"Arus-sama, are you really going to summarize this story?
"Oh, yes, Paine. You go negotiate. In this situation, there's a chance that the story will come together."
"... I see. Let's be sure to achieve results. Wait and see, Ars."
"Please, Paine."
Rion, who survived the raid, brilliantly summarized the alliance between the aristocrats Risolte and Fontana in the south.
When the information was undoubtedly passed on to the other nobles, I decided to take another hand.
This time, we will send out the pane as a messenger to make the solution a reality.
My next move wasn't that special.
It was to negotiate with the Menmen, the family of the Alliance of Three Nobles.
In other words, they decided to reconcile themselves with the Menmen currently watching in the southern part of Fort Eindrad.
The Menmen sent an army to Fontana to secure the king's identity.
But it ended in failure.
I burned down the food and Kyle beat me to the top in the battlefield.
Further misfortune struck the Menmen who had stayed in disregard of the subsequent military moratorium.
The night raid by the Barca Cavalry once again hit one of the leading players.
Speaking of momentum alone, the Fontana side might win with some mistake.
It is true that such an atmosphere prevailed only for a moment.
But that kind of thing sprayed away in no time.
By the death of Carlos, who was escorting the king.
In the wake of a distant incident, I had to separate parts of the Balkan army and act.
In doing so, the three original positions were perfectly in line.
The Balkans were able to transmit information unusually quickly due to Kyle's [memoirs]. Based on the information of Carlos' death, they immediately pulled a portion of the army from their position and went elsewhere.
But the relative Menmen aren't.
Suddenly the breakdown of the troops in the three positions changed, but I had no idea why.
But that's why the Menmen have just disappeared.
And the hardliners who wanted to fight the most are gone.
As a result, the Menmen chose the negative solution of lowering their positions once and for all to see where they came from.
As a result, I was in the position of acting for the Fontana family, and while Valgas had enough time to acquire Arbarest territory, there was little fighting between the confronting Fontana and the Menmen.
Thus, the Menmen who are now staying in the land also received information from afar.
In other words, he found out that the king who was heading for King's Landing was dead.
This means a lot.
After all, the original aim of the Menmen was to secure the king's identity, and neither to defeat Fontana nor to gain Fontana territory.
Now, the Menmen had lost sight of their purpose and were in a state of wandering.
This moment is a chance.
That's what I decided to do right away.
We acted with the aim of negotiating with the Menmen.
The Menmen and Fontana entered the battle temporarily in conflict, but this is not an absolute necessity.
The Menmen wanted to acquire the status of king only to ascend to hegemonic nobility, and they sent soldiers to Fontana to do so.
On the other hand, the Fontana side does not want to fight any more.
Anyway, there's nothing to gain from beating the Menmen who attacked us.
I was attacked, so I just moved to repel, and if the battle is over, that's the best part.
But that's why the Menmen won't hear us say, "We don't have to fight each other anymore."
No one wants to return to the Menmen territory because of the fact that two of the main classes were defeated without fulfilling their core purpose.
That's why they needed something to handle.
"That's why you're giving in too much, kid? In its current state, Paine really wants to talk to the Menmen on those terms?
"Don't worry, old man. If that's how it ends."
"... I'll ask you again, are you sure? We're going to be selling wheat cheaply for the next few years just to install a truce with House Menmen. Do we have to go that far?
"Of course I do. The Menmen will cease fire, even if they make a contract that will hurt them. Otherwise, Fontana has no future."
"But you're dealing with the family of those three aristocracy alliances? They could have attacked the King or Carlos. I don't know what the kid thinks about selling wheat to someone like that for a very cheap price."
I was dropping off Paine as a messenger, and the old man who was there talked to me.
Looks like you're not quite convinced about this.
I thought this was the right time to negotiate with the Menmen, and I had Paine come up with a compromise to close the story.
That is the cheap sale of wheat that the old man is worried about.
Once the terms contained in the proposed concession are in place, Fontana will have to sell the wheat at a much lower price to the Menmen over the next few years.
Wheat is a tax.
For many nobles, the meaning of having a territory is to have the right to collect taxes from those who live in it, which is to say, to collect harvested wheat.
In other words, the concession I have prepared means that the tax that can be collected in Fontana territory will be passed on to the Menmen at a terribly low price.
Some people may think it's like submitting to the Menmen.
"But this is also a necessary deal. If you don't do this, Fontana will dry up."
"Are you going to dry up, Fontana? What do you mean, boy?"
"... so far, we don't know who attacked Carlos. But I think it's probably somewhere in the Three Nobles. But not the Menmen. House Menmen demanded to be king. I feel uncomfortable thinking that the Menmen attacked because Carlos did not hesitate to kill the king."
"... I mean, do you think the boy attacked one of the remaining two houses of the three nobles?
"That's right. And apart from that, there's one more thing I need to think about. What do you got, old man?
"Fontana dries up... Well, it's a trade issue."
"That's right. Fontana, and hence Barca, is a territory that has grown through trade. What was made in Fontana territory was taken south by merchants and sold, and from the profits they earned, they now bought goods such as the Wang Metropolitan Area and transported them north for profit. In other words, even if the Alliance of the Three Nobles doesn't attack together, just stopping the caravan heading north could put Fontana in financial danger."
"You're worried that the Alliance of the Three Nobles will be aiming to economically seal off Fontana at the far north?
"That's right. I have no connection with any other aristocrats who acted on Fontana's behalf. There is a possibility that the village will be divided among the nobles. That's why I want to make an economic connection with the Menmen in order to get ahead and break the economic blockade."
"But how much can the Menmen trust? If you attack me with the food I bought from Fontana, it won't be funny.
"Probably not. The purpose of the House of Menmen is simply to be a hegemonic nobleman. I have to see two aristocracy in my Alliance rather than Fontana herself. And perhaps the House of Menmen will not gain hegemony at the meeting of the Trinity Alliance. Then, the time will surely come for the three nobles to fight each other. Even for the Menmen, the conditions for buying large quantities of food cheaply can be an attractive proposition. I think it will be a track record that we can report to the Territory as a result of moving the army."
Above all, it's important to Fontana today.
It means that the Alliance of the Three Nobles will unite their will and deal with Fontana.
Out if an Alliance of the Three Nobles can join forces and send troops north to attack.
In contrast, the risk is reduced by joining hands with the former hegemonic Risolte family in the south.
And we need to think about the economic tightening that the Alliance of the Three Nobles is going to do against Fontana, not the fight.
It is very troublesome if the product is not brought as before.
That's why I wanted to keep the deal with the Menmen going, even if I was prepared for a small loss to prevent it.
And if you use the magic of [leveling] and [farmland improvement], you can increase the yield even more.
It shouldn't be that devastating.
Thus, I decided to unite with the Menmen army by positioning Fontana's survival strategy to remain economically connected with the Menmen while teaming up with the Risolte family.