“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.” – 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.”

“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…”