He's at the base of the wall before she's gotten very far, wielding that ridiculous sword and feeling naked despite it. He hasn't got the first clue what to do with a knife (beyond the obvious: stick them with the pointy end) and if it comes down to a sword fight between him and a few reasonably trained guards, Charlie suspects he'll come out on the losing end of that one in fairly short order.

So yeah, faster is better seeing as those guards are closing in fast, flanked by a few priests clearly bewildered and curious about the noise. If they don't get out of this soon, there'll doubtless be people waiting for them on the far side of the wall as well.

So he can't very well fight with the sword, but the moment she's far enough up the rope Charlie certainly throws it at the approaching guards. It doesn't do any damage save to slow them down by a few paces, but it gives him the opportunity to snatch the rope by both hands and haul himself up: scrambling madly up the side of the wall and chanting "Shit, shit, shit," as he goes.