, they finally saw their destination, where a medium-sized grove of trees grew some distance away from the trees that lined the southern side of the road.


    Ze¡¯phane led her riders towards the left of said grove, while Soledad brought hers towards the right. At around the same time as when the first rider galloped past the grove, Alvaro led his platoon of former warforged out of the grove and lined up in formation, four deep and twenty wide. Their shields overlapped one another¡¯s, while their spears pointed forward menacingly.


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    So it was that the Podovnian cavalry found themselves faced by a solid spear wall as they chased their foes towards the grove. The dust cloud kicked up by their enemies had obscured their sight, and they had not noticed the spear wall until it was too late. At the same time, a hail of arrows shot out from within the forest to their north, courtesy of Branka and the second archer platoon.


    Some of the Podovnian war horses were felled by arrows and caused those behind them to stumble and crash as well. Others had their riders shot out from their backs. Yet others balked at the sight of the menacing spearwall and refused to advance, their sudden stop causing some riders behind them to crash into them, causing the riders involved to fall into a tangle along with their steeds.


    In truth, Alvaro¡¯s platoon was merely a bluff. Due to the cover from the dust cloud and how they positioned themselves with the grove at their back, the Podovnian riders were unaware that their line was so thin that a direct charge would have gone straight through without too much trouble. Instead, they dithered and ended up falling over each other.


    ¡°Aly, do your part,¡± added Reinhardt as he saw the enemy cavalry falling into a mess from his vantage point.


    Shortly after he gave the command, Alycea¡¯s platoon rushed out from the forest where Branka¡¯s platoon was hidden and struck the enemy¡¯s right flank ferociously. They had been stationed there to bail out Alvaro¡¯s platoon in case the bluff failed, but fortunately that wasn¡¯t the case. Alvaro himself already led his platoon to press the attack against the enemy cavalry, a literal wall of spears advancing towards the skittish horses.


    As if the Podovnian riders hadn¡¯t suffered enough, a few minutes later Ze¡¯phane and Soledad had circled around and brought their riders back into the fray, striking against the enemy¡¯s left flank with extreme prejudice. Some of the Podovnian officers had realized just how few people were in Alycea¡¯s and Alvaro¡¯s platoons by then and tried to exhort their troops to fight back, but the return of the mercenary cavalry shattered any hope of that happening.


    Within moments, the Podovnian cavalry formation broke apart and routed as they were pincered from three directions, many of the riders forgetting all about discipline and cohesion in favor of running for their lives. The mercenaries did not chase the escaping enemies, and instead focused their efforts on those already caught in their pincer attack.


    It was a one-sided slaughter.


    The half of the Podovnian cavalry that remained already had their morale broken and their formation in tatters. As they were subjected to enemy attack from three directions, some of their soldiers went as far as stabbing one of their own officers who tried to instill order into the chaos so they could escape instead. That the mercenaries did not chase the escapees further emboldened the runners.


    It did not take long for the mercenaries to thoroughly rout and dismantle the rest of the enemy cavalry caught in the jaws of their trap. Screams of pain from the riders mingled with whinnies from their mounts and both men and horses were slaughtered mercilessly. Those who tried to escape at that juncture found to their dismay that the mercenary archers had stopped providing support fire to the melee and instead shot at people trying to escape like them.


    By the time some of the earliest escapees from the ambush returned to the site of the battle with reinforcements, the mercenaries were long gone, and all that was left were hundreds of corpses strewn haphazardly on the ground.

 Side Story 67 - An Unpleasant Choice

    ¡°Sometimes in war all you can do is to choose the lesser of two evils. Which of the two is the lesser evil also tends to depend on you as a person.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Curse these damned mercenaries!¡± yelled Marquis Viktor Esvant of Podovniy in his command tent once the latest casualty reports reached him. The mercenary cavalry had harassed his troops endlessly during their march through the Niva Plains, and they took their toll on the soldiers. While none of the cavalry strikes were allowed to get as close as the first one, nearly a thousand soldiers perished, and almost triple that number were injured, often with illness as well, filling the sick wagons to the brim.


    Then this latest report showed that they had lost another three hundred or so of their cavalry who went off in pursuit of the enemy cavalry, their commander apparently so incensed that he defied direct orders not to do so. Had the idiot whoreson not perished under the hands of the mercenaries already, the Marquis would have slated him for a public hanging for incompetence and disobedience.


    His army was already marching behind schedule due to the repeated attacks, as they forced his army to march slower in order to keep vigilant. To make things worse, the next stretch of road would once again be forested at the sides. That brought back memories of the mostly harmless but utterly infuriating harassment campaign the mercenaries pulled off during the nights before.


    Said harassment mostly stopped once they were traversing the plains, likely because there was no cover for the mercenaries to sneak up on them with. The Marquis wasn¡¯t sure he liked the frequent cavalry attacks any better though. The previous harassment, while frustrating and very bothersome, rarely caused casualties amongst his people. The cavalry strikes on the other hand exacted their toll in blood.


    That said, morale amongst his troops was visibly decreasing. Many were frustrated with pent-up anger yet having no enemies to lash out at. As a result, cases of brawls and fisticuffs amongst his own soldiers were on the rise. Given how his enemies had operated so far, avoiding direct battles unless it was an ambush where they would be gone by the time his reinforcements arrived, he doubted that there was anything he could do to change that either.


    It was like his enemies could see how his forces reacted as soon as they did so and inform their troops accordingly.


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    ¡°They only made their move against our vanguard, so I have the assumption that these mercenaries are taking care to secure their path of retreat, Sire,¡± reported Simeon from his side. The old general was all too aware of the headache his liege was having thanks to the mercenaries they were dealing with. ¡°If they were to attack our middle or rear, it would be far riskier as our vanguard could cut off their retreat.¡±


    ¡°So do you believe that they will cease this harassment by cavalry once we hit the forested stretch of road ahead?¡± asked the Marquis.


    ¡°I believe that to be the case, Sire. Their cavalry are highly skilled, but they would be sitting ducks in a forest regardless,¡± noted Simeon. ¡°It is far more likely that they would resume their previous harassment tactics until we reach Levain. It will likely frustrate the troops, but that anger and frustration could be used to urge them into a rage when we attack the city itself.¡±


    ¡°Probably the best option we have at the moment. These bastards keep making people we send out into the forest disappear, and what few returned said that the forests were trapped to hell and back as it was,¡± noted the Marquis. ¡°Any recommendation for our approach on this final stretch before we reach Levain itself and can proceed with the siege?¡±


    ¡°I recommend gathering up some conscripts from a place you don¡¯t like and force them to act as the vanguard. They will find the traps for us with their bodies, and since they¡¯re part of the power belonging to someone you wanted gone anyway¡­ you would not be losing much,¡± replied Simeon nonchalantly. ¡°In fact, you could use this as a demonstration to display your displeasure towards certain people, if framed properly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a clever suggestion, Simeon. We¡¯ll go with that,¡± replied the Marquis. ¡°Say, who was the officer in charge of that cavalry detachment that chased after the mercenaries and got themselves butchered for it?¡±


    ¡°That would be¡­ Huh. Talk about a coincidence. That detachment was led by Sir Arno Nvelqist of Horaon, Sire, the second son of Viscount Nvelqist,¡± replied Simeon with a mildly surprised look on his face. ¡°The rest of Horaon¡¯s contingent, that is their infantry and conscripts, is under the command of Sir Jens Nvelqist, his younger brother.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment¡­ Isn¡¯t this Jens the same son of a whore who married your dear youngest daughter and then ditched her in favor of some other woman? I remember you complaining to me about it while half-drunk some time ago,¡± replied the Marquis with some interest and intrigue in his voice. ¡°Do you still have any feelings or obligation towards him?¡±


    ¡°To answer your questions aside, yes, this Jens is the same whoreson who threw away my dear Melinda for some Baron¡¯s bastard daughter, and no, if given the chance I would love to flay him alive and then tie him to a pole like a pennant to fly in front of my troops,¡± replied Simeon with a hint of anger in his voice. ¡°My poor daughter had yet to recover from the divorce and the only thing stopping me from heading to the Viscount¡¯s house with my personal retainers to slaughter some people is my responsibility and obligation to the march.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s perfect, then. Have Sir Jens lead his troops to the vanguard. Be sure to impress upon him the importance of his task, and also to let him know that this task is to allow him to recover the honor lost by his brother¡¯s folly,¡± replied the Marquis with a wide grin on his face. ¡°Have him and his troops lead our march all the way to Levain, at forced march speeds.¡±

 Chapter 344 - Playing the Right Cards

    ¡°To force things when it is not the right time would just invite disaster to oneself.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Well, damn. They got smart and took the easy way out,¡± muttered Reinhardt as he watched the Podovnian soldiers push through the trapped road without slowing down, uncaring of the casualties they took. If anything, it almost looked as if those who were behind the vanguard were pushing the ones ahead with metaphorical spears pointed at their backs.


    ¡°Would we do anything about it, dad?¡± asked Alycea from the side. At the moment a good part of the mercenaries and volunteers on Reinhardt¡¯s side of the battlefield had gathered in one of their larger temporary bases in the forested region south of the road that led to Levain. The exception were the cavalry troops under Ze¡¯phane¡¯s and Soledad¡¯s lead, who had been sent ahead to a different base in the plains south of the city as their role had temporarily ended.


    ¡°That would be what these people wanted. Those they put up front are either bait or expendables, not sure which, or maybe just some folks who really got on the nerve of the dear marquis, who knows?¡± commented Reinhardt as he kept watching the situation on the road while he talked. ¡°Egil can brief you more about it. His folks had been scouting them out every night before they reached the plains.¡±


    ¡°As the Captain said, Young Miss, our foes have been increasing their vigilance. It¡¯s been getting harder to mess with them lately, and we had to stop since there was nowhere to hide in the plains anyway,¡± said Egil from where he sat cross-legged on the ground. Like most goblins, he was perfectly comfortable in the dense forest and took to it like it was his own backyard. ¡°We still got some tricks up our loincloths though, so we¡¯ll give them a taste of it once they return to the forested roads.¡±


    ¡°That said, what the Captain said is also correct. Our enemies are dangling their current vanguard like a fat piece of meat set in the center of a noose,¡± added the goblin, who was well over middle-aged by the standards of his race. He was still hale and hearty ¨C and virile ¨C for his age, though. ¡°They want us to attack them. Probably got an ambush of their own waiting and all that. Definitely something, though. If their leader is mean enough he might even have those throwaways carry some brew with them.¡±


    The mention of dragonfire brew caused a frown and a cringe to grace the face of many veteran mercenaries who still remembered the fanatics using them suicidally back at Theodinaz. Most sane people would not be willing to touch the explosive, highly unstable concoction from anywhere inside its blast radius, as even the slightest jolt might set if off it the container was not properly filled and sealed.


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    ¡°So what are we going to do then?¡± asked Alycea once more, voicing a question that many of the people gathered ¨C primarily the volunteers, as the older mercenaries already had an inkling to how Reinhardt thought ¨C had in mind. ¡°Are we just going to¡­ watch and let them march towards Levain while we stay in the forests?¡±


    ¡°That is precisely what we are going to do, yes,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly. ¡°Now, before any of you who volunteered raise your voices, let me explain. We were never meant to stop the enemy headed for Levain. I think you all can understand that it¡¯s an impossible task to stop an enemy army twenty times our size to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Our purpose has always been to hinder, delay, and frustrate these enemies. Buy more time for those in Levain to prepare their defenses, and mess with the enemy¡¯s mind so they wouldn¡¯t be in their best state by the time they get there,¡± he continued. ¡°We have already bought nearly a week of time and thousands of casualties for those back home, and even if the enemy forced their way through this last stretch, it would just cost them even more casualties.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re¡­ just watching from the sidelines, then?¡± asked one of the leaders amongst the Levainian volunteers, a grizzled old man who used to be an Imperial Ranger, one who was very familiar with the current forest they were in at the moment.


    ¡°Not exactly. We will not engage them directly, but I want everyone to redouble the harassment since they¡¯re now back in our playground,¡± replied Reinhardt with a vicious, toothy smirk on his face. It was a look that would have frightened most people unaccustomed to therians. ¡°I want everyone who¡¯s any decent with a projectile weapon to be waiting for them near the edge of the forest tomorrow. Branka, you¡¯re in charge. Rain hell on them but retreat if they send people into the forest.¡±


    ¡°Understood, boss!¡± replied the young orcish woman. Branka¡¯s tall, burly stature and her vibrant reddish-orange hair made her easily stand out amongst most crowds. Despite her young age, the Levainian volunteers were perfectly fine with following her orders after they witnessed what she could do with a bow. ¡°Do we just run or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Alycea, you take the people who aren¡¯t that good with ranged weapons and set up ambushes in Branka¡¯s retreat paths. Anyone who chases after them, you give a stab in the gut, understand?¡± Reinhardt continued without missing a beat, indirectly answering Branka¡¯s question.


    ¡°Yes, father. I will not fail you,¡± replied Alycea with a salute.


    ¡°Egil, I want your people well-rested during the day. The nightly harassment will be mostly a job for you and yours,¡± said Reinhardt at last. Upon hearing his words, Egil¡¯s wrinkled face perked up with an equally vicious smile that had a strong hint of mischief on it. ¡°Feel free to thoroughly disgust our foes. No holds barred. Let them have a taste of everything you got in store that you think might help with the situation.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, boss-man. I got just the right stuff for this job.¡± replied the old goblin.

 Chapter 345 - Continued Harassment

    ¡°Don¡¯t believe anyone who says that willpower and patriotism can allow people to fight well past their capabilities. That sort of shit makes for pretty passages in the history books, especially when they made for glorious last stands of miraculous victories, sure. However, for every one such passage, there are ninety-nine forgotten ones where neither willpower nor patriotism resulted in anything other than getting people killed needlessly.


    All because they¡¯re too stubborn to accept defeat and give up.¡± - Xi-Ba Qin, famed general from the last days of the Huan Confederacy, circa 280 VA.


    ¡°Everyone go for your designated zones! Loose at will!¡± yelled Branka while standing on the sturdy branch of a massive poplar tree a couple hundred meters away from the road. While normally she would be quite exposed on top of the massive tree that jutted out from the forest¡¯s canopy, her skin¡¯s natural brownish-green coloration blended well with the tree, while her vibrant reddish hair blended with the remaining few leaves that remained on the branches.


    Her voice echoed clearly in the silent morning, to the point that the Podovniy soldiers marching on the road could hear her. They were in no position to react however, as moments after her yell sounded a hailstorm of arrows flew from within the forest into their ranks. Some archers within the Podovniy formation attempted to shoot back, but with their enemies inside the forest, it was difficult for them to even spot any targets, much less shoot accurately at them.


    Screams of agony sounded out as arrows found flesh. Many of the arrows from the less-trained volunteers from Levain bounced off the armor worn by the Podovniy soldiers, or if they penetrated, didn¡¯t do that much damage. However, the arrows loosed by the archers from the Free Lances and the more experienced volunteers found flesh more often than not. Given how the soldiers were mostly armored around their torsos, said flesh usually meant they found arrows sprouting out of their faces all of a sudden.


    Branka and the few orcish archers amongst the bunch could care less about said armor though.


    The hefty arrows they shot ¨C each easily as thick around as an adult human¡¯s finger ¨C pierced through multiple soldiers at the same time, usually only stopping in the body of its third or fourth victim. To make things worse, they were using broad-headed flesh cutter arrowheads to cause larger wounds, since the armor the soldiers wore were mostly gambesons with some chainmail here and there for the wealthier ones who could afford it.


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    Not even mild steel plate armor could withstand a bodkin arrow fired from an orcish heavy greatbow at five hundred paces.


    As soon as some of the Podovniy commanders managed to regain the presence of mind to gather some soldiers to retaliate, however, they were stymied and frustrated as Branka sounded a horn and signaled the retreat. By the time the Podovnian soldiers were prepared to move, the mercenary and volunteer archers that tormented them were long gone.


    ******************************


    ¡°Now! Hit them from the sides and scatter them!¡± commanded Alycea as the Podovnian soldiers ¨C around a few hundred strong ¨C went far enough into the forest that they reached a prepared ambush zone.


    After a couple days of being pestered repeatedly by arrows from the archers, some of the Podovnian commanders arranged a response in the form of a quick strike team. Said team chased after the archers when they retreated, only to blunder straight into the waiting ambush forces anchored by Alycea¡¯s, Alvaro¡¯s, and Zyd¡¯s platoons.


    Alvaro¡¯s Warforged showed their mettle by holding the center of the line and blocking the advance of the enemy strike force. Despite fighting in the forest, the Warforged showed their seamless coordination and discipline and held their ground without much trouble, which kept the enemy in place for the others to make their move on.


    Zyd and Arne¡¯s third strike platoon smashed into the left flank of the enemy force moments later, scattering the Podovnian soldiers before them. Alycea¡¯s platoon followed through on the other flank at the same time, the youths of the platoon fighting with courage and skill that made the veterans proud. Alvaro¡¯s platoon followed suit and pushed forward rather than stand their ground as the enemy formation unraveled into a messy and bloody rout before them.


    Out of the Podovnian strike force, around a third escaped with their lives. Another third lost their lives under the blades of the mercenaries, while the rest went missing, probably met with unfortunate fate within the forest.


    ******************************


    Meanwhile, in the dead of the night, the small figures of goblins could barely be seen crawling carefully in the undergrowth of the forest as they approached the tense Podovniy camp. The encampment was well guarded, with sentries deployed in groups and working in shifts, which made infiltration and sabotage nearly impossible.


    Still, having guards meant little when they were dealing with expert slingers who were confident enough to hit their target from five hundred paces away through a forest.


    Egil chose his most talented slingers for the task, and that night, they hurled many clay urns into the enemy camp, which broke apart on impact and spread their contents to the surroundings. What most people didn¡¯t know was that this time, the orbs weren¡¯t filled with their usual nuisances like horrifying stenches or flammables, but something more insidious.


    The goblins of the northern jungles had long discovered that there were some things that they found edible or even delectable that most other races often had difficulty enjoying, and even if they did, it often had ill effects on them. Based on that logic, Some of the alchemists from the tribes had since discovered ways to extract the essence of whatever it was that the other races found so unpalatable.


    That odorless, colorless essence was what filled the clay urns that night, and by the next morning, their less than pleasant effects should start being noticeable. It was something the goblin tribes often used against human invaders, which worked fine since the majority of Podovniy¡¯s troops were humans.

 Side Story 68 - Arrival at Last

    ¡°You¡¯d normally think that reaching a massive city with seven layers of wall that you had to siege would be a depressing situation, so imagine how bad it must have been to get there for the soldiers to cheer as one upon sighting the city instead.


    While the harassment we endured along the way did not inflict that many casualties amongst the soldiers, the absurd ways with which our foes struck unseen turned everyone paranoid and jumpy. Everyone had suffered quite a lot along the way.


    To the point that the thought of a properly built siege camp was enough to lift their spirits.¡± - From the diary of Simeon Durant, General of the Podovniy March.


    ¡°Fucking finally!¡± cursed Marquis Viktor Esvant when he saw the walls of Levain city in the distance. After a prolonged march rife with frustration and suffering, his army finally arrived at their destination, and the vanguard elements of his force were already in the middle of building a siege camp on the city¡¯s eastern side.


    Surprisingly, despite the delays they encountered, their allies from the Anduille Regency had not arrived as of yet. Given the torment his army had been through, the Marquis thought that likely the Regency army met with their own misfortune along the way.


    In terms of deaths, the frequent harassment had not killed that many people. Maybe a couple thousand had been lost. A pittance in an army nearly a hundred thousand strong. That said, the harassment also periodically sidelined some soldiers, and while those soldiers were able to return to active duty after a while, morale remained low overall.


    Mostly because of the various indignities that the harassment inflicted upon the soldiers.


    The last batch was the worst one. After a night raid where several clay urns were found thrown into the camp yet seemed to do nothing, people started getting sick as early as noon of the next day. If it was just a common illness, that would have been fine, but the way the illness manifested itself did bad things to troop morale and the dignities of the people affected.


    Those afflicted with the illness ¨C mostly the people who were near where the urns were discovered ¨C fell into a bout of constant vomiting accompanied by explosive diarrhea, often spewing from both ends. It didn¡¯t help that the noble-born commanders seemed to be more prone to getting the worst of the illness either, whereas the rank and file that hailed from the peasantry seemed to only get a milder case of it.


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    Even so, the sight of a noble-born commander shitting all over herself and her horse in the middle of the march was something the Marquis felt as belonging to the category of ¡°once was too many already¡±. To think that it happened repeatedly as dozens of people were afflicted with the illness was not a pleasant scenario for him to contemplate, though he was spared from witnessing it himself due to it happening closer to the vanguard.


    The stench was still prevalent when he passed the area later on though.


    It was with relief that he led his elite troops towards the siege camp being built in the distance. There was a good thousand paces between the siege camp and where the forest ended, and roughly the same distance to Levain city itself. Enough distance to allow sentries to spot any enemy activity in the vicinity, since they had also cleared the surroundings of the siege camp.


    At least the soldiers could sleep with a peace of mind that they wouldn¡¯t suddenly be awakened in the middle of the night because some damned mercenaries had the idea of tossing some horrible stenches or burning jars of oil into the camp like they did during the journey.


    What frustrated the Marquis the most was how the mercenaries never ever properly showed themselves other than those cavalry raids when they crossed the plains. They only struck from the shadows and prepared ambushes, often decimating those foolish enough to attempt a pursuit despite direct orders not to do that.


    The sick wagons still carried a couple thousand injured soldiers whose injuries couldn¡¯t be handled quickly, while those with lighter injuries were mostly already back on duty. At least they could be treated better once they reached the siege camp.


    Marquis Viktor Esvant then turned his thoughts to the walled city that loomed in the distance. Levain used to be the crown jewel of the Clangeddin Empire, the eternal city from where the empire first originated, and also the most fought-over territory early in the civil war. The fighting over the city had decimated several of the more powerful splinters of the empire back then, as they smashed against each other over ownership of the city.


    He found it highly ironic that in the end, it was the city¡¯s own peasants who rose up and took the city for themselves.


    With the examples of the splinter forces who fought over the city ¨C all of which had been consigned to the pages of the history books by now ¨C the surrounding forces were more wary about fighting over the city. It would be an extremely costly endeavor in most cases, one that made them wary about committing to an assault.


    Viktor himself only dared to make his move since he knew a good chunk of the best forces that defended the city would be gone, and he was also working together with the Regency on top of that. It was a rather ambitious gamble, one that could see the Podovniy March rise into the unquestioned ruler of the fertile lands that used to be the Empire¡¯s breadbasket region.


    Many of those fertile fields had been damaged by the fools who fought over the city early in the war, and while the local peasants had worked on repairing the damage, it still meant that for a good while, Levain was far more trouble than it was worth for its neighbors to consider an invasion.


    Now that the fields had been repaired and were producing great amounts of foodstuff once more, Levain¡¯s value as a target increased, which in turn led to the gamble made by the Podovniy March and the Anduille Regency.

 Side Story 69 - A Shared Suffering

    ¡°Joy improves when shared with others. Suffering lightens when shared by others.¡± - Old folk saying.


    It was around the afternoon on the day after the Podovniy army arrived at Levain that the vanguard of the Anduillean army was spotted to the north. To the surprise of both the Marquis and his general, their scouts reported that the pennants flown by the army indicated the presence of some of the oldest and most storied order of knights in Anduille, as well as veteran soldiers associated with them.


    Both Marquis Viktor Esvant and his general were well aware of Anduille¡¯s situation, specifically how they were relatively low in veteran troops due to the debacle their army faced some years ago. As such, they had not expected the Anduillean commanders to commit some of their best at the vanguard where they would be most at risk.


    The distance between Anduille and Levain was shorter than the one from Podovniy to Levain, but the roads were in worse condition and there was no direct straight route through the jungle that crowded the region. As such, the armies of Anduille and Podovniy had synchronized their departure so that they could reach Levain around the same time.


    That was the plan before the Podovnian army ran into the delays caused by the harassment tactics of the mercenaries and volunteers they ran into, however. Overall, the army ended up taking a week longer than planned to reach Levain, which was a very unexpected and significant delay to their timetable. As it was the main army that had left Levain was likely only days away from returning, whereas they originally hoped to be able to overwhelm the city before said army returned and complicated matters.


    Of course, the fact that the Anduillean army only arrived a day after they did despite the delay spoke volumes about the experiences that the two armies likely shared.


    Sure enough, when the Marquis headed to visit his allies after their vanguard settled down and started building their own camp to the north of the city, he noticed the ragged, haunted looks on the face of the Anduillean soldiers. They looked as if they had been made to go through hell on their way to Levain, and more than a few sported injuries that were still healing.


    It was a look the Marquis recognized all too well from his own troops.


    The Marquis¡¯ guess became more certain when he spotted the sick wagons that followed the Anduillean army and the injured who were being moved from their confines into hastily erected infirmary tents in the base. The number of injuries and casualties that the Anduillean had suffered on their march seemed to be similar to his, and the damage to the troop morale was obvious for both of their armies.


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    Without further delay, he called a nearby officer and asked to be shown to the High Regent. The officer in question guided him to the High Regent¡¯s tent in person, where Marquis Esvant and Simeon walked in to meet with their counterpart from Anduille. The young High Regent was slumped on a chair behind his desk with one hand holding his forehead, while a stern-looking middle-aged female general was standing by his side.


    ¡°High Regent Worsted, General Neraz,¡± greeted the Marquis with a nod towards the two. He was familiar with the middle-aged woman who was one of the better generals in the Regency, and apparently the new High Regent¡¯s confidant. Something to take note of, considering how she wasn¡¯t favored by the previous High Regent.


    ¡°Greetings, Marquis Esvant. General Durant,¡± replied the High Regent as he lifted his face and stood up from his seat, a greeting between equals, so to speak. The young High Regent looked tired with dark bags under his red eyes. He looked as if he had not had any good sleep over the past week or so. ¡°I wish I could welcome you in a better condition, but I believe you have seen the state we¡¯re in for yourself. I¡¯m afraid I can only apologize for my late arrival.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, we only arrived here last evening,¡± admitted the Marquis openly. Normally he would have avoided such an admittance of weakness and failure, but it was not something he could likely hide from his allies for long, so honestly might be the better approach in this case. ¡°We were met with¡­ a significant amount of harassment on our way here.¡±


    ¡°I guess we ran into the same experience, then,¡± replied the young High Regent, looking like he found someone to share his suffering with and smiling for the first time. ¡°What did they do to you? On my end we ended up having to fix many sections of the road to even be able to use it, and these¡­ mercenaries kept pulling off surprise attacks and ambushes at the worst possible times. They didn¡¯t manage to kill that many, all considered, but it hurt my people¡¯s morale to see the enemy seemingly able to attack us and retreat at will without us being able to retaliate properly.¡±


    ¡°We faced¡­ a more constant and often unconventional harassment. They used things that somehow lured all sorts of animals and insects to our camps, and even diseases that made my people void their bowels violently¡­ It was¡­ very undignified,¡± said the Marquis after some thought, deciding to stick with honestly. ¡°As you said, they didn¡¯t cause that many casualties or deaths, but they chipped at the morale of my people as well.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Those you described sounded like typical goblin tricks. Had they tried those on us we would have known exactly what to do to counter them,¡± noted the High Regent with a curious look on his face. ¡°Come to think of it, my soldiers also described a unit of large therians who were always at the forefront of the assaults we were subjected to. I assume your people would have been able to deal with those better, no?¡±


    ¡°We¡­ know how to deal with those types, yes,¡± answered the Marquis after a moment of thought. ¡°The bastards played us for fools and sent away people they expected us to know how to handle to harass the other, didn¡¯t they? I want to get my hands on the son of a whore who planned this and skin them alive. Starting from their feet.¡±


    ¡°The feeling¡¯s mutual, Marquis, but I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re on a timetable here,¡± replied the High Regent with a shake of his head. ¡°And we got a city to deal with.¡±

 Side Story 70 - Using Borrowed Time

    ¡°The longer you have to prepare for an attack you know is coming for you, the better. Time allows you to make preparations, strengthen your defenses, gather your rations, prepare your people for the war to come, and so on. As such, it was always the norm for the attacker to aim to reach their target as swiftly as possible to prevent such preparation.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Miriel Cavanaugh, temporary commander of Levain¡¯s militia ¨C or at least, the portion that remained within the city itself ¨C surveyed the siege camps being built in the distance with a serious expression on her face.


    She had to admit that while she was impressed with how the Free Lances had trained the city¡¯s militia, she had not expected much when the mercenaries left town with some volunteers to tackle the enemies headed their way. There were at most ten thousand of them compared to well over fifteen times that number in enemy soldiers.


    For them to have bought an extra day or two for the city to prepare its defenses better was all Miriam hoped for.


    In the end, however, she found her every expectation blown away as the mercenaries managed to delay the incoming enemy forces that massively outnumbered them by a whole week instead. Even more surprisingly, from the reports they sent back to Levain, neither the mercenaries nor the volunteers with them lost that many people. They still preserved most of their forces and now awaited the return of Estelle¡¯s forces from the south, with whom they would later coordinate their movements.


    Until then, they noted that they would attempt to disrupt the enemy¡¯s base when chances present itself, but not to expect too much out of them for the time being.


    Miriel honestly wouldn¡¯t mind if the mercenaries asked to sit out the rest of the fighting at this point. That one week they bought for Levain was plenty of time for the militia still in the city ¨C as well as activated reserves ¨C to double down on the city¡¯s defenses. They even had time to rig the outermost layer of wall into a deathtrap meant to collapse on the invaders in the eventuality that it became indefensible, thanks to the help of a squad of dwarven engineers left in the city.


    She was also glad that the city never had the time or money to rebuild the ruins of the houses between the sixth and seventh walls of the city. Since nobody lived there to begin with, there had been no need to evacuate people out of the region. Instead, their soldiers and engineers had free reign as they turned the region into a trap-riddled hellscape.


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    One their enemies would have to stand on in order to assault the sixth wall.


    As she promised to the mercenary captain, their dependents and support staff had also been allowed to take cover inside Levain itself. Those dependents even made themselves useful and helped with anything they could do, be it helping repair damaged gambesons or with preparing food for the militiamen. Overall, it was a boon to have them around.


    Their support staff was even more useful. The mercenaries possessed a group of skilled blacksmiths who immediately went to work and helped repair weapons and armor for the militia, free of charge. Their fletchers also prepared bales of arrows for use in the defense of the city, while only charging for the cost of the raw materials they needed.


    Which equated to nothing as the city was all too happy to supply them with the raw materials free of charge in turn.


    Some of the mercenary support staff even helped the dwarven engineers with rigging the seventh wall and preparing traps in the ruins between the sixth and seventh walls. Under normal circumstances, Miriel would have been worried that they might be secretly working for the other side, but these mercenaries had already proven themselves over the past couple of years and at least had more than earned her trust.


    The fact that most of their own people were outside the walls, hidden in the forests as they continued to harass enemies that greatly outnumbered them, risking their lives in the process, was proof enough. Casualties had been light so far, from the reports, but Miriel knew all too well that it was mostly thanks to the favorable terrain that allowed the mercenaries to pull off hit and fade attacks effectively.


    In the plains around Levain itself, such tactics would be far more difficult to pull off, given the lack of cover. At least Miriel thought that way, until she spotted some activity in the distance during the evening.


    A group of riders ¨C one led by her old friend Ze¡¯phane ¨C had snuck through the forest to the South-east to hide their approach and suddenly rushed out towards the nearly finished siege camp being built by the Podovnians.They covered the distance too quickly for the enemy soldiers to react properly and hurled multiple clay urns at the palisades which broke on contact.


    Then Ze¡¯phane, who rode at the back and was last to arrive, hurled a lit torch at the area where the urns shattered, and that section of the palisades instantly burst into flames. The riders used the flame to cover their retreat, and by the time Podovnian cavalry came out to chase after them, they had already run off into the distance.


    Meanwhile, the Podovnian soldiers had to deal with the section of their camp¡¯s wall being on fire. Fire that threatened to spread around. Even if the damage ended up being minor, the incident alone would at least add another slight delay to the enemy¡¯s timetable, not to mention further hurt their morale.


    Miriel was honestly surprised that the Podovnians had not sent out their cavalry to chase after Ze¡¯phane, but after some observation, she noticed ¨C her eyes were still quite sharp despite her old age ¨C that the enemy riders seemed nervous and didn¡¯t dare to chase. The mercenaries must have instilled the idea that any chase would be met with an ambush in them, then.


    It was truly more than she could ever ask for.

 Chapter 346 - A Short Lull

    ¡°Knowing how to fully appreciate the most out of each and every break you get is crucial to living well as a mercenary.¡± - Boris Nevaroff, retired mercenary, circa 63 FP.


    ¡°Got to admit, other than the wait and the insects being annoying, it was pretty gratifying to ambush those idiots,¡± said Kev by the small campfire he and several other members of Alycea¡¯s platoon were huddled around. They might be deep in the forests, where the canopy and the vegetation gave them quite a bit of cover, and the winters in this region of the former Empire rarely got so cold that it snowed, but it was still quite cold in the nights regardless.


    ¡°Personally, I like it better when we get paid to do nothing, but I guess the extra pay¡¯s nice too,¡± replied Roven, Kari¡¯s son who was also a member of Alycea¡¯s platoon. At a glance it might be easy to mistake the young boy ¨C he was a year younger than Alycea ¨C as a weak bookworm sort, but everyone who actually knew him was aware that his slim body hid more strength than most expected. ¡°More for the retirement funds, I guess.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still fourteen, Roven,¡± interjected Ciel, one of Olyvee¡¯s twin daughters, both of whom were almost a year older than Alycea, and also part of her platoon. The half-elven girl ¨C Olyvee¡¯s lover and their father was a half-elf who worked as a smith for the Company ¨C had always looked at Roven as if he was her little brother, so they had quite a close relationship. ¡°You¡¯re planning out your retirement, like, decades too early, little brat.¡±


    ¡°Now, now, young Ciel, don¡¯t blame the little man for looking towards the future. That¡¯s a rare and admirable trait, one so hard to find amongst humans in particular,¡± said Skuljd from the side while sipping from her mug of warmed ale. The dwarven maiden was the oldest member of Alycea¡¯s platoon, though by dwarven standards she was still considered a youth herself. ¡°Short-lifers often find it hard to look towards the distant future, so those who could do so ought to be cherished.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in the merc business, though,¡± countered Larissa as she picked out a skewer of small sausages that had finished grilling over the campfire. She bit off a link, chewed, and swallowed while washing it down with some cold water before she continued. ¡°Nobody knows when you¡¯re going to return as a dead body, so why think so far ahead? Just enjoy what you got while you got it!¡±


    ¡°To be fair, that¡¯s not exactly a wrong way to look at things either. That said, I like to think that I should be able to get most of you back alive after a mission, though,¡± said a voice from behind Larissa. The group turned around ¨C except for Skuljd who was already facing the right direction ¨C and saw Alycea coming from that direction, together with Leece, Ciel¡¯s twin sister. ¡°I know I¡¯m still young and don¡¯t have much chance to show that I could be relied on yet, but I would appreciate it if my own people would at least have some trust in me, you know?¡±


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    ¡°Welcome back, Boss Lady,¡± greeted Boris from where he sat next to Skuljd. The large-bodied therian man daintily picked up a couple skewers of preserved meats that were grilling by the campfire with his paws and offered them to Alycea and Leece as they got close enough. ¡°You returned at just the right time. They¡¯ve just about finished cooking up.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Boris,¡± replied Alycea as she sat cross-legged in the vacant space that remained around the campfire. There were fewer children around her age who were interested in joining the company compared to those around Erycea¡¯s age, so Alycea¡¯s group of close friends who were part of her platoon was also smaller in comparison. Because of that, she had gotten pretty close with Kev¡¯s group, who were the most talented ones out of the platoon¡¯s other members, the ones who she hadn¡¯t grown up with.


    ¡°Here, we mooched some of the good booze off the big boss,¡± said Leece as she handed a leather waterskin over to Larissa who was seated next to her. The mixed-breed girl pulled out the cork from the waterskin¡¯s opening and sniffed at the liquor inside, giving a tooth grin at the strong waft of alcohol that came from inside.


    Larissa then placed the opening by her mouth and drank a couple gulps of the liquor before sighing with satisfaction and passed the waterskin to Kev on her other side.


    ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s the good stuff all right,¡± praised Larissa as she smacked her lips. ¡°Surprised that the boss lets us drink something that hard. He usually doesn¡¯t let us drink much if we¡¯re going to be fighting on the morrow,¡± she proffered.


    ¡°That¡¯s because we aren¡¯t going to be fighting tomorrow,¡± replied Alycea. ¡°Those Podovnians would likely expect us to bother them again like what Miss Ze¡¯phane did earlier, so they¡¯ll be on full alert for more such attacks. We¡¯re going to let them waste their energy and get some good rest instead. Everyone¡¯s still rather tired from the march, I bet.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that tiring, to be honest,¡± admitted Kev after hearing Alycea¡¯s words. ¡°I guess all those training sessions where they had us lug around logs all day long were worthwhile in the end,¡± he added. ¡°Honestly? The insects were the most annoying part with this mission so far. They keep buzzing around by my ear when I try to sleep.¡±


    The Free Lances had gathered together with the volunteers and marched alongside the Podovnian army as they headed to Levain. Where the Podovnian army made a siege camp near the city itself, though, the mercenaries headed to a camp they had prepared in the forest south-east of the city proper. The camp was large enough to house the whole group, if not in the most comfortable conditions.


    ¡°Bugs, huh? Try using this,¡± said Alycea as she tossed a small pouch to Kev. ¡°Empty about half of the pouch¡¯s content near where you sleep and set it alight so that the top turns to embers,¡± she instructed. ¡°It should repel most insects. Uncle Egil¡¯s recipe, works wonders for me.¡±

 Chapter 347 - Siege of Levain (Part 1)

    ¡°Siege battles are the most taxing form of war simply because they are basically a prolonged battle that never ends until one side gives up. There is no maneuvering, no retreat unless one side admits defeat, just a grueling slog that continues until one side becomes too tired to go on.


    It grinds down both the venue where it takes place, as well as the minds and hearts of the combatants. Truly, it is the worst way to wage war that anyone could conceive.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    On the third day after the armed forces of Podovniy reached the outskirts of Levain City, the siege battle began.


    Unlike what most people would have expected, including the involved parties themselves, the siege was nowhere near as intense or brutal as what a joint force of over a hundred fifty thousand people who came prepared could pull off. In fact, a good chunk of the Podovniy army was still in the midst of finishing the construction of their siege camp, and the same applied to their Anduillean allies.


    Another part of the Podovniy army built defenses to the south of the city, while a large part of their cavalry and scouts were sent southwards, where they searched for signs of the returning Levainian army. Another significant part stayed on guard around the construction projects or escorted their scouts, so in total less than one-fourth of the Podovniy army as a whole were involved in the actual siege.


    The situation was little different in the Anduille army, since the majority of their people were also either constructing their base or standing guard. As such, only around forty thousand soldiers in total between the two armies besieged Levain that day. Such a number was something the defenders could shrug off easily since they had the help of the city¡¯s walls for defense.


    If one was to observe from a higher vantage point ¨C like a certain mercenary captain did with the help of an artifact ¨C they would notice that the siege was less a serious attempt and more just the attackers trying to keep the defenders on edge. It was also an attempt that likely failed spectacularly, considering the calm movements of people within the city being sieged.


    Even from the height it was noticeable that the defenders were pretty relaxed while fighting off the invaders.


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    Due to the delays that the Free Lances and the Levainian volunteers inflicted, both the Podovnian and Andeuillean armies were very late compared to their planned timetable. They originally expected to arrive at Levain city early enough to siege the city for at least a week and a half and likely make some headway before its strongest defenders could even return.


    At present, Reinhardt knew that the forces under Estelle and the two Caroman Marshals¡¯ lead were approximately three to four days away from returning, which would throw another factor into the equation. Apparently the Southern Coalition had unexpected developments happening which caused their defeated army to somehow regain the will to continue to harass the returning Levainian and Caroman armies, further delaying their return.


    Reinhardt knew this because he regularly sent Hannah to the city in order to exchange information with Bernd and Miriel, as well as to meet up with whoever Lars¡¯ side sent as a messenger and ask them how things went on the other side. Estelle and the Caroman Marshals had sent missives by messenger bird as they marched, so he was naturally also updated on their situation.


    Unfortunately, the enemy had yet to bring their siege weapons out of storage to construct them. Had those weapons been out in the open, Reinhardt would have arranged for a daring raid to destroy them, even if it would cost quite a bit. The enemy likely understood that logic as well, so they would likely hide them until they were prepared to start using them against the city itself.


    After all, even a lowly soldier knew that to attack a city as well-fortified as Levain without the help of any siege weapons ¨C or siege mages ¨C was pretty much an impossible task, even if one outnumbered the defenders by ten to one.


    That both Podovniy and Anduille had attacked at all meant that they had some confidence in breaching the city¡¯s famed seven walls. What form that confidence took, Reinhardt had no idea, but he knew that it would be up to his people ¨C and Estelle¡¯s group, once they returned ¨C to deal with them, since they were the ones already outside.


    It was far less likely that those inside the walls would be able to deal with the siege weapons or mages on their own, after all. The best they could do was to defend the walls and buy time for their forces outside to deal with the issue.


    At least Levain was well-prepared for that. Other than the fifty thousand or so half-trained militia from the second batch that defended the city, a similar number of reserve militia had flocked to the defense of the city. As such, the invaders would have no real hope of breaching the city¡¯s defenses without siege equipment, which further increased their importance in the course of this battle.


    Which suited Reinhardt just fine. After all, targeted raids on a high-value target was something his Company was particularly skilled at, and with Elfriede¡¯s group also having arrived from the north, all it would take was for them to regroup to regain their full strength. The only problem was the lack of an actual target at the moment, and also the fact that their enemies were already highly vigilant against interference from their side after the weeks of suffering they had put them through.


    Reinhardt thought that he might have to wait for Estelle¡¯s return before he could pull off any major moves again. Estelle¡¯s forces returning from the south ¨C together with the Caromans, which was pleasant news to hear ¨C would make the enemy have something else to think about, hopefully taking their minds of Reinhardt¡¯s company.


    It is when the prey becomes complacent that the predator strikes, after all.

 Chapter 348 - Siege of Levain (Part 2)

    ¡°You can think of siege warfare like two pieces of walnuts. They¡¯d rub their shells and press against each other, slowly grinding each other away at the same time. Whichever cracks first, loses, but sometimes, there¡¯s more than one layer of shells on them.¡± - Ingrid Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances mercenary company, circa 582 VA.


    By noon of the first day of the siege, it was evident that the besiegers weren¡¯t making a serious attack at the seventh wall. They were still in the process of building siege ladders ¨C a literally tall proposition given the ten-meter height of the outermost wall ¨C in their camps, an activity that couldn¡¯t really be hidden from the sight of the defenders.


    Instead of the siege ladders still being made, the besiegers attempted to use ropes tipped with grappling hooks to climb up the seventh wall, or to use wooden logs carried by groups of strong soldiers like makeshift battering rams against the sealed gate or the weaker-looking sections of the walls. None of the efforts bore any fruit, but the besiegers hadn¡¯t really put in that much effort either.


    Instead, it was the archers on both sides who put in the most work that day, both those part of the besiegers who shot at the defenders at the top of the walls, or the defending archers who rained down arrows at the invaders from their position on the battlements. Tens of thousands of arrows were used by both sides that day, at the very least, and Reinhardt noticed that the local fletchers had already chopped down most trees in the vicinity that were suitable for making arrows with, leaving the invaders empty-handed and reliant on the stock they brought with them.


    The alternative for the besiegers was to send people deeper into the woods to look for suitable trees for arrow-making, where Reinhardt¡¯s people laid in wait to ambush them, so that wasn¡¯t a pleasant proposition either.


    As might be expected out of what basically amounted to an exchange of arrows by two well-prepared parties, casualties were light on both sides. The besiegers set up large wooden shields, staked to the ground, where their archers could take cover between shots. Similarly, their infantrymen who were attacking the walls all carried large shields to cover themselves with.


    The defenders were similarly prepared, their archers using the crevasses of the battlements for cover, while yet others shot from holes meant for their use ¨C at least what few still remained on the badly damaged seventh wall ¨C which gave them even more safety. Such holes were narrow to the outside but wider on the inside, which made for a far harder target for enemy archers to shoot through compared to the defending ones.


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    With both sides so well protected, injuries and deaths were rare, mostly happening to unlucky people. In fact, most of the injured and dead were amongst the archers themselves, as they¡¯d inadvertently exposed their bodies when they leaned out of cover to shoot. In comparison, the soldiers simply kept their heads down and shields up, which made it far less likely for them to be injured.


    Reinhardt thought that at most, both the defenders and the invaders took maybe a few hundred casualties each, which was a very, very low number given the amount of soldiers involved in the day¡¯s ¡°battle¡±. He wasn¡¯t certain whether the besiegers hoped to make the defenders complacent or on edge, though he expected the experienced old half-elf lady inside the walls to know how to deal with it regardless.


    Unfortunately, as he expected, the enemy camp ¨C now almost finished ¨C was guarded in a perhaps excessive manner, with patrols of twenty soldiers each constantly roaming the camp¡¯s vicinity while keeping in sight of at least two other groups and the people stationed on the camp¡¯s watchtowers. The security was very tight, set in such a way as to ensure that they would be able to warn the camp of any incoming attack before it reached there.


    Perhaps Reinhardt had overdone it a bit with the way he had his people torment the invaders on their way to Levain, but then again, he was just doing the best he could. The way the security was set up, it pretty much removed sneak attacks at night from the table, as they would be discovered easily before they could do much damage.


    Instead, his thoughts turned to large-scale decoy attacks ¨C something he was quite sure the volunteers would be willing to risk their lives on ¨C to hide the presence of a smaller, elite team of raiders who would go for high-value targets. The only problem with that was the fact that his enemies had yet to reveal any such target. The tents where their commanders reside were positioned very deep in the camps and closely guarded, so those were not an option, while the siege engines had yet to show up so far.


    Due to the close proximity between his and Lars¡¯ group to the north-west of the city, it was easy for both camps to exchange information at the present, but they couldn¡¯t regroup yet as it would need them to go out into the open before their enemies. That would probably have to wait until Estelle¡¯s forces arrived so their enemies had something else to occupy their attention.


    From the exchange, he found out that the situation was similar on the northern side. Apparently Lars had done a splendid job to make their enemies paranoid of the situation, to the point that they jumped at every shadow. That resulted in the defenses of the enemy camp being far more secure than Reinhardt liked, but since the most important of their objectives was to buy time, it was worth doing so.


    One thing that made Reinhardt breathe a sigh of relief was the knowledge that Elfriede and Erycea were fine, despite their habit of leading from the front. He knew that it was perhaps a bit hypocritical for him to worry about them when he was dealing with an even more numerous enemy army, but the thought came unbidden at times to him.

 Chapter 349 - Siege of Levain (Part 3)

    ¡°The best kind of lesson is one that the learner would experience themselves. Those lessons are harder to forget than ones they only heard in classes or the like.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Here, girl, take a look and tell me what catches your attention,¡± said Reinhardt as he handed an enchanted spyglass over to Alycea. The two of them were perched high atop a tree in the forest, and they were observing the Podovnian camp in the more old-fashioned way, as Hannah was away in Levain city to exchange information as usual.


    Despite Reinhardt¡¯s large build, he was nimble and agile like most of his kind, and climbed a tree almost as easily as he ran on flat ground. Alycea was not blessed with such superhuman agility or claws, but the girl had always been an active one and knew how to climb trees just fine, if she did so slower than her adoptive father. Their perch was on top of a tall branch on one of the tallest trees in the forest, at a height where a fall would likely send them to the afterlife, but neither of them showed any fear.


    The spyglass Reinhardt handed over to Alycea was enchanted in a different way compared to his eyepiece. What similarity they had was that the spyglass had two ¡°modes¡± of operation where it could switch between a normal view and a view that instead filters out heat sources by the temperature, both while retaining its normal functions as a spyglass.


    While the heat-view was not useful during the day, it allowed people to get a good idea of people¡¯s movements during the night, as living people were always warmer than the air around them. Reinhardt had good enough night vision to not need such aid, but other people, like Alycea for example, found it useful to augment their much worse night vision capabilities.


    ¡°Very strong patrols, lots of redundancy and overwatch. I don¡¯t think we can sneak past them without causing a ruckus, dad,¡± replied the girl after she observed the enemy camp for a while. ¡°I even caught glimpses of people who seemed to be seated behind the walls of the watchtowers. They¡¯re probably there to sound the alarm if someone like Aunt Sal sniped off the watchers there.¡±


    ¡°Good catch, I didn¡¯t even notice those,¡± admitted Reinhardt with some pride at his adopted daughter. To be fair, some things would likely be easier to notice through the heat-view of the spyglass than by his natural eyesight, as good as it was in the night. ¡°Now, a little thought exercise for you. If you must assault this camp, what would you have done?¡±


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    ¡°What sort of forces would I have?¡± asked Alycea back without missing a beat. Reinhardt has quizzed her on tactical and strategic scenarios on a regular basis, so she was rather used to it.


    ¡°Our present forces at the forest base, including the volunteers. Assume you have full authority over everyone,¡± replied Reinhardt. Such thought exercises were ways he used to train both Erycea and Alycea in tactical and strategic thinking. In addition, sometimes the girls thought of things he hadn¡¯t considered before, so it was a useful thing regardless.


    ¡°Definitely a night attack then, unless they get so engrossed in the siege to the point of leaving only a small amount we could take on in their base, but I find that unlikely,¡± said Alycea after a moment of thought. She then remained silent for a while as she looked through the spyglass and viewed the camp once more. ¡°With the strict guards¡­ I think a diversion wouldn¡¯t be enough. They would know to expect it. Maybe if we pull off multiple diversions, we might have a chance of getting the actual strike team into the camp and make a mess before a quick retreat.¡±


    ¡°Elaborate,¡± said Reinhardt simply.


    ¡°First we¡¯d set off an attack towards their southern camp, make it a large, noisy one. This will be our primary distraction,¡± explained Alycea with an even voice. ¡°Their job would just be to catch the enemy¡¯s attention and keep it pointed their way, while making it look like a serious enough attempt so that the enemy would take them seriously.¡±


    ¡°Then I would have a second distraction strike the camp from the east, and after we confirmed that the enemy had moved to intercept that force, send our fliers to drop some flame jugs on the north-west side of the camp. Those would be the secondary and tertiary distractions, making the enemy think that we lured them away to pull off those attacks,¡± continued the girl.


    ¡°So far, a decent plan. Carry on,¡± noted Reinhardt with an encouraging nod of his head.


    ¡°Our main force should consist of only our elites, probably not more than five hundred or so. We would try to sneak as close to the camp as we could before we strike. If all went well, we might be able to overwhelm the defenses on the south-western side before the enemy can react, and from there enter the came to do what damage we could,¡± elaborated the girl. ¡°I have not seen any high value targets that would likely be within our reach no matter which side we strike from, so that¡¯s the best idea I have at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Not bad, not bad. Pretty meticulous thinking behind your plan, though you forgot some things in your hypothetical scenario,¡± praised Reinhardt.


    ¡°Do tell what I missed out on, dad,¡± replied Alycea.


    ¡°In your scenario the strike team would likely overwhelm the enemy defenses on the south-west, so you should have brought your Aunt Sal as well as the rest of the second archers with you. Let them take the walls as the rest of the strike team go deeper. There they could not only provide support, but also take out targets of opportunity thanks to the elevated position.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, dad,¡± noted Alycea. ¡°I should keep note of that. I had them providing support from the forest in my plans.¡±


    ¡°A safer approach, nothing wrong with that. It¡¯s just that in our line of business, sometimes we have to take the risks to come out ahead,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy smile. ¡°But enough of that for now. Let us return to camp first. It¡¯s already getting late and there¡¯s likely little more we could learn at this point.¡±

 Chapter 350 - Siege of Levain (Part 4)

    ¡°The creation of siege engines was one of the things that revolutionized warfare at the time. Prior to these contraptions, an army would often just walk away from a siege if they did not possess a cabal of competent siege mages in their ranks.


    If anything, the profession of siege mages themselves saw a decline after the creation of siege engines, though their numbers rose back up after a couple generations. While siege engines had its own benefits, having capabilities similar to theirs in a compact, man-size package that could operate autonomously was a benefit that none of the engines could match in the end.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Evolution of Warfare¡± by Tomas Lancaster, military historian from Levain, circa 592 FP.


    ¡°They¡¯re building up the siege engines right outside their camp,¡± noted Alycea.


    It was already the morning of the next day. Both Reinhart and Alycea had returned to their tall perch the night before to observe the going-ons of the battle from a safe distance once more. Reinhardt¡¯s enchanted eyepiece was excellent for supervising the overall situation, but it was less suited for a detailed inspection. Good old regular spyglasses from a high vantage point would have to do for that instead.


    ¡°I noticed. Looks like a mix of ballista and trebuchets, huh? Do you see any other types mixed in with those?¡± confirmed Reinhardt who checked through his eyepiece. ¡°Harder to see the details from directly above.¡±


    ¡°I think most of them are those types¡­ Oh, I see a couple battering rams being constructed, near the northern end of their camp, do you see them, dad?¡± said Alycea after another check through the spyglass. ¡°Also¡­ that one on the north-west end looks a bit weird. I thought it was the base of a trebuchet at first, but now they seem to be attaching¡­ wheels to it?¡±


    ¡°Hannah, dive in a little lower over the north-north-west area of their camp, don¡¯t go into arrow range,¡± commanded Reinhardt through his artifact. A moment later, he peered through the eyepiece in concentration before he turned to Alycea with a nod. ¡°Good catch, I confirm the battering rams, and that one you spotted with the wheels seems to be the base for a siege tower. Surprised they bothered with those, honestly.¡±


    ¡°I mean, they probably planned to have to deal with seven layers of walls, so it might prove worthwhile over time?¡± suggested Alycea. The general consensus about siege towers was that they were effective siege engines, but at the same time, a large investment in time and money which happened to be fragile and have to be close to the enemy to be of use.


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    ¡°Maybe, or maybe they have other ideas on how to use it, who knows?¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°Have your observations written down within the hour once we return to base. Hannah will pass it over to old Miriel inside the city once she returns. Now let¡¯s go back as well.¡±


    ¡°Understood, dad,¡± replied Alycea as she kept the spyglass inside her storage artifact. Reinhardt already climbed down ahead of her, making use of his claws and agility to scale down the tree rapidly. Alycea naturally couldn¡¯t do that, but she made do. The tree¡¯s bark was rough and knotted all over, which made for a multitude of easy handholds and footholds for her to use as she carefully climbed the twenty meters or so to the ground.


    They soon reached the mercenary¡¯s camp built deep inside the forest where they split up. Alycea went to pen down her observations on a piece of parchment, whereas Reinhardt gave orders to others to keep up the watch. A few platoons were ordered to prepare for deployment closer to the forest¡¯s edge, but most of them were told to rest for the day.


    Clearly Reinhardt hadn¡¯t expected for their enemies to show an opening so soon after the last lesson the mercenaries gave them. Alycea¡¯s platoon were amongst the ones who were told to rest and gather their strength, so she went over to check her people after she finished writing down her observations and leaving it in her father¡¯s tent as instructed.


    She found her platoon in the midst of strength training, though the form of the training was for the group¡¯s shieldbearers ¨C at the core of which were Kev, Skuljd, as well as Irma and Macen, two of Niko and Yuri¡¯s adopted children ¨C holding their ground while around half of the platoon tried to push against them. It was a surprisingly even match, despite the number disparity.


    Then again, that was why it made for good training to begin with.


    Like in the strike platoons, most of the larger-bodied members of Alycea¡¯s platoon were part of the shieldbearers, with a few exceptions like Larissa and Boris. The main difference between an all-rounded platoon like hers and Erycea¡¯s compared to a strike platoon was that they were more flexible and could handle more tasks than the blunt force instrument that a strike platoon tended to serve as.


    Not that Alycea had anything against that blunt instrument approach. All too often trouble in the battlefield did manifest as a nail that needed a blunt instrument to hammer down. It was one reason why her platoon as well as her sister¡¯s were both trained to be able to mimic a strike platoon¡¯s function, if to a lesser degree.


    With nothing better to do at the moment, and having already did part of her morning training with all the trekking through the forest and tree climbing, Alycea walked over to where the twins were simmering something in a large cauldron over a small fire. One of the things the mercenaries love to do on days where they were told to rest up was to cook some good food and enjoy them. Ciel and Leece were the ones in Aly¡¯s platoon who particularly love to cook something up on such days since they were the ones who were the best at cooking amongst them.


    So Alycea walked over to help them out. If that ended up with her getting an extra portion of whatever was being cooked up later, all the better.

 Chapter 351 - Siege of Levain (Part 5)

    ¡°Despite the common image, the main purpose of siege engines was not to destroy walls. If walls were so easy to destroy by simply chucking stones at it from afar, nobody would have invested so much effort and expenses to build them in the first place. Of course, sometimes weak walls would crumble before siege engines, but those were more the exception than the norm.


    No, a siege engine¡¯s main purpose was typically to damage the battlements at the top of the walls, to make it harder for the defenders to remain at their posts due to the threat they posed, and to lower the defending force¡¯s morale as well. Most shots fired from siege engines ought to be aimed at the top of the walls or further, to lob the projectiles beyond the walls themselves. Those that hit the walls instead were just ones that aimed too low.¡± - Frimelda Giogris, military strategist from Alfheim, circa 420 FP.


    By noon that day, some of the Podovnian siege engines were finished and immediately saw action during the siege battle. Mages from the Podovnian army conjured perfect rock spheres that were harder, heavier, and sturdier than most naturally-occurring stones, which were then used as ammunition for the trebuchets they had constructed.


    The long arm of the siege engine hurled its load towards the distant Levain city as its counterweight swung the arm violently around. Whoever set the trebuchet up had probably missed some measurements in their calculations, however, as the stone projectile impacted low against the city¡¯s seventh wall, causing dust to fall off but little else.


    Even damaged, the outermost wall of Levain city was built to stand up to a lot more punishment than what some mere siege engines could do to it.


    An engineer swiftly ordered some soldiers to mount more weight on the trebuchet¡¯s counterweight, which would make the siege engine lob its projectiles with more force. Once the additional weights were secured, a second shot was fired. This time the stone projectile struck the city walls just a couple meters below the battlements, and the impact caused a couple soldiers at the top to nearly lose their balance.


    Another quick adjustment sent the third projectile striking directly against one of the battlements at the top of the wall, the resultant stone shrapnel slaying two unfortunate soldiers who happened to be near the site of impact. With that result confirmed, the engineer then went to adjust the weight on the other finished trebuchets before they joined the first in its bombardement of the city walls.


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    At the same time, another engineer supervised the aiming angle and string tension on a ballista that propelled metal bolts towards the top of the battlements. Unlike regular ballistae that shot large bolts the size of spears, this one instead hurled dozens of small bolts, each the size of an arrow, using a bucket-like contraption. They were not accurate in the slightest, but aimed well, they could saturate a general area with a multitude of projectiles with every shot.


    Ten such ballistae fired in turns towards the top of the city¡¯s walls.


    While the bolts they launched did not have that much force behind them by the time they reached the walls, it was still enough to pierce through flesh, as some unfortunate soldiers found out when they were struck in the face or other unprotected parts of their bodies. While the siege engines didn¡¯t inflict much in terms of casualties nor damaged the wall seriously, they still did their part in disrupting the defenders atop the city¡¯s walls.


    Meanwhile, one of the battering rams built by the Podovniy army reached the bottom of the wall, right before the eastern gate of the city, which was shut tightly. The gates of the city was made of thick wood reinforced with steel, but it was still weaker than the walls, so an attempt was made to breach through it using the ram.


    The steel-tipped log of the battering ram was swung back and forth by the thirty soldiers who had pushed the contraption to its position. They relied on the battering ram¡¯s sturdy roof to protect them as they slammed the ram against the city gates again and again, each impact causing a dull sound that echoed for quite a while.


    While all this took place, construction continued unabated on the siege tower that the Podovniy army seemed keen on building. The tower itself already took shape, already a good four meters high while engineers and builders constructed its upper levels. On the Anduillean front, they used their own siege engines to harass the wall¡¯s defenders.


    Compared to the Podovnian siege engines, the Anduilleans mostly used lighter catapults and scorpions, which had lower range but were more mobile and had better accuracy since they had to be fired from closer to the target. Besides those siege engines, their archers traded volleys of arrows with the defending archers who made use of their height advantage as much as they could, and casualties fell on both sides.


    Siege ladders tall enough to reach the top of the walls were laid on the walls as Podovnian and Anduillean soldiers attempted to climb to the top under covering fire from their archers. All too often, however, those ladders were toppled over by the defenders before its occupants could get anywhere near the top of the walls, many of the climbers falling straight to their deaths in the process.


    As the battle raged, Reinhardt kept watch at the situation from above, using the secondary artifact that Hannah carried, which was connected to his eye piece. Despite the seeming intensity of the battle, neither the besiegers nor the defenders have committed their all into the fight as of yet. Both of them still held their best troops in reserve, lying in wait for the proper opportunity where they could make the greatest impact.


    Reinhardt himself did the same as he watched the ongoing battle. His mind whirled with the possibilities, thoughts, and ideas. Methods where he and his people might be able to cause a significant enough impact to alter the situation. It would be pointless to risk the lives of his people for anything less under the circumstances after all.

 Chapter 352 - Siege of Levain (Part 6)

    ¡°The norm in strategy is to attack when the enemy least expects an attack, and to rest when the enemy is well-prepared and fully expected an attack to come. Sometimes, however, it might be worthwhile to do the reverse for any of a multitude of reasons.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­ leaving the siege engines outside their camp but kept several rings of guards around them,¡± noted Alycea later that evening, after the besiegers sounded the horn that signaled a retreat and returned to their camps. The siege engines they used remained where they were, albeit protected by four separate rings of sentries that practically ensured that nobody could get close to them unnoticed. ¡°Maybe Aunt Sal can hit them from here, given their size, but I¡¯m not sure how much damage she could do to them with her arrows. You told me that she once destroyed a trebuchet with an arrow back in Posuin.¡±


    ¡°She did, yeah, but that was a ramshackle trebuchet made out of what parts our enemies managed to salvage from the wreckage of the ones we smashed. Sal just needed to hit a crucial, load-bearing part for it to implode on itself back then,¡± noted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°These ones are in perfect working order, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve the same effect. At most she could mess up a throw or two.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can sneak over, not without some sort of distraction at least,¡± said Alycea as she revised the feasibility of the suggestions she made the previous day. ¡°We¡¯d also be in a bad position to return to the forest if we were to strike at the siege engines. They¡¯re positioned too deep by the enemy camp. They could cut off our retreat all too easily.¡±


    ¡°Indeed so. Which is why we won¡¯t be engaging them unless some major change happens, at least until we could unite our troops with the reinforcements and work together with them,¡± stated Reinhardt with an approving nod. ¡°They should arrive within the week. The wall should manage to hold at least that long if old Miriel is serious on defending it, or else these besiegers might find themselves on the receiving end of an unpleasant surprise.¡±


    ¡°You think she might¡­ actually collapse the wall on them?¡± asked Alycea with some doubt in her mind. She had been present during a final briefing before they set off, in which the old half-elven woman had mentioned several possible tactics she might use when push comes to shove. She had not expected something so drastic to actually be done for real, however.


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    ¡°In most other places, I¡¯d doubt it too, but she¡¯s defending Levain city. Walls are literally the one thing they have plenty of. Dropping one when it could bury a few thousand enemies or more is a worthwhile trade when she still got six more to use,¡± stated Reinhardt with a toothy grin. ¡°It also works well as a psychological trap. Even if the besiegers thought about the possibility or heard rumors about it, they¡¯d have doubts like you do. Old prejudices help to ensure that. Which is why they¡¯ll fall for it if Miriel really drops the wall on them.¡±


    ¡°So, we¡¯ll wait in the jungle for the rest of the week while waiting for reinforcements, then?¡± asked the girl once more.


    ¡°Most of it. The day they get here, I want your platoon, Egil¡¯s, Alvaro¡¯s, and Arne¡¯s deployed to help welcome our reinforcements. There¡¯s no way these Podovnians would let them just stroll in without contesting them at all,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°You¡¯ll also have Soledad and Branka¡¯s troops with you, as well as all the cavalry and half the volunteers. I¡¯ll keep the rest in case they drop their guard around the siege engines when they¡¯re busy with our reinforcements.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m putting you in overall command of that mission, Aly, so prepare yourself from now. You will have the lives of many hanging on to your commands. It¡¯s not a burden everyone can handle, so if you feel you¡¯re not up to it, just let me know before the time comes,¡± he added with a warmer, gentler tone. ¡°There¡¯s no shame in admitting that some things are beyond you, understand?¡±


    The way Reinhardt said the words was to make Alycea aware that the mission would be a test for her, and also that she could decline if she felt that she was not ready for command on that scale yet. It was quite a bit to ask a girl who was just barely fifteen years of age, yet Reinhardt felt confident that his adopted daughter would be up to the task.


    He noticed that Alycea seemed to have fallen into her thoughts before she nodded mutely in reply, but that was to be expected. The girl probably hadn¡¯t expected to be tested like that so soon, although she was aware that Reinhardt had given Erycea similar trials when she was Alycea¡¯s age as well. The conditions at the time differed, though, and the company wasn¡¯t embroiled in such a large-scale conflict either.


    Reinhardt expected Alycea to be nervous and thoughtful about the trial set before her. It would be a great responsibility placed on her shoulder, after all, one that involved the lives of many. What he left unsaid was that should things devolve in a disastrous way, Reinhardt would be there to jump in and take control himself.


    With the artifact eyepiece he wore, he could observe the distant battlefield with Hannah or another aerial scout¡¯s help, and give his commands directly to the commanders of the units involved through its secondary functions too. Of course, Reinhardt wouldn¡¯t do that unless it proved truly necessary to avoid a disastrous debacle.


    It was one reason he dared to test Alycea under such conditions, in an all too real battle, as he had not had such a convenient artifact before. He also kept it a secret from the girl that he and Lars had arranged for Erycea to be in charge of the welcoming party from the other group.

 Chapter 353 - Siege of Levain (Part 7)

    ¡°Prepare for every eventuality, and adapt to those you failed to prepare for, or else defeat would be all that awaited you on the field of battle.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Alycea would be lying if she said she was not nervous that day.


    She was standing above ¨C literally, since she was perched atop a sturdy branch on a tall tree at the moment ¨C thousands of others, both mercenary and volunteer, arrayed into a loose formation near the southernmost reaches of the forest they had been hiding in all this while. They had been sent out to aid the reinforcements coming for Levain from the south.


    Hidden behind the forest, towards its east side, were the six hundred riders led by Ze¡¯phane and Soledad, while another group from the detachment that went north likely hid themselves far to the north-west, where another grove provided cover. Alycea would not be able to communicate directly with them, but her father would coordinate their movement, if necessary.


    Much like her father had expected, the Podovnian army were not content to just allow enemy reinforcements to stroll in and disturb their plans ¨C they had already made some headway against the outermost wall and managed to gain temporary footholds at the top of the walls a few times ¨C just like that. As such, they had sent in nearly half their army to intercept the reinforcements before they could lend their aid to the besieged city.


    Alycea was aware that there were approximately thirty five thousand or so soldiers currently rushing towards Levain city from the south. It was the combined force of soldiers led by Estelle and the Caroman Marshals, who chose to lend their aid to their allies when they learned that there had been no actual invasion happening in Caroma as of yet.


    Despite the efforts from the cavalry, Podovnian scouts still discovered the approach of the incoming reinforcements. As such, they arrayed forty thousand of their own troops to the south of the city, just south of the camp they built in that area. The idea was probably to use the camp¡¯s fortifications to buy time should they prove unable to handle the reinforcements in a field battle.


    After all, nearly half of the army coming their way were the elites of Caroma, led by its two Marshals in person. Estelle¡¯s troops were less storied by far, but the way they basically ran over the Southern Coalition¡¯s forces alongside the Caromans also made them worth worrying about. The Podovnian commander clearly felt that caution was justified, either way.


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    Given how the Podovnians had deployed the majority of their troops to meet the Levainian reinforcements in the fields, however, they only stationed around a tenth of their number to man the camp¡¯s defenses in the eventuality that they might need it. That gave Alycea a bold idea. Her group ¨C and whoever led the group from the northern detachment ¨C were supposed to aid the reinforcements, but Reinhardt had not specified how they were supposed to do that, leaving the choice in her hands.


    It was obvious that the Podovnians intended to accost the reinforcements when they had just arrived and were still tired from the march. Alycea¡¯s group was intended to counterbalance that, but the idea she had in mind, while risky, could potentially do much more than just balance out the situation. She quickly called Avila over, who was lent to her group since Hannah was flying high above as her father¡¯s eyes, and scribbled down some words on a small piece of parchment which she passed over to the avian girl.


    Avila immediately took flight towards their base camp deeper in the forest where she would pass the message to Reinhardt. Her flight through the canopy of the forest scared off some other birds, which helped divert the attention away from her as she quickly climbed into the air and flew so high that most archers would have no hope of even getting an arrow to her height.


    After only a few minutes ¨C since it would indeed only take Avila that long to cross the distance that someone landbound would have needed hours of slogging through the forest to cover ¨C Alycea received a reply from her father, directly into the recipient artifact she clipped on her ear. It was a short message of approval for her suggestion, and a reminder to be cautious.


    Reinhardt also informed her that he had briefed the other group of her plan and that they would cooperate with her, with him coordinating their movements as needed.


    With the permission and approval from her father, Alycea breathed a sigh of relief and laid her body against the tree, allowing the tension to recede from her nerves for a moment. The dust cloud in the distance told her that the reinforcements were at least another half an hour away or so, given its size against the horizon, which gave her more than enough time to make preparations.


    After a brief moment of rest, she leapt down from her perch and called for the other platoon commanders to tell them the revised orders she had for them. Some of the other commanders were rather surprised by the boldness of her plan, while others nodded in approval. Within ten minutes, all the commands were given and everyone returned to their respective platoons to make their preparations, Alycea herself included.


    Her guess wasn¡¯t that far off the mark, and around half an hour after she passed down the orders, the reinforcements led by Estelle and the Caroman Marshals came within sight range. They had clearly long noticed the ¡°welcome¡± that the Podovnians had arrayed for them and slowed down as their troops shifted from marching formation into a battle formation.


    All Alycea could do was to watch and wait for the battle to be joined. For her audacious plan to work, she would need the Podovnians occupied and busy fighting the reinforcement troops to the point that they wouldn¡¯t be able to react to her maneuver in time. For that to happen, she would have to let them battle for a while first.

 Chapter 354 - Siege of Levain (Part 8)

    ¡°The whole idea of taking a fortified location by storm is both audacious and foolish at the same time. It is audacious when one succeeds, often at relatively low cost, since few people expected such a foolhardy move to be pulled off in actuality. It is foolish in the rest of the cases where the attempt failed, often at horrific costs to the attacker.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    An hour after the Podovnian forces clashed against the Levainian reinforcements, Alycea decided that it was the time for her people to make their move.


    Despite their being outnumbered and how they were fatigued from the long march, the elites of Levain and Caroma showed their skill and coordination in battle regardless. They pushed hard against the Podovnian lines and even broke through on several locations, which forced the Podovnians to commit their reserves into the battle within the first hour of the fight.


    At the moment, the battle had sort of settled down into a stalemate, where neither side could get an advantage against the other. The Podovnians had more people and deeper battle lines, but they were also forced to divert some of their forces to guard their flanks since the Caromans brought their large contingent of cavalry with them. As such, their riders harassed the Podovnian flanks all too eagerly.


    Neither side seemed to have other reserves to commit further into the fight, as the Podovnians had even pulled a small contingent ¨C probably a couple thousand people ¨C from the fort behind them to join the fight. Alycea felt that the fort was likely as poorly defended as it would ever get that day, so she decisively gave the command to make the move.


    The first to move from the mercenaries¡¯ side were their own cavalry contingent, as six hundred riders under Soledad and Ze¡¯phane¡¯s lead rushed towards the rear of the enemy formation, cutting right between the fort and the main body of the Podovnian soldiers. They did not engage directly, and only hurled javelins into the enemy rear as they galloped past, but their interruption ¨C and the dust cloud they left behind ¨C temporarily obscured the fort from view.


    That became the cover the rest of Alycea¡¯s people used as they boiled out from the forest and rushed towards the fort itself. Across the battlefield, on the north-western side, a similar scene took place as another group of mercenaries and volunteers charged directly towards the Podovnian fort, Reinhardt coordinating their assault as he promised to Alycea.


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    Alycea had ordered the volunteers to rush on the left flank, so that if the Podovnian army noticed them and sent some people their way, they would be positioned to hold them off. If things went as planned, they would not need to hold their ground for long at all, so she hoped they were up to the task. Her own platoon ¨C as well as the rest of the mercenaries headed towards the fort¡¯s palisades as fast as their legs could take them.


    Unlike the walls of Levain where the outermost layer alone was built out of solid stones and measured a good ten meters tall, the fort that the Podovnians had built in the past week was far less fortified. Its walls only consisted of five meter tall wooden palisades, the solid logs just directly planted into the ground to form the walls of said fort.


    Even a five meter wall would be a problem for most attackers unless they brought siege equipment ¨C which the mercenaries lacked ¨C but Alycea had come up with a risky yet effective answer to that problem.


    The first members amongst the mercenaries to reach the palisades were their shieldbearers, which was to be expected, as these men and women were running in the front while holding their large shields up to cover not only themselves, but also those behind them. What the fort¡¯s defenders had not expected was for some of these shieldbearers to get right next to the palisades, even resting their backs on it, and continuing to hold their shields above their heads.


    An action that effectively turned them into a giant stepping stool.


    Normally that would not have posed much of a problem. Even if a tall person were to raise themselves to their maximum height and stretched out their arm, they would maybe reach as high as half the wall¡¯s height, but very few people would be able to support the weight of another person standing on top of their shield, much less with fully outstretched arms.


    Alycea had Irma and Macen ¨C both of them adopted children of Niko and Yuri¡¯s, whose late parents were also part of Mischka¡¯s troops in the past ¨C play that role. Both of the youngsters were large-breed therians, Irma¡¯s features resembling that of a crocodile¡¯s while Macen¡¯s resembling a Rhinoceros. Even though they were young, both of them were already nearly two and a half meters tall and were built extremely solidly.


    The two squatted down as they held their tower shields close to their heads, lowering it to a height closer to one and a half meters, which allowed Alycea, Larissa, Ciel, and Leece to climb on top of their shields, similarly crouching down once they stepped on the shields. The reason they crouched down atop the shields were twofold. One was to stabilize themselves as Irma and Macen exploded into motion.


    While the other reason was to gain even more height as they themselves jumped up towards the palisade¡¯s top.


    Irma and Macen rose to their full heights in one smooth motion, their arms pushing the shields they held ¨C along with its occupants upwards to a height of nearly three and a half meters. Just as they reached the top of the arc, Alycea and the others kicked off against the shield and leapt the rest of the way towards the walkways at the top of the palisades, while Irma and Macen returned to a squatting position, waiting for the next group of people to step up.


    Similar scenes took place along both the eastern and western side of the fort as the other mercenary platoons did the same and sent their people straight to the top of the palisades in one fell swoop.

 Chapter 355 - Siege of Levain (Part 9)

    ¡°When one attempted to assault the tops of city walls during a siege, those who first reached the walkways would always be most at risk, as they would have to fend off enemies who were greater in numbers. As such, such a task was often reserved to the daring, but not the elites, because the attrition rate of soldiers who attempted such tasks were almost always atrocious.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    All thoughts of strategy and tactics fled the young mind of Alycea Edelstein during her very brief flight towards the walkways at the top of the palisades.


    Instead, survival instincts and reflexes honed by a decade¡¯s worth of harsh training took over as her body moved more by ingrained habits than by conscious thought. Her glaive swept past the necks of two Podovnian soldiers who still sported looks of surprise on their faces in passing as she soared past the top of the palisade and began falling towards it.


    Her landing couldn¡¯t be called perfect. Alycea almost twisted her left ankle as she had to step on the stomach of one of the men she had just slain with that foot, but managed to keep her balance and even launch another slash from her glaive at the shocked enemy soldiers. To her left she heard the sounds of more footsteps in landing, as those who had volunteered to accompany her during the first charge made their own respective entrances.


    Larissa landed the closest to Alycea and only crouched briefly upon her landing before she sprung back up and viciously cut down another pair of enemy soldiers with her axe and machete at the same time. Her sudden ferocity also attracted attention away from Alycea and she managed to take down another enemy with a return slash of her glaive in turn.


    Further to Larissa¡¯s left were where the twins Ciel and Leece landed in tandem. The twins each wielded a saber and a spear in tandem ¨C though on opposite hands for some reason ¨C and had an unnerving teamwork between them. When the two fought together, it felt almost as if they were a single four-armed being instead of two separate people, so seamless was their coordination.


    Which was what the Podovnian soldiers fighting against the half-elven twins found out, albeit the hard way.


    Ciel would parry a strike using her saber, often creating an opening that her twin Leece would then exploit using her own saber, while in turn Leece would block a blow aimed at Ciel using the shaft of her spear, allowing Ciel to finish off the attacker using her spear in turn. The two fought almost as if they were dancing a duet together, albeit one tinged with blood and death.


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    Larissa fought in a much more crude and savage method in comparison, the mixed-breed girl utilizing her better-than-human strength and dexterity to the utmost. She simply beat her opponents by striking faster than they could defend, with more force than they could block properly. It was a somewhat reckless way of fighting, sure, but that was also why she was part of a platoon instead of fighting on her own.


    Alycea took care to cover Larissa¡¯s openings as the mixed-breed girl was definitely garnering more attention out of the two of them. She herself fought more calmly and methodically, as she had been taught. Her weapon¡¯s flexible Willow Heartwood shaft bent and swayed under her touch, which often sent the blade of her glaive whipping around in a seemingly unpredictable manner.


    Yet that blade struck away attacks headed towards Larissa or Alycea with eerie regularity, and even the wobbling shaft itself often ended up being an obstacle for their opponents. Where Larissa fought in a straightforward manner, Alycea¡¯s strikes were deceptive and absurdly hard to predict. All too often an enemy soldier fell back with a baffled look on their face, their lifeblood spilling out from a lethal wound they thought they should have been able to block yet failed to somehow.


    After what felt like an eternity of fighting but couldn¡¯t have been more than a few short seconds, more loud thumps sounded in the area of the walkway Alycea and the other three had cleared behind them. Alycea breathed a sigh of relief, as that sound only meant one thing, namely, the arrival of more of her people. Sure enough, moments later two more figures stood beside her and Larissa and joined the fight on the walkways.


    Kev seamlessly slipped in next to Larissa, using his own shield to cover for his friend¡¯s openings as he fought alongside her. The boy mostly fought defensively, allowing Larissa to deal with the brunt of the offense for him, like how they had always fought when paired up.


    As for Alycea, she noticed Roven¡¯s slight form standing a bit behind her, to the side. The quiet boy almost looked ignorable even in a battlefield, yet what was far less ignorable was the pole-flail that he swung viciously in between Alycea¡¯s own strikes. Roven had been blessed with particularly sharp eyesight but had no talent in archery, so he chose to make use of his abilities in this manner instead.


    On Ciel and Leece¡¯s side, Alycea caught a glimpse of Boris¡¯ large, imposing form and Skuljd¡¯s shorter, yet equally broad form as they supported the twins in the fighting. Boris took to the outer side of the walkway and swept several enemy soldiers away using the shaft of his halberd, sending the enemies plummeting down to a hard fall.


    A fall from ¡°only¡± five meters up might not kill those soldiers, but it would definitely take them out of the fight for a good while, since the nearest staircase was a good distance away.


    On the other hand, Skuljd kept close towards the palisade walls and covered the twins from that side. The dwarven maiden was clad from head to toe in thick, heavy armor and wielded a tower shield almost as large as a door with her left hand, while her right hand swung a hefty mace. Neither her armor nor her weapons were things a human would have been able to wield properly at all, barring certain exceptional individuals.

 Chapter 356 - Siege of Levain (Part 10)

    ¡°To a soldier defending a fortification, there is no sight more demoralizing than to see their vaunted walls broken.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Once more members of her platoon were fighting on the walkways of the palisades with her, Alycea slowly shifted from fighting at the front to commanding once more. As a commander, she needed to take note of the developing situation and give orders where necessary, and she was aware of that. She took the time she had to look around and observe the situation around her.


    Her platoon was driving the Podovnian soldiers back from the northern end of the walkways on the eastern side of the fort, with the twins already leading some of the platoon members to blockade the staircase to prevent enemy reinforcements from climbing up. Further to her south, she saw that Zyd and Arne¡¯s third strike platoon had pushed hard against the enemies in the central area of the walkways with brutal results.


    What few enemies hadn¡¯t been sent falling off the walkways now found themselves pincered between some of Alycea¡¯s own troops and the third strike platoon, while on the other side, the Warforged under Alvaro¡¯s leadership did the same with the other half of the strike platoon.


    As for Alvaro himself, Alycea spotted the dark-skinned westerner fighting at the top of the stairs alongside Njeri as usual, the two practically holding the staircase by their lonesome as their troops busied themselves clearing off the last enemy troops off their side of the walkways and storming the nearby watchtower on that corner of the fort.


    Since Branka¡¯s archers were already starting to climb their way to the walkways as well, Alycea quickly gave the order to clear the watchtower near where her troops fought. The archers would appreciate the higher vantage point.


    With the situation on the eastern wall under control, Alycea finally had time to check on the western wall for the first time. The distance was close enough that she could see what went on there with her naked eyes, and what she saw surprised her quite a bit, mostly because it had exceeded her expectations on how well the other side would have taken to her plan.


    A large rent sundered the western wall into two halves, from where the very noticeable figures of Mischka¡¯s platoons strode in, pushing aside all that stood in their path, followed by a large group of volunteers behind them. Alycea guessed since Mischka¡¯s platoon was present, it was indeed not too odd for them to directly break through the wooden palisades of the fort.


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    They definitely had more than enough brute force to do so in a short period of time.


    In fact, the western side¡¯s walkways were already pretty much cleared of enemy soldiers, with the mercenaries firmly in control of the wall itself and easily holding back the enemy soldiers on the staircases. Alva¡¯s first archer platoon already had several of their members shooting from the watchtowers, even.


    One glance and Alycea would tell why. Her elder sister was leading one side of the offensive there, whereas her mother personally led the other side. Both of them already led their close comrades past the corner where the watchtowers stood and moved on to strike at the enemies on the northern and southern walls.


    Alycea quickly brought some of her own troops in the same direction, while ordering the rest to hold the stairs. The Podovnian soldiers on the northern wall did not last that long, with some of them even jumping off on their own to avoid certain death at the hands of the mercenaries. Within fifteen minutes of Alycea first setting foot atop the walls of the fort, the mercenaries had taken complete control of the walkways and the watchtowers.


    Which left the Podovnian soldiers still in the fort in an unenviable position of being surrounded by enemies who had the high ground all around them.


    The situation only went from bad to worse for the Podovnian soldiers, for that matter, as Alvaro and Erycea¡¯s troops worked together to send some people down to strike at the enemy soldiers defending the fort¡¯s southern gate. The strike force, which included the elites from both platoons, including Erycea, Alvaro, and Njeri themselves, made short work of the defenders and soon the gate was left ajar.


    That in turn allowed the volunteers who had rushed towards the fort together with Alycea¡¯s forces to enter the fort as well, and from there, the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The volunteers on the other side had simply entered through the gap Mischka¡¯s people made on their way in instead.


    Outnumbered and outmatched, the Podovnian soldiers were left with no options other than to open the northern gate themselves just so they could run for their lives towards their main camp. Once Alycea saw that happen, she ordered the rest of the troops under her to enter the fort and to shut the southern gate once more when they had all entered.


    The main Podovnian army had noticed that the fort behind them had changed hands by then, which did unpleasant things to their soldiers¡¯ morale. Combined with the fierceness of the Levainian and Caroman troops they faced, they were soon pushed back. Their commander contemplated a retreat, but the fort they planned to retreat to had been taken by the enemy, so they sent some of their rear troops at the fort in an attempt to retake it.


    All they discovered was a fort full of mercenaries and volunteers who had already hunkered down in preparation for their arrival, freely raining projectiles from the walls of the fort with brutal intensity. Even when some of the Podovnian soldiers discovered the breach on the western wall, all who tried to enter that way only found a swift and brutal death instead, as Mischka¡¯s platoon took to guarding the breach they created personally.


    With their troop morale wavering, an enemy force that pushed hard against their lines and threatened to overwhelm them, and no place of succor nearby, the Podovnian commanders reluctantly signaled a full retreat after a while more, their troops circumventing the fort as they withdrew towards their main camp.

 Chapter 357 - Siege of Levain (Part 11)

    ¡°Plays and stories often emphasized the importance of reinforcements, often having them ride to the rescue at the last moment possible. Take it from me, those reinforcements would have never wanted to arrive at the last possible moment if they weren¡¯t forced to do so by circumstances.


    The burden of responsibility that came with leading a force meant to reinforce another was never a small one, and any commander worth their salt would have favored arriving as soon as possible instead. Of course, it was still better to arrive late than arrive dead, though.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°I must admit that what your forces had done was a very effective and pleasant way to welcome us back into the fold, Madam Edelstein,¡± praised Marshal Publius Cornelius as he led part of his troops to enter the fort a short while after the Podovnians had retreated. The fort itself was not large enough to hold all of the troops he and Estelle led as reinforcements, but it sufficed to serve as a base nonetheless.


    The fort had enough room to house ten thousand of the reinforcement¡¯s soldiers, at least once the rubble and corpses had been cleared, as the Free Lances had made quite a mess of the place in their fight to capture it. Their audacious attack had resulted in surprisingly minimal casualties to the mercenaries, while close to a thousand Podovnian soldiers lost their lives in the process.


    Of course, it helped that the mercenaries spearheaded their charge using their best warriors, and that the fort itself was severely undermanned at the time.


    The result of the battle between the Podovnians and the reinforcements had also gone in the favor of the reinforcements, with them trading barely a thousand casualties to nearly five thousand of their enemies. The majority of the Podovnian casualties fell when they were retreating back to their main camp, as the Caromans made full use of their cavalry to harry the enemy soldiers most of the way back.


    ¡°It was¡­ quite an audacious move to do, storming a fort directly, I mean,¡± added Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca with a smile from her husband¡¯s side. The bulky female Marshall had evidently been leading her troop in person like usual, given the still-wet blood splatters on her armor. ¡°We do owe you one, though. Had that battle lasted another three, four hours, we might have been the ones forced to retreat, and that would have been ugly.¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s her idea, actually,¡± said Elfriede as she nonchalantly pointed towards Alycea with her thumb. ¡°We had originally planned to hit them from the flank once they were focused on you, but she got the bright idea to take their fort instead. Rein thought it was a risk worth taking and gave his approval, and you already know the end result.¡±


    ¡°In that case, our thanks, Miss Edelstein,¡± said Publius as he gave a slight bow to show his gratitude to Alycea, who looked more than a little nervous to have the Marshal directly thanking her in person. ¡°Your idea likely spared a couple thousand of my men, and also saved us the trouble of having to force the enemy out from this fort. For that, we owe you a debt of gratitude.¡±


    What Publius said were simple facts. Had the fort been manned in full by the retreating Podovnian soldiers, it would be another obstacle his troops had to deal with before they could affect the ongoing battle for Levain itself. Trying to take even such a fort would have been costly had the place been properly manned by prepared defenders, so Alycea¡¯s bold strike had indeed spared him the trouble.


    ¡°The place is for you and the Chairwoman to use as you see fit, Marshal,¡± said Elfriede as she noticed Estelle¡¯s approach towards the group through her senses. ¡°We already built our bases, hidden deep in the forests, and we¡¯ll keep in touch by messengers on the regular, so you can simply pass on any messages you have for us to them.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated, Madam, and thank you again,¡± said the Caroman Marshal. ¡°The Captain isn¡¯t around?¡±


    ¡°Rein¡¯s keeping watch over their siege engines with the rest of our troops, in case they got distracted enough to show an opening. Aly was the one in charge of this mission, actually,¡± said Elfriede, once again causing Alycea to fidget and blush with some embarrassment. ¡°She did pretty nicely, even if I do say so myself.¡±


    ¡°I could definitely concur with that assessment,¡± said the Marshal with a bark of laughter. ¡°Her call, while risky, removed an asset from the enemies and took it for our own use and badly demoralized the enemies who were fighting. That¡¯s taking down two birds with one stone, all right. My compliments to the captain! He sure taught his girls well!¡±


    ¡°And mine as well,¡± added Estelle who finally reached them. She had been further in the back of the army¡¯s formation since she wasn¡¯t much of a fighter herself, so she arrived a bit later compared to the Marshals, who were closer to the front. ¡°Please notify the captain that I will approve an additional bonus for this feat of arms.¡±


    ¡°Much obliged, Madam Chairwoman. A pleasure to be working with you,¡± replied Elfriede with a smile on her face. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, we¡¯ll take our people back to rest? The enemy has retreated and your people have taken over the fort, so there should not be any more need for us today, at least.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Madam Edelstein, and thank you, once again.¡±


    It was only after most of the mercenaries had departed from the fort ¨C the volunteers had stayed, as they were to be merged with the reinforcements, with the rest to be sent over after the mercenaries returned to base ¨C that Erycea and Elfriede patted Alycea¡¯s back and congratulated her warmly. They congratulated her not as fellow members of the company, but as her family.


    A congratulations on a job well done.

 Chapter 358 - Siege of Levain (Part 12)

    ¡°People often think that small losses would not affect the overall course of a large battle. Such thoughts are but folly, for it is those small changes that often grow larger until they eventually alter the entire course of a battle in the end.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    The tension was palpable throughout the battlefield on the next day.


    While the combined forces of Anduille and Podovniy still held an edge in numbers at a total of around a hundred forty thousand men, not counting the injured, the arrival of the reinforcements put Levain up to far more even ground. While most of Levain¡¯s soldiers were still poorly trained or only halfway through their training, there were eighty thousand of them within the walls of the city, and the fortifications gave them an advantage that more than evened out their lack of training and experience.


    Meanwhile, the forces from Caroma as well as Levain¡¯s elites who now based themselves on the fort taken from the Podovny forces the day before counted thirty-five thousand elites between them, trained soldiers who would match the best their enemies had to offer toe to toe. They were further reinforced by an auxiliary force seven thousand and five hundred strong, composed of the volunteers who had marched with the Free Lances in their delaying action.


    The volunteers were mostly rangers and scouts, poorly trained for the rigors of open warfare, but they still served as an adequate force of archers, since the current situation of the battle had little need for scouts. As for the mercenaries themselves, their full force of nearly two thousand was also present, hidden in the depths of the jungle from where they could make surprise attacks towards the enemy lines when least expected.


    Due to the position of the siege camps, the Anduilleans could mostly ignore the reinforcements, as they were on the other side of the city. Should the reinforcements attempt to circle around the city to strike at them, they would have ample warning, which made that course of action a foolhardy one. As such, the Anduillean invaders continued to focus on besieging the northern part of the city.


    The Podovnians on the other hand were forced by the circumstances to split their forces. Fifty thousand soldiers ¨C over half of their remaining forces ¨C were arrayed facing the south, where the Levainian reinforcements and the Caroman elites were. The rest of their troops were spread thin between guarding their camp and continuing with the siege, which effectively made the Anduillean army the main force of the siege itself.


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    Given how the attackers were focused on the north and east side of the city, the reinforcements could have entered the city from the west, if they were inclined to do so, and there would be little that the besiegers could do to really stop them. However, the Caroman Marshals had convinced Estelle that it would be more beneficial to keep their forces outside the city, in order to force the enemy to split their forces and attention.


    It was a rather risky choice, as if the Podovnians were to send out their entire force, the reinforcements would be hard-pressed to defend themselves. On the other hand, in such a case, the defenders inside the city could take that opportunity to sally out and strike the enemy from behind in a pincer maneuver, and the mercenaries would likely make an attempt to burn the Podovnian camp, to boot.


    That knowledge forced the Podovnians to stay their hand, so to speak, as their own commanders were aware of such possibilities and how it would only lead to a disastrous result for them. Even if the besiegers were to combine their forces to force a decisive battle where they had the advantage, it was doubtful that they would walk out from such a fight without severe losses.


    So it was that the next day¡¯s siege continued as normal, albeit with fewer besiegers than the day before, despite the poor state the seventh wall was in. The effort that the besiegers put in so far had damaged many parts of the seventh wall, and some areas had completely lost the battlements at the top, which made it hard for defenders to station themselves there.


    While the siege engines continued their grisly work, tens of thousands of people from both sides clashed around the walls, as besiegers attempted to climb up the walls under covering fire from their archers, while the defenders returned an equally intense rain of arrows while doing their damndest to push away the enemies that were climbing.


    By that point of time, the siege engines in operation were not only the trebuchets and ballistas that were first spotted, but also a pair of siege towers that had finished their construction in the meantime. Each siege tower held a group of fifty archers at the platform on its top, who rained arrows down on the defenders of the wall with near impunity.


    Of course, the defenders also shot back with their own arrows, with some wrapping their arrows in oil-soaked rags and lighting them on fire in an attempt to set the tower aflame. Unfortunately, the besiegers were prepared for that, and the outer walls of the siege tower were kept wet with water to prevent such an incident.


    Meanwhile, the tense standoff on the south of the city went on unabated, the two armies screaming insults at each other, but no actual battle taking place. The volleys of arrows fired between then mostly went to waste, as the other side would see it coming and raise their shields. The situation remained the same throughout the day, until the fighting came to an end around sunset as usual.


    Unbeknownst to the besiegers, however, flying messengers delivered messages from Miriel and Bernd within the city to the ones outside that night. Messages that were written in code that the besiegers wouldn¡¯t have been able to decipher even if they somehow got their hands on them. Messages that stated that the plan was ready to execute.

 Chapter 359 - Siege of Levain (Part 13)

    ¡°Complacency is the greatest enemy when it comes to long battles.¡± - Zi Sun-Bi, tactician from the Huan Confederation, famed for being the tutor of the renowned Liang Shi-Zu.


    At first, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the next day¡¯s battle. By that point the besiegers were all too aware that the defenders in and out of the city were regularly exchanging notes, as it was hard to disguise the large avian figures of the Free Lances¡¯ flying scouts when they were flying in or out of the city proper. Fortunately there was nothing the besiegers could actually do about it.


    After all, not even the best archers were able to hit such distant, moving targets, and the fliers also took care to remain at high altitudes unless they were descending to one of the camps or the city.


    The forces were arrayed the same way as the previous day, with fifty thousand of the Podovnians standing across over forty thousand Caromans and Levainian troops from the reinforcements. At the same time, around seventy thousand of the remaining enemies were busy besieging the city itself, with their focus of attack being the north-western side, where the outermost wall was already ragged and in disrepair.


    As sturdy and formidable as Levain¡¯s walls might have been at its heyday, after two decades of disrepair and lack of maintenance due to the raging civil war, there were quite a few weak spots on the outermost wall. The section that the besiegers focused on was one that had previously been broken during one of the early sieges in the civil war, and while the Levainians had repaired it, the repair job was noticeably worse in quality than the rest of the outermost layer of walls.


    It was something the defenders had kept in mind as well, however, as their defenses were also the heaviest around that section of the wall, though they generally avoided directly standing on the repaired section when they could. That day, a few hours after the battle began in the morning, that caution proved to be life-saving as the repaired section of the wall crumbled underneath the constant bombardment of the siege engines.


    At first it was just a single brick that fell off seemingly on its own, then another projectile happened to land in the same area, and a small cluster of bricks and cement fell off as a clump. When another two projectiles landed roughly above where the clump used to be, the top section of the wall seemed to shake, and moments later, chunks of rubble crumbled down as the upper half of the weakened section of the wall collapsed onto itself.


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    Raucous, deafening cheers came from the besieging Anduilleans and Podovnians as they saw the wall crumble, and the besiegers immediately set their siege ladders over the rubble in order to cross over the broken section of the wall. Even though the Levainians rained arrows on them without mercy, the besiegers were running on a high and pressed hard without a care for the casualties they took.


    Once some of the soldiers reached the top of the pile of rubble, long planks of wood were carefully passed on to be laid down on the other side, which would allow the besiegers to climb down safely ¨C to climb down directly on the pile of rubble would risk a further collapse, which they wished to avoid ¨C and begin their assault of the seventh wall from the inside.


    Since the Podovnian army was closer to the breach¡¯s location, they were the first to climb over and charge into the region of ruins between the sixth and seventh walls. There were staircases that led from that region to the top of the walls, and they rushed towards them with alacrity, determined to make the most of the time they had while the defenders were slow to react to their presence.


    As more and more Podovnian ¨C and some Anduillean ¨C soldiers rushed through the breach and assaulted the wall from the inside, all while their remaining troops outside kept up the offense, they slowly but surely pushed their way to the top of the walls, and the Levainian defenders were soon forced to withdraw via the walkways that connected the seventh wall to the sixth wall further inside. While some of the besiegers attempted to force their way through those as well, they failed as the walkways formed natural chokepoints that strongly favored the defenders.


    Because of that, the besiegers instead focused on pushing away the defenders from the entirety of the seventh wall and claimed it for themselves, a process that lasted until noon that day. Around twenty thousand Podovnian soldiers and fifteen or so thousand Anduilleans were either standing atop the seventh wall or navigating the ruins below by that point, while the forces outside prepared to send more people in.


    To the south, the fifty thousand strong Podovnian army led by their general Simeon faced off against the Levainian reinforcement in a series of skirmishes where they constantly turned them away from the city. The Levainians had made several attempts to get closer to the city ever since the wall fell, but had been turned away at every juncture.


    It was at this moment, while the Podovnian and Anduillean forces were in jubilation over their success to overcome the seventh wall, that several things happened at the same time.


    With a sound that resembled a deep groan, the seventh wall ¨C which was now populated by Podovnian and Anduillean troops ¨C trembled and shook, and before many surprised eyes, the entirety of the outermost wall that surrounded the city collapsed upon itself. Many of the soldiers standing atop the wall during the time of its collapse failed to escape in time and found themselves suddenly falling down.


    The lucky ones fell atop the pile of rubble that used to be the wall, whereas the unlucky ones were mixed in amongst the pile of rubble. Those who were amidst the ruins were luckier as they could use the ruins as shelter from the collapse, but soon found that they were trapped between the pile of rubble and the sixth wall, all while the defenders manned the battlements of the sixth wall and began raining arrows and rocks from above.


    At the same time, the Caroman-Levainian joint force to the south of the city sounded the horns and beat the drums for an all-out assault towards the surprised Podovnian army.

 Chapter 360 - Siege of Levain (Part 14)

    ¡°Opportunities and chances aren¡¯t things you wait for. Opportunities and chances are things you create with your own two hands, as only then would you be able to make the most out of them.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Sound the horns! We charge!¡± yelled out Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma the moment he saw the outermost walls of Levain collapse on the besiegers, sending many of them directly to their deaths.


    He had been briefed of the plan just the previous night by Chairwoman Estelle, who in turn received the information from Bernd and Miriel within the city. The plan that the old half-elven woman proposed was one that would probably be considered insane or incredibly wasteful¡­ if not for the specific circumstances of Levain itself as a city.


    As it was, Levain was still in the midst of rebuilding from the damages the city had taken early on in the civil war, with its population depleted to less than half of its heyday. As such, there was no incentive to recover the ruins between the sixth and seventh layers of walls, which used to be the slums and lower-class district of the city.


    Similarly, there were minimal incentives to repair and maintain the seventh layer of wall, as everything that mattered at all was encompassed within the sixth wall¡¯s coverage. The wall languished unused and fell into further disrepair over the past decade and a half already, so instead of committing chunks of the city¡¯s already-tight budget into repairing it, Miriel chose to turn it into a deathtrap.


    A deathtrap that had likely already swallowed thousands of lives the moment it was triggered, as there would be horrific casualties for the enemy troops who were atop the walls when it collapsed. Even those who were in the ruins were little better off, as they would be temporarily isolated from their allies outside where the wall used to be, with the defenders sallying out from the city¡¯s gates to eradicate them before they could be rescued.


    While the enemies near the city were occupied with attempting to rescue their allies and facing the sudden sally by the defenders, Publius would use the troops he led ¨C in cooperation with the troops Estelle had with her and their auxiliaries ¨C to keep the Podovnian army from interfering. The enemies would be distracted by the sudden development around the city, so it was the most opportune moment to attack them.


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    Of course, his wasn¡¯t the only attack that would happen at that time, as the mercenaries had also promised to take out any ¡°targets of opportunity¡± that presented itself during the distraction.


    Publius had chosen to lead the cavalry contingent ¨C nearly ten thousand strong between his own and the Levainian cavalry that agreed to follow his leadership ¨C of the army personally, while his wife the Lady Marshal would work together with the Levainian general to direct the infantry. Fortunately, unlike his son, Publius himself was a skilled horseman, even if he was far from the best fighter regardless of being on horseback or not.


    Under his command, the riders nudged their horses in unison as they rushed out from the army¡¯s rear towards the left flank, where they had more room to move freely. He took a quick look to the side and spotted his daughter riding in the lead of her detachment of two hundred riders, and shook his head to set aside the worry he had for her as a father. At the moment he couldn¡¯t afford to be a father, as it was a Marshal that was needed.


    Neither of his children deigned to be kept away from the battle, as they had earned their current rank and positions the hard way. Even as Astra rode alongside her father and the rest of the cavalry to battle, Scipius led his own troops under his mother¡¯s command as part of the main force that similarly surged forward to meet the Podovnians.


    On their right, the Levainian troops marched in unison with Caroma¡¯s finest, the two armies having formed a tacit understanding after fighting side by side for the past weeks. The auxiliaries marched to their rear, spread wide with bows in hand. Their role would be to provide ranged support to the ongoing battle, aiming deep into the enemy formation to avoid friendly fire.


    Due to the distraction from the collapsing wall, the Podovnian army was late to react, and their right flank was still in the midst of turning to face the incoming cavalry charge by the time the latter arrived. The cavalry had not forced their way into the enemy formation. Such was a task better suited for heavy cavalry, while the force under Publius¡¯ command were all light cavalry.


    Instead, they rode parallel to the right flank of the Podovnian army ¨C far enough away that a spear thrust would fail to reach them ¨C and hurled javelins into the enemy formation as they rode by. Thousands of javelins darkened the sky in a way no arrow rain could manage, the larger and heavier projectiles piercing through even armor with great force as they brought part of the momentum of the galloping horse in them.


    The rain of javelins alone almost collapsed the Podovnian right flank, and even as the cavalry rode past the Podovnian army, its lead elements starting to turn around for another run in the distance, the infantry that followed behind them had clashed against the Podovnian front lines.


    One reason Publius dared to have only his Caroman infantry to hold the left flank of their army was because he had confidence that he could break the cohesion of the enemy¡¯s right flank through his cavalry raid. His gambit proved prescient, as the reeling Podovnian right flank quickly crumbled against the Caroman elites that attacked them viciously under his lady wife¡¯s command.


    That in turn forced the Podovnian commander to commit his reserves to shore up the crumbling right flank of his army, which lightened the pressure that the well-trained but less experienced Levain troops had to deal with. Combined with the constant rain of arrows from the auxiliaries, that was enough to put the Podovnian army on the backfoot.


    And that was before Publius led his riders back towards the battle for a second strike.

 Chapter 361 - Siege of Levain (Part 15)

    ¡°You could always tell whether a siege was destined to go on for ages or to finish in a flash just by looking at how the people of the besieged city behaved.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    If not for the presence of two enemy armies outside their walls actively attacking the city and the noise they caused, one could well be fooled into thinking that life had gone on as usual in Levain city.


    Despite the ongoing siege, the civilians ¨C all of whom had long been evacuated into the area inside the fifth wall or deeper ¨C went on with their lives as per normal. At most, the only real alteration in their lives were the higher frequency of soldiers and militia passing to and fro on the streets. Some whose businesses more closely involved the war effort were more impacted, with plenty of work, but that was about it.


    Normally a besieged city would be worrying about food and water, as even an ample stockpile could easily vanish in a short time during wars. Such worries were valid for forts with barely a few thousand people in them, much less a massive city like Levain with just under half a million citizens inside its walls. Even so, there were no worries to be seen on the faces of the populace.


    Levain¡¯s surrounding area was one of the largest breadbasket regions of the late Clangeddin Empire, which made the city so valuable in the first place. Early in the civil war, however, the fighting that took place in and around the city laid waste to much of those fertile farmlands, which in turn caused the city¡¯s value to drop in the eyes of the warlords vying for supremacy. That was one of the main reasons why the civilian uprising managed to take and keep the city and its surrounding regions.


    Over the decade and a half since they had gained control, the locals slowly restored the damaged farmlands. Even in its poor state, the farmlands allowed the locals to achieve self-sufficiency. After a decade of care, the harvests increased in abundance year after year, to the point that Levain had plenty to spare when it came to food.


    Which was one reason why they dared to front the supplies for the joint southern expedition with Caroma.


    Even with those expenditures, many of the warehouses and granaries in the city proper were stuffed full of flour, stored in watertight wooden barrels or clay urns. The non-perishable nature of flour ¨C as long as it was stored properly ¨C meant that over the past years the city had stockpiled quite a massive amount of them, enough to feed its populace for a good four to five years at the very least.


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    When combined with the twin rivers that flowed through the city¡¯s western side and the abundant well water, there was simply no danger when it came to supplies for a long siege.


    If anything, even the militia ¨C who were directly fighting against the enemy forces ¨C were eager to fight, despite the losses they had taken so far. They knew that their leaders had something in mind for the invaders, though not the details. The fact that they had been told to eat very well that morning was a sign that something was about to happen for certain.


    Sure enough, that day the outermost wall of Levain crumbled, albeit its collapse was not due to enemy action, but an intentional one caused by the defenders themselves. A team of dwarven engineers had spent the past weeks rigging the walls to collapse in a rapid manner on demand, and their work came to use at that moment.


    Thousands, if not tens of thousands of enemies were buried by the collapsing walls, while those who already ventured into the area between the sixth and seventh wall soon found themselves trapped and isolated by the rubble. It was at that moment that Miriel sounded the call for a general offense and the eager militia sallied out from all four of the city¡¯s gates at once.


    If they were made to fight against the enemy on an open field, the half-trained militia would likely fail to deliver a satisfactory performance. However, they were facing dazed and demoralized enemy troops in an area they knew far better than their foes, and the results spoke for itself.


    All around the city¡¯s sixth ¨C now outermost ¨C wall, the militia overran the enemy troops that were stuck between the rubble and the wall. They made full use of their greater familiarity of the ruins as well as their far greater numbers to make up for the difference in skills, training, and experience. Many of the enemy soldiers were killed while barely being able to put up a fight.


    Far more were captured alive by the militia and dragged into the city as prisoners.


    Neither Bernd nor Miriel held any illusion about being able to beat their enemies in an open fight, nor did they desire a protracted siege which would affect the city¡¯s livelihood. As such, their aim in the first place was to aim for a peace settlement of some sort, and those were always best negotiated from a position of power.


    The wall¡¯s collapse was a show that the Levainians had no fucks left to give and would resort to every means they had if forced to do so, which they hoped would deter the enemy from pushing too hard. As for the prisoners, it was always more advantageous to negotiate with something to offer the other side. Naturally, it was far more palatable for them to return the enemy¡¯s captured soldiers that to give them any other sort of concessions.


    With the ruins cleanly swept of enemy soldiers ¨C only stripped corpses were left, while the living ones were taken captive without exception ¨C the militia retreated back into the city before the remaining enemy troops outside could force their way through the rubble. At that point they had done their share, and the course of the battle that day rested with those who were still fighting outside.

 Chapter 362 - Siege of Levain (Part 16)

    ¡°When the lions are distracted, is when the jackals feast in their stead.¡± - Old Elmaiyan saying.


    People made mistakes when subjected to stressful situations.


    At that moment, the Podovnian troops were under quite a bit of stress, what with how many of their compatriots likely trapped by ¨C as well as others crushed beneath ¨C the collapsing seventh wall of Levain, as well as the sudden assault from the south. A more experienced commander might be able to navigate the situation more calmly, but the Podovnian commander at the rear, who was in charge of guarding their camp and siege engines, was not such a person.


    Their more experienced commanders were either down south facing the enemy reinforcements in open battle or leading the siege, some of whom might have even been caught up in the wall¡¯s collapse. As such, the commander of the Podovnian rear saw a situation that caused him to be struck by a dilemma. His army clearly needed more people to help out, and he might be blamed if he didn¡¯t sally his troops to do so.


    On the other hand, he would also be breaking his orders to stand guard in the back if he did that, which in itself might be grounds for military discipline. The young commander debated himself for a while before he finally came to the decision to lead half his troops to help those caught under the rubble. The other five thousand men left to guard the camp and siege engines should suffice to protect them, he thought.


    Unfortunately for him, a certain group of mercenaries had other thoughts about that.


    Not fifteen minutes later, around the time when the young commander¡¯s five thousand men had just reached the troops busy with the siege, Reinhardt led all the two thousand or so members of the Free Lances out from where they hid in the forests to the south-east of the Podovnian camp. Their sudden appearance sent the guards at the camp into high alert, but soon they found that they had other matters to occupy them.


    Clay urns filled with flammable oils mixed with goblin kindling rained down from above into the midst of the Podovnian camp, shattered, splashed their contents everywhere, and caught on fire immediately afterwards. The fire forced the camp¡¯s defenders to divert many of their people to putting out the fire instead of standing guard, and the mercenaries made full use of the distraction.


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    They simply bypassed the camp to the surprise of the camp¡¯s guards and headed straight for the siege engines instead.


    There were still a couple thousand Podovnian soldiers guarding the siege engines, and they quickly got into formation when they noticed the approach of the mercenaries. However, those troops left behind to guard the camp and the siege engines weren¡¯t the cream of the crop, as the best such troops would have been with either the siege or the southern force.


    As such, they never really stood much of a chance to stop the far more experienced and skilled mercenaries from breaking through their formation.


    With Mischka¡¯s platoon in the lead, the Free Lances broke straight through the Podovnian formation. There was little that their foes could do to stop them, and before long, the mercenaries reached the precious siege engines and started demolishing them on the spot. The only silver lining was that the engineers and technicians operating the machines had been evacuated beforehand and thus were spared from the same treatment.


    While part of the mercenary company demolished the Podovnian siege engines, most of the rest held the enemy soldiers guarding those things back, while their archers as well as Egil¡¯s slingers kept those in the camp too occupied to come after them. Egil¡¯s people hurled urn after urn of unpleasant concoctions into the enemy camp, while the archer platoons ¨C this time under Salicia¡¯s lead ¨C kept the enemies on the walkways suppressed to the point that they did not dare to raise their heads past the battlements.


    After all, she already made her point when she sniped off every officer who did that the moment their heads popped up. The rest of the archers angled their shots higher and arced their arrows straight into the enemy camp, giving those inside more trouble to deal with.


    By the time ten minutes had passed, most of the Podovnian trebuchets and arbalests were turned into little more than piles of burning rubble. Their battering rams had been caught in the wall¡¯s collapse, which left them only with their siege towers, which were in the midst of their besieging army and thus out of the mercenaries¡¯ reach. The same applied to the Anduillean siege engines, as the mercenaries could only afford to hit one of the camps, so they chose the one with more siege engines.


    Their task done, the mercenaries retreated back towards the forest in good order, leaving behind hundreds of dead Podovnians with many more injured. Their lead elements had almost reached the forest when they noticed that the enemy actually sent people in pursuit, cavalrymen from the besieging army which must have been mobilized hastily in order to catch up to them.


    There were around a thousand of the cavalrymen, flying several banners. Reinhardt recognized some as those belonging to minor nobles under Podovniy¡¯s rule, but one in particular was familiar to him. It was a banner that closely resembled that of Du Riffons¡¯ Silver Eagles. Likely the force led by his wayward son, then, and a chance for Reinhardt to fulfill the request the old man had asked of him back before he left for Levain.


    Some of the mercenaries continued to go into the woods. The archers and goblins went into the woods only to climb the first tree that could support their weight so they could lend ranged support to the fight to come. The rest of the Free Lances arrayed themselves to prepare a welcome for the enemy cavalry. Most of the onrushing cavalrymen were knights in heavy armor, unlike the typical light cavalry, but that didn¡¯t bother them in the least.


    After all, knights fetched not only a higher ransom for them to claim but also a higher bonus for a confirmed kill, so if anything the mercenaries always favored fighting their kind instead.

 Chapter 363 - Siege of Levain (Part 17)

    ¡°History noted many, many instances of cavalry charges breaking through enemy lines and turning the tides of battle. What many neglected to notice, however, was how for each such successful occasion, there were several that failed and did not make its mark in the history books.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Evolution of Warfare¡± by Tomas Lancaster, military historian from Levain, circa 592 FP.


    ¡°They¡¯re mostly knights, typical human-style heavy cavalry, you all know what to do,¡± instructed Reinhardt through his artifact to the various platoon commanders of the Free Lances. Indeed, methods to deal with heavy cavalry was one that they had drilled to do regularly, and immediately the platoons with the strongest shieldbearers and unit cohesion ¨C Mischka¡¯s first strike platoon, Arne¡¯s third strike platoon, and Alvaro¡¯s Warforged platoon ¨C stepped to the front of the mercenary formation.


    The three platoons lined up next to each other and had their respective shieldbearers step in front, where they formed a solid, interlocking shield wall. Others supported those shieldbearers physically from right behind them, while in the third line, those armed with spears and polearms laid their weapons atop the interlocked shields, forming a menacing spear wall pointed towards the approaching enemy cavalry.


    With a wedge-shaped layout, the shield-and-spear wall formation was designed to force the enemy cavalry charge to split or be crushed against the wall. Naturally, the pressure would be the highest for the people at the tip of the wedge, but Reinhardt had confidence that Mischka¡¯s platoon was up to the task and would hold their ground.


    When the vanguard of the enemy knights arrived, the hundred-strong force of knights dressed in the livery of a minor state under Podovniy¡¯s rule made the poor choice to charge straight towards the shield wall. The knights probably had an overinflated sense of superiority and confidence in themselves, as they had run over several shield wall formations during the battles Podovniy experienced during its expansion.


    That arrogance proved to be their undoing as their steeds and lances struck against the shield wall, right at the tip, where Mischka¡¯s best held the line, and was found wanting.


    While the impact caused by the force from over half a ton¡¯s worth of horse, rider, and armor would have easily barreled over an average shield wall, even the ones who held the shield was supported by others behind them, that does not apply when the being holding the shield was heavier than the rider and horse put together to begin with.


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    Instead of barreling over their opponents and trampling them beneath their hooves as expected, the foremost knight felt as if he had slammed headlong into a solid wall as his horse crumpled beneath him, the momentum of the charge crushing the poor steed¡¯s bones against the solid metal shield it ran into. The knight himself was hurled headfirst against said shield with enough force that his helmet crumpled beneath the impact and his neck broke in several places as it was unable to handle the forces applied to it.


    The first line of knights met the same fate. Some of those in the second line were unable to turn their steeds to the side in time and crashed headlong into the dead bodies of their compatriots, their horses often stumbling over the corpses and collapsing, sending them unceremoniously to the ground as well. Those that managed to turn their steeds to the side only saw more large shields and spears pointed towards them along the entire mercenary frontline.


    To make things worse, once they finally moved past the shield wall, they found themselves immediately under assault.


    Reinhardt had positioned Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s respective platoons at the flanks of the formation, where they were to strike against the riders who skirted around the shieldwall. As such, the knights on horseback, used to enemy infantry giving way to them in fear, found themselves under sudden assault from far more fearless mercenaries who only saw them as bags of coins on a horse.


    A couple of the higher-ranking knights tried to rally their forces to face the enemy, but all they managed to do was to make a target for themselves. Mere moments after they raised their swords and yelled at their compatriots, one of the knights fell off his horse with a crossbow bolt in his throat, courtesy of Aurora. At such close distance even her relatively weak crossbow could hit with enough force to pierce through the weaker parts of a knight¡¯s armor.


    The other knight was still surprised at his comrade¡¯s fall when Erycea directly leapt onto his steed and bashed his face in with her truncheon, knocking the knight unconscious on the spot. Similar sights could be seen all around her, as daring mercenaries would leap directly at the passing horses to wrestle or strike their occupants down from their saddles.


    Alycea¡¯s side treated the knights they faced the same way. Some were directly smashed off their horses by the larger-bodied members of the platoon or those who wielded polearms, while others wrestled and dragged knights off their horses in more daring ways. The knights were caught unprepared to face a foe that were so eager to take them on and was unable to fight them off properly as a result.


    Meanwhile, the shield line marched forward to intercept the incoming second wave of cavalry in order to buy time for the platoons at the side to digest the first wave. Archers and slingers from the forest rained down projectiles towards the onrushing knights. While those knights well-off enough to equip their horses with barding were pretty much unaffected, they were but a minority amongst the riders.


    More knights had their horses felled by arrows, while others were hurled off the back of their horses when small urns filled with intense-smelling fluids shattered near their steeds¡¯ noses and made them rear back in surprise. The fallen and panicked horses caused chaos to disrupt the formation of the onrushing cavalry, which rendered them ill-prepared for the clash with the mercenaries¡¯ shield wall.


    Then the scene of the cavalry¡¯s vanguard crushing themselves against unmoving shields repeated itself.

 Chapter 364 - Siege of Levain (Part 18)

    ¡°Fools rarely see themselves as foolish.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Michel du Riffons was no fool.


    Unlike his old father and his big sister, he was simply not content with eking out a life as a sellsword, to be at the beck and call of an employer for mere money. He always wanted more out of his life. Status and wealth beyond what his father managed to achieve by peddling his considerable skills and his troops to the highest bidder.


    It was the main reason behind the schism that broke up the Silver Eagles, the company his father had founded and was bequeathed to him and his older sister Wilhelmina upon his father¡¯s retirement some years ago. Wilhelmina wished to continue down the path they had trodden so far, while Michel wished to seek out greener pastures and brighter futures for themselves.


    Since the two could not come to an agreement, they eventually decided to split the company into two, with the larger majority ¨C mostly the infantry and some veteran riders ¨C in support of Wilhelmina, while most of the younger riders supported Michel and followed his lead. He had proven his vision to them in the years since, as they had left and shortly thereafter found employment in former Clangeddin territory under the Marquis of Podovniy.


    The noble promised to pay mercenaries who preferred to be paid that way in landholds instead of just money, which was an attractive thing for Michel. A noble title was even included as part of the deal, should they manage to gain enough land and contribute enough to be worthy of one. It was a goal his new company, the White Eagles, had strived for in the past three years of fighting in the former Empire¡¯s territory.


    So far, they had made quite a bit of a name for themselves. Owing to the company¡¯s large proportion of well-equipped heavy cavalry, it proved to be quite feasible to earn their contribution even in battles involving numbers that dwarfed the company¡¯s mere three hundred or so ¨C some of which were new recruits Michel picked up on the way to Podovniy ¨C people.


    To date, the small company already owned four medium-size villages as their fledgling dominion, and were valued by the Marquis as they were some of his most effective heavy cavalry, something that was possible because Clangeddin as a whole did not have a culture that involved heavy cavalry until the civil war broke out.


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    As he led his troops to chase after the mercenaries that had tormented the army¡¯s vanguard over their trip to Levain, Michel made a conscious decision to hold his men back a bit, allowing several knight orders established by the states under Podovniy¡¯s rule to take the lead. He did it out of caution, since while he had not fought against the mercenaries themselves, he was somewhat familiar with the Free Lances, as his father¡¯s command ¨C himself included ¨C had fought side by side with them for over a decade in Posuin before.


    He knew that the mercenaries had enough time to simply escape into the forest, but most of them had stayed and turned to face the incoming cavalry for some reason, so he expected foul play or traps of some sort. Something the locals who were far too used to their own ¡°gentlemanly¡± way of warfare would often fall for.


    Sure enough, the first group of knights ¨C nearly a hundred strong, one of the larger knight orders from an earldom of some sort of Michel remembered right ¨C ran straight into the mercenary shield wall only to find them an immovable object. The knight order shattered themselves upon the mercenaries¡¯ shields, while those that managed to turn to the side were soon assaulted and engulfed by too-eager mercenaries who often directly leapt up onto their horses and took them down.


    Michel had seen similar scenes before, and knew what was going on.


    Regular footsoldiers, much less levies and conscripts, had a natural fear towards a well-armored knight on a warhorse galloping straight towards them. As a mercenary himself, however, he was all too aware of the worth of such a knight if captured. Not only were their equipment valuable and likely to be reused by the mercenaries, but the knights themselves would be worth a pretty penny in ransom.


    As the second group of knights ¨C a mix of several smaller orders with poor cohesion between them ¨C met with a similar fate, with even more of them breaking themselves on the shields of the mercenary shieldbearers who suddenly surged forward to meet them, Michel made a quick decision in his mind. He signaled his men to slow down and ride a bit to the side.


    The group of riders directly behind the White Eagles took the chance to overtake them and rush ahead towards the ongoing carnage. Michel let them. If the foolish ¡°knights¡± desired to spend their lives playing cannon fodder, that was their business. As a mercenary himself, he had a far more pragmatic point of view when it comes to things like that.


    With hand signals, he notified his men to follow him in taking a more roundabout path that would have them skirt around the fighting and instead strike at the mercenary formation from its left flank. He hoped to circumvent the region where the Free Lances had their defenses prepared for a cavalry charge and catch them off guard that way.


    His men quickly followed after his directions, and their nearly three hundred riders swung around towards the right, took some distance, before looping back towards the mercenary left flank. The riders at the front bellowed a war cry and lowered their long lances as they reached a distance of five hundred paces, a short time for a galloping horse to cross.


    Michel allowed a fragment of optimism to cross his mind even though his father taught him to always be wary when in a battle. The Free Lances were slow to turn to face his forces, and should things go well they would be able to run roughshod through the enemy flank.


    That fragment of optimism died immediately when all of a sudden the frontmost riders fell and crashed into one another out of nowhere.

 Chapter 365 - Siege of Levain (Part 19)

    ¡°The worst mistake one can make in a battle of tactics is to do what the enemy expected you to do.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Before Reinhardt ordered his people to strike towards the Podovnian siege Engines, he had surveyed the terrain, both from high above with the artifact and Hannah¡¯s help, and with his own eyes and feet during dark nights. When he launched the attack, he was certain that given the distance and speeds involved, the only way the Podovnians could catch up with his troops after they did what they came for was using their cavalry.


    As such, he prepared some surprises in the region where they would sally from to welcome said cavalry warmly.


    While the majority of his troops were out assaulting the Podovnian camp and siege engines, a detachment led by Lars stayed on guard near the forest. At a glance, they appeared as if they were simply securing the retreat route of the mercenaries. In actuality, however, Lars and his men were acting as cover for the groups of combat engineers Reinhardt borrowed from Levain when they went out while those did their work.


    There was little that the combat engineers could do in a field battle anyway, so they had not been handed over to Estelle and the Caroman marshals like the rest of the volunteers.


    Behind the cover that Lars and his troops provided, those engineers used their skills ¨C and earth magic, which most of them possessed and were skilled at ¨C to dig plenty of small pitfalls, just large enough for a horse¡¯s leg to slip into, and cleverly cover them up. Others carefully set up stakes hidden inside mounds of earth with ropes tied to them, leading to the forest. Should someone in the forest pull the rope taut, it would create a calf-high obstacle meant to trip a galloping horse.


    Reinhardt had Mischka lead the best shieldbearers in the company to face the onrushing cavalry head-on for the exact purpose of driving the enemy to the sides. He figured that sooner or later some of the enemy commanders would get smart and lead their men to hit them from the side, and thus run headlong into the traps and trip cords waiting for them.


    He had not expected Michel du Riffons and his White Eagles to be the first to run into those preparations, but definitely wouldn¡¯t complain about that stroke of luck either.


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    The White Eagles had circled around and tried to strike the Free Lances from their left flank only for their foremost riders to run afoul of the pitfalls. The moment the first few riders fell over, members of the combat engineers ¨C who were predominantly dwarves ¨C yanked the other end of the prepared trip cords from inside the forest, setting the cord taut.


    Unable to change their direction or stop in a hurry, nearly half of the White Eagles found themselves becoming victims to the trip cords and pitfalls, men and horses falling on top of each other in heaps, the lives of those at the bottom most likely forfeit as they were crushed beneath their own comrades. Those further in the rear had enough time to slow down and stop their mounts, but by that time the damage had already been done.


    At the same time, Erycea¡¯s platoon detached themselves from the left flank and charged straight at the halted remnants of the White Eagles, followed closely by Elfriede¡¯s platoon behind them. Reinhardt wanted to capture old Guillaume¡¯s son alive if possible, which was why he sent those platoons over, as many of the people there would recognize Michel du Riffons by sight.


    He was not as concerned about the boy resisting because he also told them to freely rough the brat up a bit if he gets annoying.


    After all, while he valued the promise he made to the old man, he wasn¡¯t going to risk the lives of his own people just to do it. In this case young Michel fortunately placed himself in a situation where it would be convenient for Reinhardt¡¯s people to take him alive, so there was no reason to not at least try doing so. As for his actual eventual fate, that would very much depend on himself.


    If the boy knew what¡¯s good for him and gave up quickly he might get away with only a little roughing up, but otherwise, Ery or Friede or their people would have zero qualms about beating him up.


    Tactics to deal with heavy cavalry was something Reinhardt¡¯s people were uniquely suited to, thanks to their strong unit cohesion within the platoon level and the physical capabilities of their best shieldbearers. Few infantry forces boasted of people who could take on a direct charge from heavy cavalry in such a headlong manner, so his approach to countering them was likely something most foes would be unfamiliar with and thus would not expect.


    Like always, he strived to weaponize that unfamiliarity to his own advantage, as the unfortunate Podovnian cavalry now learned the hard way. The Podovnians knew that Reinhardt had ways to counter light cavalry from their earlier tussle, but as Mischka¡¯s people were off with Lars to the north, they had not been a known quantity to the Podovnians.


    Even though the Anduilleans had to face Mischka¡¯s platoon on many occasions, Reinhardt also knew that the terrain at the north made it practically impossible to mobilize cavalry with any efficiency, so they were similarly unaware that Mischka¡¯s people had training in anti-cavalry tactics. That gap in knowledge was what he used to turn the tables on his enemies and make a profit while he was at it.


    Even as Erycea and Elfriede dealt with young du Riffons to the left, he noticed another group of Podovnians charging in from his right only to fall into the traps waiting on that side. Reinhardt smirked at the sight and gave the order for Alycea and Nicole¡¯s troops to go out and take as many captives as they could from the fallen cavalrymen, while at the same time signaled to Mischka and the others up front to push hard and break the enemies.


    It was time to bring things to a close.

 Chapter 366 - Siege of Levain (Part 20)

    ¡°The fate of those who were captured as prisoners in war often depended on their status. Important people would be treated well and often ransomed back by their nations, while the common footsoldier was more often left to languish in captivity and at times used for slave labor by the captors until the war ended.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°The Evolution of Warfare¡± by Tomas Lancaster, military historian from Levain, circa 592 FP.


    ¡°On me!¡± Erycea yelled out over the din of the battle. A cacophony of weapons clashing, the screams of agony from men and melancholic whinnies of injured warhorses filled the atmosphere, and one could only make themselves heard through yelling. Almost immediately, her close-knit group of friends gathered around her, forming a smaller unit within the platoon.


    Erycea typically used the smaller unit ¨C which she led personally ¨C to act in a similar way to her mother¡¯s platoon, that was, to dive deep into the enemy formation and take out high-value targets. The rest of her platoon under the leadership of her own lieutenants would keep the enemy occupied and distracted while she did that.


    This battle was no different, although this time they were to capture their target alive if possible instead of pulling a decapitation strike.


    Vlad, Tasha, Vera, and Gustav angled their shields to form a solid wedge at the front. The four used their advantage in size and bulk to simply push their way into the enemy formation with ease. Behind them, Valeria and Beth secured the sides of their small formation, supported by Aurora and Ayrie behind them. The twins Llewelyn and Rhiannon guarded their rear, while Erycea herself directed the formation from the middle, all wound up like a beast preparing to pounce on its prey.


    At least this time their quarry saved them the trouble of looking, though. Most of Erycea¡¯s smaller group were familiar with Michel du Riffons since the two mercenary companies got along well back in Posuin. As such, Ayrie easily noticed the man¡¯s well-made armor ¨C which he hadn¡¯t changed since the last time they saw him ¨C from a distance and pointed it out to Erycea.


    Their target was fortunate enough to be in the middle of his troops, so he was spared from being part of the tangled mess of human and horse bodies that resulted from the traps the Free Lances had set. Even as Ayrie pointed him out, the man was still trying to regain and instill a semblance of order for his surprised and panicked troops.


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    Which just made him a bigger target, all told.


    In fact, Michel du Riffons failed to notice Erycea¡¯s small group changing course to head straight for him until they had smashed their way through his bodyguards as he was occupied with trying to control his troops.


    Even though his bodyguards included the few veterans who followed him, they proved to be ineffective at stopping Erycea¡¯s charge. Even while on horseback, the riders had no real height advantage against the four that formed the group¡¯s frontline and could only try to stab ineffectually at their sturdy metal shields. What few strikes managed to get past the shield just found the heavy armor worn by the four at the front, which were practically impervious to their weapons.


    Erycea herself did not wait until the group as a whole reached their target, though, as instead she climbed up Vlad¡¯s back and stood on top of his and Tasha¡¯s shoulders before she leapt straight for Michel. Her target clearly had not expected such a move and Erycea easily tackled him off his saddle, causing him to fall onto the ground hard on his side, probably even dislocating his right shoulder in the process.


