“Whether a contract was a fruitful one or otherwise for a mercenary company could often be determined by the answer of one question: Was it profitable?” - Riordan Simmons, Captain of Riordan’s Long-Riders Mercenary Company, Circa 393 FP.

Mercenary Encampment outside the Western Wall

Free City of Levain, Levain City

Central Alcidea

6th Day of the 3rd Week of the 12th Month, Year 19 FP.

“C’mon, now, sleepyhead. Wake up already, it’s already well past dawn,” said Reinhardt with a rare playful smirk on his features.

“Nnngmrrph…” replied Elfriede as she made some sort of unintelligible half-groan half-mumble while hugging Reinhardt’s thickly furred tail closer against her naked body under the blanket. It was a habit she had grown into over the last decade or so during the colder months, to use his tail as some sort of hug pillow in her sleep. He couldn’t say that he didn’t find it both amusing and endearing at the same time, as well as a bit adorable, though that was one part he would never say out loud in her presence. “Five more minutes…”

With a sigh, Reinhardt gave up and laid his head back down on his pillow. He was already late by at least an hour anyway, five more minutes wouldn’t change much. His people also knew that from time to time in the winter, he and Elfriede would be up later than they usually did, and were circumspect enough to not ask questions about it.

The tent that the two of them shared was the same tent that served as Reinhardt’s command tent during campaigns, so it was large and had enough room to fit another dozen people sleeping in it, if necessary. To have it just for the two of them was one of the little luxuries Reinhardt allowed himself in the encampment, though to be fair the Free Lances was far better off in that regard compared to most.

After all, each of their members got to sleep in a tent at night, even if most shared them with one to three other fellow mercenaries. It was a far better situation than most armies where the majority of the people were left with whatever shelter they could find or scrounge up, or just straight up slept with the ground as their bed and the open skies as their blanket instead.

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In comparison to that, Reinhardt and Elfriede’s “Love Nest”, as some of the more mischievous mercenaries nicknamed their tent, was downright luxurious. The two even had comfortable furs to lie down on instead of typical bedrolls made of coarse fabric, as well as comfortably cool silken blankets for hot summer months and more furs for the cold winter months.

Of course, they were mostly for Elfriede’s comfort. Reinhardt’s physique was far better at handling the elements, and at most he’d shed his winter fur when it neared the summer and grow them back as the days turn colder once more.

He also found out to his detriment, however, that a warm body lined with plenty of fine fur like his was particularly comfortable for humans to snuggle up to, especially in the winter months when it was colder. Elfriede had most definitely taken plenty of advantage of him that way, as she claimed that she was feeling the cold more as she grew older.

That said, Sal and Grün also loved to snuggle against him on the occasional times when Elfriede brought him over to have some fun together with them and it happened to be in the colder months, so it might just be a human thing for all he knew.

It took about fifteen minutes more – and three attempts to wake Elfriede – before she finally opened her eyes and rubbed them sleepily while she yawned. The two got out from under the blankets and started to put their clothes on, before they exited the tent to the already bustling encampment. Not a surprise when one considered the relatively late hour of their arrival.

The last year of their contract with Levain was thankfully as uneventful as they came. The Company had finished their training of the second batch of militia months ago, and of late mostly helped supervise and advise the Levainians as the militiamen they trained in turn trained more of their numbers who had not received such training yet.

For the most part, the mercenaries just kept to their usual idle schedule, since at that point they mostly played an advisory role as they waited for the end of their contract. Of course, during those months they also conducted plenty of training for their own personnel, as they received quite a few recruits from Levain on top of former soldiers like Astrid’s platoon.

It was always effective to ignite the competitive spirits of the militiamen being trained if they got to see the mercenaries training their own people even more harshly, after all. On top of that, Alycea’s platoon of mostly youths further incited a sense of unwillingness in them, as none of them wanted to be viewed as someone who couldn’t even match a teenager in fitness.

Payments and bonuses from Levain also arrived as promised, with the city council being all too happy to pay Reinhardt what he was stipulated to receive. It was a far smoother process than most, perhaps partly fueled by the jubilant mood that swept the city in the past year, as the newly migrated people settled down and worked their new lands diligently to find themselves rewarded with a bountiful harvest in the autumn.

The general feeling of increasing prosperity was contagious, and with how the mercenaries played an arguably crucial role in helping defeat the invaders from the year before, members of the Free Lances quickly found themselves popular in the city, with the citizens often even treating them to free food and drink on a regular basis.

It was a pleasant feeling, but Reinhardt knew that as a mercenary, the time to move on was nigh, and soon their contract would end. They would leave in search of a new contract, and life would go on as usual for him and his mercenaries. He only hoped that the next contract could be at least as lucrative as this one.