“For a mercenary, while peace and relaxation are welcome things, in the end, it’s always back to the business, at least until one finds their end either on the battlefield or elsewhere.” - “Greatmaul” Deena Ashi, Famous mercenary from Ur-Teros, circa 352 VA.

“Many thanks for the escort, miladies,” said Reinhardt politely at the two Unliving women – who he was almost certain were a couple – who accompanied them from Paradise all the way to the place from where they entered the Forest of Despair the first time. He was naturally unworried about the two women’s safety, as not only were they Unliving, but their bone construct pets were probably worth as much as the fifty mercenaries with him put together.

Only three of the fearsome constructs were in sight, the one that looked like a giant winged wolf, the monstrosity with six heads and a multitude of limbs, as well as the one that looked almost like an exaggerated human statue… except for its three faces which unnervingly kept rotating from one to another. He knew that there was a fourth one that resembled some unholy amalgamation between an alligator, a spider, and a scorpion, but that one remained invisible like it had done for most of the trip.

He himself still had some mental struggles on how someone could look at the terrifying constructs and consider them as cute and adorable things, but the two women clearly did just that, and he was wise enough not to ask. After all, he had seen just how effective those very same bone constructs had been in combat back in the city.

“It’s our pleasure, Captain,” replied one of the women, the silver-haired one. “We don’t exactly get that many visitors in Paradise so far, so it’s nice to see some new people from time to time. The dwarves usually send the same group over and over again.”

“The situation should improve in another few decades after we cleared the forest some more and made the paths wider and more traversable,” added the other woman, the black-haired one. “That’s something which will take a while to realize, though. There’s only so many of us, after all.”

“Please convey to the Lady Aideen that my offer stands, and so long as the Free Lances remain in business, will always be valid,” said Reinhardt with a nod of his head. He had expressed his gratitude to Aideen for her help back in Theodinaz, and made an oath that she could call upon the Free Lances whenever she was in need, for whatever reason, and they would come running. Erycea was present when he made the oath, and also vowed to pass on the same oath to the next generation and even further onwards.

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It was a weighty promise, but he figured that it was only appropriate, given that without Aideen’s timely aid back then there would likely be no Free Lances in the present day.

“Certainly, Captain. We’ll convey your words,” replied the silver-haired woman. “Safe travels! Though I guess you don’t really need to worry about bandits and the like given your contingent.”

With the farewells said, the Free Lances convoy departed. This time they went directly towards the south-east, cutting through the wasteland and avoiding some of the less traversable areas. Since they knew the direction better this time they spent less time on the road and soon reached Bærengant in roughly two-thirds the time they took when they were on the way to the Forest of Despair.

Once they reached the dwarven city, the convoy rested for a while, and since Graf Angus Harscape happened to be in town, Reinhardt also paid a visit to catch up with him. The dwarven noble was after all an old family friend who was pretty much like an uncle to him, after all. They met at the old dwarf’s house and discussed what they had been doing in recent years.

Angus informed Reinhardt of the recent changes in Knallzog over the past few years while the Free Lances were working in Levain. The changes were quite surprising, all considered, and they directly stemmed from the assassination attempt that the mercenaries took part in foiling back then. That incident ended up being the fuse that led to a sequence of rapid changes in the dwarven kingdom.

The old King apparently felt that his brother’s ambitions were partly caused by his indecisiveness and directly abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince. Aethelbald Stahlfaust was thus named the new King just two years ago, whereas his uncle was stripped of every noble privilege and title as well as most of his worldly possessions.

Aethelbald did show mercy to his uncle – likely at the behest of his father, the former King – as he left the disgraced dwarf with at least enough money to live the rest of his life in relative comfort, though by no means in luxury. The complete removal of the royal uncle’s influence and authority rendered him as a non-threat, so the new King treated him appropriately.

As for Angus Harscape himself, he felt that the old King’s abdication had a good point. One should not linger for too long in power, and thus he himself had been preparing to abdicate his position in favor of his second daughter and heir. Over the past couple of years he had been slowly shifting more and more of his responsibilities to his daughter in preparation for the transfer of title in the near future.

The old Graf clearly looked forward to spending a peaceful and leisurely retirement, so Reinhardt congratulated him on that.

As for his successor, Reinhardt was also familiar with her. He often called her “cousin” in the past, even, back when he was young and Aunt Ingrid visited the Graf with him along for the ride. As such, the friendship between the Free Lances and the Harscape family would likely stay intact as usual. Of course, Reinhardt also took the chance to introduce Erycea and Alycea to the future Grafin, as they would be the ones working with her in the future.