    She herself landed lightly on top of him and directly stepped on his other hand to stop him from making a move to defend himself. Her truncheons whipped around and struck away the attacks from Michel¡¯s guards who were close enough to try to do something about it, and she even struck one of them down from their horse before the rest of her group arrived.


    Then Vlad simply collected Michel from the ground and carried him in an underarm hold, his burly arm pressing Michel¡¯s arms to the man¡¯s side and making him unable to move at all. The group then traced their path back out of the enemy formation even while the rest of their platoon and Elfriede¡¯s took down the enemies around them.


    Of course, Erycea did not forget to signal to her mother that they had already secured their target, so that she wouldn¡¯t go off in a fruitless search. As such, once their enemies decided that they had enough and began to retreat, the Free Lances simply allowed them to do so.


    People from Lars¡¯s platoon took over after the fighting was done and rounded up the still-living captives and led the uninjured horses towards the forest. The dead enemies were rapidly stripped of their weapons and armors and any notable valuables, while many of the dead horses which were in better shape were also dragged towards the forest.


    Similar scenes could be seen elsewhere as the mercenaries broke the cavalry force sent to chase after them. The whole battle ended up as a big loss to Podovniy. Out of the thousand or so cavalrymen they sent, less than half made it back. Over two hundred perished in the fighting, while another three hundred or so were taken captive.


    By the time an infantry detachment reached the spot where the battle happened, all that was left were stripped corpses and some dead horses. The mercenaries had long withdrawn back into the forest with their captives and salvage, while the dead horses they took with them would likely end up being extra meat for their dinner that very night.


    Out of the ten knight orders and three mercenary companies that comprised the cavalry force, only three of the knight orders managed to escape without many losses, as they had the fortune of being the slowest, and thus were in the back, able to escape immediately when they saw the fate of the others. Of the rest, some were so damaged they might as well be disbanded, while others dropped to as low as half strength.

 Chapter 367 - Siege of Levain (Part 21)

    ¡°The feeling when a plan comes together properly is one to be cherished. Deities know that such occasions are too few and far between.¡± - Prophet-King Nasrudin Hamid of Edenua, a short-lived nation in the northern region of Ur-Teros, circa 382 VA.


    ¡°All right, that went pretty well even if I do say so myself,¡± said Reinhardt as he watched the last of his mercenaries return to their base deep in the forest. They had not fought for long, even including the battle against the enemy cavalry in the end, and his people did what they did best. They got rid of high value targets in a swift strike and retreated with minimal casualties.


    Of course, even under near-ideal conditions battles were still messy things, and dozens of his people sported injuries of varying severity in the end. Some took those injuries while fighting their way through the guards around the siege engines, others from the enemy camp¡¯s defenders while they were keeping them pinned down, while yet others were injured during the fight against the enemy knights.


    One man even twisted his ankle when he stepped on a dead horse the wrong way and got himself the mocking laughter of everyone around him at the time.


    The dead were fortunately kept to a minimum. A few archers and skirmishers who had bad luck to catch an arrow to a vital place, some troops who made mistakes, and the like. That there were less than two dozen deaths out of his two thousand was already a blessing in itself, especially considering that their sally had greatly diminished the enemy¡¯s siege engines and crippled their heavy cavalry in one fell swoop.


    On top of that, he even got to keep his promise to spare old Guillaume¡¯s boy if he could, to boot, so it was altogether a nice day of work.


    As for the situation on the battlefield, it also went well for the defenders. The militia had overwhelmed the enemy troops caught between the rubble of the seventh wall and the sixth wall with sheer numbers and took many of them captives. Just as many were slain in the process, while others were still buried beneath the rubble, their survival unknown.


    By the time the besiegers managed to fashion a rudimentary bridge that would allow them to cross over the rubble without risking further collapse the Levainians had already withdrawn back into the city with their captives, which left the frustrated besiegers little choice but to attempt rescuing those buried beneath the rubble.


    It was difficult to get a good estimate, but Reinhardt estimated that the trap likely caught up to twenty thousand or more of the enemy¡¯s troops, with a good number of those buried beneath the rubble.


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    As for the field battle to the south of the city, the Podovnians beat a hasty retreat after the unexpected development behind them and left at least another five to ten thousand dead and captured behind them. The triumphant Caromans and Levainians chose not to pursue their foes, as there were more enemy soldiers near the city and it might end in disaster should the Anduilleans abandon their siege attempt and circle around the city to flank them.


    Instead, they retreated calmly to their captured fort and rested in preparation for the following day¡¯s battles.


    Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries were doing much of the same in their camp. He wandered around and ran into Erycea¡¯s platoon, most of whom were resting. His daughter was huddled with a few others around a boiling cauldron, though, which oddly enough smelled a lot like cheese to him. They were clearly in the middle of cooking some dinner.


    It was common for members of a platoon to designate some people to be their cooks during a field deployment where they wouldn¡¯t be with their support staff. Typically those who were assigned as cooks were the best ones at cooking, and were compensated for their time with extra shares and other privileges by the rest.


    In Erycea¡¯s platoon, Erycea¡¯s group of close friends shared that role as they had most of the best cooks in the platoon, while the rest acted as their assistants. From what Reinhardt could see it was the half-orcish girl ¨C Soledad¡¯s daughter ¨C who was directing the cooking that evening, while the rest worked to her instructions.


    ¡°Oh, hey dad. What brought you over?¡± asked Erycea as she noticed Reinhardt''s approach.


    ¡°Oh, just walking around and checking how everyone is doing. How did it go with Guillaume¡¯s brat earlier?¡± he asked in turn, as he knew that Erycea¡¯s platoon was the one who captured Michel du Riffons earlier that day. ¡°He didn¡¯t make himself too much trouble I hope?¡±


    ¡°Eh, he himself went down without a fuss, dislocated his shoulder and all during the fall. Couldn¡¯t resist even if he wanted to,¡± replied Erycea nonchalantly. ¡°Some of his men were more trouble, but they got cleaned up pretty quick, especially when mom hit them as well, so nothing really troublesome all told. Do you need him? We hogtied him and tossed him with the rest of the prisoners.¡±


    ¡°Nah, he can stay there for the time being. We¡¯ll still be in the woods for the night at least anyway. Tomorrow might be the decisive day so make sure everyone gets a good rest for that,¡± said Reinhardt in reply. ¡°What are you cooking, by the way? I can smell cheese but that¡¯s also a lot of chili peppers you¡¯re cutting up over there.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a recipe from Val¡¯s grandmother, traditional orcish stuff,¡± said Erycea nonchalantly as she shoved the peppers she was cutting into the cauldron of stew. ¡°It¡¯s some sort of stew with cheese as the main flavoring, and a lot of spices. Good for keeping spirits up between battles, though I guess it¡¯s pretty harsh on those who never ate spicy stuff before.¡±


    That last comment made Reinhardt smirk in amusement. As a mercenary, he was used to traveling all over and trying all sorts of food from many regions of the world. One of the most common ailments that struck young mercenaries, however, was stomach issues, typically as a result of eating something they had never eaten before.


    What Erycea described sounded like something that would like claim many victims that way, though her platoon wouldn¡¯t be affected by it anymore these days.

 Chapter 368 - Siege of Levain (Part 22)

    ¡°I always feel that war is the most honest way to solve our problems. One good, decisive battle and things would be decided one way or another. Politics on the other hand? Hah! It would already be a miracle if you can get anything done within a year of a decision being made!¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°What do you think, Marshals?¡± asked Estelle that same evening in the main building inside the fort south of the city. She was accompanied by her senior military officers, and were seated across a large table from the Caroman Marshals and their corps of senior officers. ¡°Are we in a good position to break the siege on the city after today?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the exact circumstances of the enemy¡¯s situation, which we have no way to gain a good look into at the moment, but we believe they might be hankering for a decisive battle with us sooner rather than later,¡± suggested Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca as she pointed towards the Podovnian camp. ¡°Today your mercenaries demolished half of their siege engines, which basically killed any chance for them to break through the sixth wall in any reasonably brief timeframe. From what we could tell, our enemies had planned for a swift resolution to the battle.¡±


    ¡°They probably planned to breach through a couple walls and then intimidate the people inside the city to surrender before you could return,¡± noted her husband, Marshal Publius Cornelius. ¡°Thanks to the delays your mercenaries caused them, that plan died in the cradle, and we even got here in time to hit them while they were reeling from the losses they must have taken today. That was an inspired move, by the way, to collapse the wall on top of them like that.¡±


    ¡°We had long discussed the possibility of doing so as a contingency in this sort of situation, but yeah, this way that wall earned its keep rather than being just another obstacle in people¡¯s way,¡± admitted Estelle with a nod of her head. ¡°It¡¯s not like the city would have enough populace to need the area beyond the sixth wall for another couple generations anyway. This way at least the demolition served a second purpose for us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s why they never saw it coming. Your city happened to be in the unique situation that allowed you to throw away a wall as a disposable weapon at your enemies, something no strategy book would have recorded for people to watch out for,¡± said the Marshal with a chuckle. ¡°At this rate, while the untrained soldiers in the city still wouldn¡¯t be of much use in a field battle, our enemies are starting to run low on people to even maintain a serious siege. If they take more casualties they might as well turn back as they would not have enough people to force Levain into submission even if they broke the walls.¡±


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    ¡°So you think they¡¯ll come for us soon?¡± asked Estelle as she asked about a scenario her commanders had deemed to be very likely at this point.


    ¡°They have to. They can¡¯t afford to split off nearly half of their remaining army just to keep us at bay while the rest of them sieged the city. As it is, today¡¯s losses will likely force them to try to remove us from play, as it would be their last hope to get the initiative of this war back in their hands,¡± noted Anni from her husband¡¯s side. ¡°It might be as early as tomorrow, but my expectation is that we¡¯ll have one last battle to decide things within a fortnight.¡±


    ¡°Captain Edelstein sent word that he¡¯ll be on the lookout for chances to hit where it hurts should such a battle come to be,¡± said Estelle with a nod. The way things had developed during the war so far had gone far better than their estimates, which had been on the more pessimistic end when they first heard the enemy¡¯s numbers. ¡°He also mentioned that the Podovnian heavy cavalry are, in his own words, as good as crippled.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another piece of good news. Our enemies have less cavalry than we do. They probably didn¡¯t bring as many since they figured they were going for a siege, so that¡¯s something my riders can take advantage of,¡± noted Publius with a grin on his face. ¡°Do we have your permission to borrow your riders once again for our future battles, Madam Chairwoman?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re yours to command, Marshal,¡± replied Estelle. In the interest of uniting their cavalry and making full use of them, she had ¡®lent¡¯ Levain¡¯s two thousand ¨C now two thousand five hundred after the detachment that went with Reinhardt rejoined the rest ¨C riders to the Caroman force to work together with their larger cavalry force. The day¡¯s battle had proven that the Marshal treated the Levainian cavalry like they were his own troops and had not placed them at more dangerous spots or anything like that, so Estelle was confident in trusting him with them once more.


    ¡°Thank you for your trust, Madam Chairwoman,¡± replied the Marshal. ¡°We will need to see how the enemy reacts to today¡¯s loss and how they arrange their troops tomorrow, but I have some confidence that I could use our cavalry force to distract and harass them once more. I would be warier if they still had their knights, but those are reduced to a minimal threat, so that definitely made things simpler.¡±


    ¡°In which case should we work out signals for when we would request a sally from Levain itself?¡± asked Estelle. A sally by Levain¡¯s defenders could be considered their side¡¯s trump card at this point of the battle, one that had the potential of turning the tables. Due to the rubble from the collapsed wall, however, such a sally would take time, and it would be difficult for the defenders to retreat in a timely manner once they sallied out. They would be committed to ending the fight right then and there should they be mobilized.


    ¡°Indeed, Madam Chairwoman. Let us discuss the contingencies.¡±

 Side Story 71 - In Need of Better Allies

    ¡°With allies like these, who even needs enemies!?¡± - Famous last words of General Lothar Aberic of Eravo, in the famous defeat where a multi-national coalition force crumbled before the forces of the then nascent Clangeddin Empire.


    ¡°I gather things did not go satisfactorily, Your Eminence?¡± asked Ilona as her liege lord the High Regent walked into the command tent brusquely. The middle-aged general had seen the man grow up from a child to the present and was more than familiar with his habits and quirks, so it only took her a glance to see that her lord was not in a celebratory mood.


    To be fair, nobody would be, after the loss they had taken today. Approximately ten thousand of Anduille¡¯s troops went missing after the unexpected collapse of the outermost wall around Levain today, with most of them of uncertain status. They only found around two thousand corpses in the ruins between the walls, but whether the rest were buried under the rubble or taken captive was unknown.


    ¡°Heh. What gives it away?¡± asked High Regent Lukas Worsted with a dismissive tone. To say that he was rather annoyed at the moment was an understatement, as he had just returned from accosting the Marquis of Podovniy regarding the current state of their campaign, or rather, their losses so far. ¡°Was it the scowl or the way I threw that flap open?¡±


    ¡°Those, as well as the way you walked into the tent right foot first. You only do that when you¡¯re agitated about something,¡± replied Ilona nonchalantly. While Lukas was her liege lord and she showed him all the respect that entailed in public, in private she was more like an aunt of his and treated him roughly the way one would their nephew. ¡°So I am guessing that this invasion is not going well, then.¡±


    ¡°Though not like anything¡¯s gone according to plan so far, so I¡¯m not surprised,¡± she added.


    ¡°You guessed it. Podovniy will attempt to eliminate the enemy reinforcements with what forces they had left tomorrow. He asked me to help contribute some troops to the endeavor, but I pointed out that this whole thing was his idea, so it¡¯s his responsibility to take care of it himself,¡± said Lukas with a scoff as he sat down.


    Anduille had agreed to the invasion on the provision that they would distract Caroma by sending part of their military towards the border while contributing less to the actual invasion force. In exchange, Podovniy would claim the Lion¡¯s share of the benefits from conquering Levain as they provided the main force of the invasion.


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    What Lukas had in mind when he negotiated those terms was to gain some benefits without risking too much, while Podovniy would shoulder most of the risks instead. Unfortunately, Anduille already lost more people than Lukas expected they would barely a few weeks into the invasion, first to the mercenaries that kept pestering them along the way, then to the wall collapse.


    He was of a mind to cut his losses and sue for peace at that point, which he bluntly stated to the Marquis of Podovniy. That was in fact the main reason why the man had relented to take on the brunt of the enemy forces in an open battle tomorrow. Lukas and his troops would only maintain the siege and keep the remaining enemy forces within the city occupied instead, which was a less risky endeavor.


    One way or another, the course of the invasion would likely be set in stone by the evening of the next day. Even if Podovniy won, they would likely take quite a few licks and would no longer be in the condition to claim the lion¡¯s share of the benefits, which suited Lukas anyway. If Podovniy lost? Then it was time to cut their losses and negotiate for peace.


    Sure, it was a painful blow to take all those losses for no benefits, but if Podovniy lost, Lukas had an inkling that he might be able to claim some compensation from them after the fact anyway, so that suited him just fine. Either way he wanted only the best for his nation and nothing less. Sure, there was a chance that the Levainians might reject a peace offering and choose to fight on, but he deemed that an unlikely possibility.


    If anyone wished for this invasion to be over as soon as possible, it would be the Levainians.


    ¡°Tell our men to prepare for siege battle again tomorrow, but also notify the commanders not to push too hard. Preserving our forces will be our main priority this time,¡± said Lukas to Ilona after some thought. Since the majority of the heavier siege weapons were Podovnian and had been wrecked in the previous day¡¯s raid, it was not like his men were likely to breach the sixth wall anyway. ¡°Tell them to keep the enemy occupied but not to push things too hard. We have taken enough losses as is.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Sire,¡± said Ilona with a solemn nod. ¡°Would you like for me to order the scouts to range towards the south and keep it informed of tomorrow¡¯s battle or would that be unnecessary?¡± she asked in turn. Lukas was glad that Ilona was the higher ranked general that survived his father¡¯s folly. The woman had a good head on her shoulders and knew how he thinks well.


    ¡°Have that done, yes,¡± he replied with a wave of his hand. ¡°Oh, also tell Yulie to pen two proclamations just in case,¡± he added, naming his head scribe. ¡°Have her write one demanding Levain¡¯s surrender with all the terms we can likely press for, she should know what I mean. The other will be a peace offering, again, have her include what terms we can stomach in it.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± replied Ilona without a hitch in her step. Normally a general would have protested if their lord prepared for the eventuality of defeat like that, but she was all too aware that things were getting untenable anyway. Better to cut their losses and retreat while the Podovnians were the ones taking the brunt of the Levainians¡¯ offense than otherwise.

 Chapter 369 - Siege of Levain (Part 23)

    ¡°War is above all else, driven by benefits. A nation or a tribe goes to war in order to pursue certain benefits they wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve otherwise, and wars end when the benefits are no longer worth the cost. In some ways, it is the most ruthless act of trade imaginable.¡± - Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 680 FP.


    By the morning of the next day, it was evident that the battle was taking a different turn than usual.


    The siege was still ongoing, but the line of soldiers that besieged the city was notably thinner than usual, as they tried to envelop the eastern half of the city. It was quite obvious that they intended to screen their allies from any possible sallies that the city¡¯s defenders might perform. The way the besiegers set up defensive positions was testament to that.


    It was excessive preparation, to be honest, as with the rubble of the seventh wall in the way, even if the city¡¯s defenders wished to make a sally, it would be difficult for them to do so quickly. As such the enemy force would have time to respond to their sally, which might well end up as a disaster instead. Because of that, the defenders instead manned the walls of the city in their full might, which made for quite an intimidating sight.


    Even if all that happened between them and the Anduillean army that besieged them was tantamount to a staring contest as neither side could really do much against the other.


    In the meantime, the larger Podovniy army, all sixty thousand or so that remained of their once hundred thousand strong force, gathered in formation to the south of the city. Despite the rather harried looks of the soldiers ¨C the losses had not sat well with them ¨C they maintained neat formations under the command of their officers.


    Arrayed before them were the joint Levainian-Caroman army, over forty thousand strong with the addition of the volunteers that once followed the Free Lances. The mercenaries themselves lurked in the woods to the side of the battlefield, concealed much like a predator in the midst of stalking its prey. Once they found an opportunity, they would pounce at their target.


    Unlike the previous battle, this time the Caroman infantry took up the center of the formation, while the Levainian infantry served as the wings and the volunteers as the reserve behind them. Most of the volunteers wielded bows like the previous day, their task more to support from afar rather than risking their lives in direct combat.


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    Given that they were poorly trained for that purpose, to commit the reserves into direct combat would be little different than killing them with their own hands anyway.


    Behind the wings of the formation were two large groups of light cavalry, mostly Caroman with some Levainian as well, split into four large groups of roughly equal numbers. With the crippling of Podovniy¡¯s heavy cavalry just the day before and the fact that they had not brought many light cavalry since they were preparing for a siege, the cavalry would likely play a pivotal role in the day¡¯s battle.


    The tension was palpable in the air. Both armies stared at their counterpart, both formations forward-heavy with their sturdiest infantrymen holding the frontlines. The Podovnian frontline was thinner compared to the previous day, though, as they had shifted part of their best to cover their flanks, having learned from the previous day¡¯s costly debacle.


    Trained infantrymen in formation knew how to handle a cavalry charge or strike appropriately, but their effects on less trained soldiers remained devastating, as all too often the weak-willed would break from the sight of a rider and steed charging towards them. In some ways, it was as much an ingrained reflex that needed to be trained away the same way one would train a knight¡¯s warhorse to willingly charge into a throng of foes.


    After a long, tense moment that felt almost like an eternity to the arrayed soldiers, finally the order was given. Horns were sounded to signal the attack, and the soldiers marched forth towards their foes at a steady pace. They kept their formation tight as they marched, and even the untrained volunteers in the back inadvertently tightened up their formation upon seeing how the rest marched.


    The two armies were separated by a mere kilometer¡¯s distance, which was quickly eaten up by the marching soldiers. Before long, the two groups entered a distance of five hundred paces from each other and the archers on both sides started to make their presence known. Arrows were nocked onto bows and shot into parabolic arcs so that they would fall in the midst of the enemy army.


    Such shots, especially with the distance, were unlikely to be accurate or even likely to hurt someone, but with quantity there was a quality of its own, and out of thousands of arrows fired, at least some would find home in an unfortunate soldier¡¯s flesh instead of bouncing ineffectually off their armor. While the better-equipped troops near the frontline could often shrug off the rain of arrows as long as they kept their shields up, the auxiliaries who tend to have worse armor could not say the same.


    The skies darkened for a brief moment when the first volley was loosed by both sides at nearly the same time. While archers wouldn¡¯t truly fire in unison upon command ¨C such a thing was just impractical when one used a heavy warbow as holding a nocked and drawn arrow would be extremely tiring ¨C most still fired at roughly the same time.


    Some of the arrows even collided with an enemy arrow in mid-air, not due to the archer¡¯s skill, but just because there were over ten thousand arrows flying through the air at the same time.


    Under the constant rain of arrows, the footsoldiers at the front lines gave out war cries and yells as they clashed with their counterparts from the enemy army. Those at the front wielded large shields to protect themselves as they crossed spears with their foes, each side trying to overpower the other. Every now and then a soldier fell as they failed to protect themselves in time from an enemy attack, only for the soldier behind them to take their place in the line.


    While such clashes looked intense, they rarely decided the outcome of the battle, or even caused many casualties to either side. What decided such things tend to be what went on while such a clash occupied most of the fittest soldiers in either army.

 Chapter 370 - Siege of Levain (Part 24)

    ¡°The battlefield is a canvas for a painting of carnage, with blood as the pigment and corpses as the brush. It is a masterpiece that showcases the epitome of a living being¡¯s ruthlessness, the willingness to slaughter others for their own benefits. It is the paragon of men¡¯s selfishness.¡± - Eda Agonisuw, anti-war philosopher from Posuin, circa 611 VA. Ironically killed in the civil war that ended Posuin as a nation.


    ¡°Kill them! Do not falter! Keep on pushing!¡± yelled Scipius until his throat felt hoarse. He was positioned near the frontlines, a bit to the left side, where he was doing what he should as a thousand-man commander. Part of that duty involved motivating and encouraging his soldiers to fight harder, which was the reason he had been yelling for the past hour or so.


    Another part of his duty was to ensure that his soldiers held their assigned position on the frontline properly. His thousand men were responsible for holding an area a hundredsoldiers wide, and he set them to task by sending them in batches of ten, in small formations five men wide and two men deep. The ones in front would hold the shields while the ones behind strike out with their spears.


    Twenty such formations cover the area he was assigned to hold, and each had the other formations behind them on standby. Each time one of the smaller formations took casualties, they would be rotated out and replaced by those behind them. At times formations would be rotated out on Scipius¡¯ command even before that, when he noticed a decrease in performance due to fatigue or the like.


    While nearly half of the unit held the front, the rest took the chance to rest while waiting their turn. Each time a small formation was rotated off the frontline, another formation replaced them at the tail end of the queue. The injured would be treated as best as the field medics managed and the survivors of broken formations would be reassembled into new formations to retake their place on the line after they rested.


    It was an idea Scipius thought of after the mock battle against the mercenaries back in Levain, as the way the mercenaries made heavy use of smaller units and encouraged independent action left him quite an impression. He had not adopted the mercenaries¡¯ method, as instead he modified it for usage in the line of battle.


    The new formation had served him well through the southern campaign, his thousand-man unit taking fewer losses and exhibiting greater effectiveness once they got used to the new arrangement. At the moment they held their own against Podovniy¡¯s finest, giving as good as they took, holding the line firmly and even pushing into the enemy formation.


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    Which was better than most of the rest of the front, to Scipius¡¯ pride and satisfaction.


    The army¡¯s plan was relatively simple. Scipius learned early in his military career that simple plans tend to be the best. A more complicated plan meant that there were far more chances for something to not go according to plan and ruin the whole thing instead. As it was, the frontline was to hold ¨C and break through the enemy front if possible ¨C while their auxiliaries provided support fire.


    His father would personally lead the cavalry to destabilize the enemy formation when he felt the time was right. At the same time, his mother and her personal troops currently lurked just behind the frontlines. Their role was to exploit the moment the enemy formation was destabilized to deliver the crippling blow and shatter the enemy¡¯s will to fight.


    He had a bit of worry for his sister, who would be fighting alongside their father as part of the cavalry troops, but forced that worry down with a shake of his head. His father would likely try to keep Astra safe, or at least, as safe as a battle permitted. He knew that was as good as it would get on that matter, as his sister was also quite stubborn and wouldn¡¯t have responded well to being coddled.


    While the soldiers were fighting and dying at the front, it was calm where Scipius stood commanding his soldiers. He was right behind the front lines, and as such was too close to the enemy lines for the enemy archers to shoot at him without risking hitting their own troops. At most his troops had to deal with the occasional arrow or two that fell short of their actual target.


    Both sides knew what was at stake. They knew all too well that the day¡¯s battle would likely decide the course the whole conflict took. If the Levainians and Caromans lost, then the invaders would be free to besiege Levain at their leisure, likely replacing their losses with more reinforcements from their homelands.


    While there were many militiamen inside Levain¡¯s walls, their incomplete training was still a cause for concern, and even if they managed to outlast the enemy, it would likely be a very costly endeavor. None of them were certain that Levain could afford such a ¡°victory¡±, as it would leave them vulnerable to future attacks as a result.


    On the other hand, should the Podovniy army lose the battle, it would render them unable to effectively besiege Levain with what troops they had left, not while they had to deal with the threat from the Caromans and Levainian elites at the same time. Such a loss would pretty much spell the end of the invasion, and they would likely be forced to accept disadvantageous conditions to be allowed to retreat unmolested.


    The Podovnians likely considered such a scenario nothing short of a nightmare, especially given the costs they already sunk into the campaign. The losses they already took numbered in the tens of thousands, an acceptable price for victory, but an utter disaster otherwise. Such a loss might well lead to insurrections and revolts as dissatisfied people made their opinions known back in Podovniy.


    Which was most definitely a scenario the Marquis of Podovniy wished to avoid at all costs, Scipius thought.

 Chapter 371 - Siege of Levain (Part 25)

    ¡°Blood spilled can never be taken back.¡± - Old soldier¡¯s saying.


    For the first two hours of the battle, nothing much happened.


    Well, people fought and died on the frontlines during those hours, their bodies left where they fell only to be stepped on by those still fighting, but no major shifts in the battle took place. Both armies seemed content to grind each other down and see who broke first. Even the rain of arrows had lessened to a drizzle as the archers started to pace themselves to avoid excessive fatigue and to save up on their limited arrows.


    Soldiers who grew fatigued from the battle were rotated out and replaced by fresh and eager ones on both sides. With how both armies had their elite soldiers taking the front on that day, the battle was even so far, as while the Podovnian army had more troops in total, they did not have that much more elites compared to their foes.


    Also, part of their elites had been kept on the sides to watch out for the enemy cavalry, which reduced the number who could be stationed at the frontlines.


    After another hour, however, the Podovnian army was starting to run out of fresh elites to rotate to the front lines and the Marquis made a decision to have those at the sides switch over to the front lines while those who were resting would take over the sides instead. The shift of soldiers was unable to escape their opponent¡¯s sight, however, and served as a spark that ignited the second phase of the battle.


    ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± noted Marshal Publius Cornelius from where he sat astride his steed at the head of the cavalry stationed behind the infantry lines. Podovniy had the right idea with how they stationed elites on their flanks to watch out for cavalry, but then made the mistake of rotating their resting troops there while the original troops went to the front.


    It was what Publius had been waiting for all along.


    ¡°Pass the order. First squadron and third squadron, on me, we will take the enemy¡¯s right flank. Quintus Lucius will command the second and fourth squadrons to hit the enemy left flank,¡± he said in a steady voice to a messenger next to him. ¡°No charges into the enemy lines, ranged harassment only, aim for the sides and back of the enemy formation.¡±


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    The messenger saluted then ran off to pass the message to the various unit commanders. Each of the four squadrons had their own commanding officers, of which Quintus Lucius was the commander of the second squadron. Publius had taken personal command of the first squadron as he was used to, while the fourth squadron was Levain¡¯s cavalry under the command of the half-orc they had met back then.


    He waited a short while to let the messenger do his job, and soon received word from another messenger that everyone was ready. Publius nodded in satisfaction. The army was prepared to move in a shorter time than he expected, which was a good thing. Even the Levainians signaled their readiness promptly. With a smile on his face he turned to the rider to his left, who carried a banner pole on his back and had a large brass instrument almost coiled around his body.


    ¡°Sound the horns, my good man. Today, we march to Victory!¡± he yelled, at which point the bannerman blew the horn loudly in a two-beat pattern, a signal for attack.


    Almost as one, the thousands of cavalrymen under Publius¡¯s lead started to trot their steeds as they moved out from behind the infantry lines. They slowly gained more speed as they distanced themselves from the main battle before they turned around and urged their steeds to a steady gallop, their path directly headed towards the enemy¡¯s left flank.


    A similar scene played out on the other side as the second and fourth squadron of cavalry did the same, and both groups charged towards their enemies in unison, war cries meshing with the whinnying of horses and the thunderous sound made by the galloping hooves as their rushed with shield and javelins held in their hands.


    Each cavalryman ¨C both Caroman and Levainian ¨C were armed with a round shield made from light wood covered by leather, multiple javelins, and a single long spear typically slung across their back when not in use. For today¡¯s battle they also carried a second pack of javelins behind their backs, each man or woman armed with a total of twelve javelins.


    The riders swerved to the side so that their path ran parallel to the enemy lines instead of crashing into them when they were but ten meters away from the enemy soldiers, and hurled their javelins as they turned. Thrown from such short distances, the javelins were deadly and accurate, with many of them claiming a victim from amongst the enemies.


    Then those behind them repeated their actions.


    While the enemy soldiers at the sides held up their shields to cover themselves from the rain of javelins, many of the projectiles still managed to slip around their defenses to find unprotected flesh to pierce. More than one soldier took a javelin to their legs, only to take another to the chest or neck as they fell down from the pain and exposed themselves.


    Despite how each cavalrymen only threw three to four of their twelve javelins in that pass, their numbers meant that nearly twenty thousand javelins were hurled towards the right flank of the Podovniy army, which caused at least a couple thousand casualties, both injured and dead. Many shields were also rendered unusable by the weight and encumbrance of the javelins that sprouted out from them.


    As their enemies reeled from the strike, the cavalry rushed past the Podovnian army even as their foes mobilized their smaller contingent of cavalry to chase after and stop them. The head start meant that the Podovnian cavalry were unable to catch up to their enemies, at least until Publius ordered an about-face and turned his two squadrons around to strike at their pursuers.

 Chapter 372 - Siege of Levain (Part 26)

    ¡°Cavalry that are bogged down by their enemies are just dead men and horses.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire, after his victory at the Battle of Horsehead Valley.


    As she rode on her steed at the head of her two hundred strong unit, Astra felt the exhilaration that always accompanied a good ride, even when it was done during a battle. Her riders were positioned at the left side of the first squadron that her father personally led, so they had the longest distance to cover when they threw their javelins at the enemies earlier, but on the return pass they would be the closest instead.


    When her father gave the signal to turn around however, Astra saw the enemy riders ¨C probably half their number or so ¨C riding hard to catch up to them. She knew that getting that return pass unbothered was unlikely, so they¡¯d have to deal with the enemy cavalry first to be able to harass the main enemy formation some more.


    Sure enough, a second command from her father told them to prepare to charge into the enemy riders, so Astra didn¡¯t take more javelins from the sack slung over her back, and instead grabbed her spear, which she shifted to her left hand. Then she took one javelin from the sack, as there was no reason not to throw one before they clashed with their enemies.


    As she looked around, Astra noticed that most of the other riders had done the same. She also noticed that the third squadron behind them seemed to have veered off to the side. Her father had likely ordered them to veer around the intercepting enemy cavalry and continue harassing the enemy main force while the first squadron ¨C Caroma¡¯s elite cavalry ¨C took the enemy on.


    Soon another command from her father came and the squadron spread out to form a rough echelon formation, which she saw was mirrored by the second squadron to their east. The two echelon formations basically prevented the enemy cavalry from going after the third and fourth squadrons that veered off to harass the enemy main formation.


    The distance between the two groups of cavalry was quickly eaten up under the horses¡¯ hooves, as the Podovnian cavalry gathered together into a single formation while the first and second squadron of Caroman cavalry attempted to envelop them. Astra held her javelin as far back as her arm could reach, with her body twisted to the side on her saddle, just waiting for the right moment to throw it.


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    Soon enough, as the distance between the two groups of cavalry decreased to under fifty paces, she hurled her javelin with all the strength that her body could muster, as did most every other Caroman. Their training had ingrained into them the habit to hurl the javelin when the riders at the front were fifty paces away from the frontmost enemy rider, the javelins hurled by those at front acting as a signal to those behind.


    It was a short enough distance to feasibly get some decent accuracy to the throw, while still having enough time to switch over to their spear for the melee.


    Astra did not see where her javelin landed, as the force with which she hurled the projectile had her twist her body all the way to face the other side. She brought her hands together and quickly transferred her spear to her right hand as she righted herself and pointed it towards the fast-approaching enemies. At the same time, she raised her shield to cover herself from the enemy¡¯s thrown javelins.


    Podovniy¡¯s cavalry were also trained to use javelins, but they were evidently trained to throw it at shorter distances. When the Caromans threw their javelins first, some of the Podovnians panicked at the sight and threw their javelins instead of raising their shields. Some of those who made that mistake ended up falling off their horse with a javelin embedded in their body soon after.


    Those who kept a presence of mind to instead raise their shields and prepare for the melee fared better, but the javelins hurled by the Caromans had claimed at least several hundred victims, and caused the Podovnian formation to loosen up as a result as some riders swerved around their fallen comrades while others leapt over them.


    By then it was too late to throw their javelins so the Podovnians similarly shifted to their spears. A few still tried to hurl their javelins, though, and while some of the javelins met their mark since they were thrown at such close range, the ones who threw their javelins soon paid for it as they were late in switching to their spear when the clash happened.


    Astra happened to face one such Podovnian cavalryman.


    The man also hit one of her soldiers with his javelin. The javelin had struck the chest of the unfortunate soldier¡¯s horse and sent it tumbling, which naturally threw the soldier off its back. The man himself seemed fine as he managed to turn his abrupt fall into a forward tumble and had even gotten back on his feet shortly after, but the horse was likely dead and gone.


    Which was just as bad as losing one¡¯s brother for most cavalrymen as they had gotten very close with their steeds.


    Before the Podovnian soldier managed to bring his spear to bear, Astra rushed in from the left side and thrust her own spear towards him. The man¡¯s surprised reflexive reaction had him lean backwards on his saddle in an attempt to avoid her strike, but Astra adjusted her thrust to compensate and her spearhead entered the man¡¯s head from beneath his jaw.


    The jarring impact also almost caused Astra to lose her grip on her spear but she was trained to handle that and pushed hard instead. As a result, the dead Podovnian was pushed right off his saddle and as the spear bent down under his weight, Astra allowed the corpse to slide off before she withdrew her spear and rode off towards her next foe.

 Chapter 373 - Siege of Levain (Part 27)

    ¡°Sometimes, appearances are all that matters.¡± - Saying by Scipius Cornelius Barca, famed general from the Republic of Caroma, circa 45 FP.


    ¡°Looks like they¡¯ve engaged the main army well enough. It¡¯s time for us to do our part, then,¡± noted Reinhardt inside the forest to the east of where the armies clashed. He kept an eye on the battle through the artifact and Hannah¡¯s help, so he was well aware of the battlefield situation. All signs pointed that the plan he and Lars worked out the day before would likely work. ¡°Lars, you can go ahead with the operation.¡±


    The day before, he and Lars had brainstormed various methods on how they could affect the battle that they expected would take place. With only two thousand people or so, the mercenaries were too small in size to directly affect the battle between over a hundred thousand people, unless there were openings they could make use of with their talents. As such, they thought to create such an opening themselves, but to do so would require them to affect the battle itself.


    Since they could not do so directly, Lars suggested that they do it indirectly instead. The Podovniy main camp was left mostly staffed by the injured since the rest of the army was engaged in battle at the moment, which made it an appealing target. However, even if the Free Lances were to strike at the camp in full force, they might not prevail, especially since their enemies would be prepared for such a strike after what they did with the southern fort. The element of surprise was crucial for that victory.


    Rather than commit their forces to an assault on the camp though, Lars suggested that a small part of their forces would keep the guards of the camp occupied while they made it look as if the camp was under attack and on the verge of collapse. Such a sight would hopefully be enough to create panic amongst the enemy forces and create chances for the rest of the company to do their work effectively.


    To that purpose, Lars, his platoon of two hundred, Zyd and Arne and their third strike platoon, as well as both archer platoons ¨C sans Salicia herself ¨C were stationed at the north near the enemy base. Some of the injured mercenaries were also sent there with them, where they would remain in the forest to make a ruckus so that it looked like the mercenaries had sent their main force over there.


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    As he received the command from Reinhardt, Lars commanded the group to march out of the forest towards the southern side of the Podovnian camp. The archer platoons were at the forefront and they immediately went to work as they loosed arrow after arrow towards the guards stationed at the top of the camp¡¯s walkways. A few of the guards fell dead, while the others were forced to keep their heads down as they waited for reinforcements.


    That in turn gave Lars and his forces time to approach the palisades on the south side of the camp. The defenders of the camp were almost certainly briefed on how the southern fort was lost, and likely prepared for such an assault to come their way. To sell the illusion, Lars even had his men carry what looked like siege ladders and other tools to scale the wall, at least from a distance.


    In truth, what they carried were bundles of wet wood that had been soaked in oil as well as kindling, which they rapidly piled onto the base of the southern wall of the camp and ignited. The soaked wood caught on fire almost immediately, but because it was not properly dried, also gave out copious amounts of thick smoke as they burned.


    The resultant inferno looked horrifying from a distance, but it likely wouldn¡¯t do much more than scorch the outside of the camp¡¯s walls before the defenders put it out. The fire was one that was more for show than one meant to burn the whole camp down. What mattered was that from a distance ¨C like from where the Podovnian main army was, for example ¨C it looked as if the entire Podovnian camp was engulfed in flames.


    It went unnoticed for the first few minutes, the Podovnian army themselves far too occupied with the battle they were engulfed in. Fortunately, a northerly wind blew that day, and that helped carry the burning smells and the smoke towards the south where the main battlefield was. The unmistakable scent of smoke and burning things naturally attracted the attention of the people fighting, and more than a few who were not embroiled directly in battle turned to look at the north.


    Only to be greeted by the sight of thick plumes of smoke rising from where their main camp was.


    Such an unexpected sight caused more than a few Podovnian soldiers to panic, which forced their commanders to turn their attention to keeping order, distracting them from the battle. Such a distraction was one that their enemies would be foolish to miss, however, and sure enough, as a result of the temporary distraction several places of the Podovnian frontlines were driven back by their foes.


    The worst off was the Podovnian left flank, where the Levainian troops they faced suddenly surged forward en masse right as a group of light cavalry led by Ze¡¯phane made another harassment pass against their side. While the Podovnians managed to prevent their formation from crumbling apart, they were still fighting tooth and nail against the enemy troops to do so, as the latter had breached into their lines at several places.


    Which meant that they were in no position whatsoever to interfere when a small group of a hundred or so riders suddenly rode out from the forest to their east and made a beeline towards the area where the second squadron of Caroma¡¯s cavalry fought in melee against half of the Podovnian cavalry and charged at full force.

 Chapter 374 - Siege of Levain (Part 28)

    ¡°Just because some things are similar, it is folly to think of them as the same.¡± - - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Soledad de Guzman almost whooped with excitement like a youngster when Reinhardt gave the command to ride out. Her riders had not done much the past few years. They mostly just trained the Levainian cavalry while keeping up their training themselves, other than the brief skirmishes they got to participate in when they were delaying the Podovnian army.


    While it was nice to be paid while doing little to nothing, some part of her missed the excitement of going into battle after a couple years of easy training jobs. More than a few of the younger members of her platoon had the same issue, so they were all quite ecstatic that the captain finally had a role where they get to shine for once instead of just being part of another harassment strike where they stayed afar and safe from retaliation.


    Unlike the commonly seen light cavalry in the former Clangeddin territory, which were mainly harassers and skirmishers whose primary weapons were their javelins, Soledad¡¯s people were trained to fight in melees instead. Part of it was her half-orcish husband¡¯s influence, who had modeled the unit partly like how his orcish parent¡¯s tribe fought while mounted, which also led to the rather unusual composition of the unit.


    Most cavalry units were either entirely light cavalry, or like the knight orders that still roamed the former Clangeddin lands, entirely heavy cavalry, with neither mixing the other type into their formation. In contrast, Soledad¡¯s platoon was roughly three parts heavy cavalry ¨C under her lead ¨C to seven parts light cavalry ¨C under her husband¡¯s lead ¨C that worked together as one.


    They weren¡¯t as focused on skirmishes like typical light cavalry ¨C though they definitely could play such a role well, with many of their riders skilled horse archers, and the rest carrying javelins as well ¨C nor as focused on charges like heavy cavalry usually was. Instead, their platoon worked best with repeated slashing attacks against infantry formations, breaking into a light cavalry formation and forcing them into melee, or harassing heavy cavalry.


    What they lacked in specialization, they covered up with flexibility and skill, and now they had been unleashed upon the enemy at last.


    The hundred or so riders galloped at best speed towards where the nearest battle was, the one between the second squadron of the Caroman cavalry against the eastern half of the remaining Podovnian cavalry. The Caromans had a slight upper hand at the moment, but the fight was a close one, one that would likely last a while if no additional forces intervened.


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    And that was exactly what Soledad and her people were about to do.


    Since the Caromans and the Podovnians were entangled in a chaotic brawl, it was not really feasible to make use of ranged weapons while they closed out of fear for friendly fire. Even so, some of the most skilled archers in their group ¨C Anatoli included ¨C brought their bows out and loosed some arrows anyway. Those few had enough skill and confidence that they could hit their targets without accidentally hurting an ally instead.


    A few Podovnian riders fell off their horses, while a few others had their steeds stumble and fall out from underneath them. It was not many, only a dozen or so during the short window of time when Soledad¡¯s riders were close enough for their archers to shoot accurately and when they would hit the brawl, but it was something nonetheless.


    Where the typical light cavalry in the former Clangeddin territory were armed with spears and shields, however, Soledad¡¯s people mostly wielded polearms from horseback. They carried a shield to weather through arrows during their charge, but mostly kept the shields slung across their back otherwise. It was something not often seen in the human kingdoms, as that style of cavalry was more common amongst the orcs of the north.


    While it had its drawbacks ¨C like the lack of ready protection from ranged fire ¨C it also had its advantages. Soledad¡¯s people wore heavier armor on average to compensate, while their usage of two-handed polearms from horseback meant that they could get a lot more power behind their blows. It might not matter against infantry, as any blow from a rider would likely have enough force behind it to incapacitate them, but in a duel between riders, it was a notable advantage.


    Soledad herself directly blew through a surprised Podovnian rider¡¯s desperate attempt at defense with his spear, her heavy glaive directly snapping the spear¡¯s shaft in twain before it cleaved the man right it half, his head flying off together with his right arm and shoulder as the rest of his dead body rode onwards on his steed.


    Not far behind her, on the right flank of their platoon¡¯s formation, Anatoli just directly shoved aside another enemy rider¡¯s spear with the cleaver-like blade in his left hand as he decapitated the man with the blade in his right hand. As a half-orc he was a good bit stronger than a human, and the heavy blades he wielded made full use of that strength, the blows he dealt with one hand easily as heavy as the ones from her polearm despite her using both hands.


    All around her, the other members of her platoon assaulted the Podovnians in melee and rapidly overpowered their surprised opponents, which in turn freed up some of the Caromans and allowed them to turn around and help their compatriots elsewhere. Just like that, the small advantage quickly grew larger and multiplied as those who they helped in turn went out and helped more of their people to overcome their foes, and before long the battle tilted fully in the favor of the Caromans.


    It was then that the Podovnian commanders saw that their cavalry was greatly disadvantaged and finally committed the remnants of their heavy cavalry ¨C not even four hundred strong ¨C which they had kept close to them as bodyguards into the fray. Soledad¡¯s riders rode out to meet part of the Podovnian heavy cavalry that went their way, while their Caroman allies intercepted more, but some of those still went towards where the first squadron fought the other half of the Podovnian cavalry despite their best efforts.

 Chapter 375 - Siege of Levain (Part 29)

    ¡°Coordination is key to many victories. In general, the side that manages to have their soldiers move better to their command would have a great advantage over their foes. This lesson is one I learned from my youth, and it has never failed me since.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, famed general from the Republic of Caroma, circa 45 FP.


    ¡°We have the signal, gentlemen,¡± said Miriel from where she stood atop a watch tower on the east side of the sixth wall of Levain. The old half-elven lady insisted on keeping a close eye on the defenses, and was always close to the frontlines herself. Oftentimes younger officers would be worried about her as Miriel would sometimes stroll the wall despite the enemy¡¯s arrows raining upon them, but while she was slowed by age, the old woman had centuries of experience and well-honed reflexes.


    She knew which arrows she needed to avoid and which would have never hit her to begin with at a glance. As such, while her junior officers raised shields to cover themselves from the enemy¡¯s arrows, the old lady would just stroll as if the wall¡¯s walkways were her own backyard, occasionally swaying a bit to the side to avoid an arrow that happened to be headed for her. Despite the fact that she walked with the aid of a cane.


    It was quite a morale boost for the militia that saw her confident attitude, to say the least.


    Thanks to Hannah and her platoon¡¯s message delivery, the forces outside were able to coordinate with those inside and even planned things out together. They had prepared for various contingencies, and apparently the situation was right for one of them, at least according to the signal Miriel noticed. Now all she had to do was to follow the plan.


    ¡°Move out, and make some noise while you¡¯re at it, but don¡¯t overdo things. Remember, we want them on guard against us and guarding against a sally, not to get ourselves hurt while doing so,¡± she added, chastising the younger officers in the tower ¨C which was pretty much all of them considering her age ¨C about the plan to follow. ¡°Now go out there and make sure they know we¡¯re out and about to get them!¡±


    A chorus of ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡± answered her call and after a few minutes, the southern and eastern gates of the sixth wall opened wide to unleash a deluge of militiamen. Tens of thousands of militiamen rushed out of the gates in a raucous way, which pretty much ensured that their foes would hear them coming unless they were deaf.


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    That was the intention after all. While the main army outside engaged the Podovnian army in battle, if they were at an advantage, then the militia within the city would create a diversion to keep the Anduilleans engaged with the siege, and thus unable to come to the aid of their allies right when their weight of numbers might have swayed the results of the battle.


    The Levainian militia were poorly trained still, true, but they had numbers on their sides, so their enemy had no choice but to be wary of them. Sure enough, the Anduilleans intensified their arrow fire and aimed for the sallying militia shortly after they made the sortie. For their part, the militia simply raised their shields and weathered the arrow rain calmly.


    From time to time, a large group several thousand in size would make a show of trying to cross over the wall of rubble that separated them from the Anduillean army, only to be ¡°pushed back¡± by the latter¡¯s counter offensive. Such a scene repeated itself regularly, while other militiamen from the walls rained arrows of their own at the Anduilleans, whose archers were occupied with pinning down the sallying group and thus unable to harass those at the walls.


    As a result, even when messengers from the Podovnians managed to reach the Anduillean lines to request aid, the Anduilleans found themselves unable to divert their troops from the siege, as the sallying militia threatened to flood over the pile of rubble that separated them at any moment. That left them caught at an impasse, but ultimately, the Anduilleans chose to look out for themselves first.


    They stayed put and did not send any troops to the raging battle happening in the south.


    Such a reaction was perfectly in line with what Reinhardt, the Caroman Marshals, and Miriel herself had predicted would happen. She had noticed from early in the siege that the Anduilleans were nowhere as enthusiastic as the Podovnians. It was almost as if they were just coming along for the ride, there to share in the profits but not wishing to truly risk themselves.


    It was a very exploitable flaw in an enemy, much less one in an alliance of benefits with another. The coordinated action practically ensured that the Podovnian army in the south had to deal with the battle on their own, as nobody would come to their aid. It was a risky strategy as even on their own, the Podovnians still outnumbered the joint Caroman and Levainian reinforcements, but it was a risk they decided to take.


    Because when it came to pitting generals against each other, Miriel would bet on the two Caroman Marshals any day of the week. The two were practically notorious thanks to the many glorious victories they scored over the last couple of decades, and since Podovniy likely never faced them in battle before due to their geographical location, they might have taken them lightly.


    Which was a fatal mistake the Marshals would surely pounce at like a leopard preying on an innocent fawn.


    Miriel knew that she wouldn¡¯t be a direct part of any glorious victory to be had, but she was fine with that. She would just keep the city she lived in for most of her life safe from harm as she always did for centuries, and allow those fighting for it to do so unhindered. Her people will keep the Anduilleans occupied by the city itself, while the others strive to win the war.

 Chapter 376 - Siege of Levain (Part 30)

    ¡°Sometimes, a single person at the right place at the right time could do more than ten thousand soldiers ever could.¡± - Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Reinhardt actually didn¡¯t have many troops with him at the moment.


    Out of his company¡¯s two thousand or so men, over a third were at the north, near the Podovnian camp, either assaulting it with Lars or inside the forest nearby giving the illusion that the small force was larger than they actually were, for the injured. Other than that, Gr¨¹nhildr and her second strike platoon were still at Aldenstadt, helping the city weather the siege, while Soledad¡¯s cavalry platoon were already engaged with the enemy cavalry.


    All that left Reinhardt with only a little over a thousand men under the various platoons with him.


    When he felt that the time was right, he finally gave the command to charge out. The main force of the Podovnian army was distracted by the ¡°fire¡± at their camp and paid for it as the Caroman and Levainian infantry they faced broke into their formation in several places. Their flanks were occupied by the harassment from cavalry, while their own cavalry were entangled in a chaotic melee and wouldn¡¯t be able to go to their aid anytime soon.


    Soledad¡¯s assault on the right flank of the cavalry brawl also opened up a path since her actions allowed the Caroman cavalry to push back their enemies. That path was one Reinhardt would take with the rest of his company, and led straight towards the rear of the Podovniy formation. With a loud roar, the mercenaries of the Free Lances company rushed out from the forest they hid in, and charged towards the enemy lines.


    Mischka¡¯s first strike platoon led the charge from the very front, the platoon forming the point of the wedge formation. They were flanked on their sides by Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons, while Elfriede¡¯s and Reinhardt¡¯s platoons followed close behind them, in the center of the formation. The rear was held by Alvaro and his Warforged, who kept pace with the rest even while they secured the back of the formation.


    It was a gesture of trust given to him as he and his people would be responsible for securing the backline even while the mercenaries fought their way through the enemy formation. The rear guard was a risky position that demanded much from the people assigned the task.


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    The mercenaries rushed past the fighting cavalry and barreled straight towards the back of the Podovnian lines, where their archers were positioned. Several of said archers saw them coming while they were still a distance away and warned their compatriots, and some of the archers turned their bows towards the approaching mercenaries only to witness their arrows shatter on the wall of shields that rushed towards them.


    While those archers switched to melee weapons before the mercenaries crashed into their formation, it did them little good in the end.


    Mischka¡¯s troops were dominated by dwarves, orcs, therians, and hybrids, most of which were big even for the standards of their respective races. They specialized in brute force, wore armor so thick and heavy it would have rendered an average human barely able to move in it, and carried weapons and shields that would be beyond a human¡¯s ability to use effectively.


    They had forcefully tossed cavalrymen aside in the past, horse and all. A group of archers stood no chance whatsoever in stopping their charge and were simply either shoved aside or directly trampled beneath their boots.


    Erycea and Alycea ¨C who similarly had positioned their strongest shieldbearers at the front ¨C had it easier as they simply followed behind and enlarged the gap Mischka¡¯s platoon already pried open. Together, the three platoons pushed as hard and as fast as they could through the enemy archers as their main target would be deeper within the enemy formation.


    Reinhardt aimed for a decapitating strike, even if it would be a risky endeavor for his company. It was the most effective way he could use his troops and impact the battle in a major way.


    Since the Podovnian leaders were situated in the safest place, in the very center of their formation, his mercenaries had to go through many layers of soldiers to get there. They relied on Mischka¡¯s platoon¡¯s brute force to push their way in, while a couple of Mischka¡¯s men raised Salicia up from time to time, at which point the one-eyed archer would snipe off a commander that was directing his or her men to get in their way.


    The mercenaries pushed deep into the enemy formation before Mischka¡¯s platoon split to the sides and disgorged their best warriors to continue the push forward together with Elfriede¡¯s and Reinhardt¡¯s platoons. Meanwhile the rest of the platoon spread to the sides and assisted Erycea and Alycea to hold the flanks and prevented the enemy from interfering with those who continued to charge forward.


    Some of the Podovnian soldiers managed to regain their bearings and turned to strike at the mercenaries¡¯ rear, but there they found themselves stymied against the disciplined lines of the Warforged that acted as the rear guard. Alvaro directed his men to hold the line and thus prevent the Podovnians from disrupting the assault team¡¯s efforts, despite being greatly outnumbered.


    The situation was one that placed both sides at risk. The Podovnians had the mercenaries encircled within their formation, and given time, would likely be able to eradicate them as the weight of their superior numbers took their toll. However, whether they would even have that much time was a question that hung in the air, as while the mercenaries placed themselves in a dangerous spot, they did so in order to get a chance at an equally vital target.


    Even while the mercenaries fought their way towards their direction, the Podovnian Marquis and his generals found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, as a Caroman strike force had similarly pushed towards the from the front, conveniently closing off the directions the mercenary assault from their rear did not cover.

 Chapter 377 - Siege of Levain (Part 31)

    ¡°Sometimes, what people wanted was not even things like riches and glory. Sometimes people just wanted acceptance, to be welcomed as who they are, and to find a place that they could truly call their home in this wide world.¡± - Saying attributed to Dahlia of Freehold, scholar and philosopher, circa 68 FP.


    ¡°First rank, retreat, second rank, forward!¡± Alvaro yelled over the din of the battlefield. At the moment he was acting as the commander of his platoon, safely absconded in the center of their formation while his men held the line against the far more numerous Podovnian soldiers they faced. It was not a situation that required his martial skills as of yet, and his people needed a commander more than a warrior at the moment.


    Under his command, the frontmost line of Warforged disengaged from their foes with a near-synchronized push of their shields, and swiftly pulled back as those behind them took up the positions they vacated. Alvaro had split his forces into three groups for this battle, so that one group would be fighting, a second would be on standby and prepared to replace them when needed, while a third rested at the same time.


    His own platoon had nearly doubled in size compared to when they had first joined the Free Lances years ago in Posuin. During the last years of the company¡¯s stay in the region, some other former Warforged who for some reason or other did not wish to serve Algenverr had found the mercenary company to be a refuge, partly thanks to Alvaro¡¯s platoon¡¯s presence there. As a result, they had gained another hundred or so former Warforged who signed in as support staff when they left Posuin.


    Over the years since, some of those former Warforged chose to take up arms once more and to make a living with their training. Reinhardt naturally folded in such new recruits into Alvaro¡¯s platoon, where they quickly adjusted to the slight alterations in tactics and equipment used. That trickle of new personnel was what allowed the platoon to grow larger over the years.


    Fortunately, even after a year or more of working as support staff, the former Warforged that later joined the platoon had not lost their touch. Since they had a long history of training in the same method of fighting, integration was fast and seamless for the most part. Given the growth of the mercenary company, it allowed the platoon to remain relevant, something they would have more difficulty in doing had they stayed at their original size.


    The difference in quality was obvious.


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    Where the Podovnian soldiers worked together in rather rudimentary ways and at times even made things harder for another of their own due to poor coordination, the Warforged moved and fought almost as if they were all part of a single entity. It was a rather intimidating and unnerving sight for those who had to fight against them.


    The way the former slave-soldiers fought and coordinated their movements with one another also greatly troubled the Podovnians. There, in a pitched battle against other human soldiers, the Warforged were in their element. They were doing what they had trained to do all their lives. Meanwhile, most of their opponents were not professional soldiers. They might train every once in a while during peacetime, but most of the time they did other things for a living.


    As the battle was joined, the Warforged regularly used their shields to help cover the ally to their left, while their spear strikes often coordinated with another¡¯s to take down an enemy soldier together. Most of the time, the Warforged even aimed to wound their enemies rather than go for the kill. They allowed the wounded soldiers to be retrieved by their comrades, on purpose.


    After all, a dead enemy would just be another corpse to be stepped on by friend or foe alike. On the other hand, an injured but living enemy was a constant drain on the enemy¡¯s resources. One injured soldier often needed one to two others to carry them away from the battlefield, and from there they would require the aid of medics and healers, all while contributing nothing to the war effort.


    While Reinhardt planned for this battle to be the decisive one, there was no reason not to plan a bit for the long term when it was convenient for them to do so anyway.


    The Warforged stood tall and strong against the waves of Podovnian soldiers that broke on their spears and shields like a tide before a reef. They themselves kept retreating in order to keep up with the rest of the mercenaries, who were still pushing forward, and did so without a hitch. Alvaro looked at the men and women under his command with obvious pride.


    There wasn¡¯t even any need for the blademasters like himself, Njeri, or the three elders ¨C they gained another from the group that joined later ¨C to charge into the enemy lines in order to relieve pressure on their frontlines. Their discipline and coordination was clearly more than enough to carry the day for them, and had he possessed a larger unit, Alvaro felt that his people might have been able to just directly crush through these Podovnians they were fighting.


    He shook his head to clear that wistful thought. His platoon were what he had, and so he would do the task his commander had entrusted to him even if it cost him his life. The Free Lances had long since become a true home for those former Warforged who chose to join them, a place where they were simply accepted for who they were, without any prejudice or discrimination.


    The mercenaries were an often brash and straightforward group of people. What mattered to them was whether the people they would be fighting alongside could be entrusted with their side or not, and Alvaro¡¯s people had proven themselves trustworthy over the years. As such, the mercenaries simply welcomed the former slaves into the fold as one of their own, without a care for what they used to be.


    It was a home that Alvaro would give his life for, without a second thought.

 Chapter 378 - Siege of Levain (Part 32)

    ¡°When you¡¯re in a fight, put away all distractions and focus on the fight itself, lest you ended up as just another corpse to be added to the pile by the time it was all over.¡± - Zibana Afen Lisuto, champion of the Knallzog Colosseum circa 42-49 FP.


    Erycea ducked under a spear that was thrust towards her throat and returned the favor towards her attacker with a strike from her right hand truncheon. While the enemy soldier was too far away for her strike to land on his body, his hand was close enough for her to reach, and the solid metal truncheon struck the back of the man¡¯s hand which held his spear, shattering most of the bones in the palm of his hand.


    It was no fatal injury, but she doubted the man would trouble her anymore for this battle, at the very least.


    While the parts of the formation near the front were held by Mischka¡¯s shieldbearers, there were not enough of them to hold the entire flank, so Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons took up the slack, one platoon on each side. Erycea had also arranged for Alycea¡¯s platoon, whose members were younger and less experienced, to take the right flank, where there were less enemies to deal with, while her own handled the left side.


    They were spread rather thin in order to cover the center of the formation properly, and fighting while being on the move at the same time was easier said than done. They could not afford to be entangled with an enemy and stop moving, and the platoon as a whole kept shuffling to the side as they fought to keep up with the formation¡¯s advance.


    That meant that each person ended up fighting against the enemy that the person next to them fought just moments ago each time they moved, while the person on their other side would deal with the one they fought previously, and so on. It was difficult enough to maintain the formation¡¯s cohesion while on the move and fighting like that, and it was testament to the mercenaries¡¯ training and skill that they maintained good cohesion throughout.


    On the other hand the Podovnians they fought were clearly unused to fighting against enemies that kept moving even while fighting against them. More than once, Erycea exploited an opening an enemy had when she took over from Valeria and dispatched them with a quick blow. It also helped that the average Podovnian soldier did not have the sort of budget that would allow them to get the really good weapons.


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    Erycea¡¯s truncheons, each of which weighed as much as two normal greatswords, were made by a master blacksmith out of high purity Adamant Steel, and were pretty much indestructible. The force she could deliver with her blows was not something poorly made weapons could withstand. As a result, she left behind many broken spears and swords in her wake.


    A typical mistake less skilled blacksmiths often made when working on swords was to make them too hard ¨C and thus brittle ¨C after all. It made sense to err on the side of hardness rather than softness, to be fair, but that just meant that poorly crafted swords would likely shatter on collision with a forceful swing of Erycea¡¯s truncheons.


    From time to time, she risked a glance towards the other flank, where Alycea¡¯s platoon held the line, but was pleased to see that her younger sister¡¯s platoon held their own just fine. It was the first battle of this scale that Alycea participated in, and as a big sister, Ery couldn¡¯t help but worry about her little sister. Fortunately they mostly had to deal with weaker enemies for the most part.


    When they first breached the enemy formation all they had to deal with were archers who had switched to melee weapons. Their relative lack of training with those weapons showed and Erycea¡¯s people shoved them aside with contemptuous ease. Of course, that state of affairs only lasted for a short while as once the formation broke through the archers and entered the enemy¡¯s main formation they had to deal with the actual trained line troops.


    Those posed more of a challenge, but still well within the capabilities of the trained mercenaries. They had the initiative and made full use of it in order to keep their enemies off-balance and reacting to them. As such, the mercenaries leveraged their greater individual skill to their advantage and kept their enemies on the backfoot as they kept pushing towards their target.


    Erycea knew that she had an easier job at the sides where all she had to do was to hold the enemy back. Her parents, together with Mischka, reserved the most difficult task for themselves. They led the charge into the enemy formation, pushing their way forward as they carved a path for the rest of the mercenaries to follow.


    So far they had done so without issue, though Ery couldn¡¯t help but worry a little bit as she knew that they would likely run into the enemy¡¯s elites once they got close to their target, namely the Podovnian Marquis and his generals. The mercenaries simply could not afford to be delayed for long, much less stopped in the middle of the enemy formation, as the numbers of their enemies would drown them before too long if that happened.


    Of course, they would give one hell of a fight and take many of their foes down with them if it comes to that, but the fact remained. The assault was a one-way trip where their only chance of survival was to grab or kill the enemy commanders and force an end to the hostilities. Erycea shuddered at the thought of shouldering such a heavy responsibility with the life of over half the company on the line, but fortunately, that was a burden she was exempted from.


    It was her parents who would carry that burden on their shoulders as they pushed towards their target, and fortunately, it seemed that their allies from Caroma had also reacted in such a way as to corral their target in one location and blocked their escape route, given the command her father gave to slightly alter their direction of advance.


    She could only wish for everything to align properly and for the outcome to favor the company, all while fighting her best fight.

 Chapter 379 - Siege of Levain (Part 33)

    ¡°The higher the value something is, the less there will be in a war-torn land. People will scramble in order to capture or eliminate these high-value things, be they objects or people, and attrition would ensure that they become rare over time.¡± - Saying attributed to Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    If there was one thing Reinhardt was glad about the situation he faced at the moment, it was that the Free Lances were employed there only after a good two decades of messy civil war in the region.


    The continuous conflicts meant that all the present nations that stood in the former Clangeddin Empire¡¯s territory were softened up and had lost a lot of their strongest assets from the Empire¡¯s glory days. Veteran soldiers were a relative rarity, and most of those that did exist would have five to ten years of experience in general, with those from the Imperial days being rare.


    Similarly, elites were in short supply because in the early days of the civil war, when the fighting was at its most furious, every side lost many of their elites and while they trained more in the years since, the quality of those elite troops still suffered in general. This was most prominent when it came to war mages, which were already relatively rare even prior to the civil war.


    As it was, war mages were quickly marked as a high-value asset by whichever forces had some at the time, which naturally provoked their enemies to do their damndest to kill off said mages to deny their use. As a result, the only nation that still had cadres of war mages out of the many offshoot nations was Sevras-Galastine, the two halves of which maintained an alliance early on even prior to their merging and thus faced fewer difficult battles over the years.


    For the rest, at most they managed to save up a few such mages who they kept as part of their personal retinue as bodyguards. There were simply too few surviving war mages to be organized into the usual cadres otherwise. Levain had none, while Caroma had a few but they remained in the Republic as they were only committed on the defense. Out of the foes the Free Lances faced in the region so far, only the noble from the Southern region had a small retinue, but those died with him.


    Fortune was in their favor though, as it turned out that the Marquis of Podovniy had few such mages as well. While the man did keep an elite unit as bodyguards around his position, Reinhardt¡¯s mercenaries still managed to break through those elites without too much difficulty. It would have been a different story if they were supported by a mage cadre, but the Marquis clearly didn¡¯t have one.


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    The Podovnian Elites were good soldiers, and given Podovniy¡¯s proximity with Boroes to the east, they were better equipped and prepared for fighting against therians than most. That said, however, even in Boroes it was rare for many therians to reach Mischka¡¯s size and bulk. Mischka¡¯s family were descendants of immigrants from Elmaiya to the south that settled in Knallzog, not from Boroes, so the Podovnians were not used to her kind in particular.


    She was larger, more powerful, and wore heavier armor than what they were prepared to face and that threw them off. Their spears ¨C ones with long, narrow points meant to pierce through tough hide, deep into a large creature¡¯s body and hit internal organs ¨C bent when faced with the armor Mischka wore, while her blade swept people aside and left those that were not killed on the spot dying.


    It was partly due to a difference in expectations.


    While Boroes styled itself a nation, in reality it was more of an alliance of multiple tribes, which often did not get along with each other. Due to the poor conditions of the region, warriors from there were rarely able to afford good quality weapons and armor, and thus had a greater reliance on their individual prowess and physicality.


    Mischka and her people, on the other hand, were a trained, disciplined unit with strong cohesion that was equipped with some of the best armor around made by a master blacksmith, fitted perfectly to their physique. It was a far cry to even draw a comparison between her platoon and the typical band of Boroesian raiders the Podovnians often had to deal with.


    As Mischka¡¯s handful of troops ¨C the majority of her troops were helping shore up the sides, after all ¨C pushed into the enemy elites, Reinhardt also made use of the last surprise he kept in store. He led the charge himself from Mischka¡¯s left, while on the right, Nicole¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s platoons, which had been hidden in the center of their formation until then, similarly rushed forward and helped keep the way clear.


    Even as they pushed ahead, Elfriede and her people slipped behind Mischka¡¯s troops and followed their wake. They would be responsible for the final stretch and taking down the targets, which was why they had saved up their energy and not fought much along the way. As Mischka and her troops were physically much larger, they were also hidden from sight behind them, at least from the front.


    Theirs was the most dangerous task and the heaviest responsibility, as they would have to deal with whatever personal guards ¨C likely the best of the bunch ¨C the Marquis of Podovniy kept close to him and did so all on their own, with minimal support. As always, they were also on a time limit as well, as if they took too long then their target would likely either get away or get themselves some help.


    Not to mention that the rest of the unit would likely falter under the continued pressure of the far more numerous enemies all around them, but at least Elfriede and her unit was used to being placed in such a situation. From there it was all a matter of skill and luck that would decide who walked away triumphant.

 Chapter 380 - Siege of Levain (Part 34)

    ¡°One thing every ruler who lacks knowledge in warfare needs to learn first and foremost is to not question their general¡¯s decision in the midst of a battle.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire, after the Victory at Lake Sabaya.


    They were moving too slowly.


    Elfriede might not be able to see where the company was going towards, but due to her blindness, she had developed a keen sense of direction from an early age. Even if she had no objects in her surroundings to use as a mark for comparison while sensing things through her wind-sense, she would have not failed to notice a change of direction regardless.


    And she noticed that Reinhardt had been altering their direction more and more after they struck the enemy¡¯s elite troops. There were several explanations as to why he did that, but given their current mission, the most likely one was also the most troublesome one.


    Namely that their target was likely trying to get away and Reinhardt was trying to cut off his escape path before he could do so.


    Even Reinhardt¡¯s deployment of Nicole¡¯s and Fatimah¡¯s units ¨C a surprise they kept until the last moment ¨C failed to allow them to make fast enough progress to reach their target in time, it seemed, so Elfriede made a quick decision and took matters into her own hands instead.


    ¡°Ylis, take half the boys and help Nicole out, you know what to do,¡± said Elfriede to Ylisera, who was practically acting as her second in command of the platoon these days. The elven former prostitute nodded and quickly left to round up half the platoon at her order. ¡°Nina, Olyvee, Katja, you three take the other half to the left. We¡¯re not getting to our target fast enough and we need to change that.¡±


    ¡°What about after we get there, though?¡± asked Karenina back with some obvious concern in her voice. If they all went out to support the flank, that would leave Elfriede alone behind Mischka¡¯s vanguard. She was naturally worried that Elfriede might choose to take on their target all on her own. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to take on the target and his guards all alone?¡±


    Sure enough, her worry was warranted.


    ¡°If I have to,¡± replied Elfriede nonchalantly. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that some of you would fight your way over as well by then, or at least distract some of the guards, but worst case, I¡¯ll go out there and get him or die trying. If we don¡¯t get our target soon we¡¯re all going to be fucked anyway, so it¡¯s either we take our chances or resign ourselves for worse.¡±


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    ¡°All right, I guess we don¡¯t have a choice in this situation,¡± noted Karenina. ¡°I¡¯ll see you there, Friede. Don¡¯t you dare go dying on me, you hear?¡±


    ¡°Same to you, Nina, same to you.¡±


    With Elfriede¡¯s hundred troops split into two groups of fifty helping the push further, their pace notably accelerated. While Mischka¡¯s troops were unparalleled when it came to breaking through a formation, their effectiveness was rather hampered in a melee like this because they would need to strike with care so as to avoid accidentally hitting their own allies.


    Elfriede¡¯s troops on the other hand were almost entirely composed of the worst of the people that joined the mercenary company. The killers and the maniacs, those who derived enjoyment from the act of killing and often had little care for their own well-being. She kept them reined partly by being little different to them herself, and partly because she made it very clear that she could and would skin them alive if they dared to mess up under her command.


    Normally, that sort of people would be of little value in a fight between organized armies. Used at the right place at the right time, however, they more than proved their worth. The killers under Elfriede¡¯s command were skilled, and their recklessness often proved to be the final straw that broke the back of their opponents¡¯ proverbial camel. As with the current situation.


    The Podovnian elites who held their own well against the rest of the Free Lances were caught by surprise by the sudden deluge of madmen who went at them with reckless abandon. In one case one of Elfriede¡¯s men was stabbed through by two spears by just dragged himself forward towards the soldiers holding those spears and tore their throat out, before he jumped ¨C spears still in his gut ¨C at the shocked soldiers behind his victims and madly tore at them until he died.


    If trained soldiers were met with such rampaging madmen and were informed to expect them, they would usually win handily against them, as coordination trumped personal prowess in most cases. The Podovnian soldiers were already engaged in a messy melee with the rest of the Free Lances, however, and the attack came unexpectedly, as Elfriede¡¯s people slipped out between their allies like ghosts.


    While the Podovnians might have been able to regain their cohesion after a while, the Free Lances gave them no chance to do so and pushed them harder. Soon Mischka¡¯s vanguard pushed further away and turned the mercenary formation almost into a wedge, as she rushed to close the distance to their target, the Marquis of Podovniy.


    Elfriede was the one who noted the shift in the ambient mana. She was extremely sensitive to such changes since her method of sensing her surroundings involved imbuing the wind around her with her own mana, so the shift, which invisible and unnoticeable to most people or even mages, were as glaring as a torch in the middle of the night to her senses.


    ¡°Magic!¡± she shouted in warning just as spikes of stone formed from the earth just ahead of Mischka and jutted out towards her rapidly. Mischka was far too large to avoid them, and even if she could, she wouldn¡¯t as that would mean subjecting those behind her to the threat instead. Her decision proved fruitful as the spikes shattered against her heavy armor, none of them capable of defeating the protection she wore, but they still killed her forward momentum dead for the moment.


    Invisible blades of wind followed closely behind the stone spikes and landed on her large form. Most of them broke harmlessly against her armor, but a few lacerated her flesh and left bleeding wounds behind.

 Chapter 381 - Siege of Levain (Part 35)

    ¡°The essence of war is to do the unexpected. Even doing expected things at unexpected times or in unexpected ways often suffice to turn the tides of a battle.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Coming through,¡± said Elfriede as she leapt towards Mischka¡¯s broad back and climbed up towards the therian matron¡¯s shoulder. Fortunately, due to her continued charge Mischka¡¯s posture was leaning forward, which made it easier for Elfriede to climb on her back. She had also paid close attention to the wounds Mischka took while she climbed, as she could feel them despite being on the wrong side of the woman.


    The wounds were bleeding, but shallow. They were pretty much just flesh wounds on Mischka, but Elfriede expected that the wind blades that caused them would likely cut far deeper wounds on a lightly armored human, as they lacked Mischka¡¯s thick fur and tough skin. Even so, Elfriede¡¯s focus at the moment shifted towards the distant end of her sense range, where she noticed that some of the enemy soldiers had gotten out of the way, probably to allow the mages a clear line of fire.


    ¡°How far?¡± asked Elfriede the moment her head reached the same height as Mischka¡¯s.


    ¡°About a hundred paces, dead ahead,¡± grunted the therian matron with some annoyance and irritation in her voice. While the magical strikes did not injure her in any noteworthy way, it still annoyed her that a mage managed to stop her dead on her tracks during a charge like that. Already Mischka was pushing against the remnants of the stone spikes that aimed towards her and shattered them against her torso, pitting her armored mass against the stone¡¯s integrity.


    ¡°Another wave incoming,¡± warned Elfriede before she leapt off Mischka¡¯s shoulder. Elfriede¡¯s wind-sense was very sensitive to movements of mana, so she knew where the second wave of spell was going to emerge from. In fact, she could tell that a few of the stone spikes were aimed towards her, but pretended she wasn¡¯t aware of that.


    Right at the moment the stone spikes that were aimed towards her sprouted out of the ground, she pushed herself towards them using her own wind magic, which messed up the mage¡¯s timing, if only by a fraction of a second. It was enough time for Elfriede to step on the side of the emerging spike and kick off from the spike like it was a foothold, however, propelling her closer towards the mage in question.


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    The other mage likely noticed her approach, as Elfriede sensed the stirring wind and the invisible blades headed for her the instant they entered her sense¡¯s range. The mage aimed a bit high, probably wary of hitting his own allies, and Elfriede played along as she landed with one foot on the shoulder of a surprised Podovnian soldier and her other foot stepping atop the helmet of the man next to him.


    Then she kicked off her surprised footholds before they or their nearby allies could react, hard enough to shove one man to the ground and make the other stumble to the side.


    Elfriede weaved between the invisible wind blades in mid-air, likely surprising the mage who was used to opponents who couldn¡¯t detect them. A couple of the wind blades that she could not avoid, she instead struck with her own blades. The adamant steel part of her blades were enchanted with anti-magic enchantment by Hogarth, and they reacted upon contact with the spell.


    Anti-magic enchantments mostly function by disrupting the hold that magic had on its medium, so it would do little against something like the stone spikes ¨C which were solid, physical objects that would keep as is even without magic ¨C but was far more effective against things made out of fire or wind and the like. Such objects were literally held together by magic, so the anti-magic simply unraveled them, reducing the flesh-lacerating wind blade from an invisible threat to a comfortable, harmless breeze upon contact.


    As she rushed over the heads and shoulders of the enemy soldiers, a few spears were thrust towards her. Elfriede avoided the ones she could, parried away the ones she couldn¡¯t and even used the keen edge of her mithril-edged blades to slice a couple spearheads off and then turned the freshly cut surface into an impromptu foothold as she charged ahead.


    From the chaos she noticed behind her, at the edge of her sense¡¯s range, she could tell that the others were chasing after her closely, so the enemy soldiers likely had other issues to worry about as well. The two enemy mages on the other hand, were fully focused on her, given the ever-increasing amount of stone spikes and wind blades she had to deal with.


    She ducked under a stone spike even as another missed her face by the barest margin and left bloody scratches on her cheek, the blades in her hands unraveling three wind blades that were directed straight at her. Despite the danger, one good thing about the situation was that the errant spikes and wind blades that missed her often landed on Podovnian soldiers, while only few reached her fellow mercenaries.


    It felt like a long moment by was likely only a minute or two before she finally detected the mages that had been hurling projectiles wildly at her. They were on horseback, twenty paces ahead of her and slightly to the side, and seemed to be attempting to head towards her left ¨C probably together with their liege lord who was her primary target ¨C while she could hear shouting from behind them.


    Encouraged by the vicinity of her enemies, Elfriede rushed over the final stretch between them faster than before. She took a couple light injuries from the process, either from magical projectiles she avoided too closely or from the spears of the enemy soldiers, but reached them before they could escape. By that point she confirmed through her sense that there was a small group of mounted soldiers behind the mages, as well as two men who had well-made armor with fancy decorations that practically screamed their importance.


    The hunt was on.

 Chapter 382 - Siege of Levain (Part 36)

    ¡°Numbers might be useful, but it¡¯s pointless when it¡¯s a lion set loose in the midst of a pack of sheep.¡± - Saying commonly attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Elfriede¡¯s wind-sense generally could detect things as far away as twenty-five to thirty paces from her, if she did not care much for details. In combat situations, however, she habitually kept it to a distance of twenty paces in order to perceive things in greater detail instead. It was responsible for how she often reacted to her opponents¡¯ moves even as they were just starting the motion, as she sensed their movements in great detail as if she was directly touching them.


    It was the same with magic, as while her senses were based on wind and they weren¡¯t particularly good at detecting the passage of magical things that moved rapidly, the wind in question was infused with her mana, and that sort of widely diffused mana acted as a natural detector to any other mana-rich objects in its range. It was how Elfriede often noticed magic spells going off before they became noticeable otherwise.


    Naturally, she had her drawbacks, like the limited range of her sense. A Light affinity mage who struck from far away could likely get her before she could react as light traveled far too fast for her to do much about, for example. Such mages were fortunately rare, though, and most other affinities usually had some sort of telltale sign that allowed her to notice and react to them before they even entered her sensing range.


    It seemed that there were only two combat mages amongst the bodyguards of the Marquis, one Wind affinity and one Earth affinity mage. Both seemed skilled, judged from the speed with which they manipulated mana, but neither was that powerful. A truly powerful war mage could annihilate hundreds to even thousands of people at one go.


    Of course, most mages were also just as fragile as any regular person, so any such mage present were always the primary target for murder and assassination in any battle.


    The rest of the bodyguards were pretty much as Elfriede expected, fit, strong men and women mounted on their horses with well-crafted weapons and armor led by a middle-aged man she wasn¡¯t sure was a general or just head of the guards. Some of those bodyguards turned towards her, but it was primarily the two mages who were actively trying to deal with her.


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    They were on horseback, but with the tight squeeze of people all around them, that wasn¡¯t much of an advantage. The Free Lances¡¯ charge had pushed the Podovnian soldiers one way, while the Caromans did the same in the other way, which made for a congestion around where the Marquis was. It was a boon since it prevented him from escaping easily.


    Elfriede was deep in the enemy lines, practically on her own ¨C even if a good chunk of the enemies around her were distracted by the mercenaries bearing down on them from the front ¨C with enemies who were now aware of her presence. There were only two choices in such a situation, namely to fight or to die, and she was never a quitter.


    With another kick of her legs she rushed towards the nearest of the mages, the Earth affinity one, who by now had three of the guards by his side as well. The enemy soldiers with the misfortune of being between her and her target met swift ends by her blades, the cramped quarters and absurdly close range more beneficial to her with her twin blades than to them with their long spears.


    She slipped between and weaved amongst the enemy soldiers, aware of the position of every single one of the people around her at a distance of up to twenty paces thanks to her magical wind-sense. Many only began to react when she suddenly appeared before them, and they often died before they could even finish reacting to her presence.


    Her twin blades, mithril edges keen and shining, tore through her enemies¡¯ flesh and bone with equal ease, and even the chainmail a few of the soldiers wore parted before the blades as if they were made of wet clay. All too often, by the time blood spilled out from the cuts in their flesh, Elfriede had moved past the soldier and went for her next victim.


    It took her seconds to work her way towards the mage she aimed for, avoiding a few more magical projectiles that hit more of the enemy¡¯s own soldiers than giving her any sort of real threat along the way. The moment she got close enough to the mage on horseback, she reached out and swung the blade on her left hand in a narrow arc.


    Elfriede wasn¡¯t aiming for the mage himself, which rendered the stone plates the man conjured to act as a shield before him not only useless, but even detrimental as they blocked his vision of her for that brief moment. Instead, her target was the left foreleg of the mage¡¯s horse, and her blade sheared right through the poor animal¡¯s knee joint without even the slightest hitch.


    The horse whinnied and collapsed on the spot, throwing the surprised mage on its back in Elfriede¡¯s direction. His concentration clearly wavered at that moment as one of the stone plates he conjured just fell down while another flew towards the back instead of staying where they were relative to his position in order to shield him.


    Not like it mattered that much before a weapon with keen mithril-edged blades, as Elfriede swung her other blade and sliced directly through four of the stone plates as well as the mage¡¯s throat in the same movement.


    It took her some effort to slice through the stone plates, but with the right edge alignment and force, her blade slid through their structure as if it was merely dealing with loose sand. That left her the other mage and the now alerted guards to deal with for her immediate problems.

 Side Story 72 - For the Lord

    ¡°Some people would die for the sake of their liege lords. Whether those people are stupidly loyal or just stupid, that¡¯s sometimes hard to tell.¡± - Arracin Naeva, Elmaiyan mercenary, circa 101 FP.


    ¡°Viktor! For Deities¡¯ sake, please! Leave first!¡± Simeon Durant yelled to his oldest friend and liege lord as he watched the situation deteriorate around him.


    The plan he had worked out with the other generals and officers of Podovniy the day before, which the Marquis also approved of, had gone to shambles. At first things went according to expectations, with the two sides fighting relatively evenly. He had also expected the enemy cavalry raid, and in fact had waited for it to happen.


    Their enemies made it obvious early on that they were superior in terms of cavalry, so Simeon chose to make use of his remaining cavalry to delay the enemy¡¯s and minimize their impact on the battle, while relying on his infantry force to overwhelm the enemy¡¯s main force in the meantime. That part had mostly gone as planned, other than the enemy being tougher than expected.


    What they failed to account for was the fire raging where their camp was situated.


    It was not like they expected the camp to be left unbothered during the day¡¯s fighting. They were well aware that the enemy¡¯s mercenary force was highly skilled and fond of such sneak attacks, which was why those left to defend their base camp were given strict orders to defend only and not to be lured out by enemy provocations.


    Instead, what they failed to expect was for the camp to be set aflame in such a way that was visible from the main battlefield itself, despite the distances involved. The flames distracted the Podovnian soldiers and led to panic in several parts of their formation, resulting in lowered cohesion which allowed for their enemies to break through their frontline and breach their formation.


    And then the accursed mercenaries showed themselves as they struck the formation from behind and made a beeline for where Simeon and the Marquis were.


    It was not obvious at first, but Simeon noticed that the Caroman main thrust and the mercenaries¡¯ surprise attack were both angled so as to isolate the Marquis. By the time he noticed, however, there was quite a congestion of soldiers around them due to the enemy thrusts, and even if they ordered the soldiers to make way, it was slow progress.


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    Which was naturally when the enemy mercenaries fielded units they kept in reserve and redoubled their push, cutting their way far too rapidly for Simeon¡¯s liking into the Marquis¡¯ personal guard unit. It was worrisome that the elite unit failed to hold the mercenaries back and that was a concern that Simon would address with a vengeance if he got out of this mess alive, but for the time being he had bigger worries to deal with.


    The mercenaries got to a hundred paces away before the two mages employed by the Marquis took action and stopped the massive bear-therian that led the charge in their tracks, even if only momentarily. The smile did not get to form on his lips before it turned into a frown once more as one of the mercenaries leapt off the shoulder of the large therian and literally ran on the heads and shoulders of the Podovnian soldiers between her and the Marquis¡¯ group, however.


    Somehow, the mercenary woman avoided everything thrown her way, be it spikes of stone, invisible blades of wind, or even the spears of the soldiers she stepped on. It was as if she had eyes behind her back, as even attacks from behind failed to leave any noteworthy mark on her as she rushed towards their group.


    Even worse, the rest of the mercenaries seemed emboldened by the woman¡¯s suicidal charge and pushed harder as they chased after her, rapidly closing the distance towards the Marquis. That was when Simeon yelled at his old friend to leave first, as clearly things were going south as it was.


    It took a moment of wrangling ¨C and yelling ¨C before the Marquis finally acquiesced and turned his horse around. They had been delayed long enough by then that their original intention to skirt around the Caroman thrust was a failure, so the only option left was for the Marquis to turn around and attempt to skirt around the mercenary thrust instead.


    The moment Simeon turned back towards the battle, however, he witnessed how two of the Marquis¡¯ personal elite guards were cut down by the mercenary woman with contemptible ease, the woman somehow walking on their horses¡¯ back without losing her balance even as she cut them down. The earth mage was already dead with his head only barely connected to the rest of his body, while the wind mage was panicking and seemed to have sent another barrage of wind blades at the mercenary woman.


    That barrage proved to be of little use as the woman calmly beheaded a third guard while contorting her body around the invisible blades ¨C or at least that was what Simeon guessed as he noticed how slight cuts formed on the woman¡¯s gambeson ¨C and slashing through the air with her weapons. Given the flustered look on the mage¡¯s face, there was probably something in those oddly-shaped blades that interfered with magic as well.


    Simeon was just about to order the half of the personal guards that stayed with him as a rear guard to help the mage when the woman suddenly lunged and skewered the mage right through the throat with an extended blade of hers. Somehow, despite the nearly horizontal lunge, the woman still managed to land on her feet safely as she turned to look towards the departing Marquis.


    The look in her gray eyes was one that gave Simeon chills and cold sweat, with how she appeared to completely ignore everything set before her. Despite being outnumbered fifteen to one by Simeon himself and the guards, she strode forward confidently nonetheless, with the rest of the mercenaries only fifteen paces away behind her, being held by a few remaining elite soldiers who still held their ground.


    Simeon could only draw the sword by his waist and prepare himself to lay down his life.

 Chapter 383 - Siege of Levain (Part 37)

    ¡°Cut off the head of a snake, and the body dies. Beware, however, for at times a cut head could still bite back.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    Elfriede frowned a bit as she noticed one of the targets in fancy armor turn and run. From what bit she heard, the runner was likely the Marquis, which left his general as the one still in front of her. There were fourteen mounted guards by him, likely playing rear guard to the escaping Marquis, but all that was irrelevant to her.


    She was just rather ticked off that her main target escaped before she got to him.


    Granted, being able to catch the enemy general was also an acceptable outcome, but it still annoyed Elfriede somewhat. It felt much like going out to hunt for boar and returning home with a pheasant instead. There was a feeling of missing something despite the outcome still being a good one.


    In the end, she decided to vent her annoyance on the remaining enemies instead. It would be far easier ¨C and safer ¨C for her to just wait for the rest of her allies, as they were approaching her rapidly from behind, but that would be less satisfactory for her. Instead, she rushed forward as four of the riders thrust their spears at her much like she expected they would.


    The riders were clearly trained to coordinate their attacks, as one stabbed straight towards her another the other three thrust their spears to the left, right, and below the first one¡¯s to cover her escape routes. Their coordination was not so good that it left her no way out, however.


    Elfriede twisted her body sideways and slipped between the spear at her left and the one aimed straight for her, cleanly avoiding the right one. As she moved, she stepped on the spearhead of the low thrust and pressed the spear down against the ground, neutralizing it for the moment. The other riders pulled their spears back and went for another thrust, but she was much closer to them by that point and was prepared for it.


    She ducked under the highest of the thrusted spears while she caught another between the handguard and blade of the weapon in her right hand, using her leverage to push it harmlessly away. The last spear she caught under her armpit as she twisted her body and yanked hard, causing the rider to almost fall off his horse as he was unwilling to give up on his spear.


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    Then before he could recover her mithril-edged blade sliced through his eyes and made him scream in agony.


    The unfortunate rider¡¯s scream distracted his fellows for a brief moment. It was but a heartbeat of hesitation, a split second where they instinctively recoiled at the sight, but that proved to be their undoing in the end. Elfriede had not missed that moment and pounced upon the other three guards during their stupor and mercilessly took them down one after another.


    One of the riders suddenly found that the aventail that hung from his helmet was sliced through from the front, and he was unable to even make a sound of surprise, as all that came out from his throat was a gurgling noise as blood flooded his windpipe. The man fell over and slowly suffocated to death on the ground, all while wondering just how that could have happened to him.


    The second rider had a far less pleasant ¨C if at least somewhat quicker ¨C end as Elfriede landed an uppercut against his jaw with her right hand. Unfortunately for the rider, Elfriede was wielding her weapon in hand, and the crescent-shaped handguard was what slammed into his face instead of her fist. The mithril coated edges of the handguard tore through flesh with ease, with the lower point snagging and tearing off the man¡¯s lower jaw.


    On the other hand, the upper point got stuck against something in his skull and the forces involved ended up practically tearing the poor rider¡¯s head off his neck, connected only by the flesh and skin on the back.


    Compared to the other two, the third rider had a swifter, less gruesome death as Elfriede swung her other blade and jabbed the pick-like second blade through the woman¡¯s left eye and into her brain, likely killing her before she realized she was dead.


    Due to the cramped quarters ¨C they were fighting in the middle of a throng of people after all, each of which were busy with their own fight elsewhere ¨C the guards couldn¡¯t really use their numbers against Elfriede and could only come against her four at a time. She found it trivial to take them out one group at a time, and one of the guards in the last group even turned and ran to save their life instead of fighting.


    At that sight, the general behind the guards looked at the distance, then sighed loudly and told the remaining three guards ¨C who were now uncertain whether they should fight on or not ¨C to stand down and drop their weapons. Elfriede stood watch over them to ensure that they were not faking it until more of the mercenaries came over to take them prisoner a short while later.


    As for the escaped Marquis, she no longer thought much about him, as the direction he took before he left her sense sphere indicated that he was likely trying to skirt around the mercenary right flank. Both Erycea and Alycea were stationed at the flanks and warned about the probability of their primary targets trying to escape through the area they were in charge of, so they would be prepared to intercept such an attempt.


    Some part of her was glad that the Marquis went towards the right flank, as Alycea might still be too young and inexperienced for such a weighty task. On the other hand, Erycea would likely be ready for the challenge that the task presented. Her platoon was similarly far more experienced than her younger sister¡¯s and thus more capable for such a task.


    After all, a young beast needed to have a proper prey for its hunts as well.

 Chapter 384 - Siege of Levain (Part 38)

    ¡°A clever fox has more than one exit from their nest, just as a clever hunter has more than one hound to cover them.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Fighting in a battlefield was sometimes a contradictory exercise, Erycea found.


    On one hand, she needed to give it her all, as everyone involved were fighting for their survival and thus nothing less would suffice in order to secure her own survival. Negligence or overconfidence could easily result in career-ending injuries, if they were lucky. If they were unlucky, then they would be just another corpse for the combatants to step on.


    Yet on the other hand, anyone who fought in a prolonged battle needed to save their strength, to ration their stamina, lest they run out of strength at a critical moment. It was that simultaneous need to both give it their all and to save their strength that she found contradictory, especially as her natural predatory instincts leaned hard towards giving her all in battle.


    It was her mother who taught her how to temper that tendency, to use just the requisite amount of power when dealing with the average foe, and to save her strength unless it was an emergency that left her no choice but to use them. For that reason, she had also refrained from using her magic in this battle. She knew it would make an effective distraction, but she could not do it more than a couple of times, so it was best to keep it secret until a pivotal moment arrived.


    That pivotal moment came sooner than she expected, as she noticed a group of riders trying to bypass the mercenary thrust from the corner of her eye. She took a closer look at the riders in the brief lull she had after she shoved her opponent backwards with her weapons, and noticed the fancy decorated masterpiece armor one of the riders wore.


    When she correlated that with the fact that the Free Lances were pushing directly towards where the enemy leader, the Marquis, was situated, and that this middle aged man was clearly important enough to warrant a steed and his fancy, masterpiece armor, that meant he was likely either the Marquis himself or at least someone important from said man¡¯s staff.


    Either way the fact that he rode close to her front of the fighting meant that he was her responsibility now.


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    In response, Erycea whistled sharply four times, a signal for her friends ¨C who composed her personal unit ¨C to gather around her. Within moments all ten of them gathered next to her, and Erycea gestured towards the rider who was by then almost directly across from them to indicate him as their target. Then she let loose with her magic.


    The four glass orbs she usually juggled around emerged from her storage artifact, and immediately fractured into hundreds of tiny, razor-sharp shards of glass each, which she then sent out in the direction of her target at head¡¯s height.


    Many Podovnian soldiers screamed as the razor-sharp shards embedded themselves into their faces, mouth, and eyes, and while they took up around three-quarters of the shards Erycea sent out, the remaining quarter still reached its target, namely the rider and his escorts. She kept that group of shards somewhat higher, too low to hurt the riders much, but around head height for their steeds.


    Needless to say, the horses ridden by the target and his escorts whinnied in pain as the shards of glass went into their eyes and nose. Many of them reared up and threw their rider to the ground, while others cavorted wildly in pain while their riders struggled to hang on for dear life.


    While they were thus stuck in place and distracted, Erycea and her friends rushed towards them, easily cutting a path through the throng of soldiers who were busy trying to claw the glass shards out of their faces. Vladislav, Tasha, Vera, and Gustav led from the front as they formed a wedge by interlocking their shields and simply shoved everyone in front of them out of the way.


    The others followed behind them, with Rhiannon and Llewelyn guarding their back against the few enemies that had already regained their willingness to fight. Valeria and Beth covered the sides, while Aurora and Ayrie sniped off targets as they passed by them. Erycea herself stayed in the middle as she made use of a few remaining glass shards that she sent out to help support any of her friends that needed some help.


    Before the riders could regain control of their steeds, her group already pushed their way before them, and struck. Valeria and Beth swung from the sides and helped Llewelyn and Rhiannon to cover their backs, as did Aurora and Ayrie. Erycea and the other four rushed towards their targets with their weapons bared. They only needed the one likely important rider captured alive, and if the rest were to resist, then so be it.


    Much like she expected, the riders that had not broken their limbs after a fall from their steeds faced them and drew their weapons while a couple tried to escort the important-looking man ¨C who had apparently broken one of his legs from the fall ¨C away. Erycea¡¯s group smashed into them like a hurricane and bodies ¨C or parts thereof ¨C were sent flying within moments as the larger members of her group showed that their size was not just for show.


    Gustav and Vlad split off to the sides to square off against most of the remaining escorts, keeping them away from those who were holding off the enemies behind them at the same time. It was not like the escorts could stand for long against them, as each of their blows simply blasted past the escorts¡¯ shields, bent and crushed their armor, and did unspeakable things to their bodies, but they could have given the escaping target precious moments to get to safety if left unattended.


    At the same time, Tasha and Vera peeled off to prevent other enemy soldiers who caught wind of the situation from interfering, which left Erycea herself free to pursue the slowly limping target.

 Chapter 385 - Siege of Levain (Part 39)

    ¡°Dangle hope before a beaten foe before you yank it out of their reach once more. That makes their look of despair ever so sweeter.¡± - Ardin ¡°Face-Peeler¡± Zakuin, infamous mercenary from Clangeddin, circa 502 VA.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going!?¡± yelled Erycea as she caught up with the escaping limping man. One of the man¡¯s escorts turned to face her and drew his sword, while the other tried to escape with the man, but Erycea wouldn¡¯t allow it to happen that easily. Instead she struck hard against the blade of the man that turned to face her and pushed him aside as he was surprised by her strength and struck with her other truncheon towards the back of the other escort.


    Only a shout from the surprised one saved his friend as he managed to duck in time to avoid getting his throat skewered from the back, even if he ended up having to drop the limping target to do so. The man similarly unsheathed the sword on his waist and turned to face Erycea together with his compatriot, and the two lunged at her with their swords.


    They were skilled fighters, and coordinated their attack well. Their swords were well-made, sturdy and durable, that even a full power blow of hers didn¡¯t even bend the blade she struck earlier, but Erycea still didn¡¯t care that much about them. Compared to fighting against her mother, it felt almost like she was bullying these two escorts by fighting them.


    Yet with her target so close to her, there was no longer any point in holding back, so she let loose with what tricks she had up her sleeves.


    Erycea parried her enemies¡¯ swords with her truncheons, the blades caught between the segments of her weapons as she twisted her wrist and trapped them for a brief moment. At the same time, she brought forth a small handful of glass shards she kept with her and sent them towards the eyes of her two opponents.


    Her opponents saw the shards coming and closed their eyes reflexively in response. It was a mistake, but they were damned no matter what they did anyway. Had they kept their eyes open, they would be blinded by the glass shards puncturing their eyeballs, but closing their eyes meant that they let Erycea out of their sight for that brief moment, an opening she naturally took advantage of.


    She slid one of the swords so that she could lock it in place better between her weapon¡¯s handguard and its bar, while she pushed the other sword away and struck at the man¡¯s hand with a quick flick of her wrist. The tip of her truncheon struck the man¡¯s fingers and shattered the bones in them, causing him to scream out in pain and drop his sword. That scream was cut short as she then jabbed the sharp tip of her truncheon straight into the man¡¯s open mouth.


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    When the other man opened his eyes ¨C with shards of glass embedded all over his face ¨C he only saw Erycea¡¯s bloody truncheon, the same one that just ended his compatriot¡¯s life, rush towards his face and then he too, knew no more.


    Erycea rushed towards the fallen man with the broken leg who even at that point was still trying to crawl away. The man noticed her coming and tried to grab for his sword, but Erycea would have none of her. She just wordlessly shattered the man¡¯s wrists with strikes from her truncheons before she dragged him back by the back of his collar.


    ¡°Target secured! We¡¯re going back! Move, move, move!¡± she yelled as she passed her companions on the way back. They rapidly disengaged from the enemies they were fighting as they heard her command, and quickly reformed their previous formation, although pointed the other way around. Erycea remained in the middle as it was difficult for her to fight as she was carrying their captive over her shoulders to transport him faster.


    The way back was a faster and easier fight than going towards their target, since the enemy formation had yet to properly reform where they had passed. The group reached their fellow platoon mates just shortly before a commotion to the side drew their attention, and soon Ery noticed the source of the commotion, which rather surprised her.


    Because the commotion was caused by her parents leading a good part of the forward team towards her direction.


    ¡°Mom, Dad!¡± she yelled out once they were close enough to hear. ¡°What happened?¡±


    There would only be a few reasons for the forward team to divert themselves, and one of those would be if the operation failed and they needed to make a desperate escape. That said, the look on her parents¡¯ faces did not suggest that to be the case, and while they were tense, it was a different sort of tension compared to that of desperation.


    ¡°The Marquis of Podovniy fled this way!¡± yelled Reinhardt back. ¡°Your group should be close to where he tries to skirt around us! Did you see him?¡±


    ¡°The Marquis? Wait¡­ Do you mean this fellow?¡± asked Ery with some surprise as she had Vlad raise her captive high with one hand. The sight naturally did not go unnoticed by the nearby enemy soldiers, many of which gave cries of surprise, disbelief, and despair at the sight.


    Ery also noticed how her father grinned widely at the sight, though.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one all right! Good catch, girl!¡± yelled Reinhardt back with the toothy grin plastered on his face.


    He then yelled in the Clangeddin tongue, addressing the enemy soldiers around them. ¡°Drop your weapons and fall on your knees! Your lord has been captured! Further resistance will only cost you your lives and his! Those who surrender will not be killed!¡±


    His shout, coupled with the sight of the Marquis dangling from Vlad¡¯s claw and whimpering in pain, broke the morale of the enemy soldiers and many of them dropped their weapons on the spot. A few tried to keep on resisting, but were either taken down by the mercenaries or even some of their own.


    At first it was only those in the vicinity that surrendered, but as the word spread, more and more of the Podovnian army knelt down and surrendered.


    The battle was over, and Levain had won.

 Chapter 386 - Siege of Levain (Final Part)

    ¡°If you see it in plays or hear it in stories, battles would end with the good guys triumphing and all the bad guys would then lay down their weapons in defeat together. In an actual battle, things are almost always messier, and such convenient things just don¡¯t happen most of the time. It takes a while for word of victory or defeat to spread, and people still die and kill during that time.¡± - Mera Leijnez, retired mercenary.


    The news that the Marquis of Podovniy had been captured traveled through the battlefield as people ¨C both the Podovnians themselves and their opponents ¨C relayed the news from mouth to ear. In a way, the news traveled rapidly, far faster than was normal under battlefield conditions, yet it still traveled too slow to prevent deaths and injuries that could have been avoided had the news reached the combatants just a little bit sooner.


    Naturally, the news spread outwards from where Reinhardt yelled out. He also sent word to the Caroman leaders, who he had lent some of the receiver artifacts to that they had captured the enemy leader, and the Caromans in turn spread the word as well. Even so, while some of their foes surrendered without much fuss, others refused to believe the news, thinking it as just another lie from their enemies.


    As a result, the battle raged on, especially in areas further away from where the Marquis was captured.


    The main battle was the first place to fully calm down in the end, as the news spread faster there, with more eyewitnesses who saw the marquis getting caught. To make sure that word spread faster, Reinhards even ordered for the Marquis to be mounted on top of some six-meter long pikes ¨C through his clothes and armor, mercifully ¨C and raised up like a flag for everyone to see.


    Between the sight of their liege lord being dangled about and the Caromans and mercenaries yelling at them to surrender, many of the Podovnian soldiers laid down their weapons, at times urged by the officers, while at other times in defiance of their immediate superior. The stubborn ones met their ends one way or another, while the rest were rounded up as captives.


    Further away, however, where what remained of the Podovnian cavalry still fought against the Caroman cavalry, the news had yet to reach them. While Publius conveyed the message to his men and their cheers made the Podovnians suspect something was happening, they refused to believe that they had lost and only fought harder.


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    If anything, the battle there intensified as the angered Podovnian commanders ordered for a full offensive against the Caromans. That caught some of the Caromans off guard as the enemy resistance suddenly intensified while they were in the midst of trying to push through the enemy formation.


    Astra and her unit were one such group who were caught in the midst of the enemy right as they counterattacked. They were pressed hard by the Podovnians, and fought back just as hard, but as some of the remaining enemy knights happened to be near there, they were put on the backfoot before too long had passed.


    ¡°Why fight so hard?¡± Astra mocked her opponent even as they clashed spears. ¡°Your lord¡¯s already tied up like a hog fit to be roasted! Just surrender already so we all can go home at long last!¡±


    ¡°Lies! Lies and falsehoods!¡± yelled the Podovnian knight she was fighting with bloodshot eyes and a grimace on his face. ¡°You speak naught but lies when you cannot win by arms! Cowardly curs!¡±


    The knight Astra fought against suddenly made his horse lunge forward, which made it and Astra¡¯s steed ram each other on the chest. Their steeds then tried to bite at each other, but before Astra could regain her balance from the unexpected impact, the knight struck and smashed towards the head of her horse with his mace.


    Astra managed to stab between the gaps of his armor and sink her spearhead halfway into the man¡¯s guts, but his strike landed first and sent her horse plummeting down and rolling over her. She felt a jolt of agony in her left leg as it was crushed between her steed¡¯s falling body and the ground, and couldn¡¯t help but scream in pain.


    Fortunately for her, some of her people took down the knight before he could strike at her once more or try to trample her with his horse. Some of her subordinates pushed ahead and fought off the enemies nearby, while a couple dismounted and helped get her out from beneath her horse. It was a rather difficult task, especially in the midst of an ongoing battle, but around that time, reinforcements from the main battle arrived and struck at the rear of the Podovnian cavalry, which made them realize that they had indeed lost the battle.


    Astra had to grit her teeth to avoid biting her tongue as her subordinates helped pull her out from beneath her fallen steed. Her left leg was mangled badly, obviously broken in multiple places with the bones even jutting out from some areas, but what made the tears accumulate at the corner of her eyes was not the pain she was feeling at the time.


    It was grief for her loyal steed, which she had helped raise from when it was but a young filly back when she was still a teenager until the present day. The mare had been her loyal companion for years, and was so close to her to the point that she considered her part of the family. The poor steed¡¯s unceremonious end hit the girl harder than her own serious injury.


    She couldn¡¯t help but feel a pang of regret in her mind. Multiple ¡°what if¡±s crossed her thoughts as her subordinates helped carry her away. What if the battle ended just a little bit sooner? What if she had not pressed that last attack so hard? What if she had reacted on time when that last enemy rammed their horses together?


    Alas, such thoughts would never become reality, for nobody could turn back time.

 Chapter 387 - Wrapping Up the Mess

    ¡°Starting a battle is easy. Stopping one is much harder.¡± - Saying attributed to Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed general and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Got to admit that we didn¡¯t expect you to cooperate this well with us, General Durant,¡± said Reinhardt with some curiosity as the Free Lances went around the battlefield, parading the captured Marquis of Podovniy ¨C now set on a horse with his broken leg set with a splint, one of the mercenaries controlling the horse and keeping him steady on the saddle from behind ¨C around and calling for the surrender of the Podovnian soldiers.


    Simeon Durant, General to the Marquis, who Elfriede had captured previously, had helped quite a bit with that he called for the Podovnian soldiers to lay down their arms. Even the stubborn ones obeyed his command, which definitely saved Reinhardt¡¯s men a scuffle or several in the process. It was rather rare to see such cooperative behavior from a captured enemy officer, which prompted Reinhardt¡¯s query.


    ¡°We already lost this battle the moment you captured the Marquis,¡± admitted Simeon with a wistful sigh as he shook his head. The Podovnian general looked as if he had aged a good decade or so after the defeat, or rather, it was just that he didn¡¯t let his age show as much previously. ¡°With that established, it is now my responsibility to try to save as many of my people¡¯s lives as I can, so if cooperating with you is the best way to do so, that is what I shall do.¡±


    ¡°An admirable choice to take,¡± noted Elfriede from Reinhardt¡¯s side. ¡°Far too many shitbags in your position would rather scream and yell and do anything but help take care of the aftermath of a battle they lost, assuming they weren¡¯t too busy running to save their own hide, that is,¡± she noted. ¡°Don¡¯t see too many who own up to their responsibility even if they know they¡¯re likely getting punished for the loss one way or another.¡±


    ¡°Sadly too often the case, Ma¡¯am,¡± noted Simeon with a shake of his head. Then he glanced at Elfriede once more and looked as if he was not certain if he should say what he wanted to say, before he finally made the decision and said it anyway. ¡°By the way, Ma¡¯am, pardon the request, but I do not believe there is a need to keep the look to intimidate us anymore. I am pretty certain even the stubborn ones will lay down their arms at my command.¡±


    ¡°Hm? What do you mean by the look?¡± asked Elfriede back, clearly rather confused by Simeon¡¯s request.


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    ¡°Umm¡­ It is this¡­ manner in which you just look past us as if we are nothing, Ma¡¯am,¡± replied Simeon after he tried to find the words that escaped him for a moment. ¡°It is a rather¡­ unnerving way to be looked at. I completely understand why you would do that in a battle, definitely rather intimidating to be on the receiving end of such a look, I can say, but the battle has finished, has it not?¡±


    To Simeon¡¯s complete bafflement, Reinhardt, Elfriede, and many of the mercenaries close enough to have overheard his words broke into laughter just as he said his piece. Some of them even stopped on their tracks as they bent over themselves laughing too hard, and had to be nudged to keep going by those behind them.


    ¡°Ah, that was a good one,¡± said Reinhardt as he wiped some tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. ¡°Friede isn¡¯t giving you that look you mentioned on purpose or even to intimidate you, General. It¡¯s just how it is for her. You see, she was never blessed with sight to begin with, so when you say that it feels like she¡¯s looking through you, it¡¯s because she¡¯s looking at nothing to begin with.¡±


    ¡°What he said,¡± Elfriede chimed in. ¡°I primarily sense things through other means, no big secret, that. In the end it works out well enough for my needs. Like, I might not be able to tell which of your group was who, but I could tell from the way your armor feels that they¡¯re decorated and engraved. You also smell cleaner than the typical stink of soldiers, and even had the time to trim your hair and beard neatly. Easy enough to guess that you must be someone important or filthy rich just from those facts alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ see,¡± noted Simeon before he turned quiet and contemplative for the next while other than commanding stubborn soldiers and officers to stand down and disarm themselves. Reinhardt could see that the man looked conflicted about something, probably related to how Elfriede cut down two mages and a bunch of his elite guards in the process of capturing him.


    It was often hard for people to even consider that a blind person could fight at all, much less fight as well as Elfriede did.


    ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think I saw any Anduilleans at all today. Did they choose to cut their losses and leave you to deal with this mess on your own?¡± quipped Reinhardt as he filled his smoking pipe with some dried herbs and lit them with a firestarter. ¡°Ooh, from the look on your face it looks like what I said plucked a chord, huh?¡±


    Simeon sighed audibly from atop his horse, as did the Marquis who overheard what Reinhardt said. In the end it was the captive Marquis who spoke out to answer his question. ¡°We invited them into this campaign by promising them easy benefits for minimal risks, only to find that they balked at taking further risks when it turns out that things aren¡¯t as easy as we expected. That young whelp of a regent likely cut us loose and went back to his camp already to reduce his losses by now.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s more clever than you are, then,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smoky chuckle. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a piece of news my employer¡¯s going to enjoy hearing.¡±

 Chapter 388 - Handling of Captives

    ¡°There are many fine lines to tread when it comes to handling captives. Can¡¯t be too heavy-handed with them since you¡¯re not going to kill them if you bother to capture them in the first place, but can¡¯t be too light-handed either, lest they take things for granted.¡± - Andras Zan Gavlieri, General from the Clangeddin Empire¡¯s early days.


    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t overdo it when you tie them like that, lass. You don¡¯t want to cut off the blood flow, see? Otherwise the poor lad here might be losing a hand or two by the time you untie these,¡± said Skuljd as she looked over Irma tying up one of the surrendered Podovniy officers. The large-bodied therian girl¡¯s strength was prodigious, but it might have been a bit too much at times, since she didn¡¯t have as fine control over her power the way the older therians did.


    Since the battle ended in the enemy¡¯s surrender rather than a rout or a slaughter, it was customary to take the enemy commanders and officers as a sort of hostage in order to guarantee the good behavior of the rest of their soldiers. It was, after all, horribly impractical to tie up all the tens of thousands of soldiers, so instead only the ¡°important¡± people were tied up and made to play hostage to ensure their men¡¯s good behavior.


    That way even if some of the soldiers lost their tempers and tried to do some regrettable things, their own teammates might subdue them before anything could happen. Most understood that they had lost and thus could only wait for their leaders to negotiate the conditions before they would be allowed to retreat, which often included reparations and tributes, as well as other concessions.


    Erycea, Alycea, their platoons, as well as most of the other mercenary platoons were busy with such tasks now that the battle had concluded. A couple had grumbled that they didn¡¯t get to loot the enemy dead, but unfortunately that was inappropriate given the conditions. Promises of extra rations and bonus pay to celebrate the victory made the grumbles die out, though.


    As it was, most of the Podovnians just slumped down where they stood when they learned of their defeat. Alyea even noticed how some of them sighed in relief, probably conscripts and the like who were just glad that they would not need to fight anymore. It made her feel somewhat apologetic about what the company had done against them, but that was the extent of her sympathy.


    They had their lives and troubles, while the mercenaries had their own.


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    As it was, given the disastrous defeat, it would not be strange if some of the vassal states in Podovniy chose to rise up in rebellion since the Marquis¡¯ forces had been greatly weakened. By most estimates only around half of the people the Marquis had brought to Levain City were still in fighting shape. The other half were either injured in ways that prevented them from fighting or dead.


    It was not a fatal blow to the March¡¯s power, but it was a great loss of morale and confidence, to say the least, and that was before they considered the concessions and reparations that the March would have to fork out to Levain in order to ¡°apologize¡± for the invasion. Typically in cases like those some high-ranking officers and nobles would be left behind as hostages and would only be released after the reparations were paid in full.


    Alycea herself noticed a few enemy officers who were likely such nobles, the sort who always looked like they looked down upon others even in their present disadvantageous position. Rather than allow them to cause any sort of fuss, however, Alycea just sent Irma and Macen to tie them up. She found that the sight of a couple of huge therian warriors that stood heads and shoulders above even the tallest human had a habit of making pompous nobles shut their mouths nicely.


    ¡°Oh, Big Sister!¡± greeted Alycea as she happened to run across Erycea while taking in prisoners.


    ¡°Heya, Aly. So how did you feel after your first big battle?¡± asked Erycea in return with a toothy smile as she ruffle Alycea¡¯s hair with one hand.


    ¡°Kind of relieved that it¡¯s all over and we got out without much loss¡­ but also a bit¡­¡± said Alycea as she tried to put her feelings into words and faltered halfway through her sentence. She remained quiet for a moment as she pondered what she wanted to say before she finally continued the sentence. ¡°Kind of feels like me and mine didn¡¯t do all that much, if you know what I mean, Big Sis?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just to be expected, you know? You and your platoon are still rather fresh. We never put the fresh platoons in situations where you¡¯d get into something over your heads, unless we feel you¡¯re prepared enough for it,¡± replied Erycea with a laugh. Her hand absent-mindedly messed up Alycea¡¯s hair even more in the process. ¡°It was the same for me and my platoon when we were just as fresh as you are. In fact, you got to participate in a much bigger fight than we ever did back then!¡±


    ¡°Anyway, so how would things go from here? The battle¡¯s over, right?¡± Alycea asked back.


    ¡°Yeah. The negotiation and stuff would be none of our business anyway. That¡¯ll be all between our employers and the enemy side. Most likely we¡¯ll be on guard for a bit more just to make sure they¡¯re not trying to pull off any sort of shenanigans on us, and then back to training duty,¡± answered Ery. ¡°After all, that¡¯s what we¡¯re originally hired for.¡±


    ¡°Now that reminds me. We are getting extra pay for joining in the battle and helping them out, no? Extra bonus for notable feats?¡± Aly questioned as she remembered part of what her parents told her.


    ¡°Yep. Though we likely wouldn¡¯t need it much while we¡¯re taking care of the remainder of our contract here. Thankful locals usually offer their gratitude by waiving the cost of what they sell us, so our folks will likely be eating and drinking for free for a good while to come.¡±

 Chapter 389 - Prelude to Negotiations

    ¡°Save their asses and the ladies in town might well reward you with them.¡± - Gorbrand Honiss, Veteran Mercenary.


    It took a while to finish dealing with the Podovnians, and it was only near sunset that the defeated soldiers ¨C minus their officers and nobles, who were taken as hostages ¨C were allowed to return to their camp, where they saw the scorched walls on the south side and realized that the camp was mostly undamaged. Some even beat themselves up for falling to the trick and being partly responsible for the loss.


    By the time the Podovnians returned to their camp, their Anduillean compatriots ¨C though at the moment it was doubtful that the defeated soldiers shared that sentiment overmuch ¨C had already ceased their attack on Levain and fully retreated to their camp. They had received news of the Podovnian defeat and clearly decided that to continue the battle was no longer in their best interest.


    In fact, the Anduilleans had already sent a delegation to Levain city under a flag of truce before either the Caromans, the Levainians, or the Podovnians returned from the southern battlefield.


    Both the Caromans and the Levainian forces wrapped up the last of the situation in the south, then marched towards Levain City with their prisoners in tow. The sight of the ring of rubble where the seventh wall used to stand still remained a rather shocking sight, even if they knew it was done on purpose, and the armies marched towards the west of the city, where those inside already made a makeshift bridge over the rubble for them to use to enter.


    The choice of using the west gate to enter the city was partly a precaution in case the remaining Anduilleans decided that they still wanted to fight more, but it proved to be an unneeded caution in the end.


    Once the armies marched through the city¡¯s west gate ¨C the Levainian army with Estelle in front, followed by the Caromans behind them ¨C they were greeted by raucous cheers from the city¡¯s populace, who had gathered by the sides of the main road just to greet the returning army. Many parents even brought their small children on their shoulders so that they could join in the cheering as well.


    Given the length of the army column, it took a long while before the cheering eventually subsided, by which point Estelle, the Caroman Marshals, and some of their officers ¨C Reinhardt included ¨C already reached the city¡¯s council chamber, where they took a short break in preparation to meet with the Anduillean delegation in a short while.


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    They had also taken the captive Podovnian officers and nobles with them. Despite being prisoners, they were treated decently, though they were kept disarmed and under guard. The Marquis himself and high-ranking generals like Simeon Durant received better treatment, since the council would meet with them as well later in the evening, to discuss a closure to the battle.


    ¡°So how is Astra doing, Marshal?¡± Reinhardt asked the Caroman Marshals while they rested and had a quick dinner after refreshing themselves. For all the intimidation factor that would come into play by going into a negotiation while still drenched in the blood of one¡¯s enemies, it was sadly considered inappropriate by the local custom.


    ¡°There is no danger to her life, though her leg is pretty bad off. Our army healers might not be able to recover it properly, so it would probably fall to our best healers back in the Republic to do it,¡± replied Publius with a sigh. The Marshal was naturally aware of the risks of battle, but he still considered himself as having failed to protect his own daughter, given her injury.


    ¡°You might want to try your luck with the Unliving if your best healers at home can¡¯t deal with it,¡± suggested Reinhardt kindly. ¡°Me and mine were¡­ visited by the Silver Maiden back in Theodinaz, over a decade ago. Many of us had injuries that I never even thought was possible to heal at all, but she took care of us, thousands of people, all in one single night. Something like Astra¡¯s Injury should pose no challenge to a healer of her caliber.¡±


    ¡°Definitely be polite and bring appropriate gifts if you were to look for her, though,¡± added Elfriede as she helped herself to some good wine. Out of the people in the room at the moment she looked the most beaten up as she had many wounds on her body that were wrapped up under bandages, even if they were just light flesh wounds. ¡°I¡¯ve felt how that woman moved back then, when she healed me. Trust me when I say that she definitely knows her way around a battle. She moves the way a veteran does.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the advice,¡± replied Anni with a nod as she vented her frustrations by tearing some meat right off the bone with her teeth. That they won the battle in the end but couldn¡¯t avoid having their child become one of the casualties must have thoroughly frustrated the female Marshal, given her more brusque than usual demeanor that night. ¡°We¡¯ll consider pursuing that course of action if our best healers back home proves inadequate.¡±


    ¡°Good to see you all get along like before,¡± noted Estelle as she nodded along while watching the mercenaries interact with the Caroman Marshals. She recalled how they drank and smoked together during the display they set up back before the entire invasion mess started and just shook her head at their antics. It was good that her allies got along well, at least. ¡°Think we¡¯ve let the Anduilleans and our prisoners stew long enough? I plan to rip them off everything I can get for this mess they forced us into.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can get that much off the Anduilleans,¡± noted Anni with a shake of her head. ¡°Some concessions in exchange for the prisoners, maybe. Otherwise, they¡¯ve still got most of their army and seem willing to withdraw peacefully. Podovniy, on the other hand¡­¡±


    ¡°We also received word from Aldenstadt,¡± added Reinhardt. ¡°They¡¯ve pretty much routed the force that was left there to corral them, and had several thousand more captives to add to the negotiations.¡±

 Chapter 390 - From the Field to the Table

    ¡°Most wars end on the negotiation table. The few which don''t usually end in massacres and mass graves.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°That went remarkably well, if I do say so myself,¡± noted Marshal Publius after the Anduillean delegation left the chamber they borrowed for the negotiations.


    The group present for those negotiations were limited to a few. Estelle was naturally present, as the current Chairwoman of Levain¡¯s council, as were a couple of the older and more experienced councilors, as well as Miriel. Both of the Caroman Marshals were also present to represent their side, together with a couple of their senior generals and advisers.


    Even Reinhardt was present, as given how the Free Lances had the right to the captives they took as per their contract, the other side would need to negotiate with them directly, or at least have Estelle negotiate for them as an intermediary.


    ¡°I dunno, kinda felt unsatisfactory to me, like punching a bale of cotton, you know?¡± replied Marshal Barca with a shake of her head. The Caroman Marshals ¨C perhaps partly due to their frustration over their daughter¡¯s injury ¨C had played the unreasonable side during the negotiations, which in turn presented Levain as the reasonable side, which made the proposition they offered more acceptable.


    At least that was how it was supposed to be. The proposition was one that the Caromans had worked out together with Levain, with defined bottom lines on what they would settle for and all that. Neither side had expected the Anduilleans to open the negotiations by offering more than what they expected, though, while only asking for their captive soldiers and being allowed to retreat back to their home unharmed.


    No matter which way it was viewed from, the Anduillean offer was a generous one, and a good bit above the norm that was expected for concessions given after a lost battle, much less for a side that only lost so little in the process. Both the Levainians and the Caromans were caught off guard, and in the end, couldn¡¯t find it in themselves to make things too difficult for the Anduilleans.


    As such, they accepted the offer and shook hands with the Anduillean delegates soon after. The offer itself would not become official until it had been presented to and approved by the rest of Levain¡¯s council the next day, but that was a done deal for the most part with the prestige Estelle currently held.


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    ¡°Do we bring in the Podovnians now? We¡¯re ahead of schedule thanks to how fast that went,¡± asked Publius in turn. ¡°Your healers are still trying to fix that Marquis¡¯s leg, aren¡¯t they? Want to have him brought over before that¡¯s done or going to let them deal with it properly first?¡±


    ¡°We are looking to end the hostilities here, Marshal, and besides, I believe we have enough of an advantage over the Marquis anyway. We should let the healers take their time and just proceed as scheduled, I think,¡± replied Estelle after a moment of thought. ¡°That said, you know our situation with healers. They¡¯d make him a bit more comfortable, at most. The injury itself will mostly have to heal naturally, unless he has better healers at home.¡±


    Due to the civil war, skilled healers had become a rare asset in the nations formerly part of the Clangeddin Empire. Many such healers were caught up in the fighting and unfortunately lost their lives, while others escaped the carnage by leaving the territories altogether. What few remained were mostly in the employ of rich former nobles and the like, and a rather poor territory like Levain naturally had none.


    Caroma was actually in little better condition when it came to healers, since the provinces they originated from were never that rich. As for Podovniy, the Marquis probably did have a better healer at his home base, assuming they had not escaped early on in the civil war or had passed on since, that was. That lack of healer was also why the Caroman Marshals were particularly troubled by their daughter¡¯s injury.


    They were all too aware that said injury could end up permanent if their healers were not up to the task.


    Sadly it was a situation where neither Levain nor the Free Lances were able to help with. Their own healers were sub-par at best, the sort who could help accelerate the healing of wounds and make them less painful, but not very useful for helping to deal with serious injuries. Much less a leg that had been broken in a half-dozen places.


    If there was anything about the situation that mollified the Caroman Marshals a bit, it was the fact that the Podovnian Marquis suffered from a similar injury, if not as complicated, since the man only broke his shinbones and thus was rendered unable to walk unassisted.


    A few servants came and served some refreshments as the group whiled away the time, waiting for the agreed upon time to meet with the Marquis of Podovniy. It was mostly hot, sweetened tea and finger foods, as it wouldn¡¯t do to head into a meeting drunk. An exception was clearly made for Marshal Barca, though, who poured herself tankards of strong mead from a small barrel.


    It made sense, as she mostly played the part of an angry frustrated mother anyway, and smelling at least a little drunk would go a long way to further sell such a performance.


    Reinhardt himself refrained from alcohol for the time being, though he did share some of his favored dried herb mix with Publius, who had taken quite a liking to it. He had also learned from the Marshal that apparently the mix was not addictive in the least for humans, so it was likely that there was something amongst the herbs that reacted addictively with Reinhardt¡¯s physiology instead.


    That was a bit of a surprise to him as the herbs were all known to be medicinal ones. Then again, different races often reacted differently to the same object, so it wasn¡¯t that huge a surprise either.


    After a while, the Marquis of Podovniy and his general was announced, and they entered the meeting room together, the Marquis leaning on his general with an arm draped around the other man¡¯s soldier to compensate for his broken leg, which was tied to splints at the moment.

 Side Story 73 - Losers cant be Choosers

    ¡°Winner takes all. It¡¯s how the world goes.¡± - Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Marquis Viktor Esvant of Podovniy was far from his best shape from when he was in his prime, to say the least. He had put on some weight in his middle age, and his once-toned body had mostly softened and given way to some flabs of fat, as was common for people his age. His broken leg did nothing to help his predicament either, and he was glad that Simeon was at least allowed to accompany him to the meeting, even if mostly as a mobility aid of sorts.


    Deities knew that the Marquis would never have been able to make it to the meeting room unaided.


    Not that the Levainians would have stopped him or anything, just that in his exhausted, aching, unfit state, he doubted that he would have been able to walk all the way to the meeting room with crutches. At least Simeon helped support him bodily, which lightened his burden somewhat.


    The sight of the people inside the meeting room was not an unexpected one to the Marquis. He had fully expected the young Chairwoman of Levain to take charge for her side, but he couldn¡¯t help the frown that formed on his lips when he noticed that the woman had brought several old, wily councilors with her. Viktor had hoped to be able to exploit the young woman¡¯s clear inexperience with politics to cut his losses as much as he could, but with those wily veterans around, chances of that happening were low.


    That the Caroman Marshals ¨C famed individuals, both ¨C were present was expected as well, as there was no Caroman delegation present in Levain. As such the Marshals had to deal with the negotiations on behalf of their Republic, as the highest ranked representatives present. The rather small, middle-aged man was very unassuming to the point that if Viktor didn¡¯t know it beforehand he would have never pegged the man to be one of the famous Marshals of the Republic.


    On the other hand, the man¡¯s wife struck a completely unmistakable and unignorable figure. Viktor had always prided himself on being above average in height compared to others, but the towering, burly woman easily stood half a head or more above him, with arms so thick they nearly rivaled his thighs in size. It made Viktor wonder if the woman did not have some dwarven blood in her ancestry somewhere.


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    He also didn¡¯t miss how the fearsome woman glared at him as if she wanted to eat him alive, and even if he knew that the imposing female Marshal might have done it for intimidation purposes, it was hard to remain unaffected when put under the glare of such an individual.


    That the mercenary captain was present was slightly surprising, but then again, Viktor had to admit that he had grown a grudging respect for that man. The way the mercenaries charged into the middle of his army¡¯s formation in a move that could easily result in their annihilation without so much a speck of doubt or fear was a feat that even his best soldiers would be hard pressed to replicate.


    Much less to succeed at, which the mercenaries had also done, to his detriment. Sure, the Caroman thrust had helped to corral him and reduce his escape routes, but without the mercenaries being there as well, he likely could get his army to retreat and regroup for another fight, at least.


    As a man who had employed mercenaries on many occasions himself, he felt no anger towards the mercenaries for ruining his plan. All he felt instead was envy and jealousy for the Levainian councilors that they managed to contract these mercenaries while he couldn¡¯t. He knew that he still had offers open for takers both before and after the time when the company entered contract with Levain, so clearly they were uninterested in what Podovniy had to offer.


    Which was fair, as the contract he offered, with a chance for the mercenaries to be paid in land and titles, was partly a trap since the failures wouldn¡¯t need to be paid at all.


    At least the Levainians were kind enough to offer him a seat with a proper footrest so he could avoid stressing his broken leg. Small kindnesses might not be much, but it was something, and it also showed that they had the intention to negotiate with him in good faith, unlike some people he could name from the previous years of the civil war. People usually rarely bother to be nice to someone they plan to just kill off, after all.


    There was even a seat for Simeon, which his old friend took gratefully. Viktor felt rather saddened when he looked at his friend and loyal retainer¡¯s face. Simeon looked as if he aged a whole decade after the battle was lost, likely due to the stress and guilt he felt as he ¨C as the general ¨C was at least partially responsible for said loss.


    It was something he would need to talk with his friend about once they returned safely.


    For the time being, however, the negotiations awaited him. He knew that it would be unpleasant, and that he would likely have to empty a good chunk of his treasury for the compensation and ransom he would need to pay for Levain. As for concessions, it would depend on how far the Levainians were willing to push and what they would deem acceptable.


    Of course, he also had to consider the Caromans in the picture as well. While his army did not attack the Republic itself, the Caromans lost quite a few people in the battles they had, as they fought on Levain¡¯s side. That would need some compensation and concessions on its own, though at least there were less issues about ransom there.


    ¡°Glad that you could be with us today, Marquis Esvant,¡± said the Levainian Chairwoman in greeting. ¡°Let us get to the meat of the matter, shall we?¡±

 Chapter 391 - Weight of Words Given

    ¡°More often than not, losing a war could very well result in the end of a nation, even if the war itself did not end with irreparable losses. The concessions and tributes that a losing nation typically had to pay, on top of the ransom, were often enough to drive a nation to the brink of bankruptcy or worse.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy from the Levain Institute for Higher Learning.


    ¡°These prices for ransom are relatively standard, and are acceptable,¡± stated Marquis Viktor Esvant of Podovniy as he perused the sheet of parchment Estelle handed to him with the ransom he would have to pay to get his people back. The Marquis already considered leaving some of the more troublesome and rebellious of his subjects in the tender care of the Levainians rather than ransom them.


    Surely they would understand that everybody needed to sacrifice for the March¡¯s sake.


    ¡°That said, I noticed that quite a few names are missing from this list. May I inquire as to the reason why this is so?¡± asked the Marquis as he continued on. The man was a shrewd politician himself, as was often the case with men in his position. While he might not be able to gain an upper hand in the negotiations, the man was not one to be taken lightly regardless.


