link Shez volume_up
Hey, Ingrid. Glad I tracked you down. Have you ever heard of Tobias's Mercenaries?
link Ingrid volume_up
What an odd question. Tobias, hm? The name does sound familiar somehow.
link Shez volume_up
Huh, I thought everybody knew about them. Captain Berling must've exaggerated that part.
link Shez volume_up
Anyway, they were a big mercenary group my old captain used to be in when she was a kid.
link Shez volume_up
Apparently their leader, Tobias, was so loyal to one of the local lords that he was practically an honorary advisor.
link Ingrid volume_up
Strange. I thought mercenaries kept interactions with their employers strictly business.
link Shez volume_up
Most do. But not only did these mercs fight for this lord, they pitched in building the castle town, too.
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_up
And they opened up shops in town when the lord was going through some financial troubles.
link Ingrid volume_up
It sounds like they went far beyond what is expected of most mercenaries. Unless, is that something you all do?
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_up
Basically, both the mercenaries and the lord were doing stuff way different from how they normally do.
link Ingrid volume_up
Yes, of course. A bunch of sellswords planting seeds and tending a shop is certainly unheard of.
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_up
Even battle-hardened mercs can end up as farmhands if that's what the client calls for.
link Shez volume_up
And if that's possible, surely a noble can do anything they want, too.
link Ingrid volume_up
True enough. That ties into our conversation from before, as well.
link Ingrid volume_up
Thank you. I will give the matter some thought.
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_up
Good. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
link Shez volume_up
And no matter what, I'm just glad my old captain's story actually helped you.
link Shez volume_up
All this stuff about Tobias and his mercenaries really caught me off guard the first time I heard it.
link Ingrid volume_up
You're right about that. But...hm. I cannot shake the feeling that this Tobias person is familiar somehow.
link Ingrid volume_up
Wait, I remember now! I believe the noble in your story may have actually been my grandmother.
link Shez volume_up
Really? The last head of House Galatea?
link Ingrid volume_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.
link Ingrid volume_up
Though I find it difficult to believe the old man I knew was once a strapping mercenary captain.
link Shez volume_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.
link Shez volume_up
Who would've thought this old story would hit so close to home?
link Ingrid volume_up
Certainly not me.