"Long time no see, Ragna. I pledge my loyalty to Carlos and warmly welcome him as a member of Fontana. Thank you in advance."
"Ah, you. No, let me call you Lord Ars. From now on, House Arbarest will work for Fontana. I will try not to defeat Lord Ars' Barca family."
"Yeah, let's do our best. But you've been through a lot. I was wondering if it would stick to the goal of paying back a little more compensation."
"I meant it at first. But I heard that after Lord Ares beat House Arbarest, House Menmen also took a blow. Once the matter with House Menmen is settled, Fontana's eyes will naturally turn again towards Arbarest. Then I thought I should make a decision right now."
Well, we're still fighting the Menmen.
"Hmm. I hear there's been a meeting between the Alliance of Three Nobles, but the Menmen still haven't received that information?
"No, not really. The Menmen leaders seem to have ordered the army to stop. That said, it didn't seem like it was going to be pulled up, so I put pressure on the Fontana territory to negotiate with Carlos."
"Negotiation. Are you asking what it looks like?
"Apparently, they're asking me to join forces with the Menmen and Fontana. It seems that among the three nobles, they support the Menmen as hegemonic nobles, and they want to walk together."
"Hmm. That hard-line mentor's attitude is quite soft. The defeat of the Balkans led the Fontana family, which I thought was small from the standpoint of the nobles, to see it as a fairly equal bargaining partner."
"But from the commanders on the ground, it doesn't seem like a very interesting policy. The ladder will be removed before being attacked by an ambush and fighting properly. Especially since some of the Menmen insist on attacking Fontana."
"I see. Well, I suppose so. Even though I lost my first fight, there are still a lot of them. But will Carlos accept the offer? Normally, you wouldn't want to join hands with a hostile mentor."
"Now, what are we going to do? What do you think of the Arbarest family, Lord Ragna?
I see. As Arbarest, I'd appreciate it if you could join hands with the Reinzats, not the Menmen. "
"Is this the Rheinzats? It is certainly a large aristocracy west of King's Landing. (iii) the most powerful of the aristocracy alliances."
"That's right. I think Fontana is probably the best person to team up with. And it's good for the Arbarest family."
"... I see. The Menmen are to the east, and the Rheinzats are to the west. Fontana has more merchants passing through Arbarest territory than Rheinzats to the west. Is it easy to regain vigour in Arbarest territory?"
"That's right, Ars. Anyway, Arbarest territory has dramatically reduced the number of people in the last few years. It takes time to recover."
"Ah... that's tough."
"Really. But with water luck, we can make a profit without having to take so many men."
"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you about Arbarest territory, but there are a lot of rivers there, right? What happens if we go further down that river? You're not from another noble kingdom, are you?
I see. Arbarest Territory is the last territory to be located in the northwest. Not beyond that. If we go further, the wetlands will continue. "
"Wetlands? Can't people live here?
"I can't. That's where monsters live, just like the northern Balkan forest. Once upon a time, the ancestors of the House of Arbarest tried and failed."
I reunited with Ragna, the owner of the Arbarest family, who became part of Fontana.
Previously, it was an Arbarest family as a noble family, but from now on it will be positioned as a knight in the Fontana family.
It would be unacceptable if it had originally reigned as a noble family.
But if we surrender to Fontana now and go down to the gate, we will relieve the existing territory.
I'm sure you want to do something about it.
Such a Ragna came to the outpost for the Menmen.
I'm guessing Carlos is packing this position right now.
I will talk lightly because I also met him there.
In addition to the story about the alliance of the three nobles, I also wanted to ask about Arbarest territory, so I asked a little.
The Arbarest realm has rivers flowing from several aristocratic realms, even large enough to float a large number of ships.
The river can carry a lot of luggage and bring it to Fontana.
But what happens if you go further down the river?
I heard that there were no other noble territories.
Furthermore, there is not another country, nor are people living in it.
They say there's a vast wetland where monsters hang out.
Dangerous monsters are creeping up and preventing people from entering.
For this reason, it seems that the Arbarest family has a history of continuing to fail to expand their territory, just as the former Fontana failed to exploit the forest.
"But you had a chance to know that even if you were in Fontana? Do you really want to hear something else?
"You're sharp. Now let me ask you a straightforward question. Is it the material of thunderbolt sword? Was it made of materials that can be harvested in Arbarest territory or in the wetlands just now?
"I heard that Ars is keen to develop magic weapons, but are you interested in thunder swords?"
"Well, I guess so. It generates electricity through magic. It's very valuable."
"Surely no magical sword is as user-friendly as a thunderbolt sword. That'll wipe out a lot of enemies in one stroke. Very well. As a knight of the same Fontana, I might as well teach Lord Ars."
In this way, I was able to find out from Ragna about the monster materials used in the thunderbolt sword.
We've approved a reduction in the amount of compensation as an information fee, but if we get it right, we'll get it back.
I decided to go to the wetlands after this battle.