    ¡°We took count of the people we caught, as well as their names and identities, but we also took our time to identify those who were less¡­ fortunate during the battle,¡± replied Estelle diplomatically. ¡°The missing names are the ones who were either nowhere to be found, or had unfortunately perished during the battle. For what it¡¯s worth, we won¡¯t charge you a ransom to take back their corpses.¡±


    ¡°How very kind of you,¡± replied the Marquis sarcastically. There had been more than a few such passive-aggressive jibes from both sides throughout the negotiations so far, which was unsurprising given the relative animosity between them. If anything, without such allowances tempers might have flared and gotten the better of the negotiators. ¡°What about Knight du Riffons? I recall seeing him alive and in captivity, but he was not in the list either.¡±


    ¡°That is a rather special case, and you will have to consult with Captain Edelstein on that matter,¡± replied Estelle as she passed the baton. Reinhardt just shrugged, as he had expected the matter to come up eventually. It was impossible to hide Michel du Riffons¡¯ capture after all, as there had been many witnesses to the event.


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    ¡°Very well then. Captain?¡± asked the Marquis with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°When it comes to young du Riffons, he was a bit of a¡­ special case. I am well acquainted with his father, you see. Even fought alongside senior du Riffons on several occasions,¡± explained Reinhardt without preamble. ¡°When he heard that us Free Lances were taking up a job in the former Empire¡¯s territory, he asked us to spare his son if we ran into each other in battle and could afford to, and that he would ransom him off in such a case.¡±


    ¡°I see, Captain. So you captured young du Riffons and planned to take him back to his father based on your promise?¡± asked the Marquis, to which Reinhardt nodded. ¡°Is there nothing I could offer that might change your mind? I found young du Riffons to be quite promising myself, and would be willing to offer a suitable ransom for his release.¡±


    ¡°Apologies, Your Grace. It¡¯s not about the money,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°I have given my word, and in our line of work, breaking our word is simply not done, at least not by those who planned to remain in business. After all, our reputations are generally only as good as our word, and those who break their promises would soon find themselves targets of suspicion and distrust.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I guess that is an understandable point of view,¡± replied the Marquis with a shake of his head. ¡°In that case why are some of his captured subordinates on the list of people to be ransomed though?¡±


    ¡°We allowed Michel¡¯s subordinates to make their own choice, that is, whether they would rather take their chance with the March or with Michel¡¯s father. Those who chose to accompany him, we have excluded from the ransom list,¡± said Reinhardt simply. ¡°The ones there are the ones who made the choice to rely on you, Marquis.¡±


    The Marquis was visibly annoyed by Reinhardt¡¯s words, because they had placed him in an unenviable position. On the one hand, those subordinates of Michel du Riffons who chose to rely on Podovniy were nowhere near as valuable as their commander, but on the other hand, if he were to leave them to rot in Levain¡¯s care, it would be a rather bad look for him.


    While the Marquis himself might not care that much about how people viewed him in private, appearances must be kept for someone in his position, and as such, he was obligated to do something for the people that toiled, labored, and risked their lives for him. He would at least ransom part of the group, Reinhardt expected.


    That in turn meant a good bit of extra profit for his coffers.


    As it was, Podovniy would be hard-pressed to pay reparations for the damages Levain suffered from the invasion, on top of paying the ransom for their captured people. That was none of Reinhardt¡¯s business, though. The Marquis made a gamble when he launched the invasion against Levain, and now that he lost that gamble, it was time for him to pay the price.


    After all, every action had its consequences, which was a lesson that far too many people in the world seemed to forget. All too often people short-sightedly fixated themselves on the profits, and thus forgot about the risks inherent to any undertaking. Failure loomed behind in the shadow of any action, after all.

 Chapter 392 - Like in the Markets

    ¡°Payment for reparations and ransom is rarely done entirely upfront, unless one side desires to show off their wealth and affluence to the other. Instead it is typically done in installments, with hostages kept to ensure that the payment goes on.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy from the Levain Institute for Higher Learning.


    ¡°I believe you are well aware that there is no way for the March of Podovniy to repay this entire amount immediately, correct?¡± asked the Marquis of Podovniy, more as a formality than anything, because while everyone involved knew it to be the case, it would not do to not voice it as well. Or to complain about, for that matter. ¡°We could probably offer a quarter of the reparations and ransom up front, and the rest would have to be paid in installments over the next two decades.¡±


    ¡°Half up front, and the remainder paid within the next five years,¡± came Estelle¡¯s much more vicious counter-offer to the request of the Marquis. ¡°We will naturally keep all captives you plan to ransom out in good health until you pay for them. The rest would be put to work elsewhere, as we have discussed beforehand.¡±


    By the side ¨C since he was not part of the current negotiations and had already done his part of it ¨C Reinhardt had to fight hard against the urge to smirk and laugh, as that would have been most rude and inappropriate in such proceedings.


    Some part of him would never get over the fact of how negotiations between nobles from warring nations at the end of a conflict were in essence, little different to how typical villagers would bargain with each other in the market. With less vehemence and more politeness, sure, but it was all still the same thing, both sides trying to get the most benefits from one another.


    It was haggling, just on a far grander and nobler scale than usual, with far more than mere coins at stake. It still amused him to no end to imagine the Marquis of Podovniy as some streetside vendor trying to sell his wares to Estelle who haggled him down to no end, however. Fortunately, the meeting room was well supplied with some finger foods and beverages to keep his mouth too busy to laugh at the thought.


    Reinhardt chewed on some nicely flavored dried meat slices as he mentally calculated the profits the Company would gain from this whole mess. The bonus from Levain was unquestioned, as they had participated in and ¨C he would daresay ¨C proved rather pivotal to the defense efforts. If anything, Estelle already promised him extra pay on top of the original bonus, though the amount would still have to be discussed first.


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    Salvage was overall decent. While they had no time to strip the enemy soldiers they killed during the harassment attacks they did against the enemy armies on the approach back then, those that blundered into ambushes had been stripped down to their underwears, as were the enemy soldiers that were slain in the southern fort back then.


    There was no salvage to be done in the final battle, sadly, as it would have been rather uncouth to be stripping the enemy dead naked while the announcement to cease hostilities were being sounded. That said, the group had made more than their fair share in ransom, with Estelle promising that the ransom for the Marquis and his general ¨C both of which were caught by the Free Lances ¨C would mostly go to them as a reward.


    It was also why Reinhardt had kept Salicia in the back, helping Alvaro hold the rear by taking out any commanders who seemed to threaten the lines with her arrows. Salicia was very accurate with her arrows, sure, but when shooting at speed in the heat of battle, she tended to default to going for the kill, which was rather unfortunate when a live capture was desired.


    As for their losses, the company lost around a fifth of their number in total, though that number was more retirements and young recruits giving up on the dangerous life than deaths, all considered. It was not an unexpected number, given that they had expanded rapidly and this war was the first true conflict the young recruits they took in over the past few years had experienced.


    Those that remained, on the other hand, would make for good additions to his forces going forward. They had proved their mettle and shown that they had what it took to be a mercenary, and survived their first real battle as well. Estelle also gave the mercenaries the right to recruit locally from Levain¡¯s populace for the remaining duration of their contract instead of only taking in free mercenaries like Rubor, so that was another source of bodies to add to their numbers.


    It helps that after this negotiation finished, the Levainian and Caroman forces would likely head south once more to take care of the business they left unfinished there. They had pretty much mangled most of the Southern Coalition¡¯s best military forces before they were forced to withdraw due to the Podovnian and Anduillean attack, so their return would likely herald the end of the Southern Coalition, he thought.


    That meant more land for both Levain and Caroma, as well as people who would likely migrate from the south in search of greener pastures. Not everyone would be able to settle down and work a farm peacefully. There would always be those migrants who could not feel satisfied with that sort of life, some that caused troubles, and the like. Those would be likely recruits for the Free Lances as well.


    Other than that, Reinhardt liked to imagine that his company¡¯s recent work had made the locals see them in even higher regards, so there would likely be quite a few local youths who flocked to join them as well. Maybe even some members of the militia, for that matter. While Reinhardt had forbidden actively trying to poach from the militia, there were always some who wished to find greater glory or were just addicted to the thrill of battles.


    The negotiations eventually concluded with the Marquis and Estelle agreeing to a third of the total ransoms ¨C not including the Marquis¡¯s own, which would be paid first ¨C paid up front within a month, while the rest would be paid in annual installments over the next decade. A boon to Levain and Caroma, and a painful burden to Podovniy, to be sure.

 Chapter 393 - Sending Enemies Home

    ¡°It is best not to leave matters unresolved, doubly so when it pertains to warfare.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Sure enough, around three days after the negotiations with the Marquis, Reinhardt and his mercenaries found themselves tasked with watching over the Podovnian army as they retreated towards their lands¡¯ border with Levain far in the east. The remnants of the Podovnian army ¨C maybe around half the strength of their original numbers ¨C looked down and dejected as they marched, more than a few cursing out loud into the air at times to relieve their frustrations.


    They were ¡°escorted¡± by a ten thousand strong force led by Bernd Adenauer, who were mostly there to make sure that the Podovnians behaved. Of course, the Podovnians were mostly disarmed and unarmored, the Marquis having pawned a good portion of their equipment to pay off part of the ransom that he paid up front. That rendered them mostly harmless even if they tried to do anything stupid.


    However, the Levainians were not taking their chances. It was why other than Bernd¡¯s ten thousand, Reinhardt and his company were also sent out to help with watching over the Podovnians, while a different group watched the Anduilleans¡¯ retreat to the north.


    Reinhardt¡¯s group didn¡¯t march out in the open like Bernd¡¯s did, though. Instead, they marched through the forest on the sides of the road, a task they have proven to be very apt with many times in the past weeks. In fact, Reinhardt purposely told some of his people who were the most agile and comfortable in the forest to purposely allow glimpses of themselves to be seen from the road, to give the retreating Podovnian a scary feeling of always being under some hidden predator¡¯s eyes.


    They would look to the side and only see gleaming eyes in the dark forest, or a distant silhouette moving swiftly through the trees, or hear the rustling of leaves from someone¡¯s passage. At other times they might discover some wild animals instead and breathed sighs of relief, but Reinhardt took even that away from them by sending Lili, R¨®zsa, and a couple other shapeshifter druids to tease the Podovnians.


    The Podovnian soldiers would see them appear in their animal forms and sigh in relief, only for them to shapeshift back and waggle their finger in front of the poor soldier¡¯s face before disappearing once more inside the forest. After several such incidents, the Podovnians ended up even more paranoid and on edge, often jumping at every perceived noise and movement from the woods.


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    It made for some good amusement for his mercenaries, at least, and helped lift their morale, though morale was already riding a high anyway with the promise of bonuses and all that.


    All considered, it was just a bit of petty revenge from Levain ¨C Estelle had asked Reinhardt if he had a way to make the Podovnians¡¯ journey back be as unpleasant as possible without actually harming them and he had delivered ¨C to their enemies.


    The Podovnian army stopped briefly at Aldenstadt, where they picked up another few thousand captive soldiers. Around a tenth of the force they left to surround the city was dead, while nearly half had fled to deities know where, which left the ones that surrendered and were taken captive instead. The rank and file soldiers were allowed to leave with the rest of the Podovnian army, but the officers were not as fortunate, barring the few the Marquis actually already ransomed early on.


    Estelle had blatantly said to the Marquis¡¯s face that every hostage they kept would cost him money for their living expenses while in captivity, unless the Marquis disliked that particular hostage, in which case the Levainians would use them for hard labor and he wouldn¡¯t have to pay for their accommodations. The Marquis had folded and named the few he would prefer never grace his March ever again.


    Which spared Levain the issue of having to play host to some ¡°hostages¡± that their side never intended to ransom.


    Fortunately, the Podovnians behaved throughout the journey back. There were some brawls amongst themselves and even against the Levainian soldiers Bernd led, but they were minor issues, something both sides expected and decided to turn a blind eye on as long as it did not turn serious. As nobody died or got crippled, those brawls never turned serious in their eyes.


    The group escorted the retreating Podovnians ¨C Reinhardt having reintegrated Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon during their stop at Aldenstadt ¨C until they were two days away from the border between Levain and Podovniy. There they allowed the Podovnians to go the rest of the way on their own, though with a note that they would still be watched even then.


    Reinhardt made sure those words were true by having his company¡¯s fliers keep watch over the Podovnians until they crossed the border and returned to their own homeland two days later. In the meantime, his forces and Bernd¡¯s were stationed where they had sent off the Podovnians just in case. The location was close enough so that the fliers could deliver reports on a regular basis, and also allowed for a fast reaction from their side.


    Their task done, the groups returned to Aldenstadt, where they rested for a few days, then continued their journey back to Levain. Reinhardt kept his flying scouts busy while they rested in Aldenstadt, and they kept track of the Podovnians to ensure that there was no foul play being orchestrated somewhere. Only after a week of watching did he give them leave to rest up and travel back to Levain ahead of the rest.


    Needless to say, permission to leave early and rest up was something the fliers were all too happy to accept. It was a week¡¯s trek through the roads for the armies involved to reach Levain from Aldenstadt, but for the fliers, they could cover that distance in a single day. Fortunately the Podovnians had undone the traps Reinhardt set up on the road on their way in, which saved them time as they did not have to clean them up after the war.

 Chapter 394 - Dealing with the South

    ¡°Leave not any roots behind, lest the weeds grow back later.¡± - Old folk saying.


    A week after Reinhardt returned to Levain from Aldenstadt, the armies of Levain and their Caroman allies ¨C twenty thousand of Levain¡¯s best, and another twenty thousand from Caroma who had sent some of their soldiers home and refilled their numbers with reinforcements from their homeland ¨C marched to the south once more.


    It could well be argued that the entire conflict that ended up involving many of the remaining forces that remained in the former territory of the Clangeddin Empire was one instigated by the Southern Coalition, with their unprovoked assault on Levain that ended in a fiery disaster. That incident was the first card that knocked others over as it fell and resulted in the full-blown conflict that ended with tens of thousands dead from multiple nations.


    If Levain and Caroma stopped pursuing the Southern Coalition ¨C whose letters were what brought Podovniy and Anduille into the mix ¨C then it would be the same as giving the southerners what they wanted in the first place, and neither side were willing to accept that after the losses they took in the battles.


    As such, a second southern expedition was rapidly assembled, this time with the intent of finishing off the Southern Coalition once and for all.


    With how Podovniy left defeated to lick its wounds, and Anduille having signed a non-aggression treaty with both Caroma and Levain for the next twenty years, they were safe from those two directions, which left only the south like a thorn in their side. Now that they had the time to finish what they started, it was no surprise that both Estelle and Caroma¡¯s council ¨C partly influenced by the suggestions given out by the Marshals ¨C rapidly assembled another offense right away.


    This time around only Marshal Publius Cornelius represented the Caromans, as the Lady Marshal had returned home with their injured daughter to care for her. The Marshal had informed Estelle that it was probably a good thing, because his Lady had a tendency to go overboard when in such an emotionally heightened state.


    As such, it would be far better for the southerners if he was the one leading the Caroman forces.


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    Reinhardt did not participate in the campaign actively, as the contract the Free Lances signed excluded them from offensive actions, but he did lend his flying scouts to Estelle, having them range far and wide ahead of the army and periodically reporting anything of note. The advantage in information gathering should be enough for the joint forces to snuff out what resistance remained in the south, he thought.


    When the army marched south, though, they found themselves mostly faced with a realm that was in the midst of tearing itself apart.


    The army slowed down as a precaution while they tried to gather information from the people they encountered, mostly those people who decided to strike out on their own and remain in the land they were born in instead of heading north into Levain back during the first expedition. From those people, they learned that the Coalition had broken apart and devolved into a civil war shortly after the expedition.


    The civil war itself mostly took place between Olfas ¨C which took in most of Cezar and Sebaque¡¯s forces now that they had lost their lords ¨C and Nomen, which according to rumors found backing from Sevras-Galastine further south. Some of the smaller states sided with one of the two, while yet others declared their independence and struck out on their own during the chaos.


    It did not take long for Estelle and the Marshal to make a decision to reach out to Nomen ¨C which had never fought against them in either of the previous conflicts ¨C and offer to rid them of their mutual enemy in exchange for a pseudo alliance between the states and a recognition of Levain and Caroma¡¯s claim to the northern side of the Coalition¡¯s territory.


    Things went far more smoothly than expected when the young High Lady of Nomen agreed to their conditions, and after a swift but brutal battle and a short siege that saw the maddened High Lady of Olfas commit suicide by burning her wing of the castle, the situation in the Southern Coalition ended due to Levain and Caroma¡¯s interference.


    What remained of the Southern Coalition splintered into many small nations, the largest of which was Nomen, which signed the treaty with Levain and Caroma and acted as a buffer state between them and Sevras-Galastine to the south. Estelle and Publius then shared the northern side of the Coalition¡¯s lands, with Levain mostly claiming a strip of land that connected their original lands to Nomen and the lands furthest north, instead opting to migrate people who were willing to move into their territory. The rest went to Caroma or turned into independent small states.


    News of the victory was brought to Levain by some of Hannah¡¯s people mere days after they actually happened, the fliers allowing for swift communication despite the distances involved, and the city threw another celebration for the victory. Caroma was notified the same way, though they received the news a day later than Levain, due to the distances involved.


    It was such that a mere three months after the Siege of Levain city, the Southern Coalition came to an end, partly by their own hands, and vanished from the history books, though the splinter states that came from that breakup would last longer than the Coalition itself ever did. Some even managed to remain sovereign states many centuries into the future.


    As for the armies of Levain and Caroma, the main force returned to their respective nations, though they were replaced with forces meant to garrison and help keep the order in the newly claimed territory. While all this went on, the Free Lances continued to follow their contract, and took the chance to finish their training of the second batch of now somewhat more experienced militiamen.

 Chapter 395 - Those who Lost their Cause

    ¡°There exists much stigma against deserters, typically along the lines of people who betray their liege or employer once could very well do it again. People who say that often fail to account for the conditions that led to said betrayal in the first place. Incompetent commanders are amongst the most common causes for such actions, as not many people would willingly follow a fool into what they know would be their own deaths.¡± - Scipius Cornelius Barca, famed General from the Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.


    While Estelle and Publius were campaigning in the south, Reinhardt found himself in a situation that he had both expected and yet not. Namely the fact that he suddenly had nearly half a battalion of Podovnian soldiers ¨C or rather, deserters ¨C showing up by the city and claiming that they were on the lookout for employment opportunities.


    The sight of such deserters was far from uncommon after any war. There would always be some soldiers who deserted their army for one reason or another. Most often, such deserters were soon reduced to banditry in order to continue to survive, but at times more honorable ones would seek out employment elsewhere, even if it was with their erstwhile enemies.


    Naturally there were not many career options for such army deserters, especially if they were of the conscripted type, which were typically just poor peasants given whatever equipment was at hand and some rudimentary training before being made to march and told to kill the enemy. When it came to the more professional types, however, there were more options at hand.


    Most often, they were employed as guardsmen and the like, though that sort of career path rarely had much of a future, as the stigma of being a former deserter meant that they would rarely rise to high position. More daring and enterprising ones might instead start a mercenary unit or join an established one, and a few had found success that way.


    This band of deserters, led by a former minor noble from a region that Podovniy conquered years ago, clearly sought to do just that.


    For Reinhardt himself, it was not that troublesome a matter. He had foreseen such a possibility and discussed it with Estelle prior to her departure to the south. The council had given him permission to enlist such deserters if he deemed them suitable for his company, and they were included as part of people he was allowed to actively recruit.


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    Which was one reason he was meeting the leader of the deserters that day in order to discuss potential employment.


    ¡°So, how do you like to be called, former senior commander?¡± Reinhardt asked, noting the rank that the woman across from him previously held. To his knowledge a senior commander in the Podovnian army would be in command of a battalion, around three to five hundred people. The woman had brought a bit over a hundred people with her, likely what was left of her battalion, though Reinhardt was uncertain where they received those losses.


    ¡°You can just call me Astrid, Captain,¡± replied the woman. ¡°I pretty much threw away that rank when I chose to take what¡¯s left of my men and fled rather than let an idiot get us all killed. Heh. That fat bastard likely surrendered and probably got himself ransomed by now¡­ Bloody noble shitbag.¡±


    ¡°Understandable choice,¡± replied Reinhardt. He could well sympathize with being forced to obey the commands of an incompetent. It was one reason he was so picky about contracts his company took, and looked for those that allowed independent command whenever possible. ¡°Where were you and your people stationed during this mess? Mind you, chances are very good that my company likely killed a bunch of yours either way. It¡¯s just that I prefer knowing who you likely ran into back then.¡±


    ¡°My troops were part of those left at Aldenstadt to surround the city and kept the people in there from running out to reinforce Levain, or that was what they said our mission was,¡± replied the woman with some vehemence. ¡°Only took two weeks of anyone going out of the camp disappearing before our idiot of a commander broke down. He tried to pull off a ¡®tactical¡¯ retreat while a good half of our forces were made to play meatshield for him, though the folks from Aldenstadt choosing that time to storm out kinda put an end to that. I managed to get what¡¯s left of my people out of that debacle, so here we are. Not sure if the rank bastard¡¯s dead or alive and I honestly don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you ran into Gr¨¹n. Not a pleasant experience, that,¡± noted Reinhardt with a trace of pity in his voice. Gr¨¹nhildr was merciless to her enemies and was fighting in the defense of her hometown, which likely meant that she pulled out all the stops and wouldn¡¯t hesitate to rely on nastier methods. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, if the ¡®bastard¡¯ you refer to happen to be some minor noble named Lenos or something like that, you¡¯ll be happy to hear that he¡¯s going to be working as a farmhand for the rest of his life, since apparently your Marquis didn¡¯t like him enough to ransom him.¡±


    ¡°It was pretty amusing to see his face back there, really, which is why I remembered. Your Marquis ransomed the tribunes working under that guy but left him in particular to rot. Must not be a popular person, huh?¡± he added with a smirk. ¡°I am assuming you and yours are part of the people he ¡®volunteered¡¯ to play rearguard while he bravely ran away?¡±


    ¡°Got it in one, Sir,¡± replied Astrid with a wistful sigh. ¡°Can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t find the idea of him being made to shovel dung for the rest of his life amusing. Couldn¡¯t happen to a better person,¡± she said with a relieved chuckle. ¡°But yeah, at first I took off with the intention of regrouping with the main army, but they got their asses kicked as well, didn¡¯t they? That changed a lot of plans, to say the least. Now I¡¯m just looking for a way to keep my people fed without resorting to banditry, and honestly, Captain? Your company is looking like a really good option for that at the moment.¡±

 Chapter 396 - Everyone and their own Woes

    ¡°Yesterday¡¯s enemies being tomorrow¡¯s allies is just part of life as a mercenary.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°All right, here is how this will go,¡± said Reinhardt as he walked alongside Astrid to show her a bit around the mercenaries¡¯ re-established camp outside the city walls. ¡°Normally we wouldn¡¯t pry too much about the past. Let bygones be bygones and all that. Everyone has their own story that they¡¯d like to keep private, we understand that.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, since your group are deserters, I must insist on learning more about you and your past, your motivations and reasons and all that, I¡¯m sure you can understand why,¡± he continued, talking just as nonchalantly along the way. ¡°So what¡¯s the story, Miss? What made you choose to desert like this? From what my people could tell, your people are a good cut above the typical soldier, and many of them seem to have personal loyalty to you, strong enough to join you in deserting, at that.¡±


    ¡°I guess there is no point in hiding it, though I wished I could have shelved it all away and just have a new start without worrying about them,¡± replied Astrid with a loud sigh. ¡°My full name is Astrid du Ingesdatter La-Ramis ver Hevia. My father was the Earl of Hevia before this¡­ civil war broke out. He was killed along with my older brothers when one of his trusted advisors turned traitor as Podovniy came for our land.¡±


    ¡°My mother, my older sisters, and I were kept alive even after our defeat and incorporation into the march. It was probably a bad look to kill off the ¡®defenseless women¡¯ or something, or maybe we were still popular enough with the people that completely killing off our family was ill-advised,¡± she continued, sounding quite wistful. ¡°By now I¡¯m the only one left. My mother passed away four years ago, and all of my older sisters had since been married off elsewhere¡­ or to the scum that killed my father and my brothers.¡±


    ¡°You went the military route to avoid getting married off against your will I assume?¡± asked Reinhardt, all too familiar with the scenario. It was far from rare for a new ruler to cement their legitimacy after getting rid of the old dynasty by marrying an offspring of the previous one, often forcibly. ¡°Yeah, that look on your face answered that, nothing with that, of course, just got to make sure of things in this sort of situation.¡±


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    ¡°There have been fewer and fewer people who were still loyal to the old family in the former Earldom. I already consider one of my sisters as good as dead, and the other lost, though at least I could hope for her happiness elsewhere,¡± continued Astrid with a shake of her head. ¡°Around half of those remaining loyalists died around Aldenstadt thanks to the idiot commander we got saddled with, and the remaining ones are the people with me. I can¡¯t promise that they¡¯d be the best soldiers this land has ever seen or anything like that, but if you would allow us to find our way in life together with you, we will fight alongside you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s as good a motivation as any. You¡¯ll find that we pay quite well as long as you can do what you¡¯re asked to do, and that we will try to avoid making you do things that¡¯s beyond your capabilities,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. His own people came from all sorts of backgrounds, so he was far from one to judge.


    Some were career money soldiers who had been in the line of work for decades or even centuries. Others were former captives and prisoners that chose to join his company in search of a better future, while yet others might well have been wanted where they originated from, a few perhaps with bounties on their heads. It wouldn¡¯t surprise him one bit if some of Elfriede¡¯s people were of that type, given how she was the one to handle the worst of their recruits and turn the trash into something useful.


    ¡°Given the number of people who look up to you for leadership, I can offer you a position as a platoon leader in our company. That is the norm for people who join us while bringing their own group of people if there¡¯s at least a certain number of them,¡± said Reinhardt openly. That policy of his company¡¯s was no secret, as it had been invoked many times like with Egil, Fatimah, and Soledad in the past. ¡°You will have relative autonomy and your unit will be your own to command, but we expect all of you to adhere to the company rules as a whole. You will answer directly to me, and to some extent, Lars. Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°As long as you promise not to send me and mine to our deaths for shits and giggles, that¡¯ll be good enough for me, Captain,¡± replied Astrid with a resigned sigh in her voice. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest in that your Company still being around is probably the best case for me. There aren¡¯t many mercenary companies of good repute left in this region after that fight. Those that worked for Podovniy were never an option, even if they were not so mangled after that war.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± replied Reinhardt with an easy nod. ¡°Oh, and another important thing. If you and yours are to become part of this company, that means leaving any old grudges you might have against us behind, which in this case likely includes people who killed a good part of your people back in Aldenstadt. Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Crystal clear, Captain. I already warned my people before we decided to come here. We were on opposing sides at that time, and we were the aggressors to boot, so I believe they understand,¡± answered Astrid with a nod. ¡°If some of them do misbehave, I will follow what disciplinary actions you decide to hand out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, knowing who your people might have grudges against, I don¡¯t think it would ever come to my table. Gr¨¹n and her people know how to handle things themselves.¡±

 Chapter 397 - Life as a Mercenary

    ¡°Many call those of us in this profession murderers for hire. We do not even dignify them with a retort, partly because that is a good way to describe a mercenary anyway. We are people who have chosen to make a living by getting paid to gut another person, and as most will tell you, there is no shame to be found in an honest living.


    Even if it means gutting others for coins on the regular. At least we¡¯re not bandits.¡± - Ardin ¡°Face-Peeler¡± Zakuin, infamous mercenary from Clangeddin, circa 502 VA.


    ¡°So that¡¯s one thing done, at least,¡± sighed Astrid ver Hevia ¨C she decided to reassume the family name now that they were out of Podovniy¡¯s sphere of influence ¨C in her tent after she brought the remaining hundred twenty-seven followers she had to the mercenary camp and watched them set up tents at an area specified by the mercenaries.


    Her original plan was to attempt to distinguish herself in service to the March, but that plan went down the gutters with the disastrous defeat at Levain. Astrid was politically savvy enough to realize that such a defeat would likely mean a lot of instability to happen in the March, with an internal civil war not even that unlikely an outcome. Either way, it was something she was likely to be able to affect, especially since she just got confirmation that the asshole brother of the man who killed her father and brothers would spend the rest of his life working in Levainian mines.


    It was something her dear brother-in-law, the current Earl, was unlikely to leave unpunished.


    As for her sister who married the scum, that was as much as a lost cause. Astrid knew her oldest sister as a self-serving, selfish wench ever since they were young, and that impression has not changed a whit since. If anything she just prayed that her second sister, the one made to marry the fourth son of the Duke of Galastine, would be able to find her own happiness abroad.


    With her own situation, Astrid knew that she was taking a gamble, one that involved the lives of both herself and her people. Still, it was the best option she had which still gave her some hope of improvement in the future. Her other options were to lead her followers to an undignified life as bandits, which she refused to even imagine, or to languish as lowly city guards for Levain, which might be a safe way to survive, but one that was pretty much a dead end as far as her aspirations went.


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    To become mercenaries was certainly a great risk, but it was one with plenty of possible rewards as well.


    In truth, Astrid herself had leaned towards applying as guards in Levain, to allow those who sacrificed their everything to follow her out of old loyalties some secure and safe living. It was those very same people who convinced her to take another path, however, as like herself, many of those people still held dreams of returning to their homeland as liberators one day in the future.


    It was an unlikely dream, and they all knew it, but their sincerity convinced her to fight together with her people to possibly realize that dream one day in the future. She cared not if others would call her dream absurd or foolish. It was something that motivated her people, and for that alone, she would strive to her utmost to keep that dream alive.


    For the time being, however, their main priority was to survive, and to blend with the mercenaries that would be their comrades for the foreseeable future.


    Said mercenaries actually impressed Astrid, who found them to be completely unlike the typical sort of mercenaries she had seen in the March. While they were certainly mostly rough and uncouth people like most of their kind, there was a certain sense of solid camaraderie and solidarity between them, one that immediately included Astrid and her people in it the moment the therian Captain introduced them as new comrades earlier that day.


    Many of the mercenaries ¨C as well as their camp followers ¨C who had been nearby when Astrid¡¯s people arrived happily volunteered to help them set up their camp, which cut the time needed by a good half. By the time Astrid went to her tent to sort out some paperwork, some of her people were already playing dice and cards or sharing food and drink with the mercenaries.


    The Company itself was far more varied compared to what Astrid was used to. While the Clangeddin Empire boasted of being an Empire that encompassed all known races, the majority of their inhabitants remained humans, and other races were mostly minorities save in certain cities. It was not the case with the mercenaries, which had such a wild mixture of races that every sort of person could be seen amongst their ranks.


    Yet they all worked together side by side like one big happy family, somehow, despite all their differences.


    Astrid shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had a few pieces of paperwork to arrange, as apparently the Free Lances were a good bit more organized in that field compared to the typical mercenary company. One of them was her employment contract, an agreement that she and her people would work for the company for a minimum of two years to come, after which point their salaries and benefits could be renegotiated based on performance.


    It was surprising enough that a mercenary company of all things offered pay raises based on performance, when the same incentive often dangled by nobles and lords were mostly empty promises, but apparently the mercenaries actually made good on their word. Some of the people that helped hers set up their tents were dark-skinned westerners, who she learned were former slaves after some small chat.


    She also learned that those former slaves made better money as mercenaries than her people did as official soldiers of the March, and not by a little bit at that.

 Chapter 398 - A Walk around the Camp

    ¡°Exiled former nobles, common thieves and murderers, or even just some green village boys who probably don''t know the sharp end of a spear from the blunt one¡­ you always get all sorts of people when it comes to mercenaries. The trick is in discerning which companies turned their random assortment of people into effective warriors, and which are just the leader of a rabble.¡± - Aethelbald Stahlfaust the IIIrd, King of Knallzog, on the effective use of mercenary forces in war.


    ¡°Oh, hey, you¡¯re the new one, ain¡¯t ya?¡± asked a voice as Astrid walked around the mercenary camp as she had some time to burn until the meeting Reinhardt informed her to attend in the evening that day.


    Astrid stopped in her walk and turned towards the source of the voice only to find a small group of northern orcs ¨C easily noticeable by the brighter hues of their skin ¨C seated around a small fire which had some chunks of meat skewered on sticks broiling around it. Their strong orcish features, namely the way their rather large eyes seemed to jut out of their sockets and their strongly set jaws with prominent tusks, hinted that they were likely full-blooded ones straight from the north.


    The largest orc of the bunch, which seemed to be their leader, an impressive specimen who would dwarf most people Astrid had ever seen or known, beckoned for her to come closer. The female orc had the typical features of the race, but wore them well together with her bright greenish skin and rowdy mess of red hair.


    ¡°Come, come! Sit with us, friend!¡± said the orc enthusiastically as she gestured towards Astrid, who decided to take the invitation after a moment. From their postures, it was obvious that these orcs were warriors, and thus likely some of her fellow mercenaries. There was no need to alienate herself from them by being rude. ¡°Got to say we¡¯re happy that we no longer get to be the runt of the litter after only so short a time, thanks to you!¡±


    ¡°Runt of the Litter?¡± asked Astrid. She was aware what the phrase might mean, but was uncertain about the meaning in the given context.


    ¡°Old term from home, in this case just means we¡¯re the newest platoon in the company,¡± explained the bulky orcish woman with a guffaw. ¡°Name¡¯s Branka, by the way, of Clan Greentusk,¡± said the orcish woman as she introduced herself. ¡°At the moment commander of the second archer platoon. You and yours would be the newest now, instead of us, and I offer my gratitude for that!¡±


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    The orcish woman then proceeded to ply Astrid with skewers of well-broiled, fatty meats that tasted amazing despite the simple way it had been cooked with. Her fellow orcish platoon members also greeted her and introduced themselves in a very friendly manner, something Astrid never expected as most stories she heard of northern orcs were of brutish raiders famed for their savagery.


    ¡°Can¡¯t have good meat without some drink to wash it down with!¡± declared Branka merrily as she brought out a large leather waterskin from her storage artifact and offered it to Astrid with one hand. ¡°Have some! This is Arrak from my hometown, what the warriors drink!¡±


    ¡°Sure, thanks,¡± said Astrid as she received the waterskin and opened it before she took a tentative whiff of the liquor inside. There was a hint of a sour smell to it, but that was overwhelmed by a very strong scent of alcohol that followed a moment later. In the end, Astrid just steeled herself, lifted the waterskin, and carefully took a gulp of the liquor.


    It felt like drinking liquid fire and burned all the way down to her gullet, and she couldn¡¯t help but to cough repeatedly after she swallowed the drink.


    ¡°She can actually stomach it! She¡¯ll make a good warrior!¡± declared Branka amidst the cheering of her fellow orcs. The burly orc then took the waterskin back ¨C Astrid was all too happy to part with it ¨C and chugged down a significantly larger chunk of its contents in one go, before giving out a satisfied sigh and passing the waterskin around to the other orcs. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine! Welcome to the Company!¡±


    It took Astrid another half hour or so before she could excuse herself from the merrymaking group of orcs. She was quite full of the surprisingly good food and somewhat woozy from the strong drink, but couldn¡¯t help but feel encouraged by the experience. If the rest of the Company were as welcoming as these orcs, maybe it would not be a far-fetched dream for her people to live well amongst them after all.


    As she walked around the mercenary camp some more, Astrid happened to see some people whose appearance and demeanor caught her eye. She was familiar with that look. It was the look she had once seen when her brother-in-law, the current Earl, took her to the dungeons to show her the worst criminals in the Earldom, with the unspoken threat that he would let them have their way with her should she go against him.


    This particular group of mercenaries had a similar look to those criminals. People who probably kill for enjoyment rather than just to make a living, or worse, though they were surprisingly well-behaved and rather demure. Astrid even saw a slender but rather short elven woman walk up behind one of the mercenaries that had the look of a killer who was staring at her and slapped the back of his head, and the mercenary didn¡¯t dare to even make a complaint about it.


    Astrid also heard the sound of wood clashing against each other, so out of curiosity, she went to the direction the sound came from, which happened to be the section of the camp that those criminal-like mercenaries were gathered in. Those mercenaries either quietly stepped out of her way or gave polite nods as she passed, though, which was something she found a bit unexpected.


    Perhaps she was at fault for judging a book by its cover.

 Chapter 399 - Jackals Behave where Lions Roam

    ¡°How do we keep our worst people under control, you ask? It¡¯s not really a secret, so to speak, and our approach to the problem is very simple. We just have someone even worse than the worst of our people take charge of them. Like understands alike, so such a person is very effective at handling the worst kind of scum amongst our troops, and they in turn also know better than to antagonize such a person in any way.


    That way lies only a gruesome death.¡± - Reinhardt Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances Mercenary Company, circa 12 FP.


    As Astrid reached the source of the noise she heard, she finally realized it for what it was. Two of the mercenaries ¨C both women ¨C were sparring with wooden weapons, albeit in a spar that looked horribly lopsided at first glance.


    One of the women was a slender and rather tall human woman with straw blonde hair, who wielded a pair of oddly shaped wooden swords of some sort, ones with exaggerated handguards and a second ¡°prong¡± perpendicular to the blade at the last quarter towards the tip. She moved with lithe and certain steps, but looked positively small compared to her opponent.


    Her opponent was a therian woman who Astrid felt must be related to the mercenary Captain in some manner, given their mutual white spotted fur that she had never seen before. The therian woman was taller by at least half a head, and she wielded a pair of wooden rods that might well be logs instead as they were easily as thick around as a strong person¡¯s arm, and likely just as devastating.


    And that was before one accounted for the speed and power with which the therian woman moved.


    Each blow from the therian woman likely carried enough force behind them to outright crush a human body in one hit, yet somehow her opponent either avoided them ¨C often by no more than a hair or two, which nearly made Astrid jump in fright ¨C or skillfully pushed them away using her odd weapons. The human woman¡¯s own pair of odd training weapons often struck from tricky angles that the therian often only managed to avoid thanks to her superior speed and reflexes.


    As such, despite the horribly lopsided first impression, the spar was surprisingly even between the two, and they kept exchanging blows for another quarter hour ¨C an exercise that Astrid thought would have made most people winded ¨C before they finally called a stop to their spar. Neither woman looked the worse for wear other than a little bit of sweating.


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    ¡°Oh, we got someone new?¡± asked the human one after she wiped her sweat off with some clean rags and took a couple steps towards Astrid. Astrid was curious how the woman just noticed her at that point, since she was looking in her direction all that time.


    ¡°Yeah, boss. New one the Cap took in just earlier,¡± said one of the spectators next to Astrid, a rather slender-looking man with a scar that bisected his lips vertically on the left side and a glare that made him look like he was a wanted murderer of sorts. Probably just a man with an unfortunate face, she thought.


    ¡°Ah, the one dad told us about, mom,¡± said the therian girl, whose voice made Astrid readjust her estimation of her age. The girl was probably still a teenager, even.


    Then the implication of the words the girl said caught up to her in her mind and she almost stammered and made a fool of herself as she gave a hasty salute towards the two. ¡°Astrid ver Hevia, Ma¡¯ams, it is my privilege to be part of this fine Company,¡± she said nervously. Astrid had most definitely not expected to run into the captain¡¯s wife and child sparring of all things.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, I remember Rein talking about you bringing in a good number of former soldiers with you,¡± noted the human woman. ¡°Just call me Elfriede, by the way, no need for Ma¡¯am this Ma¡¯am that, we¡¯re all the same rank within the company,¡± she added.


    ¡°Erycea Edelstein,¡± introduced the therian girl as she shook Astrid¡¯s hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, Miss Astrid.¡±


    ¡°Uh, nice to meet you, Miss Edelstein,¡± replied Astrid, clearly unused to people so closely related to her superior treating her like an equal that way. ¡°Is it the norm for us to be more relaxed like this amongst the Company, or?¡±


    ¡°Not really. There¡¯s the chain of command and some hierarchy to follow as usual, but the three of us are platoon commanders since I hear you brought enough men to constitute a new platoon with you, which places all of us at the same rank in the Company,¡± replied Elfriede with a shake of her head. ¡°It¡¯s why I said you shouldn¡¯t use honorifics when referring to us. We don¡¯t exactly needle you just because you¡¯re new here.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should know better than to judge a book by its cover,¡± said Astrid with a chuckle. ¡°Here I was, worrying because some people just happen to be born with unfortunate faces that give off a bad impression. At my age I really should know better.¡±


    ¡°What, you mean how my platoon members look like crooks and murderers?¡± asked Elfriede, to which Astrid nodded with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. ¡°I would say that you have a good eye then, actually. That is exactly what most of them are. Crooks, murderers, and killers who kill for the pleasure and thrill of it.¡±


    ¡°Mom and her officers wrangle and deal with the misfits we got in the Company,¡± explained Erycea in her mother¡¯s stead. ¡°Even if we¡¯re strict in the recruitment, some would always slip through anyway. As long as they¡¯re usable, we make use of them, and keep them under control at the same time. Not an easy job, but mom¡¯s best at it.¡±


    ¡°How do you have the confidence to deal with¡­ such people on a regular basis?¡± asked Astrid, somewhat shaken by the revelation.


    ¡°Why, it¡¯s a simple case, actually,¡± replied Elfriede with a smirk on her lips. ¡°A killer recognizes another instinctually, so all of them knows that I¡¯m worse than any of them, and if they dare fuck shit up under my watch, what awaits them would make even their worst imagination pale in comparison. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

 Chapter 400 - A Company Meeting

    ¡°The image of a mercenary company often goes along the line of a group of rowdy, wild warriors who fight with little semblance of order and discipline. That could not be further than the truth. If anything, most mercenary units have such strict adherence to the chain of command and discipline that they would put most men-at-arms to shame.¡± - Stefan Horst, Captain of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers Mercenary Company, circa 14 FP.


    The Captain¡¯s wife and daughter ¨C who Astrid found to be quite nice despite the imposing way they looked at times ¨C brought Astrid with them to the Company meeting, since it was close to that time by then. The three of them walked towards where the Captain¡¯s command tent was, and saw that the meeting would be held outside the tent, where a set of barrels and logs had been arranged in a circle to serve as seats.


    By the time they arrived ¨C a short while before the appointed time ¨C there were only three people already present, though one of them made it very obvious to Astrid why the meeting was held outside. She had thought the Captain tall and imposing as it was, but the bear therian that sat on one of the arranged logs across the clearing from the Captain must have stood at least half again as tall, and just as much wider.


    It would have been a challenge to fit such a figure in the tent, to say the least.


    The mercenary Captain himself, with his easily noticed white spotted fur, sat next to a human man who talked while absent-mindedly playing with his goatee using one hand. He noticed their approach from afar and waved one paw-like hand, at which point Astrid noticed how the captain¡¯s daughter seemed to nudge her mother on the side in response.


    Astrid and the Captain¡¯s wife sat on the captain¡¯s right, while his daughter walked over and sat by the large-bodied bear therian, greeting them in a familiar manner. They made small talk while they waited for the rest of the Company¡¯s officer corps ¨C specifically the platoon leaders ¨C to gather, which only took a while longer.


    A young blonde human girl who had a striking resemblance to the Captain¡¯s wife came together with an old-looking goblin and another woman whose style of clothing and tanned skin made Astrid think of a southerner. They sat themselves in what seemed to be an agreed upon seating order, the young girl next to the Captain¡¯s daughter while the other two sat on the other side of the bear therian.


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    The ones who arrived next were a tall, one-eyed human woman who came together with a shorter, brutish-looking woman of mixed ancestry. Another pair followed behind them, engrossed in conversation as they walked, composed of a soft-looking human man and the red-haired orcish woman Astrid met earlier in the day.


    A middle-aged human man with a neatly trimmed mustache and a dark-skinned westerner youth came next, followed by a tanned middle-aged woman who walked with a bow-legged gait. After them, the last ones to arrive were an energetic young woman with a light tan who walked side by side with a frailer-looking man the same age, who carried writing implements with him.


    ¡°Ah, good, everyone¡¯s here on time,¡± said the Captain once everyone was seated. The other gathered mercenaries gave nods and other gestures in reply. ¡°I called for this gathering because today we get to welcome a new member to the company. Say your hellos to Astrid¡­ I believe you said you prefer to go by ver Hevia these days? Astrid ver Hevia, our newest platoon leader, everyone,¡± he added as he gestured towards Astrid with one hand. ¡°Astrid, these are all the platoon leaders with the Free Lances, except Loren there. He¡¯s here because he¡¯s our unofficial scribe and will be recording this meeting for posterity¡¯s sake, or something like that.¡±


    ¡°An honor to be given the chance to serve with you all,¡± said Astrid as she stood up and gave a slight bow to the gathered mercenaries. She could feel the way how most of their gazes were locked on to her, people who were assessing their new partner, someone they might have to fight side by side with in the near future. Someone who might well one day mean the difference between life and death for them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stare at her too much. Her platoon consists entirely of former soldiers, but that doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t put them through some training first before we let them march alongside the rest of us,¡± Reinhardt added nonchalantly. ¡°We still got over a year¡¯s worth of contract with Levain to train their people, so it¡¯s a good time to train our own newcomers while we¡¯re at it, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Hah! Good point, Boss,¡± said the young woman who arrived last to the gathering. ¡°I think that¡¯s the part we¡¯re all worried about, here,¡± she added, to the nods of the other gathered platoon commanders. ¡°No offense intended, newbie, but none of us got to actually fight as part of the company without at least some training first, not even the Boss¡¯s kids.¡±


    ¡°An understandable concern,¡± replied Astrid. She could not even complain about the implied insult to the quality of her people¡¯s training, honestly, given how their army had been routed and the mercenaries apparently played a notable role in that defeat. ¡°My men are ready and willing to go through whatever training deemed necessary to improve their capabilities.¡±


    ¡°I hope you remember those words well, Miss,¡± said the young girl who looked like the Captain¡¯s wife with a slight chuckle. ¡°You¡¯ll soon learn that our idea of ¡®sufficient training¡¯ differs quite a lot with most mercenaries out there, or even armies for that matter.¡±


    ¡°No need to worry, though,¡± said the large bear therian, her voice identifying her as a female. ¡°If your people do end up collapsing and can¡¯t even walk to the infirmaries, my folks won¡¯t mind lending a hand to bring them over, just say the word.¡±

 Chapter 401 - A Period of Acclimatization

    ¡°No matter how experienced you are, it takes some time to get used to a new environment. Skilled commanders know to minimize risks during this period of acclimatization.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    Mercenary Encampment outside the Western Wall


    Free City of Levain, Levain City


    Central Alcidea


    4th Day of the 2nd Week of the 5th Month, Year 19 FP.


    Time certainly swept many things aside, thought Astrid ver Hevia as she looked at Levain City just east of the mercenary encampment. An encampment she and her people called home for the past several months.


    Barely half a year had passed since the short but eventful war between the two sides that took place around the city, yet the signs of said war had already mostly disappeared as if the event never happened at all. The circle of rubble that used to be the seventh wall of Levain city ¨C as well as the thousands of corpses crushed beneath ¨C had been cleaned in its entirety, and even the ruins of the many buildings that remained outside the sixth wall had been tidied up as well.


    Levain¡¯s victory caused a boost of prosperity for the city-state, the tribute and compensation they received from their erstwhile foes filling their coffers anew. Their populace received an influx of migrants from the former Southern Coalition, many of which settled down in the fertile lands that had been left unattended because of a lack of people to work on them.


    While most of those migrants still relied on the food handouts from the City itself to survive, their fields already showed plenty of promise, with crops growing well and in abundance, which would hopefully lead to a harvest that would allow the people living on the land to sustain themselves and then some from the fruits of their own hard work.


    The Free Lances themselves continued as per their contract, the veteran mercenaries training tens of thousands of Levain¡¯s militiamen in their ways of fighting while also making them go through grueling physical exercise meant to improve their capabilities. It was the sort of training that would have likely elicited a storm of protests had the mercenaries not already shown its results with the previous batch of trainees and accompanied their trainees while going through the workout as well.


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    Astrid felt that last part keenly, as she and her people had been thrown in with the Levainian trainees and made to follow the same workout routine in all its grueling glory as well.


    She had to admit that it was both devious yet also absurdly effective for the Captain to make his own people join the workout on alternating days to show that they too did the same thing as their trainees. Most of the mercenaries did not elicit that much reaction from the trainees, but one platoon in particular always incited all the trainees who saw them to push themselves to the utmost limit.


    Said platoon was the one led by Alycea, the Captain¡¯s adopted younger daughter, the young woman from the meeting who bore a striking resemblance to the Captain¡¯s wife. Her platoon had such an effect on the trainees because most of them were in their late teens to their thirties and even forties. Alycea¡¯s platoon was almost entirely filled with youngsters, many of which were still in the middle of their teenage years.


    Few things motivated people more than seeing younger people do better than them, doubly so when said younger people were young enough that they could have been their own children.


    Astrid had also since learned that the Captain¡¯s adopted daughter was actually his wife¡¯s orphaned niece by blood. What complicated the matter more was that the Free Lances were part of the reason the girl was orphaned to begin with, which was a whole other bag of bones. That said, Alycea seemed to be aware of her background and held nothing but love and admiration for her adopted family, interestingly enough.


    Then again, had the Captain and his wife not adopted her back then, the girl would have probably been tossed into some random orphanage, or worse, given how she was a direct descendant of a noble family that had been made pretty much extinct ¨C other than the girl herself and the Captain¡¯s wife, who was an illegitimate offspring of the family head of the time ¨C after the invasion of Theodinaz.


    Astrid also learned very quickly that ¨C to her dismay ¨C the mercenaries held themselves to a far higher standard of fitness than Podovniy bothered to train their soldiers to. As such, while her people grumbled about being made to train again at first, they were very soon humbled and beaten down while the rest of the mercenaries who were doing their regular exercise that day ran laps around them.


    Then of course the platoons led by the Captain¡¯s two daughters, both of them full of youths, had to further one-up them the very next day and incense the competitive spirit in her people. Many of them trained until they literally dropped from exhaustion and had to be carried to the infirmary that day, and it was a sight that repeated itself often for the first month or so.


    Even at the present day, five months after her people joined the mercenary Company, Astrid¡¯s people still lagged somewhat behind the veteran mercenaries, even if they already improved their physical fitness by leaps and bounds in the meantime. At this point they no longer complained about the training, but went at it with a near obsession to finally catch up to the Company¡¯s standards.


    Astrid sighed as she finished penning an entry in her diary and closed the book. It was a habit of hers that she had since childhood, and the current book she used has been in her possession for five years. It was one of the very few things she possessed from the place she once called home. Deities willing, maybe she would be able to return there in her lifetime.

 Chapter 402 - Just a Typical Day

    ¡°Anyone running a mercenary company needs to prepare a suitable outlet for built-up aggression. By the very nature of their work, mercenaries tend to be people with violent tendencies. If these tendencies are not kept under proper control, risks abound of them flaring up at the worst possible place and time.¡± - Ingrid Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances Mercenary Company, circa 524 VA.


    ¡°You¡¯re a bit off your game today, Miss Astrid,¡± said Alycea with that typical politeness of hers even as she mercilessly landed a blow against Astrid¡¯s side. A blow that made Astrid expel the air in her lungs despite how it was cushioned not only by the sheath wrapped around Alycea¡¯s weapon¡¯s blade and by the armor Astrid wore.


    Astrid swore even as the breath was violently driven out from her body by the blow. That would leave a bruise, she was certain, even though it was a blow from a padded weapon that landed on armor. The way Alycea uses her polearm with the oddly flexible shaft allowed her hits to be very deceptively heavy despite not looking the part, on top of being tricky and unpredictable.


    ¡°Oof!¡± managed Astrid as she had to take a couple steps to the side. She herself was wielding the more typical weaponry as was used by the army she used to be part of, a kite shield on her left arm with a spear held in her right, and a short sword hanging from her belt. It was a setup more designed for fighting in formation, so it was little surprise that the captain¡¯s adopted daughter beat her up so badly with that glaive of hers. ¡°I guess I am¡­ Dammit. That¡¯s totally going to bruise, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°As Mom likes to say, bruises are the best way to know where you make mistakes during spars. You don¡¯t forget them as easily when they still sting the next day,¡± replied the girl all too cheerfully. It still sometimes baffled Astrid to think on how the fifteen year old girl was already better trained and likely had seen more bloodshed than herself, despite Astrid being ten years the girl¡¯s senior.


    One of the things she also learned very quickly after getting to know the mercenaries was that spars and brawls ¨C some even devolving into real fights ¨C were pretty much daily occasions amongst them. The rowdy mercenaries needed an outlet for their aggression, and such activities helped them keep their edge while at the same time prevented trouble from arising due to pent up aggression.


    It was one reason why even when the mercenaries sparred, they typically walked out with at least some bruises on them. Only the really skilled ones like the captain¡¯s wife ¨C who Astrid learned was surprisingly one of the deadliest fighters in the entire company ¨C don¡¯t walk out of such spars with at least a few bruises or cuts here and there.


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    In fact, most people watching the mercenaries ¡°spar¡± would probably mistake the spar for a real fight, given how brutal they could get. Astrid watched the Captain¡¯s older daughter, Erycea, spar against Mischka, the massive bear-therian matron once, and that fight was something that made her feel chills up her spine for a while.


    The two had fought with ¡°practice weapons¡± that were pretty much wooden logs as they were used to using heavy weapons, and ¡°sparred¡± with such violence that Astrid had little doubt that any errant blow of theirs would likely be able to end the life of a regular person on the spot. The two were clearly made of hardier stuff, though, given the way Erycea landed quite a few blows on Mischka¡¯s body that the larger therian just mostly ignored.


    Astrid even saw a blow from the far larger therian matron hurled the captain¡¯s daughter through the air and had her rolling head over tail several times as she landed, only for the girl to right herself immediately and rush straight back into the spar. It was at that moment that she made a mental note to herself to never ask either the matron or the Captain¡¯s daughter for a spar.


    Which actually left her few choices to spar with, honestly. It seemed to be a habit of sorts amongst the mercenaries for the platoon leaders to spar against each other on the regular. Against those platoon leaders, Astrid found herself completely out of her depth, as the more experienced and skilled mercenaries would trounce her in mere moments.


    Even the small, middle-aged goblin took her down in less than half a minute.


    In the end, Astrid found herself with the Captain¡¯s younger daughter as a frequent sparring partner instead. Not because the girl was unskilled. Despite her tender age, the girl was already one of the nastier fighters Astric could think of amongst the mercenaries. Rather, they had Astrid train with Alycea because Alycea¡¯s unpredictable fighting style was excellent for getting people used to dealing with the unexpected.


    Which was fitting, given how the mercenaries as a whole loved to subject their foes to the unexpected.


    Astrid was somewhat confused by the way the mercenaries fought at first, the way they focused on semi-independent small units, which flew in the face of conventional strategy. The typical combat doctrine of the time called for tight, cohesive formations that fought as one whole and would defeat their enemies through the weight of numbers and discipline.


    Of course, the mercenaries had proven their effectiveness repeatedly on the field of battle. Astrid realized after a while that their preferred tactic was designed specifically to counter such tight, cohesive formation by forcibly breaking through their lines and then carving them apart from the inside out. The mercenaries had performed the dangerous feat on several occasions that she heard of, and were clearly well-versed in its execution.


    It was something she, along with her people, would still need to learn more about, since as part of the Company, they might well have to execute such tactics themselves in the near future. Fortunately the Company¡¯s current contract promises to remain a peaceful one until it ends early in the next year.

 Chapter 403 - A Lesson About Strength

    ¡°A strong person is not one who is without weakness. A strong person is one who stands tall and takes on all comers despite their weaknesses.¡± - Saying attributed to Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed General and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°I see, so you got fed up with being beaten up by Aly all the time and asked her how to grow stronger, did you?¡± asked Elfriede with her usual, rather unnerving nonchalant tone when Alycea brought Astrid over to her that day. Astrid had blurted out the question out of frustration one day, and to her surprise, Alycea immediately perked up and told her that of course she could grow stronger.


    And then Alycea led Astrid straight to her mother, the captain¡¯s wife and one of the deadliest fighters in the company as a whole the very next day.


    ¡°That you asked someone for help is a step in the right direction,¡± said Elfriede after she noticed that Astrid did not reply to her previous rhetorical question. The way she seemed to just glance over whoever she was talking to remained unnerving for Astrid, even though by then she was aware that Elfriede was blind and did not do that on purpose. ¡°Admitting that you are weak is the first step to grow stronger. Can¡¯t really do that well when you¡¯re laboring under the delusion that you¡¯re already strong, after all.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Ma¡¯am,¡± answered Astrid as she listened to Elfriede¡¯s words. There was a particular certainty in the way she said it that made Astrid believe in what she said. Of course, that was notwithstanding the fact that the blind woman was one who definitely backed her words with the force of arms as well.


    ¡°The next step is to understand how weak you actually are. This is something I¡¯ve taught Aly early on as well, as we all share the same circumstances,¡± Elfriede continued even while she stretched one of her hands to the back to catch a pair of wooden training swords customized to feel like her actual weapons that Erycea threw her way. ¡°Only when you know where you stand can you begin to climb properly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am¡­ though¡­ What do you mean by sharing the same circumstances?¡± Astrid asked with some curiosity.


    ¡°You, me, Aly, we¡¯re all humans. Women, at that. That puts us all under the same handicap,¡± replied Elfriede nonchalantly. ¡°Had we been born as pretty much any other race other than a goblin, we¡¯d be superior in some physical way compared to a human. Many of those races also have little to no difference between their men and women, with some even having the women be the stronger ones.¡±


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    ¡°But instead, we¡¯re saddled with being human women. The circumstances don''t matter. If we are to fight against a man under fair conditions, that is, against someone with the same general level of skills and training as ourselves, we would be at a disadvantage, just because we are born as women. That is something you have to understand and accept first thing,¡± she continued. ¡°As such, we need to stack the tables, make use of every advantage we can get, and do everything in our power to make sure that any fight we get into will not be a fair one. For our opponents.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ All right,¡± said Astrid as she was at a bit of a loss for words. Typically the sort of talk she received from instructors was more along the lines of how she too could fight as well as the men with hard work, or something along those lines. Something like what Elfriede stated so openly was new to her, but again, when she considered how dangerous the other woman ¨C or her children, for that matter ¨C was, she couldn¡¯t help but be convinced that there must be something right with the way she thought.


    ¡°Now, do you already know how you might do that? How to turn the tables on your foes and wrest away the advantage most of them took for granted since they were lucky enough to be born with it?¡± asked Elfriede next, which left Astrid rather speechless once more. ¡°There is no shame in having no answer to this yet, as it takes work and sometimes a bit of talent and luck to find your answer to that question.¡±


    ¡°For example, I mostly use my senses to gain an advantage over my foes. They are unaccustomed to fighting someone like me, who rely on completely different senses than what they use to fight, which grants me a certain degree of advantage,¡± said Elfriede as she continued. ¡°These weapons, as odd as they might look to you, present another advantage in being something people I fight are unaccustomed to.¡±


    Astrid nodded to Elfriede¡¯s explanation. At the same time, she also realized how much of what the blind woman said hit home, as the way Astrid fought was a standardized one, the same style taught to practically all soldiers under the March¡¯s employ. For that reason, it would not bring her the advantage Elfriede talked about.


    ¡°Take little Aly there. She¡¯s even smaller and physically weaker than you or me,¡± Elfriede added while pointing at her adopted daughter using one of her practice blades. Alycea was about the average size and built for a human girl her age, perhaps a bit on the smaller side, which made Elfriede stand nearly half a head over the girl. Quite a difference, even if one accounted for how the girl might still be growing a bit more. ¡°She¡¯s also trained with that staff of hers for years and made use of it to gain an advantage of her own. You sparred often with her, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve tasted what it¡¯s like to fight against her, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I believe so, yes,¡± replied Astrid with a nod, her hand subconsciously moving towards the right side of her torso which still sported a stinging bruise from the previous day¡¯s spar against Alycea before she stopped it.


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of thing you will need to find for yourself,¡± noted Elfriede with a nod. ¡°For now, though, I guess we should see what you can do first. Ery, would you be a dear and try her skills out?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, Mom.¡±

 Chapter 404 - A New Kind of Hell

    ¡°Say what you will about words, but fact is, people remember things more keenly when they actually get hurt over a fuckup.¡± - Varsha Creussens, Mayor of Zefirous, circa 10 FP.


    By the time she hobbled back towards her tent later that evening, her whole body covered in bruises that promised to be painful for a while, Astrid was half-convinced that the Lady Boss was a sadist who took pleasure in seeing others get hurt.


    It was bad enough that she sicced her older daughter on Astrid all day long, though at least Erycea was kind enough to not hit Astrid with full force during their so-called ¡°spar¡±. Astrid doubted that she would be in any shape to walk back on her own if the other girl had used her full power, or even if she would survive the experience, training weapons or not.


    That said, during brief moments of rest from the spar, Astrid did get to see the Lady Boss spar with her younger daughter, and that spar alone was pretty eye-opening for her to watch. She saw Alycea pull off all sorts of tricks and feints that made her polearm look almost as if it was a living creature while fighting the Lady Boss, moves that Astrid was certain the girl had never used against her ¨C probably because she didn¡¯t need to ¨C and would have likely tricked most people Astrid knew of, all avoided or blocked with ease.


    Even so, Alycea managed to keep up a good fight against her mother as long as she was able to keep the older woman at a distance, where the younger girl could fully leverage the length of her polearm. As soon as Elfriede closed the distance between them, however, the fight was as good as over, as up close there was simply no way for the girl to match her more experienced and skilled mother.


    Alycea did not walk away from the spar without sporting a few bruises of her own, though the girl seemed much more accustomed to it, from the way she just took them in stride.


    That said, Elfriede did seem to understand something from the report Erycea gave her after the painful spar, and promised Astrid that she would bring some people who might be able to help her refine her fighting skills the next day. At least the pain she had to go through wasn¡¯t for nothing, Astrid thought, though she had to try hard to convince herself of that when she had trouble sleeping that night.


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    When she returned to the same clearing where the spar was held the next day after breakfast, she found that Elfriede, Erycea, Alycea, and a couple other mercenaries already awaited her arrival there. Astrid herself did not quite recognize the other mercenaries, other than remembering that the large woman of orcish descent usually hung out with Erycea and that she saw the rather short ¨C for an elf ¨C elven woman talking with the company¡¯s hired prostitutes every now and then.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re on time. I like people who are punctual,¡± said Elfriede when she noticed Astrid¡¯s arrival, which was roughly when she got within twenty paces of her, the range she usually kept her sphere of wind-based perception at. Even after she heard from the woman herself, Astrid felt uncertain how it would have been to live while feeling like you were touching everything around you all the time, or how one could even comprehend them for that matter.


    ¡°This is Valeria, Soledad¡¯s daughter and one of Ery¡¯s platoon mates,¡± said Elfriede as she introduced the woman, or rather, girl of orcish descent. The girl was tall enough that she was almost the same height as Erycea, who was already very tall herself, towering nearly half a head over her mother, and was even broader in build. ¡°As for her, that¡¯s Ylisera. She¡¯s practically my second in command, and definitely old enough to have been any of our great grandmothers.¡±


    ¡°Hey, now, I don¡¯t poke at you for being over forty, you don¡¯t poke me for being a youthful two hundred, you hear?¡± retorted Ylisera though it was clear from the tone she used that it was partly done in jest, as was the way she elbowed Elfriede, which was obviously something she allowed, given how the blind woman could so easily avoid much faster blows during spars.


    ¡°Sure, whatever, granny,¡± replied Elfriede just as lightly. ¡°Anyway, I asked for these two over because I feel that they might be the ones who could help you improve your fighting skills the most. Val here used the same sort of weapons you do, while Ylis is particularly good at helping people improve on their style. I¡¯m better off with showing people where they went wrong and my girls mostly developed their own styles, so we won¡¯t be as much help.¡±


    ¡°Incidentally, I asked some people from Alvaro¡¯s and Lars¡¯s platoons to help your people train their tactics more as well. It¡¯s always better to share the suffering rather than going at it alone, don¡¯t you think?¡± Elfriede added with a teasing smirk. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ll all thank you for all the extra training after they get into a real battle and realize just how much more efficient they ended up being thanks to it.¡±


    Astrid nodded numbly at the information given to her all of a sudden. Her people mostly stuck with her out of old loyalties, and quite a few had complained about the intensive training schedule the company demanded of them. With even more training added on top of those, she could well imagine the complaints headed her way from right then and there.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not dally, now. You wish to become stronger, no? That can¡¯t happen unless you¡¯re willing to put your body to its limits and then some,¡± stated Elfriede all too nonchalantly. We¡¯ll have Aly train alongside you for this week, just to show you that the training we prescribe can definitely be done. Surely you wouldn¡¯t let a little girl show you up, now, would you?¡±

 Chapter 405 - Lessons Engraved in Bruises

    ¡°Do not trust anything you receive without putting in effort to get it.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°Come on, another ten repetitions, then you can take a break!¡± yelled Ylisera from the side as she watched Astrid and Alycea go through the workout routine laid out for them. The two of them had just ran several laps around the mercenary encampment ¨C which accounted for a good ten kilometers or so of running ¨C and right as they finished, they were made to train their upper body before they could rest to catch their breath.


    Both Astrid and Alycea hung from the branches of a tree just outside the encampment. The branches they used to exercise were small enough that either of them could get a good grip on it with just their hands, but also sturdy enough to bear their full weight. Said branches were also situated a good two and a half meters above ground level, so when the two hung from it with their hands holding the branch, their feet wouldn¡¯t be able to touch the ground.


    What they did was to raise their body until their chin peaked higher than the branch¡¯s level, using only the muscles of their arms and upper body to do so. It was a strenuous exercise to say the least, and Astrid, even with how much fitter she had become after nearly half a year of training with the mercenaries, was gasping for breath after a mere fifteen repetitions.


    Alycea on the other hand, did not seem that winded and continued repeating the motions with relative ease, quickly finishing her twenty-five repetitions before Astrid could manage twenty and releasing her grip, landing lightly on her feet. The girl then caught a thrown waterskin and sat with her back leaning against the tree to rest for a bit while she cheered Astrid on.


    Astrid only managed her twenty-fifth repetition some minutes later, as she had to hang by her arms and gather her strength for the last few repetitions. After she pulled it off, she just let go and dropped unceremoniously to the ground below, where she lay on her back as she panted for breath, too tired to even sit properly.


    She looked to the side where she saw Alycea relaxedly seated with her back against the tree, not even breathing all that hard, and Astrid started to question just how bad her own physical condition was. The two of them went through the same exact routine, but the girl a decade her junior took it all with ease and aplomb whereas Astrid felt as if all the strength had left her body already.


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    And they were just at the first part of the day¡¯s planned training, too.


    After a rest period that felt far too short, Ylisera urged her to get up once more, and Astrid did so despite how her limbs were screaming in protest against more exertion. Fortunately, she was made to stand up to fill her stomach a bit so she¡¯d have the energy to exercise some more after a while.


    Astrid pretty much gulped down the large bowl of porridge ¨C made with plenty of meat in it ¨C set before her in a few short moments despite it being served hot, and washed it down with a couple mugs of sweet mead, after which she gave a sigh of satisfaction. She already ate some breakfast as normal before she went to the training, but all that exertion made her feel hungry once more.


    ¡°Sit down and rest for a bit to let your body digest the food,¡± said Ylisera with a satisfied nod. ¡°You have to keep yourself well-fed when you train this hard, as otherwise your body would not have enough energy to go through the training. I¡¯d suggest getting a heavier breakfast from tomorrow onwards as well,¡± added the elven woman, to which Astrid could only nod.


    Thankfully she was allowed to rest for a good hour and a half or so, which gave her the time to regain some energy in her limbs. By the time the rest period was over, though, Valeria tossed a training spear and shield that matched the size of the ones Astrid usually used to her, before beckoning for her to come at her for a spar.


    Alycea was not spared from the sparring either, as Astrid saw the girl energetically walk over to stand opposite of her mother a bit further away. Erycea had already left earlier since she was not part of the training, while Ylisera stood on the side to watch.


    ¡°We both use spears and shields, so we¡¯ll have a spar first to see how much of my style you might be able to use,¡± said Valeria as she explained to Astrid. ¡°Miss Ylisera will also watch us from the side and make her own conclusions. She¡¯s probably the best in the company when it comes to explaining the more technical parts of fighting, honestly.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Astrid with a nod. ¡°So we just give it our all, then?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Hold nothing back! Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯m about as tough as I look!¡± replied Valeria with a wide, toothy grin. What the girl said at the end was something that was really driven home given how the girl was nearly half a head taller than Astrid herself and nearly half again as broad, with a strong, muscled physique that made her orcish heritage clear. ¡°Here I come!¡±


    The next thing Astrid knew, she was almost bowled over as she blocked a very heavy strike with her shield at the last moment. Even then, she had to take a couple steps back from the force of the blow before she could regain her balance, only to see another swing of her opponent¡¯s wooden training spear come at her from the side.


    This time she braced herself properly and took it on her shield once more, the power behind the blow a surprising one, to the point that Astrid wondered how the training spear even stayed intact through all that. It was then that she realized that it was not just the other platoon leaders who were monstrous in their abilities, but the people under them were not far off as well.

 Chapter 406 - A Fruitful Contract

    ¡°Whether a contract was a fruitful one or otherwise for a mercenary company could often be determined by the answer of one question: Was it profitable?¡± - Riordan Simmons, Captain of Riordan¡¯s Long-Riders Mercenary Company, Circa 393 FP.


    Mercenary Encampment outside the Western Wall


    Free City of Levain, Levain City


    Central Alcidea


    6th Day of the 3rd Week of the 12th Month, Year 19 FP.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, now, sleepyhead. Wake up already, it¡¯s already well past dawn,¡± said Reinhardt with a rare playful smirk on his features.


    ¡°Nnngmrrph¡­¡± replied Elfriede as she made some sort of unintelligible half-groan half-mumble while hugging Reinhardt¡¯s thickly furred tail closer against her naked body under the blanket. It was a habit she had grown into over the last decade or so during the colder months, to use his tail as some sort of hug pillow in her sleep. He couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t find it both amusing and endearing at the same time, as well as a bit adorable, though that was one part he would never say out loud in her presence. ¡°Five more minutes¡­¡±


    With a sigh, Reinhardt gave up and laid his head back down on his pillow. He was already late by at least an hour anyway, five more minutes wouldn¡¯t change much. His people also knew that from time to time in the winter, he and Elfriede would be up later than they usually did, and were circumspect enough to not ask questions about it.


    The tent that the two of them shared was the same tent that served as Reinhardt¡¯s command tent during campaigns, so it was large and had enough room to fit another dozen people sleeping in it, if necessary. To have it just for the two of them was one of the little luxuries Reinhardt allowed himself in the encampment, though to be fair the Free Lances was far better off in that regard compared to most.


    After all, each of their members got to sleep in a tent at night, even if most shared them with one to three other fellow mercenaries. It was a far better situation than most armies where the majority of the people were left with whatever shelter they could find or scrounge up, or just straight up slept with the ground as their bed and the open skies as their blanket instead.


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    In comparison to that, Reinhardt and Elfriede¡¯s ¡°Love Nest¡±, as some of the more mischievous mercenaries nicknamed their tent, was downright luxurious. The two even had comfortable furs to lie down on instead of typical bedrolls made of coarse fabric, as well as comfortably cool silken blankets for hot summer months and more furs for the cold winter months.


    Of course, they were mostly for Elfriede¡¯s comfort. Reinhardt¡¯s physique was far better at handling the elements, and at most he¡¯d shed his winter fur when it neared the summer and grow them back as the days turn colder once more.


    He also found out to his detriment, however, that a warm body lined with plenty of fine fur like his was particularly comfortable for humans to snuggle up to, especially in the winter months when it was colder. Elfriede had most definitely taken plenty of advantage of him that way, as she claimed that she was feeling the cold more as she grew older.


    That said, Sal and Gr¨¹n also loved to snuggle against him on the occasional times when Elfriede brought him over to have some fun together with them and it happened to be in the colder months, so it might just be a human thing for all he knew.


    It took about fifteen minutes more ¨C and three attempts to wake Elfriede ¨C before she finally opened her eyes and rubbed them sleepily while she yawned. The two got out from under the blankets and started to put their clothes on, before they exited the tent to the already bustling encampment. Not a surprise when one considered the relatively late hour of their arrival.


    The last year of their contract with Levain was thankfully as uneventful as they came. The Company had finished their training of the second batch of militia months ago, and of late mostly helped supervise and advise the Levainians as the militiamen they trained in turn trained more of their numbers who had not received such training yet.


    For the most part, the mercenaries just kept to their usual idle schedule, since at that point they mostly played an advisory role as they waited for the end of their contract. Of course, during those months they also conducted plenty of training for their own personnel, as they received quite a few recruits from Levain on top of former soldiers like Astrid¡¯s platoon.


    It was always effective to ignite the competitive spirits of the militiamen being trained if they got to see the mercenaries training their own people even more harshly, after all. On top of that, Alycea¡¯s platoon of mostly youths further incited a sense of unwillingness in them, as none of them wanted to be viewed as someone who couldn¡¯t even match a teenager in fitness.


    Payments and bonuses from Levain also arrived as promised, with the city council being all too happy to pay Reinhardt what he was stipulated to receive. It was a far smoother process than most, perhaps partly fueled by the jubilant mood that swept the city in the past year, as the newly migrated people settled down and worked their new lands diligently to find themselves rewarded with a bountiful harvest in the autumn.


    The general feeling of increasing prosperity was contagious, and with how the mercenaries played an arguably crucial role in helping defeat the invaders from the year before, members of the Free Lances quickly found themselves popular in the city, with the citizens often even treating them to free food and drink on a regular basis.


    It was a pleasant feeling, but Reinhardt knew that as a mercenary, the time to move on was nigh, and soon their contract would end. They would leave in search of a new contract, and life would go on as usual for him and his mercenaries. He only hoped that the next contract could be at least as lucrative as this one.

 Chapter 407 - A Bright Winter Morning

    ¡°Enjoy the good stuff while the going is good.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    Elfriede crossed her arm over her chest and hugged herself as she slightly shivered in the cold winter morning. It was one of those days where the people say that you could see one¡¯s breath due to the cold, a saying that Elfriede never truly understood since she could never see them either way yet she felt the breath of everyone within her perception radius all the time.


    Fortunately, the people in charge of cooking were well aware that sometimes the Boss and his Lady would wake up late on cold, wintry days, and whoever was in charge of breakfast was always told to keep their portions warm for them on such occasions. Sure enough, even though it was well past breakfast time, some hot food still awaited Reinhardt and Elfriede.


    One could say that the food situation of the Free Lances ¨C especially when one considered their status as a mercenary company ¨C to be positively luxurious. The Free Lances stocked up around three times as much rations as a typical army would for their number of men, and with a far larger portion of foodstuff that would be considered luxuries like preserved meat and fish compared to staple foods like grains and flour.


    Part of the reason was naturally due to their unusually large proportion of larger breed therian members, many of which were obligate carnivores by nature and thus needed their portion of meat to do their job at full capabilities. Another part of it was due to the very high standard of fitness the company expected of its members. People who exerted themselves more also needed more food to replenish the energy they used up in the exertion, and the Free Lances increased their rations accordingly.


    It was a situation that most smaller or less successful mercenary companies would not even consider due to the expenses involved, but the Free Lances had plenty of leeway to afford that level of luxury, at least when it came to food, shelter, and equipment. All of those were things that were vital for their mercenary trade, and they felt that money spent there was most definitely not money wasted.


    That morning, since Reinhardt and Elfriede happened to be on the off day of their workout schedule ¨C something Elfriede was at least considerate enough to make sure of whenever she was being willful about waking up later than usual since she did not want to set a bad example ¨C their breakfast was lighter than usual. They would have had a heavier breakfast if they were set to work out soon afterwards.


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    Their breakfast was a bowl of thick soup, one that was almost like a stew though it was lighter in flavor and easier on the stomach. Reinhardt¡¯s bowl was easily three times larger than Elfriede¡¯s, and they both gave a nod of thanks to the staff who kept their food warm while they slept in before they sat down on a nearby log to have their breakfast.


    As they sat down, Elfriede reflexively grabbed at Reinhardt¡¯s tail and draped it over her shoulder and around her neck, almost like a scarf, before she started to sup on her still steaming bowl of soup. Reinhardt just let her be with a shake of his head while he enjoyed his own bowl. As was common, the soup itself was thickly flavored since the broth was made by boiling bones overnight, which made it quite filling even for obligate carnivores like him.


    Elfriede leaned her shoulder against his side while they ate quietly, still using his tail as a sort of makeshift scarf, and he let her be since she clearly felt more comfortable ¨C and warm ¨C that way. He mostly ignored the mutterings of a few of the mercenaries that happened to see them and joked that the Captain and his Lady had as good a relationship as usual with a smile.


    Some of the company¡¯s newer recruits happened to run past where Reinhardt could see them, amongst whom was Astrid who had been receiving extra training from Elfriede every other day during the past few months. Reinhardt looked at the former Podovnian soldier who labored to catch up to Alycea running ahead of her.


    The woman seemed a lot fitter than she was months ago, no doubt as a result of months of grueling training, and her people were also a lot better matched with the rest of the company in terms of physical capabilities these days. Perhaps they would have a chance to prove their mettle as soon as the company decided on their next contract, though that would depend on the circumstances as well.


    ¡°How¡¯s the newbie doing?¡± asked Reinhardt quietly to Elfriede after he watched Astrid run past. ¡°You¡¯ve been giving her extra training for all these months so you ought to know her condition best.¡±


    ¡°She and her people are about ready for what the rest of the company are used to,¡± replied Elfriede openly. Her extra training to Astrid and her platoon was no secret, and in fact, was far from unusual. Any newcomer to the company would go through harsh training to get them capable of delivering the sort of performance the rest could, which was a given.


    That many recruits quit over the harshness of said training was something left unsaid, but their logic was that if they couldn¡¯t even handle training, they would be of little use in actual battle. The Free Lances operated on a doctrine of smaller elite forces, and had little need for chaff and dead weight that were just there to pad their numbers.


    Under those considerations, Astrid¡¯s people performed exemplarily. Not a single one of them resigned over the training, and even the ones who were worst off kept pushing themselves until they could keep up with the rest. It was a show of spirit and willingness to endure hardship that Reinhardt valued in new recruits in particular.

 Chapter 408 - Final Meetings

    ¡°Every good thing comes to an end. It¡¯s better to let such things end rather than watch them turn into something worse over time in most cases, honestly.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    Chamber of Councils, Chairman¡¯s Office


    Free City of Levain, Levain City


    Central Alcidea


    5th Day of the 1st Week of the 2nd Month, Year 20 FP.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s it, then, Captain. I had hoped that I could convince you and yours to stay for some longer-term contracts, but I guess that might be a bit over our planned budget, and I do understand your point of view as well,¡± said Estelle as she stood up from her seat and shook Reinhardt¡¯s hand over the table. ¡°It has been an honor to work with the Free Lances these past four years.¡±


    ¡°The honor is ours, Madam Chairwoman. It was also a pleasure to work with someone who understands us well,¡± replied Reinhardt sincerely. The Free Lances had extended their contract for a year with Levain in the wake of the invasion and the interrupted training, which turned their original three year contract to a four year one. They used that extra time to coach the Levainian officers and militia more things that they might find useful in battle while also recuperating and recovering themselves after the battles they participated in.


    Their loss of personnel after the invasion was bolstered by new recruits, some of which were already prepared for action like the platoon of former Podovnian soldiers Astrid brought with her. Others were still in the midst of their training, a good number of which were Levainian locals who yearned for more freedom and saw the mercenaries as a method to achieve said freedom.


    All good things came to an end eventually, though, and this meeting between Reinhardt and Estelle was their final official one as employer and employee, as Reinhardt would soon take his company away as their contract came to an end. It was a fruitful cooperation for both parties, though, and they parted under good terms.


    ¡°I will make sure to send a priority messenger to your company should we have need for your expertise again in the future, Captain,¡± promised Estelle with a smile as she walked Reinhardt out of the council chamber personally. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough for the great improvement in quality that you have brought to our militia over these years. Levain probably wouldn¡¯t be a free city now if it wasn¡¯t for your help.¡±


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    ¡°You exaggerate, Madam Chairwoman. Even if we had not been here, I honestly doubt that those invaders could have taken Levain¡­ though perhaps the battle would be a far longer and bloodier one indeed,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. ¡°They would likely leave dejected, but it would probably be a loss for everyone involved.¡±


    ¡°I agree on that assessment,¡± replied Estelle. ¡°How long would it be until your company would be leaving, Captain?¡±


    ¡°We will still provide some final lessons for the next few weeks, then add around a week to pack up since we¡¯re not in a hurry¡­ I¡¯d say around the end of this month, why?¡±


    ¡°Last month I received a letter from Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma, he asked me to inform him if your people are planning to leave after your contract finished, but did not elaborate much further,¡± admitted Estelle honestly. ¡°I do not think he means any harm since we cooperated well, so I will inform him of your planned departure date, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°He probably had something he wanted to entrust us to carry for him somewhere near Knallzog. It¡¯s no secret that we typically spend our off time there for the most part. If it¡¯s something valuable but is of a personal rather than national interest, then it would make sense to employ mercenaries as escorts.¡±


    ¡°I see, that does make sense indeed. In that case I will send him a letter later today.¡±


    To send a letter from Levain to Caroma would take anywhere from a couple days ¨C by messenger bird ¨C to a week or more. Reinhardt was not certain how important Estelle would treat the request, but given its source, she would probably treat it with high importance and would at least send a fast courier if not use a precious messenger bird.


    In fact, Reinhardt had been allowing Hannah and her platoon to lend their services as couriers for Levain this past year, since they could fly faster and longer than typical messenger birds, which further cut down on the travel time needed.


    At that time, Reinhardt had no idea that the request the Caroman Marshal would ask of him was indeed something that was very personal to them. It was apparently important enough that Hannah came to his tent two days after the meeting he had with Estelle to hand him a letter from the Marshals that asked him to wait for them to come soon.


    Neither did he expect to be visited by the Lady Marshal and her children in person a mere ten days after he had the meeting with Estelle. They must have rushed to Levain at full speed to get there so fast, even if Hannah took only a single day to cover the distance between the two cities when she sent the letter. The reason Reinhardt thought so was because the three ¨C and their small group of escorts ¨C arrived on Levain by carriage, which was naturally slower than just riding the distance.


    He also saw the rather obvious reason why they didn¡¯t ride the distance ¨C other than the fact that Scipius was a terrible horseman, as he had learned long ago ¨C instead, as when the group descended from the wagon, Anni and Scipius disembarked first and waited by the exit, clearly on guard and prepared to react. Only then did Astra follow them, as she hopped down from the carriage.


    The girl landed on one foot and prevented herself from falling using her crutches, but her mother and brother were clearly there in case she didn¡¯t manage to do so. The right leg of her pants were tied up halfway down her thigh.

 Chapter 409 - Request from a Parent

    ¡°Other than the few heartless bastards out there, people are still people even if they are put into high positions of power. They still have others they care about, be it family or other loved ones, and would act accordingly, often even using their position to their advantage if they have to.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°This¡­ is quite a princely sum, Marshal Barca,¡± noted Reinhardt after he counted the contents of the pouch the Lady Marshal handed to him. The pouch was full of gold coins, to the tune that the amount would be enough to hire the Free Lances in their entirety for a good month or so. ¡°I would say that this is excessive for the request you ask of us, even.¡±


    ¡°I know, Captain,¡± replied the Lady Marshal brusquely. From the dour look on her usually carefree features, it was clear that she was rather frustrated and stressed over the past while, likely due to her daughter¡¯s injury. ¡°You can consider the extra as a bonus for bringing my daughter safe and sound from the journey, regardless of how it went.¡±


    ¡°Hm, I guess I am in no position to say no. My people will be staying in Zephirous while we search for a new contract anyway, from there it¡¯s not too far a trek to the city of the Unliving,¡± muttered Reinhardt thoughtfully. The Lady Marshal had offered him the princely sum of gold to escort her daughter to the city of the Unliving, in the hope that the renowned Silver Maiden might be able to do something about Astra¡¯s leg.


    Astra injured her leg very badly during the final moments of the decisive battle a year ago, and apparently not even the efforts of the best healers and physicians in Caroma were able to save the leg. The leg ended up infected and gangrene started to grow, so they were forced to resort to amputation to save Astra¡¯s life.


    The girl herself seemed to have taken her crippling injury in stride, given how she still walked around rather energetically even on crutches and talked with Reinhardt¡¯s girls as if nothing happened, but there was something missing about her compared to how she was when they met her the first time. Some light that went missing from her eyes. She had clearly not taken the injury very well, even if she put up a strong front that proclaimed otherwise.


    What Marshal Anni-Al-Bagh Barca asked of Reinhardt was for him to bring Astra along when he left Levain and then escort her through the Forest of Despair to the city that the Unliving built for themselves in its center. While the Unliving had cleared a path to their city, it was still a rather perilous trip, so Anni wouldn¡¯t settle for anything short of the best escort she could get.


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    The Marshals were unwilling to abuse their position to send their people to such risks for what amounted to a personal matter, but that did not stop them from using their own considerable personal wealth to hire mercenaries they knew they could trust to do the job. All that led to the current meeting between Reinhardt and Anni, while Scipius took his crippled sister around the camp to say hello to those mercenaries they were acquainted with.


    ¡°I am well aware that the Silver Maiden might not be more than a legend, Captain, or that she might not even consider my daughter¡¯s request,¡± said the Lady Marshal once more, looking more forlorn than before. ¡°All I want is for my daughter to at least have a chance to be whole again, to return to her old self, if that isn¡¯t asking too much of the Deities.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can at least assuage your worries on one of those concerns, Marshal,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. The worry that the Marshal spoke of happened to be one he knew to be unnecessary from experience. ¡°The Silver Maiden from the legends is most decidedly very real. I have met her in person before, during the Theodinaz campaign over a decade ago. In fact, the Free Lances might well have disbanded back then if it were not for her aid.¡±


    ¡°I have also seen her heal injuries far worse than what your daughter suffered, so her healing prowess is not an issue to worry about either. She healed thousands of people in a single night back then, many of which had missing limbs or were paralyzed, or even worse off,¡± he continued. ¡°I guess the question is whether we could find her in the city or not, since she is known to wander about at times, and whether she would be willing to help or not.¡±


    ¡°I believe I am paying enough to have you and yours escort my daughter for at least a month or two in their city, no, Captain? I assume you would not send your whole company to their city just for this, of course,¡± asked the Marshal, to which Reinhardt nodded in affirmation. ¡°As for the request, just let Astra plead her case on her own. That way at least she would be the one who had made the effort to ask.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Marshal. We will take her to the city of the Unliving and back to Caroma safely then,¡± said Reinhardt as he rose from his seat and shook the Lady Marshal¡¯s hand. The request was not a difficult one, even if the trip through the Forest of Despair is a bit dangerous. The money was good, and he saw no reason to refuse the request from desperate parents who were clearly prepared to do anything for their children¡¯s well-being.


    He could definitely sympathize with that.


    ¡°My thanks, Captain. Do send us a message when you bring Astra back to Caroma. We will prepare a welcome by our border,¡± replied the Marshal as she gave the first smile Reinhardt saw since she arrived. ¡°And many thanks for listening to this mother¡¯s selfishness, from one parent to another.¡±

 Chapter 410 - A Comrade for the Trip

    ¡°Sometimes, when the opportunity presents itself, one must lunge for it even if it means abandoning everything else.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°You want to come with us as well, Commanding Instructor Ze¡¯phane?¡± asked Reinhardt when the switch-souled half-orc visited the mercenary encampment two days after Marshal Barca and her children visited him. She also asked Reinhardt an unexpected favor, namely to be allowed to accompany them to the city of the Unliving together with Astra.


    ¡°Part of it is because Levain felt partially responsible for Miss Astra¡¯s injury and so decided to cover half of the fees with which the Lady Marshal hired your Company, and they wanted someone to also accompany the young Miss as well, so I volunteered,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane nonchalantly. ¡°The other part is because I too wish to beseech the Maiden in Silver of a favor, if she is willing to hear me out.¡±


    ¡°A favor from her¡­ Ahhh, I see what you mean, yes,¡± said Reinhardt as he put two and two together.


    Ze¡¯phane was what the orcs termed a ¡®Switch-souled¡¯ individual, a person who always felt as if they were born in the wrong body, be it a feeling like they should be a man while born a woman or vice versa. While their society made it easy enough for such individuals to adjust to their desired roles and responsibilities, there tended to be little in ways for such individuals to alter their body to better suit their own feelings.


    Something like the full-body alterations such individuals desired needed a truly powerful and skilled mage of certain affinities to even become a possibility at all. Naturally, mages of such caliber were rare, and even if they could be found, might not be in the mood to help. It made sense for Ze¡¯phane to grasp at the chance to meet with one of the living legends of the world who happened to be such a mage to beseech her for help in that regard.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll be traveling together for a while, then. Escorting one or two is of no real difference anyway,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Soledad and Anatoli would be happy to have you around to teach their newcomers more tricks with horsemanship, I¡¯m sure. She got a batch of enthusiastic recruits that still needs a good bit of training lately.¡±


    ¡°I am aware, yes,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with a chuckle. ¡°She complained about them to me not two weeks ago. Great kids, got all the enthusiasm you could want and not afraid of hardship, loves horses too, the whole lot of them,¡± she continued. ¡°Just that they used to be stable boys, so while they love and know how to care for horses, they don¡¯t know a damn thing about riding one!¡±


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    ¡°Hah! We definitely attract some of those sorts every time we recruit. Got a bunch of hardy kids myself amongst the last batch of recruits. None of them know the sharp end of a spear from the other, but they got all the spirit and enthusiasm of youth going for them!¡± replied Reinhardt with a bark of laughter. ¡°At least they take well to training, though. Another year or two of training and if they don¡¯t break on their first battle, they¡¯ll make good mercs for sure.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, will you need any special accommodations, Commanding Instructor? We¡¯ll be happy to oblige if it¡¯s within our powers, after all, we are getting paid for this~¡± added Reinhardt amusedly. Escorting two people for a princely sum was probably the sort of job most mercenary companies only dream about, doubly so when there was no political threat hanging over the job like a sword ready to fall.


    ¡°I will not require much, Captain, other than to remain close to Miss Astra, as her mother had asked me to keep an eye on the girl to make sure that she does not fall into self-pity and depression,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane. ¡°Otherwise, my people roamed the lands to the north for centuries with little more than what we could carry on the backs of our mounts. I do not need special treatment for the trip.¡±


    ¡°Got you. We¡¯ll still feed you two the good food and set up some nice tents for you to sleep on, though. Pretty much part of the parcel since we¡¯re being paid so well to look after the two of you,¡± said Reinhardt as he walked towards the camp and led the way for Ze¡¯phane. ¡°We won¡¯t be departing for another two weeks or so, so I guess you might want to pack up for the trip until then. Maybe get extras of whatever snack you like that¡¯s hard to find elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured that I am well prepared on that matter, Captain Edelstein.¡±


    ******************************


    6th Day of the 4th Week of the 2nd Month, Year 20 FP.


    On the clear early spring day, the Free Lances packed the last of their camp and loaded up what they had onto the wagons that carried them to Levain. The majority of their support staff similarly boarded the wagons, as they sat down wherever there was room, while around the mercenaries also climbed onto other wagons, ones that had reinforced frames and were more resistant to attacks from the outside.


    Two guests were being escorted in the center of their formation, with Astra seated inside a comfortable wagon that was set up for a long journey and Ze¡¯phane atop her steed as she followed beside the wagon. Their location meant that any aggressor that wanted to get to them had to go through a good portion of the Free Lances first, which was not an enviable undertaking.


    They were headed to Zephirous, now part of Knallzog, where the Free Lances typically spent their downtime between contracts. Once there, the group would split up, with Lars and the majority of the mercenaries resting in Knallzog as they browsed the available contracts being offered on Reinhardt¡¯s behalf.


    Reinhardt himself and a smaller group of elites would continue to the south-west, then north towards the Forest of Despair as they delivered their escort targets to their destination.

 Chapter 411 - Unexpected Annoyance

    ¡°Things in life don¡¯t always go the way one wants them to.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°So we can expect trouble, then?¡± asked Reinhardt nonchalantly to Scipius, who rode on a chariot in the lead of a hundred or so men he brought to escort them through Caroman territory.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for certain, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Scipius apologetically as he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s been a little difficult to get information out of the former Lavianey territory since they broke apart half a year ago. As best as we could get was that there¡¯s around a dozen or so rival warlords that rose up from that chaos and still vied for domination over each other even now.¡±


    ¡°The wiser warlords will likely steer their troops away from your Company, since they should be well aware of the reputation you and yours possess by now,¡± he continued. ¡°Some of the dumber ones, however¡­ I am afraid that even our best military analysts could not predict what those people will do even at the best of times.¡±


    The United Baronies of Lavianey, Caroma¡¯s western neighbor, had broken apart after a continued bout of civil strife which led to an full-blown civil war amongst themselves in the summer of the previous year. Many small factions led by warlords who were mostly former officials or nobles declared their independence during that time, and until the present time, the region remained in turmoil.


    Yet due the geography of the region, the Free Lances had to pass through the former Lavianey region or add another month to their travel time by going through the rarely-used detours and alternative paths.


    ¡°Oh well, if they choose to be foolish, it will be their funeral anyway,¡± replied Reinahrdt confidently with a scoff that almost sounded like a chuckle to Scipius. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your little sister. She¡¯s as safe as she can be. We take our missions seriously, as you know. It won¡¯t be the first time we have to go through a region in turmoil. We know what to do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it, Captain. We should reach the border by nightfall, so I assume you will depart from Caroma in the morning?¡± noted Scipius with a slight smile. Like his parents, he too was greatly troubled by his sister¡¯s condition. ¡°I wish you godspeed in your travel and hope that you won¡¯t run into such inconveniences though.¡±


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    The blessing Scipius wished on the Company seemed to work fine as Reinhardt brought the Free Lances into the former Lavianey territory. The first two warlords whose territory they passed through only asked for a reasonable toll fee, which he didn¡¯t begrudge them and paid out without a fuss. Granted, those warlords probably extorted more out of other travelers, but the sight of thousands of well-armed mercenaries traveling en masse likely intimidated them into behaving.


    Another warlord they encountered after that looked as if he was about to accost them with his army of a few hundred, who were probably on their way to pillage their neighbor or something given their state of combat readiness. The Warlord likely gave more thought to the idea, however, as he approached closer and realized just how many mercenaries he was looking at.


    Instead of a conflict, that encounter ended uneventfully as the Warlord merely gave a polite greeting and passed by the caravan without causing them any trouble. Reinhardt even caught a bit of the man berating one of his officers who seemed to be questioning his decision as they passed by. At least some of the resurgent warlords still had their brains, it seemed.


    It was further down south, closer to the Ezram border, that they actually ran into something that could be considered trouble. Some warlords who rose from troubled times were like rabid animals who just tried to bite whatever came into their reach, and saner people usually stayed away from them while they waited for such rabid warlords to find their own doom with their behavior. The Free Lances had unknowingly crossed the territory claimed by one such warlord.


    Said warlord naturally considered their unannounced crossing as an affront to his authority and mobilized his army, all two hundred and fifty men or so, to confront the mercenaries while they moved through his territory. Naturally, their movements did not go unnoticed by the mercenaries, who had their fliers deployed while they traveled, just in case.


    The moment Avila brought the report back to Reinhardt, he made a quick decision after he heard the number of enemies that were coming their way. He called for Alvaro and Astrid and told them to prepare their platoons for combat, as they will intercept the enemies before those enemies could disturb the caravan¡¯s proceedings.


    It was to serve as a blooding for Astrid¡¯s platoon since this would be their first combat deployment since they joined the Free Lances, while Alvaro¡¯s platoon was there to look after them in case things didn¡¯t go well and to intervene if needed. Otherwise, Reinhardt felt that the two platoons should be plenty to take care of the incoming enemies.


    Of course, he himself stayed by them in case things were negotiable. Salicia and the first archer platoon also insisted on staying, since she argued that they could intervene in case things did not go as planned, which he allowed. Altogether Reinhardt stayed behind with over three hundred mercenaries as they waited for the so-called warlord and his army to meet them.


    While the wagons which carried the platoons in question also stayed behind and waited for them, the rest of the caravan just continued on their journey. They had been forewarned early, and after they made their preparations, the warlord and his army were still at least a couple hours away. Even so, the caravan of wagons that transported the entirety of the Free Lances, including their followers and support staff, was a long one, and stretched for quite a distance.


    So they waited there, the mercenaries making small talk with each other since there was little else to do, while the warlord and his army made their way towards them all too slowly.

 Chapter 412 - Removing Annoyances

    ¡°Annoyances aren¡¯t worth your attention. It is best to just do away with them and never again give them a piece of your mind.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°-And therefore with the power invested unto him by the Great Deities themselves, His Most Bodacious Majesty, High King Garland the First demands your unconditional surrender into his infinite wisdom and mercy! Any resistance is futile and will be met with Divine Wrath!¡± claimed the messenger send by the local warlord whose likely self-proclaimed title was far too long for Reinhardt to even care to recite.


    ¡°What should we respond with, Boss?¡± asked Astrid from near where Reinhardt stood. The woman clearly struggled to hold back her laughter at the idea of a warlord who reigned over a few villages and like two hundred people giving himself such grand titles. ¡°Do we shoot the messenger? Or do we give him something to take back to ¡®His Most Bodacious Majesty¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Eh, shooting the messenger¡¯s bad manners,¡± replied Reinhardt in the negative though he did not chastise Astrid for the suggestion either. ¡°That said, giving him a message to take back might make this idiot of a warlord more emotional which will likely make the job easier for you. Pen me a reply that tells him exactly where he can shove his so-called divine investment in as flowery a language as you can, will you?¡±


    ¡°Will do, Boss. Be back in a bit,¡± replied Astrid with a wide grin on her face. She left towards the wagons that waited for them in the back and returned around ten minutes later with a rolled piece of parchment. ¡°Here you go. A very flowery ¡®Fuck you and go shove your titles in your arse¡¯ as requested.¡±


    ¡°Most excellent,¡± replied Reinhardt with a toothy smirk as he received the roll and then handed it over to Salicia. ¡°Sal, do me a favor and deliver this to that guy, will you?¡±


    ¡°Sure, give me a moment,¡± replied Salicia as she slipped one of her arrows through the center of the roll and then used a piece of twine to tie the ends of the roll of parchment tightly to her arrow to make sure that it wouldn¡¯t fall off by accident. Then she nocked the arrow on her bow, took aim, drew, and loosed in one quick motion.


    The arrow she loosed landed just to the side of the messenger, definitely close enough to give the man cold sweat.


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    After a while the messenger gingerly stepped down from his horse and picked up the arrow before he rode away, likely to deliver the message to his lord. Reinhardt already knew that the result would be, so he gestured to the platoons arrayed next to him for them to shift to a more alert state, though not to battle readiness yet.


    The enemy was still far away, after all, and there was no need to tire themselves out while waiting for the enemy to arrive.


    It took another hour or so before the warlord ¨C easy to notice since he was pompously riding on a horse while his army walked on foot ¨C and his army arrived and formed their lines across from the mercenaries. The warlord rode a little further forward before he turned towards his men and started shouting all sorts of encouragement while painting the mercenaries as weaklings and savages and whatever else.


    Reinhardt didn¡¯t bother to let him finish his oh-so-bombastic speech, though.


    ¡°Sal, all yours,¡± he said simply.


    The unsuspecting warlord had brought his army roughly five hundred paces away from where the mercenaries were, around a quarter of a kilometer. He probably felt safe at that distance, as most archers would be hard-pressed to hit a barn at that distance. Unfortunately for him, Salicia was present and most definitely had no issue with that distance.


    Salicia just wordlessly nodded, nocked an arrow to her bow, took aim and drew it to its full extension at the same time, then loosed. The arrow flew over the distance in mere moments ¨C it was close enough that she did not need to resort to her magic ¨C and struck the warlord right in the throat. He toppled off his horse before the baffled faces of his army.


    ¡°Tch. Was aiming for between the eyes. He moved,¡± complained Salicia when she saw her handiwork.


    Reinhardt just snorted in amusement before he gestured for Astrid to lead her platoon to clean up the enemy troops that were just starting to panic over their warlord¡¯s sudden end. Astrid led her hundred-plus men forward in a solid formation, and Alvaro led his Warforged as they followed Astrid¡¯s platoon from a short distance away.


    The enemy force outnumbered them, but had poor organization and even worse equipment. By Reinhardt¡¯s estimate Astrid should manage to scatter them with just her troops. Her orders were to avoid killing too many if she could help it. A lot of the warlord¡¯s troops were likely just peasants who were caught up in his shenanigans, though there were likely some loyal ones in the bunch.


    They likely stood little chance against the trained mercenaries, either way. Astrid¡¯s platoon was entirely composed of former Podovnian soldiers, so they already had a solid base to build upon, and after a year of training, they were ready to be blooded upon the Company¡¯s foes.


    What followed was so one-sided Reinhardt was uncertain if it even qualified as a fight at all. A few loyalists attempted to exhort the panicking and frightened rabble to battle, but were quickly silenced by skillfully thrown javelins or well-placed crossbow bolts from Astrid¡¯s platoon. Those deaths were all it took to convince the rest of the warlord¡¯s ¡°army¡± that they were involved in something well above their paygrade and should instead turn tail and run for their lives.


    So they did just that, and after less than a couple minutes of ¡°battle¡±, the warlord¡¯s army scattered away with the winds while the mercenaries just watched and laughed at them.

 Chapter 413 - As If Nothing Happened

    ¡°Can¡¯t give too much attention to the trivial things, otherwise you will end up not having enough to give to the things that really mattered.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Done already? Guessing they didn¡¯t give much of a fight, then,¡± asked Elfriede when the wagons that carried Reinhardt and the platoons left behind caught up to the head of the caravan.


    Elfriede was lying down on top of one of the larger wagons in the caravan, and next to her, their daughters were engaged in a grappling match. One done on top of the moving wagon. It was training for them in case they had to fight in conditions where their footing was unstable, mostly for Alycea, as Reinhardt knew that Erycea could practically perform acrobatics on top and around a moving wagon with ease.


    ¡°Yeah, they scattered off once we killed the lead and some of their commanders,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly, as if he had just been dealing with pests or something instead of an army.


    Just around then, Erycea overpowered her sister and sent Alycea stumbling off the side of the wagon. Before Alycea could fall, though, she managed to hold on to the wagon¡¯s roof with her hands and braced her legs against the structural supports beneath the fabric, hanging on the wagon¡¯s side like a splayed frog for a precarious moment.


    ¡°Not bad, caught yourself on your own this time,¡± noted Erycea with some pride in her voice as she lent a hand and helped her little sister get back on top of the wagon¡¯s roof. Ery would have caught Alycea had she failed to get a hold on the wagon, since it was just part of their training. Even if she missed, both sisters had been trained to fall properly, so a fall from atop the moving wagon was unlikely to hurt them much.


    ¡°Hope we don¡¯t get many pests like that one. They¡¯re just annoying wastes of time,¡± mentioned Elfriede while Reinhardt hopped over to the wagon she was on. ¡°They don¡¯t even give any proper fight. Did you get the newbie¡¯s people blooded at least?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they didn¡¯t get to actually fight per se, but the fruit of their training at least showed itself,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shrug. He had hoped for a bit more of a fight to test out the company¡¯s newest platoon, but things didn¡¯t always go the way he planned them out. ¡°Some of them got good with their javelins and crossbows, at least. Didn¡¯t miss any throw or shot.¡±


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    Most of the Free Lances ¨C other than a few outliers like Mischka¡¯s platoon ¨C typically carried some manner of ranged weapon with them, to be used prior to melee engagements as well as to give the platoon more flexibility and the ability to respond to skirmishers. This typically took the form of javelins or smaller crossbows, as those were easier to carry and use compared to regular bows, which needed more skill and training.


    It was a practice that Reinhardt and Lars had spread through the company over the years, as when combined with their irregular tactics, the ranged weapons ¨C even if they were only good for one or two attacks ¨C still gave them even more tactical flexibility and allowed for many convenient uses. Shock tactics prior to a melee was one obvious use, as was discouraging pursuers.


    The company even invested in ensuring that every single one of their members had at least one of the medium-sized storage artifacts, so they could carry their additional equipment with ease, and more importantly, without giving any signs of its presence. Naturally the equipment was considered company property, and was only given to those who did not already have a suitable one.


    Most people who applied to become a mercenary only brought their bodies after all, and the company had to equip them accordingly. Former soldiers or mercenaries were a different case as those typically already brought their own equipment, even if they soon traded in their old ones for better gear made by the company¡¯s smiths at cost.


    Given the year of training they had undergone, even Astrid¡¯s platoon had overhauled their equipment with items crafted by the company¡¯s own smiths, ones that put their previous equipment to shame. Much like Alvaro¡¯s platoon, Astrid¡¯s people chose to adopt a unified color scheme, though they appended their former state¡¯s emblem beside the one that belonged to the company.


    Reinhardt never minded small details like those. People became mercenaries for all sorts of reasons, and those who had prior loyalties that they might still hold on to were far from rare. As long as it did not cause complications during the execution of a mission, nobody really cared about those. Even people whose nations were enemies might just grow to become comrades in a mercenary company.


    The rest of their journey through former Lavianey territory fortunately proved uneventful. The warlords of the last territories they passed were circumspect ones who gave them no trouble and just wanted them to leave already for the most part. After another two days the caravan reached the border between the former Lavianey territory and Ezram.


    Their journey through Ezram also went by uneventfully, the nation letting the mercenaries pass without any hassle. Reinhardt noticed a military buildup on the northern side of the nation, however, and guessed that Ezram might not maintain its neutrality to the former empire for much longer.


    After all, the fragmented former Lavianey region was greatly weakened by all their infighting. It was fruit ripe for the picking, and Ezram seemed to want to be the one to pick that low-hanging fruit for themselves. When he considered how Caroma was still busy incorporating the territories they took from the Southern Coalition, that meant that Ezram would not likely face much if any competition if they did attempt to subjugate the former Lavianey region.


    Maybe they would even hire some mercenaries to help pad their forces, but given how they just let the Free Lances through without giving any offers, maybe not.

 Chapter 414 - Preparation for the Trip

    ¡°Everything starts with preparation.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°All right, so I¡¯m definitely going myself to escort the Misses Astra and Ze¡¯phane. Friede, I¡¯d like you to come with me as well, bring a handful of your most trusted who are at home in the forests,¡± said Reinhardt the day after the company reached Zephirous and set up camp. He was in the midst of a meeting with his various platoon commanders to plan out who would be going with him for the escort mission. ¡°Usual procedure, keep your second and third in commands here in case they¡¯re needed. Lars has command until we return.¡±


    If he brought too many people, it would be inefficient and beside the road to the Unliving¡¯s city was more of a cleared forest path than anything, so it would be difficult to bring too many people through it. In fact, bringing too many people might get him seen as a threat. He still needed enough people to fend off the troublesome wildlife that gave the Forest of Despair its moniker, however.


    ¡°Sera should be the one who¡¯s most at home in the forests, but since she can¡¯t come¡­ I guess I¡¯ll take Olyvee and her friends then. Nicole, can I borrow Lili and R¨®zsa from your unit as well? They ought to fit Rein¡¯s needs since we¡¯ll be going through a forest,¡± said Elfriede after some thought. Her platoon did have some people of elven descent who were typically well-suited for forests, but not that many of them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯d mind the vacation, Lady Boss,¡± replied Nicole somewhat cheekily. An escort mission was likely more relaxing work compared to their usual grueling workout schedule, so for Nicole to term it that way wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°Anyone else you¡¯d like to borrow from my folks?¡±


    ¡°The twins will be enough, I think,¡± answered Elfriede with a nod.


    ¡°Good. Mischka, I¡¯d like you to bring a half dozen of your best shieldbearers for this. You¡¯re coming along as well,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod as he shifted his attention to the large-bodied therian matron. Elfriede¡¯s people were good on the offense, so he needed some people to shore up their defenses since they needed to keep their escort targets safe as well.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice. Always been curious to have a look at this city the Unliving made for themselves,¡± replied Mischka with a toothy grin on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll get you my best as ordered, Boss-man.¡±


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    ¡°Ery, Aly, each of you get me a dozen of your best, both of you are with us as well,¡± said Reinhardt next as he turned to his daughters. Their faces visibly brightened up at being included and both of them quickly gave him assurances that they will be ready with their best subordinates. ¡°If anyone else wants to tag along, speak up. If the Silver Maiden happens to be present when we get there and in a mood to help, she could pretty much get rid of all your ills just like that. Not an opportunity you get often, trust me.¡±


    There were murmurs and chatter throughout the tent at his announcement, and after a while, he noticed three hands that shot up for his attention. One was Egil ¨C not too surprising since the goblin platoon leader was feeling his age, which was entering the late years for his kind ¨C while the other two were Soledad and Alva.


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask the details, since you probably want to keep it quiet. Each of you pick five to ten of your most trustworthy subordinates and be ready for when we depart. We¡¯ll depart in¡­ three days I¡¯d say. Let¡¯s make sure that things are in order in the camp first,¡± said Reinhardt as he nodded sagely. He was not one to pry into his people¡¯s personal matters unless it potentially involved the company.


    ¡°Nobody else? All right then, dismissed. Those who are going, have your preparations done on time. The rest of you are staying here on standby. Regular workout schedule, we might stay here for a year or so at most I¡¯d say,¡± Reinhardt continued. ¡°Lars, I¡¯d like you to keep an eye on the contracts on offer like usual. You¡¯re familiar with our preferred criteria by now, so I¡¯ll entrust you with this.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain,¡± replied Lars with a salute. He had gone far from a captive that was semi-forcibly recruited to someone who was arguably only second to Reinhardt himself when it came to authority in the company. It was a development that still baffled him at times. Such a thing was completely unthinkable in his homeland, which was now merely a footnote in history. ¡°Should I send one of Hannah¡¯s to inform you in case I stumble upon a good one while you¡¯re still away?¡±


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s really urgent and needs my decision right away, better not. I heard that the Forest of Despair is risky to fly over. Plenty of big flying predators and whatnot. No need to risk them unless it¡¯s truly an emergency,¡± replied Reinhardt after a moment of thought. ¡°If it¡¯s not an emergency, I trust you to respond to it appropriately.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Captain,¡± Lars repeated with another salute. The show of trust was one that moved him, given his upbringing. He would have never thought he¡¯d find a home that appreciated and trusted him to such an extent amongst mercenaries, but as they often said, life was often stranger than fiction. It was definitely stranger than the tales he had heard when he was younger, to say the least.


    Over the next few days, the Free Lances settled down to their usual off-duty routine for the most part, something the Company had grown accustomed to. Those who would continue on the trip to the city of the Unliving gathered around a few customized wagons three days after the meeting. The wagons had been modified to be able to traverse rough terrain better, and the Nialosian Humpback Goats they had tethered to the wagons similarly uniquely suited to harsh terrain.


    The smaller group departed to goodbyes from the rest as scheduled, and the small convoy headed towards their destination, the Forest of Despair.

 Chapter 415 - Into the Forest of Despair

    ¡°The aptly-named Forest of Despair was widely considered to be the most dangerous place to venture towards in the Alcidean continent. Out of every hundred explorers that went into the forest, only around three returned alive. Granted, those numbers were from the past, before the Unliving went and claimed the area in the center of the forest as their own and built a city right on the spot.


    Nowadays, travel to and from the Forest of Despair remained risky, but the path cleared by the unliving notably had less wild beast presence around it, which made it an acceptable risk to traverse. A well-guarded caravan will generally make it through the journey relatively intact, and the Unliving were never shy to offer themselves as escorts on your way back out, either.¡± - Nols-Farren Arnqvist, Trader from Knallzog, circa 17 FP.


    In the end, Reinhardt led a group of around fifty people southwards from Zephirous, with B?rengant as their first destination. The Unliving had cleared a path towards their city from Knallzog territory, so they had to circle to the south to reach that path. It was folly to challenge the Forest of Despair the hard way, and Reinhardt had not lived so long as a successful mercenary Captain by being a fool.


    The journey from Zephirous to B?rengant was as safe as it could be. The dwarves of Knallzog maintained a tight grip over the security of their territory, and while the former Theodinaz regions had some issues with banditry ¨C mostly people who were unwilling to accept the new rulers ¨C at first, by this time any such bandits had long been uprooted.


    They made a stop at B?rengant mostly to confirm the route they would need to take. None of the mercenaries had ever ventured towards the Forest of Despair, so they needed more precise directions in order to avoid making undesirable mistakes along the way. While Reinhardt looked around for the pertinent information, he also asked his family to take Astra and Ze¡¯phane around B?rengant to entertain them while they waited.


    It was not that hard to find someone who could brief him on the route to take to head to the city of the Unliving, which he learned was called Paradise. A rather ironic name for a city built in the middle of the most inhospitable land in the continent, though he guessed the name likely made more sense from the perspective of the Unliving.


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    On the first day it didn¡¯t find any leads, though he found one of the subordinates of Uncle Angus who in turn directed him towards a trading house in town who had done trade with Paradise in the past few years. When he went to visit, the trading house was already closed due to the late hour, so Reinhardt could only postpone his visit to the next day.


    Reinhardt managed to secure a meeting with the head of the trading house the next day and asked them of the route that he needed to take to head to Paradise. He got more than he bargained for, in many ways, as the head called for one of his senior merchants who last took the route then had said merchant explain the route in great detail to Reinhardt.


    In the end, he left the trading house not only with a detailed map of the path to take to Paradise, but also with a pretty exhaustive listing of the dangers that he would likely encounter along the way and what remedies and medicine could be used to counteract some of them. As a result, he had to delay their departure another few days in order to collect all the suggested countermeasures on the list first.


    Only after they spent nearly a week in B?rengant did the small convoy continue on their trip. From B?rengant they headed to the south-west, skirting along Knallzog¡¯s northern border towards the wastelands that the dwarven nation had been reclaiming slowly but surely. Roughly when they were in the middle of said wastelands, they took a turn to the north, towards the Forest of Despair.


    The hardest part was to find the path that led to Paradise, as there were not that many landmarks to be used as reference around the Forest of Despair, so it took them three days of going around its southern perimeter before they discovered the cleared forest path. It turned out that Reinhardt had gone a bit too far west in the wastelands and had gone past the path itself.


    While the path was indeed more than large enough for even three wagons to travel side by side, it still looked rather foreboding and was quite dark, in some ways reminiscent to the maw of a beast that waited for its prey to walk inside on their own volition.


    Reinhardt ordered his people to go into formation as they proceeded into the forest. The shieldbearers practically formed a protective circle around the wagons, with most of the rest lined up behind them. The platoon leaders were either leading the animals that pulled the wagons, were on guard in the wagons, or rode next to the wagons.


    The forest was dark and gloomy, as even in the cleared path, the forest¡¯s canopy still cast a shadow on those traveling below. Streaks of sunlight did penetrate the canopy here and there, but they did little to dispel the gloom that the convoy had to go through. The rustling of leaves sounded from time to time, as some sort of wildlife passed by unseen in the forest by their sides.


    Both Lili and R¨®zsa ¨C the half-elven druid sisters from Nicole¡¯s platoon ¨C took on their wildcat guise and traversed the trees to the left and the right of the convoy. Reinhardt ordered them not to go deep into the forest, as it would be too risky. He asked for them to act as an early warning in case some dangerous beast was approaching the convoy, as they could likely notice those earlier thanks to their sharp senses.


    According to the map he received, it would take at least four to five days to reach Paradise from the entrance, up to a week if they were unlucky.

 Chapter 416 - The Situation Inside the Forest

    ¡°Places with foreboding names typically receive such names for a reason.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I kinda see why they named this place the Forest of Despair,¡± commented Mischka offhandedly as she swung her blade to partially clean the slimy entrails stuck to it. The convoy was on their second day within the Forest of Despair, and in those two short days ¨C more a day and a night, really, since they entered pretty late in the evening on the first day ¨C they had been attacked a good half-dozen times by the local wildlife.


    Fortunately with multiple skilled scouts present, they always detected such attacks ahead of time and prepared themselves accordingly, so none of those attacks ended up being more than a nuisance to the group. Lili and R¨®zsa detected the ones coming from the forest with their sharp senses ahead of time, while those that went into the path itself were simply turned into pincushions from afar by Alva and his archers.


    On the odd times that they were dealing with large creatures that could shrug off arrows, Mischka stepped forward and simply felled the beast in question with one swing of her own massive blade. Sometimes brute force was the solution to a problem, after all.


    Their latest ¡°trouble¡± took the form of a cornucopia of slug-like creatures, each easily ranging from one and a half to nearly three meters long. The creatures were clearly ambush predators as they dropped on the convoy from the branches of trees that hung over the path, but as the convoy was forewarned by Lili and R¨®zsa, they knew what was coming.


    As such, when the slugs fell, they landed on the hard, unyielding surfaces of shields held up by the convoy¡¯s shieldbearers, after which they were unceremoniously thrown to the ground where all sorts of weapons assaulted them. Other than the disgusting-looking slimy mess the slugs left behind on the group¡¯s equipment, they practically caused no damage.


    ¡°What did the guide say about these?¡± asked Reinhardt. He had received a written guide from the merchant who gave him the information on the route to Paradise which also detailed some of the creatures they would likely encounter on the path. The guide also included information on which of the creatures were edible.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ the brown ones are toxic to most and should be discarded, it says, but the immature white ones are not only edible, but supposedly make for good eating,¡± said Alycea as she thumbed through the pages of the small booklet. ¡°There¡¯s two that¡¯s definitely white out of those that fell on us, and another two that I¡¯m not sure about. They¡¯re kinda light-brownish already.¡±


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    ¡°Tell them to discard those, no point taking risks. We can try the white ones later when we take a rest stop. Have the usual suspects give it a try first for safety,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. It was common practice for traveling convoys to forage from their surroundings, and the mercenaries similarly had such practices too. Even if Reinhardt always over-prepared and stocked up more heavily on rations than most, he favored keeping the rations for when they were truly needed rather than to rely on them for convenience.


    As such, the convoy naturally made use of whatever edibles they ran into on their journey through the Forest of Despair. By chance they were attacked by a massive wild boar the previous evening which Mischka dispatched personally, so the boar had ended up delivering their dinner ¨C itself ¨C to the mercenaries instead.


    These slug-like creatures would be treated the same way.


    Fortunately the convoy went through the rest of the day¡¯s journey without any further assaults or complications, and they found a larger clearing ¨C likely intentionally prepared for rest stops ¨C further along the path by the evening. As most of the mercenaries worked on setting up a temporary camp and guarding against the forest creatures, Reinhardt and his family were in the middle of the camp with Egil and Olyvee.


    They watched the two cut some slices off the slug-like creature set before them and how they cooked them in several ways. Egil even took a slice of the gelatinous-looking meat of the slug and munched on it raw.


    ¡°Hmm, has a rather slimy texture, but actually tastes pretty good. Rich and sweet, like some bits of good fat,¡± he commented while taking another slice of the raw slug meat for himself. Egil and Olyvee were testing out the creatures because goblins and elves were famous for having iron stomachs that could eat most things, and that trait was always present in their descendants too as long as their blood was thick enough.


    ¡°Crisps up nicely when broiled, and I have to agree on the taste. This is pretty good once you can get past the looks, honestly,¡± added Olyvee with a nod. She was only a half-elf so she was not as adventurous as Egil who just went and snacked on the flesh raw. ¡°That said, boiling is definitely a no-go. The taste gets worse and you just end up with a pot full of snot instead.¡±


    ¡°Any ill-effects from eating those so far?¡± he asked again. The two had consumed a smaller, simply cooked portion a while ago, to test for any potential ill effects from the flesh, and it had been around half an hour since. The mercenaries prepared medicine to deal with the more common poisons and illnesses as well, even if the two testers were the least likely to have issues with the food.


    ¡°Nope, nothing here,¡± said Egil cheerfully. ¡°If anything I¡¯d say that this is pretty easy on the stomach, lighter than most meats, though heavier than the greens.¡±


    ¡°Given what the guide you got said, Boss, I¡¯m guessing that whatever made them inedible only shows up after they mature and turn brown,¡± noted Olyvee as she nodded in agreement with Egil. ¡°I¡¯d say that these are indeed pretty good to eat, though I can¡¯t vouch for eating them raw like Egil does. His people always has better constitution to deal with raw things.¡±


    ¡°Guess we¡¯re having broiled slugs for dinner tonight, then,¡± said Reinhardt as he nodded his head. ¡°Got to admit that it does smell pretty good when you cook it like that.¡±

 Chapter 417 - To Thrive Amidst Adversity

    ¡°There is always a way out, if one only seeks diligently enough.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I have to admit, I did not think I would be able to relax while camping in the Forest of Despair while enjoying some good food like this when I heard of this trip,¡± said Astra as she munched happily on a skewer of broiled slug. Olyvee had earlier discovered that applying a bit of oil to the surface of the slimy meat helped crisp it up even better, so they had cooked the meat by cutting it into cubes, briefly marinating it in seasoned oil, then skewering and broiling them over the open fire.


    For someone who grew up in a privileged household ¨C both of her parents were Marshals for the Republic of Caroma after all ¨C Astra was surprisingly not picky with her food and although she looked somewhat revolted when she saw the slugs themselves, she ate their meat without much hesitation once it was cooked.


    As the escort target for the mission, Astra was naturally in the center of the encampment where she was as safe as she could be. The mercenaries maintained a tight, constant watch even while they rested, with guards taking shifts throughout the night. Elfriede, Erycea, Alycea, and Ze¡¯phane were accompanying Astra that night and chatted together with her.


    ¡°This is pretty good indeed, reminds me a bit of thunder lizard fat,¡± commented Ze¡¯phane, who being a half-orc from the northern plains, was likely used to all sorts of food that people from the former Empire likely never even considered eating. ¡°That said, I am more curious with the relative ease of our travel so far. The stories I have heard of this forest portrays it as¡­ far more dangerous.¡±


    ¡°The Unliving did something clever with this path we travel,¡± said Elfriede, which attracted everyone else¡¯s attention. ¡°They did not only clear the path, but they also did more to ensure that this path would be safer and thus more usable for people to travel, compared to cutting through the forest. I don¡¯t know if any of you noticed it yet, but this whole path, and especially clearings like this one, are infused with mana.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Astra with some confusion.


    ¡°I had thought that it might be the case, but was not certain about it. I can only sense the mana vaguely and was uncertain as to its origin,¡± noted Ze¡¯phane as a look of understanding dawned on her face. ¡°How did you notice, Madam Edelstein?¡±


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    ¡°I sense things through the wind, remember? That involves infusing my mana, albeit slightly, into my surroundings. One side benefit is that it makes my perception particularly sensitive to other mana sources,¡± replied Elfriede nonchalantly. ¡°It was harder to detect when we were closer to the entrance, but the infused mana grew stronger as we went deeper, and here it¡¯s particularly strong.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a clever way to keep the path relatively safe compared to the rest of the forest, to be honest, though whoever pulled this off must be a really powerful archmage. It just wouldn¡¯t be possible to do shit like this unless you got hell of a lot of mana in you,¡± she added rather vehemently. ¡°They probably infused more mana in this clearing than what our entire group put together possesses.¡±


    ¡°How does that work in keeping the path safe, though, Ma¡¯am?¡± asked Astra somewhat curiously. ¡°I get what you mean by mana infusion, but I thought that¡¯s something people do when they enchant things?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same process, yeah, but they didn¡¯t enchant this area or anything. They just made it positively reek of their mana,¡± answered Elfriede. ¡°You know how animals usually rub their bodies or piss on things to mark their territory? This follows the same logic. Monsters that awaken their mana typically infuse their mana to mark their territory as well. Whoever did this abused that natural habit to render this path safe¡±


    ¡°I see, so by infusing their mana to this path, they make it look like the territory of a powerful monster to the perception of other creatures?¡± questioned Astra.


    ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it, pretty much. Most stronger wild beasts and monsters are sensitive to mana, so they would naturally be wary of approaching this region because of the infused mana,¡± Elfriede said. ¡°Weaker creatures or ones that are less sensitive to mana would still trespass here, though, as they are unable to perceive it. It¡¯s what we had to deal with so far. Maybe we might have to deal with some desperate creatures that were driven out of their original territories too, but the chances of running into one of those are slim at best.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Unliving really did try to accommodate visitors as best they could, then,¡± noted Astra as she nodded her head. ¡°This must have been quite a tiring process, even for a powerful mage, no?¡±


    ¡°Definitely. I highly doubt anyone could infuse mana to such a long stretch of road in less than a week or so of constant work, which was unlikely given the disturbances they likely had to deal with while working at the path. Say two weeks to a month of labor then?¡± speculated Elfriede. ¡°What¡¯s more impressive is that this whole stretch so far possesses mana that has the same feel to them. All of this is the handiwork of a single person.¡±


    Everyone stayed quiet as they digested the implications of Elfriede¡¯s words. While mana was not so distinctive from one person to another, there were subtle differences that would make anyone mana-sensitive immediately notice when the source of mana changed. Elfriede was particularly sensitive to mana, so she was unlikely to make a mistake in her assessment, which meant that whoever did the job was a mage far more powerful and diligent than what any of them had ever met in their life.


    They knew that there were many powerful mages who rose as Unliving after their deaths. Stories of such cases were not exactly uncommon, so it was not too unexpected, but there was a difference between finding something not unexpected and seeing the scale of the thing at hand with their own eyes.

 Chapter 418 - Paradise of the Unliving

    ¡°One man¡¯s hell might well be another¡¯s paradise.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    In the end, the convoy reached Paradise on the evening of their fifth day in the Forest of Despair. Reinhardt had wondered why they had yet to run into a clearing to camp for the night on that evening, since they ran into conveniently located ones on the nights before, only to discover that he had arrived at his destination instead.


    The city of Paradise was not exactly impressive, at least until one considered that said city was merely two decades old and was founded in the very center of one of the most inhospitable regions of Alcidea. The place itself was surprisingly built without walls or fences of any sort, though given the nature of its populace, they were not exactly afraid of beast attacks, Reinhardt guessed.


    Wooden shacks and houses were built in a roughly circular pattern, in a rather haphazard manner yet one that left enough room for a caravan to easily pass between blocks of the buildings. There weren¡¯t many people living there, maybe only a couple thousand or so, at Reinhardt¡¯s best estimate, and they were quite active even in the late hours of the evening.


    Some people were building more houses on the outskirts of the city. Reinhardt saw a group of adults that were likely a family working on two such houses together, with at least a couple of them being necromancers, if the skeletons that walked to and fro while carrying logs were any indication. Not too surprising given how the Lichdom was known to be a staunch supporter of the Unliving.


    A couple of guards approached the caravan and politely asked Reinhardt about where they were from and the purpose of their visit, all in a businesslike manner. To be honest, he felt that the guards were superfluous, given how some of the undead which helped in the house construction just a stone¡¯s throw away were more than threatening enough to scare enemies off.


    Some of those undeads ¨C probably bone golems of some sort he thought ¨C were larger than even Mischka, which was no small feat to say the least.


    ¡°Huh, got to admit that this is a first,¡± said one of the Unliving who stood guard, a broad-shouldered man who looked like he was still in his mid-twenties. The man stood with the ease and poise of a trained warrior, one that Reinhardt noticed immediately, which was no surprise given how long most of the Unliving had lived. He would be more surprised if some of them actually had no idea on how to defend themselves after such long lives.


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    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Reinhardt asked back, uncertain of what the man said.


    ¡°First time someone came looking for the Silver Maiden to get healed, I mean,¡± replied the man with a smile as he unlimbered the two-handed axe he carried from his shoulders and rested the weapon¡¯s head on the ground. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly get many visitors here as you might be able to guess. Merchants from Knallzog pops by to visit a few times a year, at most. For most people it¡¯s probably not worth braving the Forest of Despair just to visit our little city, you know?¡±


    ¡°Well, in our case we did get paid handsomely to escort some people here, so I¡¯d say it¡¯s worth the time and trouble,¡± replied Reinhardt with a chuckle. ¡°Besides, the road¡¯s pretty safe anyway. We didn¡¯t have to deal with all that many critters along the way, and even then, what we had to deal with didn¡¯t exactly give us much trouble.¡±


    ¡°I can guess, yeah,¡± noted the Unliving man with a smirk of his own. ¡°Could tell from a glance that your people know how to take care of themselves. Whoever hired you must really want whoever they¡¯re sending to get here safely.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t blame them, it¡¯s their own daughter after all,¡± replied Reinhardt offhandedly. ¡°Do we have permission to come into the town? Or should we set up camp in the outskirts for now? Not sure if you people bothered to build an inn given the location here¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, not even enough houses for everyone to have their own yet, especially since we keep getting more of our kind coming over,¡± replied the man nonchalantly. ¡°You can enter the city, no problem. There¡¯s a large clearing we¡¯re planning to turn into the city center in the future around half a kilometer ahead, just set up camp there if you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°As for looking for the Silver Maiden, I¡¯d say you will need to wait a while. She went on another delve into the forest just last week, though she usually doesn¡¯t take too long with those,¡± the man continued. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind waiting a week or two she should be back in town by then.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated, and many thanks,¡± said Reinhardt as he nodded towards the man. ¡°Any local rules we need to keep in mind during our stay?¡±


    ¡°Not much, really. We¡¯re pretty lax here still,¡± answered the man after he gave the question some thought. ¡°At most, just don¡¯t be an asshole to others and you¡¯ll be fine. If someone is being an asshole to you though, feel free to smack them in the face. That¡¯s just asking for it.¡±


    ¡°A good rule to have,¡± nodded Reinhardt in agreement.


    He led the mercenaries in an orderly manner in the direction given to him by the Unliving man, and sure enough, after only a short while they came to a large, round clearing in the middle of the city. There they parked their wagons and set up camp, something the locals seemed quite used to seeing. Likely the Knallzog merchants did the same thing when they came to visit the city.


    To wait another week or two was no big deal, as that was well within their expectations. What Reinhardt had been most worried about was if the Silver Maiden had been off on her wanderings, in which case it would be difficult to pinpoint when she would return. He naturally relayed the good news to Astra and Ze¡¯phane as well.


    As for whether the Silver Maiden would be willing to help them or not, that would depend on themselves.

