Robson frowned as he watched the battle from a distance.
He hadn't expected Noah Viscount to charge over and provide tactical "support."
If this were his past life, Robson wouldn't have been surprised at all to find someone whose shamelessness could rival his own.
But this was the Frank Kingdom, and influenced by his body's previous owner, even Robson felt a bit too embarrassed to snatch military merit.
'It seems I'm still too concerned with face.'
"Everyone, advance slowly," Robson ordered.
Even though Noah Viscount was here to steal the credit, on the surface, at least, the man was still here to support him.
Besides, Noah Viscount had acted in bad faith, stealing the military achievements of a mere second son of a minor noble. And now, that same noble's son had unexpectedly set aside old grievances to generously save him.
What a wonderful topic for public opinion!
Of course, rescuing was one thing, but whether he could actually be saved was another matter entirely.
You couldn't expect a group of humans to outrun Gnolls, could you?
A sound of thundering hooves came from behind.
"For the Frank Kingdom! For the Lord of Dawn!"
Count Offman led the charge, channeling the aura of a Golden Knight as he led over a hundred Extraordinary Knights in a fierce assault against the Gnolls.
The brawny northern Frankish horses plowed into the crowd, and the scene immediately filled with all kinds of wretched screams.
Count Offman was already charging downhill. On top of that, some of their horses had demonic beast bloodlines. In an instant, dozens more corpses littered the battlefield, red and white matter flying through the air.
Robson's brain short-circuited. 'This isn't a game, there's no friendly-fire detection. Charging straight in like that means the ones getting hurt aren't just the Gnolls.'
A group of Knights, shouting "For the Lord of Dawn," charged in and slaughtered a large number of their own people.
'Is this reasonable? Did you even ask the Lord of Dawn what he thinks about it?'
The moment Count Offman entered the battlefield, the horde of Gnolls broke and fled.
If the 200 Bloodthirsty Jackal Wolfmen had charged at the very beginning, Count Offman might have found it a bit tricky. But now, after being pinned down by Robson and then choosing to get mixed up in a melee with humans, they were naturally routed by the Count in no time.
It was just that the scene of the battle was a bit hard to look at...
Before, when Robson used his archers to shoot the Gnolls, at most it just poked some holes in them.
A Knight's killing power wasn't necessarily much higher than an arrow's, but the visual effects were definitely far beyond what an arrow could produce.
The ground was awash with blood, and paste-like flesh was scattered everywhere. For a moment, it was impossible to tell what was human and what was Gnoll.
Robson used all his strength to somehow suppress the urge to vomit. It was the first time he had ever seen what it meant for the earth to be soaked in blood.
"Not bad. This is all normal for your first time on the battlefield." At that moment, Count Offman walked over, patting Robson's shoulder and back with a gratified expression.
This young man and his troops had performed far beyond his expectations.
From the moment Robson's troops fired a volley from 150 paces, his surprise had never ceased.
Never mind the volley—how many troops in the entire Frank Kingdom could even shoot from 150 paces?
And then, seeing the scene of Robson fighting Ode, he became certain that this young man was extraordinary.
He had seen it clearly at the time: Robson's Knight Eight Skills had reached a state of perfection.
Although Count Offman used his own family's ancestral, improved version of the Knight Eight Skills, he knew full well that for any Knight, the Knight Eight Skills were the foundation of all martial arts!
Nearly all Knight martial arts in the Human World were based on the Knight Eight Skills.
That was why he hadn't ordered an attack the entire time, choosing instead to leave all the merit to this young man.
Until Noah Viscount launched his attack...
Robson took a moment to recover, then quickly wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm fine, my lord. Is Noah Viscount safe?" Robson asked, his face full of concern.
Now that he had his wits about him, he naturally wouldn't pass up any opportunity to leave a good impression on his superior.
"Alas, he was carried off by the Gnolls. Let's head back for now," Count Offman sighed. Inwardly, however, he gave Robson quite a few bonus points for caring about his colleague.
