Chapter 112: Two Steps to Complete Military Merit and Become a Noble
If you believe that Claire can fight the Mist Dragon to a draw, then that is equivalent to believing that the eldest daughter of the Border Baron has the power to destroy a country.

Alice would absolutely believe it unless it was an indisputable fact before her.

In other words, you can't believe it!

But believe it or not, a ruthless guy who started fighting against a gang of thieves alone at the age of eight must be won over.

After all, if I don't win over other factions, I will really not be able to sleep well if they do.

Regardless of anything else, Alice at least felt that Geno Gulifi should have been killed instantly.

After all, if a fight breaks out on the forest trail not far from the college's dormitories, it would be hard not to attract attention.

And no one mentioned hearing any noise on the forest trail that night, which proved that Genogulifi and his men were killed without any resistance.

Being able to kill Geno Gulifi so easily, his strength is no longer something that can be underestimated, but must be taken seriously.

After all, Alice really didn't think that even if she launched a sneak attack, she might not be able to kill Geno Gulifi in an instant, not to mention that there were several helpers from the Knights nearby.

"Sister, can you approve the application now?" Alexia asked.

"Alexia, what's the situation with the Siyue Chamber of Commerce?" Alice asked.

When she heard her sister's question, a look of accomplishment flashed in Alexia's eyes.

After all, if you don't even ask, it means that your plan will be difficult to implement.

"President Luna of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce was saved by Claire, and Claire also has a role in the Chamber of Commerce." Alexia said briefly.

"What conditions did they give you?" Erza continued to ask.

"An annual donation of one thousand gold nuns. When needed, we can even provide an interest-free loan of ten thousand gold nuns. In addition, the guard corps will be under the command and dispatch of Claire." Alexia did not hide anything from her sister.

"It's indeed a very soft and touching condition, but Alexia, how can you guarantee their loyalty?" Alice asked again.

Alexia felt a little tired facing her sister's problems.

After all, in reality, the relationship between her and Li De is reversed!
"My dear sister, I don't know about other kingdoms, but in the Kingdom of Midgar, no one can offer a higher price than me. And for a chamber of commerce, instead of asking them to be loyal, it is better to give them conditions that no one else can offer. Only when the cost of betrayal is high enough will they be relatively loyal." Alexia thought about it and changed her words.

"Alexia," Alice said with a frown, but was interrupted by Alexia before she could finish her words.

"Sister, there is no need to continue. You should know the meaning of this application. As for whether you want to accept it, you can think about it yourself. Claire will come to the palace tomorrow, and you can decide who will see her."

After hearing what Alexia said, Alice opened her mouth but said nothing more.

She was not stupid, so how could she not understand the meaning of the application form her sister brought to her.

In fact, strictly speaking, for a chamber of commerce in the Middle Ages, especially one with branches everywhere, it was difficult for a kingdom to know the true strength of the other party when information was far less developed than in modern times. Therefore, it was not difficult to hide the existence of the guard.

Another thing is that the formation of the Siyue Chamber of Commerce’s guard team does not actually require anyone’s approval.

In fact, as long as Alexia comes out to endorse it, and if the nobles in the Kingdom of Midgar do not want to have a head-on conflict with the royal forces, even if it would make things difficult for the Siyue Chamber of Commerce, they would not make a fuss about the guard team.

Then why did Alexia put such a weird application form in front of Alice?
The reason is very simple, because if Alice agrees, it means that the Siyue Chamber of Commerce has obtained the endorsement of the eldest princess who has the first right of inheritance, and it is basically a foregone conclusion that it will become the exclusive merchant of the royal family.

And this is exactly the reason why Alice kept asking questions, because once she opened her mouth, it would be equivalent to standing up and endorsing the special status given to the Siyue Chamber of Commerce.

Because of this, Alice needs to be cautious.

If someone else from the royal family had said this, Alice would have refused without hesitation.

As the eldest princess and the first heir to the royal family, how could she publicly stand up and endorse a chamber of commerce?

But it was different when Alexia proposed it, because it was Alexia's good intention.

As mentioned before, Alexia pointed out the fact that the Knights could not be trusted.

In this situation, the choice Alice can make is basically the same as in the original book, that is, to choose people she trusts to re-form the Knights.

Although this matter is simple, there is a problem that must be faced, which is how to solve the source of funds for operating the Knights Templar.