 Chapter 419 - Just Another Day in Paradise

    ¡°What is seen as common by some might be far from common for others.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°So¡­ are things like those commonplace here?¡± asked Reinhardt as he watched a bone construct in the form of a massive wolf that had six bladed limbs on its back tear through a horde of wild beasts that attempted to enter the city. The fighting was so one-sided he didn¡¯t bother to offer to help as it was very clearly unnecessary anyway.


    ¡°Kind of,¡± replied the unliving citizen who was watching the massacre next to him while sipping on some ale and smoking a pipe. The unliving man was an older one, looking around middle-aged with hair that started to gray. Like most, he too was fit as a fiddle and looked to have quite a bit of experience as a warrior himself. ¡°This whole area has enough mages in it to directly scare off the nastier monsters since they¡¯re smart enough to stay away from the city, but dumber creatures¡­ can¡¯t really be helped.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s not really something to worry about when none of your people are endangered even if the beasts went through, no?¡± noted Reinhardt as he too sipped on his ale, apparently it was a local one brewed by some of the unliving in the city, made with ingredients that they could find in the forest all around them. The flavor was sweet and mellow, with a refreshing aftertaste. ¡°Good ale, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Glad you like it! My brother¡¯s one of the ones who got into brewing that since he had nothing better to do. It took us quite a while to get the first farms going, but the land here¡¯s pretty damned fertile, so once they took hold, they grew well indeed,¡± said the middle-aged unliving man with an amused guffaw. ¡°It¡¯s not as strong as dwarven stuff since what plans we have to build a distillery here are just that, plans, but it tastes quite nice.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a time and place for everything, like they said. The strong dwarven stuff is good for when you¡¯re looking to get wasted or just need to take your mind off something, but something that¡¯s pleasant to drink like this definitely has its own place, too,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. He then took another gulp from the wooden mug. ¡°Even if you can barely get drunk from this.¡±


    ¡°Well said, well said!¡± commented the middle-aged man cheerfully. By then the fighting was long done and over with, with little more than the torn apart corpses blanketing the western side of the city where the bone construct went to work on the beasts. Said bone construct was currently pushing away the mess towards the forest and away from the city, aided by another multi-limbed one.


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    In a way, it was almost like watching some maids cleaning up a mess, except they were massive constructs of bone that had been responsible for the massacre that caused the mess in the first place. It was a rather odd juxtaposition, but none of the city¡¯s unliving inhabitants seemed particularly surprised at the sight.


    It had already been a few days since Reinhardt and the convoy reached Paradise. In the days that passed, he mostly kept his mercenaries together so as not to disturb the locals too much. That said, the locals proved to be quite warm and welcoming, and before long the group mingled with the more. Since the locals didn¡¯t mind their presence, Reinhardt allowed the mercenaries to go out on their own for the most part.


    He had his daughters keep Astra company, partly to keep her safe because apparently beast attacks like the one he just watched were far from uncommon in Paradise, owing to the untamed forest all around them. Fortunately, staying near the center of the city pretty much guaranteed their safety for the most part, as most such beasts were handled before they could enter the city itself.


    Ze¡¯phane on the other hand knew how to take care of herself, and besides, the half-orc was mostly occupied in chatting up the locals. She was probably trying to learn more about the Silver Maiden, given that the living legend¡¯s mood would determine the outcome of their requests. It was not a bad way to do things, Reinhardt felt. Both Astra and Ze¡¯phane came with sincerity, and what he knew of the Silver Maiden hinted at a kindly soul given how many people she saved during her wanderings.


    He hoped that the two would be able to get what they came to Paradise for, if partly out of selfish motives, because if Astra¡¯s leg was truly healed, then the Marshals of Caroma would likely be in a good mood and thus would remember the Free Lances fondly thanks to their association with the event. It never hurt for the mercenaries to keep a good relationship with wealthy and influential clients, after all.


    While the city of Paradise looked rather ramshackle at first glance, that was partly due to the limitations of the city itself, imposed due to its location. Since the city was situated deep in the Forest of Despair, it was highly inefficient to import building material from elsewhere. As such, they built the city only with what materials they could find in the vicinity, mostly wood.


    If the city grew larger and the paths leading to it were further cleared and made safer, Then such imports would become more feasible, and the city could likely further improve its construction. As it was, the inhabitants seemed pretty happy despite the rather barebones condition of their homes, and the amenities in the city were surprisingly quite complete. Likely some of the unliving brought the enchanted amenities with them when they founded the city, or shortly thereafter.


    The mercenaries had a pleasant stay in Paradise as they waited for the Silver Maiden to return, and sure enough, around a week and a half after their arrival, they were informed that the woman in question had just returned the night before and would see them in the afternoon.

 Chapter 420 - An Audience with a Living Legend

    ¡°Some say that you shouldn¡¯t meet with your idols so as not to break your preconceptions about them. This is true in many ways.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Got to admit that this is a rather rare occasion,¡± said the Silver Maiden as she greeted them inside her own simple hovel. The building most definitely did not fit anyone¡¯s idea on where a living legend like the one before them would be staying at, being a simple circular wood-and-thatch hovel built around a fireplace, even if it was more spacious than most. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly get visitors often due to our location here, so this is kind of a first that someone specifically looked for me of all things.¡±


    ¡°We thank you for the audience, Milady,¡± replied Reinhardt as he gave the Silver Maiden a respecful bow. He had brought Astra and Elfriede with him. Ze¡¯phane had agreed to let the girl meet the Silver Maiden first, since her request was one that Reinhardt and his mercenaries were officially hired for, whereas Ze¡¯phane was a tagalong who would make her personal request later if the possibility existed. ¡°And I would also like to extend my personal gratitude for having saved the lives and careers of me and mine back in Theodinaz a decade and a half ago.¡±


    ¡°Please, just Aideen will do,¡± replied the Silver Maiden with a shake of her head. She then looked at Reinhardt and the rest with more attention. The woman herself looked no different than when Reinhardt briefly saw her in Theodinaz two decades ago, but then again, age did not exactly affect the Unliving anyway. ¡°Huh, I had thought that you looked rather familiar. I really should have remembered sooner, not many of your kind here in Alcidea,¡± she noted.


    ¡°I am honored that Milady Aideen even remembers us,¡± said Reinhardt sincerely. ¡°It has been a long time, after all.¡±


    ¡°Time actually flows by quickly when you have as much of it as you want, but I digress. I heard that you brought the young lady here for an audience all the way from the former Empire? That¡¯s a pretty long way to traverse, I would say,¡± noted Aideen with a bit of a smile. ¡°Oh, no need to stand at attention like that, we don¡¯t treat ourselves like nobles and kings here, just sit down and relax, though the stools might not be the most comfortable, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    Said ¡°stools¡± were in actuality just thick slices from a log of wood set up in a semi-circle to one side of the hovel. Reinhardt sat down on one, while Elfriede helped Astra as she sat down on another. The Silver Maiden herself took one look at Astra ¨C or to be more precise, at her missing leg ¨C and walked closer to the girl.


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    ¡°Hold still for a moment, okay?¡± said Aideen as she laid one hand on Astra¡¯s shoulder and held the girl¡¯s hand with her other hand. She seemed to check the girl¡¯s condition for a brief moment before she looked the girl in the eye and asked further. ¡°You¡¯re healthy and well-fed, that¡¯s good. Will make things easier. I presume you came here to get the leg treated, right?¡±


    Astra nodded to the unexpectedly blunt question since she had yet to have the chance to plead for help at all. Then she gasped in surprise while both Reinhardt and Elfriede nodded as they noticed that a healthy leg had suddenly appeared where Astra¡¯s missing leg used to be. The two were less surprised because they recalled their own experience with the Silver Maiden back in Theodinaz, where the woman similarly treated grievous injuries and missing limbs in mere moments.


    ¡°Now, you will want to take it easy for the next few days to a week. I¡¯d actually recommend staying here for that period of time if you¡¯re not in a hurry, just so I can check your condition to make sure later,¡± suggested Aideen as she lifted her hand from Astra¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You will likely have some difficulty controlling the limb properly until your body remembers how it¡¯s done, so don¡¯t rush things too much.¡±


    ¡°I- But- How-¡± stammered Astra who was clearly surprised at how the Silver Maiden had not even asked her about the injury but just directly healed it in mere seconds. In her mind the girl had already prepared herself to beg and grovel if she had to. She had not expected such an uneventful meeting where the crippling injury that had tormented her over the past year to just be done away like that without much preamble. ¡°How could I ever thank you-¡±


    ¡°Think nothing of it, girl. If I happened to run across you in my wanderings I would have done the same, so is there any reason why I wouldn¡¯t do this when you took the trouble and braved the dangers to come to my place?¡± replied Aideen with a lighthearted tone and a smile on her face. ¡°To try to help everyone in the world is but a mere idealistic daydream, I am well aware of that, but that is no reason for me to stay my hand when people in need of help come to me.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s a mission complete, then, Miss Astra,¡± noted Reinhardt with a smile from the side. ¡°Whether you would like to return to Caroma immediately or wish to heed Miss Aideen¡¯s suggestion to stay here for another week, we¡¯ll be prepared to escort you as requested. Also, our congratulations on your successful recovery.¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯m still not entirely convinced I didn¡¯t just dream this whole thing- Ouch!¡± Astra yelled out as Elfriede pinched the skin on her newly regenerated leg and twisted lightly.


    ¡°Now you know for certain that you¡¯re not dreaming,¡± said Elfriede nonchalantly.


    ¡°I guess that works¡­¡± noted Astra as she sighed in relief. ¡°I would like to stay here another week and recover properly as the Silver Maiden suggests if you don¡¯t mind, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Your wish is our command, Young Miss,¡± replied Reinhardt.


    ¡°Right, you brought so many people here that it¡¯s definitely overkill just for an escort, so I bet at least some of them asked to come along in case I could help them out, right?¡± asked Aideen suddenly. ¡°I¡¯ll come along, might as well see them at your camp, as my place can¡¯t accommodate too many people.¡±

 Chapter 421 - Dispensing Miracles Freely

    ¡°Sometimes even the simplest things could be extremely difficult to attain, whereas at other times even the most improbable occurrences might just drop right onto your lap. Life is indeed often stranger than fiction.¡± - Astra Cornelius Barca, Senator for the Republic of Caroma, circa 33 FP.


    ¡°There you go, those old scars should trouble you no more,¡± said Aideen nonchalantly as she raised her hand off Alva¡¯s shoulder. Alva had apparently asked for her aid to deal with some old and rather embarrassing injuries he would like to keep private, and the Silver Maiden had simply offered to take care of every injury she could find in his body instead, so he would not need to explain the circumstances of said injuries. It was a boon Alva was all too happy to accept.


    ¡°My deepest gratitude, Milady!¡± he said in a most sincere tone as he bowed deeply to Aideen. The only reason he had not bowed even deeper was because Aideen actually held him and prevented him from doing so.


    ¡°Think nothing of it. You all took the trouble to come all the way here, why would I turn you away when I help people I ran into during my wanderings?¡± replied Aideen with a shake of her head. ¡°Now, I think that¡¯s most of you taken care of? You two seem to be the last ones left, so who will be next?¡±


    The Silver Maiden had also nonchalantly helped heal all the mercenaries that came to Paradise of any lingering effects they had from old injuries, something that took her mere moments but was a priceless thing for the recipients. Even Reinhardt and Elfriede benefited from the effects, as while they had learned how to compensate for the effects of some old wounds, to have the lingering side effects removed was even better.


    Soledad mostly asked for help with an old injury on her hip where she sprained the joint during her youth. The old injury had been aching of late, which bothered her quite a bit since she was used to controlling her horse using nudges from her legs and feet. Aideen had not taken more than a moment to deal with the old injury and moved on to the next person.


    All that was left of the group were Egil and Ze¡¯phane, who looked at each other to decide who would go first before Ze¡¯phane offered for Egil to go ahead of her. Egil nodded thankfully and walked over towards where the Silver Maiden sat while she waited for one of them to go forward and sat down across from her, close enough for her to reach over and touch him.


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    ¡°Hmm¡­ How long have you had these issues?¡± asked the Silver Maiden after a quick check of Egil¡¯s condition. ¡°I am honestly surprised that you could move around so nonchalantly while dealing with this many tumorous growths in your body. Does the pain not bother you?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I haven¡¯t been able to feel many parts of my body for a while now, even if I could still move them,¡± admitted Egil honestly. He was very old already by goblin standards, and rather resigned to his fate, as he considered that he already had a good, long life behind him. Even so, the chance of a miracle happening was something he wouldn¡¯t pass up despite that acceptance. ¡°How bad is it?¡±


    ¡°Honestly speaking? I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if you had keeled over and died long ago. I haven¡¯t seen many people who could still move around, much less function well enough to be an active mercenary with the sort of chronic tumors you have,¡± replied Aideen with a rather impressed tone. ¡°You came to the right person, though. Grit your teeth, because this will hurt at least a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, Milady. I¡¯ve come to peace with how I probably had little time left, so a little pain won¡¯t scare me,¡± replied Egil with a wide, toothy grin across his wrinkled face.


    ¡°All right then,¡± replied Aideen with a nod of her head as she held both of Egil¡¯s hands in her own and started to channel her mana through his old body. At first there was little to see other than Egil grunting in pain from time to time, but after a while, everybody nearby ¨C or those with sharp enough eyesight ¨C noticed how part of Egil¡¯s flesh seemed to wriggle around underneath his wrinkled skin.


    Some of the flesh on Egil¡¯s arms ¨C he had changed to sleeveless tunics since it was quite warm in Paradise ¨C bulged around the outside of his upper arm on both sides, and keen observers even noticed that smaller bulges were traveling beneath his clothes to merge with the larger bulge, which grew in size as they did so.


    Then to everyone¡¯s surprise, the bulges opened and leaked a stream of pus and filthy blood out of them while Egil grunted some more. It was only after both bulges drained completely ¨C with small puddles of filth left on the ground to Egil¡¯s sides ¨C that he finally relaxed and opened his eyes. Egil looked at the Silver Maiden with a look that was full of surprise, awe, and not a little admiration.


    ¡°Had to do it that way since you got so many tumorous growths in you. Normally I¡¯d just destroy them and let your body sort it out naturally, but you had too many for that to work,¡± explained Aideen with a satisfied smile on her face. ¡°You will need to eat well and rest properly for at least the following month before returning to normal activity. I fixed the damaged parts of your body and took care of your ailments, but removing so much mass from your body meant that I didn¡¯t have all that much to work with. Your body needs to recover the rest naturally.¡±


    ¡°That said, you should have at least another decade ahead of you this way, so use that extra time well,¡± she added with a smirk. ¡°Don¡¯t let my work go to waste now, you hear?¡±

 Chapter 422 - To Be Yourself

    ¡°What someone feels is right for themselves should be their own and only their own business. Who are you to decide what is right for someone else?¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t seem to detect anything particularly glaring when it comes to physical injuries other than a few minor things, so I doubt that¡¯s what you came here for,¡± noted Aideen after she gave Ze¡¯phane a quick checkup like she did with Egil. ¡°I presume you sought me out for a different issue, then, since it¡¯s clearly not for the usual injuries?¡±


    ¡°It might be a presumptuous request on my part, Milady Silver Maiden,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with a low bow. ¡°I ask for your understanding before I voice my request to you.¡±


    ¡°No worries, I have no doubt that whatever you think is presumptuous, I have seen much, much worse before,¡± replied Aideen with a melodious laugh. ¡°Go ahead and say it then.¡±


    ¡°I am what my people term a switched-soul, Milady, someone who feels that they are born into the wrong body,¡± said Ze¡¯phane sincerely and openly. ¡°In my case, I have never felt at home inside my own skin, if that makes sense. While my clan has always been helpful and supportive towards me, there remains little else that they could do to help me get rid of this feeling that I am not supposed to be a man. Our shamans in the north only rarely have the proper affinities to help those of us who were both switched-soul, and even those who do, very rarely have the power to act on it.¡±


    ¡°Since my people lacked the ability to help me in this case, I have since left my homeland in the northern plains and traveled to the former Empire where I applied some relevant knowledge in order to earn myself a sum of gold with which I could request a powerful healer to help me,¡± she continued as she brought out a rather large purse from her storage. ¡°These are my life¡¯s savings that I have prepared for this occasion. I implore you to please accept it and help grant my wish.¡±


    ¡°Keep your money,¡± said Aideen, though not as a chastisement but instead in a kindly tone. ¡°This is something I¡¯d help you with had I run into you before, but sadly we had not met until today,¡± she added with a beatific smile on her face. ¡°Maybe we should do this in the privacy of my place? The process will take a bit longer since reconstructing your body and making sure everything works properly is a rather finicky thing to do.¡±


    Aideen then led Ze¡¯phane over to her own place, and bid the half-orc to lie down on the bedding present there. She also queried Ze¡¯phane about the scale of the changes she wanted, but was pleasantly surprised that the half-orc had not cared about resculpting her body too much, other than the necessary changes that made up the differences between a man and a woman.


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    In hindsight, that point of view made sense. Aideen knew that the orcs of the northern plains were never ones to consider ¡°beauty¡± as important, at least not the same way humans do. What they considered attractive was what someone managed to achieve and the challenges they had overcome in their life, as well as the ways they contributed to their clan as a whole.


    ¡°Before I begin, I must warn you first that this change will render you unable to have children for the rest of your life, are you aware of that?¡± asked Aideen to the half-orc lying down on the bedding. The question was more one to ensure that her patient knew what they were in for, and she considered it a must to warn them about such life-changing consequences. ¡°I¡¯m afraid none of us are powerful enough to alter someone¡¯s body in such a thorough way, so even though I could help you with your body, some things are still out of my reach.¡±


    Aideen could indeed restructure someone¡¯s body in such a way that they would be truly a man or woman in every regard, but nothing she ¨C or anyone else for that matter ¨C was capable of doing could stimulate the restructured forms to produce either the seeds or the eggs that would form into new life. It was not the first time she stumbled upon a case like Ze¡¯phane¡¯s either, so she felt obligated to warn her patient of the consequences.


    ¡°I am aware,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with a smile. ¡°My family¡¯s lineage is secure, and my siblings are blessed with many offspring, so this will not be a problem,¡± she added. ¡°Please go ahead, Milady, I have wanted this all my life.¡±


    ¡°All right, then,¡± noted Aideen as she gently laid her hands on Ze¡¯phane¡¯s shoulders. ¡°This might feel quite ticklish, so please do your best to stay still.¡±


    Aideen started her work after Ze¡¯phane gave her a final nod. It was more difficult to completely resculpt someone else¡¯s body compared to merely repairing damages to the body. When Aideen used her healing to take care of injuries on someone else¡¯s body, she could use the rest of that person¡¯s body as a sort of template to guide her on what to do. On the other hand, to resculpt someone to a different gender like what she was doing now had no such conveniences.


    Fortunately Aideen also had a wealth of experience to draw from, so she knew what to do for the most part. Some parts of the body she could adjust accordingly, while others would slowly adapt to the changes she made over time. What was more important for her was to make the changes in such a way that the body would accept it as a natural part of itself, and thus minimizing risks of complications or rejection.


    After Aideen was done around ten minutes later, there were not many visible changes to Ze¡¯phane¡¯s body, at least, not ones visible while she remained clothed. She had not made too many alterations, as per her patient¡¯s wishes, so most of her time was spent working on the more subtle yet important internal changes instead.


    For Ze¡¯phane, though, the change was something she immediately noticed.


    "For the first time in my life... I feel right. I feel like¡­ me,  like I am truly myself the way it should have been..." she stammered with obvious emotion as she felt the change in her body. ¡°I do not know how I could ever repay this kindness, Milady Silver Maiden, but whatever you ask for, I shall strive to do with my utmost. This I swear.¡±


    ¡°All right, then. In that case, I ask that you live well and happily,¡± replied Aideen with a smile on her face.

 Chapter 423 - A Relaxing Week

    ¡°Knowing when to take your breaks is important to maintain readiness.¡± - Stefan Horst, Captain of the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers mercenary company, circa 13 FP.


    ¡°No offense, but I don¡¯t see all that much change,¡± noted Erycea to Ze¡¯phane a day after Aideen helped the half-orcish woman with her transition. Indeed, as Erycea said, outwardly, there wasn¡¯t all that much difference to be observed from the half-orc, other than perhaps how her hairstyle looked more fitting for some reason despite the minimal changes to her face. ¡°If anything, what I notice the most is the change in the way you smell. It¡¯s a bit more¡­ grassy? Not quite fragrant, but more refreshing, sort of.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually something I¡¯ve heard a lot from other therians I¡¯ve met when I was still in the plains,¡± noted Ze¡¯phane with some interest. ¡°That our women apparently smells grassy and refreshing to them, I mean. Guess that¡¯s more confirmation that things are working as they should be,¡± she added with a wide grin on her face. ¡°Besides, it''s not like my kind has that much difference between males and females.¡±


    ¡°Fair point, I guess. I do get mistaken as a boy often by people who don''t already know me,¡± noted Erycea with an understanding nod. ¡°Most people often can¡¯t really tell whether a therian is a man or a woman either, barring a certain few. Even amongst our own kind we usually have issues telling people from other breeds apart, unless there¡¯s some obvious differences.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s mostly just humans who have that issue, big sis,¡± said Alycea from where she lounged beside them. The mercenaries had little to do during their extra week of stay so they mostly relaxed in the city in their own ways. Some just rested more, while others developed an interest in the budding city and went around to chat people up or take a look at things. ¡°Most everyone else got it right on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Probably due to how they have so much difference between their men and women, I guess,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane with a shrug of her shoulders. ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that many of the humans I have seen so far liked to further amplify that difference in all sorts of ways, like making some things only for men or for women and so on.¡±


    ¡°I always felt it to be a rather dumb thing myself, but at least it¡¯s not too prevalent in some places,¡± replied Erycea with a shake of her head. ¡°The idea that humans have can sometimes baffle me. Did you know that some particularly bad ones had said that a woman¡¯s place is in the kitchen or on the bed and nowhere else? Said that while mom was around, no less.¡±


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    ¡°While the Lady Captain was around? Oof. I doubt that ended in a pretty way,¡± replied Ze¡¯phane as she cringed away at the thought. The years of working together with the mercenaries had taught the half-orc many things, and one of the foremost lessons was that nobody offended Elfriede unless they don¡¯t value their life highly. ¡°Did they survive the experience?¡±


    ¡°They did, though they probably wished they hadn¡¯t,¡± replied Alycea with a bit of a laugh. ¡°Mom got a bit creative with them. Hearing what they said must have really pissed her off. She doesn¡¯t get creative with people unless they piss her off.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess that will teach them to mind their mouth holes while in public, at least,¡± said Ze¡¯phane with an amused shake of her head. ¡°That said, I have to admit that while I did not expect much from a city that¡¯s still being built and is populated by people who don¡¯t necessarily need to eat, I find myself growing fond of the sort of food they have around here. They have some of the best fruits and bread I have ever tasted in my life here.¡±


    ¡°Probably the ambient mana density around here. It¡¯s very thick, thicker than anywhere I¡¯ve been to,¡± replied Erycea with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ve heard some people theorize that higher ambient mana density supposedly makes crops and fruits grow better, so it wouldn''t be too odd for it to make them taste better too. I¡¯m not even big on bread and fruits but I find the ones here oddly filling, whereas usually I¡¯d still be craving for some meat if I just had bread and fruits to eat.¡±


    ¡°Must be the mana, then. You definitely go after dad a lot more. I still remember you eating up that whole chicken in one go when we were kids,¡± said Alycea with a chuckle.


    ¡°Hey, now, I was hungry back then! How did you remember that anyway? You were like five at that time at most!¡± shot Erycea back while Ze¡¯phane chuckled at their antics. For all that the two sisters were mostly not blood-related, they definitely treated each other better than many siblings out there, which was something she always found interesting.


    ¡°I have a good memory!¡± shot Alycea back as she avoided the cushion Erycea playfully threw at her.


    Ze¡¯phane just shook her head as she watched the two sisters playfully brawl with each other using cushions as their weapons. The way they relaxed so completely was perhaps also helped by how Paradise felt like a cozy and comfortable place to live in, despite its location in the middle of the Forest of Despair.


    While the city looked rough and simple at first glance, the Unliving that inhabited the place actually paid quite a bit of attention to their comforts. Enchanted items were commonplace, likely brought along with them as they founded the place, whereas good food was also abundant. Apparently the joy of eating was one of the things that the unliving was most reluctant to part with, even if they could subsist purely on mana, especially in a place with such a rich ambient mana.


    Even some of the more active members amongst the mercenaries found a way to stretch their muscles, by helping out with the frequent beast incursions the city faced. The beasts that did come was not even a threat to the city itself, and similarly the mercenaries mostly found them to be a good way to relieve stress and get themselves a bit of a workout.


    All in all, the week went by quickly and uneventfully for them.

 Chapter 424 - The Journey Back

    ¡°The so-called weight of life and its meaning varies greatly amongst people. Do not be too quick to apply your own meager understanding to another who might well have their own completely different understanding on things, lest you waste your breath.¡± - Goruk of Clan Stonehoof, Shaman-Chieftain from the Xewaur Plains, circa 241 FP.


    ¡°So when do you plan to tell me that you were dying?¡± Reinhardt asked Egil rather pointedly once the convoy was some distance away from Paradise. It was not that he minded his people keeping their own secrets, but he felt that something of that magnitude should have been informed to him sooner rather than later. ¡°For that matter¡­ Did you plan to tell me at all about your illness?¡±


    ¡°Honestly speaking, Boss, no. I figured that I¡¯d just volunteer when the time comes that we need someone to hold the rear and sell myself dearly there,¡± replied Egil rather nonchalantly despite the serious topic. The old goblin seemed far more energetic than during the past weeks prior to the trip, with good reason. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die in bed from some illness, you know. I¡¯ve lived most of my life being a mercenary, so I wanted to at least go out fighting. I figured I¡¯d tough it out until a chance comes up.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect the Silver Maiden to be that nice, though. I think she even took care of the aches in my joints that I¡¯ve been having since a decade ago, well before this illness plagued me,¡± continued the old goblin with a toothy grin. ¡°I bet I got at least another decade in me like she said, Boss, so just tell me where you want me!¡±


    ¡°I should have predicted that much, I guess,¡± replied Reinhardt with a sigh. Egil¡¯s response was most definitely far from unexpected. Reinhardt had seen or heard many similar cases, of long-time soldiers and mercenaries with chronic illnesses looking for one last battle to lay down their lives in. Egil likely didn¡¯t do so yet because his platoon was never involved in any melee during the invasion of Levain and were instead always safe at a distance. ¡°Next time just tell me up front about it. I¡¯ll arrange a suitable chance to send you off if such a need ever comes up, all right?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Boss. If I feel like my time¡¯s almost up in a decade or so I¡¯ll let you know,¡± replied Egil with the same toothy grin on his face. They were all mercenaries for practically all their lives, so they understood each other quite well. Some mercenaries might dream of dying of old age in bed, surrounded by friends and family, ideally some time after they retired and lived their old years happily. Others considered such a fate undesirable and would actively seek out a more ¡®worthy¡¯ end in battle instead.


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    Reinhardt was all too aware that many of the mercenaries he employed were either that sort from the start or grew into that point of view over the years. It was one reason why the Free Lances were often viewed as fearless mercenaries, since it was all too common for lesser mercenaries to turn their tail and run away at the first sight of danger.


    On the other hand, many amongst the Free Lances were all too aware that often life could be found where others would have expected certain death. Soldiers in war were just people, they had their own morale and thoughts, and those things could be targeted as well as an actual, physical object could be. It was something Reinhardt always considered when he thought of the possible tactics to employ.


    A soldier¡¯s mentality would be at its strongest and most focused when they were winning, or at least at an advantageous spot compared to their opponent. On the other hand, even older, veteran soldiers were not immune to panic when the tables turned against them. Such older soldiers typically just had a higher threshold and therefore kept themselves under control longer compared to younger ones.


    The Free Lances excelled at exploiting this typical mentality due to the irregular nature of their members and their particular talent in breaking formations. Their strongest platoons possessed the destructive force of a heavy cavalry charge yet also had the flexibility inherent to infantry, so they could break into a formation and exacerbate the situation and cause a continuous collapse of the enemy formation.


    It was the secret to their success so far, on top of their habit where they always stacked the battlefield to their advantage as much as they could prior to any battle taking place.


    The journey back from Paradise to Knallzog followed the same path they had taken to reach the city, just in reverse direction. Some of the Unliving offered to escort them if they liked, and Reinhardt chose to accept the symbolic gesture. A couple of Unliving half-elven women accompanied them for the trip back, together with four of the massive bone constructs they had seen in the city before.


    Reinhardt had to admit that having the bone constructs around was plenty to dissuade any local wildlife from trying to attack the convoy, which was no surprise given their fearsome appearance and massive size, as well as the prodigious amount of death mana he could feel emanating from them. In fact he harbored serious doubts whether any of his people ¨C or even entire platoons for that matter ¨C could have taken on even one of those bone constructs in battle.


    Of course, to the Unliving women who accompanied them, the fearsome bone constructs were clearly beloved pets and companions instead, something everyone could see with how one of them rode on the massive bone wolf¡¯s back while the other was seated on the shoulder of the fearsome six-headed titanic monstrosity that must be at least five meters tall or so.


    It was quite an odd juxtaposition to watch such fearsome being be treated as if they were some cuddly pets, but that was exactly what the mercenaries got to see on their way back from Paradise.

 Chapter 425 - Passing of Torches

    ¡°For a mercenary, while peace and relaxation are welcome things, in the end, it¡¯s always back to the business, at least until one finds their end either on the battlefield or elsewhere.¡± - ¡°Greatmaul¡± Deena Ashi, Famous mercenary from Ur-Teros, circa 352 VA.


    ¡°Many thanks for the escort, miladies,¡± said Reinhardt politely at the two Unliving women ¨C who he was almost certain were a couple ¨C who accompanied them from Paradise all the way to the place from where they entered the Forest of Despair the first time. He was naturally unworried about the two women¡¯s safety, as not only were they Unliving, but their bone construct pets were probably worth as much as the fifty mercenaries with him put together.


    Only three of the fearsome constructs were in sight, the one that looked like a giant winged wolf, the monstrosity with six heads and a multitude of limbs, as well as the one that looked almost like an exaggerated human statue¡­ except for its three faces which unnervingly kept rotating from one to another. He knew that there was a fourth one that resembled some unholy amalgamation between an alligator, a spider, and a scorpion, but that one remained invisible like it had done for most of the trip.


    He himself still had some mental struggles on how someone could look at the terrifying constructs and consider them as cute and adorable things, but the two women clearly did just that, and he was wise enough not to ask. After all, he had seen just how effective those very same bone constructs had been in combat back in the city.


    ¡°It¡¯s our pleasure, Captain,¡± replied one of the women, the silver-haired one. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly get that many visitors in Paradise so far, so it¡¯s nice to see some new people from time to time. The dwarves usually send the same group over and over again.¡±


    ¡°The situation should improve in another few decades after we cleared the forest some more and made the paths wider and more traversable,¡± added the other woman, the black-haired one. ¡°That¡¯s something which will take a while to realize, though. There¡¯s only so many of us, after all.¡±


    ¡°Please convey to the Lady Aideen that my offer stands, and so long as the Free Lances remain in business, will always be valid,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod of his head. He had expressed his gratitude to Aideen for her help back in Theodinaz, and made an oath that she could call upon the Free Lances whenever she was in need, for whatever reason, and they would come running. Erycea was present when he made the oath, and also vowed to pass on the same oath to the next generation and even further onwards.


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    It was a weighty promise, but he figured that it was only appropriate, given that without Aideen¡¯s timely aid back then there would likely be no Free Lances in the present day.


    ¡°Certainly, Captain. We¡¯ll convey your words,¡± replied the silver-haired woman. ¡°Safe travels! Though I guess you don¡¯t really need to worry about bandits and the like given your contingent.¡±


    With the farewells said, the Free Lances convoy departed. This time they went directly towards the south-east, cutting through the wasteland and avoiding some of the less traversable areas. Since they knew the direction better this time they spent less time on the road and soon reached B?rengant in roughly two-thirds the time they took when they were on the way to the Forest of Despair.


    Once they reached the dwarven city, the convoy rested for a while, and since Graf Angus Harscape happened to be in town, Reinhardt also paid a visit to catch up with him. The dwarven noble was after all an old family friend who was pretty much like an uncle to him, after all. They met at the old dwarf¡¯s house and discussed what they had been doing in recent years.


    Angus informed Reinhardt of the recent changes in Knallzog over the past few years while the Free Lances were working in Levain. The changes were quite surprising, all considered, and they directly stemmed from the assassination attempt that the mercenaries took part in foiling back then. That incident ended up being the fuse that led to a sequence of rapid changes in the dwarven kingdom.


    The old King apparently felt that his brother¡¯s ambitions were partly caused by his indecisiveness and directly abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince. Aethelbald Stahlfaust was thus named the new King just two years ago, whereas his uncle was stripped of every noble privilege and title as well as most of his worldly possessions.


    Aethelbald did show mercy to his uncle ¨C likely at the behest of his father, the former King ¨C as he left the disgraced dwarf with at least enough money to live the rest of his life in relative comfort, though by no means in luxury. The complete removal of the royal uncle¡¯s influence and authority rendered him as a non-threat, so the new King treated him appropriately.


    As for Angus Harscape himself, he felt that the old King¡¯s abdication had a good point. One should not linger for too long in power, and thus he himself had been preparing to abdicate his position in favor of his second daughter and heir. Over the past couple of years he had been slowly shifting more and more of his responsibilities to his daughter in preparation for the transfer of title in the near future.


    The old Graf clearly looked forward to spending a peaceful and leisurely retirement, so Reinhardt congratulated him on that.


    As for his successor, Reinhardt was also familiar with her. He often called her ¡°cousin¡± in the past, even, back when he was young and Aunt Ingrid visited the Graf with him along for the ride. As such, the friendship between the Free Lances and the Harscape family would likely stay intact as usual. Of course, Reinhardt also took the chance to introduce Erycea and Alycea to the future Grafin, as they would be the ones working with her in the future.

 Chapter 426 - New Lives

    ¡°People die, and new people are born to take their place, such is the way of nature.¡± - Old folk saying.


    After a few days of rest at B?rengant, the convoy headed northwards to Zephirous where the rest of the Company was stationed. Fortunately nothing unexpected happened in the month or so that Reinhardt and the others had been away for, other than increasing rumors about the Ezramite to their north intensifying their military buildup.


    The first thing Reinhardt did upon his arrival was to check with Lars on whether anything needed his presence or attention, but fortunately, no such thing happened. As such, he instead planned out the escort with which he¡¯d deliver Astra back to her parents. The Company¡¯s platoon leaders had another meeting that very evening, a rather brief one mostly to discuss that matter.


    In the end, Reinhardt decided to entrust the task of escorting Astra back to Erycea, who would bring her entire platoon on top of Alvaro¡¯s, Soledad¡¯s, and Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoons. Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr themselves would also accompany the group, which was set up in case another fool looked for trouble while they crossed through Lavianey to the north.


    Reinhardt estimated that the group should be back in a month or thereabouts. A few of the flying scouts volunteered to come along to facilitate easy communication between the convoy and the main body, while Ze¡¯phane naturally also went along as she too would return to Levain to take up her duties once more. Chances were that the Caroman Marshals would send people to meet them at the border anyway.


    They held a small feast to celebrate the successful mission later that night, where some acquaintances and friends from Zephirous came to join them as well. Varsha had retired from her position as Mayor by then, her post taken up by her protege, Annelise, who she brought along when she visited the mercenary camp that night. For a lady of her age Varsha was certainly still hale and hearty, and happily joined the boozehounds at the table as they drank down hard liquor as if it was water.


    Annelise on the other hand was more reserved. She got married five years ago, before the Free Lances headed to Levain, and had just given birth to her second child months ago. Annelise even brought her infant daughter along, quickly finding herself in a circle of fellow young mothers amongst the mercenaries, who also brought their kids along as well.


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    After all, given the year of relative peace and easy work that was their last year in Levain, it was no surprise that some of the mercenaries decided to tie the knot, or just have children while there was some downtime. It was nothing unusual, and Reinhardt himself was used to such a thing. He knew of at least a couple dozen children born to or by his mercenaries just in the past year.


    One of those was a daughter between Kari and Rubor, which was still an infant of a few months as well, having been born just a month or so before they left Levain. Kari was holding her infant daughter and chatting happily with Annelise, though she took care to keep her baby a distance away from Annelise¡¯s. Kari¡¯s child was half-therian after all and could pose some danger to a human baby as a result.


    Astra and Ze¡¯phane went around and thanked everyone they met for the escort through the Forest of Despair. Astra was already walking normally again, something the girl took only a couple weeks to get used to once more. She stumbled and nearly fell quite often early on, but once she regained the feeling in her leg, her body remembered how things were supposed to go and things went smoothly from there.


    The celebration went well past the midnight and only really ended when the last few people fell asleep ¨C most of them drunk as a skunk ¨C where they sat. It was not exactly an unusual sight for the mercenaries, and the cooks made sure that they cooked up some foods that were good for dealing with hangovers the next morning, as those would certainly be on demand.


    It was not until the next afternoon that the escort group led by Erycea left Zephirous together with Astra and Ze¡¯phane, retracing the company¡¯s route back towards the Republic of Caroma. While Erycea¡¯s group left, Reinhardt worked together with Lars to sort out the various job offers posted on the guild in Zephirous, only to find nothing that were to their liking.


    Fortunately the Free Lances made it pretty rich off the job in Levain, and their coffers were plenty to sustain them even if they were to take a break for the following year or two, so neither of them were particularly worried about that. The company¡¯s good financial conditions meant that the Free Lances had the freedom to wait until a fitting job offer arrived rather than having to scramble from one job to another even if it wasn''t particularly suitable for them. Far too many smaller mercenary groups had to do the latter.


    A month flew past almost unnoticed, and Erycea¡¯s group returned from their escort mission with the rest of their pay from the Caroman Marshals. The group returned unscathed, and had only fought two small skirmishes against some uppity warlords in Lavianey who tried their luck against the group only to be quickly dissuaded by some violence.


    They also confirmed that Ezram had initiated their assault on the former Lavianey region just shortly after the group crossed the border on their way back. The Ezramites didn¡¯t seem interested in hiring mercenaries, however, so they left them be and just returned to Zephirous to report.


    Other than the ongoing conflict to their north, most conflicts that were still happening at the time were small-scale, as the larger states and nations mostly kept a tentative peace. That made for rather boring times for the mercenaries, but it couldn¡¯t be helped.

 Chapter 427 - Questioning Peace

    ¡°Some people just can¡¯t find a place for themselves in peaceful times. It¡¯s just how it is sometimes. Some of us are born for conflict and violence, and to settle down, doing nothing in peaceful times can be¡­ a challenge to adapt to for quite a few. I¡¯m speaking from experience, of course.¡± - Karenina Creussens, member of the Free Lances mercenary Company, circa 21 FP.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking kinda blue, Rov. Did anything bad happen?¡± asked Alycea as she noticed Roven, Kari¡¯s son who was one year her junior ¨C and a member of her platoon ¨C looking rather glum by the campfire. Alycea had always been taught by her father that maintaining the condition of the platoon members, both physical and mental, was part of a platoon leader¡¯s duty, and besides, Roven was someone she considered a friend from long ago.


    ¡°Oh, uh, not really, Aly. I¡¯m just a bit envious of Beera I guess,¡± said Roven with a wistful sigh as he mentioned his little half-sister, Kari¡¯s daughter with Rubor. ¡°I know my mother isn¡¯t really to blame. In many ways I¡¯m probably a reminder of horrible times to her, so I do kind of understand why she was never that close with me, but I can¡¯t help but feel a little envious sometimes, you know?¡±


    Alycea found herself at a loss of words when she heard what Roven said. Like most, she was well aware of the circumstances behind Roven¡¯s conception. It was no secret, and she also understood that while Roven himself was blameless, his very existence would remain a reminder of the time when Kari had been violated by multiple marauding looters many years ago. It was already a surprise that Kari had chosen to carry him to term and bore him with some difficulty, as she understood that the child was not at fault.


    Even so, a constant reminder to one¡¯s lowest point in life would inevitably cause a mental shadow to form even with the best of intentions, which was one reason why the relationship between Roven and Kari was how it was. They were cordial to each other but there was a certain distance between them regardless, unlike what most parent-child relationships were like.


    In her mind Alycea counted her blessings that her parents never treated her any differently than to their own child despite her being adopted, and the child of a former enemy at that. Deities only knew how someone with her circumstances would have been treated in most other families. While neither Reinhardt nor Elfriede could be considered a typical warm, loving parental figure, they still cared greatly for their children, in their own way. Even if that way at times involved tough love, Alycea really couldn¡¯t complain.


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    ¡°Enough about the depressing topic, though. It is unseemly to be jealous of my own little sister, especially when she¡¯s so cute and adorable,¡± said Roven with a bit of self-depreciatory chuckling.


    ¡°You sure that you¡¯re not feeling particularly jealous of her because she almost bit off your finger last week, Rov?¡± asked Alycea teasingly in an attempt to better the mood. Roven got bitten by the infant Beera just a week ago while he was teasing the baby to laugh. Since Beera was half-therian, she grew up rather fast, and had already grown some teeth. Sharp teeth like her father.


    Fortunately she had only grown a few sparse teeth or else Roven might be looking at worse than just a minor wound and a bite mark on his right index finger.


    ¡°Heard that big sis was the same way when she was that age. Active as all hell and all too happy to bite and scratch anything she could get her fangs and claws on,¡± said Alycea with a chuckle. Half-therian children were often considered ¡®feral¡¯ for their first year or two for a good reason. ¡°Though I guess your mom and step-dad lucked out in that Beera is more easily contained in a wagon.¡±


    Unlike the lithe and nimble Erycea, Beera was more heavyset in build, much like her father. Fortunately her father¡¯s breed was not the sort that was particularly good at climbing, nor particularly fast. As such, Kari and Rubor were at least spared the trouble of having to chase around their child everytime she got away from the wagon like Reinhardt and Elfriede used to do.


    For that matter, there was no real way to confine Erycea when she was still an infant yet to develop her reasoning yet already physically active short of an actual cage, Alycea thought.


    ¡°Heh, yeah, you got a point there. I can¡¯t even imagine the hell Beera would cause if she could keep getting out of the wagon on her own,¡± replied Roven with an amused laugh. He knew that his little half-sister was very active and loved to crawl around all over the place, and she could crawl fast for her age thanks to her therian heritage. ¡°Say¡­ Aly, did you ever consider pursuing a life that¡¯s not linked to the company when you were young?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever had that idea, to be honest,¡± answered Alycea with a shake of her head. ¡°Always idolized mom since I was a kid, so I wanted to be like her all that while. I mean, living the easy life in peace definitely has its merits too, but by this point I¡¯d say that I like the feeling of holding my own fate in my hands too much to ever let go. Why the question?¡±


    ¡°Just wondering if maybe the kids like Beera might one day be able to live in a world without conflict and war, where peace reigns everywhere,¡± muttered Roven. ¡°I know, it¡¯s a silly thought. It¡¯s in people¡¯s nature to want better and all too often the only way to better themselves is to take from others, so there will always be conflicts out there.¡±


    ¡°I mean, look at it this way, Rov. At least as mercs we won¡¯t have to worry about ever being out of jobs in the future!¡±

 Chapter 428 - Unlikely Rumors

    ¡°Rumors were always worth paying attention to, especially when they might lead to new information. Sometimes it could be hard to distinguish the truth from the cow dung, however, so you still have to learn to discern between them first.¡± - Geriola Haenswo, intelligence agent for Dvergarder, circa 402 VA.


    ¡°Did you hear the rumors, Boss?¡± asked Lars around a couple weeks after Erycea returned from escorting Astra and Ze¡¯phane to Caroma. Although there had been many efforts by the dwarves of Knallzog to teach the former Theodinaz locals in other languages in the past couple decades, not everyone in the territory was capable of conversing in common or dwarven. Many older people had a hard time learning new languages at their age, so it was still more convenient to have a local like Lars take care of the rumor-sifting while they were in former Theodinaz territory.


    ¡°Which one?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity. He had paid attention to the talk in the mercenary¡¯s guild as well as the job offers placed there, but so far there had been nothing that truly caught his attention. Most of the job offers were smaller ones as the biggest conflicts died down of late, which wasn¡¯t too unusual.


    ¡°The one saying that there were some odd invaders far west, around Wanarua and Bostvan territory at the edge of the continent,¡± explained Lars. ¡°Hard to tell whether it was actually a case of actual invaders from like, beyond the sea or more just some pirates going wild, though. They did have a pirate problem on that side of Alcidea.¡±


    ¡°Could be either, to be honest. The designs for the weapons Ery and Friede used were from a book and some examples we got off the Theodinaz treasury, supposedly from some land far off over the ocean. They cut off contact with Alcidea centuries ago, supposedly, so it wouldn''t be too strange if they turned out to still be around and kicking,¡± noted Reinhardt as the talk reminded him of some tidbits from the past. ¡°Then again, more likely it¡¯s just some pirates. Doubt they¡¯d call for mercs like us just for that.¡±


    ¡°The dukes from the borderlands were pretty good employers, though I guess we wouldn¡¯t get much more than garrison contracts from them nowadays. Things pretty much died out over there since we left and they called for a truce,¡± noted Lars. The current situation on Posuin was an uneasy truce between the Central faction that held the north and north-west of the former kingdom, former Duke Emil Bostvan¡¯s faction ¨C which called themselves the legitimate ruler of the Kingdom ¨C to the south and south-west, and the border Duchies which held the east.


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    While the factions still had skirmishes amongst themselves, they pretty much kept up the uneasy peace between them, and no large-scale military engagements happened in the past seven or so years, which allowed the former kingdom some time to rebuild. The people started to focus more on their livelihoods once more instead of worrying over the ongoing war.


    Of course, it was merely a tentative peace, one that could be broken at any moment should any of the factions felt it to be an appropriate time to do so.


    Reinhardt actually liked working with the young Duke of Algenverr and the Young Duchess of Dvergarder as they had been honest employers who paid well, but since there had not been a suitable offer, he wouldn¡¯t bring his company there. Maybe if things remained quiet for another year or so, then the garrison duty might be a better choice than nothing, but for the time being the Free Lances had the capital to be picky with their contracts.


    Neither had he forgotten about the prisoners he took along with him out of Levain, namely Michel du Riffons and those of his people who chose to follow him to the bitter end. He already sent a messenger to contact old Guillaume du Riffons, but given his location ¨C last he knew, the former knight¡¯s company was employed by Algenverr ¨C it might be a while before Guillaume could reach Zephirous.


    Even if Old Guillaume could detach himself from his work ¨C unlikely, given that he¡¯d likely need some of his mercenaries to help him carry Michel and his group over ¨C it would have taken the old man at least a couple months to reach Zephirous from Algenverr, given that he had to take a circuitous route around. As such Reinhardt did not expect the old man to arrive anytime before at least another couple of weeks.


    Of course, Michel and his people were not treated badly. They were not even shackled or tied up and were free to walk around certain areas of the mercenary encampment, just not allowed to leave it. The Free Lances kept them well-fed and allowed them to train and exercise, though the captives were not allowed the use of any actual weapons.


    It was an odd sight to some, but between the two groups, there were little hard feelings to be had despite how they had literally tried to kill each other just a year before. Both sides were mercenaries working for their respective employers, so they were just doing what they did normally. The losers took their loss with some grace and aplomb, and besides, the fate of being ransomed back to his old man was probably a better outcome for Michel anyway.


    Even Michel himself doubted that Podovniy would be able to remain stable for long after the disastrous loss they had in Levain, so he was thankful that he got a chance to make a clean break before it was too late.


    He had gone there to chase after benefits and dreams, and now that those same things were in jeopardy, he knew better than to force his men to keep up the pursuit. Perhaps his father had been right all along, in that ambitions just get you killed when you¡¯re in the mercenary business. At least he learned that lesson before he lost far too much.

 Chapter 429 - Ransom Negotiations

    ¡°Everybody has their price. I don¡¯t mean that you can buy everybody with money, mind you. Some of us mercs won¡¯t work for you no matter how much you offer them if they don¡¯t find you up to their standards for employers. I mean that everybody has a price on their head, be it still attached to their body or not.¡± - Gretchen ¡°Headhunter¡± Tovarik, Mercenary from Clangeddin, circa 502 VA.


    ¡°Good to meet you again, Edelstein. Wish it was under better circumstances, though,¡± said Guillaume du Riffons when he arrived at the mercenary encampment around three weeks later. That he arrived only a week after Reinhardt¡¯s fastest estimate showed that the retired mercenary clearly put quite a bit of importance in the matter.


    Guillaume du Riffons came with twenty mercenaries from the Silver Falcons as escort, as well as reassurance in case Michel decided not to behave himself. Wilhelmina could not leave her post at Algenverr, though, so she was not present. Instead, the old former knight traveled to Knallzog on his own with just his escorts alongside him.


    ¡°You¡¯re only saying that because you¡¯re about to lose some money today, I bet,¡± replied Reinhardt teasingly. He welcomed his retired former compatriot with a grin and a friendly handshake, before leading the group deeper into the encampment. ¡°As I mentioned to you in the letter I sent, a bunch of your son¡¯s people wanted to follow him regardless of the circumstances, so there¡¯s quite a few of them around.¡±


    ¡°At least the brat learned which of his friends are truly friends out of all this,¡± said the old retired knight with a sigh. It was one thing if the people in question followed his son when they were trying to gain wealth and status for themselves, but it was a whole other thing to follow him into captivity like this. ¡°There¡¯s still hope for that brat, I guess. How many of his compatriots chose to follow him?¡±


    ¡°A little over a hundred. Got to say that your boy is pretty popular, all considered,¡± said Reinhardt nonchalantly. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, out of our friendship, I¡¯ll only charge you at cost for the rest of them. Just the fees for keeping them clothed and fed over the past year and the transportation fee from Levain to here, for the lot.¡±


    ¡°Very kind of you. Honestly, I was worried if I even brought enough coins to ransom the lot of them or not. Didn¡¯t feel right to just get some of them and leave the rest behind, you know?¡± said Guillaume with a relieved sigh at Reinhardt¡¯s words. ¡°I think I brought enough for all of them if you¡¯re just ransoming the rest at cost.¡±


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    ¡°Eh, if you didn¡¯t bring enough, you could always borrow some from us. We won¡¯t charge you too high an interest, just double it every year,¡± replied Reinhardt in jest as he laughed. Lending money or favors were rarely done amongst mercenaries, mostly due to the fact that they couldn¡¯t be certain that the other party would remain alive to pay them back. That Reinhardt even offered to lend Guillaume money was considered a gesture of friendship and kindness in the mercenary circle.


    ¡°Heh. I think that¡¯s a generous offer, but unfortunately I¡¯ll have to pass,¡± replied Guillaume with a chuckle. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s the rascal. I see you let them keep in shape even though they¡¯re your prisoners, huh?¡± noted the old man.


    Reinhardt had allowed Michel and his men relative autonomy within the mercenary camp. They were not really limited in what they could do, other than not being allowed to hold a weapon or leave the camp. Some of the more adventurous of Michel¡¯s men had even volunteered to help out where they could in exchange for a small salary.


    They then spent that salary on better food and beverages, or to visit the prostitutes the company employed, effectively bringing the money back into the company¡¯s coffers in the end. By that point in time, most of the group had wisened up to the trick and volunteered to help out on a regular basis. They knew that it was not worth jeopardizing the good way in which they were treated anyway, so they behaved themselves throughout.


    ¡°Yeah, we provide for them, but if they wanted more and didn¡¯t mind doing some honest work to get it, who are we to refuse them?¡± said Reinhardt as he spotted what Guillaume noticed. Michel and a few of his compatriots were lugging around firewood to where the company¡¯s cooks were working on that day¡¯s dinner. It was the sort of menial tasks they helped around with while in captivity.


    As a side benefit, it also allowed them to exercise their muscles while they were technically prisoners.


    ¡°Oy, Michel, gather your men up!¡± yelled Reinhardt from the distance, which naturally attracted the attention of Michel and his companions. They looked at him in confusion for a moment, before Michel noticed his old father standing beside Reinhardt and nodded rather nervously. He then said something to his companions and they split off, probably to gather up the rest of their group from wherever they were.


    Within less than ten minutes, the entire group had gathered together and stood in a neat formation with Michel du Riffons at the front and center. Meanwhile, Guillaume walked over and looked at the members of the group. Some of them were familiar to him as they had left to support Michel back during the schism, while the younger ones were a bit less familiar to him, as some of them joined the group in Clangeddin.


    Either way, he gave a satisfied nod after he counted their number and turned back to Reinhardt with a serious look on his face.


    ¡°They seem to be fine, so let us talk business now,¡± said the old retired mercenary with a sigh as he knew that it was time for the reckoning. Behind him, Michel looked down out of embarrassment as he knew that the situation happened due to his willfulness.


    ¡°Certainly, old friend,¡± said Reinhardt as he invited Guillaume over to a nearby table where Lars and Loren already waited with several sheets of parchment in hand that detailed the ransom of the people involved. ¡°Let us get down to the coins, then.¡±

 Chapter 430 - A Time-Honored Tradition

    ¡°Some traditions were kept in usage all the way to modern times for good reasons. Some might be just because it was common sense to keep them, whereas others remained in use simply because it made no sense whatsoever to abandon them. The various traditional preparation methods for potentially poisonous foodstuffs came to mind for an example of the latter.¡± - Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, Circa 688 FP.


    ¡°You sure drive a hard bargain, Edelstein. Take it,¡± said Guillaume du Riffons in a wistful tone as he pushed another pile of gold coins over the table towards Reinhardt. Reinhardt¡¯s side of the table was already filled with many similar piles of the same coins, which consisted of various currencies common to the region. The coins had roughly the same overall size, weight, and gold content, which was something the nations that used them ensured and enforced to promote trade. ¡°I hate owing a favor to someone. Can¡¯t haggle properly when you owe someone.¡±


    ¡°It is how it is, du Riffons, no hard feelings,¡± said Reinhardt with a smirk as he scooped up the piles of coins to his side with one hand. The two of them had been haggling over Michel du Riffons¡¯ ransom money, a time-honored tradition amongst mercenaries. Nobody wanted to pay more than they had to in order to ransom someone back, while similarly, the side with the captive would want to squeeze out every last coin they could.


    Just because Reinhardt offered Guillaume to ransom him Michel¡¯s companions at cost didn¡¯t mean that the same applied to Michel himself, after all. On that occasion, the two mercenary leaders ¨C one active, one retired ¨C bared their fangs, both literal and metaphorical, and haggled in a manner that would have made an old housewife beam with envy.


    Of course, the haggling was done in good humor, where neither side saw it as a chance to gain or save themselves a little extra bit of coin. In the end Reinhardt had the advantage since he already did Guillaume a huge favor by ransoming him Michel¡¯s people ¨C and their horses, or at least, the ones the Free Lances managed to catch along with them ¨C at cost, on top of capturing Michel alive and mostly unhurt, at that.


    Erycea left Michel with some bruises ¨C including to his pride and ego ¨C and a dislocated shoulder when she captured him back then, but none of the damage was permanent. Similarly, most of the other captives only had light injuries that had already healed by that point of time, since over a year had passed since their capture.


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    In essence, Guillaume du Riffons ransomed not just his son, but also a loyal bunch of trained cavalrymen who would fight by his side to further supplement his daughter¡¯s mercenary company. While in number they were less than half of the people who followed Michel during the schism ¨C some of those had perished in the fighting while others chose to remain under Podovniy¡¯s employ ¨C it was akin to discarding the bad parts while keeping the best for the company.


    After all, Reinhardt doubted that there would be any conflict between Michel and his sister. Michel had his chance and failed at it, so he would likely be subservient to his sister¡¯s commands. His riders might be personally loyal to him, but that was fine, for as long as Michel himself was under control, his people would follow alongside him.


    ¡°I guess that concludes our deal,¡± said Reinhardt as he led Guillaume away from the table. Lars and Loren were still counting out the coins and writing it into their account books, since if there¡¯s one thing Reinhardt and Lars strongly agreed on, it was that the Company needed to keep a thorough record of their income and expenses. Loren had been working with Lars in that regard, his position in the company more an accountant than a healer nowadays.


    ¡°You kept their equipment too, I reckon?¡± asked Guillaume. ¡°I noticed that you included that in the calculations for the rest of them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we did. Some of them even saved up and had their gear upgraded by pops, actually. Pretty clever to use the chance to get themselves the good stuff,¡± praised Reinhardt. ¡°I already had some people sent to retrieve their gear, so they should be here with them any moment no-¡± he then noticed some of his mercenaries coming over from the side. ¡°Aha, speak of the bastards and they show up right away.¡±


    Reinhardt and Guillaume watched as the mercenaries from the Free Lances called the captives by name and then brought out their equipment, which the captives immediately donned where they stood. One after the other, the captives put on their armor and weapons once more after a year of life in captivity, until all of them lined up in front of Guillaume in full equipment.


    Then Reinhardt led the way to where the mercenaries had a stable built to keep the horses captured along with the captives back then. Of course, the horses were not exactly one to one in number. Some of the horses perished during the battle while the riders were captured alive, but in turn, over the one year that passed new foals and fillies had been born, and many of those had grown large enough to be ridden.


    Naturally Reinhardt allowed the young horses to be trained, since they were considered part of the captives¡¯ assets, which would be returned to them upon the arrival of their ransom. As such, Michel and his men actually had enough horses for each of them to ride one, and an excess of around a dozen horses on top of that.


    The group left together with Guillaume and his escort the next day, after a bit of a sending away party hosted by the Free Lances. Over the past year there had been some friendships built between the mercenaries despite their difference in status, which was far from uncommon. They were all in the same boat, in the end, after all.

 Chapter 431 - News from Abroad

    ¡°As they say, there will always be time to pick up the weapons once more, even if it might be for the last time in your life.¡± - Ferric Kerson, retired mercenary, served forty years in the Darrel¡¯s Dervishes mercenary company, prior to fighting to the death against bandits that raided his home village.


    Mercenary Encampment outside Zephirous


    City of Zephirous, Knallzog


    Western Alcidea


    4th Day of the 3rd Week of the 7th Month, Year 20 FP.


    ¡°Boss, we got a visitor you will want to see,¡± said Lars with a rather flustered look when he barged into Reinhardt¡¯s tent that afternoon. Reinhardt was rather idle that afternoon and was reading a book in the comfort of his tent when Lars arrived. He had just enough time to lower his feet from where he rested them on his desk and assume a proper seated position before the guest Lars brought entered the tent behind him.


    To his surprise, it was a face he recognized. Miriam Levan-Tovmund was cousin to Duke Werner Tovmund of Jonkver who doubled as the acting head of the Duchy¡¯s armed forces when Reinhardt and his company still worked for the Coalition of the Border Duchies five years ago. He certainly had not expected to see her all the way in Zephirous given the distance between the city and Jonkver, though.


    It had been several months since Guillaume came to Zephirous to ransom his son and left for Algenverr once more, and during those months the Free Lances mostly idled away the time while keeping up their conditioning with rigorous training. They had yet to see any offered contract that interested them, but seeing Miriam personally look for them made Reinhardt think that said lack of contracts might end very soon.


    The main reason for such a thinking was Miriam¡¯s position in Jonkver.


    While Bernd Adenauer also came in person in order to recruit the mercenaries on Levain¡¯s behalf and later rose to the Chairwoman¡¯s right-hand man, back when he came for them, he was just one senator amongst many. His position was high, certainly, but it was one that was not all that important in the larger picture. It was relatively common for larger nations to send people in such positions to hire mercenaries if they deemed the company deserving enough.


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    On the other hand, Miriam Levan-Tovmund was the head of Jonkver¡¯s military. While Jonkver was by far the weakest out of the three border duchies, Miriam¡¯s position meant that she was one of the ten most powerful people in the coalition, just behind the Dukes and Duchesses as well as the other heads of armed forces for the other duchies.


    People of that sort of position did not usually get sent to do things like hiring mercenaries, unless the nation in question was either really picky, or it was an emergency situation.


    In an emergency situation such a person might be sent out because the nation they served needed someone who could judge the qualities of the mercenaries to be hired in a short period of time, as just getting more warm bodies on the battlefield was pointless against more organized opponents. Under that logic, Miriam was indeed the best choice to send out for the Border Duchies, as Jonkver had the weakest military and the other two duchies could take up the slack while she was gone easily enough.


    Since Lars brought her to camp, he probably met her while he was visiting the guild that day. The Free Lances had their encampment on the north side of Zephirous, which meant that they were on the far side of the city for anyone traveling there from the south, like Miriam would have done ig she came from the Border Duchies to Knallzog.


    ¡°Miss Tovmund,¡± greeted Reinhardt as he stood up behind his desk and gave Miriam a firm handshake. ¡°Please have a seat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Miriam with a smile that tugged at the old scar that ran over her left eye and down to near her lips. Miriam was young for her position, just in her early thirties, and as far as Reinhardt knew, while she was ¡°acting head¡± during his time in Posuin, that position had pretty much transitioned straight to the real one over the years. ¡°Good to see your company doing well after all these years.¡±


    It was not like youthful officers were an uncommon thing, to be fair, especially since the next generation of the Duchies¡¯ leaders were stepping up and taking over as well. Reinhardt knew that all three of the current Dukes and Duchesses ¨C Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez of Algenverr, Werner Tovmund of Jonkver, and Andrea Utghwes of Dvergarder ¨C were around the same age range as Miriam.


    ¡°Pleasantries first or would you prefer to get down to business right away, Ma¡¯am?¡± asked Reinhardt half in jest. He knew that whatever brought someone in Miriam¡¯s position all this way while recruiting mercenaries would likely be serious enough that they would like to get down to business immediately, but sometimes you never know with nobles.


    ¡°Business, please. The situation was pretty urgent as it was,¡± said Miriam with a shake of her head. ¡°I came to Knallzog to recruit mercenaries on behalf of the Border Duchies and the others I recruited are already making their way to Posuin, but I caught wind that the Free Lances were recuperating in Zephirous and had yet to sign a contract of late, so I came here instead of heading home.¡±


    ¡°I presume you must have heard at least some rumors about attacks from pirates or some unknown forces along the western coastline by now, Captain?¡± asked Miriam without preamble. Reinhardt nodded in reply to her question. The rumors had been going around for months now, though with little detail. ¡°Those rumors are real, and it¡¯s not pirates. Whoever these invaders are, they have a large, organized army in a style we have never seen before.¡±


    ¡°Wanarua is gone, Bostvan had lost a third of their territory, and Gestis is fighting for its existence when I left a couple weeks ago. While there are some hopes that the invaders will stop before they go too far east, the Dukes and Duchess chose not to take chances.¡±

 Chapter 432 - Urgent Summons from the West

    ¡°When the world is in turmoil, that is when us money soldiers live our best lives.¡± - Fiora Guthenberg, veteran mercenary.


    ¡°Wanarua is gone!?¡± Reinhardt repeated out of surprise. The Free Lances had not come into contact much with forces from the Duchy of Wanarua as that duchy was the westernmost duchy of the Central Faction. Even in their decade of service in Posuin they only fought troops from there on a few occasions, and even then, never that many. As far as he was aware, Wanarua mostly devoted its military to fighting against Bostvan.


    ¡°The information we had wasn¡¯t all too detailed due to the distance involved and the hostility between us and the Centrals, but we believe that to be the case indeed,¡± stated Miriam calmly to Reinhardt¡¯s surprised outburst. ¡°As I mentioned, when I left two weeks ago, we received reports that Gestis was under attack by the same invaders as well, so they clearly weren¡¯t stopping so quickly.¡±


    ¡°I assume the Bostvan situation is confirmed too, then?¡± asked Reinhardt as he sat down and steepled his fingers before his face while he thought. A military force that could overwhelm one of the Central Duchies so quickly was formidable, even if each of the Central Duchies were weaker militarily compared to the Border Duchies his company worked with back then. Former Duke Emil Bostvan¡¯s faction on the other hand had united practically the entire south-west of Posuin, which made the forces under him at least just as formidable.


    ¡°We actually received a request for truce from them, signed by the Regent himself, as well as a call to band together to repel the foreign invaders first before we struggle amongst ourselves for sovereignty,¡± admitted Miriam. ¡°Our own spies and reports corroborated what the Regent informed us, and that one-third was a conservative estimate.¡±


    ¡°A really formidable foe, then. So that¡¯s why you¡¯re calling up as many mercenary companies as you can find?¡± queried Reinhardt again. The hiring of mercenaries was a common method to pad up one¡¯s military forces, though stronger companies with better reputation ¨C like his Free Lances ¨C would have the privilege of higher pay and more freedom to choose their jobs.


    ¡°As well as requesting for aid from Knallzog, in case it comes down to that,¡± said Miriam with a straight face. ¡°His Highness Aethelbald was quite receptive to the idea of working together to repel the foreign invaders, but his army would need time to prepare and mobilize, so I also recruited as many mercenary companies as I could along the way. Most of the ones I recruited already made their way to Posuin as we speak.¡±


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    ¡°You want us along then, I expect. What¡¯s the offer?¡± asked Reinhardt as he went straight to the point of the matter at hand. Under normal circumstances he would haggle and discuss things more, but these were clearly not normal circumstances, and besides, he still had some trust in the rulers of the Border Duchies. ¡°I did promise Nestor that we¡¯d come over if we¡¯re free and he had a need for us.¡±


    ¡°I am glad to hear that. Duke Nunez did mention to get you on board if your company was available. This is the base offer we gave everyone we hired so far, though I suspect that you can likely negotiate for more privileges with the Dukes and Duchesses directly given your company¡¯s stellar reputation,¡± said Miriam as she brought out a roll of parchment and handed it over to Reinhardt.


    ¡°These are pretty generous terms, though you are right in that I will want to negotiate some things with them as well, especially with the best way to use my Company,¡± noted Reinhardt as he read through the parchment quickly yet in detail. ¡°Can you give us a day? I will need to discuss this with the rest of my people and see what they think, though chances are good that we¡¯ll march with you in battle once more.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Captain Edelstein. I will await your good news, then.¡±


    Miriam returned to the inn she stayed at after the brief discussion, while Reinhardt summoned all the platoon leaders under the company for an emergency meeting. The meeting itself had not taken that long. Other than Astrid, all the other platoon leaders had already been members of the Company ¨C or were otherwise present ¨C during the Posuin campaign, and they were familiar with the young Dukes and Duchesses now reigning over the Border faction. All of them had good impressions of the three Dukes and Duchesses and liked them quite a bit as employers.


    As such, it had not taken long before the mercenaries agreed unanimously ¨C Astrid went along with the flow since everybody else clearly already agreed to take the job ¨C to head towards Posuin, and Reinhardt ordered them to start packing up that very night.


    When Miriam visited them again in the afternoon the next day, she was surprised to see that the mercenaries were already busily packing their belongings into wagons and immediately knew that her mission was a success. Sure enough, Reinhardt informed her that the Free Lances would ride to Posuin within the next day or two, once they finished packing for deployment. He also offered to travel back with Miriam if she had nowhere else she needed to head to in the meantime.


    Since Miriam was planning to return once she recruited the Free Lances or otherwise, she happily took the offer. Due to the haste in which she was sent out, she only had a dozen or so escorts with her, and almost ran afoul of a bandit ambush in the wastelands still being reclaimed by Knallzog. Many areas of said wasteland were still rather lawless and had no strong security presence, so she welcomed the escort back home.


    A mere two days after Reinhardt met with Miriam Levan-Tovmund, the entirety of the Free Lances marched out from Zephirous and headed southwards, where they would cross Knallzog territory towards Posuin and enter there from Dvergarder. Their next job ¨C and the battles it would undoubtedly involve ¨C awaited them at their destination.

 Chapter 433 - A Bit of Petty Vengeance

    ¡°Nobody is above a little bit of petty revenge when the situation allows it.¡± - Old folk saying.


    The Free Lances made good time ¨C at least when one considered that the whole caravan carried around five thousand people in total ¨C on their journey southwards into Knallzog, before they turned west towards the wastelands between the Dwarven Kingdom and Posuin. It only took the caravan roughly a week to reach the wastelands from Zephirous, which was about as fast as what most carriages would be able to manage.


    Miriam and her dozen escorts rode together with the caravan throughout the journey. She could have probably saved up a day or two if she rode out together with her group ahead of them, but the convenience, comfort, and safety of the caravan won her over. Besides, it was not like a day or two would affect the situation much, given what she last knew of it.


    ¡°Was this the region you almost ran afoul of some bandits on your way over?¡± Miriam heard Reinhardt ask all of a sudden. In response, she took a look around the area and compared it with what she remembered. It had only been a month or so since the incident, so she still recalled it pretty well, all considered. The region definitely matched what she could remember.


    ¡°This should be the place, yeah,¡± she replied with a nod. ¡°I doubt those bandits would show up, though, we have far too many people for them to even risk attacking.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they don¡¯t need to come out,¡± said Reinhardt with a smirk. ¡°Hannah, take three others of yours and find me where those bandits make their lair. Report back with their numbers as well if you can get a good look safely,¡± she heard Reinhardt speak, apparently to thin air. ¡°They should be in the vicinity of this region, but likely further west. It was still patrolled pretty well further east from here.¡±


    His words were definitely conveyed, though, as mere moments later four avian therians took off from one of the wagons further in the middle of the caravan and flew into the clear sky on their majestic wings. The four of them split up into pairs and flew towards the north-west and south-west respectively, where the bandits Miriam almost ran into were likely present.


    Nothing happened while the caravan rode on leisurely for the next two hours or so, until Miriam noticed how Reinhardt seemed to be listening to something she wasn¡¯t privy to. Sure enough, a moment later the mercenary captain barked out several commands.


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    ¡°Aly, I want you and Astrid to take your platoons out, your target is a bandit encampment north-west of our location, towards the outskirts of the Forest of Despair. They¡¯re hidden in a small ravine, around a hundred or so bandits,¡± commanded Reinhardt. ¡°Hannah will show you the way, she¡¯ll find you, so no worries about getting lost. No mercy for the bandits, bring along any captives you find, though. Catch up by tonight.¡±


    Miriam realized that Reinhardt must have been using some sort of artifact to communicate through long distances as mere moments after he gave out his commands ¨C to the empty air, in her eyes ¨C several wagons which carried Alycea¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s platoons peeled out from the caravan and headed towards the north-west.


    Even with the two platoons and their wagons headed their own way, the rest of the caravan just continued on their trek unbothered. Eventually, they settled down to rest for the night and the wagons formed circles as they stopped. It was just around the time when dinner was about to be served when the fliers returned, followed by the two platoons that went off on their own a few minutes later.


    The mercenaries under Alycea¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s lead who went off to deal with the bandits were in pretty high spirits. A few had fresh bandages on their bodies, but as far as Miriam could tell, none of them seemed to be injured badly. Some of them led a few rather emaciated men and women over to be seated and had the company¡¯s support staff serve them some hot food, while the rest settled down to eat as well.


    Reinhardt had just sent out some of his people to wipe out the local bandits on a whim, it seemed.


    ¡°Those two had the newest platoons, so I figure getting them warmed up a bit for the battles to come wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea,¡± said Reinhardt when Miriam looked at him questioningly. ¡°A bunch of bandits make for a good warm-up that¡¯s low in risk, and besides, never hurts to get on the good side of the locals anyway, especially for mercs like us,¡± he added.


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s here already,¡± noted Reinhardt as he noticed Alycea approaching. ¡°How did things go over there, Aly?¡±


    ¡°Nothing unexpected, really. They didn¡¯t exactly give us much of a fight. A couple tried to hold their captives as hostages, but we made it clear to them in no uncertain terms how we deal with those types,¡± said Alycea rather nonchalantly. ¡°Around thirty or so captives, probably villagers from near the Posuin border by their looks.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll hand them over in Dvergarder in that case, then,¡± said Reinhardt with a nod. Since the captives were humans, it was far more likely for them to be from Posuin than Knallzog. While Knallzog also had many human citizens, their pioneering groups which were reclaiming the wasteland were predominantly dwarves.


    ¡°What do you mean by making it clear in no uncertain terms?¡± asked Miriam with some curiosity. She only ever worked with the mercenaries in battlefield situations so she never saw them deal with a hostage situation before.


    ¡°Why, by having our marksmen put a bolt in between their eyes, of course,¡± said Alycea just as nonchalantly as before. The mercenaries had a hardline stance with hostage takers¡­ and plenty of expert marksmen. Those marksmen did not hesitate and a distance of ten meters was nothing more than a joke to them.

 Chapter 434 - A Battle on the Negotiation Table

    ¡°Given the size of the world, you would normally not expect to meet people you know all that often. However, once you start traveling around, you will realize how you keep meeting such people every now and then, at times out of nowhere. The world is actually a small place, when you think of it that way.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    The mercenary caravan reached the border between Dvergarder and Knallzog a few days after the minor incident with the bandits. Technically, Miriam no longer needed to accompany them at that point and could directly return to Jonkver instead, but she stuck with the mercenaries a while more to help arrange things for the captives they found in the bandit stronghold. That sort of job was something she, as a local, was better suited for than the mercenaries.


    As for further negotiations on the contract, Reinhardt found himself once more facing Sandoval Utghwes, the former Duke of Dvergarder. The man had retired from his position and handed things down to his daughter Andrea a few years ago, and was enjoying his retired life when news of the conflict further west reached him.


    While the man was retired and now in his sixties, he was all too aware that such a conflict ¨C especially if it was truly an invasion from beyond the seas ¨C had the potential to engulf his beloved Duchy in it as well, so he volunteered his assistance to his daughter, the current Duchess. Given his familiarity with mercenaries as he was the one who employed them on a larger scale during the Posuin civil war, Duchess Andrea tasked her father to help her as a liaison with the mercenaries they were hiring in the present, to watch out for the bad eggs amongst them and to negotiate their contracts until both parties were satisfied.


    All of which were tasks the old former Duke took on with gusto.


    Reinhardt certainly didn¡¯t mind having to negotiate the finer points of the contract ¨C which Miriam was not given the authority to agree on ¨C with the old retired Duke, as he knew Saldoval Utghwes to be a fair employer. The two of them met at the negotiation table, each with their respective aides, while the Caravan rested outside Dvergarder city and Miriam helped the captives they rescued settle down.


    If one wanted to say that the negotiation between the veteran mercenary Captain who headed a storied Company with centuries of history and the retired former Duke was friendly, the way the two haggled and bargained as if they wanted to eat the other party down to the bone would put that illusion to rest instantly. Yet at the same time, neither side held any true animosity for the other, and the vicious negotiations were just the result of two pragmatic and profit-oriented people taking on each other on a field they both excelled at.


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    To compare such negotiations with battles between armies was an apt comparison, though instead of blood spilled, it was benefits and coins that each party bled out of the others. Numbers replaced the soldiers of the battlefields and represented each other¡¯s assets, where both sides attempted to maneuver to a position where they had the advantage over the other.


    The negotiations lasted three whole days before Reinhardt and Sandoval signed a contract the two had hashed out to their mutual satisfaction. Both sides took their respective pounds of meat and made their compromises until they realized that they would not be able to get any better out of the other party. With the contract¡¯s signing, the Free Lances was once more formally employed by the Coalition of Border Duchies of Posuin.


    At the present time, there was little for them to do, as the battlefield was further west, in the territory of the Central Duchies and the Bostvan faction. Given the formerly hostile relationship between those factions and the Border Duchies, there was likely no chance that they would even ask for help unless they were desperate.


    Instead, the Border Duchies ramped up their defenses and recruited mercenaries in order to prepare for what they saw as an eventuality. Whoever these invaders were, they possessed enough military force to directly crush one of the Central Duchies within a short two months ¨C even if it could be argued that Wanarua was caught off-guard ¨C and were making their way further east despite the heavy resistance they faced.


    In fact, what information the Border Duchies managed to discern from the other factions indicated that both the Central Duchies and the Bostvan faction were on the backfoot, with the invaders having the advantage over them. While the Border Duchies successfully defeated those very same factions during the civil war, it was mostly when they were fighting on defense, something their region specialized in. If they were on the attack it was doubtful that they would manage such success against the same opponents.


    Nestor¡¯s campaign against Kolitschei near the end of the Free Lances¡¯ employment period back then was an exception to the rule and the one time the Border Duchies actually went on the offensive. They won partly because their enemies were facing internal discord, and partly because they caught their foes off-guard.


    On the other hand, the unknown invaders reportedly brought a large enough military force to overwhelm both the Centrals and the Bostvans through sheer numbers alone. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the way they waged warfare was clearly different from what passed as common sense in the continent, and that different method of warfare caused many of the early losses due to the surprise factor.


    Both the Centrals and the Bostvans adapted their tactics to match their foes as quickly as they could, but all that had done so far was to slow down the speed at which the foreign invaders encroached upon their territory. Both factions were constantly on the backfoot and the Border Duchies judged that they might cry out for help before too long.


    Which was why they prepared their own military, for when that moment arrived.

 Chapter 435 - The Generation to Come

    ¡°The later generation always lived by the feats of their predecessors, in some way. They would either build upon the foundation that the previous generations had prepared, rebuild what their predecessors had destroyed, or even right the wrongs of their ancestors. Change is the one eternal constant to progress.¡± - Saying attributed to Nec Aarin, the Bone Lord of the Lichdom of Ptolodecca.


    ¡°Grampa! Play with me!¡± yelled a tiny voice as Reinhardt walked along with the retired former Duke of Dvergarder through the mansion on their way out. They had just finalized the negotiations and signed the contract and were in a good mood at the time, so they chatted while they walked. Probably why neither of them noticed the child until she made her voice heard.


    Reinhardt looked over and saw a human toddler that was probably three or so years old at most running towards them enthusiastically. The child had the typical dark skin tone of people from southern Posuin, which combined with the high-quality dress she wore made it rather obvious whose child she would likely be, even if she had not called the former Duke as ¡°Grampa¡±.


    ¡°Oh, little Kiya, my sweetheart,¡± said the former Duke dotingly as he dropped to one knee and caught the little girl as she leapt to his embrace. The way the man looked at the child with love and affection showed just how much he must have cared for her. ¡°What brought you here today? I thought you were with your mother since she¡¯s back?¡±


    ¡°Mama¡¯s boring, just keeps meeting up with the shiny people all the time,¡± pouted the little girl as she complained. ¡°I wanted to visit Grampa but she said you were busy, so I was with Gramma earlier,¡± she added with a mischievous smile. ¡°Is this Grampa¡¯s friend? He¡¯s big! And fluffy!¡± the girl added as she looked at Reinhardt with wide, inquisitive eyes.


    ¡°Now, girl, be polite, this is Grampa¡¯s acquaintance from work,¡± chastised the former Duke with a defeated sigh. He gave Reinhardt an apologetic look but Reinhardt just returned a shake of his head to signify that he didn¡¯t mind. After all, little children were bound to be blunt and honest with their words, unlike adults. Instead, he used a trick that he knew from experience would pacify just about any child.


    He extended the tip of his tail towards the wide-eyed little girl who almost immediately pounced upon it and hugged it, immersed in the comfort of the soft, thick fur of his tail.


    ¡°Always works with kids,¡± said Reinhardt with a smirk to the surprised former Duke. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had a grandchild already. She Andrea¡¯s or Reth¡¯s?¡± he asked, naming the former Duke¡¯s son who was nearly ten years younger than his sister.


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    ¡°She¡¯s Andrea¡¯s first child. Girl got married four years ago, her second child¡¯s still a babe so we don¡¯t show him around too much,¡± said the former Duke with obvious parental affection and pride to his grandchildren. ¡°I always kept watch on my knights worrying that one of them would snatch my little girl away from me, but I never thought that she¡¯d marry a baker from town instead. Could you believe that!?¡±


    ¡°Well, you know what they say. The way to a person¡¯s heart is through their stomach,¡± replied Reinhardt with an amused guffaw. ¡°Did your son-in-law bake well, at least? I doubt he won someone like your daughter over with just his good looks or charming personality or something like that. That stuff¡¯s for the fairy tales.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, Chaka¡¯s not even all that good-looking, to be honest. Homely lad, the honest, open sort. Hard to not like him once you know him, all considered,¡± admitted the former Duke with some exasperation. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even change his lifestyle even after marrying my girl, the Duchess! Still keeps his bakery open like usual!¡±


    ¡°I mean, having an honest, hardworking sort for a son-in-law isn¡¯t bad, especially if Andrea also likes him. Far better than getting one of the scheming snakes that just wants her riches and power, you know?¡± said Reinhardt with the smirk remaining on his face.


    ¡°I know, I know, and I guess we do benefit from having him as a son-in-law. He does make some really good Malva and Ghoraye, so that¡¯s something we get to enjoy a lot,¡± said the former Duke with a heartfelt sigh. ¡°I must have gained a few kilos in the past few years from eating too many of those.


    Reinhardt was familiar with sweets mentioned by the former Duke. Malva was a sort of soft, bready pudding that was mostly flavored with brown sugar and fruit vinegar. It had a pleasant sweet-sour flavor and was a favorite of Elfriede¡¯s when they were still working in Posuin. Reinhardt himself found it pleasant, as his breed couldn¡¯t really taste sweetness, so the sour flavor was what came to the fore instead.


    The other sweet was more like a sort of cookie, except it was very tender, to the point of literally melting in the mouth without even needing to be bitten. They were made with copious amounts of butter and typically sweetened with fruit juices, and was a favorite amongst the younger children at that time. He remembered Erycea and Alycea often devouring whole plates of the snacks.


    ¡°You know, maybe I should take my family over for dinner at your place before we leave town,¡± said Reinhardt half in jest as he reminisced over the old days. The former Duke still lived in the mansion complex even though his daughter already took over the position, just that he and his wife moved to one of the side wings instead of staying in the main bedroom.


    ¡°You¡¯d be welcome to,¡± replied the former Duke with a nod. ¡°My lady wife was quite fond of your younger daughter, if you recall. I believe she would be delighted to meet her again after so long,¡± he continued while gently cradling his granddaughter in his arms. The girl had fallen asleep while hugging Reinhardt¡¯s tail tightly, so the two had to walk together one way or another for the time being.


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal, then. We¡¯ll be judging how good your son-in-law¡¯s sweets are in that case,¡± stated Reinhardt as he laughed.

 Chapter 436 - A Dinner Invitation

    ¡°One thing any soldier or mercenary always learns early on is to never turn down free food when there¡¯s no strings attached.¡± - Vidar Ongale, retired veteran mercenary from Posuin.


    ¡°Welcome, welcome,¡± said the former Duchess of Dvergarder as Reinhardt brought his family to their mansion on the former Duke¡¯s invitation. For a woman almost in her sixties the former Duchess still looked hale and hearty, which was perhaps to be expected for someone in her station. ¡°Glad you could join us tonight with your family, Captain Edelstein.¡±


    The former Duchess then went over and pestered Elfriede and the girls instead, as she was particularly close with Erycea and Alycea during the time when the Free Lances worked in Dvergarder before. That left Reinhardt and the former Duke to converse with each other as they walked deeper into the mansion together.


    It was not far to the mansion¡¯s main dining room, where the group found Andrea, the current Duchess, awaiting them with the rest of her family present. Her younger brother, Reth, was also present. Unlike his warrior of a sister, he was rather thin and looked bookish, especially with the pair of spectacles perched atop his nose.


    He pursued scholarly knowledge and served as the Duchy¡¯s main civil officer in training, a role often taken by younger siblings of the heir. While the Utghwes family prided themselves on being warriors first and foremost, they never neglected civil affairs either, and in every generation, there was always someone to take up the role in order to support the Duke or Duchess at the time.


    A nursemaid was also present by the side, gently cradling a baby of about six months old in her hands, likely the second child of the Duchess mentioned by the former Duke the day before. Her older daughter that Reinhardt already met before, Kiya, was presently bouncing around on the lap of a man seated next to the Duchess, which Reinhardt intuited was likely her husband, Chaka.


    Chaka was a large man, one large enough to make the already tall Duchess ¨C Andrea Utghwes was about as tall as Erycea, which was very tall for a human woman ¨C look small. He was also broad at the shoulders to the point that Reinhardt wondered if the man didn¡¯t have some dwarven blood in him, given his imposing bulk.


    Yet at the same time, the easy smile that reached the man¡¯s eyes and the playful demeanor with which he teased the little girl on his lap spoke of a gentle soul that likely haven¡¯t harmed as much as a fly in his life. It was a rather stark juxtaposition with the Duchess, who was a warrior that led the charge and braved the battlefield, but sometimes opposites do attract.


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    In a way, it was also fitting, because what was better for a warrior to fight for than a home and warm hearth to return to?


    Reinhardt ended up sitting next to Chaka as the little girl on his lap made a fuss about wanting to play with the ¡°Fluffy man¡±, which elicited some laughter from the room. He extended his tail over to satisfy the little girl while her father gave him an apologetic look, clearly somewhat embarrassed by his daughter¡¯s willfulness.


    Fortunately, the former Duke had not bragged unrighteously about his son-in-law¡¯s baking skills. The food served for dinner was sumptuous and tasty, for certain, as the Duke¡¯s mansion employed good cooks, but it was the desserts that Chaka personally made prior to the dinner that wowed everyone. Even Erycea and Alycea, despite both being blooded and experienced mercenaries by now, devoured them with gusto as if they were little children once more.


    ¡°I completely understand how this man won your heart now, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a serious look as he turned to face the Duchess seated near him. They were only separated by Chaka, the Duchess¡¯ husband, seated between them. ¡°If I didn¡¯t know you had your fangs sunk deep into him already I would have spent a fortune to poach him to work for me.¡±


    ¡°High praise, coming from you, Captain Edelstein,¡± said the Duchess with thorough amusement and not a little pride at her husband. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t one for sweets, though?¡±


    ¡°That is correct to some extent. My breed can¡¯t really taste sweetness, but we taste the other flavors more sharply,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°Ery has the best of both worlds, as she can taste sweet and also has a sharper tongue regardless, but I¡¯m not as lucky. Despite that, even for me these sweets made by the Duke Consort are definitely some of the very best I have ever tasted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just old recipes from my gramma,¡± said Chaka bashfully at the praise. The sight of a large and imposing man whose thick beard gave him a ferocious look acting bashful was an odd one, and definitely not what most expected when they saw a man of his frame. ¡°I just followed them and added a few bits to make things go better, is all.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you added definitely did the trick,¡± said Elfriede around a mouthful of pudding. ¡°When we were last here I don¡¯t recall any bakery in town selling anything this good. When did you take over your place?¡±


    ¡°That was around six years ago, Ma¡¯am,¡± replied the man.


    ¡°That¡¯s when we were in Algenverr, then. No wonder we never knew about him,¡± said Erycea with a nod while shoveling a few more of the confections into her mouth with gusto. ¡°These are really good. You really got a good one for yourself, Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°I do consider myself lucky, yes,¡± said Andrea with an amused laugh. She was pretty well acquainted with Reinhardt¡¯s family since she fought together with them on the battlefield multiple times. Back then Erycea was still new to the business and Alycea had yet to join, but the Duchess was familiar with them too. ¡°When I was younger I always thought I¡¯d find a man from amongst the knights, but who¡¯d have guessed?¡±

 Chapter 437 - An Honest Exchange

    ¡°When you can¡¯t have concrete, irrefutable information, an honest opinion will do as a compromise.¡± - Araphon Utghwes, Head of Intelligence for the Duchy of Dvergarder, circa 52 FP.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, Your Grace, what is your honest assessment on whoever these invaders we¡¯re supposed to deal with?¡± asked Reinhardt as the meal wound down and they relaxed while sipping on cups of strong, hot, sweetened tea. He might be unable to taste the sugar but it proved irrelevant since he happened to enjoy good teas as they were anyway.


    ¡°There have been many theories and guesses about them, Captain, but so far, the most prominent ones are that these invaders were either multiple groups of pirates that joined their forces together, or were from a nation across the sea,¡± said the Duchess after a moment of thought. ¡°Personally, I lean more to the belief that these invaders came from across the sea. Even if there were indeed pirates that plague our western coasts, they have nowhere near the military force needed to directly take down a Duchy like these invaders did.¡±


    ¡°We did learn from some old books we found in the Theodinaz treasury that supposedly there were some people across the sea that traded with the people of Posuin, though that was many centuries ago,¡± said Reinhardt as the conversation reminded him of the books. ¡°Pops even cribbed the style they used for their weapons for Friede and Ery since they liked it.¡±


    ¡°Some of our oldest records indicated the same, though there was no hint as to why we lost contact with them back then. They had never reestablished contact over the centuries that passed so I guess we just gradually forgot about them,¡± admitted the Duchess. ¡°Even then, if there were people more likely to remember them, it would be the Wanaruans and Bostvans, since they hold the western coasts.¡±


    Posuin¡¯s position on the west end of Alcidea was a rather geographically isolated one, with how it was separated from Clangeddin to its east by the Northern Marshlands, the Forest of Despair, and the Southern Wastelands. Similarly, its shorelines were mostly steep, rocky cliffs, and it was only on the western end of the nation that they changed to gentle sandy shores.


    Dvergarder did not possess a single port despite having part of the continent¡¯s southern shoreline in its territory, as what shores it possessed were poorly suited for building one. Algenverr to the north only had a couple small ports close to the marshlands, with which they mostly traded with the Barony of Gerouz from Clangeddin in the past.


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    ¡°If these invaders truly did come here from across the sea, then I guess the lack of ports in the Border Duchies might well be a blessing,¡± noted Reinhardt. It would be difficult for an invasion force to land anywhere outside sandy shores and proper ports, which were entirely on the western end of Posuin. As such, even if the invaders were to sail along the coastlines to reach Dvergarder and Algenverr, they would not be able to land easily.


    The lack of ports formed a natural chokepoint which made it far easier for the defenders to hold the enemy back even with lower numbers.


    ¡°I thought the same. I already assigned ten thousand men to patrol our southern reaches to watch out for any such attempts. Given the terrain they should be able to hold on even if the enemy actually arrived and tried to land there, at least long enough until we can send more help that way,¡± said the Duchess as she sipped her tea. ¡°You and yours will mostly be working with Nestor, though. We¡¯re less worried about Bostvan. Their main force is still intact and they mostly lost their underdeveloped western regions, but we worry that the Centrals won¡¯t be able to hold out anywhere as well.¡±


    ¡°Kolitschei should still be reeling from the blow Duke Nunez gave them back then, especially since it was followed by a civil war,¡± said Reinhardt in affirmation. ¡°And if I remember right, Lovia-Hosberg also lost a lot of troops back then when we rode north to come to Jonkver¡¯s aid, did they not? Can definitely see them still reeling from those losses.¡±


    ¡°Precisely. If they stood together they would have a better chance to hold on, but with Wanarua already removed from the equation before the others even realized it, they are at a disadvantage,¡± said Andrea thoughtfully. ¡°Nestor has been sending letters to both Kolitschei and Lovia-Hosberg offering aid, but I have no idea if they would swallow their pride and take that offer or not.¡±


    ¡°Normally I would say that they could have their pride and go die, but I guess in this situation we would prefer to have their troops fighting on our side rather than die pointlessly while barely hurting the enemy, isn¡¯t it?¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod of his head. ¡°We¡¯ll head over to Algenverr tomorrow. There might not be that many of us, but we should still be able to earn our worth over there.¡±


    ¡°I thank you for your willingness to work for us once more, Captain,¡± said the Duchess with a smile. There were only the adults left in the room at that time, since the children had grown tired and fell asleep, so their nursemaids took them to their beds. ¡°Here¡¯s to a happy collaboration like last time,¡± said Andrea as she raised her cup for a toast.


    ¡°To a happy and fruitful collaboration, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt as he responded in kind. The other people at the dining table similarly clinked their cups together with theirs. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing we Free Lances pride ourselves in, it¡¯s that we always earn our pay.¡±


    The Free Lances did not stay overlong in Dvergarder. Other than the time needed to settle down the captives they found in the bandit camp ¨C which was mostly done by Miriam and was a matter of a few days ¨C the time they spent in the Duchy was mostly waiting for the negotiations between Reinhardt and the former Duke to conclude. The day after the dinner with the Duchess, the company moved out and headed north to Algenverr, where they would be deployed.

 Chapter 438 - Preliminary Reconnaissance

    ¡°Knowing the enemy is worth doing, even if it costs a bit.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    To Reinhardt¡¯s surprise, the welcoming party for his company¡¯s arrival at Algenverr¡¯s western fortification ¨C where the current headquarters were situated ¨C included the young Duke of Algenverr, Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez, in person. He was accompanied by his wife and younger brother, as well as several other military officers.


    Reinhardt knew that the presence of the Duke¡¯s wife and younger brother was because the two of them were accomplished warriors and commanders in their own right. Neither Griselda Kris el-Geroulaz da Nunez nor Damien Carlos da Nunez were strangers to battle, and even though the former was a mother of at least two by now, Reinhardt saw that the Duchess still maintained herself at a fighting fit at a glance.


    ¡°Glad you could be with us once more, Captain Edelstein,¡± said Nestor as he walked over and grasped Reinhardt¡¯s hand in a firm handshake once he alighted from the wagon. ¡°There¡¯s been a developing situation where your company¡¯s¡­ talents would be appreciated to have, to say the least, and rest assured that we won¡¯t skimp on the compensation either.¡±


    ¡°Straight to the point as usual, I see, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a smile on his face. ¡°Shall we adjourn to a more private setting then? I will order my lieutenants to gather.¡±


    ¡°That would be much appreciated. After me, please,¡± said Nestor with a nod.


    ¡°You heard His Grace. Ery, round everyone up and get them to the meeting room in five,¡± noted Reinhardt as he commanded Erycea who was nearby. He was confident in the discipline of his people, and since they were in safe territory with a meeting likely imminent, all the platoon leaders rode near the front of the caravan anyway.


    ¡°Right away, Dad,¡± replied Erycea as she took off to gather the rest.


    Reinhardt himself followed Nestor and the rest of the welcoming party to a room large enough to fit forty to fifty people, one with a large desk set in the middle. A map of the north-western region of Alcidea was spread on the desk, clearly a room for strategizing. He smiled with some pride when only four minutes later, Erycea had brought all the other platoon leaders of the Free Lances to the same room.


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    ¡°Excellent, everybody¡¯s here, I see,¡± said Nestor with satisfaction in his voice. ¡°I¡¯ll cut straight to the matter at hand. As per our latest reports, the invaders you have certainly heard about by now are fighting on the borders of both Lovia-Hosberg and Kolitschei. In the south, they have made more headway into Bostvan but met with stiff resistance once they neared the central regions.¡±


    ¡°Gestis already lost?¡± asked Reinhardt with some incredulity at the rapid pace of the invaders.


    ¡°They lasted a decent while, and last we heard, the nobility of Gestis together with a portion of their army still held strong at Oleynuos, which was under siege by the invaders. The rest of their army fled and sought succor from Lovia-Hosberg and Kolitschei, however. Both states have formally petitioned for aid from our side, and honestly, I would rather fight this war on their land than on mine.¡±


    ¡°An understandable approach. So what would you like us to do? I notice that you¡¯re gathering quite an army over here already,¡± noted Reinhardt.


    ¡°I would like for you to send some part of your company to scout out the opposition. You should not engage in battle, just try to sound them out and see if you can¡¯t give us a better understanding of our foes in the limited time we have. You will only have the time between when these invaders hit the border and until they push towards the main cities, at which point our main army will also be marching to meet them. Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ If you allow us to focus our reconnaissance on Kolitschei we should manage that without coming into direct contact with the enemy. The terrain there is more suitable for us,¡± stated Reinhardt after some thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± said Nestor. Reinhardt noticed that one of the older military officers looked like he had something to say but refrained from voicing his thoughts for some reason. ¡°How soon can you deploy?¡±


    ¡°As early as tonight, if you wish. We came prepared for immediate deployment,¡± answered Reinhardt.


    ¡°I knew I liked your company for a reason,¡± said Nestor with a wide smile. ¡°Please do so, then.¡±


    ¡°Right, you all heard His Grace. Hannah, I want your fliers out there by tomorrow. Stay high, take no risks, but give us daily reports on the frontline¡¯s general situation,¡± said Reinhardt immediately. ¡°Nicole, Fatimah, Egil, each of you take your platoon and observe the enemy from as close as you can without compromising safety, you all already know the details better than me so I¡¯ll leave the execution to you. Ery, Alvaro, your two platoons follow theirs from a distance as backup and reserves, in case they get into trouble and need bailing out.¡±


    A chorus of affirmation from the named platoon leaders greeted Reinhardt¡¯s command. The named leaders then made their exit as they left to brief their people of the deployment. He had chosen those who were fleet of foot for this task, people who knew how to hide themselves well and make themselves scarce before the enemy could get to them.


    Alvaro and Erycea, he also sent out in case of emergencies. Alvaro¡¯s people were locals to Kolitschei, which should give them an additional advantage, while Erycea¡¯s platoon was shaping up to be one of the best all-rounded platoons in the company under her leadership. Besides, it was time to give the girl more responsibilities as she grew up.


    It was a potentially risky task, sure, but every job as a mercenary has its inherent risks, and the girl seemed dead set on following in his footsteps. Before such determination Reinhardt felt that the best he could do was to make sure that Erycea would be ready to take over the Company should the time eventually come.

 Chapter 439 - Rapid Preparation

    ¡°Speed is vital, but so is preparation. A moment spent preparing might well save hours or even days in the field. Never skimp on your preparation, no matter how mundane it might seem. Sometimes, haste does indeed make waste.¡± - Ella Vedrasa, retired former mercenary.


    ¡°Got everything prepared and double-checked, Rory?¡± asked Erycea. She had given the command to prepare for immediate deployment half an hour ago, and while most of their supplies were already packed and ready to carry, her father always insisted that they double-check those supplies prior to departure. As such, her platoon was mostly kept busy over the past while either double-checking their supplies or procuring what bits they didn¡¯t have with them yet.


    Aurora ¨C Cassie and Arne¡¯s daughter ¨C served as Erycea¡¯s deputy in such matters as the diminutive girl had a meticulous mind and an attention for detail, qualities that made her ideal for such a task. Tasks that most of the mercenaries found boring, Aurora would handle with excellence and not a little enthusiasm, which was one reason Erycea entrusted her with them.


    ¡°Almost everything,¡± said Aurora with a nonchalant expression as she noted down things on a piece of parchment. ¡°Our emergency food supplies are prepared, as expected, while Val and Beth already went to get the additional rations. As for battlefield supplies like arrows and the like, they are adequate since we aren¡¯t planning on engaging in conflict. At the moment we¡¯re just waiting for some extra signal flares. I already sent Rhia to get some.¡±


    The signal flares Aurora referred to were the same ones the platoon used in Theodinaz, things that were launched into the air and burned bright. They were useful for emergency signals and to blind enemies in the night, amongst others, though the Free Lances had used them less ever since Reinhardt received the Artifact back in Levain.


    However, Erycea¡¯s group would have to make do without the artifact¡¯s convenient functions which greatly helped streamline their command and communication. They would simply be too far away As Reinhardt himself would still be in Algenverr while they would be at the next Duchy over, too far for the artifact¡¯s effects to reach and function.


    As such, they prepared several kinds of methods to communicate with each other for various contingencies, as Erycea was always taught that it was better to be prepared and not need it, rather than not be prepared when one needed to be. That was one of the lessons she took to the heart, and her platoon was always one of the best-prepared ones in the company as she passed down those values to her people as well.


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    ¡°Good. In that case, have them pack things up properly. We¡¯ll depart after Rhia returns and everybody else is ready,¡± said Erycea. Other than Hannah¡¯s aerial reconnaissance platoon, the other five platoons would depart and travel together to Kolitschei. It was only in Kolitschei when they would seperate and each do their own task.


    The scouts would move ahead of the rest and attempt to garner as much information on the mysterious invaders as they could, while Erycea and Alvaro¡¯s platoon would be there to help them should the scouts come into trouble.


    It was not that they had no information on the enemy, but so far, the reports received by the Border Duchies from their spies were rather hard to believe, at times. On the other hand, with reports that came from their former enemies, it was questionable on how far they could be trusted. As such, the need for some fresh information of better quality was paramount.


    Certainly, the Duchies had their own scouts, but Nestor readily admitted that Reinhardt¡¯s people are better than his in this regard, and not by a little bit. The aerial scouts were a massive advantage in terms of scouting out enemy movement, while in the forested regions of Kolitschei, Reinhardt¡¯s irregulars similarly held a strong advantage over the Duchy¡¯s more typical mounted scouts.


    That, and there was no telling whether such scouts would be able to scout out the enemy freely and openly at all. Mounted scouts were good for keeping watch on enemies in flat terrain and to report the enemy¡¯s presence quickly, while the Duchies wanted a more in-depth scouting. The sneaks in Reinhardt¡¯s Company were perfect for such a job, however, and if they could leave some nasty surprises for the invaders while they were at it, all the better.


    That was the main reason Reinhardt also sent out Fatimah¡¯s Nightwalkers along with Nicole and Egil. The latter two¡¯s platoons were better when it comes to conventional scouting tasks, and each also had their talents who were good at sneaking into enemy bases without arousing much ruckus. Fatimah¡¯s people were assassins, however. Sneaking into the enemy¡¯s house was part of their talent, and they could serve as guards for the rest during the infiltration.


    Of course, if they managed to bring back the head of a general or two without endangering their mission, all the better. It was a valid possibility given how good some of Fatimah¡¯s assassins were, and they were also good at weighing the risks to the benefits, so he trusted them to make the decision for themselves.


    Officially, the platoons were being sent to Kolitschei as some ¡°discreet helpers¡± under the table while Algenverr prepared their main army. There were other mercenary companies tasked with similar missions on Lovia-Hosberg, as sending mercenaries were more ¡°tolerable¡± for the time being compared to directly marching Algenverr¡¯s army across the borders.


    Nestor considered it nothing short of complete folly, to still be mindful of politics and etiquette in times of emergency, but he was not above making use of it for his own benefits either. After all, the stubbornness on the part of his neighbors and former enemies were primarily damaging to themselves, and if they wanted to hoist their own petard, he would only be too happy to watch.


    Though maybe not entirely, given that these invaders were clearly powerful enough to require them to work together to repel, but the point stood.

 Chapter 440 - Reinforcing a Former Foe

    ¡°Nothing unusual about helping people you were killing just months ago. It¡¯s all just business as usual for us sellswords, you know? It¡¯s why we usually never really hold that much hard feelings even against our enemies. For all we know they might be paying our salaries in a month or three.¡± - Gerda Bronzebottom, half-goblin mercenary.


    ¡°We¡¯re from the Free Lances, here on the behest of the Duke of Algenverr, His Grace Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez, to render aid,¡± said Erycea a week later when she and the mercenaries temporarily placed under her leadership arrived at Kolitschei city. They were met by Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei himself upon their arrival, the old Duke looking every bit his six decades of age on the present day.


    Erycea had seen the old Duke before, during the time when the Free Lances still served and Posuin and when she ¨C and her platoon ¨C were still newcomers to the company. At the time the old man looked more hale and energetic despite his age, but the vicissitudes of life seemed to have ground him down of late, and now he just looked like a tired old man.


    ¡°I remember you. You were already part of your father¡¯s company back then, weren¡¯t you?¡± asked the old Duke as he squinted and took a better look at Erycea. To be fair, she was not surprised that he noticed, given how Reinhardt¡¯s breed of therian was exceedingly rare in Alcidea. In fact, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were the only two of their kind in the Northern Continent. ¡°I suppose time flies quickly. You¡¯ve grown.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Grace,¡± replied Erycea in a neutral way as the company¡¯s relationship with the Duke of Kolitschei couldn¡¯t be said to be the best. After all, the last time they met the Free Lances broke the Kolitschei formation during the Battle of Nedja Plains and directly led to Kolitschei¡¯s defeat. ¡°Anything we should be aware of about these invaders?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re pushing us back from the borders. At the moment the frontlines are around a week¡¯s travel west of here,¡± said the old Duke with a sigh. ¡°I know that young Nunez must have his own considerations, but if you can, please relay a message to him for me. Tell him that if he doesn¡¯t hurry, we won¡¯t be able to work together against these invaders because there wouldn¡¯t be enough of us left.¡±


    ¡°That can be arranged, certainly,¡± said Erycea with a nod. ¡°If Your Grace is willing to pen a formal letter, we can arrange to have it sent to Algenverr within two days at the most.¡±


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    ¡°Oh? That is welcome, yes. Wait here for a bit¡­ No, Gremaldi! Fetch me a parchment and writing implements!¡± said the old Duke as he turned to one of his subordinates. Said subordinate immediately turned back and rode into the city, only to return within fifteen minutes with a small carriage following behind him. The carriage had a small desk on it, where an inkwell and several quills were set.


    The old Duke quickly moved over to the carriage and wrote a letter on a piece of parchment right then and there. As soon as the ink dried, the Duke handed the parchment over to a servant who rolled it neatly and then sealed the roll with a piece of malleable wax. The Duke then stamped the wax using his signet ring to show that it was a letter that truly originated from himself.


    Said servant then handed the rolled and sealed parchment over to Erycea, who in turn passed it to Hannah. Hannah chose one of her platoon members to deliver the parchment, who stored the parchment in their personal storage artifact and then took flight, their broad wings beating in the air as they quickly ascended and flew towards the east.


    ¡°Karave should be back within four to five days at most, likely with a reply,¡± said Hannah as she watched her junior fly away.


    ¡°Well, you heard her, Your Grace, so please do us the favor of not shooting him down when he comes back to deliver the reply,¡± Erycea said to the Duke with a slight chuckle. ¡°After he did that, just tell him that we went further west. He should be able to find us on his own, so you won¡¯t need to worry about him getting lost.¡±


    ¡°I see, I will make sure my men are informed to expect him around then,¡± said the old Duke. ¡°I pray that you and yours could bring a change to this battle, young Edelstein, because otherwise it is looking rather bleak for us at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Just on our own, we might not be able to do much for the time being, but we¡¯ll do what we can,¡± promised Erycea. Her group''s mission was primarily reconnaissance, but if they saw a chance to hurt the enemy without excessive risk to themselves, they would take it without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯m sure my Father and Duke Nunez would be able to come up with something from whatever we can find out about the enemy, though.¡±


    ¡°I wish you luck, then, and godspeed,¡± said the old Duke with a sigh.


    After the brief interlude, Erycea¡¯s group continued their march west. They had not stopped to rest at Kolitschei city, and instead continued their march since there were still several hours to go until sunset. After they marched west of the city for a couple days, they moved from the main roads towards the untamed forests near the road, as a precaution in case the invaders had progressed further than expected.


    On the morning of the sixth day of their march from Kolitschei city, Karave caught up with the group and returned after delivering a reply to Duke Banitu. Near the noon of that same day, Avila from Hannah¡¯s platoon reported that she could see some fighting happening in the distance. The group itself was still a good day¡¯s travel away from there, though.


    It was not until the next day that some of Egil¡¯s scouts saw where the battle took place around an old fortification where the Kolitscheian defenders did what they could to hold on against the horde of foreign invaders.

 Chapter 441 - A First Glimpse

    ¡°Try to make a good first impression, since that¡¯s what most people remember the most.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Well, we can conclude one thing for certain, at least,¡± commented Erycea as she peered through an enchanted spyglass to watch over the enemy in the distance. The spyglass was one she made with the help of Grandpa Hogarth, Erycea¡¯s Glass affinity allowing her to carve the fine sigils and runes needed to enchant the glass directly onto the lens itself without compromising its functions. As a result, the spyglass was more effective at its job than regular ones, providing a clearer picture at greater distances.


    ¡°And that would be?¡± asked Valeria, who was perched atop the same large tree Erycea had climbed to take a look at the enemy¡¯s position from afar, albeit on a different branch. Even with the size of the tree, neither of them trusted the branches to be able to take on the weight of two of them and their armor on top of everything.


    The two of them were far enough away from the actual battlefield that it was nigh impossible to spot them even using a spyglass. That was, if a regular spyglass was used. Enchanted and otherwise improved spyglasses might be able to notice them, but only if the person on the other side already knew where to look. On the other hand, Erycea had an easier time observing the enemy since there was no missing the massive army besieging the fortifications.


    ¡°These invaders are definitely foreigners, from beyond the sea or whatever,¡± said Erycea in reply to Val¡¯s question. ¡°Their weapons and armor are way too uniform in style and make for them to be pirates or whatnot. They¡¯re clearly an army, disciplined and drilled to work together with each other. Their tactics are also rather different from what we¡¯ve seen so far in our lives.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t exactly see it clearly with this spyglass so you¡¯ll have to enlighten me there, little Boss,¡± said Val with a chuckle. She could spy on the battlefield¡¯s general situation with a regular spyglass, but couldn¡¯t get much in terms of detail with it due to the distances involved.


    ¡°They¡¯re not using any siege engines, but instead favor siege ladders that might well be ramps to attack the battlements,¡± noted Erycea as she peered closer to the battle. ¡°They also have a far larger contingent of archers present in their army compared to what most armies here have. Those bows they use are also more like what uncle Alva and his people use, if less complex, compared to the longbows like what Aunt Sal uses.¡±


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    ¡°Their armor¡¯s different too,¡± added Erycea after a moment of thought. ¡°It¡¯s not the usual gambeson, chains, or plate we usually see. I¡¯d say it¡¯s closer to some sort of scale mail or lamellar,¡± she explained. ¡°Similar design in all of them, too, though I¡¯m guessing different materials. The ones the officer types wore are probably made out of steel, the soldiers likely got hardened leather for theirs¡­¡±


    ¡°Still something to be able to supply that much armor of the same make to so many people,¡± noted Valeria with a nod. ¡°Then again, if they¡¯re making it like scale armor, you don¡¯t need all that many skilled people, just need smiths good enough to be able to hammer the metal to basic shapes,¡± she added after some thought.


    After all, it was far easier to have a mediocre blacksmith ¨C or even an apprentice ¨C to turn out a large amount of metal pieces hammered to the same size and shape than to have a skilled one tailor a piece of plate mail to the intended user¡¯s body. The resultant scale mail or lamellar would be weaker defensively compared to plate armor, but not to a severe extent since the thin scales were usually arranged in overlapping layers.


    In fact, those types of armor were not unheard of in Alcidea as well, though they fell out of favor as the chain mail became more popular. In terms of defensive property, they were similar to the chain mail, but were heavier, which was the reason they dropped in popularity. Still, a well-made one could rival even plate armor, as Erycea and Valeria themselves knew all too well.


    After all, the brigandine suits they both wore ¨C tailor-made by Hogarth himself ¨C were in a way an advanced adaptation of that style of armor, one that utilized larger, more solid plates sewn to fabric layers. The ones made of weaker material like hardened leather would be worse off defensively, but was definitely still preferable to no armor or just a gambeson.


    For the moment, Erycea counted close to a hundred thousand soldiers in such equipment attempting to besiege the fortification with the aid of large, wide siege ramps that they used to rush towards the top of the walls. Other than the large number of archers, the foreign soldiers mostly carried rather short spears, ones only around two meters or so in length, as well as smallish round shields that seemed like they were made out of tightly-woven straw bundled together.


    At least whoever these foreigners were, they didn¡¯t seem to have enough resources to arm everyone with metal shields or better. The odd straw shields seemed to be the majority amongst the soldiers, but Erycea did notice other units further back who seemed to carry larger, rectangular wooden shields, and some close to the officers who carried odd trapezoid shields that gleamed of metal.


    Those soldiers with the trapezoid shields were also an oddity in that they carried what Erycea guessed to be some sort of broad-bladed sabers by their waist on top of the spear that everyone seemed to carry. The rest of the army didn¡¯t seem to carry such sidearms with them. The archers further back also seemed to only possess things like clubs or hatchets and the like, with only a rare few possessing swords or sabers with them, typically ones Erycea guessed to be officers.

 Chapter 442 - The Bigger Issue at Hand

    ¡°Sometimes the biggest problem is staring you right in the face and you just fail to notice it until someone else points it out at you.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    ¡°That said, little Boss, gotta say that this job might be a tough one even for us,¡± noted Valeria after a little more observation. Egil¡¯s, Nicole¡¯s, and Fatimah¡¯s groups were deployed closer to the outskirts of the forest to take a closer look, whereas Hannah¡¯s fliers watched over the situation from high above. Erycea¡¯s and Alvaro¡¯s platoon were positioned deeper in the forest in several ambush positions as the reserves, with only a few amongst them observing the battle at all.


    ¡°Their numbers?¡± asked Erycea as she caught on to what Valeria was driving at. The two of them had been friends and fought beside each other for over a decade by this point of time, so there was a certain easy understanding between them that needed little to be said. Out of everything Erycea had seen of these invaders, it was their numbers that stuck out to her the most.


    ¡°Yeah. They got like what, a hundred thousand here in Kolitschei alone? There¡¯s probably as much at Lovia-Hosberg, and even more down south fighting the Bostvans. That¡¯s notwithstanding whatever troops they left behind in Oleynuos, since that siege¡¯s still ongoing according to Hannah¡¯s people,¡± said Valeria as she elaborated her thoughts. ¡°Even if we just assume around the same numbers up north and back west, and say double that down south, we¡¯re looking at half a million soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Not an impossible number, assuming they use conscripts and have the population to support it,¡± noted Erycea after some thought. They had just served in Levain so they were well aware that Levain could reach such numbers if they conscripted their citizens all at once, though equipping so many people was likely far beyond the city council¡¯s capabilities. ¡°Now that you mention it, their rank and file does behave a lot like conscripts that they just tossed some weapons and armor and told to go fight.¡±


    ¡°High morale though, somehow,¡± argued Valeria. What the foreign soldiers lacked in skill and training was more than easily made up by their high spirits and advantage in numbers, as the people in the fortification were learning the hard way. ¡°They¡¯re definitely a lot more motivated than you¡¯d expect from random peasants made to go to war, so either they got some sort of cause driving them forward, or more likely, promise of good rewards.¡±


    The norm in Alcidea when it came to rewarding conscripted peasantry was typically limited to them being fed while they were part of the army, maybe some tax breaks, and for the rare nice lords, perhaps some monetary compensation. All too often they were just forced to serve for little to no compensation, their deaths considered inconsequential and the conscripts themselves treated as disposable.


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    Because of that, more often than not conscriptions were done on the defensive, where the peasantry involved would at least possess the additional motivation and desire to protect their family and loved ones behind the frontlines. Of course, an empire built on conquest might well reward their conscripted peasantry more than the norm as well, as in their case morale tended to be high from previous victories and it was easy to distribute tangible rewards from the conquered territories.


    While now it was gone for the most part, the Clangeddin Empire itself acted the same way during its own heyday of expansion and conquest. Many of the present noble houses of the Former Empire now rose up from humble beginnings because their ancestors managed to excel and perform great feats of bravery on the battlefield. Such feats were rewarded with money, titles, and even territory back in those days.


    If whoever these invaders turned out to be were still in a similar phase of their nation¡¯s development, where they were fighting wars to conquer new lands, then it definitely explained why even the conscripts had such high morale. After all, for the peasantry, it was akin to normally impossible chances to advance up the ladder of society in one fell swoop dangled in front of them. It was plenty to make most of them willing to risk their lives for the chance, no matter how remote.


    ¡°If your speculation is right, then this is indeed potentially troublesome,¡± noted Erycea. The idea of half a million strong invasion force with high morale stomping all over Western Alcidea was a rather fearsome thing. The Free Lances had merely around two thousand combatants. Their capabilities would not even be noticeable at such a scale. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about something else, though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do tell?¡± asked Valeria with some curiosity in her voice.


    ¡°These invaders supposedly landed on the western coastline by ships. That means that these people have enough resources to build the number of ships needed to transport half a million people, or at least a hundred thousand or so, assuming they¡¯re close enough and do the transportation in batches,¡± explained Erycea. ¡°Does Posuin even have any navy to call upon to use against that kind of force?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone does, though maybe Knallzog might have something,¡± said Valeria after some thought. Naval power was never a focus for the nations of Alcidea, since they maintained a good relationship with the southern continent of Ur-Teros. Many of Alcidea¡¯s larger nations had few stretches of usable coastline or were landlocked, and thus naval development was never a priority in the continent as a whole.


    The idea of facing a maritime nation that could potentially slip around the defenses the Alcideans put up and strike from elsewhere was indeed a worrisome picture, though at least they would have to venture quite far to manage that due to how the western Alcidean coastline was mostly unusable outside of a few stretches of sandy coast.


    There were far more crags and sheer cliffs instead, which made the western region of Alcidea hard to enter from the sea, other than the ports at Wanarua¡¯s north-western and Bostvan¡¯s south-western side. The invaders had struck at both ports and took them over early in the invasion, however.

 Chapter 443 - A Closer Look

    ¡°Close reconnaissance is risky, but sometimes you really need to know more about the people you¡¯re fighting and there¡¯s just no better alternative to get that information.¡± - Dezan Arevok, former mercenary from Elmaiya.


    ¡°They don¡¯t seem too keen on continuing battles into the night, at least,¡± noted Erycea as the invader army withdrew along the sunset. The Kolitscheian fortification was quite battered, but they managed to hold the walls thanks to judicious use of flammable oils that they liberally applied on the enemy¡¯s siege ramps. For their part, though, the invaders didn¡¯t seem too put off by the losses they took and just carried on as if nothing happened.


    They even took the damaged siege ramps ¨C the invaders broke off the burnt parts themselves to prevent the flames from consuming the entire thing ¨C and patched them back together, at times combining two damaged siege ramps into a single functional one. It was not the sort of patchwork repair job Erycea would have liked to see on siege ladders she was to use, but clearly these invaders either had more confidence in their carpentry skills, or simply didn¡¯t care all that much.


    What passed for their military camp, however, looked rather shoddy to Erycea¡¯s eyes. The enemy camp was simply a collection of tents at a safe distance away from the fort, the tents likely housing the officers and the more important people. The majority of the invading soldiers simply slept in the open on the ground, with several watchtowers set in the perimeter of the camp as their only real means of defense.


    Perhaps they were relaxed because they were not expecting much resistance from the enemy they faced ¨C which had been the case so far if the reports Erycea received were right ¨C or maybe that was just how they went. As it was, the important people were clearly safe in their tents, in well-patrolled areas, and even if a night attack were to happen, at most it would harm the low-ranked soldiers on the outside of the camp.


    Probably something the invaders considered acceptable losses, given their manpower advantage.


    ¡°How is it, are you confident that you¡¯ll be able to get close enough unnoticed?¡± Erycea asked to Egil. Their first attempt at closer reconnaissance would be done by members of Egil¡¯s platoon. The goblins were smaller in build, and had an easier time concealing themselves, and besides, they had excellent night vision which allowed them to navigate the night as clearly as the day.


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    The invading army was entirely human, as far as Erycea could tell, while Hannah corroborated on their numerical estimate at approximately a hundred thousand people. Several members of Hannah¡¯s platoon had also flown off to the north and south to take a glimpse at the invading forces there, while another few went west to get a deeper look at the conquered territory.


    It was something they were uniquely suited for thanks to their ability to fly well above arrow range, and something only they could do amongst the forces gathered by the Border Duchies. Since she had been sent out to scout out the enemy, Erycea planned to do her task comprehensively and leave nothing out if she could help it.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a bit hard since it¡¯s wide open ground, but we should manage. We have our tricks as well,¡± said Egil with a nod. The old goblin himself wouldn¡¯t be participating in the operation, but some of his descendants were. The goblins who would be going out already mostly stripped themselves to their loincloths and rubbed their skin with dirt, grass, and soil, which stuck on their skin in clumps and patches. ¡°They¡¯re humans, they can¡¯t see shit in the dark, and besides, I doubt any of them can smell better than feather lizards.¡±


    ¡°Just make sure your people take care. Abort and retreat if you suspect that you¡¯ve been found out. We want to keep them unaware of our presence until the final night, should that be a possibility,¡± said Erycea with a nod. Her platoon was less skilled in such subterfuge, so she knew better than to gainsay those who had far more experience in the matter.


    The little foray from Egil¡¯s platoon was mostly to test the enemy defenses, done in order to see how watchful the enemy sentries were, and how attentive their guards on duty had been. If they managed to get close enough, the group would also watch for the enemy patrol routes and the like, anything that could be used for a repeat foray with deadlier intent.


    ¡°Right, the kids been informed of that. They¡¯ll prioritize leaving no traces behind at all costs,¡± said Egil with a nod as the group of goblins saluted towards him and Erycea before they slunk away towards the enemy encampment. Even with her sharp vision, Erycea soon lost sight of the goblins after they walked a hundred paces away or so.


    ¡°Quite impressive,¡± she praised. While they were still near the outskirts of the forest and there were some trees and other undergrowth the goblins could use for camouflage, Erycea¡¯s eye was also much sharper than a human¡¯s and her night vision was also a good bit better. That even she lost sight of them at a hundred paces spoke a lot of the stealth skills of the scouts who went out just now.


    ¡°Like I said, Little Boss, these kids know their business,¡± said Egil with some pride evident in his voice. ¡°Some of them might be born and raised here outside of our home jungles, but we have plenty who know the way and can teach it to them. Got to make sure to keep passing down the important skills, you know? Those always come in handy every now and then.¡±


    ¡°A good attitude to have, especially since I assume that means you and yours plan to continue working with the Company for the foreseeable future,¡± praised Erycea as she nodded, satisfied. Her father had been clear that she would inherit the company from him when he retired, so Erycea had been putting some thought into future matters as of late.


    ¡°Well, things are looking promising so far, and you¡¯re definitely following along your old man¡¯s footsteps well, Little Boss. That gives us plenty of confidence,¡± stated Egil with a toothy grin in reply.

 Chapter 444 - Like a Whisper in the Night

    ¡°The best scouts might well be ghosts. You won¡¯t ever find them unless they want to be found. That¡¯s just how good they can be while hiding, at times in plain sight, in ways nobody else would have even thought about. Really, if you want to get your best scouts somewhere visible, call them to report and save yourself the trouble.¡± - Ingvar Oleson, retired former general of the Clangeddin Empire, circa 322 VA.


    Ruca of the Yellowtooth was one of Egil¡¯s granddaughters ¨C one amongst over two dozen descendants of her generation, as the old goblin patriarch was quite popular amongst his fellow goblins in the company ¨C as well as one of the best young scouts in his platoon, which was the main reason she was amongst the group of six were tasked with scouting out the enemy that night.


    She crawled slowly amongst the tall, unkempt grass of the plains, utilizing every little bit of cover in order to prevent herself from being discovered. The skills she used were ones passed down through her family from generations, ways to use disguise and cover to prevent someone from noticing their presence. The darkness further helped as well, as humans like her present foes were notorious for having poor night vision.


    The young goblin had smeared dirt and grass all over her body, though her naturally yellowish-green skin tint also provided some decent camouflage against the grasslands of the plains they were sneaking through. She and the others in her group moved slowly, with utmost care to conceal their movements, to the point that even someone looking at their direction would mistake their passage with that of some small animal at best


    Just like that, the goblins snuck until they were no more than a hundred paces away from the perimeter of the enemy camp. They did not dare sneak in closer since even with poor night vision, the sentries on guard might still notice them if they went too close. Either way, it was enough, as even with the distance, the goblins could rely on their superior night vision to observe the going-ons of the camp.


    Despite its seemingly haphazard layout, with the soldiers sleeping in their armor directly on the ground for the most part, the camp turned out to be quite meticulously arranged at closer inspection. The sleeping soldiers did so in groups with enough room between each group for people to walk past unhindered, while patrols actually went around regularly, in teams of five.


    Atop the watchtowers, the goblins noticed that the invaders positioned sentries in teams of five as well, with four of them constantly keeping watch of the four cardinal directions around them and the fifth positioned near a hanging bell. The bell was likely used to sound the alarm should it become necessary, and with five people together, it would be difficult to silence them all before they could sound the alarm.


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    Not to mention that each watchtower was positioned so that it was constantly being observed by another two while at the same time also kept watch over the ones that watched it.


    From the smell, they could also judge that the invaders had dug latrines at regular intervals for their soldiers¡¯ usage, which signified good army discipline and practices. Some less disciplined armies and mercenaries often just answered the call of nature wherever they happened to be, which was an easily noticeable telltale sign.


    There were no signs of granaries or warehouses or anything of the sort, which meant that their enemy likely also possessed spatial artifacts in enough quantity to store their rations that way. Some of the group had harbored hopes that the foreign invaders might not have enough spatial storage artifacts like most modern Alcidean armies do, but that turned out to be a vain hope.


    Since it was unlikely that these invaders traded for their spatial artifacts, chances were that they were capable of its production, or at least inherited enough of them from their previous generations to use for military purposes. Neither were pleasant possibilities, as even nowadays people who could produce larger spatial artifacts were relatively rare, while the other possibility meant that the nation these invaders came from was wealthy to the point that they rivaled the former Clangeddin Empire.


    The goblins remained where they were near the camp¡¯s perimeter, watching and observing, all while making their own deductions based on the information they managed to gather from the close observation. They pretty much confirmed that the invaders relied mostly on their poor night vision to watch out for threats, which was a good thing.


    Some armies brought dogs or domesticated wolves with them to battle and used them to patrol during the night, relying on the sharp noses of such animals to detect threats that their eyes and ears might have missed out on. Fortunately these invaders did not seem to possess that sort of practice, nor do they have people of Therian heritage who could serve a similar function.


    It was not until a couple hours before the sunrise that the goblins slowly and carefully withdrew back to the forest, creeping away from the camp with the same care they had shown on the approach. Nobody in the camp had been the wiser that they were being watched from a close distance by enemy forces, nor were the miniscule signs of their presence noticeable to the invader sentries.


    The invaders seemed to have minimal experience in dealing with non-humans, which was a vital information that the combined forces fighting against them could make good use of, doubly so when reinforcements from Knallzog made their way to the west.


    After all, in a battle there was no shame to be had in pursuing every advantage one¡¯s side could achieve. When it fell to matters of life and death, pride and shame often took a step back and made way for pragmatism and efficiency. The goblin scouts naturally reported their findings to Erycea and the other mercenaries waiting in the forest, and they planned out their future course of actions based on that report and the other information they managed to acquire so far.

 Chapter 445 - Application of Information

    ¡°Information¡¯s useless unless you apply it in practical ways while it¡¯s still relevant.¡± - Gerda Faesbrundottir, Tactician from the Jarldom of Gulski, circa 259 FP.


    ¡°I can think of ways on how to exploit some of these things you found, and if I can do that, Dad and Uncle Lars definitely can think of many more ways to do the same,¡± said Erycea after she listened to the report from the returned scouting party that morning. The goblins had reported their findings the moment they returned to the temporary camp in the forest, only taking the time to brush off some of the dirt on their bodies and to put on a crude tunic. ¡°Good work.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Little Boss,¡± said the young goblin who was the leader of the scouting party. The way many of the younger mercenaries called Erycea ¡®Little Boss¡¯ was already so widespread by that point that nobody bothered to do anything about it. It was pretty much set in stone that she would be the next Captain of the Company anyway, after Reinhardt¡¯s time ended.


    Naturally, Erycea herself hoped that such a time would come when her father retired on his own when he feels that he is too old to carry on with the mercenary work, but as they were in their line of work after all, she had to be prepared to take up the mantle at any moment, just in case. Reinhardt and Lars had been teaching her things like the basics on larger-scale unit management and strategy as contingencies, though if things went well, by the time Erycea took over she would have other staff ready to aid her in her role as commander.


    With a shake of her head, Erycea cleared her mind of such thoughts and focused back to the present situation. The invader encampment had some obvious flaws, which she was uncertain about. The flaws might be deliberate, presented in the open as a lure to bait enemies in, or they might be there because of different cultural norms and habits. Either possibility was just as likely as the other, and she couldn¡¯t make the decision by herself in this case.


    ¡°What do you all think? Trap or opportunity?¡± Erycea said as she aired the question to the other platoon leaders who were present with her during the report. Most of them already had thoughtful looks on their faces, likely pondering the very same question even before she asked about it. The people who went with her were those who were best skilled in scouting, assassination, or were locals to the region, which Erycea felt was likely arranged on purpose by her father.


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    ¡°I am not too familiar with the regions this far west, but I feel that their decision to camp out in the open is partly a sign of confidence,¡± suggested Alvaro, who was a Kolitschei native like the rest of his Warforged. ¡°There aren¡¯t many dangerous animals in the plains where they camped, so even if they didn¡¯t bother with fences and walls, it would be safe for their soldiers to sleep in the open like that. Of course, it might just be how they¡¯re used to doing things, for all I know.¡±


    ¡°If they do not care much about the lives of their common soldiers, it also serves as an effective warning or alarm,¡± added Fatimah with a shake of her head. ¡°Anyone walking around in the crowd of sleeping soldiers would be very noticeable, and their passage might well wake up some of the sleepers. This makes it difficult for infiltrators to get near the central area, which is guarded more tightly.¡±


    ¡°My people are good at sneaking in the open plains, but in their campground, we would be at a disadvantage, I think,¡± said Egil with a frown. ¡°That said, we could cause quite a bit of a ruckus if we wanted to, given their camp setup. It¡¯s just not conducive to infiltration and assassination how we would have preferred it.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to settle for that if we don¡¯t have any better options. Our orders are just to do what we can, and not to risk ourselves unnecessarily,¡± noted Erycea with a slightly dissatisfied frown. ¡°I just wish that we could do more than just the bare minimum.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Lili and R¨®zsa could sneak in further?¡± Nicole asked all of a sudden. ¡°They¡¯re both shifters, and their favored form are wildcats¡­ If they were to reduce their size to the minimum and pretend to be lost kittens¡­ I don¡¯t think even hardened soldiers would pay them much heed, and they could go around to the central section and hopefully steal some other intelligence.¡±


    ¡°Huh. That¡¯s an idea. Can you call them over? This will need to be voluntary with the risks involved. Also, I¡¯d like to see for myself how far they could take their shifting to,¡± said Erycea with a glint in her eyes. What affinities were common in a region tended to vary depending on the region, and the Nature affinity was pretty rare in the west of Alcidea. If these foreign invaders were unused to dealing with that affinity, there was a good chance that the plan Nicole suggested might work out.


