Back at his camp, Robson had his troops turn in early. Even the Extraordinary couldn’t go without rest day and night, let alone his Mortal Soldiers.

Claude was still bragging to Bo Yang about the day’s victories. ’It seems the boy is truly excited today,’ Robson thought.

Early the next morning, Robson began to gather his army, packing everything they could carry and assembling at the North City Gate.

This time, it wasn’t like the last at Sunset Race. The North City nobles, having been humbled yesterday, were all on their best behavior, eager to wash away their previous shame.

Looking at these revitalized nobles, alongside the impeccably disciplined Fengman Knight Order, Robson was momentarily dazed.

He had seen far too many disorderly mobs in recent days; this was the first time he had laid eyes on an army with the aura of an elite force.

Valentino hadn’t come. The one leading the Knight Order was the Fengman Knight Commander, Elon.

As Robson approached with his unit, everyone’s eyes filled with envy. After days of combat training, Robson’s army had once again undergone a qualitative improvement. In war, a strong army was the ultimate key to success.

When Robson reached the main force, he was met with a flurry of compliments. It was obvious they had heard about his impending appointment to Qimo Fortress.

Robson just smiled. ’With great ability comes great responsibility,’ he mused, ’just like how Valentino assigned me to Qimo Fortress.’

’These flattering words are best just heard and forgotten. It’s easy to kill someone with praise; if the target actually starts to believe it, they’ll pay a price in blood.’

"Everyone is assembled. Let’s move out," Knight Commander Elon ordered.

Robson had no issue with Knight Commander Elon giving the orders. After all, he was only the Commander-in-Chief in name; the real combat strength of this relief force was the Fengman Knight Order.

In fact, Robson was somewhat pleased. Elon proactively taking command showed that the Fengman Knight Order wasn’t here just to go through the motions.

Robson had complained about Valentino more than a few times in the past, but now that she was letting her own Knight Order charge at the vanguard, it proved she had at least a bit of a conscience.

A bit more than Robson, at least.

....

The column of troops charged out of the city gates, preparing to make a direct assault on the werewolf camp with the Fengman Knight Order at the lead.

There was no other choice. The sudden crisis at Qimo Fortress had caught Valentino completely off guard, and now they had to remedy the situation, regardless of the consequences.

Normally, everyone holed up behind the city walls to avoid being worn down by the goblins. The Beastmen’s tactics weren’t sophisticated; everyone knew exactly what they were trying to do.

Yesterday, they had been caught by surprise, not anticipating that the enemy possessed the Beast God’s Horn. Furthermore, only a portion of the North City nobles had attacked, and the Fengman Knight Order had only been focused on rescue, not on a life-or-death battle with the werewolves.

Today, Valentino had used various means to persuade most of the nobles of Mold Fortress. Defeating a disorderly mob would be no problem.

"Avenge our shame! In the name of the Knight King, charge!" Knight Commander Elon raised his lance high, and the morning sun glinted off its tip, creating quite a striking image.

"In His Majesty’s name!"

"Avenge our shame!"

The loudest shouts came from the North City nobles who had failed the day before. Their last expedition had earned them no honor and cost them all of their pride.

Robson let out a token shout before leading his own cavalry to follow behind the Fengman Knight Order.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to join the charge, but he was due to garrison Qimo Fortress soon—tomorrow at the earliest, within a few days at the latest.

Resupplying materials and reinforcing troops wouldn’t be so easy there. Qimo Fortress was nothing like Mold Castle.

Mold Castle was a port in its own right, with the Somme River connecting it to the Frankish Great Plains.

Qimo Fortress, on the other hand, was situated before Blue Scale Port. It was called a fortress, but it was more like a strategic pass responsible for guarding Blue Scale Port, relying on it entirely for transported supplies.

The problem was, Blue Scale Port itself wasn’t a major port. The main purpose of building a fortress there was simply to hold the line and prevent the Beastmen from attacking the vast territories in the rear.

’At that point, it won’t just be material supplies; getting Priests, Mages, and any Extraordinary support will also become a problem...’

