“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.

“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.”