"The practice of ransom is the norm in most warfare. Commanders, nobles, knights, even footsoldiers in large enough quantities, are worth a ransom, or a prisoner exchange at least.

It was when one of the warring sides refused to adhere to this practice that things got bloody. The number of the dead often multiplied, and it was not rare that such wars were followed with even worse slaughter.

Countries that refused to practice ransom were thus usually avoided when possible, or else exterminated when not. By the modern day, no such country remained in the world." - Delvin Amble, Jötunbergian historian and chronicler.

"Hooo-wee! That was fucking refreshing!" claimed Cassie to Elfriede while some of the other mercenaries trussed up the captive nobles they took down. They stripped the nobles down to their underwear to ensure they had no more tricks hidden, and also patched up their wounds, if rudimentarily. "I owe ya one, Reed! Been wantin' to smash that fat fuck's face in since like forever!"

"Glad you enjoyed yourself then, Cass," said Elfriede as she scraped off the blood from her blade as if it had personally offended her. Reinhardt could almost feel the palpable disdain and disgust she had, towards both the blood on her blade and the man it came from. "We done packing up yet? If these shitstains ran here, that likely meant the citadel's a goner already."

"Just about," Reinhardt said as he lit his pipe. It felt rather cathartic to have things go well for a change. Between their ambush, the element of surprise, and the plain individual superiority of their troops, the attack had gone as planned.

All thirty-six enemy guards were dead within three minutes, and all three nobles captured alive - though it had taken some finagling to stem the bleeding of the poor fuck Elfriede stabbed right in the family jewels - which made them good for double the bounty.

On their side, only three of Mischka's people, who had barreled through the enemy formation head-on, even had injuries, tiny ones that barely amounted to a scratch in their massive frames.

Most of the delay between the fight's end and now was spent as they stripped the nobles and patched up their wounds. As for their fine clothes, weapons, and armor, they naturally packed those up as well.

Three of Mischka's people carried a noble each over their shoulder, as if they were mere sacks of potatoes. From Cassie and Arne's words, two of the nobles were the Count and his oldest son, though they were not familiar with the third.

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Even so, Reinhardt had half of his people stay in the warehouse the nobles came out of, and bid them stand guard, just in case there were more to come. Salicia took command there, while he and Elfriede took their captives and walked back towards the citadel.

The walk back took them less time, partly because by then the riots and looting had settled down. Many of the city's inhabitants had just… sat there, some clutching children close to them, as the high from the adrenaline washed off and the reality struck them.

Their city had fallen, and the new non-human conquerors stood right before them, thick and stout of body, with short legs and oversized arms, and their proud beards in full display even with their armor on.

Reinhardt saw the uncertainty and worry in most of the civilians' eyes, and also how many flinched when he and Mischka came into view. For people who had never interacted with anything other than humans all their lives, the sight of them must have been quite a shock.

Where the dwarves might be close enough to pass for a human who was just shorter and thicker and hairier who had some really swole arms, there was no disguising his own kind, and their far more animalistic features.

He heard some of them hiss in surprise and fear, how others muttered in fearful tones - whether it was over his presence or over their uncertain fates, he knew not - when he passed by. Yet others noticed the human figures being carried like sacks in the shoulders of Mischka's people.

Some recognized them and yelled out what he assumed to be their identities, and almost as one, many of the adults in the crowd spat audibly as they affixed hateful stares at the captives.

One of the women who stood close to the dwarves had misjudged and her spit landed on a dwarf's scuffed boots. Reinhardt saw the woman blanch at the realization, and she scrambled forward as if she wanted to lick off the spit off the shoe with her tongue.

Neither he nor the dwarf understood what the woman said, though from the tone of voice they could guess it to either be a profuse apology or begging for mercy, or more likely, both.

The dwarf stopped the woman with a firm hand on her shoulder though, and he just gave her a laugh and shrugged as he scraped it off his boots in the dirt. He then said a few words to the woman but neither seemed to be able to communicate with the other.

Reinhardt saw Elfriede peel off from their group and approached the dwarf and the woman. She then quickly said some words to the woman, then related her words back to the dwarves, before they all went their own way, the woman returning to the other civilians while bowing in thanks every few steps while the dwarf remained at his post and just waved back with one meaty hand.

"What was that about?" Reinhardt asked when Elfriede returned to his side. He could guess most of the conversation even if he didn't understand the woman, but her reaction had felt a bit overdone. Elfriede on the other hand spoke fluent dwarvish and Holy Kingdom.

"The woman was pleading to spare her family," stated Elfriede coldly. The armored nobleman she caught happened to be near them and she casually punched him in the face as she walked by, knocking loose a couple of teeth. "It wasn't unusual to punish the whole family here for such trifles. I wager how that dwarf just shrugged it off since it's not like his boots were shiny anyway had already won some hearts amongst these folks."

"Sheesh," said Reinhardt with a scrunched up expression. "I had thought it was bad here before, but didn't think it'd be that bad. No wonder you had gotten the fuck out of here as soon as you could."

"Oh yeah… that and many other reasons."