By morning, Hans had placed thirty-two markers across the salvaged manor door, each painted for a company, route, bell, or civilian boundary.
He stood at the registry table with charcoal covering three fingers and divided the western field loop into measured strips.
Lana copied every placement from the witness desk while Ash slept behind her beneath the same borrowed registry coat.
Outside, militia squads practiced leaving the western wall through separate lanes and carried shields without bunching beneath the narrow arch.
Hans drew another blue line before explaining the purpose of the exercise.
"A retreat arrives after the enemy chooses your direction," he said. "This plan is ground changing hands on our own schedule."
Hajin watched him set Dreth's main column beside the western orchard and surround it with markers representing no fighters at all.
