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After making peace, Memento's army is turning back to their own territory.
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This should be a relief for now.
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It is not impossible that Memento's army will rush back again now, but that would be a risk for them.
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The unnecessary expense and the violation of the ceasefire agreement could be detrimental to the ongoing discussions at the meeting of the three noble alliances.
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In the meantime, I'll have a guard posted in position to deal with Memento's army.
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It would also be important to keep an eye on the west.
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We need to know if the army will come by way of the river and if the remnants of the Arbalest family will go on a rampage.
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Well, we can leave that to Vargas and Ghana.
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What we need to think about more is the future.
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Winter will be here in a while.
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Then the snow will fall and people will not come and go.
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Naturally, the army will not be able to move, and Fontana will be safe for the time being.
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However, this snow protection will not last forever.
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Eventually winter will end, the snow will melt, and spring will arrive.
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At that time, we must be strong enough to fend off to some extent the stares of the three noble alliances.
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We will gain strength.
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That does not mean that I must train to become stronger.
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In this case, power is the power of Fontana as a territory.
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But this is a very difficult problem.
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The Fontana is a rather complicated territory.
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The Fontana family has the Fontana Domain, a territory that has been cut off and absorbed from the former territories of Uruk and Arbalest.
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However, as acting head of the Fontana family, I am not free to manage the entire Fontana territory at will.
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In the city of Fontana, I sit in a chair in the office of Carlos' castle and sip a hot drink as I exhale.
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I sipped a hot drink and decided to go over all the details of the Fontana territory in my mind once again.
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* * * *
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The current Fontana Territory refers to the lands of the former Fontana Territory, the former Uruk Territory, and the former Arbalest Territory, which were combined.
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The lord of this Fontana territory is Garrod, the child of the late Carlos.
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However, Garoad is still too young to serve in government.
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Therefore, we need someone to run the government in his place.
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I have slipped into the position of acting head of the family.
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This happened because I got the information of Carlos's death before anyone else, and because I acted before anyone else.
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To tell the truth, this was a paper-breaking that should not have been possible.
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Because even though Carlos was dead, there were still people who had worked with him as his direct subordinates in the city of Fontana.
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Under normal circumstances, it would be preferable to send out someone from among those who had worked with Carlos to take over Carlos's job.
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However, I seized Garrod and forced my way into the position of acting head of the company.
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Well, I am married to Carlos' half-sister and brother, Lilina, so I am related to her, and I have a good track record in the Fontana territory.
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There may be some who are dissatisfied, but at least on the surface, they continue to work according to my instructions.
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In that sense, I can say that I have replaced Carlos who was the leader of the Fontana.
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However, there are some things that even Carlos cannot do regarding the territory.
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It was because of the relationship between the head and the knight.
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There is the Fontana domain, and the head of the Fontana family unites it, but in reality there are several knightly domains within it.
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For example, the knighthood of Barca when Carlos was alive, the knighthood of Einrad of Picha, the knighthood of Ix of Ghana, and so on.
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The head of a fief could give orders to the knights in his fief.
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However, the knight who governs the land has his own discretion on how to manage his domain.
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The knight ruling each knight's domain is free to decide what areas to cultivate and increase the number of fields in his domain, or what taxes to order the common people to pay, etc.
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Even the head of the Fontana family cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the knight's domain.
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No, they might be able to do so if they wanted to, but there is a possibility that a dissatisfied knight might start a rebellion in the Fontana territory or try to secede from the Fontana.
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Therefore, in general, the head of the house has only enough power to order the knights to pay taxes to the Fontana and to mobilize the army in case of emergency.
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In short, the head of the Fontana family has surprisingly little power.
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And moreover, I, as the acting head of the family, have more power than before, but I have not become a dictator who can do anything.
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If I act too recklessly in order to protect the Fontana, there will be those who will oppose me, and the Fontana may fall apart from there.
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However, Carlos had thought about this and had taken steps to deal with the situation.
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Especially Carlos, who had suddenly united the territory after Raymond's sudden death, was trying to make Carlos, the head of the family, more powerful.
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He confiscated the fiefs of knights who had once been Raymond's faction and had acted as anti-Carlos, and placed many of them under the direct control of the House of Fontana.
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Furthermore, he ordered the families of the knights who governed the various knightly territories to move to the city of Fontana.
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For many knights, the children who were forced to live in the city of Fontana had a value as hostages, although they could abandon their wives and children if the need arose.
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Because it is often the eldest son who lives in the city of Fontana who inherits the magical path of the knight when he dies.
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I was able to take over such a legacy from Carlos on behalf of Garoad.
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As acting head of the Fontana family, I am free to take charge of the territory under the direct control of the Fontana family.
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In contrast, each knighthood can be ordered in its own way as long as the orders are not unreasonable.
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Then let us do what we have not been able to do so far.
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Something that Ars von Barca, as head of the Knight's Domain of Barca, could not do, but that Ars von Barca, as acting head of the House of Fontana, could do.
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Thus I have decided to start a new course of action before winter.
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I will make the Fontana stronger in order to protect it and thus my own safety.
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I have decided to implement a policy for this purpose.
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