As a younger sister, Alexia knew very well how much money was in her sister's piggy bank.

Naturally, I can understand whether my sister can afford to support a dedicated knight group.

The answer is no!

Yes, not to mention Alice, the same goes for everyone else in the Kingdom of Midgar, even the King of Midgar.

Let me put it this way, if you want to maintain a knight order in the Kingdom of Midgar, it is extremely expensive.

Although the exclusive knight group formed by Alice does not have to be fully staffed, if there are only a few people, can it still be called a knight group? There must be at least three digits to reach a certain scale.

But even with a three-digit scale, apart from the kingdom's finances, there is basically no force that can afford to support it alone, let alone a fully staffed knight order.

Yes, in fact, due to financial reasons, there are actually only a few knight orders in Midgar that are truly fully staffed.

Why do the knights dislike each other? Aristocratic factions are only one problem, and another problem is limited financial allocations.

There is only so much money to be divided up, and if some people get more, naturally some will get less. This is the source of the irreconcilable contradiction.

Then looking back, if we still want to form a knightly order when we can hardly apply for financial support from the kingdom, we will need other sources of funds.

Once Alice agrees to Alexia's application, it means that Alice will obtain the conditions prepared by the Siyue Chamber of Commerce for Alexia.

As for Alexia herself, she withdrew directly.

After all, it is impossible for the Siyue Chamber of Commerce to prepare donations for both princesses at the same time, nor does it need both princesses to endorse at the same time. Even Alexia's stepping forward would be enough, let alone Alice.

The only thing to note here is that once Alice agrees, Claire's personal guard status will change from Alexia to Alice.

After all, there has been no actual public introduction yet, so even the identity of whose personal guard he is can be changed.

Alexia actually used this to show that she had no intention of competing with Sister Alice for the throne.

It doesn’t matter what the final outcome of this matter is.

Alice accepted it. Alexia was not prepared for much loss, after all, Reed had recruited another group of knights for her. As for pocket money, Alexia believed that as long as she asked, Sid would not give her less.

As for not accepting it, that’s also no problem. Alexia’s move is mainly to shut other people up.

After all, I have already let my sister choose. She didn't want it. What else do you want? So the look of accomplishment that flashed in Alexia's eyes before was about the establishment of the guard team. As for who came out to endorse it, it didn't matter.

For Alexia, as long as what Sid said was handled properly, that was enough.

"Oh, by the way, sister, there is one thing I forgot to tell you." Alexia added before Alice made a decision.

"What?" Alice looked at Alexia with a hint of doubt.

"This guard will be composed of orcs." Alexia said briefly.

After hearing this, Alice knew that her sister was reminding her that even if she accepted the kindness, she should not think about placing people into the guard team.

Even if Alice really wanted to place her there, it would be difficult because the people she interacted with were all human nobles. How could they be willing to mix with orcs?

"Did you agree on this with Claire?" Alice couldn't help but ask.

"Not really. It's mainly because the Siyue Chamber of Commerce needs to control operating costs when forming a guard team. So compared to humans, orcs are cheaper to use. In addition, orcs who advocate rule by the strong have a much better guarantee of loyalty. And also," Alexia shook her head and said.

After all, she had never discussed the issue of placing personnel with Li De before, and had not even mentioned the transfer of quotas.

But the same thing goes, as long as the guard team can be established legitimately and Claire can get the status of a personal guard, then the meat will rot in the pot, so it doesn't matter who comes forward.

Moreover, it would be easier for my elder sister to obtain the title for Claire than for me.

This is why Alexia wants to transfer the spot to Alice.

As for Alexia, it is also crucial that she shows by doing this that she has no intention of competing for the throne and destroying the relationship between the sisters.

After all, once rumors of a fight for the throne spread, the royal faction would surely split internally, thus reducing its power, which was not the result Alexia wanted to see.

Especially now that the King of Midgar is still in his prime, any rumor spreading would do Alexia no good.

"Anything else?" Alice asked after hearing this.

"Well, there is more!" Alexia thought about it for a while before nodding.

"Tell me everything. I also really want to know what Claire's conditions are." Alice knew that Alexia was going to talk about the other party's conditions. After all, she really didn't think that the other party would offer such generous conditions in the name of a guard team.

