Reivyn sifted through the sheaves of paper. Kefira and Jekle were seated next to him, going over their own papers.
"I think Merrith is a good candidate," Jekle said after a moment, showing his paper to Reivyn and Kefira.
They had been trying to reduce the number of people they would need to take with them to the next Tier 4 empire without arbitrarily dismissing some of those who had finished the training session. Reivyn had come up with the idea of leaving some of them behind to train the younger citizens who didn't have the same opportunities as the others, but it was much more difficult to decide on who to leave than they had thought it would be.
The Adventurers had all joined to get the opportunity to challenge themselves in a new way and gain Life Experience. They hadn't signed up to babysit children. That being said, there were certain behaviors that Reivyn and the others had noticed in some of the veterans that lent them to believe they may be more suited to training others than fighting on the front lines.
Not all of the veterans that had gained the Teaching Skill easily were among those that had been observed, but most of them were. Reivyn didn't know if there was a correlation between talent and what people naturally gravitated toward or not, but this one data point seemed to suggest so.
The next task had been to go over all of the relevant documents about their time on the front lines during the expedition in Drallo. Copies had been sent via the Adventurer's Guild that maintained the records with their tokens, and Reivyn had requested those copies. They cross-examined the merits the individuals had achieved during the invasion and compared them to their accomplishments in Teaching.
It wasn't as simple as seeing that the people didn't have a lot of amazing accomplishments on paper verse being good at teaching. Not every little detail was recorded, after all. They simply narrowed the selection down to those that, on the surface, were probably more likely to agree to stay behind.
"I think that's as much as we're going to get for now," Reivyn concluded, accepting the documents from Jekle and adding them to another stack of papers. "We have fifteen names here, not nearly as many as we need to cut back on, but I guess we'll have to figure something else out there."
"Why do we even need to cut the numbers?" Jekle asked. "It's not like we need the formations to be perfectly neat and tidy."
"It's not about that," Reivyn explained. "It's about the teleportation costs. I know that fifty people, when compared to the entire company of three platoons, doesn't seem like that much, but it adds up. Part of our negotiations with those requesting help is for them to bear the costs of the teleportations, but if we can keep those numbers down, they're more likely to agree to the stipulations in the contract we want."
"I see," Jekle said. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry about that. Sounds like a headache."
"Yeah, it's a lot more annoying than trekking through the desert. I'm not built for paperwork. Give me a weapon and an enemy to fight, and I'm happy. Give me a pen and a paper to write, not so much."
"That's why I'm an Adventurer," Jekle chuckled.
"And yet, here the both of you are," Kefira teased with a small smile.
"Don't rub it in; you're here with us, too," Reivyn pointed out.
"But I don't mind nearly as much as you do," Kefira shrugged.
Reivyn glanced at Jekle.
"I think she just volunteered," Reivyn said with a smirk. "Is that what it sounded like to you?"
"That's what I heard," Jekle agreed with a straight face.
Kefira's smile dropped immediately.
"Wait, wait, wait, that's not what I said at all!" She protested. "You can't saddle me with all of this!"
Reivyn burst out laughing as he hugged Kefira to himself with one arm.
"You know I'm just teasing. Come one, let's go interview the selected Adventurers."
Reivyn would and could just order anyone under him, but he wasn't going to do that if he didn't have to. There was no reason to seek out that kind of resentment. He was the one that had called his old companions all the way from Drallo to Wispan in the first place. It wouldn't be right to just one-sidedly decide that they were going to stay in the capital to run a martial combat school.
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Reivyn stepped through the open portal into the vast emptiness of the void. He had heard stories from his parents and Kefira, and he had traveled to the space between Realms, but this was the first time he had stepped into the local teleportation path. It wasn't quite as breathtaking as viewing the River of Souls and the other Realms floating in the distance, but it had its own charm.
Reivyn glanced around and paid attention to the Mana that was holding the void corridor together. Kefira was walking beside him, and she was reinforcing the corridor with her own Space/Time Affinity. This was something she had theorized she could do, and upon noticing a bit of success - she wasn't immediately Skilled enough to make much of a difference - she continued to bolster the void corridor as they made the trip.
