“My lord…” Most of their expressions were the same. They couldn’t understand why Feitur changed their mind. But one of the fifth-grade knights was quick on his intake, asking, “My lord, did you receive some new news?”

“Did you hear the sound of thunder strike in the last half an hour?” Thyra has already been here for forty to fifty minutes. 

Naturally, there was no attack after he came here. His question made them realise that what he had said was true.

“Could it be a trap?” That fifth-grade knight was really a quick one.

“I received the news from the empire’s army. It can’t be wrong.” Thyra was sure it wouldn’t be enough for him to convince them. 

So, Thyra added, “Quickly send a couple of scouts. Don’t open the door, directed towards their camp. Send them from the north. Tell them to be as silent as possible.”

Thyra was talking to a soldier, and the soldier was not sure if Thyra was telling him to do it right away. 

Naturally, Thyra cursed at him, shouting, “Why are you still here? Go now. We don’t have time. We have to occupy their camp before they return.”

The soldier was a little shocked but quickly moved out of there. Another fifth-grade knight asked, “Are you sure that they have left the camp?”

Thyra paused to look at him and added, “The scout had informed me that the royal knights that had been leading the enemy had used night cover to attack the empire’s army before. And they had also observed that a large contingent of the army was moving to the north, towards the empire’s army camp.”

“Wouldn’t that solve the problem? The empire’s army is five times larger than the kingdom's force. They could easily take care of it.”

“They will.” Thyra added, “However, they asked us to take cover of the camp. The kingdom’s dogs had heavily fortified their camp. They are asking us to take control of it, as they might have left the camp empty. When the empire’s army routes them, and they try to return to the camp, we can use their camp against them. It will destroy them once and for all.”

“What if they take this time to attack the city?” 

“Who will try to attack the city?” Thyra frowned as he turned towards the first fifth-grade knight. He sighed, asking, “How long would it take to come to the city from their camp?”

“Not more than ten minutes…”

"Do you believe that those soldiers who lose to the empire would consider attacking the city rather than going back to the camp's relative safety?" Thyra looked at the knight, asking, “Even if the empire didn’t follow them, do you really think they will be able to take down the wall in a matter of ten minutes?”

“But, my lord.”

Thyra raised her hand to stop him, saying, “It’s not a matter of that. Would the empire care for us if we didn’t show our strength and contribute to the victory? We must show them we are strong enough to care for ourselves. If we wait for them to bring us victory, the moment we open the gate to welcome them, they won’t even think of us as their equal. Worse, they will try to get rid of us.”

It made sense for a few of them. After all, the last time the empire’s knights came to the city to meet Feiture, they did not show any respect to Feitur or follow the city's rules. 

In one afternoon, they assaulted more than 20 people in broad daylight. They even abducted a few women when they left the city.

Thyra could see that his logic made sense to them. But there was still one person who did not buy into his reasoning. Thyra had expected that. 

Thyra looked at the other two fifth-grade knights, ordering, “As soon as the scout confirms that their camp has been abandoned, quickly rally the 300 soldiers and occupy the camp as silently as possible.”

“300? That would leave just 50 soldiers to protect the city.”

Thyra smiled and shook his head. He pointed at the unconvinced fifth-grade knight, saying, “He will be here to protect the city. And if you notice that the city is under attack, quickly return to protect. Now, don’t waste the moment as soon as the scout returns.”

Thyra turned to the unconvinced knight, adding, “Select ten of the strongest knights and follow me. We will be going to the west gate.” 

Feitur didn’t waste a moment and walked towards the horse. It was only then she realised how hard it was to climb the horse with this body. 

However, with the help of the stable boy, he somehow succeeded. He looked at his knights, adding, “No matter what, kill those kingdom dogs before the empire’s army.”

The fifth-grade knight quickly gathered other knights, took their horses, and moved towards the west gate. The knight leader quickly approached Thyra’s side, asking, “Why are we going to the west gate?”

“You will see when we reach there.” Thyra didn’t say anything anymore. He knew the more he talked, the more chance he had to expose his identity. 

And it felt like this fifth-grade knight was already becoming doubtful of his actions. Thyra couldn’t take chances.

Soon, they reached their destination. If climbing the horse wasn’t bad enough, the stairs were. Thyra climbed the tower of the west gate. 

This gate had the least soldiers, and the relaxed state of the soldiers was more than enough to prove the point. 

Thyra’s presence was enough to clear up their drowsiness. Thyra shouted, “Get me a fire torch and a shield. Also, get me a seat.”

They could understand why Thyra had asked for the last one, but the first two confused them. Still, they obeyed.

They brought a tower shield and a fire torch. He ordered them to hold the shield from both sides as he ordered them to switch off all the other torches in the tower. 

The torch was hidden once behind the shield, revealed, and then hidden once more before being revealed a third time. In her group, they used different kinds of signalling to talk to one another. Besides the whistle, Thyra had also made others learn the flag and fire signalling processes.

“My lord, what was it?” The distrust in his eyes grew a lot when he asked the question.

“A new shipment of slaves and mercenaries will arrive soon.”

“Mercenaries?” The fifth-grade knights frowned. Feitur had spoken about mercenaries. However, they persuaded him that it was not a good idea to bring someone into the city who might suddenly switch sides.

“My lord…”

Thyra raised his hand and asked, “Do you think you can beat the army if they want to take over the city?”

“But my lord…”

“You need to understand that the empire has bargained with us because there is something we can give them. As soon as we lost our value, they would throw us away. And I am not willing to go down without a fight. And if they gain control of the city, it will be over for us.”

The fifth-grade knight knew what Thyra had said was true. But he also knew that as soon as they joined hands with the empire, it was already over for them.

He wanted to say something, only to see Thyra staring at the distance with a smile. He turned to see that someone was also giving a light signal from a distance.

“Let’s go. They are here.” Thyra led the path, and all he could do was follow.