“Everybody has something they excel in. The only question is whether they have the leeway and courage to attempt the pursuit or not.” - Astra Cornelius Barca, general, statesman, diplomat. Elected leader of the Republic of Caroma 550-575 VA.

Just as the autumn harvest was underway, a large army of thirty thousand soldiers entered Levain’s borders.

Unlike the previous two armies from the Podovniy March and the Southern Coalition, this army bore no hostility to the Free City of Levain, and in fact their presence was preempted by several diplomatic missives. It was with the approval of Levain’s city council that the army from the Republic of Caroma entered the Free City’s territory.

Officially, the reason for their arrival was to “exchange notes” with the now-trained militia of the Free City. Unofficially, they were there to pretend to have a friendly exchange with Levain, gather rations for a longer campaign in Levain itself – which was already prepared by the Free City prior to their arrival –, and then “borrow” the Free City’s territory to launch an assault to the Southern Coalition from an unexpected direction.

The Free City’s own council chose to cooperate with their allies, and after the “friendly exchange”, their militia force of over twenty thousand would also strike forth towards the south. After the debacle on the prairie south of Levain, dissatisfaction with the First Lords had risen exponentially in the Southern Coalition, and several of the outermost regions which were close to the Free City even sent missives.

Missives which indicated that they wished to change their allegiance to become part of the Free City’s territory rather than remain under the Southern Coalition’s rule.

Naturally, Levain wouldn’t send out too much of its troops. The planned combined assault with Caroma would put the forces they fielded at over fifty thousand men, way more than enough to claim the territories that they had their eyes on. Since it was an offensive, the Free Lances were naturally excluded, as they had signed a contract that only included defensive battles.

In actuality though, Estelle and Bernd – now firmly the leaders of the city council in both name and actuality – asked them to serve as a reserve and to help lead the members of the militia still in training should something unexpected happen during the course of the offensive. The force that would head south consisted of almost the entire first batch of militia that the Free Lances had trained, minus part of the cavalry which were kept in Levain just in case.

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The army from Caroma chose to set camp west of Levain proper, roughly half a day away. The camp itself was open and unguarded, a show of faith towards their allies, and while the camp was being set up, a delegation from the Caroman forces headed towards Levain. There they were welcomed by the city gates, the welcoming committee headed by Estelle herself, along with practically everyone of importance in the Free City’s hierarchy.

Reinhardt was present as well, together with all of his platoon leaders. The Caroman delegation were mostly a team of diplomats, but a peculiar quarter amongst them attracted Reinhardt’s attention right away. While the four did not wear armor and dressed in simple tunics like the rest of the delegation, the way they held themselves and walked hinted at lifelong military training.

Sure enough, after the pleasantries were done, Estelle took those four to the side and introduced them to Reinhardt as well as the gathered officers of the Levain militia present. Reinhardt had guessed the identity of the family – the familial resemblance of the four was easy to notice – since he recognized one of them from afar, though.

Marshall Publius Cornelius of Caroma was not what he expected. The middle-aged man looked more like a timid scholar, of relatively short stature and a slightly pudgy build, but the way he held himself ramrod-straight still showed his true nature as a warrior. Unlike the common style in the region, he kept his face clean shaven, and even shaved his head completely bald, which gave him a rather strict look. His skin color, a paler shade of olive brown told Reinhardt that the Marshall likely descended from central Clangeddin, since only people from that region had that look to them.

His wife, Marshall Anni-Al-Bagh Barca, looked more like what Reinhardt had expected. The woman was tall, easily a meter ninety or so, with fierce, rippling musculature easily visible underneath her darker bronze skin. The woman kept her curly hair tied into a crude ponytail at the nape of her neck, and looked far younger than her actual age. She could have passed for a woman in her late twenties despite nearing fifty.

Their son Scipius was the one Reinhardt had recognized from afar, as he still remembered the youth when they met nearly two years ago. He was tall like his mother, though she still towered over him by nearly half a head, and had a firmly built physique, with his skin tone halfway between his parents. Over the past two years, the young man had started growing a short beard, which still utterly failed to hide his youthfulness.

Besides the three of them was a young woman – probably still in her late teens at most – that Reinhardt didn’t recognize but guessed to be another child of the two marshals. The young woman stood taller than her father, though not as tall as her brother, with similar features and curly hair like her mother’s. She too had a demeanor that made it obvious that she had been through military training, a guess verified when the couple introduced her as their daughter Astra, who they brought along to experience her first war.

Reinhardt also confirmed that the young woman was not a dabbler as he shook her hand and noticed the calluses on her palm and fingers.

The group exchanged pleasantries with each other, with the Marshals showing quite a bit of interest in how the Free Lances trained the militia on the Free City’s behalf. It was a pleasant conversation, but Reinhardt also noticed subtle probes from their questions. It made sense, however, as any experienced commander would wish to know the mettle of their allies if they had to fight together with them.