Read I Was Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in a Different World, so I Decided to Make Bricks to Build a Castle

366 - - the course of the times

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"A quarter of a million of the nobles' allied forces set out to conquer the House of Fontana. They are fewer in number than expected, but we'll see what happens. ......"

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　He muttered to himself as he looked at a parchment with this information on it in his residence in the royal capital.

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　Since then, the king's cronies have put me under house arrest for being blamed for the death of the previous king.

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　I don't intend to stay like this, but I may have to lay low for a while.

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　With a deep sigh, I take another look at the information that has come to me.

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　By royal decree issued by King Dorren, an army has been sent north to conquer Fontana.

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　The number of the army seems to be about 250,000.

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　To be honest, I would say that this number is a little low.

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　The reason is obvious.

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　Even though the royal family ordered all noble families to defeat Fontana, there were some noble families who did not send out their armies.

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　The Risortes and the Reinsatz.

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　Does this mean that the rumors are becoming more and more true?

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　The former hegemonic noble families and the current largest noble family have not moved.

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　Therefore, the allied forces headed north with the Memento family as their allies would inevitably have to remain prepared against the two noble houses in the west and south.

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　In fact, it is rather surprising that they were able to raise 250,000 troops.

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　The fact that they had a certain number is due to the fact that they had much to gain from the conquest of the House of Fontana.

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　That, of course, is salt.

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　The Church has begun to sell a new type of salt, holy salt, which is different from the royal salt, and which is produced in the Fontana territory.

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　The salt is said to have originated in Barca.

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　The salt is produced by a family of knights who were originally peasants, but who in recent years have always fought at the front in the wars waged by the Fontana family.

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　It is obvious that if the Barca family can be captured by the Fontana family, it will bring great benefits to the Fontana family.

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　That is why they responded to the call for an allied force, even though they still had a dangerous presence behind them.

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　The Fontana family has been winning in war after war, despite the death of their leader, Carlos, while escorting the king.

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　However, no matter how many they have, the Fontana army must not be more than 50,000 strong.

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　The mobile hexenbiest force that attacked the Percival family is dangerous, but their numbers are too different.

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　...... probably the knight Rion, who has been active in the capital, will make peace with the Percival family when the time is right.

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　Now that the king and his cronies have driven me from the center, that is when I will be able to move.

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　I will broker a peace through Sir Leon and bring the House of Fontana into the service of the royal family.

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　Then we will be able to return to the center again.

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　I think we should also pay attention to the moves of the Reinsatz and Risolute families.

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　We will have to keep a close watch on how these two families will move.

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　I will check what I have to do and be ready to respond immediately to their future moves.

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　But what is going on?

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　I still have a bad feeling about this.

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　I have a bad feeling about this.

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"What?　What did you just say?　Report again, and report it properly."

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"Ha. The allied forces that went to defeat the Fontana have started fighting each other. Many of the noble families who joined the allied forces are calling on the royal families for help.

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"That's absurd. The allied forces were supposed to be led by the Memento family as their allies. What is the Memento family doing?

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"That's why ......, with all due respect. The Memento forces have launched an invasion of the northern noble territories in response to several other noble armies within the Confederation. To prevent this, the armies of the northern noble houses and other noble houses allied with them clashed with Memento's side, and it seems that the Confederacy was divided into two separate armies."

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"Is that true?　I don't understand. I mean, what about Fontana? The allied forces are on their way to defeat Fontana. Shouldn't the Fontana territory be right under our noses if they're going to attack the noble domains in the north?"

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"That's the reason for the uncertain information. ....... I am also puzzled by what I have been told.

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"I don't care. Just report the information you have gathered to us.

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"Ha. The 250,000 allied troops assembled in the royal city area began marching toward Fontana territory. They then proceeded to the point where they were in sight of the current Fontana territory in the former Carmathian territory. However, the Allied forces there encountered a wall in the Fontana territory. They seem to have lost their way.

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"...... wall?　What's that?"

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I don't know. The report is that it is unmistakably a wall. It seems that there was a wall all the way to the border of the territory, protecting Fontana. According to the Allies who have confirmed this, it runs horizontally to protect the invasion route to the north.

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"...... I don't believe it. Is that not an illusion?　But, yeah. A wall, huh? If that were true, how could it lead to a friendly fire?"

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"Ha. After the confirmation of the wall, the allied forces discussed the matter, and seem to have opted for a siege to get over the wall. The Allied forces began their attack from the former Carmathian territory to the northern part of the country. However, it seems that they failed in their attempt."

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"You mean to tell me that that many allied troops failed to capture it?　No, if it has such a long wall, it must be well defended. ....... But a defense line that long is not a good defense. ....... What the hell is going on?"

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"All the Allied rations have been burned. It seems that this has caused the Allied forces to lose food."