"Claire's first condition is a title, and it must be awarded for military merit. Of course, she will earn the military merit herself, and we are only responsible for helping her do it." Alexia said immediately.

"Title? Isn't she the eldest daughter of Baron Kageno and the first in line of succession? And what about military merit?" Alice frowned upon hearing this.

"Sister, Claire dotes on her brother Sid as much as you do on me. So she would rather obtain the title herself and leave the title of Baron Kageno to her brother Sid. As for military merit, the current plan consists of two parts." Alexia said slowly.

"Which two parts?" Alice asked quickly.

"The first is that the Kageno family is already preparing to expand the territory of the Misty Mountains. That is to say, after Claire's tea party, she will lead the people from the Siyue Chamber of Commerce back to the Barony of Kageno to start the war of expansion." Alexia said slowly.

After hearing what Alexia said, Alice looked a little surprised.

She didn't expect that the Kageno family actually planned to launch a plan of external expansion, but when she thought about it carefully, the Kageno family was fully qualified to do so.

There are strong people leading the team, there is an army, and the funds are not short. In addition, the direction of development with Barony Kageno is not the territory of other nobles, so there is no such thing as a war opponent.

After all, the Misty Mountains have always existed and are considered a public area, so anyone can attack them.

But why has no one developed the Misty Mountains?

The answer is simple. The cost of development is too high, and defending the developed territory is also a very energy-consuming task.

You have to know that in the territories surrounding the Misty Mountains, even if there are Knights, their strength is the weakest, and they are mainly used to guard against bandit groups and wild beasts.

It is unrealistic to expect them to fight against the orcs or monsters in the Misty Mountains.

"Does the Kageno family plan to be promoted to a noble family?" Alice asked the key point.

"No, it's stuck under the Viscount's territory." Alexia shook her head and said.

"Well, what about the other two parts?" Alice continued.

"The second part is that after the development is completed, Claire will lead the team to the Lawless City to prepare to destroy the Crimson Tower." Alexia continued.

"Is it related to the rumored Blood Moon Massacre that happened a thousand years ago?" Alice had also heard rumors about the Blood Moon Massacre recently.

"Yes, Claire is very sure that the blood moon that occurs once every thousand years will appear again during the autumn holiday." Alexia said briefly.

"The blood moon that occurs once every thousand years, but it can't be too special." Alice couldn't help but shook her head.

After all, bringing troops into the Impossible City and developing Baron Kageno are completely different concepts. If not handled properly, it may make the kingdoms around the Impossible City extremely sensitive, and may even cause a diplomatic incident, becoming an excuse for other aristocratic factions to attack the royal family.

"Claire also saved the life of the ruler of the dark tower, and that ruler will send an invitation for help in advance. In addition, Claire also saved the life of the fox in the pure white tower, so she won't object." Alexia said quietly.

"Uh" Alice was speechless after hearing this.

This is a lot of life-saving grace!
"Alexia, even if we can enter the Lawless City and destroy the Crimson Tower, we can't turn it into a military achievement." Alice said to her sister.

"Sister, once those vampires fall, it means that a force will be vacant in the city, and there are many people who want to get involved and share a piece of the pie. With Claire's relationship, I can have some say, and these can be used as bargaining chips.

As for military merit, elder sister, although saving the lawless city can't be counted as a military merit, you must not forget that the most abundant thing in the lawless city is criminals. With Claire's connections, it shouldn't be difficult to bring back the heads of some bounty-bearing people from various countries. These heads can be counted as military merit."

After listening to Alexia, Alice realized that she had overlooked this point.

Indeed, most of the people who were wanted by various countries were concentrated in the lawless city, and these people could indeed be used to accumulate merit.

Especially those with bounties from some other countries can be used to sell favors.

With enough people, it is indeed easy to operate the title.

Especially for the warriors who dare to go and exterminate vampires during the blood moon, as long as they complete the mission and quell the unrest caused by the vampires, it will be enough to bring considerable glory to the Kingdom of Midgar.

Needless to say, Claire, who has earned the title through glory and merit, is already a rising star in the Kingdom of Midgar.

And the person who discovered and promoted Claire will naturally receive high praise.

If Alice got this evaluation, it would only be icing on the cake, but if Alexia got it, especially after Alice refused, it would definitely affect Alice's evaluation.

After realizing this, Alice felt a little conflicted.

(End of this chapter)