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359 - - ascension to the peerage

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"Thank you, Leon. I knew you would say that."

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　I will establish the Kingdom of Fontana.

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　Immediately after I said this, Rion agreed to the idea after a short pondering look on his face.

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　It's rather surprising.

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　I thought that Rion, who had been active in the royal sphere until just a few days ago, would be a little more opposed to the idea, but he readily agreed to it, as if he had no idea what he was getting into.

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　Well, I am glad to hear that.

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"What are you going to do, Mr. Elance?"

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"...... Really, you can't be serious. You want to put Master Garrod on the throne?　How is that possible?"

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"Yes, we are serious, Mister Elance. The royal family is already powerless. But the royal family and their cronies have been plotting to strike a blow against Fontana under the guise of a royal decree. Or are you saying that it would have been better if Fontana had obeyed the royal order and been crushed?

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"No. No, it is not. But ......"

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"And this is a great opportunity for you, too."

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"Great opportunity?"

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"Yes. This is a unique opportunity for you and the other knights to become nobles.

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"...... nobility?　Me?"

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Yes. Of course. If Master Garrod ascends to the throne, it is only natural that the knights of Fontana, his direct subordinates, should become nobles who support the king. Now, by transforming Fontana into a kingdom, you will become a nobleman, Lord Elans."

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"Noble ......, I will be a nobleman, can I be a nobleman?"

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Yes. But, of course, you cannot be a nobleman obedient to the king if you oppose the founding of the kingdom. I ask you once again, Lord Elance. Are you going to throw away this opportunity?

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"No, no, but ......"

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Don't think too much about it. Bringing Fontana to the kingdom and making her a noblewoman will not change anything. You will only move up in rank. But between you and me, I would like you to be a special noble family, different from other knights.

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"A special noble family?　What's that?"

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"Nowadays the knights of Fontana are divided into two groups. Those like myself and Peacha who have their own lands but belong to the Fontana army. On the other hand, there are knights like Elance and Ghana, who have their own knighthood. In other words, Elans and Ghana have their own power that does not belong to the Fontana army. I am thinking of giving them the position of "Count of the Frontier".

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"Is a count on the frontier different from other noble families?"

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No, it's not. A count of the frontier will rule over the territory of the count of the frontier, a place that borders widely with the nobles of other countries. For this reason, in order to make them more responsive, we are considering giving them more discretionary power than the other noble families of Fontana. In other words, instead of ruling over difficult lands bordering other territories, you will be a noble family with a higher status than usual.

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"Oh. Does that mean it's more than your Barca territory?"

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"That may be so. After all, our knightly domain of Barca is small. Well, it may be hard to compare since I will be serving in my current position as a general. So, what will you do now, Mr. Elance? What is your reply?

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"Okay. I, too, am a member of a knightly family that has supported the House of Fontana since ancient times. That will not stop House Fontana from becoming king. Rather, I will continue to work for Master Garrod. Very well, I agree with the establishment of the kingdom and we will cooperate together.

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"Thank you, Sir Elance, Knight of Burma. Or perhaps I should call you "Count of the Frontier" from now on. Let's continue to work together for Master Garoad.

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　You're a man of merit, Elance.

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　I don't know what to do.

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　I've said something about a frontier count even though the shape of the kingdom hasn't been decided yet.

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　But that's okay.

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　Let's just give the carved-out territory of Khamas to Elance.

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　But instead of that, I'll ask Fontana to give back the original fief as a transfer from the current Burmese knight fief.

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　They will not complain if the size of the territory is expanded.

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　And just like that, I've made Ghana of the Ix family a frontier count as well.

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　Let's make some changes to our territory too.

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　The Valles knight's territory in Vargas is now in a position where it needs to be defended, but let's push it to Ghana.

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　Picha, though clearly upset, expressed his support for the establishment of the kingdom.

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　And the other knights have no choice but to go along since the main leaders have nodded their heads.

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　There are probably some concerns, and some feelings toward the royal family.

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　But they were all knights, not nobles.

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　If there had been men here from the direct lineage of the former House of Uruk or House Arbalest, they would have been more opposed to it.

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　But the most important thing in a knight's nature is the survival of his house and lands.

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　If they opposed to the royal family, they would be forcibly deprived of their position and lands by the powerful men at the head of the house.

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　In order to continue their own house, they have no choice but to follow the will of the Fontana family.

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　It is a good thing that the Fontana Charter has been drafted.

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　It is a summary of the rights and duties of the nobles, knights, and the subjects, but in essence, it is also a guarantee that the higher ups will not take things away from them without their permission.

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　The Charter of Fontana is still applied even if it becomes a kingdom.

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　It is necessary to change the relationship between nobles and knights to that between kings and nobles, but it has already been agreed that it will not be a system in which the top king can do whatever he wants.

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　In other words, the support for the founding of the kingdom came from the reassurance that even if Fontana becomes a kingdom, the actual situation will not change much from what it is now.

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"For the time being, I welcome the agreement of the leading knights on the establishment of the Kingdom of Fontana. But what are you going to do after this, Mr. Ars?　It would be a shock to all quarters to make Garod the new king. And of course the royal family will move against it. I have no doubt that they will order the nobles to take action against Fontana.

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"I agree with you, Leon. That's why we have to move quickly."

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"What do you mean?"

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If you want to shoot the general, shoot the horse first. I don't think we can negotiate with the Kings through messengers. So, I'm not aiming at the royal family, but at others."

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"Do you mean to say that in a battle you would go after the cavalryman and not the general?　In other words, you are not going after the royal families, but the Mementos and Reinzatz families who will actually fight?　But isn't it too hard even for Fontana's army to fight there?"

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"Yes. I mean, I didn't say we'd fight. We're going to negotiate. With salt."

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"Salt, sir?"

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Yes. I'm going to cast a spell to make salt in a hurry. And destroy the royal monopoly of the salt market. Rion, please make sure the royal family is happy about this for now.

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　The royal envoys have already been secured by the Byte brothers.

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　In other words, they will not return to King's Landing for a while.

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　So we can buy some time.

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　In the meantime, I explain to the royal family that it is taking time to negotiate with the emissaries, while negotiating with the other forces.

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　The reason why the royal family is still able to put on a big face and give orders to the other nobles is because they are monopolizing salt, which is essential for life.

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　But what if it is available elsewhere?

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　There is no reason for the great nobles to ally themselves with the royal family and become the hegemonic aristocracy.

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　Even if the royal family gives the order to defeat Fontana, there will be no need to obey it unconditionally.

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　Thus, I set to work on the magical spell culture of salt-making as soon as possible.

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