“Some farewells mean not seeing the other for a long time to come. Some others shorten that time by a significant margin instead.” - Old folk saying.

After the weeklong “exchange” between the two armies, and another day where Levain held a grand feat for all the people involved – which was quite a tall order, as preparing a feast for sixty thousand people couldn’t have been easy or cheap – the leaders from both sides bid their farewell. To all eyes, it appeared as if the Caromans had indeed just come over for a friendly exchange with their neighbors, the large number of troops likely brought as a show of strength.

At least, that was what the spies other powers planted in Levain would report to their masters.

Which was the exact sort of news both the Caromans and Levain’s forces wanted to show them.

The thirty thousand Caromans marched westwards, which was not a strange thing. The main road that led from Levain to Caroma headed west from Levain itself before it turned north into Caroman territory near the Husoz mountain range. The road itself was an old one, built that way mostly out of geographical considerations.

Therefore, when the Caroman army instead turned south and followed the mountain range until they reached the great plains where the Southern Coalition’s offensive was annihilated by fire just months ago, they did so mostly undetected, as whatever spies their neighbors managed to plant within either Caroma or Levain had long lost sight of the army until they reappeared near the border with the Southern Coalition.

In fact, many of those spies would have been too dead to report anyway, as shortly after the departure of the Caroman army, Levain instituted a city-wide lockdown prior and following their army’s departure. The foreign spies that attempted to make their report during that time were quickly apprehended, to never see the light of day ever again.

In fact, a day after the Caromans left, Levain sent out twenty-five thousand of its own troops in a southward course. Out of those troops, the vast majority of the soldiers who had finished their training under the Free Lances were included, with only five hundred cavalrymen – to serve as scouts – and another five hundred militiamen left in Levain in case their skills would be needed. That made up over twenty thousand of them. The rest of the Army’s numbers were made up by the private soldiers that the former nobles maintained.

Councilwoman Estelle personally led the army, along with most of the veteran officers of the Levain Militia. In her stead, Bernd Adenauer was entrusted with the governance of Levain. The Free Lances also stayed at Levain, as their contract did not include participation in offensive missions, and besides, this time Estelle wished to test the fruits of their training anyway.

As a result, when the armies from Levain and Caroma reunited near the great plains, the Southern Coalition – who only received the news from scouts that patrolled their borders – was caught off guard. The Coalition still reeled from the massive losses they had taken months ago, and their remaining troops were barely enough to defend themselves.

A massive hostile army that rushed straight towards their weakest border was the last thing they needed in the situation.

If anything, the remaining First Lords of the Southern Coalition just made things worse for themselves. When they caught wind of the news that a massive army was mere days away from their border, they immediately called for a conscription of soldiers. Soldiers which were then immediately stationed to defend the domains of the First Lords.

Because of course to the First Lords, they placed themselves on a pedestal above the rest of the Coalition’s members, much less the second-class states that they had subjugated in its creation.

What the decision did however was to instead amplify the discontent and anger many of those second-class citizens felt. It was mostly their people who died when the previous attack at Levain failed, and now the First Lords demanded that more of them were to take up arms and likely die in their defense? While leaving their own homes poorly guarded by only militiamen?

Needless to say, many rebellions broke out all at once upon hearing that call, rebellions that were made worse as agents previously planted in the Coalition by both Levain and Caroma played the provocateur and further fanned the flames. At the same time, they also spread the news so the locals know that an assault from the north was coming for their First Lords, but not for them.

The growing rift between the common populace and their lords – the lords were almost entirely loyal to the First Lords, because they had been their underlings to begin with, with few exceptions – meant that when the joint army from Caroma and Levain crossed the great plains – at the exact spot Reinhardt had burnt months ago, in fact – they were accosted by no foe.

Oh, a few daredevils from the Coalition rushed and attempted to burn them to death, an attempt to pay them with their own coin, so to speak. That said, the newly grown grass in the region was still far too short, and besides, it was nearing winter. The grass was wet and the soil saturated. As such, the flame those miscreants set quickly petered out by itself before it could even grow much.

Once they entered the Coalition’s borders, the army split.

The Caromans headed towards the North-western part of the Coalition, which covered lands that bordered their own, on the opposite side of the Husoz mountain range. Their intent was to conquer those lands and take them for themselves to extend their border further southwards.

On the other hand, Levain’s troops spread out and headed directly southwards. Levain had little need for more land, but they could use more people. With the current unrest in the coalition, it was a golden opportunity to lure away a good chunk of their oppressed second-class or third-class citizens and take them in as their own.

The armies were there to make sure that even if their opponent fought back, they could fight them off with confidence.