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　Burned out of their rations?

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　...... Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that.

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　The battle between the Fontanas and the Mementos before the king's convoy.

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　Wasn't that the same thing that happened in that battle?

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　Yes, I remember now.

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　Fontana's army successfully defended against Memento's overwhelming numbers.

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　Oh, my God!

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　Again, Memento's army was 40,000 strong and Fontana's Barca army of 1,000 cavalrymen held off the advance of Memento's army.

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　And the tactic they used at that time was to burn the rations.

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　Barca's flying mobile weapons.

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　I thought you were talking about the introduction of airships.

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　I was in the city of Fontana at that time, so I never actually saw those airships.

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　But the airship flew in the sky and burned down the pantry on the ground, and the Memento family was unable to move.

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　They then approached the Fontana territory, but were unable to break through its defenses and made peace with it.

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　Did the Memento family suffer the same fate twice?

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　Perhaps they were too preoccupied with the long-lasting wall.

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　But it is a blunder for which there can be no excuse.

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　After all, even when he had led an army of 40,000 men, he had been forced to retreat due to a lack of food.

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　This time, they have 250,000 soldiers.

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　It must be even more difficult to keep the army going.

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"No, wait a minute. No, wait a minute...well ......, there is no food for the army. The usual way to solve that is to loot the enemy territory. But the Fontana territory is protected by a wall. In other words, ......"

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"That's right. The Memento family, having run out of food, demanded that the surrounding noble families provide them with food. However, due to the effects of the recent earthquake, it seems that none of the noble houses had ample reserves. Although they managed to continue fighting, the Fontana territory showed no signs of falling and the allied forces were forced to retreat temporarily without even being able to enter Fontana.

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"Perhaps they were pursued in their retreat?　Fontana's cavalry."

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As you can imagine. It seems that Fontana attacked the Allies in the middle of the night with only a few cavalrymen."

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"I see. I guess so. Fontana, especially Barca, must be very good at surprise attacks. Did you take the head of the head of the family by surprise?

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"No. But Fontana has made a great effect with his surprise attack. He provoked a friendly fire.

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"I see. When retreating from a siege that had produced no results, and at night with 250,000 people in a mixed coalition of several forces.... It is no wonder that they were unable to judge in the dark when they counterattacked an opponent they thought was attacking them, even if it was one of their own."

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"That's not all. Later reports indicate that Fontana's cavalry surprised the retreating Confederates and then moved further south. "In order to burn more food."

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"...... Oh, by the way, you mentioned it in your earlier explanation, right?　The Mementos coordinated with some of the noble armies within the Confederacy to invade the northern noble territories. If so, did they do so in search of food?"

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"...... seems to be the case. And there, the army lost control and ran amok, plundering the country. This was the decisive factor, and the Allied forces completely lost their cohesion. Conflicts within the Allied forces that had fought each other, problems with food distribution, and conflicts between the noble forces of the attacked territories and the Allied forces made it difficult for Memento's forces to resolve the situation on the ground alone."

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"How foolish. But asking the royal family for help won't help. After all, what they did to defeat the Percival and Fontana families was not to send their own army but to mobilize it by the king's order.

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"Yes. So, when the royal family received a request for help, they asked the Reinsatz family to solve the problem. But the Reinisatz family replied that they would not act unless they were officially recognized as the new royal family.

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　Oh, my God.

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　I never thought that the allied forces sent by the royalists to defeat them would fight amongst themselves and even attack the nobles' territories other than Fontana.

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　Moreover, the Reinisatz family, seeing this, has expressed their desire to become king as well.

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　The royal family is being treated too lightly.

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　I could not help but think so when I received the report.

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　Normally, Fontana himself should have bowed down to the royal family when he saw the movement of the strike force that had been sent out with the royal order.

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　However, since Fontana has already defied the royal order and insisted on the establishment of the kingdom, it is still understandable that he would take an action of thorough resistance.

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　However, there is no way that the Memento family, which led the allied forces sent to defeat Fontana, would be allowed to attack other noble families without a good cause just because the situation has worsened.

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　And when the Reinsatz family, which was ordered to suppress such a move, takes advantage of the situation to negotiate for the king, I must say that the authority of the royal family has been further undermined than ever before.

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　In any case, under normal circumstances, the Reinsatz family would have seen this as the perfect opportunity to become a hegemonic aristocrat and would have moved accordingly.

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　......The era of the royal house of Doren comes to an end.

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　Although it is not as glorious as it was in the past, the royal family has been recognized by the nobility as having a certain level of authority until now.

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　However, the recent events have shown to many that the royal family has no control over the actions of the other nobles.

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　Moreover, even the monopoly of salt, which had supported the authority of the royal family until now, has been destroyed by the church.

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　I could not help but feel the currents of an era of unprecedented upheaval.

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