Robson sighed inwardly at the thought. In the foreseeable future, he, Lord Robson, was probably going to be a poor man.

Still, he certainly had no regrets. If not for this opportunity, Robson would never have been able to obtain an army of several thousand soldiers all at once.

Besides, he didn’t even need to perform exceptionally well. As long as he wasn’t a complete disaster, this command would add a brilliant stroke to his career record.

In peacetime, his current speed of promotion would be utterly unthinkable.

"Charge!"

"Wash away our shame with blood!"

While Robson was lost in thought, the throng of nobles had already broken through the enemy’s camp.

The Beastmen’s defenses were practically nonexistent. The only thing capable of obstructing the Knight Order were the tents erected by the goblins; otherwise, the North City nobles wouldn’t have had such an easy time charging in yesterday.

Robson frowned, suspicion growing in his heart. ’Logically, after yesterday’s raid, the Beastmen should have been on guard. Things are progressing far too smoothly...’

"My lord! My lord! The camp ahead is empty! There are only some goblins who were left behind!"

Shortly after, a messenger galloped up, dispelling Robson’s doubts.

Elon frowned. He had personally experienced the power of the Beast God’s Horn yesterday. Even if it wasn’t the legendary treasure of the Beastman Royal Court, it had still driven wave after wave of goblins and werewolves to charge forward without fear of death.

He had no intention of sending his troops to their doom through his own negligence.

"Halt! Rear guard, hold your position! Vanguard and main force, pull back and withdraw from the enemy camp. Send a few men to scout ahead," Elon commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

Robson breathed an inward sigh of relief. He had been worried that Elon was a reckless brute who would put him in an awkward position where he could neither advance nor retreat.

The other nobles were all aware of the tragedy that occurred the day before, so naturally, none of them had any objections.

Before long, the cavalry sent to scout returned with news.

"My lord, the camp ahead contains only a group of half-dead goblins. There’s no sign of the werewolves. It seems they’ve withdrawn," the scout reported.

More and more intelligence trickled in, further confirming the initial report.

"What’s going on here?" Elon couldn’t make sense of it for a moment.

The half-dead goblins were easy enough to explain; they were likely the ones affected by the Beast God’s Horn yesterday.

The Beast God’s Horn was no holy relic, and the Beast God was not a benevolent deity. Everything came at a price. Generally, a goblin was completely spent after withstanding a single blast from the Beastman Horn’s power.

Saving them would require at least a full year of good food, drink, and convalescence. For those in command, it made more sense to raise more elites than to waste precious resources on goblins.

But for the werewolves to have fled as well... that was rather difficult to comprehend.

"I imagine the Beastman leader realized he was no match for us and chose to retreat the moment he saw the valiant warriors of the Knight Order. Now the siege of Mold Castle is lifted, and it is all thanks to the Earl’s brilliant judgment and the brave actions of all you lords," Robson said with a cheerful laugh.

’Who cares why they left?’ he thought. ’The fact is the werewolves have retreated and Mold Fortress has been relieved.’

’These werewolves were routed by the nobles of Mold less than two days after arriving. Isn’t this all due to the great merit of the Earl and the defending nobles?’ 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’The Earl is brilliant! The noble soldiers are valiant! What a great achievement! A truly great achievement!’

"The Earl must have foreseen this! The Earl is brilliant!"

"It seems yesterday’s operation dealt a heavy blow to these Beastmen..."

The other nobles caught on and began to shower praise upon the Earl and their colleagues. Some went so far as to drag out still-warm goblin corpses, claiming that they too had taken part in the fighting.

Who doesn’t love an easy opportunity to claim military honors?

Knight Commander Elon was a little bewildered, but he figured there was no harm in it. The road ahead was open plains, Kosen was still with Robson’s troops, and there was no possibility of an ambush from the Beastmen.

With that thought, Knight Commander Elon also began to smile.

"Not at all, not at all," he said. "If not for everyone’s efforts, it would have been for naught, even if the Earl had seen through the plans of these despicable Beastmen."