“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.”

“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.”