After picking and choosing his share and calculating that he had enough to fully equip his soldiers, Robson stopped. After all, he couldn't take all the best loot for himself. He had to leave some for his peers; otherwise, he'd just make enemies.
As he was leaving, Robson also happened to grab over 100 packhorses. Packhorses weren't a rarity in Sunset Fortress; you could get pretty much as many as you wanted.
Viscount Fuman had completely given up. He not only ignored Robson's blatant looting but even actively led the way for him.
As Robson came out, he happened to run into Viscount Leo, who at that moment had several wagons loaded with iron helmets and swords.
Robson found himself wondering if this old geezer was planning to haul the equipment to Shirel Fortress to turn a profit.
If that was true, the man was really something else.
Ignoring Viscount Leo, Robson took Viscount Fuman and returned directly to West City.
It was nearly dawn.
On the way back, Robson saw many members of the Sunset Knight Order wearing their Half-Sun Armor.
'Are they in that much of a hurry?'
As soon as he reached West City, Robson saw Ed in the camp, practicing his swordsmanship diligently.
'Have pigs started to fly?' Robson thought, intrigued.
Robson and Ed had known each other for more than a day or two; in fact, they had been together ever since Robson arrived at Sunset Fortress. This guy used to sleep until the sun was high in the sky.
"Did the sun rise in the west?" The sight was so novel that Robson blurted out a proverb from his homeland without thinking.
Ed clearly didn't understand what he meant and just looked at Robson with a hint of nervousness.
"My father... I don't know why, but he actually came today," Knight Ed said.
Hearing this, Robson put aside his joking mood, a touch of sadness creeping into his heart.
"Robson, I've always treated you well, right? If my father asks you anything in a minute, you have to back me up!" Knight Ed said.
"Right... aren't you going to go chat with the Earl?" Robson asked.
'Ed probably doesn't know this might be the last time he'll ever see his father.'
"Chat about what? Don't change the subject. When he asks, don't you dare say the wrong thing!" Knight Ed paused, then returned to his previous point.
Robson was about to say more to give Ed some mental preparation, but a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
He turned to see a stern-faced Count Offman standing right behind him.
"How will you ever accomplish great things acting like this? How are you supposed to take over the family one day?" Count Offman said with a frown.
Knight Ed snapped to attention. Robson stood by and watched as Count Offman lectured his friend.
"Enough. I just came to see how you were," Count Offman said, shaking his head.
It was clearly another failed attempt at parenting. Count Offman wasn't surprised; he hadn't had much success in the past few decades either.
"The operation will begin at dawn tomorrow. You should prepare," Count Offman said, handing a piece of paper to Robson before turning to leave.
Robson opened the paper. It was a map showing the route from Sunset Fortress to Shirel Fortress.
Although it was a standard-issue officer's map, it wasn't something Robson could have obtained just for the asking. It seemed he was getting special treatment again.
Watching Count Offman's departing figure, Robson felt a surge of emotion.
"Whew, he's finally gone," Ed said, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Seeing the look of relief on Ed's face, Robson thought for a long time before ultimately deciding to keep the truth from him for now.
'Count Offman's death is a foregone conclusion. The King won't permit a Count who forged a royal decree to live, even if his actions serve the kingdom's interests.'
Now that Count Offman had given him the timeline, Robson's next step was to make preparations.
Nothing else was a major issue; he even had a map now. The most important task was to convert the remaining several hundred Tier Two Soldiers into Tier Three Soldiers.
The gap between militia and a regular army was still too large. If he could finish upgrading all these Tier Two Soldiers, Robson's escape would be significantly faster.
It wasn't time for the changing of the guard yet, so Robson decided to let his lads get some more sleep.
'They'd need to be well-rested to have the energy to run.'
The soldiers woke up at 7 a.m. sharp, only to be told to go back to sleep until noon.
During this time, Robson also took a rare nap, preparing for the multi-day strategic retreat ahead.
At noon, all the soldiers of Tier Three and above woke up on time. It seemed controlling one's own sleep schedule was also a standard feature of the Mount & Blade system.
After waking the remaining Tier Two Soldiers, Robson went to the city wall to relieve the nobles on watch. He thoughtfully shared some information with them about the next day's plans.
Even if Robson hadn't said anything, Count Offman would have likely issued the orders that night anyway.
By speaking up now, Robson could earn some goodwill from the noble lords and give them an extra half-day to prepare.
Everyone had already heard rumors about a retreat and breakout, and after getting confirmation from Robson, they all started getting busy.
Once on the wall, Robson first got his several hundred Tier Two Soldiers into position.
They would be the ones bearing the brunt of the pressure today.
After sending out a wave of werewolves the previous day, the enemy had fallen silent again, likely because they had been hit hard. The subsequent forces they sent were only low-level Servant Races, like goblins and kobolds.
Robson realized he could actually go back to sleep. Bo Yang had improved so rapidly these past few days that he could definitely hold the line with just the Tier Two Soldiers.
'This is getting more and more like a cheap browser game...'
SCREEE!
Suddenly, the cry of a phoenix rang out.
A black hole seemed to appear in the sky, continuously absorbing the surrounding Magic Power.
Robson looked back and saw that the great hall in the very center of Sunset Fortress had now transformed into a massive Mage Tower.
Or rather, it had been a Mage Tower all along.
'Earl Leo?'
Robson immediately thought of Earl Leo, who had been missing for some time. No wonder he hadn't shown up for the "going-out-of-business" looting. But what was he preparing?
Robson felt the magical aura of the entire Sunset Fortress begin to converge on the Mage Tower. This was definitely not something Earl Leo could have caused on his own.
'And here I was, wondering where all of Sunset Fortress's mages had gone...'
As the Magic Energy continued to gather, a fiery red sphere began to form atop the Mage Tower in the center of Sunset Fortress.
'What is that? A Phoenix Egg?' Robson didn't know for sure, but his intuition told him the thing looked like an egg.
"Assemble! Assemble!"
Below the gatehouse, Count Offman was calling to the members of the Knight Order.
Nearly 700 knights wearing Half-Sun Armor, carrying Long Spear Knight's Swords, and leading their horses, waited before the city gate.
'Are they starting the preparations already?'
Since the Sunset Knight Order had already begun to muster, the contingents from the other districts would probably be arriving soon.
Sunset Fortress's West City and East City were designed as separate, self-contained districts.
Each district could be isolated and defended as its own fortress.
This was a design born from the Frank Kingdom's experience in warfare, meant to prevent the entire fortress from falling just because a single district was breached.
'Presumably, all of Sunset Fortress's defenses will now be concentrated in West City.'