It wasn't entirely necessary to do so, but because they were bringing more people with them than Reivyn had initially planned on, taking on some of the burdens by reinforcing the Mana from within would reduce the Mana cost on the other side. There was a reason using the teleportation circles was prohibitively expensive, but having a Space/Time Mage could theoretically reduce that cost to almost nothing. It would take a lot of power and personal resources from the Mage, but those were renewable, and the exercise was likely beneficial.
Just having objects move through the space of the void corridor caused stress to the Mana structure, draining it of power. It didn't matter if it was living or inanimate. It was possible to completely drain the resources set aside to keep the corridors open during transport, but it wasn't something that ever happened. Even with several hundred people moving through the tunnel with the mercenary company, there were enough reserves in place to keep it open safely, and it was extremely unusual to ever have that many people traveling at a time.
Most of the payments made to the empires for the use of the teleport circles went toward the resources, though the governments weren't altruistic. They charged a tax for their service. If they hadn't ironed out the agreement that the requesting empire foot the bill for the transportation costs, Reivyn knew they would have made a decent amount of money in exchange for the quick travel.
Reivyn suspected that Kefira was getting quite a bit of benefit from reinforcing the Mana, as she had a wide smile on her face as they walked along the path. Reivyn didn't want to interrupt her concentration, so he didn't ask her about it. Instead, he tentatively used his own Traveler Affinity to connect with the Mana in the void corridor.
He could sense the complicated matrix of Space Mana at work, but it was way more than he could parse. It reminded him of the teleportation circle device he had destroyed in Drallo, but that one had actually been more complicated, if in a different way. He couldn't quite put his finger on the difference, but he could tell that it was there.
There wasn't much that he could do with his own Mana, so he simply observed the matrix from within. They weren't alone, though, and they didn't have all the time in the world to explore the intricacies of the void corridor magic. The entire company was following behind, and Reivyn and Kefira didn't slow down despite their self-imposed task.
Serilla had taken up position in her usual spot trailing Kefira to the side, and Refix was walking next to Reivyn. Their mercenary company wasn't the only part of the travelers, though. Silfa had promised that she would be sending maids and other helpers along for the journey, and they trailed behind Reivyn's group just ahead of the company.
Six maids had been chosen to accompany Kefira on her journey to the other empire, and Reivyn and Kefira were only able to secure four of the positions with Kefira's own people. Kefira knew for a fact that the head maid was loyal only to her mother, but the last maid was a mystery. She didn't doubt that she was a loyal servant and suspected her of being a spy or anything, but Kefira didn't recognize her as one of her mothers. Reivyn speculated that she was Bellefrent's, which would make sense considering Silfa's family background.
"So what's the difference between this and the Realm bridge?" Refix asked Reivyn as they walked. Reivyn was only observing the Space Mana, so he was able to shift his focus without too much complication.
"Well, they're very similar," Reivyn said. "The biggest difference would be what you can see beyond the void corridor. I also wasn't suspended over nothingness. There was a physical bridge connecting the Realms that looked like threads when not within the confines of the corridor if that makes any sense."
"Not really, but explain it," Refix prodded.
"Well, when I got knocked out of the corridor surrounding the bridge separating it from the outside, the solid bridge seemed to disappear. All that I could perceive was what looked like a thread between the massive orbs of the Realms. Once I was in contact with a bridge, though, it suddenly appeared normal, and I could actually stand on the corridor.
"I could also see trillions upon trillions of what I now know to be souls drifting through the nothingness. There's nothing like that here, of course. They were like little floating sparks, but they could come together and become a sentient menace. Kefira and I encountered something similar at the tear in reality in Drallo, and as far as I know, they're indestructible. I'm guessing because they have no Health value, but that's just a guess on my part."
"Hmm, interesting," Refix said, stroking his chin. "That actually makes sense. If they're just souls, then they're not altered or manipulated into being undead. For the undead, it's actually the magic powering them that we destroy when we kill them. Likewise, inanimate objects have their own durability if you think about it. If there's nothing to attack, then it makes sense that it can't be destroyed."
