Lord: I can see loyalty.

Cavill Fortress, inner city.

Flynn struggled to open his heavy eyelids, his consciousness somewhat hazy. He managed to make out the low stone ceiling; this was no longer a battlefield.

"Flynn...you're awake?!" A familiar voice rang in my ears.

Flynn stiffly turned his neck. His wife, Arya, was looking down at him, her once beautiful face pale and thin, her pupils bloodshot.

Closely beside her were their seven-year-old son, Tom, and five-year-old daughter, Lina.

"Arya... Tom... Lina..." His voice was hoarse, "Where...where are you?"

"You were in the inner city... This is the last medical station in the city." Arya wiped away her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand and pointed to the dejected knights beside her: "You fainted on the battlefield, and it was Lord Lisanka who ordered them to carry you back from the city gate."

Lord Lisanka.

"Where is the commander?" Upon hearing this name, Flynn tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through his body, and he fell back down heavily.

Arya and the children hurriedly helped him up, while the knights nearby looked even more somber after hearing Flynn's words. "Flynn..."

One of the knights finally spoke: "Commander Lisanka, he has fallen in battle."

Despite having the worst premonition, Flynn still couldn't believe it after hearing it with his own ears: the commander who had led them to countless victories... was dead?

"That wolf..." he practically spat out the words, "Where is that wolf, Malankik?"

"That wolf retreated." The answer came from a knight with both legs missing. His voice was hoarse. "Not long after killing the leader, there seemed to be some signal coming from the bandit group. The wolf then led his men back to Valley City. Nobody knows why."

They retreated? Flynn was stunned. Having gained such an advantage, they chose to retreat?

But he soon lowered his head again. The morale of the fortress garrison had collapsed, and their forces were almost depleted.

What else could they possibly hope for? Count Felix?

Flynn remained silent for a long time, looking at Arya's tired eyes and the lingering fear in the children's eyes, as if he had thought of something.

"Arya," he whispered, gripping his wife's cold hand tightly, "take me outside..."

Although Aria was surprised, she still helped him to the corridor, where Flynn said in a deep voice, "Listen to me, darling, we need to leave here."

Arya looked up abruptly, a look of astonishment flashing in her eyes: "But your injuries... and outside..."

"This injury won't kill me," Flynn interrupted her, squeezing her hand tightly. "But if we stay here, and that wolf comes back again, or the fortress collapses from the inside, we'll definitely die. We have to leave while we still have a chance."

He asked Arya to help him sit up slightly, and, enduring the excruciating pain, quickly surveyed his surroundings.

This is the inner city of the fortress, but it is now in disarray and has few guards left.

"Go find some civilian clothes, the more worn the better, and disguise us as civilians fleeing the disaster." He thought quickly: "Tom, Lina, remember, from now on, we are people who have fled from the outer city. Dad is injured, and we need to find our relatives now."

Then he looked at his son and said, "Don't say another word, especially you, Tom. No matter what you see, keep your mouth shut."

The two children nodded, looking bewildered. Aria didn't question them further, but simply wiped away her tears and quickly got to work.

She quickly traded some musty-smelling cloaks and clothes from the group of real refugees.

Flynn also struggled to remove his tattered knight's robe and put on refugee-like clothes. One of his arms was still wounded and could only be slinged across his chest with a cloth strip, which ironically became the perfect disguise.

The next step is the most crucial one: leaving the city.

Although the fortress is now crumbling, it has not completely lost its order, especially at the city gates, where soldiers are still loyally guarding the gates.

Flynn vaguely recalled that among the guards at the west gate was one of his soldiers who had received favors from him and was relatively well-behaved.

With Arya's help, he took the child and pretended to be in great pain and in a hurry to leave the city to find medicine, and arrived near the relatively deserted West Gate.

Flynn had Arya and the child pretend to rest in a corner, while he seized the opportunity to approach a guard who was inspecting passing carriages.

"Hank." He lowered his body and wearily called out the other person's name.

Hank, the guard, stiffened and turned around warily, only to see the familiar face hidden beneath the disguise: "Captain Flynn? What are you...?"

"Hank, make a long story short," Flynn leaned closer and quickly stuffed a small purse into the other's hand. "Remember, I'm sick, there's no hope in the city, I need to take my family out to find a way to survive, please help me."

Hank clutched the money pouch, his gaze sweeping over Aria and the children huddled in the distance, then down to Flynn's sling arm and grim face.

He understood that Flynn had been seriously injured at the main gate and was also aware of the fortress's current state. After a few seconds of silence, he quickly put away the money bag and whispered, "Captain, take care. Follow the next carriage leaving the city, and don't look up."

That's enough! Flynn's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, eased slightly. He patted Hank on the shoulder, then returned to his family and whispered a few words to them.

Soon, a slowly moving carriage, led by several soldiers, approached the city gate. Hank gave it a perfunctory inspection and waved it through.

Flynn quickly gestured for his family to follow. They mingled at the back of the carriage, heads down, close together, as they walked out.

His heart pounded with each step he took, until he was about to walk out of the city gate.

Just then, the carriage window was opened, and a head popped out, whispering a few words to the guards in front.

Flynn glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and then shuddered.

It's Earl Felix!

The high and mighty lord was not wearing his usual gold-patterned cotton robe, but only an ordinary overcoat, his hair disheveled and his eyes unfocused.

Flynn was so frightened that he immediately lowered his head, held his breath, and pulled the children behind him, afraid of being recognized.

He had even prepared for the worst—if the count discovered them, then...

But nothing happened.

The count turned around and glanced at them blankly before returning to the carriage, seemingly not recognizing Flynn at all.

Flynn breathed a sigh of relief and didn't linger. He simply put his arm around his family and quickened his pace to follow the carriage, finally leaving Carville Fortress.

"Let's go." Flynn led his family and ran quickly towards the other side of Valley City, enduring the pain of his wounds without stopping. He gripped Arya's cold hand tightly and said to the children:

"Go. Don't stop."