    Nicole brought the half-elven twins to where Erycea and the other platoon leaders were gathered a few minutes later. The twins didn¡¯t mind volunteering for the risky task, as they felt that it was well within their capabilities. Then they demonstrated how far they could take their shapeshifting to the gathered platoon leaders.


    By the time the process ended, Lili and R¨®zsa had assumed the guise of two wildcat kittens, each one small enough to rest on a man¡¯s palm and curl up comfortably.


    ¡°This will work, yeah,¡± nodded Erycea with satisfaction at the shifted appearance of the druid twins. ¡°How long can you keep this form up?¡±


    ¡°Indefinitely,¡± replied one of the kittens in a high-pitched but still recognizable voice, though Erycea couldn¡¯t tell which was which. ¡°We use magic to shift our form, but it takes next to nothing to maintain them.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. You two do your job, and when it¡¯s time to get away, we¡¯ll make the distraction which you can use to disappear.¡±

 Side Story 74 - A Tail of Two Kittens (Part 1)

    ¡°People who never had to fight with the elves of Alfheim and Great Emerald Forest were never properly wary of random animals. Only when you had dealt with a master shapeshifter would you know the horror of being unable to let your guard down on every single living being that crossed your sights.¡± - Testimony by former General Harriz Olfeim of the Clangeddin Empire, after a disastrous defeat against the elves of Alfheim.


    ¡±Meow.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this cat doing here? Shoo! Shoo! Get lost!¡± said a soldier on patrol in the Imperial army camp when he spotted a small wildcat kitten meowing by the camp¡¯s perimeter. The kitten tilted its head to the side and eyed the soldier questioningly with its big eyes and didn¡¯t move, at least not until the soldier made a gesture to make it look like he was about to throw something at it.


    Only after it saw the gesture did the kitten leap aside, again looking questioningly when it noticed that nothing seemed to have fallen near where it used to be. The look clearly annoyed the soldier as he walked over closer and threatened to kick at the kitten, at which point it fled into the distance at last. The soldiers cursed once more but then returned to his patrol, no longer paying any mind to the incident.


    ******************************


    ¡°Hm? A kitten?¡± muttered a different patrolling soldier later that same morning, on a different side of the camp. The soldier had noticed some movement from the camp¡¯s perimeter and went over only to find a tiny, mewling palm-sized kitten with white-gray fur hidden in the tall grass of the plains. The kitten looked up at the soldier with its big eyes pleadingly, which was a sight that was apparently enough to melt the man¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Aww, come here, you little cute thing¡­ Are you hungry? Want this?¡± said the soldier placatingly as he fished out a small shard of dried meat out of one of the pouches hanging from his belt. The man offered the bit of meat over with an outstretched hand while remaining steady while the wary kitten came closer and eventually nibbled at the meat he held out.


    ¡°You like that, didn¡¯t you? Want another?¡± said the man in a gentle tone as he brought out another piece of dried meat for the kitten to munch on. While keeping wild animals in the Imperial military camp was frowned upon, as long as they were not problematic animals, the commanders usually allowed it to slide and often even adopted said animals as mascots, as they knew that it was a cheap way to boost morale.


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    Of course, not every soldier happened to be animal lovers, so it also depended on which soldier the animals in question ran into.


    ¡°Want to come with m-¡± before the soldier could finish his question or reach out for the kitten, it leapt away and quickly vanished into the tall grass, leaving the soldier behind with a rather forlorn expression on his face as he watched the tiny thing swiftly disappear in the plains.


    ******************************


    ¡°So you were late on finishing your patrol because you ran into a kitten and were feeding it for a while, soldier?¡± asked a stern-looking Imperial hundred-man commander as he walked over with the chastised-looking soldier to the spot where the soldier fed the kitten earlier. ¡°You are aware that you could be disciplined for having neglected your duty for this, are you not?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir, Commander. I apologize, Sir, Commander,¡± said the soldier with a somewhat worried tone, though in his heart he was already resigned to extra guard shifts or worse, which was the common punishment for minor offenses like his. ¡°It was around here, if I remember right, though the kitten ran off after I fed it-¡±


    ¡°Mew.¡±


    ¡°Meow!¡±


    Both the officer and the soldier stood still when they heard the gentle meowing noises, and sure enough, the kitten the soldier fed earlier walked over from the tall grass moments later. Except it was not alone, as a second kitten with the same coloration and pattern on its fur followed behind it shortly afterwards and similarly approached the two while meowing gently.


    ¡°Hoh, is this the kitten you fed earlier?¡± asked the Imperial commander as he squatted down and took a closer look at the kittens, which didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of him. Instead, the two little creatures approached him and started to sniff at him with curiosity. They did not even attempt to escape when the commander slowly and gently picked them up by the scruff of their necks to take a closer look. ¡°Oho¡­ A pair of kittens with the same coloring but opposite patterns¡­ Those are symbols of good luck in Shan-Hu where I¡¯m from¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you mean¡­?¡± asked the soldier with hope and trepidation both present in his voice.


    ¡°Soldier An, I hereby announce your punishment. From today onwards and for the duration of the campaign, you will be responsible for taking care of our hundred-man unit¡¯s mascots. You are to keep them fed properly, clean, and presentable at all times, is that understood?¡± said the hundred-man commander with an amused smirk on his face.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir, Commander! I accept the punishment gladly!¡± replied the soldier as he saluted smartly on the spot, glad that he had just avoided a more unpleasant punishment thanks to the kitten returning with a second one.


    The hundred-man commander then gently handed over the two kittens to the soldier, who carefully cradled them in his hands. The two kittens were so small that they easily fit on the palm of his hand, and it didn¡¯t take long before the two of them curled up and took a nap right in his hands while he was walking back towards where his unit was camped.


    Apparently Nature affinity users skilled in shapeshifting were a rarity where the Imperial army came from, as otherwise they would not have brushed off the incident as a mere lucky coincidence and would have at least subjected the kittens to some magical probing to make sure that they were truly what they appeared to be. Alas, such was not the case, and so Lili and R¨®zsa smoothly infiltrated the Imperial Army camp.

 Side Story 75 - A Tail of Two Kittens (Part 2)

    ¡°Sometimes, your greatest foe is far closer to you than you could ever imagine.¡± - Old military saying.


    Neither Lili and R¨®zsa understood the foreign tongue used by the invaders, as it was unlike any of the languages the two of them were familiar with. Even so, there were other ways to gain information that did not require an understanding of speech at all. As unofficial mascots of their unit, the two of them were left in the camp, put under the care of whichever unit happened to be in charge of guarding the camp that day, but the two also had quite a bit of freedom to roam around.


    Where they roamed, they also watched with their keen eyes. While the lack of language understanding hurt somewhat, between what close observation they managed, as well as what they picked up from the body language and gestures of those around them, Lili and R¨®zsa learned quite a bit about their enemies, more than what most would expect.


    The two of them were heavily attuned to their wilder instincts, which was a common thing amongst shapeshifting druids, and those very same instincts helped them notice some things that most would have otherwise missed. It also helped them pick up on subtle things like internal hierarchy and people¡¯s predisposition where no external signs presented themselves.


    Over the next five days ¨C the plan was for the others to cause a distraction for them to exfiltrate themselves at the end of the week ¨C Lili and R¨®zsa learned various things about their enemies. Most of what they learned were minor tidbits of minimal to no military value, but some others were far more valuable.


    For example, the two learned of the enemy¡¯s organization, which at a glance resembled the Republic of Caroma¡¯s setup with hundred-men units, but turned out to be quite different. The foreign invaders instead divided their soldiers into teams of five men at the smallest, with twenty such units forming a single hundred-man unit. To such a unit, an extra set of twenty-five men consisting of the hundred-man commander and four lieutenants as well as twenty bodyguards would be attached, and eight such units formed a thousand-man unit.


    The thousand-man commander would have his own personal unit of no less than four lieutenants, fifteen subcommanders, and over two hundred soldiers as guards. The cycle repeated itself with eight such units combined into a ten thousand man unit, and so on. The foreign enemy seemed to utilize a doctrine that allowed for more flexibility amongst the various parts of a unit, though not to the level that the Free Lances did.


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    Other than that, they also realized that the invaders actually used their flags ¨C each thousand-man commander had several flagbearers stationed near them ¨C to convey commands over long distances, with the motion of the flag signifying different commands. While the two were unable to decipher the details beyond the most basic commands, just that confirmation alone would give the allied forces a leg up when they engaged the invaders later.


    While they were at it, they also made themselves familiar with the central region of the camp. The twins played it off as if they were attracted by the bright colors of the tents around the central region ¨C another oddity of the invaders, as their tents were quite colorful and decorated, luxurious for military equipment ¨C and even took naps on the silken folds of the tents.


    Some of the patrolling soldiers wanted to shoo them off, but they happened to run across another officer who thought of them as symbols and omen of good luck and told the soldier to leave them be. That gave Lili and R¨®zsa relatively free access to even the well-guarded central region, and sometimes they even walked around and looked curiously while the invader commanders held meetings.


    Since the two acted as quiet and obedient little pets, their presence was tolerated even during such meetings, with a couple of the invader generals even habitually stroking their fur absent-mindedly. It was during such meetings that they also realized that the invader who seemed to be the high commander had a habit of keeping maps, scrolls, and other paper on his desk rather than within his storage ring.


    Such a predilection wasn¡¯t a rare one, as some people found it hard to quickly find certain items in storage rings, especially larger ones. While storage artifacts were commonplace in the invader army, some people still kept to old habits like that from time to time, which was probably as good as it would get for Lili and R¨®zsa and their mission.


    All they were waiting for was for the appointed time of their extraction to arrive. It was planned to happen on the last day of the week, during the hour when most people slept the deepest. The platoons under Erycea¡¯s leadership would conduct a harassment attack with burning jars of oil from above and various unpleasant concoctions from the goblins, while the rest of the group would also attack the enemy camp with arrows.


    For safety reasons, Hannah and her fliers had scouted to make sure they knew which section of the enemy camp Lili and R¨®zsa were in, so they could avoid attacking that region. The plan was for Lili and R¨®zsa to escape during the commotion caused by the attack while at the same time, grabbing anything of military value that they could get their hands on.


    R¨®zsa hid a tiny storage artifact ¨C a conical ring that one of the goblins amongst Egil¡¯s people designed to wrap around the top of one of his fangs ¨C at the back of her mouth, keeping it perched on one of her rearmost molars. It was a bit uncomfortable to have the artifact there, as it was still a bit large for the size she assumed, but it was at least well-hidden.


    Naturally, the two of them planned to cut across the central region of the enemy camp in their escape, where they would go through the command tent and store as many maps and other documents from the enemy commander¡¯s table into the storage ring as they passed.

 Side Story 76 - A Tail of Two Kittens (Part 3)

    ¡°The ability to adapt and adjust to one¡¯s opponents is what seperates a good mercenary from a dead one.¡± - Old mercenary saying.


    In the early morning hours of the Firstday of the following week, where people typically slept the deepest, several winged silhouettes flew over the foreign invader encampment. Each of them carried several fragile sealed clay urns in their storage artifact, with their content an unpleasant surprise for the invaders sleeping below them.


    After much discussion, Erycea and the other platoon leaders decided not to show off their entire hand to the enemy and instead limited their diversion to just a small part of their arsenal. The decision was made after they took into consideration that the Company would likely have to battle these enemies for a good part of the imminent future, so it was simply a poor choice to reveal some of their trump cards too early.


    As such, the diversion would mostly be done by Egil¡¯s people, who were skilled slingers capable of delivering their shots from a relatively safe distance, especially at night. Rather than the nastier options in their arsenal though, the goblins that day only carried sealed urns that were filled with a special mix of clingy natural oils mixed with a certain fluid concentrate extracted from certain glands of an infamous beast from the jungles they called home. A beast that had similar relatives everywhere in the continent, commonly called skunks or stink beasts.


    Mixed with the oils, the extract formed a mixture that simply clinged to whatever it was splashed on. Worse yet, the stench from the concentrate would practically assimilate to the poor victim unless washed off within minutes, making them stink horribly for weeks on end. The mixture was by no means lethal ¨C though there had been documented cases of unfortunate people getting facefuls of the mixture who ended up killing themselves as they tore their own face and throat apart ¨C but it was most definitely a horrific disturbance to inflict upon one¡¯s foe.


    The overpowering scent would also neatly explain why Lili and R¨®zsa ran off, as wildcats had sensitive noses and any sane animal would escape from such a stench.


    Even so, to spare their own compatriots from unnecessary suffering, Egil¡¯s people targeted the side of the encampment that was a section away from where the twins were biding their time. It was close enough to create a plausible reason for their disappearance, but far enough that they shouldn¡¯t be directly struck by the diversion itself.


    Once all the goblins reached their assigned positions, they carefully loaded the sealed urns into the pouches of their slings, then as one, stood up and started to whirl around their slings over their heads. Such an action was naturally difficult to hide from the eyes of the sentries on the watch towers, but due to the darkness ¨C and perhaps a little inattention ¨C the sentries failed to notice them until after the goblins had loosed the first salvo.


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    The sealed urns ¨C each around the size of a child¡¯s fist ¨C they loosed sailed through the air to land well inside the enemy encampment in a loose pattern. Most struck the ground and broke apart, splashing its stinky contents all over the vicinity, while some landed on unfortunate and unsuspecting soldiers with predictable unpleasant results for the victims in question.


    Before the camp could react, the goblins loosed a second salvo of urns, then a third, before they turned around and ran back towards the forest where the rest of their compatriots waited in ambush in case they were pursued. That turned out to be an unnecessary precaution, as the foreign invaders were too busy trying to make sense of what just happened to them to organize a pursuit team.


    At the same time, the fliers above noticed the ruckus below and each brought out one of the sealed urns they were given. Their urns were somewhat larger and had a removable cap, and they carefully removed said cover with their talons while pointing the urn at a sideways angle. Once the cover was removed, a fine powder ¨C almost as fine as ash ¨C rained down on the invader encampment, the particles so fine that it was pretty much unnoticeable to the naked eye.


    And it would remain unnoticeable too, at least until it landed on some bare skin. The powder was made from a mixture of dried and ground up poisonous plants and possessed a strong irritant effect on the human skin, causing itchiness and rashes to develop with the slightest touch. Again, it was nothing fatal in the quantities the fliers were dispersing discreetly from above, but it would most definitely irritate their foes once the effect started to become noticeable.


    While all hell broke loose in the invader encampment, Lili and R¨®zsa fled towards the central part of the camp where the commander¡¯s tent was, pretending to be yowling and in a panic as they rushed. With the chaos unfolding from the unexpected disturbance, nobody had the time to pay attention to what seemed like a pair of kittens running away from the mayhem, so they managed to get to their destination unbothered.


    Once they were in the central part of the encampment, Lili put on a show of panicking and running every which way, while on the other hand R¨®zsa quietly snuck into the commander¡¯s tent and swiped away every bit of loose paper she could find, keeping them in the storage artifact she hid. Once that was done, the two continued running further, past the central part of the encampment and out from the opposite side of where the distraction hit.


    Their tiny figures practically vanished into the tall grass once they got outside the encampment, and even if someone noticed that they were gone, it would be a fool¡¯s errand to attempt tracking them down. Even so, neither of the druid twins relaxed, and they rushed towards the forest, still in their wildcat forms, practically unnoticeable amongst the tall grass of the plains in the night.


    Once they reached the forest, the two hid themselves and shifted back to their normal forms and put on some clothes, before they made their way towards the mercenary camp deeper in the forest. They reached the camp before Erycea and the rest returned from the aborted ambush, since the invaders failed to sent any pursuers.


    Only then did Lili and R¨®zsa report their experiences within the enemy camp while at the same time unloading their bounty, the papers and maps from the enemy commander¡¯s tent.

 Chapter 446 - Actions and Ramifications

    ¡°Every little thing anyone does eventually adds up and affects things larger than they are. This often catches the unwary by surprise, and has happened repeatedly throughout history.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    The Free Lances detachment Erycea led started to pack their equipment and retreated from the frontlines shortly after Lili and R¨®zsa returned and made their report. They were sent out to perform reconnaissance on the enemies, and they had done just that, with no casualties amongst their own troops. The ramifications of their actions, however, would be felt on the frontlines for a while more.


    A clerk and several guards from the invader forces were executed as they were blamed by the foreigners¡¯ commanding officer for the unexpected loss of the military documents from his tent. The condemned individuals pleaded their innocence, but their pleas fell upon deaf ears, as none of the other officers were keen to cross their already irate commander for their sakes.


    Several animal-loving officers amongst the foreign invaders were dismayed to learn that the kittens they had grown attached to over the past week had fled and vanished during the commotion that night, something that they chalked up to misfortune. Some of the more superstitious amongst the soldiers even called it a bad omen.


    Entire units of the foreign army had to be secluded from everyone else due to the overpowering stench that seemed to have seeped into their bodies. Even during the fighting that followed, those units were tasked with making halfhearted assaults on the fortification¡¯s eastern walls on their own, so that their stench wouldn¡¯t disturb the other soldiers.


    For the people who had the misfortune to be doused with the unpleasant stench, life turned to hell as they were excluded and isolated, all while they too suffered from the horrific stink. Some people even lost their minds and went mad, while a few others committed suicide because they couldn¡¯t take it anymore, causing morale to drop like a rock amongst the affected units.


    To make things worse, an outbreak of itchy rashes happened amongst the invading army, in a seemingly random yet widespread manner to the point that it couldn¡¯t be contained at all. The rash mostly affected the neck and hands, and while relatively harmless, were so itchy that many scratched until they broke their own skin and bled just to get rid of the itch.


    While the officers were mostly spared, such a large-scale outbreak amongst the soldiers remained a serious risk to morale and the well-being of the army, so the invaders had to take it seriously and assigned the healers and doctors they had in camp to deal with the issue. It took nearly a week before those doctors came up with a remedy for the itch.


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    That week was one where the Kolitscheian forces that defended the fort being attacked by the invaders found unexpected relief, as the invaders seemed unable to focus on their offense. It was a much-welcome breather for the hard-pressed troops, and many prayed their thanks for whatever caused the lull in the enemy offense.


    Said enemy offense renewed itself with vigor the next week, but the relatively relaxed week had allowed the defenders to recover their strength and stamina and put their full effort to the defenses once more, refusing to give any ground to the invaders. As such, the fort lasted longer than it was projected to, and held the invading army at bay for a good couple of weeks past even the most optimistic expectations, which allowed Kolitschei city to be further reinforced with troops from the Border Duchies.


    It was only when a second invasion force ¨C later discovered to be the one that had been besieging Oleynuos ¨C arrived and added their numbers to the first that the fort¡¯s defenders realized that they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. In the end, the majority of the defenders retreated in good order towards Kolitschei city, while a volunteer force of rear guards held the fort behind them, with the intent of selling their lives dearly to allow their allies to retreat unmolested.


    Their sacrifice ¨C the rear guard were slain to the last man ¨C bore fruit, as the invaders failed to realize that the majority of the defenders already retreated. By the time they realized, the escaping defenders were already too far to pursue, so instead the invaders chose to settle down in the fort and rest their forces for the time being.


    While the invading forces recuperated from the long sieges they had just finished, the area west of Kolitschei city was transformed by a detachment from the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers mercenary company into a field of trenches, traps, and minor fortifications, all designed to tackle the invader¡¯s numerically superior force with lesser numbers.


    Where the invading army ¨C at least the ones gathered in Kolitschei ¨C numbered well over a hundred and fifty thousand, Kolitschei itself only managed to muster around forty thousand soldiers, to which another forty thousand soldiers and mercenaries from Algenverr were added. Nestor and Griselda personally led the detachment that went to Kolitschei, while his younger brother Damien led another twenty-five thousand troops to face the invaders in Lovia-Hosberg, where the defenders fared better since they had to deal with fewer enemies.


    So it was that in the early autumn of year 20 FP two massive armies faced each other to the west of Kolitschei city, in one of a series of battles that would determine the fate of the western Alcidean region as a whole, as they later learned. At a glance the defenders were outnumbered by nearly two to one, but they also had the advantage of the home ground and prepared defenses, which more than evened the odds.


    The foreign invaders at the time had yet to realize that their opponents this time had learned far more about them than what they expected, courtesy of a successful reconnaissance mission by the Free Lances, and that they were marching towards foes that had prepared to face them properly, unlike all their previous battles.


    So it was that the drums of war sounded and the weapons raised, as foreign invaders met with locals who were defending their homeland.

 Chapter 447 - Defensive Positions

    ¡°Engaging an enemy in a well-prepared defensive position of their choosing is the worst way to wage a war, but sometimes, it¡¯s also the only option available to you due to the circumstances involved, so suck it up and tighten that belt and go earn those coins, or die trying!¡± - Speech by ¡°Gregarious¡± Georg Gursen of the Gursen¡¯s Gremlins mercenary company, shortly before their defeat and disbandment after a failed assault on a position defended by the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers, circa 449 VA.


    Defensive position two kilometers west of Kolitschei City


    Duchy of Kolitschei


    Western Alcidea


    4th Day of the 1st Week of the 9th Month, Year 20 FP.


    ¡°Well, now. Ain¡¯t this a mighty fine place to make a stand,¡± said Reinhardt with an appreciative whistle as he led the Free Lances towards the prepared defensive position west of the city. The Free Lances had departed Algenverr together with the main force under Nestor¡¯s lead just a week ago, whereas a detachment from Horst¡¯s Hellraisers were gathered and sent to Kolitschei mere days after Erycea¡¯s scouting expedition left back then.


    Said detachment had spent the past month preparing defenses west of Kolitschei city with help from the city¡¯s civilians and soldiers, and what they had prepared was quite something to behold.


    The chosen defensive position was one that fully made use of Kolitschei¡¯s geography. The Duchy of Kolitschei was separated from their northern neighbor Lovia-Hosberg by a succession of mountain ranges and dense forests, and the region in general was dominated by said dense forests for the most part, outside the inhabited areas.


    It was possible to march through said forests, but it would be horribly impractical, slow, and torturous to bring an army of substantial size anywhere through them. As such, due to their own size, the invading army was practically limited to the main roads. As such, the defensive position was laid right on the one main road that led westward from the city.


    With the northern and southern flanks of the region covered by dense forests, the defensive position was relatively safe from flanking attempts. Besides, the Hellraisers detachment also trapped the forest by their flanks generously, just in case. Other than that, the defensive position was centered around a base set at the summit of a small hill the road curved around.


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    Countless ramparts and trenches dotted the west side of the hill, with shallow trenches dug behind the earthen ramparts to allow the defenders to hide their bodies despite the low height of the defensive structures. In effect it turned the hill into a giant makeshift fort capable of holding tens of thousands of defenders.


    Further west from the hill, more trenches were dug in seemingly random patterns and depths and covered a whole kilometer-wide region, ranging from shin depth to knee depth. Those trenches were then cleverly covered with netting, soil, and even grass where appropriate, making them practically invisible. As a result, the whole region would cause many accidents should an army charge through it.


    A fully armored soldier running at speed who tripped themselves on one such hidden trench might well break or twist their ankle or worse, and if it was galloping cavalry that caught one instead, it might well result in a crippling if not fatal crash for both rider and steed. At the same time, the dwarves left routes for friendly cavalry to use when they needed to make their own forays, routes that were circuitous and difficult to find without prior knowledge.


    Both the forces from Algenverr and Kolitschei shared the burden of holding the defensive positions, with around a third of their number positioned on the hill, another third on the road, while the rest remained behind as reserves. Other than that, several units like Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances were tasked to perform more irregular operations and slunk off into the dense forests to the sides of the defensive position.


    Naturally, they were given maps by the Hellraisers so they knew which areas to avoid in the forest. Reinhardt actually had his people add even more traps on the southern forest they were deployed in. It was the forest the enemy was more likely to infiltrate and attempt to bypass, since they could move towards the road from there, whereas the northern forest bordered the hill.


    All in all, it was a good position to tackle their opponents from, Reinhardt thought. They learned a good bit more of their enemies from the reports given by Erycea¡¯s group, and while nobody could read the odd letters used by the enemies in their documents, maps used symbols, and those were more decipherable by people with military minds.


    From the maps and the symbols on them, the allied defense forces learned that their enemy was likely a rather meticulous one, and they also learned that those same enemies would likely stay on the main roads. Some markings on the maps were deduced to be a failed attempt to cut a path through the forest in Wanarua¡¯s territory, and other markings that denoted troop movements seemed to corroborate that as well.


    Other than that, the maps also hinted that the enemy force they faced in the north might be somewhat separated from those facing the Bostvans in the south, as their documents lacked any reports or anything similar that touched upon the situation on the south. If the military command was unified, it was unlikely for them to not even possess a map of the southwest, so either the command was on the Bostvan side, or these invaders were from two separate forces.


    Either possibility was plausible, and difficult to ascertain due to the language barrier, so for the time being, Reinhardt could only focus his attention on the enemies he directly faced in Kolitschei. His force of two thousand mercenaries seemed so fragile and insignificant in a battlefield of over two hundred thousand people, but he knew from experience that even a small force could be lethal when used well, and he definitely planned to use his forces very well indeed.

 Side Story 77 - The Line Between Confidence and Arrogance

    ¡°There existed only a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and far too many people have stepped over it unawares.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Generals in the Empire were mostly divided into three ranks, typically just called the low general, middle general, and high general, with responsibilities that corresponded with their rankings. A middle general like Kang Lu-Shih wouldn¡¯t normally be placed over a hundred thousand strong force, typically made to command a smaller sub-army under a high general instead, but the circumstances of their invasion had made him commander of the early parts of the invasion into Kolitschei territory.


    The main reason was because the high general in charge of his army happened to be incensed by the stubborn enemies in the former royal capital of Oleynuos and decided to personally command that siege instead of leaving it to one of her subordinates. Now that the high general had returned, Lu-Shih returned to his usual position as a subordinate commander.


    Not that her return was pleasant for him. Lu-Shih had received heavy reprimands over the delay in taking over the enemy fort, as well as for having ¡°misplaced¡± military documents, as he had lost several maps and other correspondence from his desk during the peculiar night when an unusual attack struck his army. That attack caused little in terms of actual deaths, but was most definitely the culprit for his current predicaments.


    Due to that attack, he was forced to practically isolate several units from his army since nobody could stand being too close to the stench that seemed to have infused into their bodies, though thankfully the horrific smell eased up and vanished after several weeks. Other than that, the outbreak of itchy rashes that troubled a significant part of the army was likely also related to the inexplicable event.


    His army¡¯s doctors and healers had to spend a lot of effort before they managed to concoct a cure for those rashes, time and effort that were inevitably taken away from other matters.


    Because of that single event, morale plummeted and his army¡¯s coordination notably decreased, and he only managed to get them back into shape shortly before the high general¡¯s force ¨C fresh from a decisive victory at Oleynuos ¨C joined his. He guessed that the way the stubborn defenders suddenly absconded in the middle of the night after the high general arrived, leaving only a likely volunteer group to make their last stand and buy time for the rest, had further irritated her.


    While Lu-Shih was aware that his mistakes were indeed worth a reprimand ¨C and that unless he managed to contribute enough merit to outweigh them he might be further punished for them once they returned to the Empire ¨C he still felt that the high general could at least spare the condescending attitude where she treated him as if he was just a worm squirming beneath her feet or something.


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    But then again, the hag was from old Aqwa nobility, while Lu-Shih himself reached his current rank through effort and hard work, having worked his way from a minor officer, which was something only made possible by the current Emperor. His rise had a lot to do with his support of the Huan people, like Lu-Shih, allowing them to occupy higher and more important positions whereas in the past they were relegated to an unofficial second class by the ruling Aqwas.


    The Emperor was fine enough for an Aqwa bastard, most Huan people felt, but the high general ¨C whose family had sided with the Emperor during the fight for the throne ¨C was still a haglike wretch from hell, nonetheless, an epitome of the stereotype the Huan people often slapped onto the Aqwa nobility.


    Put simply, a raging bitch.


    ¡°So this is the rabble that gives you so much trouble, general Kang?¡± he heard the High General say from atop her steed to his right. High General Zabibah Taouan might have been considered a pretty woman in her youth, but somehow Lu-Shih doubted it. The Aqwa woman looked the sort who had a near-permanent condescending look on her face, as if she was above everyone and everything, and he didn¡¯t know many men who were into that.


    ¡°It shames me to admit that these are the same foes, High General,¡± he said diplomatically nonetheless. He was not foolish enough to further irritate or incense the already temperamental High General, regardless of whether she got her position due to nepotism or otherwise. It was also unwise to act smart against someone with the power to punish him and likely write it off, to boot.


    ¡°Mere earthen ramparts and defenses, pfah,¡± said the High General as she spat towards the enemies arrayed in the distance. ¡°Not even that many of them, either. I was hoping for a proper challenge, you know?¡± she added. Granted, the arrayed enemy force couldn¡¯t have numbered more than a hundred thousand, likely a good bit less than that, and the Imperial army under their command had well over a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, even after all the soldiers they left behind to garrison their conquest or for treatment of their injuries.


    ¡°These enemies have shown willingness to use¡­more unconventional tricks, High General,¡± warned Lu-Shih nonetheless, as he remembered all too well of the chaos during the night when the incident happened. ¡°They likely put up some cowardly traps in preparation for our arrival.¡±


    ¡°It is of no matter. Nothing shall stand before the Imperial army. Our conquest of this continent is foreordained, so said His Imperial Majesty. Who are these lowly curs to defy his will?¡± said the High General with a dismissive scoff. ¡°Here, today, we will first teach this land¡¯s craven inhabitants to fear our might. It is their fortune to become property of the empire, who do they think they are to dare say otherwise?¡±


    ¡°Infantry, first and second unit, forward! Climb up that hill of theirs and show how meaningless their paltry defenses are before the tides of our courage! Cavalry, first to third units, break through the road and circle behind them. We should strive to annihilate these cretins as fast as we could to keep to His Imperial Majesty¡¯s wishes!¡±

 Side Story 78 - Pride in Ones Work

    ¡°No matter whether you merely dig pits to make ends meet or create masterpieces sought after by lords and ladies high and low, always remember to take pride in the work you do. How would others appreciate your work if you yourself, the creator, could not do so?¡± - Saying attributed to Guillan del Cuvo, philosopher from Levain, circa 339 FP.


    ¡°Hoo boy, here come the misbegotten bastards,¡± muttered Karven Horst, youngest son to Stefan Horst and one of the lieutenants in the Horst¡¯s Hellraisers. The relatively young dwarf ¨C along with his subordinates, roughly a fifth of the company ¨C had been the one sent with Nestor¡¯s coalition army while the main bulk of the Hellraisers worked to set up more defenses within the territory of the border duchies, just to be safe.


    Like many combat engineers, the younger Horst had a near-maniacal obsession with fortifications and various sorts of structures and traps. To say that he and his people enjoyed receiving such a challenge like when they had to set up the battlefield in a relatively short time was an understatement, and they went above and beyond the expected to finish their work on time.


    Not only that, but the dwarven engineers also pulled off many, many nasty tricks of their own. Some of them seemed minor at a glance, but actually had lasting effects.


    For example, the trenches they dug to serve as traps and obstacles to the enemy had the sides that faced the hill reinforced with stones, to increase the chances of injury for anyone that stepped on them. The stone backing also rose a bit higher than the soil around it, which made it a trip hazard on top of everything.


    Not only that, but the bottom of said trenches were turned to loose sand on irregular intervals, which meant that even if their foes were to fill up the trenches ¨C something they would do after they ran afoul of it the first time, unless they were fools ¨C some parts would still cave in and form into new obstacles that had to be filled in once more later on.


    The trenches themselves were just grooves dug into the ground, with no particularly nasty additions to them. Some favored setting traps with spikes and the like, but Karven knew that a twisted ankle or a broken shin would keep a soldier out of the fighting just as certainly as a sharpened stake through the foot.


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    Neither did he plan to cause fatalities with his traps, though no doubt some unfortunate bastards would die anyway because they fell the wrong way or got trampled by their own fellows. His intent was to cause as many injuries as he could while also delaying the enemy advance or forcing them to break their cohesion, one or the other.


    In many ways, injured soldiers were worse than dead soldiers, as an injured soldier had to be cared for, which naturally tied up more resources to them, for no guarantee that they would be able to participate in the fighting at all. As such, causing injuries would exhaust the enemy¡¯s supplies faster than killing their soldiers, hence the plan behind the traps his company had set up.


    On their enemy¡¯s side, they started off the battle without much preamble, as a good forty to fifty thousand of their infantry marched forward in tight formation, with their archers following behind. At the same time, nearly half of the enemy¡¯s cavalry force ¨C around fifteen thousand or so, perhaps ¨C guided their steeds towards the section south of the hill where the road used to run through.


    It was a simple and obvious strategy, one that was not surprising to see employed by someone in a position of strength, to simply overpower the weaker enemy before them and send a fast detachment to break through and circle around their back. Clearly the bastards either failed to take account of their defensive preparations or looked down upon it, though.


    And that would cost them, Karven thought.


    Sure enough, before too long some of the infantry soldiers ran afoul of the trenches his people dug. Enemy soldiers fell over, some falling flat on their face, even. Others who had the misfortune to step into a deep trench while maintaining their steady jog even screamed out as the momentum of their jog was enough to break their knees in twain, one leg stuck in the trench with their knee bent the wrong way.


    Even so, the enemy soldiers marched forward steadily. There were far fewer cases of trampling than he expected, with some of the enemy soldiers helping the fallen ones almost immediately, but their pace reduced from a steady jog to a more cautious walk as the soldiers up front paid close attention to the ground before them.


    That naturally caused a congestion as those behind them kept pushing forward at a faster pace, and as if that wasn¡¯t enough, the coalition forces on the hill chose that time to signal their archers to fire at will. Almost immediately after the signal was given, thousands of arrows soared in the sky above the battlefield and rained down upon the invader¡¯s forces, with a steady stream of more arrows following behind as the archers on the hill made full use of their height advantage over their invader counterparts.


    Around that time, the enemy cavalry ¨C which started their advance a bit later, as they clearly intended for the infantry to engage the enemy first before the cavalry made their attack ¨C that was galloping on their horses ran into the trenches on their section of the battlefield. The results there were far more exaggerated, due to the far greater momentum possessed by a galloping horse with a rider on its back.


    The unfortunate steeds that stumbled upon a trench often ended up rolling on the ground with at least one of its legs broken and its rider either hurled off its back or directly crushed under its mass. Not even such a sight prompted the other rider to slow down, though. They clearly expected to lose some of their number in the battle to come and simply kept charging.

 Chapter 448 - The Opening Day of the Battle

    ¡°Fighting a war is nine parts boredom, and surprisingly enough, fighting a battle is often the same, unless you¡¯re one of the poor sods who happens to be placed right at the front of the formation, that is.¡± - Agatha Sanz Morrisak, General from the Republic of Caroma, circa 250 FP.


    Reinhardt was somewhat surprised to see the invader army continue their charge, the casualties they suffered from the trenches unheeded. That told him several things at the same time. For one, the army was clearly disciplined enough to keep going even in the face of obstacles. For another, their general was likely callous or pragmatic enough to consider hundreds of injured or dead soldiers as acceptable losses.


    To be fair, the trenches were never meant to stop the enemy dead on their tracks. They were made by the dwarven engineers when they finished the defenses and realized that they still had a couple days left before the enemy came, as a bit of an extra obstacle for the enemy to deal with. Their purpose had always been to be an obstacle and an annoyance.


    Like a particular stone that jutted a bit higher than the others on a paved road that caused people to trip over it, but on a larger scale.


    Since the infantry charge was somewhat delayed by them having to deal with the injured and move over the trenches, the cavalry ended up reaching the defensive line first, instead of together with them. The position by the road had been reinforced with multiple layers of earthen ramparts that blockaded all passage, and when the incoming cavalry realized just how solid the blockade actually was, they shifted their tactics.


    Almost as one, the middle and back lines of the enemy cavalry formation slung their weapons ¨C predominantly spears or polearms of some kind, another unusual thing to see from a mostly human army ¨C across their backs and pulled out bows from holsters by their waists. Their hands pulled some arrows from quivers set on the other side of their waist and started to shoot them at a parabolic angle towards the ramparts.


    Their accuracy and almost synchronized shooting was quite something, considering that it was all done on horseback. Had the coalition army actually faced them in an open field battle, such capabilities would have given them great trouble, Reinhardt felt. Fortunately since they were on the defense, all they had to do was to raise their shields or duck behind the earthen ramparts to protect themselves from the arrows.


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    On the other hand, the frontmost line of the enemy cavalry made a sharp turn as they approached the southernmost side of the wall and turned their charge into a slashing attack in a clearly trained maneuver. Their long spears and polearms allowed the riders to strike at the rampart¡¯s defenders even from their position outside, a maneuver that again would be far more devastating in an open battle.


    All that while, those behind them never let up with their arrows, until they too reached the ramparts, stored their bows once more, and switched to their polearms. In exchange, those on the front of the formation that had run across the rampart¡¯s front from south to north once again pulled a sharp turn, turning back towards where they came, and switched to their bows. They then turned around on the saddle and loosed more arrows while facing backwards as their steeds galloped away.


    The unexpected rain of arrows from the cavalry caught the defenders off guard for a moment, and they took some casualties from the unexpected attack, but they quickly regained their composure and the archers stationed on that section of the defenses returned the favor with their own arrows, which took its toll on the enemy cavalry as well.


    At the same time, the enemy infantry had just reached the foot of the hill only to learn that the dwarven engineers had played a few more tricks on them. Many parts of the hill turned out to be loose sand hidden underneath a cover of grass or soil, which made it very difficult to climb properly and in haste. The defenders had solid pathways they could use to move around, but the invaders had no knowledge of the location of those pathways.


    As a result, the defending coalition forces handily kept their enemies stymied on that first day. Neither the enemy infantry nor the cavalry managed to make any true progress, and what few casualties the defenders took were mostly from arrows that struck unlucky people. On the other hand, the invaders must have taken at least a couple thousand casualties from the fighting and the relentless arrows rained down upon them by the defenders.


    The fighting went uneventfully throughout the day and ended in the evening when the invaders beat the drums and withdrew their troops. While part of their troops were fighting, another part was setting up an encampment similar to the one Reinhardt had heard of from Erycea¡¯s reports, albeit larger and with actual fences on top of the watchtowers, situated a safe distance away from the battlefield.


    Even as they retreated, the invaders showed another hint of cunning as they not only took their injured and dead with them, but also took care to take any usable arrows they could find amongst those that had been shot at them. Typically most armies would have left those arrows behind and only later sent salvagers to get what they could.


    Fortunately the defenders were not lacking in arrows themselves, as not only had they prepared plenty of arrows to use, but the arrows shot by the invaders mostly landed on the earthen ramparts and remained in good condition. All they had to do was to collect those arrows and add them to their stores.


    Throughout the first day, the Free Lances made no move yet, as they mostly observed. Their forces were small and needed to be wielded like a needle rather than a blunt instrument. As such, he waited until it was the right time to make use of his forces.

 Chapter 449 - Spoiling the Enemys Plans

    ¡°The best course of action in war is to defeat your enemy¡¯s plans before they could even come into effect.¡± - Liang Shi-zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    The second day of the battle proceeded much like what the defenders expected. The invaders had not repeated their charge from the previous day, as they had realized its futility, and instead spent a good part of the day having their soldiers fill up the trenches that blocked their way with shovels. Of course, the defenders had not allowed them to do that freely, as the trenches were made just within arrow range, forcing the enemy soldiers to work while subjected to a near-constant rain of arrows.


    This time the invaders did their work patiently, however, with soldiers bearing large wooden shields ¨C pretty much just wooden boards the size of a small door given a handle ¨C keeping those working on the trenches safe. Again, that was expected. The trenches had served their purpose, and with the petty tricks the dwarven engineers pulled off, would likely still claim some more victims even after they were filled in.


    It was mostly an uneventful day, just the enemy soldiers working to fill up the trenches ¨C a job that would likely take them all day long ¨C while being protected by the shieldbearers before them and archers from both sides trading arrows with one another over the distance, with the defenders having the advantage due to their height advantage.


    At least until a couple hours before the sunset when Reinhardt noticed a sneaky movement from the enemy side.


    Under normal circumstances, the maneuver attempted by the enemy would not have been noticeable by the defenders, as it was far back and covered from sight by the rest of the invading army. Reinhardt¡¯s eye piece relayed to him the overall situation of the battlefield from a bird¡¯s eye viewpoint, however, as Hannah was flying high above to keep watch over the enemies. As such, the movement could not evade him.


    ¡°They¡¯re trying to make a sneak attack through the forest, a team of around five hundred on each side, probably assassins or the like. The ones that went south are ours,¡± said Reinhardt succinctly, his words relayed directly to Nestor, who has one of the receiver artifacts. The receiver artifacts couldn¡¯t exactly send a message back, but they could send a signal to the main artifact that was typically used to signal that the message had been received, or to call for attention. Nestor flashed a signal of acceptance mere moments after his report.


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    Meanwhile, Reinhardt informed his people of the situation and incoming enemies. The Free Lances had further trapped the southern forest to the point that they were confident of defending it from as many as ten thousand enemies. While the five hundred the enemy sent looked familiar with traveling through a forest, they were still no match to the mercenaries in their preferred terrain.


    Since Reinhardt needed to keep watch over the battlefield situation and there wasn¡¯t that many enemies, he delegated the task of dealing with the incoming foes to Lars, who accepted the job and left with the platoons led by Alva, Branka, Erycea, Alycea, Egil, Fatimah, and Nicole to welcome the enemies, roughly half of the company¡¯s fighting force put together.


    It was probably overkill to ambush five hundred people with nearly double their number on well-prepared killing ground, but if there was one thing the mercenaries adhered to religiously, it was to not underestimate their opposition. Lars swiftly arranged for the archers from Alva and Branka¡¯s platoons to spread out along the sides of the prepared killing ground, while the other six platoons including his own were deployed in a semi-circle around the ambush location.


    They had a good grasp on the route their enemies would likely take, because all the other possible paths to take had already been trapped to hell and back, with the intention being to herd any enemy who braved the forest to the remaining ¡°easier¡± path, which led straight to the killing ground the mercenaries prepared for ambush from days ago.


    For what it was worth, their foes showed a familiarity with the forest like people who lived their lives in one. Likely trained foresters and agents, the group knew how to traverse the terrain ¨C some of them even moving through the trees ¨C well and smoothly. They even noticed and disarmed some of the traps the mercenaries had set up.


    That said, their failings were also visible, as the enemies were clearly unfamiliar with the sort of traps Egil¡¯s people set up. There weren¡¯t that much difference between traps set up by humans and goblins in terms of construction, but the ways they used to hide such traps differed quite a bit. The invaders were clearly familiar with the former, but not the latter, and thus fell for those traps specifically.


    Given the way these enemies moved, Lars guessed that they were likely infiltrators and assassins, sent to reach behind the defense lines around the time the battle ended that day, to make their move at night when people were less wary. Unfortunately for them, their movement being noticed at the start meant that all that awaited them were premeditated ambushes, captivity, and death.


    Once the enemies were funneled into the killing zone, Alva and Branka¡¯s archer let loose with their arrows from the sides, placing the enemies under a crossfire from two directions. Their arrows alone dropped at least a fifth of the enemy troops, and the moment the arrows stopped coming, Lars signaled for the assault, his platoon surging forward with Erycea and Alycea¡¯s to the sides.


    Needless to say, the enemy infiltrators and assassins were not prepared to direct combat in that manner, and the ambush routed them swiftly. The majority of the enemies were slain or captured by the ambush, while those that turned tail and fled found themselves harried by Nicole¡¯s, Fatimah¡¯s, and Egil¡¯s people before they were taken down or killed as well.


    None of the five hundred enemies escaped their fate that day.

 Chapter 450 - Language Barrier

    ¡°There¡¯s a big reason why merchants and traders everywhere popularize common as the trade language. It¡¯s just hard to haggle and make deals properly when you can¡¯t even communicate with the other party, you know?¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 677 FP.


    ¡°Any luck with the captives we delivered, Friede?¡± Reinhardt asked when Elfriede returned the next morning. She had gone off to the main defense base with some of her people to drop off the captives taken from the enemy infiltrators the previous night and stayed to check if they could gain any worthwhile intelligence from the captives.


    ¡°No luck. Some of them broke down easily enough, but we can¡¯t get shit out of them since nobody speaks their tongue and they don¡¯t even speak common,¡± said Elfriede as she shook her head. The captives they got were not the only ones, as Nestor¡¯s own people had caught some of the ones who tried to enter through the northern forest. They failed to kill and capture everyone who went there, though, and around half the enemies managed to escape the ambush.


    ¡°Huh. Right. Wasn¡¯t thinking of that particular issue. Now that I think of it Ery did mention that they didn¡¯t speak anything the twins understand when they infiltrated,¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°I guess learning our languages wouldn¡¯t be a big priority for them either if they¡¯re truly from across the sea, I guess. That¡¯ll make getting info out of them more problematic unless we can get someone who actually speaks our language.¡±


    ¡°They made some progress with gestures and drawings, but a lot of what they could get is far more vague than we¡¯d all like, honestly,¡± said Elfriede with a shake of her head. ¡°From what we¡¯ve managed to decipher that way, these invaders seemed to be from across the sea. The captives drew their homeland in the shape of a bunch of islands, though we had no real idea on how far away they are from the continent.¡±


    ¡°Islanders from the sea, huh? And here I thought all that exists in those seas are just serpents large enough to swallow ships whole,¡± muttered Reinhardt. He of all people was well aware that the sea routes regularly plied by the trading ships were only safe when they were close to the continent. There were always risks when they crossed the deeper waters, as those were home to creatures nobody sane would like to come across.


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    Incidents in the waters around the continents were rare, but they still happened from time to time. In fact, Reinhardt himself, and likely his birth parents, were victims to one such incident. He was still too young to remember much from that time, but he knew that his adoptive parents had found him stranded atop a piece of drifting wood from a shipwreck.


    The old dwarven couple had been on a vacation and took a sea trip at the time, so it was pure luck and coincidence that resulted in their paths crossing. After a failed attempt to search for and rescue other survivors, the ship they were on continued their journey, and by the end of the trip the old dwarven couple had chosen to adopt the orphaned young therian boy as their own, even giving him his name, as back then he was still too young to be able to speak or understand much.


    ¡°Did they get anything else out of them?¡± asked Reinhardt with some curiosity.


    ¡°Not that much. They used odd symbols for numbers, so at best we have a guess on what¡¯s probably the captive¡¯s own guess on their total troop count. Most of them seemed to agree that they estimated the invading force at around half a million, though, which lines up with our own estimates,¡± said Elfriede with a shake of her head. ¡°We might be able to get more information from the ones willing to talk if we can get them to communicate better, but for the time being, we don¡¯t have much. Ery¡¯s scouting mission gave us more information, honestly.¡±


    ¡°Disappointing, but not unexpected, I guess,¡± nodded Reinhardt. ¡°At least the setback of losing most of their infiltrators should cut that kind of shenanigans short from these enemies,¡± he added. The battle that day had been another slow one, with the enemy mostly attempting to push through the defensive ramparts using their numerical superiority.


    The enemy infantry attempted to attack the ramparts using their siege ramps as before, while their archers provided cover fire, at times firing far too close to their own troops for comfort. He couldn¡¯t see the details too clearly from the aerial vantage point his artifact provided, but he felt that there were likely several cases of friendly fire happening amongst the enemies.


    Not that it seemed to affect the enemy morale overmuch. Their soldiers remained motivated, which might be explained by what the captive managed to convey through gestures and drawing, that soldiers who managed worthy feats would be greatly rewarded. Money and land seemed to be the reward dangled before them, and given the high morale, the rewards in question were likely already awarded for those who achieved feats in the earlier battles. Otherwise the others wouldn¡¯t be as motivated as they were.


    It was in a way similar to Reinhardt¡¯s people, the act of risking their lives for rewards being a very mercenary thing. It definitely served well and motivated the common soldier to feats of courage and bravery, since many tend to be blinded by the shine of the rewards and as a result forgot that they needed to be alive in order to claim them.


    Not even an atypical way to motivate conscripts in Alcidea, to be honest, and with the battle that day remaining a steady grind where the invaders kept getting repelled despite their best efforts, Reinhardt reined in his troops as well. There weren''t any good openings to exploit, so he bided his time and waited for them to appear.

 Chapter 451 - The Burden of Others

    ¡°What might be easy or trivial for some could seem like insurmountable difficulties for others. Please at least try to place yourself in the position of others, as not everyone might be blessed as much by nature.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    The fighting west of Kolitschei continued uneventfully for a week and a half, with the invaders content to make use of their numerical superiority to slowly grind down the defenders over time. Such slow progress was not unusual in battles of the time, as armies would often probe one another for weaknesses before they attempted to make a decisive move to secure victory.


    What the invaders didn¡¯t know was that the defenders were perfectly content to let the fighting devolve into a slow grind like that. Time was on their side, as even while they fought the remaining factions in Posuin had sent out people to either hire more mercenaries or otherwise negotiate with their neighbors for aid. Reinhardt knew that Knallzog had already replied in the positive and merely needed time to gather their forces for an expedition, so the passage of time was only beneficial to the defenders so long as they managed to hold on to the current lines.


    Of course, it was not like the fighting caused no casualties. There were thousands of deaths from both sides, and many more injured, but most of the injured would return to the fighting after several days of rest. Due to the presence of healers in both army camps, people who returned alive would usually manage to recover quickly, unless their injuries were particularly severe.


    Given the stable state of the fighting, severe injuries were still rare, as neither side pushed too hard as of yet, while those that died were mostly unlucky ones, people who caught a blow at a bad place and lost their lives before they could be brought back to a healer. The amount of deaths were still a negligible amount for both sides, given their great numbers to begin with.


    Fortunately, while the Kolitschei army suffered a great loss to Algenverr just five or so years ago, they still maintained the majority of their vaunted archers. Those same archers now manned many of the trenches that dotted the hills, as they were the best ones in the coalition forces and thus made best use of the height advantage the hill offered.


    On the other hand, the state of Kolitschei¡¯s infantry forces was a pale shade of what they used to be five years ago. While the old Duke attempted to rebuild various units out of the survivors, including training a new batch of Warforged with the help of some old retirees, they were nowhere near as skilled or powerful as they used to be.


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    Even the new Warforged trainees were brought to the current battlefield, mostly people who had been recruited as teenagers and trained over the past years in the traditional tactics. There were other former Warforged amongst Nestor¡¯s people, who actually went over and helped the less-skilled new batch in their training in the days before the battle.


    Compared to Alvaro¡¯s group, though, most of the Warforged ¨C both those working under Nestor and those from Kolitschei ¨C maintained their traditional tactics and equipment, which meant that they likely fought in the old ways. It was effective enough since they happened to be facing another human force this time, fortunately.


    The shield walls and long pikes they used proved to be highly effective at keeping the invader infantry at bay, whereas the invaders couldn¡¯t even fight back properly due to the difference in their weapons¡¯ lengths. That said, the traditional weakness of the formation was still evident, and Reinhardt felt that his own Warforged ¨C Alvaro¡¯s platoon ¨C would likely be able to easily take on an equal number of their brethren from either force.


    After all, they were well-versed in both the traditional and new tactics and knew how to exploit the weaknesses of their own formations.


    Reinhardt¡¯s people did not see much action during the first ten days of battle. Other than the first attempt at infiltration, the enemies only tried to do such a move once more, this time sending some guides from the survivors of the first infiltration attempt to lead a force around three thousand strong to each forested side.


    Once again, their movements were noticed the moment they made it. Apparently their enemies had yet to realize that they were being watched from directly above, and that their maneuvers were transparent to the defenders¡¯ eyes. As such, all that their infiltration teams met were traps and more premeditated ambushes, and they left around half their numbers in the forests before they escaped.


    With their greater familiarity of the terrain, Reinhardt¡¯s company managed to do better and inflict more casualties compared to Nestor¡¯s troops in the north, despite having fewer people to use. They killed or captured around three thousand of the invaders, many of which were felled or caught by the various traps they had set up, as they were far worse at avoiding them compared to the first batch of infiltrators.


    The losses clearly infuriated their enemy¡¯s commander ¨C or commanders, nobody was completely certain as of yet ¨C some, since the very next day, the invaders redoubled their efforts to break through the ramparts, even cracking the first layer of defenses on many places. It was the hardest fighting to date, with the heaviest casualties recorded so far.


    At the same time, the more intense fighting also gave Reinhardt a few hints at where he could apply his troops for maximum effect, though he was uncertain and unwilling to commit as if yet. He called Lars over to ponder over the possibilities and ask for his opinion, and some of the other platoon leaders also gave out ideas, both safe and daring ones, for them to consider.


    In the end, both Reinhardt and Lars chose one of the more daring plans, which was a rather risky one, but if it worked, would have great effects for the battles to come.

 Chapter 452 - A Gutsy Attempt

    ¡°Sometimes, you have to throw caution to the wind and take some risks if you want to win big.¡± - Famous last words of Captain Serilda ¡°Gambler¡± Quen of the Serilda¡¯s Scourge mercenary company, said prior to a risky maneuver that won the battle but cost the captain¡¯s life amongst others.


    Members of the Nightstalkers platoon, or the Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra as they called themselves, were a tight-knit group that mostly kept to themselves, as they passed down their skills to either orphans they adopted while in Alcidea or to their own descendants. The former order of warrior-assassins naturally had several tricks of their own, the most famous one ¨C if unknown in Alcidea ¨C being their art of shadow-bending.


    When a child was born with the Light affinity in the order, they would be trained to harness it in ways different to how the vast majority of people with that affinity did things. Rather than to focus on creating light and making use of it, they would train to diminish light and instead harness the shadows and darkness left as a result.


    It was difficult training, and few of the children managed to acquire the knack to do things in that manner, with the failures washed out and sent to regular training instead. Out of every twenty children, only one or two would acquire such a knack, so the skill was rare in the current Nightstalkers, even with their slowly growing numbers.


    Out of the older ones who came from Ur-Teros, only the Shahzade and the Artesh possessed the skill, with the latter being more skilled due to his greater experience. Several of the youngsters of the new generations showed promise too, however, in particular the three children born from the couple¡¯s union, all of whom showed a knack to manipulate the darkness like their parents could.


    The mission that the Nightstalkers chose to undertake voluntarily, however, had no room for such youngsters. Instead, it would be executed by a small group of five, led by the Artesh Hassan Al-Khaleed himself, along with four other senior and highly experienced members of their platoon. They only numbered five because that was the limit of how many people the Artesh could comfortably hide in the shadows he manipulated.


    After all, they were about to walk into the enemy camp and attempt to claim the head of several generals, luck permitting.


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    Needless to say, for five assassins to walk into an enemy camp of over a hundred thousand in an attempt to kill some generals was an endeavor that was beyond ¡°risky¡±. In fact, the five who volunteered for the mission ¨C including the Artesh ¨C considered it very likely that it would be a one-way trip for them, and none of them even balked at the prospect.


    Such missions were far from uncommon for the Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra after all, and the greater the risk, the greater the rewards tend to be. If they succeeded, they might well overturn the state of the ongoing battle in one fell stroke, which the five volunteers considered a very worthwhile trade for their lives, should they fail to return.


    In fact, it was Reinhardt and Lars that needed some convincing before they eventually agreed to the suggestion, as neither of them were comfortable with what amounted to sending people to a suicide mission when the situation had not called for such a measure as of yet. Only after the two confirmed several times that the volunteers were truly willing to take the risk on their own volition did they allow the attempt.


    So it was that the five Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra assassins walked into the enemy camp, clad in the darkness Hassan manipulated to keep them hidden from view. They chose a dark night when one of the moons were not visible and the other was barely a pale sliver in the sky, half-covered by the clouds, which gave him plenty of shadows to work with, as the enemy¡¯s camp was not all that well-lit at night.


    The five of them still had to take care of several things, like to not stray too far from Hassan lest his magic failed to hide them sufficiently, or to avoid coming into contact with the enemy soldiers at all costs. His magic only hid them from sight, and anyone would still be able to detect them using their other senses, should they give away their presence.


    It was why the five of them moved with deliberate slowness to avoid making noise and had rubbed their dark clothes with some soil and mud to blend their scent with their surroundings. The five of them moved like phantoms in the dark night, taking care to avoid leaving traces and to avoid the many enemy soldiers sleeping with only a thin mat of woven straws as their bedding on the ground.


    They made a slow, careful progress towards the center of the enemy encampment, where tents were far more common. The central area was patrolled far more securely, but the cluster of tents that were present also made for good cover for the assassins, and they bided their time, often waiting for patrols to pass by before they moved from one set of cover to the next.


    While under Hassan¡¯s shadowy veil they could have probably walked out right in front of the patrol¡¯s face and not be noticed, the five were experienced at their work and knew that such hubris was likely the cause of why many young, talented assassins failed their missions. They acted as if they had no shadowy veil hiding them from sight and moved accordingly, instead.


    After passing through several layers of such patrols, Hassan and his fellow assassins finally reached the deepest cluster of tents, one where the tents were larger and better decorated. Their trained ears told them that there were only one occupant in each large, extravagant tent, which directly hinted at the occupant¡¯s likely high position in the enemy army.


    Out of sight behind one of the tents in question, Hassan allowed his shadowy veil to retract from his associates, and they exchanged nods as the five parted ways, each one headed towards one of the largest, most decorated tents in the cluster with the intent of ensuring that their occupants would not see the following sunrise.

 Chapter 453 - Claiming Heads

    ¡°Life is a fragile thing, do take care of yours¡­ while you have it.¡± - Saying attributed to an infamous assassin only known as the ¡°Old Man on the Mountain¡±.


    Artesh Hassan Al-Khaleed, formerly of the Ni?¨¡c¨¡ra order, was no stranger to missions from which one was not expected to return alive. He had undertaken three such missions in his youth when he was still part of the order, and his continued survival was testament to his skill and good fortune, for oftentimes such missions ended with both the target and executor dead.


    It was not that they were throwing away their lives on purpose, but more that the missions they undertook were so perilous that it was wise to consider the very likely possibility that everyone who undertook the mission might not return at all. Although the warriors who went to such missions planned everything they could for their escape, the chances of them making it out remained extremely low.


    In fact, Hassan had been personally part of the group that had slain the sultan whose death became the trigger for their current situation, and one of only two out of the twenty assassins who went that managed to escape after the deed. It was both his crowning achievement and his regret at the same time, as he often blamed himself for having escaped that day.


    Had he stayed behind and traded his life for the rest of the royal family¡¯s lives as well, maybe the order would still exist, undisturbed in their seclusion.


    Even with such experiences under his belt, however, Hassan had to admit that the current mission was a first for him. It was the first time he felt a thrill in his soul at the prospect of success, regardless of whether he would be able to return or not. After all, it was not every day that an assassin could boast of managing to infiltrate the camp of an army nearly half a million strong and take their general¡¯s head under their collective noses.


    Regardless of whether his team made it out after the deed or not, if they succeeded that night, there was a good chance that their actions might actually earn a passage in the annals of history, which was a form of immortality in its own rights. The order already had their own passage with their last resistance, one that Hassan felt guilty for not having participated to the end in, and he had been looking for a suitable opportunity to make his amends since.


    This mission was the perfect sort of situation to do that.


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    Silent as the night itself, Hassan slipped through the opening of the largest and most opulent-looking of the tents. It was naturally dark, since it was already past midnight and encroaching on the morning hours, but his trained eyes allowed him to perceive the general shapes of objects even in the dark. After a moment of acclimatization, he noticed the layout of the tent, and also pinpointed the sleeping figure in the back.


    The tent itself was separated into two areas, a front area that served as sort of an office, with a desk and a chair, as well as several cabinets filled with what appeared to be scrolls and other papers. Apparently the odd habit of favoring keeping their maps and other documents outside of their storage rings that the captain¡¯s daughter mentioned was one that was prevalent amongst these foes.


    As for the sleeping area, it was separated from the work area by a curtain, and Hassan silently parted the curtain to the ongoing soft snores of the person behind the curtain. He was unable to discern much details about the person in question, since it was too dark to do so, but he could tell that it was a woman, human, probably middle-aged or so, and completely unaware of his presence.


    Which was to her detriment, as the experienced assassin wasted no time and plunged his curved dagger directly into the base of the sleeping woman¡¯s skull, right around where the skull met with the spine. The blow severed the woman¡¯s skull from her spine and likely killed her instantly, with the woman not even making any noise as her life faded away.


    Hassan then finished decapitating the woman and stored her head for later identification before he rummaged through her body and found a couple of storage artifacts he similarly kept. Before he left the dead woman¡¯s tent, he also ransacked the work area and took away every bit of paper he could find, in case they proved to be valuable.


    His task done, he left the tent just as quietly as he entered and waited at the border between the central cluster of tents and the rest of the camp for his compatriots. One of them arrived and slipped under his shadowy veil after a few minutes, having taken longer since they needed to avoid patrols the old-fashioned way, not being blessed with magic that could manipulate the shadows like he did. Another arrived shortly after that.


    Then they heard a commotion occurring not too far away, in the direction of the central cluster of tents. The three assassins knew what such a commotion meant, that their compatriots were likely discovered and that the mission was compromised. As one, they turned around and made their way back out from the enemy camp.


    It was how they did things. If the mission was compromised, then everyone was to either attempt to finish their task or otherwise escape on their own. Since Hassan and the other two were already together, they chose to escape together, each having taken a head suspected to belong to an enemy general and having ransacked their belongings. As for the other two, their fates were in their own hands.


    Halfway through their escape, however, a confused enemy soldier who was likely woken up by the commotion stumbled upon them bodily. While Hassan¡¯s shadowy veil could hide them from sight, anyone who made direct contact would still notice them. The assassin that the soldier stumbled into took the soldier¡¯s life, but not before the soldier in question shouted his surprise, which naturally caught the attention of others nearby.


    With a grimace, the assassin removed his storage artifact and tossed it along with the other ones he acquired from his target to Hassan, who caught them in mid-air, before the man stepped out from the shadowy veil and ran towards a different direction, attracting the enemy soldiers towards himself.

 Chapter 454 - Checking the Harvest

    ¡°Always make sure you got the right head. It would just be embarrassing to present the wrong head, after all.¡± - Delaz al-Madeen, famed assassin from Ur-Teros, circa 442 VA.


    In the end, only Hassan and one other assassin made it back to the mercenary camp in the forest. The two that failed to meet up with him before the commotion started likely never even made it out of the central cluster of tents, while the one who separated from them as a distraction likely met with misfortune as well.


    They were skilled at their job, but there was a large difference between infiltrating a palace and a military camp. For one, there were far fewer places for people like them to hide in the latter, and while it might be easy enough for them to disguise themselves as an enemy soldier, it was problematic when a language barrier was present like now.


    He had no illusions as to what sort of fate awaited his compatriots if they ended up captured by the enemy. If they were lucky, some emotional enemy soldiers might kill them since they were guaranteed to resist arrest. If they were unlucky, they would be taken captive and would face torture and interrogation that made them wish they could have just died.


    As such, he whispered a quick prayer to the three that failed to escape with him, as did the one fellow of his that managed to escape together, both of them wishing the other three a swift death over prolonged torment.


    The two returning assassins were quickly ushered to the main tent where Reinhardt and other platoon leaders of the company awaited them despite the early hours. Some looked at Hassan¡¯s return rather expectantly, though many of those expectant looks turned into pained winces when they noticed that he returned with only one other.


    Out of the five that had gone out, only two returned, so it was understandable they reacted that way.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± asked Reinhardt without preamble once Hassan and his remaining compatriot were brought before the gathered platoon leaders. He gave Hassan a sympathetic yet understanding look, since he too knew how it felt to lose compatriots. Still, if it was worth the sacrifice¡­ sometimes that was the course of action to take.


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    ¡°We have succeeded, at least partially, Captain,¡± reported Hassan as he brought out a human head and placed it on the empty table before him. His compatriot similarly produced another head out of their storage, while Hassan searched inside the storage artifact their other compatriot passed to him for a while before he brought out a third head and placed it next to the others. ¡°I am uncertain if those who failed to return managed to accomplish their mission or not, but given the timing of the commotion, I deemed that to be a likely possibility, so the enemy is likely missing up to five officers, hopefully of higher ranks.¡±


    ¡°You went for the fanciest tents, I assume,¡± asked Fatimah from the side, who was their platoon leader and superior, on top of being the heir to the order.


    ¡°We did, Shahzade,¡± replied Hassan with a nod. ¡°We considered the possibility that the enemy might have engaged in subterfuge and had their high officers sleep in the smaller tents, but given the reports we had, these enemies seem to be rather arrogant and perhaps considered such trickery as beneath them. As such, since we considered that we might only get one chance at this, we opted for the more likely possibility that their high officers slept in the largest tents.¡±


    ¡°Did you find anything else in those tents?¡± asked Lars with some curiosity in his voice. ¡°When the twins infiltrated the enemy camp some weeks ago they mentioned that there were documents, maps, letters, and other papers stored in the commander¡¯s tent. We don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a personal habit or something commonly done by these folk, so if you could confirm, that would be helpful.¡±


    ¡°On that matter, Sir, we believe that it is likely something cultural to these people. The tents we broached had such documents stored in cabinets and on the desk. We brought as much of them as we could on our way out,¡± said Hassan as he and his compatriot fished out the various papers and scrolls they collected and arranged them neatly on another table, since the first table was occupied by the bloody heads.


    Reinhardt and Lars walked over to the pile. They picked up some of the papers and unraveled some of the scrolls, returning some to the pile after a glance and looking over others for longer before they turned to Hassan and nodded with a smile on their faces.


    ¡°We can¡¯t really tell what the papers are about, can¡¯t read their bloody scribbles, but the maps definitely looked like tactical maps of the region, so that¡¯s a good find,¡± said Reinhardt with a toothy grin. ¡°Someone who has this is likely part of their decision making, so you did well in choosing your targets. We probably won¡¯t see the full effects of your strike until later, though.¡±


    ¡°Loren will note these feats and contributions for the time being,¡± added Lars with a nod. ¡°Once we can get things confirmed, we¡¯ll calculate the appropriate compensation and bonuses depending on the identity of the people you managed to take care of tonight, which might be easier than expected if they made any headway in teaching that cooperative captive common. Great job, either way.¡±


    ¡°You two must be tired. Go get something warm from Ursula and some good rest. You¡¯re relieved of duty for the day, so make sure to rest properly,¡± said Reinhardt. ¡°Even if they fell into chaos, it likely wouldn¡¯t be our job to give them the final push anyway, though an army that large ought to have a proper chain of command, so I doubt they¡¯d be so nice to just rout and break apart from this.¡±

 Chapter 455 - Observation and Changes

    ¡°It is only bad manners to laugh at another¡¯s misery if you can¡¯t get away with it, or if they¡¯re not already an enemy of yours.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°They¡¯re not all afluster from losing those officers, it seems,¡± noted Reinhardt as he watched the battle go on from the distance. He was watching using his eye piece as usual, which relayed what the field of vision from the orb Hannah carried high above, while Erycea was standing on a branch next to his, watching the battlefield with a spyglass. ¡°Can¡¯t say that¡¯s unexpected, but I had hoped we¡¯d be able to affect them more with the assassination.¡±


    It helped to have multiple points of view on the situation, after all.


    ¡°They¡¯re fighting more conservatively, from what I can see. Playing it safer, not pushing as hard as the past week,¡± said Erycea as she offered her own observations to add to Reinhardt¡¯s own. Reinhardt¡¯s bird¡¯s eye view gave him a far superior observation of the overall battlefield situation, but Erycea could make out more detail with the spyglass, if over much smaller areas. ¡°Think that¡¯s enough to conclude that they had a change in the leadership?¡±


    ¡°Either that, or we spooked them pretty badly with the assassination,¡± said Reinhardt in reply. He had his own experience of decades as a mercenary to call on, and was familiar with things the way his younger daughter was not quite as knowledgeable yet. ¡°People have a tendency to favor a safer approach after facing threats to their life. While it is not the most commonplace amongst military officers, that always remained a possibility.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re definitely retreating from their sorties sooner. More withdrawal amongst the injured compared to before, and more frequent replacements of the frontline,¡± added Erycea after some more observations of the ongoing battle. ¡°If I were to make a guess, I¡¯d have guessed that their commander got replaced with someone who actually cared about their soldier¡¯s lives. The way they fought these past few days has been horribly wasteful.¡±


    ¡°Wasteful, yes, but also effective. They have the numbers to spare, and fighting an enemy that fought recklessly like that tires out our side faster. Some of the Kolitscheians might have broken or otherwise made a mistake if they kept up the previous intensity for another week or so, they¡¯re mostly young and unblooded,¡± commented Reinhardt. Of course, when he mentioned the defenders breaking, he just meant those in the first defense lines. The Hellraisers had taken precautions and raised multiple defense lines to watch out for such a possibility themselves.


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    ¡°Either way they¡¯re not going to get through here anytime soon. Unless they make a silly mistake, I don¡¯t see this battle going anywhere until some reinforcements arrive from either side,¡± he continued. ¡°Our enemies don¡¯t seem to be in a particular hurry, otherwise if they kept assaulting our defenses day and night without a care for their casualties they might have pushed us back by now already.¡±


    ¡°And we lack the numbers to push them back, so we¡¯re reduced to the current situation,¡± supplied Erycea with a nod. ¡°Do you think we can do more to change this situation, father?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d need the enemy to make a mistake first, like showing us who is actually in charge of their command so we can get rid of them all in one fell swoop,¡± replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. So far the invader commanders had yet to even show themselves in any noticeable way. While it was easy enough to tell who were the officers amongst the enemy army, there was little to differentiate the various officers in terms of what they wore, which made it hard to pinpoint which one was a general, if any.


    And that was assuming the generals even showed their face on the battlefield. When the twins scouted out the enemy camp before, they noticed that the enemy general often just gave out commands from his tent, and only occasionally walked around to view the situation at the battlefield personally. That sort of commander was the troublesome one, because even if they turned out to be easy to kill, getting to them in the first place was the hard part.


    It was far easier to take the head off a general when they were the courageous sort and led their soldiers from the front, even if that meant more of a fight.


    With only two thousand men, there was no way Reinhardt would risk attacking so deep into the enemy camp, since the enemy never left their camp entirely unguarded. They had enough troops to have the leeway to do that, and what was left in the camp had the numbers to overwhelm the Company with their numbers alone, or at least buy time for the commander to escape.


    On the other hand, for Reinhardt and his company to escape from such a foray would be far more difficult, especially if they failed to get the enemy general, so it was a risk that was too great to even consider for the time being. He had allowed the assassination attempt because that had the potential to pay great dividends ¨C though the results were still being confirmed, with the heads sent over for identification by the captives in the main camp ¨C with more acceptable risk of losses.


    So far, however, he was as yet uncertain whether the shift in the enemy¡¯s tactics was worth the loss of three of his men, since there was no guarantee that they had gotten the enemy general last night. It was something that would need more confirmation from both sides. Something made only more troublesome since neither side speaks the other¡¯s language.


    Because of that, Nestor had asked Reinhardt to try catching an officer of some sort the next time he had a chance to do so, in case the higher-ups of the invaders were more educated and maybe learned other languages. Reinhardt had yet to have a chance to fulfill that request so far, but he planned to do it when the opportunity struck.

 Chapter 456 - Confirmation of Value

    ¡°One man¡¯s trash might well be another¡¯s treasure.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Any luck this time?¡± asked Reinhardt when Elfriede returned from the main base the next day. She had gone with Fatimah to deliver the heads they acquired from the assassination, to be identified by the more cooperative captives in the base. The reason that the two were sent was not just to make sure that the delivery was secure, but because they were both very skilled at noticing people¡¯s reactions.


    Fatimah was capable of noticing minute changes of expressions in a person¡¯s face, or an involuntary shift in their body language, which made her particularly good at noticing when people were upset, excited, or otherwise emotional. Those bodily cues, combined with information they already possessed, could often be used to somewhat reliably predict whether a person was telling the truth or a lie.


    Elfriede¡¯s sense derived from the wind was even more exaggerated, and where Fatimah noticed visual cues, she directly could tell when someone¡¯s heartbeat accelerated, or when their hairs stood up, and other minor things someone wouldn¡¯t be able to notice easily. When the two were together, they easily caught people lying practically every time, and could even infer many things just from how people reacted to what was being presented to them.


    For that reason, Nestor had asked for their services, having them present when he brought the prisoners ¨C both the cooperative ones and the adamantly uncooperative ones ¨C to witness the three heads taken during the assassination. Some of the prisoners almost reacted violently at the sight, and even those that tried to hide their reactions couldn¡¯t hide it from the two experienced women¡¯s senses.


    Just from those reactions alone, it pretty much confirmed that the heads of the deceased were famous enough to be known to their captives, and likely of a high enough stature to elicit such reactions. It was especially noticeable because one of the captives who tried to control himself but failed to escape Elfiede¡¯s perception when his heart palpitated abnormally was one of the few captured officers who had always remained mum so far.


    It was not the fact that he reacted that made everyone think that the heads were important. It was the fact that he tried to hide his reaction that did so. A person reacting in surprise at the sight of the heads was normal, but a person trying to hide their reaction meant that they were hiding something they didn¡¯t want the other party to notice.


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    Since the captives were all kept apart and imprisoned on their own, there was never any chance for them to arrange things between themselves, so Nestor was confident that the reaction was a natural one.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t sure on how high in the hierarchy those heads are, but they¡¯re pretty high up there, at least,¡± said Elfriede to Reinhardt¡¯s question. The main reason the group at the main base was still undecided was once again due to the language barrier. There were limits to what one could communicate with gestures and body language, or drawings for that matter.


    The most cooperative captives that communicated with drawings and even started learning some rudimentary common were unable to express themselves clearly enough, but from what they offered, it was clear that the heads belonged to commanders of the enemy army, just that they were unable to specify the rank of said commanders due to the language barrier.


    Reinhardt himself didn¡¯t mind getting the bonus for the job later on, when actual proper confirmation could be had, and was just glad that the daring strike at least had some good results. The enemy forces were fighting more conservatively since said strike, and that had given the defenders some time to recuperate, especially the Kolitscheian infantry, who had taken the worst losses out of the allied forces so far.


    Given the close distance between the defensive position and Kolitschei city further east, it was trivial for the defenders to send out their injured to the city for rest and recuperation. Similarly, their supply lines were extremely short, and the cavalry forces brought by the defenders regularly patrolled the routes to make sure that no enemy had snuck past them.


    The two failed attempts hinted that such a case would likely remain a possibility, after all.


    They also received news from Lovia-Hosberg in the north where Nestor¡¯s younger brother Damien led a relief force and from Bostvan in the south where Duchess Andrea Utghwes led forces from Dvergarder to present a united front against the invaders.


    Normally it would be difficult to send out timely reports under war situations, as even trained messenger birds were at risk from trained eagles and falcons that each side employed for the specific purpose of hunting them down. It was not like the current battle was an exception, but the Free Lances offered a method for the allied armies¡¯ detachments to contact each other quickly.


    He simply assigned two members from Hannah¡¯s platoon to each army, who would take turns delivering messages to the other armies, as needed. Eagles and falcons couldn¡¯t do much against the far larger therians of the platoon, and since they would take off from the safety of the allied encampments, neither could any archer, no matter how good they were.


    With the fliers relaying messages as needed in such a way, the allied forces were kept updated over the enemy movements on a regular basis. From the reports, the situation at the north was relatively stable, as Lovia-Hosberg had worse terrain for large armies to pass through compared to Kolitschei, something that meant they only had to deal with a smaller enemy force. Damien and the locals held out well over there and even managed to inflict some damage to the enemies they faced.


    The news from the south was less encouraging, as the Bostvan forces had been pressed hard prior to the arrival of reinforcements from Dvergarder, and even with their presence, the fighting mostly devolved into a stalemate. The invasion force that headed to Bostvan was also the largest of them all, estimated to be nearly three hundred thousand soldiers strong.

 Side Story 79 - Thrust to the Front

    ¡°Oftentimes the worst way to find out that you¡¯re in charge is to have the authority handed over to you when you¡¯re completely not ready for it, nor desiring it at all.¡± - Saying attributed to Goran Egazov, mercenary commander from Elmaiya, circa 539 VA.


    Middle General Kang Lu-Shih had not had any decent sleep for the past week and a half.


    It was already bad enough when all he had to deal with was the scolding from the High General and the heckling from the staff she brought with her, another middle general and four low generals, all from her clan, but things just got worse in the worst possible way for Lu-Shih. He suddenly had the responsibility over the army thrown back into his hands under thoroughly unpalatable circumstances.


    For the High General Zabibah Taouan to foster members from her family into high positions in the military was not unexpected. It was old practice amongst the Empire¡¯s nobility, and even the Huan did the same when the Conefederation was still a thing, so it was not even something limited to the Aqwa. The High General had brought two of her children and three cousins of her extended family as her staff, which ensured that the high command of the army listened to her and her alone.


    Normally a High General¡¯s opinion could be vetoed if enough of their Middle or Low Generals disagreed vehemently with the matter in question, but since Lu-Shih was the only member of the high command not part of the High General¡¯s family, that was no longer a possibility. All he could do was to obey and follow the orders he was given.


    Which was one reason he was sent to make headway into Kolitschei while the High General and her ilk besieged Oleynuos and gained all the credit for taking down the city.


    Even so, he never expected for assassins to boldly infiltrate the camp two nights ago. Worse, they somehow succeeded in avoiding all the sentries and patrols the army had set up around the camp and made their way to the central area where the officers had their tents set up. Those assassins had struck swiftly and slain the High General and all but one of her staff, with only their headless bodies left behind.


    Lu-Shih survived the incident since he had set his tent a bit further away from where the High General and her family stayed, while the High General¡¯s younger daughter, one of the Low Generals she brought with her, apparently survived through pure luck. The assassins only had enough time to attack and ransack five tents, the lucky woman¡¯s tent being the one they skipped.


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    Even so, the future looked bleak for Lu-Shih. Some patrolling soldiers found the assassins only after they had done their grisly deed, and immediately accosted them. The ensuing fight ¨C for the assassins resisted most fiercely indeed ¨C resulted in at least ten dead soldiers and another two dozen or so injured, and all they had to show for it was one dead assassin and another captured alive after the soldiers managed to cripple the assassin¡¯s arms and legs first.


    There were signs of more assassins who likely made their getaway, as they left behind several groups of dead or injured patrols. Some of the patrols even only had one survivor left behind. There was nothing Lu-Shih could do against those who already escaped the army¡¯s grasp, though.


    Attempts to interrogate the one assassin they captured ¨C and nursed back to some semblance of health ¨C went poorly, as the assassin in question was quite determined to stay mum. Then again, perhaps they simply had not understood what was even being asked of them. The locals of this new land used a different language than what the Empire used.


    That was something Lu-Shin confirmed in person when he tried to interrogate the assassin with the language that traders supposedly from this land used way back in the past. His family had been descended from merchants who dealt with such folk back when, and they passed down the knowledge of the language in case it would be needed again in the future.


    To Lu-Shih¡¯s surprise, the assassin actually responded to his words.


    ¡°Just kill me. I will not offer you any information worth anything,¡± the crippled man had said with a rather accented tongue and a resigned smile on his lips. ¡°A blade had been used and broke during its final performance, so its time has come to an end, that is all.¡±


    Lu-Shin found himself unable to refute the assassin¡¯s words, the man clearly at peace with his own impending death, so he could only shake his head and leave, ordering the guards to keep watch over the man. Perhaps the assassin would change their tune after the Empire won the battle, which would not be too late. The High General hailed from a powerful family, and her family would likely wish to pursue the matter to the very end.


    Either way, the sudden death of all but one Low General from the high command left Lu-Shih as the highest ranking officer present. Not even the late High General¡¯s daughter contended his command, as the young woman ¨C too young and inexperienced for her position, in his opinion ¨C was still in shock and distress over the sudden assassination, in no condition to function properly, much less command.


    He himself had instituted a more conservative policy on the battlefield, believing that his people would be able to grind down the enemy¡¯s defenses with time. It might be less effective to fight in such a manner, but it actually spared the lives of his soldiers compared to the more reckless assaults the High General preferred, as they had more time and leeway to cycle back tired and wounded troops to be replaced by fresh soldiers.


    If there was one major change Lu-Shih made, however, it was the quadrupling of patrols and sentries during the night watch, which most considered to be an understandable reaction given the fate of his predecessor.

 Side Story 80 - The Weight of Command

    ¡°The responsibilities laid down upon one who is placed into command are by no means a light weight. Not everyone could stand tall under such a burden.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°They are still shooting their arrows without a care. I believe that we must assume that these foes have enough arrows to last them a good while longer, General,¡± stated one of Lu-Shih¡¯s lieutenants as they observed the ongoing battle from a safe distance near the back of the army. The lieutenant in question was from a similar background to himself, a former commoner who rose through the ranks by way of military achievements during the struggle for the throne.


    ¡°I have observed the same, and am of the same opinion, Yang-Li,¡± replied Lu-Shih with a nod. He had assigned more soldiers the task of wielding large wooden shields to cover the other members of the formation compared to before, which reduced the offensive power of the formation, but also kept them safer from the continuous rain of arrows.


    The Imperial Army¡¯s own archers did their best to retaliate, but their enemies were in well-made defensive positions, so the best they could do was to cause some lulls in the deluge of arrows that rained down upon the army. Since the archers similarly had their own cover to hide behind, casualties were low, but not nonexistent.


    Every now and then some unlucky sod would step out from behind cover to loose an arrow only to find an enemy arrow already about to hit them, after all, though the general believed that the same applied to the other side.


    Overall, the fighting was less intense compared to when it was under the High General¡¯s command, which helped allow the soldiers to recuperate from the losses they had taken so far somewhat. Despite the shock brought about by the assassination, morale actually remained pretty stable, which just proved how much the High General was disliked by the common soldiers.


    Lu-Shih could only shake his head at that. A large portion of the soldiers were of Huan ethnicity like him, often poorer people who enlisted with the hopes of attaining enough military merits or rewards to lead a better life. Granted, there were many Aqwas amongst the soldiers too, since while the Aqwa people were more dominant in the nobility, there were ultimately only so many nobles, while the rest would be below them.


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    The new Emperor had made great strides to call for unity between the people from the two ethnicities, which was quite a feat considering the centuries of bad blood between them before the eventual unification of the Empire as they knew it. Even so, friction between Huans and Aqwas were far from uncommon, especially in the army which had many hot-blooded and musclebrained people.


    All that just caused Lu-Shih¡¯s head to ache from all the potential troubles that he had to deal with as the current acting commanding officer of the army, which would likely be his role until the Dragon General who was leading the southern campaign heard of his plight and sent someone to relieve him of the responsibility. Of course, there was also the possibility that he might be able to make use of the situation to gain merits and cement his position, maybe even aiming for a promotion, but Lu-Shih felt that the current foes were not that easy to deal with, which definitely dampened his ambitions quite a bit.


    While he could certainly aim for merits and even promotions that way, the risks were equally severe. For an acting commander to fail was a very punishable offense, and as someone without any true backing behind him, many would love to see his fall. As such, Kang Lu-Shih had always pursued more of a stable and secure route of progress rather than aiming for short-term advantages.


    Other than increasing the number of sentries and patrols, Lu-Shih had also ordered for the soldiers to set up more permanent structures to serve as their base. Since he felt that the battle would likely devolve into a long one, his people would need a better base than the temporary setup they had been using so far. Others might have considered it a waste to set up a semi-permanent base barely a day away from a city, but he thought otherwise, since the enemy would likely retreat to said city when defeated, while the base could serve as their camp during the siege.


    Fortunately the imperial army¡¯s supply lines were safe, as they had taken the time to ensure that their backlines were properly garrisoned, even if that meant bringing less people to continue the offensive. Lu-Shih had been the one who argued for completely securing the back areas, one of the rare occasions where the late High General had agreed with him.


    After all, they were meant to be the first wave of the attack, and when the Tiger General reached the new lands with the second wave, that was when they were meant to truly push forward and conquer in the name of the Empire. As it was, what regions the first wave managed to conquer would serve as their merit as vanguards, possibly even given to them as landholds as rewards, which was one of the main motivations for this invasion.


    Lu-Shih himself was aware that there were other reasons for the invasion, namely that the struggle for the throne had caused there to be a great amount of military force raised in the Empire, a military force that lacked direction or a proper use, which threatened the stability of the new Emperor¡¯s regime. The new Emperor had chosen to make use of the excessive military force he had on his hand to conquer more land for the Empire, which had to be beyond the archipelago, since the area was already united under the Empire¡¯s banner.


    Hence this invasion of a scale heretofore unforeseen in the Empire¡¯s history. The Empire had always been a warlike people given the constant clashes between the Huan and Aqwa people prior to their unification under the Imperial banner, and that trend continued to the present day.

 Chapter 457 - Opportunity for Work

    ¡°Most people have a tendency to wait until an opportunity is presented before them before they attempt to grasp it. Enterprising people see what could be an opportunity and actively work to turn it into one on their own.¡± - Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomy for the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 621 FP.


    ¡°Order everyone to deploy. We finally got one that strayed close enough,¡± commanded Reinhardt all of a sudden that afternoon. It had been two weeks since the battle west of Kolitschei had begun, and the Free Lances ¨C other than that one assassination attempt and the enemy attempts to infiltrate through the forest ¨C had been idling in the forest south of the battlefield over that time, as they had yet to find an opportunity to make more contributions.


    In the past three days since the enemy commander had a change of heart, however, Reinhardt noticed that there was more pressure being applied to the southernmost end of the defenses, at the edge of the ramparts where reinforcements could only come from further north. That area was also the closest to where his people were stationed.


    Reinhardt ¨C with Erycea¡¯s help ¨C noticed that one of the enemy commanders had ridden closer to that region just earlier, probably intending to personally command the assault to break through the area¡¯s defense. The first layer of defense had been weakened quite a bit, so it wasn¡¯t really an unusual action for a commander to take.


    After all, Reinhardt wagered that there would be military merits and rewards in consideration for the first officer to cause a breakthrough in the defenses.


    What mattered for the Free Lances, though, was that the enemy commander had positioned himself close enough for them to attempt a capture. Reinhardt was not so arrogant to think that his mercenaries ¨C no matter how skilled ¨C could fight their way through a thousand paces¡¯ worth of enemy soldiers in formation and get away with it, but half that amount was definitely something he would consider.


    After only a few minutes, he found the company¡¯s platoon leaders ¨C other than Soledad who was working with their allies¡¯ cavalry ¨C arrayed before him while their respective platoons made their final preparations. He nodded and gave a smile at their quick readiness, and immediately set about to hand out commands to everybody who would participate in the assault.


    ¡°Mischka, your platoon will be the main driving force for this. I want you to push hard towards our target, as quickly as you can manage,¡± said Reinhardt to the large therian matron, to which she nodded. That sort of role was one she was accustomed to. ¡°Attempt to bypass the actual target¡¯s location and focus on clearing out his guards and surrounding troops.¡±


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    ¡°Friede, you¡¯ll follow behind Mischka. You¡¯re responsible for capturing the target, alive,¡± Reinhardt continued as he addressed Elfriede. ¡°If you find someone who might be an adjutant or the like near the primary target, you can grab them too while you¡¯re at it. You know what to do with the rest.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done,¡± replied Elfriede with a cold smile.


    ¡°Alvaro, Astrid, both of you take your platoons and follow behind Friede and Mischka. Your task will be as the rear guard. Once they capture the target, you take over their position and hold the enemies back as we retreat,¡± Reinhardt continued down the line. The two platoons he named were better off fighting in formation, and that made them more suitable for holding actions. ¡°I¡¯ll be your backup in case it¡¯s needed.¡±


    ¡°Gr¨¹n, you and Aly will work together and lead a charge on Mischka¡¯s left flank. Arne, you and Ery take the right flank. All of you will be responsible for pushing through and cutting off the target¡¯s retreat, and to hold the sides as we retreat. I expect your platoons to work together as we practiced, understood?¡± said Reinhardt as he continued allocating roles to his subordinates.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get things done as ordered, Boss,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr with a wide smirk on her face. She had missed out the big fight back in Levain since her platoon was operating near her hometown for the duration of that conflict, so she was quite excited to finally get to rampage again.


    ¡°Good, I know you will,¡± said Reinhardt with confidence. Out of the four platoons, Arne¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s were newer and less experienced, which was why he paired them with more experienced platoons to take up the slack. ¡°Sal, I want you watching from the edge of the forest. If the target looks like he plans to run, shoot his horse down. If he still tries to run after that, shoot his legs. Keep him in place until we get there.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t be going anywhere, boss,¡± replied the one-eyed archer with a smile.


    ¡°Alva, Branka, you two take your platoons and provide ranged support. Aim for the enemies at the sides. Those at the front, they can deal on their own,¡± Reinhardt said to the leaders of the company¡¯s two archer platoons. ¡°You two and Sal should leave first. Get set up in position so you¡¯ll be ready when the rest of us get there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Captain!¡± replied the named three in unison before they turned and left as ordered.


    ¡°Lars, you take command of the rest. Set up some surprises to welcome our foes if they chase us into the forest. I got the feeling that these foes don¡¯t know not to chase us into our home ground yet, so we might as well make the most of it until they learn their lesson eventually,¡± Reinhardt said to the remaining platoon leaders. ¡°Tell Egil to be sparing with his special stuff, though, we¡¯re saving that up for a more opportune time for best results.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll set up a warm welcome for them, Captain. They¡¯ll enjoy it so much that they won¡¯t want to leave ever again,¡± said Lars with a smirk on his face. Reinhardt knew that he could trust the man to set up the traps and ambushes as he asked, as it was that talent that made Reinhardt practically conscript him into the company all those years ago after all.


    ¡°Very good. Dismissed. Have your platoons march out without attracting attention once you¡¯re ready.¡±

 Chapter 458 - A Sudden Assault

    ¡°What? He said I get to choose the weapon, time, and place of the duel, didn¡¯t he? I chose to do it then and there, and surprise is a valid choice of weapon!¡± - Urgrim ¡°Ravager¡± van Drell, Mercenary turned noble, during an investigation following the death of Baron Caro Soverson from a sudden attack by Baronet van Drell.


    ¡°Everybody in place? Excellent,¡± praised Reinhardt as he led his own platoon to the edge of the forest ¨C still deep enough to not be easily noticeable from outside ¨C and saw that the others had already arranged their platoons in formation. The archers already climbed the trees and sought after sturdy branches to serve as their perch, while the rest prepared themselves for a rapid and brutal assault as was planned.


    It only took them around fifteen minutes to finish their deployment, results from constant practice and training showing itself, and the situation on the battlefield had yet to change in that short period of time, the enemy commander they aimed for still engaged with the southernmost section of the first line of defense, their attention focused in that direction.


    They didn¡¯t even have the slightest idea that they had been targeted by the mercenaries not a thousand paces away from their position.


    Reinhardt was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he gave the signal to attack shortly after, and the forest seemed to boil as the mercenaries rushed out from its northern side. Their appearance and assault was so sudden and unexpected that the enemy troops on the right flank, the ones they struck first, had no idea of their presence until the mercenaries were literally already right next to them.


    While the forest¡¯s terrain meant that the mercenaries couldn¡¯t form tight formations while they traversed the woods, they had trained for it and immediately went into formation as practiced the moment they left the forest, a mere few steps from the surprised faces of the enemy soldiers nearest to the forest. To those enemy soldiers, all they heard was some ruckus in the woods followed by the sudden appearance of a wall of steel to their side, for that was pretty much what the shieldbearers of the strike platoons looked like when they were on the move: A wall of steel, their shields overlapping one another¡¯s.


    Without preamble, the shieldbearers pushed into the sides of the enemy formation, relying entirely on their bulk and momentum to shove aside the enemy soldiers as if they were petulant children. Caught off guard, the enemy soldiers failed to react in time and made the shieldbearers¡¯ task easier, and they managed to push over half of the five hundred paces distance to their target.


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    Said target noticed the sudden assault and ordered a part of their soldiers to turn towards the Free Lances before they tried to turn their horse and get some distance, but an arrow suddenly pierced into the flank of the horse they rode on, causing the horse to buck in pain and hurl its rider straight to the ground. Meanwhile, more arrows suddenly flew out from the forest and struck the soldiers at the sides who were trying to respond to the assault.


    The Free Lances only had a little over two hundred archers in total, but most of them had been trained to shoot rapidly, often loosing a third arrow before the first had even landed. As a result, the barrage of arrows they loosed gave the illusion as if there were a thousand archers in the forest, which further deterred their foes.


    Even while loosing their arrows so rapidly, their accuracy remained good, and the arrows accurately went for the enemy soldiers at the sides who were starting to push against the flanks of the mercenary formation. Some of the mercenaries had already turned to the side to deal with these soldiers as well, and they held their ground firmly while continuing their advance under the support of the archers.


    Meanwhile, the shieldbearers of the strike platoons had given way to the actual shock troops behind them, and they in turn made their presence known, their forceful advance mostly reliant on brute force and incredible violence as they carved a path through their enemies. Like usual, the platoon leaders personally led the advance themselves.


    Mischka used her large blade, every swing maiming, crushing, and dismembering several enemy soldiers at a time as she used her bulk to directly push through the crowd of enemies. What enemy soldiers managed to maintain their composure and strike back found their spears impotent against the thick armor she wore, those that struck at her forcefully only managing to dent their spearheads or break their spears in twain.


    Gr¨¹nhildr wielded her pair of weapons clad in layers of void and went on a rampage to the point that even her platoon members had to struggle to catch up to her. The way the void-covered weapons simply sliced through everything in its way, be it weapons, armor, bones, or flesh, quickly intimidated the enemy soldiers who unwittingly started to back away from the rampaging woman. Her subordinates chased after her while walking through the trail of carnage she left behind in her wake.


    On the right flank, Zyd and Arne worked together and led the advance. Their push wasn¡¯t as forceful as Mischka¡¯s or as violent as Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s, but they maintained a stable, steady pace regardless. Zyd wore a suit of heavy armor tailored to his large body and blocked the enemy attacks with his shield, his steel cudgel crushing what enemies dared to get too close, while Arne calmly used his billhook to push, pull, pierce, and slice the enemies from behind him, the two working together smoothly and fluently out of years of experience.


    While Mischka¡¯s push was spread over a broader area and focused on crushing the enemies before them, Gr¨¹nhildr, Zyd, and Arne focused on advancing past their target¡¯s position before they turned to meet each other, effectively cutting off any escape route the target might have had. Once they had done so, they turned to face the incoming enemies and held their ground.

 Chapter 459 - Cutting off all Escape

    ¡°A cornered rat will sometimes turn to bite the cat, but an uncornered rat can get away from the opening left behind instead. Sometimes it is worth the risk of being bitten to corner a rat.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    Gr¨¹nhildr felt like it had been ages ¨C even if she knew that it was only a year and change since she had last seen serious combat ¨C since she got to rampage to her heart¡¯s content in the battlefield once more. She made full use of the current opportunity and vented her frustrations on the enemies before her, often to gruesome results.


    It took items made of adamant steel or ones enchanted with defensive enchantments to be able to halt her void-clad weapons, something these foes ¨C at least their rank and file ¨C seemed to lack in its entirety. Her weapons flashed to and fro, her burly figure moving with speed unexpected from one of her stature, and a rain of flesh, blood, and viscera marked her passage.


    Without the right sort of defensive items, it was the same for her whether her foe was clad in steel from head to toe or was standing as naked as the day they were born. The characteristic annihilation caused by void magic cared not about what it annihilated. Anything it came into contact with would be simply condemned to oblivion.


    Which was why it took a lot of training for Gr¨¹nhildr to keep the ¡°coating¡± of void magic on her weapon to not actually touch the weapon itself, but instead moved with it. In her younger days she broke and destroyed countless weapons to practice using her magic, and while her current weapons were made of adamant steel and had a degree of resistance to her magic, she still favored not relying on that fallback.


    She ferociously led her platoon from the very front, her subordinates struggling to catch up to her early on, though their struggle was made easier by how the enemy started to get intimidated by Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s ferocity and inadvertently backed away from her. The path of carnage she left in her wake served as a testament to the fate of those who refused to get out of her way.


    Or those who failed to get out of her way in time. It was all the same to her, anyway.


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    It was not as if the enemy soldiers presented no resistance. Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s short stature allowed her to dive low and close the distance rapidly, however, and up close, the typical spear issued to a soldier was at a great disadvantage against her pair of hand-halberds. At times, some of the enemies ¨C probably ones confident of their own fighting skills ¨C attempted to stop her, like the person who jumped out at her wielding a saber just then.


    From how the man had better armor and a saber, she could tell that he was of higher rank, though likely more along the likes of a sergeant or corporal or whatever these enemies called their officers rather than the likely higher-ranked officer they were after. As such, Gr¨¹nhildr had no qualms about simply swiping through the man with one of her weapons¡¯ blades, directly bisecting him into two pieces across the chest.


    That gruesome feat frightened more than a few of the nearby enemy soldiers, to the point that some turned and tried to run from her, which allowed her to push through the enemy formation even faster than before. She kept pushing until she spotted the third strike platoon similarly making their way towards her, and only then did she stop her advance.


    It was not good to overextend her troops, after all, and she still had the Captain¡¯s younger daughter to look after too, though the girl and her platoon had acquitted themselves remarkably well so far, fighting to keep the left flank of the mercenary formation safe. What they lacked in experience, they made up for with youthful enthusiasm and energy.


    Gr¨¹nhildr and her platoon soon formed the left part of the half-circle meant to keep the enemy commander they target from escaping, and before long, Zyd and Arne from the third strike platoon linked up with her, completing the encirclement. Even without their cutting off the enemy¡¯s escape, however, Gr¨¹nhildr doubted that the target could have escaped when Salicia was told to specifically keep an eye on him.


    Sure enough, unbeknownst to the mercenaries that formed the encirclement, the enemy officer they were tasked to capture was at the moment questioning his life and every decision he had ever made that led to him being in his current situation. The man laid on the ground, unable to move since he had broken one of his legs when he fell off his horse. The best he could do was to move himself to a seated position.


    Everytime one of his soldiers attempted to help him move, an arrow would unerringly arrive and take the soldier in question through the neck, or in the eye, depending on where the soldier came from. After the incident happened six times, he knew that someone had apparently set a highly skilled archer to ensure that he wouldn¡¯t be getting away.


    More patriotic officers might have considered taking their own lives rather than wait for the enemy to capture them, since the officer in question was quite certain that was what the enemy was up to. If they wanted him dead, the skilled archer could have put an arrow through his eye just as easily as they had done to his soldiers so far, but no such arrow ever came for him.


    He was not courageous enough to take his own life when there was hope for survival, however, and instead he beckoned to his adjutant and remaining bodyguards to stay near him, but not too close, out of fear that the archer would strike again. He hoped that they could at least resist the enemy that was certainly coming for him.

 Chapter 460 - Abandon All Hope

    ¡°A wise leader knows when all is lost and to cut their losses as needed. An unwise leader would often commit more and more resources into a lost cause, or pull out too soon and render a salvageable situation into a lost one.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    Or course, what hopes the enemy officer targeted by the Free Lances had, whichever deities he worshiped clearly wasn¡¯t listening that day.


    Mischka led her troops and parted the majority of the soldiers that stood in the way between the mercenaries and their target, while Gr¨¹nhildr, Zyd, and Arne blocked all the escape routes. There still remained a hundred strong or so group of elite bodyguards around the targeted officer himself, easily recognizable by their better armor and equipment, but by that point, Mischka¡¯s task was done.


    Instead, she led her platoon towards the back of the formation, preparing for another push when they needed to break out of the enemy formation, and in turn allowed Elfriede and her platoon free access to their target and the bodyguards around them.


    Elfriede led the charge herself, leading by example, as was often the case when it came to her unruly troops. Her platoon members were mostly composed of the worst sort of people that sought after the mercenary life, the killers and the depraved maniacs, the sorts that enjoyed the feeling of taking another¡¯s life, all while bathed in their unfortunate victim¡¯s lifeblood.


    Those sorts were far from uncommon amongst mercenary groups, whether it was because they weren¡¯t picky with their recruits or otherwise. In the Free Lances, however, they were kept under control and reined in by their officers. It was a simple matter, as most of those types recognized their own ilk and shied away from those they perceived as stronger than themselves. All Elfriede and the other officers of the platoon had to do was to make sure that the rest of the members knew their place.


    Because they were kept under strict control most of the time, the occasions where they were unleashed were particularly cherished by her platoon members. Times when they were free to kill to their heart¡¯s content, other than a few that the bosses wanted alive. It was those sort of lunatics that the officer¡¯s bodyguard found themselves facing, and it only took moments before said bodyguards were overwhelmed and ended up as victims, bleeding on the ground.


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    Elfriede herself subscribed to a more pragmatic efficiency when at work. She stepped lightly and used small, efficient movements to disable and cut down the bodyguards that stood in her path. Her pair of blades easily caught and bound her opponent¡¯s weapons, leaving them wide open for her other blade to take their life.


    The keen mithril edge of her blades cut deep into flesh and parted even bone with minimal resistance, and more than a few of her foes ended up missing their heads, as their necks were the easiest targets for her to strike at. Others ended up with their throats slit thoroughly, and their fates were arguably worse, as they were left to slowly suffocate to death in their own blood. At least those who got decapitated met with a swift end.


    Within moments, Elfriede had broken through the line of bodyguards to stand before the last few huddled around the target officer, led by a young woman who seemed to be the officer¡¯s adjutant. All of them had pale faces and looked frightened out of their wits, but still held their weapons in hand and pointed them towards the mercenaries.


    ¡°Surrender and you won¡¯t be killed,¡± stated Elfriede coldly in common, fully expecting her words to fall into deaf ears due to the language issues they had been having with the enemy captives.


    To her surprise, though, the female adjutant seemed to perk up when she heard what was said and went into a long tirade in the odd tongue the invaders used. Several of the bodyguards and even the officer they were targeting looked at the woman questioningly for a moment before they dropped their weapons and looked at Elfriede with both expectation and obvious dread.


    Two did not and instead charged at her with loud war cries and sabers in hand. Elfriede casually used the blade in her right hand to catch one of the incoming sabers between the tines of her blade and block the second one with her handguard. At the same time, her second blade flashed past, cleanly removing the head of one man, while the perpendicular tine of her blade pierced through the helmet of the second man and went straight into his brain from the side.


    By the time the two bodies toppled over, the remaining bodyguards had taken the initiative to kick away the weapons they had dropped, looking at the weapons as if they were live serpents.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s convenient, and unexpected. You understand me?¡± Elfriede asked to the female adjutant, only for the woman to nod rapidly and reply in broken, heavily accented, but understandable common in return. ¡°Tell them to not try anything funny, else their lives aren¡¯t guaranteed. If you cooperate we won¡¯t treat you badly,¡± she stated to the female adjutant once more. ¡°Oy, Sera, get the boys to round the prisoners up! We¡¯re heading back!¡±


    On Elfriede¡¯s command, Ylisera led a group of the platoon members and tied up the surviving bodyguards as well as the female adjutant and the officer they came for. Since the officer was injured and couldn¡¯t walk by himself, one of the platoon¡¯s larger members simply foisted the man over his shoulder and carried him that way.


    The platoon then seamlessly slipped towards the back while Alvaro¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s people took their place. Around the same time, the two strike platoons withdrew from their position and resumed their position at the flanks of the formation as the Free Lances flipped their formation around and rushed out the way they came.


    Some of the enemies had covered the gap they created on their way in, but it was far from enough to stop the mercenaries.

 Chapter 461 - Securing the Way Back

    ¡°People who only plan the attack but not the retreat are idiots or overconfident, or more likely than not, both. To do so would be the same as creating a building with a way in but no way out. Sure, all is good if the enemy routs and opens the way for you, but what if that doesn¡¯t happen?¡± - Marzban Suleiman D¡¯zar of the Aqwa Sultanate, circa 102 VA.


    Alycea couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit while she fought against the enemy soldiers while covering the formation¡¯s left flank with her platoon. Her people had grown in the past year, and not just in size and strength. Their cooperation also became more seamless, their understanding of each other allowing them to cover each other¡¯s weaknesses without words needing to be exchanged.


    Her group had also welcomed some new members in the past year as the younger members of the group that centered themselves around her had come of age, as Samir and Shireen ¨C both of them children of Fatimah from the Nightstalkers, a year apart in age ¨C showed, the siblings dashing in and out of their formation like shadows, reaping lives as they struck.


    Irma and Macen held the frontlines as usual with their massive tower shields in hand, the two large-bodied shieldbearers forming the core of the platoon¡¯s defenses, as they shifted their position to cover for those that tired out under the constant fighting. The two therian youths had grown noticeably in the past year, now even larger than they were before, and even more powerful to boot.


    Roven often hung out behind the two powerhouses, as he¡¯d swiftly strike from behind the cover they provided with his pole-flail, only to withdraw to safety once more afterwards. In fact, these days Roven handled more of the tactical commanding of the platoon than Alycea did, slipping comfortably into the role of her second in command and tactician. It was something the slim youth proved to be quite capable at, even if he wasn¡¯t the best fighter in the platoon by any means.


    With Roven handling the platoon¡¯s small-scale tactics, it freed Alycea to command on a larger scale, although like all the other platoon leaders, she did so while fighting alongside her platoon members. Her own glaive flashed and struck as if it was a living serpent, often taking down enemies by surprise due to the unexpected flexibility of the weapon¡¯s shaft. She rarely stayed in one location for long, though, but instead flitted from one place to another, lending a hand where it was needed and giving out commands where required.


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    As for the battle lines itself, they held out just fine for the most part. Ciel and Leece led one side of the front, the twins fighting at the front in tandem as usual. Their cooperation with one another was uncanny that it generally caught their opponents off guard, as was their habit of switching targets almost at will with each other. It was probably par for the course for identical twins like them, though Alycea didn¡¯t exactly have another pair to compare the half-elven twins to.


    On the other side, Kev did his best to hold the line, fortunately aided by his friends from the basic training. Larissa, Boris, and Skuljd were by Kev¡¯s side of the battlefield and helped their old friend since they were all better fighters but worse leaders than him. Perhaps given a couple decades more experience the human youth might end up being another platoon leader for the Free Lances, Alycea thought.


    Her platoon held the left flank of the mercenary formation while the second strike platoon reorganized and shifted behind them, moving towards the back of the formation. All three strike platoons then led the charge on the way out of the enemy formation, while Alycea and Erycea¡¯s platoons held the flanks, along with Alvaro¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s platoon who defended their rear.


    At the sides, Alycea¡¯s platoon arguably had an easier fight, as they had one of the archer platoons ¨C likely Alva¡¯s judging from the lack of massive, powerful arrows that went through several people before they halted ¨C providing them with ranged support. They also constantly remained on the move, which made it difficult for their foes to sustain pressure at any one point of their formation.


    In contrast, those leading the charge back out simply demolished the enemies in their way as it was their specialty to lead the charge to begin with. The enemy soldiers that managed to regroup behind the mercenaries after they broke into the enemy formation simply had too little time and too few people to even stand a chance against a full headlong charge by all three strike platoons at the same time.


    As the mercenaries beat a fighting withdrawal, the side that faced the most pressure were Alvaro¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s platoons at the rearguard, as they had to fight while withdrawing, which made things harder, all while somehow trying to keep pace with the main bulk of the mercenary formation. Reinhardt¡¯s own platoon was right behind them and would occasionally help them out when some enemies managed to slip through, but the main bulk of the defense was still laid in the hands of the two platoons at the back.


    Of the two, Alvaro¡¯s had an easier time as his troops were all formerly of the Warforged, trained from childhood for the purpose of warfare and drilled to the point that their formation was second nature to them. The main body of the troops fought while moving backwards without showing any awkwardness, while the Blademasters amongst them would slide in and out of the formation to take care of problem spots whenever and wherever they might be needed.


    Across from them, however, Astrid¡¯s platoon faced more trouble, her troops less trained and disciplined compared to the former Warforged, though they gave their best effort regardless. Fighting while retreating at the same time made it difficult to maintain their formation, and while they had trained for it before, there was a difference between performing the feat in training and actually pulling it off during a live battle.

 Chapter 462 - Realization of Lackings

    ¡°Some things tend to not click into place until you actually get to do it for real. Only then could you really judge someone¡¯s or something¡¯s mettle, when they were performing their assigned tasks.¡± - Hans Stroforz, artifact craftsman from the Kingdom Down Under, circa 559 FP.


    Astrid realized very quickly once her platoon took their position at the rear guard alongside Alvaro¡¯s platoon that her people might need some more training, or experience, as it was. It was not that they had slacked off during their training, and while she herself was relatively inexperienced ¨C the Levainian campaign was her first real battle ¨C many of her people had fought in the Clangeddin civil war and experienced the battlefield that way.


    None of that prepared them properly for a fighting withdrawal while being surrounded by enemies that outnumbered them many times over, however. Some of her people showed signs of nervousness. Mistakes were made where it shouldn¡¯t be or where it was avoidable, all little things that in the end resulted in her platoon performing worse than those beside them.


    If Astrid was not fighting right next to them at the frontlines, she imagined that it might not have taken long for the platoon to break or worse, as the sight of a literal army bearing down straight on you was indeed a rather intimidating one. Still, she did her best to encourage her people and to correct the mistakes she noticed, which allowed them to hold on so far, if rather unstably.


    Part of the difficulty was the fighting withdrawal itself. It was far easier to fight while advancing towards the enemy, but doing so while moving back was easier said than done. Astrid had heard it often from her teachers when she was young that mastering the retreat was far more difficult than mastering the advance, and now she keenly recalled those old lessons once more.


    At least, when she was not too busy fending off the enemy soldiers by the shield-line, that was. Astrid¡¯s platoon took on a more standardized three-layered division, with those at the front holding large shields and shorter spears, those in the middle holding longer spears or polearms, and those in the rear primarily using crossbows or javelins to support the frontline.


    Astrid herself had shifted from the frontmost line to the second line after her frequent training bouts with Elfriede and Alycea, choosing to focus on her spear over her shield. She had been working on remastering the basics of her spearplay in the truest sense, as she had learned from Elfriede that the basics, mastered sufficiently, could end up being more dazzling than the fanciest flourishes.


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    After all, the blind woman¡¯s own fighting style was exactly that. The basics of swordsmanship distilled to their very essence, executed with mastery that bordered on perfection. Elfriede never relied on fancy maneuvers or flourishes and only used the most efficient and effective moves when she fought, yet she was still one of the most lethal duelists in the company to date.


    As Astrid wielded her spear to push away an enemy soldier¡¯s spear in a clockwise motion, she saw a chance and turned the circular sweep into a thrust that caught the enemy soldier in question off guard, her spear piercing through the soldier¡¯s throat before he could react. Then she withdrew her spear just as swiftly, and continued the fight while she yelled exhortations at her fellow platoon members to hold on and keep fighting.


    In all honesty, Astrid knew that if her platoon had been assigned to the rear guard on their own, they likely would have collapsed and routed long ago. The main reason they managed to hang on so far was partly thanks to Alvaro and his platoon, who kept their left flank secure and formed a practically immovable wall upon which the enemy assaults broke apart again and again.


    When her platoon was faltering, Reinhardt also mobilized his own platoon and took over the right flank of Astrid¡¯s troops, effectively placing her platoon at the center of the rear guard with both their flanks covered by allies. The sight of the mercenary captain personally coming to their aid helped bolster morale, and Astrid kept her people fighting the good fight, whether it be out of embarrassment or otherwise, she cared not.


    Reinhardt¡¯s platoon was primarily composed of older people, many of whom had served the company from the previous captain¡¯s time. They were veterans, one and all, and knew the battlefield like the back of their hands, which they showed by the calm and methodical way they fought off the enemy soldiers during the retreat.


    The captain himself ¨C his tall stature and unique fur coloration making him easily noticeable even amongst the crowd ¨C fought at the frontlines, his polemace sweeping across enemy soldiers and leaving behind broken bodies and limbs in its wake. He was not the only fierce warrior amongst his platoon either, and the gruesome display they put up together did its job as the enemy soldiers near the right flank were clearly intimidated by their ferocity.


    Like that, the mercenaries continued their fighting retreat towards the forest they came out from, those who held the rear guard only breaking formation and turning to run as fast as they could when the others already went into the forest ahead of them. By the nature of their deployment, they lagged behind the others a bit, and the sight of the mercenaries running away incensed the enemy soldiers into chasing them, even into the dark forest.


    Once they entered the forest, however, they quickly lost sight of the fleeing mercenaries, and instead only found themselves victims to various kinds of devious traps left all over the place. Ambushes struck seemingly out of nowhere, killed dozens of people, then vanished before the main body of the troops could react. Figures that flitted in and out of their vision like ghosts seemed to tail them along the way, occasionally striking and claiming a victim as their own.


    It had not taken more than half an hour before those who chased after the mercenaries in high morale into the forest fled back out in a sorry state, missing nearly half of the people they had entered the forest with.

 Chapter 463 - Results are what Mattered

    ¡°In the end, it didn¡¯t matter whether you had done it by hook or by crook, or if sacrifices were made along the way. What mattered was whether you had done what you set out to accomplish or not. Whether it was worth the expenditures and effort spent is a question for later, after the mission was completed.¡± - ¡°Lady¡± Genevieve van Exuranto, mercenary from Alcidea, circa 402 FP.


    ¡°How is the situation?¡± Reinhardt asked later that evening once all the platoon members were convened at a meeting once more. The company retreated to their base camp deep in the southern forest after they had driven off their pursuers, the platoons involved in the assault having already reached the camp by the time the ambush teams started to retreat as well. It took until later in the evening before everybody had returned.


    ¡°Close to a hundred injured, out of those, nineteen were injured pretty badly and will need some time to recuperate. Most of the injuries are light enough that they can continue fighting, though,¡± reported Lars, who was responsible for finding out the casualties the company had taken over the duration of the fighting. ¡°Eleven dead, so make that thirty casualties in total, acceptable losses compared to the damage we inflicted, I¡¯d say.¡±


    ¡°I concur,¡± said Reinhardt in agreement. It might have sounded heartless, but the company had taken at least several hundred enemies down in their charge and injured many more besides, so thirty casualties compared to what their opponents took in losses were indeed an acceptable amount for them. One couldn¡¯t get too sentimental in the mercenary business after all.


    ¡°Lady Boss got the target alive, as well as another dozen captives, amongst them being one who could speak common and is cooperative so far. We have taken care to house each of the captives separately from each other as a precaution, and some of my people are talking to the cooperative one as we speak,¡± added Lars. ¡°The cooperative one seems to be adjutant to the officer we targeted.¡±


    ¡°A stroke of fortune, that,¡± nodded Reinhardt as he chuckled a bit. The situation reminded him of the headache Nestor and the others at the main base were having as they tried to extract workable intelligence out of the captives they had. Even though some of the captives were cooperative, the language barrier made it difficult to get any truly useful information out of them.


    A captive that spoke common altered that dynamic completely, even if her command of the language was somewhat broken and heavily accented, and Reinhardt imagined that Nestor would gladly pay a hefty bonus when they handed over the captives later.


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    ¡°Did the enemy army chase after us much or made any extended forays after our assault?¡± asked Mischka. They knew that Lars and the other platoons responsible for the ambush had repelled those that chased them when they escaped, but were unaware of the situation of the battlefield since then since Reinhardt was the only one with the artifact.


    ¡°We seemed to have captured the officer responsible for the right flank of their frontline, so their command chain had been disrupted after our assault,¡± reported Lars dutifully. ¡°They did regain some semblance of order after a while, but they had not sent any large-scale forays into the forest as of yet. The one foray they sent had been beaten back by the people we stationed to be on guard.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the issue with armies sometimes. Too rigid and inflexible,¡± commented Gr¨¹nhildr with a chuckle. While good armies indeed possess great strengths, especially if the soldiers were trained and cohesive enough to move as one whole, sometimes they also faced their own issues, like losing someone high in the chain of command with those below them unable to make decisive decisions on their own.


    Some armies encouraged more independence and initiative amongst their lower ranked officers, but many still treated them more as tools to relay the command from above to those below them. The invading army was clearly still one of the latter, whilst the Free Lances took a more extreme approach to the independence and initiative part. They were polar opposites in some ways.


    ¡°Tell everyone to have a good rest, and make sure to keep up the watch, in case our victims want to try getting even with us, though I doubt they¡¯d do that after two failed forays,¡± said Reinhardt as he commanded the others. ¡°Friede, come with me after this, we¡¯ll have a chat with that one captive you said could speak common.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± replied Elfriede with a nod.


    ¡°Other than that, everyone did well today, keep up the performance and treat your people to some of the better rations we brought tonight,¡± he added, to the cheers of the assembled platoon leaders. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed, unless you have any concerns you want to address, in which case, stay here and wait till everyone else has left.¡±


    After Reinhardt gave the dismissal, the gathered platoon leaders got up from their seats and left ¨C likely to attend to their respective platoons ¨C one after another. Elfriede naturally stayed with him since he asked her to accompany him after the talk, but another platoon leader also stayed behind in her seat even after everyone else had already left.


    It was Astrid.


    ¡°May I have a moment of your time¡­ Captain?¡± asked Astrid with some obvious nervousness in her voice. Her platoon had accounted for nearly a third of the company¡¯s injured and casualties in the earlier assault, and she likely had more than a few things that bothered her mind, given her nervousness. ¡°Apologies if it¡¯s not a convenient time.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I did ask for people who had any concerns they want to address to stay behind, so you did just right in doing so,¡± replied Reinhardt in a more relaxed tone. ¡°That said, there¡¯s no reason for us to stay here. Walk with us. We can talk along the way.¡±

 Chapter 464 - Expected Results

    ¡°I feel that the drive to excel at everything they do that people often have nowadays is in a manner of speaking, a fallacy they have trapped themselves into. People all too often look down on those who only achieved mediocre or average results, and often exhort themselves to be better, yet they fail to realize that it is all those mediocre and average people that allows our society and nations to function as it is.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Let me guess,¡± said Reinhardt as the three of them walked across the camp towards where the prisoners were being kept. The meeting site was actually placed on the north side of the camp, closer towards the main gate the mercenaries entered and exited from, while the prisoners were kept near the southern end where it would be harder to escape from instead. ¡°You want to talk about your platoon¡¯s performance in the earlier battle?¡±


    The mercenaries had practically made a fortification deep in the forest, though it was not one that would stand up to any actual military combat. For the most part, the camp was only surrounded by fences meant to fend off the wild animals in the forest, to keep them from disturbing the mercenaries while they slept. Of course, most of the time, any wild animal that strayed too close to the mercenary camp ended up in their cooking pots instead.


    Foraging and making the most of their surroundings was an old respected tradition amongst mercenaries after all.


    ¡°Yes,¡± admitted Astrid with a downcast look on her features. She was all too aware that her platoon had likely failed to perform satisfactorily on their appointed task, given that Reinhardt had to interfere and support them in person at the end. She was still uncertain how the Free Lances as a company handled such matters since this was her first true battle with the Company, so her nervousness over the issue was palpable.


    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking that you¡¯ve failed or that your people did poorly or something along those lines, perish the thought,¡± said Reinhardt, which caused Astrid to look up with surprise clearly visible on her expression.


    Reinhardt seemed to have expected such a reaction given his toothy smirk.


    ¡°In all honesty, your platoon performed just about as well as I would have expected from people who had only joined us for a year and had yet to face any grueling battles with the company,¡± explained Reinhardt. ¡°That you failed to hold up your side of the rear on your own is not your fault, and a failure might not be a failure when you have backup nearby, keep that in mind.¡±


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    ¡°We still failed at our task, in the end, though,¡± argues Astrid with some confusion in her voice. ¡°I¡¯d have been brought in for reprimands or punishments by my superiors back at the Podovniy army back then under the same circumstances.¡±


    ¡°We do things differently here, as you might be able to tell by now,¡± replied Reinhardt, the smirk never leaving his face. ¡°Your platoon joined us under rather different circumstances from most of the others. Everyone of your are former soldiers, and you all had years if not decades of training. That means we have a lot of bad habits to weed out of you people as well.¡±


    ¡°A lot of that was done during your basic training, but some things would only really be driven home if you¡¯ve experienced it in actual battles. That upstart high king or whatever we dealt with in Lavianey doesn¡¯t count, since that¡¯s not something I¡¯d even deign to call a battle at all,¡± he continued. ¡°Your people are still a bit too detached in the wrong way, perhaps some of them still have some unwarranted pride as they had been soldiers for a long time or whatnot, don¡¯t they? A bit of a drubbing is just the sort of thing they needed to get that out of their minds.¡±


    ¡°So you put us in the rear guard while expecting us to fail!?¡± asked Astrid, not out of anger ¨C she was aware that in such a situation the fault would be on her side, and her platoon failing would have endangered the company as a whole ¨C but more out of bafflement. ¡°Just to teach some of the more stubborn people a lesson?¡±


    ¡°You were not alone, as you¡¯d recall. Worst case, if your people failed to perform as expected and broke, my platoon would have taken over yours and covered our retreat,¡± replied Reinhardt nonchalantly. ¡°As for Alvaro and his people, they are not worth worrying about. Those people would rather die than fail, at this point. Even if they had to hold the line by crawling on the ground and biting the enemies¡¯ ankles they would probably have done it.¡±


    ¡°Everything in a battle is a calculated risk anyway. I merely found the last battle to be one suitable to help temper your platoon with acceptable risks,¡± he added with a shake of his head. ¡°We will need everyone working at their best for this campaign. I suspect that this will be a long one, given how many people our enemies have, so getting your platoon to the right mindset needed to be done sooner or later.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I guess I get what you mean, Sir. I¡¯m just not¡­ used to this yet, I think,¡± replied Astrid somewhat haltingly. The way the Free Lances treated a foray into the midst of an enemy army many times their number as an opportunity to train some of their people was baffling to her, with good reasons. It was the sort of thing she would have never even considered doing.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have time, I¡¯m sure. We got a long road ahead of us still, anyway,¡± noted Reinhardt with a nod. By that time, the three of them were nearly where the prisoners were kept. ¡°When you return to your platoon later, help me alleviate their worries. Tell them that they did well.¡±


    ¡°I will, Captain,¡± replied Astrid. ¡°And thank you for the thought.¡±

 Chapter 465 - Breakthrough in Communications

    ¡°Not knowing the enemy you are fighting against is akin to fighting while blindfolded.¡± - Saying attributed to Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, famed General and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°She¡¯s the one that you mentioned?¡± asked Reinhardt as he went into one of the small tents used to house the captives. The female captive in question ¨C a young woman with black hair and eyes typical of the invaders ¨C was tied to the main pole of the tent with a rope, though with enough slack that she could move around a bit to use the chamber pot or to lay down and sleep.


    Naturally, the captives had also been completely stripped of their equipment, left only with their tunics and pants, all their weapons and armor confiscated to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t be able to make an escape. The knot used by the mercenaries to tie them to the pole was one that was very difficult if not impossible to unravel without using a knife, and it was unlikely that the captives¡¯ teeth would be able to cut through the sturdy rope.


    The woman looked up from her seated position when she heard the tent¡¯s flap being opened, only to back away with evident fright on her face when she saw Reinhardt stroll in. In some ways, her reaction was not too strange. People who were not used to therians would inevitably link the breeds that resembled predatory beasts to their counterpart, and Reinhardt definitely qualified with his large frame and fierce appearance.


    ¡°She¡¯s the one,¡± said Elfriede, who walked into the tent after Reinhardt did. ¡°Her common¡¯s a bit hard to get, very accented, but it''s passable enough for us to communicate with.¡± Elfriede then turned to face the seated captive, who was leaning against the tent¡¯s central pillar after she backed away in fright earlier. ¡°This is the Captain of our Company. Introduce yourself.¡±


    ¡°I- I am Sao-Wei Kang Hua-Li, adjutant to Sao-Shao Wu, who you captured yesterday along with the rest of us,¡± said the woman somewhat haltingly. Some of her words were completely unfamiliar to both Reinhardt and Elfriede and they assumed them to be some sort of military ranks used by the invaders, based on the context.


    ¡°Tell us, where are you fellows from? Never seen that style of armor around here before,¡± said Reinhardt. He spoke slowly and made sure to pronounce every word clearly given the rather limited language skills of the captive. The armor and weapons used by the foreign invaders were indeed of a style that was decidedly different to those found in Alcidea, so his curiosity about their origin was understandable.


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    ¡°We¡­ are from the Empire,¡± replied the young woman somewhat haltingly, probably trying to remember the right word to convey the proper information.


    ¡°Which Empire?¡± Reinhardt asked once more.


    ¡°The Al-Shan Empire. Our nation is an archipelago in the sea, around two week¡¯s journey from this land by ship. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not familiar enough with the directions and whatnot to say much more on this matter,¡± said the woman after some thought. A few of the words she used were archaic terms that had long fallen into disuse, so it took a bit for Reinhardt and Elfriede to parse the meaning of her words properly.


    ¡°Now I remember where I thought I had seen similar designs as their stuff before,¡± Reinhardt said all of a sudden as a thought came unbidden. ¡°Those relics we got with our share back in Theodinaz had similar designs, though not quite like what these people wear,¡± he noted. ¡°Did your nation trade with ours in the past? Like a couple centuries ago or further back?¡±


    ¡°We did, we did,¡± said the young woman as she nodded vigorously at that question. ¡°My own family are descendants of merchants who had once dealt with foreigners from across the sea. That is why we still teach the language used by the foreigners amongst our own family,¡± she added. ¡°It has been long since we last had contact with such merchants, though. I believe the last time we had contact was before the unification war and the founding of the Empire a couple centuries ago.¡±


    ¡°Nations across the sea, huh? I think we better ask Lars or Loren about this. They¡¯d be more likely to have read something relevant than the rest of us,¡± said Reinhardt with a shake of his head. He was not too well-read or well-versed about history and things that happened long ago, but Lars and Loren were bookworms who often spent their free time in libraries when they were camped near a city.


    ¡°As for you¡­ miss Hua-li? Is that the right way to address you?¡±


    ¡°Hua-Li is my personal name, Sir. My family name is Kang,¡± replied the young woman.


    ¡°Miss Kang, then,¡± said Reinhardt in acquiescence. It didn¡¯t cost him anything to be polite to someone willing to be cooperative. ¡°As Elfriede mentioned when we caught the lot of you, you will not be harmed as long as you remain cooperative. Please save us all the pain and trouble and don¡¯t try to escape or resist. You wouldn¡¯t like the results.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Sir. I wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± said Hua-Li seriously. She was apparently quite intimidated by the fact that she was a captive, deep in the forest, and surrounded by a couple thousand rough mercenaries all around her. Of course, the very idea of resisting or escaping would require her to be able to escape her bonds first, which was unlikely to begin with.


    ¡°Good. We will bring you over to the main camp tomorrow. Be on your best behavior and you might be rewarded for your cooperation,¡± said Reinhardt in a more mollifying tone. The importance of someone capable of interpreting for them meant that they could get information out of the other cooperative captives, and question the rest properly at the same time. ¡°You will find us quite fair and generous in this regard, I assure you.¡±

 Chapter 466 - All in the Presentation

    ¡°The worth of a person is probably one matter that is most subjective of all, and the answer you get would entirely depend on the nature and upbringing of the person answering the question. Some preachers and philosophers love to preach that all lives are supposed to be equal, but anyone with actual life experience would know just how false such a statement is.


    Try dangling the loved ones of someone who preaches that all lives are equal along with some strangers off a cliff and you will see the hypocrisy behind the pleasant words.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°I definitely wasn¡¯t expecting to see you in person, Captain Edelstein,¡± said Nestor with some visible surprise when Reinhardt came over to the command tent of the main base the next morning. Other than Nestor, Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolischei and Griselda were also present, while the day¡¯s fighting had yet to start, with the troops from both sides still enjoying their breakfast. ¡°Did something unexpected happen yesterday? Or are the captives you got that important to warrant you coming in person?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the latter, Your Grace, and to correct you, just the one captive in particular,¡± said Reinhardt as he reached back and dragged Kang Hua-Li over by the shoulder, bringing the young woman into the tent. With Reinhardt standing directly behind her and one of his meaty paws perched on her shoulder, she looked particularly small in stature, like a cat dragging over a nervous mouse to show to its owner in a way.


    She had been roused really early in the morning earlier that day, then made to wash herself in a stream near the mercenary camp, guarded by some of the mercenaries all the while. Then she had been given fresh, clean clothes to wear and a filling breakfast before she was brought to the main camp along with the other captives by the mercenaries.


    The girl had been an officer¡¯s adjutant in the Imperial army, and with a single glance she could tell that the people gathered in the tent Reinhardt brought her to had to be important people, one and all. Not that she could do anything about it though. Her hands were tightly bound together at the wrist, and even if that wasn¡¯t the case, she highly doubted that she could get out from under Reinhardt¡¯s grasp to begin with.


