“Joy improves when shared with others. Suffering lightens when shared by others.” - Old folk saying.

It was around the afternoon on the day after the Podovniy army arrived at Levain that the vanguard of the Anduillean army was spotted to the north. To the surprise of both the Marquis and his general, their scouts reported that the pennants flown by the army indicated the presence of some of the oldest and most storied order of knights in Anduille, as well as veteran soldiers associated with them.

Both Marquis Viktor Esvant and his general were well aware of Anduille’s situation, specifically how they were relatively low in veteran troops due to the debacle their army faced some years ago. As such, they had not expected the Anduillean commanders to commit some of their best at the vanguard where they would be most at risk.

The distance between Anduille and Levain was shorter than the one from Podovniy to Levain, but the roads were in worse condition and there was no direct straight route through the jungle that crowded the region. As such, the armies of Anduille and Podovniy had synchronized their departure so that they could reach Levain around the same time.

That was the plan before the Podovnian army ran into the delays caused by the harassment tactics of the mercenaries and volunteers they ran into, however. Overall, the army ended up taking a week longer than planned to reach Levain, which was a very unexpected and significant delay to their timetable. As it was the main army that had left Levain was likely only days away from returning, whereas they originally hoped to be able to overwhelm the city before said army returned and complicated matters.

Of course, the fact that the Anduillean army only arrived a day after they did despite the delay spoke volumes about the experiences that the two armies likely shared.

Sure enough, when the Marquis headed to visit his allies after their vanguard settled down and started building their own camp to the north of the city, he noticed the ragged, haunted looks on the face of the Anduillean soldiers. They looked as if they had been made to go through hell on their way to Levain, and more than a few sported injuries that were still healing.

It was a look the Marquis recognized all too well from his own troops.

The Marquis’ guess became more certain when he spotted the sick wagons that followed the Anduillean army and the injured who were being moved from their confines into hastily erected infirmary tents in the base. The number of injuries and casualties that the Anduillean had suffered on their march seemed to be similar to his, and the damage to the troop morale was obvious for both of their armies.

Without further delay, he called a nearby officer and asked to be shown to the High Regent. The officer in question guided him to the High Regent’s tent in person, where Marquis Esvant and Simeon walked in to meet with their counterpart from Anduille. The young High Regent was slumped on a chair behind his desk with one hand holding his forehead, while a stern-looking middle-aged female general was standing by his side.

“High Regent Worsted, General Neraz,” greeted the Marquis with a nod towards the two. He was familiar with the middle-aged woman who was one of the better generals in the Regency, and apparently the new High Regent’s confidant. Something to take note of, considering how she wasn’t favored by the previous High Regent.

“Greetings, Marquis Esvant. General Durant,” replied the High Regent as he lifted his face and stood up from his seat, a greeting between equals, so to speak. The young High Regent looked tired with dark bags under his red eyes. He looked as if he had not had any good sleep over the past week or so. “I wish I could welcome you in a better condition, but I believe you have seen the state we’re in for yourself. I’m afraid I can only apologize for my late arrival.”

“To be honest, we only arrived here last evening,” admitted the Marquis openly. Normally he would have avoided such an admittance of weakness and failure, but it was not something he could likely hide from his allies for long, so honestly might be the better approach in this case. “We were met with… a significant amount of harassment on our way here.”

“I guess we ran into the same experience, then,” replied the young High Regent, looking like he found someone to share his suffering with and smiling for the first time. “What did they do to you? On my end we ended up having to fix many sections of the road to even be able to use it, and these… mercenaries kept pulling off surprise attacks and ambushes at the worst possible times. They didn’t manage to kill that many, all considered, but it hurt my people’s morale to see the enemy seemingly able to attack us and retreat at will without us being able to retaliate properly.”

“We faced… a more constant and often unconventional harassment. They used things that somehow lured all sorts of animals and insects to our camps, and even diseases that made my people void their bowels violently… It was… very undignified,” said the Marquis after some thought, deciding to stick with honestly. “As you said, they didn’t cause that many casualties or deaths, but they chipped at the morale of my people as well.”

“Huh. Those you described sounded like typical goblin tricks. Had they tried those on us we would have known exactly what to do to counter them,” noted the High Regent with a curious look on his face. “Come to think of it, my soldiers also described a unit of large therians who were always at the forefront of the assaults we were subjected to. I assume your people would have been able to deal with those better, no?”

“We… know how to deal with those types, yes,” answered the Marquis after a moment of thought. “The bastards played us for fools and sent away people they expected us to know how to handle to harass the other, didn’t they? I want to get my hands on the son of a whore who planned this and skin them alive. Starting from their feet.”

“The feeling’s mutual, Marquis, but I’m afraid we’re on a timetable here,” replied the High Regent with a shake of his head. “And we got a city to deal with.”