linkShezvolume_up
Hey, Ingrid. Glad I tracked you down. Have you ever heard of Tobias's Mercenaries?
linkIngridvolume_up
What an odd question. Tobias, hm? The name does sound familiar somehow.
linkShezvolume_up
Huh, I thought everybody knew about them. Captain Berling must've exaggerated that part.
linkShezvolume_up
Anyway, they were a big mercenary group my old captain used to be in when she was a kid.
linkShezvolume_up
Apparently their leader, Tobias, was so loyal to one of the local lords that he was practically an honorary advisor.
linkIngridvolume_up
Strange. I thought mercenaries kept interactions with their employers strictly business.
linkShezvolume_up
Most do. But not only did these mercs fight for this lord, they pitched in building the castle town, too.
linkShezvolume_up
They even went so far as to trade their swords and bows for hoes and pitchforks, and tilled the barren land for the farmers of the region.
linkShezvolume_up
And they opened up shops in town when the lord was going through some financial troubles.
linkIngridvolume_up
It sounds like they went far beyond what is expected of most mercenaries. Unless, is that something you all do?
linkShezvolume_up
Oh, not at all. We're fighters through and through— nobody in their right mind would ask us to drop everything to become farmers or merchants.
linkShezvolume_up
Basically, both the mercenaries and the lord were doing stuff way different from how they normally do.
linkIngridvolume_up
Yes, of course. A bunch of sellswords planting seeds and tending a shop is certainly unheard of.
linkShezvolume_up
In the end, this captain grew so close to the noble of the region that people started calling him the lord's right-hand man.
linkShezvolume_up
I guess my point is, it doesn't matter what you are— mercenary, knight, noble. You aren't tied to any one role just because of the title you hold.
linkShezvolume_up
Even battle-hardened mercs can end up as farmhands if that's what the client calls for.
linkShezvolume_up
And if that's possible, surely a noble can do anything they want, too.
linkIngridvolume_up
True enough. That ties into our conversation from before, as well.
linkIngridvolume_up
Thank you. I will give the matter some thought.
linkShezvolume_up
Good. I know it won't be easy to find the answer, but I'm here to bounce ideas off if you ever need it.
linkShezvolume_up
Good. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
linkShezvolume_up
And no matter what, I'm just glad my old captain's story actually helped you.
linkShezvolume_up
All this stuff about Tobias and his mercenaries really caught me off guard the first time I heard it.
linkIngridvolume_up
You're right about that. But...hm. I cannot shake the feeling that this Tobias person is familiar somehow.
linkIngridvolume_up
Wait, I remember now! I believe the noble in your story may have actually been my grandmother.
linkShezvolume_up
Really? The last head of House Galatea?
linkIngridvolume_up
Yes. I don't remember very well since I was still so young, but I recall she had a friend by the name Tobias.
linkIngridvolume_up
Though I find it difficult to believe the old man I knew was once a strapping mercenary captain.
linkShezvolume_up
If it really was him, he must've climbed the ranks even further than I realized. I mean, not just anyone can meet a noble's family like that.
linkShezvolume_up
Who would've thought this old story would hit so close to home?