"That's what I was thinking," Reivyn said with a nod. "Anyway, the two closest Realms were giant orbs floating next to each other, but countless other orbs were floating in the vast expanse of nothingness. There wasn't anything like the stars or whatever floating outside this void corridor, though. I don't know what those are. The things that could be seen outside the Realm were just the souls, the other Realms, and the connections between them. The Realms themselves acted like stars, though, and I believe they were the light source that allowed me to see anything at all."
"And the souls," Refix pointed out. "You said they were like sparks, so I imagine they were glowing or something."
"Yeah, or something," Reivyn agreed.
The corridor they were walking through wasn't endless, and they eventually arrived on the other side. Kefira came back to herself at the end of the void corridor and gave Reivyn a smile and a nod, and Reivyn led the mercenary soldiers in file out the other side. There was a delegation waiting for them. The squad and platoon leaders made sure that all of the mercenaries appeared as professional as possible.
They had arrived in a "neighboring" Tier 4 Empire, Vairo, that had sought assistance against an invasion similar to the ones that had been cropping up. It was precisely the kind of place that Gennet had been looking for when he had devised the plan with Reivyn and the Adventurers acting as Mercenaries in mind. They were directly connected to Wispan, but they were a neutral empire. They didn't have too many diplomatic ties between them, and the reports of the invasion were primarily positive in Vairo's favor. They hadn't been ransacked all the way to the capital like some of the other empires had been before they had been able to petition for reinforcements.
The veterans had a look in their eyes that bespoke of being capable of violence at any time as they emerged from the corridor. They were ready to fight for their lives even in the heart of the capital city. The newer additions to the mercenary company didn't have the dangerous aura about them, but they still maintained proper discipline.
There was no way for Reivyn to guess what the delegates thought of the troops, but Reivyn believed they had put on a good showing for their first impression. There was no difference between his mercenary troop made out of Adventurers and the imperial army soldiers on the surface.
"Princess Kefira, I presume," a well-groomed young man stepped forward and accepted Kefira's hand. He bowed over it but didn't kiss the back of her hand, Reivyn noticed. "I am Prince Alwin. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise," Kefira smiled as she retrieved her hand.
"I apologize for the shoddy reception, but everyone is quite busy. You understand," Alwin continued. "My brothers are away leading the troops, and my father is busy with state affairs. I'm afraid you'll have me to deal with as the point of contact."
"It's fine," Kefira replied. "We're here to help you fight off the invaders, not sip tea in the sitting room. Just have your men show my men where to go, and we'll get started on official business right away."
"Straight to the point, I see," Alwin replied with a smile. "I'll lead you to your rooms in the palace if you follow me, and my men will take your men to the barracks."
"That won't be necessary," Kefira said. "Our journey here was literally a couple of hundred yards, at most. We're ready to depart right now."
Alwin pulled back in surprise. Reivyn smirked at the man's reaction. He had apparently been under the impression that Kefira would be staying in the capital while the mercenaries did their own thing somewhere else. Silfa hadn't helped things when she had implied that Kefira was participating in a diplomatic mission to strengthen the ties between the two empires.
Reivyn and Kefira had decided to just take the bull by the horns and have Kefira make it clear from the get-go that she was a member of the mercenary company. There was no getting out of every social interaction in the future, but lines needed to be drawn right from the start. They weren't here on a diplomatic mission with the mercenaries as a background event. The mercenaries were the main point.
"Ahem," the head maid, Sefia, cleared her throat to gain Kefira's attention. Kefira studiously ignored the woman, but she wasn't going to back down. She just went ahead with her message regardless. "Do you think it's appropriate not to give the resident monarch face? It's the polite thing to do. We wouldn't want to be rude, after all."
"What's face got to do with it?" Kefira asked without looking at the woman. "We were hired for a job, and they sent the appropriate delegation to meet with us. It's basically the same thing as meeting with the monarch." Kefira shrugged. "I'm not going to ignore them or anything; they are employing us, but right now isn't the right time."
Sefia's mouth formed a line, but she didn't speak any further. It was her job to make sure things went according to Silfa's wishes, but Silfa wasn't here, and Kefira wasn't going to bend. The head maid was chosen as the lead for a reason, and she understood when to push and when to back down.