    ¡°This girl speaks common,¡± stated Reinhardt simply, which naturally garnered the attention of everyone present in the tent. From Hua-Li¡¯s features it was obvious that she was one of the foreign invaders, notwithstanding the fact that Reinhardt brought her in as a captive. The language barrier had been causing headaches for the commander of the coalition forces so finding a breakthrough in the matter was something they all placed great value on. ¡°We have also promised her good treatment as long as she remains cooperative, and so far, she has been cooperative.¡±


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    ¡°Oh, she does?¡± asked Nestor with obvious interest as he walked closer. ¡°How fluent is she? Can she understand me right now?¡± he asked, switching to common in the second sentence instead of the more flowing tongue Posuin typically used. ¡°Or am I talking too fast for her?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ It is¡­ a little difficult if Milord speaks too fast,¡± said Hua-Li somewhat haltingly, her tone demure and submissive as she caught enough to understand that she was standing before people well above her in rank, or at least its equivalent. ¡°I can understand quite a bit, but what I have learned might be a bit¡­ limited in some areas, since it is only what our family and other merchant families passed down the line.¡±


    ¡°Good enough, good enough,¡± praised Nestor with a bright look on his face when he heard Hua-Li reply in common. ¡°I will reaffirm what Captain Edelstein has offered to you. If you cooperate with us, you will not be treated badly, understand?¡±


    ¡°Understood, Milord. I am willing to cooperate but I must also inform you that anything I know would be little more than public knowledge amongst the soldiers,¡± said Hua-Li more tentatively. She had thought about it over the night before she decided to be upfront about the matter. It was not like she was betraying her country by telling the enemy things that were public knowledge anyway, and she didn¡¯t know any confidential information even if she wanted to pass them on. ¡°I am not high in rank and am unfamiliar with things that only the high ranked people might be aware of.¡±


    ¡°Not unexpected,¡± commented old Duke Banitu as he also approached closer, his left hand absent-mindedly caressing his scruffy beard. ¡°Either way, your being able to understand us alone is enough to warrant you special treatment as long as you cooperate with us. I doubt your people did not face similar issues with the language barrier in the regions you have conquered so far.¡±


    ¡°That does indeed happen, Milord,¡± stated Hua-Li openly as she nodded. ¡°This first wave of our army has many people who serve as interpreters for that reason, mostly people similarly descended from merchants that had dealt with your land in the past,¡± she added. ¡°There¡¯s not many who joined the military like me, so they¡¯re mostly in the safety of our back lines.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense, makes sense. It¡¯d be hard to impose order in their conquered territories if they can¡¯t even communicate with the civilians there,¡± said Nestor as he nodded as well. ¡°Also explains why none of the soldiers speak our language if such people are already rare to begin with. You got a really good catch this time, Captain. I owe you a hefty bonus once all this fighting is done.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯re supposed to do, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a slight bow and a grin. He had felt that the captive girl would be an appreciated breakthrough in intelligence that warranted him coming in person to present her, and his guess had been validated by the calculative smiles on the faces of the Dukes present.

 Chapter 467 - A Lesson in History

    ¡°Those who refuse to learn from history are bound to repeat the same mistakes all over again.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Right, girl, you said your name was¡­ what was it again? Hweil or something?¡± asked Duke Orsla Banitu after Hua-Li was given a seat and some refreshments in the tent. The old Duke of Kolitschei was not being difficult with her, it was just that at his age his hearing had started to deteriorate and he didn¡¯t catch her name properly. ¡°Tell us about your nation, this so-called Empire of yours. Feel free to include your history too.¡±


    Nestor and Griselda nodded at the old Duke¡¯s question. Some people thought it was silly to learn or ask about the history of the enemy nation they were fighting, but they understood that there were things that could be glimpsed from history. Things like certain habits or predilections tended to stay similar for long periods of time, and could be exploited if one was familiar enough with them.


    ¡°My name is Hua-Li, Milord,¡± corrected Hua-Li politely before she took a sip of the light ale that had been provided to her. The leaders in the tent were aware that talking for a long period was thirsty work, and saw no reason to not allow their source of information to wet her throat while answering their queries. ¡°Since you asked about the Empire¡­ Do I have permission to start from the beginning? From before the time the Empire was an Empire?¡±


    ¡°Please do so,¡± said Griselda with an interested nod. She was seated beside Nestor that day not only as his wife and Duchess Consort, but also as one of Algenverr¡¯s generals, as the noblewoman had never lost her warlike disposition even after marriage and childbirth. ¡°Feel free to include anything you felt might be relevant, no matter how minor.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± replied Hua-Li who took another quick drink from her mug before she started her tale. ¡°To begin the story as requested, I will have to relate the time period prior to the Empire¡¯s establishment. We hail from an archipelago around a couple week¡¯s journey by boat away from your lands, and there used to be two powers that reigned over our homeland.¡±


    ¡°There are those like me, who are descendants of the native inhabitants of the islands, who later united and formed a nation we called the Huan Confederacy, and there are those who we assumed were refugees from distant lands who somehow found their way to some of the other islands. Later these people also formed their own nation and called it the Aqwa sultanate.¡±


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    ¡°I can see where this is going,¡± noted Nestor with a sagely nod. ¡°Please continue.¡±


    ¡°As Milord guessed, while at first there was no conflict between our two peoples, as our respective populations grew larger and the islands we inhabited became too little for everyone, we started eyeing each other¡¯s territory with greedy eyes,¡± admitted Hua-Li openly. ¡°This led to a long period of war that lasted several hundred years, with the conflict between us intermittently continuing, only at times staved off by short periods of truce.¡±


    ¡°All that fighting had in a way solved our population problems, since both sides lost a lot of people in the fighting, but after centuries of continuous fighting, none of us were looking for peaceful solutions anymore. At that point the war continued pretty much because neither side wished to relent to the other,¡± she added. ¡°It was around the final years of the war, which we later called the unification war, that contact with your lands were cut off as well, because some of the leaders were fearful that if your people caught wind of our situation, they might choose to interfere or even attack us while both sides were weakened from the fighting.¡±


    ¡°A little paranoid, but understandable,¡± commented Duke Banitu.


    ¡°In the end, the Aqwa people defeated us Huan, but it was a bitter fight, and in some ways, they did not dare to overly flaunt their victory over us, knowing that it would lead to another war and prolonged bloodshed if they pushed us too far,¡± Hua-Li continued. ¡°This happened around two centuries ago, and the people decided to rename our nation into that of the Al-Shan Empire at the end of the war. Both of our peoples now lived together, if some wariness and tension towards the other side still remained.¡±


    ¡°Given that you faced issues with overpopulation that was bad enough to lead to war before, I am assuming that the current invasion had similar reasons behind it?¡± asked Nestor with some curiosity.


    ¡°Actually, that is not exactly the case. Our Emperors had been diligent in expanding and developing our nation, exploring and colonizing previously uninhabited islands and regions, so we have our population issue well in hand,¡± explained Hua-Li with a somewhat demure tone. ¡°The root cause of the current invasion is the succession war we had just a decade ago, when the Emperor died without naming a successor, leading to fighting amongst his children for the throne.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Those always get ugly,¡± noted Duke Banitu with a frown on his face.


    ¡°It was a rather ugly time, yes, Milord,¡± agreed Hua-Li with a nod. ¡°That conflict saw all the princes and princesses mobilize their supporters and conscript as many soldiers as they could, and while the fourth prince eventually triumphed in the end, he was faced with a rather unenviable situation. Far too many of the soldiers gathered during the conflict had tasted the benefits of being soldiers and refused to return to civilian life. I am certain you can see where this is going.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so he¡¯s saddled with an army far too large for domestic security purposes that drains the nation¡¯s resources constantly and no way to disband it without causing another potential conflict to erupt. Quite an unenviable situation indeed,¡± commented Nestor. ¡°Using the army up in an invasion would give them purpose and gain new land for the nation to use, effectively killing two birds with one stone. Clever.¡±

 Chapter 468 - A Clearer Look at the Situation

    ¡°To have a clear view of everything that happened and led to the situation on the battlefield is a blessing few could enjoy. With such knowledge, the task of strategizing becomes far easier to do, as one would gain a far greater understanding of the enemy as well as themselves.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Rather risky, but considering that we¡¯re talking about an Emperor who had to fight his way to the throne, not an unexpected course to take, I guess,¡± said Duke Orsla Banitu in agreement with Nestor¡¯s words. ¡°Especially considering that he clearly has more than half a million soldiers to spare for this. I highly doubt such a man would leave his home undefended. Tell me if I¡¯m correct, girl?¡±


    ¡°Milord is correct. The force you are facing is merely the first wave of the invasion force that our Emperor has amassed,¡± replied Hua-Li politely.


    ¡°And how many such¡­ waves are there? We can understand if you¡¯re not too familiar with this, but surely as a member of the army you would have some general knowledge about it, yes?¡± asked Griselda with interest as she leaned closer to the girl.


    ¡°Oh, this is no secret. The Emperor himself made a great speech about how it is our destiny to conquer the world and whatnot. I¡¯m sure Milords and Milady are familiar with what I mean,¡± said Hua-Li with a shake of her head. ¡°He also proclaimed that our first wave will be followed by a second as soon as possible, and if needed, a third wave of invasion, each as powerful as the force Milords and Milady now face.¡±


    ¡°Three waves of invasion forces?¡± asked Nestor with a bit of surprise. A sharp intake of breath could also be heard from old Duke Banitu, who was clearly just as surprised by the news. ¡°So a million and a half soldiers? No, more than that since there would be a force left behind to guard at home as well. Two million soldiers? That is a rather large number¡­¡±


    ¡°To be fair, Your Grace, when we served in Levain the city could muster nearly half a million soldiers if everyone who could handle a weapon was to take up arms, and since the succession war she mentioned seems to be of the sort that would make that likely happen, I guess it¡¯s quite plausible for them to gather than many,¡± said Reinhardt after a moment of silence. ¡°Their population density must be far greater than Posuin¡¯s for that, though.¡±


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    ¡°I cannot vouch for that with certainty, but so far we have found your land to be very sparsely populated compared to our islands,¡± said Hua-Li honestly. ¡°Our villages tend to be situated far closer together, to the point that they often fought one another over the borders of their land, or who gets to use the river, and other things like that.¡±


    ¡°I guess that means we might be looking at another half a million enemies if they are sending their second wave of soldiers anytime soon,¡± said the old Duke Banitu in a more grave tone, though he switched to the Posuin tongue for the conversation, not wanting to spill information unnecessarily in the presence of a captive. ¡°Not good odds for us, even if we withdraw to your vaunted wall, I feel.¡±


    ¡°We will have to hope that they¡¯re a bit slow on reinforcing their first wave, though I imagine moving half a million soldiers and the supplies needed would take them a while, even if they already prepared it beforehand,¡± replied Nestor as he nodded to the old Duke¡¯s words. ¡°Knallzog has replied in the positive about sending reinforcements, but we can¡¯t really hope for more help from other nations otherwise. It will have to suffice.¡±


    ¡°Also she mentioned a point that I can¡¯t help but feel might be important,¡± Griselda interjected. ¡°She said that the fighting for the throne was a recent one. Do you think there¡¯s any chance that there might be people who aren¡¯t very satisfied with the current Emperor amongst the enemy army? Actually, now that I asked that question, I feel that it¡¯s very likely that there would be some amongst the enemies we faced so far.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯d send them out to die as cannon fodder while placing your own loyalists on the leadership positions,¡± said Nestor as he caught on to what his wife implied with her words. ¡°That sounds very likely. It¡¯s unlikely that all two million soldiers this Emperor has are all his loyalists. Many of them must have been taken from his enemies during the succession war they had. He can¡¯t afford to kill them all since that¡¯d likely spark another revolt, so he has to use them up this way instead.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re thinking that there might be some who this Emperor could not remove out of political or other considerations amongst the enemy¡¯s command staff?¡± the old Duke Banitu chimed in, as he too caught on to what Griselda implied. ¡°That is actually a likely possibility, especially if this Emperor made alliances to gain his throne, which might have turned less than convenient in the present¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something we will need communication to be able to exploit, either way, so I propose we treat this girl really well for the time being. She¡¯s the first breakthrough we had so far when it comes to language,¡± said Nestor with a nod. ¡°We will need her help to be able to convey messages to any such people.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust her, though? While I can see how she might be willing to speak of things that are common knowledge, if she is to write a letter in their language, we won¡¯t be able to tell if what she wrote was truly what we told her to write,¡± asked the old Duke with a slight frown.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to postpone those ideas until we have more people we can communicate with. Keep them apart and make each of them write the same letter. We would be able to tell if any of them tries to play us that way.¡±

 Chapter 469 - Practical Usage

    ¡°Even the greatest thing in the world is pointless unless you can actually put it to use.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Very well then, Miss Kang, since you have decided to cooperate with us, we would like you to identify some people for us, should it be within your knowledge,¡± said Nestor after the talk he had with Old Duke Banitu and Griselda. ¡°They will be prisoners from your army that we have captured previously. Are you fine with that?¡±


    ¡°May I be allowed something to hide my face with, Milord?¡± asked Hua-Li in turn, looking a bit uncertain but clearly having decided to make the request regardless. She was probably worried that asking too much would sour the opinion that the noble had on her. ¡°Just a piece of cloth to use as a veil would be enough.¡±


    ¡°An understandable request. I am going to assume that your family or clan probably has enemies that could make trouble for you if the fact that you were cooperating with us came to light, am I right?¡± asked Nestor with a confident smile on his face, to which Hua-Li nodded. ¡°Guessed as much. Politics are always the same everywhere.¡±


    By the time the nobles walked out of the tent together with Reinhardt and Hua-Li, the foreign girl had been given a helmet and a cloth to cover her face. It was nothing strange to see in a military camp, and the rather loose clothes she wore also hid her figure quite well. As for her long hair, it was common for the Al-Shanians to have long hair regardless of gender, so it wouldn¡¯t betray her identity either.


    As long as she didn¡¯t do anything that would reveal her identity, the other captives wouldn¡¯t have any idea who she was. They might suspect each other, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to be certain of her identity. The measures taken might not be much, but it was plenty to provide Hua-Li with the sort of plausible deniability she asked for, and that was all she wanted.


    They took her towards where the captives from the enemy army were imprisoned. Much like in the Free Lances camp, the captives were tied up to poles in a way that they wouldn¡¯t be able to free themselves on their own. The cooperative ones were clearly given better treatment, and unlike in the mercenary camp, the main camp flaunted the fact, at least amongst the lower-ranked captives.


    The higher ranked ones were kept separate from the other captives and each other, so they couldn¡¯t plot together to provide false information.


    First Hua-Li was brought to look at the captive lower-ranked soldiers, but after she was taken to walk past them, she expressed that she was unfamiliar with them. That was not unexpected, since unless it was someone directly part of her command, it was unlikely for anyone to remember that many low-ranking soldiers. At least she could later help translate for the cooperative ones, but everyone suspected that they wouldn¡¯t gain much more from such a thing.


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    Either Hua-Li had been sincere, in which case she would most likely know more than soldiers ranked lower than she herself was, or she was trying to trick them, in which case as the translator she could freely change the narrative to whatever she wanted.


    When they brought Hua-Li to look at the few captured officers, she also professed that she was not familiar with them, though she could name their ranks based on the armor they wore. After a quick check, Hua-Li informed the nobles that most of the officers they caught were at most at the same rank as the one she was adjutant to, a thousand-man commander, while some were just hundred-man commanders even. None of them were particularly important to the Imperial army, so to speak.


    On the other hand, when the somewhat frustrated nobles brought her to where they preserved the three heads Reinhardt brought them after the raid a few days ago, Hua-Li visibly gasped with surprise and recognition.


    ¡°Do you recognize them, girl?¡± asked Nestor immediately, capitalizing on the moment.


    ¡°We had our suspicions¡­ but to see it myself¡­¡± answered Hua-Li with a bit of a stammer. After she took a moment to collect herself, she then pointed towards the head of the lone woman out of the three. ¡°That is Da Jiangjun Taouan, who was appointed as the supreme commander of the northern detachment of the army,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°The other two should be her nephews, two of the Xiao Jiangjuns she brought as her assistants. The generals have not shown themselves to the troops of late and people were speculating if they had fallen ill or the like, but I had not expected that they had fallen to assassins instead,¡± she admitted with a shake of her head, clearly surprised about the situation. ¡°Then again, maybe we should have guessed since the night patrols have been made stricter lately. We just thought it was perhaps some spies being caught that caused that.¡±


    ¡°If your supreme commander is dead, who would be the one to take command in their stead?¡± asked Old Duke Banitu.


    ¡°I¡­ cannot be certain. There are two Zhong Jiangjuns in our camp. One of them is my paternal uncle, while the other is a cousin of the Da Jiangjun. Under normal circumstances that cousin should be in command since with his connections he would have a higher seniority over my uncle,¡± said Hua-Li after some thought. ¡°That said, if your people had the ability to bring three heads back to your camp¡­ did you perhaps send out more assassins after us?¡±


    ¡°We sent out five, and the survivors returned with three heads. Given the timing it is likely that the other two managed to take down a target each as well before they were caught,¡± said Griselda openly, knowing that the enemy higher-ups likely knew that already anyway.


    ¡°In that case, I really cannot tell. The Da Jiangjun brought five assistants with her. The cousin I mentioned would be ahead of my uncle on the chain of command, but the rest wouldn¡¯t. I have not seen uncle these past few days, so the question would be whether your assassins got either him or the cousin,¡± admitted Hua-Li. ¡°If they got them both, then one of the Xiao Jiangjuns might be in command instead. Most of them are young and untried, though.¡±

 Chapter 470 - Dangling the Carrot

    ¡°The usage of both the carrot and the stick is crucial for keeping things in order. Too much of the carrot and nothing would get done properly, while too much of the stick would just result in nothing getting done at all. A balance between both is needed for optimal results.¡± - Angar Lowenschild, on training donkeys.


    ¡°This is pretty useful. When we win this war your cooperation will be recorded as a merit and rewarded, Miss Kang,¡± said Nestor thoughtfully after he had Hua-Li detail the way to discern the rank of the various enemy officers from the armor they wore. Unlike the armies in Posuin where those of higher rank typically had far better armor and likely rode horses while their troops walked on foot, the Al-Shanians had a more rigid military structure, and the armor worn by their officers did not differ much from those worn by most of the footsoldiers.


    Until one tried to stab them, at least. The officer¡¯s armor might look similar but they were made of better material, which conferred more protection. The footsoldier¡¯s armor was mostly made of boiled, hardened leather, which gave some protection, but was far from the best. Their armor were also typically made to ¡°standard¡± sizes instead of being fitted to their bodies, so most had slight size mismatches with the armor they wore.


    On the other hand, despite the extremely similar design, the officers had metal armor, with small insignias that defined their rank placed at several inconspicuous locations. It made them easy enough to identify for their own soldiers, but enemies unfamiliar with the Imperial army would have a hard time differentiating them at a glance.


    Of course, the higher ranked officers had even better armor that had a similar style but slightly different design and rode horses, which made them much easier to identify. It was how Reinhardt pinpointed Hua-Li¡¯s superior as a capture target, after all. Even so, apparently in the Imperial army all the officers from the thousand-man commander and above, all the way to the general wore such a style of armor, which again, made it difficult to find out which of them was the highest rank and thus the priority target.


    With Hua-Li¡¯s help the coalition army finally learned how to differentiate between them, though it would still require a rather close inspection to do so. Every one of them admitted that it was a clever bit of subterfuge, to hide the needle in the haystack. It made identifying the important commanders on the enemy side far harder than it should be.


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    ¡°Uh¡­ Thank you. Milord,¡± she replied, probably a bit unsure about Nestor¡¯s boast about winning the war. No matter how one cut it, the Al-Shan Empire still possessed a far greater army, at least in terms of number of soldiers, and the former Posuin territories were still reeling from the civil war they had recently themselves.


    ¡°Come, now, it¡¯s already nearing noon, we should show you some of the benefits and privileges cooperation brings,¡± said Nestor kindly to the girl as he invited her to follow them. The fighting had been raging for several hours already by then, but the situation at the defense lines were stable as usual, so there was no particular need for them to personally take command of the situation.


    If there were any emergencies, someone would have informed the nobles immediately, as Nestor was still the overall commander of the coalition forces. Since the Imperials took a more steady approach however, there had been less need for the defenders to do anything particularly special other than just to defend their assigned positions, which made things easier.


    Nestor led the small group ¨C just him and his lady wife Griselda, old Duke Banitu, as well as Reinhardt and Elfriede, along with Hua-Li ¨C towards one of the larger tents in the main base, situated not far from where some cooks labored over cauldrons and cooking fires to prepare meal for the soldiers. Since the fighting was focused on the defense line and the area couldn¡¯t accommodate all that many soldiers, it was easy enough for them to have their meal in shifts even while the fighting raged on.


    The group seated themselves under the tent, which had a couple large tables set in it, with seats surrounding them. Each table had enough room for a good six to eight people or so, and from the way the people eating inside were dressed, it was obvious that it was where the officers of higher rank ate. All of them stood up and saluted the Dukes on sight, though Nestor waved them down and told them to go back to eating.


    Soon after they were seated, one of the cook¡¯s assistants brought over bowls of thick stew, ones that still steamed as they were freshly scooped out of the cauldron, with a fragrant, meaty aroma, as well as loaves of still-warm bread, likely freshly baked just recently. Hua-Li was surprised to see that she was given a portion of the same food, and doubly so when Nestor invited her to dine along with him, at the same table.


    It was a small trick on Nestor¡¯s part. From Hua-Li¡¯s story he learned that people from the Al-Shan Empire saw the difference in class and status as a very important thing. To be fair, Posuin itself was not much different in that regard in most places, but amongst the Border Duchies, such lines were far looser due to the experience of fighting for their lives alongside their people.


    Nestor himself was a particularly carefree one with such things, and never really gave much of a damn about his status as a Duke. He knew very well on how to take advantage of that status, however, hence the little trick he played on Hua-Li. For someone of her status, it was unthinkable for a high noble ¨C something she understood Nestor to be ¨C to deign to eat on the same table with her.


    Such small gestures were often the ones that touched someone¡¯s heart the most, and Nestor wasn¡¯t shy about making full use of them when he had the chance to do so.

 Chapter 471 - The Fish has Taken the Bait

    ¡°You need to be at the right place and use the right sort of bait to fish properly. Once you have both, all that remains is to have some patience.¡± - Heine Grunwald, fisherman.


    The lunch went by quickly, with most of the group making small talk about the situation of the battle, other than Hua-Li who was clearly behaving like a fish out of water in such company. The girl just kept her head down and ate quietly, afraid to barge in on the conversation between the nobles, unless directly addressed by one of them.


    Reinhardt mostly watched with amusement as the captive girl fell deeper into Nestor¡¯s little ploy. Either the girl was a very good actor, or she had completely swallowed the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Given the way the girl had acted over the previous day, Reinhardt doubted that she was a skilled spy their enemies had specifically sent out to be caught.


    Of course, even if the chances were remote, it remained a possibility nonetheless. The girl happened to be the only captive they caught that spoke their language so far. A clever commander might have used her as a spy to feed the enemy with false information or worse. In fact, the information that the enemy might possess as many as two million soldiers would have been demoralizing if it spread amongst the troops. If it was false information, then she sold it convincingly, to say the least.


    Which was also why Nestor and the rest kept their guard up around the girl, despite treating her well otherwise. What Reinhardt could think of, they had naturally also considered. It was also why Hua-Li had been kept mostly away from others, the Dukes having declared her to be an important captive and set their own trusted people to guard her when she was not in their company.


    On the surface, it was to ensure her safety. She was a captive from the enemy army after all, and people got emotional after battles all the time. In truth, they were there to ensure that Hua-Li did not have contact with the rank and file of the coalition army, so that she would not be able to learn much if anything of the army¡¯s actual situation or talk about potentially demoralizing things to them.


    After having delivered the girl and the rest of the captives they caught along with her, Reinhardt and Elfriede returned to the forest camp, with a request from Nestor to try to capture more people if they saw any opportunity. Sadly the enemy army had learned from their mistake, and commanders of the rank of Hua-Li¡¯s superior kept their distance from the southern forest since the raid.


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    The army itself still managed to get captives just from the fighting, but they were very low in rank, as the higher-ranked officers of the Imperial army stayed away from the front lines. It was not feasible to force a charge just to capture some of them unless they strayed closer like in the successful raid Reinhardt pulled off, so the situation devolved into a stalemate once more.


    Meanwhile, with Hua-Li¡¯s aid, Nestor interrogated the other cooperative captives they had. Most of the information the girl reported back corroborated with what she had told them previously, but some of the captives added local information she did not know about. It made sense since they came from different regions of the empire, and each would naturally be more knowledgeable about their home region.


    As they did that, Nestor grew to believe the girl more, as it would be very difficult to keep the story straight with such a large amount of information if she was a spy. There was simply too much information she translated for them, in too great a detail, that if a comparison was made, any made-up parts would cause a discrepancy all too easily. He felt that if the girl was a spy, she would be providing them with more vague information, things that would be harder to confirm independently later on.


    They also naturally did some research about the Empire from their side. Old Duke Banitu had his people in Kolitschei scour his personal library for any relevant information, and they found old records that corroborated Hua-Li¡¯s information. People from the Empire ¨C or at least, part of it ¨C traded with Posuin centuries in the past, before suddenly cutting off all contact.


    Unfortunately, Posuin never actually managed to establish a two-way trading relationship with those people. It was always they who visited Posuin by ship, and their people who learned common to communicate with the locals. There were no records of people from Posuin who went to the Empire or learned their language.


    Even if there were such people, they would most likely be in Wanarua territory, which the Imperial invasion conquered first, since their main force made landfall there. As such, they were out of Nestor¡¯s reach. The initial invasion had happened so suddenly that the Wanaruans didn¡¯t manage to escape before they were overrun by the invaders, so there was nobody to ask from that side.


    The battle between the Imperial invaders and the defending coalition forces continued at an uneasy stalemate for another week. During which time Nestor had received news from the south, which contained both good and bad news. The news stated that former Duke Emil Bostvan was killed in battle when he was leading a large-scale attack against the invaders.


    His death caused quite a bit of disarray amongst his forces, but fortunately by then Duchess Angela Utghwes of Dvergarder was already there with her reinforcements and managed to take control of the situation. In fact, the cooperation between the remaining Bostvan forces and Dvergarder¡¯s troops became smoother after Emil Bostvan¡¯s death, since he and the Duchess often butted heads and disagreed over many things.


    It was also then that they received the news they had been waiting for. Messages from Dvergarder arrived and stated the arrival of a large contingent of troops from Knallzog, who were rushing towards the two battlefronts after they split up.

 Chapter 472 - Reinforcements Has Arrived

    ¡°Contrary to popular belief, the arrival of reinforcements does not always mean that the tides of battle would turn in favor of the side that received them. In fact, many battles in history have been lost because the forces that originally fought the battle and their reinforcements couldn¡¯t see eye to eye. As with all things, it depends on the situation.¡± - Anwar Ismail Efiram, Historian from Al-Hassid.


    ¡°Thanks for being able to come on quick notice, Captain,¡± said Nestor as he greeted Reinhardt. He had sent a missive to the forest camp asking for Reinhardt¡¯s presence when they welcome the arriving dwarven reinforcements since he knew Reinhardt had good relationship with several of Knallzog¡¯s nobles. A good first impression was always useful especially when dealing with people they would have to work together with.


    ¡°Just coming as requested, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt nonchalantly. He too knew why Nestor had called for him. Establishing a good working relationship was vital for a coalition army to work properly, as disagreements between the leaders from the various sides could easily lead to disarray and catastrophe instead. As such, Reinhardt was all too happy to lend his face and relationships to ensure that doesn¡¯t happen.


    The dwarves of Knallzog had taken the situation seriously ¨C which made sense since they would be next in line should Posuin fall ¨C and sent out a hundred thousand soldiers just in the first wave, with reassurances that a second wave of reinforcements would follow within a month at most. That force split into two halves that each headed for the two battlefronts, and the fifty thousand strong force was already a relatively short distance away from the defense camp. Nestor along with Griselda, old Duke Banitu, and Reinhardt were meeting them by Kolitschei city.


    Out of the fifty thousand, reports they received from Reinhardt¡¯s flying scouts indicated that around fifteen thousand were cavalry forces, while another fifteen thousand were elite dwarven infantry. The remaining twenty thousand were auxiliaries, composed of people from the non-dwarven races that joined the Knallzog military, which had their own arrangements.


    Now that the force was within range to be seen without aid, Reinhardt could tell that out of the fifteen thousand cavalry, most were light cavalry, with around two thousand heavy cavalry and around a hundred war chariots. The relatively flat area by the defensive fortifications west of Kolitschei city meant that the cavalry and chariots could be used to devastating effect, and if they pushed the invaders back, former Gestis and Wanarua territory had quite a few regions suitable for cavalry operations.


    Not that dwarven cavalry cared all too much about the terrain anyway.


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    A third of the infantry wore the gear of dwarven heavy infantry, while the remaining two-thirds were light infantry by their standards. Out of the auxiliaries, they were clearly divided into two groups of ten thousand each. Each group had around a thousand cavalry ¨C more traditional light cavalry, in their case ¨C with the rest being infantrymen.


    Since the fighting at Lovia-Hosberg had also entered a stable stalemate and the invaders had not sent more troops that way, everyone had agreed to focus the northern half of the reinforcements on the Kolitschei front to rapidly solve the situation there first before dealing with the remaining enemies further north.


    The advancing reinforcements naturally saw the welcoming committee by the city¡¯s gate already waiting for them, and a smaller group broke off from the main force and went ahead. A lone war chariot rode ahead of that group and stopped before the group, and eight people disembarked from the vehicle to meet with them.


    Two of the eight were familiar faces to Reinhardt.


    ¡°Dukes Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez and Orsla Banitu, I presume?¡± asked Graf Angus Harscape of B?rengant as he strode ahead of the group. ¡°I presume this lady would be Duchess Griselda Kris Al-Geroulaz da Nunez, correct?¡± he asked with a grandfatherly smile on his wrinkled, bearded face. ¡°No need to introduce that one to me. I¡¯m not so old I¡¯d forget about my own good nephew.¡±


    ¡°Nice to see you again, Uncle Angus,¡± said Reinhardt as he gave the old dwarf a warm familial hug. ¡°And you too, cousin Siobhan,¡± he added, addressing a younger female dwarf that closely followed behind Angus. Siobhan Eilidh Harscape was the second daughter and heir to Graf Angus Harscape, and was naturally also familiar with Reinhardt.


    ¡°Actually, you should be calling her Your Grace instead, nowadays. She¡¯s the Grafin now, I¡¯ve passed it down to her just a month ago,¡± said Angus with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m just here since my old bones still want the thrill of battle and this one¡¯s looking to be the biggest one I¡¯ll probably see in my lifetime, haha!¡± added the old dwarf with a boisterous guffaw.


    ¡°Glad to have you with us nonetheless, Uncle,¡± said Reinhardt sincerely. As the noble in charge of Knallzog¡¯s northern border, Angus Harscape was probably the one dwarf in Knallzog that had seen the most battles in his lifetime, and that experience would be of great help to them.


    ¡°A pleasure, Sir Harscape, Grafin Harscape,¡± said Nestor as he returned the greeting with an equal bow. He was technically at equal rank with them, after all. ¡°We offer our gratitude for your willingness to lend a hand during this time of our need.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re doing this partly for ourselves, as I¡¯m sure you can understand, Duke Nunez,¡± said Siobhan as she walked by her father and greeted the Dukes. ¡°Should Posuin fall, Knallzog would be next in line since no invader would be stupid enough to try going through the marshlands or the Forest of Despair instead,¡± she added. ¡°Since we¡¯re bound to have to fight them anyway, it¡¯s better for us to do it in your lands rather than ours.¡±


    ¡°A blunt statement, but one I definitely cannot disagree with given that I¡¯m doing the same myself,¡± replied Nestor with a satisfied smirk on his face. His choice to support Kolitschei was made under the same logic, to keep the fighting outside his territory. Old Duke Banitu frowned at their blunt words but shook his head. He knew that this was a situation where he had to take the loss as he had no other option.

 Chapter 473 - A Daring Ploy

    ¡°Those who do not dare to take a risk have no business leading an army.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°How confident is Your Grace that there are no enemy scouts that witnessed our arrival?¡± asked Hauptmanngeneral von Lettow-Vorbeck, who was in charge of the dwarven light infantry contingent of the reinforcements. The dwarf maintained proper decorum since he knew that he was addressing foreign nobles while he was there merely as a representative of Knallzog¡¯s military.


    ¡°Quite confident, honestly, and you can drop the formality if we¡¯re in private. We don¡¯t have so much time so as to waste them with unneeded etiquette,¡± replied Nestor with a smile to the dwarven general. ¡°We have our cavalry routinely patrol and scour the area north and south of Kolitschei for enemy spies constantly, and Captain Edelstein also lent us a couple of his aerial scouts to that endeavor. I am confident that there are no enemy spies within a day¡¯s distance from here, at least.¡±


    ¡°Then the enemy would not be aware of our presence here¡­ which indeed means that the situation is suitable to set up a surprise attack against them,¡± commented Siobhan as she studied the map of the battlefield area. The reinforcements had stopped for the day by Kolitschei city to rest and recuperate while the leaders gathered together to discuss strategy. ¡°Can you elaborate on what sort of surprise attack you intend to spring on our foes, Duke Nunez?¡±


    Nestor had suggested springing a surprise attack on the enemy once they gathered in the tent, which garnered him surprised looks from the dwarven generals as well as curiosity from Angus Harscape and his daughter the Grafin.


    ¡°I feel that since our foes are unaware of the reinforcements¡¯ presence, we should risk it in an attempt to conclude the fighting here in Kolitschei in one fell swoop,¡± said Nestor with a serious look on his face. ¡°I propose we encircle the enemy and launch a simultaneous attack against them from four directions at the same time.¡±


    ¡°The youth sure are ambitious!¡± said Angus Harscape with an amused guffaw. ¡°Times like these really make me feel my age and how I¡¯m stuck in my ways! Do tell, young Nunez, enlighten us with what you have in mind!¡± he continued, which cut off any surprised outburst from the other dwarven commanders. ¡°I would not mind throwing the dice with you if you can convince me of your plan.¡±


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    ¡°Thank you for the opportunity, Sir Harscape,¡± said Nestor with a confident smile. He knew that if he could sell his plan to Angus then the other dwarves would most likely follow behind. ¡°What I have in mind is for the auxiliaries and the chariots to proceed as normal towards the defense line. Keep the chariots hidden in the back, while the auxiliaries should make their presence known. It would make the enemy aware that we have received reinforcements and draw their attention to the defense line.¡±


    ¡°In the meantime, the dwarven infantry will split into two detachments and move through the forests north and south of the battlefield. When the time comes, they will charge out in a thin line abreast formation while making as much ruckus as they could, while others from our army will kick up dust in the forest,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Making the enemy think that there¡¯s many more of them where they came from, huh? A classic trick from the strategy books,¡± noted Angus with a nod. ¡°You are aware that this sort of strategy will only work if our troops can sell the illusion that there are more of us than the enemy, yes? We will need to be able to overwhelm the enemy quite a bit for them to fail to notice our true numbers after a while.¡±


    ¡°On this matter, you can rest assured, Sir Harscape. The individual capabilities of the enemy soldiers are a notch below our own troops, much less your elites,¡± assured Nestor with a shake of his head. ¡°It is just their massive numbers that are rather troublesome to deal with. I believe each of your elites are worth at least five to ten of their soldiers.¡±


    Angus Harscape looked around and watched the faces of old Duke Banitu and Griselda as Nestor made his claim, then looked over to Reinhardt, who returned him a firm nod. He gave a satisfied smile at that point, convinced that the risky plan was indeed feasible.


    ¡°And what of our cavalry? You have left them out so far.¡±


    ¡°I am saving the best for last, Sir Harscape,¡± said Nestor as he used a finger to trace a line on the map before them. ¡°This is the Asequin Way, it¡¯s a mountain path that we used to use in the past, but had since fallen into disuse and disrepair. Horses and wagons would find it difficult to traverse, but I have been led to believe that the mounts your cavalry uses would not find it troublesome.¡±


    ¡°If you were to take the way, you would be able to emerge around here, roughly two hours away behind the region where the enemy had set up camp. If your cavalry were to charge their camp from behind while their army is already engaged with the defense lines¡­¡±


    ¡°And you would spring the rest of the assault at this time as well? The ones from the sides?¡± asked Angus as he leaned over the table to study the map closer.


    ¡°Yes, we would also open the defense lines at this point and have the chariots charge out, for a simultaneous four-way attack on the enemy army. We can coordinate our timing with Captain Edelstein¡¯s help, his aerial scouts would be able to signal the right timing to launch the attack to each of our groups, so we can maximize the effect of our strike.¡±


    ¡°A bold and daring plan. There¡¯s quite a bit of risk to it, but I cannot say I dislike that. This would also be a more effective way to use our troops rather than engage in a prolonged battle of attrition, and will likely save lives in the long run too. What say you all?¡±


    To little suspense, the other dwarven generals and Grafin Harscape all voted in favor of the plan.

 Chapter 474 - Sneaking Behind Enemy Lines

    ¡°Timing can be said to be everything to all sorts of plans and ploys. Even the best laid out plans could still result in horrible failure should the commander in question fail to grasp the proper timing to enact the plan.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Once more, Sir Harscape, I am obligated to remind you that this is a risky endeavor. There is no need for you to join us in the charge and risk yourself that way,¡± said Leutnantgeneral Arnsberg, a younger dwarf who was in command of the reinforcement¡¯s light cavalry contingent, for the third time that morning alone. ¡°It would be safer-¡±


    ¡°Hush. Stow it with safety and whatnot, kid,¡± replied Angus Harscape from atop his ram beside the younger general. Their disagreement mostly stemmed from how the old dwarf desired to join and lead the charge along with the rest of the cavalry rather than stay behind. ¡°I can¡¯t say it¡¯s unwise to teach the brats nowadays to fight from the safety of the middle of their army, but it¡¯s not setting a particularly good example for the troops, I tell you.¡±


    ¡°What can we say, Angus? Times change. We¡¯re just old fossils from the previous generation stuck in our ways,¡± consoled Generalhauptmann Edwin von Carlsen, an older dwarf from Angus¡¯ generation who had fought alongside him on multiple occasions. The way his rank was pronounced the other way around hinted at his seniority amongst equals. He was in charge of the heavy cavalry contingent of this expedition.


    ¡°I know right? Back in our days everybody would be clamoring to be at the head of the charge, but nowadays they just wanted to be safe in the middle and the back. Embarrassing is what it is, Edwin! Embarassing!¡± lamented Angus in an exaggerated manner. ¡°I¡¯m nearing my five hundreds already. I need to get my share of so-called ¡®risky endeavors¡¯ before I can no longer swing an axe properly!¡±


    ¡°Just leave Angus be and let him do as he wishes, kid,¡± said von Carlsen to the younger officer. ¡°You¡¯re not going to stop an old stubborn goat like him short of tying him up to a tree or the like. Just let him have his fun. Besides, it¡¯d help your people¡¯s morale to have him leading the charge. He might be old, but he knows what he¡¯s doing, and still has a mean lance arm to boot.¡±


    The younger dwarf was forced to silence after the exchange as he was outnumbered. Angus Harscape might not hold an official rank, but he was considered equal to them for this expedition¡¯s purposes, and the older general was clearly on his side.


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    At the moment, the cavalry contingent ¨C all fourteen thousand of them, sans chariots ¨C of the dwarven reinforcements were traversing the mountain path Nestor pointed out. The path was indeed a rather treacherous one, the sort that no merchant convoy would have taken if they were sane. Yet the difficult and rough terrain of the path posed no trouble for the dwarven cavalry.


    Their heavy rhinos simply plodded through the path without a care, directly removing any obstacle in their way using their horns. Even though some parts of the path were so narrow that the massive beasts could only walk by two at a time, they still made good time through the road. Not that the rhinos were fast to begin with, but they still made a good pace over the difficult terrain.


    Behind the rhinos followed the rams and the light cavalry riders on their backs. They found the road even easier to traverse, with the bulky rams at times nimbly walking on the cliffsides at the narrower parts of the road. Some of the younger dwarven riders got quite a bit of a scare when their mounts sashayed over the cliffside, but fortunately no accidents took place.


    Even though they made ¡°good time¡±, the cavalry contingent still took the entire day to traverse the mountain path and reach their destination behind the enemy lines. There they quietly set up a temporary camp ¨C without campfires ¨C and set up guards to avoid discovery by the enemy army. It was easy enough for the dwarves who were used to long expeditions underground where setting up a fire was rarely an option.


    They rested through the night, fortunately safe and undiscovered by the enemy army. Around then, one of Reinhardt¡¯s flying scouts also dropped by and pointed out their location on the map relative to the enemy base. The dwarves were around two and a half hours away from the enemy camp, assuming they rode at a trot along the way. It was just as they had planned with Nestor.


    All that remained was for them to wait for the right time. They wanted the enemy army to be engaged and entangled properly with the defense line, their focus towards the front, before the cavalry made their presence known. It would take some luck and finesse, but by taking less-used roads and traveling slowly, they should be able to hide their presence for most of the way.


    Shortly after the dwarves had their breakfast, when they were oiling and otherwise performing maintenance on their weapons, the same aerial scout from the day before returned and told them that the enemy army had marched out to battle, and that they too should start their march. The dwarves quickly put away their tools and geared themselves before they hopped onto their respective steeds.


    Fortunately, the wool of the rams helped trap the dust cloud kicked up by the cavalry¡¯s passage, while the more ponderous rhinos did not kick up much in comparison, which allowed them to travel towards the back of the enemy camp unnoticed for the most part. It was not until they were only around ten minutes away that some enemy scouts caught sight of them, turned around, and galloped back to the camp.


    ¡°Well, looks like the jig is up, fellas. You all know what to do,¡± said Angus Harscape with a wide grin on his face as he looked at the escaping enemy scout. By this point they had approached closer than they had planned for, which was already unexpected. The dwarven heavies quickly moved their Rhinos to form the frontmost layer of a wedge formation, while the rams of the light cavalry gathered up behind them.


    ¡°Charge!¡±

 Chapter 475 - Like Fish in a Basket

    ¡°Sure, people love to wax poetic about it, but in reality, there are only three possible outcomes if the army you lead fell into one of the enemy¡¯s plans. You could force your way through all the clever plotting and strategy by brute force, typically by relying on either an advantage in troop quantity, quality, or both. Alternatively, you could withdraw and pull out before the situation becomes untenable. This is unlikely to go smoothly or without sacrifice, but it is usually the safer option.


    The third possibility, you ask? You do neither of the above and die.¡± - Rittmeister Janus Olfram, Herzog von Clausewitz, circa 307 FP.


    Shortly after the imperial army discovered the dwarven cavalry charging for their rear, several things happened at the same time.


    The imperial army naturally called for their troops to withdraw and prepare to repel the surprise attack. This was expected, and even for a highly disciplined army it was not easy to turn around and disengage from an enemy, much less an army that was heavy on the conscripts. As such, the order caused some minor chaos amongst the imperial army as they tried to obey the commands they were given.


    That was when sharp, shrill bird cries echoed from above the battlefield, the sounds made by Reinhardt¡¯s flying scouts, a loud and clear signal to spring the assault they prepared for this occasion.


    A wall of steel emerged from the forest north of the battlefield, one that encompassed over a good half of the battlefield¡¯s width, or at least that was what they seemed like to the imperial army. The foreigners had never seen a solid line of dwarven infantry before and likely mistook them as a moving wall of steel. Another such wall also emerged to the south, though this time part of the length was filled by the Free Lances.


    During the day where the cavalry snuck behind the enemy lines through the mountain path, the dwarven infantry had split up and quietly entered the forests to the north and south of the battlefield. Three thousand heavies and half the light infantry went to the north, while the remaining ones went to the south, with the Free Lances to make up for the thousand fewer heavies in that group.


    They formed a long, thin line and pressed against the sides of the imperial army¡¯s formation, adding to the chaos as others in the forest behind them used branches and other means to kick up a massive dust cloud to give the illusion that there were many more troops coming. The sudden assault from the sides by unfamiliar foes coupled with the perception that they had fallen to a pincer attack caused more chaos to take place amongst the enemy troops.


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    As the imperial army¡¯s frontline started to disengage from the defenders, they also saw to their surprise how some of the earthen ramparts suddenly shifted to the sides, almost like a gate opening wide. Their surprise was short-lived, however, and was soon replaced with horror when dwarven war chariots rushed out from the opening in the defense lines and straight into the retreating imperial army¡¯s frontline.


    The massive chariots, each drawn by three rhinos, passed through the opening in the defense line four at a time and the ones in front immediately spread out to the sides to make room for the ones further behind. The chariots kept coming out until they formed a line twenty-five chariots across and four chariots deep, at which point Grafin Harscape, atop the second chariot in the center of the line, gave the order to charge out.


    Imperial soldiers were trampled beneath the heavy hooves of the rhinos, or directly skewered by their horns. Others fell before the chariots and were directly run over, the solid wheels of the metal contraptions easily crushing everything beneath it. Yet others were scythed down by either the spiked rods that extended from the axles of the chariots or the long polearms held by its occupants, while marksmen armed with repeating crossbows shot down those beyond their reach.


    As the chariots pressed westwards, the line formation to the north and south pressed forward, pushing the imperial army soldiers towards the center of the battlefield, where they would end up being in the path of the oncoming chariots. The imperial soldiers naturally resisted, but found themselves stymied by the foreign foe they faced for the first time.


    Their spears faltered before the heavy army worn by the dwarves, and their armor shattered against the powerful blows that the dwarven elite countered with. The short, stout dwarves looked like looming constructs of steel that seemed unstoppable to the imperial soldiers and they kept getting pushed back as a result.


    Around that time, the cavalry charge reached the back of the imperial army¡¯s makeshift camp on the other end of the battlefield.


    Two thousand heavy cavalry mounted on rhinos directly charged through the wooden fences the imperial army set up around their camp as if it wasn¡¯t there. They broke into the camp and just directly crashed through tents, watch towers, and other structures before them, laying waste and trampling those who dared to stand before them.


    Each of the rhino mounts of the heavy cavalry detachment wore barding that were as impenetrable as what their riders wore, which made them look like fearsome, unstoppable monsters to the enemy army unfamiliar with them.


    Behind the heavies, came the dwarven light cavalry with Angus Harscape directly leading the charge. The dwarven light cavalry bore no shields, trusting in their armor to deflect any blows that came their way, and instead carried weapons in both hands. Most carried some sort of spear or lance to take advantage of the momentum of their charge paired with whatever hand weapon they favored.


    Angus Harscape himself carried a solid metal lance, something a human wouldn¡¯t even be able to wield, in one hand and an axe in the other as he reveled in the charge, the lance in his hand piercing through foes that stood in his way ¨C if his mount didn¡¯t ram them with bone-crushing force instead ¨C and his axe chopped down at enemy soldiers he passed by.

 Side Story 81 - When it Rains...

    ¡°Misfortune seeks company.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Curses! Have you sent the messenger to Xiao Jiangjun Taouan to retreat in an orderly manner!?¡± yelled Zhong Jiangjun Kang Lu-Shih to his attendant as he watched the deteriorating situation at the front lines from afar. The way the enemy had suddenly brought out new forces from the forests to their north and south just after his scouts detected a detachment of enemy cavalry coming from behind smelled of a pre-arranged maneuver.


    He had assigned Xiao Jiangjun Amila Taouan, youngest daughter to the late Da Jiangjun, as the field commander of the offensive for the past few days, partly to help the young woman to snap out of the quagmire of sadness and depression she was stuck in. The sudden loss of her mother, brother, and three cousins was a big impact on the young woman¡¯s psyche, as could be expected given the circumstances, so Lu-Shih hoped the monotony of commanding the stable battle of attrition would help her somewhat.


    That said, he never expected the stable situation to suddenly upend itself without warning after just a few days. Sure, his people reported that there seemed to be more people on the defending side the previous day, but that was expected. The enemy would naturally have their own reinforcements, especially since they had been fighting for a while now.


    What he failed to expect was for those reinforcements to include odd and bizarre looking troops in large quantities that had the courage to turn the tables on him just a day after they arrived. He suspected that the enemy troops that even now kept coming from the forests must have hidden there through the previous day, though he still had no idea what route the enemy cavalry had taken to get behind his forces.


    One way or another, everything accumulated to a potential disaster for the imperial army, doubly so when he saw how the enemy¡¯s defense line had some of its structures swing open like a gate and disgorged massive war chariots towards them. If the battlefield was more open, where his cavalry would have room to maneuver, he would be able to engage the chariots to his advantage. At the cramped, close confines of the battlefield they were at, and with the way those chariots simply ran over his soldiers, however, there was little that Lu-Shih could have done.


    ¡°The messenger had gone out five minutes ago, Jiangjun, but given the situation¡­ it might well be that Xiao Jiangjun Taouan could not take control of the situation,¡± said Lu-Shih¡¯s adjutant with a rather nervous tone. ¡°Some of the soldiers at the front are routing already. It is difficult even for an experienced commander to control the army in that state.¡±


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    ¡°Fine,¡± said Lu-Shih with a sigh. The situation up front was one he couldn¡¯t change, and it would be too late even if he was to ride there to take control in person, as things would have deteriorated further by the time he arrived. Instead, he chose to do what he could to stabilize the situation where he was first. ¡°Mount up and gather the cavalry, we need to prevent these enemies from throwing our camp into chaos as well.¡±


    ¡°As you command!¡±


    While his adjutant rounded up his personal group of escorts amongst the cavalry, Lu-Shih went to his horse and mounted the beast skillfully. He had fought through the succession war as a cavalryman and rose to his current rank by feats of arms, so it was something he was used to. One of the soldiers brought him his trusted old spear once he was seated, and he led his horse on a calm walk towards where his escorts were.


    To his surprise, the enemy cavalry had directly ignored the fences his troops put up around the camp, and was already breaking through several sections of it by the time he gathered with his escorts. The big, bulky, armored beasts that the enemy rode either directly crashed through the wooden fences or uprooted them with a heave from their horns.


    ¡°With me! We must stop them before they could wreak havoc in our camp!¡± yelled Lu-Shih as he led a large part of the Imperial army¡¯s cavalry contingent to meet the enemy cavalry head-on. Due to the enemy¡¯s defensive fortifications, the cavalry had not been given much to do after the first couple of days, so they rode with eagerness to finally contribute more to the battle.


    In terms of numbers there were more of the imperial cavalry compared to their odd foes, but Lu-Shih knew better than to take his foes lightly. He led his troops around the camp, with the main force he led about to meet the enemy headlong, while another two detachments circled around to strike at the enemies from the flanks shortly after.


    As the distance rapidly closed to under a hundred paces, most of the cavalrymen at the front of the imperial formation took out their bows and loosed arrows at the opposing cavalry. To their dismay, however, their arrows failed to elicit much of a response, nor any result from the enemy, whose armor was so thick that the arrows just bounced or shattered off them.


    Instead, once they closed to fifty paces, Lu-Shih noted how some of the enemies seated at the backs of the horned beasts ¨C there were three of them on each of the beasts ¨C lifted odd-looking crossbows and started to crank a lever on its side. The next thing he knew, those crossbows spat out bolt after bolt towards his troops, with far more lethal results compared to their own barrage.


    The adjutant riding to Lu-Shih¡¯s left had the misfortune of having been the target of four bolts at the same time. One of the bolts struck the man on the arm, another hit him in the thigh, but the last two pierced into his chest, straight through his armor and deep into his body. It was a sight that made Lu-Shih couldn¡¯t help but to break out in sweat even as he deflected one bolt that came his way with the shaft of his spear.


    Even the impact he felt through his weapon scared him, as it made it clear to him just how much force each of those bolts contained.

 Side Story 82 - It Pours

    ¡°But most clouds also have silver linings.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Watch out, Jiangjun!¡± yelled another of Lu-Shih¡¯s adjutants as he was about to cross paths with the odd enemy cavalry. He had angled his horse to pass between two of the bulky armored beasts his enemies rode, and was hoping to be able to stab at them as he passed. That turned out to be so much wishful thinking, however.


    Even before he got close enough to strike with his spear the riders on the backs of the beasts already swung their extra-long polearms ¨C each one must be at least a good three meters long ¨C towards him, and it was all Lu-Shih could do to defend himself. He managed to deflect one of the strikes with his spear and block the other on the shaft, but the power behind those blows nearly threw him off his horse even so.


    In fact, the strike that he blocked left a deep groove on the hardwood shaft of his spear, one that went almost a third the shaft¡¯s thickness. That caused cold sweat to form on his back as he realized that if he had angled his block wrong the strike might well have cleaved right through his weapon and into him instead.


    He was fortunate, as he saw that more than a few of his escorts had been cut down from their saddles by the passing enemies. On the other hand, what few blows they managed to land mostly failed to go through the enemy¡¯s armor, and while a few managed to dismount their opponents, the short, stout foes just stood back up after the fall, seemingly none the worse for wear.


    There was still a second row of the armored beast cavalry behind the first, but Lu-Shih managed to duck underneath the swing of the one opponent that struck at him, while at the same time returning the favor with a thrust of his spear. He was disappointed to find out that his spear only struck solid armor, however, the impact almost numbing his hand from the force involved, while his opponent was not even unhorsed.


    Only then did Lu-Shih notice that behind the armored beasts were more of the enemy cavalry, many more, in fact. At least ten thousand or more of them hidden from sight behind their bulkier, armored compatriots at the front. The enemy cavalry still had the same short, stout figures on the mounts, but this time their mounts looked more like large rams with gray to black wool.


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    Kang Lu-Shih only had moments to adjust himself before he met the first of the enemy cavalry that rode straight towards him and his steed. He stabbed forth with his spear, but his opponent used an axe to push away his strike to the side, while at the same time returning the favor with the wicked lance they held in their other hand.


    Lu-Shih managed to avoid the deadly blow, though it stuck his shoulder plate¡¯s edge and tore the piece of armor off, but unfortunately for him, his foe wasn¡¯t done. Instead of passing by him as was normal when opposing cavalry ran into each other, his opponent¡¯s ram went directly at Lu-Shih¡¯s horse. The ram¡¯s horned forehead slammed hard against the horse¡¯s chest with bone-breaking force, and with a pained whinny, Lu-Shih felt his steed faltering beneath him.


    Try as he might, he was unable to extricate himself from his faltering steed in time, and as the horse fell to its side, Lu-Shih felt something give in his left leg, which was trapped between the horse¡¯s body and the ground, followed by a dull pain. Once again, he was fortunate in that his foe had not bothered to finish him off and instead continued to charge ahead, yet the sight he saw also made him sweat with worry.


    The way the large ram just leapt over Lu-Shih¡¯s fallen horse ¨C and him as well ¨C while quickly transitioning into another gallop as it landed was something that made him realize that while the rams these foes rode did not seem to be as fast or maneuverable as the horses the Imperial cavalry preferred, they had their own advantages. That ability to explosively speed up from a standstill alone eliminated one of the cavalry unit¡¯s biggest flaw already.


    Typically a cavalry unit relied a lot on the momentum they built up to charge and strike and then escape to repeat the process all over again. A cavalry unit that was caught in a quagmire was as good as dead, as they would be reduced to large, slow targets unable to move effectively. Yet these foes had mounts that eliminated that worry, since Lu-Shih could tell that if the ram could pull off such a jump from a standstill, it could also burst forth with devastating force if it chose to ram everything in its way.


    More and more of the enemy cavalry galloped past where Lu-Shih lay, one leg trapped beneath his horse and in no state to pry himself out. He lost sight of the ongoing battle due to his position, and could only guess from the noise he heard behind him. The way the fighting kept going further away from his position didn¡¯t bode well, however.


    After what felt like an eternity he saw some of the enemy cavalry on the bulky, armored beast return to where he was. The enemies spoke in a language he didn¡¯t understand, but he noticed how the one seated at the forward position pointed at him. One of the other riders, the one in the middle, said something back then leapt down from the back of the beast.


    Then that rider walked over to where Lu-Shih was, held his shoulder with one large hand and the saddle on the back of his dead horse with the other. With a grunt, the short, stout enemy rider lifted the dead horse¡¯s carcass enough that he could pull Lu-Shih¡¯s broken leg out from underneath it, then he tied Lu-Shih¡¯s arms behind his back and carried him over to the armored beast where he was laid across its bag like a piece of luggage.

 Chapter 476 - Havoc Unchained

    ¡°Beware those let loose after being caged for so long. All that pent-up frustration and aggression has to go somewhere, and it¡¯s likely headed your way.¡± - Brian Edessach, retired mercenary turned barkeep.


    To the south of the battlefield, Reinhardt and his Free Lances was positioned on the far western end of the battle lines, with the dwarven heavy infantry to their east and the light infantry taking up the region closer to the defense lines. At first, when they were informed to send an extra thousand of the heavies to the north and to let the Free Lances take up the place, some of the dwarven commanders expressed their skepticism.


    It was an understandable doubt. This time around the dwarves sent out their elites from the central region, arguably the best troops in Knallzog responsible for the defense of the most important areas of the kingdom. These elites typically only met their match when sparring against their own fellows, and were rarely matched otherwise.


    On top of that, the dwarves understandably had a high opinion on their own military¡¯s prowess, which was understandable given how their heavy infantry and heavy cavalry were arguably without peer in the world. For that reason, the main elite units of the dwarven army were entirely composed of dwarves, with non-dwarves forming part of the auxiliary legions instead.


    Back during the days when the Free Lances were still under Reinhardt¡¯s aunt Ingrid¡¯s command, the company was at least half dwarven by composition, if not more. That ratio had been greatly diluted under Reinhardt¡¯s lead because he had more relaxed hiring policies and also accepted people from many different places.


    Because of that though, there was a bit of skepticism amongst the dwarven elites about their performance, though the grumbling was mostly settled by a command from uncle Angus. Reinhardt himself mostly ignored the grumbles, as he knew that it was better to let actions and results speak for themselves rather than to try to convince the other side using words.


    As the signal was given, the Free Lances surged forth alongside their dwarven allies. Reinhardt places all three strike platoons as well as Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons right at the forefront of their charge, while Elfriede¡¯s platoon split up into smaller units and followed each of the five platoons to do their headhunting where opportunity beckoned.


    To their left flank, Reinhardt positioned Alvaro¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s units to hold against the enemy troops further west in case they pushed against the exposed mercenary flank. Alva and Branka¡¯s archer platoons also stayed close to the edge of the forest to lend fire support from afar, with more of their members stationed closer to the west.


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    Meanwhile, Reinhardt and Lars brought their own platoons alongside Nicole, Egil, and Fatimah, following behind the charge, with each platoon assigned a section to watch out for. Should their troops in the assigned section show signs of faltering, the backup troops would be there to reinforce them as needed. Alternatively they were to replace a platoon that had taken too many injuries or were fatigued from the battle.


    It turned out that he had over-prepared, as the Imperial army before him crumbled to the charge and started to scatter and rout in short order. Apparently the knowledge that they were hemmed in from all sides and were facing enemies they had never seen before had demoralized the enemy and caused quite a bit of panic within their ranks.


    So when Reinhardt and his mercenaries charged straight into the enemy ranks, that just further amplified that panic and allowed them to make rapid progress that forced the dwarven heavies to their immediate east to speed up as well to not be left behind.


    Several enemy officers of varying ranks were swept up in the mercenaries¡¯ charge and were either killed or captured in the process, the mercenaries working like a living organism and efficiently passing the captives ¨C or heads ¨C to the rear for safe keeping. After all, officers meant bounties and bonuses that they could be exchanged for after the battle.


    The march of the dwarven war chariots from the east and the dwarven cavalry from the west practically squeezed the enemy army to escape from the north-west and south-west, where the dwarven infantry were not present. A large number of the enemy troops ran away, around twenty thousand or so were taken prisoner after the battle, and at least as many were killed.


    It felt a bit like a dream to witness the enemy that had been fighting against them for the better part of a month suddenly turned to rout in a single day. Then again, the victory relied a lot on the enemy¡¯s unfamiliarity with the dwarven forces, and if what their captives said about the enemy numbers were true, the enemy still had plenty of soldiers to spare.


    Soldiers that would learn from their early losses.


    Most of the dead enemy soldiers met with tragic ends. The weapons used by dwarves were typically heavier ones to suit their stronger physique, and the damage caused by their blows often either directly carved a person¡¯s body into halves or crushed them to the point that not even their own mothers would be able to identify them.


    Many of the enemy soldiers taken captive had been close by when they saw their compatriots meet with such grisly ends, which made their decision to surrender quite understandable. Courage and bravery was one thing, but it was another thing entirely when one was covered in the blood and guts of a compatriot that was standing next to them just moments ago. People they might have known or even talked to just the night before, perhaps even their friend or family.


    As for those who ran away, many of them dropped their weapons or threw away their armor in order to run faster, so they would likely either pose no more threat or would at least burden the enemy¡¯s supply situation. Naturally, the leaders on the coalition¡¯s side were aware that winning the one battle didn¡¯t mean that they had won the war, so they immediately planned out their next move.

 Chapter 477 - Plans for the Immediate Future

    ¡°Never count your chickens before they hatch.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°That was a mite easier than I thought it¡¯d be, I got to say,¡± said Angus Harscape as he returned to the defense camp after the battle, still in his armor that was soaked quite thoroughly with the blood and gore of his unfortunate opponents. Not that most of the others present in the camp were better off. Other than old Duke Banitu all the other leaders had led their troops in person and from the blood splattered on their armor, seen combat as well.


    ¡°They cracked much faster than we anticipated to the chariots and the cavalry, I admit,¡± said Nestor with a satisfied smile on his face. The miscalculation was an unexpected one, and likely came to be because their enemies were completely unfamiliar with the dwarves from Knallzog, but it was a happy miscalculation. Definitely the sort of boon he would take without a second thought. ¡°I see that you¡¯re well after the fighting, Sir Harscape. That is good to know.¡±


    ¡°Eh, other than the first few, most of them didn¡¯t really give much of a fight. Too busy running off with their beards fluttering behind them,¡± replied the old dwarf with an annoyed scoff. ¡°Wasn¡¯t expecting them to fold over like a poorly dug cave, but what can you do?¡±


    ¡°This will probably be the only time. The rest of their troops to the south will likely have gotten more used to fighting dwarven forces by now, we assume,¡± consoled Nestor with a shake of his head. ¡°These ones probably never saw your kind before and had no idea how to deal with you, so they made mistakes and panicked.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, amateurs. Can¡¯t even let an old dwarf get some good fun,¡± muttered the old dwarf under his breath.


    The fighting on the battlefield had pretty much ended, and other than herding over the tens of thousands of prisoners they caught, the coalition army was also busy with collecting the armor and weapons that many of the escaping enemies dropped behind them. Still others ¨C mostly the mercenaries ¨C stripped what useful things they could grab from the dead enemy soldiers.


    None of them laid so much as a hand on their own dead allies, though. Those bodies would be brought back to be buried honorably.


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    ¡°So what are we doing next, Duke Nunez?¡± asked Grafin Siobhan Harscape from where she stood at the side of the table. The group had basically picked Nestor as the chief commander for the campaign since he was far more familiar with Posuin as a whole and had proven himself to be a sharp strategic mind. The dwarven reinforcements were technically just his allies so they would work with him only if they felt his suggestions or commands made sense, though.


    ¡°Probably close to a hundred thousand of them ran away, so we can expect to be outnumbered when we engage them once more. Since they are in foreign lands, the only real choice for those runaway soldiers would be to reunite with their other main force to the south,¡± said Nestor as he traced a path with his finger headed west then south. ¡°Best we can expect is if the enemy does not have enough equipment to get them ready for battle in a short period of time, but I feel that this would be wishful thinking at most.¡±


    ¡°They have a large contingent of archers. It would be easy for them to have those archers lend their armor to the escapees who threw away their equipment and shove some crude spear in their hands,¡± commented Duke Banitu with a thoughtful look. ¡°The archers wouldn¡¯t lose too much by going unarmored since they mostly stayed at the back anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to go about things. I think they will likely have enough spare weapons and armor to outfit the escapees to fight again, though. Even if not their own, they would have gotten plenty of equipment from devouring Wanarua, Gestis, and the rest,¡± suggested Griselda with a frown. ¡°All they would really need would be new officers to take charge after that.¡±


    ¡°All right, I guess we can all agree that we¡¯ll still be fighting at a numerical disadvantage going forward. What¡¯s the immediate plan, though? What do you youngsters think we should do next?¡± asked Angus with a shake of his head. He was present partly to lend his military experience and partly to take part in one last major battle while he still could.


    ¡°Well, we definitely cannot leave Kolitschei unguarded, so a portion of the troops will have to stay and guard here, Duke Banitu¡¯s most likely,¡± said Nestor, to which the old duke nodded in agreement. ¡°We would also need to both push further west and reinforce Lovia-Hosberg as well. I would suggest for a detachment of thirty to forty thousand to veer north and settle the situation at Lovia-Hosberg before catching up to us further west while we push towards former Gestis territory.¡±


    ¡°Sounds workable. The ones who went north can then bring Damien¡¯s troops as well as what Lovia-Hosberg could spare to further reinforce our numbers then,¡± noted Griselda. At the moment the forces of Lovia-Hosberg and reinforcements under Nestor¡¯s younger brother Damien were fighting against a smaller detachment of the enemy.


    ¡°Take the cavalry,¡± suggested Angus. ¡°You¡¯ll want to get there and back faster, so might as well send out our cavalry to let them have something to do in the meantime. We should be able to muster at least thirty thousand cavalry between all our forces, no?¡±


    With that suggestion, it was quickly decided that Grafin Harscape and Duke Banitu would lead the coalition¡¯s cavalry contingent to Lovia-Hosberg, while the rest of the troops under Nestor¡¯s leadership would head further west. Duke Banitu would also leave behind ten thousand of his troops to garrison the defense lines by Kolitschei, just in case they were needed there. For all they know, some of the escaping enemies might have gathered and decided to go for broke and attack the city after all.

 Chapter 478 - Taking the Fight to the Enemy

    ¡°From a tactical perspective, fighting in one¡¯s home ground was always the superior option. One would be more familiar with the terrain, have support from the local populace, and the morale benefit from fighting to defend one¡¯s home.


    From a strategic point of view, however, it was instead better to fight in someone else¡¯s territory. Wars were destructive to the environment. More than a few areas known for its prosperity or abundance had been rendered down to wasteland or even burned down to the ground in the course of wars that ook place there.


    While one sacrificed certain tactical benefits by fighting outside their home ground, it also spared one¡¯s own territory from being made a victim in the process, arguably a reasonable exchange of benefit.¡± - Karina Ivo Louade, general and strategist from Dvergarder, circa 208 FP.


    Even with the plan decided, moving an army was not a task that could be done in haste, especially when the army was well in the six digits in numbers.


    It took the coalition army another day to finish their preparation for the march, and it was only in the morning two days after the battle that they marched out from the defenses they had manned for the past few weeks. The ten thousand left behind by Duke Banitu would take care of Kolitschei¡¯s defenses, as well as handle other things like tidying up the battlefield.


    There were thousands of enemy corpses to deal with after all, which after being stripped of all their valuables were simply dumped together in mass graves. The defending troops cared enough to take their dead home for burial, but the enemy did not get such privileges. In fact, if it were not for long established health practices, some would have left them to rot instead.


    It was already a mercy to bury them, which was the chosen method because it would be risky to burn the corpses in a funeral pyre given the location. Too much risk of the forest catching fire if things were done that way.


    The majority of the army, forces from Algenverr, Jonkver, Kolitschei, and Knallzog, all marched westwards, while their combined cavalry contingent ¨C which as it turned out was a bit shy of the expected thirty thousand at only twenty-seven thousand ¨C rode northwards to Lovia-Hosberg instead. Out of all the roads between Lovia-Hosberg and its neighboring nations the one that led to Kolitschei was in the best condition and most suitable for large-scale traversal, hence the cavalry¡¯s choice to take that road.


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    Given the stable state of the fighting at Lovia-Hosberg, it was a given that the enemy forces there ¨C a meager fifty thousand ¨C was mostly sent to keep the forces there busy rather than to go for a full invasion. Damien¡¯s troops and Lovia-Hosberg¡¯s own soldiers kept them at bay, and the hope was for the cavalry reinforcements to catch the enemy off guard before they received news of the victory at Kolitschei.


    Even with their speed, though, part of the escaping enemies were from their cavalry, and apparently some of those thought of their compatriots even as they ran away. By the time the reinforcement¡¯s cavalry detachment reached the battlefield in Lovia-Hosberg, they discovered that the Imperial forces had withdrawn just the day before.


    The local defenders had not dared to chase, and only after some reassurance agreed to contribute to the cause. The cavalry detachment left Lovia-Hosberg with an additional forty thousand soldiers, twenty thousand from Lovia-Hosberg, while the rest were Damien¡¯s detachment of troops. Damien had left his injured to rest and recuperate and only took the rest with him.


    From the northern state they rushed after the escaping enemy army but failed to catch them due to the delay along the way. From what the detachment force could tell, the fifty thousand strong enemy force that was in Lovia-Hosberg were not strong, but it was still annoying that they managed to retreat in an orderly manner.


    Several days later, the group from Lovia-Hosberg met with the main group at the western regions of Kolitschei, at the fort where the Kolitscheians first made their stand before the rest came to help. The enemies stationed to garrison that fort turned out to have fled as well, having heard the news of their loss from escaping compatriots, and it was assumed that the fifty thousand strong enemy force from Lovia-Hosberg likely managed to slip away before the coalition force could cut off their retreat.


    Because of that, they chose to gather and wait for the rest at the fort, which provided a convenient place to base themselves in for the time being. The gathered coalition forces numbered around a hundred seventy five thousand strong, but they knew that their enemy also had at least as much waiting for them, further west in Gestis territory which they had conquered already.


    That was not considering the likely possibility that the enemy forces might have sent more troops from their larger, southern detachment to help the northern one. From all reports they received so far, the Imperial army¡¯s southern detachment had a slight advantage over the coalition troops especially since former Duke Emil Bostvan¡¯s death in battle. It was only the arrival of reinforcements from Knallzog that stabilized the situation.


    As it was, sometimes having too many troops might not affect a battle by much. Only so many troops could be fighting at a time, after all, with having more at times only meaning that one had more spares to send out when those in front died or were forced to withdraw. The Imperial army could very well send another fifty thousand troops or more to the north without affecting the progress of the fighting in the south and everybody knows it.


    Worse was how they would also have the advantage of the fortifications they conquered in Gestis ¨C and more importantly, that of Oleynuos ¨C which would give the invaders the advantage of defensive fortifications this time around. That made things harder for the coalition forces to a degree, which was why they halted to prepare first.

 Side Story 83 - News of Defeat

    ¡°Bad news is never what one wants to hear. Still, there is no reason to kill the messenger.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Enter,¡± said Leung Hua-Jeong as he noticed the wind stir outside the flap of his tent in a way that suggested a person¡¯s presence.


    ¡°Reporting, Long Jiangjun! We have received an urgent missive from our compatriots in the north!¡± stated a soldier who knelt down after he walked three steps away from the general¡¯s work table, behind which he was seated. The soldier in question then brought out a sealed roll of parchment from within his armor and proffered it with both hands while still kneeling. ¡°The missive had just arrived moments ago.¡±


    Leung Hua-Jeong¡¯s rank of Long Jiangjun, or the ¡°Dragon General¡±, was a title reserved in the Al-Shan Empire for the four greatest generals, often ones celebrated for some manner of prowess where they excelled over their rivals. In his case, he was granted the title for his unrivaled prowess in the field of archery, something he had shown off in the current campaign by slaying one of the enemy high commanders with a single arrow a couple weeks ago.


    Too bad that it didn¡¯t lead to the enemy forces¡¯ collapse like he hoped for, but it was good enough. The Imperial army managed to gain some advantages from the chaos that unfolded before another of the enemy commanders ¨C this one far more guarded from arrows ¨C regained control. It was a good enough result for the expenditure of one arrow and some mana.


    He picked one the missive with one wrinkled hand ¨C he was not getting any younger at sixty-one ¨C and raised an eyebrow at the white strips of silk the roll of parchment was tied with. The Empire had a system for missives where they would be tied with silk of different colors based on their urgency, and white meant the highest level of emergency.


    With a frown on his wizened face, he untied the bindings and broke the seal on the scroll. The news contained within was short and to the point, but the impact it brought was not to be underestimated even so.


    The northern detachment of the army had been defeated. Most of the generals in charge of the detachment were either dead or their whereabouts were unknown. Losses exceed fifty thousand soldiers, on a conservative estimate, and many of the escaping soldiers did so without their equipment. The parchment was signed with the seal of Zhong Jiangjun Zahira Al-Nairi, who he knew was stationed in the large city they captured to garrison it.


    Of course, not all of the news he received was bad. Out of the northern detachment, most of the soldiers managed to escape to regroup at the city they garrisoned, where they would set up a defense while waiting for further orders. The equipment situation was also taken care of by making use of the weapons they captured after defeating the original owners of the city, even if it resulted in a bit of mish-mash.


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    All considered, it could have definitely been worse.


    That Zahira Al-Nairi chose such a passive approach in the face of the defeat was understandable. The woman was of passable skill and competence, yet at the same time also an inflexible one when it came to orders. Since she had likely been ordered by Da Jiangjun Taouan to hold the city and keep it safe, she wouldn¡¯t get funny ideas like trying to gain merit by defeating the enemies herself.


    Instead, she would most likely wait for further orders from above. Since there were only three people of the Da Jiangjun rank or higher in the expedition and the remaining two were both in the south, she naturally chose to hunker down and wait.


    Leung Hua-Jeong was the highest commander of the first wave of the Imperial army¡¯s expedition, and he had gone to the south together with one of the Da Jiangjuns, while leaving the northern detachment in Zabibah Taouan¡¯s hand. Losses were not unexpected, since after all war was unpredictable, but the loss of most of the northern detachment¡¯s command staff was a bigger problem.


    ¡°Call for Da Jiangjun Wong,¡± he said to the still-kneeling soldier. ¡°And tell him it is urgent,¡± he added while tossing the kneeling man a small flag that signified a token of his authority.


    ¡°Yes, Sir! It shall be done!¡± replied the soldier as he stood up, saluted, and left with haste.


    Before half an hour had passed, Da Jiangjun Wong Sui-Han had arrived as Hua-Jeong requested. The other general was his junior by around two decades, and generally deferred to him when it came to decision making. He was a typical sort who rode on the coattails of his superiors and his connections to climb up the ranks, but was at least competent, which already made him better than most.


    ¡°You called, Sir?¡± asked the younger general.


    ¡°Yes. Read this,¡± said Hua-Jeong as he tossed the missive over to his junior general. The man caught the missive in mid-air and unfurled the parchment before he frowned as he read the message contained within. His frown grew deeper as he read further.


    ¡°This¡­ does not sound good, Sir,¡± he suggested rather timidly. ¡°How do you plan to deal with the situation?¡±


    ¡°I want you to remain here with Samhain, Fu, and the Zhang siblings,¡± said the old general as he named a Zhong Jiangjun and three Xiao Jiangjuns. ¡°You will be in command. Handle the situation as you see fit, at worst keep things under the same condition as how it is right now, understood?¡±


    ¡°As you command, sir!¡± replied the younger general with a salute.


    ¡°I will take the rest and forty thousand troops with me to the north and directly command the forces we have remaining over there,¡± continued the old general as he turned his head and looked northwards. ¡°Taouan might be arrogant and a bit reckless but she also has some competence as befit her station.I am curious how things devolve so far that most of the command staff was lost despite most of the troops escaping.¡±


    ¡°Send me a missive if you find yourself in an emergency here. Otherwise, I will see you further east, comrade,¡± added the old man referring to an eventual victory by the Imperial army, something neither of them doubted in the least. ¡°May fortune guide you in battle.¡±

 Side Story 84 - An Old Generals Reminiscence

    ¡°What else are we old folks supposed to do but to reminisce about our younger days?¡± - Gulthom Abujan, Village Elder from Ptolodecca.


    As a silent testament to the Empire¡¯s efficient military organization, it had only taken the rest of the day ¨C and the night that followed ¨C for preparations to be made for the planned departure of Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong, his chosen assistant generals, and the forty thousand soldiers that would go together with them.


    Given the need for alacrity, most of the generals would travel with the five thousand strong cavalry contingent ahead of the rest, while two of the Xiao Jiangjuns would lead the remaining infantry troops and follow behind them. The Empire had gained near-complete control over their conquered territories, so such a maneuver should be safe to perform.


    Just in case, they also brought supplies and rations in excess, as much as the southern detachment was able to spare. The loss of the entire command staff of the northern detachment meant that they likely lost a large portion of their supplies as well, since those were typically entrusted to officers close to the command staff.


    While there was likely some stockpile of supplies at the conquered city ¨C the one the locals called ¡°Oleynuos¡± ¨C Hua-Jeong was uncertain whether it would be enough to support such a large army as the one that gathered there. Fortunately, according to reports, the Imperial army commandeered supplies from the territories they conquered and gathered it in the city since it made for a convenient base at the time.


    Either way he would know once he arrived there.


    As he rode on his steed along with the rest of the cavalry, the aged general couldn¡¯t help but to think back on his past. He came from a household that used to be nobility amongst the Huan prior to the unification war and the establishment of the Empire. His family had always desired to be reinstated to their former status, but it was not until his generation that the dream came true at last.


    With his skill ¨C some would say he was gifted ¨C in archery, Hua-Jeong had made a name for himself from a young age. Even in his youth he was famous for being able to shoot down birds in flight. His skill had not gone unnoticed and he was employed by a militaristic noble as a retainer, living a well-off life relying on his archery talents for a good chunk of his life.


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    The turning point to his life ¨C and career ¨C came during the succession war a decade ago, where the princes and princesses of the Empire fought one another over the right to the throne. The noble he worked for happened to be on the Fourth Prince¡¯s camp, and his archery skill had not gone unnoticed during the war either.


    He personally took down enemy generals with a well-placed arrow from well out of sight ¨C his skill had grown to new heights with age ¨C over a dozen times during the war. Those feats saw the fourth prince reward him richly, and when the war ended and the former fourth prince became the new Emperor of Al-Shan, he granted Leung Hua-Jeong a boon that the old man had not even dared to dream about.


    Leung Hua-Jeong was granted peerage amongst the nobility ¨C and not even a low rank at that ¨C as well as the title of the Long Jiangjun, the Dragon General. It was an archaic system from the pre-imperial era used by the Huan people where they would pick their best few generals and grant them special titles and powers above their peer.


    In the present age, the Emperor chose to reinstate the system and had the newly established four generals swear fealty to him personally. The four were chosen from amongst the old and the young, skilled in different fields but each were far above their peers. Of his fellow four generals, Hua-Jeong was chosen for his skill in archery, the tiger general was known as a peerless melee fighter who led from the front, the phoenix general a supremely skilled mage, and the turtle general a fellow old veteran who was a master of defensive tactics and strategy.


    As time passed and the decision to mount the invasion to relieve the Empire of its problems was made, it was only natural for one of the four generals to be chosen to head the expedition. It was in this choice that the somewhat finicky situation the Empire found itself in was revealed to those in the know, however.


    While the four generals swore fealty to the Emperor personally, not all of them were suitable for such a task. The tiger general¡¯s true loyalties had always been rumored to lay with the Eighth Prince, who supported the Emperor during the succession war, due to their close relationship. Meanwhile, the Turtle general was not suitable for leading an offensive campaign since his talents lay elsewhere.


    As such, the choice was between Hua-Jeong and the Phoenix general, who was rumored to have been closer with the Emperor than was appropriate of late. After some debate, Hua-Jeong was chosen to lead the expedition, with the Eighth Prince sent along as his adjutant.


    In secret, however, he was given secret orders from the Emperor to not let the Eighth Prince gain any merit from the expedition, and if he ended up falling under the enemy¡¯s blade in understandable circumstances, it would be even better. Hua-Jeong had balked at the thought of being complicit to such an act, so he instead kept the Eighth Prince under house arrest instead in Oleynuos, keeping him in the forward base of the northern detachment, partly for his own safety.


    The Eighth Prince balked at the treatment at first, but after a few personal meetings, Hua-Jeong managed to imply enough to the man that everything he did was to help keep the prince safe. After all, even if he returned from the expedition without merit, at worst it would give the Emperor an excuse to demote him and thus nullify him as a threat.


    But he would still be alive, at least.

 Side Story 85 - A Bird in a Gilded Cage

    ¡°No matter how pretty a cage might be, it remains what it is: A prison that exists to restrict those kept within it.¡± - Saying attributed to the Bone Lord of Ptolodecca.


    Former Royal Palace of Posuin


    Oleynuos


    Western Alcidea


    1st Day of the 2ndWeek of the 10th Month, Year 20 FP.


    Murad Al-Aswar Ibn Haroone could be considered to have lived a pretty blessed life, even if his present situation was a disheartening one.


    Born as the eighth and youngest prince to the Emperor of Al-Shan, he never truly had any ambitions or designs for the throne. Part of the reason was because his father the Emperor passed away when he was still a young boy at the tender age of thirteen. As if that was not bad enough, his father just had to die without naming an heir to the throne, too.


    The resultant succession war that followed raged over the year as most of his brothers and sisters raised their own forces to make their bid for the Imperial Throne. Murad had been too young to have such thoughts back then, but he had his own retainers and guards, amongst whom was a young prodigy from the military sent specifically to guard him by his doting father.


    When it became obvious that his trying to stay out of the way was not good enough for his older siblings, Murad was forced to tie his fate to another, and he chose his fourth brother Sadiq, the only one of his siblings that shared the same mother with him. Because of that tighter blood bond the two were closer to each other than most of their other siblings were.


    It proved to be a prescient choice as Sadiq¡¯s forces ¨C with Murad¡¯s hand-picked bodyguard leading the charge as his general ¨C ended up triumphant in the end, with Sadiq enthroned as the new Emperor of Al-Shan soon after. Of his other siblings, five died in battle, while another two fled and practically exiled themselves.


    The only children of the previous Emperor that remained in the Empire were Sadiq and Murad.


    While relations between the two siblings were close as usual at first, Murad found that it had not taken long before his older brother started to grow paranoid and worried that others might be aiming for his throne. Murad understood enough and sought to help alleviate his brother¡¯s worries, willingly relinquishing most of the power he held and handing them over to his brother instead.


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    He lived a relatively carefree and quiet life in the years that followed the succession war, practically just coasting off his privileges while doing nothing of note. He hoped that such a clear show of attitude would help his elder brother take his mind off his worries. Unfortunately for the young prince, life was often unpredictable.


    Over the years, his brother the Emperor kept growing more paranoid, seeing threats where there were none. Several erstwhile supporters of his ran afoul of that paranoia and paid for it with their wealth, titles, rank, or for some unfortunate ones, even their lives. Even Murad was not exempt from that paranoia, and as he grew older he noticed how his brother grew ever more guarded against him.


    Which was how he found himself sent off with the first wave of the Imperial Army¡¯s expedition, nominally as a vice-commander, but in practice, he was actually being sent out in the hopes that he would get himself killed along the way. A quiet way to remove obstacles without the Emperor actually taking the blame for the matter.


    As much as Murad loved his older brother, he drew the line when it came to such an extent of unwarranted suspicion and paranoia.


    It was not that Murad had no allies of his own. The Tiger General ¨C his former guard ¨C was arguably more loyal to him than his brother the Emperor. He had taken the title and made his oath because at the time Murad and the Emperor were on the same side, but it was well known that he was very close to Murad, almost like another older brother to him, even.


    The Dragon General, who was the head of the expedition¡¯s first wave, had a more neutral stance. Which was probably why he had not sent Murad to the front lines ¨C as that would be well within his authority ¨C but instead treated him more like a staff officer and kept him under pseudo house arrest. Murad knew that it was likely done for his own safety, and felt gratitude to the old general for that kindness.


    Had the old man wanted to ingratiate himself to the Emperor it would have been easy to send Murad off on a suicide attack of some sort instead.


    If anything, Murad found himself mostly bored. He whiled away the time by working with the civilian staff the army brought along to help manage the conquered territory for them. He did what he could to ensure that the occupation went smoothly, for both the Imperial army and the conquered people. It was a minor thing, but since he had nothing to do anyway, he might as well help others where he could.


    Which was why he was rather surprised to see the old Dragon General suddenly enter the room he had been borrowing to use as an office with a stormy look on his wizened face. Murad had heard the news that the northern detachment of the expedition faced some setbacks, but he was not privy to more details due to his rather complicated situation.


    The way the old general looked, though, Murad was certain that the so-called setback they faced was likely a serious one. One important and urgent enough to warrant the commander of the expedition himself to make the trip from the south all the way to the north where he was. It was not a good sign, for everyone involved.


    ¡°What brought you here, Long Jiangjun?¡± asked Murad formally using the old general¡¯s title as he stood up from behind his desk. While he was a prince, he had relinquished most of his titles and power so the old general was his superior in most every way at the moment. ¡°I thought you were in the south, still.¡±

 Side Story 86 - Trouble on Both Sides

    ¡°Things were always most troublesome when you had to watch your back as well as your front.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Or is it time for me to march to the battlefield where I will conveniently be disposed of in the hands of the foreigners? If so, I merely ask that you allow me another day or two to finish the current task at hand first,¡± said the Eighth Prince to Hua-Jeong as he entered the younger man¡¯s office with a resigned voice. ¡°It is unseemly to leave work unfinished, after all.¡±


    The old general couldn¡¯t help but sigh and shake his head. The Eighth Prince¡¯s suspicion of his intent was completely understandable. Even though Leung Hua-Jeong had refrained from harming the prince in any way, it would only be normal for the young man to be wary of him, given that his life and death was in the old general¡¯s hands.


    ¡°No such thing, Your Highness,¡± said Hua-Jeong as he pulled a chair and seated himself across the table from the much younger man. The Eighth Prince just turned twenty-four earlier that year, and was so young that Hua-Jeong had grandchildren close to his age. Perhaps he couldn¡¯t help making the comparison in his mind which was why he was partial to the young prince. ¡°I came here because the northern detachment faced a serious setback.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you should be discussing about that with me?¡± asked Murad with a raised eyebrow at the unexpected response from the old general. The young prince was prepared for the worst ¨C had been since he boarded the ship that brought him to this distant land ¨C but had not expected to find sympathetic souls instead.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said the old general as he sighed audibly and leaned back further into his seat. ¡°If things ended up badly enough, Your Highness might get what you asked for earlier when our foes reach this place anyway, but if things went well, Your Highness wouldn¡¯t notice any change to your life and work. One way or another, it¡¯s not like what Your Highness thought about it could change the situation.¡±


    ¡°I do beg your pardon, but it is simply the tokens we had been given to play,¡± added the old general as he shook his head. ¡°All we can do now is to play them in the best way that we can. My own hands are tied on this matter, even if I do sympathize with Your Highness¡¯ present situation. Perhaps when this is all over and this new land becomes our Empire¡¯s territory Your Highness could retire here and live in peace and quiet.¡±


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    ¡°It would be nice if elder brother would allow that,¡± said Murad as he sighed in turn. The young prince had suffered and labored under his brother the Emperor¡¯s paranoia for years by then, and had lost hope that he could return to the close relationship he used to have with him. He had gone through quite a lot of things to try to prove that he was no threat, all to no avail. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that lucky, though.¡±


    ¡°Think of it as this old man¡¯s whimsical thought, then, Your Highness,¡± said the old general from across the table. ¡°This humble servant will soon leave again to lead our forces against our foes. Taouan managed to get herself and most of the detachment¡¯s command staff killed, if the reports I received were true. I had not expected that out of her.¡±


    ¡°Da Jiangjun Taouan might be completely my brother¡¯s creature to the bone and not the sharpest chisel in the shed, but I do not believe her to be incompetent, no?¡± asked the young prince with the first sign of curiosity he showed in the conversation thus far. ¡°I know my brother well enough to know that even if someone licks his boots and pleases him, they still need some competency to go high in rank.¡±


    ¡°She is prone to arrogance, yes, but as a general she gets things done, even if the method used might be appalling to some others,¡± replied the old general. ¡°She is also quite fond of her head, so the news that she had been killed in her tent by an assassin is quite surprising. That meant our foes possessed skilled enough assassins who could slip past our sentries and guards.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ is an unpleasant thought indeed¡­¡± admitted the young prince, now with actual worry reflected in his features. He rummaged for a moment inside one of the drawers of his table and brought out a wooden box about the size of his palm and brought out a preserved confection of sorts from inside it. The Eighth Prince had a habit since young to nibble on snacks when he was nervous and worried.


    ¡°Would you like one?¡± he asked as he proffered the box of confections to the old general.


    ¡°Since Your Highness is kind enough to offer¡­¡± said Hua-Jeong after a moment as he daintily took one of the flower-patterned confections from the box. The confections were a rare treat usually only enjoyed by the high nobility and those favored by the Imperial family and he had only tasted it a few times in the past. Naturally he was not about to turn down the offer.


    It was a sort of spiced cookie that had been deep-fried in fragrant oil extracted from certain flowers, then soaked for a day in honey. The honey was what allowed them to be preserved for long periods without any real degradation to their taste and texture, and the sweet flavor played as a canvas to the taste of various spices mixed into the dough. It crumbled on the tongue with just some gentle pressure and almost made the old general sigh with pleasure at the taste.


    Both the old and the young welcomed the silence as they quietly chewed on the rare snack and appreciated it fully, allowing them to take their minds off more troublesome worldly matters that had frustrated them. At least for the time being, that was. Both were all too aware that they would have to deal with those matters sooner rather than later, and so cherished the moment of peace and contemplation they had.

 Side Story 87 - The Calm Between Two Storms

    ¡°When things suddenly calms down during a war, that is when you should prepare for a great storm to come.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°All troops are accounted for, Long Jiangjun. I had taken the liberty to reorganize the soldiers who managed to escape from the eastern battlefield as needed while we issued captured equipment for them to use. I hope the arrangement is to your satisfaction,¡± reported Zhong Jiangjun Zahira Al-Nairi as she saluted with her fist against her palm set before her chest.


    The woman was young, especially for her high rank, still a year shy from thirty, but was one of the few in the first expedition army who actually rose through the ranks during the succession war despite her commoner beginnings. She was courageous and had a rather keen tactical mind, but was limited by her preference to follow orders from above rather than make her own decisions.


    Which was why she never made it to Da Jiangjun despite having the potential.


    She was also on the neutral side when it came to politics, her commoner beginnings, partly ensuring that the more stuck-up nobles stayed away from her. As such, she was also not as blindly loyal to the Emperor as most ¨C though she would fulfill his commands to the letter as was her nature and habit ¨C which was another reason Hua-Jeong had her stay behind in Oleynuos instead of heading to the east.


    He knew that someone like Zahira would chafe under the command of an arrogant noble like Zabibah Taouan, which might lead to undesirable conflicts. Instead, the more demure Kang Lu-Shih was more suitable in that role, while the rest of the high command were relatives to the Da Jiangjun so they were naturally on her side.


    Fat lot of good it did them, though. Now that Leung Hua-Jeong had more detailed reports, he received news that all but one of the Taouan family and relatives amongst the high command had been assassinated on the same night. Kang Lu-Shih and the Da Jiangjun¡¯s youngest daughter were the only lucky survivors, mostly because there were only five assassins and they apparently went to one tent each.


    Neither of the two had been seen with the surviving elements of the defeated army, with the assumption that they had been captured or killed in battle.


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    It was fortunate, then, that Hua-Jeong had brought a good half of the southern detachment¡¯s command staff with him to take over the situation up north. The assembled forces under his command numbered close to two hundred thousand soldiers, with over a hundred thousand from the defeated army, fifty thousand more from a group that had been sent further north to stall or deal with a state there, and the forty thousand reinforcements he brought with him.


    There were another ten thousand garrisoned in Oleynuos, which he chose to take along and replace with some of the defeated troops from the battle in the east.


    Hua-Jeong would also take Zahira Al-Nairi with him. The woman was a competent general he knew wouldn¡¯t have much trouble working together with him. In fact, he would take the entire command staff with him and leave the city to the Eighth Prince¡¯s hand instead. If the Eighth Prince chose to take his hint and conveniently ¡°disappeared¡± by the time he returned, it would be a result that kept everyone relatively happy.


    That way the young prince could live his life in peace and comfort ¨C Hua-Jeong knew that there was enough easily transportable wealth that wouldn¡¯t be missed in the city ¨C and the Emperor would be mostly rid of his worries. It was far from a perfect solution, but sometimes one could not have a perfect outcome, only the best they could manage.


    Hua-Jeong surveyed the assembled troops. They were outside the city¡¯s eastern gate, as there were too many soldiers to fit into the city itself. Overall his forces were lighter on cavalry than he liked ¨C only around twenty thousand of them, since the cavalry took heavy losses on the debacle ¨C and a good portion of the troops looked rather mismatched to the rest due to how they wore captured local equipment, but it would have to do.


    He had learned from testimonies of the escaping soldiers that the loss was mostly due to the arrival of enemy reinforcements that caught them by surprise. Hua-Jeong faced those same reinforcements, the short by powerful locals he had never seen before and their bizarre idea of cavalry, just over a week ago, earlier than those in the north. He had even sent a missive to warn the north of these new enemies but apparently the messenger failed to reach them in time.


    In the south, the situation was different, as Hua-Jeong had the local defenders on the backfoot when those reinforcements arrived. That forced the new enemies to charge in order to relieve their allies, and he had more time and opportunity to understand their way of fighting and adjust his tactics accordingly. From the reports, the northern expedition was hit by a devastating pincer attack by the reinforcements they faced, which led to their collapse and rout.


    As it was, Hua-Jeong could not even blame the commander ¨C which should be Kang Lu-Shih as he was the surviving senior general ¨C for the loss. Had his forces been caught by surprise the same way, he doubted he could have done any better. As it was, his foes had exploited an opportunity to the utmost and made a gamble that paid off.


    Now that Hua-Jeong himself was there, however, he would ensure that no other such mishaps happened in the future. He would make use of the Imperial army¡¯s strengths and grind down these locals to their eventual defeat, as his Emperor bade him do. War was what the old general trained for all his life, and he was pleased that he finally got another chance to prove himself even in his later years.


    After all, while peace was well and good, it remained a sad thing for those who had devoted their entire lives to the art of war without ever getting a chance to prove their mettle.

 Chapter 479 - Confrontation at the Border

    ¡°To be able to choose where to fight is a blessing. All too often, the fight comes to you before you can prepare for it.¡± - Arakkesh Islvan, Mercenary from Ur-Teros, circa 229 VA.


    ¡°So, what do you see, boy?¡± asked Angus Harscape from atop his ram to Reinhardt who was standing next to him.


    The coalition army¡¯s full force was arrayed near the border between Kolitschei and former Royal territory, or the region surrounding Oleynuos that fell under the purview of the Royal family of Posuin when they still existed in the past. Across the border, they could see the enemy army arrayed against them, across the flat plains of the region.


    Reinhardt was attempting to get a rough count on the enemy troop size since he could get an aerial view of the situation with Hannah¡¯s help through his eyepiece artifact. Of course, the best he could do was guesswork given the distance he observed from, but it was still better guesswork than those who watched through spyglasses beside him could offer at the moment.


    ¡°Probably around two hundred thousand or so by my best guess,¡± he replied after a while. He mostly made his guess by experience and judging from how densely the enemy soldiers were packed together, using the coalition army as a comparison. ¡°Only around a tenth are cavalry, though. Definitely fewer than what we had to deal with back then.¡±


    ¡°We did trample quite a few of their cavalry during the battle back then,¡± commented the old dwarf with a grin on his bearded face. The dwarven cavalry¡¯s surprise assault had inflicted heavy casualties to the enemy cavalry, to the point that the army was feasting on meat from the dead horses in the days before they finished their preparations for departure back then.


    ¡°A lot of them are wearing equipment that looks a lot more like what the people here use,¡± Reinhardt added after taking a closer look at the closest enemy soldiers. ¡°I¡¯m guessing they¡¯re escapees from the defeat back then who dropped their weapons and armor while running away. They must have re-equipped them with captured gear from Gestis and Wanarua.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what I¡¯d do in the situation as well,¡± noted Nestor as he nodded in agreement. ¡°Can you identify any individuals that might be generals?¡±


    The coalition army had caught the last two generals in the enemy forces when they made the surprise attack back then, with Angus personally having downed their commanding general without realizing it. It was only because his ram had a plate of armor with his house¡¯s emblem engraved in it over its forehead that they were able to tell that he had been responsible for the capture.


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    Because the ram¡¯s headbutt had caused the emblem to be visible on the caved-in chest of the captured general¡¯s dead horse, under which he was pinned. Since the former Graf was the only one whose mount had such an emblem on their mount¡¯s forehead, it was easy to tell that he had been the one that caused the enemy general¡¯s predicament.


    As for the other enemy general, she had been veered to the south while attempting to escape from the onrushing chariots only to have an arrow suddenly pierce through her steed and kill it on the spot. Salicia had been responsible for the arrow, and the general just happened to enter her range. The one-eyed archer had not wasted the opportunity and the other mercenaries swiftly secured their captive.


    They had also found out that the general captured by Angus Harscape turned out to be the uncle to the captive adjutant girl, Kang Hua-Li, who spoke common. Like her, he too spoke the language, and chose to cooperate much like his niece after he sighed loudly. Since the man¡¯s leg was broken, though, he was in the rear of the army recuperating from his injury.


    Meanwhile, his niece was actually present in the company of the leaders of the coalition army to help translate in case the enemy chose to engage in dialogue prior to the battle. She was dressed in armor ¨C though unarmed ¨C like what the locals of Posuin wore, with a helmet and mask that covered her entire face other than the eyes so that her identity as an informant would not be obvious to anyone looking.


    ¡°Hard to tell from the height, but there¡¯s several in the middle of their forces who might be one, we might be able to guess easier if they come to the fore, I¡¯d say,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°Looking at things from above is great to get a look at the overall situation but is pretty bad when it comes to getting details since Hannah¡¯s flying so high up.¡±


    Hannah was flying particularly high that day since everyone in the coalition army leadership knew that there was a skilled archer in the enemy forces capable of sniping a target from distances they had only seen Salicia manage before. For the same reason, Salicia was also staying quite close to the group and kept an eye out just in case. She had demonstrated her ability to shoot out arrows from the air before, though they asked her to be there to warn them instead.


    Guards that carried larger than usual shields were standing near the leaders for their protection in case the enemy sniper struck, though the dwarven leaders looked more confident in their heavy armor.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Reinhardt suddenly as he squinted his eye behind the eyepiece in an attempt to get a clearer look at the sight he was looking at. ¡°One of the possible generals seemed to be making their way to the front, around the middle. Can you see them from here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any¡­ no, wait, there they are,¡± said Angus Harscape as he brought up a spyglass before his eyes and peered through it. ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s the same style of armor as what our captive middle general wears, so probably the same rank?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re riding up alone,¡± noted Griselda as she too watched through a spyglass. ¡°Perhaps they intend to declare something or negotiate?¡±


    ¡°We shall see,¡± replied Nestor with a nod.

 Chapter 480 - A Contest of Champions

    ¡°An old custom that was still performed ceremonially at times amongst the northern orcish tribes was to resolve conflicts through single combat, where each side sent out a champion to represent their side of the argument. In the past, these contests had taken the form of a battle to the death, but in the present day and age, it typically ended in a far less lethal manner.


    Similar traditions could be observed from other cultures as well. In fact, a duel of champions prior to large-scale battles was once the norm in some cultures in the past, typically used as a method to raise morale for the winning side.¡± - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 696 FP.


    ¡°What are they saying?¡± asked Nestor to Hua-Li who was acting as their translator.


    The enemy general they noticed had ridden ahead of the enemy army and advanced to a point around a thousand paces away from either army, roughly the middle of the gap between the two armies. Said general was accompanied by two other riders, and just then, a woman¡¯s voice was amplified and sent towards the coalition army, originating from the group of three.


    It was a given that the woman who spoke was most likely the general in question, while one of the riders with her must have been a wind mage who used magic to amplify and send her words over the distance. They were unaware about what the woman said, though, since it was said in the language used by the invaders, which none of them spoke.


    ¡°That is Zhong Jiangjun Al-Nairi who was stationed in the city you called Oleynuos, Milord,¡± replied Hua-Li with an explanation of the general¡¯s identity. ¡°As for what she said, some of it are typical platitudes, but the main part is that she is challenging us to single combat by champions prior to the battle. The third rider with her is the army¡¯s chosen champion.¡±


    ¡°Hoh, is that a common practice amongst your people?¡± asked Siobhan Harscape, Grafin von B?rengant, from the side with some interest. The dwarves had a long tradition of combat by champions as well, often held in public in large arenas, which still persisted to the present day.


    ¡°Somewhat common, Milady,¡± said Hua-Li with a nod. ¡°It is commonly done prior to battles when one side acknowledges the other as a worthy opponent.¡±


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    ¡°So they didn¡¯t consider us worthy opponents until we¡¯ve proven that we can hit them back hard, did they?¡± mused Nestor with a slightly amused smile on his face. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be demanding our surrender if our champion loses to theirs or whatnot, no?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes the generals themselves chose to fight in person to settle a close battle that way, but it is rarely done even in our history,¡± explained Hua-Li. ¡°Usually it is done to raise the morale of the army prior to the battle itself, Milord.¡±


    ¡°Let my people have the honors, then, young Nunez,¡± said the old Duke Banitu from atop his mount. ¡°We have the fewest people amongst everyone here anyway so any loss of morale our troops wouldn¡¯t affect the army much, and besides¡­ this is still my home more than yours.¡±


    ¡°I have no objection to that,¡± said Nestor with an understanding nod. The fighting so far had taken place in Kolitcheian land, which was indeed the old Duke¡¯s home. One look around and none of the other leaders had any objections to Duke Banitu sending out a champion from his people to fight the enemy¡¯s either, so they proceeded with it.


    The old Duke called for someone from his army, and before long, a burly man with a large body walked out and headed towards where the enemy general was still waiting. Duke Banitu rode with him since they believed that the enemy wasn¡¯t likely to resort to dirty tricks at this juncture, and they stopped around fifty paces from where the enemy general waited.


    Wordlessly, Duke Orsla Banitu looked at the burly man and nodded. The man returned the nod and unlimbered the kite shield he carried on his back and brought out a battle axe that he wielded with his other hand. Then the burly champion chosen by the Duke of Kolitschei stepped forward, which was a clear enough declaration of intent for the Imperials across from them, it seemed.


    In response, the rider to the Imperial general¡¯s right dismounted from his steed and stepped forward. The man was shorter than Kolitschei¡¯s champion by nearly a head, but did not seem intimidated by his larger opponent at all. He brought out a long glaive over two and a half meters long and pointed it towards his opponent as he took a fighting stance.


    At that point, the enemy general, who was surprisingly a rather young woman, looked at the old Duke and gave him what appeared to be a respectful nod before she turned her steed and rode back towards her army together with the other rider who was most likely the wind mage that conveyed her words. Duke Banitu understood the meaning of the gesture and did the same.


    Clearly the champions were to be left alone in their duel against each other. They were also in a position where the soldiers from both armies could witness the fight relatively clearly despite the distance, while being far enough away that neither side could interfere in any way. It made sense for that sort of rather ceremonial duel.


    Only after Duke Banitu and the enemy general returned to their respective armies and turned back to watch did the fighting between the two champions begin all of a sudden.


    The Imperial champion struck first, his long glaive giving him a reach advantage over Kolitschei¡¯s champion, but his slash was blocked by the larger man¡¯s shield. Kolitschei¡¯s champion in turn attempted to rush in closer where he could gain a decisive advantage, but the Imperial champion proved to be nimble and fast at his feet, circling around the larger man while maintaining the distance between them.

 Chapter 481 - Those Watching from the Side

    ¡°Sometimes it is far more frustrating to only be able to watch while unable to interfere than it is to lose.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire, in his later days.


    ¡°So who¡¯s winning?¡± asked Elfriede from where she stood next to Reinhardt. Since the champions were fighting a good thousand paces away from them, they were well outside Elfriede¡¯s range of perception and she couldn¡¯t really tell much from the loud cheering from the soldiers around her.


    ¡°Pretty even so far, I would say,¡± replied Reinhardt who was watching the duel through the spyglass function of his eyepiece artifact. He had a clearer look than most since only the leaders had spyglasses to watch the fight more clearly. Such fights would have probably been done closer to both armies if the two sides were more familiar with each other¡¯s customs, but since they were from very different nations in this case, it was just the smart thing to do to stay well out of arrow range.


    ¡°I think the old Duke¡¯s champion is having trouble catching up,¡± commented Erycea who was looking through a spyglass she intermittently gave to Alycea every now and then. ¡°The Imperial champion is light on his feet and keeps his distance really well. He knows how to make good use of that glaive of his, too. His strikes keep getting blocked so far, but it only takes one slip-up¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing when you¡¯re dueling someone. You always have much more room to work with in most cases. If we were in a battle, we rarely ever have room to dodge around like that, too many people around us we have to take into consideration,¡± noted Reinhardt with a solemn nod. ¡°Duke Banitu¡¯s champion fights like a soldier, but his opponent is fighting like a duelist.¡±


    ¡°I would have normally sent out a Warforged blademaster for this sort of thing, but Nunez kind of took all the survivors with him back then, so I had to make do,¡± commented the old Duke who clearly overheard their conversation. No real surprise, as he was not far from them and they weren¡¯t making any attempt to not be heard either. ¡°The next generation we¡¯re raising are still far too young and unskilled for any deployment.¡±


    ¡°You are aware that at this rate, your champion will likely lose, no, Your Grace?¡± Reinhardt asked back to the old Duke. ¡°He is most likely an outstanding soldier and warrior, but he¡¯s clearly unfamiliar with duels like these. The Imperial champion is making full use of his reach advantage and agility to tire him out so far while he hasn¡¯t been able to get a proper hit in himself.¡±


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    ¡°Cazor is a distant nephew of mine, yes, so I am aware of that. That said, the boy has some tricks up his sleeves as well, so we will have to see if this Imperial could deal with that or not,¡± replied the old Duke with a shake of his head before he turned back to watching the ongoing duel. The situation had yet to change, with the Kolitscheian champion staying on the defensive as the more nimble Imperial champion circled around him and struck with his glaive.


    Then all of a sudden, the Imperial champion stumbled as his foot landed on a sidestep.


    The Kolitscheian champion naturally made the most of the opportunity and rushed straight towards his opponent with his shield held firmly before him and his other arm cocked back, ready to deliver a powerful blow. While the Imperial champion managed to regain his balance before too long, his opponent had closed in within that short time, and a vicious swing of the axe soon followed.


    Left with few options, the Imperial champion blocked the blow using his glaive¡¯s shaft. The axe¡¯s blade bit nearly a third of the way into the hardwood shaft, driven as it was by the force of the devastating blow, and the impact forced the Imperial champion to take a couple steps back as he was unable to completely negate the forces involved.


    Only for him to find that the ground where he stepped back onto was a step lower than he thought and stumble yet again.


    By that point, it was obvious to Reinhardt that the stumbles were not due to careless mistakes made by the Imperial champion, but was something Cazor from Kolitschei had engineered to happen. The Kolitscheian champion was most likely the same as Reinhardt, a man born with the earth Affinity but with middling skills and mana, nowhere near good enough to become a mage.


    Much like Reinhardt, Cazor also clearly discovered ways to use his limited mana to play dirty tricks on his opponents. Reinhardt himself often used his Earth affinity to do the same, to create small bumps or depressions his opponents would then stumble upon or trip at. It was not the sort of trick looked upon highly especially amongst the higher echelons of society, but it was not uncommon amongst mercenaries like him.


    It was a touch of a surprise that the Kolitscheian champion also used such ¡°dirty¡± tricks, but given the grin on the old Duke¡¯s face, neither the champion nor his Duke clearly cared less about it. They had been beaten down enough to know that every little advantage they could get was to be grasped on and never let go.


    Faced with the suddenly treacherous terrain beneath his feet and the onslaught from his opponent, the Imperial champion fell on the backfoot in turn. His glaive was broken into two uneven halves after he blocked several more of Cazor¡¯s blows, as the latter took every opportunity he could to land those blows where he made the first one.


    After a few strikes Cazor ended up chopping straight through the hardwood shaft and left a visible gash on his opponent¡¯s armor, though the armor did its job and spared the man wearing it from actual injury.

 Chapter 482 - Conclusion of the Duel

    ¡°For all the ceremonial pomp and values often attributed to duels, it is very rare for them to directly solve a conflict, unless you¡¯re a tribal orc from the North, that is.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    To his credit, the Imperial champion still fought back undeterred using the two halves of his broken glaive, though now that he lost his range advantage, Cazor of Kolitschei was pushing his advantage more and more. The larger, burlier Kolitscheian champion was clearly stronger, and his shield gave him a decisive advantage in a close-quarters battle.


    His opponent lacked the force to properly fight him off in his preferred environment, and he never stopped meddling with the Imperial champion¡¯s footing either. He had not used his magic constantly, but instead did so intermittently in random intervals to keep his opponent guessing all the time. Combined with his superior physicality, he quickly pressed the advantage to its natural conclusion.


    Using his shield he pushed away his opponent¡¯s bladed half of a glaive, and his axe came swinging down viciously. The Imperial champion was unable to block the blow using only the remaining piece of wooden shaft in his other hand, and his attempt to block was simply blown through as the axe bit deep into his shoulder, the blade slipping in between two pieces of armor plates and deep into his flesh.


    Having driven his opponent to his knees, Cazor then swatted away the bladed half of the glaive in the Imperial champion¡¯s other hand, then severed his head from his shoulders with an accurate swing of the axe. He raised the decapitated head by the helm with his shield arm and held it high even as the blood from the severed neck dripped onto him and gave a loud roar of victory.


    All the while, Reinhardt could see some signs of murmurs amongst the enemies arrayed before them. Not much, more along the lines of the soldiers discussing the fight and their champion¡¯s loss, most likely. They showed little sign of worry or the like so Reinhardt guessed that the champion sent out today was probably just to test the waters instead of someone with any actual status amongst the opposing army.


    If the champion won, all was good and morale would rise, as it showed that even a no-name from their ranks could defeat the enemy¡¯s champion. If he lost, then he was a no-name anyway, so they never held much expectations for him in the first place.


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    After the spectacle, Cazor walked back towards the coalition army¡¯s lines, leaving the dead body of his opponent lying down where he fell. From the opposing side, two soldiers could be seen walking out towards where the battle took place. The soldiers collected the dead Imperial champion¡¯s corpse and dragged it back towards their lines.


    The coalition army allowed them to do so. There was no reason to disrespect the dead in this case anyway.


    ¡°Well done, nephew,¡± said old Duke Orsla Banitu to Cazor as the Kolitscheian champion walked by him and the other leaders.


    ¡°Just glad I didn¡¯t disappoint you, Uncle, Sir,¡± replied the younger man with a respectful bow. Cazor knew that the old Duke¡¯s choosing him as their representative was a show of favor and a chance for him to show his mettle before the other leaders. Such an opportunity was no different than paving the road for his future, as long as he proved capable of grasping it.


    And he did just that.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll go back to good old war now that the show¡¯s over,¡± commented Nestor with a nod to the old Duke and his distant nephew. ¡°You can stay, young man. If your uncle wishes to prepare you for a greater future I have nothing against that. I think all of us do that with our successors anyway, often far more blatantly, even.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Grace,¡± replied Cazor with another bow. He then looked around with some curiosity. Most of the assembled leaders were either leaders from Kolitschei, Algenverr ¨C Miriam had gone to the south with Andrea Uthgwes of Dvergarder ¨C, or from the dwarven contingent. Reinhardt¡¯s little family was the exception though part of the reason they were there was their close connection to Angus Harscape and Reinhardt¡¯s eyepiece artifact which allowed him to convey very convenient real-time updates on the battle situation as needed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother looking for mine!¡± said Nestor with an amused chortle. ¡°I¡¯m not like your old uncle. My oldest possible heir just turned five this year!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re starting to advance,¡± said Reinhardt suddenly which cut off the conversation as everyone else turned their eyes ¨C and spyglasses ¨C back towards the enemy army arrayed before them. Sure enough, not a minute after Reinhardt¡¯s proclamation, the front lines of the enemy infantry started advancing in orderly formation.


    ¡°Saw them starting to form lines neatly from above,¡± he added as an explanation on how he noticed the enemies advance before they started moving. ¡°Pretty obvious tell that they¡¯re readying up to move, especially given the scale.¡±


    ¡°Do keep us informed if you spot anything else out of place, Captain Edelstein,¡± said Griselda with a grateful tone from beside Nestor. Nestor himself was busy passing orders to his officers to the troops to match the enemy¡¯s advance. At the moment, he mobilized mostly troops from Algenverr and Kolitschei, keeping the dwarves as a reserve force that could be utilized either for offense or defense as needed.


    He had long noticed that the enemy¡¯s cavalry remained unmoving by the flanks of the Imperial main force, and that a large part of the soldiers that were moving in their direction wore a hodgepodge of equipment that were definitely salvaged from the defeated forces of Gestis and Wanarua. In other words, the enemy was also still keeping their best out of the battle, so he saw no reason to not do the same.


    In such a battle, it was rarely the best idea to reveal one¡¯s trump cards ahead of time, after all.

 Chapter 483 - From a High Vantage

    ¡°A battle is a very different thing for its commanders as it is for the soldiers directly fighting on their behalf. Never forget this.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederation.


    ¡°Tell me what you see, nephew mine,¡± said old Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei to his distant nephew Cazor, who was now also seated on a horse next to him. The burly young man would probably be the youngest out of the people amongst the group of commanders and leaders of the coalition army if Reinhardt and his family was not present as well. He was maybe a decade Alycea¡¯s senior at most.


    ¡°They seem about even? Maybe our soldiers are slightly winning, I would say?¡± said Cazor with an uncertain voice after he peered over the battlefield with a spyglass. He mostly trained as a warrior instead of as an officer and wasn¡¯t the most strategic-minded, but the old Duke seemed to have expected that and was not angered by his reply.


    ¡°Hm, care to enlighten this brat a bit, Captain Edelstein?¡± asked the old noble to Reinhardt. Rank-wise, Reinhardt was the lowest by far in the group, though he was present due to the merits his company had achieved so far, as well as his extremely convenient artifact. ¡°He¡¯s had a bit of a thick skull since he was young, so he¡¯s never been the brightest.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a polite bow. While at one time they were enemies, he had nothing personal against Duke Orsla Banitu. The man was cooperative and helpful as a captive and kept his words during the Kolitscheian campaign back then, which earned him a modicum of respect since he could act that way even as the loser of the war.


    ¡°While on the smaller scale of the here and now, our troops are arguably at an advantage, in actuality it is our foes who held the advantage in their hands,¡± Reinhardt explained as he turned to Cazor. ¡°They have more troops than we do, with a larger reserve that we have to assume contains their best of the best. Like us, it is unlikely that they committed their best at the start of the battle.¡±


    The forces sent out by the coalition army were composed of soldiers from the former Posuin states, with the main force being Algenverrian troops that held the center, while troops from Kolitschei and Lovia-Hosberg held the left and right flanks respectively. It was not the full strength of the three nation-states, as they each held their best elites in reserve still.


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    Other than that, the dwarven reinforcements ¨C including the auxiliaries ¨C were also held in reserve, as the enemy was less familiar with their capabilities, and thus they would likely prove to be the most effective out of the soldiers fielded by the coalition army. Similarly, the various mercenary troops employed by the coalition were held back in reserve as well.


    At the moment, the center troops managed to push a small distance into the enemy center, but their flanks were slightly on the backfoot as the Imperial soldiers proved to be more than their match, though it was a close fight either way. As such, the formations adopted by both sides ended up forming a slight crescent shape.


    ¡°Their troops are more united since they are all part of the same faction, while ours are from three separate factions, some of which had been enemies with one another prior to this. It is to be expected that their cooperation and cohesiveness will be better than ours because of that,¡± added Reinhardt as he continued his explanation. ¡°At this point, what matters is whether the commander of the Algenverr troops notice the situation or not before a gap is formed between his center troops and the flanks. If they notice it in time, they will be fine, but otherwise, we might need to come to their rescue.¡±


    Almost as if the commander in the distance heard what Reinhardt just said, the Algenverr formation ceased their push and pulled back to match their allies, which stabilized the line of battle into a stalemate once more. Nestor and the dwarven commanders nodded with approval at the sight, having considered the situation in a similar way.


    All of them were aware that the day¡¯s ¡°battle¡± was unlikely to be decisive in any way, more of a probe from one army to another, a showing of mettle that even their worst members possessed. It was an indirect statement to not take them lightly or to expect the fighting to go swimmingly in their favor, a statement made by both armies at the same time.


    Both sides knew that it was when the reserves started moving that the battle had begun for real, and the first to make such a move would hand the advantage over to the other side since they would be exposing their capabilities first. As such, Reinhardt expected that the fighting would remain at the current intensity for a few days at least.


    This time, neither side had defensive fortifications to give them an advantage. The battlefield was wide open, mostly plains with a few low hills that barely qualified as one, some sparsely higher than an adult man was tall, even. What fighting took place would most likely be a battle of maneuver and formations, one where the two sides competed in who could garner themselves the most advantage.


    The Imperial army had more soldiers in total, but their cavalry contingent was smaller due to the grievous losses those troops had taken in the previous battle. In contrast, the coalition forces had more cavalry in hand but less troops, and unlike the more united Imperial army, their forces came from many different sources and were less united as a result.


    Sure, some of them had trained to work together with others, but that was mostly limited to a few mercenary forces who were already working for one of the nation-states prior to the war. The Silver Falcons and the Janissaries were some examples who had been working with Algenverr for the past decade or so. Reinhardt¡¯s own Free Lances had experience working together with the local forces, though in their case the last time they did that was a good five years ago.

 Side Story 88 - Adapting to the Situation

    ¡°Oftentimes in war what matters more isn¡¯t who is more courageous or who has a better head for tactics and strategy. Battles are all too often decided by the commander that was more capable of adapting to the situation they were in.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Make sure to write a long and detailed complaint to the Imperial Master of Arms about the quality of his disciples later, Zahira,¡± said Leung Hua-Jeong after he watched the duel which their Imperial champion lost badly in. There was naturally no point about scolding the dead man, but he sure could complain to the man who trained said champion.


    Hua-Jeong always felt that the Imperial Master of Arms was far too boastful and arrogant and never liked the man, anyway.


    ¡°As you command, Long Jiangjun,¡± replied Zahira from beside him. The young woman was dutiful as always. Like him, she was not particularly inclined towards the Imperial Master of Arms either, the latter being a nobleman who got in the good graces of the Emperor and attained his position due to the acclaim his skills with the arts martial had gotten him.


    The Imperial Master of Arms had trained several disciples over the Emperor¡¯s reign so far, and while they had shown skill in spars, none of them had yet to be blooded. Today¡¯s duel was the first time they had one of the students of the Imperial Master of Arms take the field ¨C the man had been in the south with Hua-Jeong prior to this ¨C and engage in a fight with their life on the line.


    That said disciple failed miserably and was killed by an opponent who was clearly less trained for duels and more for battlefield combat was a rather damning result. Good thing they kept things quiet so that the man¡¯s failure and demise didn¡¯t really affect the morale of the soldiers, otherwise Hua-Jeong would have sent more than just scathing words back to the Imperial Master of Arms.


    Once the duel was over, troops from both sides advanced forward. From the Imperial side, the troops that were sent out first were units composed of soldiers who were part of the debacle in the east but managed to escape. Sending them out to fight was to give them an opportunity to reclaim their lost honor and to return the humiliation they suffered to the enemy.


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    None of the true elites Hua-Jeong brought with him or the cavalry were committed yet to the assault, and instead they were kept in the reserves. From the looks of things, his enemies did much of the same, sending only their weaker soldiers instead of the stronger ones he encountered in the southern battlefield as well.


    For a moment, it appeared as if the Imperial troops were about to lure the enemy to overextend themselves. The enemy¡¯s left and right wings were notably weaker and less skilled compared to the troops that held their center, so the officer commanding the Imperial troops had pretended to be pushed back in the center to lure the enemy to come after them.


    Unfortunately, the enemy commander noticed the developing situation before the Imperial troops managed to lure them far enough to exploit the forming gap between their center and flanks, and swiftly retreated back to match their allies. The maneuver caused the battle to result in a stalemate where neither side managed to get the advantage over each other, which was not ideal, but something Hua-Jeong could accept.


    After all, the Imperial Army had more troops compared to their opponents. A war of attrition was to their benefit as they would be able to rotate their fighting troops better, giving those behind more chances to rest. He knew that his opponent was unlikely to allow such a situation to develop, however.


    The northern detachment¡¯s loss in the east was a heavy one, with approximately forty thousand soldiers captured or killed. The group that got the worst of that loss was the cavalry, who had taken heavy losses. Out of Hua-Jeong¡¯s twenty thousand or so cavalry, five thousand were what he brought with him, while of the rest, half were from the splinter group that went further north and managed to retreat unmolested. Only the remaining half were survivors of the eastern debacle, less than a third of the cavalry forces assigned to the detachment.


    Hua-Jeong had faced the odd enemy cavalry with their burly beasts and monstrous chariots in the south, as those enemies had caused the southern expedition an unexpected setback right when they were about to make a final push for victory after the old general slew the enemy leader with an arrow. As such, he was understandably wary of them. While he had since discovered potential ways to counter said enemies, he had yet to find a chance to put them to the test before he left for the north.


    Because of that, those tests would likely have to take place in the north, where he had less than ideal resources and troops at his disposal. None of it mattered, though. A good general would still come out the victor even when given troops of poor quality, so he would just have to make up for the general low quality and morale of the remaining troops in the north with his own capabilities and the elites he brought with him.


    As the fighting progressed a bit further into the afternoon without either side managing to gain an advantage over the other, Hua-Jeong decided to spice up the day¡¯s battle a bit rather than let it boil down to its natural conclusion of a draw with both sides returning to their camp come sundown. He beckoned Zahira Al-Nairi closer and whispered into her ear, at which the young woman nodded and left on her mount.


    A few minutes later, a small group of two thousand cavalrymen rushed out from the Imperial formation with the young female general at their lead, carrying out Hua-Jeong¡¯s command as they galloped towards the ongoing battle.

 Chapter 484 - A Little Cavalry Skirmish

    ¡°Cavalry forces had been part of most warfare since people learned to domesticate and rode animals. At times, cavalry offered an advantage in mobility since the animals used as mounts were typically faster than the riders themselves. However, all too often it was the intimidation factor that many cavalrymen fell in love with.


    The intimidation brought about by the act of a massive beast larger and at least several times their weight as it rushed headlong towards their enemies at full speed.¡± - Arvan de Galisco, Marquis of the Clangeddin Empire and a proponent for the increase of cavalry forces in the Empire¡¯s armed forces, circa 318 VA.


    ¡°They¡¯re making a move. Cavalry, only around a couple thousand as far as I can tell,¡± reported Reinhardt the moment he spotted movement amongst the enemy reserves further away from the battlefield. The high vantage point offered by his artifact which relayed the image from what the linked piece carried by Hannah above saw was very useful in cases like these.


    ¡°Just a probe, huh? No need to send out our cavalry in that case,¡± muttered Grafin Siobhan Harscape after a moment of thought. ¡°Not that our cavalry can catch up to theirs anyway, not in this sort of terrain. Maybe if it¡¯s more wooded or hilly.¡±


    They had received reports from the south about the fighting down there. In the south, when the dwarven reinforcements arrived, the enemy cavalry was bogged down by the wooded terrain and were driven away by the dwarves as a result, even if they couldn¡¯t inflict too much damage upon them. On flat terrain horses were just faster than the rams and rhinos the dwarves preferred, after all.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein, how about you have your platoon leader handle this?¡± suggested Nestor from the side. ¡°You would be able to directly contact her if there are any further changes to the situation. As for troops, I will send a messenger to Damien to let her borrow two thousand of ours.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated, Your Grace. I will contact Soledad in a moment,¡± said Reinhardt in thanks. He knew that it was an opportunity Nestor offered for his troops to show his mettle, though the fact that Soledad was distant cousins with the current Duchess of Dvergarder likely played a role as well.


    Amongst the coalition army cavalry detachments, the dwarven contingent of fifteen thousand and Algenverr¡¯s own fifteen thousand were the largest ones. Other than them, Kolitschei and Lovia-Hosberg combined provided another eight thousand or so, while the various mercenary groups totaled around two thousand more, giving them roughly twice as much cavalry as the opposing force.


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    Compared to the opposition, however, their cavalry was less united and came in often disparate forms, which took more work and planning to use effectively. It was one reason Nestor specified for Soledad to assume command from amongst Algenverr¡¯s contingent. At least that way most of the force would have the same sort of training and were used to working together.


    After Reinhardt gave a moment for the messenger Nestor sent to reach Damien ¨C who was with the cavalry ¨C he contacted Soledad through the artifact and told her that she will have free reign over the battle, though he would warn her of any changes he noticed from the enemy side. By that point, the enemy¡¯s two thousand cavalry had just started moving out of their formation.


    Not five minutes later, over two thousand ¨C Soledad¡¯s platoon had grown quite a bit during their stay in Levain ¨C cavalrymen rode out from the coalition army¡¯s reserve formation as well. They approached the ongoing battle from the same flank the enemy cavalry was headed towards, just from the opposite side, clearly aiming for a clash.


    As the cavalry passed by, Reinhardt noticed that Soledad had chosen entirely light cavalry for the two thousand she borrowed, riders who wore light armor on fast steeds, armed with javelins, sabers, and shields. Given how the enemy cavalry was harassing the left flank ¨C held by Kolitscheian troops ¨C of the battle using arrows that they fired from their bows as they passed by, it was not a bad choice by any means.


    Soledad was clearly aware of the enemy¡¯s habits although she had yet to fight against them so far. She gave the order as her riders were approaching the enemy¡¯s arrow range and they raised their shields in unison to defend themselves. Since her riders caught the enemy cavalry as they were in the middle of an attack run, part of the enemy riders were riding away from them, others still riding towards them, and a small portion still making the turn.


    It was those making the turn that Soledad aimed for.


    Those enemies still peppering the coalition army¡¯s left flank with arrows were likely unaware that Soledad and her riders were coming for them, their sight hindered by their own allies in front of them. Besides, their attention would be on the coalition troops they were shooting at. As for the enemy riders who already made the turn, they would similarly be looking in the wrong direction, since Soledad¡¯s troops were behind them.


    Instead, it was those enemies who were in the midst of making the turn who noticed them and passed the word, but it was difficult to pass the word to the commanders in time in such a moving cavalry formation. Those enemy troops who were aware of Soledad¡¯s onrushing riders loosed some arrows in their direction instead, hoping that those arrows would act as a deterrence.


    Other than a few unfortunate riders whose steeds were felled by those arrows, most of Soledad¡¯s troops simply raised their shields and continued their charge. They kept coming until they were a mere sixty or so paces away from their enemies, where each of the riders at the front grabbed one of the javelins stowed behind their shields with their free hand and hurled it in a practiced movement.


    It only took them a brief moment to complete the motion, and the next instant, the meager rain of arrows their enemies managed to subject them to was crossed by a deluge of larger javelins as each rider did their part as they reached sixty paces.

 Chapter 485 - Giving the Enemy a Good Bruising

    ¡°Morale is something that ebbs and flows like the tides. An army has to keep building it up, slowly but surely, only to unleash them at an opportune moment like a dam being opened to wash away their foes.¡± - Attributed to Anduinus of the Strangling Hands, famed Merfolk Warchief from the Western Isles.


    ¡°Second throw!¡± Soledad heard her husband Anatoli command the light cavalry around her.


    By that point the frontmost riders of the coalition army¡¯s cavalry detachment already reached thirty paces away from their enemies, and they did as Anatoli commanded. Each rider pulled out another javelin from behind their shield and hurled it towards their foes in a practiced motion, which was repeated by the riders behind them a moment later in a continuous wave.


    The deluge of javelins mostly silenced the enemy¡¯s meager arrow fire and dropped dozens of the enemy riders as the projectiles struck either the rider or the horse with often grievous results. Compared to the lighter arrows, the heavier javelins had more force to them and those that took a direct hit were simply out of luck.


    ¡°Third throw at ten paces!¡± ordered Anatoli once more. Soledad¡¯s platoon was at the forefront of the coalition cavalry contingent, which was actually a safer place during the rush. While the enemy cavalry closest to them would be able to aim directly for them, those further behind had to arc their shots over their own allies, and those shots very rarely fell amongst those at the front.


    Since there were naturally more enemies that had to arc their shots, those at the front ended up dealing with fewer arrows, unlike what most armchair generals might have thought.


    While Anatoli and several other orcs and half-orcs from the platoon¡¯s light cavalry division normally preferred to use bows and arrows, they also carried shields and javelins for this foray, as their foes were similarly skilled in mounted archery. Having a shield allowed them more safety from the arrows fired towards them, while with their strong arms, the orcs and half-orcs could still throw javelins with devastating results anyway.


    Each person amongst the over two thousand strong cavalry contingent carried five javelins behind their shields, each javelin long and sturdy enough to use as a short spear for melee fighting as well. Anatoli already ordered them to throw three of the javelins, while the fourth would be used for the melee and the fifth kept as a spare for emergencies.


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    As the light cavalry hurled their third javelins, Anatoli¡¯s men also made way for Soledad¡¯s heavier division that had been riding amongst them. While normally heavy cavalry would not be able to keep up with light cavalry, Soledad and her people chose chargers that would be able to keep up with the light cavalry for at least a couple charges while still being capable of bearing their weight.


    Since the platoon had trained for the maneuver countless times, the shift as Soledad¡¯s heavies took over the frontline was seamless and done within the final ten paces before they reached the enemy formation. As such, Soledad and her heavies were the first to make contact with the enemy lines, the heavier chargers directly pushing aside and toppling the smaller horses that their enemies rode.


    Soledad¡¯s people also struck with their weapons, cutting down riders from their horses and directly throwing the enemy formation into disarray. While they did not number much, the forty of them made their impact felt, and when the rest of the lighter cavalry behind them reached the enemies, they found a target with broken formation to prey on.


    As the coalition¡¯s cavalry detachment met the imperial cavalry, they directly broke the imperial cavalry¡¯s formation into two halves since they caught them in the midst of their assault against the coalition army¡¯s flank. Part of the imperial cavalry ¨C including their general ¨C who already finished their attack run and was turning around for another managed to break off in time, but the other half found themselves pincered between the coalition army¡¯s flank and their cavalry detachment.


    While the escaping half of the imperial cavalry turned around and peppered the flank of the coalition¡¯s cavalry, causing a noticeable number of casualties to fall in the process, they did not dare to directly tangle with their foes in melee since they were outnumbered, and thus failed to affect the fighting as much as they would have liked to.


    As a result, out of the thousand or so imperial cavalry that was caught in the pincer attack, a good four hundred were killed on the spot, while around the same amount were taken prisoner. Only a small portion managed to escape back to their side, many of which carried injuries of varying severity on their bodies. In contrast, the coalition¡¯s cavalry forces took only around a hundred casualties, even if the left flank of the coalition army took several times more casualties in comparison.


