The gate was in such a bad condition that the other soldiers decided to open the main gate.

The large gate could not be opened by one or two people.
It took about 20 men to pull out the large, heavy bolts and push open the iron door with many men.

Immediately, many soldiers rushed out and ran in the direction of the Empire.

It took three days to reach the nearest imperial village by wagon.
It would take ten days on foot.
Then we'll need food and water to get there.

And so it was with Rudolph, who fled on horseback instead of in a carriage.

A wagon would have been loaded with food, but Rudolph was more concerned with speed.
He wanted to get out of this fort anyway.
More than time to load up.

Once in the direction of the Empire, he detoured to a village in the Kingdom.

A few Imperial troops appeared in a village on the outskirts of Westin territory.

Their goal was food. However, the food situation in the village was bad, there was not much stockpiled, and the peddlers were not scheduled to arrive until tomorrow, the worst possible time. If they had a cart, they would have taken it, but they did not even have a horse.
We scavenged food from the unresisting villagers, but..,

'Your Highness, there's nothing to eat. We have little food, not even a cart.'
Upon hearing the report, Rudolph said,
'Is there still a village nearby? He asked,
'About half a day's ride away.
He thought about it.

The food they took was enough for about two days. We could go further into the kingdom and look for more food, or we could cut back and run back to the empire.
'It's no use, we'll cut and run. Returning to the Empire is our first priority. We can look for something in the forest on the way.'



Between the speed of the wagon and running with just the horses, running with just the horses is faster by far.
The rebel lords and imperial leaders who fled in the wagon were all captured.
Rudolf's choice was the right one.

'All that's left is the Imperial Highness.
Lieutenant General Simon regretted that he had let the ringleader escape this time.