The sky was getting darker, and the sunset over the sea was always a sight to behold—sparkling sponges, warm reds, and dazzling rainbows, and the flaming goshawk flags fluttering in the evening breeze seemed to be much more tired, and gradually sank, no longer waving in the wind as it did during the day.

Standing on the city wall, Edward was still wearing the white cloak of the Knights, looking at the seemingly distant horizon, and his right hand on the wall kept beating, as if waiting for something to appear.

"Adjutant General Edward, tonight's patrol and the soldiers on the beach have been arranged. Blake Hubble, a resolute-faced knight of the sacred tree, came up from the stairs beside him, and his voice and footsteps could be heard from afar: "Are you going to take another look—if anything special is to be arranged?"

"No, I think it should be quite reasonable - you are the most experienced warrior among us, Sir Black, and no one will raise any objection to you. Edward smiled and replied, "Even if I were to come, I would not dare to claim to know more about this than you do." ”

"Are you waiting for someone?" said Sir Black, who did not say anything more, but looked at him with some doubt, "you have been here for almost a quarter of an hour, and I have heard that your maid is probably here." ”

"My dear Angela is really ......"

"Please don't blame her, I asked her to say it. Blake paused and said, "I'm just a little confused why you didn't arrange the daily drills of the soldiers and the defense of the castle. ”

"It's been almost a week since my squires left Fort Hague, and if all goes well, they should have come back a long time ago, or on their way back. Edward pointed to the distant horizon: "If you don't come after tonight, it means that something may be wrong - and at the same time, you have lost a warship, and you don't even have a chance to report to the expeditionary force for help on the way back." ”

"I don't think you have to worry about such a thing, for the Dominic fleet is still far east, and the port of The Hague is not even a two-day voyage from Fort Horn—and even if they did have some arrogant enemy to attack us, they would not dare to do anything in the port of The Hague, where the whole army of the South is gathered. ”

After thinking about it, Blake Hubble shook his head, obviously not quite convinced. Then he looked at Edward with a somewhat hesitant expression: "There is another matter, I want to discuss it with you." ”

"Before I arrived, I heard from a few Legionnaires that you had given all of your captured Crow mercenaries to Captain Shirell Lytrunk of the Silver Blood Mercenaries, and allowed her to choose the positions she would fight at will, and arrange her manpower - perhaps you could explain why. ”

"What you want from me is not an explanation, but why I trust my dear Miss Shirrell so much. Edward smiled, "I beg your pardon if I'm wrong, for I can't think of any other reason, respected Blake Hubble." ”

"You're right, I do wonder why you trust her so much?" Blake Hubble admitted, "She's pretty good-looking, and that's nothing - a stereotypical Easterner might find a pretty woman untrustworthy, but I'm not so stubborn, and it's not surprising that you're young." ”

"You think I'm in love with Miss Shirrell - I think she's starting to hate me as a ruthless bastard. Edward grinned, "But the way it goes is - she's one of the few experienced warriors we have here, and she's loyal to her, and knows how to command mercenaries better than we do." ”

"Even so, she is a mercenary, and people who fight for money are not trustworthy at all!" Blake Hubble did not hide his contempt and disgust, and said very bluntly: "She will join us for money, she will fight for others for more money, and even betray us!"

"Maybe she can still maintain her so-called 'loyalty' now, but when the enemy attacks and Fort Clarion is besieged, how loyal will she be?

"They're back. Suddenly, Blake, who was about to convince him completely, was stunned, and in the direction Edward pointed, a battleship with white sails in the setting sun appeared on the water, and in the distance, the flaming goshawk flag fluttering on the ship seemed to be waving at them.

"Let the soldiers open the gates, and then prepare the wagons and men to carry the ship's supplies into the castle - I will also go to meet the heroes. Edward smiled, "As for Miss Shirrell, let's discuss it in two days, what do you say?"

"You're right. Sir Black nodded silently, gave Edward a deep look, and hurried down the tower to prepare—for the conscientious Knights of the Sacred Tree, it was far more important to accomplish his task than to talk about such things.

In the courtyard of Fort Clarrum, the soldiers who had just finished their training and changing of the guard gathered around happily as crates of cargo were brought into the castle by flatbed carts and pack horses—boxes and boxes of new swords and shields, sophisticated ballistas, and sharp iron arrows.

In addition to such important grains as wheat and bacon purchased from the port of The Hague, there was also a number of local specialties of pear wine, which the people of The Hague Fort had always been very proud of, and many of the soldiers could not help but cheer at the sight of the clear, fruity, sweet wine.

Apparently little Goodwin knew the likes of these soldiers - whether on the dry sea or in the castle, wine was always the better thing to keep the morale of these men alive than food.

Edward also announced in public at the right time that he would bring out a few barrels of wine tonight to reward the soldiers who had been working hard since the capture of Hornfort, and this order was immediately supported by everyone in the castle, especially the mercenaries of the two mercenary groups of Silver Blood and Black Crow, these knife-licking traders love wine more than everyone else.

But for the sailors who had just returned from The Hague with little Goodwin, there was a little silence - before they could anchor, little Goodwin had the sailors clean the deck without leaving any traces, so that no soldier in the castle knew what was about to happen except them.

"You're doing a very good job, my little squire. In the quiet inner castle lord's bedroom, only Edward and little Goodwin, as well as Shirell and Blake, were there, and even the little maid Angela was "appointed" by Edward to stand guard at the door, and no one was allowed to enter.

Edward was well aware that once there was information that an entire legion was about to attack Hornfort, as soon as it was circulated as gossip, panic and confusion would inevitably occur in the castle - this kind of thing had to be contained and announced at the right time in order to minimize the danger and avoid a situation where the battle had not even begun.

As for throwing away a lot of supplies in order to get rid of the enemy, Edward didn't even ask a few more questions - the importance of this information alone was far higher than the value of those goods, and since he chose to believe little Goodwin, Edward would not think about whether it was appropriate to do so, not to mention that his squire had already completed his mission.

"How soon will they be back?"

"Tomorrow at the earliest, the day after tomorrow at the latest. Little Goodwin's expression was not pleasant, either: "They don't seem to be in a hurry to attack Fort Clarife, they just chase us for a while and then slow down, presumably to frighten us." ”

"Then we have to start preparing tonight. Edward nodded silently, "He's going to make us beat all night, I can't let these people get their wish!"