    Both groups of cavalry broke off and retreated to their respective sides shortly afterwards, while the infantry was left to their battle against each other once more. At a glance, the situation might have seemed to be a roughly even trade, as the imperial cavalry inflicted quite a few casualties on the coalition army¡¯s left flank, but their losses at the hands of the coalition¡¯s cavalry was harder for them to recover from, especially since the imperial cavalry was outnumbered to begin with.


    Reinhardt gave a thumbs up gesture to Soledad as she passed by on her way back, knowing that the good showing helped their army¡¯s morale and demonstrated his company¡¯s competence at the same time. It was the result he expected, and the former noblewoman had not disappointed him in that regard, having taken advantage of the enemy cavalry¡¯s preoccupation with their own assault to hit them hard and hurt them badly.


    Too bad that most of the forces she used to do that were borrowed forces instead of their own, but it was already good for a mercenary company of their size to have two hundred cavalry as it was.

 Side Story 89 - A Warranted Precaution?

    ¡°Only two kinds of people cannot learn from their mistakes: The Useless and the Dead.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Apologies, Long Jiangjun,¡± said Zhong Jiangjun Zahira Al-Nairi as she led the remainder of her cavalry troops back to the main body of the reserves of the Imperial army. Nearly half of the two thousand cavalrymen she brought with her failed to return, cut off and pincered as they were by the enemy¡¯s own cavalry strike. ¡°We took far more losses than expected.¡±


    ¡°They had an impeccable grasp on timing. I doubt I would have fared any better were I in your position, Zhong Jiangjun,¡± replied Leung Hua-Jeong in an unexpectedly consoling manner to Zahira¡¯s proclamation of guilt and failure. ¡°I saw it happen with greater clarity from here. They sent those riders out to intercept yours at the perfect moment.¡±


    ¡°Had they sent them out a little too soon, you would have noticed their presence and likely adjusted your tactics accordingly. Had they sent them out any later, more of your troops would have slipped past the killing zone already. But they did neither of that,¡± continued the old general. ¡°Instead even I only noticed their movement right around the time your frontmost riders finished your attack run and turned around. You lead your troops from the front so you couldn¡¯t have noticed their approach at all until it was too late.¡±


    ¡°Did you think it was a lucky coincidence, Long Jiangjun, or¡­?¡± asked the younger female general with a worried look on her face.


    ¡°It most likely is a lucky coincidence of timing on their part, yes,¡± said Hua-Jeong with a shake of his head as he did not like the alternative either. ¡°But should similar cases happen again, then our opponent this time might possess a clairvoyant capable of grasping the situation of a battle at a far greater degree than any we previously encountered.¡±


    ¡°Should that prove to be the case, we will single out said clairvoyant, and in the worst case, I will make sure that they meet their end with my arrows, though of course we should attempt to capture them first. Such a talent could be put to great use in the Empire¡¯s service, assuredly,¡± added the old general. ¡°Of course, we are talking hypotheticals here. People with such talents are rare and only spoken about in legends.¡±


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    What Hua-Jeong said was mostly true, as even in the Empire¡¯s history they only noted one person who was suspected of such a talent, a famed tactician from the pre-Imperial days who worked for the Huan Confederacy and was known for their miraculous use of timing and maneuver to claim draws and victories from the jaws of defeat.


    No small feat, as it was during a time when the Huan were on the backfoot and almost exterminated, even. Said tactician could be said to have bought the Confederacy the time it needed to gather itself and fight back harder, prolonging the fighting in the pre-Imperial era by several centuries more. All because of one man at the right place at the right time.


    Even in the Imperial era, the legends of Liang Shi-Zu and the feats he was supposedly able to achieve during his life was something anyone associated with the military was likely familiar with. The tales and legends were so widespread and many of his recorded maneuvering was taught as examples to officer candidates, so it was not strange for Hua-Jeong to have thought that way.


    Precise use of timing to eke out the most results out of a maneuver was one of the feats Liang Shi-Zu was most famous for, and was also one of the reasons many suspected that he was a clairvoyant who grasped a view of the battlefield unlike any other.


    Little had either of them expected that a combination of relatively common functions one could find in enchanted spyglasses, combined with some creativity and happenstance, might be able to replicate such a view using tools and personnel instead.


    Perhaps, given more time, with more of Hannah¡¯s kin flying out of their nests to look for a different life in the outside world, others might come up with similar ideas. Still, it would take some time before that happened.


    As it was, it was Erycea¡¯s young flexible mind, taught in tactics and strategy by her father since young, that caught on to an incidental comment from Alycea when they were planning the birthday gift with their grandfather, combined with her skill to engrave glass so finely that the resulting artifact could be created in an easily portable form, that made it possible to begin with.


    It could be considered a fluke.


    A very lucky combination of factors, abilities, and mindsets that brought about the idea to begin with, by people who could bring it to reality in a practical manner. Such lucky coincidences could not exactly be called upon at one¡¯s will, and would only happen when the whims of luck called for them to take place, after all.


    ¡°Don¡¯t put it to mind for the time being, but keep an eye for other such extraordinarily good timing on the enemy¡¯s part,¡± said Hua-Jeong after some thought. ¡°If our foes truly possessed such a talent, then the loss taken by the northern detachment was not an unjust one, especially if they failed to notice it in time. Combined with the assassination, it was no surprise they lost so badly.¡±


    ¡°As you will, Long Jiangjun,¡± stated Zahira beside him.


    Other than the unexpected surprise and forewarning of the unpleasant possibility that their enemies might possess a legendary clairvoyant, the rest of that day¡¯s battle went on uneventfully. The infantry forces that clashed eventually retreated when the sun started to set behind the horizon, each returning to their respective camps.


    Deaths were low, and each side only took a few thousand casualties, mostly injuries, from the fighting, which was well within expectations. No more surprises had reared their heads unexpectedly¡­ for the time being.

 Chapter 486 - Probing for Information

    ¡°Information about the enemy is one of the most important things to find out in war, and would often be the decisive factor between victory or defeat.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°They¡¯re pushing harder, aren¡¯t they? Can you tell if they¡¯re aiming for any particular direction, Captain Edelstein?¡± asked Nestor from atop his steed as he lowered his enchanted spyglass. The fighting between the two sides continued much like the previous day, with neither side truly committing their best forces, but the Imperial army made changes and were on the offensive that day, unexpectedly.


    They pushed against the coalition army¡¯s formation along several points on the frontlines but as far as Reinhardt could tell, made no other peculiar moves other than the unexpected focus on those points. It was to the point that some other parts of their own army had difficulty catching up with the soldiers who pushed into the enemy formation.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything unusual or movements that might indicate a hidden plot so far, Your Grace,¡± admitted Reinhardt with a shake of his head. His convenient artifact¡¯s ability to watch from above was very helpful under the situation, one reason Nestor kept asking him about the situation at large. ¡°They seem to be pushing against our lines almost for the sake of pushing.¡±


    At first Reinhardt had thought to just lend the artifact to Nestor as needed, a pragmatic call that would cut the middleman in exchange for a rental fee, but as it turned out, it took some getting used to the constantly moving bird¡¯s eye view function provided by the artifact. Everyone else who tried it out of the coalition¡¯s leadership ¨C other than Erycea ¨C found the sensation of the constantly moving sight dizzying and even nauseating.


    Since that was the case, Reinhardt just kept it to himself and instead informed Nestor anytime he noticed anything out of the ordinary or when the latter asked. The reason for the dizziness others experienced might be because when Erycea and Hogarth designed the artifact¡¯s functions, they tailored it to Reinhardt himself. His visual acuity was quite different to a human¡¯s, which might be why neither he nor his daughter faced the same issues as the others did.


    ¡°Or they might be probing for information,¡± suggested Angus Harscape from the side. Due to his shorter height ¨C and mount ¨C he was only around the level of everyone else¡¯s shoulder or so at best, but that did little to diminish his presence amongst the group. ¡°You all remembered how that brat Bostvan met his end, no? Not a coincidence or lucky stroke, if you ask me.¡±


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    ¡°He was felled by an arrow to the head, yes,¡± noted old Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei as he recalled his late old rival. They only received as much information as Duchess Andrea Utghwes had sent from the southern theater, but even what information they received was quite telling in its nature. ¡°Do you reckon our foes have an archer who can accurately hit someone¡¯s head at over five hundred paces, then?¡±


    The reports they received stated that the late Duke had perished nearly instantly, definitely too far gone for any healer to have intervened had there been one nearby, at least. The arrow that caused his death went through his helmet¡¯s eyeslit, through Emil Bostvan¡¯s right eye, and into a fatal part of his brain in one go, the tip of the arrow even visible poking out from the back of his head.


    ¡°Even Rein¡¯s troops have one who can do that, so it¡¯s better to expect the enemy to have someone who could do the same,¡± replied the old dwarf with a scoff. Salicia had not particularly shown off her skills during the time they fought against Kolitscheian forces, so the old Duke failing to notice her was not surprising. Angus was familiar with her skills, though, given his close relations to the company.


    ¡°If you can point out a target within five hundred paces that¡¯s not completely covered from sight, Sal can take them down with one arrow,¡± added Reinhardt in support of what Angus said. He was not even boasting, as he had seen the one-eyed woman do just that, at greater distances even. He just cut it a bit short to make it sound more believable to most.


    ¡°Makes sense if you think of it that way. With such an archer on my side I would also probe to see if I can fish out the enemy¡¯s commanders or someone important to take out,¡± noted Nestor as he nodded. ¡°I guess they probably did it just in case, given the relatively low effort they put into the pushes so far, some like giving it a try just in case it pays off but without committing too much into it.¡±


    ¡°Still too early to commit too much. They¡¯re wary of us, I can feel it,¡± stated Angus with a nod as one of his hands absent-mindedly played with his beard. ¡°Usually it¡¯s the side with the number disadvantage that¡¯s wary of the other, so I¡¯m guessing our dwarven troops are what keeps them on the edge.¡±


    ¡°That would correlate with everything we¡¯ve seen about them so far, yes,¡± said Nestor in agreement. ¡°What do you think about including some of your auxiliaries and our mercenaries into the troops tomorrow? Show them a little bit more teeth, so to speak, but not too much.¡±


    ¡°We would be amenable to such an arrangement, Duke Nunez,¡± said Grafin Siobhan Harscape in agreement from the side. While Angus had a high and respected position due to his experience and skill, the one with the final say when it came to the dwarven forces remained his daughter, to whom he already passed his nobility title to as well.


    ¡°In that case, will you and the Free Lances join in as well, Captain Edelstein? Maybe there are flaws that will show themselves better upon a closer inspection,¡± asked Nestor.


    ¡°Certainly, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt easily. His company was paid well to fight, after all, not to sit back and watch others do the fighting for them. ¡°We¡¯ll do as you asked.¡±

 Chapter 487 - Reliable Compatriots to Fight Beside

    ¡°Sometimes friends turn to foes in this business, but at other times, you do get to work together with people you¡¯re befriended over your days. It¡¯s a nice coincidence when that happens, it helps keep things cordial even when you eventually have to gut each other someday due to being under different employers.¡± - Joren ¡°Ripper¡± Mauerhild, mercenary from Knallzog.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you here, Barnaby,¡± said Reinhardt with mild surprise when he saw the contingent of dwarven mercenaries over a thousand strong arrayed to the left flank of his own company. Said dwarves were from Barnaby¡¯s Brewers, a mostly dwarven mercenary company that primarily worked for Knallzog and had fought alongside the Free Lances back at Theodinaz. ¡°Thought you guys only work for Knallzog?¡±


    Much like the Free Lances, the Brewers also took heavy casualties in the fighting back then, though they had clearly recovered almost back to their original numbers.


    ¡°Oy, ain¡¯t seen you for a long while, Rein! Since Theodinaz wazzit?¡± replied Barnaby in a friendly manner as he noticed Reinhardt. To be fair, it was difficult to mistake Reinhardt¡¯s rather unique appearance given how therians of his breed were practically nonexistent in Alcidea other than him and his daughter. ¡°Me and mah boys saw that the higher-ups were giving everyone permission to hire on here in the west, good pay too. We had gone over just before the army came.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that might be why we didn¡¯t notice you till today,¡± noted Reinhardt. The Free Lances had basically gone to the front lines right away. If Barnaby¡¯s Brewers had only arrived recently, they were likely gathered in Algenverr or Dvergarder first before they marched to the front. Reinhardt didn¡¯t exactly pay too much attention to the constant supply of additional equipment and manpower from the border duchies, so he likely hadn¡¯t noticed their arrival. ¡°We¡¯ve been up front since we came here.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡¯m envious. That must pay pretty well,¡± said Barnaby openly. The dwarven mercenary was the straightforward sort, and Reinhardt knew that the heavy dwarven infantry that accounted for nearly half the strength of the Brewers as a company was formidable, if maybe not quite to the quality of the actual dwarven army¡¯s. Either way, he was a valuable partner to have on the battlefield. ¡°Hope you don¡¯t mind us butting in for a bit today!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s plenty for everyone,¡± replied Reinhardt. One thing he liked about working with a reliable ally was that there was minimal chance of internal discord since both companies would be professional enough to keep any disagreements for later. As luck would have it, straightforward people like Barnaby¡¯s Brewers also rarely made much of a fuss as long as they were treated fairly, and Reinhardt knew Nestor well enough to know that he would pay his mercenaries what they deserved. ¡°I know it¡¯s rare for me to say that, but there¡¯s almost two hundred thousand of them, and that¡¯s just the half we have up here.¡±


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    ¡°Woo, plenty to share, all right. Best get mah boys ready to brawl. Our right flank will be under your care!¡± said Barnaby with an appreciative whistle. Due to the Brewers¡¯ position to the Free Lances¡¯ left, their flanks were naturally protecting each other¡¯s. One reason Reinhardt shifted some of his stronger platoons to the right flank since the left flank will likely need no help with Barnaby¡¯s heavies covering them.


    ¡°And our left¡¯s under yours!¡± shouted Reinhardt back.


    ********************************


    On the right flank, the Free Lances met with more old friends, the reformed Silver Eagles in this case. Since Reinhardt caught and returned Michel ¨C and his compatriots ¨C to his old man, the siblings decided to reunite the Company under Wilhelmina¡¯s lead and reassume the old name. They had yet to fully recover their former size, at only around eight hundred strong ¨C a hundred of which was Michel¡¯s cavalry contingent which gathered with the other cavalries and were thus excluded for the time being ¨C compared to when they were a thousand strong at their prime.


    Reinhardt had sent Erycea¡¯s, Alycea¡¯s, Alvaro¡¯s and Mischka¡¯s platoon to anchor their right flank. It was not that he had no faith in the Silver Eagles. The Silver Eagles were good, but even so they could not compare to the dwarven heavy infantry Barnaby¡¯s Brewers had on the left flank. Reinhardt wished to keep the company progressing at roughly the same pace, so he sent more of his stronger platoons to the right to balance it out.


    Erycea also had a good relationship with Wilhelmina, so that helped ease the communication between the two sides. The two of them were talking while the Silver Eagles got into formation. The Eagles¡¯ infantry was more of the typical sort, with large shields and long spears as their primary weapons, but interspersed with warriors armed with two-handed weapons whose task was to deal with problem spots the way Blademasters did for the Kolitscheian Warforged back then.


    One could even say it was a trick they learned from the Warforged, albeit adapted to match with the circumstances. Instead of relying on personal prowess the way the Warforged Blademasters did, the Silver Eagles instead had their warrior work in small teams of five that supported each other, with multiple such small units interspersed within the formation, backed by a team of around two hundred archers.


    ¡°We might push ahead a bit later, so do keep an eye on our right flank, okay, Will?¡± said Erycea as she clasped hands with Wilhelmina du Riffons right between the lines of their respective companies. The Free Lances were positioned on the right side of the central force, part of the five thousand or so mercenaries sent to reinforce that side, and further right would be ten thousand auxiliary troops from Knallzog. A similar arrangement was mirrored on the left side, though those weren¡¯t Reinhardt¡¯s or Erycea¡¯s concern.


    ¡°As long as you help us in case we got into trouble,¡± replied Wilhelmina back. The older mercenary woman was all too aware that her company was definitely on the weaker side ¨C on their flank, at least ¨C and knew not to push her luck. Like all mercenaries, they were there to do the job and get paid for it, and one needed to be alive to collect their pay after all.

 Chapter 488 - Rhythm of the Battlefield

    ¡°There are several tiers of tactics. The worst tactic is to react to the enemy¡¯s movements as this gives the initiative over to the enemy and limits one¡¯s own forces to reactive movements. The next worst tactic is to clash directly with the enemy, where the quality and quantity of one¡¯s soldiers will determine the victor.


    Better would be to force the enemy to react to one¡¯s own tactics, keeping the initiative in hand and gaining an advantage in that manner. Further above that is to force the enemy to move according to one¡¯s plans, using one¡¯s own tactics to dictate the enemy¡¯s response, often leading them to their inevitable demise.


    Yet ever more skillful would be to have anticipated every move the enemy could possibly do, with a counter maneuver prepared and waiting for each of them, such that no matter what the enemy does, only failure awaits them.


    That might seem like the pinnacle of tactics to many, and many praised me of such achievements in the past, but in my mind, there is yet another, more skillful use of tactics even above these displays and feats as outlined above.


    To win a battle without even fighting. Such is the pinnacle of tactics and strategy.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Good, keep up that pace over there, and remember not to push too hard,¡± said Reinhardt to Erycea and the other platoon leaders on the company¡¯s right flank over the artifact. The battle had been ongoing for a couple of hours and the Free Lances found the enemies they faced wanting in capability if not in numbers. ¡°We do not want to accidentally trigger a pitched battle with ourselves in the thick of it. Too easy for units of our size to get washed off as collateral damage in such cases.¡±


    As the signals for affirmation came in through the artifact Reinhardt nodded with satisfaction. The methods in which the holders of the receiving artifacts could reply to him was limited to a simple one-way signal, but it sufficed for their needs. Even with the limitation the holders of the receiving artifacts could still communicate various states by using an agreed upon rhythm and cadence when sending multiple signals in a row.


    It would have taken far more effort to create an artifact network where each holder could freely speak to others over the distance. Even then, if the artifacts were setup to be able to freely communicate to one another selectively instead of the one-way connection Reinhardt had to the receivers like now, it would have meant a far more complicated enchantment that was likely beyond Erycea and Hogarth¡¯s ability to create, or at least to keep in a practical size that could be carried around in a battlefield.


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    With things as it stood, they settled for a setup that still allowed them to achieve their intention while keeping size and weight to a minimum at the same time, the results of which Reinhardt found most helpful as a commander. Despite the inherent limitations, the artifact had given the Free Lances another edge he found most helpful so far.


    The commands Reinhardt sent out through the artifact just now was to keep the Free Lances from being too immersed in the fighting. The enemies they fought were easy enough to defeat, and indeed the coalition forces were making a noticeable push around the flanks that day, but pushing too far, too fast had its risks as well, and Reinhardt judged that it wasn¡¯t worthwhile to push too much for the time being.


    For one, few of the allied forces had the mobility or the offense to keep up with the company¡¯s strike platoons. The dwarven heavies like Barnaby¡¯s people to their left had the offense, but couldn¡¯t keep up speedwise, while the more normal companies like the Eagles on their right could keep up just fine, but lacked the offensive prowess.


    Instead, Reinhardt manipulated their flank into a slow, steady push where they didn¡¯t go too far into the enemy formation, yet at the same time keeping the situation where the enemy commander likely found it troublesome. It was a rather delicate balance, and at the moment he was waiting for the enemy¡¯s reaction to his flank¡¯s pressure before he would respond in turn to counter the development.


    He himself was right by the front line, far enough away that he wasn¡¯t actually personally fighting ¨C though he could leap in with his platoon to lend assistance should that be needed ¨C but also close enough to get a good feel of the battle¡¯s rhythm. It was something many armchair generals scoffed about, but as someone who fought on the frontlines himself on a regular basis, Reinhardt very much believed it.


    That battles had a beat, a rhythm to them that could be felt by those attuned to the bloodshed.


    It was not something decisive or crucial, he would admit, but at the same time, sometimes grasping that beat made him feel like he should pull some troops back, or make a push at different spots, generally before the battlefield situation made such a move look necessary to his eyes. He had learned to trust that feeling more as it had yet to do him wrong so far, and he applied it to the current battle as well.


    Reinhardt felt some discomfort at the idea of pushing too far for some unknown reason, which was why he advocated for a slow and steady advance instead of the rapid assaults his company was known for. None of his platoon leaders questioned his command, though some did look a little surprised and bewildered at the unusual call. If they had any doubts, they kept it to themselves.


    As it was, the left flank was pushing faster and further than the right flank where Reinhardt was, and he was content to let them do just that. If his bad feelings came true, better someone else face the brunt of the problem than his people.

 Chapter 489 - The Difficulty of Holding Back

    ¡°Holding back is far harder than going all-out, for certain. It¡¯s much easier to let loose with all you have in you when the opportunity permits, but consciously holding back without affecting your own performance? That¡¯s that hard shit. Seen masters who can do that, but I definitely don¡¯t count myself amongst them.


    Far too easy to hold back too much and mess up your own rhythm, or hold back too little and hurt the other guy more than you wanted to hurt them.¡± - Karl-Heinz Ferguson, former mercenary and later spearmanship instructor for the Free City of Levain, circa 182 FP.


    ¡°Aly, push a bit harder and pass a message to Mischka to hold back a bit more. Her platoon¡¯s been consistently pushing a bit too far,¡± said Erycea after getting her little sister¡¯s attention. The two were in the middle of their respective platoons, so she had to first gesture to get Alycea to come closer and then speak loudly to make herself heard over the din of the battle, but it sufficed for the time being. ¡°Tell them to keep pace with Alvaro¡¯s people, no more than ten paces apart, if they can help it.¡±


    Alycea¡¯s platoon was to the left of Erycea¡¯s platoon, and since they neighbored Mischka¡¯s platoon to their left, it made Alycea the best choice to use as a messenger in this case, since she would have to push a bit into the enemy lines to keep up with Mischka¡¯s troops. Mischka had a harder time getting her people to hold back without making it obvious due to the physical qualities of her platoon members, as each swing or strike from one of them could easily cause gaps to form on the enemy formation.


    If they left such gaps unexploited then anyone would realize that they were obviously holding back and neither Reinhardt nor Erycea wanted that, which resulted in the way Mischka¡¯s platoon was constantly a bit ahead of their allies. They really couldn¡¯t help it, as the majority of their training was to push hard and forcefully break their way into enemy formations after all.


    In comparison, Alvaro¡¯s platoon further left of Mischka¡¯s fought with disciplined precision and held their line with near-perfect performance, something that highlighted the differing ways in which the two platoons approached battle. It was not that one platoon was objectively better than the other, just that they each had their own specialties and fields they were superior to the other in.


    ¡°Got it, Sis,¡± said Alycea with a curt nod. ¡°I¡¯ll pass on to Mischka to fall back to a shield wall for now. Any other message you want me to pass on?¡±


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    ¡°Not for the time being. If I and mine get busy helping out Wil to our right, I want you three to spread a bit thinner to cover where we used to for the time being,¡± said Erycea with a shake of her head. ¡°Otherwise, proceed as Father instructed.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± replied Alycea with a salute before she turned away and started ordering her platoon to push harder.


    As her little sister moved away together with her platoon to do as she was bid, Erycea turned her attention back towards the enemies her platoon was facing at the frontlines of the battle. The enemies they faced wore armor and used weapons that were most likely salvaged off the defeated former Posuin duchies, since it was not the distinctive style they wore before.


    From that alone she could tell that they were likely the soldiers they defeated back east, even without recognizing any faces. Given the enemy¡¯s predilection for uniform armament so far, she doubted that they would have brought more soldiers without equipment for such an invasion, and the only group of enemy soldiers missing their equipment she knew of were the escapees from the previous battle.


    If she had the inclination ¨C or orders ¨C to do so, her platoon could have made very short work of such enemies. While the enemy fought with respectable discipline and cohesion, they were clearly still unaccustomed with their salvaged equipment, and performed worse than during the battle back in the east.


    Erycea already had to order her people to pull back a couple times when the enemies before them crumbled a bit too easily despite their holding back. It was a rather frustrating feeling, the desire to let loose warring with the rational mind that knew to stick to her given orders.


    Fortunately, at times, the situation does allow her to let loose.


    A glance to her right showed Erycea that one of the nearby teams on the frontline held by the Silver Eagles were facing some trouble. Many of the mercenaries in that team looked pretty young, probably more recent recruits they got while rebuilding their numbers, and already several teams of their warriors ¨C including one led personally by Wilhelmina ¨C were helping them stabilize the situation.


    As she saw the situation unfold, Erycea called Hakim and Malika over, the youngsters having long since grown into her second in command, if informally. She briefed them to take over command over the platoon and to keep the situation stable, not to push the enemies too hard, keeping in line with their fellows to their left.


    Neither of them asked why as they knew exactly what Erycea had in mind, especially when she gathered her usual group of friends and formed a small unit. Together they headed towards the right of the platoon ¨C other members filling in for the spots they vacated ¨C and towards where the Silver Eagles were having a bit of a struggle.


    Truth be told, the situation was not that serious. The Silver Eagles would likely manage to stabilize their lines after a while, even without her help, but it was an excuse Erycea could use to vent off some of her frustrations without compromising the battle¡¯s situation, so she was all too happy to take it. Wilhelmina was unlikely to complain about the help anyway.


    With her truncheons in hand, Erycea led her small group towards the enemies facing the Silver Eagles, and they crashed directly through the enemy lines from the side.

 Chapter 490 - Reliable Allies are Worth their Weight in Gold

    ¡°It¡¯s far harder to find reliable allies than it is to find incompetent enemies.¡± - Saying attributed to Gregorian Aurelius Secundus, General and later Second Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    Wilhelmina du Riffons clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in annoyance as she caught an enemy¡¯s spear between the short tines near the base of her sword¡¯s blade and the blade itself, using the leverage she had to push the spearhead originally aimed towards her face out of the way. In the same movement, she slashed down using her greatsword which her opponent only barely managed to block with their wooden shield, leaving a visible gash on the shield and forcing them to step back.


    Her frustration wasn¡¯t about her enemy in particular, but was rooted more at the lackluster performance of the company¡¯s newer recruits. She had already taken precautions, of course, like stationing those recruits right at the left flanks where they would be shoulder to shoulder with the more experienced Free Lances, and also stationing some of the best warriors ¨C herself included ¨C there to help when needed, so she couldn¡¯t say that the underwhelming performance was unexpected.


    But just because something was not unexpected doesn¡¯t mean it could not be disappointing at the same time.


    That the newer recruits failed to hold their own even against these otherwise ¡°easy¡± opponents was a bad sign, and maybe she would need to look into dissolving some of their employment contracts after the campaign. For the present, however, what she needed to do was to help them hold the line together, which was hard enough as the recruits were on the verge of breaking.


    Fortunately Wilhelmina had good and reliable friends, as she noticed a ruckus on the enemy line¡¯s left side. Sure enough, not a couple of minutes later, a small group of mercenaries wearing matching white brigandines with the crossed lances emblem of the Free Lances mercenary company emerged, having broken through the enemy lines on that side.


    Wilhelmina was familiar and well acquainted with the members of Erycea¡¯s inner circle of friends who usually charged into battle on her side. She looked with a bit of envy at the sight of the four large-bodied therians ¨C Vlad, Tasha, Vera, and Gustav ¨C who blocked the enemy further behind from being able to push back against them by brute force, while Erycea herself led the charge.


    The way the mixed-breed therian girl swung her metal truncheons with so much force that one enemy¡¯s spear snapped like a twig when he tried to block her strike with its shaft was something to behold. Wilhelmina knew all too well that a spear¡¯s hardwood shaft was not easy to break. Even if she was to swing her own greatsword with all her might it would take two to three swings to the same spot to cut through such a spear¡¯s shaft.


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    Of course, Erycea¡¯s metal truncheons were each more than twice as heavy as her seemingly larger greatsword, the high-purity adamant steel they were crafted from making the weapons far denser, sturdier, and heavier than what most would expect. They were not weapons meant to be wielded by a human, as they would be too heavy and unwieldy for a human to wield even with both hands, much less single-handed like Erycea did.


    So Wilhelmina sighed with a tinge of envy once more at her good friend, the other girl¡¯s therian heritage granting her a physique that a human could only be envious about. Their enemies were clearly not prepared to deal with an opponent like Erycea either, as the younger half-therian girl made her point by swinging her other truncheon and causing an enemy soldier¡¯s head to burst like an overripe melon, sending bits of blood, brain matter, and bone splattering over the vicinity.


    It was something overly flashy and rather impractical, as a blow with half the force would have been plenty to knock a man unconscious or even kill them, but the intimidating effect from such an excessive display was evident as well. Many of the enemies that got splattered by parts of what used to be their compatriot¡¯s head stepped back almost at once with fright and surprise in their visage, and the pressure Wilhelmina faced on the frontline also immediately decreased by a sizable fraction.


    ¡°About time you showed up!¡± Wilhelmina yelled over the din of the fighting in Erycea¡¯s direction. She also took the chance when her opponent was momentarily paralyzed by shock at what Erycea had just done to kick the man in the stomach, doubling him over and opening the back of his head for a strike. A chance Wilhelmina did not let go as her greatsword¡¯s blade descended and neatly decapitated the enemy soldier.


    ¡°Figured you wouldn¡¯t mind a hand!¡± yelled Erycea back even as she fended off one enemy¡¯s spear using her left-hand truncheon and shattered another spear using the other. The therian girl then performed a nearly acrobatic feat where she stepped down onto a third spear thrust at her and drove it to the ground while kicking high at the face of the soldier whose spear she just shattered.


    Except rather than kicking the man on the face, Erycea sprung the claws on her toes and raked the man¡¯s face with them instead.


    The enemy soldier screamed like a butchered pig as he stumbled back with deep bloody lines across his face, slicing through his eyes, nose, and mouth, and his horrifying appearance made his compatriots nearby recoil in fright at the sight.


    Something Erycea and her little group abused thoroughly as they pushed their way through the enemy soldiers and gathered next to Wilhelmina¡¯s little group at the frontline, forming a unified front with which they resisted the pressure from the numerically superior enemy forces pressing down on them.


    The situation with the Silver Eagle¡¯s recruits quickly fell under control with Erycea¡¯s help, and Wilhelmina rotated the recruits that were clearly not ready for more to the back to be replaced by some of the company''s reserves.

 Chapter 491 - Suspicions Addressed

    ¡°Listen to your gut feeling. It¡¯s there for a reason, and more often than not it will save your tail from being chomped on if you follow it.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    ¡°Say, Ery, you¡¯re not holding back on our account, are you?¡± asked Wilhelmina as she fought off another wave of enemy soldiers with the support of her team. The mercenary woman fought more comfortably now that the pressure had lessened, and her team¡¯s individual superiority showed itself as they pushed back their opponents handily.


    ¡°Nope. Dad¡¯s orders,¡± replied Erycea from where she herself was fending off several enemy soldiers. Her small team and Wilhelmina¡¯s three small teams of skilled mercenaries were holding the frontline as some of the reserves reorganized the recruits still capable of fighting behind them, using the time they bought to adjust their formation. ¡°He probably noticed something fishy but couldn¡¯t be sure about it.¡±


    ¡°Would make sense in that case. I know your company could have probably pushed straight to the middle of the enemy forces on your own if you wanted to,¡± noted Wilhelmina with a nod. Even while she talked her greatsword was not idle, and she swung it around to push aside the spears of two soldiers she was facing, leaving them open to attacks from her teammates. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan? I¡¯ll follow as best my folks can manage.¡±


    ¡°For now? We hold. Push them hard enough to make them sweat and worry, but not so deep as to risk ourselves. If the other flank wants that honor, let them have it,¡± said Erycea plainly as she struck the hand of an enemy soldier and directly pulverized most of the bones within. Her swings carried enough force to shatter even the hardwood shafts of the spears those soldiers used, so its effects when the blows directly landed on their bodies could well be imagined. ¡°Better them than us. They came here knowing the risks anyway.¡±


    ¡°Works for me. I¡¯ll get those brats in the back to hurry up so they can do their job properly this time around,¡± said Wilhelmina in agreement. As she promised, within ten minutes the unit behind the frontlines had regrouped around the reserves and took the brunt of the pressure in the area once more, though Wilhelmina herself and Erycea stayed at the front, fighting side by side while keeping an eye on the general situation on the battlefield.


    Meanwhile, further left to where the two girls fought at the frontlines, Reinhardt reined in the troops belonging to his company and by extension the Brewers next to him as well, as they were not particularly keen to advance with their flank exposed to the enemy. He knew that the right flank was still making steady progress into the enemy formation, but it was a slower one compared to the left flank, which did so at a much faster pace.


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    Clearly the mercenaries there didn¡¯t share his gut feeling that something felt a bit off about the enemies that day, or if they did, had not cared anywhere as much about it. Reinhardt himself would be hard pressed to describe the gut feeling he had, but he was experienced enough to know that he should take precautions based on it regardless.


    Missing out on some rewards was better than risking his people, in his mind.


    His caution was proven to be the correct course of action a little later in the day, however. Sometime in the afternoon, the Coalition army¡¯s left flank pushed harder and deeper into the Imperial army¡¯s center, and it was then when Reinhardt¡¯s bad feelings manifested. From the bird¡¯s eye view he received through Hannah and his artifact¡¯s help, he noticed how a unit around ten thousand strong that had until then stationed themselves near the back of the enemy lines ¨C one that he took as reserves ¨C started moving.


    Said unit moved with greater cohesion and discipline compared to the rest of the Imperials they faced, even if they too wore the same salvaged armor as everyone else. The Imperial army parted before the unit¡¯s advance and they clashed head-on with the left flank of the Coalition army that was making their push, rapidly halting their offense and even turning the tables on them before much time had passed.


    By that point of time Reinhardt had an inkling on what had happened. The Imperial snuck in some of their elite soldiers amongst the chaff and disguised them by having them don the same salvaged armor as the rest. It was naturally impossible to pick them out from afar until the elite soldiers sprung into action and showed their mettle.


    They probably intended to decisively crush one of the Coalition army¡¯s flanks and push further to force a rout or something similar. A guess that was further validated by how additional cavalry forces were moving out from the enemy¡¯s reserve troops. Reinhardt naturally warned Nestor of the development and before long he noticed some of the dwarven cavalry moving forward to meet and turn away the enemy¡¯s cavalry.


    As for Reinhardt himself, he took the matters on the battlefield into his own hands as he immediately ordered all his platoon members to push ahead as fast and hard as they could. The Imperial elites were trying to devour the Coalition army¡¯s left flank, so if he pushed hard on the right flank, they might well manage to turn the tables once more and catch the Imperials in a pincer assault instead.


    Reinhardt had messengers sent to inform Barnaby and the other mercenary commanders on his flank about the maneuver, and told Erycea to do the same on her side. Even as the messengers went out, the Free Lances pushed hard against the Imperial army¡¯s lines, their three strike platoons directly breaking through the enemy lines and creating gaps for the other platoons to exploit as they followed.


    Almost immediately the relatively orderly battle turned rather chaotic due to the rapid changes on the situation from both sides.

 Side Story 90 - Not Forcing what is Not Meant to Be

    ¡°All too often, we wish for one thing, but reality gives us another thing instead. There is no point in dwelling on the thing we did not get, and instead, it is better to spend our time making the best use of what we did get.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy


    ¡°Inform Xiao Jiangjun Sharif that he is to withdraw before the enemy could catch him in a pincer attack. Tell him to be conservative and do not force things,¡± dictated Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong to a messenger beside him. ¡°He can withdraw the army at his judgement. Prioritize the safety of our elites over the destruction of the enemy.¡±


    ¡°As you command, Long Jiangjun!¡± said the messenger before he led his horse to a gallop towards the battlefield. Fortunately the recipient of the message, Xiao Jiangjun Ishak mil Sharif, should be near the rear of the army as the man was more a scholar than a warrior and commanded from a safe location instead of heading near the frontlines.


    Hua-Jeong had observed the sudden turn of the battle. The springing of the trap was to his expectations, since he was the one who ordered ten thousand of his elite infantrymen under Sharif¡¯s leadership to disguise themselves and blend in with the rest of the defeated army from the northern detachment. He had not expected the enemies to be able to react so swiftly and decisively to his stratagem, but it was also something he could gain valuable information from.


    The rapid, effective, and decisive movement on the enemy¡¯s part meant that they either had a skilled tactician that expected such a trap and prepared accordingly, or that their frontline commanders had more autonomy than in the Imperial army and were decisive when push came to shove. He himself doubted that he could have made such a bold decision if he was in the same position, at a lower rank.


    All those were information on the enemy army he had not possessed until now, as the defeat in the east had not revealed these points due to the nature of the fighting there. A prolonged siege followed by a swift and devastating defeat did not make for suitable situations to gather information on the enemy¡¯s capability in direct combat.


    Originally he had intended to deal the enemy coalition a painful blow today, but their swift reaction threatened the safety of his elites instead, as even if he was confident in their skills, a pincer attack would still take a toll, and likely cause unacceptable casualties. It was one major reason Hua-Jeong called for a swift retreat with safety as their priority.


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    ¡°Should we send out more riders to help keep the enemy distracted, Long Jiangjun?¡± asked Zhong Jiangjun Zahira Al-Nairi from atop her steed to his left. The Imperial army had sent out around five thousand of their cavalrymen to support the stratagem but that had failed to achieve the desired effect either.


    ¡°No, leave it be for now. Instead tell our riders out there to prioritize keeping their distance. We have already seen how devastating these odd cavalry of the enemy could be in a melee, and our riders are not their match by any means,¡± stated Hua-Jeong as Zahira nodded and relayed his instructions to the bannermen next to her. The bannermen in turn swung the banner at the top of his long pole on a predetermined pattern to relay the orders to the distant cavalrymen.


    While such a manner of communication was limited in what it could convey, it was still the best means to pass down relatively complex orders over long distances. By Xiao Jiangjun Sharif¡¯s side an interpreter of such commands who would be watching the flags all the time would notice the commands and relayed the order promptly.


    Sharif himself ¨C as well as all generals in the Imperial army ¨C would be able to interpret the orders without aid, but their attention was generally focused on the battlefield, which were typically on the opposite direction as where the signals might come from, hence the need for a dedicated watcher to look out for such flag signals.


    As it was, the Imperial cavalry managed to keep their distance from the odd enemies that used wooly rams as mounts, utilizing their superior speed and maneuverability to keep their distance and rain arrows down on their foes. The rain of arrows did very little, however, as neither the enemy riders nor their mounts seemed to be perturbed by the projectiles and kept chasing doggedly, even if the occasional rider or ram here and there fell from lucky shots.


    In fact, any time the Imperial cavalry attempted to get closer to shoot more accurately, the squat enemies atop the rams would then bring out large crossbows that were somehow capable of reloading their own bolts and shoot back at them. The impact from the crossbow bolts were far more devastating on the Imperial riders and their mounts, and any that took a direct hit did not get back up.


    All that resulted in the current situation where the Imperial cavalry riders kept to a rather long distance ¨C a bit too long to shoot their arrows accurately or comfortably, for that matter ¨C and loosed rather inaccurate arrows while their ram-riding enemies doggedly chased after them. Neither side were able to really hurt the other that way, and the Imperials did not dare to get closer after they had a taste of the crossbows their enemies used.


    Because of that the cavalries from both sides effectively neutralized one another¡¯s presence, with the Imperial cavalry rendered incapable of doing much if any damage to the Coalition forces while the Coalition¡¯s own cavalry was busy ensuring that the Imperial cavalry remained occupied in such a manner. Neither side could depart without giving their opponents free reign over the battlefield, which would more than likely result in thousands of casualties for their side, at the very least.


    Despite how the riders actively harried and pursued each other, the fighting on their end had pretty much devolved to a stalemate, regardless of appearances.

 Chapter 492 - Each with their own Pound of Flesh

    ¡°Not pressing an advantage when it was there to exploit is folly. Pressing an advantage that did not exist? That is even greater foolishness. To succeed, one must know how to read the situation correctly, and reach accordingly, for to fail to do so would just result in a waste of lives.¡± - Excerpt from ¡°Musings on Tactics and Strategy¡± by Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez, Duke of Algenverr and military genius from the Times of Turmoil.


    ¡°Dammit, they saw us coming,¡± muttered Reinhardt under his breath when he noticed how the suspected enemy elites started breaking away in an orderly manner from the Coalition army¡¯s left flank they were engaging at the time. The right flank he led was still pushing their way through the enemy force on their way to come to the left flank¡¯s rescue, but the enemy already showed signs of retreat while they were still a distance away.


    Naturally, from Reinhardt¡¯s actual position on the battlefield, fighting amongst his mercenaries right on the frontlines, it would have been impossible for him to have realized the situation. As usual, it was his artifact that allowed him to assess the situation he normally wouldn¡¯t be aware of thanks to the bird¡¯s eye view it provided.


    The way the enemy withdrew in an orderly manner hinted that they too realized the situation that was about to befall them, that he was leading the right flank with the intent to catch them in a pincer attack. It was quite a feat of discipline and organization to deliver messages over the distance and enact them with an army ten thousand in size so cleanly.


    Which only made Reinhardt more certain that the force that was escaping was definitely the enemy¡¯s elite soldiers. The vast majority of regular troops would not be able to transition from fighting to retreat in such a smooth and orderly manner, at such speed. It was something he was uncertain his mercenaries would be able to match, even, which spoke volumes about the level of discipline and cohesion shown by the enemy soldiers.


    Granted, the Free Lances as a whole was more likely to tuck their heads down and continue charging headlong until they came out on the other side of the enemy formation rather than to turn around and retreat, but the point still stood.


    ¡°Stop trying to push as hard as you can. Spread out more and take out as many of these bastards as you can before they escape!¡± ordered Reinhardt to his platoon leaders, the artifact he was wearing carrying his voice magically to the recipient artifacts carried by each of the others. ¡°We¡¯re not going to be able to catch our primary target, so try to hurt the rest of them as badly as you can while they¡¯re here.¡±


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    Messengers from the Free Lances also conveyed his words to the mercenary leaders to his company¡¯s left and right, since the Free Lances had unofficially been leading the mercenary troops on the right flank, partly due to them being the largest of the mercenary companies present. None of the others had any issues with the arrangement, or if they did, they kept their silence after the Brewers and Silver Eagles, the second and third largest companies, voiced their support over the setup.


    As the Free Lances slowed their push and spread more to start slaughtering their foes, the Brewers and Silver Eagles finally caught up, as they had been left chasing after the Free Lances during the push, neither company able to fully match the speed with which the Free Lances pushed through the enemy forces. They saw what the Free Lances were doing and quickly ordered their people to follow suit.


    The Silver Eagles still needed some help from Erycea¡¯s ¨C and Alycea¡¯s as well, at that point ¨C platoons to be able to keep up with the Free Lances in that sort of offense, while to the Free Lances¡¯ left flank, the dwarves from Barnaby¡¯s Brewers simply lowered the visors of their helmets, tucked their chins close to their chest, and charged out with their shields held before them.


    While the Strike Platoons from the Free Lances performed better in the short term as befit their role as shock troops, a full-blown dwarven heavy infantry charge was still something very few things short of a headlong heavy cavalry charge could match in destructive power. Their slow speed was less of an issue in a pitched battle, and the enemy soldiers before them were crushed one after another like grains before the millstone.


    In contrast, the Free Lances had a more uneven performance, since each platoon was set up differently and did things in their own way. It was still undeniably effective, however, as the mercenaries mowed down their opponents, and the disparity between the different platoons were even something they exploited themselves, often shifting their positions so that an enemy that fought against one platoon suddenly found themselves fighting a different one, often with fatal results.


    The fighting continued on for another couple of hours, though it mostly died down by then, with the Imperial army¡¯s withdrawal ¨C once again a far more organized one than Reinhardt liked ¨C from the battlefield, and both armies returned to their respective camps as the sun started to set beneath the horizon.


    Neither side escaped unscathed from the fighting. The Coalition army¡¯s left flank took a pummeling, and accounted for the majority of the four thousand or so casualties they took in total, with a couple of the mercenary companies in the left flank at risk of dissolution. Fortunately, the right flank of the Coalition army more than evened things up and it was estimated that their enemies took at least double that number in casualties in exchange.


    It was not exactly an even trade, as the Coalition army lost some of their more skilled soldiers ¨C and the near-extermination of a couple companies also bothered some of the other mercenaries present ¨C while the Imperial army mostly lost more of their worst soldiers. Nestor countered the morale issues amongst the mercenaries by paying considerable bonuses to the mercenaries on the right flank for their performance, while at the same time also paying his dues to those who lost their lives in his service.


    Such a move secured the morale and loyalty of the once wavering mercenary companies once more, but they all knew that repeats of similar situations could potentially prove to be troublesome.

 Chapter 493 - Arrangements on Both Sides

    ¡°Sometimes, fate conspires to ensure the greatest damned mess possible. Probably for shits and giggles.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Thank you for the quick reaction today, Captain Edelstein. We¡¯d have probably lost more off the left flank had you not countered their strategy so promptly,¡± said Nestor later that evening when the leaders of the Coalition ¨C including many captains from the various mercenary companies ¨C gathered to discuss strategy for the battle.


    ¡°Just doing my job, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt with a humble nod. His company just got a sizable bonus for their performance while several other companies were lamenting their losses so he saw no reason to rub salt into their open wounds. ¡°Had a bad feeling about the enemy today, I just didn¡¯t think that it turned out real in the end.¡±


    ¡°None of us saw it coming either,¡± said Nestor with a shake of his head. His group at the back might not have a convenient bird¡¯s eye view of the battlefield but they all saw what happened clearly enough and failed to detect the trap until it was sprung all the same. ¡°We¡¯re definitely not facing the same sort of commander as we had so far.¡±


    ¡°I cannot be sure without seeing the man myself, but it is possible that Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong himself might be in command of the army you face,¡± volunteered Kang Lu-Shih, who was brought to the meeting as a possible information source since he was cooperative after his capture. His niece was also present as she was helping him to walk, Lu-Shih still limping since his broken leg had yet to completely heal.


    ¡°I believe you have mentioned the name before, but I do not remember the details,¡± noted Angus Harscape who was present along with his daughter the Grafin and the other dwarven commanders. Several others nodded in affirmation at his words. Lu-Shih had once given a brief overview on the Empire¡¯s important personages, but that was when he was recently captured, around two weeks past.


    ¡°He would be one of the Empire¡¯s four greatest generals. His title translates to the ¡®Dragon General¡¯, one of the four given to the individuals granted such honors,¡± said Lu-Shih without preamble. ¡°He is known to be a keen strategist as well as an unparalleled archer. In fact, I remember someone mentioning that your side had lost a commander to an arrow in the south before. That is likely to be General Leung¡¯s handiwork.¡±


    ¡°Make a note and ensure that each of you bring more shield soldiers with you at all times if you go near the frontlines,¡± said Nestor addressing the crowd. ¡°If this man is accurate enough to pick off Duke Bostvan during a chaotic battle with a single arrow from well out of sight, he could likely do the same to any of us here as well, so take your precautions.¡±


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    ¡°In the homeland it is rumored that the General can strike down birds in flight and never misses within five hundred paces,¡± added Lu-Shih helpfully, though if he thought the statement would shock the gathered crowd, he was in for a disappointment as most of them merely nodded sagely.


    ¡°Would not surprise me to see that level of archery. We have one such archer ourselves in Captain Edelstein¡¯s company, so the enemy also having one is not that much of a surprise,¡± commented the old Duke Banitu.


    ******************************


    ¡°Are we going to commit to battle tomorrow, Long Jiangjun?¡± asked Xiao Jiangjun Ishak mil Sharif with a bit of consternation on his features. The younger general had been the one to execute the trap they had set in the battle earlier that day, and together with Zahira Al-Nairi were the two Imperial generals in the current force that had fought against the Coalition army so far.


    ¡°We are. They are likely to do the same very soon even if we do not, so the choice is out of our hands anyway,¡± said Hua-Jeong with a shake of his head. He had wanted to test the enemies for longer, to find out as much as he could first before engaging, but from the way his enemies made decisive actions at the drop of a hat he knew that they wouldn¡¯t sit still now that he exposed the quality of the elite soldiers under his leadership. ¡°Better that we prepare for it and maybe even take the initiative if they did not respond as we predicted.¡±


    ¡°Any preparations we should make tonight, sir?¡± asked Xiao Jiangjun Xingl Liat. The tribe she hailed from was a minority that lived in one of the most isolated islands in the archipelago and were only assimilated into the Empire after the unification war, with neither the Confederacy nor the Sultanate being aware of their existence before then. They still kept many of their old customs even after the integration, but were rarely seen in high positions, with the general being a notable exception.


    The woman herself was a former wandering warrior who rose to fame through her bravery and feats of arms during the succession war, leading to her current posting as a general, despite her lacking grasp of military tactics.


    ¡°Good of you to ask, Xiao Jiangjun Liat. I want you to take command of your five thousand gatebreakers and wait for my command before you and yours go wild on the enemies before you. Until then, keep yourselves inconspicuous around the middle of our infantry formation,¡± said Hua-Jeong with a nod. Xingl Liat¡¯s gatebreakers were hardened veteran infantry who specialized in forcing their way through enemy formations.


    ¡°Zhong Jiangjun Liu, you will be in general command of our main infantry force tomorrow. Musir, you will be responsible for the left flank. Sharif, you have the right flank. Al-Nairi, you will be in command of our cavalry forces. I will command from the reserve and move as needed depending on the situation. Keep watch for my signals,¡± added the old general as he listed out positions to all the generals under his command, mostly people he brought with him from the south.


    ¡°As you command!¡±

 Chapter 494 - Raising the Curtains of the Battle

    ¡°In general, military campaigns take weeks, months, even years or decades to accomplish. Battles on the other hand, tend to be far briefer in duration. Barring sieges, most battles tend to resolve themselves within a week at the most, and that is only if both sides were cautious and spent their time probing the other side. Rare it is for a battle to not see resolution for long periods of time.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Well, now, ain¡¯t this a sight for sore eyes,¡± said Reinhardt as he whistled appreciatively while looking over the deployed formations on both sides of the battlefield through his artifact. He was not alone either, as Barnaby, Wilhelmina, and leaders from several other mercenary companies were gathered around him, each looking attentively at the soil where Reinhardt made a crude replication of the formations using his limited magic skills.


    For the day¡¯s battle, the arrangements differed from the previous days. The dwarven elite infantry from Knallzog directly took the front and center of the formation, with Algenverr¡¯s and Kolitschei¡¯s best infantry shoring up the numbers in the center. The mercenaries and the Knallzog auxilliaries were split to the flanks with more soldiers from the dukedoms. Each flank also had the support of half of the light cavalry forces they had, while some remaining elite infantry and the dwarven cavalry were positioned in the back as their reserves.


    Angus Harscape, Damien Carlos da Nunez, and Duke Orsla Banitu led the central force in person, while the flanks were under the command of the auxiliary commanders working together with another from each flank. On the right flank, where Kolitschei¡¯s remaining troops were stationed, the second commander was Cazor, Duke Banitu¡¯s distant nephew.


    The left flank where Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances were stationed had plenty of mercenaries, and they practically unanimously chose him to represent them as the second leader there. Reinhardt¡¯s artifact alone ¨C which so far only he or Erycea could use effectively for long periods ¨C made him the obvious choice, to the point that the auxiliary commander hinted that he would follow Reinhardt¡¯s arrangements when push comes to shove.


    Similarly, the cavalry that supported each flank were nominally commanded by officers from Kolitschei ¨C on the right ¨C and Algenverr respectively, but having seen what Reinhardt could do in the past, the Algenverr commander happily shared the command with Soledad, as the mercenaries also happened to contribute a notable portion of the left flank¡¯s cavalry forces.


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    As for the reserves, Nestor, Griselda, and Siobhan commanded those troops, which also gave Reinhardt some reassurance. Out of the nobles involved in this campaign, Nestor Ambroglio da Nunez and Angus Harscape were the ones he trusted the most when it came to commanding armies. The old dwarf was an experienced commander, while the young Duke of Algenverr was a prodigy as a general.


    He felt reassured with them in charge of the center and the reserves, Nestor being in overall command of the army, that at least his company would not have to deal with the fallout of bad decisions made from the top that doomed everyone. At least, that should be the case unless the enemy they faced turned out to be a genius strategist that had been hiding their fangs all this while.


    Arrayed before them on the other side of the plains was the imperial army, which had taken a wide formation formed out of a multitude of smaller formations set next to each other. Unlike the Coalition army which set their center further ahead, the Imperial army had their wings stretched further out and slightly curving forward, while their center had a more concave bent to it.


    Behind the main formation, Reinhardt also saw the enemy reserves which formed a solid rectangle behind the center of their force, and the two blocks of cavalry waiting beside them. Clearly their enemy was wary of the dwarven cavalry and saved their own for times of need rather than risking them in an early clash where they might get bogged down.


    At the moment, both armies were standing still, arrayed before each other under the light of the morning sun. There was palpable tension in the air, the sort that was common prior to a fight breaking out, albeit magnified many times over, thanks to the massive amounts of people present and prepared to kill each other on both armies.


    Between the two armies, the open plains was mostly bare, with grass that grew only up to one¡¯s ankles at most, and a few gentle, rolling hills that barely reached up to an adult human¡¯s waist at the highest. A few lone trees dotted the landscape here and there, but for the most part, it was wide open terrain, where the cavalry ¨C and the dwarven chariots ¨C could show their worth best.


    Other than the occasional horse whinny or the bleating of the dwarven rams, silence reigned over both armies as they watched their foes closely. It was as if time slowed down to a crawl, that hours had gone by while they stood and waited for the start of the battle instead of just mere minutes. Only after what felt like an eternity but was likely no more than half an hour or so, did things finally begin to move.


    Horns and drums were sounded from the Imperial army¡¯s side, while flags were waved around in the breeze, their whole armor moving forward while keeping in formation, a grand display of discipline and cohesion as it was far from easy to do so with over a hundred thousand people at the same time. Some of the enemy soldiers banged the shafts of their spears against their shields as they marched, causing a rhythmic beat to accompany their progress.


    In response, Nestor commanded for the signal horns to sound an advance as well, and the Coalition army surged forward at a measured pace to match their foes. The dwarven infantry immediately started to bang the shafts of their weapons against their shields as well, drowning out the beat from the Imperial army with their louder one, as more of the Coalition army joined in the act.

 Chapter 495 - A Clash of Wills

    ¡°It¡¯s usually not the stronger ones or the braver ones who wins a clash of arms on the frontline. It¡¯s the most stubborn ones who are most likely to win.¡± - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.


    When two lines of heavy infantry clashed at the frontlines of battle, it made for a cacophonous noise that defied description, a loud, echoing ruckus that comparisons failed to clarify properly.


    It simply was what it was. A deafening clang that seemed to invade the inside of one¡¯s head and echo within, making the listener feel as if the sound threatened to burst their skulls apart from the inside.


    With the dwarven heavy infantry across from them, the Imperial army also moved some of their elites to face them. Strong, burly soldiers were equipped with armor from good steel and heavy, sturdy sabers capable of vicious chops and cuts. They also carried oddly shaped trapezoidal shields that were wider and had a wedge taken out at the top, giving the shield a shape not unlike the fletching at the back of an arrow. The shield was wide enough to cover a soldier¡¯s whole body and long enough to hide their form from the shoulder to the knee behind.


    The Imperial soldiers formed a tight-knit formation, with their shields lined up to form a contiguous shield wall at the frontline. Between every two soldiers, another soldier from behind them would press their shield against the shields of those at the front, their shield positioned perfectly over the tiny gap between the two shields at the front, forming an overlapping double-layered shield wall. Those further behind supported the backs of those in front of them using their shields as well, knowing that the first clash would be a test to their cohesion and discipline.


    Even with that preparation, they barely managed to hold their ground on that first clash, as the even heavier and more solid dwarven formation ran headlong into theirs. Those at the front felt almost as if their bodies were being crushed, the life being squeezed out of them by the grip of a giant, so violent was the force that acted upon them. A few even vomited blood on the spot, though to their credit, they remained standing in line even so.


    Solid metal shields were pressed against each other¡¯s surfaces as neither line was willing to give ground, a contest of strength, endurance, and cohesion, or at least, that was what the Imperial army was expecting out of their prior experience at war. None of them expected the dwarves to simply reach over the shield walls and strike down, leveraging the most of their long arms and weapons like axes, warhammers, and war picks.


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    Some of the Imperial soldiers saw the blows coming and managed to block them with their sabers, if with difficulty. Others failed to react in time and the dwarven weapons struck down heavily upon their heads and shoulders. Helmets were dented and proved to be of little help against such blows, with more than a few imperial soldiers dying while bleeding from every facial orifice, a large dent on their helm.


    That caught the Imperial army off guard, and their frontmost line of infantry crumbled before the dwarven onslaught, as did the second, but the third and fourth lines behind saw what happened and set up defensive postures that managed to halt the dwarven advance into the formation. Rather than focusing on overlapping their shields, every second soldier on the fourth line instead focused on using their shields to block incoming blows.


    Soon after the dwarves clashed with the Imperial army¡¯s elites, the rest of the formation also clashed with each other. Those clashes were more even, as while the Imperials did not have their best elites there ¨C having concentrated them to face the dwarves with the rest on reserve duty ¨C neither were the Coalition¡¯s other soldiers as powerful or capable of overwhelming their opponents like the dwarves almost managed at the opening moments of the battle.


    In fact, in most parts of the battle line, both sides placed their weaker troops at the forefront while keeping their elites and stronger troops in reserve, neither side willing to reveal their fangs so early in the battle other than the obvious display in the center. Both sides were maneuvering, biding their time and waiting for the right moment to pounce upon their foes when it would do the most harm.


    Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances, alongside Barnaby¡¯s Brewers, were sequestered in the central part of the Coalition army formation¡¯s left wing, their stronger troops deemed suitable for striking decisive blows and thus were to be saved for later. Reinhardt himself kept a constant watch on the overall situation, having lent some receiver artifacts to the other commanders to warn them as the situation demanded.


    The cavalry on both sides remained a bit further away in the back, giving themselves enough room to get up to speed when they were called to battle. The commanders in the rear were keeping an eye on the battle¡¯s progress, prepared to give commands depending on how the situation developed, while also discussing the battle¡¯s progress with each other.


    Archers from both armies rained down arrows in parabolic arcs, shooting well past the front lines in order to avoid friendly fire, their projectiles falling down into the regions further back amidst the enemy soldiers, and at times amongst the enemy archers, even. Even so both sides continued undaunted, the fighting happening below a steady shade cast by the thousands upon thousands of arrows that flew over the heads of the combatants.


    One side fought for the glory of their Empire, for conquest, for riches and rewards promised to them upon victory. They fought for their nation, for their own futures ¨C as many amongst their ranks had risen through feats of arms ¨C and for what would hopefully be a better living for their descendants. The other side fought to defend their homes and loved ones, to repel those that wanted to take away what had belonged to them for many generations. Neither side would give way, so bloodshed was all that remained.

 Chapter 496 - Action and Reaction

    ¡°Whether making the first move in battle was an advantage or a disadvantage depends entirely on the situation of the battle itself. Far too many people failed to understand this, and instead had it stuck in their minds that one or the other was true. Those people paid the price when they ran into situations where their belief proved false indeed.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    Perhaps it was because they were flustered when their elites almost broke during the first clash. Perhaps it was simply what they always planned. Perhaps it was a reaction to the shifting situation of the battle. Nobody knows the reason for certain, but the Imperial army ended up making the first move of the battle after the armies collided.


    Reinhardt noticed it first, thanks to the bird¡¯s eye view of the battle he had. His company was not engaged with the enemy for the time being so he could devote his attention to watching over the enemy¡¯s forces, and he caught the waving flagpoles right as they happened. A short while later, he noticed movement amongst the soldiers located at the back rows of the enemy¡¯s left and right flanks and made a quick judgement based on what he noticed so far.


    ¡°Enemy troops movement on both flanks. Suspecting that they are aiming for an envelopment,¡± he supplied to Nestor through the artifact, receiving two clicks of acknowledgement in quick succession to signal that the message was heard loud and clear soon afterwards. Not even a minute later, he heard the echoing, high-pitched sound of the signal horn being blown from behind.


    Where the Imperial army used flag signals to relay commands over the battlefield, the Coalition army made use of enchanted horns that were designed to carry their sound over the din of battle to long distances. It was not like the horns became louder ¨C doing so would have deafened those close to it ¨C but the sound it emanated would carry much, much further instead, the air itself making way for its passage, in a manner of speaking.


    A signal of four blows in quick succession meant that it was addressing the soldiers on both wings. That was followed by another signal in a two-three-two cadence that signaled for those troops to prepare to repel enemies coming from their side. The signal was then repeated two more times to make certain that it was heard by the commanders in question.


    Since the command was already given, Reinhardt naturally helped coordinate the response of the Coalition army¡¯s two wings through his artifact, reporting the enemy movements to the commanders on the respective wings. The Coalition army reacted swiftly, both wings having the soldiers on their outer flanks turning to face outwards, while troops from their back row marched out to the sides to face the enemies that would try to circle around them.


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    By the time the Imperial army soldiers marched out and moved in an attempt to envelop the Coalition army¡¯s wings from the outer flanks, they found themselves facing enemy soldiers who were already in position and awaiting their arrival, instead of a surprised enemy that was still in the midst of rearranging their lines to face them.


    It was a given that commanders watching the battle from the rear, even if they could get a clear view of the battle that way, would have less of an idea of everything that was happening on the battlefield compared to someone who was watching from above. It was why the Imperial army failed to notice that the Coalition army was deploying their troops to counter their maneuver in time to make changes to their tactics.


    Time was needed for a commander to realize the situation on the battlefield, make a decision on the matter, then pass down their order down the line. While enchanted tools and magic helped a lot with the speed of relaying those orders, it was still something that needed a bit of time. By the time Leung Hua-Jeong noticed the enemy¡¯s maneuver, it was already too late to rescind his orders or to give out new commands to his troops.


    Similarly, it took longer for him to notice how the Coalition army¡¯s cavalry forces that waited behind their flanks until that moment suddenly rushed out from the sides just as the two armies¡¯ wings engaged one another in close combat and were entangled by their opponents. The enemy cavalry was clearly aiming to loop around his troops¡¯ sides and rear to strike them there, an envelopment strategy to counter their envelopment strategy.


    Despite the frantic attempts on the Imperial army¡¯s side to deploy a portion of their own cavalry to counter the Coalition army¡¯s tactics, they were still too late in the end. Before the Imperial cavalry forces could race out to their rescue, the Imperial army¡¯s flanks were already enveloped by a wave of cavalry assaults that targeted their flanks and rear, raining javelins down on them followed by devastating slashing attacks from the Coalition¡¯s light cavalry.


    By the time the Imperial cavalry managed to race out and drive away the Coalition¡¯s cavalry forces by engaging them, the Imperial formation¡¯s left and right wings were in tatters and on the verge of crumbling after the sudden assault they took from all sides. The Coalition army that was engaged with them still pushed hard in the meantime, clearly looking to accelerate that process even more.


    Reinforcements from the back row of the Imperial center had just started moving to the wings when the sound of the command horn from the Coalition side being blown echoed over the battlefield once more, and the Coalition¡¯s left and right wings revealed their hidden fangs that had been kept sheathed until then. The forces that had been kept out of the fighting so far were given a path to the front and immediately charged their way into the Imperial army¡¯s formation, wreaking havoc and devastation wherever they went, their march seemingly unstoppable.

 Chapter 497 - The Fangs Bit Down

    ¡°Battles could be boring spectacles where sweaty, bloody men and women brawl with each other for the whole day and come up with nothing in the end. It could also be a series of swift and decisive maneuvers that saw thousands if not tens of thousands slain within an hour or less. Hard to tell which you¡¯ll be in until it actually happens, to be honest.¡± - Caine ¡°Butcher¡± Georg, former mercenary turned innkeeper.


    ¡°We¡¯ll crack off their left and you deal with the right, aye!?¡± yelled Barnaby over the din of battle as he rushed forward together with his mercenaries. The Brewers were positioned right next to the Free Lances so he was close enough for Reinhardt to hear and notice. It was a somewhat comical sight to watch dwarves run with their short legs, but when they were clad in full armor and wielding their wicked weapons and shields, any such thought usually died before they could fully form.


    ¡°You have the left!¡± Reinhardt yelled back. He himself was rushing forward as well, though not at full speed. The Free Lances were keeping pace with their allies so that both of their forces would hit the enemy force at the same time, as they were both serving as the tip of the spear for this offense, with the rest of the Coalition army¡¯s left wing following behind them. ¡°C¡¯mon, boys and girls! It¡¯s bloody time we earn our pay!¡±


    Both mercenary companies pushed to the forefront of the battle lines, practically driving a wedge into the right wing of the Imperial army formation around two-thirds of the way towards the center. Barnaby¡¯s Brewers veered left, the company¡¯s heavy dwarven infantrymen forming their usual circular formation to grind down the opposition before them as Algenverrian soldiers followed up behind and cleaned up what they left.


    Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances, veered right, straight towards the bulk of the enemy formation. Where Barnaby¡¯s mission was to eradicate as much of the cut off forces of the enemy¡¯s wing as he could, Reinhardt¡¯s company would disrupt the rest of the enemy wing and prevent them from sending proper reinforcements. He would do that by giving them more trouble to worry about in the form of his own company.


    All three strike platoons of the Free Lances pushed deep into the Imperial formation at full speed, this time holding nothing back as they either shoved aside or trampled their foes beneath their feet. Mischka¡¯s first strike platoon was leading the center and displayed overwhelming force as the large-bodied therians of the unit spearheaded the charge and brushed everything aside with brute force.


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    To the sides, the second and third strike platoons under Gr¨¹nhidlr and Arne¡¯s command also carved their way through the enemy forces with extreme prejudice, with Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons positioned between the strike platoons to catch and slaughter the enemies they left alive. Alvaro¡¯s and Astrid¡¯s platoons covered the mercenaries¡¯ flanks, while between them were the archers and skirmishers of Alva¡¯s Branka¡¯s and Egil¡¯s platoons raining down projectiles towards distant enemies as they ran along with the rest.


    In the center of the formation were Reinhardt¡¯s and Elfriede¡¯s units, acting as the reserves for the mercenary formation, while Nicole and Fatimah led their light infantry to sweep the remnants the company left behind in their wake, simultaneously covering the rear of the mercenary formation. Soldiers from Algenverr rushed to catch up to the mercenaries from behind, but consistently found themselves outpaced by the Free Lances, especially as they had to deal with the enemies not on the path taken by the company.


    Even Salicia, who had been keeping quiet in the battle thus far because Reinhardt did not wish to expose her presence and skill to the enemy who likely had an equally skilled archer, went to work, though she kept herself mostly to closer targets, within two hundred to three hundred paces or so. She would occasionally rise up above the crowd with the help of two burly mercenaries hoisting her up and loose a few arrows, each one dropping people she suspected to be a commander of some sort.


    That naturally resulted in a breakdown of communications, orders failing to reach officers who could enact them, and causing a worsening of cohesion on the Imperial army¡¯s side. Combined with how the wings did not hold their best troops amongst the Imperial army, the mercenaries swiftly pushed their way through thousands of people and was only briefly halted when they neared the region where the wing connected to the center of the army¡¯s formation, where the elites stationed there finally managed to get into formation and accost them.


    The Imperial army elites halted the charge of the strike platoons briefly, allowing the rest of the mercenary formation to congregate behind them as well, at which point the shieldbearer at the front of the strike platoons gave way and allowed the waiting warriors behind them loose. Once again, the invaders¡¯ unfamiliarity with fighting non-humans were brought to light.


    Because they definitely had little to no idea on how to deal with a large group of large-bodied therians plowing down their ranks.


    Reinhardt did not fail to take the opportunity presented before him and gave a signal for a full assault. Almost immediately, the Free Lances spread out wide as the other platoons on the side shifted to the front as well, pushing harder against the Imperial army formation, while Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons caught up to the strike platoons and soon raced them into the midst of their foes.


    All the while, the archers and slingers rained down projectiles on the Imperial army, accurately striking the enemy lines three or four people further away than where their own allies were or further. While the Imperial army elites proved their mettle in quickly responding to the assault, they proved lacking in their actual capability to withstand such a forceful push, and were immediately placed on the backfoot as the mercenaries pushed even harder.

 Chapter 498 - Encountering Resistance

    ¡°If you got through a battle with acceptable casualties, count your blessings. It won¡¯t last.¡± - Pierre Gurthand de Balzac, retired mercenary captain.


    ¡°Aly, there¡¯s some enemies moving towards your flank. Help Zyd and Arne out if necessary. We will be there before long,¡± Alycea heard her father¡¯s voice through her receiver artifact suddenly while she was fighting alongside her platoon at the frontlines. She took a moment to push off her opponent before she diverted her attention to send a small stream of mana into the artifact to trigger the signal that she received the message.


    ¡°Roven, have half the platoon prepare to bank right, incoming enemies,¡± she commanded right away. If her father asked her to help out the third strike platoon, that meant the incoming enemies were likely more than what they could handle on their own. She knew that her father would also warn them already, so instead she focused on other matters first. ¡°Also send a messenger to Mischka¡¯s platoon to inform her of the development, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± replied Roven as he immediately set her orders into motion. While Alycea was the platoon commander, Roven was her second in command who got things done after she made the decision, as he proved excellent at the job. The delegation of duty worked fine for the platoon, so they kept the arrangement going over the years.


    Alycea herself gathered her closest compatriots and formed a team, which along with several others shifted their position to the right, where they could aid the third strike platoon more easily. The rest of her platoon spread out more and made up for their redeployment, pushing hard against the enemy soldiers despite their overall youth.


    It did not take long before Erycea noticed the enemies her father warned her about. A different group of enemy soldiers ¨C easily noticeable since instead of wielding shields and one-handed weapons like the rest these ones carried fierce-looking two-handed weapons ¨C that likely numbered in the thousands were approaching the mercenary forces from the central region of the Imperial army formation.


    Due to their location, they would most likely hit the third strike platoon first. Zyd and Arne¡¯s people had already shifted to a more defensive stance in anticipation, but each of them were clear that they would likely face great pressure until more reinforcements could arrive and help them alleviate some of it. Alycea¡¯s platoon just happened to be the closest and most readily available of those.


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    The clash when the Imperial army elites struck the waiting third strike platoon was quite deafening, and Alycea was somewhat impressed that the Imperials actually managed to push back the third strike platoon¡¯s shieldbearers, even if they had the weight of numbers on their side. Out of the three strike platoons, the third was arguably the weakest as that large-bodied therians were concentrated in the first and they lacked a void mage like the second, on top of being the least experienced, but they were still a force to be reckoned with regardless.


    Alycea immediately brought the prepared teams forward to help the third strike platoon engage these Imperial elites. She already noticed that both Zyd and Arne ¨C people she often called ¡°uncle¡± as they were the parents of some of her sister¡¯s friends ¨C were both already fighting at the frontline themselves, which they were not as eager to do unless they had to, unlike the other platoon leaders.


    Spotting a group of enemy soldiers attempting to flank the third strike platoon¡¯s formation, Alycea immediately struck at them with her glaive, forcing the frontmost soldier to take a step back and turn their attention her way. Almost immediately the twins covered Alycea¡¯s left while Skuldj brought her shield up and covered her right as they joined the battle.


    As two of the enemy soldiers turned their attention towards her ¨C each of them had to deal with two or more enemies since they were outnumbered and spread rather thin at the moment ¨C Alycea blocked one enemy¡¯s blade on the flexible shaft of her glaive even as she caught the other¡¯s strike with the protrusions at the back of her own blade.


    Her first opponent was taken by surprise at the way the flexible Willow Heartwood shaft of her weapon simply bounced the slash off while barely even taking a nick from it, which bought her an extra moment she used to twist her weapon around, locking the second enemy¡¯s weapon with her own, and violently twisted her weapon around.


    The rotation almost yanked the two-handed blade out of her opponent¡¯s hand, driving the man off-balance as a result even if he managed to retain his grip on the weapon. Alycea¡¯s glaive disengaged from his weapon with another quick twist, then the weapon seemed to almost spring up towards the man¡¯s face like it was a living serpent, leaving a bloody gash that sliced through one of the man¡¯s eyes.


    Even as her wounded opponent was screaming in pain, Alycea continued to maneuver her weapon swiftly towards her second opponent, who only barely managed to block her unexpected strike. Neither of them expected that the shaft of her glaive would be flexible enough to make such an oddly angled blow, and it had cost the imperial soldiers as a result.


    While her second foe managed to block her strike, Alycea just shifted her grip and instead brought the back end of her glaive towards her opponent. The back end of her weapon sported a furnished, sharp, and fully functional spearhead, and with a twist of her wrist, the spearhead in question moved around wildly even as she stabbed it towards her surprised opponent.


    Just as her opponent moved his blade to block her thrust, she twisted her grip once more, but in the other direction, and the wobbling spearhead suddenly turned rigid and flew straight instead. The sudden change caused her opponent¡¯s attempt to block to miss the spearhead completely as it sank deep into his throat, leaving behind a wound that bled freely and would most definitely prove fatal given a few more moments.

 Side Story 91 - Desperation and Succor

    ¡°Only in times of desperation would one appreciate aid to the utmost.¡± - Old Al-Shanian saying.


    ¡°Do not falter! Stand fast and send these beasts back from whichever hell they crawled out from!¡± yelled Xiao Jiangjun Ishak Mil Sharif to his soldiers in an attempt to maintain their morale and bolster their willpower to fight back. The man actually used up most of his own willpower to keep his voice from trembling as he did so, portraying a strong front to the soldiers under his command, despite how he was screaming at himself from within.


    The fighting at the Imperial army¡¯s right wing under his command had devolved into nothing short of a debacle. From how the enemy seemed to have expected the encirclement maneuver they decided on, to how the enemy cavalry wreaked havoc and disarray at the flank and back of the right wing, nothing had gone as planned so far past the initial clash.


    As if that was not bad enough, he had not expected the enemy to hide some of their inhuman elite soldiers in the midst of their formation, as those soldiers suddenly rushed out from the enemy formation and cleaved the Imperial right wing in twain between them. He himself was with the half of the wing that were still attached to the main formation, while of the other half, he had no inkling of the situation.


    He had never seen enemies like the ones he faced before. Supposedly they were also present at the previous day¡¯s battle, but his elites had disengaged from the fighting before they could reach him back then. This time, they led the charge into his formation, so he got a good look at his inhuman foes, and he wished he hadn¡¯t.


    Each of the monsters were easily half again to twice as tall as a person, resembling various wild beasts, yet clearly exhibiting intellect at the same time, as was evidenced by their skilled use of weapons and armor. They marched with military precision, relying on their overwhelming bulk to push through formations and battle lines almost as easily as an adult shoving away children in their path.


    Those were the fortunate ones.


    As for the less fortunate soldiers who took direct hits from the massive weapons wielded by the armored beasts, few of them even had a complete body to bury. Many were directly shorn into halves or pieces when they were struck. Limbs were torn off bodies as if they were nothing, and neither shields or armor seemed to do much to stop the vicious strikes.


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    Ishak even saw how a massive armored beast with horns and a long trunk casually pushed away a ten-man unit with its massive shields, each the size of a fort¡¯s entrance gate. It also wielded a massive, wicked mace with its truck and directly pulverized any soldier it hit. One of the victims even fell not too far from Ishak after they were bodily hurled by a mighty blow, their upper body reduced to barely recognizable mush by the force of the impact.


    Sure, not all of the foes he faced were as beastly. Some of the human soldiers he saw amongst the enemy force were just as intimidating, however, many of them veritable giants amongst men ¨C or women ¨C wielding massive tower shields the size of doors. He had heard that there were people that large outside the Empire, but had never seen them until that day.


    There were people as tall in the lands they already conquered prior to this battle, but none of the people there were tall and bulky like the enemy soldiers he was facing that day. He also spotted others, like the short, stout warriors the Imperial army already ran afoul on in the south, as well as other folk with bulky figures and great tusks sprouting out of their mouths, with skin tones unlike any people he ever saw before.


    By that point Ishak had already been forced to retreat his own command group repeatedly before the enemy¡¯s onslaught. While he was not defenseless in a fight, he was not a warrior like most of the other Imperial generals and relied mostly on his knowledge of tactics and strategy to do battle. Directly fighting on the front lines was not something he did.


    Under normal conditions, it worked well enough. He had enough of a reputation that his soldiers would not feel discouraged by the fact that he commanded from the rear, and his successes spoke for themselves. The situation he currently faced was far from normal, however, with foes unlike anything he ever faced before mowing their way through his soldiers as if they were mere scarecrows.


    A general who was also a warrior could rally the troops¡¯ morale more effectively in such a situation by fighting at the front. Such a display of leading by example was a method that had proven its effectiveness in such situations many times in the past, at least as long as the general in question did not get themselves killed in the process.


    Which, to be fair, was something Ishak felt might be difficult to avoid given the sort of foes he was facing.


    He was feeling desperate for a moment until one of his aides drew his attention to the side, where he saw the soldiers on the center of the Imperial army making way to allow a unit around five thousand strong to pass towards his direction. He recognized the banner of the advancing unit immediately, that of Xiao Jiangjun Xingl Liat and her gatebreakers.


    Ishak mil Sharif breathed an audible sigh of relief without realizing it when he saw the reinforcements headed his way. His elites, the ones who held on so well against the enemy forces that outnumbered them the day before, were breaking apart against these beastly opponents. None of his tactics or stratagems worked against the tidal wave that was the foe he faced.


    Mayhaps the unit vaunted to be the most ferocious infantrymen in the Empire could do better.

 Side Story 92 - On the Path of Slaughter

    ¡°When times were simpler and sometimes all it takes to be appointed a general was to be really good at killing people, you might get the warrior types who tacticians and strategists these days would often point out as bad examples from the past.


    I have a different view on this point. Fact spoke louder than words, and fact was, for their time and place, these warrior-generals worked. In fact, several of our nation¡¯s most famous generals were arguably more warrior than general.


    They inspired their troops to heightened morale or even a frenzy by leading courageously from the front, their martial prowess often making them appear as if a Deity had stepped onto the battlefield in person, especially for the mightier generals of this sort. Naturally, such displays would also impact the enemy morale, on top of its benefits to their own troops.


    Rather than mock or push away a doctrine you disagree with, why not embrace and incorporate it for your own benefits? Is that not what a tactician was supposed to be doing in the first place? To make the most out of whatever they had in hand?¡± - From a recorded debate amongst the graduating class of the Ambervale Military Academy, Al-Shan, circa 1042 FP.


    Xiao Jiangjun Xingl Liat of the Al-Shan Imperial army came to her current position by a series of incidents that some would call coincidence, and others might call fated.


    She hailed from a minority tribe in one of the islands furthest west in the archipelago, where the winter lasted for most of the year and summertime was brief. Her people were so isolated that they were only found and assimilated into the Empire after the unification war, and even in the present day were rarely seen outside their oft-frozen home island.


    Liat was a warrior, the best of her tribe, albeit one who found herself without purpose in a world where all the tribes had been incorporated into the Empire as its people. Where inter-tribal warfare used to be common amongst rivaling tribes, such incidents were basically gone due to the Empire¡¯s pressure for the tribes to behave themselves.


    Since her homeland could no longer grant her a purpose and she felt that being a warrior was truly her calling, Liat had left her home island and traveled the archipelago as a wandering warrior. She was neither of the chivalrous nor of the dastardly bent, and mostly sought after challenges where she could discover one.


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    As fate would have it, the succession war broke out around a decade after Xingl Liat left her home island, and she soon found herself embroiled in it after some soldiers attempted to capture her just because she happened to pass by when they were rounding up some of their enemies. Liat naturally took offense to their attempt at capturing her and slaughtered those soldiers, unintentionally aligning herself with those she rescued by accident in the process.


    Those soldiers she rescued happened to be supporters of the prince that became the current Emperor, and when they invited her back to their base, it had not taken much convincing for her to join their cause. It was the best and actually legal way for her to satisfy her lust for battle, after all, and she would even get paid for it at the same time!


    Xingl Liat gained fame and fortune throughout the succession war in equal measure as she fought at the frontlines, repeatedly throwing enemy formations into disarray with her expertise in the arts martial. Her success led to a group of impulsive and courageous soldiers to follow and emulate her feats, people who later in the war would end up being her followers, the starting point of the infamous Gatebreakers.


    They earned that nickname when they broke through an enemy formation known to be as difficult to breach as a city¡¯s gate in one of the last battles of the war, and the moniker stuck with them ever since. As the Empire settled down, Liat was made a general for her feats of arms, and her subordinates arranged into an official unit that bore their moniker proudly.


    She found pride in her achievements through the war, and spent the decade that followed either training her subordinates in the arts martial to her exacting standards, or pestering the more warrior-like of the Empire¡¯s generals to violent spars, which furthered her infamous reputation amongst them. Some viewed her as a barbaric brute, and while she definitely had no head for tactics and strategy, the effectiveness her unit had spoke for itself.


    So far, Liat had found the invasion somewhat boring. Neither she nor her soldier found any worthy challenge as every enemy they faced crumbled like paper before them. It was only when the old Long Jiangjun asked her to come along to the north to reinforce the troops there that she felt some excitement. She had wanted to fight against the odd enemies they faced in the south, but she realized that it was likely that those same foes were responsible for the defeat of the northern detachment, so she would get to fight them either way.


    In the end, the enemies at the north not just met but directly exceeded her expectations.


    Not only were the short, stout, heavily armored foes present in large numbers, but there were also other foes she had never seen before in her life. By happenstance, when the command for her unit to move out was given, it was to reinforce the right wing, which was crumbling apart before the enemy offense, and there, she also saw foes she could not wait to cross blades with.


    The sight of massive beasts that wore armor and wielded weapons like people was something she had never seen before in her life, and she knew that it would be a challenge unlike anything she faced thus far, which further incensed her fighting spirit. Even under such excitement, though, she did not lose sight of her goals and still directed her soldiers towards the enemy flank, intending to cut their way through from there.


    It was to her surprise ¨C and excitement ¨C that the enemies there also proved to be tougher than any she fought in the invasion thus far and held steady even against her gatebreakers, and she directly made her way to the front to fight them in person, blade in hand.

 Side Story 93 - A Worthy Opponent

    ¡°It might sound like the height of foolishness to spend one¡¯s life searching for a worthy opponent, just to potentially lay their life down after they found one, but that was how some warriors really lived their lives. They sought after opponents that were strong enough to validate their own existence as a warrior, and would cut them down, or die trying.¡± - Tan Le-Chun, adventurer from Al-Shan, circa 402 FP.


    ¡°Reminds me of some of the folks back home.¡± - Savir of Clan Stonehoof, orcish adventurer, circa 402 FP.


    Unlike most of the Imperial army that wielded spears or sabers paired with shields, the gatebreakers followed after their commander and mostly wielded heavier, two-handed weapons, which allowed them to deliver punishing blows in close combat. Two-handed axes, great maces, as well as a weapon that was basically a glaive with a longer, sturdier, blade and shortened handle was popular amongst them.


    Liat herself wielded such a shortened glaive, the weapon measuring a good meter and a half with its shaft and blade of equal length. The blade was of good steel, sturdy and durable enough to deliver hefty, punishing blows, with its tang running along the entire length of the wooden handle to support it. The hefty weapon was something she had made for herself after she joined the military for a while to better suit her fighting style since money was no longer an issue for her then.


    She saw her soldiers fighting while she made her way to the front, though the enemies they faced fought back with measured, disciplined strikes as well. The shield formation the enemies set up blunting her unit¡¯s thrust effectively before it opened up some and allowed the other side¡¯s warriors to engage her own in equal footing.


    As she rushed forward, she happened to spot a scene where a young girl ¨C one likely young enough to be her child if she had one ¨C took on two of her soldiers at the same time, swiftly dispatching one while sending the other one reeling back with obvious injury. Before Liat could get there, the young girl methodically took care of the second soldier as well, which piqued her interest.


    Normally she would have considered dealing with a much younger opponent like that as some sort of bullying, but this girl clearly knew her way around a battlefield, and the way she wielded her glaive hinted at years of training at the least. That, and the girl was fighting alongside a group of other youths who were all fighting in ways she had not seen amongst the military. They fought more like independent warriors, yet coordinated with one another to leave no gaps for her soldiers to exploit.


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    To the young girl¡¯s left side Liat saw a pair of slender girls, probably twins from their identical looks, fighting in tandem in such a way that the two seemed like they shared the same mind, their movements so in sync with one another that it was at times hard to tell where one ended and where the other began. Those twins fought with such skill that the two of them still held the advantage even while tackling four of Liat¡¯s soldiers at once.


    Liat also saw some of the short, stout enemies fighting next to the young girl, and further out, some of the large, beastial ones, the unit apparently a mix of all sorts that somehow managed to fight together in a cohesive manner regardless, something rarely seen or done in most militaries. The young girl Liat that first piqued Liat¡¯s interest seemed to be commanding them, as well, which was another surprise given her age.


    All that just solidified Liat¡¯s decision as she made her way towards the young girl, her blade swinging towards the girl a moment after her presence was noticed.


    To Liat¡¯s surprise, the girl not only accurately blocked her strike with her glaive¡¯s shaft ¨C which bent to a decidedly unhealthy degree under Liat¡¯s vicious blow ¨C but also managed to push her strike back with unexpected force. It was almost as if her strike bounced off the shaft of the girl¡¯s glaive somehow, which definitely isn¡¯t how wood worked.


    Liat didn¡¯t have much time to muse, though, as she had to block a swipe from the girl¡¯s glaive right afterwards, the girl not wasting the slight opening Liat gave in her surprise. The shaft of the girl¡¯s weapon seemed to wobble and flex as she swung it, which made the glaive¡¯s blade shift up and down, making it hard to predict its trajectory, but Liat caught it on the side of her own blade regardless, simply covering all the points it could have come from.


    The girl seemed undeterred by having her strike blocked, and swiftly rotated her glaive, striking with the spearhead on its other end. Once again the wooden shaft of the girl¡¯s weapon seemed to wobble and flex, causing the spearhead to shift around like a living snake. Liat was surprised when she saw it the first time, but by now she was certain that it was likely a characteristic of whatever material the girl made her weapon with.


    She had never heard of wood that bent and flexed so easily, yet were able to take a blow from a heavy blade without taking more than a nick, but clearly that was what she was dealing with there. As such, Liat swept with her blade once more, directly pushing the spearhead aside rather than trying to predict its odd trajectory, which she assumed was a trap many had likely fallen into.


    Many of her soldiers followed her example and rushed over to the area, but they were surprisingly stopped in their tracks by the youths and other foes they were facing. None of her soldiers came towards her, knowing better than to interrupt Liat when she was fighting, but surprisingly none of her enemies did so either.


    That meant that they either knew to respect a duel when they saw one, or that they were confident that the young girl could take on Liat on her own. She had no idea which it was, and she didn¡¯t like that feeling.

 Chapter 499 - Battlefield Development

    ¡°It is a good feeling to have friends who are confident about you, but it is an even better feeling to possess that confidence for yourself.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Alycea felt that she likely caught a big fish that day.


    The way that none of the enemy soldiers came to the aid of the one woman who rushed towards her was telling. It meant that the enemy side had confidence in that woman, or respect for her to the point that they would not interfere in her battles. It was not too different from how the mercenaries treated each other on normal occasions, though they also had no qualms whatsoever about ganging up on an opponent when needed.


    Whoever the enemy woman was, she was skilled, and definitely had the physical advantage over Alycea, who was somewhat below average in height and had a slight build. In comparison, her opponent had a strong, muscular build and was at least a head or so taller than her, yet without any stiffness or slowness, clearly someone used to applying her body to the utmost and eking out every bit of performance it had.


    Fortunately, Alycea was all too used to being the physically weaker party in a fight. During her spars, both her father and her sister were much stronger than she was, as were many of her friends and compatriots. As such she was completely accustomed to not rely on physical strength and to make up for her failings in other ways instead.


    When the burly woman swung her blade once more towards her, Alycea caught it with the shaft of her weapon like the previous time, allowing the flexible Willow Heartwood shaft to bend and flex under the force of the vicious blow. Then she injected a tiny hint of mana into the wood, a trick she learnt over the years of using it, that caused the wood to straighten and even flex back out in the other direction violently.


    It was something she discovered by accident while training to wield the unwieldy Heartwood staff from a young age. Alycea was not gifted as a mage, like her father, but she still had minute amounts of mana in her that she could manipulate, and fortunately that was plenty to work with her Heartwood staff. She learned how to control the highly flexible wood using tiny bursts of mana at specific spots over the years, often masking it under sleights of hand, which would have led others to think that she did it purely through touch instead.


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    She could also do it that way, but it was harder to do so accurately compared to using a bit of mana to get the flexible, magical Heartwood to do what she wanted.


    This time her opponent reacted faster than the previous time and left no opening for Alycea to take, so she only swung a feint instead, to keep her foe on guard. To her surprise her opponent read her feint and instead pushed forward with another slash that Alycea judged might be too much to block the way she usually did. Her Willow Heartwood staff was highly flexible and extremely durable, but it still had its limits.


    Instead, Alycea met the incoming blade mid-swing with her own glaive¡¯s blade, side against side, and allowed her weapon¡¯s shaft to bend to the left from the forces involved before she made it rebound back to the right, hard enough to push aside her opponent¡¯s blade to miss her completely after a slight tilt of her body.


    Alycea¡¯s own glaive was still poised to strike, and descended down towards her opponent¡¯s head. She made the shaft flex left and right as the blade descended to make it harder to predict, but somehow her opponent still read into her strike and blocked it with the concave metal fixing on the pommel of her own blade.


    The two of them kept exchanging blows, Alycea making up for her lack of power with her weapon¡¯s flexibility and attacks that came from tricky, unpredictable angles. Their subordinates were engaged in their own battles, with many of Alycea¡¯s people taking on two enemies at once, so they were unable to help out, or perhaps some were unwilling to interfere as well.


    Alycea was fine with that.


    Her platoon¡¯s role in reinforcing the third strike platoon ¨C which also held up admirably despite bearing the brunt of the enemy offensive ¨C was to buy time until more reinforcements could arrive from their side, and sure, enough, it had not taken that long for the tides of battle to shift yet again.


    First came Alvaro and his Warforged, the platoon striking against the enemy army¡¯s flank, clearly having swung around from their position further away on the other side of the third strike platoon. Their strike was measured, as it turned out, they were acting as the anvil of the maneuver, with the hammer being Mischka¡¯s first strike platoon which looped around and struck the new enemies from the other flank shortly afterwards.


    Reinhardt¡¯s, Elfriede¡¯s, and Erycea¡¯s platoons also arrived in quick succession and charged straight into the foes Alycea had been dealing with, pushing them back as the enemy was already destabilized from the pincer attack between Alvaro and Mischka. Alycea could see the worry on her opponent¡¯s face, and when the woman disengaged, she allowed her to do so, quickly organizing her people to join the push forward as well.


    This time, however, their enemies did not break apart like the previous ones did, but fought back doggedly even as they withdrew step by step, towards where more enemy soldiers in shield formations were advancing. Since the Free Lances had pretty much used up the momentum of their strike already, it would be difficult for them to push much further into the enemy formation. There the fighting devolved to a stalemate when the mercenaries ran into the enemy¡¯s new, clearly heavily reinforced, shield formations.


    Until the end of the battle, they remained there, on a constant back and forth against each other, until the sun set and the horns that signaled the retreat were sounded from both sides.

 Chapter 500 - Bloody Ramifications

    ¡°If people dying in large quantities bother you, the military¡¯s probably not the right place to be.¡± - Old military saying.


    ¡°How are the casualties amongst your troops, Captain Edelstein?¡± asked Nestor after the various unit commanders were gathered later that evening to discuss the battle they fought.


    ¡°Negligible,¡± replied Reinhardt with an appreciative nod. ¡°Our third strike platoon took the brunt when that second group of enemy elites came our way, but not for too long, and they held the line. Many injured, but the majority should be fit for fighting by the morrow, and the few that needed a while longer to recuperate were only in the dozens. Actual losses are not worth mentioning.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear. Today went well for us since we caught them off-guard. I expect that they would have measures in place to prevent a repeat of what happened today by the time we fight them tomorrow,¡± noted Nestor. ¡°Naturally, we have our own preparations to counter the ones we expected them to enact tomorrow.¡±


    The losses taken by both armies were by no means light. The Coalition army took around ten thousand casualties, of which a good half would likely be able to fight again by the next day, while of the rest, two-thirds needed longer periods of recuperation, while the rest had the misfortune to lose their lives. Despite those losses, the battle could be considered a minor victory for their side.


    After all, it was approximated that their enemies took around triple the casualties. A good fifteen thousand were killed or captured ¨C the portion of the enemy¡¯s right wing that were isolated by the wedge formed by Barnaby¡¯s Brewers and the Free Lances ¨C while at least as many again were injured or worse during the fighting.


    Out of those, most were chaff. Soldiers of a lower grade wearing ramshackle gear salvaged from the invaders¡¯ prior victories. Reinhardt could confirm that they took down at least five hundred or so of the enemy elites permanently and injured many times that number, though. In contrast, on the Coalition side, their elites ¨C including the mercenaries ¨C only took around five hundred casualties in total.


    The enemy army still held a numerical advantage over the coalition, but that advantage had reduced quite a bit. More troublesome was how the invaders were more cautious with how they used their elites, and so far managed to preserve the vast majority of their best soldiers as well. Both sides knew that it was those elite soldiers that would most likely decide the fate of the battle, not the rank and file that made up the rest of their number.


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    Most of the elite casualties came from Barnaby¡¯s Brewers, the Free Lances, and the dwarven heavies that engaged the enemy during the first clash. Barnaby¡¯s men took the worst blow, with around a third of their number in the infirmaries, though the majority of those would be able to fight again after the Coalition¡¯s healers got to them. Reinhardt¡¯s men and the dwarves had about equal casualties, fortunately all with minimal actual losses.


    The way the Free Lances set up a system to rotate away their injured soldiers from the frontlines swiftly and efficiently helped them keep their casualty count limited, while the dwarves had their unparalleled heavy armor to thank for their survivability. Other than those who were supremely unlucky most of the dwarven casualties were just lightly injured.


    ¡°Will the cavalry join us in the field at last, then?¡± asked Duke Banitu of Kolitschei from the side of the table they were gathered around.


    ¡°Yes, Duke Banitu. We will strike when the time is right tomorrow. We are hoping that the enemy would devote a significant portion of their elites to prevent a repeat of today. If they do so, then it will present openings that our cavalry can then take advantage of,¡± replied Grafin Siobhan Harscape. ¡°We plan to hurt them even more than today.¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind that our aim here is to win this battle while minimizing our own casualties. We still have a second enemy detachment down in the south to tackle, one roughly as large as the one we are facing now,¡± added Nestor. ¡°With many more to come, if the information we received from our collaborators prove true. We can¡¯t afford to enter a battle of attrition with this kind of enemy.¡±


    ¡°Any chance we could rush through towards Serda in Wanarua or that other port down south? If we can deny them the ports, they would not be able to land and we¡¯d have a much easier time holding them off,¡± queried one of the mercenary captains newer to the Coalition.


    ¡°That has been considered, but given how the enemy will doggedly defend those ports and chase after any troops we sent that way with all their might, we deemed such an operation unfeasible. Too risky, as even if the force we sent could take the port, the best they could do is to render the port unusable temporarily at the cost of their own survival,¡± replied Nestor with a shake of his head. ¡°Perhaps worth considering as a desperate maneuver, but I assure you that we are nowhere near that desperate as of yet.¡±


    A series of chuckles and laughter ¨C some of them uneasy ¨C greeted his words, but Nestor did not take it to heart. He knew that fighting against a numerically superior opponent had its difficulties, amongst which was convincing his allies that they stood a good chance to win. Fortunately so far only the leader of some small units showed any signs of uneasiness.


    ¡°Either way, inform your respective people to expect hard fighting tomorrow. If we manage to gain an advantage, we will push it as hard as we could in a bid to end this fighting as soon as possible,¡± he added, mostly to the benefit of those who were wavering. ¡°There are plenty of rewards awaiting those who fought alongside us in triumph. None will be disappointed.¡±

 Chapter 501 - Changes in Formation

    ¡°When people persist in something that has been proven to fail, that is what we call folly.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Well, they certainly made changes, all right,¡± noted Griselda as she watched over the enemy formation across the battlefield using a spyglass.


    The Imperial army arrayed before them adopted a diamond-shaped formation, in stark contrast to the wide line formation they used the previous day and the days prior to that. The enemy¡¯s cavalry force were on the back of the diamond, while well-armed elite soldiers formed the other three points, likely with more elites in the center as reserves.


    It was a more flexible formation compared to the line they used previously, but at the same time was also worse when it came to applying a numerical advantage over the enemy. It seemed that the enemy commanders had come to the conclusion that their numerical superiority was of little use against the current foe they faced and adjusted their strategy accordingly.


    As for the Coalition army, their formation still formed a convex shape, with the dwarven elite infantry forming the ¡°tip¡± of the crescent and their light cavalry at the sides. The reserves and dwarven cavalry lay in wait behind the main line, prepared to be deployed where needed. Reinhardt¡¯s Free Lances were shifted closer to the center, just a little bit to the left of the dwarven infantry, as were other elites from various groups.


    Nestor had originally planned to push hard through the enemy center this day, but he would have to make some adjustments based on how the enemy reacted now.


    ¡°Have our wings advance further, and inform the center to form a wedge. Heron Wing formation,¡± said Nestor calmly after some thought. Messengers rushed over to the soldiers in formation and delivered his command, and the Coalition army¡¯s formation quickly started to shift as he ordered, while the reserves themselves moved to adjust their own position.


    Within less than a quarter hour, the once crescent-shaped formation adopted by the Coalition army turned into one that looked more like the head of a trident with short tines, or if viewed from the other direction, like the silhouette of a bird in flight, hence its name.


    The dwarven infantry formed a wedge at the center of the formation, forming the bird¡¯s beak, while the infantry on the sides formed the wings, with the light cavalry on the outside of the formation. The reserves themselves formed the body of the bird, with the dwarven cavalry and chariots lined up at the back to give them more room to rush out whenever needed.


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    As he saw no change from the enemy formation across the field, Nestor gave the command to march shortly afterwards. Drums were beaten and horns were blown as the Coalition army marched as one towards their foes, and the Imperial army did the same. Even as they approached each other the two armies competed with one another.


    Both sides¡¯ drummers and hornblowers tried to outdo the other in volume, while keeping to their respective cadences. Battle cries were yelled, sung, and screamed by the various soldiers, each trying to drown the others¡¯ beneath their own, creating a riotous cacophony that assailed the eardrums of everybody present on the battlefield.


    The first to meet each other was once again the spearheads of the respective formations. Imperial elite infantrymen in heavy armor clashed with dwarven elites once more. Unlike the previous day, however, the Imperial elites kept their heavy sabers sheathed behind their backs, and were instead wielding heavy metal truncheons not unlike what Erycea used, if of worse quality and make.


    Clearly they were aware from the previous day¡¯s battle that sabers were poor weapons to use against the heavily armored dwarven elites, whose armor made them pretty much impervious to slashes and cuts. Meanwhile, despite how the sabers used by the imperial elites were hefty and durable, enough that they could be swung against lighter armor and still cause meaningful damage to the opponent, they were still not designed to deal with heavy armor, much less what the dwarves wore.


    In comparison, bludgeoning weapons like the truncheons were more effective against such armored opponents, as they tended to be heavier and more durable, allowing the user to deliver more force into their blows. Like with Erycea¡¯s weapons, the tips of the truncheons were sharpened to a point as well, allowing them to be thrust into openings and gaps in an enemy¡¯s protection.


    With those truncheons they were also more capable of defending themselves against the heavy blows from the dwarves, so the Imperial elites managed to engage the dwarves at a somewhat more even footing, even if they remained at a disadvantage due to the natural capabilities of the different races.


    While the elites fought each other at the front, the flanks engaged one another as the Imperials assumed a defensive formation against the harassment from the Coalition¡¯s light cavalry. In return, the Imperials made use of their larger force of archers ¨C many of their regular soldiers seemed to double as an archer, even ¨C to rain down projectiles at the coalition force, causing no small amounts of casualties amongst them.


    Before long most of the frontline on both sides had engaged each other, though both armies still kept their trump cards up their sleeves. The fighting was even, as the Imperials leveraged their greater numbers and archery skills to match up with the Coalition¡¯s often superior individual prowess. Eventually, Siobhan looked towards Nestor, and he nodded.


    Which was the signal to unleash the dwarven cavalry¡¯s full might. The dwarves divided their cavalry into two equal halves, with the Grafin leading one detachment and her father leading the other. The ground seemed to rumble and shake beneath the hooves of the cavalry mounts, and while they took some time to pick up speed, the sight of the ferocious dwarven war chariots leading the charge was a whole other thing altogether.


    Fifty chariots on each side formed a wedge ten chariots wide and five deep, while a thousand dwarven heavy cavalry on their rhinos followed closely behind each chariot spearhead. Six thousand dwarves mounted on their rams were spread out further behind, the dwarves forming two giant wedges that aimed for the sides and back of the Imperial formation.

 Chapter 502 - Counterplay

    ¡°It is always most interesting to witness combat between forces that could be considered to be diametrically opposed to one another. When you see fighting between two similar forces, it often comes down to which commander knew how to utilize their soldiers better, whose tactics and strategy prove superior.


    On the other hand, when the forces involved were so different from one another, the commanders in question would have to get creative and think of solutions outside their usual ones to deal with the enemies they now faced. Those always prove more interesting and entertaining to watch.¡± - Libas ¡°Witness¡± Bazaroff, bard renowned for singing songs related to battles he personally witnessed.


    In response to the sudden deployment of the dwarven cavalry, the Imperial cavalry ¨C all eighteen thousand or so of them that remained, at least ¨C also deployed, splitting into two halves that each went for their respective side¡¯s defense. The Imperial cavalrymen were all too aware by then that they likely stood no chance to stop the enemy charge, so they set course for a slashing attack against the incoming dwarven cavalry¡¯s side instead.


    At the same time, troops from deeper within the Imperial formation moved outwards and set up portable stakes that they set upon the ground, pointed towards the distant but incoming dwarves. Behind the makeshift stake fence, other Imperial soldiers brought out large tower shields ¨C somewhat shorter than what the Coalition army¡¯s soldiers used, but wider instead ¨C that had spikes on its bottom and planted them into the ground, forming a barricade of overlapping shields.


    Other Imperial soldiers connected three separate sections to form six-meter long pikes and laid them down over the top of the shield barricade, with several layers of pikes pointed towards the incoming dwarven cavalry. The foremost pikes even extended a good half meter or so over the stakes on the makeshift fence. IIt was a classical setup to face a cavalry charge, one could say, executed swiftly and proficiently.


    Under normal circumstances, even trained warhorses tended to balk when forced to charge towards a forest of pikes and stakes like that. The cavalry would be forced to break off their charge for the most part, greatly reducing their lethality and leaving them open for retaliation. Sure enough, behind the layers of pikemen were archers who were already raining arrows towards the incoming cavalry, for whom the open flanks of the mounts would be easy targets when the enemy cavalry were forced to turn around.


    Unfortunately for the Imperials, they were operating under the assumption that their tried and true tactic would function as intended even against enemies they had little experience with. The Imperial army only had little experience facing dwarven cavalry, as in the south they only faced them in a couple cavalry skirmishes before the news of the defeat up north reached them.


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    They were aware that the dwarven ¡°light¡± cavalry possessed greater force than their own but were slower, the equivalent of heavy cavalry, while they had no combat experience against the dwarven heavy cavalry or chariots other than the defeat suffered by the northern detachment. It was difficult to determine what was true and what was exaggerated from the testimonies of the fleeing survivors, which led to the fundamental mistake the Imperial army made.


    For one, the dwarven heavy cavalry and chariots were nothing like anything they had ever faced before, and comparing them to regular heavy cavalry was a fatal mistake. The second mistake they made was using the same skirmishing tactics once more against the dwarves, who were quick to adopt countermeasures to their opponent¡¯s tactics when they had the leeway to do so.


    Also, while the Imperial¡¯s anti-cavalry tactics were valid, functional, and effective, they were hardly the only ones who had the same idea. Other powers in Alcidea had developed similar tactics as well, and naturally the dwarves had been exposed to such tactics over time as well. They too developed their own countermeasures accordingly.


    The shape of such countermeasures were easily noticeable when the Imperial army¡¯s cavalry archers found themselves looking at rows upon rows of repeating crossbows held by the dwarven light cavalry riders by the time they entered their effective range. The Imperial army¡¯s archers had greater accuracy and mobility, but those advantages felt useless against the heavy armor worn by the dwarves, while the quick-firing repeating crossbows made up for its relative inaccuracy with volume and plenty of power in return.


    To make things worse, the dwarves seamlessly switched the riders on the outside of their formation¡¯s flank for those further in once those outside emptied out their repeating crossbows. Their replacements immediately continued the barrage with their own crossbows, and the cycle repeated itself until the first ones rotated out had finished reloading their weapons and took their position once more, creating a seemingly seamless rain of bolts that caused heavy casualties amongst the Imperial army¡¯s cavalry.


    As for the anti-cavalry formation, the dwarven response was even more straightforward. Both the heavy cavalry riders and the charioteers simply urged their mounts forward at maximum speed and charged straight towards the enemy.


    Their trained Rhinos closed their eyes ¨C with a protective piece of metal falling over their shut eyes as they closed their eyelids ¨C and simply rushed straight ahead under the guidance of the reins. Dwarves wielding long polearms scythed away part of the pikes awaiting them using their long weapons, while those armed with repeating crossbows rained down bolts towards the Imperial army formation.


    Where the pikes met the charging rhinos, they broke and shattered. Even when the pike landed on flesh instead of armor, it barely managed to pierce through the rhino¡¯s thick, sturdy skin and often bent from the force of the impact. Even the stakes were simply uprooted by the force of the charge of the beasts, then broken up under the metal wheels of the chariots they pulled behind them.


    The result of the collision between rhinos that weighed at least a couple tons each against the Imperial shield formation was easy to imagine, as with a command from their riders the rhinos bent their heads down and struck the shields horn-first. Once their horn made contact, the beasts¡¯ instinct took over and they raised their heads, easily hurtling away both the shields and the people behind them.


    Some unfortunate Imperial soldiers even found themselves gored through by the rhino¡¯s horns, their screams echoing over the battlefield while their body wriggled and cavorted where it was stuck, like a grisly trophy of some sort. Only when the Rhinos rammed into the next line and the dying soldiers¡¯ bodies broke against their compatriots did the screams turn silent.

 Chapter 503 - Fighting Back

    ¡°Only by committing all of one¡¯s being could one snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. What others called insanity, is but necessity for those who live on the edge of the blade.¡± - Marzban Umaya nil Daffendi, Aqwa Sultanate general from the Reunification War of Al-Shan.


    ¡°Soldiers, turn! Those with spears aim for the wheels of those chariots! Blade unit, aim for the legs of their mounts!¡± yelled an Imperial field commander over the din of the fighting. The man himself took a lucky ¨C or unlucky, from his point of view ¨C bolt through the head mere moments later, but the Imperial army kept moving as he ordered despite that little tidbit.


    Pikes and spears were turned around, shoved and hurled towards the wildly rotating wheels of the dwarven chariots, with the intent of getting them through the spokes of the wheel to hopefully tip over the running chariot.


    Such a move would have worked well against the typical chariots used for war in Posuin itself in the past, lightweight vehicles mostly crafted out of wood, with only two wheels and room for little more than one driver and one or two passengers. Sadly, dwarven chariots were nothing like what most others considered a chariot at all.


    They were instead practically carved out of a block of metal, with the wagon holding enough room to fit up to a dozen dwarves at once with ease and eight solid metal wheels, four to a side. Where a spear¡¯s shaft would be solid enough to disrupt the rotation of a regular chariot¡¯s wheels or even to break the spokes of the wooden wheel, the same did not apply to the dwarven chariots.


    Instead the spears that made it through between the spokes of a wheel by luck were shattered into pieces by the metal wheel with barely a hitch thrown into the pace of the moving chariot.


    As for those soldiers who wielded long blades and aimed for the legs of the rhinos, they similarly had little success. The dwarves set up their chariots so that one of the polearm wielders and one of the marksmen covered each corner of the wagon, each pair responsible for the direction they were covering. That meant anyone attempting to attack the rhinos from the front had to first deal with the onslaught of crossbow bolts from the marksmen stationed at the front corners of the chariot, as well as the long polearms which would whip out once they got even closer.


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    Many of the daring soldiers fell before they could even get a strike in, while those that managed to actually get close enough to land a strike were horrified at how their blades only managed to create shallow wounds ¨C if that ¨C through the thick and durable skin of the rhino¡¯s leg. The beasts themselves pretty much ignored the cuts and kept going, even trampling some of the soldiers that struck them.


    Those same soldiers had better luck against the heavy cavalry that followed the chariots, since singular rhinos were easier to assault compared to the well-defended trio that pulled the chariots in question, but the casualties they took were still gruesome nonetheless. The dwarves welcomed the enemy soldiers and mowed them down as they came as more and more of the cavalry crashed into the sides of the enemy formation.


    The impact of the cavalry strike against the flanks of the Imperial formation was immense, as while not even the dwarves were so cocksure as to charge directly through an enemy formation that was in good order, the angle they struck at was still pretty deep as the cavalry basically gouged out the sides of the Imperial formation.


    Thousands of Imperial soldiers lost their lives beneath the hooves of the cavalry¡¯s mounts or under their weapons, but even with the devastating impact, it was not as if the cavalry themselves came out of the charge unscathed either.


    What got some of the cavalry was the daring shown by the Imperial soldiers this time around compared to the way they routed and broke back in the east. Many of the soldiers literally exchanged their lives for a chance to strike at the cavalrymen, which emboldened others to follow their example and to pick up their weapons and fight harder. It was the difference between dealing with elite, hardened soldiers and a rabble.


    Seven of the chariots were bogged down or overturned and fell, some because the Imperial soldiers managed to injure the rhinos that pulled the chariots enough, while in other cases because the ground-up mash of flesh and blood from the trampled soldiers eventually got to the moving parts of the chariots and fouled up the joints.


    Some of the crew on said chariots were rescued by other chariots behind them, but others were lost to the hand of the enemy soldiers. Similarly, out of the two thousand dwarven heavy cavalry, nearly two hundred fell to the enemy spears and blades. Even with their natural armor and additional armor their dwarven riders equipped on them, enough small wounds still added up and eventually brought down some of the mighty beasts.


    Losses amongst the light cavalry were proportionally lighter with less than a thousand casualties, as they were spared the enemy¡¯s most dogged resistance that those at the head of the charge had to deal with. It was relatively heavy losses to the dwarven cavalry, at least heavier than what Nestor and the other leaders had expected, even if the Imperial army paid for that price in blood as well.


    While exact numbers were difficult to attain, it was estimated that a good twenty thousand or so of the enemy infantry must have perished or were otherwise injured from the charge. It was a loss ratio that the Imperial army would not be able to withstand for long, with the only hitch in the equation being what the Coalition leaders discovered only when the dwarves returned after the battle.


    Namely how they took heavier than expected casualties amongst their commanders and officers, and it was likely a targeted act, to boot.

 Chapter 504 - Headhunter

    ¡°To kill off a snake, the best method is to cut off its head.¡± - Liang Shi-Zu, famed tactician from the Huan Confederacy.


    ¡°Lord Father!¡± yelled Grafin Siobhan Harscape with surprise and anxiety when her father walked into the command tent after the battle. ¡°What happened!? Are you all right?¡±


    Former Graf Angus Harscape walked into the command tent under his own power, but the glaring way his left eye was covered by bandages that were tainted red with blood showed the gravity of the situation. The position and amount of blood that seeped into the bandage hinted that the eye behind it was likely damaged to the point of uselessness.


    ¡°I told you not to call me that anymore, Lass. You¡¯re the Graf now, I ain¡¯t nobody¡¯s lord these days,¡± replied the old dwarf with a gruff demeanor. ¡°And I¡¯ll live. It was a pretty close call, though. Had you not told me to take one of your chariots today I¡¯d probably be dining with the ancestors right about now,¡± he admitted somewhat reluctantly. ¡°That information we got out of those captives about their general being a very skilled archer is no lie. My detachment¡¯s been taking the brunt of it in today¡¯s fight.¡±


    ¡°How bad was it, Sir Harscape?¡± asked Nestor with some concern in his voice.


    ¡°We lost nearly half of our officers, though fortunately they didn¡¯t seem to be able to tell between our ranks. Most of the losses were lower ranked officers,¡± said the former Graf with a somewhat worried voice. ¡°The bastard¡¯s got insane accuracy, too. He can hit one of us right in the eye slit even while we¡¯re riding around at full speed, as you can see.¡±


    As if to punctuate his point, the old dwarf brought out his own helmet and placed it on the table. The armor worn by the chariot crew was heavier than what was worn by the cavalrymen, and Angus Harscape had naturally donned the heavier gear as well when he switched to a chariot for that day¡¯s battle. That likely saved his life.


    Because the eye slits of a charioteer¡¯s helmet were not left open, but were instead protected by a layer of transparent, sturdy crystal. The crystal that covered the left eye slit on Angus¡¯s helmet was pierced through, with the arrow shaft left where it struck the protective covering. The arrowhead itself had already been cut off and removed.


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    Without the helmet¡¯s layer of crystal covering, the arrow would have gone deeper and likely cost the old dwarf more than just one of his eyes.


    ¡°Damn,¡± noted Griselda as she inspected the damage done to the helmet. The way the arrow punched straight through the protective crystal showed just how much power was behind the shot.


    ¡°Aye, would¡¯ve likely gone straight into my skull if not for that bit of crystal in the way, I think,¡± admitted Angus with a shake of his head. ¡°And of course the son of a beardless drunkard had to go for my left eye again! Already lost it once back in Theodinaz, and now again!¡±


    ¡°From how far away did they manage this, if you have an inkling?¡± asked Nestor with more tactical concerns about the matter at hand.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be sure, but most of the arrows struck after we started to turn back on our way out. Couldn¡¯t see where they came from other than a general direction, and there¡¯s too many arrows flying around to really tell it apart,¡± said the old dwarf with some disappointment. ¡°Given the locations of the people who got shot down though, and assuming that whoever did so wasn¡¯t right at the very edge of the enemy formation, he¡¯d have to be at least five hundred paces away, if not more.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s about the same kind of range Sal¡¯s confident in,¡± noted Reinhardt. ¡°If you¡¯d give the permission, Your Grace, we could attempt to fight fire with fire tomorrow. If Sal¡¯s focusing on trying to put an arrow through this archer general¡¯s face, I would bet he¡¯d be too busy to snipe off our commanders in the meantime.¡±


    ¡°How confident are you that she can handle this enemy of ours, Captain Edelstein?¡± questioned duke Orsla Banitu from the side.


    ¡°I¡¯ve personally seen Sal nail down targets from six to seven hundred paces away, right between the eyebrows, so pretty confident,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°We¡¯d have to be in the right position to intercept this archer of theirs, though. Would be pointless if we were on the left wing while he¡¯s harrying our right wing for example.¡±


    ¡°I do believe we can arrange something to ensure that they¡¯ll be close enough to where you are, captain,¡± said Nestor after a brief moment of thought. ¡°In the meantime, we should also discuss other countermeasures to this problem, in case our foe did not bite the bait and chose to focus on shooting our officers down instead.¡±


    ¡°I will have the order passed down for every officer to trade helmets with a charioteer for the time being,¡± stated Siobhan with a nod. ¡°It will be a touch awkward, but if it means more lives saved, it¡¯ll be worth doing regardless. Better to lose an eye than to be dead. Eyes could be regrown, lives cannot.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have each officer accompanied by a couple shieldbearers in the meantime,¡± noted Nestor with a nod. ¡°It will depend on their reflexes and luck on whether they could catch an arrow like this one in time or not, but it¡¯s better than nothing. In the meantime, Captain Edelstein, your men will have a hard fight ahead of you tomorrow. We¡¯ll dangle a bait that this archer cannot refuse before him, even if he knows its true nature.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. ¡°We will be ready for whatever comes on the morrow.¡±


    ¡°If your archer manages to take theirs down, do try to secure the body if possible. It would be good for morale to have proof of their demise.¡±


    ¡°As you will.¡±

 Chapter 505 - A Bait One Cannot Deny

    ¡°Sometimes even if you knew it was a trap, you still have to go for it anyway, because if you managed to fight your way through said trap, the results would be worth the trouble. This sort of open plotting has invariably caused the downfall of many a great name, some as the result of a successful trap, some because they attempted to pull this off and failed.¡± - Astafiq Ibn Srumdi, senior tactician of the Al-Shan Empire, during a lecture to young tactician cadets, circa 677 FP.


    ¡°Have to admit that I¡¯m flattered that you put this much trust in me and mine, Your Grace,¡± said Reinhardt as he stood beside Nestor the next day. The Coalition formation was still similar as the day before, except the center prong, where the dwarven elites had been shifted to the sides as Algenverr¡¯s own elites and the Free Lances took up the point of the formation.


    Nestor himself, alongside his wife Griselda and brother Damien, as well as many of his generals and officers, were present in person, not all that far behind the front lines. If the enemy archer they talked about yesterday truly had a range of five to six hundred paces, then they would be well within his range while said archer remained behind the frontline as well.


    It was not like the nobles and generals made any attempt to hide their presence either. Their respective banners and flags flew proudly atop long poles held aloft by their flagbearers. Such a sight naturally also helped increase the morale of the Algenverrian soldiers, who knew that their liege was fighting alongside them but also painted a large target on those same people.


    Which was why every one of them were accompanied by a couple of shieldbearers whose only job was to cover their charges from enemy arrows, be it from the regular enemy archers or the skilled sniper suspected to be the enemy general himself.


    From the information volunteered by the Kangs, it was most likely that the skilled archer in question was the enemy general himself, since he was famed for his archery skills, and as far as they knew, did not have a protege of any sort with the army. Some of the general¡¯s descendants were skilled archers in their own right, but they were not part of the invasion force.


    ¡°You have to use good bait if you want to catch the big fish, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Nestor nonchalantly, as if he was not making himself into said bait in the proverb. The Coalition¡¯s battle plan remained similar as the day before, although with a change in that the dwarven cavalry would be held back until they were certain that the enemy archer was neutralized.


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    The sort of losses taken by the cavalry the day before hurt, and would be truly problematic if allowed to repeat itself. Most any military commander would have preferred to lose their soldiers over a similar proportion of their officer corps. The latter was far harder to replace and each loss meant a degradation in the commander¡¯s ability to delegate orders and command through the ranks.


    ¡°This way, the enemy archer in question will have to come to us, whether they like it or not. Even if they were not the enemy general himself, the general will order him to get us either way,¡± said Nestor, still nonchalantly. ¡°Simply because they could not afford to pass up such a good chance. The potential gains far outweigh their losses, especially since our last strike showed that despite their numerical superiority, these invaders are the one at a disadvantage in this battle.¡±


    ¡°We have our defenses prepared, and your company will be our countermeasure to this foe,¡± he continued. ¡°Even in the worst case, where the enemy escaped our grasp, they will be wary of showing themselves again, in fear of another such trap awaiting them. Even that will be a win for our side, since it will help keep our officers secure indirectly.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re the one paying, Your Grace. We¡¯ll just do what we¡¯re paid for,¡± replied Reinhardt with a throaty chuckle. ¡°We¡¯ll do our best to be worth the bill you¡¯re going to be paying us after this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I expect, Captain Edelstein,¡± replied Nestor with a smirk on his face. ¡°Good hunting!¡±


    Reinhardt himself already prepared the Free Lances, hidden as they were behind the Algenverrian elites at the front. Mischka and her fellow large-bodied therians were walking on all fours to prevent themselves from towering over everybody else, which made it harder to notice them from a distance, unless the observer was at some elevation compared to the mercenaries.


    All three strike platoons were at the forefront of the wedge formation, with even the understrength third showing up with all the sixty or so people they had remaining that were uninjured or recovered enough to fight again. Elfriede¡¯s platoon, flanked by Erycea¡¯s and Alicea¡¯s, fit themselves in the hollow of the strike platoons¡¯ arrowhead.


    Behind them, Reinhardt¡¯s own platoon held the center, with Egil¡¯s, Alva¡¯s, and Branka¡¯s to his sides and rear to provide ranged support. Alvaro, Astrid, Fatimah, and Nicole each led their platoons to cover the sides while Lars covered their rear with his platoon. It was a formation the company adopted for when they needed to penetrate deeper into the enemy formation to reach their target, since they expected that would be the case that day.


    Salicia had a special role as she was expected to neutralize the enemy archer, and she was accompanied by four burly mercenaries who would help lift her to higher elevations when needed. Already the one-eyed woman was surveying the battlefield, looking for any position that might be advantageous for her to use at or near the area where the battle was expected to happen.


    Despite the area mostly being wide open plains, the existence of some rolling hills and the occasional trees still gave the landscape some variety. It was exactly such features that Salicia kept an eye on, her mind calculating firing angles and field of view from each in sight.

 Side Story 94 - An Invitation One Cannot Refuse

    ¡°Whether the fisherman caught the fish or the fish ran away with the bait, none would be able to tell until the event itself took place.¡± - Ancient Huan saying.


    ¡°It is most certainly a trap, Long Jiangjun, a bait dangled before us as if we are fools,¡± stated Xiao Jiangjun Ishak mil Sharif from atop his steed to the side of the Dragon General himself. They were discussing the change in the enemy forces¡¯ deployment, specifically how their leadership that had remained in the rear so far suddenly shifted towards the center of the front.


    ¡°I would say that the difference between a trap and an opportunity, Xiao Jiangjun, is whether we are capable of claiming the bait dangled before us or not,¡± stated Hua-Jeong in reply to the younger general. ¡°Surely you too are aware of our situation, especially after the heavy losses we took just the previous day, are you not?¡±


    ¡°We are¡­ devising methods to counter their unusual cavalry and chariots, Long Jiangjun, and have armed our soldiers accordingly to do so,¡± said Xiao Jiangjun Aswan ibn Musir somewhat apologetically. The devastating damage taken by the Imperial army¡¯s left and right wings the day before were part of their responsibility as the commanders of said forces.


    In fact, if the enemy had not been wary of pushing in too deep and getting bogged down, the left and right wings would have likely taken even more damage than they did.


    ¡°It has not been tested in combat conditions, no?¡± asked the old general back at his subordinate, to which Musir could only shamefully shake his head. ¡°No matter. Try to do your best to resist their assault today, at all costs. If things work out well on my end, they will be headless by the end of the day, which should allow us more opportunities to exploit.¡±


    ¡°I wish that we did not have to risk your august self just to win a battle, but if you decree it so, so shall it be done, Sire,¡± stated Zhong Jiangjun Liu Zhong-Feng, who served as Hua-Jeong¡¯s assistant for a long time and rose through the ranks with him. ¡°Shall my forces take the front once more on this day, Lord Leung?¡± he asked, still calling Hua-Jeong with the old familiar way as when they were both younger.


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    ¡°Yes, Zhong-Feng. Your troops and Liat¡¯s will be my sword and shield today,¡± stated Hua-Jeong with a satisfied nod at his old friend. ¡°Zhong Jiangjun Al-Nairi, their cavalry had clearly adapted to ours, so instead of trying to harry them on their way towards us, once the battle starts I want you to take our cavalry and harry their flanks and rear, wherever you see an opportunity. If you can get their cavalry to chase after you instead of attacking our troops, all the better.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Long Jiangjun,¡± replied Zahira Al-Nairi with a respectful bow. ¡°We shall strive to do our best!¡±


    ¡°Musir and Sharif, I just need you two to hold the line, for as long as you can. Give me time to work, so that we may yet triumph against these foes,¡± added Hua-Jeong as he looked towards the other two generals in their midst with sharp eyes. ¡°I believe you and your soldiers can do that for me, hmm? That is all I ask for.¡±


    ¡°We will do as Sire asked at all costs!¡± replied the two generals, all too aware of their failings so far.


    Throughout the previous days of battle, Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong had not been idling on his saddle. Other than arranging the general strategy for the army, he had also been observing. While the human soldiers of the coalition army made it pretty clear who were their officers and commanders, and used banners like the Imperial Army, the dwarves had not, so Hua-Jeong was attempting to tell apart the dwarven officers from their rank and file.


    It was only yesterday that he felt confident enough ¨C and the situation dire enough ¨C that he made his move. The old general made full use of his much vaunted archery skills, which he reinforced with his innate Wind affinity, to fire arrows over a distance well over five hundred paces to take down his targets one after another. Each arrow was aimed at people he suspected to be the officers amongst the dwarven cavalry that struck the Imperial army¡¯s right wing.


    Despite the additional difficulty from how the dwarves were so heavily armored that the only points where a single arrow could potentially strike them fatally was through their eye slits, he still downed at the very least a couple dozen of them. Aided by his Wind affinity, his arrows flew through the air with greater speed and stability than those of other archers and unerringly struck his targets as if he placed them there by hand.


    While Hua-Jeong was uncertain whether the arrows directly killed his targets or not, he was certain that they would at least cripple their targets. Even if his enemies had thick enough skulls that the arrows could not penetrate deep enough to kill them, an arrow in the eye should take the fight out of most warriors, even hardened ones.


    He planned to hunt some more on this day, and the enemy had so kindly dangled the bait that was their own command staff for him to hunt. He knew they were bait, and that there would likely be some sort of trap, probably aimed directly at him, even, but that was of no consequence. A trap is only worthwhile if it managed to capture prey within, and Leung Hua-Jeong was no easy prey.


    In fact, he planned to snatch the bait dangled before him and escape the trap at the same time, which was why he brought his most trusted soldiers with him to the front. As for whether his foes would prove their match or otherwise, that was something only fate would know, and the result of the battle between then subject to its tender mercies, or lack thereof.

 Chapter 506 - Like a Needle in a Haystack

    ¡°The difficulty of finding a needle in a haystack is often greatly overrated. All it takes is a creative mind to figure out ways to separate them, one way or another.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    The battle started without much fanfare.


    All the boasting and cheering had been left behind to the previous days, as both armies instead faced one another with grim determination to prevail and emerge triumphant from the bloodshed. Drums were beaten once more, horns sounded, and battle cries rose to the heavens as the soldiers from both sides did what they could to raise their morale as they marched towards their foes once more.


    Battle cries from the Imperial army almost formed a melody as one unit matched another at the top of their voice, intended to showcase their cohesiveness and intimidate the enemy. In return, the Coalition army¡¯s human soldiers shouted back wild, nearly primal war cries that promised nothing but violent death to those on the receiving end.


    Throughout all the yelling around them, the dwarven elite infantry marched forward in stoic silence. Instead of war cries, the rhythmic beat of their heavy boots treading upon the ground and the noise made from where they banged their weapons against their shields created a solemn, heavy pressure that set upon their enemies like a mountain.


    It was to kill or be killed on the battlefield, and everybody knows that.


    Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong always eschewed having a flagbearer follow him around, unlike other generals. He knew that on the battlefield, other than as a general, his role was that of an assassin, one who reaped lives from great distances. It was better for his targets to be unaware of his presence, his existence unseen, with only results to speak for itself instead.


    His flagbearer remained at the rear of the formation where he had been the past few days, but the Dragon General himself, along with an escort around two hundred strong, was actually situated close to the frontlines, protected behind two layers of elites. One group was led by his most trusted subordinate, while the other was a contender for being some of the very best infantry in the Empire.


    Even while the armies marched, he kept a low profile, his trusted bow in hand and a full quiver behind his back. His mind was focused, his eyes roaming over the enemy forces in the distance with the help of a spyglass to ensure that his target was who they proclaimed to be. Given the protection given to said targets, he was almost certain that his opponent actually had the guts to use their own high commander as bait, for some reason.


    He knew all too well that it was most certainly a trap, yet it was a trap he had to tackle regardless. The potential benefits were just too great to even consider avoiding the trap.


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    The front lines of both armies met and struck each other in a cacophony of noises, and the rest started to move as well. Hua-Jeong could see the enemy¡¯s wings moving to strike his army¡¯s flanks, and how his generals hunkered down into defensive positions in turn. He could see Zahira Al-Nairi leading the Imperial cavalry out on the offense, while the enemy¡¯s own dreaded cavalry started deploying from where they stood at the rear of the enemy formation.


    All of those passed through his mind and were ignored as his eyes locked on to his targets. The old general was situated around two hundred paces or so from the front lines, while his targets were around four hundred paces away from the same, on the other side. It would be at the edge of the range he was confident in, but it would have to do.


    As he breathed out, Leung Hua-Jeong plucked an arrow with his fingers and nocked it onto the string of his bow. His old but well-trained body drew the bow to its full draw even as he took aim, wisps of wind controlled by his natural affinity swirling around the arrow¡¯s shaft and fletchings as he did so. He held his breath for a brief moment, made one last minor adjustment to his aim, then loosed the arrow.


    ******************************


    When presented with the problem of identifying one potentially fatal arrow out of thousands, most would consider the endeavor no different than having to find a needle within a haystack.


    Salicia Adenauer disagreed with that notion, especially when the arrow in question was noted in being able to traverse nearly double the distance most archers would typically be able to reach. That little bit of information alone was all she needed to be able to reliably identify a single, potentially fatal arrow out of thousands.


    As a skilled archer herself, all Salicia needed was a glance from her eye to gain a rough judgment of where an arrow in flight would land. While there were thousands upon thousands of arrows being loosed by both sides of the battle in the air at any one time, it was trivial for her to simply dismiss any that would obviously fall far short from the people she was supposed to look out for.


    For the first few minutes, nothing caught her eye, just projectiles raining down towards each other as normal, but eventually, her patience paid off. Her eye caught a glimpse of a single arrow that was different from the thousands of others. It flew at a different angle, at a notably higher speed, all of which was enough to potentially propel it towards the Coalition nobles and officers behind her.


