“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.”

“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.”