“Every good thing comes to an end. It’s better to let such things end rather than watch them turn into something worse over time in most cases, honestly.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

Chamber of Councils, Chairman’s Office

Free City of Levain, Levain City

Central Alcidea

5th Day of the 1st Week of the 2nd Month, Year 20 FP.

“I guess that’s it, then, Captain. I had hoped that I could convince you and yours to stay for some longer-term contracts, but I guess that might be a bit over our planned budget, and I do understand your point of view as well,” said Estelle as she stood up from her seat and shook Reinhardt’s hand over the table. “It has been an honor to work with the Free Lances these past four years.”

“The honor is ours, Madam Chairwoman. It was also a pleasure to work with someone who understands us well,” replied Reinhardt sincerely. The Free Lances had extended their contract for a year with Levain in the wake of the invasion and the interrupted training, which turned their original three year contract to a four year one. They used that extra time to coach the Levainian officers and militia more things that they might find useful in battle while also recuperating and recovering themselves after the battles they participated in.

Their loss of personnel after the invasion was bolstered by new recruits, some of which were already prepared for action like the platoon of former Podovnian soldiers Astrid brought with her. Others were still in the midst of their training, a good number of which were Levainian locals who yearned for more freedom and saw the mercenaries as a method to achieve said freedom.

All good things came to an end eventually, though, and this meeting between Reinhardt and Estelle was their final official one as employer and employee, as Reinhardt would soon take his company away as their contract came to an end. It was a fruitful cooperation for both parties, though, and they parted under good terms.

“I will make sure to send a priority messenger to your company should we have need for your expertise again in the future, Captain,” promised Estelle with a smile as she walked Reinhardt out of the council chamber personally. “I can’t thank you enough for the great improvement in quality that you have brought to our militia over these years. Levain probably wouldn’t be a free city now if it wasn’t for your help.”

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“You exaggerate, Madam Chairwoman. Even if we had not been here, I honestly doubt that those invaders could have taken Levain… though perhaps the battle would be a far longer and bloodier one indeed,” replied Reinhardt with a shake of his head. “They would likely leave dejected, but it would probably be a loss for everyone involved.”

“I agree on that assessment,” replied Estelle. “How long would it be until your company would be leaving, Captain?”

“We will still provide some final lessons for the next few weeks, then add around a week to pack up since we’re not in a hurry… I’d say around the end of this month, why?”

“Last month I received a letter from Marshal Publius Cornelius of Caroma, he asked me to inform him if your people are planning to leave after your contract finished, but did not elaborate much further,” admitted Estelle honestly. “I do not think he means any harm since we cooperated well, so I will inform him of your planned departure date, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t see why not,” replied Reinhardt. “He probably had something he wanted to entrust us to carry for him somewhere near Knallzog. It’s no secret that we typically spend our off time there for the most part. If it’s something valuable but is of a personal rather than national interest, then it would make sense to employ mercenaries as escorts.”

“I see, that does make sense indeed. In that case I will send him a letter later today.”

To send a letter from Levain to Caroma would take anywhere from a couple days – by messenger bird – to a week or more. Reinhardt was not certain how important Estelle would treat the request, but given its source, she would probably treat it with high importance and would at least send a fast courier if not use a precious messenger bird.

In fact, Reinhardt had been allowing Hannah and her platoon to lend their services as couriers for Levain this past year, since they could fly faster and longer than typical messenger birds, which further cut down on the travel time needed.

At that time, Reinhardt had no idea that the request the Caroman Marshal would ask of him was indeed something that was very personal to them. It was apparently important enough that Hannah came to his tent two days after the meeting he had with Estelle to hand him a letter from the Marshals that asked him to wait for them to come soon.

Neither did he expect to be visited by the Lady Marshal and her children in person a mere ten days after he had the meeting with Estelle. They must have rushed to Levain at full speed to get there so fast, even if Hannah took only a single day to cover the distance between the two cities when she sent the letter. The reason Reinhardt thought so was because the three – and their small group of escorts – arrived on Levain by carriage, which was naturally slower than just riding the distance.

He also saw the rather obvious reason why they didn’t ride the distance – other than the fact that Scipius was a terrible horseman, as he had learned long ago – instead, as when the group descended from the wagon, Anni and Scipius disembarked first and waited by the exit, clearly on guard and prepared to react. Only then did Astra follow them, as she hopped down from the carriage.

The girl landed on one foot and prevented herself from falling using her crutches, but her mother and brother were clearly there in case she didn’t manage to do so. The right leg of her pants were tied up halfway down her thigh.