"Ah? That's truly unfortunate," Robson said, sighing along with him. He didn't say more. As an old hand at office politics, he knew that overacting could be counterproductive; it was best to stop while he was ahead.
"We're going to try and rescue him first. You should take your soldiers back and rest," said Count Offman.
"Yes, my lord," Robson replied.
He couldn't wait to find a place to upgrade all his soldiers. He had earned a ton of experience from that last wave! He estimated he could get quite a few Tier Four Frank Skilled Shooters out of this.
Count Offman nodded, swung himself onto his horse, and began issuing orders to the Knight Officers around him.
...
Robson led his army back to their encampment.
It could only be said that you could never forge a true army without sending it to the battlefield.
After experiencing a battle of blood and fire, Robson's army had changed, however slightly.
Although the horde of Gnolls had never even reached Robson's army, having been essentially wiped out on the way, the trial a battlefield of life and death presented to a soldier was immense. After experiencing it once, a qualitative change was only natural.
Now, when Robson's soldiers marched, they exuded an indescribable, bloodthirsty aura.
After returning to camp, many Knight Barons he didn't know came to visit, wanting to ask for his secrets to training soldiers.
Robson would reply to them all with a smile, mostly avoiding their questions or giving vague answers.
'Training soldiers? What do I know about training soldiers? It's all thanks to the Mount & Blade panel.' Robson was well aware of his own capabilities. Screwing someone else over was a minor issue, but the most important thing was not to ruin the reputation of Lord Robson.
Fortunately, these visitors didn't really expect to learn anything; most of them were just coming over to make friends and get their faces known. In this day and age, who wouldn't keep their family's secret techniques well hidden?
After seeing off a batch of "long-lost friends" who had mysteriously appeared, Robson finally found a moment to take stock of his gains.
"[Host: Robson Odogin (Fourth-rank Silver Knight 23/1000 (No Title))]"
"[Hero: None]"
"[Skills: Perfect.Knight Eight Skills (299/1000)
Entry.Bloodburn (0/100) +]"
"[Soldiers: Tier Three.298 Frankish Infantry (+21 Upgradable)
Tier Three.200 Frankish Archer+ (80 Upgradable)]"
"[Morale: 80/100]"
"[Unit Cap: 1000]"
The archers were the ones who had truly shone just now, so they received the lion's share of the experience. The infantry got very little. As for the infantrymen who died, they were killed off-handedly by the Gnolls when they charged over.
One could only say that this was the gap between mortals and Transcendents.
Without hesitation, Robson immediately upgraded the Frankish Archers to Frank Skilled Shooters, turning the Tier Three soldiers directly into Tier Four.
Robson couldn't help but feel a little excited. 'If Tier Three soldiers are already this powerful, how ridiculously overpowered would Tier Four soldiers be?' Robson didn't dare to imagine.
Another small gain was his own experience points. As expected, actual combat was the best teacher. Compared to the tiny bit of experience gained from slow practice, this kind of rapid advancement was much more to Robson's liking.
'Looks like this system wants me to be a War Fanatic...'
"[Host: Robson Odogin (Fourth-rank Silver Knight 23/1000 (No Title))]"
"[Hero: None]"
"[Skills: Perfect.Knight Eight Skills (299/1000)
Entry.Bloodburn (0/100)]"
"[Soldiers: Tier Three.277 Frankish Infantry (0/1000)
Tier Three.120 Frankish Archer (0/1000)
Tier Four.21 Frank Skilled Infantry (0/2000)
Tier Four.80 Frank Skilled Shooter (0/2000)]"
"[Morale: 80/100]"
"[Unit Cap: 1000]"
Robson looked at the panel with satisfaction. This feeling of watching his soldiers get promoted one by one after an upgrade was truly gratifying.
Robson's satisfaction didn't last long. Ed burst through the door, his face a mask of panic, looking completely distraught.
"Robson, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"