Reivyn had the company draw up in formation as he waited for Kefira to get the relevant mission details. They had struck a deal with the empire, but the details of where the mercenaries would be sent hadn't been ironed out right away. This wasn't because they weren't going to utilize the soldiers or try to sweep them to the side. They needed the flexibility to know where to send them when they arrived.
If they had come up with a plan of action that wasn't tenable because of the changing circumstances on the battlefield, then they would have had to scramble to find somewhere to send the mercenaries or have them sit and twiddle their thumbs in the capital. Reivyn wasn't too terribly worried about not having anything to do because they would get paid regardless. If they didn't get sent to the front lines right away, Reivyn could always simply continue with training.
Having access to the local Dungeons was also part of the deal they had struck. There was no reason for Reivyn or the others to be worried about not getting the Experience they were expecting when they signed up for the mercenary company. There were always other plans in case others didn't pan out.
"I'll have to consult with the general to determine exactly where they're going, but that shouldn't take too long," Alwin said, attempting to once again keep Kefira separate from the mercenary company with his wording.
"We can March to the outer city while we wait for the news," Kefira replied.
She turned her head and gave Reivyn a slight nod. Reivyn nodded back and turned to Refix. Refix had been paying attention to everything going on as well, and he immediately took charge of the company, ordering them to begin Marching forward before they even had a destination. There were only so many directions to head from the teleport circle, and the walls separating the inner city from the outer were clearly visible.
Kefira started to walk in the same direction, and Alwin was forced to keep up with her. Reivyn maintained his position where Serilla normally walked next to Kefira, assuming his role as Imperial Liaison, and Serilla simply walked next to him.
"Are you sure you don't want to visit the palace and stay for a couple of days?" Alwin asked, walking alongside the trio.
"Why?" Kefira shot back, a look of genuine confusion on her face.
"Why?!" Alwin spluttered. He couldn't think of a proper response to the question.
"If even you can't think of a reason to delay our deployment, then there obviously isn't one," Kefira jumped on the pause as Alwin thought of an answer. "Just send us in the right direction, tell us where we're needed and what the mission is, and we'll get to work right away."
Alwin continued to try and think of something to say as the trio walked in front of the mercenary company toward the outer city. A crowd had formed along the side of the road to watch the procession.
Reivyn noted that the populace didn't seem to be in a war-ready state, and life didn't seem to be interrupted in any way for the civilians. He did notice that there seemed to be more guards Marching about, but he didn't see any worried faces in the crowd. Either the invasion was going really well for the empire, or the populace didn't understand what was going on.
"What steps are you taking to mobilize the population for the war effort?" Reivyn suddenly asked.
"Mobilize for the war effort?" Alwin repeated. He turned and looked at Kefira. "Who's this man?"
Reivyn rolled his eyes at the prince's ignorance. All of the information about their mercenary company, including the information about Reivyn being the commander, was public knowledge. It wouldn't have taken any time at all for the other man to acquaint himself with the facts, and yet he had been here to try and whisk Kefira away to the palace.
He doesn't seem to understand our situation, Reivyn thought, shaking his head.
"He's my Imperial Liaison," Kefira responded, not even looking at Alwin as she gestured toward Reivyn. "He's the commander of the mercenary company, and he holds a commission as a captain in the Imperial Army as well as a writ from the Imperial Family."
"I see..." Alwin trailed off. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean about mobilizing the population, but we've conscripted a fair amount of Tier 1's to bolster the ranks of the Imperial Army."
"That's all well and good," Reivyn said, "but waging a war requires more than just manpower. You're going to need a lot of supplies, first of all, and it doesn't seem like there's any difference in the livelihood of the civilians. Is it just the capital that's insulated from the repercussions of fighting off an invasion, or have you not thought of this?"
"I'm not sure what you're concern is," Alwin said. "We have very high-level experts in charge of manufacturing and distributing supplies to the military. We've been doing this for hundreds of years. I think they know what they're doing."
"They know how to supply an army fighting monsters," Reivyn pointed out. "They don't know how to supply an army being besieged by other people. They're not mindless critters that are just going to throw themselves at your people all the time. They'll come up with strategies to counter your own."
