“That moment when grown children would leave to lead their own lives is a moment that any parent worth calling one would face with both pride and dread. I would know. I have seven adult children myself.” - Orleika Walks-Far, Shaman from the Western Isles

“Be careful out there, and do me proud,” said Reinhardt as he laid a hand on Erycea’s shoulder. “Listen to your mother and Lars, all right?”

It felt like such a brief moment sometimes to Reinhardt, but the little girl he used to cradle with one hand had already grown into a young woman taller than his shoulder. Sometimes he wished that he could enjoy pampering his little girl a bit longer, but he knew that she had grown to become her own person, one who had earned her qualification to be part of the Company proper, at that.

Reinhardt had given many considerations as to where he would deploy his Company’s various platoons for this war. For the most part, he avoided giving his opponents a foe they were familiar with, which was why most of the company’s therians were sent to the north instead of the east, and also why he took the goblins with him eastwards.

Another consideration he put in mind was how Levain’s territory was wider from west to east than it was tall from north to south, and as such, the enemy forces from Podovniy would need to cover a longer distance of travel. It was for that reason that he led more than half of the forces they had – including the volunteers – towards the east, while Lars led a smaller troop northwards.

The eastern side of Levain’s territory was more open, with certain areas where a cavalry force could do some good, which was why Reinhardt brought all the cavalry they had with him to the east. Not only that, but some of his commanders like Grünhildr and Salicia were familiar with the terrain around their hometown in Aldenstadt.

In contrast, the northern side of Levain’s territory – as well as the north and west of the former empire in general, which Anduille was part of – was dominated by dense, lush jungles, which made road maintenance difficult at best. It was terrain similar to what the Free Lances faced back in Theodinaz decades ago, a terrain Lars would be intimately familiar with.

Given his performance back then with an uncooperative army and lack of authority, Reinhardt was looking forward to seeing how he would do when given complete authority as well as skilled soldiers under his command. Especially when part of them were people who were used to fighting in the style that Lars used back then and had since refined together with the Company.

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He got a feeling that the northerners were due for a headache in the near future.

The mercenaries and the volunteers had all made their preparations. Extra rations – enough to feed them for an entire year without resupply – were packed for everyone, consumables were prepared aplenty, be they bolts, arrows, sling pellets, or various alchemical nasties concocted by the goblins. Everyone had their weapons and armor checked for defects before they left.

While Lars would lead his roughly five thousand men towards the north directly and begin preparing the terrain to his favor with traps and other unexpected surprises, Reinhardt’s force that headed east were split into two halves. Most of his group did the same as Lars. They dug pitfalls and made all sorts of traps to prepare for the enemy’s arrival.

Another group – Grünhildr’s platoon together with a five thousand strong detachment from Levain’s militia separate from the volunteers – headed straight for Aldenstadt. The militia detachment was to reinforce Aldenstadt’s defenses, increasing the city’s defenders to over ten thousand men. On the other hand, Grünhildr was to “borrow” people from her mother, local soldiers who knew the terrain around the city like the back of their hands, and would then prepare to conduct operations from bases hidden within the abandoned mines near the city.

Their job was to make the likely siege of Aldenstadt a nightmarish experience for the besiegers.

Reinhardt had considered having Salicia do the same, but he felt that the one-eyed archer’s capabilities were better used with the rest of his troops instead, since they would be harrying the Podovniy troops on their way to Levain and even after they reached the city. Salicia’s ability to just pick off any enemy commander that strayed into her range was far too useful to omit for their purpose.

Naturally, he couldn’t help but to worry for Elfriede and Erycea’s safety at the north, but Reinhardt shook his head to clear his mind. They all knew the risks associated with their occupation, and they all willingly took it. If anything, he knew that Elfriede was the one person most likely to return alive even should disaster struck in the north, and Erycea had also proven herself over the past few years.

Reinhardt planned to use the artifact he had been gifted on his birthday back then to coordinate his troops for the operation, which should give them quite a bit of advantage over their foes. Since he wouldn’t need many scouts with the artifact’s help, he only took Hannah with him, while the rest of the aerial scout platoon was given to Lars to help him coordinate the northern area of operations.

The volunteers from Levain helped a lot since even the ones with no experience for this sort of irregular warfare could at least help with constructing traps and the like. Meanwhile, the extra scouts, especially those who know the local area well, was also a boon. Reinhardt ended up sending a larger portion of the scouts – everyone who were from the north or knew the north well – to Lars, since he reckoned that the north would need the extra scouts more.

They made their preparations while the enemy was still on the way, Reinhardt’s forces leaving Levain even before the forces from Podovniy finished mustering their army. By the time the enemy forces reached Levain’s borders, Reinhardt, Lars, and their people were already busy at work preparing all sorts of unpleasant welcome for the invaders.