    Rather than call out a warning first or anything like that, Salicia instead moved into action. One hand drew an arrow from her quiver while the other raised her bow. She nocked the arrow in the same motion as the one where her left hand started to draw upon the bowstring. Her right arm pushed the bow forward as her left drew the string back, and she adjusted her aim in the brief moment it took to pull her enchanted bow to its full draw.


    Then she loosed the arrow.


    Salicia¡¯s arrow was thicker and heavier than that of Leung Hua-Jeong¡¯s. The enemy general used a bow that could be considered normal in most regards. A fine bow, but a normal one. It was his Wind affinity that allowed his arrows to reach such great ranges while maintaining their lethal precision. In contrast, Salicia¡¯s heavily enchanted bow, made of rare Yew Heartwood, propelled her heavy arrows with such violent force that even strong orcish archers would look upon it with envy, for a mere quarter of the effort needed.


    Their arrows met each other in mid-air, Salicia¡¯s aim proven true as her arrow struck Hua-Jeong¡¯s arrowhead to arrowhead. The metal of the arrowhead practically fused with one another from the sheer force of the impact, before the rest of the arrow¡¯s shaft disintegrated into countless wooden slivers as the force traveled through them.


    A sound akin to an explosion was audible over a long distance from the violence of the two arrows colliding, a sound that signaled a meeting between the two master archers from the opposite sides, now locked by fate to a duel to the death.

 Chapter 507 - Two Birds with One Stone

    ¡°For those at the very top of their artform, the discovery of a worthy rival was an event one rejoiced and celebrated, for it is most lonely at the top, and they know it.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± muttered Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong as he felt the magic he placed upon his arrow unravel well before it was supposed to reach its target. The magic would unravel upon impact, so it might be that one of the enemy¡¯s arrows accidentally struck his arrow by accident ¨C an unlikely but far from improbable occurrence ¨C which would have done the job.


    The old general pulled out two arrows from his quiver this time, his mind overlaid layers of wind magic on both of them by the time one of them was nocked against the taut string of his bow. He loosed one arrow in a smooth, practiced motion, still aimed at his previous target, then chased it with a second arrow aimed at the same target, a mere breath behind the first and flying in its wake.


    Then he quickly grasped the spyglass from his spatial artifact and placed it before his eye, keeping track of the flight of his arrows. From his position to the target was approximately six hundred paces, so his arrows would take around four seconds or so to cover the distance. Since he knew where his arrow was, his senses attuned to his own magic, he immediately spotted them in flight.


    Just in time to witness how a single arrow flew out from the enemy army and directly strike his first arrow head-on, effectively annihilating both arrows in mid-air with the resultant impact.


    As if that wasn¡¯t enough, a second arrow followed a mere breath later and found his second arrow in the same manner with unerring precision. That was plenty to tell Hua-Jeong several things. For one, it was no accident that his arrows had failed to reach their target and were struck down prematurely. They were shot down by someone who was likely his equal in skill from the enemy side well before they could reach their target.


    The skill it took to hit an arrow in flight with such unerring precision repeatedly was enough to convince the old general that he was dealing with an equal, another archer standing at the pinnacle of the craft of archery itself. As such, the old general decided to mix things up a bit more. He pulled two more arrows from his quiver and laid his magic upon them, but this time he nocked both arrows on his bow at the same time.


    One of the arrows was still aimed at his original target, while the second was aimed at another not far from his original target. He charged the arrows with more magic this time to make up for the halved thrust they would receive from his bow, and loosed them like before. His hands quickly brought the spyglass back up to his eye to watch how his foe would deal with such a simultaneous shot.


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    Would they sacrifice one of the targets or would they make some attempt to shoot both projectiles down at the same time? He knew that there would barely be enough time to shoot them both down one after another with the extra speed he had imbued to the arrows.


    ******************************


    ¡°Help me up that tree over there, fast!¡± commanded Salicia to her aides while pointing at a lone tree atop a gentle, rolling hill around a hundred paces away from where she was positioned. It was one of the positions she had noted early on, where she would have some height advantage that would allow her to locate the source of the arrows. ¡°I need some height to catch that bastard archer of theirs!¡±


    A higher vantage would allow her to actually look for her target in detail. She could already extrapolate the archer¡¯s position from where their arrows came from, but couldn¡¯t exactly target them accurately that way. Sure, she could use her Space affinity to act as a makeshift spyglass to do it, but that would use up a good chunk of her already limited mana, so she was saving that for later.


    Of course, a higher position would also make her an easier target, but she already considered and expected that. The opposing archer would likely have to shift their target to her anyway, since they would soon realize that unless they got her out of the way, none of their arrows would make it through to their actual targets. As for her, her target would be the enemy archer alone.


    Just after she gave the command and started moving towards the tree, her keen eye noticed another arrow targeted at Nestor ¨C or one of the others next to him, the difference was pointless anyway to her ¨C and her body moved almost by reflex.


    Another arrow out of the quiver, nocked on the bowstring.


    Push.


    Pull.


    Aim.


    Release.


    All happened even while she was on the move, in a single, smooth, natural motion.


    The second arrow ¨C she noticed that one while aiming at the first ¨C received the same welcome, mere moments after the first. Salicia took a moment longer than usual to loose her second arrow, but only because she had not drawn it together with the first one out of the quiver. She adjusted for that and drew four arrows at once out of her quiver next, holding the shafts between her fingers, and waited for the next arrow to appear.


    Her opponent did not disappoint and sent out two arrows at once, not one after another, but simultaneously, aimed at two different targets. That made Salicia pause for a breath or so ¨C she was only around twenty paces away from the tree by that point ¨C before she nocked an arrow and carefully aimed as she drew her bow to its full extension and loosed.


    Salicia¡¯s arrow flew through the air, and this time, it did not strike the incoming arrow head to head. Instead, her arrow struck the incoming arrow at a slight angle, enough that the impact deflected her arrow towards the second incoming arrow. The deflection was slight, but was just enough for the tip of her arrowhead to strike the second arrow¡¯s back end before it flew past.


    Since her arrow was easily twice the size and weight of the arrows used by her opponent, the impact that only deflected her arrow had a far more drastic effect on its counterpart. The two lighter arrows were sent spinning full revolutions as they were diverted out of their original paths, the force they carried dispersed as they fell rather harmlessly on the troops fighting below them.

 Chapter 508 - A Rare, Worthy Adversary

    ¡°As odd as it may sound, more often than not, when someone makes use of every bit of skill and effort they could to end your life, it is done as a show of respect and acknowledgement to you and your own skills. An insult, on the other hand, would be for them to hold back while ending you because they could afford to do so.


    If you¡¯re killed by someone who didn¡¯t even deign to use their full strength to fight you, it is likely because you are not worth the effort.¡± - Adeline Eschevalle, veteran mercenary.


    ¡°Where are you now, you son of a drunk dreamweed addict¡­ where are you?¡± muttered Salicia as she glanced over the enemy army in the distance after shooting down the latest arrow to come towards Nestor. The Imperial army¡¯s frontline happened to be on a slightly elevated part of the prairie, which meant that if the archer she was hunting was elevated, like say, seated on a mount, they would have a clear line of sight towards Nestor¡¯s position.


    Of course, the distance would be too far for a direct shot to reach, hence the need for an arcing, parabolic shot like the ones she had been dealing with thus far. Salicia already had a general area from where the arrows likely originated. She was just out of position to actually pinpoint the archer until now, perched as she was, standing on top of a thick branch halfway up the tree.


    Once she made a shot from her position, her opponent would easily be aware of her position, since she would not be able to afford to move much, but that was fine. It was better for the enemy archer to be focused on her than on the army¡¯s high command. It was, after all, the job she was being paid to do, to either take down the enemy archer or at least occupy their attention and prevent them from harming the army¡¯s command chain.


    Her patience was finally rewarded when she finally spotted her quarry ¨C a person wearing the typical ¡°officer¡± armor of the Imperial army seated atop a horse ¨C loosing another pair of arrows simultaneously, this time aimed at targets further distant so that she could not shoot both down with one arrow of hers. Salicia smiled at the challenge and drew three arrows from her quiver, her trained body performed the motions deeply ingrained into her muscle memory, as she herself loosed three arrow in quick succession one after another.


    The first arrow struck one of her foe¡¯s arrow head-on roughly halfway between their positions, annihilating both projectiles in the process.


    The second arrow did the same to her foe¡¯s second arrow, roughly a hundred and fifty paces further than the first impact, the short delay having allowed the arrow to travel the distance.


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    The third arrow flew unopposed and cut through the air, headed straight towards her quarry instead.


    She smirked with some satisfaction when her opponent was forced to change their target from Nestor¡¯s group to her incoming shot. Her opponent had skill, that was obvious from the way he managed to divert her heavier arrow with one of his lighter ones, and she guessed he had some sort of affinity, likely Wind, that further bolstered the speed and lethality of his arrows.


    Salicia herself had her own advantages, however, namely her enchanted longbow that hurled heavier projectiles with absurd force to make up for her lackings on the field of magic.


    ¡°There you are,¡± she whispered as she grasped another set of arrows from her quiver.


    ******************************


    Hua-Jeong had to shoot an arrow in reaction to another¡¯s for the first time in a long while that day, which was something he had not expected at all. Fortunately decades of training had not gone away and his skills did not betray him as he successfully deflected the incoming arrow with one of his own, striking it at the side and diverting it to fall harmlessly elsewhere.


    He also noticed how much heavier his opponent¡¯s arrow was compared to the ones he used, easily twice the size. It was similar to the arrows he saw used by other archers in the Empire who were most confident of their strength and wielded bows with far greater draw weight than most, but even larger, which would have placed the bow it was launched from beyond what a human should be able to draw.


    Unfortunately he was not given the luxury of time to ponder the implications of such an opponent as he noticed another pair of arrows flying towards him in quick succession. The old general countered with his own arrows, deflecting his opponent¡¯s arrows skillfully before they could reach him, though he had to place his shots with care.


    The foe he faced had enough power behind their shots to simply blow through one of his arrows if he placed his shots poorly, as he found out when his second shot only glanced his opponent¡¯s arrow, enough to send it slightly off-course, but close enough that he got to witness the result of said shot first hand.


    It was with surprise and no small amount of horror that the old general witnessed how the arrow he barely deflected slammed straight through the head of a rider three horses away from him, apparently only stopped by the back of the man¡¯s helm. That the arrow possessed so much power even after traveling the distance showed just what sort of force he had to reckon with.


    And such a foe was clearly having him in their sight.


    Hua-Jeong risked a brief look through the spyglass, at the general area he guessed the arrows originated from, and his sight quickly noticed the lone figure standing atop a thick branch on a lone tree atop the hill across the battlefield. The same figure who was shooting another arrow at him even as he noticed her presence.


    In response, the old general made his horse move several steps forward, but he frowned as he noticed how even though the move would have made the first arrow the woman shot at him miss, the second arrow she fired behind the first still headed unerringly towards him. He had no recourse but to shoot down said arrow with one of his own once again.


    Unconsciously, a smile graced the old general¡¯s wrinkled features and he drew upon his skill and experience, loosing arrow after arrow at his opponent across the battlefield. It was the first time in his long life that he experienced such a thrill, such an excitement. The first time he faced an opponent in the field where he had long stood alone at the top.


    It was true what the others often said to him. To face a worth adversary in life was indeed an experience to die for.

 Chapter 509 - To Die For

    ¡°Sometimes, some things out there were indeed to die for.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    Deafening explosions echoed over the fighting at the frontlines as arrows propelled at speeds far beyond what should be possible clashed with others driven by force beyond human capabilities. Sometimes a deflected arrow passed through and found an unlucky victim by chance, at other times only a misshapen clump of metal that used to be the arrowheads and a shower of wooden splinters fell upon the soldiers below.


    Both Salicia Adenauer and Leung Hua-Jeong used their honed archery skills in an attempt to kill the other party as arrows were launched from their bows one after another, only to be shot down in mid-air by the other as they retaliated. Both had gone through a quiver full of arrows each in short order and changed to second quiver, with no result as yet other than a few unintended casualties that fell as collateral damage to their duel.


    The casualties were almost entirely on the Imperial side, as Salicia¡¯s heavier arrows made it through the impact in one piece more often than Hua-Jeong¡¯s lighter ones, which tended to fare much worse even if they were only glanced by one of her arrows.


    Through the so far brief exchange of arrows, Leung Hua-Jeong was made well aware that his opponent was not one to fall for simple tricks. She took down his arrows with relative ease even when he used tactics that would have posed difficult choices for most opponents. He realized that he would have to truly go beyond his limits to have a chance against her.


    His old fingers grasped no less than seven arrows at once from his quiver as he focused himself for a brief moment and circulated his magic to coat the arrows each in a specific way. He nocked and loosed the first two arrows simultaneously, shooting one at his quarry and the second at one of the targets she was protecting, then he repeated the shot with the second pair.


    As for the remaining three arrows, he loosed them one after another in quick succession a mere breath after the second pair of arrows left his bow. The wind magic he coated the arrows with ensured that they flew with great speed and lethality, while the three arrows he shot last followed in the wake of one of the second pair of arrows like its shadow, and the shadows to its shadow.


    ******************************


    Salicia was just about to loose an arrow of her own when she spotted what her opponent had done, and immediately shifted her aim. Her opponent had just gone all-out so she was left with little choice but to use her trump card, the Space affinity magic she typically only used when it was truly necessary. She knew that she did not possess enough mana to use it many times, so she had to make every use count.


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    She loosed the arrow that was already nocked to her bow after a minute adjustment and the arrow slipped into a tiny portal ¨C just large enough for the arrow to pass through ¨C around a hundred paces away from her location, only to reappear two hundred paces further away, at a different angle, as it flew from the side and took out both arrows from her opponent¡¯s first pair.


    A second arrow was sent out and similarly flew through a tiny portal, striking the second pair of arrows her opponent sent her way from the side. Only then was she made aware of more arrows flying in the wake of one of the arrows of the second pair, headed straight towards her. She quickly nocked a third arrow and loosed it in the direction of the incoming arrows. She absentmindedly noticed her arrow striking down first one, then a second of the hidden projectiles.


    The last arrow in her hand, she left for an attack of her own.


    This time the portal formed much further away, a good three hundred paces out, existing only for the brief moment that it took for the arrow to fly through it to the other side. The exit portal formed a mere hundred paces away from her target, at a greater height than where her arrow would have been if she had shot it normally, and the arrow came out at a downwards angle, the force of gravity adding to its speed, from the opening.


    Straight towards her foe, caught unawares by the sudden development.


    ******************************


    Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong was focused on the traces of magic he could feel on the arrows he shot. Two of them vanished as the arrows they were attached to shattered, followed by another two, which was well within his expectations. Those first four arrows were decoys, things meant to consume his opponent¡¯s attention and time, while the true killing stroke waited behind.


    He frowned as he felt how another two of the remaining three arrows he shot were taken out of the skies, but his lips started curling into a smile as the last arrow went on unmolested. Another second or two, and it should strike where he aimed.


    Engrossed in his own observations, he never noticed either the tiny portal that formed high in the air a hundred paces ahead of him, or the heavy arrow that fell out of it and accelerated further towards him with unerring accuracy. It was only at the last moment that he noticed the arrow¡¯s existence as it flashed past his face.


    The arrow struck the old general at the base of his throat, the downwards angle allowing it to slip directly past his armor and straight into his flesh. It pierced deep, slipping into his chest cavity from above and directly bypassing his rib bones, piercing through his heart before the tip was finally stopped when it embedded itself into his spinal cord.


    Hua-Jeong stared dumbfounded at the arrow that had just taken his life for a moment, even as he felt the strength leaving his limbs and the world growing darker. He felt himself slipping off the saddle and toppling over to the side, though he could not feel the fall. The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the sky over the battlefield, which just happened to start raining right at that time, a drop of rainwater falling right into his eye.


    ¡°Splendid¡­¡° muttered the Dragon General with his last breath, his final word but a praise for the opponent who had taken his life and handed him a defeat.


    The words, however, were fated to fall unto deaf ears.


    For across the battlefield, a one-eyed woman was slumped down on the branch she had been standing on just moments ago, her back resting precariously on the tree¡¯s trunk. She was silent, unmoving, and the reason for it was clear as day.


    A single arrow with brilliant green feathers serving as its fletchings jutted out from the center of her stilled chest, embedded right between her breasts.

 Chapter 510 - Breaking Lines

    ¡°If force fails to solve a problem, then you are clearly not using enough of it.¡± - Saying of Gozum tribe.


    Plains at the border between Gestis and Kolitschei


    Northern former Posuin region


    Western Alcidea


    4th Day of the 4th Week of the 10th Month, Year 20 FP.


    Yuri of the Gozum Tribe was not a native to Alcidea, or at least, his kind wasn¡¯t.


    Like other therians, they originated from the southern continent of Ur-Teros, and those who were in the northern continent were mostly tribes who had been driven away from there after they were defeated during wars in the past. Yuri¡¯s family had moved to Alcidea when he was young on their own volition, though.


    His parents were skilled masons, and they happened to hear of opportunities in Knallzog from a traveling merchant friend of theirs. Even today his parents still lived in Meergant, at the south of Knallzog, owners of a prosperous business that they ran with the help of his three younger siblings. It reminded him that he had not visited them for a while¡­ Maybe after this mission was over.


    Yuri himself ¨C the name, like the rest his family uses, was a simplified one they assumed for use with others outside their tribe, as their real names were sing-song trumpeting noises others find impossible to pronounce properly ¨C had always been a more adventurous boy. One that often got into brawls and fights, where his massive frame proved to be a huge benefit.


    So when he eventually left his family to join a small mercenary band run by fellow therians, nobody was surprised. They saw such an eventuality as a long time coming, and if anything, breathed a sigh of relief. Having to regularly bail him out of custody from the frequent brawls and street fights got old after a while, he guessed.


    Amongst the mercenaries, he learned many lessons. First and foremost amongst those was that just because he possessed size and strength does not mean he was strong.


    It was a son of the band¡¯s matriarch, a bear therian around his own age by the name of Niko, that taught him the lesson. Niko himself was large, but Yuri towered over him by nearly two heads and was bulkier to boot, with greater strength and his trunk that served effectively as a fifth limb. Even with all those advantages, the smaller Niko would trounce him with relative ease, at least until Yuri learned his lesson and stopped relying entirely on his bulk and brute force.


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    There was a lot more to fighting than just overpowering the other person, he discovered.


    Just as there were more aspects about himself that Yuri learned in the years that followed that he never truly thought about before. His rivalry with Niko, the matriarch¡¯s son, blossomed into friendship, then even closer and more intimate from there. He had never considered pursuing that sort of relationship before, but he was very open to the idea, and found himself more than happy with it.


    Yuri¡¯s tribe was one of the more conservative ones which put emphasis on children ¨C partly because of their rather low and still dwindling numbers ¨C and even when he was young his parents had tried to make him ¡°get along¡± with the daughters of their fellows that were around his age. He never found much about them that interested him, however, whereas with Niko¡­ he simply wanted to be with him, forever if he could.


    After a few years the two were officially a couple ¨C with the matriarch¡¯s blessings, to boot ¨C and over the years they adopted children, mostly those of their fellow mercenaries who fell in battle, and raised them as their own. Their growing family faced the ups and downs together with the band, even as it shifted its allegiance from the Vanguard Legion to the Free Lances, and carried on.


    By the present date some of the children they adopted had grown old enough to fight alongside them, either in the matriarch¡¯s platoon ¨C which consisted mostly of the original band and their descendants ¨C or in other platoons of the company. Yuri himself led the charge against the enemy at the very front, with Niko by his left and his sister-in-law Varilya to his right.


    He held both of his arms ahead of him, with a massive metal shield taller than himself and nearly as wide strapped to each arm, forming a perfect wall of metal together with the somewhat smaller shields Niko and Varilya wielded to his sides. Normally, it would have been considered folly to go into battle with shields strapped to both arms, as it made using weapons impossible, but Yuri was not as constrained as those who only had four limbs to use.


    While he had learned to fight in more effective manners and styles over the time that had passed, when he was at the front, leading the platoon¡¯s shieldbearers as they charged and pushed into the enemy formation, all he had to do was one simple thing: Push. He relied on his massive bulk and weight as he simply pushed the enemy soldiers aside, at times trampling fallen ones beneath his feet. He didn¡¯t even need to put strength to finish those off, as his massive weight alone ensured that the enemy soldiers he stepped on could not be more dead, regardless of whether they still had their armor or not.


    Only once the momentum of the charge started to die out, as they slowed and were bogged down by the mass of soldiers they faced, did Yuri exchange looks with Niko and Varilya. Receiving approvals from both of them, he bellowed at the top of his voice, a trumpeting, deafening roar that made the enemy soldiers closest to him flinch from the sheer volume, and finally shifted his arms from their defensive posture.


    With his trunk, he swung a hefty mace that crushed through the defenses of several enemy soldiers at the same time, their shields and armor proven useless against the sheer force of Yuri¡¯s blow. Yuri also kept one of his shields at a defensive position to cover Niko to his left, while his other hand punched down, using the reinforced rim of his massive shield as if it was a brass knuckle, crushing another couple of enemy soldiers in his way.

 Chapter 511 - Leading the Pack

    ¡°Some people are like chili peppers. They get more spicy the older they grow.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Mischka B?nfinn was no spring chicken by any recognition at her age of seventy-four, though her kind was fortunately blessed with strength that remained with them through their entire lives, unlike those who often wilted with age. Even at her late age ¨C her kind typically only lived to their eighties or nineties ¨C she remained as fit as when she was a young woman of twenty.


    She had been a warrior practically all her life. Her father had gone to the northern continent along with some of his friends and siblings in search of fortune as sellswords, and she was born in the mercenary band, growing up alongside other children like her. It was only natural for such children to look up to the mercenaries as their role models as they grew older, and she herself joined the band once she was old enough to do so.


    At the start, Mischka marched to battle alongside her father, uncles, and aunts. As time passed and injuries or death took the elders, her compatriots were mostly down to her peers, other young fellows who grew up in the band like she did and decided to take up arms. She had never thought that she would actually live long enough to march into battle alongside her own children and grandchildren like she did presently.


    While she was not the only child of her parents, she was the only one who took up arms and sought a living through martial means like they did. Her elder brother was not cut out for violence and started a small inn in Knallgant, while her younger sister was more interested in music. Last Mischka saw her was when her troupe ¨C her sister had retired as performer and now managed the troupe ¨C happened to visit Levain while the Free Lances were still there.


    As for her own children, her sons Niko and Ivan as well as her youngest daughter Varilya had joined her in the band she used to lead after her father passed on. Her eldest daughter Tamara and second daughter Olga had similarly chosen a different path. The two worked together and pooled their money to start a rather successful eatery in B?rengant instead, which they managed with the help of their spouses and children.


    It was not that working as mercenaries had no risks. Mischka knew that all too well, having lost her father and several people she used to call ¡°Uncle¡± or ¡°Aunt¡± to death or injury. Her own younger son Ivan passed on two decades ago in Theodinaz, and that same battle had her thinking that it might have been the end of the band as it was, at least until the Silver Maiden brought about miracles.


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    What remained of the band had joined the Free Lances since, and they grew to well over double their number in the years since, with many of their own descendants joining the fray as they grew up. Even presently Mischka sometimes looked fondly backwards where several of her grandchildren ¨C including Ivan¡¯s only son ¨C were marching alongside them.


    As the old matriarch of the family, she felt it was her obligation to give them a good example to follow, which was one reason why she always refused to retire despite her age. The battlefield still called out to her, and she was not one to ignore its call. Step by step, she rushed after those leading the way, her own children and in-laws at the tip of the formation, similarly leading by example for the rest.


    Mischka¡¯s experienced eyes noticed right away when the tip started to slow down and gestured to the rest of her platoon to prepare to do their part. The formation slowed down bit by bit, until finally the shieldbearers at the tip of their formation made a push towards the sides, leaving the enemies in front to those behind them.


    Just as her son-in-law Yuri took a second step to the side, and well before any of the surprised enemy soldiers before them managed to react, Mischka took a powerful stride forward and brought down her massive blade on a diagonal swing that covered the open gap in the formation. The heavy blade simply shattered the shafts of the enemy spears it ran across and brutally cleaved through three enemy soldiers, shield, armor, and all.


    Rather than cut through the soldiers in question, Mischka¡¯s blade left marks that showed that she crushed them instead. It was just that her blade was narrow enough that the crushing resulted in a crude cut through the poor soldiers¡¯ bodies as well. The metal of their lamellar armor held on well enough for the most part, but the strings used to tie the pieces together simply snapped when subjected to such forces. As for the shields made out of light wood, they never stood a chance at all.


    As she took another step forward, the therian matron heaved as she swung her blade out to the other side, once again slaying a couple enemy soldiers on the spot and forcing another four to back away desperately to avoid her swing. Her two swing basically ensured that the enemy soldiers had no chance to make use of the opportunity to attack the shieldbearers from the sides, and as the rest of her platoon rushed forward along with her, they continued to press their advantage as they carved a bloody path through the enemy formation.


    Their job was to carve a path for their allies to reach the enemy sniper who was suspected to be their general, whose location they had an inkling of as Salicia fought them arrow to arrow. The occasional explosions of arrows that clashed against one another as they shattered to fragments over their head was audible even in the chaotic battlefield.


    Through it all, Mischka only looked forward. She trusted her compatriots to do their part in the battle, while and hers would in turn, do their own part as planned.

 Side Story 95 - Come What May

    ¡°Sometimes, loyalty can be the most irrational thing when seen from other points of view.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    Zhong Jiangjun Liu Zhong-Feng¡¯s entire military career could be said to have been tied to that of Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong¡¯s, given how he first started as a lowly soldier when the present Dragon General himself was still a mere team leader in charge of twenty-five men. The two of them had somehow stuck together as they rose through the military ranks, especially during the succession wars, where the aging Leung Hua-Jeong¡¯s peerless archery skills were unveiled and displayed to the Empire at large.


    When the then aged man was rewarded with a massive promotion in rank and told to pick his own assistants, Hua-Jeong had chosen the unit leaders who he had worked with for most of his life, Zhong-Feng amongst them.


    Not every one of them managed to adjust to the higher ranks. One had to be demoted and discharged as they simply failed to perform in a position of high command, while another passed away during the fighting in the succession wars. Yet another had retired just three years ago as the man was even older than the Dragon General, leaving only Zhong-Feng to accompany the old general when the invasion was launched.


    He had worked under Leung Hua-Jeong his entire military career, to the point that the older man often did not need to elaborate what he needed Zhong-Feng to do. The two already had a tacit understanding very few could match up to, born from the decades they spent working together with each other, and like always, Zhong-Feng had no plan to fail his superior.


    As he was well aware that Hua-Jeong would not be able to actively command the battle while he was hunting for the enemy leadership, it was Zhong-Feng¡¯s duty to make sure that the enemy would not get to bother him. For that reason, he arrayed his soldiers in multiple layers of defensive positions, aimed to prevent any enemy from disturbing his general.


    Of course, that was not all he amounted to. He had also planned together with his fellow general Xingl Liat for her to prepare a warm welcome to any enemy coming their way while his troops kept the enemies occupied. The past couple of days, his troops might be outmatched by the enemy and had taken casualties, but it was not in vain.


    They had learned of their foes through the battles they went through, which prepared them for today¡¯s task at hand.


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    That said, Liu Zhong-Feng had not lined the frontmostlines with his own prepared elites. Instead, he borrowed troops from other units to shore up those lines. That way his opponents would face less resistance early on, only to run into a steel wall when they met with his prepared elites deeper in, which should bog down the enemies at least briefly.


    When they were thus delayed, Xingl Liat and her brutes ¨C he always found the crude tribal woman a bit of an eyesore, but could not complain about her effectiveness as a warrior ¨C would take them from the flanks, ideally cutting off the enemy advance and inflicting heavy casualties into the enemy troops, for a change. The past few days had been bad for the troops¡¯ general morale, though elite troops like his were still capable of maintaining theirs. Either way, they needed to change how things were going to stand a chance to win this battle, which was proving harder than they expected.


    As the battle started, the first half of the plan seemed to work flawlessly, even if there was a change on the opposing side that caught him somewhat by surprise. In the center of the squat, short warriors his elites had been facing the past couple of days were the enemy¡¯s more normal looking soldier, at least for the most part. They actually did worse than Zhong-Feng had planned for, at least compared to the short ones.


    On the other hand, from the center of those normal soldiers, a small force ¨C it couldn¡¯t be more than a couple thousand by his best guess ¨C suddenly rose up and rushed forward, led by what looked like a moving wall of massive shields, their metallic shine gleaming under the sunlight. Caught by surprise, the soldiers he set at the frontmost line gave way without much resistance, either shoved aside or trampled by the enemy charge.


    That charge only started to slow down when they ran into his elite troops in layered formation, but even then, Liu Zhong-Feng had to watch with mounting horror and surprise as the enemy troops pushed their way a good third into the depth of the formation before they were finally bogged down.


    Then the shield wall opened to the side, revealing the massive, beastlike beings behind it and more that followed directly behind them that charged out and carved a bloody path deeper into the formation. His elites crumpled before the massive beasts that walked like men, in heavy armor and wielding equally massive weapons.


    Even as his elite soldiers did their best to resist, the enemy at the center of their formation kept moving forward, seemingly unstoppable, and it was only when Zhong-Feng notices Xingl Liat¡¯s troop moving from the flanks to strike the overextended enemy unit from its sides and cut off their lifeline did he finally breathe a sigh in relief.


    Some of his troops had to make way to allow for Liat¡¯s soldiers to pass through their formation as the enemy had pushed deeper in than either of them had expected, but it was still an acceptable result. Zhong-Feng knew that he was Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong¡¯s shield today, a rule he had played more than once and never failed at. He had no plans of failing today, only to succeed or die in the attempt.


    As Liat¡¯s troops made contact with the sides of the enemy formation ¨C a bit further behind where the large, beastlike ones were ¨C Zhong Jiangjun Liu Zhong-Feng kept his eye on the enemy troops.


    Surely they would crumble before such an assault, no?

 Chapter 512 - Unfortunate Circumstances

    ¡°Sometimes misfortune just worked to cause more of itself over time.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Despite how they had emerged triumphant from all the fighting they encountered so far during the campaign, the Free Lances had not exactly escaped unscathed.


    Out of their two thousand or so members, nearly a tenth had been sidelined at the present, mostly from injuries that needed longer treatment or recuperation. Those with lighter injuries generally returned to the fighting as soon as their wounds had healed enough, while a small portion of their casualties were those unfortunate enough to lose their lives before they could be pulled back to safety.


    Most platoons took a couple losses here and there, but a good majority of the casualties so far came from Alycea¡¯s platoon and the third strike platoon from when they held the line against the enemy offensive just the day before. Both platoons were down a good third or so of their members, as many of the injured were unable to recuperate enough after only a single night.


    As such, Reinhardt made arrangements to make up for the relative weakness of the platoons in question by shifting them around in the formation. Mischka¡¯s first strike platoon were still responsible for leading the way, while the other two strike platoons followed behind them to keep the way opened, Erycea and Alycea¡¯s following behind them as support, while Elfriede¡¯s platoon was sequestered in the center of the spearhead.


    Meanwhile Reinhardt and the rest formed up behind them to follow in their wake. Their target was simple: The head of the enemy commander, or that of their archer, should they not be one and the same. For that reason the spearhead would push hard and deposit Elfriede and her headhunters as close as they could to their target, while the rest would support them in that endeavor.


    Erycea¡¯s platoon, which was nearly at full strength, was set up by the diminished third strike platoon to make up for their lack of manpower. On the other side, Alycea¡¯s platoon was set to fight alongside Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s second strike platoon, which was similarly still at nearly full strength and had not taken many casualties as of yet.


    When the enemy forces reacted and elite enemy infantry struck at them from the flanks, they happened to strike mostly towards Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s platoons, having correctly inferred that their lighter armored troops would have worse defensive capabilities compared to the heavily armored strike platoons ahead of them. Naturally the commanders of the strike platoons diverted some of their forces to alleviate the pressure, but for a moment, the two sisters and their platoons were all that stood against the enemy onslaught.


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    Erycea¡¯s platoon was better off. The members were more experienced and battle-hardened since they had been with the company for several years by that point. While they buckled at first under the heavy assault of the enemy elites, Erycea and her closest companions spread out and stabilized the situation in person, relying on their prowess to carry the day.


    Alycea¡¯s platoon, however, had less experience and was already somewhat undermanned due to the losses they took the day before. While the region of the formation where Alycea and her companions ¨C who were not quite as willful nor as skillful as those of her sister¡¯s yet ¨C were present held firmly against the onslaught, the enemy soldiers managed to break through other parts of their formation and struck at those behind them, which happened to be the rear end of Elfriede¡¯s platoon.


    Some of the mercenaries were caught off guard, having not expected their flank to crumble under the enemy onslaught, and a few fell under the blades of the opposing side before they could muster a proper defense. Instead, the one who reacted the fastest was Reinhardt who was some distance behind where the breach took place.


    He was watching over the overall situation of the fighting from a bird¡¯s eye view with his artifact and noticed the breach almost at the same time it happened. In the short moment that passed between when the enemy soldiers broke through Alycea¡¯s platoon and hit Elfriede¡¯s platoon¡¯s rear, he passed on commands and warnings to several others.


    One of those he gave a warning to was Alvaro whose platoon was covering the rear of Alycea¡¯s platoon. Under Reinhardt¡¯s command the former Warforged immediately led his fellows into a strong push that aimed to hit the flank of the enemies that struck the Free Lances¡¯ own flank. On the opposing side Astrid and her platoon maneuvered to do the same, though they were less hurried since Erycea¡¯s platoon held strong against the tides of enemy soldiers attacking them.


    At the same time, Alva and Branka shifted their respective archer platoons to target the flanking enemies, while Egil¡¯s slingers took over the harassment duties as they prevented the enemy soldiers to the sides of the mercenary formation from pushing against them too hard. While the goblins¡¯ slings were less lethal than the bows and arrows of the archers, they brought out some of their nastier tricks.


    While the things the goblins brought out might not be lethal, they were plenty to stop soldiers in their tracks. After all, it was nearly impossible for people to fight while constantly sneezing and being blinded from contact with an intense dose of finely powdered spicy peppers.


    The last warning Reinhardt gave was to Elfriede at the front. After receiving his warning, she decisively turned around and told Ylisera to lead half the group ahead towards their target, while she personally took the other half and headed to the rear, where the enemy soldiers were. Reinhardt was uncertain whether Elfriede chose to turn back in person because she was worried about Alycea, or because she considered it an insult for the enemy to strike at her platoon. Probably a mixture of both, he figured.


    Either way, he knew one thing for certain. Those enemies who managed to push through Alycea¡¯s platoon were about to find themselves in truly lamentable circumstances of their own making.

 Chapter 513 - Desperate Straits

    ¡°Only in true adversity would one¡¯s mettle be judged properly.¡± - Old orcish saying.


    ¡°Hold on there, Kev-boy!¡±


    Kev heard Skuldj¡¯s gravelly roar over the din of the brutal fighting they were suddenly subjected to, the dwarven maiden holding her ground a bit further to his left with the half-elven twins between her and his position. Like the rest of their platoon, Skuldj was busy attempting to fend off all the enemies that seemed to suddenly flood over them just moments ago.


    The dwarven maiden was holding off at least three adult men who were trying to push her over using her massive tower shield, one of its sides planted into the ground and her sturdy left arm keeping the shield steady, while her long-hafted war pick harried another two foes who had to watch out for her strikes even as they pushed the offense.


    Next to her, the twins Ciel and Leece danced around even while pressed by seven enemy soldiers, their sabers and spears complementing each other and preventing the enemies from simply pushing through them by threatening to take their lives if they forced their way through. The twins lacked the bulk and strength to literally hold the enemy at bay like Skuldj, so they did their best in their own way instead, through aggression and cooperation.


    Fighting two against seven was far from easy, however, and the only things that prevented the twins from being overwhelmed and butchered by their enemies was that Skuldj and Kev also occasionally helped distract the enemy soldier closest to them, as well as the uncanny coordination between the twin sisters. More than once an enemy soldier was about to push through them after getting past one sister only to meet their end by the other¡¯s hand.


    Even with their skill and teamwork, however, facing so many opponents at once pushed the two to their limits. Already the fabric coating of their armor was tattered in many places, displaying the metal plates beneath. Both of them were also bleeding from several minor wounds in less armored areas, but fought on relentlessly even so, refusing to take a step back or to let the enemy through.


    Leece ¨C who was closer to Kev ¨C was parrying a heavy chop from one of the enemy soldiers with the saber in her left hand, allowing the blow to slide off harmlessly to the side, while the spear in her right hand thrust out like a snake at another man¡¯s throat to force them into defending themselves. Even as her second target moved to defend himself, however, Leece already shifted her spear¡¯s trajectory to deflect another cut aimed at her head by a third enemy, the spearhead striking the side of the blade with enough force to shift its descent a bit.


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    Instead of landing on her head as intended, the enemy¡¯s blade struck her on the left collarbone, which was fortunately covered in armor, preventing the blade from actually cutting into her flesh. That said, a blow with that amount of force would likely still leave a painful bruise at the very least, and the way Leece¡¯s left arm almost jerked as she took the hit pretty much verified that.


    Sure enough, another of the opponents Leece was facing tried to capitalize on the momentary opening, but was held back by a flashing saber courtesy of Ciel. There was nothing stopping yet another soldier from attempting to do the same on the other side, though, at least until Kev stepped in, mustered what strength he could, and pushed hard against the two enemy soldiers he was blocking with his shield.


    One of those soldiers stumbled back and bumped into the soldier trying to strike at Leece, causing them to fail at their strike in turn.


    When Kev forced his way, however, he ended up in a somewhat unstable position as a result, and before he could correct his posture, three enemy soldiers bore down on him and literally pushed him until he lost his balance and fell on his back. He could hear how Larissa to his right yelled his name and likely tried to come over, but from the way she cursed, more enemies stopped her on the way.


    Prone as he was, Kev was put in a difficult situation, but he still kept his wits about him and used his axe to hook the leg of the one soldier that tried to walk over him and tripped the man. He felt the enemy soldier fall down, hopefully an easy kill for whoever was holding the line behind Kev at the moment, but he couldn¡¯t relax as the other two turned their attention to him and stabbed down at him with their weapons.


    All Kev could do was to raise his shield to cover his unprotected face with it. He felt as if he was punched in the chest and gut as the enemy soldiers struck him there with their long blades. His armor fortunately kept the sharp metal blades away from his body, even if he still had to deal with the force of the blow itself. The strikes repeated another couple of times, as the enemy soldiers tried to pry a hole in his armor to stab through.


    Before the enemy soldiers managed to do that, however, a figure flashed past the corner of Kev¡¯s sight and went past where he was, from the other direction. Moments later he heard a couple gurgling noises and saw the enemy soldiers that were stabbing at him fall to their knees.


    As Kev shifted his shield away from his face, he saw that those enemy soldiers were too busy dying from throats that had been slit wide open to bother him any further, and that a one-eyed woman he recognized as the one being groomed to take a leading position in the Lady Boss¡¯ platoon was standing over him, her blades deftly countering those of the enemy soldiers that had stepped in since.


    Next to her, he also saw the mother of the half-elf twins join her daughters, albeit with a lot less grace and a lot more brutal violence as Olyvee wielded her pair of long knives to hack at the soldiers harrying her daughters. Her vicious strikes already tore at least one head off its owners¡¯ shoulders and intimidated a couple more.

 Chapter 514 - Perserverance

    ¡°The victor of a battle isn¡¯t the stronger or the more courageous one. It¡¯s the one who remains standing at the end.¡± - Old military saying.


    Of all things, the members of Elfriede¡¯s platoon who were at the back of the pack had not expected to be hit from the sides.


    It was less arrogance or overconfidence, and more because they fully trusted their comrades holding the sides to hold even under heavy assault, which made their failure to do so all the more surprising. As such, when the enemy elites burst through the lines of their fellow mercenaries on the flanks, they caught those troops further in mostly off-guard.


    A few of them were cut down on the spot by the first enemy soldiers to reach them, but that brief moment was enough to warn the rest of the incoming danger, and the soldiers who pushed through Alycea¡¯s platoon soon found themselves faced with strong resistance from the rest of the mercenaries they managed to flank.


    While Elfriede¡¯s platoon members were headhunters and assassins, role-wise, most of the platoon members were from the more savage, darker side of society, the sort of people who had little regard for their own lives. Many of them reveled in violence or take pleasure from it, and while they were hard-pressed by their enemy¡¯s numerical advantage, they fought back with all the viciousness in their bodies regardless.


    Kari had been one of the members who were further on the back, and she happened to be on the right flank at that. While she managed to react fast enough to avoid a fatal blow from the enemy soldier that flanked her, she still took a deep cut to her leg, which prevented her from moving as much as she liked. Instead she stood her ground and stubbornly fought off the enemy soldiers that came at her.


    To call Kari one of the more talented or skilled members of the platoon would be a bit of a stretch, but the girl managed to secure her spot in the platoon over the past two decades regardless through persistence and perseverance. She fought with a reckless disregard to her own well-being which often unnerved her opponents and allowed her to triumph over them in the end.


    In the same way, she fought with that dogged persistence that day, often trading wounds with her opponents, allowing them to cut flesh so she could cut deep into their bones. By the time reinforcements from the front half of Elfriede¡¯s platoon had arrived, Kari was bathed in blood, partly her own, partly her enemies¡¯. The corpses of six enemy elite soldiers lay before her feet.


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    ¡°Whoa there, Kari, you all right?¡± she heard somewhat vaguely from beside her. Kari also noticed that other people were pushing back the enemy soldiers, so she turned to see that it was Silva who asked the question, one of the platoon¡¯s oldest members who was usually seen together with the Lady Boss as one of her confidants in the platoon.


    Also one of the least fucked-up person in the group as a whole, though the now old man was certainly not shy on dishing out violence like the rest whenever called for.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± replied Kari somewhat woozily. She had been feeling rather lightheaded and weak for a while by then, likely due to the blood loss from the wounds she took in the battle so far. She had been so busy trying to survive and kill off her opponents that she never had a chance to take a closer look at her injuries until the reinforcements came. ¡°Not feeling too good, honestly.¡±


    ¡°Rest up and try to at least get those wounds bandaged for the time being. You ;look pale, must¡¯ve lost a lot of blood,¡± replied Silva with a somewhat worried tone of voice. The fighting was moving away from where they were, so they could afford to talk for a little bit. ¡°Here, use this. Slather on your wounds. Should keep them from getting worse and help stem the bleeding, at least,¡± he added as he passed a small vial to Kari¡¯s hands.


    The older man then turned and rushed over to the frontline of the fighting. As one of the oldest members of the platoon he had seniority over most of the others and served as one of Elfriede¡¯s lieutenants in the platoon. If his fighting skills were greater ¨C or if he was not approaching an age where he was likely to put down his weapons and retire, for that matter ¨C he might have been considered for a higher position in the company.


    Meanwhile, Kari took the chance to rest. She sat down on the stacked bodies of two dead enemy soldiers without a care ¨C not like her own clothes weren¡¯t already soaked through with blood anyway ¨C and poured some of the viscous medicinal paste from the vial Silva gave her onto her hand. After carefully wiping off the worst of the blood from her wounds using a piece of cloth taken from the dead enemies, she slathered the paste over her injuries, hissing slightly at the stinging sensation the action caused.


    Everyone in the Free Lances carried some emergency medical supplies in their storage artifacts, and Kari was no exception. She dug out a roll of clean cloth bandages from her storage and used it to wrap around her injuries as best she could, even biting down on them to hold them in place when she was wrapping the cuts on her arms.


    Once she was done with the rudimentary treatments, she sighed and looked up to the darkening sky as the rain started to fall. She survived another day on the battlefield, as much by her own skills as by luck, and from what she could tell the battle was starting to move away once more, the mercenaries having been pinned in place for a bit when they were struck from the flanks.


    Wordlessly, she picked up her weapons once more, and marched forward along with the other members of the platoon. Injured as she was, she likely wouldn¡¯t be made to fight again that day unless things grew desperate, but one never knows¡­

 Chapter 515 - Unfamiliar Worries

    ¡°Even the most ferocious of beasts has parental instincts deep down.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Fuck! Sera, take over teams one and two and help support Mischka, we got trouble in the back!¡± cursed Elfriede as she received Reinhardt¡¯s warning through the receiver artifact she wore by her ear. ¡°Ignaz, Silva, Katja, Olyvee, we¡¯re taking teams three and four and heading back! They¡¯ve got our asses on fire right now!¡±


    Since they were squished in the center of the rather narrow formation, Elfriede¡¯s platoon had to form up in a rather narrow single file, which meant that there was a bit of distance between her at the front and the rear which fell under attack just now. She was about to have her people support Mischka¡¯s advance, but immediately turned back with some of them when she received the message.


    Part of it was due to tactical considerations. If the enemy soldiers were able to break through one of their flanks and out the other, it would directly cut off the front half of the company from the back, which was a potential disaster in itself. Since the others were occupied by the enemies they were facing, it fell to her platoon ¨C who were in the center ¨C to react to the situation.


    The other part of the reason was because it was Alycea¡¯s platoon that the enemy soldiers broke through, and if they were to breach through the rear end of Elfriede¡¯s own platoon, those same enemies would end up on the back of Erycea¡¯s platoon as well.


    Normally, Elfriede considered herself a woman with little in terms of emotional attachment. It just wasn¡¯t something for her, in general. Her two daughters, however, were one of the very few exceptions to that, and she couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of worry for them in her mind, even if she knew that both girls were trained and prepared as best they could to face situations like these.


    It was a rare and foreign feeling for her, to worry about another like that. Probably it was the so-called maternal instincts the others had told her about, perhaps it was part of her ego unwilling to see someone she had raised from infancy be taken away from her, she was uncertain which. Not that she truly cared what the source of the feeling was.


    One thing was for certain, in that her footsteps were faster and more hurried than usual as she led her troops back to counter the enemy incursion, her people turning around in the rather tight confines to follow after her. They noticed the atypical way Elfriede was moving and knew better than to accidentally provoke her at such a time.


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    The moment they reached the area where the breach was, Elfriede gave orders for her troops to split up. Katja and Olyvee went towards the region where the enemies were breaking through from, while Ignaz and Silva led another half to reinforce their own fellow platoon members who were fighting off the enemy soldiers.


    Elfriede herself led a smaller group and headed straight for where Alycea and her small group of close friends were still holding on at the front, fighting with all they had. Tight-knit teamwork and the small group¡¯s exceptional skills had allowed them to repel the enemy forces even while they were being heavily outnumbered all this while.


    Since Olyvee and Katja together with the troops behind them were covering the main breach to one side of Alycea¡¯s group, Elfriede circled around to the other side of Alycea¡¯s group and descended upon the enemy soldiers there. The unfortunate enemy soldiers trying to force a breach between the second strike platoon and the small front held by Alycea¡¯s group had not seen her coming until it was too late.


    It was a difficult matter to fight in the midst of a chaotic, cramped battlefield where one would barely have enough room to properly swing their own weapons, but some mastered the way to fight under such conditions nonetheless. Elfriede¡¯s unusual method of perception in particular allowed her to thrive in such an environment, as she was aware of the movements of everyone around her, friend and foe both.


    She slipped under blades being swung, at times used her body to cover an ally¡¯s strike, only moving away at the last moment, all while weaving through the crowd and reaping lives as she pleased. Given the cramped conditions which made it difficult to utilize the full length of her weapons, she flipped them around, using the dagger blades at the bottom of the hilt instead of the longer blades above, keeping her movement compact as she stabbed, ripped, and tore the flesh of her foes in passing.


    When an enemy soldier was aware of her presence and swung his blade at her, Elfriede nonchalantly caught it between the dagger at the hilt and the crescent blade on her weapon¡¯s handguard, keeping the enemy¡¯s weapon immobilized with a slight twist of her wrist. Then she allowed the strike to continue on its way, safely past her, while raising her elbow at the same time with lethal intent.


    Her elbow pushed against the unsharpened back of her weapon and helped drive her blade¡¯s tine into the enemy soldier¡¯s throat from the side, the blade piercing through from one side of the man¡¯s throat to the other. When Elfriede then yanked down with her hand that held the weapon¡¯s handle, the sharp blade of the tine sliced right through the front side of the man¡¯s throat and showered her with blood as it sprayed briefly out of the wound.


    Without pausing, Elfriede continued on her rampage as she scythed down one enemy soldier after another, often before they realized that she had closed in on them. Her clothes quickly soaked through with blood ¨C entirely her victims¡¯ at that ¨C as she reaped lives as if she was harvesting wheat, while her troops behind her helped lighten the pressure that went to Alycea¡¯s group, who were all still fighting in the frontlines as well.


    Meeting up with her daughter could wait. Reducing the pressure and keeping her safe until that meeting was what mattered at the moment to her.

 Side Story 96 - Knowing When to Cut the Losses

    ¡°Discretion is the better part of valor, oftentimes.¡± - Old military saying.


    Things were not going as planned for the Imperial generals and their army.


    The plan Xingl Liat had set into motion had been a simple one ¨C like all the best plans, as the general was a firm believer that a complicated plan just meant more chances of failure during the execution ¨C where the elite soldiers under her command would make a pincer attack from both flanks of the enemy¡¯s forward elements. They would avoid the toughest enemies at the front and hit at the more vulnerable troops slightly behind them instead.


    Executed well, the elite soldiers should break through the enemy lines and connect with each other shortly after, completely cutting off the enemy¡¯s forward elements ¨C which were conveniently arrayed in a rather narrow formation ¨C from the rest of their troops. At that point, the Imperial army would use their superior numbers to isolate, surround, and grind down the forward elements of the enemy they caught until they were no more.


    It was a simple, foolproof plan that even an imbecile could execute without much difficulty, yet it failed to manifest as expected nonetheless.


    While Liat received a signal from her subordinate leading the charge to the enemy right flank that they managed to breach through the lines, the offense was nevertheless bogged down before it could result in a true pincer effect where the enemy forces would be threatened from both sides at once. Instead of faltering, the enemy managed to put up enough resistance to prevent the advance from pushing further.


    Of course, the situation on Liat¡¯s end of the battlefield was even worse, as the enemies before her doggedly resisted her elites to the point that they had yet to create a single breach in the enemy lines. In fact, while the majority of the enemies on her side hunkered down in a defensive formation, a small group actually counterattacked viciously and threatened to destabilize her own lines.


    In fact Liat was personally headed in that direction to take control of the situation. She arrived just in time to watch one of her elites fall on his back with his skull split in half, the dead man¡¯s brain matter leaking out from the massive rent that practically divided the upper half of his head into two halves vertically. Before she could find out what caused the man¡¯s death, she spotted another of her soldiers stumbling back towards her.


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    The second man had his throat pierced, though the wound did not look as if it was made by a proper sharp weapon. Instead, it looked as if it was caused by a crude sharpened point on the end of an otherwise blunt instrument. There was no saving the man, however, as his windpipe had collapsed and he would likely suffocate before long.


    It was also then that Xingl Liat laid eyes on the culprit responsible for those deaths, as just ahead of her, three of her elites were fighting with one of the beast-like enemies ¨C though fortunately a smaller one in their case, only half a head taller or so than them ¨C and were barely able to eke out an advantage.


    Two of those three soldiers bound the beast-like foe¡¯s weapons with their own, while the third was about to take the opening to finish them off when something unexpected happened. Before the third soldier could swing his blade, the beast-like enemy suddenly lunged forward with enough force that the other two soldiers were forced to take a step back.


    Far enough for the beast to have sunk its fangs deep into the throat of the third soldier, tearing off a bloody chunk that they then spat out right onto the face of another of her soldiers, forcing them to back away hastily.


    Liat jumped in and struck with her blade, deflecting a blow from the beast¡¯s weapon ¨C a ridged metal truncheon ¨C before it could land on the man, and was surprised by the force she felt from the impact. The blow was far heavier than what she expected a one-handed strike would be like, and it basically confirmed to her who the culprit responsible for the dead soldiers she saw was.


    She was not given much time to contemplate, however, as her opponent swung that truncheon around as if it was a wooden stick. The blows came in hard and very fast, to the point that Liat struggled to block them at times. And that was with her only dealing with one of the beast¡¯s pair of weapons, another two of her soldiers being held back by the other.


    The beast itself was likely the leader of the enemy forces she faced, or at least in charge of those making the counterattack, so taking them down would likely cut the wind out from the enemy¡¯s sails, but that was far easier said than done. Even fighting them three against one with the help of some of her elites, she struggled to hold her opponent back, much less overpowering them.


    To make matters worse, during that fighting she spotted the signal she wanted to see the least, one that came from the other side of the enemy formation, sent by her lieutenant. A signal that the advance had stalled and that they would attempt to hold so that she could break through and reach them from her side as she was supposed to do.


    She did not have the heart to signal back that it was not in the question, at least for the moment, nor the time to give the command as she was fighting for her life right then.


    It was when the second, rather frantic signal came from the other side that Xingl Liat shook her head and made her decision as she allowed herself to be pushed back by one of her foe¡¯s strikes, allowing two more of her soldiers to take her place. The frantic signal had reported of her lieutenant¡¯s demise, and probably the bannerman¡¯s too, since the banner itself fell over shortly after.


    As such, with the assault failing to reach the desired results and her flanks now under threat from the enemy¡¯s counterattacks as well, Liat gave the order to her bannerman to signal a general retreat. They had failed on that day, and would have to seek to redeem their honor on another occasion.

 Side Story 97 - To the Bitter End

    ¡°At times, loyalty means putting your life on the line, even when it might be for nothing more than a worthless gesture in the eyes of others. I can somewhat sympathize with such people, as often they were in situations nobody else would understand until they themselves were in the same position.¡± - Commander-General Ilomie Alvar Regula of Levain, circa 692 FP.


    ¡°Sire, reports from the left wing. They are on the verge of breaking and asked for reinforcements,¡± reported a messenger to Zhong Jiangjun Liu Zhong-Feng who was warily watching the battle¡¯s situation from atop his steed in the center of the Imperial Army¡¯s formation.


    ¡°Sire, the right wing reports that they require reinforcements as well. The enemy¡¯s assault is overwhelming and threatens to overrun them,¡± stated another messenger who arrived just as the first one finished delivering his message. Neither were the first messages of the sort that he had received from the other generals at the flank, and Zhong-Feng had already diverted some of his troops to reinforce the wings earlier.


    Apparently to no avail.


    Zhong-Feng took a quick tally of the situation at hand before he made a quick decision to divert another five thousand of his men to each wing to reinforce them. Their plan to hold on until the old general sniped off the opposition¡¯s commanders had yet to bear fruit, and without any further commands from Leung Hua-Jeong, Zhong-Feng would see the plan they had enacted to the fullest instead.


    ¡°Had there been no updates from the Long Jiangjun?¡± he asked one of his own lieutenants nearby who was in charge of the reserve troops on the rear of the formation. He could see that the fighting ahead was going on and that the plan he decided on with Liat was progressing, but they had yet to cut off the enemy¡¯s forward elements completely from what he saw.


    It was not proceeding as he expected. Zhong-Feng had expected that the enemy would have faltered somewhat as the old general picked off their leadership one by one, but from the occasional sharp noise of arrows shattering against each other, he likely met a worthy match today. Something the old general would probably rejoice about, even if it was detrimental to their plan as a whole.


    As the subordinate trusted to run the battle in his stead, it was all Zhong-Feng could do to arrange for the troops to fight off the enemy as best they could. They were on the backfoot and were forced to retreat bit by bit, something he allowed for the time being given their lack of advantage over the opposition. Even the plans he hatched out with Liat had yet to bear fruit, so all he could do for the time being was to persevere until there was a change in the situation.


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    Even after time passed, the situation failed to rectify itself. Both wings of the Imperial army failed to hold back their respective assailants, while the cavalry failed to harass the enemy enough to make an impact on the battle. Even the part he had high hopes for, where his troops cooperated with that of Liat¡¯s to cut down the enemy¡¯s strike force, showed signs of failing.


    Sure enough, before long he received another messenger, this one from Xingl Liat herself, noting that her troops had failed to cut off and surround the enemy strike force and were in the process of withdrawal as a result.


    Liu Zhong-Feng could only sigh at all the failure that surrounded him. He was in charge of the army and thus had to make the decisions with the lack of command coming down from the Dragon General himself. It had not taken him long to realize how untenable his position ¨C and the Imperial army¡¯s as a whole ¨C was in that battle.


    ¡°Anwar, take your men and escort the Long Jiangjun and his guards back safely. Do this as quietly as you can,¡± he said to the lieutenant who was in charge of his troops¡¯ reserves. ¡°Is that clear?¡±


    ¡°Understood, Jiangjun. It will be done,¡± replied the man immediately. A good soldier, to not even question his task.


    ¡°As for the lot of you,¡± he added with a sigh, this time addressing the messengers that had just arrived once more from the other generals. ¡°Go back to your respective commanders and relay the order for a fighting withdrawal to them. The whole army is withdrawing. Tell them to prioritize their men¡¯s safety. Me and mine will hold the rear.¡±


    A chorus of ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±s answered him as the messengers in question left and went back to their respective units. Zhong-Feng also ordered for the flag signals for a fighting withdrawal to be displayed, since Zahira Al-Nairi and the cavalry were too far away to have sent a messenger. He hoped that she had someone keeping an eye on the signal flags and would be able to react in time to join them.


    As for himself, he gave orders to his remaining men to spread out, as they were the rear guard to the retreating army. Already the enemy forces were pushing hard against them, especially that one strike force with plenty of non-humans that he and Liat had tried to decapitate earlier, but he had confidence in his battle-hardened elites. They will hold, at least long enough to secure an escape for the rest of the army.


    So long as the rest of the army and more importantly. The Dragon General, made it out fine, they will be able to fight again after some rearrangements, such was the belief in the middle-aged general¡¯s heart. As for himself, he considered his being as but a cogwheel in the machine, one that could be replaced as needed should it break down. If he had to die to save the rest, then so be it.


    It was while he rearranged his troops to better guard against the pursuing foes that Zhong-Feng realized that he had not heard the Dragon General¡¯s arrows for a while. While it was difficult to pick out the sound of a single arrow in a chaotic battlefield, the Dragon General imbued his arrows with wind magic which made them emit a rather shrill noise as they cut through the air, one that Zhong-Feng was well acquainted with.


    Probably the General had retreated already then, or so he hoped¡­

 Chapter 516 - Pouncing on a Weakness

    ¡°Knowing the difference between a real opening and a feint is often the difference between success and failure in battle. All too often, it would have taken too long for the commander in the back to decide on such matters personally, and as a result, those at the frontlines could only rely on their own judgement on whether to pounce upon a perceived opening or otherwise.


    Situations like these are amongst the major reasons why most militaries allowed lower ranked officers at the frontlines to make their own decisions when they felt it was the right approach to take. Much in the same way that the general at the frontlines need not ask for the permission of the monarch far away in the capital, so too do the officers at the location of the actual fighting need not ask for permission from the general.¡± - Adelind Veskar, military analyst from Knallzog, circa 591 FP.


    Reinhardt breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed the enemy troops finally withdrawing from their attempt to cut off the Free Lances¡¯ forward elements under the pressure from his increased offense and the resistance his people were giving. It was a maneuver that could have ended in disaster for the mercenaries had it succeeded, as if his forward elements were isolated and surrounded, the enemies would be able to drag them away to be annihilated piecemeal.


    Fortunately things never came to that, partly due to the dogged persistence of his people under the pressure. Erycea¡¯s platoon on the left flank never even broke despite how the offense on that flank was concentrated against them, and while Alycea¡¯s less experienced soldiers on the right faltered, they still slowed the enemy down enough to let the others react in time.


    While Reinhardt had a good idea of the general situation, it was not until the reports from messengers reached him that he had a clearer idea on the details. Most of the damage had been to Alycea¡¯s platoon ¨C of which only a quarter or so of their original numbers were still up and fighting at the moment ¨C and the back end of Elfriede¡¯s platoon. The fatalities incurred were light, given how the situation looked at first, if he was to be honest.


    Mostly thanks to good practice of pulling back the injured before it got too dangerous, even under such pressure.


    The Free Lances continued their push, though it was hard for them to press deeper into the slowly retreating enemy formation since the enemies in question were wary of their prowess by now. Still, Reinhardt ordered his mercenaries to keep the pressure up, unwilling to let the enemies go after the provocation that was their attempted decapitation strike earlier.


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    He saw such an opportunity just as the enemy army shifted to a full fighting withdrawal.


    ¡°Astrid, Alvaro, I want your platoons to commit into an assault. Don¡¯t overdo it, but don¡¯t hold back either,¡± commanded Reinhardt through his artifact. Despite the intensifying rainfall, the enchantment of the artifact ensured that his voice reached their intended recipients clearly. ¡°Arne, Gr¨¹n, support them with your platoons as well, get them to pay attention to the sides.¡±


    Under his command, the Free Lances mounted an assault against the sides of the enemy line ahead of them, Reinhardt also shifting more of the ranged support to Astrid and Arne¡¯s side since they were a bit lower on manpower compared to the other side. It was already difficult to maintain formation during a fighting withdrawal, so the additional assault gave their foes more problems to think about as well.


    When Reinhardt noticed movements from the enemy formation¡¯s core regions towards the sides, likely troops being shifted to act as reinforcements for the beleaguered areas, that was when he made his move. He immediately ordered those on the sides to further intensify the assault to make sure that the enemy would not be able to extricate themselves easily or quickly, before giving the decisive command.


    ¡°Mischka, take Friede, Ery, and Aly with you, head straight for the head!¡± he yelled into his artifact.


    Moments later, Mischka¡¯s platoon, which had been resting for a bit after the failed charge early in the battle, surged forward with renewed strength as they made another push straight down the center of the enemy formation, headed straight for where they suspected the enemy general was situated. Elfriede¡¯s platoon tailed Mischka¡¯s platoon closely during the advance, while Erycea¡¯s and Alycea¡¯s covered their sides and rear.


    As the enemy center had just thinned their ranks to send reinforcements to the sides and those reinforcements were unable to turn back immediately to return to the center, the push went through with its typical brutal efficiency. The enemies did manage to hold them back enough that Mischka¡¯s platoon alone was unable to reach their target, but they still managed to get close enough to allow Elfriede¡¯s platoon to take over and do the job in their stead while they fought off the enemies defending against them.


    From above, through the bird¡¯s eye view provided by the artifact, Reinhardt could only make out how Elfriede along with a few of the best of her people slipped into the enemy formation while the rest of the platoon wildly charged at the enemies as a distraction. He could not track their movements any further from that far away, so all he could do was to wait for their return and to have faith in their skills.


    Around a quarter of an hour later, he noticed some commotion at the center of the enemy formation¡¯s rear. Not too long thereafter, several figures slipped back into the mercenary formation, as Mischka¡¯s troops simultaneously relaxed their assault a bit. Reinhardt knew what those movements meant, and signaled for the rest of his troops to similarly back down from the assaults they were mounting, allowing the enemy to catch their breath and distance themselves.


    He knew that when Elfriede¡¯s group returned like that, it meant that she likely came back with the head of an enemy general or the likes, and looked forward to the results once she reported in.

 Chapter 517 - Under the Setting Sun

    ¡°When you¡¯re fighting in the thick of battle, often you¡¯re so engrossed in the battle itself that you¡¯d ignore even your own injuries and the like. It was only after the fighting was over, when you returned to your camp to rest and recuperate, that the aches and pain caught up to you with a vengeance. That was never a fun experience.¡± - Akesha Mila, retired career soldier.


    Shortly after Elfriede¡¯s group returned into the folds of the Free Lances, horns were sounded to signal the main force of the army to put an end to the day¡¯s hostilities. Reinhardt could see why. It was already rather late in the afternoon and everyone fighting was already tired. The enemy army had already pulled back and made for their camps, with the strike made by the mercenaries likely the last one for the day.


    The cavalry forces of the Coalition kept a wary eye at the retreating enemy cavalry, who had spent the day riding, skirmishing, and slashing at the flanks of the Coalition formation. They caused some casualties but failed to affect the battle in the long run, other than forcing the coalition to use some of their own cavalry to drive them away every so often.


    In contrast, the dwarven cavalry forces had extracted a bloody toll on the enemy army, with the enemy flanks bloodied quite thoroughly. The repeated passes did cost them a few casualties of their own, as mistakes happened when people tire, but it was a more than worthwhile exchange all considered. The dwarves themselves had withdrawn back to their camps first in order to care for their tired mounts.


    Fighting for most of the daylight hours took a toll on the endurance of even the sturdiest of mounts, after all.


    As the two sides retreated ¨C the dwarves stopped chasing after a while ¨C they also dragged their dead with them. Neither side was interested in letting the corpses rot and fester while being trampled by the fighting men the next day, as that would have likely led to a plague or worse. That and given the relatively inconclusive nature of the battles thus far, neither side was willing to ¡°gift¡± the opposing side a wealth of arms, armor, and other equipment still attached to the dead.


    Since the Free Lances had been at the forefront of the fighting that day, they were amongst the last ones to head back, the mercenaries having taken a few casualties themselves from the attempted pincer attack, but they also earned the head of someone suspected to be a general in return. Elfriede¡¯s group had done their task and returned safely as expected.


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    While they were uncertain of the identity of the head ¨C Elfriede only had the opportunity to kill the man and then take his head with her, leaving his headless corpse behind ¨C the helmet he wore implied that he likely had some rank, as it was of fine quality. At the very least, the man would be some sort of higher ranking commander, given the quality of the helmet in question.


    ¡°Think Sal got that archer?¡± Elfriede asked as the Free Lances walked back along with the rest of the army.


    ¡°Would have to ask her later to be sure. I think I saw where one of the arrows came from and it was deeper in than where you went today, so if she took him down, they likely brought his body back,¡± replied Reinhardt after a moment of thought. ¡°I didn¡¯t receive a warning about our commanders being sniped to relay, though, so at the very least she kept him busy enough to not do that.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear their arrows clashing for a good while now, so there¡¯s probably some conclusion to their duel at least,¡± noted Elfriede with a nod of her head.


    ¡°You could hear that during the battle?¡± asked Reinhardt with some surprise. He knew that since Elfriede was blind her hearing was particularly acute ¨C for a human ¨C but had not expected it to be that acute to the point of being able to tell a specific noise in the din of an ongoing battle.


    ¡°Not easily, but that particular noise that metal makes when they hit each other so hard to the point of shattering is not common either. I can pick it up vaguely over the general noise,¡± replied Elfriede. ¡°Sal and the other archer kept having their arrows meet in mid-air, often head to head, so I heard it every so often while they dueled.¡±


    ¡°Where was she shooting from, anyway? I was not paying attention to the back earlier. I kept my perception angled to the front and above in case we got one of the arrows aimed our way,¡± she asked in turn.


    ¡°Sal went to that tree up the hill over that way,¡± answered Reinhardt as he pointed with one finger. Elfriede might not be able to perceive the tree since it was too far away for her to sense, or even the hill, but she could at least tell the general direction from the way he pointed. ¡°She probably stayed on top to snipe afterwards I guess? Maybe waiting for us to get back before she¡¯d hop down.¡±


    As they walked closer to the hill and there was still no sign of movement ¨C or of Salicia, for that matter ¨C though, Reinhardt started to get a bad premonition about things. The bad premonition only intensified when they got closer and he smelled a faint scent of blood. That should not have been the case. There was no fighting that day within a good hundred paces of that hill.


    Worried, Reinhardt went up the hill along with Elfriede and a few others. They couldn¡¯t quite see up the tree Salicia went up due to the branches and leaves that covered things from sight, so it was Elfriede who first noticed it once she got close enough to the tree.


    ¡°Oh, goddammit Sal¡­¡± she muttered sadly.


    A few steps later the others finally got close enough to notice Salicia¡¯s body slumped against the tree, still on the branch she went on, the arrow sticking out of her chest.

 Chapter 518 - Results and Speculations

    ¡°Nobody is omniscient. Probably not even the Deities know everything there is to know in this world. Because of that, we have to speculate about what we suspect but do not know.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Captain Edelstein, good to see you join us. We have been waiting,¡± said Nestor when Reinhardt strode into the command tent later that evening. The other commanders were already gathered, and from what he could see, they had generally relaxed expressions, which meant that things had gone well for them that day.


    It contrasted quite a bit with his own more somber expression and mood, but fortunately most of the people in the tent were not well-versed in reading a therian¡¯s expression. Because of that none other than Uncle Angus likely noticed his less jovial mood, and the old dwarf knew better than to ask him about it under the circumstances.


    ¡°Have a seat,¡± said Nestor in a rather jovial tone. ¡°None of our commanders got sniped today, so I must ask you to convey my praise and rewards to your archer, Captain,¡± he added. ¡°Speaking of which, did she manage to take down the enemy archer? Some confirmation on that end would be nice, even if the results already showed itself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we would be unable to provide any confirmation, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a sad shake of his head. ¡°When we were returning to camp we found our archer¡­ slain, still where she was when she took up the task. It was by an arrow identical to the ones that took out our commanders yesterday, so I¡¯m afraid at best they both managed to take out each other, or she at least injured him enough to prevent him from harrying us any further.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ My¡­ condolences,¡± said Nestor with a bit of a stammer, clearly having not expected such a situation to occur. ¡°Considering that we took no losses to our commanders to the archer in question, let us assume that she had at least taken him out of the field for the time being, if not permanently, then,¡± he added after some thought.


    ¡°Also, I am sorry to hear that, Captain. I recall that she seemed to be quite close to you.¡±


    ¡°I keep healthy relations with all my platoon leaders, Your Grace, but you¡¯re right. Salicia was¡­ a friend of the family,¡± replied Reinhardt. ¡°I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless.¡±


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    ¡°All right, then. Let us begin the meeting, in that case. Tell me, where do you think the enemy stands at after today¡¯s battle?¡± asked Nestor, addressing the gathered commanders and generals in the tent. ¡°Speak freely and feel free to air even your speculations. I feel that we are close to breaking them, but I want your opinions as well.¡±


    ¡°We definitely inflicted plenty of casualties today,¡± stated Grafin Siobhan Harscape of B?rengant with her gravelly voice. ¡°I would say that probably upwards to ten thousand fell to our cavalry on the right flank? It¡¯s hard to get a proper count, but that was the estimate my lieutenants came to after we discussed about it. I imagine the left flank would have similar results.¡±


    ¡°Och, Aye, I¡¯d say that¡¯d be pretty close over at our side too,¡± nodded her father, Angus Harscape, in affirmation of her words. ¡°These enemies we face are stubborn and quite disciplined. I¡¯d have expected most to break under the pressure we placed on them today, but they somehow kept holding and refused to give way.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t quite catch their cavalry even if we got a few good hits in when they were trying to harass our flanks, so they¡¯ve only taken minimal damage,¡± reported Duke Orsla Banitu of Kolitschei with a disappointed shake of his head. ¡°Their cavalrymen knew to keep their distance and mostly focused on ranged harassment. We couldn¡¯t get them to commit.¡±


    ¡°We managed to hunt down one of their commanders at the last stages of the battle today,¡± added Reinhardt to the discussion after the Duke finished talking. ¡°The head of the commander in question should be delivered to your staff for identification by now. We couldn¡¯t get the body to make identifying their rank easier, unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°If the information we received about the archer that had been sniping off our commanders being their highest ranked general is true, and they were injured or worse after today¡¯s battle, that might deliver a blow to their morale,¡± said Griselda from where she was seated besides her husband. ¡°On top of the heavy casualties and loss of important commanders, they should hopefully be near breaking from all the factors put together.¡±


    ¡°It is mostly speculation, but I do feel the same way. We have been hitting them hard these past few days and rendered their numerical advantage almost worthless. Given another strong push or two within the next few days, we should be able to break them,¡± replied Nestor with a nod. ¡°We will need to finish this battle fast if these Imperials really still have more waves of soldiers, so we can get some time to prepare to deal with those yet to come.¡±


    ¡°We have mostly struck them from the flanks these last few days and made slashing attacks, but had not committed our cavalry into a direct charge,¡± stated the dwarven Grafin from the side of the table. ¡°With your permission, I would like to lead our chariot force and heavy cavalry into a direct charge towards their front tomorrow. Hopefully that would be the final straw that breaks the donkey¡¯s back.¡±


    ¡°Somewhat risky, to do alone¡­ Let¡¯s make it a unified charge with the whole army behind you, what say you, Grafin Harscape?¡± asked Nestor in turn, clearly having similar thoughts as the dwarven noble.


    ¡°Sounds good to me, Duke Nunez,¡± replied the dwarf with a throaty guffaw. She then beckoned for one of her subordinates, and a few moments later a couple dwarves brought large mugs of strong dwarven ale and distributed it amongst the gathered commanders. ¡°A toast to tomorrow, then! Let us trample our enemies together!¡±

 Side Story 98 - A Pragmatic Decision

    ¡°When cooler heads prevail, so are wiser decisions made.¡± - Old Clangeddin Proverb.


    ¡°This is not looking good at all, Al-Nairi,¡± stated Xingl Liat grimly when the Imperial generals ¨C or rather, what was left of them ¨C gathered together later that evening in the safety of their encampment. ¡°The old man¡¯s gone,¡± continued the tribal woman, referring to the late Long Jiangjun Leung Hua-Jeong, whose dead body was brought back to the camp by his guards. ¡°So is old Liu. Even Ishak didn¡¯t make it¡­¡±


    During the battle that day, Zhong Jiangjun Liu Zhong-Feng, the old general¡¯s right hand man, had brought up the rear. When his troops reached the encampment, however, the others discovered that the enemy had mounted a headhunting strike during the final moments of the battle that he unfortunately fell prey to. All his soldiers managed to bring back was his headless corpse, with his head claimed by the enemy that slew him.


    As for Xiao Jiangjun Ishak mil Sharif, he had the misfortune to have caught a stray crossbow bolt right between the eyes during the day¡¯s battle. It was not even an attack targeted at him specifically, as the dwarves just rode past at high speed while launching dozens of heavy bolts from their infuriating repeating crossbows. One of the bolts just happened to have struck him dead, without the enemy even realizing it.


    That left only Xingl Liat, Aswan ibn Musir, and Zahira Al-Nairi as the generals of the Imperial army, and as the one with the highest rank between them, the unenviable responsibility of the command fell onto Zahira Al-Nairi¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Are the soldiers aware of our losses?¡± asked Zahira after a painful moment of silence.


    ¡°Mostly not, but we would not be able to hide it for long. They will question things if we go to battle and nobody sees the old man, though,¡± said Aswan with a shake of his bald head. ¡°The guards kept quiet about it and only reported to their officers, who relayed it to us. I don¡¯t think any of the people fighting noticed our losses yet¡­ and the ones that do likely know better to stay quiet about it for the time being.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t last for long either way, though. Morale would plummet with the old man. He¡¯s pretty much an idol to most of the rank and file,¡± added Liat with a frown. ¡°These foes we face have elites that put ours to shame in every respect, and now we don¡¯t even have a numerical superiority over them. I don¡¯t see how we¡¯re supposed to fight this battle.¡±


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    ¡°I concur. I feel that this battle is a lost cause by this point,¡± said Aswan in affirmation. ¡°What is your opinion, Zhong Jiangjun?¡±


    ¡°I agree with the two of you. We had been blinded by our early successes in the invasion and had taken our foes too lightly. Perhaps the old man had succumbed to that mistake as well¡­ we¡¯ll never know,¡± said Zahira Al-Nairi after a moment of thought. ¡°The situation is untenable here, and to continue to force a battle would just cost us what¡¯s left of the army. Order the men to prepare for withdrawal. The entire army.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­?¡±


    ¡°We will make use of the darkness to withdraw before the enemy notices. That should buy us a day or two before they give chase,¡± said Zahira in a hopeful tone. ¡°The walls on the city of Oleynuos previously taken by the late Da Jiangjun Taouan are still damaged, but the citadel in the center of the city has been repaired, so I intend to lead a small force of elites to make a stand there and buy time. The rest of you should retreat to our forward base further west.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t His Imperial Highness the Eighth Prince still in that citadel?¡± asked Aswan as he broached the sensitive topic with his fellow generals. The situation with the Eighth Prince was a touchy one, and while many of the generals sympathized with him, next to none would have sided with him instead of the Emperor. ¡°Will we take him with us to the forward base¡­ or¡­?¡±


    ¡°I will ask his Highness in person when we get there. Let him make the decision himself,¡± said Zahira with a shake of her head. She too was one who felt sympathetic but was unwilling to risk herself for the Eighth Prince. ¡°Aswan, I¡¯ll have to trouble you with leading the bulk of the troops to the forward base. One way or another I will not be able to join you there.¡±


    ¡°It is my honor to have served with you, Zhong Jiangjun,¡± replied Aswan as he gave a slight bow. ¡°How many troops will you take with you? I imagine there would be quite a few¡­ volunteers amongst the old man¡¯s and Liu¡¯s guard details who would join you willingly in order to wash away the taint of their failure with a heroic last stand.¡±


    ¡°The citadel at Oleynuos is quite large. I would say it could probably house up to ten thousand for an extended siege comfortably, but we all know that there won¡¯t be an extended siege with the foes we face. I plan to take twenty thousand for that reason. It would be a bit of a tight fit, but it would also allow us to fight harder when they arrive,¡± said Zahira Al-Nairi. ¡°I do not intend to make it easy for them, either way.¡±


    ¡°So shall it be, then. I will oversee the preparation for the withdrawal together with Liat while you take your pick of volunteers from what we have left for this endeavor,¡± said Aswan with another respectful salute. ¡°I know we sometimes have our differences, Zhong Jiangjun Al-Nairi, but at this moment, I truly wish you good fortune and overflowing courage for having chosen to do this when you could have ordered either of us to take your place instead.¡±


    ¡°Come now, Aswan. I wouldn¡¯t be much of a general if I¡¯m not willing to face death together with the soldiers I have condemned to an early end by my orders, wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

 Chapter 519 - Caught by Surprise

    ¡°As much as people like to think that they have planned things out for every possible contingency, chances were that there would still be a few they failed to think about. Nobody is perfect, after all.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Maybe I didn¡¯t hear you right¡­ Repeat what you¡¯ve just said again?¡± asked Nestor the next morning with a baffled look on his face. The bowl of stew he was eating from had fallen ¨C to the table, fortunately enough, even if it spilled a bit ¨C in his surprise, though he clearly was no longer paying any attention to his breakfast. ¡°What did you say happened to the enemies again?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re gone, Your Grace,¡± reported the scout with a slightly shaken voice. She had been the head of the scout detachment sent out to watch over the enemy movements first thing in the morning that day, and after noticing the suspicious lack of any movement from the enemy camp, she had gone closer to check the situation.


    Only to find an abandoned, empty camp where the enemy army was camped the previous day.


    ¡°There had been dummies made from piles of used clothing as well as damaged armor set up around empty tents to make it look like they were still there from afar, but once we closed in to check, it was obvious that the enemy had been gone for a while,¡± reported the scout. ¡°We had been delayed because we didn¡¯t dare to check closely at first. I apologize for our failings.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. You¡¯ve done well,¡± said Nestor with a shake of his head. He then turned to Reinhardt with a meaningful look since all the commanders were gathered and eating together that morning, a little superstition believed to bring good luck when a decisive battle was expected that day. ¡°Captain Edelstein?¡±


    ¡°I will relay the command for Hannah to look for them immediately, Your Grace,¡± replied Reinhardt with a nod. His flying scouts had been used heavily during the conflict, with a couple of them stationed by Andrea Utghwes and the southern half of the coalition forces. Others spent their time watching over the stretches of land between the two coalition forces to ensure that the Imperials were not attempting to bypass the armies to strike at their hinterlands, a task where one flying scout could do the job of a dozen scout teams.


    As it was, only Hannah and Avila were present with the northern coalition army. Avila had taken up the night watch around the army camp, while Hannah usually relayed the battle situation for Reinhardt during the day. They didn¡¯t have spare manpower to keep a constant watch over the enemy camp like Reinhardt had preferred, which was one reason the enemy army managed to escape unnoticed like that.


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    He quickly relayed the orders to Hannah, who took flight from their camp moments later.


    There was nothing else the commanders could do for the time being due to a lack of actionable information, so they returned to their breakfast, if with a noticeably more subdued atmosphere compared to before. Fortunately they didn¡¯t have to wait too long, and right about the time when they had just polished off the breakfast and made some small talk, Reinhardt finally caught sight of the withdrawing enemy force through Hannah¡¯s relayed sight from the artifact.


    ¡°Found them,¡± he stated to the others, who immediately turned their heads his way. ¡°They¡¯re about¡­ huh. That¡¯s at least half a day¡¯s walk away. They must have really rushed their troops last night,¡± he said with some surprise. Hannah had discovered the enemies a good bit further away than where he had expected her to find them. ¡°Should we give chase?¡±


    ¡°Our cavalry would not be able to catch up to them before tomorrow if they kept going at their current pace until sundown,¡± replied Angus Harscape with a shake of his head, a statement his daughter the Grafin clearly agreed with given the nod she gave in support. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t advise sending only the horse cavalry after them. Their cavalry isn¡¯t damaged too badly.¡±


    ¡°Our own troops would need time to pack up the camp and finish tidying up the battlefield before we move out properly. If they were close enough to give chase and return within three days, it would be fine, but with the lead they have¡­¡± noted Damien rather morosely. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be in position to chase after them, Brother. Not unless we¡¯re willing to risk a plague spreading from this place or worse.¡±


    It had become common sense in Alcidea to tidy up a battlefield after a battle was done, partly due to how in their history several devastating plagues had resulted from the corpses that were left to rot in them. One particularly bad conflict during the Clangeddin Empire¡¯s founding had even seen a couple towns wiped out from the resultant plague after the battle.


    ¡°It will give them time to prepare their defenses, but I guess that was never something we would be able to prevent anyway,¡± noted Nestor after some thought. The coalition¡¯s goal was to reclaim the invaded territory, which meant that they needed them back in a usable manner, not as a plagued wasteland, so simply leaving things be was never an option to them. ¡°Very well. Inform the troops to finish things up here over the week. We will march onwards at the start of the next week if everyone is fine with it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it,¡± stated Grafin Siobhan Harscape, with her father also giving an approving nod from the side.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have a feasible alternative given our situation,¡± noted old Duke Orsla Banitu. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to make do with the cards fate dealt us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do as you command, of course,¡± said Reinhardt in turn with a deferential nod. While Nestor had treated him more like an equal thanks to the unique capabilities his company brought the force, their relation remains that of an employer and employee in cases like these. ¡°As Your Grace wishes,¡± he added in a bit of a jest to lighten the mood.

 Chapter 520 - Cleaning up and Grieving

    ¡°Nobles aren¡¯t the only ones who find it uncouth to leave a place messy after you¡¯re done with your business there. Most would even say that these days, soldiers and mercenaries are even more fussy about cleaning up properly.


    After all, nobles leaving a mess usually just results in some bastards or offended sensibilities, not in plagues.¡± - Anonymous clerk from the Mercenary¡¯s Guild, circa 573 VA.


    It was always a somber affair to clean up after a battle. The idea of having to haul the dead around, some of which might have been a friend you talked to just the previous day, was something that often weighed down on people. That the vast majority of the dead would be given nothing better than a mass grave far from home further treads on the hearts of the survivors who had to bury them.


    That was the fate that awaited those who lost their lives in a battle. Either a mass grave, or to be burned in a massive pyre. Either approach helped with curbing the chances of a plague or an epidemic from arising due to the dead bodies rotting out in the open. Which approach one adopted generally depends on the resources the people in question had available.


    Back at Theodinaz, the people in the fort were much fewer than the amount of corpses strewn all over, and many of them were injured to boot. Under such circumstances it was simply easier to burn the dead in one massive pyre, the dead bodies themselves fueling the fire as it devoured the corpses and turned them to ashes.


    In contrast, there were far more living people compared to the dead amongst the Coalition and Imperial army. Because of that, they could afford to assign thousands of soldiers to dig up graves for the deceased and interred the corpses beneath the soil. Most of the dead from the battle was buried that way, with only a select few, namely those who had enough status to not be buried in a mass grave, escaping such a fate.


    The bodies of officers high enough up the ranks as well as the nobility were typically preserved in some manner to keep it presentable, to be sent home for a more respectful burial in their hometowns at a later date. Of course, those accounted for only a minority, so the extra expenses were something considered understandable and expected.


    As mercenaries, the Free Lances did the same for their own dead, since most of their members tend to originate from the lower end of the social status scale to begin with. Every member of the company had a will that they kept updated each time the company was deployed for a new mission, and their next of kin ¨C if those were also part of the company¡¯s support staff or tagged along ¨C would receive some compensation as well for their loss.


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    Of course, the monetary compensation would not make up for the grief and loss they had to deal with, but it would at least alleviate their worries for the future to an extent, as the company was particularly generous with their compensation. Something that was a tradition started by the first generation captain of the company since he had started up the Free Lances with a group of close friends back in the day.


    Those who had no next of kin in the company around typically asked in their wills for some personal item of theirs to be delivered to their families at the company¡¯s convenience, at times with the other assets they personally possessed as well. Others who had no family whatsoever or had bad relations with their existing family at times asked for more outlandish stuff, ranging from treating the rest of the company to drinks on the next available chance using what money they left behind to passing it down to their favorite prostitute or bar, amongst others.


    There was naturally an exception, however, in Salicia¡¯s case. For one she still counted as some sort of nobility given her family¡¯s high status in Levain, and she was also officially the one in command of the two archer platoons, even if each had their own platoon leader and she was usually out hunting on her own instead.


    Those factors combined meant that her body received care instead of being placed in a mass grave the company dug for their dead. Her belongings were similarly left in the care of the one who would inherit them all in the eventuality of her passing, namely Gr¨¹nhildr, who had been together with her for practically all her life.


    Gr¨¹nhildr herself was inconsolable and practically stayed in the tent the two used to share, keeping watch over Salicia¡¯s body on her lonesome. She had only allowed Elfriede ¨C who had been a friend of the two since before Reinhardt knew them ¨C to visit, with the latter later reporting to Reinhardt that Gr¨¹nhildr would need some time alone and that they shouldn¡¯t bother her in her grief.


    Fortunately the company had light duties for the rest of the week anyway since they did not have much to do with the enemies gone.


    Salicia¡¯s loss itself was a bit of a headache to Reinhardt, partly because of the missing capability she represented, and partly because he did consider her a friend, something he extended to only a few people. He was not one to get attached to people to begin with, and the mercenary life further reinforced that side of his.


    If he could call anything a silver lining, it was how the company¡¯s operations itself was relatively unaffected, since while Salicia was the commander of all the archers, the actual commanding had mostly been Alva and Branka¡¯s job. As such, it was a simple matter of carrying on as usual for the archer platoons in that regard, which did make for one less headache.


    Reinhardt was more worried about Gr¨¹nhildr, and especially about the burly woman¡¯s mental state. He knew that the two were as close as people could get, and that such a loss could break people. He had seen it happen to others in the past, and could only hope that his long time friend and compatriot was made of sterner stuff and would be able to overcome her grief, given some time.


    After all, he and the company would still need her in the battles to come.

 Chapter 521 - In the Depths of Grief

    ¡°People rarely think the right way while grieving. Hard to blame them for it either.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Deities damn it Sal¡­ Damn it all to hell¡­ How could you do this to me!?¡± muttered Gr¨¹nhildr Sigvaldi inside the dim lighting of her tent. The tent that she usually shared with Salicia¡­ yet now could only share with her late lover¡¯s dead body.


    Said body was laid out on the bed ¨C the two were wealthy enough to own a large storage ring to carry amenities with them ¨C in the tent, while the burly woman herself was slouched against the side of the bed in question, with a jug of alcohol in her dispirited hand. The way the tent positively reeked of alcohol and smoke told stories of just how poorly Gr¨¹nhildr had taken the recent developments.


    Salicia¡¯s body looked unmarred, as if she was still alive and merely taking a nap, which was an illusion put to lie by the lack of movements associated with breathing and her paler than usual complexion. Reinhardt had perused the services of one of the preservation mages that followed the army, as there were most definitely some of those anytime armies with noble personages went to war.


    The so-called preservation mages were typically of the Mortality affinity ¨C though it was not unheard of for people from other affinities to use their talents in a similar manner ¨C who either did not cut it as healers or found healing too difficult and risky for their liking. Instead they made use of their magic to preserve and ¡°repair¡± corpses back to their best state and kept them from decaying with an infusion of their mana. Such a treatment had been given to Salicia¡¯s body as well, which was the reason for its pristine state despite a couple days having already passed after her death.


    Reinhardt¡¯s intention was to have some of the company¡¯s support staff deliver the body back to Salicia¡¯s family in Levain when they move on from the battlefield. What he worried about was Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s state of mind and whether the burly woman would have gone with the body as well or not. He knew from his wife who had been their friend since before Reinhardt even met with them that Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr had been together since childhood and were practically inseparable, even if the relation they were in had been more open due to their own preferences.


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    The way Gr¨¹nhildr had practically locked herself in the tent she shared with Salicia¡¯s body was naturally a worrisome situation, especially with how she had turned away every visitor other than Elfriede, who was likely the closest friend the two had in the company as a whole. When Elfriede returned from her visit the night after the fateful battle, she had just shaken her head and told Reinhardt to give the grieving woman some time to herself.


    At the same time, Reinhardt also noted some things left unsaid. His keen sense of smell easily detected the strong scent of alcohol that seemed to cling to Elfriede, evident of just how much of it was being consumed in Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s place. He also noticed a strong hint of a smoky herbal scent he was familiar with on her, and since Elfriede didn¡¯t smoke ¨C but Gr¨¹nhildr did ¨C it was obvious where the scent came from.


    It was a similar sort of dried herb mixture like what he himself smoked from time to time, though the composition was different as it catered to Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s preference instead. He knew that it was a rather addictive thing to consume much like his own, though, and the intensity of the scent that clung to Elfriede just from being in the same tent was telling of the quantities Gr¨¹nhildr must have smoked recently.


    Yet at the same time, he also understood. The burly woman was grieving for the loss of her long-time lover, partner, and friend, and was not in the best state of mind in any way. A bit of overindulgence was something he had seen happen to such people far too many times in his decades-long career as a mercenary, so he took his wife¡¯s word to leave Gr¨¹nhildr ¨C and Salicia¡¯s body ¨C alone for the time being.


    Fortunately, the company ¨C and the grieving Gr¨¹nhildr by extension ¨C still had time. There were a few more days until the end of the week, when they¡¯re supposed to continue the march to take the fight towards the invaders. With the battle settled, Kolitschei and Lovia-Hosberg were temporarily safe from the invaders, with the remaining enemy presence in the north limited to what used to be Gestis and Wanarua.


    Since the Free Lances didn¡¯t have that much to do in the meantime, the mercenaries had taken the chance to rest properly and lick their wounds, knowing that there would be more fighting to come in the near future. Whether it would be enough time for some of the deeper wounds ¨C both physical and mental ¨C to heal or not was something out of their hands.


    Over the rest of the week, Elfriede regularly visited Gr¨¹nhildr, at times to get the burly woman to eat something, as she had been wallowing in grief to the point of forgetting to eat. Elfriede likely sympathized somewhat with her old friend ¨C something she very rarely did at all, to the point that Reinhardt often wondered if sympathy was even a word that existed in her dictionary ¨C as she had gone through the trouble to bring Gr¨¹nhildr some food twice a day.


    There was no need to bring anything to drink, though, given how the tent reeked so strongly of alcohol that anyone passing nearby would have caught a whiff of it in the air. It was so bad that for people with stronger senses of smell like Reinhardt they couldn¡¯t avoid coughing or sneezing from coming too close to the area.


    Whether there would be a sober Gr¨¹nhildr that could go on with the company or not by the end of the week, only time would tell.

 Chapter 522 - Wallowing in Tears

    ¡°Grief is like a whirlpool. Some people would be sucked in, never to reemerge, while others would eventually be able to swim away. Whether a person is one or the other, however, would only be known after they fell into it.¡± - Old folk saying.


    Gr¨¹nhildr jolted upright from her sleep in a daze, her face pale and streaked with cold sweat. She vaguely recalled dreaming of something terrible that it was already good that she had not woken up screaming because of it. Even then, once her brain started to work again, she immediately recognized that she was far from in her best shape by any definition. Her mind was still in a daze, her sight somewhat blurry, and she felt as if the world was spinning around her. All of which were familiar feelings to the woman.


    The dazed mine and the headache it came with was due to drinking too much, not something she did often, but had done before on occasion. It would go away after a while so she paid it little heed. The blurry sight and the spinning feeling, however, she knew was the result of smoking too much of the mix of poison ¨C as she often jokingly called it ¨C she preferred to stuff her pipe with.


    She had not done that more than once in her youth before, and even that once was an accident that made her swear off doing so ever again.


    Fortunately the dim lighting of the tent helped alleviate her headache some. The way everything reeked like a mix of the herbal smoke and alcohol told her indirectly just how much she had been abusing the substances of late. It was not like her usual behavior to do that sort of thing, and for a bit, she actually forgot why she had done so.


    At least until she got up and laid eyes on Salicia¡¯s unmoving form on top of the bed the two of them had shared over the past decades of them being together, then she remembered as all the memories rushed back in a painful jolt all at once into her mind.


    That Salicia was dead.


    Had been dead for a couple of days by then, for that matter.


    The way her body laid still on their bed, lightly illuminated by the dim lighting the two of them had personally chosen and bought for their tent because they liked how it gave a more romantic feel to the nights they spent in it, was like a bludgeon to the face for Gr¨¹nhildr. It was a painful mix of happy memories paired with the knowledge that her other half would no longer be there with her to make more such memories.


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    Gr¨¹nhildr almost stumbled as she took a couple steps closer to the bed ¨C she had fallen asleep sprawled on the floor a few steps away from the bed ¨C as the painful realization made her wish that she had just remained forgetful for a moment. In her stressful depression, her hand reached for a waterskin nearby, removed the cork that sealed it, and chugged down several mouthfuls of its content without a second thought.


    It was ale, but a relatively weak one rather than the strong dwarven ale she preferred. Almost like drinking water, really. Must have been Elfriede that put it there since Gr¨¹n¡¯s own stash only had the hard stuff and while Salicia didn¡¯t drink as often or as much, she too preferred the stronger stuff. Then again, it was probably Elfriede¡¯s way of caring for Gr¨¹nhildr, making sure she didn¡¯t drink herself to death that way.


    Gr¨¹nhildr sighed as she sat down on the side of the bed. On the one hand, she was happy that her old friend ¨C probably the other closest person to her other than Salicia amongst those of the company ¨C still cared enough for her to bother doing so. On the other hand, she felt that she really could do with drowning herself in alcohol at the moment, if only to forget about her grief for a moment.


    When her hand accidentally brushed against Salicia¡¯s cold body, the depression redoubled on Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s psyche, and subconsciously she brought out her smoking pipe and hastily stuffed it with way more dried herbs than what she would have usually used for a relaxing smoke. Like the captain she had a habit of smoking to relax herself. It was not something she usually did often, and definitely nowhere near often enough to the point that the smell lingered around her like it did presently, but she could care less at the moment.


    The packed-up dried and shredded herbs caught fire easily and quickly started to turn into embers as Gr¨¹nhildr inhaled the resultant smoke through the pipe. It had a rather harsh, acrid taste on her tongue and made her feel like coughing when she kept drawing it into her lungs, but at the same time, it calmed her down somewhat, which was an effect of the smoke from the herbs that made them popular amongst smokers.


    She herself used a somewhat stronger mix using some of the herbs the captain liked ¨C something tailored for his kind, not for human, with a stronger effect and taste to them ¨C since her own mixed-blooded heritage made it so that the stuff meant for regular humans made for too light a hit. She allowed the soothing feeling to permeate through her as she exhaled the smoke from her lungs and inhaled again from her pipe.


    It was not that she did not cry over her long-time partner¡¯s demise, but her tears had run dry after the past two days, the only signs of her crying being the streaks of dried tears that were still visible on her face. Just like that, she sat beside Salicia¡¯s body, silently smoking her pipe while at times chugging down a waterskin of alcohol.


    Gr¨¹nhildr stayed that way until late in the night ¨C or perhaps it was the morning? She did not now nor did she care at that time ¨C she herself fell asleep on the side of the bed in a rather awkward posture, the pipe, still with some smoldering, smoking herb in it, dangling from her hand, while an open waterskin spilled its content on the floor where it fell.

 Chapter 523 - Planning and Contingencies

    ¡°Only a fool makes plans without a backup or three.¡± - Old military saying.


    ¡°So how is Gr¨¹n today?¡± asked Reinhardt on the sixthday of the week. The battle had ended on the secondday, which meant that Gr¨¹nhildr had wallowed in her grief for the last four days already. Tomorrow would be the last day of preparation before they departed to former Gestis territory on the firstday of the next week.


    ¡°Afraid she¡¯s still out of it,¡± replied Elfriede with a shake of her head, a rare morose look on her face. Reinhardt knew that his wife was a bit similar to himself in that regard, that they rarely formed attachments to other people save for a very select few. It just so happened that Gr¨¹nhildr was one of those very select few to both of them. ¡°She¡¯s eating more when I bring her food, at least, but the way she is¡­ I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be able to pull herself together in time for the next fight.¡±


    ¡°Not a good development, that,¡± muttered Reinhardt beneath his breath, though he knew Elfriede would hear it anyway with her keen sense of hearing. If Gr¨¹nhildr proved unable to fight with them when they had to leave next week, he wouldn¡¯t drag her along. That would benefit nobody, and forcing the burly woman to fight at her mental state was more likely to lead to disaster than anything.


    Of course, Reinhardt couldn¡¯t exactly leave Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon alone either. There were nearly two hundred mercenaries there, most of them skilled veterans since the platoon had a relatively low rate of losses and replacements, that would be a waste to not utilize. That said he doubted anyone other than Gr¨¹nhildr would be able to lead the unit properly.


    With how Gr¨¹nhildr was as a rare Void mage and the way she led her people from the tip of the spearhead of the charges they did, it would be difficult to make those veterans used to her leadership to follow anyone else. The best case he could hope for was to temporarily break up the platoon and have its members distributed to reinforce some of the more damaged platoons, like the Third Strike platoon and Alycea¡¯s platoon, but even that would come with some troubles of its own.


    While most mercenaries were pragmatic and took well to reassignment or changes in command ¨C it was such qualities that allowed the Free Lances to survive its near-annihilation back in Theodinaz, after all ¨C there were still times where cults of personalities inevitably formed amongst them. Such situations tended to be a lot more touchy, as the loss of the personage said cults were built upon often had a disastrous effect on their followers.


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    Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s platoon was not quite a cult of personality, but they had grown quite a bit dependent on her as their leader over the two decades or so they had been together, since Reinhardt restructured the Free Lances after the Theodinaz campaign back then. It was amongst the factors that allowed the platoon to work as effectively as they had over the time as well, and separating them would degrade their performance no matter what, though having them fight without Gr¨¹nhildr would probably be even worse.


    Reinhardt was not expecting miracles. With only one day and two nights of recuperation time left ¨C granted, it was one that the whole army needed given how they had been fighting and marching constantly since Kolitschei ¨C chances were low that Gr¨¹nhildr would be able to get her mind together enough to function properly as a commander once more. He sighed at the thought of having to go forward with a diminished capability, but knew that such things were inevitable in long campaigns.


    It was already some miracle that his company had not taken more serious losses thus far.


    Either way he would have to come up with a solution if Gr¨¹nhildr proved to not be fit for fighting by next week. The company was in for the long haul, and they couldn¡¯t allow things as minor ¨C from the company perspective ¨C as these to stop them, even if the people involved were personal friends to Reinhardt himself. He knew all too well to separate his personal feelings and business from the company¡¯s.


    Under the circumstances he could only hope for the best, and that Elfriede¡¯s visits would do Gr¨¹nhildr some good in the remaining time they had. Otherwise he would have to use one of the contingency plans for the sort of situation he faced. Those contingencies were things he planned out from long ago and kept updated every time the Free Lances reorganized themselves in some manner, typically when they added more personnel or platoons to the company.


    It was only logical to keep such plans on the ready given the inevitability that they would be needed. Their job as mercenaries was a risky one, so he considered it foolish to not prepare contingencies for cases when they took losses, up to and including ones for if he himself was taken out of the equation. The envelope with instructions for such a situation was kept at the company¡¯s common storage and clearly labeled to be opened and read by those who inherited the company in the eventuality of his loss.


    Compared to that, handling the situation with Gr¨¹nhildr was easier. The situation with Salicia was even easier given how the archer platoons were actually structured, and he didn¡¯t even need to make any changes there other than giving Alva and Branka more responsibilities and powers compared to before, which was fortunate.


    Personally, he was more worried about Elfriede. Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr were Elfriede¡¯s closest friends ¨C one could even argue they were her only true friends within the company ¨C and he worried that she might lose her temper and good judgement without them, which in turn could lead to trouble if it happened during a battle.


    It was an unpleasant possibility to contemplate, but it was his lot to do such things, as he was the captain of the company, after all.

 Chapter 524 - Dealing with Those Left Behind

    ¡°Those who fail to treat the bereaved properly are those who would lose faith from their people, sooner or later.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°Here, take this to your family, and do tell them that I¡¯m sorry for your loss, Ven,¡± said Reinhardt as he passed on a small storage artifact to a young woman who kept looking at him, then at the artifact, and back again as if she was unsure what to do. ¡°To be clear, I¡¯m not telling you to get off and look for a different job. Your slot in the company will still be there when you return, as long as you still want it, but I am also saying to take this chance to think things over together with your family. This kind of loss is not pleasant for anyone involved.¡±


    Ven ¨C short for Venarillia ¨C was the youngest of four siblings. Her father had been a veteran of the company who decided to call it quits after Theodinaz, where he ceased being a mercenary but continued working with the company as a training instructor in the years since. Out of Ven¡¯s siblings, other than her oldest brother ¨C who dreamed of becoming a painter instead ¨C all of them yearned to join the company.


    And they had done so, to their misfortune.


    Ven¡¯s older brother had been accepted into the Third Strike Platoon, while Ven¡¯s older sister joined Alycea¡¯s Platoon. Ven herself had followed the company as part of the reserves, some hundred or so youngsters who had finished their training but had yet to be accepted to the company proper. Most of those reserves were being integrated into the mercenary company as they spoke, but Reinhardt had singled Ven and a couple others out due to their extenuating circumstances.


    Namely that all of them had lost family members to the recent fighting and that they would have the unenviable job to bring the word back to the company¡¯s base, where the rest of their families were.


    Both of Ven¡¯s older siblings had fallen in the fighting yesterday. Since she was their next of kin and their family was with the rest of the company¡¯s dependents at their base in Algenverr, Reinhardt sent the news as well as compensation for their losses directly instead of waiting until after the campaign was over like he did for those whose families were not part of the company as well.


    The other reserves he singled out with Ven were under similar circumstances, and the three of them would travel back together with an injured mercenary who needed to recuperate longer before he could fight again back to their base camp to deliver the news. The injured mercenary was one of the older ones, who volunteered to bring the news to others who had family at the base camp but none amongst the fighting force at the front.


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    Grief from losing loved ones never went well, even under the best of circumstances. While Reinhardt was acquainted enough with Ven¡¯s parents and knew that they would not be losing their heads over the loss, he also knew that such experiences could color someone¡¯s perspective. As it was, he was uncertain whether the family ¨C having already lost two of their children ¨C would still approve of the third potentially heading towards the same fate.


    There was also the question of whether Ven herself would still be so eager to take her place amongst the company after having lost two of her siblings in one day like that, of course.


    It was the sort of unenviable problems Reinhardt would have preferred to defer until after the campaign was entirely over, but he knew that in the case of those whose next of kin was part of the company, news would reach them anyway, so it was better that the news came from him directly rather than otherwise. That way, it gave the implication that he cared for his people, at least.


    In an odd sort of way, while he might not care for them as a person ¨C there were over two thousand mercenaries part of the company at the moment and there was no way for him to know every single one of them to begin with ¨C he still appreciated their services on behalf of the company. Another part was as a way to take responsibility, since he was their commander, after all.


    The Free Lances had not lost too many people thus far, but they had lost some nonetheless. Reinhardt was confident enough to say that he had done his best, and that the losses were inevitable with the nature of battle. Some people would lose their lives during the fighting, no matter how perfect his commands were, much less in the scale of fighting they were involved in.


    Regardless, it was important for him to have the rest of the mercenaries view him as a commander that actually gave a damn about them, if only because it makes things much easier that way. His subordinates obeyed his commands without questioning because they had trust in him, and it was trust he had built with the company over the past two decades, no less.


    He was not a fool that would squander that trust by appearing to be uncaring for his people¡¯s losses.


    The coalition army had also mostly finished dealing with their dead these days, and were making the final preparations for departure. It took time to make such preparations for an army their size, unless they were to leave things behind to provide the illusion that they were still around like what their enemies did when they fled in the middle of the night.


    Reinhardt¡¯s own people already nearly finished their preparation and could march at any moment, barring a few specific cases like the issue with Gr¨¹nhildr, where Reinhardt decided to wait until the last moment to make his decision. He knew that he was betting on bad odds, but who knew? Maybe some miracle might happen that would change the situation again like back in Theodinaz.


    While most would call it hopeful daydreaming, Reinhardt found that such hopeful thinking cost him nothing, as long as he didn¡¯t bet everything on it.

 Chapter 525 - Showing that One Cares

    ¡°Something far too many people make a mistake on is how things they thought were obvious turned out to not be obvious to the other party. If you care about someone, let them know, in both word and deed, lest the situation turn into an unfortunate misunderstanding between you.¡± - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.


    ¡°Ugh, it bloody reeks here. Just how much have you been drinking and smoking this week!?¡± said Reinhardt as he entered Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s tent together with Elfriede. It was late in the night of the seventhday of that week, the last day of rest they had before the coalition army would continue their march towards former Gestis territory, and Gr¨¹nhildr had yet to recover from her loss. ¡°Are you trying to preserve Sal the old-fashioned way or something?¡±


    ¡°Hey, now, I aired this place out just earlier this evening!¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr with some mock outrage. As career mercenaries none of them were particularly touchy and they always interacted rather roughly like that, often making jokes that wouldn¡¯t have flown in ¡°polite¡± society. At least Gr¨¹nhildr had recovered enough to be able to joke around a bit.


    ¡°Still reeked of smoke and booze in here, though. I guess Rein could only come in at all without sneezing his snout off because you already aired it out, because if this is aired out I really don¡¯t want to know what kind of stink you had been wallowing in earlier,¡± quipped Elfriede in turn even as she walked over to give Gr¨¹nhildr a friendly embrace.


    ¡°Shush, you, You never had an eye for the good stuff anyway,¡± countered Gr¨¹nhildr in turn. ¡°Though I guess you got some feel for the ones with the big dicks.¡±


    While the three of them didn¡¯t mean it with the mockery, such words would have likely resulted in conflict or violence had it been used by other people towards them. It was a showcase of just how well the three of them knew and got along with each other that they freely spoke that way amongst themselves. It was how things were between them¡­ and with Salicia too.


    Salicia¡¯s body still laid atop the bed as before, looking solemn in death, though the three of them could almost imagine her smiling at their shenanigans like she usually did. That brought a somber note back to the group as they sat down by the side of the bed together, Gr¨¹nhildr in between the couple. Just like that, they basked in the comfort of each other¡¯s presence for a while, until Reinhardt finally broached the reason they came that evening.


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    ¡°So, how are you feeling, Gr¨¹n?¡± he asked, almost too quietly to be heard, probably so he could just pretend he never said anything if Gr¨¹nhildr was still too lost to have noticed the query.


    ¡°Still feeling like shit, pretty much,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr with a heartfelt sigh at the question. She then turned to look Reinhardt eye to eye before she continued her words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint your expectations, Rein, but it turns out I¡¯m nowhere near capable of shrugging off things like some others could¡­ I guess I just don¡¯t have it in me to move on so swiftly.¡±


    ¡°It feels almost like a chunk of your soul was torn apart, never to heal back, you know? To lose someone you care so much about¡­ I guess I kinda get why neither you nor Friede ever really invested yourself in people other than a very few¡­ would probably be hell to be in your position when you¡¯re close chums with everyone under you just to have them die out there¡­¡±


    ¡°I told you she wouldn¡¯t be ready in time,¡± said Elfriede somewhat accusingly from the other side.


    ¡°I know, I know¡­ just that¡­ one can hope, you know?¡± replied Reinhardt somewhat defensively to her words.


    ¡°I assume you already have plans on how to handle my boys and girls without me, don¡¯t you? I know you too well to think otherwise at this point. You¡¯ve definitely prepared some sort of contingency in case I¡¯m not up to fighting trim again, didn¡¯t you?¡± questioned Gr¨¹nhildr to Reinhardt with a somewhat sad look on her face. ¡°I feel bad that I can¡¯t be with them in such a grandiose campaign, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in any shape to lead them like I usually do right now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, likely going to have them shore up the other platoons that took losses,¡± replied Reinhardt honestly to the question. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you take the lead when your heart is not into it, or worse, when you might be looking to go after her.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t had such thought after the first couple of days, but I¡¯d call you wise for having considered that anyway,¡± replied Gr¨¹nhildr a bit too nonchalantly considering the weight of the topic. ¡°I guess this way is better for everyone.¡±


    ¡°So what do you have in mind, Gr¨¹n?¡± asked Elfriede from the burly woman¡¯s other side.


    ¡°I¡¯m definitely going to bring her back home in person. I owe her at least that much, and to uncle Adenauer and the rest too. I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself if I didn¡¯t do this in person, at the very least,¡± said Gr¨¹nhildr with a sigh, clearly having come to terms with some of the troubles that plagued her at the moment. ¡°As for where I¡¯d go from there, I¡¯m not sure yet. Maybe I¡¯d head into some forest to vent my frustrations on the monsters there. Maybe when I¡¯ve got my head on straight again someday, I¡¯ll look for you guys to rejoin¡­ it¡¯s too early to tell now, I can only make guesses.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll always have a place with us, Gr¨¹n, you know that, right?¡± asked Reinhardt as he gave the burly woman a friendly hug with one hand. ¡°If you end up not knowing what to do with yourself later, feel free to look for us. As long as we¡¯re still around, we¡¯ll be happy to provide you with a home.¡±


    ¡°You really didn¡¯t need to amend that ¡®as long as we¡¯re still around¡¯ part,¡± chided Elfriede from the other side.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m just being realistic, you know? We¡¯re deep in a campaign that¡¯s larger than any I¡¯ve read in the history books. You can never tell how things would end up in something with that sort of scale.¡±

 Chapter 526 - Like a Reed in the Currents

    ¡°When you consider just how many people out there probably knew the answer, it was honestly infuriating just how little we know about the afterlife. Those who responded well when we asked always said that they didn¡¯t exactly remember much of their time there, if at all, while others just refused to discuss the topic altogether.


    It¡¯s hard to get the truth, sometimes,¡± - Henri Ogembwa, scholar of the soul and the afterlife from Levain, circa 673 FP.


    Floating.


    That was the best way she could describe how she felt: That she was floating, much like a fallen leaf on the river currents. The currents brought her to and fro, her very being subject to its wills, yet for some reason it had not bothered her as much, although at the same time there was a tiny part of her that wanted to feel affronted at such a lack of agency.


    At the same time, it felt peaceful to just flow alongside the current, without having to trouble herself to make decisions or otherwise. There were sayings about leaving one¡¯s worries behind and she couldn¡¯t help but feel that it suited her current feeling exceedingly well, yet even so the tiny voice within her never stopped making a ruckus nonetheless.


    Everything felt vaguely like a fever dream and yet not, all at the same time. It was a feeling that defied description all too often, that sort of feeling where you just have no idea if what you¡¯re experiencing was real or not. She felt as if she had dreamt it all at times, yet at other times, something within her told her that it was all too real.


    The currents kept her moving all that while, never in a rough manner, with her always feeling comfortable in its embrace, neither warm nor cold. The flow was at times rushed, at times slow, but always a gentle embrace regardless. It was as if the place ¨C if it was any place at all ¨C she was in was one yet separate from the flow as a whole, in some manner.


    She felt as if she was watching her life¡¯s experiences as they flew past her eyes during that time, from the earliest of her childhood days, when she was still amongst her family, and the few she called friends. Most of those ¡°friends¡± had shown themselves to be anything but worthy to be called that, but there was one that remained worthy of the moniker, she remembered. One that stuck with her through thick and thin.


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    As her memories took her down the pathways of adolescence, then later adulthood and beyond, that one friend remained by her side, always loyal, living life not just for her own sake but also another¡¯s. A sentiment she found herself sharing before too long as they got together and never looked back.


    It was perhaps a luxury to be able to share one¡¯s life the way she had done, and if so, she definitely had no regrets over it.


    There were naturally memories of fighting and killing as well. In fact, a lot of her lifetime was spent fighting and killing, not that she had any regrets about it. Most of the time, it was just a job to her, something she did with no excitement yet still devoted her full attention to, as that was the least she could offer those who would fall before her arrows.


    Perhaps for that reason, the one time she faced an actual worthy opponent in terms of archery was particularly clear in her memories. She would not deny that it was a thrill of a lifetime to be able to duel someone so closely matched in skill, if through different avenues. Not even the ending ¨C she was uncertain if her final shot struck true or not ¨C displeased her all that much, with her final memory being that of praise and appreciation for her opponent.


    Appreciation that she got to meet someone like them in her life.


    It was around then ¨C though exactly when ¡°then¡± was wasn¡¯t easy to tell as everything around her just had that timeless quality to it ¨C that she realized that she had died. Was the flowing river the afterlife? Or was it just some manner of transference between the land of the living and the dead? She knew not, but the nagging, screaming voice in the depth of her mind also became clearer with the realization.


    A realization that she did not want to die yet. That there was still so much to live for.


    She felt like she was crawling through the currents in pursuit of the shores, as oddly as that must have sounded. All the while, the temptation was constant, to just lay down and rest and to forget all the worldly troubles, to forever put them behind her. A few times, she even felt like giving in to those siren serenades and just surrender herself to the currents, but in the end, the thought that she still had someone who was certainly waiting for her hardened her will and allowed her to persevere.


    After what felt like an eternity yet might also be little more than a brief moment, she felt like she reached the shore, where she grasped on and extricated herself out of the stream with some difficulty. Then everything seemed to fade away around her, giving way to familiar yet unfamiliar feelings, noises, and sensations even as the memory of the experience she just went through vanished as if they had never been there.


    She could feel her fingertips moving, although they were rather stiff and cold compared to the usual. She breathed in, the motion feeling no longer as natural ¨C or necessary ¨C as before, yet still bringing some familiar comfort nonetheless. The all too familiar noise of people she knew chattering around her ceased around then, replaced by a sudden, all encompassing silence, which would not be strange if things were happening the way she thought it was. Even without opening her eye she could feel the stares pointed her way.


    So it was that when Salicia Adenauer opened her eye once more, risen amongst the ranks of the Unliving, that she was met with surprise, tears, and jubilation from those who she was proud to call friends.

 Chapter 527 - Unliving Arrangements

    ¡°Once they start being a common part of life, we made arrangements for all the paperwork needed to accommodate their case, as simple as that.¡± ¨C Karst Battenberg, City Scribe for the Free City of Levain, circa 110 FP.


    Ever since the Unliving came to be ¨C around six or so centuries ago, according to the more knowledgeable sorts, though when each nation accepted their existence varied ¨C they had inevitably ended up as a factor to consider in all sorts of things. Be it in terms of bookkeeping like personal registries and the like or laws and regulations, provisions had to be made for those who rose into unlife.


    It must have been quite the pain to have to set up provisions for such cases, Reinhardt thought, even if he understood the logic behind it. Unliving folk were rare yet not. It was estimated that every thousand deaths or so would see one risen, though fortunately they did not seem to always stick around for the long run, as otherwise things would get crowded.


    Naturally, warfare was particularly affected, especially in larger-scale battles where it was practically guaranteed that an unliving or ten would rise up from amongst the dead. When the fighting was in relatively civil phases, it was far from uncommon for the winning side to help take care of the losing side¡¯s ¡°survivors¡± who survived this way.


    In battles where the opposing sides had gotten a lot less civil with one another, like in Theodinaz, the reception given to enemies who were freshly risen as unliving were a lot less pleasant.


    Since it took anywhere from hours to a week for a dead body to rise into unlife, Reinhardt knew that he never dealt with all of the ones that resulted from the battles back in Theodinaz two decades ago. He very clearly remembered at least half a dozen of the early risers, though. The ones who rose back up while their corpses were being stripped for loot and salvage.


    Neither the mercenaries nor the dwarves back then had any goodwill to spare and those unfortunate enough to have risen early were unceremoniously tossed straight into the burning pyre until they turned to ashes like the rest. Supposedly it took a couple weeks for an unliving to ¡°recover¡± from having their bodies fully destroyed like that, so if they returned to life, it was likely after the army had moved on from there.


    Either way it was not his problem to deal with, back then.


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    For all its intensity, the current fighting between the Coalition and the Imperials were still at a relatively civil stage, all considered. The coalition had buried their dead, sure, but it was in shallow graves, and while there were many bodies in each, they were lined up neatly next to each other instead of being crudely stacked over each other.


    Both of those were measures taken to watch out for people who might have risen from amongst the dead. That way they could break out from their grave easily, to be helped by someone on guard. It was already a bad enough experience for someone to awaken buried in dirt, much less when there were several bodies above them on top of a thick layer of soil.


    Other than the few members who left ahead of time to bring the bad news to the next of kin amongst the company, the Free Lances also stationed a few members behind just in case one of their dead ended up rising into unlife after they had left. The Coalition army did similar, leaving a small detachment to handle such issues since with tens of thousands of dead bodies after the battles that took place, the chances of some of them rising was practically a certainty.


    That morning, Reinhardt and Elfriede stayed up late in the tent Salicia and Gr¨¹nhildr usually shared, having stayed the night there to help comfort the latter over the former¡¯s loss. The women were still asleep when Reinhardt went out to get some hot breakfast for the three of them, taking care not to accidentally wake them on his way out.


    Which was a lot harder than most expected, given how Elfriede hugged his tail like it was a body pillow while she slept, but he managed, after some careful maneuvering.


    By the time he returned bowls of still-steaming stew and warm bread fresh from the ovens, both women were already in the process of waking up and stretching their muscles. Neither rejected the hot breakfast he brought over, which was a good sign on Gr¨¹n¡¯s side given how Elfriede had to practically cajole her into eating previously.


    They had decided to keep their old friend company for as long as they could afford to, although the Company would need to move out later that day. As it was, Gr¨¹nhildr had her own large storage artifact, so even after they left it would be easy for her to just pack everything ¨C including Salicia¡¯s body ¨C into her storage and leave on her own.


    Reinhardt and Elfriede made some small chat about the weather and minor tidbits about the campaign while they accompanied Gr¨¹nhildr with her breakfast. The burly woman still showed little of her usual appetite, at times just absent-mindedly stirring her stew with a piece of bread. She was clearly not yet over Salicia¡¯s death, even if she had improved since the first day when she found out about it.


    It was while they were eating and chatting with each other that Reinhardt noticed it. He thought that he saw the slightest movement on Salicia¡¯s hand, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his paw to make sure he was not hallucinating or anything like that. When he saw no more movements, he wondered if he was too tired or had too much to drink the previous night.


    While he was the only one who sat facing Salicia¡¯s body, though, not everyone needed to be looking in a direction to notice what happened over there.


    ¡°You noticed it too?¡± Elfriede asked him a moment after Reinhardt rubbed his eyes. She naturally had no need to be looking at the body to perceive anything happening with it, given the short distance. Her words made Gr¨¹n look questioningly between the two of them and Salicia¡¯s body as well.


    Before he could reply, Reinhardt noticed another unmistakable twitch of Salicia¡¯s fingers, followed by the dead woman¡¯s one good eye opening wide, then rapidly closing again as if blinded by the sudden brightness. This time all three of them noticed it, and as one, they rushed towards where their old friend laid.

 Chapter 528 - Welcome Back

    ¡°Sometimes, the dice rolls just right.¡± - Old folk saying.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re all glad to see me around again, but maybe give me a bit of room, perhaps?¡± said Salicia as she attempted to squirm her way out ¨C ineffectually ¨C of the tight hugs from her three friends that left her with no room to move about. ¡°I swear, if I still needed to breathe you all would have suffocated me already by hugging me this tightly!¡±


    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± said Elfriede in her usual nonchalant way, although there was a noticeable smile on her features as she drew back. Reinhardt did the same, and laid a hand on Elfriede¡¯s shoulder as a show of support as he too nodded and drew back, which left Gr¨¹nhildr, who did not seem keen on giving up her embrace at all.


    ¡°Nope,¡± stated the burly woman bluntly as she squeezed Salicia within her arms all the tighter. ¡°If I let you go you might disappear on me again. I¡¯m not taking those chances,¡± she added as she clung closer to Salicia with her whole body. ¡°Ya bloody cunt! Do you know how I felt when I thought you were dead and gone and that I would never see you smile in my arms when I wake up in the morning ever again!? Do you!?!?¡±


    ¡°Urk- I get you, all right? I¡¯m sorry something like that had to happen at all, love¡­ I really do. It¡¯s not like I wanted to die, you know!?¡± replied Salicia as she squirmed some more under Gr¨¹nhildr¡¯s tight embrace, which looked like it could have cracked some bones with the force the burly woman applied. ¡°Also can you please ease up on me a bit. I might be unliving now but I still feel pain and I¡¯m pretty sure you cracked a couple of my ribs just now.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± noted Gr¨¹nhildr rather shyly as she let go of Salicia with some surprise and a rather sheepish look on her face. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°Whew, damn. If I still needed to breathe it would be a pain with several broken ribs,¡± countered Salicia half in jest. The one-eyed woman had taken well to her changed nature of existence, which was at least better than those who could not get used to it, Reinhardt thought. Then again, mercenaries in general had rather happy-go-lucky outlooks on life, so they would adapt to such changes better than most.


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    That, and being literally unkillable would be a big advantage for people in their line of work.


    The Free Lances themselves had cases of their members turning Unliving before, though it was before Reinhardt¡¯s time. They did not have such luck back in Theodinaz, while there were two cases of it happening before then, one during the first captain¡¯s leadership and a second under his aunt Ingrid¡¯s, and he had learned about them as well.


    During those cases, though, neither of the risen members ended up staying with the Company for long. The one from the first captain¡¯s time chose to retire from mercenary life after he became unliving, while the one from aunt Ingrid¡¯s time stayed another two decades before she too, chose to retire. As such the Company did not exactly have any special provisions or rules about unliving members.


    ¡°So, should we leave you two to catch up first? We still got a few hours before we have to depart,¡± asked Reinhardt with a somewhat amused look at the couple that he also considered friends to himself. Given this development he was quite certain that he would not need to delve into some of the less desirable plans on how to rearrange his mercenaries, since chances were very high that both Gr¨¹nhildr and Salicia would be coming with them as usual.


    ¡°Depart? Did the battle end already?¡± asked Salicia in surprise. Being literally dead for the past few days, she naturally had no idea about the development of the situation on the battlefield, and thus didn¡¯t even know that the battle had concluded the day she died as the Imperials escaped that very night. ¡°What happened? I assume we at least managed to hold since I noticed that I¡¯m in the same tent as before, which meant we weren¡¯t pushed back. Doubt you¡¯d have the leeway to handle my corpse so nicely if we were pushed back anyway.¡±


    ¡°Arguably, we could say that the battle ended the evening you died,¡± replied Reinhardt to her question. ¡°The entire enemy force fled in the middle of that same night, and we only found out the next morning, when it was too late to rush after them. We¡¯ve been spending the rest of the week tidying up and preparing to advance further into what used to be Gestis territory, with today being the date of departure, so I¡¯d say you chose a good day to come back,¡± he added with an amused chuckle. ¡°Another day later, both you and Gr¨¹n would have run after us to catch up from wherever you were when that happens.¡±


    ¡°Har de har har, very funny,¡± countered Salicia with a straight face. ¡°Did I get that archer of theirs? I can¡¯t tell for sure whether my last shot landed or not.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t be sure, to be honest. One of their generals resisted to the last and we could never get to your target, even if we ended up taking down the general that blocked us. Nestor and Uncle Angus both said that they lost nobody to that archer, though, so either you two took out each other with your final shots¡­¡± said Reinhardt, leaving his words hanging for a bit. ¡°Or else¡­¡±


    ¡°Or else I at least managed to injure him with my last arrow badly enough to make him unable to do his thing,¡± said Salicia as she finished the thought. ¡°The brief glimpse I had of him through my portal before his arrow got me did make me think that he failed to notice my last shot, so that is most likely the case, I guess.¡±


    ¡°One way or another I still owe you a bonus from Nestor for that,¡± added Reinhardt with another amused chuckle to the one-eyed woman.

 Side Story 99 - Resolve

    ¡°For some, life is not the most important thing.¡± - Old military saying.


    Former Royal Palace of Posuin


    Oleynuos


    Western Alcidea


    1st Day of the 2nd Week of the 11th Month, Year 20 FP.


    It had not escaped Murad Al-Aswar Ibn Haroone¡¯s mind that it was exactly one month ago that the old General Leung Hua-Jeong met him in the very same room he had been using as his office of sorts and told him of the unexpected setback the expedition faced. Today, a similar situation played out in the same room, except instead of the old General, there were three of his subordinates.


    While the old General himself had been reduced to a preserved dead body in a makeshift coffin. It was a minor victory, that they managed to keep his body at all instead of losing it to the enemies. Two of the generals who had gone with the army were not as fortunate. Ishak Mil Sharif¡¯s body was lost when the enemies overran his position following his death, while Liu Zhong-Feng¡¯s head was taken by the foes that had killed him before his guards managed to secure the rest of his body.


    ¡°So everything¡¯s gone the way of a spilled chamber pot and now you¡¯re asking me to make a decision about military matters?¡± he asked with not a little skepticism at the three gathered generals before him.


    ¡°We neither have the opportunity nor the luxury to wait for a decision from the south, Your Highness,¡± replied Zahira Al-Nairi with a bowed head. ¡°Previously I had my orders on what to do straight from the Dragon General, but with his unfortunate demise, you are now the highest ranked commander here in the north, so we are bound to your will, regardless of any previous situation.¡±


    Once again, it had not escaped Murad¡¯s thoughts that the situation outlined by the female general was in fact, exactly as it sounded. As an Imperial Prince he had held a post that was high on the hierarchy, just below the three highest generals in the expedition, of which two were dead and one was stuck far in the south. It was an empty post because there was always someone above him that rendered it so before, but not anymore.


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    He was the actual commander in charge in the north at the moment.


    ¡°Damn my second uncle,¡± swore the young prince at the realization. The curse itself was more a common phrase rather than out of any actual dislike against his second uncle, but then again, his second uncle had also tried to get him and his brother killed during the succession war, so it was amusingly fitting as well. ¡°What forces do we have left to use?¡±


    ¡°The remains of the army we brought, those stationed here and in that other walled city further east, and those stationed as sentries in the region we landed,¡± counted Zahira out in return. ¡°Out of those, morale is horrible for the regular soldiers from our army, though the elites can still fight one. I do not believe we will have the time to gather the rest before the enemy arrives here.¡±


    ¡°And the repairs to this city¡¯s walls aren¡¯t going to finish themselves within the week either,¡± noted the young prince as he buried his face in his hand. The damages taken to the walls of Oleynuos was particularly heavy on the west side of the city due to the stubborn resistance they faced during the invasion. They managed to repair the damages to the citadel-castle in the center of the city by now, but it would take a month or more to fix the city walls.


    In contrast, the city further west ¨C Gestis city itself ¨C took less damage and also had a couple more weeks of time to repair the damages taken. It made for a more suitable defensive position, yet to leave Oleynuos empty and undefended also went against what he felt was good military tactics. Even if the citadel wouldn¡¯t last more than a few days under a full siege, it was still a few days in which it presented a threat that needed to be taken care of, buying time for the rest of the forces up north.


    Murad also knew that retreat was not an option for him. Given his situation, if he led the forces they had left to retreat and regroup, it would likely be spun in a negative manner that led to his removal in a more permanent manner, so he knew better than to bother with that. Instead, he just sighed audibly as he raised his head and looked towards the gathered generals.


    ¡°Very well, then, I shall do as you requested and take command,¡± he said slowly, ensuring that every syllable was pronounced in a clear and unmistakable manner. ¡°Unfortunately, while I have the rank, I lack the skills to lead the troops myself, so I will need you generals to help carry out my commands. I trust you do not find that unacceptable since you pushed this responsibility on to me yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Only fitting,¡± said Xingl Liat from where she knelt. ¡°We are defeated generals looking for another chance, after all, we would not have wanted it any other way,¡± she added. ¡°Feel free to direct us however you see fit, Your Highness. Even if it means that we would be walking to the afterlife together. We would not complain about it.¡±


    ¡°As general Liat said,¡± added Aswan ibn Musir, the last ¨C and least, as he was lowest in rank and seniority ¨C amongst the three generals before Murad. ¡°Though I would personally prefer to stay amongst the living and triumphant if I could, a courageous, honorable death is probably the best we can aspire to under the circumstances. If so, so be it.¡±


    ¡°We are under your command, Your Highness,¡± states Zahira Al-Nairi solemnly. ¡°Though it might only be for a short while, I do hope that we will be able to work well together for the same of the Empire.¡±

 Announcement

    We are posting this on behalf of Riverfolk Books, Avitue¡¯s publisher. It is with a heavy heart that we announce Avitue¡¯s passing. Avitue was a pillar in this community and a dear friend. We hate to be the ones to share such devastating news with you¨Chis fans, friends and colleagues.


    As some of you may have noticed, Avitue has been absent for a few months. This caused alarm because Avi was one of the most reliable and consistent authors in our community. Over the last few months, we exhausted every option at our disposal to find him, and unfortunately, we have now discovered that Avitue has passed.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


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    This is a message from JP Weaver, his long time editor and friend. There''s a bit more at the reddit link in the author notes.


    I was happy to work with him and I''m sorry to announce this to you all.


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    Additionally, we have no control over his Patreon account so we would advise you to drop your subscription if you have one.