"So you say, but all we've seen of them so far are rabid mongrels, practically frothing at the mouth. There's no subtlety in their fighting at all. We'll be able to drive them off before next season. We only brought you guys on to make up the numbers, and you're not the only group that's arrived to assist."
"Other mercenaries?" Reivyn asked.
"Well, no. We have allies," Alwin rolled his eyes. He smirked at Kefira with a "this guy" kind of attitude. "We have everything perfectly in hand."
"If you say so," Reivyn wasn't interested in debating the finer points of warfare with the man. Considering he had said that his brothers were busy leading the troops and he was here, he wasn't an integral part of the military. It would just be wasted breath on the man.
"Jekle," Reivyn motioned for the First Platoon Commander. Jekle ran over and offered a smart salute that Reivyn returned. "Round up the extras. Have them go and secure additional supplies. We'll need an extra bit of everything, but have them focus on travel rations.
"Yes, sir!" Jekle turned about and jogged to the group of mercenaries that didn't fall into any of the platoons.
"Don't trust us?" Alwin said with a frown.
"It's not about trust," Reivyn countered. "I don't know you. I don't know your people. I know war. My people aren't going to starve because of your overconfidence, and if you're right and I'm wrong, then we just added to your economy, so there's no downside." Reivyn shrugged. "I don't mean any insult; I just don't want to take chances when I don't have to."
"Whether you mean to insult or not isn't up to you," Alwin said, raising his nose to the air. "It's in the eyes of the beholder. I'll make sure my father learns of your distrust of our methods."
"Ok~ay," Reivyn said, rolling his eyes.
If his father and brothers are competent, they'll agree with me whether they think I need the supplies or not, Reivyn thought. His opinion of Alwin went from optimistically hopeful to viewing him as a useless fop. He didn't care one wit about Alwin's opinion of him.
"There's no reason for hostilities," Kefira tried to ameliorate.
"No reason for hostilities?" Alwin said. "You've made it quite clear that you want nothing to do with us, the hosts of your little band of misfits, and you've repeatedly ignored any overtures of diplomacy. I dare say there are plenty of reasons for hostilities."
Kefira turned her head and stared the other man in the eye until he looked away.
"I have made it quite clear that I'm not 'ignoring overtures of diplomacy,'" Kefira said. "Right now is just a stupid time to be doing so. You say we were brought on just to make up the numbers, but I don't see it that way. You've hired us for a job, and we're here to work, not play. If there's an opportunity in the future, I would be more than happy to accept an invitation, but I'm not going to shirk my responsibilities to appease your feelings."
Alwin seemed like he wanted to say something to that, but before he could, a runner in military attire appeared before them. Even though he had sprinted up to the group in a hurry, he wasn't out of breath. He calmly handed an envelope over to Alwin.
"Sire, here are the orders for the mercenary company as assigned by General Wilyem," the runner said, snapping a salute. He didn't wait for Prince Alwin to return it. "They are to advance four hundred miles to the southeast and link up with Prince Endrew's forces at Piori."
"Thank you, that will be all," Alwin dismissed the runner. The man snapped another salute and then took off running back the way he had come.
"Do you know anything about this Piori?" Kefira asked as she accepted the envelope from Alwin.
"I know a lot about the city," Alwin replied, "but if you're referring to the military situation, all I know is that it's technically on the front lines, but it's not anywhere near the center of the hostilities."
"I see. Thank you," Kefira said with a nod. "And I'm sorry if you've taken offense, but we should be focusing on our job right now. If you wish to entertain me in the palace, maybe send an invitation in a couple of months, or I can swing by when I have to return home."
"Yes, well, I may have been a little petulant," Alwin replied. Reivyn had to suppress a snort. "I'll see about that invitation, and good luck on your journey to Piori."
Alwin rounded up those that had followed him to meet with Kefira and her mercenaries, and he turned around to head back to the palace. There was obviously no hope of persuading Kefira to deviate from her plans, and now that she had the official orders, it definitely wouldn't look good if he continued to pester her.
Reivyn continued to lead the mercenary company forward toward the outer walls of the city. Four hundred miles wasn't short, but with their Stamina and Stats, it wouldn't be too arduous of a journey.