“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 Bærengant. 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 – mostly because both Reinhardt and Lars felt that their previous training already gave them a solid base to build on – 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.

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.”