“Yes, my lord, we have prepared twenty barrels of wine.” the head maid said.

“Good, what about the food?”

“We have opened the warehouse and have taken out enough food.”

“Good.” Thyra nodded, adding, “Tonight, we will enjoy our victory. We should let those empires’ soldiers have any chance to complain. If we give them a single chance to complain, they will wreak havoc…”

“My lord, can’t we let them camp outside?”

“Even if we want, we can’t just deny them access to the city. If they attack the city with such a big army, it will be hard for us to protect it.” Thyra shook his head. After all, she had no intention of giving them a chance. 

After all, letting them enter the city is part of his plan. “They are fighting for us now. If we don’t let them come inside, then it will be…”

Thyra remembered that he didn’t need to explain himself to the headmaid. Feitur wouldn’t do something like that. Thyra paused, asking, “Send people to the brothels. Tell them to send some girls here. A few obedient ones will be good. How many brothels are there in the city?”

“7.” The maid thought momentarily, adding, “11 if we count the cheap one.”

“Good, tell them every one of them has to send 20 cheap ones. The big one needs to send at least two good women who can perform and…”

“They might not comply. Twenty might be too much for a few of them.”

“It looks like they have no intention of continuing their business in my city.” Thyra looked at Selda, adding, “You know what to do, right?”

“Yes, le…” Selda almost misspoke. “Yes, my lord.”

“Take them with you. Don’t waste any more time.” At Thyra’s word, the head maid was about to leave before Thyra called her, “Take Nisa with you. Show her the food and wine. They will distribute them among the empire’s soldiers.”

In the end, only Rika was left behind with Thyra. Thyra continued to eat the cold food in front of her before Rika said, “The plan is good, but it is too hard to execute.”

“The result depends on you,” Thyra said, relishing the cold food. Even if the food was cold, it was far better than the food they were carrying. “As far as I heard, there are about seven fifth-grade knights in the enemy army.”

“And their leader?”

“Their leader is a sixth-grade knight.”

“Sixth? Is it some kind of debauchery?”

“That might be true, or he might have some other abilities too.”

“Other abilities? Something like essence?”

“I am not sure about it. But we have to take this into account. We can’t just underestimate them. The number is in their favour. We have to use all the means necessary to beat them. However, you must not make a move until Nisa and others take care of the soldiers.”

“Yes, as long as we can reduce their numbers, it will be easier.”

“Thyra shook his head, adding, “Seven fifth-grade knights and their leader; Those are the ones only we can take care of. No one else can fight a fifth-grade knight other than you and me.” Thyra took a deep breath as he leaned back in the chair.

Planning is one thing, but executing is hard. There are so many things that could and will go wrong. More importantly, she had already figured out the problem with her own army. Even though it had only been a month, she could tell that they did not have a good commander who could lead from the front.

Selda had a good head on his shoulder, and Ondor was quick on intakes. However, they are far too inexperienced. More importantly, they weren’t strong enough to lead the army from the front. Nisa was good with planning and communication, Mia was the most obedient, and Fanger was far too frightened to take chances.

Rika was the only one she could depend on. She was not just strong but also knew how to lead well. Rika said it was because she had followed her mother to fight other tribes from a young age.

But the problem is, Thyra had promised her to have a child the next winter. So, Thyra won’t want her in the army next winter in case she pulls another Hure.

‘There is still a year left. I need to find a replacement for her and make the other one get stronger…’ The more Thyra thought about it, the worse she felt.

“My lord…” One of the soldiers blasted in, putting a frown on his face. He quickly apologised, saying, “Forgive me, my lord. The commander had ordered me to inform you that the fighting is taking place at the camp.”

“Let’s go.” Thyra didn’t waste a moment. The head maid had also returned. Thyra ordered her, “Rika will tell the girls who are coming what to do. Give her anything she needs.”

The head maid wasn’t sure what his lord was thinking, letting the mercenaries do whatever they wanted. But she knew that no matter how scummy her lord was, he wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardise the city.

“And bring me my armour.” The head maid obeyed. The other maids help him put it on before making him look like a hulking mass of fat inside a tin can.

His horse was already ready. It didn’t even take him ten minutes to reach the gate. He struggled to climb the gate as he reached the top. 

What was waiting for Thyra outside the gate was a bright night sky. The entire camp was engulfed in flames. Looking at the situation, Thyra couldn’t help but frown. He had no problem understanding that the commander had a good head. 

Regardless of their numerical advantage, they would have lost quite a few men if they had tried to break through by force. Instead, this guy just flooded the nest and waited outside just to take care of the survivors. 

“What happened?”

“My lord.” They bowed, adding, “I don’t know what happened, but it looked like they put some animals on fire before sending them to the camp.”

“Animal?”

“We can’t see from a distance, but it looked like the flames walked as they rushed into the camp.” Thyra looked in that direction. Thyra was sure a pig wouldn’t be anything but a ball from this distance, and they couldn’t see them walking from here.

‘That means they might be using orcs or bigger animals.’ Thyra was sure about it. 

The commander continued, “They even used fire arrows.” He paused before asking, “But, my lord, aren’t our soldiers waiting in the camp.”

Thyra’s expression didn’t even change, even when he felt all the soldiers were looking at him. “Didn’t you know I sent the cavalry unit?”

The commander had heard that Thyra had sent his knight with about 50 mercenaries. As he nodded, Thyra added, “I have given them the order. They must protect the camp's back so that anyone can’t escape.”

The commander nodded as they continued to observe the situation. Soon, even from such a distance, they could hear the shrill screams of the soldiers who were burned alive. 

The painful symphony didn’t last long. With the fire at their backs, they could see the empire’s soldiers coming towards the city.

“Let’s go.” Thyra struggled off the stairs, climbed his horse, and ordered, “Open the gate.”